1.
Grenoble
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Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère, the city advertises itself as the Capital of the Alps, due to its size and its proximity to the mountains. Grenobles history goes back more than 2,000 years, to a time when it was a small Gallic village, industrial development increased the prominence of Grenoble, through several periods of economic expansion over the last three centuries. The city has grown to be one of Europes most important research, technology, the population of the city of Grenoble was 160,215 at the 2013 census, while the population of the Grenoble metropolitan area was 664,832. The residents of the city are called Grenoblois, the many communes that make up the metropolitan area include three suburbs with populations exceeding 20,000, Saint-Martin-dHères, Échirolles, and Fontaine. For the ecclesiastical history, see Bishopric of Grenoble, the first references to Grenoble date back to 43 BC. Cularo was at time a little Gallic village founded by the Allobroges tribe near a bridge across the Isère River. Three centuries later and with insecurity rising in the late Roman empire, the Emperor Gratian visited Cularo and, touched by the peoples welcome, made the village a Roman city. In honour of this, Cularo was renamed Gratianopolis in 381, Christianity spread to the region during the 4th century, and the diocese of Grenoble was founded in 377 AD. From that time on, the bishops exercised significant political power over the city, until the French Revolution, they styled themselves the bishops and princes of Grenoble. Arletian rule was interrupted between 942 and 970 due to Arabic rule based in Fraxinet, Grenoble grew significantly in the 11th century when the Counts of Albon chose the city as the capital of their territories. At the time, their possessions were a patchwork of several territories sprawled across the region, the central position of Grenoble allowed the Counts to strengthen their authority. When they later took the title of Dauphins, Grenoble became the capital of the State of Dauphiné, despite their status, the Counts had to share authority over the city with the Bishop of Grenoble. One of the most famous of those was Saint Hugh, under his rule, the citys bridge was rebuilt, and both a regular hospital and a leper one were built. The inhabitants of Grenoble took advantage of the conflicts between the Counts and the bishops and obtained the recognition of a Charter of Customs that guaranteed their rights and that charter was confirmed by Kings Louis XI in 1447 and Francis I in 1541. In 1336 the last Dauphin Humbert II founded a court of justice, the Conseil delphinal and he also established the University of Grenoble in 1339. Aging and heirless, Humbert sold his state to France in 1349, the first one, the future Charles V, spent nine months in Grenoble. The city remained the capital of the Dauphiné, henceforth a province of France, the only Dauphin who really governed his province was Louis XI, whose reign lasted from 1447 to 1456
2.
Olympic sports
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Olympic sports are sports contested in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The 2016 Summer Olympics included 28 sports, with five additional sports due to be added to the 2020 Summer Olympics, the 2014 Winter Olympics included seven sports. The number and kinds of events may change slightly from one Olympiad to another, each Olympic sport is represented by an international governing body, namely an International Federation. The International Olympic Committee establishes a hierarchy of sports, disciplines, according to this hierarchy, the Olympic sports can be subdivided into multiple disciplines, which are often assumed to be distinct sports. Examples include swimming and water polo, or figure skating and speed skating, in their turn, disciplines can be subdivided into events, for which medals are actually awarded. The IOCs requirements reflect participation in the Olympic Games as well—more stringent toward men, previous Olympic Games included sports which are no longer present on the current program, like polo and tug of war. These sports, known as discontinued sports, were removed either because of lack of interest or absence of an appropriate governing body. Archery and tennis are examples of sports that were competed at the early Games and were dropped by the IOC. Demonstration sports have often included in the Olympic Games, usually to promote a local sport from the host country or to gauge interest. Some such sports, like baseball and curling, were added to the official Olympic program, baseball, however, was discontinued after the 2008 Summer Olympics. The term sport in Olympic terminology refers to all the events that are sanctioned by one international sport federation, one sport, by Olympic definition, may be divided into several disciplines, which are often regarded as separate sports in common language. Skating is a winter Olympic sport represented by the International Skating Union, and includes four disciplines, figure skating, speed skating, short track speed skating, and synchronized skating. The sport with the largest number of Olympic disciplines is skiing, with six, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, nordic combined, snowboarding, other notable multi-discipline sports are gymnastics, cycling, volleyball, wrestling, canoeing, and bobsleigh. The disciplines listed here are only those contested in the Olympics—gymnastics has two disciplines, while cycling and wrestling have three each. It should also be noted that the IOC definition of a discipline may differ from that used by an international federation, for example, the IOC considers artistic gymnastics a single discipline, but the International Federation of Gymnastics classifies mens and womens artistic gymnastics as separate disciplines. An event, by IOC definition, is a competition that leads to the award of medals. The number of events per sport ranges from a minimum of two to a maximum of 47 in athletics, which despite its number of events and its diversity is not divided into disciplines. The only summer sports that have never been absent from the Olympic program are athletics, aquatics, cycling, fencing, the only winter sports that were included in all Winter Olympic Games are skiing, skating, and ice hockey
3.
President of France
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The President of the French Republic, is the executive head of state of the French Fifth Republic. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, and their relation with the prime minister, the current President of France is François Hollande, who took office on 15 May 2012. Hollande has announced that he stand down in the upcoming 2017 French presidential election. President Chirac was first elected in 1995 and again in 2002, at that time, there was no limit on the number of terms, so Chirac could have run again, but chose not to. He was succeeded by Nicolas Sarkozy on 16 May 2007, following a further change, the Constitutional law on the Modernisation of the Institutions of the Fifth Republic,2008, a president cannot serve more than two consecutive terms. François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac are the only Presidents to date who have served a two terms. In order to be admitted as a candidate, potential candidates must receive signed nominations from more than 500 elected officials. These officials must be from at least 30 départements or overseas collectivities, furthermore, each official may nominate only one candidate. There are exactly 45,543 elected officials, including 33,872 mayors, spending and financing of campaigns and political parties are highly regulated. There is a cap on spending, at approximately 20 million euros, if the candidate receives less than 5% of the vote, the government funds €8,000,000 to the party. Advertising on TV is forbidden but official time is given to candidates on public TV, an independent agency regulates election and party financing. After the president is elected, he or she goes through an investiture ceremony called a passation des pouvoirs. The French Fifth Republic is a semi-presidential system, unlike many other European presidents, the French President is quite powerful. The president holds the nations most senior office, and outranks all other politicians, the presidents greatest power is his/her ability to choose the prime minister. When the majority of the Assembly has opposite political views to that of the president, when the majority of the Assembly sides with them, the President can take a more active role and may, in effect, direct government policy. The prime minister is then the choice of the President. This device has been used in recent years by François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, since 2002, the mandate of the president and the Assembly are both 5 years and the two elections are close to each other. Therefore, the likelihood of a cohabitation is lower, among the powers of the government, The president promulgates laws
4.
Charles de Gaulle
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Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman. He was the leader of Free France and the head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic, in 1958, he founded the Fifth Republic and was elected as the 18th President of France, a position he held until his resignation in 1969. He was the dominant figure of France during the Cold War era, born in Lille, he graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1912. He was an officer of the First World War, wounded several times. During the interwar period, he advocated mobile armoured divisions, during the German invasion of May 1940, he led an armoured division which counterattacked the invaders, he was then appointed Under-Secretary for War. Refusing to accept his governments armistice with Nazi Germany, de Gaulle exhorted the French population to resist occupation and he led a government in exile and the Free French Forces against the Axis. Despite frosty relations with Britain and especially the United States, he emerged as the leader of the French resistance. He became Head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic in June 1944, frustrated by the return of petty partisanship in the new Fourth Republic, he resigned in early 1946 but continued to be politically active as founder of the RPF party. He retired in the early 1950s and wrote his War Memoirs, when the Algerian War was ripping apart the unstable Fourth Republic, the National Assembly brought him back to power during the May 1958 crisis. De Gaulle founded the Fifth Republic with a presidency. He granted independence to Algeria and progressively to other French colonies and he restored cordial Franco-German relations to create a European counterweight between the Anglo-American and Soviet spheres of influence. However, he opposed any development of a supranational Europe, favouring a Europe of sovereign nations, De Gaulle openly criticised the US intervention in Vietnam and the exorbitant privilege of the US dollar. In his later years, his support for an independent Quebec, De Gaulle resigned in 1969 after losing a referendum in which he proposed more decentralization. He died a year later at his residence in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, leaving his Presidential memoirs unfinished, many French political parties and figures claim the Gaullist legacy. De Gaulle was ranked as Le Plus Grand Français de tous les temps, De Gaulle was born in the industrial region of Lille in the Nord departement, the third of five children. He was raised in a devoutly Catholic and traditional family and his father, Henri de Gaulle, was a professor of history and literature at a Jesuit college who eventually founded his own school. Henri de Gaulle came from a line of parliamentary gentry from Normandy and Burgundy. De Gaulles mother, Jeanne, descended from a family of entrepreneurs from Lille
5.
Alain Calmat
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Alain Calmat is a French former competitive figure skater, surgeon, and politician. He is the 1964 Olympic silver medalist, the 1965 World champion, the 1962–1964 European champion, Calmat attended the Cours Hattemer, a private school. He started skating at the age of nine and he won the silver medal at the French Figure Skating Championships in 1954 and would go on to win twelve medals at nationals before retiring, seven silver and five gold. He placed 9th at the 1956 Winter Olympics and won the medal at the 1958 European Championships. At the 1960 Winter Olympics, he moved up to sixth place, the following year, Calmat won the silver medal at the 1961 European Championships. He became European champion for three years from 1962 to 1964. During that period, Calmat was awarded one bronze and two medals at Worlds. At the 1964 Winter Olympics, Calmat won the silver medal and he stayed in one more season and retired as the 1965 World champion. Calmat carried the torch and lit the Olympic flame at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, Calmat later studied medicine, and became a surgeon. A socialist, he started in a political career and he was minister of Youth Affairs and Sports between 1984 and 1986 when Laurent Fabius was prime minister. He was elected deputy of the département of Cher from 1986 until 1993, in 1995, he became the mayor of Livry-Gargan. In 1997 he became a deputy in the French National Assembly, Calmat was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1987. List of Olympic medalists in figure skating Politics of France List of select Jewish figure skaters
6.
