HMS Queen Elizabeth is the lead ship of the  of aircraft carriers and the Fleet Flagship of the Royal Navy. Capable of carrying 60 aircraft including fixed wing, rotary wing and autonomous vehicles, she is named in honour of the first , a World War I era super-dreadnought, which in turn was named after Queen Elizabeth I. The carrier Queen Elizabeth carries her namesake ship's honours, as well as her Tudor rose-adorned crest and motto.

She began sea trials in June 2017, was commissioned on 7 December 2017 and entered service in 2020. Her first seagoing commanding officer was Commodore Jerry Kyd who was appointed in 2014 but did not take command until May 2016, having previously commanded the carriers  and .

The ship is designed to operate V/STOL aircraft. The air wing will typically consist of F-35B Lightning II multirole fighters and Merlin helicopters for airborne early warning and anti-submarine warfare. The design emphasises flexibility, with accommodation for 250 Royal Marines and the ability to support them with attack helicopters and large troop transports such as Chinooks. She is the second Royal Navy vessel to bear the name Queen Elizabeth, and is based at HMNB Portsmouth.

Queen Elizabeth will deploy as the central part of a UK Carrier Strike Group with escorts and support ships in order to deliver carrier-enabled power projection.

Design and construction
On 25 July 2007 Defence Secretary Des Browne announced the order for two new carriers. At the time of approval the first carrier was expected to enter service in July 2015 and the budget was £4.085 billion for two ships. The financial crisis led to a political decision in December 2008 to slow production, delaying Queen Elizabeth until May 2016. This added £1.56 billion to the cost. By March 2010 the budget was estimated at £5.9 billion and in November 2013 the contract was renegotiated with a budget of £6.2 billion. The in-service date was further extended to 2020 in the Strategic Defence and Security Review in October 2010.

Construction of Queen Elizabeth began in 2009. The assembly took place in the Firth of Forth at Rosyth Dockyard from nine blocks built in six UK shipyards: BAE Systems Surface Ships in Glasgow, Babcock at Appledore, Babcock at Rosyth, A&P Tyne in Hebburn, BAE at Portsmouth and Cammell Laird (flight decks) at Birkenhead. Two of the lower main blocks, together weighing more than 6,000 tonnes and forming part of the base of the ship, were assembled and joined into one piece on 30 June 2011.

On 16 August 2011, the 8,000-tonne Lower Block 03 of Queen Elizabeth left BAE Systems Surface Ships' Govan shipyard in Glasgow on a large ocean-going barge. Travelling  around the northern coast of Scotland, the block arrived at Rosyth on the evening of 20 August 2011.

On 28 October 2012, an 11,000-tonne section of the carrier began a lengthy journey around the south coast of England, avoiding bad weather, from the shipbuilding hall at Govan to the Rosyth dockyard; it arrived on 21 November. The forward island was constructed at BAE Portsmouth and attached on 14 March 2013; the aft island was attached in June 2013. The ski jump was added in November 2013, leaving just the lifts and radar to be lifted into place. By September 2013 Queen Elizabeth was 80% complete internally.

The carrier is three times the size of the Invincible-class, and has the ability to carry approximately three times as many aircraft. Despite this, Queen Elizabeth has marginally fewer crew than the Invincible-class. The ship has two superstructures, or islands, one for navigation and ship's operations and the other for flight control and aerial operations. The islands can take on each other's function if one is incapacitated.

Naming ceremony

Queen Elizabeth was christened at Rosyth on 4 July 2014, by Queen Elizabeth II, who said that the warship "marks a new phase in our naval history". Instead of smashing the traditional bottle of Champagne on the hull, she used a bottle of whisky from the Bowmore distillery on Islay.

The ceremony was attended by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (the Lord High Admiral), Admiral George Zambellas (First Sea Lord), senior naval officers from the United States and France, and by politicians including David Cameron and Gordon Brown (the Prime Minister and his immediate predecessor) and Alex Salmond (the First Minister of Scotland). The official piece of music HMS Queen Elizabeth March, composed by WO2 Bandmaster John Morrish, was performed at the naming ceremony by the Band of HM Royal Marines Scotland. This piece of music is a competition-winning march chosen by the Carrier Alliance Group, performed and recorded by the Royal Marines Massed Bands.

The ceremony also featured a fly-past by the Red Arrows and a second comprising Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and British Army helicopters.  was berthed adjacent to Queen Elizabeth during the ceremony.

The ship was floated out of dry dock on the morning of 17 July 2014. Fitting out was completed at the end of 2015 and the crew moved aboard in May 2016.

Sea trials

Sea trials were planned beginning in March 2017 with delivery expected in May 2017, but technical issues delayed her trials. Prior to her departure from Rosyth, an extensive survey was carried out of the Firth of Forth by  and 42 Regiment, Royal Engineers to gather information on the tides, the depth of the river bed, and the height of the three river crossings (Forth Bridge, Forth Road Bridge, and Queensferry Crossing). This was necessary as the most recent data available were 60 years old.

Queen Elizabeth sailed on 26 June 2017 to undergo sea trials. The first stage of the operation was to move the ship from inside the fitting out basin, via one of the access gates, into the Firth of Forth itself, before taking her under the three Forth bridge crossings. Once this was accomplished, the ship took to the open sea off the east coast of Scotland to undertake the first set of trials, including handling and speed tests. During this period, Queen Elizabeth was accompanied by a pair of Type 23 frigates,  and , acting as escorts. The first aircraft to land on the ship was a Merlin HM.2 helicopter of 820 Naval Air Squadron on 3 July. Queen Elizabeth arrived at her first stopover at Invergordon, where the ship was fuelled and provisioned. At this point inspections of the hull were carried out. This opportunity allowed defect rectification to be carried out prior to the ship returning to sea.

On 8 August 2017, Queen Elizabeth diverted from her sea trials to rendezvous with the ships engaged in Exercise 'Saxon Warrior'; this allowed for a photo exercise in company with the American   and her Carrier Strike Group (CSG), comprising , , ,  and HNoMS Helge Ingstad.

Queen Elizabeth was scheduled to return to Rosyth at the end of July for rectification work based on the results of the ship's first sea trials, before putting to sea for a second time to undergo a series of mission system tests, prior to being handed over to the Royal Navy. This plan was abandoned and she instead steered for her home port, Portsmouth.

Queen Elizabeth arrived at HMNB Portsmouth for the first time on 16 August 2017 and berthed at the newly renamed Princess Royal Jetty (formerly Middle Slip Jetty).

On 30 October 2017, the ship departed Portsmouth for the first time for the second phase of her sea trials off the south and south-west coasts of England. For part of this second period of sea trials, she was accompanied by the Type 45 destroyer . Queen Elizabeth returned to Portsmouth on 21 November 2017 to prepare for her official commissioning ceremony, which was held on 7 December 2017. Following the ship's commissioning, she underwent a period of defect correction in Portsmouth; one instance was a leak through a seal in one of the propeller shafts, which the Royal Navy stated was not serious enough to keep Queen Elizabeth from her planned programme.

