Econocom

Econocom Group SE is a European provider of business-to-business digital services. It was founded in 1974 by Jean-Louis Bouchard as Europe Computer Systèmes (ECS).
History of the group.
Inception and early years.
1974: Jean-Louis Bouchard founds the group under the name Europe Computer Systèmes (ECS) in France.
1986: Jean-Louis Bouchard sells his stake in ECS France to Société Générale but buys back all the foreign subsidiaries and merges them with Econocom, an American SMB he had recently taken over. The subsidiaries and group are renamed "Econocom".
1986: Econocom Belgium is listed on the secondary market of the Brussels stock exchange.
1993: Acquires Asystel Belgium, making Econocom Distribution the leading IT distributor in the Benelux.
International expansion.
1996: Econocom is listed on the primary market of the Brussels stock exchange.
2000: Econocom is listed on the secondary market of the Paris stock exchange. The group diversifies by setting up Econocom Telecom.
2000: Exchange offer for Infopoint.
2001: The group employs 2000 people.
2002: Acquires Comdisco-Promodata in France (administrative and financial IT asset management).
2004: Acquires Signal Service France.
2005: The group concentrates its business in 5 European countries: Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy. Econocom sells off its Swiss subsidiary and closes its financing operations in the United States.
2006: Branches into telecoms by acquiring Avenir Telecom’s business division.
2007: Expands its telecoms division and acquires the Carphone Warehouse France’s "Business" division. The group doubles its sales force in Italy by acquiring Tecnolease, an Italian IT leasing company.
2008: Acquires Databail, a French IT infrastructure funding company.
2009: Opens a nearshore remote service facility in Rabat, Morocco, which employs 300 multilingual staff.
October 2010: Société Générale sells ECS: Jean-Louis Bouchard buys back the company he set up over thirty-five years before and merges it with Econocom.
2010: Launches "7 Remote Services", an enterprise solution designed to assist companies in migrating their IT estate to Microsoft’s latest operating system.
2011: Véronique di Benedetto, former Deputy Managing Director of ECS, is appointed Deputy Managing Director of the new group and Managing Director of Econocom France. A graduate of ESCP who began her career as an Account Manager at IBM, Véronique joins the management board, chaired by Jean-Louis Bouchard, along with Jean-Phillippe Roesch and Bruno Lemaistre.
2012: Econocom continues its expansion in the virtualisation sector by acquiring Ermestel, a pioneer in the Spanish market, and acquiring a stake in Centix, a Belgian company specialising in cloud computing solutions.
2012: Acquires Tactem, a provider of telecom expense management solutions.
2012: Acquires France Systèmes, France’s leading Apple reseller in the education and research sector, and enhances its IT security offering by buying Cap Synergy, a French systems integrator specialising in network and IT system security.
2013: Econocom buys out French systems integrator Exaprobe, thus expanding its security, network and communications division, now worth €30 million in revenue.
2013: Econocom announces its new strategic plan MUTATION 2013 – 2017
2013: On 12 September 2013, Econocom finalises the acquisition of a majority stake in Osiatis, a major infrastructure service provider and related applications specialist. This transaction has resulted in the creation of a major new digital service company, with over 8,000 employees in 20 countries and total revenue of around €2 billion.
2013: in October, Jean-Maurice Fritsch and Bruno Grossi, co-chairmen of the Osiatis Management Board, have joined the Econocom Executive Board.
2013: Econocom Group unveils its new visual identity and adopts a new branding system.
2013: In November, successful friendly public offer by Econocom on Osiatis. On 22 November 2013, Econocom finalises the acquisition of the entire share capital of Osiatis.
2014: Georges Croix and Econocom join forces to create Digital Dimension, a cloud and digital solutions provider.
2017: Econocom continues its involvement in EdTech by investing in the venture capital firm Educapital
2017: Econocom and Microsoft are announcing a partnership to distribute Hololens on the European market
2018: Robert Bouchard takes over as CEO of the Econocom Group.
2018: Louise Beveridge joins Econocom as Head of Brand
2018: Econocom strengthens its retail offering by acquiring a majority stake in altabox, a spanish "leader in the development of omnichannel marketing strategies"
2018: Econocom presents e-vigilante, its new robot for monitoring industrial sites.
Today.
Econocom currently employs 10,700 people, has 40 years’ experience and 7.0 million digital assets managed. At the end of 2012, the group established itself in the smart solutions market by setting up a research and development programme with Istituto Superiore Mario Boella in Turin, Italy.
Business sectors.
The group’s three areas of business are:
International operations.
Econocom has operations in 20 countries. In 2013, the group’s main markets were:


George Provopoulos

George Provopoulos (; born April 20, 1950 in Piraeus, Greece) was the Governor of the Bank of Greece from 2008 to 2014, and was a member of the European Central Bank's Governing Council. Prior to his appointment as Central Bank Head, he was a Professor at the University of Athens.
Early life and education.
Provopoulos obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Economics at the University of Athens, and his MA and PhD in Economics at the University of Essex on a UK Government Scholarship.
Career.
Early in his career, Provopoulos was chairman and CEO at Emporiki Bank, Greece's fifth-largest lender, where he oversaw the bank's acquisition to Credit Agricole in 2006. He later served as CEO at Piraeus Bank.
As the country's central bank chief during the height of the financial crisis, Provopoulos presided over efforts to avert the collapse of Greece's banking system amid fears the country would crash out of the euro.


Norodom Rattana Devi

Norodom Rattana Devi (born 18 June 1974) is a Cambodian princess and politician. She is the only daughter of Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Princess Norodom Marie. She belongs to FUNCINPEC and was elected to represent Kratie Province in the National Assembly of Cambodia in 2003. She shares her birthday with Queen Mother Norodom Monineath.
References.


Half-year convention

Half-year convention is a principle of United States taxation law.
Certain property is subject to depreciation. Depreciation allows one to deduct a certain amount of the value or basis of depreciable property per taxable year. A person with depreciable property must know when to start depreciating his/her property. The tax code explains how to do this through, what is called, the applicable convention.
In tax accounting the half-year convention is the default applicable convention used for federal income tax purposes. Like other conventions, the half-year convention affects the depreciation deduction computation in the year in which the property is placed into service. Using the half-year convention, a taxpayer claims a half of a year's depreciation for the first taxable year, regardless of when the property was actually put into service. It is assumed that the property being depreciated was placed into service at the midpoint of the year. To compensate for this computation, the taxpayer is entitled to another half-year of depreciation at the end of the normal recovery period. § 168(d)(4) of the Federal Income Tax Code defines half-year convention as a convention which treats all property placed in service during any taxable year (or disposed of during any taxable year) as placed in service (or disposed of) on the midpoint of such taxable year.
Example.
Consider you are a taxpayer with five-year property worth $50,000. Also, assume that the property depreciates $10,000 per year.
Year 1- limited to half of the deduction normally entitled in a full year. One
deduction of $5,000 allowed at the end of the year, since the property is put into
service on July 1, year 1.
Year 2- $10,000 deduction taken. $5,000 deducted on June 30. $5,000 deducted
on December 31.
Year 3- $10,000 deduction taken. $5,000 deducted on June 30. $5,000 deducted
on December 31.
Year 4- $10,000 deduction taken. $5,000 deducted on June 30. $5,000 deducted
on December 31.
Year 5- $10,000 deduction taken. $5,000 deducted on June 30. $5,000 deducted
on December 31.
Year 6- $5,000 deduction taken on June 30.
Practical effects.
For taxpayers, the half-year convention does not require knowledge or proof of the date on which depreciable property is placed in service. Depreciable property is assumed to be placed into service on July 1 of the year in which it is placed into service. The Internal Revenue Service is fond of the rule because without it, taxpayers would be tempted to buy property in the second half of the year and claim full depreciation deductions as if the property were used for the entire year. Taxpayers like the rule because it does not require them to keep track of or prove exactly when depreciable property was placed into service. Nonetheless, the IRS is wary of abuse of the half-year convention. Under § 168(d)(3) of the Federal Income Tax Code, if a taxpayer purchases a lot of depreciable assets in the last three months of the taxable year, they may be forced to use the less beneficial "mid-quarter convention". This convention treats such property as placed into service in the midpoint of the last quarter of the taxable year. See § 168(d)(4)(c).


