- published: 07 Jan 2016
- views: 5524
Coordinates: 50°51′N 0°34′E / 50.85°N 0.57°E / 50.85; 0.57
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located 24 mi (39 km) east of the county town of Lewes and 53 mi (85 km) south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900.
In historical terms, Hastings can claim fame through its connection with the Norman conquest of England; and also because it became one of the medieval Cinque Ports. Hastings was, for centuries, an important fishing port; although nowadays much reduced, it still has the largest beach-based fishing fleet in England. The town became a watering place in the 1760s, and then, with the coming of the railway, a seaside resort.
The attraction of Hastings as a tourist destination continues; although the number of hotels has decreased, it caters for wider tastes, being home to internationally-based cultural and sporting events, such as chess and running. It has set out to become "a modern European town" and seeks to attract commercial business in the many industrial sites round the borough.
Wilmot Reed Hastings, Jr. (born October 8, 1960) is an entrepreneur and education philanthropist. He is the CEO of Netflix, and on the boards of Microsoft, Facebook, and numerous non-profit organizations.
Hastings was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from high school in 1978 from the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His father was a lawyer who once served in the Nixon administration, serving as general counsel in the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. After high school, he spent a year selling Rainbow vacuum cleaners door to door.
Hastings majored in mathematics at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and won its mathematics department's Smyth Prize in 1981, and its Hammond Prize in 1983. Hastings received his bachelor's degree from the college in 1983.
Hastings entered Marine Corps officer training through their Platoon Leader Class and spent the summer of 1981 in Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Virginia. "I found myself questioning how we packed our backpacks and how we made our beds," said Hastings. "My questioning wasn’t particularly encouraged, and I realized I might be better off in the Peace Corps. I petitioned the recruiting office and left the Marines."