1.
Communes of France
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The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
4.
Regions of France
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France is divided into 18 administrative regions, including 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions. The current legal concept of region was adopted in 1982, the term région was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation, which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for representatives took place on 16 March 1986. In 2016, the number of regions was reduced from 27 to 18 through amalgamation, in 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 with effect from 1 January 2016. However, the region of Upper and Lower Normandy is simply called Normandy. Permanent names were to be proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016, the legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to Centre-Val de Loire with effect from January 2015. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names, between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were four regions, in 2011 Mayotte became the fifth. Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law and they levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a council made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections. A regions primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools, in March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the costs. In addition, regions have considerable power over infrastructural spending, e. g. education, public transit, universities and research. This has meant that the heads of regions such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be high-profile positions. Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986, Overseas region is a recent designation, given to the overseas departments that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Radio France Internationale in English Overseas regions Ministère de lOutre-Mer some explanations about the past and current developments of DOMs and TOMs
5.
Occitanie
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Occitanie is an administrative region of France that was created on 1 January 2016 from former French regions Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées. Frances Conseil dÉtat approved Occitanie as the new name of the region on 28 September 2016, the new Région Occitanie should not be confused with the wider cultural entity of Occitania, of which the new administrative region is part. The new region covers an area of more than 72,724 km2 with a population of 5,626,858. As the provisional name of the new region, the text of the law specified the hyphenated names of the predecessors, Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées. As for most of the regions, a permanent name was proposed by the new regional council. Enacted in 2014, the reform of the regions has been subject to debate for many years. The provisional name of the region was withdrawn on 30 September 2016, toulouse Montpellier Nîmes Perpignan Béziers Montauban Languedoc-Roussillon Midi-Pyrénées Regions of France Occitania Merger of the regions - France 3
6.
Departments of France
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In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, they were called general councils, the departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity, the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after geographical features rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of dArgenson and they have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a number, the Official Geographical Code. Some overseas departments have a three-digit number, the number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates. For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as the 45 and this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René dArgenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration, before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces, during the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. Their boundaries served two purposes, Boundaries were chosen to break up Frances historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences, Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a days ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of rural areas far from any centre of government. The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments, most were named after an areas principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine, the number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleons defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size, in 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice, the 89 departments were given numbers based on their alphabetical order. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle, Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
7.
Union for a Popular Movement
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The Union for a Popular Movement was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Socialist Party. The UMP was formed in 2002 as a merger of several parties under the leadership of President Jacques Chirac. In May 2015, the party was renamed and succeeded by the Republicans, Nicolas Sarkozy, then the president of the UMP, was elected President of France in the 2007 presidential election, but was defeated by PS candidate François Hollande in a run-off five years later. After the November 2012 party congress, the UMP experienced internal fractioning and was plagued by scandals which forced its president, Jean-François Copé. After his re-election as UMP president in November 2014, Sarkozy put forward an amendment to change the name of the party into The Republicans, since the 1980s, the political groups of the parliamentary right have joined forces around the values of economic liberalism and the building of Europe. Their rivalries had contributed to their defeat in the 1981 and 1988 legislative elections, before the 1993 legislative election, the Gaullist Rally for the Republic and the centrist Union for French Democracy formed an electoral alliance, the Union for France. However, in the 1995 presidential campaign they were divided between followers of Jacques Chirac, who was eventually elected, and supporters of Prime Minister Edouard Balladur. After their defeat in the 1997 legislative election, the RPR, before the 2002 presidential campaign, the supporters of President Jacques Chirac, divided in three centre-right parliamentary parties, founded an association named Union on the Move. After Chiracs re-election, in order to contest the election jointly. It was renamed Union for a Popular Movement and as established as a permanent organisation. In the UMP four major French political families were represented, Gaullism, republicanism, Christian democracy. Chiracs close ally Alain Juppé became the partys first president at the founding congress at the Bourget in November 2002. Juppé won 79. 42% of the vote, defeating Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, the leader of the partys Eurosceptic Arise the Republic faction, and three other candidates. During the partys earlier years, it was marked by tensions, in the 2004 European Parliament election on 13 June 2004, the UMP also suffered another heavy blow, winning 16. 6% of the vote, far behind the Socialist Party, and only 16 seats. Juppé resigned the presidency on 15 July 2004 after being found guilty in a corruption scandal in January of the same year. Nicolas Sarkozy rapidly announced that he would take over the presidency of the UMP and resign his position as finance minister, ending months of speculation. On 28 November 2004, Sarkozy was elected to the presidency with 85. 09% of the votes against 9. 1% for Dupont-Aignan and 5. 82% for Christine Boutin. Having gained control of what had been Chiracs party, Sarkozy focused the party machinery, however, during this time, the UMP under Sarkozy gained a record number of new members and rejuvenated itself in preparation of the 2007 election
8.
Demonym
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A demonym is a word that identifies residents or natives of a particular place, which is derived from the name of that particular place. It is a neologism, previously gentilic was recorded in English dictionaries, e. g. the Oxford English Dictionary, thus a Thai may be any resident or citizen of Thailand, of any ethnic group, or more narrowly a member of the Thai people. Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms, for example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British person, a Brit, or a Briton. In some languages, when a parallel demonym does not exist, in English, demonyms are capitalized and are often the same as the adjectival form of the place, e. g. Egyptian, Japanese, or Greek. Significant exceptions exist, for instance the adjectival form of Spain is Spanish, English widely includes country-level demonyms such as Ethiopian or Guatemalan and more local demonyms such as Seoulite, Wisconsinite, Chicagoan, Michigander, Fluminense, and Paulista. Some places lack a commonly used and accepted demonym and this poses a particular challenge to those toponymists who research demonyms. The word gentilic comes from the Latin gentilis and the English suffix -ic, the word demonym was derived from the Greek word meaning populace with the suffix for name. National Geographic attributes the term demonym to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a recent work from 1990 and it was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals. However, in What Do You Call a Person From, a Dictionary of Resident Names attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names Names, A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon, which is apparently where the term first appears. Several linguistic elements are used to create demonyms in the English language, the most common is to add a suffix to the end of the location name, slightly modified in some instances. Cairo → Cairene Cyrenaica → Cyrene Damascus → Damascene Greece → Greek Nazareth → Nazarene Slovenia → Slovene Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations. Kingston-upon-Hull → Hullensian Leeds → Leodensian Spain → Spaniard Savoy → Savoyard -ese is usually considered proper only as an adjective, thus, a Chinese person is used rather than a Chinese. Monaco → Monégasque Menton → Mentonasque Basque Country → Basque Often used for French locations, mostly they are from Africa and the Pacific, and are not generally known or used outside the country concerned. In much of East Africa, a person of an ethnic group will be denoted by a prefix. For example, a person of the Luba people would be a Muluba, the plural form Baluba, similar patterns with minor variations in the prefixes exist throughout on a tribal level. And Fijians who are indigenous Fijians are known as Kaiviti and these demonyms are usually more informal and colloquial. In the United States such informal demonyms frequently become associated with mascots of the sports teams of the state university system. In other countries the origins are often disputed and these will typically be formed using the standard models above
9.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
10.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
11.