Expanding bullet

Expanding bullets, also known colloquially as dumdum bullets, are projectiles designed to expand on impact. This causes the bullet to increase in diameter, to combat over-penetration and produce a larger wound. This leads to a living target being incapacitated faster. For this reason they are used for hunting and by most police departments, but are generally prohibited for use in war. Two typical designs are the hollow-point bullet and the soft-point bullet.
Function and use.
Expanding bullets are designed to expand on impact, sometimes as much as twice the diameter. This will slow the bullet down and more of its kinetic energy will be transferred to the target, creating a larger wound channel. For this reason expanding bullets are often used in hunting because their stopping power increases the chance of a quick kill. There are a number of designs used for hunting different game and for use in weapons with different muzzle velocities. Bullets used for medium and large game need better penetration, which means bullets designed to maintain integrity and for less expansion. The velocities at which the bullets hit affect their expansion and penetration.
Expanding bullets are less likely to pass through the target, and if they do they will exit at a lower velocity. This reduces the risk of accidental injury. For this reason, and to maximize the stopping effect, law enforcement organizations use expanding bullets. Even then some penetration is needed, e.g. to penetrate a windshield or heavy clothing. Such a bullet would have less possibility of penetrating body armour or heavy equipment worn on the body.
Names.
Expanding bullets were given the name Dum-dum, or dumdum, after an early British example produced in the Dum Dum Arsenal, near Calcutta, India by Captain Neville Bertie-Clay. There were several expanding bullets produced by this arsenal for the .303 British cartridge, including soft-point and hollow-point designs. These were not the first expanding bullets, however; hollow-point expanding bullets were commonly used for hunting thin-skinned game in express rifles as early as the mid-1870s. The use of the term "Dum-dum" applied to expanding bullets other than the early .303 designs is considered slang by most ammunition and ballistics sources. Manufacturers have many terms to describe the particular construction of the various types of expanding bullets, though most fall into the category of soft-point or hollow-point designs. The expansion itself is sometimes called "mushrooming".
Another early name was General Tweedie's "mushroom bullet", cited in the "New York Times" in 1892.
History.
Early bullets were typically made in the form of spheres of nearly pure lead, which is a soft metal. These would often flatten upon impact with the target, causing a larger wound than the original diameter of the ball. The adoption of rifling allowed the use of longer, heavier bullets, but these were still typically constructed of soft lead and would often double in diameter upon impact. In this case expansion was a side effect of materials, and there is no evidence that the bullets were designed to expand upon impact.
The earliest examples of bullets specifically designed to expand on impact were those fired by express rifles, which were developed in the mid 19th century. Express rifles used larger powder charges and lighter bullets than typical for the time to achieve very high velocities for black powder cartridges. One method of lightening the bullets used was to provide a deep cavity in the nose of the bullet. These were the first hollow-point bullets, and in addition to developing higher velocities, they also expanded significantly upon impact. These hollow-point bullets worked well on thin-skinned game, but tended to come apart on bigger game, resulting in insufficient penetration. One solution to this was the "cruciform expanding bullet", a solid bullet with a cross-shaped incision in the tip. This split section expanded only to the depth of the incision, making it an early form of controlled expansion bullet.
In the late 19th century, the invention of cordite and other nitrocellulose-based "smokeless" propellants permitted higher velocity than black powder, along with flatter trajectories and correspondingly higher hit probabilities. However, limiting recoil to an acceptable level required higher velocity rounds to be lighter and thus smaller diameter.
Soon after the introduction of smokeless powder to firearms, full metal jacket bullets were introduced to prevent lead fouling in the bore caused by the higher pressures and velocities when used with soft lead bullets. However, it was soon noticed that such small caliber rounds were less effective at wounding or killing an enemy than the older large caliber soft lead bullets. Within the British Indian Army, the Dum Dum Arsenal produced a solution: the jacketing was removed from the nose of the bullet, creating the first soft point bullets. Since the Mark II jacket did not cover the base of the round this could potentially lead to the jacketing being left in the barrel. This potential problem resulted in the rejection of the Dum-dum design and led to independent development of the Mark III, Mark IV (1897) and Mark V (1899) .303 British rounds, which were of the hollow-point design, with the jacket covering the base; while these were made in Britain, not at the Dum-Dum arsenal, the name "Dum-dum" had already become associated with expanding bullets, and continued to be used to refer to any expanding bullets. The expanding bullets expanded upon impact to a diameter significantly greater than the original .312 inch (7.92 mm) bullet diameter, producing larger diameter wounds than the full-metal-jacketed versions. The Mark IV was successful enough in its first use in the Battle of Omdurman that British soldiers issued with the standard Mark II bullets began to remove the top of the jacket, converting the Mark II bullets into improvised Dum-dum types.
In 1898, the German government lodged a protest against the use of the Mark IV bullet, claiming the wounds produced by the Mark IV were excessive and inhumane, thus violating the laws of war. The protest, however, was based on the comparison of the wounds produced by expanding and non-expanding bullets from high velocity sporting rifles, rather than a comparison of the expanding .303 British bullets with the previous, large bore service cartridge it replaced, the .577/450 Martini-Henry. Because the energy was roughly the same, the wounds caused by the expanding bullet of the .303 were less severe than those caused by the larger caliber, solid lead bullet used by the Martini-Henry.
The German protests were effective, however, resulting in the ban of the use of expanding bullets in warfare. The British replaced the hollow-point bullets with new full metal jacket bullets, and used the remaining stocks of expanding bullets for practice.
During the Hague Convention of 1899, the British delegation attempted to justify the use of the dumdum bullet by pointing to its utility when fighting in overseas conflicts. Barbara Tuchman writes that,
However, the rest of the delegates at the Hague Convention 1899 did not accept this justification and voted 22–2 to prohibit the future use of the dumdum bullet.
International law.
The Hague Convention of 1899, Declaration III prohibits the use of expanding bullets in international warfare. This is often incorrectly believed to be prohibited by the Geneva Conventions, but it significantly predates those conventions, and is in fact a continuance of the Declaration of St Petersburg in 1868, which banned exploding projectiles of less than 400 grams.
The text of the declaration states, "The present Declaration is only binding for the Contracting Powers in the case of a war between two or more of them". Until relatively recently, the prohibition on the use of expanding bullets was applicable only to international armed conflicts between the countries that have signed it. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross's customary international law study, customary international law now prohibits their use in any armed conflicts. This has been disputed by the United States, which maintains that the use of expanding bullets can be legal when there is a clear military necessity.
The adoption of an amendment to Article 8 at the Review Conference of the Rome Statute in Kampala (2010) makes the use of expanding bullets in non-international armed conflict a war crime. One example of a war crime involving expanding ammunition is the August 1941 German killing of Soviet prisoners at Zhitomir, as a human experiment with captured Red Army materiel.
Because The Hague Convention applies only to the use of expanding bullets in war, the use of expanding rounds remains legal in other circumstances unless it is restricted or prohibited by local laws. Examples are use of appropriately expanding bullets in hunting in which it is desirable to stop the animal quickly, either to prevent loss of a game animal or to ensure a humane death of the animal, and in law enforcement or self-defence if quickly neutralising an aggressor may be needed to prevent further loss of life or the bullet must remain inside the target to prevent collateral damage.


Wilhelm J. Sluka

Wilhelm J. Sluka or the Conditorei Sluka is a famous "Konditorei" and café in Vienna, and a traditional k.u.k. Hoflieferant.
It is located at Rathausplatz 8 (previously Reichsratsstrasse 13) in the first district of Vienna, the Innere Stadt.
History.
The "Konditorei" was founded in 1891 by Wilhelm Josef Sluka and his wife Josefine. On the basis of his high-quality products Sluka received in 1896 the title of "confectioner to the k.u.k. court" ("k.u.k. Hofzuckerbäcker"). The café was patronised by customers of the highest social strata, including the Empress Elisabeth. Its central location and discrete atmosphere attracted ministers and representatives from the nearby Parliament Building on the Ringstrasse, gentlemen from the "Rathaus", stars of the Burgtheater and members of the nobility and bourgeoisie.
Sluka still enjoys great popularity, particularly among tourists.
In 2000 the establishment was awarded the "Goldene Kaffeebohne" ("Golden Coffee-Bean") by Jacobs.


Ernest Leopold, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg

Ernst Leopold of Hesse-Rotenburg (15 June 1684 – 29 November 1749) was landgrave of Hessen-Rheinfels-Rotenburg between 1725 and 1749.
Born in Langenschwalbach, he was a son of landgrave William, Landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg and Countess Maria Anna of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rochefort (1652–1688).
He died in Rotenburg in 1749.
Marriage and issue.
He married his first cousin Eleonore of Löwenstein-Wertheim (1686–1753), in Frankfurt, on 9 November 1704. They had ten children:
Through his eldest daughter, his present descendants include the claimant Duke of Parma; the pretending King of the Two Sicilies and the reigning Grand Duke of Luxembourg. His youngest daughter is also an ancestress of the above.
External links.
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Associated Students of the University of California, Santa Barbara

The Associated Students of the University of California, Santa Barbara (ASUCSB) is the undergraduate students' union of the University of California, Santa Barbara. It is one of two students' unions at UCSB, the other being the Graduate Student Association. It purports to be both a non-profit organization and an official department of UCSB. It is classified as an "unincorporated association" by the California Attorney General's Registry of Charitable Trusts. Its goals are to "voice student concerns and express student opinion" and "enrich student life and give students services and opportunities not offered by the [university] administration." ASUCSB derives its authority from section 61.10-15 of the "Policies Applying to Campus Activities, Organizations and Students" of the University of California.
Structure.
Like other student governments in the United States, the governing structure of the organization is modeled on the United States government, with executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The operations and policies of the organization are dictated by a set of by-laws called the "Associated Students Legal Code".
Notable projects.
ASUCSB has traditionally been associated with KCSB-FM, a well known radio station that it funds. KCSB is known for being the starting point of the careers of Jim Rome, Sean Hannity, and Jeffrey Peterson.
Through its Boards, Committees, and Commissions, it has funded and operated campus services such as emergency loans, bike path improvements, and coastal redevelopment. It also co-manages the Events Center, the Recreation Center, and the University Center with the UCSB Chancellor's Office.
The AS Program Board runs events including films, concerts, lectures, and cultural events. Its end of the year music festival is Extravaganza.
2020-2021 Executives and Senators.
The current executive officers are President Lea Toubian, Internal Vice President Tianna White, External Vice President for Statewide Affairs Alia Sky, External Vice President for Local Affairs Yasamin Salari, and Student Advocate General Sarah Danielzadeh.
The current sitting senators are Adam Bagul, Yuval Cohen, Catherine Flaherty, Anushika Halder, Phillip Huynh, Karsten Kolbe, Nathan Le, Dylan Martinez, Kaitlyn Medland, Daniel Mitchell, Ahura Nezhad, Fabian Oseguera, Gurleen Pabla, Surya Pugal, Esmerelda Quintero-Cubillan, Emanuel Roman, Katrina Sacluti, Bee Schaefer, Hayley Slater, Shva Star, Taylor Tait, Jackson Tofft, Eileen Tran, and Aimee Wang.


