Steinway & Sons known as Steinway, is an American piano company, founded in 1853 in Manhattan by German piano builder Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg. The company's growth led to the opening of a factory in New York City, United States, a factory in Hamburg, Germany; the factory in the Queens borough of New York City supplies the Americas and the factory in Hamburg supplies the rest of the world. Along with C. Bechstein, Bösendorfer and Blüthner, Steinway is referred to as one of the "Big Four" piano manufacturers. Steinway has been described as a prominent piano company, known for making pianos of high quality and for inventions within the area of piano development. Steinway has been granted 139 patents in piano making; the company's share of the high-end grand piano market exceeds 80 percent. The dominant position has been criticized, with some musicians and writers arguing that it has blocked innovation and led to a homogenization of the sound favored by pianists. Steinway pianos have received numerous awards.

One of the first is a gold medal in 1855 at the American Institute Fair at the New York Crystal Palace. From 1855 to 1862, Steinway pianos received 35 gold medals. More awards and recognitions followed, including three medals at the International Exposition of 1867 in Paris; the European part of the company holds a royal warrant of appointment to Queen Elizabeth II. Steinway & Sons was named Company of the Year in 1996 by The Music Trades magazine; the award was given in recognition of Steinway's "overall performance, value-added products, a well-executed promotional program and disciplined distribution which generated the most impressive results in the entire music industry."In addition to the flagship Steinway piano line, Steinway markets two other, lower priced brands of piano sold under the secondary brand names Boston and Essex. The Boston brand is for the mid-level market and the Essex brand is for the entry-level market. Boston and Essex pianos are designed by Steinway engineers and produced in Asia at other piano makers' factories under the supervision of Steinway employees to utilize a lower cost of parts and labor.

Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg first made pianos in the 1820s from his house in Germany. He made pianos under the Steinweg brand until he emigrated from Germany to America in 1850 with his wife and seven of his nine children; the eldest son, C. F. Theodor Steinweg, remained in Germany, continued making the Steinweg brand of pianos, partnering with Friedrich Grotrian, a piano dealer, from 1856 to 1865. In 1853, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg founded Sons, his first workshop in America was in a small loft at the back of 85 Varick Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The first piano made by Steinway & Sons was given the number 483 because Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg had built 482 pianos in Germany. Number 483 was sold to a New York family for $500, is now on display at the German museum Städtisches Museum Seesen in Seesen, the town in which Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg began his career as a piano maker. A year demand was such that the company moved to larger premises at 82–88 Walker Street.

It was not until 1864. By the 1860s, Steinway had built a new factory at Park Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Street where it covered a whole block. With a workforce of 350 men, production increased from 500 to nearly 1,800 pianos per year; the employees were German immigrants and the official language of the company was German. The pianos themselves underwent numerous substantial improvements through innovations made both at the Steinway factory and elsewhere in the industry based on emerging engineering and scientific research, including developments in the understanding of acoustics. Half of the company's 139 patented inventions were developed by the first and second generations of the Steinway family. Steinway's pianos won prizes at exhibitions in New York City and Paris. By 1862, Steinway pianos had received more than 35 medals. Part of Steinway's early reputation arose from its successes in trade fairs. In 1865, the Steinway family sent a letter to C. F. Theodor Steinweg asking that he leave the German Steinweg factory and travel to New York City to take over the leadership of the family firm due to the deaths of his brothers Henry and Charles from disease.

C. F. Theodor Steinweg obeyed, selling his share of the German piano company to his partner, Wilhelm Grotrian, two other workmen, Adolph Helfferich and H. G. W. Schulz; the German factory changed its name from C. F. Theodor Steinweg to Grotrian, Schulz, Th. Steinweg Nachf. Shortened to Grotrian-Steinweg. In New York City, C. F. Theodor Steinweg anglicized his name to C. F. Theodore Steinway. During the next 15 years of his leadership, he kept a home in Braunschweig and traveled between Germany and the United States. Around 1870–80, William Steinway established a professional community, the company town Steinway Village, in what is now the Astoria neighborhood of Queens in New York City. Steinway Village was built as its own town, included a new factory with its own foundry and sawmill, houses for employees, lending library, post office, volunteer fire department, parks. Steinway Village became part of Long Island City. Steinway Street, one of the major streets in the Astoria and Long Island City neighborhoods of Queens, is named after the company.

In 1876, Stei

Richard Descoings was a French civil servant. He was serving as the Director of the Paris Institute of Political Studies, as such as the Chief Administrator of the National Foundation of Political Science; these two entities are collectively referred to as Sciences Po, are two of the most prestigious public policy research and teaching bodies in Europe. Descoings was a senior member of the Conseil d'État. Descoings was born in Paris, where he graduated from the Institut d'études politiques in 1980, subsequently studied at the École nationale d'administration from 1983 to 1985. From 1985 to 1989, he worked as an auditor in the legal section of the Conseil d'État and, in 1987, was appointed special advisor to Alain Lancelot, Director of the Institut d'études politiques de Paris. In 1989 he was appointed Deputy Director of the Institut d’études politiques de Paris, remained in that post until 1991 when he was appointed Counsel of the Conseil d'État. From 1991 to 1993, he was successively technical advisor to the cabinet of the Minister for the Budget, with particular responsibility for monitoring the national education and higher education budget, special advisor to the Minister of National Education with responsibility for budgetary issues.

From 1993 to 1996 he was appointed Deputy General Reporter on the report and studies section of the Conseil d'État and on the task force on the responsibilities and organization of the State. From 1995 to 1996, he worked as government commissioner for legal training at the Conseil d'État, he was appointed the chief figure at Sciences Po in 1996. For his service to the French Republic, Descoings was awarded Knight of the Order of Merit and Knight of the Order of Academic Palms, he was awarded Commander of the Brazilian Order of Rio Branco and an honorary doctorates from Waseda University, Japan. On April 3, 2012, he was found dead in a Manhattan luxury hotel room; the circumstances surrounding his premature death and his dissolute lifestyle have generated rumours in the media, but it was determined that he died a natural death of "causes related to hypertension." He is buried at the cemetery of Pernes-les-Fontaines in southeastern France. Raphaëlle Bacqué, Paris, Grasset, 2015 Official weblog

Mirer khil is a village of Bhujpur union in Bangladesh. 49 km from Chittagong city the village is some part of East Bhujpur mouza and some part of Fakirachang mouza. In Bengali language Mirer means of the Mirs and Khil is a Sanskrit word, means wasteland, uncultivated fallow Farmland or Farmhouse. In Nāradasmṛti, khil meaning that land, not cultivated for three years; the meaning of Mirerkhil is “the uncultivated Farmland of Mirs”. The village Mirerkhil is situated between two hills, Sitakunda hill and hills of Chittagong hill tracts. Village is bounded by water tanks and large Nodhailla Dhoba. Famous river of Chittagong district Halda River is flowing outer skirt of village. Village's direct angular distance from Bay of Bengal is 22 km and Sitakunda hills situated between sea and the village. Amtali village is to north, in East side Fakirachang village and in West side is Azimpur Mouza. There are some water tanks by name Mirer Pukur, Khondakar Pukur, Azala Pukr & Bania Pukur of pre British period available in the village.

As per known history the village is named after zamindar of the area Mir Muhammad Sana. Local peoples call Mirer Pukur the tank, situated in front of the Mirerkhil Jame mosque; the area is mentioned in old records as Taraf Mir Muhammad Sana but CS Cadestral Survey mentioned the area as Gasbaria. Gasbaria Primary School & Gasbaria field is bearing memory of that. Population of the village 1300 approx. There are a Gov’t Primary School, a Madrassa, an Woman Madrassa, three mosque and a Jame Mosque in the village. Gasbaria Primary School Mirerkhil Abu Horaira Madrassah Mirerkhil Mahila Madrassah Mirerkhil Jame Mosque Regional Highway “R151” touched Mirerkhil when it meets with Dhaka-Chittagong national highway at Baroiar Hat via Heako. Busses travel Fakir Hat from Chittagong city Oxygen Bus Stand in every hour. Fakir Hat is the main marketplace in the village. Distance between Chittagong city and Fakir Hat is 49 km. List of villages in Bangladesh