Lunar Lander is a single-player arcade game in the Lunar Lander subgenre. It was developed by Atari, Inc. and released in August 1979. It was the most popular version to date of the "Lunar Lander" concept, surpassing the prior Moonlander (1973) and numerous text-based games, and most later iterations of the concept are based on this Atari version.

The player controls a lunar landing module, viewed from the side, and attempts to land safely on the Moon. The player can rotate the module and burn fuel to fire a thruster, attempting to gently land on marked areas. The scenario resets after every successful landing or crash, with new terrain, until no fuel remains. Coins can be inserted at any time to buy more fuel.

Development of the game began with the creation of a vector graphics engine by Atari after the release of the 1978 Cinematronics game Space Wars. Engine co-designer Wendi Allen proposed using it to create a Lunar Lander game, a genre which dates to 1969. Allen and Rich Moore developed the game. It was Atari's first vector-based game and the first multiple-perspective video game, changing views to zoom in as the module approached the Moon.

Lunar Lander sold 4,830 units, a moderate success, but was soon overtaken by the November 1979 Asteroids, and 300 Asteroids units were shipped in Lunar Lander-branded cabinets. Lunar Lander was one of the first two games to be registered with the United States Copyright Office, though the prior games in the genre kept the gameplay from being patented. Lunar Lander was included in a 2012 art installation at the Dublin Science Gallery.

Gameplay
Lunar Lander is a single-player game in the Lunar Lander subgenre in which the player attempts to land a lunar landing module on the Moon. The game is displayed using black and white vector graphics and depicts a side-on view of the terrain and the landing module. At the top of the screen, the player is given information on the module's speed, altitude, and fuel, along with the score and time spent in the game. The terrain is jagged and has only a few flat areas appropriate for landing. The player controls the orientation of the module and fires the thruster to steer the module safely to a landing area. The module is always displayed in the center of the screen, with the terrain scrolling beneath it as it travels horizontally, wrapping the single screen-width of terrain endlessly.  When the lander gets close to the surface, the view changes to a close-up view of the lander.

If the player successfully lands the module, they are awarded points based on how softly the module landed and the difficulty of the landing site and are awarded a small amount of fuel for good landings. The safe landing areas are highlighted with a flashing bonus multiplier, which is higher for smaller areas. If the module crashes—which happens if it is moving too fast, or rotated too far from vertical when it touches the ground, or landed on a not-flat area—then a small number of points is awarded. The player has a limited amount of fuel, which is consumed by controlling the module. Whether the player lands safely or crashes, the game starts another round with a different set of terrain and the player's remaining fuel. The game ends when the module touches the ground after running out of fuel.

The game is controlled via two buttons that rotate the module left and right, a large handle that fires the thruster (proportionally to how hard it is pulled), and an "abort" button that rotates the module back to vertical and fires the thruster, burning a large amount of fuel in an attempt to stop the module from crashing. Each action uses fuel, and when the fuel runs out the module no longer responds to the controls. The game features four levels of difficulty which adjust the landing areas and module controls. The highest difficulty causes the module to continue rotating after it is turned until the player counters the rotation, instead of only rotating while the button is pressed. The player can adjust the game's difficulty at any time during play. Unlike other arcade games, Lunar Lander does not feature a time limit; instead, the game starts with a set amount of fuel and inserting additional quarters purchases more fuel, allowing indefinite gameplay. The amount of fuel gained per coin, including the initial game-starting coin, is adjustable by the operator to set levels ranging from 450 units to 900 units.

Development

The Lunar Lander concept was initially created in 1969 as a text-based game called Lunar, or alternately the Lunar Landing Game. Many further versions of the game were developed over the course of the next decade; by 1979 the style of game was collectively seen as its own subgenre. The first graphical version of the subgenre, Moonlander, was released in 1973 by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), which commissioned a real-time, graphical Lunar Lander game to demonstrate the capabilities of its new DEC GT40 graphics terminals.

After the release of the 1977 Cinematronics vector graphics game Space Wars, Atari began work on their own vector graphics engine, in which the graphics are constructed by drawn lines instead of pixels like in the more standard raster graphics engines. The initial hardware design work was done by Cyan Engineering, Atari's research and development subsidiary. Once it built an initial hardware concept, the project was passed on to Atari employee Wendi Allen, (née Howard Delman) who enhanced the prototype engine into one that could be used by game designers.  Once it was done, she proposed using the monochrome game engine for a Lunar Lander game. Allen had previously played Moonlander during a tour of NASA and had played one of the text-based Lunar Lander games in college. In Fall 1978 development of the game began, with Allen in charge of the hardware and Rich Moore, who had only been with Atari for a few months and who had also played a Lunar Lander game in college, focusing on the programming.

Development began with Moore drawing out the game's graphics on graph paper, after which the pair wrote out the game's code on paper for typists to transcribe. Allen and Moore worked closely together, bouncing ideas off each other as Moore proposed programming designs and Allen iterated the hardware design. One point of contention in the development process was the difficulty of the game; Allen initially wanted the module to move as realistically as possible, but they determined that the result was almost impossible to play. As Allen noted in an interview in 2010, "even the real lunar landers had computer assist!" Eventually, they settled on including four difficulty levels, as compared to Moonlanders three, though Allen has referred to the hardest level as "one of the most painful difficulty spikes in gaming".

Allen chose the large handle used to control the thruster: Atari initially planned to use a standard joystick, but he wanted a control with more physicality, including adding a rubber pad at the bottom to give players the impression that they could pull harder for a little more thrust. The thrust control has ten levels of thrust, as compared to the single on or off level of thrust in previous Lunar Landers, though Moore has noted that this gives players more incorrect options to choose from. The game's font was designed by Ed Logg and used for several other Atari vector graphics games. Several planned ideas had to be cut from the game during development. Allen has stated that chief among these was retaining a crater where the player's previous spaceships had crashed; it was cut as the new hardware could not draw enough lines fast enough to handle the detail. She also wanted to add in a McDonald's location easter egg, as was present in Moonlander. Over a year after development started, Lunar Lander was released in August 1979, just after the tenth anniversary of the first human Moon landing, though Atari did not link this connection in its marketing of the game.

Reception and legacy
Lunar Lander proved moderately commercially successful, selling 4,830 cabinets. Cash Box noted in September 1979 that the machines were very popular with customers. It was Atari's first vector graphics game and the first multiple-perspective video game with the inclusion of the up-close view of the lander. Atari developed a two-player version of the game, but only two prototypes were ever made as it did not enter production. The two-player version was cancelled as Lunar Landers popularity was soon overtaken by Atari's Asteroids (November 1979), which used the same vector graphics engine and which had initially been based on Lunar Landers code. Atari ceased production early on Lunar Lander in favor of shipping Asteroids games in Lunar Lander cabinets; the first 300 Asteroids games were released with Lunar Lander artwork on the side. The Atari Lunar Lander was the most popular version to date of the "Lunar Lander" concept, surpassing the prior Moonlander and text-based games, and most later versions of the concept are implicitly or explicitly based on the Atari version.

Previously, in 1977, Atari produced Star Ship for the Atari 2600, which contained several space-related games; one of these was titled Lunar Lander, though despite the name its gameplay involved landing on a surface while avoiding enemy spaceships instead of the gameplay of the arcade game. While Atari did not produce any true sequels or contemporary ports of the 1979 game, in 1980 Adventure International produced a version of the concept under the title Lunar Lander as part of a series of arcade game clones for the TRS-80 and Atari 8-bit computers, which, though featuring differences from the Atari version, was advertised as "an arcade game simulation". At least one other arcade game based on the Lunar Lander concept was developed around the same time, the non-vector graphics game Lunar Rescue (1979) by Taito. The Atari Lunar Lander has been included in several Atari compilation releases for various platforms starting in 2003, such as Atari: 80 Classic Games in One (2003, personal computer), the Atari Flashback 2 console (2005), Millipede / Super Breakout / Lunar Lander (2005, Game Boy Advance), Retro Atari Classics (2005, Nintendo DS), Atari Masterpieces (2005, N-Gage), Atari Classics Evolved (2007, PlayStation Portable), Atari Greatest Hits (2010, Nintendo DS, Android, iOS), and Atari Flashback Classics Volume 1 (2017, PlayStation 4, Xbox One).

In 1980, Asteroids and Lunar Lander became the first two games to be registered in the United States Copyright Office, though Jack Burness has claimed that Atari also attempted to patent the game design, which was rejected due to his prior Moonlander. In 2012, for the 40th anniversary of Atari's founding, it released a set of its early games as browser-based games as the "Atari Arcade"; Lunar Lander was one of the initial set of eight games. That same year, Lumen Prize-winner Seb Lee-Delisle presented his "Lunar Trails" art installation at the Science Gallery in Dublin, in which a machine draws out the cumulative paths taken by players of a Lunar Lander arcade game.

See also
 Golden age of arcade video games

References

Sources

External links

 Revised browser-based version of Lunar Lander at the Atari Arcade
 Lunar trails exhibition at the Dublin Science Gallery

1979 video games
Arcade video games
Atari arcade games
Space flight simulator games
Vector arcade video games
Video games developed in the United States
Video games set on the Moon

Lunar Lander (1979 video game)


In cellular automata, a methuselah is a small "seed" pattern of initial live cells that take a large number of generations in order to stabilize. More specifically, Martin Gardner defines them as patterns of fewer than ten live cells which take longer than 50 generations to stabilize, although some patterns that are larger than ten cells have also been called methuselahs. Patterns must eventually stabilize to be considered methuselahs. The term comes from the Biblical Methuselah, who lived for 969 years.

In Conway's Game of Life

In Conway's Game of Life, one of the smallest methuselahs is the R-pentomino, a pattern of five cells first considered by Conway himself, that takes 1103 generations before stabilizing with 116 cells. The acorn, a pattern of only seven live cells developed by Charles Corderman, takes 5206 generations to stabilize and produce a 633-cell pattern referred to as its "oak". Some other examples of methuselahs are called bunnies and rabbits.

References

External links
List of longest-lived methuselahs at LifeWiki

Cellular automaton patterns

Methuselah (cellular automaton)


Salmonella Men on Planet Porno (2006) is a collection of short stories by Japanese science fiction and metafiction writer Yasutaka Tsutsui, in English translation by Andrew Driver. Not to be confused with the original Japanese collection ポルノ惑星のサルモネラ人間 (Poruno Wakusei no Sarumonera Ningen), these stories have been selected from a number of works written by Yasutaka Tsutsui.

First published by Alma Books in the UK, a US edition was produced by Pantheon Books (Random House) in November 2008.

Stories in the collection
 The Dabba Dabba Tree
 Rumours About Me
 Don't Laugh
 Farmer Airlines
 Bear's Wood Main Line
 The Very Edge of Happiness
 Commuter Army
 Hello, Hello, Hello!
 The World is Tilting
 Bravo Herr Mozart!
 The Last Smoker
 Bad for the Heart
 Salmonella Men on Planet Porno

Rumours About Me was reproduced in the US literary magazine Zoetrope in its Summer 2008 issue.

A radio dramatisation of The Last Smoker was broadcast on the UK's BBC Radio 4 on 20 February 2009.

A radio dramatisation of the title story, "Salmonella Men on Planet Porno", was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 28 February 2009.

External links
Alma Books (UK) official website
Pantheon Books (US) official website

2006 short story collections
Works by Yasutaka Tsutsui
Japanese short story collections

Salmonella Men on Planet Porno


Ronu Majumdar is an Indian flautist in the Hindustani classical music tradition.

Awards, nominations, and music collaborations

In 1981, Ronu Majumdar won the first prize at the All India Radio competition, and the President's Gold Medal.

He has associated with Pandit Ravi Shankar on albums like Passages and Chants of India. He has more than 30 audio releases to his credit. He won the prestigious Aditya Vikram Birla Award in 1999 for his dedication to music. Sahara India Pariwar felicitated him with a lifetime achievement award on the occasion of Jyoti Diwas 2001. In 2014 he won the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award.

Today, Ronu Majumdar is among the more popular musicians on this instrument, and is especially popular with the younger generation for his creative improvisations. Pt Majumdar's music is rooted in the Maihar gharana which has musicians of eminence like Pt Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan to its credit. Apart from his concerts all over India in different music festivals, he also participated in the Festival of India in Moscow and Asiad '82 in New Delhi. He has toured extensively in Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.

Majumdar is also known for a number of collaborations and jugalbandis with other leading instrumentalists. An innovative composer, he has also composed several pieces in a fusion of Hindustani classical with other forms of music, particularly Western classical music, including the projects Carrying Hope (Music Today), A Traveller's Tale, Song of Nature (Magnasound), Kal Akela Kahan (Plus Music).

He has also provided short training sessions to budding young artists like Raghavendran Rajasekaran from Singapore. Most recently Pt. Ronuji has conducted a concert of 5,378 flautists on one stage called Venu Naad under the banner of 'Art of Living'. This event was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.

He became a music producer for Nadi Ki Beti Sundari (A Forgotten Daughter), a Bollywood movie produced by Nikhil Chandwani under Walnut Discoveries Pvt. Ltd.

References

External links
Official website

1965 births
Indian flautists
Bansuri players
Musicians from Varanasi
Hindustani instrumentalists
Indian male classical musicians
Indian classical composers
Living people
Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award

Ronu Majumdar


The Hungarian Hope Movement ( (MRM); ,  Pokret Mađarske Nade (PMN)) was a political party organized by some members of the Hungarian minority in Voivodina, Serbia. Party claimed that its aim is to represent the interests for the benefit of all Hungarian people living in the country. Based upon a similar ideological background, it preferred the affiliation with the Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik), which is a radical and nationalist party in Hungary. Currently, the Hungarian Hope Movement does not hold any parliamentary seats; neither in the Serbian parliament, nor the Vojvodinian one.

Main Goals
The Hungarian Hope Movement (HHM) was one of the parties of Hungarian minority in Vojvodina. It was formed with the purpose to represent the interests, defend and improve the rights of the Hungarian national community in Serbia. Furthermore, HHP is seeking to link Hungarian minority in Serbia with Hungary and with other Hungarian communities in neighboring countries, but also all around the world linguistically, socially, economically and culturally. With these main goals, the Party would like to develop a bright socio-political future for the Hungarian minority in Serbia and to overturn certain political, demographic, social and economical processes, which are seen as negative by this party.

Main guidelines
The Hungarian Hope Movement (HHM) was a party of Hungarian minority that was formed to represent the short-, mid- and long-term goals which, according to the party, are needed for the development and socio-political survival of the Hungarian community in Vojvodina.
The Party puted those matters in priority which have direct impact on the life of its members and in general, of the Hungarians living in Serbia. Besides summarizing, analyzing and searching resolutions for all the problems of their comrades, the HHP makes their goals and guidelines friendly for every citizen. The most important messages and items of these goals and guidelines are available in an articulate form for everyone. HHM was not just a political party, but a movement of actions, which does not deal only with political activity, but also organizes protests, movements and actions affecting the province and everyday life, reaching evident results.
Understanding, joining, practicing and fighting for these objectives is open for everyone. The party claims that it is important that the present and future members of HHM understand that this party "does not want to be part of the meaningless everyday politics but want to help for the Hungarian minority".

Some main objectives of HHM
•	Defending and supporting the Hungarian minority, establishing autonomy

•	Establishing a full autonomy for Vojvodina

•	Stopping the migration and assimilation of the Hungarian minority in Serbia

•	Strengthening of public safety with the establishment of a multicultural militia

•	Fight against colonization of Vojvodina

•	Analyzing the attacks committed against the national minorities of Vojvodina

•	Clearing up outstanding historical events, reaching remedy for the war crimes that were committed against Hungarians

•	Strengthening the national feelings of Hungarian citizens, showing the cultural values of the Hungarians in Serbia

•	Fraying out Hungarian citizenship for Hungarians abroad with full voting rights

•	Supporting and developing the poor areas where Hungarians live

•	Endorsing equal language use in practice, both in offices and in the streets

•	Sorting out every other questionable task regarding the Hungarian minority

Party positions
The HHM had 1 representative in the House of Representatives of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, namely Gyula László. The party has 1 chosen member in the Hungarian National Council and further 3 committee members. They also have a delegate in the Board of Trustees of the Szekeres Laszló Foundation, and numerous delegates in several Boards of the Forum of Hungarian Representatives in the Carpathian-basin.

Participation in elections
In 2012 Vojvodina parliamentary election, the party won 0.59% of votes in the province. Ethnic Hungarians, who comprising 14.28% of population of Vojvodina according to 2002 census, mostly voted for Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians and Democratic Party.

External links
Official website of HHM
Official YouTube-channel of HHM
About cooperation between Hungarian Hope Movement and Jobbik party (in Serbian)
Infiltration of pro-fascist parties from Hungary into Vojvodina  (in Serbian)

References

Hungarian nationalism
Hungarian political parties in Serbia
Jobbik
Politics of Vojvodina
Nationalist parties in Serbia
Right-wing populism in Hungary
Defunct political parties in Serbia
Vojvodina autonomist political parties

Hungarian Hope Movement


An opium den was an establishment in which opium was sold and smoked. Opium dens were prevalent in many parts of the world in the 19th century, most notably China, Southeast Asia, North America, and France. Throughout the West, opium dens were frequented by and associated with the Chinese because the establishments were usually run by Chinese mobsters, who supplied the opium and prepared it for visiting non-Chinese smokers. Most opium dens kept a supply of opium paraphernalia such as the pipes and lamps that were necessary to smoke the drug. Patrons would recline to hold the long opium pipes over oil lamps that would heat the drug until it vaporized, allowing the smoker to inhale the vapors. Opium dens in China were frequented by all levels of society, and their opulence or simplicity reflected the financial means of the patrons. In urban areas of the United States, particularly on the West Coast, there were opium dens that mirrored the best to be found in China, with luxurious trappings and female attendants. For the working class, there were many low-end dens with sparse furnishings.

United States

San Francisco

Opium smoking arrived in North America with the large influx of Chinese, who came to participate in the California Gold Rush. The jumping-off point for the gold fields was San Francisco, and the city's Chinatown became the site of numerous opium dens soon after the first Chinese arrived, around 1850.  However, from 1863 to the end of the century, anti-vice laws imposed by the new municipal code book banned visiting opium rooms in addition to prostitution. Despite this, the 1870s attracted many non-Chinese residents to San Francisco's dens, prompting the city fathers to enact the nation's first anti-drug law, an  1875 ordinance banning opium dens. In the early 20th century, huge bonfires, fueled by confiscated opium and opium paraphernalia, were used to destroy opium and create a public venue to discuss opium use.

Opium-eradication campaigns drove opium smoking underground, but it was still fairly common in San Francisco and other North American cities until around World War II. A typical opium den in San Francisco might have been a Chinese-run laundry that had a basement, back room, or upstairs room that was tightly sealed to keep drafts from making the opium lamps flicker or allowing the tell-tale opium fumes to escape. A photograph of one luxurious opium den in 19th-century San Francisco has survived, taken by I. W. Taber in 1886, but the majority of the city's wealthy opium smokers, both Chinese and non-Chinese, shunned public opium dens in favor of smoking in the privacy of their own homes.

New York City
The opium dens of New York City's Chinatown, due to its geographical distance from China, were not as opulent as some of those to be found on the American West Coast. According to H. H. Kane, a doctor who spent years studying opium use in New York in the 1870s and 1880s, the most popular opium dens (or "opium joints" as they were known in the parlance of the day) were located on Mott and Pell Streets in Chinatown. At the time, all the city's opium dens were run by Chinese, except for one on 23rd Street that was run by an American woman and her two daughters. Kane remarked that New York's opium dens were one place "where all nationalities seem indiscriminately mixed".

As in San Francisco, New Yorkers of all races would come to Chinatown to patronize its opium dens. New York City's last known opium den was raided and shut down on June 28, 1957.

Canada
Chinese immigrants first established Chinatowns in Victoria and Vancouver in British Columbia, and here too, opium dens were common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. When the city of San Francisco began taxing imported opium for smoking, the trade was diverted to Victoria, and, from there, much of the opium was smuggled south into the United States. However, a fair amount of opium was consumed in the opium dens to be found in the Chinatowns of Victoria and Vancouver. The latter city's "Shanghai Alley" was known for its rustic opium dens. As in the United States, non-Chinese often frequented the Chinese-run opium dens in Canadian Chinatowns.

France

Opium smoking in France was introduced for the most part by French expatriates returning home from stints in their Indochinese colonies. By the early 20th century, there were numerous opium dens in France's port cities, particularly Toulon, Marseille and Hyères.

London

Victorian London's reputation as a centre of opium smoking is based on literary fiction rather than historical fact. The London press, along with popular British authors of the day, were fond of portraying London's Limehouse district as an opium-drenched pit of danger and mystery. In fact, London's Chinese population never exceeded the low hundreds, in large contrast to the tens of thousands of Chinese who settled in North American Chinatowns. In the mid-1880s, Chinatowns started to form in London and Liverpool with grocery stores, eating houses, meeting places and, in the East End, Chinese street names. In 1891, the Census recorded 582 Chinese-born residents in Britain, though this dropped to 387 in 1896. 80% were single males between 20 and 35, the majority being seamen. Companies began to export opium from India to China, selling the drug to raise the money to buy shipments of tea. This was against Chinese law and angered China's authorities. In 1839, war broke out between Britain and China over the opium trade. Britain defeated China and under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, Hong Kong became a British colony. In 1857, the Second Opium War resulted in the Treaties of Tianjin which included a clause allowing Britain and France to recruit Chinese to the British Colonies, North America, South America, and Australia as cheap labour. However, Britain did not recruit as many workers as North America, where the Chinese were employed on the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, and where many Chinese immigrated in search of fortune during the gold rush, thus the Chinese communities were much smaller in Britain. The Chinese immigrants to London often arrived in the East London ports by boat, such as the Blue Funnel Line. Most of them were seamen, and many would have settled in only a few select streets. When jobs on the docks and on boats dried up, many Chinese turned to other businesses, such as the restaurants or laundries.

In the 1860s, "Dark England" with its opium dens in London's East End was described in popular press and books, various individuals and religious organisations began to campaign against unrestricted opium trafficking. At Pennyfields there was a Christian Mission for the Chinese and a Confucian temple. At Limehouse Causeway there was the famous Ah Tack's lodging house. There was much prejudice against the East End Chinese community, with much of it initiated by the writings of Thomas Burke and Sax Rohmer. Both of these men wrote about the Chinese community. Burke and Ward exaggerated the Chinese community's true size and made much mention of gambling, opium dens, and "unholy things" in the shadows. A character from Charles Dickens' last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870) sets the scene: "O my poor head! I makes my pipes of old penny ink-bottles, ye see, deary – this is one – and I fits-in a mouthpiece, this way,
and I takes my mixter out of this thimble with this little horn spoon; and so I fills, deary. Ah, my poor nerves!"

Dickens is famous for his portrayal and caricature of nineteenth-century London. So it is significant that he has immortalised this opium den in east London, identifying it as part of the fabric-weave of Victorian London. The establishment "run by the Chinaman" described in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, was based on a real opium den. It was run by Ah Sing, or John Johnston as he was known to his clients, an immigrant from Amoy in China. Rare photographs of the Chinese opium scene in East London do exist. A photograph held at the Science Museum in London shows two Chinese women outside Ah Sing's opium den. Ah Sing was a smoker himself, and it was claimed that only he had the "true secret of mixing opium ... with an eye to business". His secret evidently brought him much success, as his den was frequented by the local Chinese sailors on a break from working on the ships, but also others. Some literary elite of the time including Arthur Conan Doyle (see "The Man with the Twisted Lip") and Dickens himself visited the area, although whether they themselves took up the "pipe" has remained undisclosed. Ah Sing's opium den was probably the most famous of the dens in Victorian London, attracting gentlemen from the very elite of London's high society.

In 1868, the Pharmacy Act recognised dangerous drugs and limited their sale to registered chemists and pharmacists, but until the end of the nineteenth century few doctors and scientists warned about the dangers of drug addiction. When the small number of opium dens gradually declined in London, following crackdowns from the authorities, individuals like Ah Sing were forced to move from their properties, and had to find alternative ways of making a living. In his latter days, it was said that he continued to smoke, despite finding religion. He did eventually manage to give up opium smoking, though only days before he died around 1890, aged 64. He is now buried in Bow Cemetery.

In popular culture

Anime and manga
 In the anime and manga Kuroshitsuji, one of the main side characters, Lau, owns an opium den.

Film
 In the film Once Upon a Time in America (1984), the character David "Noodles" Aaronson (Robert De Niro) frequents an opium den.
 In the film Tombstone (1993), the character, William Brocius aka Curly Bill Brocius (played by Powers Boothe), is seen smoking opium in an Old West opium den before exiting to the street and shooting the town marshal, Fred White. In reality, Curly Bill was intoxicated by alcohol rather than opium.
 In the film Wild Bill (1995), Wild Bill Hickok, played by Jeff Bridges, frequents an opium den in Deadwood. His sessions with the pipe are often the trigger for hallucinogenic flashbacks.
 In the film adaptation of From Hell (2001), the main character, Inspector Fred Abberline played by Johnny Depp, frequents opium dens.
 The film Gangs of New York (2002) portrayed rival political ward bosses in search of fraudulent voters rousting Chinese immigrants from an opium den in the Five Points neighborhood of Manhattan, in the 1860s.
 In the film Rouge (1987), the main character, Fleur, played by Anita Mui, is a courtesan working in a 1930s bordello and opium den, where she meets the wealthy Twelve Master Chen, played by Leslie Cheung.

Literature
 In Agatha Christie's magazine short story "The Lost Mine"(1923), Hercule Poirot is forced, much against his will, to conduct part of his investigation in a Limehouse opium den. The story appeared in book form in the American version of Poirot Investigates (1925) and in the UK in Poirot's Early Cases (1974).
 In Cassandra Clare's novel Clockwork Prince, Will visits an opium den where a faerie version of the drug is smoked. The characters still refer to it as an opium den.
 In Charles Dickens' final and uncompleted novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, an opium den is a critical element of the story.
 In  Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story "The Man with the Twisted Lip", Dr. Watson goes to an opium den in the East End of London to find Isa Whitney.
 In  Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin story The Blue Lotus (1934–1935), the main character Tintin is involved in infiltrating opium dens.
 Rudyard Kipling's short story "The Gate of a Hundred Sorrows" tells the history of a Chinese opium den in India.
  Michael McDowell's novel Gilded Needles revolves around an opium ring in 1880s New York City and features detailed descriptions of both opium dens and opium paraphernalia, heavily based on historical records and the few photos available.
 In Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Mina Murray finds aged adventurer Allan Quatermain in an opium den. "Singapore Charlie's" den is the setting of their first encounter with the "Devil Doctor".
 In  Sax Rohmer's novel The Mystery of Dr. Fu-Manchu (1913), Nayland Smith and Dr Petrie enter Singapore Charlie's Thames-side opium den in search of Dr Fu Manchu and his henchmen.
 In Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dorian visits the opium dens of London when indulging in the pleasures of life whether moral or immoral, having been influenced by the hedonistic outlook on life of Lord Henry Wotton.
 Jeet Thayil's debut novel, Narcopolis (2012), is largely set in an opium den in Old Bombay during the 1970–1990s.
 In Robert E. Howard's 1929 novella, Skull-Face, a Limehouse opium-den called Yun Shatu's Temple of Dreams serves as the main locale for the first half of the story.

Television
 In Copper season 2, Elizabeth Haverford Morehouse visits an opium den after her husband, Jonathan Morehouse (who'd introduced her to the drug), cuts off her supply in an effort to wean her off the drug.
 In the television drama series The Knick (2014), set in Manhattan in 1900, Clive Owen's character, Dr. John Thackery, is both a cocaine and opium addict, and frequently visits an opium den on Mott Street in Chinatown to get high and enjoy a Chinese prostitute/worker at the den.
 In Boardwalk Empire episode "Nights in Ballygran", Jimmy Darmody is shown smoking opium at an opium den in Chinatown.
 In The Blacklist episode "Cape May", Raymond "Red" Reddington is seen as a patron inside of an opium den in New York City's Chinatown. In previous episodes, he speaks about his previous experiences with opium dens.
 In the Highlander series, immortal Brian Cullen develops a fear of fighting other immortals.  He escapes from his fear by smoking opium at opium dens in San Francisco during the Gold Rush.
 In the Korean TV show Mr. Sunshine, Gu Dong-Mae uses an opium den to rest and recover from his wounds near the show's finale.

 In the Korean TV show Tale of Nine Tailed and Tale of Nine Tailed 1938, Lee Yeon becomes an opium addict in memory of Ah-eum

References

External links

 Opium Museum (archived)
 Opium in the French Navy
 San Francisco Opium Den Photos circa 1889
 https://culturacolectiva.com/fotografia/fotografias-de-mujeres-fumadoras-de-opio/

Opium culture

Opium den


Girija Shankar Sharma (born March 1938 in Bikaner, India) is a historian and scholar of Rajasthani as well as Hindi language literature. He received a Master of Arts (M.A.) in History from Dungar College and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. He joined the Rajasthan State Archives (Bikaner) in 1963 and retired as deputy director of the Archives in 1996.

Biography
Marwari Vypari, ek aitehasik aur samajik vivechan (The role of Marwari traders specially their financial and social aspects related to former Bikaner state in 19th century), Publisher: Krishna Janasevi, Dauji Road, Bikaner 1988.
Itihaas-Ro-Saach (Historical articles about Rajasthan in the Rajasthani language) Publisher: Aacharya Tulsi Rajasthani Sodh Sansthan, Gangashahar, Bikaner 2002.
Hamarey Purodha: Dr Dasharatha Sharma (On the life and works of Dasharatha Sharma, Hindi author and historian), in Hindi (includes passages in Rajasthani language). Publisher: Rajasthan Sahitya Akadami, Udaipur 2003,
Sources on social and economic history of Rajasthan, 17th-20th century A.D., Publisher: Vikas Prakashan, Bikaner 2005.
Bikaner ki chitrankan parampara (Traditional wall and door decorative arts in Bikaner), in Hindi. Publisher: Jawahar Kala Kendra evam Kalasan Prakashan, Bikaner 2005.
Sindhyacha Dayaldas (On the life and works of a 19th-century Rajasthani poet, includes a sampling of his works), in Rajasthani language. Publisher: Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi 2006.
Ehasan ka ehasas: Kahani sangraha (Short stories) in Hindi, Publisher: Prakhyata Prakashan, Bikaner 2007.
Sannatta Cheerte Shabd: (Hindi Poetry) Publisher: Prakhyata Prakashan, Bikaner 2007.
Rajasthan mein shiksha ka itihaas (History of education in Rajasthan) Publisher: Kalashan Prakashan, Bikaner 2009.
Marwari Drishti-Pratidrishti (A critical analysis of the Marwari community in the 19th century). Publisher: Vikas Prakashan, Nagri Bhandar, Bikaner 2012.

Co-Edited works
Deshdarpana: Bikaner Rajya ka ithihas/ Sindhyacha Dayaldas, (Monograph in Rajasthani on the Rajasthani poet) Principal Editor: J. K. Jain, Editors: Girija Shankar Sharma, Sanatkumar Swami, Satyanarayan Swami, Publisher: Rajasthan Rajya Abhilekhgara 1989.
Kurmavilasa: Jaipur Rajya ke Kachvaha Shaskon ka itihas/Chanda kavi virachit (Extended narrative poem on rulers of the Princely State of Jaipur, in Rajasthani language). Publisher: Rajasthan Rajya Abhilekhgar 1991.

External links
Permalink to Marwari Vypari at Library of Congress
Permalink to 'Sources on Social and Economic history of Rajasthan' at Library of Congress
Permalink to Sindayacha Dayaldas at Library of Congress
Permalink to Bikaner ki chitrankan parampara at Library of Congress

References

20th-century Indian historians
Rajasthani people
1938 births
Living people
University of Rajasthan alumni
People from Bikaner
Scientists from Rajasthan
Historians of India

Girija Shankar Sharma


The Avengers is a 2012 American superhero movie based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers. It is produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sixth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the last movie of Phase One. It premiered in Los Angeles on April 11, 2012 and was released in the United States on May 4. The movie was written and directed by Joss Whedon. It stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Stellan Skarsgård, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Paul Bettany in supporting roles. It was positively welcomed from audiences, fans, and film critics alike. Three sequels have been released, titled Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

Release Dates

Other websites

2012 science fiction movies
2012 action movies
Movies based on comic book characters
American action movies
American science fiction movies
Avengers movies
Disney movies
English-language movies
Marvel Cinematic Universe movies
Movies directed by Joss Whedon
Screenplays by Joss Whedon
American superhero movies
2010s superhero movies

The Avengers (movie)


The Mössbauer effect, or recoilless nuclear resonance fluorescence, is a physical phenomenon discovered by Rudolf Mössbauer in 1958. It involves the resonant and recoil-free emission and absorption of gamma radiation by atomic nuclei bound in a solid. Its main application is in Mössbauer spectroscopy.

In the Mössbauer effect, a narrow resonance for nuclear gamma emission and absorption results from the momentum of recoil being delivered to a surrounding crystal lattice rather than to the emitting or absorbing nucleus alone. When this occurs, no gamma energy is lost to the kinetic energy of recoiling nuclei at either the emitting or absorbing end of a gamma transition: emission and absorption occur at the same energy, resulting in strong, resonant absorption.

History

The emission and absorption of X-rays by gases had been observed previously, and it was expected that a similar phenomenon would be found for gamma rays, which are created by nuclear transitions (as opposed to X-rays, which are typically produced by electronic transitions).  However, attempts to observe nuclear resonance produced by gamma-rays in gases failed due to energy being lost to recoil, preventing resonance (the Doppler effect also broadens the gamma-ray spectrum).  Mössbauer was able to observe resonance in nuclei of solid iridium, which raised the question of why gamma-ray resonance was possible in solids, but not in gases. Mössbauer proposed that, for the case of atoms bound into a solid, under certain circumstances a fraction of the nuclear events could occur essentially without recoil. He attributed the observed resonance to this recoil-free fraction of nuclear events.

The Mössbauer effect was one of the last major discoveries in physics to be originally reported in the German language. The first reports in English were a pair of letters describing independent repetitions of the experiment.

The discovery was rewarded with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1961 together with Robert Hofstadter's research of electron scattering in atomic nuclei.

Description

In general, gamma rays are produced by nuclear transitions from an unstable high-energy state to a stable low-energy state. The energy of the emitted gamma ray corresponds to the energy of the nuclear transition, minus an amount of energy that is lost as recoil to the emitting atom.  If the lost recoil energy is small compared with the energy linewidth of the nuclear transition, then the gamma ray energy still corresponds to the energy of the nuclear transition, and the gamma ray can be absorbed by a second atom of the same type as the first. This emission and subsequent absorption is called resonant fluorescence.  Additional recoil energy is also lost during absorption, so in order for resonance to occur the recoil energy must actually be less than half the linewidth for the corresponding nuclear transition.

The amount of energy in the recoiling body () can be found from momentum conservation:

where  is the momentum of the recoiling matter, and  the momentum of the gamma ray. Substituting energy into the equation gives:

where  ( for ) is the energy lost as recoil,  is the energy of the gamma ray ( for ),  ( for ) is the mass of the emitting or absorbing body, and c is the speed of light.  In the case of a gas the emitting and absorbing bodies are atoms, so the mass is relatively small, resulting in a large recoil energy, which prevents resonance.  (Note that the same equation applies for recoil energy losses in x-rays, but the photon energy is much less, resulting in a lower energy loss, which is why gas-phase resonance could be observed with x-rays.)

In a solid, the nuclei are bound to the lattice and do not recoil in the same way as in a gas.  The lattice as a whole recoils but the recoil energy is negligible because the  in the above equation is the mass of the whole lattice.  However, the energy in a decay can be taken up or supplied by lattice vibrations.  The energy of these vibrations is quantised in units known as phonons.  The Mössbauer effect occurs because there is a finite probability of a decay occurring involving no phonons.  Thus in a fraction of the nuclear events (the recoil-free fraction, given by the Lamb–Mössbauer factor), the entire crystal acts as the recoiling body, and these events are essentially recoil-free.  In these cases, since the recoil energy is negligible, the emitted gamma rays have the appropriate energy and resonance can occur.

In general (depending on the half-life of the decay), gamma rays have very narrow linewidths.  This means they are very sensitive to small changes in the energies of nuclear transitions.  In fact, gamma rays can be used as a probe to observe the effects of interactions between a nucleus and its electrons and those of its neighbors.  This is the basis for Mössbauer spectroscopy, which combines the Mössbauer effect with the Doppler effect to monitor such interactions.

Zero-phonon optical transitions, a process closely analogous to the Mössbauer effect, can be observed in lattice-bound chromophores at low temperatures.

See also

 Isomeric shift
 Mössbauer spectroscopy
 Perturbed angular correlation
 Nuclear spectroscopy
 Pound–Rebka experiment
 Mössbauer rotor experiments

References

Further reading

External links

Condensed matter physics
Nuclear physics
Physical phenomena

Mössbauer effect


Chamoy Thipyaso (; ; born 27 November 1940) is a former employee of the Petroleum Authority of Thailand. She is known for receiving the world's longest prison sentence, not of lifetime imprisonment at 141,078 years for her involvement in a pyramid scheme that defrauded more than 16,000 Thais and is estimated to have been worth between $200 million and $301 million.

Mae Chamoy Fund
In the late 1960s, Chamoy started a chit fund called the Mae Chamoy Fund, which was made to look like an oil share with high returns. Due to her connections with the Royal Thai Air Force and Petroleum Authority of Thailand, the fund was able to sustain itself for a remarkably long time.  Her connections to the military were a huge factor in political and business power, and so its apparent military backing made the scheme seem legitimate.

The scheme drew in 16,231 clients, and was not shut down until the mid-1980s.

Arrest and prison sentence
The fund had a large number of politically powerful investors from the military and even the Royal Household and as such there were calls for the government to bail out the banks and the chit funds. After discussions with the King, the nature of which were not made public, the Mae Chamoy Fund was shut down and Chamoy was arrested. She was held in secret by the air force for several days and her trial was not held until after the losses for the military and royal personnel involved had been recovered.

On 27 July 1989, Chamoy and seven accomplices were convicted of corporate fraud. She was sentenced to a total of 141,078 years or life imprisonment sentence in prison but Thai law at the time stated that the maximum sentence that could be served for fraud was 20 years. Her sentence was further reduced, twice, and she was released in 1993.

References

White-collar criminals
Pyramid and Ponzi schemes
Chamoy Thipyaso
Living people
Prisoners and detainees of Thailand
1940 births

Chamoy Thipyaso


The Gordons are a folk music duo consisting of Gary Gordon and Roberta Gordon, who are husband and wife. They have been performing professionally since 1973.

They have been bringing their folk, bluegrass, and country music blend to audiences since the 1970s, when they began touring throughout the Midwestern United States, playing clubs, fairs, festivals and colleges. The husband and wife duo has also become popular in the Carolinas, the Northeastern United States, and in Europe.

In 1989 they recorded with Dobroist Josh Graves and bluegrass fiddler Kenny Baker, from Bill Monroe's band, The Bluegrass Boys. The resulting album was Old Time Radio Show. The Gordons released Wasn't Born To Follow one year later; this was a more country flavored record, featuring fiddler Wade Ray.

In 1996, The Gordons toured Ireland, and performed live in Dublin on Ireland's RTÉ television network. End of a Long Hard Day was released in 1997; this album was hailed by critic Edward Morris of Billboard, who stated "the Gordons bring to mind that most listenable of all bluegrass bands, the great Flatt & Scruggs." The national folk music magazine, Dirty Linen, wrote that the album "is touching, sad and beautiful".

A live record chronicling their tours in Europe arrived in 1999, titled "Live in Holland". The Gordons released Time Will Tell Our Story in 2002, with guest musicians Alison Brown
and Robert Bowlin. Our Time followed in 2008 on their own label. In 2008, Our Time was played so often on folk and bluegrass radio shows that it ranked as the No. 10 record of the year on folk radio.

Occasionally, they tour with a larger ensemble, including David Johnson, the longtime fiddler for Randy Travis.

Discography

 1976 Southern Illinois Bluegrass  (Crusade LP896)
 1977 Covered Bridge  (Crusade LP798)
 1989 Old Time Radio Show
 1990 Wasn't Born to Follow (Alligator Music)
 1992 Best of The Gordons (Street Level Records)
 1995 Family Bible  (Alligator Music)
 1997 End Of A Long Hard Day (Reception Records)
 1999 Live In Holland (Strictly Country Records)
 2002 Time Will Tell Our Story (Blueberry Hill Records)
 2008 Our Time (Inside-Out Records)

Notes

References
[ Allmusic entry]
"Spouse Work" – The Riverfront Times, 9/18/02
 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article
 Flatpicking Guitar Magazine feature
Belleville News-Democrat mention
 "The Gordons to play at Liberty Theatre" – Southern Illinoisan, 1/22/04

External links
Official website
 The Gordons on MusicBrainz
MySpace

American country music groups
Country music duos
Musical groups established in 1973
Musical duos from Illinois
Male–female musical duos

The Gordons (duo)


Sir David Charles Maurice Bell (born 30 September 1946) is a businessman, publisher and philanthropist.

He is former Director for People at Pearson plc and a former Chairman of the Financial Times (1996 to 2009). In November 2012 he became Chair of the Syndicate of Cambridge University Press.

Background and personal life
Born in Henfield, Sir David was educated at Worth School. He is an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania and Cambridge University.

He is married to Primrose, with three children.

Career
Having worked at the Oxford Mail (1970–1972), Bell became a news editor at the Financial Times in 1978. He rose to Managing Editor (1985–1989) before moving to the business side, initially as marketing director (1989–1993). He became Chief Executive in 1993 and chairman in 1996 until 2009. He was appointed Director for People at Pearson Group in 1998 and Chairman of Pearson in 2003.

In November 2012 he became Chair of the Syndicate of Cambridge University Press.

Positions
As Chairman of the UK's Millennium Bridge Trust (1995 to 2002) David Bell signed off London's Millennium Bridge, which he could see from his office window at the FT.

He is Chair of the Media Standards Trust, which helps to administer the Orwell Prize.

He is a director of ImagineNations, where he is also Secretary and Treasurer.

He is a Governor at Worth School, a Catholic independent school in Sussex.

Sir David is Chair of Council at Roehampton University.

Sir David is International Chair of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, iwpr.net.

Sir David is also Chairman of Sadler's Wells.

Sir David is a trustee of Common Purpose UK.

Sir David was chairman of Crisis UK for 10 years until 2012.

Sir David is an assessor on the Leveson Inquiry.

Sir David Bell has been appointed as the non-executive chair of the steering committee driving the development of the National Equality Standard.

He is also on the Royal National Theatre Honorary Council.

Honours
Sir David was made a Knight Bachelor for services to industry, the arts and charity in the Queen's 2004 Birthday Honours.

In 2007, Sir David was awarded an honorary degree from City University London.

References

Living people
People educated at Worth School
University of Pennsylvania alumni
Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Financial Times people
Knights Bachelor
1946 births
People from Henfield

David Bell (publisher)


This article is about the Japanese national capital in general. For the current capital, see Tokyo.

The capital of Japan is Tokyo.  In the course of history, the national capital has been in many locations other than Tokyo.

History
Traditionally, the home of the Emperor was considered the capital.  From 794 through 1868, the Emperor lived in Kyoto.  After 1868, the seat of the Government of Japan and the location of the Emperor's home was Tokyo.

In 1941, the Ministry of Education published the .

After World War II, the new Constitution of Japan transferred the state's sovereignty from the Emperor to the people. The people of Japan are represented by the Diet of Japan in Tokyo.  Consensus considers the site of the Diet is the capital of Japan.

Capital area
No law makes Tokyo as the Japanese capital.  However, many laws have defined a  which incorporates Tokyo.

Article 2 of the  of 1956 states that
"In this Act, the term 'capital area' shall denote a broad region comprising both the territory of Tokyo Metropolis as well as outlying regions designated by cabinet order."

Laws which identify this "capital area" include the  and the .

List of capitals

Legendary
This list of legendary capitals of Japan begins with the reign of Emperor Jimmu.  The names of the Imperial palaces are in parentheses.

 Kashiwabara, Yamato at the foot of Mt. Unebi during reign of Emperor Jimmu
 Kazuraki, Yamato during reign of Emperor Suizei
 Katashiha, Kawachi during the reign of Emperor Annei
 Karu, Yamato during reign of Emperor Itoku.
 Waki-no-kami, Yamato during the reign of Emperor Kosho
 Muro, Yamato during reign of Emperor Koan
 Kuruda, Yamato during the reign of Emperor Korei
 Karu, Yamato during reign of Emperor Kōgen
 Izakaha, Yamato during reign of Emperor Kaika
 Shika, Yamato (Palace of Mizugaki) during reign of Emperor Sujin
 Shika, Yamato (Palace of Tamagaki) during reign of Emperor Suinin
 Makimuko, Yamato (Palace of Hishiro) during reign of Emperor Keiko
 Shiga, Ōmi (Palace of Takaanaho) during reign of Emperor Seimu
 Ando (Palace of Toyoura) and Kashiki on the island of Kyushu during reign of Emperor Chūai

Historical
This list of capitals includes the Imperial palaces names in parentheses.

 Kofun period
 Karushima, Yamato (Palace of Akira), reign of Emperor Ojin
 Naniwa, Settsu (Palace of Takatsu), reign of Emperor Nintoku
 Ihare, Yamato (Palace of Watasakura''''), reign of Emperor Richū
 Tajikhi, Kawachi (Palace of Shibakaki), reign of Emperor Hanzei
 Asuka, Yamato (Palace of Tohotsu), reign of Emperor Ingyō
 Isonokami, Yamato (Palace of Anaho), reign of Emperor Ankō
 Sakurai, Nara (Hatsuse no Asakura Palace), 457–479 in reign of Emperor Yūryaku
 Sakurai, Nara (Iware no Mikakuri Palace), 480–484 in reign of Emperor Seinei
 Asuka, Yamato (Chikatsu-Asuka-Yatsuri Palace), 485–487 in reign of Emperor Kenzō
 Tenri, Nara (Isonokami Hirotaka Palace), 488–498 in reign of Emperor Ninken
 Hatsuse, Nara (Nimiki Palace), 499–506 in reign of Emperor Buretsu
 Hirakata, Osaka (Kusuba Palace), 507–511
 Kyōtanabe, Kyoto (Tsutsuki Palace), 511–518
 Nagaoka-kyō (Otokuni Palace), 518–526
 Sakurai, Nara (Iware no Tamaho Palace), 526–532 in reign of Emperor Keitai
 Kashihara, Nara (Magari no Kanahashi Palace), 532–535 in reign of Emperor Ankan
 Sakurai, Nara (Hinokuma no Iorino Palace), 535-539 in reign of Emperor Senka
Asuka period
 Asuka, Yamato (Shikishima no Kanasashi Palace), 540–571 in reign of Emperor Kimmei
 Kōryō, Nara (Kudara no Ohi Palace), 572–575
 Sakurai, Nara (Osata no Sakitama Palace or Osada no Miya), 572–585 in reight of Emperor Bidatsu
 Shiki District, Nara (Iwareikebe no Namitsuki Palace), 585–587 in the reign of Emperor Yomei
 Shiki District, Nara (Kurahashi no Shibagaki Palace), 587–592 in the reign of Emperor Sushun
 Asuka, Yamato (Toyura Palace or Toyura-no-miya), 593–603 in the reign of Empress Suiko
 Asuka, Yamato (Oharida Palace or Oharida-no-miya), 603–629 in the reign of Empress Suiko
 Asuka, Yamato (Okamoto Palace or Oakmoto-no-miya), 630–636 in the reign of Emperor Jomei
 Kashihara, Nara (Tanaka Palace or Tanaka-no-miya), 636–639
 Kōryō, Nara (Umayasaka Palace or Umayasaka-no-miya), 640
 Kōryō, Nara (Kudara Palace or Kudara-no-miya), 640–642
 Asuka, Yamato (Oharida Palace), 642–643
 Asuka, Yamato (Itabuki Palace or Itabuki no miya), 643–645 in the reign of Empress Kōgyoku
 Osaka (Naniwa-Nagara no Toyosaki Palace), 645–654 in the reign of Emperor Kōtoku
 Asuka, Yamato (Itabuki Palace), 655–655 in the reign of Kōtoku
 Asuka, Yamato (Kawahara Palace or Kawahara-no-miya), 655–655
 Asuka, Yamato (Okamoto Palace or Nochi no Asuka-Okamoto-no-miya), 656–660 in the reign of Emperor Saimei
 Asakura, Fukuoka (Asakura no Tachibana no Hironiwa Palace or Asakure no Tachibana no Hironiwa-no-miya), 660–661
 Osaka, (Naniwa-Nagara no Toyosaki Palace), 661–667
 Ōtsu, Shiga (Ōmi Ōtsu Palace or Ōmi Ōtsu-no-miya), 667–672 in reign of Emperor Tenji and the reign of Emperor Kobun
 Asuka, Yamato (Kiyomihara Palace or Kiomihara-no-miya), 672–694 in the reign of Emperor Temmu and in the reign of Empress Jito
 Fujiwara-kyō (Fujiwara'' Palace), 694–710 in the reign of Emperor Mommu
 Nara period
 Heijō-kyō (Heijō Palace), 710–740 in the reigns of Empress Genmei, Empress Gensho, and Emperor Shomu
 Kuni-kyō (Kuni Palace), 740–744 in the reign of Shomu
 Naniwa-kyō (Naniwa Palace), 744
 Naniwa-kyō, Shigaraki Palace, 744–745
 Heijō-kyō (Heijō Palace), 745–784
 Nagaoka-kyō (Nagaoka Palace), 784–794 in the reign of Emperor Kammu
 Heian period
 Heian-kyō (Heian Palace), 794–1180 in the reign of Kammu and others
 Fukuhara Palace, 1180 in the reign of Emperor Antoku
 Heian-kyō/Kyoto (Heian Palace), 1180–1868
 To-kyō (Kōkyo), 1868–present

References

More reading

Other websites

History of Japan
Japan-related lists

Capital of Japan


Daniel Dumbacher is an American aerospace engineer, educator and administrator. Dumbacher was appointed an executive director of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2017. He served as deputy associate administrator of NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate from 2007 to 2014. Dumbacher was a professor at Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics from 2014 to 2017.

Dumbacher earned a BS in mechanical engineering from Purdue University in 1981 and an MBA from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1984.

References

NASA people
Aerospace engineers
Purdue University faculty
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Purdue University College of Agriculture alumni
University of Alabama in Huntsville alumni

Daniel Dumbacher


Montpellier (, , ;  ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. At the 2020 census, 299,096 people lived in the city proper, while its metropolitan area had a population of 813,272. The inhabitants are called Montpelliérains.

In the Middle Ages, Montpellier was an important city of the Crown of Aragon (and was the birthplace of James I), and then of Majorca, before its sale to France in 1349. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the world and oldest medical school still in operation, with notable alumni such as Petrarch, Nostradamus and François Rabelais. Above the medieval city, the ancient citadel of Montpellier is a stronghold built in the seventeenth century by Louis XIII of France.

Since the 1990s, Montpellier has experienced one of the strongest economic and demographic growth in the country. Its urban area has experienced the highest population growth in France since the year 2000. Numbering 70,000, students comprise nearly one-fourth of its population, one of the highest such proportions in Europe. Its living environment with one of Europe's largest pedestrian area, along with its rich cultural life and Mediterranean climate, explain the enthusiasm for the city, which is nicknamed the "Gifted". Montpellier was nominated for "Best Emerging Culture City of the Year 2017" by the think tank LCD. It is ranked as a Sufficiency city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

Status
Montpellier is the third-largest French city near the Mediterranean coast, behind Marseille and Nice. It is the seventh-largest city of France, and is also the fastest-growing city in the country over the past 25 years.

History

Medieval period

In the Early Middle Ages, the nearby episcopal town of Maguelone was the major settlement in the area but raids by pirates encouraged settlement a little farther inland. In 737 Charles Martel destroyed Maguelone.

Montpellier, first mentioned in a document of 985, was founded under a local feudal dynasty, the Guilhem, who combined two hamlets and built a castle and walls around the united settlement. The name is from medieval Latin mons pisleri, "Woad Mountain" referring to the woad (Latin pastellus, pestellus) used for dyeing locally. There is no real "mountain" in the area, with the mons referring to a pile of stones.
In 986 the Lords of Montpellier begin with William I of Montpellier
In the 10th century the town consisted of two portions, Montpellier and Montpelliéret.
In 1160 the law school was active.
The two surviving towers of the city walls, the Tour des Pins and the Tour de la Babotte, were built later, around the year 1200. Montpellier came to prominence in the 12th century—as a trading centre, with trading links across the Mediterranean world, and a rich Jewish cultural life that flourished within traditions of tolerance of Muslims, Jews and Cathars—and later of its Protestants. William VIII of Montpellier gave freedom for all to teach medicine in Montpellier in 1180. The city's faculties of law and medicine were established in 1220 by Cardinal Conrad of Urach, legate of Pope Honorius III; the medical faculty has, over the centuries, been one of the major centres for the teaching of medicine in Europe. This era marked the high point of Montpellier's prominence. The city became a possession of the Kings of Aragon in 1204 by the marriage of Peter II of Aragon with Marie of Montpellier, who was given the city and its dependencies as part of her dowry. Montpellier gained a charter in 1204 when Peter and Marie confirmed the city's traditional freedoms and granted the city the right to choose twelve governing consuls annually. Under the Kings of Aragon, Montpellier became a very important city, a major economic centre and the primary centre for the spice trade in the Kingdom of France. It was the second or third most important city of France at that time, with some 40,000 inhabitants before the Black Death. Montpellier remained a possession of the crown of Aragon until it passed to James III of Majorca, who sold the city to the French king Philip VI in 1349, to raise funds for his ongoing struggle with Peter IV of Aragon.

Renaissance
In the 14th century, Pope Urban VIII gave Montpellier a new monastery dedicated to Saint Peter, noteworthy for the very unusual porch of its chapel, supported by two high, somewhat rocket-like towers. With its importance steadily increasing, the city finally gained a bishop, who moved from Maguelone in 1536, and the huge monastery chapel became a cathedral. In 1432, Jacques Cœur established himself in the city and it became an important economic centre, until 1481 when Marseilles overshadowed it in this role.

From the middle of the 14th century until the French Revolution (1789), Montpellier was part of the province of Languedoc.

After the Reformation

At the time of the Reformation in the 16th century, many of the inhabitants of Montpellier became Protestants (or Huguenots as they were known in France) and the city became a stronghold of Protestant resistance to the Catholic French crown. In 1622, King Louis XIII besieged the city which surrendered after a two-month siege (Siege of Montpellier), afterwards building the Citadel of Montpellier to secure it. Louis XIV made Montpellier capital of Bas Languedoc, and the town started to embellish itself, by building the Promenade du Peyrou, the Esplanade and a large number of houses in the historic centre. After the French Revolution, the city became the capital of the much smaller Hérault.

Modern history

During the 19th century the city thrived on the wine culture that it was able to produce due to the abundance of sun throughout the year. The wine consumption in France allowed Montpellier's citizens to become very wealthy until in the 1890s the phylloxera induced fungal disease had spread amongst the vineyards and the people were no longer able to grow the grapes needed for wine. After this the city had grown because it welcomed immigrants from Algeria and other parts of northern Africa after Algeria's independence from France. In the 21st century Montpellier is between France's number seventh and eighth largest city. The city had another influx in population more recently, largely due to the student population, who make up about one-third of Montpellier's population. The school of medicine kickstarted the city's thriving university culture, though many other universities have been well established there. The coastal city also benefited in the past 40 years from major construction programs such as Antigone, Port Marianne and Odysseum districts.

Geography

The city is situated on hilly ground  inland from the Mediterranean coast, on the river Lez. The name of the city, which was originally Monspessulanus, is said to have stood for mont pelé (the naked hill, because the vegetation was poor), or le mont de la colline (the mount of the hill).

Montpellier is located  from Marseille,  from Toulouse, and  from Paris.

Montpellier's highest point is the Place du Peyrou, at an altitude of . The city is built on two hills, Montpellier and Montpelliéret, thus some of its streets have great differences of altitude. Some of its streets are also very narrow and old, which gives it a more intimate feel.

Climate
Montpellier has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa), with cool, damp winters, and hot, rather dry summers. The monthly mean ranges from  in January to  in July. Precipitation is around , and is greatest in fall and winter, but not absent in summer, either. Extreme temperatures have ranged from  recorded on 5 February 1963 and up to  on 28 June 2019.

Neighbourhoods

Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council.

 Montpellier-centre : historical centre (Écusson), Comédie, Gares, Faubourg Boutonnet, Saint-Charles, Faubourg Saint-Jaume, Peyrou, Les Arceaux, Figuerolles, Faubourg du Courreau, Gambetta, Clémenceau, Méditerranée, boulevard de Strasbourg, Le Triangle, Polygone, Antigone, Nouveau-Monde, Parc à Ballons, Les Aubes, Les Beaux-Arts, Saint-Lazare.
 Croix-d'Argent : avenue de Toulouse, Croix d'Argent, Mas Drevon, Tastavin, Lemasson, Garosud, Mas de Bagnères, Mas Nouguier, les Sabines, Lepic, Pas du Loup, Estanove, les Bouisses, Val-de-Crozes, Bagatelle.
 Les Cévennes : Les Cévennes, Alco, Le Petit Bard, Pergola, Saint-Clément, Clémentville, Las Rebès, La Chamberte, La Martelle, Montpellier-Village, Les Grisettes, Les Grèzes.
 Mosson : La Mosson, Celleneuve, La Paillade, les Hauts-de-Massane, Le Grand-Mail, Les Tritons.
 Hôpitaux-Facultés : Malbosc, Saint-Priest, Euromédecine, Zolad, Plan des 4 Seigneurs, Hôpitaux, IUT, Père Soulas, Universités, Vert-Bois, Hauts de Boutonnet, Aiguelongue, Justice, Parc zoologique de Lunaret, Agropolis.
 Port-Marianne : La Pompignane, Richter, Millénaire, Jacques Cœur, Consuls de Mer, Grammont, Odysseum, Montaubérou, La Méjanelle, Cambacérès.
 Prés d'Arènes : Les Prés d'Arènes, Avenue de Palavas, La Rauze, Tournezy, Saint-Martin, Les Aiguerelles, Pont-Trinquat, Cité Mion.

Population

The whole metropolitan area had a population of 813,272 at the 2020 census. In a study made by INSEE from 2007 to 2012 Montpellier saw the strongest population growth of France's main communes (+1.1%), ahead of Paris and Lyon. For most of its history, and even today, Montpellier is known for its significant Spanish population, heritage and influence. Montpellier also houses significant Occitan, Moroccan, Algerian, and Italian communities.

Heraldry

Sights

 The main focus point of the city is the Place de la Comédie, with the Opéra Comédie built in 1888.
 The Musée Fabre.
 In the historic centre, a significant number of hôtels particuliers (i.e. mansions) can be found. The majority of the buildings of the historic centre of Montpellier (called the Écusson because its shape is roughly that of an escutcheon) have medieval roots and were modified between the 16th and the 18th centuries. Some buildings, along Rue Foch and the Place de la Comédie, were built in the 19th century.
 The Rue du Bras de Fer (Iron Arm Street) is very typical of the medieval Montpellier.
 The mikve, ritual Jewish bath, dates back to the 12th century and is one of very few old mikves preserved in Europe.
 The Jardin des plantes de Montpellier—oldest botanical garden in France, founded in 1593
 The La Serre Amazonienne, a tropical rain forest greenhouse
 The 14th-century Saint Pierre Cathedral
 The Porte du Peyrou, a triumphal arch built at the end of the 17th century, and the Place Royal du Peyrou built in the 17th century, are the highest point of the Ecusson.
 The Tour des Pins, the only remaining of 25 towers of the city medieval walls, built around 1200.
 The Tour de la Babotte, a medieval tower which was modified in the 18th century to house an observatory.
 The Saint Clément Aqueduct, built in the 18th century.
 The Antigone District was designed by the postmodern architect Ricardo Bofill from Catalonia, Spain
 A number of châteaux (such as Château de Flaugergues, Château de la Mogère or Château d'O), so-called follies, built during the 18th century by wealthy merchants surround the city
 Nearly 80 private mansions were built in the city center from the 17th to 19th century, and some of their interior courtyards are open

Education

History

The University of Montpellier is one of the oldest in the world, founded in 1160, and having been granted a charter in 1220 by Cardinal Conrad von Urach and confirmed by Pope Nicholas IV in a papal bull of 1289. It was suppressed during the French Revolution but was
re-established in 1896.

It is not known exactly at what date the schools of literature were founded which developed into the Montpellier faculty of arts; it may be that they were a direct continuation of the Gallo-Roman schools. The school of law was founded by Placentinus, a doctor from Bologna University, who came to Montpellier in 1160, taught there during two different periods, and died there in 1192. With regard to the school of medicine, there were excellent physicians at Montpellier. The statutes given in 1220 by Cardinal Conrad, legate of Honorius III, which were completed in 1240 by Pierre de Conques, placed this school under the direction of the Bishop of Maguelonne. Pope Nicholas IV issued a Bull in 1289, combining all the schools into a university, which was placed under the direction of the bishop, but which in fact enjoyed a large measure of autonomy.

Theology was at first taught in the convents, in which St. Anthony of Padua, Raymond Lullus, and the Dominican Bernard de la Treille lectured. Two letters of King John prove that a faculty of theology existed at Montpellier independently of the convents, in January 1350. By a Bull of 17 December 1421, Martin V granted canonical institution to this faculty and united it closely with the faculty of law. In the 16th century the faculty of theology disappeared for a time, when Calvinism, in the reign of Henry II of France, held complete possession of the city. It resumed its functions after Louis XIII had reestablished the royal power at Montpellier in 1622; but the rivalries of Dominicans and Jesuits interfered seriously with the prosperity of the faculty, which disappeared at the Revolution. The faculty numbered among its illustrious pupils of law Petrarch, who spent four years at Montpellier, and among its lecturers Guillaume de Nogaret, chancellor to Philip the Fair, Guillaume de Grimoard, afterwards pope under the name of Urban V, and Pedro de Luna, antipope as Benedict XIII. But after the 15th century this faculty fell into decay, as did also the faculty of arts, although for a time, under Henry IV of France, the latter faculty had among its lecturers Casaubon.

The Montpellier school of medicine owed its success to the ruling of the Guilhems, lords of the town, by which any licensed physician might lecture there; there was no fixed limit to the number of teachers, lectures were multiplied, and there was a great wealth of teaching. Rabelais took his medical degrees at Montpellier. It was in this school that the biological theory of vitalism, elaborated by Barthez (1734–1806), had its origin. The French Revolution did not interrupt the existence of the faculty of medicine.

The faculties of science and of letters were re-established in 1810; that of law in 1880. It was on the occasion of the sixth centenary of the university, celebrated in 1889, that the Government of France announced its intention—which has since been realized—of reorganizing the provincial universities in France.

Universities
 University of Montpellier: sciences, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law, business, sports
 Paul Valéry University: arts, languages and social sciences

University of Montpellier 1 and University of Montpellier 2 reunified in January 2015 to form the University of Montpellier. Paul Valéry University Montpellier, remains a separate entity.

Moreover, Montpellier was ranked 119th best student city in the world for 2013, according to QS Best Student Cities 2023 ranking.

Grandes Ecoles

 Science
 E-Artsup
 École Polytechnique Universitaire de Montpellier (Polytech)
 National Superior Architecture School of Montpellier (ENSAM)
 École nationale de l'aviation civile
 ENSCM: chemistry
 École pour l'informatique et les nouvelles technologies
 Institut supérieur européen de formation par l'action
 Montpellier SupAgro: agronomy
 SUPINFO International University: private institution of higher education in general computer science

 Business
 Montpellier Business School
  SupExup Higher Education Institute

Transport

Montpellier is served by railway, including TGV highspeed trains. Montpellier's main railway station is Saint-Roch. Since 2018, there is also a station on the high-speed railway linking Nîmes and Montpellier with the LGV Méditerranée, called Montpellier-Sud de France.

The Montpellier – Méditerranée Airport is located in the area of Fréjorgues, in the town of Mauguio, southeast of Montpellier.

The Transports de l'agglomération de Montpellier (TaM) manages the city's public transportation, including its  tramway network consisting of four lines and several parking facilities. Line 1 runs from Mosson in the west to Odysseum in the east. Line 2 runs from Jacou in the northeast to St. Jean-de-Vedas in the southwest. Line 3 and Line 4 opened in April 2012. Line 3, which is  long, links Juvignac and Pérols with a branch to Lattes and serves 32 stations. Line 4 circles the centre and serves as a connector line between the various arms of tram system. They intersect at Gare St. Roch station, Rives du Lez and Corum.

Since 2019, €440 million were invested into the construction of a 5th tramway line, linking the south from Lavérune to Clapiers, up north.

The TaM also manages the large bike sharing scheme Vélomagg', started in June 2007, comprising 1200 bicycles and 50 stations.

Sport

Montpellier was the finish of Stage 11 and the departure of Stage 12 in the 2007 Tour de France.  It was also the finish of Stage 11 and the departure of Stage 12 in the 2016 edition. The city is home to a variety of professional sports teams:

 Montpellier Hérault Rugby, of the Top 14 who play rugby union formerly at the Stade Sabathé and now at the Altrad Stadium. In the 2010/2011 season, the team made it to the Top 14 Final against the Stade Toulousain.
 Montpellier HSC of Ligue 1 who play association football at the Stade de la Mosson. MHSC became French Champions on 20 May 2012.
 Montpellier Red Devils who play rugby league in Elite 1 division at the Stade Sabathé
 Montpellier Agglomération Handball are a team handball club playing in the French National League.
 Montpellier Hérault Sport Club Volley-Ball who play in the LNV Ligue A and have 8 National titles, last in 2021–22 season.
 Montpellier Vipers of France's Division 1 ice hockey Federation, play at the Patinoire de l'Agglomération de Montpellier at Odysseum
 Montpellier Water Polo play in the National League and European Cup competitions.
 Barracudas de Montpellier is a baseball club, and competes in Division Élite, a French top level baseball league.

Montpellier was one of the hosts of the FIBA EuroBasket 2015.

The city is home to the Open Sud de France tennis tournament since 2010, and will host the XXXI World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship.

The main athletics stadium is the Philippidès Stadium, which is owned by the University of Montpellier. The city is also home to Montpellier HSC, which plays its matches at the GGL Stadium, a venue with a capacity of 32,900.

Culture
The city is a centre for cultural events as there are many students. Montpellier has two large concert venues: Le Zenith Sud (7.000 seats) and L'Arena (14.000 seats). Le Corum cultural and conference centre contains three auditoriums.

 The Festival de Radio France et Montpellier is a summer festival of opera and other music held in Montpellier. The festival concentrates on classical music and jazz with about 150 events, including opera, concerts, films, and talks. Most of these events are free and are held in the historic courtyards of the city or in the modern concert halls of Le Corum near historical city center.
 The annual Cinemed, the International Mediterranean Film Festival Montpellier, held in the fall, is the second largest French film festival after the Cannes Film Festival. Held since 1979, it offers screenings of over 200 long and short films, documentaries, animated films, trailers, and a special program of student films. Other events include panel discussions, exhibitions, and gatherings. Venues include Le Corum and cinema halls.

International relations

Montpellier is twinned with:

 Barcelona, Spain since 1963
 Bethlehem, Palestine, since 2012
 Chengdu, China, since 1981
 Fes, Morocco since 2003
 Heidelberg, Germany, since 1961
 Kos, Greece, since 1962
 Louisville, United States, since 1955
 Obninsk, Russia, since 2017
 Palermo, Italy, since 2016
 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil since 2011
 Sherbrooke, Canada, since 2006
 Tiberias, Israel, since 1983
 Tlemcen, Algeria, since 2009

Notable people

Montpellier was the birthplace of:
 Abraham ben Isaac of Narbonne (–1179), rabbi and author of the halakhic work Ha-Eshkol.
 James I of Aragon (1208–1276) King of Aragon and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276.
 Nicholas of Poland (), Dominican healer.
 Saint Roch (1295–1327), pilgrim to Rome, venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.
 Guillaume Rondelet (1507–1566), French physician and naturalist.
 Pierre Magnol (1638–1715), botanist, founder of the concept of plant families.
 Charles Bertheau (1660–1732), French pastor.
 Jean Raoux (1677–1734), painter.
 Louis Bertrand Castel (1688–1757) mathematician, entered the order of the Jesuits in 1703.
 Pons Augustin Alletz (1703–1785), agronomist
 Joseph-Marie Vien (1716–1809), painter.
 Étienne-Hyacinthe de Ratte (1722–1805), mathematician and astronomer.
 Suzanne Verdier (1745–1813), writer.
 Cyrille Rigaud (1750–1824), poet.
 Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès (1753–1824), lawyer and statesman, author of the Code Napoléon.
 Guillaume-Mathieu Dumas (1753–1837), military leader.
 Louis-Sébastien Lenormand (1757–1837), chemist, physicist, inventor, the world's first modern parachuting pioneer
 Pierre Marie Auguste Broussonet (1761–1807), naturalist, contributed primarily to botany.
 Pierre Antoine Noël Bruno, Comte de Daru (1767–1829), soldier, statesman, historian and poet.
 Laure Junot, Duchess of Abrantès (1784–1838), writer and spouse of French general Jean-Andoche Junot.
 Joseph Frédéric Bérard (1789–1828), physician and philosopher.
 Auguste Comte (1798–1857), a founder of the discipline of sociology.
 Antoine Jérôme Balard (1802–1876), chemist.
 Émile Saisset (1814–1863), philosopher.
 Charles Bernard Renouvier (1815–1903), philosopher.
 Édouard Albert Roche (1820–1883), astronomer.
 Alfred Bruyas (1821–1876), art collector.
 Alexandre Cabanel (1823–1889), painter.
 Renaud de Vilbac (1829–1884), composer, organist.
 Paul Joseph Barthez (1734–1806), physician.
 Frédéric Bazille (1841–1870), Impressionist painter.
 Eugène Baudouin (1842–1893), painter.
 Paul Ferrier (1843-1920) dramatist, he also provided libretti for several composers.
 Henri Chantavoine (1850–1918), writer and Professor of Rhetoric.
 Henri-Charles Puech (1902–1986), historian of religion.
 Léo Malet (1909–1996), crime novelist.
 Henri Carol (1910–1984), French composer and organist.
 Adèle Charvet (born 1993), operatic mezzo-soprano.
 Jeanne Demessieux (1921–1968), organist, pianist, composer, and pedagogue.
 Monique de Bissy, member of the Resistance during World War II (1923–2009)
 Juliette Gréco (1927-2020), singer and actress.
 Jean-Luc Dehaene (1940–2014), Prime-Minister of Belgium.
 Didier Auriol (born 1958), rally driver, 1994 World Rally Champion.
 Rémi Gaillard (born 1975), famous French prankster.
 Sophie Divry (born 1979), writer, winner of the 2014 Prix Wepler.

Other famous inhabitants include:
 François Rabelais (1493–1553), student at the University of Montpellier.
 Nostradamus (1503–1566), student at the University of Montpellier.
 Iacob Heraclid, (1527–1563), ruler of Moldavia from 1561 to 1563.
 Pierre-Joseph Amoreux (1741–1824), zoologist.
 Adamantios Korais (1748–1833), Greek humanist scholar and a major figure in the Greek Enlightenment, studied at the University of Montpellier.
 Jean-Louis Michel (1785–1865), fencing master, who lived in Montpellier from 1830 onwards.
 Agénor Azéma de Montgravier (1805–1863), deputy director of l'Ecole d'Artillerie de Montpellier, died in Montpellier.
 Gaston Darboux (1842–1917), mathematician.
 Josias Braun-Blanquet (1884–1980), botanist.
 Jean Moulin (1899–1943), famous French resistant during WWII, studied and worked in Montpellier.
 Alexander Grothendieck (1928–2014), mathematician.
 Nikola Karabatić (born 1984), handball player.
 Paul Valéry (1871–1945), student at the University of Montpellier.
 Enver Hoxha (1908–1985), student at the University of Montpellier.
 Grégory Vignal (born 1981), Birmingham City F.C. full-back.
 Taha Hussein (1889–1973), student at the University of Montpellier.
 Michel Navratil (1908–2001), survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
 Guy Delisle (born 1966), Canadian-born cartoonist, animator and author.
 Simon Billy (born 1991), Speedskier.

Other locations named after Montpellier
"Montpellier" is used as the name of other towns and streets in as many as four continents. Many places in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland carry the name Montpellier. Often they are in resort locations claiming some of the healthy attributes for which the French city was renowned in earlier centuries. The variant spelling "Montpelier" is common, and is of quite early provenance. Brewer uses that spelling. The first example was the early 19th-century suburb of Montpelier in Brighton.

The capital of the American state of Vermont was named Montpelier because of the high regard in which the Americans held the French who had aided their Revolutionary War against the British. Several other American cities are also named Montpelier.

Places named Montpellier/Montpelier are also found in Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the Caribbean.

James Madison, the United States fourth president, named his plantation Montpelier (Orange, Virginia), after the resort-like properties associated with the city at the time.

See also
 Communes of the Hérault department
 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Montpellier

References

Citations

Sources

Further reading

External links

 Official website

Communes of Hérault
Cities in Occitania (administrative region)
Prefectures in France
Crown of Aragon
Languedoc
Cities in France

Montpellier


Cross ownership is a method of reinforcing business relationships by owning stock in the companies with which a given company does business. Heavy cross ownership is referred to as circular ownership.

In the US, "cross ownership" also refers to a type of investment in different mass-media properties in one market.

Cross ownership of stock
Countries noted to have high levels of cross ownership include:
 Japan
 Germany

Positives of cross ownership:
 Closely ties each business to the economic destiny of its business partners
 Promotes a slow rate of economic change

Cross ownership of shares is criticized for:
 Stagnating the economy
 Wasting capital that could be used to improve productivity
 Expanding economic downturns by preventing reallocation of capital
 Lessening control of shareholders over corporate leadership.

A major factor in perpetuating cross ownership of shares is a high capital gains tax rate.  A company has less incentive to sell cross owned shares if taxes are high because of the immediate reduction in the value of the assets.

For example, a company owns $1000 of stock in another company that was originally purchased for $200.  If the capital gains tax rate is 25% (like in Germany), the profit of $800 would be taxed for $200, causing the company to take a $200 loss on the sale.

Long term cross ownership of shares combined with a high capital tax rate greatly increases periods of asset deflation both in time and in severity.

Media cross ownership

Cross ownership also refers to a type of media ownership in which one type of communications (say a newspaper) owns or is the sister company of another type of medium (such as a radio or TV station). One example is The New York Timess former ownership of WQXR Radio and the Chicago Tribune'''s similar relationship with WGN Radio (WGN-AM) and Television (WGN-TV).

The Federal Communications Commission generally does not allow cross ownership, to keep from one license holder having too much local media ownership, unless the license holder obtains a waiver, such as News Corporation and the Tribune Company have in New York.

The mid-1970s cross-ownership guidelines grandfathered already-existing cross ownerships, such as Tribune-WGN, New York Times-WQXR and the New York Daily News'' ownership of WPIX Television and Radio.

References

Business ownership
Strategic management

Cross ownership


Stella Kramrisch (May 29, 1896 – August 31, 1993) was an American pioneering art historian and curator who was the leading specialist on Indian art for most of the 20th century. Her scholarship remains a benchmark to this day. She researched and taught Indian art history for more than six decades on three continents. After writing her dissertation on the essence of early-buddhist sculpture in India, she was invited to teach at Kala Bhavana in Shantiniketan (1922–24) and went on to teach at Calcutta University from 1924 to 1950. In Europe, Kramrisch worked at the Courtauld Institute, London (1937–1940). From 1950, she was professor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of South Asia Regional Studies, where she had been recruited by W. Norman Brown, in addition to being a prominent curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Early life and education in Vienna
Stella Kramrisch was born on May 29, 1896, in Nikolsburg, Austria (now Mikulov, Czech Republic). She was trained as a ballet dancer growing up in Austria. When Kramrisch was about 10 her parents moved to Vienna. One day she came across a translation of the Bhagavadgita: "I was so impressed it took my breath away." She had found what she wanted to do in her life.

She enrolled at the University of Vienna, studying at the department of art history with Professors Max Dvořák and Josef Strzygowski. She focused her studies on Indian art and culture. Thus she learned Sanskrit and read philosophy, literature and anthropology. In 1919, she successfully completed her studies by earning her doctorate.

Professional life in India
She traveled to London in 1919 as part of a university delegation to give three lectures at Oxford. Rabindranath Tagore heard her speak and invited her to come to India and teach at the Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan in 1922. She was appointed professor of Indian art at the University of Calcutta in 1924. In same year she discovered Badami cave temples. She taught In kala Bhawan until 1950.

In 1924 her first monograph Principles of Indian Art was published in German, which was reviewed widely in various journals throughout Europe. In the 1920s Kramrisch kept traveling to Vienna to give lectures. Various articles of her colleagues in Vienna appear as English translations in the Journal of the Indian Society of Oriental Art which Kramrisch edited from 1933 onwards together with Abanindranath Tagore. Her seminal publication "Indian sculpture" (1933) was a profound analysis of Indian sculpture, conceptualized in size and format to function as an actual handbook.

After the British left India in 1947, her husband Laszlo Nemenyi opted to work for the new government of Pakistan and moved to Karachi. In 1950 he was found shot dead on a beach. She emigrated to America the same year.

Professional life in the United States
Stella Kramrisch moved to the United States in 1950,  invited by the Sanskritist W. Norman Brown to teach in the newly formed Department of South Asia Regional Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She was Professor of South Asian Art until her retirement in 1969. She was also adjunct professor of Indian Art at the Institute of Fine Arts in New York from 1964 to 1982. She served as the Curator of Indian Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1954 until 1979 and was Curator Emeritus until her death.

During her tenure at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Kramrisch developed its holdings in Indian and Himalayan art and staged a series of ambitious exhibitions that, accompanied by the catalogues and related studies that she wrote, brought significant recognition to the museum and to the field of Indian art and culture. One such exhibition opened in 1968. Entitled "Unknown India: Ritual Art in Tribe and Village," it showcased nearly 500 religious and secular objects. After twelve years of planning, research and negotiations, another ground-breaking exhibition, "Manifestations of Shiva" opened in 1981. It was the first major exhibition in this country to examine the religious deity and to explore the multiple interpretations of its meaning. Many of the 197 objects displayed had never before left India. As to the museum's own collections, Kramrisch oversaw important acquisitions, including a 6th-century bronze mask of Shiva, a bronze figure of Rama made during the Chola dynasty of Southern India, and "Radha and Krishna," a painting by a Kishangarh school artist.

Her books include Grundzüge der Indischen Kunst (Principles of Indian Art; 1924; her first book), The Hindu Temple vols. 1 & 2 (1946; re-printed and in global circulation), The Art of India: Traditions of Indian Sculpture, Painting And Architecture (1954), and the encyclopedic The Presence of Siva (1981). She was a friend of the ballerina, designer, actress, and collector Natacha Rambova. Barbara Stoler Miller and Wayne E. Begley were among her students. Prof. Kramrisch was succeeded by Michael W. Meister in 1976 who is currently the W. Norman Brown Professor of South Asia Studies and History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kramrisch died on August 31, 1993, at her home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Awards and honors
Kramrisch received worldwide recognition for her many achievements, including honorary degrees from Visvabharati University (1974) and from the University of Pennsylvania (1981). At a ceremony held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1979, Kramrisch was given the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, and in 1985 she received the Charles Lang Freer Medal for her contribution to the "understanding of Oriental civilization as reflected in their arts." Perhaps the most telling statement of Kramrisch's life's work came in 1982 when the Indian government presented her with its highest civilian honor of Padma Bhushan. Kramrisch received the honor for "stimulating a renewed interest not only in the artistic heritage of India but also in its underlying philosophies and world view."

Legacy
At the time of her death, Kramrisch left a bequest of 25 works to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She also donated her papers to the museum, which in many ways form the greatest scope of her legacy. The Stella Kramrisch papers house her correspondence, writings and other research materials from 1921 to 1999, and contain information about the art objects in Kramrisch's personal collection. In addition, Kramrisch's curatorial position was officially re-titled as the Stella Kramrisch Curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a position which still exists today. As noted in the Philadelphia Museum of Art's published memorial, Kramrisch's writings were even more far-reaching as many of her books continue to be used in universities around the world

Selected bibliography
 Grundzüge der Indischen Kunst. Avalun Verlag, 1924.
 The Visnudharmottaram: A Treatise on Indian Painting and Image-Making. Calcutta University Press, 1928.
 "Indische Kunst", in: Handbuch der Kunstgeschichte, hg. v. Anton Springer. Alfred Kröner Verlag, 1929.
 Indian Sculpture. The Heritage of India Series. Oxford University Press, 1933.
 The Hindu Temple. 2 Bd. University of Calcutta, 1946.
 Unknown India: Ritual Art in Tribe and Village. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1968.
 Presence of Śiva. Princeton University Press, 1981.

References

External links

Stella Kramrisch at Web of Stories

1896 births
1993 deaths
20th-century American philosophers
American art historians
American women philosophers
Philosophers of art
Austrian women philosophers
Austrian art historians
Austrian philosophers
University of Vienna alumni
Academic staff of the University of Calcutta
University of Pennsylvania faculty
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education
Women art historians
People associated with the Philadelphia Museum of Art
People associated with Santiniketan
Historians of Indian art
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American women writers
American women historians
Indian art historians
Indian art
American women curators
American curators
Austrian emigrants to the United States

Stella Kramrisch


Floyd Hughes is a British production designer, storyboard artist and comic book illustrator. Based in Brooklyn, New York, he is also an art professor at the Pratt Institute.

Early life
Hughes was born in the East End of London, to Guyanese parents. He spent his early years working in London's Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed fantasy book and comic shop, situated deep in London's SoHo district, in the late 1970s. Then he had a stint in Forbidden Planets' first store in London's Denmark Street in the early 1980s.

Later career

Hughes began his professional career in 1980 working as an artist/writer in British comics and magazines. Hughes' first professional work was published in a 2000 AD Summer Special and his fanzine work had been in David Hornsby's Apocolypse fanzine published in the UK. In the early 80's he produced concert stage artwork for The Clash and worked in the film and television industry as a storyboard artist, production illustrator and special make-up effects technician on films that include Clive Barker's Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II, and Highlander.

In 1988 he moved to New York City and continued his freelance career working in comics, illustration, film, music videos and as a designer for MTV Animation's Downtown and Celebrity Deathmatch. Hughes illustrated the Marvel Comics mini-series Hellhound and served as art director on Russell Simmons Presents B.A.D Magazine, a project funded by Time Warner under its Mad brand. Hughes also produced on screen artwork for the movie Antitrust and pre- production illustrations for the Will Smith film I Am Legend. Hughes also did two CD sleeve paintings for the AC/DC album Ballbreaker.

In 1990 Hughes collaborated with music journalist Charles Shaar Murray on Purple Days, a comic strip inspired by the life and times of Jimi Hendrix. Purple Days appeared in Revolver, a 48-page magazine-sized comic book published in the UK.

In mid-2008, Hughes worked with director Spike Lee on a Burger King commercial starring P. Diddy. His graphic novel adaptation of fine artist Danny Simmons' 2003 novel Three Days As the Crow Flies was published February 2008 by Simon & Schuster.

Hughes is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Pratt Institute School Of Art and Design in Brooklyn, New York, and was the recipient of the prestigious "Most Distinguished Teacher Award 2008/2009".

Hughes created storyboards for Spike Lee films, including Red Hook Summer (2012) and BlacKkKlansman(2018)

Books illustrated
85, a novel. Written by Danny Simmons, illustrated by Hughes. Simon & Schuster, 2008. ()

References

Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Artists from London
Artists from Brooklyn
British production designers
British storyboard artists
British comics artists

Floyd Hughes