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☆ The evolutionary twist that could have helped dinosaurs rule Earth
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-18 | by ( Katie Hunt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New research this week is adding fresh detail to one of paleontology’s biggest questions: Did dinosaur blood run hot or cold? Clues from fossilized eggshells and bones have now suggested that some dinosaurs were warm-blooded and others were not. Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild/Getty ImagesMarine scientists have used artificial intelligence to decode previously unknown complexity in the calls of sperm whales. The whales produced a catalog of clicking sounds, which the researchers described as akin to a “phonetic alphabet” for sperm whales. What sperm whales are saying with their clicks remains a mystery to human ears, but understanding the scope of their vocal exchanges is an important step toward linking their calls with specific behavior.

Persons: Dinos, Davide Bonadonna, Jeff Lichtman, Reinhard Dirscherl, Napoleon Bonaparte, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Vigo, UCL, Google Research, Lichtman, Harvard University, Google, Harvard, Northern, Central America, Getty Images Marine, —, Heritage, CNN Space, Science Locations: Universidade, North America, Scandinavia, Europe, Central, India, Dover, England

☆ Dover Castle: Soldier graffiti found on tower door in ‘astonishing discovery’
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-17 | by ( Catherine Nicholls | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —More than 50 etchings from soldiers have been discovered on an English castle door in an “astonishing discovery,” including graffiti of what could depict the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte being hanged. The door was only recently discovered in Dover Castle, in southeast England, charity English Heritage said in a press statement Wednesday. The graffiti on the door is thought to have been created by soldiers living inside the castle between 1789 and 1855. English Heritage suggests that, with hours to kill and “questionable artistic talents,” the soldiers may have whittled into the door to simultaneously whittle away the time. Three significant dates are also inscribed onto the door, English Heritage said: 1789, the year of the French Revolution; 1798, a period of rebuilding in Dover Castle; and 1855, when changes were planned to St. John’s Tower.

Persons: Napoleon Bonaparte, St, whittle, Jim Holden, Napoleon, Helena, Hopper, Hooper, ’ Paul Pattison, ” Pattison, ” Organizations: CNN, Heritage, Dover Castle Locations: Dover Castle, England, Napoleon, France, John’s, British, Waterloo, St, Dover

☆ Daniel Barenboim: What Beethoven’s Ninth Teaches Us - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-06 | by ( Daniel Barenboim | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was first performed exactly 200 years ago Tuesday and has since become probably the work most likely to be embraced for political purposes. (These days the Ninth is being played in concert halls worldwide in commemoration of the premiere. Beethoven might have been surprised at the political allure of his masterpiece. He was interested in politics, but only because he was deeply interested in humanity. I don’t believe, however, that Beethoven was interested in everyday politics.

Persons: Ludwig van Beethoven’s, Leonard Bernstein, ”, Joy, Beethoven, Napoleon —, “ Bonaparte ” —, Napoleon Organizations: European Union Locations: Berlin

☆ Travel news: Why does the US drive on the right and the UK on the left?
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Maureen O'Hare | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Editor’s Note: Sign up for Unlocking the World, CNN Travel’s weekly newsletter. You’re probably aware that around 30% of the world’s countries drive on the left while 70% drive on the right. In Europe, Napoleon Bonaparte had a big hand in it, while in the United States, we need to go back to the time of wagon trains. In the United States, at least, an obscure tax rule helps explain why. Our partners at CNN Underscored, a product reviews and recommendations guide owned by CNN, have selected 22 must-haves for luxurious train travel in 2024.

Persons: Napoleon Bonaparte, it’s, There’s, you’re Organizations: CNN, Tourism, Engineering Locations: Europe, United States, London, Asia, Singapore, Tokyo, Japan, Africa, Rail, China, British, Australia, Philippines, Chocolate, CNN Italy, Bologna, Pisa . Spain

Waldi, the official mascot of the 1972 Olympics, was modeled on a dachshund called Fritz (the real dog in the middle). Courtesy Kerstin Schwartz“The sausage dog is part of Germany’s cultural heritage,” Marion Michelet, chairwoman from the Deutscher Teckelklub Berlin-Brandenburg kennel club and owner of a dachshund called Pepper, told CNN Wednesday. Michelet told CNN that the “abnormalities of the skeletal system” could be seen as a ban on breeding for “any significant size deviation from wolves,” which are the ancestor of all modern-day dogs. Germany’s agriculture ministry denied that the new draft bill would amount to a ban on particular breeds, including the sausage dog. “For 136 years we have not changed our standard breeding practices.”“If the breeding ban happens it would have a significant impact” on dog breeders like her, she said, adding: “I hope it won’t come to that.”

Persons: CNN —, Snoopy, Fritz, Napoleon Bonaparte, Germany’s, Kaiser Wilhelm II, “ Erdmann, ”, Pablo Picasso, Le Chien, Germany's, Kerstin Schwartz, ” Marion Michelet, Pepper, Michelet Organizations: CNN, German Kennel, Bettmann, Olympic, Deutscher Teckelklub Locations: Germany, Brandenburg, Berlin

☆ Why Americans drive on the right and the British on the left
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-02 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Conestoga wagons were developed by local carpenters and blacksmiths to carry goods, including farm produce and items bartered from Native Americans, to markets in Philadelphia. An original 19th century Conestoga wagon at the Conestoga Area Historical Society in Conestoga, Pennsylvania in 2024. For just that reason, Conestoga wagons had the controls on the left side, close to the wagon driver’s right hand. Lay, was that all traffic had to stay to the right — just like the Conestoga wagons did. on September 3, 1967 when cars switched from left to right side driving.

Persons: I’ve, Cooper, Napoleon Bonaparte, Henry Ford, that’s, Tesla, John Stehman, Peter Valdes, ‘ Gee, ” Stehman, “, ”, M.G ., Ford, Maximilien Robespierre —, —, Napoleon, William Van, Yevgenia Organizations: Conestoga, CNN, Ford, Historical Society, M.G, Lions, Hulton, Getty, Ford Motor Co, Guildhall Library, Art, Britain, Avis, Avis Budget Group, ” Avis Budget Locations: England, London, United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Conestoga , Pennsylvania, Conestoga, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia . Philadelphia, Lancaster County , Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Lancaster, New York, Britain, Paris, France, Stockholm, Sweden

☆ Russia relishes NATO disarray after hasty denials of plan to deploy ground troops to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The United States, Germany, the U.K., Spain, Poland and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg were among those denying that sending ground troops into Ukraine was an option. She claimed NATO countries' denials that they planned to send their ground troops into Ukraine showed the West had "betrayed Ukraine and will continue to use and betray it," repeating Moscow's baseless claims that Western countries are using Ukraine to destroy Russia. After the conference, Macron said discussions had also covered the possibility of deploying ground troops, although he said there was no agreement on the issue. France was left looking increasingly isolated throughout the day Tuesday, with the White House also distancing itself from Macron's comments. When asked about Macron's comments, Kirby said "well, that's a sovereign decision that every NATO ally would have to make for themselves.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Mikhail Metzel, Emmanuel Macron, Jens Stoltenberg, Dmitry Medvedev, Macron, Vyacheslav Volodin, Volodin, Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon, Maria Zakharova, Macron's, Stephane Sejourne, John Kirby, Kirby, General Stoltenberg, —, Biden, Timothy Ash, Ash Organizations: Defence, Sputnik, Reuters, NATO, Russian, Russia's Foreign Ministry, Ukraine —, Russian Foreign, Tass, Chesnot, Getty, White, . National Security, Kremlin Russia, Kremlin, Russia, BlueBay Asset Management Locations: Nazi Germany, Moscow, Russia, Reuters Russia, Ukraine, United States, Germany, Spain, Poland, NATO, Russian, France, Canada, Paris, France's, Republic, U.S

☆ Mummified animals Napoleon's scientists brought back from Egypt sparked a pre-Darwinian debate about evolution
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte brought a slew of savants — geologists, engineers, and other scientists — on his unsuccessful attempt to take over Egypt. A collection of mummified animals that the scholars brought back from Egypt seemed to hold the key to the question of species transformation. Naturalists Cuvier and Lamarck had first sparred three decades earlier when a mummified ibis arrived at the museum. The skeleton of a mummified ibis (middle) that Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire brought back from Egypt, along with a cat and a hawk. "I have shown that it is at the present time precisely as it was in the time of the Pharaohs ," he later wrote of the mummified ibis.

Persons: Darwin, —, Napoleon Bonaparte, Naturalists Georges Cuvier, Jean, Baptiste Lamarck, Cuvier, Lamarck, transformism, Naturalists Cuvier, Lamarck’s, Charles Darwin, Marie Jules Cesar Savigny, ” Cuvier, Geoffroy, savants, Etienne Geoffroy Saint, Hilaire, lungfish, Geoffroy Saint, Jenny McGrath, “, Charles Darwin’s “ Organizations: Service, Naturalists, French Museum of, French Academy of Sciences, Getty Locations: transformism, Egypt

☆ This is the world’s rarest passport
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Lola Méndez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —The Sovereign Military Order of Malta – also known as the Knights of Malta – isn’t just a religious Catholic order with nearly 1,000 years of history. After World War II, the use of the diplomatic passport took on characteristics of passports used in other countries. Today, there are only around 500 of the diplomatic passports in circulation – making it the rarest passport in the world. robertharding/Alamy Stock Photo“The Order grants passports to members of their government for the duration of their mandate,” de Petri Testaferrata says. Once when I arrived at the Bangkok airport, a crowd of operators at passport control wanted to see my rare passport and take a selfie with it,” Balfour tells CNN.

Persons: Malta –, It’s, King, Spain, Napoleon Bonaparte, Daniel de Petri Testaferrata, Angelo, ” de Petri Testaferrata, Marianna Balfour, “ They’ve, ” Balfour, De Petri Testaferrata, John Kellerman, Anne, de Valette, Paschal II, ” Dane Munro, Don’t, Grand, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Caravaggio, St John’s, St John ”, Finnbarr Webster, Casa Rocca Piccola, de Piro, Munro, Marquis Nicholas de Piro, Knight of Malta Don Pietro Rosselli Organizations: CNN, Knights, Knights of Malta – isn’t, United Nations, Sovereign Council, Souverain, Fort, UNESCO, “, Casa Magazzini, National Library of Malta, of, Supreme, Grand Masters, of Ambassadors, St, Maltese Association of Locations: Malta, Knights of Malta, Jerusalem, Maltese, Rome, of Malta, St, robertharding, Bangkok, France, United Kingdom, United States, Knights, Valletta, Mdina, Knight

☆ Napoleon stranded a bunch of scientists in Egypt and now we have modern archaeology
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Napoleon Bonaparte brought engineers, architects, and scientists when he invaded Egypt. In three stages, these "savants" meticulously illustrated the ruins of ancient Egypt. But one of his lesser-known offenses — abandoning a crew of scholars and scientists in Egypt — led to the unexpected byproduct of formal archaeology as we know it today. AdvertisementIt divided Egypt into ancient and modern times, and launched the modern vision of ancient Egypt as we know it today. The structures, symbols, and images of ancient Egypt became fashionable features of European art and architecture.

Persons: Napoleon Bonaparte, —, Egypt —, Ridley Scott, Napoleon, Mohamed Abd El Ghany, Nina Burleigh, Dominique, Vivant, Denon, savants, Napoleon's savants, Burleigh Organizations: Service, Scientific, Art Media, Egyptian Ministry of Tourism Locations: Egypt, France, Upper Egypt, Kings, Luxor, Karnak, Thebes, Edfu, Upper, Lower Egypt, Egyptian, Europe

☆ Why the controversial mullet is having a moment
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Fawnia Soo Hoo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Long hair, don’t careThe “modern day” mullet largely originates from David Bowie’s genre-defining and gender-norm defying persona, Ziggy Stardust, Glasscock said. “People from the Continental Congress wore what we would read as a full metal, 1992 mullet,” said Glasscock. (“Hockey hair” was, meanwhile, a popular synonym for mullet at the time, given its prominence among players and fans.) Devin Yalkin/Courtesy A24While playing Kerry Von Erich in “The Iron Claw,” White also wore his dynamic, sweeping mullet off-set — but not entirely by choice. “I was like, ‘I’m sorry, here’s a ponytail holder.”But that dedication may have played an integral part in a mullet revival kicking off 2024.

Persons: Von Erich, ”, Napoleon Bonaparte’s, Paul Barras, Ridley Scott’s “ Napoleon ”, Jessica Glasscock, Tahir Rahim, Napoleon, Aidan Monaghan, Paul Mescal’s, Kristen Stewart’s, Von Erichs, David, Harris Dickinson, Kerry, Jeremy Allen White, Kevin, Zac Efron, They’re, Natalie Shea Rose, hairdos, Rose, David Bowie’s, Ziggy Stardust, Glasscock, Vivienne Westwood, Malcolm McClaren, David Bowie, Aladdin, Joseph, Michael Putland, Procopius, Bowie, Suzi Ronson, “, Yamamoto, “ Bowie, ” Glasscock, “ Napoleon ”, Francesco Pegoretti, Pegoretti, Tahir, mullets, Benjamin Franklin, Joseph Siffred Duplessis, Duran Duran, Bono, —, ’ ” Glasscock, Joe Namath, Nicolas Cage’s, Air ”, David Spade’s, Joe, Rambo, Von Erich mullets, Taghizadeh, Harry, Paul Mescal, Adam, Andrew Scott, Zoe Clare Brown, Mescal, ’ ”, Brown, Devin Yalkin, Kerry Von Erich, ” White, ” Rose, I’m, “ There’s Organizations: CNN, Apple, Globe, Lone Star State, Continental Congress, Sporting, New York Jets, Air Locations: Ridley, Texas, London, Celtic, Nez Perce, Roman, France, Barras, United States

☆ 7 scientific breakthroughs that resulted from Napoleon's invasion of Egypt
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Then, after a series of defeats in Egypt, Napoleon returned to France in 1799 and left many of the scientists stranded. At the time of Napoleon's invasion, travelers had long known of Alexandria, Cairo, and other parts of Lower Egypt. Just 21 and a botanist by training when he arrived in Egypt, Savigny collected invertebrates like worms, bees, spiders, snails, and flies. The Rosetta Stone helped Champollion discover how to decipher hieroglyphsFor centuries, no one could read hieroglyphs, the pictorial writing that covered many Egyptian monuments. When the French found the Rosetta Stone during their invasion, they knew it could serve as a kind of translation key.

Persons: Napoleon, —, Napoleon Bonaparte, Egypt that's, Claude, Louis, Berthollet, natron, Werner Forman, savants, Sand, Dominique, Vivant, Denon, Karnak, he'd, Savigny, Jules, César Savigny, De Agostini, Getty Images Savigny, Etienne Geoffroy Saint, Hilaire, Geoffroy, Charles Darwin, Evon Hekkala, Crocodylus, John Vetch, Vetch, Rosetta Stone, Champollion, Rosetta, Jean, François, Nicolas, Jacques Conté Organizations: Service, Institut, West, Universal, Egypt wasn't, Art Media, Getty Images, Getty, Science, Society Picture Library, Europe, France's, British Museum, Fox, Cairo . Science Locations: Egypt, Cairo, France, Natron, Limestone, Wadi El Natrun, Upper, Lower Egypt, Alexandria, Edfu, Thebes, Esna, Paris, Egpyt, Europe

☆ Napoleon's long and costly invasion of Russia was one of the deadliest military operations in history
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-26 | by ( Elias Chavez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

When Russia began illegally trading with England, Napoleon prepared to invade Russia. Napoleon amassed an army of 600,000, the largest army Europe had ever seen. After a failed invasion of Moscow, the French army retreated for 200 miles into the harsh Russian winter. AdvertisementAfter a coup d'etat of the French government in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte began his conquest of Europe. AdvertisementThrough a series of strategic retreats and slash-and-burn techniques by the Russian army, in addition to the harsh Russian winter, the largest army Europe had ever seen found themselves retreating from Moscow.

Persons: Napoleon, —, Napoleon Bonaparte, Bonaparte, Alexander I Organizations: Service, French Grand Army Locations: Russia, England, Europe, Moscow, France, Iberia, Spain, Great Britain, Britain, Russian

☆ ‘Napoleon’ Review: A Lumpy, Grumpy Little Man
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Manohla Dargis | More About Manohla Dargis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

More startling, though, is that the movie is also often eccentric and at times eccentrically funny. You expect refined craft and technique from Scott and the pleasures of spectacle filmmaking at its most expansive. It opens in Paris amid that convulsion of violence called the Terror, with surging, shouting crowds and the metallic hiss of the falling guillotine blade. Aristocrats are losing their heads (Scott re-creates one execution with gory verisimilitude), and Napoleon Bonaparte — a mesmerizing, off-kilter, lumpish Joaquin Phoenix — will soon profit from the chaos. Before long, the story has jumped forward and now Napoleon is in the southern French port city of Toulon, where he strategically routs the Anglo-Spanish fleet that has taken the city.

Persons: Kane, ” Orson Welles, Welles, Ridley Scott, “ Napoleon, ” Scott, Napoleon ”, Scott, Karl, Napoleon Bonaparte —, lumpish Joaquin Phoenix —, Napoleon Organizations: “ Locations: “ Kingdom, Europe, Africa, Russia, Paris, Toulon

☆ 'Napoleon' is Apple's latest bid to seize cinematic prestige – and Oscars
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

LOS ANGELES – Apple Original Films is a new player on the Academy Award scene, but it's already left an indelible — and historic — mark. With acclaimed director Ridley Scott's "Napoleon" opening just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Apple is making another push for Academy Award glory. Heading into November, the Academy Awards race appeared to be dominated by Warner Bros. ' "Barbie" and Universal's "Oppenheimer." Warner Bros. and Legendary Studio's "Dune: Part Two" won't be part of this year's Oscar race after departing to March of next year. Now, in the last few weeks of the year, Academy Award hopefuls are arriving en masse.

Persons: it's, Ridley Scott's, Napoleon, Joaquin Phoenix, Napoleon Bonaparte, Oppenheimer, Martin Scorsese's, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro Organizations: Apple, Academy, Award, Sony, Phoenix, Warner Bros Locations: masse

☆ For ‘Napoleon,’ Finishing the Hats
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Esther Zuckerman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When the costume designer David Crossman, who specializes in military wear, first knew he would be working on “Napoleon” (in theaters Wednesday), Ridley Scott’s epic starring Joaquin Phoenix, he had a “mini panic” about the hats. It wasn’t that he would have to be recreating Napoleon Bonaparte’s famous headgear, the kind for which collectors pay dearly (one just sold for $2.1 million). He examined objects from a private collection as well as examples of real Napoleon hats in the Musée de l’Armée in Paris. Phoenix’s hats may have been built from bark cloth, but they were true to size. There were three key versions for the character reproduced many times over, Crossman said, as well as a glorious array of hats for various generals, allies, and enemies.

Persons: David Crossman, Napoleon ”, Ridley Scott’s, Joaquin Phoenix, Napoleon, Crossman, “, ” Crossman, ’ ” Crossman, ”, Phoenix Locations: Uganda, l’Armée, Paris

☆ Ridley Scott isn’t done talking or creating: ‘It’s fuel to me’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Thomas Page | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

By the time Scott hit the red carpet in London for “Napoleon’s” UK premiere last Thursday, you’d think there’d be nothing left to say. Before Scott cinephiles have even seen “Napoleon” on screen, there’s palpable excitement about the prospect. Joaquin Phoenix and Ridley Scott attend the "Napoleon" UK Premiere last week. I’m already recceing a film I’m going to do next year after ‘Gladiator.’ That’s the way I work,” he said. Like the little general in his film, Scott marches on.

Persons: Ridley Scott, “ Napoleon, ”, Joaquin Phoenix, of, Scott, Napoleon’s, you’d, that’s, Scott cinephiles, Napoleon ”, “, ” Scott, he’s, Napoleon Bonaparte, “ There’s, ” Joaquin, Napoleon, –, I’d, Josephine, ” Napoleon, Vanessa Kirby, ” Kirby, Phoenix, Commodus –, Lia Toby, Joaquin, Paul Mescal, ‘, ’, “ Napoleon ” Organizations: CNN, UK, ” Joaquin Phoenix, Apple, Sony Pictures Locations: of France, London, “ Kingdom, Toulon, Austerlitz, Waterloo

☆ Napoleon’s hat sells for record $2.1 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Lianne Kolirin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —One of Napoleon Bonaparte’s famous black hats sold for more than $2 million at an auction in France on Sunday. The €1.932 million ($2.1 million) sale set a record for Napoleon’s trademark two-cornered military dress hats. The hat was part of a collection belonging to French industrialist Jean Louis Noisiez that went on sale on Sunday. According to its online listing, the hat - which sold for more than double its original estimate - was made by a furrier at the emperor’s palace. In 2018, another version of the hat sold for more than $400,000 at an auction in Lyon, France.

Persons: Napoleon Bonaparte’s, Jean Louis Noisiez, Napoleon, Jean, Pierre Osenat, ”, Helena, Ridley, Joaquin Phoenix Organizations: CNN, Sunday, Reuters Locations: France, Fontainebleau, French, Elba, “, Lyon, British, Waterloo, St

PARIS (AP) — A faded and cracked felt hat worn by Napoléon Bonaparte fetched $1.6 million at an auction Sunday of the French emperor’s belongingsYes, $1.6 million. It was the centerpiece of Sunday's auction in Fontainebleau of memorabilia collected by a French industrialist who died last year. But the bidding quickly jumped higher and higher until Jean Pierre Osenat, president of the Osenat auction house, designated the winner. Political Cartoons View All 1256 ImagesWhile other officers customarily wore their hats with the wings facing front to back, Napoléon wore his with the ends pointing toward his shoulders. The entrepreneur spent more than a half-century assembling his collection of Napoleonic memorabilia, firearms, swords and coins before his death in 2022.

Persons: Napoléon Bonaparte, Napoléon, Europe —, Jean Pierre Osenat, ‘, ”, —, Pierre Baillon, Jean, Louis Noisiez Organizations: PARIS Locations: France, Europe, Fontainebleau, French, bataille

☆ Napoleon hat fetches record $2.1 million at Paris auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Nov 19 (Reuters) - A bicorne hat believed to have belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte sold for a record 1,932,000 euros ($2.11 million) at the Drouot auction house in Paris on Sunday. The price beat the 1,884,000 euros paid for another Napoleon hat at Drouot in 2014, a official at the auction house said. "One million four hundred fifty thousand (euros) to my left, 1.5 million, we have 1.5 million in the room, 1.5 million for Napoleon's hat. We're leaving it at 1.5 million for this major Napoleon symbol, I'm selling for 1.5 million (before fees), no regrets, sold," auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat said as he brought down the hammer to applause. Ahead of the auction, Osenat told Reuters the black beaver felt hat in the traditional bicorne shape was a trademark for Napoleon, who had owned about 120 such hats throughout his life.

Persons: Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon, Jean, Pierre Osenat, Osenat, Ardee Napolitano, Geert De Clercq, Andrew Heavens Organizations: Reuters, Bonhams, Thomson Locations: Paris, London

☆ Ridley Scott reunites with Joaquin Phoenix for 'Napoleon' biopic
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Hanna Rantala | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Director Ridley Scott and cast member Joaquin Phoenix look on during a photocall for the World Premiere of the film "Napoleon" at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, France, November 14, 2023. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Veteran filmmaker Ridley Scott likens working with Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix to "a toboggan ride". The "Gladiator" director and star reunited after more than two decades to make the upcoming Napoleon Bonaparte biopic "Napoleon", which premiered in London on Thursday. "In ‘The Duellists’ I end on Napoleon Bonaparte. "Since the beginning of the pandemic I've made 'The Last Duel', 'Gucci', 'Napoleon Bonaparte', and I'm halfway through 'Gladiator (2)'.

Persons: Ridley Scott, Joaquin Phoenix, Napoleon, Stephanie Lecocq, Oscar, Napoleon Bonaparte, ” Scott, Josephine, Vanessa Kirby, Scott, ”, Thelma, Louise ", they've, Dariusz Wolski, Gucci, Hanna Rantala, Stephen Coates Organizations: Salle, REUTERS, Veteran, Phoenix, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, London, British, Austerlitz, Moscow, Waterloo

☆ Why Napoleon Still Has Star Power
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( David A. Bell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Everywhere him!” When Victor Hugo published his poem “Him” (“Lui”) in 1827, no one could doubt the identity of the “him” in question. Six years after Napoleon Bonaparte ’s death, and just 12 after his final defeat at Waterloo, his presence still loomed massively over the Western world. When Hugo wrote his poem, and for decades afterward, opinions about Napoleon tended to divide along the lines first set during his rule. It could hardly have been otherwise, given his enormously disruptive impact on the Western world. Here was a man who in 1799, when just 30 years old, seized dictatorial power in a coup and five years later crowned himself emperor of the French.

Persons: “, Victor Hugo, “ Lui ”, Napoleon Bonaparte ’, Ridley, Napoleon, Joaquin Phoenix, Hugo Organizations: Waterloo Locations: ”

☆ Inside Passalacqua, the 'world's best hotel'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Maria Pasquale | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The “best hotel in the world” was built by a pope and was regularly visited by one of Italy’s most famous opera composers. On 19 September in London at the inaugural World’s 50 Best Hotels, the hotel on Lake Como was named number one. Passalacqua didn’t invent the term villeggiatura, but her every detail embodies it – a romantic 18th century villa turned faultless luxury hotel where you come to exhale and leave your worries behind. Rooms without a lake view start at 1,300 euros ($1,381) per night or 1,700 euros ($1,806) for a view in November – lowest season. Next summer, rates rise to 2,300 euros ($2,443) for a standard room without a lake view, or 3,200 ($3,400) for the cheapest room with a view.

Persons: we’ll, Stanley Tucci, Napoleon Bonaparte, Winston Churchill, –, Silvio Vettorello, “, Passalacqua, Vincenzo Bellini, Stefan Giftthaler Passalacqua, Antonella Mallone, Paolo De Santis, Valentina De Santis, Valentina, De Santis, “ Passalacqua, ”, Ruben Ortiz, Passalacqua –, Vincenzo Bellini –, Alessandro Rinaldi, Vettorello, Jane Austen, ” Maria Pasquale, Rome Organizations: CNN, intel, Scottish Highlands, Yorkshire Moors Locations: London, Como, Carrara, Verona, Milanese, Moltrasio, Lake Como, Italian, Italy, Yorkshire, Rome

☆ Auction features items from ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ Jackie Kennedy, British royals
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Alicia Powell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

“They're very rare,” said David Lowenherz, the owner of Lion Heart Autographs, the collectors running this auction. “They are virtually unheard of in any kind of...private collection,” he said of the printed scores that were using during the production of the 1939 classic. The auction, the largest Lion Heart Autographs has held and due to run until Nov. 1, includes other memorabilia. A holiday card issued by the royal family in 1980 and signed by the Queen Mother shows her standing beside her daughters, Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret. Another item is a 1987 letter by Jackie Kennedy, wife of former President John F. Kennedy, on plans for Pennsylvania Avenue and signed, “affectionately, Jackie.”The auction also features a letter signed by Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, who founded the modern state of Israel in 1948.

Persons: Oz, ”, Jackie Kennedy, Queen Mother, Ray Bolger, They’re, “, David Lowenherz, Lion, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret, John F, Kennedy, Jackie, Israel’s, David Ben, Gurion, Giuseppe Verdi, English, Anna Bishop, Claude Monet, Napoleon Bonaparte’s, Alicia Powell, Christina Anagnostopoulos, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: Pennsylvania, Neapolitan Press, Thomson Locations: Oz, Israel, Italian, Russia

☆ In Her Fiction, Ayana Mathis Refuses to Ignore Black History
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( Honorée Fanonne Jeffers | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I, for one, submit that Black history will always hover over American literature, whether or not the author intends it to. Why is the boy running toward instead of away from Alabama, as so many Black folks have done since the Great Migration? — before jumping back a few years, to 1985, when Ava drags 10-year-old Toussaint into a homeless shelter in Philadelphia. The mother and son have been thrown out of the home they shared with Abemi, Ava’s abusive husband and Toussaint’s stepfather, in New Jersey. Mathis renders Ava and Toussaint’s time in the shelter in poignant, heartbreaking detail.

Persons: Ayana Mathis, I’m, Toni Morrison, ” Ayana, “, Hattie ” —, Mathis, Ava, Toussaint, Toussaint’s, Cass Organizations: Black Locations: Philadelphia, Dutchess, Ava’s, Alabama, Bonaparte, Ala, Ava, New Jersey

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