1.
Armani
–
The brand utilizes the association of the Armani name with high-fashion, benefiting from its prestige in the fashion industry. By the end of 2005, estimated sales of the company were around $1.69 billion, Armani is the fastest growing fashion brand. The company already operates a range of cafés worldwide, in addition to a bar, Giorgio Armani is a high-end label specializing in mens and womens ready-to-wear, accessories, glasses, cosmetics, and perfumes. It is available only in Giorgio Armani boutiques, specialty clothiers, the logo is a curved G completing a curved A, forming a circle. According to WSJ and other reporters, in addition to couture line Armani Privé, Giorgio Armani. In addition, selling at lower prices are Armani Collezioni, Armani Exchange, Emporio Armani is the second brand of Armani family, features ready-to-wear and runway collections. Emporio Armani focuses on trends and modern traits, Emporio Armani usually only sold in freestanding Emporio Armani boutiques and its official website. Dj Ruru starred in four Emporio Armani underwear campaigns from Spring/Summer 2008 to Fall/Winter 2009-2010, beckham appeared with his wife, former Spice Girl and fashion designer Victoria, in the campaigns twice in 2009. All campaigns were photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, in January 2010, football star Cristiano Ronaldo and Hollywood movie star Megan Fox became the male and female face and body of Emporio Armani. In 2011 Megan Fox was replaced with Rihanna and Ronaldo was replaced by tennis athlete Rafael Nadal, Emporio Armani has teamed up with Reebok to create fashion shoes under the label EA7. Armani Collezioni is the line of Giorgio Armani that retails at a lower price and is less exclusive than Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani. The logo is usually displayed black written on a white label, Armani being larger and Collezioni underneath it. It provides made-to-measure tailored suits and shirts where every element can be chosen, last year, a sporty line of this label has appeared named Armani Collezioni Active in the same way as the EA7 line from Emporio Armani line. Armani Jeans is a collection of denim-related clothing, created in 1981. Armani Jeans is mainly sold in department stores, although there are many freestanding Armani Jeans stores in the world, some Armani Jeans items are sold in Emporio Armani Stores. This line does not feature Giorgio Armanis signature simplicity, the colors used are more diverse than those found in his higher end lines. Brazilian Midfielder Kaka was signed to endorse the jeans, A|X Armani Exchange was launched in 1991 in the U. S. It retails fashion and lifestyle products and is known for its occasionally provocative ad campaigns, inspired by street-chic culture and dance music, it is targeted as the more accessible Armani brand
Armani
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A Giorgio Armani boutique in
Chicago
Armani
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Emporio Armani/Chater House in
Hongkong
Armani
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Armani Collezioni at Indooroopilly Shopping Centre
Armani
–
Armani Exchange store at
Marina Bay Sands,
Singapore
2.
Piacenza
–
Piacenza listen is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Piacenza, modern forms of the name descend from Latin Placentia. The etymology is long-standing, tracing an origin from the Latin verb placēre, in French, and occasionally in English, it is called Plaisance. The name means a pleasant abode, or as James Boswell reported some of the etymologists of his time to have translated it and this was a name of good omen. Piacenza is located at a crossroads at the intersection of Route E35/A1 between Bologna and Milan, and Route E70/A21 between Brescia and Tortona. Piacenza is also at the confluence of the Trebbia, draining the northern Apennine Mountains, Piacenza also hosts two universities, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and Polytechnic University of Milan. Before then, says Polybius, These plains were anciently inhabited by Etruscans before the Gauls took the entire Po Valley from them, Piacenza and Cremona were founded as Roman military colonies in May 218 BC. The Romans had planned to them after the successful conclusion of the latest war with the Gauls ending in 219 BC. In the spring of 218 BC, after declaring war on Carthage, the reaction of the regions Gauls was swift, they drove the colonists off the lands. Taking refuge in Mutina, the latter sent for military assistance, a small force under Lucius Manlius was prevented from reaching the area. The Senate then sent two legions under Gaius Atelius, collecting Manlius and the colonists, they descended on Piacenza and Cremona and successfully placed castra there of 480 square metres to support the building of the city. Piacenza must have been walled immediately, as the walls were in place when the Battle of the Trebia was fought around the city in December. There is no evidence either textual or archaeological of a settlement at that exact location, however. Piacenza was the 53rd colony to be placed by Rome since its foundation and it was the first among the Gauls of the Po valley. It had to be supplied by boat after the Battle of Trebbia, in 209 BC, Hasdrubal Barca crossed the Alps and laid siege to the city, but he was unable to take it and withdrew. In 200 BC, the Gauls sacked and burned it, selling the population into slavery, subsequently, the victorious Romans restored the city and managed to recover 2000 citizens. In 198 BC, a force of Gauls and Ligurians plundered the whole region. As the people had never recovered from being sold into slavery, in 190 BC they complained to Senate of underpopulation, the construction of the Via Aemilia in the 180s made the city easily accessible from the Adriatic ports, which improved trade and the prospects for timely defense
Piacenza
–
Francesco Mochi 's 1615 equestrian statue of
Ranuccio II Farnese in the city’s main square, Piazza dei cavalli.
Piacenza
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Two gold Doppie (1626) depicting
Odoardo Farnese (obv) and Placentia floret ("Piacenza flourishes")(rev).
Piacenza
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The French Pass the River Po at Piacenza, by Giuseppe Pietro Bagetti, 1803.
Piacenza
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Piacenza railway bridge over Po river in a 19th-century image.
3.
Emilia-Romagna
–
Emilia-Romagna is an administrative Region of Northeast Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia and Romagna. It has an area of 22,446 km2, and about 4.4 million inhabitants, Emilia-Romagna is one of the wealthiest and most developed regions in Europe, with the third highest GDP per capita in Italy. Bologna, its capital, has one of Italys highest quality of life indices, the name Emilia-Romagna is a legacy of Ancient Rome. Emilia derives from the via Aemilia, the Roman road connecting Rome to northern Italy, completed in 187 B. C. and named after the consul Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Romagna derives from Romània, the name of the Eastern Roman Empire applied to Ravenna by the Lombards when the western Empire had ceased to exist, before the Romans took control of present-day Emilia-Romagna, it had been part of the Etruscan world and then that of the Gauls. During the first thousand years of Christianity trade flourished, as did culture and religion, afterwards the University of Bologna—arguably the oldest university in Europe—and its bustling towns kept trade and intellectual life alive. After the referendum of 2006, seven municipalities of Montefeltro were detached from the Province of Pesaro, the municipalities are Casteldelci, Maiolo, Novafeltria, Pennabilli, San Leo, SantAgata Feltria and Talamello. On 20 and 29 May 2012 two powerful earthquakes hit the area and they killed at least 27 people and caused churches and factories to collapse. The 5.8 magnitude quake left 14,000 people homeless, the region of Emilia-Romagna consists of nine provinces and covers an area of 22,446 km2, ranking sixth in Italy. Nearly half of the consists of plains while 27% is hilly. The regions section of the Apennines is marked by areas of flisch, badland erosion, the mountains stretch for more than 300 km from the north to the south-east, with only three peaks above 2,000 m – Monte Cimone, Monte Cusna and Alpe di Succiso. The plain was formed by the retreat of the sea from the Po basin. Almost entirely marshland in ancient times, its history is characterised by the work of its people to reclaim. All the rivers rise locally in the Apennines except for the Po, the northern border of Emilia-Romagna follows the path of the river for 263 km. Emilia Romagna has been a populated area since ancient times. Inhabitants over the centuries have radically altered the landscape, building cities, reclaiming wetlands, all these transformations in past centuries changed the aspect of the region, converting large natural areas to cultivation, up until the 1960s. The trend then changed, and agricultural lands began giving way to residential and industrial areas, the increase of urban-industrial areas continued at very high rates until the end of the 2010s. In the same period, hilly and mountainous areas saw an increase in the registration of semi-natural areas, land use changes can have strong effects on ecological functions
Emilia-Romagna
–
Castle Estense in
Ferrara
Emilia-Romagna
–
Emilia-Romagna
Emilia-Romagna
–
Lagoons along the
Po delta
Emilia-Romagna
–
Seat of the
Regional Assembly of Emilia-Romagna in
Bologna.
4.
Kingdom of Italy
–
The state was founded as a result of the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which can be considered its legal predecessor state. Italy declared war on Austria in alliance with Prussia in 1866, Italian troops entered Rome in 1870, ending more than one thousand years of Papal temporal power. Italy entered into a Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1882, victory in the war gave Italy a permanent seat in the Council of the League of Nations. Fascist Italy is the era of National Fascist Party rule from 1922 to 1943 with Benito Mussolini as head of government, according to Payne, Fascist regime passed through several relatively distinct phases. The first phase was nominally a continuation of the parliamentary system, then came the second phase, the construction of the Fascist dictatorship proper from 1925 to 1929. The third phase, with activism, was 1929–34. The war itself was the phase with its disasters and defeats. Italy was allied with Nazi Germany in World War II until 1943 and it switched sides to the Allies after ousting Mussolini and shutting down the Fascist party in areas controlled by the Allied invaders. Shortly after the war, civil discontent led to the referendum of 1946 on whether Italy would remain a monarchy or become a republic. Italians decided to abandon the monarchy and form the Italian Republic, the Kingdom of Italy claimed all of the territory which is modern-day Italy. The development of the Kingdoms territory progressed under Italian re-unification until 1870, the state for a long period of time did not include Trieste or Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, which are in Italy today, and only annexed them in 1919. After the Second World War, the borders of present-day Italy were founded, the Kingdom of Italy was theoretically a constitutional monarchy. Executive power belonged to the monarch, as executed through appointed ministers, two chambers of parliament restricted the monarchs power—an appointive Senate and an elective Chamber of Deputies. The kingdoms constitution was the Statuto Albertino, the governing document of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In theory, ministers were responsible to the king. However, in practice, it was impossible for an Italian government to stay in office without the support of Parliament, members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected by plurality voting system elections in uninominal districts. A candidate needed the support of 50% of those voting, and of 25% of all enrolled voters, if not all seats were filled on the first ballot, a runoff was held shortly afterwards for the remaining vacancies. After a brief multinominal experimentation in 1882, proportional representation into large, regional, Socialists became the major party, but they were unable to form a government in a parliament split into three different factions, with Christian Populists and classical liberals
Kingdom of Italy
–
Italian unification process.
Kingdom of Italy
–
Flag
Kingdom of Italy
–
Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the first Prime Minister of the unified Italy.
Kingdom of Italy
–
Victor Emmanuel II, the first King of the united Italy.
5.
Italy
–
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
Italy
–
The
Colosseum in Rome, built c. 70 – 80 AD, is considered one of the greatest works of
architecture and
engineering of ancient history.
Italy
–
Flag
Italy
–
The
Iron Crown of Lombardy, for centuries symbol of the
Kings of Italy.
Italy
–
Castel del Monte, built by German Emperor
Frederick II,
UNESCO World Heritage site
6.
1,000,000,000 (number)
–
1,000,000,000 is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001. One billion can also be written as b or bn, in scientific notation, it is written as 1 ×109. The SI prefix giga indicates 1,000,000,000 times the base unit, one billion years may be called eon in astronomy and geology. Previously in British English, the word billion referred exclusively to a million millions, however, this is no longer as common as earlier, and the word has been used to mean one thousand million for some time. The alternative term one thousand million is used in the U. K. or countries such as Spain that uses one thousand million as one million million constitutes a billion. The worded figure, as opposed to the figure is used to differentiate between one thousand million or one billion. The term milliard can also be used to refer to 1,000,000,000, whereas milliard is seldom used in English, in the South Asian numbering system, it is known as 100 crore or 1 Arab. 1000000007 – smallest prime number with 10 digits,1023456789 – smallest pandigital number in base 10. 1026753849 – smallest pandigital square that includes 0,1073741824 –2301073807359 – 14th Kynea number. 1162261467 –3191220703125 –513 1232922769- 35113^2 Centered hexagonal number,1234567890 – pandigital number with the digits in order. 1882341361 – The least prime whose reversal is both square and triangular,1977326743 –7112147483647 – 8th Mersenne prime and the largest signed 32-bit integer. 2147483648 –2312176782336 –6122214502422 – 6th primary pseudoperfect number,2357947691 –1192971215073 – 11th Fibonacci prime. 3405691582 – hexadecimal CAFEBABE, used as a placeholder in programming,3405697037 – hexadecimal CAFED00D, used as a placeholder in programming. 3735928559 – hexadecimal DEADBEEF, used as a placeholder in programming,3486784401 –3204294836223 – 16th Carol number. 4294967291 – Largest prime 32-bit unsigned integer,4294967295 – Maximum 32-bit unsigned integer, perfect totient number, product of the five prime Fermat numbers. 4294967296 –2324294967297 – the first composite Fermat number,6103515625 –5146210001000 – only self-descriptive number in base 10. 6975757441 –1786983776800 – 15th colossally abundant number, 15th superior highly composite number 7645370045 – 27th Pell number,8589934592 –2339043402501 – 25th Motzkin number. 9814072356 – largest square pandigital number, largest pandigital pure power,9876543210 – largest number without redundant digits
1,000,000,000 (number)
–
Visualisation of powers of ten from one to 1 billion
7.
A. J. Cronin
–
Archibald Joseph Cronin, MBChB, MD, DPH, MRCP was a Scottish novelist and physician. His best-known novel was The Citadel, about a doctor in a Welsh mining village who quickly moves up the ladder in London. Cronin had observed this scene closely as a Medical Inspector of Mines and this book promoted controversial new ideas about medical ethics which largely inspired the launch of the National Health Service. Another popular mining novel, set in the North East of England, was The Stars Look Down, both these novels were adapted for film, as were Hatters Castle, The Keys of the Kingdom and The Green Years. His novella Country Doctor was adapted for a long-running BBC radio and TV series Dr Finlays Casebook and his paternal grandparents emigrated from County Armagh, Ireland and were glass and china merchants in Alexandria. Owen Cronin, his grandfather, had his surname changed from Cronague in 1870 and his maternal grandfather, Archibald Montgomerie, was a hatter who owned a shop in Dumbarton. After their marriage, Cronins parents moved to Helensburgh, where he attended Grant Street School, when he was seven years old, his father, an insurance agent and commercial traveler, died from tuberculosis. From an early age, he was a golfer, a sport he enjoyed throughout his life. The family later moved to Yorkhill, Glasgow, where he attended St Aloysius College in the Garnethill area of the city and he played football for the First XI there, an experience he included in one of his last novels, The Minstrel Boy. A family decision that he should study for either the church or medicine was settled by Cronin himself and he won a Carnegie scholarship to study medicine at the University of Glasgow in 1914. He was absent during the 1916–1917 session for naval service, in 1919 he graduated with highest honours, with the degree of MBChB. Later that year he made a trip to India as ships surgeon on a liner, Cronin went on to earn additional degrees, including a Diploma in Public Health and his MRCP. In 1925, he was awarded an M. D. from the University of Glasgow for his dissertation, during World War I, Cronin served as a Surgeon Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve before graduating from medical school. After the war, he trained at various hospitals including Bellahouston and Lightburn Hospitals in Glasgow and he undertook general practice work in a small village on the Clyde, Garelochhead, as well as in Tredegar, a mining town in South Wales. He was involved in the disaster at Ystfad Colliery in Pengelly, where miners were drowned. He subsequently moved to London, where he practised in Harley Street before opening his own thriving medical practice in Notting Hill, Cronin was also the medical officer for Whiteleys at this time and was becoming increasingly interested in ophthalmology. In 1930, after being diagnosed with a duodenal ulcer. At Dalchenna Farm by Loch Fyne, he was able to indulge his lifelong desire to write a novel, having previously written nothing but prescriptions
A. J. Cronin
–
A. J. Cronin in 1931
A. J. Cronin
–
Rosebank Cottage, Cronin's birthplace
A. J. Cronin
–
Cronin with family in 1938
A. J. Cronin
–
Cronin in 1939
8.
