In dynamical systems theory and control theory, a phase space or state space is a space in which all possible "states" of a dynamical system or a control system are represented, with each possible state corresponding to one unique point in the phase space. For mechanical systems, the phase space usually consists of all possible values of position and momentum variables. It is the direct product of direct space and reciprocal space. The concept of phase space was developed in the late 19th century by Ludwig Boltzmann, Henri Poincaré, and Josiah Willard Gibbs.

Principles
In a phase space, every degree of freedom or parameter of the system is represented as an axis of a multidimensional space; a one-dimensional system is called a phase line, while a two-dimensional system is called a phase plane. For every possible state of the system or allowed combination of values of the system's parameters, a point is included in the multidimensional space. The system's evolving state over time traces a path (a phase-space trajectory for the system) through the high-dimensional space. The phase-space trajectory represents the set of states compatible with starting from one particular initial condition, located in the full phase space that represents the set of states compatible with starting from any initial condition. As a whole, the phase diagram represents all that the system can be, and its shape can easily elucidate qualities of the system that might not be obvious otherwise. A phase space may contain a great number of dimensions. For instance, a gas containing many molecules may require a separate dimension for each particle's x, y and z positions and momenta (6 dimensions for an idealized monatomic gas), and for more complex molecular systems additional dimensions are required to describe vibrational modes of the molecular bonds, as well as spin around 3 axes. Phase spaces are easier to use when analyzing the behavior of mechanical systems restricted to motion around and along various axes of rotation or translation e.g. in robotics, like analyzing the range of motion of a robotic arm or determining the optimal path to achieve a particular position/momentum result.

Conjugate momenta

In classical mechanics, any choice of generalized coordinates qi for the position (i.e. coordinates on configuration space) defines conjugate generalized momenta pi, which together define co-ordinates on phase space. More abstractly, in classical mechanics phase space is the cotangent bundle of configuration space, and in this interpretation the procedure above expresses that a choice of local coordinates on configuration space induces a choice of natural local Darboux coordinates for the standard symplectic structure on a cotangent space.

Statistical ensembles in phase space
The motion of an ensemble of systems in this space is studied by classical statistical mechanics. The local density of points in such systems obeys Liouville's theorem, and so can be taken as constant. Within the context of a model system in classical mechanics, the phase-space coordinates of the system at any given time are composed of all of the system's dynamic variables. Because of this, it is possible to calculate the state of the system at any given time in the future or the past, through integration of Hamilton's or Lagrange's equations of motion.

In low dimensions

For simple systems, there may be as few as one or two degrees of freedom. One degree of freedom occurs when one has an autonomous ordinary differential equation in a single variable,  with the resulting one-dimensional system being called a phase line, and the qualitative behaviour of the system being immediately visible from the phase line. The simplest non-trivial examples are the exponential growth model/decay (one unstable/stable equilibrium) and the logistic growth model (two equilibria, one stable, one unstable).

The phase space of a two-dimensional system is called a phase plane, which occurs in classical mechanics for a single particle moving in one dimension, and where the two variables are position and velocity. In this case, a sketch of the phase portrait may give qualitative information about the dynamics of the system, such as the limit cycle of the Van der Pol oscillator shown in the diagram.

Here the horizontal axis gives the position, and vertical axis the velocity. As the system evolves, its state follows one of the lines (trajectories) on the phase diagram.

Related concepts

Phase plot
A plot of position and momentum variables as a function of time is sometimes called a phase plot or a phase diagram. However the latter expression, "phase diagram", is more usually reserved in the physical sciences for a diagram showing the various regions of stability of the thermodynamic phases of a chemical system, which consists of pressure, temperature, and composition.

Phase portrait

Phase integral
In classical statistical mechanics (continuous energies) the concept of phase space provides a classical analog to the partition function (sum over states) known as the phase integral. Instead of summing the Boltzmann factor over discretely spaced energy states (defined by appropriate integer quantum numbers for each degree of freedom), one may integrate over continuous phase space. Such integration essentially consists of two parts: integration of the momentum component of all degrees of freedom (momentum space) and integration of the position component of all degrees of freedom (configuration space). Once the phase integral is known, it may be related to the classical partition function by multiplication of a normalization constant representing the number of quantum energy states per unit phase space. This normalization constant is simply the inverse of Planck's constant raised to a power equal to the number of degrees of freedom for the system.

Applications

Chaos theory
Classic examples of phase diagrams from chaos theory are:
 the Lorenz attractor
 population growth (i.e. logistic map)
 parameter plane of complex quadratic polynomials with Mandelbrot set.

Quantum mechanics
In quantum mechanics, the coordinates p and q of phase space normally become Hermitian operators in a Hilbert space.

But they may alternatively retain their classical interpretation, provided functions of them compose in novel algebraic ways (through Groenewold's 1946 star product). This is consistent with the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics.
Every quantum mechanical observable corresponds to a unique function or distribution on phase space, and conversely, as specified by Hermann Weyl (1927) and supplemented by John von Neumann (1931); Eugene Wigner (1932); and, in a grand synthesis, by H. J. Groenewold (1946).
With J. E. Moyal (1949), these completed the foundations of the phase-space formulation of quantum mechanics, a complete and logically autonomous reformulation of quantum mechanics. (Its modern abstractions include deformation quantization and geometric quantization.)

Expectation values in phase-space quantization are obtained isomorphically to tracing operator observables with the density matrix in Hilbert space: they are obtained by phase-space integrals of observables, with the Wigner quasi-probability distribution effectively serving as a measure.

Thus, by expressing quantum mechanics in phase space (the same ambit as for classical mechanics), the Weyl map facilitates recognition of quantum mechanics as a deformation (generalization) of classical mechanics, with deformation parameter ħ/S, where S is the action of the relevant process. (Other familiar deformations in physics involve the deformation of classical Newtonian into relativistic mechanics, with deformation parameter v/c; or the deformation of Newtonian gravity into general relativity, with deformation parameter Schwarzschild radius/characteristic dimension.)

Classical expressions, observables, and operations (such as Poisson brackets) are modified by ħ-dependent quantum corrections, as the conventional commutative multiplication applying in classical mechanics is generalized to the noncommutative star-multiplication characterizing quantum mechanics and underlying its uncertainty principle.

Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics

In thermodynamics and statistical mechanics contexts, the term "phase space" has two meanings: for one, it is used in the same sense as in classical mechanics. If a thermodynamic system consists of N particles, then a point in the 6N-dimensional phase space describes the dynamic state of every particle in that system, as each particle is associated with 3 position variables and 3 momentum variables. In this sense, as long as the particles are distinguishable, a point in phase space is said to be a microstate of the system. (For indistinguishable particles a microstate consists of a set of N! points, corresponding to all possible exchanges of the N particles.) N is typically on the order of the Avogadro number, thus describing the system at a microscopic level is often impractical. This leads to the use of phase space in a different sense.

The phase space can also refer to the space that is parameterized by the macroscopic states of the system, such as pressure, temperature, etc. For instance, one may view the pressure–volume diagram or temperature–entropy diagram as describing part of this phase space. A point in this phase space is correspondingly called a macrostate. There may easily be more than one microstate with the same macrostate. For example, for a fixed temperature, the system could have many dynamic configurations at the microscopic level. When used in this sense, a phase is a region of phase space where the system in question is in, for example, the liquid phase, or solid phase, etc.

Since there are many more microstates than macrostates, the phase space in the first sense is usually a manifold of much larger dimensions than in the second sense. Clearly, many more parameters are required to register every detail of the system down to the molecular or atomic scale than to simply specify, say, the temperature or the pressure of the system.

Optics
Phase space is extensively used in nonimaging optics, the branch of optics devoted to illumination. It is also an important concept in Hamiltonian optics.

Medicine
In medicine and bioengineering, the phase space method is used to visualize multidimensional physiological responses.

See also

Configuration space (mathematics)
Minisuperspace
Phase line, 1-dimensional case
Phase plane, 2-dimensional case
Phase portrait
Phase space method
Parameter space
Separatrix
Applications
Optical phase space
State space (controls) for information about state space (similar to phase state) in control engineering.
State space for information about state space with discrete states in computer science.
Molecular dynamics
Mathematics
Cotangent bundle
Dynamic system
Symplectic manifold
Wigner–Weyl transform
Physics
Classical mechanics
Hamiltonian mechanics
Lagrangian mechanics
State space (physics) for information about state space in physics
Phase-space formulation of quantum mechanics
Characteristics in phase space of quantum mechanics

References

Further reading

External links

Concepts in physics
Dynamical systems
Dimensional analysis
Hamiltonian mechanics

Phase space


In statistics, canonical analysis (from  bar, measuring rod, ruler) belongs to the family of regression methods for data analysis. Regression analysis quantifies a relationship between a predictor variable and a criterion variable by the coefficient of correlation r, coefficient of determination r2, and the standard regression coefficient β. Multiple regression analysis expresses a relationship between a set of predictor variables and a single criterion variable by the multiple correlation R, multiple coefficient of determination R2, and a set of standard partial regression weights β1, β2, etc. Canonical variate analysis captures a relationship between a set of predictor variables and a set of criterion variables by the canonical correlations ρ1, ρ2, ..., and by the sets of canonical weights C and D.

Canonical analysis
Canonical analysis belongs to a group of methods which involve solving the characteristic equation for its latent roots and vectors. It describes formal structures in hyperspace invariant with respect to the rotation of their coordinates. In this type of solution, rotation leaves many optimizing properties preserved, provided it takes place in certain ways and in a subspace of its corresponding hyperspace. This rotation from the maximum intervariate correlation structure into a different, simpler and more meaningful structure increases the interpretability of the canonical weights C and D. In this the canonical analysis differs from Harold Hotelling's (1936) canonical variate analysis (also called the canonical correlation analysis), designed to obtain maximum (canonical) correlations between the predictor and criterion canonical variates. The difference between the canonical variate analysis and canonical analysis is analogous to the difference between the principal components analysis and factor analysis, each with its characteristic set of commonalities, eigenvalues and eigenvectors.