Elizabeth Bibesco

Elizabeth Lucy, Princess Bibesco ("née" Asquith; 26 February 1897 – 7 April 1945) was an English writer and socialite. She was the daughter of a British Prime Minister and the wife of a Romanian prince. Active as a writer between 1921 and 1940, she drew on her experience in British high society in her work. A final posthumous collection of her stories, poems and aphorisms was published under the title "Haven" in 1951, with a preface by Elizabeth Bowen.
Childhood and youth.
Elizabeth Charlotte Lucy was the first child of H. H. Asquith (British Prime Minister, 1908–1916) and his second wife, Margot Tennant. As candidly recorded in her mother's 1920 autobiography, she was a precocious child of uncertain temper.
Life as the Prime Minister's daughter thrust her into the public eye at an early age and she developed a quick wit and a social presence beyond her years. At the age of 12 she asked George Bernard Shaw to write a play to be produced by her for a charity benefit. He wrote "The Fascinating Foundling", which she directed with other children as actors. When she was just 14, "The Times" wrote that "many members of the House have made the acquaintance of Miss Asquith and in expressing their concern for her health, have referred to her charm of manner and to the interest which she has begun already to show in political matters." As a teenager, during World War I, she was given opportunities to do "good works", organising and performing in "matinees" for the servicemen. Her first known literary effort was a short duologue called "Off and On" which she performed with Nelson Keys in 1916 at the Palace Theatre. In the same year she organised a large show of portraits by John Singer Sargent at the Grafton Galleries to aid the Art Fund and a "Poets' Reading" in aid of the Star and Garter Fund. In 1918 she played small roles in two silent war movies by D.W. Griffith, "Hearts of the World" and "The Great Love".
Marriage and Paris.
In 1919 she married Prince Antoine Bibesco, a Romanian diplomat stationed in London, a man 22 years her senior. It was the society wedding of the year, attended by everyone from Queen Mary to George Bernard Shaw. The wedding was filmed by the newly formed British Moving Picture News organization. After the marriage, Prince and Princess Bibesco lived in Paris at the Bibesco townhouse at 45, Quai Bourbon at the tip of the Ile St Louis looking up the river toward Notre Dame cathedral. The walls of the apartment were decorated with huge canvases by Vuillard. "They weren't pictures. They were gardens into which you walked through a frame," wrote Enid Bagnold.
Antoine Bibesco was a lifelong friend of Marcel Proust and after his marriage to Elizabeth she too became a favourite of the reclusive writer. At the time of her marriage Proust wrote that she "was probably unsurpassed in intelligence by any of her contemporaries," and added that "she looked like a lovely figure in an Italian fresco". He would leave his house late at night to visit them, to discuss Shakespeare with Elizabeth or to gossip with Antoine until dawn. Elizabeth wrote a moving obituary for Proust in the November 1922 "New Statesman". "Gently, deliberately, he drew me into that magic circle of his personality with the ultimate sureness of a look that needs no touch to seal it. Insensibly you were drawn into that intricate cobweb of iridescent steel, his mind, which, interlacing with yours, spread patterns of light and shade over your most intimate thoughts."
Writings.
Between 1921 and 1940, Elizabeth Bibesco published three collections of short stories, four novels, two plays and a book of poetry.
Her collections of short stories were reviewed on both sides of the Atlantic and her novel "The Fir and the Palm" was serialised in the "Washington Post" during November and December 1924. Katharine Angell, reviewing "Balloons" for "The Nation" in 1923 wrote, "Elizabeth Bibesco uses for her sketches material from which Katherine Mansfield would have made short stories, and Henry James, novels ... Elizabeth Bibesco has a genius for compression – the compression into a few phrases of all the details of a situation, into a few pages of the hopes and failures of a lifetime".
Her last novel, "The Romantic", published in 1940, starts with a dedication to Falange Española founder Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, whom Elizabeth Bibesco had known during her stay in Madrid where her husband was Romanian ambassador (1927 - 1931): “"To Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera. I promised you a book before it was begun. It is yours now that it is finished -- Those we love die for us only when we die--".”
The most complete appraisal of Elizabeth Bibesco's work was written by Elizabeth Bowen in an introduction to "Haven", the 1951 posthumous collection of Bibesco's stories, poems and aphorisms. In her essay, Bowen wrote that, "The Bibesco characters seem to be the inhabitants of a special milieu, in which the more ordinary taboos of feeling and brakes on speech do not operate."
Final years.
Elizabeth travelled with her husband in his capacity as Romanian ambassador, first to Washington (1920–1926) and then to Madrid (1927–1931). She was in Romania during World War II and died there of pneumonia in 1945, aged 48. She was buried in the Bibesco family vault on the grounds of Mogosoaia Palace outside Bucharest. Her epitaph reads, "My soul has gained the freedom of the night" – the last line of the last poem in her 1927 collection.
Elizabeth's death was the final sorrow for her mother, Margot, who died within months of her daughter's death. Prince Antoine, forced out of Romania after the war, never returned to his homeland. He died in 1951 and was buried in Paris. Priscilla Hodgson, the couple's only child, continued to live at 45, Quai Bourbon until her death in 2004.
Portraits.
Elizabeth's portrait was painted twice by Augustus John, in 1919 and again five years later. The first painting (titled "Elizabeth Asquith") shows her as a vivacious debutante in a feather stole over bare shoulders. This picture is in the Laing Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. In the second portrait, seen here (titled "Princess Antoine Bibesco"), Elizabeth appears slightly weary and melancholic, her eyes averted just enough to suggest a break in her former self-confidence. She wears a mantilla given to her father by the Queen of Portugal and holds one of her own books. When shown at the Royal Academy summer show in 1924, Mary Chamot, writing in "Country Life", wrote of this painting that it "has the force to make every other picture in the room look insipid, so dazzling is the contrast between the mysterious darkness of her eyes and hair and the shimmering brilliance of the white lace she wears over her head."


Eugene M. Travis

Eugene Mabbett Travis (June 10, 1863 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York – July 25, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York City) was an American businessman and politician from New York. He was New York State Comptroller from 1915 to 1920.
Life.
In 1884, he married Fannie Bell Peck (b. 1863).
He was a Republican member of the New York State Senate (6th D.) from 1907 to 1912, sitting in the 130th, 131st, 132nd, 133rd, 134th and 135th New York State Legislatures. He was New York State Comptroller from 1915 to 1920, elected in 1914, 1916 and 1918.
In 1921, Travis, his successor James A. Wendell and bond broker Albert L. Judson were indicted on charges of grand larceny. It was charged that Travis as Comptroller and Wendell as Deputy Comptroller had bought from Judson bonds at prices above the market for the State Sinkung Fund, and so caused the loss of $230,000 for the State. The charges were later dismissed because of lack of evidence to show criminal intent.
He died at his home at 436 Grand Avenue, Brooklyn.


Mylswamy Annadurai

Mylswamy Annadurai, popularly known as Moon Man of India, is an Indian scientist working as vice president for Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology (TNSCST), Chairman, Board of Governors, National Design and Research Forum(NDRF. He was born on 2 July 1958, in a village called Kothavadi near Pollachi in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu state of India). Prior to taking this assignment he was with Indian Space Research Organisation and served as director, ISRO Satellite Centre (ISAC), Bangalore. During his 36 years of service in ISRO, he had some of the major contributions, including two of the major missions of ISRO, namely Chandrayaan-1 and Mangalyaan. Annadurai has been listed among 100 Global thinkers of 2014 and topped the innovators list. His works are mentioned in textbooks of Tamil Nadu Board of Secondary Education
Early life and education.
Annadurai had his schooling in his native village Kodhawady and nearby town Pollachi. He has obtained a bachelor's degree in engineering (electronics and communication) in 1980 from Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, and completed his master's degree in engineering during 1982 from PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore and PhD from Anna University of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu in India. He joined ISRO in 1982. As the mission director of INSAT missions, he had some of the original contributions to the INSAT systems maintenance.
Mars Orbiter Mission.
India's first mission to Mars, the Mars Orbiter Mission, or "Mangalyaan", reached the planet on 24 September 2014 completing its 300-day journey. While ISRO has been researching for a Mars mission for many years, the project was only approved by the government in August 2012. ISRO took over a year to work on the spacecraft and bring the project to implementation stage. The Mars Orbiter Mission was launched on 5 November 2013 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on the country's east coast. After travelling 670 million kilometres, "Mangalyaan" is now set to study the surface features, morphology, mineralogy and Martian atmosphere to better understand the climate, geology, origin, evolution and sustainability of life on the planet. It is the most cost effective of all the missions sent to the planet by any other country costing India about $74 million.
Chandrayaan I & II.
Chandrayaan-1, was India's first mission to the Moon launched by India's national space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The unmanned lunar exploration mission included a lunar orbiter and an impactor. India launched the spacecraft by a modified version of the PSLV C11 on 22 October 2008 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, Nellore District, Andhra Pradesh about 80 km north of Chennai at 06:22 IST (00:52 UTC). The mission was a major boost to India's space program, and India joined a band of Asian nations (China and Japan) in exploring the Moon. The vehicle was successfully inserted into lunar orbit on 8 November 2008.
During the period 2004–2008, as the project director for Chandrayaan I, he led a team of engineers and scientists that designed and developed the project to carry instrumentation from ISRO and from NASA, ESA, and Bulgaria to accomplish simultaneous chemical, mineralogical, resource and topographic mapping of the entire lunar surface at high spatial and spectral resolutions. The project was realised within the time frame stipulated and the budget granted. He has paved the way for the future of Indian planetary missions and set an example for the international co-operation bringing the reputed international organisations like NASA, ESA, JAXA to work under the leadership of ISRO. Chandrayaan I has received many national and international awards including, the coveted Space Pioneers award for science and engineering at 28th International conference on Space development, in Florida USA in 2009.
2015 to 2018 Annadurai was heading ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore as director. The centre is responsible for building state of the art satellites for communication, remote sensing, navigation, space science and interplanetary missions.
In 2019 Annadurai has been appointed as vice president for Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology.
Previous assignments.
Prior to that, he was working as programme director for IRS&SSS (Indian Remote Sensing & Small, Science and Student Satellites) that include Chandrayaan-1, Chandrayaan-2, ASTROSAT, Aditya-L1, Mars Orbiter Mission and many Indian Remote Sensing missions. He also contributed to India's National Communication satellite (INSAT) missions as the Mission Director. He was the member secretary of the task team that prepared Chandrayaan I project report. He is the author of several research papers in his specialization.
Annadurai's career profile is as follow,
During his holidays, Annadurai tours across the country to meet and interact with the students to encourage them to study science.
Awards and achievements.
Annadurai has received more than hundred awards, that include,
Awards from Social & Public Forums.
Annadurai's publications and works are being widely referred by satellite operator's, one of his work has been referred in a US patent.
He has written five books in Tamil namely,
The Book" Kaiyaruke Nila" has won S. P. Adithanar Literary award for the year 2013.


