1.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
2.
Max Reinhardt
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Max Reinhardt was an Austrian-born American theatre and film director, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his innovative stage productions, he is regarded as one of the most prominent directors of German-language theatre in the early 20th century, in 1920, he established the Salzburg Festival with the performance of Hofmannsthals Jedermann. Reinhardt was born Maximilian Goldmann in the spa town of Baden near Vienna, the son of Wilhelm Goldmann, a Jewish merchant from Stomfa, Hungary, having finished school, he began an apprenticeship at a bank, but already took acting lessons. In 1890, he gave his debut on a stage in Vienna with the artists name Max Reinhardt. In 1893 he performed at the re-opened Salzburg City Theatre and one later joined the Deutsches Theater ensemble under director Otto Brahm in Berlin. In 1901, Reinhardt together with Friedrich Kayßler and several other colleagues founded the Schall und Rauch Kabarett stage in Berlin. Re-opened as Kleines Theater it was the first of numerous stages, from 1903 to 1905, he managed the Neues Theater and in 1906 acquired the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. In 1911, he premiered with Karl Vollmöllers The Miracle at Olympia, by employing powerful staging techniques, and harmonising stage design, language, music and choreography, Reinhardt introduced new dimensions into German theatre. The Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna, which is arguably the most important German-language acting school, was installed implementing his ideas, in 1910, Siegfried Jacobsen wrote his book entitled Max Reinhardt. In 1914, he was persuaded to sign the Manifesto of the Ninety-Three and he was signatory 66, he later expressed regret at signing. By 1930, he ran 11 stages in Berlin and, in addition, in the United States, he successfully directed The Miracle in 1924, and a popular stage version of Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream in 1927. Reinhardt followed that success by directing a film version in 1935 using a different cast. Mickey Rooney and Olivia de Havilland had also appeared in Reinhardts 1934 stage production, the Nazis banned the film because of the Jewish ancestry of both Reinhardt and Felix Mendelssohn, whose music was used throughout the film. After the Anschluss of Austria to Nazi-governed Germany in 1938, he emigrated first to Britain, Reinhardt opened the Reinhardt School of the Theatre in Hollywood, on Sunset Boulevard. Several notable stars of the day received classical training, among them actress Nanette Fabray. In 1940, he became a citizen of the United States. At that time, he was married to his wife, actress Helene Thimig. Compared with most of his contemporaries, Reinhardt was more interested in film than in theater and he made films as a director and from time to time also as a producer
3.
New York City
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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
4.
Catherine de' Medici
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Catherine de Medici, daughter of Lorenzo II de Medici and of Madeleine de La Tour dAuvergne, was an Italian noblewoman who was Queen of France from 1547 until 1559, as the wife of King Henry II. As the mother of three sons who became kings of France during her lifetime, she had extensive, if at times varying, for a time, she ruled France as its regent. In 1533, at the age of fourteen, Caterina married Henry, second son of King Francis I, under the gallicised version of her name, Catherine de Médicis, she was Queen consort of France as the wife of King Henry II of France from 1547 to 1559. Throughout his reign, Henry excluded Catherine from participating in state affairs and instead showered favours on his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Henrys death thrust Catherine into the arena as mother of the frail fifteen-year-old King Francis II. When he died in 1560, she became regent on behalf of her ten-year-old son King Charles IX and was granted sweeping powers, after Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her third son, Henry III. He dispensed with her only in the last months of her life. Catherines three sons reigned in an age of almost constant civil and religious war in France, the problems facing the monarchy were complex and daunting but Catherine was able to keep the monarchy and the state institutions functioning even at a minimum level. At first, Catherine compromised and made concessions to the rebelling Protestants, or Huguenots and she failed, however, to grasp the theological issues that drove their movement. Later she resorted, in frustration and anger, to hard-line policies against them, some historians have excused Catherine from blame for the worst decisions of the crown, though evidence for her ruthlessness can be found in her letters. In practice, her authority was limited by the effects of the civil wars. Without Catherine, it is unlikely that her sons would have remained in power, the years in which they reigned have been called the age of Catherine de Medici. According to Mark Strage, one of her biographers, Catherine was the most powerful woman in sixteenth-century Europe. Catherine was born on 13 April 1519 in Florence, Republic of Florence, the child of Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino, and his wife, Madeleine de la Tour dAuvergne. The young couple had married the year before at Amboise as part of the alliance between King Francis I of France and Lorenzos uncle Pope Leo X against the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. According to a chronicler, when Catherine was born, her parents were as pleased as if it had been a boy. King Francis wanted Catherine to be raised at the French court, Catherine was first cared for by her paternal grandmother, Alfonsina Orsini. After Alfonsinas death in 1520, Catherine joined her cousins and was raised by her aunt, the death of Pope Leo in 1521 interrupted Medici power briefly, until Cardinal Giulio de Medici was elected Pope Clement VII in 1523
5.