Occitan language
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Occitan, also known as lenga dòc by its native speakers, is a Romance language. It is spoken in southern France, Italys Occitan Valleys, Monaco, and Spains Val dAran, collectively, Occitan is also spoken in the linguistic enclave of Guardia Piemontese. However, there is controversy about the unity of the language, others include Catalan in this family, as the distance between this language and some Occitan dialects is similar to the distance among different Occitan dialects. In fact, Catalan was considered an Occitan dialect until the end of the 19th century, today, Occitan is an official language in Catalonia, where a subdialect of Gascon known as Aranese is spoken in the Val dAran. Since September 2010, the Parliament of Catalonia has considered Aranese Occitan to be the preferred language for use in the Val dAran. Unlike other Romance languages such as French or Spanish, there is no written standard language called Occitan. Instead, there are competing norms for writing Occitan, some of which attempt to be pan-dialectal, There are also significant lexical differences, where some dialects have words cognate with French, and others have Catalan and Spanish cognates. Nonetheless, there is a significant amount of mutual intelligibility, the long-term survival of Occitan is in grave doubt. According to the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages, four of the six dialects of Occitan are considered severely endangered. The name Occitan comes from lenga dòc, òc being the Occitan word for yes and this was not, of course, the only defining characteristic of each group. The word òc came from Vulgar Latin hoc, while oïl originated from Latin hoc illud, Old Catalan, and now the Catalan of Northern Catalonia also have hoc. Other Romance languages derive their word for yes from the Latin sic, thus, etc. such as Spanish sí, Eastern Lombard sé, Sicilian and Italian sì, or Portuguese sim. French uses si to answer yes in response to questions that are asked in the negative sense, the name Occitan is sometimes considered a neologism, however, it was attested around 1300 as occitanus, a crossing of oc and aquitanus. For many centuries, the Occitan dialects were referred to as Limousin or Provençal, after Frédéric Mistrals Félibrige movement in the 19th century, Provençal achieved the greatest literary recognition and so became the most popular term for Occitan. The term first came into fashion in Italy, currently, linguists use the terms Provençal and Limousin strictly to refer to specific varieties within Occitania, keeping the name Occitan for the language as a whole. Many non-specialists, however, continue to refer to the language as Provençal, NO·L LI TOLRÀ NO·L LI DEVEDARÀ NI NO LEN DECEBRÀ. Nec societatem non AURÀ, si per castellum recuperare NON O FA, et si recuperare potuerit in potestate Froterio et Raimundo LO TORNARÀ, carolingian litanies, both written and sung in Latin, were answered to in Old Occitan by the audience. Occitan was the vehicle for the poetry of the medieval troubadours and trobairises, At that time
12.
Georges Brassens
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Georges Brassens was a French singer-songwriter and poet. He wrote and sang, with his guitar, more than a hundred of his poems, as well as texts from many such as Victor Hugo, Paul Verlaine. In 1967, he received the Grand Prix de Poésie of the Académie française, between 1952 and 1976, he recorded fourteen albums that include several popular French songs such as Les copains dabord, Chanson pour lAuvergnat, La mauvaise réputation, and Mourir pour des idées. Most of his texts are black humour-tinged and often anarchist-minded, Brassens was born in the town of Sète, a town in southern France near Montpellier. He has also set to poems by both well-known and relatively obscure poets, including Louis Aragon, Victor Hugo, Jean Richepin, François Villon. During World War II, he was forced by the Germans to work in a camp at a BMW aircraft engine plant in Basdorf near Berlin in Germany. Here Brassens met some of his friends, such as Pierre Onténiente. They would later close friends. After being given ten days leave in France, he decided not to return to the labour camp, Planche lived with her husband Marcel in relative poverty, without gas, running water, or electricity. Brassens remained hidden there until the end of the war five months later, Planche was the inspiration for Brassenss song Jeanne. Apart from Paris and Sète, he lived first in Crespières, Brassens grew up in the family home in Sète with his mother, Elvira Dagrosa, father, Jean-Louis, half-sister, Simone, and paternal grandfather, Jules. His mother, who came from southern Italy, was a devout Roman Catholic, while his father was an easy-going, generous, openminded, Brassens grew up between these two starkly contrasting personalities, who nonetheless shared a love for music. His mother—whom Brassens labelled a missionary for songs, Simone and Jules, were always singing and this environment imparted to Brassens a passion for singing that would come to define his life. At the time he listened constantly to his idols, Charles Trenet, Tino Rossi. He was said to love music above all else, it was his first passion and he told his friend André Sève, a kind of internal vibration, something intense, a pleasure that has something of the sensual to it. He hoped to enroll at a conservatory, but his mother insisted that he could only do so if his grades improved. Consequently, he never learned to read music, a poor student, Brassens performed badly in school. Alphonse Bonnafé, Brassenss ninth-grade teacher, strongly encouraged his apparent gift for poetry, Brassens had already been experimenting with songwriting and poetry
13.
Manitas de Plata
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Manitas de Plata was a flamenco guitarist born in Southern France. Despite achieving worldwide fame, he was criticized for not following certain rules that are traditional in flamenco. Ricardo Baliardo was born in a caravan in Sète in southern France. He became famous by playing each year at the Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer gypsy pilgrimage in Camargue, manitas de Plata only agreed to play in public ten years after the death of Django Reinhardt, unanimously considered the king of gypsy guitarists. One of his recordings earned him a letter from Jean Cocteau acclaiming him as a creator, upon hearing him play at Arles in 1964, Pablo Picasso is said to have exclaimed that man is of greater worth than I am. and proceeded to draw on the guitar. Manitas de Plata garnered fame in the United States only after an exhibition in New York. He had recorded his first official album in the chapel of Arles in France, in 1963 and it was later re-released, in 1967, by the Connoisseur Society label and sold through the Book of the Month Club. This was a popular LP that brought him to the attention of an American audience, an American manager obtained a booking for him to play a concert in Carnegie Hall in New York on November 24,1965. He toured the world from 1967, and recorded discs and he played with the dancer Nina Corti. In 1968 he played at the Royal Variety Performance in London, australian multi-instrumentalist Chris Freeman, his student in 1971, acknowledged de Platas influence and teachings. Manitas de Plata died in a retirement home in Montpellier on 6 November 2014, the cause of death was not disclosed, although it was reported that de Plata had been in poor health since suffering a severe heart attack in April 2013. Many members of his own family were well known flamenco musicians, including his younger brother Hippolyte Baliardo. Another son, Bambo Baliardo, is still an active musician and performer as of 2015
14.
Precipitation
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In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel, Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and precipitates. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated, Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called showers, moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is active when freezing rain is occurring. A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain, provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely stratus and cumulonimbus. Eventually, the droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy, thundersnow is possible within a cyclones comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation, on the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the trough, or intertropical convergence zone. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 cubic kilometres of it over the oceans and 107,000 cubic kilometres over land. Given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres, Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Precipitation may occur on celestial bodies, e. g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 km3 of it over the oceans, given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, and orographic rainfall, Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice
15.
Relative humidity
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Relative humidity is the ratio of the partial pressure of water vapor to the equilibrium vapor pressure of water at a given temperature. Relative humidity depends on temperature and the pressure of the system of interest and it requires less water vapor to attain high relative humidity at low temperatures, more water vapour is required to attain high relative humidity in warm or hot air. Humans are sensitive to high humidity because the body uses evaporative cooling, enabled by perspiration. Perspiration evaporates from the more slowly under humid conditions than under arid. For example, if the air temperature is 24 °C and the humidity is zero percent. If the relative humidity is 100 percent at the air temperature. In other words, if the air is 24 °C and contains saturated water vapor, then the human body cools itself at the rate as it would if it were 27 °C. The heat index and the humidex are indices that reflect the effect of temperature. In cold climates, the temperature causes lower capacity for water vapour to flow about. Dry cracked skin can result from dry air, low humidity causes tissue lining nasal passages to dry, crack and become more susceptible to penetration of Rhinovirus cold viruses. Low humidity is a cause of nosebleeds. The use of a humidifier in homes, especially bedrooms, can help with these symptoms, indoor relative humidities should be kept above 30% to reduce the likelihood of the occupants nasal passages drying out. Humans can be comfortable within a range of humidities depending on the temperature—from thirty to seventy percent—but ideally between 50% and 60%. Very low humidity can create discomfort, respiratory problems, and aggravate allergies in some individuals, in the winter, it is advisable to maintain relative humidity at 30 percent or above. Extremely low relative humidities may also cause eye irritation, wooden furniture can shrink, causing the paint that covers these surfaces to fracture. When the temperature is low and the humidity is high. When relative humidity approaches 100 percent, condensation can occur on surfaces, leading to problems with mold, corrosion, decay, condensation can pose a safety risk as it can promote the growth of mold and wood rot as well as possibly freezing emergency exits shut. The basic principles for buildings, above, also apply to vehicles, in addition, there may be safety considerations
16.
Ptolemy
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Claudius Ptolemy was a Greek writer, known as a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in the city of Alexandria in the Roman province of Egypt, wrote in Koine Greek, beyond that, few reliable details of his life are known. His birthplace has been given as Ptolemais Hermiou in the Thebaid in a statement by the 14th-century astronomer Theodore Meliteniotes. This is a very late attestation, however, and there is no reason to suppose that he ever lived elsewhere than Alexandria. Ptolemy wrote several treatises, three of which were of importance to later Byzantine, Islamic and European science. The first is the astronomical treatise now known as the Almagest, although it was entitled the Mathematical Treatise. The second is the Geography, which is a discussion of the geographic knowledge of the Greco-Roman world. The third is the treatise in which he attempted to adapt horoscopic astrology to the Aristotelian natural philosophy of his day. This is sometimes known as the Apotelesmatika but more known as the Tetrabiblos from the Greek meaning Four Books or by the Latin Quadripartitum. The name Claudius is a Roman nomen, the fact that Ptolemy bore it indicates he lived under the Roman rule of Egypt with the privileges and political rights of Roman citizenship. It would have suited custom if the first of Ptolemys family to become a citizen took the nomen from a Roman called Claudius who was responsible for granting citizenship, if, as was common, this was the emperor, citizenship would have been granted between AD41 and 68. The astronomer would also have had a praenomen, which remains unknown and it occurs once in Greek mythology, and is of Homeric form. All the kings after him, until Egypt became a Roman province in 30 BC, were also Ptolemies, abu Mashar recorded a belief that a different member of this royal line composed the book on astrology and attributed it to Ptolemy. The correct answer is not known”, Ptolemy wrote in Greek and can be shown to have utilized Babylonian astronomical data. He was a Roman citizen, but most scholars conclude that Ptolemy was ethnically Greek and he was often known in later Arabic sources as the Upper Egyptian, suggesting he may have had origins in southern Egypt. Later Arabic astronomers, geographers and physicists referred to him by his name in Arabic, Ptolemys Almagest is the only surviving comprehensive ancient treatise on astronomy. Ptolemy presented his models in convenient tables, which could be used to compute the future or past position of the planets. The Almagest also contains a catalogue, which is a version of a catalogue created by Hipparchus
17.
