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26,194,204 |
Mexican National Cruiserweight Championship
| 1,088,929,347 |
Mexican professional wrestling championship
|
[
"Cruiserweight wrestling championships",
"Mexican national wrestling championships",
"National professional wrestling championships"
] |
The Mexican National Cruiserweight Championship (Campeonato Nacional Crucero in Spanish) is a national Mexican singles professional wrestling championship controlled by Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. (Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission). From its establishment in 1983, no one promotion promoted the championship but was shared between several Mexican promotions, and not exclusively by Empresa Mexicana de Lucha Libre (EMLL). In the mid-1990s AAA gained primary booking control of the championship. Being a professional wrestling championship, it was not won legitimately but via a scripted ending to a match or awarded to a wrestler because of a storyline. The official definition of the cruiserweight weightclass in Mexico is between 77 kg (170 lb) and 80 kg (180 lb).
Ángel Blanco became the first National Cruiserweight Champion when he won the inaugural tournament on November 13, 1984, defeating Insolito in the final. In the mid-1990s AAA gained control of the championship when title holder Blue Demon Jr. began working for AAA full-time. When Blue Demon Jr. lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Karis La Momia AAA took full control of the Championship. In 1996 Karis la Momia changed his ring character to La Parka Jr. and had to vacate the title since his history working as Karis was not publicly acknowledged by AAA at the time. In 1999 La Parka regained the title, becoming the only two-time champion. The title was seldom defended since from the early 2000s and it was officially vacated by AAA on December 8, 2008.
## History
The Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F. (Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission) sanctioned a Mexican National Cruiserweight Championship in late 1983, allowing the Universal Wrestling Association (UWA) to host a tournament for the inaugural champion. Records are unclear as to who participated in the tournament, only that Ángel Blanco defeated Insoliton on November 13, 1984. Different sources list the end of the second reign by Adorable Rubí on different dates. The Royal and Will book "Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present", documents that Rubí vacated the championship on September 10, 1985. More current, online sources, such as CageMatch and Wrestling Data list that the reign was ended by Charro de Jalisco on October 24, 1986. In 1992, the reigning title holder Destructor de Idolos was forced to vacate the championship because of an injury that meant he was unable to defend the title. Rock el Cavernicolo defeated Dinamico to win the vacant championship. On May 15, 1996, Karis la Momia won the championship from Blue Demon Jr., only to relinquish it in November as he stopped working as Karis la Momia and changed his ring name to La Parka Jr. He would later regain the championship, making him the only person to hold the championship twice. La Parka Jr. did not defend the championship from winning it in 1999, until December 2008, where AAA abandoned all of the Mexican National Championships that they were promoting.
## Reigns
A total of twelve wrestlers have held the championship throughout its history, with only one person having held it twice, La Parka Jr., who first won the title under the ring name Karis la Momia. The Mexican National Cruiserweight Championship has been inactive since December 8, 2008 when AAA stopped promoting all of their Mexican National championships, in favor of AAA branded championships. They later introduced the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship in May 2009. While the championship has been inactive since 2008, there were plans to revive it in February 2013, when it was announced that Xtreme Tiger would wrestle Rey Astral for the vacant championship on February 23. The match never took place and the championship has not been seen since then. La Parka Jr.'s second reign set a longevity record, lasting 3,591 days, from 1999 until 2008. The shortest reign belonged to Charro de Jalisco, who held it for 65 days.
## Rules
The cruiserweight championship is classified as a "National" title, which means that officially non-Mexican citizens are prohibited from challenging or holding the championship, just like all other Mexican National Championships. The lucha libre commission's official definition of the cruiserweight division in Mexico stipulates that a wrestler must weigh between 77 kg (170 lb) and 80 kg (180 lb) to be considered a cruiserweight. The weight limits have not always been strictly enforced.
As with all professional wrestling championships, matches for the Mexican National Cruiserweight Championship were not won or lost competitively, but by a pre-planned ending to a match, with the outcome determined by the CMLL bookers and matchmakers. On occasion, a promotion declared the championship vacant, which meant there was no title holder at that point in time. This was either due to a storyline, or real-life issues such as a champion suffering an injury being unable to defend the title, or leaving the company. All title matches took place under two out of three falls rules.
## Title history
## Reigns by combined length
Key
|
[
"## History",
"## Reigns",
"## Rules",
"## Title history",
"## Reigns by combined length"
] | 1,101 | 22,044 |
70,764,401 |
ARA Catamarca
| 1,096,482,583 |
Catamarca-class destroyer of the Argentine Navy, in service from 1912 to 1959
|
[
"1911 ships",
"Catamarca-class destroyers",
"Ships built in Kiel"
] |
ARA Catamarca was the lead ship of her class of two destroyers built for the Argentine Navy during the 1910s in Germany. They were constructed there as Argentina lacked the industrial facilities needed to build them. Completed in 1912, the ship often served as a flotilla leader. She was modernized and rearmed during the mid-1920s. Catamarca spent 1932 in reserve, but was reactivated the following year. The ship conducted Neutrality Patrols during the Second World War before being transferred to the River Squadron in 1942. She was permanently reduced to reserve in 1947, discarded in 1956 and sold for scrap three years later.
## Design and description
The Catamarca-class ships were 289 feet 2 inches (88.1 m) long overall with a beam of 27 feet (8.23 m) and a draught of 17 feet (5.18 m). The ships displaced 995 long tons (1,011 t) at normal load and 1,357 long tons (1,379 t) at full load. They were powered by two Curtis-AEG steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft using steam provided by two mixed-firing Thornycroft-Schulz boilers that used both coal and fuel oil. The turbines, rated at 25,765 shaft horsepower (19,213 kW), were intended to give a maximum speed of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph). The destroyers carried enough fuel to give them a range of 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).
The Catamarca's armament consisted of four 4-inch (102 mm) guns on single mounts; one on the forecastle, another between the center and aft funnels and the remaining pair fore and aft of the rear superstructure. They were also equipped with four single 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes on rotating mounts, two on each broadside. The ships' complement consisted of 150 officers and men.
## Construction and career
Named after Catamarca Province, the ship was ordered from the Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, Germany, in 1910 because Argentina could not build warships of that size itself and was launched in mid-1911. She was turned over to the Argentine Navy and commissioned on 13 April 1912. Catamarca arrived in Buenos Aires on 5 July and was initially assigned as the flotilla leader of the Scout Group (Grupo de Exploradores). The destroyer was then transferred to the Training Division the following year and ferried Prince Henry of Prussia from Buenos Aires to Montevideo, Uruguay. The ship's task during this time was to train crewmen for the two Rivadavia-class battleships then under construction in the United States.
Catamarca rejoined the Scout Group in 1915 and was based in Puerto Belgrano before beginning a refit at the Rio de la Plata Arsenal at the end of the year. Prolonged by the lack of a floating crane, her refit was completed sometime in 1916. A nation-wide shortage of coal in 1917 severely limited the destroyer's activities and she was virtually in reserve during the year. The ship was able to resume her normal activities the following year and participated in training maneuvers and gunnery exercises with the other ships of the Scout Group. Catamarca again became leader of the Scout Group in 1920, leading her ships on visits to the river ports of Paraná, Entre Ríos, and Concepción del Uruguay in commemoration of General Justo José de Urquiza.
The ship became the leader of the 1st Division in 1921 and, together with ships from the 2nd Division, Catamarca visited Buenos Aires to celebrate President Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear's inauguration on 12 October 1922. She became an independent ship in 1923 and escorted the river steamer General Alvear conveying the president on a trip upriver. Catamarca visited Rosario, Santa Fe, in August and was placed in reserve and disarmed in November as she began a lengthy modernization. Her boilers were converted to use fuel oil and her coal bunkers were exchanged for oil tanks. The amidships four-inch gun was removed and a pair of 37-millimeter (1.5 in) anti-aircraft guns were installed.