Gregory Peck
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Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor who was one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s. Peck continued to major film roles until the late 1980s. His performance as Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor and he had also been nominated for an Oscar for the same category for The Keys of the Kingdom, The Yearling, Gentlemans Agreement and Twelve OClock High. Other notable films he appeared in include Spellbound, Roman Holiday, Moby Dick, The Guns of Navarone, Cape Fear, How the West Was Won, The Omen, President Lyndon Johnson honored Peck with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 for his lifetime humanitarian efforts. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck among Greatest Male Stars of Classic Hollywood cinema and he was named to the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame in 1983. His father was of English and Irish heritage and his mother of English and she converted to her husbands religion, Roman Catholicism, when she married his father, and Peck was raised as a Catholic. Pecks parents divorced when he was five and he was brought up by his maternal grandmother, at the age of 10 he was sent to a Catholic military school, St. Johns Military Academy in Los Angeles. While he was a student there, his grandmother died, at 14, he moved back to San Diego to live with his father, attended San Diego High School, and after graduating enrolled for one year at San Diego State Teachers College. While there he joined the team, took his first theatre and public-speaking courses. Peck however had ambitions to be a doctor and the following year gained admission to the University of California, Berkeley, as an English major, standing 6 ft 3 in, he rowed on the university crew. Although his tuition fee was only $26 per year, Peck still struggled to pay, at Berkeley, encouraged by the acting coach, who saw in him perfect material for university theatre, Peck became more and more interested in acting. He was recruited by Edwin Duerr, director of the universitys Little Theater, Peck would later say about Berkeley that, it was a very special experience for me and three of the greatest years of my life. It woke me up and made me a human being, in 1997, Peck donated $25,000 to the Berkeley rowing crew in honor of his coach, the renowned Ky Ebright. He was often broke and sometimes slept in Central Park and he worked at the 1939 Worlds Fair and as a tour guide for NBCs television broadcasting. In 1940, Peck learned more of the craft, working in exchange for food, at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, appearing in five plays including Family Portrait. His stage career began in 1941 when he played the secretary in a Katharine Cornell production of George Bernard Shaws play The Doctors Dilemma, unfortunately, the play opened in San Francisco just one week before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He made his Broadway debut as the lead in Emlyn Williams The Morning Star in 1942 and his second Broadway performance that year was in The Willow and I with Edward Pawley. Twentieth Century Fox claimed he had injured his back while rowing at university, ive been trying to straighten out that story for years
6.
