Education and early diplomatic work.

Filoni was born in Manduria near Taranto, Italy. He entered the seminary and earned doctorates in Philosophy and in Canon Law from the Pontifical Lateran University. He was ordained a priest on 3 July 1970. He served in the Nunciatures of Sri Lanka from 1981 until 1983, Iran from 1983–1985, Brazil from 1989–1992 and the Philippines from 1992 until 2000. Although formally assigned to the Apostolic Nunciature to the Philippines, he was based in Hong Kong. During this time Archbishop Filoni was Pope John Paul II’s bridge to China's bishops, official and non-official Churches and bishops, in the hope of reconciling them to the Holy See.

Apostolic Nuncio.

Pope John Paul II appointed Filoni apostolic nuncio to Iraq and Jordan on 17 January 2001, naming him titular Archbishop of Volturnum. He received episcopal consecration from Pope John Paul II on 19 March 2001. He chose as his episcopal motto "Lumen Gentium Christus".  Archbishop Filoni defended the freedom of the Catholic Church in Iraq under the regime of Saddam Hussein and – in line with the Pope's position – opposed the US invasion of the country in 2003. He remained in Baghdad as American bombs fell, which he called "nothing exceptional". When Mario Vargas Llosa visited him in Baghdad in 2003, he described Filoni as "small, astute, tough as nails, talkative and an expert on emergencies", who described sadly how, just as predicted, it was "incredibly difficult to administer the peace". After the fall of Saddam he recognized the new-found freedom enjoyed by the people, but he warned against the lack of security and the slow development of the economy. He expressed mixed feelings towards the new constitution, which he described as both a "positive step towards normalization in the country" and "contradictory in some areas", and supported the peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims.  He came close to being killed in Baghdad on 1 February 2006, when a car bomb exploded next to the nunciature. He served in Iraq and Jordan until 25 February 2006 when he was named Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.

Roman Curia.

Substitute of the Secretariat of State.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Filoni Substitute for General Affairs on 9 June 2007, effective 1 July. During his four years as Substitute, it was Filoni's job to organise the activities of the Curia and the care of official translations of papal documents and correspondence; encryption dispatches messengers to be sent to the Registry of the papal letters, the resolution of legal issues, personnel management in the Curia and nunciatures, protocol and etiquette for visiting heads of state, information and media management, and Vatican archive management. He was also responsible for organizing the activities of nuncios around the world in their activities concerning the local churches.  Observers noted that during his time as substitute, Filoni never established a strong rapport with his immediate superior, Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone.  In 2008, Archbishop Filoni was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

McCarrick Scandal.

In his August 2018 “Testimony,” Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò reported that on 25 May 2008 he had sent Filoni a summary of information provided by an ex-priest named Gregory Littleton who attested to sexual abuse of priests and seminarians by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick along with the information included in Richard Sipe's recently published “Statement for Pope Benedict XVI” on McCarrick’s sexual misconduct. He said that Filoni “knew in every detail the situation regarding Cardinal McCarrick.” Filoni received checks totalling $3,500 from McCarrick between 2008 and 2013.

Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

On 10 May 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Filoni Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Vatican department in charge of administering mission territories, in succession to Ivan Cardinal Dias, who had reached retirement age and had health problems. "La Nazione" remarked that to be reassigned after only four years as Substitute was unusual and speculated that Filoni had been moved because of a "stormy" relationship with Bertone.  The Holy See announced on 6 January 2012 that he would be created a cardinal on 18 February. He was created Cardinal-Deacon of. On 24 April 2012 Filoni was made a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Congregation for the Oriental Churches, and the Congregation for Catholic Education. On 24 November 2012 he was appointed a member of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. Filoni took part in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis, and was considered to be a papabile, or possible candidate to be elected pope.  Based on his work with the people of Iraq, Filoni wrote "The Church in Iraq".  Pope Francis raised him to the rank of Cardinal Bishop effective 28 June 2018.  Pope Francis named Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to succeed Filoni as Prefect of the Congregation on 8 December 2019.

Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

Pope Francis named him Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem on 8 December 2019.

Fernando Filoni (born 15 April 1946) is a Cardinal prelate of the Catholic Church who serves as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2011 to 2019. He is an expert in Chinese affairs and on the Middle East.


Background.

Lazar attended Pierce Junior College in Los Angeles. He filed for bankruptcy in 1986, where he described himself as a self-employed film processor. Lazar owns and operates United Nuclear Scientific Equipment and Supplies, which sells a variety of materials and chemicals.

Claims.

Lazar has achieved notoriety as an Area 51 conspiracy theorist. In May 1989, he appeared in an interview with investigative reporter George Knapp on Las Vegas TV station KLAS, under the pseudonym "Dennis" and with his face hidden, to discuss his purported employment at "S-4", a subsidiary facility he claimed exists near the Nellis Air Force Base installation known as Area 51. Lazar said the S-4 facility was adjacent to Papoose Lake, which is located south of the main Area 51 facility at Groom Lake. He claimed the site consisted of concealed aircraft hangars built into a mountainside. Lazar said that his job was to help with the reverse engineering of one of nine flying saucers, which he alleged were extraterrestrial in origin. He claims one of the flying saucers, the one he coined the "Sport Model", was manufactured out of a metallic substance similar in appearance and touch to stainless steel. In a subsequent interview that November, Lazar appeared unmasked and under his own name.  Lazar claimed that the propulsion of the studied vehicle was fueled by the chemical element with atomic number 115, or "E115", which at the time was provisionally named "ununpentium" and had not yet been artificially created (it was first synthesized in 2003 and later named moscovium). He said that the propulsion system relied on a stable isotope of E115, which allegedly generates a gravity wave that allowed the vehicle to fly and to evade visual detection by bending light around it. No stable isotopes of moscovium have yet been synthesized; all have proven extremely radioactive, decaying in a few hundred milliseconds.  In addition, Lazar claimed that during his joining the program, he read briefing documents describing the historical involvement of Earth for the past 10,000 years with extraterrestrial beings described as grey aliens from a planet orbiting the twin binary star system Zeta Reticuli. The Zeta Reticuli system was previously claimed by Barney and Betty Hill as the origin of aliens they allegedly encountered. As of September 2019, no extrasolar planets have been found in the Zeta Reticuli system.  Lazar claims to have earned a master's degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a master's degree in electronic technology from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech); however, there are no records of Lazar attending either MIT or Caltech. His supposed employment at a Nellis Air Force Base subsidiary has also been discredited by skeptics, as well as by the United States Air Force itself.  A 1982 article in the "Alamogordo Daily News" featured Lazar's jet powered car which reportedly achieved speeds of 200 mph, describing him as "a physicist at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility", however, the Los Alamos National Laboratory has disavowed him. Lazar alleges that his records have been erased, however skeptics, such as Donald R. Prothero, Stanton T. Friedman and Timothy D. Callahan have found this to be implausible. According to Prothero, "He was employed not by the government but rather as a technician working for a private company that contracted work at Los Alamos."  Lazar's story has drawn significant media attention, controversy, supporters, and detractors. Lazar admits that he has no evidence to support his core claim of alien technology.

Criminal convictions.

In 1990, Lazar was arrested for aiding and abetting a prostitution ring. This was reduced to felony pandering, to which he pleaded guilty. He was ordered to do 150 hours of community service, stay away from brothels, and undergo psychotherapy.  In 2006, Lazar and his wife Joy White were charged with violating the Federal Hazardous Substances Act for shipping restricted chemicals across state lines. The charges stemmed from a 2003 raid on United Nuclear's business offices, where chemical sales records were examined. United Nuclear pleaded guilty to three criminal counts of introducing into interstate commerce, and aiding and abetting the introduction into interstate commerce, banned hazardous substances. In 2007, United Nuclear was fined $7,500 for violating a law prohibiting the sale of chemicals and components used to make illegal fireworks.

Desert Blast festival.

Lazar and long-time friend Gene Huff run Desert Blast, an annual festival in the Nevada desert for pyrotechnics enthusiasts. Starting in 1987, but only formally named in 1991, the name was inspired by Operation Desert Storm. The festival features homemade explosives, rockets, jet-powered vehicles, and other pyrotechnics, with the aim of emphasizing the fun aspect of chemistry and physics.

In film.

The 2018 feature-length documentary "Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers" focuses on Lazar's claims that he attempted to reverse-engineer alien spacecraft for the United States military at S-4. The documentary was directed by Jeremy Corbell and produced by George Knapp.

Robert Scott Lazar (; born January 26, 1959) is an American conspiracy theorist who claims to have been hired in the late 1980s to reverse-engineer purported extraterrestrial technology at what he described as a secret site called "S-4". Lazar alleges that this subsidiary installation is located several kilometres south of the United States Air Force facility popularly known as Area 51.


Early life.

Nyiszli was born 17 June 1901 in Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary (then the Hungarian-half of Austria-Hungary). He completed his medical degree in 1929. Following this, he specialized in forensic pathology in Germany. He returned to Transylvania with his wife and daughter in 1937 before migrating to Hungary in 1940. In 1942, he and his family were sent to a work camp in Desze before being transferred to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944.

Authorship.

During Nyiszli's period in the camp, he witnessed many atrocities to which he refers in his book, "Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account."  Historian Gideon Greif characterized Nyiszli's writings as among the “myths and other wrong and defamatory accounts” of the Sonderkommando that flourished in the absence of first-hand testimony by surviving Sonderkommando members.

Accounts of camp life.

