text:
Austrian post offices in the Ottoman Empire

Austria and other European nations maintained an extensive system of post offices in the Ottoman Empire, typically motivated by the unreliable postal system of the Ottomans.

First and last service period
Austria gained permission in 1721 from the Ottoman Empire to operate a postal service for official correspondence only and subsequently this was extended to the opening of post offices and carrying mail for merchants. This resulted in 1748 with the establishment of a post office in Galata outside of Istanbul, and eventually extended to 65 locations throughout the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean. The oldest known cancellation is a double linear "CONSTAN-TINOPEL" in 1787. The latest remaining Austrian post offices in Turkey area were closed on 30 September 1914.

Stamp issues
Beginning in 1863, stamps of Lombardy-Venetia were used: 2 to 15 soldi, which can be recognized only by the cancellation. After the losses of Lombardy in 1859 and Venetia in 1866, Austria issued in 1867 and 1883 specific stamps, in appearance identical to Austrian stamps of the same period, but valued in soldi (2 to 50 soldi). Details on Levant Austria post-offices using the 1867 issue are given in Part III Postämter in der Levante. In 1886 this was changed to paras and piasters to match the Turkish money already used by other countries, by surcharging the existing stamps of the offices, with further issues between 1888 and 1907: values ranging from 10 paras to 20 piasters.

The Jubilee issue of 1908-1914 included directly values in paras and in piasters.

Gallery
Some of the 1867-1883 soldi issues are rather common in unused state, contrary to the kreuzer equivalent. An extreme case is the 2 soldi yellow fine beard, lately issued in 1882: the ratio in value is 5000!

Postal stationery
The first items of Postal stationery to be made available to Austrian post offices in the Turkish Empire were envelopes in 1863. A total of 10 different envelopes in soldi currency were issued up to 1877, these were valid for use till 31 October 1884. Only one envelope was ever issued in French currency in 1908 (5 Centesimi for Jerusalem).

Postal stationery postcards were first issued in 1873 in soldi currency, 5 different postcards were issued. Then in 1888 these were replaced by an issue in Turkish currency, a total of 13 different items were issued before these were replaced by postcards in French currency in 1903. A total of 8 different postcards are known in French currency.

Only one 10 soldi lettercard was issued in 1886. Four different 1 Piaster lettercards were issued in 1888, 1890, 1900 and 1908.

During the period of Turkish currency three different newspaper wrappers were issued in 1899, 1900 and 1908. One newspaper 5 Centimes wrapper was issued in 1908 for Jerusalem.

References and sources

 * References

 * Sources
 * Stanley Gibbons Ltd: various catalogues
 * AskPhil – Glossary of Stamp Collecting Terms
 * Encyclopaedia of Postal History
 * Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. The Stamp Atlas. London: Macdonald, 1986. ISBN 0-356-10862-7
 * Shaw, Stanford J. & Shaw, Ezel Kural, History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey Volume 2, 1977, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-29166-6


text:
Talk:Leopold Stokowski

Bio question
Stokowski was born in England, his father Polish, his mother British. Naturalized American in 1915. Also known for his colourful orchestrations of several Bach organ works (the best-known of which is probably the Toccata and Fugue in D minor). His orchestration of Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition'- best known in the Ravel orchestration - sometimes gets an airing and he also compiled a Symphonic Synthesis on Wagner's 'Tristan and Isolde'.

 * So why is there nothing on the page about his huge amount of transcriptions? His accompliments in them are surely worthjy of inclusion, as they are still today reguarded highly as being some of the best (Pictures not withstanding...) Melodia Chaconne 11:36, 27 October 2005 (UTC)

 * Although I am possibly non-current on my information about Stokowski's transcriptions, I believe that there is a controversy about how much he is responsible for them during the Philadelphia years and how much Lucien Caillet is. The present article is overly simplistic in its presentation, limiting the controversy to the sole case of Pictures At An Exhibition and stating baldly that the work IS by Caillet. My sources indicate that Caillet later claimed credit for ALL the Stokowski transcriptions of the Philadelphia era and later produced his own transcription of Pictures for Eugene Ormandy, an orchestration which is inferior, according to many critics, to the earlier "Mussorgsky-Stokowski" version. Caillet was given credit during the Stokowski era as the orchestral arranger for the Philadelphia. Stokowski continued to produce transcriptions well past the Philadelphia days and used other orchestral arrangers as collaborators. His method appears to have been to give a detailed markup of a piece to the arranger, who would then realize a complete score based on Stokowski's markup. Caillet believed his contribution was much more substantial than simply realizing Stokowski's wishes. While this may indeed be true in some senses, the later Stokowski transcriptions form a cohesive oeuvre together with the Philadelphia ones, and Caillet's later arrangements, both for Ormandy and for his own work in motion pictures, have an orchestral sound and texture much different from the disputed Stokowski arrangements. I believe that the article should be revised to include an account of the controversy along these lines, utilizing the latest research. Gregoriusu 10:19, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Evangeline Johnson-Stokowskis time in New York 1932
Salzburg, 01. 11. 2003

Research Erika Giovanna Klien and Evangeline Stokowski

For a long while I am searching private dates of Evangeline Johnson Stokowski. Speacially I would like to know exactly dates of the time, when Evangeline had an apartment in New York. She was in contact with an Austrian artist, Erika Giovanna Klien (1900 - 1957), who lived at this time in New York. It would be very interesting for me, if someone could answer my questions. Who knows persons alive, who can tell me more about this time (1932) and the circle of artists, who know very well the family-history of  Leopold Stokowski and Evangeline Johnson. I am also searching Oliver Daniel, the author of  "A counterpoint of view", published 1982, Dodd Mead Company, New York ISBN 0-396-07936-9.

The person who can help me, please write (if possible in german?) to: johanna.puehringer@aon.at

Best greetings

Johanna Pühringer

Year of Birth
Hi, his year of birth is discussed already in the article in "Early Life". The online sources I find all cite 1882.

Night on Bald Mountain
Since there are literally millions of copies of the DVD and VHS versions of Disney's first Fantasia in circulation, circa September, 2014, it makes no sense to call for a citation of the segue from Mussorgsky's work into the Ave Maria. There are probably too many calls for citations needed in the article as a whole - but in inappropriate places. There certainly is a need for a few more citations overall here.Sidney Orr (talk) 02:09, 13 September 2014 (UTC)

As I recall, Mussorgsky "didn't finish" this one something like four times, and they're all pretty different from one another. So it's not really good enough to say that Stoky didn't use the Rimsky-Korsakov version in favor of his own, because he may well have been working from one of the other abortive versions. Same with Pictures (which I'm pretty sure Cailliet did for him): he/they worked from a better, more reliable MS than did Ravel but a lot of people get mad at Stoky for "ignoring" Mussorgsky's instructions when it's really Ravel (though inadvertently) who did so. Wspencer11 17:43, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

 * Out the supposedly four versions by Mussurgsky the first one (for piano and orchestra) was already lost when Rimsky-Korsakov orchestrated it. The third and fourth are the same (for choir and orchestra), differ only in lyrics. RK based his on the fourth, and so did Stokowski. The second version is quite different and with a totally different form. AdamChapman 11:01, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

To clarify the Pictures / Cailliet situation, Ormandy would not have allowed Cailliet to work on Stokowski's version because he (Ormandy) had already commissioned a Cailliet version of Pictures for himself in 1936. This was because the Ravel orchestration, at that time, was still very much associated with Koussevitzky: he had commissioned it, premiered it, published it, and had made its first recording with the Boston Symphony. Koussevitzky held sole conducting rights for several years but when he did allow other conductors to take it on, his hire fees were exorbitant. For these reasons, when Ormandy took over the Philadelphia Orchestra from Stokowski, first as associate in 1936 and then full music director two years later, he decided on a Pictures arrangement of his own. This was duly provided by Cailliet and given its premiere by Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra on 5 February 1937. The same forces recorded it for RCA on 78s later that same year.

Ormandy also asked Cailliet to make many other transcriptions of works by Bach, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Purcell and so on. These he premiered and many of which he recorded. Meanwhile, Stokowski's association with the Philadelphia Orchestra was drastically reduced whilst he worked out his contract, with Ormandy taking over the bulk of the conducting each season. So by 1938, Cailliet had ceased to be Stokowski's copyist and was working solely for Ormandy instead. (See also Oliver Daniel's 1982 Stokowski biography, page 443: "Long after 1938, when his association with Cailliet had ended, Stoki continued to produce transcriptions.")

Although the Ravel and Cailliet versions of Pictures were current in the 1930s (both commissioned by two rival conductors) Stokowski decided to enter the fray and make a version of his own which owed nothing to the previous orchestrations. He aimed to be less "Gallic" than Ravel and more "Slavic" than Cailliet and came up with a new transcription which he premiered with the Philadelphia Orchestra on 17 November 1939, during his last weeks there. Stokowski then recorded it a few days later and as will be heard when comparing his version to the Cailliet, there are few, if any, stylistic or instrumental resemblances between the two. (Recordings: Cailliet on Biddulph WHL 046; Stokowski on Dutton Laboratories CDAX 8009).Philipson55 (talk) 12:19, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

Stokes
Oscar Levant, The Unimportance of Being Oscar, Pocket Books 1969 (reprint of G.P. Putnam 1968), p. 110 (ISBN 0-671-77104-3) reports (second-hand, as an anecdote) that when he worked as an organist in NYC he went by the name Leo Stokes, and that he only took the name Stokowski because he knew that Mrs. Taft would prefer a more "European" conductor. I tend to trust Levant on things he says from personal knowledge, but in this case it's just "I met a concert manager who told me an interesting story", so I'm not sure if we should credit it any more than if a concert manager told us an interesting story. Still, someone might want to look for documentary evidence that he worked under the name Leo Stokes. - Jmabel | Talk 21:19, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Documentary evidence that Stokowski ever "worked under the name Leo Stokes" will be impossible to come by for the very simple reason that none exists! The "Stokes" canard first materialised in the early 1930s, presumably put about by detractors jealous of his world-wide success. The ludicrous Levant story referred to above is totally disproved and discredited in Dr. Rollin Smith's "Stokowski and the Organ" (Pendragon Press, Hillsdale, New York: 270 pages, published 2004). Thoroughly researched in "The Complete Organ" Series, it goes into lavish detail about Stokowski's time at St. Bartholomew's in New York City to the extent of reproducing many of the original programmes of Stokowski's organ recitals at the church. These commenced on Sunday, November 19th, 1905, when at 5:15 pm Leopold Stokowski played music by Meyerbeer, Saint-Saens and Wagner. The only concession to a name change was the replacing of the "w" in Stokowski with a "v" so that people would pronounce it correctly. This didn't last long and he soon reverted to the correct spelling of his family name (ie: that which can be seen on his Birth Certificate, readily available to any researcher from the Family Records Centre in London). It is to be hoped that not only Dr. Smith's book, but also the 1000-page Oliver Daniel biography "Stokowski: A Counterpoint of View" (Dodd Mead & Company, New York: published 1982), which goes into Stokowski's early family history, will lay the "Stokes" legend to rest once and for all. - Philipson55 14:27, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

