The English Chess Federation (ECF) is the governing chess organisation in England and is affiliated to FIDE. The ECF was formed in 2004, and took charge in 2005. It replaced the British Chess Federation (BCF), the governing body of chess in England from 1904 until 2005.

It was suggested that the BCF should change its name because only England came under its jurisdiction. It did not administer chess in the other countries of the UK. The BCF did have a British dimension, since it ran the British Chess Championship. This is one of two important tournaments held each year in Britain (the other is the annual international tournament at Hastings).

From the 1990s there was a campaign for the BCF to become a company limited by guarantee, to bid for more sponsorship money.

At the start of the 2005/6 season the English Chess Federation was created, inheriting the BCF's assets and personnel. The former BCF still exists for legacy purposes, but its website was inherited by the ECF. The Scottish and Welsh Federations hold their own championships every year as they did before. Therefore the change does not make much difference to most players.

The situation in Ireland is more complicated. The Irish Chess Union since 1912 was the governing body for both the Republic and Northern Ireland. In 2005 the Ulster Chess Union broke away from the Irish Chess Union. These two groups were part of the original British Chess Federation, but are not in any way connected to the new English Chess Federation. All groups except the Ulster Chess Union are members of the International Chess Federation FIDE, and the European Chess Union.

References

Chess organizations
Sports organisations of England

English Chess Federation


The July 2009 cyberattacks were a series of coordinated cyberattacks against major government, news media, and financial websites in South Korea and the United States. The attacks involved the activation of a botnet—a large number of hijacked computers—that maliciously accessed targeted websites with the intention of causing their servers to overload due to the influx of traffic, known as a DDoS attack. Most of the hijacked computers were located in South Korea. The estimated number of the hijacked computers varies widely; around 20,000 according to the South Korean National Intelligence Service, around 50,000 according to Symantec's Security Technology Response group, and more than 166,000 according to a Vietnamese computer security researcher who analyzed the log files of the two servers the attackers controlled. An investigation revealed that at least 39 websites were targets in the attacks based on files stored on compromised systems.

The targeting and timing of the attacks—which started the same day as a North Korean short-range ballistic missile test—have led to suggestions that they may be from North Korea, although these suggestions have not been substantiated. Researchers would later find links between these cyberattacks, the DarkSeoul attacks in 2013, and other attacks attributed to the Lazarus Group. This attack is considered by some to be the beginning of a series of DDoS attacks carried about by Lazarus dubbed "Operation Troy."

Timeline of attacks

First wave

The first wave of attacks occurred on July 4, 2009 (Independence Day holiday in the United States), targeting both the United States and South Korea. Among the websites affected were those of the White House, The Pentagon, the New York Stock Exchange, the Washington Post, the NASDAQ, and Amazon.

Second wave

The second wave of attacks occurred on July 7, 2009, affecting South Korea. Among the websites targeted were the presidential Blue House, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, the National Intelligence Service and the National Assembly. Security researcher Chris Kubecka presented evidence multiple European Union and United Kingdom companies unwittingly helped attack South Korea due to a W32.Dozer infections, malware used in part of the attack. Some of the companies used in the attack were partially owned by several governments, further complicating attribution.

Third wave

A third wave of attacks began on July 9, 2009, targeting several websites in South Korea, including the country's National Intelligence Service as well as one of its largest banks and a major news agency. The U.S. State Department said on July 9 that its website also came under attack. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said: "I'm just going to speak about our website, the state government website. There's not a high volume of attacks. But we're still concerned about it. They are continuing." U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Amy Kudwa said that the department was aware of the attacks and that it had issued a notice to U.S. federal departments and agencies to take steps to mitigate attacks.

Effects
Despite the fact that the attacks targeted major public and private sector websites, the South Korean Presidential office suggested that the attacks were conducted with the purpose of causing disruption, rather than stealing data. However, Jose Nazario, manager of a U.S. network security firm, claimed that the attack is estimated to have produced only 23 megabits of data per second, not enough to cause major disruptions. That being said, web sites reported service disruptions for days following the attack.

Later, it was discovered that the malicious code responsible for causing the attack, Trojan.Dozer and its accompanying dropper W32.Dozer, was programmed to destroy data on infected computers and prevent the computers from being rebooted. It is unclear if this mechanism was ever activated. Security experts said that the attack re-used code from the Mydoom worm to spread infections between computers. Experts further shared that the malware used in the attack "used no sophisticated techniques to evade detection by anti-virus software and doesn't appear to have been written by someone experienced in coding malware."

It was expected that the economic costs associated with websites being down would be large, as the disruption had prevented people from carrying out transactions, purchasing items or conducting business.

Perpetrators
It is not known who is behind the attacks. Reports indicate that the type of attacks being used, commonly known as distributed denial-of-service attacks, were unsophisticated. Given the prolonged nature of the attacks, they are being recognized as a more coordinated and organized series of attacks.

According to the South Korean National Intelligence Service, the source of the attacks was tracked down and the government activated an emergency cyber-terror response team who blocked access to five host sites containing the malicious code and 86 websites that downloaded the code, located in 16 countries, including the United States, Guatemala, Japan and the People's Republic of China, but North Korea was not among them.

The timing of the attack led some analysts to be suspicious of North Korea. The attack started on July 4, 2009, the same day as a North Korean short-range ballistic missile launch, and also occurred less than one month after the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 1874, which imposed further economic and commercial sanctions on North Korea in response to an underground nuclear test conducted earlier that year.

South Korean police analyzed a sample of the thousands of computers used by the botnet, stating that there is "various evidence" of the involvement of North Korea or "pro-North elements," but said they may not find the culprit. Intelligence officials with the South Korean government warned lawmakers that a "North Korean military research institute had been ordered to destroy the South's communications networks."

Joe Stewart, researcher at SecureWorks' Counter Threat Unit, noted that the data generated by the attacking program appeared to be based on a Korean-language browser.

Various security experts have questioned the narrative that the attack originated in North Korea. One analyst thinks that the attacks likely came from the United Kingdom, while technology analyst Rob Enderle hypothesizes that "overactive students" may be to blame. Joe Stewart of SecureWorks speculated that attention-seeking behavior drove the attack, though he notes that the breadth of the attack was "unusual."

On October 30, 2009, South Korea's spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, named North Korea as the perpetrator of the attack. According to head of the NIS Won Sei-hoon, the organization found a link between the attacks and North Korea via an IP address that the North Korean Ministry of Post and Telecommunications allegedly "[was] using on rent (from China)."

See also
 2007 cyberattacks on Estonia
 Cyberterrorism
 Cyber Storm Exercise
 Moonlight Maze
 Titan Rain
 Comparison of computer viruses
 Denial-of-service attack

References

2009 in South Korea
2009 in the United States
Cyberattacks
2000s internet outages

2009 DDoS attacks against South Korea


His Majesty King Edward the Eighth's Abdication Act, 1937 (Act No. 2 of 1937) was an act of the Parliament of South Africa that ratified the abdication of King Edward VIII and the succession to the throne of King George VI. Although the South African cabinet had assented to the passage of His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 by the Parliament of the United Kingdom at the time of the abdication in December 1936, the South African act was passed in February 1937 to resolve legal uncertainties.

The Statute of Westminster 1931 gave the dominions, including the Union of South Africa, full legislative independence from the United Kingdom, and provided that no act of the British Parliament would apply in a dominion unless the dominion requested and consented that it do so. The preamble of the statute also stated that any changes to the succession to the throne would require the assent of the parliaments of all of the dominions. After Edward signed the Instrument of Abdication on 10 December 1936, the British government communicated with the Dominion governments, who agreed to the passage of the Abdication Act by the British Parliament. Only the Canadian government formally "requested and consented", however, while the Australian, New Zealand and South African governments merely "assented" to the legislation.

The legal position in South Africa was further complicated by the provisions of the Status of the Union Act, 1934. Section two of that act provided that no act of the British parliament would apply in South Africa without an act of the South African parliament making it applicable; this was a stricter requirement than the "request and consent" requirement of the Statute of Westminster. On the other hand, section five of the Status of the Union Act defined the succession to the throne by reference to the law of succession applicable in the United Kingdom.

To resolve this confusion, the South African parliament enacted in February 1937 its own Abdication Act. It contained the same provisions as the British act, declaring the accession of George VI to the throne, excluding Edward VIII and his descendants from any right to the throne, and excluding them from the provisions of the Royal Marriages Act. However, the South African act declared the abdication and accession to have occurred on 10 December when Edward signed the Instrument of Abdication, rather than 11 December when the Abdication Act had come into force in the UK. It also declared that actions taken in the name of Edward VIII after the abdication but before the passage of the South African act were deemed to be valid.

The act was repealed by the South African Constitution of 1961 when South Africa became a republic.

References

External links

Abdication of Edward VIII
Repealed South African legislation
1937 in South African law
Succession acts
South Africa and the Commonwealth of Nations


A bugle call is a short tune, originating as a military signal announcing scheduled and certain non-scheduled events on a military installation, battlefield, or ship. Historically, bugles, drums, and other loud musical instruments were used for clear communication in the noise and confusion of a battlefield. Naval bugle calls were also used to command the crew of many warships (signaling between ships being by flaghoist, semaphore, signal lamp or other means).

A defining feature of a bugle call is that it consists only of notes from a single overtone series. This is in fact a requirement if it is to be playable on a bugle or equivalently on a trumpet without moving the valves. (If a bandsman plays calls on a trumpet, for example, one particular key may be favored or even prescribed, such as: all calls to be played with the first valve down.)

Bugle calls typically indicated the change in daily routines of camp. Every duty around camp had its own bugle call, and since cavalry had horses to look after, they heard twice as many signals as regular infantry. "Boots and Saddles" was the most imperative of these signals and could be sounded without warning at any time of day or night, signaling the men to equip themselves and their mounts immediately. Bugle calls also relayed commanders' orders on the battlefield, signaling the troops to Go Forward, To the Left, To the Right, About, Rally on the Chief, Trot, Gallop, Rise up, Lay down, Commence Firing, Cease Firing, Disperse, and other specific actions.

History
The military use of signal instruments dates to ancient times.  The Romans used a form of bugle in their Legions.  Records show the use of an early bugle in Hanover by 1758, and the British infantry introduced the Halbmondbläser in 1764.  The bugle gained widespread use in horse mounted units, where the more common signals of drums and fifes were impractical.  At the 1776 Battle of Harlem Heights, the use of British bugle calls was taken as an insult by United States forces, who mistook them for hunting calls.