Sea trials occupied most of 1927 and the ship was reclassified as a destroyer. She was assigned to the Scout Division in 1928, training in the Río de la Plata, before being briefly placed in reserve late in the year. Catamarca was reactivated in mid-1929 and made a port visit to Buenos Aires in December. The ship was assigned to the Scout Group in 1930. After the coup d'état in September 1930, Catamarca and the Scout-Torpedo Boat Córdoba patrolled the Río de la Plata during the subsequent unrest in 1931. Catamarca was disarmed and reduced to reserve in 1932, but was reactivated in 1934 and assigned to the 2nd Scout Squadron, visiting Mar del Plata in May. The following year she visited Puerto Madryn. The ship operated in the South Atlantic in 1936 and 1937 and visited Necochea in May 1938.
Catamarca was assigned Neutrality Patrol duties after the beginning of the Second World War in September 1939, but was transferred to the Torpedo Boat Division of the River Squadron in 1942. She was under repair for most of 1945 and visited Necochea in 1946, before being placed in reserve in 1947. The ship was stricken on 10 January 1956 and was sold for scrap at the end of 1959.
|
[
"## Design and description",
"## Construction and career"
] | 1,244 | 14,776 |
52,823,681 |
All in Love Is Fair
| 1,165,815,014 |
Song by Stevie Wonder
|
[
"1970s ballads",
"1973 songs",
"1974 singles",
"Columbia Records singles",
"Pop ballads",
"Songs written by Stevie Wonder",
"Tamla Records singles"
] |
"All in Love Is Fair" is a song by American singer-songwriter Stevie Wonder recorded for his sixteenth studio album, Innervisions (1973). Written and produced by Wonder, it was released as a 7" single in Brazil in 1974. The song is a pop ballad with lyrics that describe the end of a relationship through the use of clichés. Critical reaction to the song has been varied: Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic wrote that it was among Wonder's "finest ballad statements", but Robert Christgau felt that the singer's performance was "immature". Wonder has included it on several of his greatest hits albums, including the most recent, 2005's The Complete Stevie Wonder.
American vocalist Barbra Streisand released "All in Love Is Fair" as a single in 1974 for her fifteenth studio album, The Way We Were (1974). Tommy LiPuma handled the production for the 7" single release by Columbia Records. Among music critics, Greenwald called her version "unforgettable", and Rolling Stone's Stephen Holden wrote that it was "almost as interesting" as Wonder's original. Commercially, the song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States at number 63, and Canada's Top Singles chart at number 60. The song has been recorded by a number of other artists, including Brook Benton, Nancy Wilson and Cleo Laine.
## Release and composition
"All in Love Is Fair" is taken from Stevie Wonder's sixteenth studio album, Innervisions, released on August 3, 1973 by Tamla Records. Despite not being released as a commercial single in his native country of the United States, Tapecar Records and Tamla released it as a 7" single sometime in 1974, exclusively in Brazil. It was paired alongside the opener track for side one of Innervisions, "Too High", a song about drug abuse.
The song is composed in the key of C-sharp minor and features vocals that range from B<sub>3</sub> to C<sub>6</sub>. The vocal is accompanied by Wonder himself on Fender Rhodes, acoustic piano and drums, and by Scott Edwards on electric bass. The lyrics of the composition describe two people who are nearing the end of their relationship; Wonder purposely uses "cliché lines" to get his point across and to prove the clichés true.
A pop ballad, "All in Love Is Fair" was compared to the works of Johnny Mathis by Lenny Kaye of Rolling Stone and the editors at Playboy. Lawrence Gabriel, author of MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, described the track as a "classic" pop song. Janine McAdams from Billboard found "dramatic intensity" within the lyrics, "I should have never left your side / The writer takes his pen / To write the words again / That all in love is fair". Author Herb Jordan included the track's lyrics in his book Motown in Love: Lyrics from the Golden Era; they were placed under the section for songs in which the lyrics detail "lessons of love".
## Reception and further promotion
AllMusic's Matthew Greenwald found "All in Love Is Fair" to be among Wonder's "finest ballad statements", which contained "one of the most graceful and memorable hooks from the era". Brian Ives of radio.com described it as a "beautiful and sad piano ballad" that he thought could have come from the Broadway stage. Robert Christgau disliked Wonder's balladry singing in "All in Love Is Fair", and considered his performance to be "immature". In contrast, author James E. Perone wrote that there was "no better example" of a "pure, autobiographical-sounding vocal showpiece for Stevie Wonder".
After its initial release in 1973, Wonder placed "All in Love Is Fair" on several of his later albums. It was included on the Motown compilation Baddest Love Jams, Vol. 2: Fire & Desire in 1995. Wonder's fourth box set, At the Close of a Century (1999), also featured the song. In that same year it was featured on Ballad Collection, and in 2005 it was selected for inclusion on The Complete Stevie Wonder.
## Track listing
## Personnel
- Stevie Wonder – lead vocal, piano, Fender Rhodes, drums
- Scott Edwards – electric bass
## Barbra Streisand version
### Background and recording
American vocalist Barbra Streisand recorded a version of "All in Love Is Fair" for her fifteenth studio album, The Way We Were (1974). Shortly following the commercial success of her previous single, "The Way We Were", Columbia Records began compiling tracks for the singer's then-upcoming fifteenth studio album (The Way We Were). Since time was limited, the majority of the tracks were taken from material recorded by Streisand as much as seven years previously. According to the liner notes of her 1991 greatest hits album Just for the Record, the only tracks specifically created for the album were "All in Love Is Fair", "The Way We Were", "Being at War with Each Other", and "Something So Right". "All in Love Is Fair" was recorded on December 14, 1973, at United Recorders Studios in Los Angeles. It was released in March 1974 as a 7" single through Columbia Records, and would later be paired alongside Streisand's previous single, "The Way We Were", on a 7" single released in 1975, also by Columbia, in the United States and Canada.
### Reception
The staff at Billboard described Streisand's cover as a "musical gem", while author Allison J. Waldman enjoyed Streisand's personal take on it. Record World said that "the ballad beauty from Stevie Wonder's Innervisions album gets its definitive female reading from the superstar." Greenwald from AllMusic liked the singer's cover and wrote of the song's hook, "Streisand's performance – particularly her phrasing of this line – is unforgettable". Stephen Holden from Rolling Stone compared her rendition to Wonder's version and wrote that it was "almost as interesting as the original".
Streisand's version of "All in Love Is Fair" achieved moderate commercial success in the United States and Canada. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 30, 1974, at number 81, becoming the week's "Hot Shot Debut", or the publication's highest entry position for that particular listing. It climbed the chart for an additional three weeks before reaching its peak position on April 20 of the same year, at number 63. The following week, Streisand's rendition dropped to number 75, after which it left the Hot 100. On the Adult Contemporary chart, which was then titled the Easy Listening chart, "All in Love Is Fair" peaked at number 10. On Canada's official chart, compiled by RPM, it debuted at number 99 for the week of April 6, 1974. It soared twenty places the following week, and two weeks later, on April 27, it reached its peak position at number 60. It also lasted a total of five consecutive weeks in this country.
### Promotion
"All in Love Is Fair" has been included on numerous albums released by Streisand. Its first appearance after The Way We Were was on Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits Volume 2 (1978). She also included it on Just for the Record (1991) and The Essential Barbra Streisand (2002).
### Charts
### Track listings and formats
United States and United Kingdom 7" single
- A1 "All in Love Is Fair" – 3:50
- B1 Medley: "My Buddy"/"How About Me" – 4:09
United States promotional 7" single
- A1 "All in Love Is Fair" (Stereo) – 3:50
- B1 "All in Love Is Fair" (Mono) – 3:50
## Other versions
- In 1974 Nancy Wilson recorded it as the title track for her 39th studio album, All in Love Is Fair. AllMusic's Jason Ankeny called Wilson's recording "sensual" and declared that it "wouldn't be out of place on Motown or Philadelphia International".
