1.
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
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The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic was founded as the senior order of knighthood by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi in 1951. The post-nominal letters for the order are OMRI, investiture takes place biannually on 2 June, anniversary of the foundation of the Republic and on 27 December, anniversary of the promulgation of the Italian Constitution. However, those awards on Presidential motu proprio, related to termination of service or granted to foreigners may be made at any time, except in exceptional circumstances, no one can be awarded for the first time a rank higher than Knight. The minimum age requirement is normally 35
2.
The Miller's Beautiful Wife
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The Millers Beautiful Wife is a 1955 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Camerini. Luca is a man who runs a mill and he is married to Carmela, but his wifes beauty catches the eye of Don Teofilo the Governor, who sets about to have Carmela. He has Luca arrested on trumped up charges, and then tries seduce Carmella and she resists, so he tells her he can free Luca, but there are strings attached
3.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
4.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. 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 name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
5.
Geneva
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Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic, the municipality has a population of 198,072, and the canton has 484,736 residents. In 2014, the compact agglomération du Grand Genève had 946,000 inhabitants in 212 communities in both Switzerland and France, within Swiss territory, the commuter area named Métropole lémanique contains a population of 1.25 million. This area is essentially spread east from Geneva towards the Riviera area and north-east towards Yverdon-les-Bains, Geneva is the city that hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world. It is also the place where the Geneva Conventions were signed, Geneva was ranked as the worlds ninth most important financial centre for competitiveness by the Global Financial Centres Index, ahead of Frankfurt, and third in Europe behind London and Zürich. A2009 survey by Mercer found that Geneva has the third-highest quality of life of any city in the world, the city has been referred to as the worlds most compact metropolis and the Peace Capital. In 2009 and 2011, Geneva was ranked as, respectively, the city was mentioned in Latin texts, by Caesar, with the spelling Genava, probably from a Celtic toponym *genawa- from the stem *genu-, in the sense of a bending river or estuary. The medieval county of Geneva in Middle Latin was known as pagus major Genevensis or Comitatus Genevensis, the name takes various forms in modern languages, Geneva /dʒᵻˈniːvə/ in English, French, Genève, German, Genf, Italian, Ginevra, and Romansh, Genevra. The city in origin shares its name, *genawa estuary, with the Italian port city of Genoa, Geneva was an Allobrogian border town, fortified against the Helvetii tribe, when the Romans took it in 121 BC. It became Christian under the Late Roman Empire, and acquired its first bishop in the 5th century, having been connected to the bishopric of Vienne in the 4th. In the Middle Ages, Geneva was ruled by a count under the Holy Roman Empire until the late 14th century, around this time the House of Savoy came to dominate the city. In the 15th century, a republican government emerged with the creation of the Grand Council. In 1541, with Protestantism in the ascendancy, John Calvin, by the 18th century, however, Geneva had come under the influence of Catholic France, which cultivated the city as its own. France also tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, in 1798, revolutionary France under the Directory annexed Geneva. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, on 1 June 1814, in 1907, the separation of Church and State was adopted. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of international organizations. Geneva is located at 46°12 North, 6°09 East, at the end of Lake Geneva. It is surrounded by two chains, the Alps and the Jura
6.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
7.
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
8.
Carlo Ponti (conductor)
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Carlo Ponti is an Italian orchestral conductor working in the United States. He is the son of film producer Carlo Ponti, Sr. and Italian movie star Sophia Loren. He has guest conducted internationally, was the recipient of awards for fostering the growth of young musical talent through music education. Ponti has been conductor of the Russian National Orchestra since 2000 and was music director. In 2013 he founded the Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra, an ensemble emphasizing musics educational value of which he is artistic and music director, the Los Angeles Virtuosi Orchestra is currently performing its second concert season at the Theatre Raymond Kabbaz in Los Angeles, California. His performances have also been broadcast on radio stations across the United States by American Public Medias Performance Today. Maestro Carlo Ponti married violinist Andrea Mészáros in Budapest, Hungary on September 18,2004,2008, Artistic Achievement Award from the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition. 2009, Spirit of Hope Award from the Childhelp Foundation for his work with young musicians. 2011, Lupa Di Roma Award from the Roman City Council
9.
Alessandra Mussolini
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Alessandra Mussolini is an Italian politician, the granddaughter of Benito Mussolini, and a former actress and model. She is since 2013 a member of the Italian Senate, elected for The People of Freedom which later became part of Forza Italia, and since 2014 a Member of the European Parliament for Forza Italia. Some of Mussolinis noted stances are in regard to views on womens and childrens rights. Alessandra Mussolini was born in Rome, the daughter of Romano Mussolini, the son of Benito Mussolini, Fascist dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943. The actress Sophia Loren is her maternal aunt, from 1976 to 1980 she went to high school at the American Overseas School of Rome. She graduated in 1986 from Sapienza University of Rome, where she got her master of science in medicine and she married customs policeman Mauro Floriani on 28 October 1989. Going against tradition, she proposed to him, together they have three children, Caterina, Clarissa, and Romano – the last named after his grandfather. Later, the children adopted their mothers surname, but she went through a legal process to allow them to do so. She has since campaigned for Italian law to be changed to all children to take their mothers last name if they wish. Her husband was scheduled to appear at court for a child prostitution trial in 2015, in 2013, around 50 men — among them professionals, priests, and politicians — were accused of paying two teenage girls, aged 14 and 15, for sexual services in Rome. Mussolini was taken under the wing of her aunt Sophia Loren for a while and started a career as an actress in the Italian language film industry during the 1970s. A Special Day, in which she had a role as Maria Luisa. During 1982, Mussolini released a pop album of romantic songs under the title Amore on Alfa Records. Mussolini also appeared as a model, including on the cover of two European editions of Playboy, in Italy and Germany. When you are an actress, you are dealing with the body, every actress does topless and stuff like this, you have to, she has said. Mussolini continued as an actress into the 1980s, some of the films she featured in were made for Italian television. She starred in her film in 1990 and then left the film industry to continue studying after a producer asked her to change her name. In 1992, she was elected to parliament in a Naples constituency as a member of the Movimento Sociale Italiano and she later was a candidate for the post of mayor of Naples, but was defeated by Antonio Bassolino
10.
Sasha Alexander
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Suzana S. Drobnjaković Ponti, known by her stage name Sasha Alexander, is an American actress. She played Gretchen Witter on Dawsons Creek and has acted in films including Yes Man, Alexander played Caitlin Todd for the first two seasons of NCIS. From July 2010 through September 2016, Alexander starred as Maura Isles in the TNT series Rizzoli & Isles, Sasha Alexander, of ethnic Serbian descent, was born Suzana S. Drobnjaković in Los Angeles, California. She began acting in productions in the seventh grade. She was also an ice skater, but stopped due to a knee injury and she continued acting through high school and college, then moved to New York City to act in summer stock and Shakespeare festivals. She graduated from the University of Southern Californias School of Cinema-Television, Alexander got her acting start on two short-lived series, the medical drama Presidio Med and ABCs twenty-something drama Wasteland. She achieved widespread attention and critical praise when she appeared in the fourth season of Dawsons Creek as Gretchen Witter, the sister of Pacey Witter. Alexander was also in an episode of the short-lived Fox comedy series Greg the Bunny, in which she played the role of a lesbian TV Guide reporter and shared an onscreen kiss with Sarah Silverman. Alexander also appeared in the films Lucky 13 and All Over the Guy, as well as Hes Just Not That Into You, the independent movie The Last Lullaby and she also appeared as District Attorney Robin Childs in the CSI episode Alter Boys. Alexander joined NCIS as Secret Service/NCIS Special Agent Caitlin Kate Todd in 2003 and she replaced Vivian Blackadder played by Robyn Lively, who only appeared in the back-door pilot episodes, Ice Queen and Meltdown on JAG. The official pilot episode Yankee White aired September 23,2003, the official explanation for the actresss departure was that she asked to be let out of her contract to pursue other opportunities. In her final appearances in the Kill Ari two-parter, Alexander was credited as a special guest star, Alexander reappeared as Todd in a what if scenario with Anthony DiNozzo for the NCIS 200th episode Life Before His Eyes in 2012. She also had a role in 2006s Mission, Impossible III. She joined the cast of The Nine in the role of Nicks ex-wife, from 2010, Alexander played Dr. Maura Isles for seven seasons on the TNT series Rizzoli & Isles – the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Chief Medical Examiner, who works with the Boston Police Department. Alexander costarred with Angie Harmon, who played Boston Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli, in 2015, Alexander began a recurring role on Showtimes Shameless portraying Helene Runyon, one of Lip Gallaghers college professors. Her character Helene maintains a relationship with her husband Theo which allows her to sleep with Lip. The relationship between Helene and Lip is both romantic and one which provides him with guidance in his career, but the affair blows-up in season six. On September 18,1999, Alexander married Luka Pecel, on August 11,2007, Alexander married director Edoardo Ponti, son of actress Sophia Loren and the late film producer Carlo Ponti, in Geneva, Switzerland
11.
