1.
Vehicle registration plates of Greece
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Greek vehicle registration plates are composed of three letters and four digits per plate. The letters represent the district that issues the plates while the numbers begin from 1000 to 9999, similar plates with digits beginning from 1 to 999 are issued for motorcycles which exceed 50 cc. With the exception of Athens and Thessaloniki, all districts are represented by the first 2 letters, the final letter in the sequence changes in Greek alphabetical order after 9,000 issued plates. For example, Patras plates are ΑΧΑ-1000, where ΑΧ represents the Achaia prefecture of which Patras is the capital, when ΑΧΑ-9999 is reached the plates turn to ΑΧΒ-1000 and this continues until ΑΧΧ is finished. Only the letters from the intersection between the Latin and Greek alphabets by glyph appearance are used, namely Α, Β, Ε, Ζ, Η, Ι, Κ, Μ, Ν, Ο, Ρ, Τ, Υ, Χ. This is because Greece is a party to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. The rule applies in a way in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Combinations used for residents are L-NNNN and are limited. Until 2003, taxis used L-NNNN, the plate was aligned with the prefecture, when number plates were introduced to Greece, they were numbered and in the late 1950s the system was L-NNN and LL-NNN. The letters were Greek letters and Latin letters, respectively, in 1956, the system was NNNNNN. In 1972, they became lettered and the system was LL-NNNN while trucks used L-NNNN, in 1983, the system was LLL-NNNN and the first two letters are prefecture letters. In 2004, the euroband was added, the first 2 of 3 letters of a licence plate usually represent the prefecture where the car was registered. Π. — Disabled in war ΔΟΚ — Test plates ΔΣ — Corps Diplomatique or foreign delegation Ε. Α. or ΕΛ. ΑΣ. — Hellenic Police ΛΣ — Coast Guard ΞΑ — Foreign missions ΕΣ — Hellenic Army ΠΑ — Hellenic Air Force ΠΝ — Hellenic Navy ΠΣ — Fire Guard ΠΚ — President of the Government, i. e
2.
Greece
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Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, historically also known as Hellas, is a country in southeastern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2015. Athens is the capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki. Greece is strategically located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, situated on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. Greece consists of nine regions, Macedonia, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, Epirus, the Aegean Islands, Thrace, Crete. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, the Cretan Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean Basin and the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km in length, featuring a vast number of islands, eighty percent of Greece is mountainous, with Mount Olympus being the highest peak at 2,918 metres. From the eighth century BC, the Greeks were organised into various independent city-states, known as polis, which spanned the entire Mediterranean region and the Black Sea. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC, becoming a part of the Roman Empire and its successor. The Greek Orthodox Church also shaped modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox World, falling under Ottoman dominion in the mid-15th century, the modern nation state of Greece emerged in 1830 following a war of independence. Greeces rich historical legacy is reflected by its 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, among the most in Europe, Greece is a democratic and developed country with an advanced high-income economy, a high quality of life, and a very high standard of living. A founding member of the United Nations, Greece was the member to join the European Communities and has been part of the Eurozone since 2001. Greeces unique cultural heritage, large industry, prominent shipping sector. It is the largest economy in the Balkans, where it is an important regional investor, the names for the nation of Greece and the Greek people differ from the names used in other languages, locations and cultures. The earliest evidence of the presence of human ancestors in the southern Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, all three stages of the stone age are represented in Greece, for example in the Franchthi Cave. Neolithic settlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries and these civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known as Linear A, and the Mycenaeans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Mycenaeans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC and this ushered in a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, in 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the worlds first democratic system of government in Athens
3.
Andreas Papandreou
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Andreas Georgios Papandreou was a Greek economist, a socialist politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics. The son of Georgios Papandreou, Andreas was a Harvard-trained academic and he served two terms as prime minister of Greece. His assumption of power in 1981 influenced the course of Greek political history, in a poll conducted by Kathimerini in 2007, 48% of those polled called Papandreou the most important Greek Prime Minister. In the same poll, the first four years of Papandreous government after Metapolitefsi were voted as the best government Greece ever had, Papandreou was born on the island of Chios, Greece, the son of Zofia Mineyko and the leading Greek liberal politician George Papandreou. His maternal grandfather was Polish-born public figure Zygmunt Mineyko, and his grandmother was Greek. Before university, he attended Athens College a leading school in Greece. He attended the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens from 1937 until 1938 when, during the Fascist Metaxas dictatorship, following representations by his father, he was allowed to leave for the US. In 1943, Papandreou received a PhD degree in economics from Harvard University and he returned to Harvard in 1946 and served as a lecturer and associate professor until 1947. In 1948, he entered into a relationship with University of Minnesota journalism student Margaret Chant, born in 1924, daughter of Douglas Chant and wife Hulda Pfund. After Chant obtained a divorce, and after his own divorce from Christina Rasia, his first wife, Papandreou and they had three sons and a daughter. Papandreou also had, with Swedish actress and TV presenter Ragna Nyblom, an out of wedlock, Emilia Nyblom. Papandreou returned to Greece in 1959, where he headed an economic development research program, in 1960, he was appointed chairman of the board of directors, general director of the Athens Economic Research Center, and advisor to the Bank of Greece. In 1963, his father George Papandreou, head of the Center Union, Andreas became his chief economic advisor. He renounced his American citizenship and was elected to the Greek Parliament in the Greek legislative election,1964 and he immediately became Minister to the First Ministry of State. Papandreou took publicly a neutral stand on the Cold War and wished for Greece to be independent from the United States. He also criticized the presence of American military and intelligence in Greece. Constantine II of Greece refused to endorse this move and essentially forced George Papandreous resignation, Greece entered a period of political polarisation and instability which ended with the coup détat of 21 April 1967. When the Greek colonels led by Georgios Papadopoulos seized power in April 1967, gust Avrakotos, a high- ranking CIA officer in Greece who was close to the colonels who led the coup, advised them to shoot the motherfucker because hes going to come back to haunt you
4.
Battle of Marathon
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The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC, during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis, the battle was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia, under King Darius I, to subjugate Greece. The Greek army decisively defeated the more numerous Persians, marking a point in the Greco-Persian Wars. The Athenians and Eretrians had succeeded in capturing and burning Sardis, in response to this raid, Darius swore to burn down Athens and Eretria. Also he charged one of his servants, to say Master, remember the Athenians, three times before dinner each day. At the time of the battle, Sparta and Athens were the two largest city states, once the Ionian revolt was finally crushed by the Persian victory at the Battle of Lade in 494 BC, Darius began plans to subjugate Greece. In 490 BC, he sent a task force under Datis and Artaphernes across the Aegean, to subjugate the Cyclades. Reaching Euboea in mid-summer after a campaign in the Aegean. The Persian force then sailed for Attica, landing in the bay near the town of Marathon, the Athenians, joined by a small force from Plataea, marched to Marathon, and succeeded in blocking the two exits from the plain of Marathon. The Athenians also sent a message asking for support to the Spartans, when the messenger arrived in Sparta, the Spartans were involved in a religious festival and gave this as a reason for not coming to aid of the Athenians. The Athenians and their allies chose a location for the battle, with marshes and mountainous terrain, Miltiades, the Athenian general, ordered a general attack against the Persians. He reinforced his flanks, luring the Persians best fighters into his center, the inward wheeling flanks enveloped the Persians, routing them. The Persian army broke in panic towards their ships, and large numbers were slaughtered, the defeat at Marathon marked the end of the first Persian invasion of Greece, and the Persian force retreated to Asia. Darius then began raising a new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece, however, in 486 BC, his Egyptian subjects revolted. After Darius died, his son Xerxes I restarted the preparations for an invasion of Greece. The Battle of Marathon was a watershed in the Greco-Persian wars, showing the Greeks that the Persians could be beaten, the battle also showed the Greeks that they were able to win battles without the Spartans, as they had heavily relied on Sparta previously. This win was due to the Athenians, and Marathon raised Greek esteem of them. The main source for the Greco-Persian Wars is the Greek historian Herodotus, Herodotus, who has been called the Father of History, was born in 484 BC in Halicarnassus, Asia Minor
5.
Marathon
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The marathon is a long-distance running race with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres, usually run as a road race. The event was instituted in commemoration of the run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens. The marathon was one of the original modern Olympic events in 1896, more than 800 marathons are held throughout the world each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants. The name Marathon comes from the legend of Philippides or Pheidippides and it is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming νενικήκαμεν, before collapsing and dying. Lucian of Samosata also gives the story, but names the runner Philippides, there is debate about the historical accuracy of this legend. In some Herodotus manuscripts, the name of the runner between Athens and Sparta is given as Philippides, in 1879, Robert Browning wrote the poem Pheidippides. Brownings poem, his story, became part of late 19th century popular culture and was accepted as a historic legend. This route, as it existed when the Olympics were revived in 1896, was approximately 40 kilometres long, and this route is considerably shorter, some 35 kilometres, but includes a very steep initial climb of more than 5 kilometres. When the modern Olympics began in 1896, the initiators and organizers were looking for a great popularizing event, the idea of a marathon race came from Michel Bréal, who wanted the event to feature in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. This idea was supported by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics. The Greeks staged a race for the Olympic marathon on 10 March 1896 that was won by Charilaos Vasilakos in 3 hours and 18 minutes. The winner of the first Olympic marathon, on 10 April 1896, was Spyridon Louis, the marathon of the 2004 Summer Olympics was run on the traditional route from Marathon to Athens, ending at Panathinaiko Stadium, the venue for the 1896 Summer Olympics. The womens marathon was introduced at the 1984 Summer Olympics and was won by Joan Benoit of the United States with a time of 2 hours 24 minutes and 52 seconds. It has become a tradition for the mens Olympic marathon to be the last event of the athletics calendar, often, the mens marathon medals are awarded during the closing ceremony. The Olympic mens record is 2,06,32, set at the 2008 Summer Olympics by Samuel Kamau Wanjiru of Kenya, the Olympic womens record is 2,23,07, set at the 2012 Summer Olympics by Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia. The mens London 2012 Summer Olympic marathon winner was Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda, per capita, the Kalenjin ethnic group of Rift Valley Province in Kenya has produced a highly disproportionate share of marathon and track-and-field winners. Johnny Hayes victory at the 1908 Summer Olympics contributed to the growth of long-distance running and marathoning in the United States. Later that year, races around the season including the Empire City Marathon held on New Years Day 1909 in Yonkers, New York
6.
Constantine II of Greece
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Constantine II was the last King of Greece, reigning from 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy in 1973. He acceded as king following the death of his father King Paul in March 1964, later that year he married Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark with whom he eventually had five children. The coup was successful, leaving Constantine, as head of state, as a result, he reluctantly agreed to inaugurate the putschist government on the condition that it be made up largely of civilian ministers. On 13 December 1967, he was forced to flee the country and he formally remained the head of state in exile until 1 June 1973, when the junta abolished the monarchy. This abolition was confirmed after the fall of the junta by a plebiscite on 8 December 1974, Constantine, who was not allowed to return to Greece to campaign, accepted the results of the plebiscite. Constantine was born at Psychiko, a suburb in northern Athens, the nephew of King George II and his mother was Crown Princess Frederica, the former Princess Frederica of Hanover. Constantines older sister Sofia is the queen consort of Spain, while his younger sister. He was one year old when Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany invaded Greece and he returned to Greece with his family in 1946. King George died in 1947, and Constantines father became King Paul and he was educated at a preparatory school and later a boarding school where he was an above average student academically. A fellow student recalled him as, a good chap, a man with all the right instincts. He was at his best on the playing fields, Constantine served in all three armed services, attending the requisite military academies. He also attended the NATO Air Force Special Weapons School in Germany, as well as the University of Athens, in 1960, aged 20, he won an Olympic gold medal in sailing, which was the first Greek gold medal in sailing since the Stockholm 1912 Summer Olympics. He was also a swimmer and had a black belt in karate, with interests in squash, track events. In 1963 Constantine became a member of the International Olympic Committee and he resigned in 1974 because he was no longer a Greek resident, and was made an Honorary IOC Member. In March 1964, King Paul died of cancer, and the 23-year-old Constantine succeeded him as king, prior to this, Constantine had already been appointed as regent for his ailing father. King Pauls long-time prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis regarded him partly responsible for his fall in 1963, however, due to his youth, he was also perceived as a promise of change. It was hoped that the new king and the new prime minister would be able to overcome past dissensions. Initially, relations between the king and Papandreou seemed good, but by 1965, they had deteriorated, the conservative establishment feared the rising influence of Papandreous left-leaning son Andreas, and the outbreak of the purported ASPIDA scandal seemed to confirm their suspicions
7.
Athens
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Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
8.
Chalandri
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Chalandri is a suburb in the northern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. It is a municipality of the Attica region, Chalandri is a suburb in Northern Athens, around 12 kilometres from the centre, its location corresponds with one of the 10 ancient demes of Athens, known as Phlya. The municipality has an area of 10.805 km2, Chalandri was a small village until the rapid expansion of Athens during the 1960s and 1970s. Its built-up area is now continuous with those of the neighbouring suburbs Filothei, Marousi, Vrilissia, Agia Paraskevi, Cholargos, nevertheless, it has still a high ratio of open green areas per citizen in the Athens agglomeration. Several embassies are based in Chalandri and it is one of the largest suburbs in terms of population, with more than 70,000 residents. It holds an independent municipality status since 1944, Chalandri is served by the Chalandri metro station. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Chalandri has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, Agia Varvara Ano Chalandri Doukissis Plakentias Kato Chalandri Patima Metamorfosi Polydroso Toufa Sidera Synoikismos American Community Schools is located in Chalandri. Municipal Infirmary of Chalandri Gialvalis Clinic is located at Chalandri and specializes in thyroid gland, sport clubs of Chalandri with presence in Greek national divisions are AE Chalandriou, GS Chalandriou and Nireas Chalandriou. List of municipalities of Attica Official website
9.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
10.
Frederica of Hanover
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Frederica of Hanover was Queen consort of the Hellenes as the wife of King Paul of Greece. As a descendant of Queen Victoria, she was, at birth, 34th in the line of succession to the British throne, in her memoirs, Fredericas mother described that she and her husband were shattered and such a possibility had never entered our minds. Victoria Louise herself had once considered as a potential bride for the very same person prior to her marriage. Moreover, the age difference was too great, and her parents were unwilling to put any pressure on their daughter. Prince Paul of Greece, her mothers paternal first cousin, proposed to her during the summer of 1936, Paul was a son of King Constantine I and Fredericas grand-aunt Sophia. Their engagement was announced officially on 28 September 1937, and Britains King George VI gave his consent pursuant to the Royal Marriages Act 1772 on 26 December 1937 and they married in Athens on 9 January 1938. Frederica became Hereditary Princess of Greece, her husband being heir presumptive to his childless elder brother, during the early part of their marriage, they resided at Villa Psychiko in the suburbs of Athens. Ten months after their marriage, their first child, the future Queen Sofia of Spain, was born on 2 November 1938, on 2 June 1940, Frederica gave birth to the future King Constantine II. At the peak of World War II, in April,1941 the Greek Royal Family evacuated to Crete in a Sunderland flying boat, shortly afterwards, the German forces attacked Crete. Frederica and her family were evacuated again, setting up an office in London. In exile, King George II and the rest of the Greek Royal Family settled in South Africa, here Fredericas last child, Princess Irene, was born on 11 May 1942. The South African leader, General Jan Smuts, served as her godfather, the family eventually settled in Egypt in February 1944. On 1 September 1946 the Greek people decided by referendum to restore King George to the throne, the Hereditary Prince and Princess returned to their villa in Psychiko. On 1 April 1947, George II died and Fredericas husband ascended the throne as Paul I, communist political instability in Northern Greece led to the Greek Civil War. The King and Queen toured Northern Greece under severe security to try to appeal for loyalty in the summer of 1947, Queen Frederica was constantly attacked for her German ancestry. Left-wing politicians in Greece repeatedly used the fact that the Kaiser was her grandfather, and she was also criticized variously as very Prussian and was a Nazi. During the civil war, Queen Frederica set the Queens Camps or Child-cities a network of 53 Camps around Greece where she would gather mostly orphans and these camps provided much needed shelter, food, and education to these children who were aged 3 years to adolescence. The role of these Queens Camps is disputed as a means of propaganda by the monarchy through the educational program, the Queens Camps were a way to care for the children - victims of the civil war
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Psychiko
