An adventure game is a type of video game or computer game.  Gameplay in adventure games is mostly exploration, solving puzzles and finishing stories.  Some adventure games also have combat systems so the player can fight enemies like in an action game, beat 'em up or role-playing game, but many adventure games have no fighting in them at all.  The first adventure game was Colossal Cave Adventure in 1975.

In adventure games, the player usually acts through a character in the story.  This character sometimes has a history. For example Roger Sams in Bad Mojo is a sad insect scientist and Alexander in King's Quest VI is a prince trying to rescue a princess.  Other player characters have almost no history.  In Myst and Zork, the game does not even give the player character a name.  Other characters and the game's voice call the player "you."

Adventure games can be played on computers, for example PCs and Macs.  Adventure games can be played on consoles, for example Playstations and Xboxes.

Many adventure games are called point-and-click adventure games because the player uses a computer mouse to click on things on the screen.  Not all adventure games do this.  In the 1996 game Bad Mojo, the player can only use the computer's arrow keys.  In the 1977 game Zork, the player must write commands using the keyboard.

Because they are about exploration, adventure games usually have an interesting world setting.  Some games have art with painted graphics.  Others show off the newest image-making technology, for example Myst.  Other games, like the early Zork games, had no graphics at all.  The Zork games told the player what was happening using words.

Some famous adventure game series are Myst by Brøderbund, Monkey Island by LucasArts, and the King's Quest and Quest for Glory series by Sierra on-line.

References

Types of video games
Video game genres

Adventure game


William Thomas Pettit (April 23, 1931 – December 22, 1995) was an American journalist, who was a television news correspondent for NBC from the 1960s through 1995. During most of that period, he filed reports for NBC Nightly News (as well as the preceding Huntley-Brinkley Report) and served numerous times on the panel of Meet the Press.  He served as one of NBC's floor reporters at the political conventions in 1972, 1976, and 1980.

Biography
Pettit began his broadcasting career in the state of his upbringing, Iowa, first working for WOI-TV located then in Ames, Iowa, followed by a stint with KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa during the 1950s before moving on to positions at WCCO-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota and at the NBC owned-and-operated station, now KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His first position with the NBC network was in the network's Los Angeles bureau, where he worked for 13 years, except for a brief tenure with National Educational Television. By 1975, Pettit moved to the Washington, D.C. bureau, where he would cover national affairs until 1982, when he became executive vice president of NBC News under president Reuven Frank.  In 1985, he returned to reporting, serving as national affairs correspondent until 1989, when he began a three-year stint in NBC's London office.  He continued working as a correspondent until 1995, the year of his death.

After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Pettit was dispatched to Dallas where he served, in effect, as a police reporter.  In the famous footage of Lee Harvey Oswald being killed by Jack Ruby in Dallas, Pettit, standing six feet away, is heard exclaiming, "He's been shot. He's been shot. Lee (Harvey) Oswald has been shot."  NBC was the only network airing Oswald's transfer live.

Pettit died after complications from surgery, at the age of 64.

Awards
Pettit was best known for his acumen in interviewing national leaders, including several presidents. He won several awards for his coverage, notably the Peabody and Emmy awards.

References

External links

American television reporters and correspondents
Executive Vice Presidents of NBC News
1995 deaths
1931 births
People from Cincinnati

Tom Pettit


Priyamvada (sometimes written Preeyamvadha or Priyamvadha) is a 1976 Indian Malayalam film,  directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan and produced by T. E. Vasudevan. The film stars Kaviyoor Ponnamma, KPAC Lalitha, Adoor Bhasi and Lakshmi in the lead roles. The film has musical score by V. Dakshinamoorthy. The film was a remake of the Tamil film Suryagandhi.

Plot
Mohan is the eldest son in a middle-class family, having a superiority complex that he should be the first in everything. He and Radha fall in love and they get married. Mohan works in a low wage job despite being a graduate, which is insufficient for the family. So, Radha decides to join as a sales officer and starts working in a company. Her hard work earns her a good name and a promotion. So, her respect in the family rises as it improves the economic status of the family and she is able to fulfill the needs and wants of the family. Mohan is intolerant of Radha's respect growing, and he starts hating her.

Mohan's ego wants him to earn more than Radha and in the process he quits his job with the hope of finding a better one. Meantime, he also does modelling for liquor ads much against his family's wishes. Radha, with the help of her boss, recommends a high paying job for Mohan. But she does not inform this to Mohan as he might not take up the job if he knows that Radha was responsible for it. Mohan quits modelling after he gets the new job and mocks Radha, as he is paid more than her now. Mohan wants Radha to quit her job, but Radha does not agree to that.

Mohan's sister Suseela falls in love with a guy and becomes pregnant. Radha finds this out and arranges for the wedding to be as soon as possible, so that her pre-marital pregnancy is not known to others. Mohan misunderstands that Radha is overpowering him in family decisions and sends Radha out from his home and plans for a divorce. On the day of Suseela's marriage, the groom's father informs the truth to Mohan, which makes him realise his mistakes. Mohan understands that Radha preferred going to the job so that she can pay the dowry demanded by Suseela's in-laws. Mohan also finds out that his job was recommended with the help of Radha. Mohan transforms into a good man and decides to lead a happy life with Radha.

Cast

Kaviyoor Ponnamma
KPAC Lalitha
Adoor Bhasi
Lakshmi
Mohan Sharma
Pattom Sadan
Prema
Sankaradi
Kuthiravattam Pappu
Paravoor Bharathan
Vincent

Soundtrack
The music was composed by V. Dakshinamoorthy and the lyrics were written by Sreekumaran Thampi.

References

External links

1976 films
1970s Malayalam-language films
Films directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan
Malayalam remakes of Tamil films

Priyamvada


Nitrendipine is a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker. It is used in the treatment of primary (essential) hypertension to decrease blood pressure and can reduce the cardiotoxicity of cocaine.

It was patented in 1971 and approved for medical use in 1985.

Medical uses
Nitrendipine is given to hypertensive individuals in 20 mg oral tablets every day. This amount is effective in reducing blood pressure by 15–20% within 1–2 hours of administration. With long-term treatments, the dosage may rise to as much as 40 mg/day; in elderly individuals, a lower dosage of up to 5 mg/day may be equally effective (this reduction in drug amount is attributed to decreased liver function or "first pass" metabolism). Once digested, nitrendipine is absorbed into the blood and binds to plasma proteins. The majority (98%) is bound to plasma proteins and 70-80% of its inactive polar metabolites are also bound to plasma proteins. Following hepatic metabolism, 80% of the 20 mg dose can be recovered in the first 96 hours as inactive polar metabolites. The specific volume of distribution of the drug is 2-6 L/kg. In terms of drug half-life, nitrendipine has a half-life of 12–24 hours. The reported side effects include: headache, flushing, edema and palpitations. These side effects can all be attributed to the
vasodilation effect of this drug.

Mechanism of action
Once nitrendipine is ingested, it is absorbed by the gut and metabolized by the liver before it goes into the systemic circulation and reaches the cells of the smooth muscles and cardiac muscle cells. It binds more effectively with L-type calcium channels in smooth muscle cells because of its lower resting membrane potential. The nitrendipine diffuses into the membrane and binds to its high affinity binding site on the inactivated L-type calcium channel that's located in between each of the 4 intermembrane components of the α1 subunit. The exact mechanism of action of nitrendipine is unknown, but it is believed to have important tyrosine and threonine residues in its binding pocket and its binding interferes with the voltage sensor and gating mechanism of the channel. Thought to have a domain-interface model of binding. In hypertension, the binding of nitrendipine causes a decrease in the probability of open L-type calcium channels and reduces the influx of calcium. The reduced levels of calcium prevent smooth muscle contraction within these muscle cells. Prevention of muscle contraction enables smooth muscle dilation. Dilation of the vasculature reduces total peripheral resistance, which decreases the workload on the heart and prevents scarring of the heart or heart failure.

Nitrendipine has additionally been found to act as an antagonist of the mineralocorticoid receptor, or as an antimineralocorticoid.

Stereochemistry
Nitrendipine contains a stereocenter and can exist as either of two enantiomers. The pharmaceutical drug  is a racemate, an equal mixture of (R)- and the (S)-forms.

References

Antimineralocorticoids
Calcium channel blockers
Dihydropyridines
Nitrobenzenes
Carboxylate esters
Glycine receptor antagonists
Methyl esters
Ethyl esters

Nitrendipine


Svilajnac (, ) is a town and municipality located in the Pomoravlje District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 9,131 inhabitants, while the municipality has 23,391 inhabitants.

It is located  south-east of Belgrade, on the banks of the river Resava, and bordering the river Morava. Its name stems from the word for silk in Serbian.

History

Svilajnac was first mentioned in Ottoman records in 1467 as a village with a hundred households. The village, and later town, gained prominence through its silk production, from which it derives its name (svila, "silk"). Located in central Serbia, it flourished as a trading center, where silk, wool and livestock were traded.

Svilajnac is the birthplace of the First Serbian Uprising revolutionary Stevan Sinđelić. A statue in his honor was raised in the central square of Svilajnac, in the pedestrian zone of Kriva čaršija. It was erected in 1991 after the design of sculptor Mihailo Paunović. The bronze monument marks the decisive moment in the Battle of Čegar, when Sinđelić, standing in the trench shot the powder keg.

In 1832 a hospital was established in Svilajnac, one of the first medical centers in this part of Serbia. Due to its architectural and historical importance, the building of the Old Hospital has been declared a cultural monument and placed under the state protection.

Modern town began to develop on the location of the medieval village in 1820. It was based on the urban regulatory plan which consisted of four main streets: Prava čaršija (today Saint Sava Street), Kriva čaršija, Gospodska (today Ustanička Street) and Resava Square (today Park of the European friendship). Kriva čaršija is one of the best preserved ambient units in the town. It was later called Kneza Mihailova, then Lenjinova after the World War II, then Stevana Sinđelića before its original name was returned. Today it is the central pedestrian zone in Svilajnac.

On 29 June 1866 Prince Mihailo Obrenović officially declared Svliajnac a varošica ("small town"). In 1868 a library was open. The building previously belonged to Dimitrije Mita Isaković, founder of the Resava Savings Bank, the first money institution in Svilajnac. The building was declared a cultural monument in 2001 and the library today holds 60,000 books and 9,000 non-book units. A gymnasium was open in 1877. The school building was also declared a cultural monument and was fully renovated in 2015.

