Concertgebouw

The Royal Concertgebouw (, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in the world, along with Boston's Symphony Hall and the Musikverein in Vienna.
In celebration of the building's 125th anniversary, Queen Beatrix bestowed the royal title "Koninklijk" upon the building on 11 April 2013, as she had on the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra upon its 100th in 1988.
History.
The architect of the building was , who was inspired by the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, built two years earlier (and destroyed in 1943).
Construction began in 1883 in a pasture that was then outside the city, in Nieuwer-Amstel, a municipality that in 1964 became Amstelveen. A total of 2,186 wooden piles, twelve to thirteen metres (40 to 43 ft) long, were emplaced in the soil. The Concertgebouw was completed in late 1886, however due to the difficulties with the municipality of Nieuwer-Amstel – filling in a small canal, paving the access roads and installing street lights – the grand opening of the building was delayed.
The hall opened on 11 April 1888 with an inaugural concert, in which an orchestra of 120 musicians and a chorus of 500 singers participated, performing works of Wagner, Handel, Bach, and Beethoven. The resident orchestra of the Concertgebouw is the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra ("Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest"), which gave its first concert in the hall on 3 November 1888, as the Concertgebouw Orchestra ("Concertgebouworkest"). For many decades from the 1950s to the present day the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (previously the Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra) as well as the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest also provide their regular concert series in the Concertgebouw.
On 17 September 1969, British progressive rock band, Pink Floyd performed their "The Man and The Journey" show at Concertgebouw. The show's climax was a rendition of "Celestial Voices" (renamed "The End of the Beginning") in which keyboardist Rick Wright played the hall's organ in place of his Farfisa. The performance was released on CD as part of the band's 2016 box set, "The Early Years 1965–1972" in "Volume 3: 1969 Dramatis/ation".
Today, some nine hundred concerts and other events per year take place in the Concertgebouw, for a public of over 700,000, making it one of the most-visited concert halls in the world.
, the managing director of the Concertgebouw is Simon Reinink and the artistic director is Anneke Hogenstijn.
Building.
The Main Hall ("Grote Zaal") seats 1,974, and is 44 metres (144 ft) long, 28 metres (92 ft) wide, and 17 metres (56 ft) high. Its reverberation time is 2.8 seconds without audience, 2.2 seconds with, making it ideal for the late Romantic repertoire such as Mahler. Although this characteristic makes it largely unsuited for amplified music, groups such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Who did perform there in the 1960s.
A smaller, oval-shaped venue, the Recital Hall ("Kleine Zaal"), is located behind the Main Hall. The Recital Hall is 20 metres (66 ft) long and 15 metres (50 ft) wide. Its more intimate space is well-suited for chamber music and Lieder. The Recital Hall has 437 seats.
In 1983, the Concertgebouw was found to be sinking into the damp Amsterdam earth, with several inch-wide cracks appearing in the walls, so the hall embarked on extensive fundraising for renovations. Its difficult emergency restoration started in 1985, during which the 2,186 rotting wooden pilings were replaced with concrete pillars. Pi de Bruijn, Dutch architect designed a modern annex for a new entrance and a basement to replace cramped dressing and rehearsal space.
Organ.
The organ was built in 1890 by the organ builder Michael Maarschalkerweerd from Utrecht, and was renovated in the years 1990 to 1993 by the organ builder Flentrop. It has 60 registers on three divisions and pedal.
Names of composers in the Main Hall.
In the Main Hall, the surnames of the following 46 composers are displayed on the balcony ledges and on the walls:
In popular culture.
The Concertgebouw is mentioned, along with Madison Square Garden, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Rainbow Theatre, in the song "Rock Show" from the 1975 Wings album "Venus and Mars".
Belgian singer mentions the Concertgebouw in his song .
Erroll Garner recorded the live album "The Amsterdam Concert" in the venue in November 1964.


Rostislav I of Kiev

Rostislav Mstislavich (Russian and Ukrainian: Ростисла́в Мстисла́вич) (c. 1110–1167), Kniaz' (Prince) of Smolensk (1125–1160), Novgorod (1154) and Velikiy Kniaz (Grand Prince) of Kiev (Kyiv, 1154, 1159–1167). He was the son of Mstislav I of Kiev and Christina Ingesdotter of Sweden.
After Yaroslav II of Kiev was driven out of Novgorod, Rostislav was invited to become the ruler of Novgorod. He accepted, and became the prince on April 17, 1154. Then, learning that Iziaslav II had died, Rostislav left Novgorod to take the Kievan throne. Indignant that their prince had abandoned them and angered that "he did not make order among them, but tore them more apart", the citizens of Novgorod drove out Rostislav's son, David, who was their governor. They replaced him with Mstislav Yurievich, the son of Yury Dolgoruky.
Rostislav ruled Kiev for one week before Iziaslav III of Kiev forced him to flee to Chernigov.
He left four sons, princes David Rostislavich of Novgorod, Mstislav Rostislavich of Smolensk, Roman I of Kiev and Rurik Rostislavich and two daughters Elena Rostislavna of Kiev-Smolensk (died 1204) and Agrafena Rostislavna (died 1237).


International Shostakovich Chamber Music Competition

The Shostakovich competition is a classical music contest in chamber music performance. The two editions of the competition were held in 2008 and 2010 in Moscow, Russia. The contest was open to the participants of all countries in two categories: chamber music ensembles and piano duets. The Shostakovich Chamber Music Competition continued the line of musical contests named after Shostakovich and dedicated to the chamber music: e.g. Shostakovich String Quartet Competition in Moscow.
According to the competition chairman V. I. Vorona: "The influential Shostakovich competition in chamber music has gained a lot of interest from the musical community from the start. I'm positive that it has a great prospective to contribute in the development of the chamber music performance and that it will give opportunities for young musicians to express themselves."
1st Edition of 2008.
Regulations and statistics.
The First Shostakovich Competition was held in Moscow from February 25 to March 2 in 2008. It was open for contestants around the world. The Chamber Music Ensembles category included participants in the following age groups:
The Piano Duet category was open for the ages from 11 to 27 years old.
The competitive performances took place at the Grand Hall of the State Music and Pedagogical Institute named after M. M. Ippolitov-Ivanov, in the Rachmaninoff Hall of the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory and in the hall of the Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Cultures. The concert of the laureates and the closing ceremony were held in the Rachmaninoff Hall of Moscow Conservatory on March 2, 2008.
The competition has gathered 75 ensembles from Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Latvia, and Ukraine. The chamber music festival DSCH was organized at the same time with the competition. The featured artists included State Shostakovich String Quartet, and Ippolitov-Ivanov Piano Quartet.
According to the jury member professor Elena Sorokina: ""It was not easy to select the best ensembles, for the level of competitors was very high"."
Founding organizations.
Chair of the organization committee - professor Valery Vorona.
Results.
Chamber ensembles.
Group 1.
I Prize - duet Liya Yakupova (violin), and Anna Tamarkina (piano)
II Prize - duet Anna Aseeva (violin) and Lidiya Nochovskaya (piano)
III Prize - trio Juventa: Alexey Osipov (violin), Nikita Kinyaev, (cello), and Sergei Redkin (piano); quintet Viktoria Ashmarina (violin), Yana Ashmarina (violin), Maria Yarisheva (viola), Maria Efanova (cello), and Olga Chmil (piano).
Group 2.
I Prize - Class&Jazz Duo: Oleg Bezuglov (violin), and Natalia Bezuglova (piano)
II Prize - duet Ineta Abakuka (viola), and Inara Piksha (piano)
III Prize - duet Alexander Haskin (flute), and Artem Selivanov (piano); duet Alexey Cherkasov (violin), and Alexey Muratov (piano)
"Special Prizes:"
"For the best performance of the piece written after 1970": trio M. Boltavskaya (violin), P. Churilov (cello), and D. Shaposhnikova (piano)
"For the best performance of Shostakovich's piece": duet O. Bezuglov (violin), and N. Bezuglova (piano). "For the best performance of the romantic piece": duet I. Tarasenko (viola), and T. Shevchenko (piano).
Piano duets.
I Prize - Olga Trofimova, and Ilia Hrustov
II Prize - Tatiana Shatkovskaya, and Anna Shatkovskaya; Anastasia Gramoglasova, and Lubov Gramoglasova; Maria Spirina and Irina Zarechneva
III Prize - Anastasia Rybina and Elena Severukhina; Artem Lyahovich and Alina Romanova
"Special Prizes":
"For the Best Performance of Shostakovich's piece": O. Trofimova - I. Hrustov; T. and A. Shatkovskaya; A. and L. Gromoglasoval; A. Lyahovich - A. Romanova "For the Best Performance of the Fantasia on the themes from Mussorgsky's Opera "Boris Godunov"": D. Pinchuk - A. Savinov.
2nd Edition of 2010.
Regulations.
In its 2nd edition the competition was held in one category, which included chamber music ensembles with the piano. Participants were judged in two age groups:
In the Junior Group eligible ensembles included piano duets, and piano trios. In the Senior Group the participants competed in duets, piano trios and piano quintets.
The competitive performances took place at the Grand Hall of the Ippolitov-Ivanov Pedagogical Institute in October 4–10 of 2010. The competition was held in two rounds.
Results.
I Prize - trio Yaroslav Zaboyarkin (violin), Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky (cello), Igor Andreev (piano); duet Maria Lazareva (violin) and Andrey Gugnin (piano)
II Prize - duet Mitinskiy Aleksandr (viola) and Nadezhda Kotnova (piano)
III Prize - quintet Svetlana Bezotosnaya (violin), Elena Savelyeva (violin), Elena Pentegova (viola), Lidiya Braun (cello), and Olga Lavrova (piano); trio Soronova Elizaveta (violin), Pavel Glazyrin (cello), Valentina Nemkova (piano)
"Special prizes:"
"For the Best Performance of Shostakovich's piece": duet Mitinskiy Aleksandr (viola) and Nadezhda Kotnova (piano)


Freddie Oversteegen

Freddie Nanda Dekker-Oversteegen (6 September 1925 – 5 September 2018) was a Dutch communist resistance member during the occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.
Early life.
Freddie Oversteegen was born 6 September 1925 in the village of Schoten, Netherlands.
She had an older sister, Truus Menger-Oversteegen.
She and her family lived on a barge.
Before the war, the Oversteegen family harbored people from Lithuania in the hold of their ship, hidden.
After the divorce of her parents, Oversteegen was raised by her mother, who taught her communist principles.
She moved from the barge to a small apartment.
Oversteegen's mother would later remarry and give birth to her half-brother.
The family lived in poverty.
World War II.
During the war, the Oversteegen family hid a Jewish couple in their home.
Freddie Oversteegen and her older sister Truus began handing out anti-Nazi pamphlets, which attracted the notice of Haarlem Council of Resistance commander Frans van der Wiel.
With their mother's permission, the girls joined the Council of Resistance, which brought them into a coordinated effort.
Freddie was fourteen years old at the time.
Oversteegen, her sister, and friend Hannie Schaft worked to sabotage the Nazi military presence in the Netherlands. They used dynamite to disable bridges and railroad tracks.
Additionally, they aided Jewish children by smuggling them out of the country or helping them escape concentration camps.
The Oversteegens and Schaft also killed German soldiers, with Freddie being the first of the girls to kill a soldier by shooting them while riding her bicycle. They also lured soldiers to the woods under the pretense of a romantic overture and then killed them. Oversteegen would approach the soldiers in taverns and bars and ask them to "go for a stroll" in the forest.
Post-war.
Oversteegen served as a board member on the National Hannie Schaft Foundation, which was established by her sister, Truus.
In 2014, Freddie and Truus were awarded the Mobilisation War Cross ("Mobilisatie-Oorlogskruis") by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for their acts of resistance during the war. There is also a street named after her in Haarlem.
Oversteegen experienced a series of heart attacks towards the end of her life. She died on 5 September 2018 in a nursing home in Driehuis, one day before her ninety-third birthday.
Personal life.
Freddie Oversteegen married Jan Dekker.
They had three children.


Martine Baay-Timmerman

Martine Baay-Timmerman (born 16 January 1958) is a Dutch politician. She was member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands for 50PLUS between 29 October 2013 and 10 September 2014. She left the House of Representatives due to health issues and was replaced by Henk Krol. Since 28 March 2017 Baay-Timmerman is a member of the Senate.
Career.
Baay-Timmerman studied law at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, she later worked as a lawyer for twelve years.
Since early 2009 Baay-Timmerman has been involved with 50PLUS, she was a secretary for the party between November 2011 and November 2012. She was third on the candidate list of 50PLUS for the 2012 elections.
When House of Representatives member Henk Krol resigned on 4 October 2013, Baay-Timmerman, as first candidate on the list, was likely to become his successor. She entered the House on 29 October 2013. On 10 September 2014 she went on sick leave and was replaced by Henk Krol. In December 2014 it became clear that Baay-Timmerman would not return do the House of Representatives as she needed more time to recuperate from breast cancer.
On 28 March 2017 Baay-Timmerman became a member of the Senate, she took over the seat from Martin van Rooijen who became member of the House.


Peter Wisgerhof

Peter Wisgerhof (; born 19 November 1979) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a centre-back for Vitesse, NEC and Twente.
Career.
Club.
Wisgerhof made his debut in professional football, being part of the Vitesse squad in the 1999–2000 season. He was allowed to sign on loan with NEC for half a year. He then signed permanently with NEC, then played nine seasons for the club until making a switch in 2009 to Twente, who had sold defender Rob Wielaert to Ajax. Wisgerhof signed a contract with Twente for three-and-a-half years. Here he has quickly played himself into the squad.
In his second season, 2009–10, Twente became Eredivisie champions. In the summer of 2010, he became captain, after Blaise Nkufo left Twente for Seattle Sounders. At the start of the 2010–11 season, he and Twente won the Johan Cruyff Shield after defeating Ajax 1–0.
In 2011, Twente came second in the 2010–11 Eredivisie, behind Ajax. Wisgerhof played a notable role in this victory as he was claimed to have made an obvious "schwalbe" (dive), which was much commented on in the local and international press. On 30 July 2011, Wisgerhof won his second Johan Cruyff Shield with Twente after his side again defeated Ajax, 2–1.
International.
Wisgerhof made 13 appearances for the Netherlands national under-21 team, scoring one goal. On 10 October 2010, Netherlands senior team head coach Bert van Marwijk called him up (at age 30) to the squad for the 17 November match against Turkey. In the second half of the match, Wisgerhof made his debut as a substitution for the injured Joris Mathijsen.
Honours.
Club.
Twente


Rob Das

Rob Das (born 12 May 1969, in Delft, Netherlands) is a Dutch film and television actor, director and writer. His movie appearances include in "The Damned" (2002), "Baby Blue" (2001), and "De Zwarte Meteoor" (2000). His TV appearances include in the miniseries ' (2001), "Fort Alpha" (1996) and "Vuurzee" (2006). Besides, Das has also worked as the assistant director in the TV movies ' (2005) and "Deining" (2004), and served as both the writer and director for the short movie "Veilig Rijen" (1997).
One of the mostly known appearance of Das was as Jan Gies in the ABC miniseries "". The miniseries, which earned much fame, has been called "the best Anne Frank movie or miniseries" and it has been nominated for several Golden Globe awards, and it won an Emmy Award. Das starred alongside Ben Kingsley, Brenda Blethyn and Lili Taylor.
Recently, Rob Das has been reprising the role of Jan Gies in ANNE, a Dutch-language play based on Anne Frank's diary.


Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum (; ) is a Dutch national museum dedicated to arts and history in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and the Concertgebouw.
The Rijksmuseum was founded in The Hague on 19 November 1798 and moved to Amsterdam in 1808, where it was first located in the Royal Palace and later in the Trippenhuis. The current main building was designed by Pierre Cuypers and first opened in 1885. On 13 April 2013, after a ten-year renovation which cost € 375 million, the main building was reopened by Queen Beatrix. In 2013 and 2014, it was the most visited museum in the Netherlands with record numbers of 2.2 million and 2.47 million visitors. It is also the largest art museum in the country.
The museum has on display 8,000 objects of art and history, from their total collection of 1 million objects from the years 1200–2000, among which are some masterpieces by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer. The museum also has a small Asian collection, which is on display in the Asian pavilion.
Visit Rijksstudio to discover more than 700.000 objects with images in high resolution. In addition to a rich collection of objects, the Rijksmuseum also has a rich collection of stories about the objects and the museum itself. Discover the stories behind the masterpieces via Rijksmuseum Stories.
History.
18th century.
In 1795, the Batavian Republic was proclaimed. The Minister of Finance Isaac Gogel argued that a national museum, following the French example of The Louvre, would serve the national interest. On 19 November 1798, the government decided to found the museum.
On 31 May 1800, the National Art Gallery (Dutch: "Nationale Kunst-Galerij"), precursor of the Rijksmuseum, opened in Huis ten Bosch in The Hague. The museum exhibited around 200 paintings and historic objects from the collections of the Dutch stadtholders.
19th century.
In 1805, the National Art Gallery moved within The Hague to the Prince William V Gallery, on the Buitenhof.
In 1806, the Kingdom of Holland was established by Napoleon Bonaparte. On the orders of king Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, the museum moved to Amsterdam in 1808. The paintings owned by that city, such as "The Night Watch" by Rembrandt, became part of the collection. In 1809, the museum opened in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam.
In 1817, the museum moved to the Trippenhuis. The Trippenhuis turned out to be unsuitable as a museum. In 1820, the historical objects were moved to the Mauritshuis in The Hague and in 1838, the 19th-century paintings "of living masters" were moved to King Louis Bonaparte's former summer palace Paviljoen Welgelegen in Haarlem.
In 1863, there was a design contest for a new building for the Rijksmuseum, but none of the submissions was considered to be of sufficient quality. Pierre Cuypers also participated in the contest and his submission reached the second place.
In 1876, a new contest was held and this time Pierre Cuypers won. The design was a combination of gothic and renaissance elements. The construction began on 1 October 1876. On both the inside and the outside, the building was richly decorated with references to Dutch art history. Another contest was held for these decorations. The winners were B. van Hove and J.F. Vermeylen for the sculptures, G. Sturm for the tile tableaus and painting and W.F. Dixon for the stained glass. The museum was opened at its new location on 13 July 1885.
In 1890, a new building was added a short distance to the south-west of the Rijksmuseum. As the building was made out of fragments of demolished buildings, the building offers an overview of the history of Dutch architecture and has come to be known informally as the 'fragment building'. It is also known as the 'south wing' and is currently (in 2013) branded the "Philips Wing".
20th century.
In 1906, the hall for the "Night Watch" was rebuilt. In the interior more changes were made between the 1920s and 1950s - most multi-coloured wall decorations were painted over. In the 1960s exposition rooms and several floors were built into the two courtyards. The building had some minor renovations and restorations in 1984, 1995–1996 and 2000.
A renovation of the south wing of the museum, also known as the 'fragment building' or 'Philips Wing', was completed in 1996, the same year that the museum held its first major photography exhibition featuring its extensive collection of 19th-century photos.
21st century.
In December 2003, the main building of the museum closed for a major renovation. During this renovation, about 400 objects from the collection were on display in the 'fragment building', including Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" and other 17th-century masterpieces.
The restoration and renovation of the Rijksmuseum are based on a design by Spanish architects Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz. Many of the old interior decorations were restored and the floors in the courtyards were removed. The renovation would have initially taken five years, but was delayed and eventually took almost ten years to complete. The renovation cost € 375 million.
The reconstruction of the building was completed on 16 July 2012. In March 2013, the museum's main pieces of art were moved back from the 'fragment building' (Philips Wing) to the main building. "The Night Watch" returned to the Night Watch Room, at the end of the Hall of Fame. On 13 April 2013, the main building was reopened by Queen Beatrix. On 1 November 2014, the Philips Wing reopened with the exhibition .
Building.
The building of the Rijksmuseum was designed by Pierre Cuypers and opened in 1885. It consists of two squares with an atrium in each centre. In the central axis is a tunnel with the entrances at ground level and the Gallery of Honour at the first floor. The building also contains a library. The fragment building, branded Philips wing, contains building fragments that show the history of architecture in the Netherlands. The Rijksmuseum is a "rijksmonument" (national heritage site) since 1970 and was listed in the Top 100 Dutch heritage sites in 1990. The Asian pavilion was designed by Cruz y Ortiz and opened in 2013.
According to Muriel Huisman, Project Architect for the Rijksmuseum's renovation, "Cruz y Ortiz always like to look for synergy between old and new, and we try not to explain things with our architecture.” With the Rijks, “there’s no cut between old and new; we’ve tried to merge it. We did this by looking for materials that were true to the original building, resulting in a kind of silent architecture."
Collection.
The collection of the Rijksmuseum consists of 1 million objects and is dedicated to arts, crafts, and history from the years 1200 to 2000. Around 8,000 objects are currently on display in the museum.
The collection contains more than 2,000 paintings from the Dutch Golden Age by notable painters such as Jacob van Ruisdael, Frans Hals, Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen, Rembrandt, and Rembrandt's pupils.
The museum also has a small Asian collection which is on display in the Asian pavilion.
It also displays the stern of HMS "Royal Charles" which was captured in the Raid on the Medway, and the Hartog plate.
In 2012, the museum made some 125,000 high-resolution images available for download via its Rijksstudio webplatform, with plans to add another 40,000 images per year until the entire collection of one million works is available, according to Taco Dibbits, director of collections. As of January 2021, the Rijksstudio hosts 700,000 works, available under a Creative Commons 1.0 Universal license, essentially copyright-free and royalty-free.
Number of visitors.
The 20th-century visitor record of 1,412,000 was reached in the year 1975.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, the Rijksmuseum was annually visited by 0.9 to 1.3 million people. On 7 December 2003, the main building of the museum was closed for a renovation until 13 April 2013. In the preceding decade, the number of visitors had slightly decreased to 0.8 to 1.1 million people. The museum says after the renovation, the museum's capacity is 1.5 to 2.0 million visitors annually. Within eight months since the reopening in 2013, the museum was visited by 2 million people.
The museum had 2.2 million visitors in 2013 and reached an all-time record of 2.47 million visitors in 2014. The museum was the most visited museum in the Netherlands and the 19th most visited art museum in the world in 2013 and 2014.
Library.
The Rijksmuseum Research Library is part of the Rijksmuseum, and is the best and the largest public art history research library in The Netherlands.
Restaurant.
Rijks, stylized as RIJKS®, is a restaurant with 140 seats in the Philips Wing. Joris Bijdendijk has been the chef de cuisine since the opening in 2014. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2017.


SS Minna

Minna was a cargo ship that was built in 1922 by Nylands Verksted, Kristiania, Norway for Swedish owners. In 1934, she was sold and renamed Britt. In 1939, she was captured by the Kriegsmarine and sold to German owners in 1940 and was renamed Leba. In 1945, she was seized by the Allies and passed to the Ministry of War Transport(MoWT). She was renamed Empire Conavon and was sold in 1947 to a British company and was renamed Baltkon. She served until 1959 when she was scrapped.
Description.
The ship was built by Nylands Verksted, Kristiana as yard number 261. She was delivered to her owners in March 1922.
The ship was long, with a beam of and a depth of . She had a GRT of 1,522 and a NRT of 911.
The ship was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine, which had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by Nylands Verksted.
History.
"Minna" was built for Trelleborgs Ångfartygs Nya AB, Trelleborg, which was her port of registry. She was placed under the management of F Malmros. The Swedish Official Number 6735 and Code Letters KDMV were allocated. In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to SFNE.
On 2 February 1934, "Minna" was sold to Kalmar Rederi AB, Kalmar and was renamed "Britt". She was placed under the management of H Jeansson and her port of registry was changed to Kalmar. On 27 November 1937, her port of registry was changed to Stockholm. On 21 December 1939, "Britt" was captured by the Kriegsmarine. She was on a voyage from Sweden to Aberdeen with a cargo of woodpulp. She was taken to Hamburg, where she was registered on 17 May 1940. "Britt" was sold to Leth & Co, Hamburg and was renamed "Leba".
In May 1945, "Leba" was seized at Lübeck by the Allies. She was passed to the MoWT and renamed "Empire Conavon". "Empire Conavon" was operated under the management of Nelkon Steamship Co Ltd, Hull. In 1947, she was sold to the Konnel Steamship Co Ltd and was renamed "Baltkon". She was operated under the management of John Carlbom & Co Ltd. In 1954, "Baltkon" was sold to the Carlbomska Woking Shipping Co Ltd, Hull. She served until 1958 when she was laid up in the River Tyne. In 1959, "Baltkon" was sold to the British Iron & Steel Corporation (BISCO), and was scrapped at Dunston on Tyne.


SM U-5 (Austria-Hungary)

SM "U-5 or U-V" was the lead boat of the "U-5" class of submarines or U-boats built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy () before and during the First World War. The submarine was built as part of a plan to evaluate foreign submarine designs, and was the first of three boats of the class built by Whitehead & Co. of Fiume after a design by Irishman John Philip Holland.
"U-5" was laid down in April 1907 and launched in February 1909. The double-hulled submarine was just over long and displaced between , depending on whether surfaced or submerged. "U-5"s design had inadequate ventilation and exhaust from her twin gasoline engines often intoxicated the crew. The boat was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy in April 1910, and served as a training boat—sometimes making as many as ten cruises a month—through the beginning of the First World War in 1914.
The submarine scored most of her wartime successes during the first year of the war while under the command of Georg Ritter von Trapp. The French armoured cruiser "Léon Gambetta", sunk in April 1915, was the largest ship sunk by "U-5". The sinking of Italian troop transport ship in June 1916 with the loss of 1,926 men, was the worst naval disaster of World War I in terms of human lives lost. In May 1917, "U-5" hit a mine and sank with the loss of six men. She was raised, rebuilt, and recommissioned, but sank no more ships. At the end of the war, "U-5" was ceded to Italy as a war reparation, and scrapped in 1920. In all, "U-5" sank four ships totaling .
Design and construction.
"U-5" was built as part of a plan by the Austro-Hungarian Navy to competitively evaluate foreign submarine designs from Simon Lake, Germaniawerft, and John Philip Holland. The Austro-Hungarian Navy authorized the construction of "U-5" (and sister ship, "U-6") in 1906 by Whitehead & Co. of Fiume. The boat was designed by American John Philip Holland and licensed by Holland and his company, Electric Boat. "U-5" was laid down on 9 April 1907 in the United States, partially assembled, and shipped to Whitehead's for final assembly, a process which, author Edwin Sieche notes, "caused a lot of trouble". She was launched at Fiume on 10 February 1909 by Agathe Whitehead, and towed to Pola on 17 August.
"U-5"s design featured a single-hull with a teardrop-shaped body that bore a strong resemblance to modern nuclear submarines. She was long by abeam and had a draft of . She displaced surfaced, and submerged. Her two bow torpedo tubes featured unique, cloverleaf-shaped design hatches that rotated on a central axis, and the boat was designed to carry up to four torpedoes. For surface running, "U-5" was outfitted with 2 gasoline engines, but suffered from inadequate ventilation, which resulted in frequent intoxication of the crew; her underwater propulsion was by two electric motors. The "U-5" was christened by Agathe Whitehead on 10 February 1909.
Service career.
"U-5" was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 1 April 1910, with "Linienschiffsleutnant" Urban Passerar in command. Over the next three years she served primarily as a training boat, making as many as ten training cruises per month. On 1 May 1911, she hosted a delegation of Peruvian Navy officers that inspected her. In June 1912, she towed a balloon as part of efforts to assess the underwater visibility of hull paint schemes.
At the outbreak of World War I, "U-5" was one of only four fully operational U-boats in the Austro-Hungarian Navy fleet. She was initially stationed at the submarine base on Brioni, but was moved to Cattaro by late 1914. "U-5" made an unsuccessful attack on a French battleship squadron off Punta Stilo on 3 November. In December, the ship's armament was augmented by a 3.7 cm/23 (1.5 in) quick-firing (QF) deck gun, and had her first radio receiver installed.
In April 1915, Georg Ritter von Trapp assumed command of "U-5", and the following month, led the boat in sinking the French armored cruiser off Santa Maria di Leuca. On the night of 26 April, "Léon Gambetta" was patrolling the Straits of Otranto at a leisurely without the benefit of a destroyer screen. "U-5" launched two torpedoes at the French cruiser, hitting with both. The ship was rocked by the explosions of the two torpedoes and went down in ten minutes, taking down with her the entire complement of officers, including Rear Admiral Victor Baptistin Sénès. Of the French ship's complement, 648 were killed in the attack; there were 137 survivors. "Léon Gambetta" was the largest ship of any kind sunk by "U-5".
In June, "U-5" helped search for the lost Austro-Hungarian seaplane "L 41", and in July, received an upgrade of her deck gun to a QF gun. In early August, "U-5" was sent out from Lissa when the Austro-Hungarian Navy received word from a reconnaissance aircraft that an Italian submarine had been sighted at Pelagosa. On the morning of 5 August, the was on the surface, moored under a cliff in the island's harbor. When "U-5" surfaced just offshore, "Nereide"s commanding officer, "Capitano di Corvetta" Carlo del Greco, cast off the lines and maneuvered to get a shot at von Trapp's boat. "Nereide" launched a single torpedo at "U-5" that missed, after which del Greco ordered his boat submerged. "U-5" lined up a shot and launched a single torpedo at the slowly submerging target, striking her, and sending her to the bottom with all hands. The Italian captain received the "Medaglia d'Oro al Valore Militare" for his actions. At the end of August, "U-5" captured the Greek steamer "Cefalonia" as a prize off Durazzo. In late November, Friedrich Schlosser succeeded von Trapp as "U-5"s commanding officer.
Schlosser and "U-5" made an unsuccessful attack on an Italian on 7 June 1916, but the boat managed to torpedo the Italian armed merchant cruiser off Cape Linguetta on the next day. According to a contemporary account, "Principe Umberto" and two other ships were transporting troops and materiel under escort of two destroyers. After the torpedo hit, "Principe Umberto" went down quickly with the loss 1,750 men. "Principe Umberto" was the last ship hit by "U-5".
Gallery.
On 16 May 1917, "U-5" was conducting a training cruise in the Fasana Channel near Pula when her stern struck a mine. The boat sank at a depth of with a loss of 6 of the 19 men on board. From 20 to 24 May the submarine was raised, and through November underwent a refit. During this reconditioning, a new conning tower was added and the deck gun was upgraded again, this time to a 7.5 cm/30 (3.0 in) gun. Upon completion, "U-5" was recommissioned, but had no more war successes. In her career, "U-5" sank a total of four ships totaling . After the war's end, "U-5" was transferred to Venice where she was inspected by British military commissions. "U-5" was later ceded to Italy as a war reparation in 1920 and was scrapped.


Historical city of Russia

Historical cities and settlements of Russia () are settlements of historical and archaeological importance in Russia, as defined by Russian governments from a 1970 decree through a 2002 federal law.
History of official designations.
The official definition of this status was first decreed in the Soviet Union in May 1970, when the first official list of 115 historical settlements was declared. It was confirmed in the Russian SFSR in February 1990, with a significantly expanded list of 426 cities/towns, 54 urban-type settlements, and 56 villages. On June 25, 2002 the federal law of Russia, #73-FZ, "On the Objects of Cultural Heritage (Cultural and Historical Monuments) of the Peoples of Russian Federation" confirmed this status for 478 settlements. In 2010, the list was revised and only 41 cities remained in it. In 2016, Sevastopol was added to the list.
Historical cities in Russia are separated into four categories based on the value of their historical legacy:


Gerry van der Linden

Gertrude Maria Johanna Catharina "Gerry" van der Linden (born 25 November 1952) is a Dutch writer.
She was born in Eindhoven. Van der Linden published her first collection of poetry "De Aantekening" (The Note) in 1978. She moved to the United States in 1979, living in New York City and San Francisco for the next four years. After returning to the Netherlands, she published her second book of poetry "Val op de rand" (Fall on the Edge) in 1990.
Van der Linden teaches poetry and creative writing at the Amsterdam School of Writing. She served on the board for the PEN Center in the Netherlands. Her poems have appeared in translation in various anthologies and publications in Bulgaria, England, France, Germany, Indonesia, Macedonia and Slovenia.


Casper ten Boom

Casper ten Boom (18 May 1859 – 9 March 1944) was a Dutch Christian who helped many Jews and resisters escape the Nazis during the Holocaust of World War II. He is the father of Betsie and Corrie ten Boom, who also aided the Jews and were sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where Betsie died. Casper died 9 March 1944 in The Hague, after nine days of imprisonment in the Scheveningen Prison. In 2008, he was recognised as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.
Background.
Casper was born in Haarlem as the son of Willem ten Boom, who had a watchshop. When ten Boom was 18, he started a jewelry store in Amsterdam. He had grown up in a family that belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church and had strong faith. While living in Amsterdam, he started a work among the poor people, "Tot Heil des Volks" (For the Salvation of the People). He later returned to Haarlem to live.
Marriage and family.
In Sunday school, he met Cornelia Johanna Arnolda Luitingh (commonly known as "Cor"), whom he married in 1884. Like his father, he lived and worked in the same building, with the shop on the ground floor and living quarters on the two floors above. He and Cor had five children, four of whom survived to adulthood: Elisabeth "Betsie" (1885-1944), Willem (21 November 1886 - 13 December 1946), Arnolda Johanna "Nollie" (1890 - 22 October 1953), and Cornelia Arnolda Johanna "Corrie" (1892-1983). Another child, Hendrick Jan (12 September 1888 - 6 March 1889), died in infancy. Casper's wife died in 1921 from a stroke.
While Willem and Nollie married and moved away, he lived with his two unmarried daughters, Betsie and Corrie, in their home and watchmaking workshop. The ten Boom family belonged to the Protestant Dutch Reformed Church.Willem married Tine van Veen and had four children. Nollie married Flip van Woerden and had six children.
Wartime activities.
The ten Booms were devout and generous Christians. According to "The Hiding Place", the family, in 1918, took in the first of many foster children whom they would shelter over the years. Corrie ran special church services for disabled children for 20 years. The Dutch Reformed Church "protested Nazi persecution of Jews as an injustice to fellow human beings and an affront to divine authority." The family strongly believed that people were equal before God.
During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, he and his daughters became active in sheltering Jewish people who were trying to escape the Nazis at their home. In May 1942, a woman came to the house and asked for help. She said she was a Jew, her husband had been arrested several months before and her son had gone into hiding. As Occupation authorities had visited her, she was afraid to return home. She had heard that the family had helped other Jews and asked if she could stay with them, and Casper agreed. He told her, "In this household, God's people are always welcome." When the Nazis began requiring all Jews to wear the Star of David, he voluntarily wore one as well. His son Willem, a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church, also worked in a nondenominational nursing home. During the occupation, he sheltered many Jews there to save them from the Nazis.
Arrest and death.
On 28 February 1944, the Gestapo raided his house and arrested him; his daughters; his son Willem; and his grandson Peter, who were visiting. The Gestapo arrested other supporters, who visited the house during the day, taking a total of about 30 people to Scheveningen prison.
When he was interrogated in prison, the Gestapo told him that they would release him because of his age so that he could "die in his own bed". He replied, "If I go home today, tomorrow I will open my door to anyone who knocks for help". When asked if he knew he could die for helping Jews, he replied, "I would consider that the greatest honor that could come to my family." On 9 March, Casper died at the Hague Municipal Hospital, at the age of 84, after nine days in Scheveningen prison. He was buried in an unknown grave.
His daughter Betsie died at Ravensbrück in December 1944. Willem contracted spinal tuberculosis while he was imprisoned for his resistance work. Although he was released, he died of tuberculosis shortly after the war. Willem's son Christiaan (commonly known as Kik), 24, was sent to the Bergen Belsen concentration camp for his work in the underground and died there during the war. Corrie was finally released from Ravensbruck several weeks after Betsie's death. Casper ten Boom was buried at the National Cemetery of Honours in Loenen.


Fiodor of Kiev

Fiodor of Kiev () (the 14th century), was a prince of Kiev (Kyiv). Most likely he was the son of Butvydas, and a younger brother of Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania. Only a couple of short notes survive regarding Fiodor's life.
In early 1320s Gediminas won the Battle on the Irpen' River against Stanislav of Kiev and captured the city. The Tatars, who also claimed Kiev, retaliated in 1324–1325. The Lithuanian Chronicles mention that Gediminas installed his deputy Algimantas, son of Mindaugas from Olshanski family. There were some attempts to claim that Algimantas was Fiodor's pagan name, but they are discharged by evidence that Algimantas was baptized as Mikhail.
In 1331 Vasily Kalika, a newly consecrated Archbishop of Novgorod, was traveling from Volodymyr-Volynskyi to Veliky Novgorod. On his way he was stopped by Fiodor, Duke of Kiev, a Tatar tax collector ("basqaq"), and fifty men. The presence of a Tatar official led historians to believe that while Kiev was ruled by a Lithuanian, it had to pay a tribute to the Golden Horde. Lithuanians gained full control of the city after the victorious Battle of Blue Waters in 1362. According to the Gustynskaya Chronicle, after the battle Fiodor was replaced as Duke of Kiev by Vladimir, son of Algirdas.
For a long time scholars assumed that Fiodor was of Rurikid origin (descendant of Oleg I of Chernigov) because of his Christian name. However, in 1916 Russian historian Mikhail Priselkov published a list of property belonging to Theognostus, Metropolitan of Moscow. The list, compiled in 1331, listed two silver cups given to Theognostus by Fiodor, brother of Gediminas. Modern historians agree that Fiodor from the list and Fiodor from Kiev was one and the same person. No other evidence survives regarding Fiodor's family.


Pieter Symonsz Potter

Pieter Symonsz Potter (1597, Enkhuizen – 1652, Amsterdam), was a Dutch Golden Age painter.
Biography.
According to Houbraken he was the city secretary of Enkhuizen, married to the daughter of Paulus Bertius and the father of the painter Pieter I Potter, making him the grandfather of Pieter II, Paulus, and Maria Potter.
According to the RKD his wife was the sister of the painter Willem Bartsius, and he was the father, not the grandfather, of Pieter II, Paulus and Maria. He was first trained as a glass painter and in 1628 moved to Leiden to learn painting in oils. He is known mostly for genre pieces, farm landscapes and still lifes, and he became a member of the Delft Guild of St. Luke in 1646, and a member of the Confrerie Pictura in 1647 (although this record in The Hague guild archives may have been for drawing lessons for his oldest son Peter).


Batavian Society for Experimental Philosophy

The Batavian Society for Experimental Philosophy () is a Dutch learned society residing in Rotterdam.
History.
The society was founded on June 3, 1769 after Steven Hoogendijk declared in his last will that after his death a foundation for the furtherance of experimental philosophy (a term now called 'Science') would inherit his fortune. His fortune would be more than sufficient to secure the foundation's financial future for a long time. The society met as a gentlemen's club of amateur scientists. The initial directors were:
They asked for permission from stadtholder Willem V to award medals for answers to prize questions, as so many other societies did in those days. After obtaining his permission, they again needed to ask permission from the States of Holland and West Friesland, because the Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen had heard of their intention and protested. They felt that having two such societies in one province (the province of Holland) was in violation of their own privilege. The directors were able to convince the States of their case for a society in Rotterdam, however, and they obtained their privilege in 1770 and produced a program of prize questions the same year. Their first edition of their society magazine with the winning prize answers was published in 1774. It was called "Verhandelingen van het Bataafsch Genootschap der Proefondervindelijke Wijsbegeerte" and awarded a prize medal of 30 ducats in gold to winners. The medal was first designed by G. van Moelingen probably in 1769 and improved by Johann Georg Holtzhey after 1772. Later the prize medal was redesigned in 1866 by Johan Philip Menger. Hoogendijk himself lived to a great age and saw the society flourish. He also published a piece on a pyrometer in the first edition of the magazine in 1774.
The Society suffered during the French occupation of the Netherlands in the late 18th and early 19th century, due to the tiercering. In 1917, a major part of the Society's capital was lost during the Russian Revolution as the Russian bonds owned by the Society became worthless. The Batavian Society suffered an even heavier blow during the bombardment of Rotterdam in May 1940, when essentially all archival material and historic artifacts were lost.
Currently, the Society, with around 400 members, is a forum for scientists living in the vicinity of Rotterdam. Six scientific meetings per annum, mostly dedicated to medicine and engineering sciences, are held plus a one-day convention, where the Steven Hoogendijk Premiums are awarded to young scientists.


Jan Borgman

Jan Borgman (born 30 November 1929) is a Dutch astronomer and university administrator. He was professor of astronomical observation technique at the University of Groningen from 1968 to 1988. During this period he served as rector magnificus from 1978 to 1981 and chair of the board of governors from 1981 to 1988. Borgman subsequently became chairperson of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.
Career.
Borgman was born in Groningen on 30 November 1929. As a high school student Borgman together with Maarten Schmidt knocked on the door of the Groningen astronomical laboratory, to be informed by Adriaan Blaauw of the possibilities of a study of astronomy. Borgman studied astronomy at the University of Groningen. Together with Pieter Johannes van Rhijn he did research on interstellar reddening with use of the university telescope.
In 1956 Borgman obtained his PhD in photometry under Hendrik Brinkman, with a dissertation titled "Electronic scanning for variable stars". He became lector in the field of astronomy in 1964. In 1965 Borgman became director of the newly opened Kapteyn observatory (Dutch: "Kapteyn Sterrenwacht") in Roden. In 1968 he became professor of astronomical observation technique. At the observatory Borgman set up a work group in photometry, which later became involved with the Astronomical Netherlands Satellite. Borgman remained a professor at the university until 1988.
Borgman served as rector magnificus of the University of Groningen from 1978 to 1981. He was chair of the university board of governors from 1981 to 1988. Borgman then moved to The Hague to become chairperson of the newly formed Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. During this time he had to reorganize the underlying institutions.
From 1994 to 1997 Borgman was the first chairman of the European Commission European Science and Technology Assembly.
Borgman was elected a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1978.


Nel Zwier

Petronella Veronica Maria "Nel" Zwier (29 August 1936 – 8 October 2001) was a Dutch high jumper. She competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics and finished in ninth place. In 1959 she won the Amateur Athletic Association of England title with a jump of 1.65 m.


History of Sochi

The area of the Russian city of Sochi was populated more than 100,000 years by ancient people of Asia Minor migrating through Colchis (olden Georgia). Ancient Greeks sailed to the region via the Black Sea in the 5th–6th centuries BC and encountered the Maeotae, Sindi, Cercetae, Zygii and other local tribes. They were the ancestors of the Abkhaz, Ubykh and Adyghe people who lived here until 1864; many toponyms in Sochi, including the city itself, originate from their languages. The first Russian outpost was set up in central Sochi in 1838 as a part of the Russian expansion along the Black Sea coast. The local resistance to this process resulted in the Caucasian War of 1817–1864, which ended in a Russian victory and the expulsion of the local population, mostly to Turkey. The Russian settlement built in the area was named Sochi in 1896 and received the status of a city (town) in 1917. The first tea plantations were established there in 1901–1905 and resulted in the production of the most prominent brand of Russian tea. From the end of the 19th century, the city has been developed as a dedicated area for sanatoriums and hospitals. It served as a rehabilitation center during World War II and, despite a decline following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, remains the major resort town of Russia. An important recent event was selection of Sochi as the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2014 Winter Paralympics.
Early history.
Geologically, the area of Sochi is composed of Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks. They had experienced significant changes due to the volcanic and seismic activity, with the earthquakes measuring up to 9 on the Richter scale. It was populated during the Lower Paleolithic more than 100,000 years ago by early humans migrating from Asia Minor through Colchis. They first formed open-type settlements, but during the Middle Paleolithic (100,000–35,000 years ago) moved to caves due to the global cooling. One evidence of that is known as a 40,000–50,000 old site in the Akhshtyrskaya Cave, 15 km from Adlersky City District. The cave is protected by the UNESCO and contains human remains, early tools and bones of bears, deer and other animals indicating the hunting nature of the inhabitants. In the Upper Paleolithic (35,000–10,000 years ago) they have developed techniques of producing elaborated stone tools.
The Ancient Greeks sailed to the Sochi area in the sixth–fifth centuries BC and kept visiting it till about first century BC. They encountered the Aehi, Zygii and other people who were apparently keen for the luxury goods brought by Greeks and exchanged them for slaves. Slaves were a major commodity of the time, and thus the Caucasian coast became a slave trade center. An ethnic group of a few thousand Greeks still live around Krasnaya Polyana. Between 2,000 and 1,800 BC, the coastal area around Sochi had one cultural entity. During this period, numerous stone monuments (dolmens) were built around Sochi, and at least fifty remain to the present day. It is still unclear how these tombs weighing tens of tons were built with such an accuracy (some stones match each other within millimetres), and what exactly their purpose was. Numerous bronze tools and trade objects, dated to 800–700 BC, were found near Sochi indicating active exchange with the nearby areas. In the Middle Ages, the region was mostly influenced by the Byzantine Empire and Christianity, as evidenced by the style of nine churches and eighteen fortresses dating from those times. The northern wall of an eleventh-century Byzantinesque basilica still stands in Loo Microdistrict.
Middle Ages.
During the early 11th century Abkhazian King from Bagrationi dynasty Bagrat II managed to unify Georgian Kingdoms and Sochi remained under control of Bagrat II and his descendants. Sochi was part of Kingdom of Georgia from 10th to 14th century until dissolution of united Georgia under George VIII. Sochi and its inhabitants were later part of the region knows as Zichia after the dissolution of the Georgian kingdom. The native inhabitants of the region, who were the ubykhs, lived a free society ruled by princely clans until the end of the Caucasian war.
A detailed description of the coastal area around Sochi originated from the naval expedition of the Frenchman Frédéric Dubois de Montpéreux in 1833. He also compiled former descriptions of the region. Montpéreux however could not land at the site of Sochi as his ship was met with a strong gun fire from the coast. He mentions that in the Middle Ages, a Genoan city of Mamai stood on river Psakhe (modern Mamaika in Sochi), and some 60 north from it a German fortress and a monastery.
Russian colonization.
Ottoman Turkey had much interest in the Black Sea coast as an outpost for its northern expansions, however, it had lost this area to Russia as a result of the Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) and the Treaty of Adrianople. To further protect the coast from Turkey, a coastal line of defense was built in 1830–1839 consisting of 17 fortresses. Several of these fortresses were founded in the suburbs of the modern Sochi, such as the fortress of Holy Spirit in Adler (1837), Lazarevskoye (1839) and Golovinskoe (1839). On 23 April 1838, the first stone of the fortress was laid in central Sochi, at the mouth of the Sochi River. This day coincided with the name day of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of Tsar Nicholas I, and the fortress was named Alexandria after her. On 18 May 1838 it was renamed into Navaginsky, honoring the bravery of Navaginsky Regimen in the Russian–Circassian War. The construction was completed in July 1838. During the Crimean War of 1853–1856 it was abandoned and partly destroyed; it was rebuilt in 1864 under a new name Dakhovsky. The locals however did not recognize Russian rule and fiercely opposed what they perceived as colonization. This opposition attracted the interest of Britain, which was apparently selling weapons and ammunition to the Circassians. This caused a diplomatic conflict between the Russian Empire and Great Britain in 1836, centered on the Mission of the "Vixen". The British ship "Vixen" loaded with weapons for the Circassians was captured and confiscated by the Russians at the port Sudzhuk-Kale (nowadays Novorossiysk). The British protested, but the position of Tsar Nicholas I was firm and a quick order was given to prepare the army for a war with Britain. The conflict quickly subsided, but not the local resistance, which resulted in the Russian–Circassian War of 1817–1864, the longest in the history of the region. Its end was proclaimed on 2 June 1864 at Kbaade tract (modern Krasnaya Polyana) by the manifesto of Emperor Alexander II read aloud by the Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich. On 10 May 1864, 12 Cossack stations were set up around the Sochi area for its protection. On 10 March 1866, a decree was proclaimed promoting relocation to the Sochi area of all peoples of Russia. A rural settlement quickly grew on the Black Sea coast. On 23 May 1896 it was named Sochi and shortly after included into the newly formed Black Sea Governorate with the administrative center in Novorossiysk. On 1 May 1898, the governing structure of Sochi was established, which consisted of a chair, vice-chair, and 12 deputies elected by people. On 31 July 1917, the settlement received the status of a town. On 10 February 1961, it was expanded by the inclusion of Adler and Lazarevskoye districts and with an area of 3505 km² and length of 145 km became one of the world's longest cities. In comparison, its area and length in 1941 were 32 km² and 30 km, respectively. From September 1937 until the present day, Sochi is a part of Krasnodar Krai.
Tea.
The major occupation of the new settlers was in agriculture, and many of them attempted to grow tea, which was then an expensive, yet the most popular non-alcoholic beverage in Russia. Several attempts in the 1870s and 1880s failed because of the cold climate, and the first success was achieved in the early 1900s by the Ukrainian peasant Judas Antonovich Koshman (1838–1935). Koshman previously worked for a tea factory in Adjara, a place south to Sochi on the Black Sea coast. That tea was known in Russia but its taste was unpopular. In 1901, Koshman brought seeds of tea plants from Adjara to Sochi (Solokhaul settlement) and developed a brand which was not only resistant to cold but also had a rich taste. The first successful plantation is dated to 1905. This new tea later became the distinct brand of Krasnodarsky Tea, which is the most prominent Russia-grown tea and is one of the northernmost teas in the world. The house of Koshman still stands in Solokhaul along with the tea bushes planted by his hands.
Religion, nationalities and their migration.
From the 14th to early 19th centuries, the area was mostly populated by the Abkhaz, Ubykh and Adyghe people who lived in small clay-wooden houses called “saklya” built on the mountain slopes. Although they shared the same region, which was then sometimes called Circassia, they spoke different languages and had different cultures. Despite their small size and massive external influence, they considered themselves independent nations. Their early religion was a form of shamanism. However, interaction with Turkey resulted in the dominance of Islam, especially between 1829 and 1864 when it was used as a mean to further separate the locals with Russians, who were mainly Orthodox Christians. After the end of the Caucasus War, the Russian government urged relocation of the coastal tribes. This initiative was avidly promoted by the Turkish authorities; however, the relocation to Turkey resulted in much suffering and death as the refugee camps in Turkey could not cope with the large numbers of migrants. Seeing that, the Russians later reversed their policy and invited the locals back, but they already assimilated with Turks and refused the offer.
The new settlers coming belonged to various nationalities (mostly Russians, but also Ukrainians, Georgians, Moldovans, Belarusians, Estonians, Letts and Germans) and religious groups, such as Catholics, Lutherans, Gregorian Armenians, Sunni and other Muslims, but the predominant part was Orthodox Christians. The first Orthodox church in Sochi, the St. Michael's Church, was designed by Alexander Kaminsky and constructed in 1874–1891. Its construction was promoted by the Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich aiming to commemorate the Russian victory in the Caucasian War and sponsored by Savva Mamontov and Count Felix Felixovich Sumarokov-Elston, among others.
Etymology.
Many areas and geographical features of Sochi retained their original names through its entire history. The city itself and its major river were named after the Ubykh tribe Soatshe which was living in the area before 1864. It is believed that the name Adler originates not from German word for "eagle", but from the name of an Adyghe tribe, as does Loo. Dagomys means "cool place" in Adyghean, Tuapse means "two waters", Matsesta – "fiery water", Kudepsta – "oily water", and Shepsi – "waterless".
Development of Sochi.
The economical development of Sochi was greatly accelerated by the development of transport. In 1888, the construction of a transcoastal road from Novorossiysk to Sukhumi reached Sochi, and a road to Krasnaya Polyana was laid in 1899. Maxim Gorky temporarily worked there around 1892 during his wandering through the Caucasus. In 1934–1936, all minor roads within the city were consolidated in a highway named after Stalin (now Kurortnyi Prospect). In 1913, an electrical power station was built in Sochi, and the next year a regular bus service was organized between Sochi and Adler, at a speed of about 30 km/h; it was extended to Sukhumi and Novorossiysk in 1916. By 1916, railways were laid connecting Sochi with Russia via Tuapse. The first Sochi railway station was built around 1916; it was rebuilt in 1923 and finally in 1952. An airplane landing strip was set up in central Sochi in 1929, but moved to Adler in 1941, where the Sochi Airport was raised around 1945. A seaport was constructed in the central Sochi later in 1955. The Sochi Lighthouse was erected much earlier, in February 1890; its light could be seen from a distance of about 30 km.
Since late 1800s the development of Sochi was directed toward creating a health resort and a green city. The Sochi Arboretum was laid in 1890–1892. In 1902, a wooden bath complex was raised on the territory of modern Matsesta springs, and a joint venture regulating its operation was set up in 1912 led by the merchant M. M. Zensinov and doctor V. F. Podgursky. The first spa resort named "Kavkazskaya Riviera" was opened on 14 June 1909. The first city doctor was A. L. Gordon (1871–1940) who in 1911 established the first hospital in Sochi with the capacity of 35 beds. A number of writers, painters and artists had moved to the area by then and helped establish the educational system of the city. In particular, the Soviet writer Nikolai Ostrovsky lived in Sochi between 1928 and 1936 and has a monument and a museum devoted to him.
As a result of the October Revolution in 1917, all the infrastructure of Sochi was nationalized by the Bolsheviks in the spring of 1918. Georgian intervention resulted in a Russian-Georgian military conflict which lasted from July 1918 to February 1919. Actions of the Volunteer Army and local population resulted in the defeat of Georgian forces. In February 1918, the city was occupied by the Volunteer Army which restored the pre-revolution government system and forced local population to join the army. These measures were met with resistance and in April–October 1919, the local peasants had formed 30 partisan units (named the "Green Army") with the total force of 3,000 people. In parallel, in March 1919, a local section of the Red Army was formed and later merged with the main body. On 29 April 1920, the Volunteer Army was defeated in the Sochi area and its capitulation was signed on 2 May.
In 1920, the management system was set up for developing the health resort infrastructure in Sochi. The first priority was eradicating malaria. In the swampy area of Sochi, this disease was so rampant that the very existence of a health resort here was seriously questioned. The first anti-malaria station was established in 1921. Many swamps were dried and "Eucalyptus" trees were planted to accelerate the process, as they consume much water. A crucial step was introduction in 1925 of the fish "Gambusia affinis" (mosquitofish), which feeds on the aquatic larval and pupal stages of mosquitoes. As a result, the number of malaria cases reduced 6 times by the mid-1930s; however, the disease wasn't completely eradicated until 1956. A monument to the fish was raised in Adler in 2010.
In 1924, the Caucasian State Nature Biosphere Reserve was established about east from central Sochi. It occupies about and preserves some 85 m-high specimens of the Nordmann Fir ("Abies nordmanniana"), thought to be the tallest trees in Europe, and a unique forest formed by English Yew ("Taxus baccata") and European Box ("Buxus sempervirens"). About a third of its high mountain species of plants are recognized as endemic. The area also includes the Sochi National Park (IUCN management category II). It hosted the rare Caucasian wisent, but the last three animals were killed in 1927. In 1940, a group of wisent-American bison hybrids were released into the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve. These hybrids are described as a different subspecies, the highland bison ("Bison bonasus montanus").
The first medical research institution was established in Sochi in 1936 and named after Stalin. Between 1936 and 1939 it was led by professor (and then academician) A. I. Nesterov and included laboratories and 4 hospitals with the total of 200 beds. The research of that institute was focused on balneotherapy and physiotherapy. In January 1934, Sochi was included in the list of the first-priority expansion areas of Soviet Union (which was usually reserved for industry). As a result, by 1940 the city contained more than 60 sanatoriums and hospitals with the total capacity of about 9,000 beds. In comparison, in the late 1920s, there were only 6 sanatoriums with 465 beds. The development of Sochi was promoted by Joseph Stalin who had his favorite dacha built in the city – a tradition followed by most succeeding Soviet and Russian leaders. Those dachas were used not only for personal leisure, but also hosted numerous (less formal) meetings with high-ranking foreign officials.
World War II and after.
During World War II, the entire city became a hospital for the wounded at the Eastern Front; about 500,000 soldiers convalesced in the 111 hospitals of Sochi during that period. About 2,000 donors contributed 20 tonnes of blood for this purpose; also, 18,707 citizens were mobilized into the Army; of them 4,566 were killed and 17 were awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union award (8 posthumously). Katyusha rocket launchers were mass-produced in the city around 1942–1943 when the frontline was at times 25 km north from Krasnaya Polyana. For its achievements during the war, the city was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War in 1980. Its resort infrastructure was partly destroyed during the war and rebuilt by the early 1950s.
After the war, the city kept its position as the leading sanatorium and health resort of the Soviet Union. By the 1960s, it was receiving about 500,000 visitors per year, i.e. about four times its population. This motivated the government to expand the city by including the Adler and Lazarevskoye districts. By the 1980s, the number of tourists rose to 5,000,000 per year, including 200,000 foreigners. It decreased dramatically to 300,000 in the 1990s due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and partly recovered to about 1,500,000 by the year 2000.
Technical areas have always played a secondary role in modern Sochi and were represented mostly by construction and food industries. The latter focuses on production of fruits and vegetables, tea, honey, fish and poultry. Commercial fishing in the Black Sea is rather inactive, but there is a trout aquafarm in the city.
Kinotavr, the largest national film festival in Russia, is annually held in Sochi since 1991. In July 2007 Sochi was selected as the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2014 Winter Paralympics that resulted in a major reconstruction of the city.


History of Uppsala

The city of Uppsala is one of the oldest in Sweden. It has played a dominant role in the political, intellectual and historical development of the country. The two main institutions in the history of Uppsala are the Archdiocese which is located in the city, and Uppsala University, founded in the city in 1477. These have long been established on the western banks of the Fyris river with a bourgeois trading town on the other side of the river.
Pre-christian Uppsala (prehistory–1087).
The site where Uppsala stands is a fertile plain. The city lies in the intersection of the esker Uppsalaåsen and the river Fyrisån. In prehistoric times most of the area was below sea level. Therefore, the first communities in the area were established at a higher altitude in Gamla Uppsala (old Uppsala), about north of the current city. In the 3rd and 4th centuries old Uppsala grew into an important religious and political centre, with both the pagan Temple at Uppsala and the Thing of all Swedes in the town.
According to the mythological Heimskringla the city was founded during the reign of Augustus by the pagan god Freyr.
Medieval Uppsala (1087–1520).
In 1087 the temple at Uppsala was burned as a part of the Christianisation of Sweden. In 1164 Gamla Uppsala became the seat of the Swedish Archdiocese. Due to isostasy the shoreline had moved down from Gamla Uppsala, and in the 6th century the Fyris River was not navigable by sail north of "Kvarnfallet" in the current city of Uppsala. At this site the modern city of Uppsala was founded as a port city to Gamla Uppsala, under the name of "Aros". In the first centuries of the second millennium the port city outgrew Gamla Uppsala, which became increasingly isolated. In 1273 the Archdiocese was moved from Gamla Uppsala to Aros, on the condition that the name Uppsala moved with the Archdiocese, which is how the city got its current name. After the relocation the construction of Uppsala cathedral began, continuing until 1435 when the cathedral was inaugurated.
In 1477 Uppsala University was founded through a papal bull as the first university in northern Europe.
Vasa era (1520–1702).
In 1523 Gustav Vasa seized power in Sweden. During his reign Uppsala experienced a severe decline. The ecclesiastical city was largely affected by his reduction and the university closed due to lack of funds. As a result of the protestant reformation much of the church's power moved from Uppsala to the royal court in Stockholm. As a demonstration and consolidation of his power King Gustav began the building of a large fortification on Uppsalaåsen, Uppsala Castle, in 1549.
In the 16th century several important church meetings were held in Uppsala. A new Church Ordinance was accepted in 1571, and in 1593 the Uppsala Synod took place. During the meeting the Augsburg Confession was accepted as the sole religious doctrine and the university was reopened. However, the university took several more decades to resume its full functioning.
During the Swedish Empire Uppsala flourished and became viewed as the second capital of the empire. Through large donations from King Gustav II Adolf the university experienced a renaissance. The king realized the benefits of building his empire with not only military but also intellectual means. In the 1620s a new main building for the university was raised, Gustavianum, and in 1622 the world's first professorship in political science was founded, financed by Johan Skytte. In 1663 the student nations at Uppsala university were legalized by the "Konsistorium" (the University's decision-making body), and in the same year education in "" was introduced, in an effort to provide the empire with competent military and civil servicemen.
In 1643 Uppsala adopted its first city plan. The medieval town with irregular street patterns was to a large extent demolished and a new city with straight streets and diamond-shaped blocks was built within an large urban square. The plan was mostly completed by 1660. The area near the cathedral was not included in the city plan, and therefore these buildings are the oldest still standing in the city.
On 16 May 1702 much of the city was destroyed in a large fire. The cathedral was one of several buildings severely damaged. It took decades to rebuild the city and after the fire it lost its position as a second capital of Sweden.
Age of Liberty and the Gustavian era (1702–1809).
Uppsala was greatly affected by the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment. Many of Sweden's most eminent persons of the enlightenment lived and worked in the city. Among these were the mathematician Samuel Klingenstierna, the astronomer Anders Celsius, the physician Nils Rosén von Rosenstein, the biologist Carl von Linné and the humanist and linguist Johan Ihre.
In the 18th century the bourgeois trading town declined due to competition from the growing capital Stockholm. The university also experienced a set-back during the end of the century due to the deaths of many of its most prominent scientists and the political turmoil in Europe caused by the French revolution.
Uppsala in the union era (1809–1905).
During the first half of the 19th century the university was largely affected by the ideals of romanticism. A group of intellectuals in the city, including Per Daniel Amadeus Atterbom, Lorenzo Hammarsköld and Erik Gustaf Geijer became known as the "Uppsala romantics". By contrast, in the second half of the century the university was dominated by ideals of natural science. In the 50-year period 1820–1870 the number of students at the university tripled, from 500 persons to 1500. In 1870 women were allowed to study at the university and in 1872 Betty Pettersson became the first woman to graduate from a university in Sweden. During this era many university buildings were erected. In 1841 the new university library Carolina Rediviva was inaugurated, In 1867 the university hospital opened and in 1887 King Oscar II of Sweden inaugurated the university hall. During these years the student nations also obtained their own buildings. In 1843, 1856 and 1875 Uppsala hosted Nordic student meetings.
In 1866 Uppsala Central Station opened which made large scale industrialization in Uppsala possible. The area lacks typical natural resources such as ore and wood, but the soil is fertile. Therefore, the food industry and production of bricks from the muddy soil both grew as businesses in Uppsala.
These factors caused a large population growth in the city. Between 1870 and 1900 the population doubled from 11,433 to 22,818 inhabitants. For the first time the city expanded outside of the old city square which was plotted in the city plan of 1643. The city expanded into the districts of Luthagen and Svartbäcken in the north, and Vaksala in the east.
War era (1905–1945).
In 1921 the State Institute for Racial Biology, known as the "Statens institut för rasbiologi", was established in Uppsala as a governmental agency for eugenics. It was the world's first of its kind. The pro-Nazi physician Herman Bernhard Lundborg was appointed as the first head of the institute, but after he was removed and replaced by Gunnar Dahlberg in 1936 the institute developed towards a less racist and more medicinal and statistical direction. In 1939 "", "the ball house meeting", took place in Uppsala. It was organized by the student body at the university. A majority of the assembly made an official protest against accepting ten Jewish academic refugees from Nazi Germany.
During the war era the philosophy faculty at the university grew, and subjects like archaeology, art history and modern languages were introduced. Among the most eminent professors at the university were The Svedberg, Arne Tiselius, Harald Hjärne, Adolf Noreen and Nathan Söderblom. A meta-ethical emotivist view called "Uppsalafilosofin", the Uppsala school, was introduced by Axel Hägerström and his students, which inspired the development of the legal view Uppsalaskolan. Between the years 1880 and 1945 the number of students at the university tripled from 1500 to 4500, and Uppsala was one of the fastest growing cities in Sweden.
Modern Uppsala (1945– ).
In the post-war era Uppsala has experienced comprehensive urban renewal. Unlike most of Europe, Sweden never participated in World War II, so its pre-war infrastructure was intact. But due to severe repair needs and modernistic ideals most of the old city was demolished. Instead, a new city centre was erected, mostly in modernistic and functionalistic style. However, similarly to the demolition and redesign of the city in 1643 the area around the cathedral were left standing.
In the 50-year period between 1940 and 1990 the population of Uppsala municipality more than doubled, growing from 74,000 inhabitants to 156,000. This increased the need for city expansion, which was made possible due to the post–World War II economic expansion. In the Million Programme-era of the 1960s and 1970s several new districts such as Flogsta, Gottsunda, Nyby, Sunnersta and Gränby were built.
The number of university students increased rapidly, from 8,000 in 1960 to 21,000 in 1970. During the tenure of the principal from 1955 to 1978 more students were admitted to the university than during its entire earlier history combined. Simultaneously Uppsala underwent severe de-industrialisation, with many of the 19th century enterprises shutting down.
In 2011 the population of Uppsala municipality surpassed 200,000 persons.


Diego Snepvangers

Diego Snepvangers (born 3 June 1998) is a Dutch football player who plays for Helmond Sport, on loan from NAC Breda, in the Dutch Eerste Divisie.
Club career.
He made his professional debut in the Eerste Divisie for NAC Breda on 25 November 2016 in a game against SC Cambuur.


Mike Redman

Mike Redman (1978) is a musician, record producer, film maker, label owner and multidisciplinary artist from the Netherlands. He owns the leading record label Redrum Recordz and creates music in different musical genres (Hardcore, rap, hip-hop, metal, drum and bass, breakcore, Jungle). Redman founded groups Redrum Squad, Deformer, Wormskull and Voodoom. He has toured internationally with these acts and collaborated with renowned international artists and producers. Redman has released records with artists including American rap group Public Enemy, Hollywood producer Charles Band and Chino XL.
Redman combines his work in the music business with making films, music videos and movie soundtracks. His documentaries "Anagram" and "Sample: Not For Sale" were screened at international film festivals and received critical acclaim.
Redman has also done notable work in the field of special make-up effects for film and television and he has exhibited as an artist. He operates internationally, mostly between Europe, New York and Japan.
Career.
Mike Redman started making music at a young age. While growing up in Schiedam, near Rotterdam, he taught himself how to drum and made musical arrangements with the so-called 'tape-loop' recording technique.
Redrum.
In the early nineties, Redman started performing as a rapper and MC in nightclubs in Rotterdam. He also performed across the Netherlands and Europe as an MC, mainly in the drum-and-bass scene. In the nineties Redman started organizing club nights in Rotterdam nightclubs and named them 'Redrum Parties'. These parties staged mostly upcoming local talents from the hardcore hip hop scene. For Redman's contributions to Rotterdam nightlife, a puppet in his likeness was exhibited at Museum Rotterdam in 2019. Redman formed a rap group called the Redrum Squad, consisting of rappers P-Mode, Unorthadox, turntablist Eni-Less and Redman himself. Redman and Eni-Less produced the works of the squad and released their first tracks in 1999. In 2003, the Redrum Squad released the single 'Enjoy' and they performed on Dutch national television. The group mainly performed in the national and international clubbing scene. The Redrum Squad came to an end in 2005, and its members started focusing on solo projects.
Redman started the independent record label Redrum Recordz in 1999. Dutch artists from several music genres (such as hiphop, jungle, drum-and-bass and metal) are attached to the label. Moreover, Redrum Recordz has worked with international artists such as Guru, Public Enemy, De La Soul, Ice-T and Big Daddy Kane. In 2005 the label reached the Dutch charts with 'Ik wil een meisje' ('I Want a Girl') by Spacekees & Terilekst. In 2011, Redrum Recordz was voted 'one of the 100 leading record labels of Belgium and the Netherlands' by Gonzo Circus Magazine.
Deformer and music production.
Other than Redrum, Mike Redman was involved with many more music projects.
Deformer.
In 1992 Redman started the project Deformer, a collective with several members of the Redrum Squad and Redman himself. Deformer makes progressive electronic music.
Deformer produces demos and performs in the international clubbing scene. In 2006 Deformer won a prize for Best Dance Act The group performed at various pop festivals, such as Lowlands and Outlook in Croatia. In 2008 Redman turned Deformer into a solo project occasionally inviting special guests. In the same year they released a record with American rap group Public Enemy.
In 2011, Deformer developed an audiovisual project called Videopacolypz and released an accompanying album. Videopacolypz was created with the minimal sounds of the Videopac computer of 1978.
Deformer uses a horror element in their music, live shows and cover art. Various visual artists have contributed to some of the Deformer record sleeves, including Graham Humphreys and Shintaro Kago. The cover for the maxi single Meatcleaver was banned in several countries, as it shows a monkey's head composed of pornographic images.
Notable music projects.
Redman regularly works with breakcore producer Bong-Ra. Together they made several albums and started the groups Wormskull and Voodoom. As Voodoom, Redman produced the track ‘Blaka Smoko’ for the soundtrack of Q Hayashida’s Japanese manga series Dorohedoro.
In 2014 Redman collaborated with Hollywood producer and director Charles Band. Band, head of horror production company Full Moon Features and Deformer released ‘Full Moon Deformed’.
In 2015 Redman released ‘Nyctophobia’. This is a downtempo album under the alias ‘The Travel’. The cover art is made by Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid.
In 2017 Redman produced ‘Terrorwrist’ for Public Enemy's studio album ‘Nothing is quick in the desert’
Redman also collaborated with Chino XL, A-F-R-O, Neophyte, DJ Paul Elstak and Evil Activities, N-Vitral, Rotterdam Terror Corps, FFF, Stazma, Ruby My Dear, Shaydie, Menno Gootjes, DJ Producer, Noisekick, Drokz, Akira, Sinister Souls, Living Colour and others.
Special Effects.
When he was a teenager, Redman also experimented with special make-up effects in videos. In 1994, a Dutch television station made an item on the making of Redmans 30-minute horror movie "Ritual of the Damned". After seeing teenage Redman, Dutch DJ Paul Elstak asked him to direct the video for his song 'Don't Leave me Alone'. The single reached a number 2 position in the Dutch charts and sold over 50,000 copies. A Dutch magazine voted 'Don't Leave Me Alone' Best Music Video of 1995. Meanwhile, Redman made the special effects for Paul Elstak's shows and various house parties. He also started working as a prop maker for Dutch television.
Between 1996 and 2000 Redman worked with the special effects and hair studio Sjoerd Didden. He was a special make-up effects specialist and made the effects for motion pictures, television series and theatrical productions, including Jackie Chan's "Who Am I". In 2000 Redman left Sjoerd Didden. In the years following, he still worked as a special effects artist, most notably on the album cover for singer Anouk's record "For Bitter or Worse" (three times platinum) in 2009.
Documentaries and Television.
In 2001 Mike Redman made the independent movie "Walkmen". This full-length documentary tells the story of the hiphop culture in Rotterdam between 1979 and 2001. In the years following, Redman also made several music videos and directed a children series for Dutch television.
In 2008 Redman made his second documentary named "Anagram". This film explores the work and vision of Dutch artist Diet Wiegman. There is no spoken word in the film, only a soundtrack, composed by Redman. The main focus of the movie is on the visual art. The documentary was screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2009. Redman won two international awards for Anagram: ‘Best Art Documentary 2009’ at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival in Los Angeles and ‘Best International Director of a Short Documentary 2010’ at the NYIIFVF in New York.
In 2009 Redman made a documentary, "Nighttown", about the history of a Rotterdam nightclub with the same name. That same year, he also made the music for a television series about the Rotterdam-based museum Boijmans van Beuningen.
Sample: Not For Sale.
In 2012 Redman completed his most ambitious film project to date, the documentary "Sample: Not For Sale". This film explores the relationship between various musical generations, focusing on the sampling culture. Due to lack of funds, Redman financed this project himself, from the camerawork to the editing process. In the film, Redman interviews various internationally well-known artists, such as Chuck D, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Marly Marl, KRS-One. Redman travelled between the US and Europe to approach them guerrilla style, over a period of seven years. Redman wrote a book about his experiences during the making of the film entitled "The Sample Diary".
In 2013 "Sample: Not For Sale" was officially adopted in the musical archives of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The film was screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and it the Best Film award in the music category at the film festival in Hamburg. American magazine Wax Poetics Wax Poetics organised a screening in Brooklyn, New York in 2015. Among the crowd were renowned local producers and authors. DJ Breakbeat Lou (Ultimate Breaks and Beats) introduced the film. Wax Poetics calls "Sample: Not For Sale" "the most comprehensive documentary on the evolution of sampling that you will never see."
The film was never commercially released due to clearance issues for the samples used in the film. During its production, Redman already knew that the film would possibly never be released, but was determined to make an uncompromising in depth documentary that tells the uncensored story of the sampling culture. In "The Sample Diary" Redman states: "censorship in documentaries is like ripping out a page of a history book".
Art.
Redman is involved in the international art scene as a multidisciplinary artist (interdisciplinary art, painting, video art, sculpture). He has exhibited in the Netherlands, the United States, Japan and the Caribbean.
In 2012 he made a track for the compilation CD of an art project named "Songs of Charcoal". He used the alias The Travel.
Redman designs cover art for various artists, including; Bryan Fury, Anouk, Akira, Sei2ure and Bloodsphere. His designs are mostly made in an analogue fashion and vary in style for each artist.


Satu Mare Chain Church

The Chains Church (; ), a Reformed church in Satu Mare, Romania, is one of the oldest churches in the city.
Located on Păcii Square, it was built based on the plans of Preinlich Sigismund, an engineer, between 1793 and 1802. The church has a valuable collection of plates, disks and glasses dating from 1657–1679, as well as the oldest bell in Satu Mare, dating to 1633.
The church is surrounded by pillars connected by forged chains, hence the name "The Chains Church".
The furniture inside the church was made between 1799–1807, from oak, by a master craftsman named Frits Iosif.


Monument to Vladimir the Great

The Monument to Vladimir the Great ()
is a 17.5-metre-high monument to Vladimir the Great, located in Borovitskaya Square in central Moscow. It was designed by the designer Salavat Scherbakov on the initiative of the Russian Military Historical Society and the city government. The opening ceremony was held on 4 November 2016.


Oud- en Nieuw-Mathenesse

Oud- en Nieuw-Mathenesse is a former municipality in the Dutch province of South Holland. It was located to the west of Schiedam.
The municipality existed between 1817 and 1868, when it merged with Schiedam. The area is now divided between Schiedam and Rotterdam, and is completely covered by residential areas and the Merwehaven port.


Old Town Hall (Bratislava)

Old Town Hall (, ) is a complex of buildings from the 14th century in the Old Town of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is the oldest city hall in the country and it is one of the oldest stone buildings still standing in Bratislava, with the tower being built approximately in 1370. The town hall was created in the 15th century by connecting three townhouses, and then went through several reconstructions in the course of the centuries.
It houses the oldest museum in Bratislava, the Bratislava City Museum, founded in 1868, featuring an exhibit of the city history and an exhibit of torture devices. The outlook from the top of the Old Town Hall tower offers a round view of Bratislava Old Town and its environs.
Location.
The Old Town Hall is located in the heart of the Bratislava, between the Main Square and the Primate's square at: . It is next to the Jesuit Church and near the Greek and Japanese embassies. It is easily recognizable by its colorful tiled roof.
History.
Finished in the Gothic style in the 15th century, it resulted from the joining several buildings: Jacobus' house with a tower, Pawer's house, Unger's house and the Apponyi palace (, ). The principal building adjacent to the tower and facing the Main Square was built by the town Mayor Jacobus II (also called "Jakab", "Jakub") in the 14th century, while the tower (originally Gothic) was erected in the late 13th century. Towers made of stone were part of some medieval townhouses in order to provide safety in case of war or protection of wealth in case of fire. Although exact date cannot be specified, details of the gothic windows suggest it was built approximately in 1370. The tower's ground floor was one meter lower than today's street level. The tower was reinforced and modified several times over the next centuries; at one point it contained mechanical clock, a large sphere depicting the current phases of the moon and above that there were bells.
The Apponyi Palace was built by Count Juraj Apponyi, a Hungarian nobleman and King's advisor, in place of two older townhouses in 1761 - 1762. The architect is unknown but older literature attributes the project to F. A. Hildebrandt. Only two wings survive from this residential representative town residence - western and the short southern. The ground floor was both residential and used for storage. The staircase included baroque stone sculptures of saints until the 1930s. First floor is the representative piano nobile with preserved rococo-classical interior decorations. Second floor was used for the accommodation of the Apponyi family, ceilings are lower here and wall decorations are less elaborate. The attic was used for accommodation from the 18th century until the first half of the 19th century (it was common for visitors to coronations and other major events to sleep in the attics of townhouses and palaces of the noble), today, the wooden booths for sleeping were removed. Until the second half of the 19th century the palace used to have another two wings around a trapezoid-shaped courtyard, used by the servants.
Later, the Old Town Hall underwent many transformations and enhancements, namely a Renaissance style reconstruction in 1599 following earthquake damage, Baroque restyling to the tower after a fire in the 18th century, and the addition of a Neo-Renaissance/neogothic wing built in 1912.
Use.
The building was used as a town hall from the 15th century through the late 19th century. At times during that period, however, it also served other purposes, including housing a prison and mint, and being place of trade and celebrations. It was also used as the city's arsenal depository and municipal archive.
Today it hosts the Bratislava City Museum, displaying exhibitions of Pressburg's history. Exhibited items include torture instruments, the old town dungeons, antique weapons and armour, paintings and miniatures. One of its curiosities is a cannonball embedded in the tower wall, shot by Napoleon's soldiers in 1809 during bombardment of the city from Petržalka. During the summer its courtyard hosts concerts. The attic of the Apponyi Palace is used as a Study Depository of Glass and Ceramics.
The top of the tower is accessible as part of the Bratislava City Museum exhibition.
It offers a view of the Old Town of the city.
Current state.
Despite some reconstruction efforts, the structure is in need of renovating some outside parts.


Het Nieuwe Huis

Het Nieuwe Huis (Eng: The New House) is an 'American style' apartment building with a gatehouse at the Roelof Hartplein, at the head of the Van Baerlestraat in Amsterdam Oud-Zuid within five minutes walking from the museums precinct. The building is, since 2004, on the country's monument list.
The building was designed by architect Barend van den Nieuwen Amstel. In 1928, it was established with the aim of housing wealthy bachelors, for whom it was more difficult to find a home than for families. The New House has 188 small to medium-sized apartments. Under the building is a branch of the Public Library of Amsterdam.
In 1974, the writer and poet Jan Arends committed suicide by jumping from the window of his apartment in the courtyard of The New House. On the day of his death he published his collection of poems "Lunch Poems".
The playful facade with curves and staircase windows can be seen the influence of the Amsterdam School.
In 2015, the Het Nieuwe Huis still offers affordable accommodation for single people. The current residents are aged 21 ato 99 and enjoy the central location as well as several communal areas such as the interior garden and on the 5th floor, a shared terrace with a view on the Amsterdam Business Center Zuid.


Former town hall of Nieuwer-Amstel

The City Hall in Nieuwer-Amstel is a Neo renaissance building built in 1889-1892 overlooking the Amstel. It was the seat of the city of Nieuwer-Amstel's government, but after absorption into the municipality of Amsterdam in 1896, it became a location for the Amsterdam City Archives in 1914.
History.
The town hall was built on the site of the former "Bergenvaarderskamer", a guild hall for the Amsterdam shippers and merchants to Bergen, Norway. The sculptures on the front of the building above the doorway and at the top of the gable were made by Bart van Hove.


Roxar AS

Roxar AS was a provider of products and associated services for reservoir management and production optimisation in the upstream oil and gas industry. Roxar was headquartered in Stavanger, Norway and operated in 19 countries with around 900 employees. Roxar offered software for reservoir interpretation, modelling and simulation, as well as instrumentation for well planning, monitoring, metering and production optimisation. Roxar was acquired by Emerson Electric Company in April 2009.
Roxar developed real-time multiphase flow measurement and instrumentation of wells and data acquisition systems.
History.
Roxar was formed in 1999 as a result of a merger between Multi-Fluid ASA and Smedvig Technologies AS.
1984 - Smedvig International Petroleum Research Group AS (IPR) is established. The company develops technical solutions within drilling and production.
1987 - Smedvig IPR establishes Permanent Downhole Monitoring Systems (PDMS) in a 50/50 joint venture with Lasalle Pressure Data Services Ltd. Smedvig IPR Services AS is established.
1991 – Smedvig IPR becomes the sole owner of the PDMS business. Smedvig IPR AS buys 30 percent of the shares in IPAC AS, a software company specialising in advanced software for stochastic modelling of reservoirs.
1991 - First CorrOcean subsea sensor is installed on the Norwegian Continental Shelf
1992 – Multi-Fluid launches the MFI WaterCut Meter. Smedvig IPR AS participates in the formation of Petec AS, a reservoir consulting company.
1993 – Petec AS participates in the formation of Odin AS, a software company specialising in advanced software for stochastic modelling of reservoirs. Smedvig IPR AS merges with Smedvig IPR Services AS and becomes Smedvig Technology AS.
1994 –Smedvig Technology AS acquires the remaining shares in IPAC AS and acquires PTL Tønsberg AS, an electronics company specialised in integrated hybrid circuitry.
1995 – Smedvig Technology AS acquires 100 percent of the shares in Petec AS and Geomatic AS, a company specialising in the 3D reservoir modelling software IRAP RMS. Smedvig Offshore acquires Prodrill Ltd, a drilling consultancy business in the UK, and the management of this company is taken over by Smedvig Technology AS.
1996 –Smedvig Technology AS acquires 49 percent of the shares in Onics, a reservoir consulting company in Moscow. Smedvig Technology AS acquires 100 percent of the shares in Odin AS.
1997 –Smedvig Technology AS becomes Smedvig Technologies (Holding) AS with full ownership of Geomatic AS (former Petec, Geomatic and Ipac). Multi-Fluid is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
1998 – Smedvig Technologies (Holding) AS and Multi-Fluid ASA launch a co-operation to develop a downhole water-cut meter. Multi-Fluid introduces the first subsea multiphase meter.
1999 – Smedvig Technologies (Holding) AS merges with Multi-Fluid ASA and becomes Roxar ASA, a public company quoted on the Oslo Stock Exchange, specialising in reservoir modelling software, PDMS and multiphase metering.
2001 – Roxar ASA acquires Fluenta AS, a company specialising in multiphase meters, flare gas meters and sand monitoring.
2003 – The two major investors in Roxar ASA, Lime Rock Partners LP of the US and Smedvig AS of Norway acquire control of Roxar ASA and the company is delisted.
2004 – Roxar AS establishes a branch office in Moscow and acquires full ownership of Onics in Russia.
2006 – Arcapita, a private equity firm completes acquisition of Roxar. Roxar acquires EnergyScitech, a UK-based independent consultancy and software development company.
2007 – CorrOcean acquires oil service company Mareco AS and adds complementary products for chemical and MEG/Methanol injection to its Subsea portfolio.
2007 - Roxar is acquired by CorrOcean ASA (est. 1979) and following the merger the company is listed at the Oslo Stock Exchange as Roxar ASA.
2009 - Roxar is acquired by Emerson, St. Louis USA and becomes part of a USD 28 billion company


Peter de Kock

Peter de Kock is a Dutch cameraman, film producer and director. He studied at the Film academy in Amsterdam and worked as a director of photography on many films and documentaries. De Kock made his directorial debut with the film "The Hands of Che Guevara", a documentary about the severed hands of the Latin American guerrilla fighter Ernesto Che Guevara that were put in a jar of formaldehyde and disappeared from public view. The film was a success at many international film festivals.


Ranevskaya Monument

The Monument to Faina Ranevskaya, designed and sculpted by David Begalov is located in front of Faina Ranevskaya's birth house in Taganrog, Russia.
Faina Ranevskaya (1896-1984) is recognized as one of the greatest comic actors of the 20th century. She was born on August 27 (August 15 - Old Style), 1896 in the city of Taganrog in the Nikolaevskaya street, 12 (now Frunze Street, 10).
August 29, 1986, a memorial plate dedicated to Ranevskaya was placed on her birth house in the city of Taganrog. Taganrog Local Government is planning to open a museum dedicated to Ranevskaya in the near future. A monument to Faina Ranevskaya (by the artist David Begalov) in front of the house was unveiled on May 16, 2008 within the framework of the First International Ranevskaya Drama Festival "The Great Province".