The Citadel (novel)
–
The Citadel is a novel by A. J. Cronin, first published in 1937, which was groundbreaking with its treatment of the contentious theme of medical ethics. It has been credited with laying the foundation in Great Britain for the introduction of the NHS a decade later, in the United States, it won the National Book Award for 1937 novels, voted by members of the American Booksellers Association. For his fifth book, Dr. Cronin drew on his experiences practising medicine in the mining communities of the South Wales Valleys. Specifically, he had researched and reported on the correlation between coal dust inhalation and lung disease in the town of Tredegar and he had also worked as a doctor for the Tredegar Medical Aid Society at the Cottage Hospital, which served as the model for the National Health Service. Cronin once stated in an interview, I have written in The Citadel all I feel about the profession, its injustices, its hide-bound unscientific stubbornness. The horrors and inequities detailed in the story I have personally witnessed and this is not an attack against individuals, but against a system. In October 1924, Andrew Manson, an idealistic, newly qualified doctor and he quickly realises that Page is invalid and that he has to do all the work for a meagre wage. Resigning, he obtains a post as assistant in a medical aid scheme in Aberalaw. On the strength of this job, he marries Christine Barlow, Christine helps her husband with his silicosis research. Eager to improve the lives of his patients, mainly coal miners and he studies for, and is granted, the MRCP, and when his research is published, an MD. The research gains him a post with the Mines Fatigue Board in London, a patient dies because of a surgeons ineptitude, and the incident causes Manson to abandon his practice and return to his former ways. He and his wife repair their relationship, but then she is run over by a bus. Stillmans treatment, that of pneumothorax involved collapsing an affected lung with nitrogen, despite his lawyers gloomy prognosis, Manson forcefully justifies his actions during the hearing and is not struck off the medical register. There are also three film adaptations of the novel in Indian languages, Tere Mere Sapne in Hindi, Jiban Saikate in Bengali and Madhura Swapnam in Telugu
The Citadel (novel)
–
The Citadel
9.
University of Milan
–
The University of Milan, known colloquially as UniMi or Statale, is a higher education institution in Milan, Italy. It is one of the most important and largest universities in Europe, with about 60,000 students, the University of Milan has 9 schools and offers 134 undergraduate and graduate courses,21 Doctoral Schools and 92 Specialization Schools. The Universitys research and teaching activities have developed over the years and have received important international recognitions, the University is the only Italian member of the League of European Research Universities, a group of twenty-one research-intensive European Universities. It consistently ranks one of the best universities of Italy, both overall and in subject areas. The University of Milan is the only Italian member of the League of European Research Universities, a group of twenty-one research-intensive European Universities, the university consistently ranks as Italys best university in a number of areas. It also ranked among the top three in economics and statistics, earth science, history, and antiquities, the university is ranked third in Italy by Center for World University Rankings and fourth in the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities. It is ranked first in Italy by the Academic Ranking of World Universities while the Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranks it 6th to 9th, by 1928, the University already had the fourth-highest number of enrolled students in Italy, after Naples, Rome and Padua. At the end of the Second World War, the old Ospedale dei Poveri building, known as la Cà Granda, was assigned to the University. The building, one of the first Italian examples of civil architecture - commissioned in the 15th century by the Sforza family, the dukes of Milan - was seriously damaged by the bombings of 1943. In 1958, after a series of reconstruction and renovation works, it became home to the University Rectors Office, the administrative offices. The University added to its range of courses and at the time increased its number of centres. Two new schools were established, Pharmacy and Social and Political Sciences, Città Studi was also the site of a new complex, intended entirely for the biology departments, which was the work of architect Vico Magistretti. There was also an increase in the number of agreements with the hospital facilities. In 1968, the University was occupying approximately 127,000 m2, in 1989 there were 22 degree courses and 75,000 enrolled students, which increased to 90,000 by 1993. In 1998, the University split in two and the second public institution was founded, The University of Milan-Bicocca. The University of Insubria was also established in Varese, bringing together courses that were offered at Varese and Como by the Universities of Milan. The 2001 law that transformed the system opened a new phase of change. There was also an increase in the Universitys commitment to providing student services and in investments for new education and research facilities, furthermore, there was also a strengthening of commitment to technology transfer and the practical application of scientific research results in the economic-production context
University of Milan
–
Via Festa del Perdono, the University of Milan
University of Milan
–
Seal of the University of Milan
University of Milan
–
Cloister of the main building
University of Milan
–
Physics Department, seen from across Via Celoria
10.
Italian Army
–
The Italian Army is the land defence force of the Italian Armed Forces of the Italian Republic. The armys history dates back to the unification of Italy in the 1850s and 1860s, during the Cold War the army prepared itself to defend against a Warsaw Pact invasion from the east. Since the end of the Cold War the army has seen extensive peacekeeping service and combat in Afghanistan, the headquarters of the Army General Staff are located in Rome, at the back of the Presidential Palace. The army is a force of active-duty personnel, numbering 99,042 personnel in 2016. The Italian Army originated as the Royal Army which dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy following the seizure of the Papal States and the unification of Italy. In 1861, under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy was invited to take the throne of the independent kingdom. Italian expeditions were dispatched to China during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, the Italian Royal Armys first real taste of modern warfare was during World War I. Most of the actions were fought in northern Italy and the Royal Army suffered many casualties, Italian discipline was also harsher, with punishments for infractions of duty of a severity not known in the German, French, and British armies. On paper, the Royal Army was one of the largest ground forces in World War II, though in reality it could not field the numbers claimed, due to their generally smaller size, many Italian divisions were reinforced by an Assault Group of two battalions of Blackshirts. Reports of Italian military prowess in the Second World War were, almost always and this perception was the result of disastrous Italian offensives against Egypt and the performance of the army in the Greco-Italian War. Both campaigns were ill-prepared and executed inadequately, Italian medium M11, M13, M14 and M15 tanks were at a marked disadvantage against the comparatively heavily armed American Sherman tanks, for example. There were too few weapons, obsolete anti-tank guns. When the Soviet offensive Operation Saturn began on December 12,1942 the Italian 8th Army was quickly crushed, in North Africa, the Italian 132 Armored Division Ariete and the 185 Airborne Division Folgore fought to total annihilation at the Second Battle of El Alamein. Although the battle was lost, the resistance of the Italian soldiers at the Battle of Keren in East Africa is still commemorated today by the Italian military. After the Axis defeat in Tunisia the morale of the Italian troops dropped, the sagging morale led to the overthrow of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy 15 days later. The Italian Co-Belligerent Army was the army of the Italian royalist forces fighting on the side of the Allies in southern Italy after the Allied armistice with Italy in September 1943. The Italian soldiers fighting in this no longer fought for Benito Mussolini as their allegiance was to King Victor Emmanuel and to Marshal of Italy Pietro Badoglio. The kingdom was replaced by a Republic in 1946 and the Royal Army changed its name to become the Italian Army, initially five infantry divisions were active, including the newly renamed Infantry Division Friuli
Italian Army
–
Dardo IFV on exercise in Capo Teulada
Italian Army
–
Coat of Arms of the Italian Army
Italian Army
–
Alpini of the
7th Alpini Regiment during the Falzarego 2011 exercise
11.
Verona Arena
–
The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheatre in Piazza Bra in Verona, Italy built in the first century. It is still in use today and is famous for the large-scale opera performances given there. It is one of the best preserved ancient structures of its kind, in ancient times, nearly 30,000 people was the housing capacity of the Arena. Nowadays, for security reasons, the attendance is 15,000 people. The building itself was built in AD30 on a site which was then beyond the city walls, the ludi staged there were so famous that spectators came from many other places, often far away, to witness them. The amphitheatre could host more than 30,000 spectators in ancient times, nevertheless, it impressed medieval visitors to the city, one of whom considered it to have been a labyrinth, without ingress or egress. The first interventions to recover the arenas function as a theatre began during the Renaissance, some operatic performances were later mounted in the building during the 1850s, owing to its outstanding acoustics. And in 1913, operatic performances in the arena commenced in earnest due to the zeal and initiative of the Italian opera tenor Giovanni Zenatello and the impresario Ottone Rovato. The first 20th-century operatic production at the arena, a staging of Giuseppe Verdis Aida, took place on 10 August of that year, musical luminaries such as Puccini and Mascagni were in attendance. Since then, summer seasons of opera have been mounted continually at the arena, except in 1915–18 and 1940–45, in modern times, at least four productions are mounted each year between June and August. During the winter months, the opera and ballet companies perform at the LAccademia Filarmonica. Modern-day travellers are advised that admission tickets to sit on the stone steps are much cheaper to buy than tickets giving access to the padded chairs available on lower levels. Candles are distributed to the audience and lit after sunset around the arena, every year over 500,000 people see productions of the popular operas in this arena. Once capable of housing 20,000 patrons per performance, the arena has featured many of worlds most notable opera singers, in the post-World War II era, they have included Giuseppe Di Stefano, Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi and Renata Tebaldi among other names. A number of conductors have appeared there, too, the official arena shop has historical recordings made by some of them available for sale. The opera productions in the Verona Arena had not used any microphones or loudspeakers until an electronic sound reinforcement system was installed in 2011. In 1981,1984 and 2010 it hosted the podium and presentation of the Giro dItalia with thousands packing the arena to watch the prizes being handed out. The 2011 Bollywood film Rockstar directed by Imtiaz Ali starring Ranbir Kapoor with music composed by Academy Award winner A. R. Rahman opens, on 24 September 2012 Leonard Cohen performed here as part of the First European Leg of his Old Ideas World Tour
Verona Arena
–
Verona Arena in 2009
Verona Arena
–
Inside the Verona Arena
Verona Arena
–
Aida by
Giuseppe Verdi
Verona Arena
–
The
Arena di Verona Festival
12.
La Rinascente
–
On May 27,2011 Central Retail bought a 100% stake of the 150-year-old store firm for 260 million euros. Our ultimate goal is to take it global and to be recognised all across Asia, be it in Thailand, China, Japan or Hong Kong, Central Retail also planned new Rinascente stores in Italy and expected the takeover to break even within eight years. Currently La Rinascente owns a chain of 11 department stores located in Italian major cities, two in Rome and one in Milan, Genoa, Turin, Florence, Palermo, Catania, Cagliari, Padova, the flagship concept store is La Rinascente Milano Piazza Duomo, in Milan. Vittorio Radice joined the company in 2005 and is credited with its turnaround, the retail chain is known for its collaboration with contemporary designers and architects such as Fabio Novembre, Future Systems, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and Vincent Van Duysen. The business grew quickly and within few years they opened stores in several more Italian cities. People were attracted by the concept of exposing the clothes in plain sight and allowing customers to walk around the shop and watch. The Bocconi brothers, however, failed to support this advantage with a targeted commercial strategy, the onset of World War I worsened the decline and by 1917 the chain of stores was about to go out of business. Instead the Bocconi brothers sold to entrepreneur Senatore Borletti, who went looking for ideas to relaunch the business and he hired decadent poet Gabriele dAnnunzio, arguably the most influential figure in the Italian culture at the time, to suggest a new public image for the store. On Christmas night,1918 - the first Christmas in peacetime - a short circuit caused the main store in Piazza del Duomo to burn to the ground. When it opened again after being rebuilt, the name had a new meaning besides the original, the Borletti family kept ownership of the chain until the late Sixties. The stores have since kept the name suggested by dAnnunzio and are very popular today among Italian citizens. List of Italian companies Milan Store Central acquires Italian retail chain La Rinascente at core of CRCs global ambition
La Rinascente
–
la Rinascente s.r.l
La Rinascente
–
The historical La Rinascente buildingin Milan, to the left of the
Milan Cathedral
13.
Milan
–
Milan is a city in Italy, capital of the Lombardy region, and the most populous metropolitan area and the second most populous comune in Italy. The population of the city proper is 1,351,000, Milan has a population of about 8,500,000 people. It is the industrial and financial centre of Italy and one of global significance. In terms of GDP, it has the largest economy among European non-capital cities, Milan is considered part of the Blue Banana and lies at the heart of one of the Four Motors for Europe. Milan is an Alpha leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, services, research, and tourism. Its business district hosts Italys Stock Exchange and the headquarters of the largest national and international banks, the city is a major world fashion and design capital, well known for several international events and fairs, including Milan Fashion Week and the Milan Furniture Fair. The city hosts numerous cultural institutions, academies and universities, with 11% of the national total enrolled students, Milans museums, theatres and landmarks attract over 9 million visitors annually. Milan – after Naples – is the second Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, the city hosted the Universal Exposition in 1906 and 2015. Milan is home to two of Europes major football teams, A. C. Milan and F. C. Internazionale, the etymology of Milan is uncertain. One theory holds that the Latin name Mediolanum comes from the Latin words medio, however, some scholars believe lanum comes from the Celtic root lan, meaning an enclosure or demarcated territory in which Celtic communities used to build shrines. Hence, Mediolanum could signify the central town or sanctuary of a Celtic tribe, indeed, the name Mediolanum is borne by about sixty Gallo-Roman sites in France, e. g. Saintes and Évreux. Alciato credits Ambrose for his account, around 400 BC, the Celtic Insubres settled Milan and the surrounding region. In 222 BC, the Romans conquered the settlement, renaming it Mediolanum, Milan was eventually declared the capital of the Western Roman Empire by Emperor Diocletian in 286 AD. Diocletian chose to stay in the Eastern Roman Empire and his colleague Maximianus ruled the Western one, immediately Maximian built several monuments, such as a large circus 470 m ×85 m, the Thermae Herculeae, a large complex of imperial palaces and several other buildings. With the Edict of Milan of 313, Emperor Constantine I guaranteed freedom of religion for Christians, after the city was besieged by the Visigoths in 402, the imperial residence was moved to Ravenna. In 452, the Huns overran the city, in 539, the Ostrogoths conquered and destroyed Milan during the Gothic War against Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. In the summer of 569, a Teutonic tribe, the Lombards, conquered Milan, some Roman structures remained in use in Milan under Lombard rule. Milan surrendered to the Franks in 774 when Charlemagne took the title of King of the Lombards, the Iron Crown of Lombardy dates from this period
Milan
–
Milan Cathedral,
La Scala opera house and
Porta Nuova business district
Milan
Milan
Milan
14.