In 1923 it was decided to erect the monument in honor of the soldiers from Svilajnac, killed in the Balkan Wars and World War I from 1912 to 1918. The foundation stone was laid in 1923 and the monument was dedicated on 27 October 1926. The monument was designed by Slovene sculptor Ivan Zajec and the model for the bronze sculpture was a local woman Zora Milosavljević Bidžić. There are several stories on her identity. A mythical ones, claim that Mara was a fighter in the Resava region against the Ottoman invasion in 14th century or a daughter of legendary Jug Bogdan who became a nun with her mother after the Battle of Kosovo in 1389. One of the plausible stories mentions Mara, a daughter of Kosovo migrant Joksa Resavac, from the period of the First Serbian Uprising, who fought the Turks with Sinđelić and the Resava knez Petar Jakovljević Erčić. Soon a cult of Mara Resavkinja developed and she was considered a symbol of maternity, freedom and life, with numerous songs being written about her. Monument shows Mara holding a torch in the right hand and laurel wreath in the left. Under her feet are the trumpet and a drum, symbols of monarchy. Because of this, a representative of the King Alexander on the monument's dedication left the ceremony. Due to this symbolism, the monument was attacked and finally in 1934 it was decided to demolish it. Actually, mayor of Svilajnac Mihajlo R. Milenković officially pleaded for the figure to be replaced with some other, "more  appropriate", so the demolition was announced on 3 October 1934, but ban of the Morava Banovina nullified the decision of the town's administration on 26 October. King Alexander was assassinated in the meantime (9 October), situation in the state became unstable, followed by the breakout of the World War II, so the monument survived. However, it was destroyed during the World War II. The local Četniks' unit knocked down the bronze figure and melted it into the hand grenades. After the war, citizens decided to rebuild the monument. Sculptor Lojze Dolinar used the surviving Zajec's molds to cast the identical figure which was unveiled on 29 November 1951.

From 1929 to 1941, Svilajnac was part of the Morava Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During the Interbellum a building of the Sokol Hall "Dušan Silni" was constructed. It was reconstructed in 2012 and adapted into the cultural center.

One of the largest buildings in town is the Agricultural and veterinary school, with the campus "Svilajnac", built in 1957. After the liberalisation of international travel in SFR Yugoslavia significant number of residents of the town moved to Paris as guest workers.

On 3 September 2007 there was a Democratic Party initiative to depose the president of the municipality Dobrivoje Budimirovic "Bidža" (Serbian Radical Party). It failed, partially due to the opposition of the Democratic Party of Serbia.

The town was damaged during the 2014 Southeast Europe floods.

In 2015 a Natural History Center of Serbia, , was open in Svilajnac. It became a major tourist attraction in the entire region, mostly due to its exhibition of dinosaur remains in the Dino Park. The center is located close to the downtown and the Kriva čaršija. Out of 20 dinosaur replicas, the largest is Diplodocus,  tall and  long.

Demographics

Economy
Apart from commercial services, Svilajnac's economy is largely dependent on agricultural activities. Svilajnac has developed two fully equipped industrial zones. One of the facilities is of Panasonic since 2011.

During the existence of SFR Yugoslavia, the state-owned companies contributed substantially to the local economy, until the 1990s, when international sanctions imposed on FR Yugoslavia lead to the massive closure of the companies.

As of September 2017, Svilajnac has one of 14 free economic zones established in Serbia.

Economic preview
The following table gives a preview of total number of registered people employed in legal entities per their core activity (as of 2018):

Infrastructure

One of only several bridges across the Morava is located in Svilajnac, giving it a unique strategic value. During the Second World War, the original bridge was destroyed by the retreating Royal Yugoslav Army. After the war, the bridge was rebuilt with German war reparations.

Svilajnac is also the location of a coal power plant. Built in 1969, only several hundred meters upriver from the bridge, it has an energy output of 125 MW. The town is also the location to now decommissioned military barracks which could house up to 5,000 soldiers at any one time.

Twin towns
 Kanjiža
 Radovljica

See also

 Šumadija
 Pomoravlje
 Resava
 List of cities in Serbia
 Dublje (Svilajnac)
 Grabovac (Svilajnac)

References

External links

Populated places in Pomoravlje District
Municipalities and cities of Šumadija and Western Serbia
Paleontology in Serbia

Svilajnac


People Make Games (PMG) is a British investigative video game journalism YouTube channel. The channel focuses on the developers and people who make video games. People Make Games has reported on topics like video game crunch, outsourcing, and worker exploitation.

History
The group was created by Chris Bratt and Anni Sayers in 2018, who were previously both journalists who had worked for Eurogamer. Sayers creates the graphics. Quintin Smith, a journalist from Rock Paper Shotgun, joined in 2020. The channel is viewer-funded with Patreon; in June 2022, the Patreon made  per month. Additional funding comes from Loading Bar, a chain of bars in London and Brighton.

Notable reports

Roblox

In a video published in August 2021, Smith accused Roblox'''s parent company, Roblox Corporation, of exploiting the platform's young game developers. Smith argues the revenue split is significantly less favourable toward developers than other video game marketplaces, and players are incentivized to keep all ingame currency, which Smith likened to scrip, on Roblox by having high minimum withdrawal amounts and low exchange rates. In a followup video released in December 2021 titled "Roblox Pressured Us to Delete Our Video. So We Dug Deeper.", he further accused the platform of having child safety issues and criticized its "collectibles stock market" by likening it to gambling.

 Annapurna Interactive
In March 2022, the channel reported on three video game studios publishing under Annapurna Interactive — Mountains, Fullbright, and Funomena. In all three cases, employees reportedly reached out to Annapurna Interactive, addressing concerns regarding abuse and a toxic work environment being created by the studio founders. In hopes of getting Annapurna Interactive to mediate, employees stated that the publisher was siding mostly with the founders in question. According to one former studio employee, representatives of Annapurna Interactive had been quoted responding that "without strong personalities, games don't get made." Bratt described these incidents as part of a greater pattern of auteur culture that can be found across the independent film and video game industry. Following the video, Robin Hunicke, one of the heads of Funomena, issued a Twitter apology, before stating to staff alongside Funomena co-founder Martin Middleton that there would be layoffs at Funomena and that the studio would likely close due to the video and its impact on the studio's ability to secure outside funding.

 VRChat and the Metaverse
In their video titled "Making Sense of VRChat, the "Metaverse" People Actually Like" released May 2022, PMG praised VRChat's ability to provide a social space for transgender and disabled people as well as furries, while criticising the approach of Meta Platforms to virtual reality, and its "sexless, Zuckerbergian, brand-friendly presentation".

CS:GO skin gambling
In November 2022, PMG reported on skin gambling in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and argued that Valve generally avoided taking action on gambling websites using their game, thus "facilitating unregulated gambling by children".

Accolades

 See also
 Game Maker's Toolkit''

References

Video game critics
English YouTubers
Video gaming in the United Kingdom
Investigative journalism
YouTube channels launched in 2018
Gaming-related YouTube channels
English-language YouTube channels

People Make Games


Spessa is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, which is located  about 40 km southeast of Milan and about 15 km southeast of Pavia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 545 and an area of 12.2 km².

Spessa borders the following municipalities: Arena Po, Belgioioso, Costa de' Nobili, Portalbera, San Cipriano Po, San Zenone al Po, Stradella, Torre de' Negri.

Demographic evolution

References

Cities and towns in Lombardy

Spessa


The Rising Paper Mill is a historic factory at 295 Park Street North, in the Housatonic village of Great Barrington, Massachusetts.  Built in 1873 for H.D. Cone, it is one of the best-preserved examples of period mill architecture in Berkshire County.  The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.  In 2008, the facility was purchased by Hazen Paper, which announced plans to manufacture multi-ply laminated paper for packaging.

Description and history
The Rising Paper Mill is located south of the village of Housatonic, on the east bank of the Housatonic River near the junction of Massachusetts Route 183 (Park Street) and Mountain Road.  The complex covers about , with significant frontage on both the river and the road.  The facility's dam is located near the north end of the property.  It consists of two long three-story brick buildings, which are joined near their centers by a narrower section.  The north block is  and 21 bays in length, while the south block is  and 14 bays in length.  The buildings are covered by mansarded slate roofs, and have elaborate mansarded towers at the corners.  The corners are finished with rusticated granite quoining, and there are bands of decorative Greek crosses below the eaves.

The mill was built in about 1873 for H.D. Cone, whose intention it was to build the world's largest paper factory.  The buildings are built with exceptionally strong foundations, needed for the heavy machinery used in the papermaking process.  Granite for its foundations were quarried at nearby Monument Mountain.  The design of the building placed the key Foudrinier machines in the hyphen joining the two main structures, one of which was devoted to the preparation of materials, and the other to finishing the paper.

The mill was not entirely finished by Cone, who went bankrupt soon after its construction due to a variety financial reverses.  It sat vacant until the turn of the 20th century, when it was purchased by the B.D. Rising Company, which used it to make paper.  The Rising Mill became the area's largest employer after the nearby Monument Mills failed in the 1930s.

See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Berkshire County, Massachusetts

References

Buildings and structures in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Pulp and paper companies of the United States
National Register of Historic Places in Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Rising Paper Mill


Julius Dexter Rhodes (1 October 1841 – 19 February 1906) was a sergeant major in the United States Army who was awarded the Medal of Honor for gallantry during the American Civil War. After having his horse shot from under him at the Battle of Throughfare Gap, he helped the 105th New York Volunteers advance on the enemy line. He was later wounded while fighting in the Second Battle of Bull Run. He was awarded the Medal of Honor on 9 March 1887.

Personal life
Rhodes was born on 1 October 1841 in Monroe, Michigan, to parents Dexter B. Rhodes and Caroline N. Hall Rhodes. He was one of two children in the family. He married Ellen Marie Shaw in 1868 and fathered a daughter and three sons. Rhodes died on 19 February 1906 in Washington, D.C., and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Pleasantville, New Jersey.