- In 1974 Cleo Laine released it as a standalone 7" promotional single, enlisting the help of Mike Berniker for production. It was included in her 2001 compilation album At Her Finest.
- In 1974 Billy Eckstine's rendition was featured on his album If She Walked Into My Life.
- In 1975 Shirley Bassey recorded the song for her album Good, Bad but Beautiful.
- In 1975 Dionne Warwick performed it live and included it on her concert DVD Dionne Warwick: Live in Cabaret July 18th 1975 (released 2008).
- Brook Benton recorded a version for his 1976 album This Is Brook Benton.
- Vibraphonist Cal Tjader and jazz singer Carmen McRae recorded it on their 1982 studio album Heat Wave, Tjader's final studio recording on Concord Jazz in 1982. The album peaked at 25 on Billboard'''s Jazz Albums chart.
- Latin vocal group, Barrio Boyzz recorded a version for their English language album debut, How We Roll, in 1995.
- American trombonist Slide Hampton and The World of Trombones recorded his own instrumental version of "All in Love Is Fair" for his 28th studio album, Spirit of the Horn (2002) which was recorded live at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on May 3–5, 2002.
- The song is included on Michael McDonald's 2003 album Motown, and was included in his 2009 concert at the Royal Albert Hall, prompting John L Walters of The Guardian'' to write: "Surely you can't go wrong with songs as fantastic as Stevie Wonder's "I Believe" and "All in Love Is Fair".
|
[
"## Release and composition",
"## Reception and further promotion",
"## Track listing",
"## Personnel",
"## Barbra Streisand version",
"### Background and recording",
"### Reception",
"### Promotion",
"### Charts",
"### Track listings and formats",
"## Other versions"
] | 2,123 | 36,748 |
14,938,293 |
My French Coach and My Spanish Coach
| 1,109,621,701 |
2007 video game
|
[
"2007 video games",
"IOS games",
"Language learning video games",
"Nintendo DS games",
"PlayStation Portable games",
"Puzzle video games",
"Sensory Sweep Studios games",
"Single-player video games",
"Ubisoft games",
"Video games developed in the United States",
"Wii games"
] |
My French Coach and My Spanish Coach are educational games developed by Sensory Sweep Studios and published by Ubisoft for the Nintendo DS, iOS, PlayStation Portable, and Wii. They are part of Ubisoft's My Coach series, and were released for the Nintendo DS on November 6, 2007 in North America, for the Wii on November 23, 2007 in Europe, and My Spanish Coach was released for the PlayStation Portable on October 7, 2008, and iOS on June 6, 2009. For their releases in Europe and Australia, the games were renamed My French Coach Level 1: Beginners and My Spanish Coach Level 1: Beginners.
French and Spanish language teachers assisted with development of the gameplay for both games, which concentrates on teaching French or Spanish using lessons and minigames. As the player progresses the lessons, the gameplay uses increasingly complex words and phrases. The games received praise and criticism from various video game publications; they praised the games' effectiveness in teaching the language, but lamented their repetitive nature. The next installments in the series, titled My French Coach Level 2: Intermediate and My Spanish Coach Level 2: Intermediate, also developed and published by Ubisoft, were released in Europe on November 23, 2007 alongside their Level 1 counterparts.
## Gameplay
The gameplay of My French Coach and My Spanish Coach consists of the player completing lessons that introduce new vocabulary and then focus on mastering the words through several puzzles. As the player progresses through the game, the words increase in difficulty. When first starting the game, the player takes an introductory test that gauges their initial comprehension level of the French or Spanish language. The player is then placed into a level reflective of the score they received on the test. A player who scores highly will be able to skip many of the initial levels and more basic concepts. When starting a lesson, the player is shown ten new words, which include nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs, as well as their meanings and proper enunciation.
Following this, the player is offered a choice of eight minigames to test their knowledge of the words given in the lesson. These minigames are Multiple Choice, Hit-A-Word, Word Find, Flash Cards, Fill in the Blank, Memory, Bridge Builder, and Spelltastic. In Multiple Choice, the player must select the correct French or Spanish translation of an English word from four choices in a limited time frame. Hit-A-Word is a Whac-A-Mole game in which the player must hit the most moles with the correct translation of an English word within the allotted time. Word Find is a word search in which the player must find the French or Spanish translations of a set of English words or phrases. In Flash Cards, the player is given a French or Spanish word and must choose the card with the proper English translation. In Memory, the player must select from a set of face-down cards a French or Spanish word and its English translation. Bridge Builder tests sentence structure; the player has to construct a proper sentence from a set of given words. In Spelltastic, the player listens to a French or Spanish word and spells it using a keyboard within the allotted time. For Fill-in-the-Blank, the player selects the proper conjugation of a French or Spanish verb within a sentence.
Whenever a player correctly answers a question or solves a puzzle in a minigame, they gain "mastery points" on the word they successfully answered. The minigames can be increased in difficulty; on higher difficulty levels, players will acquire more mastery points when successfully completing a minigame. For instance, in Multiple Choice, the player has 50 seconds to select an answer for a question on the "Easy" difficulty, and will receive two mastery points for each correct answer. On the "Medium" difficulty, the player has 40 seconds to select an answer and receives three mastery points for each correct answer. The process continues until the player scores fifteen mastery points for every word, allowing the player to proceed to the next lesson. Following the completion of all fifty lessons, the player can continue to learn new words through "open lessons" that contain ten new vocabulary words apiece; the dictionaries of both games each hold nearly 10,000 words. The player can freely access the reference section, which contains a dictionary and phrasebook, at any time. Both the dictionary and phrasebook hold all of the words and phrases in each game, as well as meanings and audio files for both; the player can look through different categories of words and phrases, use a search function, and bookmark chosen phrases.
## Development
My French Coach and My Spanish Coach are two of the first three games Ubisoft released for the My Coach series; the other game is My Word Coach. During the course of their development by Sensory Sweep Studios, the lessons and minigames were created with the help of French and Spanish language teachers. Ubisoft announced the creation of a new division to create the My Coach series on May 21, 2007, and that Pauline Jacquey, the producer of the Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon and Rayman series, would lead the division. When commenting on the direction of the My Coach series, Jacquey said that she was "developing projects that make people feel that playing games is worth their while, allowing them to spend quality time with family and friends, learn a new skill, or improve their daily lives". Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot commented that, "The timing is right for us to leverage our creativity and to open up the video games market to new consumers who will be attracted by content that can help them learn, grow and feel better in an entertaining way". All three games were released on November 6, 2007 in North America. Ubisoft followed with a PlayStation Portable version of My Spanish Coach, releasing it in North America on October 7, 2008; Wii versions of My French Coach and My Spanish Coach were released in Europe on November 30, 2007. The European releases for My French Coach, titled My French Coach Level 1: Beginners, and My Spanish Coach, renamed My Spanish Coach Level 1: Beginners, were accompanied by My French Coach Level 2: Intermediate and My Spanish Coach Level 2: Intermediate, the next games in the series.
## Reception
My French Coach and My Spanish Coach have received generally favorable reviews from several video game publications. On Metacritic, a website that compiles scores from various video game reviews, My Spanish Coach received a 73/100, based on seven reviews. In a review of the DS versions of both games, IGN called them a "great learning experience" and a more entertaining alternative to traditional methods of learning French and Spanish such as "[h]ours of boring exercises and outdated videos". Eurogamer claimed the games were not substitutes for proper language lessons, but admitted that "as tools for improving your language skills, whether you're starting from scratch or have some basic knowledge, they're great". In a review of the DS version of My French Coach, Nintendo World Report called the game "not be the hottest game to ever sit in your DS, but it is an unusually polished product that achieves the edutainment holy grail – it makes learning easy and fun". During the 2007 Christmas holiday season, video game retailer GameStop recommended My Spanish Coach for "The Academic Gamer". My Spanish Coach led all Nintendo DS games in sales during the week of August 15, 2008 to August 21, 2008.
