Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, public service outside the civil service. It was established on 4 June 1917 by King George V and comprises five classes across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two of which make the recipient either a knight if male or dame if female. There is the related British Empire Medal, whose recipients are affiliated with, but not members of, the order. Recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire were made on the nomination of the United Kingdom, the self-governing Dominions of the Empire and the Viceroy of India. Nominations continue today from Commonwealth countries that participate in recommending British honours. Most Commonwealth countries ceased recommendations for appointments to the Order of the British Empire when they created their own honours; the five classes of appointment to the Order are, in descending order of precedence: Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Knight Commander or Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The senior two ranks of Knight or Dame Grand Cross, Knight or Dame Commander, entitle their members to use the title of Sir for men and Dame for women before their forename.
Most members are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Commonwealth realms that use the Imperial system of honours and awards. Honorary knighthoods are appointed to citizens of nations where the Queen is not head of state, may permit use of post-nominal letters but not the title of Sir or Dame. Honorary appointees are, referred to as Sir or Dame – Bob Geldof, for example. Honorary appointees who become a citizen of a Commonwealth realm can convert their appointment from honorary to substantive enjoy all privileges of membership of the order, including use of the title of Sir and Dame for the senior two ranks of the Order. An example is Irish broadcaster Terry Wogan, appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the Order in 2005, on successful application for British citizenship, held alongside his Irish citizenship, was made a substantive member and subsequently styled as Sir Terry Wogan. King George V founded the Order to fill gaps in the British honours system: The Orders of the Garter, of St Patrick honoured royals, peers and eminent military commanders.
In particular, King George V wished to create an Order to honour many thousands of those who had served in a variety of non-combatant roles during the First World War. When first established, the Order had only one division. However, in 1918, soon after its foundation, it was formally divided into Military and Civil Divisions; the Order's motto is For the Empire. At the foundation of the Order, the'Medal of the Order of the British Empire' was instituted, to serve as a lower award granting recipients affiliation but not membership. In 1922, this was renamed the'British Empire Medal', it stopped being awarded by the United Kingdom as part of the 1993 reforms to the honours system, but was again awarded beginning in 2012, starting with 293 BEMs awarded for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. In addition, the BEM is awarded by some other Commonwealth nations. In 2004, a report entitled "A Matter of Honour: Reforming Our Honours System" by a Commons committee recommended to phase out the Order of the British Empire, as its title was "now considered to be unacceptable, being thought to embody values that are no longer shared by many of the country's population".
The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order, appoints all other members of the Order. The next most senior member is the Grand Master, of whom there have been three: Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales; the Order is limited to 300 Knights and Dames Grand Cross, 845 Knights and Dames Commander, 8,960 Commanders. There are no limits applied to the total number of members of the fourth and fifth classes, but no more than 858 Officers and 1,464 Members may be appointed per year. Foreign appointees, as honorary members, do not contribute to the numbers restricted to the Order as full members do. Although the Order of the British Empire has by far the highest number of members of the British Orders of Chivalry, with over 100,000 living members worldwide, there are fewer appointments to knighthoods than in other orders. Though men can be knighted separately from an order of chivalry, women cannot, so the rank of Knight/Dame Commander of the Order is the lowest rank of damehood, second-lowest of knighthood.
Because of this, an appointment as Dame Commander is made in circumstances in which a man would be created a Knight Bachelor. For example, by convention, female judges of the High Court of Justice are created Dames Commander after appointment, while male judges
Coffs Harbour
Coffs Harbour is a city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, 540 km north of Sydney, 390 km south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with an estimated population of 70,000 in 2017. Coffs Harbour's economy was once based on bananas, now being superseded by blueberries as well as tourism and fishing; the wider region is known as the Bananacoast. The city has a campus of Southern Cross University, a public and a private hospital, several radio stations, three major shopping centres. Coffs Harbour is including a marine national park. There are regular passenger flights each day to Sydney and Melbourne departing from Coffs Harbour Airport. Coffs Harbour is accessible by road, by NSW TrainLink, by regular bus services. Coffs Harbour is a regional city along the Pacific Highway between The Gold Coast, it has become a major service centre for those living between South West Rocks in the south and Grafton to the north. Sawtell, 10 km south along Hogbin Drive from the city has become a satellite suburb of Coffs Harbour.