Nino Cerruti
–
Nino Cerruti is an Italian businessman and stylist. He founded his own couture house, Cerruti, in 1967 in Paris. Today, he manages the Italian family business Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti, the head of the family woolen business after his fathers untimely death. Ninos grandfather had founded a mill in Biella, Italy in 1881. Drawing from his experience in producing excellent fabrics, Cerruti ventured into the production of clothing in the late 1950s and his first mens collection, Hitman, was shown in 1957 and was considered a revolution in mens wear at the time. Eventually, in 1967, the Cerruti menswear line was launched which was to be followed by a collection a year later. The first Cerruti boutique opened in 1967 in Place de la Madeleine in Paris, the fabric production under the name of Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti and the Hitman label remained in Italy. Cerruti, Lanificio Cerruti of Biella and Hitman, based out of Corsico, together formed Fratelli Cerruti, later the clothing lines were regrouped under the Cerruti 1881 name. Cerruti has always known for its classic wool suits, always trying to match the everyday challenges for its owner. In the 1980s, Cerruti began a collaboration with cinema, according to imdb. com, Mr. Cerruti had cameo appearances in the following Hollywood movies, Holy Man, Catwalk and Cannes Man. In 1994 Cerruti was the designer of the famous Scuderia Ferrari. In 1964-1970 already, Giorgio Armani - who was to found his own eponymous fashion empire in 1974 - had worked for Cerruti at Hitman, there was a perpetual conflict of interest, Cerruti said later. Hence, the Spring Summer 2002 collection marked the end of Cerruti being designed by Nino Cerruti, in autumn 2001, Fin. Part installed Italian Roberto Menichetti, responsible for the creative revival of Burberry before that, as Creative Director who left the house after only one season. Menichetti was succeedded by Istvan Francer, a former Donna Karan designer, in spring 2003, David Cardona, who had worked for Richard Tyler and Chrome Hearts, replaced Istvan Francer as creative director at Cerruti. Scotsman Adrian Smith was appointed head of the menswear collections, by 2004, the company was in a deep crisis and restructuring plans proved unsuccessful. Consequently, Cerruti was put in pawn, matlinPatterson intends to revitalize the Cerruti brand. Nicolas Andreas Taralis, a designer with Dior Homme who also owns his signature fashion label, was appointed creative director in summer 2006. In October 2007, Taralis was replaced by Belgian Jean Paul Knott, Knott had originally been hired by Taralis to oversee the labels diffusion line Cerruti 1881 in March 2007
Nino Cerruti
–
Nino Cerruti
Nino Cerruti
–
Logo Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti
Nino Cerruti
–
Factory of Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti in
Biella, Italy
15.
Pitti Palace
–
The Palazzo Pitti, in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the side of the River Arno. The core of the present palazzo dates from 1458 and was originally the residence of Luca Pitti. The palace was bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It grew as a treasure house as later generations amassed paintings, plates, jewelry. In the late 18th century, the palazzo was used as a base by Napoleon. The palace and its contents were donated to the Italian people by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1919, the palazzo is now the largest museum complex in Florence. The principal palazzo block, often in a building of design known as the corps de logis, is 32,000 square metres. It is divided into several principal galleries or museums detailed below, the construction of this severe and forbidding building was commissioned in 1458 by the Florentine banker Luca Pitti, a principal supporter and friend of Cosimo de Medici. The early history of the Palazzo Pitti is a mixture of fact, Pitti is alleged to have instructed that the windows be larger than the entrance of the Palazzo Medici. Besides obvious differences from the architects style, Brunelleschi died 12 years before construction of the palazzo began. The design and fenestration suggest that the architect was more experienced in utilitarian domestic architecture than in the humanist rules defined by Alberti in his book De Re Aedificatoria. Though impressive, the original palazzo would have no rival to the Florentine Medici residences in terms of either size or content. Whoever the architect of the Palazzo Pitti was, he was moving against the flow of fashion. The rusticated stonework gives the palazzo a severe and powerful atmosphere, reinforced by the series of seven arch-headed apertures. The Roman-style architecture appealed to the Florentine love of the new style allantica, work stopped after Pitti suffered financial losses following the death of Cosimo de Medici in 1464. Luca Pitti died in 1472 with the building unfinished, the building was sold in 1549 by Buonaccorso Pitti, a descendant of Luca Pitti, to Eleonora di Toledo. Raised at the court of Naples, Eleonora was the wife of Cosimo I de Medici of Tuscany
Pitti Palace
–
Early,
tinted 20th-century photograph of the Palazzo Pitti, then still known as La Residenza Reale following the residency of
King Victor Emmanuel II between 1865 and 1871, when Florence was the capital of Italy.
Pitti Palace
–
Luca Pitti (1398–1472) began work on the palazzo in 1458.
Pitti Palace
–
Eleonora di Toledo,
Duchess of Florence, bought the palazzo from the Pitti in 1549 for the Medici. Portrait after
Bronzino.
Pitti Palace
–
A
lunette painted in 1599 by
Giusto Utens, depicts the palazzo before its extensions, with the
amphitheatre and the Boboli Gardens behind. The red stone excavated from the site was used in extensions to the palazzo.
16.
American Gigolo
–
American Gigolo is a 1980 American romantic crime-drama film starring Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, Hector Elizondo, Nina Van Pallandt and Bill Duke, written and directed by Paul Schrader. The film is notable for establishing Gere as a leading man and it is also notable for its accompanying soundtrack, composed by Giorgio Moroder and featuring the number-one hit single Call Me by Blondie. Schrader considers it one of four films, which he calls double bookends, Taxi Driver, bookended by Light Sleeper. Julian Kaye is an escort in Los Angeles whose job supports his expensive taste in cars and clothes. He is blatantly materialistic, narcissistic and superficial, however, he claims to take pleasure in his work from being able to sexually satisfy women. Julians procuress, Anne, sends him on an assignment with an old widow, Mrs. Dobrun. Afterwards, he goes to the bar and meets Michelle Stratton, a senators beautiful but unhappy wife. Meanwhile, Julians other pimp, Leon, sends him to Palm Springs on an assignment to the house of Mr. Rheiman, Rheiman asks Julian to have rough, sado-masochistic sex with his wife Judy while he watches them. The next day, Julian berates Leon for sending him to a rough trick, as Julian begins to get to know Michelle, he learns that Judy Rheiman has been murdered. Los Angeles Police Department Detective Sunday investigates Julian as a primary suspect, though he was with another client, Lisa Williams, on the night of the murder, she refuses to give Julian an alibi in order to protect her and her husbands reputations. As Julians relationship with Michelle deepens, evidence connecting him with the murder mounts and he soon realizes that he is being framed and grows increasingly desperate. Julian finally concludes that Leon and Rheiman himself are the ones trying to frame him, and he goes to confront Leon, telling him he knows everything, but Leon refuses to help him. Julian pleads with Leon to clear his name, even offering to work exclusively for him and do kink and gay assignments, during a brief scuffle, Julian accidentally pushes Leon over the apartment balcony and he falls to his death. With no one to him, Julian ends up in jail. However, when all seems lost, Michelle risks her reputation, Gere said in 2012 that he was drawn to the role because of its gay subtext. I read it and I thought, This is a character I dont know very well and he speaks languages, I dont speak any languages. Theres kind of a gay thing thats flirting through it and I didnt know the gay community at all, I wanted to immerse myself in all of that and I had literally two weeks. John Travolta became interested in the part and briefly acted in it before getting cold feet, Paul Schrader had threatened to sue Travolta if Richard Gere wasnt cast in the film knowing full well that Travolta had his eye on the script of another Paramount production Urban Cowboy
American Gigolo
–
Theatrical release poster
17.
The Untouchables (film)
–
The Untouchables is a 1987 American gangster film directed by Brian De Palma, produced by Art Linson, written by David Mamet, and based on the book The Untouchables. The film stars Kevin Costner, Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia, Robert De Niro, Ness forms the Untouchables team to bring Capone to justice during Prohibition. The Grammy Award-winning score was composed by Ennio Morricone and features some music by Duke Ellington. The Untouchables premiered on June 2,1987 in New York City, the film grossed $106.2 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews from critics. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, a prequel, The Untouchables, Capone Rising, starring Gerard Butler, was in development before being shelved. During Prohibition in 1930, Al Capone has nearly the whole city of Chicago under his control, bureau of Prohibition agent Eliot Ness is assigned to stop Capone, but his first attempt at a liquor raid fails due to corrupt policemen tipping Capone off. They recruit Italian-American trainee George Stone for his marksmanship and intelligence. Capone later kills the henchman in charge of the cache as a warning to his other men, an alderman offers Ness a bribe to drop his investigation, but Ness angrily refuses it and throws him out of the office. When Capone gunman Frank Nitti threatens Ness family, Ness has his wife, Malone then shoots a gangster through the mouth to scare George into agreeing to testify against Capone. Wallace prepares to escort George from the Chicago police station to a house, but they are shot and killed by Nitti. Ness confronts Capone and his men over the deaths, but Malone intervenes to save him from being killed, realizing that police chief Mike Dorsett sold out Wallace and George, Malone forces him to reveal the whereabouts of Walter Payne, Capones chief bookkeeper. That night, a knife-wielding thug sneaks into Malones apartment, Malone chases him out with a shotgun, Ness and Stone arrive at the apartment, before dying, Malone tells them which train Payne will take out of town. At Union Station, Ness and Stone find Payne guarded by several gangsters, a gunfight breaks out on the lobby steps, resulting in all the gangsters being killed and Payne being taken alive. As Payne testifies at Capones trial, explaining the untaxed cash flows throughout the syndicate, Ness notices that Capone seems unusually relaxed and also spots Nitti carrying a gun under his jacket. Ness has the bailiff remove Nitti and searches him outside the courtroom, Nitti shoots the bailiff and flees to the courthouse roof. Ness has the opportunity to kill Nitti at one point but chooses not to, Stone gives Ness a list, taken from Nittis jacket, that shows bribes paid to the jurors. When the judge refuses to consider it as evidence of jury tampering, the judge subsequently orders that the jury be switched with one in another courtroom, prompting Capones lawyer to enter a guilty plea on his behalf. Capone is later sentenced to 11 years in prison, Ness closes up his office and gives Malones St. Jude medallion and callbox key to Stone as a farewell gift
The Untouchables (film)
–
Theatrical release poster
18.
Eric Clapton
–
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is the only inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, once as a solo artist and separately as a member of the Yardbirds. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important, Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazines list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time and fourth in Gibsons Top 50 Guitarists of All Time. He was also named number five in Time magazines list of The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players in 2009, in the mid-1960s Clapton left the Yardbirds to play with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Furthermore, he formed rock band Blind Faith with Baker, Steve Winwood. For most of the 1970s Claptons output bore the influence of the style of J. J. Cale. His version of Marleys I Shot the Sheriff helped reggae reach a mass market, two of his most popular recordings were Layla, recorded with Derek and the Dominos, and Robert Johnsons Crossroads, recorded with Cream. Following the death of his son Conor in 1991, Claptons grief was expressed in the song Tears in Heaven, Clapton has been the recipient of 18 Grammy Awards, and the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. In 2004 he was awarded a CBE at Buckingham Palace for services to music, in 1998, Clapton, a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, founded the Crossroads Centre on Antigua, a medical facility for recovering substance abusers. Clapton was born on 30 March 1945 in Ripley, Surrey, England, to 16-year-old Patricia Molly Clapton and Edward Walter Fryer, Fryer shipped off to war prior to Claptons birth and then returned to Canada. The similarity in surnames gave rise to the belief that Claptons real surname is Clapp. Years later, his mother married another Canadian soldier and moved to Germany, Clapton received an acoustic Hoyer guitar, made in Germany, for his thirteenth birthday, but the inexpensive steel-stringed instrument was difficult to play and he briefly lost interest. Two years later Clapton picked it up again and started playing consistently, Clapton was influenced by the blues from an early age, and practised long hours to learn the chords of blues music by playing along to the records. He preserved his practice sessions using his portable Grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder and his guitar playing was so advanced that, by the age of 16, he was getting noticed. Around this time, Clapton began busking around Kingston, Richmond, in 1962, Clapton started performing as a duo with fellow blues enthusiast David Brock in pubs around Surrey. When he was seventeen years old, Clapton joined his first band, an early British R&B group and he stayed with this band from January until August 1963. In October of that year, Clapton did a stint with Casey Jones & the Engineers. In October 1963, Clapton joined the Yardbirds, a rock and roll band
Eric Clapton
–
Clapton performing at Hyde Park, London in June 2008
Eric Clapton
–
Appearing at the
Royal Albert Hall in London for the first time in 1964, Clapton has since performed at the venue over 200 times.
Eric Clapton
–
Clapton (right) with Cream
Eric Clapton
–
Clapton's
The Fool guitar (replica shown), with its bright artwork and famous "woman tone", was symbolic of the 1960s psychedelic rock era.
19.
New York City
–
The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
New York City
–
Clockwise, from top:
Midtown Manhattan,
Times Square, the
Unisphere in
Queens, the
Brooklyn Bridge,
Lower Manhattan with
One World Trade Center,
Central Park, the
headquarters of the United Nations, and the
Statue of Liberty
New York City
–
New Amsterdam, centered in the eventual
Lower Manhattan, in 1664, the year
England took control and renamed it "New York".
New York City
–
The
Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the
American Revolution, took place in
Brooklyn in 1776.
New York City
–
Broadway follows the Native American Wickquasgeck Trail through Manhattan.
20.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
–
It is the permanent home of a continuously expanding collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions throughout the year. The museum was established by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in 1939 as the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, under the guidance of its first director and it adopted its current name after the death of its founder, Solomon R. Guggenheim, in 1952. In 1959, the museum moved from rented space to its current building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the cylindrical building, wider at the top than the bottom, was conceived as a temple of the spirit. Its unique ramp gallery extends up from ground level in a long, the building underwent extensive expansion and renovations in 1992 and from 2005 to 2008. The museums collection has grown organically, over eight decades, and is founded several important private collections. The collection is shared with the museums sister museums in Bilbao, Spain, in 2013, nearly 1.2 million people visited the museum, and it hosted the most popular exhibition in New York City. Solomon R. Guggenheim, a member of a mining family, had been collecting works of the old masters since the 1890s. In 1926, he met artist Hilla von Rebay, who introduced him to European avant-garde art, in abstract art that she felt had a spiritual. Guggenheim completely changed his strategy, turning to the work of Wassily Kandinsky. He began to display his collection to the public at his apartment in the Plaza Hotel in New York City, as the collection grew, he established the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, in 1937, to foster the appreciation of modern art. The foundations first venue for the display of art, the Museum of Non-Objective Painting, opened in 1939 under the direction of Rebay, in midtown Manhattan. By the early 1940s, the foundation had accumulated such a collection of avant-garde paintings that the need for a permanent museum building had become apparent. In 1943, Rebay and Guggenheim wrote a letter to Frank Lloyd Wright asking him to design a structure to house, Wright accepted the opportunity to experiment with his organic style in an urban setting. It took him 15 years,700 sketches, and six sets of working drawings to create the museum, in 1948, the collection was greatly expanded through the purchase of art dealer Karl Nierendorfs estate of some 730 objects, notably German expressionist paintings. By that time, the collection included a broad spectrum of expressionist and surrealist works, including paintings by Paul Klee, Oskar Kokoschka. Nevertheless, she left a portion of her collection to the foundation in her will, including works by Kandinsky, Klee, Alexander Calder, Albert Gleizes, Mondrian. The museum was renamed the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1952, Rebay conceived of the space as a temple of the spirit that would facilitate a new way of looking at the modern pieces in the collection. She wrote to Wright that each of these great masterpieces should be organized into space, would test the possibilities to do so
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
–
from Fifth Avenue
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
–
Albert Gleizes, 1915, Composition pour Jazz, oil on cardboard, 73 x 73 cm
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
–
The museum's atrium
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
–
Museum under construction in photo taken on Nov. 12, 1957
21.