The bugle became more common with United States units during the War of 1812.  Through the 19th century, the bugle gradually replaced the Fife.  By the time of the United States Civil War, each company was allotted two buglers.

Military use of bugles waned as new technology provided improved methods of field communication, but bugle calls continue to be used as traditional signals that mark daily events or special ceremonies. United States Army posts, for example, play Reveille at the start of a work day. In addition, the use of bugles and bugle calls is maintained in traditional Drum and bugle corps and some drum corps.

Bugle calls

 "Adjutant's Call": Indicates that the adjutant is about to form the guard, battalion, or regiment.
 "Alarm" (as played by Sam Jaffe near the end of Gunga Din)
 "Assembly": Signals troops to assemble at a designated place.
 "Attention": Sounded as a warning that troops are about to be called to attention.
 "Boots and Saddles": Sounded for mounted troops to mount and take their place in line.
 "Call to Quarters": Signals all personnel not authorized to be absent to return to their quarters for the night.

 "Charge": Signals troops to execute a charge, or gallop forward into harm's way with deadly intent.
 "Church Call": Signals that religious services are about to begin.The call may also be used to announce the formation of a funeral escort from a selected military unit.
 "Drill Call": Sounds as a warning to turn out for drill.
 "Fatigue Call": Signals all designated personnel to report for fatigue duty.
 "Fire Call": Signals that there is a fire on the post or in the vicinity. The call is also used for fire drill.
 "First Call": Sounds as a warning that personnel will prepare to assemble for a formation.
 This call is also used in horse racing, where it is known as Call to the Post. In that context, it indicates that jockeys need to have their mounts in position to be loaded into the starting gate.
 "First Sergeant's Call": Signals that the First Sergeant is about to form the company.
 "Guard Mount": Sounds as a warning that the guard is about to be assembled for guard mount.
 "Last Post": Used at Commonwealth of Nations military funerals and ceremonies commemorating those who have been killed in a war.
 "Mail Call": Signals personnel to assemble for the distribution of mail.
 "Mess Call": Signals mealtime.
 "Officers Call": Signals all officers to assemble at a designated place.
 "Pay Call": Signals that troops will be paid.
 "Recall": Signals duties or drills to cease.

"Retreat": Formerly used to signal troops to retreat. Now used to signal the end of the official day. This bugle call is very close to Sunset used in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms. (This call is also used to introduce Act 3 of La damnation de Faust by Hector Berlioz.) In the U.S. Army, it is signaled right before To The Colors.

 "Reveille": Signals the troops to awaken for morning roll call. In the U.S. Army, it accompanies the raising of the flag, thus representing the official beginning of the new day.
 "The Rouse": Used in Commonwealth nations to signal soldiers to get out of bed (as distinct from Reveille, which signals the troops to awaken).

 "School Call": Signals school is about to begin.

 Sick Call: Signals all troops needing medical attention to report to the dispensary.

 "Stable Call": Signals troops to feed and water horses. Lyrics dating to 1852 Sumner's March to New Mexico: "Come off to the stables, all if you are able, and give your horses some oats and some corn; For if you don't do it, the colonel will know it, And then you will rue it, as sure's you're born."
 "Swimming Call": Signals the start of the swimming period.

 "Taps": Signals that unauthorized lights are to be extinguished. This is the last call of the day. The call is also sounded at the completion of a U.S. military funeral ceremony.

 "Tattoo": Signals that all light in squad rooms be extinguished and that all loud talking and other disturbances be discontinued within 15 minutes.

 "To Arms": Signals all troops to fall under arms at designated places without delay.

 "To The Colors" (or "To the Color"): Used to render honors to the nation. It is used when no band is available to render honors, or in ceremonies requiring honors to the nation more than once. "To the Colors" commands all the same courtesies as the National Anthem. The most common use of "To The Colors" is when it is sounded immediately following "Retreat". During this use of the call, the flag is lowered.

Popular culture
Many of the familiar calls have had words made up to fit the tune. For example, the U.S. "Reveille" goes:

I can't get 'em up,
I can't get 'em up,
I can't get 'em up this morning;
I can't get 'em up,
I can't get 'em up,
I can't get 'em up at all!
The corporal's worse than the privates,
The sergeant's worse than the corporals,
Lieutenant's worse than the sergeants,
And the captain's worst of all!
 < repeat top six lines >

and the U.S. "Mess Call":

Soupy, soupy, soupy, without a single bean:
Coffee, coffee, coffee, without a speck of cream:
Porky, porky, porky, without a streak of lean.

and the U.S. "Assembly":
There's a soldier in the grass
With a bullet up his ass
Take it out, take it out
Like a good Girl Scout!

and the U.S. "Taps"
Day is done
Gone the sun
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky
All is well, safely rest
God is nigh

Irving Berlin wrote a tune called, "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning". In a filmed version of his musical, This Is the Army, he plays a World War I doughboy whose sergeant exhorts him with this variant of words sung to "Reveille": "Ya gotta get up, ya gotta get up, ya gotta get up this morning!" after which Berlin sang the song.

"Taps" has been used frequently in popular media, both sincerely (in connection with actual or depicted death) and humorously (as with a "killed" cartoon character). It is the title of a 1981 movie of the same name.

"First call" is best known for its use in thoroughbred horse racing, where it is also known as the "Call to the Post". It is used to herald (or summon) the arrival of horses onto the track for a race.

Another popular use of the "Mess Call" is a crowd cheer at football or basketball games. The normal tune is played by the band, with a pause to allow the crowd to chant loudly, "Eat 'em up! Eat 'em up! Rah! Rah! Rah!"

Early solid state Bally pinball tables played two bugle calls on their chime units. First Call was used as the game start tune and To the Colors for game over.

See also
 Bugle calls of the Bersaglieri Corps (Italian Army)
 Bugle calls of the Norwegian Army
 Bugle and trumpet calls of the Mexican Armed Forces
 Military rites
 Ruffles and flourishes

References

Citations

Sources

External links

 Bugle Calls by the U.S. Scouting Service Project
 Official US Army Band Bugle Call Webpage
 US Navy Manual For Buglers
 British Army Bugle Calls (Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment)
 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article on the bugle
  Shenkle, Kathryn, "The History of Taps," Air National Guard Family Guide, p. 40

Military music
Music performance
Military life

Bugle call


Denis McQuail (12 April 1935, London – 25 June 2017) was a British communication theorist, Emeritus Professor at the University of Amsterdam, considered one of the most influential scholars in the field of mass communication studies.

Biography
Denis McQuail was born in Wallington, London on 12 April 1935 to Irish immigrant parents Annie (née Mullan) and Christopher McQuail. After schooling at St Anselm's college in Birkenhead, where he showed an aptitude for languages, he spent his national service in the Intelligence Corps learning Russian and studied history at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. McQuail obtained his BA in Modern History from the University of Oxford in 1958, and the next year his MA in Public and Social Administration. He obtained his PhD in social studies from the University of Leeds in 1967 with the thesis, entitled Factors affecting public interest in television plays.

McQuail started his academic career in the UK. On 1 August 1977, he was appointed Professor at the University of Amsterdam, where on 6 November 1978 he spoke the inaugural lecture, entitled "The historicity of a science of mass media: time, place, circumstances and the effects of mass communication." After his early retirement on 1 January 1997, he was appointed Emeritus Professor. He was also Visiting Professor in the Department of Politics at the University of Southampton.

The Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) established the Denis McQuail Award in his honour which is awarded each year to the best article advancing communication theory since 2006.

Work

Publications
McQuail published extensively in the field of political communication and communication theory. Best known is his contribution to the education of the public, concerning communication theory. His work has centred on explaining communication theories and their applications. He is adamant about informing the public on the benefits and dangers of mass communication.

In the early 1980s he and Dr. Sven Windahl published a book Communication Models. The book details basic communication models (Lasswell model, Shannon and Weaver's model, Gerbner's model), theories of media, audience-centered models, and mass media systems in general. In textbook style, the book outlines each topic: it is a compilation of existing communication theories with the author's own thoughts.

McQuail's next book, Mass Communication Theory, discusses in greater detail the mass communication concept. Specifically, it talks about the significance of mass media and how it affects the individual and society rather than focusing on the definitions of the models in general. "The three primary objectives: to update and take account of recent theory and research; enlargement, to reflect the continuing expansion of the field; clarification and improved presentation (pg. 13)". In Chapter 10, McQuail discusses the future of mass communication and states that it is either socially fragmenting or unifying. He makes several points on how the media needs to be socially responsible to be effective.

The sequel was Media Performance (1992). In it, previous theories are taken more for granted, and applied. He discusses at length the importance of an informed public. He states that the more aware a public is, the less likely it will be affected by media.

In 1993, communication scholars Denis McQuail and Sven Windahl referred to Lasswell's model as "perhaps the most famous single phrase in communication research." McQuail and Windahl also considered the model as a formula that would be transformed into a model once boxes were drawn around each element and arrows connected the elements. In 1995, Stanley Baran and Dennis Davis recognized it a verbal model of the communication process. In 2008, Greenberg and Salwen acknowledged that Lasswell's model of communication has been widely adopted, but expressed: "Although Lasswell's model draws attention to several key elements in the mass communication process, it does no more than describe general areas of study. It does not link elements together with any specificity, and there is no notion of an active process.

Freedom versus control
Denis McQuail believes the relations between media and society both have political and social-cultural aspects. Vital to the political aspect is the question of freedom and control.

The use and reception of media
McQuail makes special mention in Mass Communication Theory of the difficulty that surrounds identifying specific uses of media, as well as the difficulty of understanding the reception that any specific medium may have. McQuail uses the medium of the television as an example and notes that despite the many changes and extensions that the occurred, the television is still primarily seen as a medium of family entertainment.

Selected publications
 McQuail, Denis (2010), McQuail's Mass Communication Theory (sixth edition)
 McQuail, Denis (ed.) (2002), McQuail's Reader in Mass Communication Theory. Sage: London
 McQuail, Denis and Karen Siune for the Euromedia Research Group (eds.) (1998), Media Policy: Convergence, Concentration and Commerce. Sage: London
 McQuail, Denis 1992, Media Performance: Mass Communication and the Public Interest. Sage: London

References

External links
 Wiki.media-culture.org.au
 "Perspectives on Mass Communication – A conversation with Denis McQuail", Ideas Roadshow, 2014

1935 births
2017 deaths
British technology writers
Communication theorists
Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam
Alumni of the University of Leeds
Academics from London
Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford

Denis McQuail


In statistics, a generalized Wiener process (named after Norbert Wiener) is a continuous time random walk with drift and random jumps at every point in time. Formally:

where a and b are deterministic functions, t is a continuous index for time, x is a set of exogenous variables that may change with time, dt is a differential in time, and η is a random draw from a standard normal distribution at each instant.

