De Beers Group is an international corporation that specialises in diamond exploration, diamond mining, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and deep sea mining, it operates in 35 countries and mining takes place in Botswana, South Africa and Australia. From its inception in 1888 until the start of the 21st century, De Beers controlled 80% to 85% of rough diamond distribution and was accused of being a monopoly. Competition has since dismantled the complete monopoly, though the De Beers Group still sells 35% of the world's rough diamond production through its global sightholder and auction sales businesses; the company was founded in 1888 by British businessman Cecil Rhodes, financed by the South African diamond magnate Alfred Beit and the London-based N M Rothschild & Sons bank. In 1926, Ernest Oppenheimer, an immigrant to Britain and South Africa who had earlier founded mining company Anglo American plc with American financier J.

P. Morgan, was elected to the board of De Beers, he built and consolidated the company's global monopoly over the diamond industry until his death in 1957. During this time, he was involved in a number of controversies, including price fixing and trust behaviour, was accused of not releasing industrial diamonds for the U. S. war effort during World War II. In 2011, Anglo American took control of De Beers after buying the Oppenheimer's family stake of 40 percent for US$5.1 billion and increasing its stake to 85 percent, ending the 80-year Oppenheimer control of the company. In 2018, De Beers became the first diamond company to announce that it would track its diamonds using blockchain technology, though this technology has not yet been rolled out; the name'De Beers' was derived from the two Dutch settlers, brothers Diederik Arnoldus De Beer and Johannes Nicolaas De Beer, who owned a South African farm named Vooruitzicht near Zandfontein in the Boshof District of Orange Free State. After they discovered diamonds on their land, the increasing demands of the British government forced them to sell their farm on July 31, 1871, to merchant Alfred Johnson Ebden for £6,600.

Vooruitzicht would become the site of the Big Hole and the De Beers mine, two successful diamond mines. Their name, given to one of the mines, subsequently became associated with the company. Cecil Rhodes, the founder of the British South Africa Company, got his start by renting water pumps to miners during the diamond rush that started in 1869, when an 83.5 carat diamond called the'Star of South Africa' was found at Hopetown near the Orange River in South Africa. He invested the profits of this operation into buying up claims of small mining operators, with his operations soon expanding into a separate mining company, he soon secured funding from the Rothschild family. De Beers Consolidated Mines was formed in 1888 by the merger of the companies of Barney Barnato and Cecil Rhodes, by which time the company was the sole owner of all diamond mining operations in the country. In 1889, Rhodes negotiated a strategic agreement with the London-based Diamond Syndicate, which agreed to purchase a fixed quantity of diamonds at an agreed price, thereby regulating output and maintaining prices.

The agreement soon proved to be successful — for example, during the trade slump of 1891–1892, supply was curtailed to maintain the price. Rhodes was concerned about the break-up of the new monopoly, stating to shareholders in 1896 that the company's "only risk is the sudden discovery of new mines, which human nature will work recklessly to the detriment of us all"; the Second Boer War proved to be a challenging time for the company. Kimberley was besieged as soon. Rhodes moved into the city at the onset of the siege in order to put political pressure on the British government to divert military resources towards relieving the siege rather than more strategic war objectives. Despite being at odds with the military, Rhodes placed the full resources of the company at the disposal of the defenders, manufacturing shells, defences, an armoured train and a gun named Long Cecil in the company workshops. In 1898, diamonds were discovered on farms near Transvaal. One led to the discovery of the Premier Mine.

The Premier Mine was registered in 1902 and the Cullinan Diamond, the largest rough diamond discovered, was found there in 1905. However, its owner refused to join the De Beers cartel. Instead, the mine started selling to a pair of independent dealers named Bernhard and Ernest Oppenheimer, thereby weakening the De Beers stronghold. Francis Oats, who became Chairman of De Beers in 1908, was dismissive of the threats from the Premier mine and the finds in German South West Africa. However, production soon equalled all of the De Beers mines combined. Ernest Oppenheimer was appointed the local agent for the powerful London Syndicate, rising to the position of mayor of Kimberley within 10 years, he understood the core principle that underpinned De Beers' success, stating in 1910 that "common sense tells us that the only way to increase the value of diamonds is to make them scarce, to reduce production". During World War I, the Premier mine was absorbed into De Beers; when Rhodes died in 1902, De Beers controlled 90% of the world's diamond production.

Ernest Oppenheimer took over the chairmanship of the company in 1929, after buying shares and being appointed to the board in 1926. Oppenheimer was concerned about the dis

This page is a list of Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops of Ravenna and, from 1985, of the Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia. The earlier ones were tied to the Exarchate of Ravenna. St. Apollinare, legendarily to 79 in the era of Septimius Severus St. Aderito St. Eleucadio St. Marciano — died c. 127 — feast day May 22. St. Calogero St. Proculo St. Probo I — died 175 St. Dato St. Liberio I St. Agapito St. Marcellino St. Severo St. Liberio II St. Probo II Fiorenzio Liberio III St. Urso, who built the original basilica to the Resurrection of Our Lord St. Pietro I Crisologo Neone Esuperantio Giovanni I Angelopte Pietro II Aureliano Ecclesio — started construction of San Vitale and is represented in the church's apse mosaic St. Ursicino — ordered the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe to be built Vittore — noted on monograms on capitals in San Vitale Massimiano — after whom the Throne of Maximianus is named, 27th bishop, he was the first Archbishop. Agnello Pietro III the Elder Giovanni II the Roman Mariniano Giovanni III Giovanni IV Bono Mauro Reparato Teodoro Damiano St. Felice Giovanni V Sergius Leo I Giovanni VI Grazioso Valerius Martino Petronace Giorgio Deusdedit Giovanni VII Romano di Calcinaria Deusdedit Giovanni VIII Kailone Giovanni IX da Tossignano Costantino Peter IV Onesto Giovanni X di Besate Gerberto da Aurillac Leo II Federico Etelberto Arnoldo di Sassonia Eriberto Gebeardo da Eichstätt Witgero Unfrido Giovanni Enrico Guiberto da Ravenna Ottone Boccatortia Geremia Filippo Gualtiero Mose da Vercelli Anselm of Havelberg Guido di Biandrate Gerardo Guglielmo di Cauriano Alberto Oselletti Egidio de Garzoni Ubaldo Piccinino Simeone Teoderico Filippo da Pistoia vacant Bonifacio Fieschi di Lavagna Obizzo Sanvitale St. Rinaldo Concoreggi Rinaldo da Polenta Aimerico di Chastellux Guido de Roberti Francesco Michiel Nicola Canal Fortanerius Vassalli St. Silas Abba Petrocino Casalesco Pietro Pileo di Prata Cosimo de' Migliorati Giovanni Nicolai de' Migliorati Tommaso Perendoli Bartolomeo Roverella Filiasio Roverella Niccolò Fieschi Urbano Fieschi Pietro de Accolti de Aretio Benedetto de Accolti Ranuccio Farnese Giulio della Rovere Cristoforo Boncampagni Pietro Aldobrandini Luigi Capponi Luca Torreggiani Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni died Fabio Guinigi Raimondo Ferretti Girolamo Crispi Maffeo Nicola Farsetti vacant Ferdinando Romualdo Guiccioli Nicola Oddi Antonio Cantoni vacant Antonio Codronchi Clarissimo Falconieri Mellini Enrico Orfei Vincenzo Moretti Giacomo Cattani Sebastiano Galeati Agostino Gaetano Riboldi St. Guido Maria Conforti.

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José Manuel Fuente Lavandera was a professional road racing cyclist and noted climbing specialist. Fuente was a professional from 1970 to 1976, he had the same nickname as his father and grandfather, "El Tarangu", a word in the Asturian language for a man reputed for his strength and character. Fuente was known as one of the greatest climbers of his generation, he was a two-time winner of the Vuelta a España and won four consecutive climbers classification at the Giro d'Italia. He was rivals with the great cyclists of his time: Luis Ocaña, he won the Vuelta a España in 1972. Several weeks in the 1972 Giro d'Italia, Fuente had a great battle with Eddy Merckx. Fuente took the pink jersey as leader of the general classification early on in the race but Merckx took it back. On the mountain stage to Bardonecchia, Fuente put in an attack. Little by little, Merckx came back to Fuente and ended up winning the stage. Health problems due to kidney disease forced Fuente to retire in 1975. After retirement he opened a successful cycle business in Oviedo and in 1988 was appointed directeur sportif of the Clas team.

This lasted only a year, after. Fuente died following a long battle with kidney disease at the age of 50. Palmares of Jose Manuel Fuente