While imprisoned, Nyiszli was forced to carry out medical experiments and perform autopsies on dozens of bodies, particularly on dwarfs and twins. Mengele had researched the causes of dwarfism and twinning, and used Nyiszli to gather more information. Nyiszli autopsied murdered prisoners, specifically those suspected to have died from infectious diseases. Mengele was searching for evidence supporting the "inferiority of the Jewish race". At one point Nyiszli was forced to carry out physical exams on a father-son pair and, after their deaths, to prepare their skeletons for study at the Anthropological Museum in Berlin.  One day, following the gassing of a transport load of prisoners, Nyiszli was summoned by Sonderkommando working in the gas chambers who had found a girl alive under a mass of bodies in a chamber. Nyiszli and his fellow prisoners did their best to help and care for the girl, but she was eventually discovered and shot. This incident was dramatized in the films "The Grey Zone" and "Son of Saul".  Nyiszli was appalled by the disregard for human life and lack of empathy for human suffering shown by the guards and officers. However, his actions were dictated by his tormentors, and he was forced to perform what he considered immoral acts. As he said: During his roughly eight months in Auschwitz, Nyiszli observed the murders of tens of thousands of people, including the slaughter of whole sub-camps at once. These sub-camps held different ethnic, religious, national, and gender groups, including a Gypsy camp, several women's camps, and a Czech camp. Each sub-camp housed between 5,000–10,000 prisoners or more. Nyiszli was often told which camps were next to be exterminated, signaling that an increased workload was imminent.  When Nyiszli discovered that the women's camp in which his wife and daughter were kept prisoner, Camp C, was to be liquidated, he bribed an SS officer to transfer them to a women's work camp. Nyiszli remained in Auschwitz until shortly before its liberation by the Soviet army on 27 January 1945. On 18 January, Nyiszli, along with an estimated 66,000 other prisoners, was forced on a death march that took the prisoners into various Nazi territories, including Poland (part of Greater Germany), Czechoslovakia, Germany proper, present-day Austria and further into various smaller concentration camps in Germany.  Nyiszli narrated his testimony of camp life in an objective tone, favoring an analytical approach over a more emotive description. He writes that he tells his story "not as a reporter but as a doctor". This style has been referred to by some as documentary realism.

After Auschwitz.

Nyiszli's first major stop after the forced march out of Auschwitz was the Mauthausen concentration camp in northern Austria, near the city of Linz. After a three-day stay in a quarantine barracks at Mauthausen, he spent two months in the Melk an der Donau concentration camp, about three hours away by train.  After 12 months of imprisonment, Nyiszli and his fellow prisoners were liberated on 5 May 1945, when U.S. troops reached the camp. Nyiszli's wife and daughter also survived Auschwitz and were liberated from Bergen Belsen. He never again worked with a scalpel after the war.  He wrote the book "Dr Mengele boncoló orvosa voltam az auschwitz-i krematóriumban."

Death.

Nyiszli died of a heart attack on 5 May 1956 in Oradea, Romania, at the age of 54. His widow, Margareta, died on 5 September 1985.

Miklós Nyiszli (17 June 1901 – 5 May 1956) was a Hungarian prisoner of Jewish heritage at Auschwitz concentration camp. Nyiszli, his wife, and young daughter, were transported to Auschwitz in June 1944. Upon his arrival, Nyiszli volunteered as a doctor and was sent to work at No. 12 barracks where he operated on and tried to help the ill with only the most basic medical supplies and tools. He was under the supervision of Josef Mengele, a officer and physician.


Jurisdictions.

South Africa.

In South Africa, if a couple does not sign an antenuptial contract, before a notary public, which is subsequently registered at a deeds office, prior to marriage, they are married in community of property, which means that all of their assets and liabilities (even those acquired before the marriage) are merged into a joint estate during their marriage, in which each spouse has an undivided half-share. Each spouse has equal power to deal independently with the estate, except that certain major transactions require the consent of both spouses. One of the consequences of community of property in South Africa is that if one spouse is declared insolvent (bankrupt) during the marriage, the other also becomes insolvent, a potentially devastating consequence.

United States.

The United States has nine community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. Alaska has also adopted a community property system, but it is optional. Spouses may create community property by entering into a community property agreement or by creating a community property trust. In 2010, Tennessee adopted a law similar to Alaska's and allows residents and non-residents to opt into community property through a community property trust. The commonwealth of Puerto Rico allows property to be owned as community property also as do several Native American jurisdictions.  Division of community property may take place by item by splitting all items or by values. In some jurisdictions, such as California, a 50/50 division of community property is strictly mandated by statute so the focus then shifts to whether particular items are to be classified as community or separate property. In other jurisdictions, such as Texas, a divorce court may decree an "equitable distribution" of community property, which may result in an "unequal division" of such. In non-community property states property may be divided by equitable distribution. Generally speaking, the property that each partner brings into the marriage or receives by gift, bequest or devise during marriage is called separate property (not community property). See division of property. Division of community debts may not be the same as division of community property. For example, in California, community property is required to be divided "equally" while community debt is required to be divided "equitably".

Community property (United States) or Community of Property (South Africa) is a marital property regime under which one half of all property owned by one spouse before marriage (except for gifts or inheritances) is automatically owned by the other spouse (property gain), and will become that spouse's separate property, upon divorce (property subject to loss). All property that remain in the name of one spouse during marriage is automatically acquired by the other spouse as to 50% of its value (community property rights), subject to a loss of 50 % of all property upon divorce (separation of property). As for property acquired by one spouse, that is kept undisclosed during marriage will automatically be owned by the other spouse as that spouse's separate property, as to 50% of its value, regardless, while non-shared property is a cause of action for divorce, at 200% of its market price, owed to the divorcing spouse.


Biography.

A native of Baodi, Tianjin, and originally a carpenter by trade, he was elected and reelected chairman of the 8th and 9th CPPCC National Committees in March 1993 and March 1998. Li Ruihuan is the sixth chairman of the CPPCC after Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Deng Yingchao, and Li Xiannian. Since this post has been held by some of the most prominent revolutionary elders, it is spoken of "noble and sacred" by reverent observers. The principal duties of the CPPCC chief are mainly advisory and conciliatory; Li's duties focused on mitigating conflict between different sectors of society, conferring on state affairs, and providing ideas for the top bodies of PRC central government for reference.  Li, born into ordinary peasant family on September 1934; worked as construction worker in Beijing Third Construction Company, 1951–1965; attended spare-time architecture engineering institute, 1958–1963; and received a college certificate. Li is known as the inventor of the "simplified calculation method," which updated the traditional "lofting method" in carpentry, Li was known as "young Lu Ban," a legendary master carpenter in ancient China. He rose up the ranks of the construction industry and Tianjin politics.  During his tenure of office as Tianjin mayor, he actively supported institutional restructuring, focusing attention on improving urban housing and public transport conditions. He gained great popularity among Tianjin residents with his call-in radio and television programs through which he directly answered residents' inquires in concrete terms.  In 1989, he became a member of the Politburo Standing Committee. He retired at the 2002 16th party congress.

Li Ruihuan (born September 17, 1934) is a retired Chinese politician. Li was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, the country's top decision making body, between 1989 and 2002. Li served as Chairman of the 9th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from 1993 to 2003; before that, he was the party chief of Tianjin.


Amateur career.

The son of Croatian immigrants, Pavelich grew up in rural Eveleth, Minnesota. A star performer on his high school hockey team, Eveleth High School. He attended the University of Minnesota Duluth as an amateur player for three seasons in 1977–79. Pavelich is best known for being a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, that won the gold medal in Lake Placid. In the game against the Soviet Union, Pavelich was credited with two assists, including one on Mike Eruzione's game-winning goal.

Professional career.

After the Olympics, Pavelich, who was not drafted by an NHL team, played one season for HC Lugano in Switzerland where he registered 73 points. He returned to the US national team for the 1981 Ice Hockey World Championship tournament. He was brought back to the United States the following year by his former US Olympic coaches Herb Brooks and Craig Patrick, who managed of the New York Rangers. Despite his size, Pavelich thrived in his role as a center for the Rangers, and holds the Rangers record for most points as a rookie (76). However, his career in New York was ended by a feud with Brooks' successor Ted Sator, who introduced a traditional North American dump-and-chase style of play.  Pavelich briefly played for Brooks with the Minnesota North Stars in 1987 before returning to Europe. He had a stint in Britain for the Dundee Rockets and played two seasons in Italy for HC Bolzano. The expansion San Jose Sharks brought him out of retirement for the 1991–92 NHL season, but he would play only two games for the Sharks before retiring. However, he did record an assist on the Sharks' first-ever goal, scored by Craig Coxe in the third period of a 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on October 4, 1991.  On February 23, 1983, Pavelich became the first American ever to score five goals in a single game, against the Hartford Whalers at Madison Square Garden; he remains the only American to do so.

Legacy.

In the 2009 book "100 Ranger Greats", the authors ranked Pavelich at No. 83 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons.

Personal life.

Pavelich married Kara Burmachuk in 1994; they had no children. She died at age 44 in an accidental fall from a second-story balcony at their Lutsen, Minnesota, home on Thursday, September 6, 2012.  In April 2014, Pavelich announced that he was putting his Olympic medal up for auction, with bidding beginning at $62,500. The medal sold in May 2014 for $262,900 through Dallas-based auction house Heritage Auctions. Pavelich is the second player from the 1980 team to put a medal up for sale, with teammate Mark Wells having sold his in late 2010.  Pavelich's brother-in-law was also a hockey player and now coaches for the Hibbing Bluejackets, in Hibbing, Minnesota.

Arrest.

Pavelich was arrested on Aug. 15, 2019, after allegedly assaulting and seriously injuring a neighbor with whom he'd earlier been fishing. He was charged with four felony counts: second- and third-degree assault, possession of a short-barreled shotgun and possession of a firearm with a missing or altered serial number. On Oct. 28, Pavelich's upcoming trial was suspended and he was found incompetent to stand trial by Cook County District Judge Michael Cuzzo, who said Pavelich "lacks the ability to rationally consult with counsel, is incapable of understanding the proceedings, and is incapable of participating in the defense due to mental illness or deficiency." Cuzzo initiated civil commitment proceedings. On Dec. 4, Cuzzo ruled that Pavelich is mentally ill and dangerous and ordered him committed to a secure treatment facility.  Pavelich's sister, Jean Gevik, has said that she believes he is suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and had noticed behavioral changes in the years leading up to the incident which led to his arrest.

In popular culture.

In "Miracle on Ice", a 1981 TV movie about the 1980 U.S. hockey team, Pavelich is portrayed by Jack Blessing.  In the 2004 Disney film "Miracle", he is portrayed by Chris Koch. Koch played junior hockey for the Delta Ice Hawks in his native Canada before concussions ended his career.

