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First letter reads: T. Proctor Hall / M.A., PH.D., M.D. / 1801 Davie Street / Vancouver, Canada - Sunday, Dec. 19, 1920 - Dear Vic, I have written the Abbott Alk. Co. to send to your address a few bottles of medicine and two gross empty bottles. The value of the empty bottles and corks is about $3; and of the medicines an average of $1.25 per bottle. Technically they are all called "pills". Take all the wrappers of the medicines, and they will not take much room among your things. Mrs Cook was buried yesterday. Mrs Cartwright was at the funeral and returns to Seattle tomorrow. We are expecting you Friday morning. If you have a lot of books it is better to pack them in a separate box and, if you have accepted a position in U.S., store them with dome delivery Co. until your return, when they can be sent directly to the Station. Au revoir, ma chere fille, (Goodbye my dear daughter) - signed T. P. Hall
added on the bottom of the letter: Dear Vic, If you pack your few medicines discreetly you will not have any bother with them. R.M.H. (Ruth Maude Hall / her stepmother) - Money is over 18%.
His second wife - Ruth Maude (nee McManus) Hall
(b. 1868 in Iowa, United States – d. 8 September 1942 at age 74 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) - they were married - 10 September 1902 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA)
Clipped from - The Province newspaper - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - 8 September 1942 - Dr. Ruth M. Hall Called by Death Pioneer woman physician, Dr. Ruth Maude Hall, died on Tuesday in her 76th year. She lived at Garrow Bay, Whytecliff, B.C. Born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, she first took up nursing and then became Interested In medicine, graduating from National Medical College in Chicago in 1902. She married Dr. T. P. Hall in 1902 and came with him to British Columbia in 1905. In 1906 the two opened the Hillside Hospital at Burrard and Barclay in collaboration with Dr Ernest Hall and Dr. Robert Telford. In 1908 her husband entered private practice and until his death in 1931 she aided him in his work. Surviving are one son, Dr. Vernon K. Hall, Garrow Bay; two daughters, Miss A, V. Hall of Seattle and Miss U. F. Hall of Vancouver, and three nieces, Miss E. Mildred McManes and Mrs. R. E. Taylor of Vancouver and Mrs. Roy Stchman of Bremerton, Wash., and three granddaughters, The funeral will be held Thursday at 3:30 p.m. from the T. Edwards Chapel to Capllano View Cemetery.
Second letter reads: T. Proctor Hall / M.A., PH.D., M.D. / 1801 Davie Street / Vancouver, Canada - Tuesday night (21 December 1920) - Dear Vio, I have just seen Mr. Dougan at the Child - welfare meeting. He today got word from Nanaimo that they depend on him for two teachers; one in Drawing, Algebra and French. But he knows there is a teacher there who is well up in French, and there would probably be little trouble in adjusting to work among the six teachers. The salary is $1900. I told him we would all like it better to have you nearer home; and to wire Nanaimo whether your services would be acceptable. If so, he will wire you by Wed. night. (page 2) If this position is offered you to at once (or telephone, if it is late) to the man who got you the Idaho position; tell him the conditions and ask him to wire Idaho (at your expense) requesting a release, because offered a much better salary near home. In such cases it is usually easy to find a substitute, and the request is very seldom refused. Stay another day in Seattle, if necessary, to get things cleared up. Of course if Mr. Dougan's offer is not definite and positive no action need be taken. But if it is, act promptly. T. P. Hall (her father)
Clipped from - Times Colonist newspaper - Victoria, British Columbia, Canada - 25 March 1931 - DR. THOMAS PROCTOR HALL OF VANCOUVER DIED TO-DAY - Brother of Dr. Ernest Hall, Victoria Physician, Succumbs in Terminal City - Dr. Thomas Proctor Hall, seventy-two, physician, scientist and educationist, died at 4 o'clock this morning at the family residence, Crown Crescent, Vancouver, following an illness from heart disease, it was learned here to-day. He was a brother of Dr. Ernest Hall, well-known Victoria physician, and practiced here for a short period many years ago. Dr. Hall, who had resided in Vancouver for the last twenty-six years, had patented literally dozens of inventions and had made many scientific discoveries for which he had not taken out patents. They ranged from a system of reproducing the human voice almost a quarter of a century ago, to taking the flicker out of the early type motion pictures, an automatic stop for gramophones and a model for demonstrating the theory of the fourth dimension. Of unusual ability, he was a specialist In physical science and In mathematics as well as his chosen profession of medicine. Of so retiring and modest a disposition was he, however, than even many of his close friends were unaware of all his talents. With the exception of a new type of therapeutic lamp, his inventions have never been placed on the market. Dr. Hall, among his other scientific investigations, had done a great deal of research work in connection with X-ray. Besides the degrees of B.A.. M.A. and M.D. he was entitled to carry after his name, he had been awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, both by Clark University and the Illinois Wesleyan University. He was an honor graduate of the University of Toronto, McMaster University, Toronto, and the National Medical University in Chicago. FOURTH DIMENSION MODEL - Forty years ago he left at Clark University, a model to demonstrate the theory of the fourth dimension. From 1883 to 1884 Dr. Hall was a fellow of Toronto University. For the following five years he was science master at Woodstock College, Ontario. His teaching record was a varied one, including also professorships in natural science at Tabor College, Iowa; physics, Kansas City University; physics and chemistry, National-Medical University, Chicago, and electro-physics, Chicago College of X-ray and Electro-therapy. LEAVES RELATIVES Dr. Vernon K. Hall, his son, practices medicine in Vancouver. Two daughters. Miss A. Violet Hall and Miss Unina S. Hall, reside in Vancouver. Mrs. R. E. Taylor, Mrs. I. Brodigan and Miss Mildred McManus, nieces of the late Dr. Hall, made their home with him for many years. Besides Dr. Ernest Hall, another brother, John Hall, resides in Denver and a nephew. Kenneth McManus, lives in San Francisco. Dr. Ernest Hall left Victoria this afternoon to attend the funeral.
Photography Patricio M. & Chris Walter.
Model Anna Rosado @ REBEL
Post Processing Patricio M.
"Shooting this gives a perfect package of costumes, lighting and style of urban youth, taken with the style of youth rebellion featuring a portrait of an independent thinking and individuality."
Operated by: City of Minneapolis Sanitation Division
Unit Number: 15001
Body: Loadmaster
Chassis: CCC
Notes:
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En route to the HERC
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Please do not use this photo or any part of this photo without first asking for permission, thank you.
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The full video is available on YouTube via link.
studio.youtube.com/video/fRXAQvsD5d4/edit/basic
Text revised and up-dated on 27 Dec 2022.
McKinney’s Old (GNRI) Railway Bridge
The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) (GNR(I) or GNRI) was an Irish gauge (1,600mm - 5'- 3") railway company in Ireland. It was formed in 1876 by a merger of the Irish North Western Railway (INW|), Northern Railway of Ireland, and Ulster Railway. The governments of Ireland and Northern Ireland jointly nationalised the company in 1953, however the company was liquidated in 1958.
The Great Northern Railway (GNR) which ran from Omagh to L/Derry crossed the island of Island More (Corkan) via two metal railway bridges. The 'Red Bridge' which is located
to the North of the island at Glenfad near Porthall and is still accessible but predominately used by the farming community and the river bed aggregate extraction company while the bridge onto Island More to the South was demolished by the British Army during the Northern Ireland 'Troubles' as where many small cross-border unapproved) roads.
Known locally as 'McKinney's Bridge' it crosses the River Foyle which forms the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, hence the reason why the bridge was demolished and is now unusable as a crossing point.
Anthony Freire Marreco (b.26th Aug 1915 d.4th June 2006, aged 90)
When growing up, I knew Islandmore or Corkan Island as 'Marreco's Island', named after Anthony Freire Marreco who was a British barrister and who had maintained a georgian
house at Porthall, near Lifford, Co. Donegal, on the banks of the River Foyle overlooking the island.
Anthony Blechynden Freire Marreco was born in Leiston, Suffolk, England on 26th Aug 1915 where his father's regiment was stationed at the time. The only son of Geoffrey Algernon Freire Marreco (b.25 Feb 1882 d.15 Sept 1969) of The Old Court House, St Mawes, Cornwall and his wife, nee Hilda, Gwendoline Beaufoy Francis (b.1 Dec 1887 d.9th June 1967) from Hampshire. Both parents are buried at St. Lucadius Church of Ireland, Clonleigh Parish, Lifford, Co. Donegal, Ireland.
The Freire Marreco’s were of Portuguese origin; Antonio Joaquim Freire Marreco (b.1787 d.1850), Anthony's great-grandfather was an interesting fellow. Born in Penafiel in
Northern Portugal he left for Brazil in 1808, together with King João VI and the Portuguese Court, who fled the invading Napoleonic troops and settled in Rio de Janeiro.
In 1820, the King returned to Portugal and Marreco returned with him. Antonio established himself in business in England in the early 1820s as a wine importer and in July 1834 married Anna “Annie” Laura Harrison (born in 1806) of Newcastle, the daughter of his English business partner, William Harrison, at St. Botulph's Church, Aldgate in London. He became a naturalised British subject. Freire was the original Portuguese surname, Marreco was added by the grandfather after a trip to Brazil were at that time it was popular to add the names of flowers and bird, Marreco being a type of duck.
Geoffrey, Anthony’s father worked for Richard Garrett & Sons a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, steam engines and trolleybuses, the factory was located in Leiston, Suffolk, England being founded by Richard Garrett in 1778.
Education
Anthony initially attended a private school, Allen House in Woking (founded in 1871), before attending the Royal College of St Peter's, Westminster from 1929 to 1934 where his lifelong interest in human rights began. His headmaster, Dr. Crossley-White had invited leading personalities of the day to dinner. At the age of 17, Marreco met his childhood hero, T.E. Lawrence (b.1888 d.1935) and also Mahātmā Ghandi (b.1869 d.1948).
Stage Career
In 1934 he joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), but was expelled after being spotted by the principal's wife at the Epsom Downs Derby, when he should have been attending classes. From 1935 to 1937, he began a career on the stage, playing in Shakespeare and forming friendships with figures such as Noel Coward (b.1899 d.1973) and
Johnny Weismuller (b.1904 d.1984). He joined Northampton Repertory and was stage manager at Crewe Repertory and later the London shows at His Majesty's Theatre, Daly's
Theatre, the Arts Theatre and the Theatre Royal.
Military Career
In 1940 he joined Royal Navy as a rating, Commission, Sub-Lieutenant (A) Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve R.N.V.R. and when the Admiralty learned that he had a pilot's licence,
Certificate No:14851 issued on 24 April 1937 by the Great Britain, Royal Aero Club Aviators at Airwork School of Flying, Heston Airport, Hounslow, Middlesex, which was taken
using an Avro Club Cadet Gipsy Major 130. He was later commissioned to fly a Fairey Swordfish (a biplane torpedo bomber). He received his wings on 6th October 1940 and was
appointed to train observers at R.N.A.S. Arbroath in Scotland.
In 1941 he was temporarily released from Naval duties on appointment, as Assistant Counsel to the legal department of the Industrial Export Council and was later promoted to
Lieutenant. In the same year he was appointed to the Royal Naval Air Service (R.N.A.S.) at Yeovilton in Somerset as Instructor, Fighter Direction School.
In January 1942 Marreco was appointed Fleet Fighter Direction Officer, Staff Commander-in-Chief, H.M.S. King George V (41) the flagship of both the British Home Fleet and
Pacific Fleets. In May 1941, along with HMS Rodney, King George V was involved in the hunt and pursuit of the German battleship Bismarck, eventually inflicting severe battle
damage which led to her being scuttled in the North Atlantic on 27 May 1941.
In April, Marreco was lent to US Carrier Wasp as Flight Deck Officer (FDO) to fly Spitfires off to Malta and in June 1942 was appointed to the Naval Night Fighter Development Unit.
In June 1943 he was appointed Flight Deck Officer (FDO) on an American built 'Attacker class' Escort Aircraft Carrier, which took part in “Operation Avalanche”, the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno which was executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy.
In December 1943 he was appointed Flight Deck Officer (FDO) of the American built Aircraft Carrier, USS Pybus (CVE-34) which was renamed Emperor (D98) by the Royal Navy.
In January 1944 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and appointed Flight Deck Officer (FDO) Aircraft Carrier Formidable (67), which was involved in Operation Mascot, an
unsuccessful air raid against the German battleship Tirpitz at her anchorage in Kaafjord, Norway, on 17 July 1944. The attack was one of a series of strikes against the battleship, launched from british aircraft carriers between April and August 1944. Tirpitz, was eventually sank during Operation Catechism on 12 November 1944 off Håkøy Island near Tromsø, Norway.
Formidable was subsequently assigned to the British Pacific Fleet (BPF) in 1945 where she played a supporting role during the Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg
where the Allies assembled the most powerful naval force in history. Formidable. later attacked targets in the Japanese Home Islands. She was hit twice by kamikaze aircraft
on the 4th and 9th of May. In both instances, she was saved by her armoured deck and was able return to flight operations rapidly. The ship was used to repatriate liberated Allied prisoners of war and soldiers after the Japanese surrender and then ferried British personnel across the globe through 1946.
Later in June 1945 Marreco was discharged for passage to the UK to take up an appointment at the Admiralty as advisor on Kamikaze suicide fighters during the pending final assault on Japan. He left his ship and flew to Sydney, Australia and as Senior Naval Officer, he boarded an old P&O liner call the 'Randi' which requisitioned by the Admiralty on 27 August 1939 and converted on 23 October 1939 to an armed merchant cruiser to carrying Japanese prisoners of war back to Southampton. Marreco, as part of his job aboard,
describes the trip, "I had to get up at 5.00am and bury my brother's and sister's who had not survived the night”.
In 1946, Marreco was demobilised and return to civvy street, he soon accepted an offer to attend the Nuremburg War Crimes Tribunal as part of the British delegation where he
spent a number of months. During October 1946 he was appointed Chief Assistant to Deputy Chairman, Government Sub-Committee (Control Commission) for Berlin and later in April 1947 was appointed Director of the same.
In October 1947 was appointed British member, Directorate of Internal Affairs and Communications; Chief Staff Officer to Political Adviser to Military Governor. During December 1948 he resigned from the Control Commission.
Legal Career
Having passed his first Bar Examination in 1938, he was called to the Bar (Inner Temple) in 1941 during his absence on war service. He continued his law studies and took his Bar Finals at Twatt on a remote island in the Orkneys, invigilated by a chief petty officer. He was later a pupil of the distinguished Irish lawyer Brian McKenna in Walter Monckton's chambers in the Temple located at 2, Paper Buildings, London. Marreco never returned to the Bar, and instead went on to become a human-rights advocate, helping co-found Amnesty International.