The gameplay received mixed reviews from critics. In a review of the PSP version of My Spanish Coach, IGN noted that acquiring mastery points in the minigames lead to "quite a bit of grinding" due to the game's repetitive structure. Nevertheless, IGN accepted that the repetition was an effective way to learn the vocabulary, and noted that "[p]icking up on things like gender and age, emphasis and the breakdowns of the actual language itself and proper/casual ways of conversing are made fairly clear and reinforced regularly". IGN's review of the DS versions of both games commented that neither game taught the future or past tense, calling it one of the "most disappointing" aspects of the game, but praised the effective incorporation of the DS stylus into the minigames. Eurogamer noted that the minigames were "only really good for practicing reading" due to a lack of games for practicing proper speaking, but GameZone disagreed, noting that the player was able to hear their attempt to speak the French or Spanish words alongside the correct pronunciation during lessons, and praised this aspect as the "most interesting and intriguing feature of [My French Coach and My Spanish Coach]". In a review of the DS version of My Spanish Coach, Nintendo World Report lamented that many of the minigames "exhibit the same type of unimaginative boringness" and that "it takes ages to unlock new lessons and mini-games"; however, it noted that the minigames were "extremely effective" and "constructed extremely well" in terms of teaching the language. Nintendo World Report'''s review of the DS version of My French Coach called the game's reference section "a very handy travel dictionary", noting that having a dictionary list and a phrasebook with audio files that could bookmark chosen phrases was "an absurd value".
The games' graphics and audio also received praise and criticism from reviewers. IGN's review of the PSP version of My Spanish Coach noted that the fact that the game appeared on multiple platforms contributed to its "sparse look and feel" because the games' graphics and audio were made for the Nintendo DS. Eurogamer praised the games' "clean, crisp visuals" and "jolly accordion music and jolly fiesta music". In contrast, IGN's review of the DS versions of both games called the music "catchy but repetitive" and the graphics "cute but nothing to write home about". GameZone noted that "[t]he visual concept was obviously not a front runner in [the games'] conception", and that the audio of neither game "[does] anything remotely special". Nintendo World Report'' made note of the games' narrator during the lessons, praising its "clear and coherent glory" in terms of pronouncing the words correctly.
## See also
- List of Ubisoft games
|
[
"## Gameplay",
"## Development",
"## Reception",
"## See also"
] | 2,107 | 22,579 |
3,388,991 |
WVIR-TV
| 1,172,725,040 |
NBC/CW affiliate in Charlottesville, Virginia
|
[
"1973 establishments in Virginia",
"Gray Television",
"Grit (TV network) affiliates",
"NBC network affiliates",
"Television channels and stations established in 1973",
"Television stations in Charlottesville, Virginia",
"The CW affiliates",
"True Crime Network affiliates",
"WeatherNation TV affiliates"
] |
WVIR-TV (channel 29) is a television station in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW Plus. Owned by Gray Television, the station has studios on East Market Street (US 250 Business) in downtown Charlottesville, and its primary transmitter is located on Carters Mountain south of the city.
WVIR-TV began broadcasting as the first television station in Charlottesville on March 11, 1973. It took Charlottesville considerable time to develop a local TV station in part because half the city sits in the United States National Radio Quiet Zone, which constricted acceptable broadcast facilities in the region. In part as a result, it remained the only full-service commercial television station in Charlottesville for 31 years after being built and came to dominate the market. Waterman Broadcasting acquired the station in 1986 and would later lead the station through digitalization, the addition of the CW subchannel, and the introduction of high-definition local news in 2008, early for a market of Charlottesville's size.
In 2019, Waterman sold WVIR-TV to Gray Television, which then sold the station's direct competition—WCAV and WVAW-LD—to make the purchase. WVIR-TV switched to the VHF band in 2020, causing technical issues. WVIR-CD operates in the Charlottesville area as a rebroadcaster on the UHF band.
## Television in Charlottesville: A quiet zone
It took Charlottesville until 1973 to have a television station of its own in part because of the assignment of exclusively ultra high frequency (UHF) television channels and the location of part of Charlottesville and the surrounding area in the United States National Radio Quiet Zone. The Quiet Zone boundary runs through the grounds of the University of Virginia.
The Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) 1952 Sixth Report and Order, its first nationwide channel allocation table, gave Charlottesville only one – UHF channel 45, reserved for non-commercial use; the nearest commercial allocation was on channel 42 in Waynesboro. In the ensuing public comment period, the city of Charlottesville and Charles Barham, the owner of WCHV radio, jointly petitioned to have very high frequency (VHF) channel 8 reassigned from Petersburg to a planned mountaintop tower near Crozet. They argued the VHF allocation would give a large part of central and northern Virginia its first ever television service. This was denied by the FCC, which reasoned removing VHF service from the larger city of Petersburg was unwarranted, though it conceded that a Waynesboro UHF station would be unviewable in Charlottesville and added channel 64 to compensate. Barham settled for channel 64 and received a construction permit on January 29, 1953. One week later, CBS affiliate WLVA-TV signed on from Lynchburg on VHF channel 13, and Charlottesville residents reported good reception. Early UHF stations were largely futile undertakings against VHF competition, as most televisions could not receive them yet and those that did produced a poor quality picture; the Daily Progress compared the difference between VHF and UHF reception to that between local AM radio and shortwave. WCHV radio saw no economic path forward and returned the channel 64 construction permit in January 1954.
In 1961, the Charlottesville Broadcasting Corporation, owner of radio station WINA, applied to have VHF channel 11 assigned to the Waynesboro–Staunton area. However, even as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took applications for channel 11, the plan faced stiff opposition from the United States Navy, which planned to build a radio telescope at Sugar Grove, West Virginia. In the meantime, Virginia Broadcasting Corporation, a company owned by stockbroker and bluegrass music artist William Marburg—better known as Bill Clifton—filed for Charlottesville's channel 64 allocation. The channel 64 station received a construction permit in June 1964; six months later, the WINA proposal for channel 11 was denied after the Navy insisted on continued protection for the Sugar Grove site. The channel 64 permit was never built, though it was transferred to another group in 1966.
Two parties then filed for new UHF stations, both originally specifying channel 25, in January 1965. Shenandoah Valley Broadcasting proposed a semi-satellite of WSVA-TV in Harrisonburg with local news and public affairs programming, while WINA soon filed a competing proposal, believing Charlottesville needed a station of its own. WINA won the construction permit, amended to specify channel 29, but failed to convince the national networks that they needed an affiliate in Charlottesville. In 1969, WINA radio was sold, but neither the buyer nor the seller wanted to retain the channel 29 construction permit, which was returned to the FCC.
## History
### Early years
Another company known as the Virginia Broadcasting Corporation, a consortium of more than 30 local stockholders, filed with the FCC on October 19, 1971, for permission to build channel 29. The FCC granted the construction permit on March 1, 1972, and the company announced it would be operating within a year from a transmitter on Carters Mountain and studios on Main Street. In June, the station secured affiliation with NBC and announced plans for daily 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts; the company bought the equipment of a bankrupt TV station in Greensboro, North Carolina, which was dismantled, loaded into three rental trucks, and reassembled on Carters Mountain.
WVIR-TV began broadcasting on March 11, 1973. The station was three and a half hours late to its own sign-on due to a technical mishap. It took four years for channel 29 to turn a profit.
WVIR-TV was the first television station in Charlottesville and the only full-service outlet for more than 30 years; WHSV-TV opened a translator in Charlottesville in 1980, and Richmond public television station WCVE-TV built full-power repeater WHTJ in 1989. It also expanded its coverage area to include Staunton and the Harrisonburg–Rockingham County areas by way of two translators of its own.
The station originally operated from studios on Main Street, in a former shoe store, and later added more offices on East Market Street. In 1983, it bought a building on Market Street which was being used as a parking garage to renovate for its studios and offices.
