Succes 2011: Campioni mondiali la fotbal. Sepp Maier, "Die Katze von Anzing"

Josef Dieter "Sepp" Maier (born 28 February 1944) is a German former professional football goalkeeper.His nickname was "Die Katze von Anzing" ("the cat from Anzing") for his fast reflexes.

Bayern Munich

Born in Metten, Bavaria, Maier has spent his entire professional career at Bayern Munich. He began playing for Bayern's youth sides in 1958.[2] During the 1970s, he was part of the legendary Bayern team which included the likes of Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller and won three European Cups in a row, a German record. Between 1966 and 1979 he played in 442 consecutive Bundesliga matches, still a German national record. His playing career came to an abrupt end in 1979 when he sustained serious injuries in a car accident (caused by DWI).

International

Maier was selected in the West Germany squad for four consecutive World Cups. In 1966 in England, he was a non-playing deputy to Hans Tilkowski. At the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, he was the undisputed starter and played all games (including the legendary 3–4 semifinal loss to Italy after extra time) except the third-place match.

In the 1974 FIFA World Cup on home soil, at the top of his footballing abilities, he reached the peak of his international career as the Germans went all the way to the final with a legendary team that included the likes of Franz Beckenbauer, Berti Vogts and Gerd Müller. The greatest triumph came when the hosts defeated a Johan Cruyff-inspired Netherlands team 2–1 in the final in Maier's own hometown Munich.

Four years later at the World Cup in Argentina, slightly past his peak but still formidable, Maier delivered a strong performance but could not prevent his side's failing to advance past the second round. Maier also won the 1972 European Championship with West Germany and reached the final in 1976, losing to Czechoslovakia on penalty kicks. In all, he earned 95 caps for his country.

Succes 2011: Billie Jean King, tennis living legend. Winner of "The Battle of the Sexes"

Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society. She won "The Battle of the Sexes" in 1973, in which she defeated Bobby Riggs, a former Wimbledon men's singles champion.

King is the founder of the Women's Tennis Association, the Women's Sports Foundation, and owner of World Team Tennis, which was founded by her former husband, Lawrence King, Dennis Murphy, Frank Barman, and Jordan Kaiser.

King learned to play tennis on the public courts of Long Beach, California. and was coached by Clyde Walker, a fine tennis teacher. She furthered her tennis career at the Los Angeles Tennis Club (LATC) under the jurisdiction of Perry T. Jones, President of the Southern California Tennis Association. At age 17, The Long Beach Tennis Patrons, through the efforts of Harold Guiver of USC, raised $2000 to send her to Wimbledon, where she won the Doubles with Karen Hantze.[18] She was an aggressive, hard-hitting net-rusher, with excellent speed. Chris Evert, however, said about King, "Her weakness is her impatience."

Concerning her motivations in life and tennis, King said,

Any time you're satisfied with mediocrity, any time you take away incentive from human beings, you've blown it. I'm a perfectionist much more than I'm a super competitor, and there's a big difference there.... I've been painted as a person who only competes. ... But most of all, I get off on hitting a shot correctly. ... Any woman who wants to achieve anything has to be aggressive and tough, but the press never sees us as multidimensional. They don't see the emotions, the downs....


King once said, "Victory is fleeting. Losing is forever."

In a May 19, 1975, Sports Illustrated article about King, Frank Deford noted that she had become something of a sex symbol and said, "Billie Jean cackles when the matter of her being a sex symbol is raised. 'Hysterical! Hysterical! Me, with these little short legs!' But she is practical enough to realize that a guy who buys a ticket to look at the girls has bought a ticket as sure as the guy who buys a ticket to look at the girls' forehands. ... Billie Jean herself not only thinks that sex is a dandy thing to have lurking around sports, but she also employs sex as sort of the ultimate gauge of equality between women's and men's athletics. This may be described as the Get-It Quotient.... 'There's a lot of ugly fellas among the male athletes, but just because they're athletes they get it all the time, don't they? Now, never mind prize money and publicity and all that. When we reach the point where all the women athletes are getting it, too, regardless of their looks, just like the fellas, then we've really arrived.'"

Grand Slam singles tournaments

King's triumph at the French Open in 1972 made her only the fifth woman in tennis history to win the singles titles at all four Grand Slam events, a "career Grand Slam." (Four additional women have completed a career Grand Slam since King.) King also won a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles. In women's doubles, only the Australian Open eluded her.

King won a record 20 career titles at Wimbledon – 6 singles, 10 women's doubles, and 4 mixed doubles. (Martina Navratilova also has 20 career titles at Wimbledon.)

King played 51 Grand Slam singles events from 1959 through 1983 (197–39 .835 win–loss record): 21 at Wimbledon (96–15 win–loss record), 18 at the U.S. Championships/Open (63–14 win–loss record), 7 at the French Championships/Open (22–6 win–loss record), and 5 at the Australian Championships/Open (16–4 win–loss record). King reached at least the semifinals in 27 and at least the quarterfinals in 40 out of her 51 attempts.

King was the runner-up in 6 Grand Slam singles events.

An indicator of King's mental toughness at crunch time in Grand Slam singles tournaments was her 11–2 career record in deuce third sets, i.e., third sets that were tied 5–5 before being resolved.

Margaret Court, who won more Grand Slam titles than anyone, has said that King was "the greatest competitor I’ve ever known".

Chris Evert, winner of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, has said, "She's the wisest human being that I've ever met and has vision people can only dream about. Billie Jean King is my mentor and has given me advice about my tennis and my boyfriends. On dealing with my parents and even how to raise children. And she doesn't have any."

King was the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in 1967.

In 1972, King became the first tennis player to be named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. She was also the first female athlete ever to receive that honor.

Friends with singer Elton John, the 1975 song "Philadelphia Freedom" is a tribute to King. On a PBS program, John talked about how he brought a demo copy of the record to play for her right after he had recorded it.

In 1975, Seventeen magazine found that King was the most admired woman in the world from a poll of its readers. Golda Meir, who had been Israel's prime minister until the previous year, finished second.

In 1979, several top players were asked who they would pick to help them recover from a hypothetical deficit of 1–5 (15–40) in the third set of a match on Wimbledon's Centre Court. Martina Navratilova, Rosemary Casals, and Françoise Durr all picked King. Navratilova said, "I would have to pick Billie Jean at her best. Consistently, Chris is hardest to beat but for one big occasion, one big match, one crucial point, yes, it would have to be Billie Jean." Casals said, "No matter how far down you got her, you never could be sure of beating her."

King was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.

Life magazine in 1990 named her one of the "100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century."

King was the recipient of the 1999 Arthur Ashe Courage Award.

In 2000, King received an award from the GLAAD, an organization devoted to reducing discrimination against gays, lesbians and bisexuals, for "furthering the visibility and inclusion of the community in her work." The award noted her involvement in production and the free distribution of educational films, as well as serving on the boards of several AIDS charities.

In 2006, the Women's Sports Foundation began to sponsor the Billie Awards, which are named after and hosted by King.
The USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park was rededicated as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center

On August 28, 2006, the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park was rededicated as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. John McEnroe, Venus Williams, Jimmy Connors, and Chris Evert were among the speakers during the rededication ceremony.

On December 6, 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver inducted King into the California Hall of Fame located at The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts.

On October 18, 2007, the Public Justice Foundation presented King with its highest award, the Champion of Justice Award.

On November 20, 2007, King was presented with the 2007 Sunday Times Sports Women of the Year Lifetime Achievement award for her contribution to sport both on and off the court.

Charles M. Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, was an admirer and close friend. Schulz referred to King several times in Peanuts over the years. In one strip, Peppermint Patty tells Marcie, "Has anyone ever told you that when you're mad, you look just like Billie Jean King?"

She was honored by the Office of the Manhattan Borough President in March 2008 and was included in a map of historical sites related or dedicated to important women.

King was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.

Succes 2011: Alexander Gerst, European Space Agency astronaut

Alexander Gerst (born May 3, 1976 in Künzelsau, Baden-Württemberg) is an European Space Agency astronaut having been selected in 2009 to undergo training.

Gerst studied at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, where he received a university degree in physics. He also studied Earth Science at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, where he was awarded a Master of Science.

He has been working as a researcher since 2005. In his spare time, he enjoys mountaineering, diving, climbing and skydiving.

He was selected as astronaut in 2009 by the European Space Agency.

Succes 2011: Hans Schlegel, astronaut and veteran of two NASA Space Shuttle missions

Hans Wilhelm Schlegel (Überlingen, 3 August 1951) is a German physicist, an ESA astronaut, and a veteran of two NASA Space Shuttle missions.
From 1995 to 1997, he trained as the backup crew member for the German-Russian Mir'97 mission, and afterwards received additional training in Russia to become qualified as a second board engineer for the Mir space station. In 1998, he became a member of the European Astronaut Corps.

Schlegel was a Mission Specialist on the STS-122 Space Shuttle mission. The mission was charged with the responsibility of putting the Columbus laboratory in orbit, in addition to its connection to the International Space Station.

Hans was to perform a spacewalk on the first EVA (EVA1) of STS-122, on Sunday, 10 February 2008, in preparation for attaching the Columbus laboratory to the ISS. The EVA was postponed until Monday 11 February 2008 due to an undisclosed medical issue allegedly affecting Schlegel. Stanley G. Love performed the spacewalk instead of Schlegel. However, Schlegel did perform the second EVA on Wednesday 13 February 2008. During the spacewalk, he completed the replacement of the Nitrogen Tank Assembly on the P1 truss of the International Space Station, and installed trunnion covers on the Columbus module.

Succes 2011: Jackie Collins, english novelist and former actress. Her books have so ld over 400 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages

Jacqueline Jill "Jackie" Collins (born 4 October 1937) is an English novelist and former actress. She is the younger sister of actress Joan Collins. To date, she has written 27 novels, all of which have appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list. In total, her books have sold over 400 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages. To date, eight of her novels have been adapted for the screen, either as films or television mini-series.

Collins' first novel, The World Is Full of Married Men, was published in 1968. Romance writer Barbara Cartland called it "nasty, filthy and disgusting". It was banned in Australia and South Africa,[4] but the scandal bolstered sales in the USA and the UK. Collins' second novel, The Stud, was published in 1969 and followed the sexually charged affairs of married Fontaine Khaled, who owns a fashionable London nightclub. It also made the bestseller lists.

Collins' third novel, Sunday Simmons & Charlie Brick, (first published under the title The Hollywood Zoo in the UK and then retitled Sinners worldwide in 1984) was published in 1971 and again made the bestseller lists. This was Collins' first novel to be set in the United States.

Lovehead followed in 1974 (retitled as The Love Killers in 1989). This novel was Collins' first foray into the world of organized crime — a genre that would later prove to be extremely successful for her. The plot concerned the organised murder of women's rights activist and feminist Margaret Lawrence Brown. Three women - two of whom are Margaret's half sisters and one whom she saved from a life of working in the porn industry - plan revenge on the mobster responsible, Enzio Bassalino.

Following this, Collins published The World Is Full Of Divorced Women (unrelated to her first novel) in 1975, and then her longest novel, Lovers & Gamblers, in 1977 which told the story of rock/soul superstar Al King.

In the late 1970s, Collins made a foray into writing for the screen. In 1978, she co-wrote the screenplay for the film version of her 1969 novel The Stud, which starred her older sister Joan as the gold-digging adulteress Fontaine Khaled. Following this, Collins wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of her first novel The World Is Full Of Married Men, which was released in 1979. She also released her seventh novel, The Bitch, a sequel to The Stud, which was also made into a successful film the same year, with Joan Collins reprising the role. The film version of The Bitch was written and directed by Gerry O'Hara, based on Collins' source novel. Also in 1979, Collins wrote an original screenplay (not based on any of her novels) for the film Yesterday's Hero.

1980s

In the 1980s, Collins and her family moved to Los Angeles on a full time basis. Her next novel was Chances, published in 1981 and which she described as her first "Harold Robbins-type" novel. It was also the first novel to introduce her character, Lucky Santangelo, the "dangerously beautiful" daughter of a one-time gangster Gino Santangelo.

While living in the hills above Sunset Boulevard, Collins collected the knowledge and experience to write her most successful novel, Hollywood Wives, which was published in 1983. The novel hit the New York Times bestseller list at number one, and went on to sell fifteen million copies worldwide.[citation needed] Marketed as a "scandalous exposé", the novel placed Collins in a powerful position and made her a celebrity of almost equal status to sister Joan, whose own career had taken an upwards direction with her role in the hit television drama Dynasty. In 1985, Hollywood Wives was also made into a hugely successful television mini-series, produced by Aaron Spelling and starring Candice Bergen, Stefanie Powers, Angie Dickinson, Anthony Hopkins, Suzanne Somers and Rod Steiger. Although credited as "Creative Consultant", Collins later stated that she was never consulted during production and that she did not agree with some of the casting choices.

She then went on to write the sequel to Chances entitled Lucky (published in 1985), followed by Hollywood Husbands (1986), and Rock Star (1988).

1990s

In 1990, Collins published her third Lucky Santangelo novel, Lady Boss. Also in 1990, she wrote and co-produced the television mini-series Lucky Chances, which combined her first two Lucky Santangelo novels and starred Nicolette Sheridan in the lead role and Sandra Bullock.

In 1992, Collins was widowed when her husband of 26 years, Oscar Lerman, died of cancer. Around this time, she also wrote and produced another mini-series based on her third Lucky Santangelo novel Lady Boss (with Kim Delaney now playing the lead role).

Collins went on to pen several more bestsellers; American Star (1993), Hollywood Kids (1994) and the fourth Santangelo novel, Vendetta: Lucky's Revenge (1996).

In 1998, Collins made a foray into talk-show television with the series Jackie Collins' Hollywood, but this was unsuccessful. She then released a new novel, Thrill (1998), and also wrote a four-part series of mini-novels to be released in a newspaper every six weeks called L.A. Connections, introducing a new heroine in the form of investigative journalist Madison Castelli. The fifth Lucky Santangelo novel, Dangerous Kiss, was published in 1999.

2000s

The 2000s turned out to be Collins' busiest time and she published eight bestsellers, more than any other decade in her career. In 2000, Collins brought back the character of Madison Castelli in a new novel, Lethal Seduction. In 2001 she published Hollywood Wives: The New Generation, which itself was later turned into a television movie starring Farrah Fawcett, Melissa Gilbert and Robin Givens (Collins was credited as Executive Producer).

A new Madison Castelli novel, Deadly Embrace, was published in 2002, and Hollywood Divorces was published in 2003. In 2004, Collins hosted a series of television specials, Jackie Collins Presents, for E! Entertainment Television.

In 2006, after being signed to publisher Simon & Schuster for twenty years, Collins signed with St. Martin's Press as her North American publisher though she remains with Simon & Schuster internationally.

Collins continued with Lovers & Players in 2006 and the sixth Lucky Santangelo novel, Drop Dead Beautiful, in 2007. Her most recent novels include Married Lovers (2008), about the affairs of a female personal trainer named Cameron Paradise. This was followed in 2009 by Poor Little Bitch Girl, which stemmed from an idea Collins had worked on for a television series about heiresses that was ultimately never made. It features Bobby Santangelo Stanislopoulos (son of Lucky Santangelo and Dimitri Stanislopoulos) as a major character, and has cameo appearances by Lucky Santangelo, although Lucky does not feature as a major character in this novel.
2010s

In 2010, Paris Connections, a direct-to-DVD movie adapted from Collins' L.A. Connections series of mini-novels was made by Amber Entertainment in association with the UK supermarket chain Tesco. The movie stars Charles Dance, Trudie Styler, and Nicole Steinwedell as Madison Castelli. Collins served as co-producer, and three more Connections movies with the Madison Castelli character are planned.

Although Collins initially said on her official website that there would probably be no more Lucky Santangelo novels after Drop Dead Beautiful, in 2011 she published the seventh book in the series, Goddess of Vengeance. Also according to her official website, she is currently writing a play entitled Jackie Collins' Hollywood Lies.

Daniele Dondé, the most collected Italian artist in the world. Inventor of "legal fakes" paintings

Daniele Dondé was born in Cremona, the birthplace of so many internationally famous artists, the greatest of whom being the violinmaker Antonio Stradivari.

Dondé, the son of renowned art collectors, learned to love art from an early age, in particular, the contemporary art in his family's art collection. This collection became famous following the death of his father, as Dondé was forced to sell it for financial reasons and in the midst of this crisis he learned that 50% of the works in this prestigious collection, bought from generations of hard work and sacrifices, were in fact fakes. Following this crippling disappointment, Dondé intended to make it the aim of his life to discover who could have tricked his family, by searching out those who had created these beautiful but deceptive fakes.

Once he had tracked down the forgers, he threatened to notify the authorities if they failed to accept his somewhat indecent proposal: they had to agree to work solely for him, not to cheat collectors but rather in order to make great art masterpieces available to all, at prices that the wider public could afford.

This was in 1983 and so he had realised a great dream and at the same time he had exacted revenge on dishonest gallery owners as he had denied them access to those who would create the fakes for them. He had legalised the work of the forgers, bringing it to the light of day and creating a worldwide respected artistic movement that aroused the interest of art collectors from all over the world.

In 1984 he became the undisputed leader of the idea that until that moment had been considered crazy and unachievable. Working constantly and with determination, he took his idea around the world, putting on exhibitions of "legal fakes", in major cities: Milan, Rome, Geneva, Zurich, Munich, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Istanbul, Cyprus, Paris, London, New York, Moscow, Sydney, Tokyo, Kyoto, St Moritz, Gstaad, Monte Carlo, etc. In these cities and elsewhere he has organised temporary exhibitions that have attracted millions of art lovers and collectors. The copies on show are of works by Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Modigliani, Sisley, Lautrec, Pissarro, in short all the most highly sought after and valuable masterpieces that have been made accessible to the general public and are no longer reserved for a few multi-millionaires. Dondé's motto is: "give everyone a masterpiece".

In 1990 at his exhibition in Manhattan a New York, Dondé was given the honorary title of Professor and Doctor of modern and contemporary art from the prestigious American University, an honour that few international artists have received.

In 1999 in Geneva he received recognition from another source, "Crystal Globe", which is only given to the most famous Italians in the world.

Dondé, appreciated by internationally famous VIP's like Frank Sinatra, Roger Moore, Sofia Loren, Harnold Swarzenneger, Sultan of Brunei, Albert of Monaco, Mohammed Al Fayed, Flavio Briatore, Gianluca Vialli, etc., is credited with having created the biggest and most popular art movement in the world, in which European, Asian, Australian and American artists have copied and followed the crazy idea that Dondé had and they have all continued to contribute to the diffusion of legalised fakes throughout the world.

His participation has led to this movement also starting in China, where they produce copies that are of poor quality artistically but have a high commercial value. Dondé therefore also has the responsibility or the merit of having suggested to the Chinese forgers that they make copies of great European works of art and so China lives and makes a living thanks to the extraordinary idea that came out of the dream of a young man from a small art town in the provinces, who, through taking revenge on those who wronged his family, accidentally spread the strangest idea ever dreamed all over the world. The world of contemporary art owes a great deal to Dondé.

Dondé now lives and works in his contemporary art studio, art of the future, art that many museums would already like to monopolize; Dondé is the name to invest in now, right now. For more than 25 years Dondé has been the modern world leader in contemporary art. Dondé is the most popular and most collected Italian of all the new artists that have appeared on the world scene; no other living artist has been so widely sought after by the media; over 10,000 interviews in 30 years, over 10,000 photographic sessions with the most important European, Asian, Australian, American and even Chinese media in the world.

Dondé is considered a legend in modern and contemporary art and his works are on show in the homes of the richest families in the world. Any millionaire, VIP or member of the jet set of any importance will boast of having in his collection a work that has been signed by Dondé, the most highly acclaimed and photographed of his VIP collectors.

Dondé currently lives and works between Italy and Switzerland in his studio show-room in Lugano.

Gheorghe Hagi la Campionatul European: ROMÂNIA - Franța 0-1, 10 iunie 1996

Formatii:

Bogdan Stelea - Miodrag Belodedici , Gheorghe Mihali , Dan Petrescu , Gheorghe Popescu , Tibor Selymes - Gheorghe Hagi , Ionut Lupescu , Dorinel Munteanu - Marius Lacatus , Florin Răducioiu

Trainer: Anghel Iordanescu

Bernard Lama - Laurent Blanc , Marcel Desailly , Éric Di Meco , Lilian Thuram - Didier Deschamps , Youri Djorkaeff , Vincent Guérin , Christian Karembeu , Zinédine Zidane - Christophe Dugarry
Trainer: Aime Jacquet