Operational history
On 2 February 2018, Queen Elizabeth sailed from Portsmouth for a second time, for a six-week deployment to undergo the first phases of operational training; initially, the ship was scheduled to head into the Western Approaches to undertake her initial Operational Sea Training (OST) programme. Once complete, Queen Elizabeth was then taken into the North Atlantic for both heavy weather testing and operations to begin helicopter certification, including with Merlin Mk2 and Mk3 and Chinook helicopters. During this deployment, the ship made her first overseas port visit, stopping over in Gibraltar from 9 to 12 February. During this, the ship also began initial amphibious assault trials, with Royal Marines from 42 Commando embarked to simulate an air assault scenario. Queen Elizabeth was also scheduled to undergo a first replenishment at sea from ; although the actual replenishment had to be abandoned due to bad weather, the rendezvous allowed both ships the opportunity to simulate the scenario in detail. Queen Elizabeth returned to Portsmouth on 27 February 2018, berthing at Princess Royal Jetty. On 2 March 2018 in Portsmouth Harbour, Queen Elizabeth successfully tested her port side Marine Evacuation System (MES), a series of bright orange inflatable escape chutes and rafts.

Queen Elizabeth departed Portsmouth for a third time on 10 June 2018, heading to the coasts of Cornwall for a second phase of helicopter flight trials. After the trials were completed, Queen Elizabeth headed for home and performed her first replenishment at sea (RAS) refuelling operation with Tidespring on 21 June 2018 in the English Channel, then returned to Portsmouth on 23 June 2018.
On return from the initial OST and helicopter certification work, further work was undertaken to prepare the ship for the operation of fixed-wing aircraft, in conjunction with regular maintenance and installation of her final weapons fit.

Westlant 18
Queen Elizabeths first significant deployment took place during autumn 2018, when the ship travelled across the Atlantic to begin flying trials with her fixed-wing aircraft. Although the programme covered a range of areas, including the continued workup of the Commander UK Carrier Strike Group and his staff, embarked for a deployment or the first time, and small-scale exercises to test the ship's ability to land troops in the secondary amphibious role, the primary purpose was the first phase of fixed-wing flying trials involving the F-35B over two separate periods of approximately 3–4 weeks each starting in mid-September, utilising a pair of the instrumented development aircraft from VX-23, the US Navy's air testing unit at NAS Patuxent River. The testing programme saw the first launch of an F-35 from a ski-jump at sea (the F-35B has operated from the US Navy's assault ships, but these are not fitted with ski-jumps), and the first demonstration of the shipborne rolling vertical landing technique.

In addition to the F-35 trials, Queen Elizabeth also began qualifications for types of aircraft operated by the US armed forces, including the V-22 Osprey. As part of the deployment, the ship made her first overseas port visit to New York City in October, in between layovers at Naval Station Norfolk, some operations in the Caribbean possible, to test the ship's hot weather performance, as well as being on hand if needed for any disaster relief operations during the hurricane season. Queen Elizabeth was scheduled to return to the UK in December.

On 18 August 2018, Queen Elizabeth sailed from Portsmouth on what was termed as "Westlant 18", carrying three Merlin Mk2 helicopters of 820 NAS. Later, on 20 August 2018, three additional Merlin Mk4 helicopters from 845 NAS were embarked to the ship. Queen Elizabeth was then met by  to form a carrier group. On 3 September 2018, Monmouths Wildcat HMA2 helicopter became the first of its type to land aboard Queen Elizabeth. On 5 September 2018, the two ships arrived at Naval Station Mayport in north-east Florida, for a period of replenishment. The ships remained in Florida for eight days before departing for the planned trip northwards to US Naval Station Norfolk.

During the transit north, she was to undertake an amphibious assault exercise off the coast of South Carolina using its Merlin Mk4 helicopters and Royal Marines of 42 Commando. However, due to the effects of Hurricane Florence, this exercise was cancelled and the group instead sailed south; Monmouth headed to waters off The Bahamas, which acted as a windbreak, while Queen Elizabeth skirted around the south of the hurricane zone. The group eventually arrived at Norfolk on 17 September. During the period alongside at Norfolk, Queen Elizabeth embarked a further 200 personnel of the F-35B Integrated Test Force, to undertake the testing and analysis of the two F-35B aircraft to be used during the initial set of flying trials.

On 25 September 2018, two US-owned F-35B test aircraft, based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, flew out to meet Queen Elizabeth off the New Jersey coast. After refuelling, Commander Gray then achieved the first F-35B take off from Queen Elizabeth using the ski-jump ramp. During the initial F-35B trials, Queen Elizabeth also began trials for the UK Carrier Group staff when the ship, along with Monmouth, formed a task group with the US Navy destroyer  and , a fast combat support ship, which performed RAS with Queen Elizabeth and Monmouth on 1 October 2018. During October, the first instances of cross-decking took place when a US Navy MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopter, and a US Marine Corps tiltrotor MV-22B Osprey landed on board. The first shipborne rolling vertical landing (SRVL) by an F-35 was undertaken on 14 October – this was also the first operational demonstration of the technique on a ship at sea, and is planned as the primary method of recovering fixed-wing aircraft aboard the Queen Elizabeth class.

On 19 October 2018, Queen Elizabeth arrived in New York City for a planned seven day visit. Kyd remarked "we are the biggest carrier to go in there for about 50 years", as the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carriers are forbidden from making a port of call in New York City. She dropped anchor near Ellis and Liberty Islands in Upper New York Bay. During the ship's stopover, she played host to a forum hosted by Gavin Williamson, the UK Secretary of State for Defence, on the future of cyber security, as well as an international trade day hosted by Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for International Trade. On 19 November 2018, another milestone was met with a F-35B test pilot landing on the ship facing the stern instead of the bow.

Post-Westlant 18
Following the ship's return from Westlant 18, Queen Elizabeth began a maintenance period in early 2019 that saw the installation of the remainder of the ship's self-defence armament, with two Phalanx CIWS mounts fitted. This was followed by the ship's return to Rosyth to allow it to be dry-docked for its first scheduled hull inspection. The remaining Phalanx CIWS and four DS30M mounts will be fitted during 2020.

After further fixed-wing aircraft trials in 2019, using British F-35 aircraft over UK waters, followed then by operational testing. Queen Elizabeth was expected to reach initial operational capability by 2020, now with Commodore Stephen Moorhouse in command. Gavin Williamson announced that the ship's first deployment will be to the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Pacific region, the last to counter China's territorial claims in the South China Sea.