Publishing & Banking
In the 1950s he was a director of Weidenfeld & Nicolson, established 1949, a British publisher of fiction and reference books. He also worked as an investment banker for SG
Warburg & Co founded in 1946 by Siegmund Warburg (b.1902 d.1982) and Henry Grunfeld (b.1904 d.1999).
Olympic Games – Germany 1936
Anthony received an invitation from Otto Christian von Bismarck (b.1987 d.1976) who was counsellor at the German Embassy in London (1929 to 1937) to attend the 1936 Summer
Olympic games in Germany as part of an official party. On attendance with some others were, John Beverley Nichols (b.1898 d.1983) English author, playwright, journalist,
composer, and public speaker and Mangal Heppeelipol (New Zealander) there was a mix up with their seats and it looked like they would not get in, however a German SS officer
frantically beckoned them upstairs to some fine seats. Minutes later Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring and Joseph Goebbels along with their respective wives arrived and took up their seats directly in front. The party was in the charge of Ernst Hanfstaengl (b.1887 d.1975), nicknamed "Putzi", who was a German-American businessman and became an
intimate friend and confidant of Adolf Hitler who enjoyed listening to "Putzi" play the piano. Hitler was the godfather of Hanfstaengl's son Egon (b.1921 d.2007).
Marreco witnessed the display of fury that Hitler showed when Jessie Owens (b.1913 d.1980) won the 100 meters (Owens won four gold medals, the long jump, 100 meters, 200 meters and 4 × 100m relay). Marreco also remarked how Helene Bertha Amalie “Leni” Riefenstahl (b.902 d.2003) who was a German film director, actress and Nazi sympathizer
jumped up with her camera and filmed Hitler from every conceivable angle every time he spoke. She was commissioned by the German Olympic Committee for $7 million to film the Games and directed the Nazi propaganda films “Triumph des Willens” (Triumph of the Will) and “Olympia” (video documentary of the games). Both movies are widely considered to be the most effective, and technically innovative, propaganda films ever made. Adolf Hitler was in close collaboration with Riefenstahl during the production of at least three important Nazi films during which they formed a friendly relationship. Some have suggested that Riefenstahl's visions were essential in the carrying out of the Holocaust?
Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal (1945 to 1949)
Marreco takes up the story. "I had returned from the Navy and I was back in my London chambers when one day in March 1946 after coming out of the dining hall of the Inner
Temple, about three months into the trial, Hartley Shawcross (b.1902 d.2003), the Attorney-General, (he was a sailing acquaintance of my father), fell into step beside me and
he said, "Good to see you Marreco, how are getting on? I’m fine”, and then he asked, "Would you like to go to Nuremberg?" Marreco replied, “Give me 24 hours”, I went back to my chambers and discussed the proposition with my colleagues who advised me to go. He arrived in Germany, just as U.S. Chief of Counsel, Robert Houghwout Jason
(b.1892 d.1954) was cross-examining Hermann Göring (18 March 1946). Marreco was briefed by the head of the British team, Sir David Maxwell Fyfe (b.1900 d.1967), 1st Earl of
Kilmuir.
Members of the British Prosecuting Counsel at Nuremberg included: Chief Prosecutor: Attorney General Sir Hartley Shawcross, Deputy Chief Prosecutor: Rt. Hon. Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, Leading Council: Mr. Geoffrey ('Khaki') Dorling Roberts (b.1886 d.1967), Junior Council: Major J. Harcourt Barrington (b.1907 d.1973), Major Frederick Elwyn Jones
(b.1909 d.1989), Mr Edward George G Robey (b.1900 d.1983), Lieut Col. John Mervyn Griffith-Jones (b.1909 d.1979), Colonel Henry Josceline Phillimore (b.1910 d.1974), Mr. Airey
Middleton Sheffield Neave (b.1916 d.1979), Sir Clement Raphael Freud (b.1924 d.2009) & Peter John Ambrose Calvocoressi (b.1912 d.2010).
In all, six organisations, including the SS, the Gestapo and the high command of the German army were also accused. 199 defendants were tried, 161 were convicted and 37 were
sentenced to death, including 12 of those tried by the International Military Tribunal (IMT).
From March to Sept 1946 Marreco was Junior Counsel of the British Delegation, his first task was to join a subsidiary tribunal to sort out the witnesses, convened under Airey
Neave who was the first British officer to escape from Colditz Castle on 12 May 1942. The defence called more than 400 witnesses. Marreco was present when they made their
depositions and cross-examined them on behalf of the prosecution. He also describes how he helped draft the trials' forensic closing speech delivered by the head of the
British team, Sir Hartley Shawcross.
Marreco recalls, "In the six months I was in Nuremberg, I got to know each of the Nazi defendants, and with one notable exception, I never liked any of them. Particularly, Joachim von Ribbentrop, the former ambassador to Britain who sat ashen-faced and was the most unpalatable character. Wilhelm Frick (Reich Minister of the Interior) was a horrible little man, Walther Funk (Reich Minister for Economic Affairs) was another dirty little shit”. He loathed Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz whom he vividly remembered being "brought into the courtroom clanking in chains" and who paced up and down, giving the impression of a madman. But with Hermann Göring, Hitler's number two, there was something about his attitude and the way he took charge of all the defendants that was, for me, totally compelling."Göring, who sangfroid throughout the judicial process and on one occasion when a particularly attractive military wren was standing next to the dock, Göring reached out and pinched her bottom. "She was so incensed and complained to the judge, but Göring knew he was going to die and he didn't care".
Britain’s legal team was tiny compared with the 300-plus American one, but Maxwell Fyfe told Marreco that the American's had got bogged down because the German defence counsel had surprisingly called more than 400 witnesses, many of them SS guards who had previously been at the extermination camps of Auschwitz and Belsen.
The International Military Tribunal (IMT) announces it's verdicts on November 1946. It imposed the death sentence on 12 defendants, Hermann Göring, Joachim von Ribbentrop,
Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, and Martin Bormann.
3 are sentenced to life imprisonment, Rudolf Hess, Walther Funk and Erich Raeder. The only one of them to serve their entire life in prison was Rudolf Hess who died on 17 Aug 1987, he was found strangled to death in a cabin in the exercise yard at Spandau Prison, Berlin. Apparently, he choked himself to death with an electrical cord. Some suspected foul play.
4 receive prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years, Karl Dönitz, Baldur von Schirach, Albert Speer, and Konstantin von Neurath. The court acquits 3 defendants: Hjalmar Schacht (Economics Minister), Franz von Papen (German politician who played an important role in Hitler's appointment as chancellor), and Hans Fritzsche (head of Press and Radio).
The death sentences were carried out on 16 October 1946, with two exceptions: Hermann Göring committed suicide shortly before his scheduled execution, and Martin Bormann,
who was sentensed but was absent during the trial. The other 10 defendants were hanged, their bodies cremated at Ostfriedhof, Munich, and their ashes deposited in the Iser
River.
Video - Nuremberg Executions 1946 - What Happened to the Bodies? (Mark Felton Productions)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=At7IA19fXHc&ab_channel=MarkFe...
Video - Joachim von Ribbentrop (Mark Felton Productions)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-q6pdTyE0Q&ab_channel=MarkFe...
Video - Hermann Göring's Mysterious Death (Mark Felton Productions)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IMhFW7539s&ab_channel=MarkFe...
Hermann Göring's Special Train - Exclusive New Footage (Mark Felton Productions)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMc3Kw9aNEs&ab_channel=MarkFe...
Video - Rudolf Hess: The Last Prisoner of Spandau (Mark Felton Productions)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9lM-aaCHJU&ab_channel=MarkFe...
Video - The hanging of Rudolf Höss at Auschwitz (Alan Heath)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3C4njP5J2o&ab_channel
Post in Germany
As Chief Staff Officer to the Political Adviser to the British Military Government of Germany, and as British Member of the Directorate of International Affairs and Communications, Allied Control Authority, Berlin, from 1946 to 1949, Marreco assisted in the creation of new democratic and legal institutions in Germany.
Political Career
Marreco contested Wells in Somerset as a Liberal candidate in the 23 February 1950 general election obtaining 9,771 votes however, he was unsuccessful being beaten by the
Conservative representative Dennis Boles (b.1885 d.1958) with 20,613 votes. Again, in Goole in the West Riding of Yorkshire in the 25 October 1951 general election he obtained 17,073 votes being beaten by the Labour representative George Jeger (b.1903 d.1971) with 26,088 votes.
Amnesty International
In 1960 Flora Solomon (b.1895 d.1984), his neighbour in Shepherd Street, told Marreco that her son, Peter Benenson (b.1921 d.2005) was founding an organisation which was
later to become Amnesty International. Marreco, who had twice stood as a Liberal candidate for Parliament, supported him vigorously.
In 1968 he became Honorary Treasurer and had set up an Amnesty International Development Inc. (AID Inc.) in 1970 in the United States, which was totally separate from Amnesty
International and which could send funds to families of Greek prisoners. This was strongly opposed by Amnesty International USA. Outspoken in all his opinions, Marreco
conducted several investigations for Amnesty, notably during the regime of the Greek Colonels, when he went to Athens to interview Stylianos Pattakos (b.1912 d.2016), one of the Junta leaders of 1967 to 1974, about allegations of torture and the curtailing of civil liberties.
In 1971, Marreco investigated allegations of torture by British troops in Northern Ireland and subsequently resigned. Amnesty, he said, "refused to go to Belfast and even see these people", he added that "it was also a bizarre circumstance" that Amnesty's chairman, Sean MacBride (b.1904 d.1988), was the leader of Clann na Poblachta (Irish
republican political party) from 1946 to 1965 and was a former Chief of Staff of the IRA from 1936 to 1939. He also implied that he had received treats from the IRA when living at Porthall, County Donegal.
Mayfair Residents Association
For 13 years he was chairman of the Residents Association of Mayfair (RAM), steering it through turbulent times when it was opposed by the Association of Residents of Mayfair (ARM). When the two merged in 2004 he was appointed Honorary Present of the Residents’ Society of Mayfair and St James’s. He resigned on 13 January 2004. He was also a member
of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and of the Garrick Theatre, the Royal Thames Yacht Club and the Beefsteak Club. He was also a Director of Aldbourne Craft Trust
from 4 August 2000 until he resigned on 4 June 2006.
Institute of International Criminal Law
In 1983 he proposed setting up an Institute of International Criminal Law, to be established in association with the Irish Universities. He offered Port Hall to the Irish government as a study centre, where "the hideous violations of human rights, which had disfigured the 20th century" could be researched. His ambition was to set up a television archive of the Nuremberg Trials to be used by lawyers and peace researchers from all over the world. The Institute never came to fruition, possibly because Marreco also remained energetically committed to sorting out the legal and domestic problems of the Mayfair intelligentsia.
In his last years Marreco retired to Greenhill Bank Cottage, Aldbourne, in Wiltshire, with his wife, Gina, who was a brilliant hostess and an unforgettable cook.
Relationships
Anthony Marreco was married four times, but to only three women and had numerous affairs with other women but he had no children.
Lady Ursula Isabel Manners (b.1916 d.2017)
Lady Ursula Isabel Manners was born 8th November 1916, being the elder daughter of five children of John Manners, (b.1886 d.1940) 9th Duke of Rutland, by his wife the former
Kathleen Tennant (b.1894 d.1989, aged 95). As a 20-year-old she acted as one of Queen Elizabeth's trainbearers in Westminster Abbey and received international media attention after a photograph of her from the coronation on 12 May 1937, standing alongside the British royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace which was circulated in the news.
The reports, focused on her beauty and distinctive widow's peak, leading to her being nicknamed "the cygnet" by Winston Churchill while she accompanied the king and queen on a 5-day royal tour to France in 1938.
On 25 July 1943, Lady Ursula married Anthony Marreco in the chapel at Belvoir Castle, Grantham, Leicestershire, a man she barely knew and who threatened to commit suicide if
she refused to do so. The swiftness in which a wedding was organised prompted the minister to place a chair for her to sit on at the altar as he assumed, she was pregnant, this, she admitted, had infuriated her. Marreco left her to serve in the British Armed Forces in Asia and lost communication with her until 1946. During this time she had entered into a brief relationship with Man Singh II (b.1912 d.1970), the Maharaja of Jaipur, whom she met through her friend Jawaharlal Nehru (b.1889 d.1964). Lady Ursula and Marreco divorced in 1948.
Lady Ursula resumed her maiden name, and married secondly on 22 Nov 1951, Robert Erland Nicolai d'Abo (b.1911 d.1970), the elder son of Gerard Louis d'Abo (b.1884 d.1962), by whom
she had two sons and a daughter. In 2014 she published her memoir titled “The Girl with the Widow's Peak: The Memoirs”.
Lady Ursula died on 2 November 2017, aged 100, she was one of the last surviving aristocrats to have participated at the Coronation of King George VI & Queen Elizabeth on 12 May 1937.
Louise de Vilmorin (b.1902 d.1969)
Marreco also became involved with Louise de Vilmorin through the late 1940s until 1951 who was a French novelist, poet and journalist. Born in the family château at Verrières-le-Buisson, Essonne, a suburb southwest of Paris, she was heir to the fortune of the great French seed company, that of 'Vilmorin'. (The 4th largest seed company in the world).
Louise was the younger daughter of Philippe de Vilmorin (b.1872 d.1917) by his wife Berthe Marie Mélanie de Gaufridy de Dortan (b.1876 d.1937)
From a child, she was afflicted with a slight limp, the result of Tuberculosis of the hip, however she compensated for her frailty with a flamboyant personality. She was a spellbinding talker who craved the limelight that she once flung a butterball to the ceiling when another guest at a dinner party wouldn’t allow her to tell a story.
De Vilmorin was never wholly sure of Marreco's devotion, as in Venice, in July 1950 her doubts were realised when Marreco went in successful pursuit of the somewhat unstable
Queen Alexandra of Yugoslavia (b.1921 d.1993), who had fellen madly in love with him and who then took an overdose of sleeping pills and slipped into a coma, but recovered
after two days, allegedly after de Vilmorin removed him to Sélestat in France at the end of the holiday.
De Vilmorin's diaries are peppered with references to him. She was much taken by his style of dress, on one occasion a shirt with narrow blue and white stripes, a black silk tie with white spots, a black jacket and waistcoat, spongebag trousers, and black leather ankle boots. When he went out, he perched his bowler hat at a rakish angle, and carried a furled umbrella. Above all, she was impressed by Marreco's adonis-like looks, impressed that he could return from a fashionable ball at six in the morning, neither drunk nor tired, but invigorated with life, talking of beautiful women, fortune, society and success. "Beauty likes to shine, to dazzle," wrote de Vilmorin, "and above all to be recognised!" She was deeply saddened when he left her in New Year in 1951, conscious that she was 13 years his senior and that his career might place demands on him that would take him away from her. These concerns were replicated as Marreco at this time had political aspirations.