### Waterman ownership
In 1986, Waterman Broadcasting Corporation, led by Winchester native Bernie Waterman, presented an offer to the Virginia Broadcasting Corporation to buy WVIR-TV. The 41 stockholders unanimously agreed to sell the station for \$8.694 million. The station continued to dominate its local market with no competition. In one 1998 ad, the station touted its news programs as the highest-rated in Virginia; the 6 p.m. news attracted 71 percent of the audience at that hour.
In 2003, WVIR was the object of a major libel case in Virginia stemming from a 2001 news report that incorrectly stated a man's property had been searched and cocaine had been seized. The station had refused to retract the incorrect report. Jurors returned a \$10 million verdict against the station, but a judge reduced the amount, calling it "undue".
Channel 29 gained its first full-power commercial competition when WCAV (channel 19) launched as a CBS affiliate on August 13, 2004. The station was built by Gray Television, owner of WHSV-TV, and was followed by the conversion of the former WHSV translator into WVAW-LP, a separately programmed ABC affiliate for the Charlottesville area, as well as the 2005 launch of WAHU-CA "Fox 27".
WVIR-TV started a subchannel to air The CW when the network began in September 2006. This included a 10 p.m. local newscast. The station began producing high-definition newscasts in April 2008, making Charlottesville the second-smallest market at the time with HD local news. By this time, WVIR continued to hold a commanding lead over its competition.
WVIR-TV ceased regular programming on its analog signal at 12:30 p.m. on February 17, 2009, the original date for the digital television transition under federal mandate (which was later pushed back to June 12, 2009). The station's digital signal remained on its pre-transition UHF channel 32, using virtual channel 29; the decision to continue the February switchover saved the station \$40,000. As part of the analog nightlight service, the station was required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to leave its analog signal on-air for two months after the end of digital transition at an estimated cost to the station of \$20,000 to broadcast an endless loop of instructional video on digital converter box installation. This was interrupted daily to carry local newscasts.
The station entered the 2016–17 spectrum reallocation auction, electing to take \$46,399,285 for its channel 32 allocation and move to the low-VHF band (channels 2 through 6). Chief engineer Bob Jenkins noted that the station was not particularly happy with moving to channel 2 but chose it over entering a channel-sharing agreement with another station.
### Gray Television ownership
Waterman announced a deal to sell WVIR-TV to Gray Television on March 4, 2019. To acquire WVIR-TV, Gray concurrently announced it would sell WCAV and WVAW-LD, as well as WAHU-CD's programming, to Lockwood Broadcast Group. Gray, however, retained the WAHU-CD license. The sale was approved on April 15. The transaction was completed on October 1. On December 1, Gray split off the NBC and CW services for the Harrisonburg and Staunton area as a separate station run from WHSV-TV, WSVW-LD "NBC 3 in the Valley".
Gray implemented the station's repack. The station was to move its signal from channel 32 to channel 2 by January 17, 2020. Equipment shipping and construction delays forced WVIR-TV to use WCAV's channel 19 facility temporarily before it completed the relocation to channel 2 on March 18. Despite the UHF relay, WVIR-TV received hundreds of reception complaints in the following month and applied to increase its effective radiated power on channel 2 from 10 kW to 34 kW. In addition to WVIR-CD, the former WAHU-CD which now broadcasts the same subchannels on the UHF band in the Charlottesville area, the station received a construction permit in 2022 to build a digital replacement translator on channel 30 at Madison, Virginia. This facility began operating in July 2023.
### Notable alumni
- Brooke Baldwin – anchor
- Lonnie Quinn – weather anchor/reporter (now at WCBS-TV in New York)
## Subchannels
The station's signal is multiplexed:
|
[
"## Television in Charlottesville: A quiet zone",
"## History",
"### Early years",
"### Waterman ownership",
"### Gray Television ownership",
"### Notable alumni",
"## Subchannels"
] | 2,283 | 256 |
9,704,012 |
Tropical cyclone basins
| 1,170,477,698 |
Areas of tropical cyclone formation
|
[
"Tropical cyclone meteorology",
"Tropical cyclones"
] |
Traditionally, areas of tropical cyclone formation are divided into seven basins. These include the north Atlantic Ocean, the eastern and western parts of the northern Pacific Ocean, the southwestern Pacific, the southwestern and southeastern Indian Oceans, and the northern Indian Ocean (Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal). The western Pacific is the most active and the north Indian the least active. An average of 86 tropical cyclones of tropical storm intensity form annually worldwide, with 47 reaching hurricane/typhoon strength, and 20 becoming intense tropical cyclones, super typhoons, or major hurricanes (at least of Category 3 intensity).
## Overview
## Northern Hemisphere
### North Atlantic Ocean
This region includes the North Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. Tropical cyclone formation here varies widely from year to year, ranging from one to over twenty-five per year. Most Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes form between June 1 and November 30. The United States National Hurricane Center (NHC) monitors the basin and issues reports, watches and warnings about tropical weather systems for the Atlantic Basin as one of the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres for tropical cyclones as defined by the World Meteorological Organization. On average, 14 named storms (of tropical storm or higher strength) occur each season, with an average of 7 becoming hurricanes and 3 becoming major hurricanes. The climatological peak of activity is around September 10 each season.
The United States Atlantic coast and Gulf Coast, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean Islands, and Bermuda are frequently affected by storms in this basin. Venezuela, the 4 provinces of Atlantic Canada, and Atlantic Macaronesian islands also are occasionally affected. Many of the more intense Atlantic storms are Cape Verde-type hurricanes, which form off the west coast of Africa near the Cape Verde islands. Occasionally, a hurricane that evolves into an extratropical cyclone can reach western Europe, including Hurricane Gordon, which spread high winds across Spain and the British Isles in September 2006. Hurricane Vince, which made landfall on the southwestern coast of Spain as a tropical depression in October 2005, and Subtropical Storm Alpha, which made landfall on the coast of Portugal as a subtropical storm in September 2020, are the only known systems to impact mainland Europe as a (sub)tropical cyclone in the NHC study period commencing in 1851 (it is believed a hurricane made landfall in Spain in 1842).
### Northeastern Pacific Ocean
The Northeastern Pacific is the second most active basin and has the highest number of storms per unit area. The hurricane season runs between May 15 and November 30 each year, and encompasses the vast majority of tropical cyclone activity in the region. In the 1971–2005 period, there were an average of 15–16 tropical storms, 9 hurricanes, and 4–5 major hurricanes (storms of Category 3 intensity or greater) annually in the basin.
Storms that form here often affect western Mexico, and less commonly the Continental United States (in particular California), or northern Central America. No hurricane included in the modern database has made landfall in California; however, historical records from 1858 speak of a storm that brought San Diego winds over 75 mph (65 kn; 121 km/h) (marginal hurricane force), though it is not known if the storm actually made landfall. Tropical storms in 1939, 1976 and 1997 brought gale-force winds to California.
The Central Pacific Hurricane Center's area of responsibility (AOR) begins at the boundary with the National Hurricane Center's AOR (at 140 °W), and ends at the International Date Line, where the Northwestern Pacific begins. The hurricane season in the North Central Pacific runs annually from June 1 to November 30; The Central Pacific Hurricane Center monitors the storms that develop or move into the defined area of responsibility. The CPHC previously tasked with monitoring tropical activity in the basin was originally known as the Joint Hurricane Warning Center; today it is called the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
Central Pacific hurricanes are rare and on average 4 to 5 storms form or move in this area annually. As there are no large contiguous landmasses in the basin, direct hits and landfalls are rare; however, they occur occasionally, as with Hurricane Iniki in 1992, which made landfall on Hawaii, and Hurricane Ioke in 2006, which made a direct hit on Johnston Atoll.
### Northwestern Pacific Ocean
The Northwest Pacific Ocean is the most active basin on the planet, accounting for one-third of all tropical cyclone activity. Annually, an average of 25.7 tropical cyclones in the basin acquire tropical storm strength or greater; also, an average of 16 typhoons occurred each year during the 1968–1989 period. The basin occupies all the territory north of the equator and west of the International Date Line, including the South China Sea. The basin sees activity year-round; however, tropical activity is at its minimum in February and March.
