Paul Langevin
Paul Langevin was a prominent French physicist who developed Langevin dynamics and the Langevin equation. He was one of the founders of the Comité de vigilance des intellectuels antifascistes, an antifascist organization created in the wake of the 6 February 1934 far right riots. Langevin was president of the Human Rights League from 1944 to 1946 – he had just joined the French Communist Party. Being a public opponent against fascism in the 1930s resulted in his arrest and he was held under house arrest by the Vichy government for most of the war. A doctoral student of Pierre Curie and a lover of Marie Curie, he is famous for his two US patents with Constantin Chilowsky in 1916 and 1917 involving ultrasonic submarine detection, he is entombed at the Panthéon. Langevin was born in Paris, studied at the École de Physique et Chimie and the École Normale Supérieure, he went to Cambridge University and studied in the Cavendish Laboratory under Sir J. J. Thomson. Langevin returned to the Sorbonne and obtained his Ph.
D. from Pierre Curie in 1902. In 1904, he became professor of physics at the Collège de France. In 1926, he became director of the École de Physique et Chimie, he was elected in 1934 to the Académie des sciences. Langevin is noted for his work on paramagnetism and diamagnetism, devised the modern interpretation of this phenomenon in terms of spins of electrons within atoms, his most famous work was in the use of ultrasound using Pierre Curie's piezoelectric effect. During World War I, he began working on the use of these sounds to detect submarines through echo location; however the war was over by the time. During his career, Paul Langevin spread the theory of relativity in academic circles in France and created what is now called the twin paradox. In 1898, he married Emma Jeanne Desfosses, with whom he had four children, André, Madeleine and Hélène. In 1910, he had an affair with the then-widowed Marie Curie, he was noted for being an outspoken opponent of Nazism, was removed from his post by the Vichy government following the occupation of the country by Nazi Germany.
He was restored to his position in 1944. He died in Paris two years after living to see the Liberation of Paris, he is buried near several other prominent French scientists in the Pantheon in Paris. In 1933, he had Paul-Gilbert Langevin, with physicist Eliane Montel, their son became a renowned musicologist. His daughter, Hélène Solomon-Langevin, was arrested for Resistance activity and survived several concentration camps, she was on the same convoy of female political prisoners as Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier and Charlotte Delbo. In 1916 and 1917, Paul Langevin and Chilowsky filed two US patents disclosing the first ultrasonic submarine detector using an electrostatic method for one patent and thin quartz crystals for the other; the amount of time taken by the signal to travel to the enemy submarine and echo back to the ship on which the device was mounted was used to calculate the distance under water. In 1916, Lord Ernest Rutherford, working in the UK with his former McGill University PhD student Robert William Boyle, revealed that they were developing a quartz piezoelectric detector for submarine detection.
Langevin's successful application of the use of piezoelectricity in the generation and detection of ultrasound waves was followed by further development. Born coordinates, for the Langevin observers in relativistic physics Langevin dynamics Langevin equation Langevin function Brillouin and Langevin functions Solvay Conference Brownian motion Special relativity Institut Laue–Langevin Julien Bok and Catherine Kounelis. "Paul Langevin – From Montmartre to the Panthéon: The Paris journey of an exceptional physicist". Europhysics News. 38. Media related to Paul Langevin at Wikimedia Commons Works written by or about Paul Langevin at Wikisource
South Benfleet
South Benfleet is a town or populous modern village in the Castle Point district of Essex, 30 miles east of London. The Benfleet SS7 post town includes South Benfleet, New Thundersley and Hadleigh; the Battle of Benfleet took place here between the Vikings and Saxons in 894. The community is served by Benfleet railway station, it hosts South Benfleet Primary School, used temporarily to house local residents during the widespread flooding of 1953. In Roman times the reclaimed area, now Canvey Island was joined to the mainland by a road providing access from Benfleet at low tides to Camulodunum and Londinium; the A130 road from Sadlers Farm roundabout to Canvey Island follows the route of the original Roman road. Its construction in 1971 brought to light a number of artifacts dating back to the early settlements in the area; the name of the town originates from the time of the Saxon settlers in the 5th Century, when the area was marshland. They named the area Beamfleote, meaning "tree stream", being the area where the creeks from the River Thames adjoined the wooded area to the north.