"Popular culture"
popular culture section is just another phrase for trivia, as evidenced by the simple interchangeable name. it is unencyclopaedic, and as described in the tag, should integrated into the article or removed. --emerson7 | Talk 23:43, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

 * I agree; "In popular culture" is just a commonly-used disguise around here (in Wikipedia in general) for the piling-on of trivia. +ILike2BeAnonymous 00:48, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

 * This is the guy Bugs Bunny was portraying on that one Looney Tunes episode, right? Jared   (t)    19:03, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

 * Yep, he's the one. --Wspencer11 (talk to me...) 14:41, 7 September 2007 (UTC)

Affair with Greta Garbo
An affair with Greta Garbo?? Could someone please cite a source? BartBassist (talk) 23:09, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

See Oliver Daniel's 1000-page biography "Stokowski - A Counterpoint of View" (1982), Chapter 38, entitled 'Garbo'. Stokowski met her in Hollywood in 1937 while filming '100 Men and a Girl' with Deanna Durbin. They had a whirlwind romance which took them to Ravello, a town in Italy. There, fixed to the wall of the Villa Cimbrone, a plaque with an inscription in Italian states: "Here in the spring of 1938 the divine Great Garbo escaped the clamour of Hollywood, spending with Leopold Stokowski hours of secret happiness." It was less secret than the plaque makes out as their lives were made a misery by the paparazzi and the romance soon came to an end. Philipson55 (talk) 18:05, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Sumptuous
Google defines it as: Splendid and expensive-looking. Merriam-Webster defines it as: extremely costly, rich, luxurious, or magnificent. Not really sure that's the best adjective to describe sound. If someone wants to justify its use, I'll leave it be. Otherwise, it should get changed. Daniel J Simanek (talk) 08:20, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

I certainly agree. There are many far better adjectives, e.g., "sensual" or "lush." Autodidact1 (talk) 09:52, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

Oh, I don't know. "Sensual" has a rather different connotation, which I don't think fits the Stokowski sound. "Lush" certainly would. Still, "sumptuous" in the sense of "rich" and/or "luxuriant" is certainly appropriate, and I've seen the word used in reviews to describe orchestral and even vocal sound. 71.183.8.117 (talk) 12:12, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

Religious affiliation
Regarding Stokowski's early life, nothing mentioned here about Christian baptism, godparents, first communion, etc. This raises the question if perhaps, his parents had a dispute about early religious education that never got resolved. Nevertheless, he must have been a competent musician and composer but I wonder if he was undecided of apprehensive about joining a specific denomination. If you view the image of Stokowski's headstone in London, there is no cross inscribed on it. Musicwriter (talk) 01:22, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

[T]otally [sic] advanced old age
"However, despite living into totally [sic] advanced old age, he died of a heart attack the following year in Nether Wallop, Hampshire, at 95." What, pray tell, is "totally advanced old age"? Autodidact1 (talk) 10:00, 26 January 2013 (UTC)

rhetorical question
Why is there a photograph of Edward Elgar on Leopold Stokowski's article page? Maineartists (talk) 00:31, 6 December 2016 (UTC)

Presumably because of the American premiere of Elgar's Second Symphony. Still, I agree that it's confusing.71.183.8.117 (talk) 12:13, 18 August 2017 (UTC)

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Fair use rationale for File:Disney taylor stokowski.jpg
File:Disney taylor stokowski.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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Birth name
For what it's worth: the Collins Encyclopedia of Music, edition 1976, states his birth name as Leopold Anton Stanislaw Stokowski, son of a Polish father and a British mother. Mention is also made of his habit of speaking with a fake Slavic accent, trying to present himself as a Polish or at least Middle-European conductor, which of course he wasn't. Maybe he thought he could fool the Americans into confusing a British conductor with a Slavic conductor: for them it's all Europe. Who knows. (This is not meant to imply that he wasn't sincere in other matters.) --Hansung02 (talk) 21:49, 7 October 2021 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Leopold Stokowski


text:
Argentine Confederation

The Argentine Confederation (Spanish: Confederación Argentina) was the last predecessor state of modern Argentina; its name is still one of the official names of the country according to the Argentine Constitution, Article 35. It was the name of the country from 1831 to 1852, when the provinces were organized as a confederation without a head of state. The governor of Buenos Aires Province (Juan Manuel de Rosas during most of the period) managed foreign relations during this time. Under his rule, the Argentine Confederation engaged in conflicts with Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay, France and the United Kingdom, as well as other Argentine factions during the Argentine Civil Wars.

Rosas was ousted from power in 1852 by Justo José de Urquiza, after the battle of Caseros. Urquiza convened the 1853 Constituent Assembly to write a national constitution. Buenos Aires resisted Urquiza and seceded from the Confederation in 1852, becoming the State of Buenos Aires; the province would return to Argentina in 1861.

History
The territory of modern Argentina was a subset (approx. 1/3) of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a colony of Spain which also included present-day Bolivia, Uruguay, part of Chile and Peru and most of Paraguay. The May Revolution in Buenos Aires began the Argentine War of Independence, which it won. The country was renamed the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata. Modern Bolivia and Paraguay were lost during the conflict and became new states. Uruguay was invaded and annexed by Brazil in 1816, until the Thirty-Three Orientals led an insurrection to rejoin the United Provinces. This began the Cisplatine War, which ended with the Treaty of Montevideo that made Uruguay a new state.

Coup, civil war, and unrest
In 1828, after Argentine forces returned to Buenos Aires from the war, federalist governor Manuel Dorrego was overthrown and executed by Juan Lavalle, of the Unitarian Party. The latter began a campaign against all federals, supported by José María Paz in Córdoba, who deposed Juan Bautista Bustos and took similar measures. The rancher Juan Manuel de Rosas, who joined parties pragmatically, organized the resistance against Lavalle. He allied with Estanislao López, caudillo and ruler of Santa Fe Province, and they defeated Lavalle at the Battle of Márquez Bridge in April 1829. When Rosas entered the city of Buenos Aires in November of that year, he was hailed both as a victorious military leader and as the head of the Federalists. Lavalle was forced out of government and the Legislature restored.

Paz organized the Unitarian League with the provinces that joined him, and Rosas signed the Federal Pact with the provinces Entre Ríos and Santa Fe. All the unitarian provinces were defeated and joined the Pact, and became the Argentine Confederation. Nevertheless, Rosas declined to continue as governor after victory and his term ended in 1832.

After attaining independence, Argentina had attacked and conquered large areas of indigenous land. The indigenous people conducted raids called malones. Rosas left Buenos Aires and waged the first campaign in the desert in the south, to prevent more such raids. The campaign combined military actions and negotiations and succeeded in preventing malones for several years. Despite being absent, the political influence of Rosas in Buenos Aires was still strong, and his wife Encarnación Ezcurra was in charge of keeping good relations with the people of the city.

On October 11, 1833, the city was filled with announcements of a trial against "The restorer of laws" (a newspaper, but it was misunderstood as a trial against Rosas himself, who held that title). A large number of gauchos and poor people instigated the Revolution of the Restorers, a demonstration at the gates of the legislature, praising Rosas and demanding the resignation of Governor Juan Ramón Balcarce, a former minister of Rosas. The troops who were organized to fight the demonstration instead mutinied and joined it. The legislature finally gave up the trial, and a month later ousted Balcarce and replaced him with Juan José Viamonte, a former supporter of unitarians. Still, the social unrest led many people to believe that only Rosas could secure order and that Viamonte or Manuel Vicente Maza, who had been appointed governor in 1834 as a compromise, would be unable to do so. The murder in Córdoba in February of 1835 of Facundo Quiroga, a federalist mediator who Maza had sent to a dispute between provinces, increased this belief, so the legislature appointed Rosas governor later in the year, with the sum of public power.

Rule of Rosas and war
Rosas faced a difficult military threat during first years of his second administration. First, the Peru–Bolivian Confederation in the north declared the War of the Confederation against Argentina and Chile. Then, France made diplomatic requests which were denied by Rosas and subsequently imposed a naval blockade as a result. France invaded Martín García island and deposed the Uruguayan president Manuel Oribe, appointing instead the loyal Fructuoso Rivera, who declared war on Argentina in support of France. Domingo Cullen, from Santa Fe, promoted the secession of all provinces, leaving Buenos Aires alone in the conflict. Berón de Astrada, from Corrientes, opposed Rosas as well, and Juan Lavalle organized an army to take Buenos Aires. The ranchers mutinied in Chascomús and organized the "Freemen of the South" militia. Rosas overcame all these threats. The Peru–Bolivian Confederation was defeated by Chile and ceased to exist. Cullen was defeated and shot, and Astrada was defeated by Justo José de Urquiza. The ranchers were defeated as well. The diplomat Manuel Moreno channeled the protests of the British merchants in Buenos Aires who were impacted by the blockade; this added to French doubts about maintaining a conflict that they had expected to be quite short. France finally lifted the blockade with the Mackau-Arana treaty. Lavalle lost French support but sought to continue the conflict anyway. He retreated before reaching Buenos Aires, without starting any battles, and escaped to the North. He was chased by Oribe, now in charge of Argentine armies, and died in unclear circumstances.