Mark Thomas Pavelich (born February 28, 1958 in Eveleth, Minnesota) is an American former professional ice hockey forward who played 355 regular season games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars and San Jose Sharks between 1981 and 1992. Pavelich was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal in what has been called the "Miracle on Ice".


In C and C++.

A function with void result type ends either by reaching the end of the function or by executing a return statement with no returned value. The void type may also appear as the sole argument of a function prototype to indicate that the function takes no arguments. Note that despite the name, in all of these situations, the void type serves as a unit type, not as a zero or bottom type (which is sometimes confusingly called the "void type"), even though unlike a real unit type which is a singleton, the void type lacks a way to represent its value and the language does not provide any way to declare an object or represent a value with type codice_3.  In the earliest versions of C, functions with no specific result defaulted to a return type of codice_4 and functions with no arguments simply had empty argument lists. Pointers to untyped data were declared as integers or pointers to codice_5. Some early C compilers had the feature, now seen as an annoyance, of generating a warning on any function call that did not use the function's returned value. Old code sometimes casts such function calls to void to suppress this warning. By the time Bjarne Stroustrup began his work on C++ in 1979–1980, void and void pointers were part of the C language dialect supported by AT&T-derived compilers.  The explicit use of void vs. giving no arguments in a function prototype has different semantics in C and C++, as detailed in the following table:  A C prototype taking no arguments, e.g. codice_6 above, has been deprecated in C99, however.

In Haskell.

Quite contrary to C++, in the functional programming language Haskell the void type denotes the empty type, which has no inhabitants. A function into the void type does not return results, and a side-effectful program with type signature codice_7 does not terminate, or crashes. In particular, there are no total functions into the void type.

The void type, in several programming languages derived from C and Algol68, is the type for the result of a function that returns normally, but does not provide a result value to its caller. Usually such functions are called for their side effects, such as performing some task or writing to their output parameters. The usage of the void type in such context is comparable to procedures in Pascal and syntactic constructs which define subroutines in Visual Basic. It is also similar to the unit type used in functional programming languages and type theory. See Unit type#In programming languages for a comparison.


Description.

The adult male is the most peacock-like member of the genus "Polyplectron" in appearance. It has an erectile crest and highly iridescent electric blue-violet, metallic green-turquoise dorsal plumage. It breast and ventral regions are dark black. The rectrices are wide, flat, and rigid. Their terminal edges are squared. Each tail plume and upper-tail covert is marked with highly iridescent, light reflective, ocelli. The tail is erected and expanded laterally together with the bodies of the birds. The male also raise one wing and lower the other, laterally compressing the body during pair-bonding, courtship displays as well and may also be antipredator adaptation.  The female is slightly smaller than the male. Its contour plumage is cloudy silt in colouration. The mantle and breast are a dark sepia in coloration. The rectrices are essentially similar to those of the male, exhibiting marked adumbrations and stunning ocelli. Throughout, their plumage is earthen and difficult to distinguish from the substrate and branches. While it has similar proportions of the tail to the male, its markings are not as visually arresting. Like the male, the female has a short crest and is whitish on the throat, cheeks and eyebrows.  Chicks are vivid ginger and cinnamon hued with prominent yellow markings. Juveniles of both sexes in the first year closely resemble their mothers. Subadult males in their second year more closely resemble their fathers but the mantle and wing coverts are marked with adumbrations analogous with the ocelli in the contour plumage of other peacock-pheasant species.  Like other peacock-pheasants, Palawan males and some females exhibit multiple spurs on the metatarsus. These are used in anti-predator defense, foraging in leaf litter and contests with other males. The male Palawan excavates slight depressions in which it orients its body during postural display behaviors. The bird vibrates loudly via stridulation of rectrice quills. This communicative signal is both audible and as a form of seismic communication.  Palawan peacock-pheasants are strong fliers. Their flight is swift, direct and sustained.

Distribution and habitat.

Endemic to the Philippines, the Palawan peacock-pheasant is found in the humid forests of Palawan Island in the southern part of the Philippine archipelago.

Taxonomy.

The Palawan peacock-pheasant, with its unique male plumage and distant range, represents a basal (Early? Pliocene, c.5-4 mya) offshoot of the genus "Polyplectron" (Kimball "et al." 2001). The species is widely accepted to be monotypic, but while some males have white supercillia, giving a "double-barred" or masked appearance, others lack this trait, exhibiting dark faces, taller, denser crests and prominent white cheek spots. The birds with white supercillia are sometimes classified as a distinct subspecies, "nehrkornae". The white-cheeked form may inhabit deep forest habitat with low ambient light in rolling terrain whilst the masked form appears to inhabit taller, more open forest on flatter terrain with higher ambient light. This masked form exhibits an abbreviated, more tightly compacted and highly iridescent crest. Females of the two respective forms exhibit analogous differentiation. The female of the masked form is more prominently patterned and densely crested with paler contour plumage.  It was long known as "Polyplectron emphanum", but the name "Polyplectron napoleonis" was given one year before and takes priority over the newer name (Dickinson 2001).

Behavior and ecology.

Peacock-pheasants are highly invertivorous, taking isopods, earwigs, insect larvae, mollusks, centipedes and termites as well as small frogs, drupes, seeds and berries.  They are strictly monogamous, renesting yearly. The female usually lays up to two eggs. Both parents rearing chicks for up to two years. Males act as sentinels of nest sites and are highly pugnacious during the reproductive cycle.

Status and conservation.

Due to ongoing habitat loss, small population size and limited range as well as hunting and capture for trade, the Palawan peacock-pheasant is classified as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. It is listed on Appendix I of CITES.

The Palawan peacock-pheasant ("Polyplectron napoleonis") is a medium-sized (up to 50 cm long) bird in the family Phasianidae. The Palawan peacock-pheasant is featured prominently in the culture of the indigenous peoples of Palawan. The bird is also depicted in the official seal of the city of Puerto Princesa.


Design and development.

On 22 June 1940, the Curtiss-Wright company received an Army contract for preliminary engineering data and a powered wind tunnel model. The designation P-55 was reserved for the project. The USAAC was not completely satisfied with the results of these tests, and Curtiss-Wright took it upon itself to build a flying full-scale model which it designated CW-24B. The flying testbed was powered by a Menasco C68-5 inline engine. It had a fabric-covered, welded steel tube fuselage with a wooden wing. The undercarriage was non-retractable.  On 10 July 1942, the United States Army Air Forces issued a contract for three prototypes under the designation XP-55. Serial numbers were 42-78845 through 42-78847. During this time, the Pratt & Whitney X-1800 H-block sleeve valve engine was experiencing serious developmental delays, and was eventually canceled. Curtiss decided to switch to the Allison V-1710 (F16) liquid-cooled inline engine because of its proven reliability. Armament was to be two cannon and two machine guns. During the mock-up phase, it was decided to switch to the more powerful V-1710-95. The 20 mm cannons were also replaced by 0.50 in machine guns.  A special feature of the XP-55 was a propeller jettison lever located inside the cockpit to prevent the pilot from hitting the propeller during bailout. The jettison device was invented by W. Jerome Peterson while working as a design engineer for Curtiss-Wright.

Operational history.

The first XP-55 (42-78845) was completed on 13 July 1943 and had the same aerodynamic configuration as the final prototype CW-24B. The aircraft made its first test flight on 19 July 1943 from the Army's Scott Field near the Curtiss-Wright plant in St Louis, Missouri. The pilot was J. Harvey Gray, Curtiss' test pilot. Initial testing revealed that the takeoff run was excessively long. To solve this problem, the nose elevator size was increased and the aileron up trim was interconnected with the flaps so that it operated when the flaps were lowered.  On 15 November 1943, test pilot Harvey Gray, flying the first XP-55 (S/N 42-78845), was testing the aircraft's stall performance at altitude when the XP-55 suddenly flipped over on its back and fell in an uncontrolled, inverted descent. The pilot was unable to right the airplane, and it fell out of control for before Gray was able to parachute to safety. The aircraft was destroyed.  The second XP-55 (S/N 42-78846) was similar to the first but with a slightly larger nose elevator, modified elevator tab systems, and a change from balance tabs to spring tabs on the ailerons. It flew for the first time on 9 January 1944. All flight tests were restricted so that the stall zone was avoided.  The third XP-55 (S/N 42-78847) flew for the first time on 25 April 1944. It was fitted with four machine guns, and incorporated some of the ideas learned from the loss of the first XP-55. It was found that the aircraft's stall characteristics could be greatly improved by the addition of four-foot wingtip extensions, and by increasing the limits of the nose elevator travel. Between 16 September and 2 October 1944, the second XP-55 (42-78846), which had been modified to the same standards as the third aircraft, underwent official USAAF flight trials.  The performance of the XP-55 was not very impressive and was often inferior to that of more conventional fighter aircraft already in service. In addition, by 1944 jet-powered fighter aircraft were already well along in development and there was no further development of the XP-55.  The third prototype XP-55 (s/n 42-78847) was lost on 27 May 1945 during the closing day of the Seventh War Bond Air Show at the Army Air Forces Fair at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. After a low pass in formation with a Lockheed P-38 Lightning and a North American P-51 Mustang on each wing, its pilot, William C. Glasgow, attempted a slow roll, but lost altitude and crashed, sending flaming debris into occupied civilian ground vehicles on a highway near the airfield. The crash killed Glasgow and four civilians on the ground.

The Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender (company designation CW-24) is a 1940s United States prototype fighter aircraft built by Curtiss-Wright. Along with the Vultee XP-54 and Northrop XP-56, it resulted from United States Army Air Corps proposal R-40C issued on 27 November 1939 for aircraft with improved performance, armament, and pilot visibility over existing fighters; it specifically allowed for unconventional aircraft designs. A highly unusual design for its time, it had a canard configuration, a rear-mounted engine, swept wings, and two vertical tails. Because of its pusher design, it was sarcastically referred to as the "Ass-ender". Like the XP-54, the Ascender was initially designed for the Pratt & Whitney X-1800 engine and had to be redesigned when that engine project was canceled. It was also the first Curtiss fighter aircraft to use tricycle landing gear.


