Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which serves to purpose of protection against adversities of the environment regarding ground textures and temperature. Footwear in the manner of shoes therefore serves the purpose to ease the locomotion and prevent injuries. Secondly footwear can be used for fashion and adornment as well as to indicate the status or rank of the person within a social structure. Socks and other hosiery are worn additionally between the feet and other footwear for further comfort and relief. Cultures have different customs regarding footwear; these include not using any in some situations bearing a symbolic meaning. This can however be imposed on specific individuals to place them at a practical disadvantage against shod people, if they are excluded from having footwear available or are prohibited from using any; this takes place in situations of captivity, such as imprisonment or slavery, where the groups are among other things distinctly divided by whether or whether not footwear is being worn.

In these cases the use of footwear categorically indicates the exercise of power as against being devoid of footwear, evidently indicating inferiority. Footwear has been in use since the earliest human history, archeological finds of complete shoes date back to the copper age; some ancient civilizations, such as Egypt and Greece however saw no practical need for footwear due to convenient climatic and landscape situations and used shoes as ornaments and insignia of power. The Romans saw clothing and footwear as unmistakable signs of power and status in society, most Romans wore footwear, while slaves and peasants remained barefoot; the Middle Ages saw the rise of high-heeled shoes associated with power, the desire to look larger than life, artwork from that period depicts bare feet as a symbol of poverty. Depictions of captives such as prisoners or slaves from the same period well into the 18th century show the individuals barefooted exclusively, at this contrasting the prevailing partakers of the scene.

Officials like prosecutors, judges but slave owners or passive bystanders were portrayed wearing shoes. In some cultures, people remove their shoes before entering a home. Bare feet are seen as a sign of humility and respect, adherents of many religions worship or mourn while barefoot; some religious communities explicitly require people to remove shoes before they enter holy buildings, such as temples. In several cultures people remove their shoes as a sign of respect towards someone of higher standing. In a similar context deliberately forcing other people to go barefoot while being shod oneself has been used to showcase and convey one's superiority within a setting of power disparity. Practitioners of the craft of shoemaking are called cobblers, or cordwainers. During the Middle Ages and women wore pattens seen as the predecessor of the modern high-heeled shoe, while the poor and lower classes in Europe, as well as slaves in the New World, were barefoot. In the 15th century, chopines were created in Turkey, were 7-8 inches high.

These shoes became popular in Venice and throughout Europe, as a status symbol revealing wealth and social standing. During the 16th century, royalty such as Catherine de Medici and Mary I of England began wearing high-heeled shoes to make them look taller or larger than life. By 1580, men wore them, a person with authority or wealth might be described as, well-heeled. In modern society, high-heeled shoes are a part of women's fashion and are widespread in certain countries around the world. Modern footwear is made up of leather or plastic, rubber. In fact, leather was one of the original materials used for the first versions of a shoe; the soles can be made of plastic, sometimes having a sheet of metal inside. Roman sandals had sheets of metal on their soles. More footwear providers like Nike, have begun to source environmentally friendly materials. Boots Chukka boots Combat boots Cowboy boots Derby boots Fashion boots Go-go boots Hiking boots Motorcycle boots Mukluk Platform boots Riding boots Russian boots Sailing boots Seaboots Tabi boot Tanker boots Thigh-high boots Ugg boots Valenki Veldskoen Waders Wellington boots Winklepickers Shoes Athletic shoes Ballet flats Brothel creepers Court shoes Diabetic shoes Espadrilles Galoshes Kitten heels Lace-up shoes Derby shoes Oxford shoes Brogues Blucher shoes High-tops Loafers Mary Janes Moccasins Monks Mules Platform shoes Plimsoll shoes School shoes Skate shoes Sneakers Tap shoes Toe shoes Sandals Kolhapuri Chappals Peshawari chappal Flip-flops Slide Wörishofer Avarca, from Balearic Islands Slippers Socks Ballet shoes Boat shoes High-heeled footwear Climbing shoes Clogs Football boots Sabaton Safety footwear Sailing boots Ski boots Snowshoes Surgical shoe Pointe shoes Swimfins Abarka, of leather, from Pyrenees Areni-1 shoe, 5,500-year-old leather shoe found in Armenia Bast shoe, of bast, from Northern Europe Crakow, shoes from Poland with long toes popular in the 15th century Galesh, of textile, from Iran Geta, of wood, from Japan Klompen, of wood, from the Netherlands Opanci, of leather, from Balkans Pampooties, of hide, from Ireland Socks Anklets Bobby socks Diabetic socks Dress socks Footwraps Knee highs Toe socks Tabi In Europe, the footwear industry has declined in the last years.