Again, De Vilmorin's fears were realised while she was staying with Paul-Louis Weiller (b.1893 d.1993), at his villa, La Reine Jeanne, with Marreco in tow. She awoke one morning and found him gone. He had set off to Brazil in pursuit of Lali Horstmann, whose book had recently been published to great acclaim.
Vilmorin's first husband was an American real-estate heir, Henry Leigh Hunt (b.1886 d.1972), the only son of Leigh S. J. Hunt (b.1855 d.1933), a businessman who once owned
much of Las Vegas, Nevada and his wife, Jessie Nobel (b.c.1862 d.1960). They married in c.1925, moved to Las Vegas, and divorced in the 1930s. They had three daughters,
Jessie, Alexandra, and Helena.
Her second husband was Count Paul Pálffy ab Erdöd (b.1890 d.1968), a much-married Austrian-born Hungarian playboy, who had been second husband to the Hungarian countess better known as Etti Plesch (b.1914 d.2003), owner of two Epsom Derby winners. Palffy married Louise as his 5th wife in 1938, but the couple soon divorced.
Vilmorin was the mistress of another of Etti Plesch's husbands, Count [Maria Thomas] Paul Esterházy de Galántha (b.1901 d.1964), who left his wife in 1942 for Vilmorin. They
never married. For a number of years, she was the mistress of Duff Cooper (b.1890 d.1954), British ambassador to France.
Louise spent the last years of her life as the companion of the French Cultural Affairs Minister and author André Malraux (b.1901 d.1976), calling herself "Marilyn Malraux". She died on 26 Dec 1969 aged 67 and is buried in Verrières-le-Buisson (Essonne) cemetery also the initial resting place of André Malraux.
Léonie (Lally or Lali) Horstmann (b.1898 d.1954)
While serving in Germany, Marreco, then aged 36, became the lover of Lali Horstmann, who came from a distinguished German banking family, the von Schwabachs, her father was
the banker and historian Paul von Schwabach (b.1867 d.1938) and her mother Eleonor (Elli) Schröder (b.1869 d1942). Lali was the widow of Alfred (Freddy) Horstmann (b.1979 d.1947) who was a retired diplomat, art collector and later the head of the English department at the German Foreign Office. Freddy resigned his diplomatic duties in 1933, the year Hitler came to power, rather than work for the Nazis.
As Germany collapsed in the face of the allied invasion, the Horstmann’s decided, against the trend of fleeing from the Russian advance, by staying at their Kerzendorf estate,
East of Berlin, an elegant eighteenth-century house which contained numberous antiquities, had a small park, avenues, statues and a garden. The house was destroyed one night
by allied bombers and the Horstmann's moved into the agent's little house in the park.
At first, the Horstmann's were able to anaesthetise themselves from the worst excesses through their wealth and possessions, but soon the valuable objets sought by Russian
soldiers ran out as they lived in constant fear of rape and pilliage. One day in March 1946, Freddy was taken away by the Russian Secret Police for questioning about his
diplomat duties, stating, "It is now Saturday, six o'clock, you will probably be back tomorrow at the same time, Tuesday at the latest."
Almost, two and a half years later, August 1948 at Berlin station, Lali was told that Freddy had died of starvation in a Russian concentration camp, (No.7 Sachsenhausen,
Oranienburg, Germany, which was only a few miles from their home) a year after his arrest and that he was buried at the edge of the camp with many of his companions. Others
had survived, a few had been released for no apparent reason, many of them were still, and are now, in captivity. My husband, like all the others, had never been questioned
or tried. He had never been given any opportunity to defend himself.
Lali later wrote a moving account of her search for him, 'Nothing for Tears' (1953), which has been described as "one of the most remarkable personal documents to come out of
Germany at the end of 2nd World War". Marreco's relationship ended in Berlin, but they remained friends, both in Berlin and later when Lali moved to London.
They met again in 1954 in Brazil only when Lali made her first trip to Brazil to meet friends who had settled in Paraná in the south of the country. Lali asked Anthony to drive her from Rio to Paraná. They stopped overnight in São Paulo, where Lali was found the following morning, unconscious in her hotel room, having suffered a massive heart attack. She was rushed to hospital where she died the next day, aged 56. Lali Horstmann was buried in São Paulo. Marreco inherited part of her substantial fortune, derived from her ownership of real estate in Berlin and her late husband's family publishing buisness, the newspaper the 'Frankfurter General-Anzeiger', which was published in Frankfurt from 1876 to 1943 under various names. As a result of this Marreco bought Port Hall in Lifford, Co Donegal in 1956 where he lived and farmed until 1983 when he sold the house as his money was running out.
Loelia, Duchess of Westminster (b.1902 d.1993)
Marrero was subsequently the lover of Lady Loelia Mary Lindsay of Dowhill, Duchess of Westminster who was a British peeress, needlewoman and magazine editor. Loelia was the
only daughter of the courtier Sir Frederick Ponsonby (b.1867 d.1935), later 1st Baron Sysonby, and Lady Victoria Lily (Kennard) Sysonby (b.1874 d.1955), the well-known cook
book author. Loelia spent her early years at St James's Palace in London, Park House at Sandringham and Birkhall in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. As one of the "Bright Young
People", she met the twice divorced Hugh Grosvenor (b.1879 d.1953), 2nd Duke of Westminster. They were married on 20 February 1930 in a blaze of publicity, with Winston Churchill as the best man, but were unable to have children. Her marriage to the enormously wealthy peer failed and was dissolved in 1947 after years of separation.
Loelia's private diaries were likewise filled with anxious questions as to Marrero's love and loyalty. She encouraged Marrero to invest in Weidenfeld & Nicolson, and for some
years in the 1950s he was a financial supporter of George Weidenfeld (b.1919 d.2016).
Lindsay's 2nd marriage, to the divorced explorer Sir Martin Lindsay (b.1905 d.1981), 1st Baronet. The couple were married on 1st August 1969. Sir Martin, a devoted husband, died in 1981, and Lady Lindsay chose to spend her last years in nursing homes. Her memoirs, written in 1961 and titled 'Grace and Favour: The Memoirs of Loelia, Duchess of Westminster', a significant record of aristocratic life between the First and Second World Wars.
Regina de Souza Coelho (b.1927 - ?)
In 1954 Marreco went to Brazil for S G Warburg and while in Brazil he met Regina (Gina) de Souza Coelho, only daughter of Dr. Roberto and Roberto de Souza Coelho of Rio de
Janeiro. Marreco, consummated his second marriage with Gina on 19th November 1955, but the marriage was dissolved in 1961.
Anthony and Gina resumed their relationship in 1990, buying a cottage in Aldbourne, Wiltshire in 1997 and re-marrying in 2004. Very little is known about Regina.
Anne Wignall (née Acland-Troyte) b.1912 d.1982
Daughter of Major Herbert Acland-Troyte (b.1882 d.1943) and Marjorie Florence Pym (b.1891 d.1977). Anne was born in Kensington, London and had previously been married to the
5th Lord Ebury, Rennie Hoare (b.1901, d.1981), and also Lt-Col Frederick Wignall (b.1906 d.1956)
Anne first married, Robert Egerton Grosvenor (b.1914 d.1957), 5th Baron Ebury, son of Francis Egerton Grosvenor (b.1883 d.1932), 4th Baron Ebury and Mary Adela Glasson
(b.1883 d.1960), on 1 July 1933. She and Robert were divorced in 1941. Anne & Robert had two sons:
1. Francis Egerton Grosvenor, 8th Earl of Wilton (b.8th Feb 1934)
2. Hon. Robert Victor Grosvenor (b.1936 d.1993)
A keen racing driver, Lord Ebury died in an accident at Prescott, Gloucestershire on 5 May 1957, aged 43, while driving a Jaguar C-type - XKC 046 (Registration MVC630). He
was cremated at Oxford Crematorium, where there is a plaque to him and his 3rd wife Sheila, who died in 2010.
Anne's 2nd marriage on 23 December 1941 was to, Henry Peregrine Rennie Hoare (b.1901 d.1981) son of Henry Hoare (b.1866 d.1956) and Lady Geraldine Mariana Hervey
(b.1869 d.1955). Anne and Henry were divorced in 1947.
Anne's 3rd marriage on 13 November 1947 was to Lt.Col. Frederick Edwin Barton Wignall (b.1906 d.1956). He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in The Life Guards and died
9 November 1956 and was buried in the churchyard of St Michael and All Angels, Poulton, Gloucestershire.
Anne's 4th marriage on 25 September 1961 was to Anthony Freire Marreco (his 3rd marriage) and as Anne Marreco she was the biographer of “Constance Markievicz - The Rebel
Countess” (1967). She changed her name back to Wignall by deed poll in 1969 and died on 23 June 1982 in Tiverton, Devon and was buried in the churchyard at All Saints Church,
Huntsham, close to her father's ancestral seat, Huntsham Court.
Port Hall House
At Port Hall Marreco bred a fine herd of Charolais cattle and was immediately accepted by that flamboyant section of Irish society known as "The Donegal Group". Anthony was a
convivial host, a considerable raconteur, his hospitality was legendary being a generous host at Port Hall, with it's spacious library and hand-painted wallpaper and at his summer house parties in Greece and in his book-lined flat in Shepherd Market in Mayfair in London.
His many guests ranged from Henry MacIlhenny (b.1910 d.1986), millionaire owner of Glenveagh Castle, Co. Donegal to historian R.B McDowell (b.1913 d.2011), who for 13 years
(1956 to 1969) was dean of discipline at Trinity College, Dublin and once castigated future President Mary Robinson.
Port Hall house was owned by Anthony Marreco from 1956 until 1983. He had a strong interest in building conservation and carefully repaired and conserved Port Hall during the
1960s. This important building is one of the most significant elements of the built heritage of Donegal, and forms the centrepiece of a group of related structures along with
the warehouses to the rear, the walled garden to the south, and the other surviving elements of the site.
Port Hall House was built in 1746 on the banks of the River Foyle, for Judge John Vaughan (b.1603 d.1674) also of Buncrana Castle, who served as a Grand Juror for County
Donegal which was based at Lifford a short distance to the south-south-west of Port Hall. The house design is attributed to Michael Priestley (d.23 September 1777), an architect who was also responsible for the designs of the county court house and gaol (Old Courthouse) in Lifford’s Diamond (were John Half-Hung MacNaghten was held), Strabane Canal, Prehen House on the outskirts of Derry City and possibly First Presbyterian Church in Magazine Street, Derry City.
Marreco strenuously opposed salmon poaching, then running at a value of £1 million of fish a year. He became chairman of the Foyle Fisheries Commission (now known as the ‘Loughs Agency’) and immersed himself in every aspect of Ireland's cultural and political life. In the last year of his life, he had wished to make his own documentary, The Rule of Law, tracing the development of international law from the time of Grotius, the 17th century philosopher, to the present day.
Anthony Freire Marreco died on 4th June 2006 aged 90 years and was buried in the graveyard of St. Michael's Church, Aldbourne, Wiltshire, England. Donations were requested for
the RSPCA.
A video interview with Anthony Marreco recalling moments from his life at aged 82 is available on YouTube via link.
Some Footage of a smallish Buzzard refusing to share any scraps with some bigger Ravens despite having a fairly full crop.
Chassis: WhiteGMC Xpeditor WX42
Body: Heil Half/Pack Curved Shell
Company: Waste Management
Location: Kennewick, WA
Date: July 2014
©Bryn Erdman. All Rights Reserved.
Menschen im Ruhrpott, früher war Vokuhila angesagt ;-) heute geht man einfach nicht mehr zum Friseur!
Pentax DA*55/1.4
I saw a program somewhere a few days ago that there’s no more “marriage.” People get married and then go separate ways after god knows how many years. I believe it’s stupid to refuse to change your life at a certain age. Back in the Soviet Union, if one was older than 35, they could not be accepted into any colleges. Thank god this is not the Soviet Union. My sister-in-law is planning to move here from Europe; she’s 39 with 3 kids. Today I found out that one of my coworkers got engaged at 50 (in Venice!) She had three kids with her ex-husband. I always told my coworkers if you are happy, really happy where you are, you stay there. But if there’s something wrong, close your eyes, imagine age is just a line you have to cross, and just do it!!! 😊💛♥️
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 124a.
Polish film actress Pola Negri (1897-1987) achieved fame and notoriety as a femme fatale in German and American silent films between the 1910s and 1930s. Negri was an overnight sensation in Ernst Lubitsch' Madame du Barry/Passion (1919). She moved to Hollywood where she lived in a palace, modeled after the White House.
Pola Negri was born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec in Lipno (some sources say Janowa), Russian Empire (present-day Poland), in 1897. Her father, Juraj Chałupiec, was a Slovak immigrant tinsmith. Her mother had to make a living alone after her father, was arrested by the Russians and sent to a Siberian prison camp, where he died. In 1902, mother and her only daughter moved to Warsaw, where they lived in poverty. As a teenager, Pola auditioned for the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet. She was accepted. As a ballerina, she showed great promise until she contracted tuberculosis and was forced to cut short her dance career. She switched to the Warsaw Imperial Academy of Dramatic Arts and became an actress. Her triumphant debut as Hedwig in Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck brought her to the attention of the prestigious and daring Little Theatre of Philharmonic Hall. After a brief stay, Pola moved on to The Rozmaitosci, the national theatre of Poland. By now, Pola had become a popular and well-known actress in Warsaw, but the outbreak of World War I interrupted her rise and left her and her mother in dire financial straits. By the time the war receded, Pola had signed with the Polish film company Sphinx and debuted as a dancer in Niewolnica zmyslów/Slave of the Senses (Ryszard Ordynski, Jan Pawlowski, 1914). She appeared in a variety of films, including Żona/The Wife (Aleksander Hertz, 1915), Bestia/Beast (Aleksander Hertz, 1915), and Studenci/Students (Aleksander Hertz, 1916). During that time, she adopted the pseudonym ‘Pola Negri’, after the Italian poetess Ada Negri. As the situation in Warsaw stabilised, the city's theatres soon became active again, and Pola gained the chance of a lifetime. David Ordynski, a Polish director currently working with Max Reinhardt at his Deutsches Theater in Berlin, returned to Warsaw to stage the Polish premiere of Reinhardt's 'Sumurun'. This is the story of a mulatto dancer bought in the slave market for the Sheik but is loved by his son. She kills the Sheik in self-defense. Pola's success in the role of the slave girl took her to Berlin.