Family.

She was born a Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, in the city of Schwerin, Germany. Her father was Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; her mother was Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia, a granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. She was a paternal first cousin of Juliana of the Netherlands. Her mother was a paternal first cousin of Princess Irina Alexandrovna of Russia, the wife of Felix Yusupov, one of the murderers of Rasputin.

Marriage and issue.

Duchess Alexandrine married Prince Christian of Denmark on 26 April 1898, in Cannes, France, when she was 18 years old. They had two children:  She died in Copenhagen as Dowager Queen of Denmark in 1952 and is interred next to her husband in Roskilde Cathedral.  The only brother of Queen Alexandrine was Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, while her only sister was Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, wife of German Crown Prince William, eldest son of German Emperor William II.

Queenship.

In 1902, the couple were given Marselisborg Palace, and the garden was to become one of her greatest interests. Alexandrine became crown princess in 1906 and queen in 1912. She is not considered to have played any political role, but is described as being a loyal support to her spouse.  She was interested in music, and acted as the protector of the musical societies "Musikforeningen i København" and "Den danske Richard Wagnerforening". She was known for her needlework, which she sold for charitable purposes. After the death of her mother-in-law Louise of Sweden in 1926, she succeeded her as the official protector of the various charity organisations founded by Louise. She enjoyed golf and photography. During World War I, she founded "Dronningens Centralkomité af 1914" ("The Queen's Central Committee of 1914") to the support of poor families.  She survived the 1918 flu pandemic.  The couple was given great popularity as national symbols during the World War II occupation, which was demonstrated during a tour through the country in 1946. Before the occupation, she and her daughter-in-law were engaged in mobilising the Danish women. Her rejection of General Kaupisch on 9 April 1940 became a symbol for her loyalty toward Denmark before her birth country Germany. When the General of the occupation forces first asked for an audience with the monarch, Christian was persuaded to receive him by his daughter-in-law as he would any other, which was supported by Alexandrine. He asked to do so alone, but Alexandrine told him she would interrupt them. When the General was about to leave, she came in; and when he greeted her, she said: "General, this is not the circumstance in which I expected to greet a countryman." It was reported, that although Alexandrine was seen as shy and disliked official ceremonies, she had a "sharp" intelligence, and she was, together with her daughter-in-law, Ingrid of Sweden, a true support of the monarch and a driving force for the resistance toward the occupation within the royal house. It was also reported, that in contrast to the monarch himself and the Crown Prince, the Queen and the Crown Princess never lost their calm when the nation was attacked. As she was not the Head of the Royal House, she could show herself in public more than her spouse, who did not wish to show support to the occupation by being seen in public, and she used this to engage in various organisations for social relief to ease the difficulties caused by the occupation. Kaj Munk is quoted to describe the public appreciation of her during World War II with his comment: "Protect our Queen, the only German we would like to keep!"  In 1947, she was widowed; she became the first queen dowager of Denmark to opt not to use that title.

Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (24 December 1879 – 28 December 1952) was Queen of Denmark as the spouse of King Christian X. She was also Queen of Iceland (where the name was officially Alexandría) from 1 December 1918 to 17 June 1944.


Foundation.

GUE is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization formed to promote education, conservation, and exploration of the aquatic realm. The organization was formed by Jarrod Jablonski and a small group of educators, explorers, and diving instructors. The founding members sought to build upon the history of the Cousteau Society by creating a diverse network of satellite organizations. In this way, local advocates help GUE establish detailed diver training, vibrant exploration, and sustainable conservation initiatives. When GUE was formed it was co-located with Extreme Exposure dive store. However, Extreme Exposure has subsequently changed locations, which has allowed for further growth of GUE.

Board of Directors.

The GUE board of directors includes The Explorers Club fellow Jarrod Jablonski, entrepreneur Robert Carmichael, researcher Todd Kincaid, Corey Jablonski, Gideon Liew, Richard Lundgren, and Sam Meacham.

Training.

Among the diving community, GUE is known for a rigorous style of training that diverges from other diver training organizations and seeks to establish high levels of diver proficiency by extending training time, establishing objective performance criteria, and requiring requalification among its instructors and divers. GUE diver training started with technical cave and technical diving classes, expanding into recreational training while refining its most popular class known as GUE Fundamentals. GUE also adheres to a standardized equipment and procedural system, which it claims enhances diver safety and efficiency by reducing confusion and helping divers act as a team. This latter training component is a controversial aspect of GUE training, as it stipulates a fairly strict set of guiding principles. GUE's founder, Jarrod Jablonski, was a long-time proponent of a standardized system known as Hogarthian diving and also a key architect in the Doing It Right (DIR) system, which extends the scope of standardized diving equipment and procedures.  In February 2016, the British Sub-Aqua Club confirmed that a review has been completed on how to integrate GUE divers into BSAC branches.

Courses.

As of May 2017, GUE offered 26 courses in four subject areas.

EUF Certification.

GUE obtained CEN certification from the EUF certification body in 2013 for the following diver grades:

WKPP.

The best known of GUE's satellite organizations is the Woodville Karst Plain Project (WKPP), which is a non-profit affiliate of GUE. GUE members are engaged in science and exploration projects conducted by the WKPP. This collaboration helped encourage the state of Florida to budget more than 200 million dollars toward the development of enhanced wastewater treatment practices as means to enhance ground water protection and support the conservation of Wakulla Springs State Park. GUE has launched a global conservation project known as Project Baseline to document the condition of global aquatic environments.

Outreach.

Some of the organization's notable outreach projects have included: GUE instructors regularly host "Introduction to GUE" workshops aimed at promoting the Global Underwater Explorers approach to diving.

Publications.

GUE publishes a quarterly journal, "Quest", as well as a number of books and videos related to their philosophy of diving. These are generally available through their website, other online retailers and bookshops.  GUE also began publishing annual reports in 2016 to provide the public with a better overview of community dive projects, Project Baseline activities, and GUE training and operational information.

Global Underwater Explorers (GUE) is a scuba diving organization that provides education within recreational, technical, and cave diving. It is a nonprofit membership organization based in High Springs, Florida, United States.


History.

First church.

The first church on the site was dedicated around 1125 to Paul the Hermit, who had been buried in the Egyptian desert by Anthony the Great; it was in effect the cemetery chapel to the monastery of Saint-Éloi, founded by monks of saint Eloi of Noyon and Dagobert I. This monastery was on the site of what is now the parvise of the Palais de Justice. From there, bodies were carried in procession from the monastic community to the cemetery. Madame de Sévigné was baptised in this building in 1626, in the first chapel of Saint-Louis. The monastic cemetery was later forgotten, though the church retained a dedication to a saint Paul (albeit Paul of Tarsus not Paul of Thebes) up to the present day.

Construction.

The first stone of the present building was laid by Louis XIII in 1627 for the Jesuits in the same street as the old chapel of St Paul. Its first name was 'église Saint-Louis de la maison professe des Jésuites', in reference to the Maison Professe des Jésuites attached to it.  Its design included traditional French elements as well as others inspired by Italy. In effect, as André Chastel put it, "the Jesuit order, even while recommending certain aspects, was attentive to local traditions." Also, it can easily be compared to the Gesu in Rome, though it is longer and wider than that church. Its plan is a compromise between the Gesu's single nave flanked by side chapels and the traditional French cruciform plan, as is to be seen in its long transepts. The tall windows in these prominent transepts and the short eastern apse allow in large amounts of light, and the dome under the crossing also recalls Italian architecture of a slightly earlier period, such as that of Carlo Maderno. In contrast, the high proportions (the dome is 55 metres high) are more comparable to French Gothic architecture.  The façade is also Italian but with French Gothic verticality and Dutch high ornamentation. Its main inspiration was the 1618 façade of the église Saint-Gervais-Saint-Protais de Paris by Salomon de Brosse, which has the same design of three bays with two levels on the side bays and three levels for the central bay, highlighted by a projection and doubled columns. It uses Corinthian columns on the two lower levels and composite order columns on the rest.

17th century.

The first mass was celebrated in the new building on 9 May 1641 (the feast of the Ascension) by cardinal Richelieu, with the oremuses pronounced by Bossuet. The famous Jesuit preacher Louis Bourdaloue preached some of his memorable sermons in the church, for Lent and Advent, between 1669 (the date of his first sermon) and 1693. He also preached his memorable funeral sermon for the Grand Condé in the church in 1687, whilst Bossuet and Fléchier also preached here.  Jean-Jacques Olier (founder of the Prêtres de Saint-Sulpice) was baptised in the church on 20 September 1608 and Louis Bourdaloue is buried in the church's crypt. Between 1688 and 1698, Marc-Antoine Charpentier was employed by the Jesuits and was master of music in the church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis. Other masters of music there included André Campra and Louis Marchand. Jacques de Létin painted "The Death of Saint Louis" for the church, which can still be seen here.

1700 to present.

When the Parlement de Paris suppressed the Jesuits in 1762, the building was reassigned to the canons of Sainte-Catherine-du-Val-des-Ecoliers. On 2 September 1792, 5 priests were killed in the church during the September Massacres, as is commemorated by a commemorative plaque. The church was also converted to the Cult of Reason and the Supreme Being during the French Revolution, before being restored to Catholicism in 1802 due to the Concordat of 1801.  The white marble was moved and rebuilt under Louis-Philippe I with fragments from Napoleon's tomb at Les Invalides. The church was later renamed the 'église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis' in memory of the church of Saint-Paul, which had been demolished in 1796. On 15 February 1843, Léopoldine Hugo secretly married Charles Vacquerie in the church; her father Victor Hugo offered the church two clam-shell holy water holders to mark the occasion, still to be seen in the church.  Delacroix painted "Christ in agony on the Mount of Olives" for the church, which can still be seen here to the left of the altar. The church is currently displaying a placeholder as the original is on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The church also houses by Germain Pilon (1586). On one pillar on the right side of the nave is a nearly-erased inscription 'République française ou la mort' (French Republic or death), probably dating to the Paris Commune of 1871.  The casing of the church's grand tribune organ was classified as a historic monument in 1867 and four years later (in 1871) its pipes were replaced by Martin. The whole organ was restored in 1972 by Danion-Gonzalez and now has 3 keyboards with 56 notes and a pedal board with 30 notes, along with electric transmissions and 40 pipes (of which 33 are reels). The choir organ is by Krischer and dates to the 19th century, with two keyboards of 56 notes, a pedal board of 30 notes, mechanical transmissions and 13 pipes.

Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis is a church on rue Saint-Antoine in the Marais quarter of Paris. The present building was constructed from 1627 to 1641 by the Jesuit architects Étienne Martellange and François Derand, on the orders of Louis XIII of France. It gives its name to Place Saint-Paul and its nearest Metro station, Saint-Paul.


Early life and education.

Herz was born in 1934 in Kežmarok, in modern-day Slovakia, to Jewish parents. He was a Holocaust survivor, having been imprisoned at the Ravensbrück concentration camp during his childhood. After attending secondary school in Bratislava, he studied photography at the city's University of Applied Arts, going on to study directing and puppetry at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU) alongside Jan Švankmajer. He remained in Prague after he completed his studies to work at the Semafor Theatre and Barrandov Studios.

Film career.

Herz was self-taught as a film director. His first experience working on films was as second-unit director under Zbyněk Brynych ("Transport from Paradise"; 1962) and Ján Kadár ("The Shop on Main Street"; 1965). Because he had attended DAMU rather than its sister film school, FAMU, Herz was initially not part of the core group of directors who would form the Czechoslovak New Wave. His 1965 short film "The Junk Shop" was excluded from the group's manifesto anthology "Pearls of the Deep" (1966) due to its running time.  Herz made his breakthrough with his 1969 film, "The Cremator", based on a novel by Ladislav Fuks, starring Czech actor Rudolf Hrušínský as a demented crematorium manager who collaborates with the Nazis during World War II. The film was selected as the Czechoslovak entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 42nd Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. In 1972, it won the Festival de Cine de Sitges Best Film award, as well as awards for Hrušínský and cinematographer Stanislav Milota. Immediately banned by Communist censors after its premiere, "The Cremator" was not seen again in Czechoslovakia until after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, but achieved wide international acclaim and cult status. It was re-released in 2017. The film combined horror and black comedy, and is often cited as one of the best movies ever made in Czechoslovakia.  The following year saw "Sweet Games of Last Summer", an expressionist adaptation of Guy de Maupassant.  Herz was best known for his work in the horror genre; he was one of the few Czechoslovak film directors working horror films during the Communist period. His other horror works included 1972 murder drama "Morgiana" and a gothic re-interpretation of the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" () in 1978. Herz's 1971 drama "Oil Lamps" () was in competition for the Palme D'Or at the 1972 Cannes Film Festival. Herz's 1976 film "Day for My Love", a drama about the death of a child, was entered into the 27th Berlin International Film Festival.  His 1982 movie "Ferat Vampire" (), a horror movie about a murderous Ferat sports car fuelled on human blood, starred Jiří Menzel and future first lady Dagmar Havlová. In 1986 Herz released "The Night Overtakes Me", a tragic drama about his experiences in the concentration camp.  Herz emigrated to Germany in 1987. His last major films were paranormal thriller "Darkness" (; 2009), and "Habermann" (2010), a war drama about the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II.

Death.

Herz died in Prague on 8 April 2018, aged 83. His death was announced on Facebook by Slovak actor Andrej Hryc, a long-time collaborator of Herz's.

Juraj Herz (4 September 1934 – 8 April 2018) was a Slovak film director, actor, and scene designer, associated with the Czechoslovak New Wave movement of the 1960s. He is best known for his 1968 horror/black comedy "The Cremator", often cited as one of the best Czechoslovak films of all time, though many of his other films achieved cult status. He directed for both film and television, and in the latter capacity he directed episodes of a French-Czech television series based on George Simenon's Maigret novels.


Life.

John earned his nicknames "John the Good" and "The Scourge of the English" for his efforts in helping drive out the English from France.  He was made constable of France in 1483 by his brother Peter and sister-in-law Anne, to neutralize him as a threat to their regency.  In an effort to win discontented nobles back to his side, Louis XI of France made great efforts to give out magnificent gifts to certain individuals; John was a recipient of these overtures. According to contemporary chronicles, the King received John in Paris with "honours, caresses, pardon, and gifts; everything was lavished upon him". In further attempts to gain the nobles' favor, the King proposed a match between his eldest legitimized daughter Marguerite to John's eldest illegitimate son Louis de Bourbon. The marriage was celebrated in Paris with royal magnificence and the wedded couple were heaped with honors and wealth by the King. It has been said despite all of his brilliant marriages, nothing flattered John more than this particular marriage between his natural son and a legitimized daughter of the King.  John is notable for making three brilliant alliances but leaving no legitimate issue.

First Marriage.

In 1447, his father, the Duke of Bourbon, had John married to a daughter of Charles VII, King of France, Joan of Valois. They were duly married at the Château de Moulins. They had no surviving issue.

Second marriage.

In 1484 at St. Cloud to Catherine of Armagnac, daughter of Jacques of Armagnac, Duke of Nemours, who died in 1487 while giving birth to:

Third marriage.

In 1487 he married Jeanne of Bourbon-Vendôme, daughter of John of Bourbon, Count of Vendôme (from a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon), by whom he had one son:

Illegitimate issue.

By Louise of Albret (- 8 September 1494):  By Marguerite de Brunant:  By unknown women:

Death and aftermath.

John died in 1488 at the Château de Moulins and was succeeded by his younger brother Charles. However, this succession was strongly contested due to the political strength of Peter and Anne. Within a span of days, Charles was forced to renounce his claims to the Bourbon lands to Peter in exchange for a financial settlement. John's widow Jeanne would later remarry to John III, Count of Auvergne and by him she became the mother of Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne, the mother of Catherine de Medici.

Jean (John) de Bourbon, Duke of Bourbon (1426 – 1 April 1488), sometimes referred to as John the Good and The Scourge of the English, was a son of Charles I of Bourbon and Agnes of Burgundy. He was Duke of Bourbon and Auvergne from 1456 to his death.


Early life and education.

Vilma Espín Guillois was born on 7 April 1930, in Santiago de Cuba. She was the daughter of a wealthy Cuban lawyer, Jose Espín and wife Margarita Guillois. She had four siblings, Nilsa, Iván, Sonia and José. Espín attended Academia Pérez-Peña for primary school and studied ballet and singing at the Asociación Pro-Arte Cubano during the 1940s. In the 1950s, she studied chemical engineering at Universidad de Oriente, Santiago de Cuba (one of the first women in Cuba to study this subject). After graduating, her father encouraged her to attend MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts to complete her post-graduate studies in the hopes that visiting America would dissuade her from becoming involved in socialist activity. When she finally acquiesced, her brief academic career at MIT left her with even more animosity toward the United States, as she officially joined the 26th of July Movement on her way back to Cuba through Mexico.

Family.

Espín was married to Raúl Castro, the current First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, who is the brother to former First Secretary Fidel Castro. Their wedding took place only weeks after the 26th of July Movement successfully overthrew dictator Fulgencio Batista. She had four children (Deborah, Mariela, Nilsa, and Alejandro Castro Espín) and eight grandchildren. Her daughter, Mariela Castro, currently heads the Cuban National Center for Sex Education, and her son, Alejandro Castro Espín, is a Colonel in the Ministry of Interior.

Role in the Cuban revolution.

Returning home, she became more involved with the opposition to the dictator Fulgencio Batista. A meeting with revolutionary leader Frank País led her to become a leader of the revolutionary movement in Oriente province. Espín met the Castro brothers who had relocated to Mexico after their failed armed attack on the Moncada Barracks. Espin acted as a messenger between the Julio 26 Movement in Mexico and Pais back in Cuba. She then went on to assist the revolutionaries in the Sierra Maestra mountains after the 26th of July Movement's return to Cuba on the Granma yacht.  Espín's ability to speak both Spanish and English allowed her to represent the revolutionary movement on an international scale. Pepín Bosch, an executive of the Bacardi Corporation, arranged a meeting between CIA Inspector General Lyman Kirkpatrick and representatives of the 26th of July Movement in 1957. Espín, as both a revolutionary leader and the daughter of a Bacardi executive, told Kirkpatrick that the revolutionaries only wanted "what you Americans have: clean politics and a clean police system." She also acted as an interpreter for an interview between New York Times reporter Herbert Matthews and Fidel Castro in 1957, which served the dual purpose of spreading news of the revolution and assuring Cubans and the international community that Batista's claims of Castro's death were false.

Role in the Federation of Cuban Women.

Vilma Espín was an outspoken supporter of gender equality in Cuba. Her involvement in the revolution helped transform the role of women in Cuba and in 1960, Espín became the president of the Federation of Cuban Women, and remained in that position until her death in 2007. The organization's primary goals were educating women, giving them the necessary skills to seek gainful employment, and above all encouraging them to participate in politics and support the revolutionary government. In 1960, when sugar mills and cane fields were under attack across Cuba shortly before the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Federation of Cuban Women created the Emergency Medical Response Brigades to mobilize women against counter-revolution. The Cuban government and the Federation encouraged women to join the labor force, even going so far as to pass the Cuban Family Code in 1975, a law mandating that men must help with household chores and childcare to lighten the workload for working mothers.

Role in the Cuban government.

Espín served as a member of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party from 1965 to 1989. She also held many other roles in the Cuban government, including chair of the Commission for Social Prevention from 1967 to 1971, director of Industrial Development in the Ministry of Food in 1969, president of the Institute of Childcare in 1971, and member of the Cuban Council of State in 1976. In addition to her roles within Cuba, Espín also served as Cuba's representative at the United Nations General Assembly.  Espín took on the role of Cuba's First Lady for 45 years, initially taking on the role as the sister-in-law to Fidel Castro, who was divorced at the time he came to power. She officially became the First Lady in 2006 when her husband, Raúl Castro, became president.  Espín headed the Cuban Delegation to the Congress of the International Federation of Democratic Women in Chile in September 1959. She also headed the Cuban delegations to subsequent Conferences on Women, praising them as "invaluable to women in developing countries."