Military service
At the beginning of the American Civil War, Rhodes was a student at the Springfield Institute in Erie, New York. He enlisted on 3 September 1861 as a private and a bugler for Company F of the 5th New York Cavalry. In action near Harrisburg, Virginia, he erroneously sounded a call to advance when he had been ordered to sound a call for retreat. Although his erroneous call led to a Union victory, he still lost rank. In August 1862, he was the only survivor of a 10-man group sent to destroy the Waterloo Bridge over the Rappahannock River. They succeeded in destroying the bridge. Still a private, he received the Medal of Honor for two actions between 28 and 30 August 1862. First, at the Battle of Throughfare Gap, he survived getting his horse shot out from under him and voluntarily joined the 105th New York Volunteers in advancing against the enemy lines. Second, he "demonstrated gallantry" at the Second Battle of Bull Run, where he was wounded. He was taken to Harewood Hospital in Washington, D.C., and was soon discharged as disabled on 27 February 1863. After recovering, he travelled to New Orleans to care for his younger brother Julian, who had served with the 116th New York Volunteers. The two brothers later joined the First Louisiana Regimental Cavalry and saw action at Donnelsville. The elder Rhodes also served with the 31st Maine Volunteers. On 2 April 1865, he saw his final action at the Third Battle of Petersburg in Virginia, where he was pierced in the cheek with a bayonet, receiving a skull fracture and losing consciousness. He was hospitalized for the rest of the war.

Rhodes' Medal of Honor citation reads:

References

1841 births
1906 deaths
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
American Civil War recipients of the Medal of Honor

Julius D. Rhodes


is a Japanese national government park located in Sapporo, Hokkaido.  It is the only national government park in the northern island of Hokkaido.  The park area spreads over 395.7 hectares of hilly country and ranges in altitude between 160 and 320 m above sea level.  Currently, 192.3 is accessible to the public.  The park grounds are separated into six zones: the Mountain Stream Zone, Central Zone, Lodging Zone, Forest Experience Zone (planned to be open in 2009), Nature Observation Zone (planned to be open in 2010), and Preservation Zone (not open to the public).  During the winter season, the park operates as the "Takino Snow World", providing visitors with a wide variety of winter outdoor activities.

History
In 1975, the Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau set up a committee to select a possible location for a national government park in Hokkaido.  In 1976, the committee chose the current site, and the construction of the park was officially decided in 1977.  In 1983, the park, with approximately 30 hectares of the planned 395.7 hectare area opened to the public, begins its operation as the fifth national government.

Access

By train
From Sapporo, take the Sapporo Municipal Subway Nanboku Line to Makomanai Station and transfer to the Chuō Bus Takino Line; get off either at Suzuran Kōen Higashi-guchi Stop or Atsubetsu no Taki Stop.

By car
Drive on the Central Hokkaido Expressway and exist at the Sapporo South Interchange; head for Makomanai/Takino and follow the road signs.

References

External links
http://www.takinopark.com/11_FOREIGN/index_e.html English Official park website
http://www.takinopark.com/ Official park website

National Government Parks of Japan
Minami-ku, Sapporo
Parks and gardens in Hokkaido
Tourist attractions in Sapporo
1983 establishments in Japan

Takino Suzuran Hillside National Government Park


George Richard Angus Campbell (born 9 February 1979) is an English cricketer.  Campbell is a left-handed batsman who plays occasionally as a wicketkeeper.  He was born at Hammersmith, London.

Campbell represented the Sussex Cricket Board in List A cricket.  His debut List A game came against Herefordshire in the 2000 NatWest Trophy.  From 2000 to 2002, he represented the Board in 7 List A matches, the last of which came against Worcestershire Cricket Board in the 2nd round of the 2003 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy which was held in 2002.  In his 7 List A matches, he scored 346 runs at a batting average of 49.24, with 3 half centuries and a single century high score of 141.  In the field he took a single catch.

 he plays club cricket for Hastings & St. Leonards Priory Cricket Club in the Sussex Cricket League.

References

External links
George Campbell at Cricinfo
George Campbell at CricketArchive

English cricketers
Sussex Cricket Board cricketers
Cricketers from Hammersmith
1979 births
Living people

George Campbell (cricketer, born 1979)


Herzl Day () is an Israeli national holiday celebrated annually on the tenth of the Hebrew month of Iyar, to commemorate the life and vision of Zionist leader Theodor Herzl.

History

Herzl Day was created by the Israeli Knesset as part of the Herzl Law. According to the law, passed in June 2004, Herzl Day will be celebrated once a year, on Iyar 10, the birthday of Theodor Herzl.

On this day, a state memorial service is held on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem and at IDF camps and schools. Time is devoted to learning about the achievements and Zionist vision of Theodor Herzl and a symposium in  memory of Theordor Herzl is held in Jerusalem to discuss world Zionist issues. The Knesset holds a special session to mark Herzl Day.

If the Hebrew date, 10 Iyar, falls on Sabbath, Herzl Day is postponed until Sunday.

See also
Public holidays in Israel
Culture of Israel
Jewish holidays

References

Iyar observances
National holidays
Public holidays in Israel
Zionism
Theodor Herzl

Herzl Day


inDrive (previously known as inDriver), is an international ride-hailing service with more than 150 million downloads operating in 48 countries. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, it is the second largest ridesharing and taxi app worldwide by downloads. The company was officially launched in 2013.

It is one of the fastest growing international passenger transport services operating on the peer-to-peer pricing model. In the inDrive app, all conditions of the trip are determined as a result of an agreement between passengers and drivers. inDrive works both in small towns with a population of 10 thousand inhabitants, often with weak internet and without maps of the settlement, and in the largest cities with the highest level of competition. According to OZY, the fees that inDrive takes from drivers' receipts average 5–8% of the fare, which is significantly less than other major ride-hailing services. Passengers make all payments for rides directly to drivers in cash or non-cash settlements . The inDrive mobile app is available on Android and iOS.

History
inDriver was founded in 2012 in Yakutsk, one of the coldest cities in the world. The service originated when a group of local students established a collective group of "independent drivers" (i.e. inDrivers) on social media in response to a sharp increase in taxi prices when outside temperatures dropped precipitously. Members of the group shared where they wanted to go and the prices they were willing to pay, allowing drivers to in turn contact these customers and negotiate prices. One year later, the group moved to the Sinet Company which created a peer-to-peer transportation-based system based on this concept.

In 2013, inDriver was officially launched.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, inDrive divested its interests in the Russian market in June 2022, and relocated 1,000 employees from Russia to Kazakhstan and Cyprus.

International expansion
In December 2014, inDriver expanded internationally by launching in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The company entered Latin America in April 2018, when the service became available in Mexico and then later in Guatemala, Colombia, Peru, El Salvador, Chile, Brazil, Ecuador and Bolivia.

In November 2018, the service became available in Africa with the launch in Arusha, Tanzania.

The company announced further plans to launch services in 300 more cities in 30 countries by the end of 2019.

To date, the service has expanded its business throughout Latin America, Africa, India and Southwest Asia.

In 2018, the company opened a temporary office in New York City, and later, established its headquarters in Mountain View, California.

It also started its operations in Pakistan by 2021 and became the most downloaded ride-hailing app in the country within a year.

In June 2022, inDriver announced that it was entering the Australian market, with an initial launch in Melbourne.

In July 2023, inDrive launched in the U.S., in Miami, South Florida.

Corporate development
In February 2017 the service passed the threshold of 100 million rides booked through the InDriver mobile app. There were more than 5 million registered users at the time.

In April 2020, because of COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdowns, the company suspended launches in new countries to focus on servicing its existing markets. Among other initiatives, inDriver launched its "Medical Worker On The Way" program to help healthcare workers around the world get to and from work. Despite the lockdowns, however, inDriver managed to reach 50 million app-downloads in July 2020.

In early 2021, inDriver achieved unicorn status after closing a $150m investment round with Insight Partners, General Catalyst, and Bond Capital, which valued the company at $1.23 billion. It reached 1 billion trips in May 2021.

By March 2022, inDriver had established regional operational hubs in the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the CIS to support its expanding business.

inDriver also offers additional services through its app, including courier services, services, cargo/freight delivery intercity transportation and job search services. inDriver is the world's fastest-growing online ride-hailing and transportation services. The app has been downloaded more than 150 million times. The service is available in over 655 cities in 48 countries around the world.

In October 2022, inDriver rebranded and became inDrive, transforming into a group of companies.

In February 2023, inDrive raised $150m in an innovative hybrid instrument from General Catalyst for marketing and growth, expansion into new verticals.

In 2023, inDrive assembled an in-house corporate venture capital arm focused on emerging markets – New Ventures.

In May 2023, inDrive acquired the team and technology from Master Delivery, a last-mile delivery software platform, to strengthen its B2B unit.

App description

To request a ride, the user specifies the starting point and destination address of the ride, the price they are willing to pay and if they have any comments for the driver. Drivers can make a counter-offer to the price offered by the passenger. Other options include adding additional destinations, indicating the need for a child seat, etc. The information of the car and driver confirmed for the service will appear on the passenger's phone screen. This includes the driver's rating and contact, the car's approximate arrival time and its real-time geolocation point on the map.

Awards
inDriver was nominated for the GSMA Global Mobile Awards (GLOMO) 2019 in the 'Most Innovative Mobile App' category.

The service was named Google Play's 2019 Best Everyday Essential app in Brazil.

inDrive won the SHIELD Trust Awards 2022.

See also
 DiDi
 Grab
 Yandex Taxi
 Uber
 Lyft
 Bolt
 Maxim

References

External links

Companies based in Mountain View, California
Internet properties established in 2013
Road transport in Russia
Online companies of Russia
Online companies of the United States
Russian websites
Transport companies of Russia
Transportation companies of the United States
Transport companies established in 2013
Ridesharing companies of the United States
Mobile software
Android (operating system) software
IOS software

InDrive


The San Felice or Sanfelice Palace () is a Rococo or late-Baroque-style palace at Via Sanità 167 in Rione Sanità in central Naples. It is best known for its elaborate staircase.

History

The Palace was erected during 1724 to 1726 by the architect Ferdinando Sanfelice. The entrance portal has two stucco sirens of the Sanfelice family. Through an indistinct façade one enters to an interior octagonal courtyard leads to a double ramp stairwell. The interior frescoes originally by Francesco Solimena are now lost. The staircases with arches in shifting planes still grants an aura of complex scenography, despite its present cramped and dilapidated state: a grandiose entrance leading only to a decrepit palace. The nearby Palazzo dello Spagnolo is attributed to the same architect and has similar staircases.

