Vladimir the Great was a prince of Novgorod, grand Prince of Kiev, ruler of Kievan Rus' from 980 to 1015. Vladimir's father was prince Sviatoslav of the Rurik dynasty. After the death of his father in 972, prince of Novgorod, was forced to flee to Scandinavia in 976 after his brother Yaropolk had murdered his other brother Oleg and conquered Rus'. In Sweden, with the help of his relative Ladejarl Håkon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway, he assembled a Varangian army and reconquered Novgorod from Yaropolk. By 980, Vladimir had consolidated the Kievan realm from modern-day Belarus and Ukraine to the Baltic Sea and had solidified the frontiers against incursions of Bulgarian, Baltic tribes and Eastern nomads. A follower of Slavic paganism, Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988 and Christianized the Kievan Rus', he is thus known as Saint Vladimir. Born in 958, Vladimir was the natural son and youngest son of Sviatoslav I of Kiev by his housekeeper Malusha. Malusha is described in the Norse sagas as a prophetess who lived to the age of 100 and was brought from her cave to the palace to predict the future.

Malusha's brother Dobrynya was most trusted advisor. Hagiographic tradition of dubious authenticity connects his childhood with the name of his grandmother, Olga of Kiev, Christian and governed the capital during Sviatoslav's frequent military campaigns. Transferring his capital to Pereyaslavets in 969, Sviatoslav designated Vladimir ruler of Novgorod the Great but gave Kiev to his legitimate son Yaropolk. After Sviatoslav's death at the hands of the Pechenegs in 972, a fratricidal war erupted in 976 between Yaropolk and his younger brother Oleg, ruler of the Drevlians. In 977, Vladimir fled to his kinsman Haakon Sigurdsson, ruler of Norway, collecting as many Norse warriors as he could to assist him to recover Novgorod. On his return the next year, he marched against Yaropolk. On his way to Kiev he sent ambassadors to Rogvolod, prince of Polotsk, to sue for the hand of his daughter Rogneda; the high-born princess refused to affiance herself to the son of a bondswoman, so Vladimir attacked Polotsk, slew Rogvolod, took Ragnhild by force.

Polotsk was a key fortress on the way to Kiev, capturing Polotsk and Smolensk facilitated the taking of Kiev in 978, where he slew Yaropolk by treachery and was proclaimed knyaz of all Kievan Rus. Vladimir continued to expand his territories beyond his father's extensive domain. In 981, he seized the Cherven towns from the Poles. Although Christianity spread in the region under Oleg's rule, Vladimir had remained a thoroughgoing pagan, taking eight hundred concubines and erecting pagan statues and shrines to gods, he may have attempted to reform Slavic paganism in an attempt to identify himself with the various gods worshipped by his subjects. He built a pagan temple on the a hill in Kiev dedicated to six gods: Perun - the god of thunder and war "a Norse god favored by members of the prince’s druzhina". Slav gods Dazhd ` bog. A mob killed his son Ioann. After the murder of Fyodor and Ioann, early medieval Rus' saw persecutions against Christians, many of whom escaped or concealed their belief. However, Prince Vladimir mused over the incident long after, not least for political considerations.

According to the early Slavic chronicle called Tale of Bygone Years, which describes life in Kievan Rus' up to the year 1110, he sent his envoys throughout the civilized world to judge first hand the major religions of the time, Roman Catholicism and Byzantine Orthodoxy. They were most impressed with their visit to Constantinople, saying, "We knew not whether we were in Heaven or on Earth… We only know that God dwells there among the people, their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations." The Primary Chronicle reports that in the year 987, after consultation with his boyars, Vladimir the Great sent envoys to study the religions of the various neighboring nations whose representatives had been urging him to embrace their respective faiths. The result is described by the chronicler Nestor. Of the Muslim Bulgarians of the Volga the envoys reported there is no gladness among them, only sorrow and a great stench, he reported that Islam was undesirable due to its taboo against alcoholic beverages and pork.

Vladimir remarked on the occasion: "Drinking is the joy of all Rus'. We cannot exist without that pleasure." Ukrainian and Russian sources describe Vladimir consulting with Jewish envoys and questioning them about their religion, but rejecting it as well, saying that their loss of Jerusalem was evidence that they had been abandoned by God. His emissaries visited pre-schism Latin Rite Christian and Eastern Rite Christian missionaries. Vladimir settled on Eastern Orthodox Christianity. In the churches of the Germans his emissaries saw no beauty.

Musikhaus Thomann is a German-based retailer of musical instruments, studio and pro-audio equipment. Thomann became known due to its large online retail operation, Thomann Cyberstore. According to a 2014 article in the largest Upper Franconian newspaper based in Bavaria, the Fränkischer Tag, Musikhaus Thomann is the largest online retailer of its category of merchandise, worldwide. Hans Thomann, Sr. founded the company sixty-six years ago as a family business in Treppendorf — part of the village of Burgebrach, in Bavaria, Germany — where the Musikhaus Thomann headquarters endures today. And, as of 2020, the company is still family-owned; the company has been managed by Hans Thomann, Jr, representative of the second Thomann generation, since 1990. Since 1997, Thomann have been selling products through their own web site. In the first year, online turnover ran to DM 800,000. Musikhaus Thomann is divided into three business units: Musikhaus Thomann – music store and logistics centre Thomann Direktversand and Thomann Cyberstore – distribution unit with about 3.1m customers and the thomann.de online platform.

In 2004, the company achieved a turnover of EUR 10m. In 2006, the company disclosed a turnover of EUR 129m, making it one of the fifty fastest-growing companies in Bavaria once more. In September 2010, Musikhaus Thomann received the Versender des Jahres Award, which the German Association of Mail Order Companies' hands out annually; the panel of judges chose Musikhaus Thomann for its strong growth, commitment to innovation, high level of customer satisfaction. In 2011, Musikhaus Thomann was presented with the Global E-Commerce award at the Global E-Commerse Summit in Barcelona. Eight national winners competed for the European prize. Thomann was the German nominee; the Jury noted that Thomann was "Demonstrating the ability to tap into a market segment that a few years ago nobody believed could be served through internet retail" Thomann sells several store brands, including: Harley Benton Startone Lead Foot Millenium Roth & Junius Stairville"Stairville" is a rough English translation of Treppendorf, which translates as "Stairs Village."Swissonic the box, the box pro the sssnake, pro snake the t.akustik the t.amp the t.mix the t.meter the t.bone As part of the t.bone brand, Thomann distributes a wide range of microphones from the two largest producers in Chinathe t.racks Thomann Thon Official website List compiled by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs: Bavaria's Best 50 2004 Hans Thomann Interview NAMM Oral History Library Harley Benton

The Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail is a series of water routes in the United States extending 3,000 miles along the Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary, its tributaries in Virginia, Delaware, in the District of Columbia. The historic routes trace the 1607–1609 voyages of Captain John Smith to chart the land and waterways of the Chesapeake. Along with the Star-Spangled Banner National Historic Trail, it is one of two water trails designated as National Historic Trails; the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail was established on December 19, 2006, by Pub. L. 109–418 after a year of feasibility studies undertaken by the National Park Service and authorized by the United States Congress. Pressure to create the trail came from bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate in August 2005; this suggestion gained support and was approved by the Subcommittee on National Parks in May 2006. The Senate Subcommittee's approval provoked a House companion bill, sponsored by Representative Jo Ann Davis and co-sponsored by 27 representatives, passed by the House on December 6, 2006, by the Senate two days later.

President George W. Bush signed the bill into law on December 19, 2006; the bay-area water trail is part of the National Trails System and is administered by the National Park Service, in coordination with the Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network and the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Program. Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. National Park Service. Feasibility Study and Environmental Assessment. National Park Service. Sailing the Chesapeake Bay