Canonical analysis (simple)
Canonical analysis is a multivariate technique which is concerned with determining the relationships between groups of variables in a data set. The data set is split into two groups X and Y, based on some common characteristics. The purpose of canonical analysis is then to find the relationship between X and Y, i.e. can some form of X represent Y. It works by finding the linear combination of X variables, i.e. X1, X2 etc., and linear combination of Y variables, i.e. Y1, Y2 etc., which are most highly correlated. This combination is known as the "first canonical variates" which are usually denoted U1 and V1, with the pair of U1 and V1 being called a "canonical function". The next canonical functions, U2 and V2 are then restricted so that they are uncorrelated with U1 and V1. Everything is scaled so that the variance equals 1.

One can also construct relationships which are made to agree with constraint restrictions arising from theory or to agree with common sense/intuition. These are called maximum correlation models. (Tofallis, 1999)

Mathematically, canonical analysis maximizes UXYV subject to UXXU = I and VYYV = I, where X and Y are the data matrices (row for instance and column for feature).

See also
RV coefficient

References

Regression analysis

Canonical analysis


The Finishing Touch is a 1928 short comedy silent film produced by Hal Roach, directed by Clyde Bruckman and starring Laurel and Hardy. It was released February 25, 1928 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Synopsis
Stan and Ollie are hired by a homeowner (Sam Lufkin) to finish building a house for him. Furthermore, they are offered a $500 bonus if they do a speedy job. They then proceed on their appointed task with zeal but experience one disastrous result after another. Compounding their difficulties is a nearby hospital whose small but feisty head nurse sics a policeman (Edgar Kennedy) on the finishers for being too loud in their work. The policeman tries to keep Stan and Ollie as quiet as possible. In doing so, he unwittingly gets in the firing line and suffers numerous indignities, including having a bucket of glue and a stack of shingles fall from the roof onto his head.

Eventually the home is finished, and Stan and Ollie seem to have done a passable job. The homeowner arrives. Pleased at what he sees, he gladly pays Stan and Ollie their promised $500 bonus. Moments later, however, a tiny bird lands on the house's chimney, causing the chimney to collapse and crash through the roof, which weakens the entire structure of the new house. The enraged homeowner demands his $500 back. Stan and Ollie refuse and engage in some creative teamwork to keep the $500 in their hands.

Production and exhibition
The Finishing Touch was filmed in November and December 1927. The film is a descendant of two of the duo's solo films: Laurel's Smithy (1924) and Hardy's Stick Around (1925). The paperhanger character played by Hardy in the latter film "was justly important to [Hardy], originating an embryonic form of his eventual screen character."

The Finishing Touch is set in an area undergoing real estate development in 1927; its wide open spaces provide a sense of a more pastoral Los Angeles that would soon vanish as more structures filled it in. The ill-fated structure in question here was built by the Roach construction team on Motor Avenue near the Fox studio. It was supposed to collapse completely when the duo's truck rolled through it, but an overzealous crew ignored designer Thomas Benton Roberts's design specs and made it too sturdy — so the truck lodged halfway through and ground to a stop.

The Finishing Touch was filmed on location in the neighborhood of Cheviot Hills, Los Angeles. The house under construction in the film was at 2830 Motor Avenue and was destroyed after filming. The hospital scene was filmed at 2728 McConnell Drive at a house that still stands today. Additionally, several other houses in Cheviot Hills can be seen in the background, most prominently 2839 Forrester Drive.

Script into film
L&H historian Randy Skretvedt unearthed the original action script for The Finishing Touch and discovered gags that were either unfilmed or unused in the finished picture. One gag finds Stan and Ollie in adjacent rooms: Ollie drives a nail in the wall to hang his coat on, but in the next room, the nail snags Stan's sleeve so he drives it back out. On his side of the wall, Ollie cannot figure why his coat is on the floor, but he has his suspicions; just as he steps into Stan's room to confront him, Stan has stepped into his through another door. The nail gets hammered back and forth, until it ultimately hits pay dirt — in the beleaguered hide of cop Kennedy.

The script also provided additional backstory on how the duo came to be hired to work on the house to begin with: an unfilmed scene portrayed the original construction crew having the same difficulties with the same folks from the same nearby hospital and quitting in frustration. Another change from the script was definitely an improvement: by the time the cameras rolled, the stern male physician of the script had morphed into the petite but spicy nurse played by Dorothy Coburn. Her spirited domination of both The Boys and Kennedy is made all the funnier by her gender and small stature. She makes up in spunk what she lacks in body mass — Skretvedt calls her "the quintessential tough-cookie."

The picture's finale also evolved between script and screen. In the final film, a dainty animated bird alights on the chimney, triggering a domino-effect collapse of the entire house. On the printed page, Stan himself was to be the catalyst for the implosion: he left his derby up on the roof and when he clambers up to get it, the catastrophic sequence commences. As different items tremble and fall, the homeowner takes back more of the money he has paid them, until he has taken all of it back.

Differing versions
Glenn Mitchell has noticed that The Finishing Touch is one of the few Laurel and Hardy silents with both British and American versions extant today. In the era when primitive film stocks did not permit many generations of copies to be made from a master, producers often set up multiple cameras when shooting so they would get more first-generation elements to work with — and those extra negatives often became foreign market prints. They would have slightly different angles and sometimes variations in action or cutting. Writes Mitchell:

In The Finishing Touch, this is most obvious in the close-ups of the nurse, which in the British version are presented from a different perspective and with some dissimilar facial reactions to the American equivalent. An amendment in subtitling tells us that nine years of schooling took Laurel and Hardy to the 'First Reader' for American audiences, and the 'Infants' for the British.

Today's American edition, he writes, originates from the Blackhawk Films master and combines footage from both films.

Cast
Stan Laurel as Stan
Oliver Hardy as Ollie
Ed Kennedy as The Cop
Dorothy Coburn as The Nurse
Sam Lufkin as The Homeowner

Reception
The Finishing Touch is considered a prototype film for Laurel and Hardy — the first of their "workingman" pictures, where their professional task itself becomes the backbone of the plot. Dirty Work, Busy Bodies, The Music Box and others all descend from The Finishing Touch.

The Laurel & Hardy Encyclopedia''' author Glenn Mitchell commented, "The Finishing Touch is enjoyable despite an over-reliance on slapstick. One ingenious sight gag [is when] Stan appears to be supporting both ends of a lengthy piece of timber." The Films of Laurel and Hardy author William K. Everson delivered a mixed report in 1967, saying "Considering the promise it offers, The Finishing Touch is a slight disappointment. The climactic gags lack the force and 'boff' quality that the build-up has led us to expect, and the whole short has a somewhat mechanical flavor to it. Nevertheless, it has energy, and the problems of house construction... provide every gag with anticipation as well as culmination." Janiss Garza of Allmovie said, "This two-reel Laurel and Hardy silent is especially rich in slapstick.... This silly little film doesn't have much plot to speak of, but it's so well constructed, and the humor is so solid, it doesn't matter." Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies  author Randy Skretvedt is more guarded in his assessment, saying, "If The Finishing Touch'' isn't as memorable as the films which preceded it, it's a pleasant enough little picture." British film critic Leslie Halliwell commented, "Excellent early star slapstick with predictable but enjoyable gags,"

References

External links

1928 films
1928 comedy films
American silent short films
American black-and-white films
Hal Roach Studios short films
Laurel and Hardy (film series)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer short films
Films with screenplays by H. M. Walker
Films directed by Clyde Bruckman
1920s American films
Silent American comedy films

The Finishing Touch


The history of institutions in Mesopotamia concerns the origin and evolution of institutions (economic, social or political) in the Mesopotamian civilization. Its history spans from the emergence of civilization and the existence of written records that allow History to be made until the fall of the Chaldean or Neo-Babylonian Empire, the last Mesopotamian empire.

The origin of the institutions belonging to civilization – basically the social differentiation inherent to the division of labour and its organization on an urban scale, the construction of power in the primitive States and the establishment of institutionalized religions with temples and clergy — occurred in Mesopotamia and Egypt from the 4th millennium B.C. onwards.

The first institutions
The first institutions in the Antiquity arose in Mesopotamia and are extremely unknown. They emerged in the prelude to ancient history, in Protohistory. From the 5th millennium B.C. onwards, the villages in the south of present-day Iraq revealed a progressive occupation of the Tigris and Euphrates valleys and the consolidation of agriculture and farming. The first metallurgical techniques also appeared, such as copper (Chalcolithic). The city model of this period is usually considered the preamble to the urban revolution and the first institutions are found in it. Around 4500 B.C. a building with thick walls could be found that signaled a change in society. This (institutional) building could have belonged to the whole village and played a role in a collective organization level of regularization of the relations of the inhabitants. This building indicates the transition from one society to another that required a greater organization. This phenomenon multiplied in all the villages of the south. It can be considered a temple with bureaucratic power that organized the commercial transactions and that had rooms in its interior where copper objects, remains of grain, pieces of wool have been found, it was an economic activity of local origin, also remains of ceramics and material coming from the exterior like precious stones have been found.

From the social point of view, at the beginning of the III millennium B.C., the first great economic differences appeared (until then there were differences based on sex and age), and their consequent internal struggles. Some families held power through control of the temple. They turned part of the population into slaves and appropriated part of the production, until then collective. This aristocracy that settled around the temple created the first administrative positions. The first local institutions also arose, the Council of Elders with a juridical character, and the Assembly of men of the city with a defensive character. The first local chiefs assumed functions such as that of military chief who was the only one who could ensure political and military independence, due to the growing rivalry with neighboring cities, and monopolized the unitary power. It is necessary to emphasize the religious power that was united to the political, judicial and military power, with the customary law. It evolved towards a progressive centralization of power.

