Shikellamy

Shikellamy (died December 6, 1748), also known as Swatana, was an Oneida chief and overseer for the Iroquois confederacy. In his position as chief and overseer, Shikellamy served as a supervisor for the Six Nations, overseeing the Shawnee and Lenape tribes in central Pennsylvania along the Susquehanna River and protecting the southern border of the Iroquois Confederacy. While his birth date is not known, his first recorded historical appearance was in Philadelphia in 1728. In 1728 he was living in a Shawnee village in Pennsylvania near modern Milton, and moved in 1742 to the village of Shamokin, modern day Sunbury, at the confluence of the West and North Branches of the Susquehanna. Shikellamy was an important figure in the early history of the Province of Pennsylvania and served as a go-between for the colonial government in Philadelphia and the Iroquois chiefs in Onondaga. He welcomed Conrad Weiser to Shamokin and served as Weiser's guide on his journeys into the frontier of Pennsylvania and New York.
Emissary for the Iroquois in Pennsylvania.
Although it is not known when or where Shikellamy was born, his first appearance in the historical record is his 1728 visit to Philadelphia, the provincial capital of Pennsylvania. The Quaker leadership in Philadelphia soon realized that Shikellamy was an important Indian leader and he was invited back to the capital in 1729. He was described as "Shekallamy...a trusty good Man & great Lover of the English." Shikellamy was sent by the government of Pennsylvania to invite the leaders of the Iroquois Confederacy to a council in 1732. The initial meeting was a success and both sides agreed to meet once again in the future. These meetings were arranged by Conrad Weiser and Shikellamy.
It has been said, though, that Shikellamy came from France, but was captured by Indians as a boy. Others say that he was all Indian, and was a descendant of the Andastes.
During a later meeting, Shikellamy, Weiser and the Pennsylvanians negotiated a 1736 treaty in Philadelphia, including a deed whereby the Iroquois sold the land drained by the Delaware River and south of the Blue Mountain. Since the Iroquois had never until then laid claim to this land, this purchase represented a significant swing in Pennsylvanian policy toward the Native Americans. William Penn had never taken sides in disputes between tribes, but by this purchase, the Pennsylvanians were favoring the Iroquois over the Lenape. Along with the Walking Purchase of 1737, also arranged with the assistance of Shikellamy and Conrad Weiser, this treaty exacerbated Pennsylvania-Lenape relations. The results of this policy shift would help induce the Lenapes to side with the French during the French and Indian Wars, which would result in many colonial deaths. It did, however, help induce the Iroquois to continue to side with the British over the French.
A friend to Christian missionaries.
Shikellamy had originally lived in a Shawnee village in the vicinity of modern Milton, along the West Branch Susquehanna River. The Shawnee moved to the west by 1742, and in that year Shikellamy moved to Shamokin village, which was an important Lenape town and home of Sasoonan (also known as Allumapees), a leader who was regarded by Pennsylvania authorities as the Delaware (Lenape) "king." This title had no traditional meaning for the Delawares, who lived in autonomous villages. However, since British colonial governments preferred to deal with a single leader rather than numerous village elders, Sasoonan emerged as the Delaware "king". Pennsylvania officials found Sasoonan useful because he could be induced (with the help of gifts and abundantly free liquor) to sign away Indian lands.
Shikellamy was rewarded for his efforts in the Walking Purchase and other treaties by the colonial government of Pennsylvania. In 1744 Conrad Weiser supervised the construction of a house for Shikellamy at Shamokin. The house was long, wide, and was covered with a shingle roof.
Shikellamy's position and status at Shamokin made him an important person in the eyes of the Moravian missionaries who sought to spread the gospel to the Indians of Pennsylvania. Count Zinzendorf, a bishop of Moravian Church and native of Germany, visited with him in 1742. The Count believed that Shikellamy, who had converted to Christianity, could serve as a vital agent of change in converting all Indians to the Christian faith. Shikellamy permitted the Moravians to maintain an outpost at Shamokin and served as an emissary between the Moravians and Madame Montour's village of Otstonwakin at the mouth of Loyalsock Creek and French Margaret's village at the mouth of Lycoming Creek. Shikellamy permitted the Moravians to stay at Shamokin because he believed that they had the Indians' best interest at heart. He knew that, unlike other white men, the Moravians had no interest in the Indians' furs and did not want to take their land, nor did the missionaries give Shikellamy's people any alcohol. Shikellamy so admired the Moravians that he permitted them to stay in his home, lent them horses for work, and helped them build their homes. Although the exact date of Shikellamy's earlier conversion to Christianity is unknown, he formally converted to Christianity in November 1748 at the Moravian city of Bethlehem. On his return journey Shikellamy became ill. Despite the efforts of his Moravian friends at Shamokin, the Indian leader succumbed to the illness on December 6, 1748.
Family.
"Historians are more or less in agreement that Shikellamy, the Oneida Chief, had four or five sons, and at least one daughter. The oldest son Tachnechtoris, "The Spreading Oak" known to the white men as John Shikellamy; and in Jones' History of the Juniata Valley, known as Captain Logan. The second son, Tah-gah-jute or Sayughtowa, meaning his eyebrows stick out and over, hence spying or "The Beetling Brow," better known as James Logan, renamed for Secretary Logan of Germantown, the Secretary of the Provincial Council, but in later life and to history-Logan, the Mingo.
Another son was Arahhot, probably identical with "Unhappy Jake" who was killed in the war with the Catawbas in 1744.
John Petty or Sogogeghyata, was the youngest of the four brothers, and bore the name of a Shamokin Indian Trader. Dr John W Jordan states that a fifth son was also killed in battle. Shikellamy also had a daughter, the widow of Cajadies, known as "the best hunter among all the Indians" who died in November 1747.
Shikellamy's wife is known as Neanoma, a Cayuga whom he married in New York State a dozen years before removing to Pennsylvania. The children taking the clan or tribe of the mother are referred to as Cayugas as was the tradition.
After his death, Shikellamy was succeeded by his son John Shikellamy, also known as John Logan and Tachnachdoarus (spreading oak). Another one of Shikellamy's sons, James Logan, was named for James Logan, the Quaker Provincial Secretary of Pennsylvania and de facto Superintendent of Indian Affairs. One of these two sons — historians have disagreed which one — later became well known in American history as "Chief Logan," who played a pivotal role in Dunmore's War in 1774 and issued an oft-quoted speech known as "Logan's Lament." A third son was named John Petty, after a trader. Two of his sons were killed in battle.
Statement of Jesse Logan, aged 106 years old and Great Grandson of Chief Shikellamy
Legacy.
Shikellamy is a prominent name in Northumberland County today. Shikellamy State Park, Shikellamy High School, and Chief Shikellamy Elementary School carry on his name. In fact, the Shikellamy School District, which owns and operates both of the aforementioned schools, was named after him when the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania commissioned it in 1958. In Berks County, there was a local Boy Scout camp named after Shikellamy (Shikellamy Scout Reservation) that closed in 1978. Above the camp, there is a rock outlook named Shikellamy Summit along the Appalachian Trail.


Bertha of Rheinfelden

Bertha of Rheinfelden (also Bertha of Bregenz) (born c. 1065; d. after 1128), countess of Kellmünz, was the daughter of Rudolf of Rheinfelden and wife of Ulrich X of Bregenz.
Life.
Bertha was the daughter of Rudolf of Rheinfelden and Adelaide of Savoy (daughter of Adelaide of Turin). Her sister, Adelaide of Rheinfelden, was married to Ladislaus I of Hungary. Bertha’s husband was Ulrich X, count of Bregenz (d. 1097). According to the "Chronicle of Petershausen", Ulrich was betrothed to a daughter of Count Werner of Habsburg, but secretly arranged to marry Bertha instead.
Bertha inherited property in the Schluchsee region. She possessed three (of the seven) secular benefices of the monastery of Marchtal. (This property, which originally belonged to Herman II of Swabia, probably came into the possession of Bertha’s father, Rudolf, through his first marriage to Matilda of Germany, daughter of Emperor Henry III and Empress Agnes.) Bertha also inherited the church of Sargans, which she donated to the monastery of Mehrerau, which she and her husband, Ulrich, re-founded, c.1097. In addition to Mehrerau, Bertha was also a patron ("benefactrix") of the monastery of Isny. Through her husband, Ulrich, Bertha was also associated with the monastery of Petershausen. After her Ulrich’s death in a hunting accident in 1097, Bertha and her sons (Rudolf and Ulrich XI) restored property in Bigenhausen to Petershausen for the sake of her husband's soul.
And around 1122 Bertha interceded on behalf of lay brothers from Petershausen who had violently attacked the monastery’s cellarer. Bertha’s intervention ensured that they were received back into the monastery.
After Ulrich X’s death, his dynasty (the house of Bregenz) came into conflict with the Welf and Kirchberg dynasties over property in Linzgau, Alpgau and Upper Raetia. According to one account, Bertha ‘fought manfully’ ("virilter pugnavit") at the Battle of Jedesheim (January 1108 or 1109), at which the forces of Rudolf of Bregenz were defeated by Count Hartmann of Kirchberg.
Bertha died sometime after 1128 and was buried at the abbey of Mehrerau.
Children.
With Ulrich, Bertha had the following children:


Neo-Slavism

Neo-Slavism was a short-lived movement originating in Austria-Hungary around 1908 and influencing nearby Slavic states in the Balkans as well as Russia. Neoslavists promoted cooperation between Slavs on equal terms in order to resist Germanization, pursue modernization as well as liberal reforms, and wanted to create a democratic community of Slavic nations without a dominating influence of Russia.
It was a branch of a larger and older Pan-Slavism ideology. Unlike Pan-Slavism, Neo-Slavism did not attach importance to religion and did not discriminate between Catholics and Orthodox believers, did not support the creation of a single Slavic state, and was mostly interested in a non-violent realization of its program.
History.
The movement originated among the Slavs of Austria-Hungary who wished to achieve equal status in that state with the Austrians and Hungarians. It was particularly popular with the Young Czech Party in Austria-Hungary and has been described as "essentially a Czech creation". The Neo-Slav movement held two congresses. The founding congress took place in Prague in July 1908, the second was held in Sofia in July 1910. Two other, less formal, gatherings of Neo-Slav activists were held in St Petersburg in May 1909 and February 1910. Despite this activity, the movement made little progress before dissipating in the wake of the Bosnian crisis and subsequent Balkan Wars and the First World War. It also suffered from the differences between various Slavic groups, with antagonism between Poles and Ukrainians, between different Balkans nations, and lack of support from those nations for either Austria-Hungary and Russia. The movement declared itself apolitical, but it was nonetheless viewed with suspicion by Austro-Hungarian officials.
One of the few effects of the movement was the creation of the Federation of Slavic Sokols (the Sokol movement was highly supportive of Neo-Slavism).
Characteristics.
Neo-Slavism aimed to build a barrier against German expansion, reliant on Russia. Germany was seen as a threat due to its Germanization policies, and slow but steady expansion of influence over the Slavic lands. Compared to Pan-Slavism, seen as subservient to the Russian interests, instead of a Russian dominance over all the Slavs advocated by Pan-Slavism it aimed at a more balanced federation of Slavic states, which was hoped to emerge from a reformed Austria-Hungary. It has also been described as a final evolution of Austro-Slavism. Outside of Austria it aimed at reconciliation between Poles and Russians, with Russian neo-slavists declaring their support to recreation of independent Poland, while Polish neoslavists accepted that reconciliation was needed to counter the German threat. Russian Neoslavs were interested, among others, in fostering equal relations between the nations of the Russian Empire, creating a constitutional-liberal system, and by doing so modernizing Russia; their overall views were non-expansionistic, and pursued a balance of power in Europe against increasing German power.
Notable thinkers of the movement included Roman Dmowski, a Pole, and Karel Kramář, a Czech.
While Neo-Slavism was short-lived, it has nonetheless been described as having exerted significant influence on inter-Slavic politics of the period.
Further reading.
professor Antoni Giza:


Rehabilitation in Serbia

Rehabilitation in Serbia refers to the rehabilitation of people convicted during the Communist Yugoslavian period in Serbia.


Peasant armament support march

The peasant armament support march of 1914 () was a demonstration primarily of Swedish farmers on February 6, 1914 in Stockholm. It resulted in a constitutional crisis triggered by the Courtyard Speech held by King Gustav V to the marchers at Stockholm Palace.
Context.
The support march was a conservative response to the defence policies of Swedish Liberal Prime Minister Karl Staaff. As the tensions of the arms race preceding the First World War grew stronger, Staaff's decision to slow down Swedish armament was met with great discontentment by conservatives.
Organisation.
The initiative of the march came from the landowner Uno Nyberg, and the organisation of housing and otherwise for the Swedish farmers that travelled to Stockholm for the march was carried out by the grocery shopowner J. E. Frykberg. Though called a farmers' march, participants came from a wider range of conservatives. The conservative explorer and writer Sven Hedin also participated in the preparation of the march by writing the Courtyard Speech.


Louis Celeste Lecesne

Louis Celeste Lecesne (c. 1796 or 1798 – 22 November 1847), also known as Lewis Celeste Lecesne, was an anti-slavery activist from the Caribbean islands.
Lecesne was on a committee to improve the rights of free men of colour. He was arrested twice, and transported for life from Jamaica with John Escoffery. Their case was taken up by Dr. Stephen Lushington. Lecesne was compensated after successfully having the case reversed by the British government.
Lecesne became an activist against slavery and attended the world's first anti-slavery convention. He named his son after the British Member of Parliament who had fought for his case. Lecesne was a supporter when the 1839 Anti-Slavery Society was formed.
Disputed birth.
Lecesne was the son of Charlotte Celeste and Louis Nicholas Lecesne, and was born in either Port au Prince or Kingston in 1796 or 1798. His mother and father had arrived in Jamaica on 25 August 1798 with a child called Figge. Lecesne's father was French and had left St Domingo, whilst his mother was said to have African ancestry. According to some, his mother was pregnant, Figge died and Louis was born. The Jamaican authorities believed however that Louis was the child who arrived on the brig "Mary" with his mother.
Lecesne's date of birth was given as 30 August 1798 in Kingston, but he wasn't baptised until 5 March 1814. His place and date of birth were the subject of later court cases. At these cases it was noted that Lecesne's mother and the midwife said that he was born a few months (or days) after their arrival in Jamaica.
Others disagree with this version as his mother said that when they arrived in Jamaica they did have a two-year-old child but he died just after the birth of this child.
Lecesne had two younger brothers Lamorette and Louis Nicholas Lecesne. His mother was manumised by Lescesne's father. The date of the birth was important as a later law gave privileges to children born on the island.
He was taken to Mr Goff's school for "children of colour" in 1802 when his father
asked for him to be given "the best English education". Mr Goffe signed an affidavit later to say that he thought Lecesne to be four years old at the time but others think this a very young age to send such a child to school in Jamaica.
Others said that when Charlotte Celeste arrived she had a two-year-old son called Figge. They claim Lecesne was born in Port a Prince in St Domingo "opposite the post office".
When his father made a will and died in 1816 he made Lecesne his executor. Some claim that this means that his father knew he was 21 years of age, and therefore born before elsewhere.
Marriage.
Louis Celeste Lecesne married Hannah Escoffery (born 15 November 1797 and also known as Anette),
the sister of John Escoffery.
At least three children were born to Louis Celeste Lecesne and Hannah Escoffery in Kingston. The first was Louise Amelia Lecesne (born 20 June 1817), followed by Elizabeth Adeline Lecesne (born 24 July 1818) and Celestine Aglaé Lecesne (19 June 1820 – 11 August 1821). On 7 May 1823 Louis Celeste Lecesne was a witness to the marriage of his wife's brother, Edward Escoffery to Marie Montagnac in the Roman Catholic Church, Kingston.
Lecesne and John Escoffery came to notice as members of a committee who were intent on changing the law such that free men "of colour" would be given free and equal rights to white people.
Arrest.
Louis Celeste Lecesne and John Escoffery were arrested on 7 October 1823 under the Alien Act by a warrant of the Duke of Manchester, the Governor of Jamaica. William Burge, the Attorney General, considered them to be of "dangerous character"; they were also considered to be aliens, because of claims that they were Haitian. Luckily they had time to raise a writ of Habeas Corpus in the Supreme Court of Jamaica
While Lecesne and Escoffery were held in gaol, petitions made to the Governor were rejected as it was claimed that the signatories were all owed money by the accused. Later investigations showed that the largest debt involved was 25 pounds. After consideration by the judges, the two were released as they were considered to be British-born despite the arguments described earlier. Chief Justice Scarlett released them without bail as there were no charges.
Later, a member of the House of Representatives moved that a secret committee be formed to look at this case. This man, Hector Mitchell, was made the chair of this committee, comprising three others including the Mayor of Kingston. Their investigations resulted in the forced exile of Lecesne and Escoffery to St Domingo. It had been said that Lecesne had sold arms to an insurrection in "St George" and that the two of them kept correspondence with people in Haiti for treasonable purposes.
Having been separated from their families and possessions, the pair had to sell their watches and with this money and the help of British people on the island they set out for England. With Lecesne and Escoffery deported, the free coloureds movement did not collapse in Jamaica. Instead, other campaigners, such as Edward Jordon, Robert Osborn (Jamaica), and Richard Hill (Jamaica) continued to agitate for equal rights for free coloureds, and they were finally successful when the Jamaican Assembly passed legislation allowing them to vote in elections and run for public office.
A young English sailor boy, Barnet Burns, had been found ill in Jamaica and was cared for by Lecesne and his family. Following the deportation of Lecesne, Burns followed Lecesne's family to London, where he received an education under the patronage of Lecesne.
England.
The case of Lecesne and Escoffery was raised in the House of Commons by Stephen Lushington who was a known abolitionist and anti-slavery campaigner. Lushington spoke to the house on 16 June 1825. This resulted in a number of publications:
There was a libel case against John Murray, not because he was the author, but because he was the publisher of a book that libelled Lecesne and Escoffery. The case was based on the fact that the book recorded that the politicians in Jamaica considered Lecesne and Escoffery guilty of a criminal conspiracy. This case was held in Britain in order that it should not be biased. If they were guilty of a conspiracy, then under the 1818 Alien Act they could be transported for life if they were born elsewhere.
The book concerned was "The annals of Jamaica, Volume 2" by the Reverend George Wilson Bridges. Bridges combined leading worship at St Annes and speaking up for the value of slavery.
The libel case was successful and Lecesne was therefore innocent. Parliament ruled that they should both be allowed to return and be given compensation.
Lecesne believed in the law. In 1832, Lecesne was living in England at the Fenchurch buildings in Fenchurch Street, London and on 26 June while walking outside his residence Lecesne was the victim of a pickpocket, Thomas Fielder, who had stolen a handkerchief. For this crime, Fielder, aged 15, was sentenced to transportation for life.
Lecesne was on the board of the Anti-Slavery Agency in 1832 with other notable abolitionists such as William Allen, Zachary Macaulay, Robert Forster, George Stacey and Josiah Forster
Louis Celeste Lecesne and his wife had a son whilst they were in London whom they christened Stephen Lushington Macauley Lecesne. He was born on 6 March 1834 and was christened at Saint Matthew Church, Bethnal Green, London, on 25 June 1834.
In July 1838, Lecesne was one of the supporters of a campaign to raise a monument to Zachary Macaulay in Westminster Abbey.
1840 Anti-Slavery Society convention.
On 17 April 1840, the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society was formed to campaign for worldwide abolition of slavery. A short time later, the first World Anti-Slavery Convention was held in London, attracting an international participation. Lecesne attended the convention and is depicted in a painting "The Anti-Slavery Society Convention, 1840" by Benjamin Haydon(1841).
According to a record at the Montserrat (West Indies) National Trust from the Official Assignee to the President Administering the Government William Shiell, Lescene was declared bankrupt in 1845; the Island Secretary Henry Loving apparently owed Lescene £198 12s 3d.
Following a bout of pneumonia, Louis Celeste Lecesne died on 22 November 1847 at his residence at the Fenchurch buildings, Fenchurch Street in London.
At the end of May in 1848, "The Times" announced the sale of the "superior" effects of the late L. C. Lecesne Esq including his mahogany four poster and a six octave pianoforte.