Olympic Stadium
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Olympic Stadium is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies, many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words Olympic Stadium as part of their names. Olympic Stadium may also be named a stadium which hosts Olympic sports. In the case of the Summer Olympics, athletics competitions and the final are traditionally held in the Olympic Stadium. Exceptions to this have occurred though at the 1900,1996 and 2016 Summer Olympics as well as at the 2010 and 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games, early Winter Games often used figure skating venues as focal points. These were often designated as the Olympic Stadium, usually hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, a number of stadiums have been used in more than one Olympics, in those cities that have held the Games more than once. Lysgårdsbakkene was the stadium of a Winter Olympics and a Winter Youth Olympic Games. Bergiselschanze was the stadium of two Winter Olympics and one Winter YOG. Olympiahalle jointly shared the Olympic Stadium role with Bergiselschanze during the two Winter Olympics, but not during the Winter YOG, only one stadium, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, has been the main stadium of two Summer Olympics. In addition to the inaugural Summer Olympics, Panathinaiko Stadio was also the stadium of the only Intercalated Games held. A number, including both the Panathinaiko Stadio and the Vélodrome de Vincennes, have hosted events at subsequent Olympics. The London Games of 2012 were not opened and closed at the rebuilt Wembley Stadium, the site of the 1948 Olympic Stadium, Wembley was, however, the venue for some 2012 Olympic football matches. Likewise, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which was the stadium for the 1956 games. Lake Placids 1930 Olympic Stadium was utilized in the 1980 Lake Placid games as the speed skating venue, olympiahalle hosted figure skating and short-track speed skating during the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics. Stockholm Olympic Stadium hosted equestrian events for the 1956 Summer Olympics, Olympic Past & Future Stadiums - BALLPARKS. com Summer Olympic Stadiums 1896 - on Google Maps
7.
Olympic Stadium (Grenoble)
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Olympic Stadium, also known as Opening Stadium, was a temporary stadium in Grenoble, France. Built to only host the ceremonies for the 1968 Winter Olympics. & Further information on stadium I. N. A, video in technicolor of opening ceremony, Grenoble,1968 Life, Images from 1968 Opening Ceremony
8.
1964 Winter Olympics
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The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9,1964. The Games included 1091 athletes from 36 nations, and the Olympic Torch was carried by Joseph Rieder, Innsbruck had to compete with Calgary, Canada, and Lahti, Finland for the right to host the 1964 Winter Olympics. Here is the vote count that occurred at the 55th IOC Session in Munich, West Germany. The games was opened by a concert performed by Vienna Philharmonic, beethovens 7th Symphony and Mozarts 40th Symphony were performed in the opening concert. Normally snowy Innsbruck was threatened by a lack of snow, the Austrian army carved out 20,000 ice bricks from a mountain top and transported them to the bobsled and luge runs. They also carried 40,000 cubic meters of snow to the Alpine skiing courses, the army packed down the slopes by hand and foot. Lidia Skoblikova won all of the speed skating events, an achievement not matched by a man until Eric Heiden at the 1980 Lake Placid Games. Italian bobsleigh pilot Eugenio Monti distinguished himself by helping Britains Tony Nash, the Italians took bronze, but Monti was honored as the first recipient of the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship. Egon Zimmermann of Austria took the medal in the mens downhill alpine skiing event. In the 4 man bobsled, the Canadian team won the medal with a total winning time of 4,14.46. Norways Knut Johannesen won the mens 5, 000m speed skating event in an Olympic record time of 7,38.40, in alpine skiing, French sisters Christine and Marielle Goitschel finished first and second in both the slalom and the giant slalom. Ski jumping gained a second event, and the sport of luge made its Olympic debut, politically, the Games were notable because East and West Germany entered a combined team. The USSR won the most medals and the most gold medals at the Games, for the first time the Closing Ceremonies were held at a different place than the Opening Ceremonies. Medals were awarded in 34 events contested in 6 sports, india, Mongolia, and North Korea participated in the Winter Games for the first time. Athletes from West Germany and East Germany competed together as the United Team of Germany from 1956 to 1964, the organising committee said that Ross crashed into a tree during a training run. His brother Malcolm Milne competed at the 1968 and 1972 Winter Olympics and this tragedy sent the US skating program into a period of rebuilding. The loss of the U. S. team was considered so catastrophic for the sport that the 1961 World Championships were cancelled,1964 Summer Paralympics 1964 Summer Olympics Winter Olympic Games Olympic Games International Olympic Committee List of IOC country codes Innsbruck 1964. Official Report of the 1964 Winter Olympics, the program of the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics Map of the surrounding area Australia and the Olympic Games by Harry Gordon
9.
1972 Winter Olympics
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The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was held from February 3 to February 13,1972, in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. It was the first Winter Olympics to be held outside Europe and North America, Sapporo first won the rights to host the 1940 Winter Olympics, but Japan resigned as the Games host after its 1937 invasion of China. The 1940 Games were later cancelled, all the cities awarded Games that were cancelled due to war have since hosted the Games. Sapporo competed with Banff, Lahti, and Salt Lake City, the Games were awarded at the 64th IOC Session in Rome, Italy, on April 26,1966. In preparation, the Japanese constructed new facilities at Sapporo. The Games organizers themselves turned a profit in part because they arranged a record $8.47 million for broadcast rights. Prior to these games, Japan had never won a medal in the Winter Olympics. The host countrys fans in Sapporo were booed when three Japanese athletes, led by Yukio Kasaya, swept the ski jumping 70 m event for gold, silver, galina Kulakova of the USSR won all three cross-country skiing events for women. Dutch skater Ard Schenk won three medals in speed skating. In Womens Alpine Skiing, American Barbara Ann Cochran, one of three siblings on the U. S, in Alpine skiing, virtual unknown Swiss Marie-Thérès Nadig won both the downhill and the giant slalom events. Magnar Solberg from Norway was the first repeat winner in the individual 20 km biathlon event, spain scored its first Winter gold medal courtesy of slalom skier Francisco Fernández Ochoa. American speedskaters Anne Henning and Dianne Holum made the United States best showing in the Winter Games, three days before the Games, controversy over amateur status arose when IOC president Avery Brundage threatened to disqualify 40 alpine skiers who received endorsement and other deals. Austrian skier Karl Schranz, who received over $50,000 per year from ski manufacturers, was banned as an example, meanwhile, Canada refused to send an ice hockey team, maintaining that professional ice hockey players from Communist nations were allowed to compete with no restrictions. On a historical note, these Games are the last where a skier won the gold medal using all-wooden skis, since this time, top-level cross-country skiers use skis made mostly of fibreglass synthetics. Luge had its only tie in the history of the Winter Olympics in the doubles event. Teine Alpine Skiing courses¹ – alpine skiing Mt. Teine Bobsleigh Course – bobsleigh Mt. ² Existing facilities modified or refurbished in preparation for the Olympic Games, there were 35 events contested in 6 sports. 35 nations participated in the 1972 Winter Olympics, the Republic of China and the Philippines participated in their first Winter Olympic Games. These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games, the host nation Japan finished 11th
10.
1964 Summer Olympics
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The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from October 10 to 24,1964. The 1964 Summer Games were the first Olympics held in Asia, Tokyo was chosen as the host city during the 55th IOC Session in West Germany, on May 26,1959. These games were also the first to be telecast internationally without the need for tapes to be overseas, as they had been for the 1960 Olympics four years earlier. The games were telecast to the United States using Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite and these were also the first Olympic Games to have color telecasts, albeit partially. Certain events like the sumo wrestling and judo matches, sports huge in Japan, were tried out using Toshibas new color transmission system, history surrounding the 1964 Olympics was chronicled in the 1965 documentary film Tokyo Olympiad, directed by Kon Ichikawa. The games were scheduled for mid-October to avoid the citys midsummer heat and humidity, the previous Olympics in Rome in 1960 started in late August and experienced hot weather. The following games in 1968 in Mexico City also began in October, the 1964 Olympics were also the last to use a traditional cinder track for the track events. A smooth synthetic all-weather track was used for the first time at the 1968 Olympics, the 2020 Summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo. Tokyo won the rights to the Games on May 26,1959, at the 55th IOC Session in Munich, West Germany, over bids from Detroit, Brussels and Vienna. Toronto was an early bidder again in 1964 after the attempt for 1960. Yūji Koseki composed the song of the opening ceremony. Yoshinori Sakai, who lit the Olympic Flame, was born in Hiroshima on August 6,1945, kumi-daiko was first exhibited to a world-wide audience at the Festival of Arts presentation. Judo and womens volleyball, both sports in Japan, were introduced to the Olympics. Japan won gold medals in three events, but Dutchman Anton Geesink won the Open category. The Japanese womens volleyball won the gold medal, with the final being broadcast live. The womens pentathlon was introduced to the athletics events, soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina won two gold medals, a silver medal and two bronze medals. She held the record for most Olympic medals at 18 which stood until broken by American swimmer Michael Phelps in 2012, czechoslovakian gymnast Věra Čáslavská wins 3 gold medals, including the individual all-around competition, crowning her the new queen over the reigning champion Larisa Latynina. Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser won the 100 m freestyle event for the time in a row
11.
1968 Summer Olympics
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The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico, in October 1968. These were the first Olympic Games to be staged in Latin America and they were also the first Games to use an all-weather track for track and field events instead of the traditional cinder track. The 1968 Games were the third to be held in the last quarter of the year, after the 1956 Games in Melbourne, the Mexican Student Movement of 1968 happened concurrently and the Olympic Games were correlated to the governments repression. On October 18,1963, at the 60th IOC Session in Baden-Baden, West Germany, Mexico City finished ahead of bids from Detroit, Buenos Aires and Lyon to host the Games. The 1968 torch relay recreated the route taken by Christopher Columbus to the New World, journeying from Greece through Italy and Spain to San Salvador Island, Bahamas, and then on to Mexico. American sculptor James Metcalf, an expatriate in Mexico, won the commission to forge the Olympic torch for the 1968 Summer Games, the Australian Peter Norman, who had run second, wore an American civil rights badge as support to them on the podium. As punishment, the IOC banned Smith and Carlos from the Olympic Games for life, American George Foreman won the gold medal for boxing by defeating Soviet Ionas Chepulis via a second-round TKO. After the victory, Foreman waved a small American flag as he bowed to the crowd, the high elevation of Mexico City, at 2,240 m above sea level, influenced many of the events, particularly in track and field. No other Summer Olympic Games before or since have been held at high elevation, as a reminder of this fact, one of the promotional articles of these Olympics was a small metallic box labeled Aire de México, that was Especial para batir récords. The tracks at previous Olympics were conventional cinder, for the first time, East and West Germany competed as separate teams, after being forced by the IOC to compete as a combined German team in 1956,1960, and 1964. Beethovens Ode to Joy was played when East and West Germany arrived in the stadium. Al Oerter of the U. S. won his fourth gold medal in the discus to become only the second athlete to achieve this feat in an individual event. Bob Beamon of the U. S. leapt 8.90 m in the long jump and it remained the Olympic record and stood as the world record for 23 years, until broken by American Mike Powell in 1991. American athletes Jim Hines, Tommie Smith and Lee Evans also set long-standing world records in the 100 m,200 m and 400 m, in the triple jump, the previous world record was improved five times by three different athletes. Viktor Saneev won the first of three gold medals in this event. Dick Fosbury of the U. S. won the medal in the high jump using his unconventional Fosbury flop technique. Věra Čáslavská of Czechoslovakia won four medals in gymnastics. Debbie Meyer of the U. S. became the first swimmer to win three gold medals, in the 200,400 and 800 m freestyle events
12.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
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Multi-sport event
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A multi-sport event is an organized sports event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports between organized teams of athletes from nation states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of significance is the modern Olympic Games. Many regional multi-sport events have since founded and modeled after the Olympics. Most have the basic structure. Games are held over the course of days in and around a host city. Countries send national teams to each competition, consisting of individual athletes, athletes or teams are awarded gold, silver or bronze medals for first, second and third place respectively. The games are held every four years, though some are annual competitions. Instead, the Greek sports of racing and wrestling, as well as the Etruscan sport of gladiatorial combat. In the late 19th and early 20th century, athletes at events were almost exclusively male. As international womens sport began to develop, events such as the Womens World Games, though short-lived, events such as these led to greater inclusion of women at multi-sport events over the course of the 20th century. Since the establishment of the Olympics, most serial multi-sport events have been organized for specific audiences, after some celebrations, the Olympics became very popular nowadays. The number of sports, initially only a few, is still growing, the Paralympic Games is the largest multi-sport event involving athletes with physical disabilities, and is organised by the International Paralympic Committee. Arranged for the first time in 1960 in Rome, Italy, the number of sports, initially only a few, is still growing. The first Special Olympics International Summer Games were held in Chicago, the most recent Special Olympics World Summer Games in Los Angeles, United States, involved 25 sports and approximately 6,500 athletes from 177 countries. At the beginning of the 20th century, another multi-sport event and these Games were held in Scandinavia, and the sports conducted were winter sports such as cross-country skiing and speed skating. The Nordic Games were last held in 1926, after which the 1924 Winter Sports Week in Chamonix was declared the first Olympic Winter Games, in the 1920s, all kinds of other multi-sport events were set up. These were usually directed for a group of athletes, rather than everybody. Regional games were another kind of event that was established, such as the Far Eastern Championship Games
14.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
15.
Jean-Claude Killy
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Jean-Claude Killy also known as Gilette is a former French World Cup alpine ski racer. Born in Saint-Cloud, Hauts-de-Seine, he dominated the sport in the late 1960s and he was a triple Olympic champion, winning the three alpine events at the 1968 Winter Olympics, becoming the most successful athlete there. He also won the first two World Cup titles, in 1967 and 1968. Killy was born in Saint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris, during the German occupation of World War II, but was brought up in Val-dIsère in the Alps, where his family had relocated in 1945 following the war. His father, Robert, was a former Spitfire pilot for the Free French, and opened a ski shop in the Savoie village, and would later operate a hotel. In 1950, his mother Madeline abandoned the family for another man, leaving Robert to raise Jean-Claude, age 7, his older sister, Jean-Claude was sent to boarding school in Chambéry,80 miles down the valley, but he despised being shut up in a classroom. Killy turned his attention to skiing rather than school and his father allowed him to drop out at age 15, and he made the French national junior team a year later. As a young racer, Killy was fast, but did not usually complete his races, in December 1961, at age 18, Killy won his first international race, a giant slalom. The event took place in his village of Val-dIsere. Killy had started 39th, a position that should have been a severe disadvantage, the French coach picked Killy for the giant slalom in the 1962 World Championships in Chamonix, France,50 miles away in the shadow of Mont Blanc. But Killy, unaware of his selection, was attempting to qualify for the downhill event in northeastern Italy at Cortina dAmpezzo. Only three weeks before the championships, he skied in his typical reckless style. About two hundred yards from the finish, Killy hit a stretch of ice in a compression and went down, rose immediately, unfortunately, his other leg was broken, and he watched the 1962 World Championships on crutches. Two years later, at age 20, Killy was entered in all three of the events at the 1964 Olympics, because his coach wanted to prepare him for 1968. Unfortunately, Killy was plagued by recurrences of amoebic dysentery and hepatitis, ailments that he had contracted in 1962 during a summer of compulsory service with the French Army in Algeria. His form was definitely off, and he fell a few yards after the start of the downhill, lost a binding in the slalom, and finished fifth in the giant slalom, in which he had been the heavy favorite. Yet a few later, he dominated a giant slalom race at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, counting for the prestigious Arlberg-Kandahar events. A year later, he triumphed at another major competition
16.
Alpine skiing
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Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the sport or recreation of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. It is typically practiced at ski resorts which provide such as ski lifts, artificial snow making and grooming, first aid. Back-country skiers use alpine skiing equipment to ski off the marked pistes, in cases with the assistance of snowmobiles. Alpine skiing has been an event at the Winter Olympic Games since 1936, as of 1994, there were estimated to be 55 million people worldwide, who engaged in Alpine skiing. Approximately 30 million of these were in Europe,15 million in the US, as of 1996, there were reportedly 4,500 ski areas, operating 26,000 ski lifts and enjoying skier visits. The preponderant region for downhills skiing was Europe, followed by Japan, a skier following the fall line will reach the maximum possible speed for that slope. A skier with skis pointed perpendicular to the line, across the hill instead of down it. The speed of descent down any given hill can be controlled by changing the angle of motion in relation to the fall line, downhill skiing technique focuses on the use of turns to smoothly turn the skis from one direction to another. Good technique results in a motion from one descent angle to another one. This looks more like a series of Ss than turns followed by straight sections. The oldest and still form of alpine ski turn is the stem. In doing so, the ski pushes snow forward and to the side, the force backwards directly counteracts gravity, and slows the skier. The force to the sides, if unbalanced, will cause the skier to turn, carving is based on the shape of the ski itself, when the ski is rotated onto its edge, the pattern cut into its side causes it to bend into an arc. The contact between the arc of the ski edges and the snow naturally causes the ski to tend to move along that arc, slowing the skier, modern alpine skis are shaped to enable carve turning, and have evolved significantly since the 1980s. During the 1930s, the Kandahar binding was introduced, which could be locked down at the heel for the downhill portions, the Kandahar remained in widespread use until the 1960s. As more skiers took up the sport, especially in the 1950s, dr. Richard Spademan saw 150 spiral fractures pass through his emergency department near Squaw Valley in three days, an event that led to the development of the Spademan binding. By the early 1950s, several safety bindings were on the market allowed the ski to come off when the ski twisted to the side. This helped reduce the incidence of spiral fractures, originally boots were cut low, just over the ankle, and soft laterally, both of which limited the amount of sideways rotating force that could be applied
17.
Figure skating
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Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, duos, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport included in the Olympics, in 1908, the four Olympic disciplines are mens singles, ladies singles, pair skating and ice dancing. Non-Olympic disciplines include synchronized skating and four skating, the blade has a groove on the bottom creating two distinct edges — inside and outside. Judges prefer that skaters glide on one edge of the blade, during a spin, skaters use the sweet spot of the blade, which is the roundest portion of the blade, just behind the pick and near the middle of the blade. Skates used in single and pair skating have a set of large, toe picks are mainly used for the take-off on jumps. Ice dancing blades are an inch shorter in the rear and have smaller toe picks, Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level at local, regional, national, and international competitions. The International Skating Union regulates international figure skating judging and competitions and these include the Winter Olympics, the World Championships, the World Junior Championships, the European Championships, the Four Continents Championships, and the Grand Prix series. The sport is also associated with show business, major competitions generally conclude with exhibition galas, in which the top skaters from each discipline perform non-competitive programs. Many skaters, both during and after their careers, also skate in ice shows which run during the competitive season. The term professional in skating refers not to level but competitive status. Figure skaters competing at the highest levels of competition are not professional skaters. They are sometimes referred to as amateurs, though some earn money, professional skaters include those who have lost their ISU eligibility and those who perform only in shows. They may include former Olympic and World champions who have ended their career as well as skaters with little or no international competitive experience. In languages other than English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Italian, Polish and Russian, the most visible difference in relation to ice hockey skates is that figure skates have a set of large, jagged teeth called toe picks on the front part of the blade. The toe picks are used primarily in jumping and should not be used for stroking or spins, if used during a spin, the toe pick will cause the skater to lose momentum, or move away from the center of his/her spin. Blades are mounted to the sole and heel of the boot with screws, typically, high-level figure skaters are professionally fitted for their boots and blades at a reputable skate shop. Professionals are also employed to sharpen blades to individual requirements, Blades are about 3/16 inch thick. When viewed from the side, the blade of a figure skate is not flat and this curvature is referred to as the rocker of the blade
18.
Peggy Fleming
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Peggy Gail Fleming is an American former figure skater. She is the 1968 Olympic Champion in Ladies singles and a three-time World Champion, Fleming has been a television commentator in figure skating for over 20 years, including several Winter Olympic Games. Fleming was born in San Jose, California, the daughter of Doris Elizabeth and Albert Eugene Fleming and she began skating at age nine when her family moved to Cleveland and soon began skating in earnest on the advice of her father. Fleming was subsequently coached by Carlo Fassi and her unusual style led to five U. S. titles, three World titles and the gold medal in the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble, France. Her award in Grenoble was singularly important for the American athletes and it signaled a return to American dominance in the sport of womens figure skating following the unprecedented tragedy of the 1961 plane crash. After becoming an Olympic champion, Fleming turned professional, performed on TV shows including the 1974 Perry Como Christmas Special and toured with many skating shows, during the Cold War, Fleming had filmed a TV show in USSR and skated to Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto in China. Since 1981, she has been a commentator for ABC Sports. In 1993, the Associated Press released results of a sports study. Fleming was ranked as the 3rd most popular athlete in America, behind fellow Olympians Mary Lou Retton, Peggy Fleming was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998. The cancer was detected in its stages, and surgery was successful. She became a breast cancer activist who recommends not procrastinating and advocates for early detection, in June 13,1970, Fleming married her teenage sweetheart Greg Jenkins, a dermatologist and a former amateur pair figure skater. The couple have two sons, Andy and Todd, and three grandchildren and they also owned and operated Fleming Jenkins Vineyards & Winery in California. The winery produced close to 2,000 cases of wine a year with such brands as Choreography Cabernet, profits from the Victories Rosé went towards charities that supported research towards breast cancer. In 1988, a Peggy Fleming all-porcelain doll was made by Franklin Mint Heirloom Porcelain Dolls, in 2007, Fleming appeared in the movie Blades of Glory as a judge. In 2010, Art of the Olympians produced a 30-minute documentary and she is also an artist with works on display with the Art of the Olympians. In 2011, Fleming became spokesperson for the Robitussin Last Names Giveaway, since her last name sounds like one of the cold and flu symptoms Robitussin® treats, per the rules of the contest. ABCs Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year,1967 In 2003, the award was created to honor Coach Lombardis legacy, and is awarded annually to an individual who exemplifies the spirit of the Coach. Peggy Fleming is mentioned prominently in the Peanuts comic strip during the late 1960s and early 1970s
19.
American Broadcasting Company
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The network is headquartered on Columbus Avenue and West 66th Street in Manhattan, New York City. There are additional offices and production facilities elsewhere in New York City, as well as in Los Angeles and Burbank. Since 2007, when ABC Radio was sold to Citadel Broadcasting, ABC originally launched on October 12,1943, as a radio network, separated from and serving as the successor to the NBC Blue Network, which had been purchased by Edward J. Noble. It extended its operations to television in 1948, following in the footsteps of established broadcast networks CBS, in the mid-1950s, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres, a chain of movie theaters that formerly operated as a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures. Leonard Goldenson, who had been the head of UPT, made the new television network profitable by helping develop, in 1996, most of Capital Cities/ABCs assets were purchased by The Walt Disney Company. The television network has eight owned-and-operated and over 232 affiliated television stations throughout the United States, most Canadians have access to at least one U. S. ABC News provides news and features content for radio stations owned by Citadel Broadcasting. In the 1930s, radio in the United States was dominated by three companies, the Columbia Broadcasting System, the Mutual Broadcasting System and the National Broadcasting Company. The last was owned by electronics manufacturer Radio Corporation of America, in 1938, the FCC began a series of investigations into the practices of radio networks and published its report on the broadcasting of network radio programs in 1940. The report recommended that RCA give up control of either NBC Red or NBC Blue, at that time, the NBC Red Network was the principal radio network in the United States and, according to the FCC, RCA was using NBC Blue to eliminate any hint of competition. Once Mutuals appeals against the FCC were rejected, RCA decided to sell NBC Blue in 1941, the newly separated NBC Red and NBC Blue divided their respective corporate assets. Investment firm Dillon, Read & Co. offered $7.5 million to purchase the network, Edward John Noble, the owner of Life Savers candy, drugstore chain Rexall and New York City radio station WMCA, purchased the network for $8 million. Due to FCC ownership rules, the transaction, which was to include the purchase of three RCA stations by Noble, would require him to resell his station with the FCCs approval, the Commission authorized the transaction on October 12,1943. Soon afterward, the Blue Network was purchased by the new company Noble founded, Noble subsequently acquired the rights to the American Broadcasting Company name from George B. Meanwhile, in August 1944, the West Coast division of the Blue Network, both stations were then managed by Don Searle, the vice-president of the Blue Networks West Coast division. The ABC Radio Network created its audience slowly, the network also became known for such suspenseful dramas as Sherlock Holmes, Gang Busters and Counterspy, as well as several mid-afternoon youth-oriented programs. S. From Nazi Germany after its conquest, to pre-record its programming, while its radio network was undergoing reconstruction, ABC found it difficult to avoid falling behind on the new medium of television. To ensure a space, in 1947, ABC submitted five applications for television station licenses, the ABC television network made its debut on April 19,1948, with WFIL-TV in Philadelphia becoming its first primary affiliate
20.
International Olympic Committee
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The International Olympic Committee is the supreme authority of the worldwide Olympic movement. It is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Lausanne and its mission is enshrined in the Olympic Charter, to support the development of competitive sport by ethical and environmentally sustainable means. The IOC was created by Pierre de Coubertin, on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president, today its membership consists of 100 active members,32 honorary members, and 1 honour member. The IOC is the authority of the worldwide modern Olympic movement. The IOC organises the modern Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games, held in summer and winter, the first Summer Olympics organised by the IOC was held in Athens, Greece, in 1896, the first Winter Olympics was in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Until 1992, both Summer and Winter Olympics were held in the same year, the first Summer Youth Olympics were in Singapore in 2010 and the first Winter Youth Olympics were held in Innsbruck in 2012. In 2009, the UN General Assembly granted the IOC Permanent Observer status and this decision enables the IOC to be directly involved in the UN Agenda and to attend UN General Assembly meetings where it can take the floor. This has provided the possibility to promote sport at a new level, during each proclamation at the Olympics, announcers speak in different languages, French is always spoken first followed by an English translation and the dominant language of the host nation. The stated mission of the International Olympic Committee is to promote Olympic throughout the world and it is the IOC’s supreme organ and its decisions are final. Extraordinary Sessions may be convened by the President or upon the written request of at least one third of the members, among others, the powers of the Session are, To adopt or amend the Olympic Charter. To elect the members of the IOC, the Honorary President, to elect the President, the Vice-Presidents and all other members of the IOC Executive Board. To elect the host city of the Olympic Games, the Olympic Laurel is awarded to individuals for promoting education, culture, development, and peace through sport. For most of its existence, the IOC was controlled by members who were selected by other members, countries that had hosted the Games were allowed two members. When named, they did not become the representatives of their countries to the IOC. The membership of IOC members ceases in the circumstances, Resignation. Non re-election, any IOC member ceases to be a member without further formality if they are not re-elected, age limit, any IOC member ceases to be a member at the end of the calendar year during which they reach the age of 80. Failure to attend Sessions or take part in IOC work for two consecutive years. Transfer of domicile or of main center of interests to an other than the country which was theirs at the time of their election
21.
East Germany
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East Germany, formally the German Democratic Republic, was an Eastern Bloc state during the Cold War period. The Soviet zone surrounded West Berlin, but did not include it, as a result, the German Democratic Republic was established in the Soviet Zone, while the Federal Republic was established in the three western zones. East Germany, which lies culturally in Central Germany, was a state of the Soviet Union. Soviet occupation authorities began transferring administrative responsibility to German communist leaders in 1948, Soviet forces, however, remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Until 1989, the GDR was governed by the Socialist Unity Party, though other parties participated in its alliance organisation. The economy was centrally planned, and increasingly state-owned, prices of basic goods and services were set by central government planners, rather than rising and falling through supply and demand. Although the GDR had to pay war reparations to the USSR. Nonetheless it did not match the growth of West Germany. Emigration to the West was a significant problem—as many of the emigrants were well-educated young people, the government fortified its western borders and, in 1961, built the Berlin Wall. Many people attempting to flee were killed by guards or booby traps. In 1989, numerous social and political forces in the GDR and abroad led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the following year open elections were held, and international negotiations led to the signing of the Final Settlement treaty on the status and borders of Germany. The GDR was dissolved and Germany was unified on 3 October 1990, internally, the GDR also bordered the Soviet sector of Allied-occupied Berlin known as East Berlin which was also administered as the states de facto capital. It also bordered the three sectors occupied by the United States, United Kingdom and France known collectively as West Berlin. The three sectors occupied by the Western nations were sealed off from the rest of the GDR by the Berlin Wall from its construction in 1961 until it was brought down in 1989, the official name was Deutsche Demokratische Republik, usually abbreviated to DDR. West Germans, the media and statesmen purposely avoided the official name and its abbreviation, instead using terms like Ostzone, Sowjetische Besatzungszone. The centre of power in East Berlin was referred to as Pankow. Over time, however, the abbreviation DDR was also used colloquially by West Germans. However, this use was not always consistent, for example, before World War II, Ostdeutschland was used to describe all the territories east of the Elbe, as reflected in the works of sociologist Max Weber and political theorist Carl Schmitt
22.
West Germany
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West Germany is the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation on 23 May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990. During this Cold War era, NATO-aligned West Germany and Warsaw Pact-aligned East Germany were divided by the Inner German border, after 1961 West Berlin was physically separated from East Berlin as well as from East Germany by the Berlin Wall. This situation ended when East Germany was dissolved and its five states joined the ten states of the Federal Republic of Germany along with the reunified city-state of Berlin. With the reunification of West and East Germany, the Federal Republic of Germany, enlarged now to sixteen states and this period is referred to as the Bonn Republic by historians, alluding to the interwar Weimar Republic and the post-reunification Berlin Republic. The Federal Republic of Germany was established from eleven states formed in the three Allied Zones of occupation held by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, US and British forces remained in the country throughout the Cold War. Its population grew from roughly 51 million in 1950 to more than 63 million in 1990, the city of Bonn was its de facto capital city. The fourth Allied occupation zone was held by the Soviet Union, as a result, West Germany had a territory about half the size of the interbellum democratic Weimar Republic. At the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided among the Western and Eastern blocs, Germany was de facto divided into two countries and two special territories, the Saarland and divided Berlin. The Federal Republic of Germany claimed a mandate for all of Germany. It took the line that the GDR was an illegally constituted puppet state, though the GDR did hold regular elections, these were not free and fair. For all practical purposes the GDR was a Soviet puppet state, from the West German perspective the GDR was therefore illegitimate. Three southwestern states of West Germany merged to form Baden-Württemberg in 1952, in addition to the resulting ten states, West Berlin was considered an unofficial de facto 11th state. It recognised the GDR as a de facto government within a single German nation that in turn was represented de jure by the West German state alone. From 1973 onward, East Germany recognised the existence of two German countries de jure, and the West as both de facto and de jure foreign country, the Federal Republic and the GDR agreed that neither of them could speak in the name of the other. The first chancellor Konrad Adenauer, who remained in office until 1963, had worked for an alignment with NATO rather than neutrality. He not only secured a membership in NATO but was also a proponent of agreements that developed into the present-day European Union, when the G6 was established in 1975, there was no question whether the Federal Republic of Germany would be a member as well. With the collapse of communism in Central and Eastern Europe in 1989, symbolised by the opening of the Berlin Wall, East Germany voted to dissolve itself and accede to the Federal Republic in 1990. Its five post-war states were reconstituted along with the reunited Berlin and they formally joined the Federal Republic on 3 October 1990, raising the number of states from 10 to 16, ending the division of Germany
23.
Lausanne
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Lausanne is a city in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and the capital and biggest city of the canton of Vaud. The city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva and it faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura Mountains to its north-west. Lausanne is located 62 kilometres northeast of Geneva, Lausanne has a population of 146,372, making it the fourth largest city in Switzerland, with the entire agglomeration area having 420,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area of Lausanne-Geneva was over 1.2 million inhabitants in 2000, Lausanne is a focus of international sport, hosting the International Olympic Committee, the Court of Arbitration for Sport and some 55 international sport associations. It lies in a noted wine-growing region, the city has a 28-station metro system, making it the smallest city in the world to have a rapid transit system. Lausanne will host the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics, by the 2nd century AD it was known as vikanor Lousonnensium and in 280 as lacu Lausonio. By 400 it was civitas Lausanna and in 990 it was mentioned as Losanna, after the fall of the Roman Empire, insecurity forced the transfer of Lausanne to its current centre, a hilly site that is easier to defend. The city which emerged from the camp was ruled by the Dukes of Savoy, then it came under Bern from 1536 to 1798 and a number of its cultural treasures, including the hanging tapestries in the Cathedral, were permanently removed. Lausanne has made a number of requests to recover them, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Lausanne became a place of refuge for French Huguenots. In 1729 a seminary was opened by Antoine Court and Benjamin Duplan, by 1750 ninety pastors had been sent back to France to work clandestinely, this number would rise to four hundred. Official persecution ended in 1787, a faculty of Protestant theology was established at Montauban in 1808, during the Napoleonic Wars, the citys status changed. In 1803, it became the capital of a newly formed Swiss canton, in 1964 the city hosted the Swiss National Exhibition, displaying its newly found confidence to host major international events. From the 1950s to 1970s a large number of Italians, Spaniards and Portuguese immigrated, settling mostly in the district of Renens. The city has served as a refuge for European artists, while under the care of a psychiatrist at Lausanne, T. S. Eliot composed most of his 1922 poem The Wasteland. Hemingway also visited from Paris with his wife during the 1920s, in fact, many creative people - such as Edward Gibbon, an historian, and Romantic era poets Shelley and Byron - have sojourned, lived, and worked in Lausanne or nearby. The city has been quiet, but in the late 1960s. Later demonstrations took place to protest against the high cinema prices, the most important geographical feature of the area surrounding Lausanne is Lake Geneva. Lausanne boasts a dramatic panorama over the lake and the Alps, in addition to its generally southward-sloping layout, the centre of the city is the site of an ancient river, the Flon, which has been covered since the 19th century
24.
Calgary
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Calgary is a city in the Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated at the confluence of the Bow River and the Elbow River in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, the city anchors the south end of what Statistics Canada defines as the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. The city had a population of 1,239,220 in 2016, making it Albertas largest city, also in 2016, Calgary had a metropolitan population of 1,392,609, making it the fourth-largest census metropolitan area in Canada. The Calgary CMA is home to the second-highest number of head offices in Canada among the countrys 800 largest corporations. In 1988, Calgary became the first Canadian city to host the Winter Olympic Games, Calgary was named after Calgary on the Isle of Mull, Scotland. In turn, the name originates from a compound of kald and gart, similar Old Norse words, meaning cold and garden, alternatively, the name might be Gaelic Cala ghearraidh, meaning beach of the meadow, or Gaelic for either clear running water or bay farm. The Calgary area was inhabited by people whose presence has been traced back at least 11,000 years. Before the arrival of Europeans, the area was inhabited by the Blackfoot, Blood, Peigan, in 1787, cartographer David Thompson spent the winter with a band of Peigan encamped along the Bow River. He was a Hudsons Bay Company trader and the first recorded European to visit the area, John Glenn was the first documented European settler in the Calgary area, in 1873. The site became a post of the North-West Mounted Police, the NWMP detachment was assigned in 1875 to protect the western plains from US whisky traders, and to protect the fur trade. Originally named Fort Brisebois, after NWMP officer Éphrem-A, Brisebois, it was renamed Fort Calgary in 1876 by Colonel James Macleod. When the Canadian Pacific Railway reached the area in 1883, over a century later, the Canadian Pacific Railway headquarters moved to Calgary from Montreal in 1996. Calgary was officially incorporated as a town in 1884, and elected its first mayor, in 1894, it was incorporated as The City of Calgary in what was then the North-West Territories. The Calgary Police Service was established in 1885 and assumed municipal, local duties from the NWMP, the Calgary Fire of 1886 occurred on November 7,1886. Fourteen buildings were destroyed with losses estimated at $103,200, although no one was killed or injured, city officials drafted a law requiring all large downtown buildings to be built with Paskapoo sandstone, to prevent this from happening again. After the arrival of the railway, the Dominion Government started leasing grazing land at minimal cost, as a result of this policy, large ranching operations were established in the outlying country near Calgary. Already a transportation and distribution hub, Calgary quickly became the centre of Canadas cattle marketing and meatpacking industries. By the late 19th century, the Hudsons Bay Company expanded into the interior and established posts along rivers that later developed into the cities of Winnipeg, Calgary
25.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
26.
Lahti
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Lahti is a city and municipality in Finland. Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region and it is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about 100 kilometres north-east of the capital Helsinki. In English, the Finnish word Lahti literally means bay, the Lahti region is growing and is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. The coat of arms of the city depicts a train wheel surrounded by flames, Lahti was first mentioned in documents in 1445. The village belonged to the parish of Hollola and was located at the trade route of Ylinen Viipurintie. The completion of the Riihimäki – St. Petersburg railway line in 1870 and the Vesijärvi canal in 1871 turned Lahti into a lively station, for a long time, the railway station at Vesijärvi Harbour was the second busiest station in Finland. Craftsmen, merchants, a few servants and a lot of industrial workers soon mixed in with the existing agricultural peasantry. On 19 June 1877, almost the entire village was burned to the ground, however, the accident proved to be a stroke of luck for the development of the place, as it led to the authorities resuming their deliberations about establishing a town in Lahti. The village was granted town rights in 1878 and an empire-style, grid town plan was approved. This grid plan still forms the basis of the city center, most of the buildings were low wooden houses bordering the streets. Lahti was founded during a period of economic recession. The Russian Empire was encumbered by the war against Turkey, the recession also slowed down the building of the township, land would not sell and often plots were not built on for some time. In its early years, the town with its meagre 200 inhabitants was too small to provide any kind of foundation for trade, at the end of the 1890s, Lahtis Township Board increased its efforts to enable Lahti to be turned into a city. At the end of 1905, the area now comprises Lahti accommodated around 8,200 people of whom just under 3,000 lived in the city itself. All essential municipal institutions were built in just ten years, including a hospital, at the same time, a rapid increase in brick houses was taking place in the centre of the city. The Battle of Lahti was fought in the 1918 Finnish Civil War as the German Detachment Brandenstein took the town from the Reds. In the early 1920s the city gained possession of the grounds of the Lahti Manor, through the addition of new areas in 1924,1933 and 1956, Lahti grew, both in terms of population and surface area. Lahti has a continental climate, also closely bordering on a subarctic climate
27.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
28.
Sapporo
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Sapporo is the fourth largest city in Japan by population, and the largest city on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Located in Ishikari Subprefecture, it is the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture, the city is also home to Sapporo Brewery and the white chocolate biscuits called shiroi koibito. Before its establishment, the occupied by Sapporo was home to a number of indigenous Ainu settlements. In 1866, at the end of the Edo period, construction began on a canal through the area, the settlements name was taken from the Ainu language sat poro pet, and can be translated as dry, great river. As a result, it was determined that a new capital on the Ishikari Plain should be established, the plain itself provided an unusually large expanse of flat, well drained land which is relatively uncommon in the otherwise mountainous geography of Hokkaido. During 1870–1871, Kuroda Kiyotaka, vice-chairman of the Hokkaido Development Commission, as a result, Horace Capron, Secretary of Agriculture under President Ulysses S. Grant, became an oyatoi gaikokujin and was appointed as a special advisor to the commission. Construction began around Odori Park, which remains as a green ribbon of recreational land bisecting the central area of the city. The city closely followed a plan with streets at right-angles to form city blocks. Edwin Dun came to Sapporo to establish sheep and cattle ranches in 1876 and he also demonstrated pig raising and the making of butter, cheese, ham and sausage. He once went back to the US in 1883 but returned to Japan as a secretary of government. William S. Clark, who was the president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College and he taught academic subjects in science and lectured on the Bible as an ethics course, introducing Christian principles to the first entering class of the College. In 1880, the area of Sapporo was renamed as Sapporo-ku. That year the Hōheikan, a hotel and reception facility for visiting officials and it was later moved to Nakajima Park where it remains today. Two years later, with the abolition of the Kaitaku-shi, Hokkaidō was divided into three prefectures, Hakodate, Sapporo, and Nemuro, the name of the urban district in Sapporo remained Sapporo-ku, while the rest of the area in Sapporo-ku was changed to Sapporo-gun. The office building of Sapporo-ku was also located in the urban district, Sapporo, Hakodate, and Nemuro Prefectures were abolished in 1886, and Hokkaidō government office building, an American-neo-baroque-style structure with red bricks, constructed in 1888. The last squad of the Tondenhei, the soldiers pioneering Hokkaido, settled in the place where the area of Tonden in Kita-ku, Sapporo-ku administered surrounding Sapporo-gun until 1899, when the new district system was announced. After that year, Sapporo-ku was away from the control of Sapporo-gun, the ku enforced from 1899 was an autonomy which was a little bigger than towns, and smaller than cities. In Hokkaido at that time, Hakodate-ku and Otaru-ku also existed, in 1907, the Tohoku Imperial University was established in Sendai Miyagi Prefecture, and Sapporo Agricultural College was controlled by the University
29.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
30.
Oslo
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Oslo is the capital and the most populous city in Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality, founded in the year 1040, and established as a kaupstad or trading place in 1048 by Harald Hardrada, the city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V of Norway around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814, after being destroyed by a fire in 1624, the city was moved closer to Akershus Fortress during the reign of Christian IV of Denmark and renamed Christiania in his honour. It was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838, following a spelling reform, it was known as Kristiania from 1877 to 1925, at which time its original Norwegian name was restored. Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway, the city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to companies within the maritime sector, some of which are among the worlds largest shipping companies, shipbrokers. Oslo is a city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities programme. Oslo is considered a city and ranked Beta World City in studies carried out by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group. It was ranked one in terms of quality of life among European large cities in the European Cities of the Future 2012 report by fDi magazine. A survey conducted by ECA International in 2011 placed Oslo as the second most expensive city in the world for living expenses after Tokyo. In 2013 Oslo tied with the Australian city of Melbourne as the fourth most expensive city in the world, as of January 1,2016, the municipality of Oslo has a population of 658,390, while the population of the citys urban area was 942,084. The metropolitan area had an population of 1.71 million. The population was during the early 2000 increasing at record rates and this growth stems for the most part from international immigration and related high birth rates, but also from intra-national migration. The immigrant population in the city is growing faster than the Norwegian population. As of January 1,2016, the municipality of Oslo has a population of 658,390, the urban area extends beyond the boundaries of the municipality into the surrounding county of Akershus, the total population of this agglomeration is 942,084. To the north and east, wide forested hills rise above the city giving the location the shape of a giant amphitheatre. The urban municipality of Oslo and county of Oslo are two parts of the entity, making Oslo the only city in Norway where two administrative levels are integrated
31.
Norway
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The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
32.
Lake Placid, New York
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Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,521, the village of Lake Placid is near the center of the town of North Elba,50 miles southwest of Plattsburgh. Lake Placid, along with nearby Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake, Lake Placid hosted the 1932 and the 1980 Winter Olympics. Lake Placid also hosted the 1972 Winter Universiade and the 2000 Winter Goodwill Games, roy suffering from malnutrition had a vision in which he was told to till the land til fertile. From this he decided that is was his duty to bring civilized man unto the land of lake placid. Roys delusions worsened and he began to believe that his salted fish meal had turned to men and he scattered 44 fish across the land gave each a name, proceeded to declare himself mayor of this land, then he died from malnutrition. The abolitionist John Brown heard about Gerrit Smiths reforms, and left his anti-slavery activities in Kansas to buy 244 acres of land here and this parcel later became known as the Freed Slave Utopian Experiment, Timbucto. Shortly before his execution in 1859, John Brown asked to be buried on his farm, as leisure time increased in the late 19th century, Lake Placid was discovered for resort use by the rich and famous, who were drawn to the fashionable Lake Placid Club. Melvil Dewey, who invented the Dewey Decimal System, designed what was then called Placid Park Club in 1895 and this inspired the village to change its name to Lake Placid, which became an incorporated village in 1900. Dewey kept the club open through the winter in 1905, which aided the development of sports in the area. Nearby Saranac Lake had hosted an international sporting event as early as 1889. The mountain air was considered good for them, by 1921, the Lake Placid area could boast a ski jump, speed skating venue and ski association. In 1929, Dr. Godfrey Dewey, Melvils son, convinced the International Olympic Committee Lake Placid had the best winter sports facilities in the United States, the Lake Placid Club was the headquarters for the IOC for the 1932 and the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Lake Placid is best known as the site of the Winter Olympics. Lake Placid first hosted in 1932 and again 48 years later in 1980, in the U. S. the village is especially remembered as the site of the 1980 USA–USSR hockey game. Dubbed as the Miracle on Ice, a group of American college students and amateurs upset the heavily favored Soviet national ice hockey team, 4–3, another highpoint during the Games was American speed-skater Eric Heidens performance, who won five gold medals. During the 1932 games, the trails outside of the served for the cross-country skiing events. Lake Placid, St Moritz and Innsbruck are the sites to have twice hosted the Winter Olympic Games
33.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
34.
Georges Pompidou
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Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou was Prime Minister of France from 1962 to 1968—the longest tenure in the positions history—and later President of the French Republic from 1969 until his death in 1974. He had long been a top aide to president Charles de Gaulle, as president, he was a moderate conservative who repaired Frances relationship with the United States, and maintained positive relations with the newly-independent former colonies in Africa. He strengthened his party, the Union of Democrats for the Republic. Pompidous presidency is held in high esteem by French political commentators. Pompidou was born in the commune of Montboudif, in the department of Cantal in central France and he first taught literature at the lycée Henri IV in Paris until hired in 1953 by Guy de Rothschild to work at Rothschild. In 1956, he was appointed the general manager, a position he held until 1962. Later, he was hired by Charles de Gaulle to manage the Anne de Gaulle Foundation for Down syndrome. Jacques Chirac served as an aide to Prime Minister Pompidou and recalled, The man gave the appearance of being secretive, wily, however, it was primarily his intelligence, culture, and competence that conferred indisputable authority on him and commanded respect. Naturally reserved, little given to outbursts, Pompidou did not forge very close ties with his colleagues. His nomination was controversial because he was not a member of the National Assembly, in October 1962, he was defeated in a vote of no-confidence, but de Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly. The Gaullists won the election and Pompidou was reappointed as Prime Minister. In 1964, he was faced with a miners strike and he led the 1967 legislative campaign of the Union of Democrats for the Fifth Republic to a narrow victory. Pompidou was widely regarded as being responsible for the resolution of the student uprising of May 1968. His strategy was to break the coalition of students and workers by negotiating with the trade-unions, until this crisis, he was the Prime Minister of a quiet and prosperous France. However, during the events of May 1968, disagreements arose between Pompidou and de Gaulle, Pompidou did not understand why the President did not inform him of his departure to Baden-Baden on May 29. Their relationship, until then very good, would be strained from then on, Pompidou led and won the 1968 legislative campaign, overseeing a tremendous victory of the Gaullist Party. Nevertheless, in due to his actions during the May 1968 crisis. Pompidou announced his candidature for the Presidency in January 1969, some weeks later, his wifes name was mentioned in the Markovic scandal, thus appearing to confirm her husbands status as a cuckold
35.
French Armed Forces
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The French Armed Forces encompass the French Army, the French Navy, the French Air Force, the French National Guard and the National Gendarmerie of France. The President of the Republic heads the armed forces, with the title chef des armées, the President is the supreme authority for military matters and is the sole official who can order a nuclear strike. France maintains the tenth largest defence budget in the world and the second largest armed forces in size in the EU, France also maintains the third largest nuclear deterrent behind only Russia and the United States. The Gallo-Roman conflict predominated from 60 BC to 50 BC, with the Romans emerging victorious in the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar, after the decline of the Roman Empire, a Germanic tribe known as the Franks took control of Gaul by defeating competing tribes. The land of Francia, from which France gets its name, had points of expansion under kings Clovis I. In the Middle Ages, rivalries with England and the Holy Roman Empire prompted major conflicts such as the Norman Conquest and the Hundred Years War. The Wars of Religion crippled France in the late 16th century, in parallel, France developed its first colonial empire in Asia, Africa, and in the Americas. Resurgent French armies secured victories in dynastic conflicts against the Spanish, Polish, at the same time, France was fending off attacks on its colonies. As the 18th century advanced, global competition with Great Britain led to the Seven Years War, internal political upheaval eventually led to 23 years of nearly continuous conflict in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The rest of the 19th century witnessed the growth of the Second French colonial empire as well as French interventions in Belgium, Spain, other major wars were fought against Russia in the Crimea, Austria in Italy, and Prussia within France itself. Following defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Franco-German rivalry erupted again in the First World War, France and its allies were victorious this time. The Allies, including the government in exiles Free French Forces and later a liberated French nation, as a result, France secured an occupation zone in Germany and a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. The imperative of avoiding a third Franco-German conflict on the scale of those of two world wars paved the way for European integration starting in the 1950s. France became a power and since the 1990s its military action is most often seen in cooperation with NATO. Today, French military doctrine is based on the concepts of independence, nuclear deterrence. France is a member of NATO, and has worked actively with its allies to adapt NATO—internally. In December 1995, France announced that it would increase its participation in NATOs military wing, including the Military Committee, France remains a firm supporter of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other cooperative efforts. Paris hosted the May 1997 NATO-Russia Summit which sought the signing of the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation, France has undertaken a major restructuring to develop a professional military that will be smaller, more rapidly deployable, and better tailored for operations outside of mainland France
36.
Franc
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The franc is the name of several currency units. The French franc was the currency of France until the euro was adopted in 1999. The Swiss franc is a world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription francorum rex used on early French coins and until the 18th century, or from the French franc, the countries that use francs include Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and most of Francophone Africa. Before the introduction of the euro, francs were used in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, while Andorra. The franc was used within the French Empires colonies, including Algeria and Cambodia. The franc is sometimes italianised or hispanicised as the franco, for instance in Luccan franco, one franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. It was equivalent to one livre tournois, the French franc was the name of a gold coin issued in France from 1360 until 1380, then a silver coin issued between 1575 and 1641. The franc finally became the currency from 1795 until 1999. Though abolished as a coin by Louis XIII in 1641 in favor of the gold louis and silver écu. The franc was also minted for many of the former French colonies, such as Morocco, Algeria, French West Africa, today, after independence, many of these countries continue to use the franc as their standard denomination. The value of the French franc was locked to the euro at 1 euro =6, fourteen African countries use the franc CFA, originally worth 1.7 French francs and then from 1948,2 francs but after January 1994 worth only 0.01 French franc. Therefore, from January 1999,1 CFA franc is equivalent to €0.00152449, a separate circulates in Frances Pacific territories, worth €0.0084. In 1981, The Comoros established an arrangement with the French government similar to that of the CFA franc, originally,50 Comorian francs were worth 1 French franc. In January 1994, the rate was changed to 75 Comorian francs to the French franc, since 1999, the currency has been pegged to the euro. The conquest of most of western Europe by Revolutionary and Napoleonic France led to the wide circulation. Newly unified Italy adopted the lira on a basis in 1862. In the 1870s the gold value was made the fixed standard, the 1921 monetary union of Belgium and Luxembourg survived, however, forming the basis for full economic union in 1932
37.
Pound (currency)
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The pound is a unit of currency in some nations. The term originated in the Frankish Empire as a result of Charlemagnes currency reform and was taken to Great Britain as the value of a pound of silver. The English word pound is cognate with, among others, German Pfund, Dutch pond, all ultimately derive from a borrowing into Proto-Germanic of the Latin expression lībra pondō, in which the word pondō is the ablative case of the Latin noun pondus. The English word pound first referred to a unit of mass or weight, the currencys symbol is £, a stylised representation of the letter L, standing for livre or lira. Historically, £1 worth of coins were a troy pound in weight. Today, the term may refer to a number of currencies, some of them, those official in former Italian states and in countries formerly belonging to the Ottoman Empire, are called pound in English, while in the local languages their official name is lira. See also Isle of Man pound, Jersey pound, Guernsey pound, egyptian pound Lebanese pound South Sudanese pound Sudanese pound Syrian pound The following currencies are interchangeable at par with the pound sterling. These are issued in the Crown dependencies and certain British Overseas Territories, the Australian pound was also used in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Nauru, New Hebrides and Papua and New Guinea. It was replaced in the New Hebrides in 1977 by the New Hebrides franc. S, the Jamaican pound was also used in Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands until 1968. Libyan pound Malawian pound Maltese pound New Brunswick pound Newfoundland pound New Guinean pound New Zealand pound, the New Zealand pound was also used in the Cook Islands and the Pitcairn Islands. The South African pound was used in Basutoland, Bechuanaland, South West Africa
38.
SNCF
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SNCF is Frances national state-owned railway company and manages the rail traffic in France and the Principality of Monaco. SNCF operates the national rail services, including the TGV. Its functions include operation of services for passengers and freight. SNCF employs more than 180,000 people in 120 countries around the globe, the railway network consists of about 32,000 km of route, of which 1,800 km are high-speed lines and 14,500 km electrified. About 14,000 trains are operated daily, since July 2013, SNCF headquarters are located in a Parisian suburb at 2, place aux Étoiles,93200 Saint Denis. In 2010 SNCF was ranked 22nd in France and 214th globally on the Fortune Global 500 list and it is the main business of the SNCF group, which in 2014 employed 245,763 people and had €27.2 billion of sales in 120 countries. The chairman of the SNCF group is Guillaume Pépy, SNCF operates almost all of Frances railway system, including the TGV, In the 1970s, SNCF began the TGV high-speed train programme with the intention of creating the worlds fastest railway network. It came to fruition in 1981, when the first TGV service, today, SNCF operates 1,850 km of designated high-speed track that accommodate more than 800 high-speed services per day. SNCF’s TGV trains carry more than 100 million passengers a year, TGV lines and TGV technology are now spread across several European countries in addition to South Korea.8 km/h. SNCF has a safety record. After nearly 30 years in operation, SNCF’s TGV system has experienced one fatal accident. SNCF also owns the tracks and the stations, since the 1990s, SNCF has been selling railway carriages to regional governments, with the creation of the Train Express Régional brand. SNCF also maintains a broad scope of business that includes work on freight lines, inter-city lines. SNCF experts provide logistics, design, construction, operations and maintenance services, SNCF operates the international ticketing agency, Voyages SNCF. SNCF has employees in 120 countries offering extensive overseas and cross border consulting and those projects include, Israel, Assistance and Training. SNCF International provides assistance to Israel Railways in every area of operations including projects to upgrade the networks general safety regulations. Other assistance and training programmes involve Infrastructure and the Traction Division, SNCF supervised the prime contractor responsible for construction of the Taiwan Railways Administration’s main high-speed rail line. It also trained rail traffic controllers, drivers, and crew members, on behalf of the Government of Taiwan, SNCF managed the high-speed railway Command Control Centre
39.
Olympia, Greece
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Olympia, a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis on the Peloponnese peninsula, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times. The Olympic Games were held four years throughout Classical antiquity. The sanctuary, known as the Altis, consists of an arrangement of various buildings. Enclosed within the temenos are the Temple of Hera, the Temple of Zeus, the Pelopion, and the area of the altar, to the north of the sanctuary can be found the Prytaneion and the Philippeion, as well as the array of treasuries representing the various city-states. The Metroon lies to the south of these treasuries, with the Echo Stoa to the east, the hippodrome and later stadium were located east of the Echo Stoa. To the south of the sanctuary is the South Stoa and the Bouleuterion, whereas the Palaestra, the workshop of Pheidias, the Gymnasion, very close to the Temple of Zeus which housed this statue, the studio of Pheidias was excavated in the 1950s. Evidence found there, such as tools, corroborates this opinion. The ancient ruins sit north of the Alpheios River and south of Mount Kronos, the Kladeos, a tributary of the Alpheios, flows around the area. Building of Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II,13, Pheidias workshop and paleochristian basilica,25. For a history of the Olympic Games, see Olympic Games or Ancient Olympic Games, remains of food and burnt offerings dating back to the 10th century BC give evidence of a long history of religious activity at the site. No buildings have survived from this earliest period of use, the first Olympic festival was organized on the site by the authorities of Elis in the 8th century BC – with tradition dating the first games at 776 BC. Major changes were made to the site around 700 BC, including levelling land, Elis power diminished and the sanctuary fell into the hands of the Pisatans in 676 BC. The Pisatans organized the games until the late 7th century BC, the earliest evidence of building activity on the site dates from around 600 BC. At this time the Skiloudians, allies of the Pistans, built the Temple of Hera, the Treasuries and the Pelopion were built during the course of the 6th century BC. The secular structures and athletic arenas were also under construction during this period including the Bouleuterion, the first stadium was constructed around 560 BC, it consisted of just a simple track. The stadium was remodelled around 500 BC with sloping sides for spectators, over the course of the 6th century BC a range of sports were added to the Olympic festival. In 580 BC, Elis, in alliance with Sparta, occupied Pisa, the classical period, between the 5th and 4th centuries BC, was the golden age of the site at Olympia. A wide range of new religious and secular buildings and structures were constructed, the Temple of Zeus was built in the middle of the 5th century BC
40.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
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Constantine II of Greece
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Constantine II was the last King of Greece, reigning from 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy in 1973. He acceded as king following the death of his father King Paul in March 1964, later that year he married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark with whom he eventually had five children. The coup was successful, leaving Constantine, as head of state, as a result, he reluctantly agreed to inaugurate the putschist government on the condition that it be made up largely of civilian ministers. On 13 December 1967, he was forced to flee the country and he formally remained the head of state in exile until 1 June 1973, when the junta abolished the monarchy. This abolition was confirmed after the fall of the junta by a plebiscite on 8 December 1974, Constantine, who was not allowed to return to Greece to campaign, accepted the results of the plebiscite. Constantine was born at Psychiko, a suburb in northern Athens, the nephew of King George II and his mother was Crown Princess Frederica, the former Princess Frederica of Hanover. Constantines older sister Sofia is the queen consort of Spain, while his younger sister. He was one year old when Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany invaded Greece and he returned to Greece with his family in 1946. King George died in 1947, and Constantines father became King Paul and he was educated at a preparatory school and later a boarding school where he was an above average student academically. A fellow student recalled him as, a good chap, a man with all the right instincts. He was at his best on the playing fields, Constantine served in all three armed services, attending the requisite military academies. He also attended the NATO Air Force Special Weapons School in Germany, as well as the University of Athens, in 1960, aged 20, he won an Olympic gold medal in sailing, which was the first Greek gold medal in sailing since the Stockholm 1912 Summer Olympics. He was also a swimmer and had a black belt in karate, with interests in squash, track events. In 1963 Constantine became a member of the International Olympic Committee and he resigned in 1974 because he was no longer a Greek resident, and was made an Honorary IOC Member. In March 1964, King Paul died of cancer, and the 23-year-old Constantine succeeded him as king, prior to this, Constantine had already been appointed as regent for his ailing father. King Pauls long-time prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis regarded him partly responsible for his fall in 1963, however, due to his youth, he was also perceived as a promise of change. It was hoped that the new king and the new prime minister would be able to overcome past dissensions. Initially, relations between the king and Papandreou seemed good, but by 1965, they had deteriorated, the conservative establishment feared the rising influence of Papandreous left-leaning son Andreas, and the outbreak of the purported ASPIDA scandal seemed to confirm their suspicions
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Georgios Papadopoulos
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Georgios Papadopoulos was the head of the military coup détat that took place in Greece on 21 April 1967, and leader of the junta that ruled the country from 1967 to 1974. He held his power until 1973, when he was himself overthrown by his co-conspirator Dimitrios Ioannidis. Papadopoulos was a Colonel of the Artillery, during World War II, he initially resisted the Italian 1940 invasion but later became an active Axis collaborator in the Security Battalions which hunted down Greek resistance fighters. He underwent military and intelligence training in the United States during the 1950s and it has been claimed that he became a CIA agent during this time, which would make him the first known CIA agent in history to govern a European country. Either way, he was known to have connections with the CIA following his training. Papadopoulos was born in Elaiohori, a village in the Prefecture of Achaea in Peloponnese to local schoolteacher Christos Papadopoulos. He was the eldest son and had two brothers, Konstantinos and Haralambos, after finishing high school in 1937 he enrolled in the Hellenic Military Academy, completing its three-year program in 1940. His biographical notes, published as a booklet by supporters in 1980, mention that he took an engineering course at the Polytechneion. During World War II, Papadopoulos saw field action as a second lieutenant against both Italian and Nazi forces which took control of Greece on 6 April 1941. These were collaborationist military units created by the Greek puppet government of Ioannis Rallis in 1943 to support the German occupation troops. They were supported by the right and pro-Nazi elements. At the beginning of 1944, Papadopoulos left Greece with the help of British intelligence agents and went to Egypt, where the Greek government-in-exile was based, and was promoted to lieutenant. Along with other right-wing military officers, he participated in the creation of the nationalist right-wing secret IDEA organization in the fall of 1944, shortly after the fall of Greece. Those 1940B officers who took refuge in Egypt with the immediately after the invasion had become generals when their still-colonel classmates undertook the coup of 1967. Papadopoulos married his first wife, Niki Vasileiadi, in 1941 and they had two children, a son and a daughter. The marriage, however, ran into difficulty later and they eventually separated, the separation, however lengthy, could not lead to divorce at first because, under Greeces restrictive divorce laws of that era, spousal consent was required. To remedy this, in 1970, as Prime Minister of the dictatorship he decreed a custom-made divorce law with a time limit. After having served its purpose, the law eventually expired automatically, after the divorce, Papadopoulos married his long-time paramour Despina Gaspari in 1970, with whom he had a daughter
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Mount Olympus
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Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece. It is located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, between the units of Pieria and Larissa, about 80 km southwest from Thessaloniki. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks, deep gorges, and exceptional biodiversity, the highest peak Mytikas, meaning nose, rises to 2,918 metres. It is one of the highest peaks in Europe in terms of topographic prominence, Olympus was notable in Greek mythology as the home of the Greek gods, on the Mytikas peak. Mount Olympus is also noted for its rich flora with several species. It has been a National Park, the first in Greece, since 1938 and it is also a Worlds Biosphere Reserve. Every year thousands of people visit Olympus to admire its fauna and flora, to tour its slopes, organized mountain refuges and various mountaineering and climbing routes are available to visitors who want to explore it. The usual starting point is the town of Litochoro, on the foothills of the mountain,100 km from Thessaloniki, where, in the beginning of every summer. The shape of Olympus was formed by rain and wind, which produced an isolated tower almost 3,000 metres above the sea, Olympus has many peaks and an almost circular shape. The mountain has a circumference of 150 kilometres, a diameter of 26 kilometres. To the northwest lies the Vlach village of Kokkinoplou, the Makryrema stream separates Olympus from the massif of Voulgara. The villages Petra, Vrontou and Dion lie to the northwest, while on the side there is the town of Litochoro. On its southeastern side, the Ziliana gorge divides Mount Olympus from Kato Olympos, while on its foothills, there are the villages Sykaminea. The Aghias Triadas Sparmou Monastery and the village Pythion lie to the west, Olympus dry foothills are known as the Xirokampi, containing chaparral and small animals. Further east, the plain of Dion is fertile and watered by the streams originate on Olympus. Mount Olympus is formed of rock laid down 200 million years ago in a shallow sea. Various geological events that caused the emergence of the whole region. Around one million years ago glaciers covered Olympus and created its plateaus, the complicated geological past of the region is obvious on the morphology of Olympus and its National Park
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Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
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Air France
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Air France, stylized as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance. The airlines global hub is at Charles de Gaulle Airport with Orly Airport, Air Frances corporate headquarters, previously in Montparnasse, Paris, are located on the grounds of Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris. During the Cold War, from 1950 until 1990, it was one of the three main Allied scheduled airlines operating in Germany at West Berlins Tempelhof and Tegel airports. In 1990, it acquired the operations of French domestic carrier Air Inter and it served as Frances primary national flag carrier for seven decades prior to its 2003 merger with KLM. Between April 2001 and March 2002, the airline carried 43.3 million passengers and had a revenue of €12. 53bn. In November 2004, Air France ranked as the largest European airline with 25. 5% total market share, Air France operates a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing widebody jets on long-haul routes, and uses Airbus A320 family aircraft on short-haul routes. Air France introduced the A380 on 20 November 2009 with service to New York Citys JFK Airport from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, the carriers regional airline subsidiary, HOP. operates the majority of its regional domestic and European scheduled services with a fleet of regional jet aircraft. Of these airlines, SGTA was the first commercial company in France. The constituent members of Air France had already built extensive networks across Europe, to French colonies in North Africa, during World War II, Air France moved its operations to Casablanca. In 1936, Air France added French-built twin engine Potez 62 aircraft to its featuring a two compartment cabin that could accommodate 14 to 16 passengers. A high wing monoplane, it had a fuselage with composite coating while the wings were fabric covered with a metal leading edge. Equipped with Hispano-Suiza V-engines, they were used on routes in Europe, South America, on 26 June 1945 all of Frances air transport companies were nationalised. On 29 December 1945, a decree of the French Government granted Air France the management of the entire French air transport network, Air France appointed its first flight attendants in 1946. The same year the airline opened its first air terminal at Les Invalides in central Paris and it was linked to Paris Le Bourget Airport, Air Frances first operations and engineering base, by coach. At that time the network covered 160,000 km, claimed to be the longest in the world, Société Nationale Air France was set up on 1 January 1946. European schedules were initially operated by a fleet of Douglas DC-3 aircraft, on 1 July 1946, Air France started direct flights between Paris and New York via refuelling stops at Shannon and Gander. Douglas DC-4 piston-engine airliners covered the route in just under 20 hours, in September 1947 Air Frances network stretched east from New York, Fort de France and Buenos Aires to Shanghai
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