Battle for the Valley of the Fallen!

In the place where he is buried, Spanish dictator Francisco Franco has built a symbol of his dictatorship that lasted for four decades. Now, the Spanish government plans to exhume his remains and remove this monument to fascism - but the conservatives are opposed to opening of old wounds.

The hills near Madrid are home to a symbol of a four decades long dictatorship – the famous Valley of the Fallen.  It is a mausoleum that General Francisco Franco ordered to be built to commemorate his victory in the Spanish Civil War. Now there are plans to relocate this complex. The "Valley" has a huge basilica surrounded with hills, and Franco is buried there, behind the altar, beneath the monument that is decorated with fresh flowers.

The new socialist-led government is considering to exhume the remains of the dictator in order to remove that monument. But, even after 36 years since Franco's death, this is still a delicate task.

“The Spanish transition towards democracy was an act of prudence after deep wounds caused by war and dictatorship. We had to deal with the past little by little. We may have touched this issue a bit late, but prudence is the key to the success of our peaceful transition” –says Ramon Jauregui, one of the ministers in charge of this matter.



But Spain's conservative opposition refuses such thing. They claim that it would open old wounds.

“There are people in Spain who are afraid to face the darkness of the past. Horrors and massacres were committed here and we are not unique in that because other countries will also have to deal with such issues. I don’t see a reason for Spain not to do it” - explains historian Angel Vinas.

For him, the relocation of the compound should be part of the process. This monument was one of the most visited in Spain, but there are no signs that explain its history, and it isn’t mentioned that it was built mainly by political prisoners.

Nicolas Sanchez Albornoz is one of them. As a student activist, he was sentenced to six years of work in a camp because of "activities against the state." He escaped in 1948 and never returned.

“I believe that it is really shocking that one European country still has a huge monument as a remembrance of one of the bloodiest dictators. It would be best to remove all symbols. The thing that gives force to this particular symbol is Franco's presence” - said Sanchez who is now in his 80's.

The government now awaits a proposition from expert commission before their final decision. One of the proposals is to relocate the Franco’s remains to a more appropriate place, and to bury him in the city cemetery next to his wife. His daughter has already had a complaint, and the foundation that she runs has promised to carry out legal actions to prevent it.

“Many people will oppose this barbarism. They can not move Franco without the permission of his family. That would be sacrilege. One must be careful with the history of Spain. You can not demonize one part of society, and elevate other” – says Jaim Alonso, in a room full of photos of Franco and his portrait. He believes that the general saved Spain from the clutches of Soviet Russia.

We will continue fighting

Few Spaniards openly shows their admiration for Franco, but many have an aversion towards relocation of his grave.

“It is pointless after so many years. With that, we will only continue with the war” – says Jose Luis, one of the visitors of the Valley of the Fallen. "For the side that was defeated in the war it is quite different. The Fascists killed Father Fausto Canales, and his remains were moved to the Valley in 1959. More than 30,000 people that were killed in the war on both sides have been transferred there by Franco’s order ."

“For me it is very painful that the remains of my father are located in a place that was built in honor of the winner of a coup. This looks like a double crime. Firstly, he was executed, and then his body was transferred without our permission to a place that is totally inappropriate” – says younger Canales.  

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Angela Merkel – The Titanium Frau

Angela Merkel, the first female Chancellor of Germany and Europe’s most powerful politician, has come a long way from a member of Socialist-led youth movement “Free German Youth (FDJ)”, to the position of Chancellor. The whole world respects her and her people will most definitely put their trust in her for yet another term.

For a woman who has a picture of famous German woman, Russian Empress Catherine the Great, on the desk in her office – symbol of enlightenment and good relations with people – Angela Merkel is surprisingly non-charismatic. She is criticized for not holding long speeches, for not appearing in public unless it is necessary, for being mysterious, strong and unshakable to the point of stubbornness.  But, instead of glamour and gossips that follow the other heads of states in Europe, Angela Merkel has behind her something that many of them do not have – results.

The most powerful politician of the most powerful – both politically and economically – country in Europe has subjected everything to practice. Prosperous, rich, export-oriented, and with an unemployment rate that has hit the historical bottom line, Germany will once again find her way through the chaos of recession that threatens to consume the entire Europe.

While her political party – Christian Democratic Union (CDU) – fears for the election results in German federal states, her position in the Chancellor’s chair is stronger than ever. There is no one now who doubts that she will, like her political friend and former head of the government Helmut Kohl, win yet another term and keep the title of "Frau Bundeskanzlerin" at least until 2017. And this will be a rare exception in today's European politics, because the voters have brutally punished all governments that have been in power since 2008 when economies started to fall. Such thing will definitely not happen in Germany.

We could probably conclude that Angela Merkel’s strength, which frightens her colleagues  from London, Rome, Paris or Madrid, comes from her origin.  She was born as a daughter of a Lutheran pastor in the communist GDR, and she became a leader of a party that was formed to protect the rich middle class of the West.

And not just that – today, she is a leading woman in a "male" political party, divorced Protestant in a Catholic party, "Easterner" in a party run by "Westerners", and a scientist in the party of financiers, bankers, businessmen and managers. The only woman with whom we can compare her is, perhaps, Margaret Thatcher. But if Thatcher (a woman who was afraid of "united Germany" in the autumn of 1989, when Merkel worked at the Central Institute for Physical Chemistry in Leipzig) was the “iron lady”, then Angela Dorothea Merkel, nee Kasner, is definitely the “titanium lady”. 

Her political career started already in her youth. Like all students in East Germany, she was a member of Socialist-led youth movement “Free German Youth (FDJ)”. However, she didn’t participate in movement’s ceremonies and her progress in the compulsory Marxism-Leninism course was graded only with “sufficient” - passing grade. In her youth she learned fluently the Russian language.

In 1989, Merkel got involved in the democracy movement, and after the fall of the Berlin Wall politics became her full time profession. At the first elections after the reunification of Germany, she was elected to the Bundestag. Then she became Minister for Women and Youth in Helmut Kohl's 3rd cabinet. Her next position was Minister for the Environment and Nuclear Safety. Helmut Kohl appreciated Angela (the youngest minister in his cabinet) very much, and at every meeting they had, he called her "mein Mädchen" – my girl.

CDU’s departure to opposition didn’t mean that Merkel ceased to aim the top position in the German (and European) politics. In 2002, she was nominated by CDU to be a rival to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, but in the end, she had to accept a large coalition with Schroeder’s SPD. She claimed the Chancellor’s cabinet on November 22, 2005, and she won a second term with such a convincing margin over SPD that she no longer needed Schroeder’s party. 

She is considered as one of the best negotiators in European politics. 

As a "Superstar" of European politics, Angela Merkel was placed four times in a row on a convincing first place of Forbes magazine list of "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women" (in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and also in 2011). In February 2011, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Barack Obama. This recognition is awarded only to those who do something great for world peace. She is also awarded with Vision for Europe Award (2006), Charlemagne Prize (2008), Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2008), B’nai B’rith Europe Award of Merit (2008), Global Leadership Award –AICGS (2010), Leo Baeck Medal (2010), Jawaharlal Nehru Award (2011), etc.

 And regardless to all of that, Frau Merkel remained firmly on the ground. She still goes shopping in the neighborhood where she lives. And she still cooks and prepares cakes for her second husband (quantum chemist and professor Joachim Sauer) by herself.

Germans like everything about her. Residents of her country believe that her mixture of dangerous and shy, human and pragmatic best describes and depicts their country. That is why it’s no wonder that German media is racing with praises on her account. Der Spiegel has proudly posted on their front page that she, a single woman, has managed to transform a gloomy country in to a country of smiles.

And how she did it can be summarized with just two words – “Merkel effect. “

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From a Groom to an Emperor – Part IV – Basil the Noble.

Basil I the Macedonian (867-886) showed during his two decades of reign that he was worthy of the crown of the Byzantine emperor. With skillful and prudent policy, both internal and external, he had greatly improved the Empire. 

In order to somewhat mitigate Basil’s dark and violent rise to the throne of Constantinople, his descendant – son Leo VI the Wise (886-912) and grandson Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos (912-959) – and almost the entire official historiography of the Macedonian dynasty with them, reached for fictional genealogy. 

In Basil, on one hand, they saw a distant descendant of Arsacid, known Parthian royal house that was in the 3rd century BC founded by Arsaces I, and later, with kindred, connected to Persian Sassanid Empire, as well as young Armenian state. From his mother’s side, Basil was allegedly associated with Constantine the Great, and by some with Alexander the Great. 

It is interesting to note that the later Byzantine writers have, in different ways, accepted these incredible assumptions. For example, in the 11th century, John Skylitzes gives them, without any intellectual doubt, an unconditional trust. Unlike Skylitzes, John Zonaras (first half of the 12th century) dismisses the whole story of Basil’s ancient nobility and notes that the founder of the Macedonian dynasty comes from Macedonia, from insignificant and unknown fathers, regardless the fact that some of those who wrote about him made up that he was a descendant of Arsacid.

Another legend, that sounds tempting but suffers from a lack of historical credibility, contributes to a new mystery around Basil I the Macedonian. It is a famous word BECLAS, an acronym of Basil’s closest family -  in the first place Basil himself, then his wife Eudokia, and, finally, his sons Constantine, Leo, Alexander and Stephen. This acrostic is recorded by Patriarch Photius (858-867, 877-886) who wrote many stories about Basil’s “nobility”. 

As written by the Byzantine writer Niketas David Paphlagon, the genealogy of the founder of Macedonian dynasty was put together by Photius, who, with the help of some priest, wrote a great number of lies with Alexandrian literate on the oldest paper, to imitate an ancient manuscript.  He then put an ancient cover on it that he took from some ancient book, and secretly placed his work among other books in the royal library.

Leaving aside the veracity of this interesting story by Niketas David Paphlagon, it is probably possible that the Byzantines themselves were well aware that genealogy could be forged, and that many of them are indeed forged.

Invention of legends is not typical just for Byzantine Empire, but also for a number of other states of the medieval world. Furthermore, it is not exaggeration if we say that false genealogies are being created even in our time. Unfortunately, a great number of people is blindly convinced in such forged genealogies.

Whatever the case, the assumption that Basil I the Macedonian, man who was capable and discerning enough to become emperor from a groom, was not familiar with the compilation of "fabricated" genealogy that celebrates antiquity of his imperial home, seems unlikely.

To return to Part III – „The one who sleeps beside”, click HERE.

To return to Part I – A boy named Basil, click HERE.

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Who is whistling? - Felice Cavallotti

Italian politician and dramatic author Felice Cavallotti (1842-1898) couldn’t accept the fact that the audience didn’t like some of his theatrical works. When some critic heavily attacked one of his work after its premiere, Cavallotti went straight to the editor of the paper that published the article.

“That critic of yours didn’t like my work because of my party allegiances!" - Shouted Cavallotti.

“Dear mister Cavallotti,” the editor answered him calmly, “those who booed your work at the theater weren’t members of some political party, but a very small group of people that have actually watched your play”.

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Lusty Ram of the Third Reich - Joseph Goebbels

Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany, Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945), among the most important tasks that he performed for the Fuhrer, was constantly chasing after women. He wrote everything about it in his diary.

Sex scandals, which are surrounding Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, are probably the thing that will be most remembered in the mandate of this politician. This is also the evidence that there was always more interest in the sexual details of some politician’s life than what he did for his country when he was holding his position. This tradition is dating back to ancient Rome and it is still present today.

In many biographies of the Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini, it is written that he was obsessed with sex, even more then he was with planetary conquest. He even had his own team that was in charge of bringing him every day at least on beauty. However, sexual affinities and love affairs of German Nazi chiefs were never quite clear. Hitler preferred to conquer territories instead of women, and that was even confirmed by Mussolini, who, in several occasions, tried to introduce many beauties to Fuhrer. But Fuhrer was not that interested in them so Mussolini eventually gave up on such treats for him. Fuhrer's sexual power was brought into question several times and sometimes Mussolini even suspected that Hitler had affinities for perversions.

Like him, all the other Nazi heads were more described as monsters with ordinary family life then seducers with many love affairs.

However, the book “Joseph Goebbels: Biography” that was published recently uncovered unknown details regarding love life of Hitler’s closest associate. "Evil genius" who developed propaganda to perfection and dark manipulator who organized the burning of books, brutal deaths during Kristallnacht attack, and finally, deportation of millions of Jews to concentration camps and death, was described as lusty person. He even had a nickname The Ram, and, in his diary, he wrote: “Eros awoke. Sentimental period. Bombastic letters, poems. Besides which, love for mature women”.

When he was seven years old, Goebbels had an attack of osteomyelitis which resulted in having his right leg a few centimeters shorter that his left leg. This handicap isolated him from his peers. As he himself admitted, he became a bit eccentric and weird after that. 

At the same time, he was very attached to his mother, whom he described with the following words: “To her I owe everything I accomplished in life.” His mother was a role model through whom Goebbels chose friends, and even the future boss - Adolph Hitler. His attachment to his mother had influence even on his earliest love affinities.  

In accordance with the psychological profile of a person very attached to his mother, Goebbels’ earliest love life was associated with older women. The first love of Hitler's propaganda chief was a stepmother of his school friend. Her name was Theresa and Goebbels described her as a handsome woman, always wearing a freshly washed skirt. His affinity towards older women was continued with falling in love with Mrs. Lennartz, wife of the owner of the factory where his father worked. And when he became completely infatuated with the girlfriend of his older brother Hans, his father became furious.

However, those were all fantasies of platonic genre. He had his first true relationship with Lena who, after a year of a relationship, allowed him to kiss her breasts. Hitler's hellish assistant described the event in his diary: ”The first kiss on Garden Street! At night in the Kaiser Park - I kissed her breast. She experienced for the first time what it was like to be a loving woman.”

Goebbels’ love life continued during his student days in Bonn, where he became deeply in love with Anka Stalherm who was studying economy. She wasn’t physically attracted to Goebbels but he won her with his intellect and persistence – a very strong card he had when it comes to winning a heart of a woman. The young student didn’t spare ink, and he sent regularly to Anka long letters, as well as epics and dramas he wrote. He neither spared his fingers when he played organs in the cathedral for his sympathy. How deeply in love the future Hitler's propaganda chief was, shows and his trip to Munich, just to be with his love. In the center of Bavaria financial difficulties caught on him, and he was forced to pawn his suit and watch at some “cocky Jew”. He was soon faced with end of their relationship because wealthy industrialist's daughter did not like the fact that Joseph was beginning to turn to the left and writing plays about the struggle of workers. He often said about himself: "I am a German communist," and in his diary he wrote: “Anka walked out on me. And my entire relationship to women has suffered ever since.” However, he didn’t forgot her and he sent her letters even ten years after they stop seeing each other. He stopped when Anka’s husband began to threaten him. Joseph’s great love outlived him. She died of cancer in 1955.

Soon came new loves but also and growing anti-Semitism. When his teacher Else Janke revealed to him that her mother is Jewish, Goebbels lost interest in her. He wrote in his diary: “She told me her roots. Since then her charms were destroyed for me.” At the same time, his left-wing beliefs were starting to lose battle against dreams of dictatorship: "Ninety percent of people are worthless and only 10 percent are worthy. That is why those 10 percent should rule over the rest. "

When he met Hitler in 1925, he was completely mesmerized. He described the future dictator as "a man who has everything it takes to be a king." Later, Hitler awarded him with high political position.  His fascination with women continued.  From many young female members of national socialist party, he picked the most beautiful ones and took them to nightclubs and movie theaters. He also despised Hollywood movies, which he described as "Jewish kitsch."

Then, a blonde named Magda walked into Goebbels life. When she joined the national socialist party she was captivated with Hitler, but Hitler matched her with Joseph. Goebbels wrote in his diary: "Hitler loved Magda, but he left her to me. With tears in his eyes, he told me to be happy and to remain a good friend. "

Although he was infatuated with his wife, Goebbels couldn’t resist chasing other women. When he fell in love with Czech actress  Lida Baarova, because of which he wanted to divorce from his wife,  Magda asked of Hitler to help, and he resolved their  marital crisis.

Joseph and Magda had six children whose names all began with the H, because of Hitler of course. The couple Goebbels killed their children and committed suicide just after Hitler and Eva Braun did it. Later, Red Army found their bodies, burned them and thrown the ashes in to the river Elbe.

Horrified with the stories that he was gay

In spite of so many girls around him, rumors were circulating from time to time that the wicked Nazi propaganda chief was gay, and that was the reason he didn’t had a permanent partner. These rumors have horrified him. “It’s all so dirty. It must be expunged, radically and ruthlessly!” – he wrote about homosexuality when he discovered that several Nazi chiefs preferred men.

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Perfect mask – Winston Churchill and Nancy Astor

Humorous bickering between the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874 -1965) and Lady Nancy Astor (1879-1964) were very common in public. Lady Nancy Astor was known as a fighter for women's rights but she was also engaged in politics.

On one occasion, unable to resist not to tease her in front of many people, Winston Churchill asked Lady Astor:

“So, you are once again organizing some stupid masquerade ball. What disguise should I wear so that nobody recognizes me?”

"Why don't you come sober, Prime Minister?" – Lady Astor replied sarcastically.

On other occasion, Lady Astor said to Churchill, "If you were my husband, I'd poison your tea," to which he responded, "Madam, if you were my wife, I'd drink it!"

Probably the most known exchange of such words between them was when Lady Astor said to him "Winston, you are drunk", to which he replied "And you, madam, are ugly. But I shall be sober in the morning".

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Arnold Schwarzenegger - Conan the Destroyer of California

After two terms as the Governor of California, Hollywood star Arnold Schwarzenegger probably finished his political career. While he will be remembered in California for the debts that he left, the rest of the world will probably link Schwarzenegger’s political career with his proposal to ban the use of words "Mom", "Daddy", "husband" and "wife" in California public schools, because these words "offend feelings of children from gay marriages".

He became the Governor of California in 2003, and thus, he became the second actor, after Ronald Reagan, who got hold of high political positions. That he will run for Governor, on the Republican side, he revealed in a Comedy show. To be even able to participate in general elections he first needed to obtain permission from his wife, because his wife, Maria Shriver, is niece of Edward Kennedy, one of the members of the Kennedy clan, who belong to the Democrats.

With a little help of media and 25 million dollars that he invested in his two election campaigns, but mostly thanks to his acting career, Schwarzenegger won a landslide victory in both elections, in 2003 and 2006. His victories were not endangered even with charges that he used drugs, speculation that his father Gustav committed war crimes in World War II, or insinuation that he had sexually harassed 13 women.

Back in the early nineties, George H.W. Bush cast an eye on him and appointed him as the president of a smaller committee, calling him "Conan the Republican". 

Because of the skepticism about the strength of the U.S. economy, he called the Democrats "economic girlie men”. During Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, he said that he will make him "do squats" to "do something about those skinny legs”, and later that he will make him "do some biceps curls to beef up those scrawny little arms ".

“If he could only do something about putting some meat on his ideas”, Schwarzenegger said.

None of that what he said didn’t bothered him to recently publicly recommend himself to Obama - Schwarz said that he would like to get a job in the Obama administration, something regarding ecology. True, Americans admit that he achieved maximum on that field during the seven years he served as the Governor of California. Everything else was a complete fiasco.

During his term, the budget deficit has tripled, reaching 28 billion dollars. Unemployment rate is 13%. This is followed with speculations about a possible economic fiasco of California. At one point, California had no money for payment of regular monthly infrastructural obligations.

Schwarzenegger explained that the state wouldn’t have borrowed that much money if he knew that the global economic crisis will occur. He also said that his political opponents sabotaged his efforts to bring the house in order and improve the state of California's economy. It remains unknown what happened to his ambitious pre-election plan to make each of 36 and a half million residents of California eligible for health insurance, rather than one in five as it was.

“Arnold Schwarzenegger had no idea what it was like to govern. Sacramento isn't Hollywood. I also believe that he gave too big promises because probably he did not realize that he will not be able to fulfill them, which somewhat resembles Obama’s failure in fulfilling great promises. Residents of California expected too much. We did not giggle the way the rest of the world did at the Governator assuming office”, said Dr Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a senior fellow at the School of Policy, Planning and Development at the University of Southern California.

It turned out that Schwarzenegger was far from behaving as a terminator when it comes to economic problems, which is why California citizens completely lost confidence in him.

Schwarzenegger’s new political engagement doesn’t seem too likely: he often worked and operated in contrary to California's Congress, and Republicans went against him when he invited them to cooperate with Obama in order to jointly find a solution for economic recovery and deficit control. The Republicans were not happy and with his proposition of budget deficit of California which he agreed with Washington's administration. The support of his family is also unlikely: although she never prevented her husband to be involved in politics, Maria Shriver was never thrilled with his new job.

But, Schwarzenegger doesn’t have to worry about his future, even if he gives up from the announced intention to write biographical books. In his 30’s he was already a millionaire, and that was before he achieved great success with his movies. He earned his first millions with postal sale of bodybuilding equipment and real estate investments. With Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Demi Moore he invested money in the restaurant chain Planet Hollywood. And despite all costs that he had as a politician, Schwarzenegger’s wealth is now estimated at 800 to 900 million dollars. This amount includes income from bodybuilding, real estate, earnings in the financial market and, of course, earnings from his films.

Nevertheless, the films were the ones that had influence on the magazine TIME and their decision to place him among the 100 people who shaped the world in 2004 and 2007.

The crucial year in Schwarzenegger’s Hollywood career was 1982, when he appeared in "Conan the Barbarian". Until the appearance of "Conan", Schwarzenegger made eight films. He won his first role (lead role) in 1970, in the comedy "Hercules in New York". He even today speaks English with a strong German accent, but at a time of making “Hercules”, he was saying it so badly that the producers were worried about whether the public will understand him at all. The fear was unjustified - the movie itself was terrible, but because of the accent, Arnold is even today called Ahnold.

"Conan the Barbarian", and two years later "Conan the Destroyer", were his first major commercial successes, in which his physical appearance was fully exploited. Neither before nor after these films, no one was counting on a some great acting performance from him. He became mega-star with action movies "Terminator" (1984, 1991, 2003), "Predator" (1987), "Red Sonja", "Commando", "Red Heat", "Total Recall", "Eraser ", "Collateral Damage" and many others.

Besides action movies, among total of 38 movies that he made, he made and a few comedies, like, for example, “Kindergarten Cop".

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Greatest PR disaster – John Prescott

In December 1999, The British newspaper “The Guardian” has announced traditional parliamentary awards.

By unanimous decision, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, won the “Greatest PR disaster“ award.

Why?

Because he used a car to cross a 150 meters to the conference hall where he gave a speech about how British people should avoid, as frequent as possible, using their cars, in order to protect their environment!

After a huge public criticism, Deputy Prime Minister was forced to explain himself.

He shocked everybody with his unexpected explanation.

Apparently, John Prescott was forced to use a car, to cross those hundred and fifty meters, because his wife was with him. And she had just been at the hairdresser. Since she didn’t want the wind to spoil her hair, Ms. Prescott demanded that they "travel" by car.

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Good memory is a bad thing – Ignacy Jan Paderewski

While they listened a farewell concert of the famous Polish pianist, composer and politician Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941), two musicians, in the audience, grumbled about him mercilessly:

- My God, this man can’t remember anything! Have you noticed just how many notes he forgot to play! - whispered the first.

- Poor man! - added another musician. – It is not so bad that he has forgotten some things. The things he remembers are played awful.

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Space Fame!

Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911), American newspaper magnate of Hungarian origin, founded the newspaper "New York World" in 1883. He was also the owner of the daily "New York Evening World," known for conferring the "Pulitzer" prize for journalism and literature.

Pulitzer believed that his newspapers were more influential than the U.S. president and the whole world politics, and that their influence extended to other planets. So to say, the universe.

When the building of his newspaper was built in New Jersey, Pulitzer spent imaginable sum of money on illuminated sign that was supposed to shine over the entire city from the top of a skyscraper.

- Do you know what kind of flashing neon sign I would like? A kind that even the Martians will be able to read from their planet! - He ordered.
- So, on what language will it be written? - asked the chief architect. - In English, or Martian?

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