See also
Wiener process

Wiener process

Generalized Wiener process


The Mary Immaculate Girls' High Schools are located in Kalina and Borivali in the city of Mumbai, India. They are Catholic schools, established and administered by the Mission Sisters of Ajmer, members of an Indian religious congregation. The school is under the religious jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Mumbai.

Mary Immaculate Girls' High School, Borivli and Kalina are affiliated to the Maharashtra State Board of Education, Mumbai. It started as a primary school in June 1957, and was upgraded to a high school in 1963. The students are known as Marians. There are also schools by the same name, run by the Mission Sisters of Ajmer in Ajmer and Kota, Rajasthan.

The school
More than 10,000 students study in the school. The school is a center for the SSC board exams. A former teacher, Rajalakshmy Nair, from the Kalina division, won the President's Award for best teacher. Another teacher, Saramma Chandy from the Borivali Division, won the Ishalakshi Gangadharan Memorial Award for Excellence in Science Teaching in 2004.She later won the President 's award for Best teacher in 2005.

The Borivali Campus of Mary Immaculate Girls High School is located on a small hillock called Mt. Poinsur. The Borivali division set up and runs Karuna Hospital which provides medical services.

The school arranges Christmas and Diwali parties.

The motto and the emblem
The motto is 'Seek Ye Wisdom', which was Mother Mary Matilda's motto.

The emblem is a shield. Inscribed on it are the words of the school motto: "Seek ye Wisdom". There is a lily engraved on the emblem which symbolises purity of mind and body. The radiant sun on the emblem symbolises the enlightenment that education brings to the mind of every Marian. The letters 'I' and 'M' stand for Mary Immaculate, the patroness.

Celebrating the golden jubilee
In the academic 2013-2014 the school at Kalina celebrated its golden jubilee. They arranged a grand function consisting of three musicals put up by the different sections of the school. The KG section put up "red riding hood", the primary section,"hansel and gretel" and the secondary section the classic,"king and I."

The school celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of The Virgin Mary on 8 December.

School canteen days
Every month the school keeps canteen where students have food stalls to serve their own home cooked food. The money generated from this event goes towards school maintenance and welfare.

School magazine
The school distributes Marian Notes to the students. It has pictures and articles regarding the events of that academic year. Articles are written by the students and teachers. Capable students are given the opportunity to be a part of the editorial board of the magazine.

Notable alumni
 Deena Mehta, chief executive officer, Asit C. Mehta Investment Intermediates Ltd
 Bhairavi Raichura, tele-actress in series like Hum Paanch and Balika Vadhu
 Drashti Dhami, actress in Dill Mill Gayye and in Geet - Hui Sabse Parayi
 Mahima Makwana, actress in Sawaare Sabke Sapne... Preeto and Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke
 Rucha Gujarathi, television actress
 Aahana Kumra, actress

See also

References

Catholic secondary schools in India
Christian schools in Maharashtra
Girls' schools in Maharashtra
High schools and secondary schools in Mumbai
Borivali
Educational institutions established in 1963
1963 establishments in Maharashtra

Mary Immaculate Girls' High School


Greyfriars Bobby (4 May 1855 - 14 January 1872) was a Skye terrier. He belonged to a policeman in Edinburgh named John Gray. When Mr. Gray died in 1858, he was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard. Bobby stayed near the grave of Mr. Gray long after the funeral. He would not leave.

The little dog came to be called Greyfriars Bobby.  He stayed at the grave for the rest of his life. Bobby died in 1872. He was buried just inside the gates of the kirkyard. His grave is marked by a small pink granite stone. Bobby's collar and bowl are displayed in the Museum of Edinburgh.

In 1873, Lady Angela Burdett-Coutts erected a drinking fountain (pictured) in Edinburgh to the memory of Greyfriars Bobby.  The bronze statue of Bobby on top of the fountain was made by William Brodie. The fountain and statue have long been favourites of Scots.

The fountain is near the George IV Bridge in Edinburgh. The statue of Bobby sits on top of a column of granite. At the bottom, there is an eight-sided drinking basin for dogs. Near the top, there is a drinking spout for people. In 1957, the water was turned off because of health concerns.

Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson wrote a book about Bobby in 1912. It has never been out of print. A movie based on the book was made in 1961. This movie stars Tam O'Shanter as Bobby, and is described as "a tearjerker, one that saddens and lifts the spirit at the same time."

References

Individual dogs
Edinburgh

Greyfriars Bobby


Sia Mary Musa (nee Kaingbanja, died 3 August 2015) was a Sierra Leonean politician and activist from Koidu-Sefadu, Kono District. She was the mayor of Koidu, and a member of the opposition Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP).

Early career
Mary Musa lived and worked in her home city of Koidu, the capital and largest city of the diamond-rich Kono District in the Eastern Province of Sierra Leone, and the country's fourth largest city. She taught and worked in various schools in the area, including the Jaima Secondary School, Koidu Secondary School, and the United Methodist Church Girls School, of which she was the head teacher for 25 years.

Exile and return to Koidu
When the Sierra Leone Civil War broke out, Mary Musa went into exile, returning to Koidu when the war was over. Large parts of the city's infrastructure had been destroyed in her absence, including some of the school buildings where she had taught, and large scale death had left numerous orphans. Musa worked to provide shelter for her own children and several of these orphans, using bricks from the school to build small houses. Following her lead, many of the other teachers assisted with this process.

Political career
Despite considerable opposition, in a traditionally male dominated region, Mary Musa went on to become the first female mayor and chairperson of the Koidu council. Following her appointment, the United States government's USAID agency trained her with a Nation Building course, as well as leadership training.

Personal life and death
Mary Musa married Mr. S.E.K. Musa, a senior civil servant, before the civil war broke out, but when she returned to the country she discovered that her husband had been killed while she was in exile. She and her husband had five children: Sia Mary Sawyer, Kumba Edna Keili, Finda Eileen Mattia, Yei Gladys Musa, and Sahr Edward Musa, as well as several stepchildren and grandchildren.

She died on 3 August 2015, in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital.

References

Year of birth missing
2015 deaths
Women mayors of places in Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone People's Party politicians
Mayors of places in Sierra Leone
People from Koidu

Mary Musa


Kosmos 27 ( meaning Cosmos 27), also known as Zond 3MV-1 No.3 was a space mission intended as a Venus impact probe. The spacecraft was launched by a Molniya 8K78 carrier rocket from Baikonur. The Blok L stage and probe reached Earth orbit successfully, but the attitude control system failed to operate.

Launch

Kosmos 27 was launched at 03:24:43 GMT on 27 March 1964, atop a Molniya 8K78 s/n T15000-27 carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Spacecraft

Kosmos 27 was a "third-generation" deep space planetary probes of the 3MV series of the Soviet Union. The Soviet engineers planned four types of the 3MV, the 3MV-1 (for Venus impact), 3MV-2 (for Venus flyby), 3MV-3 (for Mars impact), and 3MV-4 (for Mars flyby). The primary difference over the second-generation was vastly improved (and in many cases doubled) orientation system elements as well as improved onboard propulsion systems. While these four versions were meant to study Mars and Venus.

Mission

The probe was the first dedicated 3MV spacecraft that the Soviets launched (earlier missions had been of the test "Object-Probe" versions as Kosmos 21). It was designed to accomplish atmospheric entry into Venus followed by descent and impact. On 27 March 1964, it had a perigee of  and an apogee of , with an inclination of 64.8° and an orbital period of 88.7 minutes.  The spacecraft successfully reached Earth orbit but failed to leave for Venus when the Blok L upper stage malfunctioned. The upper stage lost stable attitude due to a failure in the circuit of the power supply circuit that powered the valves for the attitude control system; hence, the stage remained uncontrollable and not ready to initiate a burn to leave Earth orbit. The problem was traced to a design error, the examination of telemetry data found that the failure was due to a design flaw in the circuitry of the BOZ unit, which resulted in power not being transferred to the attitude control jets on the Blok L stage, rather than one related to quality control. The spacecraft burned up in Earth's atmosphere the following day, on 28 March 1964. If successful, this mission would have been given a "Venera" designation.

See also

 List of missions to Venus

References

Kosmos satellites
Venera program
Spacecraft launched in 1964
Spacecraft which reentered in 1964
3MV

Kosmos 27


"The Cure For Pain" is the first single from singer/songwriter Jon Foreman's debut solo EP, Fall. It was released Monday, December 10, 2007 as a free download on popular networking site Myspace's homepage.

 confirmed it as a single.

Song story
About "The Cure For Pain," Foreman has said, "I wrote this one in Texas on a day off. I was reflecting on the passing of time. I have been playing music in Switchfoot for about ten years. During that period, I have been fighting pain or running away from it in a myriad of ways. And yet the pain is a constant. I have had some amazing moments singing gravity away but the water keeps on falling.
I began to think of the suffering I see around me, I think of the pain of a grandmother dying of cancer. Of a friend killed by a train. I think of the pain of death, of failure, of rejection, the pain of a father losing his only son. And I came to the conclusion that I cannot run from pain any longer."

In Pop Culture
This song appeared on the 17th episode of Season 4 of the TV show Grey's Anatomy.

References

External links
 Jon Foreman Official Website
 Jon Foreman on Myspace
 Song Lyrics
 Song Story
 Download Song

2007 singles
Songs written by Jon Foreman
2007 songs

The Cure for Pain


The discography of Hélène Ségara, a French pop singer, consists of eleven studio albums, various compilation albums, one live albums and twenty-nine singles. Throughout her singer career, Ségara has obtained success in France and Francophone Belgium.

Her debut album, Cœur de verre, was released on 17 September 1996. It sold about 400,000 copies, peaked at number six in France, and provided the top 15 singles "Je vous aime adieu" and "Les Vallées d'Irlande", and the number-one hit "Vivo per lei (je vis pour elle)", a duet with Italian singer Andrea Bocelli.

