Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period. He grew up in Warsaw but left Poland, never to return, aged 20. He settled in Paris, obtaining French citizenship in 1835. From 1837 he maintained an often troubled relationship with the French writer George Sand. A brief and unhappy visit to Majorca with her was one of his most productive periods of composition. All of Chopin's compositions include the piano. Most are for solo piano, although he also wrote two piano concertos, a few chamber pieces, and some songs to Polish lyrics. Many contain elements of Polish folk music and of the classical tradition of J.S. Bach, Mozart and Schubert. His innovations in style, musical form, and harmony, and his association of music with nationalism, were influential throughout and after the late Romantic period. His music, his status as one of music's earliest "superstars", his association with political insurrection, his love life and his early death have made him a leading symbol of his era. His works remain popular, and he has been the subject of numerous films and biographies of varying degrees of historical accuracy. (Full article...)
There have been fourteen recorded sieges of Gibraltar. Despite occupying a peninsula that is only 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) long and 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) wide, the modern territory of Gibraltar's strategic location on the southern Iberian coast at the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea and just across the eponymous Strait from Morocco in North Africa, as well as its natural defensibility, have made it one of the most fought-over places in Europe. Only five of the sieges of Gibraltar resulted in a change of rule. Seven were fought between Muslims and Catholics during Muslim rule, four between Spain and Britain from the Anglo-Dutch capture in 1704 to the end of the Great Siege in 1783 (Grand Assault pictured), two between rival Catholic factions, and one between rival Muslim powers. Four of Gibraltar's changes in rule, including three sieges, took place over a matter of days or hours, whereas several other sieges had durations of months or years and claimed the lives of thousands without resulting in any change in rule. (Full list...)
The grey-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma) is an albatross, averaging 81 cm (32 in) in length and 2.2 m (7.2 ft) in wingspan, which breeds further south than any other mollymawk. Though its common name derives from the species' ashy-grey head, throat and upper neck, the scientific name is a reference to the bright golden streaks on its bill.
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