Despite the French defeat, Uruguay was still an open war theater. Manuel Oribe claimed to be the rightful president of Uruguay, and waged the Uruguayan Civil War against Rivera. Rosas supported Oribe in the conflict, as Uruguay was still at war with Argentina. Oribe laid siege to Montevideo. Britain and France joined forces with Rivera, captured the Argentine navy, and began a new naval blockade against Buenos Aires. Giuseppe Garibaldi helped to secure the Uruguay river, aided by Italian soldiers. A new expedition tried to secure the Paraná river by navigating to Paraguay and returning. The Argentine army resisted the invasion of the river at several points along the Paraná (most notably during the battle of Vuelta de Obligado), but could not stop them. The damage to the British and French ships, however, were so great that both countries eventually resigned and lifted the blockade.

Ranchers' demands and exile of Rosas
Justo José de Urquiza, governor of Entre Ríos, had supported Rosas so far, but the ranchers of his province had an expanding economy and wanted to have a local customs, able to engage in commerce with other countries directly. The port of Buenos Aires had that exclusive right. Entre Ríos also requested the federalization of the national income generated by exports, and the calling of a constituent assembly to write a constitution, as laid out in the Federal Pact. Urquiza made a pronunciamiento, resuming the rights of Entre Ríos to commerce and negotiations with other countries, instead of delegating such powers to Buenos Aires. Rosas declared war against him, but Urquiza defeated Rosas at the battle of Caseros, forcing him into exile.

Secession and return of Buenos Aires
Urquiza was not a unitarian, but another federalist like Rosas. Thus, the unitarians did not support him, but opposed him as they did Rosas. Urquiza's ambition to reduce the national centralism of Buenos Aires and promote a higher federalization of the country generated conflicts with the unitarians. Urquiza called the San Nicolás Agreement, so that all provinces agreed to convene the 1853 Constituent Assembly. This was resisted in Buenos Aires, and the unitarians took advantage of a temporary absence of Urquiza from the city to stage the Revolution of 11 September and secede Buenos Aires from the confederation. It was now the State of Buenos Aires, and the other Argentine provinces were now the Argentine Confederation.

Manuel Guillermo Pinto was appointed governor of Buenos Aires, and removed the delegates from the constituent assembly. The capital of the Confederation was now located in Paraná, Entre Ríos. Buenos Aires attempted military actions against the Confederation, to prevent the work of the Assembly, but failed. The Argentine Constitution of 1853 was sanctioned on May 1, 1853, inviting Buenos Aires to return. Buenos Aires wrote its own constitution in 1854. Both countries, the Confederation and the State of Buenos Aires, accepted the status quo, with a serious danger of the secession becoming permanent.

The Confederation attacked Buenos Aires in 1856, led by Jerónimo Costa, who was defeated by Bartolomé Mitre. Mitre got 140 prisoners: he executed 125 of them.

In 1857, Mitre and other politicians in Buenos Aires considered making the secession a definitive one, renaming the state to the "Republic of the Río de la Plata". The project was resisted by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, who began his conflicts with Mitre. The project did not find popular support, and was forgotten.

The Confederation had a political commotion with the murder of Nazario Benavídez, from San Juan, carried out by supporters of Sarmiento. Urquiza defeated Mitre at the Battle of Cepeda, and laid siege to the city. Most federals thought that Urquiza should occupy Buenos Aires and impose the Constitution on the rebellious province. However, Urquiza just stayed outside, and sought the mediation of the Paraguayan Francisco Solano López. Buenos Aires would call a Constituent Assembly, to accept the National Constitution or requesting amendments, and rejoin the Confederation.

The Assembly requested several amendments, the most important of which was that Buenos Aires would not be the capital city of Argentina. This would allow the city to keep the exclusive use of the port. With Santiago Derqui as the new president of the Confederation, the amendments were accepted, and the new National constitution promulgated. However, the murder of governor José Antonio Virasoro generated new military conflicts between Buenos Aires and the Confederation. Mitre defeated Urquiza at the battle of Pavón in 1861, and Buenos Aires returned to the Confederation, which would then become the modern Republic of Argentina.

title: Argentine Confederation


text:
Leicester Silk Buckingham

Leicester Silk Buckingham (29 June 1825 – 15 July 1867) was an English dramatist, who achieved considerable popularity as a playwright, several of his free adaptations of French comedies being produced in London between 1860 and 1867.

Early life
Buckingham, the youngest son of James Silk Buckingham, the oriental traveller, and Elizabeth Jennings, was born at 11 Cornwall Terrace, Regent's Park, London, 29 June 1825. In his early life he was the companion of his father in visits made to America, France, and the East, and the experience thus acquired rendered his services valuable as a lecturer on several occasions.

When the Royal Panopticon (afterwards the Alhambra in Leicester Square) was originated in 1854 as a scientific institution, Buckingham was selected to write and deliver the explanatory description of the views of various countries, and later at the Egyptian Hall he was the lecturer engaged to illustrate Hamilton's Tour of Europe.

Connecting himself in early life with the stage he produced several light pieces at the Strand Theatre when that establishment was under Mr. J. Payne's direction in 1856–7, and for a short time undertook the responsibilities of management. Among the most successful comedies he afterwards wrote may be mentioned The Merry Widow, 1863; Silken Fetters, 1863; The Silver Lining, 1864; and Faces in the Fire, 1865.

Dramatist and writer
As a dramatist he borrowed from the French stage, and the majority of his pieces were founded on the works of Parisian writers. He was from 1857 to 1867 dramatic and musical critic of the Morning Star.

Buckingham commenced writing at the early age of nineteen, when he compiled for R. Bentley Memoir of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland, 1844. This was followed by ''Life and Times of Louis Philippe, by the Rev. G. N. Wright. Continued to the Revolution of 1848 by L. F. A. Buckingham,'' 1850. Belgium, the Rhine, Italy, Greece, and the Mediterranean, by the Rev. G. N. Wright and L. F. A. Buckingham, appeared in 1851, and in 1853 he published The Bible in the Middle Age, with Remarks on the Libraries, Schools, and Religious Aspects of Mediaeval Europe. He was also the author of upwards of thirty-five burlesques, comedies, and farces.

Personal life
On 5 April 1844, at the age of 18 he married at Gretna Green, under the name of L. S. F. Y. Buckingham, Caroline Sarah, fourth daughter of Captain Frederic White, of H.M.'s packet service Weymouth. This lady was afterwards a well-known and much respected actress, under the name of Mrs. Buckingham White. Few persons can have been known under a greater variety of Christian names than Buckingham was during his comparatively short life, the following being the names used by him on various occasions: Leicester, Leicester Ambrose, Leicester Silk, Leicester Forbes Ambrose, Leicester Stanhope, Leicester Stanhope Forbes, Leicester Stanhope Forbes Young, and Leicester Stanhope Forbes Young Ambrose. He also made use of the pseudonym Matthews & Co. when producing his first drama, called Aggravating Sam, in 1854.

He died at Margate 15 July 1867, a convert to the Roman Catholic faith. His copyrights passed to Thomas Hailes Lacy, theatrical publisher, who in September 1873 bequeathed them to the Royal General Theatrical Fund.

title: Leicester Silk Buckingham


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Polyporales

The Polyporales are an order of about 1800 species of fungi in the division Basidiomycota. The order includes some (but not all) polypores as well as many corticioid fungi and a few agarics (mainly in the genus Lentinus). Many species within the order are saprotrophic, most of them wood-rotters. Some genera, such as Ganoderma and Fomes, contain species that attack living tissues and then continue to degrade the wood of their dead hosts. Those of economic importance include several important pathogens of trees and a few species that cause damage by rotting structural timber. Some of the Polyporales are commercially cultivated and marketed for use as food items or in traditional Chinese medicine.

History
The order was originally proposed in 1926 by Swiss mycologist Ernst Albert Gäumann to accommodate species within the phylum Basidiomycota producing basidiocarps (fruit bodies) showing a gymnocapous mode of development (forming the spore-bearing surface externally). As such, the order included the ten families Brachybasidiaceae, Corticiaceae, Clavariaceae, Cyphellaceae, Dictyolaceae, Fistulinaceae, Polyporaceae, Radulaceae, Tulasnellaceae, and Vuilleminiaceae, representing a mix of poroid, corticioid, cyphelloid, and clavarioid fungi.

In a series of publications in 1932, E.J.H. Corner explained the occurrence of different types of hyphae in the fruit bodies of polypore fungi. He introduced the concept of hyphal analysis, which later become a fundamental character in polypore taxonomy.

The order Polyporales was not widely adopted by Gäumann's contemporaries; most mycologists and reference works preferring to use the catch-all, artificial order Aphyllophorales for polypores and other "non-gilled fungi". When an attempt was made to introduce a more natural, morphology-based classification of the fungi in the 1980s and 1990s, the order was still overlooked. A standard 1995 reference work placed most polypores and corticioid fungi in the Ganodermatales, Poriales, and Stereales.

Current status
Molecular research, based on cladistic analysis of DNA sequences, has resurrected and redefined the Polyporales (also known as the polyporoid clade). Studies using a combination of rRNA gene sequences, single-copy protein-coding genes, and genome-based phylogenetic analyses have shown that the Polyporales are a monophyletic group. They are a member of the class Agaricomycetes, but have not been assigned to a subclass. Though the precise boundaries of the order and its constituent families are yet to be resolved, it retains the core group of polypores in the family Polyporaceae, with additional species in the Fomitopsidaceae and Meripilaceae. It also includes polypores in the Ganodermataceae, which were previously assigned to their own separate order, the Ganodermatales, based on their distinctive basidiospore morphology. Corticioid fungi belonging to the Cystostereaceae, Meruliaceae, Phanerochaetaceae, and Xenasmataceae are also included, as are the cauliflower fungi in the Sparassidaceae.

