Prince Louis of Battenberg (1854–1921) was a German prince related to the British Royal Family. After a career in the United Kingdom's Royal Navy lasting over forty years, in 1912 he was appointed First Sea Lord, the professional head of the British naval service. He took steps to ready the British fleet for combat as World War I began, but his background as a German prince forced his retirement at the start of the war when anti-German feeling was running high. Queen Victoria and her son King Edward VII, when Prince of Wales, occasionally intervened in his career—the Queen thought that there was "a belief that the Admiralty are afraid of promoting Officers who are Princes on account of the radical attacks of low papers and scurrilous ones". However, Louis welcomed battle assignments that provided opportunities for him to acquire the skills of war and to demonstrate to his superiors that he was serious about his naval career. Posts on royal yachts and tours arranged by the Queen and Edward actually impeded his progress, as his promotions were perceived as royal favours rather than deserved. He married a granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and was the father of Earl Mountbatten, who also served as First Sea Lord from 1954 to 1959. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, consort of Queen Elizabeth II, is his grandson. (more...)
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February 6: Sami National Day (Sami people); Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan begins (2012)
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The Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award is presented annually to the most valuable player (MVP) of the Super Bowl, the National Football League's (NFL) championship game. The winner is chosen by a fan vote during the game and by a panel of 16 American football writers and broadcasters who vote after the game. Since the first Super Bowl was held in 1967, the MVP award has been given to 41 players. From 1967 to 1989, the Super Bowl MVP was presented by SPORT magazine. Since 1990, the award has been presented by the NFL. At Super Bowl XXV, the league first awarded the Pete Rozelle Trophy, named after the former NFL commissioner, to the Super Bowl MVP. Joe Montana (pictured) is the only player to have won three Super Bowl MVP awards; four others—Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Tom Brady and Eli Manning—have won the honor twice. The MVP has come from the winning team every year except 1971, when Dallas Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley won the award despite the Cowboys' loss in Super Bowl V to the Baltimore Colts. (more...)
Successive close-ups of the scales of a Peacock butterfly (at top) wing. Shown from left to right, top to bottom: (second row) a closeup of the scales of the specimen at top, high magnification view of coloured scales (different species); (third row) electron micrograph of a patch of wing (~×50 magnification), the scales close up (~×200); (last row) a single scale (×1000), microstructure of a scale (×5000).
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