References

Sanfelice, Naples
sanfelice, Naples
1726 establishments in Italy
Buildings and structures completed in 1726
Rione Sanità
18th-century architecture in Italy

Palazzo San Felice, Naples


Mykhaylo Bohdanovych Svystovych (; born December 11, 1968 in Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv region) — Ukrainian social activist and member of "Vidsich" civil movement, editor of "Maidan" magazine and economist.

Biography
Mykhaylo Svystovych was born in Pervomaisk in Mykolaiv Oblast. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Mykolayiv. When he was studying in fourth grade of school, Mykhaylo read a book about Native Americans and became interested in indigenous people of America. At age 14, he concluded that fate of the Ukrainian people is very similar to the fate of Indians that were placed into reservations. Since then, Mykhaylo began to speak only Ukrainian language, despite the fact that the most people who surrounded him in Mykolayiv were speaking Russian.

After finishing school, Svystovych entered the Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv on the faculty of economics.

At 1987 he joined the environmental protection squad called "Lenin Watch" (sector of fight against poaching), then — Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian language organization and also People's Movement of Ukraine.

He is one of the founders of Ukrainian Students Union (USS) that conducted the student hunger strikes in 1990, member of "Revolution on Granite".
During the "August Coup" he was organizing protests, later he joined the Ukrainian Republican Party, which was later renamed to the URP "Sobor".

1993 — worked in financial department of the state administration of Moscow district of Kyiv.

Since 1996 – worked as a deputy head of currency department of "Gradobank".

Since 1997 – worked as a head of currency operations Joint Stock Commercial Bank "Alliance".

In December 2000, after the death of his friend Georgiy Gongadze, he left his job at the bank and intensified his efforts in civic and community activities. He was one of the initiators of the movement "Ukraine without Kuchma" and was a member of the committee "For Truth!".

MykhayloSvystovych is one of the founders of the All-Ukrainian civil campaign "Pora!" (black). During its activity, shortly before the Orange Revolution he suffered persecution by the Ukrainian authorities. Security Service of Ukraine called him for interrogation and conducted searches in his apartment.

He was a member of the Public Council of The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

Since 2010, Mykhaylo Svystovychis activist of civic movement "Vidsich".

Political activity
Has no affiliation with any political party; at the 2006 elections he was elected as a deputy of the Kyiv Oblast regional council as a part of the list of Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.

Private life
Mykhaylo Svystovych is married (second marriage) with Myroslava Svystovych; he has 3 children, two of them in his second marriage: his eldest son is Yaroslav, and his youngest daughter is Lada. Svystovych family is living in apartment in the Irpin city near Kyiv.

His wife, Myroslava, was Irpin Mayor in 2006–2007.

References

External links
 Maidan – Pulse of the civil resistance Ukraine
 Alliance of civic activists
 Questions and answers about Maidan - Michael Svystovych of himself

1968 births
Living people
Independent politicians in Ukraine
Irpin
People from Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast
People of the Revolution on Granite
People of Ukraine without Kuchma
People of the Orange Revolution
People of the Euromaidan
Vidsich

Mykhaylo Svystovych


Vienna (;  ) is the federal capital, largest city and one of nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primate city, with a population of about 1.9 million (2.6 million within the metropolitan area, nearly one third of the country's population), and its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Until the beginning of the 20th century, it was the largest German-speaking city in the world, and before the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, the city had 2 million inhabitants. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin. Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the eastern part of Austria and is close to the borders of Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region. Along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In July 2017 it was moved to the list of World Heritage in Danger.

Apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be "The City of Dreams" because it was home to the world's first psychoanalyst – Sigmund Freud. The city's roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city, and then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, and the late-19th-century Ringstraße lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks.

Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first (in a tie with Vancouver and San Francisco) for the world's most liveable cities. Between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne. In 2018, it replaced Melbourne as the number one spot.  For ten consecutive years (2009–2019), the human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Vienna first in its annual "Quality of Living" survey of hundreds of cities around the world. Monocle's 2015 "Quality of Life Survey" ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world "to make a base within."

The UN-Habitat classified Vienna as the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. The city was ranked 1st globally for its culture of innovation in 2007 and 2008, and sixth globally (out of 256 cities) in the 2014 Innovation Cities Index, which analyzed 162 indicators in covering three areas: culture, infrastructure, and markets. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is often used as a case study by urban planners.

Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the world's number-one destination for international congresses and conventions. It attracts over 6.8 million tourists a year.

حوالا

آسٽريا ۾ يونيورسٽي شهر
پهريون هزار سال مسيح کان اڳ ۾ قائم ٿيل آباد هنڌ
يورپ ۾ راڄڌانيون

ويانا


Antti Raanta (born May 12, 1989) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender. He currently plays for the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also played for the Chicago Blackhawks and the New York Rangers.

Career
Before playing in the NHL, Raanta played 4 seasons in the SM-liiga with Lukko and Ässät.

During his time with Ässät, he won the Lasse Oksanen trophy for the SM-liiga best player of regular season and the Jari Kurri trophy for the best player of the playoffs with .955 SV%. He went 21-10-11 and recorded five shutouts in 45 games. He finished with a 1.85 goals-against average and .943 save percentage.

On June 3, 2013, he signed a one-year entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. He was assigned to their AHL-affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs. On November 17, 2013, he was recalled by the Blackhawks from the Rockford IceHogs because backup goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin was injured in a loss versus the Nashville Predators the previous night.

On December 30, 2013, he was able to earn his first career shutout when the Blackhawks beat the Los Angeles Kings at home. He was able to stop all 26 shots that he had faced, and improved to 10-1-3 on the season. He was named the Rookie of the Month, along with Martin Jones, for December 2013, going 8-1-3 with one shutout.

On June 27, 2015, Raanta was traded to the New York Rangers in exchange for Ryan Haggerty.

References

Other websites

1989 births
American Hockey League players
Arizona Coyotes players
Chicago Blackhawks players
Living people
New York Rangers players
Finnish ice hockey goaltenders
Rockford IceHogs (AHL) players
Tucson Roadrunners players

Antti Raanta


There have been two baronetcies created for persons with the surname Mackworth, one in the Baronetage of England and one in the Baronetage of Great Britain. One creation is extant as of 2008.

The Mackworth Baronetcy, of Normanton in the County of Rutland, was created in the Baronetage of England on 4 June 1619 for Thomas Mackworth, Sheriff of Rutland in 1599 and 1609. The third Baronet represented Rutland in the House of Commons. The fourth Baronet sat as Member of Parliament for Rutland and Portsmouth. The title became extinct on the death of the seventh Baronet in 1803.

The Mackworth Baronetcy, of The Gnoll in the County of Glamorgan, was created in the Baronetage of Great Britain on 16 September 1776 for Herbert Mackworth, Member of Parliament for Cardiff for many years. His father, Herbert Mackworth, also represented this constituency in the House of Commons while his grandfather, Humphrey Mackworth, was Member of Parliament for Cardiganshire. The eighth Baronet was a colonel in the Royal Corps of Signals.

Two other members of the family have also gained distinction. Philip Herbert Mackworth (1897–1958), great-grandson of Herbert Mackworth, second son of the third Baronet, was an air vice-marshal in the Royal Air Force. Geoffrey Mackworth, fifth son of the sixth Baronet, was a vice-admiral in the Royal Navy.

Mackworth baronets, of Normanton (1619)

Sir Thomas Mackworth, 1st Baronet (died 1626)
Sir Henry Mackworth, 2nd Baronet (died 1640)
Sir Thomas Mackworth, 3rd Baronet (1624–1694)
Sir Thomas Mackworth, 4th Baronet (died Feb 1745) (buried in Old St. Pancras)
Sir Thomas Mackworth, 5th Baronet (died 1769)
Sir Henry Mackworth, 6th Baronet (died 1774)
Sir Henry Mackworth, 7th Baronet (c. 1728–1803)

Mackworth baronets, of The Gnoll (1776)

Sir Herbert Mackworth, 1st Baronet (1737–1791)
Sir Robert Humphrey Mackworth, 2nd Baronet (1764–1795)
Sir Digby Mackworth, 3rd Baronet (1766–1838), of Glen Usk, Monmouthshire
Sir Digby Mackworth, 4th Baronet (1789–1852)
Sir Digby Francis Mackworth, 5th Baronet (1817–1857)
Sir Arthur William Mackworth, 6th Baronet (1842–1914)
Sir Humphrey Mackworth, 7th Baronet (1871–1948)
Sir Harry Llewellyn Mackworth, 8th Baronet (1878–1952)
Sir David Arthur Geoffrey Mackworth, 9th Baronet (1912–1998)
Sir Digby John Mackworth, 10th Baronet (1945–2018)
Sir Alan Keith Mackworth, 11th Baronet (born 1945)
The heir presumptive is Hugh Francis Mackworth (born 1958), brother of the 11th Baronet.
His heir is Alexander Hugh Mackworth (born 2000), only son of the heir presumptive

See also
Mackworth-Praed baronets

Notes

References

History of the Cardiff constituency

Mackworth
Extinct baronetcies in the Baronetage of England
1619 establishments in England
1776 establishments in Great Britain

Mackworth baronets


Arthur B. Metzner (13 April 1927 – 4 May 2006) was a Canadian born  United States professor of chemical engineering and noted rheologist.

Life
Metzner was born 13 April 1927 in Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan and grew up in Barrhead, Alberta. He gained a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Alberta in 1948 and a doctorate Sc.D from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1951.  He joined the faculty of University of Delaware in 1953 and remained there until his retirement in 1993.  He became a full professor in 1961, and in 1991 the H. Fletcher Brown Professor of Chemical Engineering, which title he held emeritus until his death. He died on 4 May 2006, survived by his wife, Elisabeth.

Work
Metzner realised that conventional theories of heat and mass transfer  were very poor in designing many industrial processes with non-Newtonian fluids, and set about producing new design methods. His work had direct industrial relevance to the processing of composite materials, polymer processing, and fiber spinning. His studies of fluid mechanics produced the Otto-Metzner correlation for power consumption in mixing of non-Newtonian fluids  and the White-Metzner equation for stress which is used in computational fluid dynamics for polymer processing.  He was also renowned as an educator.