Martyn Fonnereau

Martyn Fonnereau (19 March 1741 – 18 May 1817) was the second son of Zachary Philip Fonnereau, a British merchant and banker of Huguenot extraction.
He was a Director of the Bank of England from 1771 to 1783.
He and his younger brother Thomas were named in the will of Jane (Poyntz) Malcher, which prompted the precedential case "Fonnereau" v. "Poyntz" in 1785.


Edward Coventry, Viscount Deerhurst

Edward George William Omar Coventry, Viscount Deerhurst, known as Lord Ted Deerhurst (born 24 September 1957; died 4 October 1997 in North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii), was a British surfer.
Life and career.
Deerhurst was the son of George Coventry, 11th Earl of Coventry and Marie Medart, who divorced in 1963.
Moving to California with his American mother, he attended Lincoln Junior High School in Santa Monica. He learned to surf under the wing of Tony Alva, the skateboarder. Aged 15, he was taken back to England by his father (while his mother was thrown in jail). He represented Great Britain as an amateur at the world championships in South Africa in 1978. His best result was semi-finalist in the José Cuervo classic at big Sunset, Hawaii, in the same year. While he never made the top 100 in the professional rankings, he gained a reputation as "the most persistent and committed performer on the world circuit...a hero of never-say-die optimism."
Deerhurst designed surfboards under the name Excalibur and set up the Excalibur Foundation to enable handicapped and underprivileged children to go surfing. He was briefly married to Susan Knight. He died in October 1997, in Hawaii, at the age of 40 years, predeceasing his father. His death may have come about in the wake of his relationship with a dancer at the Femme Nu club in Honolulu, by the name of Lola. This theory is advanced by (Dr) Andy Martin in his book, "Surf, Sweat and Tears: the Epic Life and Mysterious Death of Edward George William Omar Deerhurst".
Deerhurst appeared in the films "Storm Riders" (1982) and "Asian Paradise" (1984).
External links.
 Ted and Lola in Hawaii, The Independent, 11 April 2020
 What really happened to the "Lord on a Board"? Sunday Express, 12 May 2020


Claver Gatete

Claver Gatete (born 23 May 1962) is a Rwandan politician and former ambassador, who currently serves as the Minister of Infrastructure in the Rwandan cabinet. Prior to his appointment in April 2018, he served as Minister of Finance and Economic Planning from 2013 to 2018. He has previously served as the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda and as Rwanda's ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Iceland.
Background and education.
Claver Gatete was born in Mbarara, Uganda on 23 May 1962, where he was raised and educated. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, awarded in 1991. His Master of Science, also in Agricultural Economics, was awarded in 1993, by the same university.
Career.
Upon the completion of his university studies, Gatete worked in Canada as an economist between 1991 and 1997, and then worked as the national economist with the United Nations Development Programme in Rwanda until 2000.
In October 2001, Gatete joined the office of the president as the president's personal representative to NEPAD's Steering Committee. He concurrently served as the Coordinator of the National African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and as a Member of the NEPAD's African Partnership Forum (APF), until November 2003.
For a period of two years, from November 2003 until November 2005, he served as the Secretary to the Treasury, in the Finance and Economic Planning ministry.
From November 2005 until December 2009, Gatete was Rwanda's ambassador to the UK, Ireland and Iceland, before joining the National Bank of Rwanda as the deputy governor. He then served as the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda from May 2011, before his appointment as the Minister of Finance.
He was appointed Minister of Infrastructure in April 2018, replacing James Musoni. He was replaced as Minister of Finance of Rwanda by Uzziel Ndagijimana.


Royal warrant of appointment

Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to tradespeople who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The royal warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the issuer of the royal warrant; thus lending prestige to the supplier. Royal families of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Denmark, Sweden, and Japan among others, allow tradesmen to advertise royal patronage.
Suppliers having a royal warrant charge for the goods and services supplied; a royal warrant does not imply that suppliers provide goods or services free of charge. Royal warrants are typically advertised on company hoardings, letter-heads and products by displaying the coat of arms or the heraldic badge of the royal personage issuing the royal warrant. Warrants granted by members of the British royal family usually include the phrase "By Appointment to…" followed by the title and name of the royal customer, and then what goods are provided; no other details of what is supplied may be given.
Purveyors for current households.
Australia.
Royal warrant holders of the Court of Australia:
Belgium.
In Belgium the title of 'Purveyor to the Court' (Gebrevetteerd Hofleverancier van België/Fournisseur breveté de la Cour de Belgique) is granted to businesses who provide services or goods to the royal court.
The list of 'purveyors to the Court' is updated every year. The king himself makes the decision who gets a title or not.
Some of the 'Purveyors to the Court' include:
Denmark.
Purveyors to the Royal Danish Court:
Japan.
Purveyors to the Imperial Household Ministry; after World War II, the permission system was abolished, but purveyors still exist today:
Monaco.
High Patronage of the Monaco Royal Family:
Netherlands.
In the Netherlands, the status "hofleverancier" is awarded to small and medium-sized businesses that have existed for at least 100 years which have a good reputation regionally. However, the companies need not actually supply goods to the court. At present there are at least 387 companies that hold this status, which can be renewed every 25 years. Companies designated as "hofleverancier" are further permitted to display a plaque on their premises attesting to their status.
In addition, certain companies are granted the use of the designation "koninklijke" ("royal" in Dutch). These companies are also allowed to incorporate a crown in their logo. Examples include:
Norway.
Purveyors to the Royal Court of the Norway: the status 'purveyor to the court' ("hofflevrandør") is no longer awarded.
Romania.
Purveyors to the Romanian Royal House:
Uganda.
The Royal House of Bunyoro-Kitara awards royal warrants to businesses that deliver goods and services to the royal house on a regular basis. The royal warrant can be awarded by a grantor, either the King, the Queen or the Crown Prince. The Board of the Royal Warrant Holder Society advises the Grantors but each Grantor makes the final decision to grant a Warrant. A business may only receive one Warrant from a Grantor. The warrants of the Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom are valid for one year.
Historical reigning households.
Bavaria.
Purveyors to the Court of Bavaria:
Brazil.
Purveyors to the Brazilian Imperial Family:
France.
Purveyors to the Court of France:
Italy.
Purveyors to the Italian Royal Family:
Ottoman Empire.
Purveyors to the sultans of the Ottoman Empire:
Portugal.
Purveyors to the Portuguese Royal Household:
Prussia.
Purveyors to the Court of Prussia:
Russia.
Purveyors to the Russian Imperial Family:
Yugoslavia.
Royal Warrant Holders of the Yugoslav Court:


United Kingdom corporation tax

Corporation tax in the United Kingdom is a corporate tax levied in on the profits made by UK-resident companies and on the profits of entities registered overseas with permanent establishments in the UK.
Until 1 April 1965, companies were taxed at the same income tax rates as individual taxpayers, with an additional profits tax levied on companies. Finance Act 1965 replaced this structure for companies and associations with a single corporate tax, which took its basic structure and rules from the income tax system. Since 1997, the UK's Tax Law Rewrite Project has been modernising the UK's tax legislation, starting with income tax, while the legislation imposing corporation tax has itself been amended, the rules governing income tax and corporation tax have thus diverged. Corporation tax was governed by the Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 (as amended) prior to the rewrite project.
Originally introduced as a classical tax system, in which companies were subject to tax on their profits and companies' shareholders were also liable to income tax on the dividends that they received, the first major amendment to corporation tax saw it move to a dividend imputation system in 1973, under which an individual receiving a dividend became entitled to an income tax credit representing the corporation tax already paid by the company paying the dividend. The classical system was reintroduced in 1999, with the abolition of advance corporation tax and of repayable dividend tax credits. Another change saw the single main rate of tax split into three. Tax competition between jurisdictions reduced the main corporate tax rate from 28% in 2008–2010 to a flat rate of 19% as of April 2021.
The UK government faced problems with its corporate tax structure, including European Court of Justice judgements that aspects of it are incompatible with EU treaties. Tax avoidance schemes marketed by the financial sector have also proven an irritant, and been countered by complicated anti-avoidance legislation.
The complexity of the corporation tax system is a recognised issue. The Labour government, supported by the Opposition parties, carried through wide-scale reform from the Tax Law Rewrite project, resulting in the Corporation Tax Act 2010. The tax has slowly been integrating generally accepted accounting practice, with the corporation tax system in various specific areas based directly on the accounting treatment.
Total net corporation tax receipts were a record high of £56 billion in 2016–17.
History.
Until 1965, companies were subject to income tax on their profits at the same rates as was levied on individual taxpayers. A dividend imputation system existed, whereby the income tax paid by a company was offset against the income tax liability of a shareholder who received dividends from the company. The standard rate of income tax in 1949 was 50%. If the company paid a £100 dividend, the recipient would be treated as if he had earned £200 and had paid £100 in income tax on it – the tax paid by the company fully covered the tax due from the individual on the dividend paid. If, however, the individual was subject to tax at a higher rate (known as "surtax"), he (not the company) would be liable to pay the additional tax.
In addition to income tax, companies were also subject to a profits tax, which was deducted from company profits when determining the income tax liability. It was a differential tax, with a higher tax rate on dividends (profits distributed to shareholders) than on profits retained within the company. By penalising the distribution of profits, it was hoped companies would retain profits for investment, which was considered a priority after the Second World War. The tax did not have the desired effect, so the distributed profits tax was increased by 20% by the post-war Labour government to encourage companies to retain more of their profits. At the time of Hugh Gaitskell's 1951 budget, the profits tax was 50% for distributed profits and 10% for undistributed profits.
A series of reductions in the profits tax were brought in from 1951 onwards by the new Conservative government. The tax rates fell to 22.5% on distributed profits and 2.5% on undistributed profits by 1957, but the profits tax was no longer income tax-deductible. Derick Heathcoat-Amory's Budget of March 1958 replaced the differential profits tax with a single profits tax measure, applicable to both retained and distributed profits. This gradual decrease, and final abolition, of taxes on capital distributions reflected ideological differences between the Conservative and Labour parties: the Conservative approach was to distribute profits to capital holders for investment elsewhere, while Labour sought to force companies to retain profits for reinvestment in the company in the hope this would benefit the company's workforce.
Finance Act 1965.
Finance Act 1965 replaced the system of income tax and profits tax from 1 April 1965 with the Corporation Tax, which re-introduced aspects of the old system. Corporation Tax was charged at a uniform rate on all profits, but additional tax was then payable if profits were distributed as a dividend to shareholders. In effect, dividends suffered double taxation. This method of corporation tax is known as the classical system and is similar to that used in the United States. The effect of the tax was to revert to the distribution tax in operation from 1949 to 1959: dividend payments were subject to higher tax than profits retained within the company. Finance Act 1965 also introduced a capital gains tax, at a rate of 30%, charged on the gains arising on the disposal of capital assets by individuals. While companies were exempted from capital gains tax, they were liable to corporation tax on their "chargeable gains", which were calculated in substantially the same way as capital gains for individuals. The tax applied to company shares as well as other assets. Before 1965, capital gains were not taxed, and it was advantageous for taxpayers to argue that a receipt was non-taxable "capital" rather than taxable "revenue".
Advance Corporation Tax.
The basic structure of the tax, where company profits were taxed as profits, and dividend payments were then taxed as income, remained unchanged until 1973, when a partial imputation system was introduced for dividend payments. Unlike the previous imputation system, the tax credit to the shareholder was less than the corporation tax paid (corporation tax was higher than the standard rate of income tax, but the imputation, or set-off, was only of standard rate tax). When companies made distributions, they also paid the advance corporation tax (known as ACT), which could be set off against the main corporation tax charge, subject to certain limits (the full amount of ACT paid could not be recovered if significantly large amounts of profits were distributed). Individuals and companies who received a dividend from a UK company received a tax credit representing the ACT paid. Individuals could set off the tax credit against their income tax liability.
On introduction, ACT was set at 30% of the gross dividend (the actual amount paid plus the tax credit). If a company made a £70 dividend payment to an individual, the company would pay £30 of advance corporation tax. The shareholder would receive the £70 cash payment, plus a tax credit of £30; thus, the individual would be deemed to have earned £100, and to have already paid tax of £30 on it. The ACT paid by the company would be deductible against its final "mainstream" corporation tax bill. To the extent that the individual's tax on the dividend was less than the tax credit – for example, if his income was too low to pay tax (below £595 in 1973–1974) – he would be able to reclaim some or all of the £30 tax paid by the company. The set-off was only partial, since the company would pay 52% tax (small companies had lower rates, but still higher than the ACT rate), and thus the £70 received by the individual actually represented pre-tax profits of £145.83. Accordingly, only part of the double taxation was relieved.
ACT was not payable on dividends from one UK company to another (unless the payor company elected to pay it). Also, the recipient company was not taxed on that dividend receipt, except for dealers in shares and life assurance companies in respect of some of their profits. As the payor company would have suffered tax on the payments it made, the company that received the dividend also received a credit that it could use to reduce the amount of ACT it itself paid, or, in certain cases, apply to have the tax credit repaid to them.
The level of ACT was linked to the basic rate of income tax between 1973 and 1993. The March 1993 Budget of Norman Lamont cut the ACT rate and tax credit to 22.5% from April 1993, and 20% from April 1994. These changes were accompanied with a cut of income tax on dividends to 20%, while the basic rate of income tax remained at 25%. Persons liable for tax were lightly affected by the change, because income tax liability was still balanced by the tax credit received, although higher rate tax payers paid an additional 25% tax on the amount of the dividend actually received (net), as against 20% before the change. The change had bigger effects on pensions and non-taxpayers. A pension fund receiving a £1.2 m dividend income prior to the change would have been able to reclaim £400,000 in tax, giving a total income of £1.6 m. After the change, only £300,000 was reclaimable, reducing income to £1.5 m, a fall of 6.25%.
Gordon Brown's summer Budget of 1997 ended the ability of pension funds and other tax-exempt companies to reclaim tax credits with immediate effect, and for individuals from April 1999. This tax change has been blamed for the poor state of British pension provision, while usually ignoring the more significant effect of the dot-com crash of 2000 onwards when the FTSE-100 lost half its value to fall from 6930 at the beginning of 2000 to just 3490 by March 2003. Despite this, critics such as Member of Parliament Frank Field described it as a "hammer blow" and the "Sunday Times" described it as a swindle, with the hypothetical £1.5 m income described above falling to £1.2 m, a fall in income of 20%, because no tax would be reclaimable.
Abolition of Advance Corporation Tax.
From 6 April 1999 ACT was abolished, and the tax credit on dividends was reduced to 10%. There was a matching reduction in the basic income tax rate on dividends to 10%, while a new higher-rate of 32.5% was introduced which led to an overall effective 25% tax rate for higher rate taxpayers on dividends (after setting this "notional" tax credit against the tax liability).While non-taxpayers were no longer able to claim this amount from the treasury (as opposed to taxpayers who could deduct it from their tax bill), the 20% ACT (which would have previously been deducted from the dividend before payment) was no longer levied.
ACT that had been incurred prior to 1999 could still be set off against a company's tax liability, provided it would have been able to set it off under the old imputation system. In order to keep the stream of payments associated with advance corporation tax payment, 'large' companies (comprising the majority of corporation tax receipts) were subjected to a quarterly instalments scheme for tax payment.
Rates.
On its introduction in 1965, corporation tax was charged at 40%, rising to 45% in the 1969 Budget. The rate then fell to 42.5% in the second Budget of 1970 and 40% in 1971. In 1973, alongside the introduction of advance corporation tax (ACT), Conservative chancellor Anthony Barber created a main rate of 52%, together with a smaller companies' rate of 42%. This apparent increase was negated by the fact that under the ACT scheme, dividends were no longer subject to income tax.
The 1979 Conservative Budget of Geoffrey Howe cut the small companies' rate to 40%, followed by a further cut in the 1982 Budget to 38%. The Budgets of 1983–1988 saw sharp cuts in both main and small companies' rates, falling to 35% and 25% respectively. Budgets between 1988 and 2001 brought further falls to a 30% main rate and 19% small companies' rates. From April 1983 to March 1997 the small companies' rate was pegged to the basic rate of income tax. During the 1980s there was briefly a higher rate of tax imposed for capital profits.
Chancellor Gordon Brown's 1999 Budget introduced a 10% starting rate for profits from £0 to £10,000, effective from April 2000. Marginal relief applied meaning companies with profits of between £10,000 and £50,000 paid a rate between the starting rate and the small companies' rate (19% in 2000).
The 2002 Budget cut the starting rate to zero, with marginal relief applying in the same way. This caused a significant increase in the number of companies being incorporated, as businesses that had operated as self-employed, paying income tax on profits from just over £5,000, were attracted to the corporation tax rate of 0% on income up to £10,000. Previously self-employed individuals could now distribute profits as dividend payments rather than salaries. For companies with profits under £50,000 the corporation tax rate varied between 0% and 19%. Because dividend payments come with a basic rate tax credit, provided the recipient did not earn more than the basic rate allowance, no further tax would be paid. The number of new companies being formed in 2002–2003 reached 325,900, an increase of 45% on 2001–2002.
The fact that individuals operating in this manner could potentially pay no tax at all was felt by the government to be unfair tax avoidance, and the 2004 Budget introduced a Non-Corporate Distribution Rate. This ensured that where a company paid below the small companies' rate (19% in 2004), dividend payments made to non-corporates (for example, individuals, trusts and personal representatives of deceased persons) would be subject to additional corporation tax, bringing the corporation tax paid up to 19%. For example, a company making £10,000 profit, and making a £6,000 dividend distribution to an individual and £4,000 to another company would pay 19% corporation tax on the £6,000. Although this measure substantially reduced the number of small businesses incorporating, the Chancellor in the 2006 Budget said tax avoidance by small businesses through incorporation was still a major issue, and scrapped the starting rate entirely.
Historic tax revenues.
The following graph shows UK corporation tax revenue from 1999 to 2017:
Taxable profits and accounting profits.
The starting point for computing taxable profits is profits before tax (except for a life assurance company). The rules for calculating corporation tax generally ran in parallel with income tax until 1993, when the first statutory rule to move profit reporting into line with generally accepted accounting practice was introduced, although the courts were already moving towards requiring trading profits to be computed using general accountancy rules.
The Finance Act 1993 introduced rules to make tax on exchange gains and losses mimic their treatment in a company's financial statements in most instances. The Finance Act 1994 saw similar rules for financial instruments, and in the Finance Act 1996 the treatment of most loan relationships was also brought into line with the accounting treatment. The Finance Act 1997 saw something similar with rental premiums. A year later, the Finance Act 1998 went even further, making it clear that taxable trading profits (apart from those accruing to a Lloyd's corporate name or to a life assurance company) and profits from a rental business are equal to profits calculated under generally accepted accounting practice ("GAAP") unless there is a specific statutory or case law rule to the contrary. This was followed up by the Finance Act 2004, which provided that where a company with investment business could make deductions for management expenses, they were calculated by reference to figures in the financial statements.
International Financial Reporting Standards.
From 2005, all European Union listed companies have to prepare their financial statements using the "International Financial Reporting Standards" ("IFRS"), as modified by the EU. Other UK companies may choose to adopt IFRS. Corporation tax law is changing so that, in the future, IFRS accounting profits are largely respected. The exception is for certain financial instruments and certain other measures to prevent tax arbitrage between companies applying IFRS and companies applying UK GAAP.
Avoidance.
Tax avoidance is defined by the UK government as "bending the rules of the tax system to gain a tax advantage that Parliament never intended". Unlike most other countries, most UK tax professionals are accountants rather than lawyers by training.
Until 2013, the UK had no general anti-avoidance rule ("GAAR") for corporation tax. However, it inherited an anti-avoidance rule from income tax relating to transactions in securities, and since then has had various "mini-GAARs" added to it. The best known "mini-GAAR" prevents a deduction for interest paid when the loan to which it relates is made for an "unallowable purpose". In 2013, the government introduced a General Anti-Avoidance Rule to manage the risk of tax avoidance.
Finance Act 2004 introduced disclosure rules requiring promoters of certain tax avoidance schemes that are financing- or employment-related to disclose the scheme. Taxpayers who use these schemes must also disclose their use when they submit their tax returns. This is the first provision of its kind in the UK, and Finance Act 2005 has shown a number of tax avoidance schemes being blocked earlier than would have been expected prior to the disclosure rules.
Need for greater revenues.
In the early twenty-first century the government sought to raise more revenues from corporation tax. In 2002 it introduced a separate 10% supplementary charge on profits from oil and gas extraction businesses, and Finance Act 2005 contained measures to accelerate when oil and gas extraction business have to pay tax. Instead of paying their tax in four equal instalments in the seventh, tenth, thirteenth and sixteenth month after the accounting period starts, they will be required to consolidate their third and fourth payments and pay them in the thirteenth month, creating a cash flow advantage for the government. Finance (No. 2) Act 2005 continued measures specifically relating to life assurance companies. When originally announced (as Finance (No.3) Bill 2005) Legal & General told the Stock Exchange that £300 m had been wiped off its value, and Aviva (Norwich Union) announced that the tax changes would cost its policy holders £150 m.
Method of charge.
Powers to collect corporation tax must be passed annually by parliament, otherwise there is no authority to collect it. The charge for the financial year (beginning 1 April each year) is imposed by successive finance acts. The tax is charged in respect of the company's accounting period, which is normally the 12-month period for which the company prepares its accounts. Corporation tax is administered by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
Assessment.
Corporation tax is levied on the net profits of a company. Except for certain life assurance companies, it is borne by the company as a direct tax.
Up until 1999 no corporation tax was due unless HMRC raised an assessment on a company. Companies were, however, obliged to report certain details to HMRC so that the right amount could be assessed. This changed for accounting periods ending on or after 1 July 1999, when self-assessment was introduced. Self-assessment means that companies are required to assess themselves "and take full responsibility for that assessment". If the self-assessment is wrong through negligence or recklessness, the company can be liable to penalties.
The self-assessment tax return needs to be delivered to HMRC 12 months after the end of the period of account in which the accounting period falls (although the tax must be paid before this date). If a company fails to submit a return by then, it is liable to penalties. HMRC may then issue a determination of the tax payable, which cannot be appealed – however, in practice they wait until a further six months have elapsed. Also, the most common claims and elections that may be made by a company have to be part of its tax return, with a time limit of two years after the end of the accounting period. This means that a company submitting its return more than one year late suffers not only from the late filing penalties, but also from the inability to make these claims and elections.
From 2004 there has been a requirement for new companies to notify HM Revenue & Customs of their formation, although HMRC receives notifications of new company registrations from Companies House. Companies will then receive an annual notice CT603, approximately 1–2 months after the end of the company's financial period, notifying it to complete an annual return. This must also include the company's annual accounts, and possibly other documents, such as auditors' reports, that are required for certain companies.
Schedular system.
In the United Kingdom the "source rule" applies. This means that something is taxed only if there is a specific provision bringing it within the charge to tax. Accordingly, profits are only charged to corporation tax if they fall within one of the following, and are not otherwise exempted by an explicit provision of the Taxes Acts:
Notes:
Schedule D is itself divided into a number of cases:
Notes:
Strictly speaking, Corporation Tax Act 2010 replaces the historic terminology "Schedule A", "Schedule D Case I" etc. with more descriptive terms but this does not affect the substantive application of the schedular system so that, for example, different rules apply for utilising tax losses depending upon the nature of the income under which the losses arises.
Relief for expenses.
Most direct expenses are deductible when calculating taxable income and chargeable gains. Notable exceptions include any costs of entertaining clients. Companies with investment business may deduct certain indirect expenses known as "expenses of management" when calculating their taxable profits. A similar relief is available for expenses of a life assurance company taxed on the I minus E basis which relate to the company's basic life assurance and general annuity business. Donations made to charities are also normally deducted in calculating taxable income if made under Gift Aid.
Rates and payment.
The 2007 Budget announced a main rate cut from 30% to 28%, effective from April 2008. At the same time, the small companies' rate was increased from 19% to 20% from April 2007, 21% in April 2008, to stop "individuals artificially incorporating as small companies to avoid paying their due share of tax, a practice if left unaddressed would cost the rest of the taxpaying population billions of pounds".
The rate of corporation tax is determined by the financial year, which runs from 1 April to the following 31 March. Financial year FY17 started on 1 April 2017 and ends on 31 March 2018. Where a company's accounting period straddles a financial year in which the corporation tax rate has changed, the company's profits for that period are split. For example, a company paying small companies' rate with its accounting period running from 1 January to 31 December, and making £100,000 of profit in 2007, would be deemed to have made 90/365*£100,000 = £24,657.53 in FY06 (there are 90 days between 1 January and 31 March), and 275/365*£100,000=£75,34.47 in FY07, and would pay 19% on the FY06 portion, and 20% on the FY07 portion.
From 1 April 2010 HM Revenue & Customs updated their terminology and the former Small Companies' Rate is now called Small Profits Rate.
Notes:
Most companies are required to pay tax nine months and a day after the end of an accounting period. Larger companies are required to pay quarterly instalments, in the seventh, tenth, thirteenth and sixteenth months after a full accounting period starts. These times are modified where an accounting period lasts for less than twelve months. From 2005 onwards, for tax payable on oil and gas extraction profits, the third and fourth quarterly instalments are merged, including the supplementary 10% charge.
In the financial year 2004–2005, approximately 39,000 companies paid corporation tax at the main rate. These 4.7% of active companies are responsible for 75% of all corporation tax receipts. Around 224,000 companies paid the small companies rate, with 34,000 benefiting from marginal relief. 264,000 were in the starting rate, with 269,000 benefiting from the lower band of marginal relief. The total revenue was £41.9bn from 831,885 companies. Only 23480 companies had a liability in excess of £100,000.
HM Revenue and Customs powers of enquiry.
HMRC has one year from the normal filing date, which is itself one year after the end of the period of account, to open an enquiry into the return. This period is extended if the return is filed late. The enquiry continues until all issues that HMRC wish to enquire about a return are dealt with. However, a company can appeal to the Commissioners of Income Tax to close an enquiry if they feel there is undue delay.
If either side disputes the amount of tax that is payable, they may appeal to either the General or Special Commissioners of Income Tax. Appeals on points of law may be made to the High Court (Court of Session in Scotland), then the Court of Appeal, and finally, with leave, to the House of Lords. However, decisions of fact are binding and can only be appealed if no reasonable Commissioner could have made that decision.
Once an enquiry is closed, or the time for opening an enquiry has passed, HMRC can only re-open a prior year if they become aware of an issue which they could not reasonably have known about at the time, or in instances of fraud or negligence. In fraud or negligence cases, they can re-open cases from up to 20 years ago. After an HMRC enquiry closes, or after final determination of an issue by the courts, the taxpayer has 30 days to amend their return, and make additional claims and elections, if appropriate, before the assessment becomes final and conclusive. If there is no enquiry, the assessment becomes final and conclusive once the period in which the Revenue may open an enquiry passes.
Relief from double taxation.
There is a risk of double taxation whenever a company receives income that has already been taxed. This could be dividend income, which will have been paid out of the post-tax profits of another company and which may have suffered withholding tax. Or it could be because the company itself has suffered foreign tax, perhaps because it conducts part of its trade through an overseas permanent establishment, or because it receives other types of foreign income.
Double taxation is avoided for UK dividends by exempting them from tax for most companies: only dealers in shares suffer tax on them. Where double taxation arises because of overseas tax suffered, relief is available either in the form of expense or credit relief. Expense relief allows the overseas tax to be treated as a deductible expense in the tax computation. Credit relief is given as a deduction from the UK tax liability, but is restricted to the amount of UK tax suffered on the foreign income. There is a system of onshore pooling, so that overseas tax suffered in high tax territories may be set off against taxable income arising from low tax territories. From 1 July 2009, new rules were introduced to exempt most non-UK dividends from corporation tax so these double taxation rules in respect of non-UK dividends will be of less common application in practice after that date.
Loss relief.
Detailed and separate rules apply to how all the different types of losses may be set off within the computations of a company. A detailed explanation of these can be found in: "United Kingdom corporation tax loss relief".
Group relief.
The UK does not permit tax consolidation, where companies in a group are treated as though they are a single entity for tax purposes. One of the main benefits of tax consolidation is that tax losses in one entity in a group are automatically relievable against the tax profits of another. Instead, the UK permits a form of loss relief called "group relief".
Where a company has losses arising in an accounting period (other than capital losses, or losses arising under Case V or VI of Schedule D) in excess of its other taxable profits for the period, it may surrender these losses to a group member with sufficient taxable profits in the same accounting period.
The company receiving the losses may offset them against their own taxable profits. Exceptions include that a company in the oil and gas extraction industry may not accept group relief against the profits arising on its oil and gas extraction business, and a life assurance company may only accept group relief against its profits chargeable to tax at the standard shareholder rate applicable to that company. Separate rules apply for dual resident companies.
Full group relief is permitted between companies subject to UK corporation tax that are in the same 75% group, where companies have a common ultimate parent, and at least 75% of the shares in each company (other than the ultimate parent) are owned by other companies in the group. The companies making up a 75% group do not all need to be UK-resident or subject to UK corporation tax relief. An open-ended investment company cannot form part of a group.
Consortium relief is permitted where a company subject to UK corporation tax is owned by a consortium of companies that each own at least 5% of the shares and together own at least 75% of the shares. A consortium company can only surrender or accept losses in proportion to how much of that company is owned by each consortium group.
Interaction with European law.
Although there are no European Union directives dealing with direct taxes, UK laws must comply with European legislation. In particular, legislation should not be discriminatory under the EC treaty. A number of cases where UK tax laws are believed to be discriminatory have been brought to the European Court of Justice, usually with respect to freedom of establishment and freedom of movement of capital. Key cases which have been decided include:
Also, the case of "ICI v Colmer" led to the UK amending its definition of a group, for group relief purposes. Previously, the definition required that all companies and intermediate parent companies in a group to be UK resident.
There are also a number of other cases making their way, slowly, up to the European Court. In particular:
Recent developments.
Corporation tax reform.
There have been a number of proposals for corporation tax reform, although only a few have been enacted. In March 2001, the government published a technical note "A Review of Small Business Taxation", which considered simplification of corporation tax for small companies through the closer alignment of their profits for tax purposes with those reported in their accounts. In July of that year, the government also published a consultation document, "Large Business Taxation: the Government's strategy and corporate tax reforms". It set out the strategy for modernising corporate taxes and proposals for relief for capital gains on substantial shareholdings held by companies.
In August 2002, "Reform of corporation tax – A consultation document" was published, outlining initial proposals for the abolition of the Schedular system. This was followed up in August 2003 by "Corporation tax reform – A consultation document", which further discussed the possible abolition of the Schedular system, and also whether the capital allowances (tax depreciation) system should be abolished. It also made proposals that were ultimately enacted in Finance Act 2004. (The first two of these listed below were in response to threats to the UK tax base arising from recent European Court of Justice judgments.) The changes were to:
In December 2004, "Corporation tax reform – a technical note" was published. It outlined the government's decision to abolish the schedular system, replacing the numerous schedules and cases with two pools: a trading and letting pool; and an "everything else" pool. The Government had decided that capital allowances would remain, though there would be some reforms, mostly affecting the leasing industry.
Other enactments.
Other main reforms enacted, include:


Kozhnitz (Hasidic dynasty)

Kozhnitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by the Kozhnitzer Maggid, Rebbe Yisroel Hopsztajn. Kozhnitz is the Yiddish name of Kozienice, a town in present-day Poland.
Lineage.
Rebbe Yisroel Hopsztajn, the Maggid and founder of the Kozhnitz dynasty, and one of the three "patriarchs" of Polish hasidism, was a disciple of Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk (Rabbi Elimelech Lipman of Lizhensk), author of "Noam Elimelech". The Rebbe Elimelech was a disciple of the Rebbe Dovber, the "Maggid" ("preacher") of Mezeritch, the primary disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism.
The current Kozhnitzer Rebbe (eighth generation), Rabbi Moshe Shimshon Sternberg (a grandson of Rebbe Yisroel Elozor Hopsztajn [seventh generation]) is one of the last Hasidic rebbes remaining in the mostly secular Tel Aviv, and is considered by many to be one of gedolei hador. Does outreach (kiruv) work in Tel Aviv; Bnei Brak; Jerusalem; and Upper West Side, Manhattan in New York.
Kozhnitz communities in Williamsburg, Borough Park and Sea Gate in Brooklyn also have their own rebbes, all descendants of the Maggid.


Latvian nationality law

The Latvian nationality law () is based on the Citizenship Law of 1994 (as at 2013, amended four times, most recently through the amendments approved by the Parliament of Latvia on May 9, 2013). It is primarily based on jus sanguinis.
History.
The first nationality law of Latvia was adopted in August, 1919. In September, 1940, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union adopted a decree on the order of receiving USSR citizenship by the citizens of the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian SSRs. In October, 1991, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia has adopted a resolution "On the renewal of Republic of Latvia citizens' rights and fundamental principles of naturalization" declaring the 1940 decree null and void with regard to Republic of Latvia citizens. On 2 September 2012, the Central Election Commission received a draft for amendments to the Citizenship Law, providing that, from 1 January 2014, all non-citizens (a status held by former USSR citizens who do not possess citizenship of Latvia or any other state and who do not apply for citizenship while residing in Latvia), who by 30 November 2013 had not applied, under the rules of the Cabinet of Ministers, to retain the status of non-citizen shall be considered to be citizens of Latvia; these amendments would have automatically granted citizenship to any person who might have the status of non-citizen, without regard for place of residence, interest in acquiring citizenship of Latvia, and awareness of the amendments. The Central Election Commission sought opinions from legal experts before itself making any decision on the admissibility and sufficiency of the popular initiative. The majority of the experts requested were inclined to consider there to have been sound arguments for ceasing organisation of the popular initiative, the Central Election Commission went along with their opinion.
Dual citizenship.
Dual citizenship is not prohibited by Latvian citizenship law. According to the amendments to the Citizenship Law which came into force on 1 October 2013, citizenship of Latvia may be retained for persons who have acquired the citizenship of:
Children of citizens of Latvia may hold dual citizenship with any country. Some countries, such as Japan, however, do not permit their nationals to also, after reaching adulthood, hold a foreign citizenship. A dual Latvian-Japanese national must declare, to Japan's Ministry of Justice, his or her intention as to which citizenship to keep, before turning 22.
Before October 1, 2013, the newly acquired non-Latvian citizenship is simply not recognised by the Republic of Latvia, with the exception of a transitional clause: Latvia allows dual citizenship for those and their descendants who were forced to leave Latvia during the Soviet or Nazi occupations and adopted another citizenship while away from Latvia. In order to be eligible for dual citizenship, they had to claim it by July 1, 1995. If such a claim is made after this date, they shall renounce the citizenship of another state. If by a law of another state a Latvian citizen may be a citizen of this state, in relations with Latvia this person is considered solely as a Latvian citizen.
In general terms, you might be eligible to get Latvian citizenship by descent and keep existing citizenship (dual citizenship) if:
The application procedure requires having documents that prove your connection to the family member with Latvian heritage and proof that they withdrew or were exiled. If the ancestors of the applicant left prior to 1940, he/she will still be able to qualify for citizenship, but will not qualify to have dual citizenship.
Travel Freedom & Quality of Nationality.
In 2017, the Latvian nationality is ranked twenty-third in the Nationality Index (QNI). The QNI considers travel freedom and internal factors such as peace & stability, economic strength, and human development as well.
Citizenship of the European Union.
Because Latvia forms part of the European Union, Latvian citizens are also citizens of the European Union under European Union law and thus enjoy rights of free movement and have the right to vote in elections for the European Parliament. When in a non-EU country where there is no Latvian embassy, Latvian citizens have the right to get consular protection from the embassy of any other EU country present in that country. Latvian citizens can live and work in any country within the EU as a result of the right of free movement and residence granted in Article 21 of the EU Treaty.