On 10 January 2019, Jane's Defence Weekly reported that F-35 aircraft of the United Kingdom would join the F-35Bs of the US Marine Corps in embarking Queen Elizabeth for the ship's first operational cruise in 2021.

Westlant 19

Queen Elizabeth departed for her second WESTLANT cruise on 30 August 2019. This deployment was to undertake the second stage of fixed-wing flight testing, and would see the F-35B employed as a full part of the ship's air group, with 617 Squadron due to embark for the first time to operate alongside 17 Squadron, the type's evaluation unit. The deployment will also see the first full up operation of the UK Carrier Strike Group, with Queen Elizabeth to be accompanied by  and HMS Dragon supported by . On 13 October 2019, F-35Bs from 17 Squadron landed on HMS Queen Elizabeth for the first time.

HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived home in Portsmouth on 4 December 2019. On 16 December 2019, the first-ever F-35B launch in British territorial waters took place, when an aircraft of that model took off from the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth Harbour. The aircraft, registration ZM148 (BK14) safely returned to its base at RAF Marham on the same day. ZM148 (BK14) had developed a fault during Westlant19 and was retained aboard Queen Elizabeth for repair.

Post-Westlant 19
HMS Queen Elizabeth departed Portsmouth in January 2020 for flight trials in UK waters for the first time and was joined by British-owned F-35B Lightning aircraft from RAF No. 207 Squadron. In June 2020, F-35Bs from 617 Squadron landed on Queen Elizabeth for Operational Sea Training to prepare for Initial Operating Capability (Maritime) by the end of 2020.

The summer 2020 period was spent in harbour undergoing preparation work for September, when the ship took part in a major carrier group exercise that was run as part of Exercise Joint Warrior, with the Queen Elizabeth accompanied not just by ships of the Royal Navy, but also an escort from both the US and Dutch navies, as well as two squadrons of F-35Bs- one each from both the RAF and USMC. Following the conclusion of Joint Warrior, the ship returned to port to have the remainder of its equipment fitted, while the joint UK/US air group undertook a further exercise from RAF Marham.

Initial Operating Capability was announced on 4 January 2021, and on 27 January, the ship assumed the role of Fleet Flagship of the Royal Navy, taking over from amphibious transport dock .

Carrier Strike Group 21

Between 7 and 21 May, the Carrier Strike Group took part in Exercise Strike Warrior, as part of Exercise Joint Warrior 21-1 Once the carrier strike group finished Exercise Strike Warrior, it made its way back to HMNB Portsmouth for final preparations, before finally departing on 23 or 24 May. On 21 May, Prime Minister Boris Johnson toured the ship. Queen Elizabeth II visited the ship on 22 May. Initially the group took part in joint exercises with NATO partners in the Eastern Atlantic, before entering the Mediterranean Sea, where it more conducted exercises with Mediterranean NATO allies, including with the French carrier Charles de Gaulle, in the dual-carrier exercise named Exercise Gallic Strike before entering port at Souda Bay for a logistic stop. A Type 45 destroyer, HMS Defender and HMNLS Evertsen detached from the group to enter the Black Sea – a visit that was already planned prior to the heightened Russian activity in the region. On 7 July 2021, the group transited the Suez Canal to enter the Indian Ocean where they conducted joint exercises with the Indian Navy before proceeding past Singapore, without stopping, to enter the disputed South China Sea region to conduct freedom of navigation exercises in the area with the US Navy. Subsequently, the group will pay a visit to South Korea and then conduct exercises with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and United States Navy around the islands of Japan.

On 18 June 2021, Queen Elizabeth began combat operations against ISIS, supporting Operation Inherent Resolve. F-35B aircraft from 617 Squadron, RAF and US Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 211 (VMFA-211) launched strikes from Queen Elizabeth to attack ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria.

An outbreak of COVID-19 was reported on Queen Elizabeth and her escort ships on 14 July 2021. The British Defence Secretary stated that the outbreak was being managed and that all personnel in the Carrier Strike Group had been vaccinated against COVID-19. Mitigation measures were also in place aboard the warships including the use of masks, social distancing and a "Track and Trace system" to monitor personnel movement. The deployment proceeded as planned to Japan.

On 26 July 2021, Queen Elizabeth and her escort ships conducted a passage exercise with three ships from the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) in the South China Sea. This is the first time that a Royal Navy Carrier Strike Group has conducted military exercises with the RSN. On 16 November 2021, one of the carrier's F-35B fighters, ZM152 from 617 Squadron, crashed during operations in the Mediterranean. The pilot was able to eject safely.

Carrier Strike Deployment 23
In September 2023, the carrier embarked 8 F-35B fighters from 617 Squadron, 5 Merlin helicopters from 820 Squadron and 3 Wildcat helicopters from 847 Squadron for its "Operation FIREDRAKE" deployment in northern European waters. Of five Merlins deployed, two were in the AEW configuration. The carrier was escorted by HMS Diamond, HMS Kent and RFA Tideforce.

Aircraft
The two ships of the Queen Elizabeth class are each expected to be capable of carrying over forty aircraft, with a normal maximum load of thirty-six F-35s and four helicopters, but with a theoretical surge capacity of up to 72 aircraft. The 2010 SDSR anticipated the routine peacetime deployment of twelve F-35Bs, but a typical warload will be 24 F-35Bs and some helicopters. These could be a "Maritime Force Protection" package of nine anti-submarine Merlin HM2 and five Merlin Crowsnest for airborne early warning; alternatively a littoral manoeuvre package could include a mix of Royal Navy Commando Helicopter Force Merlin HC4, Wildcat AH1, RAF Chinooks, and Army Air Corps Apaches. In 2022, it was reported that initially five Merlins will be equipped with Crowsnest, and three of these will normally be assigned to the "high readiness" aircraft carrier.

The hangars are designed for CH-47 Chinook operations without blade folding and for the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor, whilst the aircraft lifts can accommodate two Chinooks with unfolded blades.

Passenger transfer boats

The two ships of the Queen Elizabeth class can each carry up to three passenger transfer boats (PTBs) made by Blyth-based company Alnmaritec. Each PTB carries 36 passengers and two crew to operate the vessel. The boat is 13.1 m long and davit-launched. To enable the craft to fit into the docking area the navigation and radar masts are fitted with Linak actuators so that they can be lowered automatically from the command console. The enclosed cabin is heated and there is a set of heads forward.

 The first boat is named Swordfish, after the World War II-era Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber.
 The second PTB is named Buccaneer after the Blackburn Buccaneer maritime strike aircraft.
 The third is named Sea Vixen, after the de Havilland Sea Vixen naval fighter.
 The fourth is named Sea Harrier, after the V/STOL British Aerospace Sea Harrier.

