1.
Pierre S. du Pont
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Pierre Samuel du Pont was an American entrepreneur, businessman, philanthropist and member of the prominent du Pont family. He was president of the E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company from 1915 to 1919 and he also managed General Motors from 1915-1920, became GMs president in 1920, and served on GMs Board of Directors until 1928. Among other notable accomplishments, he was among the Founding Board of Directors of the Empire State Building which opened in 1931, Du Pont was named after his great-great-grandfather, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, a French economist and patriarch of the du Pont family. Pierre S. du Pont was born January 15,1870 the family estate near Wilmington and he was the eldest of three sons born to Lammot du Pont and Mary Belin. He graduated with a degree in chemistry from MIT in 1890 and he and his cousin Francis Gurney du Pont developed the first American smokeless powder in 1892 at the Carneys Point plant in New Jersey. Most of the 1890s he spent working with the management at a steel firm partly owned by DuPont, here he learned to deal with money from the companys president, Arthur Moxham. In 1899, unsatisfied with how conservative DuPonts management was, he quit and they set about buying smaller powder firms. Until 1914, during Coleman du Ponts illness, Pierre du Pont served as treasurer, executive vice-president, in 1915, a group headed by Pierre, which included outsiders, bought Colemans stock. Alfred was offended and sued Pierre for breach of trust, the case was settled in Pierres favor four years later, but his relationship with Alfred suffered greatly, and they did not speak after that. Pierre served as DuPonts president until 1919, Pierre gave the DuPont company a modern management structure and modern accounting policies and made the concept of return on investment primary. During World War I, the company very quickly due to advance payments on Allied munition contracts. He also established many other DuPont interests in other industries and he was featured on the cover of Time magazine January 31,1927 issue. That same year he was elected a member of the Delaware Society of the Cincinnati. Pierre du Pont resigned the chairmanship of GM in response to GM President Alfred Sloans dispute with Raskob over Raskobs involvement with the Democratic National Committee, when du Pont retired from its Board of Directors, GM was the largest company in the world. Du Pont was one of the first of many of his members to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Both his younger brothers, Irénée du Pont and Lammot du Pont II, Du Pont, his relations and the DuPont corporation were generous benefactors over the years, and helped set up multiple endowments, fellowships, scholarships and faculty chairs for the university. When MIT moved to its current location in Cambridge in 1917, Pierre, T. Coleman du Pont and Charles Hayden donated $215,000 to house the Department of Mining Engineering and Metallurgy. Du Pont served on boards and committees, and from 1916-1951 he was a member of the MIT Corporation
2.
Greenville, Delaware
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Greenville is a census-designated place in New Castle County, Delaware, United States. The population was 2,326 at the 2010 census, the CDP is an affluent bedroom community and a suburb of Wilmington, Delaware and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The community is home to many Du Pont family descendants. Greenville is located at 39°46′44″N 75°35′54″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 2.74 square miles, of which 2.72 square miles is land and 0.02 square miles is water. As of the census of 2010, there were 2,326 people,1,076 households, the population density was 849 people per square mile. There were 1,395 housing units at a density of 509.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the CDP was 85. 7% White,4. 8% African American,7. 2% Asian,0. 9% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 3. 4% of the population. 34. 5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12. 6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.79. In the CDP, the population was out with 21. 1% under the age of 18,3. 7% from 18 to 24,22. 5% from 25 to 44,28. 8% from 45 to 64. The median age was 46.6 years, for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males. According to the American Community Survey, the income for a household in the CDP is $133,864. The per capita income for the CDP was $109,521, none of the families and 2. 5% of the population are living below the poverty line. Greenville and Henlopen Acres are the two richest places in Delaware, all but tied for highest personal incomes, averaging over $80,000 per annum
3.
Nemours
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Nemours is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Nemours is located on the Loing and its canal, c.42 km south of Melun, Nemours is supposed to derive its name from the woods in the midst of which it formerly stood, and discoveries of Gallo-Roman remains indicate its early origin. It was captured by the English in 1420, but derives its historical importance rather from the lordship to which it gave its name, in 1585 a treaty revoking previous concessions to the Protestants was concluded at Nemours between Catherine de Medici and the Guises. The church, which dates mainly from the century, has a handsome wooden spire. The feudal castle, erected around 1120 was turned into a museum in the 20th century and it has a central keep with four rounded towers. A statue of the mathematician Bézout, a native of the town, was erected in 1885, in the vicinity is a group of fine sandstone rocks, and sand is extensively quarried. Official site Nemours tourism office website 1999 Land Use, from IAURIF French Ministry of Culture list for Nemours Map of Nemours on Michelin
4.
French Revolution
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Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV
5.
DuPont
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In the 20th century, DuPont developed many polymers such as Vespel, neoprene, nylon, Corian, Teflon, Mylar, Kapton, Kevlar, Zemdrain, M5 fiber, Nomex, Tyvek, Sorona, Corfam, and Lycra. DuPont developed Freon for the refrigerant industry, and later more environmentally friendly refrigerants and it also developed synthetic pigments and paints including ChromaFlair. In 2014, DuPont was the fourth largest chemical company based on market capitalization. Its stock price is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, DuPont was founded in 1802 by Éleuthère Irénée du Pont, using capital raised in France and gunpowder machinery imported from France. It began as a manufacturer of gunpowder, as du Pont noticed that the industry in North America was lagging behind Europe, the Eleutherian Mills site is now a museum and a National Historic Landmark. DuPont continued to expand, moving into the production of dynamite, in 1902, DuPonts president, Eugene du Pont, died, and the surviving partners sold the company to three great-grandsons of the original founder. Charles Lee Reese was appointed as director and the company began centralizing their research departments, the company subsequently purchased several smaller chemical companies, and in 1912 these actions gave rise to government scrutiny under the Sherman Antitrust Act. The courts declared that the dominance of the explosives business constituted a monopoly. The court ruling resulted in the creation of the Hercules Powder Company, at the time of divestment, DuPont retained the single base nitrocellulose powders, while Hercules held the double base powders combining nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine. DuPont subsequently developed the Improved Military Rifle line of smokeless powders, in 1910, DuPont published a brochure entitled Farming with Dynamite. DuPont also established two of the first industrial laboratories in the United States, where began the work on cellulose chemistry, lacquers. DuPont Central Research was established at the DuPont Experimental Station, across the Brandywine Creek from the powder mills. In 1914, Pierre S. du Pont invested in the automobile industry. The following year he was invited to sit on GMs board of directors, the DuPont company would assist the struggling automobile company further with a $25 million purchase of GM stock. In 1920, Pierre S. du Pont was elected president of General Motors, under du Ponts guidance, GM became the number one automobile company in the world. However, in 1957, because of DuPonts influence within GM, in the 1920s, DuPont continued its emphasis on materials science, hiring Wallace Carothers to work on polymers in 1928. Carothers invented neoprene, a rubber, the first polyester superpolymer. The invention of Teflon followed a few years later, DuPont introduced phenothiazine as an insecticide in 1935
6.
Huguenots
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Huguenots are the ethnoreligious group of French Protestants who follow the Reformed tradition. It was used frequently to members of the French Reformed Church until the beginning of the 19th century. The term has its origin in 16th-century France, Huguenot numbers peaked near an estimated two million by 1562, concentrated mainly in the southern and western parts of France. As Huguenots gained influence and more openly displayed their faith, Catholic hostility grew, in spite of political concessions, a series of religious conflicts followed, known as the French Wars of Religion, fought intermittently from 1562 to 1598. The Huguenots were led by Jeanne dAlbret, her son, the future Henry IV, the wars ended with the Edict of Nantes, which granted the Huguenots substantial religious, political, and military autonomy. Huguenot rebellions in the 1620s prompted the abolishment of their political and they retained religious provisions of the Edict of Nantes until the rule of Louis XIV. Nevertheless, a minority of Huguenots remained and faced continued persecution under Louis XV. By the death of Louis XV in 1774, French Calvinism was almost completely wiped out, persecution of Protestants officially ended with the Edict of Versailles, signed by Louis XVI in 1787. Two years later, with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 and they also spread to the Dutch Cape Colony in South Africa, the Dutch East Indies, the Caribbean, New Netherland, and several of the English colonies in North America. Small contingents of families went to Orthodox Russia and Catholic Quebec, a term used originally in derision, Huguenot has unclear origins. Geneva was John Calvins adopted home and the centre of the Calvinist movement, the label Huguenot was purportedly first applied in France to those conspirators involved in the Amboise plot of 1560, a foiled attempt to wrest power in France from the influential House of Guise. The move would have had the effect of fostering relations with the Swiss. Thus, Hugues plus Eidgenosse by way of Huisgenoten supposedly became Huguenot, a version of this complex hypothesis is promoted by O. I. A. Roche, who writes in his book, The Days of the Upright, A History of the Huguenots, that Huguenot is, a combination of a Dutch and a German word. Gallicised into Huguenot, often used deprecatingly, the word became, Some disagree with such double or triple non-French linguistic origins, arguing that for the word to have spread into common use in France, it must have originated in the French language. The Hugues hypothesis argues that the name was derived by association with Hugues Capet, king of France and he was regarded by the Gallicans and Protestants as a noble man who respected peoples dignity and lives. Janet Gray and other supporters of the hypothesis suggest that the name huguenote would be equivalent to little Hugos. It was in place in Tours that the prétendus réformés habitually gathered at night
7.
French nobility
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The French nobility was a privileged social class in France during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period to the revolution in 1790. The nobility was revived in 1805 with limited rights as an elite class from the First Empire to the fall of the July Monarchy in 1848. Hereditary titles, without privileges, continued to be granted until the Second Empire fell in 1870 and they survive among their descendants as a social convention and as part of the legal name of the corresponding individuals. In the political system of pre-Revolutionary France, the nobility made up the Second Estate of the Estates General, although membership in the noble class was mainly inherited, it was not a fully closed order. New individuals were appointed to the nobility by the monarchy, or they could purchase rights and titles, sources differ about the actual number of nobles in France, however, proportionally, it was among the smallest noble classes in Europe. For the year 1789, French historian François Bluche gives a figure of 140,000 nobles and states that about 5% of nobles could claim descent from feudal nobility before the 15th century, with a total population of 28 million, this would represent merely 0. 5%. Historian Gordon Wright gives a figure of 300,000 nobles, in terms of land holdings, at the time of the revolution, noble estates comprised about one-fifth of the land. The French nobility had specific legal and financial rights and prerogatives, the first official list of these prerogatives was established relatively late, under Louis XI after 1440, and included the right to hunt, to wear a sword and, in principle, to possess a seigneurie. Nobles were also granted an exemption from paying the taille, except for lands they might possess in some regions of France. Furthermore, certain ecclesiastic, civic, and military positions were reserved for nobles and these feudal privileges are often termed droits de féodalité dominante. With the exception of a few isolated cases, serfdom had ceased to exist in France by the 15th century, in early modern France, nobles nevertheless maintained a great number of seigneurial privileges over the free peasants that worked lands under their control. They could, for example, levy the tax, an annual tax on lands leased or held by vassals. Nobles could also charge banalités for the right to use the lords mills, ovens, alternatively, a noble could demand a portion of vassals harvests in return for permission to farm land he owned. In the 17th century this system was established in Frances North American possessions. However, the also had responsibilities. Nobles were required to honor, serve, and counsel their king and they were often required to render military service. The rank of noble was forfeitable, certain activities could cause dérogeance, most commercial and manual activities were strictly prohibited, although nobles could profit from their lands by operating mines and forges. The nobility in France was never a closed class