This first phase led to another, more clearly defined phase. The first temples fulfilled an economic mission within these societies, being economically independent and self-sufficient cities. Parallel to the emergence of the temples, disputes also began between the great families, who vied for local leadership. This can be dated to around 4000-3100 B.C. and was a response to the needs of the time.

There was a pre-state model in each village that preceded the emergence of the city-states. This model had a special boom in southern Mesopotamia with irrigated agriculture and a more advanced agricultural technology and this is where the first testimonies of writing (socio-economic writings) come from and later the phase of the first dynasties will appear.

Institutions in the protodynastic period

In the protodynastic period there was an important development in the agricultural techniques that marked a great progress, there was also a technological development, copper was substituted by bronze and also the ceramics will achieve important advances.

There was no ethnic unity judging by the written sources. The texts of stratum 4A of Uruk and in Jemdet Nasr identify an element of Sumerian population and another of unknown origin that would inhabit the area before the Sumerians and also highlight non-Sumerian linguistic elements. From the second half of the third millennium this country of the Persian Gulf was called Sumer. To the northwest of this one the country of Akkad will appear.

The Sumerian element was the most important element in the development and this process led to decisive changes in the formation of society. The cities were walled and even the temples within the city itself were walled. Associated with these temples was a priestly caste that commanded them and had great power that was based on a broad economic control. The first texts were written in these temples. In the stratum 4A of Uruk around 3100 B.C. there are more than 4000 texts that come from the great temple of Uruk and recorded the economic and commercial activities of the temple.

These economic texts reveal data of an institutional regulation and provide specific data on areas of cultivated fields, farming and exportation, and transportation. In some later documents there is evidence of a series of names of professions that reveal an organization of the craftsmanship through a specialization of functions. According to these data, not only craft work but also trade was linked to the administration of the temple. There is also evidence of a large-scale trade that provided the importation of mainly luxury goods, raw materials coming from distant regions.

This import capacity transformed the growing potential of the temples (economic) that surely allowed them to maintain this exchange for a long time, which reveals their economic self-sufficiency that seems to export agricultural products, fishing, textile and farming production. This process could not exist without a numerous group of people specialized in the commerce that were denominated Dam-Gár that are the first known merchants and appear mentioned in the texts of Uruk and Jemdet Nasr. It is considered the function of these institutional merchants that makes possible the human relations with an organization and within this movement of the merchants it is necessary to emphasize the private activity of the same ones. It was clear that they are intermediaries of the temples in the outside and would be used in their external relations.

The cities were acquiring more importance in the south of Sumer and were consolidated as city-states. There were also city-states in Syria. For various reasons, economic competition between cities and military clashes multiplied and are documented in textual documents. The warrior spirit emerged as a novelty and the cities were walled and it was an important feature of the first dynasties around 2700 B.C. The need to concentrate military power for defense gave rise to hereditary kingship. And as consequence these kings occupied important functions of cult and progressive submission of the temples to these kings that are of those great families of the protodynastic period before mentioned, that began to stand out at that time. This royalty was distributed throughout all the city-states, assuming the centralist political power by a single person who took charge of the temples and their economic reform.

The assembly of freemen and the council of elders continued to support the king so that the royal power was not absolute. In spite of the subjection these institutions recognized the primacy of the king to whom they assisted in decisions and supported him, the king did not decide alone. The independence of monarchical power is consolidated according to the sources. Around 2700 B.C., written documents of a royal title appeared in Sumer (En) and this title began to represent a status. Parallel to the title of 'en' appeared the first writings of the institution of the palace (Egal) that are found in the most archaic texts of Ur. From the archaeological point of view the first particularly large buildings were found in the city of Kiš and Eridu. Around 2600 B.C. a number of tombs were found in Ur, which show by their grave goods that they are kings and show the growing position of the kingship supported by a partly religious ideology.

Towards 2700 B.C. the title diversified because the title of  en is joined to that of lugal and ensi. It seems that this diversification corresponds to a dialectization of Sumerian, subsequently the title of En disappeared, lugal is the king and ensi a subordinate of lugal. The degree of importance of kingship as an institution increases on the horizon of the city-states, later the king will be deified. Although at this time the kingship had not yet been deified, it was associated with a divine origin and a special relationship to the cult. These local chiefs found their location in the fact that royalty descended from heaven, was above society and resided in the palaces, strengthening their economic resources by taking advantage of the historical conjuncture and through buying and selling.

Rivalries between the city-states produced that the city of Kiš and its monarchy in the Proto-Dynastic period became the most important as the Sumerian royal list shows and the title of king of Kish becomes generalized, but despite this primacy the struggles of cities gave rise to a series of Sumerian leagues and coalitions whereby kings unite to defend common interests but the picture of political history remains largely obscured.

The documents are royal texts that provide little information. If it is known that from this protodynastic phase around 2500 B.C. a king appeared in Lagash, accepting the title of king of Kiš and hints that this king named Eannatum would have achieved a primacy in Sumer and to assert this power over other cities he had his victories recorded on various tablets. There are also economic texts that come from the palaces and mention the distribution of power on a local scale. According to these documents the best reflected are the properties of the temples that are farmland and properties of the gods and form a considerable part of the land available for exploitation. A Lagash temple controlled 50% of the irrigated territory. The royal institution was strengthened by usurping from these temples their properties and collective ownership. The absolute power of the kings was not such. The royal institution controlled from 2500 B.C. onwards the economic units of state character, the temples, the river ports and land routes. In the Protodynastic period, the palace structure was highly developed and controlled two areas:

 It officially regulated irrigation and water distribution and controlled the cultivation of orchards and fields.
 It controlled the distribution of wool, alimentary products, fishing, farming and livestock, land leasing, commerce and the buying and selling of slaves.

Land distribution
Productive lands belonged to the state organization. The distribution was tripartite:

 They belonged to the temple and above all to the palace and were cultivated by specialized employees whose production was destined to the maintenance of the temples, this was controlled by the palaces.
 Land given to the self-sufficiency of the administrative staff of the temple and the palace.
 Most of the land was leased in exchange for payment of a salary in kind.

This model of state organization was controlled by the palace, which enriched itself abusively at the expense of others, expropriated the property of the temples and citizens, which led to a progressive impoverishment of the city. This abuse of the palace provoked revolts that caused a political change. It was the time of reform of Uruk Agina in 2350 B.C. who came to power by a coup d'état and already on the throne enacted legal measures aimed at returning property to the temples and the people. His aim was to abolish the despotism of the palaces and their officials. He also regulated the taxes of the inhabitants for weddings, divorces, burials, and so on. The reform favored the most disadvantaged, put an end to debts, improved the condition of slaves and even freed some of them. A legal guarantee is given that regulates the relations between institutions and people and between the temple and the palace. All this meant a new social justice in a primitive state that served as a reference to other later kings. This reform reduces the social tension and allows a general improvement of the economy and especially of the most disadvantaged. The royalty and the temple are established in a concrete legislation but it was not clear how far the temples managed to recover their position.

The Protodynastic period ends with the period of Uruk Agina and with the struggles between cities to impose themselves on each other and in this context appeared Lugal Zagesi who was prince of Umma and became king of Uruk and imposed at the end of his reign his sovereignty in all the south of Mesopotamia, in a great territorial State, Sumer. This enormous extension of land demonstrates the enormous power of the palace as an institution since he was not sovereign of a city but of a state.

Practice of Law
The first legal documents emerged with the beginning of writing and regulated the purchase and sale of land and its derived obligations. They are contracts that dictated the rules of operation of a currently partially known legality.

It was very important among the parties of the contract to rely on witnesses who formed the institution that attested that a transaction is carried out within the law, it is the customary law and appear at the end of the contract, they are free citizens, mostly family members. The formation of this document of sale and purchase usually has a fixed speech as they were very common. Most of the documents were of sale and purchase and were not regulated by the central power, we know them from the archives of the palaces. This private law comes from custom and was a recognized practice.

Institutions of the great Mesopotamian states

The historical evolution of Mesopotamia brought decisive changes in society and in this process of change, the royalty became more powerful against the priests and aristocrats. The old pre-existing institutions, the council of elders and the assembly of free men with a pseudo-democratic character became secondary. As a consequence of the rise of the monarchy, the palace acquired more power by incorporating the temples into its economic structure. Political power became a link in the structure of a territorial state, the sovereign of a great state based in one of the ancient city-states, which would change according to its importance. The lugal was assisted by an apparatus of great officials, it was a unique monarchy that had a centralization of power that made the administration possible.

Lugal-Zagesi became the first king of all Mesopotamia (Sumer), this domain corresponds to a military conquest that allowed him to adopt the title of king of Uruk and king of Sumer. To keep the whole state together, Lugal-Zagesi declared:

After 25 years, the successes of Lugal-Zagesi ended because in the north was Sargon, who managed to found the longest lasting kingdom until then with capital in Agade or also called Akkad, would be the kingdom of Akkad, became king of Sumer and Akkad. He inaugurates a powerful dynasty, the most powerful of all times in Mesopotamia, of military character, the Sargonid that had to defend itself from the hostility of its enemies. From the time of Sargon, the royal institution reached new heights of power.

Sargon founded in 2340 B.C. a kingdom more powerful and extensive than that of Lugal-Zagesi in the country of Akkad and it would last a century. He also conquered Syria and Elam, comprising almost all of Mesopotamia, although Syria does not seem to have belonged to the dynasty of Sargon or Ishtar, which is of a military character that throughout its history had to defend itself from permanent hostility. It was a period in which the royal institution reached heights of power that had not occurred before. Among the most important kings was Naram Sin.

The main institutional characteristics are a centralized administration. This centralization of power to sustain itself needs a broad network of officials to articulate power and needs an extraordinarily powerful army without precedent. Many of these officials are trusted by the king and sons of Akkad. In the country of Sumer, during Sargon's conquest in the city-states there were ensis or lugals who now became mere governors in the service of the king who depended on the imperial directives of the new power. As in Egypt, sometimes relatives were placed at the head of the cities as governors or officials, thus ensuring loyalty and stability.

Priesthood was also documented in temples that could be carried by people of the royal family, which reflects a direct political influence in cult areas. It reveals the executive capacity to control the temples with direct influence over the population.

The palace of Akkad was extraordinarily powerful, controlled a large territory and was a complex and developed economic unit, 5,400 people had jobs in the palace, economic activities, courtiers, personal army and harem. In addition, within the palace there are artisans and weavers who worked strictly for the palace.

The kings, as the highest institution, reached in this period new dimensions that from now on the principle of absolute power is imposed as fundamental nucleus of the State and the kings have maximum attributions in the State and the intervention of the power of the aristocrats and priests is reduced in a considerable way, example of this encumbrance is that Naram Sin and Shar-Kali-Sharri became deified as gods of State and this brought them a characterization as protector god of the country but without being linked to any center of cult. And this god-king reigned for the welfare of the country.

Some legal documents of this time include the fact of adding the forms of oath in the name of the king, documented since Naram Sin. As manifestation of the supreme power, a new title is used, king of the four regions of the world (king of the universe), the local horizon of the previous tradition is surpassed. The administrative structure was headed by the palace and it was based on the submission and services of the other institutions, emphasizing those of the temples and their economic activities. The purchase of lands increased, which increased the power of the kings so that the palace became the beneficiary of the system.

This patrimony was necessary to maintain the organization of the system, it is distributed to the palace officials who established them in the production. An example is the Obelisk of Manistusu, documenting 330 hectares bought from 98 people, a survival of private property. There was a wide commercial activity and business that benefited from the conquests of the time. The figure of the merchant stands out that allows the access to products, many of them act in a public and private capacity.

Institutions of the third dynasty of Ur (Neo-Sumerian Renaissance)

There were disputes for territorial primacy, most notably the figure of Ur Namma (2100 B.C.) who regained the title of king of Sumer and Akkad. A structural reorganization was required based on the centralist model. It was not an economically favorable period but canals were built, there were improvements in transportation and new lands were cultivated. The structure of the State was reorganized introducing a provincial division through the old city-states with capital in Ur, but this collided with problems of adaptation due to the defense of the particularism of Sumer. King Sulgi (2093-2046 B.C.) arrived with the most important reign of Ur and consolidated the administrative apparatus of the State.

At this time the figure of the king remained very powerful and the proof is the sophistication of the means of control. The administration of the State had a high level of development of calculation and very sophisticated registration. The political and economic power was in the hands of the king who was a god protector of the country, a divinization that can be seen especially in Sulgi, with numerous hymns to the king that praised him as wise and protector of art and justice.

Of the structures of the institutions it is possible to say that Ur III had a very complex administrative apparatus that had at the top the Neo-Sumerian king, then there were the ensi and at the same level the military governors (sakanaku) that were in the strategic cities and could be a hereditary title like the ensi but not officially. The king could not prevent large families from controlling certain sectors as in Nippur or Umma and within this provincial jurisdiction there were members of the royal family with direct involvement in the central power.

The daughters of Sulgi and Ur-Namma were priestesses of important temples and Sulgi's brother was priest of Innana of Ur and the royal family controlled several temples.

Developments

 The governors of the province of Babylon had a marked political-religious character, it was a province with its own supply and control over its sanctuaries, highlighting the city of Nippur with the supply of animals for sacrifices. It emphasized the administrative role of Puerit, where the texts are of the State and few were private, in the official ones also appears a local administration.
 Workforce: They were the official workers of palace, canals, transport. There was also a large mass of associates who made the system work, with the specialization of functions.

Law

Many texts of legal order, marriage, buying and selling, loans, inheritance, and so on, are documented. There was a socially accepted code of rules of customary origin. The procedure of the oath was integrated into the practice and was sworn by the king or by a divinity. This type of procedure had the character of a promise, although there was also an oath of affirmation, which was less binding. Both oaths served as a guarantee of honesty.

The first written code of laws of the history appeared, that of Ur Namma that was a list of norms although fragmented. It had three sections, the first of theological inspiration, the second of historical character and the third was ethical-moral with the principles that regulated Mesopotamia. Only the last two sections are preserved. It serves as information on the criteria of Ur Namma. There was a decrease in economic problems, an establishment of law and measures to stabilize economic life. It ends with the same words as that of Uruk Agina.

The capital crimes (robbery and murder) were punished with the death penalty as well as the regulation of marriages: rape, ill-treatment, divorce and adultery. The family of those sentenced to death carried the economic penalties, and later on, theft would not be punishable by death.

The application of the Law has a fundamental role, with the King imposing justice assisted by officials under the supervision of the ensis. There was also the figure of the judge who formed a group that adopted measures, they were not professionals. In the smaller communities there were the maski, who were commissioners.

There is a private dimension that refers to the operation of laws for poor people such as marriage regulation. There are also slaves with their own regulation with their own juridical status, they could marry free women, be witnesses, and so on.

According to the code of Ur Namma, in the inheritance there was not great difference with the present one, since it was recognized in benefit of the carnal or adopted children of the marriage. There was a difference between sons and daughters, the daughters only inherited if there was no male, if there was a male, he inherited the totality of the goods.

Although there were exceptions such as in the case of the death of the father of the family, the woman had no right to inherit according to the code, although according to other legal texts she would eventually inherit. It also highlights the text of Nippur that establishes that the inheritance was divided equally between wife and children. The code of Ur Namma and other legal texts externalize regulations that would not always end up being resolved but allowed the reconstruction of inheritance in this society.

It can be concluded that the practice of law in Ur III responds to a norm that is typical of the social class and understands the Law as a function of the distribution of wealth, having a conservative character.

It is also necessary to recognize an institution of cultural character that was the School of Tablets, which was on the margin of the others. Its role was the development of culture, these schools have made it possible to settle certain areas of knowledge, because it was through them that things like registration, medical literature, early mathematics, early astronomical knowledge, encyclopedias, myths, and so on. The evolution of the Schools of Tablets developed into libraries.

Evolution of institutions in the ancient Babylonian state.

The structures survived but there were innovations from the point of view of the social and juridical regulations. From the juridical point of view, from that moment and emphasized with the arrival of the Amorites, the existence of three new codes of laws:

 Code of Lipit-Ishtar: proceeds from Nippur and was written in Sumerian. It was promulgated between 2000 and 1800 B.C., about 50 paragraphs of legal provisions are preserved although it was not complete. Unlike others, it does not contain the typification of crimes punishable by death.
 Code of Ešnunna: proceeds from Ešnunna which is a city of central Mesopotamia, it has a local horizon. Unlike the previous code, it was written in Akkadian. It includes 60 assumptions of crime and apparently has a very clear base in the Code of Ur Namma, resembling this one in some paragraphs. Also in this code the death penalty is recognized and the capital crimes had to be solved in front of the king himself. There are also judges who represent the monarch himself.
 Code of Hammurabi: it is the most representative of all Ancient history and is the most important legal corpus of almost all antiquity. It is preserved in a stone stele 2.5 meters high and replicas are preserved in cities far from Babylon. It has 282 paragraphs and it is supposed that the writers of the code belonged to a royal chancellery and were inspired by previous codes. The development period of these paragraphs had been of many years. It can be dated to 1760 B.C. The surviving Code of Hammurabi dates from the 37th year of Hammurabi's reign and here again, in the prologue, Hammurabi establishes himself as the one who "does justice in the land".

See also

 Institution
 Customary law
 Code of Hammurabi

References

Bibliography

External links

Mesopotamia
Hammurabi
Sumer
Historical societies

History of institutions in Mesopotamia


Thomas Falconer  (25 June 1805 – 28 August 1882) was an English jurist and explorer.

Born in Bath, England on 25 June 1805, Falconer was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1823, and to the bar in 1830.  He practised for a number of years as an equity draftsman and conveyancer, and later turned to codifying the laws and statutes of England.

In 1840, Falconer immigrated to the Republic of Texas, sailing from England on the Britannia on 20 October, and arriving in May 1841.  On his arrival he obtained permission to accompany the Texan Santa Fe Expedition as an observer. The expedition left Austin on 18 June. On the trail towards New Mexico, Falconer had his horse stolen by Kiowa Indians.  On 31 August, the expedition leader, Hugh McLeod, decided to split the party, with some to proceed to San Miguel and return with provision, while the rest remained in camp.  As Falconer had no horse, he remained in camp.  Falconer's party was attacked by Indians a number of times, and nearly starved to death before the other party returned on 9 October as prisoners of the Mexicans.  Falconer's party was also taken prisoner, and marched to Mexico City, arriving on 3 February 1842.  He was then immediately released at the demand of the British minister Richard Pakenham.

Later that year, Falconer published his account of the expedition as Expedition to Santa Fé: An Account of Its Journey from Texas through Mexico, with Particulars of Its Capture.  In 1844 he also published Notes of a Journey through Texas and New Mexico, in the years 1841 and 1842 in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London.  After returning to England, he published another major work on his travels, The Oregon Question; or a Statement of the British Claims to the Oregon Territory in Opposition to the Pretension of the Government of the United States of America.

In 1848, Falconer was offered, but declined, an appointment as private secretary to Henry Barkly, governor of British Guiana.  Late in 1850 he was appointed an arbitrator to decide the boundary between New Brunswick and Canada.  In March 1851, he was nominated to the position of Colonial Secretary of Western Australia, but refused appointment.  Despite declining the appointment, and therefore never arriving in Western Australia, he is officially considered to have held the position until the next appointment to the position in January 1852.

On 22 December 1851, Falconer accepted appointment as judge of Glamorganshire, Brecknockshire and Rhayader.  He sat on the bench for thirty years, retiring to the Royal Crescent in Bath in December 1881.  He died at Bath on 28 August 1882, the result of a fall he had suffered the previous June while visiting the Bath Rose Show. He was member of the Royal Geographical Society and the Geological Society of London.

Arms

References

1805 births
1882 deaths
Colonial Secretaries of Western Australia
English explorers
English legal professionals
People from Bath, Somerset
19th-century Australian politicians
Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
Republic of Texas

Thomas Falconer


In architecture, a baseboard (also called skirting board, skirting, wainscoting, mopboard, trim, floor molding, or base molding) is usually wooden, MDF or vinyl board covering the lowest part of an interior wall.  Its purpose is to cover the joint between the wall surface and the floor. It covers the uneven edge of flooring next to the wall; protects the wall from kicks, abrasion, and furniture; and can serve as a decorative molding.

At its simplest, baseboard consists of a simple plank nailed, screwed or glued to the wall; however, particularly in older houses, it can be made up of a number of moldings for decoration. A baseboard differs from a wainscot; a wainscot typically covers from the floor to around 1-1.5 m high (waist or chest height), whereas a baseboard is typically under 0.2 m high (ankle height).

Plastic baseboard comes in various plastic compounds, the most common of which is UPVC. It is usually available in white or a flexible version in several colors and is usually glued to the wall. Vinyl baseboard is glued with adhesive and can be difficult to remove or to replace. It has a long lifespan, which can mean lower maintenance.

Wooden baseboard can be available in untreated, lacquered or prepainted versions. Prepainted baseboards can be made from a single piece or finger jointed wood, often softwoods, while  hardwoods are either lacquered, or raw for staining and made from a single piece of wood.

MDF (medium-density fiberboard) is a common material used for baseboard trim and molding. It is an engineered wood product manufactured from refined wood fibers combined with wax and resin binders. MDF is denser and more rigid than standard particle board. Compared to solid wood trim, MDF baseboard has the advantage of being consistent in thickness and profile. It resists warping, swelling, and shrinking that can occur with natural wood. MDF provides a smooth, stable surface for painting that resists absorption of paint. It is also typically cheaper than solid wood alternatives.

Tiles can also be used as a baseboard.

Heaters are sometimes installed in place of or in front of baseboards. These come in  electrical and radiator varieties, the latter relying on hot water as their heat source.

See also

 Quarter round
 Crown molding
 Dado
 Dado rail
 Panelling
 Picture rail

References

Woodworking
Floors
Residential heating
Architectural elements

Baseboard


Bartolomeu Perestrello (, in Italian Bartolomeo Perestrello), 1st Capitão Donatário, Lord and Governor of the Island of Porto Santo ( 1395 – 1457) was a Portuguese navigator and explorer that is claimed to have discovered and populated Porto Santo Island (1419) together with João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira. The account of his participation in the discovery is disputed by some historians.

Biography
He was a son of Micer Filippo Pallastrelli (called Filipe Perestrello in Portugal), a Lombard knight who came to Portugal some say erroneously in the train of Queen Leonor of Aragon and here he was a Nobleman of John I of Portugal, who recognized his Coat of Arms and made him a Nobleman of Coat of Arms in 1433; he was married to Caterina Visconti (of the Visconti of Verona not from the ones of Milan), with whom he came to Portugal in 1385, and granted, in 1437, two houses at the Sub-Ripas Street in the City of Coimbra. He was the son of Micer Gabriele Pallastrelli, a Lombard nobleman from Piacenza, and second wife Bertolina Bracciforti.
Nobleman and Fidalgo-Esquire of the House of Infante João, Lord of Reguengos and master of the Portuguese Order of Saint James (Santiago), he was granted in 1446, as a hereditary fief (capitania), the island of Porto Santo and, together with his fellow fleet commanders, started the colonization of the islands.

One of his daughters, Filipa Moniz Perestrelo (born c. 1455), around 1479 married Christopher Columbus, who lived in Madeira and Porto Santo.

A legend attributes the responsibility for the poor vegetation of Porto Santo to him. On his first disembarkation in the island he brought one pregnant doe-rabbit that escaped and its progeny overran the island in a few years. In fact, the island was poor in water, and what seemed to be a good enterprise for him became the cause of his family financial ruin.

Family

He married four times, firstly to Margarida Martins, without known issue, secondly with Branca Dias, fathering Branca Dias Perestrello, lady-in-waiting to Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Portugal, and mistress of Dom Pedro de Noronha (Castle of Gijón, 1379 – August 20, 1452), 4th Archbishop of Lisbon (1424–1452), by whom she had issue, including D. Pedro de Noronha, Lord Chamberlain to King John II of Portugal. Thirdly in 1446 to Brites Furtado de Mendonça, (aunt of King John II's mistress Ana de Mendonça) and had issue including Izeu Perestrelo, wife of Pedro Correia, First Captain of Graciosa Island in the Azores and one of King John II's twenty-five bodyguards. His fourth marriage to Isabel Moniz also had issue, including Filipa, one of the 12 Comendadoras of Santiago, who married Columbus, Violante who married Miguel Molyarte and lived in Seville, Spain and Bartolomeu Perestrelo II, Third Captain of Porto Santo.

He was the brother of Rafael Perestrello, head of the Perestrellos of Torres Vedras. He also had two sisters: Catarina Perestrello, married to Aires Anes de Beja, Escrivão da Puridade (a Secretary) of John I of Portugal.

See also
Rafael Perestrello

References

Further reading

15th-century explorers
15th-century Portuguese people
1390s births
1457 deaths
History of Madeira
Maritime history of Portugal
Portuguese explorers
People from Porto Santo
Portuguese people of Italian descent

Bartolomeu Perestrello


Altes Museum (German for Old Museum) is a museum in Berlin. It is on the Museum Island (Museuminsel) along the Spree River. The museum is made of Greek columns but it is not of Greek origin. It is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was created between 1822-1830 and holds the Antikensammlung and Münzenkabinett. The Berliner Lustgarten is in front of the museum.

The Altes Museum was intended to be a royal collection of art and a public museum to educate the people. It was originally called the Königliches Museum. This mission was in line with the educational ideals of Humboldt. Karl Friedrich Schinkel was involved in the planning, and the building was constructed from 1825 to 1828 in neoclassical style. The museum opened in 1830. It was named Altes Museum after the Neues Museum was built in 1845. Originally the commission only included "high art" of Rome and Greece. During Word War 2, the Nazis used the museum in their propaganda. Suffering some damage during World War 2, the building was mostly renovated between 1951 and 1966.

Other websites

 Altes Museum on GreatBuildings.com
 Altes Museum on Archiseek
 Altes Museum on museum-location.de (in German)

Museums in Berlin

Altes Museum


Lockout (also known as MS One: Maximum Security) is a 2012 English-language French science fiction action film directed by James Mather and Stephen Saint Leger, and written by Mather, Saint Leger, and Luc Besson (with Besson serving as executive producer through EuropaCorp). It is both Mather and Saint Leger's feature directorial debuts. The film stars Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Vincent Regan, Joe Gilgun, Lennie James and Peter Stormare. The plot follows Snow (Pearce), a man framed for a crime he did not commit, who is offered his freedom in exchange for rescuing the President's daughter Emilie (Grace) from the orbital prison MS One, which has been taken over by its inmates, led by Alex (Regan) and his psychotic brother Hydell (Gilgun).

Principal photography took place in Belgrade, Serbia. It premiered on 7 April 2012 at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, and was released on 13 April 2012 in North America and on 18 April 2012 in France.

A French court has ruled the film plagiarises the plot of the cult classic Escape from New York and its sequel, Escape from L.A..

Plot
In 2079, CIA operative Snow is arrested for murdering Colonel Frank Armstrong, who had uncovered evidence of a mole selling secrets about the United States space program. Secret Service director Scott Langral, on advice from the President, has Snow convicted of murder and espionage. Snow is sentenced to thirty years on the maximum security space penitentiary MS One, where prisoners are kept in stasis for the length of their sentences. Snow's friend and fellow agent Harry Shaw tries to locate Snow's contact Mace, who knows where Frank's briefcase containing the stolen secrets is hidden.

Meanwhile, the President's daughter Emilie arrives on MS One to investigate claims that keeping prisoners in stasis can cause them to develop mental instability. The warden allows her to interview Hydell, a deranged prisoner. He manages to escape and releases all of the prisoners, starting a riot led by his brother Alex. Emilie is shot, and is captured along with others. Shaw convinces Langral and the President to send Snow to rescue Emilie, rather than risk her life in a siege. Snow is initially reluctant to go, but agrees after Shaw tells him that Mace is on MS One and could help Snow prove his innocence. Langral initially attempts to trick Alex into releasing Emilie, but Hydell disagrees and Snow is forced to infiltrate MS One. Alex realizes that Emilie is the President's daughter and secures her, but she escapes with her bodyguard Hock and they hide in a secure room. A problem with the oxygen supply brings Hock to sacrifice his life by suicide in order to stop himself from using up oxygen so as to buy Emilie more time.

Snow breaks into the secure room and rescues Emilie after administering first aid for her wounds. Snow then changes Emilie's hair & clothing to conceal her gender, allowing them to walk through the prison population without being noticed. They find Mace, but the stasis has given him dementia and made him incoherent. Snow and Emilie bring Mace with them and attempt to reach the escape pod. With no one at the helm, the prison falls out of orbit and crashes into the International Space Station. The collision causes a hull breach, killing Mace. Snow brings Emilie to the escape pod, but discovers it has only one seat. Realizing that he has been sent there to die, he sends Emilie on her way, but she allows the pod to launch without her because she believes the remaining hostages will be killed. Hydell contacts Emilie and threatens the hostages unless she reveals her location; after she does, however, he kills them anyway.

Snow and Emilie discover evidence that the prisoners were being illegally used as test subjects. Alex finds and captures Emilie; he also shoots Snow, leaving him for dead. Alex learns that Hydell has killed all of the hostages; he contacts the President, threatening to let Hydell and the prisoners rape Emilie if they are not released. The President refuses to allow a siege and risk Emilie, causing Langral to temporarily relieve him of his command. Langral orders the destruction of MS One. Hydell tries to rape Emilie as promised, but is stopped by Alex. Hydell and Alex fight, resulting in Alex's death. Hydell then tries to stab Emilie, but Snow arrives and knocks him out. Snow and Emilie flee from Hydell and the remaining prisoners. Meanwhile, Langral's men plant a bomb on the prison. Snow and Emilie use space suits and jump from MS One as it detonates. Using their suits, Snow and Emilie re-enter Earth's atmosphere and land safely in New York City, where Snow is arrested.

Emilie later realizes that Mace's incoherent rambling was actually a code revealing the location of Frank's briefcase. Examining the motel room where Frank was killed, Emilie realizes that Langral saw what he believed was Snow shooting Frank on a mirrored door which only showed part of what happened when in reality Snow was shooting at the actual assassin at the same time that Frank was shot. Snow gives the briefcase to Shaw, who unlocks it but is shocked to find it empty. Snow notes that he had not given Shaw the combination, and Shaw is revealed to be the mole and arrested. However, he believes that he will get off lightly as people like him are needed. Snow is released and his possessions returned, including a lighter given to him by Frank before his death. Examining the lighter, Snow finds a memory card containing the real secret information hidden inside. Emilie meets Snow and teases him after discovering his first name is Marion; the pair walk away together.

Cast
 Guy Pearce as Marion Snow:
A former government agent wrongly convicted of espionage against the United States. After meeting with him for the first time, the directors commented that he was too skinny, but Pearce promised that he would "buff up." Pearce undertook a high-protein diet and weightlifting regimen to increase his muscle mass, as he believed it was important that Snow look like a serious action hero.
 Maggie Grace as Emilie Warnock:
The daughter of the President of the United States. Grace intended to perform as many of her own stunts as possible, and was required to learn stunt, combat, and wire work before filming began. She was drawn to the role partly because of Besson, with whom she had worked twice previously, and because she saw the character as a "kick-ass" woman. Describing Emilie, Grace said she is a "capable young woman who knows how to negotiate her role as someone in a position of responsibility. She certainly has a strong world compass and she responds amazingly well under pressure. True, she's not exactly trained for the situation she finds herself in, but that's OK. There's still a strength about her in spite of that."
 Joe Gilgun as Hydell:
Alex's psychotic brother and fellow prisoner.
 Vincent Regan as Alex:
A prisoner and leader of the prison revolt.
 Lennie James as Harry Shaw:
A CIA officer.
Peter Stormare as Scott Langral:
The Chief of the Secret Service. Describing what drew him to the role, Stormare commented "the part was nice because it was like 'Wow, he's eluding me all the time. What is he up to? Is he really a bad guy or a good guy? What side is he on?' You never find out, which is kind of cool."

The cast also includes Jacky Ido as Hock, Emilie's bodyguard; Tim Plester as Mace, Snow's contact; Mark Tankersley as Barnes, the prison Warden; Anne-Solenne Hatte as Kathryn, Emilie's aide and friend; Peter Hudson as President Jeff Warnock, Emilie's father; and Miodrag Stevanovic as Frank Armstrong, a CIA agent.

Development
Principal photography was scheduled to begin on 7 September 2010, in the Serbian capital city Belgrade. Much of the filming used green screens, rather than practical sets. The intended scenes were storyboarded in Dublin, Ireland to aid the actors in visualizing how the green screen scenes would appear after the completion of the CGI in post-production. Speaking about the experience, Grace stated: "You just have to suspend the voice in your head because you feel so silly reacting to nothing there. Having whole conversations with people that aren't there. I felt a little crazy the first time around."

Luc Besson produced the film. Besson also co-wrote the script with James Mather and Stephen Saint Leger, the directors.

FilmDistrict purchased the distribution rights to the film for a limited amount. In December 2011, FilmDistrict reached a deal to distribute its 2012 films including Lockout through Open Road Films for a fee.

Release

Box office
The film grossed US$14,326,864 in the United States and Canada, and US$17,877,166 from other markets for a worldwide total gross of US$32,204,030.

Lockout opened to US$6.23 million from 2,308 theaters in the United States and Canada—an average of US$2,700 per theater—making it the number 9 film for the weekend. Pre-release tracking of the film had estimated that its opening-weekend gross would be between US$6–8 million. The film drew a large male audience, with men making up 65% of those in attendance and an even split between those under and over the age of 25.

Critical response
Although Guy Pearce's role was generally well received, critical reaction for the film itself was mixed. On Metacritic the film has a score of 48 out of 100 from 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 38% approval rating based on reviews from 123 critics, with an average score of 5 out of 10, and the site's consensus reads: "Guy Pearce does the best he can with what he's given, but Lockout is ultimately too derivative and shallow to build on the many sci-fi thrillers it borrows from." CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a C grade, writing: "Lockout floats like space junk in the final frontier." James Rocchi of BoxOffice magazine called the film: "A sleek, slick and shameless rip-off of John Carpenter's Snake Plissken films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A."

Home media
Lockout was released on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on 17 July 2012.

Legal action
In 2015, director John Carpenter successfully sued the film's makers in the Tribunal de grande instance de Paris alleging Lockout plagiarized his films Escape from New York and Escape from L.A.. The court awarded him damages of €20,000, Escape from New York screenwriter Nick Castle got €10,000, and €50,000 was given to StudioCanal. After Besson's appeal was rejected in July 2016, the claimant's total damages were increased to €450,000.

See also
 List of films featuring space stations

References

External links

2012 films
2010s prison films
2012 science fiction action films

French science fiction action films

Alliance Films films
Fratricide in fiction
English-language French films
EuropaCorp films
Films produced by Luc Besson
Films set in the 2070s
Films set in prison
Films set in Washington, D.C.
Films shot in Serbia
Films about prison escapes
Films about rape
Films involved in plagiarism controversies
Films set in 2079
Films shot in Belgrade
2010s English-language films
2010s French films

Lockout (film)


Preston, also known as Preston Bend, is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located on the Red River in Grayson County, Texas, United States. It grew in the 19th century at the intersection of several military and trade roads and was an important crossing on the Shawnee cattle trail. Preston lost prominence after the MK&T railroad bypassed the town to the east, leading to a decline in traveler and cattle drive traffic. Much of its former town site is submerged beneath the waters of Lake Texoma. Its population was 2,096 as of the 2010 census.

History

Early settlement
Before European settlement, the general area of Preston had been occupied by the Caddo people, with the Comanche and Kiowa farther to the west. One of the first American settlers in the area was John Hart, who cultivated land at the bend in the Red River possibly before 1826. He left the area just after 1830 after being attacked by Indians during a trapping expedition on the Washita River.

During the 1830s, the United States relocated the Five Civilized Tribes from the Southeastern United States to the Indian Territory, on the north side of the Red River. As the first official United States expedition to the area, the Dodge-Leavenworth Expedition explored the region in 1834. Above Preston on the Red River Leavenworth Camp, situated just west of the mouth of the Washita River, the area was a base for this expedition. George Catlin made some of his famous Indian paintings from this camp.

In the fall of 1838, John Hart returned to the Washita Bend area with two partners. They cleared and fenced  and built three cabins. In 1838, the partnership dissolved and Hart took sole possession of the land. He leased the land to a tenant.

Holland Coffee and the trading post
Holland Coffee and Silas Cheek Colville created Coffee, Colville, and Company to establish a trading post on the Red River. After establishing three trading posts upstream, they established one in the Washita Bend. They occupied the area of Washita Bend after John Hart's tenant was killed by Indians. Hart later sued Coffee for the land, but lost. In 1837, Holland Coffee had been elected to the Texas Legislature and negotiated a peace treaty between the Republic of Texas and the Waco, Tawakoni, Kichai, and Towash (Pawnee) peoples on September 2, 1838, at a Shawnee village near the mouth of the Washita River.

The town of Preston grew up around the trading post established by Coffee and Colville.

The Trading Post of Holland Coffee site received a historic marker in 1936.

Roads and trails
Preston developed at the junction between the Indian Territory's Texas Road, leading north to Missouri, and what became the Preston Road, leading south farther into Texas. Roughly following a much older trail used by Native Americans for centuries, in 1840–1841, Colonel William Gordon Cooke created the military road from Coffee's trading house on the Red River to Austin. The Preston Road was originally  long, from Preston to the Trinity River at Dallas.

Fort Preston
The Republic of Texas commissioned Colonel Cooke to make a supply post in the area, known as Fort Preston after Captain William Gilwater Preston, a member of the military road expedition of 1840–1841. Some doubt remains  that the town was named after him, and the origin of the name of the town is obscure. In 1840, Cooke was in charge of a company of men there. Coffee and other settlers were thinking about leaving the area before Cooke arrived. The village around Fort Preston grew up to be known as Preston, Texas. Fort Preston was established 80 yards west of the eastern bend in the river, on a bluff about  above the river. Some of the buildings at Fort Preston were made of bricks made in the area.

Later, the United States Army operated a depot to supply the Fifth Infantry from here. The Army depot operated from 1851 to 1853. The Preston Supply Depot was under the command of Lt. Thomas C. English and later by Bvt. Maj. W. F. Wood. Albert Sidney Johnston and the Second Cavalry came through Preston in 1855.

Glen Eden
When Holland Coffee married Sophia Suttonfield Aughinbaugh in 1839, they resided at his trading post in a  square log stockade on the Red River. The stockade enclosed several huts and cabins. In 1843, Coffee began building Glen Eden as a proper house for his wife,  west of his trading post. It was completed in 1845. Holland Coffee was killed on October 1, 1846. Sophia later married several more times, and Glen Eden became the most famous residence in the area.

The town
Preston developed in the area around Coffee's trading house and was a considerable town in 1845 when William H. Hunt completed its town plat survey. The municipal government was established in 1851 with Tom Jackson as the first mayor. Preston's Masonic lodge was established in 1852. A United States post office was established in 1856, and later a post office operated from 1880 to 1914. Preston had general stores and at least one blacksmith shop.

Cattle crossing
As the cattle business developed in Texas and cattle trails to processing facilities in Kansas became necessary, the Shawnee Trail developed through the Preston area.

The crossing had been an important wagon crossing before 1850, with over 1,000 wagons crossing there in a year.

Ferries
Log raft ferry service was available at the trading post in 1839.

Holland Coffee, George Butts, and Slone Love operated ferries in the area.

Rock Bluff Ferry operated near the mouth of the Washita River close to Preston. In the late 1830s, James Tyson operated the ferry at the rock bluff. His ferry was little more than a log raft. Later, two partners owned this ferry, Jim Shannon and Bud Randolph.

Around 1853, Ben Colbert opened up his ferry downstream to cash in on the California gold rush. Preston was located on one branch of the California Trail, where it crossed into Texas from the Indian Territory.

About  west of Colberts was Thompson's Ferry, run by James George Thompson, first chief justice in Grayson County. Thompson's home became the first post office and courthouse in the county.

Hopes for expansion
Supplying the military posts in the frontier area was difficult. One idea was to expand and supply the army depot at Preston by steamboat. This plan was abandoned in 1853 due to the difficulty of navigating the upper Red River because of the Great Raft logjam. Later, after the destruction of the Great Raft, steamboats on the Red River were finally able to navigate up the river to Preston.  Preston had a steamboat landing.

In 1847, the Texas Legislature ordered a road to be built from Preston to Sherman.

In 1853, Congress funded an exploration of the best route west of the Mississippi for a transcontinental railroad. In February 1854, an expedition of 75 men led by Capt. John Pope surveyed a route along the 32nd parallel north from New Mexico to Preston. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis favored this path, though it was tabled until after the Civil War. This route was afterwards abandoned.  After the Civil War, the First transcontinental railroad was surveyed and constructed farther to the north.

Decline
Although Preston developed as the largest community in the area for many years, several factors led to its decline. When new counties were created by the Texas Legislature, their county seats were located near the center of the counties. After the Texas Legislature created Grayson County from Fannin County, the county seat was designated near the center of the new county, at Sherman. As the county government developed, the focus of growth left Preston. The site of Sherman was situated east of the Preston Trail and caused travelers passing through the area from the north to the south to gravitate east of Preston.

Butterfield trail

The Butterfield Overland Mail stage route, between St. Louis and San Francisco, began operation in 1857. The line ran across the Indian Territory from Fort Smith, Arkansas, to the Red River at Colbert's Ferry, a few miles east of Preston. The stage line had decided to bypass Preston as the traditional crossing on the Red River. Colbert's Ferry became a more popular crossing over the Red River as Sherman and McKinney developed. In 1857, Sherman was very small, made up of only two or three small stores. Much of the brick and material came from older buildings at Preston. By 1871, 14 stage lines were operating through Sherman.

MK&T Railroad

After the Civil War, the peace treaty between the United States and the Five Civilized Tribes allowed for a railroad to be built north and south across the Indian Territory. This railroad, the Missouri, Kansas and Texas, crossed the Red River near Colbert's Ferry to the east of Preston in 1871. By this time Preston had begun to decline and was largely abandoned. As other cities along the railroad's route prospered, Preston became a rural community.

20th century

In the 20th century, Preston had a public school system, two churches, a cotton gin, and a cemetery. In the 1930s, the town had about 20 residents.

New Preston developed more centrally within the bend.

Lake Texoma

The United States Congress authorized Lake Texoma's construction by the Flood Control Act of 1938 approved June 28, 1938, (Public Law 75-791) for flood control and generation of hydroelectric power. The lake's area submerged the Preston townsite. The United States Army Corps of Engineers bought all the land in the area in the late 1930s for Lake Texoma.

After the filling of Lake Texoma, only the cemetery was left from Preston; which was on high ground overlooking the town. The cemetery was expanded with a new section when Lake Texoma was created. Some of the existing graves that were to be under the lake were moved to the new section of the cemetery.

Preston Point is the peninsula in Lake Texoma that was the high ground overlooking the town of Preston. An unincorporated community named Preston exists on this peninsula, consisting largely of campgrounds and recreational cabins.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 United States census, there were 2,101 people, 834 households, and 355 families residing in the CDP.

2000 census
The population of Preston was 325 in 2000.

Geography
Preston was located in Texas on its border with the Indian Territory (later the state of Oklahoma) in the Red River Valley on a river bend just downstream from the river's confluence with the Washita River. The area was also known as Washita Bend or Coffee Bend. This area is located a few miles east of the Cross Timbers on the upper Red River above the former Great Raft logjam. A rock bluff overlooked the Red River from the Texas side of the river,  above the river's low-water mark. This bluff at Preston marked the ford of an old Indian trail on the Red River. This ford was later used as the Red River crossing point of the Shawnee Cattle Trail. Later, the bluff also marked the return route of Captain Randolph B. Marcy's expedition from Santa Fe to Fort Smith in 1849. The Oklahoma side of the river was a relatively flat, sand-covered plain and terraces sloping gently to the river.

The current Preston CDP occupies the entire Preston Peninsula, bordered to the west by the main body of Lake Texoma and to the east by the Little Mineral Arm of the lake. The peninsula ends to the north at Preston Point, and the CDP extends south to the base of the peninsula, at Meadow Lake Drive to the east and at Highport Road to the west. Texas State Highway 289 has its northern terminus in Preston and leads south  to Pottsboro. Denison is  to the southeast, and Sherman, the Grayson County seat, is  to the south-southeast.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Preston CDP has a total area of , of which  are land and , or 38.02%, are covered by water, consisting of the adjoining waters of Lake Texoma.

References

Further reading
 Foreman, Grant.  Down the Texas Road: Historic Places Along Highway Number 69 Through Oklahoma University of Oklahoma Press, 1936, Pp. 46.
 Landrum, Grahm and Smith, Allen.  "Grayson County" (Fort Worth, 1960; 2d ed., Fort Worth: Historical Publishers, 1967).
 Lucas, Mattie D. and Hall, Mita H.  A History of Grayson County (Sherman, Texas, 1936).
 Marcy, R. B., The Prairie Traveler unknown date, publisher
 Middlebrooks, Audy J. and Glenna P. "Holland Coffee of Red River," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 69 (October 1965).
 Morrison, W.B.  Colbert Ferry on Red River, Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory ''The Chronicles of Oklahoma 16:3 (September 1938)
 Tolman, Keith. "Tea Kettle on a Raft: A History of Navigation on the Upper Red River," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 81 (Winter 2003-2004)
 Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Shawnee Trail
 Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - California Road

External links

 Preston at GhostTowns.com

Unincorporated communities in Grayson County, Texas
Unincorporated communities in Texas
Census-designated places in Grayson County, Texas
Census-designated places in Texas
Submerged settlements in the United States

Preston, Texas


The 2014 Gorni Lom explosions were a series of explosions that began on the afternoon of October 1, 2014, at 16:59 pm local time at the former Midzhur Ammo Plant in the village of Gorni Lom, in Bulgaria's northwestern Vidin Province. The series of blasts completely destroyed the factory, killing 13 men and 2 women who were inside and injuring 3 others who were some distance away. As a result of the blast, October 3 was declared a day of national mourning in the country.

Timeline and background

The main explosion took place at 16:59 pm local time, with a large secondary blast taking place at 21:45 pm. The approximately 15 people who were working inside the factory at the time of the first explosion are presumed to have died instantly, while 3 female workers in the vicinity of the complex suffered injuries from flying glass and shrapnel. Authorities estimated around 10 tonnes of highly explosive chemicals were stored at the site, in addition to the weapons being dismantled. According to Nikola Nikolov, the head of the interior ministry's civil defense force, the blasts were powerful enough to completely destroy the main buildings in the plant, leaving huge craters the size of football fields behind and sending debris flying up to a kilometer away. The workers were reportedly dismantling old Greek mines at the time of the accident in Gorni Lom, approximately 145 km northwest of Bulgaria's capital Sofia.

The same plant had received several urgent citations by authorities just two months prior to the accident, notifying the owners of outdated equipment, improperly stored explosives and a larger amount of munitions at the site than it could safely handle. The same plant suffered two blasts in 2007 and 2010 that injured a total of 6 people and flattened two separate buildings. In the aftermath of the disaster labor minister Yordan Hristoskov vowed to never allow the factory to reopen, placing the future of around 150 jobs in question and prompting condemnation from local residents.

This was Bulgaria's tenth such accident since 1979 and the second one in just two months, after a blast at a similar plant in Kostenets injured 10 people on August 8. An explosion at another facility near Sliven killed 3 people in 2012, and in 2008 a series of huge blasts at an arms depot near Sofia injured 3, forced the closure of Sofia Airport and registered as a 3.2 tremor on seismographs.

Response and aftermath
In response to the disaster, authorities dispatched Army units equipped with drones and thermal cameras to search for survivors and assess the damage. After a period of 24 hours since the last explosion had passed, investigators were allowed access to the scene and began their work, making the initial trip in a Bulgarian Army Plasan Sand Cat vehicle as a safety precaution. One of the members of that initial team, Valentin Radev, said that "the plant and the people seem to have just vanished" and described the scene as a "moonscape". October 3 was declared an official day of mourning in Bulgaria, with festivities cancelled and all flags flown at half-mast.

The explosion took place just four days before the scheduled parliamentary election, and at least one political party called for its postponement. Most parties canceled planned events and campaign rallies out of respect for the victims and their families. Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev blamed the disaster on "arrogant non-observance of the recommendations and the established norms for handling explosives".

In April 2021, Radio Free Europe alleged that Russian agents had been in Bulgaria around the time of the explosion.

See also

 2008 Chelopechene explosions, series of huge blasts that affected Bulgaria's capital Sofia
 2014 Bulgarian floods, another disaster that struck the country a few months earlier
 Bomb disposal
 List of industrial disasters

References

Explosions in 2014
2014 industrial disasters
Explosions in Bulgaria
Industrial fires and explosions
2014 in Bulgaria
October 2014 events in Europe
2014 disasters in Bulgaria

2014 Gorni Lom explosions


The Mumbwa Caves are an archeological site in Zambia. The site has yielded artifacts that date from the Mesolithic, Neolithic and the Iron Age. The caves are a source of stratified, in situ deposits with faunal and human remains. Mumbwa, with its interior structures, demonstrates the complexity of the behavioral abilities of the people from the Mesolithic. Selection of raw materials along with features such as hearths suggests a population which was modern in its behaviors used to inhabit the Mumbwa Caves. Study and excavation of the Mumbwa Caves is helping to fill in the gaps in the late Pleistocene prehistory of south central Africa.

Excavations
Macrae 1926;  Clark 1942; Savage 1983.
In 1931, Dart and Del Grande excavated the caves and discovered intact basal deposits which were used to date the site.
In 1993, Lawrence Barham gathered a team represented by the Zambian National Heritage Conservation Commission, the Livingstone Museum and the Universities of Bristol and Oxford to assess the extent of intact basal deposits discovered by Dart and Del Grande.

Artifacts
A 62,614 lithics were recovered in 1994. 3,171 were from the Iron Age deposit, 16,939 from the LSA (Late Stone Age) and 40,060 from the upper MSA (Middle Stone Age) sequence. Several general patterns have been observed from these artifacts. It is evident that there are patterns within the raw materials used, the manipulation of manuports and in the production of bone tools. Hearths and windbreaks have been found at Mumbwa and are evidence of the emergence of complex Middle Stone Age behaviors being used by past people of Mumbwa. Windbreaks bend away from the tunnel and would have protected the occupants of the cave and their hearths from the east to west winds. Microfauna found at the site indicates dry conditions at the time of occupation.

Features
There are two main classes of features that can be found at the Mumbwa Caves site. Hearths and windbreaks are two features which are distinctive of the Mumbwa Middle Stone Age. The hearths found in Areas I and II, have stone borders consisting of cave dolomite blocks and material transported from local landscape, including quartz cobbles, phyllite, sandstone and cobbles of haematite. Area I contains one of the best preserved windbreaks on the Mumbwa Caves site. It is distinguished by a semi-circular arc of ash, sediment, quartz debitage and animal bone.

External links
 The Mumbwa Caves Project

References

Archaeological sites in Zambia
Archaeological sites of Eastern Africa

Mumbwa Caves


Faidherbe–Chaligny () is a station of the Paris Métro, named after the streets of Rue Faidherbe and Rue Chaligny.

History

The station opened on 5 May 1931 with the extension of the line from Richelieu–Drouot to Porte de Charenton. Rue Faidherbe is named after General Louis Faidherbe (1818–1889), who was Governor of Senegal between 1854 and 1861 and between 1863 and 1865. Rue Chaligny is named after the Chalignys who were a famous family of metal-founders from Lorraine.

The royal wallpaper factory, the Folie Titon, run by Jean-Baptiste Réveillon, was located here until its demolition in 1880. It helped the Montgolfier brothers build hot-air balloons, which were first tested here with humans on 19 October 1783, although the balloon was tethered to the ground. The Reveillon riot occurred at the Folie Titon on 28 April 1789, which was a harbinger of the French Revolution.

Places of interest
Nearby is the Fountain of Montreuil, created in 1719, which was used at that time to supply water to the butcheries in neighbouring Faubourg Saint-Antoine.
The district preserved artisanal trades, particularly ironwork and cabinet-making.
The principal entry to the Saint-Antoine Hospital is between the two metro entrances.
Many small restaurants surround the station.
The Palace of Woman, a reception centre for single women, is at the end of the Rue de Faidherbe.

Station layout

References
Roland, Gérard (2003). Stations de métro. D'Abbesses à Wagram. Éditions Bonneton.

Paris Métro stations in the 11th arrondissement of Paris
Paris Métro stations in the 12th arrondissement of Paris
Railway stations in France opened in 1931

Faidherbe–Chaligny station


The Shadows No. 2 is an extended play 45 rpm record released in 1961 by The Shadows. It was released on Columbia Records/EMI Records as SEG 8148 in mono and reached #12 in the UK EP charts in January, 1962.

All the songs on the record had previously been released on the album The Shadows, and more songs from the album were to be released on the EP The Shadows No. 3.  There appears never to have been a The Shadows No. 1.

The liner notes were written by Cliff Richard.

Track listing
Side 1
 "Shadoogie"  (Hank Marvin, Bruce Welch, Jet Harris, Tony Meehan)
 "Nivram"  (Marvin, Welsh, Harris)

Side 2
 "Baby My Heart"  (Sonny Curtis)
 "See You in My Drums" (Meeham)

References

English music
1961 songs

The Shadows No. 2


David Jack Foster (November 2, 1859 – September 10, 1948) was a United States Army officer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He served in the Spanish–American War and World War I.

Biography
Foster was born on November 2, 1859, in Princeton, Illinois. His father died when he was young, and after attending the local public schools, Foster went to Chicago in order get find better opportunities, with several members of his family following him shortly after. On July 17, 1877, after making a living by selling insurance and working at the local post office, Foster enlisted in the Sixth Illinois Infantry.

A year after his enlistment, Foster was commissioned as a second lieutenant, and on February 11, 1879, he was promoted to first lieutenant. Upon his promotion to captain on July 27, 1880, Foster assumed command over Company B of the Fourth Illinois Infantry, and he commanded the Sixth Illinois Infantry after his promotion to colonel on January 6, 1893. On May 11, 1898, Foster and his regiment were mobilized into service because of the Spanish–American War, and they traveled to Cuba and Puerto Rico, where they remained until September 7 of that same year before being mustered out on November 25.

Foster was promoted to the rank of brigadier general of the Illinois National Guard on August 3, 1903, and he assumed command over the 32nd Infantry Brigade in Chicago. He assumed command over the First Infantry Brigade in 1907. Foster and his brigade were stationed on the border with Mexico from June to October 1916, and they were mobilized for service in World War I on July 25, 1917. Commissioned as a brigadier general on August 5, 1917, Foster commanded the 64th Infantry Brigade, which later became the 66th Brigade. Foster failed a physical exam for general officers, and he retired on January 8, 1918.

After his retirement, Foster worked as the superintendent of the Chicago Post Office, and he lived at the Gladstone Hotel in the city. He died on September 10, 1948, after three weeks of illness.

Personal life
Foster married Caroline Horton, from the same town as himself, in 1910. They had no children, and she died 20 years before he did.

References

Bibliography

1859 births
1948 deaths
People from Princeton, Illinois
Military personnel from Chicago
American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
United States Army generals of World War I
United States Army generals
National Guard (United States) generals
Illinois National Guard personnel

David Jack Foster


Jean-Joseph Delvin (1853 – 1922) was a Belgian painter who specialized in scenes with animals (primarily horses).

Life
Delvin was born in Ghent. He attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, where he studied under , and worked in the studios of Jean Portaels in Brussels. His fellow students there included André Cluysenaar and Jacques de Lalaing. Later, he undertook study trips to France and Spain. For many years, he shared a small workshop in a garden shed with Gustave Den Duyts.

In 1883, he was invited to join the secessionist group Les XX, along with James Ensor, Fernand Khnopff, Théo van Rysselberghe and several others, but he resigned only a few years later in 1886. He was also a member of La Libre Esthétique and Kunst van Heden (Art for Today) in Antwerp. At about that time, he began teaching at the Academy in Ghent and later became its Director (1902–1913).

Among his many well-known students there were Albert Baertsoen, Gustave De Smet, Frans Masereel, George Minne and Frits Van den Berghe.

Gallery

References

Further reading
 Gent. Duizend jaar kunst en cultuur (A Thousand Years of Art and Culture, exhibition catalog), Ghent, (Museum voor Schone Kunsten), 1975.
 Le dictionnaire des peintres belges du XIVe siècle à nos jours, Brussels, 1994.
 Gisèle Ollinger-Zinque, Pierre Baudson, et al., Les XX. La Libre Esthétique. Honderd jaar later (exhibition catalog), Brussels (Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium), 1993.
 De muren weten ervan (The Walls Know It, exhibition catalog), Ghent, 1997.
 M. Tahon-Vanroose, De vrienden van Scribe (The Friends of Scribe, exhibition catalog), Ghent (Museum voor Schone Kunsten), 1998.

External links

 Arcadja Auctions: More works by Delvin

1853 births
1922 deaths
19th-century Belgian painters
Belgian male painters
19th-century Belgian male artists
20th-century Belgian painters
Animal painters
Artists from Ghent
20th-century Belgian male artists
Place of death missing

Jean Delvin