Rawhide (TV series)
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Rawhide is an American Western TV series starring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood. The series was produced and sometimes directed by Charles Marquis Warren, set in the 1860s, Rawhide portrays the challenges faced by the drovers of a cattle drive. Most episodes are introduced with a monologue by Gil Favor, the trail boss, in a typical Rawhide story, the drovers come upon people on the trail and are drawn into solving whatever problem they present or confront. Sometimes, one or more of the venture into a nearby town. Rowdy Yates was young and at times impetuous in the earliest episodes, Favor was a savvy and strong leader who always played square with his fellow men - a tough customer who could handle the challenges and get the job done. Favor had to fight at times and usually won, some of the stories were obviously easier in production terms, but the peak form of the show was convincing and naturalistic, and sometimes brutal. Its situations could range from parched plains to anthrax, ghostly riders to wolves, cattle raiding, bandits, murderers, and so forth. A problem on such drives was the constant need for water, in some ways, the show was similar to the TV series Wagon Train, which had debuted on NBC on September 18,1957. The series was not afraid to face tough issues, robert Culp played an ex-soldier on the drive who had become dangerously addicted to morphine. Mexican drover Jesús faced racism at times, trail boss Favor had been a Confederate captain in the war. Some American Indians demanded cattle as payment for going through their land, rough characters were in the shows, and in one episode Gil Favor was tortured by having his face held near a fire. In another episode, one titled Incident of the Town in Terror, people thought a sick Rowdy Yates had the plague, also, cattle rustlers were around, including Commancheros. The show could on occasions be eerily atmospheric, in episode 67, Incident Near the Promised Land, the cattle drive finally reached Sedalia. Unusually, episode 68 continues on from that, where the cattle have been sold, instead of the usual ending, wherein Gil Favor gives the command Head em up. And the cattle move off, this episode had the end titles over a view of a Sedalia street, episode 69 has Gil Favor visiting his two daughters, Gillian and Maggie, who live with their aunt Eleanor Bradley in Philadelphia. In episode 70, a number of the men are together and heading back to San Antonio about 650 miles away. These five episodes made up one storyline instead of the usual single-episode stories which could have been set anywhere in the West. Favor had many bad moments in the series, but none worse than the Lost Herd episode wherein, close to drives finish, he wants to beat another herd to town to get the best prices
7.
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
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Forest Lawn Memorial Park — Hollywood Hills is one of the six Forest Lawn Southern California cemeteries. It is located at 6300 Forest Lawn Dr, Los Angeles, CA90068, in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Forest Lawn — Hollywood Hills is a dedicated to the preservation of American history and hosts high-profile events such as an annual Veterans Day ceremony attended by dignitaries. The park features such sights as, The Court of Liberty features statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, at 162 feet long and 28 feet high, Birth of Liberty is the largest historical mosaic in the United States. It is composed of ten pieces of Venetian glass and depicts twenty-five scenes from early America. The Old North Church, a replica of Bostons historic church. The historical rooms have documents and mementos of the colonial period, the Hall of Liberty American History Museum has a copy of the Liberty Bell and other exhibits. The museum has a 1, 200-seat auditorium, monument to Washington, a marble and bronze tribute to Americas first president, created by sculptor Thomas Ball. Four of Washingtons generals are honored in the memorial, the Lincoln Terrace features a 16-foot bronze statue of the 16th president by Augustus St. Gaudens, flanked by a panoramic mosaic depicting key scenes from Lincolns life. The Plaza of Mesoamerican Heritage has indigenous/non-Christian sculptures by Meliton Salas Rodriguez, of Guadalajara, the first Forest Lawn, in Glendale, was founded in 1906 by businessmen who hired Dr. Hubert Eaton, a firm believer in a joyous life after death. Before it was a cemetery, Forest Lawn was a location used by directors such as Carl Laemmle. The climactic battle scenes for D. W. Griffiths The Birth of a Nation were filmed there. The alternate names of the site are Providencia Flats, Nestor Ranch, Oak Ranch, Oak Crest Ranch, Universal Ranch/Universal City, Lasky Ranch. When Eaton made known his desire to open a second Forest Lawn location in the Hollywood Hills, the local residents protested vehemently. To circumvent the protesters, Mr. Eaton sent his staff to the county morgue to claim 6 John Does, in the morning, the protesters had no power because, by law, the property was now a cemetery. A mausoleum, for crypt or vault interments, a crematory and columbarium, for cinerary interments. A place where six or more bodies are buried. The new mortuary and cemetery opened in 1952, interred or entombed in the Hollywood Hills cemetery are many famous people, particularly from the entertainment industry
8.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion pictures. The Academys corporate management and general policies are overseen by a Board of Governors, the roster of the Academys approximately 6,000 motion picture professionals is a closely guarded secret. While the great majority of its members are based in the United States, the Academy is known around the world for its annual Academy Awards, now officially known as The Oscars. The Academy plans to open the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles in 2017, the notion of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences began with Louis B. He said he wanted to create an organization that would mediate labor disputes without unions and he met with actor Conrad Nagel, director Fred Niblo, and the head of the Association of Motion Picture Producers, Fred Beetsonto to discuss these matters. The idea of this elite club having a banquet was discussed. They also established that membership into the organization would only be open to people involved in one of the five branches of the industry, actors, directors, writers, technicians, and producers. That evening Mayer presented to those guests what he called the International Academy of Motion Picture Arts, everyone in the room that evening became a founder of the Academy. Several organizational meetings were held prior to the first official meeting held on May 6,1927 and their first organizational meeting was held on May 11. At that meeting Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was elected as the first president of the Academy, while Fred Niblo was the first vice-president and that night, the Academy also bestowed its first honorary membership, to Thomas Edison. Initially, the Academy was broken down into five groups, or branches. The original five were, Producers, Actors, Directors, Writers, the initial concerns of the group had to do with labor. However, as went on, the organization moved further away from involvement in labor-management arbitrations and negotiations. By July 1928 the board of directors had approved a list of 12 awards to be presented, during July the voting system for the Awards was established, and the nomination and selection process began. This award of merit for distinctive achievement is what we know now as the Academy Award, the initial location of the organization was 6912 Hollywood Boulevard. In May 1928, the Academy authorized the construction of a state of the art screening room, the screening room was not completed until April 1929. With the publication of Report on Incandescent Illumination in 1928, the Academy began a history of publishing books to assist its members. Another early initiative concerned training Army Signal Corps officers, in 1929 Academy members in a joint venture with the University of Southern California created Americas first film school to further the art and science of moving pictures
9.