In Berlin, Pola Negri found considerable success at the Deutsches Theater. She met German fellow actor-turned-director Ernst Lubitsch, who became famous for the ‘Lubitsch Touch’, the skillful blending of sly wit and innuendo that confounded even the strictest censor in the 1920s. Lubitsch introduced Pola to Paul Davidson, head of Germany's Union Film Alliance, and together they made such films as Die Augen der Mumie Ma/The Eyes of Mummy Ma (Ernst Lubitsch, 1918), Carmen/Gypsy Blood (Ernst Lubitsch, 1918) based on the Bizet opera, a film version of Sumurun/One Arabian Night (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920), and Die Bergkatze/The Wildcat (Ernst Lubitsch, 1921). The characters that Pola played were strong, earthy, passionate women - full of fire, and her roles to date were of women whose will and ardor were equal to Negri's own. While Pola also hit it big in such non-Lubitsch films as Arme Violetta/Camille (Paul L. Stein, 1920) and Sappho (Dimitri Buchowetzki, 1921), it was their pairing in the smash hit Madame du Barry/Passion (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919) that made them an overnight sensation. It was such a success in the USA that by 1922, Negri and Lubitsch both signed contracts with Famous Players and headed for Hollywood.
In 1923 Pola Negri landed the role of Maritana in The Spanish Dancer (Herbert Brenon, 1923) with Antonio Moreno and Wallace Beery. Her exotic style of glamour proved popular with filmgoers. They equally liked her next productions, Bella Donna (George Fitzmaurice, 1923) and The Cheat (George Fitzmaurice, 1923). Her vamp roles were so popular that she became a direct rival of Theda Bara. Negri lived in a palace in Los Angeles, modelled after the White House. Forbidden Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch, 1924) with Adolphe Menjou and Hotel Imperial (Mauritz Stiller, 1927) were two of her most successful films. However, her vamp style began to go out of vogue and her popularity quickly began to fade. Three things conspired to end her career in Hollywood. The display that she put on at the funeral of Rudolph Valentino in 1926, changed the public mood towards her. The Hays Office codes would not allow filming the 'scenes of passion' and 'excessive and lustful kissing' that made her a sex-siren European star. And finally, her thick accent would not play in the sound pictures that were coming into vogue. In 1928, Negri made her last film for Paramount Pictures entitled The Woman from Moscow (Ludwig Berger, 1928), opposite actor Norman Kerry. The film was only Negri's second talkie (the first being Loves of an Actress (Rowland V. Lee, 1928) opposite Nils Asther, and Paramount didn’t renew her contract. Having divorced Eugeniusz Dąbski in 1921, Negri married the self-claimed Georgian prince Serge Mdivani in 1927. In 1929, Negri lost most of her fortune in the Wall Street Crash. The couple divorced, and she left Hollywood for Great Britain to make the drama The Way of Lost Souls/The Woman He Scorned (Paul Czinner, 1929).
After 1930 Pola Negri worked mainly in England and Germany, where she acted in films for the Joseph Goebbels-controlled Ufa. Mazurka (Willi Forst, 1935) gained much popularity in Germany and became one of Adolf Hitler's favorite films. She fled Germany in 1938 after Nazi officials labeled her as having "part Jewish" ancestry. She moved to France, and then in 1941 she sailed from Portugal to New York and was temporarily detained at Ellis Island. After her release, she eventually returned to Hollywood. She briefly appeared in Hi Diddle Diddle (Andrew L. Stone, 1943), though her career was essentially over. In 1951, Negri became a naturalised citizen of the United States. Her final film appearance was in the Walt Disney film The Moon-Spinners (James Neilson, 1964), with Hayley Mills. The same year she received an honorary award from the German film industry for her career. Negri lived her remaining years in San Antonio, Texas, with her companion, Texan heiress, and composer, Margaret West. In 1970 she published her autobiography 'Memoirs of a Star' (1970). Negri maintained her flamboyant persona to the end of her life and was often compared to the character role she once had turned down: Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. Pola Negri died in 1987, in San Antonio, USA, at the age of 90. Her death was caused by pneumonia, however, she was also suffering from a brain tumor (for which she had refused treatment).
Sources: Glen Pringle and Kally Mavromatis (Silent Star of April), Tony Fontana (IMDb), Denny Jackson (IMDb), David Gasten (Pola Negri Appreciation Site), Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Donald Trump opened a Pandora’s Box when he and the Republican Party politicized the coronavirus. When he called it the “Kung Flu” and the “Wuhan Virus,” racists attacked Asian-Americans. As a new virus, we have no natural immunity. But Trump refused to heed the warnings to social distance and wear masks, playing down the severity of the disease for political gain. Instead, he promoted fake cures and dismissed science experts. His acolytes followed suit. Rather than follow the science, right-wing charlatans continue to tout fake COVID cures. Only recently has Trump promoted vaccines and boosters (in part to separate himself from potential presidential rivals like Ron DeSantis). Other GOP lawmakers have privately protected themselves while publicly refusing to convey the importance of being immunized. And over 800,000 Americans have died.
People reacted with anger and pseudo-science theories when President Biden first appealed to Americans to “get the shot.” Incentives encouraged vaccinations. While these motivated some, it was much less than needed to reach herd immunity. With vaccination rates lagging, President Biden forced the issue with mandates for businesses with over 100 employees. And now conservatives on the Supreme Court have overruled those.
Adam Galinsky, a professor of leadership and ethics at Columbia Business School, recently wrote about the “psychology of regret” and its effect on vaccine hesitancy. “Alongside skepticism of institutions and experts, exposure to misinformation, and other often-cited reasons for resisting vaccines sits a clear emotional explanation: Many people are afraid that they’ll make a bad decision.” Fear can cause people to hesitate, no matter what the incentives might be. It may not seem rational, but many put more weight on the negative ramifications of their decisions than on any potential positive outcomes. They assign their actions greater importance than the consequences of not acting.
Ironically, this sense of regret explains why mandates have been so successful. When Biden first announced these mandates, the largest police union in New York City went to court to block them. They said they would lose thousands of officers who would quit rather than get inoculated. In reality, only three dozen officers ended up refusing. United Airlines instituted its mandate, and 99% of its workforce is vaccinated. This week they reported no deaths due to COVID. Mandates take the decision-making out of the individual’s hands. With the fear of making a wrong decision eliminated, most get vaccinated.
One of the most inane and insensitive protests over these requirements comes from those who show their opposition by wearing yellow Stars of David. Nazis required Jews to wear these stars with the word “Jude” at all times. Today’s protesters liken vaccine mandates to the persecution of Jews during World War II. They equate vaccination requirements with being sent to the gas chamber. At least, they say, it’s a slippery slope. They wear these stars as badges of resistance. However, Nazis forced Jews to wear them as signs of exclusion and disdain, signifying they were less than human. This false equivalent insults all Jews and their families who suffered during the Holocaust.
In June 2021, Jim Walsh, a Republican Washington State Representative, posted a video on Facebook showing him speaking to a group of conservatives while wearing the star. Posting on the social media platform, he said, “It’s an echo from history. In the current context, we’re all Jews.” We’re all Jews? During the Charlottesville protests, neo-Nazi’s chanted, “Jews will not replace us.” Now people are using the symbols of our annihilation to protest vaccine mandates. We’re tired of being used as scapegoats by neo-Nazis and examples of persecution by anti-vaxxers.
On November 14, 2021, anti-mandate protesters displayed the swastika and the yellow star in front of the offices of New York State Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who is Jewish. Dinowitz has been a vigorous proponent of mandates. The crowd gathered to protest Dinowitz’s bill, requiring all students be immunized against COVID in order to attend school. Republican gubernatorial candidate, Rob Astorino, organized the rally. Assemblyman Dinowitz stated, “People are free to express their opinions on vaccine policy and on any issue, but I draw the line at swastikas. [T]o stand next to swastikas and yellow Stars of David outside of a Jewish legislator’s office shows a lack of integrity at best and an embrace of right-wing extremism at worst.”
In a hearing by the Kansas Special Committee on Government Overreach and the Impact of COVID-19 Mandates, former Kansas City, Kansas mayoral candidate Daran Duffy, explained why he and his family were wearing these stars. “The reason I’m wearing the star is not to be offensive, but it’s to remember, and for everybody else to call to remembrance World War II. The Jewish people were forced to wear a yellow star to identify them as Jews. And they were ushered off to the death camps in accordance with that. There were medical tests; there were experimentations done on human people. And while this hasn’t reached that deprivation, we are definitely moving in that direction.” Despite his sincerity, he is oblivious to the insensitivity of his protest.
And, just this week, Ohio Republican Congressman Warren Davidson likened vaccine mandates to Nazi atrocities by tweeting a photo of a Nazi Gesuntheitspaß (health passport) with the text, “It’s been done before. #DoNotComply” He went on to say, “Let’s recall that the Nazis dehumanized Jewish people before segregating them, segregated them before imprisoning them, imprisoned them before enslaving them, and enslaved them before massacring them.”
People receiving COVID shots are not part of an experiment. The actions of Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, who conducted sadistic medical procedures on Auschwitz children, are a far cry from the science behind these vaccines. For over two decades, researchers have been studying mRNA, the foundation of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Scientists conducted vigorous trials involving thousands of volunteers before their release. No one forced people to enroll in these trials. It was an altruistic choice meant to help others.
Mandates do not force people to get the vaccine. They have a choice. Yes, it’s a serious one. Their lives and their livelihoods may depend on what choice they make. And there are serious consequences for refusal, like losing one’s job. Without the vaccine, they may suffer a horrible death or lifelong after-effects. Even if you survive on a ventilator in the ICU, your life may never be the same. The coronavirus is and will continue to be a public health hazard.
Our personal decisions affect the people around us. Children and the immunocompromised are at risk. Many of these “hesitants” are ardent supporters of “American Exceptionalism,” believing that God has bestowed special blessings on our country and its people. But there is nothing exceptional about this selfishness.
The exploitation of the Star of David is part of the conflict over racial identity politics. Many Whites are afraid of being marginalized. And the GOP creates false wedge issues that stoke this fear as a way of igniting voters’ outrage. They’ve been employing this tactic for decades. So why is everyone outraged? Because the GOP wants us to be outraged. Because their hold on power depends on it.
Since this pandemic began, we have lived in a world without reason. American society has devolved into a culture where many equate vaccine mandates with Nazi atrocities. Critical thinking is often missing. Jewish identity is just one tangent of racial injustice. White racists often invoke Jew’s supposed political and financial power for their hatred. We can often pass for “white-white.” But we’re really “off-white.” When White racial fears abound, Jews are targeted.
Fear of losing control fuels opposition to vaccine mandates. But anti-vaxxers are not innocent victims of a frightening mob with an irrational agenda. COVID is a dire public health issue. And resistance to vaccines, mandates, and fear of make-believe persecution does not make them martyrs.
One may object to mandates, but don’t use symbols of real suffering to do so. Signs of our persecution are not yours to appropriate whenever you see fit. It feigns solidarity with Jews. But, in reality, these protesters are using us. Until you see your family marched off to the death camps, never to see them again, stop using the Star of David to compare your fears and outrage to the extermination of European Jewry. You don’t know what real suffering is. Stop living your lives as if you do.
Feel free to pass this poster on. It's free to download here (click on the down arrow just to the lower right of the image).
See the rest of the posters from the Chamomile Tea Party! Digital high res downloads are free here (click the down arrow on the lower right side of the image). Other options are available. And join our Facebook group.
Follow the history of our country's political intransigence from 2010-2020 through a seven-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.
2YD FL bin from Nedland Industries
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Please do not use this photo or any part of this photo without first asking for permission, thank you.
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A very slim chance of their escape from these guys on motorbike.
I smelled chicken Adobo and curry.
Location : Bantayan Island, Central Visayas, Philippines
I took this photo whilst on sightseeing by motorbike around Bantayan Island
awhile back in 2010, and spotted these guys with chickens.
Not the best photo to show off but I was convicted to keep this image rather
than discard it. I don't see this scene everyday and I find this image depicting
some character of village life, maybe some hint of animal cruelty which blinded
people through distorted meaning of human superiority over animals , eroding
responsibility and care in handling these little creatures under our dominion.
If you love and have respect of animals, this can be heartbreaking .
I kept this in reflection, with some contentious road of thoughts and
sympathy of what our chicken roasts, chicken curry, been going through their
little lifespan behind the scenes. Most live in cramp cruel confinement in battery cages, obviously
don't live a nice short life. But despite this compelling image ,
I'm still headstrong with my refusal to convert to vegetarian diet.
Being grounded by Biblical teachings, I live by faith, which also reflects
the food I ate.
"For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer"
1 Timothy 4 :4-5
" Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you"
Exodus 23;25
"Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground."
Genesis 1:26
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What is hidden will be put to light....
The New World Order- Secret Societies and Biblical Prophecy ~ The unveiling of hidden darkness, fascinating vid !
The name of Jesus has power !
"Jesus Name" Frightens Intruder With A Gun !
North Korea "Parents Eat Children" Famine Hit The Land! - O' this is sick, this made me like throwing up. I'd rather die of starvation than eat human flesh if there's nothing anymore to eat ! How can one have stomach to eat another, c'mon ! Time is getting so evil !
Here's a prayer against witches! Psalm 109 is a reflection of these prayers against your enemies that intends to harm you. I do always pray against witchcraft , that any spells cast against me ,ill wishes, Satanic rituals and curses against me and my household will be put back in reverse upon the source . Finish the prayer in the name of Jesus. If you are not born again in the Christ, you need to now by accepting Jesus as your Lord and saviour .
Here's one example of these type of prayer :
Prayer to Remove Black Magic Spells
China Sinkhole Swallows Buildings (video) ~ Paul Begley
Dr. Scott Johnson : Obama's Civil War, NRA: Borderless, Antichrist ( pt 2 of 4 )
* From the venue of 25th candlelight vigil for the Tiananmen Square Massacre.Victoria Park, Hong Kong
@ 4 June 2014. More than 180,000 people participated to the vigil.
Hasselblad 500C/M + CB60 + Acros100
© All rights reserved 2014. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission.
A protester with a placard outside the Home Office at the start of the Al Quds Day rally in London, held on the third weekend of Ramadan every year. Over a thousand men and women, including many Jews, protested against Israel's apartheid policies, the brutal siege of Gaza and the recent attacks by heavily armed Israeli riot police on men, women and journalists at Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.
The mosque itself was flooded with tear gas and hundreds of Palestinians were arrested. The Palestinian Red Crescent claimed that Israeli occupation forces refused to allow ambulances access.
www.middleeasteye.net/video/why-did-israel-storm-al-aqsa-...