Death and legacy.

Espín died in Havana at 4:14 p.m. EDT on 18 June 2007, following a long illness. An official mourning-period was declared from 8 p.m. on 18 June until 10 p.m. on 19 June. A funeral ceremony was held at the Karl Marx Theatre in Havana the day after her death, and the Cuban government released a statement praising her as "one of the most relevant fighters for women's emancipation in our country and in the world." Her body was cremated, and her remains rest in the Frank País Mausoleum, Municipio II Frente in the province of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.  The Vilma Espín elementary school was opened in Havana in April of 2013.

Vilma Lucila Espín Guillois (7 April 1930 – 18 June 2007) was a Cuban revolutionary, feminist, and chemical engineer. She helped supply and organize the 26th of July Movement as an underground spy, and took an active role in many branches of the Cuban government from the conclusion of the revolution to her death. As an adamant feminist, Espín helped found the Federation of Cuban Women and promoted equal rights for Cuban women in all spheres of life.


History.

Sedlec Abbey was founded in 1142 from Waldsassen Abbey in Sedlec as the first Cistercian monastery in Bohemia. The grounds covered by wood and swamp were granted by Miroslav, House of Wartenberg. It flourished under abbot, due to silver mining in the region.  The abbey was burnt in April 1421 by Hussites led by Jan Žižka, and many monks were killed. The library had been secured shortly before to the Stift Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria. A few monks returned, but it took until 1620 to revive the monastery. It flourished once more after the Thirty Years' War, when several buildings were erected or remodeled. The abbey was dissolved in 1783.

Buildings.

The abbey was originally built in Romanesque style. It was remodel in Gothic style between 1280 and 1320. After the destruction by the Hussites, the buildings were reconstructed at the beginning of the 18th century.  The abbey church was dedicated to the Assumption of Mary and St. John. It was built as a basilica with five naves between 1280 and 1330. Destroyed in 1421, it was rebuilt from 1699 to 1707 after designs by and Johann Blasius Santini-Aichel. Another restoration, trying to preserve the original appearance, was performed from 1854 to 1857.  The chapel "Kostel Všech svatých" (All Saints' Chapel), next to the cemetery, was run from 1389 by a Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre. The building dates to around 1400, was rebuilt several times and remodeled in Baroque style in 1710 by Santini-Aichel. It holds in its basement the Sedlec Ossuary.

Sedlec Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Sedlec, part of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1142, it was the first Cistercian foundation in Bohemia. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.


Biography.

In 1355, Margaret of Flanders married Philip of Rouvres, grandson and heir of Odo IV, Duke of Burgundy. Philip was Count of Burgundy and Artois (1347–1361), Duke of Burgundy (1350–1361), and became Count of Auvergne and Boulogne (1360–1361).  Following Philip's death from a riding accident in 1361, Margaret was widowed and had no issue by him. King John II of France then claimed the Duchy of Burgundy for the kingdom of France. In 1364, Philip the Bold, King John's youngest son, was granted the duchy, and subsequently married Margaret. Margaret's second marriage to Philip the Bold took place in 1369.  When Margaret's father, the Count of Flanders, died in 1384, she and Philip inherited the counties of Artois, Burgundy, Flanders, Nevers, and Rethel. Philip died in 1404, and Margaret died the following year. With her death, the House of Dampierre came to an end, and the County of Flanders lost its (relative) independence to Burgundy. It came under the rule of her son, John the Fearless, and later to the House of Habsburg.

Issue.

Margaret and Philip had the following children:

Legacy.

The main line of the House of Dampierre ended with Margaret III. The Dampierres, originally only counts of Flanders, had through a clever marriage policy managed to inherit the counties of Nevers (1280) and Rethel (1328). Through her grandmother, a daughter of King Philip V of France, the counties of Artois and Burgundy (the "Franche Comté") were added to this (1382). These lands were to provide the core of the dominions of the House of Valois-Burgundy, which were, together with the Duchy of Burgundy, to provide them with a power base to challenge the rule of their cousins, the Valois kings of France in the 15th century.  Her eldest son, John the Fearless, succeeded her husband in 1404 as Duke of Burgundy and her as Count of Burgundy, Count of Artois, and Count of Flanders. In 1406 her younger son Anthony inherited Brabant and Limburg. Nevers and Rethel were at first, in her lifetime, given to her eldest sons John (Nevers) and Anthony (Rethel), but after John's accession to the duchy, Nevers went to her youngest son Philip. Rethel was given to Philip in 1402 when it became clear that Anthony would inherit Brabant.

Residences.

In Burgundy, the Château de Germolles, offered to Margaret of Flanders by Philip the Bold in 1381, was transformed by the Duchess of Burgundy into a sumptuous country estate. It was a large rectangular building, surrounded by a moat, that enclosed a courtyard. The south and east wings contained the living apartments, while the west wing held the reception rooms. Margaret, being energetic and a country lover, decided to develop at the estate some rustic activities that would create a pleasant environment around this favourite residence of hers, as well as developing local agriculture and providing some income for the maintenance of the domain. Thus, she planted a large rose garden, and the petals were sent to Flanders to be used to make rose water. Largely preserved, the Château is today one of the best examples of the princely residences in France at the end of the Middle Ages.

Margaret III (13 April 1350 – 16/21 March 1405) was the last Countess of Flanders of the House of Dampierre, as well as Countess of Artois and Countess of Burgundy (as Margaret II). She was the only surviving child and heir of Louis II, Count of Flanders (1346–1384) and Margaret of Brabant.


Description.

It grows to tall, rarely up to. The habit is variably upright to sprawling or prostrate, but stems are often ascending especially those stems with many long branches. The bark of older stems is shreddy with long thin strips. The plants are densely leafy, the leaves divided into five or seven (occasionally three or nine) pinnate leaflets. The leaflets are linear-oblong, long, with entire margins and more or less acute ends. The foliage (both leaves and young stems) is pubescent, variably covered in fine silky, silvery hairs about 1 mm long. The flowers are produced terminally on the stems and are cm across, buttercup-shaped, with five petals and 15–25 stamens; the petals are pale to bright yellow (orange to reddish in some western Chinese populations). The fruit is a cluster of achenes covered with long hairs. The species is variably dioecious or bisexual; flowering is typically from early to late summer. It is normally found growing in moisture-retentive soils in swamps and rocky areas.

Taxonomy.

There are two subspecies:  Numerous varieties have been described from Asia, some of which have not yet been published under the genus "Dasiphora", and others in that genus only as distinct species. These include "Potentilla fruticosa" var. "albicans" Rehd. & Wils., "P. f." var. "arbuscula" (D.Don) Maxim. (syn. "Dasiphora arbuscula" (D.Don) Soják), "P. f." var. "dahurica" (Nestl.) Ser. (syn. "Dasiphora dahurica" (Nestl.) Komarov), "P. f." var. "pumila" J.D.Hooker, "P. f." var. "mandschurica" (Maxim.) Wolf (syn. "Dasiphora mandshurica" (Maxim.) Juz.), and "P. f." var. "unifoliolata" Ludlow (syn. "Dasiphora unifoliolata" (Ludlow) Soják). The varieties "D. f." var. "monticola" Rydb. and "D. f." var. "tenuiloba" Rydb. have been described from western North America, but are not widely accepted as distinct.

Cultivation and decorative uses.

Shrubby cinquefoil is a popular ornamental plant in temperate regions. Different cultivars are variable with flowers ranging from white to yellow, orange and pink, but they are all hardy plants that produce flowers for much of the summer. The flowers are always small, flat, and round, but there are many dozens on each bush. It is very often used by cities and businesses for landscaping because of its hardiness and low maintenance. It was introduced into cultivation in the 18th century, but many of the modern cultivars, particularly those with orange or red flowers, derive from collections by Reginald Farrer in western China in the early 20th century. The vast majority of sellers and gardeners still use the old name "Potentilla fruticosa".  All the characteristics of small leaves, delicate flowers, and orange to brown flaky bark make the shrubby cinquefoil suitable for Bonsai. It is very popular in Japan and is gaining popularity in Europe.

Cultivars.

Below is a recommended selection of over 130 cultivars which have been named. Those marked have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Dasiphora fruticosa is a species of hardy deciduous flowering shrub in the family Rosaceae, native to the cool temperate and subarctic regions of the northern hemisphere, often growing at high altitudes in mountains. "Dasiphora fruticosa" is a disputed name, and the plant is still widely referenced in the horticultural literature under its synonym "Potentilla fruticosa". Common names include shrubby cinquefoil, golden hardhack, bush cinquefoil, shrubby five-finger, tundra rose, and widdy.


History.

Beginning: 1985-1995.

Paul Reed Smith set up a partnership to create a factory in Annapolis, Maryland. and set off work on producing guitars. The company's first outing was for the 1985 NAMM Show where they debuted the PRS Custom. Featuring a mahogany neck set into a mahogany body with a maple cap, a patented vibrato, customized tuning pegs, and custom rotary pickup switching with high quality electronics, the guitar represented influences from both old and new; something striking in the midst of an industry that was producing “high tech” guitars. “I saw Adrian Belew on King Crimson’s "Beat" tour in 1982,” says Smith, “and the sound he was getting out of his guitar was on another planet somewhere. He let me rebuild his Ibanez Blazer. I put in our whole tuning-peg/bridge system and a new electronic system with an Alembic Stratoblaster pre-amp. It sounded unbelievable. Right then I decided that I wanted to put those sounds on a humbucking guitar, which is when I went back to the rotary switch and redesigned it for humbuckers.” After three years the company employed 45 people producing 15 guitars per day.

Construction.

Hardware.

