The Château d'Oiron is located in Oiron, in the Deux-Sèvres département of western France. It has its origins in the 15th century war with the English for control of France when a victorious Charles VII of France gave the domain and great forest of Oiron to Guillaume Gouffier who became governor of Touraine; this château is the background for Puss in Boots. King Louis XIV's mistress, Madame de Montespan was one of the residents in the place. Today, Oiron is only a short drive from the royal châteaux in the Val de Loire, but in the 15th century it was considered far removed from the seat of power at the royal domains. Nonetheless, Guillaume Gouffier built a magnificent château and his offspring updated and improved it. In 1538, his daughter-in-law, Helene de Hengest, was responsible for the construction of a collegiate church adjacent to the château. In 1551, Henry II and his entire court were guests of Claude Gouffier, granted the title Marquis de Caravaz. Claude Gouffier served as the model for Charles Perrault's "Marquis de Carabas" in his story, Puss in Boots.

Two generations another Gouffier was exiled from the king's court by Cardinal Richelieu in 1620. In the mid 17th century, Charlotte Gouffier became enamored with the renowned intellect, Blaise Pascal, who spent considerable time at the Château d'Oiron. After Pascal died, Charlotte Gouffier married Francois d'Aubusson, the duc de La Feuillade, who enhanced the castle with his wealth and connections to Louis XIV. With the renovations, the castle ended up with a main building and two long projecting wings, one of, a Renaissance structure built over a cloister. One of the galleries contains one of the most prestigious works of art from the French Renaissance period; the Duc de La Feuillade's son sold the château to Louis XIV's mistress, Madame de Montespan who lived there for the rest of her life. Her son had little interest in the property as he preferred to be much closer to the royal court so in 1736 he sold the château to the Duc de Villeroi. After that, the château went in 1793 was ransacked by Revolutionaries.

For many years the château lay abandoned until the government of France took possession just before World War II converting it to a museum. Recognized worldwide, the museum is dedicated to contemporary art. In 1993, The Year of Solar Burns was commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture for permanent installation in the Château d'Oiron; the château has been listed as a monument historique by the Ministry of Culture since 1923. List of castles in France Charles Perrault's Puss in Boots Official website Ministry of Culture database entry for Château de Oiron Ministry of Culture photos

The Ford Sidevalve is a side valve from the British arm of the Ford Motor Company also referred to as the "English Sidevalve". The engine had its origins in the 1930s Ford Model Y, were made in two sizes, 933 cc or "8 HP", 1,172 cc or "10 HP"; the early engines did not have a water pump as standard, instead relying on thermosiphon cooling as the Model T engine had. A water pump was added in 1953 for the 100E models when the engine was re-engineered to the point that few specifications are identical between the early and the latter series; the Sidevalve engine was used in many smaller Fords as well as farm vehicles, commercial vehicles and a marine version in boats. Production of the engine was stopped in 1962. Windscreen wipers were driven by the vacuum generated in the inlet manifold; the Sidevalve Engine was used in German Fords, starting with the Ford Köln in 1932 and ending with the last rear wheel drive Ford Taunus 12M in 1962. Only the 1172cc version invented for the english Ford "10 HP" was used in the german Ford lines.

Early further research and development was being carried out at the german Ford engine plant in Cologne to improve the engine for ease of use in the Taunus line of cars but this work was halted in 1942. It was replaced by the Kent engine by the Taunus V4 engine in Germany. Many ways were explored to enhance the power output of the standard engine, most notably special exhaust manifolds, twin carburettors, stiffer valve springs, thinner cylinder head gaskets and modified camshafts; the nominal horsepower quoted for each engine size comes from the British method of power calculation for road taxation purposes, bears no relationship with the actual power output. Displacement, cylinder diameter and number of cylinders determined the power for road taxation purposes. A three speed gearbox was fitted as standard. Several ways of improving the performance through modifications to the gearbox and transmission train were applied. Ford Model Y Ford C/Ford CX Ford 7W Ford 7Y E93/E493 range Ford Anglia Ford Prefect Ford Popular 100E series Ford Prefect Ford Anglia Ford Squire Ford Escort, a Squire variant Ford Popular Ford Köln Ford Eifel Ford Taunus G93A Ford Taunus 12M first generation Ford Taunus 12M second generation Aquaplane, manufacturer of dedicated exhaust and inlet manifolds for the Ford sidevalve engine aluminium alloy cylinder heads etc.

Leslie Ballamy, designer of split front suspension used on many Ford "specials" Buckler Cars manufactured 1172 Formula racing cars using a space frame chassis and the 4 cylinder English Ford Sidevalve engine and other Buckler sporting cars using similar equipment. Manufacturer of close ratio gears, special axle ratios, all types of engine tuning equipment for the 4 cylinder sidevalve engines. Willment in the UK, designed and manufactured overhead inlet valve cylinder heads for the side valve engines. Elva Engineering in the U. K. designed and manufactured overhead inlet valve conversion cylinder heads for this sidevalve engine complete sports/racing cars and other tuning parts. Ford Sidevalve Owners Club Cars and Car Conversions, "Tuning SU Carburettors", Speed and Sports Publications Ltd. G B Wake, "Ford Special Builders Manual", J H Haynes & Co Ltd. Philip H. Smith, "The Ford Ten Competition Engine", G T Foulis & Co. Ltd. A complete tuning manual. John Haynes, "Building Auto Publications, London.

John Mills, "The Constructions of Ford Specials", B T Batsford, London. Bill Cooper, "Tuning Side-Valve Fords", Speed and Sports Publications Ltd. Miriam Nyhan, "Are You Still Below", The Collins Press, - The Ford Marina Plant, Cork, 1917-1984. ISBN 9781905172498 Ford Motor Company, "Anglia-Prefect Repair Manual" Dave Turner, "Ford Popular and the Small Sidevalves", Osprey Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-90308-804-6 Bill Ballard, "English & Australian Small Fords", Ellery Publications. ISBN 1 876 720 07 7

Vice Admiral Sir Geoffrey Blake, KCB, DSO was an officer in the Royal Navy who went on to be Fourth Sea Lord. Blake was born at Alverstoke in the son of Thomas Blake and Fanny Leatry; as a boy, he attended Winchester College before entering the Royal Navy in 1897. He served in World War I and at the Battle of Jutland, Blake served as gunnery commander aboard HMS Iron Duke. In 1919, he was appointed naval attaché in Washington D. C. a position he held until 1921. He was given command of HMS Queen Elizabeth in 1921 and became Deputy Director of the Royal Navy Staff College in 1925 going on to be Director of the College in 1926, he was appointed Chief of the Naval Staff for the Atlantic Fleet in 1927 and First Member of the New Zealand Naval Board and Commodore commanding the New Zealand Division in 1929. He became Fourth Sea Lord and Chief of Supplies and Transport in 1932 and Vice Admiral commanding the Battlecruiser Squadron and Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet with his flag in HMS Hood in 1936.

He convened the first inquiry into the sinking of HMS Hood in 1941. A second inquiry was held which came to the same conclusion although subsequently other theories have been advanced, see HMS Hood, he served in World War II as an Additional Assistant Chief of Naval Staff from 1940 and as Flag Officer, Liaison to the United States Navy in Europe from 1942 to 1945. In retirement he became Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod. In 1911 he married Jean St. John Carr.

Julian Popov is a Bulgarian-British writer and public figure. In 2013 he was Bulgarian government minister, he is the author of the book English Bulgaria or Switzerland in the Balkans, the novel Island of Mists, co-author of the book "The European Supergrid" and of many comment and opinion articles on energy policies, European integration, low-carbon economy and international relations for the Bulgarian, British and other European media. As well as for Al Jazeera. Popov has been an advocate for minority groups in Bulgaria, starting a campaign to remove a racist anti-Gypsy group from Facebook and writing articles on the maltreatment of gypsies in Bulgaria and across Europe, he is fellow of the European Climate Foundation, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Buildings Performance Institute Europe, Chairman of the Board of the "Elizabeth Kostova Foundation" for creative writing, until becoming Cabinet Minister in 2013 served as Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian School of Politics and as a member of the board of the American University in Bulgaria.

He is member of the Board of Trustees of the New Bulgarian University and Director and Treasurer of the British charity Friends of Bulgaria. He was the founding CEO of the New Bulgarian University where he introduced distance education to Bulgaria. In 2006 he created the first political blog in the Bulgarian language. Popov was appointed the Minister of Environment and Water in the caretaker government of Bulgaria on 13 March 2013, he left office on 29 May of that year. In 2016 he was recognised as one of the 40 most influential voices in European energy policy under N24 by the Brussels media service EurActiv Elizabeth Kostova Foundation Bulgarian School of Politics Julian Popov website

Walter Andreas Jakobsson was a Finnish figure skater, the oldest figure skating Olympic champion. As a single skater, he won the Finnish national championship in 1910 and 1911. In 1910, he partnered with German figure skater Ludowika Eilers; as pairs skaters, they won the World Championship in 1911, 1914, 1923, the Olympic gold in 1920. They finished second at the 1924 Olympics and fifth in 1928. Jakobsson studied engineering in Berlin, where he met Eilers in 1907, they married in 1911, in 1916 moved to Helsinki, where Jakobsson got a job of the technical director of Kone OY, a leading manufacturers of cranes. He held that post until retiring in 1947, he was an amateur photographer and member of the Fotografiamatörklubben i Helsingfors. His specialty was dark city scenes with special light effects like rain or mist

Fort Valley State University is a public black university in Fort Valley, Georgia. It is part of the University System of Georgia and a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund; as the only 1890 land-grant university in Georgia, Fort Valley State University is a comprehensive institution that provides an education to over 2,500 students. 91% of the current student body is of African-American descent. The average age of undergraduates is 24 and the average age of graduate students is 33. One-third of the students live on the campus, 85% of the student body are full-time students; the university is located in the town of Fort Valley in Peach County, the original site of the state's peach industry. Its 1,365-acre campus is Georgia's second-largest public university in area. Fort Valley State University began with the 1939 consolidation of the Fort Valley High and Industrial School and the State Teachers and Agricultural College of Forsyth; the Fort Valley High and Industrial School affiliated with the American Church Institute of the Protestant Episcopal Church, was transferred to state control and operation.

Under the agreement, the work carried on at the State Teachers and Agricultural College was consolidated with the work at Fort Valley High and Industrial School to form the Fort Valley State College. In 1947 the state Board of Regents adopted a resolution moving the "land grant" designation from Savannah State College to Fort Valley State College. In response to the Regents' resolution, in 1949 the Georgia General Assembly designated the Fort Valley State College as the Land-Grant College for Negroes in Georgia. Public education was segregated at that time; the school became Fort Valley State University, a state and land-grant university, in June 1996 and is the second largest land-grant institution. The president of Fort Valley State University is the chief operating officer of the university, similar to a chancellor or rector at other American colleges and universities; the current president of Fort Valley State University is Dr. Paul Jones, who has held the position since December 2015; the university offers bachelor's degrees in more than 50 majors, as well as master's degrees in several fields of study.

FVSU is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate, master's and specialist degrees. Accredited degree programs include: Teacher Education degree programs which are accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education; the Veterinary Technology Program, accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association. The Family and Consumer Sciences Program, accredited by the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences; the Didactic Program in Dietetics, accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education of the American Dietetic Association. The Child Development programs, accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Development Programs of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Rehabilitation Counseling and Case Management accredited by the Council on Rehabilitation Education; the university offers the Cooperative Developmental Energy Program which provides an opportunity for qualified students to receive a STEM degree from FVSU and an engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, Pennsylvania State University, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, or University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley.

Outreach services include Fort Valley State's Cooperative Extension Service Program, where extension service specialists operate in 42 Georgia counties, the Pettigrew Conference Center, which hosts more than 500 courses and events for 51,000 patrons each year. In an effort to accommodate graduate and non-traditional students, external degree program courses are being offered at off-campus sites in Macon, Warner Robins and Dublin; the university offers online courses via WebCT, which allows students to pursue a number of majors and programs from home. The College of Arts and Sciences, the oldest and the largest college at FVSU, houses 12 academic units and offers nearly 80 percent of the courses taught at FVSU; the College services the University System of Georgia's Academic Core and provides 20 undergraduate major fields of study. The Department of Business Administration and Economics is the largest academic department in the College of Arts and Sciences, is an accredited member of the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs.

The College of Education is an educator preparation program offering degrees in Middle Grades Education and graduate. The College of Agriculture, Home Economics & Allied Programs is ranked 25th nationally in the production of African American agriculturists and the university's leader in placing first-time applicants into medical, dental and pharmacy schools and colleges since 2001; the college has laboratories in the state, scientists are securing grant funds and conducting cutting-edge research. Named in honor of the late former President Dr. C. W. Pettigrew who served from 1973–1980, the C. W. Pettigrew Farm and Community Life Center is a full-service conference and fine arts facility where events are held by both