The rally also followed the killing of dozens of Palestinians by Israeli Security forces in recent weeks as well as an Amnesty International's report on 1 February 2022 which concluded that Israel's extensive use of segregation, dispossessions and legal discrimination amounted to Apartheid, which it described as a 'cruel system of oppression and a crime against humanity.'
Type: Front Load Dumpster
Size: 2 yd³
Hauler: Waste Management
Location: Kennewick, WA
Date: September 2018
See More Trashy Photos & Videos At: www.thrash-n-trash.com
©Bryn Erdman. All Rights Reserved.
Chris Jordan is from Seattle (that city and photography is starting to haunt me) and takes photos of industrial yards and waste facilities. He has been published in the New York times and Smithsonian Magizine. Here is what he has to say about his photography.
"As I explore around our country’s industrial yards and waste facilities, where the accumulated detritus of our consumption is exposed like eroded layers in the Grand Canyon, I find evidence of a slow-motion apocalypse in progress. I am appalled by these scenes, yet also drawn into them with awe and fascination. The immense scale of our consumption can appear desolate, macabre, oddly comical, full of irony, even strangely beautiful; for me its consistent feature is a staggering complexity. Perhaps our vast piles of junk can serve as visual metaphors for the difficult questions that we Americans face as the earth's most voracious resource gluttons."
++++++++++ FROM WKIPEDIA +++++++++
Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtə/ ([kolkata] (About this soundlisten), also known as Calcutta /kælˈkʌtə/, the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River approximately 75 kilometres (47 mi) west of the border with Bangladesh, it is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational centre of East India, while the Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port and its sole major riverine port. The city is widely regarded as the "cultural capital" of India, and is also nicknamed the "City of Joy".[1][2][3].According to the 2011 Indian census, it is the seventh most populous city. the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the population of the city and its suburbs was 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates of Kolkata Metropolitan Area's economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion (GDP adjusted for purchasing power parity) making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai and Delhi.[11][12][13]
In the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690,[15] the area was developed by the Company into an increasingly fortified trading post. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was strong enough to abolish Nizamat (local rule), and assumed full sovereignty of the region. Under the company rule, and later under the British Raj, Calcutta served as the capital of British-held territories in India until 1911, when its perceived geographical disadvantages, combined with growing nationalism in Bengal, led to a shift of the capital to New Delhi. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement; it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics. Following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation.
As a nucleus of the 19th- and early 20th-century Bengal Renaissance and a religiously and ethnically diverse centre of culture in Bengal and India, Kolkata has local traditions in drama, art, film, theatre, and literature. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, and other areas. Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods (paras) and freestyle intellectual exchanges (adda). West Bengal's share of the Bengali film industry is based in the city, which also hosts venerable cultural institutions of national importance, such as the Academy of Fine Arts, the Victoria Memorial, the Asiatic Society, the Indian Museum and the National Library of India. Among professional scientific institutions, Kolkata hosts the Agri Horticultural Society of India, the Geological Survey of India, the Botanical Survey of India, the Calcutta Mathematical Society, the Indian Science Congress Association, the Zoological Survey of India, the Institution of Engineers, the Anthropological Survey of India and the Indian Public Health Association. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football and other sports.
Etymology
The word Kolkata derives from the Bengali term Kôlikata (Bengali: কলিকাতা) [ˈkɔlikat̪a], the name of one of three villages that predated the arrival of the British, in the area where the city eventually was to be established; the other two villages were Sutanuti and Govindapur.[16]
There are several explanations about the etymology of this name:
The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô [ˈkalikʰːet̪rɔ] (Bengali: কালীক্ষেত্র), meaning "Field of [the goddess] Kali". Similarly, it can be a variation of 'Kalikshetra' (Sanskrit: कालीक्षेत्र, lit. "area of Goddess Kali").
Another theory is that the name derives from Kalighat.[17]
Alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila (Bengali: কিলকিলা), or "flat area".[18]
The name may have its origin in the words khal [ˈkʰal] (Bengali: খাল) meaning "canal", followed by kaṭa [ˈkata] (Bengali: কাটা), which may mean "dug".[19]
According to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun [ˈkɔlitɕun] (Bengali: কলি চুন) and coir or kata [ˈkat̪a] (Bengali: কাতা); hence, it was called Kolikata [ˈkɔlikat̪a] (Bengali: কলিকাতা).[18]
Although the city's name has always been pronounced Kolkata [ˈkolkat̪a] (Bengali: কলকাতা) or Kôlikata [ˈkɔlikat̪a] (Bengali: কলিকাতা) in Bengali, the anglicised form Calcutta was the official name until 2001, when it was changed to Kolkata in order to match Bengali pronunciation.[20] (It should be noted that "Calcutt" is an etymologically unrelated place name found at several locations in England.)
History
The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh, 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Kolkata, provide evidence that the region in which the city stands has been inhabited for over two millennia.[21][22] Kolkata's recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. Job Charnock, an administrator who worked for the company, was formerly credited as the founder of the city;[23] In response to a public petition,[24] the Calcutta High Court ruled in 2003 that the city does not have a founder.[25] The area occupied by the present-day city encompassed three villages: Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a fishing village; Sutanuti was a riverside weavers' village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor; the jagirdari (a land grant bestowed by a king on his noblemen) taxation rights to the villages were held by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family of landowners, or zamindars. These rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698.[26]:1
In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, located on the east bank of the Hooghly River to protect their trading factory.[27] Facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation and tax evasion by the company. His warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked; he captured Fort William which led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta.[28] A force of Company soldiers (sepoys) and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year.[28] Per the 1765 Treaty of Allahabad following the battle of Buxar, East India company was appointed imperial tax collector of the Mughal emperor in the province of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, while Mughal-appointed Nawabs continued to rule the province.[29] Declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1773.[30] In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took complete control of the city and the province. In the early 19th century, the marshes surrounding the city were drained; the government area was laid out along the banks of the Hooghly River. Richard Wellesley, Governor-General of the Presidency of Fort William between 1797 and 1805, was largely responsible for the development of the city and its public architecture.[31] Throughout the late 18th and 19th century, the city was a centre of the East India Company's opium trade.[32]
By the 1850s, Calcutta had two areas: White Town, which was primarily British and centred on Chowringhee and Dalhousie Square; and Black Town, mainly Indian and centred on North Calcutta.[33] The city underwent rapid industrial growth starting in the early 1850s, especially in the textile and jute industries; this encouraged British companies to massively invest in infrastructure projects, which included telegraph connections and Howrah railway station. The coalescence of British and Indian culture resulted in the emergence of a new babu class of urbane Indians, whose members were often bureaucrats, professionals, newspaper readers, and Anglophiles; they usually belonged to upper-caste Hindu communities.[34] In the 19th century, the Bengal Renaissance brought about an increased sociocultural sophistication among city denizens. In 1883, Calcutta was host to the first national conference of the Indian National Association, the first avowed nationalist organisation in India.[35]
Bengali billboards on Harrison Street. Calcutta was the largest commercial centre in British India.
The partition of Bengal in 1905 along religious lines led to mass protests, making Calcutta a less hospitable place for the British.[36][37] The capital was moved to New Delhi in 1911.[38] Calcutta continued to be a centre for revolutionary organisations associated with the Indian independence movement. The city and its port were bombed several times by the Japanese between 1942 and 1944, during World War II.[39][40] Coinciding with the war, millions starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943 due to a combination of military, administrative, and natural factors.[41] Demands for the creation of a Muslim state led in 1946 to an episode of communal violence that killed over 4,000.[42][43][44] The partition of India led to further clashes and a demographic shift—many Muslims left for East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh), while hundreds of thousands of Hindus fled into the city.[45]
During the 1960s and 1970s, severe power shortages, strikes, and a violent Marxist–Maoist movement by groups known as the Naxalites damaged much of the city's infrastructure, resulting in economic stagnation.[46] The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 led to a massive influx of thousands of refugees, many of them penniless, that strained Kolkata's infrastructure.[47] During the mid-1980s, Mumbai (then called Bombay) overtook Kolkata as India's most populous city. In 1985, prime minister Rajiv Gandhi dubbed Kolkata a "dying city" in light of its socio-political woes.[48] In the period 1977–2011, West Bengal was governed from Kolkata by the Left Front, which was dominated by the Communist Party of India (CPM). It was the world's longest-serving democratically elected communist government, during which Kolkata was a key base for Indian communism.[49][50][51] In the West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, 2011, Left Front was defeated by the Trinamool Congress. The city's economic recovery gathered momentum after the 1990s, when India began to institute pro-market reforms. Since 2000, the information technology (IT) services sector has revitalised Kolkata's stagnant economy. The city is also experiencing marked growth in its manufacturing base.[52]
Geography
Spread roughly north–south along the east bank of the Hooghly River, Kolkata sits within the lower Ganges Delta of eastern India approximately 75 km (47 mi) west of the international border with Bangladesh; the city's elevation is 1.5–9 m (5–30 ft).[53] Much of the city was originally a wetland that was reclaimed over the decades to accommodate a burgeoning population.[54] The remaining undeveloped areas, known as the East Kolkata Wetlands, were designated a "wetland of international importance" by the Ramsar Convention (1975).[55] As with most of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the soil and water are predominantly alluvial in origin. Kolkata is located over the "Bengal basin", a pericratonic tertiary basin.[56] Bengal basin comprises three structural units: shelf or platform in the west; central hinge or shelf/slope break; and deep basinal part in the east and southeast. Kolkata is located atop the western part of the hinge zone which is about 25 km (16 mi) wide at a depth of about 45,000 m (148,000 ft) below the surface.[56] The shelf and hinge zones have many faults, among them some are active. Total thickness of sediment below Kolkata is nearly 7,500 m (24,600 ft) above the crystalline basement; of these the top 350–450 m (1,150–1,480 ft) is Quaternary, followed by 4,500–5,500 m (14,760–18,040 ft) of Tertiary sediments, 500–700 m (1,640–2,300 ft) trap wash of Cretaceous trap and 600–800 m (1,970–2,620 ft) Permian-Carboniferous Gondwana rocks.[56] The quaternary sediments consist of clay, silt, and several grades of sand and gravel. These sediments are sandwiched between two clay beds: the lower one at a depth of 250–650 m (820–2,130 ft); the upper one 10–40 m (30–130 ft) in thickness.[57] According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, on a scale ranging from I to V in order of increasing susceptibility to earthquakes, the city lies inside seismic zone III.[58]
Urban structure
Howrah Bridge from the western bank of the Ganges
The Kolkata metropolitan area is spread over 1,886.67 km2 (728.45 sq mi)[59]:7 and comprises 3 municipal corporations (including Kolkata Municipal Corporation), 39 local municipalities and 24 panchayat samitis, as of 2011.[59]:7 The urban agglomeration encompassed 72 cities and 527 towns and villages, as of 2006.[60] Suburban areas in the Kolkata metropolitan area incorporate parts of the following districts: North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, and Nadia.[61]:15 Kolkata, which is under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), has an area of 185 km2 (71 sq mi).[60] The east–west dimension of the city is comparatively narrow, stretching from the Hooghly River in the west to roughly the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in the east—a span of 9–10 km (5.6–6.2 mi).[62] The north–south distance is greater, and its axis is used to section the city into North, Central, and South Kolkata. East Kolkata is also a section.
North Kolkata is the oldest part of the city. Characterised by 19th-century architecture, dilapidated buildings, overpopulated slums, crowded bazaars, and narrow alleyways, it includes areas such as Shyambazar, Hatibagan, Maniktala, Kankurgachi, Rajabazar, Shobhabazar, Shyampukur, Sonagachi, Kumortuli, Bagbazar, Jorasanko, Chitpur, Pathuriaghata, Cossipore, Kestopur, Sinthee, Belgachia, Jorabagan, and Dum Dum.[63]:65–66 The northern suburban areas like Baranagar, Durganagar, Noapara, Dunlop, Dakshineswar, Nagerbazar, Belghoria, Agarpara, Sodepur, Madhyamgram, Barasat, Birati, Khardah up to Barrackpur are also within the city of Kolkata (as a metropolitan structure).
Central Kolkata
Central Kolkata hosts the central business district. It contains B. B. D. Bagh, formerly known as Dalhousie Square, and the Esplanade on its east; Strand Road is on its west.[64] The West Bengal Secretariat, General Post Office, Reserve Bank of India, High Court, Lalbazar Police Headquarters, and several other government and private offices are located there. Another business hub is the area south of Park Street, which comprises thoroughfares such as Chowringhee, Camac Street, Wood Street, Loudon Street, Shakespeare Sarani, and A. J. C. Bose Road.[65] The Maidan is a large open field in the heart of the city that has been called the "lungs of Kolkata"[66] and accommodates sporting events and public meetings.[67] The Victoria Memorial and Kolkata Race Course are located at the southern end of the Maidan. Other important areas of Central Kolkata are Park Circus, Burrabazar, College Street, Sealdah, Taltala, Janbazar, Bowbazar, Entally, Chandni Chowk, Lalbazar, Chowringhee, Dharmatala, Tiretta Bazar, Bow Barracks, Mullick Bazar, Park Circus, Babughat etc. Among the other parks are Central Park in Bidhannagar and Millennium Park on Strand Road, along the Hooghly River.
South Kolkata
South Kolkata developed after India gained independence in 1947; it includes upscale neighbourhoods such as Ballygunge, Alipore, New Alipore, Lansdowne, Bhowanipore, Kalighat, Dhakuria, Gariahat, Tollygunge, Naktala, Jodhpur Park, Lake Gardens, Golf Green, Jadavpur, Garfa, Kalikapur, Haltu, Nandi Bagan, Santoshpur, Baghajatin, Garia, Ramgarh, Raipur, Kanungo Park, Ranikuthi, Bikramgarh, Bijoygarh, Bansdroni and Kudghat.[16] Outlying areas of South Kolkata include Garden Reach, Khidirpur, Metiabruz, Taratala, Majerhat, Budge Budge, Behala, Sarsuna, Barisha, Parnasree Pally, Thakurpukur, Maheshtala and Joka. The southern suburban neighbourhoods like Mahamayatala, Pratapgarh, Kamalgazi, Narendrapur, Sonarpur, Subhashgram and Baruipur are also within the city of Kolkata (as metropolitan, urban agglomeration area). Fort William, on the western part of the city, houses the headquarters of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army;[68] its premises are under the jurisdiction of the army.
East Kolkata
East Kolkata is largely composed of newly developed areas and neighbourhoods of Saltlake, Rajarhat, Tangra, Topsia, Kasba, Anandapur, Mukundapur, Picnic Garden, Beleghata, Ultadanga, Phoolbagan, Kaikhali, Lake Town, etc. Two planned townships in the greater Kolkata region are Bidhannagar, also known as Salt Lake City and located north-east of the city; and Rajarhat, also called New Town and sited east of Bidhannagar.[16][69] In the 2000s, Sector V in Bidhannagar developed into a business hub for information technology and telecommunication companies.[70][71] Both Bidhannagar and New Town are situated outside the Kolkata Municipal Corporation limits, in their own municipalities.[69]
Climate
Kolkata is subject to a tropical wet-and-dry climate that is designated Aw under the Köppen climate classification. According to a United Nations Development Programme report, its wind and cyclone zone is "very high damage risk".[58]
Temperature
The annual mean temperature is 26.8 °C (80.2 °F); monthly mean temperatures are 19–30 °C (66–86 °F). Summers (March–June) are hot and humid, with temperatures in the low 30s Celsius; during dry spells, maximum temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in May and June.[72] Winter lasts for roughly two-and-a-half months, with seasonal lows dipping to 9–11 °C (48–52 °F) in December and January. May is the hottest month, with daily temperatures ranging from 27–37 °C (81–99 °F); January, the coldest month, has temperatures varying from 12–23 °C (54–73 °F). The highest recorded temperature is 43.9 °C (111.0 °F), and the lowest is 5 °C (41 °F).[72] The winter is mild and very comfortable weather pertains over the city throughout this season. Often, in April–June, the city is struck by heavy rains or dusty squalls that are followed by thunderstorms or hailstorms, bringing cooling relief from the prevailing humidity. These thunderstorms are convective in nature, and are known locally as kal bôishakhi (কালবৈশাখী), or "Nor'westers" in English.[73]
Rains brought by the Bay of Bengal branch of the south-west summer monsoon[74] lash Kolkata between June and September, supplying it with most of its annual rainfall of about 1,850 mm (73 in). The highest monthly rainfall total occurs in July and August. In these months often incessant rain for days brings live to a stall for the city dwellers. The city receives 2,528 hours of sunshine per year, with maximum sunlight exposure occurring in March.[75] Kolkata has been hit by several cyclones; these include systems occurring in 1737 and 1864 that killed thousands.[76][77]
Environmental issues
Pollution is a major concern in Kolkata. As of 2008, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide annual concentration were within the national ambient air quality standards of India, but respirable suspended particulate matter levels were high, and on an increasing trend for five consecutive years, causing smog and haze.[80][81] Severe air pollution in the city has caused a rise in pollution-related respiratory ailments, such as lung cancer.[82]
Economy
Kolkata is the main commercial and financial hub of East and North-East India[61] and home to the Calcutta Stock Exchange.[83][84] It is a major commercial and military port, and is the only city in eastern India, apart from Bhubaneswar to have an international airport. Once India's leading city, Kolkata experienced a steady economic decline in the decades following India's independence due to steep population increases and a rise in militant trade-unionism, which included frequent strikes that were backed by left-wing parties.[52] From the 1960s to the late 1990s, several factories were closed and businesses relocated.[52] The lack of capital and resources added to the depressed state of the city's economy and gave rise to an unwelcome sobriquet: the "dying city".[85] The city's fortunes improved after the Indian economy was liberalised in the 1990s and changes in economic policy were enacted by the West Bengal state government.[52]
Flexible production has been the norm in Kolkata, which has an informal sector that employs more than 40% of the labour force.[16] One unorganised group, roadside hawkers, generated business worth ₹ 8,772 crore (US$ 2 billion) in 2005.[86] As of 2001, around 0.81% of the city's workforce was employed in the primary sector (agriculture, forestry, mining, etc.); 15.49% worked in the secondary sector (industrial and manufacturing); and 83.69% worked in the tertiary sector (service industries).[61]:19 As of 2003, the majority of households in slums were engaged in occupations belonging to the informal sector; 36.5% were involved in servicing the urban middle class (as maids, drivers, etc.), and 22.2% were casual labourers.[87]:11 About 34% of the available labour force in Kolkata slums were unemployed.[87]:11 According to one estimate, almost a quarter of the population live on less than 27 rupees (equivalent to 45 US cents) per day.[88] As of 2010, Kolkata, with an estimated gross domestic product (GDP) by purchasing power parity of 150 billion dollars, ranked third among South Asian cities, after Mumbai and Delhi.[89] Kolkata's GDP in 2014 was Rs 1.84 trillion, according to a collaborative assessment by multiple universities and climate agencies.[90] As in many other Indian cities, information technology became a high-growth sector in Kolkata starting in the late 1990s; the city's IT sector grew at 70% per annum—a rate that was twice the national average.[52] The 2000s saw a surge of investments in the real estate, infrastructure, retail, and hospitality sectors; several large shopping malls and hotels were launched.[91][92][93][94][95] Companies such as ITC Limited, CESC Limited, Exide Industries, Emami, Eveready Industries India, Lux Industries, Rupa Company, Berger Paints, Birla Corporation and Britannia Industries are headquartered in the city. Philips India, PricewaterhouseCoopers India, Tata Global Beverages, Tata Steel have their registered office and zonal headquarters in Kolkata. Kolkata hosts the headquarters of three major public-sector banks: Allahabad Bank, UCO Bank, and the United Bank of India; and a private bank Bandhan Bank. Reserve Bank of India has its eastern zonal office in Kolkata, and India Government Mint, Kolkata is one of the four mints in India.
Panoramic view of the Down town Sector V one of the major IT hubs of Kolkata as seen from the lakes surrounding Bidhannagar. Major Buildings such as Technopolis, Godrej Waterside, TCS Lords, Eden and Wanderers Park, Gobsyn Crystal, South City Pinnacle, RDB Boulevard, West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation (WEBEL) Bhawan can be seen.
Demographics
See also: Ethnic communities in Kolkata
A skyline consisting of several high-rise buildings
Residential high-rise buildings in South City
A slum area of the city
The demonym for residents of Kolkata are Calcuttan and Kolkatan.[96][97] According to provisional results of the 2011 national census, Kolkata district, which occupies an area of 185 km2 (71 sq mi), had a population of 4,486,679;[98] its population density was 24,252/km2 (62,810/sq mi).[98] This represents a decline of 1.88% during the decade 2001–11. The sex ratio is 899 females per 1000 males—lower than the national average.[99] The ratio is depressed by the influx of working males from surrounding rural areas, from the rest of West Bengal; these men commonly leave their families behind.[100] Kolkata's literacy rate of 87.14%[99] exceeds the national average of 74%.[101] The final population totals of census 2011 stated the population of city as 4,496,694.[8] The urban agglomeration had a population of 14,112,536 in 2011.[9]
Bengali Hindus form the majority of Kolkata's population; Marwaris, Biharis and Muslims compose large minorities.[102] Among Kolkata's smaller communities are Chinese, Tamils, Nepalis, Odias, Telugus, Assamese, Gujaratis, Anglo-Indians, Armenians, Greeks, Tibetans, Maharashtrians, Konkanis, Malayalees, Punjabis, and Parsis.[26]:3 The number of Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and other foreign-origin groups declined during the 20th century.[103] The Jewish population of Kolkata was 5,000 during World War II, but declined after Indian independence and the establishment of Israel;[104] by 2013, there were 25 Jews in the city.[105] India's sole Chinatown is in eastern Kolkata;[103] once home to 20,000 ethnic Chinese, its population dropped to around 2,000 as of 2009[103] as a result of multiple factors including repatriation and denial of Indian citizenship following the 1962 Sino-Indian War, and immigration to foreign countries for better economic opportunities.[106] The Chinese community traditionally worked in the local tanning industry and ran Chinese restaurants.[103][107]
Kolkata urban agglomeration population growth Census Total %±
1981 9,194,000 —
1991 11,021,900 19.9%
2001 13,114,700 19.0%
2011 14,112,536 7.6%
Source: Census of India[9]
Others include Sikhism, Buddhism & Other religions (0.03%)
Religion in Kolkata[108]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
76.51%
Islam
20.60%
Christianity
0.88%
Jainism
0.47%
Others
1.54%
Bengali, the official state language, is the dominant language in Kolkata.[109] English is also used, particularly by the white-collar workforce. Hindi and Urdu are spoken by a sizeable minority.[110][111] According to the 2011 census, 76.51% of the population is Hindu, 20.60% Muslim, 0.88% Christian, and 0.47% Jain.[112] The remainder of the population includes Sikhs, Buddhists, and other religions which accounts for 0.45% of the population; 1.09% did not state a religion in the census.[112] Kolkata reported 67.6% of Special and Local Laws crimes registered in 35 large Indian cities during 2004.[113] The Kolkata police district registered 15,510 Indian Penal Code cases in 2010, the 8th-highest total in the country.[114] In 2010, the crime rate was 117.3 per 100,000, below the national rate of 187.6; it was the lowest rate among India's largest cities.[115]
As of 2003, about one-third of the population, or 1.5 million people, lived in 3,500 unregistered squatter-occupied and 2,011 registered slums.[87]:4[116]:92 The authorised slums (with access to basic services like water, latrines, trash removal by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation) can be broadly divided into two groups—bustees, in which slum dwellers have some long term tenancy agreement with the landowners; and udbastu colonies, settlements which had been leased to refugees from present-day Bangladesh by the Government.[116][87]:5 The unauthorised slums (devoid of basic services provided by the municipality) are occupied by squatters who started living on encroached lands—mainly along canals, railway lines and roads.[116]:92[87]:5 According to the 2005 National Family Health Survey, around 14% of the households in Kolkata were poor, while 33% lived in slums, indicating a substantial proportion of households in slum areas were better off economically than the bottom quarter of urban households in terms of wealth status.[117]:23 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding and working with the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata—an organisation "whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after".[118]
Government and public services
Civic administration
Main article: Civic administration of Kolkata
A red-and-yellow building with multiple arches and towers standing against a backdrop of blue sky and framed by trees
Calcutta High Court
Kolkata is administered by several government agencies. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation, or KMC, oversees and manages the civic infrastructure of the city's 15 boroughs, which together encompass 141 wards.[109] Each ward elects a councillor to the KMC. Each borough has a committee of councillors, each of whom is elected to represent a ward. By means of the borough committees, the corporation undertakes urban planning and maintains roads, government-aided schools, hospitals, and municipal markets.[119] As Kolkata's apex body, the corporation discharges its functions through the mayor-in-council, which comprises a mayor, a deputy mayor, and ten other elected members of the KMC.[120] The functions of the KMC include water supply, drainage and sewerage, sanitation, solid waste management, street lighting, and building regulation.[119]
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation was ranked 1st out of 21 Cities for best governance & administrative practices in India in 2014. It scored 4.0 on 10 compared to the national average of 3.3.[121]
The Kolkata Port Trust, an agency of the central government, manages the city's river port. As of 2012, the All India Trinamool Congress controls the KMC; the mayor is Firhad Hakim, while the deputy mayor is Atin Ghosh.[122] The city has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata, which presides over various city-related functions and conferences.[123]
Kolkata's administrative agencies have areas of jurisdiction that do not coincide. Listed in ascending order by area, they are: Kolkata district; the Kolkata Police area and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area, or "Kolkata city";[124] and the Kolkata metropolitan area, which is the city's urban agglomeration. The agency overseeing the latter, the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, is responsible for the statutory planning and development of greater Kolkata.[125]
As the seat of the Government of West Bengal, Kolkata is home to not only the offices of the local governing agencies, but also the West Bengal Legislative Assembly; the state secretariat, which is housed in the Writers' Building; and the Calcutta High Court. Most government establishments and institutions are housed in the centre of the city in B. B. D. Bagh (formerly known as Dalhousie Square). The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It was preceded by the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William which was established in 1774. The Calcutta High Court has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Kolkata has lower courts: the Court of Small Causes and the City Civil Court decide civil matters; the Sessions Court rules in criminal cases.[126][127][128] The Kolkata Police, headed by a police commissioner, is overseen by the West Bengal Ministry of Home Affairs.[129][130] The Kolkata district elects two representatives to India's lower house, the Lok Sabha, and 11 representatives to the state legislative assembly.[131]
Utility services
A telecommunications tower belonging to services provider Tata Communications
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation supplies the city with potable water that is sourced from the Hooghly River;[132] most of it is treated and purified at the Palta pumping station located in North 24 Parganas district.[133] Roughly 95% of the 4,000 tonnes of refuse produced daily by the city is transported to the dumping grounds in Dhapa, which is east of the town.[134][135] To promote the recycling of garbage and sewer water, agriculture is encouraged on the dumping grounds.[136] Parts of the city lack proper sewerage, leading to unsanitary methods of waste disposal.[75]
Electricity is supplied by the privately operated Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation, or CESC, to the city proper; the West Bengal State Electricity Board supplies it in the suburbs.[137][138] Fire services are handled by the West Bengal Fire Service, a state agency.[139] As of 2012, the city had 16 fire stations.[140]
State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, or BSNL, as well as private enterprises, among them Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Reliance, Idea Cellular, Aircel, Tata DoCoMo, Tata Teleservices, Virgin Mobile, and MTS India, are the leading telephone and cell phone service providers in the city.[141]:25–26:179 with Kolkata being the first city in India to have cell phone and 4G connectivity, the GSM and CDMA cellular coverage is extensive.[142][143] As of 2010, Kolkata has 7 percent of the total Broadband internet consumers in India; BSNL, VSNL, Tata Indicom, Sify, Airtel, and Reliance are among the main vendors.[144][145]
Military and diplomatic establishments
The Eastern Command of the Indian Army is based in the city. Being one of India's major city and the largest city in eastern and north-eastern India, Kolkata hosts diplomatic missions of many countries such as Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, People's Republic of China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Srilanka, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States. The U.S Consulate in Kolkata is the US Department of State's second oldest Consulate and dates from 19 November 1792.[146]
Transport
Public transport is provided by the Kolkata Suburban Railway, the Kolkata Metro, trams, rickshaws, and buses. The suburban rail network reaches the city's distant suburbs.
According to a 2013 survey conducted by the International Association of Public Transport, in terms of a public transport system, Kolkata ranks among the top of the six Indian cities surveyed.[147][148] The Kolkata Metro, in operation since 1984, is the oldest underground mass transit system in India.[149] It spans the north–south length of the city and covers a distance of 25.1 km (16 mi).[150] As of 2009, five Metro rail lines were under construction.[151] Kolkata has four long-distance railway stations, located at Howrah (the largest railway complex in India), Sealdah, Chitpur and Shalimar, which connect Kolkata by rail to most cities in West Bengal and to other major cities in India.[152] The city serves as the headquarters of three railway Zone out of Seventeen of the Indian Railways regional divisions—the Kolkata Metro Railways, Eastern Railway and the South-Eastern Railway.[153] Kolkata has rail and road connectivity with Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.[154][155][156]
Buses, which are the most commonly used mode of transport, are run by government agencies and private operators.[157] Kolkata is the only Indian city with a tram network, which is operated by the Calcutta Tramways Company.[158] The slow-moving tram services are restricted to certain areas of the city. Water-logging, caused by heavy rains that fall during the summer monsoon, can interrupt transportation networks.[159][160] Hired public conveyances include auto rickshaws, which often ply specific routes, and yellow metered taxis. Almost all of Kolkata's taxis are antiquated Hindustan Ambassadors by make; newer air-conditioned radio taxis are in service as well.[161][162] In parts of the city, cycle rickshaws and hand-pulled rickshaws are patronised by the public for short trips.[163]
Due to its diverse and abundant public transportation, privately owned vehicles are not as common in Kolkata as in other major Indian cities.[164] The city has witnessed a steady increase in the number of registered vehicles; 2002 data showed an increase of 44% over a period of seven years.[165] As of 2004, after adjusting for population density, the city's "road space" was only 6% compared to 23% in Delhi and 17% in Mumbai.[166] The Kolkata Metro has somewhat eased traffic congestion, as has the addition of new roads and flyovers. Agencies operating long-distance bus services include the Calcutta State Transport Corporation, the South Bengal State Transport Corporation, the North Bengal State Transport Corporation, and various private operators. The city's main bus terminals are located at Esplanade and Babughat.[167] The Kolkata–Delhi and Kolkata–Chennai prongs of the Golden Quadrilateral, and National Highway 34 start from the city.[168]
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, located in Dum Dum some 16 km (9.9 mi) north-east of the city centre, operates domestic and international flights. In 2013, the airport was upgraded to handle increased air traffic.[169][170]
The Port of Kolkata, established in 1870, is India's oldest and the only major river port.[171] The Kolkata Port Trust manages docks in Kolkata and Haldia.[172] The port hosts passenger services to Port Blair, capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; freighter service to ports throughout India and around the world is operated by the Shipping Corporation of India.[171][173] Ferry services connect Kolkata with its twin city of Howrah, located across the Hooghly River.[174][175]
The route from North Bengal to Kolkata is set to become cheaper and more efficient for people travelling by bus. Through April 2017 to March 2018, the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) will be introducing a fleet of rocket buses equipped with bio-toilets for the bus route.[176]
Healthcare
See also: Health care in Kolkata
A big building in cream colour with many columns and a portico
Calcutta Medical College, the second institution in Asia to teach modern medicine(after 'Ecole de Médicine de Pondichéry')
IPGMER and SSKM Hospital, Kolkata is the largest hospital in West Bengal and one of the oldest in Kolkata.
As of 2011, the health care system in Kolkata consists of 48 government hospitals, mostly under the Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal, and 366 private medical establishments;[177] these establishments provide the city with 27,687 hospital beds.[177] For every 10,000 people in the city, there are 61.7 hospital beds,[178] which is higher than the national average of 9 hospital beds per 10,000.[179] Ten medical and dental colleges are located in the Kolkata metropolitan area which act as tertiary referral hospitals in the state.[180][181] The Calcutta Medical College, founded in 1835, was the first institution in Asia to teach modern medicine.[182] However, These facilities are inadequate to meet the healthcare needs of the city.[183][184][185] More than 78% in Kolkata prefer the private medical sector over the public medical sector,[117]:109 due to the poor quality of care, the lack of a nearby facility, and excessive waiting times at government facilities.[117]:61
According to the Indian 2005 National Family Health Survey, only a small proportion of Kolkata households were covered under any health scheme or health insurance.[117]:41 The total fertility rate in Kolkata was 1.4, The lowest among the eight cities surveyed.[117]:45 In Kolkata, 77% of the married women used contraceptives, which was the highest among the cities surveyed, but use of modern contraceptive methods was the lowest (46%).[117]:47 The infant mortality rate in Kolkata was 41 per 1,000 live births, and the mortality rate for children under five was 49 per 1,000 live births.[117]:48
Among the surveyed cities, Kolkata stood second (5%) for children who had not had any vaccinations under the Universal Immunization Programme as of 2005.[117]:48 Kolkata ranked second with access to an anganwadi centre under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme for 57% of the children between 0 and 71 months.[117]:51 The proportion of malnourished, anaemic and underweight children in Kolkata was less in comparison to other surveyed cities.[117]:54–55
About 18% of the men and 30% of the women in Kolkata are obese—the majority of them belonging to the non-poor strata of society.[117]:105 In 2005, Kolkata had the highest percentage (55%) among the surveyed cities of anaemic women, while 20% of the men in Kolkata were anaemic.[117]:56–57 Diseases like diabetes, asthma, goitre and other thyroid disorders were found in large numbers of people.[117]:57–59 Tropical diseases like malaria, dengue and chikungunya are prevalent in Kolkata, though their incidence is decreasing.[186][187] Kolkata is one of the districts in India with a high number of people with AIDS; it has been designated a district prone to high risk.[188][189]
As of 2014, because of higher air pollution, the life expectancy of a person born in the city is four years fewer than in the suburbs.[190]
Education
Kolkata's schools are run by the state government or private organisations, many of which are religious. Bengali and English are the primary languages of instruction; Urdu and Hindi are also used, particularly in central Kolkata.[191][192] Schools in Kolkata follow the "10+2+3" plan. After completing their secondary education, students typically enroll in schools that have a higher secondary facility and are affiliated with the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education, the ICSE, or the CBSE.[191] They usually choose a focus on liberal arts, business, or science. Vocational programs are also available.[191] Some Kolkata schools, for example La Martiniere Calcutta, Calcutta Boys' School, St. James' School (Kolkata), St. Xavier's Collegiate School, and Loreto House, have been ranked amongst the best schools in the country.[193]
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
As of 2010, the Kolkata urban agglomeration is home to 14 universities run by the state government.[194] The colleges are each affiliated with a university or institution based either in Kolkata or elsewhere in India. Aliah University which was founded in 1780 as Mohammedan College of Calcutta is the oldest post-secondary educational institution of the city.[195] The University of Calcutta, founded in 1857, is the first modern university in South Asia.[196] Presidency College, Kolkata (formerly Hindu College between 1817 and 1855), founded in 1855, was one of the oldest and most eminent colleges in India. It was affiliated with the University of Calcutta until 2010 when it was converted to Presidency University, Kolkata in 2010. Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) is the second oldest engineering institution of the country located in Howrah.[197] An Institute of National Importance, BESU was converted to India's first IIEST. Jadavpur University is known for its arts, science, and engineering faculties.[198] The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, which was the first of the Indian Institutes of Management, was established in 1961 at Joka, a locality in the south-western suburbs. Kolkata also houses the prestigious Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, which was started here in the year 2006.[199] The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences is one of India's autonomous law schools,[200][201] and the Indian Statistical Institute is a public research institute and university. State owned Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal (MAKAUT, WB), formerly West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) is the largest Technological University in terms of student enrollment and number of Institutions affiliated by it. Private institutions include the Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute and University of Engineering & Management (UEM).
Notable scholars who were born, worked or studied in Kolkata include physicists Satyendra Nath Bose, Meghnad Saha,[202] and Jagadish Chandra Bose;[203] chemist Prafulla Chandra Roy;[202] statisticians Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis and Anil Kumar Gain;[202] physician Upendranath Brahmachari;[202] educator Ashutosh Mukherjee;[204] and Nobel laureates Rabindranath Tagore,[205] C. V. Raman,[203] and Amartya Sen.[206]
Kolkata houses many premier research institutes like Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS), Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bose Institute, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP), All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute (CGCRI), S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS), Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management (IISWBM), National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kolkata, Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC) and Indian Centre for Space Physics. Nobel laureate Sir C. V. Raman did his groundbreaking work in Raman effect in IACS.
Culture
Kolkata is known for its literary, artistic, and revolutionary heritage; as the former capital of India, it was the birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought.[207] Kolkata has been called the "City of Furious, Creative Energy"[208] as well as the "cultural [or literary] capital of India".[209][210] The presence of paras, which are neighbourhoods that possess a strong sense of community, is characteristic of the city.[211] Typically, each para has its own community club and, on occasion, a playing field.[211] Residents engage in addas, or leisurely chats, that often take the form of freestyle intellectual conversation.[212][213] The city has a tradition of political graffiti depicting everything from outrageous slander to witty banter and limericks, caricatures, and propaganda.[214][215]
Kolkata has many buildings adorned with Indo-Islamic and Indo-Saracenic architectural motifs. Several well-maintained major buildings from the colonial period have been declared "heritage structures";[216] others are in various stages of decay.[217][218] Established in 1814 as the nation's oldest museum, the Indian Museum houses large collections that showcase Indian natural history and Indian art.[219] Marble Palace is a classic example of a European mansion that was built in the city. The Victoria Memorial, a place of interest in Kolkata, has a museum documenting the city's history. The National Library of India is the leading public library in the country while Science City is the largest science centre in the Indian subcontinent.[220]
The popularity of commercial theatres in the city has declined since the 1980s.[221]:99[222] Group theatres of Kolkata, a cultural movement that started in the 1940s contrasting with the then-popular commercial theatres, are theatres that are not professional or commercial, and are centres of various experiments in theme, content, and production;[223] group theatres use the proscenium stage to highlight socially relevant messages.[221]:99[224] Chitpur locality of the city houses multiple production companies of jatra, a tradition of folk drama popular in rural Bengal.[225][226] Kolkata is the home of the Bengali cinema industry, dubbed "Tollywood" for Tollygunj, where most of the state's film studios are located.[227] Its long tradition of art films includes globally acclaimed film directors such as Academy Award-winning director Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Tapan Sinha, and contemporary directors such as Aparna Sen, Buddhadeb Dasgupta, Goutam Ghose and Rituparno Ghosh.[228]
During the 19th and 20th centuries, Bengali literature was modernised through the works of authors such as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.[229] Coupled with social reforms led by Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda, and others, this constituted a major part of the Bengal Renaissance.[230] The middle and latter parts of the 20th century witnessed the arrival of post-modernism, as well as literary movements such as those espoused by the Kallol movement, hungryalists and the little magazines.[231] Large majority of publishers of the city is concentrated in and around College Street, "... a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement", selling new and used books.[232]
Kalighat painting originated in 19th century Kolkata as a local style that reflected a variety of themes including mythology and quotidian life.[233] The Government College of Art and Craft, founded in 1864, has been the cradle as well as workplace of eminent artists including Abanindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, and Nandalal Bose.[234] The art college was the birthplace of the Bengal school of art that arose as an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the prevalent academic art styles in the early 20th century.[235][236] The Academy of Fine Arts and other art galleries hold regular art exhibitions. The city is recognised for its appreciation of Rabindra sangeet (songs written by Rabindranath Tagore) and Indian classical music, with important concerts and recitals, such as Dover Lane Music Conference, being held throughout the year; Bengali popular music, including baul folk ballads, kirtans, and Gajan festival music; and modern music, including Bengali-language adhunik songs.[237][238] Since the early 1990s, new genres have emerged, including one comprising alternative folk–rock Bengali bands.[237] Another new style, jibonmukhi gaan ("songs about life"), is based on realism.[221]:105 Key elements of Kolkata's cuisine include rice and a fish curry known as machher jhol,[239] which can be accompanied by desserts such as roshogolla, sandesh, and a sweet yoghurt known as mishti dohi. Bengal's large repertoire of seafood dishes includes various preparations of ilish, a fish that is a favourite among Calcuttans. Street foods such as beguni (fried battered eggplant slices), kati roll (flatbread roll with vegetable or chicken, mutton, or egg stuffing), phuchka (a deep-fried crêpe with tamarind sauce) and Indian Chinese cuisine from Chinatown are popular.[240][241][242][243]
Though Bengali women traditionally wear the sari, the shalwar kameez and Western attire is gaining acceptance among younger women.[244] Western-style dress has greater acceptance among men, although the traditional dhoti and kurta are seen during festivals. Durga Puja, held in September–October, is Kolkata's most important and largest festival; it is an occasion for glamorous celebrations and artistic decorations.[245][246] The Bengali New Year, known as Poila Boishak, as well as the harvest festival of Poush Parbon are among the city's other festivals; also celebrated are Kali Puja, Diwali, Holi, Jagaddhatri Puja, Saraswati Puja, Rathayatra, Janmashtami, Maha Shivratri, Vishwakarma Puja, Lakshmi Puja, Ganesh Chathurthi, Makar Sankranti, Gajan, Kalpataru Day, Bhai Phonta, Maghotsab, Eid, Muharram, Christmas, Buddha Purnima and Mahavir Jayanti. Cultural events include the Rabindra Jayanti, Independence Day(15 August), Republic Day(26 January), Kolkata Book Fair, the Dover Lane Music Festival, the Kolkata Film Festival, Nandikar's National Theatre Festival, Statesman Vintage & Classic Car Rally and Gandhi Jayanti.
Media
See also: Kolkata in the media and List of Bengali-language television channels
A five storied building in cream colour with multiple columns in front
Akashvani Bhawan, the head office of state-owned All India Radio, Kolkata
The first newspaper in India, the Bengal Gazette started publishing from the city in 1780.[247] Among Kolkata's widely circulated Bengali-language newspapers are Anandabazar Patrika, Bartaman, Sangbad Pratidin, Aajkaal, Dainik Statesman and Ganashakti.[248] The Statesman and The Telegraph are two major English-language newspapers that are produced and published from Kolkata. Other popular English-language newspapers published and sold in Kolkata include The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Indian Express, and the Asian Age.[248] As the largest trading centre in East India, Kolkata has several high-circulation financial dailies, including The Economic Times, The Financial Express, Business Line, and Business Standard.[248][249] Vernacular newspapers, such as those in the Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Odia, Punjabi, and Chinese languages, are read by minorities.[248][103] Major periodicals based in Kolkata include Desh, Sananda, Saptahik Bartaman, Unish-Kuri, Anandalok, and Anandamela.[248] Historically, Kolkata has been the centre of the Bengali little magazine movement.[250][251]
All India Radio, the national state-owned radio broadcaster, airs several AM radio stations in the city.[252] Kolkata has 12 local radio stations broadcasting on FM, including two from AIR.[253] India's state-owned television broadcaster, Doordarshan, provides two free-to-air terrestrial channels,[254] while a mix of Bengali, Hindi, English, and other regional channels are accessible via cable subscription, direct-broadcast satellite services, or internet-based television.[255][256][257] Bengali-language 24-hour television news channels include ABP Ananda, Tara Newz, Kolkata TV, 24 Ghanta, News Time and Channel 10.[258]
Sports
See also: Football in Kolkata, Kolkata Marathon, and Kolkata derby
Salt Lake Stadium during Indian Super League opening ceremony
The most popular sports in Kolkata are football and cricket. Unlike most parts of India, the residents show significant passion for football.[259] The city is home to top national football clubs such as Mohun Bagan A.C., East Bengal F.C., Prayag United S.C., and the Mohammedan Sporting Club.[260][261] Calcutta Football League, which was started in 1898, is the oldest football league in Asia.[262] Mohun Bagan A.C., one of the oldest football clubs in Asia, is the only organisation to be dubbed a "National Club of India".[263][264] Football matches between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, dubbed as the Kolkata derby, witness large audience attendance and rivalry between patrons.[265]
A Twenty20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Pune Warriors during Indian Premier League at the Eden Gardens
As in the rest of India, cricket is popular in Kolkata and is played on grounds and in streets throughout the city.[266][267] Kolkata has the Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders; the Cricket Association of Bengal, which regulates cricket in West Bengal, is also based in the city. Kolkata also has an Indian Super League franchise known as Atlético de Kolkata. Tournaments, especially those involving cricket, football, badminton, and carrom, are regularly organised on an inter-locality or inter-club basis.[211] The Maidan, a vast field that serves as the city's largest park, hosts several minor football and cricket clubs and coaching institutes.[268]
Eden Gardens, which has a capacity of 68,000 as of 2017,[269] hosted the final match of the 1987 Cricket World Cup. It is home to the Bengal cricket team and the Kolkata Knight Riders.
The multi-use Salt Lake Stadium, also known as Yuva Bharati Krirangan, is India's largest stadium by seating capacity. Most matches of the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup were played in the Salt Lake Stadium including both Semi-Final matches and the Final match. Kolkata also accounted for 45% of total attendance in 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup with an average of 55,345 spectators.[270] The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club is the second-oldest cricket club in the world.[271][272]
Kolkata's Netaji Indoor Stadium served as host of the 1981 Asian Basketball Championship, where India's national basketball team finished 5th, ahead of teams that belong to Asia's basketball elite, such as Iran. The city has three 18-hole golf courses. The oldest is at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, the first golf club built outside the United Kingdom.[273][274] The other two are located at the Tollygunge Club and at Fort William. The Royal Calcutta Turf Club hosts horse racing and polo matches.[275] The Calcutta Polo Club is considered the oldest extant polo club in the world.[276][277][278] The Calcutta Racket Club is a squash and racquet club in Kolkata. It was founded in 1793, making it one of the oldest rackets clubs in the world, and the first in the Indian subcontinent.[279][280] The Calcutta South Club is a venue for national and international tennis tournaments; it held the first grass-court national championship in 1946.[281][282] In the period 2005–2007, Sunfeast Open, a tier-III tournament on the Women's Tennis Association circuit, was held in the Netaji Indoor Stadium; it has since been discontinued.[283][284]
The Calcutta Rowing Club hosts rowing heats and training events. Kolkata, considered the leading centre of rugby union in India, gives its name to the oldest international tournament in rugby union, the Calcutta Cup.[285][286][287] The Automobile Association of Eastern India, established in 1904,[288][289] and the Bengal Motor Sports Club are involved in promoting motor sports and car rallies in Kolkata and West Bengal.[290][291] The Beighton Cup, an event organised by the Bengal Hockey Association and first played in 1895, is India's oldest field hockey tournament; it is usually held on the Mohun Bagan Ground of the Maidan.[292][293] Athletes from Kolkata include Sourav Ganguly and Pankaj Roy, who are former captains of the Indian national cricket team; Olympic tennis bronze medallist Leander Paes, golfer Arjun Atwal, and former footballers Sailen Manna, Chuni Goswami, P. K. Banerjee, and Subrata Bhattacharya.
Leaving refuse here could leave you liable for an £80.00 fine.
Adams Court, just off Threadneedle Street
"CBS Refuses Ads for ‘Truth,’ Film About a ‘60 Minutes II’ Segment" by JOHN KOBLIN via NYT t.co/zgmU3HnKRs (via Twitter twitter.com/felipemassone/status/655151302515761153)
See more photos of this, and the Wikipedia article.
Details, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Vought F4U-1D Corsair:
By V-J Day, September 2, 1945, Corsair pilots had amassed an 11:1 kill ratio against enemy aircraft. The aircraft's distinctive inverted gull-wing design allowed ground clearance for the huge, three-bladed Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller, which spanned more than 4 meters (13 feet). The Pratt and Whitney R-2800 radial engine and Hydromatic propeller was the largest and one of the most powerful engine-propeller combinations ever flown on a fighter aircraft.
Charles Lindbergh flew bombing missions in a Corsair with Marine Air Group 31 against Japanese strongholds in the Pacific in 1944. This airplane is painted in the colors and markings of the Corsair Sun Setter, a Marine close-support fighter assigned to the USS Essex in July 1944.
Transferred from the United States Navy.
Manufacturer:
Date:
1940
Country of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 460 x 1020cm, 4037kg, 1250cm (15ft 1 1/8in. x 33ft 5 9/16in., 8900lb., 41ft 1/8in.)
Materials:
All metal with fabric-covered wings behind the main spar.
Physical Description:
R-2800 radial air-cooled engine with 1,850 horsepower, turned a three-blade Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller with solid aluminum blades spanning 13 feet 1 inch; wing bent gull-shaped on both sides of the fuselage.
Long Description:
On February 1, 1938, the United States Navy Bureau of Aeronautics requested proposals from American aircraft manufacturers for a new carrier-based fighter airplane. During April, the Vought Aircraft Corporation responded with two designs and one of them, powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine, won the competition in June. Less than a year later, Vought test pilot Lyman A. Bullard, Jr., first flew the Vought XF4U-1 prototype on May 29, 1940. At that time, the largest engine driving the biggest propeller ever flown on a fighter aircraft propelled Bullard on this test flight. The R-2800 radial air-cooled engine developed 1,850 horsepower and it turned a three-blade Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller with solid aluminum blades spanning 13 feet 1 inch.
The airplane Bullard flew also had another striking feature, a wing bent gull-shaped on both sides of the fuselage. This arrangement gave additional ground clearance for the propeller and reduced drag at the wing-to-fuselage joint. Ironically for a 644-kph (400 mph) airplane, Vought covered the wing with fabric behind the main spar, a practice the company also followed on the OS2U Kingfisher (see NASM collection).
When naval air strategists had crafted the requirements for the new fighter, the need for speed had overridden all other performance goals. With this in mind, the Bureau of Aeronautics selected the most powerful air-cooled engine available, the R-2800. Vought assembled a team, lead by chief designer Rex Biesel, to design the best airframe around this powerful engine. The group included project engineer Frank Albright, aerodynamics engineer Paul Baker, and propulsion engineer James Shoemaker. Biesel and his team succeeded in building a very fast fighter but when they redesigned the prototype for production, they were forced to make an unfortunate compromise.
The Navy requested heavier armament for production Corsairs and Biesel redesigned each outboard folding wing panel to carry three .50 caliber machine guns. These guns displaced fuel tanks installed in each wing leading edge. To replace this lost capacity, an 897-liter (237 gal) fuselage tank was installed between the cockpit and the engine. To maintain the speedy and narrow fuselage profile, Biesel could not stack the cockpit on top of the tank, so he moved it nearly three feet aft. Now the wing completely blocked the pilot's line of sight during the most critical stages of landing. The early Corsair also had a vicious stall, powerful torque and propeller effects at slow speed, a short tail wheel strut, main gear struts that often bounced the airplane at touchdown, and cowl flap actuators that leaked oil onto the windshield. These difficulties, combined with the lack of cockpit visibility, made the airplane nearly impossible to land on the tiny deck of an aircraft carrier. Navy pilots soon nicknamed the F4U the 'ensign eliminator' for its tendency to kill these inexperienced aviators. The Navy refused to clear the F4U for carrier operations until late in 1944, more than seven years after the project started.
This flaw did not deter the Navy from accepting Corsairs because Navy and Marine pilots sorely needed an improved fighter to replace the Grumman F4F Wildcat (see NASM collection). By New Year's Eve, 1942, the service owned 178 F4U-1 airplanes. Early in 1943, the Navy decided to divert all Corsairs to land-based United States Marine Corps squadrons and fill Navy carrier-based units with the Grumman F6F Hellcat (see NASM collection). At its best speed of 612 kph (380 mph) at 6,992 m (23,000 ft), the Hellcat was about 24 kph (15 mph) slower than the Corsair but it was a joy to fly aboard the carrier. The F6F filled in splendidly until improvements to the F4U qualified it for carrier operations. Meanwhile, the Marines on Guadalcanal took their Corsairs into combat and engaged the enemy for the first time on February 14, 1943, six months before Hellcat pilots on that battle-scared island first encountered enemy aircraft.
The F4U had an immediate impact on the Pacific air war. Pilots could use the Corsair's speed and firepower to engage the more maneuverable Japanese airplanes only when the advantage favored the Americans. Unprotected by armor or self-sealing fuel tanks, no Japanese fighter or bomber could withstand for more than a few seconds the concentrated volley from the six .50 caliber machine guns carried by a Corsair. Major Gregory "Pappy" Boyington assumed command of Marine Corsair squadron VMF-214, nicknamed the 'Black Sheep' squadron, on September 7, 1943. During less than 5 months of action, Boyington received credit for downing 28 enemy aircraft. Enemy aircraft shot him down on January 3, 1944, but he survived the war in a Japanese prison camp.
In May and June 1944, Charles A. Lindbergh flew Corsair missions with Marine pilots at Green Island and Emirau. On September 3, 1944, Lindbergh demonstrated the F4U's bomb hauling capacity by flying a Corsair from Marine Air Group 31 carrying three bombs each weighing 450 kg (1,000 lb). He dropped this load on enemy positions at Wotje Atoll. On the September 8, Lindbergh dropped the first 900-kg (2,000 lb) bomb during an attack on the atoll. For the finale five days later, the Atlantic flyer delivered a 900-kg (2,000 lb) bomb and two 450-kg (1,000 lb) bombs. Lindbergh went ahead and flew these missions after the commander of MAG-31 informed him that if he was forced down and captured, the Japanese would almost certainly execute him.
As of V-J Day, September 2, 1945, the Navy credited Corsair pilots with destroying 2,140 enemy aircraft in aerial combat. The Navy and Marines lost 189 F4Us in combat and 1,435 Corsairs in non-combat accidents. Beginning on February 13, 1942, Marine and Navy pilots flew 64,051 operational sorties, 54,470 from runways and 9,581 from carrier decks. During the war, the British Royal Navy accepted 2,012 Corsairs and the Royal New Zealand Air Force accepted 364. The demand was so great that the Goodyear Aircraft Corporation and the Brewster Aeronautical Corporation also produced the F4U.
Corsairs returned to Navy carrier decks and Marine airfields during the Korean War. On September 10, 1952, Captain Jesse Folmar of Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-312 destroyed a MiG-15 in aerial combat over the west coast of Korea. However, F4U pilots did not have many air-to-air encounters over Korea. Their primary mission was to support Allied ground units along the battlefront.
After the World War II, civilian pilots adapted the speedy bent-wing bird from Vought to fly in competitive air races. They preferred modified versions of the F2G-1 and -2 originally built by Goodyear. Corsairs won the prestigious Thompson Trophy twice. In 1952, Vought manufactured 94 F4U-7s for the French Navy, and these aircraft saw action over Indochina but this order marked the end of Corsair production. In production longer than any other U.S. fighter to see service in World War II, Vought, Goodyear, and Brewster built a total of 12,582 F4Us.
The United States Navy donated an F4U-1D to the National Air and Space Museum in September 1960. Vought delivered this Corsair, Bureau of Aeronautics serial number 50375, to the Navy on April 26, 1944. By October, pilots of VF-10 were flying it but in November, the airplane was transferred to VF-89 at Naval Air Station Atlantic City. It remained there as the squadron moved to NAS Oceana and NAS Norfolk. During February 1945, the Navy withdrew the airplane from active service and transferred it to a pool of surplus aircraft stored at Quantico, Virginia. In 1980, NASM craftsmen restored the F4U-1D in the colors and markings of a Corsair named "Sun Setter," a fighter assigned to Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-114 when that unit served aboard the "USS Essex" in July 1944.
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Quoting from Wikipedia | Vought F4U Corsair:
The Chance Vought F4U Corsair was a carrier-capable fighter aircraft that saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Demand for the aircraft soon overwhelmed Vought's manufacturing capability, resulting in production by Goodyear and Brewster: Goodyear-built Corsairs were designated FG and Brewster-built aircraft F3A. From the first prototype delivery to the U.S. Navy in 1940, to final delivery in 1953 to the French, 12,571 F4U Corsairs were manufactured by Vought, in 16 separate models, in the longest production run of any piston-engined fighter in U.S. history (1942–1953).
The Corsair served in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines, Fleet Air Arm and the Royal New Zealand Air Force, as well as the French Navy Aeronavale and other, smaller, air forces until the 1960s. It quickly became the most capable carrier-based fighter-bomber of World War II. Some Japanese pilots regarded it as the most formidable American fighter of World War II, and the U.S. Navy counted an 11:1 kill ratio with the F4U Corsair.
F4U-1D (Corsair Mk IV): Built in parallel with the F4U-1C, but was introduced in April 1944. It had the new -8W water-injection engine. This change gave the aircraft up to 250 hp (190 kW) more power, which, in turn, increased performance. Speed, for example, was boosted from 417 miles per hour (671 km/h) to 425 miles per hour (684 km/h). Because of the U.S. Navy's need for fighter-bombers, it had a payload of rockets double the -1A's, as well as twin-rack plumbing for an additional belly drop tank. Such modifications necessitated the need for rocket tabs (attached to fully metal-plated underwing surfaces) and bomb pylons to be bolted on the fighter, however, causing extra drag. Additionally, the role of fighter-bombing was a new task for the Corsair and the wing fuel cells proved too vulnerable and were removed.[] The extra fuel carried by the two drop tanks would still allow the aircraft to fly relatively long missions despite the heavy, un-aerodynamic load. The regular armament of six machine guns were implemented as well. The canopies of most -1Ds had their struts removed along with their metal caps, which were used — at one point — as a measure to prevent the canopies' glass from cracking as they moved along the fuselage spines of the fighters.[] Also, the clear-view style "Malcolm Hood" canopy used initially on Supermarine Spitfire and P-51C Mustang aircraft was adopted as standard equipment for the -1D model, and all later F4U production aircraft. Additional production was carried out by Goodyear (FG-1D) and Brewster (F3A-1D). In Fleet Air Arm service, the latter was known as the Corsair III, and both had their wingtips clipped by 8" per wing to allow storage in the lower hangars of British carriers.