Nuts are synthetic and tuners are of PRS's own design, although some models feature Korean-made Kluson-style tuners. PRS guitars feature three original bridge designs: a one-piece pre-intonated stoptail, a vibrato, and a wrapover tailpiece. The Vibrato was designed with the help of guitar engineer John Mann. It was an update on the classic Fender vibrato and used cam-locking tuners, which offered wide pitch bending with exceptional tuning stability.

Pickups.

Pickups are designed and wound in-house. While most of the pickups are humbuckers, some are actually a pair of single coils wound in opposing directions, one intended for the neck and one for the bridge position. Through the use of a unique rotary pickup selector switch, PRS pickups offer 5 different sounds: a combination of thick humbucking Gibson-like tones, and chimey single-coil Stratocaster-like tones. The standard treble and standard bass pick ups use magnetic pole pieces in the non-adjustable inner coil, and a rear-placed feeder magnet in order to achieve a more authentic single-coil tone when split by the rotary switch  PRS developed pickups for the aggressive rock market, offering pick ups such as the chainsaw, and the Hot-Fat-Screams (HFS) initially used on the Special model.  In 1998, an electronic upgrade kit was released for pre-1993 instruments which included lighter-weight tuner buttons, nickel-plated brass screws for saddles and intonation, a simulated tone control, and high-capacitance hookup wire. In 2012, PRS released the 408 pickups used on the 408 and Paul's Guitar models. These pickups include innovations that feature no loss of volume when in coil split mode. They have an exclusive agreement to use wire drawn from the same machine that made wire for Les Paul and Stratocaster pickups in the 1950s.  Certain models of PRS Guitars have also used pickups by Lindy Fralin, notably in the EG II and certain specs of the Custom 22.

Models.

In 1985 Paul Reed Smith started producing factory made guitars, which later on known as PRS Standard.  In 1988 Paul Reed Smith introduced its more affordable Bolt-On series known as classic electric(CE models,) which discontinued in 2009. In 2016, the CE line was put back in production.  In 1990, PRS EG was introduced as company's first 22-fret guitar. Later on in the more successful 1992 PRS EG II was introduced, which includes PRS's first lefty guitar.  In 1992 PRS introduced the Dragon 1 model. Only 50 units were produced. It featured an intricate dragon inlay which ran down the finger board, a wide 22 fret neck, and a non-vibrato Stop-tail bridge and a new pick up design. The changes in design from previous models added a noticeable tonal improvement which led the company to use the same characteristics in later models such as the PRS Custom 22. The Dragon 2 was released in 1993, and the Dragon 3 in 1994. Both featured dragon inlays which became more extreme with every year. Only 100 of each of the 2 models were made. In 1999 PRS released the Dragon 2000, which featured complex body curves, and a 3 dimensional dragon inlay. Just 50 Dragon 2000's were ever produced.  In 1994, Paul Reed Smith collaborated with Ted McCarty and launched the "McCarty" Series. The McCarty series offers a more vintage feeling and sounding PRS Guitar.  PRS introduced a more affordable line of guitars in 2000 referred to as the "SE" which are manufactured in Korea by World Musical Instrument Co. Ltd. for the electrics and Wildwood for the acoustics. PRS produces a large range of models in the SE series including the Custom 24, SE245, SE Kestrel and Kingfisher bass guitars as well as signature guitars such as the Bernie Marsden, Tremonti, Zach Myers and Santana amongst others. They also intro their Singlecut models in 2001.  PRS introduces a range of amplifiers and acoustic guitars in 2009.  In 2013, PRS added the S2 Series and in February 2018 PRS began producing a Silver Sky model based on two of John Mayer's favourite guitars from the 1960s.  In 2019, PRS announced three SE signature models: PRS SE Santana Singlecut Trem, PRS SE Paul's Guitar, and PRS SE Schizoid.

Legal challenge.

In 2001, PRS released their Singlecut model, which resembled the traditional Les Paul. Gibson Guitar Corporation filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the owner, Paul Reed Smith. An injunction was ordered that required PRS to stop manufacturing of the Singlecut at the end of 2004. Federal District Court Judge William J. Haynes, then ruled the Singlecut was an imitation of the Gibson Les Paul. However, in 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed the lower court decision and ordered the dismissal of Gibson's suit and PRS resumed production.  While no changes to the design of the Singlecut occurred as a result of the lawsuit, some Singlecut owners and sellers have adopted the term 'pre-lawsuit' to differentiate their Singlecut guitar from others.

Paul Reed Smith Guitars, also known as PRS Guitars, is an American guitar and amplifier manufacturer located in Stevensville, Maryland. Founded in 1985 in Annapolis, Maryland by Paul Reed Smith, the brand has become renowned for their highly figured maple tops, high quality craftsmanship, and innovative guitar designs.


William Frederick, Prince of Nassau-Dietz

Biography.

Family life.

William Frederick was the second son of Ernest Casimir I, Count of Nassau-Dietz and Sophia Hedwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He married Countess Albertine Agnes of Nassau, the fifth daughter of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange on 2 May 1652 in Cleves. They had three children: The fact that his wife was only the fifth daughter of Frederick Henry, and that they were married after the death of her father, would later take on a special significance in the quarrel about the inheritance of the title of Prince of Orange after the death of William III of England in 1702. This was because Frederick Henry had made a provision in his will that if his male line would die out (which was the case with William III) the title of Prince of Orange would be inherited by the male issue of the line of his elder daughter Louise Henriette of Nassau. This might even have been the case without this provision, had William III not himself left the inheritance to the descendants of William Frederick in his will. The inheritance therefore came down to a clash of testaments, with the outcome that both claimants eventually took the title and divided the material inheritance. William Frederick was a paternal grandson of John VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, a younger brother of his wife's paternal grandfather William the Silent. When John died in 1606 his inheritance was divided among his five sons, one of which was William Frederick's father Ernest Casimir, who received the title of Count of Nassau-Dietz and followed his eldest brother William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg as Stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe in 1620. William Frederick inherited the Nassau-Dietz possessions, the county of Diez and the county of Spiegelberg (near Lauenstein) from his elder brother Henry Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz, who died childless in 1640.

Career.

As a second son, William Frederick did not seem destined for the career he eventually would follow. He studied at Leiden University and the University of Groningen and subsequently took a commission in the army of the Dutch Republic, like his male ancestors and his brother. As such he was a junior partner of his future father in law and brother in law William II, Prince of Orange. However, his elder brother died in action near Hulst in 1640. As Henry Casimir was unmarried, and did not have children, William Frederick inherited his titles.  However, as the office of stadtholder was not yet hereditary, William Frederick only managed to be appointed in Friesland. The stadtholdership in Groningen and Drenthe went to Frederick Henry, not without a struggle with William Frederick, however. After Frederick Henry's death in 1647 William II succeeded his father also in these two provinces as stadtholder. Only when William II died in 1650, just a week before his son William III was born, did William Frederick obtain the stadtholdership in the other two provinces also.  At that time he might have obtained the stadtholdership in the five other provinces (Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel) also. After all, the stadtholderate was an appointive office. The elder branch of the Nassau family might have "first claim" to the office, but as the "claimant" was a newborn babe (William III), such a claim was not to be taken seriously. Yet, to avoid a quarrel with the members of that elder branch (William II's widow and mother) William Frederick did not press his personal claim, but offered to serve as lieutenant-stadtholder in the five provinces until the infant William III would come of age.  He might have been taken up on that offer, except for the events that preceded the death of William II. William had performed a military coup d'état against the States of Holland in the course of a quarrel about military policy. William Frederick had played a key role in that coup by leading the attempt to seize the city of Amsterdam by force in August, 1650. Though the attempted seizure was unsuccessful, the coup had not been. However, after William's death (Nov 1650) the Holland Regents seized their chance to revert to the "status quo ante". They decided to leave the stadtholdership vacant in their province, followed by the four other provinces in which William had been stadtholder, thus inaugurating the First Stadtholderless Period. Because of his role in the coup William Frederick was politically unacceptable, not just as a stand-in for William III, but also on his own account.  The office of stadtholder was a provincial office. On the federal level William II had fulfilled the office of Captain general of the Union, like his father and uncle before him. William Frederick again would normally have been in line for this office (after all, he was a stadtholder in his own right), except for the same political awkwardness that blocked his appointment to stadtholder in Holland. Again he offered himself as lieutenant-captain-general (the function Marlborough would fulfil in England after 1702), but again the Regents decided to leave the function vacant. William Frederick did not even get the function of acting commander-in-chief (Field Marshal), which went to a noble from Holland.  This was to be the story of William Frederick's life. He tried to act as the "de facto" head of the Orangist party, in opposition to the States Party faction of Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt and his uncle Cornelis de Graeff, but was usually outwitted and checked by De Witt at every step. The fact that the members of the senior branch of the family were suspicious of his ambitions made his position even more difficult, even after he married into that senior branch.  Nevertheless, outside the Netherlands those ambitions met with more success. In 1654 his title of Count was "upgraded" to Imperial Prince ("Reichsfürst") by the Holy Roman Emperor. Within the Empire this provided him with more prestige, which however did not translate to more prestige in the Republic.  For a while, in the late 1650s, there seemed to be a chance of becoming Commander-in-chief, as part of a political compromise, brought together by De Witt, but nothing came of it. Only during the campaign against Bernhard von Galen during the Münster occupation of East Friesland, was he entrusted with a command in the field. He was successful in the reconquest of a strategic fortress (the "Deilerschans"), but shortly afterward he died on 31 October 1664 in an accident with a pistol that fired unexpectedly.  Before his death he had persuaded the States of Friesland that his son Henry Casimir II (only 7 years old in 1664) should succeed him as stadtholder. The States kept their word, accepting a "regency" of the young boy's mother. The Frisian stadtholderate was made hereditary in 1675.

William Frederick (; Arnhem 7 August 1613 – Leeuwarden 31 October 1664), Count (from 1654 Imperial Prince) of Nassau-Dietz, Stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen and Drenthe.


Tributary state.