Tropical storms in this region often affect China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, plus numerous Oceanian islands such as Guam, the Northern Marianas and Palau. Sometimes, tropical storms in this region affect Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and even Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. The coast of China sees the most landfalling tropical cyclones worldwide. The Philippines receives an average of 6–7 tropical cyclone landfalls per year, with typhoons Haiyan and Goni in 2013 and 2020 being the strongest and most powerful landfalling storms to date.
### North Indian Ocean
This basin is divided into two areas: the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, with the Bay of Bengal dominating (5 to 6 times more activity). Still, this basin is the least active worldwide, with only 4 to 6 storms per year.
This basin’s season has a double peak: one in April and May, before the onset of the monsoon, and another in October and November, just after. This double peak occurs because powerful vertical wind shear in between the surface monsoonal low and upper tropospheric high during the monsoon season tears apart incipient cyclones. High shear explains why no cyclones can form in the Red Sea, which possesses the necessary depth, vorticity and surface temperatures year-round. Rarely do tropical cyclones that form elsewhere in this basin affect the Arabian Peninsula or Somalia; however, Cyclone Gonu caused heavy damage in Oman on the peninsula in 2007.
Although the North Indian Ocean is a relatively inactive basin, extremely high population densities in the Ganges and Ayeyarwady Deltas mean that the deadliest tropical cyclones in the world have formed here, including the 1970 Bhola cyclone, which killed 500,000 people. Nations affected include India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, and Pakistan.
### Mediterranean Sea
On rare occasions, tropical-like systems that can reach the intensity of hurricanes, occur over the Mediterranean Sea. Such a phenomenon is called a Medicane (Mediterranean-hurricane). Although the geographical dimensions of tropical oceans and the Mediterranean Sea are clearly different, the precursor mechanisms of these perturbations, based on the air-sea thermodynamic imbalance, are similar. Their origins are typically non-tropical, and develop over open waters under strong, initially cold-core cyclones, similar to subtropical cyclones or anomalous tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Basin, like Karl (1980), Vince (2005), Grace (2009), Chris (2012), or Ophelia (2017). Sea surface temperatures in late-August and early-September are quite high over the basin (24/28 °C or 75/82 °F), though research indicates water temperatures of 20 °C (68 °F) are normally required for development.
Meteorological literature document that such systems occurred in September 1947, September 1969, January 1982, September 1983, January 1995, October 1996, September 2006, November 2011, November 2014, and November 2017. The 1995 system developed a well-defined eye, and a ship recorded 85 mph (140 km/h) winds, along with an atmospheric pressure of 975 mbar. Although it had the structure of a tropical cyclone, it occurred over 61 °F (16 °C) water temperatures, suggesting it could have been a polar low.
## Southern Hemisphere
Within the Southern Hemisphere tropical cyclones generally form on a regular basis between the African coast and the middle of the South Pacific. Tropical and Subtropical Cyclones have also been noted occurring in the Southern Atlantic Ocean at times. For various reasons including where tropical cyclones form, there are several different ways to split the area between the American and African coasts. For instance the World Meteorological Organization define three different basins for the tracking and warning of tropical cyclones. These are the South-West Indian Ocean between the African Coast and 90°E, the Australian region between 90°E and 160°E and the South Pacific between 160°E and 120°W. The United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center also monitors the whole region, but splits it at 135°E into the South Pacific and the Southern Indian Ocean.
### South-West Indian Ocean
The South-West Indian Ocean is located within the Southern Hemisphere between the Africa's east coast and 90°E and is primarily monitored by the Meteo France's La Reunion RSMC, while the Mauritian, Australian, Indonesian, and Malagasy weather services also monitor parts of it. Until the start of the 1985–86 tropical cyclone season the basin only extended to 80°E, with the 10 degrees between 80 and 90E considered to be a part of the Australian region. On average about 9 cyclones per year develop into tropical storms, while 5 of those go on to become tropical cyclones that are equivalent to a hurricane or a typhoon.
### Australian region
Through the middle of 1985, this basin extended westward to 80°E. Since then, its western boundary has been 90°E. Tropical activity in this region affects Australia and Indonesia. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the most frequently hit portion of Australia is between Exmouth and Broome in Western Australia. The basin sees an average of about seven cyclones each year, although more can form or come in from other basins, such as the South Pacific. The tropical cyclone Cyclone Vance in 1999 produced the highest recorded speed winds in an Australian town or city at around 267 km/h (166 mph).
### South Pacific Ocean
The South Pacific Ocean basin runs between 160°E and 120°W, with tropical cyclones developing in it officially monitored by the Fiji Meteorological Service and New Zealand's MetService. Tropical Cyclones that develop within this basin generally affect countries to the west of the dateline, though during years of the warm phase of El Niño–Southern Oscillation cyclones have been known to develop to the east of the dateline near French Polynesia. On average the basin sees nine tropical cyclones annually with about half of them becoming severe tropical cyclones.
### South Atlantic Ocean
Cyclones rarely form in other tropical ocean areas, which are not formally considered tropical cyclone basins. Tropical depressions and tropical storms occur occasionally in the south Atlantic, and the only full-blown tropical cyclones on record were the Angola tropical storm in 1991, Hurricane Catarina in 2004, Tropical Storm Anita in 2010, Tropical Storm Iba in 2019, and Tropical Storm 01Q in 2021. The south Atlantic Ocean is not officially classified as a tropical cyclone basin by the World Meteorological Organization and does not have a designated regional specialized meteorological center (RSMC). However, beginning in 2011, the Brazilian Navy Hydrographic Center started to assign names to tropical and subtropical systems in this basin, when they have sustained wind speeds of at least 65 km/h (40 mph).
## See also
- Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre
- Outline of tropical cyclones
|
[
"## Overview",
"## Northern Hemisphere",
"### North Atlantic Ocean",
"### Northeastern Pacific Ocean",
"### Northwestern Pacific Ocean",
"### North Indian Ocean",
"### Mediterranean Sea",
"## Southern Hemisphere",
"### South-West Indian Ocean",
"### Australian region",
"### South Pacific Ocean",
"### South Atlantic Ocean",
"## See also"
] | 2,551 | 13,178 |
53,434,622 |
Ottoman ironclad Necm-i Şevket
| 1,164,843,612 |
Ironclad warship of the Ottoman Navy
|
[
"1868 ships",
"Asar-i Şevket-class ironclads",
"Maritime incidents in March 1878",
"Ships built in France"
] |
Necm-i Şevket (Ottoman Turkish: Star of Majesty) was the second of two Asar-i Şevket-class central battery ships built for the Ottoman Navy in the 1860s. Originally ordered by the Khedivate of Egypt but confiscated by the Ottoman Empire while under construction, the vessel was initially named Muzaffer. The ship was laid down at the French Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde shipyard in 1867, was launched in 1868, and was commissioned into the Ottoman fleet in March 1870. Asar-i Şevket was armed with a battery of four 178 mm (7 in) Armstrong guns in a central casemate and one 229 mm (9 in) Armstrong gun in a revolving barbette.
The ship saw action in the Russo-Turkish War in 1877–1878, where she supported Ottoman forces in the Caucasus, and later helped to defend the port of Sulina on the Danube. She was laid up for twenty years, until the outbreak of the Greco-Turkish War in 1897, which highlighted the badly deteriorated state of the Ottoman fleet. Necm-i Şevket was one of just two ironclads that was still in serviceable condition at the time of the war, though she was not included in the large fleet modernization program. Instead, she became a stationary ship and later a barracks ship. During the First Balkan War in 1912, Necm-i Şevket was reactivated to help stop the Bulgarian advance on Constantinople. Thoroughly obsolete by that point, she saw little action and returned to barracks duties after the war. The ship remained in the fleet's inventory through the 1920s, being decommissioned in 1929 and broken up thereafter.
