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Sranan Tongo

Sranan Tongo (Sranantongo "Surinamese tongue", Sranan, Surinaams, Surinamese, Surinamese Creole) is an English-based creole language that is spoken as a lingua franca by approximately 519,600 people in Suriname.

Developed originally among enslaved Africans from Central and West Africa in Suriname, its use as a lingua franca expanded after the Dutch took over the colony in 1667. 85% of the vocabulary comes from English and Dutch. It also became the common language among the Indigenous peoples and the indentured laborers imported by the Dutch; these groups included speakers of Javanese, Sarnami Hindustani, Saramaccan, and varieties of Chinese.

Sranan Tongo is commonly but incorrectly cited as "having a vocabulary of only 340 words"; in fact, contemporary Sranan Tongo dictionaries have several thousand word entries.

Origins
The Sranan Tongo words for "to know" and "small children" are sabi and pikin (respectively derived from Portuguese and ). The Portuguese were the first European explorers of the West African coast. A trading pidgin language developed between them and Africans, and later explorers, including the English, also used this creole.

Based on its lexicon, Sranan Tongo has been found to have developed originally as an English-based creole language, because of the early influence of English colonists here in what was then part of English colony of Guiana, who imported numerous Africans as slaves for the plantations. After the Dutch takeover in 1667, following the Treaty of Westminster (1674) (in exchange for ceding the North American eastern seaboard colony of New Netherland to the English), a substantial overlay of words were adopted from the Dutch language.

Sranan Tongo's lexicon is a fusion of mostly English and Dutch vocabulary (85%), plus some vocabulary from Spanish, Portuguese and West African languages. It began as a pidgin spoken primarily by enslaved Africans from various tribes in Suriname, who often did not have an African language in common. Sranan Tongo also became the language of communication between the slaves. So the slave owners could not understand the slaves, the slaves would often make escaping plans in Sranan Tongo. Under Dutch rule, the slaves were not permitted to learn or speak Dutch. As other ethnic groups, such as East Indians and Chinese, were brought to Suriname as indentured workers, Sranan Tongo became a lingua franca.

Phonology and orthography

Until the middle of the 20th century, most written texts in Sranan, seen at the time as a low-prestige language, used a spelling that was not standardized but based on Dutch orthography, recording an approximation of how Sranan words sound to Dutch ears. In view of the considerable differences between the phonologies of Sranan and Dutch, this was not a satisfactory situation.

With the emergence of a movement striving for the emancipation of Sranan as a respectable language, the need for a phonology-based orthography was felt. A more suitable orthography developed as an informal consensus from the publications of linguists studying Sranan and related creoles. For every-day use, the Dutch-based spelling remained common, while some literary authors adopted (variants of) the linguistic spelling.

To end this situation, the Surinamese government commissioned a committee of linguists and writers to define a standard spelling, which was adopted and came into force in 1986. This standard basically followed the linguistic consensus. However, as the language is not taught in schools, while Dutch is, many speakers are not clearly aware of the principles on which this spelling is based and keep using a Dutchish, variant spelling.

Modern use
Although the formal Dutch-based educational system repressed the use of Sranan Tongo, in the past pejoratively dismissed as Taki Taki (literally meaning "talk talk" or "say say"), it gradually became more accepted by the establishment and wider society to speak it. During the 1980s, this language was popularized by publicly known speakers, including chairman Dési Bouterse, who often delivered national speeches in Sranan Tongo.

Sranan Tongo remains widely used in Suriname and in Dutch urban areas populated by immigrants from Suriname. They especially use it in casual conversation, often freely mixing it with Dutch. Written code-switching between Sranan Tongo and Dutch is also common in computer-mediated communication. People often greet each other in Sranan Tongo by saying, for example, fa waka (how are you), instead of the more formal Dutch hoe gaat het (how is it going).

In 2021, Sranan Tongo appeared for the first time in the Eurovision Song Contest in Jeangu Macrooy's song, "Birth of a New Age".

Literature
As a written language, Sranan Tongo has existed since the late 18th century. The first publication in Sranan Tongo was in 1783 by Hendrik Schouten who wrote a part Dutch, part Sranan Tongo poem, called Een huishoudelijke twist (A Domestic Tiff). The first important book was published in 1864 by Johannes King, and relates to his travels to Drietabbetje for the Moravian Church.

Early writers often used their own spelling system. An official orthography was adopted by the government of Suriname on July 15, 1986, in Resolution 4501. A few writers have used Sranan in their work, most notably the poet Henri Frans de Ziel ("Trefossa"), who also wrote God zij met ons Suriname, Suriname's national anthem, whose second verse is sung in Sranan Tongo.

Other notable writers in Sranan Tongo are Eugène Drenthe, André Pakosie, Celestine Raalte, Michaël Slory, and Bea Vianen.

Standard spelling
Lord's Prayer in standard spelling;

Wi Tata na heimel,

yu nen mu de santa!

yu kondre mu kon!

yu wani mu go doro na

grontapu so leki na heimel!

Gi wi tide da nyanyan fu wi!

Gi wi pardon fu den ogri,

di wi du, so leki wi owktu de gi

pardon na den suma, disi du wi ogri!

No meki wi kon na ini tesi!

Ma puru wi na da ogriwan!

Bikasi ala kondre de fu yu èn ala tranga

nanga glori de fu yu, te teigo.

Amen.

"Dutch" spelling
Lord's Prayer in Dutch spelling;

Wi Tata na hemel,

joe nem moe de santa!

joe kondre moe kon!

joe wani moe go doro na

grontapoe so leeki na hemel!

Gi wi tiedee da njanjan foe wi!

Gi wi pardon foe den ogri,

di wi doe, so leeki wi ooktu de gi

pardon na den soema, disi doe wi ogri!

No meeki wi kon na ini tessie!

Ma poeroe wi na da ogriwan!

Biekasi ala kondre de foe joe en ala tranga

nanga glori de foe joe, te teego.

Amen.

Translation
Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours, now and for ever.

Amen.

title: Sranan Tongo


text:
PSL(2,7)

In mathematics, the projective special linear group PSL(2, 7), isomorphic to GL(3, 2), is a finite simple group that has important applications in algebra, geometry, and number theory. It is the automorphism group of the Klein quartic as well as the symmetry group of the Fano plane. With 168 elements, PSL(2, 7) is the smallest nonabelian simple group after the alternating group A5 with 60 elements, isomorphic to PSL(2, 5).

Definition
The general linear group GL(2, 7) consists of all invertible 2×2 matrices over F7, the finite field with 7 elements. These have nonzero determinant. The subgroup SL(2, 7) consists of all such matrices with unit determinant. Then PSL(2, 7) is defined to be the quotient group
 * SL(2, 7) / {I, −I}

obtained by identifying I and −I, where I is the identity matrix. In this article, we let G denote any group that is isomorphic to PSL(2, 7).

Properties
G = PSL(2, 7) has 168 elements. This can be seen by counting the possible columns; there are 72 − 1 = 48 possibilities for the first column, then 72 − 7 = 42 possibilities for the second column. We must divide by 7 − 1 = 6 to force the determinant equal to one, and then we must divide by 2 when we identify I and −I. The result is (48 × 42) / (6 × 2) = 168.

It is a general result that PSL(n, q) is simple for n, q ≥ 2 (q being some power of a prime number), unless (n, q) = (2, 2) or (2, 3). PSL(2, 2) is isomorphic to the symmetric group S3, and PSL(2, 3) is isomorphic to alternating group A4. In fact, PSL(2, 7) is the second smallest nonabelian simple group, after the alternating group A5 = PSL(2, 5) = PSL(2, 4).

The number of conjugacy classes and irreducible representations is 6. The sizes of conjugacy classes are 1, 21, 42, 56, 24, 24. The dimensions of irreducible representations 1, 3, 3, 6, 7, 8.

Character table
 * $$\begin{array}{r|cccccc}

& 1A_{1} & 2A_{21} & 4A_{42} & 3A_{56} & 7A_{24} & 7B_{24}  \\  \hline \chi_1 &   1  & 1  & 1 &  1 & 1  & 1  \\ \chi_2 &   3  & -1 & 1 &  0 & \sigma & \bar \sigma  \\ \chi_3 &   3  & -1 & 1 &  0 & \bar \sigma  & \sigma  \\ \chi_4 &   6  & 2  & 0 &  0 & -1  & -1  \\ \chi_5 &   7  & -1 &-1 &  1 & 0  & 0  \\ \chi_6 &   8  & 0  & 0 & -1 & 1  & 1  \\ \end{array},$$ where
 * $$\sigma = \frac{-1+i\sqrt{7}}{2}.$$

The following table describes the conjugacy classes in terms of the order of an element in the class, the size of the class, the minimum polynomial of every representative in GL(3, 2), and the function notation for a representative in PSL(2, 7). Note that the classes 7A and 7B are exchanged by an automorphism, so the representatives from GL(3, 2) and PSL(2, 7) can be switched arbitrarily.

The order of group is 168 = 3 × 7 × 8, this implies existence of Sylow's subgroups of orders 3, 7 and 8. It is easy to describe the first two, they are cyclic, since any group of prime order is cyclic. Any element of conjugacy class 3A56 generates Sylow 3-subgroup. Any element from the conjugacy classes 7A24, 7B24 generates the Sylow 7-subgroup. The Sylow 2-subgroup is a dihedral group of order 8. It can be described as centralizer of any element from the conjugacy class 2A21. In the GL(3, 2) representation, a Sylow 2-subgroup consists of the upper triangular matrices.

This group and its Sylow 2-subgroup provide a counter-example for various normal p-complement theorems for p = 2.

Actions on projective spaces
G = PSL(2, 7) acts via linear fractional transformation on the projective line P1(7) over the field with 7 elements:

 * $$\text{For } \gamma = \begin{pmatrix} a & b \\ c & d \end{pmatrix} \in \text{PSL}(2, 7) \text{  and  } x \in \mathbf{P}^1\!(7),\ \gamma \cdot x = \frac{ax+b}{cx+d} .$$

Every orientation-preserving automorphism of P1(7) arises in this way, and so G = PSL(2, 7) can be thought of geometrically as a group of symmetries of the projective line P1(7); the full group of possibly orientation-reversing projective linear automorphisms is instead the order 2 extension PGL(2, 7), and the group of collineations of the projective line is the complete symmetric group of the points.

However, PSL(2, 7) is also isomorphic to PSL(3, 2) (= SL(3, 2) = GL(3, 2)), the special (general) linear group of 3×3 matrices over the field with 2 elements. In a similar fashion, G = PSL(3, 2) acts on the projective plane P2(2) over the field with 2 elements — also known as the Fano plane:
 * For $$ \gamma = \begin{pmatrix} a & b & c \\ d & e & f \\ g & h & i \end{pmatrix} \in \text{PSL}(3, 2)\ \ $$ and $$\

\ \mathbf{x} = \begin{pmatrix} x \\ y \\ z \end{pmatrix} \in \mathbf{P}^2\!(2),\ \ \gamma \ \cdot \ \mathbf{x} = \begin{pmatrix} ax+by+cz \\ dx+ey+fz \\ gx+hy+iz \end{pmatrix}$$

Again, every automorphism of P2(2) arises in this way, and so G = PSL(3, 2) can be thought of geometrically as the symmetry group of this projective plane. The Fano plane can be used to describe multiplication of octonions, so G acts on the set of octonion multiplication tables.

Symmetries of the Klein quartic
The Klein quartic is the projective variety over the complex numbers C defined by the quartic polynomial
 * x3y + y3z + z3x = 0.

It is a compact Riemann surface of genus g = 3, and is the only such surface for which the size of the conformal automorphism group attains the maximum of 84(g − 1). This bound is due to the Hurwitz automorphisms theorem, which holds for all g > 1. Such "Hurwitz surfaces" are rare; the next genus for which any exist is g = 7, and the next after that is g = 14.

As with all Hurwitz surfaces, the Klein quartic can be given a metric of constant negative curvature and then tiled with regular (hyperbolic) heptagons, as a quotient of the order-3 heptagonal tiling, with the symmetries of the surface as a Riemannian surface or algebraic curve exactly the same as the symmetries of the tiling. For the Klein quartic this yields a tiling by 24 heptagons, and the order of G is thus related to the fact that 24 × 7 = 168. Dually, it can be tiled with 56 equilateral triangles, with 24 vertices, each of degree 7, as a quotient of the order-7 triangular tiling. Klein's quartic arises in many fields of mathematics, including representation theory, homology theory, octonion multiplication, Fermat's Last Theorem, and Stark's theorem on imaginary quadratic number fields of class number 1.

Mathieu group
PSL(2, 7) is a maximal subgroup of the Mathieu group M21; the groups M21 and M24 can be constructed as extensions of PSL(2, 7). These extensions can be interpreted in terms of the tiling of the Klein quartic, but are not realized by geometric symmetries of the tiling.

Permutation actions
The group PSL(2, 7) acts on various finite sets:
 * In its original interpretation as PSL(2, 7), orientation-preserving linear automorphisms of the projective line P1(F7), it acts transitively on the 8 points with a stabilizer of order 21 fixing a given point. It also acts 2-transitively with stabilizer of order 3 on each pair of points; and it has two orbits on triples of points, with trivial stabilizer on each triple. (The larger group PGL(2, 7) acts sharply 3-transitively.)
 * Interpreted as PGL(3, 2), linear automorphisms of the Fano plane P2(F2), it acts 2-transitively on the 7 points, with stabilizer of order 24 fixing each point, and stabilizer of order 4 fixing each pair of points.
 * Interpreted as automorphisms of a tiling of the Klein quartic, it acts transitively on the 24 vertices (or dually, 24 heptagons), with stabilizer of order 7 (corresponding to a rotation about the vertex/heptagon).
 * Interpreted as a subgroup of the Mathieu group M21, the subgroup acts non-transitively on 21 points.

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

title: PSL(2,7)


text:
Talk:Eight-thousander

A new 14 8000m peak summiteer
Tenjen Lama Sherpa has climbed K2 today and thus completed all 14 of the 8000 meter peaks.

He and Kristin Harila have now set the speed record by climbing these 14 peaks in just 3 months and 1 day.

Can someone please add his name to the list. Thank you. 86.146.149.120 (talk) 09:39, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

A new 14 8000m peak climber
Mexican climber Viridiana Alvarez has recently climbed her 14th and final 8000m peak. She climbed these peaks between the years of 2015 and 2023.

Can someone please add her name to the list. 86.146.149.120 (talk) 13:04, 3 August 2023 (UTC)

Most ascents update
Nirmal Purja now has 42 total ascents of 8000 meter peaks, surpassing the record of 38 held by Kami Rita Cl2kliss (talk) 13:32, 2 October 2023 (UTC)

List of first ascents table
I think we should take the "death statistics" out of the main "List of first ascents" table, and move it to the section on death statistics? It would reduce the width of the main table, and would appear as a smaller table on its own as the rows would be narrower? Aszx5000 (talk) 10:56, 2 November 2023 (UTC)

 * I support this idea. Szelma W (talk) 21:41, 3 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Okay, I'm going to try and do it. ?! Aszx5000 (talk) 19:09, 14 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I think it worked - might try to justify the text beside the death statistics table. Aszx5000 (talk) 19:30, 14 November 2023 (UTC)

List of Climbers to Ascend all 8000m peaks
Can someone please add Chris Warner (USA) who reached #14 w the ascent of Manaslu Sept 20, 2023. 200.10.106.212 (talk) 20:45, 5 March 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Eight-thousander


text:
Silesian Wars

The Silesian Wars (Schlesische Kriege) were three wars fought in the mid-18th century between Prussia (under King Frederick the Great) and Habsburg Austria (under Empress Maria Theresa) for control of the Central European region of Silesia (now in south-western Poland). The First (1740–1742) and Second (1744–1745) Silesian Wars formed parts of the wider War of the Austrian Succession, in which Prussia was a member of a coalition seeking territorial gain at Austria's expense. The Third Silesian War (1756–1763) was a theatre of the global Seven Years' War, in which Austria in turn led a coalition of powers aiming to seize Prussian territory.

No particular event triggered the wars. Prussia cited its centuries-old dynastic claims on parts of Silesia as a casus belli, but Realpolitik and geostrategic factors also played a role in provoking the conflict. Maria Theresa's contested succession to the Habsburg monarchy under the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 provided an opportunity for Prussia to strengthen itself relative to regional rivals such as Saxony and Bavaria.

All three wars are generally considered to have ended in Prussian victories, and the first resulted in Austria's cession of the majority of Silesia to Prussia. Prussia emerged from the Silesian Wars as a new European great power and the leading state of Protestant Germany, while Catholic Austria's defeat by a lesser German power significantly damaged the House of Habsburg's prestige. The conflict over Silesia foreshadowed a wider Austro-Prussian struggle for hegemony over the German-speaking peoples, which would later culminate in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866.

Context and causes

In the early 18th century the Kingdom of Prussia's ruling House of Hohenzollern held dynastic claims to several duchies within the Habsburg province of Silesia, a populous and prosperous region contiguous with Prussia's core territory in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Besides its value as a source of tax revenue, industrial output and military recruits, Silesia held great geostrategic importance to multiple parties. The valley of the Upper Oder formed a natural military conduit between Brandenburg, the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Margraviate of Moravia, and whichever power held the territory could threaten its neighbours. Silesia also lay along the north-eastern frontier of the Holy Roman Empire, allowing its controller to limit the influence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and of the Russian Empire within Germany.

Prussia's claims
Prussia's claims in Silesia were based, in part, on a 1537 inheritance treaty between the Silesian Piast Duke Frederick II of Legnica and the Hohenzollern Prince-Elector JoachimII Hector of Brandenburg, whereby the Silesian Duchies of Liegnitz, Wohlau and Brieg were to pass to the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg should the Piast dynasty in Silesia become extinct. At the time, the Habsburg King FerdinandI of Bohemia (Silesia's feudal overlord) rejected the agreement and pressed the Hohenzollerns to repudiate it. In 1603, Hohenzollern Elector JoachimIII Frederick of Brandenburg separately inherited the Silesian Duchy of Jägerndorf from his cousin, Margrave George Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach, and installed his second son, Johann Georg, as duke.

In the 1618 Bohemian Revolt and the ensuing Thirty Years' War, Johann Georg joined the Silesian estates in revolt against the Catholic Holy Roman Emperor FerdinandII. After the Catholic victory in the 1621 Battle of White Mountain, the Emperor confiscated Johann Georg's duchy and refused to return it to his heirs after his death, but the Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg continued to assert themselves as the legitimate rulers of Jägerndorf. In 1675 the "Great Elector" Frederick William laid claim to Liegnitz, Wohlau and Brieg when the Silesian Piast line ended with the death of Duke George William of Liegnitz, but the Habsburg Emperor disregarded the Hohenzollern claims, and the lands escheated to the Bohemian crown.

In 1685, when Austria was engaged in the Great Turkish War, Emperor LeopoldI gave Great Elector Frederick William immediate control of the Silesian exclave of Schwiebus in return for military support against the Turks and the surrender of the outstanding Hohenzollern claims in Silesia. After the accession of the Great Elector's son and successor, FrederickIII of Brandenburg, the Emperor took back control of Schwiebus in 1694, claiming that the territory had only been personally assigned to the late Great Elector for life. As a young prince, FrederickIII had secretly agreed to this repossession in return for Leopold's payment of some of his debts, but as monarch he repudiated the agreement and reasserted the old Hohenzollern claims to Jägerndorf and the Silesian Piast heritage.

Austrian succession

Two generations later, the newly crowned Hohenzollern King Frederick II of Prussia formed designs on Silesia soon after succeeding to the throne in May 1740. Frederick judged that his dynasty's claims were credible, and he had inherited from his father a large and well trained Prussian army and a healthy royal treasury. Austria was in financial distress, and its army had not been reinforced or reformed after an ignominious performance in the 1737–1739 Austro-Turkish War. The European strategic situation was favourable for an attack on Austria, as Britain and France were occupying each other's attentions in the War of Jenkins' Ear, and Sweden was moving toward war with Russia. The Electors of Bavaria and Saxony also had claims against Austria and seemed likely to join in the attack. Though the Hohenzollerns' dynastic claims provided a legalistic casus belli, considerations of Realpolitik and geostrategy played the leading role in provoking the war.

An opportunity arose for Brandenburg–Prussia to press its claims when Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor CharlesVI died in October 1740 without a male heir. With the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, Charles had established his eldest daughter, Maria Theresa, as the successor to his hereditary titles. Upon his death she duly became ruler of Austria, as well as of the Bohemian and Hungarian lands within the Habsburg monarchy. During Emperor Charles's lifetime the Pragmatic Sanction was generally acknowledged by the imperial states, but when he died it was promptly contested by Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony.

Moves toward war
Frederick saw in Austria's female succession an opportune moment for the seizure of Silesia, calling it "the signal for the complete transformation of the old political system" in a 1740 letter to Voltaire. He argued that the Pragmatic Sanction did not apply to Silesia, which was held by the Habsburgs as a part of the imperial demesne rather than as a hereditary possession. Frederick also argued that his father, King Frederick WilliamI, had assented to the Sanction in return for assurances of Austrian support for Hohenzollern claims on the Rhenish Duchies of Jülich and Berg, which had not yet materialised.

Meanwhile, Prince-Elector Charles Albert of Bavaria and Prince-Elector Frederick AugustusII of Saxony had each married one of Maria Theresa's older cousins from a senior branch of the House of Habsburg, and they used these connections to justify claims to Habsburg territory in the absence of a male heir. Frederick Augustus, who ruled the Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth in personal union, was especially interested in gaining control of Silesia to connect his two realms into one contiguous territory (which would nearly surround Brandenburg); Frederick's concern to prevent this outcome contributed to his haste in moving against Austria when the contested succession provided an opportunity.

Methods and technologies
European warfare in the early modern period was characterised by the widespread adoption of firearms in combination with more traditional bladed weapons. 18th-century European armies were built around units of massed infantry armed with smoothbore flintlock muskets and bayonets. Cavalrymen were equipped with sabres and pistols or carbines; light cavalry were used principally for reconnaissance, screening and tactical communications, while heavy cavalry were used as tactical reserves and deployed for shock attacks. Smoothbore artillery provided fire support and played the leading role in siege warfare. Strategic warfare in this period centred around control of key fortifications positioned so as to command the surrounding regions and roads, lengthy sieges being a common feature of armed conflict. Decisive field battles were relatively rare, though they played a larger part in Frederick's theory of warfare than was typical among his contemporary rivals.

The Silesian Wars, like most European wars of the 18th century, were fought as so-called cabinet wars in which disciplined regular armies were equipped and supplied by the state to conduct warfare on behalf of the sovereign's interests. Occupied enemy territories were regularly taxed and extorted for funds, but large-scale atrocities against civilian populations were rare compared with conflicts in the previous century. Military logistics was the decisive factor in many wars, as armies had grown too large to support themselves on prolonged campaigns by foraging and plunder alone. Military supplies were stored in centralised magazines and distributed by baggage trains that were highly vulnerable to enemy raids. Armies were generally unable to sustain combat operations during winter and normally established winter quarters in the cold season, resuming their campaigns with the return of spring.

First Silesian War

After Emperor Charles's death on 20 October 1740, Frederick quickly resolved to strike first; on 8November he ordered the mobilisation of the Prussian army, and on 11 December he issued an ultimatum to Maria Theresa demanding the cession of Silesia. In return, he offered to guarantee all other Habsburg possessions against any attack, pay a large cash indemnity, acknowledge the Pragmatic Sanction, and give his vote as elector of Brandenburg to Maria Theresa's husband, Duke Francis Stephen of Lorraine, in the forthcoming imperial election to replace the deceased Charles.

Not waiting for a response and without a declaration of war, he led Prussian troops across the lightly defended Silesian frontier on 16 December, beginning the First Silesian War. By the end of January 1741 almost the entirety of Silesia was under Prussian control, and the remaining Austrian strongholds of Glogau, Brieg and Neisse were besieged. In late March an Austrian force relieved the siege of Neisse, but the main Prussian force engaged and defeated it in the Battle of Mollwitz on 10 April, securing Prussian control of the region.

Seeing Austria's defeat at Mollwitz, other powers were emboldened to attack the beleaguered monarchy, widening the conflict into what would become the War of the Austrian Succession. As Bavaria, Saxony, France, Naples and Spain attacked Austria on multiple fronts during the succeeding months, Frederick began secret peace negotiations with Maria Theresa, with British urging and mediation; on 9October Austria and Prussia agreed to a secret armistice known as the Convention of Klein Schnellendorf, under which Austria committed to eventually concede Lower Silesia in return for peace.

As Austria concentrated its forces against its other enemies and gained ground in the wider war, Frederick concluded that the Austrians did not intend to honour the Convention and concede territory in Silesia. To press Austria further, he repudiated the armistice and renewed offensive operations of his own. In December 1741 Prussian forces advanced into Moravia, occupying the capital at Olmütz, and besieged the fortress at Glatz on the edge of Bohemia. In January 1742 Elector Charles Albert of Bavaria won the 1742 Imperial election and became Holy Roman Emperor. In February Frederick organised a joint advance through Moravia toward Vienna with the Saxons and French, but Prussia's allies were reluctant and uncooperative, and the campaign was abandoned in April, after which the Prussians withdrew into Bohemia and Upper Silesia.

An Austrian counter-advance into Bohemia engaged Frederick's Prussians on 17 May and was narrowly defeated at the resulting Battle of Chotusitz. This defeat left Austria with no immediate means of driving its enemies out of Bohemia, and renewed peace talks with Prussia began in Breslau. Under British pressure, Austria agreed to cede to Prussia the large majority of Silesia, along with the County of Glatz in Bohemia, while Austria would retain two small portions of the extreme southern end of Silesia, including the Duchy of Teschen and parts of the Duchies of Jägerndorf, Troppau and Neisse. Prussia also agreed to take on some of Austria's debts and to remain neutral for the remainder of the ongoing war. This peace agreement was adopted with the Treaty of Breslau, which ended the First Silesian War on 11 June 1742, and was later formalised in the Treaty of Berlin.

Second Silesian War

Peace with Prussia allowed the Austrians and their British–Hanoverian allies to reverse the gains made by the French and Bavarians in 1741. By mid 1743 Austria recovered control of Bohemia, drove the French back across the Rhine, and occupied Bavaria. In September 1743 Britain, Austria and Savoy–Sardinia concluded a new alliance under the Treaty of Worms, which led Frederick to suspect that Maria Theresa meant to retake Silesia as soon as the war elsewhere was concluded. So, on 7August 1744 Prussia declared its intervention in the ongoing conflict on behalf of Emperor Charles Albert, and Frederick led soldiers across the frontier into Bohemia on 15 August, beginning the Second Silesian War.

Prussian forces converged upon Prague, seizing the city on 16 September, and this new threat drew the Austrian army back from France through Bavaria. The French failed to harass and disrupt the Austrian redeployment, so Austria's army was able to return to Bohemia quickly and at full strength. Frederick gathered his forces around Prague and tried to force a decisive engagement, but Austrian commander Otto Ferdinand von Traun focused on harassing the invaders' supply lines, eventually forcing the Prussians to abandon Bohemia and retreat into Upper Silesia in November.

With the January 1745 Treaty of Warsaw, Austria established a new "Quadruple Alliance" between Austria, Britain, Saxony and the Dutch Republic. Meanwhile, Emperor Charles Albert died on 20 January, destroying the rationale behind Frederick's alliance. Austria renewed its offensive against Bavaria in March 1745, decisively defeating the Franco-Bavarian army at the 15 April Battle of Pfaffenhofen, and making peace with MaximilianIII of Bavaria (the son of the late Emperor Charles Albert) by the Treaty of Füssen on 22 April.

Having defeated Bavaria, Austria began an invasion of Silesia. At the end of May an Austrian–Saxon army crossed through the Giant Mountains into Silesia, only to be surprised and decisively defeated by Frederick in the Battle of Hohenfriedberg on 4June, removing any immediate prospect of Austria recovering Silesia. The Prussians followed the retreating Austrian–Saxon army into Bohemia, encamping along the Elbe while Frederick pursued a peace agreement. During the following months Maria Theresa won the support of enough prince-electors to see her husband named Holy Roman Emperor FrancisI on 13 September in Frankfurt, achieving one of her major goals in the war.

On 29 September the Austrians attacked Frederick's camp in Bohemia, resulting in a Prussian victory at the Battle of Soor, despite the Austrian surprise and superior numbers. Soon low supplies forced the Prussians to withdraw into Upper Silesia for the winter. In November Austria and Saxony prepared a surprise double invasion of Brandenburg, hoping to seize Berlin and end the war outright. On 23 November Frederick surprised the Austrian invaders in the Battle of Hennersdorf, confusing and scattering the larger Austrian force. Meanwhile, another Prussian army under LeopoldI of Anhalt-Dessau advanced into western Saxony, attacking and destroying the main Saxon army in the Battle of Kesselsdorf on 15 December, after which the Prussians occupied Dresden.

In Dresden the belligerents quickly negotiated a peace treaty, under which Maria Theresa acknowledged Prussian control of Silesia and Glatz, while Frederick recognised FrancisI as Holy Roman Emperor and again committed to neutrality for the remainder of the War of the Austrian Succession. For its part in the Austrian alliance, Saxony was compelled to pay one million rixdollars in reparations to Prussia. The region's borders were thus confirmed at the status quo ante bellum, which had been Prussia's principal goal. This Treaty of Dresden was signed on 25 December 1745, ending the Second Silesian War between Austria, Saxony and Prussia.

Interbellum
After Prussia's withdrawal the wider War of the Austrian Succession continued for another two years, ending with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. Despite the commitments made under the Treaty of Dresden, Maria Theresa still refused to give the Holy Roman Empire's recognition of Prussia's sovereignty in Silesia, and Frederick in turn still declined to recognise Maria Theresa's legitimacy as sovereign in the Bohemian lands under the Pragmatic Sanction. The underlying conflict over Silesia was unresolved, and both sides spent the years of peace making preparations for renewed conflict.

Prussia built and expanded fortifications at strategic points in Silesia, and the army began to reequip its artillery units with heavier guns. The crown established Prussia's first central bank, and the treasury gathered its surpluses into a growing war chest throughout the peace. In diplomacy, Frederick worked to maintain Prussia's alliance with France while easing British concerns over the security of the Electorate of Hanover, which British King GeorgeII also ruled in personal union. By these means, and by avoiding any provocations toward Russia, he hoped to manage the Austrian threat and preserve the balance of power.

After the Treaty of Dresden, Maria Theresa initiated a wave of so-called Theresian reforms of Austria's administration and military, as well as ordering a review of her government's diplomatic policy. Her Chancellor Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz oversaw a dramatic reform of the realm's systems of taxation, which funded a significant expansion of Austria's field armies. Field Marshal Leopold Joseph von Daun standardised the army's equipment and professionalised its training, drawing on the Prussian model. In 1746 Maria Theresa entered a defensive pact with Empress Elizabeth of Russia that aligned their two realms against Prussia. Beginning in 1753 Foreign Minister Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz pursued warmer relations with Austria's traditional rival, the Kingdom of France. In 1756 these efforts led Austria to abandon its alliance with Britain in favour of a new Franco-Austrian alliance, while Prussia and Britain entered a defensive alliance by the Convention of Westminster, completing a diplomatic reordering of the European powers known as the Diplomatic Revolution.

Third Silesian War

As Austria, France and Russia formed a new anti-Prussian coalition, Frederick became convinced that Prussia would be attacked in early 1757 and once again chose to strike first. On 29 August 1756 he preemptively invaded neighbouring Saxony, beginning the Third Silesian War. As Austria's and Prussia's allies joined the fighting, the conflict quickly widened into what became the pan-European Seven Years' War. The Prussians occupied Saxony in late 1756 and made large advances in Bohemia in early 1757, winning a series of battles while advancing to Prague. In May Prussian forces drove back the Austrian defenders in the Battle of Prague, taking great losses, and then besieged the city. An Austrian counter-attack culminated in the major Austrian victory at the Battle of Kolín on 18 June, which drove the Prussians out of Bohemia entirely. Meanwhile, Russian and Swedish invasions from the east and north divided Prussia's forces. The Russian invaders in East Prussia won the Battle of Gross-Jägersdorf on 30 August, but they made little strategic progress due to recurring logistical problems.

In late 1757 Imperial and French forces attempted to retake Saxony from the west, only to experience a decisive defeat in the Battle of Rossbach on 5November. This battle secured Prussia's control of Saxony for a time, and the defeat greatly reduced French willingness to contribute further to the Silesian War. Another Austrian army invaded Silesia, making significant progress until it was decisively defeated at the Battle of Leuthen on 5December, after which the Prussians pursued the defeated Austrian army back to Bohemia and recovered control of nearly all of Silesia. Over the winter a combined Prussian-Hanoverian army launched a series of offensives that eventually drove the French out of Westphalia and across the Rhine, securing Prussia's western flank for the duration of the war.

In mid-1758 Prussia invaded Moravia, besieging Olmütz in late May. The city was well defended, and by late June the Prussians' supplies were exhausted. Austrians intercepted and destroyed a major Prussian supply convoy on 30 June in the Battle of Domstadtl, and the invaders abandoned the siege, retreating into Upper Silesia. Russian forces advanced through East Prussia to threaten Brandenburg, fighting the Prussians to a costly draw on 25 August at the Battle of Zorndorf. An Austrian army advancing into Saxony made little progress, despite winning a substantial victory at the Battle of Hochkirch on 14 October.

In 1759 a united Austrian and Russian advance into eastern Brandenburg culminated in a major Prussian defeat at the Battle of Kunersdorf on 12 August, but the victorious allies did not pursue the defeated Prussians or occupy the Prussian capital at Berlin. After Kunersdorf Frederick had briefly believed the war totally lost, but the coalition's internal conflicts and hesitant leadership gave Prussia a second chance, an event that Frederick later termed the "Miracle of the House of Brandenburg". The succeeding months saw the Austrians retake Dresden and most of Saxony, with intermittent skirmishing in Saxony continuing into the next year.

In 1760 the Austrians advanced into Lower Silesia, where the Prussian and Austrian armies manoeuvred against each other for some time before engaging in the Battle of Liegnitz on 15 August; the battle ended in a solid Prussian victory, disrupting the Austrians' advance and restoring Prussian control of Lower Silesia. In late 1760 the Russians and Austrians briefly occupied Berlin, and on 3November the main Prussian and Austrian armies fought the Battle of Torgau, a narrow Prussian victory that proved costly for both sides. The year 1761 saw little activity by the exhausted Prussian and Austrian forces, but Russian forces made advances in Pomerania and eastern Brandenburg that threatened a decisive end to the war the following year.

In January 1762, Austria was suddenly abandoned by its Russian ally upon the death of Empress Elizabeth. She was succeeded by the ardently pro-Prussian Peter III of Russia, who immediately recalled his armies from Berlin and Pomerania and made peace with Prussia by the Treaty of Saint Petersburg on 5May. Peter was overthrown and assassinated within months, but by then the war had again shifted in Prussia's favour, and Russia did not resume hostilities. Both sides were nearing exhaustion, and peace talks to end the wider Seven Years' War began in late 1762. In the end, negotiators agreed again on a return to the status quo ante bellum, confirming Prussia's control of Silesia in the Treaty of Hubertusburg in February 1763. Prussia also committed to support the election of Maria Theresa's son, Archduke Joseph, as Holy Roman Emperor.

Outcomes

The Silesian Wars ended in Prussian victory over Austria, a view universal among contemporaries and broadly supported by historiography since. Prussia seized and defended a long-held Habsburg territory, and the status quo ante outcomes of the second and third wars confirmed this basic fact. These conflicts provoked a broad realignment in the European diplomatic system of the time, establishing an Austria–Prussia rivalry that would define German politics for a century until after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866.

Prussia
Prussia's unexpected victory over the Habsburg monarchy set it apart from German rivals such as Bavaria and Saxony, marking Prussia's rise to the status of a European great power, as well as the leading power of Protestant Germany. The kingdom had gained some 35000 km2 of new territory and around a million new subjects in Glatz and Silesia, a populous and densely industrialised region that would contribute substantial manpower and taxes to the Prussian state. Geostrategically, Silesia also gave Prussia a threatening position with respect to Saxony and Austria and a strong defence against encirclement by Poland. Frederick's personal reputation was enormously enhanced by his successes in the wars, winning him the epithet "Frederick the Great". His debts to fortune (Russia's about-face after Elizabeth's death) and to British financial support were soon forgotten, while the memories of his energetic leadership and tactical genius were strenuously promoted. His small kingdom had defeated the Habsburg monarchy and defended its prize against Austria, Britain, Saxony, Russia, Sweden, and France, an accomplishment that appeared miraculous to contemporary observers.

Though sometimes depicted as a key moment in Prussia's rise to greatness, the wars nonetheless left the kingdom's economy and population devastated, and much of the remainder of Frederick's reign was spent repairing the damage. To mitigate population losses, the King continued his father's policy of encouraging Protestant refugees from Catholic realms to resettle in Prussia. The repeated currency devaluations imposed to finance the conflicts led to rapid inflation and great economic disruption in Prussia (and in occupied Saxony). After the wars the state began using its network of military grain depots and the excise on grain to stabilise food prices and alleviate grain shortages. Prussia also established a rudimentary social welfare system for impoverished and disabled veterans of the Silesian Wars.

Prussia's armed forces experienced heavy casualties in the wars, and the officer corps was severely depleted. After the peace of Hubertusburg the state had neither the money nor the manpower to rebuild the army to what it had been at Frederick's accession. In the succeeding War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–1779) the Prussians fought poorly, despite again being personally led by Frederick, and the Prussian army did not fare well against revolutionary France in 1792–1795. In 1806 the Prussians were shattered by Napoleon's Grande Armée at the Battle of Jena; only after a series of reforms motivated by the disasters of 1806–1807 did Prussian military power again begin to grow.

Austria
The defeats of the Silesian Wars cost the Habsburg monarchy its wealthiest province, and capitulating to a lesser German prince significantly dented the House of Habsburg's prestige. Prussia's confirmation as a first-rate power and the enhanced prestige of its king and army were long-term threats to Austria's hegemony in Germany. Still, by winning Prussia's support for the Imperial elections of her husband and son, Maria Theresa ensured the continuation of her family's titular pre-eminence in the Holy Roman Empire, though this was far less than she had hoped for. Defeat in the first two Silesian Wars at the hands of an enemy so apparently inferior created a strong impetus for change within the Habsburg monarchy, resulting in the first wave of Theresian reforms: a broad restructuring of the Habsburg administration and military, and a total realignment of Habsburg foreign policy through the "Diplomatic Revolution".

After the renewed disappointment of the Third Silesian War, a second wave of Theresian reforms ensued. In 1761 the Habsburg monarchy implemented newly centralised administrative and policymaking bodies to streamline what had often been a chaotic executive process. The 1760s and 1770s saw vigorous efforts to improve tax collection, particularly in the Duchy of Milan and the Austrian Netherlands, which led to significant increases in state revenues. In 1766 the crown promulgated its first common code of laws, the Codex Theresianus, in an effort to unify the realm's legal systems. Aiming to increase the peasantry's ability to contribute to the state's tax base, Maria Theresa issued a series of Robot Patents between 1771 and 1778 restricting forced peasant labour in her German and Bohemian lands, and her son would carry the process further with his Serfdom Patent. The state also implemented compulsory primary education and established a system of secular public schools. Beginning with these steps, wide-ranging efforts to modernise the Habsburg monarchy over the next half century grew out of Austria's defeats, culminating in the Josephinism of the 1780s.

title: Silesian Wars


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The Haunted Mansion (2003 film)

The Haunted Mansion is a 2003 American supernatural horror comedy film directed by Rob Minkoff and written by David Berenbaum. Loosely based on Walt Disney's theme park attraction of the same name, the film stars Eddie Murphy as a realtor who, along with his family, becomes trapped in the titular building. Terence Stamp, Wallace Shawn, Marsha Thomason and Jennifer Tilly appear in supporting roles.

The film was theatrically released in the United States on November 26, 2003, by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. The film received negative reviews from critics but performed well at the box office, grossing $182.3 million worldwide against a $90 million budget. A reboot directed by Justin Simien was later released in 2023, 20 years after the film's release.

Plot
Jim and Sara Evers are successful realtors with a pair of children, Michael and Megan. However, Jim's workaholic lifestyle causes him to miss his wedding anniversary. When he tries to make amends by suggesting a vacation to the nearby lake, Sara is suddenly contacted by the occupants of Gracey Manor, located in the nearby bayou; Jim, eager to make a deal after learning the mansion's address, takes his family there, meeting its owner, Edward Gracey, his butler Ramsley and his other servants – maid Emma and footman Ezra.

When a rainstorm floods the nearby river, Gracey lets the family stay for the night. Ramsley takes Jim to the library to discuss the deal with Gracey, but Jim becomes trapped in a secret passage. Gracey gives Sara a tour of the mansion, discussing his past and his grandfather's death after the supposed suicide of his lover, Elizabeth Henshaw. Megan and Michael follow a spectral orb to the attic and find a portrait of a woman resembling Sara. Emma and Ezra soon appear and identify the woman as the late Elizabeth.

Meanwhile, Jim meets Madame Leota, the ghost of a Romani woman whose head is encased in her crystal ball. He runs into Emma, Ezra and his children, and returns to Leota for answers about Elizabeth's likeness to Sara. It is revealed that the mansion's inhabitants are ghosts, cursed a century ago by Elizabeth's and Gracey's untimely deaths, and can only enter the afterlife when the lovers are reunited; Sara is believed to be Elizabeth's reincarnation. Leota sends the Evers to the mansion's cemetery to find a key that will reveal the truth about Elizabeth's death which Ezra and Emma takes them on a hearse pulled by a skeletal horse. In the cemetery Jim and the children saw a number of ghosts residing there including three hitchhiking ghosts and a quartet of singing busts. When they reached a crypt beneath a mausoleum, Jim and Megan find the key, but inadvertently disturb its undead residents. The duo narrowly escape with help from Michael, who overcomes his arachnophobia when they become locked in.

Leota leads them to a trunk in the attic, which Jim unlocks to find a letter Elizabeth wrote to Gracey, revealing she truly wanted to marry him, indicating that she was murdered. Ramsley then appears and reveals that he murdered Elizabeth to prevent Gracey from abandoning his heritage, as he believed their relationship was unacceptable. To hide the truth, Ramsley traps the children in a trunk and throws Jim out of the mansion. As Gracey and Sara rendezvous in the ballroom, she is confused when he asks if she recognizes him and insists she is Elizabeth. The room fills with dancing ghosts as Gracey reveals his ghostly self, but Sara denies being Elizabeth and flees to her room. Gracey starts to have doubts, but Ramsley insists that Sara is Elizabeth and will eventually remember. Ramsley then blackmails Sara into marrying Gracey in exchange for her children's safety.

Encouraged by Leota, Jim manages to re-enter the mansion, saves his children and stop the wedding. He then gives Gracey Elizabeth's letter and Ramsley's crimes are exposed. Furious, Gracey confronts Ramsley, who rages at his master's apparent selfishness for loving Elizabeth and summons wraiths to attack the group. However, with the truth revealed, the fire entity Mephistopheles emerges from the ballroom's fireplace and drags Ramsley down to Hell to face eternal punishment. Ramsley attempts to take Jim with him, but he is fortunately saved by Gracey. Sara collapses, having been poisoned by Ramsley during the wedding ceremony, but the spectral orb appears and, possesses Sara, is revealed to be Elizabeth, who could only be released from her current form once the truth was revealed. She and Gracey then reunite as Sara is subsequently revived.

With the curse lifted, Gracey gives the Evers the deed to the mansion and departs to Heaven with Elizabeth, his servants and the mansion's other inhabitants. Afterwards, the Evers drive across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway for a proper vacation, accompanied by Leota in the back seat and the quartet of singing busts that Jim and the children encountered strapped to the roof.

In a post-credits scene Madame Leota encourages the audience to return using the same lines from the attraction's finale.

Cast

 * Eddie Murphy as Jim Evers, a successful yet workaholic real estate agent who is often late for family gatherings, but tries his best to make up for it.
 * Terence Stamp as Ramsley, the ghost of Gracey Manor's butler who serves as a father figure to Master Gracey. He is later revealed to be responsible for Elizabeth's death.
 * Nathaniel Parker as Master Edward Gracey, the ghost of Gracey Manor's owner who longs for his lost love, Elizabeth Henshaw, to return to him after her apparent suicide.
 * Marsha Thomason as Sara Evers, Jim's disapproving wife who is also his business partner. Thomason also portrays Elizabeth Henshaw, the ghost of Master Gracey's long lost lover who bears a striking resemblance to Sara. She is based on the bride from the attic scene of the attraction.
 * Jennifer Tilly as Madame Leota, the ghost of a Romani woman whose head is encased in her crystal ball.
 * Wallace Shawn as Ezra, the ghost of a bumbling footman who worries about getting into trouble.
 * Dina Spybey as Emma, the ghost of a nervous but helpful maid who seems terrified of Ramsley.
 * Marc John Jefferies as Michael Evers, Jim and Sara's arachnophobic son.
 * Aree Davis as Megan Evers, Jim and Sara's impatient daughter.
 * The Dapper Dans as the voices of the Singing Busts. The busts appear as a quartet rather than five as seen in the attraction.
 * Deep Roy, Jeremy Howard, and Clay Martinez as the Hitchhiking Ghosts.
 * Corey Burton as the voice of the Ghost Host. Burton voiced the Ghost Host as a tribute to Paul Frees who played the character in the ride.
 * Rachael Harris as Mrs. Coleman

The film's chief makeup artist Rick Baker appears in the graveyard scene as a ghost behind a tombstone, using an appearance based on a portrait of the Ghost Host seen in the attraction. The cast also includes an uncredited Martin Klebba as Pickwick, one the ghosts in the graveyard, albeit unnamed and only credited as "Happy Ghost" and director Rob Minkoff's nephew, who appears as the paperboy in the opening scene. This film was the last live action film appearance of Don Knotts who plays a ghost version of the Caretaker in the original attraction.

Production
In January 2002, it was announced Disney had formally greenlit The Haunted Mansion with the script written by David Berenbaum.

The original concept for the film's setting was Upstate New York, with the mansion's exterior modeled after the Walt Disney World version. However, to keep the faithfulness of the original attraction's location in the New Orleans Square section of Disneyland, the producers changed the setting to New Orleans, Louisiana. To allude to the two versions of the attraction and create a more foreboding atmosphere, the production enlarged the film mansion, basing its designs on the original attraction while adding the iron and glass conservatory on its side from the Florida version of the ride. Director Rob Minkoff described the film's mansion's architecture as Renaissance-influenced with a mix of antebellum and Dutch-colonial revival style.

The mansion scenes were filmed at Sable Ranch in Santa Clarita, California. The main building was constructed over a period of weeks while the cupola and chimneys on the top of the mansion were computer-generated. The rest of film was shot in New Orleans and surrounding areas.

Five Hidden Mickeys are seen throughout the film similar to the ride; the most notable ones being the padlock at the mansion's gates, the second when an axe wielded by an animated suit of armor nearly hits Jim, and a third which is briefly seen when Ramsley poisons a goblet of wine during the wedding ceremony. Two other hidden mickeys are the couch in the library and the windows on the doors Jim passes when he is chased by musical instruments summoned by Madame Leota. Before leaving the mansion via a hearse to find the mausoleum, Ezra exclaims "there's always my way," a pivotal line of dialogue from the attraction.

The costume and special effects designers wanted the ghost characters to become "more dead" the farther they were from the mansion. While Ezra and Emma look human in the house, their leaving it causes them to become blue and transparent to show they are ghosts. The zombies in the mausoleum were described as the "deadest as they are farthest away". Rick Baker, the chief costume designer, did the prosthetic makeup for the zombies in the mausoleum, using skull heads for the zombie design. He also designed one of the zombies as an elderly man holding a cane in order for the mausoleum scene not to be too frightening to viewers.

Music
The music for The Haunted Mansion was composed by Mark Mancina who had previously worked on music for Disney animated films such as The Lion King and Tarzan. Mark used an original score for the film, but also briefly used the original attraction's song Grim Grinning Ghosts in the scene when Jim and his children came across the Singing Busts in the cemetery while looking for the mausoleum.

Box office
The Haunted Mansion grossed $24.3 million on its opening weekend with an average of $7,776 per theatre in the United States. With a final domestic gross at $75.8 million, the film made just more than a quarter of the earnings of its theme-ride predecessor Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. The film achieved better in other markets, with an international total of $106.4 million.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 14% based on 140 reviews and an average rating of 4.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Neither scary nor funny, The Haunted Mansion is as lifeless as the ghosts in the movie." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 34 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

David Sterritt of Christian Science Monitor wrote "While it may supply giggles and shivers to preteens, grownups should think twice before entering this all-too-haunted house." Roger Ebert in The Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two and a half stars out of a possible four, writing "The surprising thing about "The Haunted Mansion" isn't that it's based on a Disney theme park ride, but that it has ambition. It wants to be more than a movie version of the ride. I expected an inane series of nonstop action sequences, but what I got was a fairly intriguing story and an actual plot that is actually resolved. That doesn't make the movie good enough to recommend, but it makes it better than the ads suggest." In one of the film's positive reviews, Sheri Linden of Hollywood Reporter called the film "A pleasant and atmospheric family romp, offering enough mildly chilling thrills to keep everyone entertained during its brief running time."

Legacy
Although considered a critical failure and a decent box office success upon its release, The Haunted Mansion has undergone a reassessment over the past several years. Like Clue (1985), The Monster Squad (1987), and Hocus Pocus (1993), all similar dark-yet-broadly-comical films that initially opened to poor reviews and disappointing box office results before growing an appreciative audience over time, The Haunted Mansion has grown in popularity since its original theatrical run and has achieved cult status, as noted by media outlets such as Insider Inc. and Full Circle Cinema.

Author and Disney historian Jeff Baham attributes the film's increased popularity to its original intended audience — the pre-teens and teens who saw it during its initial release and subsequent home video release — who have grown up with an appreciation for the film, and who now, as adults, are introducing it to their own children:

"An interesting thing has happened in the decade plus since the film was released. A vital portion of the original intended audience of this clean Eddie Murphy comedy - intrepid kids and inqusitive tweens - have grown up, and an observation of their social media demonstrates that this generation of late Millenials considers 'The Haunted Mansion' their own Halloween movie, the same way that the generation of early-aughts Haunted Mansion fans considered 1993's 'Hocus Pocus' to be their spook show of choice. 'The Haunted Mansion' - with its Rick Baker-designed zombies and a decomposing-face scene - could even be considered a 2003 version of 'Poltergeist,' which was a much-scarier '80s film which targeted teens during a generally less-family-oriented period in Hollywood history."

On episode 35 of the Doombuggies podcast, published May 13, 2022, and entitled "The Haunted Mansion Movies", Baham expands on this:

"The kids who really were the intended audience, those millennial kids, still love that movie. All the young families who(se parents) were kids back then, and who now have their own kids, they all watch the Haunted Mansion with Eddie Murphy at Halloween, and they love it… So it definitely had its niche of an audience, and that audience is still devoted to it, so Haunted Mansion with Eddie Murphy is not by any means a failed attempt at what it was. It maybe didn’t reach the heights that the Disney company hoped it would — in fact I’m reasonably sure it didn’t — but it remains a fan favorite for the audience that it hit and kept."

The Haunted Mansion is now a popular Halloween movie and is regularly featured on Halloween season cable programming blocks such as Freeform's 31 Nights of Halloween. The film also appears on many lists of "Best Halloween Movies" (especially the youth-centric lists) including those of Elle, Country Living, Today, We Got This Covered, Woman’s Day, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, and others.

In January 2023, Eddie Murphy was critical about the film: "It wasn't very good".

In October 2023 to celebrate the film's 20th anniversary, many crew members who worked on the film including director Rob Minkoff, screenwriter David Berenbaum, costume designer Mona May, composer Mark Mancina and cast member Nathaniel Parker reunited by participating in a livestream on YouTube on The Tammy Tuckey Show. The event had been organised ahead of time.

Home media
The film was released on VHS and DVD on April 20, 2004. The film was released on Blu-Ray on October 17, 2006.

Reboot
In July 2010, it was announced that a reboot adaptation based on Disney's The Haunted Mansion was in development for Walt Disney Pictures, with Guillermo del Toro as writer and producer. The film remained in development until Ryan Gosling entered early negotiations to star in April 2015, while D.V. DeVincentis was hired to rewrite the script. In September 2016, Brigham Taylor was hired as an additional producer.

In August 2020, it was announced that writer Katie Dippold would write a new screenplay, and that Dan Lin and Jonathan Eirich would co-produce. Justin Simien signed on as director in April 2021, and Tiffany Haddish, Lakeith Stanfield, Owen Wilson, Rosario Dawson, and Danny DeVito had all signed on to star by October that same year. The film was released on July 28, 2023.

title: The Haunted Mansion (2003 film)


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Lemon meringue pie

Lemon meringue pie is a dessert pie consisting of a shortened pastry base filled with lemon curd and topped with meringue.

History
Fruit desserts covered with baked meringue were found beginning in the 18th century in France. Menon's pommes meringuées are a sort of thick apple sauce or apple butter covered with baked meringue in his 1739 cookbook. A custard flavored with "citron" (probably a mistranslation of citron 'lemon') and covered with baked meringue, crême meringuée, was published by 1769 in English, apparently a translation of an earlier edition of Menon (1755?). Similar recipes cooked in a crust appear in 19th century America: apple pie covered with meringue, called 'apple a la turque' (1832) and 'apples meringuées' (1846). A generic 'meringue pie' based on any pie was documented in 1860. The name 'Lemon Meringue Pie' appears in 1869, but lemon custard pies with meringue topping were often simply called lemon cream pie. In literature one of the first references to this dessert can be found in the book 'Memoir and Letters of Jenny C. White Del Bal' by Rhoda E. White, published in 1868.

Preparation
A stiff lemon-flavored custard is prepared with egg yolks, lemon zest and juice, sugar, and sometimes starch and baked in a pie crust. Uncooked meringue, usually shaped into peaks, is spread over the top, sometimes with a sprinkle of sugar, and briefly baked.

title: Lemon meringue pie


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Bielsk Podlaski

Bielsk Podlaski (Бельск Падляскі, Palenkės Belskas, ביעלסק) is a town in eastern Poland, within Bielsk County in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 24,883.

Geography
Bielsk Podlaski is located in the geographical region of Europe known as the Podlasie-Belarus Plateau (Polish: Wysoczyzny Podlasko-Białoruskie) and the mesoregion known as the Bielsk plain (Polish: Równina Bielska).

The town covers an area of 27.01 km2.

Location
It is located approximately 195 km northeast of Warsaw, the capital of Poland and 50 km southwest of Białystok, the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship.

History
Bielsk Podlaski has a long and rich history, dating back to the 12th century, when this area of Poland belonged to Kievan Rus'. The gord of Bielsk was probably founded by Ruthenian dukes, and its existence was first mentioned in 1253, in the so-called Hypatian Codex. In 1273, Bielsk was captured by Lithuanian duke Traidenis, and in the early 14th century, whole province of Podlasie became annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The region was subject to Teutonic Knights raids, which took place in 1346 and 1379.

In 1382, Masovian Duke Janusz I of Warsaw captured Bielsk, Drohiczyn, Suraż and Mielnik, taking advantage of the Lithuanian Civil War (1381–84). Next year, Jogaila pushed the Mazovians out of Bielsko, handing the gord over to Vytautas (Witold). In 1390, Jogaila, who had become King of Poland as Władysław II Jagiełło, handed Bielsk, Suraż, Drohiczyn and Mielnik over to Janusz I.

Due to its convenient location along a merchant route from Kraków to Vilnius, Bielsk became an important center of trade and administration. In late November 1412, it was visited by King Władysław II Jagiełło, and 1413, the Land of Drohiczyn, together with Bielsk, became part of Trakai Voivodeship. In 1430, Duke Vytautas named first vogt of Bielsko, a man named Andrzej. A number of Poles from Mazovia begin to settle in Podlasie.

Bielsk received its Magdeburg rights town charter on 18 November 1495, from King Alexander I Jagiellon. In September 1501, a meeting of Lithuanian nobility took place here. Several Polish rulers visited Bielsk, such as Władysław II Jagiełło, Alexander I (1505), Sigismund I the Old (1506, 1509), and Sigismund II Augustus (1564). In 1513, Bielsk was named capital of the newly created Podlaskie Voivodeship; by 1563, the town had 830 houses, and was also main center of the Land of Bielsko.

In early summer of 1564, when king Sigismund II Augustus stayed here with Primate Jakub Uchański, to discuss the new Polish-Lithuanian union (see Union of Lublin), the wooden castle of Bielsk burned to the ground, with the king watching the incident from the stables. A new castle for the local starosta was built in Hołowiesko (located within present-day town limits of Bielsk), while the land court was moved to Brańsk.

Following the Union of Lublin (1569), Bielsko was transferred from Grand Duchy of Lithuania into the Kingdom of Poland. Bielsk was a royal town of Poland, administratively located in the Podlaskie Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province. The town prospered, with churches, hospital, mills, shops and 265 artisans (as for 1576). Bielsko burned in 1591, and Swedish invasion of Poland brought almost complete destruction (1655). The Carmelites Church in Bielsk and monastery was founded in 1641 by magnate Adam Kazanowski (starost of Bielsk from 1638) and dedicated to the Mother of God of Mount Carmel. The project was also financed by his wife Elżbieta (Halszka) Słuszczanka (around 1619-1671). The 3rd Polish National Cavalry Brigade was stationed in Bielsk in 1792.

Following the Third Partition of Poland, Bielsk briefly belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia (1795–1807): after the Treaties of Tilsit, it was transferred to the Russian Empire. From 1843, it belonged to the Grodno Governorate. Residents of the area actively participated in the largest 19th-century Polish uprisings (November Uprising and January Uprising). Bielsk was one of the sites of Russian executions of Polish insurgents during the January Uprising of 1863-1864. Additionally, in September 1863, as punishment for supporting the uprising, Russians plundered the nearby village of Łukawica, and expelled its entire population, which was forcibly marched to Bielsk, and then deported to katorga in Siberia. Two people died during the march from Łukawica to Bielsk: an old man and a child. As part of the post-uprising anti-Polish repressions, the town was subjected to Russification, the local Catholic church was closed down, and Polish clergy was also deported to Siberia. Edward Kiersnowski, leader of a local insurgent unit, who fought in several battles in the region, died while being deported to Siberia in 1864. In 1873, Bielsk received rail connection with Brest Litovsk, and in 1915, during World War I, German troops burned the rail station. Germans retreated from the town in February 1919, and were replaced by Polish Army units. In late July 1920, during the Polish-Soviet War, Bielsk was briefly occupied by the Red Army. In the Second Polish Republic, Bielsk administratively belonged to the Białystok Voivodeship.

During the 1939 joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II, the town was captured by the Wehrmacht, which on 23 September handed it over to the Soviets, who occupied it until 23 June 1941, forcibly sending thousands to Siberia. In 1941-1944, the town was occupied by Nazi Germany. Germans murdered its Jewish minority, and in a nearby forest killed approximately 800 Poles. The Germans also operated a forced labour camp in the town. A pogrom took place in Bielsk Podlaski from 5 to 7 July 1941. Between 2 and 15 November 1942, approximately 7,000 local Jews and 4,000 more from Boćki, Brańsk, Narew, Orla, Rudka, and Kleszczele (where the Jews from Milejczyce had been relocated earlier) who had been herded into Bielsk Podlaski, which became a transit ghetto for eleven to fifteen thousand Jews, were deported from the ghetto of Bielsk Podlaski to Treblinka. Bielsk was captured by the Red Army on 30 July 1944. The Russians then carried out arrests of local Polish resistance members, including 12 officers of the local command of the Home Army, who were arrested on 4 August 1944 in nearby Brańsk, where they were deceitfully gathered for a supposed formal meeting with the command of the Soviet 65th Army. The town was soon restored to Poland.

Bielsk Podlaski has a rich Jewish history which was wiped out in the Holocaust.

Demographics
Detailed data as of 31 December 2021:

1897 census
The most spoken languages in Bielsk Podlaski according to the Russian Imperial Census of 1897:

Executive branch
The chief executive of the government is the mayor (Polish: Burmistrz). As of 2022, the mayor of Bielsk Podlaski is Jarosław Bobrowski.

Legislative branch
The legislative portion of the government is the council (Polish: Rada), composed of the president (Polish: Przewodniczący), the vice president (Polish: Wiceprzewodniczący) and thirteen councilors.

Neighbouring political subdivisions
Bielsk Podlaski (town) is bordered by Gmina Bielsk Podlaski. The town is the seat of Gmina Bielsk Podlaski, although it is not a part of it.

Climate
The region has a continental climate which is characterized by high temperatures during summer and long and frosty winters. The average amount of rainfall during the year exceeds 550 mm.

Roads
Bielsk Podlaski is at the intersection of two national roads and a voivodeship road:
 * - Kuźnica Białostocka border crossing (Belarus) - Kuźnica - Białystok - Bielsk Podlaski - Siemiatycze - Międzyrzec Podlaski - Kock - Lubartów - Lublin - Kraśnik - Janów Lubelski - Nisko - Sokołów Małopolski - Rzeszów
 * - Zambrów - Brańsk - Bielsk Podlaski - Kleszczele - Czeremcha - Połowce border crossing (Belarus)
 * - Bielsk Podlaski - Hajnówka - Białowieża - border crossing (Belarus)

Sports
The main sports club of the town is Tur Bielsk Podlaski with basketball and football sections.

Twin towns - sister cities
Bielsk Podlaski is twinned with:

 * 🇲🇩 Călăraşi, Moldova
 * 🇷🇴 Călăraşi, Romania
 * 🇧🇬 Dve Mogili, Bulgaria
 * 🇷🇺 Kingisepp, Russia
 * 🇧🇾 Kobryn, Belarus
 * 🇺🇦 Rakhiv, Ukraine
 * 🇧🇾 Svetlahorsk, Belarus

Notable people

 * Nadzieja Artymowicz, Belarusian poet
 * Wojciech Borecki, football manager
 * Jarosław Borowski, scrablista
 * Yakau Branshteyn, Belarusian literary critic
 * Piotr Bujko, Ukrainian doctor of Belarusian origin
 * Mirosław Car, football player
 * Małgorzata Dmitruk, painter
 * Lech Feszler, senator
 * Doroteusz Fionik, ethnographer
 * Ignacy Fonberg, chemist
 * Marta Gryko, actress
 * Father Leon Knabit, Benedictine priest
 * Cezary Kosiński, actor
 * Józef Lewartowski, activist
 * Kamila Lićwinko, high jumper, gold medallist at the 2014 World Indoor Athletics Championships
 * Josif Łangbard, Belarusian architect
 * Jerzy Plutowicz, poet
 * Małgorzata Prokopiuk-Kępka, journalist
 * Maciej Radel, actor
 * Kamila Stepaniuk, athlete
 * Rościsław Stepaniuk, pilot
 * Captain Władysław Wysocki, recipient of the Virtuti Militari
 * Mina Bern (1911–2010); Yiddish theatre actress
 * Zoja Saczko, poet
 * Antoni Stalewski, recipient of the Virtuti Militari
 * Aryeh Leib Yellin, Rabbi

title: Bielsk Podlaski


text:
Hajnówka

Hajnówka (Гайнаўка, Hajnaŭka; Podlachian: Hájnuvka; האַדזשנאָװקאַ, Hachnovka) is a town and a powiat seat in eastern Poland (Podlaskie Voivodeship) with 21,442 inhabitants (2014). It is the capital of Hajnówka County. The town is also notable for its proximity to the Białowieża Forest, the biggest primaeval forest in Europe. Through Hajnówka flows the river Leśna Prawa (Лясная Правая). It is one of the centres of Orthodox faith and a notable centre of Belarusian culture in Poland. Belarusians comprised 26.4% of the town's population in 2002.

It is one of five Polish/Belarusian bilingual gminas in Podlaskie Voivodeship regulated by the Act of 6 January 2005 on National and Ethnic Minorities and on the Regional Languages, which permits certain gminas with significant linguistic minorities to introduce a second, auxiliary language to be used in official contexts alongside Polish.

History
For a more detailed history of Białowieża and the area see: Białowieża Forest

As a village, it was founded some time in the 16th century as a single house of a forest ward, by a certain Hajno, who was one of the royal officers protecting the Białowieża Forest. In 1589 whole forest became a private property of the royal court and the number of forest workers settled in the area started to grow. However, the forest protection (it was most probably the first forest reserve in the world) prevented the area from economical growth and so the village was limited to a number of wooden huts at the western end of the forest. It mostly shared the history of other similar settlements in the area, including Białowieża itself.

After the Partitions of Poland of late 18th century the area was annexed by Kingdom of Prussia and Russian Empire in 1795 (the border of the partitioning powers, Prussian and Russian, ran on the territory of today's town). In 1807, the Duchy of Warsaw was created, but the territory of Hajnówka (Białystok region) was handed over in full to Russia. After the fall of the Duchy of Warsaw in 1815, Hajnówka remained in the hands of tsarist Russia. The tsarist authorities abolished the forest protection, but the development of the area did not start. As most of the foresters, who worked in the forest, took part in the November Uprising of 1831 against Russia (500 out of 502 in total), their positions were abolished and the people were exiled to Siberia. The protection of the forest was affected. The village, as a matter of fact, ceased its existence. Protection was reintroduced in 1860 and the village was repopulated with Russian officials. In 1888 it became property of the tsarist family.

Between 1894 and 1906 the village was connected with the world by a railroad linking Bielsk Podlaski and Siedlce with Wołkowysk. Hajnówka became a minor transport junction and in 1900 a road was built between Białowieża and Bielsk Podlaski. During World War I, in 1915, the area was captured by the German Empire. Protection of the forest was ceased. The new authorities started large-scale industrial exploitation of the area's nature resources. Because of its nodal position, Hajnówka became a seat of two lumber-mills, wood spirit distillery and a major train station for 90 km of narrow gauge railways were built across the forest.

In 1919, during the early stages of the Polish-Bolshevik War, the area was handed over to Poland by the local Ober-Ost commander. The predatory exploitation of the forest was put to an end and all German-built factories in the area became nationalised. After the war, some of them were rented by the Polish government under a contract to the British company The Century European Timber Corporation. However, in the late 1920s the contract was canceled and the wood processing plants came back under state control, while the Terbenthen factory was sold to a private owner. Since then, the economic growth started and the village started to grow too. Hard work, but also decent salaries in wood processing plants attracted many settlers from various parts of Poland. The initial conglomerate of wooden huts, barracks, tents and narrow, wood-paved streets turned into a town.

A Catholic church was built for the local population and soon the factories and the state financed three schools, a boarding school of timber industry, a post office, two cinemas and a bank appeared here. Jewish inhabitants built a synagogue and in 1925 the Orthodox Christians organised a chapel in a private flat. Out of approximately 4,000 inhabitants approximately 70% were Poles who had come from all parts of the country, while the rest made up Jews, Germans and Belarusians. Also, the soldiers of the Belarusian division of general Stanisław Bułak-Bałachowicz were interned there after the war and finally were allowed to settle in the area, which added Belarusians and Russians to the ethnic mixture.

By the end of the 1930s the four factories of Hajnówka had 1947 workers altogether and were significantly expanded. The state financed construction of several hundred small houses for the workers and the town grew up rapidly. Also, the town attracted many notable Polish architects of the epoch to build new buildings in modernist style. However, the progress was stopped by the Polish Defensive War of 1939 and the outbreak of World War II. In the effect of the Nazi-Soviet Alliance, the town was annexed by the Soviet Union. The factories were dismantled and sent to Russia while a large part of the inhabitants were in 1940 arrested by the NKVD and imprisoned in the Soviet Gulag system. On 25 June 1941 the town got under German occupation, which ended on 18 July 1944. During the fights the town was severely bombed, which added to the destruction of the city. All in all, until July 18, 1944, more than 700 inhabitants of Hajnówka lost their lives, the factories were robbed and then demolished, while the train station and parts of the town centre were levelled by aerial bombardment.

Despite harsh conditions and infrastructural losses, life returned to Hajnówka quite soon. This attracted new settlers as well as pre-war inhabitants of the area, so the town quickly recovered. Also, the narrow streets were mostly rebuilt. In 1951, the town (until then formally a village) was granted with city rights and between 1954 and 1975 it even served as a seat of a powiat. Hajnówka has 8 schools as well as 5 churches (Catholic and Eastern Orthodox), 2 hospitals, a sewer system, a swimming pool and a museum. Train and bus links were established. In 2005, the local timber factory expanded its production area to 17,500 sq.m, one of the largest in Europe. It is quite modern and used for manufacturing of furniture, mainly to be exported to Western Europe.

title: Hajnówka


text:
Drohiczyn

Drohiczyn (Drohičinas/Drogičinas, Дарагічын, Дорогичин) is a town in Siemiatycze County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland. The town has a population of 2,110 and is situated on the bank of the Bug River. Drohiczyn has a long and rich history, as in the past it was one of the most important cities of the region of Podlachia. Currently, it is the seat of Roman Catholic Diocese of Drohiczyn.

History
A Neolithic settlement, La Tène culture crematoria, and ancient graves have been uncovered in what now is Drohiczyn. Drohiczyn, regarded as one of the oldest towns of the region of Podlasie, was in ancient times located among dense forests.

Middle Ages
In early Middle Ages, the town's territory was inhabited by the warring tribe of Yotvingians. It is not known who founded the Drohiczyn gord: it was most likely a defensive settlement of the Yotvingians, mentioned in Rus' chronicles in 1061. In 1142, Grand Duke Vsevolod II of Kiev divided his realm between his family, granting Drohiczyn (as Dorohychin) and Brest to his younger brother Igor. Some time in late 12th century, Drohiczyn was under the Polish rule. On March 8, 1237, Duke Konrad I of Masovia handed Drohiczyn, together with the area between the Bug and the Narew, to the Order of Dobrzyń.

In 1241, taking advantage of the chaos which ensued after the Mongol Invasion of Poland, Lithuanian Grand Duke Mindaugas captured Podlasie together with Drohiczyn, Bielsk Podlaski, Mielnik, Brańsk and Suraż, annexing it into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Rus dukes did not want to give up this region, and regained Drohiczyn after a few years. In 1251, Rus forces, gathered at Drohiczyn, invaded the Yotvingians. After a victorious war, the position of Duke Daniel of Galicia grew so strong that he was crowned the King of Ruthenia. This happened in Drohiczyn in 1253.

In 1274, Drohiczyn was again captured by the Lithuanians, and the town with whole province remained in Lithuania until the Union of Lublin (1569), with the exception in the 1380s and 1430s, when Drohiczyn was ruled by the Duke of Masovia Janusz.

Drohiczyn was one of major cities of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, together with Trakai, Vilnius and Navahrudak. In the 15th century, most of town’s population was of Ruthenian heritage, with Polish, Jewish and Lithuanian minorities. In 1498, its position was officially recognized, when it was granted Magdeburg rights.

Early modern era
During the reign of Sigismund I the Old, Drohiczyn was named capital and administrative seat of Podlasie Voivodeship, which was established in 1513. Local sejmiks took place here. At that time, the town experienced its golden age. In 1569 with the Union of Lublin, Drohiczyn was annexed to the Kingdom of Poland. The town continued to prosper, despite a plague outbreak in 1624, which decimated the population. Furthermore, in the 1630s there were two fires, in which several houses burned. Since mid-1630s, the population of Drohiczyn began to decline.

The Deluge
The Deluge (1655–1660) brought widespread destruction and misery, after which Drohiczyn never recovered to its former greatness. Swedish soldiers, led by Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie appeared in the town in August 1655. They immediately looted Drohiczyn, ordering its residents to pay an enormous contribution. In late 1655, a unit of Crimean Tatars, allied with Poland, appeared in the area of Drohiczyn and spent whole winter here, looting all farms and the town.

On May 3, 1657, a Transilvanian army of George II Rákóczi, which also consisted of Swedes, Cossacks and Wallachians, captured Drohiczyn. Most of residents were brutally murdered, and the town, together with the parish church and the castle, was completely destroyed. Survivors fled to nearby forests, and the town virtually ceased to exist.

Great Northern War
Drohiczyn slowly recovered from the destruction, but in 1699, it was burned again, this time by Saxon soldiers, who were on their way to Lithuania. The town suffered during the Great Northern War: hunger was widespread, and the marching armies of Sweden, Saxony, Russia, Poland and Lithuania looted Drohiczyn.

19th century
Following the third partition of Poland, Drohiczyn was divided in 1795 between Habsburg Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, as the new border went along the Bug river. On May 27, 1805, the town burned in a great fire, in which all archives, kept at the town hall, were lost forever. In 1807, the Duchy of Warsaw was created, and Drohiczyn was once again divided between the duchy and Russian Empire. In 1808, Russian authorities created Drohiczyn County, part of Grodno Governorate. In 1861, the population of both parts of Drohiczyn was 1700, with 1400 living in Polish district, and 300 inhabiting Ruthenian district. Residents of the town and its surroundings actively participated in the January Uprising.

Interbellum
According to the 1921 census, the village was inhabited by 1.972 people, among whom 950 were Roman Catholic, 207 Orthodox, 1 Evangelical and 814 Mosaic. At the same time, 1.165 inhabitants declared Polish nationality, 114 Belarusian, 687 Jewish and 6 another. There were 289 residential buildings in the village. In the Second Polish Republic, Drohiczyn belonged to Bialystok Voivodeship.

World War II
The town was briefly seized by the Wehrmacht during the Invasion of Poland, and on September 27, 1939, it was occupied by the Soviet Union. Until June 1941, Drohiczyn was a border town. The Soviet regime immediately began expelling the town's residents to Siberia. Those selected by the NKVD were ordered to march with their bags to the rail station at Siemiatycze, located 20 kilometers away. There they were loaded into freight cars and taken to Siberia, where most perished.

In the spring of 1940, the Soviet commandant of the town ordered all houses located within 800 meters from the river to be moved to other locations, for security reasons, as the Bug marked the border between the Soviet Union and the Third Reich. This order meant that most of Drohiczyn would cease to exist, as most houses and other buildings were located by the river. As a result, several historical structures were destroyed at that time, including two churches and a 17th-century manor house. The Soviets spared only the houses which were necessary for the border patrol and families of officers. Furthermore, the Soviet occupants devastated the local church, which was turned into stables, and a Benedictine abbey, which served as a warehouse of building materials. In search of gold and jewelry, Soviet soldiers destroyed tombs at the cemetery. The Russian language and Communist ideology were taught at local schools; several teachers were fired and arrested.

In November 1939, after a rigged referendum, Drohiczyn was annexed into the Soviet Belarus, and USSR passports were handed to local residents. This resulted in mass draft of teenagers into the Red Army, also a large group of 14- and 15-year-olds was sent to the heavy industry plants at Omsk; most of them never returned home. Drohiczyn turned into a ghost town, with heavy Soviet patrols guarding the border. After a few months of Soviet rule, almost all foodstuffs were scarce, and local residents had to smuggle them from Germany, at risk of their own life.

The German attack on June 22, 1941 took the residents of the town by surprise. Soviet authorities were also surprised, but before retreating, they managed to murder several men kept in the cellar of the abbey. As a result of an artillery barrage, many buildings were destroyed, and the ancient Franciscan church was damaged. Drohiczyn was quickly captured, and during the German occupation, the town was an important center of the Home Army and other partisan organizations. Local Jews were in the autumn of 1942 transported to the rail station at Siemiatycze, and then to Treblinka extermination camp. Until 1944, Drohiczyn remained a border town. Together with the whole Bezirk Bialystok, Drohiczyn belonged to East Prussia, while the General Government was located on the other side of the Bug. German authorities permitted local Poles to settle in the border area, they also allowed the church to be reopened.

The Red Army entered Drohiczyn without resistance on August 1, 1944. The Soviet authorities were met with apprehension, as the locals remembered the terror of 1939–1941, and feared that Drohiczyn would be reattached to Soviet Belarus. Polish administration was created, together with school system. The NKVD arrested several soldiers of the Home Army, sending them to Siberia. In autumn of 1946, the local network of Freedom and Independence was destroyed, and its leaders were sentenced to death. Since Drohiczyn was regarded in the 1950s as the hotbed of pro-Catholic and anti-Communist reaction, the authorities neglected the town and its development.

Recent period
In 1991, the town was made the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Drohiczyn as part of the newly created Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Białystok.

Churches
In 1392, Władysław II Jagiełło founded a wooden Roman Catholic church in Drohiczyn. The church was replaced with a brick one in 1555. Burned by the Swedes in 1657, it was rebuilt in 1709.

title: Drohiczyn


text:
Dąbrowa Białostocka

Dąbrowa Białostocka is a town in Sokółka County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 5,305.

Notable people

 * Peter Sidorkiewicz (born 1963), former National Hockey League player

title: Dąbrowa Białostocka


text:
Choroszcz

Choroszcz is a town in north-eastern Poland, located in Białystok County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, seat of Gmina Choroszcz.

The Baroque palace in Choroszcz was the summer residence of the noble Branicki family, and is now part of the Museum of Polish Interiors. As of December 2021, the town has a population of 5,960.

History
Choroszcz was granted town rights by King Sigismund I the Old in 1507. It was a private town, administratively located in the Podlaskie Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province. Jan Klemens Branicki erected a Baroque palace, which served as the summer residence of the Branicki family. Following the Third Partition of Poland, in 1795, it was annexed by Prussia. In 1807, it passed to the Russian Partition of Poland. Choroszcz was one of the sites of Russian executions of Polish insurgents during the January Uprising. The execution sites are now marked by memorials. Following World War I, Poland regained independence and control of the town.

In 1930, a psychiatric hospital was established in the town.

Following the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the town was first occupied by the Soviet Union until 1941, and then by Germany until 1944. In 1940, the Russians closed the psychiatric hospital and deported some patients to the Soviet Union, while others were relocated to the local rectory. In 1941, the Germans massacred several hundred remaining patients of the psychiatric hospital in today's Nowosiółki district as part of Aktion T4.

After the war, it was administratively located in the "large" Białystok Voivodeship until 1975, and then the "small" Białystok Voivodeship until 1998.

Demographics
Detailed data as of 31 December 2021:

In the 1921 census, 81.2% people declared Polish nationality, 16.2% declared Jewish nationality and 1.8% declared German nationality. Choroszcz had 827 Jewish residents in 1897, and 450 in 1921. Nearly all were murdered in the Holocaust by the Germans during the Second World War.

Transport
Roads in Choroszcz:
 * Helsinki – Kaunas – Warsaw – Praga,
 * Kudowa-Zdrój - Wrocław - Warsaw - Białystok - Suwałki - Budzisko,

Planned roads:
 * - Białystok ring road

Local transportation
For Choroszcz Take Bus 103 from the center of Białystok. Choroszcz is located 6 km from the borders of Bialystok.

Education

 * Kindergarten of Pope John Paul II
 * Primary school of Henryk Sienkiewicz
 * Public high school

Sport
The football club in Choroszcz it Narew Choroszcz occurring in the competition organized by the Podlaski Football Association - is the current Senior Class in the District. There are 3 teams that occur every day in the municipal league competitions: LZS Choroszcz, Choroszcz Rajkom and Lambada.

The main streets

 * PL:Branickiego
 * PL:Lipowa
 * PL:Powstania Styczniowego EN - January Uprising
 * PL:Henryka Sienkiewicza
 * PL:Adam Mickiewicza
 * PL:Aleja Niepodległości EN - Independence avenue
 * PL:Ogrodowa
 * PL:Dominikańska

title: Choroszcz


text:
Czarna Białostocka

Czarna Białostocka is a town in north-eastern Poland. It is the seat of Gmina Czarna Białostocka, situated in Białystok County in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, having previously been in Białystok Voivodeship (1975-1998). As of December 2021, the town has a population of 9,032.

Notable people

 * Andrzej Jerzy Zglejszewski (born 1961) Catholic bishop in the United States.

title: Czarna Białostocka


text:
Kleszczele

Kleszczele (, Кліщелі Klishcheli, Кляшчэ́лі Kljaščè́li) is a town in Hajnówka County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland. Prior to 1999, it was in Białystok Voivodeship (1975–1998).

Demography
According to the 1921 census, Kleszczele was inhabited by:

Notable residents
The Yiddish playwright Peretz Hirschbein was born in Kleszczele in 1881.

title: Kleszczele


text:
Knyszyn

Knyszyn (Кнышин, קנישין, Knišinas) is a town in north-eastern Poland, 16 mi northwest of Białystok. It is situated in the Podlaskie Voivodeship (since 1999), and was formerly in the Białystok Voivodeship (1975-1998). It is located within the historic region of Podlachia.

History
In 1358 the territory became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, soon afterwards in personal union with Poland. It was the property of Court Marshal of Lithuania Michael Glinski until confiscated and passed to the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania Mikołaj Radziwiłł in 1507. In 1569 it was re-incorporated into the Crown of the Polish Kingdom.

Royal residence of King Sigismund II Augustus
In 1568 Polish King Sigismund II Augustus granted Knyszyn town rights, and subsequently a town hall, public baths and a weigh house were built. Knyszyn was the favorite residence of the King, and was the Polish court's main base for hunting expeditions into the nearby virgin forests. In the 1560s the king maintained a royal stud of over 3000 horses in Knyszyn, including large numbers of Arabian horses, among the first to be bred in northern Europe. Sigismund II died in the town in 1572, after which the royal property rapidly fell into neglect. Few signs of the former royal residence and extensive studs remain aside from foundations, which are poorly marked.

According to a legend, the heart of King Sigismund II is buried in the underground crypts of the church of St. John, which was built in the years 1579-1601 by the Great Crown Hetman Jan Zamoyski, who became starost of Knyszyn in 1574. A monument of the king is located at the Market Square and the town's coat of arms contains the king's royal monogram.

History since the 17th century
Knyszyn was a royal town of Poland, administratively located in the Podlaskie Voivodeship in the Lesser Poland Province of the Polish Crown. In 1630, Polish prince and soon-to-be King Władysław IV Vasa stayed in Knyszyn. The town was devastated during the Polish–Swedish wars. As a result of the Third Partition of Poland in 1795 it was annexed by Prussia; in 1807 it was annexed by Russia. At that time, many Jews settled in Knyszyn, as a result of the discriminatory Russian regulations (Pale of Settlement), while the Polish population was subject to repressions and Russification policies. Local Poles took part in various Polish uprisings during the partition period. Knyszyn became part of Poland again after the country has regained independence in 1918.

During World War II it was occupied by the Soviet Union (1939–1941) and Nazi Germany (1941–1944). The population was subjected to various repressions and crimes. The Soviets devastated farm buildings and the royal garden, and closed down both Polish and Jewish schools, and opened a Russian school instead. The Germans established and operated a forced labour camp in the town. Its prisoners were initially Soviet prisoners of war, and afterwards Poles from the town and region, often captured in roundups, some of whom were soon deported to forced labour to Germany. Knyszyn had a Jewish population of nearly 2,000 until Nazi Germany invaded the area, after which most of Knyszyn's Jews were killed.

Jewish history
The history of Jews in the town may date back as far as October 1605 when a Jew from Moscow sued the town over a beating he had endured. However, during the mid 1600s the town passed a law forbidding Jews to live in the town. Despite this decree a small Jewish community had settled in Knyszyn by 1679 and in 1705 a synagogue was built. In 1719 an agreement was reached between the Jewish community and the Church, requiring the former to pay a tax annually, with additional levees on several holidays. In exchange for this the exclusionary law was formally repealed.

By the early 1800s (1807) the Jewish population had reached 308. In 1810 an attempt was made to expel them but was quickly cancelled when the town economy collapsed. The Jews continued to benefit the Knyszyn economy by developing a textile industry during the 1830s. This helped support the burgeoning Jewish population which consisted of 1878 (out of a total town population of 3864) in the 1879 census.

Immigration lowered the population so that in the 1921 Polish census it was recorded as 1235. During the 1920s and 30s the community supported four restaurants, two groceries, and seven bakeries. They owned three mills, a leather factory, and a service station. There were also branches of the Betar organization and the Hadema sports club, and many charities. The 1939 population of 1450 had increased to 2000 by 1941. Most of this growth came from refugees who reached Knyszyn- then under Soviet occupation- from German-occupied regions.

The town was first occupied by the Germans for several weeks of September 1939 and then by the Russians until June 1941. Shortly after the Nazi occupation a pogrom occurred as well as the burning alive of 200 Jews in a synagogue. In November 1942 a massacre of the remaining Jewish population was carried out by the Gestapo. Fifty Jews survived by hiding in the nearby woods. Most immigrated to Israel after the war. The above is from https://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/Knyszyn/occupation.html

Notable residents

 * The town was the birthplace of Rabbi Shmuel Berenbaum (1920-2008), Rosh Yeshiva of the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York.
 * Jim Novy (1896 in Knyszyn–1971), Austin, Texas businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.
 * Birthplace of Rabbi Moshe Londinski of Radin Yeshiva

Culinary History
Knyszyn is reportedly the birthplace of the Knish, a traditional Ashkenazic Jewish dish of flaky pastry filled with mushrooms, mashed potato, or other savory items.

title: Knyszyn