With the Reconquista in full swing after the conquest of Córdoba in June 1236, Mohammed I ibn Nasr aligned Granada with Ferdinand III of Castile in 1246, thereby creating a tributary state, or "taifa", under the Crown of Castile. Granada remained a tributary state for the next 250 years, with Nasrid emirs paying tribute to Castilian kings mostly in the form of gold from present-day Mali and Burkina Faso that was carried to Iberia through the merchant routes in the Sahara. The Nasrids also provided military assistance to Castile for its conquest of areas under Muslim control, most notably Seville in November 1248 and the Taifa of Niebla in 1262.  In 1306, Granada conquered Ceuta, but lost control of the city in 1309 to the Kingdom of Fez with the assistance of the Crown of Aragon. Granada re-captured Ceuta a year later, but again lost it in 1314. Granada again held the city from 1315 to 1327. In 1384, Granada again re-took Ceuta but lost it definitively to Kingdom of Fez in 1386. Finally Ceuta was taken by the Portuguese Empire in 1415 and by the Spanish Empire in 1580.  Granada's peace with Castile broke down on various occasions. Granada lost territory to Castile at the Battle of Teba in 1330. In 1340, Granada under Yusuf I supported the failed Marinid invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, which ended at the Battle of Río Salado.

Regional entrepôt.

Granada's status as a tributary state and its favorable geographic location, with the Sierra Nevada as a natural barrier, helped to prolong Nasrid rule and allowed the Emirate to prosper as a regional entrepôt with the Maghreb and the rest of Africa. The city of Granada was one of the largest cities during this time: it accepted numerous Muslim refugees expelled from Christian controlled areas, doubling the size of the city and even becoming the largest city of Europe in 1450 in terms of population. During this time there were 137 mosques in the Medina of Granada. Granada also served as a refuge for Muslims fleeing during the Reconquista. Regardless of its comparative prosperity, intra-political strife was constant. Skirmishes along the border of Granada occurred frequently and territory was gradually lost to Castile.  Granada was tightly integrated in Mediterranean trade networks and heavily financed by Genoese bankers aiming to gain control of the gold trade carried in through Trans-Saharan trade routes. However, after Portugal opened direct trade routes to Sub-Saharan Africa by sea in the 15th century, Granada became less important as a regional commercial center. With the union of Castile and Aragon in 1469, these kingdoms set their sights on annexing Granada.

Fall of Granada.

The war of Granada would offer an opportunity for Ferdinand and Isabella to harness the restless Castilian nobility against a common enemy and instill subjects with a sense of loyalty to the crown. The Emirate's attack on the Castilian frontier town of Zahara in December 1481 led to a prolonged war. The Granada War began in 1482, with Christian forces capturing Alhama de Granada in February 1482. This marked the beginning of a grinding 10-year war. The Christian force was made up of troops provided by Castilian nobles, towns, and the "Santa Hermandad", as well as Swiss mercenaries. The Catholic Church also encouraged other Christian countries to offer their troops and their finances to the war effort. Meanwhile, civil war erupted in Granada as a result of succession struggles in the Nasrid ruling house. Castile used this internal strife as an opportunity to push further into Granada. By 1491, the city of Granada itself lay under siege. On November 25, 1491, the Treaty of Granada was signed, setting out the conditions for surrender. On January 2, 1492, the last Muslim leader, Muhammad XII, known as "Boabdil" to the Spanish, gave up complete control of Granada, to Ferdinand and Isabella, "Los Reyes Católicos" ("The Catholic Monarchs").

Aftermath.

The Christian ousting of Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula with the conquest of Granada did not extinguish the spirit of the "Reconquista". Isabella urged Christians to pursue a conquest of Africa. About 200,000 Muslims are thought to have emigrated to North Africa after the fall of Granada. Initially, under the conditions of surrender, the Muslims who remained were guaranteed their property, laws, customs, and religion. This however, was not the case, causing the Muslims to rebel against their Christian rulers, culminating with an uprising in 1500. The rebellion was seen as a chance to formally end the treaty of Granada, and the rights of Muslims and Jews were withdrawn. Muslims in the area were given the choice of expulsion or conversion. In 1568–1571, the descendants of the converted Muslims revolted again, leading to their expulsion from the former Emirate to North Africa and Anatolia.  For Jews as well, a period of mixed religious tolerance and persecution under Muslim rule in Spain came to an end with their expulsion by the Christian monarchy in 1492.

Culture.

Literature.

Ibn al-Khatib was a polymath and poet of the Nasrid period. He authored many works in various fields, and his poetry is carved into the walls of the Alhambra palace.

Architecture.

The Alhambra palace in Granada was expanded in the Nasrid period, particularly during the rule of Yusuf I and Muhammad V.

Music.

Gharnati music () is a variety of Andalusi music that originated Granada and moved to North Africa where it survives to this day.

The Emirate of Granada (, trans. "Imārat Ġarnāṭah"), also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada (), was an Islamic realm in southern Iberia during the Late Middle Ages. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western Europe.


Club career.

Early career.

Mirallas spent his youth career playing for his hometown club Standard Liège. He then left Belgium and began his first team career in France by signing for Lille OSC and played for them since the opening of the 2004–05 season. Mirallas participated in the UEFA Cup in his first season at the club. Mirallas subsequently was transferred to AS Saint-Étienne for €4 million, and began to make a name for himself by scoring against Lyon on his debut in the Rhone-Loire derby.

Olympiacos.

In June 2010 Mirallas joined Greek club Olympiacos on a one-year loan for a fee of €2.5 million. Mirallas made his debut in a 5–0 win against KS Besa Kavaje in the Second Qualifying Round of the UEFA Europa League Qualifiers and scored his first two goals for the club in a 3–1 home win against Olympiakos Volos. Mirallas scored in a 2–1 away loss to their greatest rivals Panathinaikos in the Derby of the eternal enemies after which his contract was extended to four years. Olympiacos won that season's Greek Super League and Mirallas finished as the club's top scorer with 14 goals, with only Panathinaikos's Djibril Cissé scoring more league goals than him. The following season Mirallas scored his first ever hat-trick for Olympiacos in a 4–0 away win against Levadiakos F.C. and scored four in a 7–2 victory over Asteras Tripolis. Olympiacos again won the league, and Mirallas was the league's top scorer with 20 goals.

Everton.

In August 2012, Mirallas joined Premier League club Everton for a reported fee of £6 million. He made his debut as a second-half substitute during a 3–1 league win over Aston Villa at Villa Park in which he had a headed goal disallowed due to it being ruled offside. In his first start four days later, Mirallas scored twice and provided two assists as Everton won 5–0 against Leyton Orient in the second round of the League Cup. He scored his first league goal on 22 September 2012, in a 3–0 away win against Swansea City after heading in his initial effort which rebounded off the underside of the bar. Mirallas suffered a number of injuries which limited his number of appearances during the middle part of the season. He made a number of brief cameos, notably against Tottenham Hotspur in December. Mirallas' next goal came against Oldham Athletic in a 3–1 win on 26 February 2013 in the fifth round of the FA Cup. He then scored again, scoring his second league goal of the season against Reading in a 3–1 win on 2 March 2013. He scored his first brace in David Moyes' last home game in charge of Everton in a 2–0 win against West Ham United.  Mirallas scored and assisted a goal during a 3–3 draw in the first Merseyside derby of the 2013–14 season on 23 November. He also received a booking for a high challenge on Luis Suárez which opposing manager Brendan Rodgers described as reckless and insisted Mirallas was lucky to remain on the pitch. He went on to score eight goals in the season, before it was ended in April due to a groin injury. Mirallas created 61 chances for his teammates during the season, the most of any Everton player.  On 18 September 2014, Mirallas scored his first European goal for Everton, in a 4–1 win over Wolfsburg in the first match of their Europa League campaign. He signed a new three-year contract with the club in August 2015.  Mirallas scored his 29th Premier League goals for Everton on 11 March 2017 as Everton cruised to victory over West Bromwich Albion at Goodison Park in a 3–0 win. On 12 May 2017, Mirallas signed a new three-year contract deal with Everton until the end of June 2020.

Loan to Olympiacos.

On 7 January 2018, Mirallas agreed to return to former club Olympiacos on loan until the end of the 2017–18 season. The club did not have an option to purchase Mirallas as part of the contract. On 16 April, Mirallas scored a stunning strike from the edge of the penalty area on the stroke of half-time in a 5–1 home win against Kerkyra. On 4 May, his loan spell was terminated by mutual consent due to Everton's high asking price to purchase Mirallas outright, as well as Mirallas' overall sub-par performances with Olympiacos.

Loan to Fiorentina.

On 4 August 2018, Mirallas signed for Fiorentina on a season-long loan deal with the option to make the transfer permanent.

Royal Antwerp.

Mirallas joined Royal Antwerp on a free transfer in August 2019.

International career.

Mirallas has represented Belgium at under-17, under-19 and under-21 level, and was one of the leading figures in guiding the under-21s to the semi-finals of the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.  He scored twice in the 2008 Summer Olympics football tournament, once against China (2–0 victory) and once against Italy (3–2 victory). He made his full international debut for the senior team in 2007 and scored his first ever international goal against Serbia in Brussels on 23 August of that year, as a Mousa Dembélé brace helped the Red Devils to a 3–2 home victory.  Mirallas was part of the Belgian squad which reached the quarter-finals at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, making his tournament debut in the second group match, a 1–0 win over Russia in the Maracanã, as a 75th-minute substitute for Dries Mertens. In a game of few opportunities, Mirallas hit the post with Belgium's first shot on target, with another substitute Divock Origi scoring the only goal two minutes from full-time.  In May 2018 he was left out of Belgium’s preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Style of play.

Mirallas was deployed as a centre forward for Olympiacos but since his move to Everton he has been deployed mainly as a winger or a free roaming forward. He is known for his pace, close ball control, passing ability and proficiency in one-on-one situations.

Personal life.

Mirallas' father was born in Spain.

Honours.

Club.

Olympiacos

Kevin Antonio Joel Gislain Mirallas y Castillo (born 5 October 1987), more commonly known as Kevin Mirallas (), is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Royal Antwerp and the Belgium national team.