In an extensive molecular analysis, Manfred Binder and colleagues analyzed 6 genes from 373 species and confirmed the existence of four previously recognized lineages of Polyporales: the antrodia, core polyporoid, phlebioid, and residual polyporoid clades. Extending this work, Alfredo Justo and colleagues proposed a phylogenetic overview of the Polyporales that included a new family-level classification. They assigned family names to 18 clades and four informal unranked clades. The families are listed below, followed by their taxonomic authorities and year of publication:
 * Phanerochaetaceae Jülich (1981)
 * Irpicaceae Spirin & Zmitr. (2003)
 * Meruliaceae Rea (1922)
 * Steccherinaceae Parmasto (1968)
 * Cerrenaceae Miettinen, Justo & Hibbett (2017)
 * Panaceae Miettinen, Justo & Hibbett (2017)
 * Hyphodermataceae Jülich (1981)
 * Meripilaceae Jülich (1981)
 * Podoscyphaceae D.A.Reid (1965)
 * Polyporaceae Corda (1939)
 * Fomitopsidaceae Jülich (1981)
 * Laetiporaceae Jülich (1981)
 * Dacryobolaceae Jülich (1981)
 * Sparassidaceae Jülich (1981)
 * Grifolaceae Jülich (1981)
 * Gelatoporiaceae Miettinen, Justo & Hibbett (2017)
 * Incrustoporiaceae Jülich (1981)
 * Ischnodermataceae Jülich (1981)

Other families that putatively belong to the Polyporales, but for which molecular confirmation is absent or lacking, include Diachanthodaceae Jülich, (1981); Fragiliporiaceae Y.C.Dai, B.K.Cui & C.L.Zhao (2015); Hymenogrammaceae Jülich (1981); and Phaeotrametaceae Popoff ex Piątek (2005). The Nigrofomitaceae, formerly placed in the Polyporales, was shown to be nested as a distinct lineage within the Hymenochaetales.

The family Steccherinaceae was redefined in 2012 to contain most species of the poroid and hydnoid genera Antrodiella, Junghuhnia, and Steccherinum, as well as members of 12 other hydnoid and poroid genera that had been traditionally classified in the families Phanerochaetaceae, Polyporaceae, and Meruliaceae. Several new genera were added to the Steccherinaceae in 2016–17.

Ecology
The order is cosmopolitan and contains around 1800 species of fungi worldwide—about 1.5% of all known fungus species. All species in the Polyporales are saprotrophs, most of them wood-rotters. Their fruit bodies are therefore typically found on living or moribund trees or on dead attached or fallen wood. Polyporales species that fruit on the ground are either root rot species–such as Laetiporus cincinnatus and Grifola frondosa, or are fruiting from buried pieces of substrate–such as Polyporus radicatus and P. melanopus.

Wood-decay Polyporales reduce the volume of dead wood in the forest and are an important component of the carbon cycle. Wood is composed of primarily three types of tissue: lignin, cellulose, and hemicelluloses. White rot species of Polyporales are efficient degraders of the decay-resistant polymer lignin, leaving partially degraded cellulose as a residue. Brown rot species break down the cellulose fibres, leaving a brittle, brown lignin residue. Brown-rot residues such as humus can remain in the soil for hundreds of years, increasing aeration and water-holding capacity.

Peroxidase enzymes that degrade lignin, such as lignin peroxidase, manganese peroxidase, or versatile peroxidase, are present in all white-rot members of the Polyporales, but absent in brown-rot species. Oxidase enzymes, including members of the glucose-methanol-choline oxidoreductase family, play a key role in the breakdown of plant polymers because they generate hydrogen peroxide, which acts as the ultimate oxidizer in both white-rot and brown-rot decay.

Two species of Polyporales, Daedalea quercina and Fomitopsis pinicola, use paralysing toxins to destroy and colonize nematodes that feed on their fruit bodies.

Importance
Many wood-decay fungi in the genera Fomes, Fomitopsis and Ganoderma are pathogenic, causing butt and root rot of living trees and consequent losses in forestry plantations. Several species, such as the mine fungus Fibroporia vaillantii, can rot and damage structural timber.

Several of the Polyporales, notably Ganoderma lucidum (ling-zhi), Grifola frondosa (maitake), Taiwanofungus camphoratus (niú zhāng zhī), Lignosus rhinocerotis, and Trametes versicolor (yun-zhi), are commercially cultivated and marketed for use in traditional Chinese medicine. The polypores Laetiporus sulphureus, Fomes fomentarius, Fomitopsis pinicola, Fomitopsis betulina, and Laricifomes officinalis have been widely used in central European folk medicine for the treatment of various diseases.

Some species, including several members of the genera Laetiporus and Sparassis, are used as food. Blackfellow's bread, or Laccocephalum mylittae, is an edible that is prized by Aboriginal Australians. Lentinus squarrosulus is collected and eaten in Asian and African communities.

Fomitopsis betulina was formerly used in the manufacture of charcoal crayons. Amadou, a spongy material derived from the fruit bodies of Fomes fomentarius, has been used since ancient times as a tinder. More recently, it has been used by dentists as a styptic, or as a felt-like material for making hats and other items. The anise-scented fruit bodies of Haploporus odorus were used by some tribes of Plains Indians as a component of sacred objects. Laricifomes officinalis was used by nineteenth century Pacific northwest shamans for carving spirit figures. Some species, including dyer's polypore (Phaeolus schweinitzii) and purple dye polypore (Hapalopilus nidulans) are used in mushroom dyeing.

Sequenced genomes
Several member of the Polyporales have had their genomes sequenced to help understand the genetic basis for the production of enzymes involved in the synthesis of bioactive compounds, or to elucidate the metabolic pathways of wood decay, including Ganoderma lucidum, Lignosus rhinocerotis, Dichomitus squalens, Fomitopsis pinicola, Trametes versicolor, and Wolfiporia cocos. Two sequenced fungi, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, and Postia placenta, serve as model species for researchers investigating the mechanism of white rot and brown rot, respectively. , there have been 46 Polyporales genomes sequenced, representing about 7% of all sequenced fungal genomes.

Fossil record
Fossilized fruit bodies of a Fomes species dating back to the Tertiary (66–2.6 Ma) were reported in Idaho in 1940. A fossil fruit body of Ganodermites libycus was reported from the Early Miocene (23–2.6 Ma) in the Libyan Desert. This specimen is the earliest convincing fossil evidence for the Polyporales.

Molecular clock techniques have been used to estimate the age of the Polyporales, suggesting that the order evolved either during the late Jurassic, about 203–250 Ma, or, in more recent study, about 114 Ma.

Genera Incertae sedis
There are several genera classified in the Polyporales that for various reason have not been assigned to a specific family. They are incertae sedis with respect to familial placement. Some may be poorly known and/or not included in DNA phylogenetic studies, or when they have been, did not clearly group with any named family (In some cases a new family must be created rather than the placement clarified.). These include:
 * Aegis Gómez-Montoya, Rajchenb. & Robledo (2017)
 * Anthoporia Karasiński & Niemelä (2016)
 * Bourdotiella Duhem & Schultheis (2011)
 * Crustodontia Hjortstam & Ryvarden (2005)
 * Crystallocystidium (Rick) Rick (1940)
 * Donkioporiella L.W.Zhou (2016)
 * Globosomyces Jülich (1980)
 * Globuliciopsis Hjortstam & Ryvarden (2004)
 * Irpicochaete Rick (1940)
 * Meruliophana Duhem & Buyck (2011)
 * Nigrohydnum Ryvarden (1987)
 * Phaeophlebiopsis D.Floudas & Hibbett (2015)
 * Phlebiella P.Karst. (1890)
 * Repetobasidiopsis Dhingra & Avn.P.Singh (2008)
 * Rickiopora Westphalen, Tomšovský & Rajchenb. (2016)
 * Taiwanofungus Sheng H.Wu, Z.H.Yu, Y.C.Dai & C.H.Su (2004)

title: Polyporales


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Situationist Antinational

The Situationist Antinational was an American magazine formed in 1974, two years after the disbanding of the Situationist International. Only one issue of the magazine was published. It included a contribution by the American Situationist Jon Horelick, entitled "Beyond The Crisis Of Abstraction And The Abstract Break With That Crisis: The SI" and a Draft Manifesto of Antinational Situationist, signed by Jørgen Nash, Heimrad Prem, and Helmut Sturm, amongst others. All of the contributors were associated with the Second Situationist International.

title: Situationist Antinational


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Eugen Schauman

Eugen Waldemar Schauman (Евгений Владимирович Шауман, Evgeny Vladimirovich Shauman); (10 May 1875 – 16 June 1904) was a Finnish nationalist and nobleman. Schauman assassinated the Imperial Russian Governor-General of Finland Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov.

Early life and family

Eugen Schauman was born in Kharkov, Russia (now Kharkiv, Ukraine) to Swedish-speaking Finnish parents. His mother was Elin Maria Schauman, and his father was Fredrik Waldemar Schauman, a general-lieutenant in the Imperial Russian army, who also served as a privy councillor and senator in the Finnish government. His brother Rafael was born in 1873, and his sister Sigrid in 1877. The family moved often due to Waldemar's work with the government.

As a young child, he was inspired by his mother's reading of The Tales of Ensign Stål by Johan Ludvig Runeberg. Runeberg's tales became an important connection to Schauman's distant homeland, which he longed to see. At the age of eight, Schauman heard that there was a collection going on in Nykarleby, Finland to erect a memorial to the victory over the Russians that had occurred in the 1808 Battle of Jutas in the Finnish War. Inspired by Runeberg's tales, Schauman wanted to contribute to the plan, and sent a letter from Radom, Poland to Finland that contained a single ruble and read: "Please accept this small contribution to the memorial of Jutas. ~Eugen Schauman, Radom 24 May 1883" Schauman's mother died the following year, in autumn 1884, when he was nine years old.

Schauman attended secondary school in Helsinki, Finland while the rest of the family was living in Poland. He had poor hearing, however, and this had an effect on his studies. Nonetheless, Schauman matriculated at the Nya Svenska Läroverket in 1895; graduated from the University of Helsinki with an upper degree in government studies in 1899; and began his career as a clerk in the senate in 1901. He was a temporary employee working as an assistant to the school governing board. The job became permanent in 1903. In addition to his job at the senate, Schauman arranged for a series of marksmanship courses aimed at local students in Helsinki. These courses later became a part of the White Guards training.

Language manifesto

Schauman observed and experienced the formalization of the controversial Russification of Finland policy firsthand with the February 1899 decree of the February Manifesto. His father, Waldemar Schauman, resigned as senator in the summer 1900 as a protest against the manifesto, that had made the Russian language a compulsory subject in all Finnish schools. At first Schauman acted against the oppression like the other students: joining protests at the Runeberg statue; spreading leaflets calling for the will to battle and hatred towards the Russians; and gathering names for the Great Petition in Uusimaa.

Shooting practice
Gradually Schauman, like other students and activists, started to move from passive resistance to active resistance. He organised shipments of weapons from abroad by shipping American rifles to Finland with the help of the Finnish Hunting Association, which were then distributed to students. In addition to this, he organised shooting clubs around the Helsinki area that taught marksmanship to students and other youths. Soon Schauman and other activists started planning an armed revolution. As well as his father's loss of his job, Schauman was angered by the dismissal of his uncle, Colonel Theodor Schauman, from the command of the Finnish Dragoon Regiment, a unit from Lappeenranta, in December 1901, after Nikolai Bobrikov had not been satisfied with his inspection of it.

Draft riot
Schauman became personally involved with Russian authorities during the riots in Helsinki connected to the draft strikes on 18 April 1902. Thousands of Finns participated in demonstrations at Senate Square angered by the draft conducted at the Russian Guard barracks. The governor of the Uusimaa Province, Mikhail Kaigorodov, had sent the Cossacks to end the demonstrations. Schauman was returning from work to his home on Koulukatu, but went to see what was happening on the square. A group of a few Cossacks intercepted him on Hallituskatu, pushed him against a wall, and started to whip him on the head. When one of the Cossacks went for his sabre, Schauman took his knife and stabbed at his chest. The blade of the knife twisted when it hit a metal part of the Cossack's uniform. The Cossack was, however, thrown off his horse and Schauman escaped to the stairway of the chemistry building of the university. According to a witness, he was "...shaking with anger...".

Kagal
After the Cossack riots, Bobrikov became convinced that Finland was undergoing a kramola (or "secret rebellion"). The Tsar awarded Bobrikov dictatorial powers in 1902. As the Russian oppression worsened, the underground passive-resistance organisation, Kagal, decided that it was time to move to stronger acts of defiance, as passive-resistance methods were no longer effective. For example, in 1902 over half of the age class had skipped the draft to the Russian army, which had been made mandatory for Finns. In 1903 the draft strike was no longer as effective, and only 22 percent skipped the draft. "Emergency measures", meaning assassination, was accepted as a new way to act against the strengthening Russification. Many leading Kagal members had already been exiled at this point. At first, the plan was to strike against Finnish politicians agreeing with the Russification, but soon the activists, the Kagal organization, and Schauman decided it was best to strike against the Governor-General Nikolai Bobrikov, who was seen as the leader and main activist of the oppression politics.

Assassination
The possible assassination of Bobrikov was a topical question among the Finnish activists of the time. Other activist groups are known to have made assassination plans, but Schauman convinced them to give him two weeks before they would intervene. When Bobrikov came to the Senate house on 16 June, Schauman shot him three times—and then himself twice in the chest—using an FN Browning M1900 pistol. Schauman died instantly. Two of the bullets that hit Bobrikov ricocheted off his military decorations, but the third bounced back from his buckle and caused severe damage to his stomach. Bobrikov did not die immediately but was taken to the Helsinki Surgical Hospital. Surgeon Richard Faltin worked to save his life, but Bobrikov died the following day at 1:10 a.m.

Aftermath

Schauman's body was taken to an unmarked grave in the Malmi cemetery in Helsinki. After the political situation eased up he was reburied in the Schauman family grave in the Porvoo cemetery and a monument was built on the grave.

Schauman's legacy
Schauman left a letter in which he stated that he justified his actions as a punishment for Bobrikov's crimes against the people of Finland. He addressed the letter to the Tsar and wanted him to pay attention to the problems in the whole of the Russian empire, especially in Poland and the Baltic Sea region. He claimed he had acted alone and emphasized that his family was not involved in the assassination.

Schauman became something of an icon for the resistance to Imperial Russia, and many Finns still consider him a hero. His fame can be characterized by his ranking as the 34th greatest Finn of all time in the 2004 Suuret suomalaiset (Greatest Finns) television poll. At the location of the assassination in the hallway of the Council of State, there is a memorial plaque that states Se Pro Patria Dedit ("He Gave Himself for His Country"). Jean Sibelius composed the funeral march In Memoriam in memory of him.

Historical perspective
The importance of Schauman in history divides opinions. In the summer of 2004, a hundred years after Bobrikov's murder, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen condemned the act, calling Schauman a terrorist. According to him, events like the assassination of Bobrikov are not appropriate to celebrate in the era of the war on terror. A discussion arose from the statement, in which Unto Vesa, amanuensis of the Peace and Conflict Research Institute, agreed with Vanhanen.

title: Eugen Schauman


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Vestey Holdings

Vestey Holdings, formerly Vestey Group and previously also known as Vestey Brothers, is a privately owned UK group of companies comprising an international business focused mainly on food products and services. The company has owned vast holdings overseas, mainly in South America and Australia, and continues to own some.

The Vestey family were estimated to be the second wealthiest family in Britain (after the King) in 1940. In 1980, it was discovered that the company had operated a tax avoidance scheme, and Vestey Brothers was the largest privately owned multinational company and the largest retailer of meat in the world in the 1980s.

Union International, formerly the core of the Vestey family business as the Union Cold Storage Company, entered receivership in 1995. The company has been restructured several times.

Current holdings and governance
Vestey Holdings owns Vestey Foods, Albion Fine Foods & FineFrance UK, Cottage Delight, Donald Russell (butchers) and Western Pension Solutions.

Vestey Foods (incorporated 16 November 1994) owns Vestey Foods UK, Vestey Foods Benelux, Vestey Foods France, Vestey Foods International, Vestey Foods Baltics, and Vestey Foods Middle East. The company's main business is in sourcing, processing and distribution of products made from meat, fish, seafood, dairy products, fruit and vegetables, and convenience foods. It trades in 70 countries, with customers in the retail, food service, wholesale, government and manufacturing sectors.

The 3rd Baron Vestey (19 March 1941 – 4 February 2021), great-grandson of co-founder William Vestey (later Lord Vestey), was Chairman of the Vestey Group from 1995 until his death in 2021.

George Vestey has been CEO of Vestey Holdings since 2010, and his brother Robin Non-Executive Chairman since 2013 (after becoming a main board director after their father Edmund’s retirement in 2004).

The family was still immensely wealthy in 2015; 160th on the Sunday Times Rich List 2015, with an estimated fortune of £700 million. Actor Tom Hiddleston is the great-great-grandson of co-founder Sir Edmund Vestey, 1st Baronet.

, the Vestey family’s farming interests are mainly in Brazil, in both the cattle industry and sugar cane production. A 12,000 ha tree-planting programme is set to supply eucalyptus wood to the iron ore industry in Brazil. The family also has two wine companies in Australia: The Lane Vineyard in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, and Delatite Wines in Victoria, Australia.

History
William and his younger brother Edmund (later Sir Edmund) established the Vestey empire in 1897 from a family butchery business in Liverpool. They were pioneers of refrigeration, opening a cold store in London in 1895 and developing stores across the UK, and then throughout Russia, the Baltic nations, and Western Europe. The company supplied large quantities of food to the growing UK population during the Industrial Revolution.

William Vestey earlier worked in stockyards in Chicago in the late 19th century, and realised that the meat waste could be used in products which were then in short supply in Britain. He and Edmund started a canning business, before foreseeing that the meat could be worth even more if the vast supplies of beef in the Americas could be transported and delivered fresh rather than canned, so they first experimented with a friend's cold store. The invention of the first ammonia-compression plant enabled refrigerated shipments, and their business grew.

International expansion
The first expansion was into China, in the early 20th century, where the company developed a huge egg processing enterprise. Creating their own shipping company, the Blue Star Line, they supplied outlets in the UK, USA, Europe and South Africa for over fifty years.

In 1911, the Vestey brothers expanded into meat production, processing and distribution, with pastoral properties as well as meatworks in Venezuela, Australia and Brazil, and meatworks in New Zealand and Argentina. In the UK, they bought market stalls on the Smithfield Market in London, and butcher shops throughout the UK, the Dewhurst the Butchers chain.

In 1912 they purchased for £250,000 the Ord River cattle station in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia from investor Sam Copley. In 1914, they established the North Australia Meat Company in Darwin, Northern Territory in Australia, but it failed after three years. In the same year, it bought the 3000 km2 Wave Hill Station in the Northern Territory of Australia.

In 1915, the brothers, after being refused a request for income tax exemption made to David Lloyd George, moved to Buenos Aires to avoid paying income tax in the UK. The family later administered the business through a Paris trust that enabled it to legally avoid an estimated total of £88m in UK tax until the loophole was closed in 1991.

In 1924, Vesteys bought the Liebig Extract of Meat Company in Uruguay, created Frigorífico Anglo del Uruguay out of it, which marketed Fray Bentos meat extract spread. also known as the "Anglo Meatpacking Company".

It is said that by 1930 Vesteys had 30,000 employees worldwide and a net value of £300,000.

The Vestey family were estimated to be the second wealthiest family in Britain (after the King) in 1940. In 1980, it was discovered that the company had operated a tax avoidance scheme, and Vestey Brothers was the largest privately owned multinational company and the largest retailer of meat in the world in the 1980s.

UK developments
In the course of their expansion, Vestey bought a number of other companies, acquiring Oxo and London's Oxo Tower through the purchase of the Liebig Extract of Meat Company.

In the middle of the 20th century, Vestey companies dominated the UK wholesale and retail meat trade, selling refrigerated and canned meats, as well as leather and other by-products. Having saved cash reserves for the purpose, they entered into a price war with the US-owned importers to largely drive them from the UK market. Vestey developed the country-wide Dewhurst the Butchers chain, which was eventually sold in 1995 in the face of increasing competition from the supermarket chains. Dewhurst was among the first retailers to introduce glass windows in its butcher's shops – previously meat had been exposed to the elements and pollution. The business also owned the Downsway supermarket group, which was based in East Anglia and had 80 stores at the time of its sale to rival Fine Fare in 1978.

1966 Gurindji Strike, Australia
By the middle of the twentieth century, the Vestey Group had acquired a large amount of grazing land in Australia, and used many Aboriginal Australians as cheap labour. They were paid less than a quarter of the minimum wage of non-Indigenous workers and sometimes only received salt beef, bread, tobacco, flour, sugar and tea instead of a salary. Samuel Vestey, 3rd Baron Vestey, through the company, owned the Wave Hill Station in Australia at the time.

In 1966, this unfair treatment, coupled with earlier dispossession of their land by the colonial government, sparked the Gurindji strike (also known as the Wave Hill walk-off) at Wave Hill. This was a landmark event in the land rights movement in Australia and lasted for eight years. With much public support, the Whitlam government entered negotiations with Vestey and a small grant of land at Daguragu/Wattie Creek was handed back to the Gurindji people, as an initial step towards the final land handback.