Whereas in 2005, there were about 27,000 firms, in 2008 there were only 24,000. As well as the number of firms, the direct employment has decreased; the only factors that remained steady was the value added at factor cost and

Cole Harden is an Irish-bred, British-trained racehorse who competes in National Hunt racing. After winning both of his National Hunt Flat races in 2013 he went on to win novice hurdle races at Fontwell and Newbury in the 2013/2014 National Hunt season. In the following season he emerged as a leading staying hurdler, winning the West Yorkshire Hurdle before achieving his biggest success in the World Hurdle. Cole Harden is a bay gelding bred in Ireland by Mrs J O'Callaghan, he was sired by Westerner, an outstanding flat racing stayer whose wins included the Gold Cup, the Prix du Cadran and the Prix Royal Oak. As a breeding stallion he has been used as a sire of jumpers, with the best of his offspring including Western Warhorse who won the Arkle Challenge Trophy in 2014. Cole Harden's dam Nosie Betty, was an unraced daughter of the William Hill Futurity winner Alphabatim. Cole Harden is named after the character played by Gary Cooper in the 1940 film The Westerner, he was sent into training with Brian Storey in Cumbria.

Cole Harden began his racing career in National Hunt Flat races in 2012. On 22 March he started 2/1 favourite for race on heavy ground at Sedgefield Racecourse and won by three and a half lengths from Clan Gathering. In August he won a similar event at Worcester Racecourse, beating Western Way by one and quarter lengths. In the summer of 2013, the gelding was bought by Jill & Robin Eynon, he was moved south to be trained by Warren Greatrex, a former jockey who operates from Fred Winter's former stable at Uplands in Lambourn. Cole Harden made his debut over hurdles at Fontwell Racecourse on 23 October 2013 when he started at odds of 4/1 and finished fourth behind Shantou Magic. In November at the same course he recorded his first win over obstacles when starting 9/4 favourite and winning by four lengths from Westaway. In January, Cole Harden followed up his previous success when winning a novice hurdle at Newbury Racecourse, beating Full Shift by eight lengths after leading from the start. On his next appearance Cole Harden finished second to Un Temps Pour Tout at Ascot Racecourse in February.

In March Cole Harden was sent to the Cheltenham Festival for the first time and contested the Baring Bingham Novices' Hurdle over two miles and five furlongs. Starting a 40/1 outsider he led until the third last flight but faded in the closing stages and finished seventh behind Faugheen. On his final appearance of the season, Cole Harden was moved up in distance for the Sefton Novices' Hurdle at Aintree Racecourse in April and finished second of the eighteen runners, four lengths behind the Nicky Henderson-trained Beat That. On his first appearance against more experienced hurdlers, Cole Harden contested the West Yorkshire Hurdle at Wetherby Racecourse on 1 November 2014. Starting at odds of 9/4, he led from the tart and won by eight lengths and two and a half lengths from Medinas and At Fishers Cross. Greatrex described the winner as "a tough, solid horse". Cole Harden met Medinas again in the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury Racecourse four weeks later. Attempting to concede eight pounds to Medinas, he finished second, seven lengths behind his rival and eighteen lengths ahead of the 2014 Stayers Hurdle winner More Of That.

On 1 January, the gelding contested the Dornan Engineering Hurdle over two and a half miles at Cheltenham. He led from the start but was overtaken approaching the last and finished third behind Rock On Ruby and Vaniteux; that month, Cole Harden started at odds of 9/2 for the Grade 1 Cleeve Hurdle over three miles at Cheltenham. After racing prominently in the early stages he made several jumping errors and finished fourth of the six runners behind Saphir de Rheu, Reve de Sivola and Un Temps Pour Tout. After this race the gelding underwent a soft palate operation to correct a breathing problem. On 12 March 2015 at the Cheltenham Festival, Cole Harden started at odds of 14/1 for the 43rd running of the World Hurdle, his opponents included Saphir de Rheu, Reve de Sivola, Un Temps Pour Tout, At Fishers Cross and Zarkandar. Sheehan was never headed, he opened up a clear advantage approaching the final flight and won by three and a quarter lengths from Saphir de Rheu, in turn three and a quarter lengths clear of Zarkandar.

After the race an emotional Greatrex commented "I’m small, I’m a youngster at this. I’ve got nine runners here, we’re breaking through — we’re trying to compete with the big guys and this will help. We’ve beaten the best. You look at the next two horses behind and they’re trained by Paul Nicholls... unbelievable". He paid tribute to his former mentor David "The Duke" Nicholson, saying "I am sure the Duke is looking down from somewhere with pride and I hope Fred would have been proud as well". At Aintree Racecourse in April Cole Harden attempted to follow up in the Liverpool Hurdle but after leading for most of the way he was overtaken approaching the final flight and finished second to Whisper, who had won the race in 2014. Career 1-2-3 Colour Chart – Cole Harden

The Democratic Union of Catalonia was a regionalist, Christian-democratic political party in the Catalonia region of Spain. Together with the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia, until 2015 it was part of the Convergence and Union coalition, they ruled the Generalitat de Catalunya until its breakup. It described itself as Catalan nationalist and Christian democrat, was a member of the European People's Party, a full member of The Union of the Robert Schuman Institute for Developing Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe located in Budapest, Hungary. By June 2015 tensions within the two parties forming the Convergence and Union federation had reached an all-time high in June 2015 due to differences between the positions of the UDC leadership and the Democratic Convergence leader Artur Mas over the sovereignty process. CDC was in favour of outright independence if it meant breaking the established Spanish legality, while UDC was against doing it without the acceptance of the Spanish government.

As a result, a referendum of UDC members was held on 14 June 2015, asking whether UDC should commit itself to continue with the process but with certain conditions, including not violating the legality in force through unilateral independence declarations or starting constituent processes at the margin of legal norms. Such a position, supported by UDC leaders and contrary to the signed agreements between CDC, ERC and sovereignty entities, was approved by UDC members with an adjusted 50.9%. After this, meetings between UDC and CDC leaders led to an ultimatum from CDC to UDC for the latter to decide within "two or three days" whether it committed itself to the independence plan. On 17 June, after a meeting of the UDC leadership, it was announced that UDC was withdrawing all three of its members from the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia, although they agreed to maintain parliamentary stability until the end of the legislature; that same day at night, the CDC National Executive Committee met and in a press conference the next day confirmed that UDC and CDC would not stand together in the 2015 regional election, that the political project of the CiU federation was over, spelling the end of 37 years of cooperation between both parties as Convergence and Union.

In July 2015, a pro-independence faction of the UDC broke away to found the Democrats of Catalonia. In the 2015 Catalan parliamentary election the UDC lost all 13 of its seats. On 24 March 2017, UDC was dissolved by its last secretary general, Ramon Espalader, because of several electoral defeats and economic debts; some of its former members, including Espalader, founded a new catalanist political party called Units per Avançar, which made an electoral pact with the Socialists' Party of Catalonia in order to seek the 2017 Catalan regional election