The current spelling was adopted at the time the railway service was brought to the area and a railway station built for the town. Throughout the intervening period various documented versions of the names has been'Benfleota','Beamflet','Bemflet','Bienflet' and'Bemfleet'; the last was used on John Norden's maps in the 17th Century. In Saxon times the village became known as South Benfleet when a new settlement, which became known as Little Benfleet, developed to the north of the original settlement; the new settlement did not last, its site, which has since become known as North Benfleet, is now rural. The railway was brought to the town in 1855; the new Benfleet railway station connected the town with Southend-on-Sea to the east and London Fenchurch Street station. In July 2002 Castle Point District Council named a 6-mile cycle way, from near Benfleet railway station to near Leigh-on-Sea railway station, the "de Neumann Way" after Captain Peter de Neumann, GM; the Battle of Benfleet took place between the Saxons and Danish Vikings in 894.
This was towards the end of the Saxon period, the Thames and other waterways made the area vulnerable to Viking attacks. Benfleet was used as a Viking base. However, the Vikings were defeated in the battle by the army of King Alfred under the command of his son Edward the Elder and his son-in-law Earl Aethelred of Mercia. Subsequently a church was built by the Saxons in thanksgiving for the victory over the Vikings. St Mary's church is the most recent church building occupying this site. Southend-on-Sea Basildon Pitsea Canvey Island Hadleigh Leigh-on-Sea Thundersley New Thundersley Rayleigh Since the abolition of the Benfleet Urban District in the Local Government Act 1972, South Benfleet, along with Canvey Island and Thundersley has formed the parliamentary constituency and local government district and borough of Castle Point; as of the 2010 general election, the Member of Parliament representing the parliamentary constituency of Castle Point is Rebecca Harris of the Conservative Party. South Benfleet elects 1 seat to Essex County Council.
As of 2009, the seat is held by Colin Riley of the Conservative Party. Within Castle Point Borough Council, South Benfleet is represented by nine councillors elected from the wards of Appleton, St. Mary, Boyce. Benfleet is served by the London and Southend railway line run by c2c rail. By road the A13 and A12/A127/A130 connect the town to London. Ron Martin – Southend United Chairman Ashley George Old the war artist is buried there Nicola Willis - Olympic gymnast The Church of England in Benfleet is served by the Church of St Mary the Virgin; the public houses located in the Monument and St Mary's area of the town include The Anchor, "The Hoy and Helmet" and the Half Crown. Further north is the Benfleet Tavern. There are a range of restaurants in the South Benfleet conservation area. Benfleet Water Tower, ~ TQ 790 867 Benfleet Water Tower is a brick built structure built in 1903, 30m high with a 22m mast sited on the roof. All radio equipment is housed within the tower. Being on a prominent hilltop, some 137m amsl, this is an exceptional radio transmission and reception site.
Coverage includes the whole estuary, including the Isle of Grain, Medway Towns, Bradwell, Danbury etc. This site provides both Lowband CBS systems. Benfleet FC are members of the Essex Olympian Football League; the First Team play in Senior Division 1 and Seconds in the Reserve Division 2. There is a third team who compete in the Mid-Essex Division 3; the club play their home fixtures at Woodside Park Extension at the top of Manor Road. Fixtures are organised on a Saturday afternoon, with some mid-week fixtures towards the end of the season. Benfleet is the home to Sceptre League Division 1 Sunday team Benfleet FC, who finished 8th in 2010/2011 season. Benfleet FC managed to win the Mike Wigget Cup in 2009/2010 season, beating Shoebury Boys 4-2 in the final at Burroughs Park, Great Wakering. Benfleet Vikings RFC are the towns local rugby club. Formed in 2013 they are progressing year on year, with Senior and Minis sides; the senior side compete in the Shepherd Neame Essex Merit League 6 East and play their home fixtures on Saturdays at Richmond Park, off of Brook Road.
North Benfleet Norman M. Chisman, D. P. A. Bygone Benfleet, Phillimore, 1991 Media related to South Benfleet at Wikimedia Commons
Paris metropolitan area
The Paris metropolitan area is a statistical area that describes the reach of commuter movement to and from Paris and its surrounding suburbs. Created and used from 1996 by France's national INSEE statistical bureau to match international demographic standards, the aire urbaine is a statistical unit that describes the suburban development around centres of urban growth: it is composed of a couronne périurbaine ) surrounding a more densely built and densely populated pôle urbain, a single or group of densely-built unité urbaine communes. From 2011, the INSEE classified its largest aires urbaines into aires métropolitaines and grandes aires urbaines. From Paris became France's largest metropolitan area. In France, the'Paris metropolitan area' term's use is limited to demographic and statistical studies, and, to date, it is unused in economical statistics, but in recent years the media has begun using it to describe the electoral tendencies of France's largest cities. In 2010 the government passed a law that invited France's largest city'metropoles' to work together as an intercommunitary entities, but the lack of response by the following year moved the government to make the cooperation for many of France's largest cities obligatory, Paris became a case study all on its own.