Shipping
The first two ships for the Blue Star Line (Pakeha renamed Broderick, and Rangatira renamed Brodmore) were bought in 1909, and the company registered on 28 July 1911 in London and Liverpool with a capital of £100,000.

In 1946 the Vesteys also became founders of Repremar Shipping, a Uruguay-based ship agency which was then taken over a few decades later by the Pena family, who to this day remain in control of the Repremar Group of Companies.

The line owned a number of refrigerated ships (Reefers), and business later expanded to countries as far apart as Egypt and China, carrying passengers in addition to various foodstuffs. Blue Star was finally sold to P&O Nedlloyd for £60 million in 1998, although most of the refrigerated ships were retained by Vestey's Albion Reefers subsidiary, which later merged with Hamburg Süd to form Star Reefers, finally sold off in July 2001.

The company had to be rebuilt twice, in the years following the world wars, before being sold in 1998.

21st century
By 2000, the vertically integrated model was broken up, and separate companies created to run farming, cold storage, and food import and distribution businesses.

2005 Venezuela handback
In Venezuela in 2005, state troops occupied a cattle ranch owned by the Vestey Group, under a 2001 land use reform programme instituted by the Hugo Chávez government. In March 2006, the Group reached an agreement with the Venezuelan government, ceding two ranches to the state while retaining ownership of eight.

Philanthropy
There was a "Vestey Chair of Food Safety and Veterinary Public Health" at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London recorded in 1992, and 2000, "the first post of its kind in the UK".

Former subsidiaries

 * The Blue Star Line was sold to P&O Nedlloyd for £60 million in 1998.
 * Dewhurst butchers – sold to Lloyd Maunder 2005, entered administration in 2006.

title: Vestey Holdings


text:
Talk:Nail (fastener)

US naming convention
Construction nails - I added some info on nails as related to building and construction - hopefully not too provincial; terminology varies from country to country. - Rlvaughn 22:15, 11 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Fascinating - I never knew that about US nail sizes. This article now needs splitting into engineering and anatomical nails - I'll just do that if you don't mind holding off any more edits for a moment. seglea 22:51, 11 Dec 2003 (UTC)

OK, all done now. I called hammer-and-nail nails "nail (engineering)", which sounds a bit grand for so common-or-garden an object, but I couldn't think of anything better. seglea 23:04, 11 Dec 2003 (UTC)
 * I think the split you did was needed. And I don't think I had ever heard this - "D"...was the abbreviation for a penny in the UK before decimalisation." I was a little tentative about so much just about nails in the US, but I guess others can add info from their country. I am assuming that perhaps the US has preserved a "system" that probably was common in most English-speaking countries, since we obviously received it from England. - Rlvaughn 03:07, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC)
 * Yes, anyone my age grew up on d standing for "pence" - pounds, shillings and pence was always abbreviated LSD (usually £sd, of course). And we were taught that d did stand for denarius (L for pound stood for librum, and s for shilling actually stood for solidus not shilling, though that was not widely known).  When decimalisation came in, using the more logical p for pence was a convenient way of distinguishing new pence from old, which mattered since 1p=2.4d.  But the great British public seized on it with glee, and pronounced it as the slightly vulgar "pee", which was a fine way of expressing disdain for the decimalisation process.
 * By the way, does the US use the abbreviation lb for pound weight (also from librum of course), which is standard in Britain? I don't think I remember seeing it in shops since I've been here.
 * I think it's fine to have the US weight system described in detail on the nails page - it's inherently interesting, it appears to be unique, I'm sure you're right it's a survival, and anyone (like me) English living in the US would need to know it, otherwise we're in for a mystifying session at the hardware shop.
 * seglea 07:09, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC)
 * Yes, lb.is still the common abbreviation in the the US for a pound (weight). - Rlvaughn 12:51, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC)

I restored the information on the length of nails by penny size, which user 144.139.151.110 had deleted. Perhaps that user is not familiar with American construction, though the edit smacked a little of "vandalism". - Rlvaughn 23:50, 2 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Ridges on shank
I heard a story that the philosopher and mathematician Leibniz invented the ridges on the shank of a nail, just below the head. Anyone know if this is true? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.17.45.248 (talk) 03:26, 7 June 2005 (UTC)

The ridges on the shank of a nail just below the nail head are called "gripper marks". When wire is fed into a nail making machine it is gripped and drawn into the machine where it is cut to length and headed with the appropriate size (type) for that nail. --Swanguy (talk) 15:48, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Places like Lowes list Nail Gauge
What does it mean to talk about an 8 gauge nail?? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ribazole (talk • contribs) 18:43, 18 September 2020 (UTC)
 * Ribazole: Nails are sold in the United States mostly sized by gauge rather than penny. In penny sizing, larger numbers mean larger nails. In gauge sizing, larger numbers mean smaller nails. The article needs to be updated to reflect gauge sizing. —Anomalocaris (talk) 03:03, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

Weight
I changed this edit - "Nails are usually sold by the pound (454 g) (either in bulk or in boxes) in the United States only" - to this - "Nails are usually sold by weight (either in bulk or in boxes)" - hoping that it would be somewhat universal (the intent of the other edit), but perhaps a little smoother. This of course assumes that nails are "usually sold by the pound", which I can't speak to that well universally. - Rlvaughn 23:16, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Cut nails
No mention or picture of cut nails...why is this? Also, I believe "wire nail" is to distinguish the modern technology from older manufacturing techniques like forging and cutting, but someone should double-check that.--Joel 23:42, 4 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Tacks
Transferring info from Tack, which is being turned into a disambiguation page:
 * Tack or Tintack is a type of nail. Nornally cut from sheet steel (as opposed to wire); the nail is used in upholstery, shoe making and saddle manufacture. The triangular shape of the nail's cross section gives greater grip and less tearing of materials such as cloth and leather compared to a wire nail. See also tack piano.

I don't see a good place to integrate this here at the moment, but it's good information that shouldn't be lost. — Catherine\talk 20:38, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

What about the dates from hand hard cut to slit and hammered then hard cut mill shaped them from hard cut to the time standard nails replaced mill hard cut? I see no dates showing the time frame they started switching from hard cut to wire... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.9.20.65 (talk) 16:00, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Cut nails
Can any one supply details of who invented the cut nail and precisely when? I have just fleshed out the earlier history of the nail, but do not know the answer to that matter. All I know is that it happened in America and was causeing concern in England in 1812. Peterkingiron (talk) 22:44, 1 May 2006 (UTC)
 * The recent publication of an article has enabled me to improve the coverage to the 19th century. However, more material on 19th cnetury hand nailmaking trade ought to be cited.  Peterkingiron (talk) 17:19, 1 April 2013 (UTC)

HurriQuake
Link to article

I don't know much about this, save for the fact that it was a recently developed design. I did a little formating on the article a couple days ago, but it'd be nice to have some better informed people deal with it. I am also unsure of how it may fit into the current Nail article, if at all. KojieroSaske 22:52, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Propose move to Nail (construction) or Nail (carpentry) or Nail (woodworking)
I believe one of the three names above would be a much better description. As a structural engineer, I certainly design engineered systems with nails. But most nails that are used are never "engineered" in the normal sense of the term.

I know, I know, "be bold". But I would like to get another opinion before moving a pretty stable page, and if moving is agreed to, I'd like some input on which name above is better.

For me, my preferences (in order) are #1 construction, #2 carpentry, #3 woodworking, and #4 engineering

Anyone else? --barneca (talk) 21:38, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Due to lack of response, I'll move the page. I've decided to move to Nail (fastener) as the most generic description.  Post-move discussion welcome; we can always move it back. --barneca (talk) 19:15, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

Incomplete
How are nails made? How are they used? How are they removed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Scott Adler (talk • contribs) 10:48, August 25, 2007 (UTC)

Links at bottom
I have deleted the link to "Bostitch: Global supplier of nails, fasteners, and fastening tools" - it seems to be an advertisement more than anything else. I do not see any benefit it provides to the article. If someone can justify the change, please do. (I also looked up who made the change. It was an IP address Special:Contributions/12.111.49.67 - which belongs to "stanley works STANLEY-WO857-49-64" according to whois This IP has mostly changed the article for Mark Mathieu - who just happens to be a VP at Stanley Works, an affiliate of Bostitch.) Crito2161 03:45, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Illustration caption
The description of the image ( File:Spijkers_(Nails).jpg )says that the first two items are "asfaltnagel". And the caption in English says roofing nails. Is this correct? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 176.195.63.190 (talk) 12:17, 30 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Probably. This type of nail would be used to nail asphalt impregnated felt/tar paper or asphalt shingles (and the more modern formulations) to the roof deck. I can't imagine there are nails made specifically for nailing into asphalt paving. Modal Jig (talk) 15:27, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

Actually, surveyors routinely use nails made specifically for nailing into asphalt paving - for example http://www.berntsen.com/Go-Shopping/Surveying/Survey-Nails-Survey-Washers/Survey-Nails/DuraNail/ctl/ViewProduct/mid/647/itemID/814 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.95.214.18 (talk) 16:48, 18 October 2012 (UTC)

Questionable etymology
In Folk-etymology: a dictionary of verbal corruptions or words perverted in form or meaning, by false derivation or mistaken analogy, published by G. Bell & Sons, 1882, Abram Smythe Palmer says, "Ten-penny nails are not nails ten of which may be got for a penny, but properly ten-pun'y or ten-pun'-nails, i.e., ten-pound, large nails, a thousand of which will weigh ten pounds (the old form of the verb to pound was pun). "It is surprising how slowly the commonest mechanical terms find their way into dictionaries professedly complete. I may mention, as instances of this, that penny, a denomination of the sizes of nails, as a six-penny or a ten-penny nail, though it was employed by Fently two hundred years ago, and has been in constant use ever since, is not to be found in Webster. — Marsh, The Eng. Language, p. 126 (ed. Smith). "Six-penny, eight-penny, ten-penny nails, are nails of such sizes, that a thousand will weigh six, eight, or ten pounds, and in this phrase, therefore, penny seems to be a corruption of pound." ...and he then goes on to quote a couple of usages from earlier literature (Abel Redivivus and Jokes and Wit of Douglas Jerrold). So, can anybody verify the origin of the term tenpenny nail as currently given in our article? rowley (talk) 20:08, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Missing description of modern manufacturing method
I'm not seeing a good description of how nails are manufactured today. Does anyone have a source so we can add a short section on that? Lockesdonkey (talk) 22:52, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