Ronda
–
Ronda is a city in the Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about 100 km west of the city of Málaga and its population is about 35,000 inhabitants. Around the city are remains of settlements dating to the Neolithic Age. Ronda was, however, first settled by the early Celts, later Phoenician settlers established themselves nearby to found Acinipo, known locally as Ronda la Vieja, Arunda, or Old Ronda. The current Ronda is of Roman origins, having been founded as a fortified post in the Second Punic War, Ronda received the title of city at the time of Julius Caesar. In the fifth century AD, Ronda was conquered by the Suebi, led by Rechila, being reconquered in the century by the Eastern Roman Empire. Later, the Visigoth king Leovigild captured the city, Ronda was part of the Visigoth realm until 713, when it fell to the Arabs, who named it Hisn Ar-Rundah and made it the capital of the Takurunna province. It was the hometown of the polymath Abbas Ibn Firnas, an inventor, engineer, alleged aviator, physician, Muslim poet, and Andalusian musician. After the disintegration of the caliphate of Córdoba, Ronda became the capital of a kingdom ruled by the Berber Banu Ifran. During this period, Ronda received most of its Islamic architectural heritage, in 1065, Ronda was conquered by the taifa of Seville led by Abbad II al-Mutadid. Both the poet Salih ben Sharif al-Rundi and the Sufi scholar Ibn Abbad al-Rundi were born in Ronda, the Islamic domination of Ronda ended in 1485, when it was conquered by the Marquis of Cádiz after a brief siege. Subsequently, most of the old edifices were renewed or adapted to Christian roles, while numerous others were built in newly created quarters such as Mercadillo. The Real Maestranza de Caballería de Ronda was founded in the town in 1572, the Spanish Inquisitions affected the Muslims living in Spain greatly. Many people overtly converted to keep their possessions, while practicing their religion. Muslims who converted only overtly were called Moriscos, Moriscos were required to wear upon their caps and turbans a blue crescent. Traveling without a permit meant a death sentence and this systematic suppression forced the Muslims to seek refuge in mountainous regions of southern Andalusia, Ronda was one such refuge. This led to several rebellions, one of them in Ronda under the leadership of Al-Fihrey, al-Fihreys defeated the Spanish army sent to suppress them under the leadership of Alfonso de Aguilar. The massacre of the Spaniards prompted Phillip II to order the expulsion of all Moriscos in Ronda
Ronda
–
"El Tajo" of Ronda and Ronda New Bridge
Ronda
–
Small road in Ronda
Ronda
–
View in Ronda looking toward the Church of Santa Maria la Mayor
Ronda
–
The
Puente Nuevo bridge in Ronda
22.
Body mass index
–
The body mass index or Quetelet index is a value derived from the mass and height of an individual. The BMI is defined as the body divided by the square of the body height. The BMI is an attempt to quantify the amount of mass in an individual. However, there is debate about where on the BMI scale the dividing lines between categories should be placed. Commonly accepted BMI ranges are underweight, under 18.5 kg/m2, normal weight,18.5 to 25, overweight,25 to 30, obese, over 30. The modern term body mass index for the ratio of body weight to squared height was coined in a paper published in the July 1972 edition of the Journal of Chronic Diseases by Ancel Keys. In this paper, Keys argued that what he termed the BMI was, BMI was explicitly cited by Keys as appropriate for population studies and inappropriate for individual evaluation. Nevertheless, due to its simplicity, it has come to be used for preliminary diagnosis. Additional metrics, such as waist circumference, can be more useful, the BMI is universally expressed in kg/m2, resulting from mass in kilograms and height in metres. If pounds and inches are used, a factor of 703 / must be applied. When the term BMI is used informally, the units are usually omitted, BMI was designed to be used as a simple means of classifying average sedentary populations, with an average body composition. Some athletes, such as linemen, have a high muscle to fat ratio. BMI is proportional to the mass and inversely proportional to the square of the height, so, if all body dimensions double, and mass scales naturally with the cube of the height, then BMI doubles instead of remaining the same. This results in people having a reported BMI that is uncharacteristically high. In comparison, the Ponderal index is based on the scaling of mass with the third power of the height. However, many people are not just scaled up short people. Nick Korevaar suggests that instead of squaring the body height or cubing the body height, carl Lavie has written that, The B. M. I. Tables are excellent for identifying obesity and body fat in large populations, a frequent use of the BMI is to assess how much an individuals body weight departs from what is normal or desirable for a persons height
Body mass index
–
A graph of body mass index as a function of body mass and body height. The dashed lines represent subdivisions within a major class.
23.
Ana Carolina Reston
–
Anna Carolina Reston Macan was a Brazilian fashion model. Reston was born to a family in Jundiaí, on the outskirts of São Paulo. At the age of 13, she began her career after winning a local beauty contest in her hometown. In January 2004 Reston made her first overseas trip to Guangzhou, while attending a casting call there, she was reportedly informed that she was too fat, a criticism, it has been said, that led to her decline into anorexia nervosa. She had a body mass index of only 13.4 and her condition became more serious and deteriorated into generalized infection that led to her death at the age of 21. Restons mother Miriam told the Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper, I noticed something was wrong when she returned from Japan. She was too thin when she returned and when I told her to eat something, she would say, Mom please dont fight with me, there is nothing wrong with me, Im fine. Reston was the model who was reported to have died of anorexia-related complications in 2006. List of deaths from anorexia nervosa Ana Carolina Reston at the Fashion Model Directory Tomato diet model dies of anorexia Anorexia kills 88-pound Brazilian model Size Zero And Skinny Models
Ana Carolina Reston
–
Ana Carolina Reston
24.
MSN
–
MSN is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps for Windows and mobile devices, provided by Microsoft and launched on August 24,1995, the same release date as Windows 95. Along with Windows 95s release, Microsoft debuted The Microsoft Network, at the same time, the company launched a new web portal named Microsoft Internet Start and set it as the first default home page of Internet Explorer, its original web browser. In 1998, Microsoft renamed and moved this web portal to the domain name MSN. com, the current website and suite of apps offered by MSN was first introduced by Microsoft in 2014 as part of a complete redesign and relaunch. MSN is based in the United States and offers international versions of its portal for dozens of countries around the world, from 1995 to 1998, the MSN. com domain was used by Microsoft primarily to promote MSN as an online service and Internet service provider. At the time, MSN. com also offered a start page and an Internet tutorial. Microsofts original news website, msnbc. com, which launched in 1996, was tied closely to the Internet Start portal. The new website put MSN in direct competition with such as Yahoo. Because the new format opened up MSNs content to the world for free, MSN. com became the successor to the default Internet Explorer start page, as all of the previous Microsoft Internet Start website was merged with MSN. com. Some of the websites that Microsoft launched during that era remain active in some form today. Other websites since divested by Microsoft include the travel website Expedia, the online magazine Slate, in the late 1990s, Microsoft collaborated with many other service providers, as well as other Microsoft departments, to expand the range of MSNs services. Some examples include MSN adCenter, MSN Shopping, and the Encarta encyclopedia with various levels of access to information, since then, MSN. com has remained a popular destination, launching many new services and content sites. MSNs Hotmail and Messenger services were promoted from the MSN. com portal, MSN Search, a dedicated search engine, launched in 1999. The single sign-in service for Microsofts online services, Microsoft Passport, the MSN. com portal and related group of services under the MSN umbrella remained largely the same in the early 2000s. The sports section of the MSN portal was ESPN. com from 2001 to 2004, and FoxSports. com from 2004 to 2014. MSN had a partnership with msnbc. com for news content from 1996 until 2012, when Microsoft sold its remaining stake in msnbc. com to NBCUniversal. Since then, MSN has launched MSN News, a news operation. MSN released a preview of a home page and logo on November 3,2009. It was originally expected to be available to over 100 million U. S. customers by early 2010
MSN
–
The current MSN home page design, introduced in 2014.
25.
Cingular
–
AT&T Mobility is the second largest wireless telecommunications provider in the United States and Puerto Rico behind Verizon Wireless. Cingular became wholly owned by AT&T in December 2006 as a result of AT&Ts acquisition of BellSouth, in January 2007, Cingular confirmed it would re-brand itself under the AT&T name. The transition concluded in late June, just prior to the rollout of the Apple iPhone, on March 20,2011, AT&T Mobility announced its intention to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion. If it had received government and regulatory approval, AT&T would have had more than 130 million subscribers, in December 2011, in the face of both governmental and widespread consumer opposition, AT&T withdrew their offer to complete the merger. Beginning in July 2007, AT&T allows its AT&T Unity plan users to have Rollover, AT&T also launched video share in 2007, in which a mobile caller can stream live video from one phone to another over the 3G network with video share capable phones. This allows one mobile phone user to view video from another users camera through the phone in real time. AT&T also had A-list, similar to former competitor Alltels program launched on April 20,2006 branded My Circle, AT&T rolled out the A-list program on September 20,2009. Customers with individual Nation plans of $59, FamilyTalk customers with plans of $89.99 or more could select up to ten numbers which any person in the FamilyTalk plan can call as much as they want. Effective September 1,2011, the A-List feature is no longer available to new consumer, existing customers who had A-List on their account prior to September 1,2011, are able to keep the feature as long as they stay on a qualifying rate plan. As of October 25,2013 AT&T no longer offers Nation Plans or Family Talk Plans to its new customers. New customers are now required to have one of AT&T Mobile Share Value plans which include unlimited Talk, Text, as of January 8,2016 AT&T no longer offers 2 year contracts for subsidized smart phones to its consumer customers. Customers who currently have 2 year contracts are grandfathered, until they upgrade to a new device they will have to choose from AT&Ts NEXT installment plans for smartphones, AT&T has also reintroduced unlimited data plans for its customers who also have either AT&T U-verse or AT&Ts newly acquired DirecTV. Unlimited data plans may be speed throttled after 22 GB of data have been used, with the inclusion of these new plans AT&T has also introduced a free roaming in Mexico feature for its postpaid customers. Within AT&Ts 21-state landline footprint, other AT&T services are offered at the AT&T retail stores, including signing up for home phone, internet, a large number of AT&T Mobility employees are unionized, belonging to the Communications Workers of America. The CWA represented roughly 15,000 of the previous 20,000 formerly AT&T Wireless employees as of early 2006, as of the end of 2009, the CWA website claims roughly 40,000 workers of AT&T Mobility are represented by the union. Cingular Wireless was founded in 2000 as a joint venture of SBC Communications, the joint venture created the nations second-largest carrier. Cingular grew out of a conglomeration of more than 100 companies, Cingulars lineage can be traced back to Advanced Mobile Phone Service, which was a subsidiary of AT&T created in 1978 to provide cellular service nationwide. AMPS was divided among the Regional Bell Operating Companies as part of the Bell System divestiture, with the exception of Pacific Bell and BellSouth Mobility DCS, the digital network consisted of D-AMPS technology
Cingular
–
AT&T Mobility headquarters (and other AT&T departments) in
Lenox Park adjacent to
Atlanta
Cingular
–
Mobilizing your world
Cingular
–
An AT&T Mobility Device Support Center in
Las Vegas,
Nevada
Cingular
–
The #31 car of
Jeff Burton without AT&T sponsorship at
Bristol Motor Speedway
26.
LG Group
–
LG Corporation, formerly Lucky-GoldStar, is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation. It is the fourth-largest chaebol in South Korea and it is headquartered in the LG Twin Towers building in Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. LG makes electronics, chemicals, and telecom products and operates subsidiaries such as LG Electronics, Zenith, LG Display, LG Uplus, LG Corp. established as Lak-Hui Chemical Industrial Corp. in 1947. In 1952, Lak-Hui became the first Korean company to enter the plastics industry, as the company expanded its plastic business, it established GoldStar Co. Ltd. In 1958, both companies Lucky and GoldStar merged and formed Lucky-GoldStar, GoldStar produced South Koreas first radio. Many consumer electronics were sold under the brand name GoldStar, while some other products were sold under the brand name of Lucky. The Lucky brand was famous for hygiene products such as soaps and HiTi laundry detergents, even today, LG continues to manufacture some of these products for the South Korean market, such as laundry detergent. In 1995, to better in the Western market, the Lucky-GoldStar Corporation was renamed LG. The company also associates the letters LG with the companys tagline Lifes Good, since 2009, LG has owned the domain name LG. com. Since 2001, LG had two joint ventures with Royal Philips Electronics, LG Philips Display and LG Philips LCD, in 2005, LG entered into a joint venture with Nortel Networks, creating LG-Nortel Co. Ltd. On 30 November 2012, comScore released a report of the October 2012 U. S, mobile Subscriber Market Share that found LG lost its place as second in the U. S. mobile market share to Apple Inc. On 20 January 2013, Counterpoint Research announced that LG has overtaken Apple to become second largest in U. S. market share. On 7 August 2013, comScore released a report of the June 2013 U. S. Smartphone Subscriber Market Share that found LG fell to fifth place in the U. S mobile market share. The company logo of LG features a circle containing the letters L and G and its telecom products include long-distance and international phone services, mobile and broadband telecommunications services, as well as consulting and telemarketing services. LG also operates the Coca-Cola Korea Bottling Company, manages real estate, offers management consulting, LG has owned the LG Twins and Changwon LG Sakers. 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games Bayer 04 Leverkusen Changwon LG Sakers Copa América FIS Snowboard World Cup Formula One Swansea City A. F. C. Manchester City FC International Cricket Council LG Cup LG Cup LG Twins Los Angeles Dodgers Millonarios Fútbol Club NCAA Son Heung-min Son Yeon-jae Official website—
LG Group
–
Headquarters at
Yeouido-dong,
Yeongdeungpo-gu in
Seoul,
South Korea
LG Group
–
Corporate logo
LG Group
–
An LG microwave oven
LG Group
–
LG's ad campaigns have sometimes utilized celebrities such as South Korean pop girl group
Girls' Generation for their products, such as this for the
LG Cookie cell phone in 2010.
27.
Prada
–
Prada S. p. A. is an Italian luxury fashion house, specializing in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, perfumes and other fashion accessories, founded in 1913 by Mario Prada. The company was started in 1913 by Mario Prada and his brother Martino as a goods shop – Fratelli Prada – in Milan. Initially, the shop sold leather goods and imported English steamer trunks, Mario Prada did not believe that women should have a role in business, and so he prevented female family members from entering into his company. Ironically, Marios son harbored no interest in the business, so it was his daughter Luisa Prada who took the helm of Prada as his successor and her own daughter, Miuccia Prada, joined the company in 1970, eventually taking over for her mother in 1978. Miuccia began making waterproof backpacks out of Pocone and she met Patrizio Bertelli in 1977, an Italian who had begun his own leather goods business at the age of 17, and he joined the company soon after. He advised Miuccia—and she followed the advice—on better decisions for the Prada company and it was his advice to discontinue importing English goods and to change the existing luggage. Miuccia inherited the company in 1978 by which time sales were up to U. S. $450,000, with Bertelli alongside her as business manager, Miuccia was allowed time to implement her creativity in the companys designs. She would go on to incorporate her ideas into the house of Prada that would change it and she released her first set of backpacks and totes in 1979. They were made out of a tough military spec black nylon that her grandfather had used as coverings for steamer trunks. Initial success was not instant, as they were hard to sell due to the lack of advertising and high-prices, next, Miuccia and Bertelli sought out wholesale accounts for the bags in upscale department stores and boutiques worldwide. The next big release was a nylon tote and that same year, the house of Prada began expansion across continental Europe by opening locations in prominent shopping districts within Florence, Paris, Madrid, and New York City. A shoe line was released in 1984. In 1985, Miuccia released the classic Prada handbag that became an overnight sensation, although practical and sturdy, its sleek lines and craftsmanship exuded an offhand aura of luxury that has become the Prada signature. In 1987, Miuccia and Bertelli married, Prada launched its womens ready-to-wear collection in 1989, and the designs came to be known for their dropped waistlines and narrow belts. Pradas popularity skyrocketed when the world took notice of its clean lines, opulent fabrics. The logo for the label was not as obvious a design element as those on bags from other prominent luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and it tried to market its lack of prestigious appeal, including the apparel, was its image of anti-status or reverse snobbery. Pradas originality made it one of the most influential fashion houses, sales were reported at L70 billion, or US$31.7 million, in 1998. Partrizio di Marco took charge of the business in the United States after working for the house in Asia
Prada
–
Prada
Prada
–
A Prada shop in
Rome, Italy.
Prada
–
Prada
Fifth Avenue, Manhattan
Prada
–
The Prada boutique at the
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy.
28.
LG Prada (KE850)
–
The LG KE850, also known as the LG Prada, is a touchscreen mobile phone made by LG Electronics. It was first announced on 12 December 2006, images of the device appeared on websites such as Engadget Mobile on 15 December 2006. An official press release showing an image of the device appeared on 18 January 2007 and it is the first mobile phone with a capacitive touchscreen. The KE850 sold 1 million units in the first 18 months, a second version of the phone, the LG Prada II was announced 13 October 2008. We take that to mean Apple stole our idea. ”The KE850 received a 2007 iF product design award, LG Prada II, the second LG Prada phone LG Prada 3.0, the third LG Prada phone
LG Prada (KE850)
–
PRADA Phone by LG
29.
Samsung Group
–
Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the Samsung brand, Samsung was founded by Lee Byung-chul in 1938 as a trading company. Over the next three decades, the group diversified into areas including food processing, textiles, insurance, securities, Samsung entered the electronics industry in the late 1960s and the construction and shipbuilding industries in the mid-1970s, these areas would drive its subsequent growth. Following Lees death in 1987, Samsung was separated into four business groups – Samsung Group, Shinsegae Group, CJ Group, since 1990, Samsung has increasingly globalised its activities and electronics, in particular, its mobile phones and semiconductors have become its most important source of income. Notable Samsung industrial affiliates include Samsung Electronics, Samsung Heavy Industries, other notable subsidiaries include Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Everland and Cheil Worldwide. Samsung has an influence on South Koreas economic development, politics, media. Its affiliate companies produce around a fifth of South Koreas total exports, Samsungs revenue was equal to 17% of South Koreas $1,082 billion GDP. On 17 February 2017, Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong was arrested for bribery, embezzlement, hiding assets overseas, according to Samsungs founder, the meaning of the Korean hanja word Samsung is tri-star or three stars. The word three represents something big, numerous and powerful, in 1938, Lee Byung-chull of a large landowning family in the Uiryeong county moved to nearby Daegu city and founded Samsung Sanghoe. Samsung started out as a trading company with forty employees located in Su-dong. It dealt in dried-fish, locally-grown groceries and made noodles, the company prospered and Lee moved its head office to Seoul in 1947. When the Korean War broke out, he was forced to leave Seoul and he started a sugar refinery in Busan named Cheil Jedang. In 1954, Lee founded Cheil Mojik and built the plant in Chimsan-dong and it was the largest woollen mill ever in the country. Samsung diversified into different areas. Lee sought to establish Samsung as leader in a range of industries. Samsung moved into lines of such as insurance, securities. President Park Chung Hee placed great importance on industrialization and he focused his economic development strategy on a handful of large domestic conglomerates, protecting them from competition and assisting them financially. In 1947, Cho Hong-jai, the Hyosung groups founder, jointly invested in a new company called Samsung Mulsan Gongsa, or the Samsung Trading Corporation, the trading firm grew to become the present-day Samsung C&T Corporation
Samsung Group
–
Samsung Headquarters the "
Samsung Town " in
Seoul
Samsung Group
Samsung Group
–
The headquarters of Sanghoes in Daegu in the late 1930s
Samsung Group
–
The SPC-1000, introduced in 1982, was Samsung's first personal computer (Korean market only) and used an audio
cassette tape to load and save data – the
floppy drive was optional
30.
Lady Gaga
–
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She performed initially in theater, appearing in school plays. From there, Akon noticed her vocal abilities and helped her to sign a joint deal with Interscope Records and her debut album The Fame was a critical and commercial success that produced international chart-topping singles such as Just Dance and Poker Face. A follow-up EP, The Fame Monster, was met with a reception and Bad Romance, Telephone. Her second full-length album Born This Way was released in 2011, topping the charts in more than 20 countries, including the United States, the album produced the number-one single Born This Way. Her third album Artpop, released in 2013, topped the US charts, in 2014, Gaga released a collaborative jazz album with Tony Bennett titled Cheek to Cheek, which became her third consecutive number one in the United States. For her work in the television series American Horror Story, Hotel, with her fifth studio album Joanne, she became the first woman to have four US number one albums in the 2010s. In February 2017, Gaga headlined the Super Bowl LI halftime show which had an audience of over 150 million across various platforms worldwide. With global album and single sales of 27 million and 146 million respectively, as of January 2016 and her achievements include twelve Guinness World Records, three Brit Awards, and six Grammy Awards. She is also the first artist to win the Songwriters Hall of Fames Contemporary Icon Award, in 2013, Gaga finished second on Times readers poll of the most influential people of the past ten years, while in 2015, she was named Billboards Woman of the Year. Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born on March 28,1986 and she is the elder daughter of Cynthia Louise Cindy and Internet entrepreneur Joseph Joe Germanotta. Gaga has three Italian grandparents and one American grandparent, as well as French Canadian ancestry, Gagas sister Natali is a fashion student. From age 11, she attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart and she described her academic life in high school as very dedicated, very studious, very disciplined but also a bit insecure. I used to get made fun of for being too provocative or too eccentric. I didnt fit in, and I felt like a freak, in 2014, Gaga said she was raped at the age of 19. She stated, I went through some things that Im able to laugh now, because Ive gone through a lot of mental and physical therapy. Gaga later said that she suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder because of the rape, and that support from doctors, family, and friends really saved my life. Gaga began playing the piano at the age of four, wrote her first piano ballad at 13 and she performed lead roles in high school productions, including Adelaide in Guys and Dolls and Philia in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Lady Gaga
–
Gaga performing at the
Cheek to Cheek Tour in June 2015
Lady Gaga
–
Gaga (right) performing with
Lady Starlight at
Lollapalooza 2007
Lady Gaga
–
Gaga performing in a bar, sporting one of her earlier looks, October 2008
Lady Gaga
–
Gaga performing at
The Fame Ball Tour in 2009
31.
Monster Ball Tour
–
The Monster Ball Tour was the second worldwide concert tour by American singer Lady Gaga. Staged in support of her extended play The Fame Monster and comprising a set list of songs from that and her debut album The Fame, the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 2009 through 2011. Described as the first-ever pop electro opera by Gaga, the tour was announced in October 2009 after a joint concert tour with hip-hop artist Kanye West was suddenly canceled. The Monster Ball Tour commenced four days after the release of The Fame Monster in November 2009, a revision of the tour occurred after only a few months of performances, due to Gagas concern that the original version was constructed within a very short span of time. The stage of the show looked like a frame, comparable to that of a hollowed-out television set. From 2010 onwards, the shows had a New York theme and portrayed a story set in the city. Both versions of the show were divided into five segments, with the last being the encore, each of them featured Gaga in new outfits, singing songs related to the concept of the segment, as they were followed by a video interlude. The tour received critical acclaim, with critics praising Gagas singing abilities, the theatricality of the show. The Monster Ball was a success, with sold-out shows. It ultimately grossed an estimated US$227.4 million from 200 reported shows, HBO filmed a special of The Monster Ball Tour during Gagas February 2011 shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Initially, hip-hop artist Kanye West and Lady Gaga had plans to launch a joint tour in October 2009, known as Fame Kills, Starring Lady Gaga and Kanye West. Amid negative response to his controversial outbursts at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, nevertheless, the complete schedule for Fame Kills was released, with the tour set to begin on November 10,2009, in Phoenix, Arizona. Shortly afterwards, the tour was cancelled without any explanation. Gaga addressed the situation at Billboards annual Women in Music luncheon, in an interview she stated, is going to take a break, but the good news is, I am not. After assuring the public that she would be embarking on her own tour and it was originally planned to debut in London in early 2010, but ended up kicking off on November 27,2009, in Montreal. Rapper Kid Cudi and singer Jason Derülo were confirmed as the acts for the tour, with Cudi supporting Gaga from the beginning of the tour. The contraption was designed by Nasir Mazhar in collaboration with Gagas own creative production company, Haus of Gaga. The tours sponsor of the American leg was Virgin Mobile USA, in an interview with Rolling Stone, Gaga explained that she wanted to put together an expensive looking, beautiful show which would be affordable for her fans
Monster Ball Tour
–
The original and the revised shows began with a club remix of "
Dance in the Dark ". In the original show (left), Gaga appeared behind
scrim lighting, while the revised show (right) presented a New York night scene.
Monster Ball Tour
–
The Monster Ball Tour
Monster Ball Tour
Monster Ball Tour
–
The performance of "
Just Dance " on the original show (left) had Gaga coming out from a white cube, while "Boys Boys Boys" was performed in a red leather bikini (right).
32.
Born This Way Ball Tour
–
The Born This Way Ball was the third concert tour by American singer Lady Gaga, in support of her second studio album Born This Way. The tour visited all continents, except Antarctica, and was ranked as the fifth highest-grossing tour of 2012 by Pollstar. The tour grossed $22.5 million in 2013 according to Pollstars year-end chart from the 18 dates played, the tour was well received by critics who praised the stage design, Gagas vocal abilities and different expressive messages. The singer went through surgery to fix the damage caused, fernando Garibay, who began collaborating with Gaga in The Fame Monster, felt that Born This Way was one of his most personal moments. He opined, This album was the most personal the amount of detail went into this record, the amount of passion emotion from her. Every song was a story towards the Born This Way theme, were excited now, putting that into the tour and expressing that on a live performance level. In contrast to her previous tour, Garibay affirmed that the shows of the Born This Way Ball would be more exaggerated. A promotional poster of the tour was released on February 7,2012 and it features Gagas face hovering over dark clouds looking down from the sky, and includes touches of neon purple and turquoise coloring. She is also fused into a keytar, standing near her dancers in front of a medieval castle. The first and second legs for the Born This Way Ball were announced the day, revealing that Gaga would perform concerts in countries such as South Korea, Hong Kong. Additional dates as part of the Australasia leg were added on February 15,2012, Live Nation Global Touring CEO Arthur Fogel and his team will steer around the tour, as they did the bulk of the Monster Ball tour of 2010–11. A European leg was announced in March 2012, which consisted of twenty-one dates over a period of two months, initiating in Bulgaria while concluding in Spain. In their website, the stated that they were honoured to announce their addition to the bill as main support for Lady Gagas Born This Way Ball tour 2012. Dates for Latin America were announced on August 6,2012 via Twitter, There were two dates in North America and four in South America, with more to be added. Gaga evaluated the tour as an electro-metal pop-opera, the tale of the Beginning, how we were birthed and how we will die celebrating. Dance rehearsals occurred for one month. In February 2012, she revealed that she would release stage designs for the Born This Way Ball via Twitter, Gaga unveiled a sketch of the stage design, which was designed by the singer herself and her creative team Haus of Gaga. The Haus has been working so hard, we cant wait for you to see it, Love you Little Monsters, have the time of your life
Born This Way Ball Tour
–
Promotional poster for the tour
Born This Way Ball Tour
–
The stage for the tour, displaying the medieval castle.
Born This Way Ball Tour
–
Lady Gaga performing "
The Edge of Glory " in a Versace-designed cloth.
Donatella Versace provided multiple outfits for the tour.
Born This Way Ball Tour
–
Lady Gaga opening the show with the performance of "Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)" atop a fully puppeteered horse, with a mechanical look (left), while during "Heavy Metal Lover" she is "fused" with a motorcycle (right).
33.
52nd Grammy Awards
–
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31,2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, the show was moved to January to avoid competing against the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast, the remaining awards were given during the un-televised portion of the ceremony which preceded the broadcast. Beyoncé, who received the most nominations, with ten. Taylor Swift won four while The Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z, artists who won two awards include A. R. Rahman, Colbie Caillat, Eminem, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Maxwell, Jason Mraz and Rihanna. Judas Priest, AC/DC, and Imogen Heap each won a Grammy for the first time in their careers, taylor Swifts Fearless was awarded the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, the youngest to win the award at age 20. Zac Brown Band was presented with the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and they follow behind LeAnn Rimes in 1997, Shelby Lynne in 2001 and Carrie Underwood in 2007. N. D. – The Black Eyed Peas apl. de. ap, Jean Baptiste, Printz Board, DJ Replay, Funkagenda, David Guetta, Keith Harris, & will. i. am, producers, Dylan Dresdow, Padraic Kerin & will. i. i. Jones In Boston - Chris Botti Legacy - Hiroshima Modern Art - The Rippingtons & Russ Freeman Down the Wire - Spyro Gyra Best Pop Vocal Album The E. N. D. i. Sasha Fierce - Beyoncé Intuition - Jamie Foxx The Introduction of Marcus Cooper - Pleasure P Ready - Trey Songz Thr33 Ringz - T-Pain Best Rap Solo Performance D. O. A. - Jay-Z Best I Ever Had - Drake Beautiful - Eminem Day N Nite - Kid Cudi Casa Bey - Mos Def Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group Crack A Bottle - Eminem, Dr. I. Harris, R. Tadross & J. Timberlake, songwriters D. O. A, - Jay-Z Shawn Carter & Ernest Wilson, songwriters Best Rap Album Relapse - Eminem Universal Mind Control - Common R. O. O. T. S. - Francisco Céspedes Hu Hu Hu - Natalia Lafourcade Gran City Pop - Paulina Rubio Best Latin Rock, spooky, Scary Stories & Songs-Buck Howdy Captain Nobody - Dean Pitchford Nelson Mandelas Favorite African Folktales - Samuel L. R. Rahman, P. A. R. 8, Adagio From Symphony No.5 Benjamin Zander, conductor Shostakovich, Symphonies Nos.1 &15 Valery Gergiev, conductor Szymanowski, Symphonies Nos.8, note, Michael Jackson and Les Paul were given special tributes. Spyro Gyra received Their twelfth Grammy Award nomination at this years Grammy Awards and their first nomination was at the 22nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1980. Complete list of nominees and winners NARAS Fields and categories CBS GRAMMY Site
52nd Grammy Awards
–
52nd Annual Grammy Awards
34.