Elections in the Netherlands

Elections in the Netherlands are held for five territorial levels of government: the European Union, the state, the twelve Provinces, the 25 water boards and the 355 municipalities (and the three "public bodies" in the Caribbean Netherlands). Apart from elections, referenda were also held occasionally, but have been removed from the law in 2018. The most recent national election results and an overview of the resulting seat assignments and coalitions since World War II are shown at the bottom of this page.
At the national level, legislative power is invested in the States General ("Staten-Generaal"), which is bicameral. The House of Representatives ("Tweede Kamer") has 150 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation. Elections are also called after a dissolution of the House of Representatives. All elections are direct, except for the Senate ("Eerste Kamer"), which has 75 members, elected for a four-year term by provincial councillors on the basis of proportional representation at the provincial elections.
The Netherlands has a multi-party system, with numerous parties, in which usually no one party ever secures an overall majority of votes (except occasionally in very small municipalities, such as Tubbergen), so that several parties must cooperate to form a coalition government. This usually includes the party supported by a plurality of voters, with only three exceptions since World War II, in 1971, 1977 and 1982, when the Labour Party (PvdA) was the largest party but did not take part in the coalition.
Candidates to the elections of the House of Representatives are chosen from party lists according to a system of party-list proportional representation. The threshold is 1/150th of the total number of valid votes.
During the municipal elections of 2006, elections were electronic throughout the country. As a result, results were known before the end of the day, a mere two hours after the closing of the poll stations. For the national elections in November of that same year, however, several polling stations decided to return to paper and red pencil because of security issues with the voting machines. Since then, most elections have been held using paper and pencil.
The most recent election was the general election on 15-17 March 2021.
Timing.
The maximum parliamentary term is five years and elections are generally held about four years after the previous one. Regular elections, i.e. after the House of Representatives has fulfilled its term, take place in March. If municipal or provincial elections are already taking place in March of that year, the parliamentary election is postponed to May. Elections are planned for spring to ensure that a new cabinet is formed in time to present its plans on the most important day in the Dutch Parliament, Prinsjesdag. If the House of Representatives is dissolved, due to a severe conflict between the House of Representatives and cabinet, or within the cabinet, a snap election takes place as soon as possible, usually after two months to give parties time to prepare. The term of the next House can be shortened or prolonged by almost a year to ensure the next normal election again takes place in March or May.
Municipal and provincial elections always take place every four years, in March; municipal elections always two years after a year divisible by four, and provincial elections one year after municipal elections. Municipal councils and States-Provincial cannot be dissolved, so no snap elections can occur. An exception to the four-year term is made when two or more municipalities merge and a new election takes place for the merged municipality.
Senate elections also take place every four years, in May following the provincial elections. The Senate can be dissolved, and subsequently snap elections take place, but since the States-Provincial remain the same, this seldom occurs. A Senate elected in a snap election sits out the remainder of its predecessor's term.
Elections usually take place on Wednesdays, but the government can decide to change this to a Tuesday, Thursday or Friday if there are good reasons to do so (e.g. when the election day coincides with a national holiday). Elections for the European Parliament always take place on a Thursday.
Eligibility.
Every Dutch citizen who has reached the age of 18 is eligible to vote ("actief kiesrecht", or "active suffrage") or to stand for election as a member of the House of Representatives ("passief kiesrecht", or "passive suffrage"). A notable exception is municipal elections, in which persons younger than 18 can be elected, although they may not take their seat until their 18th birthday. Also, for the municipal election one does not have to be Dutch; residents who are citizens of another EU country are also eligible to vote, as well as citizens of other countries who have lived (legally) in the Netherlands for five years. Someone may be deprived of these rights if they are mentally incapable of making a reasoned choice or have lost their right to vote by court sentence. Two weeks before an election all voters receive a card, which is the evidence that they are entitled to vote, and this card must be handed over at the polling-station before voting. Voting is not compulsory. Compulsory voting was introduced along with universal suffrage in 1917, but it was abolished in 1967.
It is not necessary or even possible specifically to register as a voter for elections in the Netherlands: every resident inhabitant of the Netherlands is required to register as such with the municipality in which they are living, and this data (which includes their nationality and date of birth) is the basis from which the electoral register is derived.
Dutch citizens who live abroad (and have deregistered themselves as a Dutch resident) are allowed to vote for the House of Representatives and for the European Parliament, but not for municipal or provincial elections. They do need to register themselves as a voter.
System.
The House of Representatives is elected using an open party list system of proportional representation.
Election.
For all elections polling is organised on the basis of municipalities. In each municipality there are multiple voting stations, usually in communal buildings, such as churches, schools, and more recently, railway stations. There are two different systems: using the call-to-vote card ("oproepkaart") or a voting pass ("stempas"). With the "oproepkaart", voters may vote, using this card, only at their nearest voting station, or if lost, their identity card. With a "stempas", users may vote at any station in their municipality, but must have the pass with them. If it is lost, a replacement can be requested, but only until a few days before the elections. A "stempas" (of different type) can also be requested to vote in a different municipality.
When arriving at a voting station, voters hand in their card or pass to one of the three attendants of the voting station, who checks the card, cancels it, issues ballot papers to the voter, and directs him or her to the polling-booth.
Dutch citizens living abroad are able to vote by registering in advance and then using a postal vote. The results are counted by the municipality of The Hague and included in its own results. In 2006, they could vote over the internet via the Rijnland Internet Election System, but in 2008 security concerns led to a law against Internet voting.
Voting is done in one of two ways: manually marking a ballot paper with a red pencil or electronically, using a voting machine. In 2005, almost all municipalities planned to abandon pencil-and-paper voting. However, serious doubts were raised over the inviolability of the computers used from potential vote tampering and electronic eavesdropping. This led to a run on foreign voting machines and reintroduction of the red pencil in some municipalities in 2006, occasionally using converted medical waste disposal containers as voting boxes.
For mayoral and gubernatorial positions, the Netherlands is one of the few countries in Europe where no elections are held. Instead, they are appointed by the Crown.
Post-election.
Polls close at 21:00 and the votes are counted immediately. For national elections, the first results usually come within the first five minutes after the polls are closed (from the municipalities with the fewest inhabitants, Schiermonnikoog and Renswoude). The final results are generally known around midnight and semi-officially announced the next morning, after which the 150 seats are allocated. However, recounting over the course of the following days sometimes throws up minor shifts in the allocation of seats.
Seat assignment.
The electorate in the Netherlands during the last general elections in 2017 was 12,950,685, of whom 82% voted, resulting in 10,563,456 votes (of which 10,516,041 valid votes). With 150 seats, that means a quota of 70,107 votes per seat, the so-called Hare quota. Since the election threshold is equal to the quota, that is also the number of votes required to get one seat in the House of Representatives.
However, the way residual seats are assigned, by using the D'Hondt method, a highest averages method, means that smaller parties are unlikely to get a residual seat, while larger parties have a bigger chance of getting one and may even get more than one. Firstly, numbers of seats are always rounded down, meaning there are always residual seats and parties that did not reach the quota do not get any seats (they do not take part in the following calculation). Next, the number of votes is divided by the assigned seats plus one. The party with the highest resulting number then gets one extra seat. Next, the process is repeated, with the party that got the extra seat participating again, albeit with a number one higher because they got an extra seat (the calculation stays the same for the other parties, which got no extra seat). But later on in the process, that party may get another extra seat. And since there are many parties in the House of Representatives, this is not unlikely to happen.
For example, in 2003 (see table here), the three biggest parties each got two of the six residual seats, even the VVD (150*0.179=26.85, but they got 28 seats, representing 18.7% of the seats instead of 17.9%), whereas the Socialist Party got none (150*0.063 = 9.45, but they got only 9 seats, representing 6% of the seats instead of 6.3%).
When the largest party gets over 35% of the votes and is considerably bigger than the next biggest party, that party may even get as much as 3 or even 4 residual seats. This has, however, never happened. The percentage of votes for the biggest party is usually around 30% and rarely goes far beyond that. The largest result ever was at the 1989 elections, when the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) got 35.3% of the votes. Even then, however, CDA only got two residual seats because next biggest party, the Labour Party (PvdA) had 31.9% of the votes. The biggest difference between the first and second party was at the 2002 elections, the most dramatic elections in Dutch history, when especially the PvdA lost many votes to the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF), which became second biggest after CDA with 17.0% of the votes. CDA, however, had received only 27.9% of the votes and was therefore still only assigned two residual seats.
Historically, parties had the option of forming an electoral alliance ("lijstverbinding"), in which case they would participate in the above calculations as one party and therefore increase their chance of being assigned residual seats. The allocation of those seats among the parties within a "lijstverbinding" was, however, done using the largest remainder method, which is more favourable toward smaller parties rather than the bigger ones if there is a considerable difference in size. But the overall advantage was greatest for small parties of comparable size. The option of forming a "lijstverbinding" was abolished in 2017.
Assigning people to seats.
After seats are allocated to the parties, candidates have to be assigned to the seats. For the purpose of general elections, the Netherlands is divided into twenty electoral districts. Parties can present different lists in each district. In theory, a party can place different candidates on each of the 20 different lists. However, it is usual that at least the candidate ranked first on the list is the same person throughout the country. It is even quite common that parties use the same list in every district, or vary only the last five candidates per district. Usually these five candidates are locally well known politicians, parties hope to attract extra votes with these candidates. However, because of their low position on the list, chances are low that these local candidates are elected.
The first step in the process of assigning people to the seats is calculating how many seats each of the different lists of a party gets, by adding the number of votes on each of the different lists together. If a party used the same list in more than one electoral district, these lists are seen as one list. Seat assignment to the different lists is done by using the largest remainder method.
The second step is calculating which candidate received on his or her own more votes than 25% of the electoral quota, by adding up all votes for a particular candidate on the different lists. These candidates are declared elected independent of the list order, and get one of the seats of the list where they received the most votes. If more candidates are elected on a list than the list received seats, the candidate with the lowest total number of votes is transferred to the list where he had his second best result.
As a third step, the remaining seats (if there are any) are assigned to the remaining candidates, based on their order on the list. When candidates are elected on more than one list in this way, the candidate gets the seat on the list where he or she received the most votes. This is continued until every seat is assigned. If one of these elected candidates later decides to leave parliament, then his seat is assigned to the next person on the list of the district he 'represents'.
An exception to the above exists in the form of "lijstduwer" ("list pushers"), famous people (former politicians, but also sports people) who are put on the candidate list but will not accept a seat when they get enough votes for one. During the municipal elections in 2006 professor Joop van Holsteyn criticised this practise, saying someone on a candidate list should also be a serious candidate. This view is shared by other political scientists, but less so by politicians, who say that lijstduwers are on the list not to get elected but to show that they support that party and that the fact that they are at the bottom of the list makes it obvious they are not intended to get a seat. Still, writer Ronald Giphart (1998) and skater Hilbert van der Duim (1994) got a municipal council seat, which Giphart refused to fill. Professor Rudy Andeweg says this is close to fraud because the law requires someone on the candidate list to declare in writing to be willing to fill a seat.
An example from the municipality of Oude IJsselstreek. The city council elections of 2010 resulted a total of 17,852 valid votes. The CDA party achieved 4,440 votes. Of the thirty CDA candidates on the list, 22 were given at least one vote each:
As the total number of votes in the municipality is 17,852 and the council has 27 seats, 661 votes count for one seat. As the CDA has 4,440 votes it is entitled to seven seats.
First, it has to be checked who of the CDA candidates has more than a quarter of the "kiesdeler". (661 divided by four makes 165 votes.) This is true for the candidates number 1, 3, 5, 4, 2 and 14 (in this order). Those six are elected.
Second, the rest of the CDA seats (one) is given to the person first on the list. As candidates number 1-5 already have seats, this last seat goes to number 6.
Referendums.
Since 1 July 2015, most laws can be subjected to a consultative referendum after their approval, following a request by 300,000 people.
Before that date in principle, there was no permanent provision in law for a referendum. However, from 2002 until 2005, there was a Temporary Referendum Law in place, which allowed for non-binding referendums, known in Dutch as "Volksraadpleging" ("People's Consultation"), to be organised for laws already approved by the House of Representatives. No referendum was called based on this law.
In order to hold the 2005 referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, a different law was temporarily put in place. That referendum was the first national referendum in the Netherlands since 1805 referendum in Batavian Republic and it was the result of an initiative proposal by parliamentarians Farah Karimi (GroenLinks), Niesco Dubbelboer (Labour Party) and Boris van der Ham (Democrats 66).
Other elections.
Water boards.
Elections for the water boards have some similarities to other elections mentioned above, but also some distinctive differences. Similar to municipal elections, there are national parties and local parties, and the party list system is used with proportional representation. Residents of 18 and over can vote and elections take place every four years.
In contrast to other elections, not all members of the water board are chosen by the residents of the water board area. The members of each water board are divided into four categories: inhabitants, agriculture, nature and commercial. Only board members in the inhabitants category are chosen in direct elections, the members in the other categories are appointed by representing organisations, e.g. chambers of commerce in the commercial category. Since 2015, residents vote in person, just like in other elections, and they take place every four years, on the same day as the provincial elections. Before 2015, votes were cast by post, over a period of about two weeks.
Island councils.
The elections for the Island councils for the special municipalities of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba take place at the same date as the provincial elections; for the first time in 2015.
Latest elections.
Dutch senate elections 2019.
The Senate is elected indirectly, by the provincial councillors (who are themselves chosen in direct elections) and -in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba- the Electoral colleges for the Senate. It is composed as follows:
Municipal elections 2014.
The 2014 Dutch municipal election saw a success for local parties, who increased their share to 30% of the votes. The Christian Democratic Appeal remained the largest party nationally, earning 14% of the votes. D66 and SP also saw significant rises compared to the 2010 elections, getting 12% and 7% respectively. VVD, although still ranked third nationwide, lost significantly compared to the 2010 elections, winning 12% of the votes. The undisputed loser of the elections, however, was the PvdA, getting 10% of the votes and losing its majority in Amsterdam.
Next elections.
The next elections in the Netherlands are planned for (in chronological order):