 * That's a good question. There was a "How it's Made" segment available on YouTube, but id that good enough for a reference?  I added a brief description in the Wire Nails section.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Uranographer (talk • contribs) 14:49, 6 December 2015 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 00:47, 30 April 2016 (UTC) by JJMC89 bot

History of the WORLD
How do China has nails? How do America has nails? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 167.56.158.90 (talk) 21:05, 26 July 2016 (UTC)

Origins of the Nail
The claim that nails have been found in Egypt in 3400 B.C. does not have a credible citation. Both sources [2] and [3] are the same article, originally appearing on a construction company's website, with no listed sources. In addition, Egyptian furniture from that time period has been found to use peg joints, not nails. I have not done comprehensive research on every ancient nail find (they are incredibly tough to track), but the specific claim of 3400 B.C. is dubious. The earliest credible discovery of nails I encountered in my research dates to 1600-1100 BC, at the Mycenean palace of Iklaina (ilkaina.org, 2010 Internet Report). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:3A60:5BB0:3464:7A41:D8D8:1264 (talk) 22:24, 20 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Agreed, I've removed the claim. (Hohum @ ) 22:47, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

The article should be improved to list the oldest known use of nails in the world, and by region, including China and the Americas. —Anomalocaris (talk) 03:07, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Nail (fastener)


text:
Prince Michael of Kent

Prince Michael of Kent (Michael George Charles Franklin; born 4 July 1942) is a member of the British royal family who is 52nd in line to the British throne as of June 2024. The younger son of Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, he is a grandson of George V, nephew of Edward VIII and George VI, and first cousin of Elizabeth II. Michael's mother was also a first cousin of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, consort of Elizabeth II, making him both a second cousin and first cousin once removed to Charles III.

Prince Michael occasionally represented Elizabeth II at some functions in Commonwealth realms outside the United Kingdom during her reign. Otherwise, he manages his own consultancy business and undertakes various commercial work around the world. He has also presented some television documentaries on the royal families of Europe.

Early life
Prince Michael was born on 4 July 1942, at Coppins, Iver, Buckinghamshire. He was the third child of Prince George, Duke of Kent, who was the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary and a younger brother of kings Edward VIII and George VI. At birth, Michael was seventh in line to the British throne. His mother was Princess Marina, a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia.

At Michael's baptism on 4 August 1942 in the Private Chapel of Windsor Castle, his godparents were his paternal uncle the King; Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (for whom her son-in-law Prince Bernhard stood proxy); King Haakon VII of Norway (his great-uncle); US President Franklin D. Roosevelt (for whom the Duke of Kent stood proxy); Frederica of Hanover, Hereditary Princess of Greece (his first cousin once removed, who was absent); Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (his paternal uncle, who was absent); the Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven (his paternal first cousin twice removed); and Lady Patricia Ramsay (his paternal first cousin twice removed). Because of the war, newspaper reports did not identify the location of the baptism and said instead that it took place at "a private chapel in the country".

Seven weeks after Michael's birth, his father was killed in a plane crash near Dunbeath, Caithness, Scotland, on 25 August 1942.

At the age of five, Prince Michael was a page boy at the wedding of his cousins Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten.

Education and military service

Michael was educated at Sunningdale School and Eton College and is fluent in French as well as having a "working knowledge" of German and Italian. He is the first member of the royal family to learn Russian, of which he is a qualified interpreter.

Michael was commissioned into the 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) in 1963. He later served in The Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) after the amalgamation between the 11th Hussars and the 10th Royal Hussars (Prince of Wales's Own) in 1969. He saw service in Germany, Hong Kong, and Cyprus, where his squadron formed part of a United Nations peacekeeping force in 1971. Subsequent tours of duty, during a military career that spanned twenty years, included a number of appointments on the Defence Intelligence Staff. He retired from the Army with the rank of Major in 1981.

In 1994, Michael was made Honorary Commodore (later Honorary Rear Admiral and then Vice Admiral) of the Royal Naval Reserve, and in 2002, he was made Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Benson (promoted to Honorary Air Marshal in 2012). From 2009 to 2012, he was Regimental Colonel of the Honourable Artillery Company and on 31 January 2012 became its Royal Honorary Colonel. He is also Colonel-in-Chief of the Essex and Kent Scottish Regiment in Canada.

Activities and patronages

As the third child of George V's fourth son, it was not expected that Prince Michael, as the only second son in the extended royal family, would undertake many engagements on behalf of the royal family. He has performed official duties in the Commonwealth realms other than the United Kingdom and has represented the Queen abroad.

He has, however, never received a parliamentary annuity or an allowance from the British Privy Purse, unlike both his elder brother, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and his sister, Princess Alexandra, who both carry out official royal duties. The Prince was given the use of a grace and favour apartment at Kensington Palace upon his marriage in 1978.

Michael represented the Queen at state funerals in India, Cyprus and Swaziland and, with his wife, Princess Michael of Kent, represented the Queen at the independence celebrations in Belize, and at the coronation of King Mswati III of Swaziland.

Michael supports a large number of charities and organisations. Some of his patronages and presidencies include: the Kennel Club, Children's Burns Trust, Maritime Volunteer Service, the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships, Life Saving Society, Royal Automobile Club, National Eye Research Centre, Motor Sports Association, Brooklands Museum Trust, the Light Aircraft Association, and the London School of Business and Finance.

He announced his retirement from public life in June 2022 as he approached his 80th birthday.

Marriage and personal life
On 30 June 1978, Michael married, at a civil ceremony, at the City Hall (Wiener Rathaus) in Vienna, Austria, the German noblewoman Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz. After receiving Pope John Paul II's permission (a previous pontiff, Pope Paul VI, had barred them from having a Catholic wedding), the couple later received a blessing of their marriage in a Catholic ceremony on 29 June 1983 at Archbishop's House, London.

At the time of the marriage, Marie-Christine von Reibnitz was both a Roman Catholic and a divorcée. She had been married to the banker Thomas Troubridge; they separated in 1973, divorced in 1977, and had their marriage annulled by the Catholic Church a year later, two months before her marriage to Michael. Under the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, Michael forfeited his place in the line of succession to the throne through his marriage to a Catholic. He was reinstated to the line of succession on 26 March 2015 with the coming into force of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, and was 51st in line to the throne.

Michael and Marie-Christine have two children, both brought up as members of the Church of England and therefore in the line of succession to the throne since birth:
 * Lord Frederick Windsor, born 6 April 1979 at St Mary's Hospital, London; married, 12 September 2009, Sophie Winkleman. Educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford. They have two daughters, Maud and Isabella.
 * Lady Gabriella Kingston, born 23 April 1981 at St Mary's Hospital, London; married, 18 May 2019, Thomas Kingston. Educated at Downe House, Brown University in the US, and Linacre College, Oxford. Her husband shot himself on 25 February 2024 in the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, leaving her widowed at 42 years old.

In 2014, Michael was successfully treated for prostate cancer.

Commercial
Prince Michael manages his own consultancy business, and undertakes business throughout the world. He is also a qualified interpreter of Russian.

Masonic
Prince Michael is an active Freemason. He is the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons, and Provincial Grand Master of the Provincial Grand Lodge of Middlesex.

Russia
Prince Michael speaks fluent Russian and has a strong interest in Russia, where he is a well-known figure (he is a former recipient of the Order of Friendship). Tsar Nicholas II was a first cousin of three of his grandparents: George V, Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark, and Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna of Russia. When the bodies of the Tsar and some of his family were recovered in 1991, the remains were later identified by DNA using, among others, a sample from Michael for recognition. He attended the 1998 burial of the Tsar and his family in St Petersburg. He is an honorary member of the Romanov Family Association. He is also the second cousin of Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia, who is a claimant to the headship of the Imperial Family of Russia. They share the same great-grandfather, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. Michael is the patron of organisations which have close ties with Russia, including the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce and the St Gregory's Foundation. In his capacity as patron of Children's Fire and Burns Trust, Prince Michael has led fundraising rallies in 1999 and 2003 in Russia to raise money for the charity. He also led another rally in 2005 and raised money for the Royal Marsden Hospital and Britain's Charities Aid Foundation Russia.

On 4 March 2022, Michael returned the Order of Friendship in the aftermath of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Sport
Prince Michael was a part of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst rowing crew that won the Maiden Fours at Bedford in 1961. Prince Michael competed for Great Britain in the 1971 FIBT World Bobsleigh Championships but crashed and failed to finish the event. He was official non-travelling reserve for the 1972 Winter Olympics. He took part in the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally in an Austin Maxi, but he and his crew failed to finish the event.

Media scrutiny
In 2002, both Michael and his wife were the subject of criticism over the rent paid on their accommodation at Kensington Palace following scrutiny by the House of Commons Public Accounts committee on the cost of royal palaces and whether they were value for money. The committee had called on the Queen to evict its residents and put the apartments on a more commercial footing. When it was claimed that the couple paid a rent of only £69 per week for the use of their apartments at Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace announced that "The Queen is paying the rent for Prince and Princess Michael of Kent's apartment at a commercial rate of £120,000 annually, from her own private funds. This rent payment by The Queen is in recognition of the Royal engagements and work for various charities which Prince and Princess Michael of Kent have undertaken at their own expense, and without any public funding."

Prince Michael has been scrutinized for financial assistance given to him by exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky through offshore companies, with a reported total of £320,000 in payments over the period 2002–2008. In an interview with The Sunday Times, Berezovsky stated, "There is nothing underhand or improper about the financial assistance I have given Prince Michael. It is a matter between friends."

In May 2021, reports were published stating that Michael was "selling access" to Vladimir Putin's political representatives. Footage from a Zoom call was released of Michael, alongside Simon Isaacs, 4th Marquess of Reading, interacting with undercover reporters posing as business executives seeking to make contacts with the Kremlin. In the video, he assured the men that his close ties with the country would be of benefit, and that he could introduce them to high-ranking figures within the Russian government in exchange for money. The call took place the day after the European Union imposed sanctions on the Kremlin. Michael was being offered £143,000 for a proposal and £36,000 a month by the faux businessmen, which he expressed satisfaction with. The Marquess claimed that Michael was the Queen's "unofficial ambassador to Russia" and had direct access to Putin. He later stated that he had "overpromised", while the prince said that he had not had contact with Putin since 2003. In a 2019 interview, Michael stated that he visited Russia twice a year as part of his work for the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce.