Paramount Pictures
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Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film studio based in Hollywood, California, that has been a subsidiary of the American media conglomerate Viacom since 1994. In 1916, film producer Adolph Zukor contracted 22 actors and actresses and these fortunate few would become the first movie stars. Paramount Pictures is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America, in 2014, Paramount Pictures became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only. Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving studio in the world after the French studios Gaumont Film Company and Pathé, followed by the Nordisk Film company. It is the last major film studio headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Paramount Pictures dates its existence from the 1912 founding date of the Famous Players Film Company, hungarian-born founder, Adolph Zukor, who had been an early investor in nickelodeons, saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman he planned to offer feature-length films that would appeal to the class by featuring the leading theatrical players of the time. By mid-1913, Famous Players had completed five films, and Zukor was on his way to success and its first film was Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth, which starred Sarah Bernhardt. That same year, another aspiring producer, Jesse L. Lasky, opened his Lasky Feature Play Company with money borrowed from his brother-in-law, Samuel Goldfish, the Lasky company hired as their first employee a stage director with virtually no film experience, Cecil B. DeMille, who would find a site in Hollywood, near Los Angeles, for his first feature film. Hodkinson and actor, director, producer Hobart Bosworth had started production of a series of Jack London movies, Paramount was the first successful nationwide distributor, until this time, films were sold on a statewide or regional basis which had proved costly to film producers. Also, Famous Players and Lasky were privately owned while Paramount was a corporation, in 1916, Zukor maneuvered a three-way merger of his Famous Players, the Lasky Company, and Paramount. Zukor and Lasky bought Hodkinson out of Paramount, and merged the three companies into one, with only the exhibitor-owned First National as a rival, Famous Players-Lasky and its Paramount Pictures soon dominated the business. It was this system that gave Paramount a leading position in the 1920s and 1930s, the driving force behind Paramounts rise was Zukor. In 1926, Zukor hired independent producer B. P. Schulberg and they purchased the Robert Brunton Studios, a 26-acre facility at 5451 Marathon Street for US$1 million. In 1927, Famous Players-Lasky took the name Paramount Famous Lasky Corporation, three years later, because of the importance of the Publix Theatres, it became Paramount Publix Corporation. In 1928, Paramount began releasing Inkwell Imps, animated cartoons produced by Max, the Fleischers, veterans in the animation industry, were among the few animation producers capable of challenging the prominence of Walt Disney. The Paramount newsreel series Paramount News ran from 1927 to 1957, Paramount was also one of the first Hollywood studios to release what were known at that time as talkies, and in 1929, released their first musical, Innocents of Paris
12.
Houseboat (film)
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Houseboat is a 1958 Technicolor romantic comedy VistaVision film starring Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Martha Hyer, Paul Petersen, Charles Herbert, and Mimi Gibson. The movie was directed by Melville Shavelson, who directed the original version of Yours, Mine. The love theme Almost In Your Arms, sung by Sam Cooke, sung by Loren, were written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. For several years, Tom Winters has been estranged from his wife, the film begins as he returns home from Europe shortly after his wifes death. The children resent their father, and, at a concert, Robert runs away. He is found by Cinzia Zaccardi and she too is running away and is enchanted by little Roberto and his harmonica. When she brings him home, Tom offers her a job as a maid. Carolyn, now divorced from her husband, offers Tom and the children her old guest house, feeling guilty, Angelo sells Tom his leaky, run-down, old houseboat. Once moved in, Tom discovers that Cinzia is unable to cook, do laundry, Carolyn and others incorrectly assume that Cinzias relationship with Tom is sexual, while she innocently wins the affection of Tom and the children. Meanwhile, Tom spends his evenings with Carolyn, who is secretly in love with him, on the 4th of July, she tries to embarrass Cinzia by selecting a gaudy dress for Tom to buy for her, but Cinzia transforms it into an elegant evening gown. She looks so beautiful in the gown that Angelo, a womanizer, cancels a date with her out of a fear of falling in love. That evening, Carolyn arrives at the boat with Captain Alan Wilson, Alan, who is somewhat drunk, jokes about Cinzias living arrangement with Tom and slaps her on the behind as she serves drinks. She calls him an ill-mannered lout and throws a drink in his face before walking off, Tom asks Alan to leave the boat, but Carolyn takes Alans side, following which Tom asks all three guests to leave. David cheers Cinzia up, and they make plans to go fishing, once there, Tom reconciles with Carolyn, and they agree to get married. As he dances with Cinzia, he realizes he is in love with her, but she learns of the proposal, becomes upset. Tom catches her and breaks it off with Carolyn, a little while later, David unhappily finds them kissing in a rowboat. The children do not want Tom to marry Cinzia, David calls her ugly, Robert rejects her as a mother figure, and Elizabeth wants to continue sleeping in Toms bed with him. Discouraged by this, Cinzia returns to her father, Maestro Zaccardi, the wedding takes place on the houseboat
13.
It Started in Naples
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It Started in Naples is an American romantic comedy film made by Paramount Pictures and released in August 1960. It was directed by Melville Shavelson and produced by Jack Rose from a screenplay by Suso Cecchi dAmico based on the story by Michael Pertwee, the Technicolor cinematography was by Robert Surtees. The film stars Clark Gable, Sophia Loren, Vittorio De Sica, Michael Hamilton, a Philadelphia lawyer, travels to Naples, Italy only a few days before his planned wedding to settle the estate of his late brother, Joseph with Italian lawyer Vitalli. In the opening narration he states he was here before with the 5th US Army in World War II, in Naples, Michael discovers that his brother had a son, nine-year-old Nando, who is being cared for by his maternal aunt Lucia, a cabaret singer. Joseph never married Nandos mother but drowned with her in a boating accident, josephs actual wife, whom he left in 1950, is alive in Philadelphia. Michael discovers to his dismay that his brother spent a fortune on fireworks, after seeing Nando handing out racy photos of Lucia at 2 A. M. Michael wants to enroll Nando in the American School at Rome, despite the age difference, romance soon blossoms between Michael and Lucia, and he decides to stay in Italy. This was the last film to be released within Gables lifetime, one of the highlights of the film is a tongue-in-cheek musical number by Loren called Tu vuò fà lamericano written by famed Neapolitan composer Renato Carosone. Filmed on location in Rome, Naples and Capri, It Started in Naples was nominated for an Academy Award for its art direction and it was released to DVD in North America in 2005
14.
Vittorio De Sica
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Vittorio De Sica was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Indeed, the critical success of Sciuscià and Bicycle Thieves helped establish the permanent Best Foreign Film Oscar. These two films generally are considered part of the canon of classic cinema, Bicycle Thieves was cited by Turner Classic Movies as one of the 15 most influential films in cinema history. De Sicas acting was considered the highlight of the film, born into poverty in Sora, Lazio, he began his career as a theatre actor in the early 1920s and joined Tatiana Pavlovas theatre company in 1923. In 1933 he founded his own company with his wife Giuditta Rissone, the company performed mostly light comedies, but they also staged plays by Beaumarchais and worked with famous directors like Luchino Visconti. De Sica appeared in the British television series The Four Just Men and his passion for gambling was well known. Because of it, he often lost large sums of money, in 1937 Vittorio De Sica married the actress Giuditta Rissone, who gave birth to their daughter, Emi. In 1942, on the set of Un garibaldino al convento, he met Spanish actress Maria Mercader, after divorcing Rissone in France in 1954, he married Mercader in 1959 in Mexico, but this union was not considered valid under Italian law. In 1968 he obtained French citizenship and married Mercader in Paris, meanwhile, he had already had two sons with her, Manuel, in 1949, a musician, and Christian, in 1951, who would follow his fathers path as an actor and director. Although divorced, De Sica never parted from his first family and he led a double family life, with double celebrations on holidays. It is said that, at Christmas and on New Years Eve and his first wife agreed to keep up the facade of a marriage so as not to leave her daughter without a father. Vittorio De Sica died at 73 after a surgery at the Neuilly-sur-Seine hospital in Paris, Vittorio De Sica was given the Interfilm Grand Prix in 1971 by the Berlin International Film Festival. Miracolo a Milano Cannes Film Festival Palme DOr Winner Umberto D
15.