Honours and awards
Metzner was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and received awards from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Society for Engineering Education, the American Chemical Society and in 1977 the Bingham Medal from the Society of Rheology.

References

University of Delaware Daily, October 10, 2006 In Memoriam: Arthur B. Metzner

1927 births
2006 deaths
People from Barrhead, Alberta
People from Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan
Canadian chemical engineers
Rheologists
Canadian emigrants to the United States

Arthur B. Metzner


Shropshire Blue is a cow's milk cheese made in the United Kingdom.

History
The cheese was first made in the 1970s at the Castle Stuart dairy in Inverness, Scotland by Andy Williamson, a cheesemaker who had trained in the making of Stilton cheese in Nottinghamshire. The cheese was first known as 'Inverness-shire Blue' or 'Blue Stuart', but was eventually marketed as 'Shropshire Blue', a name chosen to help increase its popularity, despite it having no link to the county of Shropshire.

An alternative claim to the first production of the cheese, from the Shropshire-based company Westry Roberts, suggests that the cheese originated in the county that it bears the name of in the 1970s; an archived article from 1977 would appear to back up this claim.

A variant, called Ludlow Blue, is now also being made in the county of Shropshire in a small artisan dairy. Ludlow Blue uses carotene as a colouring agent rather than annatto, which makes the colour more yellow.

Description

Shropshire Blue is a blue cheese made from pasteurised cows' milk and uses vegetable rennet. The orange colour comes from the addition of annatto, a natural food colouring. Penicillium roqueforti produces the veining.

The cheese has a deep orange-brown, natural rind and matures for a period of 10–12 weeks with a fat content of about 48 per cent. Made in a similar way to Stilton, it is a soft cheese with a sharp, strong flavour and a slightly tangy aroma. It is slightly sour but sharper than Stilton and generally creamier.

See also
 List of British cheeses

References

External nills

Shropshire Cheese
The Acton Arms, Morville

Shropshire Cheese

English cheeses
Cow's-milk cheeses
Blue cheeses
Scottish cheeses

Shropshire Blue


The music of El Salvador refers to the Music of the Republic of El Salvador and is encompassed in the wider Latin American musical traditions.

During the colonial period, El Salvador's music began to be influenced by various ethnic groups involved in the colonization process.

Music instruments that are present in El Salvador are Native American Pan-Indianism instruments such as Native American flute and drums. El Salvador has an American indigenous population which includes the Lenca, Pipil and Mayan people.

European colonizers brought instruments, like the guitar, pedal steel guitar, fanfare trumpet and piano.

When African slaves were brought to El Salvador, they introduced instruments like the xylophone, güira and mbira.

A sizeable Arab migration that arrived into El Salvador in late 19th and early 20th century, from mainly Lebanese people and Palestinian Salvadorans brought Arab instruments like oud, ney, goblet drum and qanun (instrument).

Roman Catholic religious contemporary Catholic liturgical music instrument such as tubular bells, pipe organ, and glass harmonica are also present.

Modern Salvadoran indigenous music is inspired by ambient music, soundscape, ambient synthesizer, and space music, while Salvadoran Roman Catholic music is influenced by monastery chorus Latin choir Gregorian chant music. This music includes religious songs (mostly Roman Catholic) used to celebrate Christmas and other holidays, especially feast days of the saints with tubular bell chimes. Satirical and rural lyrical themes are common and played with xylophone.

Popular styles in modern El Salvador include Salvadoran cumbia, rock and native Mesoamerican Indigenous music which historically have had a long and large significance and impact to modern El Salvador music styles.

Folk music

Musical repertoire consists of xuc, danza, pasillo, marcha and canciones. The Xylophone is a representative folk music instrument. Some of the most well known songs are "El Carbonero" and "El Torito Pinto".

Marimba is one of the traditional folk music styles performed in El Salvador and was first introduced by African slaves. Two versions, of the percussion instrument that has intonations like a piano, the marimba de arco, which was played with a bow, and the marimba criolla were introduced. A coup d'état in 1932 resulted in the massacre of around 30,000 people and destruction of both the indigenous population and the original marimba de arco. The modern version of the instrument is a three octave marimba de arco and the music is always instrumental. The heyday of marimba in El Salvador was from the 1920s to 1930s when musicians played internationally, but because the instrument could be adapted to other styles, it remained popular until rock came on the scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1990, a revival of the indigenous music began.

Marimba Centroamericana was one of the marimba bands popular in El Salvador and abroad. The first radio station in El Salvador, which was government-owned, played waltz, foxtrot, rancheras, sones, and songos, along with tangos. El Salvadoran musicians created their own versions of these styles. Another early marimba band was Marimba Atlacatl, founded by Francisco Antonio Beltran in 1917. He toured the world in the 1930s, and in 1935, won an award, presented by the Prince of Wales and his fiancée Wallis Simpson, at the Palm Beach Casino on the Azul Coast of France.

Music of Northern El Salvador
Northern El Salvador is composed of the departments of Chalatenango, Cabañas, Morazán and the northern parts of Santa Ana (e.g., Metapán), San Miguel (e.g., Cd. Barrios) and La Unión (e.g., Nueva Esparta) as well as the town of Suchitoto in the department of Cuscatlán. Northern El Salvador or la Franja Norte is characterized by its mountainous and cool terrain as well as being an area of heavy European settlement and as a result a large majority of the people who inhabit the Northern Region (especially Chalatenango, Metapán, and Morazán) are light-skinned people with colored eyes. The impact they've had on the local culture has been great and the music of Northern El Salvador clearly reflects the European influence in the area.

Chanchona Music

Music from the northern department of Morazán is lively and upbeat with simple lyrics that describe country life, love, and working in the fields. It usually consists of a double bass (chanchona in Salvadoran Spanish, a local word for a female hog, due to its sow-like appearance), two guitars, and two violins. Nowadays, congas and cowbells are added to the mix to produce sounds similar to cumbias. Chanchona music is popular in Eastern El Salvador and it is present there in most of their civic parades and religious holidays. Popular chanchona acts include: la Chanchona de Tito Mira, la Chanchona de Arcadio, Rayos de Oriente, Sonora Santa Marta, and Los Torogoces de Morazán.

Zafacaite

In the northern department of Chalatenango a popular form of music and fandango-type-of-dance was called zafacaite. The term is a compound word composed of the word zafa, from zafar(to loosen) and caite— a Salvadoran term for shoes. It was called so because of the fast and intricate foot stepping down when dancing the music that tended to make ones shoes fly off. The music consisted of a duo or trio playing a guitar, accordion, and violin or sometimes just an accordion and violin but always to a fast-paced rhythm. Popular songs and dances included "La Raspa" ("The Scrape") and "El Levanta Polvo" ("The Dust Lifter").

Native American indigenous music

Inspired by Ambient music, Indigenous music is influenced by the Native American indigenous Lenca, Cacaopera, and Pipil of El Salvador, and especially the Mayan people of the Mesoamerican region in Central America, are a staple in Salvadoran music. Many indigenous music groups such as (Talticpac), have risen in El Salvador, especially after the civil war. Many groups get inspiration from native indigenous music or themes from South and North American.

Salvadoran marching bands

School and military marching bands are a staple in El Salvador and it is a vital and crucial part of Salvadoran youth culture, whether in town or cities. Salvadoran marching bands are present in any kind of Salvadoran events, celebrations, and even in small activities, they become present along with their (cachiporristas) cheerleaders. Marching bands are a representative of Salvadoran culture and tradition, music tunes will include anything from national anthem, folkloric music to dance music like cumbia.

Marching bands in El Salvador were once called "war bands". After the peace accords that ended the civil war were signed, the named was changed to "peace bands". The Salvadoran marching bands have even made international appearances in events such as the Rose Parade in the U.S city of Pasadena in New Years, the first time in 2008 and the most recent in 2013, where the Salvadoran marching bands of boys and girls have been able to embrace their talents to the world.

Salvadoran Civil War songs
Salvadoran Civil War songs located in the nueva cancion movement and genre, have been very popular since the 1970- to present day. They were broadcast through Radio Venceremos station and appealed to the majority of the peasant Salvadoran population. One of the most well known songs is "El Salvador ta venciendo" by Yolocamba Ita, as well as American songs like "U.S get out of El Salvador" dedicated to the U.S. involvement.

Salvadoran cumbia
Salvadoran cumbia is a staple in Salvadoran music. Groups such as Orquesta San Vicente who sing (Soy Salvadoreño), the Bravo group who sing (Sabrosa Cumbia) and the Hermanos Flores group who sing (Mi Pais) are three well known cumbia music groups in El Salvador.

Salvadoran rock and hip hop/rap
Rock and hip hop are very well established music genres in Salvadoran culture. Salvadoran rock has a longer history dating back before the civil war while Salvadoran hip hop arrived after the civil war and it is seen as a legacy of the Salvadoran exodus, diaspora, immigration and deportation from the United States, especially from cities such as Los Angeles and Washington D.C. Joaquin Santos, Crooked Stilo and Code Blue are just some of the most well known Salvadoran hip hop groups.

Foreign rock bands from the U.S and other parts of the world are also very welcomed and listened in El Salvador. Many foreign rock groups dedicated songs to El Salvador and the Salvadoran people during the civil war, songs such as "Bullet the Blue Sky" by U2, "El Salvador" by White Lion, and "Weapons for El Salvador" by The Ex were all inspired by the U.S. involvement in the El Salvador War.

Popular music and instruments

Popular music in El Salvador uses xylophones, tubular bells, fanfare trumpets, guitars, double bass, harmonica, glass harmonica, pianos, flutes, drums, scrapers, gourds, and theremin. Indigenous instruments such as drum and flutes are a standard in all Salvadoran music used as a solidarity with El Salvador indigenous ancestry. "El Sombrero Azul," for example, is a cumbia song by Salsa Clave which starts with an indigenous tune. Tubular bells are a cue for El Salvador's Christianity and majestic fanfare trumpets for El Salvador's national pride, the national anthem itself start off with majestic fanfare trumpets.

Music from Colombia mainly and other Caribbean, South American and Central American music has infiltrated the country, especially salsa and cumbia. For example, the famous La Sonora Dinamita is a Colombian cumbia group with one Salvadoran vocalist (Susana Velasques). As one of the first Cumbia groups to reach international success, it is credited with helping to popularize the genre throughout Latin America, and the world.

