text:
Product key

A product key, also known as a software key, serial key or activation key, is a specific software-based key for a computer program. It certifies that the copy of the program is original.

Product keys consist of a series of numbers and/or letters. This sequence is typically entered by the user during the installation of computer software, and is then passed to a verification function in the program. This function manipulates the key sequence according to a mathematical algorithm and attempts to match the results to a set of valid solutions.

Effectiveness
Standard key generation, where product keys are generated mathematically, is not completely effective in stopping copyright infringement of software, as these keys can be distributed. In addition, with improved communication from the rise of the Internet, more sophisticated attacks on keys such as cracks (removing the need for a key) and product key generators have become common.

Because of this, software publishers use additional product activation methods to verify that keys are both valid and uncompromised. One method assigns a product key based on a unique feature of the purchaser's computer hardware, which cannot be as easily duplicated since it depends on the user's hardware. Another method involves requiring one-time or periodical validation of the product key with an internet server (for games with an online component, this is done whenever the user signs in). The server can deactivate unmodified client software presenting invalid or compromised keys. Modified clients may bypass these checks, but the server can still deny those clients information or communication.

Windows 95 retail key
Windows 95 retail product keys take the form XXX-XXXXXXX. To determine whether the key is valid, Windows 95 performs the following checks:

 * The first 3 characters must not be equal to 333, 444, 555, 666, 777, 888 or 999.
 * The last 7 characters must all be numbers from 0-8.
 * The sum of the last 7 numbers must be divisible by 7 with no remainder.
 * The fourth character is unchecked.

If all checks pass, the product key is valid. Consequently a product key of 000-0000000 would be considered valid under these conditions.

Windows 95 OEM key
Windows 95 OEM keys take the form XXXXX-OEM-XXXXXXX-XXXXX.

 * The first 3 characters must be a number between 0-366.
 * The next 2 characters must be a number between 04-93.
 * The next 3 characters must be OEM.
 * The sum of the next 7 numbers must be divisible by 7 with no remainder.
 * The rest of the characters are unchecked.

Windows XP retail key
Windows XP uses an installation ID, product ID, and a product key for activation.

Installation ID
The installation ID is a 50 digit decimal string that is divided into 5 groups of six digits each with 2 digits at the end, which takes the form of XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XXXXXX-XX. The installation ID is regenerated every time msoobe.exe is ran.

Check digits
The right most digit in each group of the installation ID is a check digit.
 * Each check digit is calculated by adding the other five digits in its group.
 * Then adding the digits in that group in the even positions a second time.
 * Then dividing the sum of them by 7.
 * The remainder is the value of the check digit in its group.

Decoding
Removing the check digits results in a 41-digit decimal encoded 136 bit multi precision integer, which is stored in little endian byte order as a byte array.

Decryption
The lower 16 bytes of the Installation ID are encrypted, whereas the most significant byte is kept in plaintext. The cryptographic algorithm used to encrypt the Installation ID is a proprietary four-round Feistel cipher. Since the block of input bytes passed to a Feistel cipher is divided into two blocks of equal size, this class of ciphers is typically applied to input blocks consisting of an even number of bytes in this case the lower 16 of the 17 input bytes. The round function of the cipher is the SHA-1 message digest algorithm keyed with a four-byte sequence.

Let + denote the concatenation of two byte sequences, ^ the XOR operation, L and R the left and right eight-byte input half for one round, L' and R' the output halves of said round, and First-8 a function that returns the first eight bytes of an SHA-1 message digest.

Then one round of decryption looks as follows.

L' = R ^ First-8(SHA-1(L + Key))

R' = L

The result of the decryption is 16 bytes of plaintext, which are together with the 17th unencrypted byte which will be interpreted as four double words in little endian byte order followed by a single byte. H1 and H2 specify the hardware configuration that the Installation ID is linked to. P1 and P2 as well as the remaining byte P3 contain the Product ID associated with the Installation ID.

Product ID
The Product ID consists of five groups of decimal digits, as in AAAAA-BBB-CCCCCCC-DDEEE.

Decoding
The mapping between the Product ID in decimal representation and its binary encoding in the double words P1 and P2 and the byte P3 is summarized in the following table.

Product key
The Product key takes the form as XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX. Each character is one of the following 24 letters and digits: B C D F G H J K M P Q R T V W X Y 2 3 4 6 7 8 9

The 25 characters of the Product Key form a base-24 encoding of the binary representation of the Product Key. The Product Key is a multi-precision integer of roughly 115 bits, which is stored in little endian byte order in an array of 15 bytes. Of these 15 bytes the least significant four bytes contain the Raw Product Key in little endian byte order. The least significant bit is removed by shifting this 32-bit value to the left by one bit position. The eleven remaining bytes form a digital signature, allowing verification of the authenticity of the Product Key by means of a hard-coded public key.

To obtain the CCCCCCC component, a check digit is appended, and the check digit that is chosen such that the sum of all digits, including the check digit, is divisible by seven. For verifying a Product Key, more than one public key is available. If verification with the first public key fails, the second is tried, etc. The DD component of the Product ID specifies which of the public keys in this sequence was successfully used to verify the Product Key.

Hardware information bit-fields
The hardware configuration linked to the Installation ID is represented by the two double words H1 and H2. For this purpose, the double words are divided into twelve bit-fields. If docking is possible, the activation mechanism will be more tolerant with respect to future hardware modifications. If the hardware component corresponding to one of the remaining ten bit-fields is present, the respective bit-field contains a non-zero value describing the component. A value of zero marks the hardware component as not present. All hardware components are identified by a hardware identification string obtained from the registry. Hashing this string provides the value for the corresponding bit-field.

Hashing
The hash result is obtained by feeding the hardware identification string into the MD5 message digest algorithm and picking the number of bits required for a bit-field from predetermined locations in the resulting message digest. Different predetermined locations are used for different bit-fields. In addition, a hash result of zero is avoided by calculating $$Hash = (Hash % BitFieldMax) + 1$$. Where BitFieldMax is the maximal value that may be stored in the bit-field in question, e.g. 1023 for a 10-bit bit-field, and 'x % y' denotes the remainder of the division of x by y. This results in values between 1 and BitFieldMax. The obtained value is then stored in the respective bit-field.

RAM bit-field
The bit-field related to the amount of RAM available to the operating system is calculated differently from the other bit-fields as shown in the table. Note that the amount of RAM is retrieved by calling the GlobalMemoryStatus function, which reports a few hundred kilobytes less than the amount of RAM physically installed. So, 128 MB of RAM would typically be classified as "between 64 MB and 127 MB".

Hardware modifications
wpa.dbl is the RC4-encrypted database that stores, expiration information, the confirmation ID of an activated installation, the bit-field values representing the current hardware configuration, and the bit-field values representing the hardware configuration at the time of product activation, etc. The current hardware configuration is automatically updated each time the hardware configuration is modified in order to reflect the changes, while the values representing the hardware configuration at the time of product activation is fixed. When judging whether re-activation is necessary, the bit-field values of the current hardware configuration is compared to the hardware configuration at the time of activation.

Non-dockable computers
All bit-fields with the exception of the unused field and the 'dockable' field are compared. If more than three of these ten bit-fields have changed in the current hardware configuration since product activation, re-activation is required.

Dockable computers
If bit 31 of H2 indicates that our computer supports a docking station, only seven of the ten bit-fields mentioned above are compared. The bit-fields corresponding to the SCSI host adapter, the IDE controller, and the graphics board are omitted. Of these remaining seven bit-fields, only up to three may change without requiring re-activation.

Controversy
Some of the most effective product key protections are controversial due to inconvenience, strict enforcement, harsh penalties and, in some cases, false positives. Some product keys use uncompromising digital procedures to enforce the license agreement.

Inconvenience
Product keys are somewhat inconvenient for end users. Not only do they need to be entered whenever a program is installed, but the user must also be sure not to lose them. Loss of a product key usually means the software is useless once uninstalled, unless, prior to uninstallation, a key recovery application is used (although not all programs support this).

Product keys also present new ways for distribution to go wrong. If a product is shipped with missing or invalid keys, then the product itself is useless. For example, all copies of Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow originally shipped to Australia without product keys.

Enforcement and penalties
There are many cases of permanent bans enforced by companies detecting usage violations. It is common for an online system to immediately blacklist an account caught running cracks or, in some cases, cheats. This results in a permanent ban. Players who wish to continue use of the software must repurchase it. This has inevitably led to criticism over the motivations of enforcing permanent bans.

Particularly controversial is the situation which arises when multiple products' keys are bound together. If products have dependencies on other products (as is the case with expansion packs), it is common for companies to ban all bound products. For example, if a fake key is used with an expansion pack, the server may ban legitimate keys from the original game. Similarly, with Valve's Steam service, all products the user has purchased are bound into the one account. If this account is banned, the user will lose access to every product associated with the same account.

This "multi-ban" is highly controversial, since it bans users from products which they have legitimately purchased and used.

False positives
Bans are enforced by servers immediately upon detection of cracks or cheats, usually without human intervention. Sometimes, legitimate users are wrongly deemed in violation of the license, and banned. In large cases of false positives, they are sometimes corrected (as happened in World of Warcraft. ) However, individual cases may not be given any attention.

A common cause of false positives (as with the World of Warcraft case above) is users of unsupported platforms. For example, users of Linux can run Windows applications through compatibility layers such as Wine and Cedega. This software combination sometimes triggers the game's server anti-cheating software, resulting in a ban due to Wine or Cedega being a Windows API compatibility layer for Linux, so it is considered third-party (cheating) software by the game's server.

title: Product key


text:
Puslinch, Ontario

Puslinch is a township in south-central Ontario, Canada, in Wellington County, surrounding the south end of Guelph. The main source of production is agricultural, spring water bottling and mining. Aggregate mining has been dominant throughout the county. About half of the township is forested, and a conservation area lies to the southwest. Near the western edge of the township, just outside Cambridge, Ontario, is Puslinch Lake, the largest kettle lake in North America. It is part of the Guelph census metropolitan area.

The township has its own strategic plan, with the current version dated 2015 to 2020. Its mission statement is "Progressing together to provide reliable and sustainable services to our residents, businesses and visitors. We will protect our resources while respectfully building upon our heritage as a safe, fun and prosperous rural community."

Communities
Puslinch township includes the communities of Aberfoyle, Aikensville, Arkell, Badenoch, Crieff, Glen Christie, Killean, Paddock's Corners, Morriston, Corwhin, Downey, Puslinch, and Puslinch Lake. The offices of the township are located at 7404 Wellington Road 34, Puslinch (village of Aberfoyle).

Aberfoyle
Aberfoyle is the administrative centre for Puslinch Township and is home to the municipality's administrative offices, and fire station. It is located at the headwaters of Mill Creek, which was important for early settlers to power their mills. The community is approximately three kilometres south of Guelph city limits on Brock Road, formerly a portion of old Hwy 6. Aberfoyle was first settled in the 1840s and is named for Aberfoyle, Scotland. In 1869, the population was only 100.

It is known for its spring water Aberfoyle Spring Water, which is bottled at the well in Aberfoyle. Nestlé bought the company in 2002, through its subsidiary Nestlé Waters North America and changed the name. In 2020, the company announced that it was selling the business to Ice River Springs of Shelburne, Ontario, but the deal failed and the company was later acquired spun off as BlueTriton Brands in 2021.

Other features include the Aberfoyle Antique Market, Aberfoyle Public School and the Aberfoyle Mill, a restaurant.

Arkell
Arkell, pronounced "AR-kull", has a long relationship with beer brewing. Arkell was founded in 1830 by John Arkell, an Englishman who returned to the UK and founded Arkell's Brewery. Just north and east of the village runs the Arkell Spring Aquifer, renowned for its fresh spring water which has brought many beverage companies to the area, including Sleeman Breweries, Wellington Brewery, and F&M Brewery. Wellington Breweries named one of their beers 'Arkell Best Bitter' in honour of the prized water they use in their brewing. The Arkell Spring Grounds also provide some of the municipal water for the city of Guelph.

Arkell is a common stopping point for cyclists and hikers to take a break when touring the country-side roads the surrounding city of Guelph, or the hiking trails at the Starkey Hill loop just east of the village, or the Arkell Springs trail which stretches along the Eramosa River from Watson Rd. Just north of Arkell, east to nearby Eden Mills near the Eden Mills outdoor education centre and south-east to Arkell Rd. at the Nassagaweya-Puslinch Townline Rd. intersection, opened in 1974 by the Guelph Hiking Club.

History

Before colonization, the area was a "neutral" zone and was inhabited by the Neutral Nation (also known as the Attawandaron), in a village of 4,000 in what is now the Badenoch area of Puslinch, near Morriston. Other First Nations settlements were at Puslinch Lake, Arkell Springs and Morriston Pond.

The township was named after Puslinch House in Devon, England, where Elizabeth Yonge, the wife of Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada Sir John Colborne, was born. The name was given by Lady Seaton after her birthplace in Devon, England. Sir John would later be the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario from 1828 to 1836. An historical plaque indicates that the township was surveyed in 1828-1832 by David Gibson and was originally known as the Church Lands. Many people arrived in the 1830s via Stone Road from Dundas to Galt toward Killean in Puslinch. A settler, Edward Ellis who arrived in 1839, donated land for the construction of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, also known as Ellis Chapel, in 1861. Records from 1846 indicate a population in the township of 1500, most of whom were "Highland Scotch".

The township was an important source of granite used in the construction of homes as well as of limestone and sandstone provided by quarries.

The Arkell area was named after John Arkell (from an originally Dutch family) who emigrated from Kempsford, South Gloucestershire, arriving to the township in May 1831. He established the small community, but returned to England three years later. His first cousin Thomas Arkell remained, built a home, bred sheep and cattle, and was a Magistrate for three decades. Henry Arkell, a breeder of sheep was heavily involved with the Puslinch Agricultural Society and was a Director of the Guelph Central Exhibition and the Fat Stock Show.

The settlement of Aberfoyle was named by John McFarlane from Aberfoyle, Perthshire, Scotland who arrived in 1841 and ran the first general store. A small mill had been built earlier, in 1831, by George Schatz who built a sawmill and also laid out lots of land at a time when the area was called Schatzville, inhabited mostly by German families. Schatz also operated a foundry and brickyard over the years in the Aberfoyle area. The post office did not open until 1854 with Samuel Falconbridge the first postmaster. The first church, Mount Carmel, was built in 1877.

Many of the Germans lived around Morriston, also part of Puslinch. By 1857, Morriston had established the “Victoria Fire Company of the United Village of Morriston and Elgin” with a single fire wagon. In that year, Morriston had a "daily male population of about 400".

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Puslinch had a population of $7,944$ living in $2,857$ of its $2,946$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $7,336$. With a land area of 214.82 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Transportation
The main thoroughfares in the area include:
 * Highway 401
 * Highway 6.

GO Bus Service

 * GO Bus 29: to Mississauga (Square One GO Bus Terminal)
 * GO Bus 48: to York University and Guelph University
 * GO Bus 25 to Mississauga (Square One GO Bus Terminal), Milton, Cambridge, and Kitchener (Downtown, Wilfrid Laurier University, and University of Waterloo)

Attractions

 * Starkey Hill Hiking Trail
 * Puslinch Lake
 * Antique Market
 * Aberfoyle Mill Restaurant
 * Aberfoyle Farmers Market
 * Ellis Chapel

Athletes

 * John Cullen (1964 – ), professional ice hockey player who played for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Hartford Whalers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning in the National Hockey League
 * Ryan Ellis (1991 – ), professional ice hockey player who played for the Nashville Predators and Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League
 * Nick FitzGibbon (1987 – ), professional Canadian football player who played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League
 * Lotte Haidegger (1925 – 2004), competed for Austria in women's discus throw at the 1948 Summer Olympics and 1952 Summer Olympics
 * Robert Schultz (1989 – ), pairs figure skater who has participated in the Canadian Figure Skating Championships
 * Taylor Steele (1992 – ), pairs figure skater who has participated in the Canadian Figure Skating Championships
 * Linda Ann Ward (1947 – ), figure skater who competed at the 1964 Winter Olympics

Journalists

 * Colleen McEdwards (1964 – ), reporter for CBC News and anchor for CNN International

Judges

 * John Idington (1840 – 1928), Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1905 – 1927

Musicians

 * Justin Bieber (1994 – ), singer-songwriter who is a pop icon and is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances
 * Tommy Hunter (1937 – ), country music performer, known as "Canada's Country Gentleman"

Politicians

 * Joseph Downey (1865 – 1926), member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1902 – 1911
 * David Jamieson (1856 – 1942), member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1923 – 1926
 * James Harold King (1871 – 1949), member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1935 – 1943
 * James McKenzie (1854 – 1936), member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1896 – 1903
 * Kenneth McKenzie (1822 – 1911), member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1874 – 1892
 * Peter H. McKenzie (1845 – 1929), member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1904 – 1908
 * William Alexander McKenzie (1874 – 1966), member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1918 – 1933
 * Daniel McNaughton (1851 – 1925), member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1893 – 1898
 * David Stirton (1816 – 1908), member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 – 1876

Playwrights

 * Alex Bulmer (1985 – ), co-founder of the theatre companies SNIFF Inc. and Invisible Flash

Publishers

 * John Bayne Maclean (1862 – 1950), founder of Maclean's Magazine, the Financial Post and the Maclean Publishing Company

Religious figures

 * Michael Baldasaro (1949 – 2016), Archbishop of the Church of the Universe and advocate for marijuana legalization
 * David Savage (1830 – 1893), Methodist minister and evangelist who was a pastor in Puslinch from 1864 – 1866

Controversy
In December 2017, the township considered renaming Swastika Trail, a private road on the western edge of the township. The road was initially named in the 1920s, before the rise of Nazi Germany in 1933 (although Adolf Hitler's party adopted the swastika as the Nazi party symbol in 1920). Residents on the street were divided by the name change, while the Jewish group B'nai Brith Canada supported it. The township ultimately decided not to rename the road, citing the previous decision of the cottager's association to leave the name in place.

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

title: Puslinch, Ontario


text:
User talk:Cyvh

Hello "Cyvh" and welcome to Wikipedia. A few tips for you:

 * Peruse Welcome, newcomers and associated pages.
 * You can experiment in the Sandbox.
 * Sign talk page entries with ~, which is automatically converted to a name and date.
 * Ask questions on Village pump.
 * Happy wikipediaing, -- Infrogmation 00:06, 4 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Welcome from me too. I removed the headers on List of homosexual philosophers because it is not necessary to do so. If you wish to discuss the matter, see Talk:List of homosexual philosophers. Thanks Dysprosia 00:31, 8 Dec 2003 (UTC)

Hi! If you want, you can sign in at the New user log so we can all meet you. Isomorphic 09:31, 17 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Notification: changes to "Mark my edits as minor by default" preference
Hello there. This is an automated message to tell you about the gradual phasing out of the preference entitled "Mark all edits minor by default", which you currently have (or very recently had) enabled.

On 13 March 2011, this preference was hidden from the user preferences screen as part of efforts to prevent its accidental misuse (consensus discussion). This had the effect of locking users in to their existing preference, which, in your case, was. To complete the process, your preference will automatically be changed to  in the next few days. This does not require any intervention on your part and you will still be able to manually mark your edits as being 'minor'. The only thing that's changed is that you will no longer have them marked as minor by default.

For established users such as yourself there is a workaround available involving custom JavaScript. If you are familiar with the contents of WP:MINOR, and believe that it is still beneficial to the encyclopedia to have all your edits marked as such by default, then this discussion will give you the details you need to continue with this functionality indefinitely. If you have any problems, feel free to drop me a note.

Thank you for your understanding and happy editing :) Editing on behalf of User:Jarry1250, LivingBot (talk) 21:59, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

ArbCom elections are now open!
MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 08:54, 23 November 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Cyvh


text:
Siege of Vienna (1529)

The Siege of Vienna, in 1529, was the first attempt by the Ottoman Empire to capture the capital city of Vienna, Austria, Holy Roman Empire. Suleiman the Magnificent, sultan of the Ottomans, attacked the city with over 100,000 men, while the defenders, led by Niklas Graf Salm, numbered no more than 21,000. Nevertheless, Vienna was able to survive the siege, which ultimately lasted just over two weeks, from 27 September to 15 October, 1529.

The siege came in the aftermath of the 1526 Battle of Mohács, which had resulted in the death of Louis II, King of Hungary, and the descent of the kingdom into civil war. Following Louis' death, rival factions within Hungary selected two successors: Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria, supported by the House of Habsburg, and John Zápolya. Zápolya would eventually seek aid from, and become a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, after Ferdinand began to take control of western Hungary, including the city of Buda.

The Ottoman attack on Vienna was part of the empire's intervention into the Hungarian conflict, and in the short term sought to secure Zápolya's position. Historians offer conflicting interpretations of the Ottoman's long-term goals, including the motivations behind the choice of Vienna as the campaign's immediate target. Some modern historians suggest that Suleiman's primary objective was to assert Ottoman control over all of Hungary, including the western part (known as Royal Hungary) that was then still under Habsburg control. Some scholars suggest Suleiman intended to use Hungary as a staging ground for further invasion of Europe.

The failure of the siege of Vienna marked the beginning of 150 years of bitter military tension between the Habsburgs and Ottomans, punctuated by reciprocal attacks, and culminating in a second siege of Vienna in 1683.

Background
In August 1526, Sultan Suleiman I decisively defeated the forces of King Louis II of Hungary at the Battle of Mohács, paving the way for the Ottomans to gain control of south-eastern Hungary; the childless King Louis died, possibly drowning when he attempted to escape the battlefield. His brother-in-law, Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria, brother of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, claimed the vacant Hungarian throne. Ferdinand won recognition only in western Hungary; a noble called John Zápolya, from a power-base in Transylvania, challenged him for the crown and was recognised as king by Suleiman in return for accepting vassal status within the Ottoman Empire. Thus Hungary became divided into three zones: Royal Hungary, Ottoman Hungary and the Principality of Transylvania, an arrangement which persisted until 1700.

Following the Diet of Pozsony (modern Bratislava) on 26 October, Ferdinand was declared king of Royal Hungary due to the agreement between his and Louis's families, cemented by Ferdinand's marriage to Louis's sister Anna and Louis's marriage to Ferdinand's sister Mary. Ferdinand set out to enforce his claim on Hungary and captured Buda in 1527, only to relinquish his hold on it in 1529 when an Ottoman counter-attack stripped Ferdinand of all his territorial gains.

Ottoman army

In the spring of 1529, Suleiman mustered a large army in Ottoman Bulgaria, with the aim of securing control over all of Hungary at his new borders by Ferdinand I and the Holy Roman Empire. Estimates of Suleiman's army vary widely from 120,000 to more than 300,000 men, as mentioned by various chroniclers. As well as numerous units of Sipahi, the elite mounted force of the Ottoman cavalry, and thousands of janissaries, the Ottoman army incorporated a contingent from Moldavia and renegade Serbian warriors from the army of John Zápolya. Suleiman acted as the commander-in-chief (as well as personally leading his force), and in April he appointed his Grand Vizier (the highest Ottoman minister), a Greek former slave called Ibrahim Pasha, as Serasker, a commander with powers to give orders in the sultan's name.

Suleiman launched his campaign on 10 May, 1529 and faced numerous obstacles from the onset. The spring rains that are characteristic of south-eastern Europe and the Balkans were particularly heavy that year, causing flooding in Bulgaria and rendering parts of the route used by the army barely passable. Many large-calibre cannons and artillery pieces became hopelessly mired or bogged down, leaving Suleiman no choice but to abandon them, while camels brought from the empire's Eastern provinces, not used to the difficult conditions, were lost in large numbers. Sickness and poor health became common among the janissaries, claiming many lives along the perilous journey.

Suleiman arrived in Osijek on 6 August. On the 18th he reached the Mohács plain, to be greeted by a substantial cavalry force led by John Zápolya (which would later accompany Suleiman to Vienna), who paid him homage and helped him recapture several fortresses lost since the Battle of Mohács to the Austrians, including Buda, which fell on 8 September. The only resistance came at Pozsony, where the Turkish fleet was bombarded as it sailed up the Danube.

Defensive measures

As the Ottomans advanced towards Vienna, the city's population organised an ad-hoc resistance formed from local farmers, peasants, and civilians determined to repel the inevitable attack. The defenders were supported by a variety of European mercenaries, namely German Landsknecht pikemen and professional Spanish harquebusiers, sent by Charles V, who was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain.

Queen Mary of Hungary, who was the sister of Charles V, in addition to 1,000 German  Landsknechts under Count Niklas Salm, sent a contingent of 700–800 Spanish harquebusiers. Only 250 Spanish survived.

The Spanish were under the command of Marshal Luis de Ávalos, with captains Juan de Salinas, Jaime García de Guzmán, Jorge Manrique, and Cristóbal de Aranda. This elite infantry excelled in the defense of the northern area and with discretion fire prevented the Ottomans from settling in the Danube meadows, near the ramparts, where they could have breached with enough space to work. These elite soldiers also built additional palisades and trap pits that would be essential during the siege.

The Hofmeister of Austria, Wilhelm von Roggendorf, assumed charge of the defensive garrison, with operational command entrusted to a seventy-year-old German mercenary named Nicholas, Count of Salm, who had distinguished himself at the Battle of Pavia in 1525. Salm arrived in Vienna as head of the mercenary relief force and set about fortifying the three-hundred-year-old walls surrounding St. Stephen's Cathedral, near which he established his headquarters. To ensure the city could withstand a lengthy siege, he blocked the four city gates and reinforced the walls, which in some places were no more than six feet thick, and erected earthen bastions and an inner earthen rampart, levelling buildings where necessary to clear room for defences.

Siege

The Ottoman army that arrived in late September had been depleted during the long advance into Austrian territory, leaving Suleiman short of camels and heavy artillery. Many of his troops arrived at Vienna in poor health after the tribulations of the long march through the worst of the wet season. Of those fit to fight, a third were Sipahis, ill-suited for siege warfare. Three richly dressed Austrian prisoners were dispatched as emissaries by the Sultan to negotiate the city's surrender; Salm sent three richly dressed Muslims back without a response.

As the Ottoman army settled into position, the Austrian garrison launched sorties to disrupt the digging and mining of tunnels below the city's walls by Ottoman sappers, in one case almost capturing Ibrahim Pasha. The defending forces detected and successfully detonated several mines that had been intended to breach the walls. On 6 October, 8,000 men were dispatched to attack the Ottoman mining operations. They succeeded in destroying many of the tunnels, but they sustained heavy losses when the confined space hindered their return to the city.

More rain fell on 11 October, and with the Ottomans failing to breach the walls, the prospect of victory began to fade. In addition, Suleiman was facing critical shortages of food, water and other supplies, while casualties, sickness, and desertions began to take their toll. The janissaries began voicing their displeasure at the lack of progress, demanding a decision on whether to remain or abandon the siege. The Sultan convened an official council on 12 October to deliberate the matter. It was decided to attempt one final, major assault on Vienna, an "all or nothing" gamble. The assault was launched on 14 October, but despite extra rewards being offered to the troops, it was  beaten back, with the defenders' arquebuses and long pikes proving decisive. The following day, with supplies running low and winter approaching, Suleiman called off the siege and ordered a withdrawal to Constantinople.

With unusually heavy snowfall, conditions deteriorated. The Ottoman retreat was hampered by muddy roads along which their horses and camels struggled to pass. Pursuing Austrian horsemen took many stragglers prisoner, although there was no Austrian counter-attack. The Ottomans reached Buda on 26 October, Belgrade on 10 November and their destination, Constantinople, on 16 December.

Aftermath

Some historians speculate that Suleiman's final assault was not necessarily intended to take the city but to cause as much damage as possible and weaken it for a later attack, a tactic he had employed at Buda in 1526. Suleiman would lead another campaign against Vienna in 1532, but it never truly materialised as his force was stalled by the Croatian Captain Nikola Jurišić during the siege of Güns (Kőszeg). Nikola Jurišić with only 700–800 Croatian soldiers managed to delay his force until winter closed in. Charles V, now largely aware of Vienna's vulnerability and weakened state, assembled 80,000 troops to confront the Ottoman force. Instead of going ahead with a second siege attempt, the Ottoman force turned back, laying waste the south-eastern Austrian state of Styria in their retreat. The two Viennese campaigns in essence marked the extreme limit of Ottoman logistical capability to field large armies deep in central Europe at the time.

The 1529 campaign produced mixed results. Buda was brought back under the control of the Ottoman vassal John Zápolya, strengthening the Ottoman position in Hungary. The campaign left behind a trail of collateral damage in neighbouring Habsburg Hungary and Austria that impaired Ferdinand's capacity to mount a sustained counter-attack. However, Suleiman failed to force Ferdinand to engage him in open battle, and was thus unable to enforce his ideological claim to superiority over the Habsburgs. The attack on Vienna led to a rapprochement between Charles V and Pope Clement VII, and contributed to the Pope's coronation of Charles V as Holy Roman Emperor on February 24, 1530. The outcome of the campaign was presented as a success by the Ottomans, who used the opportunity to show off their imperial grandeur by staging elaborate ceremonies for the circumcision of princes Mustafa, Mehmed, and Selim.

Ferdinand I erected a funeral monument for the German commander Nicholas, Count of Salm, head of the mercenary relief force dispatched to Vienna, as a token of appreciation of his efforts. Nicholas survived the initial siege attempt, but had been injured during the last Ottoman assault and died on May 4, 1530. The Renaissance sarcophagus is now on display in the baptistery of the Votivkirche cathedral in Vienna. Ferdinand's son, Maximilian II, later built the Castle of Neugebaeude on the spot where Suleiman is said to have pitched his tent during the siege.

title: Siege of Vienna (1529)


text:
Skierniewice

Skierniewice is a city in central Poland with 47,031 inhabitants (2021), situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. It is the capital of Skierniewice County. The town is situated almost exactly halfway between Łódź and Warsaw. Through the town runs the small river Łupia, also called Skierniewka.

History
The oldest known mention of Skierniewice comes from 1359, although it had existed earlier. A palace of the archbishops of Gniezno already existed in the village at that time. Skierniewice gained municipal rights in 1457 and was vested with various privileges in 1456–1458. Administratively it was part of the Rawa Voivodeship of the Greater Poland Province until the Partitions of Poland. Skierniewice was located on a trade route connecting major Polish cities Toruń and Lwów. Local merchants also participated in trade with Gdańsk, Lesser Poland and Podolia, as well as German states. One yearly fair took place since 1457, in 1527 King Sigismund I the Old established a second fair, and in 1641 the Sejm established two more fairs. The town suffered in the 18th-century as a result of the Swedish invasion of Poland and epidemics, and in 1793 it was annexed by Prussia in the Second Partition of Poland.

Regained by Poles as part of the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw in 1806, in 1815 it became part of so-called Congress Poland and fell to the Russian Partition. In 1845 the Warsaw-Vienna Railway was opened, which passed through Skierniewice. Subjected to Anti-Polish and Russification policies, many inhabitants took part in the unsuccessful Polish January Uprising in 1863 and in 1905–1906 Polish protests took place in the town. On September 15, 1884 it was the setting for the meeting of the Three Emperors' League.

During World War I it was occupied by Germany, and after the war, in 1918, it became part of the re-established Polish state.

During the invasion of Poland, which marked the beginning of World War II, in September 1939, the Germans raided the town, bombing the railway station, as well as houses, the hospital and a church during a church service. Around 150 people were killed, and another 200 were wounded, 100 buildings were destroyed. Captured by the Wehrmacht on September 10, 1939, the next day German troops carried out an execution of 60 Poles in the town (see Nazi crimes against the Polish nation). On September 11–12, Adolf Hitler visited the town. During the occupation, the Germans established a transit camp for Polish prisoners of war, later deported to Nazi Germany, and a ghetto for Jews, later deported to the Warsaw Ghetto and Nazi concentration camps. The Germans executed over 200 people in the town, however, the Polish underground resistance movement still operated there. Resistance activities included sabotage actions, secret Polish education and the assassination of a German V-2 rocket expert. In 1941, expelled Poles from Kwiatkowo and Linne, were deported to Skierniewice. In May 1944, the Stalag 319 prisoner-of-war camp for Allied POWs of various nationalities was relocated from Chełm to Skierniewice, and then eventually dissolved in August 1944. Afterwards the Dulag 142 transit camp was based in the city, and about 3,000 Poles captured during the Warsaw Uprising passed through it. On January 17, 1945, Skierniewice was captured by Soviet forces.

Sights
Among the historic sights of Skierniewice are:
 * former Episcopal Palace complex with the Park Miejski ("Municipal Park")
 * Skierniewice railway station
 * churches of Saint James and Saint Stanislaus
 * Market Square (Rynek) with the Town Hall (Ratusz)
 * Roundhouse Skierniewice
 * other historic buildings and structures, including the Kozłowski Villa, now housing the Wedding Palace, and the County Office

Education

 * Wyższa Szkoła Ekonomiczno-Humanistyczna
 * State Higher Vocational School in Skierniewice

Sports
and football clubs are based in Skierniewice.

Twin towns – Sister cities
Skierniewice is twinned with:

Notable people
Notable people connected with the Skierniewice region:
 * Ignacy Krasicki (1735–1801), Roman Catholic archbishop and a writer
 * Jan Kozietulski (1781–1821), military commander of the armed forces of the Duchy of Warsaw
 * Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849), composer and pianist
 * Władysław Reymont (1867–1925), novelist, Nobel Prize Winner for Literature
 * Edward Okuń (1872–1945), Polish Art Nouveau painter and freemason
 * Stanisław Witkowski (1883–1957), officer, engineer and military industry organiser in the Polish Army
 * Aleksander Narbut-Łuczyński (1890–1977), Polish lawyer and military officer
 * Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1895–1903), German princess
 * Szczepan Pieniążek (1913–2008), pomologist
 * Itshak Holtz (1925–2018), Jewish genre artist
 * Aleksandra Śląska (1925–1989), film actress
 * Lech Mackiewicz (born 1960) film director, actor and playwright
 * Tamara Arciuch (born 1975), actress
 * Monika Mularczyk (born 1980), football referee
 * Grzegorz Gajewski (born 1985), chess grandmaster

title: Skierniewice


text:
Francis I of the Two Sicilies

Francis I of the Two Sicilies (Francesco Gennaro Giuseppe Saverio Giovanni Battista; 19 August 1777 –  8 November 1830) was King of the Two Sicilies from 1825 to 1830 and regent of the Kingdom of Sicily from 1806 to 1814.

Early life
Francis was born the son of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies and his wife Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria in Naples. He was also the nephew of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, the last King and Queen of France before the first French Republic.

At the death of his older brother Carlo, Duke of Calabria in 1778, Francis became the heir-apparent to the thrones of Naples and Sicily with the title Duke of Calabria, the traditional title of the heir apparent to the Neapolitan throne.

Later life
In 1796 Francis married his double first cousin Archduchess Maria Clementina of Austria, daughter of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor. When she died in 1801, he married his paternal first cousin María Isabella, youngest daughter of King Charles IV of Spain. His youngest sister, Princess Maria Antonia of Naples and Sicily also married Maria Isabella's elder brother, the future Ferdinand VII of Spain, then Prince of Asturias.

After the Bourbon family fled from Naples to Sicily in 1806, Lord William Bentinck, the British resident, had drafted a new constitution along British and French lines. Ferdinand agreed to abdicate his throne, with Francis being appointed regent in 1812.

On the abdication of Napoleon I, his father returned to Naples and suppressed the Sicilian constitution, incorporating his two kingdoms into that of the Two Sicilies (1816); Francis then assumed the revived title of duke of Calabria. While still heir apparent he professed liberal ideas, and on the outbreak of the revolution of 1820 he accepted the regency, apparently in a friendly spirit towards the new constitution, although he was actually as conservative as his father.

On succeeding to the throne in 1825, he pursued a conservative course. He took little part in the government, which he left in the hands of favourites and police officials, and lived with his mistresses, surrounded by soldiers, ever in dread of assassination. During his reign the only revolutionary movement was the outbreak on the Cilento (1828), repressed by the Marquis Delcarretto, an ex-Liberal. He was, however, successful in having the Austrian occupation force withdrawn (1827), thereby relieving a large financial burden on the treasury.

During his reign, the Royal Order of Francis I was founded to reward civil merit.

Issue
With Maria Clementina of Austria:

 * Maria Carolina (1798–1870), who married, firstly, Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, the second son of King Charles X of France; and secondly, Ettore Count Lucchesi Palli, Prince di Campofranco, Duke della Grazia.
 * Ferdinando, Duke of Noto (1800–1801).

With Isabella of Spain:

 * Luisa Carlotta (1804–1844), who married her mother's younger brother Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain.
 * María Cristina (1806–1878), who married firstly her uncle Ferdinand VII of Spain (her mother's older brother); and secondly, Ferdinand Muñoz, Duke of Rianzares.
 * Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies (1810–1859), who became Francis I's successor and married twice.
 * Carlo Ferdinando, Prince of Capua (1811–1862), who morganatically wed Penelope Smyth and had issue.
 * Leopoldo Beniamino, Count of Syracuse (1813–1860), who married Princess Maria of Savoy-Carignan. Had no surviving issue.
 * Maria Antonia (1814–1898) who married Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
 * Antonio Pasquale, Count of Lecce (1816–1843).
 * Maria Amalia (1818–1857), who married Infante Sebastian of Portugal and Spain.
 * Maria Carolina (1820–1861), who married Don Carlos de Bourbon, Count of Montemolin, Carlist pretender to the throne of Spain.
 * Teresa Cristina (1822–1889), who married Emperor Pedro II of Brazil.
 * Luigi Carlo, Count of Aquila (1824–1897), who married Januária, Princess Imperial of Brazil (sister of Pedro II of Brazil and Maria II of Portugal). Had issue.
 * Francesco di Paola, Count of Trapani (1827–1892), who married Archduchess Maria Isabella of Austria, Princess of Tuscany, and had issue.

title: Francis I of the Two Sicilies


text:
The Wooster Group

The Wooster Group is a New York City-based experimental theater company known for creating numerous original dramatic works. It gradually emerged from Richard Schechner's The Performance Group (1967–1980) during the period from 1975 to 1980, and took its name in 1980; the independent productions of 1975–1980 are retroactively attributed to the Group.

The ensemble is directed by Elizabeth LeCompte and has launched the careers of many actors, including founding member Willem Dafoe. The Group's home is the Performing Garage at 33 Wooster Street between Grand and Broome Streets in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. As of 2014, the company consists of 16 members. In addition, there are 29 "Associates".

The Wooster Group is a not-for-profit theater company that relies on grants and donations from supporters. It has received multiple grants from the Carnegie Corporation. The Wooster Group are characterized by their extremely experimental style, often incorporating aspects of audiovisual such as interactive video art, live stream, recorded sound and pre-recorded video into their performance work. Their performances are often of classic texts such as Brecht, Shakespeare, Chekhov and Eugene O'Neill.

Past collaborators with the group include Ken Kobland, Jim Strahs, Richard Foreman, Trisha Brown, John Lurie, Bruce Odland, Jennifer Tipton, Frances McDormand, Hans Peter Kuhn, and Amir ElSaffar, among others.

Founding members

 * Elizabeth LeCompte
 * Willem Dafoe
 * Jim Clayburgh
 * Spalding Gray (d. 2004)
 * Peyton Smith
 * Kate Valk
 * Ron Vawter (d. 1994)

Current company

 * Alexandre Artaud
 * Mike Farry
 * Ari Fliakos
 * Clay Hapaz
 * Cynthia Hedstrom
 * Jonathan Hull
 * Yudam Hyung Seok Jeon
 * Elizabeth LeCompte
 * Cynthia Hedstrom
 * Elizabeth LeCompte
 * Bona Lee
 * Andrew Maillet
 * Tavish Miller
 * Michaela Murphy
 * Scott Shepherd
 * Eric Sluyter
 * Kate Valk
 * Monika Wunderer

Awards and honors
The Wooster Group has won nine Obie Awards, six Bessie Awards, and the 1985 National Endowment for the Arts Ongoing Ensembles Grant.

title: The Wooster Group


text:
Łowicz

Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,436 inhabitants (2021). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a major rail junction of central Poland, where the line from Warsaw splits into two directions—towards Poznań, and Łódź. Also, the station Łowicz Main is connected through a secondary-importance line with Skierniewice.

Łowicz was a residence of Polish primates in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. They served as regents when the town became a temporary "capital" of Poland during the interregnum. As a result, Łowicz has its own bishop and a basilica in spite of its considerably small size. The ruins of a former bishop's castle can be found on the outskirts of town. Napoleon Bonaparte is believed to have stayed in one of the houses on the main square. Also, the town was at the centre of the largest battle of the German invasion of Poland, the Battle of the Bzura River, in the opening campaign of World War II.

Łowicz has an important ethnographic museum (Muzeum w Łowiczu) exhibiting Polish art and historical artifacts from the region. Also, Łowicz features a popular skansen with traditional wooden houses. It is a vast open-air display of historical structures depicting traditional Polish village-life; a collection of artifacts spread over a 17-hectare (42 acre) site, just outside the town.

Near the town is the Maurzyce Bridge, the first welded road-bridge in the world, built in 1928 across the river Słudwia. It was designed in 1927 by Stefan Bryła from the Lwów University of Technology.

Middle Ages
The history of Lowicz dates back to the 12th century, when a gord, which guarded the swampy Bzura river ford existed in the location of the castle. Lowicz, spelled as Loviche, was first mentioned in a papal bull of Pope Innocent II, on July 7, 1136. In this document, the pope confirmed the right of the Archbishops of Gniezno to own local land. In 1214 or 1215 at Wolborz, Piast Dukes of four Polish provinces: Leszek I the White of Kraków, Konrad I of Masovia, Wladyslaw Odonic of Kalisz and Casimir I of Opole issued the so-called Immunity Privilege, in which they confirmed the fact that Archbishops of Gniezno owned Lowicz. At that time, Lowicz was still called villa (village), even though the archbishops’ mansion already existed here.

It is not known when Lowicz received town charter. First document which calls it oppidium (town) dates back to 1298, and was issued by Duke Boleslaw I of Płock. Before that, in 1263, Łowicz was ransacked and burned in a Lithuanian raid. In 1350, a Polish-Danish alliance was formed in Łowicz. According to chronicler Jan of Czarnkow, in ca. 1355 Archbishop Jaroslaw of Bogoria and Skotnik built a brick Gothic castle in the location of the former gord. The castle became one of residences of Archbishops of Gniezno and Primates of Poland. Furthermore, in ca. 1358, he granted Magdeburg rights to the newly established New Town (Nowe Miasto). New Civitas of Lowicz was located east of the old gord, along the Bzura and around the wooden church, which stood in the location of contemporary Cathedral Basilica.

In the late Middle Ages Lowicz was the seat of a castellany. Located on the border between the Kingdom of Poland and the Duchy of Masovia, it remained under firm control of the Gniezno Archbishops. In the mid-14th century Lowicz, together with 111 adjacent villages, was the biggest church property in Poland. On May 17, 1359, Siemowit III, Duke of Masovia confirmed the ownership of Lowicz by the Gniezno Primates. Nevertheless, the dukes of Masovia on several occasions tried to place Lowicz under their authority, which resulted in conflicts with Polish kings, who supported the Archbishops. On April 8, 1382, Siemowit IV, Duke of Masovia besieged Łowicz, and such conflicts occasionally returned until the incorporation of Mazovia into Poland.

Lowicz prospered in the 15th century. In 1404, Archbishop Mikolaj Kurowski funded the first brick church in town, and a new Roman Catholic parish. In the 1430s, old wooden church in Lowicz's Old Town was replaced by a brick, Gothic complex. On April 25, 1433, Archbishop Wojciech Jastrzebiec named it a Collegiate church, and soon afterwards, a branch of Kraków Academy was established here.

On October 24, 1419, Archbishop Mikołaj Trąba confirmed the town charter of Łowicz and unified legal regulations of the three districts of Łowicz: Podgrodzie (Suburb), Stare Miasto (Old Town) and Nowe Miasto (New Town). In 1443, a town hall was built in the market square of the Old Town. Due to its convenient locations, multiple royal privileges and frequent fairs, Łowicz prospered. Administratively it was located in the Rawa Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province.

Modern era
The town remained under the authority of the Archbishops of Gniezno, and as a residency of the Primates of Poland, since 1572 Łowicz occasionally served as a second capital of the Kingdom, during the periods known as interregnum. The period of prosperity ended after the disastrous Swedish invasion of Poland (1655–1660). The town was visited by Polish kings John II Casimir Vasa and John III Sobieski, as well as Polish national hero Tadeusz Kościuszko. Almost completely destroyed, Łowicz never regained its importance and turned into a small, local town. Nevertheless, it remained a cultural center, as in 1668 one of the first Piarist Colleges in Poland-Lithuania was opened here. One of two main routes connecting Warsaw and Dresden ran through Łowicz in the 18th century and Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland often traveled that route. Łowicz was also a garrison town of the Polish Crown Army, with the Prince Frederick Mounted Regiment and 3rd, 7th and 9th Infantry Regiments stationed there at various times.

After the Second Partition of Poland (1793) Łowicz was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1807 it became part of the Duchy of Warsaw, and from 1815 until 1915 it belonged to Russian-controlled Congress Poland (later Vistula Land). The body of Prince Józef Poniatowski was temporarily kept in the Collegiate church in Łowicz before his burial in the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków. In 1820, the real estate of the Archbishops of Gniezno became the property of Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia and his wife Joanna Grudzinska, who was granted the title of the Duchess of Lowicz. On July 9, 1822, Tsar Alexander I of Russia formally established the Duchy of Łowicz. In 1826, the town was visited by young Fryderyk Chopin.

In 1831, following the last will of Joanna Grudzinska, the Duchy of Lowicz became the property of Polish rulers. Since at that time Russian Tsars regarded themselves as Kings of Poland, the duchy belonged to them until World War I. Following the request of General Ivan Paskevich, who was the governor of Poland, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia gave permission for construction of the first railroad in the Russian Partition of Poland. The Warsaw–Vienna railway was completed in 1848, giving Łowicz rail connection with Warsaw, Kraków, Vienna and Wrocław. In 1861, Łowicz Główny railway station was built. Due to the construction of additional line to Koluszki (November 1866), Łowicz emerged as a rail hub, which contributed to its development. On July 26, 1863, during the January Uprising, a small Polish insurgent unit attacked the Russian troops stationed in the town, but soon withdrew.

Following the Act of 5th November, the Duchy of Łowicz was annexed into the Kingdom of Poland (1916–18), which was a puppet state of the German Empire. After World War I, in 1918, Poland regained independence, and Łowicz became again part of Poland. In the Second Polish Republic, Lowicz and the County of Lowicz belonged to Warsaw Voivodeship, but on April 1, 1938, it was moved to Lodz Voivodeship (see Territorial changes of Polish Voivodeships on April 1, 1938). In the interbellum Łowicz was visited by Presidents of Poland Stanisław Wojciechowski and Ignacy Mościcki.

World War II
During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II, the Battle of Bzura took place in the area of the town. Germany carried out several air raids on Łowicz on September 3–6, 1939, damaging many buildings and killing hundreds of civilians. The town was captured by the Wehrmacht on September 8, 1939, to be recaptured by the Polish Army three days later. Between September 14–16, the town changed hands three times. Finally, Polish forces abandoned Łowicz in the night of September 16/17, 1939. German occupation of Łowicz lasted until January 17, 1945. Over 5,000 inhabitants were killed during the war.

In 1940, during the Nazi Occupation of Poland, German authorities established a Jewish ghetto in Łowicz, in order to confine its Jewish population for the purpose of persecution and exploitation. The ghetto was liquidated in March 1941, when all its 8,000–8,200 inhabitants were transported in cattle trucks to Warsaw Ghetto, the largest ghetto in all of Nazi occupied Europe with over 400,000 Jews crammed into an area of 1.3 sqmi. From there, most victims were sent to Treblinka extermination camp.

During the Warsaw Uprising, in August–September 1944, the Germans deported several thousands of Varsovians from the Dulag 121 camp in Pruszków, where they were initially imprisoned, to Łowicz. These Poles were mainly old people and women with children, many were sent to nearby villages, while over 3,400 stayed in the town as of mid-November 1944.

Recent period
From 1975 to 1998, it was administratively located in Skierniewice Voivodeship. Łowicz was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1999. In 2012, due to its historical, artistic, material and spiritual values, the Cathedral Basilica complex was listed by the President of Poland as a Historic Monument of Poland.

Points of interest

 * Baroque Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built in the first half of the 17th century by Italian architect Tomas Poncino. A former residential church of the archbishops of Gniezno and Primates of Poland, and burial place of a dozen archbishops of Gniezno and Primates of Poland. Partially destroyed in 1939, the complex was rebuilt in 1949. It is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland,
 * Baroque Piarist Church of Our Lady of Graces and Adalbert of Prague (1672–80), with a Rococo façade,
 * Baroque Bernardine Church of the Immaculate Conception and Saint Elisabeth,
 * former Evangelist church (1838–39), now an art gallery
 * Neo-Gothic Mariavite Church (1910),
 * Neoclassical town hall (1825–28), designed by Bonifacy Witkowski, with a plaque commemorating 5,808 inhabitants of Łowicz murdered by the Germans during World War II, and plaques commemorating visits of Tadeusz Kościuszko (in 1790) and Pope John Paul II (in 1999)
 * Baroque complex of missionaries, built in the early 18th century by Tylman van Gameren, today housing the
 * Holy Spirit Church, built in the early 15th century in Gothic style, and rebuilt/remodelled several times,
 * General Stanisław Klicki's Tower,
 * monument to the Sons of Łowicz Land, Fighters for Polish Independence at the Rynek (market square),
 * monuments to Józef Piłsudski, Tadeusz Kościuszko and Pope John Paul II,
 * former Bernardine monastery, today a Pedagogical College,
 * ruins of a Gothic castle of Primates of Poland, built in ca. 1355 by Archbishop Jaroslaw of Bogoria and Skotniki. The complex was ransacked and destroyed by Swedish invaders in 1655,
 * Saxon Garden,
 * house at Rynek 3, where Napoleon stayed in 1806, with a memorial plaque.

Sports
Łowicz has a football team called Pelikan Łowicz, who languish in the lower divisions of the Polish leagues, and Księżak Łowicz - basketball team.

Arts and Culture
The Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life (1999) via Gale Research cited Lowicz, Poland as known for its rainbow-colored cloth as part of folk art throughout Poland which includes pottery, glass, regional costumes, and paper cutouts.

Notable people

 * Jerzy Jarniewicz (born 1958), poet, literary critic, translator and essayist, winner of 2022 Nike Award
 * Stanisław Klicki (1775–1847), Polish general and aristocrat, participant of the Kościuszko and November Uprisings
 * Daniel Olbrychski (born 1945), film and theatre actor
 * Mirosław Szonert (1926–1995), film and television actor
 * Jeanne Pratt (born 1936), Australian philanthropist and businesswoman, wife of Richard Pratt
 * Przemysław Płacheta (born 1998), Polish professional football player
 * Gedaliah Shaiak (1905-1983), Australian Yiddish language writer and journalist; editor of Jewish Post (Melbourne); contributor to memorial book about Jewish Lowicz; also artist

Twin towns — Sister cities
Łowicz is twinned with:
 * 🇺🇸 Cheektowaga, Erie County, NY, United States
 * 🇩🇪 Colditz, Saxony, Germany
 * 🇵🇱 Lubliniec, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland
 * 🇫🇷 Montoire-sur-le-Loir, Loir-et-Cher, Centre-Val de Loire, France
 * 🇵🇱 Reda, Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland
 * 🇱🇹 Šalčininkai, Lithuania

title: Łowicz


text:
Sochaczew

Sochaczew is a town in central Poland, with 33,456 inhabitants (as of 2023). In the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), formerly in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Sochaczew County.

Sochaczew has a narrow-gauge railway museum with a line that runs as far as Wilcze Tułowskie. 750 mm-gauge steam trains run on the line on Saturdays from spring to the end of summer.

History
Sochaczew was first mentioned in documents from 1138, when the Duke of Poland Bolesław III Wrymouth died at a local Benedictine monastery. By 1221 Sochaczew had already been an important center of administration, and a seat of a castellan, who lived in a defensive gord. The town prospered due to its location at the intersection of main merchant routes (from Kalisz to Ciechanów, and from Warsaw to Poznań). In the first half of the 13th century, construction of two churches began; both were completed and consecrated by the Bishop of Płock in 1257.

Some time in the mid-14th century, Duke Siemowit III, Duke of Masovia held here a meeting of Mazovian dukes and notables. It is not known when Sochaczew received its town charter; by 1368 it had already been a town (civitas). After the death of Duke Siemowit VII, Sochaczew was on February 4, 1476 reintegrated directly with the Kingdom of Poland as a reverted fief. King Casimir IV Jagiellon granted several privileges to the town, including the right to hold annual fairs, on the second Sunday after Easter. Sochaczew was famous for its craftsmen, the town also had a royal mill. In 1478 the building of two churches was completed and in 1487 a hospital was built. At the same time, the town frequently burned in several fires (1461, 1506, 1539, 1590, 1618, and 1644). Sochaczew was a royal town of Poland, administratively located in the Rawa Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province.

In 1570, the population of Sochaczew was about 3,000, with 211 craftsmen, 17 merchants and shopkeepers, and 394 buildings. The town had a wooden defensive wall, and its wooden bridge over the Bzura was very busy: in 1564, the bridge was crossed by 1,900 merchant horses, on their way to Płock and Wyszogród. The end of prosperity was marked by the great fire of July 1590, in which one-third of all buildings burned to the ground. By 1618, the number of buildings shrank to 110. In the same year, another fire destroyed half of the town. Further destruction was brought by Swedish invasion of Poland. Sochaczew was captured by Swedes on September 5, 1655. After five years of fighting, only 13 inhabited houses remained in the town in 1661.

A route connecting Warsaw with Poznań and Dresden ran through the town in the 18th century and King Augustus III of Poland often traveled that route. Sochaczew did not recover until the late 18th century, when several new houses were built. Following the Second Partition of Poland (1793), the town was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. Its population at that time was about 1,100, including 990 Jews. The town had 148 inhabited houses, but most of them were neglected and dilapidated.

In 1807 Sochaczew became part of the newly formed Duchy of Warsaw; several months later the town almost completely burned. In 1815, after the dissolution of the duchy, the town was transferred to newly formed Russian-controlled Congress Poland. On January 16, 1817, the District of Sochaczew was created, with its seat in Łowicz. In August 1818 Sochaczew burned again, after that fire, the center of the town was rebuilt (1819–1823), and the market square was paved. By 1828, the population grew to 3,200, out of which 76% was Jewish. The area of Sochaczew saw several skirmishes during the January Uprising. In 1867, the County of Sochaczew was created, but the town, due to its mostly wooden architecture, burned in several fires. In 1903, Sochaczew received rail connection with Warsaw, and by 1908, its population grew to almost 10,000. On December 2, 1913, art silk plant was opened by a Belgian investor in the district of Boryszew.

World War I had catastrophic consequences for Sochaczew. On October 5, 1914, after a bloody battle, the town was captured by Germans, who burned it completely, together with the Boryszew plant. From December 1914 until July 1915, fierce Russian – German fighting took place along the Bzura and Rawka rivers. The residents of Sochaczew fled from the destroyed town, returning in the summer of 1915, when Germans took control of it.

A Lubok popular print from this period illustrating the fighting bears the caption, "A brave detachment of Cossacks destroyed German hussars near Sochaczew."

Following the war, in 1918, Poland regained independence as the Second Polish Republic, and Sochaczew belonged to Poland since. The town was completely destroyed, and its impoverished population built wooden houses. The Boryszew plant was rebuilt, together with rail stations and its facilities. In 1927, construction of a textile plant began in the district of Chodaków. The town was rebuilt and partly electrified. By 1931, its population grew to almost 11,000, also due to expansion of the town limits by including adjacent settlements, such as Boryszew and Rozlazłów. Roman Catholics made 71% of population.

World War II
On September 3, 1939, at the very beginning of the German Invasion of Poland, which started World War II, Sochaczew was bombed by the Luftwaffe. On September 9, first Wehrmacht units entered the town, where they remained until early September 13, when Germans were pushed out by the Polish Army, during the Battle of the Bzura. Due to German artillery fire, Poles abandoned Sochaczew on September 14–15, after a fierce and bloody battle. As a result of fighting there was widespread destruction in the town. On September 22 in the district of Boryszew, German troops Boryszew massacre 50 Polish prisoners of war (see also Nazi crimes against the Polish nation).

13 Polish policemen from Sochaczew were murdered by the Soviets in Tver in April–May 1940 as part of the large Katyn massacre.

German forces remained in Sochaczew until January 17, 1945, when the town was captured by the Red Army, and then restored to Poland. In the war, Sochaczew lost over 4,000 residents, including virtually all of its Jewish population, and 40% of its buildings were destroyed.

Museums
Sochaczew has three museums.
 * Muzeum Ziemi Sochaczewskiej i Pola Bitwy nad Bzurą (historic museum which has militaria from the battle that was in Sochaczew by the river Bzura in 1939)
 * Muzeum Kolei Wąskotorowej w Sochaczewie ("Narrow Gauge Railway Museum in Sochaczew") is a -gauge heritage railway. It was formerly the Sochaczewska Kolej Powiatowa ("Sochaczew County Narrow Gauge Railway"). It has a fleet of historic steam, diesel and electric locomotives, goods wagons, passenger cars and draisines.
 * Fryderyk Chopin's Museum and House in Żelazowa Wola

Transport
Sochaczew is located at the intersection of Polish National roads 50 and 92 and Voivodeship roads 580 and 705. The A2 motorway runs nearby, south of the town. There is also a train station in the town.

Sports
The town's most notable sports clubs are rugby union team Orkan Sochaczew, which competes in the Ekstraliga (Poland's top division), and football team Bzura Chodaków, which competes in the lower leagues.

Notable people

 * Fryderyk Chopin – composer and pianist (1810–49) born in Żelazowa Wola, gmina Sochaczew
 * Bogusław Liberadzki – former Polish Minister of Transportation, MEP – born 1948 in Sochaczew
 * Avrohom Bornsztain – author of the Avnei Nezer, lived there and was buried there.
 * Jacek Hugo-Bader – reporter, journalist and writer.
 * Ryszard Bugaj – economist and politician.
 * Stanislav Rembski – artist.

title: Sochaczew


text:
Kim Zmeskal

Kimberly Lynn Zmeskal Burdette (née Zmeskal on February 6, 1976) is an American retired artistic gymnast turned gymnastics coach and the 1991 World All-Around champion. A member of the silver medal-winning U.S. team from the 1991 World Championships (the first team medal won by the U.S. women at a world championships), she was the first American woman to win the all-around title at the World Championships, as well as the first to win a world championship medal of any color in the all-around. A three-time United States national all-around champion (1990–92), Zmeskal was also the 1992 world champion on both balance beam and floor exercise, and was a member of the bronze medal-winning U.S. team at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, the first U.S. team medal won at a fully attended Olympic Games. She also posted the highest optional all-around score in the qualification round in Barcelona.

Known for her explosive power and tumbling on vault and floor, Zmeskal is regarded as one of the greatest female gymnasts and arguably the best in the world during the early 1990s. Her all-around win sparked the beginning of a dynasty of American dominance in women's gymnastics (since 1992, seven American women have won world all-around titles, and 12 of the last 21 all-around world championship titles (including 10 of the last 14) were won by an American) and the reemergence of power and athleticism in the sport.

she coaches gymnastics and owns Texas Dreams Gymnastics in Coppell, Texas and annually hosts the Kim Zmeskal’s Texas Prime Meet.

Early life and training
Zmeskal was born in Houston, Texas, to Clarice and David Zmeskal. She has one younger sister, Melissa and one younger brother, Eric. From a young age, Zmeskal trained with coaching great Béla Károlyi, who had bought Sundance Gymnastics in Zmeskal's Houston neighborhood. This gave Zmeskal the opportunity to observe and interact with her heroine, Mary Lou Retton, who went on to win the Olympic all-around gold medal in 1984 when Zmeskal was eight. She attended Northland Christian School before graduating from Westfield High School like many of Károlyi's other top gymnasts to accommodate her training schedule, graduating in 1994.

In 1989, at the age of 13, Zmeskal became the U.S. Junior National Champion. She also took first place in the American Classic, the Swiss Cup Mixed Pairs (with Lance Ringnald), and the Arthur Gander Memorial. Zmeskal went on to become a three-time consecutive U.S. National Champion. In international events, she began a rivalry with the Soviet Union's Svetlana Boginskaya.

In 1990, Zmeskal won her first senior title in her debut at the American Cup. Later that year in Denver, she won her first U.S. Senior National All-Around title, more than four-tenths of a point ahead of her friend and training partner Betty Okino. She also won silver on bars (tied with two other gymnasts), balance beam, and floor exercise in the event finals.

Zmeskal was unable to defend her American Cup title, losing to Okino by a margin of just .225 points, but won the event finals for beam and floor. She then defended her U.S. National All-Around title in Cincinnati, where she also won the national title on floor alongside Dominique Dawes and placed second on beam. At the 1991 World Championships in Indianapolis, she helped the team win the silver medal, the first team medal for the American women in World Championship history, beating out the Romanians to finish second behind the Soviet Union. She scored a perfect 10.000 on the vault in the final rotation of the optional rounds, one of only two perfect 10's at the championships, and becoming the first (and only) American woman to ever score a perfect 10 at the World Championships. Zmeskal also became the first American to win the World all-around gold medal, posting scores of 9.962 on the vault, 9.937 on uneven bars, 9.962 on the beam, and 9.987 on the floor to defeat reigning world champion Svetlana Boginskaya with a total score of 39.848. She also won bronze on the floor and placed seventh on vault in the event finals.

1992 Barcelona Olympics
Having recently become world all-around champion, Americans had high hopes for Zmeskal and the U.S. team heading the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games, with Zmeskal earning the cover of both Time and Newsweek magazines before the Games. Proving her all-around title wasn't a fluke, Zmeskal added two more World titles at the individual apparatus World Championships in Paris, winning gold on the balance beam and the floor exercise with upgraded routines and increased difficulty. At the U.S. National Championships in Columbus and the Olympic Trials in Baltimore, Zmeskal battled an emerging Shannon Miller, with Miller defeating Zmeskal at the Trials although Zmeskal earned the highest score at both events, in a controversial finish. Nonetheless, Zmeskal won her third consecutive U.S. National All-Around title, becoming the first female gymnast to ever win three consecutive national all-around championships, won national titles on beam and floor, and placed second on vault and uneven bars.

Despite being picked as the clear-cut favorite for the all-around title and multiple gold medals, Zmeskal's Olympics began poorly as she fell off the balance beam during her compulsory routine on the first night of competition. Although she rebounded with performances on the floor, vault, and bars, Zmeskal was in 32nd place after the compulsories and 5th on the American team, who were second behind the Unified Team after the compulsories. She further rebounded with scores of 9.900 on uneven bars, 9.912 on the beam, 9.925 on floor, and 9.950 on the vault during the finals of the team competition, moving Zmeskal into 12th place and into the all-around competition by finishing third among the American women. Her combined score of 39.687 for the night was the highest of any competitor. The American women won the bronze medal in the team competition behind the Unified Team and Romania with a total score of 394.704 points, their first ever team medal in a non-boycotted Olympic Games. She also qualified to the event finals on vault and floor exercise.

Although she earned enough points to compete in the all-around competition, Zmeskal faltered during her first event of the competition, floor exercise, stepping out of bounds on her last tumbling pass. She faltered again in the final rotation with a shaky beam routine and finished 10th in the all-around final. Zmeskal finished off the podium in event finals as well, placing 8th on the vault after sitting down her second vault, and 6th in the floor final (although many commentators and coaches alike felt that she should have at least tied for the bronze medal). It was later revealed that Zmeskal was suffering from a tibial stress fracture before and during the Olympics.

“I've learned that you don't have to win first place to win” is how Zmeskal reflected upon her Olympic experience, recognizing her performance during the Team Final (in which no individual medals were awarded) as her greatest athletic achievement- overcoming a sizeable score deficit due to a compulsory beam fall as well as an injured tibia to qualify to the 1992 Olympic All Around final. She also defined standing alongside her teammates on the medal stand to receive their Olympic bronze medals as contributing to that “win”.

Comeback and retirement
Any dreams for a comeback to compete in the 1996 Olympic Games were dashed after a slow recovery due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her right knee suffered during a floor exercise exhibition in Worcester, MA.

In 1998, Zmeskal returned to competition with a decent showing at the U.S. National Championships in Indianapolis, finishing 11th all around. By 1999, she was even considered a possibility for the 2000 Olympics team after representing the U.S. internationally in her final competition in Shanghai, China in the fall of 1998. However, a ruptured right achilles tendon in July 1999, followed by a torn calf muscle in the same leg while taking off for a double tuck, ended her career in January 2000.

Zmeskal was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in May 2012.

Personal life
Zmeskal married Chris Burdette on October 23, 1999. The marriage produced three children. Per Chris Burdette's Linkedin page, in June of 2019, the couple split with Kim taking full ownership of Texas Dreams in March of 2022.

Abuse allegations
As the head coach of Texas Dream, Zmeskal has been criticized for her strict coaching style and verbal abuse towards her gymnasts. Former gymnast Kennedy Baker wrote about her experiences in an open letter,"My senior year, I knew my [Achilles] was going to tear, ... I stated that I felt like it was going to tear from September until the season started in January. Requesting that I do less numbers, the trainer would lie, and said that I 'just had to deal with it' and I could brush through the pain. Despite my history with [Achilles] problems, my concerns were brushed aside and instead of cutting me back, she encouraged me to keep going, and to my un surprise, my Achilles tore that season."Another gymnast who came forward was Ashton Kim, who also wrote a statement describing the hard training regime she was put under Zmeskal's tutelage and being forced to train with injuries. Kim stated that she got an apology from Zmeskal.

Gymnastic trademarks
Zmeskal was recognized for her middle tumbling pass on floor which consisted of a round-off, three consecutive whip-backs, back-handspring, into a double-back in the tucked position (sometimes with four whips into double-back). Another trademark was the way she would flare her arms out during full-twisting elements, most notably on her full-twisting Yurchenko vault.

Another signature move was the reverse planche with one bent leg, which was her opening move on the balance beam, now seen in the Texas Dreams Gymnastics logo as well as gymnastics clip art.

title: Kim Zmeskal