Two Women
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Two Women is a 1960 Italian film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It tells the story of a woman trying to protect her daughter from the horrors of war. The film stars Sophia Loren, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Eleonora Brown, Carlo Ninchi, the film was adapted by De Sica and Cesare Zavattini from the novel of the same name written by Alberto Moravia. The story is fictional, but based on events during what the Italians call Marocchinate. The story centers on Cesira, a widowed Roman shopkeeper, and Rosetta, her devoutly religious twelve-year-old daughter, to escape the Allied bombing of Rome, Cesira and her daughter flee southern Lazio for her native Ciociaria, a rural, mountainous province of central Italy. The night before they go, Cesira sleeps with Giovanni, a coal dealer who agrees to look after her store in her absence. After they arrive at Ciociaria, Cesira attracts the attention of a local intellectual with communist sympathies named Michele. Rosetta sees Michele as a figure and develops a strong bond with him. However, Michele is eventually taken prisoner by a company of German soldiers, Cesira decides to return to Rome once the Allied troops end German occupation. On the way home, Cesira and Rosetta are gang-raped inside a church by a group of Goumier—Moroccan soldiers of the French Army, Rosetta is traumatized, becoming detached and distant from her mother and no longer an innocent child. When the two manage to find shelter at a village, Rosetta disappears during the night, sending Cesira into a panic. She thinks Rosetta has gone to look for Michele, but later finds out that Michele was killed by German soldiers, Rosetta returns, having been out dancing with an older boy, who has given her silk stockings, despite her youth. Cesira is outraged and upset, slapping and spanking Rosetta for her behavior, when, however, Cesira informs Rosetta of Micheles death, Rosetta begins to cry like the little girl she had been prior to the rape. With her mother comforting the child, De Sica zooms out to end the film, the film was based on a 1957 novel by Alberto Moravia, La Ciociara. It was inspired by Moravias experiences during World War II, Carlo Ponti bought the film rights along with Marcello Girosi for a reported US$100,000. Sophia Loren was always meant to star and there was talk that the film might be financed by Paramount. Anna Magnani was going to play the lead and Loren was going to be her daughter, george Cukor was going to direct as part of a two-picture deal with Ponti, the other one being Heller in Pink Tights. The film was going to be shot as part of a deal between Ponti and Paramount
16.
Academy Award for Best Actress
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The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered a performance in a leading role while working within the film industry. The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held in 1929 with Janet Gaynor receiving the award for her roles in 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Sunrise. Currently, nominees are determined by single transferable vote within the branch of AMPAS. In the first three years of the awards, actresses were nominated as the best in their categories, at that time, all of their work during the qualifying period was listed after the award. The following year, this unwieldy and confusing system was replaced by the current system in which an actress is nominated for a performance in a single film. Starting with the 9th ceremony held in 1937, the category was officially limited to five nominations per year, one actress has been nominated posthumously, Jeanne Eagels. Only three film characters have been nominated more than once in this category, elizabeth I of England, Leslie Crosbie in The Letter, and Esther Blodgett in A Star is Born. Six women on the list have received an Honorary Academy Award for their acting, they are Greta Garbo, Barbara Stanwyck, Mary Pickford, Deborah Kerr, Gena Rowlands, since its inception, the award has been given to 74 actresses. Katharine Hepburn has won the most awards in this category, with four Oscars, meryl Streep, who has a total of 20 Oscar nominations, has been nominated in this category on 16 occasions, resulting in two awards. As of the 2017 ceremony, Emma Stone is the most recent winner in category for her role as Mia Dolan in La La Land. In the following table, the years are listed as per Academy convention, and generally correspond to the year of release in Los Angeles County. For the first five ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned twelve months from August 1 to July 31, for the 6th ceremony held in 1934, the eligibility period lasted from August 1,1932 to December 31,1933
17.
David di Donatello
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The David di Donatello Award, named after Donatellos David, is a film award presented each year for cinematic performances and production by Laccademia del Cinema Italiano. There are 24 categories as of 2006, Italy is also famed for its annual Venice Film Festival. It is the motion picture equivalent to the Academy Award for the cinema, Premio Regia Televisiva for television, the Premio Ubu for stage performances, and the Sanremo Music Festival for music. Following the same criteria of the Oscars, the David di Donatello Awards were established in 1955, created by a cultural club, the aim was to honour the best of each year’s Italian and foreign films. Similar prizes had already existed in Italy for about a decade, however, the Donatellos have been and are awarded by the people in the industry, screenwriters, performers, technicians, producers and so on. The presidents have successively been Italo Gemini, Eitel Monaco and Paolo Grassi, currently, it is presided over by Gian Luigi Rondi who has worked with the organization since its inception. The prizes are awarded primarily to Italian films, with a dedicated to foreign language films. In 2015, it was announced both the eligibility period and the award ceremony date would change in the coming years. In 2016, the ceremony was brought forward to April, for the 2017 ceremony, the eligibility period will be March-December 2016. For the 2018 edition, the eligibility period will be the 2017 solar year, the trophy is in the form of a gold David statuette replica of Donatellos famous sculpture, on a square malachite base with a gold plaque recording the award category, year and winner. The 1956 David by Bulgari, awarded to Gina Lollobrigida for Beautiful, journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies,4, Intellect, ISSN 2047-7368 David di Donatello Awards at Film Movement David di Donatello Awards at Internet Movie Database
18.
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
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Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow is a 1963 comedy anthology film by Italian director Vittorio de Sica. It stars Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni, the film consists of three short stories about couples in different parts of Italy. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 37th Academy Awards, set starting in the poorer Naples of 1954, Adelina supports her unemployed husband Carmine and child by selling black market cigarettes. When she doesnt pay a fine, her furniture is to be repossessed, however her neighbors assist her by hiding the furniture. A lawyer who lives in the neighborhood advises Carmine that as the fine and furniture is in Adelinas name, however, Italian law stipulates that women cannot be imprisoned when pregnant or within six months after a pregnancy. As a result, Adelina schemes to purposely stay pregnant, after seven children in eight years, Carmine is seriously exhausted and Adelina must make the choice of being impregnated by their mutual friend Pasquale or be incarcerated. Anna, the wife of a mega-rich industrialist, has a lover named Renzo, whilst driving together in her husbands Rolls-Royce, Anna must determine which is the most important to her happiness – Renzo or the Rolls. Renzo rethinks his infatuation with Anna when she expresses no concern when they run over a child. She is infuriated by the damage to her Rolls-Royce, and ends up getting another passing driver to take her home, leaving Renzo on the road. Mara works as a prostitute from her apartment, servicing a variety of high class clients including Augusto, maras elderly neighbours grandson visiting them is a handsome and callow young man studying for the priesthood but not yet ordained who falls in love with Mara. To the shrieking dismay of his grandmother, the man wishes to leave the clergy to be with Mara or to join the French Foreign Legion if Mara rejects him. Mara vows to set the man on the path of righteousness back to the seminary. Mara provides a strip tease at the climax of the film, Sophia Loren – Adelina Sbaratti / Anna Molteni / Mara Marcello Mastroianni – Carmine Sbaratti / Renzo / Augusto Rusconi Aldo Giuffrè – Pasquale Nardella Agostino Salvietti – Dr
19.