Mission to Moscow
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Mission to Moscow is a 1943 film directed by Michael Curtiz, based on the 1941 book by the former U. S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, Joseph E. Davies. The movie chronicles the experiences of the second American ambassador to the Soviet Union and was made in response to a request by Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was made during World War II, when the Americans and Soviets were allies, for that reason, it was scrutinized by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. The book is Joseph E. Davies memoir about his stint as U. S. ambassador to Moscow from November 1936 to June 1938. It was published by Simon and Schuster in 1941 and was a critical and commercial success —700,000 copies were sold and it was translated into thirteen languages. The film chronicles ambassador Davies impressions of the Soviet Union, his meetings with Stalin and it is made in faux-documentary style, beginning with Davies meeting with president Franklin D. Roosevelt to discuss his new appointment as United States ambassador to the Soviet Union. It continues to show the Davies familys trip by boat to Moscow, while in Moscow, the movie alternates between Davies interpretations of Russian politics and communism and his familys impressions of Russian life. It includes a scene with Mrs. Davies at a Russian department store. The movie gives Davies perspective on various points in Soviet history. ”The film then cuts to the film Davies, Davies is shown witnessing the famous show trials conducted by Stalin in the 1930s, which are portrayed as trials of fifth columnists working for Germany and Japan. The voice-overs continue throughout the film, interspersing storyline with Davies opinions, the films narrative focuses on the journey of Davies and his family. First, their journey from the United States to the Soviet Union. And, second, their less tangible journey from skeptics of communism, the narrative of the movie and the book are almost identical. The screenplay adaptation of the book was by Howard Koch and its musical score was by Max Steiner, its cinematography by Bert Glennon. The extensive montage sequences, which draw on footage from Soviet archives, were supervised by Don Siegel, the picture was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. Ambassador Davies appears and introduces the film as himself, he is portrayed by Walter Huston. Most parts, bar those of Davies family, are taken by actors who look like the famous politicians they are representing. Roosevelt himself approved the creation of the film, even meeting with Davies several times during the production to discuss its progress. As part of his contract with Warner Brothers, Davies had absolute right of control over the script, during production, Office of War Information officials reviewed screenplay revisions and prints of the film and commented on them
10.