On 25 January 2000, Ségara released her second album, Au Nom d'une Femme, which achieved more success and remained her most successful album. It reached the top of the French and Belgium charts and two its singles, "Il y a trop de gens qui t'aiment" and "Elle, tu l'aimes...", became smash hits, reaching respectively the first and the third position on the SNEP chart. The album was a triumph: it sold about 1.3 million units and won a NRJ Music Awards in 2001 in the category 'Francophone album of the year'.

The third studio album, Hélène, was released in 2002 and contains Ségara's previous songs recorded in Spanish-language and had minor success. In March 2003, the fourth album Humaine was launched and immediately topped the French chart, selling about 500,000 units. It spawning the top three singles "L'amour est un soleil" and a duet with Laura Pausini, "On n'oublie jamais rien, on vit avec".

The next two albums, Quand l'éternité... and Mon Pays c'est la terre, were respectively released in September 2006 and November 2008. They both can be considered as failures, as although the first one entered the French chart at number one, it fell very quickly, and the second one remained for a short number of weeks in low positions on the charts.

Albums

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Singles

1 Promotional singles

DVD
 Au Nom d'une Femme
 Regards, released on 24 May 2005, Gold

Tours
 Au Nom d'une Femme (2000–2002)
 Humaine (2003–2004)
 Quand l'éternité (2007–2008)

References

Discographies of French artists
Pop music discographies

Hélène Ségara discography


T. Boone Pickens, a former Texas oilman, is planning to build the world's largest wind farm, called the Pampa Wind Project, as part of the Pickens Plan. It will be developed by Pickens' company, Mesa Power. The proposed 4,000 MW facility will be located near Pampa, Texas, which is on the Texas Panhandle, and will stretch to the east, spanning 400,000 acres in five counties. This will provide enough power for 1.5 million average homes.

When it was planned, it would have been the largest wind farm in the United States. As of May 2008, the largest U.S. wind plant is the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center with a capacity of 736 MW.

Electric transmission lines must connect wind farms to the places where the electricity is used. People fought over whether wind farm owners or electricity users should pay to build these lines. On July 17, 2008, the Texas Public Utilities Commission ruled that ratepayers should pay $4.93 billion to build the lines to connect wind farms in the Texas Panhandle to the Texas electric grid. This implements a 2005 Texas law designed to promote new wind energy projects.

On March 2, 2009, Mesa Power announced that it was working on the first phase of the project. But had put off work on the later phases. It canceled 120 of 197 wind leases.
In July 2009, Mesa Power delayed (but did not cancel) the project. Mesa Power said the project must wait because it did not have transmission capacity to the site and poor credit market. Mesa Power will restart the Pampa Wind Farm project in 2013, when transmission lines are due to be completed in the area.  In the meantime, Mesa Power will use the 667 turbines it purchased to build several smaller wind farms.

References

Wind farms
Buildings and structures in Texas

Pampa Wind Project


Bernicia (Old English: Bernice) was a kingdom in Northern England. It was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers in the 6th century. Bernicia occupied about the same area as the modern English counties of Northumberland and Durham, and the former Scottish counties of Berwickshire and East Lothian. Bernicia was one of two Anglo-Saxon kingdoms located north of the River Humber. The other was Deira and in the early 7th century they combined to become the kingdom of Northumbria.

Roman and British Bernicia

The name Bernicia was an Anglicization of the earlier Celtic name Bryneich (or Beornice). The name probably meant 'The Land of Hills' or something very similar. It was the territory of the Guairi, a clan of the Votadini tribe. Their fortress home was the pre-Roman Din Guairi (fort of the Guairi). A large part of the Votadini under the leadership of Cunedda removed to north Wales creating the dynasty of Gwynedd. The remaining Votadini were not strong enough to withstand attacks by the Picts. After 410 they called in Germanic mercenaries

English Bernicia

The details of the arrival of the Germanic Angles in this area is not to be found in historical sources, According to Bede the founder of the Bernician dynasty was Ida of Bernicia. But he had little detail on the Bernician kings before the reign of Athelfrith of Bernicia († 616). Bede dated Ida's reign to starting in 547. He also gives the impression that the next four kings had all they could do to hold onto their territory. They had constant battles with the British during this time. Athelfrith was the first to expand the territory at the expense of the British. In 605 Athelfrith united the two kingdoms, Bernicia and Deira, into a single and powerful kingdom called Northumbria.

Kings of Bernicia

Ida (547–559)
Glappa son of Ida (559–560)
Adda son of Ida (560–568)
Aethelric son of Ida (568–572)
Theodric son of Ida (572–579)
Frithuwald (579–585)
Hussa (585–593)
 Athelfrith (593–616) ruled Bernicia 593–604, Northumbria 605–616. Combined Bernicia with Deira to form Northumbria.
Kingdom briefly split
Eanfrith of Bernicia son of Æthelfrith (633–634)
 Oswald son of Æthelfrith, Bernicia reunited with Deira under Northumbria from 634.

Notes

References

Other websites

 Kings of Bernicia, Britannia

Anglo-Saxons
Petty kingdoms of England
6th-century establishments in England
7th-century disestablishments

Bernicia


Port Fitzroy is a harbour and coastal community on Great Barrier Island in New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf.

It is the largest natural harbour in the Gulf, with Kaikoura Island guarding the entrance to the harbour and providing shelter for yachties in almost all weather conditions.

Port Fitzroy is a stop for boats to pick up fuel, water and supplies. The harbour is particularly busy with Auckland boaties during the Christmas and summer period.

The settlement has only two basic service businesses, focused on servicing boaties. The Port FitzRoy Store is one of only four grocery stores on Great Barrier Island. Port FitzRoy Fuel sells both vehicle and boat fuel, but is one of the most expensive petrol stations in the country due to its remote location.

In 2019, Auckland Council introduced a waste drop-off service over summer to discourage boaties from dumping waste.

There are aquaculture farms in the sheltered waters and an annual Musselfest event.

The Warren's and Bridle Tracks, managed by the Department of Conservation, pass a waterfall, deep pools for swimming, and a mixture of native and exotic forest.

References

Great Barrier Island
Populated places in the Auckland Region
Ports and harbours of New Zealand
Populated places around the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana

Port Fitzroy


The traveling tournament problem (TTP) is a mathematical optimization problem. The question involves scheduling a series of teams such that:
Each team plays every other team twice, once at home and once in the other's stadium.
No team plays the same opponent in two consecutive weeks.
No team plays more than three games in a row at home, or three games in a row on the road.

A matrix is provided of the travel distances between each team's home city. All teams start and end at their own home city, and the goal is to minimize the total travel distance for every team over the course of the whole season.

There have been many papers published on the subject, and a contest exists to find the best solutions for certain specific schedules.

References

Mathematical problems
Constraint programming

Traveling tournament problem


George Maitland Lloyd Davies (30 April 1880 – 16 December 1949), born George Maitland Temple Davies, was a Welsh pacifist and Member of Parliament for the University of Wales constituency.

Davies was born in Peel Road, Sefton Park, Liverpool, grandson on his maternal side of a noted Welsh preacher, John Jones, Talysarn; his family was wealthy - his cousin was David Davies of Llandinam, a Welsh industrial and political magnate. At 24 he became secretary of a Liverpool bank; when his health demanded a temporary rest, he was sent with a large salary to a manager's post in Wrexham in 1908. He later sought a complete change and took up agricultural work, then in 1913 went on to be secretary of a housing scheme, the Welsh Planning and Housing Trust.

As a Liberal non-conformist, Davies disparaged the National Service League's demand for conscription, and believed the answer was to volunteer militarily, so he took an officer's commission in the Territorial Army with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers while working at Wrexham. By early 1914 he came to realise that military force was incompatible with his deepening Christian devotion, and resigned. At the end of 1914 he became full-time paid Assistant Secretary of the newly formed Fellowship of Reconciliation.  A military service tribunal in 1916 allowed him conscientious objector exemption, conditional on Work of National Importance mediated through the Friends Ambulance Unit General Service section. He first worked in a FoR home for disturbed children, trying to put into practice his belief in the goodness of human nature. Then he went to work on sheep farms in the hills of Llyn. However, he began regularly to preach pacifism in the market place, so his exemption was withdrawn. This meant he was sent a notice to report for military training; when he ignored that he was arrested by the civil police and taken before the magistrates, who handed him over to the military. For disobeying orders he was court-martialled (in a depot where he had previously commanded troops) and imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs, London,  and Winson Green. Birmingham, between 1917 and 1919. After the war he worked for a time at Gregynog, for the Misses Davies.

In 1923, Davies was elected Member of Parliament for the University of Wales constituency, as an Independent Christian Pacifist, but after the election took the Labour whip, although he never joined any political party. He was thus the only university MP to ever sit on the Labour benches. In 1924, standing again as an Independent Christian Pacifist candidate, he lost the seat to the Liberal Ernest Evans. Thereafter Davies became a Calvinistic Methodist (Presbyterian) minister, serving as pastor in Tywyn and Maethlon between 1926 and 1930. He left to take up work among the unemployed in Rhosllannerchrugog and Brynmawr, and then settled in the Quaker community at Maes-yr-Haf in the Rhondda Valley.  In 1939 he became President of the pacifist organisation, Heddychwyr Cymru, closely associated with the Peace Pledge Union, of which he served as Chair 1946–1949.

In 1946, Davies settled in North Wales at Dolwyddelan, and he continued to preach outdoors despite deteriorating health. He suffered from depression throughout his life, and in 1949 he committed suicide in North Wales Mental Hospital, Denbigh. He was buried at Dolwyddelan.

Davies married on 5 February 1916, at Finchley, London, Leslie Eleanor Royde-Smith, sister of author Naomi Royde-Smith. The couple had a daughter, Jane Hedd.

Davies was the author of various books in Welsh, including Pererindod Heddwch and Profiadau Pellach, about his ministry, and Atgofion Talysarn about his family, and several volumes in English. A Pilgrimage of Peace was posthumously published in 1950.  His brother, John Glyn Davies, was a poet and author.

