Following the closure of the Scheldt (Escaut) River and the port of Antwerp since the end of the 17th century, some private shipowners obtained patent letters stating the authorization to fit out armed vessels bound for India in 1714.

[9] These included, in addition to the castle of Selsaeten[7] in Wommelgem, Rameyen, Gestel, Morckhoven,[10] Middelheim, Berchem, Doggenhout, Munsterbilzen, Boterberg, Wuustwezel, as well as many mansions in the Meir or rue Longue-Hôpital.

During the French domination in 1792 and the years of terror of the Revolution in 1793, the reliquary of Blessed Anne of St. Bartholomew, the inseparable companion of Teresa of Avila, considered to be the protector of Antwerp, was hidden in the bank's vaults and then in Joseph Le Grelle's linen cabinet.

A supporter of Belgium since his schooling in Brussels with Professor Jean-Baptiste Lesbroussart, Gérard asserted himself, between 1815 and 1830, by categorically refusing any administrative or political office under the Dutch regime and even turning down a proposal to be appointed town councilor.

Bernard Le Grelle, a journalist, political adviser, writer, and public affairs executive, was the first Belgian to enter the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.

He is the author of Profession Lobbyman[40][41] and worked as an expert for several United Nations agencies, including UNDP, UNITAR, UNESCO, and WHO and as a consultant for Forbes, The International Herald Tribune and The Wall Street Journal.

He convinced Senator Charles Mathias[52] and NASA director Jim Beggs[53] to send the Space Shuttle Enterprise on a European tour[54] that included a visit to the Paris Air Show in 1983.

Bernard le Grelle and Senator Charles Mathias initiated the United States Congress Joint Resolution 270,[55][56] officially designating 1983 as the Year of the Bicentennial of Air and Space.

In December 1982, Bernard Le Grelle, Larry Mihlon, a former advisor to President John F. Kennedy, and Charles Mathias came up with an idea to make the U.S. space program more popular with the U.S. taxpayers.

In 1985, NASA selected Christa McAuliffe to be the teacher, but she perished in the Challenger shuttle accident along with the crew just 73 seconds after liftoff on the morning of Tuesday, 28 January 1986; the incident was broadcast live on CNN.

[57] At this time, Bernard Le Grelle was aboard the Boeing 757 of Eastern Airlines bound to Miami, cruising at 39,000 feet above the Kennedy Space Center, when the explosion occurred.

Bernard le Grelle was received by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who publicly defended Professor Chermann and strongly criticized the Nobel Committee's decision.

In 1893, Count Oscar Le Grelle was the co-founder of the fund that bought the shares of N.V. De Vlijt, publisher of the Gazet van Antwerpen, eventually obtaining control of the newspaper.

The palm trees of M: Legrelle d'Hanis were honored in the great throne room of the National Exhibition in Brussels in 1848, where the king and the royal family were received and complimented.

It is happily remembered that H.M. King Leopold, in visiting the 1848 exhibition, expressed in front of a plant of M. Legrelle-d'Hanis, Myanthus firmbriatus, the reasoned admiration of a botanist scholar and paid a full tribute to the services rendered to the national horticulture of Belgium by such honorable exhibitors ».

Around the age of 18, Henry left for a trip around the world, including a lengthy visit to Ranchi (the present capital of the state of Jharkhand in India), an experience that marked him for life.

There he met Father Constant Lievens in a hut in Torpa (today in the diocese of Khunti), located 60 km south of Ranchi, where he created a Jesuit school that still exists, several small churches, and a printing house to spread the news of the savior Jesus Christ.

They did not dare to question a Monsignor, close to the Pope, but their colonel opened up directly to Pius XII, who very diplomatic simply suggested to him to cut the water from the fountain.

[78] Ambassador Freddy Cogels,[79] a counsellor at the Belgian embassy in Rome (Quirinal), wrote in his book, Memoirs of a Diplomat,[80] how Monsignor Le Grelle, given his gifts as a diviner, had cured more than 4,000 patients, including many suffering from cancer.

Posthumously named Knight of the Order of Leopold II with Palm and War Cross, Count Albert Le Grelle died for Belgium at Kaaskerke.

Given that the duration of the training of aviators (pilots, navigators, bombers, radio operators, machine-gunners...) was four years, whereas it took only four days to build an aircraft, it was important to recover the men when they fell behind enemy lines.

With the assistance of the message "For the big birds, there are no Pyrenees" broadcast by the BBC in the spring of 1943, Jacques Le Grelle was able to have the Comet Line contacts organized up to Normandy.

[87] In 1970, Father Maxime Le Grelle was appointed as the parish priest of Brouage and he moved to Hiers-Brouage, where Samuel Champlain, the founder of Québec City, was born in 1570.

Like many young people of his generation, MacLellan had been forced to interrupt his studies during the war and joined the Royal Montreal Regiment, with whom he trained, was appointed an officer and sent to the United Kingdom, where he was transferred to the 1st Special Air Service (1st SAS).

A priest with the Society of Jesus, Count Guy Le Grelle was a professor at St. Xavier College, an inventor of electronic games, the archival secretary for the Bollandists, an association of scholars, philologists, and historians, who since the early seventeenth century have studied hagiography and the cult of the saints in Christianity.

By chance, years later, his cousin Henry Le Grelle was in a business relationship with Lancaster Colony,[90] presided by the same James Evans, who was able to tell him many anecdotes about Hervé, a young pilot who had shown exceptional qualities that destined him for a brilliant career.

On this occasion, the Maritime Agency organized a ceremony on quay 242 of the port of Antwerp that was attended by many military and political personalities, including the Minister of State Frans Van Cauwelaert.

Hughes Le Grelle then participated in the liberation of Paulis (Operation Black Dragon) but, although young officers were motivated to continue to save their fellow citizens, their commander had to stop their ardor, for the mission.

The paracommandos returned to Belgium after six days, where they were received with great pomp, taking part in a historic ticker-tape parade going back on Rue Royale to the Brussels Courthouse on 1 December 1964.

[120] Multi-disciplinary, Sophie Le Grelle creates illustrations, GIFs, motifs and more, from print to social media, through plans for screenings of art shows and musical performances.