Canal du Midi
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The Canal du Midi is a 241 km long canal in Southern France. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Étang de Thau near the Mediterranean, designed to serve the wheat trade, Jean-Baptiste Colbert authorized the start of work by royal edict in October,1666. Under the supervision of Pierre-Paul Riquet, construction lasted from 1666 to 1681, the Canal du Midi is one of the oldest canals of Europe still in operation. The challenges in these works are related to the challenges of river transport today. The key challenge, raised by Pierre-Paul Riquet, was to convey water from the Montagne Noire to the Seuil de Naurouze and it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. The Canal du Midi is located in the south of France, in the departments of Hérault, Aude, and Haute-Garonne. Its course runs for 241 kilometres between Marseillan, at a place called Les Onglous, where the canal opens into the étang de Thau near Sète and Toulouse at Port de lEmbouchure. The Canal du Midi is a level canal with a slope located on the Atlantic side with a length of 57 km. The Seuil de Naurouze is the highest section, the canal depth is 2 m on average with a minimum of 1.8 m. The draft allowed is 1.6 m although regular users advise that 1.4 m is already a lot because of mud in some places, the width on the surface is 20 m on average with variations between 16 m and 20 m. Finally, the width of the bottom of the canal is 10 m, the graph shows the profile of the Canal du Midi from Toulouse, through the Seuil de Naurouze, Castelnaudary, then Carcassonne, and Trèbes. The channel continues to Beziers after the passage through the Fonserannes Locks, then continues to Agde, and finishes at Sète in the étang de Thau. The Seuil de Naurouze is the highest point on the canal with a drop of 57.18 m between the Seuil and Toulouse and 189.43 m between the Seuil and Sète. The longest canal pound is 53.87 kilometres between the Argens Lock and the Fonserannes Locks, while the shortest Canal pound is 105 m between the two Fresquel locks, the staff quarters and warehouses as well as the Lampy reservoir were also added. The building of a canal was an old idea, numerous and sometimes utopian projects were devised to build a canal between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Leaders such as Augustus, Nero, Charlemagne, François I, Charles IX and Henry IV have dreamed of it as it is a true political and economic issue. King François I brought Leonardo da Vinci to France in 1516, indeed, the construction of such a structure would save vessels and goods from sailing around the Iberian Peninsula which could take a month to complete. At that time shipping was fraught with dangers such as piracy, the most realistic projects were presented to the King in the 16th century
18.
Vauban
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Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban, commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age. He also advised Louis XIV on how to consolidate Frances borders, Vauban made a radical suggestion of giving up some land that was indefensible to allow for a stronger, less porous border with Frances neighbours. Vauban was born in Saint-Léger-de-Foucheret, in Burgundy France, into a family of minor nobility, at the age of ten he was left an orphan in very poor circumstances, and his boyhood and youth were spent amongst the peasantry of his native place. At the age of seventeen Vauban joined the regiment of Condé in the war of the Fronde and he received the offer of a commission within a year, which he declined on account of poverty. Condé then employed him to assist in the fortification of Clermont-en-Argonne and he was employed in the siege of Sainte-Menehould and won a lieutenancy in the regiment of Burgundy, and at Stenay he was wounded twice. About this time he married a cousin, Jeanne dAulnay, after the peace, Vauban was put in charge of the construction of several important defences, amongst other places at Dunkirk, where his work continued until the year before his death. On the renewal of war in 1662 he conducted, while the king was present, during the siege of Lille he so distinguished himself that he received a lieutenancy in the guard. The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle confirmed Frances possession of new fortresses, which Vauban now improved or rebuilt, hitherto the characteristic features of his methods of fortification had not been developed, and the systems of preceding engineers were faithfully followed. On the renewal of war Vauban again conducted the most important sieges, in the latter year he also supervised the only defence in which he ever took part, that of Oudenaarde. This was followed by the reduction of Dinant, Huy and Limbourg, at this time he wrote for the commandants of Verdun and Le Quesnoy, valuable Instructions pour la défense. In 1675 Vauban bought the Château de Bazoches, in 1676 he was made Maréchal de camp. He took Condé, Bouchain and other places in that year, Valenciennes and Cambrai in 1677, Ghent and Ypres in 1678. It was at time that Vauban synthesized the methods of attacking strong places. The Peace of Nijmegen gave more territory to France, and more fortresses had to be adapted. Most of these had been rebuilt by Vauban, and further acquisitions, notably Strasbourg, involved him in unceasing work, at Saarlouis for the first time appeared Vaubans first system of fortification, which remained the accepted standard until comparatively recent times. He never hesitated to retain what was of advantage in the methods of his predecessors, which he had hitherto followed, having now attained the rank of Lieutenant Général, he took the field once more, and captured Kortrijk in 1683, and Luxembourg in the following year. In 1687 he chose Landau as the place of arms of Lower Alsace. But side by side with this development grew up the far more important scheme of attack and his last siege was that of Old Breisach in 1703, when he reduced the place in a fortnight
19.
War of the Spanish Succession
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The War of the Spanish Succession was a major European conflict of the early 18th century, triggered by the death in 1700 of the last Habsburg King of Spain, the infirm and childless Charles II. Charles II had ruled over a vast global empire, and the question of who would succeed him had long troubled the governments of Europe, the English, the Dutch and the Austrians formally declared war in May 1702. By 1708, the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy had secured victory in the Spanish Netherlands and in Italy, France faced invasion and ruin, but Allied unity broke first. With the Grand Alliance defeated in Spain and with its casualties mounting and aims diverging, French and British ministers prepared the groundwork for a peace conference, and in 1712 Britain ceased combat operations. The Dutch, Austrians, and German states fought on to strengthen their own negotiating position, the Treaty of Utrecht and the Treaty of Rastatt partitioned the Spanish empire between the major and minor powers. The European balance of power was assured, in the late 1690s the declining health of King Charles II of Spain brought to a head the problem of his succession, a problem which had underlain much of European diplomacy for several decades. The empire was in decline, but remained the largest of the European overseas empires, unlike the French crown, the Spanish crowns could all be inherited by, or through, a female in default of a male line. The next in line after Charles II, therefore, were his two sisters, Maria Theresa, the elder, and Margaret Theresa, the younger, Maria Theresa had married Louis XIV in 1660 and by him she had a son, Louis, Dauphin of France. The testament of her father, Philip IV, reiterated this waiver and bequeathed the reversion of the whole of the Spanish dominions to his younger daughter, Margaret Theresa. However the French, using in part the excuse that the dowry promised Maria Theresa was never paid, nor was it clear whether a princess could waive the rights of her unborn children. Leopold I married Margaret Theresa in 1666, at her death in 1673 she left one living heir, Maria Antonia, who in 1685 married Max Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria. Shortly before her death in 1692, she gave birth to a son, if he chose, Louis XIV could attempt to assert his will on Spain by force of arms, but the Nine Years War had been an immense drain on Frances resources. To seek a solution and gain support, Louis XIV turned to his long-standing rival William of Orange. England and the Dutch Republic had their own commercial, strategic and political interests within the Spanish empire, however, the Maritime Powers were in a weakened state and both had reduced their forces at the conclusion of the Nine Years War. Louis XIV and William III, therefore, sought to solve the problem of the Spanish inheritance through negotiation, based on the principle of partition, to take effect after the death of Charles II. However, the bulk of the empire – most of peninsular Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, Sardinia, the Spanish Empire was now divided between the three surviving candidates. By this new treaty Archduke Charles would receive most of Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, Sardinia, and the overseas empire. For Leopold I, however, control of Spain and its empire was less important than Italy
20.
Adrien Maurice de Noailles
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Adrien Maurice de Noailles, 3rd Duke of Noailles was a French aristocrat and soldier. Son of Anne Jules de Noailles, he inherited the title duc de Noailles on his fathers death in 1708 and he fought in the War of the Spanish Succession during which the forces under his command on 24–26 July 1710 drove back a British attack on Sète. He was president of the Finance Council from 1715 to 1718 and he distinguished himself in the War of the Polish Succession and was made a marshal of France in 1734, becoming dean of the marshals in 1748. He served in the War of the Austrian Succession and was appointed to command the French forces in March 1743 and he was Foreign Minister from April to November 1744, and regarded Great Britain as a greater enemy of France than Austria. He later acted in a capacity and had substantial influence over the course of foreign policy. In 1698, as comte dAyen, he married Françoise Charlotte Amable dAubigné, niece and beneficiary of the marquise de Maintenon and his two sons Louis, 4th duc de Noailles, and Philippe, duc de Mouchy, also went on to become marshals of France. The duc de Noailles was made a knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1702, a Grandee of Spain in 1711, and a Knight of the Order of Saint-Esprit in 1724
21.
Montpellier
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Montpellier is a city in southern France. It is the capital of the Hérault department, Montpellier is the 8th largest city of France, and is also the fastest growing city in the country over the past 25 years. Nearly one third of the population are students from three universities and from three higher education institutions that are outside the university framework in the city. Located on the south coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, it is the third-largest French city on the Mediterranean coast after Marseille and Nice. Montpellier is one of the few cities in France without any Roman heritage. In the Early Middle Ages, the episcopal town of Maguelone was the major settlement in the area. Montpellier, first mentioned in a document of 985, was founded under a feudal dynasty, the Guilhem. The two surviving towers of the city walls, the Tour des Pins and the Tour de la Babotte, were built later, william VIII of Montpellier gave freedom for all to teach medicine in Montpellier in 1180. This era marked the point of Montpelliers prominence. The city became a possession of the Kings of Aragon in 1204 by the marriage of Peter II of Aragon with Marie of Montpellier, who was given the city and its dependencies as part of her dowry. Montpellier gained a charter in 1204 when Peter and Marie confirmed the traditional freedoms. Under the Kings of Aragon, Montpellier became an important city, a major economic centre. It was the second or third most important city of France at that time, with its importance steadily increasing, the city finally gained a bishop, who moved from Maguelone in 1536, and the huge monastery chapel became a cathedral. In 1432, Jacques Cœur established himself in the city and it became an important economic centre, at the time of the Reformation in the 16th century, many of the inhabitants of Montpellier became Protestants and the city became a stronghold of Protestant resistance to the Catholic French crown. In 1622, King Louis XIII besieged the city surrendered after a two months siege, afterwards building the Citadel of Montpellier to secure it. Louis XIV made Montpellier capital of Bas Languedoc, and the town started to embellish itself, by building the Promenade du Peyrou, the Esplanade, after the French Revolution, the city became the capital of the much smaller Hérault. During the 19th century the city developed into an industrial centre, in the 1960s, its population grew dramatically after French settlers in Algeria were resettled in the city following Algerias independence from France. In the 1980s and 1990s, the city drew attention with a number of redevelopment projects, such as the Corum
22.
Sante Geronimo Caserio
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Sante Geronimo Caserio was an Italian anarchist and the assassin of Marie François Sadi Carnot, President of the French Third Republic. Caserio was born in Motta Visconti, Lombardy, on 24 June 1894, he fatally stabbed President Carnot after a banquet, to avenge Auguste Vaillant and Émile Henry. Sante Caserio was a Lombardy-born son of a peasant family, who had many brothers and sisters and his father was a boatman and named him Geronimo in honor of the Apache leader. His father died of pellagra, at the time a disease among farmers whose poor diet was often almost exclusively corn. At ten years old, Sante Caserio left the home and went to Milan. In Milan he joined a group called Walk. Pietro Gori, referring to Caserio, remembered him as a generous person, among the workers and unemployed, he divided bread and anarchist pamphlets he printed with his meager salary. In 1892 he was sentenced to eight months in prison for distributing anarchist leaflets, identified and singled out during a public demonstration, he was forced to flee from Italy at the age of 18. Declared a deserter, he first went to Switzerland and sought a job as a baker in Vienne and he then moved to Lyon on July 21,1893 where he worked as a messenger. At his trial, Caserio described the assassination in detail, I heard the Marseillaise, I saw the cavalry come up. I understood that the moment had come and I held myself ready, on seeing the Presidents carriage I drew my dagger and threw away the sheath. He also stated to those in attendance, Well, if the rulers can use against us rifles, shackles and prisons, we must, we anarchists to defend our lives, on the contrary, our response to the rulers will be dynamite, pump, stiletto, dagger. In short, we must do everything possible to destroy the bourgeoisie and you who are representatives of bourgeois companies, if you want my head, you can take it. He never attempted to deny his actions or ask the judges for mercy and he was offered the opportunity to plead insane, in exchange for giving the names of some of his accomplices, but he refused. He told the police Caserio is a baker, never an informer, the Board of Pardons decided against all appeals for clemency on 14 August. Caserio was executed by guillotine in Lyon at precisely 5am,16 August 1894, in front of the guillotine, he exclaimed Coraggio cugini—evviva lanarchia. Media related to Sante Geronimo Caserio at Wikimedia Commons
23.
Italians
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Italians are a nation and ethnic group native to Italy who share a common culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a native tongue. The majority of Italian nationals are speakers of Standard Italian. Italians have greatly influenced and contributed to the arts and music, science, technology, cuisine, sports, fashion, jurisprudence, banking, Italian people are generally known for their localism and their attention to clothing and family values. The term Italian is at least 3,000 years old and has a history that goes back to pre-Roman Italy. According to one of the common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The Etruscan civilization reached its peak about the 7th century BC, but by 509 BC, when the Romans overthrew their Etruscan monarchs, its control in Italy was on the wane. By 350 BC, after a series of wars between Greeks and Etruscans, the Latins, with Rome as their capital, gained the ascendancy by 272 BC, and they managed to unite the entire Italian peninsula. This period of unification was followed by one of conquest in the Mediterranean, in the course of the century-long struggle against Carthage, the Romans conquered Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. Finally, in 146 BC, at the conclusion of the Third Punic War, with Carthage completely destroyed and its inhabitants enslaved, octavian, the final victor, was accorded the title of Augustus by the Senate and thereby became the first Roman emperor. After two centuries of rule, in the 3rd century AD, Rome was threatened by internal discord and menaced by Germanic and Asian invaders. Emperor Diocletians administrative division of the empire into two parts in 285 provided only temporary relief, it became permanent in 395, in 313, Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity, and churches thereafter rose throughout the empire. However, he moved his capital from Rome to Constantinople. The last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed in 476 by a Germanic foederati general in Italy and his defeat marked the end of the western part of the Roman Empire. During most of the period from the fall of Rome until the Kingdom of Italy was established in 1861, Odoacer ruled well for 13 years after gaining control of Italy in 476. Then he was attacked and defeated by Theodoric, the king of another Germanic tribe, Theodoric and Odoacer ruled jointly until 493, when Theodoric murdered Odoacer. Theodoric continued to rule Italy with an army of Ostrogoths and a government that was mostly Italian, after the death of Theodoric in 526, the kingdom began to grow weak
24.
Anarchism
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Anarchism is a political philosophy that advocates self-governed societies based on voluntary institutions. These are often described as stateless societies, although several authors have defined them more specifically as institutions based on non-hierarchical free associations, Anarchism holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful. While anti-statism is central, anarchism entails opposing authority or hierarchical organisation in the conduct of all relations, including, but not limited to. Anarchism does not offer a fixed body of doctrine from a particular world view. Many types and traditions of anarchism exist, not all of which are mutually exclusive, Anarchist schools of thought can differ fundamentally, supporting anything from extreme individualism to complete collectivism. Strains of anarchism have often divided into the categories of social. The term anarchism is a word composed from the word anarchy and the suffix -ism, themselves derived respectively from the Greek ἀναρχία, i. e. anarchy. The first known use of this word was in 1539, various factions within the French Revolution labelled opponents as anarchists although few shared many views of later anarchists. The first political philosopher to call himself an anarchist was Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, on the other hand, some use libertarianism to refer to individualistic free-market philosophy only, referring to free-market anarchism as libertarian anarchism. The earliest anarchist themes can be found in the 6th century BC, among the works of Taoist philosopher Laozi, zhuangzis philosophy has been described by various sources as anarchist. Zhuangzi wrote, A petty thief is put in jail, a great brigand becomes a ruler of a Nation. Diogenes of Sinope and the Cynics, their contemporary Zeno of Citium, Jesus is sometimes considered the first anarchist in the Christian anarchist tradition. Georges Lechartier wrote that The true founder of anarchy was Jesus Christ, the first anarchist society was that of the apostles. This is exemplified when the glorification of the state is viewed as a form of sinful idolatry, the French renaissance political philosopher Étienne de La Boétie wrote in his most famous work the Discourse on Voluntary Servitude what some historians consider an important anarchist precedent. The radical Protestant Christian Gerrard Winstanley and his group the Diggers are cited by authors as proposing anarchist social measures in the 17th century in England. The term anarchist first entered the English language in 1642, during the English Civil War, as a term of abuse, used by Royalists against their Roundhead opponents. By the time of the French Revolution some, such as the Enragés, began to use the term positively, in opposition to Jacobin centralisation of power, by the turn of the 19th century, the English word anarchism had lost its initial negative connotation. Modern anarchism emerged from the secular or religious thought of the Enlightenment, as part of the political turmoil of the 1790s in the wake of the French Revolution, William Godwin developed the first expression of modern anarchist thought
25.
Lombardy
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Lombardy is one of the twenty administrative regions of Italy, in the northwest of the country, with an area of 23,844 square kilometres. Milan, Lombardys capital, is the second-largest city and the largest metropolitan area in Italy, the word Lombardy comes from Lombard, which in turn is derived from Late Latin Longobardus, Langobardus, derived from the Proto-Germanic elements *langaz + *bardaz, equivalent to long beard. Some sources derive the second element instead from Proto-Germanic *bardǭ, *barduz, Lombardy referred during the early Middle Ages to the entire territory of Italy ruled by the Lombards, a Germanic tribe who conquered much of the Italian peninsula beginning in the 6th century. During the late Middle Ages, the term shifted meaning and was used to identify the whole of Northern Italy, with a surface of 23,861 km2, Lombardy is the 4th largest region of Italy. It is bordered by Switzerland and by the Italian regions of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, three distinct natural zones can be fairly easily distinguished in the Lombardy region, mountains, hills and plains – the latter being divided in Alta and Bassa. Inconsistent with the three distinctions above made is the subregion of Oltrepò Pavese, formed by the Apennine foothills beyond the Po River. The mighty Po river marks the border of the region for a length of about 210 km. In its progress it receives the waters of the Ticino River, the other streams which contribute to the great river are, the Olona, the Lambro, the Adda, the Oglio and the Mincio. The numerous lakes of Lombardy, all of glacial origin, lie in the northern highlands, from west to east these are Lake Maggiore, Lake Lugano, Lake Como, Lake Iseo, Lake Idro, then Lake Garda, the largest in Italy. A minor mountainous area, the Oltrepò Pavese, lies south of the Po, in the plains, intensively cultivated for centuries, little of the original environment remains. The most commons trees are elm, alder, sycamore, poplar, willow, in the area of the foothills lakes, however, grow olive trees, cypresses and larches, as well as varieties of subtropical flora such as magnolias, azaleas, acacias. Numerous species of flora in the Prealpine area include some kinds of saxifrage, the Lombard garlic, groundsels bellflowers. The highlands are characterized by the vegetation of the whole range of the Italian Alps. At a lower levels oak woods or broadleafed trees grow, on the slopes beech trees grow at the lowest limits. Shrubs such as rhododendron, dwarf pine and juniper are native to the summital zone, Lombardy has a wide array of climates, due to local variances in elevation, proximity to inland water basins, and large metropolitan areas. In addition, there is a seasonal temperature variation. A peculiarity of the climate is the thick fog that covers the plains between October and February. In the Alpine foothills, characterised by an Oceanic climate, numerous lakes exercise a mitigating influence, in the hills and mountains, the climate is humid continental
26.
Lyon
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Lyon or Lyons is a city in east-central France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, about 470 km from Paris and 320 km from Marseille. Inhabitants of the city are called Lyonnais, Lyon had a population of 506,615 in 2014 and is Frances third-largest city after Paris and Marseille. Lyon is the capital of the Metropolis of Lyon and the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the metropolitan area of Lyon had a population of 2,237,676 in 2013, the second-largest in France after Paris. The city is known for its cuisine and gastronomy and historical and architectural landmarks and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lyon was historically an important area for the production and weaving of silk. It played a significant role in the history of cinema, Auguste, the city is also known for its famous light festival, Fête des Lumières, which occurs every 8 December and lasts for four days, earning Lyon the title of Capital of Lights. Economically, Lyon is a centre for banking, as well as for the chemical, pharmaceutical. The city contains a significant software industry with a focus on video games. Lyon hosts the headquarters of Interpol, Euronews, and International Agency for Research on Cancer. Lyon was ranked 19th globally and second in France for innovation in 2014 and it ranked second in France and 39th globally in Mercers 2015 liveability rankings. These refugees had been expelled from Vienne by the Allobroges and were now encamped at the confluence of the Saône and Rhône rivers, dio Cassius says this task was to keep the two men from joining Mark Antony and bringing their armies into the developing conflict. The Roman foundation was at Fourvière hill and was officially called Colonia Copia Felix Munatia, a name invoking prosperity, the city became increasingly referred to as Lugdunum. The earliest translation of this Gaulish place-name as Desired Mountain is offered by the 9th-century Endlicher Glossary, in contrast, some modern scholars have proposed a Gaulish hill-fort named Lugdunon, after the Celtic god Lugus, and dúnon. It then became the capital of Gaul, partly due to its convenient location at the convergence of two rivers, and quickly became the main city of Gaul. Two emperors were born in city, Claudius, whose speech is preserved in the Lyon Tablet in which he justifies the nomination of Gallic senators. Today, the archbishop of Lyon is still referred to as Primat des Gaules, the Christians in Lyon were martyred for their beliefs under the reigns of various Roman emperors, most notably Marcus Aurelius and Septimus Severus. Local saints from this period include Blandina, Pothinus, and Epipodius, in the second century AD, the great Christian bishop of Lyon was the Easterner, Irenaeus. Burgundian refugees fleeing the destruction of Worms by the Huns in 437 were re-settled by the commander of the west, Aëtius. This became the capital of the new Burgundian kingdom in 461, in 843, by the Treaty of Verdun, Lyon, with the country beyond the Saône, went to Lothair I
27.
Ligue 1
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Ligue 1, is a French professional league for mens association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the primary football competition. Administrated by the Ligue de Football Professionnel, Ligue 1 is contested by 20 clubs, seasons run from August to May. Teams play 38 matches each, totaling 380 matches in the season, most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played during weekday evenings. Play is regularly suspended the last weekend before Christmas for two weeks before returning in the week of January. The name lasted until 2002 before switching to its current name, AS Saint-Étienne is the most successful club with ten league titles in France while Olympique Lyon is the club that has won the most consecutive titles. With the presence of 67 seasons in Ligue 1, Olympique de Marseille hold the record for most seasons among the elite, the current champions are Paris Saint-Germain, who won their sixth title in the 2015–16 season. Prior to 1930, professionalism in French football was non-existent, in July 1930, the National Council of the French Football Federation voted 128–20 in support of professionalism in French football. The founding fathers of professionalism in French football are Georges Bayrou, Emmanuel Gambardella, professionalism was officially implemented in 1932. In order to create a professional football league in the country. In order to participate in the competition, clubs were subjected to three important criteria, The incoming club must have had positive results in the past, the incoming club must be able to pull in enough revenue to balance its finances. The incoming club must be able to recruit at least eight professional players. Jooris feared his league would fold and proposed it become the division of the new league. The leagues inaugural season of the league, called National, was held in 1932–1933. The 20 clubs were inserted into two groups of 10 with the three of each group suffering relegation to Division 2. The two winners of each group would face each other in a final held at a neutral venue. The first final was held on 14 May 1933 and it matched the winner of Group A, Olympique Lillois, against the runner-up of Group B, Cannes. Antibes, the winner of Group B, was supposed to take part in the final but was suspected of bribery by the French Football Federation and was forced into disqualification, in the first final, Lillois were crowned the inaugural champions following the clubs 4–3 victory
28.
Coupe de France
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The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation. The final is played at the Stade de France and the winner of the Coupe de France qualifies for the stage of the UEFA Europa League. The reigning champions are Paris Saint-Germain who defeated Marseille in the final of the 2015–16 competition, the Coupe de France was first held in 1917–18 and, during the 2007–08 season, celebrated its 90th anniversary. Combined with random draws and one-off matches, the Coupe de France can be difficult for the clubs to win. However, despite the advantages, only one club has actually reached the final since professionalism was introduced in French football in 1932. Both clubs who have won the competition and were not playing in Ligue 1 were professional, Le Havre in 1959, the Coupe de France is managed and run by the Coupe de France Commission, whose president is former French international Willy Sagnol. 7,422 clubs participated in the 2011–12 cup competition, furthermore, an improved 7,656 clubs competed in the 2013–14 edition. The Coupe de France was created on 15 January 1917 by the French Interfederal Committee, the major clubs in France objected to the notion that all clubs should be allowed to enter. However, the federation dispelled their complaints and declared the competition would remain as is, due to the minimal requirements to enter, the first competition featured 48 clubs. By 1948, the number had increased to 1,000 and at present, due to the initial increase in clubs, the federation created preliminary rounds beginning with the 1919–20 season. The following season, they added a second preliminary round, as of today, the competition contains eight regional rounds with some regions containing as much as ten. The first Coupe de France victors were Olympique de Pantin who defeated FC Lyon 3–0 at the Stade de la Légion Saint-Michel in Paris in front of 2,000 spectators. The following year, the competition was shifted to the Parc des Princes, the competition alternated between many stadiums during its early years playing at the Stade Pershing from 1920–1924 before switching to the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes. The competition lasted a decade there before returning to the Parc des Princes in 1938, in 1941, the final was held at the Stade de Paris. Since the ratio between amateur and professional clubs in France is extremely one-sided, the competition regularly produces surprises, the best performance by an amateur club in the competition is usually awarded the Petit Poucet Plaque. One of the recent successes of an amateur club occurred during the 1999–2000 competition when Championnat de France amateur club Calais RUFC reached the final. Calais, composed of doctors, dock workers, and office clerks, started the competition in the 5th round and, after defeating fellow amateurs, Calais, after 120 minutes, were level 1–1 with Lille and defeated their Northern foes 7–6 on penalties. In the following two rounds, Calais defeated Langon-Castets and Cannes, in the quarter-finals, Calais defeated Strasbourg 2–1 and on 12 April 2000, eclipsed Bordeaux 3–1 in the semi-finals to advance to the final
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Second Spanish Republic
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The Second Spanish Republic was the republican regime that existed in Spain from 1931 to 1939. Following the Provisional Government between April and December 1931, the 1931 Constitution established the Republic, the Spanish Republic can be divided in three eras, the First Biennium, the Dark Biennium, and the Popular Front government. The Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed when King Alfonso XIII left the following municipal elections where anti-monarchist candidates won the majority of votes. Its government went into exile on 1 April 1939, when the last of the Republican forces surrendered to the rebel nacionales, the government in exile of the Second Spanish Republic had an embassy in Mexico City until 1976. After the restoration of democracy in Spain, the government formally dissolved the following year, on 28 January 1930 the military dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera was overthrown. This led various republican factions from a variety of backgrounds to join forces. The Pact of San Sebastián was the key to the transition from monarchy to republic, Republicans of all tendencies were committed to the Pact of San Sebastian in overthrowing the monarchy and establishing a republic. The restoration of the royal Bourbons was rejected by large sectors of the populace who vehemently opposed the King, the pact, signed by representatives of the main Republican forces, allowed a joint anti-monarchy political campaign. The 12 April 1931 municipal elections led to a victory for republicans. Two days later, the Second Republic was proclaimed, and King Alfonso XIII went into exile, the kings departure led to a provisional government of the young republic under Niceto Alcalá-Zamora. Catholic churches and establishments in cities like Madrid and Sevilla were set ablaze on 11 May, in June 1931 a Constituent Cortes was elected to draft a new constitution, which came into force in December. The new constitution established freedom of speech and freedom of association, extended suffrage to women in 1933, allowed divorce and it also effectively disestablished the Roman Catholic Church, but the disestablishment was somewhat reversed by the Cortes that same year. Its controversial articles 26 and 27 imposed stringent controls on Church property, scholars have described the constitution as hostile to religion, with one scholar characterising it as one of the most hostile of the 20th century. José Ortega y Gasset stated, the article in which the Constitution legislates the actions of the Church seems highly improper to me, pope Pius XI condemned the Spanish governments deprivation of the civil liberties of Catholics in the encyclical Dilectissima Nobis. The legislative branch was changed to a chamber called the Congress of Deputies. The constitution established legal procedures for the nationalisation of public services and land, banks, the constitution provided generally accorded civil liberties and representation. Catholic churches in cities were again subject to arson in 1932. A Catholic church in Zaragoza saw arson in 1933, and the cathedral in Oviedo was destroyed by flames in 1934, the church of San Lorenzo in Gijon was set ablaze in this year as well
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Hartlepool, United Kingdom[3]
Neuburg an der Donau, Germany, since 1986.
El Jadida, Morocco, since 1992.
Cetara, Italy, since 2003.