Elections in Estonia

Estonia elects a legislature on the national level. The Riigikogu has 101 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation. A head of state - the president - is elected for a five-year term by parliament (1st-3rd round) or an electoral college (4th and subsequent rounds). Locally, Estonia elects local government councils, which vary in size. Election law states the minimum size of a council depending on the size of municipality. Local government councils are elected by proportional representation too.
Estonia has a multi-party system with numerous parties. Often no one party has the chance to gain power alone and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.
Public elections have taken place in the following years:
Past elections:
Referendums.
The Constitution of Estonia gives the Parliament of Estonia the power to submit a bill or other national issue to a referendum (article 105 of the Constitution). The result of the vote is binding. If a bill which is submitted to a referendum does not receive a majority of votes in favour, the President of the Republic shall declare extraordinary elections to the Parliament.
There are some issues which cannot be submitted to the referendum: issues regarding the budget, taxation, financial obligations of the state, ratification and denunciation of international treaties, the declaration or termination of a state of emergency, or national defence (article 105 of the Constitution).
Some parts of the Constitution (chapters "General Provisions" and "Amendment of the Constitution") can be amended only by a referendum (article 162 of the Constitution). The rest of Constitution can be amended either by
A three-fifths majority of the membership of the Parliament is required to submit a bill to amend the Constitution to a referendum (article 164 of the Constitution).
A referendum was called by the Parliament of Estonia on 2 occasions since Estonia regained independence from the USSR.
Also, there was a referendum on the restoration of Estonian independence in 1991 while Estonia was still under Soviet occupation.


Thomas Howard, 3rd Earl of Berkshire

Thomas Howard, 3rd Earl of Berkshire (14 November 1619 – 12 April 1706) was an English peer, styled Hon. Thomas Howard until 1679. He was the second son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire.
Howard represented Wallingford in Parliament from 1640 to 1646. He was colonel of a regiment of Royalist horse in 1643, and subsequently a brigadier. In 1661, after the English Restoration, he was rewarded with the sinecure office of Clerk of the Markets of the Household. Thomas inherited the earldom after the death of his childless brother, Charles in 1679. He was succeeded by his great-nephew Henry Howard, who then united the earldoms of Suffolk and Berkshire.
He was reputed to have fathered at least one illegitimate child, Moll Davies, who became an actress and mistress to Charles II, bearing him a daughter, Lady Mary Tudor who married the Earl of Derwentwater. Moll Davis was born around 1648 in Westminster and was said by Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist, to be "a bastard of Collonell Howard, my Lord Barkeshire" - probably meaning Thomas Howard, third Earl of Berkshire.