Butterfield Overland Mail Route Fayetteville Segments Historic District

The Butterfield Overland Mail Route Fayetteville Segments Historic District is an area of in Lake Fayetteville Park in Fayetteville, Arkansas which preserves an original routing of the Butterfield Overland Mail route through Northwest Arkansas. The trail and surrounding area became listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2009 and is being explored as an addition to the National Historic Trails System upon signing of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009.
History.
The Butterfield Overland Mail route was a stagecoach route chosen to be snow-free unlike the more northern but shorter routes in place at the time. It ran from St. Louis, Missouri to San Francisco, California beginning in 1858. Fayetteville was located between the major stops at Tipton, Missouri and Fort Smith, Arkansas and the city grew significantly during the trail's operation. This segment overlapped a formerly well-traveled Native American removal route from Springfield, Missouri to Fayetteville from the 1830s. John Butterfield built a hotel and several barns in Fayetteville for his travelers to utilize before continuing north to Fitzgerald Station in Shiloh, Mudtown, Cross Hollows, Callahan's tavern and Missouri.
Preservation.
Today, the route has been partially preserved as Arkansas Highway 265 in Northwest Arkansas and (partially) as Old Wire Road in Fayetteville. The route is designated with historic markers through Fayetteville, including an original stone along present-day College Avenue (U.S. Route 71B) in front of the Former Washington County Courthouse. This NRPH segment is not designated AR 265 and runs through Lake Fayetteville Park as a dirt path.
In south Washington County, Arkansas another NRHP-listed segment exists along Bugscuffle Road.
A study to include the Butterfield Trail as a National Historic Trail was commissioned in the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 upon the request of Representative John Bozeman as a nationally significant piece of history of trade and commerce in America.


Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg

Frederick V Louis William Christian, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (30 January 1748, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe – 20 January 1820, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe) was from 1751 to his death landgrave of Hesse-Homburg.
He was born under Europe's Ancien Regime but lived to see the Age of Enlightenment, the French Revolution, the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, the rise and fall of Napoleon I, the Congress of Vienna and its establishment of a new geopolitical order in Europe and Germany. Unlike his predecessors and successors, he was not keen on war and instead became one of the patrons of German Geistesgeschichte, corresponding with Lavater and Klopstock and visiting Voltaire, D’Alembert and Albrecht von Haller. He was caustic, conservative but popular with his people.
Life.
Regency and accession.
He was born in 1748, the only son of Frederick IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg and Princess Ulrike Louise of Solms-Braunfels (1731–1792), daughter of Frederick William, Prince of Solms-Braunfels. His father died when he was only three and he succeeded to the landgraviate - Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor allowed his mother to become his regent, despite opposition from Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, who had occupied Hesse-Homburg in 1747. Councillor Friedrich Karl Kasimir von Creutz fought on Frederick's behalf and was even imprisoned for 18 months, leading to the case being tried before the Reichshofrat and Francis himself. Finally in 1756 Louis was ordered out of Hesse-Homburg.
On 22 March 1766 he reached majority early thanks to von Creutz's efforts and began ruling the landgraviate. He ended the dispute with Hesse-Darmstadt via a treaty in which Hesse-Darmstadt renounced all claims to Hesse-Homburg but still represented it on the Reichstag and Kreistag rather than Hesse-Homburg directly representing itself. This new status quo was cemented on 27 September 1768 by Frederick's dynastic and diplomatic marriage to Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt, the Francophile daughter of Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken. It was not a love match - in his old age he wrote in his memoirs that he was yet to know love, as is also evidenced by his long absences and by remarks in letters written about him by noble families in the landgraviate.
Education.
During his minority Frederick had been educated by his pious Calvinist, Pietist and humanist tutor Alexander von Sinclair (father of the future diplomat Isaac von Sinclair). He was criticised for over-educating Frederick but answered "Is he called to be a huntsman or one of the high-born wastrels with whom Germany is teeming? Should he spend his time gaming, hunting and walking or will he instead need to read the reports and expert opinions of his councillors and make decisions about them?" Sinclair's strict education can be almost wholly reconstructed, using court records and reports to his mother, who showed no interest in her son's education. It formed the foundation for his later convictions that piety and self-knowledge were the routes to salvation.
Frederick stammered, impeding his education in public speaking, but Sinclair taught him philosophy, maths, architecture, chess and pianoforte. A military career was out of the question, however, since Frederick was too dynastically valuable to risk his life. In line with Sinclair's Calvinist-Pietist ideals, Frederick managed the state finances as honestly as he could, though he often had to ask for loans from bankers in Amsterdam or Frankfurt. He did not manage to correct the major financial mismanagement he had inherited, despite efforts by specialists such as Friedrich Karl von Moser. Even as late as 1780 his administration was unable to draw up a list of all debts, receipts and expenditure and Frederick's intent to put all decrees in writing seemed impossible - the mismanagement was handed on to Frederick's successor.
Arts and Freemasonry.
Scholars, poets and musicians were always welcome at Frederick's court. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe stayed there, falling in love there and mentioning the White Tower in his "Pilgrim's Morning Song". Two of Frederick's main concerns were his library and the state's school system - he even continued to buy books when he was behind on salary payments to court officials. Caroline enjoyed French works, but Frederick preferred non-fiction, collecting works on philosophy, history, military science and theology. A passionate traveler and travel writer, he also collected other people's travel writings. Brauer writes that he "generally liked to write philosophical-political-religious treatises. It seemed to him that the best enlightenment that could be taught in schools was that Christianity was God's will divinely revealed and that life in heaven was the ultimate aim of life on earth - he also felt it best to limit the number of literate people, secondary schools and universities". Despite his piety, he was a strong backer of the Société Patriotique de Hesse-Hombourg, a short-lived project to centre for coordinating Enlightenment ideas from across the whole of Europe, granting it financial support.
On 27 August 1782 he was admitted as a freemason by Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel just outside the Wilhelmsbader Konvent in the presence of Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and Prince Christian of Hesse-Darmstadt. He is said to have failed to keep his promise to seek out a lodge, he reached the fifth grade (Ecuyer) of the Rectified Scottish Rite. This informed his encounters with Goethe and Klopstock, who were also Freemasons. The foundation of the "Friedrich zum Nordstern" lodge in Homburg in 1817 would have been inconceivable without his protection and attention - it outlived him, lasting until it was shut down by his anti-Masonic successor Frederick VI.
In 1802 Alexander von Sinclair's son Isaac asked Frederick for a permanent position as court librarian for his old friend Friedrich Hölderlin, who had fallen into melancholy after professional setbacks and the death of his mistress. Frederick had known Hölderlin since 1798 and Frederick agreed, on condition that Sinclair pay Hölderlin's salary himself. Hölderlin took up the post in June 1804 but since Frederick himself assisted in the library, he had little to do. He dedicated his poem "Patmos" to Frederick, which may also have been a commission from Sinclair - Frederick had initially hope that Klopstock would write him such a hymn.
Occupation and restoration.
He once nicknamed himself "Frederick the Hermit" but even he could not wholly ignore the outside world, especially when in 1795 a French Revolutionary army under Jean-Baptiste Jourdan broke through into the Rhein-Main-Gebiet. From then on Homburg was under almost constant military occupation and the state had to pay contributions to France. Generals Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr and Michel Ney even moved their headquarters into Bad Homburg Castle in 1798, ejecting Frederick and his family to private lodgings in then-neutral Prussia (his six adult sons were already on military service). When Francis II dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick refused to join the Confederation of the Rhine and so in 1806 Hesse-Homburg was annexed to Hesse-Darmstadt as part of the German mediatization, despite Frederick's pleas to Napoleon himself. Its administration was relocated to Gießen and Frederick retreated to landscaping his "Tempe" gardens at the foot of the Taunus, seeking a cure in the Schlangenbad baths and staying in a suite of rooms at the 'Stadt Ulm' hotel in Frankfurt am Main.
After the fall of Napoleon, Hesse-Homburg was one of a few mediatised states which regained their former status, even winning total independence from Hesse-Darmstadt for the first time. This was thanks to his youngest daughter Marianne (who had married into the Prussian royal family in 1810), his six sons' military service with Prussia and his (albeit minor) family connection to the House of Hesse. This was confirmed via the German Confederation Constitution of 1815, which gave Frederick back his original lands and even added the 176 km² Grand Bailiwick of Meisenheim on the west bank of the Rhine, taken from the French department of Sarre. He had hoped for better (including an increase to neighbouring Rosbach vor der Höhe and Oberusel) and complained "What should I do with this district in China?". However, Hesse-Homburg was now a sovereign state again, joining the German Confederation as its smallest state on 7 July 1817. In 1818 his eldest son married into the British royal family by his union with George III's daughter Elizabeth. In 1819 Frederick established the Schwerterkreuz medal for military service in Hesse-Homburg's armies (now rare as it was only awarded sixteen times) and the following year he died in the castle at Bad Homburg.
Issue.
He and Caroline had 15 children, of whom the following 11 survived to adulthood: