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Jakie Astor
Major Sir John Jacob "Jakie" Astor VII, (29 August 1918 – 10 September 2000) was an English politician and sportsman. He was a member of the prominent Astor family. Early life John Jacob Astor VII (Jakie) was born 29 August 1918, the youngest of the four sons of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor and Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor (1878–1964). His mother was the first woman elected to Parliament to take her seat in Parliament. His siblings include Robert Gould Shaw III (1898–1970), his half-brother from his mother's first marriage, William Waldorf Astor II (1907–1966), Nancy Phyllis Louise Astor (1909–1975), Francis David Langhorne Astor (1912–2001), and Michael Langhorne Astor (1916–1980). He was named after his relative John Jacob Astor IV, who perished on the Titanic in 1912. Career Education and military service Educated at Eton and New College, Oxford Astor then served in the Special Air Service and the Life Guards during World War II. Public service In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major (British Army)
Major (Maj) is a military rank which is used by both the British Army and Royal Marines. The rank is superior to captain and subordinate to lieutenant colonel. The insignia for a major is a crown. The equivalent rank in the Royal Navy is lieutenant commander, and squadron leader in the Royal Air Force. History By the time of the Napoleonic wars, an infantry battalion usually had two majors, designated the "senior major" and the "junior major". The senior major effectively acted as second-in-command and the majors often commanded detachments of two or more companies split from the main body. The second-in-command of a battalion or regiment is still a major. File:British-Army-Maj(1856-1867)-Collar Insignia.svg, 1856 to 1867 major's collar rank insignia File:British-Army-Maj(1867-1880)-Collar Insignia.svg, 1867 to 1880 major's collar rank insignia File:British&Empire-Army-Maj(1881-1902).svg, 1881 to 1902 major's shoulder rank insignia During World War I, majors wore the follow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knight Bachelor
The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the most ancient sort of British knight (the rank existed during the 13th-century reign of King Henry III), but Knights Bachelor rank below knights of chivalric orders. A man who is knighted is formally addressed as "Sir irst Name urname or "Sir irst Name and his wife as "Lady urname. Criteria Knighthood is usually conferred for public service; amongst its recipients are all male judges of His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England. It is possible to be a Knight Bachelor and a junior member of an order of chivalry without being a knight of that order; this situation has become rather common, especially among those recognized for achievements in entertainment. For instance, Sir Michael Gambon, Sir Derek Jacobi, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RMS Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died, making it the deadliest sinking of a single ship up to that time. It remains the deadliest peacetime sinking of a superliner or cruise ship. The disaster drew public attention, provided foundational material for the disaster film genre, and has inspired many artistic works. RMS ''Titanic'' was the largest ship afloat at the time she entered service and the second of three s operated by the White Star Line. She was built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. Thomas Andrews, the chief naval architect of the shipyard, died in the disaster. ''Titanic'' was under the command of Captain Edward Smith, who went down with the ship. The ocean liner carri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Jacob Astor IV
John Jacob Astor IV (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American business magnate, real estate developer, investor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He died in the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'' during the early hours of April 15, 1912. Astor was the richest passenger aboard the RMS ''Titanic'' and was thought to be among the richest people in the world at that time, with a net worth of roughly $87 million when he died (equivalent to $ billion in ). Early life, education, and family John Jacob Astor IV was born on July 13, 1864, at his parents' country estate of Ferncliff in Rhinebeck, New York. He was the youngest of five children and only son of William Backhouse Astor Jr., a businessman, collector, and racehorse breeder/owner, and Caroline Webster "Lina" Schermerhorn, a Dutch-American socialite. His four elder sisters were Emily, Helen, Charlotte, and Caroline ("Carrie"). Jack was a great-grand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Astor
The Hon. Michael Langhorne Astor (10 April 1916 – 28 February 1980) was a British Conservative Party politician. Early life Michael Astor was born on 10 April 1916. He was the fourth child of Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor, and Nancy Witcher Langhorne, both Members of Parliament. He attended prep school at St. Michael's, Uckfield, where he was a contemporary of the future writer and painter Denton Welch, who later included him in a short story. He was educated at Eton College and gained the rank of captain, serving in the Royal Artillery ( Territorial Army). Career He was elected as Conservative Member of Parliament for Surrey East in the 1945 general election. He kept his seat in the 1950 election but did not stand in 1951. He wrote a memoir, ''Tribal Feeling'', published in 1963, and a novel, ''Brand'', published in 1968. Personal life Astor married three times: * Barbara McNeill (1942–1961), with whom he had four children. * Pandora Clifford (1961–1968). Anna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Astor
Francis David Langhorne Astor, CH (5 March 1912 – 7 December 2001) was an English newspaper publisher, editor of ''The Observer'' at the height of its circulation and influence, and member of the Astor family, "the landlords of New York". Early life David Astor was born in London, England, the third child of American-born English parents, Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor (1879–1952), and Nancy Witcher Langhorne (1879–1964). The product of an immensely wealthy business dynasty, and raised in the grandeur of a great country estate where the political and intellectual elite gathered, he nevertheless showed compassion for the poor and those who were victims of destructive socioeconomic policies. An extremely shy man, David Astor was greatly influenced by his father, but as a young man he rebelled against his strong-willed mother. After an education at West Downs School in Winchester, Hampshire, followed by Eton College in Berkshire, he attended Balliol College, Oxford, wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor
William Waldorf Astor II, 3rd Viscount Astor (13 August 1907 – 7 March 1966) was an English businessman and Conservative Party politician. He was also a member of the Astor family. Background and education William was the eldest son of Waldorf Astor and Nancy Witcher Langhorne (by marriage, Viscountess Astor). He was educated at Eton and at New College, Oxford. Political career In 1932, Astor was appointed secretary to Victor Bulwer-Lytton, 2nd Earl of Lytton, at a League of Nations Committee of Enquiry in what was then known as Manchuria. First elected to the House of Commons in 1935, he served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Fulham East until 1945. Between 1936 and 1937 he was Parliamentary Private Secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty, Samuel Hoare, who was then made Home Secretary in the new cabinet of Neville Chamberlain in 1937. In World War II, he served as a naval intelligence officer, acquiring no distinction, but gaining many influen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Gould Shaw III
Robert Gould Shaw III (18 August 1898 – 10 July 1970) was an American-born English socialite. He was the only child of Nancy Witcher Langhorne and Robert Gould Shaw II, a landowner and socialite. After his parents' divorce in 1903, he moved to England with his mother Nancy, who later married Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor and became the first woman in Britain to take her seat as a member of parliament. Life Robert Gould Shaw III was born on 18 August 1898 in Beverly, Massachusetts. Through his father, he was a grandson of investor Quincy Adams Shaw and cousin of Civil War Union casualty Colonel Robert Gould Shaw. His maternal grandparents were railroad millionaire Chiswell Dabney Langhorne and Nancy Witcher (née Keene) Langhorne. Robert Gould Shaw III's father had a limited role in his life while he had a close, if occasionally difficult, relationship with his mother. His parents divorced in 1903, and in 1904 he moved to England with his mother Nancy where she marrie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nancy Astor
Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess Astor, (19 May 1879 – 2 May 1964) was an American-born British politician who was the first woman seated as a Member of Parliament (MP), serving from 1919 to 1945. Astor's first husband was American Robert Gould Shaw II; the couple separated after four years and divorced in 1903. She moved to England and married Waldorf Astor. After her husband succeeded to the peerage and entered the House of Lords, she entered politics as a member of the Conservative Party and won his former seat of Plymouth Sutton in 1919, becoming the first woman to sit as an MP in the House of Commons. She served in Parliament until 1945, when she was persuaded to step down. Astor has been criticised for her antisemitism and sympathetic view of Nazism. Early life Nancy Witcher Langhorne was born at the Langhorne House in Danville, Virginia. She was the eighth of eleven children born to railroad businessman Chiswell Dabney Langhorne and Nancy Witcher Keen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large national audience. Daily broadsheet editions are printed for D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. The ''Post'' was founded in 1877. In its early years, it went through several owners and struggled both financially and editorially. Financier Eugene Meyer purchased it out of bankruptcy in 1933 and revived its health and reputation, work continued by his successors Katharine and Phil Graham (Meyer's daughter and son-in-law), who bought out several rival publications. The ''Post'' 1971 printing of the Pentagon Papers helped spur opposition to the Vietnam War. Subsequently, in the best-known episode in the newspaper's history, reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein led the American press's investigation into what became known as the Watergate scandal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astor Family
The Astor family achieved prominence in business, society, and politics in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries. With ancestral roots in the Italian Alps region of Italy by way of Germany, the Astors settled in Germany, first appearing in North America in the 18th century with John Jacob Astor, one of the wealthiest people in history. Founding family members John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor) was the youngest of four sons born to Johann Jacob Astor (1724–1816) and Maria Magdalena vom Berg (1730–1764). The Astor family can trace their ancestry back to Giovan Asdour (1595–1668) and Gretta Ursula Asdour (1589–). Giovan was born in Chiavenna, Italy, and died in Zürich, Switzerland. Their son, Hans Pieter Asdor, was born in Switzerland and died in Nußloch. John Jacob and his brother George left Germany and moved to London in 1778. There, they established a flute making company. In 1783, John Jacob left for Baltimore, Maryla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major (United Kingdom)
Major (Maj) is a military rank which is used by both the British Army and Royal Marines. The rank is superior to captain and subordinate to lieutenant colonel. The insignia for a major is a crown. The equivalent rank in the Royal Navy is lieutenant commander, and squadron leader in the Royal Air Force. History By the time of the Napoleonic wars, an infantry battalion usually had two majors, designated the "senior major" and the "junior major". The senior major effectively acted as second-in-command and the majors often commanded detachments of two or more companies split from the main body. The second-in-command of a battalion or regiment is still a major. File:British-Army-Maj(1856-1867)-Collar Insignia.svg, 1856 to 1867 major's collar rank insignia File:British-Army-Maj(1867-1880)-Collar Insignia.svg, 1867 to 1880 major's collar rank insignia File:British&Empire-Army-Maj(1881-1902).svg, 1881 to 1902 major's shoulder rank insignia During World War I, majors wore the follo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