## Design
Necm-i Şevket was 66.4 m (217 ft 10 in) long overall, with a beam of 12.9 m (42 ft 4 in) and a draft of 5 m (16 ft 5 in). The hull was constructed with iron, incorporated a ram bow and a partial double bottom. She displaced 2,047 metric tons (2,015 long tons; 2,256 short tons) normally. She had a crew of 170 officers and enlisted men.
The ship was powered by a single horizontal compound steam engine which drove a single screw propeller. Steam was provided by four coal-fired box boilers that were trunked into a single funnel amidships. The engine was rated at 1,750 indicated horsepower (1,300 kW) and produced a top speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph), though by 1877 she was only capable of 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph). Necm-i Şevket carried 300 t (300 long tons; 330 short tons) of coal. A supplementary brig rig was also fitted.
Necm-i Şevket was armed with a battery of one 229 mm (9 in) muzzle loading Armstrong gun and four 178 mm (7 in) Armstrong guns. The 178 mm guns were mounted in a central, armored battery, with the 229 mm gun on top in an open barbette mount. The ship's armored belt consisted of wrought iron that was 152 mm (6 in) thick and was reduced to 114 mm (4.5 in) toward the bow and stern. Above the main belt, a strake of armor 114 mm thick protected the central battery, and the same thickness was used for the barbette.
## Service history
Necm-i Şevket, meaning "Star of Majesty", was originally ordered by the Khedivate of Egypt in 1866 from the French Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde shipyard in Bordeaux under the name Muzaffer. Her keel was laid down in 1867, and she was launched the following year. On 29 August 1868, the Ottoman Empire forced Egypt to surrender the ship, which was then renamed Necm-i Şevket and commissioned into the Ottoman Navy on 3 March 1870. Upon completion, Necm-i Şevket and the other ironclads then being built in Britain and France were sent to Crete to assist in stabilizing the island in the aftermath of the Cretan Revolt of 1866–1869. During this period, the Ottoman fleet, under Hobart Pasha, remained largely inactive, with training confined to reading translated British instruction manuals. Necm-i Şevket was assigned to the I Squadron of the Asiatic Fleet, along with her sister ship Asar-i Şevket and the ironclads Hifz-ur Rahman and Lütf-ü Celil. Early in the ship's career, the Ottoman ironclad fleet was activated every summer for short cruises from the Golden Horn to the Bosporus to ensure their propulsion systems were in operable condition.
### Russo-Turkish War
The Ottoman fleet began mobilizing in September 1876 to prepare for a conflict with Russia, as tensions with the country had been growing for several years, an insurrection had begun in Ottoman Bosnia in mid-1875, and Serbia had declared war on the Ottoman Empire in July 1876. The Russo-Turkish War began on 24 April 1877 with a Russian declaration of war. Necm-i Şevket spent the war in the Black Sea squadron, with the bulk of the Ottoman ironclad fleet. The Ottoman fleet, commanded by Hobart Pasha, was vastly superior to the Russian Black Sea Fleet; the only ironclads the Russians possessed there were Vitse-admiral Popov and Novgorod, circular vessels that had proved to be useless in service. The presence of the fleet did force the Russians to keep two corps in reserve for coastal defense, but the Ottoman high command failed to make use of its naval superiority in a more meaningful way, particularly to hinder the Russian advance into the Balkans. Hobart Pasha took the fleet to the eastern Black Sea, where he was able to make a more aggressive use of it to support the Ottoman forces battling the Russians in the Caucasus. The fleet bombarded Poti and assisted in the defense of Batumi.
On 14 May 1877, an Ottoman squadron consisting of Necm-i Şevket and the ironclads Avnillah, Muin-i Zafer, Feth-i Bülend, Mukaddeme-i Hayir, and Iclaliye bombarded Russian positions around the Black Sea port of Sokhumi before landing infantry and arming the local populace to start an uprising against the Russians. The Ottomans captured Sokhumi two days later. Over the course of the war, Russian torpedo boats made several attacks on the vessels stationed in Batumi, but Necm-i Şevket was not damaged in any of them. The Ottoman fleet continued to support the Ottoman garrison at Batumi, when held out against constant Russian attacks to the end of the war.
### Later career
On 7 March 1878, Necm-i Şevket ran into the British steamship John Middleton at Tophane. John Middleton was driven into HMS Antelope and then sank. HMS Antelope, which was severely damaged herself, rescued the crew of John Middleton. After the end of the war in 1878, Necm-i Şevket was laid up in Constantinople. This was in part due to chronically low budgets, and in part due to the fact that the Sultan, Abdul Hamid II, who had come to power after a coup deposed Murad V that involved senior members of the Navy, distrusted the Navy. The annual summer cruises to the Bosporus ended. By the mid-1880s, the Ottoman ironclad fleet was in poor condition, and Necm-i Şevket was unable to go to sea. Many of the ships' engines were unusable, having seized up from rust, and their hulls were badly fouled. The British naval attaché to the Ottoman Empire at the time estimated that the Imperial Arsenal would take six months to get just five of the ironclads ready to go to sea. Throughout this period, the ship's crew was limited to about one-third the normal figure. During a period of tension with Greece in 1886, the fleet was brought to full crews and the ships were prepared to go to sea, but none actually left the Golden Horn, and they were quickly laid up again. By that time, most of the ships were capable of little more than 4 to 6 knots (7.4 to 11.1 km/h; 4.6 to 6.9 mph). In 1890, the ship was taken to the Imperial Arsenal for refitting, and new boilers were installed. The ship also received a battery of light guns, including two 87 mm (3.4 in) Krupp guns, two 63.5 mm (2.50 in) Krupp guns, two 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon, and one 25.4 mm (1 in) Nordenfelt gun. The ship returned to service on 12 February 1892.
At the start of the Greco-Turkish War in February 1897, Necm-i Şevket was assigned to the II Squadron. The Ottomans inspected the fleet and found that almost all of the vessels, including Necm-i Şevket, to be completely unfit for combat against the Greek Navy. Many of the ships had rotted hulls and their crews were poorly trained. Necm-i Şevket was one of two ironclads found to be in usable condition, the other being Mesudiye. In April and May, the ship escorted troopships transporting infantry from western Anatolia to Gelibolu, and while conducting these operations, she took part in gunnery exercises. On 15 May, Necm-i Şevket and the ironclads Mesudiye, Osmaniye, Aziziye, and Hamidiye, along with several other vessels conducted a major training exercise, where severe deficiencies in the level of training were revealed, particularly with the men's ability to operate the ships' guns. In September 1897, the war came to an end, and the Ottoman fleet returned to Constantinople.
The condition of the Ottoman fleet could not be concealed from foreign observers, which proved to be an embarrassment for the government and finally forced Abdul Hamid II to authorize a modernization program, which recommended that the ironclads be modernized in foreign shipyards. German firms, including Krupp, Schichau-Werke, and AG Vulcan, were to rebuild the ships, but after having surveyed the ships, withdrew from the project in December 1897 owing to the impracticality of modernizing the ships and the inability of the Ottoman government to pay for the work. By 1900, the contracts were finally awarded, and Necm-i Şevket was not included in the program. Instead, the ship was employed as a stationary ship based in Selanik from 1899 to 1909, at which point she was converted into a barracks ship in Constantinople.