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna
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The University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. Today, with a student body of three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of the largest in the world. In 1817, it was established by the Society for the Friends of Music and it has had several names, Vienna Conservatory, Vienna Academy and in 1909 it was nationalized as the Imperial Academy of Music and the Performing Arts. In 1998, the university assumed its current name to reflect its university status, with a student body of more than 3000, the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien is one of the largest arts universities in the world. The University consists of 24 departments including the Max Reinhardt Seminar, Vienna Film Academy, MDW facilities include the Schönbrunn Palace Theater, Antonio Vivaldi Room, Salesian Convent, St. Ursula Church, Lothringerstrasse and the Anton Von Webern Platz. Modern film studios were completed on the university campus in 2004, the University organizes around 10 competitions, including the International Beethoven Piano Competition. It also presents an acclaimed film festival every two years. The MDW may be considered an institution to all major orchestras in Austria. Calls for a conservatory in Vienna started in 1808. In 1811 an outline for an education institution for Vienna was published. A year later the Society for the Friends of Music was formed, the Vienna Conservatory was founded in 1817. It was meant to be modeled on the Paris Conservatory, but, due to a lack of funds, Antonio Salieri was the Conservatorys first director. In 1819, it hired violinist Joseph Böhm, and by 1827 offered courses in most orchestral instruments, the conservatorys finances were very unstable. Tuition fees were introduced in 1829, but by 1837 the institution was bankrupt, the state eventually funded the conservatory from 1841 to 1844 and from 1846 to 1848. In 1848 political unrest caused the state to discontinue funding, with support from the state and the city, finances again stabilized after 1851. Despite growing state subsidy, The Society for the Friends of Music, however, by a January 1,1909 imperial resolution the school was nationalized and became the Imperial Academy of Music and the Performing Arts. Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr. was director from 1851 to 1893, from 1907 Wilhelm Bopp had been the director of Conservatory. The Conservatory was still dominated by the aging Robert Fuchs and Hermann Grädener, in 1912, attempting to rejuvenate the conservatory Bopp offered teaching positions to Franz Schreker and Arnold Schoenberg
11.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
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Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, tertiary 958-bed hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2,000 physicians and 10,000 employees, a team of 2,000 volunteers and more than 40 community groups support a patient-base of over 16,000 people. Over 350 residents and fellows participate in more than 60 graduate medical education programs, Cedars-Sinai focuses on biomedical research and technologically advanced medical education—based on an interdisciplinary collaboration between physicians and clinical researchers. Cedars-Sinai is affiliated with the California Heart Center, University of Southern California and David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. As of 2013, U. S. News & World Report ranked Cedars-Sinai #13 out of hospitals across the United States and #3 in the western United States, behind only UCLA Medical Center and UCSF Medical Center. Located in the Harvey Morse Auditorium, Cedars-Sinais patient care is depicted in the Jewish Contributions to Medicine mural, the heart transplantation program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has experienced unprecedented growth since 2010. Statistically, Cedars-Sinai currently performs more annual heart transplants than any medical center in the world. Founded and financed by businessman Kaspare Cohn, Cedars-Sinai was established as the Kaspare Cohn Hospital in 1902, the hospital had just 12 beds when it opened on September 21,1902, and its services were initially free. From 1906 to 1910, Dr. Sarah Vasen, the first female doctor in Los Angeles, in 1910, the hospital relocated and expanded to Stephenson Avenue, where it had 50 beds and a backhouse containing a 10-cot tubercular ward. It gradually transformed from a hospital to a general hospital. Cedars of Lebanon could accommodate 279 patients, in 1918, the Bikur Cholim Society opened a second Jewish hospital, the Bikur Cholim Hospice, when the Great Influenza Pandemic hit America. In 1921, the relocated to an eight-bed facility in Boyle Heights and was renamed Bikur Cholim Hospital. In 1923 the Bikur Cholim Hospital became Mount Sinai Home for the Incurables, on November 7,1926, a newly named Mount Sinai Hospital moved to a 50-bed facility on Bonnie Beach Place. In 1950, Emma and Hyman Levine donated their property adjacent to Beverly Hills, the original building stood until 1994, when it was damaged in the Northridge earthquake. Cedars of Lebanon and Mount Sinai Hospitals merged in 1961 to form Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, donations from the Max Factor Family Foundation allowed the construction of the current main hospital building, which broke ground on November 5,1972, and opened on April 3,1976. In 1994, the Cedars-Sinai Health System was established, comprising the Cedars-Sinai Medical Care Foundation, the Burns and Allen Research Institute, named for George Burns and his wife, Gracie Allen, is located inside the Barbara and Marvin Davis Research Building. Opened in 1996, it houses biomedical research aimed at discovering genetic, molecular, in 2006, Cedars-Sinai added the Saperstein Critical Care Tower with 150 ICU beds. In 2008, Cedars-Sinai served 54,947 inpatients and 350,405 outpatients, Cedars-Sinai received high rankings in 11 of the 16 specialties, ranking in the top 10 for digestive disorders and in the top 25 for five other specialties as listed below
