The Airbus A300 is a discontinued wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus. In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in the UK, West Germany signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a large airliner. Germany and France reached an agreement on 29 May 1969 after the British withdrew from the project on 10 April 1969. European collaborative aerospace manufacturer Airbus Industrie was formally created on 18 December 1970 to develop and produce it; the prototype first flew on 28 October 1972. The first twin-engine widebody airliner seats 247 passengers in two classes over a range of 5,375 to 7,500 km. Initial variants have a three-crew flight deck; the improved A300-600 has a two-crew cockpit and updated GE CF6-80 or PW4000 engines, it made its first flight on 8 July 1983 and entered service that year. The A300 was adapted in a freighter version, its cross section was retained for the larger A340 and A330. It is the basis for the oversize Beluga transport. Launch customer Air France introduced the type on 30 May 1974.

After limited demand sales took off as the type was proven in early service, beginning three decades of steady orders. It lacked the 767-300ER range. During the 1990s, the A300 became popular with cargo aircraft operators, as passenger airliner conversions or as original builds. Production ceased in July 2007 after 561 deliveries. During the 1960s, European aircraft manufacturers such as Hawker Siddeley and the British Aircraft Corporation, based in the UK, Sud Aviation of France, had ambitions to build a new 200-seat airliner for the growing civil aviation market. While studies were performed and considered, such as a stretched twin-engine variant of the Hawker Siddeley Trident and an expanded development of the British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven, designated the BAC Two-Eleven, it was recognized that if each of the European manufacturers were to launch similar aircraft into the market at the same time, neither would achieve sales volume needed to make them viable. In 1965, a British government study, known as the Plowden Report, had found British aircraft production costs to be between 10% and 20% higher than American counterparts due to shorter production runs, in part due to the fractured European market.

To overcome this factor, the report recommended the pursuit of multinational collaborative projects between the region's leading aircraft manufacturers. European manufacturers were keen to explore prospective programs. National governments were keen to support such efforts amid a belief that American manufacturers could dominate the European Economic Community. During the mid-1960s, both Air France and American Airlines had expressed interest in a short-haul twin-engine wide-body aircraft, indicating a market demand for such an aircraft to be produced. In July 1967, during a high-profile meeting between French and British ministers, an agreement was made for greater cooperation between European nations in the field of aviation technology, "for the joint development and production of an airbus"; the word airbus at this point was a generic aviation term for a larger commercial aircraft, was considered acceptable in multiple languages, including French. Shortly after the July 1967 meeting, French engineer Roger Béteille was appointed as the technical director of what would become the A300 program, while Henri Ziegler, chief operating office of Sud Aviation, was appointed as the general manager of the organization and German politician Franz Josef Strauss became the chairman of the supervisory board.

Béteille drew up an initial work share plan for the project, under which French firms would produce the aircraft's cockpit, the control systems, lower-center portion of the fuselage, Hawker Siddeley would manufacture the wings, while German companies would produce the forward and upper part of the center fuselage sections. Addition work included moving elements of the wings being produced in the Netherlands, Spain producing the horizontal tail plane. An early design goal for the A300 that Béteille had stressed the importance of was the incorporation of a high level of technology, which would serve as a decisive advantage over prospective competitors; as such, the A300 would feature the first use of composite materials of any passenger aircraft, the leading and trailing edges of the tail fin being composed of glass fibre reinforced plastic. Béteille opted for English as the working language for the developing aircraft, as well against using Metric instrumentation and measurements, as most airlines had US-built aircraft.

These decisions were influenced by feedback from various airlines, such as Air France and Lufthansa, as an emphasis had been placed on determining the specifics of what kind of aircraft that potential operators were seeking. According to Airbus, this cultural approach to market research had been crucial to the company's long term success. On 26 September 1967, the British and West German governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding to start development of the 300-seat Airbus A300. At this point, the A300 was only the second major joint aircraft programme in Europe, the first being the Anglo-French Concorde. Under the terms of the memorandum and France were each to receive a 37.5 per cent work share on th

The Concrete Cows in Milton Keynes, England are an iconic work of sculpture, created in 1978 by the Canadian artist Liz Leyh. There are three cows and three calves half life size; the Cows are constructed from scrap, skinned with fibre glass reinforced concrete donated by a local builder. The artist was an "artist-in-residence" in the early days of Milton Keynes and part of her role was to lead community participation in art; the Cows was one of a number of pieces created during her stay. Other examples of her work here include The Owl and The Pussy Cat at Netherfield and a concrete mural near the leisure centre at Stantonbury, they were constructed at Stacey Hill Farm near Wolverton, where she had set up her studio. The base armatures were metal, with chicken wire used to create the general shape stuffed with newspaper; the original colouring of the cows was achieved using dyes. Some cows were brown, it is only through the council painting the cows that the uniform white has appeared. The artist ensured that each cow had a heart shape used as part of the pattern on the cow skin.

Commentators have interpreted it as an example of conceptual art: the artist poking fun at the preconceived notion of the new city, held by commentators who had never seen the place, that it would consist of concrete pavements where once there were fields, where its deprived children would need models to know how real cows once looked. The reality of course was different: Milton Keynes Development Corporation was building "a city in the forest", with more open green space than found in traditional cities. Furthermore, there are real farms with real cows within 2 miles of the site, the cows are located in a real field. On their site in a public park, the Cows have been modified. Sometimes they have been damaged, while at other times they have been painted pink, become zebras, become skeletal, had pyjama bottoms added, have been beheaded in the style of Damien Hirst, have acquired BSE graffiti, had one of the calves kidnapped. One of the Cows enjoyed the services of a papier-mâché bull; when UK Culture Minister Kim Howells referred to modern art trends as "conceptual bullshit", the Cows acquired concrete cow-pats.

Local legend has it that the ears of the Cows have shrunk over the years, as more protruding versions have been knocked off by enthusiastic riders. In a programme, The Sculpture 100, made for Sky Television in December 2005, the Concrete Cows were included in a list of the 100 most influential works of twentieth-century open-air sculpture in England; the list includes another piece in Milton Keynes: Triple Starhead by Paul Neagu. The home supporters stand at Milton Keynes Dons F. C. is known as "The Cowshed". The team mascots are two pantomime-style cows named "Donny" and "Mooie". Actor Russell Crowe joked about the cows in 2007; the cows appear in Charles Stross' story The Concrete Jungle, in Mark Wallington's Destination Lapland, where he marked seeing them a highlight of his passing visit. The Cows were made at Stacey Hill Farm, now the site of the Milton Keynes Museum, and located at a parkland site in Bancroft. They have subsequently resided at the National Hockey Stadium and INTU Milton Keynes, beside the Central Milton Keynes Shopping Centre.

In spring 2016 they were moved to MK Museum –, where they started out as a temporary exhibit.. This herd of five cattle – two cows, two calves and a bullock – have been repaired and renovated by MK Parks Trust and MK Museum volunteers, are now in excellent condition as they approach their 40th birthday; however the replicas in Bancroft are better known and are sited next to the A422 between V5 Great Monks St. and V6 Grafton St.) where it passes under the West Coast Main Line, near its junction with the A5. Direct access on foot or by bike is possible by redway; the nearest rail stations for Bancroft or the MK Museum are Wolverton. Buses for Bancroft include MK Metro buses 5 and 6 between Bletchley, Central Milton Keynes and Wolverton which call at near-by bus stops on each side of Monks Way near the junction with H3's northern carriageway and Octavian Drive. If approaching on foot or by bike from these stops, a stream separates the cows from the eastern side of H3. There is a bridge over the stream next to the southern carriageway of H3, an underpass links this bridge to the cows' field.

Harold F. Clayton – another sculptor of cows CowParade – a festival of cow sculpture 360° animated picture of the Cows, from BBC Three Counties New Bradwell School article on the cows, part of the Open University Clutch Club website

Perstorps SK is a Swedish football club located in Perstorp. Perstorps Sportklubb was founded in 1925 and has specialised over the years in a number of sports including boxing, gymnastics, running sports, handball and cycling, as well as football, the dominant sport. Since their foundation Perstorps SK has participated in the middle and lower divisions of the Swedish football league system, they played four seasons in Division 2, the second tier of Swedish football, in 1960 and from 1970 to 1972. The club plays in Division 3 Södra Götaland, the fifth tier of Swedish football, they play. Perstorps SK are affiliated to Skånes Fotbollförbund. In recent seasons Perstorps SK have competed in the following divisions: 2010 – Division IV, Skåne Nordvästra 2009 – Division IV, Skåne Norra 2008 – Division IV, Skåne Norra 2007 – Division IV, Skåne Norra 2006 – Division IV, Skåne Norra 2005 – Division IV, Skåne Östra 2004 – Division III, Sydvästra Götaland 2003 – Division III, Sydvästra Götaland 2002 – Division III, Södra Götaland 2001 – Division III, Södra Götaland 2000 – Division III, Sydöstra Götaland 1999 – Division III, Södra Götaland In recent seasons Perstorps SK have had the following average attendances: Perstorps SK – Official Website Perstorps SK Facebook