The surrounding region is dominated by coastal resorts and apartments with hinterland hills and mountains covered by forests, banana plantations, other farms. It is the only place in New South Wales; the Bananacoast Community Credit Union is headquartered in Coffs Harbour. The greater Coffs Harbour city is broken up into several suburb and precinct areas including: The city is surrounded by outlying towns which are referred to by locals as suburbs of the Coffs Coast Region: By the early 1900s, the Coffs Harbour area had become an important timber production centre. Before the opening of the North Coast Railway Line, the only way to transport large items of heavy but low value, such as timber, was by coastal shipping; this meant sawmillers on the North Coast were dependent on jetties either in rivers or off beaches for exporting their timber. Timber tramways were constructed to connect the timber-getting areas, the sawmills and jetties built into the ocean at Coffs Harbour. Coffs Harbour owes its name to John Korff, who named the area Korff's Harbour when he was forced to take shelter from a storm in the area in 1847.
The name was accidentally changed by the surveyor for the crown when he reserved land in the area during 1861. Coffs Harbour has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: 1 Breakwater Road: Ferguson's Cottage According to the 2016 Census the population of the suburb of Coffs Harbour is 25,752; this is an increase from 24,581 in 2011. 52.5% of the population is female in contrast to the national average of 50.7%. The average age is 43, higher than the national average of 38. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.6% of the population. 75.5% of residents reported being born in Australia. Other than Australia the most common countries of birth are England, New Zealand, Myanmar and Germany. 62.2% of residents reported both their parents being born in Australia higher than the national average of 47.3%. 82.1% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Punjabi 0.9%, Chin Haka 0.5%, Arabic 0.4%, Spanish 0.4% and Dari 0.4%. The top religious response in Coffs Harbour are Catholic 20.0%, Anglican 17.9% and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.9%.
29.3 % declared 11.1 % did not submit a response. Coffs Harbour has a humid subtropical climate with marked seasonality of rainfall; the city is sunny, receiving 122.1 clear days annually, higher than Brisbane and Cairns. Summers are warm and humid. Winters are mild and drier. Coffs Harbour was the hub for a thriving banana industry. One of the biggest attractions is the Big Banana, one of the first of Australia's Big Things, with the World's Largest Banana celebrating the region's best known export. There is a popular underwater diving spot on a small natural reef; the Coffs Harbour Jetty is an important timber wharf where coastal shipping once moved the timber from the hinterland. The jetty area is the subject of current planning by Council and consultants to develop a cultural precinct and rejuvenated residential area. Nearby, the Solitary Islands Marine Park preserves a diverse underwater ecosystem that mirrors the terrestrial biodiversity, covering the southern limit of northern tropical species and the northern limits of the southern temperate species.
Muttonbird Island is accessible by walking along the breakwater from the harbour, with the nature reserve protecting a significant wedge-tailed shearwater breeding site. The Muttonbird Island footpath leads to a viewing platform where whales are spotted between June and November. There are many national parks and marine parks surrounding the city, including: Bellinger River National Park Bindarri National Park Bongil Bongil National Park Cascade National Park Coffs Coast Regional Park Dorrigo National Park Hayden Dent Nature Reserve Junuy Juluum National Park Moonee Beach Nature Reserve Nymboi-Binderay National Park Solitary Islands Marine Park South Solita
Olympic Order
The Olympic Order is the highest award of the Olympic Movement and is awarded for distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, i.e. recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. It was established in May 1975 by the International Olympic Committee as a successor to the Olympic Certificate; the Olympic Order had three grades. In 1984, at the 87th IOC Session in Sarajevo, it was decided that in future there would be no distinction between the silver and bronze order; the gold order would continue to be awarded in exceptional circumstances. Traditionally, the IOC bestows the Olympic Order upon the chief national organiser at the closing ceremony of each respective Olympic Games; the insignia of the Olympic Order is in the form of a collar, in Gold, Silver or Bronze according to grade. A lapel badge, in the form of the five rings in Gold and Bronze according to grade, is presented to recipients to wear as appropriate. Nadia Comăneci is the only athlete to be awarded the Olympic Order twice.
She is the youngest recipient of Olympic Order since 1984 when she was only 23 years old at the time of award. The following is a list of recipients of the Olympic Order. Following is the list of recipients of Olympic Order with some missing data like year of award and colour of award. Olympic Symbols Bertoni, Milano Recipients of the Olympic Order Olympic Cup Pierre de Coubertin Medal Media related to Olympic Order at Wikimedia Commons
Fanny Blankers-Koen
Francina "Fanny" Elsje Blankers-Koen was a Dutch track and field athlete, best known for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She competed there as a 30-year-old mother of two, earning her the nickname "the flying housewife", was the most successful athlete at the event. Having started competing in athletics in 1935, she took part in the 1936 Summer Olympics a year later. Although international competition was stopped by World War II, Blankers-Koen set several world records during that period, in events as diverse as the long jump, the high jump, sprint and hurdling events. Apart from her four Olympic titles, she won five European titles and 58 Dutch championships, set or tied 12 world records – the last, pentathlon, in 1951 aged 33, she retired from athletics in 1955, after which she became captain of the Dutch female track and field team. In 1999, she was voted "Female Athlete of the Century" by the International Association of Athletics Federations, her Olympic victories are credited with helping to eliminate the belief that age and motherhood were barriers to success in women's sport.
Blankers-Koen was born on 26 April 1918 in Lage Vuursche to Helena Koen. Her father was a government official who discus, she had five brothers. As a teenager, she enjoyed tennis, gymnastics, ice skating and running. Standing 1.75 m, she was a natural athlete. It soon became clear she had a talent for sports. A swimming coach advised her to concentrate on running because there were several top swimmers in the Netherlands at that time, she would have a better chance to qualify for the Olympics in a track event, her first appearance in the sport was in 1935, aged 17. Her first competition was a disappointment, but in her third race, she set a national record in the 800 m. Fanny Koen soon made the Dutch team. At that time, 800 m was considered too physically demanding for female contestants, had been removed from the Olympic programme after 1928; the following year, her coach and future husband, Jan Blankers, a former Olympic triple-jumper who had participated in the 1928 Olympics, encouraged her to enter the trials for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
Only eighteen years old, she was selected to compete in the 4 × 100 m relay. At the Berlin Olympics, the high jump and the 4 × 100 m relay competitions were held on the same day. In the high jump, she took fifth place, she gained the autograph of American athlete Jesse Owens. Koen rose to the top. In 1938, she ran her first world record, she won her first international medals. At the European Championships in Vienna, she won the bronze in both the 100 and 200 m, which were both won by Stanisława Walasiewicz. Many observers, Koen herself, expected her to do well at the upcoming Olympics, which were due to be held in Helsinki in July 1940. However, the outbreak of World War II put a stop to the preparations; the Olympics were formally cancelled on 2 May 1940. Just prior to the invasion, Koen had become engaged, on 29 August 1940, she married Jan Blankers, thereupon changing her name to Blankers-Koen. Blankers was a sports journalist and the coach of the Dutch women's athletics team though he thought women should not compete in sports – not an unusual opinion at the time.
However, his attitude toward female athletes changed. When Blankers-Koen gave birth to her first child, Jan Junior, in 1942, Dutch media automatically assumed her career would be over. Top female athletes who were married were rare at the time, it was considered inconceivable that a mother would be an athlete. Blankers-Koen and her husband had other plans, she resumed training only weeks after their son's birth. During the war, domestic competition in sports continued in German-occupied Holland, Blankers-Koen set six new world records between 1942 and 1944; the first came in 1942. The following year, she did better. First, she improved the high jump record by an unequalled 5 cm from 1.66 m to 1.71 m in a specially arranged competition in Amsterdam on 30 May. She tied the 100 m world record, but this was never recognised as she competed against men when setting the record, she closed out the season with a new world record in the long jump, 6.25 m on 19 September 1943. The latter record would stand until 1954.
Circumstances were not easy, it became harder to get enough food for an athlete in training. Despite this, Blankers-Koen managed to break the 100 yd world record in May 1944. At the same meet, she ran with the relay team; the German press was excited. Months she helped break the 4 × 200 m record, held by Germany. In an act of defiance, the women wore outfits with national symbols while setting the record; the winter of 1944–45, known as the Hongerwinter, was severe, there was a great lack of food in the big cities. She gave birth to a daughter, Fanneke, in 1945 and in contrast to her previous post-birth activities she took seven months off from sport and only undertook limited training; the first major international event after the war w
City of London
The City of London is a city and county that contains the historic centre and the primary central business district of London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, but the agglomeration has since grown far beyond the City's borders; the City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. Administratively, it forms one of the 33 local authority districts of Greater London, it is a separate county of England, being an enclave surrounded by Greater London. It is the smallest county in the United Kingdom; the City of London is referred to as the City and is colloquially known as the Square Mile, as it is 1.12 sq mi in area. Both of these terms are often used as metonyms for the United Kingdom's trading and financial services industries, which continue a notable history of being based in the City; the name London is now ordinarily used for a far wider area than just the City.
London most denotes the sprawling London metropolis, or the 32 London boroughs, in addition to the City of London itself. This wider usage of London is documented as far back as 1888; the local authority for the City, namely the City of London Corporation, is unique in the UK and has some unusual responsibilities for a local council, such as being the police authority. It is unusual in having responsibilities and ownerships beyond its boundaries; the Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, an office separate from the Mayor of London. The Lord Mayor, as of November 2018, is Peter Estlin; the City is a major business and financial centre. Throughout the 19th century, the City was the world's primary business centre, it continues to be a major meeting point for businesses. London came top in the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index, published in 2008; the insurance industry is focused around Lloyd's building. A secondary financial district exists at Canary Wharf, 2.5 miles to the east.
The City work there. About three quarters of the jobs in the City of London are in the financial and associated business services sectors; the legal profession forms a major component of the northern and western sides of the City in the Temple and Chancery Lane areas where the Inns of Court are located, of which two—Inner Temple and Middle Temple—fall within the City of London boundary. Known as "Londinium", the Roman legions established a settlement on the current site of the City of London around 43 AD, its bridge over the River Thames turned the city into a road nexus and major port, serving as a major commercial centre in Roman Britain until its abandonment during the 5th century. Archaeologist Leslie Wallace notes that, because extensive archaeological excavation has not revealed any signs of a significant pre-Roman presence, "arguments for a purely Roman foundation of London are now common and uncontroversial."At its height, the Roman city had a population of 45,000–60,000 inhabitants.
Londinium was an ethnically diverse city, with inhabitants from across the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, North Africa. The Romans built the London Wall some time between 190 and 225 AD; the boundaries of the Roman city were similar to those of the City of London today, though the City extends further west than Londonium's Ludgate, the Thames was undredged and thus wider than it is today, with Londonium's shoreline north of the City's present shoreline. The Romans built a bridge across the river, as early as 50 AD, near to today's London Bridge. By the time the London Wall was constructed, the City's fortunes were in decline, it faced problems of plague and fire; the Roman Empire entered a long period of instability and decline, including the Carausian Revolt in Britain. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, the city was under attack from Picts and Saxon raiders; the decline continued, both for Londinium and the Empire, in 410 AD the Romans withdrew from Britain.
Many of the Roman public buildings in Londinium by this time had fallen into decay and disuse, after the formal withdrawal the city became uninhabited. The centre of trade and population moved away from the walled Londinium to Lundenwic, a settlement to the west in the modern day Strand/Aldwych/Covent Garden area. During the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, the London area came in turn under the Kingdoms of Essex and Wessex, though from the mid 8th century it was under the control or threat of the Vikings. Bede records that in 604 AD St Augustine consecrated Mellitus as the first bishop to the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Saxons and their king, Sæberht. Sæberht's uncle and overlord, Æthelberht, king of Kent, built a church dedicated to St Paul in London, as the seat of the new bishop, it is assumed, although unproven, that this first Anglo-Saxon cathedral stood on the same site as the medieval and the present cathedrals. Alfred the Great, King of Wessex and arguably the first king of the "English", occupied and began the resettlement of the old Roman walled area, in 886, appointed his son-in-law Earl Æthelred of Mercia over it as part of their reconquest of the Viking occupied parts of Englan
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground known as "The G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Victoria. Home to the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the 10th largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, the largest cricket ground by capacity, has the tallest light towers of any sporting venue; the MCG is within walking distance of the city centre and is served by Richmond and Jolimont stations, as well as the route 70 tram and the route 246 bus. It is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct. Since it was built in 1853, the MCG has been in a state of constant renewal, it served as the centrepiece stadium of the 1956 Summer Olympics, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and two Cricket World Cups: 1992 and 2015. It is famous for its role in the development of international cricket; the annual Boxing Day Test is one of the MCG's most popular events. Referred to as "the spiritual home of Australian rules football" for its strong association with the sport since it was codified in 1859, it hosts Australian Football League matches in the winter, with at least one game held there in most rounds of the home-and-away season.
The stadium fills to capacity for the AFL Grand Final. Home to the National Sports Museum, the MCG has hosted other major sporting events, including international rules football matches between Australia and Ireland, international rugby union matches, State of Origin games, FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Concerts and other cultural events are held at the venue, with the record attendance standing at around 130,000 for a Billy Graham evangelistic crusade in 1959. Grandstand redevelopments and occupational health and safety legislation have limited the maximum seating capacity to 95,000 with an additional 5,000 standing room capacity, bringing the total capacity to 100,024; the MCG is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and was included on the Australian National Heritage List in 2005. Journalist Greg Baum called it "a shrine, a citadel, a landmark, a totem" that "symbolises Melbourne to the world". Founded in November 1838 the Melbourne Cricket Club selected the current MCG site in 1853 after playing at several grounds around Melbourne.
The club's first game was against a military team at the Old Mint site, at the corner of William and Latrobe Streets. Burial Hill became its home ground in January 1839, but the area was set aside for Botanical Gardens and the club was moved on in October 1846, to an area on the south bank of the Yarra about where the Herald and Weekly Times building is today; the area was subject to flooding, forcing the club to move again, this time to a ground in South Melbourne. It was not long before the club was forced out again, this time because of the expansion of the railway; the South Melbourne ground was in the path of Victoria's first steam railway line from Melbourne to Sandridge. Governor La Trobe offered the MCC a choice of three sites; this last option, now Yarra Park, had been used by Aborigines until 1835. Between 1835 and the early 1860s it was known as the Government or Police Paddock and served as a large agistment area for the horses of the Mounted Police, Border Police and Native Police.
The north-eastern section housed the main barracks for the Mounted Police in the Port Phillip district. In 1850 it was part of a 200-acre stretch set aside for public recreation extending from Governor La Trobe's Jolimont Estate to the Yarra River. By 1853 it had become a busy promenade for Melbourne residents. An MCC sub-committee chose the Richmond Park option because it was level enough for cricket but sloped enough to prevent inundation; that ground was located. At the same time the Richmond Cricket Club was given occupancy rights to six acres for another cricket ground on the eastern side of the Government Paddock. At the time of the land grant the Government stipulated that the ground was to be used for cricket and cricket only; this condition remained until 1933 when the State Government allowed the MCG's uses to be broadened to include other purposes when not being used for cricket. In 1863 a corridor of land running diagonally across Yarra Park was granted to the Hobson's Bay Railway and divided Yarra Park from the river.
The Mounted Police barracks were operational until the 1880s when it was subdivided into the current residential precinct bordered by Vale Street. The area closest to the river was developed for sporting purposes in years including Olympic venues in 1956; the first grandstand at the MCG was the original wooden members’ stand built in 1854, while the first public grandstand was a 200-metre long 6000-seat temporary structure built in 1861. Another grandstand seating 2000, facing one way to the cricket ground and the other way to the park where football was played, was built in 1876 for the 1877 visit of James Lillywhite's English cricket team, it was during this tour. In 1881 the original members' stand was sold to the Richmond Cricket Club for £55. A new brick stand, considered at the time to be the world's finest cricket facility, was built in its place; the foundation stone was laid by Prince George of Wales and Prince Albert Victor on 4 July and the stand opened in December that year. It was als
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, has a population of 650,058; the city's urban area has a population of 1,268,296, making it by far the most populous urban area in Finland as well as the country's most important center for politics, finance and research. Helsinki is located 80 kilometres north of Tallinn, Estonia, 400 km east of Stockholm, 390 km west of Saint Petersburg, Russia, it has close historical ties with these three cities. Together with the cities of Espoo and Kauniainen, surrounding commuter towns, Helsinki forms the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, which has a population of nearly 1.5 million. Considered to be Finland's only metropolis, it is the world's northernmost metro area with over one million people as well as the northernmost capital of an EU member state. After Stockholm and Oslo, Helsinki is the third largest municipality in the Nordic countries.
The city is served by the international Helsinki Airport, located in the neighboring city of Vantaa, with frequent service to many destinations in Europe and Asia. Helsinki was the World Design Capital for 2012, the venue for the 1952 Summer Olympics, the host of the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest. Helsinki has one of the highest urban standards of living in the world. In 2011, the British magazine Monocle ranked Helsinki the world's most liveable city in its liveable cities index. In the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2016 liveability survey, Helsinki was ranked ninth among 140 cities. According to a theory presented in the 1630s, settlers from Hälsingland in central Sweden had arrived to what is now known as the Vantaa River and called it Helsingå, which gave rise to the names of Helsinge village and church in the 1300s; this theory is questionable, because dialect research suggests that the settlers arrived from Uppland and nearby areas. Others have proposed the name as having been derived from the Swedish word helsing, an archaic form of the word hals, referring to the narrowest part of a river, the rapids.
Other Scandinavian cities at similar geographic locations were given similar names at the time, e.g. Helsingør in Denmark and Helsingborg in Sweden; when a town was founded in Forsby village in 1548, it was named Helsinge fors, "Helsinge rapids". The name refers to the Vanhankaupunginkoski rapids at the mouth of the river; the town was known as Helsinge or Helsing, from which the contemporary Finnish name arose. Official Finnish Government documents and Finnish language newspapers have used the name Helsinki since 1819, when the Senate of Finland moved itself into the city from Turku; the decrees issued in Helsinki were dated with Helsinki as the place of issue. This is; as part of the Grand Duchy of Finland in the Russian Empire, Helsinki was known as Gelsingfors in Russian. In Helsinki slang, the city is called Stadi. Hesa, is not used by natives of the city. Helsset is the Northern Sami name of Helsinki. In the Iron Age the area occupied by present day Helsinki was inhabited by Tavastians, they used the area for fishing and hunting, but due to a lack of archeological finds it is difficult to say how extensive their settlements were.
Pollen analysis has shown that there were cultivating settlements in the area in the 10th century and surviving historical records from the 14th century describe Tavastian settlements in the area. Swedes colonized the coastline of the Helsinki region in the late 13th century after the successful Second Crusade to Finland, which led to the defeat of the Tavastians. Helsinki was established as a trading town by King Gustav I of Sweden in 1550 as the town of Helsingfors, which he intended to be a rival to the Hanseatic city of Reval. In order to populate his newly founded town, the King issued an order to resettle the bourgeoisie of Porvoo, Ekenäs, Rauma and Ulvila into the town. Little came of the plans as Helsinki remained a tiny town plagued by poverty and diseases; the plague of 1710 killed the greater part of the inhabitants of Helsinki. The construction of the naval fortress Sveaborg in the 18th century helped improve Helsinki's status, but it was not until Russia defeated Sweden in the Finnish War and annexed Finland as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809 that the town began to develop into a substantial city.
Russians besieged the Sveaborg fortress during the war, about one quarter of the town was destroyed in an 1808 fire. Russian Emperor Alexander I of Russia moved the Finnish capital from Turku to Helsinki in 1812 to reduce Swedish influence in Finland, to bring the capital closer to Saint Petersburg. Following the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, the Royal Academy of Turku, which at the time was the country's only university, was relocated to Helsinki and became the modern University of Helsinki; the move helped set it on a path of continuous growth. This transformation is apparent in the downtown core, rebuilt in the neoclassical style to resemble Saint Petersburg to a plan by the German-born architect C. L. Engel; as elsewhere, technological advancements such as railroads and industrialization were key factors behind the city's growth. Despite the tumultuous nature of Finnish history during the first half of the 20th century, Helsinki continued its steady development. A landmark e