2010 MTV Video Music Awards
–
The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 12,2010 at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. Chelsea Handler hosted the event, the first woman in sixteen years – since the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards – to do so. She was also the top winner of the night when Telephone won Best Collaboration and Bad Romance won seven awards including Video of the Year. When she accepted her award for Video of the Year, she announced the title of her second studio album, Born This Way. She accepted the award wearing a dress complete with a hat, purse. Overall, the show grabbed 11.4 million viewers – the largest audience for a Video Music Awards show since 2002. After fans blasted the rapper online, he took to Twitter to defend the look as artistic expression, will. i. am responded to the backlash on his Twitter stating 1st. Just because I where all black including head mask as expression and emphasize my outfit, it shouldnt be looked at as racial, there are far more important things 2 bark about. Not a black man wearing all black everything, will. i. am insisted the face paint was a harmless costume choice and that fans concerned with the image Wills look projected should focus on larger issues. While accepting her award for Video of the Year, presented by singer and actress Cher. The dress bore a resemblance to an artwork, Vanitas, Flesh Dress for an Albino Anorectic, along with the dress, her hat, shoes, and purse were all made from meat as well. PETA president Ingrid Newkirk issued a statement concerning the controversial outfit, franc Fernandez, the designer of the meat dress, said later in an interview with MTV, “. its not a sticky meat. Its not a dress at all, surprisingly. Its actually very clean meat, very sturdy and strong and doesnt run at all, the meat dries out, rather than rotting. And I am not a piece of meat and she also commented on the outfits nature. it is certainly no disrespect to anyone that is vegan or vegetarian. As you know, I am the most judgment-free human being on the earth, afterwards, DeGeneres, who is a vegan, jokingly gave Gaga a bikini and skirt made from lettuce and other various vegetables. Official VMA2010 site 2010 MTV Video Music Awards at the Internet Movie Database
2010 MTV Video Music Awards
–
2010 MTV Video Music Awards
35.
Burj Khalifa
–
The Burj Khalifa, known as the Burj Dubai before its inauguration, is a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It has a height of 828 m, and with its antenna included, it stands a total height of 829.8 m, making it the tallest building. Construction of the Burj Khalifa began in 2004, with the exterior completed 5 years later in 2009, the primary structure is reinforced concrete. The building was opened in 2010 as part of a new development called Downtown Dubai and it is designed to be the centrepiece of large-scale, mixed-use development. The decision to build the building is based on the governments decision to diversify from an oil-based economy. The building was named in honour of the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi, the building broke numerous height records, including its designation as the tallest tower in the world. Burj Khalifa was designed by Adrian Smith, then of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, whose firm designed the Willis Tower, Hyder Consulting was chosen to be the supervising engineer with NORR Group Consultants International Limited chosen to supervise the architecture of the project. The design is derived from the Islamic architecture of the region, the Y-shaped tripartite floor geometry is designed to optimize residential and hotel space. A buttressed central core and wings are used to support the height of the building, although this design was derived from Tower Palace III, the Burj Khalifa’s central core houses all vertical transportation with the exception of egress stairs within each of the wings. The structure also features a system which is designed to withstand Dubais hot summer temperatures. It contains a total of 57 elevators and 8 escalators, critical reception to Burj Khalifa has been generally positive, and the building has received many awards. However, the issues during construction were controversial, since the building was built primarily by migrant workers from South Asia with several allegations of mistreatment. Poor working conditions are common, as the result of the lack of minimum wage laws in the United Arab Emirates, several instances of suicides have been reported, which is not uncommon for migrant construction workers in Dubai despite safety precautions in place. Construction began on 6 January 2004, with the exterior of the completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010, and is part of the new 2 km2 development called Downtown Dubai at the First Interchange along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubais main business district. The towers architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago, with Adrian Smith as chief architect, the primary contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea. The towers construction was done by the division of Al Ghurair Investment group. The decision to build Burj Khalifa is reportedly based on the decision to diversify from an oil-based economy to one that is service
Burj Khalifa
–
The Burj Khalifa in October 2012
Burj Khalifa
–
The spiral minaret at the
Great Mosque of Samarra
Burj Khalifa
–
The Dubai Fountain
Burj Khalifa
–
View of
Downtown Dubai from the observation deck
36.
Supertall skyscraper
–
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building having multiple floors. When the term was used in the 1880s it described a building of 10 to 20 floors. Mostly designed for office, commercial and residential uses, a skyscraper can also be called a high-rise, for buildings above a height of 300 m, the term supertall can be used, while skyscrapers reaching beyond 600 m are classified as megatall. One common feature of skyscrapers is having a steel framework that supports curtain walls and these curtain walls either bear on the framework below or are suspended from the framework above, rather than resting on load-bearing walls of conventional construction. Some early skyscrapers have a frame that enables the construction of load-bearing walls taller than of those made of reinforced concrete. Modern skyscrapers walls are not load-bearing, and most skyscrapers are characterized by surface areas of windows made possible by steel frames. However, skyscrapers can have curtain walls that mimic conventional walls with a surface area of windows. Modern skyscrapers often have a structure, and are designed to act like a hollow cylinder to resist wind, seismic. To appear more slender, allow less wind exposure, and transmit more daylight to the ground, many skyscrapers have a design with setbacks, a relatively big building may be considered a skyscraper if it protrudes well above its built environment and changes the overall skyline. The maximum height of structures has progressed historically with building methods and technologies, the Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest building in the world. High-rise buildings are considered shorter than skyscrapers, the first steel-frame skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois in 1885. Even the scholars making the argument find it to be purely academic and this definition was based on the steel skeleton—as opposed to constructions of load-bearing masonry, which passed their practical limit in 1891 with Chicagos Monadnock Building. What is the characteristic of the tall office building. The force and power of altitude must be in it, the glory and it must be every inch a proud and soaring thing, rising in sheer exaltation that from bottom to top it is a unit without a single dissenting line. Some structural engineers define a highrise as any vertical construction for which wind is a significant load factor than earthquake or weight. Note that this criterion fits not only high-rises but some other tall structures, the word skyscraper often carries a connotation of pride and achievement. A loose convention of some in the United States and Europe draws the limit of a skyscraper at 150 m or 490 ft. The tallest building in ancient times was the 146 m Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt and it was not surpassed in height for thousands of years, the 14th century AD Lincoln Cathedral being conjectured by many to have exceeded it
Supertall skyscraper
–
The
Burj Khalifa, in
Dubai (
United Arab Emirates), has been the
tallest skyscraper in the world since 2009, with a height of 829.8 m.
Supertall skyscraper
–
The
Two Towers of Bologna in the 12th century reached 97.2 m (319 ft) in height.
Supertall skyscraper
–
The 16th-century city of
Shibam consisted entirely of over 500 high-rise tower houses.
Supertall skyscraper
–
Oriel Chambers, Liverpool. The world's first glass curtain walled building. The stone
mullions are decorative.
37.
Dubai
–
Dubai is the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. It is located on the southeast coast of the Persian Gulf and is the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the only two emirates to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the countrys legislature. The city of Dubai is located on the northern coastline. Dubai will host World Expo 2020, Dubai has emerged as a global city and business hub of the Middle East. It is also a transport hub for passengers and cargo. By the 1960s, Dubais economy was based on revenues from trade and, to an extent, oil exploration concessions. Oil revenue first started to flow in 1969, Dubais oil revenue helped accelerate the early development of the city, but its reserves are limited and production levels are low, today, less than 5% of the emirates revenue comes from oil. The emirates Western-style model of business drives its economy with the main revenues now coming from tourism, aviation, real estate, Dubai was recently named the best destination for Muslim travellers by Salam Standard. Dubai has recently attracted attention through many innovative large construction projects and sports events. The city has become iconic for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the worlds tallest building, Dubai has been criticised for human rights violations concerning the citys largely South Asian and Filipino workforce. As of 2012, Dubai was the 22nd most expensive city in the world, in 2014, Dubais hotel rooms were rated as the second most expensive in the world, after Geneva. Dubai was rated as one of the best places to live in the Middle East by U. S. global consulting firm Mercer, Many theories have been proposed as to the origin of the word Dubai. One theory suggests the word was used to describe the souq, another theory states that the name came from a word meaning money, as people from Dubai were commonly believed to be rich due to the thriving trading centre of the location. An Arabic proverb says Daba Dubai, meaning They came with a lot of money, according to Fedel Handhal, a scholar on the UAEs history and culture, the word Dubai may have come from the word daba, referring to the slow flow of Dubai Creek inland. The poet and scholar Ahmad Mohammad Obaid traces it to the same word, an inhabitant or native of the city is a Dubaian. Although stone tools have been found at archaeological sites, little is known about the UAEs early inhabitants as only a few settlements have been found. Many ancient towns in the area were trading centres between the Eastern and Western worlds, the remnants of an ancient mangrove swamp, dated at 7000 BC, were discovered during the construction of sewer lines near Dubai Internet City. The area was covered with sand about 5,000 years ago as the coast retreated inland, pre-Islamic ceramics have been found from the 3rd and 4th centuries
Dubai
–
Clockwise from the top: skyline with
Burj Khalifa;
Burj Al Arab; satellite image showing
Palm Jumeirah and
The World Islands;
Dubai Marina; and
Sheikh Zayed road.
Dubai
–
Al Bastakiya, Dubai
Dubai
–
The
Al Ras district in
Deira, Dubai in the 1960s
Dubai
–
The
Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area at night
38.
United Arab Emirates
–
In 2013, the UAEs population was 9.2 million, of which 1.4 million are Emirati citizens and 7.8 million are expatriates. The country is a federation of seven emirates, and was established on 2 December 1971, the constituent emirates are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm al-Quwain. Each emirate is governed by a monarch, together, they jointly form the Federal Supreme Council. One of the monarchs is selected as the President of the United Arab Emirates, Islam is the official religion of the UAE and Arabic is the official language. The UAEs oil reserves are the seventh-largest in the world while its natural gas reserves are the worlds seventeenth-largest, Sheikh Zayed, ruler of Abu Dhabi and the first President of the UAE, oversaw the development of the Emirates and steered oil revenues into healthcare, education and infrastructure. The UAEs economy is the most diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, while its most populous city of Dubai is an important global city, nevertheless, the country remains principally reliant on its export of petroleum and natural gas. The UAE is criticised for its rights record, including the specific interpretations of Sharia used in its legal system. The UAEs rising international profile has led analysts to identify it as a regional. It appears the land of the Emirates has been occupied for thousands of years, there is no proof of contact with the outside world at that stage, although in time it developed with civilisations in Mesopotamia and Iran. This contact persisted and became wide-ranging, probably motivated by trade in copper from the Hajar Mountains, in ancient times, Al Hasa was part of Al Bahreyn and adjoined Greater Oman. Sassanid groups were present on the Batinah coast, in 637, Julfar was an important port that was used as a staging post for the Islamic invasion of the Sassanian Empire. The area of the Al Ain/Buraimi Oasis was known as Tuam and was an important trading post for camel routes between the coast and the Arabian interior. The earliest Christian site in the UAE was first discovered in the 1990s, a monastic complex on what is now known as Sir Bani Yas Island. Thought to be Nestorian and built in 600 AD, the church appears to have been abandoned peacefully in 750 AD and it forms a rare physical link to a legacy of Christianity which is thought to have spread across the peninsula from 50 to 350 AD following trade routes. Certainly, by the 5th century, Oman had a bishop named John – the last bishop of Oman being Etienne, in 676 AD. This led to a group of travelling to Medina, converting to Islam and subsequently driving a successful uprising against the unpopular Sassanids. Following the death of Prophet Muhammad, the new Islamic communities south of the Persian Gulf threatened to disintegrate, with insurrections against the Muslim leaders. The Caliph Abu Bakr sent an army from the capital Medina which completed its reconquest of the territory with the battle of Dibba in which 10,000 lives are thought to have been lost
United Arab Emirates
–
Dubai in 1950; the area in this photo shows
Bur Dubai in the foreground (centered on Al-Fahidi Fort);
Deira in middle-right on the other side of the creek; and
Al Shindagha (left) and
Al Ras (right) in the background across the creek again from Deira
United Arab Emirates
–
Flag
United Arab Emirates
–
Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was the first President of UAE.
United Arab Emirates
–
View of
Sharjah city
39.
Matteo Ceccarini
–
Matteo Ceccarini in Milan Italy is a DJ, music producer and composer based in London. In the nineties Matteo began his career as a deejay in some trendy clubs of Milan, including La Gare, Shocking Club, Plastic, Hollywood. He worked in Paris at the Queen Club, La Locomotive and in Bali, Indonesia, Matteo has spent many years of his life in Asia, especially in India, where he has researched traditional sacred music. Matteo was discovered by the designer Gianfranco Ferre who introduced him to the world of fashion, in 1993 he began working for some international designers composing music, DJing and sound designing for their shows. In 1992 he released his first EP, Politic Dance, in 1997 he worked with Richard Gere composing the music for Richard Gere’s pro Tibetan photographic exhibition Zanskar and Tibet in Milan. In 1999 Matteo composed a soundtrack for the Swish fashion show. The sound contained a blessing by Pope Karol Wojtyla mixed with a performance of the Greek actress Irene Papas simulating an orgasm. Matteo was questioned by the authorities and he explained that the concept was a blessing of procreation and was therefore released. In 2000 his dj set opened the Frock n Roll event in Barcelona, the event was attended by Nelson Mandela and U2. In 2003 Matteo played at Mick Jaggers private 50th birthday party, from 2003 until 2015, he produced the Emporio Armani Caffè and Giorgio Armani Privè compilations. On 4 September 2004 Ceccarini curated the music for the wedding of John Elkann and Lavinia Borromeo Arese Taverna, at the Isola Madre, Stresa, in 2009 Matteo and his partner Eva Riccobono composed and sang Labbra, a song recorded in bed. The song was a tribute for the 30th anniversary of Je taime moi non plus by Serge Gainsbourg, in 2009 the famous photographer Paolo Roversi chose to shoot Matteo Ceccarini and Eva Riccobono as part of LUomo Vogue celebrities feature. In 2012 Matteo composed the song Petit Essai that became the soundtrack of a film for Jaeger Lecoultre The song is a part of an album of piano solos called Ma richesse cest ma libertè. The same year he composed 2 more songs, The Tube, the movie went on to win best director and best actress at the Rome International Film Festival. In 2013 he released the EP Money Maker, with included a song by the band The Black Keys, The EP was recorded and mastered at the Abbey Road Studios. 2013 was the beginning of his collaboration with the Italian fashion magazine Flair, in his column Matteo interviewed international celebrities using visual stimulus only. In the same year his aesthetic sense in photography led him to be chosen to shoot Jacob Cohens new international campaign, in 2014 he founded the Deriva Collective, a collective of artists who deal with sound research and experimentation known as sound sculpture. The Deriva Collective is based in London, in August 2015 Ceccarini curated the music for the wedding of Beatrice Borromeo and Pierre Casiraghi, at the Rocca Borromeo di Angera, Italy
Matteo Ceccarini
–
Matteo Ceccarini in 2008
40.
Olimpia Milano
–
Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, also known as EA7 Emporio Armani Milano after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are red and white, and the team is referred as Scarpette Rosse because team officials imported red Converse All-Star shoes for players from the United States. The tag line stuck, and the nickname is used by many fans today. As per custom in the Italian league, sponsorship has kept the name changing frequently. From 1936 until 1955, it was called Borletti Milano, from 1956 to 1973, it was renamed Simmenthal. Other famous sponsorship names were Billy, Simac, Tracer, and Philips, for past club sponsorship names, see the list below. Olimpia was founded in 1936, by Milan businessman Adolfo Bogoncelli, in the 1970s, three teams were fighting across Europe for supremacy, Olimpia Milano, Ignis Varese, and Real Madrid. Pallacanestro Varese and Olimpia Milano were arch-rivals, as the two cities are 25 miles apart, while Milano was a frequent Italian League champion, they were unable to win the prestigious European Champions Cup. Late in the 1970s, the quality of the club declined, in the second half of the 1970s, the team signed several good players, including the Boselli twins, Mike Sylvester, Dino Meneghin, Mike DAntoni, John Gianelli, Roberto Premier. Bob McAdoo, Joe Barry Carroll, Russ Schoene, Antoine Carr, american head coach Dan Peterson led the team back to prominence. In the 1980s, the team was sold to the Gabetti family and this gave the club the coveted Triple Crown and the even rarer Quadruple Crown. Led by point guard Sasha Djordjević, the team won another Korać Cup in 1993, bepi Stefanel purchased the team franchise in 1994, and signed-up notable European players like Dejan Bodiroga, Gregor Fučka, Sandro De Pol, and Nando Gentile. In 1996, the won the Italian Cup and its 25th Italian National Championship. Team management has been inconsistent as ownership groups from 1998 to 2004, team have included Warren Kidd, Hugo Sconochini, Claudio Coldebella, after difficult years, led by coach Lino Lardo, Olimpia reached the national championship Finals, finally being beaten by Fortitudo Bologna. On January 25,2006, in the midst of a season in the EuroLeague and domestically. He left as coach after the 2006–07 season, but not before securing Olimpia a berth in the 2007–08 Euroleague, Piero Bucchi was chosen to coach the new team, leading Olimpia twice to second place in LEGA Basket, being defeated by Montepaschi Siena in both cases. On January 2011, after 23 years, glorious coach Dan Peterson came back from retirement to replace Piero Bucchi as head coach, the first player signed for the 2011–12 season was Omar Cook, an American-born play maker, who had played the previous season with Power Electronics Valencia. Due to the NBA lockout, Danilo Gallinari went back to his Alma Mater, playing 15 games, sergio Scariolo was replaced by Luca Banchi at the beginning of the 2013–14 season, and the team brought from Montepaschi Siena, David Moss, Kristjan Kangur, and Daniel Hackett
Olimpia Milano
–
EA7 Emporio Armani Milano
41.
Inter Milan
–
The club have played continuously in the top tier of the Italian football league system since its debut in 1909. Inter have won 30 domestic trophies as well as local rivals A. C. Milan, from 2006 to 2010, the club won five successive league titles, equalling the all-time record. They have won the Champions League three times, two back-to-back in 1964 and 1965 and then another in 2010 and their latest win completed an unprecedented Italian seasonal treble, with Inter winning the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto the same year. The club has won three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. Inters home games are played at the San Siro stadium, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, shared with rivals A. C. Milan, the stadium is the largest in Italian football. The local team A. C. Milan are considered among their biggest rivals, as of 2010, Inter is the second-most supported team in Italy, and the sixth most-supported team in Europe. The club is one of the most valuable in Italian and world football and it was a founding member of the now-defunct G-14 group of Europes leading football clubs. The club was founded on 9 March 1908 as Football Club Internazionale, following the schism with the Milan Cricket, the name of the club derives from the wish of its founding members to accept foreign players as well as Italians. The club won its very first championship in 1910 and its second in 1920, the captain and coach of the first championship winning team was Virgilio Fossati, who was later killed in battle while serving in the Italian army during World War I. In 1922, Inter remained in the top league after winning two play-offs, six years later, during the Fascist era, the club was forced to merge with the Unione Sportiva Milanese and was renamed Società Sportiva Ambrosiana. The team wore white jerseys around this time with a red cross emblazoned on it, the jerseys design was inspired by the flag and coat of arms of the city of Milan. Their first Coppa Italia was won in 1938–39, led by the iconic Giuseppe Meazza, a fifth championship followed in 1940, despite Meazza incurring an injury. After the end of World War II the club regained its name, winning its sixth championship in 1953. He would transform Inter into one of the greatest teams in Europe and he modified a 5–3–2 tactic known as the Verrou to include larger flexibility for counterattacks. The catenaccio system was invented by an Austrian coach Karl Rappan, herrera would modify it by adding a fifth defenders, the sweeper or libero behind the two centre backs. The sweeper or libero who acted as the man would deal with any attackers who went through the two centre backs. Inter finished third in the Serie A in his first season, second the next year, then followed a back-to-back European Cup victory in 1964 and 1965, earning him the title il Mago. In 1964, Inter reached the European Cup Final by beating Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final, in the final, they met Real Madrid, a team that had reached seven out of the nine finals to date
Inter Milan
–
Giuseppe Meazza made 408 appearances for Inter. He is the all-time top scorer of the club, with 284 goals
Inter Milan
–
Inter Milan
Inter Milan
–
The Inter team which won the
Intercontinental Cup in 1965
Inter Milan
–
Javier Zanetti was captain of Inter from August 1999 to his retirement in 2014
42.
Chelsea F.C.
–
Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, London, that competes in the Premier League. Founded in 1905, the home ground since then has been Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had their first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship and they then won various cup competitions between 1965 and 1996. The clubs greatest period of success has come during the last two decades, winning 21 trophies since 1997. Chelsea are the only London club to win the UEFA Champions League, and one of four clubs, Chelseas regular kit colours are royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks. The clubs crest has changed several times in attempts to re-brand the club. The current crest, featuring a lion rampant regardant holding a staff, is a modification of the one introduced in the early 1950s. The club have the sixth-highest average all-time attendance in English football and their average home gate for the 2015–16 season was 41,500, the seventh highest in the Premier League. Since 2003, Chelsea have been owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, in 2016, they were ranked by Forbes magazine as the seventh most valuable football club in the world, at £1.15 billion. In 1904, Gus Mears acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium with the aim of turning it into a football ground, an offer to lease it to nearby Fulham was turned down, so Mears opted to found his own club to use the stadium. Chelsea were founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub, opposite the main entrance to the ground on Fulham Road. The club won promotion to the First Division in their second season and they reached the 1915 FA Cup Final, where they lost to Sheffield United at Old Trafford, and finished third in the First Division in 1920, the clubs best league campaign to that point. Chelsea attracted large crowds and had a reputation for signing big-name players, former Arsenal and England centre-forward Ted Drake became manager in 1952 and proceeded to modernise the club. The following season saw UEFA create the European Champions Cup, but after objections from The Football League, Chelsea failed to build on this success, and spent the remainder of the 1950s in mid-table. Drake was dismissed in 1961 and replaced by player-coach Tommy Docherty, Docherty built a new team around the group of talented young players emerging from the clubs youth set-up and Chelsea challenged for honours throughout the 1960s, enduring several near-misses. They were on course for a treble of League, FA Cup and League Cup going into the stages of the 1964–65 season, winning the League Cup. In three seasons the side were beaten in three major semi-finals and were FA Cup runners-up, under Dochertys successor, Dave Sexton, Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1970, beating Leeds United 2–1 in a final replay. Chelsea took their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners Cup triumph, the year, with another replayed win
Chelsea F.C.
–
The
first Chelsea team in September 1905
Chelsea F.C.
–
Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
–
Chelsea players celebrate their first
UEFA Champions League title against
Bayern Munich.
Chelsea F.C.
–
Stamford Bridge
43.
2006 Winter Olympics
–
This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter Games in Cortina dAmpezzo in 1956. Italy also hosted the Games of the XVII Olympiad in Rome in 1960, Turin was selected as the host city for the 2006 games in June 1999. The official logo displayed the name Torino, the Italian name of the city, the Olympic mascots of the games were Neve, a female snowball, and Gliz, a male ice cube. The official motto of the XX Olympic Winter Games was Passion lives here, Turin was chosen as the host of the Olympics on June 19,1999, at the 109th IOC Session in Seoul, South Korea. This was after the IOC had adopted new procedures during the 108th Extraordinary IOC Session in light of the corruption scandals surrounding the votes for the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics. The full IOC Session then voted on the chosen as finalist cities by the Selection College. The selection of Turin over Sion came as a surprise, since Sion was the favorite in part because the IOC is based in Switzerland. Turins selection came two years after Romes unsuccessful 2004 Summer Olympics bid and those games were ultimately awarded to Athens, Greece. The information below comes from the International Olympic Committee Vote History web page, the Oxford Olympics Study established the outturn cost of the Torino 2006 Winter Olympics at USD4.4 billion in 2015-dollars and cost overrun at 80% in real terms. This includes sports-related costs only, that is, operational costs incurred by the committee for the purpose of staging the Games. The competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, average cost for Winter Games since 1960 is USD3.1 billion, average cost overrun is 142%. The Games featured 84 medal events over 15 disciplines in 7 sports, events that made their Olympic debut in Turin included mass start biathlon, team sprint cross country skiing, snowboard cross and team pursuit speedskating. Most of the cross country skiing events at these Games involved different distances from those in Salt Lake City, the following are the sports and disciplines that were contested at the games. The numbers in parentheses after each sport discipline indicate the number of events contested, all dates are in Central European Time Host country To sort this table by nation, total medal count, or any other column, click on the icon next to the column title. Stefania Belmondo, a 10-time Olympic medalist in cross-country skiing, lit the Olympic Flame during the ceremony on February 10. Before that, the ceremony celebrated the best of Italy and Sport including a segment honoring the Alps, the FilmMaster Group K-events created and produced the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the XX Winter Olympic Games in Turin in 2006. Executive Producer Marco Balich, Content Supervisor Alfredo Accatino, Art Direction Lida Castelli, monica Maimone of Studio Festi directed the section From Renaissance To Baroque, part of the Opening Ceremony. The first gold medal of the 2006 Games was awarded in the 20 kilometre biathlon, won by German Michael Greis on the first day of competition, on February 12, Latvia won its first winter Olympic medal when Mārtiņš Rubenis took the bronze in the mens luge
2006 Winter Olympics
–
"Passion lives here", the Turin 2006 motto written by the Italian calligrapher Francesca Biasetton.
2006 Winter Olympics
–
The emblem shows a stylized profile of the
Mole Antonelliana, drawn in ice crystals in white and blue, signifying the snow and the sky. The crystal web also portrays the web of new technologies and the Olympic spirit of community.
2006 Winter Olympics
–
Victory ceremony at Medals Plaza
2006 Winter Olympics
–
2006 Olympics logo on display in Turin
44.
Turin
–
Turin is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region and was the first capital city of Italy. The city is located mainly on the bank of the Po River, in front of Susa Valley and surrounded by the western Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 892,649 while the population of the area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million, in 1997 a part of the historical center of Torino was inscribed in the World Heritage List under the name Residences of the Royal House of Savoy. Turin is well known for its Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-classical, many of Turins public squares, castles, gardens and elegant palazzi such as Palazzo Madama, were built between the 16th and 18th centuries. This was after the capital of the Duchy of Savoy was moved to Turin from Chambery as part of the urban expansion, the city used to be a major European political center. Turin was Italys first capital city in 1861 and home to the House of Savoy, from 1563, it was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, then of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the Royal House of Savoy and finally the first capital of the unified Italy. Turin is sometimes called the cradle of Italian liberty for having been the birthplace and home of notable politicians and people who contributed to the Risorgimento, such as Cavour. The city currently hosts some of Italys best universities, colleges, academies, lycea and gymnasia, such as the University of Turin, founded in the 15th century, in addition, the city is home to museums such as the Museo Egizio and the Mole Antonelliana. Turins attractions make it one of the worlds top 250 tourist destinations, Turin is ranked third in Italy, after Milan and Rome, for economic strength. With a GDP of $58 billion, Turin is the worlds 78th richest city by purchasing power, as of 2010, the city has been ranked by GaWC as a Gamma World city. Turin is also home to much of the Italian automotive industry, the Taurini were an ancient Celto-Ligurian Alpine people, who occupied the upper valley of the Po River, in the center of modern Piedmont. In 218 BC, they were attacked by Hannibal as he was allied with their long-standing enemies, the Taurini chief town was captured by Hannibals forces after a three-day siege. As a people they are mentioned in history. It is believed that a Roman colony was established in 27 BC under the name of Castra Taurinorum, both Livy and Strabo mention the Taurinis country as including one of the passes of the Alps, which points to a wider use of the name in earlier times. In the 1st century BC, the Romans created a military camp, the typical Roman street grid can still be seen in the modern city, especially in the neighborhood known as the Quadrilatero Romano. Via Garibaldi traces the path of the Roman citys decumanus which began at the Porta Decumani. The Porta Palatina, on the side of the current city centre, is still preserved in a park near the Cathedral
Turin
–
From top to bottom, left to right: panorama of the
Mole Antonelliana,
Valentino Park with the medieval village, Piazza Castello with Palazzo Reale and Palazzo Madama, San Carlo Plaza with the Caval ëd Bronz, the Arco Olimpico and the Lingotto, the sarcophagus of Oki at the
Egyptian Museum, a view of the hills, the
Po, the Gran Madre, the Monte of Cappuccini and
Palatine Towers.
Turin
–
The Roman
Palatine Towers.
Turin
–
Siege of Turin
Turin
–
Turin in the 17th century.
45.
2012 Summer Olympics
–
It took place in London and to a lesser extent across the United Kingdom from 25 July to 12 August 2012. The first event, the stage in womens football began on 25 July at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. 10,768 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees participated, London is the first and only city thus far to host the modern Olympic Games three times, having previously done so in 1908 and in 1948. Construction for the Games involved considerable redevelopment, with an emphasis on sustainability, the main focus was a new 200-hectare Olympic Park, constructed on a former industrial site at Stratford, East London. The Games also made use of venues that already existed before the bid, the Games received widespread acclaim for their organisation, with the volunteers, the British military and public enthusiasm praised particularly highly. During the Games, Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time, saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Brunei entered female athletes for the first time, so that every currently eligible country has sent a female competitor to at least one Olympic Games. Womens boxing was included for the first time, thus the Games became the first at which every sport had female competitors and these were the final Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Jacques Rogge. The final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by China, several world and Olympic records were set at the games. Furthermore, the focus on sporting legacy and post-games venue sustainability was seen as a blueprint for future Olympics. On 18 May 2004, as a result of a technical evaluation. All five submitted their candidate files by 19 November 2004 and were visited by the IOC inspection team during February, throughout the process, Paris was widely seen as the favourite, particularly as this was its third bid in recent years. London was initially seen as lagging behind Paris by a considerable margin and its position began to improve after the appointment of Lord Coe as the new head of London 2012 on 19 May 2004. In late August 2004, reports predicted a tie between London and Paris, on 6 June 2005, the IOC released its evaluation reports for the five candidate cities. They did not contain any scores or rankings, but the report for Paris was considered the most positive, London was close behind, having closed most of the gap observed by the initial evaluation in 2004. New York and Madrid also received positive evaluations. On 1 July 2005, when asked who would win, Jacques Rogge said, but my gut feeling tells me that it will be very close. Perhaps it will come down to a difference of say ten votes, on 6 July 2005, the final selection was announced at the 117th IOC Session in Singapore. Moscow was the first city to be eliminated, followed by New York, the final two contenders were London and Paris
2012 Summer Olympics
–
Lord Coe – the head of the London 2012 bid
2012 Summer Olympics
–
Games of the XXX Olympiad
2012 Summer Olympics
–
The
Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy on the
Isle of Portland in Dorset hosted the
sailing events
2012 Summer Olympics
–
Aerial view of the
Olympic Park in April 2012
46.
Ukraine
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Ukraine is currently in territorial dispute with Russia over the Crimean Peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014 but which Ukraine and most of the international community recognise as Ukrainian. Including Crimea, Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km2, making it the largest country entirely within Europe and it has a population of about 42.5 million, making it the 32nd most populous country in the world. The territory of modern Ukraine has been inhabited since 32,000 BC, during the Middle Ages, the area was a key centre of East Slavic culture, with the powerful state of Kievan Rus forming the basis of Ukrainian identity. Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers, including Lithuania, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. A Cossack republic emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, two brief periods of independence occurred during the 20th century, once near the end of World War I and another during World War II. Before its independence, Ukraine was typically referred to in English as The Ukraine, following independence, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state. Nonetheless it formed a limited partnership with the Russian Federation and other CIS countries. In the 2000s, the government began leaning towards NATO, and it was later agreed that the question of joining NATO should be answered by a national referendum at some point in the future. Former President Viktor Yanukovych considered the current level of co-operation between Ukraine and NATO sufficient, and was against Ukraine joining NATO and these events formed the background for the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, and the War in Donbass in April 2014. On 1 January 2016, Ukraine applied the economic part of the Deep, Ukraine has long been a global breadbasket because of its extensive, fertile farmlands and is one of the worlds largest grain exporters. The diversified economy of Ukraine includes a heavy industry sector, particularly in aerospace. Ukraine is a republic under a semi-presidential system with separate powers, legislative, executive. Its capital and largest city is Kiev, taking into account reserves and paramilitary personnel, Ukraine maintains the second-largest military in Europe after that of Russia. Ukrainian is the language and its alphabet is Cyrillic. The dominant religion in the country is Eastern Orthodoxy, which has strongly influenced Ukrainian architecture, literature, there are different hypotheses as to the etymology of the name Ukraine. According to the older and most widespread hypothesis, it means borderland, while more recently some studies claim a different meaning, homeland or region. The Ukraine now implies disregard for the sovereignty, according to U. S. ambassador William Taylor. Neanderthal settlement in Ukraine is seen in the Molodova archaeological sites include a mammoth bone dwelling
Ukraine
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Gold
Scythian pectoral, or neckpiece, from a royal
kurgan in
Ordzhonikidze, dated to the 4th century BC
Ukraine
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Flag
Ukraine
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Principalities of
Kievan Rus', 1054-1132
Ukraine
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The baptism of the Grand Prince Vladimir led to the adoption of Christianity in
Kievan Rus'.
47.
Andriy Shevchenko
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Andriy Mykolayovych Shevchenko is a politician, football manager and retired Ukrainian footballer who played for Dynamo Kyiv, Milan, Chelsea and the Ukraine national team as a striker. From February to July 2016, he was an assistant coach of the Ukraine national team, on 15 July 2016, shortly following the nations elimination from UEFA Euro 2016, Shevchenko was appointed as Ukraines head coach. Shevchenko is ranked as the top goalscorer in all European competitions with 67 goals. With a tally of 175 goals scored for Milan, Shevchenko is the second most prolific player in the history of the club, furthermore, he is the all-time top scorer for the Ukrainian national team with 48 goals. In 2012, he quit football and joined Ukraine – Forward. to take part in elections, Shevchenkos career has been highlighted by many awards, the most prestigious of which was the Ballon dOr in 2004. He won the UEFA Champions League in 2003 with Milan, and he has won various league and cup titles in Ukraine, Italy. He was also an UEFA Champions League runner-up in 2005 and 2008, in his illustrious international career, the striker led Ukraine as captain to the quarter-finals in their first ever FIFA World Cup appearance in 2006, and also took part at UEFA Euro 2012. On 28 July 2012, Shevchenko announced that he was quitting football for politics and he was standing for election to the Ukrainian Parliament in the October 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election, but his party failed to win parliamentary representation. Shevchenko was born in the family of Praporshchik Mykola Hryhorovych Shevchenko in 1976, in 1979, his family moved to the newly built neighborhood in Kiev – Obolon. In Kiev, Shevchenko went to the 216th City School and in 1986 enrolled into the football section coached by Oleksandr Shpakov, because of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, together with his sport group he was evacuated temporarily from the city. At an early age, he also was a boxer in the LLWI Ukrainian junior league. In 1992–93, Shevchenko was the top scorer for Dynamo-2 with 12 goals. He made his debut on 28 October 1994 in a game against Shakhtar Donetsk and his 19 goals in 23 league matches and six goals in ten Champions League matches were followed by 28 total goals in all competitions in 1998–99. He won the league title with Dynamo in each of his five seasons with the club. In 1999, Shevchenko joined Italian club Milan for a transfer fee of $25 million. He made his debut on 28 August 1999 in a 2–2 draw with Lecce. Shevchenko maintained his excellent form into the 2000–01 season, scoring 24 goals in 34 matches, Shevchenko also managed to score nine goals in 14 matches in the Champions League. Milan, however, failed to get past the group stage
Andriy Shevchenko
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Shevchenko in 2012
Andriy Shevchenko
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Andriy Shevchenko in Milan
Andriy Shevchenko
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Shevchenko on Tour with Chelsea 2007.
Andriy Shevchenko
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Andriy Shevchenko on loan to Milan, 2008
48.
Chelsea Football Club
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Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, London, that competes in the Premier League. Founded in 1905, the home ground since then has been Stamford Bridge. Chelsea had their first major success in 1955, when they won the league championship and they then won various cup competitions between 1965 and 1996. The clubs greatest period of success has come during the last two decades, winning 21 trophies since 1997. Chelsea are the only London club to win the UEFA Champions League, and one of four clubs, Chelseas regular kit colours are royal blue shirts and shorts with white socks. The clubs crest has changed several times in attempts to re-brand the club. The current crest, featuring a lion rampant regardant holding a staff, is a modification of the one introduced in the early 1950s. The club have the sixth-highest average all-time attendance in English football and their average home gate for the 2015–16 season was 41,500, the seventh highest in the Premier League. Since 2003, Chelsea have been owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, in 2016, they were ranked by Forbes magazine as the seventh most valuable football club in the world, at £1.15 billion. In 1904, Gus Mears acquired the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium with the aim of turning it into a football ground, an offer to lease it to nearby Fulham was turned down, so Mears opted to found his own club to use the stadium. Chelsea were founded on 10 March 1905 at The Rising Sun pub, opposite the main entrance to the ground on Fulham Road. The club won promotion to the First Division in their second season and they reached the 1915 FA Cup Final, where they lost to Sheffield United at Old Trafford, and finished third in the First Division in 1920, the clubs best league campaign to that point. Chelsea attracted large crowds and had a reputation for signing big-name players, former Arsenal and England centre-forward Ted Drake became manager in 1952 and proceeded to modernise the club. The following season saw UEFA create the European Champions Cup, but after objections from The Football League, Chelsea failed to build on this success, and spent the remainder of the 1950s in mid-table. Drake was dismissed in 1961 and replaced by player-coach Tommy Docherty, Docherty built a new team around the group of talented young players emerging from the clubs youth set-up and Chelsea challenged for honours throughout the 1960s, enduring several near-misses. They were on course for a treble of League, FA Cup and League Cup going into the stages of the 1964–65 season, winning the League Cup. In three seasons the side were beaten in three major semi-finals and were FA Cup runners-up, under Dochertys successor, Dave Sexton, Chelsea won the FA Cup in 1970, beating Leeds United 2–1 in a final replay. Chelsea took their first European honour, a UEFA Cup Winners Cup triumph, the year, with another replayed win
Chelsea Football Club
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The
first Chelsea team in September 1905
Chelsea Football Club
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Chelsea
Chelsea Football Club
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Chelsea players celebrate their first
UEFA Champions League title against
Bayern Munich.
Chelsea Football Club
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Stamford Bridge
49.
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
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Stamford Bridge is a football stadium located in Fulham, London. It is the ground of Chelsea F. C. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is referred to as simply The Bridge. The capacity is 41,663, making it the eighth largest ground in the Premier League, the club has plans to expand the capacity to 60,000 by the 2021–2022 season. It has undergone major changes over the years, most recently in the 1990s when it was renovated into a modern. Stamford Bridge has been used as a venue for England international matches, FA Cup Finals, FA Cup semi-finals and it has also hosted numerous other sports, such as cricket, rugby union, speedway, greyhound racing, baseball and American football. The stadiums highest official attendance is 82,905, for a match between Chelsea and Arsenal on 12 October 1935. Stamford Bridge is considered to be a derivative of Samfordesbrigge meaning the bridge at the sandy ford, 18th century maps show a Stanford Creek running along the route of what is now a railway line at the back of the East Stand as a tributary of the Thames. The upper reaches of this tributary have been known as Billingswell Ditch, Pools Creek, in mediaeval times the Creek was known as Billingwell Dyche, derived from Billings spring or stream. It formed the boundary between the parishes of Kensington and Fulham, by the 18th century the creek had become known as Counters Creek which is the name it has retained since. However, previous to this, in 1898, Stamford Bridge played host to the World Championship of shinty between Beauly Shinty Club and London Camanachd. Stamford Bridge was built close to Lillie Bridge, a sports ground which had hosted the 1873 FA Cup Final. It was initially offered to Fulham Football Club, but they turned it down for financial reasons. After considering the sale of the land to the Great Western Railway Company, noted football ground architect Archibald Leitch, who had also designed Ibrox, Celtic Park, Craven Cottage and Hampden Park, was hired to construct the stadium. In its early days, Stamford Bridge stadium was served by a railway station, Chelsea and Fulham railway station. Stamford Bridge had a capacity of around 100,000. It was used as the FA Cup final venue, as originally constructed, Stamford Bridge was an athletics track and the pitch was initially located in the middle of the running track. The stadium had a stand for 5,000 spectators on the east side
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
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Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
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Bird's Eye Picture of Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium in 1909
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
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The brand New Stamford Bridge stadium in August 1905
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
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Chelsea beat West Brom at Stamford Bridge in September 1905
50.
Beverly Hills
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Beverly Hills is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, surrounded by the cities of Los Angeles and West Hollywood. By 2013, its population had grown to 34,658, sometimes referred to as 90210, one of its primary ZIP codes, it was home to many actors and celebrities throughout the 20th century. The city includes the Rodeo Drive shopping district and the Beverly Hills Oil Field, gaspar de Portolá arrived in the area that would later become Beverly Hills on August 3,1769, travelling along native trails which followed the present-day route of Wilshire Boulevard. The area was settled by Maria Rita Quinteros de Valdez and her husband in 1828 and they called their 4,500 acres of property the Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas. in 1854, she sold the ranch to Benjamin Davis Wilson and Henry Hancock. By the 1880s, the ranch had been subdivided into parcels of 75 acres and was being bought up by anglos from Los Angeles. Henry Hammel and Andrew H. Denker acquired most of it, at this point, the area was known as the Hammel and Denker Ranch. By 1888, Denker and Hammel were planning to build a town called Morocco on their holdings and they did not find enough to exploit commercially by the standards of the time, though. In 1906, therefore, they reorganized as the Rodeo Land and Water Company, renamed the property Beverly Hills, subdivided it, the development was named Beverly Hills after Beverly Farms in Beverly, Massachusetts and because of the hills in the area. The first house in the subdivision was built in 1907, although sales remained slow, Beverly Hills was one of many all-white planned communities started in the Los Angeles area around this time. Restrictive covenants prohibited non-whites from owning or renting property unless they were employed as servants by white residents and it was also forbidden to sell or rent property to Jews in Beverly Hills. Burton Green began construction on The Beverly Hills Hotel in 1911, the hotel was finished in 1912. The visitors drawn by the hotel were inclined to purchase land in Beverly Hills and that same year, the Rodeo Land and Water Company decided to separate its water business from its real estate business. The Beverly Hills Utility Commission was split off from the company and incorporated in September 1914, buying all of the utilities-related assets from the Rodeo Land. In 1919, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford bought land on Summit Drive and built a mansion, finished in 1921, the glamor associated with Fairbanks and Pickford as well as other movie stars who built mansions in the city contributed to its growing appeal. By the early 1920s the population of Beverly Hills had grown enough to make the water supply a political issue, in 1923 the usual solution, annexation to the city of Los Angeles, was proposed. There was considerable opposition to annexation among such famous residents as Pickford, Fairbanks, Will Rogers, the Beverly Hills Utility Commission, opposed to annexation as well, managed to force the city into a special election and the plan was defeated 337 to 507. In 1925, Beverly Hills approved an issue to buy 385 acres for a new campus for UCLA. The cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Venice also issued bonds to pay for the new campus
Beverly Hills
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Beverly Hills at the corner of Rodeo Drive & Via Rodeo
Beverly Hills
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Seal
Beverly Hills
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Aerial view, 3D computer generated image
Beverly Hills
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Hammel and Denker ranch, c. 1905
US$8.3 billion (March 2014)[1]