Marriage Italian Style
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Marriage Italian Style is a 1964 film by Vittorio De Sica. He eventually takes her in his house as a semi-official mistress under the pretense that she take care of his ailing, senile mother. After having fallen for a younger, prettier girl and having planned to marry her, he finds himself cornered when Filumena feigns illness and on her deathbed, thinking shell be dead in a matter of hours and that the marriage wont even be registered, he agrees. After having been proclaimed his legal bride, the shrewd and resourceful Filumena drops the charade and reveals to have put up the show for the one child she bore from him. Domenico tries to cajole her into telling him which one is his but she refuses, telling him that sons cant be picked and chosen. It stars Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni and Vito Moricone, one of the films most memorable moments is when Domenico is on the phone with his new flame, shortly after having married the moribund Filumena. The film was adapted by Leonardo Benvenuti, Renato Castellani, Piero De Bernardi and it was directed by Vittorio De Sica. Filumena Marturano had already been adapted as a film in 1950 in Argentina and it was also entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival
20.
Sunflower (1970 film)
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Sunflower is a 1970 Italian drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. It was the first western movie to be filmed in the USSR, a timeless moment in a world gone mad. Giovanna and Antonio get married to delay Antonios deployment during World War II, after that buys them twelve days of happiness, they try another scheme, in which Antonio pretends to be a crazy man. Finally, Antonio is sent to the Russian Front, when the war is over, Antonio does not return and is listed as missing in action. Despite the odds, Giovanna is convinced her true love has survived the war and is still in the Soviet Union, determined, she journeys to the Soviet Union to find him. Eventually, Giovanna finds Antonio, but by now he has started a family with a woman who saved his life. Childless, having been faithful to her husband, Giovanna returns to Italy, heartbroken, some years later, Antonio returns to Giovanna, asking her to come back with him to the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Giovanna has tried to move on with her own life, moving out of their first home together and she works in a factory and is living with a man, with whom she has a baby boy. Antonio visits her and tries to explain his new life, how war changes a man, unwilling to ruin Antonios daughters or her own new sons life, Giovanna refuses to leave Italy, expressing an intense emotional maturity in her choice. As they part, Antonio gives her a fur, which he had promised years before that hed bring back for her, the lovers lock eyes as Antonios train takes him away from Giovanna, and from Italy, forever
21.
The Voyage (film)
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The Voyage is a 1974 Italian drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica and based on a novel by Luigi Pirandello. It was De Sicas final film, set in Sicily in the years leading up to World War I, Adriana De Mauro loves Cesar Braggi, but Cesar, honoring his fathers dying wish, allows his brother Antonio to marry her. As fate wills, Antonio dies in an automobile accident, Adrianas mourning for Antonio ends when Cesar steps in to rekindle her lust of life. Soon, Adriana begins having dizzy spells, Cesar helps her to a specialist, and the diagnosis is not good. For the rest of their time together, Cesar woos Adriana, yet Signora De Mauro, Adrianas mother is not pleased with the relationship and argues bitterly with Cesar and stands in the way
22.
A Special Day
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A Special Day is a 1977 Italian drama film directed by Ettore Scola and starring Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni and John Vernon. Set in Rome in 1938, its narrative follows a woman, themes addressed in the film include gender roles, fascism, and the persecution of homosexuals under the Mussolini regime. It received several nominations and awards, including a César Award for Best Foreign Film in 1978 and it is featured on the list of the 100 Italian films to be saved. The building is empty, except for the caretaker and a neighbor across the complex and he is a radio broadcaster who has been dismissed from his job and is about to be deported to Sardinia because of his homosexuality and alleged anti-fascist stance. After the familys myna escapes from their apartment and flies outside Gabrieles window, Antonietta shows up at his door, Gabriele has been interrupted from attempting suicide, but helps rescue the myna by offering it food, and is amused by the episode. Antonietta is surprised by his demeanor and, unaware of his orientation, flirts. Despite their differences, they warm to each other, the caretaker warns Antonietta that Gabriele is an anti-fascist, which Antonietta finds despicable. Gabriele eventually opens up, confessing he was fired because he is a homosexual, Antonietta confides in him her troubles with her arrogant and unfaithful husband, who, she says, has shown a preference for an educated woman. As a result, they have sex, but for different reasons, Gabriele explains that this changes nothing, as does Antonietta. Soon after their encounter, Gabriele is arrested and Antoniettas family comes back home. At the end, Antonietta sits near the window and starts reading a book Gabriele has given to her, much of the films themes revolve around gender roles and the model of masculinity under fascist Italy. The Fascist regime equates homosexuality with depopulation, and thus, Gabriele is suspected of treason, the bachelor tax of 1926 was a measure against this, and Gabriele has to pay it. While the stay-at-home mother and homosexual neighbor would seem to be an improbable pairing, at the end of the film, domestic life will continue as usual, but inner resistance to Fascism has been awakened. Maurizio Costanzo, Ruggero Maccari and Ettore Scola wrote the screenplay, after Maccari had learned about an incident in Fascist Italy in which homosexuals were arrested and taken to Sardinia. Particularly, the story of broadcaster Nunzio Filogamo was an inspiration to the story, along with Il bellAntonio and I Dont Want to Talk About It, this is one of Mastroiannis roles critiquing the Italian masculine figure as the incompetent character falling behind an evolving society. Due to the abundance of news coverage of Hitlers visit to Rome in 1938, the public service film The Führers Trip to Italy was especially mined for footage. Faced with a lack of funding from Italian producers, the filmmakers persuaded investors in Canada to support the project, canafox, a company based in Montreal, co-produced. A number of cinematic techniques are used in this film
23.
Grumpier Old Men
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Grumpier Old Men is a 1995 romantic comedy film, and a sequel to the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men. The film stars Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret, and Sophia Loren, with Burgess Meredith, Daryl Hannah, Kevin Pollak, Katie Sagona, Ann Morgan Guilbert. Grumpier Old Men was directed by Howard Deutch, with the written by Mark Steven Johnson. The film was Merediths final motion picture appearance and he was already suffering from Alzheimers disease and had to be gently coached through his role in the film. The feud between Max and John has cooled and both of them patch things up, and their children, Melanie and Jacob, have become engaged, meanwhile, John is enjoying his marriage to new wife Ariel. The spring and summer fishing season is in full swing with the annual quest to catch Catfish Hunter, a rather large catfish. However, the bait shop closed after Chuck, the previous owner died. Irritated it will no longer be a shop, Max. They are successful at first with their practical jokes, however, when Ariel learns what is going on, she tells John to apologize to Maria at once. He eventually does, but falls asleep at the restaurant after drinking grappa, Max and Maria begin dating due to their shared passion in fishing, while her mother Francesca dates Johns father. To complicate things further, Jacob and Melanie call off their engagement due to stress from their parents involvement, upon hearing the news, John and Max reignite their feud. Ariel is stressed out because of it and leaves John, at the restaurant, Francesca is worried about all the time Maria spends with Max. She reminds her daughter of her five failed marriages and worries that Max will make it six, after being convinced to take a long look at herself, Maria reluctantly stops seeing him. Distraught over losing Ariel, John heads to the lake for his fathers advice, following the funeral, John and Max call off their feud again and John and Ariel reconcile. After realizing that their own inability to plan a wedding is what drove their kids to call it off. They help Jacob and Melanie reconcile, and manage to catch Catfish Hunter and release it, Max marries Maria, and on the way to their honeymoon, discover Maxs one-eyed bulldog, Lucky, in the car with them. Ragettis is reformed so it also be a bait shop. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 18% based on reviews from 17 critics, roger Ebert gave the film a score of 2 out of 4 stars
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Nine (2009 live-action film)
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Nine is a 2009 musical drama film directed and produced by Rob Marshall and written by Michael Tolkin and Anthony Minghella. The film is an adaptation of the 1982 musical Nine, which in turn is based on Federico Fellinis semi-autobiographical 1963 film 8½, in addition to songs from the stage musical, all written by Maury Yeston, the film has three original songs, also written by Yeston. The ensemble principal cast consists of Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, and Sophia Loren. Despite mixed reviews and commercial failure, Nine was nominated for four Academy Awards, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Original Song. Guido Contini is a gifted Italian filmmaker who, at the age of fifty, has developed writers block and urges all the women in his life, alive and dead, to help him with it. It is 1965, and at the famous Cinecittà movie studios, in Rome, everyone has questions for Signor Contini. At a press conference at the Hotel Excelsior on the Via Veneto, hes charming and colourful, avoiding any clear answer on his new movie, his ninth with producer, Dante, here he meets Stephanie, a Vogue fashion journalist, with whom he begins a flirtation. Escaping the biting probes of the reporters, he creates an elaborate fantasy and he escapes the press conference and arrives at the Bellavista Spa Hotel. While being examined by the doctor, he receives a call from Carla and she describes her desire for him, as he listens on the other end. She arrives at the spa, expecting to share his suite, meanwhile, Guido learns that a Cardinal is also staying at his hotel and tells the cardinal’s assistant to arrange a meeting. However, Dante soon arrives at the spa and escorts Contini to a hall where the entire production team is assembled to help him prepare for his film. He sees Lilli, his designer, and begs for inspiration. She reminds him of Luisas birthday the day and disagrees, saying that it reminds her of Folies Bergère, a Parisian music hall that featured showgirls. The Cardinal agrees to him and advises him to lead a more moral life. Guido remembers Saraghina, a prostitute whom he and his friends paid to them the art of love. Young Guido is caught by his school teachers/priests and whipped by his principal and he awakens on top of Carla, in a fit of anxiety and abruptly leaves to meet his production team for dinner. She wants to come, but he refuses, reminding her that they don’t want to hurt either of their spouses. At dinner, he’s happily surprised to see Luisa, who has come at Lillis request and he embraces her and wishes her a happy birthday, promising that when she returns home, the house will be filled with flowers
25.
