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Panhard 178
The Panhard 178 (officially designated as ''Automitrailleuse de Découverte Panhard modèle 1935'', 178 being the internal project number at Panhard) or "Pan-Pan" was an advanced French reconnaissance 4x4 armoured car that was designed for the French Army Cavalry units before World War II. It had a crew of four and was equipped with an effective 25 mm main armament and a 7.5 mm coaxial machine gun. A number of these vehicles were in 1940 taken over by the Germans after the Fall of France and employed as the ''Panzerspähwagen P204 (f)''; for some months after the armistice of June production continued for the benefit of Germany. After the war a derived version, the Panhard 178B, was again taken into production by France. Development In December 1931, the French Cavalry conceived a plan for the future production of armoured fighting vehicles. One of the classes foreseen was that of an ''Automitrailleuse de Découverte'' or AMD, a specialised long range reconnaissance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musée Des Blindés
The ''Musée des Blindés'' ("Museum of Armoured Vehicles") or ''Musée Général Estienne'' is a tank museum located in the Loire Valley of France, in the town of Saumur. It is now one of the world's largest tank museums. It began in 1977 under the leadership of Colonel Michel Aubry, who convinced both the French military hierarchy and the local political authorities. Started years ago with only a few hundred tracked vehicles, it has become a world-class collection which attracts visitors interested in the history of multinational tank development as well as professional armor specialists. From the very beginning, Colonel Aubry had made it a key policy of the museum to restore to running condition as many historically or technically significant vehicles as was feasible. The museum has the world's largest collection of armoured fighting vehicles and contains well over 880 vehicles, although the British Tank Museum has a larger number of tanks. Because of shortage of space, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berliet
Berliet was a French manufacturer of automobiles, buses, trucks and military vehicles among other vehicles based in Vénissieux, outside of Lyon, France. Founded in 1899, and apart from a five-year period from 1944 to 1949 when it was put into 'administration sequestre' it was in private ownership until 1967 when it then became part of Citroën, and subsequently acquired by Renault in 1974 and merged with Saviem into a new Renault Trucks company in 1978. The Berliet marque was phased out by 1980. Early history Marius Berliet started his experiments with automobiles in 1894. Some single-cylinder cars were followed in 1900 by a twin-cylinder model. In 1902, Berliet took over the plant of Audibert & Lavirotte in Lyon. Berliet started to build four-cylinder automobiles featured by a honeycomb radiator and steel chassis frame was used instead of wood. The next year, a model was launched that was similar to contemporary Mercedes. In 1906, Berliet sold the licence for manufacturing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice Gamelin
Maurice Gustave Gamelin (, 20 September 1872 – 18 April 1958) was an army general in the French Army. Gamelin is remembered for his disastrous command (until 17 May 1940) of the French military during the Battle of France (10 May–22 June 1940) in World War II and his steadfast defence of republican values. The Commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces at the start of World War II, Gamelin was viewed as a man with significant intellectual ability. He was respected, even in Germany, for his intelligence and "subtle mind", though he was viewed by some German generals as stiff and predictable. Despite this, and his competent service in World War I, his command of the French armies during the critical days of May 1940 proved to be disastrous. Historian and journalist William L. Shirer presented the view that Gamelin used World War I methods to fight World War II, but with less vigor and slower response. Gamelin served with distinction under Joseph Joffre in World War I. He is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Franc
The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It was reintroduced (in decimal form) in 1795. After two centuries of inflation, it was redenominated in 1960, with each (NF) being worth 100 old francs. The NF designation was continued for a few years before the currency returned to being simply the franc. Many French residents, though, continued to quote prices of especially expensive items in terms of the old franc (equivalent to the new centime), up to and even after the introduction of the euro (for coins and banknotes) in 2002. The French franc was a commonly held international reserve currency of reference in the 19th and 20th centuries. Between 1998 and 2002, the conversion of francs to euros was carried out at a rate of 6.55957 francs to 1 euro. History The French Franc tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denain
Denain (; pcd, Dnain) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Denain had a population of 19,877, on a land area of 11.52 km² (4.448 sq mi). It is the largest of 47 communes which comprise the Communauté d'agglomération de la Porte du Hainaut, which in 2017 had a total population of 158,754. History A mere village in the beginning of the 19th century, its population rapidly increased from 1850 until 1962, when it had 29,467 inhabitants. Since then its population declined by about 30%. Its vicinity was the scene of the decisive victory gained in 1712 by Marshal Villars over the allies commanded by Prince Eugene of Savoy; and the battlefield is marked by a monolithic monument inscribed with the verses of Voltaire: "'" ("See in Denain bold Villars/Fighting the eagle of the Caesars"). Denain was an important centre in the industrial revolution, first for coal-mining from 1720, and steelworks from around 1839. The closure of the large Usinor steelworks at D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-François Cail
Jean-François Cail (8 February 1804 – 22 May 1871) was a French entrepreneur and industrialist who was a key figure in French industrialization. Life Childhood Jean-François Cail was born the third of eight children on 8 February 1804. He was the son of Charles Cail (1777-1854), a wheelwright, and his wife, Marie Pinpin (1777-1839). The family had a small cottage in Chef-Boutonne, in Deux-Sévres (16). Partnership with Charles Derosne Jean-François Cail left home in 1816 to start an apprenticeship as a boilermaker. He ended up in the company of Charles Derosne, a manufacturing chemist involved in creating distillation equipment. Getting on well they founded the company Derosne & Cail in 1832. The company specialised in making alcohol and confectionery from sugar beet, and building machines to sell for others to follow the process. This included one of the world's first machines to make children's confectionery. In 1848 Cail obtained licence to copy the patents of T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Société Française De Constructions Mécaniques
Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the second largest food products group in France, behind Danone. It owns brands such as Parmalat, Président, Siggi's Dairy, Skånemejerier, Rachel's Organic, and Stonyfield Farm. History André Besnier started a small cheesemaking company in 1933 and launched its ''Président'' brand of Camembert in 1968. In 1990, it acquired Group Bridel (2,300 employees, 10 factories, fourth-largest French dairy group) with a presence in 60 countries. In 1992, it acquired United States cheese company Sorrento. In 1999, ''la société Besnier'' became ''le groupe Lactalis'' owned by Belgian holding company BSA International SA. In 2006, they bought Italian group Galbani, and in 2008, bought Swiss cheesemaker Baer. They bought Italian group Parmalat in a 2011 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firminy
Firminy (; oc, Frominiu) is a commune in the Loire department in central France. It lies on the river Ondaine, 13 km southwest of Saint-Étienne by rail. History The ancient name of the town was ''Firminiaco'' or ''Firminiacus'' (lit. "place of Firmin"). The name was first recorded in a 971 charter by the King of Burgundy. Firminy had historically important coalmines known since the 14th century and extensive manufactures of iron, steel, and aluminum goods, including railway material, machinery and cannon. Fancy woolen hosiery was also manufactured. Population Sights Two historic churches from the 12th and 16th centuries are located here. The architect Le Corbusier designed a group of modern buildings, called "Firminy Vert", which includes the Saint-Pierre Church, a stadium, a cultural center, and an ''Unité d'Habitation''. See also *Communes of the Loire department *Maurice Debesse Maurice Debesse (1903–1998) was a French educator. References Maurice Debesse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabitants (2018). With Saint-Nazaire, a seaport on the Loire estuary, Nantes forms one of the main north-western French metropolitan agglomerations. It is the administrative seat of the Loire-Atlantique department and the Pays de la Loire region, one of 18 regions of France. Nantes belongs historically and culturally to Brittany, a former duchy and province, and its omission from the modern administrative region of Brittany is controversial. Nantes was identified during classical antiquity as a port on the Loire. It was the seat of a bishopric at the end of the Roman era before it was conquered by the Bretons in 851. Although Nantes was the primary residence of the 15th-century dukes of Brittany, Rennes became the provincial capital after th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
13th Arrondissement Of Paris
The 13th arrondissement of Paris (''XIIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''treizième''. The arrondissement, called Gobelins, is situated on the left bank of the River Seine. It is home to Paris's principal Asian community, the Quartier Asiatique, located in the southeast of the arrondissement in an area that contains many high-rise apartment buildings. The neighborhood features a high concentration of Chinese and Vietnamese businesses. The current mayor is (Socialist), who was re-elected by the arrondissement council on 29 March 2008 after the list which he headed gained 70% of the votes cast in the second round of the 2008 French municipal elections, and was again re-elected on 13 April 2014 and in 2020. The 13th arrondissement is also home to the Bibliothèque François Mitterrand and the newly built business district of Paris Rive Gauche. Demographics The 13th arron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
