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26,422,591 | Umar al-Aqta | 1,173,631,331 | Arab Emir of Malatya from the 830s to 863 | [
"863 deaths",
"9th-century Arab people",
"9th-century monarchs in the Middle East",
"Arab people of the Arab–Byzantine wars",
"Banu Sulaym",
"Emirs",
"Governors of the Abbasid Caliphate",
"History of Malatya",
"Monarchs killed in action",
"Year of birth unknown"
] | ʿUmar ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Marwān or ʿAmr ibn ʿUbaydallāh ibn Marwān, surnamed al-Aqtaʾ (Arabic: الأقطع, lit. 'the one-handed'; μονοχεράρης, monocherares, in Greek), and found as Amer or Ambros (Ἄμερ or Ἄμβρος) in Byzantine sources, was the semi-independent Arab emir of Malatya (Melitene) from the 830s until his death in the Battle of Lalakaon on 3 September 863. During this time, he was one of the greatest threats to the Byzantine Empire on its eastern frontier, and became a prominent figure in later Arabic and Turkish epic literature.
## Biography
ʿUmar belonged to the Banu Sulaym tribe, which was established in the western Jazira at the time of the Muslim conquests and played an important role in the affairs of Malatya and the Jaziran frontier zone (thughur) with the Byzantine Empire as well as the Caucasian frontier with the Khazars. His father, ʿAbdallah or ʿUbaydallah, is little known, except that he was also emir of Malatya, and that ca. 810 he surrendered to the Byzantines the fortress of Kamacha to obtain the release of his son, who was held captive.
ʿUmar himself probably became emir of Malatya in the 830s, and first appears in 838, in the Amorium campaign of the Caliph al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842). The campaign was waged in retaliation for a large-scale raid in the previous year by the Byzantine emperor Theophilos (r. 829–842) against the Arab border emirates, including Malatya, whose territory was laid waste and depopulated. During the Amorium campaign, ʿUmar took part with his men in the great Arab victory over Theophilos himself at the Battle of Dazimon in July 838. In the 840s, he provided refuge to the surviving members of the Paulicians, who were fleeing persecution in Byzantium, and allocated them the area around the fortresses of Tephrike, Amara and Argaoun. The Paulician leader Karbeas turned this into a separate Paulician principality, allied with ‘Umar and launching frequent expeditions against Byzantium, either in conjunction with ʿUmar or independently. In 844, ʿUmar's forces participated in a major raid that inflicted a heavy defeat upon an army led by the Byzantine chief minister, Theoktistos, at the Battle of Mauropotamos. In the late 840s, he was also engaged in warfare against a neighbouring Armenian lord named Skleros, whom he finally vanquished after a protracted and bloody conflict.
In the 850s, ʿUmar is recorded as having defeated an expedition led by the Byzantine emperor Michael III (r. 842–867) against Samosata, and to have carried out a number of successful raids into Byzantium. One of them swept through the themes of Thrakesion and Opsikion and reached up to the great Byzantine army base of Malagina in Bithynia. He was unable, however, to stop a retaliatory expedition launched in 856 by Petronas against Melitene and Tephrike, which raided all the way to Amida, taking many prisoners before returning home.
In 860, along with Karbeas, ʿUmar launched a major raid into Anatolia which reached the Black Sea port of Sinope, returning with over 12,000 head of captured livestock. Three years later, he was part of a major Abbasid force that invaded Anatolia through the Cilician Gates. After splitting off from the main force and repulsing a Byzantine army under Emperor Michael III at Mardj al-Usquf ("Bishop's Meadow") in Cappadocia, ʿUmar with his men headed north to sack the port city of Amisos. On his return, however, he was encircled by the Byzantines and killed at the Battle of Lalakaon on 3 September 863. Only a splinter of his army escaped under his son, but was then defeated and captured by the commander of the Charsianon district. According to al-Tabari, when the news of ʿUmar's death, along with that of another celebrated leader, Ali ibn Yahya al-Armani, arrived in Iraq, they provoked riots among the populace of Baghdad, Samarra, and other cities, angry at the Abbasid government's perceived incompetence.
Indeed, ʿUmar's death marked the end of Malatya as a military threat to Byzantium, although the city itself would remain in Muslim hands for 70 more years. ʿUmar himself was succeeded by his son, Abu Abdallah, and grandson, Abu Hafs, who was forced to surrender the city to the Byzantine general John Kourkouas in 934.
## Cultural legacy
Like many other protagonists of the Arab–Byzantine Wars, ʿUmar figures in both Arab and Byzantine legend. In the Arab epic romance "Tale of Delhemma and al-Battal" (Sīrat Ḏāt al-Himma wa-l-Baṭṭāl), he is a major figure, although his role has been diminished and he is often cast as almost a villain, due to the tale's bias in favour of the Banu Sulaym's rivals, the Banu Kilab, who furnish most of the heroic characters. Traditions about ʿUmar seem also to have influenced the story cycle around ‘Umar ibn al-Numan and his sons which became included in the One Thousand and One Nights, while ʿUmar himself features in later Turkish epic literature centred around the heroic figure of Battal Ghazi (inspired by the real-life Umayyad general Abdallah al-Battal), who is also one of the main heroes of the Delhemma.
In Byzantine literature, ʿUmar is regarded by modern scholars as the probable prototype for the emir Ambron, the grandfather of the eponymous hero in the epic poem Digenes Akritas, while the Greek scholar G. Veloudis suggested him as the origin of the eponymous hero of the Song of Armouris. The German scholar Hans-Georg Beck finds this identification unlikely, but points out the reference to a "short-armed" Arab leader in the same tale, which may reflect a folk tradition based on ʿUmar. Finally, the 10th-century scholar al-Mas'udi reports (The Meadows of Gold, VIII, 74–75) that ʿUmar was among the "illustrious Muslims" whose portraits were displayed in Byzantine churches in recognition of their valour. | [
"## Biography",
"## Cultural legacy"
] | 1,521 | 2,253 |
39,475,162 | Hard–easy effect | 1,150,470,332 | Cognitive bias relating to mis-estimating success based on perceived difficulty | [
"Cognition",
"Cognitive biases",
"Decision-making paradoxes"
] | The hard–easy effect is a cognitive bias that manifests itself as a tendency to overestimate the probability of one's success at a task perceived as hard, and to underestimate the likelihood of one's success at a task perceived as easy. The hard-easy effect takes place, for example, when individuals exhibit a degree of underconfidence in answering relatively easy questions and a degree of overconfidence in answering relatively difficult questions. "Hard tasks tend to produce overconfidence but worse-than-average perceptions," reported Katherine A. Burson, Richard P. Larrick, and Jack B. Soll in a 2005 study, "whereas easy tasks tend to produce underconfidence and better-than-average effects."
The hard-easy effect falls under the umbrella of "social comparison theory", which was originally formulated by Leon Festinger in 1954. Festinger argued that individuals are driven to evaluate their own opinions and abilities accurately, and social comparison theory explains how individuals carry out those evaluations by comparing themselves to others.
In 1980, Ferrell and McGoey called it the "discriminability effect"; in 1992, Griffin and Tversky called it the "difficulty effect".
## Experiments
In a range of studies, participants have been requested to answer general knowledge questions, each of which had two possible answers, and also to estimate their chances of answering each question correctly. If the participants had a sufficient degree of self-knowledge, their level of confidence in regard to each answer they gave would be high for the questions they answered correctly and lower for the ones they answered wrong. However, this generally is not the case. Many people are overconfident; indeed, studies show that most people systematically overestimate their own abilities. Moreover, people are overconfident about their ability to answer questions that are deemed to be hard but underconfident on questions that are considered easy.
In a study reported in 1997, William M. Goldstein and Robin M. Hogarth gave an experimental group a questionnaire containing general-knowledge questions such as "Who was born first, Aristotle or Buddha?" or "Was the zipper invented before or after 1920?". The subjects filled in the answers they believed to be correct and rated how sure they were of them. The results showed subjects tend to be under-confident of their answers to questions designated by the experimenters as to be easy, and overconfident of their answers to questions designated as hard.
## Prevalence
A 2009 study concluded "that all types of judges exhibit the hard-easy effect in almost all realistic situations", and that the presence of the effect "cannot be used to distinguish between judges or to draw support for specific models of confidence elicitation".
The hard-easy effect manifests itself regardless of personality differences. Many researchers agree that it is "a robust and pervasive phenomenon".
A 1999 study suggested that the difference between the data in two studies, one performed in Canada by Baranski and Petrusic (1994) and the other in Sweden by Olsson and Winman (1996), "may reflect cross-national differences in confidence in sensory discrimination".
## Causes
Among the explanations advanced for the hard-easy effect are "systematic cognitive mechanisms, experimenter bias, random error, and statistical artifact".
One 1991 study explained the hard-easy effect as a consequence of "informal experimenter-guided selection of almanac items, selection that changes the validity of the cues used by the subjects for selection of answers to the items". Psychological explanations for this phenomenon have also been offered up by Baranski and Petrusic (1994), Griffin and Tversky (1992), and Suantak et al. (1996).
## Doubts
Some researchers, such as Brenner et al. (1996), Justil et al. (1997), and Keren (1991), have raised doubts about the existence of the effect.
In a 1993 paper, Peter Juslin maintained that "(1) when the objects of judgement are selected randomly from a natural environment, people are well-calibrated; (2) when more and less difficult item samples are created by selecting items with more and less familiar contents, i.e. in a way that does not affect the validity of the cues, no hard-easy effect is observed, and people are well-calibrated both for hard and easy item samples."
In 2000, Juslin, Anders Winman, and Henrik Olsson of Uppsala University claimed that the hard-easy effect had previously "been interpreted with insufficient attention to important methodological problems". In their own study, when they controlled for two methodological problems, the hard-easy effect was "almost eliminated". They argued that "the hard-easy effect has been interpreted with insufficient attention to the scale-end effects, the linear dependency, and the regression effects in data, and that the continued adherence to the idea of a 'cognitive overconfidence bias' is mediated by selective attention to particular data sets". One specific point they made was that the hard-easy effect is almost completely eliminated "when there is control for scale-end effects and linear dependency".
## See also | [
"## Experiments",
"## Prevalence",
"## Causes",
"## Doubts",
"## See also"
] | 1,054 | 9,232 |
400,933 | USS Montana (ACR-13) | 1,134,775,858 | Armored cruiser of the United States Navy | [
"1906 ships",
"Ships built in Newport News, Virginia",
"Tennessee-class cruisers",
"World War I cruisers of the United States"
] | USS Montana (ACR-13/CA-13), also referred to as "Armored Cruiser No. 13", later renamed Missoula and reclassified CA-13, was a Tennessee-class armored cruiser of the United States Navy. She was built by the Newport News Drydock & Shipbuilding Co.; her keel was laid down in April 1905, she was launched in December 1906, and she was commissioned in July 1908. The final class of armored cruisers to be built for the US Navy, Montana and her sisters were armed with a main battery of four 10-inch (254 mm) guns, and they were capable of a top speed of 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph).
Montana spent her active duty career in the Atlantic Fleet. She made two cruises to the Mediterranean Sea to protect American citizens in the Ottoman Empire, the first in 1909 in the aftermath of the Young Turk Revolution and the second during the Balkan Wars in 1913. Montana was also involved in political unrest in Central American countries, sending landing parties ashore in Haiti and in Mexico during the Occupation of Veracruz, both in 1914.
After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Montana was tasked with convoy escort and training ship duties. With the end of the war in November 1918 came a new task, transporting American soldiers back from the battlefields of Europe. She made six round trips to France and carried back a total of 8,800 men. Montana was then transferred to the Puget Sound Naval Yard in Washington state, where she was decommissioned and renamed Missoula. She remained in the reserve fleet until 1930, when she was stricken under the terms of the London Naval Treaty. The ship was eventually sold for scrap in 1935 and broken up.
## Design
Montana was 504 ft 6 in (153.77 m) long overall and had beam of 72 feet 10 inches (22.20 m) and a draft of 25 ft (7.6 m). She displaced 14,500 long tons (14,700 t) normally and up to 15,981 long tons (16,237 t) at full load. The ship was propelled by two 4-cylinder, vertical triple-expansion engines, with steam provided by sixteen coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers trunked into four funnels. The engines were rated at 23,000 indicated horsepower (17,000 kW), which produced a top speed of 22 knots (25 mph; 41 km/h). She had a storage capacity for up to 2,000 long tons (2,000 t) of coal, which allowed her to steam for 6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). She had a crew of 914 officers and men. Originally fitted with a pair of military masts, Montana had her foremast replaced with a cage mast in 1911.
Montana was armed with a main battery of four 10-inch (254 mm) 40-caliber Mark 3 guns in two twin gun turrets, one forward and one aft. These were supported by a secondary battery of sixteen 6-inch (152 mm) 40-caliber Mark 8 guns mounted in casemates, eight on each broadside. For defense against torpedo boats, she carried twenty-two 3-inch (76 mm) 50-caliber guns in single pedestal mounts either in casemates or sponsons in the hull. She also carried a variety of smaller guns, including twelve 3-pounder automatic guns and four 1-pounders. Like other contemporary armored cruisers, she was also armed with four 21 inches (533 mm) torpedo tubes located below the waterline in her hull. Montana was protected by a combination of Krupp cemented steel and older Harvey steel. The ship's armored belt was 5 in (127 mm) thick and the maximum thickness of the armor deck was 3 in thick. The main battery turret faces were 9 in (229 mm) thick, as were the sides of the conning tower.
## Service history
The keel for Montana was laid down at the Newport News Drydock & Shipbuilding Co. in Newport News on 29 April 1905. Her completed hull was launched on 15 December 1906, and after fitting-out work was completed, the new cruiser was commissioned into the United States Navy on 21 July 1908. She was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and was transferred to Norfolk, Virginia. Montana steamed out of Norfolk on 5 August for a cruise off the eastern coast of the United States that lasted until 25 January 1909. On 8 October 1908 she put on a searchlight display as part of a fireworks display at Philadelphia. During the display her searchlights blinded the operator of Philadelphia Police Department steamer Visitor that then had a slight collision with a barge that "Visitor" was going to, to help put out a fire on board caused by malfunctioning fireworks. After a stop in Charleston, South Carolina, she continued south through the Caribbean Sea, arriving at Colón, Panama on 29 January. There, she joined the Special Service Squadron. This duty was interrupted twice; the first came in February, when she returned to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she and the rest of the Atlantic Fleet greeted the Great White Fleet at the conclusion of its circumnavigation of the globe. The second came in April, owing to instability in the Ottoman Empire following the Young Turk Revolution that threatened American interests. Montana departed Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on 2 April, when she was sent to the Mediterranean to protect Americans in the region. She remained there until 23 July, when she left Gibraltar, arriving in Boston on 3 August. She thereafter returned to her normal operations patrolling the eastern coast of the United States.
Montana departed Hampton Roads on 8 April 1910, bound for South America for the Argentina Centennial. She steamed in company with her sister ship North Carolina, eventually reaching Maldonado, Uruguay, where the two cruisers met their sister Tennessee and the armored cruiser South Dakota, which had steamed down independently. The four ships then continued on to Bahía Blanca, Argentina, for the centennial celebrations. The ship left Argentina on 30 June and arrived back in Hampton Roads on 22 July. After resuming her normal peacetime routine for the following three months, Montana was tasked with escorting President William Howard Taft aboard Tennessee for a trip to Panama. The two ships departed Charleston on 10 November for the visit, which lasted a week. On 26 July 1911, Montana was transferred to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and she began an overhaul at the Portsmouth Navy Yard that lasted until 11 November 1912. During the overhaul, a cage mast was installed in place of her original fore military mast.
After returning to service in late 1912, Montana made another trip to the eastern Mediterranean, departing in December. Montana again joined Tennessee for the patrol, which was ordered in response to the Balkan Wars between the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan League, which again threatened American interests in the region. The ships operated under the command of Rear Admiral Austin M. Knight. During the trip, which lasted until June 1913, she made stops in Beirut, İskenderun, and Mersin. After returning to the United States, the ship resumed her peacetime routine of training cruises off the American east coast, as well as cruises to Mexico, Cuba, and Haiti, over the following year. During this period, on 23 January 1914, Montana was in Haiti when Michel Oreste abdicated from the presidency. Montana and the German protected cruiser SMS Vineta landed marines in Port-au-Prince to prevent rioting in the capital. Later that year, for a few days between 28 April and early May, Montana took part in the United States occupation of Veracruz, where the ship's commander, Louis McCoy Nulton, led a landing party in the city during the occupation. Montana also carried the remains on the seventeen sailors and marines who had been killed in the fighting back to New York City, arriving on 10 May. There, the Navy held a ceremony attended by President Woodrow Wilson and Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels.
### World War I
After the United States entered World War I on 6 April 1917, Montana initially was tasked with transporting men and materiel in the York River area, along with conducting training exercises. On 17 July, she was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force; she spent the majority of 1917 and 1918 escorting convoys from Hampton Roads, New York City, and Halifax, Nova Scotia to France. These operations included a troopship convoy of four transports—Finland, Henderson, , and —carrying part of the American Expeditionary Forces on 6 August 1917. In early 1918, she was briefly used as a training ship for naval cadets from the United States Naval Academy in the Chesapeake Bay. A troopship convoy followed in June 1918 in company with the cruisers South Dakota and Huntington and the destroyers Gregory and Fairfax, protecting the Italian steamers Re d'Italia, Caserta, and Duca d'Aosta, the French Patria, and American transports Pocahontas and Susquehanna.
In September 1918, Montana took part in another troopship convoy to France with the battleship Georgia, the armored cruiser North Carolina, and the destroyer Rathburne. The convoy consisted of the transports Princess Matoika, President Grant, Mongolia, Rijndam, Wilhelmina, British steamer Ascanius. The following month she joined the battleship Nebraska to escort twelve British merchant ships bound for Liverpool. Following the Allied victory in November 1918, Montana was sent to France to begin the process of transporting American soldiers back from Europe. These operations were interrupted in March 1919, when on 5 March Montana departed New York in company with the passenger ship SS George Washington, which was carrying Wilson back to France for the conclusion of the peace treaty negotiations. By July 1919, she had made six round trips between France and the United States, carrying a total of some 8,800 American soldiers.
After the conclusion of the repatriation effort, Montana was transferred to the west coast of the United States. She arrived in the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Seattle on 16 August, where she remained until 2 February 1921, when she was decommissioned. During this period of inactivity, she was renamed Missoula on 7 June 1920 so her original name could be used for one of the planned South Dakota-class battleships, and she reclassified with the hull number CA-13. Though decommissioned in 1921, the ship remained in the Navy's inventory until 15 July 1930, when she was formally stricken from the naval register, according to the terms of the London Naval Treaty, which placed aggregate tonnage limits on the cruiser fleets of the signatory countries. She was sold to John Irwin Jr. on 29 September and was eventually broken up in 1935. | [
"## Design",
"## Service history",
"### World War I"
] | 2,355 | 34,208 |
31,973,657 | Silent Hill: Book of Memories | 1,167,117,937 | 2012 dungeon crawler video game | [
"2012 video games",
"Action games",
"Cooperative video games",
"Multiplayer and single-player video games",
"PlayStation Vita games",
"PlayStation Vita-only games",
"Silent Hill games",
"Video games developed in the United States",
"Video games scored by Daniel Licht",
"Video games with gender-selectable protagonists",
"WayForward games"
] | Silent Hill: Book of Memories is a 2012 dungeon crawler video game developed by WayForward Technologies and published by Konami. Released for the PlayStation Vita, it is a spin-off of the Silent Hill video game series. It features a player-created protagonist who receives the titular book on their birthday, which contains their entire life story, and makes changes to it with unforeseen and often unfavorable consequences. Book of Memories features gameplay elements from role-playing games: as the player character traverses the dungeons and defeats monsters there, they gain experience points and thus improve their respective abilities. The character progresses from each themed level by collecting pieces of a puzzle and then solving the puzzle. Five endings are available based on the character's alignment; the sixth is a joke ending in the tradition of previous Silent Hill games.
Book of Memories entered development in summer 2010. Konami intended for the game's content to be oriented towards short multiplayer sessions on a handheld console, which was a departure from the single-player gameplay of previous Silent Hill titles. The narrative concept of Book of Memories was inspired by the fictional Book of Lost Memories in Silent Hill game lore, with the Book of Memories conceptualized as the literal story of a person's life. Daniel Licht returned to score its soundtrack; Rob King and voice actor Troy Baker contributed a track, which featured vocals by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Baker's background vocals. Upon release, Book of Memories received mixed reviews. Critics remarked on its departure from the perceived trappings of the Silent Hill franchise, and were divided on its place within the series: some wrote that it succeeded as an enjoyable dungeon crawler, while others criticized it as neither a faithful Silent Hill title nor a good dungeon crawler.
## Gameplay
The objective of Silent Hill: Book of Memories is to guide the player character from an overhead perspective through a series of monster-filled dungeons. The player can choose from five character classes (bookworm, goth, jock, preppy, and rocker) for his or her player character, which can be customized to a degree. The player character receives experience points for defeating the various monsters; after enough experience points are obtained, the character levels up, allowing the player to improve the character's statistics ("strength, dexterity, agility, intelligence, mind, and vitality"). Each type of character prefers certain statistics; for example, a jock will have greater strength and dexterity than the other types. Items to improve the character's statistics can be equipped.
The goal of each area (called zones) is to collect the required amount of puzzle pieces to solve that area's puzzle and then proceed to the next zone. Each zone contains a save point and a shop run by a non-player character, where the character may purchase items with memory residue, the in-game currency. At the beginning of each zone, another non-player character, Valtiel, offers the player character an optional side quest. Puzzle pieces can be found in rooms with challenge orbs; breaking the orb results in the appearance of monsters, all of whom must be defeated to obtain the puzzle piece. Various traps can be present in the rooms. Certain rooms called Forsaken Rooms contain a ghost; the player's actions towards it result in a positive, negative, or neutral outcome, which, in turn, affects the ending of the game.
For combat, the player character can find a variety of melee and ranged weapons, ammunition, and items to restore lost "health". Melee weapons take damage and eventually break from being used, although items to repair the damage can be found. In the beginning, the character is limited to a carrying capacity of two weapons. Additionally, the game features an alignment system: Blood, Steel, and Light. Collecting the karma left behind by a defeated enemy shifts the character's alignment towards either the Light or Blood end of the karma meter, depending on the monster. Each alignment features different abilities, and affects the ending of the game. The creatures present in Book of Memories have appeared in previous Silent Hill games, such as Silent Hill 2's Pyramid Head and the ghosts from Silent Hill 4: The Room.
## Plot
On their birthday, the player-created protagonist receives the mysterious Book of Memories, which outlines their entire life. The protagonist attempts to change their life for the better, with unforeseen and often unfavorable consequences: in their dreams, they visit a monster-filled location that corresponds to the particular character affected by the protagonist's alterations to the book. After a while, the protagonist comes to realize that the respective guardian monster of each location has been representative of the person whose life is affected by changes made to the book; by defeating that guardian, the protagonist was overcoming that person's desires and thus altered their life. The protagonist resolves to find their own guardian before anyone else can and contemplates undoing the changes made to the book.
After finding and killing the protagonist's guardian monster, five endings are made available, based on the in-game notes collected. In the "Pure Blood" ending, the protagonist uses the book to live a life of excess, until they find their spouse writing in the book one day. The protagonist then writes them out of their life and descends into a spiral of distrust and misery until the book goes blank. In the "Blood" ending, the protagonist tries to destroy the book to no avail. The neutral ending finds the protagonist in a psychiatric institution, trying to use the book's power to balance the world. In the "Light" ending, the protagonist's resolve to not write in the book anymore is tested by the barrage of tragedies being broadcast on the television, while the "Pure Light" ending finds the gravely ill protagonist giving up their life to save a child's. The sixth ending is a joke ending in the tradition of the Silent Hill series. It features the characters of Book of Memories traveling to Silent Hill on spring break, encountering characters from previous installments in the series.
## Development
Development of Silent Hill: Book of Memories began in summer 2010; major guidelines were "'Vita-centric Silent Hill', 'Not traditional', and 'Different every time you play'". Video game publisher Konami's vision for the game was that its content would be oriented towards relatively short, multiplayer sessions on a handheld console. This marked a departure from the gameplay of previous Sillent Hill titles, which featured single-player gameplay; previously, the possibility of including multiplayer gameplay had been mulled over for Silent Hill: Downpour during its beginning stages of development, but ultimately rejected out of worry that it would feel out of place and added on. The game developer WayForward began work on the game in September 2010, with Tomm Hulett as producer and Adam Tierney as director. A proof of concept for the PC was produced two months later: it used the third-person view found in the previous Silent Hill installments and featured a character wearing a hoodie. A prototype was begun in mid-December 2010, which used the game engine Infernal Engine. Originally, the game was intended to be more puzzle-based, where the camera would switch between an isometric view for the puzzles and an over-the-shoulder view for combat. WayForward decided the approach was not feasible because assets would have to be created from two different perspectives.
From January to February 2011, the major gameplay systems were decided on, while the character classes and environmental concept designs were finalized. Procedural level generation was included in the game, and the playable PC build showed off the new combat system with timed combos. In March and April, the concepts for the joke ending and story system were created and received approval from Konami; auditions for motion capture actors began on March 22, with the motion capture process starting on April 4. From May to July, the script for the game cinematics was worked on, and by August 8, the game systems had been finalized. During this time, Konami also announced Book of Memories at E3 2011 in June. Localization took place from September to December, during which the story scripts and the art for the joke ending were also finished. Book of Memories reached the alpha stage of development on October 24, with quality assurance testing happening from November 2011 into spring 2012. On January 15, Book of Memories entered the beta stage of development, and by spring, the North America edition had been finished. Book of Memories was published on October 16, 2012, in North America, November 2 in Europe, November 8 in Australia, and February 14, 2013, in Japan.
### Music
Daniel Licht, who previously had composed the soundtrack for Silent Hill: Downpour, returned to work on Book of Memories. Talks to create the game's soundtrack began in March, and in September 2011 he sent in an early draft of the game's title music, "Now We Are Free". "Water World" was the first of the stage music pieces to be created, which Hulett described as "amazing", while the final song, "Rust World", followed in December. Rob King and voice actor Troy Baker also composed a song for the soundtrack, "Love Psalm", which took inspiration from the similarly named song on Silent Hill 2's soundtrack; it included vocals by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and background vocals by Baker, and was performed by Eyeshine, featuring Akira Yamaoka. The soundtrack to Book of Memories was released on April 17, 2012.
Voice recording took place at PCB Productions in Los Angeles, California, in August and September 2011. The dialogue for each protagonist was recorded multiple times, including variations for each potential change in the game's narrative. The game's dialogue was recorded in eight languages.
## Reception
For July 2013, Silent Hill: Book of Memories was the fourth-best-selling PlayStation Vita game, behind Mortal Kombat, Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, and Hotline Miami.
Book of Memories received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Reviewers generally felt that the title was a significant departure from previous installments in the series and wrote that this drastic change might prove unappealing for some fans: some did locate a continuity of sorts in the game's themes and the reworked elements of survival horror and staples of the series, such as degradable weapons and item management. The graphics received praise as high-quality for a handheld title, although one reviewer wrote that the screen was too zoomed out to fully highlight this. Critics generally were divided on the plot: some derided it as nonsensical, less complex than in previous installments, and disconnected from the gameplay, while others appreciated the concept of the protagonist psychologically working through their troubles. The gameplay was better received, with its ability to be played in short intervals and its RPG elements highlighted as a strength. Reviewers generally disliked the relative dearth of checkpoints, the perceived underdevelopment of game mechanics beyond the basics, and the increased difficulty in later sections.
Consensus among critics as to whether Book of Memories succeeded as a dungeon-crawler in its own right was not reached. Some wrote that the game was fun entertainment, worked well as a game independent of the Silent Hill series, was promising despite flaws or was enjoyable despite a perceived lack of faithfulness to the trappings of the series, while others wrote that it failed to live up to the horror roots of the series, or suffered from an "identity crisis" as neither a faithful Silent Hill title nor an innovative dungeon-crawler. | [
"## Gameplay",
"## Plot",
"## Development",
"### Music",
"## Reception"
] | 2,342 | 17,813 |
45,628,568 | The Wild Flower and the Rose | 1,167,012,349 | null | [
"1910 drama films",
"1910 films",
"1910 lost films",
"1910s American films",
"1910s English-language films",
"American black-and-white films",
"American drama short films",
"American silent short films",
"English-language drama films",
"Lost American drama films",
"Silent American drama films",
"Thanhouser Company films"
] | The Wild Flower and the Rose is a 1910 American silent short drama produced by the Thanhouser Company. The film focuses on Frank Wilson, the son of an inventor who has constructed a new airplane model. After failing to secure financing, his father suggests that he marry Rose, the daughter of his wealthy employer, to get the money they need. Jack rejects this idea because he is engaged to another woman, but he soon learns she does not love him. He heads out West to seek a fortune and is quickly successful. He returns to the aviation field and meets Rose again, after a successful flight she confesses to loving him. The cast and staff credits are unknown, but the film may have included scenes from the 1910 International Aviation Meet at Belmont Park One reviewer claimed that a Wright brothers flyer was also shown in full flight. The film was released on November 25, 1910, but is now presumed lost.
## Plot
Though the film is presumed lost, a synopsis survives in The Moving Picture World from November 26, 1910. It states: "Frank Wilson is the son of an inventor who has perfected an airship model in which Jack is greatly interested, but which neither of them have the money to finance. Wilson tries to interest his wealthy employer, Fisher, but is unsuccessful in the attempt. However he gains the support of his employer's beautiful daughter, Rose. The old inventor suggests to his son that if he marries Rose they could secure the money to perfect the invention. But Jack spurns the idea, as he is already engaged to marry a country girl, Daisy Lane, who, he believes, loves him devotedly. Upon learning that Daisy is a heartless coquette, Jack is heartbroken, and goes west to seek a fortune and forget her conduct. Success comes to him quickly, and he returns to tell his father that now, unaided, they can finance the invention. On the aviation field, Jack once more meets Rose, and confesses to her that it was the memory of her kindness that helped him achieve success. Jack makes a successful flight in the invention – a new style of aeroplane – and in offering her congratulations Rose confesses that she has loved him from the first."
## Production
The writer of the scenario is unknown, but it was most likely Lloyd Lonergan. He was an experienced newspaperman employed by The New York Evening World while writing scripts for the Thanhouser productions. The film director is unknown, but it may have been Barry O'Neil or Lucius J. Henderson. Cameramen employed by the company during this era included Blair Smith, Carl Louis Gregory, and Alfred H. Moses, Jr. though none are specifically credited. The role of the cameraman was uncredited in 1910 productions. The cast credits are unknown, but many 1910 Thanhouser productions are fragmentary. In late 1910, the Thanhouser company released a list of the important personalities in their films. The list includes G.W. Abbe, Justus D. Barnes, Frank H. Crane, Irene Crane, Marie Eline, Violet Heming, Martin J. Faust, Thomas Fortune, George Middleton, Grace Moore, John W. Noble, Anna Rosemond, Mrs. George Walters.
It is unknown when the film was shot, but the aviation meet may have been at Belmont Park in Long Island, New York. The second International Aviation Meet took place from October 22–30, 1910. One newspaper would state that a "one of the Wright Brothers' 1910 model flying machines" was shown in full flight.
## Release and reception
The single reel drama, approximately 1,000 feet long, was released on November 25, 1910. The film had a wide national release, known advertising theaters include those in Nebraska, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Indiana, Montana, and Oklahoma, The New York Dramatic Mirror was neutral to slightly praising the production. The reviewer stated, "It is a discursive narrative, not bound by laws of cause and effect, although it does not contradict them. It is amusing to see the rapidity with which a motion picture hero goes West. He throws a toothbrush and his pajamas into a suitcase, takes his hat over his arm, and breaks the news to his father before stepping from the living room out into the street. The special point of this film is the aviation exhibition, which is well handled. The hero is a very jocose gentleman, who smiles broadly with and without provocation. Other parts are adequately filled." The Moving Picture World spared three roughly three sentences surrounding the focus of the plot, "A love story built up around the invention of a new type of aeroplane. The machine flies and the inventor gets the girl of his choice. The picture has, therefore, a pleasant ending."
## See also
- List of American films of 1910 | [
"## Plot",
"## Production",
"## Release and reception",
"## See also"
] | 1,007 | 13,351 |
40,903,837 | Illusory truth effect | 1,173,507,425 | Tendency to believe false information to be correct after repeated exposure | [
"Cognition",
"Cognitive biases",
"Decision theory",
"Error",
"Memory biases",
"Propaganda techniques",
"Prospect theory",
"Psychological manipulation"
] | The illusory truth effect (also known as the illusion of truth effect, validity effect, truth effect, or the reiteration effect) is the tendency to believe false information to be correct after repeated exposure. This phenomenon was first identified in a 1977 study at Villanova University and Temple University. When truth is assessed, people rely on whether the information is in line with their understanding or if it feels familiar. The first condition is logical, as people compare new information with what they already know to be true. Repetition makes statements easier to process relative to new, unrepeated statements, leading people to believe that the repeated conclusion is more truthful. The illusory truth effect has also been linked to hindsight bias, in which the recollection of confidence is skewed after the truth has been received.
In a 2015 study, researchers discovered that familiarity can overpower rationality and that repetitively hearing that a certain statement is wrong can paradoxically cause it to feel right. Researchers attributed the illusory truth effect's impact even on participants who knew the correct answer to begin with, but were persuaded to believe otherwise through the repetition of a falsehood, to "processing fluency".
The illusory truth effect plays a significant role in fields such as advertising, news media, and political propaganda.
## Initial study
The effect was first named and defined following the results in a study from 1977 at Villanova University and Temple University where participants were asked to rate a series of trivia statements as true or false. On three occasions, Lynn Hasher, David Goldstein, and Thomas Toppino presented the same group of college students with lists of sixty plausible statements, some of them true and some of them false. The second list was distributed two weeks after the first, and the third two weeks after that. Twenty statements appeared on all three lists; the other forty items on each list were unique to that list. Participants were asked how confident they were of the truth or falsity of the statements, which concerned matters about which they were unlikely to know anything. (For example, "The first air force base was launched in New Mexico." Or "Basketball became an Olympic discipline in 1925.") Specifically, the participants were asked to grade their belief in the truth of each statement on a scale of one to seven. While the participants' confidence in the truth of the non-repeated statements remained steady, their confidence in the truth of the repeated statements increased from the first to the second and second to third sessions, with an average score for those items rising from 4.2 to 4.6 to 4.7. The conclusion made by the researchers was that repeating a statement makes it more likely to appear factual.
In 1989, Hal R. Arkes, Catherine Hackett, and Larry Boehm replicated the original study, with similar results showing that exposure to false information changes the perceived truthfulness and plausibility of that information.
The effect works because when people assess truth, they rely on whether the information agrees with their understanding or whether it feels familiar. The first condition is logical as people compare new information with what they already know to be true and consider the credibility of both sources. However, researchers discovered that familiarity can overpower rationality—so much so that repetitively hearing that a certain fact is wrong can paradoxically cause it to feel right.
## Relation to other phenomena
### Processing fluency
At first, the truth effect was believed to occur only when individuals are highly uncertain about a given statement. Psychologists also assumed that "outlandish" headlines wouldn't produce this effect however, recent research shows the illusory truth effect is indeed at play with false news. This assumption was challenged by the results of a 2015 study by Lisa K. Fazio, Nadia M. Brasier, B. Keith Payne, and Elizabeth J. Marsh. Published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology; the study suggested that the truth effect can influence participants who actually knew the correct answer to begin with, but who were swayed to believe otherwise through the repetition of a falsehood. For example, when participants encountered on multiple occasions the statement "A sari is the name of the short plaid skirt worn by Scots," some of them were likely to come to believe it was true, even though these same people were able to correctly answer the question "What is the name of the short pleated skirt worn by Scots?"
After replicating these results in another experiment, Fazio and her team attributed this curious phenomenon to processing fluency, the facility with which people comprehend statements. "Repetition," explained the researcher, "makes statements easier to process (i.e. fluent) relative to new statements, leading people to the (sometimes) false conclusion that they are more truthful." When an individual hears something for a second or third time, their brain responds faster to it and misattributes that fluency as a signal for truth.
### Hindsight bias
In a 1997 study, Ralph Hertwig, Gerd Gigerenzer, and Ulrich Hoffrage linked the truth effect to the phenomenon known as "hindsight bias", described as a situation in which the recollection of confidence is skewed after the truth or falsity has been received. They have described the truth effect (which they call "the reiteration effect") as a subset of hindsight bias.
## Other studies
In a 1979 study, participants were told that repeated statements were no more likely to be true than unrepeated ones. Despite this warning, the participants perceived repeated statements as being more true than unrepeated ones.
Studies in 1981 and 1983 showed that information deriving from recent experience tends to be viewed as "more fluent and familiar" than new experience. A 2011 study by Jason D. Ozubko and Jonathan Fugelsang built on this finding by demonstrating that, generally speaking, information retrieved from memory is "more fluent or familiar than when it was first learned" and thus produces an illusion of truth. The effect grew even more pronounced when statements were repeated twice and yet more pronounced when they were repeated four times. The researchers thus concluded that memory retrieval is a powerful method for increasing the so-called validity of statements and that the illusion of truth is an effect that can be observed without directly polling the factual statements in question.
A 1992 study by Ian Maynard Begg, Ann Anas, and Suzanne Farinacci suggested that a statement will seem true if the information seems familiar.
A 2012 experiment by Danielle C. Polage showed that some participants exposed to false news stories would go on to have false memories. The conclusion was that repetitive false claims increase believability and may also result in errors.
In a 2014 study, Eryn J. Newman, Mevagh Sanson, Emily K. Miller, Adele Quigley-McBride, Jeffrey L. Foster, Daniel M. Bernstein, and Maryanne Garry asked participants to judge the truth of statements attributed to various people, some of whose names were easier to pronounce than others. Consistently, statements by persons with easily pronounced names were viewed as being more truthful than those with names that were harder to pronounce. The researchers' conclusion was that subjective, tangential properties such as ease of processing can matter when people evaluate sourced information.
## Examples
Although the truth effect has been demonstrated scientifically only in recent years, it is a phenomenon with which people have been familiar for millennia. One study notes that the Roman statesman Cato closed each of his speeches with a call to destroy Carthage ("Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam"), knowing that the repetition would breed agreement. Napoleon reportedly "said that there is only one figure in rhetoric of serious importance, namely, repetition", whereby a repeated affirmation fixes itself in the mind "in such a way that it is accepted in the end as a demonstrated truth". Others who have taken advantage of the truth effect have included Quintilian, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Donald Trump, and Marcus Antonius in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
Advertising that repeats unfounded claims about a product may boost sales because some viewers may come to think that they heard the claims from an objective source. The truth effect is also used in news media and is a staple of political propaganda.
## See also
- Argumentum ad nauseam
- Big lie
- Confirmation bias
- False belief
- False memory
- Firehose of falsehood
- Fluency heuristic and processing fluency
- Implicit and explicit memory
- List of cognitive biases
- Memory errors
- Mere-exposure effect
- Misconception
- Omission bias
- Source-monitoring error
- Truthiness | [
"## Initial study",
"## Relation to other phenomena",
"### Processing fluency",
"### Hindsight bias",
"## Other studies",
"## Examples",
"## See also"
] | 1,778 | 5,920 |
59,656,111 | Bound High! | 1,151,960,016 | Unreleased action-puzzle video game | [
"1996 video games",
"Action games",
"Cancelled Virtual Boy games",
"Japan System Supply games",
"Nintendo games",
"Puzzle video games",
"Single-player video games",
"Video games developed in Japan"
] | is an unreleased action-puzzle video game that was in development by Japan System Supply and planned to be published by Nintendo on a scheduled 1996 release date exclusively for the Virtual Boy. In the game, players take control of a transforming robot named Chalvo through a series of levels riddled with hazardous obstacles to avoid across multiple worlds, while destroying or knocking out alien invaders off the area. The project was first conceptualized by designer and programmer Hideyuki Nakanishi, who wrote the idea on paper and placed it within a wall inside the offices of Japan System Supply, with his manager eventually greenlighting its development after seeing it.
Although showcased at various trading shows and completed for release, Bound High! was ultimately shelved due to the failure of the Virtual Boy itself. After its cancellation, a follow-up on the Game Boy titled Chalvo 55 was released in 1997. Despite its cancellation, a ROM image of the complete game was leaked online in 2010 by the hobbyist community at Planet Virtual Boy, allowing for it to be played.
## Gameplay
Bound High! is a top-down action-puzzle game where players take control of Chalvo, a robot who transforms itself into a bouncing ball. The game's objective is to destroy or knock out enemies from the playfield and figuring out the best way to dispatch them while avoiding hazardous obstacles. Falling out of the playfield results in a lost life and all the previously defeated enemies are respawned. If all lives are lost, the game is over.
Bound High! has four game modes to choose from, each one having their own ruleset and main objectives: Adventure of Chalvo, Score Attack!!, Random Game and Pocket and Cushion. Adventure of Chalvo features multiple sets of levels, with a story centered around Chalvo defending Earth from aliens. Power-ups are also available which help players defeat enemies more efficiently. Upon completing four stages, a fifth stage must be played where players join + and - orbs together to gain points. On every 10th level, a boss must be fought. Score Attack!! is a score-based mode where players attempt to defeat all enemies in a stage in the most efficient manner. Random Game is a skirmish mode where players are placed in procedurally-generated stages. Pocket and Cushion tasks players with getting balls into a hole in the fastest time possible to achieve a high score.
## History
Bound High! was conceived by Chameleon Twist creator Hideyuki Nakanishi at Japan System Supply, who worked as one of the designers and programmers on the project as an undergraduate student. Nakanishi had looked at game plans on the desk of the company's president and found them uninteresting. This led to Nakanishi creating a summary for Bound High! and leaving it on the wall for the president to find. This led to the project being greenlit. One of Nakanishi's co-workers handled the sound programming along with composer Takaaki Oka, while Nakanishi handled everything else. More members eventually joined the development process.
Bound High! was first showcased to the video game press and attendees of Shoshinkai 1995, and later had its rights purchased by Nintendo, which originally slated it for a February 23, 1996 release. It was later showcased at E3 1996 and was set to be one of the first games for the relaunch of the Virtual Boy along with Intelligent Systems' Dragon Hopper. It was slated for a August 26, 1996 launch in both United States and Japan; however it was never released due to Nintendo discontinuing the Virtual Boy for being a commercial failure.
On May 3, 2010, a complete ROM image compiled from the source code of Bound High! that was acquired by hobbyist community Planet Virtual Boy was leaked online. A limited number of reproduction copies were created and released, complete with packaging mimicking officially licensed Virtual Boy releases.
## Reception and legacy
Prior to the discontinuation of the Virtual Boy that led to Bound High! being cancelled, former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi called the game as "the most promising title" during his keynote speech at Shoshinkai 1995. In a preview, Nintendo Power referred to its design as "fiendish." They later praised it, noting that it had the potential to be one of the best Virtual Boy releases. 1UP.com's Todd Ciolek regarded it as a notable cancelled game, praising its use of the Virtual Boy's visual design. Retronauts writer Jeremy Parish speculated that the release of Star Fox 2 on the SNES Classic could lead to Bound High! seeing a proper release as well.
After the release of Bound High! on Virtual Boy was cancelled, Japan System Supply took most of the ideas and the soundtrack when developing a follow-up on the Game Boy titled Chalvo 55 that was released in February 1997. Hideyuki Nakanishi was not involved during its development due to lack of interest. | [
"## Gameplay",
"## History",
"## Reception and legacy"
] | 1,020 | 12,004 |
10,116,832 | 1981 European Cup final | 1,166,691,080 | null | [
"1980–81 in English football",
"1980–81 in European football",
"1980–81 in French football",
"1980–81 in Spanish football",
"1981 in Paris",
"International club association football competitions hosted by Paris",
"Liverpool F.C. matches",
"May 1981 sports events in Europe",
"Real Madrid CF matches",
"UEFA Champions League finals"
] | The 1981 European Cup final was an association football match between Liverpool of England and Real Madrid of Spain on 27 May 1981 at the Parc des Princes, Paris, France. It was the final match of the 1980–81 season of Europe's premier cup competition, the European Cup. Liverpool were appearing in their third final, after two appearances in 1977 and 1978. Real Madrid were appearing in their ninth final, they had previously won the competition six times and lost twice.
Each club needed to progress through four rounds to reach the final. Matches were contested over two legs, with a match at each team's home ground. All but one of Liverpool's ties were comfortable victories; they beat Bayern Munich on the away goals rule, while they won all their other ties by at least five goals. Real Madrid's matches ranged from close affairs to comfortable victories. In the first round they beat Limerick 7–2 on aggregate, but their final two ties were won by at least two goals.
Watched by a crowd of 48,360, the first half was goalless. Liverpool took the lead in the second half when Alan Kennedy scored. They held this lead to win the match 1–0, securing Liverpool's third European Cup and a fifth consecutive victory by an English team. Liverpool manager Bob Paisley became the first manager to win the competition three times.
## Route to the final
### Liverpool
Liverpool gained entry to the competition by winning the 1979–80 Football League First Division, entering as English champions. Their opponents in the first round were Finnish champions Oulun Palloseura. The first leg in Finland at the Raatti Stadion was drawn 1–1. The second leg at Liverpool's home ground Anfield resulted in a comprehensive 10–1 victory for Liverpool. Two of their players, Graeme Souness and Terry McDermott, scored a hat-trick. Liverpool won the tie 11–2 on aggregate.
In the second round, Liverpool were drawn against Scottish champions Aberdeen, managed by Alex Ferguson. The first leg was at Aberdeen's home ground, Pittodrie, a McDermott goal in the fifth minute ensured a 1–0 victory for Liverpool. The second leg at Anfield was won 4–0 by Liverpool, thus they won the tie 5–0 on aggregate. Liverpool's opponents in the quarter-finals were Bulgarian champions CSKA Sofia. The first leg was held in England, another hat-trick from Souness and goals from McDermott and Sammy Lee gave Liverpool a 5–1 victory. They won the second leg at the Vasil Levski National Stadium 1–0 to progress to the semi-finals courtesy of a 6–1 aggregate victory.
They faced German champions Bayern Munich in the semi-finals. The first leg in England ended in a 0–0 draw. Liverpool needed to score in the second leg to advance to the final. Their cause was not helped when striker Kenny Dalglish had to be replaced in the early minutes of the match by the inexperienced Howard Gayle. However, Gayle rose to the occasion, unsettling the Bayern defence with his attacking threat. With seven minutes of normal time left, Ray Kennedy scored to give Liverpool a 1–0 lead. Bayern responded soon afterwards when Karl-Heinz Rummenigge scored, however, they needed to score another goal due to the away goals rule. They were unable to do so and Liverpool progressed to their third final in five seasons.
### Real Madrid
Real Madrid gained entry to the competition as Spanish champions, after they won the 1979–80 La Liga. Their opponents in the first round were Irish champions Limerick. Limerick took the lead in the first leg at Lansdowne Road, but Real scored twice to win the first leg 2–1. The second leg at Real's home ground, the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, ended in a 5–1 victory for Real, they won the tie 7–2 on aggregate.
Their opponents in the second round were Hungarian champions Honvéd. A goal from Santillana ensured Real won the first leg 1–0 in Spain. Two goals from Laurie Cunningham and Francisco García Hernández secured a 2–0 victory in the second leg at Honvéd's home ground the Bozsik József Stadion, thus, winning the tie 3–0 on aggregate.
In the quarter-finals, Real faced Soviet champions Spartak Moscow. A 0–0 at the Dynamo Lenin Stadium in the Soviet Union left the tie finely balanced heading into the second leg in Spain. Two goals from Isidro in the second half secured a 2–0 victory in the match and over aggregate.
Real's opponents in the semi-finals were Italian champions Internazionale. Real won the first leg 2–0 in Spain after goals from Santillana and Juanito. Internazionale needed to score twice to force the tie into extra-time, however they were only able to score once. They won the second leg 1–0, but Real won the tie 2–1 on aggregate to progress to their ninth final.
## Match
### Background
Liverpool were appearing in their third European Cup final. They had won their two previous appearances in 1977 and 1978. Real Madrid were appearing in their ninth final, they had won the competition six times, including a record five successive victories from 1956 to 1960. Their sixth victory was in 1966, while their two losses were in 1962 and 1964.
Liverpool had finished fifth during the 1980–81 Football League First Division, thus they needed to win the final to ensure that they would compete in the European Cup the following season. Despite this, Liverpool had won the Football League Cup for the first time earlier in the season, defeating West Ham United 2–1 in a replay after the final finished 1–1. Real Madrid had finished second in the 1980–81 La Liga, they had qualified for the UEFA Cup as a result, but victory would enable them to compete in the European Cup the following season.
Both sides had injury concerns before the match. Liverpool had doubts over a number of players. Kenny Dalglish had not trained for several weeks, while Alan Kennedy had been sidelined for six weeks with a broken wrist. Real had concerns over striker Laurie Cunningham who had been sidelined since November.
### Summary
Liverpool controlled the opening passages of the game. Their first goalscoring chance came in the 11th minute when Alan Kennedy's 30-yard shot was saved by Real goalkeeper Agustín. Further chances were created, but neither Terry McDermott or Dalglish were able to score. Real started to exert more of an influence after this, midfielder Juanito started to cause Liverpool problems with his passing. One pass found José Antonio Camacho who beat Liverpool defender Alan Hansen but put his shot wide of the Liverpool goal. Despite their scoring opportunity, one problem Real had was to get the best out of their winger Cunningham. Not fully fit, he was tightly marked and made little impact in the match.
Liverpool had a chance to take the lead before half-time. Phil Neal advanced down the right hand side of the pitch and found Dalglish who passed to Graeme Souness, who ran late through the Real defence. His subsequent shot was not held by Agustín, but Souness was unable to get to the rebounded ball. Real had the first chance of the second half. Liverpool's defence had stopped as they thought Cunningham was offside, however he was not and Camacho advanced towards Ray Clemence in the Liverpool goal. Clemence came off his line and ran towards the Real midfielder, Camacho attempted to lob the ball over the keeper, but his shot went over the goal.
The tactical approaches of the two sides were cancelling each other out. Real's slow pace interspersed with high speed bursts, while Liverpool preferred a more deliberate approach, keeping possession and making use of their wingers. Their various forms of marking also negated each other, Real man marked Liverpool's best players such as Dalglish and Souness, while Liverpool were content for the nearest defender to mark the man on the ball.
Despite the tactical battle Liverpool were able to score in the 81st minute. A throw-in from Ray Kennedy found Alan Kennedy, whose run up the left hand side of the pitch caught Real off-guard. Kennedy went past Real defender Rafael García Cortés into the Real box, his subsequent shot beat the Real goalkeeper to give Liverpool the lead. Soon afterwards Liverpool replaced Dalglish with midfielder Jimmy Case in an attempt to see out the match. Although Liverpool had chances to extend their lead as Real went all out to score, Real keeper Agustín made a number of saves to keep his team in the game. The score remained 1–0 and Liverpool won their third European Cup, the first English club to do so. Liverpool's victory meant that Bob Paisley became the first manager to win the European Cup three times.
### Details
## See also
- 2018 UEFA Champions League final – contested between same teams
- 2022 UEFA Champions League final – contested between same teams
- Liverpool F.C. in European football
- Real Madrid CF in international football competitions | [
"## Route to the final",
"### Liverpool",
"### Real Madrid",
"## Match",
"### Background",
"### Summary",
"### Details",
"## See also"
] | 1,918 | 14,321 |
34,482,827 | 1.000.000 (song) | 1,162,401,428 | 2011 single by Alexandra Stan and Carlprit | [
"2012 singles",
"Alexandra Stan songs",
"English-language Romanian songs",
"Romanian songs"
] | "1.000.000" is a song recorded by Romanian recording artist Alexandra Stan for her debut studio album, Saxobeats (2011). Featuring the vocal collaboration of German-Zimbabwean rapper Carlprit, it was made available as a digital download on 22 February 2012 through Vae Victis and E2. The track was written by Andei Nemirschi, Marcel Prodan and Marcian Alin Soare, while being produced by Nemirschi and Prodan. Musically, "1.000.000" is an R&B and pop song which incorporates hip hop beats in its instrumentation; Stan repeats the word "million" over the chorus, which is reminiscent of Romanian band M&G's track "Milioane".
An accompanying music video for the single was uploaded on Prodan's YouTube channel on 22 December 2011, with it being filmed by Iulian Moga in Bucharest in the spawn of thirty hours. The visual portrays both Stan and Carlprit performing to the song in front of a graffiti backdrop and inside a mirrored room; one piece of the singer's clothing included a pair of shoes which was custom made in about forty-eight hours straight. With music critics generally praising "1.000.000", the recording experienced minor commercial success in Europe. It reached number thirteen on native Romanian Top 100, number ten in Israel and number thirty-four in Italy.
## Background and composition
After Carlprit's involvement with Stan in a remix of her 2011 single "Mr. Saxobeat", her manager and collaborator Marcel Prodan suggested that the pair work together in the future, which would result in "1.000.000". The song aired for the first time on French radio station Puls Radio. The track was written by Andrei Nemirschi, Prodan and Marcian Alin Soare, while being produced by Prodan and Nemirschi. "1.000.000" incorporates hip hop beats in its instrumentation, whilst Stan provides "warm" vocals. Carlprit opens the song by addressing the lyrics "You're one in a million" to Stan; she repeats the word "million" over the chorus, which is reminiscent of "Milioane" recorded by Romanian band M&G. Italian publication L'Altra Pagina described the single as an evolution in Stan's artistry, pointing out the absence of a saxophone in its composition unlike her previous material, and its style as being oriented to pop rather than her past dance works. According to Rodrigo of Yam-Magazine, the single is of the R&B and pop genre.
## Reception
The recording was generally acclaimed by music critics. Kevin Apaza, writing for Direct Lyrics, called the song "catchy and "super infectious", suggesting that "if promoted correctly '1.000.000' can slay European, and US charts." He went on praising its chorus for being "too cute", and labelling the recording as being "so simple, so generic, but so fire at the same time." Although Romanian music website Utv felt that the refrain's lyrics were "repetitive and monosyllabic", they acclaimed the track's rhythm and stated, "Moreover, Alexandra Stan accustomed us that once she releases a new single, this must be different from the previous ones." German magazine Klatsch–Tratsch said that "1.000.000" contains "gentle and sometimes quite very romantic tones", while AllMusic's Celeste Rhoads called the recording "addictive" during his review of Saxobeats. German portal Mix1 expected the single to become a hit and awarded it a score 6 out of 8. Music website Digijunkies praised Carlprit's contribution on "1.000.000", concluding that the recording is "supple on the dance floor and affectionate in the ear canal." In a mixed review for Saxobeats, Yam Magazine declared that the single "stands out for sounding different than the rest of the tracks [...] and Stan expresses herself well in the genre."
Commercially, "1.000.000" experienced minor success in Europe. On her native Romanian Top 100, it reached number thirteen on 15 January 2012. Furthermore, it managed to chart at number ten in Israel. The track managed to chart at number thirty-four in Italy in its sixth week, and at twenty-one in Spain.
## Music video
An accompanying music video for the song was uploaded onto the YouTube channel of Prodan's label, Maan Studio, on 22 December 2011. It was directed by Iulian Moga in Bucharest in the spawn of thirty hours, in over five different settings, with Stan wearing six outfits throughout the clip. About the clothing, she confessed during an interview that she chose to look "precious and glamorous mixed with something urban, R&B and hip-hop" after consulting with her stylist Andra Moga. One of her pieces included a pair of shoes which were custom made in a span of forty-eight hours. Premiering on MTV on 21 December 2011 at 12:00, the visual does not have a plot, serving to emphasis her image.
The clip opens with Carlprit riding a sparkling bicycle in front of a graffiti backdrop, with Stan sitting on a TV in front of him. Subsequently, they are both presented in a mirrored room. Until the track's breakdown is played, the two further dance to the song, following which the singer is portrayed captured in a cage and later laying on the floor covered by silver. The visual ends with the screen becoming dark and Stan looking into the camera. Website Direct Lyrics named the music video "cute", further explaining that "although nothing really happens, Alexandra just hangs around wearing different clothes in different scenes, she takes this opportunity to further strut her sexy figure." Los 40 Principales cited the visual for "1.000.000" as one of Stan's best clips ever.
## Track listing
Official versions
1. 1.000.000 (feat. Carlprit) – 3:18
2. 1.000.000 (feat. Carlprit) [Rico Bernasconi Remix] – 5:29
3. 1.000.000 (feat. Carlprit) [Rico Bernasconi Remix Edit] – 2:38
4. 1.000.000 (feat. Carlprit) [Maan Studio Remix] – 4:29
## Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Saxobeats and The Collection.
- Alexandra Stan – lead vocals
- Carlprit – featured artist
- Iulian Moga – director
- Andrei Nemirschi – composer, producer, photography
- Marcel Prodan – composer, producer
- Marcian Alin Soare – composer
## Charts
## Release history | [
"## Background and composition",
"## Reception",
"## Music video",
"## Track listing",
"## Credits and personnel",
"## Charts",
"## Release history"
] | 1,409 | 11,103 |
61,487,269 | St Margaret's Church, Aberlour | 1,156,600,743 | Nineteenth-century church in Aberlour, Scotland | [
"Category A listed buildings in Moray",
"Churches in Moray",
"Episcopal church buildings in Scotland",
"Listed churches in Scotland"
] | St Margaret's Church is a church of the Scottish Episcopal Church near Aberlour in Moray, Scotland. It is Gothic in style, built mostly of tooled granite rubble, and has a cruciform layout with an east–west oriented nave, transepts to the north and south, and a slender tower at the south-west corner. Its interior is lavishly decorated with polished granite columns topped with ornately carved capitals, marble chancel furniture, and many stained glass windows depicting saints and biblical scenes.
St Margaret's was built between 1875 and 1879 by Alexander Ross and largely paid for by Margaret Macpherson Grant, an heiress who had inherited a large fortune from her uncle Alexander Grant, a slave-owning merchant and planter who had become rich in Jamaica. The church was built as the chapel for an orphanage that she founded in the town; the orphanage has since been demolished, but the church continues to be used for weekly services, and has been designated a Category A listed building.
## Description
St Margaret's Church is located in a secluded woodland setting, at the end of a long drive leading uphill from Aberlour's High Street. It is a large cruciform church, built to a Gothic design, made of tooled pink granite with contrasting ashlar detailing.
### Exterior
The church has a tall, five-bay nave, oriented east–west, with a steeply pitched slate roof and lean-to side aisles. The west gable features a four-light window with geometric Gothic tracery. A chancel, somewhat narrower and shorter than the rest of the building, protrudes from the eastern end of the nave; its east gable has lancet windows, the central one taller than the outer two, all below a single continuous hood mould. There are north and south transepts, each buttressed and with two tall lancet windows on their gable ends, and single lancets on their sides; the north transept also has steps leading up to a small door in its side.
At the south-west corner there is a slender, octagonal spire, incorporating a belfry and topped with a copper covering. Adjoining this is a large gabled porch, which provides the main entrance to the building, through a large arched doorway inscribed with the words "This is none other but the house of God." Above the doorway is a niche with a statue of St Margaret, and the arch itself is supported by columns with ornately carved capitals.
The burial ground, which is partially walled and accessed via a pair of rubble gate piers, contains three foundation stones from the now-demolished Aberlour Orphanage, and a war memorial dedicated to boys from the orphanage who died in the First and Second World Wars.
### Interior
The interior of the church is richly decorated with ornate stonework. The nave's side-aisles' arcade arches are supported by thick columns of polished pink granite with octagonal ashlar bases and ornately carved sandstone capitals, produced by Dawson & Strachan, and it is lined with wooden pews with carved ends. The central aisle has a decorative tile floor, and the nave has numerous stained glass windows by G. J. Baguley of Newcastle, depicting various saints. The north and south transepts do not open into the nave, but instead serve as a vestry on the north, and an organ loft on the south. At the west end of the nave is a font, with an elaborately carved wooden cover that originally came from Christ Church in Lancaster Gate, which was demolished in 1977.
The focus of the church is its chancel, at the east end of the building, which is raised up above the level of the nave and separated by an intricate metal rood screen. The chancel houses an array of original furniture, including sedilia, a reredos and altar, all intricately carved in Caen stone, also by Dawson & Strachan, and a brass tabernacle, designed to appear mediaeval, by J. W. Singer and Sons, who also made the sanctuary lamp. There is an elaborately decorative tiled floor, by Minton & Co, and a stone pulpit, raised on a column, by D. and A. Davidson of Inverness. The trio of windows in the east gable feature stained glass, depicting the crucifixion and other biblical events.
## History
St Margaret's Church was built between 1875 and 1879 by Alexander Ross, and was originally used as the chapel for the Aberlour Orphanage that was built at the same time. The construction of both was mostly paid for by a local benefactor to the Episcopal Church, Margaret Macpherson Grant.
Macpherson Grant, born Margaret Gordon Macpherson, was the niece of Alexander Grant, an Aberlour-born slave-owner, planter and merchant who made a substantial fortune in Jamaica. Having commissioned William Robertson to build Aberlour House (now in use as a school) for him, he returned to Aberlour in 1838. He divided his time between Aberlour and London for the rest of his life, and died in 1854. He had no children, and left his entire estate, valued at £300,000 (), to his niece, who added 'Grant' to her name and moved into Aberlour House, continuing to manage her uncle's Jamaican estates through an agent. She used her fortune to pay for the building of the church and the orphanage, amongst other gifts to the Episcopal Church, but died in 1877 before their construction was completed. William Grant of Elchies paid for the ongoing construction, and the church was completed by 22 November 1879.
The proceeding years saw various improvements and additions to the church: the stained glass windows were installed between 1887 and 1907; the marble chancel furniture was added in 1900; the pulpit was installed in 1936; and the wooden font cover, recovered from a now-demolished church in London, was gifted by the Findlay family in 1978. St Margaret's was designated a Category B listed building in 1976, and upgraded to Category A in 1987.
The orphanage connected with the school was closed in 1967, and the building has now been demolished, with only the clocktower remaining in a memorial garden near the church. The charity that managed the orphanage continues to operate as the Aberlour Child Care Trust.
## Current usage
St Margaret's Church is still in use as an active place of worship, with weekly services on Sundays at 10 a.m. | [
"## Description",
"### Exterior",
"### Interior",
"## History",
"## Current usage"
] | 1,373 | 13,279 |
24,165,382 | Nice Is Different Than Good | 1,162,647,128 | null | [
"2009 American television episodes",
"Desperate Housewives (season 6) episodes"
] | "Nice Is Different Than Good" is the sixth-season premiere episode of the American comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and the 112th overall episode of the series. It originally aired in the United States on September 27, 2009, on ABC. In the episode, Mike (James Denton) marries Susan (Teri Hatcher) and Angie Bolen (Drea de Matteo) and her family move onto Wisteria Lane as they attempt to escape their sordid past.
The episode was written by series creator Marc Cherry and directed by Larry Shaw. It included the introduction of the Angie character, as well as her husband, Nick (Jeffrey Nordling), and their son, Danny (Beau Mirchoff). The Bolen family is the subject of the series' yearly mystery. "Nice Is Different Than Good" enacted the long-running storylines of Katherine's (Dana Delany) nervous breakdown, Lynette's (Felicity Huffman) attempts to conceal her pregnancy, and the Fairview serial strangler.
"Nice Is Different Than Good" received generally positive reviews, with critics raving about the rivalry between Susan and Katherine and the possible connection between the Bolen and serial strangler storylines. According to Nielsen ratings, the episode drew 13.6 million viewers, the smallest audience for a Desperate Housewives season premiere until the seventh-season premiere on September 26, 2010.
## Plot
### Background
Desperate Housewives focuses on the lives of several residents in the suburban neighborhood of Wisteria Lane. In recent episodes, Mike Delfino (James Denton) married an unidentified bride, who was either Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher), his ex-wife, or Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany), his fiancée and Susan's close friend. Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) learned that she and her husband, Tom (Doug Savant), are expecting twins, two of what will be six children. Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) and Carlos Solis (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) agreed to take in his niece, Ana (Maiara Walsh), and she and Gabrielle began to antagonize one another. Bree Hodge (Marcia Cross) sought a divorce from her husband, Orson (Kyle MacLachlan); however, Orson refused to end their marriage and blackmailed her into staying in the relationship. As a result, Bree began an affair with her divorce lawyer and Susan's ex-husband, Karl Mayer (Richard Burgi).
### Episode
In the eight weeks leading up to her wedding, Susan avoids any contact with Katherine. Katherine begins to resent Susan, even threatening to pour tomato sauce on Susan's wedding dress. Mike is concerned for Katherine, but Susan is frustrated with her behavior. On the day of the wedding, Katherine demands that Susan apologize to her in public. Susan obliges, expressing her sorrow to Katherine during the wedding ceremony. Katherine tells Susan that the apology does not help mend their friendship.
Angie (Drea de Matteo) and Nick Bolen (Jeffrey Nordling) move into a house on Wisteria Lane with their college-bound son, Danny (Beau Mirchoff). Danny takes interest in Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen), Susan's daughter, and asks her to start tutoring him. She agrees, but at Nick's urging, tells Danny that she is not interested in a relationship. Later, elderly neighbor Karen McCluskey (Kathryn Joosten) sees Julie and Danny arguing. On Susan and Mike's wedding night, Julie is strangled outside of her home by an unidentified attacker, who flees the scene.
Lynette grows increasingly weary at the idea of having more children. She confesses to Tom that while she began loving her other children before they were born, she does not have the same feelings for her unborn twins. Tom assures her that she will love them once she is able to hold them in her arms. At Lynette's request, the couple conceals the pregnancy from their family and friends. Meanwhile, Gabrielle is irritated with Ana's poor attitude, provocative wardrobe, and disregard for her curfew or other rules. Carlos insists that Gabrielle sign a contract that would make her Ana's legal guardian, but she refuses. However, when Ana expresses interest in becoming a model, Gabrielle understands that they are more alike than she initially thought and signs the guardianship documents.
Bree continues to hide her affair with Karl, but her difficulty with adjusting to the sinful and secretive lifestyle prompt Karl to end the affair. In that time, Orson suggests that they enter marriage counseling, but Bree insists that she no longer sees herself as his wife, but rather his captive. Realizing that guilt is a small price for happiness, Bree reignites her affair with Karl.
## Production
"Nice Is Different Than Good" was written by series creator and executive producer Marc Cherry and directed by Larry Shaw. It marked the debut of Drea de Matteo as Angie Bolen, the matriarch of an Italian family. While brainstorming ideas for the sixth season, the Desperate Housewives writing staff decided to introduce an Italian New Yorker housewife, as she would be unlike the other title characters. When she was offered the role of Angie, de Matteo was best known for her Emmy Award-winning performance as Adriana La Cerva on The Sopranos, an HBO drama series about the Italian Mafia. She accepted the offer without knowing the character's name or storyline. Cherry described the Angie character as "a very loving but tough Italian woman who comes [to Wisteria Lane] with her husband and her kid ... [and] will do what she has to to protect her family." Jeffrey Nordling and Beau Mirchoff made their series debuts in this episode as well, appearing as Nick, Angie's landscaper husband, and Danny, their "tightly-wound" son, respectively. Maiara Walsh also joined the cast as a series regular, having made her debut as Ana Solis in a guest starring capacity during season five.
"Nice Is Different Than Good" revealed the identity of Mike Delfino's bride, a mystery which served as the cliffhanger for the fifth season finale. Cherry revealed that he initially intended to have Mike marry Katherine Mayfair rather than Susan Mayer, but fans "were insistent" on having Mike marry Susan. As a result, Cherry decided to change the storyline "as opposed to frustrating the fans for another year by keeping Mike and Susan apart." The episode also introduced the long-running storyline of Katherine suffering a nervous breakdown after losing Mike to Susan. Cherry commented that it would be "one of the funniest breakdowns you've ever seen." Actress Dana Delany, who portrays Katherine, was not informed about the storyline change until a week before the episode began filming. She called the change "brilliant" and was pleased with her character's new storyline "because happiness is great in life, but it's kind of [sic] boring dramatically." To keep the identity of Mike's bride confidential, a stunt actress was used in the season five finale. When filming of the episode took place in July 2009, both Hatcher and Delany were photographed wearing wedding dresses on set. "Nice Is Different Than Good" also introduced the secondary ongoing mystery of the Fairview strangler. The episode ended with a cliffhanger in which Julie Mayer is strangled by an unknown attacker. Cherry said of the storyline, "I've come up with my own version of 'Who Shot J.R.?'," referencing the murder mystery plotline surrounding the J. R. Ewing character (Larry Hagman) in the popular primetime soap opera Dallas.
## Reception
### Ratings
According to Nielsen ratings, "Nice Is Different Than Good" was seen by 13.643 million viewers and held an 8.6 rating/13 share on its original American broadcast on September 27, 2009. Among viewers between 18 and 49 years of age, the episode drew a 4.7 rating. The episode is the least-watched season premiere of Desperate Housewives at the time, with a thirty-five percent decrease in viewers from the fifth season premiere a year earlier. The seventh season premiere drew in lower ratings, with 13.056 million viewers and an 8.1 rating/12 share on its September 26, 2010 broadcast. "Nice Is Different Than Good" was outperformed by the following episode, "Being Alive", on October 4, which drew 14.641 million viewers and a 9.2 rating/14 share in the 18-49 demographic. Nevertheless, the premiere episode had a higher viewership than the season six average of 12.823 million viewers and 4.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic per episode. The episode was outperformed by Sunday Night Football on NBC, which drew 18.461 million viewers in the Desperate Housewives timeslot.
### Critical reception
The episode received positive critical reviews. Tanner Stransky of Entertainment Weekly praised the Julie storyline and expressed sympathy for the Katherine character. Additionally, while he enjoyed the introduction of the Bolen family, he commented that "it's not even worth speculating [about the Bolens] because the family honestly didn't reveal anything much about themselves." He also noted the realness of the Lynette story and the comedic relief provided by the Gabrielle and Bree stories. Isabelle Carreau of TV Squad also gave the episode a positive review, expressing interest in Katherine's storyline now that Mike has married Susan. She declared, "Karl and Bree are now my favorite couple on Wisteria Lane. They are twisted, flawed and complex characters," calling the pair reminiscent of Bree and Orson when the first started dating. She also credited the introduction of the Ana character for making the Gabrielle story "really fun to watch" and complimented Beau Mirchoff's portrayal of the "extremely weird" Danny Bolen character, speculating that he strangled Julie.
USA Today's Robert Bianco awarded the season premiere three out of four stars, opining that the episode "starts with a bang, ends with a cliffhanger jolt, and offers a good story for each of the wives in between while dropping a possibly worthy new addition in their midst." He predicted that viewers would be satisfied with the revelation of the mystery bride's identity and commented: "There's humor and poignancy in all the stories and good work all around." Bianco praised Felicity Huffman's "strong and varied" acting skills, complimented Eva Longoria's comedic talents, and declared Richard Burgi's performance as his best in the entire series. He concluded that while the show has declined in quality since its first season, "it remains a very good TV series" and noted that "there's also the potential for a season that returns this already-solid show to top form." TV Guide writer Mickey O'Connor was negative in his review. He criticized the Lynette story as being "an awful development" and said the chemistry between actress de Matteo and her costars "a little off." However, he was more receptive of Katherine's reaction to losing Mike, saying "what could have played out as a typical weepy, hos-before-bros make-up session has been elevated to something much richer." | [
"## Plot",
"### Background",
"### Episode",
"## Production",
"## Reception",
"### Ratings",
"### Critical reception"
] | 2,336 | 8,020 |
23,562,801 | The Stripped Mixes | 1,150,869,792 | null | [
"2009 compilation albums",
"2009 remix albums",
"Compilation albums published posthumously",
"Michael Jackson compilation albums",
"Motown compilation albums",
"Motown remix albums",
"Remix albums published posthumously"
] | The Stripped Mixes (released on CD for a limited time as The Motown 50 Mixes), is a collection of American singer and former Jackson 5 member Michael Jackson's classic songs. The songs featured on the album are mainly from Jackson's career as a member of the Jackson 5 from the late 1960s to the 1970s. Songs credited to Jackson as a solo artist are from his albums during his Motown-era. Other songs included on the album are "stripped" mixes of Jackson material, meaning the songs are of a quieter tone and most of the drums have been removed.
Following a surge in Jackson's popularity after his death in June 2009, it was confirmed on July 7, that The Stripped Mixes would be released. The album was made available as a digital download on July 7, 2009, and as a CD on July 28. A remixed song, entitled "I'll Be There (Minus Mix)", was released on iTunes to promote the album on June 9, 2009, prior to Jackson's death. The Stripped Mixes was the second Jackson compilation album to be posthumously released, the first being The Collection; which was released over two weeks prior. The Stripped Mixes received mixed reviews from music critics. The album was a moderate commercial success worldwide and had a better chart performance internationally than in the United States.
## Concept
Due to the high popularity of a State Farm Insurance commercial featuring an acoustic version of the hit "I'll Be There", Motown released "I'll Be There (Minus Mix)" via iTunes on June 9, 2009, as a prelude to The Stripped Mixes. "I'll Be There (Minus Mix)" did not chart on any music charts. Shortly after Jackson's death in June 2009, his music experienced a surge in popularity, leading to re-issues of his music. Less than an hour after the memorial service for Jackson at the Staples Center on July 7, 2009, Universal Music Group announced The Stripped Mixes, a collection of Jackson's classic songs, would be released. The album features "stripped" mixes of Jackson's classic Motown-era songs as well as songs recorded while he was a member of The Jackson 5 from the 1960s to the 1980s. The songs that are "stripped" on the album have backing instruments and some studio engineering removed to make the songs have a more acoustic sound. The Stripped Mixes was made available as a digital download on July 7, and as a compact disc on July 28, 2009.
## Reception
### Commercial performance
The Stripped Mixes charted at a peak position of \#95 on the Billboard 200 in its debut week with sales of less than five thousand units. It charted at \#43 on the R&B Albums Chart in 2009, and moved up to \#21 in 2010. Internationally, The Stripped Mixes was more successful commercially. The album charted within the top fifty in Belgium Flanders and Belgium Wallonia, peaking at \#43 and \#47 for five and seven weeks, respectively. The Stripped Mixes also charted at \#75 in Mexico for one week before dropping out of the top 100.
### Critical analysis
The Stripped Mixes received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. Writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave The Stripped Mixes two out of five stars, stating that he felt that "the logic of what is left behind doesn't quite make sense", pointing out that "I Want You Back" and "ABC" have no drums and "feel a little tipsy and top-heavy"; "Ben" and "With a Child's Heart" have echoes of strings in the background, making it hard to identify the songs as being "stripped". He added that since the genius lies in the arrangements, "having so much of the arrangement absent" means that the music "just sounds awkward and incomplete, as if it was waiting for the final round of mixing and overdubs." Erlewine's overall opinion on the album was "if the purpose of this disc is to draw attention to Michael's vocals, The Stripped Mixes does its job, but just because his voice is pushed front and center does not mean that this is the best place to appreciate his genius."
A writer for PR Newswire praised the album, describing it as "showcasing" Jackson's vocal talent and viewed The Stripped Mixes as shining a "bright, fresh light" on Jackson's early career as both a solo artist and with his brothers in The Jackson 5. Natalie Salvo of TheDwarf.com.au commented that the mix of "Ain't No Sunshine" made the album "personally" worth buying. She added that "the music does what it's supposed to do", which was "evoking the right mood but not being overly showy." Despite the praise, she did state that the album could be clinically looked at as an "element of bad taste" from a "greedy record company" and noted that it was "difficult" to "stop yourself being overcome with cynicism towards this album". Jeff Dorgay of Tone Publications described all of the album's tracks as being "quite strong" and added that "regardless of your interest in Michael Jackson" The Stripped Mixes is a disc "you should have in your collection" because it offers a "rare look" at "classic" material by Jackson when he was just beginning his career.
## Track listing
## Charts
## Personnel
Credits adapted from AllMusic.
- João Daltro de Almeida – photo research
- David Blumberg – arranger
- Lawrence D. Brown – producer
- Rodger Carter – studio assistant
- Neil Citron – engineer, mixing
- The Corporation – arranger, producer
- Hal Davis – producer
- Jill Ettinger – product manager
- Berry Gordy Jr. – arranger, producer, executive producer
- George Gordy – producer
- Willie Hutch – vocal arrangement
- Eddy Manson – arranger
- Monique McGuffin – production coordination
- Alphonso Mizell – arranger, producer
- Fonce Mizell – arranger, producer
- Jeff Moskow – producer, A&R
- Ryan Null – photo coordination
- Gene Page – arranger
- Freddie Perren – arranger, producer
- Deke Richards – arranger, producer
- Ryan Rogers – design
- Tom Rowland – producer, engineer, mixing, A&R
- Glen Sanatar – studio assistant
- Doug Schwartz – mastering
- Andrew Skurow – tape research
- Bobby Taylor – producer
- David Van De Pitte – arranger
- Harry Weinger – A&R
- Bob West – arranger | [
"## Concept",
"## Reception",
"### Commercial performance",
"### Critical analysis",
"## Track listing",
"## Charts",
"## Personnel"
] | 1,429 | 12,973 |
33,185,607 | Armed Boats Squadron Dubrovnik | 996,755,540 | null | [
"1991 establishments in Croatia",
"Croatian Navy",
"Maritime incidents in 1991",
"Military history of Croatia",
"Military units and formations disestablished in 1992",
"Military units and formations established in 1991",
"Military units and formations of the Croatian War of Independence",
"Order of Nikola Šubić Zrinski recipients"
] | The Armed Boats Squadron Dubrovnik (Croatian: Odred naoružanih brodova Dubrovnik) was a volunteer unit of the Croatian Navy that ran the naval blockade during the siege of Dubrovnik which formed part of the Croatian War of Independence in 1991–1992. It consisted of 23 vessels, mostly of the runabout type, lightly armed and armoured. The unit was crucial in the defence of Dubrovnik, providing a resupply route for the Dubrovnik population and troops defending the besieged city. Boats assigned to the squadron transported approximately 6,000 troops and civilians, about 100 wounded and 2,000 tonnes of various cargo. A total of 117 personnel served with the squadron during the siege, suffering two fatalities.
The siege of Dubrovnik and the associated blockade running operations of the squadron took place from September 1991 until May 1992, during the peak of the fighting in the Croatian War of Independence. The commencement of the siege preceded the declaration of Croatian independence on 8 October 1991. In early 1992, the Dubrovnik area saw fierce fighting while combat operations largely ceased elsewhere in Croatia following the Sarajevo Agreement of 2 January 1992.
Sveti Vlaho, the first vessel of the squadron, sunk in late 1991, was refloated in 2001 and placed on permanent exhibition in Dubrovnik. In 2006, the squadron was collectively decorated with the Order of Nikola Šubić Zrinski for bravery during the Croatian War of Independence. Surviving squadron members founded a squadron association in 2011 to preserve the heritage of the unit.
## Background
The 1990 revolt of the Croatian Serbs was centred on the predominantly Serb-populated areas of the Dalmatian hinterland around the city of Knin, parts of Lika, Kordun, Banovina regions and in eastern Croatian settlements with significant Serb population, and these areas were subsequently declared by the Serbs as the Republic of Serbian Krajina (RSK). The RSK declared its intention to integrate politically with Serbia, and this action was viewed by the Government of Croatia as a rebellion. By March 1991, the conflict had escalated to war—the Croatian War of Independence. In June 1991, Croatia declared its independence as Yugoslavia disintegrated. This was followed by a three-month moratorium on the decision, but the decision came into effect on 8 October.
As the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) increasingly supported the RSK and the Croatian Police were unable to cope with the situation, the Croatian National Guard (ZNG) was formed in May 1991. The ZNG was renamed the Croatian Army (HV) in November. The development of the Croatian armed forces was hampered by a United Nations (UN) arms embargo introduced in September. The final months of 1991 saw the fiercest fighting of the war, culminating in the Battle of the barracks, the Siege of Dubrovnik, and the Battle of Vukovar. Even though the Sarajevo Agreement led to a ceasefire in most areas of Croatia, the siege and fighting around Dubrovnik continued until May 1992.
## Wartime history
The Armed Boats Squadron Dubrovnik was established on 23 September 1991 as a volunteer unit of the Croatian Navy. It served during the Siege of Dubrovnik, and was a key factor in the successful defence of the city. The unit's first commander was Lieutenant Colonel Aljoša Nikolić.
Upon formation, squadron was tasked with breaching the Dubrovnik naval blockade and maintaining a route that was instrumental to delivery of materiel necessary to successfully defend the city, including food, fuel, medical supplies, arms and ammunition. The squadron also transported reinforcements arriving from other parts of Croatia and evacuated wounded out of Dubrovnik, and was a lifeline for the besieged troops and civilian population. Its operations began on 23 September 1991, when the runabout Sveti Vlaho (English: Saint Blaise) undertook its first voyage. The squadron consisted of 23 craft of various sizes and 117 volunteers. Craft armaments were light—the Sveti Vlaho had 6-millimetre (0.24 in) steel plate armour as a protection and a Bren light machine gun. All the vessels of the squadron were relatively fast, the fastest among them being capable of achieving 55 knots (102 kilometres per hour; 63 miles per hour). The squadron typically deployed its craft in pairs or threes, sailing as close as possible to the Yugoslav Navy vessels when passing Koločep island to reach relative safety of the Rijeka Dubrovačka inlet, in order to utilize blind spots of naval guns. During its existence, the squadron runabouts motored more than 52,000 nautical miles (96,000 kilometres; 60,000 miles), and transported approximately 6,000 troops and civilians, about 100 wounded and 2,000 tonnes of various cargo. The unit suffered two combat fatalities.
At dawn on 31 October 1991, the squadron sailed out of Dubrovnik to meet the Libertas convoy—a fleet of civilian vessels, the largest among them being the Jadrolinija shipping line's Slavija, which was endeavoring to deliver humanitarian aid to the city under siege. The fleet sailed from Rijeka and made several port calls, growing to 29 vessels as it approached Dubrovnik. The convoy, accompanied by the last President of Yugoslavia Stjepan Mesić and the Prime Minister of Croatia Franjo Gregurić, was stopped and searched by the Yugoslav Navy off the island of Mljet before the squadron linked up with the convoy and escorted it to Dubrovnik. The event marked the first large delivery of aid to the city since the beginning of the siege.
Sveti Vlaho, the first naval vessel to fly the flag of the Republic of Croatia in combat and the first ship of the squadron, was originally an Italian smuggling runabout that was confiscated by the authorities, fitted with armour and used by the squadron in resupply and blockade-running operations. During one of these missions, while sailing back from a trip to Bol on the Croatian island of Brač, she was chased by a Yugoslav gunboat and driven aground on a beach near Babin Kuk, just 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) north of Dubrovnik. Sveti Vlaho was recovered and continued in service until 6 December 1991, when she was sunk at Gruž by a 9K11 Malyutka anti-tank missile. The unit ceased operations in 1992 as the forces besieging Dubrovnik had been defeated. Sveti Vlaho was the second vessel used by the Croatian Navy, preceded only by a landing craft designated DJB-103, which was brought into use eight days earlier. The squadron was disbanded on 29 December 1992.
## Postwar decorations and heritage
Sveti Vlaho was refloated in 2001, restored and put on exhibit in Batala Park in Dubrovnik. In May 2006, the squadron was collectively decorated with the Order of Nikola Šubić Zrinski for the bravery of its members during the Croatian War of Independence; however, no individual decorations were awarded to squadron members, nor were any promoted as a result of their service. On the 15th anniversary of the arrival of the Libertas convoy in besieged Dubrovnik a celebration was held, but no squadron volunteers were invited to attend. On 11 August 2011, surviving members of the squadron founded the Armed Boat Squadron Association whose objective is to preserve the heritage of the squadron, document its contribution to the Croatian War of Independence, and render assistance to its members and other similar associations in Croatia to preserve and promote the role that Croatian soldiers played in achieving the Republic of Croatia's independence. | [
"## Background",
"## Wartime history",
"## Postwar decorations and heritage"
] | 1,660 | 36,661 |
64,638,274 | My Future | 1,153,774,362 | 2020 single by Billie Eilish | [
"2020 singles",
"2020 songs",
"2020s ballads",
"Ambient songs",
"American contemporary R&B songs",
"Animated music videos",
"Billie Eilish songs",
"Contemporary R&B ballads",
"Interscope Records singles",
"Song recordings produced by Finneas O'Connell",
"Songs written by Billie Eilish",
"Songs written by Finneas O'Connell"
] | "My Future" is a song by American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish and the lead single of her second studio album, Happier Than Ever (2021). It was released on her brother FINNEAS's birthday, July 30, 2020, through Darkroom and Interscope Records, exactly one year before the album. An R&B and ambient ballad with influences of soul and jazz, the song's lyrics address an ode to self-love and personal power. Eilish wrote the song alongside its producer, Finneas O'Connell.
The song received positive reviews from music critics, with praise directed towards its theme of self-empowerment. "My Future" was featured on 2020 year-end lists by multiple publications, including Billboard, USA Today, and Slate. The song peaked at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100, giving Eilish her third top-10 hit in the United States. It reached the top five in Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore.
An animated music video for "My Future" was directed by Andrew Onorato, and produced by Australian animation company Studio Chop. The visual was released on Eilish's official YouTube channel on July 30, 2020. In the video, Eilish walks away from a relationship while thinking about her future. The visual was praised by critics for its animation. Eilish performed the song at the 2020 Democratic National Convention and the 2020 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball.
## Background and release
On July 24, 2020, Eilish took to her Instagram page to post a picture of herself standing on a balcony with the skyline of Los Angeles in the background, wearing a black face mask and a grey jogging suit. The post featured the caption "'my future' out thursday". On July 28, 2020, Eilish promoted the track by sharing the animated cover art, which depicts her sitting under a tree while looking at the moon. On July 29, Eilish shared a 20-second audio clip of "My Future" on Instagram. "My Future" was inspired by Eilish being alone in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe, Eilish stated: "We wrote the song in like two days, This is the most we've ever worked in one period of time. But we record, we wrote it like a month into quarantine probably. And it was pouring rain. [...] [I]t was such a perfect setting. And then we recorded the vocal in Finneas' studio, which is just in his basement in his house". Eilish added that "it was exactly where my head was at - hopeful, excited and a craaaazy amount of self-reflection and self-growth. But recently it has also taken on a lot of new meaning in the context of what's happening in the world now. I hope you can all find meaning in it for yourselves." "My Future" was written by Eilish alongside her brother Finneas O'Connell, while production was solely handled by the latter. The track was mastered by John Greenham and mixed by Rob Kinelski, both of whom served as studio personnel. It was released for digital download and streaming as the lead single from Eilish's second studio album, Happier Than Ever (2021) on July 30, 2020, via Darkroom and Interscope Records.
## Composition
Critical commentary described "My Future" as an uptempo and R&B and ambient ballad, with influences of soul and jazz. The song features electric piano, guitars, and drums. Craig Jenkins of Vulture described its melody as reminiscent of soul blues songs and old Disney films' music. "My Future" has been compared to Eilish's cover of Bobby Hebb's "Sunny", as well as the works of Jorja Smith and Corinne Bailey Rae. It opens with a slow and melancholic melody, transitioning midway into an upbeat production with a percussive rhythm. Coco Romack of MTV News felt that the latter part of the song was summery.
Lyrically, "My Future" serves as an ode to self-love and personal power. Coco Romack of MTV wrote that it "claps back at the notion that one must be validated by outside affection". Chris Willman of Variety stated that the song was about "leaving a narcissistic significant other behind to concentrate on achieving goals on one's own". The song begins almost entirely a capella, as Eilish sings about walking away from a relationship to put herself first: "I've changed my plans/Cause I/I'm in love/With my future". "I'm in love with my future/Can't wait to meet her/I'm in love, but not with anybody else/Just want to get to know myself", Eilish sings through jazz-inspired vocals before a "funky" bassline appears. The song ends on voice and keyboards, with the line: "I'll see you in a couple years".
## Critical reception
Upon release, "My Future" was met with critical acclaim from music critics. William Hughes of The A.V. Club called it "sleepy" and "somnambulistic". Gary Dinges of USA Today commended the lyrical content, which he described has "raw lyrics" and "stellar vocals". Samantha Hissong and Brittany Spanos, writing for Rolling Stone, described "My Future" as Eilish's "most uplifting song to date". Romack praised the song as "dreamy". The staff of Teen Vogue commented that the song "shows continued growth in how Billie is looking at the world", while the staff of DIY called it "something of an understated feminist anthem". Jenkins depicted the track as "a reminder that even though the present looks scary, there are better times on the other side". Billboard's Jason Lipshutz dubbed the song as "personal" and added it "bursts into a ray of sunshine, with Eilish's voice blossoming in the warmth".
John R. Kennedy of iHeartRadio Canada labeled "My Future" as a "poignant" song. The song was praised by The New York Times' Jon Caramanica, who called it and "uncomplicated", and felt "Eilish's ease is the dominant mode — worrying about yourself first makes for no worry at all". Jessica Mckinney of Complex praised the song as one of Eilish's most "rare upbeat and sunny records". Writing for The Independent, Isobel Lewis regarded the song as a "haunting piano ballad" with "strong guitar and Eilish's signature electronic style". Reviewing for Slant Magazine, Alexa Camp cited the track as a "dreary but gorgeous dirge, with Eilish's soulful, layered vocals stacked on top of atmospheric keyboards". Mike Wass of Idolator praised the production of "My Future", which he described as "reflecting the positivity of the lyrics".
### Accolades
"My Future" was placed at number 12 on Insider's Every Billie Eilish song, ranked list, with Callie Ahlgrim describing the song as "gorgeous", "poetic", and an "extremely timely ode to independence", further praising the production, saying it "remains appropriately gentle" and never "feels glib or over-the-top optimistic". She concluded saying Eilish's vocals "have truly never sounded better", and remarked them as "effortless" and "hypnotic" that are "noticeably more drawn-out, elaborate, and confident." The song featured on 2020 year-end lists by Billboard (33), Dazed (10), Stereogum (25), Slate (17), and USA Today (1).
## Commercial performance
"My Future" debuted at number six on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart dated August 15, 2020, becoming Eilish's third top-10 hit in the United States and her highest debut on the chart, surpassing "Bad Guy" (2019), which debuted at number seven. The track also topped the US Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, rising from number 18 to the summit during the issue dated August 15, 2020, becoming Eilish's first track to top the chart. It also peaked at number one on the Hot Alternative Songs chart. On the US Alternative Digital Song Sales chart, "My Future" became Eilish's fifth number one. At the time, she was tied with Twenty One Pilots for the second-most leaders in the chart's history, while Imagine Dragons lead the chart with six number ones. The track was streamed 20.9 million times and had 15,000 downloads in the US through July 31 and August 6, 2020. It drew more than 1.3 million streams and sold 3,000 in the week ending July 30. The song ranked up to 7.4 million downloads on radio during the week dated August 9, 2020.
Internationally, the song peaked at number nine on the Canadian Hot 100 and received a platinum certification by Music Canada (MC) for track-equivalent sales of 80,000 units in Canada. On the UK Singles Chart, the song reached number seven, becoming Eilish's fifth top-10 in the United Kingdom. "My Future" also peaked within the top five on the singles charts in Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore. It further reached the top-20 in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Slovakia, and Switzerland.
## Music video
### Background and synopsis
An animated music video for "My Future" was directed by Australian director Andrew Onorato, and released on Eilish's official YouTube channel the same day as the single. It was produced by Australian animation company Chop Studio. The video was animated by Alex Dray, Andrew Onorato, Annie Zhao, Cliona Noonan, Nancy Li, and Sarah Schmidt. The visual has been described as "anime in nature".
The visual tells a story of a young woman "coming into her own". In it, an animated Billie symbolizes a relationship she's walking away from. She wanders alone through a Studio Ghibli-inspired, psychedelic forest in the rain while contemplating about her future. When the second verse comes around, the sun comes out and the forest begins to bloom, as trees engulf Eilish and lift her up to the sky.
### Critical reception
The animated video was positively received by critics upon release. Jackson Langford of NME called it a "gorgeous animated affair", while Ann Powers of NPR stated Eilish is a "fairy tale heroine" and that the video "dwells within the magic cultivated by an autonomous young woman who's ready to claim her future as it comes". Ronia Aniftos, writing for Billboard, commented that "[as] [the] sun comes out and the greenery begins to bloom exponentially, [so] [does] Eilish's career continues to do in real life". Kirsten Acuna of Insider viewed the visual as a "beautifully animated music video". Jessica Wang, writing for Bustle magazine, compared the visual to the works of Hayao Miyazaki, with movies such as: Spirited Away (2001), My Neighbor Totoro (1998), and Kiki's Delivery Service (1989). In a less enthusiastic review, Time Out magazine writer Emma Steen noted the video "lack[s] the finesse of a Ghibli anime", but said it is a "mesmerising visual".
## Live performances and other usage
Eilish performed the song for the first time on the third night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. A few days later, she and Finneas played the song for NPR's "Tiny Desk (Home) Concert". Eilish performed the song at the iHeartRadio Jingle Ball in December 2020, with Finneas playing the piano and providing background vocals. In September 2020, American singer Miley Cyrus covered the song for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge while surrounded by candles and a masked band.
## Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from Tidal.
- Billie Eilish – vocals, songwriter
- Finneas O'Connell – producer, songwriter, engineer, programming, drum programming, bass guitar, electric guitar, synth bass, synthesizer, Wurlitzer electric piano
- John Greenham – mastering engineer
- Rob Kinelski – mixer
## Charts
### Weekly charts
### Year-end charts
## Certifications
## Release history | [
"## Background and release",
"## Composition",
"## Critical reception",
"### Accolades",
"## Commercial performance",
"## Music video",
"### Background and synopsis",
"### Critical reception",
"## Live performances and other usage",
"## Credits and personnel",
"## Charts",
"### Weekly charts",
"### Year-end charts",
"## Certifications",
"## Release history"
] | 2,635 | 32,165 |
191,740 | USS Kentucky (BB-6) | 1,146,190,637 | Kearsarge-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the United States Navy | [
"1898 ships",
"Kearsarge-class battleships",
"Ships built in Newport News, Virginia",
"World War I battleships of the United States"
] | USS Kentucky (BB-6), was the second and final Kearsarge-class pre-dreadnought battleship built for the United States Navy in the 1890s. Designed for coastal defense, the Kearsarge-class battleships had a low freeboard and heavy armor. The ships carried an armament of four 13-inch (330 mm) and four 8-inch (203 mm) guns in an unusual two-story turret arrangement. The Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Virginia laid down her keel on 30 June 1896. She was launched on 24 March 1898 and was commissioned on 15 May 1900.
In her twenty years of service, Kentucky participated in no combat. Between 1901 and 1904, she served in East Asia, and from 1904 to 1907 she cruised the Atlantic. In 1907, she joined the Great White Fleet on its world tour, returning to the United States in 1909. She was modernized between 1909 and 1911, but did not operate again until 1915, when she sailed to the Mexican coast to participate in the American intervention in the Mexican Revolution, where she stayed until 1916. From 1917 until her decommissioning on 29 May 1920, she served as a training ship. She was sold for scrap on 24 March 1923.
## Design
The Kearsarge-class battleships were designed to be used for coastal defense. They had a displacement of 11,540 short tons (10,470 t), an overall length of 375 feet 4 inches (114.40 m), a beam of 72 feet 3 inches (22.02 m) and a draft of 23 feet 6 inches (7.16 m). The two 3-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines and five Scotch boilers, connected to two propeller shafts, produced a total of 12,179 indicated horsepower (9,082 kW), and gave a maximum speed of 16.897 knots (19.445 mph; 31.293 km/h). Kentucky was manned by 40 officers and 514 enlisted men, a total of 554 crew.
Kentucky, like USS Kearsarge, had two double turrets, with two 13 in (330 mm)/35 caliber guns and two 8 in (203 mm)/40 caliber guns each, stacked on two levels. The guns and turret armor were designed by the Bureau of Ordnance, while the turret itself was designed by the Bureau of Construction and Repair. The configuration caused the guns to be mounted far back in the turret, making the ports very large. Admiral William Sims claimed that as a result of the gun mounting, a shell fired into the port could reach the magazines below, disabling the guns. In addition to these guns, Kentucky carried fourteen 5 in (127 mm)/40 caliber guns, twenty 6-pounder (57 mm or 2.2 in) guns, eight 1-pounder (37 mm or 1.5 in) guns, four .30 in (7.6 mm) machine guns, and four 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes. Kentucky had a very low freeboard, often making her guns unusable during bad weather.
The ship's waterline armor belt was 5–16.5 inches (127–419 mm) thick. Her main gun turrets were protected by 15–17 inches (381–432 mm) of armor, while the secondary turrets had 6–11 inches (152–279 mm) of armor. The barbettes were 12.5–15 inches (318–381 mm) thick, and the conning tower had 10 inches (254 mm) of armor. The ship's armor was made of harveyized steel.
## Construction
Kentucky was authorized on 2 March 1895. The contract for her construction was awarded on 2 January 1896, and her keel was laid down on 30 June 1896 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Virginia. The total cost was \$4,998,119.43. In preparation for the Kentucky's christening, the Navy asked Kentucky Governor William O'Connell Bradley to select a member of his family to perform the ceremony. Bradley chose his daughter, Christine, who was attending school in Washington, D.C. The Bradleys were a family of teetotalers, so Governor Bradley sent a bottle of water from Lincoln Spring in Hodgenville, Kentucky, for Christine to use during the ceremony. Kentucky was christened on 24 March 1898, the same day as her sister ship, Kearsarge. Soon after Miss Bradley broke the bottle of water over the Kentucky's bow, a delegation from the Women's Christian Temperance Union, led by Frances Beauchamp, presented the Governor's daughter with a gift of a silver tray, a water pitcher, and two goblets. The inscription read, "Kentucky Christian Temperance Union to Miss Christine Bradley, as a tribute to her loyalty to conviction in the christening of the Battleship Kentucky with water. March 10, 1898." Kentucky was commissioned on 15 May 1900, under the command of Captain Colby Mitchell Chester.
## Service history
During the summer of 1900, Kentucky was fitted out in the New York Navy Yard. On 26 October, during the Boxer Rebellion, she left Tompkinsville, Staten Island for China, passing through Gibraltar and the Suez Canal. On 5 February 1901 she arrived at Manila, and on 23 March she replaced the protected cruiser Newark as the flagship of Rear Admiral Louis Kempff. Between 1901 and 1904, Kentucky visited numerous ports in China and Japan, including Chefoo, Wusong, Nanking, Taku Forts, Hong Kong, Xiamen, Nagasaki, Kobe, and Yokohama. In 1902, Kentucky became the flagship of Rear Admiral Frank Wildes, although he moved his flag to the distilling ship Rainbow on 12 April 1902. In November 1902, she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans.
On 13 March 1904 she sailed from Manila, passing through the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar, and arriving at New York City on 21 May. After receiving upgrades at the New York Navy Yard, including the addition of smoke ejectors, Kentucky joined the North Atlantic Squadron. The battleship participated in the welcome of the British North Atlantic Squadron at Annapolis, Maryland, in October 1905. During the 1906 Cuban Insurrection, she carried Marines to Cuba, embarking them from Provincetown on 23 September, and landing them at Havana, Cuba, on 1 October. She remained there until 9 October, and then returned to New England. Kentucky attended the Jamestown Exposition at Norfolk, Virginia, on 15 April 1907, and then participated in exercises off the New England coast.
### Great White Fleet
In 1907, the Great White Fleet was ordered by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to circle the world, as a demonstration of the might of the United States Navy. Kentucky was attached to the Fourth Division of the Second Squadron, and was commanded by Captain Walter C. Cowles, while the fleet as a whole was commanded by Rear Admiral Evans, Kentucky's former flag officer. On 16 December 1907, the fleet saluted the presidential yacht Mayflower, and left from Hampton Roads. The fleet then sailed south, passing Trinidad and Rio de Janeiro, and going through the Straits of Magellan. From there she passed the west coast of South America, visiting Punta Arenas and Valparaíso, Chile, Callao, Peru, and Magdalena Bay, Mexico. The fleet arrived at San Diego on 14 April 1908 and continued to San Francisco on 6 May. Two months later it arrived at Honolulu, and from there sailed to Auckland, New Zealand, arriving on 9 August. On 20 August, the fleet reached Sydney, Australia, and a week later sailed for Melbourne.
Kentucky departed Albany, Western Australia, on 18 September, passing through ports in the Philippine Islands, Japan, China, and Ceylon before traveling through the Suez Canal. The fleet split at Port Said on 8 January 1909, with Kentucky visiting Tripoli and Algiers before rejoining the other ships at Gibraltar. She returned to Hampton Roads on 22 February, and was inspected by President Roosevelt.
### Later service
As with most of the Great White Fleet ships, Kentucky was modernized on her return. She was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 28 August 1909, and her modernization was completed in 1911, at a cost of \$675,000. The ship received cage masts, new water-tube boilers, and another four 5-inch guns. The 1-pounder guns were removed, as were sixteen of the 6-pounders. On 4 June 1912, she was recommissioned in the Second Reserve, and on 31 May 1913 she was transferred to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in Philadelphia.
She was recommissioned again at Philadelphia on 23 June 1915. On 11 September that year, following the United States occupation of Veracruz, she sailed to Mexico, arriving at Veracruz on 28 September. She remained there during the Mexican Revolution, staying until 2 June 1916, except for a visit to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras festival in March 1916. The battleship stopped at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Santo Domingo on her way back to Philadelphia, arriving there on 18 June 1916. From July until September, she trained militiamen near Block Island and Boston. On 2 October Kentucky returned to New York, and entered the New York Naval Shipyard on 2 January 1917, remaining there until the United States entered World War I. She arrived at Yorktown, Virginia on 2 May, and trained recruits along the Atlantic coast, from Chesapeake Bay to Long Island Sound. During the war, she trained several thousand men, in 15 groups of recruits.
Kentucky was overhauled at the Boston Navy Yard, beginning on 20 December 1918. On 18 March 1919, she left for exercises in Guantánamo Bay, Norfolk, and along the New England coast. Between 29 May and 30 August 1919, Kentucky trained United States Naval Academy midshipmen. Following World War I, the United States agreed to the Washington Naval Treaty, which was aimed at preventing a naval arms race by limiting the size of the signatories' fleets. As a result, many old and obsolete ships were scrapped, including Kentucky. Kentucky was decommissioned on 29 May 1920. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 27 May 1922 and she was sold for scrap to Dravo Corporation on 24 March 1923. | [
"## Design",
"## Construction",
"## Service history",
"### Great White Fleet",
"### Later service"
] | 2,293 | 31,652 |
39,938,660 | A Polish Nobleman | 1,165,141,095 | 1637 painting by Rembrandt | [
"1637 paintings",
"17th-century portraits",
"Collections of the National Gallery of Art",
"Paintings in Washington, D.C.",
"Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth historical images",
"Portraits by Rembrandt",
"Portraits of men",
"Self-portraits"
] | A Polish Nobleman is a 1637 painting by Rembrandt depicting a man in a costume of Polish szlachta (nobility). The identity of the subject of the painting is unclear, and has given rise to several different interpretations. The view that the figure's dress is clearly Polish is not universally held and it may have been a self-portrait.
The painting has changed owners several times, and its past owners have included Catherine II the Great and Andrew Mellon. It is currently located at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
## Description
The portrait represents a man, estimated by some to be 45 years of age, standing turned to the viewer's right, looking at the viewer with a commanding expression. In his uplifted right hand he holds a baton with a golden cap. He has a thick moustache and wears a high fur cap on which there is a golden chain with precious stones and a coat of arms in the center. From his ear a large pear-shaped pearl hangs from a golden pendant earring. He wears a reddish-brown mantle with a broad fur collar and, over it, a heavy gold chain from which the order of three horse tails, set in rich pendants, hangs on his right shoulder. A full light from the left falls on the right side of his face. The background is brownish-grey.
## History and provenance
The painting was created by Rembrandt in 1637. It was not given an official title. The current one is the most recent, widely accepted one. Prior and alternate names include Portrait of a Slav Prince, Portrait d'un Turc, and Man in Russian Costume. Its authenticity was supported by an analysis of the panel's wood, which showed that it was cut from a tree felled around 1635 that was also used in the painter's River Landscape with Ruins (1650). The painting underwent restoration in 1985 and has been X-rayed.
The painting's first owner or owners are not clear, but it might have been owned by a certain Harman van Swole. It was part of the extensive collection of Johann Karl Philipp von Cobenzl, a Carniolan nobleman who served as Maria Theresa's plenipotentiary in the Austrian Netherlands. After Cobenzl's bankruptcy, it was purchased in 1768 by Catherine II the Great and held in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. It was purchased by Andrew Mellon in 1931, and given by the Mellon Trust to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in 1937. The painting was one of a number of artworks that Mellon had purchased from the Hermitage during the 1930s. He denied having made these purchases for several years, since the US was in a major depression – which would have made the acquisitions seem extravagant – and at odds with the Soviet government. The works were kept for some time in a non-public section of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
## Analysis
This work was labeled by some art critics as a tronie, a painting with an exaggerated facial expression or a stock character in costume. For instance, Melissa Percival notes that in this particular painting the viewer may notice an extravagant fur cape, lopsided hat, tufted mustache, and similar paraphernalia, all giving "an impression that the painting should not be taken too seriously".
Scholars have attempted for more than a century to understand who is portrayed in this painting. Earlier proposals that the subject was John III Sobieski (who would have been eight years old in 1637) or Stephen Bathory (who died in 1586) have been discredited. According to Otakar Odložilík, while the man in the painting is clearly wearing Polish garb, it is neither certain who he is, nor whether he is a Pole. Odložilík's research on this issue suggested that the painting may be that of Andrzej Rej, a Polish noble and diplomat of that era who passed through Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where Rembrandt was working, at the time the painting was created. Nonetheless, without any documents from that era clearly acknowledging that fact, as Odložilík noted, it may never be known for certain who the subject really is.
Odložilík concluded (writing in 1963) that most scholars are in consensus that Rembrandt portrayed a real Polish noble. He cited research by Kurt Bauch who has suggested that it may be Rembrandt's brother Adriaen who modeled for him, but judged it as unlikely. Other views have emerged since the publication of his article. In 1979 the art historian Kenneth Clark opined that it was a self-portrait, idealized and "got up in fancy dress." Walter Liedtke of the Metropolitan Museum of Art writing in 2001 identifies the hat as Russian and Marieke de Winkel in 2006 asserted that "...the man cannot be identified as a Pole but as a Muscovite boyar." The National Gallery website states that it is "probably not a portrait of a specific individual", but notes a strong resemblance to Rembrandt himself and suggests in turn that it may be a self-portrait. One objection to its classification as a self-portrait, that the subject's jowls were too pronounced, was addressed by an X-ray analysis showing that Rembrandt modified the painting during the course of its creation.
## See also
- List of paintings by Rembrandt
- The Polish Rider (another Poland-themed painting by Rembrandt)
- Self-portraits by Rembrandt | [
"## Description",
"## History and provenance",
"## Analysis",
"## See also"
] | 1,166 | 7,284 |
1,992,444 | Hap Holmes | 1,171,423,268 | Canadian ice hockey player (1888–1941) | [
"1888 births",
"1941 deaths",
"Canadian ice hockey goaltenders",
"Canadian people of Scottish descent",
"Detroit Cougars players",
"Hockey Hall of Fame inductees",
"Ice hockey people from Ontario",
"Seattle Metropolitans players",
"Sportspeople from Aurora, Ontario",
"Stanley Cup champions",
"Toronto Arenas players",
"Toronto Blueshirts players",
"Victoria Cougars (1911–1926) players"
] | Harry George "Hap" Holmes (February 21, 1888 – June 27, 1941) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. As a professional, Holmes won the Stanley Cup four times, with four teams. He tied the record of his 1914 Stanley Cup winning Toronto Blueshirts teammate Jack Marshall, who also won Cups with four teams. No other player has duplicated this record.
Holmes played as an amateur for three seasons with the Parkdale Canoe Club of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) from 1908 to 1911, before joining the professional Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hockey Association (NHA) in 1912–13. Holmes won the first of his four Stanley Cups in 1914. Although being under contract to the Blueshirts, Holmes joined the Seattle Metropolitans of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) for the 1915–16 season, winning his second Stanley Cup (1917) in his second season with the Metropolitans. For the 1917–18 season, Holmes ended up playing for the Torontos (the following year renamed as the Toronto Arenas) of the National Hockey League (NHL) through a series of loans by other teams. Holmes won his third Stanley Cup in his only full season with the Torontos. After playing two games in the 1918–19 season for the Toronto Arenas, Holmes was recalled by the Metropolitans. Holmes played for the Metropolitans for the next six seasons, until the team folded.
In the 1924–25 season, Holmes joined the Victoria Cougars of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL/WHL). Holmes played for the Cougars for two seasons, winning the Stanley Cup for his fourth and last time. After the WCHL/WHL folded, Holmes joined the Detroit Cougars of the NHL, playing with the Cougars for two seasons before retiring.
Holmes was a stand-up style goaltender; later on in his career, Holmes wore a cap in goal to protect his head from objects thrown by spectators. Holmes coached minor-league teams after his retirement, notably the Toronto Millionaires of the Canadian Professional Hockey League (CPHL) and the Cleveland Indians of the International Hockey League (IHL). Holmes died in 1941, near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and was inducted posthumously into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972.
## Amateur career
Harry "Hap" Holmes, alternatively nicknamed "Happy", started playing ice hockey as an amateur with the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club in the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) in the 1908–09 season. He played with Parkdale for three seasons, for 11 regular season games and two playoff games. In his first season with the Parkdale Canoe Club, Holmes lost all three games in which he appeared, giving up 22 goals over that stretch.
The following season, Holmes appeared in four games, winning and losing two games apiece. Over the 1909–10 season, Holmes gave up 26 goals. In 1910–11, his last season with the Parkdale Canoe Club, he appeared in four regular season games once more, winning three and losing one, while giving up only 12 goals over those games. In the playoffs, Holmes played two games, losing one and tying the other, surrendering nine goals.
In the 1911–12 season, Holmes appeared in only one exhibition game, as the Toronto Blueshirts were unable to play due to the slow completion of their artificial ice. Holmes played a game for the Toronto Tecumsehs, conceding three goals in a victory.
## Professional career
### Toronto Blueshirts
Holmes began his professional career playing for the Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hockey Association (NHA) in 1912–13. Holmes played with the Blueshirts for three seasons. In his first season with the Blueshirts, Holmes had a 6–7 (win-loss) record over 15 games with a shutout, and a 4.47 goals-against average. The Blueshirts ended up missing the playoffs. In the 1913–14 season, Holmes' second season with the Blueshirts, he won the Stanley Cup for the first time. It was the first time a Toronto-based team won the Stanley Cup. In the NHA playoffs, Holmes won one out of two games, and recorded a 1.00 goals-against average and one shutout; in the Stanley Cup Finals, Holmes won all three games and finished with a 2.59 goals-against average. The next season, the Blueshirts missed the playoffs, as Holmes had only eight victories over 20 games, ending up with a 4.18 goals-against average.
### First stint with the Seattle Metropolitans
In the 1915–16 season, Holmes signed with the Seattle Metropolitans of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), although he was still under contract to the Blueshirts. In his first season with the Metropolitans, Holmes played 18 games. He finished with a 9–9 record, with no shutouts and a 3.67 goals-against average. That season, the Metropolitans missed the playoffs. In his second season with Seattle, Holmes posted a 16–8 record over 24 games, with two shutouts and a 3.28 goals-against average. In the Stanley Cup Finals, Holmes posted a 3–1 record with a 2.75 goals-against average, en route to the Metropolitans' only Stanley Cup win. The Metropolitans became the first American-based team to win the Stanley Cup.
### Torontos / Toronto Arenas
In November 1917, Holmes signed as a free agent with the Montreal Wanderers. The Wanderers, in turn, loaned Holmes back to Seattle on December 12, 1917. On January 4, 1918, the Metropolitans returned Holmes under loan to the Torontos, now in the newly formed NHL. In his only full season with the Torontos/Arenas, Holmes appeared in 16 regular season games, posting a 9–7 record, with a 4.73 goals-against average and no shutouts. In the NHL playoffs, Holmes played two games, winning and losing one apiece. In the Stanley Cup Finals, Holmes had a 3–2 record over five games, with a 4.00 goals-against average, en route to Holmes' third Stanley Cup win. He is the only member of both the Blueshirts' 1914 Stanley Cup win and the Torontos' 1918 Stanley Cup win. After playing only two games with the Toronto Arenas the following season, surrendering nine goals in two losses, Holmes was recalled by the Metropolitans on December 27, 1918.
### Second stint with the Seattle Metropolitans
In the 1918–19 season Holmes appeared in 20 regular season games for the Metropolitans, winning 11 and losing nine, with no shutouts and a 2.25 goals-against average. In the PCHA playoffs, Holmes played two games, winning and losing one apiece, and surrendering five goals in total. The Metropolitans made the Stanley Cup Finals once more. Playing against the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL), the series was abandoned tied at two wins apiece, because of the Spanish flu pandemic. Montreal could not continue the series because several of their players were severely ill with influenza; however, the Metropolitans did not wish to accept the Cup by default. Canadiens player Joe Hall died on April 5, 1919, five days after the end of the series, in a Seattle hospital. The only draw of the series was a scoreless affair; after playing 20 minutes of overtime, referee Mickey Ion called the game off.
In the 1919–20 season, Holmes appeared in 22 games, winning 12 games, and losing 10. He finished the season with four shutouts and a 2.46 goals-against average. In the PCHA playoffs, Holmes played two games, surrendering three goals, and ending up with a loss and a win. The Metropolitans made the Stanley Cup Finals for the second straight season, playing against the Ottawa Senators of the NHL. The Metropolitans lost, and Holmes posted a 2–3 record with a 3.00 goals-against average.
Holmes played the next four seasons with the Metropolitans, but failed to make the Stanley Cup Finals. Over that stretch, Holmes and the Metropolitans won about half the games each season. The Metropolitans missed the playoffs in only the 1922–23 season. In the 1920–21 season, Holmes appeared in 24 games. He posted a 12–11–1 (win-loss-tie) record, with a 2.63 goals-against average and no shutouts. In the playoffs, he lost both games he appeared in, and let in 13 goals. The following season, he posted an identical win–loss–tie record in both the regular season and playoffs. The only difference was a 2.60 goals-against average in the regular season, with four shutouts, and the reduction of his playoffs goals-against by 11 goals. In the 1922–23 season, Holmes appeared in 30 games, posting a 15–15 record, with two shutouts and a 3.45 goals-against average; however, the Metropolitans missed the playoffs that season. In the 1923–24 season, Holmes' last with the Metropolitans, he appeared in 30 regular season games, posting a 14–16 record, with two shutouts and a 3.26 goals-against average. Despite an extra loss, the Metropolitans made the playoffs that season. Holmes played two games, losing one and tying one, ending up with a 1.79 goals-against average.
### Victoria Cougars
In 1924–25, after the Metropolitans folded and the rest of the PCHA merged with the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), Holmes joined the Victoria Cougars. In his first season with the Cougars, Holmes posted a 16–12 regular season record, with three shutouts and a 2.25 goals-against average. In the WCHL playoffs, Holmes was undefeated in four games. He had two wins and ties each, with one shutout and a 1.75 goals-against average. In the Stanley Cup Finals, Holmes posted a 3–1 record with a 2.00 goals-against average against the Montreal Canadiens. It was the last time a non-NHL team won the Stanley Cup. It was Holmes' fourth and last Stanley Cup victory.
The following season, Holmes had a 15–11–4 regular season record, with four shutouts and a 1.68 goals-against average. In the WHL playoffs, Holmes nearly duplicated his results from the previous season, posting a 2–0–2 record, with one shutout and a 1.45 goals-against average. In the 1926 Stanley Cup Finals, the Cougars lost the series 3–1 against the Montreal Maroons. That marked the last time a non-NHL team appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals, as the WHL folded after the 1926 Stanley Cup Finals, and its players were absorbed by the NHL. It was Holmes' seventh and last Stanley Cup final appearance.
### Detroit Cougars
A new NHL franchise in Detroit bought the rights to the Victoria Cougars players, and named the team the Cougars. Holmes played his last two professional seasons with the Detroit Cougars. Holmes, playing for Detroit, posted 17 shutouts in 85 appearances. Detroit failed to make the playoffs in both of Holmes' seasons with them, as Holmes only won 30 of his 85 appearances. In Holmes' first season with Detroit, he posted an 11–26–4 record, over 41 games played. Holmes had six shutouts and overall, his goals-against average that season was 2.23. In the 1927–28 season, Holmes' final one as a professional player, he appeared in all 44 of Detroit's games. He posted a 19–19–6 record, with 11 shutouts and a 1.73 goals-against average.
## Playing style
As a player, Holmes wore a baseball cap in net to protect his head from spectators spitting tobacco or throwing other objects at it. Holmes was bald, and as described by the Windsor Star, "his shining bald dome presented a tempting target". Holmes played a stand-up style, and relied on proper positioning to stop the puck. Holmes' play was consistent, and he was relaxed and nonchalant in the nets, leading some to describe his play as almost lazy.
## Post-retirement
After his playing career, Holmes coached minor-league teams. He coached the Toronto Millionaires of the Canadian Professional Hockey League (CPHL) to a 19–6–7 record in the 1928–29 season, and the Cleveland Indians of the International Hockey League (IHL) to a 24–18–6 record in the 1930–31 season. The American Hockey League (AHL) named their award for the top goaltender, the Hap Holmes Memorial Award, after him.
In his later years, Holmes moved to south Florida and opened a papaya farm. During this period, his son Bill played with the Miami Clippers of the abortive Tropical Hockey League. The elder Holmes had the intention of eventually starting a hockey league in Australia, but the farm went under and nothing came of the idea.
Holmes died on June 27, 1941. He was inducted posthumously into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972.
## Career statistics
### Regular season and playoffs | [
"## Amateur career",
"## Professional career",
"### Toronto Blueshirts",
"### First stint with the Seattle Metropolitans",
"### Torontos / Toronto Arenas",
"### Second stint with the Seattle Metropolitans",
"### Victoria Cougars",
"### Detroit Cougars",
"## Playing style",
"## Post-retirement",
"## Career statistics",
"### Regular season and playoffs"
] | 2,932 | 7,253 |
43,290,558 | Frances McConnell-Mills | 1,171,472,300 | American physician, toxicologist and forensic pathologist (1900-1975) | [
"1900 births",
"1975 deaths",
"20th-century American physicians",
"20th-century American women physicians",
"American toxicologists",
"American women scientists",
"People from Monument, Colorado",
"Physicians from Denver",
"University of Colorado School of Medicine alumni",
"University of Denver alumni",
"Women inventors"
] | Frances Mary McConnell-Mills (July 9, 1900 – December 28, 1975) was an American toxicologist. She was the first woman to be appointed Denver's city toxicologist, the first female toxicologist in the Rocky Mountains, and probably the first female forensic pathologist in the United States.
McConnell was raised in Colorado and after studying chemistry she became a high school teacher. She later attended medical school at the University of Colorado Denver, graduating in 1925. She specialized in the fields of toxicology and forensic pathology, which led her to testify in many high-profile criminal cases throughout her career. In addition to working as Denver's city toxicologist, she held positions in multiple hospitals and administrative boards. After battling lifelong health problems, including rheumatic heart disease and a leg amputation, McConnell died in 1975. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame.
## Early life
McConnell-Mills was born Frances Mary McConnell in 1900 in Monument, Colorado. Her father was a physician and a pharmacist, and often took Frances with him when he made house calls to patients. She was sent to live with her aunt and grandfather so that she could attend Colorado Springs High School; she graduated at the age of 15 and was awarded a full scholarship to the University of Denver. She received a bachelor's degree from the university in 1918, aged 17, and graduated again with a master's degree in chemistry when she was 19, making her the university's youngest graduate with a master's degree at the time. In 1919, she began work as a teacher of chemistry, biology, geometry and trigonometry at Englewood High School.
McConnell applied to the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1920 and was accepted. Although her father had previously paid for 17 men to attend medical school, he refused to pay for Frances' tuition because he deemed medicine to be "too hard a life for a woman". She therefore supported herself through medical school by working as a musician in local bars and theaters, as a tutor, and as a laboratory assistant. In November 1925, she married David L. Mills, a lawyer, and gave birth to a daughter the year after. Although McConnell hyphenated her name to McConnell-Mills, she continued to use her maiden name for her professional career to avoid drawing attention to her children.
## Career
McConnell graduated from the University of Colorado as a Doctor of Medicine in 1925 and completed an internship at Denver General Hospital. She subsequently took on a position as a toxicologist in the coroner's offices at the same hospital, making her the first female toxicologist in the Rocky Mountains area. She was appointed Denver's city toxicologist in 1926 and became an assistant pathologist in 1927, working alongside deputy coroner George Bostwick and city pathologist W. S. Dennis. Her appointment to city toxicologist made her the first woman to hold the position.
McConnell's work mainly focused on poison and blood analysis, and she testified in many criminal cases as an expert witness. Her work often involved determining the cause of death when poisoning was suspected. In 1930, she investigated the death of a ten-year-old Denver girl; the case was referred to at the time as the city's "most famous and controversial murder case". Although she initially suspected the girl had been poisoned, McConnell discovered crushed glass in the girl's stomach and blood stains in the family car; her testimony led to the sentencing of the girl's stepmother for murder. In 1936, McConnell testified against suspected rapist and murderer Joe Arridy after finding fibers from the bedspread at the murder scene under the suspect's fingernails. (Although Arridy was convicted of murder and executed in 1939, he was granted a posthumous pardon in 2011.) McConnell also discovered that murder victim Georg Obendoerfer had been killed with a lethal dose of arsenic, which led to further investigations confirming that Anna Marie Hahn had killed Obendoerfer, as well as other men in the same way. McConnell testified at Hahn's trial in Cincinnati and Hahn was subsequently convicted and executed. After she was called to Raton, New Mexico as a key witness in a murder trial in 1935, a court reporter for the Raton Range wrote that McConnell "has gained a national reputation ... in her blood analysis work". Additionally, she is thought to be the United States' first female forensic pathologist. Despite working on numerous high-profile, widely publicized cases, McConnell kept her life as private as possible and only ever gave one interview during her career.
Outside of toxicology, McConnell did extensive laboratory work. In the 1930s and 1940s she undertook personal research into passive immunity and developed serums for scarlet fever, polio, the common cold and acne for use on family members. While working for otolaryngologist Harry Baum, she invented a hair rinse which Baum called "Noreen" that was produced until the 1990s. In 1941, she was appointed director of the laboratory department of the Colorado State Board of Health, and she later founded Denver General Hospital's School for Medical Technologists in order to train new workers, especially women. She enrolled in an advanced serology training program at the University of Michigan in 1941 and went on to study surgical pathology at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago in 1943. Following her term at Cook County, she resigned from the Board of Health and accepted a role at St. Luke's Hospital in Denver as a laboratory director and pathologist. She was forced to leave St. Luke's in 1944 due to illness, and after recovering she returned to Denver General Hospital as its laboratory director. She continued to work on criminal cases between other jobs until 1948.
In the 1950s, McConnell joined physician and public health activist Florence R. Sabin to create an examination on behalf of the Colorado State Board of Basic Sciences for granting licenses to applicants who wished to practice health science. McConnell was appointed to the Board in 1956, making her the only female member at the time, and served until 1975.
## Health problems and death
McConnell battled with health problems throughout her life, after contracting rheumatic fever at the age of 20 which subsequently progressed to rheumatic heart disease. In 1944 she contracted appendicitis which required an emergency appendectomy; she developed deep vein thrombosis in her right leg after the surgery and her leg was subsequently amputated above the knee. She was given a prosthetic leg which she named "Matilda" but later needed to use a wheelchair.
Following the death of her husband in 1967, McConnell lived alone. She kept working until the last two weeks of her life, filling various roles on the Board of Basic Sciences, in an allergy practice, and as a consultant for the Denver Poison Center. She died in December 1975 in St. Luke's Hospital, Denver, at the age of 75.
## Legacy
A year before her death, in December 1974, McConnell received an award from the University of Colorado Medical School which recognized her as a 50-year graduate of the school and as one of only two Coloradoan women at the time who had practiced medicine for 50 years.
She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1996. In 1999, her daughter Jeanne Varnell published a book titled Women of Consequence: The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame, which contains the biographies of McConnell and 58 other inductees of the Hall of Fame. The project began when Varnell set out to write a biography of her mother, but was urged by her editor to do the same for all 59 of the women in the Hall of Fame at the time, and compile them into a book. | [
"## Early life",
"## Career",
"## Health problems and death",
"## Legacy"
] | 1,628 | 11,646 |
53,559,266 | Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq Ustajlu | 1,156,989,237 | 16th-century Safavid official | [
"16th-century births",
"16th-century diplomats",
"16th-century people of Safavid Iran",
"Iranian Turkmen people",
"Safavid diplomats",
"Safavid generals",
"Safavid governors of Erivan",
"Ustajlu",
"Year of death unknown"
] | Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq Ustajlu (Persian: محمد خان تخماق استاجلو, romanized: Mohammad Xān Toxmāq Ostājlu), also commonly known as Tokhmaq Khan Ustajlu (Persian: تخماق خان استاجلو), was a 16th-century Iranian official, diplomat and military leader from the Turkoman Ustajlu tribe. He was appointed as governor (beglarbeg) of Erivan Province (also known as Chokhur-e Sa'd) in 1568–1575. Thereafter, he led an embassy to the Ottoman Empire. On his return, he participated in some judicial developments, and was reappointed as governor of Erivan Province in 1578. In the same year, he served as main commander at the Battle of Çıldır during the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1578–1590, where his army was routed. A few years later, in 1583, Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq's second tenure over the Erivan Province was brought to an end due to encroachments by the Ottomans, who controlled the province until 1604.
## Biography
### Embassy to the Ottomans
Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq was the son of the previous governor of Erivan Province, Shahqoli Soltan Ustajlu, and was thus a member of the Turkoman Ustajlu tribe. The Erivan Province was centered on present-day Armenia, its provincial capital being Erivan (Yerevan). In 1568, Shah ("King") Tahmasp I (r. 1524-1576) appointed him as his father's successor. Several years later, shortly before his death, Tahmasp I sent Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq as an ambassador to the neighboring Ottoman Empire to congratulate Murad III on his accession to the Ottoman throne. Tahmasp I wished to maintain the cordial relations that were initiated by the Peace of Amasya in 1555. The embassy, comprising some 250 men and 500 camels, arrived in Scutari, adjacent to the imperial capital, Constantinople, in May 1576. They brought numerous costly gifts, including precious manuscripts and stones, as well as weapons and fine rugs. The most costly gift of all was an imperial tent decorated with jewels.
A grand reception followed, and the envoys were sent back with two luxuriously harnessed horses as well as 5,000 ducats. Both the ceremony and the construction of the tent are depicted in the first volume of the Shahanshah-nameh (dated 1581). The tent, considered to be a "magnificent piece of art" according to Zeren Tanındı, has not survived. Tahmasp I's letter of greeting, which Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq presented to Murad III, is in the archives of the Topkapı Palace.
### Judicial participation
During the short reign of Shah Ismail II (r. 1576–1577), the Shah ordered Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq, Grand Vizier Mirza Shokrollah Isfahani, and Mirza Ali Qajar to function as members of the orf court within the court of justice, in order to assist the incumbent divanbegi (chancellor, chief justice) Soltan Ebrahim Mirza, in giving judgement on individual cases involving finance as well as matters affecting the interests of the state in general. The mandates and judgements proposed by Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq and the others were eventually endorsed by the "supreme divan", with Ismail II's approval, and for a few months, they were put to practise.
### War
In 1578, Shah Mohammad Khodabanda (r. 1578–1587) reappointed Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq as governor of Erivan Province. During the prelude to the Ottoman–Safavid of 1578–1590 the Safavids were well informed about the coming Ottoman assault but not about its magnitude. Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq was ordered by the Shah to recruit troops from all over northwestern Iran. Having assembled an army of some 15,000–30,000 men, he marched to the vicinity of Çıldır, not far from the Ottoman army, which was commanded by Lala Mustafa Pasha. The modern historian Rudi Matthee states that his spies miscalculated the size of the Ottoman army, "only counting the ones that were visible to them". According to Iskandar Beg Munshi (died c. 1633/4) and Juan Tomas Minadoi (died 1615), Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq, "emboldened" by the news from his spies, decided to attack. Munshi put the blame on the Qizilbash, stating that they ruined "their potential strength through disunity and internal bickering and of foolhardily rushing into war, taking on an army of 100,000 with a mere 15,000 troops rather than waiting until all reinforcements had arrived".
On 9 August, Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq and his men engaged the Ottomans. Heavily outnumbered, the Safavid forces were defeated, and some 5,000-7,000 were slain on the battlefield, while another 3,000 were taken captive and beheaded. Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq's second tenure over the Erivan Province was brought to an end in 1583 due to Ottoman encroachment, which resulted in an Ottoman takeover of the province until 1604.
A gholam (slave-soldier) of Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq, Behbud Agha, was a Georgian who hailed from a Kartlian noble family (tavadi). He converted to Islam during his service to Mohammad Khan Tokhmaq. Two of Behbud Agha's sons, Ali-Qoli Beg and Emamqoli Beg, together briefly served as governors of Kartli in the 1610s. | [
"## Biography",
"### Embassy to the Ottomans",
"### Judicial participation",
"### War"
] | 1,265 | 18,992 |
42,798,380 | AJ's Infinite Summer | 1,095,488,526 | 2014 film | [
"Cartoon Network Studios pilots and shorts",
"Television pilots not picked up as a series"
] | AJ's Infinite Summer is an animated television pilot created by Toby Jones for Cartoon Network. The pilot follows AJ, whose new job during the summer drives him crazy with power. It is loosely based on Jones' 2006 film, AJ Goes to France. Both the film and the pilot star AJ Thompson as the eponymous character. Jones additionally sought inspiration from his hometown of Fargo, North Dakota, and the comics he drew featuring Thompson and his other friends. The pilot was released on the official website of Cartoon Network on May 16, 2014.
## Plot
Summer vacation starts for AJ and his friends Danny and Morgan, who live in the city of Downer. When AJ wants to be spontaneous for his plans to spend the vacation, he impulsively decides to get a job. The trio comes across a corporate office. AJ wants to apply for the corporation that owns it, but Danny and Morgan suggest that he prepares for the interview. AJ turns to his father, Peter, for advice. He equips AJ with an oversized business suit, and afterward the trio enter the office to help AJ apply. AJ shows his resume, and immediately he is hired by the Instructor of First Impressions. Workers of the office welcome AJ, who wears the same style of business suit as they do. When he sees that each worker has their own assistant, AJ hires Morgan as his "secretary" and tells her to fetch papers. Meanwhile, he asks "towel boy" Danny to wipe the sweat off his brow.
After this demonstration of power, AJ is promoted by his manager. A montage of AJ being promoted for doing absurd tasks follows. Soon, AJ is promoted to a rank with a private office. Danny and Morgan refuse to work for AJ further, finding him corrupt with power. AJ throws them out, and afterward he is promoted to CEO by a former officer—a decrepit man within a robotic business suit. AJ floats to the top of the suit, from which he spots a beach ball-destroying machine to the side. He hallucinates the beach balls as the heads of Morgan and Danny, who say that he has destroyed the spirit of summer. Realizing his mistake, AJ rejects the promotion. He returns to his friends outside, and together they plan the rest of their summer.
## Production
AJ's Infinite Summer was created by Toby Jones. Produced by Nate Funaro at Cartoon Network Studios, the pilot had Robert Alvarez as timing director, Sue Mondt as art director, and Phil Rynda as creative director. AJ Thompson provided the voice for the eponymous character, Wallace Langham for Danny, Mae Whitman for Morgan, Chris Parnell for Peter, and David Hill for various characters.
Jones had previously codirected AJ Goes to France, a 2006 live-action independent film that also has Thompson as the leading actor. It was produced as an assignment for Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where Jones majored in film. Jones had moved from his hometown of Fargo, North Dakota, to Minneapolis in 2005, after he graduated from Fargo South High School. For AJ's Infinite Summer, Jones was inspired by his hometown, as well as the comics he drew that featured AJ and his other friends, Danny Davy and Morgan. Additionally, the character of Peter is based on Greg Carlson, Jones' professor from Concordia and also a film director and a critic for the High Plains Reader. Secret Cities, a Fargo-based band in which Jones' friends play, provided the score for the pilot. Jones found it excellent that both his friends and his friend's band were allowed by the network to do work for the pilot.
Jones moved to Los Angeles in 2011 to work for Cartoon Network. He has written and storyboarded for Regular Show, another production on the network. His work on it gave Jones the foresight to pitch another show he knew the network would want. Initially unsure if he was ready to pitch AJ's Infinite Summer, the network rejected the pilot the first time he did but approved it on the second, after he had reworked it throughout a few months. Jones contrasted the physical limitations of animating in time and energy to the animation of the pilot itself. He cited having the character of AJ run up a wall in one scene as an example of this.
## Release and reception
AJ's Infinite Summer was released without announcement on May 16, 2014, on the official website of Cartoon Network. Long Live the Royals, another pilot, was released on the same day. This pilot was created by Sean Szeles, who has also worked on Regular Show. Jason Krell of io9 found that the plot for AJ's Infinite Summer was simple yet flexible. He described its take on life during summer vacation as "charming" and comparable with an "aged-up Phineas and Ferb". He said that he was amazed by both and that his viewership will be granted for both, should they be picked up as full series. John Lamb of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead recognized features of Fargo in the pilot, namely the high school, which he found analogous to Fargo South where Jones attended. Meanwhile, Amid Amidi of Cartoon Brew expected that the pilot would not have continuity from AJ Goes to France.
After the pilot was released, Jones found that people back in Fargo were amused to spot the differences in landmarks between their city and Downer. Jones told Lamb that since he worked in animation, he has been "surrounded by these people that I've looked up to for years as a fan, and having them tell me they enjoyed it is the greatest thing ever". As of June 2014, Jones is still mainly working on Regular Show but said that he would like it very much to have the network commission it as a series. He expressed interest in submitting it at the Fargo Film Festival. The pilot was listed in the ballot for "Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program" at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards, although it did not win. The Long Live the Royals pilot did win in this category, however, and the network later commissioned it as a miniseries of the same name. | [
"## Plot",
"## Production",
"## Release and reception"
] | 1,247 | 35,887 |
1,030,123 | Green Hill Zone | 1,171,908,455 | First level in Sonic the Hedgehog | [
"1991 in video gaming",
"Fictional elements introduced in 1991",
"Sega Genesis",
"Sonic the Hedgehog",
"Video game levels",
"Video game locations"
] | (or simply Green Hill) is the first level of the platform game Sonic the Hedgehog, which released for the Sega Genesis in 1991. The level is grassy and lush, with environmental features such as palm trees, vertical loops and cliffs, and is the home of numerous forest animals. Like the game's other levels, Green Hill comprises 3 acts; in the third, Sonic fights antagonist Doctor Eggman before moving to the second level, Marble Zone. It was constructed by level designer Hirokazu Yasuhara with its musical theme by Masato Nakamura.
Green Hill Zone is considered to be a video game classic; the level and its music have also received positive opinions from critics. It has appeared in other games in the series, such as Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Generations, Sonic Mania, Sonic Forces, and Sonic Frontiers. Critics have noted a Green Hill-like aesthetic in levels of other games.
## Description
Green Hill is the first level of Sonic the Hedgehog. Located on South Island, it is a lush, grassy stage with unique features like droopy palm trees and crumbling cliffs. In addition, as with later levels in the game, Green Hill has environmental features and obstacles like ramps, vertical loops, tunnels, spring-boards, spikes, and checkpoints. It is normally populated by woodland creatures, but antagonist Doctor Eggman imprisons them inside robots known as Badniks prior to the events of the game, so the player must destroy them to free the animals. Green Hill consists of three acts, and the end of Act 3 features a boss battle with Robotnik. After beating Robotnik, Sonic moves on to the second level, the lava-themed Marble Zone.
## Development
Sonic the Hedgehog was created by the newly formed Sonic Team, a 15-member Sega subsidiary formed to create a character that could compete with Nintendo's Mario. The game's level design was handled by Hirokazu Yasuhara, and the musical theme was composed by Masato Nakamura from the Japanese band Dreams Come True. In designing Green Hill, Yasuhara was inspired by the U.S. state of California, while the game's color scheme in general was influenced by the work of pop artist Eizin Suzuki.
The game's programmer, Yuji Naka, stated that it took him almost a year to create Green Hill and that it was created and destroyed multiple times before arriving at the final version.
## Appearances
While the original game was a 2D side-scroller, Green Hill was remade in full 3D as a secret level in the 2001 game Sonic Adventure 2; the player unlocks it after collecting all 180 of the emblems found by completing the game's many objectives. The 2011 game Sonic Generations, a title that revisits past entries in the Sonic series, features both 2D ("Classic") and 3D ("Modern") versions of Green Hill, as well as of numerous other Sonic levels. A reinterpretation of the level appears in the 2017 title Sonic Mania. Green Hill reappears in Sonic Forces, having partially turned to desert due to resource depletion by Eggman's industries. Digital recreations of Green Hill appear in the 2022 game Sonic Frontiers as part of the game's Cyber Space levels.
In addition, Green Hill appears as a stage in the 2.5D fighting game Sonic Battle, in the tennis video game Sega Superstars Tennis, in the sports video game Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, in the mobile title Sonic Dash, in the crossover adventure game Lego Dimensions, and in the crossover fighting games Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax and the Super Smash Bros. series. In the 2020 film Sonic the Hedgehog, Green Hill is depicted as Sonic's original home. The film also features Sonic living a small town in Montana named Green Hills.
## Merchandise
A Lego Ideas set based on the level was released on January 1, 2022. It received mixed reception from Alice Clarke of Kotaku, who called it "not the most thrilling build", remarking that its price was high, but that Sonic fans would love it.
## Reception
Green Hill Zone has been recognized by critics as a classic, well-known video game level. It has been described as "classic" by Samit Sarkar of Polygon and by Jim Sterling and Chris Carter of Destructoid. Comparably, Joe Skrebels of Official Nintendo Magazine called it "nostalgic", while Christopher Grant from Joystiq considered it to have a place "in the center of your retro-gaming shrine". Kevin Wong of Complex stated that the game's and level's popularity were such that "even if you didn't have a Genesis, this was the level you played at the department store while your parents went shopping." Craig Snyder at MakeUseOf named the level as one of the five best levels in video games, calling it "a great way to prepare for what’s to come".
The level's background music was particularly noted as memorable. Andy Kelly from Computer and Video Games called the Green Hill theme a "monumental slice of Sega nostalgia", and GamesRadar writer Justin Towell also referred to it as classic. Game Informer's Tim Turi found the level's music "catchy", and Wong ranked it as the thirteenth greatest piece of gaming music from the 16-bit era.
## Legacy
Later Sonic games often included callbacks to Green Hill. Turi noted that Emerald Hill from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Mushroom Hill from Sonic & Knuckles, and Seaside Hill from Sonic Heroes all fit the same general mold as Green Hill, claiming that "gamers have played Green Hill Zone dozens of times." However, he opined that the Sonic Generations version of the original Green Hill "trounces them all" in both its 2D and 3D incarnations. Justin Baker of Nintendo World Report and Skrebels both analogized Windy Hill from Sonic Lost World to Green Hill, while Carter thought similarly of The Legend of Zelda downloadable content levels. The decision to include Green Hill in other games in the series, such as Sonic Forces, has been a source of debate among some fans, who believe that Sega has overused the stage since its debut.
The version of Green Hill featured in Sonic Mania became one of that game's most "hotly contested" speedrun courses due to its added complexity in comparison to the original. The fastest route through the level was noted as constantly shifting between the top, middle, or bottom segments as speedrunners further optimized the path. Trihex, a notable speedrunner, called the level "a monster" due to its difficulty, including timed platforms.
To mark Sonic's fifteenth anniversary in 2006, Sega released a papercraft version of Green Hill as a PDF on its website. In 2011, not long after the release of Sonic Generations, Sega held a contest inviting gamers to upload YouTube video playthroughs of the game's 3D version of Green Hill completed in less than one minute and fifty seconds; winners were eligible for Sonic merchandise.
During the 30th anniversary of Sonic, Nakamura and Dreams Come True released "Tsugi no Se\~no! De - On The Green Hill - DCT version", a single of the Green Hill Zone theme which introduced lyrics to the theme for the first time was released on July 7, 2021. A music video followed just a few months after the single's release in September of that year. An alternate version of the track with more Genesis/Megadrive sounding instruments was released sometime after the single and was titled the "Masado & Miwasco version".
## See also
- World 1-1
- Level design | [
"## Description",
"## Development",
"## Appearances",
"## Merchandise",
"## Reception",
"## Legacy",
"## See also"
] | 1,595 | 14,559 |
39,060,188 | Anya's Ghost | 1,173,352,989 | Graphic novel by Vera Brosgol | [
"2011 American novels",
"2011 graphic novels",
"American bildungsromans",
"American novels adapted into films",
"American young adult novels",
"Eisner Award winners",
"First Second Books books",
"Ghost comics",
"Harvey Award winners",
"comics about women",
"fiction about murder",
"ghost novels",
"novels set in New England",
"supernatural novels"
] | Anya's Ghost is a coming-of-age ghost story in graphic novel format. The first book by cartoonist Vera Brosgol, Anya's Ghost was published on June 7, 2011.
In the novel, unpopular Anya befriends the ghost of Emily, a girl around Anya's age who died 90 years earlier. After failing to make Anya popular and happy, Emily becomes manipulative and controlling, leading Anya to discover the truth about Emily's death.
Anya's Ghost took four years from inception to publication, and is drawn predominantly in hues of violet. Well received by critics, Anya's Ghost is the recipient of Cyblis, Harvey, and Eisner awards. Production on a film adaptation of the novel was supposed to begin by the end of 2017.
## Plot
Annushka Borzakovskaya (Anya) is a Russian émigré living in the United States with her mother and brother (Sasha). Unpopular at her New England private school, Anya skips school and walks through a nearby forest. She falls into a dry well and finds herself alongside a human skeleton. The skeleton's ghost—a shy, homely girl named Emily—appears and explains that she too fell down the well and died of dehydration after breaking her neck ninety years ago. Emily wishes to befriend and help Anya, but cannot move far from her bones. Anya is soon rescued by a passerby, but Emily's skeleton remains undiscovered.
Emily later appears to Anya at school, Anya having inadvertently taken a finger bone from Emily's skeleton. Anya decides to keep the bone after Emily helps her cheat on a biology exam and spy on her crush, Sean. Emily gives her full name as Emily Reilly and explains that her fiancé died fighting in World War I, and that her parents were murdered at home. She was running from the killer when she fell down the well. Anya promises to find Emily's killer, while Emily agrees to help Anya fit in at school and win over Sean. As their friendship develops, Anya drifts away from her one friend at school, Siobhan, while Emily becomes disinterested in discovering her murderer's identity.
At Emily's insistence, Anya dresses up and goes to a party attended by Sean and his girlfriend Elizabeth. There, Anya discovers that Sean habitually cheats on Elizabeth with her knowledge. Distraught, Anya leaves the party, which makes Emily angry and confused as she believed Anya and Sean were destined for each other. Anya later notices Emily becoming more controlling and adjusting her appearance by straightening her hair and smoking ghostly cigarettes. Anya goes to the library without Emily to research the killer; there she learns that Emily had no fiancé, but had instead murdered a young couple in their home after her unrequited love rejected her, and then died running from the authorities.
When Anya returns home, the finger bone is missing. After being confronted with the truth, Emily shows that she is capable of moving solid objects, implying that she put her finger bone in Anya's bag. Emily begins threatening Anya's family to make Anya comply, even causing Anya's mother to fall down the stairs. After Emily appears before Sasha, he reveals that he found the bone earlier. Anya retrieves it and runs to the well, pursued by Emily.
Once there, Anya confronts and accuses Emily of trying to live vicariously through her. Emily rebukes Anya, saying that she is no better, and that the two of them are more alike then she wants to admit. After Emily fails to push Anya into the well, Anya drops the bone back in. Emily then possesses her own skeleton and climbs out to give further chase. Anya stops and convinces Emily of the futility of her situation, causing the tearful ghost to dissipate, and the skeleton to fall back into the well. Later, Anya convinces her school to fill the well and rekindles her friendship with Siobhan.
## Development
### Writing
Brosgol conceived the character of Anya when she was working on Put the Book Back on the Shelf (2006), a comics anthology based on the music of the Scottish indie pop band Belle and Sebastian. She wrote a short story about a disaffected schoolgirl to accompany the song "Family Tree" (from the band's 2000 album Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant). Brosgol didn't finish the story, but enjoyed drawing "that character with her fat little legs and cigarettes." Then, after reading Haruki Murakami's novel The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, she decided her unnamed character should fall down a well. The rest of the story came later, drawn from the author's own life and other inspiration. Brosgol started work on Anya's Ghost in 2007.
### Production
As Anya's Ghost was her first book, Brosgol said that its production was an exercise in trial and error. Brosgol does not work from a script, saying that "the art and the dialogue come at the same time and one suggests the other". She prefers to illustrate events rather than use dialogue in her comics. Working from a detailed outline, Brosgol drew thumbnails of each panel—two to a page in a Moleskine notebook—and wrote the dialogue as she went along.
From her thumbnails, Brosgol used her Wacom Cintiq to draw a rough version of the ultimate art. This rough version of Anya's Ghost went to her editor for approval. After approval, Brosgol went back through her rough draft and "tightened the roughs up just enough so that [she] could ink them". She then used paintbrushes (being especially particular about her Winsor & Newton Series 7s) to paint on Canson translucent vellum atop her printed-out rough draft. Brosgol inked the panels and speech balloons first, adding in the lettering digitally later with a custom font developed for her by John Martz; she colored the novel in Adobe Photoshop.
Anya's Ghost is drawn in what Pamela Paul called a "deep violet palette" that Brosgol called "purpley-blue". The artist herself said she chose the colors "for no other reason than I like purpley-blue and I think it feels right for the story". Susan Carpenter of the Los Angeles Times interpreted the colors as "a subtle underscoring of Anya's bruised ego".
### Publication
Having worked on Kazu Kibuishi's Flight comics, Brosgol contacted his talent agent Judith Hansen who had agreed to look at the work of anybody involved. After completing the art for Anya's Ghost in 2009, Brosgol brought it to Hansen, who agreed to represent the artist. Brosgol finished the cover art in 2010, and then "there's a full year on the end for printing, and marketing, and all of that which comes with a book publisher." The book was published on June 7, 2011 by First Second Books.
## Reception
Anya's Ghost won the 2011 Cybils literary award in the Young Adult category. It also won the 2012 Harvey Award for "Best Original Graphic Publication for Younger Readers" and the 2012 Eisner Award for "Best Publication for Young Adults (Ages 12–17)". Anya's Ghost was nominated for the 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Best Graphic Novel, but lost to Neonomicon by Alan Moore.
The Los Angeles Times' Susan Carpenter reviewed the graphic novel and described it as "a well-paced story that feels dynamic and also intimate." She further lauded the work, calling it "humorous" and "beautifully drawn". Pamela Paul of The New York Times compared Anya's Ghost positively to Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, saying that the novel felt real (even with its supernatural elements) and that Anya was "a smart, funny and compassionate portrait of someone who, for all her sulking and sneering, is the kind of daughter many parents would like to have." Wired's Kathy Ceceri also noted an artistic similarity to Persepolis; she not only liked how Anya's Ghost intertwined the teenage angst and fantasy elements of the novel, but praised how Anya's desire for a boyfriend doesn't overwhelm the story. Cory Doctorow reviewed Anya's Ghost for Boing Boing, calling it "really sweet, really funny and really scary, [with] a powerful message about identity, fitting in, and the secret selfish bastard lurking in all of us and whether having such a goblin inside makes us irredeemable or merely human." Whitney Matheson with USA Today wrote that Anya's Ghost is a "funny, creepy and a delightful page-turner" and cited author Neil Gaiman who called the novel "a masterpiece". Steve Duin of The Oregonian praised the inventiveness of Brosgol's storytelling, and called her art "[a] little uneven, but ... at its best when the lights go out." Almost six years after its publication, Paste listed Anya's Ghost as a comic having "the potential to mean something special, to offer something valuable and important, whether that’s revelatory depth or escapist fun, to a young reader."
## Film adaptation
Andy and Barbara Muschietti, director and producer of the 2013 horror film Mama, bought the film rights to Anya's Ghost in 2015. That October, they were speaking with scriptwriter Patrick Ness for a screenplay, and in August 2017, Deadline Hollywood announced that, with a script by Ness, production of the Anya's Ghost film would "begin before year’s end." Dan Mazer would direct, Jeremy Bolt and Benedict Carver would produce, and Entertainment One was financing the film. Bolt described Ness as "passionate about the source material", having written a "fresh and distinctive" screenplay; Bolt went on to describe the film as a "classic high school comedy with a supernatural twist." According to Deadline Hollywood, Emma Roberts had been cast to star in the film.
## See also | [
"## Plot",
"## Development",
"### Writing",
"### Production",
"### Publication",
"## Reception",
"## Film adaptation",
"## See also"
] | 2,091 | 8,330 |
49,276,403 | Wave 1 | 1,170,674,708 | null | [
"2014 EPs",
"Com Truise EPs",
"Ghostly International EPs"
] | Wave 1 is the third extended play released under synthwave musician Seth Haley's pseudonym Com Truise. Haley described his releases as Com Truise as parts of a story about the world's first "Synthetic Astronaut" on his adventure to a planet, and Wave 1 is where he lands on a kind-of replica of Earth. Musically, Haley had to get inspiration from several artists as this part of the story is also where the music starts to change.
The EP is a combination of styles including synth soul, drum and bass, synth funk and electro, and retains the bright and danceable vibe from Com Truise's debut album Galactic Melt (2011). Promoted with two pre-EP track releases, a music video for the track "Subsonic" and a February–March 2014 tour, the EP was issued on the Ghostly International label in February 2014 to generally positive reviews, with critics praising the record's creativity. Commercially, it also landed in the top ten of the American Billboard Dance/Electronic and Heatseekers album charts.
## Background and composition
In a June 2013 Twitter post, Seth Haley said he wrote Wave 1 without knowing it was a reflection of how he was living in the few months of his life before. He started taking care of his health, suffered through an ended relationship, and relocated to Brooklyn. He said that despite not usually revealing his personal life publicly, he said in an interview that when he makes his music, : "it's always just there, and it happens, but I don't focus on it. My music's all based on this story about an android that travels to this other planet. So I'm not really writing about myself, but then I realized I have been all along. It's all been about me."
Maintaining the bright and danceable feel from Com Truise's 2011 debut studio album Galactic Melt and garnering more of a melodic approach than previous releases of the project, Wave 1 is a combination of synth soul, drum and bass, synth funk, electro, and, in the words of a Pitchfork Media reviewer, "fussy 80s computer-pop". Seth Haley has described the character of Com Truise as the first ever "Synthetic Astronaut", and each release under the name shows the next part in this voyage to a planet. Wave 1 is a part of the story where he lands on a sort-of replica of Earth, and Haley thought there was "something eerie about it, something familiar but something peculiar as well." Because this was also meant to be a part of the story where the music starts changing, he had taken inspiration from several acts including New Order and Prince to have a much broader range of tempos and styles in each track.
## Tracks
The opener "Wasat" sets the scene of the story, starting with a short, atmospheric prelude before it moves into "an uptempo, hypercolor groove". The "VHS-quality dubstep" track "Mind" is where the record gets suspenseful, as the drums "threaten" to become, but doesn't entirely become, a fully developed hard-hitting four-on-the-floor beat. These two tracks were described by a Spectrum Culture critic as "a practice in coalescence; taking a moment to take shape and then defying one another’s difference until they too find their peaceful plane of existence." The most melodic track on the EP, "Declination", as well as probably the "most straightforwardly melodic" cut in Com Truise's discography as of the release of the EP, "glides into your headphones like a starship slipping down out of hyperspace", featuring vocals of Joel Ford from the projects Ford & Lopatin, Airbird and Young Ejecta. As a reviewer analyzed, the track opens as "spine-tingling sci-fi dissonance" before turning into a 1980s-esque new wave song.
Wave 1 decreases its tensions on "Subsonic", which goes through several "movements" of slow-building, evocative sounds, including a "hell of a squelchy bass", that the press release analogized to be "soundtracking" the creation of new stars. This evocative vibe continues into "Valis Called (Control)", its title referencing the works of one of the considered "gods of this retro synth phenomenon" Philip K. Dick, followed by the "futuristic R&B" song "Meserere Mei", a track consisting of broken drum beats and spiky synth sounds. The Jamie xx-style title track of Wave 1 calmly ends the EP as the lead melody drifts far away into several "zipping" sci-fi textures and "clustered percussion."
## Promotion and release
The lead single for Wave 1 was "Declination", released on December 3, 2013. On January 23, 2014, "Subsonic" premiered on the website of Spin magazine, which announced the EP's track list and a North American tour promoting the record that lasted from February 11 to March 15. The EP was officially distributed on the Ghostly International label on February 18. On April 14, Vice magazine's electronic music channel Thump premiered the video for "Subsonic". Directed by Hans Lo, Thump summarized that the video "jacks us into a William Gibson novel, leading us through the gridded passages of the Information Superhighway."
## Critical reception
Wave 1 received generally positive reviews upon its release; the EP holds a weighted mean of an aggregate 69 out of 100 from Metacritic based on six reviews, indicating that, according to the site, the album's critical reception was favorable in general. Daniel Sylvester of Exclaim! called the EP "looser, more focused and much more imaginative" that Com Truise's past work, writing that while the artist has yet to make "a truly transcendent piece of art, Wave 1 shows the young beatmaker in transition, fearlessly searching for his definitive sound." Similarly, Sputnikmusic reviewer hyperion praised Wave 1 for making a unique new sound with the chillwave palette instead of having limits from the genre, assuming that it could've been the peak of the microgenre if the record's other songs were as good as "Valis Called (Control)" and "Subsonic". Mark Jenkins reviewed it for The Washington Post, and mainly highlighted its unpredictable melodic and rhythmic moments, while Pat Levy, reviewing for Consequence of Sound, honored Haley for getting out of his comfort zone while still having the same sounds and style of his past records. Pitchfork Media's Paul Thompson liked the EP as "a mostly welcome return," but criticized its focus of having perfectly-detailed sound instead of new musical ideas.
In more mixed reviews, Derek Staples, writing for the site Spectrum Culture, wrote that with Wave 1, the artist was starting to lose his "inventive edge" in trying to recreate the same sound of his past releases for nostalgic purposes. A NME critic praised the sounds on the EP, but called it more "disjointed" and "disorienting" than his past albums due to its "abrasive" and glitchy sound and lack of a "steady groove." A reviewer for the magazine XLR8R wrote that Wave 1 may interest listeners, but also was an indication Com Truise's creativity may decline with releases in his later career.
## Track listing
## Credits and personnel
Source:
- Songwriting, production, artwork – Com Truise
- Vocals on "Declination" – Joel Ford
## Release history
## Charts | [
"## Background and composition",
"## Tracks",
"## Promotion and release",
"## Critical reception",
"## Track listing",
"## Credits and personnel",
"## Release history",
"## Charts"
] | 1,586 | 24,549 |
69,388,304 | Pronunciation of GIF | 1,172,549,062 | Linguistic dispute | [
"English phonology",
"English usage controversies",
"Internet culture"
] | The pronunciation of GIF, an acronym for the Graphics Interchange Format, has been disputed since the 1990s. Popularly rendered in English as a one-syllable word, the acronym is most commonly pronounced /ɡɪf/ (with a hard g as in gift) or /dʒɪf/ (with a soft g as in gem), differing in the phoneme represented by the letter G. Many public figures and institutions have taken sides in the debate; Steve Wilhite, the creator of the image file format, gave a speech at the 2013 Webby Awards arguing for the soft-g pronunciation. Others have pointed to the term's origin from abbreviation of the hard-g word graphics to argue for the other pronunciation.
The controversy stems partly from the fact that there is no general rule for how the letter sequence gi is to be pronounced; the hard g prevails in words such as gift, while the soft g is used in others such as ginger. In addition, some speakers enunciate each letter in the acronym, producing /dʒiː aɪ ɛf/ . English dictionaries generally accept both main alternatives as valid, and linguistic analyses show no clear advantage for either based on the pronunciation frequencies of similar English words. The pronunciation of the acronym can also vary in languages other than English.
## Background
The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is an image file format developed in 1987 by Steve Wilhite at the American online service provider CompuServe. GIFs are popularly used to display short, looped animations. The acronym GIF, commonly pronounced as a monosyllable, has a disputed pronunciation. Some individuals pronounce the word with a hard g, as in /ɡɪf/ , whereas others pronounce it with a soft g, as in /dʒɪf/ . A minority prefer to enunciate each letter of the acronym individually, creating the pronunciation /dʒiː aɪ ɛf/ .
Wilhite and the team who developed the file format included in the technical specifications that the acronym was to be pronounced with a soft g. In the specifications, the team wrote that "choosy programmers choose ... 'jif'", in homage to the peanut butter company Jif's advertising slogan of "choosy moms choose Jif". According to ABC News, the debate stretches as far back as 1994, with an author of an encyclopedia of image formats stating that "most people" seem to prefer the hard g pronunciation over his preferred soft g.
### Other languages
In French, the acronym tends to be pronounced , with the voiced postalveolar fricative, , as in the j in the French joie or the s in the English measure or vision, even though , which does not occur in native vocabulary, tends to be retained in English loanwords (such as jeans). Some languages lack English's soft and hard g sounds in their phonologies; Spanish and Finnish, for example, lack in their native words. In Norwegian, GIF is pronounced with a hard g, , unlike native words, for which the sequence would be pronounced with a voiced palatal approximant, , like the y in English yes.
## Analysis
### Cause
In English, the linguistic controversy stems partly from the fact that there is no general rule for how the letter sequence gi is to be pronounced; the hard g prevails in words such as gift, while the soft g is used in others, such as ginger. In Old English, g would make the soft g sound as well as y's consonant sound, and when the hard g was added, both its hard and soft variations persisted when followed by i.
An analysis of 269 words by linguist Michael Dow found near-tied results on whether a hard or soft g was more appropriate based on other English words; the results varied somewhat depending on what parameters were used. Of the 105 words that contained gi somewhere in the word, 68 used the soft g while only 37 employed its counterpart. However, the hard g words were found to be significantly more common in everyday English; comparatively obscure words like flibbertigibbet and tergiversate, both pronounced with a soft g, were included in the list of 68 soft gi words. When the prevalence of each word was taken into account, it was found that the hard and soft g appeared in nearly equal frequencies in gi words. No clear favorite was found by only using the words that begin with gi, nor by only using words with one syllable such as gift and gin.
In her coverage of Dow's piece, Canadian linguist Gretchen McCulloch theorizes that since the hard and soft g in this context are used with near-equal frequency, when a person first encounters the word GIF, they make a guess akin to flipping a coin by comparing it to other words they have encountered in the past. Once they have a favorite one way or the other, the notion is solidified—leading McCulloch to comment that this "probably means we'll be fighting the gif pronunciation war for generations to come".
### Arguments
A 2019 analysis by linguist Marten van der Meulen found that the most common arguments employed online over the pronunciation of GIF are "system" arguments, which support one side of the debate by contending that the pronunciation should flow from a consistent rule of language. One example of this would be the "system acronym" argument: the idea that because the letter G in GIF stands for the word graphics, it ought to be pronounced in the acronym with the same phoneme as in the word, i.e. with a hard g. This particular argument is sometimes accompanied by the quip that if the acronym were to be pronounced with a soft g, the word should be pronounced likewise, as /ˈdʒræfɪks/ ("jraphics"). A rebuttal to this argument is that acronyms are not required to follow the pronunciations of their root words. For example, the letter u in the word scuba /ˈskuːbə/ —an acronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus—is pronounced /uː/ even though its deriving word, underwater, is pronounced instead with /ʌ/. A similar acronym discrepancy arises with NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, pronounced /ˈnæsə/ ).
Another example of a "system" argument is frequency analysis, which examines how many other English words employ hard or soft g pronunciations in other situations, similar to Dow's analysis. After Steve Wilhite announced his opinion that the soft g pronunciation was the only correct form, there was significant chatter on social media and in the press on both sides of the issue. An article by Casey Chan, writing for Gizmodo, argued that Wilhite was wrong because soft g words followed by if should be spelled with the letter j, such as the "jiffy" in "Jiffy Lube" and "be back in a jiffy", as well as the peanut butter company Jif.
The next most common argument found in van der Meulen's analysis was an argument that cited an authority, usually Wilhite, as the creator of the file format. After Wilhite announced his support for the soft g pronunciation, many recognized him as the authority on the pronunciation of the word due to his creation of its format. Wilhite is the most commonly cited authority for the pronunciation of GIF; 65.2 percent of surveyed arguments citing an authority favored a soft g. Some, including Casey Chan, cited U.S. President Barack Obama in supporting the hard g; others cited various dictionaries, or software assistants such as Siri as authorities for GIF's pronunciation.
### Polling
A 2014 Mashable poll of more than 30,000 people worldwide found that seven in ten used the hard g. Van der Meulen's analysis found that 57.2 percent of users who offered an opinion supported the hard g, while 31.8 percent favored the soft g. The analysis also found that 8.2 percent of users support both pronunciations, while favoring the soft g, and 2.8 percent favored enunciating each letter.
An informal poll of developers on Stack Overflow showed that 65.6 percent of respondents favored the hard g pronunciation, while 26.3 percent used the soft g, 6 percent sounded out every letter, and 2 percent employed a different pronunciation altogether. However, an analysis from The Economist argued that the disparities in the results were exaggerated by sampling bias; the article commented that while the countries where the hard g is used make up 45 percent of the world's population, respondents from those countries comprised 79 percent of the sample. When the populations of each country were adjusted for, the analysis found that hard g still led, albeit by a narrower margin of 44 percent to 32 percent for soft g. In addition, this adjustment brought the popularity of pronouncing each letter up to 21 percent; this variation is common in Asian countries, where it is employed by half of Chinese respondents and 70 percent of South Korean respondents. Developed countries as a whole tended to favor the hard g pronunciation.
### Dictionaries
Different dictionaries disagree on the inclusion and ordering of different pronunciations.
## Incidents
In May 2013, Wilhite was presented with a lifetime achievement award at the annual Webby Awards honoring excellence on the Internet. Upon accepting the award at the ceremony, Wilhite displayed a five-word slide that simply read, in all caps: "It's pronounced 'jif' not 'gif'". Here, jif refers to the soft g pronunciation. Following the speech, Wilhite told The New York Times: "The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations. They are wrong. It is a soft g ... End of story."
The audience attending the ceremony reacted positively to the short speech, but it generated controversy online, with some commentators pushing back against Wilhite's pronunciation. Van der Meulen remarked that this "seems to be the first ever coiner of a word (or acronym, to be more specific) who gave usage advice about his own creation". More than 17,000 tweets were made in the aftermath of the speech, making "GIF" a trending topic, and more than 50 news articles were written on the incident. The Columbia Journalism Review remarked three years later that the debate seemed to peak with this incident. The peanut butter company Jif responded to a tweet asking how they were feeling following the speech, commenting, "We're nuts about him today." Seven years later, Jif performed a publicity stunt with GIF-hosting platform Giphy. The two companies released a joint statement, arguing that the correct pronunciation employs a hard g and releasing limited-time jars of peanut butter labeled "GIF" instead of "JIF".
In October 2013, The New York Times faced some light criticism on social media for an article that began with the words, "A GIF, pronounced jif, is a compressed image file format invented in 1987." The article included a link to an earlier article from the newspaper, covering Wilhite's speech and the quote he gave them. In December 2013, Alex Trebek, the host of game show Jeopardy!, attracted media attention when the final clue of the episode referenced Wilhite's presentation and opinion on the pronunciation. Trebek read out the responses of contestants using a soft g when the word "GIF" appeared in the correct responses of all three contestants. In the past, Trebek had pronounced each letter individually, to remain neutral.
In June 2014, Barack Obama, then President of the United States, opined that the acronym should be pronounced with a hard g when prompted in a conversation with David Karp, the founder of Tumblr. Miles Klee of The Daily Dot highlighted an April 2013 post on the White House's Tumblr blog, which included a humorous infographic with the text "animated GIFs (hard 'g')".
## See also
- English usage controversies
- Hard and soft g
- Linguistic prescription | [
"## Background",
"### Other languages",
"## Analysis",
"### Cause",
"### Arguments",
"### Polling",
"### Dictionaries",
"## Incidents",
"## See also"
] | 2,505 | 42,589 |
13,803,658 | The Guardian of Education | 1,147,577,294 | Defunct British children's literature review magazine | [
"1802 establishments in the United Kingdom",
"1806 disestablishments in the United Kingdom",
"19th-century British children's literature",
"Book review magazines",
"Children's literature criticism",
"Children's magazines published in the United Kingdom",
"Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom",
"Magazines disestablished in 1806",
"Magazines established in 1802"
] | The Guardian of Education was the first successful periodical dedicated to reviewing children's literature in Britain. It was edited by 18th-century educationalist, children's author, and Sunday school advocate Sarah Trimmer and was published from June 1802 until September 1806 by J. Hatchard and F. C. and J. Rivington. The journal offered child-rearing advice and assessments of contemporary educational theories, and Trimmer even proffered her own educational theory after evaluating the major works of the day.
Fearing the influence of French Revolutionary ideals, particularly those of philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Trimmer emphasized orthodox Anglicanism and encouraged the perpetuation of the contemporary social and political order. Despite her conservatism, however, she agreed with Rousseau and other progressive educational reformers on many issues, such as the damaging effects of rote learning and the irrationalism of fairy tales.
The Guardian of Education was the first periodical to review children's books seriously and with a distinctive set of criteria. Trimmer's reviews were carefully thought out; they influenced publishers and authors to alter the content of their books, helped to define the new genre of children's literature, and greatly affected the sales of children's books. The Guardian also offered the first history of children's literature; establishing a list of landmark books, which scholars still use today.
## Founding and structure
Sarah Trimmer was prompted to publish The Guardian of Education by the flood of new children's books on the market early in the nineteenth century and by her fear that those books might contain French Revolutionary values. The 1790s had been one of the most tumultuous decades in Europe's history, with the French revolution, increased demands for reform in Britain, and the French Revolutionary Wars. Following this upsurge in radicalism, a conservative backlash erupted in Britain; the Guardian was, in many ways, a part of this movement. In its pages, Trimmer denounced the Revolution and the philosophers whose works she believed were responsible for it, particularly Jean-Jacques Rousseau. She argued that there existed a vast conspiracy, organized by the atheistic and democratic revolutionaries of France, to undermine and overthrow the legitimate governments of Europe. From her perspective, the conspirators were attempting to overturn traditional society by "endeavouring to infect the minds of the rising generation, through the medium of Books of Education and Children's Books" [emphasis Trimmer's]. She intended to combat this conspiracy by pointing parents towards properly Christian books.
Each issue of Trimmer's Guardian was divided into three sections: 1) extracts from texts which Trimmer thought would edify her adult readers (grouped under "Memoirs" and "Extracts from Sermons"); 2) an essay by Trimmer commenting on educational issues (contained in sections such as "Original Essays" and "Systems of Education Examined"); 3) and reviews of children's books. Trimmer herself wrote all of the essays listed under her name and all of the reviews, but she was not the author of the texts she extracted. The issues did not always consist of the same sections; for example, beginning in 1804 Trimmer started including an "Essay on Christian Education" and in 1805 occasionally reviewed "School books". Beginning a tradition that persists to this day, she divided the books she reviewed by age group: "Examination of Books for Children" (for those under fourteen) and "Books for Young Persons" (for those between fourteen and twenty-one).
Matthew Grenby, the foremost expert on Trimmer, estimates that the Guardian'''s circulation was between 1,500 and 3,500 copies per issue. Thus the Guardian's circulation was probably comparable to political periodicals such as the Tory Critical Review and the British Critic, which both reached 3,500 by 1797, or the Analytical Review, which reached about 1,500, but not to the Monthly Review, which reached approximately 5,000. From June 1802 until January 1804, the Guardian appeared monthly; from then until it ceased publication in September 1806, it was issued quarterly. There were 28 issues in all.
Trimmer undertook a challenging task in publishing her periodical. According to Grenby, she aimed "to assess the current state of educational policy and praxis in Britain and to shape its future direction". To do so, she evaluated the educational theories of Rousseau, John Locke, Mary Wollstonecraft, Hannah More, Madame de Genlis, Joseph Lancaster, and Andrew Bell, among others. In her "Essay on Christian Education", subsequently published separately as a pamphlet, she proposed her own comprehensive educational program.
## Reviewing criteria and values
The Guardian of Education was the first periodical to take the reviewing of children's books seriously. Trimmer's over four hundred reviews constituted a set of distinct and identifiable criteria regarding what was valuable in this new genre. As a high-church Anglican, she was intent on protecting Christianity from secularism as well as evangelicalism, particularly as the latter manifested itself in Methodism. Her reviews also reveal her to be a staunch monarchist and opponent of the French Revolution. As Grenby puts it, "her initial questions of any children's books that came before her were always first, was it damaging to religion and second, was it damaging to political loyalty and the established social hierarchy". Religion was Trimmer's first priority and her emphasis on the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy illustrated her fundamentalism. She wrote to a friend: "I will only say, that the more I reflect on the subject, the more I am convinced that it is not right to supersede the figurative style in which they speak of God and divine things, my opinion is, that whoever attempts to teach the truths of divine revelation, should follow the method of the inspired writers as nearly as possible" [emphasis Trimmer's]. For Trimmer, the truth of the Bible was not only in its content, but also in its style, and some of her harshest reviews were written against texts that altered both the style and the substance of the Bible.
Trimmer's fundamentalism, Grenby argues, does not necessarily mark her as a rigid thinker. Grenby points out that Trimmer, like Rousseau, believed children were naturally good. In this view, she was arguing against centuries of tradition, particularly Puritanical attitudes towards raising children (exemplified in the doctrine of original sin). Although she attacked Rousseau's works, Grenby argues that she agreed with "Rousseau's key idea, later taken up by the Romantics, that children should not be forced to become adults too early", in particular that they should not be exposed to political issues too soon. Trimmer also maintained that mothers and fathers should share the responsibility of caring for the family. Like the progressive educational reformers and children's authors Maria Edgeworth and Thomas Day and even Rousseau himself, Trimmer opposed rote learning and advocated flexible and conversational lessons that encouraged critical thinking in children. She also promoted breastfeeding (a controversial position at the time) and parental involvement in childhood education.
In his analysis of her reviews, Grenby comes to the conclusion "Trimmer was ... not nearly so vitriolic in her reviewing as her reputation suggests.... fewer than 50 [of the reviews] were chiefly negative, and of these only 18 were thoroughly excoriating. These were easily outweighed by the positive notices, although most of her reviews were mixed or – more surprisingly given her reputation for always impassioned appraisal – ambivalent." She objected primarily to texts that altered the Bible, such as William Godwin's Bible Stories (1802), and secondarily to books that promoted ideas she associated with the French Revolution. She also criticized the inclusion of scenes of death, characters who were insane, and representations of sexuality, as well as books that might frighten children. She typically praises books that encourage intellectual instruction, such as Anna Barbauld's Lessons for Children (1778–79).
### Fairy tales
Trimmer is perhaps most famous now for her condemnation of fairy tales, such as the various translations of Charles Perrault's Histoires ou Contes du Temps passé (1697). She disliked fairy tales because they endorsed an irrational view of the world and success without work. Trimmer's view of fairy tales, although often ridiculed by modern critics, was widespread at the end of the eighteenth century, in part because most educators accepted John Locke's theory that the mind was a tabula rasa and therefore particularly sensitive to impressions early in life. Trimmer was opposed to fairy tales that were not grounded in reality and which would "excite an unregulated sensibility" in the reader. Without a proper moral or a moralizing narrator, fairy tales could lead a reader astray. Above all, she was concerned about "unmediated", unknown, and unsupervised feelings in the child reader. One of the reasons Trimmer believed fairy tales were dangerous was because they led child readers into a fantasy world where adults could not follow and control their exposure to harmful experiences. She was just as horrified by the graphic illustrations included with some fairy tale collections, complaining that "little children, whose minds are susceptible of every impression; and who from the liveliness of their imaginations are apt to convert into realities whatever forcibly strikes their fancy" should not be allowed to see such scenes as Blue Beard hacking his wife's head off.
Fairy tales were often found in chapbooks—cheap, disposable literature—which contained sensational stories such as Jack the Giant Killer along with lewder tales such as How to restore a lost Maidenhead, or solder a Crackt one. Chapbooks were the literature of the poor and Trimmer attempted to separate children's literature from texts she associated with the lower classes. Trimmer criticized the values associated with fairy tales, accusing them of perpetuating irrationality, superstition, and unfavorable images of stepparents. Rather than seeing Trimmer as a censor of fairy tales, therefore, children's literature scholar Nicholas Tucker has argued, "by considering fairy tales as fair game for criticism rather than unthinking worship, Mrs Trimmer is at one with scholars today who have also written critically about the ideologies found in some individual stories".
### French Revolution and religion
Trimmer's views of the French philosophes were shaped by Abbé Barruel's Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism (1797–98) (she extracted large sections from this text into the Guardian itself) but also by her fears of the ongoing wars between France and Britain during the 1790s. Trimmer emphasized Christianity above all in her writings and maintained that one should to turn to God in times of trial. As children's literature scholar M. Nancy Cutt argues, Trimmer and writers like her "claimed emphatically that the degree of human happiness was in direct proportion to the degree of submission to the divine Will. Thus they repudiated the moralists' view that learning should exalt reason and work to the temporal happiness of the individual, which was governed by the best interests of society." Trimmer and her allies contended that French pedagogical theories led to an immoral nation, specifically, "deism, infidelity and revolution".
## Reception and legacy
Although one previous attempt had been made to regularly review British children's books it was not as comprehensive, did not last as long, and was not nearly as influential as Trimmer's Guardian. Grenby suggests, for example, that Godwin changed the name of his Bible Stories to Sacred Histories after Trimmer's attack on it and the publishers of John Newbery's Tom Telescope and the Philosophy of Tops and Balls immediately removed the material Trimmer found offensive. Other scholars have argued that authors wrote with Trimmer's reviewing criteria in mind, one going so far as to call it "a manual for prospective writers". However, Trimmer's reviews were not always heeded; for example, her negative review of the sentimental works of Edward Augustus Kendall, such as Keeper's Travels in Search of His Master, did little to dampen the sales of his works.
With its four hundred reviews, The Guardian of Education, as Grenby writes, "contributed to the establishment of children's literature as a secure, permanent and respectable literary genre". By excluding novels, chapbooks, tracts, ballads, and fairy tales, it effectively decided what counted as children's literature and what did not. Furthermore, in one of her early essays, "Observations on the Changes which have taken place in Books for Children and Young Persons", Trimmer wrote the first history of children's literature. Its landmark books, such as Sarah Fielding's The Governess (1749) and John Newbery's The History of Little Goody Two Shoes'' (1765), are still cited today by scholars as important in the development of children's literature.
It was not until the last quarter of the nineteenth century, with the publication of the work of children's author and literary critic Charlotte Mary Yonge, that any sustained reviewing or historicizing of children's literature took place again. | [
"## Founding and structure",
"## Reviewing criteria and values",
"### Fairy tales",
"### French Revolution and religion",
"## Reception and legacy"
] | 2,677 | 41,024 |
34,057,054 | Susanna Paine | 1,149,480,319 | American artist (1792–1862) | [
"1792 births",
"1862 deaths",
"19th-century American painters",
"19th-century American women artists",
"American portrait painters",
"American women painters",
"Artists from Providence, Rhode Island",
"Painters from Massachusetts",
"Painters from Rhode Island",
"People from Rehoboth, Massachusetts"
] | Susanna Paine, also known as Susannah and Susan (June 9, 1792 – November 10, 1862), was an American portrait artist in New England in the 19th century. She published poetry, a Christmas hymn, a novel, and an autobiography entitled Roses and Thorns, or Recollections of an Artist.
As a young girl, she was an excellent student, but needed to quit school at the age of 11 to care for her ill grandmother. At 15, she taught school and a year later joined an academy in Providence, Rhode Island, where she earned her way through school by making and selling needlework. She graduated with highest honors and established a school that she operated for years. Paine gave the profits to her family, and she helped support them throughout most of her life.
She had a short marriage characterized by abuse and control. A child was born to the couple, but died 11 months later. Before the child's birth, Paine had left her husband and obtained a divorce. To support herself, she taught school for a period and then began to work as a portraitist. She traveled throughout Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine accepting commissions for portraits of individuals or families from 1826 through 1862. Because she lived a mobile lifestyle, she had few long-lasting relationships. The closest personal relationship of her life was with her mother. She raised a girl, however, for three years and taught her how to paint. Once she became a professional portraitist she had periods of financial security, but that and her physical health vacillated over the course of her career.
## Early life
Susanna Paine, born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, on June 9, 1792, was the second child of James Paine (b. 1764–65) and Mary Chaffee Paine (1767–1849). Her father was a mariner. When she was a young girl, he was lost at sea. She then lived with her maternal grandparents, Reverend Jonathan Chaffee and Mary Chaffee. Paine, an excellent student, attended school until she was 11 years of age, when she was needed to help care for her ill grandmother. The following year she nearly died as the result of a lightning strike that killed the person standing beside her. Believed to have died, she resumed consciousness after one hour, but suffered from seizures for several years after the incident. Her mother married widower Nathaniel Thurber on April 9, 1808, and the combined household, including his four children, moved to a Foster, Rhode Island, farm.
At 15 years of age, Paine taught school and then attended "the best Academy in Rhode Island", which she financed through the sales of her needlework. Paine learned how to paint with watercolor at the academy and graduated with the highest honors; she was sufficiently trained "to teach any of the common branches of education." Upon graduation Paine established a school near her mother and stepfather's house. The profits she made from the school were given to her mother and on one occasion loaned to her stepfather.
Reluctantly, and at her mother's insistence, she married James Phillips on November 4, 1819. Her husband—a gambler—was abusive, tyrannical and cruel. According to Paine, she left her husband after "one year and two months of cruel bondage". Paine returned to her mother's house and three months later gave birth to her son on August 30, 1821. The child, Theodore Winthrop Phillips, died 11 months later. The Rhode Island Supreme Court granted Paine a divorce from her husband in 1821 or 1823. Paine was left destitute, receiving no alimony and relinquishing previously owned property.
Paine resumed teaching and painted portraits to supplement her earnings, allowing her to support herself and send money to her mother, stepfather and their family, who had moved to Connecticut. Up to this point her life had been one of turmoil and financial precariousness. Rather than marry another man to secure a better standard of living, she developed a career so that she could support herself.
> I was very diligent: toiling incessantly at my easel, until the picture was finished: when I viewed it with great complacency, (artist like) and called Mrs. R., my patron and landlady, to look at it for the first time. She entered with an anxious, doubting look—but at the first glance she started back, in surprise—then fell into perfect rapture, declaring it was "most excellent"... The next day, the house was "inundated" with callers. They entered my "sanctum" with eager looks, to see whither [sic]—a woman could paint a likeness? When lo, they all applauded, beyond my most sanguine hopes—or expectations.
## Artist
Paine worked as a professional portrait painter by traveling through New England and placing advertisements in local newspapers to solicit business. She and Ruth Henshaw Bascom were two of 11 or more women who worked as professional itinerant portraitists in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
> In many ways, her [Paine's] career typified the itinerant portraitist in the early nineteenth-century United States. Her anxiety over commissions, the constant threat of poverty and corresponding need for mobility in search of work, would have been familiar to contemporary American painters both male and female.
Paine was "a woman of stalwart proportions, weighing over 200 pounds, and was a very original character..." She was also described as an idealist. Paine was subject to criticism for traveling alone as a woman, but found it was safe to stay in boarding houses, secured through "several letters of introduction" from trusted people. To establish herself as a "genteel" artist, she studied art at the Boston Athenæum, stayed at upscale boarding houses, and became a published writer.
Throughout her career, Paine generally made oil paintings on 1/2 inch wood panels of which the sides and back were washed in red, gray-green, or green-blue. The subjects of the paintings were often portrayed in a confident manner in half-length poses. Their accessories, hair, and clothing were often "elaborately detailed". The placement of hands, tables, and other objects could be awkward. She had a tendency to paint the sitters with long hands, light flesh tones, doelike eyes and round faces. Paine was known to take liberties in the portrayal of her subjects; she once painted a gray-eyed man's portrait with black eyes because she thought they were more attractive.
### Maine
She traveled alone for the first time in 1826 to Portland, Maine, and placed a business advertisement in the December 12 edition of the Portland Advertiser. The standard rate for large oil portraits at that time was US\$20–\$30, but Paine advertised \$8 for large portraits. Not having received any leads for work, she placed a January ad with a testimonial, which said that her portrait's were a good likeness of the subject and well executed—and that women might find "a pride and pleasure in patronizing a female artist." Once she made a painting for her landlady and neighbors saw it, she began to receive commissions for her work.
Paine worked in southern Maine, Portland, and New Hampshire in 1827 and 1828. Initially, she had sufficient commissions to support the rental of a furnished parlor, an office for painting, and another office to exhibit her portraits. A religious woman, Paine adopted simpler clothing as a spiritual practice during this time. As her health declined, she engaged nursing services, which left her short of funds. Paine answered a friend's request to return to Providence to paint her dying daughter, and still in poor health, stayed there several months.
Paine worked as an artist in Maine until about 1831. One of her subjects while in Portland was George Morillo Bartol, her portrait of him sold for US\$38,513 on March 6, 2011.
### Massachusetts
She received formal art training at the Boston Athenæum around 1832 and spent the following summer in Cape Ann. Paine, one of the first artists to paint on Cape Ann, returned for several years, interrupted by visits to her mother each spring and fall. She was in the village of Annisquam on Cape Ann by 1834, when she painted portraits of families. Paine continued to paint on the cape during the 1830s and 1840s. She found it to be a unique place:
> The scenery was delightful; and the people just to my liking... No one was very rich, and no one very poor; they all seemed on an equality... Kindness, benevolence and good will, were the most prominent traits of their lives, and characters.
She raised a girl, who she called her adopted daughter, from 12 to 15 years of age. During that time Paine taught her to paint and they lived for a few months in Fall River, Massachusetts. During a visit to her mother and stepfather's farm, she found that her younger half-brother, Nathaniel, had secured the deed to the farm and lived in the main house; her parents lived in "a sort of out-house". Months later, after her half-brother sold the farm, Paine found them "looking sad and dejected" with Nathaniel in South Killingly, Connecticut, and made arrangements for her mother and step-father to live in an apartment.
### Rhode Island
In 1830, Paine painted the portrait of author, Catharine R. Williams, who wrote poetry, Religion at Home, and the Lives of William Barton and Stephen Olney. The portrait was given to the Rhode Island Historical Society in 1885 from a group of members of the society, including Henry J. Steere. From about 1836, she had a residence in Providence, Rhode Island and kept her parents in "comfortable support". Between 1836 and 1838, she wrote and published a Christmas hymn and poetry. She enjoyed a successful professional life until 1842 when she left town for her safety during the Dorr Rebellion. She went to Cape Ann and after a few months returned to Providence. She became ill and, unable to find work in both places, suffered financially. Her mother came to live with her in Providence following the death of her stepfather, Nathaniel Thurber, in November, 1848. The following March, her mother Mary died during a visit to her half-brother who then lived in Hartford, Connecticut. She had supported her parents since she was a teenaged girl.
### Later years
Paine traveled through Maine, where she had difficulty establishing herself for want of connections that she had relied upon in the past, so she returned to Providence and for the first time established herself in a highly respectable commercial building with, aside from herself, only male occupants. She struggled professionally and, because of the loss of her mother, she suffered personally. The career that she relied upon kept her forever traveling, which had made it difficult to establish long-standing relationships. Her relationship with her mother was the only close one of her life.
She published her autobiography, Roses and Thorns, or Recollections of an Artist in 1854. Six years later she published Wait and See, a Victorian novel. She died in Providence, Rhode Island on November 10, 1862.
A file containing papers, photographs, exhibition catalogs and other archival material is held at the Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives and the Frick Art Reference Library of the Frick Collection.
## Collections
- Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, Massachusetts
- Maine State Museum, Augusta, Maine
- Portland Museum of Art, Maine
- Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence, Rhode Island
## Works
- Sally Ellery Ryerson Merchant, oil on canvas, c. 1825–1835, Cape Ann Historical Association
- Catherine Read Arnold Williams, oil on wood, c. 1830 John Brown House Museum, Rhode Island Historical Society
- Eliza and Sheldon Battey and their son Thomas Sheldon Battey, Providence, Rhode Island, oil on wood, 1830, private collection
- George Morillo Bartol, pastel on paper, 1827
- Portrait of Mrs. J. H. Corbett, oil on panel, 1832, Portland Museum of Art, Maine
- Gideon Lane, III, oil on wood, 1833, Cape Ann Historical Association
- Hannah Griffin Lane, oil, 1833, Cape Ann Historical Association
- Eliza Harper Peabody Lane, oil on wood, 1833, Cape Ann Historical Association
- Hannah Fuller Smith Stanwood, oil, 1834, Cape Ann Historical Association
- Lucy Kinsman Brown Davis, oil on wood, c. 1835, Cape Ann Historical Association
- The Oldridge Family, four oil on wood panel portraits, 1839, private collection
- Portrait of a Lady in a Lace Cap, oil, Portland Museum of Art | [
"## Early life",
"## Artist",
"### Maine",
"### Massachusetts",
"### Rhode Island",
"### Later years",
"## Collections",
"## Works"
] | 2,733 | 3,967 |
163,841 | Olaf Guthfrithson | 1,170,179,325 | 10th-century King of Dublin | [
"10th-century English monarchs",
"10th-century Irish monarchs",
"10th-century Vikings",
"10th-century rulers of the Kingdom of the Isles",
"941 deaths",
"Monarchs of Dublin",
"Monarchs of Jorvik",
"Norse monarchs",
"People from County Dublin",
"Uí Ímair",
"Year of birth unknown"
] | Olaf Guthfrithson or Anlaf Guthfrithson (Old Norse: Óláfr Guðrøðsson ; Old English: Ánláf; Old Irish: Amlaíb mac Gofraid; died 941) was a Hiberno-Scandinavian (Irish-Viking) leader who ruled Dublin and Viking Northumbria in the 10th century. He was the son of Gofraid ua Ímair and great-grandson of Ímar, making him one of the Uí Ímair. Olaf succeeded his father as King of Dublin in 934 and succeeded in establishing dominance over the Vikings of Limerick when he captured their king, Amlaíb Cenncairech, in 937. That same year he allied with Constantine II of Scotland in an attempt to reclaim the Kingdom of Northumbria which his father had ruled briefly in 927. The forces of Olaf and Constantine were defeated by the English led by Æthelstan at the Battle of Brunanburh in 937.
Olaf returned to Ireland in 938 but after Æthelstan's death the following year Olaf left for York where he was quickly able to establish himself as king, with his brother Blácaire mac Gofraid being left to rule in Dublin. Olaf and Æthelstan's successor Edmund met in 939 at Leicester where they came to an agreement regarding the division of England between them. This agreement proved short-lived, however, and within a few years Vikings had occupied the Five Boroughs of Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford. Olaf died in 941 and was succeeded in Northumbria by his cousin Olaf Cuaran. At the time of his death, the Irish annals title him "king of Danes" and "king of the Fair Foreigners and the Dark Foreigners".
## Biography
Olaf first conclusively appears in contemporary records in 933 when the annals describe him plundering Armagh on 10 November. He is then recorded as allying with Matudán mac Áeda, overking of Ulaid and raiding as far as Sliabh Beagh, where they were met by an army led by Muirchertach mac Néill of Ailech, and lost 240 men in the ensuing battle along with much of their plunder. An earlier reference to a "son of Gofraid" who plundered the monastery at Kildare in 928 might refer to Olaf but no name is given. Olaf's father Gofraid ua Ímair, King of Dublin, died in 934 and Olaf succeeded him as king. The following year Olaf carried out a raid at Lagore crannog in County Meath, and then looted the burial chamber at Knowth the following week.
Olaf is described as "Lord of the Foreigners" by the Annals of the Four Masters in 937, at which time he went to Lough Ree and captured Amlaíb Cenncairech, King of Limerick, and his troops after breaking their boats. This conflict can be ascribed to rivalry between the competing Viking settlements of Dublin and Limerick, with this event marking victory for Dublin. This period is considered to be the high-point of Viking influence in Ireland. Having secured his position in Ireland, Olaf turned his attention to England and Northumbria, which had once been ruled by Olaf's father and had been conquered in 927 by Æthelstan of England. Olaf allied with Constantine II of Scotland, whose kingdom had been invaded by Æthelstan in 934, and in 937, the same year as the victory over Limerick, Olaf and the Vikings of Dublin left for England.
The allied forces of Olaf and Constantine met the forces of Æthelstan at the Battle of Brunanburh, at a site which is the subject of much debate, although current scholarly consensus identifies the site as Bromborough in Cheshire. Olaf and Constantine commanded the Viking troops while Æthelstan alongside his brother Edmund led the English troops into the battle. Contemporary accounts indicate both sides suffered many casualties but the result was a decisive English victory. Olaf and Constantine survived the battle and returned to Ireland and Scotland respectively, but one of Constantine's sons died. The battle is well-attested, with references in Irish chronicles, and a poetic telling of the battle in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The numerous references to it in various chronicles throughout the British Isles testify to its perceived importance at the time.
The annals record Olaf's return to Ireland in 938 as well as a raid he carried out that year on Kilcullen in modern-day County Kildare, where he is said to have taken a thousand prisoners. Æthelstan died in October 939 and very soon afterwards Olaf left for York where he was able to quickly establish himself as king of Northumbria. Olaf was joined in England by his cousin Olaf Cuaran, and Olaf's brother Blácaire was left to rule in Dublin while he was away. Symeon of Durham's Historia Regum records that Olaf and the new English king Edmund met at Leicester in 939 and came to an agreement on dividing England between the two of them. This peace was short-lived and within a few years of the agreement the Vikings had seized the Five Boroughs of Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Stamford. In 941 the Chronicle of Melrose records that Olaf raided an ancient Anglian church at Tyninghame in what is now the East Lothian and at the time was a part of Northumbria. This attack may have been more than just a raid, and may have been intended to secure a route through Scotland upon which communication between York and Dublin was reliant. Olaf died in 941 and he was succeeded in Northumbria by Olaf Cuaran. In recording his death, the annals title him "king of Danes" (Chronicon Scotorum) and "king of the Fair Foreigners and the Dark Foreigners" (Annals of Clonmacnoise).
## Burial
In 2005, a skeleton was excavated in an archaeological dig at Auldhame, East Lothian. Grave goods including a belt similar to others known to have been worn in Viking-age Ireland indicate that the skeleton belonged to a high-status individual. The presence of such goods, and the age of the skeleton, has led to speculation among historians and archaeologists that the remains could be those of Olaf. Olaf is known to have conducted raids on Auldhame and Tyninghame shortly before his death in 941. Auldhame and Tyninghame were two of several local churches dedicated to Saint Baldred. According to Alex Woolf, although the skeleton cannot be definitively identified with Olaf, the date and nature of the burial make it very likely the deceased individual died as a consequence of Olaf's attacks in the area in 941. Woolf has also suggested that "there is a strong likelihood that the king’s followers hoped that by burying him in the saint’s cemetery he might have benefitted from some sort of post-mortem penance".
## Family
Olaf's father is identifiable as Gofraid, who was king of Dublin between 920 and 934, and also briefly ruled Northumbria in 927. Gofraid was a grandson of Ímar but no patronymic is given in the original sources. This may be because he was a child of a son of Ímar who never ruled Dublin, or he was a child of a daughter of Ímar, which in either case would mean his legitimacy to rule in the eyes of his contemporaries was dependent on the identity of his grandfather, not his parents. Ímar, possibly identical to Ivar the Boneless, was the founder of the Uí Ímair and was one of the earliest kings of Dublin in the mid-ninth century.
Three other individuals are identifiable as sons of Gofraid; Albann, Blácaire and Ragnall. Albann was killed in battle against Muirchertach mac Néill in 926. Blácaire ruled Dublin from 939 onwards, and Ragnall mac Gofraid ruled Northumbria in 943 and 944, probably along with his cousin Olaf Cuaran, until they were driven out by Edmund I of England. John of Worcester, writing in the twelfth century, claimed that Olaf had married a daughter of Constantine II of Scotland prior to 937, but this evidence is considered unreliable. The thirteenth century chronicler Roger of Wendover wrote that Olaf married Aldgyth, the daughter of a Northumbrian earl called Orm as a consequence of the agreement at Leicester between Olaf and King Edmund.
An individual named Cammán mac Amlaíb is identifiable as a son of Olaf. The Annals of Ulster record he was defeated at a place called Dub in 960. Cammán may have been one of the meic Amlaíb (sons of Olaf) who the Annals of the Four Masters mention in 962. According to this account the sons of Olaf and the Ladgmanns (lawmen) came to Ireland and plundered Conaille Muirtheimne and Howth. Afterward the lawmen went to Munster to avenge their brother Oin. They continued the plunder there and were defeated by the Irish in Uí Liatháin where 365 of them died. In the same year an unnamed son of Olaf led a raid from Ireland's Eye on Anglesey and Britain. Cammán may be identical to Sitriuc Cam, an individual who in 962 made a naval attack on Uí Cholgain, but was forced to flee back to ships after a force of Dubliners and Leinstermen overtook him and slaughtered some of his men. An individual named Gofraid mac Amlaíb recorded by the annals as dying in 963 may have been a son of Olaf or he may have been a son of Olaf Cuaran. The Annals of Clonmacnoise list an Ímar, a "son of the king", among the dead at Brunanburh who might be a son of Olaf, although the origin of this list is uncertain.
### Family tree | [
"## Biography",
"## Burial",
"## Family",
"### Family tree"
] | 2,196 | 17,743 |
26,288,272 | Tropical Storm Laura (1971) | 1,171,851,199 | Atlantic tropical storm in 1971 | [
"1971 Atlantic hurricane season",
"Atlantic tropical storms",
"Hurricanes in Belize",
"Hurricanes in Cuba"
] | Tropical Storm Laura was the final storm in the active 1971 Atlantic hurricane season. It formed on November 12 in the western Caribbean Sea, and reached winds of 70 mph (110 km/h) as it approached western Cuba. Across the island, Laura produced heavy rainfall, peaking at 32.5 inches (83 cm). The resulting flooding killed one person and caused crop damage. 26,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes. Initially, Laura was forecast to move across the island and impact the southern United States, but it executed a small loop and turned to the southwest. The storm moved ashore on Belize, one of only four November storms to affect the country. Little impact occurred during Laura's final landfall, and it dissipated on November 22 over central Guatemala.
## Meteorological history
Tropical Storm Laura began in a large area of convection across the southwest Caribbean Sea in mid-November. On November 12, a tropical depression formed about 175 miles (282 km) north of Panama. It moved northwestward, slowly organizing and becoming a tropical storm on November 14. Receiving the name Laura, the storm continued to intensify as it turned northward toward western Cuba; late on November 15, it attained peak winds of 70 mph (110 km/h). Originally, the National Hurricane Center anticipated Laura would attain hurricane status, as well as for it to continue northward into the Gulf of Mexico. Although a cold front was expected to bring the storm to the north, a ridge instead increased over the southeastern United States, which prevented Laura from moving ashore.
Tropical Storm Laura maintained peak winds for about 48 hours, during which a minimum pressure of 994 hectopascals (29.4 inHg) was recorded. Steering currents were initially weak, which caused the storm to drift toward the northeast, before the ridge to its north forced the storm to the southwest; by late on November 17, Laura finished executing a clockwise loop. Its path to the southwest away from Cuba was unusual; only two other storms on record – a hurricane in 1888 and Hurricane Ike in 2008 – had a southward element in their path when they affected Cuba, and each struck the northern coast of the country. Laura weakened as it turned westward and later to the south and southwest. After the winds decreased to 50 mph (80 km/h), however, the storm began re-intensifying as it approached Central America. Late on November 20, Laura again reached peak winds of 70 mph (110 km/h), which was maintained for 30 hours until the storm made landfall in Punta Gorda, Belize. Early on November 22, the system dissipated over central Guatemala.
## Preparations and impact
When Tropical Storm Laura first passed the Cayman Islands, it produced up to 3 inches (7.6 cm) of rainfall. As it was slowly moving off of the coast of Cuba, Laura dropped heavy rainfall, including nearly 20 inches (51 cm) across most of the Isle of Youth; one station on the island reported 14 inches (36 cm) in 24 hours. The highest total in the country was 32.5 inches (83 cm), and overall the storm impacted four provinces, including Isle of Youth, Pinar del Río, La Habana, and the city of Havana. On the Isle of Youth, Laura produced winds of 70 mph (110 km/h), with gusts to 80 mph (130 km/h). On the mainland, the storm destroyed 20 homes and several tobacco sheds, with damage also reported to the coffee, sugar, fruit, and vegetable crops. Due to the flooding, officials forced 26,000 people from their homes in Pinar del Río, and one person in that province drowned while crossing a river. The storm's passage was believed to have diverted a flock of great black-backed gulls toward Central America and north-coastal South America; the species is usually found in the Mid-Atlantic states, and were migrating to the Gulf Coast or Cuba when they were affected by the storm.
When Laura's path was uncertain, forecasters advised fishermen to remain at port along the Yucatan Peninsula and southern Florida. Gale warnings were also issued for the Florida Keys, due to the uncertainty. No significant damage or casualties were reported in Central America, although heavy rainfall was reported across the region. On Glover's Reef off the coast of British Honduras (now Belize), the storm stranded a group of about 20 scientists affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution; the group was affected by the strong winds and rains, and required rescue. The storm damaged several buildings along the mainland.
Laura was one of only four storms to form in November and affect Belize, the others being a tropical storm in 1898, a hurricane in 1942, and Hurricane Ida in 2009.
## See also
- Other storms of the same name | [
"## Meteorological history",
"## Preparations and impact",
"## See also"
] | 1,009 | 5,962 |
16,161,655 | Jim Hensley | 1,162,641,944 | American business magnate (1920–2000) | [
"1920 births",
"2000 deaths",
"20th-century American businesspeople",
"American brewers",
"American businesspeople convicted of crimes",
"American company founders",
"American drink distillers",
"American philanthropists",
"Anheuser-Busch people",
"Businesspeople from Phoenix, Arizona",
"McCain family",
"Military personnel from San Antonio",
"Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)",
"United States Army Air Forces officers",
"United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II"
] | James Willis Hensley (April 12, 1920 – June 21, 2000) was an American businessman in the beer industry.
Hensley was born in Texas and moved to Arizona during his youth. He was a bombardier on B-17 Flying Fortresses during World War II and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war he was convicted of illegal distribution of liquor and was also involved in a racetrack operation that was investigated by authorities.
He founded Hensley & Co. in 1955. Headquartered in Phoenix, it grew to become one of the largest Anheuser-Busch beer distributorships in the nation. One of Arizona's richest men at the time of his death, Hensley was the father of Cindy Hensley McCain and the father-in-law of United States Senator and 2000 and 2008 presidential candidate John McCain.
## Early life, military service and family
Hensley was born on April 12, 1920 in San Antonio to Jessie and James L. Hensley. The family was poor and his father suffered from alcoholism. They lived in the South until moving to Arizona; Hensley graduated from Phoenix Union High School in 1936. He married Mary Jeanne Parks, his high school sweetheart, around 1937, and worked as a paper salesman.
Hensley and his older brother, Eugene, began working in the liquor distribution business before World War II, in the employ of Kemper Marley, Sr., an Arizona rancher who had become wealthy in that business in Phoenix and Tucson following the end of Prohibition. The brothers started the United Liquor Co. in Phoenix and the United Distribution Co. in Tucson.
Jim Hensley served three years as an officer in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He was a bombardier on B-17 Flying Fortresses. On his thirteenth mission, his plane was shot down over the English Channel; around the same time, his wife gave birth to their daughter, Kathleen Ann Hensley, in February 1943. In all, his planes were shot down two or three times. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Hensley was injured during his service, and sent to a West Virginia medical facility to recover. There he met Marguerite "Smitty" Johnson (born Cairo, Illinois, January 16, 1919, died Scottsdale, Arizona, October 11, 2006, daughter of Swedish American parents), who had one daughter, Dixie, from a previous relationship. Hensley divorced his wife, and shortly thereafter married Marguerite on March 29, 1945 in Memphis, Tennessee while on leave from the USAAF. They had one child together, Cindy Lou Hensley, born 1954. Hensley's first daughter grew up with her mother, but he maintained occasional contact with her.
## Early business career, legal issues
Following his discharge in 1945, Hensley and his brother went back to work for Marley in his United Sales Company in Phoenix and United Distributors in Tucson. In 1948, both brothers were prosecuted by the federal government and convicted of multiple counts of falsifying liquor records in a conspiracy to conceal illegal distribution of whiskey against post-war rationing regulations. Jim Hensley received a six-month sentence (later upheld but suspended by an appeals court) while his brother received a year in federal prison, and both were fined. In 1953, Jim Hensley and Marley were charged by federal prosecutors with falsifying liquor records. Defended by future Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, they were acquitted.
In December 1952, the Hensley brothers bought into the Ruidoso Downs racetrack in New Mexico, with Eugene running it and Jim returning to Phoenix. In a May 1953 hearing before the New Mexico State Racing Commission, the Hensley brothers concealed the existence an equal partner, Clarence "Teak" Baldwin, who had been banned from any ownership role due to illegal bookmaking activities. A 1953 New Mexico State Police investigation found further that Kemper Marley was a financial backer for bookmakers and had connections with Baldwin and with the bookmaking operations of organized crime, a conclusion echoed decades later by the Arizona Project investigative reporting team. The Hensley brothers gained their Ruidoso Downs racetrack license in 1953, as no New Mexico law barred convicted felons from race track ownership, although in 1955 new Governor of New Mexico John F. Simms said he was "appalled" by the previous administration's decision to do so. Previous Governor Edwin L. Mechem had defended the approval, saying that the Hensleys had been under constant surveillance and deserved continued attention, but that no action was taken against them because the investigation showed that as race tracks go, all laws apparently were being observed. Jim Hensley sold his interest in Ruidoso Downs to his brother Eugene in 1955 (who in turn sold it to a Marley-connected company in 1969).
## Hensley & Co.
In 1955, Hensley founded the beer distributorship that bore his name, borrowing \$10,000 against everything he had to buy a small existing distributorship. He was given a state liquor license despite his normally disqualifying past felony conviction. At the start it had 15 workers, sold 73,000 cases of beer a year, and had a 6 percent market share. Hensley soon switched to exclusively distributing Anheuser-Busch beer. Under the early names Hensley & Company Distributors and Hensley & Company Wholesale, the company saw decades of steady growth. It was aided by the Phoenix area becoming one of the fastest-growing regions of the country while the company maintained its position as Anheuser-Busch's only distributor there. Jim Hensley's tireless sales efforts and the generous wages and benefits he gave employees were also key success factors. By 1980 the business had become quite successful and Jim Hensley was a multi-millionaire. Hensley had also distanced himself from Marley, and had helped set up a local hospital; nevertheless, he was never fully accepted by the Phoenix establishment.
In 1981, Hensley hired his new son-in-law John McCain, who had married his daughter Cindy the previous year, as Vice President of Public Relations for Hensley & Co. McCain soon left to begin his Congressional career with a victory in the 1982 election for U.S. House of Representatives. Jim Hensley's past record with the law, as well as his past connection to Marley (who was suspected by the police in the 1976 car-bomb murder of Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles), were raised by McCain's opponent in the 1986 general election campaign for the U.S. Senate. McCain won that election handily.
As his business continued to grow, Hensley became one of Arizona's richest men, although he never sought publicity. He held most of the controlling stock in Hensley & Co., although by 2000 his health was poor and he had withdrawn from daily operational control. With 500 employees, annual revenues at the time were about \$220 million on 20 million cases of beer sold; Hensley & Co. was the second-largest Anheuser-Busch distributor in the nation, the fifth-largest beer distributorship overall in the nation and the 12th largest privately held company in Arizona. Jim Hensley was a major contributor to charity in the Phoenix metropolitan area as well, starting the Hensley Family Foundation. He also supported groups such as NASCAR and Gilbert Rodeo Days.
Hensley died in Phoenix on June 21, 2000. His frequently-amended will left his entire estate to Cindy Hensley McCain, who became the controlling stockholder and chair of the board after his death. His first daughter Kathleen, her husband and children had received substantial ongoing gifts, credit cards, and college tuition payments in the decade before his death, but were left only one modest lump sum from his estate. | [
"## Early life, military service and family",
"## Early business career, legal issues",
"## Hensley & Co."
] | 1,677 | 14,131 |
1,274,904 | Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge | 1,164,459,713 | null | [
"2002 American television episodes",
"Television episodes directed by Pete Michels",
"The Simpsons (season 13) episodes",
"The Sopranos"
] | "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" is the twenty-second and final episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 22, 2002. In the episode, a massive heatwave causes the residents of Springfield to install large air conditioning devices in their homes. This leads the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant to overload, causing two town-wide blackouts to occur. The Springfield Police Department are unable to face the riots that follow, prompting Homer, dissatisfied with the police's incompetence, to start his own security company, called SpringShield.
"Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" was directed by Pete Michels and written by Dana Gould, who also pitched the idea for the episode. It features American actor Joe Mantegna as recurring character Fat Tony, and includes references to Dragnet, High Noon and The Sopranos.
In its original broadcast, the episode was seen by approximately 5.3 million viewers, finishing in 53rd place in the ratings the week it aired. Following its home video release on August 24, 2010, the episode received mixed reviews from critics.
The episode was dedicated to the memory of Stephen Jay Gould who died two days before it aired. He had voiced himself in the ninth-season episode "Lisa the Skeptic".
## Plot
Springfield is in the midst of a massive heat wave. Every building in the town has installed a large air conditioning device. However, this draws a lot of power from the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Despite the safety measures Mr. Burns has taken (cutting power to the orphanage), the plant is at full power. At home, without an air conditioning device, the Simpsons have to follow an old-fashioned fan. Homer decides to give them a taste of winter by plugging in his dancing Santa Claus. This overloads the plant and causes a town-wide blackout. After Lenny and Carl accidentally crash their cars into a store with no active alarm and decide to loot it, widespread rioting and looting occur. The police try to intervene, but are powerless to stop the massive crime wave.
The next day, Springfield has been devastated by the crime wave. Mayor Quimby decides to take legal action by forming a blue-ribbon committee. At the Simpsons' house, someone steals Lisa's Malibu Stacy collection. Homer decides to take action by looking for it. He finds the culprit, Jimbo Jones, and later foils a robbery by Snake Jailbird at the Kwik-E-Mart. He goes through a very long list of his previous jobs (during which Marge puts curlers in her hair off-screen) and decides that he likes the idea of combining his love of helping and hurting people. Homer forms his own security company called "SpringShield". Although it only has Homer, Lenny, and Carl, it is more efficient and more successful than the Springfield Police Department. When Quimby sees Chief Wiggum trying to shoot a Piñata with a shotgun while blindfolded, in a fit of rage he dismisses Wiggum and makes Homer the chief of police on live television.
After stopping one of Fat Tony's operations, Homer practically rids Springfield of crime. However, Fat Tony escapes and vows to kill Homer unless he leaves town. Homer is unable to get protection from the citizens he protects (only Ned Flanders volunteers, but Homer ignores his offer) and Lenny and Carl lock themselves in a jail cell. When Homer does not leave, Fat Tony arrives with a few of his own henchmen (including Johnny Tightlips), as well as mafia muscle—Christopher Moltisanti, Paulie Gualtieri, and Silvio Dante from The Sopranos series. Just before they are about to kill Homer, an unseen sniper shoots the mobsters; injuring them and causing them to flee. Safe again, Homer resigns as police chief and offers the job to the first person who comes along, which is Wiggum (who notes that an identical situation is how he became chief in the first place). When Marge thanks him for saving Homer, Wiggum says that he did not shoot anyone, having lost his gun, badge and nearly his squad car. Unbeknownst to them, the person who saved Homer was Maggie, who fires at the mobsters from her window with a scoped sporting rifle.
## Production
"Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" was written by Dana Gould and directed by Pete Michels. It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on May 22, 2002. The idea for the episode was also pitched by Gould, who had just moved to southern California with his wife. After moving in, the two decided to install an alarm system because, Gould quipped, "the police aren't enough. Too many people wanna kill you." When meeting the other writers, Gould pitched an episode in which Homer becomes the owner of a security company, which then became "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge." Although current showrunner Al Jean found it "very funny," the episode's first draft was heavily altered after the first table-read, a process in which the script is read out loud to the other writers. During the blackout, Lenny and Carl accidentally crash their cars into a store, causing a riot to erupt. The sequence was conceived by Gould who, after the 1992 Los Angeles riots, was "somewhat obsessed" with civil unrest issues. In the DVD commentary for the episode, he said "I love the idea of, 'All you need is for the power to go out and slowly the fabric of society unravels." While trying to determine who stole Lisa's Malibu Stacy car, Homer holds Bart as his prime suspect. Unbeknownst to Bart, who is eating an apple, Homer tells Lisa "Look at him over there, eating that apple. What is he planning?" Originally, the scene would show Homer suspecting Lisa, but because it bothered the character's voice actor, Yeardley Smith, the scene was changed. American actor Joe Mantegna reprises his role as Fat Tony in the episode.
In another scene in the episode, Homer shows his family an advertisement for his security company. In it, a monster is seen breaking into an elderly woman's house. When the woman screams, the screen freezes and Homer is composited to the screen, instructing the audience about SpringShield's telephone number. In order to composite Homer into the screen, director Michels made use of a greenscreen. The advertisement resumes and the monster is subdued by Homer, Lenny and Carl. Confused, the monster turns to Homer and asks, "friend?" to which Homer replies "the only friend you need is SpringShield," and holds a business card in front of the camera. The monster then puts the card in his wallet and says "monster put in wallet." The monster's last line was written during one of the episode's rewrites, but none of the writers on The Simpsons' writing staff has taken credit for it. The line has since become very popular with the series' writing staff; Jean said that it was "very funny and unusual for a television show," and Gould considers it to be his favourite joke in any episode he has ever written. At the end of the episode, Maggie saves Homer by shooting Fat Tony's gang members with a rifle, as a reference to the two-part episode Who Shot Mr. Burns? from seasons 6 and 7, in which it is ultimately revealed that Maggie shot Burns after his gun fell into her hands. The scene was conceived by series co-creator and executive producer James L. Brooks while writing notes during the episode's first table-read.
While "The Frying Game" was originally thought to be the last episode of the season, "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" was later revealed to be the real season finale. Although new episodes of The Simpsons usually air on Sundays, "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" aired on Wednesday, May 22, 2002. On August 24, 2010, "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" was released as part of The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season DVD and Blu-ray set. Al Jean, Matt Selman, Carolyn Omine, Dana Gould, Joe Mantegna and Pete Michels participated in the audio commentary of the episode.
## Cultural references
In a scene in the episode, Homer tells Marge about all the jobs he has had, referencing several episodes of the series. According to Jean, the scene was added during a rewrite of the episode's script. In another scene, Homer, in the Springfield church, attempts to recruit companions for his security company. The scene is a reference to the 1952 American western film High Noon, although the line "You all know me" was taken from the American horror/thriller film Jaws. When visiting the clothing store Wooly Bully, Homer has a rapid, monotone conversation with the cashier. The two speak in a similar manner to the characters in the American 1950's television crime drama Dragnet, of which Gould was a "big fan". When noticing that one of his ferrets is wearing a wire, Fat Tony tells it "you're not a pet, and you're not a friend. You're nothing to me." The line parodies a similar conversation between Michael and Fredo Corleone in the American gangster film The Godfather Part II. Near the end of the episode, Fat Tony drives to the Simpsons house in what seems to be a white Dodge Caravan, while shots of Springfield are shown on the way. The scene parodies the title sequence of the American television drama series The Sopranos, and features Alabama 3's song "Woke Up This Morning," which is also used in The Sopranos' title sequence. Michels stated that the parody was "very fun" to animate; "Being from New Jersey, it was a labor of love," he said in the episode's DVD commentary.
The episode title is a reference to the James Brown song "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag". The monster of SpringShield commercial is a parody of The New Woody Woodpecker Show Badger character, including a quote "Hey buddy".
## Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" received a 5.0 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, translating to approximately 5.3 million viewers. The episode finished in 53rd place in the ratings for the week of May 20–26, 2002. Together with the first half-hour of Celebrity Boxing, the shows averaged a 3.9 rating among adults between ages 18 and 49, pushing Fox to number two for the night, just behind NBC. Some listings do not name this show as the Season 13 finale because it aired outside of the series' regular Sunday 8PM EST timeslot; those listings name this episode as a "special airing" and list The Frying Game as the S13 finale instead.
Following its home video release, "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" received mixed reviews from critics.
Writing for 411Mania, Ron Martin gave the episode a mixed review, calling it "passable." He wrote that "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" is "far from memorable as season finales should be."
DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson wrote "Like many S13 episodes, “Badge” feels more than a little derivative," describing the episode as a combination of the season 4 episode "Mr. Plow" and the season 5 episode "Homer the Vigilante". He continued by writing "That doesn’t mean the show lacks amusement, but it’s too rehashed to end the year with a real winner."
Nate Boss of Project-Blu described it as "A random episode, without many laughs," however, he added that it "could have been worse."
Giving the episode a positive review, Jennifer Malkowski of DVD Verdict gave it a B+, billing "Homer's 'You know I've had a lot of jobs' list" as the episode's "highlight".
Writing for Screen Jabber, Stuart O'Connor was favorable as well, describing it as a "first-rate ep[isode]". Screen Rant called it the best episode of the 13th season. | [
"## Plot",
"## Production",
"## Cultural references",
"## Reception"
] | 2,558 | 762 |
7,548,283 | Sør Arena | 1,143,747,178 | Football stadium in Torsvika, Norway | [
"2007 establishments in Norway",
"Bandy venues in Norway",
"Eliteserien venues",
"Football venues in Norway",
"IK Start",
"Sports venues completed in 2007",
"Sports venues in Kristiansand"
] | Sparebanken Sør Arena ("South Arena") is a football stadium located at Torsvika in Kristiansand, Norway. The all-seater has a capacity of 14,563 people, and serves as the home ground of Tippeligaen side IK Start. It was designed by Kjell Kosberg, and is architecturally similar to Aker Stadion. The venue has seen concerts by Elton John, Dolly Parton and A-ha, among others.. UEFA refers to the stadium as Kristiansand Arena.
Construction started in 2006, and the stadium opened on 15 April 2007, replacing Kristiansand Stadion as Start's home ground. The venue cost 400 million Norwegian krone (NOK), of which the stadium itself cost NOK 250 million, after significant cost overruns. While originally planned with artificial turf, the venue was ultimately built with a natural grass pitch. The venue and the holding company Start Stadion were taken over by Sparebanken Sør, the main creditor, in 2008. They subsequently also took over Start Toppfotball, the company running the club. Both companies were sold to Ernst Ravnaas in 2009. Following decreased attendance, ahead of the 2011 season the seating on the corners was sold as advertisement space and the maximum capacity has artificially been reduced to 11,700.
## History
Traditionally, Start has played their home games at Kristiansand Stadion, a municipal multi-purpose stadium. In May 2005, the municipal council approved the plans for a new stadium for Start. At the time, the structure was estimated to cost NOK 177 million, of which NOK 120 million would be for the stadium itself, while the remaining would be for commercial properties.
The club held an architecture competition, and received six bids. On 28 September 2005, Start Toppfotball announced that they had selected the design by Kjell Kosberg from Kosbergs Arkitektkontor, who had previously designed Aker Stadion and Briskeby Arena. The default proposal contained a spectator capacity for 9,948 people, but the plans were scalable, allowing for increased capacity if the club so wanted. Ernst Ravnaas, co-owner of the club, stated that given the recent high attendance, he wanted to build a larger stadium than the default proposal. Financing was planned with a free lot from Kristiansand Municipality, a NOK 40 million loan from the municipality, a NOK 20 million grant from Cultiva, a municipal culture fund, NOK 20 in value added tax refund, NOK 10 to 20 million in naming rights, the sale of commercial property, NOK 30 to 40 million in a bank loan, and the remaining with share capital from Start Toppfotball.
In October, the club stated that they hoped to finance a further expansion of the stadium to 14,000 seats by selling part of the lot to a private developer, which would use it to build a 17-story building. On 23 December, Rasmussengruppen signed a contract where they bought shares worth NOK 45 million in Start Toppfotball. In addition, they paid NOK 15 million for the right to build 11,000 square meters (120,000 sq ft) of commercial property in conjunction with the stadium, and an option to purchase the high-rise lot for NOK 25 million. The high-rise lot was again bought from the municipality for NOK 15 million. Combined with the free lot for the stadium, Start Toppfotball received municipal subsidies of NOK 25 million for constructing the venue.
A controversy arose regarding whether to lay natural or artificial turf. Kristofer Hæstad, one of Start's star players, stated that he would not continue to play for the club if artificial turf was laid. The contract with the municipality stated that the stadium would have to be built with artificial turf. In March, Start decided that they would instead lay natural grass, and if necessary pay the municipality for the cost of building another artificial turf venue. The name of the venue was announced on 21 October, after the club had signed a ten-year naming rights agreement with Sparebanken Sør worth NOK 35 million. The rights to sell the naming rights were first transferred from the stadium owner to the company Rettighetskompaniet AS, which subsequently sold these to Sparebanken Sør.
Construction of the stadium was subject to significant cost overruns. These were mostly caused by the increased size of both spectator and commercial area, increased standard to VIP facilities, a general increase in construction costs, and the deadline to finish the venue in time for the league to start. Total investments exceeded NOK 400 million, of which 250 million was paid for by Start. This resulted in the stadium company having a debt of NOK 173 million, in addition to NOK 60 million in share equity. In November 2007, Start sold 2,500 square meters (27,000 sq ft) of commercial space at the stadium for NOK 25 million to finance part of the cost overrun.
The opening of the stadium took place on 15 April 2007, in the season's first league game, against Viking. The game attracted 14,448 spectators, a record attendance and the only time the venue has been sold out. After the opening, the pitch was the worst in the league, and by May the grass within the penalty areas and along the one side had been replaced. By 2010, the pitch quality had improved and was regarded as "world class" by the Start players. The cost of preparing the pitch, including snow removal, ahead of the season is about NOK 500,000. Ahead of the 2008 season, the 1,400 club seats had to be replaced for a cost of NOK 1.5 million, because the wood in the chairs were rotting. The reason was that the chairs were designed for in-door use, and the necessary precautions to protect them when not in use had not been taken.
The stadium had a book value of NOK 230 million, way over the real value, causing Start Toppfotball to have to write down the investment. To finance this, Sparebanken Sør, the main creditor, bought Start Stadion from Start Toppfotball for NOK 2,600 on 23 December 2008. At the same time, the club signed a 40-year agreement to lease the stadium from Sparebanken Sør for NOK 12 million per year. On 7 March 2009, the bank also bought the remaining shares of Start Toppfotball, becoming the sole owner of both the club and the stadium. Sparebanken Sør offered to sell Sparebanken Sør Arena to the municipality for NOK 100 million, but the municipality rejected this on 29 May. The bank subsequently sold Start Stadion and Start Toppfotball to Ravnaas on 25 June for NOK 1 each. Start Stadion had at the time a debt of NOK 34 million to Start Toppfotball, NOK 60 million to Sparebanken Sør and NOK 40 million to Kristiansand Municipality. Sparebanken Sør lost NOK 80 million in their transactions with Start and Sparebanken Sør Arena.
Following a fall in game attendance in 2009 and 2010, Start decided ahead of the 2011 season to reduce the stadium's capacity. Advertisement banners were sold to cover the corners, thus reducing the capacity to 11,700 tickets. The club stated that the intention was to move spectators closer together to increase the atmosphere, and at the same time making it easier to sell out the stadium. In February 2012, Kristiansand District Court sentenced Start to pay NOK 6.4 million in value added tax on the naming rights. The club stated that they believed the naming rights were exempt. After the 2011 season, Start was again relegated to the First Division. In an attempt to better the club's financial situation, Start agreed to lay artificial turf on Sparebanken Sør Arena, in exchange for NOK 250,000 in municipal funding to use the stadium for recreational sports. Removal of the natural pitch started on 28 May 2012.
Start won the 2012 Norwegian First Division and were promoted to the top league for their 2013 season. Start Stadion had been involved in a legal suit with the Norwegian Tax Administration over whether value added tax was to be paid for the stadium's naming rights. The company lost the case both in Agder Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, resulting in the company having to pay NOK 9 million in taxes. As the company did not have such values, it was forced to file for bankruptcy on 23 May 2013. At the time the company had a debt of NOK 107 million. At the time the municipality has commenced negotiations with Sparebanken Sør to purchase the stadium. Football economist Tor Geir Kvinen stated that Sparebanken Sør had by then spent NOK 200 million on subsidizing Start and that in reality the municipality and bank were funding the repeated deficits in the club. The municipality announced a plan in October 2013, whereby they would purchase the bank's NOK 54 million loan for NOK 44 million and receive all the shares in the stadium company. The bank would then buy the naming rights for ten more years for NOK 10 million and yet unsold commercial property. The municipality would then be owed NOK 64 million by the stadium company, up from NOK 46 million.
## Facilities
The stadium has a capacity for 14,563 spectators, of which 1,400 are club seating. However, the seating is artificially reduced to 11,700. Built into the stadium is 22,000 square meters (240,000 sq ft) of commercial property. The venue has many architectural similarities with Aker Stadion, home of Molde FK, which was also designed by Kosberg. During one winter, the pitch was accidentally converted to a bandy field, when it was covered with a layer of ice up to 10 centimeters (4 in) thick because of cold weather.
## Events
The Norway national under-21 football team won 2–0 over Estonia at Sparebanken Sør Arena on 20 November 2007. The stadium hosted a UEFA Women's Euro 2009 qualifying match on 3 May 2008, in which Norway beat Israel 7–0. The final in the 2011–13 International Challenge Trophy was held at the stadium on 14 August 2013, in which the Norway national under-23 football team lost 0–1 in extra time against Turkey A2.
Concerts held at the stadium have included Elton John in 2007, which attracted a crowd of 19,000, Dolly Parton in 2008 and A-ha in 2010. A 2008 tour with artists from Norske Talenter and Idol attracted only 800 people, including free entrants. From 2011, the finals in PlussbankCup, a junior football tournament held in Kristiansand, are hosted at Sparebanken Sør Arena.
The following list shows the average, maximum and minimum attendance for Start's home games in Eliteserien. It also gives the rank among the average attendance for the Eliteserien teams. Years in the First Division are indicated with a dagger (†). | [
"## History",
"## Facilities",
"## Events"
] | 2,428 | 33,399 |
8,251,446 | Luggala | 1,150,419,722 | Mountain in Wicklow, Ireland | [
"Buildings and structures in County Wicklow",
"Climbing areas of Ireland",
"Geography of County Wicklow",
"Guinness family",
"Houses completed in 1787",
"Mountains and hills of County Wicklow"
] | Luggala (), also called Fancy Mountain () at 595 metres (1,952 ft), is the 230th-highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale. Being below 600 metres (2,000 ft), it does not rank on the Vandeleur-Lynam or Hewitt scales. Luggala is in the northeastern section of the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland, and overlooks the Lough Tay, which lies at the base of the steep granite cliffs on Luggala's eastern face. As well as a noted scenic point in County Wicklow, Luggala's eastern cliffs have many graded rock-climbing routes.
Luggala Lodge, Lough Tay and 5,000 acres of surrounding land are owned by Luggala Estate Ltd an Irish company ultimately owned by Romito SA - Switzerland, a company with global investments at the forefront of environmental and heritage conservation.
The estate dates from the 18th century when it was developed by the La Touche family, and then by the Guinness family from 1937 to its sale in 2019. The estate was the location of several films (e.g. Braveheart in 1995), and television series (e.g. Vikings from 2013), as well as visits by notable artists and musicians (e.g. the Beatles and Michael Jackson).
There are no public rights of way or rights of access to any of the estate.
Pedestrian access to certain areas of the estate is - when possible and feasible - granted to walkers respecting the endangered and fragile ecosystem and the Estate’s published “code of conduct”.
## Naming
Historian Liam Price notes that Luggala, , was also known as Fancy, from , and also as Cloghoge (the nearby Cloghoge River drains Lough Tay into Lough Dan). According to Irish academic Paul Tempan, "Price's interpretation of this name [Luggala] as Log an Lágh, or 'hollow of the hill', is doubtful"; pointing out that there is no evidence in any Irish language dictionaries for the existence of the term "lágh". He also notes that the other term "Lá" is unlikely to be a translation of "day"; instead, Tempan records the translation as unresolved listing it in Irish Hill and Mountain Names as "hollow of the [obscure element]".
## Geography
Luggala is in the northeastern section of the Wicklow Mountains, and directly overlooks Lough Tay, which lies at the base of steep granite cliffs on Luggala's east face; Luggala's other slopes are of a much gentler gradient, and are mostly covered in heather. The mountain is a largely isolated peak, with a deep valley between itself and its only neighbour, the peak of Knocknacloghoge 534 metres (1,752 ft) to the immediate south. Luggala is overlooked from the far north-east by the larger massif of Djouce at 725 metres (2,379 ft). Luggala is the 230th-highest peak in Ireland on the Arderin scale, Being below 600 metres (2,000 ft) in height, Luggala does not rank on the Vandeleur-Lynam or Hewitt scales.
## Luggala Estate
The Luggala Estate is a 5,000-acre (2,000 hectares) estate (also known as the “Guinness Estate” after the Guinness family) designated an EU Natura 2000 habitat as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA); it is located in a “Blue Dot” high-water catchment area as designated under the EU Water Framework Directive.
In 2018, the Luggala Estate included the mountains of Luggala and Knocknacloghoge, the entire lake of Lough Tay, and part of the lake of Lough Dan.
The estate was developed by the La Touche family, who founded the Bank of Ireland. In 1787, Peter LaTouche built the gothic Luggala Lodge (or "Luggala Castle"), as a hunting lodge which he modelled on Strawberry Hill House in London. In 1937, Ernest Guinness purchased the Luggala Estate from Viscount Powerscourt and then gave it as a wedding gift to his daughter Oonagh on her second marriage, to Lord Oranmore and Browne; she then gifted the property to her son Garech in 1970. Notable family members buried on the estate include Tara Browne, whose death in a car accident was an inspiration for the Beatles song "A Day in the Life".
Luggala was owned by arts patron Garech Browne, the great-great-great-grandson of Arthur Guinness, until his death in 2018.
By 2018, Luggala Lodge was a 7,437 square feet (690.9 m<sup>2</sup>), seven-bedroom property, and the entire estate had 16,379 square feet (1,521.7 m<sup>2</sup>) of residential property.
The buildings on the estate, including the Lodge, have been rented out commercially, and have included famous guests such as Mick Jagger, the Beatles, and latterly, Michael Jackson. The estate and grounds have been used as the location of some films, including The Hard Way (1979), Zardoz (1974), Excalibur (1981), Braveheart (1995), and King Arthur (2004), as well as the historical drama television series Vikings (from 2013), where it is featured as the fictional village of Kattegat.
In 2017, before his death, Browne put the entire estate up for sale with an asking price of 28 million euros. In 2006, Browne had sold 1,600 acres (650 ha) of the estate to the Irish state for 1.6 million euros, and it is now part of the Wicklow Mountains National Park. On 27 August 2019, the Irish Times reported that the estate had been sold to an overseas buyer at a "substantial discount" to the asking price. In October 2019, several newspapers reported that the estate had been bought by the Count Padulli di Vighignolo for a sum estimated at 20 million euros.
In December 2019, RTÉ aired a documentary titled Last Days at Luggala on Garech Browne's final years on the estate, up until his death in 2018. In January 2020, a minor part of the estate of Garech Browne, was auctioned at Sotheby's in London.
In March 2020 the maintenance and repair of the estate's 18th and 19th-century livestock infrastructure encompassing almost 50 km of dry walls began with the help of Wicklow’s craftsmen versed in the techniques of the time.
In May 2021, Luggala Estate Ltd committed and has started to undertake a multi-decade-long, self-funded, peatland rewetting and restoration programme aimed at bringing back the integrity of the habitats and the ecology degraded by peat harvesting, intensive grazing and neglect. The initiative represents Luggala’s initial response towards climate and biodiversity emergencies, and reactivates a proven natural process of carbon sequestration.
## Access
There are no public rights of way or rights of access to any of the estate. However, owners have permitted public access to certain parts of the estate via the present pedestrian access gate (the Pier Gate) if this were not to interfere with the Estate activities and the privacy of its residents.
In 2018, the Barbican International Corporation (BIC), a Guinness family Guernsey-based trust who controlled the Luggala Estate, erected new "private property" signage and a notice on a gate just off the R759 road frequently used by the public – called the "Pier gate" – that it would be locked after 5.30.
The action led to protests by hill-walking groups, and calls on the Irish state to purchase the Luggala Estate – which was being offered for sale by the BIC trust for Euro 28 million – and which was bordered on three sides by the Wicklow Mountains National Park.
From November 2019 Luggala Estate Ltd has reinstated - when feasible - pedestrian access to areas of the estate to responsible walkers respecting an environmental “code of conduct” and signage has been taken down.
## Recreation
### Hillwalking
Access permitting, the most common route to the summit of Luggala is from the public access gate on the R759 – known as the "Pier gates" (). This 7-kilometre (4.3 mi), circa 2.5-hour route (to the summit and back), descends a tarmac road down to the bridge of Cloghoge River, where it then leaves the road (that continues on to Lough Dan), to ascend up the 400 metres (1,300 ft) long shoulder to the summit ridge of Luggala; the path is then retraced back to the Pier gates. There is a sandy/gravel mountain path from just beyond the bridge of Cloghoge River, that cuts through the ferns and heathers on Luggala, to the final summit ridge, however, it can be difficult to find in poor weather or low visibility.
A longer 12-kilometre (7.5 mi), circa 5-hour route, incorporates the neighbouring peak of Knocknacloghoge and Lough Dan, before returning to the Pier gates; it is described as "surely one of the most scenic walks in the Wicklow Mountains".
### Rock climbing
Luggala's east-facing granite cliffs are a rock-climbing location, however, route-finding can be difficult and the conditions are described as a "serious mountain crag". As of July 2019, the online climbing database lists 129 climbs, with the majority in the Very Severe (VS) 4c to E1 5b rock climbing grade categories, however, there are also several extreme routes such as Precious Metal (E7 6c), and The Great Roof (E6 5c, 6c).
The Irish Online Climbing Database records five major sections: G & H Buttresses, Woody Wall & Conifer Buttress (Creag Conaisreach), South Buttress (Creag Fasra), Main Face, and North Buttress (Creag Thuaidh). It notes the rock is coarser with better friction than that of Glendalough, however, in contrast to Glendalough, the routes are less direct and do not follow obvious crack-lines; it also notes that the zig-zag nature of routes means that an ability to use double-rope techniques is important to avoid friction drag. Classic climbs are Pine Tree Buttress (S 4a), Muskrat Ramble (HVC 4b, 5a, 4c), and Dance of the Tumblers (E1 5b).
## See also
- Wicklow Way
- Wicklow Round
- Wicklow Mountains
- Lists of mountains in Ireland
- List of historic houses in the Republic of Ireland | [
"## Naming",
"## Geography",
"## Luggala Estate",
"## Access",
"## Recreation",
"### Hillwalking",
"### Rock climbing",
"## See also"
] | 2,329 | 44,317 |
44,192,355 | Italian cruiser Agordat | 1,168,684,459 | Torpedo cruiser of the Italian Royal Navy | [
"1899 ships",
"Agordat-class cruisers",
"Cruisers of Italy",
"Ships built in Castellammare di Stabia"
] | Agordat was a torpedo cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) built in the late 1890s. She was the lead ship of the Agordat class, which had one other member, Coatit. The ship, which was armed with twelve 76 mm (3 in) guns and two 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, was too slow and short-ranged to be able to scout effectively for the fleet, so her career was limited. She saw action during the Italo-Turkish War in 1911–1912, where she provided gunfire support to Italian troops in North Africa. She assisted in the occupation of Constantinople in the aftermath of World War I, and in 1919 she was reclassified as a gunboat. In January 1923, Agordat was sold for scrapping.
## Design
Agordat was 91.6 meters (300 ft 6 in) long overall and had a beam of 9.32 m (30 ft 7 in) and a draft of 3.64 m (11 ft 11 in). She displaced up to 1,340 long tons (1,360 t) at full load. Her propulsion system consisted of a pair of horizontal triple-expansion steam engines each driving a single screw propeller, with steam supplied by eight Blechynden water-tube boilers. Her engines were rated at 8,129 indicated horsepower (6,062 kW) and produced a top speed of 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph). The ship had a cruising radius of about 300 nautical miles (560 km; 350 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). She had a crew of between 153 and 185 that varied over the course of her career.
Agordat was armed with a main battery of twelve 76 mm (3 in) L/40 guns mounted singly. She was also equipped with two 450 mm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes. The ship was only lightly armored, with a 20 mm (0.79 in) thick deck.
## Service history
Agordat was built at the Castellammare shipyard; her keel was laid down on 18 February 1897 and her completed hull was launched on 11 October 1899. After completing fitting-out work, the new cruiser was commissioned into the Italian fleet on 26 September 1900. Sea trials lasted from 11 February 1901 to 6 March, and during the final speed trial she exceeded her design speed by a knot. She nevertheless proved to be too slow and short-legged to be useful as a fleet scout, which limited her active duty career. She served in the main fleet in 1902–1904, during which time the fleet was kept in a state of readiness for seven months. For the remaining five months, the ships had reduced crews. In 1903, the unit also included eight battleships, six other cruisers, and six destroyers. By the 1904–1905 training year, the main squadron was reduced in size, with the two oldest battleships having been withdrawn, though three destroyers were added. During the 1908 fleet maneuvers, Agordat was assigned to the hostile force that was tasked with simulating an attempt to land troops on Sicily.
### Italo-Turkish War
At the outbreak of the Italo-Turkish War against the Ottoman Empire in September 1911, Agordat was assigned in the 2nd Division of the 1st Squadron, under the command of Rear Admiral Ernesto Presbitero, the divisional commander. On 15 October, Agordat and her sister joined the battleship Napoli, the armored cruisers Pisa, Amalfi, and San Marco, three destroyers, and several troop transports for an attack on the port of Derna. Negotiators were sent ashore to attempt to secure the surrender of the garrison, which was refused. Napoli and the armored cruisers bombarded the Ottoman positions throughout the day, and on 18 October the Ottomans withdrew, allowing the Italian troops to come ashore and take possession of the port. The fleet remained offshore and helped to repel Ottoman counterattacks over the following two weeks. Agordat and San Marco supported a raid against Ottoman positions at the oases at Al-Kuwayfiya on 28 November, which resulted in an inconclusive action and a withdrawal to Benghazi. In December, Agordat and San Marco were joined by the battleships Roma and Regina Margherita at Benghazi. There, they provided gunfire support to the Italian garrison against repeated Turkish assaults.
Agordat intercepted the French mail steamer SS Carthage on 16 January 1912, which was carrying an aircraft and a pilot named Emile Duval; the Italians correctly suspected Duval had been hired by the Ottoman government and was headed to Tripoli to support Ottoman forces. Agordat accordingly ordered Carthage to follow her to Cagliari, Sardinia, where Duval and his aircraft were to be disembarked. Two days later, Agordat stopped the French steamer SS Manouba, which had Ottoman citizens aboard and was likewise escorted to Cagliari. The seizures caused a minor diplomatic incident between Italy and France, but the dispute was resolved after the Ottomans were disembarked from Manouba and Duval was permitted to remain aboard Carthage with his aircraft, which was delivered to Tunis, French Tunisia. In early April, Agordat, the torpedo cruiser Iride, and several other vessels rendezvoused with a troop convoy carrying 10,000 men to Zuwarah near the border with Tunisia.
### World War I and fate
By 1914, Agordat was assigned to the 2nd Division of the 2nd Squadron; the squadron consisted of two divisions of armored cruisers, each supported by a scout cruiser. Italy, a member of the Central Powers, declared neutrality at the start of World War I in August 1914, but by May 1915, the Triple Entente had convinced the Italians to enter the war against their former allies. Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, the Italian naval chief of staff, believed that Austro-Hungarian submarines could operate too effectively in the narrow waters of the Adriatic, which could also be easily seeded with minefields. The threat from these underwater weapons was too serious for him to use the fleet in an active way. Instead, Revel decided to implement blockade at the relatively safer southern end of the Adriatic with the main fleet, while smaller vessels, such as the MAS boats, conducted raids on Austro-Hungarian ships and installations.
In November 1918, Agordat participated in the occupation of Constantinople following the surrender of the Ottoman Empire. She and the battleship Roma joined a fleet of British, French, and Greek warships that entered the Dardanelles and landed troops to occupy the city. In 1921, Agordat was reclassified as a gunboat and her armament was modified; four of the 76 mm guns were replaced by a pair of 120 mm (4.7 in) L/40 guns and the torpedo tubes were removed. This service lasted less than two years, and on 4 January 1923 the ship was sold for scrapping. | [
"## Design",
"## Service history",
"### Italo-Turkish War",
"### World War I and fate"
] | 1,532 | 1,929 |
47,789,158 | Sober (Selena Gomez song) | 1,139,562,108 | null | [
"2010s ballads",
"2015 songs",
"Interscope Records singles",
"Pop ballads",
"Selena Gomez songs",
"Song recordings produced by Stargate (record producers)",
"Songs about alcohol",
"Songs written by Chloe Angelides",
"Songs written by Jacob Kasher",
"Songs written by Julia Michaels",
"Songs written by Mikkel Storleer Eriksen",
"Songs written by Tor Erik Hermansen",
"Synth-pop ballads",
"Torch songs"
] | "Sober" is a song by American singer Selena Gomez from her second solo studio album, Revival (2015), included as the fifth track on the record. The song was leaked two days prior the album's release, on October 7, 2015, and was originally scheduled to be released as the album's fifth single following "Kill Em with Kindness". Gomez collaborated with songwriters Chloe Angelides, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, and Julia Michaels, along with Norwegian duo Tor Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen, who handled production under their stage name Stargate. Frequent collaborator Dreamlab handled the vocal production as well as background vocals. Driven to create a unique sound for herself, the singer focused on lyrics that reflected personal experiences, along with referencing influential albums of her youth, specifically Christina Aguilera's fourth studio album Stripped (2002).
"Sober" is a midtempo synth-pop power ballad based around an expansive 1980s-influenced song structure; the production features chunky beats and synth stabs. Inspired by social awkwardness after a night of drinking, the track describes a dysfunctional relationship which falls apart due to her lover's complex relationship with alcohol and how it changes their personality. "Sober" was well received by music critics, many of whom deemed it an album highlight. Praise was given to the track's emotional depth, vocal delivery, and production, while drawing comparisons to the works of Lorde, Tinashe, Sia, and Lana Del Rey. Upon release, "Sober" peaked on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at number 22.
## Background
For the first time in her career, Gomez was given full creative control following her signing with Interscope Records. She expressed frustration and constraint with the songs chosen for her earlier in her career, and felt a disconnect from the music both personally and professionally. During the creation of Revival, the singer emphasized the importance of creating a distinct sound for herself, telling Nolan Feeney of Time that "there were times in my career where I sang things that just weren’t me and weren’t for me. You can hear it in my voice. You can hear it when it’s inauthentic." Gomez aimed to create autobiographical songs which shared personal stories, whether or not she wrote them. Citing the therapeutic process of writing "The Heart Wants What It Wants" for her greatest hits album For You (2014), the singer was inspired to separate herself from her peers and convert personal experiences into the music of Revival. For "Sober", Gomez focused on using her unique vocal tone and abilities as an actress to translate feelings and emotions through her music. The singer also told producers to focus primarily on the lyrics and vocals, referencing albums of her youth that dealt with themes of growing up in the spotlight, particularly Christina Aguilera's album Stripped (2002).
Being in full creative control, Gomez struggled on several songs including "Sober" to tell stories that were personal and elegant, yet "not over the top". To achieve her desired sound, she chose to work with multiple songwriters, including singer-songwriter Chloe Angelides. In an interview with Time, Gomez stated that for her, the track was not inspired by a single person, but instead about her experiences with drinking and social awkwardness, saying: "I would hang out with people and they would drink and they’re so fun, then the next day it would be weird." "Sober" was initially conceived during a late-night conversation between the singer and Angelides in a hotel hallway, where the pair exchanged their own personal stories on the topic. After Gomez left the hotel, Angelides wrote the lyrics to "Sober", and presented it to Gomez the following day.
## Recording and release
After being shown the initial version of "Sober", Gomez brought the song to executive producers Tim Blacksmith and Danny D, who enlisted Norwegian duo Tor Hermansen and Mikkel Eriksen, also known as StarGate, to work on the track. Their work during this time produced several songs for Revival, including "Same Old Love" and "Cologne". Additional songwriting and lyrics were written by Gomez, Jacob Kasher Hindlin, and Julia Michaels. Gomez worked with Eriksen and Miles Walker to record the song at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles, California, as well as with Mike Anderson at The Hide Out Studios in London, England. Leah Haywood provided additional background vocals. Gomez's vocals were produced by American production team Dreamlab at Westlake, and the engineering was handled by Rob Ellmore with assistance from Daniela Rivera.
In its final stages, "Sober" was mixed by Phil Tan at Ninja Club Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. In a March 2017 interview with Mike Wass of Idolator, Hindlin, a personal friend of Gomez and the song's co-writer, revealed that "Sober" was intended to be the album's fifth single after "Kill Em with Kindness". He recounted having a meeting with the singer, where she expressed her readiness to move on from the Revival-era and release new music, telling him: 'I love you, but I'm ready to put out new stuff'."
## Composition
"Sober" is a "booming" and "emotive" midtempo synthpop power ballad. Its "studded" and "shimmering" production consists of "chunky" beats, hand-claps, and dark 80's-influenced synthesizers. The chorus is characterized by shimmering vocal melodies, During the intro and outro of "Sober", the producers use a digitally manipulated, chopped and screwed vocal sample.
Lyrically the track is written about a failing relationship caused by a partner who abuses alcohol. The singer speaks of a man who faces a disconnect between his personality while drunk and sober, causing the inability to forge a connection. Gomez describes a lover who can only show his true emotions while intoxicated. Later in the song she expresses the pain she feels having wasted so much time into her relationship, and decides to leave her dysfunctional lover: "You've got a hold on me / You're like a wasted dream / I gave you everything / But you don't know how to love me when you're sober". During an interview with Nicole Mastrogiannis of iHeartRadio, the singer explained the meaning of the album track-by-track, saying that "Sober" was about being blinded by love in an unhealthy relationship: "It's easy to run away from your feelings, but I have to understand, and people need to understand, that you have to go through everything. You have to feel it. You gotta get through the other side as best as you can, and everyone has been in that situation where you can't help it. Even if it's not even that, it's like love drunk in a way."
Melissa Haggar of Concrete opined that the song is "an intimate reflection on how people can appear so different in certain lights." The song has been compared to the works of Tinashe and Lana Del Rey by Vulture writer Lindsay Zoladz. Additionally, Idolator writer Mike Wass compared the song to the music of other "relatable-pop" artists, such as Alessia Cara and Lorde. Katherine St. Asaph of Time magazine noted that "Sober" was "disarmingly peppy" and set to "the sort of story you’d find in an Evanescence single".
## Critical reception
Upon its release, "Sober" received positive reviews from music critics, with several declaring it an album highlight. Comparing its production to the works of Australian recording artist Sia, George Griffiths of Redbrick deemed it the best song of Gomez's career; praising its placement as the album's musical centerpiece. He elaborated that the themes of empowerment and vulnerability present throughout Revival coalesced into "Sober" "more clearly and coherently than you could ever have imagined". In her review, Concrete writer Melissa Haggar called "Sober" a key example of the personal and meaningful lyrics behind Revival, calling the track "somber and satisfying". Haggar went on to say that the singer: "reflects similar melancholy emotions in bonus tracks like the bittersweet ballad 'Nobody' and the sweeping 'Cologne', which display her more vulnerable side." Idolator writer Mike Wass felt that the track was among the album's best tracks, and compared it to Alessia Cara's single "Here" from her debut album Know-It-All (2015) and Lorde's debut album Pure Heroine (2013), saying "With the rise of relatable-pop, this bittersweet pop anthem should get a warm reception at radio. Emo posturing doesn't get any catchier."
Vulture writer Lindsay Zoladz called "Sober" a standout, suggesting that it receive the single treatment "or — better yet — turned into a he-said/she-said mash-up with the Weeknd's 'The Hills'." Katherine St. Asaph of Time noted that although the middle section of most albums tend to be filler, on Revival it contains the standout tracks, including "Sober". Writing for Entertainment Focus, Pip Ellwood-Hughes noted that the song contained the best vocals on the album, declaring it as a standout track along with "Kill Em With Kindness", "Hands to Myself", and "Good for You". Mike Nied of Idolator declared that "Sober" deserved to be released as a single.
## Credits and personnel
Credits and personnel adapted from Revival album liner notes and BMI.
Recording and management
- Recorded at Westlake Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California) and The Hide Out Studios (London, England)
- Mixed at Ninja Club Studios (Atlanta, Georgia)
- Mastered at Sterling Sound (New York City)
- Published by Chloe Angelides Publishing/Where Da Kasz At (BMI), Virginia Beach Music/Prescription Songs (ASCAP), Screaming Beauty Music/Bok Music (BMI) and EMI April Music (ASCAP) on behalf of EMI Music Publishing Ltd. (PRS)
Personnel
- Selena Gomez – lead vocals, songwriting
- Stargate – songwriting, production, instrumentation, recording
- Dreamlab – vocal production
- Tim Blacksmith – executive production
- Danny D – executive production
- Chloe Angelides – songwriting
- Jacob Kasher Hindlin – songwriting
- Julia Michaels – songwriting
- Rob Ellmore – vocal engineering
- Miles Walker – recording
- Mike Andersong – recording
- Leah Haywood – background vocals
- Phil Than – mixing for RiotProof Productions
- Daniela Rivera – additional mixing engineering, mixing engineering assistant
- Chris Gehringer – mastering
## Charts | [
"## Background",
"## Recording and release",
"## Composition",
"## Critical reception",
"## Credits and personnel",
"## Charts"
] | 2,227 | 24,122 |
1,787,939 | Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers" | 1,158,944,941 | null | [
"1999 American television episodes",
"The Simpsons (season 10) episodes"
] | "Marge Simpson in: 'Screaming Yellow Honkers'" is the fifteenth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 21, 1999. After Homer purchases a Canyonero sports utility vehicle, he discovers he bought the model intended for women, so he gives the vehicle to Marge. Despite disliking it at first, Marge grows fond of it, and quickly develops road rage against other motorists. The episode was written by David M. Stern and directed by Mark Kirkland.
## Plot
The Simpson family attempts to leave Springfield Elementary after watching a poor talent show by the school's teachers. As they sit at the parking lot due to Marge's timid driving, Homer sees Krusty driving a Canyonero and buys one for himself. However, Lenny and Carl tell him he bought the "F-series", which is intended for women. Embarrassed, he gives the vehicle to Marge, who dislikes it at first due to its size and features, but soon grows fond of it and develops road rage. Later, Marge is given a traffic ticket by Chief Wiggum for cutting through a funeral procession and ordered to take a defensive driving course. While leaving the class, she accidentally drives the Canyonero into a prison, letting some inmates escape, and loses her license.
Later, Homer, Bart, and Lisa visit a zoo, where Homer sling-shots a rock at a lemur, causing a chain reaction that makes the rhinoceroses go berserk and escape. The police ask Marge to use her Canyonero to stop the wild animals, but she declines until she sees her family in danger. She succeeds in rounding up the animals and saving the children, but one escapes with Homer on its horn. She chases the angry rhino into a construction site and deliberately crashes the vehicle, making it explode. The rhino attempts to stamp out the fire, allowing zookeepers to capture it and Homer to escape.
## Production
The idea behind the episode came from a study performed that showed women had more cases of road rage than men. The names of the other car salesmen on the board in the car garage are friends of Mike Scully from high school. The road rage film which Chief Wiggum shows during the road rage class was originally titled "Screaming Yellow Honkers". The road rage film was originally to have been presented by Troy McClure, but voice actor Phil Hartman died the previous year. The group of people running out of the zoo, before Homer, Bart, and Lisa, are caricatures of Mike Scully, his wife, and his children, who are also seen running behind Kent Brockman's news report. The Fox Broadcasting Company executives were displeased with the positive references to NBC made near the end of the episode. As a compromise, the writers added in the sequence during the end credits where Homer reads a statement at gunpoint that disparages NBC and praises Fox (and briefly praises CBS, resulting in him being shot).
In an attempt to stop the rhinos, Homer shouts "Jumanji!", a reference to the film Jumanji. Marge mentions Dateline NBC and former anchor Stone Phillips. Ms. Krabappel does a balloon dance singing "Fever", a 1958 hit for Peggy Lee. The other teachers parody songs from Fame. Singer Courtney Love is advertised on a box of Wheaties breakfast cereal.
## Reception
In its original broadcast, "Marge Simpson in: 'Screaming Yellow Honkers'" finished 43rd in ratings for the week of February 15–21, 1999, with a Nielsen rating of 8.7, equivalent to approximately 8.6 million viewing households. It was the third highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following Ally McBeal and The X-Files.
Peter Brown of If notes in his review of The Simpsons' tenth season that "Screaming Yellow Honkers", alongside "Lard of the Dance", "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken", and "Homer Simpson in: 'Kidney Trouble'", were "some of the best episodes of the season".
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote in their review of the episode: "very clever, very dry humour and showcasing the last person you might expect to suffer road rage. Some lovely moments (Marge losing patience with Agnes and Kearney is great), especially her drive across the cornfield. Sadly the Canyonero doesn't survive the experience of this episode, which would have been nice, if only to see Marge regularly at the wheel rather than Homer."
## See also
- Screaming Yellow Zonkers | [
"## Plot",
"## Production",
"## Reception",
"## See also"
] | 985 | 10,053 |
5,529,459 | Whedonesque.com | 1,155,022,008 | Collaborative weblog devoted to the works of Joss Whedon | [
"American entertainment websites",
"Buffyverse",
"Entertainment Internet forums",
"Firefly (franchise)",
"Internet properties disestablished in 2017",
"Internet properties established in 2002"
] | Whedonesque.com (also referred to as Whedonesque) was a collaborative weblog devoted to the works of Joss Whedon. Submissions of new content ended on August 21, 2017, following the publication of an open letter by Whedon's ex-wife Kai Cole. The site was taken offline in 2021. At its inception in 2002, Whedonesque covered Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, but expanded to follow Whedon's professional output, as well as the careers of cast and crew associated with Whedon projects. Since 2004, the site has been recognized in other media outlets by awards and citations of Whedon's writings originally posted to Whedonesque.
Beyond simply being an informational site, Whedonesque has been referenced in books and cited in academic papers. It was used by marketers to drum up interest in Buffy products and by comic book editors to gauge reader reactions. Whedon has occasionally posted his personal political views to the site, such as during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. This led some to mistakenly believe that Whedonesque was Whedon's personal or official site and prompted some fans to take up the writers' cause.
## History
### Origin: 2002 through 2003
Whedonesque was started in mid-2002 by Caroline van Oosten de Boer, who remains the site owner as of February 2009, and Milo Vermeulen. Whedonesque started with a set of rules designed to mandate linking to external sites, encourage civil conduct, discourage copyright violations, and minimize discussion of perpetually contentious issues. The first print media mention of Whedonesque was a one sentence blurb in USA Today a month after its launch. In 2003, it was cited as one of two top Buffy Internet sites in an article commemorating the show's end.
### Growth: 2004 through 2006
The site's popularity grew even further once Whedon himself started posting. Whedon first acknowledged reading Whedonesque in late 2004, and the account 'joss' was created for his use on August 15, 2004. Whedon's first post directly to the site was on April 27, 2005, announcing preview screenings of Serenity. He later extended his involvement, using the site as a means of communication with fans on topics including his own fandom of Veronica Mars, the canonicity of Buffy Season 8 comic books, and status updates on his projects. Through the use of tagging, Whedonesque maintains a list of threads Whedon has started or in which he has posted. In 2006, Angel: After the Fall comic book author Brian Lynch began posting to Whedonesque as well.
Late 2004 saw the first two recognitions of Whedonesque.com by major Internet media. On November 22, 2004, Whedonesque was selected as SciFi.com's Site of the Week, which commented "first-rate weblog on all things Joss-related" that "has very clearly laid-out guidelines for posting and a solid policy on how to label spoilers." On December 14, 2004 USA Today'''s Pop Candy selected "the Whedonesque gang" as the 70th of its "top 100 people of 2004", calling it "... comforting to visit Whedonesque.com each day, where piles of links are posted by my fellow Joss Whedon obsessives." In 2005, Whedonesque was cited as a case study in marketing success.
### Recognition: 2007 through 2008
In early 2007, Whedon announced the end of his relationship with the Wonder Woman movie in a Whedonesque post, which was directly cited in traditional media, including Reuters, the Los Angeles Times, and industry press. That year Whedonesque was also cited in much more modest coverage of Whedon's involvement with Runaways and The Office. In February 2008, Whedonesque was cited as a source in a New York Times piece on Steven Brust's Firefly novel, My Own Kind of Freedom. Later that year, Whedonesque was cited in mainstream media treatment of Dollhouse (especially Whedon's post explaining the new pilot) and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. The site was taken offline for a day by the attention prompted by the release of Dr. Horrible, resulting in the site's movement from Pair.com, where it had originated, to Mediatemple.net. Unlike previous mainstream media mentions, Dollhouse and Dr. Horrible have garnered Whedonesque mainland European media attention. In August 2008, Wired cited Whedonesque in its coverage of the YouTube leak of a demo reel for the never-produced Buffy the Animated Series.
At the same time as major media outlets began noting Whedonesque.com as a source, it also received more recognitions, including The Times Online's Blog of the Week, awarded to Whedonesque on March 4, 2006. The Times review stated that "All the latest news items, rumours and sightings concerning the one-time wonder boy and the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are logged daily by the kind of people who appreciate smart, sophisticated dialogue and plotting." Whedonesque won SyFy Portal's Genre Award for Best Web Site of 2006, and was nominated for same award in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Entertainment Weekly selected Whedonesque as one of the 100 Greatest Websites on December 20, 2007. In May 2008, EW selected Whedonesque as eighth on their list of 25 Essential Fansites, calling it "a reservoir of material about anyone who's starred in (or, it would seem, breathed near) his nerd-magnet projects: Buffy, Angel, and Firefly/Serenity."
Whedon has used Whedonesque as a personal blog, comparing the Stoning of Du'a Khalil Aswad to the Captivity advertising controversy. He also posted multiple messages during the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. While Whedon has no official website, that role is sometimes erroneously attributed to Whedonesque.com, while other media outlets scrupulously describe the relationship between Whedon and the site.
### Institution and close: 2009 through 2021
In 2009, media websites continued to cite Whedonesque in discussions of Whedon's work. In coverage of Dollhouse, Anna Pickard of The Guardian's "TV & Radio Blog" called Whedonesque the "ultimate Joss-fansite" and later quoted van Oosten de Boer and another Whedonesque administrator in a follow-up piece, while Rick Porter of Zap2it referred to it as "the clearinghouse for all things Joss". While an account for frequent Whedon collaborator Tim Minear had been created in 2005, Minear himself first began posting to Whedonesque in March, 2009. One of his first posts, regarding the "Epitaph One" episode of Dollhouse, was quoted by The Washington Post.
On August 21, 2017, moderators announced that the website would be closing down and would eventually become a read-only site. The decision was made shortly after Kai Cole, Whedon's ex-wife, wrote an essay accusing Whedon of numerous affairs, including emotional affairs, and of hypocrisy regarding his espousal of feminist ideals. The announcement requested that users wishing to mark the site's closure donate to organizations or charities supporting treatment of complex post-traumatic stress disorder, which Cole wrote she was treated for, after the revelations of Whedon's infidelity. Moderators announced that the fansite's Twitter account will remain active.
On February 11, 2021, the site was taken offline following a tweet by Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel actress Charisma Carpenter detailing abusive treatment by Joss Whedon during her time on both shows. Carpenter's claims were supported by Buffy the Vampire Slayer alum Amber Benson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Michelle Trachtenberg.
## Impact
### Books and academic papers
In addition to news outlets which have picked up stories and quotes from Whedonesque, the site has been referenced in a number of books and academic papers. It is cited as a general reference in The Physics of the Buffyverse and the Angel guide Once Bitten. Specific URL citations to Whedonesque posts are included in Reading Angel. Likewise, the academic Buffy studies journal Slayage has included papers which cited Whedonesque in issues 16, 22, 23, and 25. The issue 22 reference included URLs to specific topics and posts, which have been "permalinks" since the site's inception. In September 2007, Whedonesque was one website cited in an MIT masters' thesis entitled Television 2.0: Reconceptualizing TV as an Engagement Medium.
There has been a positive reaction at Whedonesque to academic interest in Buffy and other Whedon works. Whedonesque maintains a category for "academic" posts, which includes notices of public lectures, calls for papers, and academic analyses of Whedon projects. A separate category is maintained for Whedonesque posts about Slayage content.
### Marketing and fandom
Even though site owner van Oosten de Boer stated that Whedonesque is "there to provide a service, not to influence anyone." the site has been recognized by vendors as a place to gauge fan reactions to merchandise. In April, 2008, Dark Horse Comics said it would release images of a later-cancelled Buffy the Vampire Slayer tarot card set exclusively through Whedonesque. Buffy Season 8 comic editor Scott Allie wrote in his editorial column that he read Whedonesque for reactions to Buffy's same-sex encounter in issue 12, while Duke University Press credits Whedonesque with helping to sell its Undead TV: Essays on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".
Whedonesque was one of six fan websites featured in Click Critics: The Power of Fan Websites, held May 19, 2008 at The Paley Center for Media in New York. Other attendees included Lostpedia and Television Without Pity. The event highlighted six popular fan-run websites focused on current media. One participant remarked that "The Paley Center itself is trying kind of hard to figure out what this whole blogging thing is, and doesn’t quite get it, as evidenced by the fact that no urls appeared in the program for the event."
### 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike
In late 2007, Whedon's posts about the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike prompted reader support for the writers which grew into a multi-fandom movement dubbed Fans4Writers. The Wall Street Journal noted this novel use of Whedonesque and similar sites. Rolling Stone featured Whedonesque.com as one of four websites mentioned in "The Best Strike Writing" and Buffy'' writer Jane Espenson specifically credited Whedonesque readers for providing pizza to the striking writers. | [
"## History",
"### Origin: 2002 through 2003",
"### Growth: 2004 through 2006",
"### Recognition: 2007 through 2008",
"### Institution and close: 2009 through 2021",
"## Impact",
"### Books and academic papers",
"### Marketing and fandom",
"### 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike"
] | 2,330 | 16,688 |
40,959,373 | Katherine Ritvo | 1,113,549,434 | American horse trainer (born 1969) | [
"1969 births",
"21st-century American women",
"American female horse trainers",
"Living people",
"Sportspeople from Florida"
] | Katherine "Kathy" Ritvo (born February 13, 1969) is a race horse trainer who won the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2013 with Mucho Macho Man after having finished a close second in the same race in 2012. She is the first woman to have trained a winner of that race. She also was only the fifth woman trainer to win any Breeders' Cup race, and was the 14th woman trainer to saddle a starter in the Kentucky Derby in the 137 years that race had been run by 2011.
Born Kathy Petro, she grew up in a horse racing family from Massachusetts and married a fellow horseman, Tim Ritvo, in 1990. Kathy and Tim ran a race horse training operation in Florida, and In 2010 she took it over solo when Tim became part of the management of Gulfstream Park race track. Her accomplishments came against the backdrop of having been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy in 2001 and receiving a heart transplant in 2008. In spite of the medication regime and immunity issues that transplant recipients face, she lives a normal life as a horse trainer and shows no signs of organ rejection.
## Background and early career
Ritvo was born February 13, 1969, to Peter and Mary Petro. Her family was involved in horse racing, and she was raised in Braintree, Massachusetts. Her parents owned race horses, and after other small business ventures, her father purchased a race track. Her three brothers all established horse racing careers: Michael became a race horse trainer and brothers Louis and Nick became jockeys. Ritvo herself is jockey-sized, standing only 4' 11", and weighing under 100 pounds. She worked for her father as a teenager as a groom, hot walker and exercise rider. She became a licensed trainer when she was 18. Her nephew, Nick Petro, Jr., works for her today as an exercise rider.
She met Tim Ritvo in her teens when he was a jockey and they both worked at Suffolk Downs racetrack. Tim and Kathy married in 1990 and soon thereafter moved to Florida, which they viewed as a better place to make a living in the horse racing industry. Tim and Kathy became race horse trainers, and today Tim is the president of Gulfstream Park. Their permanent residence is now Davie, Florida, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. The couple have two children, Dominique, born in 1992, and Michael, now a jockey, born in 1994. Between 1990 and 1998, Kathy Ritvo trained 150 winning horses, including stakes winners.
## Heart condition
Ritvo developed cardiomyopathy, which had killed her brother Louis at the age of 38, as well as her father at age 73. She had been plagued by unusual fatigue since 1998, and her heart condition was formally diagnosed in January, 2001. She began taking medication and trained on a limited basis from 2003 to 2005, starting about 100 horses in that period, with 15 wins. However, her condition deteriorated. She started only one horse in 2005 and had no starters from 2006 until 2009. In 2008, at the age of 39, she was placed on a waiting list for a heart transplant. After a seven-month wait, an organ became available on November 13, 2008, and Ritvo received her new heart that day in an operation that lasted 17 hours. She had been hospitalized for most of the previous six months, and at the time of her surgery her doctors assessed her as having only about two weeks to live. She was discharged from the hospital seven days after her surgery. She later gave a letter to the hospital to pass on to the organ donor's family, but has never heard from them. Ritvo has stated that she wants the donor's family to know she is thankful for her new heart, but respects their privacy.
Since the transplant, Ritvo shows no signs of organ rejection, keeping to a regimen of over 30 pills a day but otherwise living a normal life.
## Return to race horse training
Ritvo's doctors advised her not to return to work in the horse racing industry because of the risks to her immune system posed by the dirt and dust that is part of the environment. Nonetheless, in spite of medical warnings, she returned to horse training within six months, and was credited for saddling four starters in 2009. Though immunity is a concern for transplant recipients, Ritvo remains healthy even though surrounded by horses, dogs, and all of the conditions typical of horse stables.
In 2010, starting horses in 53 races for the year, she also took over the training of then-two-year-old Mucho Macho Man when her husband Tim stopped training horses because he began working as part of the management at Gulfstream Park. Working with owners Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, the horse ran in the 2011 Kentucky Derby. Ritvo was only the 14th woman to train a horse entered in the Kentucky Derby in the 137 years it had been run to that date, and the third-place finish of the horse was the best for a woman trainer in the history of the race. She kept her perspective: "I'm so proud to be in the Derby, but just to get up in the morning is amazing." She next ran Mucho Macho Man in the other two legs of the Triple Crown, the 136th Preakness Stakes and the 143rd Belmont Stakes, where he finished sixth and seventh respectively. Only 13 women trainers had saddled a starter prior to the 2011 Preakness, and Ritvo was only the 10th woman trainer to start a horse in the Belmont. Mucho Macho Man had overcome his own health problems in order to race, including having appeared to be lifeless at birth. Comparing her own experiences to the horse, Ritvo stated, "From the moment I opened my eyes, I felt fantastic. He's Mucho Macho Man and I'm Macho Woman."
She raced Mucho Macho Man in 2012, when he won three graded stakes races. She ran horses in 48 races that year, hitting the board 19 times. Her highest profile race that year occurred when Mucho Macho Man was a close second by a half-length in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Classic.
In 2013, Ritvo ran Mucho Macho Man in assorted races in the eastern U.S., then moved him to Santa Anita Park in early September, almost two months before the Breeders' Cup races, because she felt he "thrived" in California. She entered him in the late September Awesome Again Stakes, where he earned his first Grade I win and free entry fees for the Breeders' Cup Classic. At the Classic in early November, going off as the second favorite, the horse won by a nose. With the win, Ritvo became the first woman trainer to win the Breeders' Cup Classic, and was also only the fifth woman trainer to win any Breeders' Cup race. Ritvo's fellow trainers in the race included Americans D. Wayne Lukas, Todd Pletcher, Bill Mott, and Bob Baffert, as well as Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien. In response to a reporter's question about how it felt to beat several major trainers, she said, "It feels great," but also credited the team behind the horse, and added, "I'm just blessed to be here."
At the end of 2013, Ritvo was named as a recipient of the Lou Smith Memorial Award for Yearly Achievement, given by the New England Turf Writers Association, noting her Massachusetts roots. Mucho Macho Man was awarded the 2013 Secretariat Vox Populi Award, recognizing the struggles the horse had overcome in reaching success and acknowledging the accomplishments of his connections, including Ritvo's own story of overcoming her health issues and going on to train him. The win in the Breeders' Cup Classic was selected as the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Moment of the Year with participation in the online polling for that award up by more than 50% from the previous year, believed to be largely due to the popularity of Mucho Macho Man and the people around him, including Ritvo.
ESPN noted the worldwide success of women horse trainers in 2013, particularly owing to wins in three of the world's major races within a one-month period. In October, Criquette Head-Maarek won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with Treve, the only woman trainer to win the Arc. Then, a few days after Ritvo's horse won the Breeders' Cup Classic, the Melbourne Cup was won by Fiorente, a horse trained by Australian trainer Gai Waterhouse, who was only the second woman to train a winner in that race.
As of 2014, Ritvo trains a stable of about a dozen horses, including all of the horses in race training owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, the owners of Mucho Macho Man. Her son Michael became a jockey and won his first race in March 2014 in his second trip out as an apprentice rider. | [
"## Background and early career",
"## Heart condition",
"## Return to race horse training"
] | 1,913 | 34,390 |
16,341,183 | Upper Brook Street Chapel, Manchester | 1,157,567,789 | Church in Manchester, UK | [
"19th-century churches in the United Kingdom",
"Charles Barry buildings",
"Churches completed in 1839",
"Former churches in Greater Manchester",
"Gothic Revival church buildings in Greater Manchester",
"Grade II* listed churches in Manchester",
"Halls of residence in the United Kingdom",
"Mosques in Manchester",
"Structures formerly on the Heritage at Risk register",
"Unitarian chapels in England"
] | The Upper Brook Street Chapel, also known as the Islamic Academy, the Unitarian Chapel and the Welsh Baptist Chapel, is a former chapel with an attached Sunday School on the east side of Upper Brook Street, Chorlton-on-Medlock, Greater Manchester, England. It is said to be the first neogothic Nonconformist chapel, having been constructed for the British Unitarians between 1837 and 1839, at the very beginning of the reign of Queen Victoria. It was designed by Sir Charles Barry, later architect of the Palace of Westminster.
A listed building since 3 October 1974 (currently Grade II\*), it is owned by Manchester City Council and was on the Buildings at Risk Register, rated as "very bad". It was partially demolished in 2006. The Victorian Society placed the building on a list of ten most threatened buildings in England and Wales. It was restored and converted to student accommodation in 2017 by Buttress Architects.
## History
### Architecture
The chapel was designed by Sir Charles Barry, shortly before he designed the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament). It was constructed between 1837 and 1839 out of sandstone, with a slate roof. It is in English neogothic style. The building has seven narrow bays, with buttresses and a lancet in each bay. The west end has a giant moulded archway, with an arched doorway at the ground floor with a window above. On the east end there is a rose window. The corners are square, with pinnacles. The inside of the chapel had galleries on three sides, and a ribbed, vaulted ceiling. The attached two-storey Sunday School is in the same style as the chapel, and has a triple-gabled north side, with large arched windows on the first floor. It also has a canted apse on the west end, and a lean-to porch.
The building marked a charge in the style of Nonconformist worship locations. Previously these were mostly built with brick, and were plain, with the grander tending towards Greek architecture. Said to be the first neogothic Nonconformist chapel, Manchester's Unitarian Chapel was preceded by the Congregational Chapel in March, Cambridgeshire, which was constructed in 1836 and is also in the neogothic style. Chapels built following the construction of these two resembled parish churches more than the former style.
The building was listed on 3 October 1974, and is currently classed as Grade II\*.
## Occupancy
### Unitarians
The chapel was originally constructed for the Unitarians. It replaced the Mosley Street Chapel (built 1789, demolished 1836) upon its completion for baptisms, burials and marriages. The chapel was used for burial rites until 1882, the chapel had a graveyard from the outset, to both the north and south sides of the chapel. Restrictions were placed on this in 1856 and prohibited in 1882. Graves from the north side were relocated to brick vaults on the south side of the chapel around the time of the construction of the sunday school in 1877. Baptisms were performed until at least 1912, and marriages until at least 1916.
Ministers at the chapel include John James Tayler (until 1853), William Henry Herford (1866–70), Philip Wicksteed (circa 1890), John Trevor (1890–91, left to start The Labour Church) and Edward Walker Sealy (1910-???).
### Other denominations
The chapel was sold in 1928 due to changes in the district, and was subsequently used as a Welsh Baptist Chapel. The chapel was then used as a Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall in the early 1970s. The building has been owned by Manchester City Council since the 1970s, who purchased land alongside Upper Brook Street with the aim of constructing a large motorway into Manchester, which was never realised.
Both the chapel and Sunday School were occupied by the Islamic Academy of Manchester between 1974 and 2006, when it was used as a mosque, teaching centre and for outreach work in the Asian community.
## Dereliction and rebirth
By the beginning of the 21st century, the future of the building was looking increasingly uncertain. The chapel had become unsafe, and substantial money was needed for emergency repairs. An unsuccessful bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for funding to repair the building was made by the Islamic Academy in 2003. In 2001 and 2005 the City Council commissioned structural advice regarding the building, prior to removing most of the roof, with the agreement of English Heritage.
Parts of the chapel were demolished at the start of 2006 on safety grounds, with scaffolding holding up some other sections. By 2010 the chapel was on the Buildings at Risk Register, rated as "very bad". The Victorian Society placed it on a list of ten most threatened buildings in England and Wales.
In October 2010 Manchester City Council announced that it was in discussion with a developer to renovate the building and bring it back into use. In August 2013 the council received a planning application from the Church Converts (Manchester) to repair the building and convert it into apartments; the application was granted in February 2014. The redevelopment by CZero Developments consists of 73 private apartments in both the chapel and the Sunday school.
From September 2017, the building has been operating as student accommodation, with a gym, cinema room, study areas and a lounge.
## See also
- Grade II\* listed buildings in Greater Manchester
- Listed buildings in Manchester-M13
- Dissenting Gothic, its architectural style | [
"## History",
"### Architecture",
"## Occupancy",
"### Unitarians",
"### Other denominations",
"## Dereliction and rebirth",
"## See also"
] | 1,188 | 25,817 |
64,088,194 | Japanese submarine I-5 | 1,165,600,229 | Japanese Junsen type submarine-class | [
"1931 ships",
"Attack on Pearl Harbor",
"Friendly fire incidents of World War II",
"Japanese submarines lost during World War II",
"Junsen type submarines",
"Maritime incidents in July 1944",
"Second Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan",
"Ships built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries",
"Ships of the Aleutian Islands campaign",
"Submarines lost with all hands",
"Submarines sunk by United States warships",
"Warships lost in combat with all hands",
"World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean",
"World War II submarines of Japan"
] | The Japanese submarine I-5 was the first aircraft-carrying submarine in the Imperial Japanese Navy and operated during World War II. The sole member of the Junsen 1 Mod. (巡潜一型改) class, the submarine was launched on 19 June 1931 at Kobe by Kawasaki. A single Yokosuka E6Y floatplane was carried. A catapult was fitted in 1938 but the capability to operate the aircraft was removed two years later and the boat was reconfigured as an attack submarine. By that time, I-5 had already seen wartime service.
In 1937, submarine served in the Second Sino-Japanese War as part of the Third Fleet patrolling the coasts of China, a role that the vessel reprised off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands during the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The submarine subsequently supported the Dutch East Indies campaign and was then transferred to the Indian Ocean, where the boat sank a merchant vessel. After successfully supporting the Aleutian Islands campaign, the submarine was re-equipped as a transport to supply distant Japanese garrisons in 1943. The vessel, equipped with a Daihatsu-class landing craft, ran supplies as far afield as New Britain. I-5 went missing in 1944 and is believed to have been sunk by the United States Navy destroyer escort USS Wyman near the Mariana Islands with no survivors on 19 July.
## Design and development
During the period following World War I, the Imperial Japanese Navy saw the potential of aircraft carrying submarines, with investigations noted as early as 1924, when an American report stated, "special investigations are now in place at the Oppama (Yokosuka) Aviation Corps about airplane carrying submarines". These concepts culminated in a requirement for a submarine larger than existing cruiser submarines and capable of launching a single reconnaissance floatplane. In response, the Junsen 1 Mod. was developed based on the Junsen 1 (巡潜一型).
The submarine was similar in dimensions to the predecessors but had a larger displacement, 2,279 tonnes (2,243 long tons) surfaced and 2,968 tonnes (2,921 long tons) submerged. Length was 97.5 metres (319 ft 11 in), beam 9.22 m (30 ft 3 in) and draught 4.94 m (16 ft 2 in). Power was provided by two 3,000-brake-horsepower (2,237 kW) diesel engines which drove two shafts when running on the surface up to a maximum speed of 18.8 knots (34.8 km/h; 21.6 mph). These also charged the batteries that powered the vessel underwater. When submerged, power was provided by electric motors that provided 2,600 bhp (1,939 kW) and enabled a maximum speed of 8.1 knots (15.0 km/h; 9.3 mph). 589 tonnes (580 long tons) of fuel oil was carried which gave an endurance of 24,000 nautical miles (44,000 km; 28,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) on the surface. Submerged, the boat could travel for 60 nautical miles (110 km; 69 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph). The submarine had a diving depth of 80 m (260 ft). The complement was 93, including officers. In addition, the submarine's large size meant that it could operate as a flagship.
The main armament was similar to the preceding Junsen 1 submarines, consisting of six internal 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo tubes, all in the bow. Twenty torpedoes could be carried. At about the same time as the boat was entering service, the Japanese Navy introduced a new standard torpedo for submarines, the Type 89, which entered service in 1931. The torpedo delivered a warhead of 300 kilograms (660 lb) over a range of 5,500 metres (18,045 ft) at 45 knots (83 km/h; 52 mph). It remained in service until the early days of World War II until being replaced by the Type 95, which could carry a larger warhead further at a higher speed, being capable of propelling 405 kg (893 lb) of explosives over a range of 12,000 metres (39,370 ft) at up to 47 knots (87 km/h; 54 mph).
The deck was fitted with one mount for a single 14 cm (5.5 in) 40 calibre 11th Year Type gun, which could fire a 38 kg (84 lb) shell 1,600 metres (5,249 ft) at a rate of five rounds per minute. For anti-aircraft defence, a single 7.7 mm (0.30 in) machine gun was mounted on the conning tower.
A single Yokosuka E6Y observation floatplane was carried disassembled in two watertight retractable containers aft of the conning tower, one each port and starboard. The wings were stored in one container, the fuselage and floats in the other. To operate the aircraft, the submarine was required to stop, the containers deployed, the components assembled and the seaplane launched into the sea from which it would then take-off. During training, this proved a lengthy exercise during which the submarine was vulnerable to attack. Later, the deck was fitted with a catapult to increase the range of the aircraft and reduce the time of exposure, but this extended the time for launch required as the assembled aircraft had to be mounted on the catapult.
## Construction and career
I-5 was laid down on 30 October 1929 at Kawasaki Dockyard Co. in Kobe, launched on 19 June 1931, and commissioned on 31 July 1932. The vessel entered service and was attached to Yokosuka Naval District, undergoing training and trials until 1933 when a catapult was fitted during refit. Similarly, between February and July 1936, the deck gun was temporarily replaced with a 12.7 cm (5 in) Type 89 dual purpose gun. At the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, the submarine was attached to the Third Fleet (China Theatre Fleet) based at Hong Kong alongside the submarine tender Komahashi and a fleet of cruiser submarines. The fleet was tasked with patrolling and blockading the central and southern Chinese coasts. Between 21 and 23 August, the submarine was in the East China Sea, providing distant cover for two battle fleets built around the battlecruisers Haruna and Kirishima, and the battleships Mutsu and Nagato that ferried troops from Japan to China.
In 1940, the submarine was withdrawn from service and refitted. The commissioning of more modern submarine aircraft carriers, the Type A and Type B, meant that the less advanced installation on I-5 was deemed superfluous. Therefore, during the refit, the provision to operate an aircraft was removed and an aft deck gun fitted in its place. At the same time, a single 25 mm (1 in) Type 96 anti-aircraft gun was fitted to an extended bridge. The submarine re-entered service as an attack submarine.
On 16 November 1941, the submarine departed as part of the 2nd Submarine Squadron led by Admiral Mitsumi Shimizu in I-7, alongside I-4 and I-6. The boat arrived off the coast of Hawaii to take up a position west of Oahu and was tasked with patrolling the area and attacking any US Navy ships that attempted to sortie in response to the Japanese action. On 7 December, the submarine moved to patrol north of Molokai, shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The boat then remained on station during the attack.
After a brief interlude on 9 January 1942 joining other vessels of the Japanese Navy to hunt for the aircraft carrier USS Lexington, the submarine returned to the Japanese mainland. Following a refit in Yokosuka between 2 and 11 February, the submarine then departed to support the Dutch East Indies campaign, arriving at Staring-baai in Sulawesi on 23 February. On 25 February, while patrolling west of Timor, the submarine was observed by a Mitsubishi C5M reconnaissance aircraft which was being escorted by a flight of nine Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters. Thinking that they had spotted an enemy vessel, the fighters attacked the submarine, inflicting minor damage and injuring three officers. After repairs, the submarine was sent to the Indian Ocean to disrupt shipping and support the Indian Ocean raid. On 5 April, the ship sank the United States merchant ship SS Washingtonian. On 5 June, I-5 was transferred to the Aleutian Islands campaign and joined the force, led by Admiral Boshirō Hosogaya, that landed the Japanese Northern Army on Attu Island.
However, an increasingly challenging logistical situation meant that on 16 November 1942, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto ordered that submarines be made available as transports. Admiral Teruhisa Komatsu, who was commander of the 6th Fleet and thus responsible for submarine operations, responded by ordering the conversion of thirteen submarines as transports. The submarines operated a vital service, transferring supplies and people. I-5 was one of the submarines converted and reassigned, and a Daihatsu-class landing craft was fitted on 17 March 1943 to enable the faster transfer of personnel and resources in what were termed "ant carrying transport" operations. Nine days after, the submarine started the first of nine supply runs between Lae and Rabaul. Later, the submarine was relocated to supply the garrison in the Aleutian Islands. In between, the submarine also undertook other missions, such as rescuing pilots of Mitsubishi G4M bombers shot down by US forces on 14 and 15 May.
In June 1944, the Japanese became aware that their forces in the Mariana Islands would be subject to attack and formed a submarine picket, including I-5, 300 nautical miles (560 km) east of the Islands. The submarine was subsequently sent on a supply run to Pohnpei between 5 and 9 July, and then sailed to Truk from whence the boat departed on 16 July. On 19 July, the US Navy destroyer escort USS Wyman identified a sonar contact 360 nautical miles (670 km) east of Guam. Hedgehog bombs were fired and a destroyed submarine reported. The victim is believed to be I-5. There were no survivors. The submarine was removed from the Navy List on 10 September 1944. | [
"## Design and development",
"## Construction and career"
] | 2,239 | 32,153 |
27,334,190 | Avro Canada CF-103 | 1,159,731,423 | Cancelled military aircraft | [
"1950s Canadian fighter aircraft",
"Abandoned military aircraft projects of Canada",
"Avro Canada aircraft",
"Twinjets"
] | The Avro Canada CF-103 was a proposed Canadian interceptor, designed by Avro Canada in the early 1950s as a development, and possible replacement of the company's CF-100 Canuck, that was entering service at the time with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Although intended to be capable of flying at transonic speeds, the CF-103 only offered a moderate increase in performance and capability over the CF-100; subsequently, the aircraft never progressed beyond the mock-up stage.
## Design and development
Even before the prototype of the CF-100 had flown, Avro Canada was conducting studies of potential advanced variations of the aircraft, as the RCAF was seeking an interceptor with greater high-speed performance. Due to the perceived limitations of the CF-100's original "thick", straight wing, Chief Designer John Frost proposed a series of refinements that included a thinner swept wing. In December 1950, the Avro Aircraft Design Office decided to proceed with a redesign, primarily incorporating the early series CF-100 fuselage structure with a new swept wing and tail surfaces as part of the C-100S design study.
Frost considered the new design as an interim aircraft between the CF-100 and the more advanced C-104 project. The salient changes to the basic wing planform were in decreasing its chord and thickness, and adding a 42° sweep to the leading edge, creating a near-delta wing configuration. The tail surfaces were also swept back. One version that was considered featured two streamlined fuel tanks blended into the leading edge of the wings near the three/quarter position.
Despite the use of more powerful engines, the redesign had very modest performance specifications, with a planned maximum diving speed of Mach 0.95, scarcely better than the placarded Mach 0.85 speed limit of the production CF-100 Mk 2 and Mk 3. Avro executives, recognizing that the company had already suffered due to the protracted development of the CF-100, determined that Frost's revised design would provide a "hedge" against the CF-100's failure to secure long-term contracts.
In 1951, the Canadian Department of Trade and Commerce issued an order for two prototypes and a static test airframe, under the CF-103 project designation. Jigs, tools and detailed engineering drawings were in place by June 1951, with wind tunnel testing, conducted at Cornell University, completed by November 1951. Although a wooden mock-up of the CF-103 was built, along with a separate cockpit area and engine section that was partially framed in, the mock-up did not feature an undercarriage unit nor any interior fittings. Two different tail designs were fitted with the initial effort only having a swept leading edge of the tail, while the definitive version had a much more raked appearance. The engineering and installation requirements for the CF-103's proposed Orenda 17 jet engines were not finalized, as the experimental "hybrid" using an Orenda 8 compressor unit and Orenda 11 two-stage turbine, matched to a "reheat" unit, had not been fully developed.
## Cancellation
During 1951, flight tests carried out by Chief Development Test Pilot S/L Janusz Żurakowski and other members of the Flight Test unit, revealed the development potential of the CF-100 had outstripped the intended performance envelope of the CF-103, while Frost and the Design Office became preoccupied with more sophisticated designs as potential replacements for the CF-100. Work on the CF-103 stalled, with the maiden flight originally scheduled for the summer of 1952, postponed to mid-1953. With Cold War pressures mounting, the Canadian government demanded that production of the latest CF-100 fighter, as well as developing more advanced variants of the Canuck should predominate, leading the Avro company to curtail the moribund CF-103 project in December 1951.
Although the mock-up languished in the experimental bay at the factory, a dramatic event served to preclude any attempt to restart the project. On 18 December 1952, from a height of 33,000 ft (10,000 m), Żurakowski dived the CF-100 Mk 4 prototype (RCAF Serial No. 18112) to Mach 1.06. His "unauthorized" test flight resulted in the final scrapping of the mock-up.
## Specifications
## See also | [
"## Design and development",
"## Cancellation",
"## Specifications",
"## See also"
] | 914 | 32,235 |
1,178,120 | Headline News ("Weird Al" Yankovic song) | 1,173,540,418 | 1994 single by "Weird Al" Yankovic | [
"\"Weird Al\" Yankovic songs",
"1994 singles",
"1994 songs",
"Music videos directed by \"Weird Al\" Yankovic",
"Scotti Brothers Records singles",
"Songs based on American history",
"Songs with lyrics by \"Weird Al\" Yankovic",
"Songs written by Brad Roberts"
] | “Headline News” is a parody song by "Weird Al" Yankovic. It is a parody of the Crash Test Dummies’ 1993 hit “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm”. It was released as the lead-off single for the compilation box set Permanent Record: Al in the Box on September 27, 1994. The song was written after Yankovic's label insisted he craft a new song to promote the album; Yankovic in turn combined the music of the Crash Test Dummies’ song with three news stories that were popular in late 1993 and early 1994.
To help promote the song and album, Yankovic directed a music video that was a direct parody of the Crash Test Dummies’ original. In it, the three news stories are presented as if they are one-act plays to an audience. The song's video took two days to film and ended up running over the allotted time that had been scheduled for production, costing the record label a considerable amount of money. Several notable individuals made cameos in the video, including Doug Llewelyn, Dr. Demento, and Judy Tenuta.
The song and video were met with mostly positive reviews from critics, although at least one critic for The Commercial Appeal felt that the source material was already dated upon the single's release. Crash Test Dummies themselves were pleased with the final result and even performed the song with Yankovic in concert twice. “Headline News” charted at number four on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, making it Yankovic’s first single to chart domestically since 1992’s “Smells Like Nirvana”.
## Writing
While Yankovic was writing the original songs for a new album—which was later released in 1996 as Bad Hair Day—his label, Scotti Brothers Records, insisted that he release a new record in order to meet monetary projections for the fourth fiscal quarter of the year. Yankovic, however, explained that he would be unable to finish a new record in time, so his label decided to release a box set entitled Permanent Record: Al in the Box. The label then stipulated that Yankovic would need to at least record a new single to promote the box set.
Due to this demand, Yankovic nearly had Scotti Brothers cancel the box set due to being unable to write under pressure before turning to the Crash Test Dummies's recent hit "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm". Yankovic had heard the song earlier in the year and, at the time, believed that it had the potential to be parodied on his next studio album. However, after Scotti Brothers insisted that he record a new song to promote Permanent Record, Yankovic decided to feature a Crash Test Dummies parody as the set's lead single. Yankovic later realized that by releasing "Headline News" on the Permanent Record set rather than wait to include it on his next album, he could capitalize on the topicality of the parody's lyrics.
While each verse of "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" told the story of a different abnormal child, the verses in "Headline News" recount three famous tabloid stories of 1993 and 1994: the American vandal Michael Fay being caned in Singapore, figure skater Tonya Harding's ex-husband attacking her rival Nancy Kerrigan, and Lorena Bobbitt severing her husband's penis with a knife. (When singing about the latter story, Yankovic substitutes the term "penis" with euphemisms like "wiener" and "Mr. Happy".) Yankovic later joked that he "wanted to write a song about these people because he didn't think they're getting quite enough media attention"—a reference to the stories' over-saturation in the news.
## Recording
Recording for the song began on July 27, 1994, at Santa Monica Sound Recorders in Santa Monica, California. Yankovic himself produced the song. Backing Yankovic were Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz on drums, Steve Jay on bass, Jim West on guitar, and Kim Bullard on keyboards. Lisa Popeil provides the female backup vocals, as well as the scream of Nancy Kerrigan. The song also features idiosyncratic sonic elements to increase the humor, such as: manualist sound effects courtesy of Mike Kieffer; a chorus of kazoos, which joins in during the song's outro; and Yankovic playing a short riff on his trademark instrument, the accordion. Due to the vocal parts of the original song being in such a low register, Yankovic had to record the parody's vocal tracks early in the morning, when his voice was naturally lower.
## Music video
The music video for "Headline News" parodies the "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" video in that it presents each news story as a one-act play on stage before an audience of people. The video was directed by Yankovic, making it his third directoral credit after 1986's "Christmas at Ground Zero" and 1993's "Bedrock Anthem". Yankovic appears as Brad Roberts, and his band appears as the other members of the Crash Test Dummies; notably, the video also marks the on-screen debut of Yankovic's official keyboardist, Rubén Valtierra, who appears in drag as Ellen Reid. The video was filmed on August 29 and 31, 1994. All of the scenes that took place at the school were filmed during the day at Longfellow Elementary School Auditorium, in Pasadena, California. The scenes at the ice rink were filmed at night in a rink in Paramount, California. According to Yankovic, the crew ran over time and it was a rather expensive video. Yankovic noted that "without giving you the actual number", he could have "recorded two albums, probably, for what it cost to do that one video." The video features several celebrity cameos, including an appearance by Doug Llewelyn of People's Court fame, and long time radio show host Dr. Demento. Comedian Judy Tenuta also appears as Lorena Bobbitt.
## Release
### Reception
"Headline News" was released on September 26, 1994, as the lead-off single for Permanent Record: Al in the Box, which was also released a day later. Yankovic also insisted that the song be commercially available as a CD single so that his fans who are completists would not have to purchase the expensive box set just to get the new song. Much like the cover for the Crash Test Dummies's 1993 studio album God Shuffled His Feet, the cover for Yankovic's single superimposes his face over the figures of Titian's painting Bacchus and Ariadne. The art direction is credited to Doug Haverty, and design is credit to Daniel Sorenson, David McDougall. The b-side of "Headline News" was a remix of Yankovic's 1986 original song "Christmas at Ground Zero". The song was never officially released on a studio album, although it did appear on Yankovic's Greatest Hits Volume II album, which was released a month later on October 25, 1994. The single charted and peaked at number four on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, which corresponds to a position of 104 on the Billboard Hot 100. This made it Yankovic's first domestically charting single since 1992's "Smells Like Nirvana".
Brad Roberts, the original songwriter for "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" was extremely pleased with the parody, and found it humorous. He later noted, "People assume that I was annoyed but when [Yankovic] does a parody of you, you know you've made it." He later praised the way Yankovic interacted with the artists that he parodies: "Weird Al goes the whole route and cultivates a relationship with the artist. Plus he gets half the earnings and that helps me make money."
### Reviews
"Headline News" received mostly positive reviews from music critics. Lou Carlozo of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the song "provided savage laughs at the expense of Tonya Harding and John Bobbitt." Roch Parisien of AllMusic cited the song as one of the three stand-outs from Yankovic's second greatest hits volume, and called it a "rib-tickler". Tina Maps of The Milwaukee Journal wrote a positive review and felt that the musical parody was a "dead-on skewering of the Crash Test Dummies' 'Mmm, Mmm, Mmm, Mmm". Not all reviews, however, were so positive; an article that appeared in The Commercial Appeal noted that while the video for "Headline News" had some "cute bits and unusual cameos", it was "not as clever as many of Yankovic's past efforts" and that "the current events included here are already dated".
### Live performances
Yankovic first started performing "Headline News" in August 1994, almost a month before it was officially released. In addition, Yankovic has performed the song with the Crash Test Dummies twice: once on Canada's MuchMusic channel and another time at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. Reportedly, during one of the performances, Ellen Reid, backing vocalist and keyboardist for the Crash Test Dummies, went out and purchased kazoos. The band then hid the instruments until the end of the song, when they took them out and played them; this "came as a big surprise to" Yankovic. Yankovic's Straight Outta Lynwood concert tour contained new lyrics as part of a parody medley, referencing Britney Spears, dealing with her 2007 head-shaving shock and underpants-less limousine trip in late 2006. Later in the tour, he changed it to reference Paris Hilton's DUI and imprisonment, and her subsequent interview on Larry King Live.
## Track listing
CD single
1. "Headline News" – 3:46
2. "Christmas at Ground Zero (Alternate Mix)" – 3:07
## Charts
## Personnel
- "Weird Al" Yankovic – Lead and backing vocals, accordion, production, arrangement
- Jim West – guitar
- Steve Jay – bass guitar
- Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz – drums
- Kim Bullard – keyboards
- Lisa Popeil - backing vocals
- Mike Kieffer – manualism
- Tony Papa – engineering
## See also
- List of singles by "Weird Al" Yankovic
- List of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic | [
"## Writing",
"## Recording",
"## Music video",
"## Release",
"### Reception",
"### Reviews",
"### Live performances",
"## Track listing",
"## Charts",
"## Personnel",
"## See also"
] | 2,235 | 21,976 |
32,176,460 | Case of the Dean of St Asaph | 1,144,412,719 | null | [
"1784 in British law",
"1784 in case law",
"Court of King's Bench (England) cases",
"English criminal case law",
"English defamation case law",
"Lord Mansfield cases",
"Trials in the Kingdom of Great Britain"
] | The Case of the Dean of St Asaph, formally R v Shipley, was the 1784 trial of William Davies Shipley, the Dean of St Asaph, for seditious libel. In the aftermath of the American War of Independence, electoral reform had become a substantial issue, and William Pitt the Younger attempted to bring a Bill before Parliament to reform the electoral system. In its support Shipley republished a pamphlet written by his brother-in-law, Sir William Jones, which noted the defects of the existing system and argued in support of Pitt's reforms. Thomas FitzMaurice, the brother of British Prime Minister Earl of Shelburne, reacted by indicting Shipley for seditious libel, a criminal offence which acted as "the government's chief weapon against criticism", since merely publishing something that an individual judge interpreted as libel was enough for a conviction; a jury was prohibited from deciding whether the material was actually libellous. The law was widely seen as unfair, and a Society for Constitutional Information was formed to pay Shipley's legal fees. With financial backing from the society Shipley was able to secure the services of Thomas Erskine KC as his barrister.
Shipley was tried in 1784 by Mr Justice Buller and a specially convened jury at Shrewsbury. Edward Bearcroft, counsel for the prosecution, argued that on the basis of the existing system the jury could not decide on the nature of the pamphlet, while Erskine argued not only that they could, but that the material did not constitute seditious libel, containing as it did "a solemn protest against all sedition". Persuaded by Erskine's arguments, the jury ruled that Shipley was neither "guilty" or "not guilty", but instead "guilty of publication only", a confusing and non-standard ruling which, after a long dialogue, Mr Justice Buller declared to mean "guilty on all charges". Erskine appealed the decision to the Court of King's Bench on 8 November, where the judges again ruled that juries could not decide whether material was libellous, but nevertheless released Shipley on a technicality; his freedom was greeted with fireworks and bonfires, and Erskine was rewarded with the Freedom of the City of Gloucester. Still seeking to reform the law, Erskine sent the court records to Charles James Fox and Lord Camden, who, after much effort, passed the Libel Act 1792, which secured the right of juries to decide whether material was libellous.
## Background
Following the end of the American War of Independence, British public attention had turned to the need for Parliamentary reform – specifically, the lack of franchise in many towns and the presence of rotten boroughs. In response, William Pitt the Younger brought the idea of reform before Parliament and, in support of his actions, Sir William Jones wrote and published a pamphlet titled A Dialogue between a Farmer and a Country Gentleman on the Principles of Government, which covered the "virtues of government and defects in the representation of the people". In 1783 Shipley, Jones's brother-in-law, recommended it to a group of Welsh constitutional reformers and had it reprinted in Welsh with his own preface suggesting it was "just, rational and constitutional". As a result, Thomas FitzMaurice, the brother of the Earl of Shelburne, indicted Shipley for seditious libel, specifically for "publishing a false, scandalous and malicious libel ... to raise seditions and tumults within the kingdom, and to excite His Majesty's subjects to attempt, by armed rebellion and violence, to subvert the state and constitution of the nation".
The law dealing with seditious libel was particularly strict. Acting as "the government's chief weapon against criticism", it followed principles laid down in De Libellis Famosis and R v Carr: that seditious libel was a criminal offence, that the intention of the publisher or the truth of the allegations was irrelevant, that mere publication was sufficient for a conviction, and that juries were only allowed to deliver a verdict on whether the material had been published by the defendant, not whether it was libellous. Traditionally, matters of fact were left to the jury and matters of law to the judge, but with seditious libel "matters of law" was construed very widely; it was the judge's job to decide if the material was libellous, what constituted "seditious libel", and the nature of "publication", which was understood to include almost anything. Even a private letter, if intercepted, could lead to a prosecution.
Because of public disquiet with these principles, Shipley's trial acted as a "test case" for the law of seditious libel; a Society for Constitutional Information was formed by concerned citizens and began raising money to pay for his defence. Able to afford the best representation, the society gave the brief to Thomas Erskine KC, a noted defence barrister. The trial was to be heard by Lord Kenyon, then Chief Justice of Chester, at Wrexham; after travelling 200 miles to the court Erskine discovered that a paper had been circulated in the area arguing that in libel cases juries were allowed to decide whether a publication was libellous, as well as whether it had been published. Citing the paper's circulation, the prosecution asked for a postponement; ignoring claims that a delay would cause Shipley hardship, Kenyon agree to postpone the trial. The case was eventually heard on 6 August 1784 by Mr Justice Buller, at Shrewsbury.
## Trial and appeal
Edward Bearcroft, lead counsel for the prosecution, described the Dialogue as libel and argued that the truth of this was not a question for the jury to decide on; they were bound to convict the defendant as long as they decided that he had published the Dialogue, regardless of the contents. Those contents, Bearcroft went on, sought to persuade the public that "every man of age had a right to choose his own representative in Parliament". Erskine, in his reply, argued that the Dialogue was not libellous (it opened with a preface containing "a solemn protest against all sedition"), and insisted that the jury had the right to decide what constituted libel:
> If they know that the subject of the paper is the topic that agitates the country around them; if they see danger in that agitation, and have reason to think that the publisher must have intended it, they say he is guilty. If, on the other hand, they consider the paper to be legal and enlightening in principle; likely to promote a spirit of activity and liberty, in times when the activity of such a spirit is essential to the public safety, and have reason to believe it to be written and published in that spirit; they say, as they ought to do, that the writer or the publisher is not guilty.
To demonstrate his feelings on the subject, Erskine asked the jury to consider him a fellow defendant, since he intended to publish the pamphlet himself as soon as possible; he then went through the Dialogue line by line, showing that not only would most people agree with it, but that it was the foundation of Pitt's Reform Bill. After Erskine concluded his arguments, again stating that the jury should feel free to debate whether the material constituted libel, Mr Justice Buller began his summing up, instructing the jury that they were only allowed to decide on whether Shipley had published the work. The jury retired, and after half an hour of discussion returned to declare Shipley "guilty of publishing only". After a long and "confounding" debate between Erskine, Buller, and the jury, Buller declared Shipley guilty on all counts.
Erskine immediately appealed the decision to the Court of King's Bench, where he argued on 8 November that Buller's statement had misdirected the jury, and that as the jury was traditionally not given the right to investigate Shipley's actual guilt, the previous trial was invalid; a jury should be permitted to determine not only whether a statement was published, but whether it was libellous. With the exception of Mr Justice Wiles, the court unanimously declared that Erskine's arguments were incorrect, and that the jury had no such role; accordingly, his appeal was denied. Shipley was, however, later freed when the King's Bench held that the initial indictment had been invalid because "there were no averments to point the application of the paper as a libel on the king and government".
Lord Mansfield, giving the main judgment in the case, expressed his concern that Erskine's argument about the law of seditious libel would lead to uncertainty. If each jury was able to define 'libel' for itself, the law could descend into anarchy. Erskine had attempted to pre-empt this objection by arguing that it was the trial judge's duty to direct the jury on the law of seditious libel. In this way, the jury could give a full verdict on the defendant's guilt, while respecting the judiciary's expertise regarding legal matters. Crosby has argued that Mansfield's argument
> clearly misrepresents Erskine’s position. Far from claiming that juries should be free to depart from core rule-of-law values, his whole argument had been built upon the claim that a general verdict was the shared product of a judge and a jury. Mansfield, in his desire to avoid general theory, and in his aversion to what he considered mob justice, seems to have missed ‘what was claimed for’, relying heavily on an older model of jury equity dating to the Restoration rather than the model actually presented by Shipley’s counsel.
This debate about the true nature of the jury's verdict subsequently formed an important part of the debate on the jury's role in nineteenth-century America.
## Aftermath
Although the case did not directly lead to legal change, it was nevertheless widely seen as a victory; upon his release Shipley was greeted with fireworks and bonfires, and Erskine was rewarded with the Freedom of the City of Gloucester. Erskine, however, perceived it differently, and had records of the entire trial printed and sent to Charles James Fox and Lord Camden. Taking this as a hint, Fox (after much delay) introduced a Bill to Parliament in May 1791, seeking to reform the law relating to libel. After it was passed through the Commons it went to the House of Lords, where members of the judiciary attempted to delay it; in response Lord Camden, then 78, rose and bluntly stated that if the judges were to be the sole arbiters of public opinion, nothing would be able to appear that criticised the government, leading to a stifling of the freedom of the press. His appeal was successful – without it, historian H. M. Lubasz writes, the Bill would never have passed the Lords – and within three weeks Parliament had formally passed the Libel Act 1792, commonly known as Fox's Libel Act, allowing juries for the first time to decide precisely what constituted libel. | [
"## Background",
"## Trial and appeal",
"## Aftermath"
] | 2,302 | 13,459 |
62,881,553 | Flag of Spokane, Washington | 1,154,390,908 | Municipal flag of Spokane, Washington, US | [
"Flags adopted through competition",
"Flags introduced in 1912",
"Flags introduced in 1958",
"Flags introduced in 1975",
"Flags introduced in 2021",
"Flags of cities in Washington (state)",
"Spokane, Washington"
] | The flag of Spokane, Washington, is the official municipal flag of Spokane, Washington, United States. Its design comprises a sun in the canton on a white-and-green field separated by a stylized blue river. The flag was adopted in 2021 and is the fourth to be used by the city government.
Spokane's first city flag, a navy blue field with a white stripe, was adopted in 1912 following a public contest with more than 500 entries. It was replaced in 1958 with a new lilac flag designed by a local businessman. A third flag was adopted in October 1975, shortly after Spokane hosted the World's Fair and was named an All-American City; its design included a simple black ring and two bands of chartreuse green and aqua blue running diagonally across a white field. The third flag was rarely used and was replaced in 2021 following a public contest and vote overseen by a city-appointed flag commission.
## Design
The Spokane flag comprises a split field of white and green, the latter representing the land, separated by a series of blue lines that reference the Spokane River and Spokane Falls. A stylized yellow sun sits in the canton to represent the city's name, originally sp̓q̓n̓iʔ in the Salish language (meaning "sun"), and the indigenous Spokane people. The flag was designed by graphic designer Derek Landers, initially for a 2019 contest hosted by the Inlander, and omitted visible landmarks due to his personal preference for a simple and versatile design.
## History
### First flag: 1912–1958
Spokane's first city flag was created through a public contest held by the Spokane Ad Club in July 1912, following the creation of a flag commission by the city government. The contest was opened to residents of Spokane and the Inland Empire and offered a \$25 prize for the winning design. More than 500 entries were submitted during the month-long contest, including drawings, sewn flags, and pennants. Ad Club president R. E. Bigelow had desired a rectangular design that would complement the national flag's shape and colors, but said that any design would be accepted for consideration by the judges.
The winning entry, designed by Spokane residents W. J. Kommers, J. Frank Robbins, and Mrs. Herman Peterson, was unveiled on August 1, 1912. It consisted of a navy blue field with a white stripe that splits into a triangle at the left side, where a sixteen-pointed sun with a blue "S" was placed. The first flag was produced by John Graham & Company and displayed at the 1912 Interstate Fair. The flag was used unofficially by the Ad Club to represent Spokane at national conventions and for viewings by other cities interested in designing their own flags, including Chicago. It was officially adopted by the city government in 1915, following a lobbying campaign by the Ad Club. The last remaining reproduction of the city flag is stored in the collections of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.
### Second flag: 1958–1975
A new city flag was proposed in 1958 by local businessman S. Luther Essick, who also served as president of the Spokane chamber of commerce and the Lilac Festival Association. Essick was inspired during his work in Vienna after World War II, where he saw citizens using their city flag as a source of civic pride. His design was adopted by the city council on July 25, 1958, to celebrate the Lilac Festival, and installed at the city hall on September 9. The first flag was later donated to the Expo '74 organizing committee in 1974 after being used as part of the World's Fair ceremonies.
The second city flag consisted of a lilac purple field with four white lines extending from the corners towards the center, where several images were displayed. The center's design included the city skyline, the Monroe Street Bridge above Spokane Falls, and a spray of lilac blossoms. The outline of Mount Spokane sits above the center skyline and below a yellow sun, referencing the city's namesake, the Spokane people. An evergreen tree in blue sits to the left side and a five-pointed star sits opposite to the right. The text "Spokane" is written below in stylized script between two sections of an arrow.
### Third flag: 1975–2021
At a city council briefing in June 1975, mayor David H. Rodgers displayed the then-current lilac flag and requested a new design. He described the lilac flag as being a "good design for its day", but "not suitable for Spokane's new status as an All-American City". The city adopted a new flag on October 6, 1975, which was designed by art director Lloyd L. Carlson of a local advertising company that had previously worked on the Expo '74 logo. The first flag to be produced with the new design was completed in March 1976 by two members of the St. John's Episcopal Church and presented two months later to a delegation from Nishinomiya, Spokane's sister city in Japan.
A second flag was made by members of the Spokane Falls Needlework Guild over a two-month period before an annual stitchery convention in March 1977. The city flag was rarely displayed for several decades, with occasional use at city hall and at the Avista headquarters in the 1990s. A banner with the flag and a secondary design for the city's centennial was taken in 1981 to Mount Everest by Chris Kopczynski, who was the first Spokanite to climb the mountain. The city flag was moved from storage to the city hall's conference room in 2012 by Spokane mayor David Condon shortly after he took office.
The 1975 flag consisted of a white field with diagonal bands of chartreuse green and aqua blue that run from the hoist to bottom center. The two colors were derived from the Expo '74 logo and are unusual in flags, according to the North American Vexillological Association. At the center is a black ring with four children, rendered as stick figures, captioned with "Children of the Sun", the meaning of "Spokane" in the indigenous Salish language. The center ring is joined by a golden sun in the top right corner, and the text "City of Spokane" is to the bottom right in all capital letters.
### Fourth flag: 2021–present
In a 2004 survey of city flags in the United States by members of the North American Vexillological Association (NAVA), the Spokane flag ranked 111th out of 150 overall, with an average score of 3.15 out of 10 points. A resolution sponsored by city councilmember Kate Burke proposing the creation of a task force for designing a new flag was passed unanimously by the city council in June 2019. The Spokane Flag Commission was formed in December 2019 and consists of ten local residents representing the city government, Spokane tribal government, arts commission, and vexillologists.
In September 2020, the Spokane Flag Commission began a month-long contest to solicit flag designs from the public for review and a later public vote among selected finalists. The contest allowed for three submissions per person and required a simple design meeting basic criteria set by vexillologists on the flag commission. Over 400 designs were submitted during the contest, which were ranked by the public in a December 2020 survey, and a field of 12 finalists were selected by the Flag Commission. The finalists were announced in March 2021 and a month-long online ranked-choice vote was opened the following month for Spokane Public Library cardholders and members of the Spokane Tribe of Indians.
The winning design, announced by the Spokane Flag Commission on May 10, was submitted by local graphic designer Derek Landers and features white and green field separated by a representation of the Spokane River. A total of 2,110 votes were cast in the online vote, which took ten rounds until the winning design earned a 56 percent majority. The city council passed a resolution to adopt the new flag on June 14 (Flag Day) ahead of an official unveiling the following day. | [
"## Design",
"## History",
"### First flag: 1912–1958",
"### Second flag: 1958–1975",
"### Third flag: 1975–2021",
"### Fourth flag: 2021–present"
] | 1,684 | 2,491 |
6,627,656 | M-36 (Michigan highway) | 1,166,813,817 | State highway in Ingham and Livingston counties in Michigan, United States | [
"State highways in Michigan",
"Transportation in Ingham County, Michigan",
"Transportation in Livingston County, Michigan"
] | M-36 is a state trunkline highway in the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan that runs in a west–east direction from Mason to Whitmore Lake. The trunkline connects US Highway 127 (US 127) south of Lansing and US 23 north of Ann Arbor. The highway connects several smaller communities in the rural areas along its route. M-36 also runs concurrently with two other roadways, sharing pavement with M-52 and County Road D-19. According to traffic surveys in 2010, between 650 and 15,300 vehicles used the highway on average each day.
The current highway to bear the M-36 moniker is the second to do so. The first was signposted in 1919 north of Pontiac until it was partially replaced by the modern M-24 in 1926. The M-36 designation was moved to the current roadway in 1930. It has been changed a few times since the highway was completely paved in 1940. The last change created the M-52 concurrency in 1969.
## Route description
M-36 starts at an interchange with US 127 northwest of Mason. The highway follows Cedar Street southeast and southerly from exit 66 through commercial and residential areas to Ash Street near downtown. M-36 turns eastward along Ash Street through downtown. Outside of the city, Ash Street becomes Dansville Road 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) north of Mason Jewett Field, the local airport. The highway continues eastward through mixed fields and woodland. The trunkline follows Mason Street through the village of Dansville. Just south of White Oak Township Park in White Oak Township, M-36 turns south to run concurrently along M-52 through Millville. At Topping Road, M-36 turns east again north of Lowe Lake. Crossing into Livingston County where it becomes Plainfield Road, the highway then passes the Plainfield Cemetery through community of the same name and turns southeasterly toward Gregory.
North of town, M-36 turns south on Gregory Road. The highway continues as Main Street in the community to Carr Street; the highway turns back eastward on Carr Street in Gregory. As the highway runs easterly, it skirts the northern edge of the Pinckney State Recreation Area and the southern edge of the Timber Trace Golf Club. As Main Street in Pinckney, M-36 passes through the center of town. At Howell Street, County Road D-19 merges in from the south. The two designations run concurrently along Main Street to Pearl Street, where D-19 turns northward. At the intersection with Dexter Street, M-36 intersects the western terminus of D-32, the "Highway to Hell". East of Pinckney, M-36 passes between Rush and Bass lakes in the Pettysville area. Immediately east of there, the highway passes through woods between Oneida and Zukey lakes in Lakeland. The trunkline passes to the south of Buck Lake and then meanders through Hamburg southeasterly. M-36 ends as 9 Mile Road at exit 54 on US 23 in Whitmore Lake.
M-36 is maintained by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) like other state highways in Michigan. As a part of these maintenance responsibilities, the department tracks the volume of traffic that uses the roadways under its jurisdiction. These volumes are expressed using a metric called annual average daily traffic, which is a statistical calculation of the average daily number of vehicles on a segment of roadway. MDOT's surveys in 2010 showed that the highest traffic levels along M-36 were the 15,226 vehicles daily in Mason; the lowest count was 657 vehicles per day east of the M-52 concurrency. No section of M-36 has been listed on the National Highway System, a network of roads important to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.
## History
### Original designation
On July 1, 1919, M-36 was routed along what is now M-24 between Pontiac and Burnside. In November 1926, this highway was redesignated as part of M-24 between Pontiac and Lapeer. In 1930, the remainder was turned back to local control and removed from the state highway system.
### Current designation
M-36 supplanted the former M-49 designation between Mason and Whitmore Lake in late 1930; segments of M-49 through Stockbridge not used in the new M-36 were given to M-92 or M-106. The last segments were paved in late 1940 between Plainfield and the eastern terminus. When the Michigan State Highway Department completed a US 127 bypass around Mason in late 1946 or early 1947, M-36 was extended westward over a section of highway previously used by US 127 to connect to the bypass; that segment was designated Bus. US 127/M-36 This concurrency was removed in 1962 when the Bus. US 127 designation was decommissioned. The M-52 concurrency was formed in 1969 when M-52 was extended northerly to Webberville.
## Major intersections
## See also | [
"## Route description",
"## History",
"### Original designation",
"### Current designation",
"## Major intersections",
"## See also"
] | 1,069 | 23,586 |
1,129,390 | Stanisław Poniatowski (1676–1762) | 1,146,194,978 | Castellan of Kraków (1676–1762) | [
"1676 births",
"1762 deaths",
"Castellans of Kraków",
"Diplomats of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth",
"Generals of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth",
"Grand Treasurers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania",
"People from Tarnów County",
"Polish generals",
"Poniatowski family",
"Swedish diplomats",
"Swedish generals"
] | Stanisław Poniatowski (15 September 1676 – 29 August 1762) was a Polish military commander, diplomat, and noble. Throughout his career, Poniatowski served in various military offices, and was a general in both the Swedish and Polish–Lithuanian militaries. He also held numerous civil positions, including those of podstoli of Lithuania and Grand Treasurer of the Lithuanian army in 1722, voivode of the Masovian Voivodeship in 1731, regimentarz of the Crown Army in 1728, and castellan of Kraków in 1752. Throughout his lifetime, he served in many starost positions.
Poniatowski was involved in Commonwealth politics, and was a prominent member of the Familia, a faction led by the Czartoryski family. On a number of occasions he was in service of Stanisław I Leszczyński, the principal rival of Augustus II for the throne of Poland. Having served under Leszczyński as a military officer and envoy during the Great Northern War, Poniatowski later embraced the Russian-supported Augustus. Subsequently, during the War of the Polish Succession, he returned, with the majority of the Familia, to his earlier allegiance. He later effected a reconciliation with Augustus III, and eventually became one of the new king's chief advisors.
Poniatowski's fifth son, Stanisław August Poniatowski, reigned as the last king of Poland from 1764 until 1795, when he abdicated as a result of the Third Partition of Poland by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. His grandson, Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski, was a Polish general and later a Marshal of the First French Empire, serving under Napoleon I.
## Biography
### Early life
Poniatowski was born on 15 September 1676 in the village of Chojnik, now part of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. He was the son of Franciszek Poniatowski (1651-1691), "Master of the Hunt" in 1680 and cup-bearer at Wyszogród in 1690, and his wife Helena Niewiarowska, Półkozic coat of arms, (died 1673/74). He was also the paternal grandson of one Jan Poniatowski, who died before 1676, although rumors regarding his parentage claimed that he was the son of Hetman Jan Kazimierz Sapieha by an unknown Polish Jewish woman, later adopted by Franciszek.
He received elementary education in Kraków, at either the Kraków Academy or at the Nowodworski School. At 13, he was sent to Vienna, capital of the Holy Roman Empire where he spent two years, and afterward traveled to Serbia, then a province of that empire. There, he volunteered to join Imperial forces campaigning against the Ottomans in the Great Turkish War. He served as an adjutant to Michał Franciszek Sapieha, and later commanded a company of cuirassiers. He participated in the Battle of Zenta in 1697.
After the Treaty of Karlowitz of 1699, which ended the war, he returned to Lithuania. Upon his return, he wed Teresa Woynianka-Jasieniecka, but their marriage ended abruptly with her death not long afterward. The union, however, raised his social status. In 1700, he participated in the Lithuanian Civil War as a supporter of the Sapieha family, fighting in the Battle of Valkininkai. Here, he was captured, but managed to escape, and he later served as Sapieha's emissary to Charles XII, king of Sweden.
### The Great Northern War and subsequent Swedish service
In 1702, Swedish forces invaded the Commonwealth as part of the Great Northern War, which had begun in 1700 between the Swedish Empire and the Tsardom of Russia. Augustus II, king of Poland and Elector of Saxony, was an ally of the Russian tsar Peter I. Augustus's forces were defeated, and the king himself was forced back to Saxony. He was replaced by Charles with Stanisław Leszczyński, a Polish nobleman and count of the Holy Roman Empire. Poniatowski, serving as a negotiator between the Wielkopolska Confederation and Charles XII, took the side of Leszczyński and distanced himself from the Sapiehas, formerly his patrons. In 1705, he became the colonel over Leszczyński's newly raised Trabant guard, modeled after the reputable Swedish Drabant Corps.
In 1708, Leszczyński appointed Poniatowski his personal representative to Charles XII. He participated in the Battle of Holowczyn that year, and served as an aide to Charles XII during his exile in the Ottoman Empire after the Battle of Poltava in 1709. Here, he worked to establish an alliance between the Ottomans and the Swedes, aiming to bring the Ottomans into the war against Russia. Due to diplomatic efforts on the part of the French, aligned with Sweden, the Ottomans began to campaign against the Russians in 1710. With this change in Ottoman foreign policy came the dismissal of Çorlulu Ali Pasha, Grand Vizier of Ahmed III. His successor, Köprülü Numan Pasha, was an acquaintance of Poniatowski and had been a supporter of an anti-Russian shift in Ottoman politics.
Poniatowski accompanied the Ottomans during the Pruth River Campaign, but was dissatisfied with the Treaty of the Pruth, which saw the withdrawal of the Ottomans from the war. His attempts to prolong and inflame the conflict failed, resulting in a loss of his status in the Empire and his eventual departure from it in 1713.
Poniatowski did not return to Poland, as Lesczyński had been forced to retreat to Swedish Pomerania upon the return of Augustus in 1709. With the support of Russian forces, Augustus had forced Lesczyński from the throne and had retaken the crown in that year. Instead, Poniatowski entered the service of Sweden, serving as a diplomat for both Charles XII and Lesczyński. He was later involved in mediation attempts between Lesczyński and Augustus, and also joined the Swedish army in various campaigns, being wounded during one in 1716. During the course of his diplomatic activities, he traveled throughout Europe, including to such countries as Prussia, France, and Spain. For his service to Charles XII, he received the position of the governor of Palatine Zweibrücken, then in personal union with Sweden.
### Later years: Polish politician and magnate
Upon Charles's death in 1718, he continued to serve Leszczyński as a diplomat. In 1719 he was briefly imprisoned in Copenhagen, and requested official leave from the Swedish government, which he received that year, thus ending his service as a Swedish diplomat. He returned to the Commonwealth, where he used the title of a general of cavalry. On 14 September 1720 he married Princess Konstancja Czartoryska; this marriage brought him significant wealth. Over the next few years, he became increasingly involved in the creation of the Familia political faction, and most of his ensuing actions had the goal of increasing the Familia's political power.
On 5 December 1722 he received the office of Podstoli of Lithuania (podstoli litewski) in 1722, and 16 December, Grand Treasurer of Lithuanian Army (podskarbi wielki litewski), and became increasingly allied with August II On 20 December 1724 he received the military rank of General of the Lithuanian Army (generał lejtnant wojsk litewskich). In 1726 he became the Knight of the Order of the White Eagle. He was also promised the position of Grand Crown Hetman by August II, receiving in 1728 the rank of a Crown regimentarz. During a period in which no Crown hetmans were appointed, he acted as de facto commander of the Polish–Lithuanian army. He enjoyed support from the military, but his forays into politics gained him significant opposition among the szlachta, led by the Potocki family. He became the voivode of the Masovian Voivodeship in 1731.
After August II's death in 1733, he rekindled his old ties with Leszczyński, but made some attempts to secure his own election to the throne. Eventually, however, he decided to grant Leszczyński his full support, doing so during the convocation sejm of 1733. He again served as Leszczyński's diplomat during the following War of the Polish Succession.
In 1734, he switched sides and joined the supported Augustus III. After several years of distrust, August III started treating Poniatowski as one of his major advisers. Over the next few years, throughout the 1740s, he and familiar supported plans for reform and strengthening the Commonwealth, however most of them have failed due to liberum veto disrupting the Sejm proceedings. Those failures likely resulted in his apathy, and he became much less active on the political scene in the 1750s. On 6 June 1752 he received the office of castellan of Kraków.
Near the end of his life, Poniatowski was among the richest magnates in the Commonwealth, with the value of his estates estimated at about 4 million zlotys. He died in Ryki on 29 August 1762, shortly after suffering a serious fall while walking.
## Family
He was the son of Franciszek Poniatowski (1640/1650 – 1691–1695), łowczy podlaski in 1680 and cześnik wyszogrodzki in 1690, and his wife Helena Niewiarowska, who he had married in 1673 or 1674. His older brother Józef Poniatowski (1674 – after 1731) was a generał wojsk koronnych and married Helena Otfinowska, without issue. His younger siblings were Michał Jacenty Poniatowski, a Dominican, and Zofia Agnieszka Poniatowska, a Carmelitan Abbess in Kraków. He married firstly shortly after 1701 and divorced Teresa Woynianka-Jasieniecka, who died after 1710, without issue, and secondly Princess Konstancja Czartoryska on 14 September 1720. They had eight children.
He was the father of:
- Kazimierz Poniatowski (15 September 1721 – 13 April 1800), podkomorzy wielki koronny between 1742 and 1773 and generał wojsk koronnych, who was created a Prince on 4 December 1764 and married on 21 January 1751 Apolonia Ustrzycka (17 January 1736 - 1814) and had issue
- Franciszek Poniatowski (1723 – 1749/1759), canon and provost in the Cathedral of Kraków (kanonik i proboszcz katedralny krakowski), chancellor of Gniezno in 1748
- Aleksander Poniatowski (1725 – killed in action on 29 June 1744), adiutant of Karl von Lothringen
- Ludwika Maria Poniatowska (30 November 1728 – 10 February 1781), who married in 1745 Jan Jakub Zamoyski (? - 10 February 1790), wojewoda podolski in 1770, IX ordynat till in 1780 and starosta lubelski, and had female issue (Urszula Zamoyska (c. 1750 - 1808), who married firstly and divorced before 1781 Wincenty Potocki (? - 1825), podkomorzy wielki koronny, and married secondly Michal Jerzy Mniszech, marszalek wielki koronny)
- Izabella Poniatowska, (1 July 1730 – 14 February 1808) was a Polish noblewoman, countess and princess. She was a sister of Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski, who in 1764 became King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and reigned as Stanisław II Augustus. She married, firstly on November 19, 1748 as his third wife Hetman Jan Klemens Branicki in 1756, and secondly the Masovian voivode Andrzej Mokronowski, without issue.
- Stanisław II August (Poniatowski), the last King of Poland and Grand-Duke of Lithuania, who was crowned in 1764.
- Andrzej Poniatowski (16 July 1734/5 – Vienna, 3/5 March 1773), Austrian General-Lieutenant in 1760, Austrian Fieldmarshall in 1771 and starost prenski, who was created a Prince on 10 December 1765, and married on 3 May 1761 Maria Teresa, Countess Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau (14 February 1740 – 25 September 1806), and had issue
- Michał Jerzy Poniatowski (12 October 1736 – 12 August 1794), opat tyniecki i czerwinski, Bishop of Plock and koadiutor krakowski in 1773 and Archbishop of Gniezno in 1784, who was created a Prince on 4 December 1764 | [
"## Biography",
"### Early life",
"### The Great Northern War and subsequent Swedish service",
"### Later years: Polish politician and magnate",
"## Family"
] | 2,937 | 16,839 |
475,763 | HMS Grenade (H86) | 1,060,451,143 | Royal Navy destroyer | [
"1935 ships",
"Destroyers sunk by aircraft",
"G and H-class destroyers of the Royal Navy",
"Maritime incidents in May 1940",
"Naval magazine explosions",
"Ships built on the River Clyde",
"Ships sunk by German aircraft",
"World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom",
"World War II shipwrecks in the English Channel"
] | HMS Grenade (H86) was a G-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s. She was transferred from the Mediterranean Fleet shortly after the beginning of World War II for service in home waters. The ship participated in the early stages of the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940. German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers sank Grenade as she evacuated Allied troops during Operation Dynamo on 29 May 1940.
## Description
Grenade displaced 1,350 long tons (1,370 t) at standard load and 1,883 long tons (1,913 t) at deep load. The ship had an overall length of 323 feet (98.5 m), a beam of 33 feet (10.1 m) and a draught of 12 feet 5 inches (3.8 m). She was powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of 34,000 shaft horsepower (25,000 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph). Steam for the turbines was provided by three Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers. Grenade carried a maximum of 470 long tons (480 t) of fuel oil that gave her a range of 5,530 nautical miles (10,240 km; 6,360 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). The ship's complement was 137 officers and men in peacetime.
The ship mounted four 45-calibre 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns in single mounts. For anti-aircraft defence Grenade had two quadruple Mark I mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III machine gun. She was fitted with two above-water quadruple torpedo tube mounts for 21-inch (533 mm) torpedoes. One depth charge rail and two throwers were fitted; 20 depth charges were originally carried, but this increased to 35 shortly after the war began.
## Service
Grenade was laid down by Alexander Stephen and Sons in Glasgow, Scotland on 3 October 1934, launched on 12 November 1935 and completed on 28 March 1936. Excluding government-furnished equipment like the armament, the ship cost £252,560. She was assigned to the 1st Destroyer Flotilla of the Mediterranean Fleet upon commissioning. Grenade was given a post-completion overhaul in Malta between 20 March and 24 April 1937. After returning home to give her crew leave and be refitted in Chatham Dockyard between 27 May and July 1938, the ship was then briefly transferred to the Red Sea in October 1938.
When World War II began in September 1939, Grenade was in Alexandria, but she, and her entire flotilla, was transferred to the Western Approaches Command at Plymouth in October. On 7 November she collided with her flotilla leader, Grenville and her repairs were not completed until 9 December. During the next several months she was assigned to contraband control duties in the Downs. She, and her sister ship, Griffin, rescued 117 survivors from Grenville after the latter ship struck a mine on 19 January 1940. The ship was refitted in London between 27 January and 27 February, but was struck by the ocean liner Orion on 27 February and was only temporarily repaired there. Grenade received permanent repairs in Harwich from 2 March to 3 April and was assigned to Home Fleet at Scapa Flow after their completion.
When Britain received word that the Germans were preparing to invade Norway on 7/8 April, Grenade was part of the escort of Convoy ON25 and was recalled, along with the rest of the escort, to join the Home Fleet. The ship, and the destroyer Encounter, escorted the oil tanker British Lady to Flakstadøya in the Lofoten Islands where a refuelling and repair base was being set up to support British naval operations in northern Norway. For the rest of the month Grenade escorted the battleship Warspite and the aircraft carrier Ark Royal in Norwegian waters. The ship provided cover during the evacuation of British and French troops from Namsos in early May and tied up to the French destroyer Bison to rescue survivors after the latter's forward magazine had been hit by a bomb from a Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber and exploded on 3 May. Four men on Grenade were wounded by splinters from near misses during this time and she rescued 36 sailors, but twenty of them died of their wounds before the ship reached Scapa Flow on 5 May.
Grenade was then transferred to the English Channel and collided with the anti-submarine trawler Clayton Wyke on 14 May in heavy fog. Her repairs were completed at Sheerness Dockyard on 25 May. During the initial stages of the evacuation from Dunkirk the ship provided cover in the northern part of the Channel to the evacuation forces and took part in the rescue of 33 survivors on 28 May from the coaster SS Abukir, which had been torpedoed by an E-boat. She made one trip to Dunkirk during the night of 28/29 May and was caught in Dunkirk harbour by German Stukas during the following day. Grenade was hit by two bombs which set her afire and killed 14 sailors and mortally wounded another four men. The ship was cast off from her berth, in case she sank there, and then drifted into the harbour channel. The trawler John Cattling towed Grenade over to the west side of the outer harbour where her magazines exploded later that evening. | [
"## Description",
"## Service"
] | 1,185 | 13,127 |
49,927,137 | Movitz blåste en konsert | 1,091,383,291 | Song by the 18th century Swedish bard Carl Michael Bellman | [
"1773 compositions",
"Fredmans epistlar",
"Swedish songs"
] | Movitz blåste en konsert (Movitz blew a concert) is epistle No. 51 in the Swedish poet and performer Carl Michael Bellman's 1790 song collection, Fredman's Epistles. The epistle is subtitled "Angående konserten på Tre Byttor" ("Concerning the concert at the Three Barrels"), naming a restaurant in Stockholm's Djurgården park. It was written after Bellman had become a court musician to the new King Gustav III in 1773. The melody was borrowed from George Frideric Handel's 1718 opera, Acis and Galatea.
The song describes a concert in an elegant setting, the performance taking place after an evening ball in a restaurant. It strikes a refined tone, mentioning the opera composer Baldassare Galuppi and the cellist and composer Anton Fils. This does not prevent Bellman from making the song humorous, with opportunities for the performer to imitate musical instruments, for elegance to be contrasted with tavern life, and for the real world to be contrasted with classical mythology with mentions of Eol and Neptune. The epistle has at least twice been translated into English verse.
## Context
## Song
The epistle is subtitled "Angående konserten på Tre Byttor" ("Concerning the concert at the Three Barrels"), naming a restaurant in Stockholm's Djurgården park. The song describes a concert in an elegant setting, more formal than the earlier epistles, with the performance taking place after an evening ball in a restaurant.
### Music
The song is in time. It has 6 verses, each consisting of 12 lines. The rhyming pattern is ABAB-CDCD-EEFE; the song was written in 1773, sometime from June onwards.
Like epistle No. 12, the melody was borrowed from George Frideric Handel's 1718 opera Acis and Galatea, in this case from the "Cyclops' Dance" or "Contradanse belle constante".
### Lyrics
## Reception and legacy
The scholar of literature Lars Lönnroth writes that Fredman and his Bacchanalian congregation adapted to Bellman's new role as a royal poet. Epistle 51 reflects the musical soirée of May 1773 held by the theatre manager Carl Stenborg with leading artists and members of Stockholm's Music Academy to celebrate the coronation of King Gustav III. The places of the distinguished musicians are taken by Movitz, Mollberg, and Ulla Winblad, but they have left the noise of the tavern to appear as professional musicians in one of Stockholm's more elegant restaurants. The song ends with "Vivat vår monark!" ("Long live our Monarch!"), something that sounds more appropriate to a salon than a typical Fredman tavern. However, Lönnroth writes, that may not be correct, as the song still contains burlesque elements: how can Ulla be duetting with herself in the first verse? – and "fighting like Poles" (verse 2) does not sound very sophisticated either. He notes that Gunnar Hillbom [sv] suggests that the Three Barrels concert could be taken as a parody of royalist and bourgeois cultural life. Still, a more refined tone is present, with talk of arpeggios and a musical "air" by the Italian opera composer Baldassare Galuppi (verse 3). Bellman switches, too, between the salon and the outside world, and between the real and the mythological. The last verse begins "Eol storms across the sky, Night's lamps are put out; it rains and squalls, and Neptune from the water's surface casts ashore whales and his guests." After this, the singing and the music of bassoon and clarinettes resumes, a haven from the terrors outside.
Carina Burman comments in her biography that an elderly Bellman in the autumn of 1794 could still entertain his hosts with performances of the riotous wedding-epistle 40 (Ge rum i Bröllopsgåln din hund!) and epistle 51, where he pretended to accompany himself with all the wind instruments mentioned, so that the audience felt they were hearing French horn, clarinettes, flutes, and oboe. Everyone laughed more than they thought possible.
The scholar of Swedish literature Staffan Björck calls the song a "bewitching music-epistle", and writes that Fredman's description constantly hovers between past and present. At the start of the first verse, Movitz "blew"; but at the end of the verse he addresses the audience in the present tense, "Let us be glad"; and the same pattern repeats in each subsequent verse, as "the now pushes itself forward and breaks through".
Epistle 51 has been recorded by Fred Åkerström on his 1969 album Fred sjunger Bellman; by Sven-Bertil Taube on his 1987 album Fredmans Epistlar och Sånger; and by Peter Ekberg Pelz on his 1985 album C. M. Bellman. It has been translated into English verse by Hendrik Willem van Loon in 1939 and by Paul Britten Austin in 1977. The painter Wilhelm Wallander [sv], planning to create an illustrated book of Fredman's Epistles, created a genre painting of The Concert at Tre Byttor, though he never completed the book. | [
"## Context",
"## Song",
"### Music",
"### Lyrics",
"## Reception and legacy"
] | 1,149 | 29,300 |
20,178,229 | Flekkefjord Line | 1,093,235,143 | Former railway line in Agder, Norway | [
"1904 establishments in Norway",
"3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Norway",
"Closed railway lines in Norway",
"Railway lines in Agder",
"Railway lines in Norway",
"Railway lines opened in 1904",
"Standard gauge railways in Norway"
] | The Flekkefjord Line (Norwegian: Flekkefjordbanen) is a 17.1-kilometre (10.6 mi) abandoned branch line to the Sørland Line. It ran between Sira and Flekkefjord in Agder, Norway. The only current activity on the line is tourist draisines. The station buildings along the line were designed by the architect Paul Armin Due—these have all been demolished.
The line opened in 1904 as a 64-kilometre (40 mi) extension of the narrow gauge Jæren Line. It was planned as the first step of a main line along the South Coast. At Flekkefjord, there was steam ship connection, onwards to Oslo. In 1941, the line was converted to standard gauge, and in 1944 the Sørland Line was completed. The western part of the Flekkefjord Line was integrated into it, while the remaining section became the branch line that kept the name Flekkefjord Line. During the 1940s, steam locomotive-hauled trains were replaced by railcars. Following the declining traffic, in part due to the slow speeds caused by the line's narrow profile, the line was closed, with the last trains running in 1990.
## History
### Construction
The first committee that looked into the possibility of a railway to Flekkefjord was created in 1875. After the completion of Jæren Line from Stavanger to Egersund, in 1878, proposals were made to build an extension westwards along the coast, that eventually would reach Oslo. The first part of what was named the Vestland Line was passed by Parliament in 1894, and would run from Egersund, via Sira, to Flekkefjord. The initial proposal proposed that the line would eventually continue onwards via Mandal to Kristiansand. The decision to build the line was taken by the Parliament of Norway in 1894. Construction started in 1896, and was originally planned to be completed by 1902. However, delays prevented the line from being be brought into use before 1 November 1904. The line was built by the Norwegian State Railways (NSB) and was 64 km (40 mi) long.
The coast between Egersund and Flekkefjord would give a very difficult route to build, so it was decided to build a more inland line. Like the Jæren Line, and most railways being built at the time, the Flekkefjord Line was built in narrow gauge. Both telephone and telegraph cables were laid along the line. Along the section from Sirnes to Flekkefjord, there were many vertical cliffs straight into the fjord, forcing 5.4 km (3.4 mi), or 38 percent, of the line to be built in tunnels. Of the whole length from Egersund to Flekkefjord, there are 46 tunnels, totaling 8.8 km (5.5 mi). The most prominent was Ravnejuret Tunnel which is 1,174 m (3,852 ft) long. Just before Flekkefjord, a 71-metre (233 ft) bridge was built that crosses Selurelva; it was a reused bridge from the Voss Line. In total, about 12% of the line consisted of tunnels. Francis Hagerup, when delivering the line's opening speech, remarked that no other railway had until then been more difficult to construct.
All the stations along the line were designed by Paul Armin Due, with all but the terminal station built in wood. Flekkefjord Station was built as a three-story brick building in Art Nouveau. In addition, there was construction a depot and a wharf at Flekkefjord. Passengers could transfer to steam ship services that operated eastwards along the south coast towards Oslo.
### Pre-war operations
The first part of the line to open for temporary operation was between Flekkefjord and Moi on 1 October 1904. For the official opening, the town of Flekkefjord was adorned with Norwegian flags. A train departed to Egersund on 31 October 1904 with several notable passengers: Prime Minister Francis Hagerup, State Railways director Elias Sunde and board member Sven Aarrestad, director of traffic Jens Christian Mellbye, Flekkefjord's mayor and city council as well as other mayors of the district. Festivities continued on the next day, when the train returned from Egersund to Flekkefjord.
Initially there were four services in each direction each day, with three services on holy days. The train that connected with the steam ship would wait up to 45 minutes in case of delays, to allow connection. Until 1927, the routes remained the same. That year, the Kragerø Line opened, and it became possible to take a night train from Oslo to Kragerø, continue by bus to Flekkefjord, and be in Stavanger the following afternoon. Travel time was further reduced when the Sørland Line was extended to Arendal in 1935. The initial rolling stock was from the Voss Line, and some of the bridges and track was from that line too. The Voss Line was being upgraded to 25-kilogram (55 lb) rail tracks, and 25 km (16 mi) of 17 kg (37 lb) track was used on the Flekkefjord Line.
Until 1927, all trains were operated with steam locomotives. NSB introduced the first diesel multiple unit with the introduction of "lightning trains" that corresponded with coach services that connected with the Kragerø Line. The first were Class 14 railcars. These reduced travel time from Flekkefjord to Stavanger by 50 minutes to 3 hours 15 minutes. In addition to passengers, major cargo were herring and lumber.
### Connecting the coast
In 1923, it was decided by parliament that the Sørland Line, that would connect Oslo, Kristiansand and Stavanger, would follow an inner route. The section of the Flekkefjord Line from Egersund to Sira would become part of that line, while the eastern 17.1 km (10.6 mi) from Sira to Flekkefjord would become a branch line, retaining the Flekkefjord Line name. Since the Sørland Line needed to be built from the east, construction along the Flekkefjord Line did not start until 1940. After the German occupation of Norway during World War II, the German occupation forces were rebuilding the narrow gauge railways to standard gauge. In 1940–41, the Flekkefjord and Jæren Lines were rebuilt to dual gauge. Not until 1944 was the Flekkefjord Line only standard gauge.
Due to limited funds, and unlike the rest of the Jæren Line, the profile of the Flekkefjord Line was not changed during the conversion of gauge. This gave a speed limit of 40 kilometres per hour (25 mph), and creative solutions such as lowering height of the ballast by 20 cm (7.9 in). The route from Egersund to Sira received a better upgrade, since it was to become part of the main line through Southern Norway. The route between Sira and Sirnes was completely rebuilt. This gave severe limits to the use of the section between Flekkefjord and Sirnes; most classes of trains could not run on the line, as were freight trains.
### Post-war operations
After the line had been relegated to a branch line, traffic fell considerably. Another factor was car traffic, which did not exist in Flekkefjord until 1918, but thereafter became widespread. After the war, Class 20 steam locomotives were used on the line. During the 1940, several railcars of Class 87 were taken into use, and soon all passenger trains were operated using such units. From 1956 to 1966, also Class 86 units were used on the line, but the narrow profile of the tunnels made operations problematic. Class 87 remained in service until 1981, when used Class 89 units were bought from Sweden. At first, two Y7 units were brought to Norway on 23 January and taken into service on 24 February. After they proved to work well, NSB bought them for 95,000 Swedish kronor plus freight. Two more units were bought in 1986.
### Closing
The line had major limitations on speed, and also served the "wrong direction", heading westwards into less populated areas instead of the populated parts of Agder in the east. Major investments would be needed to upgrade the line to a suitable speed, and through the 1970s this became an important issue of debate. On the other hand, the line had among the highest ridership of the branch lines, with 120,000 passengers per year, which was for instance 50% higher than the Arendal Line, which was not closed. However, parliament decided to close the line, along with several other branch lines, in 1988, with effect from 1990. The last scheduled train ran on 31 December 1990.
There were plans to establish private operations along the line. Continental Railway Systems was established by Rasmus Surdal. The company would be allowed to use the rolling stock and infrastructure, and two of the trains were painted white. However, it was not possible for the company to get the necessary bank surety demanded by NSB, and nothing came of the plans.
The line has been suggested preserved as a cultural heritage, since it represents one of very few railways with the original narrow gauge profile intact. However, all stations have been demolished; Flekkefjord in 1970, Sirnes in 1977 and Flikkeid in 1988. The organization Friends of the Flekkefjord Line offer rental of draisines for tourists since the closure of the line, and a round trip from Flekkefjord to Bakkekleivi just outside Sira takes about three hours. However, the Norwegian National Rail Administration have since banned the operation of draisines until the line is fully fenced in.
## See also
- Narrow gauge railways in Norway | [
"## History",
"### Construction",
"### Pre-war operations",
"### Connecting the coast",
"### Post-war operations",
"### Closing",
"## See also"
] | 2,180 | 22,406 |
26,588,085 | Cyclone Onil | 1,154,967,205 | North Indian Ocean severe cyclonic storm in 2004 | [
"2004 North Indian Ocean cyclone season",
"2004 in India",
"2004 in Pakistan",
"Severe cyclonic storms",
"Tropical cyclones in 2004",
"Tropical cyclones in India",
"Tropical cyclones in Pakistan"
] | Severe Cyclonic Storm Onil was the first tropical cyclone to be named in the northern Indian Ocean. Forming out of an area of convection several hundred kilometres southwest of India on October 1 2004, Cyclone Onil quickly attained its peak intensity on October 2 with winds of 100 km/h (60 mph) and a barometric pressure of 990 mbar (hPa; 29.23 inHg). However, dry air quickly entered the system, causing it to rapidly weaken to a depression just off the coast of Gujarat, India. Over the following several days, the system took a slow, erratic track towards the south-southeast. After turning northeastward, the system made landfall near Porbandar on October 10 and dissipated shortly thereafter.
Throughout southeastern Pakistan and northwestern India, thousands of residents were evacuated prior to the cyclone's arrival. In these areas, the storm produced moderate to heavy rainfall, peaking at 145 mm (5.7 in) in Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan. These rains led to flash flooding in several areas. Nine people died in several incidents related to the storm in Karachi. The drainage system of Hyderabad sustained significant damage, leading to several protests and demonstrations by city residents. Offshore, 300 fishermen are believed to have gone missing during the storm; no reports have confirmed their whereabouts since they disappeared.
## Meteorological history
Severe Cyclonic Storm Onil was first identified as an area of convection early on September 30, 2004 situated roughly 465 km (290 mi) southwest of Mumbai, India. Satellite imagery depicted a poorly organized system with deep convection partially surrounding a low-level circulation. Situated over warm water and within an area of moderate wind shear, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) assessed the system's chances of developing into a tropical cyclone as "fair". Within several hours of being identified, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) began monitoring the system as Depression ARB 03. Despite a decrease in convection later on September 30, the IMD upgraded the cyclone to a deep depression, stating that three-minute sustained winds had reached 55 km/h (35 mph). Early the next day, organization substantially improved, prompting the JTWC to issue a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert. Around 0900 UTC on October 1, the IMD upgraded the deep depression to Cyclonic Storm Onil. Upon being named, the storm became the first tropical cyclone on record to be named in the northern Indian Ocean. The WMO/ESCAP Panel agreed in May 2004 that in September, tropical cyclones in the Northern Indian Ocean attaining gale-force winds would be given names.
Later on October 1, the JTWC issued their first advisory on the storm, classifying it as Tropical Cyclone 03A. Tracking towards the northeast, Onil intensified as convection consolidated around the center of circulation. Roughly 24 hours after being named, the system attained its peak intensity as a severe cyclonic storm with winds of 100 km/h (60 mph) and a barometric pressure of 990 mbar (hPa; 29.23 inHg) according to the IMD with. Upon reaching this strength, the system featured a pinhole eye surrounded by deep convection. Additionally, Dvorak technique intensity estimates reached 3.5, indicating a high-end tropical storm. However, the JTWC stated maximum winds to be 65 km/h (40 mph), a low-end tropical storm. As the storm neared the Indian coastline, dry air quickly entered the circulation, causing most of the convection associated with Onil to dissipate. Located within 100 km (65 mi) of land, the JTWC downgraded the system to a tropical depression and the IMD downgraded Onil to a deep depression.
On October 3, the center of Onil skimmed the coastline of northwestern India; however, the center did not cross land. Around this time, the upper-level circulation detached from the low-level circulation, further weakening the storm. Early on October 4, the JTWC stated that the system had degenerated into a non-convective remnant low-pressure system. After executing a counter-clockwise loop, the depression slowly tracked south-southeastward, away from land. By October 7, the system was reclassified as a tropical depression by the JTWC as it stalled several hundred kilometres southwest of Gujarat, India. The system maintained a relatively low intensity for the following several days before making landfall near Porbandar with winds of 45 km/h (30 mph). Within hours of moving inland, Onil dissipated early on October 10.
## Impact and aftermath
In northwestern India, thousands of residents were evacuated in fears of Onil striking the region. According to one of the evacuated residents, this was the seventh evacuation due to a cyclone in the area since 1999. On October 10, the storm's remnants brought light to moderate rainfall in India; there was no known rainfall amount exceeding 100 mm (3.9 in) throughout the region.
In southeastern Pakistan, an estimated 6,000 people were evacuated from coastal regions prior to Cyclone Onil's arrival. Port officials warned fishermen not to venture out during the storm due to rough seas. Cyclone Onil brought moderate to heavy rainfall and gusty winds. A maximum of 145 mm (5.7 in) of rain fell in Thatta, Sindh between October 2 and 3. In Hyderabad, heavy rains amounting to 98 mm (3.9 in) caused a 10 ft (3.0 m) section of a drainage system to collapse, prompting the evacuation of several hundred residents. Throughout Sindh, an estimated 607 square kilometres (234 sq mi) of land was inundated by flood waters, destroying roughly 70% of the cotton crop. In the city of Karachi, nine people were killed in various incidents related to the storm at least 35 mph (56 km/h) winds were reported. Two people were killed after being electrocuted by a downed power line outside their home. Many streets in the city were flooded and power lines were downed. Another one of these people died while trying to clear a drain near her house when a wall collapsed on her. Offshore, 163 fishermen were reported to be missing after being caught in the storm. However, reports from Pakistani officials stated that at least 300 fishermen were missing. In other areas, power was lost for more than 48 hours after Onil moved through the region. Around Karo Gongro, 100 people were stranded along a major roadway after flash flooding struck the area.
In the wake of the storm, Pakistani officials set up 26 relief camps where residents were offered food and shelter. Roughly 3,000 people sought refuge in these shelters. Mobile units were also set up by the District Health Department to minimize the impacts of any post-storm diseases. On October 3, Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh expressed his grief over the damage caused by Cyclonic Storm Onil and stated that he would be touring the affected region within the following days. At least 40 million Pakistani rupee (\$469,000 USD) was allocated in relief funds by Sindh Minister Syed Papoo Shah. On October 4, port officials stated that it was safe for fishermen to resume their activities in the Arabian Sea. Later that day, a rain emergency was declared for Hyderabad and emergency shelters were set up in the city. All officers in the Hyderabad Development Authority who were initially put on leave ahead of the cyclone were told to resume work to assist in clearing drainage systems. Several days after the storm, reports indicated that there were more than 300 instances where the city's drainage system collapsed across the area, resulting in standing water in many structures. Residents in these areas, frustrated by the lack of quick action by the government, began holding protests about the flooding. In response to these protests, Shaukat Hayat Bhutto suspended Assistant Engineer Sewage manager, Qamar Memon, for his negligence on draining flood waters.
## See also
- 2004 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
- List of wettest known tropical cyclones in Pakistan | [
"## Meteorological history",
"## Impact and aftermath",
"## See also"
] | 1,696 | 26,516 |
53,970,357 | Emma Ahuena Taylor | 1,129,982,075 | Public figure in Hawaii (1867–1937) | [
"1867 births",
"1937 deaths",
"American people of British descent",
"American women educators",
"Burials at Oahu Cemetery",
"Educators from Hawaii",
"Hawaii Republicans",
"Hawaii suffragists",
"Hawaiian Kingdom people of English descent",
"Hawaiian nobility",
"Historians of Hawaii",
"Native Hawaiian writers",
"People from Honolulu"
] | Emma Ahuena Davison Taylor (November 13, 1867 – November 8, 1937) was a part-Native Hawaiian high chiefess during the 20th century. She was a cultural historian, a genealogist, and a repository of Hawaiian culture and history who wrote many articles and recollections about the past and influenced her husband, Albert Pierce Taylor, the author of the historical book Under Hawaiian Skies. She was involved in local philanthropic, historical, and civic groups and participated in the women's suffrage movement in the Territory of Hawaii, campaigning for the rights of local women to vote prior to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.
## Early life and family
Emma Ahuena Davison was born on November 13, 1867, although her gravestone says she was born in 1866. She was the eldest daughter and second child of American pharmacist Benoni Richmond Davison—who became the superintendent of the United States Marine Hospital in Honolulu—and British-Hawaiian chiefess Mary Jane Kekulani Fayerweather. On her mother's side, she was a great-granddaughter of the British Captain George Charles Beckley and Ahia, a distant relation of the reigning House of Kamehameha. Davison's siblings included William Compton Malulani, Rose Compton, Henry Fayerweather, and Marie Hope Kekulani. Her father died in 1875 and her mother later married photographer A. A. Montano in 1877.
Davison attended St. Andrew's Priory School in Honolulu, where she was taught by the sisterhoods of the Anglican Church of Hawaii established by King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma. She later transferred to Fort Street School and became a playmate of Princess Kaʻiulani, the niece of King Kalākaua. Beginning in 1890, after finishing her education, she worked as a schoolteacher with her sister Rose at the government school in the Mānoa Valley.
She married Albert Pierce Taylor on November 5, 1902, at her mother's Mānoa residence, becoming Taylor's second wife. Taylor, originally from the United States, settled in Hawaii and worked for The Pacific Commercial Advertiser and later became the librarian for the Archives of Hawaii. He was also a writer of Hawaiian history whose most notable work is Under Hawaiian Skies. They had no children.
## Literary career
Emma Ahuena Taylor was an authority on Hawaiian history, genealogy, and language. With her mother, she planned and directed many historical pageants. Her husband's later works were greatly influenced by Taylor and her mother. In the 1920s, Taylor received a government appointment to the Hawaiian Historical and Hawaiian Folklore Commissions. The trustees of Bishop Museum and Kamehameha Schools consulted her and other Hawaiian scholars in the translation of Samuel Kamakau's seminal work Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii into English.
Taylor and her husband became officers in the Hawaiian Historical Society. In September 1930, she wrote a paper and used it to address the society's annual meeting about the history and origin of the former Royal Tombs at Pohukaina. Located in the grounds of ʻIolani Palace, the site was abandoned when the bodies of the Hawaiian royal family were moved to the Royal Mausoleum at Mauna ʻAla during the reign of Kamehameha V, leaving behind many remains of the chiefs. Because of its importance Taylor argued; "...the site of the old royal tomb should be held in veneration, and that the historic mound should be cleared and exposed to public view, surrounded by an imposing guard fence, and an appropriate tablet set up to tell passersby its profound royal history". Following this meeting, the society submitted a resolution asking Governor Walter F. Frear to put a protective fence and plaque around the sacred site, which was done on October 17, 1930. Her other scholarly publications include; "Vengeance of Pele" (1930), the "Legend of Puahuula" (1930), and "Poki — Guardian Dog of Moanalua" (1935), all of which were written for Paradise of the Pacific magazine.
The most notable characteristics of Taylor's writings were its personal touches and romantic depictions of the past, containing many vivid accounts drawn from her own life. In 1935, she wrote a series of eight weekly installments titled "Personal Recollections", in which she recounts life in Hawaii from her childhood in the 1870s until 1934, for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Eleanor H. Williamson notes:
> Her writing was personal, vivid, and poignant as she described the elegance of court life, with its picturesque and majestic emblems of royalty in the stately kahilis and feather capes, and the genteel and dignified manner of the men and women surrounding the monarch. She was a repository of information on old Hawaii and was liberal in sharing it. In her recollections she provided the color, drama, and personal stories so often absent from purely factual histories. One can almost taste the dust, smell the leis, and view old Honolulu in the mind's eye as she wrote...
## Community involvement
In 1912, she became a supporter of the women's suffrage movement. Native Hawaiian women of high societal rank like Taylor were key early campaigners for this cause. In 1917, she attended a party hosted by Emma Nakuina to honor a visiting suffragist from the mainland United States, Almira Hollander Pitman, the wife of Taylor's cousin Benjamin F. Pitman. The presence of Taylor and other upper-class Honolulu suffragists—including Wilhelmine Widemann Dowsett, president of the National Women's Equal Suffrage Association of Hawaii—and subsequent meetings with the club prompted Pitman to write to her political connections in the mainland, which helped push a bill authorizing the Territory of Hawaii with the power to legislate on the issue of women's suffrage through Congress. In 1919, a local bill to enfranchise the women of Hawaii was planned but it never passed because the following year Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment, granting all women in the United States the right to vote. During World War I, Taylor and her friend Emilie Widemann Macfarlane organized knitting units on behalf of Native Hawaiian soldiers.
On September 23, 1921, Taylor wrote an article published in the Honolulu Advertiser that argued for Hawaii's recognition in a proposed Hall of Remembrance to be erected by the Woman's National Foundation in Washington, DC, honoring women from each of the then-forty-eight states. Speaking on behalf of the women of Hawaii, she advocated for Hawaii's spot in the proposed memorial, suggesting "a pillar of laval stone chiselled from the laval flows of Kilauea, be placed within this Hall of Remembrance to symbolize Hawaii" and for the recognition of the early pioneering American missionary wives, Queen Kaʻahumanu and High Chiefess Kapiʻolani. The pillar representing Hawaii was never erected.
Taylor also supported many local organizations and was the premier of Māmakakaua (the Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors), a group composed of the descendants of the high chiefs (aliʻi) from the deposed monarchy. The group hosted pageants celebrating the history and traditions of Hawaii. Other organizations she became involved include the League of Women Voters, The Outdoor Circle, and the Native Daughters of Hawaii—which she helped organized. She was also elected the first female vice-president of the Manoa Percent Republican Club.
In later life, Taylor befriended writer Beatrice Ayer Patton—the wife of General George S. Patton—who wrote The Blood of the Shark: A Romance of Early Hawaii, which was published in 1936 and loosely influenced by the exploits of Taylor's Hawaiian and British ancestors.
## Death
Richard Weinberg described her in a 1936 interview about the art and craft of Ancient Hawaii in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin: "Mrs. Emma Ahuena Taylor impresses one as a person who has carried a strikingly handsome, youthful appearance into maturity. Although her hair is gray and her old fashioned, black holoku sweeps the floor, her limpid brown eyes retain all the charm and fire of youth. Her carefully modulated voice recalls a day when conversation was not an neglected art."
Taylor died on November 7, 1937, and was buried next to her husband at the Oahu Cemetery. Her private notes, diaries, letters, and manuscript drafts, and those of her mother Mary Jane Montano, are now in the Hawaii State Archives. | [
"## Early life and family",
"## Literary career",
"## Community involvement",
"## Death"
] | 1,793 | 3,735 |
6,127,054 | Blood (The X-Files) | 1,170,102,685 | null | [
"1994 American television episodes",
"Television episodes about mass murder",
"Television episodes directed by David Nutter",
"Television episodes set in Pennsylvania",
"Television episodes set in Virginia",
"The X-Files (season 2) episodes"
] | "Blood" is the third episode of the second season of the science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on September 30, 1994. The teleplay was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong from a story by Darin Morgan, and was directed by David Nutter. The episode is a "Monster-of-the-Week" story, unconnected to the series' wider mythology. "Blood" earned a Nielsen household rating of 9.8, being watched by 8.7 million households in its initial broadcast. The episode received mostly positive reviews.
The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In the episode, Mulder and Scully investigate a series of killings in Pennsylvania. All the suspects appear compelled to murder after seeing violent messages on electronic devices.
"Blood" was inspired by writer Glen Morgan's own hematophobia as well as controversy over malathion spraying in Southern California. The episode marked the second appearance of the Lone Gunmen in the series, as well as a guest appearance by pornographic actress Ashlyn Gere.
## Plot
In Franklin, Pennsylvania, postal worker Edward Funsch (William Sanderson) is informed that he will be laid off at the end of the week. Afterwards, Funsch sees the words "Kill 'Em All" on his machine's digital display. At Franklin's civic center, a middle-aged man in a crowded elevator sees "No Air" displayed on the elevator's LED display, and is the only one who can see the message. Sweating and obviously claustrophobic, he again glances at the LED display. This time it flashes the words "Can't Breathe" and then "Kill 'Em All."
Agent Fox Mulder arrives at the civic center in the aftermath of what looks like a massacre. Sheriff Spencer (John Cygan) explains that the suspect murdered four people from the elevator with his bare hands; his rampage ended when he was shot by a security guard. Spencer notes that seven other individuals have murdered twenty-two people in Franklin in the past six months. Mulder discovers that the LED display in the elevator has been damaged, and that the dead suspect has a green residue on his fingertips. Meanwhile, Funsch tries to make a withdrawal from an ATM, but is greeted with the words "Security Guard", "Take His Gun" and "Kill 'Em All" on the screen. He frustratedly beats the screen before running away, escaping from a confused security guard.
At the FBI Academy, Dana Scully reads Mulder's initial report. The only connection between the murders that he can see is that the suspects all destroyed an electronic device during the killings. Meanwhile, Bonnie McRoberts, another Franklin resident, drops by a repair shop to pick up her car, where a message on an engine diagnostic display warns her that the mechanic is going to rape her. She impulsively kills him with an oil can spout. When Mulder and Spencer question McRoberts the next morning, her kitchen microwave instructs her to kill them. When she grabs a knife and attacks Mulder, she is shot and killed by Spencer.
Scully performs an autopsy on McRoberts' body and discovers signs of phobia including high levels of adrenaline and the same substance found on the elevator killer. She hypothesizes that the substance, when combined with other neurochemicals, produces an LSD-like reaction. As Mulder and Scully build a case, Funsch becomes more psychotic, continuing to see violent messages on electronic displays. Blood is associated in some way with each incident; a volunteer asks Ed to donate blood at a department store and seconds later he sees several violent images flash across a sales display of TV sets, followed by a message to get a gun from the sporting goods department.
Late at night, while investigating an orchard, Mulder is sprayed by a crop-dusting helicopter and ends up in the hospital. There, he sees the message "Do It Now" on television and realizes that when people are exposed to the pesticide, which contains a chemical designed to provoke fear in insects, these subliminal messages are relayed to them on purpose and their phobias are exacerbated enough to cause them to kill. Mulder believes the town is being used as a testing ground by a third party, implying that the government is complicit. Eventually, after being confronted, a city councilman agrees to stop the spraying and test the community under the guise of a cholesterol study.
Mulder and Scully, reading that Funsch has not been tested yet, arrive at his house to find it strewn with smashed electronic devices. Mulder deduces that blood is Ed's phobia and that he has seen the subliminal messages, and an empty rifle case signals that Funsch is going to act on his paranoia. Funsch positions himself at the top of a clock tower overlooking a blood drive and begins shooting randomly. Mulder climbs up to Funsch and overpowers him; Funsch is taken away on a stretcher. Mulder makes a call to Scully and sees the message "All done, Bye Bye" on his cell phone display. Scully calls out to Mulder but he is speechless.
## Production
The basic premise for "Blood" evolved from three topics: co-writer Glen Morgan's own hematophobia, the controversy over malathion spraying in Southern California, and a somewhat vague idea that Morgan and his writing partner James Wong had about focusing on postal workers. After series creator Chris Carter expressed his desire to feature a story revolving around digital readouts, Morgan and Wong decided to combine their disparate influences with the digital readout idea, eventually producing a script that turned "new technolog[ies]" (e.g. fax machines and cellular phones") into something "scary."
Morgan and Wong based the episode's climax on the University of Texas tower shooting in 1966. Of note, this scene was only partially filmed at the University of British Columbia because firearms were not allowed on location at the actual university. This necessitated that a replica of its clock tower's interior be constructed for use in several key scenes. This episode marks the first time that Darin Morgan, Glen's brother, helped with an X-Files script. Darin had been asked to help flesh out the episode's story, and he would later write the second season episode "Humbug".
The episode features the second appearance of The Lone Gunmen, a trio of conspiracy theorists consisting of John Fitzgerald Byers (Bruce Harwood), Richard Langly (Dean Haglund) and Melvin Frohike (Tom Braidwood). The characters first appeared in the first season episode "E.B.E." to make Mulder appear more credible. The three were initially slated to appear in only one episode, but they were brought back as recurring characters starting with "Blood" due to their popularity with fans of the show online. The episode also guest stars pornographic actress Ashlyn Gere, who plays Bonnie McRoberts, the woman driven to attack Mulder after seeing a subliminal message on her microwave. Glen Morgan joked that The X-Files was so cutting edge that they used an adult film star who was still working in the industry—an allusion to and jab at the NYPD Blue episode "Tempest in a C-Cup", which guest starred retired adult film actress Ginger Lynn.
## Reception
"Blood" premiered on the Fox network on September 30, 1994, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC2 on September 11, 1995. This episode earned a Nielsen rating of 9.1, with a 16 share, meaning that roughly 9.1 percent of all television-equipped households, and 16 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 8.7 million households.
The episode received positive reviews from critics. Entertainment Weekly gave the episode a B+, considering that despite the "convoluted plot" the episode "pays off in white-knuckle tension." Reviewer Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club labeled the episode as a "good" stand-alone story. He described it as "a memorable episode, due in no small part to its humor", praising the "simultaneously absurd and frightening" story with scenes that make the viewer "snicker even as you shudder". In addition, Handlen praised William Sanderson's performance, as well as the ending, calling it "the punchline [...] of Mulder's deepest fears, a group [The Syndicate] so secret that you never be sure they exist at all". Starpulse named the episode the tenth best of the series, defining it as "very creepy" and what turned The X-Files "from a mere creepfest to a show that offered real psychological thrills". Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated the episode three stars out of five. The two wrote positively of the episode's flourishes, noting "minute by minute, there is tons to enjoy." However, Shearman and Pearson argue that the premise is "disjointed and not a little frustrating" due to the lack of overall coherence and narrative.
## Other media
The plot for "Blood" was also adapted as a novel for young adults in 1996 by Les Martin, under the title Fear. | [
"## Plot",
"## Production",
"## Reception",
"## Other media"
] | 1,950 | 25,458 |
35,924,350 | No. 4 Service Flying Training School RAAF | 1,117,592,521 | null | [
"Military units and formations disestablished in 1945",
"Military units and formations established in 1941",
"RAAF training units"
] | No. 4 Service Flying Training School (No. 4 SFTS) was a flying training school of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. It was formed in February 1941, and commenced flying the following month. Responsible for intermediate and advanced instruction of pilots under the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS), the school was based at Geraldton, Western Australia, and operated Avro Anson aircraft. Two reserve squadrons were formed in response to the outbreak of war in the Pacific, though they never saw action. Flying activity was reduced towards the end of 1943, and the school was disbanded in May 1945, having graduated over 1,000 pilots. It re-formed as No. 87 Operational Base Unit, which was renamed Care and Maintenance Unit (CMU) Geraldton in May 1946. CMU Geraldton was disbanded in September 1947.
## History
Flying instruction in the RAAF underwent major changes following the outbreak of World War II, in response to a dramatic increase in the number of aircrew volunteers and the commencement of Australia's participation in the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS). The Air Force's pre-war pilot training facility, No. 1 Flying Training School at RAAF Station Point Cook, Victoria, was supplanted in 1940–41 by twelve elementary flying training schools (EFTS) and eight service flying training schools (SFTS). The EFTS provided basic flying training to prospective pilots who, if successful, would go on to SFTS for further instruction that focussed on operational (or "service") flying. The course at SFTS typically consisted of two streams, intermediate and advanced, and included such techniques as instrument flying, night flying, advanced aerobatics, formation flying, dive bombing, and aerial gunnery. The total duration of training varied during the war as demand for aircrew rose and fell. Initially running for sixteen weeks, the course was cut to ten weeks (which included seventy-five hours flying time) in October 1940. A year later it was raised to twelve weeks (including 100 hours flying time), and again to sixteen weeks two months later. It continued to increase after this, peaking at twenty-eight weeks in June 1944.
No. 4 Service Flying Training School (No. 4 SFTS) was formed at Geraldton, Western Australia, on 10 February 1941, and came under the control of Western Area Command. Its inaugural commanding officer was Wing Commander P.G. Heffernan. Geraldton's civil airport already had extensive runways, taxiways, hangars and barracks, but more buildings were required to house the RAAF trainees and unit personnel. Facilities were still under construction when the first course of flying training commenced on 10 March. A further challenge the school faced related to equipment. All its Avro Anson aircraft were transferred from other units that, according to the RAAF Historical Section, "happily disposed of their oldest air frames". Coupled with a shortage of the spare parts needed to keep such aircraft operational, the result was that flying hours remained low for some time.
No. 4 SFTS received students who had graduated from No. 9 Elementary Flying Training School at Cunderdin, Western Australia. Approximately sixty new entrants, of whom around fifty were expected to graduate, arrived at No. 4 SFTS every twenty-eight days. Discipline was strict, the aim being to cut down on the accidents that were typical of service flying training establishments. In the event, the school did not suffer a fatal flying accident for over a year-and-a-half after it commenced operations. In November 1941, eight of its Ansons took part in the search for survivors from HMAS Sydney. By this time, No. 4 SFTS was operating just over a hundred aircraft, including two Fairey Battles and two de Havilland Fox Moths, the remainder being Ansons. Personnel totalled 1,475, including 197 students. Following the outbreak of the Pacific War in December, the school's aircraft were classified as Second Line (Reserve) aircraft in the defence of Australia. Nos. 68 and 69 Reserve Squadrons were formed at Geraldton, but they were only used for maritime search-and-rescue, and saw no action before their disbandment in February 1943. On 30 September 1942, a No. 4 SFTS Anson operated by No. 68 Squadron crash-landed in a marsh 140 miles (230 km) north of Carnarvon; one crewman was killed and two injured. From October 1942 to March 1944, the school was commanded by World War I veteran and pioneer civil aviator Norman Brearley.
Two men were killed and three injured when one of No. 4 SFTS's Ansons crashed after colliding with trees after takeoff at a satellite airfield on 21 July 1943; one of the injured died later without regaining consciousness. Four occupants of an Anson were killed on 1 November, when a wing disintegrated after the pilot apparently became disorientated in cloud and the plane went into a high-speed dive. By the end of the year, flying at No. 4 SFTS had begun to taper off, and it was reduced still further in 1944. Training at the school concluded in December that year, under a reorganisation of EATS establishments in Australia. No. 4 SFTS began disbanding in January 1945, as part of a general reduction in RAAF flight instruction owing to a surplus of trained aircrew, and the task was complete by May. It had graduated over 1,000 pilots—among them Dave Shannon, awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his part in the Dambuster raid by No. 617 Squadron RAF in May 1943—and established, according to the RAAF Historical Section, "an enviable safety record".
No. 87 Operational Base Unit (No. 87 OBU) was formed with No. 4 SFTS staff on 1 June 1945 to administer Geraldton's facilities and maintain its aircraft following the flying school's disbandment. On 20 May 1946, No. 87 OBU was disbanded and re-formed as Care and Maintenance Unit (CMU) Geraldton. CMU Geraldton was one of many such units that the RAAF raised for the storage and maintenance of surplus aircraft prior to their disposal after the war. It was disbanded on 5 September 1947. Most of the buildings constructed for the RAAF during the war were auctioned and removed around the same time.
A commemorative sundial in the form of an Anson wing is located at Geraldton Airport.
## Commanding officers
No. 4 SFTS was commanded by the following officers: | [
"## History",
"## Commanding officers"
] | 1,431 | 7,021 |
65,212,280 | Club Feathers | 1,171,411,407 | Gay nightclub in Asbury Park, New Jersey | [
"1978 establishments in New Jersey",
"Buildings and structures in Bergen County, New Jersey",
"Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the LGBT community",
"LGBT nightclubs in New Jersey",
"River Edge, New Jersey"
] | Club Feathers is a gay nightclub in River Edge, New Jersey. Opened in 1978, it is the oldest in the state and the only one left in North Jersey. It is known for its live entertainment, its familial atmosphere, and its assistance to vulnerable LGBT youth and the local poor. The club was ordered to close in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Though it was able to reopen for limited outdoor service several months later, its owner, Paul Binetti, announced in June of that year that the venue was experiencing severe financial hardship, and he launched a GoFundMe page in a bid to secure enough funds to remain in business. Feathers survived its pandemic setbacks and resumed normal indoor operation in May 2021. Critics have called it a rite of passage for young LGBT New Jerseyans to visit the establishment, which is noted for its high-quality entertainment selection.
## Description
Owned by Paul Binetti, Club Feathers is the last operational gay nightclub in North Jersey. It is known for its live entertainment featuring drag queens, go-go dancers, karaoke and DJ sets. Its weekly event calendar, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday, normally includes "Pop Wednesday", "Latin Thursday" and "Drag Friday". Customers describe the club's atmosphere as welcoming and note its tight-knit community of staff and clientele. Binetti stated that "[t]he bond between patrons became even stronger after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida in 2016". Feathers is often a first stop for local LGBT people after they come out of the closet. It is also active in charity work: in addition to helping disadvantaged queer youth get on their feet, it cooks and serves food to the local poor.
## History
### Early years and operation
Club Feathers opened in River Edge on June 21, 1978, making it the oldest gay nightclub in New Jersey. According to Binetti, "[Feathers] opened so that [the New Jersey LGBT] community could have a safe place to call [its] own." In the venue's early years, it was treated as unwelcome in the area: the local government attempted to shut it down it multiple times, and the building was twice set on fire with Molotov cocktails. Eddie Kallen, the club's longtime employee and its current manager, recalled: "People used to scream things out the window as they were driving by. They used to throw things at the place." The original owner fought back despite the persistent harassment. Since its inception, Feathers has also served as a de facto support center for LGBT youth. It has helped find work and housing for individuals who have been kicked out of their homes, sometimes footing the bill for their rent. On New Year's Day in 2018, a small fire broke out in a duct in the club's kitchen, shuttering the business for the day. Damage was minimal, and the venue reopened two days later.
Celebrities such as The Village People and Cardi B have been regulars at Feathers.
### COVID-19 pandemic
Like all the New Jersey nightlife venues, Feathers was ordered to cease operation in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Binetti applied for loans from the Paycheck Protection Program in hopes of securing the club financially, but he was not granted any aid. In June, Feathers reopened for takeout and outdoor dining, functioning on a skeleton staff of four employees and receiving about 50 customers per week, down from a pre-COVID high of 1,500. Binetti changed the business model from nightclub to restaurant, hired a new chef, modified the establishment's menu, and converted its back lot into a seating area in an attempt to maximize revenue under the new arrangements. Nevertheless, although the venue had reopened on June 15, its profits for the month totaled just \$1,200.
At the end of June, when Governor Phil Murphy walked back plans to reopen indoor dining, Binetti announced that Feathers would no longer be able to tide itself over with outdoor operations alone. On June 28, he launched a \$75,000 GoFundMe campaign to raise the funds needed to pay off the overdue rent and taxes that the club had accrued in the four months it was closed. By July 24, donations totaled \$45,000, which was enough to cover the rent. Binetti stated that the remaining balance would need to be collected within 45 days in order to keep Feathers afloat.
Celebrity performers from RuPaul's Drag Race and The Village People offered to help organize a benefit for the club, but its reduced capacity presented practical problems. As of late July, local drag queens and DJs were regularly donating socially distanced performances in Feathers' outdoor dining area to help with fundraising efforts. As of October, staple shows included a weekly drag brunch and other performances by Pissi Myles. The venue continued to host outdoor events through the 2020 holiday season, and by May 2021, it had resumed normal indoor operations, stipulating only that unvaccinated customers should wear masks.
## Reception
In 2020, Daniel Reynolds of The Advocate wrote that visiting Feathers is "a rite of passage for LGBTQ+ New Jerseyans in coming out". FunNewJersey.com labeled the venue one of the "Best Gay Bars in NJ", citing its "awesome events" and remarking: "[Y]ou can be sure to be entertained from the moment you walk through the doors to this iconic gay club in NJ."
## See also
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the LGBT community | [
"## Description",
"## History",
"### Early years and operation",
"### COVID-19 pandemic",
"## Reception",
"## See also"
] | 1,140 | 11,014 |
26,621,987 | SMS Erzherzog Friedrich | 1,121,474,914 | Austro-Hungarian Navy's Erzherzog Karl-class battleship | [
"1904 ships",
"Erzherzog Karl-class battleships",
"Ships built in Trieste",
"World War I battleships of Austria-Hungary"
] | SMS Erzherzog Friedrich (German: "His Majesty's ship Archduke Friedrich") was a pre-dreadnought battleship built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1902. The second ship of the Erzherzog Karl class, she was launched on 30 April 1904. She was assigned to the III Battleship Division.
For most of World War I, Erzherzog Friedrich remained in her home port of Pula, in present-day Croatia, except for four engagements. In 1914, she formed part of the Austro-Hungarian flotilla sent to protect the escape of the German ships SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau from the British-held Mediterranean; she advanced as far as Brindisi before being recalled to her home port. Her sole combat engagement occurred in late May 1915, when she participated in the bombardment of the Italian port city of Ancona. She also took part in suppressing a major mutiny among the crew members of several armored cruisers stationed in Cattaro between 1–3 February 1918. She also attempted to break through the Otranto Barrage in June of that year, but had to retreat when the dreadnought SMS Szent István was sunk. After the war, Erzherzog Friedrich was awarded to the French as a war prize in 1920.
## Design
Erzherzog Friedrich displaced 10,472 long tons (10,640 t). She was 414 feet 2 inches (126.2 m) long, had a beam of 71 feet 5 inches (21.8 m) and a draft of 24 feet 7 inches (7.5 m). She was manned by 700 men. She and her sisters were the last and largest pre-dreadnought class built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy, surpassing the Habsburg class by approximately 2,000 tonnes (1,968 long tons). She was propelled by two two-shaft, four cylinder vertical triple expansion steam engines. On trials, they developed 18,000 ihp (13,423 kW), which propelled the ship at a speed of 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph).
Erzherzog Friedrich carried a primary armament of four 24-centimeter (9.4 in)/40 caliber guns in two twin turrets on the centerline. These guns were an Austro-Hungarian replica of the British 24 cm/40 (9.4") Krupp C/94, which was used on the Habsburgs. Her secondary armament consisted of twelve 19 cm (7.5 in)/42 caliber guns, also made by Škoda, mounted in eight single casemates on either wing of the ship and two twin turrets on the centerline. shell 20,000 metres (22,000 yd) at maximum elevation with a muzzle velocity of 800 metres per second (2,600 ft/s). The gun weighed 12.1 tons and could fire three rounds per minute. The ships had a tertiary armament for protection against torpedo boats in the form of the 7 cm (2.8 in)/45 caliber gun, also manufactured by Škoda. Anti-aircraft and airship protection was covered by the four 37-millimeter (1.5 in) Vickers anti-aircraft guns on the ship bought from Britain in 1910 and mounted onto Erzherzog Karl. After 1916–17 refits four Škoda 7 cm L/45 BAG anti-aircraft guns were installed. Erzherzog Karl was also fitted with two above water 45-centimeter (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, although rarely used.
## Service history
At the outbreak of World War I, Erzherzog Friedrich was in the III division of the Austrian-Hungarian battle-fleet. She was mobilized on the eve of the war along with the remainder of the fleet to support the flight of SMS Goeben and SMS Breslau. The two German ships were attempting to break out of Messina, which was surrounded by British troops, and make their way to Turkey. The breakout succeeded. When the flotilla had advanced as far south as Brindisi in south eastern Italy, the Austro-Hungarian ships were recalled. In company with other units of the Austro-Hungarian navy, Erzherzog Friedrich took part in the bombardment of Ancona on 24 May 1915. There she and her sisters expended 24 rounds of 240 mm armor-piercing shells at signal and semaphore stations as well as 74 rounds of 190 mm shells aimed at Italian gun-batteries and other port installations.
A major mutiny among crews of the armored cruisers stationed in Cattaro, including Sankt Georg and Kaiser Karl VI, began on 1 February 1918. Two days later, Erzherzog Friedrich and her two sister ships arrived in the port and assisted with the suppression of the mutiny. Following the restoration of order in the naval base, the armored cruisers Sankt Georg and Kaiser Karl VI were decommissioned and Erzherzog Friedrich and her sisters were stationed in Cattaro in their place. For the morning of 11 June, Admiral Miklós Horthy planned a major assault on the Otranto Barrage; the three Erzherzog Karls and the four Tegetthoff-class battleships were to provide support for the Novara-class cruisers. The plan was intended to replicate the success of the raid conducted one year earlier. Horthy's plan was to destroy the blockading fleet by luring Allied ships to the cruisers and lighter ships, which were protected from the heavier guns of the battleships, including the guns of the Erzherzog Karl class. However, on the morning of 10 June, the dreadnought Szent István was torpedoed and sunk by an Italian torpedo boat. Horthy felt that the element of surprise had been compromised, and therefore called off the operation. This was to be the last military action Erzherzog Friedrich took part in and she spent the rest of their career at port in Pula. Following the end of World War I in November 1918 and the surrender of Austria-Hungary, Erzherzog Friedrich was ceded as a war reparation to France in 1920. She was later scrapped in 1921. | [
"## Design",
"## Service history"
] | 1,369 | 12,383 |
270,839 | Jurassic Coast | 1,153,248,312 | World Heritage Site on the coast of southern England | [
"2001 in paleontology",
"Cliffs of England",
"Coasts of England",
"Geology of Devon",
"Geology of Dorset",
"Jurassic Coast",
"Landforms of Devon",
"Natural regions of Dorset",
"World Heritage Sites in England"
] | The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about 96 miles (154 km), and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in mid-December 2001.
The site spans 185 million years of geological history, coastal erosion having exposed an almost continuous sequence of rock formation covering the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. At different times, this area has been desert, shallow tropical sea and marsh, and the fossilised remains of the various creatures that lived here have been preserved in the rocks.
Natural features seen on this stretch of coast include arches, pinnacles and stack rocks. In some places the sea has broken through resistant rocks to produce coves with restricted entrances and, in one place, the Isle of Portland is connected to the land by a barrier beach. In some parts of the coast, landslides are common. These have exposed a wide range of fossils, the different rock types each having its own typical fauna and flora, thus providing evidence of how animals and plants evolved in this region.
The area around Lulworth Cove contains a fossil forest, and 71 different rock strata have been identified at Lyme Regis, each with its own species of ammonite. The fossil collector Mary Anning lived here and her major discoveries of marine reptiles and other fossils were made at a time when the study of palaeontology was just starting to develop. The Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre provides information on the heritage coast, and the whole length of the site can be visited via the South West Coast Path.
## World Heritage Site
The Jurassic Coast stretches from Orcombe Point near Exmouth in East Devon to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage in East Dorset, a distance of 96 miles (154 km). Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2001, the Jurassic Coast was the first wholly natural World Heritage Site to be designated in the United Kingdom. At Orcombe Point, the "Geoneedle" (2002), an acute pyramidal sculpture, marks the western end of the heritage site; this is built out of fragments of the different types of rocks to be seen along the coast.
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee nomination document lists eight segments of coast included in the site. The segments are:
- from Orcombe Rocks to Chit Rocks, Sidmouth
- from River Sid, Sidmouth to Seaton Hole
- the Axmouth to Lyme Regis Undercliff, from the mouth of the River Axe to The Cobb in Lyme Regis
- from Lyme Regis to West Bay
- Chesil Beach, the Fleet Lagoon and the Isle of Portland Coast
- Portland Harbour Shore
- from Bowleaze Cove to Peveril Point
- from New Swanage to Studland Bay
The cliffs on this part of the coast are being eroded as sections crumble away and landslides occur. These processes reveal successive layers of sedimentary rock, uncovering the geological history at the modern coastline over a period of 185 million years, and disclosing an almost continuous sequence of rock formations covering the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossils found in the area and the coastal geomorphologic features of this dynamic coast, have advanced the study of earth sciences for more than two hundred years. The area covered by the designation comprises the land between the mean low water mark and the top of the cliffs or the back of the beach.
The fossils found in abundance along this coastline provide evidence of how animals and plants evolved in this region. During the Triassic this area was a desert, while in the Jurassic it was part of a tropical sea, and in the Cretaceous it was covered by swamps. The fossilised remains of the animals and plants that lived in those periods are very well preserved, providing a wealth of information on their body shapes, the way they died and even the fossilised remains of their last meals. Fossil groups found here include crustaceans, insects, molluscs, echinoderms, fish, amphibians, reptiles and a few mammals. At Lulworth Cove there is a fossil forest of conifers, tree-ferns and cycads.
## Geology
The Jurassic Coast consists of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous cliffs, spanning the Mesozoic, documenting 185 million years of geological history. The site can be best viewed from the sea, when the dipping nature of the rock strata becomes apparent.
In East Devon, the coastal cliffs consist of steep cliffs of red sandstone from the Triassic, and at Budleigh Salterton, the gravel cliffs contain red quartzite pebbles which accumulate on the beach below as Budleigh pebbles, locally protected. Further east at Ladram Bay, more sandstone cliffs give rise to spectacular red sandstone stacks.
Around Lyme Regis and Charmouth the cliffs are of Jurassic clays and shale, and landslips are common. Chesil Beach is a good example of a barrier beach and stretches for 18 miles (29 km) from Burton Bradstock to the Isle of Portland. The beach encloses an intertidal lagoon which is an internationally important Ramsar Convention site known for its biodiversity.
At Lulworth Cove, the waves have cut their way through the resistant Portland stone and created a horseshoe-shaped cove by eroding the softer sands and clays behind. Another feature of this part of the coast is Durdle Door, a natural arch. Sea stacks and pinnacles, such as Old Harry Rocks at Handfast Point, have been formed by erosion of the chalk cliffs.
The highest point on the Jurassic Coast, and on the entire south coast of Britain, is Golden Cap at 627 ft (191 m) between Bridport and Charmouth.
This coast shows excellent examples of landforms, including the natural arch at Durdle Door, the cove and limestone folding at Lulworth Cove and a tied island, the Isle of Portland. Chesil Beach is a fine example of both a tombolo (a deposition landform in which an island is attached to the mainland by a narrow piece of land such as a spit or bar) and a storm beach (a beach affected by particularly fierce waves). The site has stretches of both concordant and discordant coastlines. Due to the quality of the varied geology, the site is the subject of international field studies.
The many sedimentary layers on this coastline are rich with fossils, the remains of the animals and plants present in the area whose tissues became immersed in deposits of mud which later hardened into rock. At Lyme Regis, for example, geologists have identified 71 layers of rock, each one containing fossils of a different species of ammonite.
## History
At the end of the 18th century Georges Cuvier showed that some fossil animals resembled no living ones, thus demonstrating that animals could become extinct; this led to the emergence of palaeontology, the study of fossils. The coasts of eastern Devon and western Dorset were rich in fossil beds, but before this time the fossils had merely been gathered as a pastime or collected by local residents and sold to visitors as curios.
Mary Anning (1799–1847) lived in Lyme Regis and followed in her father's footsteps as a collector. She became an expert on the fossils to be found in the Blue Lias around the town and discovered the first complete Ichthyosaur skeleton at The Spittles. Other important discoveries of ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and a pterosaur followed, as well as invertebrates such as cephalopods and their ink sacs.
During World War II several sections of the Jurassic Coast became the property of the Ministry of War. One of the Royal Navy's largest bases was at Portland Harbour, though it has since closed. A major army base at Bovington remains in use today. Large areas of land, including the coast between Lulworth Cove and Kimmeridge, are still only partially accessible; this includes the ghost village of Tyneham which was evacuated after being requisitioned by the army in 1943.
Areas of the coast near Exmouth, The Fleet Lagoon at Weymouth and the beaches at Studland have also been used for military training but have since been returned to civilian use.
Parts of the coast, especially around Portland, can be dangerous, and shipwrecks have been a feature of the coast. In January 2007 the coast experienced its most environmentally damaging wreck when the MSC Napoli, a 2,400 capacity container ship, was beached at Branscombe near Sidmouth, losing oil and cargo.
## Management and access
The Jurassic Coast is subject to severe weather conditions at times. Violent storms occurred in 1824 and 1974, and these and various lesser storms have battered the cliffs and caused flooding and structural damage in coastal towns. The coast is largely an eroding landscape and management of the site aims to allow the natural processes of erosion to continue while protecting people and property. Coastal defences have been put in place in Charmouth and Weymouth, where houses are at risk, but in other places, where the coastline remains in a natural state, the management policy is to take no action and allow erosion to take its course.
The Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre is an independent educational charity situated near the beach in Charmouth; it provides information and displays on the geology of the area and the wildlife, including a large collection of fossils and a rockpool aquarium. Family fossil-hunting trips are organised from here as well as other events and activities related to the geology and natural history of the area.
The entire length of the coast can be walked on the South West Coast Path. Landslips and rockfalls are a continuing feature of the evolution of this coast. On 6 May 2008, a 1,300 ft (400 m) section of the coast was dramatically re-shaped after a landslip that was described as the worst in 100 years. There was a fatality in 2012 when 400 tonnes (390 long tons) of rock fell onto the beach at Burton Bradstock and another cliff fall took place in 2016 at West Bay, near Bridport. There was a further cliff collapse at Hive Beach near the village of Burton Bradstock shortly before dawn on 29 August 2020 after prolonged rain fall. The public were warned to stay clear of the unstable rocks. On 15 April 2021, a further collapse occurred. The collapse was described as being the biggest UK rockfall in 60 years.
## See also
- Full list of places on the Jurassic Coast | [
"## World Heritage Site",
"## Geology",
"## History",
"## Management and access",
"## See also"
] | 2,198 | 26,981 |
13,749,137 | Anthony Esolen | 1,153,897,797 | American academic | [
"American Roman Catholic poets",
"American academics of English literature",
"American medievalists",
"American poets of Italian descent",
"American writers of Italian descent",
"Italian–English translators",
"Latin–English translators",
"Living people",
"Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts",
"Princeton University alumni",
"Translators of Dante Alighieri",
"University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni",
"Year of birth missing (living people)"
] | Anthony M. Esolen is a writer, social commentator, translator of classical poetry, and Writer-in-Residence at Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts. He taught at Furman University and Providence College before transferring to the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in 2017 and Magdalen in 2019.
Esolen has translated into English Dante's Divine Comedy, Lucretius' On the Nature of Things, and Torquato Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered. In addition to multiple books, he is the author of numerous articles in such publications as The Modern Age, The Catholic World Report, Chronicles, The Claremont Review of Books, The Public Discourse, First Things, Crisis Magazine, The Catholic Thing, and Touchstone, for which he serves as a senior editor. He is a regular contributor to Magnificat, and has written frequently for a host of other online journals.
Esolen is a Catholic, and his writings generally contain an identifiable conservative or traditionalist perspective. He has frequently criticized the concept of "diversity" as commonly understood in modern Western culture. Dissatisfaction over some of the views that he expressed contributed to his decision to leave Providence College.
## Early life and career
Esolen is of Italian ancestry. He was born in Archbald, Pennsylvania. Anthony Esolen graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1981. He pursued graduate work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he earned his M.A. in 1981 and a Ph.D. in Renaissance literature in 1987. Esolen's dissertation, "A Rhetoric of Spenserian Irony," was directed by S.K. Heninger. He taught at Furman University from 1988 to 1990.
## Providence College
Esolen began teaching English at Providence College in 1990, becoming a full professor in 1995. He earned a reputation as a conservative Catholic author, and grew increasingly dissatisfied with the more liberal direction of Providence College, a Catholic university run by the Dominican Order. He is a critic of "diversity" training and guidelines as practiced at many American colleges and universities. In the summer of 2016, he remarked, "What counts for them as 'diversity' is governed entirely by a monotonous and predictable list of current political concerns. If you read a short story written in English by a Latina author living up the road in Worcester, that counts as 'diverse,' but if you read a romance written in Spanish by a Spanish author living in Spain four hundred years ago, that does not count as 'diverse.'"
In September 2016, Crisis Magazine published an article by Esolen titled "My College Succumbed to the Totalitarian Diversity Cult." Crisis Magazine wrote the title for the piece, according to Esolen. In the essay, Esolen argued that Western insistence on diversity as one of its core values was destructive to authentic cultures and was inherently contradictory to the Christian faith. He stated that people can only "be truly at one" when they are united by faith in God. Questioning the very western idea of diversity, he asked:
> Is not that same call for diversity, when Catholics are doing the calling, a surrender of the Church to a political movement which is, for all its talk, a push for homogeneity, so that all the world will look not like the many-cultured Church, but rather like the monotone non-culture of western cities that have lost their faith in the transcendent and unifying God?
Esolen held that Catholicism "redeems not only individuals but peoples" preserving their culture as it does so, which is in contrast to "the secular preachers of diversity" who work "their hardest to efface that difference, to muffle all those who speak with the voice of the Church against the vision that those preachers have to offer—a vision that pretends to be 'multicultural,' but that is actually anti-cultural, and is characterized by all the totalitarian impulses to use the massive power of government to bring to heel those who decline to go along." He held that procedures turning over reported bias to a bias response team, was analogous to the infamous Star Chamber. Esolen maintained that initialisms such as LGBT were "the alphabet soup of cheered-on sexual proclivities. For some reason that does not include F, for Fornicators, or S, for swingers, or P, for pornographers, or W, for sex-workers, formerly called harlots, or A, for adulterers." He held that making reference to such as an identifier could not be practiced within Catholicism, since "a disordered inclination" can not be held to be an essential component of anyone. Esolen maintained that non-Catholic faculty within the College were backing the diversity program, in order to raise the question of "Is it permitted for a Catholic, at a college that advertises itself as Catholic, to affirm a Catholic view of sex and the family?" These non-Catholics "have made life hell for more than one of my friends" and some of them "would silence us for good, if they had the power."
Some students and faculty members of Providence College reacted with anger to the publication of the essay. Providence students organized a protest march. A group of faculty members of the school wrote a petition in which they charged that Esolen's writings contained repeated "racist, xenophobic, misogynist, homophobic and religiously chauvinist statements." The Rev. Brian Shanley, O.P., President of Providence College at the time, publicly distanced himself from Esolen's statements by claiming "that he speaks only for himself. He certainly does not speak for me, my administration, and for many others at Providence College who understand and value diversity in a very different sense from him." Meanwhile, Robert P. George, a conservative Catholic professor at Esolen's alma mater, Princeton University, defended him. He argued that students and faculty members who disagree with him "should respond in the currency of academic discourse—reasons, evidence, arguments—not by attempting to isolate, stigmatize, and marginalize him for stating dissenting opinions."
## Subsequent career
On May 4, 2017, it was announced that Esolen would join the faculty at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire beginning the fall of 2017. On this occasion, he criticized the Providence College administration for becoming too "secular." In an essay praising his relationships at his new job, he said working at Providence was like "trying to shore up a crumbling wall" where the leadership was striving to "pass out lemonade to the professors with the sledge hammers."
On May 13, 2019, Esolen resigned from Thomas More citing increased Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy leg pain triggered by travel for speaking engagements and his commute from the college and his home in Warner, New Hampshire. He was able to find a position at Northeast Catholic College located minutes from his home. In 2019, Esolen joined Northeast Catholic College, later renamed Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts, as a full faculty member and Writer-In-Residence.
## Literary work
Along with teaching, Esolen has published articles and books on a regular basis. He is a regular contributor to Magnificat and serves as a senior editor of Touchstone.
Esolen's translation of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy into English was published by Modern Library. His translation of the Inferno appeared in 2002, the Purgatory in 2003, and the Paradise in 2005. In his translations, Esolen chose not to attempt a "preservation of Dante's rhyme in any systematic form." Dante's original Italian work relied heavily on rhyme schemes. However, the English language has fewer rhyming words than the Italian language. Thus, according to Esolen, trying to recreate the sounds of the original rhyme scheme would have compromised "either meaning or music."
In lieu of Dante's famous terza rima, Esolen's translation depends on the use of blank verse. Esolen writes that the use of blank verse allows him to retain both the "meaning [and the] music" of Dante's original. The works also feature, alongside the English translation, the original Italian text. Esolen notes that this text "is based on the editions of Giorgio Petrocchi (1965) and Umberto Bosco and Giovanni Reggio" (1979)." Finally, the translations include Esolen's notes and commentary on the text, as well as illustrations by Gustave Doré. Esolen kept his most extensive notes for the back of each book, so as not to interrupt the reading of the main text. Anne Barbeau Gardiner, a professor emerita of English at the City University of New York, praised the translation for being "not only highly readable, but also vigorous and beautiful."
Esolen has written translations of other classical texts, including Torquato Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered (reviewed in Translation and Literature, Sixteenth-Century Journal, and International Journal of the Classical Tradition) and Lucretius' De rerum natura. Both were published by Johns Hopkins University Press.
He has argued that the Middle Ages were actually an enlightened time, so that the term "Dark Ages" is a misnomer. He cited the establishment of universities, the development of the carnival, and the contributions of famous saints such as Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas to science and philosophy, all of which took place in the Middle Ages, as examples.
In 2011, Esolen published an essay in First Things in which he criticized what he saw as the "bumping boxcar language" of the New American Bible. Esolen attacked the NAB translations for "[p]refer[ing] the general to the specific, the abstract to the concrete, the vague to the exact." He went on to list several examples of Biblical passages in which he claimed that the true meaning or visceral nature of the words had been eroded.
## Publications
### Translations
The following works were translated into English by Esolen:
### Books
The following books were written by Esolen:
- Reflections on the Christian Life. Sophia Institute Press. February 20, 2012.
- Defending Marriage: Twelve Arguments for Sanity. May 28, 2014.
- Reclaiming Catholic Social Teaching. Sophia Institute Press. October 20, 2014.
- Life Under Compulsion: Ten Ways to Destroy the Humanity of Your Child. Intercollegiate Studies Institute May 18, 2015.
- Real Music: A Guide to the Timeless Hymns of the Church. TAN Books December 7, 2016.
- Defending Boyhood: How Building Forts, Reading Stories, Playing Ball, and Praying to God Can Change the World. TAN Books March 25, 2019
- In the Beginning Was the Word: An Annotated Reading of the Prologue of John. Angelico Press, 2021. | [
"## Early life and career",
"## Providence College",
"## Subsequent career",
"## Literary work",
"## Publications",
"### Translations",
"### Books"
] | 2,272 | 29,225 |
9,752,831 | Kaniakapupu | 1,152,077,016 | Historic ruin in Hawaii, United States | [
"Hawaiian architecture",
"History of Oahu",
"Houses in Honolulu County, Hawaii",
"Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Hawaii",
"National Register of Historic Places in Honolulu County, Hawaii",
"Royal residences in Hawaii",
"Ruins in the United States"
] | Kaniakapūpū ("the singing of the land shells"), known formerly as Luakaha ("place of relaxation"), is the ruins of the former summer palace of King Kamehameha III and Queen Kalama on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. Built in the 1840s, and situated in the cool uplands of the Nuʻuanu Valley, it served as the king and queen's summer retreat after the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii moved from Lahaina to Honolulu in 1845. It was famous for being the site of a grand luau attended by an estimated ten thousand guests during the 1847 Hawaiian Sovereignty Restoration Day celebration. The palace had fallen into ruins by 1874; no records exist about its condition in the intervening years. Rediscovered in the 1950s, the site was cleared and efforts were made to stabilize the ruins from further damage by the elements and invasive plant growth. The site remains officially off-limits to the public and trespassers are subjected to citations, although the site is not regularly monitored.
## Name
Kaniakapūpū is the current and most commonly used name of the site and palace. It means "the singing of the land shells" in the Hawaiian language. The name refers to the kāhuli (Oʻahu tree snails) which were once abundant in the area and, according to Hawaiian folklore, able to vocalize and sing sweet songs at night. Archaeologist Susan A. Lebo and anthropologist James M. Bayman, writing in 2001, claim that the name is a modern misnomer, possibly originating in the early 20th century. Moʻolelo (oral accounts) from this period associate the name with the remnants of a stone structure to the southeast of the house, believed to be a heiau (temple) dedicated to Lono, the Hawaiian god of fertility and healing. Tradition states that the king may have chosen to build his house on the heiau because of the mana (spiritual power) associated with the area. The contemporaneous Hale Aliʻi (ʻIolani Palace) was built on the site of a heiau called Kaʻahaimauli.
According to Lebo and Bayman, the actual region of Kaniakapūpū and Kaniakapūpū Heiau (also called Kawaluna Heiau) was located in the Waolani area of Oahu; contemporary records do not mention a heiau onsite or the king building his house on top of one. Kawaluna Heiau was associated with Kūaliʻi, the 16th-century aliʻi nui of Oahu, who asserted his control of the Kona district (the area encompassing much of modern Honolulu) after a ceremony at the temple. One of the earliest references to Kaniakapūpū and its association with Kawaluna Heiau was in the "Legend of Kamaakamahiai", published on August 13, 1870, in the Hawaiian-language newspaper Kuokoa. It stated: "...where the house of our King now stands. Kawaluna was its name in the old days and Kaniakapūpū is its name today".
Luakaha ("place of relaxation") was the name of the property during the king's lifetime, and originates from the name of the traditional ʻili kū (land division) of the ahupuaʻa of Honolulu, which encompassed a third of the forested upper slopes of Nuʻuanu Valley. There are no records of the house itself having any specific name, though when it was in use it was referred to as "the king's house, cottage, or retreat in Luakaha or Nuʻuanu". Luakaha was one of the many strategic grounds occupied by King Kalanikūpule during King Kamehameha I's invasion of the island of Oahu in 1795. Traditions state that Kamehameha rested his troops near the site during this campaign, which culminated in the decisive Battle of Nuʻuanu in which many of the defeated Oahu warriors were pushed off the Nuʻuanu Pali to their deaths.
## History
In the early 19th century, Honolulu was situated on a dust plain. The aridity and lack of water, save for the Nuʻuanu Stream, prompted many residents to seek reprieve a few miles outside of town in the forested uplands of the Nuʻuanu Valley. In this suburb, American missionaries, white merchants, and the Hawaiian royals built European-style homes to escape the summer heat. The site of Luakaha was located 5 miles (8.0 km) outside the city and was reachable by horse and carriage. The claim on the area was relinquished by Charles Kanaʻina during the Great Māhele of 1848, and it became a part of the Crown Lands. Kamehameha III also allocated a nearby piece of land to his advisor and friend Keoni Ana, who built Hānaiakamalama to be near the king.
Kaniakapūpū was built prior to the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii moving to Honolulu from Lahaina in 1845. Along with Hale Aliʻi, the king's new official residence in the center of town, and a summer retreat in the Nuʻuanu Valley, the new royal residences were built to resemble the spatial-cultural geography of Mokuʻula, the king's royal residential complex in Lahaina. On July 5, 1842, American missionary Amos Starr Cooke, the teacher of Royal School, wrote in his journal that Governor Kekūanāoʻa was in the process of building a "stone house" for the king in Luakaha.
The retreat was completed in 1845 and became a place for entertaining foreign celebrities, chiefs, and commoners. On Hawaiian Sovereignty Restoration Day (Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea) in 1847, King Kamehameha III and Queen Kalama hosted a grand luau at the palace. The celebration commemorated the fourth anniversary of the restoration of Hawaiian independence and sovereignty by British Rear-Admiral Richard Darton Thomas, following a five-month British occupation of the kingdom during the Paulet Affair of 1843. The luau was attended by an estimated ten thousand guests. The palace may also have been the site of an earlier luau, or great ahaʻaina (feast), which was part of the initial ten-day restoration festivities in 1842. Children from the Royal School, including all of the future Hawaiian monarchs, often visited with their teachers (the Cookes).
By 1874, a map of the region labeled the area as the "Old Ruins", implying a dilapidated state. No records exist as to why the site was abandoned.
### Contemporary descriptions
Danish explorer Steen Anderson Bille visited Oahu in October 1846 while circumnavigating the globe on the corvette Galathea between 1845 and 1847. Besides having an audience with King Kamehameha III at Hale Aliʻi, and commenting on Honolulu social life, Bille wrote a description of Luakaha:
> One of the most distant county seats on the right side of the road is that of the King. It is rather a large building with a surrounding porch, and does not distinguish itself by any architectural beauty. A small cottage build by an Englishman on the road a little before the King's house is reached, is still more insignificant, but if you pass to the rear of its garden you will see a seething fall cascading down from a height of more than 70 feet.
Another account was written in 1908 by Gorham D. Gilman, a New England merchant who resided in Lahaina and Honolulu from 1840 to 1861:
> The last building in the valley after the foreign style is His Majesty's country seat, at which he spends considerable time during the summer. It is about five miles from town, and a pleasant ride. It is in a fine situation and is surrounded by many of the original forest trees. It is a plain stone building with one large room and two sleeping rooms, the whole surrounded by a wide veranda enclosed by a neat paling fence. It was here that the great meal fete was given by His Majesty to Admiral Thomas at the time of restoration.
## Modern conservation
The area was rediscovered in the 1950s, and the Territorial Commission on Historic Sites cleared and stabilized the ruins onsite. However, the site deteriorated over the next 30 years due to a lack of maintenance. A fund was created by the Historic Hawaii Foundation in 1998 to pay for preservation work on the ruins, which was completed two years later. An archaeological survey was also conducted around this time. Today, the site is managed by the State Historic Preservation Division of Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) with the help of the Historic Hawaii Foundation and other local preservation organizations, including the Aha Hui Malama O Kaniakapūpū. Kaniakapūpū was added as site 66000293 to the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.
Kaniakapūpū is located at the end of an unmarked trail off the Pali Highway. The property is near the Luakaha Falls, and the surrounding area and trail leading up to the site are covered by a forest of invasive bamboo. Periodic clearing is necessary in order to halt the deteriorating effects of invasive root growth. The trail and ruins, which are located in a protected watershed, are officially off-limits to the public, although state DLNR officials do not regularly monitor the site. Trespassers are subjected to citations if caught.
### Vandalism
In 2016, Kaniakapūpū was damaged by vandals who scratched crosses into the historic stone walls. Previously, tourists had etched initials and other markings, while others often leaned, sat, or climbed on the walls for photo shoots. These actions further degraded the ancient structure. State DLNR officials and volunteers denounced these acts as "utter disrespect" for the cultural importance of the site.
Social media was blamed for bringing unwanted visitors to the site and not pointing out that the area is off-limits to the public. Following these acts of vandalism, the state of Hawaii asked for the removal of directions to Kaniakapūpū on many social media websites and tourism blogs, and encouraged those who knew the direction to the ruins to come with respect.
## Plaque
A plaque was erected at Kaniakapūpū by the Commission on Historical Sites, which reads:
>
> KANIAKAPUPU
>
> SUMMER PALACE OF KING KAMEHAMEHA III AND HIS QUEEN KALAMA
>
> COMPLETED IN 1845 IT WAS THE SCENE OF ENTERTAINMENT OF FOREIGN CELEBRITIES AND THE FEASTING OF CHIEFS AND COMMONERS. THE GREATEST OF THESE OCCASIONS WAS A LUAU ATTENDED BY AN ESTIMATED TEN THOUSAND PEOPLE CELEBRATING HAWAIIAN RESTORATION DAY IN 1847.
## See also
- Hānaiakamalama, the summer palace of Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV | [
"## Name",
"## History",
"### Contemporary descriptions",
"## Modern conservation",
"### Vandalism",
"## Plaque",
"## See also"
] | 2,411 | 19,968 |
23,097,287 | 2nd Kansas Infantry Regiment | 1,171,644,574 | null | [
"1861 establishments in Kansas",
"Military units and formations disestablished in 1861",
"Military units and formations established in 1861",
"Units and formations of the Union Army from Kansas"
] | The 2nd Kansas Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Recruited in May 1861, it formally organized on June 20. Sent into Missouri, it participated in several small actions in the Springfield area before fighting in the Battle of Wilson's Creek on August 10, where it suffered 70 casualties out of about 600 men present excluded a detached cavalry company. Ordered back to Kansas after the battle, it fought in several small actions in Missouri and later mobilized in Kansas after enemy forces captured Lexington, Missouri, as Kansas was believed to be threatened by the Lexington movement. The unit was disbanded on October 31, with some of its men, including its commander, joining the 2nd Kansas Cavalry Regiment. Colonel Robert B. Mitchell commanded the regiment until he was wounded at Wilson's Creek and Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. Blair took command.
## Service
### Formation
The 2nd Kansas Infantry Regiment was primarily recruited in May 1861, for service in the Union Army during the American Civil War; the regiment's men were drawn from across the state. It was organized for a service period of 90 days. After gathering at Lawrence, Kansas, the unit entered Union service on June 20. It was commanded by Colonel Robert B. Mitchell, a politician and veteran of the Mexican–American War. Charles W. Blair was lieutenant colonel, and William F. Cloud was the regiment's major. The men of the regiment were provided blue fatigue blouses as uniforms and were armed with a mixture of rifles and outdated smoothbore muskets.
After entering service, the regiment moved from Kansas City, Missouri, to Clinton, Missouri, as part of a force led by Major Samuel Sturgis. Most of Sturgis's column reached Clinton on July 4 and went into camp. Discipline issues in the 2nd Kansas Infantry and the 1st Kansas Infantry Regiment resulted in Sturgis having some of the Kansans whipped, which culminated on July 8 in a confrontation between him and some of the men which Mitchell was forced to break up before it became violent. Joining the forces of Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon, the regiment marched to the Springfield, Missouri area, via Stockton and Melville. The men trained at a camp in the Springfield area, and the 1st and 2nd Kansas Infantry were brigaded together under the command of Colonel George Washington Deitzler.
### Wilson's Creek campaign
The regiment was part of a strike towards Forsyth, Missouri, beginning on July 20 and led by Captain Thomas W. Sweeny, along with troops from the 1st Iowa Infantry Regiment and elements of an artillery battery and a cavalry regiment. By then, one company of the regiment had been mounted on captured horses. Reaching Forsyth on July 22, the mounted company routed a Missouri State Guard post outside of town, and Sweeny's column engaged more Missouri State Guardsmen outside of town. The Union forces were victorious, and captured supplies in the town before looting Forsyth. Losses were minimal for both sides, with the Union cavalry losing two wounded and the Missouri State Guard one man wounded and two captured. The skirmish at Forsyth was the first combat the regiment had seen. Sweeny's force returned to Springfield on July 25. On August 3, Lyon's force encountered a small Confederate patrol near the Curran Post Office, which was on the county line of Barry County and Stone County and was over 20 miles (32 km) from Springfield, while continuing a movement towards Cassville. Union troops drove them off and the 2nd Kansas Infantry scouted 2 miles (3.2 km) ahead to a location known as either McCulla's Springs or McCullah's store. Lyon later learned that the Missouri State Guard and the Confederates had joined forces and ordered a retreat to Springfield. On August 9, the regiment's mounted company was part of a Union cavalry force that defeated a group of Missouri State Guard cavalry 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Springfield.
That evening, Lyon moved out most of his command from Springfield to attack a Confederate and Missouri State Guard camp along Wilson's Creek. Lyon divided his force into two columns for the August 10 Battle of Wilson's Creek, with the second column under Colonel Franz Sigel to attack from the opposite direction of Lyon's men. The 2nd Kansas Infantry was part of Lyon's column and was initially kept in a reserve role while Union troops occupied a terrain feature known as Bloody Hill at around 6:30 a.m. When a force of Missouri State Guard infantrymen advanced against the hill, Lyon brought the 2nd Kansas forward to the main line, where it deployed next to the 1st Missouri Infantry Regiment. The Confederate attack failed at about 8:00 a.m. and was followed by a lull in the fighting.
With another enemy attack ongoing, Lyon led the 2nd Kansas Infantry to another part of the line on Bloody Hill. As the fighting continued, Confederate fire killed Lyon and wounded Mitchell. Command of the regiment fell to Blair. The attackers eventually withdrew. When a Confederate cavalry force attempted to strike the Union flank, a company detached from the 2nd Kansas as skirmishers and the mounted company helped repulse it. Sturgis took command of Lyon's column, but Sigel's attack had already been defeated. Another Confederate/Missouri State Guard attack, the third against Bloody Hill, was made but was repulsed. During the fighting, the 2nd Kansas exchanged fire with the 3rd Regiment, Arkansas State Troops. Around the time the attackers withdrew, Sturgis ordered a withdrawal from the field. The 2nd Kansas, low on ammunition, fell back in good order at about 11:30 a.m. Excluding the mounted company, the 2nd Kansas had taken about 600 men into the fight and had lost 5 men killed, 59 wounded, and 6 missing.
### End of service
After the battle, the Union troops fell back to Springfield, and then moved to Rolla and St. Louis. Ordered back to Kansas for its exit from Union service, the regiment halted at Hannibal, Missouri, on August 31, where half of the regiment joined part of the 3rd Iowa Infantry Regiment on an expedition to Paris, Missouri, where a skirmish was fought on September 2, driving the enemy out of the area. During the return march, on September 4, the men of the Paris expedition fought a small action at Shelbina, Missouri, with the officers of the 2nd Kansas deciding to withdraw to Macon. At Macon, Brigadier General Stephen A. Hurlbut ordered the regiment to return to Shelbina, but Blair cited his earlier orders to go to Kansas and continued moving. After a brief halt at Bloomfield to guard stores, the regiment continued on and fought minor actions at St. Joseph, Missouri, and Iatan, Missouri. The unit arrived at Leavenworth, Kansas, but was deployed to Wyandotte County, Kansas, after enemy forces captured Lexington, Missouri, since Kansas was believed to be threatened. It then returned to Leavenworth, where it completed its time of service. The regiment's service formally ended on October 31. During their time with the regiment, 17 men had died of various causes. Some of the unit's soldiers, including Mitchell, Blair, and Cloud, then served in the 2nd Kansas Cavalry Regiment.
## See also
- List of Kansas Civil War units
- Kansas in the American Civil War | [
"## Service",
"### Formation",
"### Wilson's Creek campaign",
"### End of service",
"## See also"
] | 1,570 | 2,318 |
14,710,700 | 1st Sustainment Brigade (United States) | 1,151,697,360 | null | [
"Military units and formations established in 2007",
"Sustainment Brigades of the United States Army"
] | The 1st Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade is a sustainment brigade of the United States Army based at Fort Riley, Kansas. It provides logistics support to the 1st Infantry Division.
Activated in 2007, the unit is a modular brigade capable of a variety of actions. Though assigned to the 1st Infantry Division on a permanent basis, it is capable of independent operations and taking on subordinate units to fulfill large scale sustainment operations for the United States Army.
Formed from the Division Support Command of the 1st Infantry Division, the Brigade carries the lineage and honors of the division dating back to World War I campaigns as early as 1917. Having also seen action in World War II, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War, the brigade has numerous awards and decorations from its previous designation. The brigade has also seen three tours in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
## Organization
The 1st Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade (1ID SB) in garrison at Fort Riley is composed of two subordinate battalions.
The 1st Special Troops Battalion (STB) contains:
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC)
- 267th Signal Company
- 258th Human Resources Company
- 9th Financial Management Support Unit
- 511th Field Feeding Company
The 541st Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB) provides logistics support to the 1st Infantry Division and area support to units that are echelons above brigade. The 541st CSSB has seven subordinate companies:
- Headquarters and Headquarters Company
- 1st Support Maintenance Company
- 526th Composite Supply Company
- 24th Composite Truck Company
- 266th Movement Control Team
## History
### Origins
The 1st Infantry Division Support Command (DISCOM) traces its origins to World War I, where in 1917, the Division Trains were formed to support the newly formed 1st Infantry Division. In 1921, the Division trains were consolidated into the Special Troops, 1st Infantry Division. After World War I, the Special Troops deployed to Fort Riley, Kansas . Three of the DISCOM's former subordinate battalions, the 101st Forward Support Battalion (FSB) and 201st Forward Support Battalions, and the 701st Main Support Battalion, served in World War I, but with different divisions.
These units deployed back to Germany to support the 1st Infantry Division during World War II, and participated in all eight campaigns credited to the 1st Infantry Division. In 1955, the Division and its support organizations returned to Fort Riley, Kansas.
In 1965, the division deployed to South Vietnam, as a part of the Vietnam War buildup. DISCOM units supported the Division in all of the eleven campaigns it participated in while deployed to South Vietnam .
After Vietnam, the DISCOM underwent many changes. The Division Material Management Center (DMMC) was established, and the Finance and Personnel Services Companies (PSC) were reorganized into battalion commands. In 1990, the DISCOM deployed again, this time to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Desert Storm.
In 1996, the DISCOM, deployed to Europe for a third time and consisted of the 101st FSB at Fort Riley, Kansas, the 201st FSB in Vilseck, Germany, the 701st MSB in Kitzingen, Germany, the 601st Aviation Support Battalion(ASB) in Katterbach, Germany, and the Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), also in Kitzingen.
### Global War on Terrorism
In 2003, the DISCOM was deployed to Turkey in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom I. The DISCOM simultaneously supported peacekeeping operations in the Balkans and deployed a logistics task force to support Operation Iraqi Freedom I throughout Iraq. In 2004, the DISCOM redeployed to Southwest Asia in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom II. In addition to the organic DISCOM units, the 225th Forward Support Battalion from Hawaii and the 230th Support Battalion from North Carolina deployed to support logistical operations for Task Force Danger. Finally, in 2005, the DISCOM redeployed to Germany to reconstitute and prepare for future contingency operations. The DISCOM was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation for its contributions during Operation Iraqi freedom II.
As of January 2006, the DISCOM consisted of the 201st Field Support Battalion in Vilseck, Germany, the 701st Maneuver Support Battalion in Kitzingen, Germany, the 299th Field Support Battalion in Schweinfurt Germany, the 601st Aviation Support Battalion in Katterbach, Germany, and the Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC), also in Kitzingen. Over the months between January 2006 and July 2006 the 601st returned to Fort Riley, the 701st was inactivated, the 299th was task organized to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team in preparation for another deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the 201st was task organized under the 3rd Brigade Combat Team and later deactivated. The DISCOM HHC was re-deployed to Fort Riley Kansas in August 2006 to build the 1st Sustainment Brigade.
For a brief period, the DISCOM gained administrative control over the 97th Military Police Battalion, the 541st CSSB, the Band, and the 101st Military Intelligence Battalion. The 101st was in-activated in December 2006, the 541st and 97th were deployed and task organized away from the DISCOM.
In November 2006, the brigade reviewed its own Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (SSI) and Distinctive Unit Insignia. These items were based heavily on the SSI of the 1st Infantry Division. Later that month, the Brigade was informed that it would be deployed to Iraq again in 2007.
The 1st Sustainment Brigade (SB) was activated on 15 February 2007 at 10:00 am local time at Fort Riley, Kansas. It is a scalable tailorable Sustainment Brigade, with a mission statement of: Plans, synchronizes, monitors, and executes distribution operations. Conducts sustainment operations within assigned area of operation. Conducts Theater Opening and/or Theater Distribution operations when directed. Provides support to joint, interagency, and multinational forces as directed.
The brigade deployed to Iraq again in late 2007, operating in the areas such as those around Central Iraq. The brigade's headquarters during this time has been Camp Taji. The brigade made history on 16 June 2008 when it heralded the return of the battlefield promotion system in the US Army. The system, which was previously discontinued, was part of a pilot program that the Army was looking at to bring battlefield promotions back.
Soldiers of the brigade were also some of the first to use the MRAP, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle. The soldiers used the vehicles to train other soldiers on use of the vehicle, particularly leaders of the 10th Sustainment Brigade, which replaced the 1st Sustainment Brigade in late 2008.
From October 2012 to September 2013 the 1ID Sustainment Brigade deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. This was the brigade's first deployment to Afghanistan. They deployed to Afghanistan again in February 2019 in support of Operation Freedom Sentinel and Resolute Support under the title 1ID Resolute Support Sustainment Brigade.
The 1st Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade provides a full spectrum support including: configuring for, distributions and retrogrades to and from maneuver Brigade Combat Teams, other support brigades, and to joint interagency and multinational elements as directed. The 1st SB supports Early Entry Operations or Hub operations with augmentation, providing postal, replacement, and casualty operations as well as essential personnel services and Trial Defense Services on an area basis. The brigade is assigned as the sustainment unit of the 1st Infantry Division, however it can also operate independently, being assigned other units and other missions independent of the division.
## Honors
As it was a part of the 1st Infantry Division's command, the Brigade received campaign participation credit and awards for all of the same conflicts as the Division Headquarters up until it became an independent unit in 2006. Thereafter, it retained separate lineage.
### Unit Decorations
### Campaign streamers | [
"## Organization",
"## History",
"### Origins",
"### Global War on Terrorism",
"## Honors",
"### Unit Decorations",
"### Campaign streamers"
] | 1,756 | 4,540 |
38,234,509 | Deep in Love | 1,163,197,070 | null | [
"2011 singles",
"2011 songs",
"English-language Romanian songs",
"Romanian songs"
] | "Deep in Love" is a song by Romanian producer Tom Boxer and singer Morena, featuring guest vocals by English recording artist J Warner. It was released as a CD single in Italy on 31 October 2011 through Step and Go, while later made available for digital download in various countries on 14 February 2012 through Roton. The track was written by Boxer and Warner, and solely produced by Boxer; the latter came up with the song in Morocco in 2011 and recorded a demo while travelling to a concert there. He ultimately worked on the track for four months. A love song, its lyrics include a reference to the popular paradigm that men are from Mars and women are from Venus.
Filmed in a studio in Bucharest and on the Canary Islands, an accompanying music video for "Deep in Love" was uploaded to Roton's YouTube channel on 15 August 2011. For further promotion, the song was performed at the ZU Loves You event organized by Radio ZU. It reached the top 40 on Hungarian, Romanian, Polish and Italian music charts, while being awarded a Platinum certification in the latter region by the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) for 30,000 copies sold.
## Background and release
"Deep in Love" was written by Tom Boxer and J Warner — the latter of whom provides guest vocals — while production was solely handled by Boxer. Boxer composed the song in 2011 in Morocco; while she and Morena were driving to a show there by car, he came up with a melody and recorded a demo on his mobile phone. Work on "Deep in Love" was completed in four months, and the vocals were mixed at a studio in London.
Lyrics from the love song include "I'm from Venus, you're from Mars/When we're together, we create stars", on which Morena elaborated during an interview, saying that it describes two persons that share a special connection and love, "creat[ing] stars [...] high up in the sky". Boxer stated that he "[likes] to put some message" in his material, and that the aforementioned lyrics were inspired by the popular paradigm that men are from Mars and women are from Venus.
"Deep in Love" was made available as a CD single in Italy on 31 October 2011 via Step and Go, and released for digital download in various countries on 14 February 2012 through Roton. Two remix extended plays (EPs) were also released, and the song was used on three Kontor Records compilations.
## Music video and promotion
An accompanying music video for "Deep in Love" was uploaded onto Roton's official YouTube channel on 15 August, preceded by the release of a teaser on 9 August 2011. It was filmed at a studio in Bucharest, Romania, as well as on the Canary Islands; all outfits used were created by Morena. The clip begins with Morena posing against a desert landscape, wearing a white catsuit with a red veil attached to its back and white boots. The rest of the video alternates between other shots, including her dancing with three background dancers, footage of Warner and Boxer, as well as close-up shots of Morena in front of a camera and a floral background. Occasionally, the song's lyrics and arrows appear onscreen. For further promotion, "Deep in Love" was performed on Radio ZU's Zu Loves You event on 16 February 2012.
## Commercial performance
Commercially, "Deep in Love" attained moderate success on record charts. It peaked at number 18 on native Romanian Top 100 in December 2011, while reaching number nine on Media Forest's radio airplay chart in early 2012. Media Forest conducted a year-end radio airplay chart for 2012, where the track ranked at number 29. "Deep in Love" reached number 37 on the FIMI Singles Chart, spending more than 40 weeks on the chart. It was eventually certified Platinum in the region in 2013 by the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) for exceeding 30,000 in digital copies sold. The song peaked at number eight on Hungary's Dance Top 40 chart, number 18 on Poland's Dance Top 50 chart, and number 109 on the Tophit ranking in Russia.
## Track listings
- Italian CD single
1. "Deep in Love" (Extended Version) – 5:03
2. "Deep in Love" (Club Edit) – 5:18
3. "Deep in Love" (Kros vs Simone Farina Remix) – 5:17
4. "Deep in Love" (Pink Room Remix) – 5:06
5. "Deep in Love" (Radio Edit) – 3:28
- Digital download
1. "Deep in Love" (Radio Edit) [feat. J Warner] – 3:28
- Remix EP 1
1. "Deep in Love" (Radio Edit) – 3:28
2. "Deep in Love" (Club Edit) – 5:17
3. "Deep in Love" (Extended Version) – 5:02
4. "Deep in Love" (The Perez Brothers Remix) – 5:17
5. "Deep in Love" (The Perez Brothers Remix Radio Edit) – 3:49
6. "Deep in Love" (Pink Room Remix) – 5:05
- Remix EP 2
1. "Deep in Love" (Extended Version) – 5:03
2. "Deep in Love" (Club Edit) – 5:18
3. "Deep in Love" (Kros vs Simone Farina Remix) – 5:17
4. "Deep in Love" (Pink Room Remix) – 5:06
5. "Deep in Love" (Radio Edit) – 3:28
## Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of the CD single.
- Songwriter – Tom Boxer, J. Warner
- Producer – Tom Boxer
- Mix – Karim Razak, Kros, Oreste Spagnuolo, Simone Farina
## Charts
### Weekly charts
### Year-end charts
## Certifications
## Release history | [
"## Background and release",
"## Music video and promotion",
"## Commercial performance",
"## Track listings",
"## Credits and personnel",
"## Charts",
"### Weekly charts",
"### Year-end charts",
"## Certifications",
"## Release history"
] | 1,319 | 2,656 |
23,503,340 | New Jersey Route 183 | 1,120,831,601 | State highway in Morris and Sussex Counties in New Jersey, United States | [
"State highways in New Jersey",
"Transportation in Morris County, New Jersey",
"Transportation in Sussex County, New Jersey"
] | Route 183 is a 2.12-mile (3.41 km) long state highway in the northern regions of New Jersey. The southern end of the route is at an interchange with Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 206 (US 206) near Netcong, while the northern end is at an interchange with US 206 in Stanhope. The route heads northward through downtown Netcong and along the shores of Lake Musconetcong and enters Sussex County, New Jersey. The route is a former alignment of US 206 bypassed in 1973.
The highway dates back to the designations of State Highway Route 31, which was main north–south highway in New Jersey. The Netcong Circle, a traffic circle in Netcong between Route 183 and U.S. Route 46 was present for the entire lifetime of Route 183 until it was replaced by a signalized intersection in 2013. A nearby bridge over a New Jersey Transit line was also replaced.
## Route description
Route 183 begins at a partial cloverleaf interchange with U.S. Route 206 and Interstate 80 in the community of Roxbury, New Jersey. The route heads northward, intersecting with local dead-end streets deep in the forests of rural Morris County. Route 183 passes a nearby factory and intersects U.S. Route 46. The route continues northward, crossing over a creek and entering downtown Netcong. Downtown Netcong is highly developed, and Route 183 serves as the main street through the community. The highway intersects with Allen Street (Morris County Route 631) before running along the shores of Lake Musconetcong and into Sussex County.
Upon entering Sussex County, Route 183 enters the community of Stanhope. At the intersection with Musconetcong Avenue, the highway turns to the northwest, leaving the shores of the lake. Route 183 continues through the residential developments in Stanhope, working its way into the mountains above the lake. The roadway passes west of a park and ride lot located at an American Legion hall. At the intersection with Dell Road, Route 183 becomes intertwined with the interchange on U.S. Route 206 northbound, and the highways merge a short distance later in Stanhope.
## History
The original designation in the area of Netcong along Route 183's alignment is State Highway Route 31, which consisted much of the alignment of current-day U.S. Route 206. The route was first assigned in the 1927 state highway renumbering as a co-designation to US 206. This alignment remained in place for about two and half decades, when in the 1953 state highway renumbering, the State Highway Route 31 designation was dropped in favor of using U.S. Route 206. The route in Netcong stayed the same for several years after the decommissioning until the Regional Plan Association proposed a freeway realignment of US 206 in 1962. The highway was to serve local recreation areas and relieve traffic on Interstate 287 to the east. The route was advocated through 1972, and after the fiscal year budgets went sour, the proposal was dropped.
In 2007, the New Jersey Department of Transportation proposed the elimination of the Netcong Traffic Circle, located at the intersections of U.S. Route 46 and Route 183 just north of the interchange with Interstate 80. The project was to produce two outcomes: replacement of the New Jersey Transit bridge that Route 183 crosses, and the elimination of the Netcong Circle with a signalized intersection. The project had issues dealing with the vertical clearance of the overpass for U.S. Route 46 westbound. The removal of the circle would eliminate this bridge, and the land would go to use as the new signalized intersection, with pedestrian and bicycle fittings. The entire project cost about \$13.3 million (2009 USD) of state and local funds to construct. The Netcong Circle was replaced with a temporary junction in January 2013; the permanent intersection configuration opened in August of that year. The new bridge over the New Jersey Transit line opened in March 2013.
The circle itself dated back to construction in 1938. The circle itself could not handle the 17,000 vehicles a year that use the large roadway daily, and was the site of several accidents, including 45 in 2007 alone. The entire traffic circle conversion will eliminate two businesses in the area and is still slated for construction.
## Major intersections
## See also | [
"## Route description",
"## History",
"## Major intersections",
"## See also"
] | 934 | 17,985 |
1,827,138 | If It's Over | 1,170,117,690 | 1992 single by Mariah Carey | [
"1990s ballads",
"1991 songs",
"1992 singles",
"Columbia Records singles",
"Downtempo songs",
"Live singles",
"Mariah Carey songs",
"Song recordings produced by Walter Afanasieff",
"Songs written by Carole King",
"Songs written by Mariah Carey",
"Sony Music singles",
"Soul ballads"
] | “If It's Over” is a song written by American singers and songwriters Mariah Carey and Carole King, with the former and Walter Afanasieff helming its production. It was originally released on September 17, 1991, on Carey's second studio album, Emotions. Lyrically, the song tells of a romance that has withered, and finds the protagonist asking her lover, “if it's over, let me go”. Several months after the release of Emotions, Carey performed the song during her appearance on the television show MTV Unplugged.
Following the release of the MTV Unplugged EP, the song's live version was used as the second single released from the EP in late 1992. The live single version omits the second verse and chorus, as the songs were shortened for the show. It received a very limited release, being featured as an airplay only single in certain territories. Its only peak was in the Netherlands, where it reached number eighty. Carey performed “If It's Over” live during the 34th annual Grammy Awards and on Saturday Night Live.
## Background and recording
During promotion for Carey's self-titled debut album (1990), she appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show to perform her first single, "Vision of Love". During the very much talked about performance, singer-songwriter Carole King had been watching Carey perform, taking interest in her and her material. One year later, during the recording sessions for Carey's second studio album, Emotions (1991), King contacted Carey, asking if she would be interested in covering "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", a song she had written alongside Gerry Goffin for Aretha Franklin. Carey declined, feeling uneasy about covering a song one of her musical influences executed so perfectly. Still determined to work with Carey, King flew out to New York City for one day, in hopes of writing and composing a ballad of some sort. Throughout the day, the two songwriters exchanged musical ideas and melodies on the piano until "If It's Over" came into conception. In an interview following the collaboration, King said the following regarding Carey: "I love her voice. She's very expressive. She gives a lot of meaning to what she sings."
## Composition
"If It's Over" is a downtempo ballad, which incorporates several genres and influences into its sound and instrumentation. Of them are R&B, soul and jazz, as well as drawing inspiration from 1950s and 1960s music and style. The song was written by Carey and Carole King, with both helming the song's production as well. Instrumentally, "If It's Over" features several musical melodies including baritone, tenor, alto and soprano saxophone notes, as well as the piano, trumpet, horn and bass. In the song, Carey makes brief use of the whistle register, prior to the last belted crescendo. According to author Chris Nickson, the song's instrumentation and basis was crucial to Carey's performance throughout the song. Additionally, he described its content and instrumentation:
> "As a song full of gospel and soulful influences, it allowed Mariah to really tear loose and show what she could do – which in reality was far more than the vocal gymnastics that seemed to comprise her reputation so far. From a deep rumble to a high wail, she covered five octaves wonderfully, as the power of the tune built. The backing vocals – which once again had those churchy harmonies – filled out the spare melody, as did the stately horns, which entered towards the end. The song was truly a vocal showcase for Mariah."
## Live performances
Carey performed "If It's Over" on the 17th season of Saturday Night Live, alongside "Can't Let Go". During the performance, Carey appeared on stage wearing a black leather sports jacket, as well as matching black pants and boots. Walter Afanasieff played the piano, while Trey Lorenz, Patrique McMillan and Melonie Daniels provided the live background vocals. Additionally, five additional musicians were provided; Lew Delgado, baritone saxophone; Lenny Pickett, tenor saxophone; George Young, alto saxophone; Earl Gardner, trumpet; and Steve Turre, trombone. Additionally, Carey performed "If It's Over" at the 34th annual Grammy Awards, held on February 26, 1992. As the curtain was drawn, Carey walked on stage wearing a red and black evening gown, while sporting a golden-curly hairstyle. Behind a large red curtain held behind her, several back up singers were placed standing on a concealed elevated platform. On March 16, 1992, Carey performed the song live as part of a seven piece set-list for MTV Unplugged. The show aired on MTV several times, and was eventually released as an EP titled, MTV Unplugged.
### Release
Following the release of "I'll Be There" as the lead single from MTV Unplugged a month prior to the EP's public arrival, Carey's live version of "If It's Over" from MTV Unplugged was released as an airplay-only single in a few countries. It was released on CD and cassette as a commercial single in Australia on November 23, 1992. Following its release, promotion for Carey's second studio effort Emotions was halted.
## Reception
Upon release, "If It's Over" garnered generally positive critical appreciation from contemporary music critics. Bill Lamb from About.com commented that the song "stands with Carey's best," and complimented its gospel infusion. AllMusic's Ashley S. Battel wrote "it will take you on a musical journey," while describing the song's vocals and instrumentation. Jan DeKnock from The Chicago Tribune compared it to "the style of the great soul ballads of the \`60s." People Magazine stated that the singer "does bank her pyrotechnics" for the "sultry" song. Rob Tannenbaum from Rolling Stone gave it a mixed review, comparing it to the work of Aretha Franklin, but said it "translates into such excesses as the falsetto whoops." The song only managed to chart at number 80 in the Netherlands, lasting five weeks in the chart.
## Track listing
Netherlands/European CD single
1. "If It's Over" (Live) – 3:47
2. "If It's Over" – 4:38
European CD maxi-single
1. "If It's Over" (Live) – 3:47
2. "If It's Over" – 4:38
3. "Someday" (New 12" jackswing) – 4:13
Japanese CD single
1. "If It's Over" (Live) – 3:47
2. "Emotions" – 3:59
## Credits and personnel
Recording
- Recorded and mixed at Right Track Recording, NYC.
Personnel
- Lyrics – Mariah Carey
- Music – Mariah Carey, Carole King
- Production – Mariah Carey, Walter Afanasieff
- Recording and mixing – Dana Jon Chappelle
- Keyboards and Synthesizers, Hammond B-6 Organ, Synclavier Strings and Tambourine – Walter Afanasieff
- Guitar – Cornell Dupree
- Bass – Will Lee
- Trumpet – Earl Gardner
- Trombone – Keith O'Quinn
- Tenor Saxophones – George Young, Larry Feldman
- Baritone Saxophone – Lewis Delgatto
- Drums – Steve Smith
- Akai Programming – Ren Klyce
- Macintosh programming – Gary Cirmelli
- Assistant engineer – Bruce Calder
- Vocal arrangement – Mariah Carey
- Background vocals – Mariah Carey, Trey Lorenz, Patrique McMillan, Cindy Mizelle
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Emotions.
## Charts | [
"## Background and recording",
"## Composition",
"## Live performances",
"### Release",
"## Reception",
"## Track listing",
"## Credits and personnel",
"## Charts"
] | 1,655 | 34,839 |
3,413,126 | Feologild | 1,073,026,928 | 9th-century Archbishop of Canterbury | [
"832 deaths",
"9th-century English archbishops",
"Archbishops of Canterbury",
"Year of birth unknown"
] | Feologild (or Feologeld; died 832) was a medieval English clergyman. He was probably elected Archbishop of Canterbury, although controversy surrounds his election. Some modern historians argue that instead of being elected, he was merely an unsuccessful candidate for the office. He died soon after his consecration, if indeed he was consecrated.
## Background
In 803 at the Council of Clovesho, Æthelhard, the Archbishop of Canterbury, succeeded in demoting the Archbishopric of Lichfield back down to a bishopric. It had previously been promoted to a higher status by King Offa of Mercia, partly due to conflicts Offa had with Æthelhard's predecessor Jænberht. This action restored the original episcopal scheme of Pope Gregory the Great, with Canterbury the head of the Church in the southern section of the island with twelve subordinate bishops.
Æthelhard's successor was Wulfred, who fought with a later king of Mercia, Coenwulf, but the cause of contention is unknown. The king and archbishop were reconciled by 823, but by 827 the Kingdom of Wessex had conquered Kent and taken control of Canterbury from the Mercian kings. The archbishopric then lost influence in secular affairs due to the change in rulers. Wulfred died in March 832.
## Life
Feologild attended the Council of Clovesho in 803, and was listed on the acts of that council as an abbot of a Kentish monastery.
According to the editors of the Handbook of British Chronology, he was elected to the see of Canterbury in early 832 and consecrated on 9 June 832, as a successor to Wulfred, although they qualify this statement with a "?" in their lists. The Handbook gives his successor as "Suithred", and note that he may have been a rival to Feologild. The historian Nicholas Brooks instead suggests that there was a disputed election after the death of Wulfred, and Feologild was one of the contenders. The historian Simon Keynes holds that the other contestant was Suithred (Swithred) who the historian William Hunt in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography argues is identical with Feologild. Swithred is listed as archbishop in some early lists of the archbishops of Canterbury. The Anglican Church also considers him to be one of the archbishops of Canterbury, listing him as the 16th archbishop on their website.
While some documentation survives from Canterbury in the ninth century, including a number of charters from Feologild's predecessors and successors, the literary works from later periods that cover the period are prone to fabricating information to fill in gaps in the record.
Feologild died on 30 August 832, soon after his consecration, if in fact he was consecrated. The next archbishop was Ceolnoth, who worked to establish better relations with the monarchs of Wessex, apparently successfully. Another problem for Feologild's immediate successors as archbishop were Viking invasions, as Viking raids are attested in Kent from 835. | [
"## Background",
"## Life"
] | 644 | 5,512 |
21,229,547 | 1873–74 Scottish Cup | 1,169,977,562 | Inaugural Scottish Cup football competition | [
"1873–74 domestic association football cups",
"1873–74 in Scottish football",
"Scottish Cup seasons"
] | The 1873–74 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the first season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. A total of 16 teams from the west of Scotland entered the competition, however only 14 would play a match after two withdrawals. The competition began with the first match between Renton and Kilmarnock on 18 October 1873 and concluded with the final on 21 March 1874. After 16 matches and 38 goals, the inaugural cup was won by Queen's Park who defeated fellow Glasgow club Clydesdale 2–0 in the final.
The 16 teams that entered the competition consisted of the eight founder members of the Scottish FA – namely Clydesdale, Dumbreck, Eastern, Granville, Kilmarnock, Queen's Park, Vale of Leven and 3rd Lanark RV – as well as Alexandra Athletic, Blythswood, Callander, Dumbarton, Renton, Rovers, Southern and Western. Subscription fees from 15 of these clubs were used to pay for the Scottish Cup trophy which the teams would compete for. Unlike the FA Cup, the original trophy is still awarded to the winners of the competition. It is the oldest in association football and the oldest national trophy in the world.
## Background
Queen's Park had been founded in July 1867 and joined the English Football Association three years later. They had contributed to the cost of the FA Cup trophy and entered the competition in its inaugural season. However, the costs of travelling to England for matches was prohibitive. In both 1872 and 1873, they were forced to withdraw from the competition in the semi-finals.
In March 1873, the club took out an advertisement in a Glasgow newspaper to invite football clubs to a meeting in the Dewar's Hotel with the intention of discussing the formation of a football association for Scotland. Secretary Archibald Rae also wrote a letter to a number of clubs, including Kilmarnock who had taken influence from Queen's Park to play association football over rugby, to invite them to the meeting. Committee members from Queen's Park were joined by representatives from six other clubs – Clydesdale, Vale of Leven, Dumbreck, 3rd Lanark RV, Eastern and Granville – at the meeting and a letter of support was received from Kilmarnock who were unable to attend. The eight clubs agreed to establish the Scottish Football Association and resolved that:
> The clubs here represented form themselves into an association for the promotion of football according to the rules of The Football Association and that the clubs connected with this association subscribe for a challenge cup to be played for annually, the committee to propose the laws of the competition.
Eight further teams joined the Scottish FA over the next few months and subscription fees from 15 of them were used to pay for the trophy. The Scottish Cup is the oldest trophy in association football and it has been awarded to the winner of every edition of the competition.
## Format
As 16 teams entered the competition, the first edition of the Scottish Cup took on the format of a straightforward knockout tournament. In future years, the number of entrants would expand to regularly include over 100 teams which resulted in the need for byes before the introduction of the Scottish Football League in 1890 and the Scottish Qualifying Cup in 1895.
For the first round, the names of the 16 teams were placed into a single lot and drawn into pairs. The home team for each tie was determined by the toss of a coin unless it was mutually agreed or only one of the two clubs drawn against one another had a private ground. In the event of a draw, the team who lost the toss would have the choice of ground for the replay. This process was repeated for the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The choice of venue for the final matches was reserved to the Scottish FA.
### Rules
The inaugural competition was played according to the rules of The Football Association, known as the Laws of the Game. Pitches could be no more than 200 yards by 100 yards and goals were marked by two upright posts at either end, 8 yards apart, with tape between them at 8ft high. A coin toss decided the ends each team would shoot towards and which team kicked off. A goal was scored when the ball passed between the posts below the tape and ends were changed after each goal was scored. Players were considered "out of play" if they were nearer to the goal than their teammate when they kicked the ball unless there were at least three of their opponents between them and their own goal. Players who were out of play could not touch the ball or prevent any other players from doing so until they were back in play. The rules specifically forbade players from kicking and hacking their opponents as well as from wearing "projecting nails, iron plates or gutta percha" on the soles of their boots.
### Teams
All 16 teams entered the competition in the first round. Of the clubs that entered, eight were founder members of the Scottish FA. Those included Clydesdale, Granville, Queen's Park and 3rd Lanark RV from Renfrewshire as well as Dumbreck from Lanarkshire, Eastern from Glasgow, Ayrshire side Kilmarnock and Vale of Leven from Dunbartonshire. A further five Glasgow clubs – Alexandra Athletic, Blythswood, Callander, Rovers, and Western – entered alongside Dumbarton and Renton from Dunbartonshire and Southern from Renfrewshire.
Of the 16 teams to enter the first round; Southern were the only team who would not play a single match and – as of 2023 – only Dumbarton, Kilmarnock and Queen's Park still regularly compete in the competition.
### Calendar
## First round
At a committee meeting of the Scottish Football Association on 9 October 1873, the first round ties were drawn. Five of the eight ties were played at venues opposite to the draw after Renton, Eastern, Queen's Park, Western and Clydesdale won the coin toss.
The first match took place on 18 October 1873 when Renton defeated Kilmarnock – who played the entire match with 10 players – 2–0 in the first round. The match was played in Crosshill, at the neutral Hampden Park. Newspaper reports from the time suggest Kilmarnock may have been at a disadvantage as they were more used to playing rugby. Later on the same day, Alexandra Athletic and Eastern recorded wins over Callander and Rovers and the following week Queen's Park began the competition with a 7–0 win over Dumbreck in the highest scoring game in the inaugural competition. John McPherson scored the first ever Scottish Cup hat-trick as Clydesdale defeated Granville 6–0 in what would be the latter's only Scottish Cup match and Blythswood won 1–0 away to Western.
Southern and Vale of Leven scratched their first round matches against Dumbarton and 3rd Lanark RV respectively.
### Matches
Sources:
## Quarter-finals
Two of the four quarter-final ties were played at venues opposite to the draw after Alexandra Athletic and Renton won the coin toss.
The quarter-final stage began on 8 November 1873 when Clydesdale and 3rd Lanark RV drew 1–1 at Kinning Park to set up the first Scottish Cup replay eight days later. This match also finished in a draw meaning a second replay was to be played on 6 December. In the meantime, Dumbarton lost 1–0 to Renton in a replay on 29 November 1873 after the first match had finished goalless a week earlier. According to reports in The Herald, both matches were played on a public park in Renton. Queen's Park and Blythswood reached the semi-finals without the need for a replay as they defeated Eastern and Alexandra Athletic respectively. In the last match of the quarter-final stage, Clydesdale defeated 3rd Lanark RV 2–0 at a neutral venue in their second replay.
### Matches
### Replays
### Second replay
Notes
Sources:
## Semi-finals
The two semi-final matches were played a week apart in December 1873. Both ties were played at venues opposite to the draw after Clydesdale and Queen's Park won the coin toss. Queen's Park were the first team to reach the final as they defeated Renton 2–0 at the original Hampden Park on 13 December. Clydesdale then booked their place in the inaugural final a week later as they recorded a 4–0 win over Blythswood at Kinning Park.
### Matches
Notes
Sources:
## Final
After 15 matches played and 36 goals scored, the tournament culminated in the 1874 Scottish Cup Final on 21 March 1874. The match, played at the original Hampden Park in Crosshill, was watched by 2,500 spectators and refereed by James McIntyre of Eastern. As Hampden Park was the home of finalists Queen's Park, the match was one of a select few cup finals in Scotland that were not played on neutral territory.
Both goals came in the second half courtesy of Scotland internationals Billy MacKinnon and Robert Leckie. Queen's Park won 2–0 to claim the trophy for the first of their 10 triumphs.
## See also
- 1873–74 in Scottish football | [
"## Background",
"## Format",
"### Rules",
"### Teams",
"### Calendar",
"## First round",
"### Matches",
"## Quarter-finals",
"### Matches",
"### Replays",
"### Second replay",
"## Semi-finals",
"### Matches",
"## Final",
"## See also"
] | 1,958 | 27,205 |
9,828,184 | Lake Ontario Ordnance Works | 1,108,626,056 | Military installation in Niagara County, New York | [
"1941 establishments in New York (state)",
"Environmental issues in New York (state)",
"Geography of Niagara County, New York",
"Installations of the U.S. Department of Defense",
"Landfills in the United States",
"Manhattan Project sites",
"Project Nike",
"Radioactive waste repositories in the United States",
"Superfund sites in New York (state)",
"United States Army arsenals",
"United States Army arsenals during World War II",
"United States Department of Energy facilities"
] | The former Lake Ontario Ordnance Works (LOOW) was a 7,500-acre (3,000 ha) military installation located in Niagara County, New York, United States, approximately 9.6 mi (15.4 km) north of Niagara Falls.
The property was purchased by the War Department during World War II as a location for the production of TNT. Most of the LOOW property was sold after the war.
The United States Department of Energy currently owns 191 acres (77 ha) of the original LOOW property, on which the Niagara Falls Storage Site (NFSS) is located. The NFSS is used for the storage of radioactive materials produced during the development of America's first atom bombs.
Approximately 93 percent of the original LOOW site—currently occupied by homes, a school, a campground, the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, farms, local and federal government operations, and a toxic waste facility—meets the criteria of a Formerly Used Defense Site, and one portion of the property is listed as a Superfund cleanup site.
## History
The War Department purchased 7,500-acre (3,000 ha) of farmland east of Youngstown, New York, in 1941 as a location to manufacture TNT. The location was selected because of its proximity to chemical manufacturing plants, to Fort Niagara, to the New York Central Railroad, and to water and electrical power.
The LOOW headquarters were at first located in a vegetable canning factory at the site.
The 149 private landowners living there—mostly farmers and orchard growers—were given 30 days to move out, and most of their 125 farmhouses and 538 barns were torn down or burned. Some homes located on the periphery of the LOOW boundary were kept.
Construction of the TNT plant began in January 1941, and employed over 7,500 workers. The production and storage areas occupied approximately 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) near the center of property, and the remaining 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) was undeveloped and used as a "buffer zone". A hospital, dormitories, fire department, power plant, USO hall, water supply system, and waste treatment facility were located at the LOOW, and TNT was manufactured for about 9 months, until the plant was decommissioned in 1943.
Uranium used to produce the first atom bombs from 1942 to 1948 was processed by Linde Air Products in nearby Tonawanda, and in 1944, the Manhattan Engineer District began using the LOOW site for the storage and transshipment of radioactive residues and wastes created through the processing of uranium ore at Linde.
The War Assets Administration had by 1948 sold or transferred 6,000 acres (2,400 ha) of the original property, and the remaining 1,500 acres (610 ha) were given to the newly formed Atomic Energy Commission.
More than 1,300 acres (530 ha) were sold or transferred between 1955 and 1975, although the area on which the Niagara Falls Storage Site is located remained in the possession of the U.S. government.
## Buildings and operations
### Building 401
Beginning in 1943, Building 401 was used as the powerhouse for the production of TNT, though operations lasted less than a year. Building 401 was renovated, and from 1953–59 and 1965–71, it was used as a Boron-10 isotope separation plant. The interior of Building 401 was gutted in 1971, and its hardware and instrumentation were disposed of. Building 401 was demolished in 2010.
### Concrete silo
A 166 ft (51 m) concrete silo was erected within the east boundary of the LOOW, immediately next to Porter Center Road, which was publicly accessible. A fence with signs warning of "radioactive material" ran next to the road. In 1952, drums containing 3,869 short tons (3,510,000 kg) of highly-radioactive K-65 residues were loaded into the silo. The concrete silo was dismantled sometime after 1979.
### Interim waste containment structure
Construction of the interim waste containment structure was completed in 1991, and is located entirely within the Niagara Falls Storage Site. The 10-acre (4.0 ha) mound is used for the storage of radioactive waste and residues, and the grass-covered "interim cap" is designed to retard both rainwater infiltration and radon emission.
All of the contaminated and radioactive materials stored at the former LOOW site—including thorium, uranium, and the world's largest concentration of radium-226—were placed into the structure.
### Rochester Burial Site
In 1951, laboratory waste and animals that had been injected with plutonium during experiments at the University of Rochester were shipped to the LOOW site for burial.
### US Army operations
The United States Army was given an 860-acre (350 ha) parcel of land from the original LOOW property, located on the northeast boundary. Beginning in 1957 it housed 36 Nike surface-to-air missiles intended to protect the nearby Niagara Hydroelectric Power Project. The property is currently licensed to the New York Army National Guard, and is used as a weekend training site.
### US Air Force operations
A 98-acre (40 ha) parcel of land from the original LOOW property was given to the United States Air Force, on which they located an experimental rocket fuel plant called the Youngstown Test Annex Site.
### Private waste treatment facilities
- Hooker Chemical Company purchased a large portion of the original LOOW property from a private landowner in 1975 to use as a dump site.
- Waste Management, Inc currently owns and operates a 713-acre (289 ha) treatment, storage, disposal, and recovery facility near the center of the former LOOW property. It is the only hazardous waste landfill remaining in the Northeastern United States, and was the location where the anthrax-contaminated desk of news-anchor Tom Brokaw was disposed of in 2001.
- Modern Disposal Services operates a landfill on the former LOOW property.
### Other uses
Approximately 380 private residences and a mobile home park are located within the footprint of the former LOOW site. A school, several small farms, a 13-acre (5.3 ha) campground, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, which attracts thousands of visitors annually, are also located in the former LOOW site.
## Safety concerns
In 1981, the New York State Assembly Task Force on Toxic Substances wrote that the LOOW was "born in the crisis of war", and that:
> Federal mismanagement at the site was manifested by sloppy and deficient record-keeping procedures, inadequate mapping of buried wastes, and technological primitivism with regard to waste storage and removal. Moreover, it is clear that the site should never have been chosen for the storage of radioactive materials in the first place.
The report added that radioactive waste had been stored "in rusting barrels stacked along the roadside".
Author Ginger Strand wrote about the LOOW in her 2008 book Inventing Niagara: "the Army Corps engineers, currently charged with the cleanup, readily admit they don't know everything that went on there".
An extensive study conducted by the United States Army Corps of Engineers concluded in 2014 that there was "no evidence of potential source areas or releases of contamination to groundwater, surface water, or soil associated with any of the ground disturbances evaluated" at the former LOOW site.
Currently, approximately 7,000-acre (2,800 ha) or 93 percent of the original LOOW site meets the criteria of a Formerly Used Defense Site, making it eligible for environmental restoration funds available from the U.S. Army. One portion of the property containing contaminated groundwater is listed as a Superfund cleanup site.
A 2005 article in the Niagara Gazette alleged that radiation at the site was causing an ongoing hazard for the nearby Lewiston-Porter Central School District. | [
"## History",
"## Buildings and operations",
"### Building 401",
"### Concrete silo",
"### Interim waste containment structure",
"### Rochester Burial Site",
"### US Army operations",
"### US Air Force operations",
"### Private waste treatment facilities",
"### Other uses",
"## Safety concerns"
] | 1,677 | 16,118 |
71,195,518 | Kae Miller | 1,171,736,964 | New Zealand conservationist and activist (1910–1994) | [
"1910 births",
"1994 deaths",
"Atkinson–Hursthouse–Richmond family",
"Massey University alumni",
"Mental health activists",
"New Zealand conservationists",
"New Zealand health activists",
"New Zealand pacifists",
"New Zealand women environmentalists",
"People educated at Abbot's Hill School",
"People from Wellington City",
"Victoria University of Wellington alumni",
"Women conservationists"
] | Kae Miller (also known as Kae Hursthouse, 30 December 1910 – 19 June 1994) was a New Zealand conservationist, mental health activist, and cooperative housing advocate. She grew up in the Wellington area, attending local schools. At the age of thirteen, she went abroad to study and attended a private girls' school in Hertfordshire, England. Returning to New Zealand, she earned a Bachelor of Science in 1932 from Victoria College and the following year completed a master's degree with honours from Massey College. Returning to England, Hursthouse obtained a teaching certificate with an emphasis on child psychology at the Institute of Education in London. After a brief marriage in 1936, she spent almost two years travelling, before returning to England to engage in support work during World War II. Having become a committed pacifist, between 1939 and 1942 she worked with a group to rescue Jews from Germany and served as a nurse's aid in the Civil Nursing Reserve and at two hospitals.
Returning to New Zealand in 1942, Miller worked at the Anglican Boys Home in Lower Hutt, worked as a child welfare officer, and ran a home for maladjusted children. She also gave radio lectures about child welfare. Back in England, from 1947 she spent several years working in children's homes until she again moved back to New Zealand in the early 1950s. Concerned for the well-being of people who struggled with mental illness, she created the Box Trust for Mental Health in 1969. Miller initiated a recycling scheme at the Porirua tip (or landfill) in 1977. She attempted to create an eco-friendly cooperative housing project on land she owned. Unable to secure approval from the Wellington City Council, in 1980 she changed her plans and founded the View Road Park Project Society. Through her efforts, the View Road Park and Reserve (Te Rae Kaihau Park) was developed to conserve the natural environment. The Alice Krebs Lodge was opened both as accommodation for caretakers managing the park and as a spiritual retreat.
## Early life and education
Katrine Fearon Hursthouse, known as "Kae", was born on 30 December 1910 in Wellington, New Zealand, to Rhoda (née Buchanan) and William Richmond Hursthouse. Her father was a dentist, but had recurring clinical depression. He studied dental surgery in England and then had a private practice in Wellington. Her maternal grandparents were Elizabeth (née Saunders), daughter of Alfred Saunders, a member of New Zealand's Parliament and supporter of women's suffrage, and J. E. Buchanan. Her paternal grandparents were Mary Fearon and Richmond Hursthouse, also at one time a member of parliament. She was raised with her younger sister Mary and a brother, William. In 1919, at the conclusion of her father's World War I service in the Royal New Zealand Dental Corps, the family joined him in Egypt for several months before going to England. After he spent a year completing dentistry studies at Guy's Hospital, they returned to New Zealand in August 1920. Hursthouse attended Samuel Marsden Collegiate School and then in 1923 went abroad with her mother, sister, and brother. Mary and William studied at a local lyceum in Paris for two years, while their mother studied languages at the Sorbonne. Kae enrolled at Abbot's Hill School in Hertfordshire, England, a girls' boarding school founded and headed by her godmother Katrine Baird.
In 1928, Hursthouse returned from England to New Zealand in September. She was severely injured in an accident in November, when the car she was riding in was struck by a train. She began studying botany and zoology at Victoria University of Wellington, and graduated in 1932 with a Bachelor of Science. Hursthouse then completed a master's degree with honours in 1933 from Massey College. She was back in England in 1934, studying for a teaching certificate and attending lectures on child psychology at the Institute of Education in London. In 1935, she participated in Empire Day celebrations by giving a talk on the League of Nations in Ealing at the junior branch of the League's Union.[^1] In the spring of 1936 in Wellington, she married Alexander "Lex" Miller, a Scottish, Presbyterian minister living in Auckland, who was the general secretary of the New Zealand Student Christian Movement. They separated soon after an August trip that year to San Francisco, California, as delegates for New Zealand to the World Student Christian Federation.
In December 1937, Hursthouse and her sister Mary travelled abroad from Australia to the south of France. From France, they journeyed on to Italy and arrived in London the following spring. There they visited their brother, William, who was working at Imperial Airways, and enjoyed the hospitality of an aunt. The sisters left England to spend the summer in Germany with plans to return to New Zealand on 3 December 1938. They were later joined by a cousin and a German-Jewish friend, Alice Krebs, and went to the Ore Mountains on the Czech border. Krebs, who became influential in Hursthouse's life, was a vegetarian and an advocate of foraging for natural foods, a skill she taught the group. Hursthouse remained in Germany when Mary returned to New Zealand. She travelled to Pomerania and stayed with Reinhold von Thadden [de], chair of the World Student Christian Federation and an adherent of the Confessing Church. Von Thadden opposed the Nazi regime, and stepped down from his post when the German state attempted to restrict membership of the organization to Aryans.
## Career
### War years (1938–1945)
Although at the beginning of the war Hursthouse was not a pacifist, her friend Laura Livingstone, who was involved in the peace movement, influenced her decision to become an activist in promoting peace. Bishop of Chichester George Bell sent Livingstone, who was his sister-in-law, to Berlin to work with the International Christian Committee for German Refugees. Constituted in London, the group worked with Heinrich Grüber's relief offices to assist Jews and non-Aryan Christians in leaving Germany. Hursthouse began working with Livingstone in Berlin, but they returned to England in early 1939 when the bishop advised the work to rescue Jews from Germany should continue from England because of war conditions. Her skill with languages – she was fluent in German and also spoke French and Russian – facilitated her work with refugees. She also worked as a nurse's aid in the Civil Nursing Reserve and at two hospitals. During this time, Hursthouse became engaged to Franz Baermann Steiner, a Czech émigré, who was an anthropologist and poet. He dedicated his poem "Läuterungen" ("Purifications") to her. Although the engagement was later called off, the two remained friends. Through her friendship with Steiner, she met Elias Canetti, who would later win the Nobel Prize in Literature, and his wife, Veza. To help the Canettis financially, she asked Elias to tutor her to improve her German.
In August 1941, Hursthouse's father died and her mother began pressing her to return to New Zealand. She left in May 1942, but remained in contact with the Canettis, facilitating their correspondence to each other and Elias' brother Georges in France. To get around the British censorship rules, the Canettis mailed letters to Hursthouse, who forwarded them from New Zealand until the end of the war. By July, she was engaged in an effort to raise funds to facilitate paying the expenses of refugee students who were attending Canterbury University College. Hursthouse continued to work for peace, often speaking from a soapbox and debating the importance of pacifism. She secured a post on the staff of the Anglican Boys Home in Lower Hutt and began lecturing on the radio about child welfare. In 1945, Hursthouse established a Saturday school for five- to nine-year-old children which taught handicrafts and painting, and allowed children to play games or to participate in picnics, puppet shows, and swimming.
### Post-war period (1947–1966)
In December 1947, Hursthouse returned to London. She discovered that Krebs was living there, having survived the war and her internment at the Theresienstadt concentration camp. In spring 1948, Hursthouse's daughter, Felicity, was born in London, and at the end of the year, her mother died. She worked in several children's homes in England, while living in Camden Town. In the early 1950s, she returned to New Zealand and reverted to her married name. She spent the next several years managing properties she had inherited from her mother and returned to studies to further her education. In 1966, she completed a master's thesis entitled, Kant, Canetti, and the Psychopaths: Doubts Compared at Victoria University of Wellington.
### New Zealand activism (1969–1994)
Miller had a life-long interest in mental health and the care of persons with mental illness. In 1969, she registered a charity, the Box Trust for Mental Health, which was funded from the revenues of property she owned. In the early 1970s, she became involved with the Action for the Environment group and quickly began advocating for conservation, responsible management of development projects, and preservation of natural habitats. Becoming aware of landfill waste, she began a recycling push to clean up what locals called rubbish tips. In 1977, at the Porirua landfill, she built a lodge, which she called the Alice Krebs Lodge, out of salvaged packing crates and other materials. She lived in the lodge for two years before the Porirua City Council made her vacate the premises. She worked with environmentalists and former psychiatric patients to find and repair recyclable objects in the landfill so that they could be resold. The group was able to raise about \$100 per month by reclaiming bottles and paper. She also gave tours of bush reserves to raise awareness about the importance of maintaining green spaces.
During this same time, Miller was committed to creating cooperative housing as a refuge for people with mental illnesses. As she had struggled with depression herself, Miller wanted to establish a natural sanctuary where people could recuperate and relax. She owned property on Mount Kaukau and developed plans to build five homes for this purpose on Simla Crescent in Khandallah. She formed the Collaborative Housing Society in the 1970s and applied numerous times for a permit to develop the properties. The government was unfavourable to cooperative housing at the time and neighbours opposed the development, fearing problems with the proposed residents. Miller owned other properties in Christchurch and Kelburn. In 1980, she sold the Kelburn property with the intent of using the proceeds to establish a housing cooperative. In 1988, the Wellington City Council rejected the housing proposal but allowed the area to be rezoned to prevent development.
In 1980, the Collaborative Housing Society reorganized as the View Road Park Society and began working on development of a park. This organization lent money to develop the View Road South Headland Reserve, aiming to create a nature preserve, recreational green space, and sanctuary for recovery from mental illness. In 1981, the View Road Park Society secured approval from the Wellington City Council to establish a park on 9.3 hectares of land located on a ridge overlooking Houghton Bay on one side and Lyall Bay on the other. The city leased the property at peppercorn rental rates to the society for a ten-year term. At the time the reserve was acquired, it was overgrown with gorse. Miller focused on planting trees and native plants and bushes on the site. Though the lease expired in 1991, the Wellington City Council has allowed a month by month rental to continue.
In 1985, Miller built a small house on the site of the park, which she named the Alice Krebs Lodge. The structure was built in the traditional kiwi bach holiday home style. The thirty square metre building is made of timber and supported by timber pilings because of the steep grade of the site. It is a utilitarian cottage with few amenities, although it is connected to the city's electrical, sewage, and water systems. The interior contains a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen alcove, and living room. Miller lived in the structure until 1990 and since she vacated it, it has primarily been used as a seasonal residence for caretakers of the park, or a retreat for those seeking mental and physical solace.
## Death and legacy
Miller died on 19 June 1994 in Wellington and her funeral followed on 23 June from the St Peter's Church on Willis Street. At her death, she was remembered as one of the leaders of New Zealand's conservation movement and as a staunch advocate of promoting peace, cooperative housing, and care for people with mental illnesses. In 2007, the Kae Miller Trust was established by the Te Rae Kaihau Restoration Group to honour Miller's work in founding the reserve and continue her protection of the environment there. In both 2002 and 2009, the Wellington City Council proposed changing the designation of the site from a recreational reserve to a type B scenic reserve to give greater protection to its unique coastal environment and cultural heritage value. The Te Rae Kaihau Restoration Group established a care-taking plan for the reserve in 2010 with a five-year model for monitoring, restoration, and review of the site.
[^1]: [The Middlesex County Times 1935](#CITEREFThe_Middlesex_County_Times1935 "wikilink"), p. 10. sfn error: no target: CITEREFThe_Middlesex_County_Times1935 (help) | [
"## Early life and education",
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"### Post-war period (1947–1966)",
"### New Zealand activism (1969–1994)",
"## Death and legacy"
] | 2,877 | 206 |
9,062,227 | Benjaminville Friends Meeting House and Burial Ground | 1,173,217,973 | Historic meetinghouse in Illinois, United States | [
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"19th-century Quaker meeting houses",
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"Quaker cemeteries",
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] | The Benjaminville Friends Meeting House and Burial Ground is a Friends Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), located north of the rural village of Holder in McLean County, Illinois. It was once the site of a now-defunct village called Benjaminville, founded in 1856 after Quakers settled the area. More Quakers followed, and the burial ground, then the current meeting house in 1874, were constructed. This site, listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places since 1983, is all that remains of that village.
The burial ground preceded the meeting house, as the site was home to another meeting house that was constructed in 1859. The Benjaminville Meeting House represents a well-constructed example of Quaker meeting house architecture and contains within its design many of the major elements associated with the style. It is unique in that it allowed both male and female friends to worship together in the same room. The burial ground, however, maintains a strict separation, not by gender but by religious affiliation; there are three sections, one for Quakers, one for non-Quakers, and one for distant relatives of both.
## Building
### Location
The Benjaminville Friends Meeting House is located on a relatively elevated area of land east of Bloomington, Illinois, near the community of Holder. The land was originally flat, treeless prairie but today is designated mostly for agricultural use. The unincorporated community of Bentown is located nearby as well. To the east a large wind farm is being constructed within Arrowsmith Township. The building is the last extant structure in the now-defunct village of Benjaminville, Illinois.
### History
In 1859, three years after the first Quaker settlers arrived in the area, a meeting house was constructed on the site of the present-day Friends meeting house for US\$1,000. Quakers continued to flow into the area through the 1860s and in 1874 the current Friends meeting house was constructed and it has seen little change since it was built. Some minor alterations have taken place, including the addition of a concrete porch to the entryway and a shed on the east (rear) facade. The shed was added around 1910 to serve as a storage space and a privy. The building became a social, political, and religious hub for the area Quakers and the site was visited by Friends from other meeting houses around the state. The building is no longer owned by a religious institution, though there are occasional services held there.
### Architecture
The Benjaminville Friends Meeting House is located on a 2.5 acres (10,000 m<sup>2</sup>) site planted with grass and native deciduous trees. The location is surrounded by crops and is well isolated from other nearby structures. The rectangular, balloon framed building is situated on an east–west axis, with its front facade facing west. The long side measures 42 ft (13 m) and the shorter gable ends of the building measure 32 ft (10 m). The building's entrance is found on its south elevation and consists of dual doors which bisect the walls at the jambs. The Friends meeting house in Benjaminville is a typical example of traditional Quaker meeting houses. Elements common to Quaker meeting houses east of the Allegheny Mountains and found on the Benjaminville example are: plain, undecorated interiors, lack of stained glass, rectangular shaped log or frame construction, some type of partition within the interior space, an attached burial ground, exterior simplicity, separate men's and women's entrances, and the entryway location along the long wall.
The interior room, like the exterior, is oriented east–west. The most prominent decorative element inside is the hand graining detail on the wood surfaces. An elevated gallery lines the north wall facing the pews which are bisected by 31⁄2 ft (1.1 m) tall, 5 in (13 cm) wide beaded board partition. The pews, partition, door, and window trim are all hand grained. The interior walls are covered with 6 in (15 cm) pine wainscotting. The original iron stoves have been replaced with oil-burning stoves, set into the original flues.
The building is considered a fine example of traditional Quaker architecture because it contains all of the elements found in the typical meeting house. However, the building does have one major difference on its interior when compared with most meeting houses. Traditionally, Quaker meeting houses had two rooms, divided by a movable partition, termed "shutters," meant to separate men from women during meetings; these shutters are noticeably absent on the Benjaminville Meeting House. The members of the meeting at the Benjaminville Meeting House were among "pioneers" within the Society of Friends in that they were one of the first seven groups to allow men and women to meet as one group of Friends. The room inside the Benjaminville building was simply divided with a waist-high partition as opposed to the movable wall.
While most Friends meeting houses were very plain in their designs and ornamentation, individual craftsmen were encouraged to be "guided by (their) own inner light" when working on building a meeting house. As such, the dominant decorative element on the Benjaminville building is fine hand graining on most of the interior wood surfaces. The decoration should not be seen as an affront to the traditional and typical Quaker style used in meeting houses. Instead it stands as a testament to the fact that the Society of Friends encouraged craftsmen to create as "the spirit moved them."
## Cemetery
The cemetery was established soon after the original meeting house was built in 1859. Burial grounds were typical accompaniments to Friends meeting houses. While burial grounds were encouraged in the 1825 Quaker Rules of Discipline, the burial of non-Quakers in Quaker cemeteries was not. To satisfy this rule burials at Benjaminville were separated into two separate sections to allow an area for non-Quakers. A newer section contains a mix of Quaker and non-Quaker descendants of those originally buried there.
Non-Quaker burials were originally confined to the northern section of the cemetery, the portion directly behind the meeting house. Members of the Society of Friends were buried in the middle portion of the cemetery, today surrounded by a loop in the gravel road that traverses the site. The most recent burials are found in the southernmost section of the cemetery, furthest from the meeting house. The entire burial ground is approximately 160 by 200 ft (49 by 61 m), for a total area of 32,000 sq ft (3,000 m<sup>2</sup>).
Burials are oriented east–west. The burial ground covers most of the site's land and is planted with grass and trees. The surrounding land is predominantly of agricultural use but there are some nearby residences. To the east a wind farm is under construction.
## Significance
The Benjaminville Friends Meeting House is a particularly well-preserved example of a Quaker meeting house. For several years after 1874 the building was the focus of settlement in Benjaminville, a town one author described as "one of the strongest settlements of Friends that is to be found anywhere in the state" in 1879. The structure is of historical and architectural significance. As an example of the meeting house style used by the Society of Friends, the Benjaminville building is representative of an architectural type that remained virtually unchanged from the colonial American period through the 19th century. The Benjaminville Friends Meeting House and its burial ground were listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on December 13, 1983. | [
"## Building",
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"### Architecture",
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] | 1,586 | 32,474 |
3,584,304 | Murder of Lenford Harvey | 1,132,029,251 | 2005 murder of a Jamaican activist | [
"1975 births",
"2005 deaths",
"Assassinated Jamaican people",
"Assassinated activists",
"Deaths by firearm in Jamaica",
"Jamaican LGBT rights activists",
"People murdered in Jamaica",
"Violence against gay men",
"Violence against men in North America"
] | Lenford "Steve" Harvey was a Jamaican activist who campaigned for the rights of those living with HIV/AIDS in Jamaican society. In November 2005, he was abducted from his home and murdered in a robbery that some commentators believed was also a homophobic hate crime. Harvey, an openly gay man, had worked for Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL), since 1997 becoming the group's coordinator for Kingston. In this position, he focused on distributing information and services surrounding HIV/AIDS to the most marginalised sectors of Jamaican society, among them prisoners, sex workers, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. In 2005, he was selected as Jamaica's project coordinator for the Latin America and Caribbean Council of AIDS Service Organizations. Harvey was praised for his work. According to Peter Tatchell of the British LGBT rights organisation OutRage!, "It is thanks to the efforts of Steve and his colleagues that many Jamaican men and women - both gay and straight - have not contracted HIV. They have helped save hundreds of lives."
In November 2005, three men carrying guns broke into Harvey's home, removing any valuables they could find. They asked him if he was gay, and when he refused to respond to them, they kidnapped him, later shooting him dead and dumping the body elsewhere. The police subsequently arrested four individuals and charged them with murder in the furtherance of a robbery. The accused remained in police custody for almost ten years before the case came to court. At that point, the police dropped their murder charges against two of the accused. The other two, Dwayne Owen and Andre West, went on trial and were found unanimously guilty of murder by a jury. Although prosecutors had requested capital punishment in the case, the judge instead sentenced them to life in prison with a minimum of thirty years before becoming eligible for parole. They remain in prison, as of 2022.
## Background
### Harvey's biography
In 1997, Harvey became involved with Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL), an organisation that was a partner of Christian Aid. He became the group's Kingston co-ordinator, and in this position primarily worked to ensure that the marginalised groups within the country – including prisoners, sex workers, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people – had access to information about the HIV virus. He was selected as Jamaica's representative at the Latin America and Caribbean Council of AIDS Service Organizations. He was also a registered delegate to the conference of the People's National Party. In the week preceding his death, Harvey led JASL's annual candle-lit vigil in memory of those who had died as a result of AIDS.
### Anti-LGBT sentiment in Jamaica
In 2006, Time magazine asked whether Jamaica was "the most homophobic place on Earth", and answered that it "may be the worst offender". The country's laws criminalising same-sex activity between males were introduced in 1864, during the British colonial administration. According to the Sexual Offences Act of 2009, any man convicted under these laws must register as a sex offender. These laws have been cited as contributing to wider homophobic attitudes among the Jamaican populace, including the view that gay people are criminals regardless of whether or not they have committed any crime. Anti-LGBT perspectives have been furthered by the island's conservative Christian churches. Many reggae and dancehall songs, among them Buju Banton's "Boom Bye Bye", call for the killing of gays. Writing for the International Business Times in the summer of 2013, the journalist Palash Gosh noted that while Jamaica was "awash in crime and violence, gays and lesbians are particularly prominent targets of wanton brutality." In the summer of 2013, Human Rights Watch carried out five weeks of fieldwork among Jamaica's LGBT community, reporting that over half of those interviewed had experienced violence as a result of their sexual orientation or gender identity, sometimes on more than one occasion.
## Murder
On the night of Wednesday 30 November 2005, three armed men broke into Harvey's home, confronting him and his two roommates and demanding money. The intruders said "We hear that you are gay" and while the two roommates denied this, Harvey – who was openly gay – remained silent. The two roommates were bound and gagged while Harvey was forced to carry valuables to the criminal's car. At gunpoint, they forced him into the car and abducted him.
Two hours later, Harvey's corpse was found at Pinewood Terrace, a rural area far from his home; his body had gunshot wounds in the head and back. Harvey's clothes, suitcases, jewellery, cellphones, and watches were recovered by police. Reporter Gary Younge expressed the view that the killing "appears to have been a homophobic attack", while an editorial in The New York Times noted that "the Harvey killing has the earmarks of a hate crime".
### Arrest and trial
Following investigations, in 2005 police arrested four individuals – Dwayne Owen, Andre West, Ryan Wilson, and Chevaughn Gibson – charging them all with committing murder in the furtherance of a robbery. The accused were from an area known as Vietnam in Grant's Pen. Defence lawyers repeatedly complained that the prosecution had been late in handing over relevant documents to them.
The case was brought before the Home Circuit Court on 24 April 2014, however it could not proceed because important documents had not been served on the defence. The witnesses for the case, who included ten police officers and two civilians, were bound over. Senior Puisne Judge Gloria Smith stated that no further adjournments of the case would be permitted, ordering the Director of Public Prosecutions to make full disclosure to the defence, and insisting that the trial must start on 19 May. In her words, "This case has been going on for far too long and has reached the point where something must happen." However, on that date the trial was postponed again due to the unavailability of a courtroom, being rescheduled for 1 June. At that date it was again postponed, this time due to a shortage of available jurors, with the new date being set for 7 July.
In early July 2014, the prosecution announced that they were dropping all charges against Wilson, who was declared free to go after over eight years in prison. They had determined that at the time of the murder he had been in custody at the Constant Spring Police Station. The prosecution also stated that it was dropping the murder charges against Gibson, who would instead be charged with misprision of felony. After a three-week trial, in late July a twelve-person jury unanimously found both Owen and West guilty of murder. The state prosecutors, Kathy Pryce and Karen Seymour Johnson, requested that Owen and West face the death penalty. However, in November Justice Lloyd Hibbert sentenced them to life in prison, stipulating that they must serve a minimum of thirty years before becoming eligible for parole. He stated that in sentencing the pair he took into account the fact that they had already spent a decade in custody. In December, both Owen and West launched appeals against their conviction.
Independently of the Harvey case, West was also charged with being involved in the murder of Jamie Lue, a financial analyst at Alliance Capital Limited, who had been abducted, robbed, and killed in December 2005.
## Reaction
In December 2005, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) issued a statement expressing the view that "Harvey's death is a profound shock and loss not only to the AIDS movement in Jamaica and the Caribbean, but to the whole world", furthermore calling on the Jamaican government to ensure that Harvey's killers be found and convicted. Rebecca Schleifer, a researcher with Human Rights Watch's HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Program, stated that Harvey was "a person of extraordinary bravery and integrity, who worked tirelessly to ensure that some of Jamaica's most marginalized people had the tools and information to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS".
According to Peter Tatchell of the British LGBT rights organisation OutRage!, "It is thanks to the efforts of Steve and his colleagues that many Jamaican men and women - both gay and straight - have not contracted HIV. They have helped save hundreds of lives." The Guyanese Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination issued a press release condemning Harvey's killing and calling for the perpetrators to be convicted.
## See also
- LGBT rights in Jamaica
- Murder of Dwayne Jones | [
"## Background",
"### Harvey's biography",
"### Anti-LGBT sentiment in Jamaica",
"## Murder",
"### Arrest and trial",
"## Reaction",
"## See also"
] | 1,745 | 30,867 |
62,580,632 | George Insole | 1,163,673,915 | South Wales coal owner and shipper (1790–1851) | [
"1790 births",
"1851 deaths",
"19th-century British businesspeople",
"19th-century Welsh businesspeople",
"British businesspeople in the coal industry",
"British mining businesspeople",
"Business people from Worcestershire",
"Businesspeople from Cardiff",
"Councillors in Cardiff",
"History of the Vale of Glamorgan"
] | George Insole (baptised 5 December 1790 – 1 January 1851) was an English entrepreneur who built an extensive coal mining and shipping business in South Wales.
A younger son of an English tenant farmer in Worcestershire, Insole made judicious use of significant financial assistance from his wider family to move to Cardiff, Wales, in 1828, to enter into partnership there as a brick, timber and coal merchant (1829–1830), and to become an independent coal producer and shipper in 1832. He pioneered the introduction and early success of South Wales steam coal in the London and international markets and his coal contracts underpinned Lucy Thomas's reputation as "the mother of the Welsh steam coal trade".
Insole is claimed to have been the first to supply the London market (1830), the international market (Malta, 1831), and the Royal Navy (1831) with South Wales steam coal. Insole was for many years the largest shipper of steam coal at Cardiff.
## Early life
George Insole was baptised in Worcester on 5 December 1790, the fifth of six children of William Insole and Phoebe Insole (née Stinton). During Insole's childhood his father was a tenant farmer in Wichenford, near Worcester. In 1819 he married Mary Finch in Worcester and by 1820 was working there as a carpenter and cabinet maker. They had six children, two sons and four daughters. The two older children were baptised at St Helen's Church, Worcester, but from 1823 to 1827 Insole was associated with the Angel Street Independent (Congregational) Meeting House in Worcester.
## Coal merchant
Insole moved to Cardiff in 1828, and by late 1829 was in partnership with Richard Biddle as Insole & Biddle, brick, timber and coal merchants. The move and partnership were supported by family loans and inheritances. Biddle was one of the first agents in Cardiff for Robert Thomas's Waun Wyllt "smokeless" steam coal, sent by barge down the Glamorganshire Canal from Merthyr Tydfil, and had established a customer base in Cardiff prior to partnering with Insole. In 1830 Insole & Biddle had premises at the Wharf on the Glamorganshire Canal at Cardiff.
The Insole & Biddle day book for 1830 records a shipment of 414 tons of Waun Wyllt steam coal to London. This consignment was later claimed to have been the largest cargo of coal ever shipped at the Glamorganshire Canal. The shipment did not make a profit but the quality of the coal eventually made it very popular for both household and Royal Navy use. Insole also developed markets for coal along the Severn Estuary and in Ireland.
The Insole & Biddle partnership was bankrupted in early 1831. Insole was able to recover his financial position within a few months, and was also left a substantial inheritance that year. From his offices in Cardiff at the mouth of the Glamorganshire Canal, he continued as agent for Waun Wyllt coal, and contracts were written to supply London-based coal merchants. These contracts helped establish the reputation of Welsh coal in the London markets, and were the basis on which Lucy Thomas (widow of Robert) became known as "the mother of the Welsh steam coal trade". Although Thomas has been credited with these ventures, much of the success was due to Insole.
While their assertions were not universally accepted, the Insoles claimed to have been the first to supply the London market (in 1830), the international market (Malta, in 1831), and the Royal Navy (in 1831) with South Wales steam coal.
## Coal producer
In 1832 Insole leased the Maesmawr pit (Llantwit Fardre) to become a coal producer and shipper in his own right. He was one of the first to open offices at the Cardiff Docks when the Bute West Dock was opened in 1839. When his son James Harvey Insole came of age in 1842, Insole took him into partnership as George Insole & Son.
In 1844, as the Maesmawr seam was becoming depleted, they leased and revived collieries at Cymmer and in 1848 opened 36 coking ovens to supply the Taff Vale Railway Company, of which Insole was a principal promoter. Up to 1847 the Insoles mainly supplied the coastal markets of the Bristol Channel (Bristol, Gloucester), the Cornish ports (St. Ives, Penzance, Fowey), and the Irish markets (Limerick, Dublin, Youghal, Waterford, Cork) with steam coal. Insole continued to develop his international trade and afterwards supplied markets in France, the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and South America and became the largest shipper of steam coal at Cardiff.
In Cardiff, Insole was associated with St John's Church in 1830 (where his daughter was baptised) and afterwards with the independent meetings at the Bethany Baptist Chapel (where his infant son was buried in 1837) and the New Trinity Congregational Chapel (making significant contributions to its rebuilding in 1846). Insole was involved in the introduction of British Schools in Cardiff and served as a town councillor for the South Ward of Cardiff.
## Death and legacy
Insole died on 1 January 1851, aged 60, at his residence in Crockherbtown, Cardiff. The cause of death was "Disease of Heart many years. Paralysis 1 week". He was buried at St Margaret's Church, Roath on 7 January 1851.
The high regard in which he was held is indicated in the two prize-winning elegies on Insole presented at the 1851 Cymmer Eisteddfod. Insole can be credited with much of the early success of South Wales steam coal in the London and international markets. The firm established by Insole continued in business until 1940.
## Selected histories
The following accounts present Insole as a pioneering entrepreneur of South Wales steam coal, although each is unreliable in various details, especially regarding his origins and early years as a merchant in Cardiff. They also overlook Biddle's earlier, independent sourcing of Waun Wyllt steam coal and its introduction by him to the Cardiff market prior to the Insole & Biddle partnership.
- Wilkins, Charles (1888). The South Wales Coal Trade and Its Allied Industries, from the Earliest Days to the Present Time. Cardiff.
- Contemporary Portraits: Men and Women of South Wales and Monmouthshire; Cardiff Section. Cardiff: Western Mail Ltd. 1896. p. xxii.
- Phillips, Elizabeth. "Pioneers of the Welsh Coalfield". Western Mail. 30 December 1924. p. 7.
- Phillips, Elizabeth (1925). A History of the Pioneers of the Welsh Coalfield. Cardiff.
- Morris, J. H.; Williams, L. J. (1957). "R. J. Nevill and the Early Welsh Coal Trade". National Library of Wales Journal. 10 (1): 59–64.
- Morris, J. H.; Williams, L. J. (1958). The South Wales Coal Industry 1841–1875. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.
- Lewis, E. D. (1976). "Pioneers of the Cardiff Coal Trade", Glamorgan Historian. 11: 22–52.
- Watson, Richard C. (1997). Rhondda Coal, Cardiff Gold: The Insoles of Llandaff, Coal Owners and Shippers. Cardiff: Merton Priory Press. | [
"## Early life",
"## Coal merchant",
"## Coal producer",
"## Death and legacy",
"## Selected histories"
] | 1,624 | 21,109 |
49,368,762 | Star Wars Headspace | 1,122,032,141 | null | [
"2016 compilation albums",
"Albums produced by Rick Rubin",
"American Recordings (record label) compilation albums",
"Electronic dance music compilation albums",
"Hollywood Records compilation albums",
"Music of Star Wars"
] | Star Wars Headspace is an electronic music compilation album executively produced by Rick Rubin and Kevin Kusatsu. It compiles electronic dance tracks of acts including Claude VonStroke, Flying Lotus and Röyksopp. It featured sound effects and dialog from the Star Wars films, but does not contain any of John Williams' music for the series.
Hollywood Records and American Recordings released Star Wars Headspace in digital forms on February 19, 2016, and in physical forms on March 18, to decent commercial performance, beginning at number one on the United States Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart and becoming the second various artists compilation to top the chart. However, it also garnered a mixed response from music critics, praise going towards its eccentric concept and criticism that it would likely only be enjoyed by fans of the film series.
## Composition
Star Wars Headspace is a compilation album of electronic dance music featuring sound effects and samples from the Star Wars films. Musicians Rick Rubin and Kevin Kusatsu, who executively produced the album, gave the producers files of these sounds, but were also instructed by Lucasfilm to not sample any of John Williams' score from the films. Flying Lotus, who said that he was proud of being a part of the project, felt that the concept made sense given that the sounds used in the Star Wars would be a precursor of what was yet to come in electronic music. Therefore, he felt "close" to the sounds he was using to reflect the universe of the films.
Critic Jonah Bromwich analyzed that the beginning half of Star Wars Headspace consists of the producers sampling from the movie while making music in their common style, making it feel like "obvious tribute material". The first track, Kaskade's "C-3P0's Plight", represents Star Wars' humor and C-3PO's melodramatic character aspect, featuring sounds of Wookiee's roar and shots from a Blaster weapon. Rubin's Trap remix of "Jabba Flow", a composition by J. J. Abrams and Lin-Manuel Miranda used in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is the fifth track on the compilation, which is followed by Claude VonStroke's "R2 Knows", featuring vocals from Barry Drift and described in a review by Pitchfork Media as a silly anthem similar to releases from Todd Terje. Another track by Rubin, "NR-G7", has many samples such as R2-D2 blips playing over a "driving" four on the floor instrumental with "dazzling jet-stream" synthesizers. However, Bromwich also wrote that the later songs on the track list focus less on the artists making music in their typical trend and more on replicating what made John Williams score so great. Consequence of Sound's Derek Staples noted Norwegian duo Röyksopp's “Bounty Hunters” to be less of a bright song and more of a dark synthwave track than their usual material. "Sunset Over Manaan" by Attlas, a producer signed under the label mau5trap, has a melody reminiscent of Williams' "Leia's Theme", and has a more "cinematic" atmosphere than his previous work. The record closes with "Star Tripper" by French producer Breakbot, a downtempo funk song featuring orchestration reflecting the neo-romantic aspect of Williams' soundtrack.
## Promotion and release
On February 8, 2016, the release date and cover art of Star Wars Headspace was announced, and pre-ordering of the record began. That same day, Beats 1, an Apple Music radio show by New Zealand DJ and producer Zane Lowe, promoted the compilation with an interview with Flying Lotus about his involvement, as well as premiering three tracks, "Cantina Boys", "NR-G7" and "R2 Where R U?"; the latter song was a "World Record" premiere. "Help Me!" was released on Beats 1 a day later, while on February 18 the channel Freeform premiered "Force" shortly before the album's midnight release. Hollywood Records issued the album in digital form on February 19, 2016, followed by a physical release on March 18. Selling 3,000 copies in the United States on its first Billboard chart week, Star Wars Headspace topped the Dance/Electronic Albums chart, the first various artists compilation to do so on the chart since 2008's High School Musical 2: Non-Stop Dance Party. It also landed at number 197 on the nation's Billboard 200 and at number eight on the magazine's Compilation Albums chart. In the United Kingdom, the album landed on the Official Charts Company's UK Dance Albums Charts at number twenty and number twenty-two on the Official Charts Company's Soundtrack Albums Chart.
## Critical reception
Critical response to Star Wars Headspace was mixed, holding a weighted mean of a 48 out of 100 on the site Metacritic based on seven reviews. Drew Mcweeny reviewed it for One Thing I Love Today, his daily column on HitFix which is meant to highlight certain aspects of modern-day popular culture. He honored the compilation's concept of an EDM Star Wars tribute as funny: "I'm not sure how long I'll listen to it, because in the end, it's still an hour or so of EDM, but it was a delightful soundtrack to a busy weekend, and all of the small surprises built into it should make it something that any Star Wars fan will be able to easily enjoy." A correspondent for The Boston Globe wrote that it was much better than he expected it to be, giving all credit to the producers who contributed to the compilation. Los Angeles Times critic Randall Roberts spotlighted the distinguishing characteristic of each song. Bromwich, who wrote a review for Pitchfork, scored the release a 6.9 out of ten, highlighting the record's goal of just being "simple fun" and "Neither [a] stale tribute nor sloppy lovefest". At the same time, however, he also disliked that the nostalgic style was seemingly "a way of avoiding risk".
The album also garnered numerous mixed reviews that felt that it would only be enjoyed by fans of the franchise; Staples described the tracks as "musical fan fiction ready for both celestial dance floors and distant forgotten landscapes", while Jon Dolan, reviewing for Rolling Stone magazine, rated it two and a half stars out of five, feeling that many of the producers involved with the project didn't experiment enough with the concept that it was "hard to get beyond timid fanboy reverence." The harshest review came from Sam Goldner of Tiny Mix Tapes, who bashed the album as a major contributing factor to "the nasty details, the blemishes, the facts of this world that truly corrupt our collective sense of well-being and hope" in regards to how the Star Wars franchise has been marketed.
## Track listing and credits
All tracks mastered by Vlado Meller with assistance from Jeremy Lubsey.
Notes
- signifies an additional producer not credited as the main artist
## Charts | [
"## Composition",
"## Promotion and release",
"## Critical reception",
"## Track listing and credits",
"## Charts"
] | 1,445 | 18,069 |
30,933,268 | Taken by a Stranger | 1,171,469,825 | Single by Lena | [
"2011 singles",
"2011 songs",
"English-language German songs",
"Eurovision songs of 2011",
"Eurovision songs of Germany",
"Lena Meyer-Landrut songs",
"Song recordings produced by Stefan Raab",
"Songs about BDSM",
"Songs written by Nicole Morier",
"Universal Music Group singles"
] | "Taken by a Stranger" is a song recorded by German singer Lena for her second studio album Good News (2011), released as a CD single on 22 February 2011 by We Love Music. Gus Seyffert, Nicole Morier and Monica Birkenes wrote the song, while production was handled by Stefan Raab and Reinhard Schaub. Seyffert had originally penned the track for Birkenes to record, but her label rejected it and it was eventually given to Lena. Musically, "Taken by a Stranger" is a 1980s and grufti-influenced electropop song characterized by synthesizer sounds. Lyrically, it revolves around the connection between two strangers. While compared to the works of English band The Cure by one reviewer, other speculated lyrical themes were sadomasochism, psychosexual development, kidnapping and sexual fantasy.
The track was Germany's entry for the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Düsseldorf, Germany, after winning the pre-selection show Unser Song für Deutschland. Lena had represented the country at Eurovision one year earlier, winning the contest. In Düsseldorf, the singer finished in tenth place with a total of 107 points. During her show, Lena performed on a dark stage enhanced with light rays. She wore a black outfit and heavy make-up, accompanied by background dancers and backing vocalists sporting silver body suits. Her performance was well-received by publications that noted its sexual elements.
Music critics gave the song mixed reviews, praising its unusual style and picking it as a highlight in the contest, but also criticizing its lack of catchiness. Several publications pointed out that the recording was a departure from Lena's past good girl public image. At the 2011 1Live Krone Awards, "Taken by a Stranger" was nominated in the Best Single category. Commercially the track fared moderately on record charts reaching number two in Germany and peaking within the top 50 in Austria, Switzerland and Ireland. Its promotion consisted of various live performances, as well as the release of an accompanying music video on 24 February 2011. Filmed in Berlin by Wolf Gresenz, it portrays Lena involved in various activities in a hotel room. In 2012, the visual was nominated for an Echo in the Best Video National category. "Taken by a Stranger" has been covered by acts such as German group The BossHoss.
## Background and release
Gus Seyffert, Nicole Morier and Monica Birkenes wrote "Taken by a Stranger", while Stefan Raab and Reinhard Schaub handled its production. The song was originally penned by Seyffert in 2010 for Birkenes to record for a new studio album, but her label rejected it and eventually gave it to Lena. In an interview, Seyffert spoke of the song's development: "[Morier and I] squatted together and came up with a tempo and some chords to sing along to. We programmed a beat and I recorded a fast bass and guitar track. Then we took turns singing our melody ideas. When we finally had a tune, we began writing the lyrics." We Love Music released "Taken by a Stranger" as a CD single on 22 February 2011 in Germany. UMG made it available for digital download in various countries later in 2011. With a length of three minutes and twenty-five seconds on its initial release, the song was shortened to three minutes and two seconds to comply with Eurovision's contest rules and to enable Lena's participation.
## Composition and lyrical interpretation
"Taken by a Stranger" has been described as a "sombre", "mystical" and "mysterious" 1980s and grufti-influenced electropop song characterized by synthesizer sounds. It is composed in a metre, with its instrumentation consisting of "weird, spooky and confusing" sounds. An editor of German website Eurovision.de likened "Taken by a Stranger" to the material released by English band The Cure. Christina Rietz, writing for Die Zeit, noted the lyrics' complexity and called the song a "sado-hymn". The Guardian's Andrew Khan considered the recording a "wild-eyed piece of psychosexual drama".
Lyrically, "Taken by a Stranger" revolves around a male and a female who have come close to each other. The man wants to pursue a relationship but the woman leaves. Seyffert spoke of the song's lyrical message: "We decided on a story of a stranger, who seems a little threatening, or to whom the singer might become threatening. I think it is about expressing a fantasy to be together with a stranger." The Guardian speculated that "Taken by a Stranger" dealt with kidnapping. During the track's "mysterious" refrain, Lena sings several clipped sentences that cross rhyme: "Taken by a stranger/Stranger things are starting to begin/Lured into the danger/Trip me up and spin me round again." Lena sings selected words in the chorus in a way that matches the accentuation of two beats in the song's metre. Masen Abou-Dakn, then-lecturer at the University of Popular Music and Music Business in Mannheim, praised the song's hook as "[one] on which the listener gets stuck". He felt the mention of chairs and blindfolding in the song supports his view that it discusses sexual fantasy.
## Reception and accolades
"Taken by a Stranger" received mixed reviews from music critics. Tilmann Aretz of n-tv praised the song's power and picked it as one of his highlights on Unser Song für Deutschland. Sebastian Leber, writing for Der Tagesspiegel, praised the track for being "unusually modern" and predicted it would stand out among several uptempo songs at Eurovision. German actress Barbara Schöneberger and singer Adel Tawil, along with several publications, noted that "Taken by a Stranger" contradicted Lena's previous good girl public image. In a mixed review, Bild called "Taken by a Stranger" a great "electropop-hymn" but criticized its lack of a catchy melody. Vebooboo Nadella from Wiwibloggs criticized the song's long build-up to the refrain and questioned whether it would impress voters at Eurovision. At the 2011 1Live Krone Awards, "Taken by a Stranger" was nominated in the Best Single category.
Commercially, the track fared moderately on record charts. It debuted and peaked at number two in Germany in March 2011, lasting for 16 consecutive weeks on the chart. In Austria, "Taken by a Stranger" opened the Ö3 Austria Top 40 chart at number 32, eventually reaching its peak position at number 18 in May 2011; it spent eight weeks in the ranking. The song also peaked within the top 30 in Switzerland, the top 50 in Ireland and the top 100 in the Netherlands. In Belgium, "Taken by a Stranger" failed to enter the Ultratop chart in the Flanders and Wallonia regions, instead reaching the top 40 on the Ultratip extension in both territories.
## Promotion and other usage
An accompanying music video for "Taken by a Stranger" premiered on ARD on 24 February 2011, and was later uploaded to MySpassde's YouTube channel on 2 March 2011. Wolf Gresnz filmed it in Berlin, Germany. The video begins with a mirror breaking; Lena picks up the keys for a hotel room from its shards. Entering the room, the singer dances and looks around "grumpily". Following this, she gets ready in front of the bathroom mirror and "wrestles" with her reflection. The music video ends with Lena jumping into a mirror that breaks, with her disappearing. Scenes are interspersed throughout the clip's main plot, showing female background dancers wearing silver bodysuits, as well as the singer lying on a bed with a pug in her hands. At the 2012 Echo Awards, the video was nominated in the Best Video National category. "Taken by a Stranger" was promoted through several live performances. German group The BossHoss covered the song in a rock version during the fourth season of the German reality television series Sing meinen Song – Das Tauschkonzert (2017).
## At Eurovision
### National selection
After Lena won the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 with her song "Satellite", the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) confirmed that she would represent Germany a second time and opened a submission period for composers to submit their entries. Lena's song for Eurovision was selected by public televoting during Unser Song für Deutschland, which consisted of two semi-finals, one final and the super final. "Taken by a Stranger" qualified from the first semi-final on 31 January 2011 with three other songs. It advanced to the super final from the final on 18 February 2011 alongside "Push Forward". "Taken by a Stranger" was ultimately selected as Germany's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 after receiving 79% of the televotes in the super final.
### In Düsseldorf
The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 took place at the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, Germany, and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and the final on 14 May 2011. According to Eurovision rules all participating countries, except the host country and the "Big Five" (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), were required to qualify from one semi-final to compete in the final; the top ten countries from their respective semi-final progressed to the final. There, Lena performed 16th, preceded by Moldova and followed by Romania.
During her show, Lena sang "Taken by a Stranger" on a dark stage in a "temple of white rays of light", sporting a black outfit and "skyscraper-high" high heels. She wore heavy make-up and had smoky eyes. Two female backing vocalists and three female background dancers accompanied the singer, each sporting silver elastic body suits. TV Today praised Lena's performance, noting her "most erotic hip swings" and "her lascivious look". An editor at Eurovision.de lauded the singer's facial expressions, feeling they enhanced the song's impact. Oberösterreichische Nachrichten noted Lena's sex appeal, while The Guardian compared her stage show to ones conducted by English singers Kate Nash and Cheryl. The newspaper likened the background dancers' outfits to those worn by Norwegian band Hole in the Wall. In her book Performing the 'New' Europe, Karen Fricker wrote that Lena portrayed a femme fatale, comparing her sexualized appearance to German playwright Frank Wedekind 1895 Lulu play series.
Below is a breakdown of points awarded to Germany in the Grand Final of the contest. The country finished in tenth place with a total of 107 points, including ten awarded by Austria, and eight from Belarus, Denmark, Latvia and Switzerland. Overall, Germany came ninth by the public televote with 113 points and tenth by the juries with 104 points.
## Track listing
- German CD single
1. "Taken by a Stranger" (Single Version) – 3:25
2. "That Again" – 3:03
- Digital download
1. "Taken by a Stranger" (Single Version) – 3:23
2. "Taken by a Stranger" (Live) – 3:24
## Charts
### Weekly charts
### Year-end charts
## Release history | [
"## Background and release",
"## Composition and lyrical interpretation",
"## Reception and accolades",
"## Promotion and other usage",
"## At Eurovision",
"### National selection",
"### In Düsseldorf",
"## Track listing",
"## Charts",
"### Weekly charts",
"### Year-end charts",
"## Release history"
] | 2,400 | 27,099 |
19,150,871 | SS Black Osprey | 1,115,477,513 | Cargo ship for the American Diamond Lines (1917) | [
"1918 ships",
"Cargo ships of the United States",
"Design 1013 ships",
"Maritime incidents in 1938",
"Maritime incidents in February 1941",
"Ships built by Skinner & Eddy",
"Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II",
"World War I auxiliary ships of the United States",
"World War I merchant ships of the United States",
"World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom",
"World War II merchant ships of the United States",
"World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean"
] | SS Black Osprey was a cargo ship for the American Diamond Lines and the British Cairn Line. She was formerly known as SS West Arrow when she was launched for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) during World War I. The ship was inspected by the United States Navy for possible use as USS West Arrow (ID-2585) but was neither taken into the Navy nor ever commissioned under that name.
West Arrow was built in 1918 for the USSB, as a part of the West boats, a series of steel-hulled cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States for the World War I war effort. Information about her early career is largely absent, but by the 1920s, news reports revealed that the ship was sailing on the North Atlantic. By the mid-1920s, West Arrow was sailing for American Diamond on their cargo service to Rotterdam and Antwerp. In 1935, American Diamond changed the ship's name to Black Osprey and the ship continued in Rotterdam service.
After the outbreak of World War II, Black Osprey, still under the registry of the still-neutral United States, was detained twice by British authorities, before the U.S.-established "Neutrality Zone" ended Black Osprey's Dutch service in late 1939. Sailing under charter to the Isthmian Line in 1940, Black Osprey called at various ports in the Pacific Ocean. American Diamond sold Black Osprey to the British Ministry of War Transport in late 1940. During the ship's first transatlantic crossing under the British flag, she was sunk by on 18 February 1941, with the loss of 25 men. The 11 survivors were picked up by a Norwegian ship and landed in at Barry.
## Design and construction
The West ships were cargo ships of similar size and design built by several shipyards on the West Coast of the United States for the USSB for emergency use during World War I. All were given names that began with the word West, like West Arrow, one of some 24 West ships built by Skinner & Eddy of Seattle, Washington. West Arrow (Skinner & Eddy No. 12) was laid down on 20 September 1917 under the name Jas. G. Eddy, launched as West Arrow on 19 January 1918, and completed on 26 February 1918.
The ship was 5,802 gross register tons (GRT), and was 409 feet 5 inches (124.79 m) long (between perpendiculars) and 54 feet 2 inches (16.51 m) abeam. West Arrow had a steel hull and a deadweight tonnage of . The ship had a single steam turbine that drove her single screw propeller, and moved the ship at a 10.5-knot (19.4 km/h) pace.
## Career
West Arrow was inspected by the 13th Naval District of the United States Navy after completion and was assigned the identification number of 2585. Had she been commissioned, she would have been known as USS West Arrow (ID-2585), but the Navy neither took over the ship nor commissioned her.
Little is known of West Arrow's early career, with almost no information regarding her World War I activities. During that war, many of the West ships carried grain products to the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, but it is not known whether West Arrow did so or not. One early mention of West Arrow in contemporary news accounts is found in The Washington Post, which reported in February 1921 that the cargo ship had delivered 742 "milch cows" to Bremen as a gift from American farmers from Texas and Kansas. The New York Times reported in September 1923 that West Arrow, heading from Liverpool to Boston, had been struck by the White Star Line ocean liner 1,000 nautical miles (1,900 km) west of Queenstown, Ireland. Haverford, headed from Philadelphia to Liverpool with passengers, struck the cargo ship on the port side, 10 feet (3.0 m) from the bow. A radio dispatch from West Arrow reported that she was proceeding under her own power and was not taking on any water. By March 1926, West Arrow was sailing for American Diamond Lines in New York – Rotterdam service on a U.S. government-subsidized mail route. In July 1932, the ship was moved to a new Baltimore – Antwerp route, but by December 1934 was again sailing to Rotterdam.
In 1935, American Diamond changed the name of West Arrow to Black Osprey, which remained on the Rotterdam route into 1936. In March of that year, The Wall Street Journal—reporting on a large gold shipment from the United States to Holland—speculated that Black Osprey was the ship that had been selected to carry \$345,000 of gold for export. On 24 March 1938, Black Osprey was sailing in a dense fog off St. Catherine's Point on the Isle of Wight when she struck the 311 GRT British cargo ship Chagford, which sank within five minutes. Three of Chagford'''s six-man crew were picked up by Black Osprey, whose crew searched in vain for three hours for the other three men. After the fog lifted, the Chagford survivors were transferred to a fishing vessel that landed the crewmen, and Black Osprey resumed her Rotterdam – Philadelphia journey.
## World War II
After the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Black Osprey, still registered in the neutral-United States, was seized by British authorities on 6 September and detained at Weymouth. After carefully inspecting the ship for any contraband, the British released the ship after a week. However, on 31 October, the British again seized Black Osprey, and had not yet released her by 8 November, when the U.S. State Department released a list of 40 American ships that had been detained by belligerents.
The United States established a "Neutrality Zone"—a zone where American-flagged ships could not enter—in late 1939. As a result, American Diamond was unable to continue its Dutch route, and chartered the eight vessels it employed in that service (which included Black Osprey) to other U.S. companies. Black Osprey was one of several chartered to the Isthmian Line, and made voyages in the Pacific, calling at ports such as Singapore and Honolulu in 1940. After a typhoon with winds in excess of 115 miles per hour (185 km/h) hit Wake Island in early October, Black Osprey was diverted through heavy seas to check on the welfare of the 35 men on the island, all found to be safe.
In November, American Diamond sought the permission of the United States Maritime Commission (USMC), a successor to the United States Shipping Board, to sell Black Osprey and seven other ships to the British. The USMC granted the permission, and Black Osprey was sold to the Ministry of War Transport for operation by the Cairn Line of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, for about \$50 per deadweight ton, or around \$440,000.
The deal was completed before Black Osprey's 10 December sailing from Philadelphia to Baltimore under the British flag. Black Osprey then sailed from Baltimore on 25 January 1941 for Halifax, where she arrived on 30 January. Black Osprey, loaded with a cargo of steel, joined convoy HX 107 that sailed from that port for Liverpool on 3 February. After falling behind in the convoy, Black Osprey was torpedoed by U-96 under the command of Fregattenkapitän Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock at 02:27 on 18 February south of Iceland, near position . The ship's master and 24 crewmen died in the attack. Black Osprey's 11 survivors were picked up by the Norwegian refrigerated cargo ship Mosdale'' and landed at Barry. | [
"## Design and construction",
"## Career",
"## World War II"
] | 1,683 | 35,665 |
47,060,908 | Travis Dermott | 1,165,013,531 | Canadian ice hockey player | [
"1996 births",
"Abbotsford Canucks players",
"Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States",
"Canadian ice hockey defencemen",
"Erie Otters players",
"Ice hockey people from Ontario",
"Living people",
"Sportspeople from Newmarket, Ontario",
"Toronto Maple Leafs draft picks",
"Toronto Maple Leafs players",
"Toronto Marlies players",
"Vancouver Canucks players"
] | Travis Dermott (born December 22, 1996) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Dermott was rated as a top prospect projected as a possible first round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft but was ultimately selected in the second round, 34th overall, by the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has previously played for the Maple Leafs and the Vancouver Canucks.
In junior, Dermott was drafted by the Erie Otters in the 2012 Ontario Hockey League Draft. His tenure with the team stretched over three seasons and he was named to the 2014 First All-Rookie Team. He has also competed with Canada men's national junior ice hockey team at the 2016 IIHF World U20 Championship.
After making his professional career debut in 2016 with the Maple Leafs' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, Dermott was utilized on the team's penalty-kill and moved to the right hand side as a left-handed shot. He made his NHL debut in 2018 and, after losing to the Boston Bruins in the first round, went on to help the Marlies win their first Calder Cup in franchise history.
## Early life
Dermott was born on December 22, 1996, in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada to parents Jim and Paula Dermott. He also grew up with an older sister. His mother, who is a retired figure skater, first encouraged him to begin skating before the age of four and eventually signed him up for Timbits hockey. He eventually graduated to the Super 7 Tyke Team in Newmarket by the age of seven with his father as his coach. Growing up, Dermott's favourite team was the Chicago Blackhawks and his favourite player was Duncan Keith. Besides hockey, he also played lacrosse with future Erie Otters teammate Connor McDavid.
## Playing career
### Youth
Dermott began his youth hockey career with the Minor Midget “AAA” York Simcoe Express. During the 2010–11 season, he broke his collarbone twice causing him to only play in 19 games. During his tenure with the Express, Dermott helped the team win five OMHA championships and an OHF peewee title. Scouts witnessed Dermott's success and he was offered a try out with an East Coast select spring hockey team and signed with the Newmarket Hurricanes in the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL).
He was later drafted by the Erie Otters in the 2012 Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Draft but continued to play with the Newmarket Hurricanes. After being named to the OJHL's 2nd Team All-Stars and Fan Favourite, he committed to play for the Erie Otters on May 4, 2013. During his tenure with the Otters, Dermott attended McDowell High School and was named Midwest Division Academic Player of the Month for January 2014. Following a strong first year performance with the Erie Otters in which he scored 28 points in 67 games, Dermott was rewarded when he was named to the 2013–14 OHL First All-Rookie Team.
During following season, Dermott scored 45 points in 61 games, including a franchise record seven-game assist streak which was the longest such stretch by a defenceman. He also led all Erie defencemen in playoff scoring with 17 points earning him a jump in ratings and a projection as a possible first round pick. Dermott attested his scoring prowess as the result of filling in for a suspended Kurtis MacDermid and practicing with former NHL defenceman Jay McKee. The NHL Central Scouting Bureau ranked Dermott 46th amongst North American skaters, a boost from his midterm ranking of 47.
Dermott was eventually drafted 34th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and signed a three-year, entry-level contract with them on July 22, 2015. Prior to his draft, Dermott began training with Dave Harris at Iperformance. He returned to the Otters for his final year of major junior hockey after attending the Leafs training camp. On December 1, 2015, Dermott and teammate Dylan Strome were selected to compete with Team Canada at the 2016 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Upon returning from Finland empty handed, Dermott was ejected from a game against the Mississauga Steelheads for a hit to the head on Owen Tippett. After the game concluded, he was assessed a five-game suspension following a hearing. Although the Otters qualified for the 2016 OHL Playoffs, they were swept in the OHLs Western Conference final by the London Knights.
### Professional
#### Toronto Maple Leafs
After the Otters were swept in the Western Conference final, Dermott joined the Toronto Marlies for the 2016 Calder Cup playoffs. He made his professional post-season debut with the Marlies during the third round of the playoffs as a replacement for Stuart Percy before they were ultimately eliminated by the Hershey Bears.
On August 26, 2016, Dermott was selected to compete at the Maple Leafs 2016 Rookie Tournament and their 2016 training camp. After participating in both, he was returned to the Toronto Marlies for their 2016–17 season. Dermott made his AHL debut on October 16, 2016, where he recorded his first career AHL goal and assist in a win against the Utica Comets. He concluded his rookie season with the Marlies having recorded 24 points in 59 games, earning him a second-place finish amongst Marlies defensemen in scoring.
The following year, Dermott was again selected to participate in the Leafs Rookie Tournament, but was reassigned to the Marlies to begin the season. He played on a defensive pairing with Timothy Liljegren and earned time on the penalty-kill. Although he was a left-handed shooter, he was moved to the right hand side. Dermott's playmaking ability earned him his first NHL recall on January 5, 2018 where he recorded one assist in two games before being sent back down to the Marlies on January 11, 2018. While with the Marlies again, Dermott was named to the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic alongside teammate Kasperi Kapanen. Following another recall on January 15 with fellow Marlies player Frédérik Gauthier, he was given the number 23 to wear instead of his usual 3. That night, he scored his first career NHL goal in the leafs 5–0 win against the New York Islanders on January 31. Dermott stayed will the Leafs as they qualified for the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Boston Bruins and recorded his first playoff goal during Game 7 to tie the game 3–3, although the Leafs ended up losing the game 7–4. Despite playing in the NHL playoff series, Dermott, Andreas Johnsson, and Kasperi Kapanen remained eligible to compete in the 2018 Calder Cup playoffs. After the Leafs were eliminated from the playoffs, Dermott was sent to the Marlies to help them in their 2018 Calder Cup playoffs run. He ended his rookie campaign with the Leafs recording one goal and 12 assists in 37 regular season games. Upon returning to the Toronto Marlies lineup, he helped them win their first Calder Cup in franchise history following a seven–game playoff series against the Texas Stars.
On the heels of his successful rookie campaign, Dermott began the 2018–19 season with the Leafs in the NHL for the first time in his career. As the youngest defenseman on the Leafs roster, Dermott played on a pairing with Ron Hainsey with the goal of moving him to Morgan Rielly's side. Former head coach Mike Babcock stated that “[Dermott’s issues] are all the things that are no different than Morgan Rielly....Everyone raves about you, but you’re a dash all the time. The puck is going in your net all the time. So you have to figure that out over time. That’s what the league is all about.” He played in 24 games until teammate William Nylander returned to the lineup following a contract dispute on December 2, 2018. Dermott was loaned to the Marlies temporarily to make room for Nylander in the Leafs lineup but returned for their following game against the Buffalo Sabres. Upon returning, he continued to play with the Leafs until February 27, 2019, when he suffered a shoulder injury. As a result, he was out of the lineup for a month before eventually returning to finish the regular season and playoffs with the Leafs. He underwent shoulder surgery during the offseason after the Leafs were eliminated in the first round the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Although the 2019–20 season would eventually be delayed due to COVID-19, Dermott began the season in late October as he recovered from his surgery in May. In the final year of his contract, Dermott began seeing playing time on the top defenceman pairing after Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin suffered injuries. Following the hiring of Sheldon Keefe, who Dermott played under with the Marlies, he was paired with Justin Holl to replace those on the top pair. Although he was again shortly sidelined due to an illness, he only missed one game to recover. Under the guidance of Keefe, Dermott averaged nearly 19 minutes of ice time per game playing beside Holl and helped the team outscore opponents 4–1.
On October 23, 2020, Dermott signed a one-year, \$874,125 contract extension with the Maple Leafs. Dermott played in 51 games with the Leafs that year, scoring two goals and six points but saw his ice time diminish from previous seasons. On July 8, 2021, Dermott signed a two-year, \$3 million extension with the Maple Leafs. Dermott was left exposed by the Maple Leafs in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, but the Seattle Kraken chose to select Jared McCann from the Leafs. During the 2021–22 season Dermott played in 43 games with the Maple Leafs scoring one goal and five points. During the season he was surpassed by Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren on the Maple Leafs depth chart.
#### Vancouver Canucks
On March 20, 2022, one day before the trade deadline, Dermott was traded by the Maple Leafs to the Vancouver Canucks, in exchange for a 2022 third-round draft pick. He played in 18 games with the Canucks to finish off the season. During the 2022–23 season Dermott suffered a concussion during a practice on September 27, 2022 and remained out of the lineup until December 29. He played in 11 games with Vancouver before suffering another injury that saw him placed on injured reserve. He missed the rest of the season. At the end of the season Dermott was a restricted free agent. However, the Canucks chose not to provide him with a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
#### Arizona Coyotes
On July 11, 2023, Dermott was signed to a one-year, two-way contract with the Arizona Coyotes for the season.
## Personal life
Dermott and his dog Niylah appeared in a dog food commercial for Nulo and work as ambassadors. He also signed a multi-year contract with Levelwear Pro-Sports business and club partnership.
He earned the nickname "Skin Doctor" from the Toronto Maple Leafs as a play on his last name Dermott into dermatologist.
## Career statistics
### Regular season and playoffs
### International
## Awards and honours | [
"## Early life",
"## Playing career",
"### Youth",
"### Professional",
"#### Toronto Maple Leafs",
"#### Vancouver Canucks",
"#### Arizona Coyotes",
"## Personal life",
"## Career statistics",
"### Regular season and playoffs",
"### International",
"## Awards and honours"
] | 2,427 | 30,823 |
2,032,527 | Eriophorum angustifolium | 1,160,262,021 | Species of flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae | [
"Eriophorum",
"Flora of Asia",
"Flora of Europe",
"Flora of Northern America",
"Plants described in 1782"
] | Eriophorum angustifolium, commonly known as common cottongrass or common cottonsedge, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family, Cyperaceae. Native to North America, North Asia, and Northern Europe, it grows on peat or acidic soils, in open wetland, heath or moorland. It begins to flower in April or May and, after fertilisation in early summer, the small, unremarkable brown and green flowers develop distinctive white bristle-like seed-heads that resemble tufts of cotton; combined with its ecological suitability to bog, these characteristics give rise to the plant's alternative name, bog cotton.
Eriophorum angustifolium is a hardy, herbaceous, rhizomatous, perennial sedge, able to endure in a variety of environments in the temperate, subarctic and arctic regions of Earth. Unlike Gossypium, the genus from which cotton is derived, the bristles which grow on E. angustifolium are unsuited to textile manufacturing. Nevertheless, in Northern Europe, they were used as a substitute in the production of paper, pillows, candle-wicks, and wound-dressings. The indigenous peoples of North America use the plant in cooking and in the treatment of digestive problems. Following a vote in 2002, Plantlife International designated E. angustifolium the County Flower of Greater Manchester, as part of its British County Flowers campaign.
## Description
In the wild, Eriophorum angustifolium is a creeping rhizomatous perennial sedge, with an abundance of unbranched, translucent pink roots. Fully grown, it has a tall, erect stem shaped like a narrow cylinder or triangular prism; it is smooth in texture and green in colour. Reports of the plant's height vary; estimates include up to 60 cm (24 in), 15–75 cm (5.9–29.5 in), and up to 100 cm (39 in). E. angustifolium has "stiff grass-like foliage" consisting of long, narrow solidly dark green leaves, which have a single central groove, and narrow from their 2–6-millimetre (0.08–0.24 in) wide base to a triangular tip. Up to seven green and brown aerial peduncles and chaffs, roughly 4–10 millimetres (0.16–0.39 in) in size, protrude from umbels at the top of the stem from which achenes are produced after fertilisation, each with a single pappus; these combine to form a distinctive white perianth around 5 centimetres (2.0 in) long.
Eriophorum angustifolium is described as "a rather dull plant" in winter and spring, but "simply breathtaking" in summer and autumn, when 1–7 conspicuous inflorescences – composed of hundreds of white pappi comparable to cotton, hair, tassels, and/or bristles – stand out against naturally drab surroundings.
Eriophorum angustifolium differs from other species within the genus Eriophorum in its habitat and morphology. Its multiple flower heads and growth from rhizomes distinguish it from E. vaginatum, which has a single flower head and grows from dense tussocks. Although E. latifolium has 2–12 flower heads, it has laxly caespitose (tufted) growth, and its pappi are forked. The smooth peduncles and preference for acidic soil pH distinguishes E. angustifolium from E. gracile, which grows in swamp with a neutral pH and has scabrid (rough) peduncles.
## Distribution and ecology
### Distribution
Eriophorum angustifolium is native to the Northern Hemisphere, and distributed across Eurasia, North America and the British Isles, where there is open bog, heath, wetland and moorland, with standing water and calcareous peat or acidic soil. It can survive in the Subarctic and Arctic, and is found in Alaska, Finland and Greenland as far north as 83° N. The British botanist William Turner Thiselton-Dyer recorded E. angustifolium in the South African Republic in 1898.
In North America, Eriophorum angustifolium is found in the north from Alaska through Manitoba and the Canadian Prairies to Newfoundland and Labrador, down the Pacific Northwest and the state of Washington, across the Midwestern United States through Michigan and Iowa, down the Eastern Seaboard as far south-east as New York and New Jersey, and reaching as far south-west as New Mexico. In Eurasia, E. angustifolium is distributed throughout the Caucasus, European Russia and North Asia, including Siberia and the Kamchatka Peninsula, and south-east to Manchuria and Korea. It grows throughout continental Europe, with the exception of those parts within the Mediterranean Basin, growing in Scandinavia in the north, and as far south as the Norte Region of Portugal and the Pierian Mountains of Greece.
Eriophorum angustifolium is the most common of the four native species of Eriophorum in the British Isles, and has been recorded as having existed in all vice-counties, thriving particularly well in Ireland and northern and western regions of Great Britain, but less so in southern and eastern areas. In the mires of Northern Ireland and the South Pennines, it considered a ruderal, pioneer and keystone species, because it can quickly colonise and repair damaged or eroded peat, encourage the re-vegetation of its surroundings, and retain sediment and its landscape to serve as a carbon sink. In central and southern counties of England, the species is rare or absent, and was "completely destroyed" in Cambridgeshire, The Broads, The Fens and other parts of the East of England by human activities such as land reclamation. Within the British Isles, E. angustifolium thrives at a range of altitudes from sea-level fens and lowland meadows, to exposed upland moors when provided with a habitat of acid bog or waterlogged heath. It has an altitudinal limit of 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) above sea level, reaching 854 metres (2,802 ft) in the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland, and 1,060 metres (3,480 ft) in the Scottish Highlands.
### Ecology
Eriophorum angustifolium is a hardy, herbaceous, rhizomatous, perennial plant, meaning that it is resilient to cold and freezing climatic conditions, dies back at the end of its growing season, has creeping rootstalks, and lives for over two years. It grows vigorously from seed over a period of 2–5 years, and thrives particularly well in freshly disturbed, cut or eroded peat. E. angustifolium is protogynous.
Sexual reproduction in Eriophorum angustifolium begins with flowering in spring or early summer (in or around May), when groups of 3–5 brown flowers are produced. Fertilisation usually takes place in May or June, via anemophily (wind-pollination), and the white bristle-like perianth, composed of achenes with pappi (seeds with hairs) then grows outwards to appear like short tufts of cotton thread. These pappi endure well into summer, lasting from around June to September. Like the pappus of Taraxacum (dandelions), this aids in wind-dispersal, and also serves as thermal insulation, conserving the temperature of the plant's reproductive organs by trapping solar radiation.
It is a known host to the fungal species Myriosclerotinia ciborium, Hysteronaevia advena, Lachnum imbecille and Lophodermium caricinum.
### Conservation
Eriophorum angustifolium has a NatureServe conservation status of G5, meaning that the species is considered to be ecologically secure by NatureServe, lacking any threats to its global abundance.
## In human culture
Eriophorum angustifolium seeds and stems are edible and are used in traditional Native American cuisine by Alaska Natives, Inuit and Inupiat people. The leaves and roots of E. angustifolium are also edible and, because of their astringent properties, used by the Yupik peoples for medicinal purposes, through a process of decoction, infusion or poultice, to treat ailments of the human gastrointestinal tract, and in the Old World for the treatment of diarrhoea. In abundance, E. angustifolium can grow with enough density to disguise wetland and bog. Consequently, it may be used as a natural indicator of areas which are hazardous and to avoid travelling through. Attempts to make a cotton-like thread from the hairs of the plant's seed-heads have been thwarted by its brittleness, but it has been used in the production of paper and candle wicks in Germany, and was used as a feather substitute in pillow stuffing in Sweden and Sussex, England. In Scotland, during World War I, it was used to dress wounds.
In 2002, the County Flowers campaign of Plantlife International, which asked members of the public to nominate and vote for a wildflower emblem for each of the counties and metropolitan areas of the United Kingdom, resulted in Eriophorum angustifolium being announced as the County Flower of Greater Manchester.
## Taxonomy
The species was named Eriophorum angustifolium in 1782 by the German botanist Gerhard August Honckeny. The German botanist Albrecht Wilhelm Roth published this name in 1788, referring to Honckeny's work, and is sometimes erroneously considered the author of the species name. The genus name Eriophorum consists of two Ancient Greek roots – εριων (erion, "wool") and -φόρος (-phoros, "-bearing") – referring to the fibrous seed-heads of the genus, which resemble tufts of thread. The specific epithet angustifolium is composed of the Latin words angustus ("narrow") and folium ("leaf"). The Linnaean name Eriophorum polystachion is a nomen rejiciendum, being based on a mixed batch of specimens. Scirpus angustifolius is a later combination published by the Japanese botanist Tetsuo Koyama in 1958, but this generic assignment is not widely accepted.
Two subspecies are recognised within E. angustifolium. The autonymous subspecies, E. angustifolium subsp. angustifolium, is found in more southerly sites, while E. angustifolium subsp. triste has an overlapping distribution centred further north. The two also differ in height and the roughness of the peduncles, with E. a. subsp. angustifolium being up to 100 cm (39 in) tall and having smooth-surfaced peduncles, while E. a. subsp. triste has rough peduncles and only reaches 30 cm (12 in) tall.
In English, E. angustifolium is known by a variety of common names (with various spellings), including common cottongrass, common cotton-grass, common cottonsedge, tassel cotton grass, many-headed cotton-grass, thin-scale cotton-grass, tall cotton-grass, downy ling and bog cotton.
## Cultivation
Although "difficult to grow under cultivation", The Royal Horticultural Society states Eriophorum angustifolium can be cultivated as a low-maintenance wildflower, suitable for meadows, ponds margins or bog gardens. This may be done in sheltered or exposed terrain, but best accomplished with full sun at a south- or west-facing aspect, in water up to 5 centimetres (2.0 in) deep. Poorly-drained peat, sand, clay or loam with an acidic soil pH is required. Division in spring is the recommended form of propagation for the species, and regular deadheading is the recommended method of pruning. Narthecium ossifragum and Myrica gale are suitable for companion planting with E. angustifolium. Eriophorum angustifolium is "generally pest free". As a seedling and young plant it is eaten by sheep and cattle, and a variety of goose species. It is tolerant to chalybeate (iron-enriched) water, but may succumb to powdery mildews. | [
"## Description",
"## Distribution and ecology",
"### Distribution",
"### Ecology",
"### Conservation",
"## In human culture",
"## Taxonomy",
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] | 2,700 | 23,704 |
62,817,790 | SMS Württemberg (1917) | 1,159,815,101 | Battleship of the German Imperial Navy | [
"1917 ships",
"Bayern-class battleships",
"Ships built in Hamburg",
"World War I battleships of Germany"
] | SMS Württemberg was the fourth and final member of the Bayern-class dreadnought battleships ordered but never finished for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the 1910s, sometimes considered to be part of a sub-class with her sister Sachsen. She was to be armed with the same main battery of eight 38 cm (15 in) guns in four gun turrets. Originally intended to serve as a fleet flagship, the start of World War I in July 1914 forced the Navy to simplify her design in the hopes that she could be completed in time to see service during the conflict. She was laid down in January 1915 at the Germaniawerft shipyard, but as resources were diverted to more pressing projects, including U-boat construction, work on the ship slowed; she was launched in June 1917, but only to clear the slipway for other work. By the time construction stopped, she was about twelve months from completion. The Treaty of Versailles that ended the war in June 1919 specified that all warships under construction in Germany were to be destroyed, and Württemberg was accordingly sold for scrap in 1921 and dismantled the following year.
## Development
Design work on the Bayern class began in 1910 in the context of the Anglo-German naval arms race, with initial discussions focused on the caliber of the main battery; previous German battleships had carried 30.5 cm (12 in) guns, but as foreign navies adopted 34 cm (13.5 in) and 35.6 cm (14 in) weapons, the German naval command felt the need to respond with larger guns of their own. They considered 32 cm (12.6 in), 38 cm (15 in), and 40 cm (15.7 in) guns. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the State Secretary of the Reichsmarineamt (RMA—Imperial Naval Office), was able to use public outcry over the Agadir Crisis to pressure the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) into appropriating additional funds for the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) to offset the additional cost of the larger weapons. The design staff settled on the 38 cm caliber since the 40 cm was significantly more expensive and the 38 cm gun marked a significant improvement over existing German guns. The class was authorized under the fourth and final Naval Law, which was passed in 1912.
As work on the first two units of the class—Bayern and Baden—began, the design staff examined the latest developments in foreign warships and learned that the latest British battleships, the Queen Elizabeth class, would have a high top speed. This prompted them to alter the third member of the class, Sachsen, to include a diesel engine. Sachsen's length increased to accommodate the larger engine, increasing displacement by about 200 t (197 long tons) over the earlier members of the class. As work began on Württemberg, the last member of the class, the designers intended to retain the increased dimensions while reverting to an all-steam turbine arrangement. The savings in weight would be used to improve Württemberg's armor layout. This proved to be impossible, because the decision was made to outfit the new vessel as a fleet flagship, and the larger bridge necessary for an admiral's staff more than offset the reduction in weight. Indeed, the alterations forced the design staff to increase standard displacement by another 200 t. Cost of the new ships spiraled higher and higher; Württemberg amounted to an 8.6 percent increase over Sachsen, which was in turn a 13 percent increase over the estimated costs for Bayern and Baden.
Tirpitz presented the finalized design for the new ship to Kaiser Wilhelm II for approval in June 1914, during the Kiel Week sailing regatta, calculated to take advantage of Wilhelm's good mood to secure his approval for the skyrocketing price. Wilhelm registered no objection, but events were to rapidly force Tirpitz to rework the design. Later that month, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated, leading to the July Crisis that started World War I in late July. On 2 August, Tirpitz issued instructions that Württemberg was to be completed as quickly as possible to strengthen the fleet now that the country was at war; the ship was to be completed identically to Sachsen, albeit without the diesel engine, discarding the modifications to her bridge structure. The contract for the ship was quickly awarded to AG Vulcan.
## Description
Württemberg was 181.8 m (596 ft 5 in) long at the waterline, and 182.4 m (598 ft 5 in) long overall. She had a beam of 30 m (98 ft 5 in) and a draft of between 9.3–9.4 m (30 ft 6 in – 30 ft 10 in). Württemberg would have displaced 28,800 metric tons (28,300 long tons) at her designed displacement, which did not include a full load of supplies, fuel, and other operational necessities; at full load, she would have displaced up to 32,500 metric tons (32,000 long tons). Though her sister Sachsen was to receive a diesel engine, Württemberg reverted to an all-steam turbine propulsion system like her earlier sisters. Steam for the engines was provided by nine coal-fired and three oil-burning water-tube boilers. The propulsion system was rated to produce 48,000 metric horsepower (47,000 shp) for a maximum speed of 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph). Her engines would have provided a cruising range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Upon commissioning, she would have carried a crew of 42 officers and 1,129 enlisted men.
Had she been completed, the ship would have been armed with eight 38 cm (15 in) SK L/45 guns. These would have been arranged in four twin-gun turrets: two superfiring turret pairs fore and aft of the superstructure. Her secondary armament was to have consisted of sixteen 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and four 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns. She would also have been fitted with five 60 cm (23.6 in) torpedo tubes submerged in her hull, one in the bow and two on each broadside. The ship had an armored belt that was 170–350 mm (6.7–13.8 in) thick and an armored deck that was 60–100 mm (2.4–3.9 in) thick. Her forward conning tower had 400 mm (15.7 in) sides, and the main battery turrets had 350 mm thick sides and 200 mm (7.9 in) thick roofs.
## Construction and cancellation
Württemberg, ordered under the provisional name Ersatz Kaiser Wilhelm II to replace the old pre-dreadnought Kaiser Wilhelm II, was named for the earlier ironclad corvette Württemberg, which had been built in the 1870s. The ship had been scheduled for the 1915 fiscal year, but due to the start of the war, she was begun early using war funds. The contract that had been awarded to AG Vulcan was finalized on 29 December 1914, which specified the beginning of construction in January 1915, her launching in mid-1916, and completion in early 1917. Her keel was laid down in Hamburg on 4 January 1915 under yard number 386, and AG Vulcan intended to rush work on the ship as much as possible. But as resources and manpower were diverted to other, more pressing projects like the U-boat campaign against Britain, work on the ship slowed.
By December 1915, about 31 percent of her hull had been completed, which amounted to 60 percent of her outer hull plating below the waterline, 75 percent of her inner bottom, and 50 percent of her lower decks and bulkheads below the armor deck. Work on assembling her propulsion system had begun in the workshop alongside the slipway, as had the manufacturing of her armor plate. Further work on the hull proceeded more slowly in 1916, and her launching date was repeatedly delayed until she finally was ready to exit the slipway on 20 June 1917, a year behind schedule. By that time, there was no intention to complete the ship, and her launching was primarily intended to clear the slipway for other projects.
After Germany resumed and greatly expanded the unrestricted submarine warfare campaign in February 1917, Admiral Eduard von Capelle, who had by then replaced Tirpitz as the head of the RMA, argued that capital ship construction should be halted in favor of U-boat construction. The RMA filed a report dated 1 February 1918, which stated that capital ship construction had stopped, primarily due to the shifting priorities to the U-boat war. When work stopped on Württemberg altogether, she was about twelve months from completion. The eight 38 cm guns that had been manufactured for Württemberg were instead converted into railway guns or fixed batteries in Flanders. The incomplete vessel was still in AG Vulcan's possession at the end of the war in November 1918. According to Article 186 of the Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919, all German surface warships under construction were to be immediately broken up for scrap. Württemberg was accordingly stricken from the naval register on 3 November 1919 and sold to ship breakers in 1921, thereafter being dismantled in Hamburg. | [
"## Development",
"## Description",
"## Construction and cancellation"
] | 2,057 | 26,034 |
72,161,632 | 2022 Independence Bowl | 1,160,553,986 | Postseason college football bowl game | [
"2022 in sports in Louisiana",
"2022–23 NCAA football bowl games",
"December 2022 sports events in the United States",
"Houston Cougars football bowl games",
"Independence Bowl",
"Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football bowl games"
] | The 2022 Independence Bowl was an American college football bowl game played on December 23, 2022, at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The 46th annual Independence Bowl, it began at 2:04 p.m. CST and was aired on ESPN. The game featured the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns from the Sun Belt Conference and the Houston Cougars from the American Athletic Conference. It was one of the 2022–23 bowl games concluding the 2022 FBS football season. Sponsored by engineering services company Radiance Technologies, the game was officially known as the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl.
Louisiana started the game by scoring a touchdown on their first drive of the game, which took nearly half of the first quarter, and they extended their lead to 13–0 by successfully converting two field goals within the first eight minutes of the second quarter. Houston scored their first points with a 33-yard pass by quarterback Clayton Tune with three minutes remaining until halftime but the extra point was unsuccessful and the Ragin' Cajuns' lead remained seven points. Louisiana took a 16–6 lead into halftime with the help of a third made field goal with two seconds left in the half, but those were the last points recorded by the Ragin' Cajuns; another passing touchdown by Tune proved to be the only scoring play of the third quarter, a Cougars field goal tied the game at 16 points apiece early in the fourth quarter, and a touchdown with twenty seconds left in the game gave Houston their first lead and the win shortly thereafter.
## Teams
The bowl has tie-ins with Conference USA and FBS independent Army. However, this year it featured the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns from the Sun Belt Conference and the Houston Cougars from the American Athletic Conference (AAC or "The American"). Despite Army's 6–6 record, they were not bowl eligible due to two of their wins coming against Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams. This was the 10th meeting between Houston and Louisiana; the Cougars led the all-time series, 6–3, entering the game. The teams first met in 1946 and had most recently played on October 7, 2006, when Louisiana defeated Houston, 31–28.
### Louisiana
The Ragin' Cajuns, from the Sun Belt Conference, ended the regular season with a record of 6–6 (4–4 in conference play). Their coach was Michael Desormeaux, in his first year. This was the tenth bowl game appearance for Louisiana; they had a 7–2 record in prior games but an official record of 5–2 after two of their victories were vacated due to penalties handed down by the NCAA because of infractions committed by former coach David Saunders. Their last bowl game was the 2021 New Orleans Bowl, which they won; this was their first Independence Bowl appearance.
Louisiana's defense entered the game having been a bright spot for the team during the season, as they ranked in the top 25 nationally in turnover margin. On offense, Louisiana was without quarterback Ben Wooldridge due to an injury, while wide receiver Michael Jefferson and defensive end Andrew Jones opted out due to draft preparation.
### Houston
The Cougars, a member of the American Athletic Conference, finished the regular season with a record of 7–5 (5–3 in conference play). The Cougars were led by fourth-year head coach Dana Holgorsen. The Cougars made their 30th all-time bowl game appearance, and they entered with a 12–16–1 record in prior bowl games having last played in the 2021 Birmingham Bowl. This was the Cougars' first Independence Bowl appearance. This was Houston's final game as a member of the American Athletic Conference, as the Cougars are set to join the Big 12 Conference in 2023.
The Houston offense was led by quarterback Clayton Tune, who entered the game with the AAC record for career touchdown passes with 101 and needed two touchdown passes in the game to pass Tanner Mordecai for the AAC single-season record. Tune had wide receiver Nathaniel Dell for the game, despite Dell's declaration for the NFL Draft. The Houston defense, in contrast, did not enter the game as strongly, as they ranked No. 110 nationally in scoring defense and were generally regarded as the team's weakest aspect.
Holgorsen wore a black hoodie with "STATE" on the front as an homage to his late mentor and coach Mike Leach, who died on December 12, 2022. Holgorsen played for Leach at Iowa Wesleyan University and was a part of Leach's coaching staff at Texas Tech; at the time of his death, Leach was the head coach at Mississippi State.
## Game summary
The Independence Bowl was televised by ESPN, with a commentary team of Dave Neal, Deuce McAllister, and Harry Lyles Jr. The game's officiating crew, representing Conference USA, was led by referee Scott Hardin and umpire Antonio Barrial. The game was played at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana, where the weather at kickoff was clear with a temperature of 25 °F (−4 °C) and a wind chill of 12 °F (−11 °C).
### First half
The game began at 2:05 p.m. CST with the opening kickoff by Kyle Ramsey. Louisiana's opening drive was a long one, as they drove 75 yards in 15 plays, converting two third downs and a fourth down along the way. After nearly seven and a half minutes, the Ragin' Cajuns found the end zone as quarterback Chandler Fields passed to wide receiver Johnny Lumpkin for a 4-yard touchdown for the game's first points. Houston faced a 4th & 1 early into their opening drive and converted it, though their next series ended in a fourth-and-long and the Cougars punted. Louisiana punted for the first time on their next drive, though the kick went only 19 yards and was downed at the Houston 48-yard-line. Houston faced 3rd & 6 early in their next drive, and converted, before a 4-yard rush by Brandon Campbell ended the quarter.
Clayton Tune was sacked on the first play of the second quarter and two plays later, Houston failed to convert 4th & 1 and turned the ball over on downs to the Ragin' Cajuns. Several completions by Fields and a long rush by Dre'lyn Washington set up a 42-yard field goal attempt for placekicker Kenneth Almendares, which he made to increase Louisiana's lead to ten points. Houston went three-and-out for the first time on their next drive, and the ensuing punt return was returned by Eric Garror to the Houston 27-yard-line. Louisiana's offense was unable to produce much but the Ragin' Cajuns were able to attempt another 42-yard field goal due to their good starting field position. Almendares made this kick too, increasing Louisiana's lead to 13 points. Houston scored for the first time on their next drive, as they drove 80 yards in nine plays and converted a 4th & 2 just past midfield along the way. Their scoring play was a 33-yard completion from Tune to KeSean Carter. Louisiana's final possession of the half was a long 14-play drive that began at their own 12-yard-line and reached the Houston 6-yard-line with 2 seconds remaining, at which point they successfully attempted a 22-yard field goal and entered halftime with a ten-point lead.
### Second half
The second half began much like the first with a long drive that ended with a touchdown, though this one was for Houston rather than Louisiana. The Cougars started at their own 30-yard-line and crossed midfield in four plays, after which they ran nine more before reaching the end zone with a 2-yard pass from Tune to Nathaniel Dell. Louisiana gave the ball right back with a fumble on their second play of the quarter, and Houston recovered at the Louisiana 36-yard-line. They were unable to capitalize as they failed to convert 4th & 1 from the Louisiana 5-yard-line, resulting in a turnover on downs. Louisiana gained a first down on their first play but stalled from there as they punted several plays later and gave Houston the ball back at the Louisiana 33-yard-line following the return by Peyton Sawyer. Houston gained several first downs and reached the Louisiana 9-yard-line before a sack by Ja'Marian Peterson and Jourdan Quibodeaux ended the third quarter.
Houston advanced to the Louisiana 2-yard-line but stalled from there and converted a 19-yard field goal to tie the game at 16 points apiece. The Ragin' Cajuns reached the Houston 9-yard-line on their next possession following a 25-yard rush by backup quarterback Zeon Chriss, who entered in place of the injured starter Fields, but fumbled on the next play, and the ball was recovered by Houston's Donavan Mutin. The Cougars went three-and-out and punted from their own 23-yard-line, and Louisiana punted the ball back to Houston after a 5-play drive that gained 11 yards in total. Houston's first play after regaining possession was a 33-yard rush by Tune that reached the Houston 41-yard-line, though a holding penalty set them back ten yards on the next play. A 41-yard pass to KeSean Carter moved the ball into Louisiana territory on the next play, and a rush by Ta'Zhawn Henry on the next play gained 11 yards and another first down. After Tune rushed for 15 yards to advance to the Louisiana 12-yard-line, he completed a pass to Dell for a touchdown to take a seven-point lead with 20 seconds left in the game. Louisiana suffered a sack fumble that they recovered before Chriss threw an interception at their own 45-yard-line. Houston took a knee on their next play, the final snap of the game, to close out a 23–16 win. The game ended at 5:40 p.m. after a total duration of three hours and 36 minutes.
### Scoring summary
## Statistics | [
"## Teams",
"### Louisiana",
"### Houston",
"## Game summary",
"### First half",
"### Second half",
"### Scoring summary",
"## Statistics"
] | 2,114 | 11,597 |
43,342,767 | The Boat Race 1973 | 999,448,636 | null | [
"1973 in English sport",
"1973 in rowing",
"1973 sports events in London",
"April 1973 sports events in the United Kingdom",
"The Boat Race"
] | The 119th Boat Race took place on 7 April 1973. Held annually, the Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. It was won by Cambridge who passed the finishing post thirteen lengths ahead of Oxford, the largest winning margin since the 1955 race. Despite being pre-race favourites, Oxford's warm-up saw them take on board a large amount of water in rough conditions.
In the reserve race, Goldie beat Isis, and in the Women's Boat Race, Cambridge were victorious.
## Background
The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing competition between the University of Oxford (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues") and the University of Cambridge (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues"). First held in 1829, the race takes place on the 4.2 miles (6.8 km) Championship Course on the River Thames in southwest London. The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities and followed throughout the United Kingdom and broadcast worldwide. Cambridge went into the race as reigning champions, having beaten Oxford by 9+1⁄2 lengths in the previous year's race. Cambridge held the overall lead, with 66 victories to Oxford's 51 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877). The race was umpired by former Oxford Blue Ronnie Howard who had rowed in the 1957 and 1959 races.
The first Women's Boat Race took place in 1927, but did not become an annual fixture until the 1960s. Up until 2014, the contest was conducted as part of the Henley Boat Races, but as of the 2015 race, it is held on the River Thames, on the same day as the men's main and reserve races. The reserve race, contested between Oxford's Isis boat and Cambridge's Goldie boat has been held since 1965. It usually takes place on the Tideway, prior to the main Boat Race.
It was the first year since 1927 that the main race was not covered in full on any of the BBC's national radio networks. Its 4.15pm start coincided with the conclusion of the FA Cup semi-finals, and it had been decided that the rowing would be broadcast in full on the BBC World Service and BBC Radio Oxford only. Commentator John Snagge who had described every race since 1931 was disappointed: "I do not want to be unreasonable but I am a little surprised that for an event like the Boat Race, with its tradition and history, the BBC cannot find 20 minutes on one of its four networks to carry it in full."
Oxford's preparations for the race including coming second only to Leander Club in the Head of the River Race. Both crews had to cope with strong winds in their outings, with large pieces of driftwood providing additional hazards to the boats. Cambridge's number four, Chris Baillieu, recovered from a back injury while his cox, Mike Williams, spent time before the race recuperating from an upset stomach. Their number seven, Steven Tourek, was also forced from the boat with illness, missing several days training. Cambridge were coxed by Lou Barry. Oxford's boat, built by Swiss manufacturer Stämpfli was considered suitable for "placid Continental lakes" while Cambridge's boat, while 30 pounds (14 kg) lighter than their previous year's craft, had a deeper hull and was "better equipped" for inclement conditions. In an interview with Barry Norman writing for The Observer, Oxford's stroke Sawyier had prophetically suggested: "if we do lose, I hope we're not disgraced ... it would be a kind of tawdry end of the year to be in a crew that was beaten out of sight."
## Crews
The Cambridge crew weighed over 5 pounds (2.3 kg) per rower more than their opponents. Oxford saw four former Blues return, Magarey, Hall, Payne and the cox Yalouris, while Cambridge welcomed back Chris Baillieu for his fourth race and Michael Hart. Oxford's crew contained three non-British competitors, Australian Magarey, and Americans Yalouris and Sawyier (who had rowed for Harvard University and the United States Olympic team in the 1972 Summer Olympics), while Cambridge featured just one foreign participant, the American rower Tourek.
## Race
Following good performances in practice in the buildup, Oxford were considered pre-race favourites. They won the toss and elected to start on the Surrey station, handing the Middlesex side of the river to Cambridge. In the warm-up to the race, the Light Blues opted for calm waters in Wandsworth Reach while Oxford rowed part of the course, in rough conditions, up to the Mile Post and back. Arriving back at the stake boat, the Dark Blues spent considerable time attempting to alleviate their boat of large amounts of water, using their tracksuits as makeshift sponges.
Oxford made a fast start, rating over 40 strokes per minute, but in the rough conditions it resulted in more water being drawn into their boat. Cambridge "slowly but surely" took control with a lead of just under three lengths within three minutes of the start. A ten-second lead at the Mile Post was extended to sixteen seconds by Hammersmith Bridge with Oxford still taking on more water in their pursuit of the Light Blues. Oxford were 26 seconds behind at Chiswick Steps and despite a last push from Oxford to reduce the deficit, Cambridge passed the finishing post in 19 minutes 21 seconds, 13 lengths and 48 seconds ahead of their opponents. It was Cambridge's sixth consecutive victory, and their 67th overall to Oxford's 51 wins.
In the reserve race, Cambridge's Goldie beat Oxford's Isis by five lengths, their seventh consecutive victory. In the 28th running of the Women's Boat Race, Cambridge triumphed, their eleventh consecutive victory.
## Reaction
The Oxford boat club president Andy Hall said "the water was round our ankles ... we made a mistake in doing that warm-up over part of the course ... there was so much water on board that I thought 'God, we're going to sink.' It was really hopeless after that." In losing the race, Hall became the first Oxonian to lose four Boat Races in the 20th century. Jim Railton, writing in The Times summarised the race: "Cambridge beat the Tideway and the Tideway beat Oxford." According to Dickie Burnell, "to say that the race was soon over would be a mis-statement. It never really began." | [
"## Background",
"## Crews",
"## Race",
"## Reaction"
] | 1,376 | 25,256 |
30,809,590 | Typhoon Rananim | 1,164,807,306 | Pacific typhoon in 2004 | [
"2004 Pacific typhoon season",
"Retired Pacific typhoons",
"Tropical cyclones in 2004",
"Typhoons",
"Typhoons in China"
] | Typhoon Rananim, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Karen, was the strongest typhoon to make landfall on the Chinese province of Zhejiang since 1956. It formed on August 6, 2004, intensifying into a tropical storm on August 8. Rananim gradually intensified, initially moving northward before turning to the northwest and attaining typhoon status. After developing a small eye, the typhoon attained peak winds of 150 km/h (93 mph) as it passed between Taiwan and Okinawa. On August 12, Rananim moved ashore in China, and it dissipated three days later. The name Rananim means "hello" in the Chuukese language.
Impact outside of China was minimal and largely limited to heavy rains, although one death was reported in Taiwan. In the country, strong winds and heavy rainfall left heavy damage near the coast, as well as to farms further inland. Rananim destroyed 64,300 houses and damaged another 125,000. The typhoon affected 75 counties, affecting 18 million people, and overall damage was estimated at ¥20.1 billion (\$2.44 billion 2004 USD, \$ 2023 USD), primarily in Zhejiang. There were 168 deaths in China, which caused the name Rananim to be retired from the naming list.
## Meteorological history
The origins of Typhoon Rananim were from an area of convection that persisted west-northwest of Guam in early August. The system tracked generally westward in an area of moderate wind shear, maintaining a weak circulation center. On August 6, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) estimated the system developed into a tropical depression. Shortly before that time, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) initiated advisories on the system, giving it the name Karen.
Further convective organization occurred as the circulation consolidated, and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert late on August 6. The next day, the agency initiated advisories on Tropical Depression 16W about 780 km (480 mi) east of the Philippines island of Luzon. Subsequently, the depression maintained a northward track, due to its location along the northwest periphery of a near-equatorial ridge, as well as the presence of a tropical upper tropospheric trough. Although the circulation was broad, the winds intensified enough for the JMA to upgrade the depression to Tropical Storm Rananim on August 8.
Upon intensifying into a tropical storm, Rananim had a better-defined circulation than earlier in its duration; however, the convection was displaced from the center. The structure gradually organized, with increasing outflow and convective symmetry. On August 9, the storm turned toward the northwest due to a building ridge the northeast. At 0600 UTC on August 10, Rananim intensified into a typhoon about 715 km (444 mi) east-southeast of Taiwan. Steady strengthening continued, and the storm passed about 365 km (227 mi) southwest of Okinawa early on August 11. Shortly thereafter, Rananim left the PAGASA area of warning responsibility. A small eye became evident on satellite imagery, and late on August 11 the JMA estimated the typhoon attained peak winds of 150 km/h (93 mph). The JTWC, however, assessed Rananim as intensifying slightly more despite decreased outflow, reaching peak winds of 165 km/h (103 mph).
After passing north of Taiwan, Rananim made landfall at peak intensity around 1300 UTC on August 12, near Wenling in Zhejiang province in China. The China Meteorological Administration reported that the typhoon was the strongest to hit Zhejiang since Typhoon Sally in 1956. Moving over land, the typhoon quickly weakened to tropical storm status as it turned toward the west. Early on August 13, the JMA downgraded Rananim to a tropical depression and issued the last warning; by that time, the circulation was over Jiangxi. The depression lasted another two days before dissipating over northwest Hunan.
## Preparations and impact
After receiving heavy damage from Typhoon Mindulle a month earlier, residents in Taiwan prepared for Rananim by erecting sandbags along flood prone areas, while the Central Weather Bureau advised mariners to be on alert due to the storm. As it passed to the north of the country, the typhoon dropped moderate rainfall, reaching 345 mm (13.6 in) in Hsinchu. There was one death on the island. Around the same time as affecting Taiwan, Rananim passed southwest of Okinawa, producing wind gusts up to 176 km/h (109 mph), as well as heavy rainfall totaling 229 mm (9.0 in) on Miyako-jima.
Prior to the typhoon's arrival in China, officials evacuated 467,900 people, many of them to government shelters across the region. It was estimated that about 30% of coastal houses were too weak to withstand the winds from the typhoon. In addition, officials ordered the closure of all restaurants and entertainment venues. Ferry service near Shanghai was disrupted, and 9,900 ships were moved to safer areas. In addition, several airports across the region were closed, including in Shanghai.
As it moved ashore in Zhejiang, Rananim produced widespread rainfall across the country, primarily along its path. 20 stations reported totals of over 300 mm (12 in), including Yueqing where rainfall reached 703.5 mm (27.70 in) in 24 hours, setting a new record. Rananim also produced strong winds as it moved through the region, with a record-breaking gust of 211 km/h (131 mph) reported in the offshore Dachen Islands. Wenling City, where the typhoon moved ashore, reported a peak gust of 192 km/h (119 mph). High waves were also observed as Rananim made landfall, and a storm tide of 7.42 m (24.3 ft) in Haimen.
Upon moving ashore, Rananim destroyed hundreds of homes near the coast, with destroyed traffic signs and billboards, as well as widespread flooding. Strong winds caused widespread power outages and uprooted thousands of trees. About 64,300 houses were destroyed, and another 125,000 were damaged, leaving thousands of people homeless. Overall, the typhoon affected 75 counties, with 302 villages isolated due to high water. The combination of strong winds and flooding left heavy crop damage, killing 55,000 livestock, primarily cattle, and affecting 4,000 km<sup>2</sup> (1,500 sq mi) of fields; an estimated 230 km<sup>2</sup> (89 sq mi) of crops were destroyed. The typhoon severely impacted the infrastructure along its path, with 1,163 km (723 mi) of roads damaged. Further inland, the rains produced a landslide in Yueqing, which destroyed 52 houses and killed 25 people. In Shanghai, about 145 km (90 mi) north of the landfall location, Rananim left little damage, although its rainfall alleviated a heat wave. Across the country, damage was estimated at ¥20.1 billion (\$2.44 billion 2004 USD\$, 2023 USD), primarily in Zhejiang.
Overall, Rananim affected about 18 million people in China. A total of 3,321 people were injured, 185 of them seriously. By the day after Rananim moved ashore, the death toll was estimated at 29, although by the next day the total reached 115. Four days after landfall, there were 147 known deaths, which increased to 164 the following day. The final death toll was set at 168, although 24 people were missing as of the last count. Most of the deaths were from collapsed houses, with others due to flooding, landslides, or flying debris.
## Aftermath
Immediately after Rananim dissipated, the government of China allocated ¥61 million (\$7.4 million 2004 USD) for the affected people. Officials deployed over 200 members of the People's Liberation Army to assist in rescues. They used steel bars, ropes, and their hands to search through rubble for storm survivors. At the same time, utility crews worked to restore power and water in the affected areas. A few weeks after the typhoon, an earthquake and another typhoon struck the same region as Rananim had, creating additional flooding, damage, and deaths. The series of natural disasters stretched the resources of the local agencies, although the local Red Cross was still able to provide food, clothing, and blankets. The agency also launched appeals for additional relief supplies. The affected storm victims collectively received 50 tons of rice, 500 kg (1,100 lb) of pork, and 500 kg (1,100 lb) of salt, vegetables, and water. A damaged school in Yueqing required additional buildings to be built for classes to resume by September. An estimated 85% of the destroyed homes were built before or during the 1980s, compared to 10% built in the 1990s. As a result, the government rebuilt homes across the affected area to higher building standards in order to mitigate future losses from typhoons.
## Retirement
Due to the heavy damage in China, the name Rananim was retired during the 38th session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and World Meteorological Organization typhoon committee in November 2005; it was replaced with the name Fanapi. Rananim was the eighth Pacific typhoon to be retired.
## See also
- Other tropical cyclones named Karen
- Typhoon Saomai
- Typhoon Fitow
- Typhoon Matsa | [
"## Meteorological history",
"## Preparations and impact",
"## Aftermath",
"## Retirement",
"## See also"
] | 2,041 | 34,837 |
47,130,957 | Burnside Burn | 1,159,236,681 | 2015 cannabis event in Portland, Oregon | [
"2015 in Portland, Oregon",
"2015 in cannabis",
"Cannabis events in the United States",
"Cannabis in Oregon",
"Events in Portland, Oregon",
"July 2015 events in the United States",
"June 2015 events in the United States"
] | The "Burnside Burn" was an event held on the Burnside Bridge in Portland, Oregon, starting at midnight on July 1, 2015, the day recreational marijuana became legal in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was organized by Portland NORML, the local chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, having originated from its executive director, who wanted to photograph himself in front of the White Stag sign in the moments after Oregon Ballot Measure 91 took effect. The crowd, larger than anticipated, numbered in the thousands and at times blocked traffic lanes on the bridge. Some attendees wanted to commemorate the moment, while others were motivated by announcements of free marijuana and seeds. No fines were issued for consumption in public. The event was covered by cannabis publications, local and national news outlets, and the HBO television series Vice.
## Description
The "Burnside Burn" was organized by Portland NORML, the local chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, in celebration of the legalization of recreational marijuana use in Oregon and to circumnavigate a temporary limit on recreational sales. According to Russ Belville, the chapter's executive director, the event began with the idea of taking a photograph in front of the White Stag sign. He recalled: "It evolved from me saying that when legalization happens, I want to take a photo under the Portland, Oregon sign. Other people said, 'Can we give marijuana away?' [and] I said, 'I can't stop you!'"
On the evening of June 30, beginning as early as 8pm, and into the morning of July 1, 2015, between a few hundred and a few thousand people gathered on the Burnside Bridge's north sidewalk for the free event. The crowd sometimes spilled into the road and blocked multiple traffic lanes, resulting at one point in the complete blockage of west-bound traffic. Activists chanted "Free the weed" and "Fuck the DEA". Cannabis was shared and consumed openly.
The crowd was larger than anticipated and spanned the entire length of the 1,400-foot (430 m) Burnside Bridge. Belville had initially expected "between 50 and 5,000 people", but details of the event spread online and through word of mouth, and ultimately it was estimated that "thousands" had turned out. Some attendees said they were there to commemorate an historic moment, while others admitted having come for free marijuana and cannabis seeds. One man, known as "Pork Chop" (or "Porkchop"), reportedly announced over a megaphone that he had 420 pounds of marijuana to distribute, though his claim was not supported by news outlets. Two women with Ideal Farms, who wished to "share the love", distributed joints to attendees who could prove that they were of legal age. One man distributed drops of hash oil, and Belville himself shared an ounce of marijuana (the maximum allowed under Oregon Ballot Measure 91). Some participants did receive free marijuana, seeds, and/or starter plants, but many did not, due to the larger than expected crowd. Coupons were also distributed for later redemption.
Participants smoked openly and without fear. No fines were issued for consumption in public. Patrol vehicles drove by the scene a few times but did not stop. Prior to the event, police urged residents to avoid calling 9-1-1 to report public consumption, which they did not consider an emergency.
## Commentary
The event was covered by cannabis publications, local and national media outlets, and the HBO documentary television series Vice. The Oregonian described the event as "loud and energetic", attracting a diverse and "eclectic" crowd of activists, marijuana enthusiasts, and first-time consumers, some from as far away as Canada and San Diego. According to Willamette Week, attendees ranged from octogenarians to "tweens with rainbow hair" and the crowd was "generally happy". The newspaper summarized, "All and all, the mood was celebratory as befit such an historic occasion."
NORML's Kaliko Castille told The Huffington Post he was "happy to see a community able to come together—peacefully—over something positive. It's great to see people from all walks of life out here, handing out joints to each other and getting to know their neighbors." The Huffington Post's Andy Campbell called the event a "smoke-out with a message" and opined, "Legalization is so much more than being able to smoke a joint in your home without being a criminal. It's a health care issue; it's a tax revenue issue; it saves states millions in the court system; and it ends the hidden costs of prosecution, which emerge when someone can't get a job because there's a possession charge on their record." The Washington Post called the "Burnside Burn" an opportunity for marijuana enthusiasts to "celebrate their new freedom together".
## See also
- Hands Across Hawthorne, a 2011 rally held at Portland's Hawthorne Bridge | [
"## Description",
"## Commentary",
"## See also"
] | 1,022 | 12,105 |
30,631,353 | Tourism in Malta | 1,158,138,806 | Tourism in Malta | [
"Tourism in Europe by country",
"Tourism in Malta"
] | Tourism in Malta is an important sector of the country's economy, contributing to about 15 percent of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). It is overseen by the Malta Tourism Authority, in turn falls under the responsibility of the Minister for Tourism, the Environment and Culture. Malta features a number of tourism attractions encompassing elements of the island's rich history and culture, as well as aquatic activities associated with the Mediterranean Sea. In addition, medical tourism has become popular in Malta in recent years, especially since government efforts to market the practice to medical tourists in the United Kingdom.
The number of people who visited Malta in 2009 dropped considerably compared to the figures for 2008 - overall, the country's tourism industry suffered an 8 percent drop from 2008. Visits from non-European Union countries dropped more considerably than visits from European Union countries (and even more so than visits from Eurozone countries), while the average stay length remained the same for both 2008 and 2009. Visitors from most countries require a visa to visit Malta. The nationalities requiring a visa are standardised as per European Union rules. Visitors already holding a valid Schengen Area visa most likely will not need to complete any more formalities to enter Malta, so long as they are already inside the Schengen Area. Visitors holding citizenship of the European Union do not require a visa to enter Malta as they hold the right to free movement within the European Union. In recent years, the country's tourism industry has been faced with a number of issues relating to the nation's small size, both in terms of area and population. These issues include stretched resources and infrastructure (such as water, waste management, beaches and roads), especially during the summer months of July and August.
## Attractions
Malta has a long and rich history, and this is reflected in the island's cultural attractions. The Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Romans and the Byzantines have all occupied Malta at some point in history, leaving a mix of many different architectural styles and artifacts to explore. The sovereignty of the Knights Hospitaller over Malta from 1530 to 1798 resulted in a legacy of elaborate artistry and architecture throughout Malta. The country's modern museums and art galleries feature relics from Malta's history for tourists and Maltese residents alike to enjoy.
There are also a number of aquatic activities to enjoy on Malta as well as Gozo and Comino. Northern Malta is home to the country's beach resorts and holiday areas, with the beaches most popular with holiday-makers being Mellieha Bay, Ghajn Tuffieha and Golden Bay. These beaches are large enough to be able to house cafes, restaurants and kiosks, but small enough to rarely be crowded. Malta's northwest is home to the island's quietest beaches, and it is on these that the main island's neighbouring two are nearest. Gozo and Comino are also popular beach spots for holiday-makers, although these are much more likely to be quieter, rockier and more suitable for snorkelling. The Mediterranean Sea surrounding Malta is popular for diving - while shallow dips may be attractive to beginning divers, more experienced divers may be able to dive deeper to find historical artifacts from World War II or earlier.
## Major event tourism
Major event tourism, especially events centred on Catholicism, is an important segment of the Maltese tourism sector. During Holy Week, processions and religious services dominate the country and food stalls are set up in the village squares of Malta. Another popular major event is Carnival, a five centuries-old traditional celebration lasting for the five days preceding Ash Wednesday. Celebrations for Carnival involve float-based pageants, street parties and street food stalls. They are mostly Roman Catholic.
One of the biggest sporting events held on the island is the Malta Marathon. Held every year in late February or early March, the race attracts a number of international competitors and has been sponsored by Land Rover since 2009, BMW from 2003 to 2008, GoMobile in 2002 and Flora Malta in 2001 and prior. In 2009, the full marathon winner, a Belgian, recorded a time of 2:25:59. In 2010, approximately 1,400 entrants participated.
## Medical tourism
Since 2010, the Malta Tourism Authority has been marketing Malta as a medical tourism destination. Focus areas for medical tourism include "cosmetic surgery, orthopedics, ophthalmic, neurological, urological, oncology, diagnostic, bariatric and cardiac services." The focus target market for medical tourists in Malta is the United Kingdom, followed by North Africa, the Middle East, Russia and North America. Part of the reason for targeting the United Kingdom for medical tourists is that many members of Malta's medical profession were trained in the United Kingdom, increasing the confidence of British patients in those taking care of them. In addition, unlike some medical tourism destinations, Malta has a stable political climate. The Maltese government supports the development of medical tourism on the island but believes that private medical providers should be performing medical procedures, not government-run facilities.
## Educational Tourism in ESL Industry
Educational tourism highly contributes to the number of yearly inbound tourists in Malta. In recent years Malta has successfully become a dominant country in the ESL (English as a Second Language) industry. This can be attributed to the fact that English is an official language in Malta, as well as the congenial climate, cultural and historical heritage, the safe environment and high standard of living.
This has resulted in numerous quality English language schools operating on the islands throughout the year. While most of the English language schools are on Malta, some institutions have a centre on Gozo as well. In addition, there has been an increase in monitoring boards, teacher training courses, conferences and assessment procedures to ensure quality tuition is upheld.
English language schools in Malta are accredited and licensed by various international and local institutions within the ESL industry. Such associations include IALC (International Association of Language Centres), ALTO (Association of language travel organisations), FELTOM (The Federation of English Language Teaching Organisations Malta), ELT Council, Bildungsurlaub, Erasmus, and Malta Tourism Authority.
## Visas
In addition to a valid passport, "documents substantiating the purpose and the conditions of the planned visit" and "sufficient means of support, both for the period of the planned visit and to return to their country of origin," travellers arriving in Malta may be required to have a visa for entry into the country.
European Union citizens have the right to travel freely into Malta without completing any special formalities. The nationals of many countries are not required to hold visas to enter Malta, although many are in accordance with uniform European Union regulations. A full list of nationalities required to hold visas to enter Malta and the Schengen Area is published on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' web site.
While Malta cannot unilaterally drop the requirement for nations it makes agreements with to obtain visas to enter the Schengen Area through its border crossing points, it is permitted to offer visa discounts to certain nationalities. At present, Malta has 'visa facilitation agreements' with eight nations: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Macedonia, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine.
## Statistics
Tourism is a major component of the Maltese economy, constituting about 40 per cent of Malta's GDP in 2003/04. 1,183,012 tourists visited Malta in 2009. Although this is an 8 per cent drop from 2008, the number of tourists is expected to reach 1,300,000 by the end of 2010 (figures are not yet available). For the period January to December 2009, drops were recorded in visits from most countries sending large numbers of tourists to Malta, including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Russia, the Scandinavian countries, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States, whilst a 24.7 per cent increase was recorded in visits to and from Libya. Visits from non-European Union countries took the greatest hit, with visits from these countries decreasing by 15 per cent compared to 2008. Comparatively, visits from European Union countries decreased only 7.4 per cent. Visits from the Eurozone dropped by an even smaller proportion, recording a fall of only 5.6 per cent.
The vast majority of visitors to Malta stayed for seven nights or longer, with the average stay length being 8.5 nights. While the number of people staying seven nights or longer in Malta fell by 13.4 per cent in 2009 compared to 2008, the number of people staying four to six nights jumped 7.5 per cent, and one to three nights by 1.5 per cent. Expenditure by tourists to Malta declined 12 per cent when compared to 2008 levels, with a recorded value of EUR 916.4 million.
### Arrivals by country
Most visitors arriving to Malta on short-term basis were from the following countries of nationality:
### Historical trends
Tourism in Malta began to grow beginning in the mid-1960s. During the 1970s, Maltese tourism grew significantly, with numbers growing from 170,800 in 1970 to 705,500 in 1981. From 1981, the figures dropped to approximately 500,000 visitors per year until the late 1980s, when an upward trend began again. In the mid-1990s, figures were as high as 1.2 million tourists per year.
The volatility of the Maltese tourism market in the past has been largely due to trends in the preferences of tourists from the United Kingdom, who comprise Malta's largest tourism market. Although Malta's uniform use of English, its traditional ties to the United Kingdom and low-cost travel options have made it an attractive option to British tourists, changing preferences of these tourists can impact Malta's tourism income quite significantly. For example, the increasing preference of British tourists for Spanish destinations during the 1980s was reflected in a drop in Malta's tourism numbers during that period.
## Market issues
Malta's tourism industry faces a number of issues affecting it now and threatening to affect it in the future. One of the clearest issues facing Malta's tourism industry is overcrowding as a result of the island nation's relatively small size, in terms of both area and population. Malta is a nation of just under 450,000 people, yet its infrastructure is required to support 2.6 million tourists every year. Malta's water works, roads, waste management systems and beaches are stretched to capacity in the summer months of July and August of every year, when tourism numbers are at their peak. This is a challenge facing Maltese tourism operators as it means that they cannot simply pursue the kinds of 'mass tourism' marketing measures taken by operators in other Mediterranean destinations with more space and resources to pursue them. In addition, Maltese tourism operators must balance increased tourism numbers with the needs of the 'native population', as when resources are stretched thin by tourists during the summer season, there are negative impacts on Maltese residents also.
## See also
- List of museums in Malta | [
"## Attractions",
"## Major event tourism",
"## Medical tourism",
"## Educational Tourism in ESL Industry",
"## Visas",
"## Statistics",
"### Arrivals by country",
"### Historical trends",
"## Market issues",
"## See also"
] | 2,314 | 4,018 |
19,032,852 | Eldridge Recasner | 1,164,319,827 | American basketball player (born 1967) | [
"1967 births",
"20th-century African-American sportspeople",
"21st-century African-American people",
"African-American basketball players",
"American expatriate basketball people in Germany",
"American expatriate basketball people in Turkey",
"American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines",
"American men's basketball players",
"Atlanta Hawks players",
"Basketball coaches from Louisiana",
"Basketball players from New Orleans",
"Brose Bamberg players",
"Charlotte Hornets players",
"Denver Nuggets players",
"Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players",
"Great Taste Coffee Makers players",
"Houston Rockets players",
"Living people",
"Los Angeles Clippers players",
"Philippine Basketball Association imports",
"Point guards",
"Sioux Falls Skyforce coaches",
"Sportspeople from New Orleans",
"Undrafted National Basketball Association players",
"Washington Huskies men's basketball players",
"Yakima Sun Kings players"
] | Eldridge David Recasner (born December 14, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. In college, he was a three-time All-Pac-10 Conference guard for the Washington Huskies men's basketball team. After college, he played in a variety of professional leagues such as the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), Europe and the Philippine Basketball Association before entering the NBA. He subsequently played for several National Basketball Association (NBA) teams including the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets and Los Angeles Clippers.
In the 1994–95 season, his fifth season after college, he earned the CBA MVP award while leading the Yakima Sun Kings to the league championship. After that CBA season was completed, he signed to play in the NBA at the end of the 1994–95 NBA season for the Nuggets. The following season, he earned a spot on the roster of the two-time defending champion Rockets. He played in the NBA for seven more seasons. He had a career 41% three-point shot field goal percentage and 89% free throw percentage in eight NBA seasons. In each of his first four full seasons in the NBA, he shot at least 40% from the three-point line, but he suffered injuries as a passenger during an accident in an automobile driven by Derrick Coleman before the 1999–2000 season and never achieved the same level of success after the accident. He later became an assistant coach for the Sioux Falls Skyforce.
## Amateur career
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Recasner was introduced to basketball in fifth grade by his uncles. His first organized game was in junior high school. During the first game, Recasner scored on the wrong basket because he had learned the game on a half-court one-basket basketball court. While growing up, he admired Dr. J, George Gervin, and Marques Johnson. He attended Alfred Lawless High School in New Orleans and was a high school teammate with Robert Pack. Recasner was a senior when Pack was a sophomore. Recasner was a better professional prospect than Pack and outscored Gary Payton five of nine times when the two point guards opposed each other in college. In junior high, Recasner wore jersey number 32 before switching to number 14 in high school in honor of his birthday, December 14, 1967.
Recasner attended University of Washington where he played for the Huskies. He redshirted during his freshman 1985–86 season. Recasner was a member of the 1990 class at Washington, and he was a three-time All-Pac-10 guard who was selected to the Washington Huskies all-20th-century team. He was the first three-time captain of the Huskies. He led the Pac-10 in free throw shooting as a senior (88.4%). Recasner was an architecture major at Washington by his own account, but another account claims he was a black history major. Recasner once scored 29 points against the undefeated and number one ranked Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team while guarding Sean Elliott. The Wildcats won the game while scoring the most points the Huskies had ever given up (109).
## Professional career
Recasner, a , 190 pounds (86 kg) guard, was never selected in the NBA draft. However, after spending the 1990–91 season with TTL Bamberg in Germany, he played in the Global Basketball Association in 1991–92. He also played in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) for the Presto Ice Cream Kings together with Allan Caidic, Vergel Meneses, Onchie dela Cruz and others while he played during the Third Conference. Then, he returned to Washington to play in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) during the 1992–93 and 1994–95 seasons. He played in the CBA for the franchise located in Yakima, Washington, which was near to the Seattle metropolitan area where the University of Washington was located. He played in Turkey in 1993–94. After leading the Yakima Sun Kings to the CBA championships as the league MVP, he signed to a 10-day contract with the Denver Nuggets on March 3, 1995 and played in three games. For the 1995–96 NBA season he signed as a free agent with the Houston Rockets. He signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Hawks for the 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons. He then signed with the Charlotte Hornets in January of the 1998–99 season where he stayed for parts of four seasons. He ended his career with two 10-day contracts for the L.A. Clippers in January 2002 after having been waived by the team.
Recasner himself considers being signed by the two-time defending NBA Champions Houston Rockets the highlight of his career. At that point he had gone from playing in the CBA to the best team in the NBA. Recasner earned the starting point guard spot over Kenny Smith and Sam Cassell. In one of his first games as a starter, he went five for six from the three-point line in the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons. Unfortunately, by the end of the season the Rockets had several players injured and several CBA players on their roster.
His most productive seasons were the two seasons with Atlanta where he totaled over 250 rebounds, 200 assists and nearly 1000 points in 130 games. He played in four post-seasons with three teams. Three of the four teams advanced to the second round of the NBA playoffs. Recasner posted a career 41% (239–584) three-point shot field goal percentage and ranked in the league's top 10 during the 1997–98 season with a 62–148 (.419) shooting percentage. His 1995–96 season three point statistics were better at 81–191 (.424), but he did not rank in the top 10 that season. He also posted an 89% (235–265) career free throw percentage.
In a 1997 NBA Playoff game against the Chicago Bulls he got hot and scored 11 quick points in the fourth quarter to nearly help the Hawks comeback in the game to even the second-round playoff series at two games apiece. At one point after a hot shooting streak, the Bulls assigned Michael Jordan to defend Recasner and the Bulls then stopped the comeback. Recasner's defense also pressured Jordan into a travelling violation in the final minute of the game. However, efforts by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen saved the day for the Bulls.
Recasner was such a good free throw shooter that once in 1998 during the midst of a 36 consecutive successful free throw streak he was fouled in a two-shot foul situation with his team down by three points and 2.3 seconds left. His team needed him to make the first and miss the second, but he was unable to miss.
On October 27, 1999 he was hospitalized in an automobile driven by Derrick Coleman. Coleman had been driving a Sport utility vehicle and had collided with a tractor trailer and was charged with drunk driving. Coleman was eventually acquitted of the charges and found guilty of "unsafe movement". Recasner endured a fractured right shoulder, partially collapsed lung and other injuries, and a female passenger was also hospitalized. He missed 52 games due to the accident and when he returned to the lineup he only played in seven games. Recasner was very upset with Coleman who did not even check in on whether Recasner was O.K. for over a week after the accident. On Christmas Eve 1999 during his time on the injured reserve, Recasner dragged a Continental Airlines clerk across a table by his necktie in frustration while attempting to book a flight to Texas to visit his sister, who was involved in a serious car accident. Recasner was uncertain whether his sister would survive. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor fourth-degree assault and was sentenced to a 24-month deferred sentence, 45 hours of community service and ordered to pay \$200 in court costs.
In 2004, he was named assistant coach of the Bellevue Blackhawks of the American Basketball Association.
## Personal
Recasner lives in Bellevue, Washington, during the off-season. He and his wife Karen have four children: Sydney, Erin, Lauren, and Eldridge III. Recasner had wed on August 14, 1993. During his NBA career his mother, Joyce, and sister, Schwuan, lived in New Orleans, but he lived in Bellevue. | [
"## Amateur career",
"## Professional career",
"## Personal"
] | 1,776 | 5,905 |
30,531,134 | St Tyfrydog's Church, Llandyfrydog | 1,081,712,029 | null | [
"14th-century church buildings in Wales",
"Church in Wales church buildings",
"Grade II* listed churches in Anglesey",
"Rhosybol"
] | St Tyfrydog's Church, Llandyfrydog is a small medieval church, in Llandyfrydog, Anglesey, north Wales. The date of establishment of a church on this site is unknown, but one 19th-century Anglesey historian says that it was about 450. The oldest parts of the present building (such as the nave and the chancel arch) are dated to about 1400, with the chancel dating from the late 15th or early 16th century. It is built from rough, small, squared stones, dressed with limestone. One of the windows on the south side is raised to illuminate the pulpit, a decision that in the eyes of one 19th-century commentator "disfigures the building."
According to local tradition, a standing stone about 1 mile (1.6 km) away is the petrified remains of a man who stole a bible from the church and was punished by St Tyfrydog as a result. The Welsh historian Gerald of Wales said that when the Norman lord Hugh of Montgomery was putting down the Welsh revolt led by Gruffudd ap Cynan in 1098, he kept his dogs in the church. The dogs had gone mad by the morning, and Montgomery himself was killed within a week.
The church is still in use for worship, as part of the Church in Wales, as one of four churches in a combined parish. It is a Grade II\* listed building, a national designation given to "particularly important buildings of more than special interest", in particular because it is a "good Medieval rural church which retains much of its Medieval fabric". The circular churchyard walls and an 18th-century sundial in the churchyard have also been given listed building status.
## History and location
St Tyfrydog's Church is in a wooded circular churchyard in the middle of the hamlet of Llandyfrydog in Anglesey, north Wales. It is about 6 miles (9.7 km) from the county town of Llangefni. Llandyfrydog takes its name from the church: the Welsh word llan originally meant "enclosure" and then "church", and "-dyfrydog" is a modified form of the saint's name.
The 19th-century Anglesey historian Angharad Llwyd wrote that a church was supposed to have been first built here around 450; Samuel Lewis, writing in 1849, said that the original church was established by St Tyfyrdog himself. An upright stone about 4 feet (1.2 m) high, which stands in a field about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the village, is known as "the thief of Dyfrydog". It is said by local tradition to be a man turned into stone by St Tyfyrdog for stealing the church's bible; the lump near the top of the stone is said to be the sack on the man's shoulder.
In his 1191 Itinerarium Cambriae ("Journey through Wales"), Gerald of Wales mentioned the church, saying that when the Normans were ransacking Anglesey during a Welsh revolt led by Gruffudd ap Cynan in 1098, Hugh of Montgomery, one of the Norman lords, had kept his dogs in Llandyfydog church. He added that the dogs had gone mad by the morning, and the earl had been killed within a week.
A church was recorded here in 1254 during the Norwich Taxation, but the oldest part of the present building is the nave dating from about 1400. The chancel was rebuilt at the end of the 15th century or in the first part of the following century. Restoration work took place in 1823, and then again 1862, when the present porch (on the west end of the south wall) and the vestry (to the north) were added, along with other alterations.
The church, which is still used for services as part of the Church in Wales, is one of four in the parish of Amlwch, the others being the churches of St Eleth, Amlwch, St Eilian, Llaneilian, and St Gwenllwyfo, Llanwenllwyfo. As of 2012, the priest in charge is H. V. Jones. The parish is in the deanery of Twrcelyn, the archdeaconry of Bangor and the Diocese of Bangor.
People associated with the church include the Welsh botanist Hugh Davies, born in 1739 when his father Lewis was the rector; Thomas Ellis Owen, rector from 1794, who wrote anti-Methodist pamphlets; and James Henry Cotton (rector in 1814; appointed Dean of Bangor Cathedral in 1838). The priest and antiquarian Nicholas Owen was born in Llandyfyrdog when his father was the rector (from 1750 to 1785). Owen petitioned, unsuccessfully, on three occasions to be given the living, and he was eventually buried here.
## Architecture and fittings
St Tyfrydog's is built from rough, small, squared stones, dressed with limestone. The nave measures about 24 feet 9 inches by 23 feet 6 inches (about 7.5 m by 7.2 m); the chancel is about 23 feet 3 inches by 18 feet 9 inches (about 7.1 m by 5.7 m). The roof is made of slate, with a stone bellcote at the west end housing one bell. The roof timbers are visible from inside the church. There are buttresses at the east end of the nave and at the entrance to the porch.
The oldest window is to the east side of the porch, on the south wall, which dates from about 1400; it has two lights (sections of window separated by a mullion) topped by trefoils, set in a rectangular window frame. It is echoed by a 19th-century window on the same wall, set slightly higher to illuminate the pulpit. The north wall has two rectangular windows, one with a pair of lights topped by cinquefoils, the other a single light with a trefoil at the top. One of the windows has been inserted into an opening previously used as a doorway. The east window, which has three lights, dates from the latter part of the 15th century, and is the only window to contain stained glass. Inside, the division between nave and chancel is marked with a pointed arch, dating from about 1400. Seating is provided in the form of painted box pews, dating from the 19th century, and possibly installed at the time of the restoration work in 1823.
A survey by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire in 1937 noted an 18th-century communion table, an engraved Elizabethan silver cup and a silver paten dated 1721, and a memorial inside the church dated 1791. A 19th-century writer noted a seat near the altar with "R.B. 1630" upon it, said to mark it as belonging to the Bulkeley family (who were prominent and influential landowners, in Anglesey and elsewhere in north Wales, from the 15th to the 19th centuries). The churchyard contains a number of slate tombs and a sundial made from brass, dating from the 18th century, standing in the base of a medieval stone cross.
## Assessment
The church has national recognition and statutory protection from alteration as it has been designated as a Grade II\* listed building – the second-highest of the three grades of listing, designating "particularly important buildings of more than special interest". It was given this status on 12 May 1970, being regarded "as a good Medieval rural church which retains much of its Medieval fabric". Cadw (the Welsh Assembly Government body responsible for the built heritage of Wales and for the inclusion of Welsh buildings on the statutory lists) also notes that the church still had "a rich vernacular character." The churchyard's stone wall and the sundial have both been given listed building status, at the lower level of Grade II (for "buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them").
The 19th-century writer Samuel Lewis said that it was "a lofty and venerable structure, in excellent repair", and with "a remarkably large chancel." Writing in 1859, the priest and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones said that the church was "one of the better sort" in Anglesey. At the time he saw the church, there was an old porch and the north door in the nave was still in use. He described the nave as "unusually high", and said that the window positioned to light the pulpit "disfigures the building." He also thought that the "high" chancel walls gave "great effect" to the interior. A 2009 guide to the buildings of the region described it as a "handsomely proportioned church" It particularly noted the nave, describing it as "broad, almost a square", with the chancel arch "dying into the responds." | [
"## History and location",
"## Architecture and fittings",
"## Assessment"
] | 1,930 | 34,678 |
1,919,755 | Piracy Funds Terrorism | 1,172,266,065 | null | [
"2004 mixtape albums",
"Albums produced by Diplo",
"Albums produced by M.I.A. (rapper)",
"Debut mixtape albums",
"M.I.A. (rapper) albums",
"Self-released mixtape albums"
] | Piracy Funds Terrorism Volume 1, usually referred to simply as Piracy Funds Terrorism, is a mixtape produced by British recording artist M.I.A. and American DJ Diplo featuring vocal tracks intended for M.I.A.'s debut album Arular mashed up with samples of other recordings. The mixtape was produced by the two artists at Diplo's home studio in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was not officially released, but was distributed at M.I.A.'s live shows and via the internet to promote the release of her much-delayed debut album. Despite its unofficial status, the mixtape received general acclaim among critics. Several music publications included the mixtape in their listings of the best albums of 2004.
## Recording
Recording sessions for Arular, the debut album by M.I.A., took place during 2003 and 2004, and the album was originally scheduled to be released in September 2004. Legal issues relating to the use of samples delayed this release, however, first to December and then into 2005. During the recording process, M.I.A. met DJ Diplo, and expressed an interest in working with him on a track for the album. Although their initial recording sessions together proved fruitless, Diplo conceived the idea of using the existing vocal tracks recorded for the album to produce a mixtape which could be used to promote the delayed full-length album. M.I.A. extended her stay in the United States and the two artists produced the mixtape at his home studio.
## Music and artwork
The mixtape includes early mixes of the vocals intended for Arular, mashed up with samples of tracks including "Walk Like an Egyptian" by The Bangles, "Big Pimpin'" by Jay-Z and "Push It" by Salt-n-Pepa. Tunes by Baby, dead Prez, Missy Elliott, Ciara, LL Cool J and Cutty Ranks are also included. Necessary legal clearance for the use of these samples was not obtained, with the result that the mixtape could not be sold in record shops and could only be distributed by word of mouth. In addition to pop and hip hop, global music styles are included in the mix. The track "Galang" incorporates elements of reggaeton, and three tracks consist of Brazilian baile funk.
The cover features a photograph of M.I.A. wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "Complaints Department" placed above a picture of a hand grenade. Arranged around the title are a series of smaller pictures depicting dancers, rioters and riot police. According to Diplo, the pressing was handled by a "little storefront-house" which specialises in producing mixtapes.
## Release and reception
An initial pressing of 1,000 copies of the mixtape was produced and given to M.I.A.'s record label. The label began sending the copies out as promotional recordings, prompting Diplo to ask for the remaining copies to be returned so that he could distribute them at shows and in clubs, which he felt was a more appropriate method of distribution for the mixtape. He stated that around 2,000 copies of the recording were produced in total.
The mixtape received general acclaim among music critics, despite not being an official release. In a review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau said he was more interested in hearing M.I.A.'s own original music than a mashup: "I find more fascination—and pleasure, if not variety—in M.I.A. juxtaposed against herself than in, for instance, favela funk juxtaposed against 'Walk Like an Egyptian'. Which isn't to deny I also find all these good things in favela funk juxtaposed against 'Walk Like an Egyptian'." Rollie Pemberton from Stylus Magazine called Piracy Funds Terrorism "a genre-bending adventure in shattered preconceptions and club killing beats" and said that, based on the strength of the mixtape, M.I.A.'s first official album had a lot to live up to. Village Voice critic Tom Breihan later expressed relief that M.I.A.'s aesthetic and her debut album did not have much input from Diplo.
Piracy Funds Terrorism was voted the 23rd best album of 2004 in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide, published by The Village Voice. Pitchfork ranked it at number 12 on their year-end albums list, and later at number 103 on their decade-end list of top 200 albums from the 2000s.
## Track listing
The first pressing of Piracy Funds Terrorism had an incorrect track listing, which was fixed for the second pressing, the track listing for which is as follows:
For the third pressing, two tracks featuring beats created by Cavemen were replaced with new material due to legal issues.
## Personnel
The only credits on the cover are as follows:
- Hollertronix/Wes Gully (Diplo) – executive production
- Maya Arul (M.I.A.) – "executive mish mash"
- Knox Robinson – worldwide A&R | [
"## Recording",
"## Music and artwork",
"## Release and reception",
"## Track listing",
"## Personnel"
] | 1,037 | 8,576 |
887,753 | Roger Peckinpaugh | 1,135,498,719 | American baseball player and manager | [
"1891 births",
"1977 deaths",
"Baseball coaches from Ohio",
"Baseball managers",
"Baseball players from Ohio",
"Chicago White Sox players",
"Cleveland Indians executives",
"Cleveland Indians managers",
"Cleveland Indians players",
"Kansas City Blues (baseball) managers",
"Major League Baseball player-managers",
"Major League Baseball shortstops",
"Minor league baseball managers",
"New Haven Prairie Hens players",
"New York Yankees managers",
"New York Yankees players",
"People from Wooster, Ohio",
"Portland Beavers players",
"Washington Senators (1901–1960) players"
] | Roger Thorpe Peckinpaugh (February 5, 1891 – November 17, 1977) was an American professional baseball player shortstop and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1910 through 1927, during which he played for the Cleveland Naps, New York Yankees, Washington Senators and Chicago White Sox.
Nap Lajoie discovered Peckinpaugh as a high school student, and signed him to his first professional contract. Peckinpaugh debuted with the Naps, who traded him to the Yankees in 1913. He managed the Yankees for 20 games in 1914 and was the team captain for the remainder of his time with the club. The Senators acquired Peckinpaugh, where he continued to play until his final season, spent with the White Sox. After his playing career, Peckinpaugh managed the Indians from 1928 through 1933 and in 1941. He was also a minor league baseball manager, and served in the front office of the Indians and Buffalo Bisons from 1942 through 1947.
Peckinpaugh was considered an excellent defensive shortstop and strong leader. When he managed the Yankees, he became the youngest manager in MLB history. He was named American League Most Valuable Player in 1925. He played in the World Series three times: winning the 1924 World Series with the Senators, losing the 1921 World Series with the Yankees, and losing the 1925 World Series with the Senators.
## Early life and amateur career
Peckinpaugh was born in Wooster, Ohio, the third child of Frank and Cora Peckinpaugh. His father played semi-professional baseball.
At a young age, the Peckinpaughs moved from Wooster to Cleveland. He attended East High School, where he played American football, basketball, and baseball. There, Nap Lajoie of the Cleveland Naps, who lived in the same neighborhood, discovered Peckinpaugh. Lajoie signed Peckinpaugh to a contract with a salary of \$125 per month (\$ in current dollar terms) when he graduated from high school in 1910.
## Playing career
### Cleveland Naps and New York Yankees (1910–1921)
The Naps started Peckinpaugh's professional career by assigning him to the New Haven Prairie Hens of the Class-B Connecticut League. He was promoted to the Naps to make his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in September 1910, playing in 15 games for the Naps at age 19. The Naps assigned Peckinpaugh to the Portland Beavers of the Class-A Pacific Coast League for the entire 1911 season. He appeared in 70 games for the Naps in 1912, batting only .212. On May 25, 1913, after giving the starting shortstop position to Ray Chapman, the Naps traded Peckinpaugh to the New York Yankees for Jack Lelivelt and Bill Stumpf.
The Naps soon regretted the trade. With the Yankees, Peckinpaugh emerged as a team leader. He was named captain in 1914 by manager Frank Chance. Chance resigned with three weeks remaining in the season, and Peckinpaugh served as player–manager for the remainder of the season; at the age of 23, he became the youngest manager in MLB history. He finished the 1914 season fifth in the AL with 38 stolen bases.
Bill Donovan was hired as the Yankees manager in the offseason. In the 1914–15 offseason, Peckinpaugh considered leaving the Yankees to join the Federal League, as he received offers from the Chicago Federals, Buffalo Blues, and Indianapolis Hoosiers. After considering the offer from Chicago, he chose to stay with the Yankees, and received a three-year contract worth \$6,000 (\$ in current dollar terms) per season from 1915 through 1917. He resigned with the Yankees in 1918. Peckinpaugh tied Buck Weaver for fourth in runs scored (89) and several players for eighth in home runs (7) in the 1919 season.
By the 1921 season, Peckinpaugh was one of three players, along with Wally Pipp and Bob Shawkey, remaining with the Yankees from the time Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston purchased the team in 1915. The Yankees reached the World Series in 1921, losing to the New York Giants. Peckinpaugh set an MLB record for most assists in one game by a shortstop with nine.
### Washington Senators and Chicago White Sox (1922–1926)
Peckinpaugh was traded twice during the 1921–22 offseason. On December 20, 1921, the Yankees traded Peckinpaugh with Rip Collins, Bill Piercy, Jack Quinn and \$100,000 (\$ in current dollar terms) to the Boston Red Sox for Bullet Joe Bush, Sad Sam Jones and Everett Scott. On January 10, 1922, Pecknipaugh was involved in a three-team trade involving the Red Sox, Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics, where Peckinpaugh joined the Senators, Joe Dugan and Frank O'Rourke went to the Red Sox, and the Athletics acquired Bing Miller, José Acosta, and \$50,000 (\$ in current dollar terms). Though team owner Clark Griffith had indicated that Peckinpaugh would serve as his player-manager at the time of the trade, he named Clyde Milan player-manager for the 1922 season instead. This distracted Peckinpaugh, and along with injuries, limited his performance.
Chance, now managing the Boston Red Sox, attempted to acquire Peckinpaugh from the Senators before the 1923 season. Remaining in Washington, Peckinpaugh rebounded during the 1923 season with timely hitting and solid fielding.
Griffith appointed Bucky Harris as manager before the 1924 season. Harris considered Peckinpaugh his "assistant manager". Peckinpaugh was a key contributor in the 1924 World Series, in which the Senators defeated the Giants. He won the League Award as the AL's Most Valuable Player in 1925, edging Al Simmons by a small margin. In the 1925 World Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Peckinpaugh committed eight errors in the seven-game series, an MLB record.
On January 15, 1927, the Senators traded Peckinpaugh to the Chicago White Sox for Leo Mangum and Sloppy Thurston. However, his playing time with the White Sox was limited by a leg injury. He acted as an advisor to manager Ray Schalk. After one season with the White Sox, Peckinpaugh retired as a player.
## Managerial and executive career
Peckinpaugh was named manager of the Cleveland Indians after the 1927 season. After the Indians fell from first to fifth place during the 1933 season, the Indians fired Peckinpaugh, replacing him with Walter Johnson.
After being considered for the Detroit Tigers' managerial vacancy that offseason, Peckinpaugh took over as manager of the Kansas City Blues of the Class-AA American Association for the 1934 season. Out of professional baseball in 1935, Peckinpaugh joined Lew Fonseca on nationwide baseball tours, which involved the viewing of a movie and technical demonstrations. He applied to be manager of the Boston Bees for the 1938 season, but the job was given to Casey Stengel. Peckinpaugh returned to professional baseball as the manager of the New Orleans Pelicans of the Class-A1 Southern Association in 1939.
The Indians rehired Peckinpaugh as their manager in 1941, signing him to a two-year contract; team president Alva Bradley, who fired Peckinpaugh in 1933, promised Peckinpaugh full cooperation and minimal interference. After the 1941 season, he was promoted to vice president, later serving as Cleveland's general manager (GM) and president. When Bill Veeck bought the Indians in July 1946, he brought Harry Grabiner and Joseph C. Hostetler with him to serve in the front office. Peckinpaugh and Bradley resigned.
Peckinpaugh succeeded Harris as GM for the Buffalo Bisons of the International League in the 1946–47 offseason. He was fired after the 1947 season, as the team's directors felt Peckinpaugh didn't sufficiently develop a farm system.
### Managerial record
## Personal
Peckinpaugh was considered a calm baseball player and manager, who did not let his temper get the best of him.
After the end of his baseball career, Peckinpaugh worked as a manufacturer's representative for the Cleveland Oak Belting Company. He retired in 1976 at the age of 85. Suffering from cancer and heart disease, he was brought to a hospital for a respiratory condition, and died on November 17, 1977, in Cleveland. He was buried in Acacia Masonic Memorial Park in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. His wife, Mildred, died five years earlier. Together, they had four sons. Peckinpaugh was survived by two of his sons.
## See also
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
- List of Major League Baseball player-managers | [
"## Early life and amateur career",
"## Playing career",
"### Cleveland Naps and New York Yankees (1910–1921)",
"### Washington Senators and Chicago White Sox (1922–1926)",
"## Managerial and executive career",
"### Managerial record",
"## Personal",
"## See also"
] | 2,013 | 13,712 |
3,998,189 | Jungle bush quail | 1,170,982,166 | Species of bird from the Indian subcontinent | [
"Birds described in 1790",
"Birds of India",
"Birds of Sri Lanka",
"Perdicula"
] | The jungle bush quail (Perdicula asiatica) is a species of quail in the family Phasianidae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent, where it is found in peninsular India and Sri Lanka. It has also been reported from Nepal but has not been seen there since the 19th century, and an introduced population exists on the island of Réunion. A small species of quail 15–18 cm (5.9–7.1 in) long and weighing 57–82 g (2.0–2.9 oz), it shows significant sexual dimorphism. Males have brown with blackish and buff marking and whitish with black barring. The face is mainly dark reddish-brown, with brown , a buffy-white , and the turning whitish towards the back of the neck. Females have a similar pattern, but with pinkish-brown underparts, more uniform wings, and duller moustachial stripes.
The species inhabits dry areas with shrubby or rocky cover in a variety of habitats. It feeds on seeds and small insects, typically in small groups of 6–25 birds. Breeding starts at the end of the rains and lasts until the end of the cold season, with the exact timing varying across its range. It nests in shallow scrapes in cover and lays clutches of 4–8 eggs. Incubation is only done by the female. The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the jungle bush quail to be of least concern due to its large range and stable population.
## Taxonomy and systematics
The jungle bush quail was originally described as Perdix asiatica by John Latham in 1790 based on specimens from the "Mahratta region". It was moved to the genus Perdicula, of which it is the type species, by Brian Hodgson in 1837. The generic name Perdicula is a Modern Latin diminutive of the genus Perdix, and means "small partridge". The specific epithet asiatica comes from the Latin asiaticus, meaning Asiatic. Jungle bush quail is the official common name designated by the International Ornithologists' Union. Other names for the species include jungle quail, jungle bush-quail, jungle bushquail, Ceylon jungle bush quail, and Konkan jungle bush quail.
### Subspecies
There are five recognised subspecies of the jungle bush quail:
- P. a. asiatica (Latham, 1790): The nominate subspecies, it is found in north and central India.
- P. a. vidali Whistler & Kinnear, 1936: Found in southwest India, it has more reddish than the nominate subspecies, especially on the top of the head, and has broader barring on the in males.
- P. a. ceylonensis Whistler & Kinnear, 1936: Found on Sri Lanka. Its upperparts and throat are much darker than those of other subspecies and its underparts contrast less strongly with the upperparts.
- P. a. punjaubi Whistler, 1939: Also known as the Punjab jungle bush quail, it is found in northwestern India. It is paler than the nominate subspecies, with sandier upperparts with less noticeable black markings.
- P. a. vellorei Abdulali & Reuben, 1965: Found in south India.
## Description
Jungle bush quails are a small species of quail, 15–18 cm (5.9–7.1 in) long and weighing 57–82 g (2.0–2.9 oz). Adult males have a dull brown , back, and wings, with buff streaking and blackish-brown blotches. The breasts, , and upper belly are whitish with narrow black barring, while the lower belly and are reddish-buff. The forehead, lores, and are dark reddish-brown, with the supercilium turning buffy-white behind the eye towards the back of the neck. The top of the head and back of the neck are dark reddish-brown with blackish-brown mottling, while the are dark brown. The chin and throat are also dark reddish-brown and are separated from the ear-coverts by a buffy-white .
The species shows significant sexual dimorphism, with females having dull pinkish-brown underparts, more uniform and less barred wings with less blotching, and duller moustachial stripes. Some older females may develop pale barring on the breast. Juveniles are similar to the female, but have whitish streaks on the side of the head, throat, and breast. The upperparts have more markings and the are mottled and barred. Males develop barring on the underparts during their first winter, around the age of three months. The bill is blackish in adult males and dull brownish-grey in all other plumages. The legs are pinkish to dull red and are reddest in males. The iris is pale to orange brown.
The jungle bush quail is unlikely to be confused with Turnix or Coturnix quails, but it may mistaken for the rock bush quail. The latter species is less sexually dimorphic and differs in the pattern of the eyestripe, which is shorter and whiter, and the throat, which is reddish-white with a white moustachial stripe.
### Vocalisations
The advertising call of the jungle bush quail is a harsh, rhythmic chee-chee-chuck, chee-chee-chuck that is similar to the call of a black drongo in dispute. When flocks are separated, they reassemble using a low, whistling tiri-tiri-tiri or whi-whi-whi-whi-whi. Groups may also give burbling or grating notes that quicken into a frenzy. Other calls include a low chuckle made when flushed and harsh notes given as an alarm call.
## Distribution and habitat
The jungle bush quail is native to the Indian subcontinent, where it is found throughout peninsular India north to Gujarat, Odisha, and the Kashmir foothills, along with Sri Lanka. It has also been reported from Nepal, but has not been recorded there since the 19th century. It was introduced to Réunion around 1850 and to Mauritius around 1860, but the species is now locally extinct on the latter island.
It inhabits dry areas with shrubby or rocky cover, in habitats ranging from thin grasslands to dense deciduous forests. It is found at elevations up to 1,200 m (3,900 ft), but at elevations up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in the Western Ghats and southern India. It is generally non-migratory, but is possibly a migrant in Nepal.
## Behaviour and ecology
The jungle bush quail is typically seen in groups of 6–25 birds (called coveys) while dust bathing on tracks or foraging in grassland. Coveys walk along well-trodden paths to drink in the morning and evening, and create tunnel-like tracks through tall grass while doing so. The species prefers to walk or run away from potential danger, and will only fly away as a last resort. When alarmed, coveys will sit at the base of a bush before flying explosively into different directions. After a short time, they will start running and regroup by gathering towards each others' calls. Roosting occurs on the ground.
### Diet
The jungle bush quail feeds on seeds, such as those of grass, weeds, gram, and millets, along with small insects like termites and their larvae.
### Breeding
The breeding season of the jungle bush quail starts with the end of the rains and lasts until the end of the cold season, with the exact period varying: from January to March in Karnataka, from October to March in the Deccan plateau, from August to April in central India, and from March to April in eastern central India and Sri Lanka. In Réunion, breeding occurs in November.
The species is seemingly monogamous. Nests are shallow grass-lined scrapes located in cover at the base of grass. Clutches can contain 4–8 eggs, but usually have 5–6. The eggs are creamy white to pale buff, and measure 24 mm–28.4 mm × 18.4 mm–22 mm (0.94 in–1.12 in × 0.72 in–0.87 in). Incubation takes 16–18 days in the wild and 21–22 days in captivity, and is done only by the female. After the eggs hatch, the male helps guard and raise the chicks.
### Parasites and pathogens
The jungle bush quail has been observed being parasitised by the nematode Primasubulura alata. It has also been recorded being infected by the fungal pathogen Alternaria alternata in April.
### In research
The jungle bush quail has been used in experiments on the effect of melatonin on immunity and reproduction, the effect of the environment on the pineal gland, adrenal glands, and gonads, daily variation in the melatonin and androgen receptors during the breeding season, and immunity associated with the lungs.
## Status
The jungle bush quail is listed as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on the IUCN Red List due to its large range and stable population. It is generally common throughout India, although it is reported to be uncommon in Kerala, and locally in extinct in parts of Gujarat and in Uttara Kannada, Karnataka. In Sri Lanka, it was reportedly common until the 1950's, but is now only locally plentiful in the hills of the Uva Province. It has not been reported from Nepal since the 19th century, and reports from there and Cachar in Assam may be erroneous. The introduced population on Réunion is declining but still locally common, while the one on Mauritius is extinct. The jungle bush quail is hunted for food in rural regions. | [
"## Taxonomy and systematics",
"### Subspecies",
"## Description",
"### Vocalisations",
"## Distribution and habitat",
"## Behaviour and ecology",
"### Diet",
"### Breeding",
"### Parasites and pathogens",
"### In research",
"## Status"
] | 2,118 | 23,505 |
72,679,650 | Eugénie Hamer | 1,146,093,757 | Belgian writer and activist (1865–1951) | [
"1865 births",
"1951 deaths",
"20th-century Belgian journalists",
"20th-century Belgian women writers",
"Belgian pacifists",
"Belgian women activists",
"Belgian women journalists",
"Belgian women's rights activists",
"Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta",
"Recipients of the Order of the White Star",
"Women's International League for Peace and Freedom people",
"Writers from Leuven"
] | Eugénie Hamer (15 November 1865 – April 1951) was a Belgian journalist, writer and activist. Her father and brother served in the Belgian military, but she was a committed pacifist. Involved in literary and women's social reform activities, she became one of the founders of the Alliance Belge pour la Paix par l'Éducation (Belgian Alliance for Peace through Education) in 1906. The organization was founded in the belief that education, political neutrality, and women's suffrage were necessary components to peace. She was a participant in the 18th Universal Peace Congress held in Stockholm in 1910, the First National Peace Congress of Belgium held in 1913, and the Hague Conference of the International Congress of Women held in the Netherlands in 1915. This led to the creation of the International Committee of Women for Permanent Peace, subsequently known as the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Hamer co-founded the Belgian chapter of the WILPF that same year. During World War I, she volunteered as a nurse and raised funds to acquire medical supplies and create an ambulance service.
Hamer published in various journals and magazines, writing on diverse topics including art, literature, music, the economy, education, history, and politics. As a journalist, she collaborated with several newspapers, including La Métropole [fr] (The City), L'Écho du Soir (The Evening Echo), and L'Avenir du Luxembourg (The Future of Luxembourg). As an internationalist, she later joined organizations with fostered friendship and cooperation between nations. Since her own pacifist leanings had been tested during the Occupation of Belgium, she often wrote about both domestic and international politics. She also published two books. Hamer was awarded the Victory and Commemoration Medal, the Civic Cross (1st class), and the Plaque of Honor by the Red Cross. Poland honored her as a knight of the Order of Polonia Restituta and Estonia bestowed upon her the level of knight of the Order of the White Star.
## Early life and education
Eugénie Hamer was born on 15 November 1865 in Leuven, Belgium, to Eugénie (née Louvain) and Jean-Michel Hamer. Her father was a military officer who died when she was young. Her mother raised Eugénie and her brother Georges (born 1872), stressing the importance of a good education. Little is known of her early life, but the family moved to Antwerp and Hamer participated in literary circles and women's social reform activities.
## Activism
Hamer was involved with the Cercle des Dames de la Croix Rouge (Women's Circle of the Red Cross), serving as its general secretary. She co-founded, in 1906, the Alliance Belge pour la Paix par l'Éducation (Belgian Alliance for Peace through Education). The purpose of the organization was to promote pacifist and diplomatic resolution to controversy through educational initiatives presented to school children and the community. Baroness Florence de Laveleye (née Wheeler) served as the inaugural president of the alliance and Hamer was appointed as assistant secretary. In 1910, she and Laveleye were the Belgian delegates for the organization at the 18th Universal Peace Congress in Stockholm. She became the organization's general secretary in 1911 and vice president by 1915. Although the organization was officially apolitical, the Alliance Belge pour la Paix par l'Éducation was part of the feminist social reform movement, maintaining that education and women's suffrage were important tools to prevent war. Political neutrality and representation for women were so important to Hamer that she turned down a request in 1911 to join a federation proposed by Henri La Fontaine, a politician, pacifist, and later Nobel Peace Prize winner, to unite Belgian pacifist actions into a single organization. She informed La Fontaine that her organization would lose important ties to other feminist organizations like the Conseil National des Femmes Belges (National Council of Belgian Women) and the Vrouwehvereeniging der Antwerpen (Women's Association of Antwerp), which gave her association access to international journals, publishing, and fundraising networks. She presented a report on pacifism at the First National Peace Congress of Belgium in 1913, stressing the importance of education as a means to achieve peace and international cooperation. That year, seeing the troubled international environment, Hamer changed her mind and after the conference, aligned the Alliance Belge pour la Paix par l'Éducation with the Fédération des Sociétés belges de la Paix (Federation of Belgian Peace Societies).
During World War I, Hamer served as a nurse and organized fundraisers to establish an ambulance service and adequate supplies to care for the wounded. Her brother Georges served with distinction in the war and was wounded several times. She nursed him back to health. Hamer was known for her pacifism, but struggled with her patriotic feelings, advocating that peace could not occur until Belgium was liberated. Despite the fact that Belgian feminists such as Jane Brigode refused to attend meetings of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance during the war which included Germans, in 1915, she attended the Hague Conference, as a delegate for the Alliance Belge pour la Paix par l'Éducation. The conference came about because the International Women Suffrage Alliance congress to be held in Berlin had been cancelled, so a committee of Dutch women, led by Aletta Jacobs, proposed that the Netherlands, as a neutral country, could host a meeting to allow women to maintain their solidarity. Hamer, and the alliance's treasurer, Marguerite Sarton, were persuaded to attend, because they did not want resolutions passed without the conference hearing from Occupied Belgium.
Hamer and Sarton, along with three delegates for the Cercle de Dames et Jeunes Filles Sionistes (Circle of Zionist Ladies and Young Women) persuaded the German authorities to grant them travel documents. They drove to Essen, where they were frisked to the skin and then walked two hours to reach Roosendaal in the Netherlands. Catching a train there, Hamer and the four other Belgian attendees arrived after the congress had begun. As a symbol of the importance of cooperation, the German attendees, led by Anita Augspurg, suggested that all of the Belgian delegates be seated on the rostrum. Hamer agreed, on the condition that she was allowed to address the assembly. According to French socialist Jean Longuet, she spoke eloquently on the need for peace to be based on justice. Resolutions passed by the attendees reaffirmed the need for peace and called for no territorial transfers to be granted in a peace settlement without the consent of the population affected. Other resolutions called for creation of an international permanent council to peacefully work out differences between nations, involvement of women in the peace processes, and women's suffrage.
Participants at the conference established the International Committee of Women for Permanent Peace, subsequently known as the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Initially, Hamer and Sarton were the Belgian members of the international committee and their names appeared on the masthead. They established a Belgian chapter in 1915, but difficulties caused by the German occupation made communications difficult. After the war, Hamer once again became active in pacifist causes. In 1925, she and Marguerite Nyssens, worked to reestablish the Brussels chapter of the Alliance Belge pour la Paix par l'Éducation but without success. Frequently writing about the relationship of Belgium with Poland and Slavic countries, Hamer joined and became secretary of the organization Comité des amities polonaises (Belgian-Polish Friendship Committee). Both she and her brother participated in the ceremonies marking the unveiling in Antwerp in 1929 of the monument erected to honor fallen soldiers. Georges spoke and Hamer placed a wreath in honor of the officers who had died. Hamer also attended, along with other dignitaries, the opening of the Polish pavilion for the Liège Exposition of 1930, as a representative for the committee.
## Career
Hamer published in various journals and magazines, writing on diverse topics including art, music, the economy, education, history, and juvenile crime. She also undertook literary studies on Belgian, English, and French writers, as well as literature in Slavic countries before the expansion of the Russian Empire. An article on Belgian lacemaking was published by Home in 1913 and she returned to the topic with "L'Art de nos dentellières" ("The Art of Our Lacemakers") in the journal Touring Club de Belgique in November 1925. From 1919, she published historical analyses in the magazine La Patrie Belge (The Belgian Fatherland). Hamer became an editor at the Catholic newspaper La Métropole [fr] (The City) in 1926. She was particularly interested in writing about politics, both domestically and internationally. She published two books, Histoire des littératures slaves (History of Slavic Literature) and Relation de voyage (Account of a Journey) and later collaborated with the journal L'Écho du Soir (The Evening Echo). In the 1930s, she contributed to newspapers and journals including L'Avenir du Luxembourg (The Future of Luxembourg) and Clarté' (Clarity).
## Awards and honors
Hamer was awarded the Victory and Commemoration Medal and the Plaque of Honor by the Red Cross. In 1921 was honored by a royal decree with the Civic Medal (1st class), for her activities during the war. Poland honored her as a knight of the Order of Polonia Restituta in 1923 and in 1938 Estonia bestowed upon her the level of knight of the Order of the White Star, for her coverage in La Métropole.
## Death and legacy
Hamer's obituary appeared on 28 April 1951 in the newspaper Le Soir (The Evening''), confirming that she died in Antwerp. At the time of her death, she was remembered for her writing, as well as her pacifism and war service.
## Selected works
## See also
- List of peace activists | [
"## Early life and education",
"## Activism",
"## Career",
"## Awards and honors",
"## Death and legacy",
"## Selected works",
"## See also"
] | 2,144 | 36,131 |
14,480,055 | El Celler de Can Roca | 1,173,258,637 | Restaurant in Spain | [
"1986 establishments in Spain",
"Michelin Guide starred restaurants in Spain",
"Molecular gastronomy",
"Restaurants established in 1986",
"Restaurants in Catalonia"
] | El Celler de Can Roca is a restaurant in Girona, Catalonia, Spain opened in 1986 by the Roca brothers, Joan, Josep and Jordi. It was first located next to their parents' restaurant Can Roca, but moved to its current purpose-built building in 2007. It has been received warmly by critics, and holds three Michelin stars. In 2013 and 2015, it was named the best restaurant in the world by the magazine Restaurant, after having been ranked second in 2011, 2012 and 2014, a status achieved again in 2018.
## Style and cuisine
The cuisine served by the restaurant is traditional Catalan, but with twists which the Michelin Guide describes as "creative". The restaurant has a wine cellar of 60,000 bottles. Dishes served include those based on perfumes, and with unusual presentations such as caramelised olives served on a bonsai tree.
## Description
El Celler de Can Roca was founded in 1986 by the Roca brothers next to their family's main restaurant Can Roca which had been open on the site since 1967. The oldest brother, Joan Roca is the head chef; Josep Roca, the middle brother, is the sommelier, and the youngest brother, Jordi Roca, is in charge of desserts. Because of their work at the restaurant, the brothers have appeared at Harvard University in the United States as part of the Science and Cooking program.
## Modernism
In late 2007, the restaurant moved to a modern building custom-built for the restaurant about 100 meters from the prior location, with the original location still being used for staff meals. The new layout features wooden floors, with simply dressed tables. On each table sit three stones to signify the three Roca brothers, while the tableware is Rosenthal china. The enlarged kitchen in the new location includes space for thirty chefs to work and also features Joan Roca's open plan office, so that he can keep an eye on the chefs even while he is doing more administrative tasks. At least one of the three brothers is present for every service. There is a capacity for 45 diners.
## Media
El Celler de Can Roca appeared on the UK television series MasterChef: The Professionals on 13 December 2011. The three finalists in the competition were asked to cook their own creations for the three Roca brothers, as well as cooking six of the restaurant's signature dishes for a group of invited guests. Mark Birchall, the 2009 winner of the Roux Scholarship elected to work at El Celler de Can Roca as part of his prize. Birchall was head chef of L'Enclume in Cartmel, England, under chef-patron Simon Rogan. This resulted in the restaurant appearing on the featured chef series of British chef networking website "The Staff Canteen".
### Menu
The restaurant primarily uses local ingredients from the Catalan area. Simple flavour combinations are combined with molecular gastronomy techniques and unusual presentations of food, including caramelised olives which are presented on a bonsai tree. The Michelin Guide describes the type of cuisine produced by El Celler de Can Roca simply as "creative", while Edward Owen of The Times said it was a "fusion of traditional dishes with surrealist touches". Techniques include the freezing of calamari with liquid nitrogen and then blended in order to be piped and baked into a cracker.
When diners first arrive, they are given a selection of small bites from a section of the kitchen called "El Món", who only produce small snack portions for the guests. They typically demonstrate flavours from around the world and come in sets of five. These introduce the diner to the unusual techniques and presentations of the restaurants. For example, a small ball of frozen spiced fish stock coated in cocoa butter represents Thailand, while the set comes on a purpose-built wooden holder. While there are typical fine dining ingredients included on the menu such as lobster and foie gras, due to the Catalan influence on the menu, ingredients such as pigeon, hake and pig's trotters also appear. Fish dishes include a crayfish velouté, accompanied by spring onions with cocoa and mint.
They have created some dishes and desserts based on perfumes such as Calvin Klein's Eternity, Carolina Herrera, Lancôme and Bulgari. This has resulted in a perfume being released by the restaurant itself, called Nuvol de Ilimona. It was based on a dessert served at the restaurant called Lemon Distillation, and was developed to spray as a mist over the diners as they ate the dish. The wine list is split into separate lists for red and white, and is delivered on a trolley to each table.
## Reception
El Celler de Can Roca has been praised by fellow chefs, with Michel Roux describing it as "one of the top restaurants in Europe", and Michel Roux Jr. stating that it was his favourite restaurant. Nicholas Lander reviewed the restaurant for the Financial Times in 2008 and also praised the veal tartare, but was impressed by the main of kid goat, and the dessert of sheep's milk ice cream.
Jonathan Gold of The Wall Street Journal wrote of the presentation of the caramelised olives, describing it as "delectable and unforgettable". In September 2011, it was included in a list of the top ten places to eat by Tony Turnbull, The Times food editor. Critic A. A. Gill compared the restaurant to former restaurant ElBulli, saying that it wasn't a direct replacement and was an "outstanding kitchen, and part of the great confident wave of new Spanish food that is complex, technically exhausting, aware of the landscape, history and politics". The comparison is commonly made, with El Celler de Can Roca often being referred to as the successor to ElBulli which was once ranked as the number one restaurant in the world.
The restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star in 1995, its second in 2002 and was awarded three star status in 2009. It remains at that level of accolade as of the 2019 Michelin Guide. El Celler de Can Roca has been listed in The World's 50 Best Restaurants by Restaurant magazine since 2006 when it was ranked 21st. In 2009 it was ranked fifth and was awarded the prize for being the highest climbing restaurant on the list. In 2010, it rose one place to fourth and in 2011, 2012 and 2014, it was ranked in second place behind Danish New Nordic cuisine restaurant Noma, with fellow Spanish restaurant Mugaritz in third place. On 29 April 2013, and again on 1 June 2015, the restaurant was named the best in the world. The restaurant has maintained a top 3 spot since, 2nd in 2016 and 2018, 3rd in 2017. In The Daily Meal's inaugural list of the best 101 restaurants in Europe in 2012, El Celler de Can Roca was ranked twelfth. During the same year, it was named as restaurant of the year by The Sunday Telegraph. | [
"## Style and cuisine",
"## Description",
"## Modernism",
"## Media",
"### Menu",
"## Reception"
] | 1,490 | 19,027 |
20,843,052 | Sunny Lee | 1,135,456,971 | Fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours | [
"Female characters in television",
"Fictional South Korean people",
"Fictional radio personalities",
"Neighbours characters",
"Television characters introduced in 2009"
] | Sunny Lee is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Hany Lee. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 8 April 2009. Sunny was created by executive producer Susan Bower in response to criticism that Neighbours was "too white". Lee came to the attention of Neighbours producers after she entered a competition run by Dolly Magazine to win a three-month contract with the show. Despite not winning, she was cast as Sunny soon afterwards. In August 2009, it was announced that Lee and Sunny would be departing Neighbours and Sunny made her final appearance on 19 November 2009.
Sunny was an exchange student from South Korea who is taken in by Karl (Alan Fletcher) and Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne). Sunny was described as having "typical teenage insecurities", which made her appear abrasive, unfriendly and "snobby". Her storylines focused on her starting a relationship with Zeke Kinski (Matthew Werkmeister), having her first kiss stolen by Donna Freedman (Margot Robbie) and being the subject of a crush by Robin Hester (Benjamin Jay). During her time on Neighbours, Sunny was poorly received by television critics.
## Creation and casting
In July 2008, Neighbours was branded "too white" by black and Asian viewers in Britain. A report found that many ethnic viewers felt they were under-represented in some of Britain's most popular television shows. In Australia there was talk of a 'White Australia policy' when it came to casting actors for top-rated soaps. In response to the criticism, executive producer Susan Bower made the decision to add more ethnically diverse extras, small walk on roles and speaking parts. She also decided to introduce 15-year-old Korean actor Hany Lee into the cast as exchange student, Sunny Lee. Bower said "I know we're going to get flak about this gorgeous little Korean girl who's going to be coming in next year, because you're damned if you do and damned if you don't".
Hany Lee was chosen to play the role of Sunny after she was spotted at Dolly Magazine's "Neighbours' Next Big Stars" contest. Lee made it to the final ten, but ultimately lost out on the six-week contract to Mauricio Merino, Jr. (Simon Freedman) and Chelsea Jones (Tegan Freedman). A few months later, Lee was cast as regular character Sunny after producers saw her audition tape for the competition.
In August 2009, it was announced that Lee was to leave the show. Producers confirmed that Lee would film her last scenes the following month and they would air in Australia that November. Following the news, Lee said that she would miss the friendships that she had formed with the actors and crew.
## Development
### Characterisation
Sunny clashed with her culture's patriarchal society after being influenced by life in western countries and was considered to be something of a rebel by her peers. On her arrival into the show, Sunny was described as being aloof by television channel, Five's Holy Soap website. They also described her as being bright, confident, having an outspoken nature and being "full of contradictions". Holy Soap also described Sunny as having "typical teenage insecurities", which included being self-conscious about her braces and her lack of experience with boys. This results in Sunny having an abrasive attitude. British television magazine, What's on TV described Sunny as being initially "disappointed by the lack of excitement in Erinsborough", they also added "Sunny appears snobby and unfriendly. But Sunny's front is a cover for a whole host of insecurities".
On her character, Lee said "She's come from an Asian lifestyle and culture so she's out there, she's got the fashion going on, the hair and make up going on and the attitude". Lee also said that she shares some similarities with Sunny, with them both having strict parents. On her departure, Lee said that Sunny took a "sacrifice" in leaving as she did not want her parents turning up and ruining everyone's lives, especially after Susan had recently suffered health issues.
### Relationships
Sunny found it difficult to express herself to the other female teens on her first day in Ramsay Street and instead she chose to talk to 'Lost Boy' from the radio station, Pirate Net about her past and her hurtful relationship with her sister.
Sunny and her housemate, Zeke Kinski, clashed on a number of occasions, which led What's on TV to ask "is their playful animosity fuelled by romantic chemistry?" Viewers saw Sunny finding herself unable to deal with her feelings for Zeke and their friends trying to encourage the two to begin a relationship. Zeke managed to get Sunny to open up to him about her insecurities and she started to trust him. They later began a relationship. Holy Soap described their relationship saying "After much to-ing and fro-ing, she eventually got together with Zeke". Network Ten describe Sunny and Zeke's relationship as being a "blessing in Zeke's life, and a great help to him". Sunny is also credited with helping Zeke to heal from his past and putting him on the straight and narrow again. Bower called Zeke and Sunny the show's "Romeo and Juliet couple". Of their relationship she said "They come from different cultures and she's got a year as an exchange student, so we play out the Romeo and Juliet thing. How far do they go for their love? Do they love each other? They keep clashing because of their cultural differences".
Robin Hester played by Benjamin Jay, was a teenager who formed a crush on Sunny and tried to ruin her relationship with Zeke. Digital Spy said Robin "goes to drastic lengths to keep Zeke and Sunny apart" and Holy Soap and Jay labelled him as "creepy". Robin was seen trying to manipulate Sunny and he locked Zeke in a store cupboard, so he could spend time with her. Lee named the storyline with Robin as her favourite from her time in the show. She said "That was probably the best storyline ever because it gave me a chance to show who Sunny Lee was".
### Same-sex kiss
One of Sunny's most high-profile storylines was a kiss between herself and female character, Donna Freedman (Margot Robbie). The kiss occurs after Donna discovers that Sunny has been writing the romantic love letters given to her by her boyfriend. Sunny is then shocked when Donna leans over and kisses her on the lips and steals her first kiss. Lee said "For days, all Sunny's been able to think about is what it would be like to kiss Zeke. Now Donna's gone and stolen the moment – and Sunny's not happy, to say the least..."
Previously a kiss between Lana Crawford (Bridget Neval) and Sky Mangel (Stephanie McIntosh) in 2004 received complaints from conservative groups. The show's producers called the kiss between Sunny and Donna "impulsive" and Robbie agreed, saying "It's really not a big deal at all. It's not an actual gay storyline, it's just kind of an impulsive peck". The storyline came weeks after rival soap Home and Away endured a backlash to its own same-sex romance.
The storyline received attention from the Australian Family Association, with spokesman John Morrissey saying that he was concerned about TV "normalising" same-sex relationships. Psychologist Dr Janet Hall praised the storyline, saying it allows families to discuss the topic. Susan Bower defended the kiss, which was shot before the Home and Away controversy, saying "Ours is a lovely tale about friendship. It's very innocent." She added "If we were going to do a lesbian story – and "Neighbours" is not against lesbian stories – we would do it properly. This is a teenage romance story. There's nothing sexual".
## Storylines
Susan and Karl Kennedy decide to take in exchange student, Sunny, following their step daughter's departure. On her first night with the Kennedys, Sunny calls into the Pirate Net radio station and speaks to 'Lost Boy' about her past and her relationship with her sister. Sunny believes that she has humiliated herself by talking too much about her life. She then decides to find out who 'Lost Boy' is, so she can confront him. She is unaware that he is really her housemate, Zeke Kinski.
During auditions for the school play, a romantic tension builds between Sunny and Zeke and they are asked to play the lead roles. Sunny quits the play when she realises that she has to kiss Zeke. Sunny then finds out that Zeke is 'Lost Boy', but she forgives him. When she sees Donna Freedman practising the kissing scene with Zeke, Sunny becomes upset. Sunny and Zeke almost share a kiss one night when they are alone. However, they are interrupted by Libby Kennedy (Kym Valentine). Due to rewrites of the play, Sunny's new character has to kiss Zeke too and Sunny grows uncomfortable again. During drama camp, Sunny and Zeke are locked in a cupboard during a game of truth or dare. They almost kiss again, but are interrupted when the door is opened. Karl realises that Sunny and Zeke like each other and he tries to keep them apart. However, they eventually start a relationship.
Sunny offers to help out Ringo Brown (Sam Clark) with his love letters to Donna. When Donna works out that Ringo did not write the letters, Sunny has to tell her that she wrote them for him. In a spur-of-the-moment act, Donna kisses Sunny, grateful for her honesty. Sunny is upset that her first kiss was stolen by Donna. Sunny and Zeke's first kiss occurs during the play. Sunny struggles with public displays of affection with Zeke and she lies that she told her parents about their relationship. When Sunny finds that her grades have slipped, she decides to end the relationship and admits to Zeke that she did not tell her parents about him.
At a music festival, Sunny is embarrassed when Ringo and Declan Napier (James Sorensen) interrupt a kiss between her and Zeke. She runs off into the bush, falls down a cliff and injures her ankle. Zeke also falls down the cliff, they are eventually rescued by Declan and Lucas Fitzgerald (Scott Major). Karl and Susan call Sunny's parents and learn that they know nothing about the festival or Zeke. Sunny's parents demand that she is placed on the next flight home. However, Zeke moves out, so Sunny's parents will not worry about them having a relationship. Zeke later moves back home and Karl asks Sunny to call her father and translate for him. Sunny lies to her father about the nature of the conversation and tells him that her father said everything is fine.
After hearing Sunny on the radio, Robin Hester turns up in Ramsay Street to try to get close to her. Sunny believes he is just being friendly. Robin climbs through Sunny's bedroom window and takes a photo of her. He locks Zeke in Pirate Net's storeroom, so he can spend some time with Sunny alone. Sunny and Robin go to Pirate Net to see if Zeke is there and Robin pretends to find the storeroom key and unlocks the door. Zeke tells Sunny that Robin locked him in the storeroom, but she refuses to believe him. Zeke violently attacks Robin in front of Sunny, scaring her. Zeke apologises and Sunny eventually realises that Zeke had been right about Robin. Sunny meets Robin at Charlie's and tells him that she and Zeke have broken up. Robin confesses to locking Zeke in the storeroom and tries to kiss Sunny, but Zeke appears and tells Robin to stay away them.
Libby accuses Zeke of writing Kyle Canning's (Christopher Milligan) essay for him, but Sunny reveals that she wrote it. Kyle was blackmailing her after he overheard Sunny telling Donna that her parents did not know about Zeke moving home. Karl and Susan make Sunny call her parents and tell them about Zeke. Sunny tells them that her parents want her to come home. Zeke tells Sunny that he will go to South Korea with her. However, when Sunny realises how much Susan and Karl need him, she tells him to stay. On her last day, Zeke organises a picnic and a performance at Charlie's from The Black Skirts. A few days after her departure, Sunny texts Zeke and tells him not to contact her again.
## Reception
Sunny was negatively received during her time on Neighbours. Upon her arrival, the a Western Mail reporter quipped that viewers were going to tire of Sunny "quite quickly" and that she was "downright irritating." Ruth Deller of entertainment website Lowculture called the character "annoying" and thought that she had "no other layers to her personality". She added "As for expecting us to believe that perma-mardy emo kid Zeke would fall for her? Don't be daft – he's the character most likely to push her from a tower. Let's hope her stay in Ramsay Street is short-lived." In November, Deller called the storyline between Sunny, Zeke and Robin "ludicrous" and she was placed at number one of the "soap characters we love to hate" list. Deller cited her "continued presence in general" as another reason for her being there.
During a feature on the best and worst soap characters of the decade, Sunny was placed at number eight on the worst soap characters list. Deller stated "Neighbours doesn't have a great reputation for ethnic diversity, and when they finally decide to introduce a non-white main character for the first time in years, they have to make her the most wooden, annoying, drippy character since Ned. Let's hope Sunny's failure isn't an excuse for avoiding ethnic minority casting in the future..." | [
"## Creation and casting",
"## Development",
"### Characterisation",
"### Relationships",
"### Same-sex kiss",
"## Storylines",
"## Reception"
] | 2,868 | 11,694 |
37,541,063 | Just a Fool | 1,171,671,754 | null | [
"2010s ballads",
"2012 singles",
"2012 songs",
"Blake Shelton songs",
"Christina Aguilera songs",
"Country ballads",
"Male–female vocal duets",
"Pop ballads",
"RCA Records singles",
"Song recordings produced by Steve Robson",
"Songs about heartache",
"Songs written by Claude Kelly",
"Songs written by Steve Robson",
"Songs written by Wayne Hector",
"Sony Music singles"
] | "Just a Fool" is a duet recorded by American singer songwriters Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton for Aguilera's seventh studio album, Lotus (2012). The track was written by Claude Kelly, Wayne Hector, and its producer Steve Robson. "Just a Fool" was sent to contemporary hit and hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States by RCA Records as the second and final single from the album on December 4, 2012. The song is a country pop ballad which discusses the pain of a break-up.
Following its release, "Just a Fool" received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who complimented the track's sound. Commercially, the single peaked at number 71 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 37 on the Canadian Hot 100, also reaching number one in Ukraine, and number four in Iceland. As of 2015, the single has sold 802,000 digital copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan. To promote Lotus and the song, Aguilera and Shelton performed "Just a Fool" on the third season of American television singing contest The Voice on November 19, 2012, and on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on December 7, 2012.
## Background and release
Following the release of her sixth studio album, Bionic (2010), which failed to generate impact on charts worldwide, Aguilera filed for divorce from her husband Jordan Bratman, starred in the film Burlesque and recorded the accompanying soundtrack. She then became a coach on NBC's singing competition show The Voice and appeared as a featured artist on Maroon 5's single "Moves Like Jagger" (2011), which spent four weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Following these events, Aguilera announced her plans to begin production of her seventh album, stating that she wanted high quality and "personal" songs for the record. Regarding the creative direction, she revealed that the album would be a "culmination of everything I've experienced up until this point ... I've been through a lot since the release of my last album, being on ('The Voice'), having had a divorce ... This is all sort of a free rebirth for me." She further said "I'm embracing many different things, but it's all feel-good, super-expressive [and] super-vulnerable." Aguilera continued to say that the album would be about "self–expression and freedom" because of the personal struggles she had overcome during the last couple of years.
Speaking about her new material during an interview on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2012, Aguilera said that the recording process for Lotus was taking a while because "I don't like to just get songs from producers. I like them to come from a personal place ... I'm very excited. It's fun, exciting, introspective, it's going to be great". Recorded at Northern Sky Music by Sam Miller, "Just a Fool" was written by Steve Robson, Claude Kelly and Wayne Hector, with production handled by Steve Robson. Aguilera's vocals were recorded at The Red Lips Room in Beverly Hills, California, while Shelton's vocals were recorded at Luminous Sound in Dallas, Texas. The duo's vocals were recorded by Oscar Ramirez, and Aguilera produced them with Kelly. Robson also carried out programming and keyboards, arranging, and guitars. Following the release of Lotus, "Just a Fool" managed to debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, prompting RCA Records to release the song as a single. On December 4, 2012, the label sent the track to contemporary hit and hot adult contemporary radio stations in the United States as the second and final single from the album. On February 18, 2013, the single was released to adult contemporary radio in the US.
## Development
Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera both served as coaches on the NBC's American reality talent show The Voice and became good friends during production. During an interview, Aguilera said, "He's my big brother, I'm the closest to him of all the guys. Blake is just a rockstar; he's great. He's so playful, so fun and down to earth. He's got a lot of heart". The whole idea for the duet between Christina and Blake came into being when Christina started a performance with a snippet of his song "Hillbilly Bone". Blake tweeted he was speechless, and Christina tweeted back, "Now we need to team up for a country duet Blake!! I'm down!!". In an interview with Rolling Stone, Aguilera commented about teaming up with her colleagues,
> "I'm one that likes to collaborate. I love feeding off the creative energy, and it only makes me better. I'm on a continual path both personally and professionally. All-around, it's my goal to better myself as a person and an artist, and the show is one of those contributing factors and the guys are great friends at this point. It's fun collaborating with them at this point".
Aguilera also revealed that Shelton "busted his [butt]" to "make the time" to record the song with her. On October 16, 2012, it was announced that the duet was called "Just a Fool" and the track would be included on Aguilera's album Lotus (2012). According to Steve Robson–the main writer of the song–at first, "Just a Fool" was initially pitched to Pink, but later Adam Lambert recorded a version of the track. Finally, Aguilera and Shelton recorded "Just a Fool" after the song was scrapped from Lambert's album Trespassing (2012) "at the last minute".
## Composition
"Just a Fool" was written by Steve Robson, Claude Kelly and Wayne Hector, with production done by Robson. The song is a country pop ballad with elements of pop rock. The track is also Aguilera's first country song. It lasts for a duration of (four minutes and 13 seconds). "Just a Fool" was composed in the key of G major, with a moderate slow tempo of 56 beats per minute. Many instruments were featured on the track, including keyboards, guitars and strings. It starts with a simple guitar riff and a toe-tapping mid-tempo drum beat. Chris Youne of 4Music described the song as a "pop-meets-rock-meets-country" song. Lyrically, "Just a Fool" talks about the pain of a break-up. Aguilera takes the first verse singing about sitting alone in a bar late at night, "Another shot of whisky please bartender, keep it coming till I don't remember". At the second verse, Blake sings in his raspy country tones and the two unite for the chorus. Robert Cospey of Digital Spy described the chorus of the track as a "sing-songy" one.
## Critical reception
"Just a Fool" received mostly positive reviews from music critics. In a track-by-track review, Robert Copsey of Digital Spy wrote that the song "looks obligatory on paper but fortunately isn't so bad in reality [...] Truth be told, we suspect there's a good reason why this has been saved for the back-end of the album". Chris Younie of 4Music praised the song, writing that "It's mature, sophisticated and unlike anything else we've heard on the album. If you want variety, you got it". Andrew Hammp for Billboard was also positive toward the track, commenting that the song has an "epic" chorus that only increases in volume as the song progresses. In an extremely positive review, Glenn Gamboa of Newsday wrote that Aguilera and Shelton "empty their broken hearts in a magnificently sung breakup song". She also praised "Just a Fool" as Aguilera's career signature which should "stand next to 'Beautiful'". Mike Wass of Idolator called "Just a Fool" is a "gorgeous" country ballad, while Jon Caramanica of The New York Times described it as a "surprisingly warm duet" and Molly Lambert of Grantland named it "a monster-ballad". That Grape Juice praised "Just a Fool" as an "emotive anthem" and an "unexpected gem".
Sarah Godfrey of The Washington Post called it a "straightforward country-pop piece", while Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic named it "a slow, bluesy closer". Christina Garibaldi of MTV News praised Shelton's "smooth" and country vocals on the "hearbreaking" ballad, which fits nicely with Aguilera's "booming" ones. Melinda Newman of HitFix analyzed that Aguilera's voices on "Just a Fool" sounded like former longtime producer Linda Perry as she sings "yeah, yeah, yeah", but Shelton's sounds "rose to the occasion" and plays the "perfect partner". Michael Galluci of PopCrush praised Aguilera's "great" "throaty rasp" on the track. Jim Farber of New York Daily News provided a mixed review, writing that "[Shelton] sings with measured resolve while [Aguilera] nearly suffocates him. It's certainly a powerful approach, but it comes at the cost of communicating genuine soul". Negatively, Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine called it "an out-of-place country-pop duet with Blake Shelton, who feels like a cheap cash-in", while Annie Zaleskie for The A.V. Club criticized its "schmaltzy" sound. Idolator'''s Mike Wass ranked "Just a Fool" at number thirty-two on his list of Aguilera's forty best songs.
## Chart performance
Music-related website That Grape Juice noted that at the time of its release, the song was "growing into a burgeoning hit". The single debuted at number 92 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart during the week of November 18, 2012. During the following week, it climbed to number 71, which became its peak position on the chart. On the Adult Pop Songs chart, "Just a Fool" debuted at number 40 during the week of December 29, 2012 and peaked at number 28. On February 25, 2013, the single debuted at number 27 on the Adult Contemporary and peaked at number 23 shortly after. The song stayed a total of 12 weeks on the chart. As of April 2015, "Just a Fool" has sold over 802,000 copies in United States becoming Aguilera's tenth best selling digital single there, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
In Canada, the single peaked at number 37 on the country's singles chart and remained there for 20 weeks. On the 49th week of 2012, "Just a Fool" debuted and peaked at number 45 in Slovakia. It reached Top 5 in Iceland, where its peak was number four.
## Live performances and cover versions
On November 19, 2012, Aguilera and Shelton performed "Just a Fool" for the first time on the third season of The Voice, an American television singing competition on which she is serviced as a coach. Wearing "sharp in dark", "semi-casual" outfits, the couple sang the first verse at opposite sides of the stage, and then came together onstage and shared the second one. During the performance, Aguilera kept belting to a minimum. The duo ended their singing with a hug. Caila Ball from Idolator wrote, "Clumsy cross-promotions and hyperbole aside, it was a night of stellar performances, kicked off by Coaches Christina and Blake making the world debut of 'Just a Fool'". She continued to praise the performance, commenting, "It was a refreshingly stripped down performance from Legendtina – who uncharacteristically took the stage in jeans. Blake, on the other hand, looked a little awkward up there without a guitar and a stool".
On December 7, 2012, Aguilera and Shelton performed "Just a Fool" again on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Sam Lansky from Idolator praised the performance, writing that the performance featured "typically dramatic" vocals and a lot of "spectacular runs", which helped the duo sound great. During the semi-finals of the twelfth season of American television singing contest American Idol, contestant Paul Jolley chose "Just a Fool" as the song to sing on the show. On May 7, 2013, Filipino singer Charice Pempengco also made a cover of the song on the show Kris TV with her girlfriend Alyssa Quijano.
Kelly Clarkson covered the song in her own talk show on February 12, 2021. Blake Shelton performed the song with Wendy Moten during the finale of the 21st season of The Voice.
## Credits and personnel
Recording
- Recorded at Northern Sky Music.
- Vocals recorded at The Red Lips Room, Beverly Hills, California (Aguilera's vocals); Luminous Sound, Dallas, Texas (Shelton's vocals).
Personnel
- Songwriting – Steve Robson, Claude Kelly, Wayne Hector
- Producing – Steve Robson
- Programming & keyboards – Steve Robson
- Arranging – Steve Robson, Pete Whitfield
- Guitars – Luke Potashnick, Steve Robson
- Violins – Pete Whitfield, Sarah Brandwood-Spencer, Alex Stemp, Julian Cole
- Celli – Simon Turner, Ruth Owens
- Recording – Sam Miller
- Vocal recording – Oscar Ramirez
- Vocal producing – Christina Aguilera, Claude Kelly
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Lotus'', RCA Records.
## Charts
## Release history | [
"## Background and release",
"## Development",
"## Composition",
"## Critical reception",
"## Chart performance",
"## Live performances and cover versions",
"## Credits and personnel",
"## Charts",
"## Release history"
] | 2,862 | 24,605 |
50,728,130 | Rendez Vous (Inna song) | 1,161,041,983 | null | [
"2016 singles",
"2016 songs",
"English-language Romanian songs",
"Inna songs",
"Songs written by Axident",
"Songs written by Ilsey Juber",
"Songs written by Thomas Troelsen"
] | "Rendez Vous" is a song recorded by Romanian recording artist Inna for her eponymous and fourth studio album (2015) and its Japanese version Body and the Sun (2015). It was made available for digital download as a single on 12 February 2016 through Roton. The song makes use of a sample of Mr. President's "Coco Jamboo" (1996), resulting in writing credits for its composers Rainer Gaffrey, Kai Matthiesen and Delroy Rennalls. "Rendez Vous" was written by Ilsey Juber, Andreas Schuller and Thomas Troelsen, and produced by Troelsen and Schuller under the name Axident. Musically, the mid-tempo song contains acoustic elements and Eurodance influences in its refrain, with Inna singing about meeting the man she loved in the summer.
"Rendez Vous" received praise for its production from one music critic. A staff at Billboard listed the track at number two on his list of favorite songs of 2016. An accompanying music video for "Rendez Vous" was uploaded onto Inna's official YouTube channel on 4 February 2016. It was shot by Michael Abt and John Perez in Costa Rica in 2015, showing the singer at the beach. Commercially, the recording peaked at number 45 in Romania, number 12 in Poland and topped the latter country's dance component chart. It was also certified Gold by the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (ZPAV) for selling 10,000 units in Poland.
## Composition and release
"Rendez Vous" was written by Ilsey Juber, Andreas Schuller and Thomas Troelsen, whilst production was handled by Troeslen and Schuller under the name Axident. The track was recorded in both Copenhagen and Ibiza. It is a mid-tempo track containing acoustic elements and a Eurodance-influenced refrain. Yohann Ruelle of Pure Charts noticed a "leaping guitar" and electro rhythms in its instrumentation. Lyrically, Inna sings nostalgically about meeting the man she loved in the summer. "Rendez Vous" samples the melody of Mr. President's "Coco Jamboo" (1996), which resulted in writing credits for its composers Rainer Gaffrey, Kai Matthiesen and Delroy Rennalls.
The track was first released in Italy on 12 February 2017 by Roton, with its worldwide availability following on 16 February 2016 through both Empire Records and Roton. An eight-remix extended play (EP) was also made available for digital download on 9 March 2017 by the same labels. "Rendez Vous" was released to celebrate Inna reaching one billion total views on her YouTube channel in February 2017. Shortly after, the song was added to Radio Eska's Hot 20 Eska Radio playlist in March 2016.
## Critical and commercial reception
Music critics received "Rendez Vous" with positive reviews. An editor from Radio Eska wrote that the recording had a "spring sound" that "evokes us to forget about the reality surrounding us", further praising its qualitative production. Gordon Murray, a staff at Billboard, listed the track at number two on his list of favorite songs of 2016. Commercially, "Rendez Vous" debuted at number 73 on the Romanian Airplay 100 issued on 3 April 2016, reaching its peak position at number 45 on 22 May 2016. The song also experienced commercial success in Poland, where it reached number 12 on the Airplay Top 100 chart and topped the Dance Top 50 component chart. "Rendez Vous" was certified Gold by the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (ZPAV) in the country for selling over 10,000 units.
## Music video
Inna hinted at the filming location of an accompanying music video by posting captions such as "Hola desde Costa Rica", "Pura vida" and "Días libre \#Puravida" on her social media. She already announced that the video was finished in a YouTube video released in October 2015. The clip was filmed in 2015 in Costa Rica by Michael Abt and John Perez, and was uploaded onto the singer's YouTube channel on 4 February 2016. The visual begins with Inna driving a car to the beach with two female friends. She subsequently encounters a few men and then surfs before driving to what appears to be a hotel with her friends. After the singer attends a party at night, the video ends with her driving away and the text "PURA VIDA..." and "COSTA RICA." appearing on the screen. During the video, Inna is also shown in a cornfield.
Cristina Merino from Europa FM wrote that the music video was a more natural portrayal of the singer and praised her looks. Rnb Junk's Daniele Traini thought the clip showed "the beauty of the summer" and commended its concept — which she likened to her previous videos for "Amazing" (2009) and "More than Friends" (2013) — although criticizing its low budget. Jonathan Currinn, writing for his own website, described Inna's appearance in the video as "sultry, sexy and scenic" and said the clip had "summer vibes". However, he criticized the lack of depth and plot: "The field where Inna performs is probably where the video loses the audience's interest. She looks sexy as always and yet once again is given no choreography and the camera angles just doesn't work for her. It's almost as if she doesn't know what to do in front of the camera". The visual received notable airplay on Polish television, peaking at number three on ZPAV's Video Chart in May 2017.
## Track listing
## Charts and certifications
### Weekly charts
### Certifications
## Release history | [
"## Composition and release",
"## Critical and commercial reception",
"## Music video",
"## Track listing",
"## Charts and certifications",
"### Weekly charts",
"### Certifications",
"## Release history"
] | 1,230 | 32,616 |
11,621,875 | Honey (Moby song) | 1,165,566,158 | null | [
"1998 singles",
"1998 songs",
"Blues songs",
"Breakbeat songs",
"Kelis songs",
"Moby songs",
"Music videos directed by Roman Coppola",
"Mute Records singles",
"Song recordings produced by Moby",
"Songs written by Moby",
"Techno songs",
"V2 Records singles"
] | "Honey" is a song by American electronic musician Moby. It was released as the lead single from his fifth studio album Play on August 24, 1998. The song samples the 1960 recording "Sometimes" by American blues singer Bessie Jones. Moby first heard "Sometimes" on a box set collection of folk music compiled by Alan Lomax, and subsequently composed "Honey" around vocal samples from the Jones song.
"Honey" was well received by music critics, many of whom cited it as a highlight of Play in reviews of the album. Upon release as a single, "Honey" charted in several countries in Europe, despite receiving little airplay on European radio. The song's music video, directed by Roman Coppola, depicts three clones of Moby venturing through various locations. "Honey" was later remixed with additional vocals from American R&B singer Kelis.
## Background and composition
Moby composed "Honey" for his fifth studio album Play (1999) after listening to Sounds of the South, a 1993 box set of folk music recordings compiled by field collector Alan Lomax. Inspired by the a cappella songs in particular, Moby wrote "Honey" in "about 10 minutes." Tracks from the box set would also be used as the basis for the Play songs "Find My Baby" and "Natural Blues". After producing "Honey", Moby commissioned Mario Caldato Jr. to mix the song. Moby was surprised by Caldato's willingness to offer his assistance, given that Caldato had just worked on the album Hello Nasty by hip hop group Beastie Boys, which "was doing incredibly well", while in contrast Moby's recent music had been met with critical and commercial indifference.
"Honey" is built around a repeated sample of four lines from the 1960 song "Sometimes" by American blues singer Bessie Jones, which was included on Sounds of the South; Jones and Lomax receive co-writing credits on "Honey". In each line, Jones sings a variation on the refrain "...my honey come back", and a choir responds "sometime". Moby has said that the sampled lyrics convey "female sex". The vocal samples on "Honey" are juxtaposed with what AllMusic critic John Bush describes as a "breakbeat techno" musical backing. The song features a piano-driven beat and additional instrumentation performed by Moby himself, including original slide guitar parts. Other elements incorporated into the music include hand claps sampled from "Sometimes", record scratches, and synthesized strings.
## Release
"Honey" was released as the lead single from Play on August 24, 1998, in Europe, nine months prior to the release of the album. Numerous remixes of the song were produced for its single release by different artists, including Aphrodite, WestBam, Faithless members Rollo Armstrong and Sister Bliss, and Moby himself. Instead of choosing specific ones to include on the single, Moby and his label Mute Records opted to commercially release all of the remixes that had been produced. Moby recalled that European radio stations were hesitant to play "Honey" because "they said it was an instrumental dance track", a categorization that he disputed: "I listen to it and all I hear is singing. Are they talking about the same song?"
Despite minimal radio airplay, "Honey" managed to chart in several European countries. It debuted and peaked at number 33 on the UK Singles Chart. The single also managed chart placings in Austria (at number 30), Germany (at number 77), and the Netherlands (at number 94). Outside Europe, "Honey" charted at number 95 in Australia, while in the United States, where it was issued by V2 Records as a double A-side release with "Run On", it reached number 49 on Billboard magazine's Dance/Electronic Singles Sales chart.
Moby later collaborated with American R&B singer Kelis on a remix of "Honey", on which she provided additional vocals. Additional production and remixing were done for the new version by Fafu. The remix was released as a double A-side single with "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" on October 16, 2000, and peaked at number 17 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also issued by Festival Mushroom Records as a double A-side single with "Porcelain" in Australia and New Zealand, charting at number 56 in the former.
## Critical reception
In his 2002 book I Hear America Singing: An Introduction to Popular Music, David Kastin noted that "Honey" was often singled out in reviews of Play for special praise. Jim Sullivan of The Boston Globe cited "Honey" as a highlight of Play, while Gene Stout of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer deemed it "one of the album's most riveting tracks." Reviews in NME described the song as "a sparkling diamond" and a "natural born dancefloor groove". The Guardian's Dominic Wills praised "Honey" as "joyous, hypnotic, romping blues". Writing for The Village Voice, Frank Owen called it "a mesmerizing floor-filler, arousing memories of Hamilton Bohannon's hypnotic '70s metronome funk." MTV reviewer Alexandra Marshall applauded Moby for avoiding "cloying pity" in his sampling of older recordings, and "not trying cutely to juxtapose a 'naïve' form with a sophisticated one". At the end of 1999, "Honey" was named the year's tenth best single by Spin, and it was voted by critics as the year's 24th best single in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll.
## Music video
The music video for "Honey" was directed by Roman Coppola. It opens with a wooden box falling to the ground. Three clones of Moby, all wearing suits, emerge from the box and make their way to a city. One clone spots a luxury car and walks toward it, but accidentally drops a map in his possession. Crawling underneath the car to retrieve the map, he finds himself in a woman's apartment room. He manages to obtain the map and exit the room before the woman discovers his presence. He enters another room, followed by his fellow clones, and jumps out the window.
Two of the clones are then seen in a forest. One walks behind a tree and reappears dressed in casual attire, then climbs up another tree and ends up in the bathroom of the woman's apartment, where he clandestinely retrieves a package. He crawls beneath her bed and finds himself underneath a car. He crawls out and retrieves a gasoline can from the package, which he pours into the fuel filler of the car (which is located behind its license plate). All three clones enter the car and drive to the box. They step back into the box, which then explodes.
## Track listing
### Original version
- CD single (CDMute218)
1. "Honey" – 3:18
2. "Micronesia" – 4:18
3. "Memory Gospel" – 6:42
- 12-inch single (12MUTE218)
1. "Honey" (Rollo & Sister Bliss remix) – 7:06
2. "Honey" (Sharam Jey's Sweet Honey mix) – 5:48
3. "Honey" (Low Side mix) – 5:52
- CD single – remixes (LCDMute218)
1. "Honey" (Rollo & Sister Bliss Blunt edit) – 4:02
2. "Honey" (Moby's 118 mix; radio edit) – 3:16
3. "Honey" (WestBam & Hardy Hard mix) – 6:19
4. "Honey" (Aphrodite & Mickey Finn remix) – 6:21
- 12-inch single – remixes (L12MUTE218)
1. "Honey" (Risk mix) – 5:59
2. "Honey" (Dark mix) – 4:43
3. "Honey" (WestBam & Hardy Hard mix) – 6:19
4. "Honey" (118 mix) – 3:16
5. "Honey" (Aphrodite & Mickey Finn mix) – 6:21
6. "Honey" (RJ's mix) – 6:12
7. "Honey" (original mix) – 3:14
8. "Honey" (Bammer's mix) – 6:20
- "Honey" / "Run On" CD single (63881-27583-2)
1. "Honey" (album mix) – 3:27
2. "Honey" (Moby's 118 mix) – 4:48
3. "Honey" (Sharam Jey's Sweet Honey mix) – 6:41
4. "Honey" (Aphrodite & Mickey Finn mix) – 6:21
5. "Run On" (extended) – 4:25
6. "Run On" (Moby's Young & Funky mix) – 6:03
7. "Run On" (Sharam Jey's Always on the Run remix) – 5:59
8. "Memory Gospel" – 6:42
- "Honey" / "Run On" 12-inch single (63881-27582-1)
1. "Run On" (Moby's Young & Funky mix) – 6:03
2. "Run On" (Dani König remix) – 10:04
3. "Honey" (album mix) – 3:27
4. "Run On" (Sharam Jey's Always on the Run remix) – 5:59
### Remix
- "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" / "Honey" CD single (CDMute255)
1. "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" – 3:45
2. "Honey" (remix edit; featuring Kelis) – 3:13
3. "Flower" – 3:25
- "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" / "Honey" CD single – remixes (LCDMute255)
1. "Honey" (Fafu's 12" mix; featuring Kelis) – 6:19
2. "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" (Red Jerry's String & Breaks mix) – 5:59
3. "The Sun Never Stops Setting" – 4:19
- "Honey" / "Porcelain" CD single (MUSH019852)
1. "Honey" (remix edit; featuring Kelis) – 3:13
2. "Porcelain" (album mix) – 4:01
3. "Honey" (Fafu's 12" mix; featuring Kelis) – 6:19
4. "Porcelain" (Clubbed to Death variation by Rob Dougan) – 6:36
5. "Honey" (Moby's 118 mix) – 4:48
## Charts
### Original version
### Remix
#### With "Porcelain"
#### With "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" | [
"## Background and composition",
"## Release",
"## Critical reception",
"## Music video",
"## Track listing",
"### Original version",
"### Remix",
"## Charts",
"### Original version",
"### Remix",
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"#### With \"Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?\""
] | 2,415 | 17,926 |
34,444,295 | 1979 Imperial Valley earthquake | 1,159,344,266 | Earthquake | [
"1979 disasters in Mexico",
"1979 earthquakes",
"1979 in California",
"1979 in Mexico",
"1979 natural disasters in the United States",
"Brawley, California",
"Calexico, California",
"Earthquakes in California",
"Earthquakes in Mexico",
"El Centro metropolitan area",
"Geology of Imperial County, California",
"History of Baja California",
"History of Imperial County, California",
"Imperial Valley",
"Mexicali",
"Natural history of Baja California",
"October 1979 events in Mexico",
"Supershear earthquakes"
] | The 1979 Imperial Valley earthquake occurred at 16:16 Pacific Daylight Time (23:16 UTC) on 15 October just south of the Mexico–United States border. It affected Imperial Valley in Southern California and Mexicali Valley in northern Baja California. The earthquake had a relatively shallow hypocenter and caused property damage in the United States estimated at US\$30 million. The irrigation systems in the Imperial Valley were badly affected, but no deaths occurred. It was the largest earthquake to occur in the contiguous United States since the 1971 San Fernando earthquake eight years earlier.
The earthquake was 6.5 on the scale, with a maximum perceived intensity of IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale. However, most of the intensity measurements were consistent with an overall maximum intensity of VII (Very strong), and only the damage to a single structure, the Imperial County Services building in El Centro, was judged to be of intensity IX. Several comprehensive studies on the total structural failure of this building were conducted with a focus on how the building responded to the earthquake's vibration. It was one of the first heavily instrumented office buildings to be severely damaged by seismic forces.
The Imperial Valley is surrounded by a number of interconnected fault systems and is vulnerable to both moderate and strong earthquakes as well as earthquake swarms. The area was equipped with an array of strong motion seismographs for analyzing the fault mechanisms of nearby earthquakes and seismic characteristics of the sediments in the valley. The earthquake was significant in the scientific community for studies of both fault mechanics and repeat events. Four of the region's known strike-slip faults and one additional newly discovered normal fault all broke the surface during the earthquake.
## Tectonic setting
The Salton Trough is part of the complex plate boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate where it undergoes a transition from the continental transform of the San Andreas Fault system to the series of short spreading centers of the East Pacific Rise linked by oceanic transforms in the Gulf of California. The two main right–lateral strike-slip fault strands that extend across the southern part of the trough are the Elsinore Fault Zone/Laguna Salada Fault to the western side of the trough and the Imperial Fault to the east. The Imperial Fault is linked to the San Andreas Fault through the Brawley Seismic Zone, which is a spreading center beneath the southern end of the Salton Sea.
With the San Jacinto Fault Zone to the northwest, the Elsinore fault to the south-southwest, and the Imperial fault centered directly under the Imperial Valley, the area frequently encounters seismic activity, including moderate and damaging earthquakes. Other events in 1852, 1892, 1915, 1940, 1942, and 1987 have impacted the region. More small to moderate events of less than 6.0 (local magnitude) have occurred in this area than any other section of the San Andreas fault system.
## Earthquake
The earthquake was caused by rupture along parts of the Imperial Fault, the Brawley fault zone and the Rico Fault, a previously unknown normal fault near Holtville, though slip was also observed on the Superstition Hills Fault and the San Andreas Fault. The maximum observed right lateral displacement on the Imperial fault—measured within the first day of the event to the northwest of the epicenter—was 55–60 cm (22–24 in), but measurements taken five months following the earthquake closer to the southeast end of the rupture showed there was an additional 29 cm (11 in) of postseismic slip (for a total slip of 78 cm (31 in). Several strands of the Brawley fault zone, to the east of the Imperial fault, ruptured intermittently along a length of 11.1 km (6.9 mi), and just one kilometer of the Rico fault slipped with a maximum vertical displacement of 20 cm (7.9 in) (no horizontal slip was observed on that fault).
The pattern of displacement along the Imperial Fault was very similar to that observed for the northern part of the rupture during the 1940 El Centro earthquake, although on this occasion the rupture did not extend across the border into Mexico. This had been explained as the behavior of individual slip patches along the Imperial Fault with two patches rupturing in 1940 and only the northern one in 1979. The faulting that gave rise to the earthquake has been modeled by comparing synthetic seismograms with near-source strong motion recordings. This analysis showed that the rupture speed had at times exceeded the shear wave velocity, making this the first earthquake for which supershear rupture was inferred.
The United States Geological Survey operates a series of strong motion stations in the Imperial Valley and while the majority of stations in the array recorded ground accelerations that were not unexpected, station number six registered an unusually high vertical component reading of 1.74g which, at the time, was the highest yet recorded as the result of an earthquake. One explanation of the anomaly attributed the amplification to path effects and a separate theory put forth described supershear effects that generated a focused pulse directly at the station. A later proposal stated that both multipath and focusing effects due to a "lens like effect" produced by a sedimentary wedge at the junction of the Imperial and Brawley faults (under the station) may have been the cause of the high reading.
### Damage
The earthquake caused damage to the Californian cities of El Centro and Brawley, and in the Mexican city of Mexicali. There were injuries from the quake on both sides of the border. The state Office of Emergency Preparedness declared 61 injuries on the American side and police claimed that 30 were injured in Mexico. The Red Cross stated that cuts from broken glass, bruises from falling objects, and a few broken bones were reported. California's Interstate 8 developed cracks in it, but vehicles were still able to traverse the highway. The California Highway Patrol warned drivers that use of the road would be at their own risk.
Damage to the roadways was heavier farther north on California State Route 86 where settling of the road by as much as four to six inches occurred, and a bridge separation closed the highway west of Brawley. Governor Jerry Brown ended a presidential campaign trip through New England early in order to return to the Imperial Valley and declare a state of emergency there. Two fires occurred in El Centro with the loss of a trailer being reported, though fire was avoided near the Imperial County Airport when a 60,000 barrel gasoline tank farm was seriously damaged and was losing 50 US gallons (190 L; 42 imp gal) a minute. Firefighters drained the tanks and replaced the fuel with water to avoid the gasoline vapor from causing a hazard.
The earthquake shaking also led to extensive damage to the irrigation systems of the Imperial Valley, leading to breaches in some canals, particularly the All-American Canal that brings water to the valley from the Colorado River. A 13 km (8.1 mi) section of the unlined canal between the Ash and East Highline canals experienced settling. The Imperial Irrigation District estimated damage to be \$982,000 for the three canals. Water flow was immediately reduced to prevent further damage and to allow assessments to be made, and within four days the repairs had been completed and full capacity restored. A hydraulic gate and a concrete facility that were damaged during the May 1940 earthquake needed repair again. The 1940 event caused significant destruction to canals on both sides of the international border, with 108 km (67 mi) of damage along eight canals on the US side alone.
### Imperial County Services building
The Imperial County Services building, a six-story reinforced concrete building located 29 km (18 mi) northwest of the epicenter in El Centro, was built in 1971 when there were few other tall buildings in the area. The decision to equip the building with nine strong motion sensors in May 1976 was based on its size, structural attributes, and location in a seismically active area. Unusually detailed structural analysis was possible as a result of the building having been outfitted with the instrumentation. The initial configuration was tested shortly after its installation when a relatively small (4.9 local magnitude) earthquake occurred 32 km (20 mi) northwest of the building on 4 November 1976. The accelerations recorded on the equipment during the event proved to be of very low amplitude and, as a result, the instrumentation was upgraded to include a 13 channel configuration in the building along with a Kinemetrics triaxial (3 channel) accelerograph located 340 ft (100 m) east of the building at ground level. The full 16 channel system was managed by the California Division of Mines and Geology Office of Ground Motion Studies and provided almost 60 seconds worth of high resolution data during the 1979 event.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times following the earthquake, Fritz Matthiesen, a scientist with the United States Geological Survey, said that the instruments captured "about the third or fourth most significant recording of building damage we've made in 40 years" and that they "have only three other cases in which damage has occurred in an instrumented building".
Several types of irregular construction styles were incorporated into the building that contributed to its mass and strength not being uniform throughout the structure. These differences in strength allowed damage to be concentrated in one or more areas rather than being distributed equally and reduced the building's ability to sustain the tremors. Two of the irregularities of the building were the end shear walls that stopped below the second floor and the first floor carrying its load via square support columns. The result of the design was that the first floor was less stiff than the upper floors, and during the earthquake the building sustained uneven damage distribution, a condition that may have led to the complete collapse of the building in a larger earthquake. Because of its failure at the foundation and first floor level, the building was considered a total loss and was ultimately demolished.
### Intensity
While the most extreme demonstration of the earthquake's intensity was at the Imperial County Services Building, the shock was felt over an area of roughly 128,000 square miles. A more precise estimate was not possible due to the boundaries of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. At numerous department stores and the fire station in Brawley, a collapsed brick wall, cracked concrete fixtures, and ceiling or roof damage was consistent with intensity VII shaking. Similar effects were also reported across the border in Calexico. Intensity VI effects were observed in Heber, Holtville, and Yuma, Arizona.
### Aftershocks
An early study of the event encompassed more than 2,000 aftershocks (and included four of magnitude 5.0 or greater) that were recorded within 20 days of the mainshock, with the area south of the border near the epicenter remaining relatively quiet. Most of the aftershock activity was within 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) of Brawley (especially the first eight hours after the mainshock), although they occurred from the Salton Sea in the north to the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station to the south, a distance of 110 kilometers (68 mi). The first strong aftershock (5.0) occurred at 23:19 GMT just 2.5 minutes after the mainshock and the strongest aftershock (5.8) occurred at 6:58 GMT on 16 October west of Brawley.
While the focal mechanism of the mainshock was right-lateral fault slip on the northwest trending Imperial fault, a marked change in the distribution of aftershocks occurred with the onset of the Brawley aftershock, which exhibited left-lateral slip. A distinct zone of aftershocks formed a belt from west of Brawley to near Wiest Lake, where sinistral motion on a northeast trending conjugate fault responded to an increase in tension at the northwest end of the Imperial fault. Another line of aftershocks along the projection of the southern San Andreas fault extended south into the valley up to 50 km (31 mi). Activity in that area of the valley had been aseismic through 1978, and a few events occurred just prior to the event, and a significant increase in the amount of activity followed the mainshock.
### Ground disturbances
During two outings in late 1979 and early 1980 several researchers (including Thomas H. Heaton and John G. Anderson) examined the region near the New River and discovered ground disturbances that were related to the Brawley aftershock. Along the banks of the river the seismologists discovered sand boils, a newly formed pond, and an extension crack that was found to run 10 km (6.2 mi) near the south bank in an irregular and disconnected fashion from Brawley to Wiest lake. It was later discovered that the Brawley earthquake had an aftershock zone that matched the area of the disturbances. Accelerograms recorded from the nearby Del Rio Country Club also showed "clear and impressive evidence" of near field ground motions, which may have indicated nearby primary faulting.
Numerous sites running along the New River were examined including the twin reinforced concrete bridges in Brawley. Slumping of the foundations there resulted in severe damage, and occurred as a result of the 15 October main shock, though the Brawley earthquake's epicenter was nearby. At the Imperial County Dump, several instances of ground failure were observed in sedimentary deposits near the top of and parallel to the river bank, and other cracks were found in that area that were determined to be the result of differential settling. Farther north at the entrance to the Del Rio Country Club, 30 cm (12 in) scarplets were located west of Route 111, but undisturbed Pleistocene sedimentary layers likely indicated that the scarps were the result of local slumping in the roadcut and not the result of surface faulting. A large pond had apparently formed near the KROP radio station's antenna site where profound liquefaction and subsidence occurred in the river valley. Two weeks following the earthquake sand boils at the same location were still discharging water.
## See also
- 1915 Imperial Valley earthquakes
- 2010 Baja California earthquake
- List of earthquakes in 1979
- List of earthquakes in the United States
- List of earthquakes in California
- List of earthquakes in Mexico | [
"## Tectonic setting",
"## Earthquake",
"### Damage",
"### Imperial County Services building",
"### Intensity",
"### Aftershocks",
"### Ground disturbances",
"## See also"
] | 2,962 | 21,316 |
14,531,370 | Light House: A Trifle | 1,129,341,973 | Book by William Monahan | [
"2000 American novels",
"2000 debut novels",
"American satirical novels",
"Novels first published in serial form",
"Riverhead Books books",
"Works by William Monahan",
"Works originally published in American magazines",
"Works originally published in literary magazines"
] | Light House: A Trifle, a 2000 satirical novel by American screenwriter William Monahan. Originally serialized in the Amherst literary magazine Old Crow Review from 1993 to 1995, Monahan sold Light House to Riverhead Books, a Penguin Group imprint, in 1998. Warner Bros. optioned the film rights while the novel was in manuscript and hired Monahan to write the screenplay adaptation. The novel was delayed for two years, with plans to release it alongside the upcoming film; however, the film was never produced.
In 2000, Light House: A Trifle was finally published and garnered critical acclaim: The New York Times proclaimed "Monahan's cocksure prose gallops along", and BookPage Fiction called Monahan "a worthy successor to Kingsley Amis". The story follows an artist named Tim Picasso who runs afoul of a drug lord and seeks refuge at a New England inn in the middle of a nor'easter. It is a work intentionally referential to the satirical novels of the early 19th-century British author Thomas Love Peacock, such as Headlong Hall and Nightmare Abbey.
## Plot summary
The story begins with a painter named Tim Picasso who suffers critical rejection from his peers and decides to take a break in the Caribbean, where he ends up crewing on a drug smuggling sailboat. When the captain gets drunk and falls overboard, Picasso takes the boat to Florida, and meets up with Jesus Castro, the lead drug smuggler. Castro intimidates Picasso into running the drugs from Miami to Boston, however after Picasso collects the \$1.5 million payment from the Irish Republican Army, he escapes by train to the New England town of Tyburn, where a winter storm is picking up force. He decides to lodge at the seaside Admiral Benbow Inn for the weekend, until he can depart for Italy.
Meanwhile, Mr. Glowery, a bitter New York City journalist and writer who believes that a rival author is sabotaging his literary career, arrives in Tyburn where he is to speak at a fiction workshop being held at the Admiral Benbow Inn. He is immediately tasered by one of Castro's detectives, who mistakenly confuses him for Picasso. Back at the Admiral Benbow Inn, the innkeeper, George Hawthorne, worries about Mr. Briscoe, a cross-dressing contract worker who is stranded in the abandoned lighthouse just off the coast because of the raging nor'easter, while his unhappy wife, Magdalene Hawthorne, threatens to leave him. The next morning, Mr. Glowery is stuck in a restaurant where he is being coerced by a psychotic cook to peddle his novel in order to pay off a debt he incurred during the night. When Professor Eggman, the director of the fiction workshop, comes across Mr. Glowery, he rescues him and brings him back to the inn. However, few people show up for the fiction workshop because of the storm. Hawthorne's wife returns from a spa with Picasso; Mr. Hawthorne informs her that he is trying to procure a prostitute for his new arrival, Jesus Castro, who has registered under the false name of Mr. Wassermann. Mr. Hawthorne asks Picasso if he has had sex with his wife and Picasso meekly admits to it.
At the lighthouse, Mr. Briscoe decides to brave the storm in a landing craft, but is immediately swamped with water and carried by the tide towards the mainland. After Castro avails himself of the services of a prostitute, he rampages around the property searching for Picasso. The storm crashes through the inn. A guest is killed by a billiards table that falls on top of him and is dragged off into the sea. Mr. Glowery is also dragged off into the sea by the storm. Castro and his assistant round up the guests and interrogate them about the location of the \$1.5 million Picasso stole. In another part of the inn a fire starts. Finally, Mr. Briscoe shows up and kills Castro's assistant before knocking Castro unconscious. While Hawthorne learns his wife is leaving him for the prostitute, the inn becomes completely engulfed in flames. Picasso, Hawthorne, and Briscoe motor a lobster boat over to the lighthouse, and dump Castro's dead assistant into the sea along with Castro himself, weighed down with two cinder blocks chained to his ankles. When they land on the island, Briscoe runs into the lighthouse and blows himself up. Amongst the rubble of the lighthouse, Picasso notices the inscription "MORTE D'AUTHOR" painted on one of the surrounding rocks and says to the innkeeper "He's been thinking about this for some time, George."
## Publication history
Monahan wrote the novel while studying Elizabethan and Jacobean drama at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Monahan completed a draft of Light House on May 18, 1991, but then "stuck it in a drawer". It remained unpublished until 1993 when he gave it to the literary magazine Old Crow Review to serialize to benefit a food charity. In 1995, a short review from an editor at Factsheet Five described the serial run of Light House as a "gritty screwball comedy set in a Massachusetts coastal hotel during a raging winter storm" that is "very, very funny".
After the original serialization of Light House, Monahan reluctantly rewrote the novel several times at the urging of his agent in New York City. In 1998 Light House was sold to Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Putnam, and Warner Bros. immediately optioned the film rights while the novel was still in manuscript. Penguin Putnam wanted to delay publishing the novel in order to release it concurrent with the anticipated film release. Warner Bros. hired Monahan to write the screenplay adaptation of Light House.
> The book's subtitled 'A Trifle,' and it is one. I can't stress enough how bored I was with the fiction in print when I wrote it. The American writer is supposed to be very grave and solemn and really provincial and take himself very seriously and write the best book in the world — and, of course, they never do. I wanted to do something beyond old-hat Joycean tricksterism. Find a way to take postmodern hyperconsciousness and work it back into a book that functions as an accessible entertainment, so there's something for everybody, the way it should be, the way Hamlet works.
In 2000, Light House: A Trifle was finally published in hardcover, and then, the following year, in paperback. Monahan and Bruno Maddox, a fellow former Spy editor, went on a joint book tour billed as the "Minor Novelists Tour" that was interrupted by the 9/11 attacks.
Less than four years after the novel's publication, Monahan bought back the film rights to Light House "I didn't like how the book was published. They wanted to wait for the movie to be made. I got a little hostile. When I was in Spain on Kingdom, I realized I could buy it back. It was an empty, damaging gesture." In an interview with Collider.com he stated that, "It was demoralizing to write a really good book and to realize how little the rewards were, even though the book did quite well, as far as first novels are concerned." Light House was available in a German edition, translated by Ulrike Seeberger.
### Original serialization
### English and German editions
## Literary significance and reception
Light House intentionally references the satirical novels of the early 19th-century British author and satirist Thomas Love Peacock, such as Headlong Hall and Nightmare Abbey. Peacock's novels have little plot and are best known for parodying the intellectual modes and pretenses of his contemporaries; his characters normally assemble in characteristic English country houses and predominantly engage in conversation. Nightmare Abbey satirized the English romantic movement and included characters based on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
When Light House was published in 2000 it was critically acclaimed, however, it had lackluster sales. William Georgiades, in a review for The New York Times, called it "a sort of old English farce that allows Monahan [...] to skewer whatever comes to mind: modern art, magazine writing, education, the young". The Chicago Sun-Times construed the storyline as one that "allows Monahan to indulge in wisecracks, lampoons and slurs of seemingly infinite variety" with "literary and artistic pretenders [taking] heavy fire". Mark Rozzo of the Los Angeles Times praised Monahan's "refreshing disregard for believability, making Light House — which contains asides on Freud, Emerson, race and fiction itself — a seriously adult cartoon".
BookPage Fiction's Bruce Tierney called Monahan "a worthy successor to Kingsley Amis" and Alfred Alcorn of the Boston Herald detected "delightful echoes of Vladimir Nabokov, Kingsley Amis, Evelyn Waugh, Flann O'Brien and other modern masters of drollery" in the novel, concluding that "[i]n the end, the girl gets the girl, the bad guys lose, and an old Yankee blows himself up with the eponymous lighthouse and a few chunks of the Virginia Woolf legacy".
After describing the women in Light House as "mainly vehicles for sex" and the men as "mostly hapless", The Boston Globe's Jules Verdone generalized that the entire cast of characters appeared to be created "simply so that [Monahan] can skewer them", allowing that "it makes for a pretty good spectator sport".
## References and notes | [
"## Plot summary",
"## Publication history",
"### Original serialization",
"### English and German editions",
"## Literary significance and reception",
"## References and notes"
] | 1,995 | 29,193 |
67,694,171 | The Passenger (Boschwitz novel) | 1,150,604,177 | 1938 book by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz | [
"1938 German novels",
"1938 German-language novels",
"Novels about Nazi Germany",
"Novels about the Holocaust"
] | The Passenger is a 1938 novel by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz published by Henry Holt under the imprint Metropolitan Books. Initially unsuccessful, its 2021 re-release gained critical acclaim for its ability to capture the zeitgeist of Jewish persecution in Nazi Germany.
## Plot
The book tells the story of Otto Silbermann, a respected German-Jewish business owner living in Berlin who has to leave his wife and flee his home in the immediate aftermath of the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 1938 as Nazi German soldiers pound on their door in the middle of the night. Silbermann escapes from his home through the back door and travels on several trains within Germany in an attempt to flee the country.
Silbermann's travels bring him to a number of individuals, some of whom are outcasts of the Nazi regime, while others embrace its ideology wholeheartedly. Initially refusing to accept the realities of Jewish persecution in the new Nazi Germany, Silbermann eventually comes to accept the realities of his new life as his attempts to flee are unsuccessful.
The Jewish Book Council wrote that "The Passenger offers an intimate portrait of Jewish life in prewar Nazi Germany at the onset of dehumanization, before the yellow star was imposed."
## Reception
The book, written by Boschwitz in the weeks after Kristallnacht, was initially released in Germany in the same year. It was released in the United States and the United Kingdom in 1939 and 1940, respectively. Its first German title was Der Reisende. The Passenger was originally published in English in the United States as The Man Who Took Trains in 1939, and in the UK as The Fugitive in 1940. Boschwitz died in 1942 when the boat he was travelling on, MV Abosso, was torpedoed by the Germans. The book failed to make an impact during its original release and was out of print shortly thereafter.
### 2021 re-release
The book was re-discovered in the 2010s when Boschwitz's niece contacted the German editor Peter Graff regarding the novel. The original typescript of the book was re-discovered in 2016 in the archive of the National Library in Frankfurt. It was revised and edited by Graff using specific instructions Boschwitz had provided in letters to his mother.
The revised edition was released in 2021. This edition was met with widespread critical acclaim and positive reviews. It was translated into more than 20 languages within a year of its release. In 2021 it entered The Sunday Times's list of Top 10 hardback fiction bestsellers, more than 80 years after it was originally published.
Regarding the sequence of different train rides that Silbermann takes in the novel, The Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland wrote that they were a "surreal, thickly claustrophobic atmosphere of an actual nightmare – a man repeating the same move over and over again, his goal permanently out of reach. The result is a story that is part John Buchan, part Franz Kafka and wholly riveting." Freedland also stated: "The Passenger is a gripping novel that plunges the reader into the gloom of Nazi Germany as the darkness was descending. It deserved to be read when it was written. It certainly deserves to be read now." Writing for The Sunday Times, Arts and Leisure managing editor David Mills felt that The Passenger was potentially one of the greatest novels written about the Second World War. Toby Lichtig, writing for The Wall Street Journal, described the novel as "at once a deeply satisfying novel and a vital historical document". He found that the book had "the immediacy of a novel written in a hurry", but "if the original was disordered, this version is cohesive and beautifully paced".
In a mixed review for the New York Times, author Michael Hofmann found The Passenger to be a "gripping" but "occasionally annoying" read that was the "work of a very young man, both urgent and perishable, written at some remove from the events and atmospheres it describes". Reading the book, Hofmann was reminded "that the perpetually displaced Boschwitz was writing through the haze of distance and under the impress of his own, more harmless memories of Germany before his exile." Chris Barsanti in a review on the Rain Taxi, writes that The Passenger shows the heat and speed of its composition. A number of its conversations can feel repetitive, while Silbermann's state of mind is not always clearly conveyed. But Boschwitz has a knack for illustrating a particular brand of racist self-delusion in which the non-Jewish German characters deny any responsibility for the dark forces harrying Silbermann. Like the woman to whom he opens himself up, they are uninterested in what happens to him, blame him for what is happening, or see no moral responsibility to help. | [
"## Plot",
"## Reception",
"### 2021 re-release"
] | 989 | 28,829 |
8,004,707 | Edward Aburrow Sr | 1,156,534,815 | English cricketer (c.1715–?) | [
"1715 births",
"Date of death unknown",
"English cricketers",
"English cricketers of 1701 to 1786",
"Non-international England cricketers",
"Place of birth missing",
"Sussex cricketers"
] | Edward Aburrow Sr (c.1715–death date unknown), also known as Cuddy, was an English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period who played for Slindon and Sussex under the patronage of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond. He also represented various England teams. A resident of Slindon, Sussex, he was a contemporary of the three Newland brothers – Richard, John and Adam – who were his colleagues in the Slindon team. Outside of cricket, Aburrow Sr was a tailor in Slindon but he became involved in smuggling. He was jailed in 1745, though he turned King's evidence to gain parole. He relocated to Hambledon, Hampshire and his son Edward Aburrow Jr, also known as "Curry", became a regular Hambledon player.
Aburrow Sr was an outstanding bowler who is believed to have been right-handed, but his style and pace are unknown. Like all bowlers of the time, he used an underarm action, and delivered the ball all along the ground. Although there are tentative mentions in 1742, Aburrow Sr is first definitely recorded by name in the 1744 season and played until at least 1751.
## Cricket career
Edward Aburrow Sr is often called "Cuddy" in sources. He relied for his cricketing opportunities on the 2nd Duke of Richmond, who had captained his own team for many years until he broke a leg in 1733. No longer able to play himself, Richmond channelled his enthusiasm for cricket into patronage of Slindon Cricket Club; the village of Slindon bordered on his Goodwood House estate. Aburrow was a member of Slindon's team as a contemporary and colleague of the three Newland brothers – Richard, John and Adam.
### 1742–1743
There are references in 1742 match announcements to "the Sussex Man from Slending" and "the noted bowler from Slendon". Richard Newland was the most famous Slindon player, but as a batting all-rounder. The team's most noted bowler was actually Aburrow. At the end of that season, Slindon played two eleven-a-side matches against London Cricket Club at the Artillery Ground in Finsbury, London, but lost them both, the second by the huge margin of 184 runs. F. S. Ashley-Cooper, in a brief description of Slindon village at the time, says it was most famous for its cricket and "its chief players were the Messrs Newland – Adam, John and Richard – and Cuddy (Aburrow)".
### 1744
The first definite reference in contemporary records to Aburrow by name is in the 1744 season. On 2 June 1744, a combined Surrey and Sussex team played against London at the Artillery Ground. Surrey and Sussex won by 55 runs and the match is now famous for the world's oldest known match scorecard, which lists individual scores but no details of dismissals. London, whose team included given men, was the host club and their opponents were all from the counties of Surrey and Sussex. The visitors batted first and scored 102. London replied with 79, so Surrey and Sussex had a first innings lead of 23. In their second innings, Surrey and Sussex reached 102/6 and then apparently declared their innings closed, although the Laws of Cricket did not allow for declarations in 1744. In the final innings, London needed 126 to win but were all out for 70. Aburrow, whose name is first in the batting order, scored 5 runs in the first innings and 0 in the second. The scorecard was kept by the Duke of Richmond at Goodwood House.
Two weeks later, Aburrow played for England against Kent at the Artillery Ground. The match was commemorated in Cricket, An Heroic Poem (1745) by James Love. Kent captain Lord John Sackville is reported to have held a remarkable catch in the second innings to dismiss Richard Newland, who made the top two scores in the match with 18\* and 15. Aburrow scored 0 and 2. He apparently took no wickets. Sackville's catch may have been the defining moment of the match, which Kent won by one wicket after John Cutbush and William Hodsoll managed to score the remaining few runs with nine wickets down.
Towards the end of the season, Slindon came into the limelight. They played London at the Artillery Ground on 10–11 September and won by an unknown margin. In celebration, they issued a famous challenge to other clubs by offering to play against "any parish in England". As far as is known, the only acceptances came from Addington and Bromley. The match against Addington commenced on the 12th but it was delayed by rain. Slindon led by two runs at close of play but there are no further reports. The match against Bromley was scheduled for the 14th but, again, there are no reports and so it may be assumed that both matches were rained off. Aburrow and Richard Newland are the only players known to have taken part in the London and Addington matches.
On 17 September, there was a single wicket "threes" match at the Artillery Ground between teams led by Robert Colchin (aka "Long Robin") and Richard Newland. Colchin had Val Romney and John Bryant on his side; Newland had Aburrow and Joe Harris. Aburrow was a late replacement for John Mills of Horsmonden, described as "the famous Kent bowler". The stake was 200 guineas and the players were described as the "best in England". The result, however, is unknown.
### Later career
Aburrow is not mentioned in the 1745 sources. He was jailed in that year for assisting a gang of smugglers (see below). He continued to play cricket after he was released and the last known references to him are from the 1751 season, the year after Richmond had died. Aburrow played in two matches for England against Kent and was on the winning team both times, in the first by 9 runs and in the second by an innings and 9 runs. These were also the last two known matches of Richard Newland's career.
## Criminal activity
David Underdown points out that, like many Sussex villages at the time, Slindon was a violent place with strong smuggling connections. Aburrow was both the village tailor and the cricket team's best bowler, but even so he gained a reputation for smuggling. He was jailed in 1745 after he was found guilty of bearing arms whilst landing "prohibited goods" at Elmer's Sluice on the Sussex coast. He spent time in Horsham gaol. However, he turned King's evidence and earned a parole. In 1747, Aburrow married a Slindon girl called Elizabeth Coot. Their eldest son, Edward Aburrow Jr was born at Slindon in 1750 and, soon afterwards, the family relocated to Hambledon, Hampshire. Underdown surmises that their departure may have been necessary because Aburrow Sr, as an informer, could have been threatened with reprisals.
Richmond's patronage of Slindon presents a paradox because most of the villagers were Roman Catholics and the most influential family there, the Kempes, were Tories. Richmond was both Anglican and "a passionate Whig". Another converse arises from Richmond's vehement campaign against smuggling. His main target was the notorious Hawkhurst Gang, but he showed similar intolerance towards Aburrow, whose family he described as "notorious villains" (one of Aburrow's brothers had been hanged), even though Aburrow was his best bowler at Slindon. | [
"## Cricket career",
"### 1742–1743",
"### 1744",
"### Later career",
"## Criminal activity"
] | 1,656 | 1,219 |
68,244,857 | The Hobby Directory | 1,161,433,288 | American periodical | [
"1946 establishments in New Jersey",
"1952 disestablishments in New Jersey",
"Classified magazines",
"Defunct magazines published in the United States",
"Gay history",
"History of gay men in the United States",
"Magazines disestablished in 1952",
"Magazines established in 1946",
"Magazines published in New Jersey",
"Orange, New Jersey"
] | The Hobby Directory was an American periodical published by Francis Willard Ewing from 1946 until the early 1950s. Ostensibly intended to connect men and boys with shared interests, its audience came to include a significant number of gay men, who used the magazine to post covert personal advertisements at a time when homosexuality was socially taboo and legally proscribed.
## Publication history
The Hobby Directory was founded in 1946 by Francis Willard Ewing (1896–1984), a New Jersey high school teacher. It was the official publication of the National Association of Hobbyists for Men and Boys. The Hobby Directory was sold openly, including at craft stores. In addition, classified advertisements soliciting subscribers appeared in the national magazines Popular Mechanics and Popular Science, the latter directed to "men and boys only."
According to the copyright registration filed with the United States Copyright Office, the publication initially appeared twice a year, in June or July and in December. The run held by the GLBT Historical Society suggests the magazine later appeared quarterly and continued publishing until at least March 1952. The March 1952 issue is likewise the final one registered with the Copyright Office.
Historian David K. Johnson speculates that the magazine may have ceased publication following a "police crackdown" at a time when US authorities were vigorously enforcing the Comstock laws which prohibited sending obscene material through the mail.
## Contents
The Directory described its mission as being "to help its members find hobby friends". The typewritten magazine consisted entirely of classified ads. In a typical ad, members would list their age, location, occupation, and hobbies or interests, such as model trains, particular genres of music, or rock collecting. Members would also indicate what sort of correspondence they sought from others using the initialism "C.D." for "Contacts Desired".
## Gay audience
The magazine was notably used by gay men seeking to connect with other gay men, to the point that writer Daniel Harris describes it as "little more than a bizarre dating service".
At the time of The Hobby Directory's publication, the ability of gay men in the US to express their sexuality was extremely limited. Prior to the 1958 Supreme Court case One, Inc. v. Olesen, writing on homosexuality was liable to be classified as obscene, and the transmission of such materials through the postal system was vigorously policed by the US Postal Service, enforcing the Comstock laws. The first enduring gay membership organization, the Mattachine Society, was not founded until 1950. Some gay men formed clandestine communities centered around certain bars, bathhouses, and public meeting places, though they risked police raids, and this option was foreclosed to men living in rural areas.
Unable to advertise their desires openly, many gay men turned to classified ads in publications such as The Hobby Directory, signaling to other gay men using coded references to interests such as physical culture, sunbathing, ballet, or wrestling. Another potential signal were professions suggestive of "gender inversion" such as florist, nurse, or hairdresser. Scholar William Leap suggests that such ads would not have been likely to arouse suspicion in an average reader because they made use of "familiar words and phrases" rather than any peculiar secret codes.
It is unknown whether Ewing intended to cater to gay men, or the degree to which he was aware of the magazine's large gay audience. Michael Waters notes that Ewing apparently had a genuine zeal for hobbies, given that, more than a decade before the magazine's debut, he had founded a student hobbyist club at the high school at which he taught. As evidence of Ewing's complicity, some scholars have pointed to a notice printed by Ewing in a 1951 issue in which he chastised members for lying about their age, deceiving younger members who wished to correspond only with members of similar ages for purposes such as sharing "photos of young men in service uniforms" or "memorabilia related to boys famous in history".
The proportion of gay-coded advertisements appears to have increased over the span of the magazine's existence. David K. Johnson views later issues of The Hobby Directory as increasingly coming to resemble the physique magazines which were becoming increasingly popular among gay men. Later issues of the Directory would include photos of members, and "cover art featuring naked boys seen from behind".
## Scarcity
The only known surviving issues of The Hobby Directory are preserved in the holdings of the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco. The collection, consisting of 24 issues ranging from July 1946 to March 1952, came to the institution's archives as part of the papers of Bois Burk (1906–1993). A gay man who served as one of Alfred Kinsey's research informants, Burk marked up some of his copies of the magazine with notes regarding his contacts with men who had placed personal advertisements. | [
"## Publication history",
"## Contents",
"## Gay audience",
"## Scarcity"
] | 987 | 664 |
5,843,557 | Parson Street railway station | 1,126,520,902 | Railway station in Bristol, England | [
"DfT Category F2 stations",
"Former Great Western Railway stations",
"Railway stations in Bristol",
"Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1927",
"Railway stations served by Great Western Railway"
] | Parson Street railway station serves the western end of Bedminster in Bristol, England. It also serves other surrounding suburbs including Bishopsworth, Ashton Vale and Ashton Gate, along with Bristol City FC. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) from Bristol Temple Meads, and 120 miles (193 km) from London Paddington. Its three letter station code is PSN. It was opened in 1927 by the Great Western Railway, and was rebuilt in 1933. The station, which has two through-lines and two platforms, plus one freight line for traffic on the Portishead Branch Line, has minimal facilities. As of 2020, it is managed by Great Western Railway, which is the sixth company to be responsible for the station, and the third franchise since privatisation in 1997. They provide all train services at the station, mainly an hourly service between Bristol Parkway and Weston-super-Mare.
## Description
The station is built in a cutting in the western end of Bedminster, on the Bristol to Exeter line 120 miles 16 chains (193.44 km) from London Paddington and 1 mile 65 chains (2.92 km) from Bristol Temple Meads. It is the second station along the line from Bristol Temple Meads. The surrounding area is mostly residential, with some industrial buildings to the north-east. There are two island platforms, each 210 yards (190 m) long, but only the first 100 yards (91 m) are in use, the rest fenced off. The platforms are on an alignment of roughly 60 degrees, with a slight curve. The southern island's northern face, platform 1, is for westbound trains; and the southern face of the northern island, platform 2, is for eastbound trains. The track on the southern side of the southern island has been removed, while the track to the northern side of the northern island is only accessible to trains to or from the Portishead Branch Line and Liberty Lane Freightliner terminal – no passenger trains use this. The speed limit through the station is 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) on the main lines and 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) on the freight line.
The station is surrounded on all sides by the A38 road, which splits the carriageways at this point, with the station in between. The line runs under the road at both ends of the station. Access between the platforms is via steps to the A38 at the east end of the platforms. There is no disabled access.
Facilities at the station are minimal – there is a metal and glass shelter on each of the two islands as well as on the bridge. The station is completely unstaffed, but there is a ticket machine. There are customer help points, giving next train information for both platforms. There is no car park or taxi rank, nor is there any cycle storage available. There are several bus stops nearby.
Just to the west of the station is Parson Street Junction, where the Portishead Branch diverges from the main line, heading north. The South Liberty Lane goods depot is adjacent to the junction, in the triangle between the main line, the Portishead Branch and the now-disused western connection between the branch and the main line.
## Services
The station is managed by Great Western Railway, who also operate all rail services from the station. As of the December 2011 timetable, the basic service from Monday to Friday consists of one train in each direction per hour, between Bristol Parkway and Weston-super-Mare, calling at all stations. Some trains working between Cardiff and Taunton or Exeter St Davids call at peak hours and in the evening. All trains at Parson Street also stop at Nailsea & Backwell westbound and Bedminster eastbound. On Saturday there is a similar pattern, but with no services beyond Bristol Parkway or Weston-super-Mare except during the early morning and late evening. Sunday sees a reduced service, with only three trains westbound and two eastbound, all after 4pm.
Services are mostly formed by or and diesel multiple-unit trains. CrossCountry services between Scotland and the South West pass non-stop throughout the day, with Great Western Railway services between London Paddington and Weston-super-Mare passing through during the morning and evening peaks.
The typical journey time to Bristol Temple Meads is 7 minutes, while to Weston-super-Mare takes 31 minutes.
The adjacent bus stop is served by the First West of England number 76 bus, between Hengrove and Henbury.
## History
The first section of the Bristol and Exeter Railway's main line opened on 14 June 1841 between Bristol and Bridgwater. Engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the line was originally built as broad-gauge, but had been reconstructed as a mixed gauge line to accommodate local -gauge traffic by 1 June 1875. Broad gauge trains ceased operation on 20 May 1892. The Portishead Branch Line, which diverged from the Bristol to Exeter line at Parson Street Junction, the other side of a road bridge west of where the station would be built, had opened on 12 July 1867. It was only in 1871, with the opening of a station at Bedminster that there was a stop between the junction and Bristol Temple Meads.
As Bristol expanded in the early 20th century, the need for a new station to serve the outskirts grew, and on 29 August 1927, the Great Western Railway opened a station at Parson Street, named Parson Street Halt. There were two platforms, one on each side of the two running lines. There was a wooden shelter on the westbound platform, and a metal shelter on the eastbound platform. The platforms were made of wood, with access from the main road via steps. No goods facilities were provided.
The station was rebuilt in the early 1930s to cope with the relaying of the line west from Temple Meads with four tracks instead of two. Considerable engineering works were needed to cope with the widening of the station, including the removal of a short tunnel to the west of the station. The two new island platforms opened on 21 May 1933, and the station name was changed to simply Parson Street in November 1933. The new station included covered waiting shelters, and a booking office on the road bridge. Again, no goods facilities were provided.
Parson Street railway station served a dual purpose: as well as serving local suburban developments for commuter and excursion traffic, it also acted as a minor interchange for passengers on the Portishead Branch Line. When Parson Street opened in 1927, there were 21 services each weekday along the branch, operated by the Great Western Railway at half-hour intervals from Temple Meads. There were 8 trains on Sundays.
Following the Second World War, service levels dropped dramatically along the Portishead branch. When the railways were nationalised in 1948, services at Parson Street came under the auspices of the Western Region of British Railways, and by the time the branch was closed to passengers in 1964, there were only six trains each weekday, and none on Sundays. With the closure of the branch, Parson Street lost its interchange status, and in January 1971 the station buildings were demolished. Some special services did continue along the branch to Ashton Gate, carrying fans to Bristol City FC games at the nearby Ashton Gate Stadium. These ceased in 1977, and Parson Street became the arrival and departure point for these trains.
The Bristol Area Resignalling Scheme in the 1970s saw the Down Relief line, the most southern of the four running lines, converted to a siding linking Malago Vale carriage sidings to the east with the West Depot carriage sidings to the west. At the same time, Parson Street Junction was reworked, requiring trains to first cross from the Down Main line to the Up Main line before they were able to access the Portishead Branch. The Down Relief line was removed altogether when West Depot closed sometime after the opening of a new depot at St Philips Marsh to service High Speed Trains.
British Rail was split into business-led sectors in the 1980s, at which time operations at Bedminster passed to Regional Railways. Local services were franchised to Wales & West when the railway was privatised in 1997, which was in turn succeeded by Wessex Trains in 2001. The Wessex franchise was amalgamated with the Great Western franchise into the Greater Western franchise from 2006, and responsibility passed to First Great Western. The franchise was rebranded Great Western Railway in 2015.
In recent years, there has been a marked increase in passengers travelling to and from Parson Street. In the 2002/03 financial year, less than 4,000 passengers used the station; and in 2005, only six eastbound and eight westbound trains called at Parson Street each day, with 14,293 passengers using the station during the 2005/06 financial year. Since then, service levels have increased to 21 westbound trains and 18 eastbound per weekday, and passenger levels have more than quadrupled, to 102,654 in 2013/14.
The campaign group Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways held a celebration in 2009 to mark the increase in passenger numbers. They were joined by pupils from Parson Street Primary School who had provided artwork to brighten up the station. This was done as part of the Severnside Schools Community Stations Programme, organised by the Severnside Community Rail Partnership. The Severnside CRP also installed plant displays in 2008, and in 2011 distributed leaflets advertising train services to local residents, in association with Bristol City Council and Passenger Focus. In January 2017 a group called Friends of Parson Street Railway Station was formed to lobby for improvements to facilities and services at the station.
In 2000/01, the track towards Portishead were relaid to allow rail access to Royal Portbury Docks. In 2010, another section of track was reinstated to allow the reopening of South Liberty Lane depot to handle Trans Ocean's wine import business, reducing road traffic. Seven trains terminate at the depot every week. The depot had closed in 1990 due to lack of demand for its facilities.
## Future
Parson Street is on the Weston-super-Mare/Yate corridor, one of the main axes of MetroWest, a rail transport plan which aims to enhance transport capacity in the Bristol area. As part of this scheme, the Portishead Branch Line, which runs along the south side of the River Avon from a junction just beyond Parson Street, will be reopened. The line was built in the 1860s, but closed to passenger traffic in 1964, leaving Portishead as one of Britain's largest towns without a railway station. The line was reopened for freight traffic to serve Royal Portbury Docks in 2002. The scheme was given the go-ahead in July 2012 as part of the City Deal, whereby local councils would be given greater control over money by the government. A consultation on the plans was held between 22 June and 3 August 2015 to gather views from the community and stakeholders before moving on to detailed designs. The detailed proposals will be subject to a second consultation before the plans are finalised. Due to the additional capital costs, the line will not be electrified, however the design will include passive provision for future electrification. Trains along the reopened line will operate between Portishead and Bristol Temple Meads, with two trains per hour in each direction. Services would call at Pill and Parson Street, with aspirations to also call at Bedminster and a reopened Ashton Gate. Trains could also be extended on to the Severn Beach Line. The line will be operated as part of the Greater Western passenger franchise.
The Down Relief line between Bristol Temple Meads and Parson Street is to be partially reinstated as part of the MetroWest scheme in order to ease congestion. According to the Great Western Route Utilisation Strategy, in the December 2007 timetable period, the line through Parson Street was running at over 75% capacity in the morning peak between 8 and 9am. It was predicted that by 2019, trains working the line would be completely full during peak hours. While the three tracks could cope with traffic generated by the reopening of the Portishead Line, campaigners note it would leave little room for growth. Parson Street Junction will also be upgraded during the works.
## Incidents
There have been several railway incidents in the Parson Street area over the years. On 19 November 2002, a Wessex Trains diesel multiple unit suffered an axle problem near Parson Street while operating a westbound service, causing the line to be blocked for four hours. Delays all along the line to Taunton have been caused by trackside cabling being stolen, affecting signalling between Nailsea & Backwell and Bedminster. Notable occurrences of this type happened in October 2006 and May 2012. Theft of personal property has also occurred on the station. In 2009, a gang of teenagers robbed a group of four 12- to 15-year-old boys of their bikes at Parson Street. The robbers followed their targets off the train, having got on at Weston-super-Mare, and attacked the boys as the train pulled away.
On 11 June 2019, a man in his 80s died after being struck by a train at Parson Street, delaying train services between Bristol Temple Meads and Worle. The British Transport Police subsequently treated the death as non-suspicious. Another person was struck by a train and killed at Parson Street in an unrelated incident on 26 August 2019; this was also treated by police as non-suspicious.
## See also
- Public transport in Bristol | [
"## Description",
"## Services",
"## History",
"## Future",
"## Incidents",
"## See also"
] | 2,900 | 17,975 |
9,710,926 | Stuart Tomlinson | 1,171,483,438 | British wrestler and football player (born 1985) | [
"1985 births",
"21st-century professional wrestlers",
"Altrincham F.C. players",
"Barrow A.F.C. players",
"Burton Albion F.C. players",
"Crewe Alexandra F.C. players",
"English Football League players",
"English male professional wrestlers",
"English men's footballers",
"Expatriate professional wrestlers",
"Footballers from Cheshire",
"Living people",
"Men's association football goalkeepers",
"National League (English football) players",
"People from Ellesmere Port",
"Port Vale F.C. players",
"Stafford Rangers F.C. players"
] | Stuart Charles Tomlinson (born 22 May 1985) is an English former professional wrestler and professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
As a footballer, Tomlinson progressed from the Crewe Alexandra youth team to turn professional in 2003. He spent the next six years with the club, spending part of 2004 on loan at Stafford Rangers, and playing once on loan for Burton Albion in 2008. He spent the 2009–10 campaign at Conference club Barrow, where he shared goalkeeping responsibilities with Tim Deasy. He then signed with Port Vale, and was favoured ahead of Chris Martin for the 2010–11 and 2011–12 campaigns, before choosing to leave the club in July 2012. He signed with Burton Albion in September 2012, but retired through injury in July 2013.
In December 2013, Tomlinson began training as a professional wrestler on a developmental contract with WWE. In November 2014, he made his debut at a NXT live event, under the ring name Hugo Knox. In September 2016, he was released from his contract. In March 2017, Tomlinson briefly returned to football to play for Altrincham.
## Football career
### Crewe Alexandra
Having graduated through the club's youth academy, Tomlinson made his senior debut for Crewe Alexandra in a Second Division clash with Oldham Athletic on 25 January 2003, replacing Danny Milosevic on 51 minutes after the Australian suffered an injury. He conceded a goal to Chris Armstrong after his view was obscured by a group of players, though Crewe ran out 3–1 winners at Boundary Park. At the end of the season he signed his first professional contract, and Crewe were promoted into the First Division as runners up in the Second Division.
His second game came on 17 March 2004 at the Boleyn Ground; he replaced Clayton Ince after 86 minutes with the score 4–2 to West Ham United, after Ince was stretchered off with a knee injury. The eighteen-year-old held his nerve in front of over 30,000 spectators and no goals were scored in the brief period he was on the pitch. Later in the year he had a loan spell at local non-League side Stafford Rangers.
After recovering from a twisted ankle, Tomlinson's next senior game was at Sincil Bank on 23 August 2005, where he replaced loanee Ben Williams at half-time. Lincoln City knocked the "Railwaymen" out of the League Cup, putting two past Williams and three past Tomlinson for a 5–2 victory. His first start came in the FA Cup Third Round clash at Deepdale on 7 January 2006, the home side coming out 2–1 winners. He played his first Championship game on 28 January, replacing Ross Turnbull at half-time; Watford put two past each men for a 4–1 win. After signing a one-year contract extension in March, Tomlinson got his first league start on 30 April, as Crewe beat Millwall 4–2, Ben May scoring both of the "Lions" goals.
In May 2006, Burton Albion put in a request to sign Tomlinson to a season long loan. The move was delayed after Tomlinson picked up a calf injury, before he managed to join Burton in time for a pre-season friendly with Sheffield Wednesday. However Crewe reconsidered the loan deal and so Nigel Clough instead signed aged veteran Kevin Poole. Clough was still keen to sign Tomlinson, with the saga continuing well into the season, though no deal was made. Tomlinson picked up his first senior clean sheet on 22 August 2006, during a 3–0 win at Grimsby Town's Blundell Park in the League Cup First Round. The Crewe website described a "heroic effort" from Tomlinson in the Football League Trophy tie with Rochdale on 31 October, as he managed to three of Rochdale's four penalties (the penalty he did not save was a miss). Dario Gradi said: "Stuart is outstanding on penalties because he is positive and doesn't flop over". He went on to play seven League One games, and also made one appearance in the FA Cup. However he did not play in the 2007 end of the season, partly due to a tore groin that kept him out of action for a number of weeks. In the summer there was once again talk of a possible loan move to Burton.
He was only used by Steve Holland once throughout the 2007–08 season, playing in a 1–1 draw with Chester City in the Football League Trophy on 4 September; Chester won the game 4–3 on penalties. Not long after this he was on the sidelines with a broken thumb. In February, Tomlinson finally joined Conference club Burton Albion on a one-month loan. He played 90 minutes for "Brewers" in a 3–1 defeat to Histon on 1 March, and was forced to make numerous saves. He played no further part of Burton's season after he sustained an injury to his cruciate ligaments.
After six months of rehab he recovered earlier than expected. His 2008–09 season started on 25 November, as Gradi gave him a start at the Walkers Stadium, where Leicester City won 2–1. The next month he played six games, keeping four clean sheets (against Carlisle United, Cheltenham Town, Swindon Town and Millwall). However he attracted criticism from his manager at the end of January following heavy defeats to Northampton Town and Peterborough United, and was subsequently dropped. New manager Gudjon Thordarson told him that he would not be offered a new contract at the end of the season, thus ending Tomlinson's long association with the club.
### Barrow
In July 2009, he joined Port Vale for pre-season training, playing 45 minutes of a pre-season friendly. Micky Adams considered signing Tomlinson up whilst first choice keeper Joe Anyon was out injured. He impressed on his trial and would have been signed to a contract if the cash-strapped club could find the finance, instead Adams considered offering Tomlinson non-contract terms. However, Tomlinson left the club to search for a more permanent offer elsewhere. In August 2009, he joined Barrow of the Conference, just two days before the start of their season. Sharing first team duties with Tim Deasy, he appeared 27 times for Barrow in the 2009–10 campaign. He also won the FA Trophy with the club, appearing in the final at Wembley Stadium, where the "Bluebirds" beat Stevenage Borough 2–1.
### Port Vale
Tomlinson chose not to renew his Barrow contract at the end of the season, and instead signed a one-year contract at Port Vale in May 2010. Anyon had at by this time left Vale Park for Lincoln City, and Tomlinson was brought into provide competition for teenager Chris Martin. This required him to accept a lower wage than he would have got at Barrow.
> He is a keeper with tremendous agility, who is renowned for his shot-stopping, and we have the benefit of knowing all about him after working with him for a short spell last season. Stuart is aware that he will have tough competition for the number one spot in Chris Martin, but he is ready for the challenge and looking forward to being back in the Football League.
: : – Micky Adams on Tomlinson.
Adams surprised many by selecting Tomlinson as the goalkeeper in the opening game of the season, and Tomlinson rewarded his manager by keeping a clean sheet. Tomlinson praised his defence for his solid start to the season. With five clean sheets in his first ten games, Tomlinson was offered a one-year contract extension in September 2010. Two months later he was reported in the Daily Star and the Daily Mirror to be a £250,000 transfer target for Sheffield United and Queens Park Rangers. Adams dismissed such speculation with the comment "that amount of money wouldn't buy Stuart's left hand". Sent off on New Year's Day after a collision with Rotherham United's Marcus Marshall, Tomlinson lost his place in the first XI due to injury and suspension, but then won back his place after Martin conceded a comical own goal in a 3–1 defeat to Stevenage on 22 February. It was an eventful return for Tomlinson, who broke the story of Jim Gannon and Geoff Horsfield's bust-up on the pre-match coach trip to Aldershot via Twitter. The game itself was also eventful, as Tomlinson gave away a penalty, which he then saved, only to leave the pitch due to a hip injury. Martin regained his first team place after the game, only to be replaced by Tomlinson at half-time during a 2–1 loss at home to Oxford United on 12 March, after Martin committed another blunder.
Following the return of Micky Adams as Port Vale manager, Tomlinson held on to his first team place at the start of the 2011–12 season, though Martin was used in cup games. Neither Tomlinson or Martin could find the consistency to secure their first team place though; Tomlinson conceded twelve goals in his first seven games of the season, whilst Martin conceded ten times in his first five games. Assistant manager Mark Grew told the media that "they've both been disappointing". On 29 October, Tomlinson was embarrassed to be caught off his line by Oxford United's Peter Leven, who found the net with a 'sensational 45 yards (41 m) strike'. Adams said "...in the division, he's the only player who would have scored that... [but] you have to question the keeper's starting position." He was still preferred to Martin though, and only a thigh injury kept him out of two league games in January. He returned to the first team, and was heading for a third consecutive clean sheet on 14 February when he committed an "injury-time howler" to allow Bradford City a share of the points at Valley Parade. On 10 March he spilled a cross to hand Barnet striker Ben May an easy winner at Vale Park. He vowed to improve his consistency, saying "I'm a pretty confident person and it will take a lot to stop me bouncing back." At the end of the season he rejected the club's offer of a new contract, and his departure was announced on 3 July. He said that he was "not particularly worried" about his free agent status, and that he would turn down similar offers from other clubs and wait until as late as the start of the following season until the "right opportunity" came about.
### Burton Albion
In September 2012, Tomlinson signed a four-month contract with Burton Albion, having previously been on trial at Preston North End. He joined the "Brewers" after manager Gary Rowett was dissatisfied with the performances of Ross Atkins and Dean Lyness. After keeping a clean sheet on his debut, in a 1–0 win over Rochdale at Spotland on 8 September, assistant manager Kevin Summerfield said that "the biggest difference for me was that we were playing the game in their half and they were defending corners because he [Tomlinson] can kick the ball so far up the pitch". He was aiming for a longer stay at the Pirelli Stadium, but a knee injury sustained in a home draw with former club Port Vale left him sidelined for up to six months. He recovered to full fitness in half that time, and signed a new contract in February to extend his stay at Burton until summer 2014. Burton reached the play-offs at the end of the 2012–13 season, but were defeated 5–4 by Bradford City at the semi-final stage. Tomlinson retired in July 2013 after surgeons advised him that scar tissue damage and a tear in his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) meant that his left knee was in poor shape and was vulnerable to further damage.
### Altrincham
In March 2017, and after almost four years away from the sport, Tomlinson returned to football to play for Altrincham; he was signed to cover for former Barrow teammate Tim Deasy, who was ruled out injured for at least a month. The "Robins" were relegated after finishing bottom of the National League North at the end of the 2016–17 season.
## Style of play
A goalkeeper with a flair for shot-stopping, Tomlinson could kick the ball with either foot. Due to his muscular physique, he was given the nickname "the Tank".
> Stuart's a great lad who works really hard in training... he's got a great physique and commands his box very well. Keepers can always make mistakes, but he made very few for us. He's not got a weak point in his game. He's a good all-round keeper, which is why we were lucky to get him last summer.
: : – Barrow manager David Bayliss upon losing Tomlinson to Port Vale in June 2010.
## Professional wrestling career
### WWE (2013–2016)
In December 2013, Tomlinson travelled to the United States to be trained as a professional wrestler on a developmental contract by WWE. He was assigned to the WWE Performance Center, where he took the ring name Hugo Knox. He stated that "Hugo Knox is a lively, high-energy and bubbly guy" with "the smallest polka dot pants possible!". He made his in-ring debut for WWE's developmental territory, NXT, at a live event on 8 November 2014. On 30 September 2016, it was reported that Tomlinson had been released from his WWE contract.
## Modelling career
Tomlinson has worked as a professional model, appearing on the front cover of Men's Health.
## Career statistics
## Honours
Crewe Alexandra
- Football League Second Division second-place promotion: 2002–03
Barrow
- FA Trophy: 2010 | [
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26,878,421 | Toussaint Tyler | 1,162,113,066 | American football player (born 1959) | [
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"American football fullbacks",
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] | Toussaint L'Ouverture Tyler (first name pronounced "Too-San", born March 19, 1959) is a former running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played with New Orleans Saints in 1981 and 1982.
Born in Barstow, California, Tyler moved to Oceanside where he starred as halfback at El Camino High School. After receiving a number of awards following his senior season, he was recruited to the University of Washington, where he played mainly as a fullback. In his freshman season of 1977, the Huskies won the Rose Bowl, and he started for the first time in a game the following season, and took a larger role in his junior year in 1979 as the team went 10–2 and won the Sun Bowl.
Early in Tyler's senior season in 1980, injuries to the Huskies' halfbacks prompted head coach Don James to move him there from fullback. Washington finished 9–2 in the regular season and won the Pac-10 title, earning them a trip to the Rose Bowl against the Michigan Wolverines. With the score tied at zero in the first quarter, Tyler fumbled at the one-yard line; Michigan went on to win the game 23–6.
Tyler was selected 222nd overall (first in the ninth round) in the 1981 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. He played two seasons with the Saints, appearing in all 23 games over those two seasons. Before the 1983 NFL season, the Saints cut him in order to meet the limit on how many players a team may have. He then went on to a short stint with the Oakland Invaders in the USFL, and then tried to make the Minnesota Vikings. He now lives in Kent, Washington, where he works as a juvenile detention officer.
## Early life
Born on March 19, 1959, Tyler was named after the 18th-century Haitian leader Toussaint Louverture. His mother was a seamstress and his father, Walter, was a boxing trainer who handled, among others, heavyweight champion Mike Weaver. The running back later said "My father tried to interest me in boxing but I wasn't into getting smacked in the face." Tyler, along with two brothers and four sisters, lived in Barstow, California until he was in seventh grade. His parents then divorced and he went to live with his mother in Oceanside, California.
In Oceanside, he played at El Camino High School under coach Herb Meyer. Rushing for 1,732 yards with an eight yards-per-carry average in his senior season, the halfback drew comparisons to fellow El Camino back C. R. Roberts. The El Camino team won the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) district title in 1976. One of six Californians named to that year's All-American high school football team by Scholastic Coach, a magazine for athletic directors and coaches, he was San Diego County's player of the year and shared CIF (San Diego Section) player of the year honors with offensive tackle Curt Marsh. Both players were considered blue-chip recruits and went to the University of Washington.
## College career
At Washington, Tyler was converted from halfback to fullback. Because of this, Tyler needed to learn how to block, a transition in which he said he "pinched a lot of nerves and got a lot of stiff necks". When asked during his senior year a Washington which position he prefers, Tyler responded "I love tailback, but I'll play any position to help our team." Tyler finished third in a pre-season poll of sportswriters predicting the conference's offensive rookie of the year. In Tyler's freshman year, the 1977 Washington Huskies finished with nine wins and two losses in the regular season. In his first collegiate contest, Tyler rushed for 70 yards on seven carries in a victory against San Jose State University. In a game against the California Golden Bears, then ranked 17th in the AP Poll, Tyler scored a touchdown to help the team win 50–31, giving them a record of 4–1, tying them with two other teams for the lead in the Pacific-10 Conference. They then won the 1978 Rose Bowl 27–20 over the Michigan Wolverines.
The following season, Tyler started at fullback for the first time in a game against Oregon State, winless at the time, and rushed for 151 yards, including a 55-yard fourth-quarter touchdown, to lead the Huskies to a 20–14 victory. In the team's next game, the back scored twice as Washington beat twelfth-ranked Arizona State. The Huskies finished with seven wins and four losses, missing a bowl game. Tyler averaged 5.5 yards a carry in the 1978 season.
To begin 1979, Washington won 38–2 and 41–7 against non-conference opponents, with Tyler scoring once in both games and averaging 8.2 yards per carry. In their conference opener the next week, the Huskies won on a late-fourth-quarter punt return touchdown from Mark Lee, Lee's first ever punt return; Tyler gained 81 yards over 16 rushing attempts. The winning continued for two games, with Tyler scoring from three yards in both. Called "one of the Pac-10's most under-rated players", the back now needed 65 yards to tie Credell Green for tenth on Washington's list of career rushing yards leaders. The now twelfth-ranked Huskies lost their next two games, to Arizona and the Pittsburgh Panthers. To conclude the season, Washington, then number 13, upset the Texas Longhorns 14–7 with Tyler rushing 19 times for 70 yards.
Going into his senior season, Tyler, wearing a jersey number of 45, was the school's seventh leading rusher. Tyler was moved to halfback early in the season after the Huskies' third-string halfback was injured. Washington won 50–7 and 45–7 in games against Air Force and Northwestern; in the second game, Tyler scored from one, three, and six yards in the first quarter. After splitting their next two games, the back scored twice from nine yards to help the Huskies beat Oregon State 41–6. At this point, Tyler was third in the conference with 49 points scored and fourth with 446 yards rushing. Washington then beat Stanford 27–24; during the game, Tyler injured a tendon in his right knee, leading to him being used sparsely in the final four regular season games. After a 24–10 loss to Navy in which head coach Don James said Washington was "embarrassed", the Huskies were 5–2 (2–1 in the Pacific-10 Conference) and still top contenders for a Rose Bowl appearance.
The Huskies proceeded to win 25–0 over Arizona State and 45–22 against the University of Arizona Wildcats, with Tyler scoring once in each game. Washington, although unranked at 7–2, was leading in the race for the Pac-10 spot in the Rose Bowl. Only four other teams in the conference were eligible for the appearance, as, in the previous August, the presidents of Pac-10 schools had voted unanimously to disqualify half of the conference's members from Rose Bowl contention because of rules violations. The teams disqualified included UCLA and USC, two of the league's strongest teams. The next week, despite not having Tyler due to injury, Washington beat USC 20–10; this clinched a spot in Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. In the 1981 Rose Bowl against the Michigan Wolverines, Washington was beaten 23–6. In a scoreless first quarter, it was originally ruled a touchdown when Tyler dove over a pile near the goal line. After the officials conferred, however, it was decided that Tyler had fumbled at the one-yard line, which he later admitted to.
Tyler, nicknamed "Tudy" in college, was a muscular 61⁄3 feet and 215 pounds. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.7 seconds, on the low end for a halfback, but Mal Florence of the Los Angeles Times said he was "much faster in game situations".
## Professional career and later life
On the second day (April 29) of the 1981 NFL Draft, the New Orleans Saints selected Tyler with the first pick of the ninth round, 222nd overall. The Saints also possessed the draft's first-overall pick, which they used on Heisman Trophy winner George Rogers, a halfback from the University of South Carolina. In his first training camp, Tyler wore number 42, and was signed to a contract on June 23. The 1981 New Orleans Saints finished with four wins and 12 losses, and Tyler played in all 16 games but started none. The former Washington Husky accumulated 183 yards rushing on 36 carries as well as 23 receptions. He fumbled four times overall. In the nine-game 1982 NFL season, the Saints went 4–5. Tyler played all nine games, but again did not start any. On August 29, 1983, the Saints cut Tyler, along with five other players, in order to reach the 49-man roster limit.
After a short stint with the Oakland Invaders of the United States Football League, Tyler attempted to earn a spot on the Minnesota Vikings but was waived during training camp. Tyler now lives in Covington, Washington, working as a juvenile detention officer for King County. When Marsh, Tyler's former Huskies teammate and co-CIF player of the year honoree, had his ankle amputated, Tyler spent two days at his bedside.
He retired in Pullman Washington and raised two young children at the age of 62 | [
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] | 2,055 | 34,072 |
1,324,015 | Liverpool Town Hall | 1,152,630,993 | Georgian-era municipal building in Liverpool, England | [
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] | Liverpool Town Hall stands in High Street at its junction with Dale Street, Castle Street, and Water Street in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and described in the list as "one of the finest surviving 18th-century town halls". The authors of the Buildings of England series refer to its "magnificent scale", and consider it to be "probably the grandest ...suite of civic rooms in the country", and "an outstanding and complete example of late Georgian decoration".
It is not an administrative building but a civic suite, Lord Mayor's parlour and Council chamber; local government administration is centred at the nearby Cunard Building. The town hall was built between 1749 and 1754 to a design by John Wood the Elder replacing an earlier town hall nearby. An extension to the north designed by James Wyatt was added in 1785. Following a fire in 1795 the hall was largely rebuilt and a dome designed by Wyatt was built. Minor alterations have subsequently been made. The streets surrounding its site have altered since its initiation, notably when viewed from Castle Street, the south-side, it appears as off-centre. This is because Water Street which ran to the junction with Dale Street, the west-east axis, was continuous and built up across the junction so that the town hall was not visible originally from that aspect. The structures were removed 150 years after this to expose the building from this position.
The ground floor contains the city's Council Chamber and a Hall of Remembrance for the Liverpool servicemen killed in the First World War. The upper floor consists of a suite of lavishly decorated rooms which are used for a variety of events and functions. Conducted tours of the building are arranged for the general public and the hall is licensed for weddings.
## History
The first recorded town hall in Liverpool was in 1515 and it was probably a thatched building. and was located in the block bounded by High Street, Dale Street & Exchange Street East. It was replaced in 1673 by a building slightly to the south of the present town hall. This town hall stood on "pillars and arches of hewen stone" and under it was the exchange for merchants and traders to carry out their business.
Building of the present town hall began in 1749 on a site slightly to the north of its predecessor; its foundation stone was laid on 14 September. The architect was John Wood the Elder, who has been described as "one of the outstanding architects of the day". It was completed and opened in 1754. The ground floor acted as the exchange, and a council room and other offices were on the upper floor. The ground floor had a central courtyard surrounded by Doric colonnades but it was "dark and confined, and the merchants preferred to transact business in the street outside". Above the building was a large square dome with a cupola. In 1769 the building was provided with a turret clock manufactured by Joseph Finney of Liverpool.
The town hall was bombarded by striking seamen during the 1775 Liverpool Seamen's Revolt.
The very last act of the American Civil War was when Captain Waddell walked up the steps of the town hall in November 1865 with a letter to present to the mayor surrendering his vessel, the CSS Shenandoah, to the British government.
Improvements began in 1785 with an extension to the north designed by James Wyatt. Buildings close to the west and north sides were demolished, and John Foster prepared plans for the west façade. In 1786 Wood's square dome was demolished and plans were made by Wyatt for a new dome over the central courtyard. In 1795, before the new dome was built, the hall was seriously damaged by a fire. Wyatt's north extension was not significantly damaged, but Wood's original building was gutted. The building was reconstructed and Wyatt's new dome was added. The work was supervised by Foster and completed in 1802. Under the dome the central courtyard was replaced with a hall containing a staircase. In 1811 a portico was added to the south side. The construction and decoration of the interior was completed by about 1820.
In 1857 a telegraph wire was laid from the Observatory at Waterloo Dock to the Town Hall (at the suggestion of the Director of the Observatory, John Hartnup) with the intention of using 'galvanic current' to transmit a time signal from the 'normal clock' in the observatory to the turret clock in the dome of the Town Hall, so as to ensure that it displayed accurate time. This was achieved through an invention of a Mr R. L. Jones of Chester: by replacing the pendulum bob of the clock with a hollow electro-magnetic coil (in the manner of Bain's electric pendulum) and connecting it to the telegraph wire (which provided a regular pulse of current at one second intervals from the Observatory clock), the two clocks became synchronised; and so 'was seen the curious spectacle of a great clock with works nearly 100 years old keeping time with astronomical accuracy'. This was the first application of clock network technology to a large public clock; it was later applied to (among others) the clock in the Victoria Tower, and the two were thenceforth heard to strike the hour simultaneously.
In 1881 an attempt to blow up the town hall by the Fenians was aborted. Between 1899 and 1900 the portico on the north face was rebuilt and extended, and the northern extension was enlarged to form a recess in the Council Chamber for the Lord Mayor's chair, this was the work of the borough surveyor Thomas Shelmerdine. In 1921 a room on the ground floor was made into the Hall of Remembrance to commemorate the military men from Liverpool who died in the First World War. Part of the building was damaged in the Liverpool Blitz of 1941; this restored after the end of the Second World War. Further restoration was carried out between 1993 and 1995. Between 2014 and 2015 the exterior of the building was renovated as part of a £400,000 project. The work included repairing bomb damage from the 1941 Blitz and cleaning the sandstone from the effects of pollution.
## Architecture
### Exterior
The town hall is built of stone with a slate roof and a lead dome. Its plan consists of a rectangle with a portico extending to the south and Wyatt's rectangular extension to the north. The extension is slightly narrower than the rest of the building, and also has a projecting portico. The building has two storeys and a basement; the stonework of the basement and lower storey is rusticated. The south face, overlooking Castle Street, has nine bays. Its central three bays are occupied by the portico. This has three rounded arches on the ground floor, and four pairs of Corinthian columns in the upper storey surrounding a balcony. The east and west faces also have nine bays in the original part of the building, plus an additional three bays to the north on Wyatt's extension. The middle three bays of the nine original bays project slightly forward and are surmounted by a pediment. The roof of the north face is higher than that of the main building. This face has five bays, with a central portico of three bays. On its first floor are four pairs of Corinthian columns and standing on the roof above these are four statues dating from 1792 by Richard Westmacott; these statues have been moved from the Irish Houses of Parliament. Above the upper storey windows on all faces are panels containing carvings, some of which relate to Liverpool's foreign trade. The dome stands on a high drum supported on Corinthian columns. Around the base of the dome are four clock faces, each of which is supported by a lion and unicorn. On the summit of the dome is a statue, representing Minerva. It is 10 feet (3 m) high and was designed by John Charles Felix Rossi.
### Interior
#### Ground floor
The main door in the south face leads to the Vestibule or Entrance Hall. It has a floor of encaustic tiles which include depictions of the arms of Liverpool and the liver bird.
`The room is panelled and on the east side is a large wooden fireplace containing 17th century Flemish carvings. It has a groin-vaulted ceiling, and in the lunettes are murals painted in 1909 by J.H. Amschewitz, depicting events in Liverpool's history; King John creating Liverpool a free port (west wall); Industry and Peace (North Wall); Liverpool the centre of commerce (east wall); Education and Progress (South wall). Below these are brass tablets containing the names of the freemen of Liverpool. Also in the entrance hall are bardic chairs from the two Eisteddfods held in the city.`
At the rear of the ground floor in Wyatt's extension is the Council Chamber. This has mahogany-panelled walls and can seat 160 people. Adjacent to the Council Chamber is the Hall of Remembrance. On its wall are panels bearing the names of the military men who lost their lives in the First World War, and eight murals painted by Frank O. Salisbury in 1923.
In the centre of the ground floor is the Staircase Hall described in the Buildings of England series as "one of the great architectural spaces of Liverpool". A broad staircase rises between two pairs of Corinthian columns to a half-landing, and narrower flights climb from that on each side to the upper floor. On the ground floor on each side of the staircase are display cabinets holding the city's silver. On the half-landing is a statue of George Canning dated 1832 by Francis Chantrey, and hanging on the wall above this is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II by Sir Edward Halliday.
Above the staircase the dome is carried by four pendentives; it rises to a height of 106 feet (32 m) and its interior is coffered. Around the base of the dome is inscribed Liverpool's motto, "Deus Nobis Haec Otia Fecit", and in the pendentives are paintings dated 1902 by Charles Wellington Furse depicting scenes of dock labour.
#### Upper floor
All the rooms on this floor are designed for entertainment and they have connecting doors that allow for a complete circuit of the floor. The middle room on the south side of the building is the Central Reception Room. It has a circular ceiling with pendentives, and plasterwork in neoclassical style designed by Francesco Bernasconi. The room leads to the balcony overlooking Castle Street. A door to the right leads to the West Reception Room, with a segmented-vaulted ceiling; it contains a marble chimneypiece with brass and cast iron fittings. This room leads to the Dining Room which occupies the west side of the building. It has been described as "the most sumptuous room in the building". Around the room are Corinthian pilasters. The plaster ceiling has moulded compartments and under these is a frieze decorated with scrolls, urns and crouching dogs. The roundels between the capitals of the pilasters contain paintings of pairs of cupids.
The next room on the circuit is a small room which leads into the Large Ballroom. This occupies the whole of Wyatt's north extension and measures 89 feet (27 m) by 42 feet (13 m); the ceiling is 40 feet (12 m) high. Around the room are Corinthian pilasters and on each of the shorter walls is a massive mirror. In the south wall is a niche for musicians, over which is a coffered semi-dome; on each side of this is a white marble chimneypiece. Hanging from the ceiling are "three of the finest Georgian chandeliers in Europe"; each is 28 feet (9 m) high, contains 20,000 pieces of cut glass crystal, and weighs over one ton. They were made in Staffordshire in 1820. The floor is a maple sprung dance floor. Most of the east side of the hall is occupied by the Small Ballroom, also known as the East Reception Room or Music Room. This room is surrounded by pilasters and at each end is a shallow apse; the apse in the north wall has two niches for musicians. Suspended from the ceiling are three 19th century chandeliers. Completing the circuit is the East Reception Room, similar in style to the West Reception Room. The rooms contain a number of portraits; one of these is of James Maury, America's first consul.
## Current use and surroundings
Liverpool City Council meets every seven weeks in the Council Chambers to conduct the business of the city. The town hall is open to the general public each month when conducted tours take place. The hall is licensed for weddings and, in addition to providing a venue for the ceremony, catering facilities can be supplied for a reception or a meal. Catering is also available for other events and functions. Council officers and their departments are based in the nearby Cunard Building.
Immediately to the north of the town hall is a paved square known as Exchange Flags; this is surrounded on all sides by modern office buildings. In the square is the Nelson Monument, celebrating the achievements of Horatio Nelson. It is a Grade II\* listed building and is the earliest surviving public monument in the city.
## Gallery
## See also
- List of Freemen of the City of Liverpool
- Architecture of Liverpool | [
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Subsets and Splits