This latter initiative created the "Métropole du Grand Paris", a Paris-centred intercommunal cooperation effort enacted from January 1, 2016. The territory it covers is much smaller than the INSEE'Paris metropolitan area' statistical area: it includes Paris, its neighbouring three départements, a few bordering communes in the departments beyond; as of 2010, the INSEE statistical Paris metropolitan area, with its 17,174 km², extends beyond Paris' administrative Île-de-France region, a region commonly referred to as the région parisienne. The area had a population of 12,405,426 as of the January 2013 census, making it the largest urban region in the European Union. Nearly 19% of France's population resides in the region; the Paris metropolitan area expands at each population census due to the rapid population growth in the Paris area. New communes surrounding. At the 1968 census, the earliest date for which population figures were retrospectively computed for French aire urbaines, the Paris metropolitan area had 8,368,459 inhabitants in an area that only encompassed central Île-de-France.
By the 1999 census the Paris metropolitan area was larger than Île-de-France and had 11,174,743 inhabitants in 14,518 km². By the 2012 census it had reached 12,341,418 inhabitants in 17,174 km², an area larger than Île-de-France; the table below shows the population growth of the Paris metropolitan area, i.e. the urban area and the commuter belt surrounding it.: Grand Paris Metropolitan Areas of France Île-de-France Document about the functioning of Paris Metropolitan Area Document about the extension of Paris Metropolitan Area
Pantin
Pantin is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 6.4 km from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe, its post code is 93500. The city is located on the edge of Paris and is formed by a plain crossed by national roadway 2 and 3, the railway line Paris–Strasbourg and Ourcq canal. Pantin borders the Paris inner ring road and is traversed by national routes N2 and N3, as well as the Paris-Strasbourg railway line and the Ourcq canal; the name Pantin was recorded for the first time in 1067 as Pentini from the Roman patronym Pentinus, a variant of Pantaenus or Repentinus, but this etymology is not certain. On 1 January 1860, the city of Paris was enlarged by annexing neighbouring communes. On that occasion, a small part of the commune of Pantin was annexed to Paris. On 24 July 1867, a part of the territory of Pantin was detached and merged with a part of the territory of Romainville and a part of the territory of Bagnolet to create the commune of Les Lilas.
By 1875, the Ourcq canal and new railway lines served to divide the town into two parts—the "Village" and the "Quatre Chemins". The recent construction of a science park along the Bassin de la Villette on the former site of city abattoirs has improved pedestrian access to Paris, as well as encouraging urban regeneration in Pantin itself. A key policy discussed since the 2008 mayoral election has been the possibility of integrating the ten banlieue towns of Bagnolet, Les Lilas, Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, Pantin, Noisy-le-Sec, Bobigny and Rosny-sous-Bois into an "intercommune" of around 440,000 people; this new municipality could be created as early as January 2010. This project was implemented, it gathers nine communes. In 2016, Pantin was declared France's most polluted town by the World Health Organization. Pantin was once the site of Motobecane's operations. 2,000 companies are located including 21 of more than 100 employees. Huge firms are located in the town, like Hermès, Chanel, Agnès b. Sergent-Major, Forclum, UTB, Photovista Legrand, BNP Paribas, Alliance Healthcare, Fabio Lucci... and publishers as computer Software Arkeia Software and MT Software.
3,000 employees of BNP Paribas Securities Services were installed in the historic building Grands Moulins de Pantin at the end of October 2009. Hermès finished an expansion project in the city center; the city has created a "craft center" to "4 Chemins" with the House Revel to promote arts jobs. Pantin is home to a hub of non-profit environmental organization, housed since 2014 in the "cité de l'environnement", like Bruitparif, the noise observatory of Île-de-France that monitors the environmental noise in the Paris agglomeration. Since the French canton reform which came into effect in March 2015, Pantin is part of the canton of Pantin, which includes the commune Le Pré-Saint-Gervais; the current mayor of Pantin is Bertrand Kern of the Parti Socialiste. Kern was re-elected in 2014 for a third 6-year mayoral term. Pantin is served by three stations on Paris Metro line 5: Hoche, Église de Pantin, Bobigny – Pantin – Raymond Queneau. Pantin is served by Aubervilliers – Pantin – Quatre Chemins station on Paris Metro line 7.
Pantin is served by Pantin station on Paris RER line E. Pantin is served by numerous bus lines. Outside the hours of normal public transport the town is served by the N13 and N142 Noctilien night bus services with stops outside the Centre de la Danse, the Mairie and Rue Delizy. Pantin is served by the tramway 3b; the commune has 11 preschools, 11 elementary schools, four public junior high schools, one private junior high school, three public senior high schools. Public junior high schools: Jean-Jaurès, Jean-Lolive, Joliot-Curie, Lavoisier Private junior high school: Collège Prive Saint-Joseph-la-Salle Public senior high schools: Lycée Lucie-Aubrac, Lycée Simone-Weil, Lycée Marcelin-Berthelot Jean-François Joseph Geffrard de La Motte, count de Sanois, was Lord of Pantin before the Revolution. Beaumarchais, owned land in Pantin La Guimard, danser of the Opera Léon Jouhaux and Nobel Peace Jean-Marc Mormeck, boxing championPantin was the birthplace of: Jean-Luc Chaignaud, baritone Pierre Desproges, humorist Philippe Delorme and journalist Jérôme Guedj, politician Gabriel Obertan, footballer playing for Levski Pantin is twin cities with the Modigliani Art Center in Scandicci, a suburb of Florence, which inaugurated their XXXIV Year Salon of Painting with the Pantin art association, Les Amis des Arts.
The Centre national de la danse is an institution sponsored by the French Ministry of Culture. It studies dance in all its aspects, is located in Pantin; the building is known for being a classic example of Brutalist architecture, in 2004 was awarded the Prix de l'Équerre d'Argent. Catholic church Islam Judaism Macedonian Orthodox church Reformed church Cimetière parisien de Pantin Communes of the Seine-Saint-Denis department INSEE Official website
Gustave Courbet
Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the Romanticism of the previous generation of visual artists, his independence set an example, important to artists, such as the Impressionists and the Cubists. Courbet occupies an important place in 19th-century French painting as an innovator and as an artist willing to make bold social statements through his work. Courbet's paintings of the late 1840s and early 1850s brought him his first recognition, they challenged convention by depicting unidealized peasants and workers on a grand scale traditionally reserved for paintings of religious or historical subjects. Courbet's subsequent paintings were of a less overtly political character: landscapes, hunting scenes and still lifes. An active socialist, Courbet was active in the political developments of France, he was imprisoned for six months in 1871 for his involvement with the Paris Commune, lived in exile in Switzerland from 1873 until his death.
I am fifty years old and I have always lived in freedom. Gustave Courbet was born in 1819 to Sylvie Oudot Courbet in Ornans. Being a prosperous farming family, anti-monarchical feelings prevailed in the household. Courbet's sisters, Zoé, Zélie and Juliette, were his first models for painting. After moving to Paris he returned home to Ornans to hunt and find inspiration. Courbet worked at the studio of Steuben and Hesse. An independent spirit, he soon left, preferring to develop his own style by studying the paintings of Spanish and French masters in the Louvre, painting copies of their work. Courbet's first works were an Odalisque inspired by the writing of Victor Hugo and a Lélia illustrating George Sand, but he soon abandoned literary influences, choosing instead to base his paintings on observed reality. Among his paintings of the early 1840s are several self-portraits, Romantic in conception, in which the artist portrayed himself in various roles; these include Self-Portrait with Black Dog, the theatrical Self-Portrait, known as Desperate Man, Lovers in the Countryside, The Sculptor, The Wounded Man, The Cellist, Self-Portrait, Man with a Pipe.
Trips to the Netherlands and Belgium in 1846–47 strengthened Courbet's belief that painters should portray the life around them, as Rembrandt and other Dutch masters had. By 1848, he had gained supporters among the younger critics, the Neo-romantics and Realists, notably Champfleury. Courbet achieved his first Salon success in 1849 with his painting After Dinner at Ornans; the work, reminiscent of Chardin and Le Nain, earned Courbet a gold medal and was purchased by the state. The gold medal meant that his works would no longer require jury approval for exhibition at the Salon—an exemption Courbet enjoyed until 1857. In 1849-50, Courbet painted Stone-Breakers; the painting was inspired by a scene Courbet witnessed on the roadside. He explained to Champfleury and the writer Francis Wey: "It is not that one encounters so complete an expression of poverty and so, right and there I got the idea for a painting. I told them to come to my studio the next morning." Courbet's work belonged neither to Neoclassical schools.
History painting, which the Paris Salon esteemed as a painter's highest calling, did not interest him, for he believed that "the artists of one century incapable of reproducing the aspect of a past or future century..." Instead, he maintained. He and Jean-Francois Millet would find inspiration painting the life of workers. Courbet painted figurative compositions, landscapes and still lifes, he courted controversy by addressing social issues in his work, by painting subjects that were considered vulgar, such as the rural bourgeoisie and working conditions of the poor. His work, along with that of Jean-François Millet, became known as Realism. For Courbet realism dealt not with the perfection of line and form, but entailed spontaneous and rough handling of paint, suggesting direct observation by the artist while portraying the irregularities in nature, he depicted the harshness in life, in so doing challenged contemporary academic ideas of art. The Salon of 1850–1851 found him triumphant with The Stone Breakers, the Peasants of Flagey and A Burial at Ornans.
The Burial, one of Courbet's most important works, records the funeral of his grand uncle which he attended in September 1848. People who attended the funeral were the models for the painting. Models had been used as actors in historical narratives, but in Burial Courbet said he "painted the people, present at the interment, all the townspeople"; the result is a realistic presentation of them, of life in Ornans. The vast painting—it measures 10 by 22 feet — dre
Île-de-France
Île-de-France called the région parisienne, contains the city of Paris, is the most populous of the 18 regions of France. It covers 12,012 square kilometres, or two percent of the national territory, has official estimated population of 12,213,364 as of January 1, 2019, or 18.2% of the population of France. The region accounts for nearly 30 percent of the French Gross Domestic Product; the region is made up of eight administrative departments: Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Seine-et-Marne, Val-de-Marne, Val-d'Oise and Yvelines. It was created as the "District of the Paris Region" in 1961 renamed in 1976 after the historic province of Île-de-France, when its status was aligned with the other French administrative regions created in 1972. Residents are sometimes referred to an administrative word created in the 1980s; the GDP of the region in 2016 was €681 billion. It has the highest per-capita GDP among regions in France and the third-highest of regions in the European Union. In 2018 all of the twenty-eight French companies listed in the Fortune Global 500 had their headquarters in the Paris region.
Besides the landmarks of Paris, the region has many important historic sites, including the Palace of Versailles and the Palace of Fontainebleau, as well as the most-visited tourist attraction in France, Disneyland Paris. Although the modern name Île-de-France means "Island of France", the etymology is in fact unclear; the "island" may refer to the land between the rivers Oise and Seine, or it may have been a reference to the Île de la Cité, where the French royal palace and cathedral were located. The Île-de-France was inhabited by the Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the area's major north–south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité; the Parisii minted their own coins for that purpose. The Romans began their settlement on Paris's Left Bank, it became a prosperous city with a forum, temples, an amphitheatre. Christianity was introduced in the middle of the 3rd century AD by Saint Denis, the first Bishop of Paris: according to legend, when he refused to renounce his faith before the Roman occupiers, he was beheaded on the hill which became known as Mons Martyrum "Montmartre", from where he walked headless to the north of the city.
As the Frankish domination of Gaul began, there was a gradual immigration by the Franks to Paris and the Parisian Francien dialects were born. Fortification of the Île-de-la-Citie failed to avert sacking by Vikings in 845, but Paris's strategic importance—with its bridges preventing ships from passing—was established by successful defence in the Siege of Paris. In 987, Hugh Capet, Count of Paris and Duke of the Franks, was elected King of the Franks. Under the rule of the Capetian kings, Paris became the largest and most prosperous city in France; the Kings of France enjoyed getting away from Paris and hunting in the game-filled forests of the region. They built palatial hunting lodges, most notably Palace of Fontainebleau and the Palace of Versailles. From the time of Louis XIV until the French Revolution, Versailles was the official residence of the Kings and the seat of the French government; the Ile-de-France became the term used for the territory of Paris and the surrounding province, administered directly by the King.
During the French Revolution, the royal provinces were abolished and divided into departments, the city and region were governed directly by the national government. In the period after World War II, as Paris faced a major housing shortage, hundreds of massive apartment blocks for low-income residents were built around the edges of Paris. In the 1950s and the 1960s, Many thousands of immigrants settled in the communes bordering the city. In 1959, under President Charles De Gaulle, a new region was created out of six departments, which corresponded with the historic region, with the name District de la région de Paris. On 6 May 1976, as part of the process of regionalisation, the district was reconstituted and increased administrative and political powers and renamed the Île-de-France region. Île-de-France has a land area of 12,011 km2. It is composed of eight départements centered on Paris. Around the département of Paris, urbanization fills a first concentric ring of three departments known as the petite couronne, extends into a second outer ring of four départements known as the grande couronne.
The former département of Seine, abolished in 1968, included the city proper and parts of the petite couronne. The petite couronne consists of the départements of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, the grande couronne of those of Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines and Val-d'Oise. Politically, the region is divided into 8 départements, 25 arrondissements, 155 cantons and 1 276 communes, out of the total of 35 416 in metropolitan France, The outer parts of the Ile-de-France remain rural. Agriculture land and natu
Sister city
Sister cities or twin towns are a form of legal or social agreement between towns, counties, prefectures, regions and countries in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties. The modern concept of town twinning, conceived after the Second World War in 1947, was intended to foster friendship and understanding among different cultures and between former foes as an act of peace and reconciliation, to encourage trade and tourism. By the 2000s, town twinning became used to form strategic international business links among member cities. In the United Kingdom, the term "twin towns" is most used. In mainland Europe, the most used terms are "twin towns", "partnership towns", "partner towns", "friendship towns"; the European Commission uses the term "twinned towns" and refers to the process as "town twinning". Spain uses the term "ciudades hermanadas", which means "sister cities". Germany and the Czech Republic use Partnerstadt / miasto partnerskie / partnerské město, which translate as "partner town or city".
France uses ville jumelée, Italy has gemellaggio and comune gemellato. In the Netherlands, the term is stedenband. In Greece, the word αδελφοποίηση has been adopted. In Iceland, the terms vinabæir and vinaborgir are used. In the former Soviet Bloc, "twin towns" and "twin cities" are used, along with города-побратимы; the Americas, South Asia, Australasia use the term "sister cities" or "twin cities". In China, the term is 友好城市. Sometimes, other government bodies enter into a twinning relationship, such as the agreement between the provinces of Hainan in China and Jeju-do in South Korea; the douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union. Despite the term being used interchangeably, with the term "friendship city", this may mean a relationship with a more limited scope in comparison to a sister city relationship, friendship city relationships are mayor-to-mayor agreements. In recent years, the term "city diplomacy" has gained increased usage and acceptance as a strand of paradiplomacy and public diplomacy.
It is formally used in the workings of the United Cities and Local Governments and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and recognised by the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. A March 2014 debate in the British House of Lords acknowledged the evolution of town twinning into city diplomacy around trade and tourism, but in culture and post-conflict reconciliation; the importance of cities developing "their own foreign economic policies on trade, foreign investment and attracting foreign talent" has been highlighted by the World Economic Forum. The earliest known town twinning in Europe was between Paderborn, Le Mans, France, in 836. Starting in 1905, Keighley in West Yorkshire, had a twinning arrangement with French communities Suresnes and Puteaux; the first recorded modern twinning agreement was between Keighley and Poix-du-Nord in Nord, France, in 1920 following the end of the First World War. This was referred to as an adoption of the French town; the practice was continued after the Second World War as a way to promote mutual understanding and cross-border projects of mutual benefit.
For example, Coventry twinned with Stalingrad and with Dresden as an act of peace and reconciliation, all three cities having been bombed during the war. The City of Bath formed an "Alkmaar Adoption committee" in March 1945, when the Dutch city was still occupied by the German Army in the final months of the war, children from each city took part in exchanges in 1945 and 1946. In 1947, Bristol Corporation sent five'leading citizens' on a goodwill mission to Hanover. Reading in 1947 was the first British town to form links with a former "enemy" city – Düsseldorf; the link still exists. Since 9 April 1956 Rome and Paris have been and reciprocally twinned with each other, following the motto: "Only Paris is worthy of Rome; the support scheme was established in 1989. In 2003 an annual budget of about €12 million was allocated to about 1,300 projects; the Council of European Municipalities and Regions works with the Commission to promote modern, high quality twinning initiatives and exchanges that involve all sections of the community.
It has launched a website dedicated to town twinning. As of 1995, the European Union had more than 7,000 bilateral relationships involving 10,000 European municipalities French and German. Public art has been used to celebrate twin town links, for instance in the form of seven mural paintings in the centre of the town of Sutton, Greater London; the five main paintings show a number of the main features of the London Borough of Sutton and its four twin towns, along with the heraldic shield of each above the other images. Each painting features a plant as a visual representation of its town's environmental awareness. In the case of Sutton this is in a separate smaller painting showing a beech tree, intended as a symbol of prosperity and from whi