Marina Litvinenko denounced the prince's actions, saying that it demonstrated that he did not "care about human rights, democracy, about the people who are dying in Russia or what he did to your own citizens on UK soil". Conservative MP Bob Seely released a statement saying, in part: "We have sanctions against President Putin's regime for good reason. I'd love to know what Prince Michael thinks he is doing by making the UK's values and standards look optional."

Titles
As a child of a younger son of a British sovereign, he is styled as a British prince with the prefix His Royal Highness and a territorial designation deriving from his father's dukedom: "His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent".

Unofficial
A person of honour and high standing in the Efik Eburutu Kingdom (Ada Idagha Ke Efik Eburutu)
 * 🇳🇬 Calabar, Nigeria
 * 2017 – present:

Honours

 * UK Queen EII Coronation Medal ribbon.svg 2 June 1953: Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
 * UK Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg 6 February 1977: Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
 * Order of St John (UK) ribbon -vector.svg 18 January 2001: Knight of Justice of the Most Venerable Order of Saint John (KStJ)
 * UK Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg 6 February 2002: Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
 * Royal Victorian Order UK ribbon.png 2 June 2003: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO)
 * 4 July 1992: Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO)
 * QEII Diamond Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg 6 February 2012: Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
 * CAN Canadian Forces Decoration ribbon.svg 19 October 2015: Canadian Forces' Decoration (CD)
 * UK Queen EII Platinum Jubilee Medal ribbon.svg 6 February 2022: Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal
 * Coronation of Charles III Medal ribbon.png 6 May 2023: King Charles III Coronation Medal

Foreign

 * 🇺🇳 UN: United Nations Medal for UNFICYP (1971)
 * 🇷🇺 Russia: Member of the Order of Friendship (4 November 2009 – 4 March 2022)
 * Two Sicilies: Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I (19 August 2017)
 * 🇵🇪 Peru: Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun (2 November 1994)

Honorary military appointments

 * Canada
 * 🇨🇦 Colonel-in-Chief, The Essex and Kent Scottish (14 November 2001 – present)
 * United Kingdom
 * Honorary Commodore, Royal Naval Reserve (1 April 1994 – 2004)
 * Honorary Commodore, Maritime Volunteer Service
 * Honorary Rear Admiral, Royal Naval Reserve (2004–2015)
 * Honorary Vice Admiral, Royal Naval Reserve (9 March 2015 – present)
 * Honorary Auxiliary Commodore, Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (1990)
 * Commodore-in-Chief, Maritime Reserves (2006–present)
 * Honorary Colonel, British Army (10 November 2010 – present)
 * Senior Colonel, The King's Royal Hussars
 * Regimental Colonel, Honourable Artillery Company (2009–2012)
 * Royal Honorary Colonel, Honourable Artillery Company (31 January 2012 – present). (member since 1981)
 * Honorary Air Commodore of RAF Benson (27 June 2002 – 2012)
 * Honorary Air Marshal of RAF Benson (1 March 2012 – present)

Fellowships

 * Grand Master of the Order of Mark Master Masons of England
 * Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation
 * Chartered Institute of Linguists
 * Royal Aeronautical Society
 * Society of Genealogists
 * Institute of Road Safety Officers
 * Institute of the Motor Industry

Degrees and appointments

 * 1998: Plekhanov Academy of Economics, Honorary Doctorate
 * 2003: Sinerghia Economics and Finance Institute, Honorary Professor
 * 2012: St Petersburg University of Humanities and Social Sciences, Honorary Doctorate

Awards

 * 2002: The International Man of the Year Award, Plekhanov Economics Academy
 * 2003: The "Glory of Russia", Plekhanov Economics Academy

title: Prince Michael of Kent


text:
Fleet

Fleet may refer to:

Vehicles

 * Fishing fleet
 * Naval fleet
 * Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles
 * Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company

Canada

 * Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet

England

 * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach, Dorset
 * Fleet, Dorset, England, a village and civil parish
 * Fleet, Hampshire, England, a town and civil parish
 * Fleet, Hayling Island, Hampshire, England, a hamlet
 * Fleet Pond, Hampshire, England
 * River Fleet, subterranean river in London, England
 * Fleet Street, named after the river
 * Fleet Prison, named after the river
 * Fleet Line, named after the river, was the original name for the London Underground Jubillee Line
 * Fleet, Lincolnshire, England
 * Fleet (Kent), a term for a waterway in the Thames marshes, England
 * The Fleet (Tees), a section of the River Tees' original route

Scotland

 * Water of Fleet, a river in Scotland
 * Fleet Bay, a part of a National Scenic Area within Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

United States

 * Fleet, Kentucky, US, an unincorporated community

In business

 * ARC Centre of Excellence in Future Low-Energy Electronics Technologies, also known as FLEET, Australian physics research collaboration developing ultra-low-energy electronics
 * Blain's Farm & Fleet, American farm and ranch supply store chain
 * Fleet Aircraft, a Canadian manufacturer of aircraft from 1928 to 1957
 * FleetBoston Financial, a financial institution also known as Fleet Bank
 * Fleet Farm, American farm and ranch supply store chain
 * Fleet services, an English motorway service station
 * Fleet (laxative), brand name for Bisacodyl

People

 * Fleet (surname)
 * Moses Fleetwood Walker (1856-1924), nicknamed "Fleet", American baseball player, inventor, and author, credited by some as being the first African American to play Major League Baseball

Other uses

 * Ebbsfleet United F.C., an English football team whose nickname is "The Fleet"
 * The Fleet series of shared universe science fiction anthologies edited by David Drake and Bill Fawcett
 * Fleet (horse)
 * Fleets, a discontinued disappearing messaging feature of the Twitter platform
 * Wilmington Clippers (1937–1950), an American football team nicknamed "The Fleet"
 * Fleet, an IDE developed by JetBrains

title: Fleet


text:
Surjeet Kalsey

Surjeet Kalsey (born in Amritsar, Punjab, India) is a Canadian poet, dramatist, short story writer and translator who lives in British Columbia and writes in both Punjabi and English. She has published a dozen books.

Life
After receiving a Master's Degree in English and Punjabi Literature from Punjab University, Chandigarh, she worked as the Punjabi Regional News Anchor for All India Radio. Kalsey earned a Master's in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and worked as a freelance writer, interpreter, and translator for several years. She earned a fourth master's degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of British Columbia, after which she has worked as a family therapist and bi-lingual instructor at the Vancouver Community College teaches Court & Health Interpreting Certification Program.

In 2014, Kalsey was awarded the University of British Columbia's Asian Studies Department lifetime achievement award for her literature.

Works

 * Paunan Nal Guftagoo - Punjabi Poetry - 1979
 * Speaking to the Winds - Poetry English - 1982
 * Foot Prints of Silence - Poetry English - 1988
 * Saffron Leaves: an anthology of Canadian Punjabi Literature - 1992
 * Glimpses of Twentieth Century Punjabi Poetry in English Translation - 1992
 * Distant Women - Short Fiction - 1994
 * Sat Parayian - Collection of Short Stories - 1994
 * Behind the Palace Doors - Drama 1999
 * Woman Words and Strength - Punjabi Poetry - 2000
 * Aurat Shabad Te Shakti - Punjabi Poetry - 2000
 * Daughters Behind the Palace Doors - Drama - 2000
 * Mahlin Wasdiyan Dhian - Collection of One-Act Plays - 2000
 * Prof. Mohan Singh (Punjabi poet) & Faiz Ahmed Faiz (Urdu Poet)- Identical and comparative Study - 2003
 * Faiz Ahmed Faiz - Kav Sagar -Ed. Urdu Poetry in Gurmukhi Script, Tarlochan   Publications - 2003
 * Rom Rom Vich Jagdey Deevay - Punjabi Poetry, Lokgeet Publications - 2005
 * Akas Barmala, Urdu poetry of Zahid Laeeq in Gurmukhi script by Ed. Surjeet Kalsey, 2006.
 * Naam Tiharey - Punjabi Poetry, Akhar Publications - 2006
 * Aurat Ton Aurat Tak - Surjeet Kalsey's Literary Journey - Ed. by Dr.Sharnajit   Kaur, Tarlochan Publications -  2007
 * Katha Teri Meri, Short Stories, Tarlochan Publications, 2008
 * "Colours of My Heart" English poems, Tarlochan Publications,2011
 * "Rung Mandal" poems in Punjabi, Tarlochan Publishers, Chandigarh 2013

title: Surjeet Kalsey


text:
Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest

The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest (BLFC) is a tongue-in-cheek contest, held annually and sponsored by the English Department of San José State University in San Jose, California. Entrants are invited "to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels" – that is, one which is deliberately bad.

According to the official rules, the prize for winning the contest is "a pittance". The 2008 winner received $250, while the 2014 winners' page said the grand prize winner received "about $150". The current prize, as of 2023, is "a cheap certificate and bragging rights".

The contest was started in 1982 by Professor Scott E. Rice of the English Department at San Jose State University and is named for English novelist and playwright Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, author of the much-quoted first line "It was a dark and stormy night". This opening, from the 1830 novel Paul Clifford, reads in full:

"It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."

The first year of the competition attracted just three entries, but it went public the next year, received media attention, and attracted 10,000 entries. There are now several subcategories, such as detective fiction, romance novels, Western novels, and purple prose. Sentences that are notable but not quite bad enough to merit the Grand Prize or a category prize are awarded Dishonorable Mentions.

Winning entrants
The winning entries are available at the contest website.

Collections
Six books collecting the best BLFC entries have been published:
 * It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (1984), ISBN 0-14-007556-9
 * Son of "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night" (1986), ISBN 0-14-008839-3
 * Bride of Dark and Stormy (1988), ISBN 0-14-010304-X
 * It Was a Dark & Stormy Night: The Final Conflict (1992), ISBN 0-14-015791-3
 * Dark and Stormy Rides Again (1996), ISBN 0-14-025490-0
 * It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (2007), ISBN 978-1-905548-60-6

An audio cassette of the winning entries in the BLFC was also released:
 * It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (1997), audio cassette, ISBN 1-57270-045-9.

title: Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest