Vodafone Group plc is a multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office is located in Newbury, Berkshire and its global headquarters is based in London, England, it predominantly operates services in the regions of Asia, Africa and Oceania. Among mobile operator groups globally, Vodafone ranked 4th in the number of mobile customers as of 2018; as of 2018, Vodafone owned and operated networks in 25 countries, had partner networks in 47 further countries. Its Vodafone Global Enterprise division provides telecommunications and IT services to corporate clients in 150 countries. Vodafone has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, it had a market capitalisation of £52.5 billion as of 10 February 2016, the eighth-largest of any company listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company has a secondary listing on NASDAQ; the name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones".

The evolution of Vodafone started in 1982 with the establishment of the Racal Strategic Radio Ltd subsidiary of Racal Electronics, the UK's largest maker of military radio technology, which formed a joint venture with Millicom called'Racal', which evolved into the present day Vodafone. In 1980, Ernest Harrison, the chairman of Racal Electronics, agreed to a deal with Lord Weinstock of the General Electric Company to allow Racal to access some of GEC's tactical battlefield radio technology; the head of Racal's military radio division, Gerry Whent, was briefed by Ernest Harrison to drive the company into commercial mobile radio. Whent visited a mobile radio factory run by General Electric in Virginia, USA the same year to understand the commercial use of military radio technology. Jan Stenbeck, head of a growing Swedish conglomerate, set up an American company, Inc. and approached Racal's Whent in July 1982 about bidding jointly for the UK's second cellular radio licence. The two struck a deal giving Racal 60% of the new company, Racal-Millicom and Millicom 40%.

Due to UK concerns about foreign ownership, the terms were revised, in December 1982, the Racal-Millicom partnership was awarded the second UK mobile phone network license. Final ownership of Racal-Millicom, Ltd was 80% Racal, with Millicom holding 15% plus royalties and venture firm Hambros Technology Trust holding 5%. According to the UK Secretary of State for Industry, "the bid submitted by Racal-Millicom Ltd… provided the best prospect for early national coverage by cellular radio."Vodafone was launched on 1 January 1985 under the new name, Racal-Vodafone Ltd, with its first office based in the Courtyard in Newbury and shortly thereafter Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications Group Limited. On 29 December 1986, Racal Electronics issued shares to the minority shareholders of Vodafone worth GB£110 million, Vodafone became a owned brand of Racal. On 26 October 1988, Racal Telecom, majority held by Racal Electronics, went public on the London Stock Exchange with 20% of its stock floated.

The successful flotation led to a situation where Racal's stake in Racal Telecom was valued more than the whole of Racal Electronics. Under stock market pressure to realise full value for shareholders, Racal demerged Racal Telecom in 1991. On 16 September 1991, Racal Telecom was demerged from Racal Electronics as Vodafone Group, with Gerry Whent as its CEO. In July 1996, Vodafone acquired the two-thirds of Talkland it did not own for £30.6 million. On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone purchased Peoples Phone for £77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were overwhelmingly using Vodafone's network. In a similar move the company acquired the 80% of Astec Communications that it did not own, a service provider with 21 stores. In January 1997, Gerald Whent retired and Christopher Gent took over as the CEO; the same year, Vodafone introduced its Speechmark logo, composed of a quotation mark in a circle, with the O's in the Vodafone logotype representing opening and closing quotation marks and suggesting conversation.

On 29 June 1999, Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications, Inc. and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. The merged company commenced trading on 30 June 1999; the acquisition gave Vodafone owner of the largest German mobile network. To gain antitrust approval for the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2% stake in Mannesmann's German competitor, E-Plus Mobilfunk. On 21 September 1999, Vodafone agreed to merge its US wireless assets with those of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless; the merger was completed on 4 April 2000, just a few months prior to Bell Atlantic's merger with GTE to form Verizon Communications, Inc. In November 1999, Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, rejected. Vodafone's interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the latter's purchase of Orange, the UK mobile operator. Chris Gent would say Mannesmann's move into the UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to compete in each other's home territory; the hostile takeover provoked strong protest in Germany, a "titanic struggle" which saw Mannesmann resist Vodafone's efforts.

However, on 3 February 2000, the Mannesmann board agreed to an increased offer of £112 billion the largest corporate merger ever. The EU approved the merger in April 2000 when Vodafone agreed to divest the'Orange' brand, acquired in May 2000 by France Télécom. On 28 July 2000, the Company reverted to Vodafone Group plc.. On 17 December 2001, Vodafone introduced the concept of

Hans Klocker was a late Gothic sculptor, active in South Tyrol. Hans Klocker seems to have been active at the court of the bishop of Brixen since 1477, although he is mentioned for the first time in this context in 1482, he is known to have created an altarpiece for the church in St. Leonhard in Passeier in 1486-90 and 1498 he was working on another for the church in Kaltern an der Weinstraße; the last time his name is mentioned is in 1500, when he made an altarpiece for the Franciscans in Brixen. Altarpieces by his hand are known from Tramin an der Weinstraße, Montan and Villnöß. Media related to Hans Klocker at Wikimedia Commons

Kirk Langley is a village in Derbyshire. The village is four miles northwest of Derby and two miles south east of Brailsford on the A52 road; the population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 Census was 686. The Meynell family have held land at Kirk Langley since the reign of Henry I, the village consists of two parts, Kirk Langley with the parish church, Meynell Langley; the former Meynell Arms Hotel, now a private house, dates from the Georgian period. The Poles of Radbourne have had landed interests in this area for many years. In the late 1940s a small council estate was built at Kirk Langley, close to the A52; the Church of St Michael was built in the early 14th century on the site of a much older one, for which traces of a Saxon wall near the west door provides some evidence. It contains heraldic glass and tiles; the screen under the tower is one of the oldest timber screens in Derbyshire. There are monuments to the Meynell and Pole families, including a large marble altar tomb commemorating Henry Pole and his wife, an elaborate memorial to Lieutenant William Meynell, killed at Giurgiu on the Danube in 1854 when fighting with the Turks against the Russians, an early Victorian memorial to a Meynell'who was deprived of his life in a collision of carriages' in Clay Cross tunnel, Leeke Memorial Hall was the village school until 1879.

It is now the centre of many village activities, accommodating many of the village's societies. It is named after the Rev W. M. Leeke; until 1952, when mains water reached the village, the ancient Maple well provided the water supply. The village has a Church of England primary school in Moor Lane. George Barrington, cricketer died here. Media related to Kirk Langley at Wikimedia Commons