Political chaos tore the country apart in the early 20th century, and music was often suppressed, especially those with strong native influences.  In the 1940s, for example, it was decreed that a dance called "Xuc" was to be the "national dance" which was created and led by Paquito Palaviccini's and his "Orquesta Internacional Polio." That was one of the many orchestras he led during and in the mid-1940s, his other hit was known throughout the country. "Carnaval En San Miguel" was commonly known to the whole country as the first Salvadoran band that went on to receive numerous awards in the years to come. Paquito Palaviccini, being known throughout Central and South America, made tours to Cuba, Buenos Aires, where Paquito Studied, and other Latin American countries.

The inspiration came to Paquito to develop the "Xuc" and "El Baile del Torito" in a tour they had in Cuba. The 1960s saw an influx of American and British pop and rock, inspiring like-minded Salvadoran bands, while the following two decades were dominated by a wave of popular genres from across Latin America, mostly folk-based singer-songwriter genres like Chile and Nueva Canción. This new type of Salvadoran rock music was called "Guanarock" (portmanteau of Guanaco, a nickname demonym slang Salvadorans use to refer to themselves which comes from the word Guanacasco which means "gathering brotherhood" in Poton Lenca Mesoamerican language, and rock), which inspired bands such as Ayutush.

Dominican merengue and bachata also became very popular. In the last ten years, hip hop and reggaeton has influenced the majority of the Salvadoran youth, which has formed groups like Pescozada and Mecate. Also former Reggaeton producers like Wilfredo Rivas (Dj Emsy) and Jose Castaneda (Mambo King) who had worked with vary of famous Reggaeton and Hip hop artists such as: Dj Flex, Cheka, The Black Eyed Peas, Nicky Jam, El Torito and many others.

Salvadoran cumbia is related to but very distinct from Colombian cumbia, which is better known outside of El Salvador. Chanchona ensembles, led by a pair or a single violin, are popular, especially among the immigrant community in the Washington D.C. area.

Alternative music

El Salvador has prominent heavy metal, reggae, ska, dubstep, punk and electronic dance scenes due to its prolific local bands and venues; and the recent increase in local concerts by international bands that include San Salvador as a frequent destination in their international tours. Anastasio y los del Monte was widely lauded for bringing reggae to El Salvador.

Art music
The main composer of the 19th century was José Escolástico Andrino (born in Guatemala). Wenceslao García was the first native composer. Important military bands composers and arrangers include Jesús Alas, Alejandro Muñoz and Domingo Santos. María de Baratta was an important ethnomusicologist and composer in the 20th century.

Notable Salvadoran musicians
Erick Gudiel Saxofonista
Ricardo Cabrera Martínez
David Granadino
Carlos Irigoyen Ruiz
Juan Isolino Rosa
Ciriaco de Jesús Alas
Francisco "Pancho" Lara
Francisco Palaviccini
Esteban Servellón
Benjamín Solís Menéndez
Mario Roberto Zuñiga
Alex Panamá
German Cáceres

References

Afromestizo: The Third Root – African Heritage of Central America

External links

El sitio de musica de El Salvador (The El Salvador Music Site) – Spanish
Cantante Salvadorena Roxana Damas
Electronic music from El Salvador
Erick Gudiel - Saxofonista El Salvador

Salvadoran music

Music of El Salvador


The Eighth Army was a field army of the British Army during the Second World War. It was formed as the Western Army on 10 September 1941, in Egypt, before being renamed the Army of the Nile and then the Eighth Army on 26 September. It was created the better to control the growing Allied forces based in Egypt and to direct their efforts to lift the siege of Tobruk via Operation Crusader.

It later directed Allied forces through the remaining engagements of the Western Desert campaign, oversaw part of the Allied effort during the Tunisian campaign and finally led troops throughout the Italian campaign. During 1943, it made up part of the 18th Army Group before being assigned to the 15th Army Group (later, the Allied Armies in Italy).

Throughout its campaigns, it was a multi-national force and its units came from Australia, British India, Canada, Czechoslovakia, the Free French Forces, Greece, New Zealand, Poland, Rhodesia, South Africa, Mauritius, as well as the United Kingdom. Significant formations that the army controlled included the British V, X, XIII, and XXX Corps, as well as the I Canadian Corps and the II Polish Corps.

Background
The Suez Canal in Egypt, was seen as a vital link of the British Empire connecting Britain with its colonial possessions in the Far East, especially British India. It also held economic and prestigious importance. To maintain this, Egypt was occupied in 1882 and a protectorate was subsequently established. During the inter-war period, the Middle East and the canal gained further importance as oil production expanded and as aerial links between Britain and British India were developed. In 1935, British policy shifted to view Italy as the principle threat towards British interests in the Middle East, due to their colonial ambitions as well as their military build-up and the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. The Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936 followed, before tensions simmered with a joint declaration, on 2 January 1937, by Italy and Britain to maintain the status quo around the Mediterranean. Relations quickly deteriorated and British reinforcements were dispatched to Egypt. Troops were moved from near Cairo and from the canal zone to Mersa Matruh,  west of Alexandria in the Western Desert, to be in a position to protect Egypt from an Italian invasion from their Libyan colony.

On 10 June 1940, Italy entered the Second World War. Later in the year, between 13 and 16 September, Italy conducted the Italian invasion of Egypt. A counterattack, Operation Compass, took place in December, which destroyed the Italian 10th Army and captured the Libyan province of Cyrenaica. The attack was undertaken by the Western Desert Force, which was renamed XIII Corps after the conclusion of the operation. After Operation Sonnenblume the dispatch of Axis reinforcements to Africa, Italo-German forces riposted in March 1941, which drove the main British body into Egypt and destroyed part of the 2nd Armoured Division. A sizeable Australian force was surrounded in the Libyan port of Tobruk. This led to the siege of Tobruk and required the bulk of the German and Italian troops to maintain and hindered further large Axis offensive operations. On 15 May, Operation Brevity was launched as British troops, from inside Egypt, attacked towards the Egyptian–Libyan border area. This minor effort failed to meet its objectives and ended the following day. Operation Skorpion a small German counterattack, at the end of the month, recaptured the ground lost during Brevity. Operation Battleaxe, which started on 15 June, was a determined two-day effort to advance from Egypt and lift the siege of Tobruk. Italian-German forces repulsed the assault and no terrain was gained. Geopolitical considerations followed, as pressure built on the British commanders to launch a new offensive to break the siege. These took account of the majority of the German military being involved in Operation Barbarossa the invasion of the Soviet Union and the need to show that British forces were doing their part in bringing about the defeat of the Axis powers. Closer to the front and after months of political debate, it was decided that the Australian garrison in Tobruk had to be relieved. This took place between September and October, as the Australians were gradually replaced by the British 70th Infantry Division which was shipped into the port.

History

Formation

During 1941, XIII Corps was the primary British formation in Egypt. The process of forming a second, initially known as the Armoured Corps before being renamed XXX Corps (this corps would not become active until October 1941), had also started. Due to the increased size of the British forces in Egypt and the forming second corps, it was decided in September 1941, that a field army headquarters was needed to direct these formations. On 10 September, the Western Army headquarters was established in Cairo. The name was subsequently changed to the Army of the Nile, before being changed to the Eighth Army on 26 September. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, sometimes referred to the army as the Western Desert Force.

Churchill suggested General Henry Maitland Wilson for command of the army but the final decision was left in the hands of General Sir Claude Auchinleck the GOC Middle East Command who oversaw all British-led forces in the region. Auchinleck selected Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham, who had led the British effort from Kenya during the East African campaign. On 29 August 1941, due to the success he had achieved, he was ordered to Egypt to take command of the forming Eighth Army, which he did on 24 September. The Eighth Army was responsible for operations in the Western Desert and was supported by the existing command, British Troops in Egypt, that controlled the lines of communication, the Egyptian anti-aircraft defences and internal security behind the front.

The 7th Armoured Division, which formed part of the army, was nicknamed the Desert Rats after the Jerboa, their choice of mascot and insignia. George Forty, a historian who has written about the division, commented that the fame of the 7th Armoured Division resulted in its nickname being "loosely attached to any member of the forces who served in the Western Desert". Robin Neillands, in his work on the Eighth Army, wrote "It is worth pointing out here that the term 'Desert Rat', though often used to describe any soldier of the Desert Army or the men who fought in Tobruk – the Australians have a 'Rats of Tobruk' Association – should strictly be applied only to the men of the British 7th Armoured Division".

Crusader to Gazala

One of the first tasks undertaken by the Eighth Army, with X Corps (Lieutenant-General William Holmes) that had recently arrived in Egypt, was to conduct preliminary work on defensive positions at El Alamein. This lasted until late October, when the corps moved to Syria and British Troops in Egypt took over responsibility. From his appointment, Cunningham closely worked with Auchinleck to formulate the Crusader plan, which was to retake Cyrenaica and lift the siege of Tobruk. The Eighth Army established forward supply bases, field maintenance centres and constructed a  pipeline to provide water. On 18 November, the battle commenced. It saw the 118,000 men and 738 tanks of the Eighth Army, the main force coming from Egypt and also including the Tobruk garrison, engage the Italian-German force of 119,000 men and 552 tanks. The fighting started on 18 November and Crusader achieved its objectives by the end of the year.

On 25 November, after a German counterattack into Egypt during Crusader had been repulsed, Cunningham was dismissed by Auchinleck. His replacement was Auchinleck's deputy chief of the general staff, Major-General Neil Ritchie, who was chosen due to his familiarity with the Crusader plan. The official history of the campaign recorded that the decision was made due to Auchinleck perceiving Cunningham as being too defensive minded. This resulted in a loss of confidence over his "ability to press to the bitter end the offensive he had been ordered to continue". Evan McGilvray and Philip Warner, historians who have written about Auchinleck, added additional factors such as Auchinleck's concern that Cunningham was stressed, exhausted and had problems with his sight that would require time away from command. Michael Carver, who fought in the battle and was later a field marshal and historian, concurred with the health assessment. He also noted that while Cunningham was "an imaginative choice", it was later clear his "appointment was a mistake" due to his lack of experience and confidence in the mobile requirements of the fighting in North Africa. Neillands highlighted that Ritchie was thrust into a position where he, a major-general, was now charged with overseeing those who outranked him. This was compounded by a lack of experience in controlling formations or desert fighting and that for the ten-day period after his appointment, Auchinleck remained at Eighth Army headquarters and was effectively in command.