Grammy Award
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A Grammy Award, or Grammy, is an honor awarded by The Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the mainly English-language music industry. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of awards that have a more popular interest. It shares recognition of the industry as that of the other performance awards such as the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards. The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4,1959, to honor, following the 2011 ceremony, The Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 59th Grammy Awards, honoring the best achievements from October 2015 to September 2016, was held on February 12,2017, the Grammys had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950s. The music executives decided to rectify this by creating a given by their industry similar to the Oscars. This was the beginning of the National Academy of Recording Arts, after it was decided to create such an award, there was still a question of what to call it, one working title was the Eddie, to honor the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison. They finally settled on using the name of the invention of Emile Berliner, the gramophone, for the awards, the number of awards given grew and fluctuated over the years with categories added and removed, at one time reaching over 100. The second Grammy Awards, also held in 1959, was the first ceremony to be televised, the gold-plated trophies, each depicting a gilded gramophone, are made and assembled by hand by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado. In 1990 the original Grammy design was revamped, changing the traditional soft lead for a stronger alloy less prone to damage, Billings developed a zinc alloy named grammium, which is trademarked. The trophies with the name engraved on them are not available until after the award announcements. By February 2009,7,578 Grammy trophies had been awarded, the General Field are four awards which are not restricted by genre. Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a full album if other than the performer. Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a single song if other than the performer. Song of the Year is awarded to the writer/composer of a single song, Best New Artist is awarded to a promising breakthrough performer who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording that establishes the public identity of that artist. The only two artists to win all four of these awards are Christopher Cross, who won all four in 1980, and Adele, who won the Best New Artist award in 2009 and the other three in 2012 and 2017. Other awards are given for performance and production in specific genres, as well as for other such as artwork. Special awards are given for longer-lasting contributions to the music industry, the many other Grammy trophies are presented in a pre-telecast Premiere Ceremony earlier in the afternoon before the Grammy Awards telecast
26.
Golden Globe Award
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Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign. The annual ceremony at which the awards are presented is a part of the film industrys awards season. The 74th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film, the 1st Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best achievements in 1943 filmmaking, was held in January 1944, at the 20th Century-Fox studios. Subsequent ceremonies were held at venues throughout the next decade, including the Beverly Hills Hotel. In 1950, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association made the decision to establish an honorary award to recognize outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry. Recognizing its subject as a figure within the entertainment industry. The official name of the award became the Cecil B. In 1963, the Miss Golden Globe concept was introduced, in its inaugural year, two Miss Golden Globes were named, one for film and one for television. The two Miss Golden Globes named that year were Eva Six and Donna Douglas, respectively, in 2009, the Golden Globe statuette was redesigned. It was unveiled at a conference at the Beverly Hilton prior to the show. The broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards, telecast to 167 countries worldwide, generally ranks as the third most-watched awards show each year, behind only the Oscars, gervais returned to host the 68th and 69th Golden Globe Awards the next two years. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted the 70th, 71st and 72nd Golden Globe Awards in 2015, the Golden Globe Awards theme song, which debuted in 2012, was written by Japanese musician and songwriter Yoshiki Hayashi. On January 7,2008, it was announced due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The ceremony was faced with a threat by striking writers to picket the event, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was forced to adopt another approach for the broadcast. In acting categories, Meryl Streep holds the record for the most competitive Golden Globe wins with eight, however, including honorary awards, such as the Henrietta Award, World Film Favorite Actor/Actress Award, or Cecil B. DeMille Award, Barbra Streisand leads with nine, additionally, Streisand won for composing the song Evergreen, producing the Best Picture, and directing Yentl in 1984. Jack Nicholson, Angela Lansbury, Alan Alda and Shirley MacLaine have six awards each, behind them are Rosalind Russell and Jessica Lange with five wins. Meryl Streep also holds the record for most nominations with thirty, at the 46th Golden Globe Awards an anomaly occurred, a three way-tie for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
27.
British Academy Film Awards
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The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to honour the best British and international contributions to film. Between 2008 and 2016, the ceremony was held in central London at the Royal Opera House, the 70th British Academy Film Awards were held on 12 February 2017 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. British Academy of Film and Television Arts was founded in 1947 as The British Film Academy, by David Lean, Alexander Korda, Carol Reed, Charles Laughton, Roger Manvell and others. BAFTA stated charitable purpose is to support, develop and promote the art forms of the image, by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners. In addition to awards ceremonies BAFTA runs a year-round programme of educational events including film screenings. BAFTA is supported by a membership of about 6,000 people from the film, television, the Academys awards are in the form of a theatrical mask designed by American sculptor Mitzi Cunliffe, which was commissioned by the Guild of Television Producers in 1955. The ceremony previously took place in April or May and since 2002 it takes place in February in order to precede the Oscars. The awards are open to all nationalities, though there is an award for Outstanding British Film. Only UK films are eligible for the categories of The British Short Film, the Awards ceremony is delayed broadcast on British television the same evening, and across the world for example its shown on BBC America in the United States. It has been broadcast in colour since 1970, the award ceremony is held in London. From 2000 to 2007 the ceremonies took place at the flagship Odeon cinema in Leicester Square, between 2008 and 2016, the ceremonies took place at the Royal Opera House. The 70th Awards in 2017 were held at the Royal Albert Hall, until 2012, the mobile network Orange sponsored the awards and starting in 2013 Oranges parent company, EE, began sponsorship. British Academy of Film and Television Arts British Academy Television Awards Official website BAFTA Awards database Museum of Broadcast Communications, BAFTA IMDB, BAFTA
28.
Volpi Cup for Best Actress
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The Volpi Cup is the principal award given to actresses at the Venice Film Festival and is named in honor of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, the founder of the festival. The award winner is selected by the jury from the films in the competition slate. The official name of the award has changed several times over the course of the years, the awards given from 1983 to 1987 were not Coppa Volpis but rather square plaques. The award can be given for lead or supporting performances, there are additional awards given within the festival that recognize acting performances. From 1993 to 1995 the festival awarded a Best Supporting Actress prize that is included below, the main Best Actress Award resumed in 1983
29.
Venice Film Festival
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The film festival is part of the Venice Biennale, which was founded by the Venetian City Council in 1895. The film festival has taken place in late August or early September on the island of the Lido, Venice. Screenings take place in the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi, since its inception the Venice Film Festival has grown into one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. The 74th Venice International Film Festival is scheduled to be held from 30 August to 9 September 2017, the first edition of the Venice Film Festival was carried out from the 6 to the 21 of August in 1932. The festival began with an idea of the president of the Venice Biennale Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata and Luciano De Feo, with good reason, the festival was considered the first international event of its type, receiving strong support from authorities. This first edition was held on the terrace of the Hotel Excelsior on the Venice Lido, and at that stage it was not a competitive event. The very first film to be shown in the history of the Festival was Rouben Mamoulians Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the second edition was held two years later, from 1 to 20 of August in 1934. For the first time it included a competition, at least 19 countries took part with over 300 accredited journalists. The Mussolini Cup was introduced for best foreign film and best Italian film, other awards were the Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment to best actor and actress. The prize for best foreign film went to Robert J. Flahertys Man of Aran and was a confirmation of the taste of the time for auteur documentaries, starting in 1935, the Festival became a yearly event under the direction of Ottavio Croze. The actors award was renamed Volpi Cup, in 1936 an international jury was nominated for the first time and in 1937 the new Cinema Palace, designed by the architect Luigi Quagliata, was inaugurated. The 1940s represent one of the most difficult moments for the review, the conclusion of the Second World War divides the decade in two. Before 1938 political pressures distorted and ruined the festival, in addition, few countries participated and there was an absolute monopoly of institutions and directors that were members of the Rome-Berlin Axis. The festival resumed full speed in 1946, after the war, with the return of normalcy, Venice once again became a great icon of the film world. In 1947 the festival was held at the Doges Palace, a most magnificent backdrop for hosting a record 90 thousand participants, surely it can be considered one of the greatest editions in the history of the festival. For the next twenty years the festival continued its development and expansion in accordance with the plan set in motion after the war. In 1963 the winds of change blow strongly during Luigi Chiarini’s directorship of the festival, during the years of his presidency, Chiarini aspired to renew the spirit and the structures of the festival, pushing for a total reorganization of the entire system. The social and political unrest of 1968 had strong repercussions on the Venice Bienniale, from 1969 to 1979 no prizes were awarded and the festival returned to the non-competitiveness of the first edition
30.
Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress
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The Best Actress Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the films in competition at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946, the ceremony was cancelled in 1948,1950, and 1968. No awards were given to actresses in 1947, on four occasions, the jury has awarded multiple women the prize from one film. The four films were A World Apart, Brink of Life, A Big Family, the jury also on occasion cites actresses with a special citation that is separate from the main award. From 1979 to 1981 the festival awarded a Best Supporting Actress prize. Isabelle Adjani is the actress to ever win the award for two films in one festival, which she did in 1981. The award can be for lead or supporting roles, barbara Hershey won the award consecutively in 1987 and 1988. ‡ - indicates the performance was nominated for an Academy Award 2 wins Vanessa Redgrave – Morgan
31.
Cannes Film Festival
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Founded in 1946, the invitation-only festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. On 1 July 2014, co-founder and former head of French pay-TV operator Canal+ Pierre Lescure took over as President of the festival, the Board of Directors also appointed Gilles Jacob as Honorary President of the festival. The 2016 Cannes Film Festival took place between 11 and 22 May 2016, australian film director George Miller was the President of the Jury. I, Daniel Blake, directed by British director Ken Loach, in 2017, The Festival de Cannes will celebrate its 70th anniversary edition from May 17 to 28. In 1947, the festival was held as the Festival du film de Cannes, at that time the principle of equality was introduced, with a jury made up of only one representative per country. The festival is now held at the Palais des Festivals, expressly constructed for the occasion, although for its 1949 inaugural the roof was unfinished, the festival was not held in 1948 and 1950 on account of budgetary problems. Although its origins may be attributed in part to the French desire to compete with Autumns Venice Film Festival, in 1955, the Palme dOr was created, replacing the Grand Prix du Festival which had been given until that year. In 1957, Dolores del Rio was the first female member of the jury as a Sélection officielle – Member, in 1959, the Marché du Film was founded, giving the festival a commercial character and facilitating exchanges between sellers and buyers in the film industry. Today it has become the first international platform for film commerce, in 1962, the International Critics Week was born, created by the French Union of Film Critics as the first parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival. Its goal was to showcase first and second works by directors all over the world. In 1965, an hommage was paid to Jean Cocteau after his death, the next year, Olivia de Havilland was named the first female president of the festival. The 1968 festival was halted on 19 May, some directors, such as Carlos Saura and Miloš Forman, had withdrawn their films from the competition. The filmmakers achieved the reinstatement of the President, and they founded the Film Directors Society that same year, during the 1970s, important changes occurred in the Festival. In 1972, Robert Favre Le Bret was named the new President and he immediately introduced an important change in the selection of the participating films. Until that date, the different countries chose which films would represent them in the festival, Bessy created one committee to select French films, and another for foreign films. In 1978, Gilles Jacob assumed the President position, introducing the Caméra dOr award, in 1983, a new, much bigger Palais des Festivals et des Congrès was built to host the Festival. It was nicknamed The Bunker and provoked many reactions against it, in 1984, Pierre Viot replaced Robert Favre Le Bret as President of the Festival. It was not until 1995 that Gilles Jacob created the last section of the Official Selection and its aim was to support the creation of works of cinema in the world and to contribute to the entry of the new scenario writers in the circle of the celebrities
32.
Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award
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DeMille Award is an honorary Golden Globe Award bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment. It was first presented on February 21,1952 at the 9th Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony and is named in honor of its first recipient, honorees are selected by the HFPA board of directors and are presented annually. The first African-American to receive the honor was Sidney Poitier in 1982, *The 2008 awards ceremony was cancelled due to the 2007 Writers Guild of America strike, the HFPA deferred the award to the 2009 ceremony. **Woody Allens Award was accepted by Diane Keaton
33.
American Film Institute
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The American Film Institute is an American film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the moving picture arts in America. AFI is supported by funding and public membership. The institute is composed of leaders from the film, entertainment, business, a board of trustees chaired by Sir Howard Stringer and a board of directors chaired by Robert A. Daly guide the organization, which is led by President and CEO Bob Gazzale. Prior leaders were founding director George Stevens, Jr. and Jean Picker Firstenberg. <ref>AFI Board of Trustees etc. American Film Institute. October 2014. Retrieved December 24,2014. </ref>Two years later, in 1967, AFI was established, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Ford Foundation. The institute established a program for filmmakers known then as the Center for Advanced Film Studies. The institute moved to its current eight-acre Hollywood campus in 1981, the film training program grew into the AFI Conservatory, an accredited graduate school. AFI educates audiences and recognizes excellence through its awards programs and 10 Top 10 Lists. In 1969, the established the AFI Conservatory for Advanced Film Studies at Greystone. The first class included filmmakers Terrence Malick, Caleb Deschanel and Paul Schrader, mirroring a professional production environment, Fellows collaborate to make more films than any other graduate level program. Admission to AFI Conservatory is highly selective, with a maximum of 140 graduates per year, in 2013, Emmy and Oscar-winning director, producer and screenwriter James L. Brooks joined AFI as Artistic Director of the AFI Conservatory where he provides leadership for the film program. Brooks artistic role at the AFI Conservatory has a legacy that includes Daniel Petrie, Jr. Robert Wise. Award-winning director Bob Mandel served as Dean of the AFI Conservatory for nine years, jan Schuette took over as Dean in 2014. AFI Conservatorys alumni have careers in film, television and on the web and they have been recognized with all of the major industry awards – Academy Award, Emmy Award, guild awards, and the Tony Award. The AFI Catalog, started in 1968, is a web-based filmographic database, early print copies of this catalog may also be found at your local library. Each year the AFI Awards honor the ten outstanding films and ten outstanding television programs, the awards are a non-competitive acknowledgement of excellence. The Awards are announced in December and a luncheon for award honorees takes place the following January. The juries consisted of over 1,500 artists, scholars, critics and historians, with movies selected based on the films popularity over time, historical significance, citizen Kane was voted the greatest American film twice. AFI operates two film festivals, AFI Fest in Los Angeles, and AFI Docs in Silver Spring, Maryland, AFI Fest is the American Film Institutes annual celebration of artistic excellence
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AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars
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Part of the AFI100 Years. Series, AFIs 100 Years.100 Stars is a list of the top 50 greatest screen legends in American film history, which included 25 male and 25 female stars. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute on June 15,1999, in a CBS special hosted by Shirley Temple, the top stars of their respective sexes are Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. They starred together in the adventure film The African Queen. All actors and actresses are from the Golden era of Hollywood film production, as of 2017, only Kirk Douglas, Sidney Poitier, and Sophia Loren are still living. AFI Recognizes the 50 Greatest American Screen Legends, archived from the original on January 13,2013. List of the 500 nominated star legends List of the 50 winning legends
35.
Marchioness
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A marquess is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is used to translate equivalent Asian styles, as in imperial China. In Great Britain and Ireland, the spelling of the aristocratic title of this rank is marquess. In Scotland the French spelling is sometimes used. In Great Britain and Ireland, the ranks below a duke. A woman with the rank of a marquess, or the wife of a marquess, is called a marchioness /ˌmɑːrʃəˈnɛs/ in Great Britain, the dignity, rank or position of the title is referred to as a marquisate or marquessate. The theoretical distinction between a marquess and other titles has, since the Middle Ages, faded into obscurity. In times past, the distinction between a count and a marquess was that the land of a marquess, called a march, was on the border of the country, while a land, called a county. As a result of this, a marquess was trusted to defend and fortify against potentially hostile neighbours and was more important. The title is ranked below that of a duke, which was restricted to the royal family. In the German lands, a Margrave was a ruler of an immediate Imperial territory, German rulers did not confer the title of marquis, holders of marquisates in Central Europe were largely associated with the Italian and Spanish crowns. The word entered the English language from the Old French marchis in the late 13th or early 14th century, the French word was derived from marche, itself descended from the Middle Latin marca, from which the modern English words march and mark also descend. In Great Britain and Ireland, the spelling for an English aristocrat of this rank is marquess. The word marquess is unusual in English, ending in -ess but referring to a male, a woman with the rank of a marquess, or the wife of a marquess, is called a marchioness in Great Britain and Ireland, or a marquise /mɑːrˈkiːz/ elsewhere in Europe. The dignity, rank or position of the title is referred to as a marquisate or marquessate, the honorific prefix The Most Honourable is a form of address that precedes the name of a marquess or marchioness in the United Kingdom. The rank of marquess was a late introduction to the British peerage, no marcher lords had the rank of marquess. The following list may still be incomplete, feminine forms follow after a slash, many languages have two words, one for the modern marquess and one for the original margrave. Even where neither title was used domestically, such duplication to describe foreign titles can exist
36.
Legitimacy (family law)
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Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, illegitimacy is the status of a child born outside marriage, depending on the cultural context, legitimacy can affect a childs rights of inheritance to the putative fathers estate and the childs right to bear the fathers surname or title. Illegitimacy has also had consequences for the mothers and childs right to support from the putative father, in medieval Wales, a bastard was defined simply as a child not acknowledged by its father. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, that were acknowledged by the father enjoyed the legal rights. Englands Statute of Merton stated, regarding illegitimacy, He is a bastard that is born before the marriage of his parents and this definition also applied to situations when a childs parents could not marry, as when one or both were already married or when the relationship was incestuous. The Poor Law of 1576 formed the basis of English bastardy law and its purpose was to punish a bastard childs mother and putative father, and to relieve the parish from the cost of supporting mother and child. By an act of 1576, it was ordered that bastards should be supported by their putative fathers, if the genitor could be found, then he was put under very great pressure to accept responsibility and to maintain the child. Under English law, a bastard was unable to be an heir to real property, in contrast to the situation under civil law, a younger non-bastard brother would have no claim to the land. The Legitimacy Act 1926 of England and Wales legitimized the birth of a if the parents subsequently married each other. The Legitimacy Act 1959 extended the legitimization even if the parents had married others in the meantime, neither the 1926 nor 1959 Acts changed the laws of succession to the British throne and succession to peerage titles. The Family Law Reform Act 1969 allowed a bastard to inherit on the intestacy of his parents, in canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have also been considered legitimate. Since 2003 in England and Wales,2002 in Northern Ireland and 2006 in Scotland, still, children born out of wedlock may not be eligible for certain federal benefits unless the child has been legitimized in the appropriate jurisdiction. Many other countries have abolished by any legal disabilities of a child born out of wedlock. In France, legal reforms regarding illegitimacy began in the 1970s, the European Convention on the Legal Status of Children Born out of Wedlock came into force in 1978. Countries which ratify it must ensure that children born outside marriage are provided with legal rights as stipulated in the text of this Convention, the Convention was ratified by the UK in 1981 and by Ireland in 1988. Use of the illegitimate child is now rare, even in legal contexts. It has been stricken from passports and legal documents as needlessly insulting and stigmatizing to the child, terms such as extra-marital child, love child and child born out of wedlock are more commonly used. Also used in Britain and other English-speaking countries is bastard, though such as natural child are preferred in polite society
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Pozzuoli
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Pozzuoli is a city and comune of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of Dicaearchia, the Roman colony was established in 194 BC, and took the name Puteoli which it has his roots from puteus, meaning well and osco fistulus. An alternative etymology of Puteoli from the Latin puteo, referring to the smell in the area. This is because Pozzuoli lies in the center of the Campi Flegrei, Puteoli was the great emporium for the Alexandrian grain ships, and other ships from all over the Roman world. It also was the hub for goods exported from Campania, including blown glass, mosaics, wrought iron. The Roman naval base at nearby Misenum housed the largest naval fleet in the ancient world and it was also the site of the Roman Dictator Sullas country villa and the place where he died in 78 BC. The local volcanic sand, pozzolana formed the basis for the first effective concrete, instead of just evaporating slowly off, the water would turn this sand/lime mix into a mortar strong enough to bind lumps of aggregate into a load-bearing unit. This made possible the cupola of the Pantheon, which is still the worlds largest unreinforced concrete dome, the apostle Paul landed here on his way to Rome, from which it was 170 miles distant. Here he stayed for seven days and then began with his companions his journey by the Appian Way to Rome, Puteoli is considered the best candidate for the unnamed city where the 1st century Roman novel Satyricon takes place. Saint Proculus was martyred here with his companions in the fourth century, the seven eagle heads on the coat-of-arms for the town of Pozzuoli are said to represent seven of these martyrs. November 16 was the official feast day for Saint Proculus, st. Proculus was affectionately nicknamed u pisciasotto because November 16 was often a day of rain. The townspeople also celebrated his feast day on the second Sunday in May, charles Lyell visited Pozzuoli in 1828 and studied the Macellum columns. The events raised the sea bottom by almost 2 m, the towns attractions include, The Macellum of Pozzuoli, also known as the Temple of Serapis or serapeum, is considered the citys symbol. The temple was actually a marketplace and its name derives from the misinterpretation of its function after a statue of the god Serapis was found in 1750 at this location. Flavian Amphitheater, the third largest Italian amphitheater after the Colosseum, Solfatara Forum Minor Amphitheater, very near to the Flavian one, its remains were absorbed by other buildings, but some arches can be seen by Via Solfatara and Via Vigna. Villa Avellino, one of the few urban parks of Pozzuoli and it also shows several Roman ruins and water tanks. There is also a still working Roman face water fountain, rione Terra, the first settlement of Puteoli, originally Dicearkia in Greek
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Naples
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Naples is the capital of the Italian region Campania and the third-largest municipality in Italy, after Rome and Milan. In 2015, around 975,260 people lived within the administrative limits. The Metropolitan City of Naples had a population of 3,115,320, Naples is the 9th-most populous urban area in the European Union with a population of between 3 million and 3.7 million. About 4.4 million people live in the Naples metropolitan area, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Bronze Age Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC, a larger colony – initially known as Parthenope, Παρθενόπη – developed on the Island of Megaride around the ninth century BC, at the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Naples remained influential after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, thereafter, in union with Sicily, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861. Naples was the most-bombed Italian city during World War II, much of the citys 20th-century periphery was constructed under Benito Mussolinis fascist government, and during reconstruction efforts after World War II. The city has experienced significant economic growth in recent decades, and unemployment levels in the city, however, Naples still suffers from political and economic corruption, and unemployment levels remain high. Naples has the fourth-largest urban economy in Italy, after Milan, Rome and it is the worlds 103rd-richest city by purchasing power, with an estimated 2011 GDP of US$83.6 billion. The port of Naples is one of the most important in Europe, numerous major Italian companies, such as MSC Cruises Italy S. p. A, are headquartered in Naples. The city also hosts NATOs Allied Joint Force Command Naples, the SRM Institution for Economic Research, Naples is a full member of the Eurocities network of European cities. The city was selected to become the headquarters of the European institution ACP/UE and was named a City of Literature by UNESCOs Creative Cities Network, the Villa Rosebery, one of the three official residences of the President of Italy, is located in the citys Posillipo district. Naples historic city centre is the largest in Europe, covering 1,700 hectares and enclosing 27 centuries of history, Naples has long been a major cultural centre with a global sphere of influence, particularly during the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras. In the immediate vicinity of Naples are numerous culturally and historically significant sites, including the Palace of Caserta, culinarily, Naples is synonymous with pizza, which originated in the city. Neapolitan music has furthermore been highly influential, credited with the invention of the romantic guitar, according to CNN, the metro stop Toledo is the most beautiful in Europe and it won also the LEAF Award 2013 as Public building of the year. Naples is the Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, Naples sports scene is dominated by football and Serie A club S. S. C. Napoli, two-time Italian champions and winner of European trophies, who play at the San Paolo Stadium in the south-west of the city, the Phlegraean Fields around Naples has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. The earliest Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC, sailors from the Greek island of Rhodes established a small commercial port called Parthenope on the island of Megaride in the ninth century BC
