Romeo and Juliet

William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet is a tragic romance in which Romeo, a member of the House of Montague, secretly falls in love and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet.

Shakespeare lifted his plot from Luigi da Porto's 1530 Italian novella Giulietta e Romeo. The bard's main source was a 1562 English verse translation of this text by Arthur Brooke titled The Tragical History of Romeus & Juliet.

Title page of Arthur Brooke's poem, Romeus and Juliet.

According to citations, Romeo Monteveccio and Juliet Cappelleto were married in Citadela, Italy on March 11, 1302. This real life wedding may have had an influence on Shakespeare's sources.

Written sometime between 1591 and 1595, Romeo and Juliet was first published in a quarto version in 1597. The First Quarto states that "it hath been often (and with great applause) plaid publiquely", setting the first performance before its 1597 publication.

Shakespeare did not include a balcony in Romeo and Juliet, instead writing that Juliet was wooed by Romeo at a window. (There were no balconies in Elizabethan England.) The ‘balcony scene’ was the brainchild of a playwright called Thomas Otway (1652–85), who rearranged the play. His version, The History And Fall Of Caius Marius, was far more popular than Romeo And Juliet in his era.

An 1870 oil painting by Ford Madox Brown depicting the play's famous balcony scene

Shakespeare popularized the idiom "Wild Goose Chase" in Romeo and Juliet. The phrase features in a scene where Mercutio expresses his inability to understand and keep up with Romeo's mind, saying, "Nay, if thy wits run the wild goose chase, I have done."

In Shakespeare's day, female roles were played by teenage boys, as women and young girls were not allowed on the stage. By the 1660s, however, the laws in England had changed, allowing females to act professionally. English actress Mary Saunderson (1637- 1712) was the first female actress to portray Juliet in Romeo and Juliet.

The first version of Tchaikovsky's orchestral fantasy Romeo and Juliet received its première performance on March 16, 1870. It was the Russian pianist, conductor and composer Mily Balakiev who suggested he wrote a work based on Shakespeare's tale about the tragic lovers. Balakirev was a much more senior composer at the time and a leading member of ‘The Five’, a group of high-profile Russian Nationalist composers that also included Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, Cui and Borodin. Tchaikovsky was just 29-years-old. He’d had some modest success but was struggling for musical inspiration when Balakirev pressed the idea on him.

When Tchaikovsky showed his mentor the famous love theme Balakirev wrote: “I very much want to hug you for it.”

Tchaikovsky at the time he wrote Romeo and Juliet

The great French actress Sarah Bernhardt played the young Juliet in several productions of the play. She was a mere 70 years old the last time she took on this role.

On January 19, 1994, the headmistress of Kingsmead Primary School in Hackney, East London, Jane Brown, refused to allow her pupils to attend a performance of the ballet of Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Opera House. The reason given was that the ballet was “too heterosexual.” 

The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day.

Source QI: The Third Book Of General Ignorance by John Lloyd, John Mitchinson, James Harkin and Andrew Hunter Murray

Rome

HISTORY

According to legend, Rome was founded on April 21, 753 BC by twins Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a wolf.

Capitoline Wolf suckles the infant twins Romulus and Remus

Only with Julius Caesar in the first century BC, did the city of Rome began to grow significantly, especially toward the Campo Marzio, at the north of Capitoline Hill.

Rome was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy.

At its height in the 1st century AD, Ancient Rome had a population of one million people. This was a record in Europe until London matched it in the 19th century.

The Circus Maximus was arguably the largest structure in ancient Rome, with the capacity to seat 250,000 people according to Pliny (roughly a quarter of Rome's population at the time).

Picture of the Circus Maximus by By Carptrash 

Most of ancient Rome's inhabitants visited a public bathhouse daily. The city had close to 900, including one that could cater for 1,500 bathers at a time.

Rome was replaced as the capital of the Western Roman Empire, first by Mediolanum (now Milan) in 286 and then by Ravenna in 402.

The wearing of barbarian clothing in the city of Rome was banned by the Emperor Honorius on April 7, 397.

With the decline of the Roman Empire, the city of Rome declined in importance and fell into ruin.

Visigoths led by King Alaric. entered Rome on August 24, 410 plundering the city for three days. It was the first time in almost 800 years that Rome had fallen to a foreign enemy. The previous sack of Rome had been accomplished by the Gauls under their leader Brennus in the late fourth century BC. The sacking of 410 is seen as a major landmark in the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Alaric and the Visigoths

The sack of 455 was conducted by the Vandals under Geiseric, who were then at war with the usurping Western Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus.

The Sack Of Rome took place on December 17, 546, when the Ostrogoths successfully bribed some of the Byzantine garrison to open the Asinarian Gate, allowing them to enter the city. During the sack, Rome suffered considerable damage, and many historical and artistic treasures were lost or destroyed.

After the deposition of the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus, in 476, the papacy became the real ruler of Rome.

In 756, Pepin the Short, after having defeated the Lombards, gave to the Pope temporal jurisdiction over the Roman Duchy and the Exarchate of Ravenna, thus creating the Papal States. Rome became the capital of the Papal States, a position it retained until the nineteenth century.

Pope Clement III recognized Rome as a republic with the right to declare war and appoint senators in 1188. He agreed to devote some of the papal income to maintaining buildings and paying officials. In exchange the senators agree to swear loyalty to the pope and acknowledge his temporal powers.

Beginning with the Renaissance, almost all the popes since Nicholas V (1447–55) pursued over four hundred years an architectural and urban program aimed at making Rome the artistic and cultural center of the world.

Ponte Sisto on the Tiber — an example of Italian Renaissance architecture

The Sack of Rome was carried out by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor during the War of the League of Cognac May 6, 1527. Largely Protestant German and Swiss troops, mutinying over unpaid wages, entered the city of Rome and sacked it in a manner reminiscent of the barbarian pillages committed 1,100 years earlier. Many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.

An entrance into the catacombs north of Rome, on the Via Salaria, was accidentally discovered on May 31, 1578. The catacombs are underground burial sites that were used by early Christians as a place of worship and burial during the Roman Empire. They contain numerous tombs, galleries, and intricate frescoes that provide insights into early Christian art and culture. At the time of the discovery, the significance and importance of the find were not recognized. Over time, the catacombs have become recognized as valuable historical and archaeological sites, shedding light on the early days of Christianity and Roman civilization.

The Trevi Fountain was officially opened and inaugurated on May 22, 1762 by Pope Clement XIII. It is the largest Baroque fountain in Rome and one of the most famous in the world. An estimated 3,000 euros are thrown into the “Fontana di Trevi” each day.

By 1861, much of the Papal States' territory had been conquered by the Kingdom of Italy. Only Lazio, including Rome, remained under the Pope's temporal control. On September 20, 1870, Garibaldi's army, which had the task of uniting all of Italy under the crown of Savoy, entered the city of Rome through a breach opened in the walls at Porta. The pope acknowledged defeat and retired into the Vatican.

Italian soldiers enter Rome on 20 September 1870

In 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, which in 1946 became the Italian Republic.

The 1960 Summer Olympic Games was held from August 25 to September 11, 1960, in Rome. The Italian city had been awarded the organization of the 1908 Summer Olympics, but after the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, was forced to decline and pass the honors to London.

FUN ROME FACTS

Rome stands on seven hills, with an area of 1285.31 km² (496.1 sq mi). The city is crossed by two rivers: the Tiber, which runs from east to west, and l'Aniene, which runs from north-east to north.

With 2,877,215 residents, Rome is Italy's most populated city.

Rome is the fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits.

The Vatican City is an independent country inside the city boundaries of Rome, the only existing example of a country within a city: for this reason Rome has been often defined as capital of two states.

Rome is the city with the most monuments in the world. The five most visited places are: The Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Sistine Chapel and The Roman Forum.

The Colosseum By Adriano Amalfi 

Rome has 280 fountains and more than 900 churches.

On average €3000 (£2,600) a day is thrown by tourists into the Fontana di Trevi, Rome’s lucky fountain that promises another visit to the capital in exchange for a coin. The money is used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy.

Rome has the highest car ownership rate of any capital city, with one automobile for nearly every Roman of driving age.

Romania

HISTORY

The earliest known inhabitants in what is now Romania were the Dacians, various Thracian peoples  located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea.

About half of Dacia became a Roman province. The province was fully integrated into the Roman Empire on August 11, 106 AD, and a sizable part of the population were newcomers from other provinces. During this period, the poet Ovid was one of the settlers. Historian estimates of the population of Roman Dacia range from 650,000 to 1,200,000.

Vlad the Impaler, was a ruler of Wallachia (present-day southern Romania) in the 15th century. He became notorious for the extremely cruel punishments that he dealt to his enemies, his favorite form of torture being impaling his victims, then mocking them. In the English speaking world, Vlad the Impaler is perhaps best known for being the inspiration for Dracula.

Wallachia and Moldavia were united when Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected as the Domnitor (Ruling Prince) of both territories, both of which were still vassals of the Ottoman Empire. This ushered the birth of the modern Romanian state.

Proclamation of the Moldo-Wallachian union

On January 24, 1862, the Principality of Moldavia and the Principality of Wallachia formally united to create the Romanian United Principalities.

Bucharest was designated in 1659 the capital of the princes of Wallachia by Prince Gheorghe Ghica and of Romania in 1862.

During the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War Romania fought on the Russian side - a choice which consecrated her independence.

On May 9, 1877 Romanian prime minister Mihail Kogălniceanu read, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Declaration of Independence of Romania. In the aftermath, it was recognized as an independent state both by the Ottoman Empire and the Great Powers by the Treaty of San Stefano and the Treaty of Berlin.

Romanian troops returning to Bucharest after the war, 8 October 1878.

Romanian inventor Traian Vuia became the first person to fly a heavier-than-air craft with an unassisted takeoff in 1906. Other Romanian engineers such as Henri Coanda and Aurel Vlaicu have also successfully contributed to the history of flight.

During World War II, Romania was an ally of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union until 1944, when it joined the Allied powers and faced occupation by the Red Army forces. Romania lost several territories, of which Northern Transylvania was regained after the war.

Following the war, Romania became a socialist republic and member of the Warsaw Pact. On December 30, 1947 King Michael I of Romania was forced to abdicate his throne.

After the Iron Curtain fell in 1989 Romania was liberated from the communist regime.

On December 22, 1989, Communist President of Romania Nicolae Ceaușescu was overthrown by Ion Iliescu after days of bloody confrontations. The deposed dictator and his wife fled Bucharest with a helicopter as protesters erupted in cheers.

Portret Nicolae Ceaușescu.

Three days later on Christmas Day, Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, First-Deputy Prime-Minister Elena Ceaușescu were condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.

Ceaușescu was the only Communist dictator of Eastern Europe who was charged for crimes against humanity and genocide during the revolutions of 1989.

Elena Ceaușescu was barely literate but was able to obtain a PhD in Chemistry from plagiarism.

The current Romanian flag, a vertical tricolour of blue, yellow, and red, was first adopted in its current form in 1848 during the Wallachian Revolution, though it went through some modifications during the communist era, including the addition of the socialist coat of arms. During the Romanian Revolution, protesters often cut out the communist coat of arms from the flags, symbolizing their rejection of the previous regime.  Decree-Law no. 2 of December 27, 1989 provided at article 1, among other matters, that "the national flag is the traditional tricolor of Romania, with the colors laid out vertically, in the following order, starting from the flagpole: blue, yellow, red."

The similarity with Chad's flag, which differs only in having a darker shade of blue has caused international discussion.

Romanian flag

John Paul II traveled to Romania in 1999 becoming the first pope to visit a predominantly Eastern Orthodox country since the Great Schism in 1054.

FUN ROMANIA FACTS

Romanian is a Romance language descended from that of Roman settlers, though later modified by Slav influences.

The Danube is the longest river in Romania. Its length inside Romania is about 1,000 kilometres (621 mi). That is almost half of the length of the entire Danube.

The Danube Delta, which is the second-largest and best-preserved delta in Europe, and also a biosphere reserve and a biodiversity World Heritage Site.

Other World Heritage Sites in Romania, include eight Painted churches of northern Moldavia, eight Wooden Churches of Maramureș, seven Villages with fortified churches in Transylvania, the Horezu Monastery, the Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains and the Historic Center of Sighișoara.

The Museum of the Romanian Peasant in Bucharest was declared the European Museum of the Year in 1996.

Weighing in at about 4 billion kilograms (or about 4.5 million US tons) Romania's Palace of the Parliament is the heaviest building in the world.

The Statue of Decebalus in Orsova is a carving in rock of the face of Decebalus, the last king of Dacia. He fought against the Roman emperors Domitian and Trajan to preserve the independence of his country. At 42.9 m in height and 31.6 m in width it is Europe’s largest rock sculpture.

The rock sculpture of Decebalus. By Erik Cleves Kristensen 

St Andrew is the patron saint of Romania. He is also patron saint of, Barbados, Greece, Russia, Scotland, fishmongers, gout, spinsters, the Order Of The Thistle and several other groups.

The lowest temperature ever taken in Romania was −38.5 °C (−37.3 °F), at Braşov in 1944. The highest temperature ever recorded in Romania was 44.5 °C (112.1 °F), near Calafat in the 1950s.

Romania’s national currency is Leu, which means lion in English.

Source Travelaway

Roman Empire

The Roman civilization technically lasted for 2,200 years. It was founded as a monarchy in 753 BC, becoming  became a self-ruling republic (and free of Etruscan rule) in 509 BC, turned into an empire in 27 BC, shifted capital to Constantinople in 330 AD, and finally fell only in 1453 AD.

Between AD 208 and AD 211 the entire Roman Empire was governed from York in northern England. That is because the Roman world was governed from wherever the emperor was located and, during this period, Emperor Septimius Severus came to Eboracum (Roman York) with the intention of conquering Caledonia (modern Scotland). His campaign was cut short when he fell ill and died, aged 65.

Legionaries in the Roman Empire enjoyed considerable disposable income, enhanced by cash bonuses on special occasions such as the accession of a new Emperor. On completion of their term of service (25 years) they were given farmland and a discharge bonus equal to 13 years salary.

In Ancient Rome, the working class would evacuate entire cities in acts of revolt called "Secessions of the Plebeians." After leaving the elite to fend for themselves, commercial transactions would stop, and workshops would have to close.

At the height of the Roman Empire, the population was estimated to be between 70-100 million people.

 Roman Empire at its greatest extent at the time of Trajan's death  By Tataryn 

The Roman Empire was only the 28th largest in history—the British Empire was the largest, followed by the Mongol Empire.

Ancient China knew about the Roman Empire. They called them "Daqin" and documented several things concerning them, including a guide on how to reach them from China.

Ancient Rome lasted so long that the original meaning of a shrine built in Rome's city center had already been forgotten by later generations of Romans.

The administrative divisions of the Roman Empire in 395, under Theodosius I.

When Emperor Theodosius I died in Milan on January 17 395, the Roman Empire was re-divided into an eastern and a western half. The Eastern Roman Empire was centered in Constantinople under Arcadius, son of Theodosius, and the Western Roman Empire in Mediolanum (the ancient Milan) under Honorius, his 10-year-old brother.

When Germanic leader Odoacer captured Ravenna and deposed Emperor Romulus Augustus on September 4, 476, it marked the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire had been in a state of decline for many years due to various factors, including economic troubles, political instability, military defeats, and pressure from external barbarian groups. After removing Romulus Augustulus from power, Odoacer declared himself ruler of Italy. 

Though Odoacer's rule marked the end of the line of Western Roman emperors, the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) continued to exist for several more centuries.

Romulus Augustus, has a significant name because, the founder of Rome was called Romulus and the First Emperor of Rome was named Augustus. The circular nature of his death brings a lovely end to the story of Rome.

Ancient Roman eating habits

ROMAN BANQUETS

Before eating, the guests at a Roman aristocrat's banquet changed their clothes putting on a woolen tunic provided for this purpose.

The dishes were presented first to the master of the house, accompanied by music and a servant executing a dance step. Meanwhile the guests, both men and women, ate reclining with a crown of flowers over their heads.

If a diner became too full to eat anymore, a servant was called over to tickle his throat. He then vomited into a special bowl kept for that purpose, and proceeded with the rest of the meal.

Belching at the table was a sign of politeness.

The banquets were livened up by performances by acrobats, dancers, flute players and theatrical performances.

Banquet in Nero's palace 

Knives and spoons were only occasionally used; most people ate with their fingers despite the prevalence of sticky sauces.

DIET OF THE ROMANS

Meat was an expensive food, as herds of domestic animals were rare. The majority of the population in the Roman empire, especially in its early days. lived on pulmentum, a porridge of barley, chickpeas or emmer wheat flour. It was made by roasting, and pounding the grain then cooking it in a large cauldron. Sometimes it was diluted with milk and it was accompanied by bread, fish or ground pine nuts.

Meanwhile in a Roman villa in Britain, the day began with a light breakfast of bread and fruit whilst in wealthy citizens in Rome started the day with such items as bean meal mash and unleavened bread-cakes.

Lunch or "prandium" at noon consisted of a cold meal of eggs, fish and vegetables or in Rome fruit, a sweetmeat and cheese.

Dinner, the "convium" would commence at 4.00pm and last several hours. It would start with a small course of something like cheese with herbs, seasoned eggs, nuts and shellfish, followed by two main courses of enormous quantities of meat or fish.

Pompeii family feast painting Naples.

The Romans were passionate about fish and the best quality eels, lampreys etc were kept, transported and sold live.

Fish sauces were often used to disguise the poor taste of the food. A popular one was liquamen made from the gills blood and the inside of the fish left with salt to stew in the sun.

The exceptionally wealthy Romans ate elaborate dishes such as dormice and songbirds garnished with rich sauces, herbs and spices. Other choice dishes were grilled feet of a camel or pink flamingo tongue. The diners would then finish off with elaborate pastries sweetened with honey and finally fruits with wine.

Sometimes the Roman troops ate their meat in pies. The pastry made from flour, oil and water was wrapped round the meat keeping it warm on long marches.

When not eating meat the Roman soldiers' diet was gruel made from wheat together with cheese, onions and salted fish.

ROMAN COOKING

The primary ingredient of Roman cooking was garum, a pungent paste made out of fermented fish entrails.

The Romans loved to combine sweet and sour tastes, such as coriander and pepper and honey was used to flavor savory as well as sweet dishes.

They didn't waste any meat - anything edible is eaten, except the bones and eyes.

Fast-food outlets known as popinae served fried fish, ham and sausages.

Food was prepared with a sense of occasion and theater: desserts were disguised as pyramids, birds sculpted out of veal, root vegetables carved in the shape of fish.

Ancient British cooking was primitive until the arrival of the Romans, who brought with them the concept of using eggs to blend and set foods.

FUN ROMAN CULINARY FACTS

Drusus Caesar, son of the Roman emperor Tiberius, so loved broccoli that he ate little else for more than a month. He only stopped when his urine turned green.

The Roman emperor Varius Avitus Bassianus (218-222), also known as Heliogabalus was notorious for his culinary extravagances. A different colored dinner service appeared at every feast he gave which was composed of such meats as chicken, pork or pheasant.

Heliogabalus By © José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro 

Heliogabalus devised a moveable day-long feast around the city of Rome, eating the starter at one house, the main course at another, and the dessert at a third.

Heliogabalus, once dined on the brains of 600 ostriches accompanied by peas laced with gold and rice sprinkled with pearls.

Sources Food For Thought by Ed Pearce, The London Times

Ancient Roman drinking habits

The wealthy section of the Roman population generally drank water for breakfast that was either warm or cooled with snow.

Wine was served at the main meal (convium) at 4.00 in the afternoon, possibly mulsum, which was wine sweetened with honey or various types of red or white wine or even a mixture of both diluted in water.

In Britain, where the native nobles had began to drink wine, there were a few vineyards but mainly it was imported from Italy, France or Spain.

Drinking in Roman Britain

Beer was popular in the northern provinces among the native inhabitants but the sophisticated Romans drank water rather than beer with meals as they considered the native beer a barbarian's drink.

After a century of vineyard expansion, wine became readily available to the average Roman citizen by about 30BC.

After fermentation, Roman wine was stored in amphoras to be used for serving or further aging.

The wine merchants of Gaul succeeded in invading the markets of the Roman Empire to the detriment of the Roman wines, after the Gauls discovered that wine could be kept longer if it is stored in casks. Such was the threat of the competition that the emperor Domitian (AD 81–96), on the pretext of encouraging wheat growing, ordered half the Gallic vines should be pulled up.

The Romans started planting grapes in the Rhine valley not later than the 2nd century AD.

Amphoras

In Rome, wealthy Romans always drank from goblets made from clear rock crystal. They believed the transparent mineral was a safeguard against their enemies, because legend had it that a cup carved from the transparent mineral would not hold poison.

The Roman writer Pliny was amazed that his fellow citizens were willing to pay huge prices for this real crystal, when there was readily available cheaper glass that looked very similar. In other parts of the empire nobles drank from silver cups or bronze jugs.

Banquets for the Roman gentry could be bloody affairs. A cup-bearer who broke a crystal goblet often ended up having his hands cut off and hung round his neck.

Ancient Roman

The average life expectancy for a Roman was 25 years.

In the Roman empire as a whole, men vastly outnumbered women. There were an estimated 131 men for every 100 women in Rome. The disparity was even greater elsewhere and greater still among the elite.

FASHION

Roman hairstyles were determined according to class, age, and marital status. Aristocrats indulged themselves in public baths and lengthy rituals of adornment.

 Roman Baths Source johnwhye

Roman diners ate reclining and crowned with flowers. Before eating they changed their clothes putting on a woollen tunic provided for this purpose.

BUILDINGS

The Romans used many materials to build their dwellings - clay bricks, glass, granite, lava, marble, stucco, and wood.

The workers of Rome were crowded into apartment buildings made partly of wood. They were easily damaged by earthquakes and fires. These multi-story apartment blocks were called insulae.

Insula in Ostia Antica

Almost every house in Rome had a chamber called the atrium which was open to the sky.

Rainwater falling through the open roof was collected in a large tank below for household use.

The Romans developed a heating device called the hypocaust. Pipes carrying hot air from large ovens ran underneath the floors and warmed them.

A hypocaust-heated room with mosaics

A Roman villa was a country house built for the upper class, while a domus was a wealthy family's house in a town.

The Roman basilica was a large public building where business or legal matters could be transacted. They were normally where the magistrates held court, and used for other official ceremonies, having many of the functions of the modern town hall.

The Romans, in building their massive structures, used fired bricks, often decorated with colored glazes. Their pottery included a red earthenware known as Samian ware and a black pottery known as Etruscan ware.

The Romans probably pioneered the use of ceramic bathtubs, drain pipes, and similar useful articles.

MUSIC

Roman music was heavily influenced by Greek culture and used the same instrumentation and orchestration.

Instead of notes placed in higher or lower registers on staves to indicate pitch, the Romans used letters to indicate individual notes with a sign above each to tell the musician how long it should be held.

Most instruments, including the flute, the lute and the lyre were preceded by Greek or Egyptian versions, but in keeping with their reputation for innovation, the Romans also used organs, whose sound was produced by bellows, panpipes and the kithara, which was similar to the lyre.

An operatic style of singing co-existed alongside Roman choral music, and became well-known throughout the Mediterranean.

TRANSPORT

The Romans made great use of the horse, and vehicles carrying freight or passengers clattered over the streets of Rome.

Roman carriage (reconstruction)

By 45 BC, all vehicles had been banned from within Rome, and in other cities they were allowed only at night. Presumably the reason for this ban was because the vehicles endangered pedestrians and caused traffic jams.

Sources Daily Mail, Comptons Encyclopedia

Rolls-Royce Limited

HISTORY

The rich aristocratic Honorable Charles Stewart Rolls was an early car seller and repairer. He first met the self-taught electrical engineer and automobile builder Frederick Henry Royce on May 4, 1904 at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, England. They had agreed to get together and talk about their respective interests and during their meeting the pair signed a deal.

The first Rolls-Royce car, the two-cylinder Rolls-Royce 10 hp, was unveiled at the Paris Salon in December 1904. The model was sold at £395 ($510).

A 1905 model Rolls Royce 10 hp. By Terry Whalebone - Flickr. 

Rolls-Royce Limited was incorporated on March 15, 1906 as a vehicle for the partners' ownership of their Rolls-Royce business.

Rolls and Royce introduced the Silver Ghost in 1906 which was priced at an exorbitant £985. The last word in refinement, the Silver Ghost was a must-have for Edwardian Lords and Viscounts. Its luxury heralded the end of the horse and carriage as the aristocracy's preferred mode of transport. Adverts billed it: "Silent as a Ghost, Powerful as a Lion, and Trustworthy as Time".

The Silver Ghost 1907

During the First World War, Rolls-Royce was one of the few British automakers allowed to remain in production. The others manufactured ambulances, trucks and armaments for the war effort.

After the erstwhile Maharaja of Alwar, the honourable King Jai Singh was denied a test drive in England in 1920, he bought seven Rolls-Royce cars to collect garbage.

The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was sold in London on December 19, 1924.

Edsel Ford agreed on June 12, 1940 to manufacture 9,000 Rolls-Royce engines to be used in British and U.S. airplanes during World War II. The British company went on to build and retain a pre-eminent position in aero engine development and manufacture for use in defense and civil aircraft.

Fitters working on the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine 

In the 1960s Rolls Royce was apparently going to call the successor to the Silver Cloud the Silver Mist - until it was pointed out that 'mist' in German means pile of manure.

Rolls-Royce declared itself bankrupt on February 4, 1971, one of Britain’s largest corporate failures. The company had become hopelessly crippled by its mismanagement of development of its advanced RB211 jet engine and the consequent cost over-runs.

The car division comprised of the Rolls-Royce and Bentley brands, separated from Rolls-Royce Limited in 1973.

Rolls-Royce Motors was purchased by BMW in 1998 a $570 million deal.

The Rolls-Royce Ghost was officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, and went on sale in September 2009.

The second generation Ghost was fully revealed on September 1, 2020. When developing the new Ghost, soundproofing was so overengineered that occupants in the car found the near-total silence disorienting, and some felt sick. Acoustic engineers had to go back and work on "harmonizing" various sounds in the car to add a continuous soft whisper.

CHARLES ROYCE 

Charles Rolls was born in Berkeley Square, London, third son of the 1st Baron Llangattock and Lady Llangattock.

Charles Rolls was educated at Eton.

His childhood nickname was "Dirty Rolls" because of his obsessive interest in engines.

Rolls was a tall man, standing at about 1.95 m (6'5").

Rolls was a notoriously mean man and would sleep under his cars to avoid paying hotel bills.

Charles Rolls

An aviation pioneer, Charles Rolls became the first man to make a non-stop double crossing of the English Channel by plane on June 2, 1910.

Charles Rolls died at 32 on July 12, 1910, when he crashed his Wright biplane after its tail broke off during a flying display in Bournemouth. He was the first Briton to be killed in an aviation accident.

FUN ROLLS ROYCE FACTS

Hong Kong is the city with the most Rolls Royces per capita.

75% of cars that Rolls Royce has ever produced are still on the road today.

Rolls-Royce only uses leather from 15-18 bulls per car. the bulls must live in a climate too cold for mosquitoes, because they want to avoid the upholstery having blemishes caused by insect bites. Cows aren't used because they might have stretch marks from pregnancies.

The actor Richard Harris was so drunk through the 1970s that he forgot he owned a Rolls Royce. It sat in a New York garage for 25 years before he found an old photo of himself with it and his accountant confirmed it was still there running up $90,000 in garage storage costs.

If you own a Rolls Royce, you can send your chauffeur to the company's headquarters in Goodwood, England to be trained to drive a Rolls Royce under the "White Glove" driver training program.

The Silver Ghost is considered the most valuable car in the world; in 2005 its insured value was placed at $35 million. Today it is valued at $200 million.

Source The Independent March 3 2008

The Rolling Stones

HISTORY

It was on platform 2 of Dartford station on October 17, 1961 that a young Keith Richards spotted a young Mick Jagger with two blues albums under his arm and got talking to him about music.

Rolling Stones at Milwaukee's Marcus Amphitheater June 23 2015.  Jim Pietryga

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards first met musician Brian Jones when he and future Manfred Mann singer Paul Jones were playing Elmore James' "Dust My Broom" with Alexis Korner's band at the Ealing Jazz Club.  Both joined Jones' band, after he'd placed an advertisement in Jazz News on May 2, 1962, inviting musicians to audition for a new R&B group at the Bricklayer's Arms pub.

Jagger and Richards shared an admiration of Muddy Waters and the band was named after the American bluesman's 1950 song "Rollin' Stone."

The Rolling Stones performed their first concert, at the Marquee Club in London, on July 12, 1962.

Bassist Bill Wyman did not become a member until December 7, 1962 and drummer Charlie Watts joined the following January.

When the Rolling Stones played their first gig at London's Crawdaddy Club in February 1963, it was their first public performance with Wyman and Watts in the band.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney completed "I Wanna Be Your Man" as a gift to the Rolling Stones, while the Stones watched them, in the Stones' own recording studio, The Beatles musicians' creative flourish was so impressive that it inspired Jagger and Richards to start composing their own songs. Released as their second single on November 1, 1963, the Stones' version was an early hit, peaking at #12 on the British chart.

Although Brian Jones was originally the leader of the Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards gradually took over the band's musical direction, especially after they became a successful songwriting team. Jones developed a serious drug problem over the years and his role in the band steadily diminished.

Brian Jones prior to a Rolling Stones performance on May 4, 1965. By Kevin Delaney - 

Brian Jones left the band less than a month prior to his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor, who remained until 1974.

The Rolling Stones were so impressed with the backup singer's voice in "Gimme Shelter" that you can hear them hooting in the background. They kept it in the studio recording as well.

All eight albums the Rolling Stones released from 1971-1981 went to #1 on the US chart.

Charlie Watts died at a London hospital on August 24, 2021 of an unspecified health issue, at the age of 80.  His last performance with the Stones took place in Florida on August 30, 2019 as part of their No Filter tour. Watts was known for his understated drumming style and his ability to keep the beat while also adding his own unique flair. He was also a fashion icon, and his style was often imitated by other drummers.

CONTROVERSY 

The Rolling Stones band members' long hair was considered outrageous in 1963. They took out a Christmas ad in a newspaper saying "Best wishes to all the starving hairdressers and their families."

The Rolling Stones performing in Georgia, May 1965. By Kevin Delaney 

On July 24, 1964, the Rolling Stones played a gig at the Empress Ballroom in Blackpool, England. The concert was a sell-out, and the crowd was excited to see the band. However, the concert quickly turned violent when Keith Richards kicked a man who had been spitting at him. The man fell to the ground, and the crowd began to riot.  The riot lasted for several hours, and 50 fans were taken to the hospital. The Rolling Stones were forced to flee the stage, and they were banned from playing in Blackpool for 44 years.

Police were forced to use tear gas to break up mobs when the Rolling Stones appeared at the Palace of Culture in Warsaw, the British pop group’s first appearance behind the Iron Curtain. Trouble began when 3,000 teenagers gathered outside the venue before the April 14, 1967 gig. Inside, 3,000 boys and girls danced in their seats.

On June 27, 1967 Mick Jagger found himself being driven to court in a blue Continental Bentley on a drugs charge. Three and a half hours later, the Rolling Stones frontman was driven off to Lewes Jail in an austere grey police van. Jagger had been found guilty of unauthorized possession of pep pills and sentenced to three months' imprisonment. On appeal Jagger's sentence was amended to a conditional discharge.

The Rolling Stones were criticized for high ticket prices on their 1969 US tour so they decided to hold a free concert. The festival was organized by the Grateful Dead and took place at the Altamont Speedway on December 7, 1969. It was a disaster, four young men died violently. and it signaled the end of the hippie movement.

Though four people were killed at Altamont, the overall population at the event did not change since four babies were born at the concert as well.

Hells Angels attempted to murder Mick Jagger in 1975. They tried to drive a boat up to the Long Island Mansion he was staying at, however their attempt was thwarted by a storm that capsized the vessel and the Hells Angels ended up having to swim for their lives.

FUN FACTS

The hands of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards are insured for $1.6 million.

Keith Richards, 1972. By Dina Regine

A graphic designer by training, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts almost always made a quick sketch of every hotel room he stayed in while on tour and had them all stored away.

Charlie Watts was the first Stone in print. Written and illustrated by Charlie while at Art School, his illustrated tribute to Charlie Parker, Ode To A High Flying Bird, was published in 1964. 

Mick Jagger married Texan model Jerry Hall in 1990 on the Indonesian island of Bali. The ceremony was conducted by a Hindu priest who reportedly slit the throat of a chicken and spilt its blood to purify the venue. Nine years later a court ruled that the union was not legal.

The former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman — who quit in 1993 — has patented his own metal detector.

According to Sticky Fingers session musician Jim Dickinson's book I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone, regular Stones pianist Ian Stewart didn't play on "Wild Horses" as he didn't "play on songs with minor chords."

Brian Jones, co-founder of The Rolling Stones, was proficient at over 60 musical instruments.

The Rolling Stones' tongue logo design was inspired by the Indian Hindu goddess Kali The Destroyer

Sources Daily Mail, Artistfacts