Following Crusader, Ritchie and Auchinleck planned Operation Acrobat, an attack to capture the remainder of Italian Libya, Tripolitania (potentially in conjunction with an Allied landing in French Morocco). In late January 1942, the Axis forces counterattacked. Ritchie initially dismissed the seriousness of the Axis move and Auchinleck deemed it wiser to yield some territory while the Eighth Army continued to build its logistical base for Acrobat. The 1st Armoured Division bore the brunt of the attack and was pushed back, while it covered the retreat of the remainder of the Eighth Army to Gazala where it established a defensive line. In February, Lieutenant-General Reade Godwin-Austen, the commander XIII Corps, tendered his resignation as he believed Ritchie had ignored his advice during the retreat. At Gazala, Ritchie planned a new offensive while supply bases were established and work was conducted to lengthen the supporting railroads into Libya. Auchinleck informed his superiors in the UK, that there was no timetable for such an attack, it would have to wait until sufficient tank strength had been established. A policy was also adopted that if forced to retreat, there would be no repeat of the siege of Tobruk. The same month, due to the Japanese entry into the war in December 1941, the 70th Infantry Division was withdrawn from the Eighth Army and sent to Asia. A warning that additional troops could be removed loomed over the army. Political pressure mounted for the Eighth Army to launch an offensive, which would support Malta and defeat the Axis powers in Africa prior to development of any potential Japanese threat to the Middle East and the army's supply lines; supply convoys ran from the UK, around the Cape of Good Hope, and then through the Indian Ocean to the Middle East.

In May, an Axis attack on the Eighth Army was expected although an optimistic attitude was held that it would be repulsed, and the Italian-German defeat would allow for the capture of the remainder of Cyrenaica. The Battle of Gazala started on 26 May and resulted in a defeat for the Eighth Army. This included the Axis capture of Tobruk and 32,000 men (following a last-minute change in plans and the establishment of a garrison that included the 2nd South African Infantry Division) and the Eighth Army was forced to retreat. Carver argued that Ritchie was not responsible for the loss of the battle, that was shouldered by his subordinates "for the dilatory fashion in which they exercised command". Niall Barr, who wrote about the desert fighting in 1942, stated that Richie was to slow to react at key moments and that his "passivity doomed Bir Hakeim to slow strangulation and capture", which contributed to the defeat. The official history explained this was the result of Auchinleck's influence over the Eighth Army and Ritchie. The latter, with no experience in desert warfare or command, retained the mentality of his prior positions rather than asserting his own authority and consulted with Auchinleck before taking action. This position is echoed by David French, who noted that Richie's subordinates believed Auchinleck held sway, that their orders came directly from Auchinleck without Richie making changes based on local conditions; Ritchie held lengthy conferences that did not deliver precise instructions. The Eighth Army retreated into Egypt with the intent to rebuild. Barr noted that this could have worked, had the Italian-German forces maintained their strategy of Operation Herkules, the capture of Malta. Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel, commander of the Panzer Army Africa, made the decision to pursue the Eighth Army, which turned the retreat into a rout and made any attempt to fight a delaying battle on the frontier impossible. As the army retreated further, Ritchie was determined to fight the final battle of the campaign at Mersa Matruh.

Retreat into Egypt

On 25 June, Auchinleck decided to take direct control of the Eighth Army; a move that was supported by Churchill, who had called for such a change before Gazala. This also saw the rise in prominence of Major-General Eric Dorman-Smith, Auchinleck's Middle East Command chief of staff. While Auchinleck and Dorman-Smith had a close working relationship and understood one another, the latter held an unofficial position within the Eighth Army. He produced battle plans that Auchinleck used but was under no responsibility to inform other members of the headquarters of these ideas. Auchinleck froze out members of the army's headquarters in favour of Dorman-Smith, resulting in confusion and animosity within the headquarters and with other officers.

Auchinleck decided that a final battle would not take place at Mersa Matruh and ordered the reorganisation of the Eighth Army's divisions. He wanted them split between forward and rear elements. The former would contain one infantry brigade and all of the divisional artillery. They were to be mobile enough to allow independent operations back and forth across the desert, while the rear element would contain the remainder of the infantry that could not be motorised and would take up static positions. This was initially intended to be along the Libyan–Egyptian frontier, before they were directed to El Alamein to dig-in. Ian Playfair, the author of the official history, highlighted that British doctrine stated that during a retreat, a running battle was to be avoided and thus Auchinleck's changes – in the midst of a retreat and fighting – went against establish practice. Lieutenant-General Bernard Freyberg, commander of the 2nd New Zealand Division, was able to resist Auchinleck's desired changes as his division was politically protected; any change required the consent of the New Zealand government.

On 14 June, X Corps was ordered from Syria to reinforce the Eighth Army. It assembled near Mersa Matruh on 22 June and handed over the tanks of the 8th Armoured Brigade to the 1st Armoured Division; the brigade was sent to the canal area to rebuild. Four days later, the Battle of Mersa Matruh began. While there were some tactical successes, by the evening of the next day, the Eighth Army started to withdraw. Due to communication breakdowns and tactical changes, the New Zealand Division was surrounded and had to fight its way out. X Corps was out of radio contact and were not informed of the withdrawal until 28 June, when they were able to escape although due to the loss of equipment and unit cohesion its divisions were in need of rest and refitting following the battle.

The battles of El Alamein

By 30 June, the vanguard of the Axis forces made contact with the Eighth Army at El Alamein. This new position offered a stronger defensive position, with its northern flank protected by the Mediterranean coast and by the Qattara Depression impassable salt marshes  inland. While preliminary defensive work had taken place, which included the creation of a water pipeline and the laying of minefields, it was not until the arrival of the bulk of the Eighth Army that major improvements were made. While Auchinleck intended to stop the Axis offensive here, contingency plans were drawn up to conduct a fighting withdrawal to the Suez Canal. A scorched earth policy was considered and dismissed but a list of targets to be destroyed in the event of a retreat was established. These included communication, power, transport and storage facilities, as well as oil installations and supplies. Flooding of the Nile delta was also considered, as a last resort and after a position beyond the Suez Canal had been established. Over the course of July, the Eighth Army fought the First Battle of El Alamein during which the Axis attacks were halted but Auchinleck's counter-attacks were also stopped. The campaign official history noted that following the final failed counter-attack, "Auchinleck then decided that he must make a long pause to rest, reorganize, and re-train his sadly battered army". In late July, Auchinleck appointed Brigadier Freddie de Guingand as the army chief of staff.

The fighting in North Africa had caused concern with the British public and in the United States where Churchill had just visited to conduct the Second Washington Conference. This meeting finalized Allied policy for the following two years, there would be no Operation Sledgehammer a landing in German-occupied France and Operation Torch, a landing in French North Africa, was authorized to be conducted before the end of 1942. Case Blue the German advance into Caucasus as well as the Japanese threat influenced Auchinleck's thinking on the disposition of his theatre-wide forces, including the Eighth Army. The Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Alan Brooke and Churchill arrived in Egypt in July, en route to Moscow. They emphasised the need to defeat the Axis forces in Egypt and Libya, as this would allow troops to be transferred elsewhere in the Middle East if German or Japanese forces prevailed on the other fronts. In a private meeting between Auchinleck, Dorman-Smith and Churchill, Auchinleck stated a new offensive was not possible until at least September and overruled suggestions of immediate small-scale attacks. After visits to several Eighth Army divisions and meetings with various high-ranking officers, Churchill decided to make changes on 6 August. This included replacing Auchinleck with General Harold Alexander as commander-in-chief of Middle East Command, Dorman-Smith being sent back to Britain and the decision to appoint a new Eighth Army commander. Brooke suggested Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery, but Churchill preferred Lieutenant-General William Gott, who had been in action from the start of the Western Desert campaign. On the following day, Gott was killed after his aircraft was shot down while travelling to Cairo. Barr and Playfair both argue that Gott was worn out from the prolonged campaign and would not have been the person to rejuvenate the Eighth Army. Montgomery arrived and assumed command on 15 August. Alexander and Montgomery made sweeping changes to commands, reversed Auchinleck's changes to the divisions, and took action to rebuild the morale of the troops. The various changes were dubbed the "fortnight of confusion" by Dorman-Smith.

Barr highlighted that the "fortnight of confusion" has generally been overstated and the Eighth Army was rather unscathed by the command changes. While it was a political necessity for Montgomery to distance himself from his predecessors, planning that Auchinleck, Dorman-Smith, Gott and de Guingand (who retained his position) had developed for defensive and offensive operations were retained and laid the groundwork for the following two battles at el Alamein. To address morale, Montgomery made a determined and deliberate effort to appeal to the troops. He delivered pep talks to groups of soldiers, was open to discuss policy with the rank and file and used these opportunities to disperse the Rommel myth. In August, the Eighth Army established its first medical center for soldiers suffering from battle exhaustion, where they could rest for short periods. Churchill returned to Egypt in late August, following the Moscow conference and spent two days with the Eighth Army culminating with his report that there had been "a complete change of atmosphere" within the army. At the end of August and stretching into September, the Eighth Army defeated the next Axis offensive, the Battle of Alam el Halfa. This was followed, in November, by the Eighth Army's offensive, the Second Battle of El Alamein that resulted in the Axis defeat and a pursuit across Libya to Tunisia.

Tunisian campaign
After the chase across Libya, the Eighth Army engaged in the Battle of the Mareth Line on the Tunisian border in February 1943, where it then came under the control of 18th Army Group. The army outflanked the Mareth defences in March 1943 and after further fighting alongside the First Army, the other 18th Army Group component, which had been conducting the Tunisian campaign since November 1942, the Axis forces in North Africa surrendered in May 1943.

Italian Campaign

The Eighth Army then participated in the Italian Campaign which began with the Allied invasion of the island of Sicily, code-named Operation Husky. When the Allies subsequently invaded mainland Italy, elements of the Eighth Army landed in the 'toe' of Italy in Operation Baytown and at Taranto in Operation Slapstick. After linking its left flank with the U.S. Fifth Army, led by General Mark W. Clark, which had landed at Salerno on the west coast of Italy south of Naples, the Eighth Army continued fighting its way up Italy on the eastern flank of the Allied forces. Together these two armies made up the Allied Armies in Italy (later redesigned 15th Army Group, under General Sir Harold Alexander.

At the end of 1943, General Montgomery was transferred to Britain to begin preparations for Operation Overlord. Command of the Eighth Army was given to Lieutenant-General Oliver Leese, previously the commander of XXX Corps, which was being returned to England.

Following three unsuccessful attempts in early 1944 by the U.S. Fifth Army to break through the German defensive positions known to the Allies as the Winter Line, the Eighth Army was covertly switched from the Adriatic coast in April 1944 to concentrate all forces, except the V Corps, on the western side of the Apennine Mountains alongside the U.S. Fifth Army in order to mount a major offensive with them. This fourth Battle of Monte Cassino was successful with the Eighth Army breaking into central Italy and the Fifth Army entering Rome in early June.

After the Allied capture of Rome, the Eighth Army continued the fight northwards through central Italy to capture Florence. The end of the summer campaign found Allied forces butting up against the Gothic Line. The Eighth Army returned to the Adriatic coast and succeeded in forcing the Gothic line defences, but ultimately the Allied forces could not break into the Po valley before the onset of winter forced an end to serious offensive operations. During October, Leese was reassigned to South East Asia Command, and Lieutenant-General Sir Richard L. McCreery, who had previously commanded X Corps, replaced him.

The final offensive in Italy saw the Eighth Army back in action. Working in conjunction with the U.S. Fifth Army, now commanded by Lucian K. Truscott, on its left flank, it cut off and destroyed, (during April), large parts of the opposing Army Group C defending Bologna and then made a rapid advance through northeast Italy and into Austria. Problems occurred where British and Yugoslavian forces met. Josip Broz Tito's forces were intent on securing control of the area of Venezia Giulia. They arrived before British forces and were very active in trying to prevent the establishment of military government in the manner that had applied to most of the rest of Italy. They even went as far as to restrict supplies through to the British zone of occupation in Austria and tried to take over part of that country as well. On 2 May 1945, the 2nd New Zealand Division of the Eighth Army liberated Trieste, and that same day, the Yugoslav Fourth Army, together with Slovene 9th Corpus NOV entered the town. During the fighting on the Italian Front the Eighth Army had, from 3 September 1943 until 2 May 1945, suffered 123,254 casualties.

Aftermath
At the end of the war, the army moved into Austria and became part of the Allied-occupation force. On 29 July 1945, the army was disbanded and its forces were used to form the command British Troops Austria. The new command maintained the gold crusader cross insignia of the Eighth Army.

General officer commanding

Veterans
After the war, veterans from the Eighth Army organized Annual Reunions at the Royal Albert Hall. Then, in the late 1970s, the Eighth Army Veterans Association was formed. At the height of its membership, there were over 35 branches, with a particular strength in the North West of the UK.

Order of battle
 Crusader
 Gazala
 Alam el Halfa
 Second Battle of El Alamein
 Mareth Line
 Wadi Akarit
 Invasion of Sicily
 Invasion of Italy
 Second Battle of Monte Cassino
 Diadem
 Moro River Campaign
 Gothic Line
 1945 Spring offensive

See also
 British military history of World War II
 Jewish Brigade
 John Whiteley
 William Ramsden
 The Third Man

Notes
 Footnotes

 Citations

References

External links

 A personal account of the 8th Army
 Eighth Army Deeds

Military units and formations established in 1941
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
1941 establishments in the United Kingdom
1945 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
08
08
Military units and formations of the British Empire in World War II

Eighth Army (United Kingdom)


Barnesmore Gap () is a mountain pass or gap (elevation 117 m) situated in the Bluestack Mountains, County Donegal, Ireland.  The main Donegal to Ballybofey road, the N15, and route of the former County Donegal Railway run through Barnesmore gap, acting as the main route between south and north Donegal. It is an area of complex geology, but its main feature is  granite formed in the Devonian period, 400million years ago.  The gap held glaciers in the Last Glacial Period  flowing to the Atlantic through what is now Donegal Bay, up to about 13000 years ago.

The narrow gauge railway line was originally the West Donegal Railway  which subsequently became part of the network managed by the  County Donegal Railways Joint Committee. The company pioneered the use of diesel rail-cars which ran through the gap up to the late 1950s, connecting Stranorlar in the east to Donegal Town, and through to Killybegs in the west.

References

Geography of County Donegal
Mountain passes of Ireland

Barnesmore Gap


Microsoft Solitaire Collection is a video game developed by Microsoft Casual Games  and published by Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Windows. It combines the Solitaire, FreeCell and Spider Solitaire titles that were included with previous versions of Windows. It also introduces Pyramid and TriPeaks to Windows for the first time, as well as new daily challenges and themes (though an older version of Pyramid was previously bundled in Microsoft Entertainment Pack 2 under the name "Tut's Tomb", and an older version of TriPeaks was previously bundled in Microsoft Entertainment Pack 3; both made the cut for Microsoft Entertainment Pack). Unlike the games included in Windows 7 and earlier versions, Microsoft Solitaire Collection is freemium adware with Xbox Live integration.

The app's hub-based design was originally inspired by the design for Windows 8's Start screen in 2012. At the time, the developers considered the game a tool for helping users become more familiar with Windows 8. Unlike its predecessors, Microsoft Solitaire Collection is updated via the Microsoft Store and communicates with a Microsoft server in order to track achievements and offer daily challenges.

Overview
Microsoft Solitaire Collection, designed by Microsoft Studios and developed by Smoking Gun Interactive (formerly Arkadium and Next Level Games), includes Klondike (classic Solitaire), Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid, and TriPeaks game modes, as well as daily challenges. The default theme is similar to the default theme for card games in Windows Vista and 7, but the other themes are different. It is also possible for users to create their own custom themes. Other new features include in-game music, cloud syncing, and Xbox Live integration. The hidden debug menu from classic card apps is no longer present, and the drop-down menus have been replaced with a universal hamburger menu and in-game hint and undo buttons at the bottom of the screen. (The Windows 8 version used the hidden Charms bar instead of the visible hamburger menu.)

When a player wins a game, the game will randomly select a card animation based on animations from previous versions of Windows card games. The app has a dedicated page for statistics on Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid, TriPeaks, Daily Challenge, and Star Club.

Microsoft Solitaire Collection was first made available for free download in Windows 8's Windows Store. Despite solitaire games previously being included in Windows for free since 1990, they were not included in Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 and were uninstalled during upgrades from previous systems. Instead, Microsoft produced the advertising-supported Microsoft Solitaire Collection that users could download through the Windows Store. As a Windows Runtime app, it ran in fullscreen or in Windows 8's snapped mode, so it was designed to run in a variety of horizontal sizes but always stretch vertically across the entire screen.

The Windows 10 version was introduced to Windows 10 beta testers preinstalled with the system in build 10061, in time to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Microsoft Solitaire. Some customization features were not included until after the initial public release of Windows 10. The developers noted the delay was due to major code changes that happened during the development of Windows 10. The Windows 10 version was designed to scale dynamically both vertically and horizontally. The main page's layout was rearranged to use vertical scrolling rather than horizontal scrolling.

Since the original "Microsoft Solitaire" was Klondike solitaire but did not use the Klondike branding, some users were unaware it was Klondike. The Microsoft Casual Games team reportedly received frequent feedback to "Bring back the game mode from Windows 7" even though they already did. To address user confusion and help users find this game, the developers replaced the large polar bear on the Klondike tile with a Klondike deck and the words "Classic Solitaire".

Microsoft Solitaire Collection was made available for iOS and Android in August 2016 to beta testers in the Microsoft Casual Games Inner Circle. It was made publicly available on these platforms on November 23, 2016. Most iOS solitaire apps are integrated with Apple's Game Center, but this one is exclusively integrated into Microsoft's ecosystem. Since these versions integrate directly with the cloud service, it is not necessary to have the Xbox app installed on an iOS or Android device in order to sync data and achievements.

On the same day, a news bulletin launched from the app into a web browser announced that the Events feature would be publicly available in December 2016.

Advertisement controversy
The five basic game modes contain ads, displayed at the end of each game, and there are new features added in Windows 8 (Daily Challenges and Star Club) where users will see interstitial video ads roughly every 15 minutes, but only between games. Users can optionally pay $1.99/month or $14.99/year to get the Premium Edition of the game, which removes all advertisements, gives double coins for completing Daily Challenges and gives some bonuses in the basic TriPeaks and Pyramid game modes. Users who downloaded the iOS or Android app between November 23 and December 31, 2016, were given a month of Premium on that iOS or Android device.

Gizmodo characterized the change as a way to "nickel and dime" users, writing that "something which used to come on your PC for free is now corrupted by ad buys." PC Gamer wrote: "The ads in question aren't small banners that appear at the bottom of the screen while you play. They run over the full Solitaire window, some for 15 seconds and some for 30 seconds, and while they don't seem to pop up very often ... they can't be aborted." The Telegraph wrote that users are in "disbelief" that they would have to pay to play a game without being "interrupted by a slew of adverts." Rock, Paper, Shotgun said that the changes are a "particularly heartbreaking sign of the times" and that some users would find it "profoundly sinister" that "a large corporation is gathering and storing vast amounts of data on your computing habits, and not simply what you do in a browser."

There are also in-app links to play or download other ad-supported Microsoft-branded games, including Microsoft Mahjong and Microsoft Minesweeper.

On August 3, 2021, Microsoft announced that the Premium Edition of the game would be added to their PC Game Pass subscription service (then known as Xbox Game Pass for PC) on August 17, 2021.

Daily Challenges, Star Club, Events
Daily Challenges are posted every day. There is one of each game, which can be any difficulty. Star Club has challenges posted under different themes and can be any difficulty. Events are new almost every day and can have 5 to 30 challenges. Events can have all of one game, all one difficulty, or two or more games with mixed difficulties. When logged in, you can view your progress alongside other people around the world.

See also
 List of games included with Windows

References

External links
 Microsoft Solitaire Collection on Windows Store
 Microsoft Solitaire Collection  on MSN Games

2012 video games
Microsoft games
Patience video games
Universal Windows Platform apps
Video games developed in the United States
Windows components
Windows games
Windows Phone games
Smoking Gun Interactive games
Browser games
Freemium

Microsoft Solitaire Collection