Weapons systems
Defensive weapons include the Phalanx Close-In Weapons System for anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence, and 30mm Automated Small Calibre Guns (fitted for but not with, and not carried as of 2021.) and initially Miniguns for use against fast attack craft. In 2023, the Minigun was retired from Royal Navy service and replaced by Browning .50 caliber heavy machine guns. She would be escorted into high risk areas by the Type 45 destroyer, which was made specially to fulfil this role. In lower risk situations, frigates or even patrol vessels may be used instead. It will carry 4 miniguns and 8 general purpose machine guns.

Munitions handling
Incorporated into the first two blocks is a sophisticated handling and deployment system for air weapons known as the Highly Mechanised Weapon Handling System (HMWHS), with the aim of achieving a sortie generation rate which is about six times faster than any previous Royal Navy aircraft carrier. The system requires only 50 people and could be operated with as few as 12 in an emergency; it is estimated that 160 would be needed to produce the same efficiency with conventional equipment. The system moves munitions on pallets by means of remotely controlled electric vehicles and lifts.

Affiliations
City of London
Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts' Club
Oxford URNU
Sea Cadets London Eastern District

Freedom of Entry
Town of Wantage – granted on Monday, 14 October 2019.

See also
Future of the Royal Navy

References

Footnotes

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers
Aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom
2014 ships
Ships built in Scotland

HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08)


Churchville is an unincorporated community in Harford County, Maryland, United States, situated between the county seat, Bel Air, and Aberdeen, where Aberdeen Proving Ground is located.

Population
The population of the area is 2,818.

History and Lower Cross Roads
Because it links Bel Air and Aberdeen (and indirectly, the only other incorporated town in Harford County, Havre de Grace), Churchville was once known in colonial times as Lower Cross Roads. The town has agricultural origins and is known for its many picturesque churches, particularly Churchville Presbyterian Church, at the center of town, Smith's Chapel United Methodist Church and Holy Trinity Episcopal Church.

Churchville was once home to the Archers, a prominent family in Maryland and United States history. Their home, Medical Hall, still stands in Churchville, and several of the Archer family are buried in the cemetery at Churchville Presbyterian Church.

Churchville is home to the champion Little-leaf Linden of Maryland, which made its debut on the list of American Forests Champion Trees in 2018. It is the largest known tree of its species in the country.

Best Endeavor, Church of the Holy Trinity, Churchville Presbyterian Church, Finney Houses Historic District, Medical Hall Historic District, and Webster's Forest are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The official motto, "We've got corn, we've got straw, welcome to Churchville, yee-haw!" has its origins tied to the town's rural agricultural past, although the exact manner and date of the phrase's creation remains contested by area historians.

An abandoned Crown gas station, in central Churchville, was used for a scene in the Netflix original series House Of Cards in 2016. After its usage by Netflix, the gas station was left abandoned, in which residents, who had signed a demolition petition, criticized the county for not utilizing the money generated from the production to remove the building. Crown has also been criticized for its lackluster effort to purify the soil below the station when the fuel tanks were removed after its closing.

Notable people
John Archer, (1741–1810), born in Churchville, recipient of the first medical diploma issued in the United States and United States Congressman from Maryland
Stevenson Archer, (1786–1848), born in Churchville, John Archer's son, also a United States Congressman and Chief Justice of the Maryland Court of Appeals
Stevenson Archer, (1827–1898), born in Churchville, son of Stephenson Archer and grandson of John Archer, also a United States Congressman

Schools and services

 Churchville Elementary School - 2935 Level Road, Churchville
 Level Vol. Fire Hall
 Churchville Mini Golf, Batting Cages, Driving Range, Soda and Snack Center, and Arcade Center - 3040 Churchville Rd, Churchville, MD, 21028
 Crown Gas Station

References

Unincorporated communities in Harford County, Maryland
Unincorporated communities in Maryland

Churchville, Maryland


Claudio S. Grafulla (1812–1880) was a composer in the United States during the 19th Century, most noted for martial music for regimental bands during the early days of the American Civil War.

Biography
Grafulla was born on 31 October 1812 on Menorca, an island off the coast of Spain that was occupied by the British after the Napoleonic wars. At the age of 28, he emigrated to the United States, where he became a French horn player in Napier Lothian's New York Brass Band in New York City. This band was attached to the 7th Regiment of the New York National Guard, which was honored in 1922 by John Philip Sousa's The Gallant Seventh march. In 1860, he added woodwinds to a reorganized band and continued to serve as its director  until his death at New York on 2 December 1880.

Grafulla was a quiet, unassuming man who never married; his whole life centered on his music. His remarkable technical and musical skills allowed him to become well known as a composer, often writing music to order, and as an arranger. As a director of the 7th Regiment Band, his fame spread widely.

Grafulla was a member of William Magear "Boss" Tweed's exclusive Americus Club. He performed regularly at Americus Club events, and his close relationship with Tweed is expressed on the cover of his sheet music for "Solid Men to the Front," which features a portrait of Tweed with the legend "composed and dedicated to Hon. William M. Tweed."

Grafulla composed Washington Grays in 1861 for the 8th Regiment, New York State Militia. This work has been called a march masterpiece, a band classic, and the prototype of the concert march. Showing the stylistic influence of both German and Italian marches, the march has a marvelous balance of technique and melody in a continuous flow of musical ideas. It dared to break the old formulas, however, because it has no introduction, no break strain, and no stinger.

Curiously, long after Grafulla's death, during the presidential contest of 1896, while McKinley and Bryan were debating the burning issue of a silver vs. gold monetary standard, his publishers issued a Solid Money March under the palindrome, "C.S.Allufarg".

Some of Grafulla's works, including "Parade" and "Freischutz Quickstep", were heard in the 1990 Ken Burns PBS miniseries, The Civil War.

References

External links

 Works of Claudio S. Grafulla, on the Library of Congress
 U.S. Marine Band Hall of Composers  on marineband.usmc.mil
 Grafulla's Favorites on newworldrecords.org

People from Menorca
American male composers
People of New York (state) in the American Civil War
1812 births
1880 deaths
Spanish emigrants to the United States
Musicians from the Balearic Islands
19th-century American composers
19th-century Spanish male musicians
United States military musicians

Claudio S. Grafulla


Clistosaccus is a genus of barnacles which are parasitic on hermit crabs. It is a monotypic genus, and the single species is Clistosaccus paguri, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and the northern Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy
In his 1861 paper, Wilhelm Lilljeborg described two new monotypic genera, Apeltes (with the species A. paguri) and Clistosaccus (with C. paguri), both collected from Pagurus hermit crabs. It was not until the 1920s that Hilbrand Boschma pointed out these two purported species, at the time placed in separate families, were but two distinct growth stages of the same organism and united them under Clistosaccus.

Description
This parasitic barnacle starts life as an internal parasite in the abdomen of its host hermit crab. After about three months a protuberance, known as an "externa", pushes its way through the abdomen, usually on the left side. This bulge is at first globular, but elongates as it grows, becoming cylindrical. The mantle opening is at one end, and the parasite is attached to the host by a short, wide stalk about two thirds of the way towards the other end. The externa is white and can grow to a length of about . Host hermit crabs include Pagurus bernhardus, Pagurus pubescens, and Pagurus dalli.

Distribution and habitat
Clistosaccus paguri occurs in both the northern Atlantic Ocean and the northern Pacific Ocean. In the Atlantic its range extends from the White Sea to Nova Scotia, and in the Pacific, its range extends from Alaska and the Bering Sea to Kodiak Island, the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk. Its depth range is down to about .

Life cycle
After an infective female cyprid larva has settled on a suitable host, it pierces the cuticle with its antennule and injects some cells into the abdomen of the hermit crab. These develop internally, sending out root-like processes into the surrounding tissues. The parasite has no gut, but after about three months, the externa pushes through the crab's abdomen. This is essentially a reproductive structure on a stalk, with a large ovary and a brood chamber. A male cyprid larva settles on the externa and fertilises the eggs by antennule penetration, the larvae developing inside the brood chamber. Here they develop directly into cyprid larvae, missing out the nauplius stage of more typical crustaceans. The cyprid larvae are at first unisex, becoming male or female according to what role they play in the reproductive cycle. The presence of this parasite effectively sterilises the host hermit crab, the gonads do not degenerate, but they fail to produce mature eggs and sperm.

References

Barnacles
Parasitic crustaceans
Crustaceans described in 1861
Taxa named by Wilhelm Lilljeborg
Monotypic crustacean genera

Clistosaccus


Noticieros Televisa is the news division of Grupo Televisa, which produces national and local news for Televisa's TV channels and local stations across Mexico.

It is headed by Leopoldo Gómez, the Vice President of News for Televisa.

History
After the last broadcast of 24 Horas with Jacobo Zabludovsky on January 20, 1998, Televisa restructured its news division. From 1998 to 2000, Jacobo's son Abraham Zabludovsky hosted its 10 p.m. successor, simply titled Las Noticias; Joaquín López-Dóriga took over from 2000 to 2016.

Other notable personalities who have hosted Televisa newscasts include Lolita Ayala, Guillermo Ortega, Adela Micha, Carlos Loret de Mola and Víctor Trujillo ("Brozo").

Programs

National newscasts

Most of Televisa's national newscasts air on its Las Estrellas network, covering key dayparts. Since 2016, Televisa's flagship 10 p.m. newscast, known as 10 En Punto, has been helmed by Denise Maerker. Its other weekday programs include Despierta (Wake Up), hosted by Danielle Dithurbide, and Al Aire with Paola Rojas in the mornings. The afternoon newscast El Noticiero con Karla Iberia Sánchez was moved from Las Estrellas to Nu9ve in 2018; it is that channel's only regular news program. The move left Las Estrellas without an afternoon newscast for the first time in decades.

FOROtv

In 2010, Televisa launched FOROtv, a channel devoted exclusively to news, analysis and documentary programming. FOROtv airs in Mexico City on XHTV-TDT (channel 4) and as a subchannel of 21 additional Televisa transmitters in large cities.

Regional newscasts

Outside of its national news output, Televisa produces local news at each of its Televisa Regional stations; local newscasts, under such titles as El Noticiero, Las Noticias and Notivisa.

References

Other websites

1998 establishments
News media
Mexican culture

Noticieros Televisa


Wikipedia is a free multilingual open source wiki-based online encyclopedia edited and maintained by a community of volunteer editors, started on  as an English-language encyclopedia. Non-English editions were soon created: the German and Catalan editions were created on circa 16 March, the French edition was created on 23 March, and the Swedish edition was created on 23 May. As of  , Wikipedia articles have been created in  editions, with  currently active and  closed.

The Meta-Wiki language committee manages policies on creating new Wikimedia projects. To be eligible, a language must have a valid ISO 639 code, be "sufficiently unique", and have a "sufficient number of fluent users".

Variations in editions

Wikipedia projects vary in how they divide dialects and variants. For example, the English Wikipedia includes most modern varieties of English including American English and British English. Similarly, the Spanish Wikipedia includes both Peninsular Castilian and Latin American Spanish, and the Portuguese Wikipedia includes both European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese. In contrast, some languages have multiple Wikipedias. For example, the Serbo-Croatian language encompasses four Wikipedia editions, Serbo-Croatian and three different standardized varieties (Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian).

Additionally, some Wikipedia projects apply different approaches to orthography. For instance, the Chinese Wikipedia automatically transliterates between six standard forms: three using simplified Chinese characters (Mainland China, Malaysia, and Singapore) and three using traditional Chinese characters (Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau). And rather than relying on transliteration, Belarusian has separate Wikipedia projects for the official Narkamaŭka and Taraškievica orthographies.

Wikipedia edition codes

Each Wikipedia project has a code, which is used as a subdomain of wikipedia.org. The codes mostly conform to ISO 639-1 two-letter codes or ISO 639-3 three-letter codes, with preference given to a two-letter code if available. For example, en stands for English in ISO 639-1, so the English Wikipedia is at en.wikipedia.org.

Wikipedia editions

Active editions

The table below lists the active language editions of Wikipedia roughly sorted by magnitude of the number of active users (registered users who have made at least one edit in the last thirty days).

Inactive editions

The table below lists the inactive language editions of Wikipedia. This list includes closed, deleted, test, and archived editions.

The Nostalgia Wikipedia is an archive of the English Wikipedia's initial display.

See also

 History of Wikipedia
 List of online encyclopedias
 Languages used on the Internet

References

External links

 Statistics of Wikipedias
 Wikipedia portal

Wikipedia statistics
Wikipedias
Lists about Wikipedia

List of Wikipedias


Palazzo De Ballis is a 15th-century historical building of Spanish Gothic architecture; the Tower De Ballis is a part of it. It is located in the town centre of Alcamo, in the province of Trapani.

History
According to the historian Pietro Maria Rocca the palace would date back to 1495.

It belonged to the De Ballis family, noblemen native of Piacenza, who built it, and was made  after the designs of Tommaso and Pietro Oddo, (father and son) who were from Monreale (Palermo).

After the extinction of the De Ballis, and the property transfer to the family Papè and Polizzi,  the part including the tower belongs to the D'Angelo family, while the other part belongs to the family Castrogiovanni-Iannitto.

Description
Giuseppe Polizzi describes the palace in this way:
 Torre De Ballis, whose upper partis well kept, has a rectangular window, divided into three  lights by two small columns and a mullioned window in the posterior façade, besides a beautiful frame with Machicolation, sustaining the merlons. Doors with elliptical arches, surrounded by gothic shape leaning on small moulded corbels.

On the first floor the square tower has a window with an architrave and small corbels; on the second floor, there is a  three-light-window inserted into a round arch; on the eastern side of the court yard there is a mullioned window.
The tower is surrounded by merlons, leaning on little niches sustaining pointed arches.

In ancient times the main door was  in the middle; in the 18th century it was substituted by two new doors: the one at the street number 21, has a calcarenite portal with two bases surmounted by lesenes;  the second, at the  number 23, is smaller and has two irregular bases, owing to the restoration of the road surface; you can enter the tower through a staircase from the entrance at the house number 23.

On the first floor there are four balconies, two of them have stone galleries with fluted corbels; on the south side, on the second floor, there are two balconies with two stones galleries too; on the ground floor, in via Madonna dell'Alto, there are three doors and three windows of  modern residential buildings. The first floor has four small balconies, and another one on the second floor; at the corner there is the De Ballis family's coat of arms, with a banded shield having three balls.

Inside the palace there is an elegant court yard,  with a staircase leading to the first floor; the doors here are lacquered and their panels with glasses, painted with flowers and different figures.
Inside the hall there are some frescoes that were restored by professor Giuseppe Ganga in 1985,  representing multicolour flowers and landscapes. The centre of the vault is surmounted by a rose window,  instead, and the bedroom is embellished by a canopy bed and some frescoes on the ceiling.

In 2005 the palace and its tower were restored and have complied with the originary characteristics of the building: these works were entirely at the D'Angelo family's own expense.

Associazione Culturale Musikè
It has its own seat in this building and its purpose is to promote art and music, in order to contribute to the growth and interior beauty, of teenagers above all, through exhibitions, concerts, music and singing courses,  music therapy, besides the diffusion of literary subjects and Maths.

Another goal is to recover tastes, uses and traditions of our past; they give dinners, and you can also make a guided visit at Palazzo de Ballis.

References

Sources
 Roberto Calia: I Palazzi dell'aristocrazia e della borghesia alcamese; Alcamo, Carrubba, 1997
 Carlo Cataldo: Guida storico-artistica dei beni culturali di Alcamo, Calatafimi, Castellammare del Golfo, Salemi e Vita, Sarograf-Alcamo (1982)

 P.M. Rocca: di alcuni antichi edifici di Alcamo; Palermo, tip. Castellana-Di Stefano, 1905
 Giuseppe Polizzi: I monumenti di antichità e d'arte della provincia di Trapani; Trapani, Giovanni Modica Romano, 1879, p. 61

See also
 Palazzo Palmerini
 Alcamo
 Pietro Maria Rocca
 Carlo Cataldo

External links
 http://www.weagoo.com/it/card/13522/casa-de-ballis
 http://www.alpauno.com/alcamo-faimarathon-alla-scoperta-di-giardini-biblioteche-e-torri/
 http://web.tiscalinet.it/dilfran/medial/alcamocitta/arte.htm
Buildings and structures in Alcamo
Buildings and structures completed in 1495
Monuments and memorials in Italy
15th-century establishments in Italy

Palazzo De Ballis


Windows Live Spaces was Microsoft's blogging platform and social network service. The site was originally released in early 2004 as MSN Spaces to compete with other social networking services, and re-launched in 2006 as a part of a shifting of community services away from the MSN brand. Windows Live Spaces received an estimated 27 million (27,000,000) unique visitors per month as of August 2007. Despite being considered a useful messaging and communication tool, Windows Live Spaces has been criticized as not being as powerful as some of its alternatives. It was shut down in 2011 due to low viewership.

Features
Features of Windows Live Spaces included a blogging system, photo gallery, lists, friends, a guestbook, and a social profile. A Spaces page could be personalized with "gadgets", modules that enabled further customization, HTML code, and media playlists. Contact cards were also used in other Windows Live applications and services to summarize the recent content added to a Space. RSS feeds were available for content on a space.

History

Beginning
Windows Live Spaces began as MSN Spaces and was launched in early December 2004 with the aim of allowing its users to reach out to others by publishing their thoughts, photos and interests in an easy and compelling way. With this goal, MSN Spaces finds itself competing with similar services like MySpace and Yahoo!'s 360°.

As well as allowing users to share their thoughts, photos and interests, MSN Spaces users were given over 100 varied themes and several different page layouts to choose from when designing their MSN Space. Users also had the option to set access rights for visitors to their MSN Space based on the relationship between them (e.g. Friends, Family etc.). Visitors were also granted when their contacts' had updated their MSN Space.

Rebranding

On August 1, 2006, MSN Spaces became part of the Windows Live services platform, and was rebranded as Windows Live Spaces.
There were various, obvious differences between MSN Spaces and Windows Live Spaces, the most instantly evident being a redesigned layout engine. This allowed users greater flexibility in terms of the layout of their Space, for example, it allowed the ability to move the "Title and Tagline" module, where before the upgrade it was permanently fixed to the top of the page. The change also resolved some oft-criticised characteristics of MSN Spaces, such as the alignment of content on the computer screen.

As part of the rebrand and upgrade, the URL for all MSN Spaces members were moved to keep in line with the Windows Live branding. For example, a URL of thespacecraft.spaces.msn.com was moved to thespacecraft.spaces.live.com, with the old URL redirecting to the new one.

Closure
On September 27, 2010, Microsoft announced that it would discontinue Windows Live Spaces, and in partnership with Automattic, a free opt-in migration of user blogs to WordPress.com will be offered to Windows Live Spaces users. Beginning January 4, 2011, users were not able to make changes to Spaces, but contents were still viewable and downloadable. Windows Live Spaces was fully shut down on March 16, 2011.

Censorship
Windows Live Spaces censored the words that a user can choose when naming their Space, prohibiting for example the word whore or the so-called "seven dirty words". In addition, Microsoft has received criticism for censoring the words "democracy" and "freedom" under its Chinese portal.

See also
 Windows Live
 Windows Live Groups

References

External links
 Official website (Archive)
 MSN Spaces fact sheet

Spaces
Blog hosting services
Microsoft websites
MSN
Defunct websites
Defunct social networking services

Windows Live Spaces


A national day of mourning is a day, or one of several days, marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the death or funeral of a renowned individual or individuals from that country or elsewhere or the anniversary of such a death or deaths, the anniversaries of a significant natural or man-made disaster occurring either in the country or another country, wartime commemorations or in memory of the victims of a terrorist attack. Flying a national or military flag of that country at half-mast is a common symbol.

Sociologically, period of national mourning are understood "as instituting states of social exception during which state authorities enact ritual actions consisting in a sequence of choreographically staged performative acts meant to create a national community of grief in the face of what is framed as a socially meaningful loss."

List
The following are lists for national days of mourning across the world:
 Before 2000
 2000–2019
 2020–present

Selected list of figures recognized

State officials
 A National Day of Mourning is typically declared for presidents of the United States, usually on the day of their funerals. Beginning with John F. Kennedy, these days are also considered federal holidays. There was no official day of mourning for Herbert Hoover.
 In the Soviet Union, an official mourning period was reserved for the deaths of leaders or former leaders, with Alexei Rykov, Nikita Khrushchev and Georgy Malenkov being notable exceptions after Rykov was executed during the Great Purge and the other two were relegated to obscurity. Khrushchev's death was announced only hours before he was buried without full state honors, while Malenkov's death was publicly announced more than 2 weeks after he died. This custom changed in 1968 when a national day of mourning was declared for Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human to journey into outer space. In the final years of the Soviet Union, official mourning was declared for 2 disasters: the 1988 Armenian earthquake and the Ufa train disaster.
 Presidents of Mexico, usually on the day of their funerals. These days are usually considered municipal and religious holidays in Mexico City and federal holidays in the rest of the republic. Miguel de la Madrid in 2012 was the most recent.

International days of mourning

A similar but rarely-used concept exists at the European Union-level and Arab League-level and are called a European Day of Mourning and Arab League Day of Mourning. The European Commission first introduced the concept on 12 September 2001, when a day of mourning was declared across EU member states for the victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States. A second and third day of mourning was held in April 2010 for the victims of Smolensk air disaster in Russia and in November 2015 for the victims of the Paris attacks. Arab League has declared days of mourning for four times until October 2023. Besides, Other organizations such as African Union, Union of South American Nations etc also announced day of international mourning for several times.

Remembrance events
While not the same as a national day of mourning, some remembrance events and protests are called a "day of mourning".
 National Day of Mourning (Bangladesh), held 15 August. In 1975 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed by a group of army personnel, along with his family.
 Circassian Day of Mourning, held May 21, commemorating the Circassian genocide and the Circassian defeat in the Russian-Circassian War
 Day of Mourning (Australia), annual protest of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians held on Australia Day, 26 January
 National Day of Mourning (United States protest), an American Indian protest held on the fourth Thursday of November
 National Day of Mourning (Canadian observance), held 28 April, a commemoration of workers killed or injured on the job
 Nakba Day, annual commemoration of the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight on 15 May by Palestinians worldwide.

See also
 International day of mourning
 European Day of Mourning
 Arab League Day of Mourning

References

Death customs
National days
Observances honoring the dead

National day of mourning


Friedrich von Adelung (February 25, 1768 – January 30, 1843) was a German-Russian linguist, historian and bibliographer. His best known works are in the fields of bibliography of Sanskrit language and the European accounts of the Time of Troubles in Russia.

Biography
A nephew of historian Johann Christoph Adelung, Friedrich von Adelung was born in Stettin.  He graduated from Leipzig University, traveled across Europe and settled in Saint Petersburg in 1794. After a brief state service in Mitau (1795–1797), Adelung relocated to Saint Petersburg for the rest of his life. He assumed the role of a state supervisor for the German-Russian community, first in German book censorship, later (1801) as the manager of German-language theaters. In 1803 he was appointed as a tutor to Grand Duke Nicholas, the future Tsar, and his brother Michael. A collection of antiques compiled by Adelung and sold in 1804 to Vasiliy Karazin, founder of the Kharkiv University, formed the nucleus of Kharkiv University library. Adelung was an honorary professor of Kharkiv and Dorpat universities since 1809. In 1819 Adelung joined the Foreign Ministry service, and in 1825 assumed control of its Institute of Oriental Languages. At that time it was the only college in Europe offering studies in Persian and Turkish languages. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1818. In 1818 he became associated member of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands.

In the 1810s, Adelung promoted the idea of setting up a Russian National Museum dedicated exclusively to national history (in opposition to pan-European Hermitage Museum), later praised as a "local Russian breakthrough in museology." Unlike the Russia for Russians ideologists, Adelung specifically addressed the country's diversity with his plans to set up a repository for the sources in nearly a hundred languages spoken in Russia, and compiling dictionaries and grammars for the languages that yet had no established written tradition. Adelung believed that his linguistic studies were targeting not the languages themselves, but the history of nations and races.

From the end of Napoleonic Wars until his death in Saint Petersburg, Adelung was involved in sorting, reviewing and categorizing the European manuscripts related to pre-Petrine Russian history. He published biographies and critical assessments of Sigismund von Herberstein (1818), August von Meyerberg (1827), Conrad Bussow and other major sources on Muscovy; the work culminated in Kritisch-literarische Übersicht der Reisenden in Rußland bis 1700 (Critical bibliographical review of the memoirs by travelers into Russia prior to 1700). The book, published posthumously in 1846, earned the Demidov Prize of the Russian Academy. In a completely unrelated effort, Adelung compiled a bibliography of then known Sanskrit sources; an abridged version of his work has been since regularly reprinted (latest English reissue: 2008). All works by Adelung were originally written and published in German language.

Adelung's elder son Karl (1803–1829) joined Russian diplomatic service and was killed in Tehran together with Alexandr Griboyedov. Another son, Nikolaus, followed his father's profession and became an editor and publisher of his works. Nikolaus's daughter was the writer Sophie von Adelung.

References

Notes

External links

1768 births
1843 deaths
Writers from Szczecin
19th-century German historians
Linguists from Germany
Historians from the Russian Empire
Male writers from the Russian Empire
Linguists from the Russian Empire
Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Demidov Prize laureates
German male non-fiction writers
Russian scientists

Friedrich von Adelung


Alena "Ája" Vrzáňová (, also Zanová, married name: Steindler; 16 May 1931 – 30 July 2015) was a Czech figure skater who represented Czechoslovakia in competition. Vrzáňová is the 1949 & 1950 World champion and 1950 European champion.

Early life
Vrzáňová was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1931. In addition to figure skating, she also played piano and attended ballet school.

Vrzáňová started sports at the age of three when her parents bought her skis. They spent each winter in the Krkonoše mountains. After this tradition was interrupted during World War II, Vrzáňová started figure skating. The training conditions were difficult, as she had to skate in early winter mornings. Her training sessions were held in darkness because of the dim-out regulations. She skated at the open Štvanice Stadium before the sessions for hockey players, or at the CLTK club tennis courts, which were flooded with water and frozen.

Career
In 1946, Vrzáňová became the Czechoslovak junior national champion. In early 1947, she moved to Richmond, London to be coached by Arnold Gerschwiler. In 1947, she won the Czechoslovak national championships and placed 7th at the 1947 World Figure Skating Championships.

Vrzáňová represented Czechoslovakia at the 1948 Winter Olympics. She placed fifth in the event, finishing behind compatriot Jiřina Nekolová.

In 1949, Vrzáňová was awarded the silver medal at the European Championships in Milan and won her first World title in Paris. She seized her chance to win the gold medal as the Olympic runner-up and reigning European champion Eva Pawlik of Austria had dropped out because of a broken boot heel just before the free program. At the event, she was credited as being the first woman to land a double Lutz jump.

After winning the 1950 European Championships, she won a second world title at the 1950 World Championships. She then went on a European tour instead of returning home. She eventually moved to the United States and performed for the traveling show Ice Follies for three years under the name "Aja Zanova" before joining the Ice Capades. She also participated in television ads and other shows. After her husband's death, she worked for the Ice Capades and led New York City's largest public ice rink, the Wollman Rink.

Personal life
In February 1948 communists seized power in Czechoslovakia. After spending the winter of 1949 at home in Czechoslovakia, her father advised her not to come back from the upcoming World Championships and she agreed. She defected from Czechoslovakia during the 1950 World Championships in London and was eventually offered political asylum. Her mother followed her in March under dramatic circumstances – her plane was hijacked. Her father, a professional cello player, visited them several times, but decided not to leave his country permanently. He was held as a political prisoner for 13 years and forced to work in a coal mine. His daughter did not return to Prague until 1990, after the Velvet Revolution.

In 1969, Vrzáňová married Czech-born innkeeper Pavel Steindler; they adopted two children. They ran the Duck Joint restaurant in New York City, and later the Czech Pavilion. She died on 30 July 2015 at the age of 84 while living in New York City.

Awards
Vrzáňová was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2009. In 2009, she also received the title of the Sports Legend of the Czech Republic. In 2012, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg presented to her the 16th annual Gratias Agit Awards in recognition of those who promote the good name of the Czech Republic abroad.

Competitive highlights

References

External links

1931 births
2015 deaths
Czechoslovak female single skaters
Czech female single skaters
Olympic figure skaters for Czechoslovakia
Figure skaters at the 1948 Winter Olympics
Figure skaters from Prague
Czechoslovak defectors
Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States
Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic)
World Figure Skating Championships medalists
European Figure Skating Championships medalists

Alena Vrzáňová


Concepts an Marketin
The notion o marketin summarizes the business philosophy o the enterprise, institution or individual, which is characterizit bi concentration, A.e. focus on the consumer, expressit throuch the permanent an harmonious effort o the entire enterprise i the process o fulfillin the needs an wishes o the consumer, an aw as its own realization o company objectives.

The marketin concept is the philosophy on the basis o which the company's profit goals can best be realisit throuch recognizin the wants an needs o target groups o consumers an fulfillin thae needs throuch activities an relatit commitments o aw structures an levels. O the organization o the enterprise. I 1954, Peter Drucker very clearly emphasize the role o marketin for the success o the company. E'en today, his concept on marketin has indisputable value an durability:

"If we want tae know whit our job is, then we have tae start wi the mission... Thare is only ane correct definition for the mission o the enterprise: customer satisfaction. Whit the enterprise intends tae produce is no o primary importance— especially no tae its future an success. Decisive is whit the consumer thinks tae buy, respectively whit represents value tae him - this determines whit yer company is, whit it shoud produce an whether it will prosper".

Durin their development, enterprises have implementit different concepts i their business, dependin on time, conditions an opportunities. The very understandin o the marketin concept is ane o the most relevant dimensions i the company's business.

Tae properly understand the key concept o marketing, it shoud be emphasisit thon the company's activities start an end wi the consumer. Throuch marketing, the company identifies needs an requirements, analyzes an follows thaim up tae their fulfillment. Accordin tae the marketin concept, the focus o aw the company's commitments is the market, namely the consumer. The company will no be successful i its business, gin it daes no perform the research, research-studies for the market an the consumer beforehand. I today's conditions o technical-technological development an a hich level o development perfection, it is possible tae produce anythin. A particular problem is where an hou the products an services will be distributit. Undoubtedly, marketin has its primary role an function i solvin this problem.

Marketin begins its activities i the market an ends i the market. Initial marketin activities are concernit wi research an market research, identifyin competition an findin customers. Usin the relevant information, decisions are made: whit tae produce, at whit cost, for which market an for whit time? i the enterprise, it is no allowit tae work wi assumptions an fundamental judgments thon must be derivit i support o the information thon comes from the market an the consumer. Gin ye work without these data, the company will be destroyit very quickly because it is no clear whit the market, the consumer wants an hou the competition works. Throuch the information, the preparations o the offer are stable, for the benefit o the consumers but also i the service o the achievement o the company's own objectives.

As the customer remains satisfiit wi whit they boucht, they will no forget tae buy the same or similar types o products or services again because they have creatit satisfaction, conviction an trust for the values they boucht before. It is no important thon the customer buys only once, but it is beneficial for the company thon he is a regular an loyal customer for a longer time.

For this purpose, experts, marketin specialists or businessmen themselves follow the state o demand i the market tae be able tae make the necessary an dictatit changes i the quality an prosperity o the offer.

From the fact thon the understandin o the key concept o marketin focuses on the consumer, any business entity thon deals wi the production o products an services, i order tae be successful, niver dare tae forget thon:

 I the economy an the free market, the consumer is king,
 Ivery time we have tae put it on the customer's skin,
 The customer benefits from our product or service must be understood,
 We must sell basit on the needs an demands o the customers an no basit on our own needs,
 The characteristics o the product an its properties,
 Bi meetin the needs o the customer, the permanent goal is tae satisfy his satisfaction.

However, i the contemporary economy, it is very difficult tae achieve the fulfillment o aw consumer needs an tae create a sense o satisfaction for thaim.

Moreover, it shoud be borne i mind thon the wishes, needs an demands o the consumer are dynamic an changin phenomena an are no given once an for aw. On the other hand, until now thare is na regulator which wad avoid the appearance o unwantit products an services i the market.

The correlation between marketin an consumer needs is no simple but a very complex relationship. It is essential tae make a clear distinction between the needs, wants an demands o consumers. This distinction, o course, often initiates the well-known criticism o marketing, accordin tae which marketin designs an shapes needs or thon marketin leads consumers tae buy products or services thon they dae no really neit.

Marketing, i reality, affects the demand bi tryin tae create a product or service thon is attractive an acceptable tae the consumer, wi a reasonable price an thon is easy tae reach the desirit product.

Marketin is sae important thon it cannot be considerit a separate function. It is the whole business seen from the point o view o the end result, from the point o view o the consumer.

I the modern economy, the business o enterprises thon ignore the business philosophy basit on the key postulates o marketin an thon are orientit only on sales, are threatenit wi an unenviable financial situation. Only companies thon position themselves on the basis o a genuine marketin strategy an compile a clear marketin plan can have:

 Clear identity i the market,
 Loyal clientele an ongoin business,
 Utilization an efficient an effective use o resources,
 Tangible financial benefits,
 Real value addit tae balance sheet.

From this elaboration comes the conclusion thon "marketin leads the enterprise".
Business
Marketin
Finance

Marketin