Makassar Uprising

The Makassar Uprising was a skirmish in Makassar, Sulawesi between former Royal Dutch East Indies Army soldiers under Captain Andi Aziz and the Republic of the United States of Indonesia government. The purpose of the uprising was to revolt against the incorporation of the Indonesian federated "states" into the Indonesian Republic. However, the uprising was quashed in a little over two weeks when troops under Lieutenant Colonel Suharto and Colonel Alexander Evert Kawilarang arrived at Makassar to find only light resistance.
The East Indonesian government refused to condone Aziz's actions and he was subsequently arrested in Jakarta on 14April while attempting to negotiate with the republician authorities. The Makassar Uprising only facilitated republican control over the federal states.
Background.
Following the end of World War II in August 1945, the Dutch sought to re-establish control over the East Indies, modern-day Indonesia. While Australian and Dutch troops managed to occupy much of eastern Indonesia with minimal resistance, Anglo-Dutch forces in Java and Sumatra were challenged by nascent Republican nationalists advocating self-rule under Sukarno. The Republican goal of a unitary Republic of Indonesia centered on Java clashed with Dutch decolonization efforts to implement a system of federal states which was part of a Dutch commonwealth. Negotiations were dogged by skirmishes and police actions.
In Sulawesi, resistance to Dutch rule was successfully suppressed by Captain Raymond Westerling, who drew controversy for his use of arbitrary terror tactics including rounding up villages and summarily executing members until they submitted information. However, the eradication of Republican forces paved the way for the establishment of a more amenable East Indonesian civil administration based in Makassar. In South Sulawesi, they also replaced more than a quarter of the pro-Republican local nobility including the Rajahs of Bone and Lawu, prompting the remaining rajahs to collaborate with the Dutch authorities.
In December 1948, the Dutch launched a second police action Operatie Kraai which succeeded in capturing much of Java and Sumatra as well as the Republican leadership in Yogyakarta. However, this action only fuelled opposition to the Dutch in the United Nations, the United States, Australia and India. The United States threatened to suspend Marshall plan aid to the Dutch including funds vital for Dutch post-World War II rebuilding that had so far totalled $US 1 billion. The Netherlands Government had spent an amount equivalent to almost half of this funding their campaigns in Indonesia. On 24 December, the UN Security Council called for the end of hostilities. In January 1949, it passed a resolution demanding the reinstatement of the Republican government.
International pressure forced the Dutch to continue negotiations with the Republicans, culminating in the Dutch agreeing to recognise Indonesian sovereignty over a new federal state known as the United States of Indonesia (RUSI). It would include all the territory of the former Dutch East Indies with the exception of Netherlands New Guinea; sovereignty over which it was agreed would be retained by the Netherlands until further negotiations with Indonesia. Sovereignty was transferred on December 27, 1949. The new RUSI government consisted of both Republicans and Federalists but was short-lived due to animosity between the two parties and growing popular support for a unitary state.
On January 23, 1950, Westerling and the federalist Cabinet member Sultan Hamid II attempted to overthrow the Republican government by using Westerling’s private Legion of Ratu Adil to launch simultaneous attacks on Bandung, Jakarta and Blora in the short-lived APRA Coup d'état. The coup failed since the majority of the KNIL leadership refused to support Westerling’s actions and intercepted his munitions convoy. This only added fuel to public dissatisfaction with the federal system, leading to the integration of the states of Pasundan and West Kalimantan into the Republic of Indonesia by April 1950.
The uprising.
Due to the strong presence of KNIL troops in Sulawesi and other parts of East Indonesia, there was much suspicion towards the intentions of the unitary central government in Jakarta. Efforts were made to integrate the KNIL into the RUSI army, but this was impeded by mutual distrust between the predominantly Javanese Indonesian military and the largely Ambonese and Minahasan KNIL. In the State of East Indonesia, the Justice Minister Soumokil banned all public meetings and jailed pro-Republican leaders in response to public pro-Republic protests. On April 5, 1950, the Jakarta central government dispatched a force of 700 Republican troops under Colonel Sunkono and Colonel Mokoginto to persuade the East Indonesian President Soekawati to join the Republic and to step down. These troops were further augmented by 200 pro-Republican guerrillas in the Makassar region.
Fears that this deployment would shift the balance in favour of pro-Republican elements and lead to disorder prompted Soumokil and other pro-federal elements to convince the local KNIL forces to launch a coup. KNIL Captain Andi Aziz commanded a force of 350 KNIL troops in Makassar. At the urging of Soumokil, Aziz's force overwhelmed the few local Republican troops and their guerrilla allies before seizing control of the city. They then prevented the 700 RUSI reinforcements from landing by firing artillery at their troop transports, forcing them to retreat. Aziz defended his actions by claiming to uphold the Federal Constitution which guaranteed the autonomy of the federal states including East Indonesia. He also claimed that he had discovered documents alleging that Sukarno was collaborating with the Indonesian Communist Party and the Soviet Union to destroy the “capitalist and upper classes” and establish a unitary state, paving the way for a communist take-over.
However, most of the East Indonesian government including President Soekawati refused to condone or support his coup. By April 13, President Sukarno had denounced Aziz's insurgency and deployed RUSI forces to crush the rebellion in South Sulawesi. Wanting to maintain working relations with the Jakarta government, Soekawati convinced Aziz to come to Jakarta to negotiate with Sukarno’s government. He was also granted a safe-conduct pass by Sukarno and the United Nations Commission for Indonesia to fly to Jakarta. However upon arrival, he was arrested by the Sultan of Yogyakarta Hamengkubuwono IX who incarcerated him in his private prison. The capture of Aziz ended resistance and allowed 2,000 RUSI troops to swiftly occupy Makassar by April 21.
Aftermath.
The elimination of the KNIL as a political actor allowed Republican factions in the East Indonesian parliament to assume a majority. The federalist Prime Minister Diapari was replaced by Putuhena, who declared martial law and established an Emergency Government in South Sulawesi which was controlled directly by Jakarta. Following the release of Republican political prisoners, guerrilla forces in the upland regions launched attacks against pro-Dutch aristocrats in the urban areas. This led to further fighting with the remaining KNIL units and the abolishment of local aristocratic principalities.
The new East Indonesian Cabinet was pro-Republican and advocated the integration of East Indonesia into the unitary Indonesian Republic. On April 21, 1950, President Soekawati successfully negotiated East Indonesia's integration, heeding majority support for a unitary state. This prompted all thirteen constituent territories within East Indonesia with the exception of South Moluccas to secede from East Indonesia and join Sukarno’s Republic. Following further negotiations, the RUSI was dissolved on August 15 in favour of a unitary Republic of Indonesia. Due to his leading role in the uprising, Aziz was subsequently tried in 1952 and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment.


John Hale (Roundhead)

John Hale (1614–1691) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1654 and 1660. He fought in the Parliamentary army in the English Civil War.
Hale was the eldest son of John Hale, grocer of Soper Lane, London and Harmer Green, Welwyn, Hertfordshire and his wife Elizabeth Browne, daughter of Humphrey Browne of Essex. He was baptised on 19 March 1614 and was six when he succeeded to the family estates on the death of his father in 1620. In 1643 and 1643 he was colonel of foot in the Parliamentary army.
In 1654, Hale was elected Member of Parliament for Devon in the First Protectorate Parliament. Receiver of tithe, Devon and Cornw. 1655; j.p. Devon 1656-65, He was re-elected MP for Devon in 1656 for the Second Protectorate Parliament. He was commissioner for assessment in 1657. In 1659 he was elected MP for Dartmouth in the Third Protectorate Parliament. He was commissioner for militia in 1659.
Hale was commissioner for assessment from January 1660 to 1680, commissioner for militia in March 1660 and major in the militia horse in April 1660. In April 1660 he was re-elected MP for Dartmouth in the Convention Parliament. He was commissioner for inquiry into Newfoundland government in 1667 and JP for Devon from 1667 to 1670 and from Devon from 1673 to 1676.
Hale married by 1634, Anne Halswell, daughter of Robert Halswell of Goathurst, Somerset and had three sons and a daughter.


2003 Croatian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections to elect all 151 members of the Croatian Parliament were held on November 23, 2003. They were the 5th parliamentary elections to take place since the first multi-party elections in 1990. Turnout was 61.7%. The result was a victory for the opposition Croatian Democratic Union party (HDZ) which won a plurality of 66 seats, but fell short of the 76 needed to form a government. HDZ chairman Ivo Sanader was named the 8th Prime Minister of Croatia on 23 December 2003, after parliament passed a confidence motion in his government cabinet, with 88 Members of Parliament voting in favor, 29 against and 14 abstaining. The ruling coalition, consisting of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Croatian People's Party (HNS), Croatian Peasant Party (HSS), Party of Liberal Democrats (Libra) and the Liberal Party (LS) did not contest the elections as a single bloc. Namely, the SDP ran with the Istrian Democratic Assembly (IDS), the Party of Liberal Democrats (Libra) and the Liberal Party (LS), HNS ran with the Alliance of Primorje-Gorski Kotar (PGS) and the Slavonia-Baranja Croatian Party (SBHS), while HSS ran on its own.
General information.
There are 10 electoral units based on geography and population. In each unit, 14 candidates are elected on proportional electoral system. The election threshold is 5%.
In addition, 8 candidates are elected to represent national minorities.
The citizens that live outside Croatian borders vote in a separate electoral unit. The number of representatives elected from this unit will be determined after the elections, based on how many people actually vote in Croatia, so that there is equal value of votes both inside and outside Croatia.
For reference, the number of diaspora seats in the 2000-2003 Sabor was six.
Total: 140 domestic seats + 8 minority seats + 4 diaspora seats.
Distribution of minority seats:
Parties and coalitions.
Pre-election coalitions:
Results.
Summary of the 23 November 2003 Croatian Parliament "(Hrvatski Sabor)" election results
!colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" |Parties and coalitions
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Votes
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |%
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Seats
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |%
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Seat trend
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Seat change (%)
The number of diaspora mandates is reduced by 2 compared to previous elections due to somewhat lower diaspora turnout. Due to distribution according to the d'Hondt method, the independent lists for diaspora won't be allocated seats, even though they received over 5% of total votes.
National minorities elected 8 representatives through a separate election system: Vojislav Stanimirović (22,2% of votes), Milorad Pupovac (21,7%) and Ratko Gajica (13,8%) for the Serb national minority, Jene Adam (42%) for the Hungarian minority, Furio Radin (79,8%) for the Italian minority, Zdenka Čuhnil (39,2%) for the Czech and Slovak minorities, Nikola Mak (14,3%) for the Austrian, Bulgarian, German, Jewish, Polish, Roma, Romanian, Rusyn, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vlach minorities and Šemso Tanković (59,1%) for the Albanian, Bosniak, Macedonian, Montenegrin and Slovene minorities.
Ivo Sanader of Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) was appointed as Prime Minister by the President and confirmed by the Croatian Parliament.
The new Government was formed of 13 HDZ ministers and 1 of Democratic Centre.


Battle of the Raz de Sein

The Battle of the Raz de Sein was a single-ship naval engagement of the blockade of Brest during the French Revolutionary Wars between a French and Royal Navy ships of the line on 21 April 1798. The British blockade fleet under Admiral Lord Bridport had sailed from St Helens on 12 April and on the morning of 21 April was crossing the Iroise Passage when sails were spotted to the east. Three ships were detached in pursuit, led by the 74-gun ship of the line HMS "Mars" under Captain Alexander Hood. As the British ships approached their quarry a third sail was sighted to the southeast close to the coastline and moving north towards Brest.
This ship was the 74-gun "Hercule" under Captain Louis Lhéritier, newly commissioned at Lorient and sailing to Brest to join the main French fleet and the British squadron immediately changed direction to intercept the new target. Facing overwhelming odds L'Héritier attempted to escape through the narrow "Raz de Sein" passage, but found the tide against him and so anchored at the mouth of the passage to await the British attack. At 21:15 "Mars" reached "Hercule", coming under heavy fire as Hood manoeuvred into position, bringing his ship crashing alongside the French vessel. For more than an hour the ships fired directly into one another, so close that their guns could not be run out but had to be fired from inside the ships. Damage and casualties were severe on both sides, the latter including Hood who was mortally wounded at the height of the engagement.
Ultimately "Hercule" was forced to surrender after attempts to board "Mars" failed. Both ships were battered and burnt, with the French suffering at least 290 casualties and the British 90. "Hercule" was conveyed to Britain in the aftermath and later repaired and served in the Royal Navy until 1810. Both L'Héritier and the deceased Hood were highly praised for their conduct during the battle, which is noted as being a very rare example during this period of an action between two ships of approximately equal strength without any external influence.
Background.
During the French Revolutionary Wars the Royal Navy had exerted dominance at sea over its continental rivals, most immediately the French Navy with its principal fleet based at Brest on the Breton coast of the Bay of Biscay. To contain this fleet the British practiced a close blockade strategy; maintaining a fleet off Brest whenever weather conditions permitted to prevent the French fleet from breaking out into the Atlantic Ocean. This blockade force also limited French trade and maritime communications, attacking merchant ships and individual warships seeking to resupply or reinforce the main French fleet. This made French maritime journeys extremely hazardous even in inshore waters: in June 1795 the main French fleet had suffered a defeat at the hands of the blockade force at the Battle of Groix in the approaches to the port of Lorient, while at the action of 13 January 1797 the independently sailing 74-gun ship of the line "Droits de l'Homme" was driven ashore and destroyed in the approaches to Brest by two frigates of the blockade squadron.
On 12 April 1798 the British blockade fleet under the command of Admiral Lord Bridport sailed from its winter anchorage at St Helens on the Isle of Wight for the Breton coast. Bridport mustered ten ships of the line to maintain the watch on Brest, although detachments of the fleet had been cruising in the region since 25 January and with notice he could call on 28 ships of the line. The French fleet had suffered a series of setbacks in the early years of the war: in addition to the losses at Groix, seven ships had been lost at the Glorious First of June in 1795 and more were wrecked during the failed "Croisière du Grand Hiver" operation of 1795 and the "Expédition d'Irlande" in 1796. To replenish these losses, the French Navy was building new ships at its major fleet bases and in April 1798 a ship had been commissioned at Lorient: the "Hercule", a 74-gun ship of 1,876 tons burthen launched in July 1797 and commanded by the experienced Captain Louis L'Héritier, veteran of the Glorious First of June, and with a crew of 680, 20 short of a full complement.
Pursuit.
On 20 April L'Héritier was ordered to take "Hercule" on her maiden voyage, the short journey northwest along the coast to join the main fleet under Vice-Admiral Morard de Galles at Brest, where the crew would be augmented to reach the full complement. On board were surplus naval supplies, including a full set of rigging for a ship of the line, from the destroyed ship "Quatorze Juillet" which had caught fire at Lorient earlier in the month. L'Héritier's crew were inexperienced and the captain did not intend to seek action, remaining close to the coastline during the first day of the journey. As his ship crossed Audierne Bay between Point Penmarc'h and the Pointe du Raz however sails were sighted to the northwest.
These sails belonged to three ships of Bridport's fleet. At 11:00 on 21 April the British fleet had been cruising in the Iroise Passage when two sails were sighted approximately to the east. Bridport ordered his three most easterly ships to detach and investigate the sails: the 74-gun ships of the line HMS "Mars" under Captain Alexander Hood, HMS "Ramillies" under Captain Henry Inman and the 38-gun frigate HMS "Jason" under Captain Charles Stirling. The strong winds favoured the large ships of the line as they pursued the strange sails, which were identified as French, until at 14:00 they were pulling abreast of them when a third sail was sighted about to the southeast, sailing close to the shore.
This new sail was much larger than the others sighted earlier in the day, and the detached squadron abandoned their former pursuit and turned towards the new arrival, "Hercule". By 17:45, L'Héritier was in full flight with the British force strung out behind him, the rest of Bridport's fleet far to the west. "Jason" had the lead with "Mars" shortly behind, although Inman on "Ramillies" had lost his fore topmast and had dropped back. Hood, an experienced officer and a nephew of both Bridport and the veteran Admiral Lord Hood, pressed his ship forwards and gradually gained on both "Jason" and "Hercule". L'Héritier knew that in open water he would be caught and overwhelmed, and sought instead to escape through the narrow and dangerous channel of the Raz de Sein, a rocky passage between the Île de Sein and the Pointe du Raz: during the "Expédition d'Irlande" the French ship of the line "Séduisant" had been wrecked in the "Raz de Sein" with 680 lives.
As "Hercule" approached the channel, Hood put "Mars" on the starboard tack, overtaking "Jason" and bearing down on the French ship. At 20:30, L'Héritier recognised that the current was too strong for "Hercule" to successfully navigate the "Raz de Sein" and instead anchored at the mouth of the channel with a spring on his cable, a system of attaching the bow anchor that increased stability and allowed L'Héritier to swing his broadside to face the enemy while stationary, roughly southwest of Pointe de Raz and about from his destination at Brest.
Battle.
At 20:45, with "Jason" far behind in the darkness, "Mars" hauled up and Hood attempted to manoeuvre into an effective position from which to attack the waiting "Hercule". The vagaries of the current in the Raz de Sein passage prevented Hood from handling his ship effectively however and instead he resolved on bringing "Mars" directly alongside and fighting broadside to broadside. At 21:15 "Mars" was in range and L'Héritier opened fire, Hood replying immediately. For ten minutes, the masts and rigging of "Mars" came under fire, with damage to the bowsprit and foremast, as Hood continued to attempt to hold his firing position against the current before pulling slightly ahead of "Hercule" at 21:25 and dropping anchor. The port bow anchor became entangled with the starboard anchor on "Hercule" and the British ship was swung violently into the French ship, the force of the collision unhinging four of the gunports on "Mars".
Thus locked together, both captains ordered their ships to pour fire into the other. So closely aligned were they that many cannon on both ships could not be run out, and instead had to be fired from inside the ships. The heat from this sustained bombardment was so intense that the wood began to blacken and burn as heavy roundshot smashed gaping holes in the sides of each ship: during the combat the ragged holes torn in the side of "Hercule" were so extensive that the planking between the gunports was torn away, leaving wide scars along the ship's sides. Casualties were heavy on both sides: 20 minutes after the action began a musket ball struck Hood in the thigh, severing his femoral artery. Fatally wounded and bleeding profusely, Hood was carried below and command passed to Lieutenant William Butterfield. The French casualties were significantly higher than the British, a result of the much higher rate of fire achieved by Hood's well-trained crew.
Aware that his ship was suffering the worst of the casualties, L'Héritier ordered his men to attempt to board the British ship of the line, but first one and then another attempt to do so was driven back with heavy casualties. The lighting of "Hercule" had gone out at the beginning of the engagement, leaving her crew confused, and as a result, only around 40 men answered when L'Héritier ordered the boarding; he was himself injured twice, to the head by a sabre and to the thigh by a pike, while leading the assault. At 10:30, after an hour of continual bombardment L'Héritier surrendered: "Hercule"'s hull had been torn open, five guns were dismounted with others damaged and more than two fifths of the crew killed or wounded. "Jason" was approaching fast and the rest of Bridport's fleet was close enough to see the muzzle flashes from the battle.
Aftermath.
L'Héritier submitted his sword to Butterfield in surrender and it was presented to the dying Hood, who accepted it before expiring. At 22:50 "Jason" arrived and Stirling took charge of removing prisoners from "Hercule" and began the long process of extricating the two battered ships of the line from the dangerous "Raz de Sein" channel. Losses on the French ship were not accurately recorded in the aftermath of the action, but some accounts suggested they were as high as 400 although a more realistic estimate of 290 casualties was made by the surviving French officers. British losses amounted to three officers and 19 men killed, eight men missing (believed to have drowned after falling overboard resisting L'Héritier's boarding attempts) and another 60 wounded. The weather was fortunately calm, as neither "Mars" nor "Hercule" were in a condition to survive a storm, and with great care "Hercule" was brought into Plymouth on 27 April and repairs were begun with the intention of restoring the ship to active service condition. The cost of these repairs totaled £12,500 (the equivalent of £ as of ), but HMS "Hercule" was ultimately commissioned into the Royal Navy and served until 1810.
Historian Robert Gardiner has noted that this "classic fight" was unusual in being fought between two single ships of the line of equal force and size without an external influence, and Edward Pelham Brenton wrote in 1823 that "The meeting of two ships of the line is a circumstance of rare occurrence, and its decision in our favour a brilliant ornament to our naval history": he could only identify three other such incidents in British naval history. Examination of the relative size and strength of the combatants shows that they were well-matched: the respective broadside weights were 984 lbs on "Mars" to 985 lbs on "Hercule"; "Hercules" at 1,876 tons burthen measured only 34 tons more than "Mars", and "Hercule"'s understrength crew of 680 was still 46 more than on board "Mars" and the British crew had also been active during the Spithead Mutiny in 1797, during which Hood had been temporarily deposed as captain. Both were relatively new ships, "Hercule" only 24 hours at sea while "Mars" was the nameship of the 1794 "Mars" class built at the start of the French Revolutionary Wars. In summary, historian William James indicates that the greater experience of Hood's crew and the nearby presence of other British ships gave "Mars" a slight advantage, but that "the action of the Mars and Hercule was one that, in the conduct of it throughout, reflected about an equal share of credit upon both the contending parties."
Although some British histories reported that L'Héritier died of his wounds in the aftermath of the action, this was not the case; on his return to France following exchange, L'Héritier faced a court martial for the loss of his ship and was honorably acquitted and received a letter of praising his resistance from Minister of Marine Rear-Admiral Étienne Eustache Bruix. In Britain, Butterfield was promoted to commander, and Hood was posthumously commended, Bridport writing in his official dispatch that "No Praise of mine can add one Ray of Brilliancy to the distinguished Valour of Captain Alexander Hood". His body was returned to England and buried near his home in Butleigh, Somerset under a monument provided by his family.


SS Sud America I

SS "Sud America was an Italian ocean liner. She was built by Wigham Richardson, Newcastle upon Tyne and launched in 1872. She was operated by Lavarello Fratelli Fu G. B from 1872 until 1883. Her second owner was another Italian shipping company, La Veloce Navigazione Italiana a Vapore S. A., from 1884, who renamed her SS "Sud America I.
Sinking.
On 13 September 1888, the ship was transporting from 260 passengers and 69 crew from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Genoa, Italy via Las Palmas, Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. The ship was also carrying 700 tonnes of cargo. The ship was docked in the bay and the passengers were disembarking, while preparations were made for anchoring in order to load coal in the bay at Las Palmas. While this was being carried out, the French steamer "La France" collided with the bow of the "Sud America I". The "Sud America I" sank almost instantly in of water, leaving only the tops of her four masts visible, from the beach. Seventy nine of the 329 passengers and crew died in the disaster.


Jacob Isaacs (merchant)

Jacob Isaacs (9 October 1799 – 24 May 1870) was a Jamaican-born Jewish slave-owner who became a successful West Indies merchant in London.
Early life and family.
Jacob Isaacs was born in Jamaica on 9 October 1799, the son of Solomon Isaacs. He was Jewish.
He married Eliza, also born in Jamaica, and they had children Sarah G. (1835–), Agnes (1836–1889), Georgina (1838–), Eliza (1841–), Albert Henry (c. 1841–), Augusta Mary (1843), Lydia (1846–), Edith Annie (1847–1925), Ellen Octavia (1849–), and Mabel I. (1852–). The four oldest were born in Jamaica and the younger children in London.
Career.
Isaacs was registered as a slave-owner in St Elizabeth, Jamaica, in 1832. In 1836 he received compensation for freed slaves in the amounts of £110 and £29.
By the time of the 1851 British census he was living at 5 Dorset Square, Marylebone, London, and trading as a merchant. He was able to employ governess, a nurse, a nursemaid and four servants. He was still there at the time of the 1861 census when he was described as a "Merchant West Indian". His son Albert was working in his father's business in 1861 and Isaacs was able to afford to employ a nurse, an invalid attendant and six servants.
He had premises at 7 Jeffreys Square in the City of London, a square off St Mary Axe that no longer exists.
Death and legacy.
Isaacs died on 24 May 1870 at 1a Cavendish Road, St John's Wood, Middlesex, leaving an estate not exceeding £30,000. He was survived by his wife Eliza.


Bohemian Club (Chicago)

The Bohemian Club () is a club founded in 1899 that was frequented by Chicago's Czech elite, as well as the visiting elite from Czechoslovakia. The club was used as a place to share Czech culture, drama, music and literature.
It was visited by numerous well-known people of Bohemian descent, such as Anton Cermak, Rudolf Friml, George Halas and Otto Kerner, Jr.. It also served as host to Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the founder and first President of Czechoslovakia. It is active in the west suburbs of Chicago to this day.


Avante! Festival

The "Avante!" Festival () is an annual cultural festival held during the first weekend of September. It was started in 1976 by the Portuguese Communist Party and is named after the party's official newspaper, "Avante!"
After taking part in different locations around Lisbon, like the "Feira Internacional de Lisboa", Ajuda and Loures, the festival is now held in Amora, a town near Seixal in a ground bought by the party after a massive fundraising campaign in the early 90s. The campaign was considered by the party as the only way to avoid the boycott organised by the owners of the previous festivals grounds, that culminated in 1987 with the festival not having been held after 11 editions. The festival usually sees hundreds of thousands of visitors, making the outside of the ground appear like a gigantic camping park. The festival consists of a three-day music festival, with the participation of hundreds of Portuguese and international bands and artists in five different stages, ethnography, gastronomy, debates, a book & music fair, theatre ("Avanteatro"), cinema ("Cineavante") and sporting events. Several foreign communist parties also participate.
In 28 editions, the festival has hosted several famous artists, Portuguese and foreign, like Chico Buarque, Baden Powell, Ivan Lins, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Holly Near, Johnny Clegg, Charlie Haden, Judy Collins, Richie Havens, Tom Paxton, The Soviet Circus Company, the Kuban Cossacks Choir, Dexys Midnight Runners, The Band, Hevia, Adriano Correia de Oliveira, Carlos Paredes, Jorge Palma, Manoel de Oliveira and many others.
The preparation of the festival begins right after the end of the previous festival. Hundreds of party members and their friends, mostly young people, volunteer for the hard work of building a small town in a few months.
The "Avante!" Festival has the capacity for over 100,000 people. It tends to be at full capacity during the days of the festival.


Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors

The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is one of the 110 livery companies of the City of London.
The Company, originally known as the "Guild and Fraternity of St John the Baptist in the City of London", was founded prior to 1300, first incorporated under a Royal Charter in 1327, confirmed by later charters in 1408, 1503 and 1719.
Its seat is the Merchant Taylors' Hall between Threadneedle Street and Cornhill, a site it has occupied since at least 1347. The Company's motto is "Concordia Parvae Res Crescunt", from the Roman historian Sallust meaning "In Harmony Small Things Grow".
History.
The Company was at first an association of tailors. By the end of the 17th century, its connection with the tailoring trade had virtually ceased and it became what it is today, a philanthropic and social association - albeit that it has recently rekindled its links with Savile Row and is the principal sponsor and organiser of the prestigious biannual "Golden Shears" competition for aspiring young tailors.
It owns Merchant Taylors' School in Sandy Lodge and St John's Preparatory School in Northwood, both in Hertfordshire, and is associated with Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby, Merchant Taylors' Girls' School in Crosby, Wolverhampton Grammar School, Foyle and Londonderry College, Wallingford School, and The King's School, Macclesfield. It is also associated with St John's College, Oxford, founded by Sir Thomas White (a Master of the Company) in 1555, and with Pembroke College, Cambridge. It donates prizes to St. Helen's School in Northwood, which is considered its 'sister school', and supports an opera student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. It also supports Treloar School in Hampshire, a school and college for children with physical disabilities.
It has a major interest in charitable support for the elderly and isolated in Inner London, as well as for people living with disabilities. It is a major provider of almshouses in the London Borough of Lewisham and has plans to develop brand new accommodation for local elderly people.
Ranking.
Under an order issued by mayor Robert Billesden in 1484, the Company ranks in sixth or seventh place (making it one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies) in the order of precedence of the Livery Companies, alternating with the Skinners' Company. The annual switch occurs at Easter. The Merchant Taylors are normally sixth in the order of precedence in odd numbered years, and at seven in even numbered years.


Robert Beake

Robert Beake (died 22 September 1708) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1654 and 1679. He supported the Parliamentary cause in the English Civil War.
Beake was a Presbyterian alderman and draper of Coventry, and was commissioned into the parliamentary army. In 1654, he was elected Member of Parliament for Coventry in the First Protectorate Parliament. He became mayor of Coventry in 1655 and was elected MP for Coventry in the Second Protectorate Parliament in 1656. In 1657 he wrote his diary which showed how zealous he was in his puritan duties enforcing strict Sabbatarianism and suppressing disorder. Those who travelled on Sundays were put in the stocks or the cage, and even a man whose journey was in order to be a godfather was fined. On Sundays Beake spent his time in the park, observing 'who idly walked there'. He took action to suppress the sale of unlicensed ale and visited all the unlicensed alehouses in three wards in person. He was re-elected MP for Coventry in 1659 for the Third Protectorate Parliament.
In 1660, Beake was elected in the Convention Parliament However a parliamentary enquiry declared the election illegal, and in the following by-election, he lost his seat to William Jesson. Beake was elected again as MP for Coventry in 1679. He only sat for a short time, but voted for the first Exclusion Bill.
Beake's diary is held in the local record office.


Five Strumica Students

The Five Strumica Students () refers to a group of five students on the age from 20-23, all born in Strumica that on August 13, 1951 were executed by authorities in Communist Yugoslavia. In the information report of the authorities it was stated that the group was planning to illegally cross the border to Greece, but their relatives claimed that they were killed because of ideas close to IMRO, an organization that fought for the independence of Macedonia. The case received international acclaim, and soon after in New Jersey, USA, and in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the pro-Bulgarian Macedonian Patriotic Organization set up its own structures called in . At that time the Yugoslav authorities conducted a series of raids and executions to prevent the influence of the inherits of IMRO, this being one of them.


John Alured

John Alured (1607–1651) was an army officer who fought for the parliamentary cause in the English Civil War and was one of the regicides of King Charles I in 1649.
He was born in Kingston upon Hull. He inherited the family estate in 1628 and married Mary Darley (second cousin) in 1631.
Alured was the MP for Hedon in both the Short and Long Parliaments. He spent most of the First Civil War as a colonel in Lord Fairfax's northern parliamentarian army, and is known to have fought at Adwalton Moor in 1643 and possibly at Marston Moor in 1644. He was a member of Philip Nye's Hull congregation. In February 1645 he took up a new command in the New Model Army. In 1649, appointed to the High Court of Justice at the trial of King Charles, he was one of the signatories of the King's death warrant.
At the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, because of his act of regicide he was, although by then dead, a named exception in the general pardon (Act of Oblivion, section XXXVIII), which meant that any property that was held by the beneficiaries of his estate could be confiscated.


Mlekara Subotica

Mlekara Subotica () was a Serbian producer of dairy products based in Subotica, Serbia.
It was one of the largest and most modern dairy manufacture companies in Serbia. As of 2012, Mlekara Subotica produced around 16 million litres of fresh milk and 5 million litres yogurt annually. Other dairy products include cheese, kajmak/vrhnje, powdered milk, pudding and butter.
It exported its products to the countries in the region as well as in the European Union, with 50 tons of dairy products a month.
History.
The establishment (1955–1965).
AD Mlekara Subotica was founded on 4 March 1955 in Subotica under the name "Co – operative Dairy - Independent Business Organization ". In 1957, Mlekara Subotica purchased its first used trucks, a batch pasteurizer with ribbed cooler and a separator pasteurizer. At that time, the first chemical analyses of milk quality, regarding acidity analyses and the assessment of milk fat content were made. In May 1959 "Co- operative Dairy" became Mlekara Subotica. In 1963, instead of milk churns, glass packaging for milk and yogurt were introduced. In 1968, Mlekara Subotica is awarded with a Yugoslav Oscar for packaging, more precisely for plastic cup packaging for sour cream. New, so called “Dutch tanks” for the production of cheese were purchased. In 1972, Mlekara Subotica had moved to a new location. It meant better working conditions and a significant increase in the number of employees involving their better qualification structure.
The modernization (1966–1975).
The period of 1966 and onwards is the age of modernization. Mlekara Subotica was equipped with a roller-type milk drying installation. New vehicles were bought, as well as a fuel oil driven steam boiler and a number of milk cooling devices. In 1975, a new, 100.000 liters per day capacity spray drier was put into operation. At that time, the production program of Mlekara Subotica consisted of: Sonja pasteurized milk, fermented milk drinks, cheeses, butter and powder milk.
The expansion (1976–1995).
In 1978, Mlekara purchased a combined installation and another spray drier for processing milk, fruit and vegetables, thus ensuring safety in supplying final consumers with dairy product, as well as its buyers - companies from the confectionery industry and bakeries, as well as fodder producers. The development of the new powder milk production facility was finished. Another roller was bought for drying milk for powder milk, as well as a two-stage evaporation plant, a compressor, then a new "freezing” water line, a brand new vehicles and a whole range of minor investments was implemented. In 1985, Mlekara Subotica celebrated three decades of successful and continuous growth of operations. The company processed over 56 million raw milk and other dairy products, and had 265 employees. Mlekara Subotica had grown into one of the biggest dairy companies in Yugoslavia, at the same time occupying a significant market share in the processing industry group on the level of the country.
The period between 1986 and 1995 was marked by the building of the cheese plant, where quark and soft white cheese were produced. Mlekara Subotica introduced the technology of creamy cheese spreads. The production of instant powder products started in 1989. Mlekara Subotica opened a representative office and a shop in Belgrade, and started the cooperation with C-Market. At the same time, another representative office and a shop were opened in Ćuprija together with the company Firma Pomoravlje, as well as the company’s own branch office and shop in Niš. Major investments in new machines “tetra rex” and “elopak”, provided eco-friendly paper packaging of short shelf-life liquid products. The investment in the Aseptic A3 sterilizing line, in the amount of about 2 million Swiss Francs enabled tetra-pak packaging of aseptic milk, chocolate milk and juices, and it provided a more serious presence in the center of former Yugoslavia, since product shelf-life was prolonged. Significant funds were invested in primary production. In this period, about 1.800 calf heifers, 400 milking machines and about 100 cooling devices were purchased. In 1995, Mlekara Subotica welcomes the fourth decade completely solvent and free from any debt, with investments financed solely from the company’s own funds.
Further developments (1996–2005).
The activities of Mlekara Subotica were categorized by the trend of growth in the field of raw milk receptions and in technical –technological and marketing areas. From a simple co – operative dairy Mlekara Subotica has successfully managed to develop into a factory, which can today bee measured by the European standards. Mlekara Subotica had processed more than 1.3 billion liters of milk. The quantities processed today are one hundred times more than at the very beginning! During 2003, the full automation of the fermented dairy product plant was finished, and it consisted of new equipment for milk standardization, milk and fermented cream pasteurization and homogenization, fermented dairy product production (yogurt, fermented milk, fermented cream, new probiotic and low-calorie drinks). Together with the British Salford Investment Fund, which is the majority owner of Mlekara Subotica from November 2003, the investments into new technologies were continued. In the same year, the buy-up of about 60 million liters of milk were planned, hence the emphasis was given to the development of family farms. At present, there are 72 family farms owned by Mlekara Subotica, and by the end of the year another 30 farms will be developed, where milk production can be measured by European standards. These efforts will ensure extra quality raw milk. The laboratory equipped for microbiological and chemical control and for the control of the cows’ health safety has started to work recently. This lab is an additional link in the chain of internal quality control. In 2005, Mlekara was certificated to ISO 9001:2000. The HACCP system for controlled production has also been introduced in the company, and it will enable export to EU countries and the countries of the region.
Modernization (2006–2015).
The implementation of the quality management standard initiated several strategically significant technical-technological and constructional investments. In 2008, the application area of BRC Standard was extended to the full production range, while in the year 2009 HALAL standard has also been implemented which defines the conditions for food producers and so could be exported in the countries with mostly Muslim population. Thanks to the intensive joint work with the Veterinary Administration, the positive assessment by the European Commission, Mlekara Subotica was on the list. The Commission’s decision was a confirmation of quality and the safety of products, which results in a 30 million euro investment of Danube Foods Group in all aspects of business since it became the majority owner in 2003. In 2010, Mlekara Subotica adapted and improved its operations according to modern concepts of environmental protection and introduced the environmental management system ISO 14001:2004. The entire system of production and business was brought to the required level when the control of the EU commission was announced in the first quarter of 2010, thus confirmed the decision of the Veterinary Inspection of Serbia which approved the export of products of Mlekara Subotica to the EU. In 2011 was brought another standard to Mlekara Subotica called IFS V5, which improved the food safety and product quality, as well as should be increase security and confidence of consumers and among all improve cost efficiency in the food chain.
Shutdown and merging with Imlek.
In February 2015, the investment fund Mid Europa Partners bought "Danube Foods Group" (which at the time owned Mlekara Subotica) for a sum of 575 million euros. Later, Mlekara Subotica was merged into the Serbian largest dairy products company Imlek, thus way ceasing company's operations; company's facilities in Subotica have since been used by Imlek.


2000 Bosnian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on 11 November 2000.
Electoral system.
The elections for the House of Representatives elections were divided into two; one for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and one for Republika Srpska. The 42 members of the House of Representatives are elected by proportional representation in two constituencies, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. The House of Peoples (the upper house of the parliament) has 15 members equally distributed among the three ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina: 5 Bosniaks, 5 Serbs, and 5 Croats. The members are appointed by the parliaments of the constituent peoples.
Results.
House of Representatives.
The Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SDP BiH) of Zlatko Lagumdžija emerged as the largest party, with 9 of the 42 seats in the House, while conservative Party of Democratic Action (SDA) finished second with 8 seats in the House. Voter turnout was 64.4%.


Belgrade cinema bombing


2000 Croatian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections for the Chamber of Representatives of the Croatian Parliament were held on 3 January 2000. These were the first elections to be held after the expiration of a full 4-year term of the previous Chamber of Representatives.
The ruling Croatian Democratic Union entered the elections weakened by the Zagreb Crisis, street protests and the series of corruption scandals that came to light in the previous parliamentary term. However, the most important factor was the deteriorating health of the party leader and Croatian president Franjo Tuđman, which sparked a succession struggle between various factions within the party.
On the other side, two major Croatian opposition parties - the Social Democratic Party of Croatia and Croatian Social Liberal Party - had their coalition formally agreed in 1998 and spent more than a year preparing for the elections. At first, they were to run together with the Croatian Peasant Party, Croatian People's Party, Istrian Democratic Assembly and Liberal Party, but as Tuđman's condition worsened leaders of the SDP and HSLS concluded that they could win elections even without those four other parties which later formed a separate bloc.
Like before all previous elections since the breakup of Yugoslavia, the electoral laws were altered in an attempt to improve the chances for the ruling party; this included a new voting system and redistricting. The First Past the Post constituencies introduced in the previous election were completely abandoned and Proportional Representation was implemented (with the exception of single representative ethnic minority seats). Croatia was divided into ten electoral districts, all drawn in order to maximise the support for HDZ. Each district had to elect 14 members, with candidates' lists having to win more than 5% of the votes in order to be represented in the Sabor.
Due to Tuđman's illness and death, the actual date of elections had been repeatedly postponed for constitutional reasons. There were speculations about elections being held during the Christmas holidays in order to have as many Croatian expatriates (traditional HDZ supporters) in the country, but the date of 3 January was chosen as the most suitable. As the day of the elections approached, its outcome became more certain. The campaign was brief and relatively uneventful with the HDZ being visibly weakened and demoralised by the death of its long-term leader. On the actual day of elections the turnout - the biggest since 1990 - indicated the Croatian people's desire to have their government changed.
Račan was appointed Prime Minister on 27 January 2000, by a decree of the Acting President of Croatia and Speaker of the outgoing assembly of Parliament, Vlatko Pavletić, and this decision was later confirmed by a parliamentary vote on 2 February 2000 in which 122 of 151 MPs voted in favor and 1 against the cabinet, while 1 MP abstained. Račan led a coalition of SDP and HSLS, which together with a bloc of four other parties held two-thirds majority in Parliament, allowing them to amend the Constitution and transform Croatia from a semi-presidential system into an incomplete parliamentary system in November 2000 and abolish the upper chamber of Parliament, the Chamber of Counties, in March 2001. The constitutional changes of 2000 greatly limited the power of the president, but retained the direct election of that office.
Summary of votes and seats.
 "'Summary of the 3 January 2000 Croatian Parliament "(Hrvatski Sabor)" election results
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!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Seat trend
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Seat change (%)
National minorities elected 5 representatives through a separate election system: Milan Đukić (47,7% of votes) for the Serb national minority, Tibor Santo (42,8%) for the Hungarian minority, Furio Radin (78,9%) for the Italian minority, Zdenka Čuhnil (40,6%) for the Czech and Slovak minorities and Borislav Graljuk (34,1%) for the Austrian, German, Jewish, Rusyn and Ukrainian minorities.