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World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
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Allies of World War II
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The Allies of World War II, called the United Nations from the 1 January 1942 declaration, were the countries that together opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War. The Allies promoted the alliance as seeking to stop German, Japanese, at the start of the war on 1 September 1939, the Allies consisted of France, Poland and the United Kingdom, and dependent states, such as the British India. Within days they were joined by the independent Dominions of the British Commonwealth, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Poland was a minor factor after its defeat in 1939, France was a minor factor after its defeat in 1940. China had already been into a war with Japan since the Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937. The alliance was formalised by the Declaration by United Nations, from 1 January 1942, however, the name United Nations was rarely used to describe the Allies during the war. The leaders of the Big Three – the UK, the Soviet Union, in 1945, the Allied nations became the basis of the United Nations. The origins of the Allied powers stem from the Allies of World War I, Germany resented signing Treaty of Versailles. The new Weimar republics legitimacy became shaken, by the early 1930s, the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler became the dominant revanchist movement in Germany and Hitler and the Nazis gained power in 1933. The Nazi regime demanded the cancellation of the Treaty of Versailles and made claims to German-populated Austria. The likelihood of war was high, and the question was whether it could be avoided through strategies such as appeasement, in Asia, when Japan seized Manchuria in 1931, the League of Nations condemned it for aggression against China. Japan responded by leaving the League of Nations in March 1933, after four quiet years, the Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japanese forces invading China. The League of Nations condemned Japans actions and initiated sanctions on Japan, the United States, in particular, was angered at Japan and sought to support China. In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia, violating the Munich Agreement signed six months before, Britain and France decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert a German attack on the country, also, the French had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921. The Soviet Union sought an alliance with the powers. The agreement secretly divided the independent nations of eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for the German war machine, on 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland, two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Then, on 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, a Polish government-in-exile was set up and it continued to be one of the Allies, a model followed by other occupied countries. After a quiet winter, Germany in April 1940 invaded and quickly defeated Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini
41.
Shrapnel shell
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They relied almost entirely on the shells velocity for their lethality. The munition has been obsolete since the end of World War I for anti-personnel use, the functioning and principles behind Shrapnel shells are fundamentally different from high-explosive shell fragmentation. In 1784, Lieutenant Shrapnel of the Royal Artillery began developing an anti-personnel weapon, when fired, the container burst open during passage through the bore or at the muzzle, giving the effect of an oversized shotgun shell. At ranges of up to 300 m canister shot was still highly lethal, though at this range the shots’ density was much lower and his shell was a hollow cast-iron sphere filled with a mixture of balls and powder, with a crude time fuze. If the fuze was set correctly then the shell would break open, either in front or above the intended target, the shrapnel balls would carry on with the remaining velocity of the shell. The explosive charge in the shell was to be just enough to break the casing rather than scatter the shot in all directions, as such his invention increased the effective range of canister shot from 300 to about 1100 m. He called his device spherical case shot, but in time it came to be called after him, Various solutions were tried, with limited if any success. However, in 1852 Colonel Boxer proposed using a diaphragm to separate the bullets from the bursting charge, as a buffer to prevent lead shot deforming, a resin was used as a packing material between the shot. A useful side effect of using the resin was that the combustion also gave a visual reference upon the shell bursting and it took until 1803 for the British artillery to adopt the shrapnel shell, albeit with great enthusiasm when it did. Henry Shrapnel was promoted to major in the same year, the first recorded use of shrapnel by the British was in 1804 against the Dutch at Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam in Surinam. The Duke of Wellingtons armies used it from 1808 in the Peninsular War and at the Battle of Waterloo, the design was improved by Captain E. M. Boxer of the Royal Arsenal around 1852 and crossed over when cylindrical shells for rifled guns were introduced. The powder charge both shattered the cast iron wall and liberated the bullets. The broken shell wall continued mainly forward but had little destructive effect, in the 1870s William Armstrong provided a design with the bursting charge in the head and the shell wall made of steel and hence much thinner than previous cast-iron shrapnel shell walls. Britain adopted this solution for several smaller calibres but by World War I few if any such shells remained, the final shrapnel shell design, adopted in the 1880s, bore little similarity to Henry Shrapnels original design other than its spherical bullets and time fuze. It used a much thinner forged steel shell case with a fuze in the nose. The use of steel allowed the wall to be made much thinner. It also withstood the force of the charge without shattering, so that the bullets were fired forward out of the shell case with increased velocity. This is the design came to be adopted by all countries and was in standard use when World War I began in 1914
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Piano
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The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented around the year 1700, in which the strings are struck by hammers. It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. The word piano is a form of pianoforte, the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument. The first fortepianos in the 1700s had a sound and smaller dynamic range. An acoustic piano usually has a wooden case surrounding the soundboard and metal strings. Pressing one or more keys on the keyboard causes a padded hammer to strike the strings. The hammer rebounds from the strings, and the continue to vibrate at their resonant frequency. These vibrations are transmitted through a bridge to a soundboard that amplifies by more efficiently coupling the acoustic energy to the air, when the key is released, a damper stops the strings vibration, ending the sound. Notes can be sustained, even when the keys are released by the fingers and thumbs and this means that the piano can play 88 different pitches, going from the deepest bass range to the highest treble. The black keys are for the accidentals, which are needed to play in all twelve keys, more rarely, some pianos have additional keys. Most notes have three strings, except for the bass that graduates from one to two, the strings are sounded when keys are pressed or struck, and silenced by dampers when the hands are lifted from the keyboard. There are two types of piano, the grand piano and the upright piano. The grand piano is used for Classical solos, chamber music and art song and it is used in jazz. The upright piano, which is compact, is the most popular type, as they are a better size for use in private homes for domestic music-making. During the nineteenth century, music publishers produced many works in arrangements for piano, so that music lovers could play. The piano is widely employed in classical, jazz, traditional and popular music for solo and ensemble performances, accompaniment, with technological advances, amplified electric pianos, electronic pianos, and digital pianos have also been developed. The electric piano became an instrument in the 1960s and 1970s genres of jazz fusion, funk music. The piano was founded on earlier technological innovations in keyboard instruments, pipe organs have been used since Antiquity, and as such, the development of pipe organs enabled instrument builders to learn about creating keyboard mechanisms for sounding pitches
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G.I. (military)
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G. I. is a noun used to describe the soldiers of the United States Army and airmen of the United States Army Air Forces—and for U. S. Marines and sailors—and also for general items of their equipment, the term G. I. has been used as an initialism of Government Issue or General Issue, but it originally referred to galvanized iron, as used by the logistics services of the United States Armed Forces. The letters G. I. were used to denote equipment made from galvanized iron, such as trash cans, in U. S. Army inventories. During World War I, American soldiers sardonically referred to incoming German artillery shells as G. I. cans, also during that war, G. I. started being interpreted as Government Issue or General Issue for the general items of equipment of soldiers and airmen. The term G. I. came into use in the United States with the start of the Selective Service System in 1940. Next, the use of G. I. expanded from 1942 through 1945, the American Five-star General Dwight D. Eisenhower said in 1945 that the truly heroic figure of this war G. I. Joe and his counterpart in the air, the navy, G. I. was also used as an adjective for anything having to do with the Army or Army Air Force. Digger —A similar term used in Australia Dogface Doughboy Folk etymology G. I
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