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Starbucks
American multinational coffee company
Concept
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gordon Bowker at Seattle's Pike Place Market initially as a coffee bean wholesaler. Starbucks was converted into a coffee shop serving espresso-based drinks under the ownership of Howard Schultz, who was chief executive officer from 1986 to 2000 and led the aggressive expansion of the franchise across the West Coast of the United States. As of November 2022, the company had 35,711 stores in 80 countries, 15,873 of which were located in the United States. Of Starbucks' U.S.-based stores, over 8,900 are company-operated, while the remainder are licensed. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. The company is ranked 120th on the Fortune 500 and 303rd on the Forbes Global 2000, as of 2022. The rise of the second wave of coffee culture is generally attributed to Starbucks, which introduced a wider variety of coffee experiences. Starbucks serves hot and cold drinks, whole-bean coffee, micro-ground instant coffee, espresso, caffe latte, full and loose-leaf teas, juices, Frappuccino beverages, pastries, and snacks. Some offerings are seasonal or specific to the locality of the store. Depending on the country, most locations provide free Wi-Fi Internet access. The company has been subject to multiple controversies related to its business practices. Conversely, its franchise has commanded substantial brand loyalty, market share, and company value.
The Starry Night
Painting by Vincent van Gogh
Object
The Starry Night is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Painted in June 1889, it depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise, with the addition of an imaginary village. It has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1941, acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest. Described as a "touchstone of modern art", The Starry Night has been regarded as one of the most recognizable paintings in the Western canon. The painting was created in mid-June 1889, inspired by the view from Van Gogh’s bedroom window at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole mental asylum near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. The former monastery functioned as a mental asylum, where Van Gogh voluntarily admitted himself on 8 May 1889, following a mental breakdown and his infamous act of self-mutilation that occurred in late December 1888. Catering to wealthy patients, the facility was less than half full at the time of Van Gogh's admission, allowing the artist access to both a second-story bedroom and a ground-floor studio. During his year-long stay, he remained highly productive, creating many paintings including Irises, a self-portrait, and The Starry Night. The painting's celestial elements include Venus, which was visible in the sky at the time, and the Moon, although the Moon's depiction is not astronomically accurate. The cypress trees in the foreground were exaggerated in scale compared to other works. Van Gogh's letters suggest he viewed them primarily in aesthetic rather than symbolic terms. The village in the painting is an imaginary addition, based on sketches rather than the actual landscape seen from the asylum. The Starry Night has been subject to various interpretations, ranging from religious symbolism to representations of Van Gogh’s emotional turmoil. Some art historians link the swirling sky to contemporary astronomical discoveries, while others see it as an expression of Van Gogh’s personal struggles. Van Gogh himself was critical of the painting, referring to it as a "failure" in letters to his brother, Theo. The artwork was inherited by Theo upon Vincent's death. Following Theo's death six months after Vincent's, the work was owned by Theo's widow, Jo, who sold it to Émile Schuffenecker in 1901, who sold it back to Jo in 1905. From 1906 to 1938 it was owned by one Georgette P. van Stolk, of Rotterdam. Paul Rosenberg bought it from van Stolk in 1938 and sold it (by exchange) to the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1941, which rarely loans it out. Scientific analysis of the painting has confirmed Van Gogh’s use of ultramarine and cobalt blue for the sky, with indian yellow and zinc yellow for the stars and moon.
Vozinha
Cape Verdean association football player (born 1986)
Being
Josimar José Évora Dias (born 3 June 1986), commonly known by the nickname Vozinha, is a Cape Verdean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liga de Primera club Colo-Colo and the Cape Verde national team. Vozinha's club career has consisted of spells in Cape Verde, Angola, Moldova, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovakia and Chile. A full international since 2012, with the second-highest caps in the history of the national team, he has played in five major international tournaments: the Africa Cup of Nations in 2013, 2015, 2021, and 2023, and the FIFA World Cup in 2026. He served as captain during Cape Verde's qualification for the latter, the country's first-ever appearance at a World Cup. Vozinha attracted significant international attention and acclaim for his performances against finalists Spain and Argentina at the 2026 World Cup, including keeping a clean sheet against the former in a group stage match and handing them their only draw in the entire tournament.
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.
Football club in Brighton & Hove, England
Concept
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home ground has been Falmer Stadium since 2011, having played at the Goldstone Ground for most of the 20th century. Founded in 1901, Brighton played their early professional football in the Southern League. They were later elected to the Football League in 1920. Between 1979 and 1983, they played in the First Division, and reached the 1983 FA Cup final, losing to Manchester United after a replay. They were relegated from the First Division in the same season. In 1990, the club officially adopted the women's team ahead of the launch of the Albion in the Community scheme, and the restructuring of women's football which the club became a founding member of in 1991/92. By the late 1990s, Brighton were in the fourth tier of English football and having financial problems. After narrowly avoiding relegation from the Football League to the Conference in 1997, a boardroom takeover saved the club from liquidation. Successive promotions in 2001 and 2002 brought Brighton back to the second tier, and in 2011, the club moved into the Falmer Stadium after 14 years without a permanent home ground. In the 2016–17 season, Brighton finished second in the EFL Championship and were thus promoted to the Premier League, ending a 34-year absence from the top flight. In the 2022–23 season, Brighton finished sixth in the Premier League, their highest top flight finish ever, and qualified for the UEFA Europa League; their first participation in European club football. Brighton are nicknamed the Seagulls and have played in blue-and-white striped shirts for most of their history. The club's fiercest and longest-standing rivalry is with Crystal Palace, which emerged in the 1970s for competitive reasons.
Pervez Musharraf
Pakistani soldier and politician (1943-2023)
Being
Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani politician and military officer who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. He overthrew Nawaz Sharif's government in the 1999 coup d'état and proclaimed himself the chief executive of Pakistan, under martial law. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as the chief of Army Staff and, later, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1998. He was the leading architect of the Kargil War between India and Pakistan in 1999. When prime minister Nawaz unsuccessfully attempted to dismiss general Musharraf, after the war, from his command assignments, the Army GHQ took over the control of the civilian government, which allowed him to control the military and the civilian government. In 2001, Musharraf seized the presidency through a legal order and a referendum but was constitutionally confirmed in this capacity in 2004. With a new amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, his presidency sponsored the premierships of Zafarullah Jamali and later Shaukat Aziz and played a major role in the American-led war on terror in Afghanistan. On social issues, his presidency promoted the Third Way and social liberalism under his enlightened moderation program; and on economic front, the privatisation and economic liberalisation was aggressively pursued though the Aziz's premiership that sharply rose the overall gross domestic product (GDP). However, with continued bans on trade unions and the decline of social security, economic inequality rose at a rapid rate. The Musharraf presidency also suffered with containing the religiously-motivated terrorism, violence, tribal nationalism, and Islamic fundamentalism. His presidency was also accused of violating the fundamental rights granted in the constitution. In 2007, he attempted to seize control of the Supreme Court by approving the relieve of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, and later suspended the writ of the constitution, which led to fall of his presidency dramatically when he resigned to avoid impeachment in 2008. In 2013, Musharraf returned to Pakistan to participate in the general election but was later disqualified from participating when lawsuits were filed against him in the country's high courts alleging involvement in the assassinations of politicians Akbar Bugti and Benazir Bhutto. Furthermore, Prime Minister Sharif instructed his administration to open an inquiry and filed a proceeding in Supreme Court regarding the suspension of the writ of the constitution in 2007. In 2014, Musharraf was declared an "absconder" in the Bugti and Bhutto assassination cases by virtue of moving to Dubai due to failing health. Finally in 2019, the Special Court found Musharraf of guilty of violating the constitution in 2007, and upheld a verdict that sentenced him to death in absentia. Musharraf died at age 79 in Dubai in 2023 after a prolonged case of amyloidosis. His legacy is seen as mixed; his time in power saw the emergence of a more assertive middle class, but his open disregard for civilian institutions greatly weakened democracy and the state of Pakistan.
Statistics
- 114Common
- 53Uncommon
- 112Rare
- 44Epic
- 17Legendary
- 8Mythic
- 0Prism