See also
 List of peace activists

References

External links
"George Davies: The man who wanted people to be 'islands of peace'", BBC News 2 March 2016, Chris Woods with Dr Jen Llywelyn, author of Pilgrim of Peace - A Life of George M Ll Davies ()

1880 births
1949 deaths
Welsh conscientious objectors
Calvinist pacifists
People associated with the Friends' Ambulance Unit
Welsh Christian pacifists
Welsh Labour MPs
UK MPs 1923–1924
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the University of Wales
Politicians from Liverpool
Welsh bankers
Suicides in Wales
Royal Welch Fusiliers officers
British politicians who committed suicide
Methodist pacifists
People from Dolwyddelan
1949 suicides

George M. Ll. Davies


The Sogorea Te Land Trust is an urban land trust founded in 2012 with the goals of returning traditionally Chochenyo and Karkin lands in the San Francisco Bay Area to Indigenous stewardship and cultivating more active, reciprocal relationships with the land. The land trust inspired the work of the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy.

Background

Ohlone history

The Ohlone people have lived in what is now the Bay Area since 4000 BCE. The arrival of Spanish soldiers and missionaries in the 18th century disrupted and undermined the Ohlone people's way of life, and their population (along with that of other indigenous groups in California) was reduced to a fraction of its former size. When California was incorporated into the United States, the Ohlone (as well as most other indigenous groups) were denied land and legal recognition by the United States.

Modern activism
Beginning in the 1970s, Ohlone people have engaged in efforts to reclaim their land, and to revitalize their languages and cultures. In the 1990s, Corrina Gould (a Chochenyo and Karkin Ohlone leader) and Johnella LaRose (of Shoshone–Bannock and Carrizo heritage) co-founded Indian People Organizing for Change.

History
In 2011, Indigenous People Organizing for Change led the occupation of a construction site for a waterfront property called Glen Cove Park, which was being built on the site of an ancient Ohlone village, gathering place, and burial ground, known as Sogorea Te in the Karkin language. While the occupation was successful and development was halted, the land was not turned over to the Ohlone people, as they are denied recognition as a Native American tribe by the federal government of the United States. Instead, the land was transferred to the nearest federally recognized tribe, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, which lacked any connection to the location or to the occupation, and consequently gave significant concessions to the land developers.

To prevent a similar situation from occurring again, the Sogorea Te Land Trust was founded in 2012 by Gould and LaRose as a way to collectively own and buy back the traditional lands of the Karkin and Chochenyo people. The first plot of land for the Land Trust was donated by Planting Justice, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving food security, and is located near 105th Avenue in Oakland. A second piece of land, consisting of a small garden, was secured in 2018 on 30th and Linden in West Oakland. Another parcel of land in Southwest Berkeley was donated to the trust in 2022. The land has been used as a community garden since 2004, with support from the nonprofit We Bee Gardeners.

Purpose
The vision for the land trust is for it to be a patchwork of small plots of land across the East Bay, the traditional territory of the Chochenyo and Karkin divisions of the Ohlone people, that would be available for communal use, beginning with land that is either owned by the city, neglected, abandoned, or under a lien. The organization is also in the process of building a ceremonial space at its 105th Avenue location. Long-term goals for the project include a burial ground for the bones of Ohlone ancestors, medicine plant gardens, and educational and cultural centers for native languages and cultures. The organization also hopes to create an opportunity for all people to develop more active relationships with the land and as a community.

Shuumi Land Tax
In order to financially support their goals, the Sogorea Te Land Trust has begun a project that it calls the Shuumi Land Tax (shuumi means "gift" in  Ohlone languages), which asks non-indigenous people living on Ohlone land to pay dues for the land that they live on. The tax has no legal ramifications and no connection with the United States government or Internal Revenue Service, but the organization prefers this term (as opposed to merely calling contributions donations) as it asserts indigenous sovereignty. The suggested tax amount is calculated based on the would-be taxpayer's usage of the land: renters are asked to pay a small percentage of their rent, homeowners are expected to pay based on the number of rooms (for an estimated total between $65 and $500). Those who use the land for commercial purposes are expected to make a contribution based on the size and scale of their business.

In media
The founding of the Sogorea Te Land Trust is the subject of the film Beyond Recognition, produced in 2014 by Underexposed Films.

References

External links

Native American organizations
Native American history of California
Native American topics
Native American tribes in California
Land trusts in California
Land trusts
Organizations established in 2012
2012 establishments in California
Ohlone

Sogorea Te Land Trust


Le Couperon is a c.3250-2250BC Neolithic dolmen in the parish of Saint Martin, Jersey. Le Couperon is about an eight-metres (26-foot) long capstone chamber that a long mound had originally covered. It was surrounded by a ring of eighteen outer stones, known as peristaliths.

The site was first excavated in 1868. By that time the capstones had fallen into the chamber. The excavators lifted these and a porthole stone and restored the dolmen to what the excavators believed was its original form. In 1919, the Société Jersiaise moved the porthole stone to its current position at the eastern end of the chamber. However, archeologists believe that originally the porthole stone may have stood within the chamber, dividing it into two segments of unequal length, each with its entrance. Finds at the site included a few flint flakes and pottery fragments.

The dolmen stands within a few metres of the Le Couperon guardhouse.

References

Saint Martin, Jersey
Megalithic monuments in Europe
Archaeological sites in Jersey

Le Couperon dolmen


Jeanne Rij-Rousseau (10 June 1870 – 22 October 1956) was a French Cubist painter and an art theoretician.

Rij-Rousseau was born in Candé. From 1890 on, she lived in Paris and moved in an artistic circle with painters of the "Ile de la Grande Jatte" in Montmartre. She was a student of Maurice Denis and Paul Sérusier. Sérusier's had ideas about the relationship of music and painting. She used these ideas to form the theory of vibrism, which is a combination  of Synthetic Cubism of the pre-war period and Larionov and Goncharova's Rayonism.

Juan Gris was a close friend of hers. From 1911 on, Rij-Rousseau showed her works in Salon d'Automne, Salon des Indépendants and Salon Tuileries. In 1920, she was a member of the artist circle called Section d'Or. She  often traveled to South France, especially to Céret, and also to Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. Her paintings were displayed in Zurich, Brussels, New York, and Boston.

In Aubusson and Beauvais' manufactories large-size tapestries designed by her were produced. In 1925, she was awarded a gold medal for one of them in the first Arts Décoratifs' exhibition.
Guillaume Apollinaire named her a "searcher", and her colour choices were admired by Florent Fels and André Salmon.

Also in 1925, Rij-Rousseau founded the Association of Modern-Age Female Painters. She exhibited with Suzanne Duchamp and Marie Laurencin, among others. Aside from Colette, Rij-Rousseau's biography was published in the book, Führende Frauen Europas by Elga Kern as a representative of French art.

Her fame did not last long, and in 1956 she died lonely, impoverished and forgotten in her great-niece's house in Savigny-sur-Braye. Her final exhibition in Château de Blois in 1959 attracted little notice, and the whereabouts of the 70 exhibited paintings are still unknown. Her estate has been scattered throughout the world. Paintings are trafficked in N.Y., Chicago, London, and Paris. Some works are in Parisan museums, in Blois, and in Grenoble, but especially in private collectors' homes.

Research on this painter of the French Modern Age is still in its beginnings.

Further reading
Debray, Cécile; Lucbert, Françoise. La Section d'or. Edition Cercle d'Art. Paris 2000
Kern, Elga. Führende Frauen Europas. Ernst Reinhardt Verlag München 1930

1870 births
1956 deaths
French painters
People from Maine-et-Loire

Jeanne Rij-Rousseau


Amen Corner is a suburb of Bracknell, Berkshire, England within the civil parish of Binfield, approximately  west of Bracknell. It is south of the B3408 between Popeswood and Wokingham.

It was formerly the location of Binfield Brickworks. It is now home to the John Nike Leisuresport Complex, the Coppid Beech Hotel, and a number of hi-tech industries, including the UK Head Offices for 3M, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Fujitsu Technology Solutions. It also has a well-known music shop which specialises in guitars, bass guitars and drums.

Amen Corner is split into Amen Corner North and Amen Corner South.

Amen Corner North
Amen Corner North lies between London Road and Murrell Hill Lane.

Murrell Hill Lane is home to the Bracknell businessman John Nike OBE DL.

Amen Corner North currently consists of fields which traditionally hosted circuses in the summer.

In August 2014, Wilson Developments received outline planning permission to build 380 homes and a primary school on the site.

Amen Corner South
To the north of Amen Corner South lies a residential estate which was developed in the 1980s by Thameswey Homes (later bought by George Wimpey). The housing estate has a well-known music shop which specialises in guitars, bass guitars and drums.

Amen Corner South was the home of the Binfield Brick and Tile Works Company's Binfield Brickworks between the late 19th century and the 1960s. The 60-acre site was purchased by John Nike OBE DL in 1969 through his company Key Properties Ltd (the Nike Group of Companies). The original plan was to build a garden centre on it.

Part of the site now houses the John Nike Leisuresport Complex, comprising the Bracknell Ski and Snowboard Centre which was opened in 1985 and Bracknell Ice Rink which was opened in 1987. Adjacent to this is the four star, 205-bedroom Coppid Beech Hotel, which has an alpine ski lodge design and which was opened in 1992. There is also a small residential development opposite the entrance to the Coppid Beech Hotel, Braeside, whose dwellings look like ski lodges to blend in with the surrounding area. All of these developments are accessed via John Nike Way, which is privately owned by the Nike Group of Companies.

To pay for these ventures, the Nike Group of Companies sold part of its land to Hewlett-Packard and the area now houses the UK Head Office for Hewlett-Packard at the Amen Corner Business Park, and the UK Head Offices for Dell, 3M and Fujitsu Technology Solutions.

A further part of Amen Corner South is owned by the property company Helical Bar.

In August 2014, the Nike Group of Companies was granted outline planning permission to develop the remaining part of its land (which was originally to house a garden centre), along with the land owned by Helical Bar, for 550 homes, a neighbourhood centre with shops and restaurants and a primary school.

History
From the late 19th century to the 1960s, brick-making was an important industry in the area, with the Binfield Brick and Tile works being an important employer – this is now the site of the old John Nike Leisuresport Complex. Binfield bricks were partly used to create the celebrated Royal Albert Hall.

In popular culture
 In 1994 both the exterior and interior of the 'Nebditch Intercontinental Hotel' which features throughout episode 2 of the 1st series of the television drama series Pie in the Sky, "The Truth Will Out", was filmed at the Coppid Beech Hotel. The adjoining Bracknell Ski and Snowboard Centre is also featured.
 In the 1996 family drama film Loch Ness, the internal scenes of the conference room and the hotel lobby area were shot at the Coppid Beech Hotel's Sequoia Suite and Lounge.
 In 1998 the Bracknell Ski Centre was featured in episode 19 of the 21st series of the television drama series Grange Hill. The Hewlett-Packard UK Head Office can also be clearly seen in the background.
 In 1998 the Octagon Toyota car dealership (part of the Jemca Car Group since 2012) off John Nike Way was seen in episode 20 of the 21st series of the television drama series Grange Hill.
 The John Nike Leisure Centre was mentioned in the 2002 comedy film Ali G Indahouse.
 In 2005 Bracknell Ice Rink was featured in the television drama serial Secret Smile.
 In 2014 the John Nike Leisuresport Complex car park served as the Bracknell production headquarters of the second series of the television drama series Broadchurch, which was originally aired in 2015, whilst filming was taking place at the nearby Jennett's Park housing estate.

References

Bracknell's housing future taking shape after 930-home Binfield plan is approved

External links

Bracknell

Amen Corner, Berkshire


Many people have considered themselves to be the chosen people. Usually, a deity chose them to fulfill a specific role, or purpose. In monotheistic religions, this is used to construct "God's chosen people". One of the common cases was that the Israelites. Sometimes the claim is constructed because even though the people are not related to the Israelites, the ideas are similar.

Theology

Chosen people


Manpower is a 1941 American crime melodrama directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, and George Raft. The picture was written by Richard Macaulay and Jerry Wald, and the supporting cast features Alan Hale, Frank McHugh, Eve Arden, Barton MacLane, Ward Bond and Walter Catlett.

Robinson and Raft got into a fistfight on the set that was eagerly splashed all over the front pages of the nation's newspapers. The fight was photographed by a Life magazine photographer who was visiting the set that day. Humphrey Bogart was considered for Robinson's role, but Raft refused to have him as his co-star. Victor McLaglen was also considered to play Robinson's role, which would have made it a supporting part, and Raft reportedly resented sharing leading man status on the film as a result of Robinson being cast instead.

Raft chose to make Manpower over the remake of the 1931 pre-Code version of Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, partly because it was a choice between untried first-time director John Huston and Walsh, the veteran director of Raft's 1933 hit The Bowery, plus Raft reasoned that a Hays Code-era remake may not be able to live up to its pre-Code predecessor, so the career-catapulting role of Sam Spade went to Bogart instead.

The script is one of many reworkings of the plotline for a 1932 Robinson movie called Tiger Shark, in which Robinson played essentially the same part, only as a tuna fisherman rather than an electric power lineman.

Plot
A leg injury causes Los Angeles power line worker Hank McHenry to give up field work and accept a promotion to foreman. His crew includes good friend Johnny Marshall and old Pop Duval.

Pop is killed during an ice storm. His daughter Fay's seeming indifference to the death irritates Johnny, but Hank is attracted to her. A hostess in a nightclub, Fay accepts money from Hank and also his marriage proposal, even though she does not love him.

Before a project that takes them to Boulder Dam, an injury befalls Johnny. He is taken into Hank's home to recuperate where, after a month together, Fay tells him she is attracted to him but Johnny resists her. Fay decides to leave Hank, but she is arrested in a raid while she is visiting her old club. Johnny pays her bail and stops her leaving Hank. However, she tells Hank that she is leaving him and is attracted to Johnny and a combination of circumstances means that Hank misconstrues the situation, believing Johnny has betrayed him.

In wet and windy weather, Hank climbs a pylon with his bad leg to attack Johnny, during which Hank falls to his death. Johnny is left to decide whether he is attracted to Fay or repelled by her; he makes his decision while Fay is waiting for the bus to leave town.

Cast

 Edward G. Robinson as Hank "Gimpy" McHenry
 Marlene Dietrich as Fay Duval
 George Raft as Johnny Marshall
 Alan Hale, Sr. as Jumbo Wells
 Frank McHugh as Omaha
 Eve Arden as Dolly
 Barton MacLane as Smiley Quinn
 Ward Bond as Eddie Adams
 Walter Catlett as Sidney Whipple, Hank's hospital roommate

 Joyce Compton as Scarlett
 Lucia Carroll as Flo
 Egon Brecher as Pop Duval
 Cliff Clark as Cully
 Joseph Crehan as Sweeney
 Ben Welden as Al Hurst
 Barbara Pepper as Polly
 Dorothy Appleby as Wilma

Production
Working titles for the film were "Handle with Care", "Hard to Get", and "Hard to Handle". Production took place from late March to mid-May 1941.

Mark Hellinger was intended to produce the film, but had a falling-out with executive producer Hal Wallis. Hellinger is credited as "Associate Producer".

Walsh was keen to make the film because he was getting a reputation as a "Man's" director and Marlene Dietrich had a lead role. Claire Trevor was considered to play Dietrich's role.

Production was marked by several conflicts between Raft and Robinson, mostly initiated by Raft. Robinson recalled Raft as "touchy, difficult and thoroughly impossible to play with." Raft was romantically interested in Dietrich, and believed that Robinson was as well. Raft verbally abused Robinson about a line of Robinson's dialogue; this was the subject of a complaint from Warner Bros to the Screen Actors Guild, causing Robinson to leave the set and production to halt for several hours. A few days later, Raft pushed Robinson around the set and verbally attacked him again; once more, filming was halted, for a full day this time. Raft later complained that Robinson tried to tell him how to act; he also felt the actor was miscast, preferring Victor McLaglen, who had been considered for the part. Humphrey Bogart had been considered for Robinson's role, but Raft refused to make the film with Bogart as his co-star; Broderick Crawford was also considered for Robinson's part.

Raft resented having to accept third billing despite having the largest role in the film. Robinson and Raft appeared together again 14 years later for a B-movie film noir entitled A Bullet for Joey (1955), after both their careers had seriously declined.

The film's screenplay by Richard Macaulay and Jerry Wald has strong similarities to two earlier Warners' films, Other Men's Women (1931) and Tiger Shark (1932).

Reception
Bosley Crowther wrote a positive review for the film in The New York Times, noting that the cast was outstanding: "With such exceptional material, the Warner blacksmiths couldn't help but make good—good, in this sense—meaning the accomplishment of a tough, fast, exciting adventure film."  Channel 4's review of the movie notes the exciting setting makes it worth seeing, but goes on to pan the film: "Directed with the usual efficiency by Walsh, Manpower's weak script never manages to convince despite the setting and the strong cast."
The film was a solid box office hit. According to Warner Bros records, it earned $1,180,000 domestically and $662,000 foreign.

Adaptation
The film's three stars reprised their roles for a radio version broadcast by Lux Radio Theatre on Marchh 16, 1942.

References

External links

1941 films
American crime drama films
American black-and-white films
1941 crime drama films
1940s English-language films
Film noir
Films directed by Raoul Walsh
Films scored by Adolph Deutsch
Warner Bros. films
1940s American films

Manpower (1941 film)


David Henson, MBE (born 15 September 1984) is a British parasport athlete competing mainly in T42 classification sprint events. He has represented Britain at the Invictus Games, World and European Championships and in 2016 he was selected for the Summer Paralympics in Rio, winning a bronze medal in the 200m sprint (T42).

Personal history
Henson was born in Southampton, England in 1984. He was educated at St George Catholic College in Southampton before going to University of Hertfordshire to study mechanical engineering. After leaving university he joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst to undertake his initial training as an Army officer. He passed out of Sandhurst in 2008, joining the 22 Engineer Regiment as Second Lieutenant.

In February 2010 Henson was moved to the bomb disposal unit of the Royal Engineers, before being deployed to Afghanistan in October. In Afghanistan part of his duties included the leadership of a detachment force clearing improvised explosive devices (IED). On 13 February 2011, Henson and his unit were clearing two compounds in the Nad-e Ali South area of Helmand Province when he stood on a hidden IED. Within 37 minutes of the incident he was on the operating table in Camp Bastion, before being flown back to England to receive treatment in Birmingham the following day. Following these life saving operations, Henson had his right leg amputated above the knee and his left leg amputated through the knee. This was followed by further operations and an extensive rehabilitation program at Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court, but within eight months he had been fitted with prosthetic legs and was walking again.

Henson returned to education after his injuries and took a master's degree in Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London, focusing on amputee biomechanics for the improvement of prosthetic limbs.

Henson and his wife, Hayley, have a daughter. In 2014 he was awarded the MBE.

Sports career
During his rehabilitation, Henson found a passion for sport. He began taking part in open swim events for charity, he also participated in Wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball. In 2012 he was selected to be captain of the British team in the inaugural Invictus Games. He entered three events, the sitting volleyball and the 100m and 200m ambulant IT2 sprints, winning gold in the 200m.

After the Invictus Games, Henson continued to train as a parasport athlete under the guidance of Roger Keller. In 2015 he was selected to represent the Great Britain team at the IPC Athletics European Championships in Doha, competing in the 200 metres sprint. Although he did not medal at the games he was given the honour of being the flag bearer for the opening ceremony.

The following year, in the build-up to the Rio Paralympics Henson travelled to Grosseto in Italy to compete for Britain at the 2016 IPC Athletics European Championships. He competed in both the 100m and 200m T42 events, taking the silver in the 200m, behind teammate Richard Whitehead, in a time of 25.89s. In July 2016 Henson again faced Whitehead at the London Grand Prix, finishing third with a new personal best of 25.05. A few days later, on 26 July, it was confirmed that he has made the Great Britain team for the 2016 Summer Paralympics.

At the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, Henson entered both the 100m and 200m sprints. In the heats of the 200m sprint he temporarily lost balance on his running blades, slipping into an outside track. Fortunately for Henson he did not impeded the other competitors and was able to recover and qualify for the final. The final saw Henson win a Paralympic bronze, after coming from the back of the field in the final 50 metres to power through the field to finish behind fellow British teammate Whitehead and South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu. In the 100 metres, as a double amputee, Henson was unable to hit his full pace, and finished fifth in the heats, failing to make the final.

References

External links
 You Tube video of David Henson being interviewed by Natalie Pinkham at the 2014 Business in the Community gala dinner.

1984 births
Living people
Paralympic athletes for Great Britain
British male sprinters
English amputees
Sportspeople from Southampton
Sprinters with limb difference
English male sprinters
Members of the Order of the British Empire
Royal Engineers officers
British Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Alumni of Imperial College London
Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain
Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
Paralympic sprinters

David Henson


Irina Nikolayevna Vorobieva (; June 30, 1958 – April 12, 2022) was a Russian pair skater. She competed for the Soviet Union. She and Igor Lisovsky were the 1981 World champions and the 1981 European champions. They were married. She came in 4th at the 1976 Olympics. Vorobieva was born in Leningrad, Soviet Union.

Vorobieva died on April 12, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the age of 63.

References

1958 births
2022 deaths
Russian figure skaters
Competitors at the 1976 Winter Olympics

Irina Vorobieva


Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in Latvia, about  west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching  and sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a  stretch of white-sand beach and is the fifth-largest city in Latvia.

While Latvia was under Soviet occupation, Jūrmala was a favorite holiday-resort and tourist destination for high-level Communist Party officials, particularly Leonid Brezhnev and Nikita Khrushchev. Although many amenities such as beach-houses and concrete hotels remain, some have fallen into disrepair. Jūrmala remains a tourist attraction with long beaches facing the Gulf of Riga and romantic wooden houses in the Art Nouveau style.

Names and administrative history
The name Jūrmala stems from Latvian jūra ("sea") and mala ("edge", "side", "margin"), thus "seaside" in English.

In 1920, soon after Latvian independence, the town of Rīgas Jūrmala ("Seaside of Riga") was established. In German it became known as Rigasche Strand and Riga-Strand (Beach of Riga), and advertised as part of Baltische Riviera (the Baltic Riviera)

During World War II, Jūrmala lost its autonomy and by 1946 it was a district of Riga. In 1949 this district was enlarged to include Priedaine. Finally, in 1959 the district of Jūrmala was removed from the city of Riga and merged with the health resorts Sloka and Ķemeri to establish Jūrmalas pilsēta (City of Jūrmala). In publications dating from the Soviet period, the city name was occasionally spelled in English as "Yurmala", a back-transliteration from Russian Юрмала.

As a result of the administrative territorial reform of Latvia in 2009, Jūrmala became one of the republican cities of Latvia (Republikas pilsētas), and is currently (2011) the fifth largest by population. The republican cities were replaced with state cities (Valstspilsētas) after the 2021 administrative reform.

History

The city of Jūrmala actually consists of a string of small resorts. From west to east, these include Ķemeri, Jaunķemeri, Sloka, Kauguri, Vaivari, Asari, Melluži, Pumpuri, Jaundubulti, Dubulti, Majori, Dzintari, Bulduri and Lielupe and others.

Jūrmala's reputation as a spa destination began in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Wealthy landowners began the tradition of relaxing at the seaside, and Russian army officers came here to rest after the Napoleonic Wars, returning later with their families. The peak of the Jūrmala area's development was the opening of the Riga - Tukums railway in 1877 (which still passes through Jūrmala) that gave a great boost to the numbers of visitors, and thus a boost to the development of the town as a resort. Jūrmala also gained a reputation as a health spa. The sea breeze, pine aroma, mineral springs, and sandy beach encouraged many sanatoriums to develop within the city.

In Soviet times Jūrmala was popular with the Communist officials because of its beach and sanatoriums - holidays were also given as rewards for top union members. It became one of the most popular holiday destinations in the whole Union. The spas offered facilities from mud baths to riding therapy and hiking in the woods. In summer there are many concerts.

Whereas Riga has advanced rapidly to embrace and cater for growing numbers of Western tourists, Jūrmala has lagged behind. Russians are now subject to strict visa requirements and its beaches have yet to attract significant numbers of Europeans, leaving the tourist industry with a hard task on its hands. However, during the past few years, Jūrmala has started to recover. Many Russian celebrities, successful businessmen and others buy houses near the beach, and a variety of festivals and other activities attract increasing crowds each summer. At the moment, Jūrmala has almost resumed the popularity that it had with the Soviet elite.

The main beach at Majori and another at Bulduri now bear blue eco-flags signalling the sea is clean and safe to swim in, and the Latvian Academy of Science boasts a hotel for its members in the town. There is also the Midsummer Festival in June, celebrating the longest day of the year. The "Jaunais Vilnis" New Wave (competition) music festival showcases the latest music from all over Europe. The Lonely Planet guide to the region states that it is one of the highlights of Latvia.

Architecture

The most distinguishing architectural feature in Jūrmala is the prevalence of wooden houses dating from the 19th and first half of the 20th century. Most of the buildings were built by Baltic German and Latvian architects, but there are also works of Russian, Finnish and other architects. Jūrmala's architecture typically falls into classicism, national romanticism, and modern styles. The town has an official list of 414 historical buildings under protection, as well as over 4,000 wooden structures.. Dubulti Station is an example of sculptural concrete shell Modernist architecture.

Geography

Beach

Jūrmala's beach is  long, covered with white quartz sand. The shallow coastal waters are suitable and safe for children. The beach is equipped with playgrounds, small benches, football fields and volleyball courts, as well as descents for prams and wheelchairs. In spring and autumn amber pieces can be found on the beach.

Each region's beach has its own character. In Majori and Bulduri, where the Blue Flag flies, it is possible to rent water bicycles or relax in the beach cafe. In Dubulti and Dzintari competitions in beach football and volleyball take place, but on Pumpuri beach there is kite surfing and windsurfing.

International water sports contests, including rowing, sailing, and waterskiing that take place on the river Lielupe.

Climate
Jūrmala has an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) closely bordering on a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), because it is on the coast of the Baltic Sea.

Tourist attractions

Līvu Akvaparks

Līvu Akvaparks in Jūrmala is one of the largest water amusement parks in Northern Europe. The 3 floors of Līvu Akvaparks include more than 20 slides, more than 10 pools of various depths and sizes, attractions for children, a SPA complex with 4 saunas, cold pool, salt chamber, bubble baths and air and underwater massage facilities. The park's area is 11,000m2, but in summers an additional 7 000m2 becomes available to visitors, bringing the total area to 18 000m2 making this the largest closed-type water park in Northern Europe that operates throughout the year. It opened for visitors on 30 December 2003, after almost 2 years of construction and at a cost of more than 16 million euros. Each year it receives 300,000 visitors, of which roughly 45% are Latvians.

Ķemeri National Park

Ķemeri National Park () is a national park west of the city of Jūrmala, Latvia. Established in 1997, Ķemeri is the third largest national park in the country by area, covering an area of 381.65 km2. The territory of the park is mostly occupied by forests and mires, the most significant of them being The Great Ķemeri Bog (). The Great Kemeri Bog Boardwalk is a popular tourist destination in Ķemeri National Park, Latvia, offering visitors a chance to explore the bog and its inhabitants. A small boardwalk arc (1.4 km) and a great boardwalk arc (3.4 km) is present, with an observation platform that is a popular place with photographers for sunrise and sunset scenes in Latvia, regardless of the season or weather.

Jomas Street
Jomas street () is one of the central and oldest streets of Jūrmala, which during its existence has undergone various changes and transformations. Most of the street is a walking boulevard closed to vehicle traffic, and is populated with restaurants, bars, souvenir booths, fruit stalls and a small shopping complex containing a cinema.

Dzintari Forest Park

The Dzintari Forest Park () is located near the centre of Jūrmala, with 200 year old pine groves surrounding the park. For leisure there are walkways that weave within the park connecting a skate park, 3 children playgrounds, a cafe, a roller-skate path (with skiing available in winter), basketball courts and a free-to-enter watchtower.

The Dzintari watchtower at 33.5 meters high, soars past the pine trees with a large viewing platform at the top allowing tall distant objects to be seen such as the Riga Radio and TV Tower. Throughout the entire height of the watchtower a total of 12 platforms are formed, overlooking all directions.

It also includes a paid obstacle course in the trees with 5 routes and a 250m zip line.

Jūrmala Open Air Museum and Ragakapa Nature Park
Jūrmala Open Air Museum () located east of Bulduri celebrates the cities fishing heritage. A fisherman's court has been set up, and its nearly 2,000 exhibits portray the fishermen's work and life in Jūrmala in the 19th and 20th centuries. Nearby Ragakāpa Nature Park (), this is a natural 800 m long and 100 m wide dune formed out of wind-activity, with viewing platforms and an eco-trail present.

Lielupe
The 116km long river Lielupe flows within Jūrmala. It is popular amongst canoeists and kayakers as Lielupe flows through and connects populated municipalities including Bauska, Mežotne, Jelgava, Kalnciems and Riga. In addition waterskiing, fishing, boat cruising and taking summer ferry trips are popular.

Ķemeri Sanatorium

Ķemeri hotel (sanatorium) building () is one of the most prominent neo-attraction examples in Latvian architecture. In 1936, President Kārlis Ulmanis officially opened one of the most prestigious buildings in Latvia at the time, Hotel "Ķemeri" with 100 comfortable rooms and a luxurious hall. The building was designed by Latvian architect Eižens Laube and was built by public funds.

After World War II, it was transformed into a sanatorium with 300 beds for treating problems with nervous systems, as well as patients with joint, bones and musculoskeletal and gynaecological diseases from the Soviet republics with a very wide range of health resorts and medical services. After the restoration of Latvia's independence, the building was privatised and its reconstruction started, but the project has been largely unsuccessful and reconstruction has still not been completed.

Sports events and clubs

The 2017 European Beach Volleyball Championships was held from August 16 to August 20, 2017. The draw consisted of 32 men's & 32 women's teams, with 100,000 EUR prize money per gender. The best Latvian men's team of Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Jānis Šmēdiņš took home silver, losing 2–0 to Italy in the finals. The best Latvian's women's team of Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka lost in the quarterfinals to Germany 2–0. A 2,800 stadium was purpose built on Majori beach, with near capacity for most games.

The 2012 Winter Swimming World Championships were hosted in Jūrmala in January with a then-record 1,129 participants attending. This made Latvia the 3rd international host since its inception in 2000 at Helsinki, Finland.

FK Spartaks is a Latvian football club in Jūrmala that plays its home matches in the 2,500 capacity Sloka Stadium. They won the Latvian Higher League football premiership in 2016 and 2017.

The Baltic Open tennis tournament, part of the WTA Tour, is held at the National Tennis Center Lielupe in Jūrmala in July, starting in 2019.

Personalities
The following people were born in Jūrmala:
Imants Ziedonis (1933–2013), poet
Edgars Rinkēvičs (born 1973), president of Latvia since 2023
Ernests Gulbis (born 1988), tennis player
Roberts Bukarts (born 1990), ice hockey player
Jeļizaveta Polstjanaja (born 2003), rhythmic gymnast

Festivals
During the Soviet era, Jūrmala was a venue for various festivals, including the pop music festival "Jūrmala" (1986–1993).

From 2001 onwards Jūrmala hosted the "New Wave" competition for young pop singers from all over Europe. It also hosted the "Singing KiViN" event each July. Due to a ban of several Russian media personalities from entering Latvia, both competitions were moved from Jūrmala in 2015.

The Jūrmala International Piano Competition, arranged by the City Council and the Latvian Piano Teachers Association in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Latvia, for pianists of all nationalities aged 19 years and under, was established in 1994 and is held every two years in the "Dzintari" concert hall. As the International Academic Music Competition (with various categories), it reached its 11th Season in 2010.

Transport

Railway

The railway Riga-Tukums was built in 1875–1877. The route chosen included the narrow isthmus between Lielupe and the Gulf of Riga. A stretch of 13 km of the line runs within a kilometre of the sea, and there are ten stations within easy walking distance from the beach. This was a big boost to the development of Jūrmala as a series of resorts along the coast. In 1912 a direct train connection was established with Moscow. The railway through Jūrmala is currently double-track and electrified. The current railway stations in Jūrmala, sorted from east to west, are Priedaine, Lielupe, Bulduri, Dzintari, Majori, Dubulti, Jaundubulti, Pumpuri, Melluži, Asari, Vaivari, Sloka and Ķemeri.

Roads
A six lane road, designated A10 and E22, connects Riga to Jūrmala. A road toll is required from non-residents to pass the 4-lane bridge over Lielupe (built in 1962) and drive into Jūrmala. A railway overpass was built at Dzintari Station in 1976, giving a fast four-lane traffic flow into central Jūrmala.

Air
Riga International Airport is only 18 km from central Jūrmala (Majori). Confusingly, Jūrmala Airport, a former Soviet air base, is further away (39 km) from central Jūrmala, near Tukums.

Demographics

As of 1 January 2019, the city had a population of 49,325.

Mayor

 Rihards Pētersons (1991)
 Ligita Začesta (1991-1994)
 Andrejs Inkulis (1994-1997)
 Leonīds Alksnis (1997-2001)
 Dainis Urbanovičs (2001-2003)
 Juris Hlevickis (2003-2005)
 Inese Aizstrauta (2005-2006)
 Raimonds Munkevics (I term) (2006-2008)
 Ģirts Trencis (2008-2009)
 Raimonds Munkevics (II term) (2009-2010)
 Romualds Ražuks (2010)
 Gatis Truksnis (I term) (2010-2013)
 Juris Visockis (2013)
 Gatis Truksnis (II term) (2013-2016)
 Rita Sproģe (acting) (2016)
 Gatis Truksnis (III term) (2016-2017)
 Rita Sproģe (2017)
 Gatis Truksnis (IV term) (2017-present)

Twin towns — sister cities

Jūrmala is twinned with:

 Admiralteysky District (Saint Petersburg), Russia
 Alushta, Ukraine
 Anadia, Portugal
 Anaklia, Georgia
 Ashdod, Israel
 Cabourg, France
 Eskilstuna, Sweden
 Gävle, Sweden
 Jakobstad, Finland
 Jilin, China
 Kazan, Russia
 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
 Palanga, Lithuania
 Pärnu, Estonia
 Samarkand, Uzbekistan
 Shenyang, China
 South-Western Administrative Okrug (Moscow), Russia
 Terracina, Italy
 Tsqaltubo, Georgia
 Türkmenbaşy, Turkmenistan

References

External links

History of Jurmala
Jūrmala (Latvia)

Photos and videos
 360° QTVR fullscreen panoramas of the Jurmala city
 Images from Jurmala
 Panorama of Jurmala (WebCam), balticlivecam.com

Cities in Latvia
Gulf of Riga
Kreis Riga
Populated coastal places in Latvia
Republican cities of Latvia
Spa towns in Latvia

Jūrmala


The Battle of Leliefontein (also known as the Battle of Witkloof) was an engagement between British-Canadian and Boer forces during the Second Boer War on 7 November 1900, at the Komati River  south of Belfast at the present day Nooitgedacht Dam.

During the engagement, the Canadian rearguard successfully repelled Boer assaults against the column, facilitating the successful withdrawal of the British-Canadian force from the area. Three members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons were awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions during the battle.

Background
In November 1900, a British force advanced from Belfast towards the Komati River to push the Boer soldiers out of the area. The British force also included the second Canadian contingent to arrive in South Africa, including members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, the 2nd Canadian Mounted Rifles and "D" Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery.

Led by Major-General Horace Smith-Dorrien, the force arrived at the river on 6 November and drove the Boers from their positions. However, as resistance was stronger than expected, and because Smith-Dorrien had expected the Boers to be reinforced, he ordered his forces to set up camp at Leliefontein for the night, before beginning a withdrawal back to Belfast the following morning.

The Boers that withdrew from their positions in Komati later reconsolidated with reinforcements, having expected the British force to pursue them. The Boer force included the Ermelo Commando and  Carolina Commando. The Boers originally planned to intercept an advancing British force at a road south of the river. However, after the Boers realized that the British-Canadian force was not pursuing them and was withdrawing from the area, they advanced to attack the rear of the British-Canadian column.

Battle

A force led by Lieutenant-Colonel François-Louis Lessard, which included 90–100 men from the Royal Canadian Dragoons, two 12-pounder field guns from "D" Battery of the Canadian Field Artillery, and a horse-drawn M1895 Colt-Browning machine gun, was tasked with covering the larger force's withdrawal as its rearguard. The dragoons were deployed in a  line behind the withdrawing British column, with the horse-drawn machine gun at its centre.

Throughout the morning, the Canadian rearguard positions were assaulted by Boer forces. At one point during the engagement, 200 mounted Boers charged the Canadian's positions in an attempt to break their line. The mounted charge was eventually repulsed by a handful of Royal Canadian Dragoons, and the left section of D Battery under the command of Lieutenant Edward Whipple Bancroft Morrison. During the mounted charge, a field gun was almost taken, although a hastily organized 12-man ambush led by Lieutenant Richard Ernest William Turner prevented the field gun's capture. Although Morrison was injured, the dragoons were able to repel the charge with assistance from the machine gun on their left flank.

The position where the horse-drawn machine gun carriage was placed was then assaulted and eventually taken by the Boers. However, Sergeant Edward James Gibson Holland carried the machine gun off its carriage to prevent its capture, burning his hand on the gun's barrel in the process. During these mounted charges, two of the local Boer commanders, General Joachim Fourie, and Commandant Henry Prinsloo were killed by machine gun fire. Boer General Johann Grobler was also wounded during the engagement.

Dragoons under Lieutenant Hampden Zane Churchill Cockburn continued to maintain their positions until the rest of the rearguard withdrew further behind them. However, as a result of the action, the dragoons under Holland's command were all captured, killed, or wounded; with Holland also sustaining injuries. Boer assaults on the Canadian positions persisted afterwards, although lacked the organization and momentum from earlier assaults with the loss of their commanders. The two 12-pound field guns were used to fight a rearguard action until the Canadians reached the high ground, after which the Boers halted their attack.

Aftermath

After the battle, Smith-Dorrien wrote a letter to the British Chief of Staff, commending the successful rearguard action by the Royal Canadian Dragoons as well as Lessard's leadership.

In addition to commending Lessard, Smith-Dorrien also recommended to the Chief of Staff awarding the Victoria Cross to four members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, and another military decoration to Lieutenant Morrison.

Three members of the Royal Canadian Dragoons, including Sergeant Holland, Lieutenant Turner, and Lieutenant Cockburn were awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions at Leliefontein. The Royal Canadian Dragoons remains the only Canadian unit where three of its members were awarded the Victoria Cross in a single day. Private W. A. Knisley of the Royal Canadian Dragoons was also recommended for a Victoria Cross by Smith-Dorrien, although Knisley was not awarded the decoration. Lieutenant Morrison was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his actions during the engagement.

The two field guns that were involved in the battle are presently held by the Canadian War Museum.

Notes

References

Further reading
Greenhous, Brerton (1983). Dragoon : the Centennial History of The Royal Canadian Dragoons, 1883–1983. Belleville, Ont. : Guild of The Royal Canadian Dragoons, 1983

Battles involving Canada
Battles of the Second Boer War
Conflicts in 1900
November 1900 events
1900 in South Africa
Royal Canadian Dragoons

Battle of Leliefontein


Philipp Friedrich von Hetsch (10 September 1758, Stuttgart - 31 December 1838, Stuttgart) was a German Classical painter, known primarily for his portraits, although he also created historical and mythological scenes.

Biography
His father was a musician at the court in Württemberg. At the age of thirteen, without the knowledge of his parents, he applied and was accepted at the Karlsschule Stuttgart Karlsschule, where he studied with the painters Nicolas Guibal and Adolf Friedrich Harper. Originally, he focused on landscape painting. His love of the theater brought him into contact and eventually a friendship with Friedrich Schiller.

With the approval of his instructors, at the age of 22, he went to Paris, where he was accepted as a student by Joseph Marie Vien and Claude Joseph Vernet. Later that year, was appointed a court painter to Charles Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. He returned to Stuttgart after two years.

In 1785, with financial support from the court, he was able to undertake further studies in Rome, where he spent time copying the Old Masters. He became a Professor at the Karlsschule in 1790 but, after the death of Duke Charles, the school was disbanded.<Wolfgang Kermer: Daten und Bilder zur Geschichte der Staatlichen Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart. Stuttgart: Edition Cantz, 1988.</ref> In 1798, Hetsch was able to replace Harper as the Director of the Ducal Picture Gallery; holding that position until 1816.

In 1808, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Crown, which entitled him to add a non-hereditary "von" to his name.

In 1787, he married Louise Scholl (1766-1800), the daughter of a church councilor. Four of their five children died young. The surviving son became the architect, Gustav Friedrich Hetsch. After her death, he married Charlotte Fischer (1778–1826), daughter of the  Hofbaumeister (court builder) Reinhard Heinrich Ferdinand Fischer. They had one son.

Selected portraits

References

Further reading
 Werner Fleischhauer: Philipp Friedrich Hetsch - Ein Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte Württembergs. Hugo Matthaes Verlag, Stuttgart 1929

External links

ArtNet: More works by Von Hetsch.

18th-century German painters
18th-century German male artists
German male painters
19th-century German painters
19th-century German male artists
Artists from Stuttgart
1758 births
1839 deaths
German portrait painters
Court painters

Philipp Friedrich von Hetsch