On 30 October 1912, during the First Balkan War, Necm-i Şevket was reactivated to stop the Bulgarian advance against the Ottoman defenders at Çatalca. She was joined by the ironclad Iclaliye; both vessels had to be towed into place, and they remained in their firing positions for only a few days. The two ships, joined by the pre-dreadnought battleships Barbaros Hayreddin and Turgut Reis and the modernized Mesudiye and Asar-i Tevfik, were towed to Büyükçekmece, where they remained from 15 to 20 November, though they made little contact with Bulgarian forces. The ship resumed her barracks ship duties after the war and was decommissioned in 1929 and was thereafter broken up.
|
[
"## Design",
"## Service history",
"### Russo-Turkish War",
"### Later career"
] | 2,511 | 20,457 |
40,424,938 |
Harrya chromapes
| 1,067,421,781 |
Species of fungus
|
[
"Boletaceae",
"Edible fungi",
"Fungi described in 1874",
"Fungi of Asia",
"Fungi of Central America",
"Fungi of North America"
] |
Harrya chromapes, commonly known as the yellowfoot bolete or the chrome-footed bolete, is a species of bolete fungus in the family Boletaceae. The bolete is found in eastern North America, Costa Rica, and eastern Asia, where it grows on the ground, in a mycorrhizal association with deciduous and coniferous trees. Fruit bodies have smooth, rose-pink caps that are initially convex before flattening out. The pores on the cap undersurface are white, aging to a pale pink as the spores mature. The thick stipe has fine pink or reddish dots (scabers), and is white to pinkish but with a bright yellow base. The mushrooms are edible but are popular with insects, and so they are often infested with maggots.
In its taxonomic history, Harrya chromapes has been shuffled to several different genera, including Boletus, Leccinum, and Tylopilus, and is known in field guides as a member of one of these genera. In 2012, it was transferred to the newly created genus Harrya when it was established that morphological and molecular evidence demonstrated its distinctness from the genera in which it had formerly been placed.
## Taxonomy
The species was first described scientifically by American mycologist Charles Christopher Frost as Boletus chromapes. Cataloging the bolete fungi of New England, Frost published 22 new bolete species in that 1874 publication. Rolf Singer placed the species in Leccinum in 1947 due to the scabrous dots on the stipe, even though the spore print color was not typical of that genus. In 1968, Alexander H. Smith and Harry Delbert Thiers thought that Tylopilus was a more appropriate fit as they believed the pinkish-brown spore print—characteristic of that genus—to be of greater taxonomic significance. Other genera to which it has been shuffled in its taxonomic history include Ceriomyces by William Alphonso Murrill in 1909, and Krombholzia by Rolf Singer in 1942; Ceriomyces and Krombholzia have since been subsumed into Boletus and Leccinum, respectively. Additional synonyms include Tylopilus cartagoensis, described by Wolfe & Bougher in 1993, and a later combination based on this name, Leccinum cartagoense.
Molecular analysis of large-subunit ribosomal DNA and translation elongation factor 1α showed that the species belonged to a unique lineage in the family Boletaceae, and the genus Harrya was circumscribed to contain both it (as the type species) and the newly described H. atriceps. Javan species referred to Tylopilus pernanus are sister to the Harrya lineage.
The specific epithet chromapes is Latin for "yellow foot". It is commonly known as the "yellowfoot bolete" or the "chrome-footed bolete".
## Description
The fruit bodies have caps that are initially convex before flattening out in maturity, reaching diameters between 3 and 15 cm (1.2 and 5.9 in). The cap surface is dry to slightly sticky. It is initially pink to rose-colored, fading to tan or pinkish tan in maturity. The cap margin may curl upward in maturity. The flesh is white, and does not stain blue when it is bruised or injured (an important diagnostic feature of many bolete species). It does not have any distinct odor or taste. The pore surface is initially white before becoming pinkish to flesh-colored in age. The individual pores are circular to angular, numbering two or three per millimeter, while the tubes are 8–14 mm (0.3–0.6 in) long. Tubes near the top of the stipe are depressed and almost free from attachment. The stipe measures 4–14 cm (1.6–5.5 in) long by 1–2.5 cm (0.4–1.0 in) thick and is equal in width throughout its length, or with a slight taper in either direction. The stipe surface has a scurfy texture from scabers that are colored white, pink or reddish. The underlying surface color is white or pinkish except for the yellow base. The mushrooms are edible and good, but popular with insects, and so are often infested with maggots.
The spore print has been reported as ranging in color from pinkish, to pinkish-brown, to rosy brown, to vinaceous-fawn. The variation in spore print color results in part from differences in moisture content when recorded. Spores are roughly oblong to oval, smooth, hyaline (translucent) to pale brown, and measure 11–17 by 4–5.5 μm. They are covered in a gelatinous sheath. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are club-shaped, two- and four-spored, thin-walled, and measure 25–35 by 10–14 μm. Pleurocystidia (found on the tube walls) are roughly cylindrical to fuse-shaped with rounded tips, and measure 37–50 by 5–8 μm. Cheilocystidia (on the tube edges) are fuse-shaped with a central swelling, thin-walled, and measure 23–40 by 6–8 μm. Caulocystidia at the top of the stipe have various shapes and dimensions of 25–45 by 10–15 μm; at the stipe base, the caulocystidia are 30–40 by 7–23 μm and are mostly club-shaped to roughly spherical to tear-shaped. The cap cuticle comprises a single layer of tangled hyphae that are 4–6 μm thick.
Several chemical tests can be used to confirm the identify of the mushroom. A drop of ferrous sulfate (FeSO<sub>4</sub>) on the flesh turns it greenish, while potassium hydroxide (KOH) turns it brown. The cap cuticle turns yellow with nitric acid (HNO<sub>3</sub>), and yellow with ammonium hydroxide (NH<sub>4</sub>OH).
### Similar species
Fruit bodies of Harrya chromapes are readily identified in the field by their rosy color, bright yellow stipe base, and reddish scabers on the stipe. Tylopilus subchromapes is a similar species found in Australia. Tylopilus ballouii has a more orangish cap and lacks the distinctive chrome-yellow stipe base. Harrya atriceps is a closely related rare species from Costa Rica. In contrast to its more common relative, it lacks reddish color in its stipe scabers and has a black cap, although it has a similar yellow stipe base.
## Habitat and distribution
Harrya chromapes is an ectomycorrhizal species, and its fruit bodies grow singly to scattered on soil. They are usually found in forests containing conifers, Betulaceae and oak in North America. The North American distribution includes eastern Canada south to Georgia and Alabama, including Mexico. It extends west to Michigan and Mississippi. The fruit season extends from late spring to late summer. In Costa Rica, where the species associates with oak, it has been recorded from the Cordillera Talamanca, the Poás and Irazu Volcano. It is also in Guatemala. In Asia, it is known from India (West Bengal), Taiwan, Japan, and in China, where it associates with trees from the beech and pine families.
Fruit bodies can be parasitized by the molds Sepedonium ampullosporum, S. laevigatum, and S. chalcipori. In Sepedonium infections, a white to powdery yellow mold covers the surface of the fruit body. The mushrooms are a food source and rearing habitat for several insect species, including the fungus gnats Mycetophila fisherae and M. signatoides, and flies such as Pegomya winthemi and species of the genera Sciophila and Mydaea. The cottontail rabbit species Sylvilagus brasiliensis has been recorded feeding on the mushrooms in Costa Rica.
## See also
- List of North American boletes
|
[
"## Taxonomy",
"## Description",
"### Similar species",
"## Habitat and distribution",
"## See also"
] | 1,751 | 31,313 |
659,317 |
Jamestown, Saint Helena
| 1,147,372,611 |
Capital and chief port of Saint Helena
|
[
"1659 establishments in Africa",
"1659 establishments in the British Empire",
"Capitals in Africa",
"Capitals of British Overseas Territories",
"Districts of Saint Helena",
"Jamestown, Saint Helena",
"Populated places established in 1659",
"Populated places in Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha",
"Port cities in Africa",
"Ports and harbours of British Overseas Territories",
"Saint Helena"
] |
Jamestown is the capital city of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, located on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is also the historic main settlement of the island and is on its north-western coast. Before the development of the port at Rupert's Bay, it was the island's only port and the centre of the island's road and communications network. It was founded when colonists from the English East India Company settled on the island in 1659 and was briefly occupied by the Dutch East India Company in 1673 before being recaptured. Many of the buildings built by the East India Company in the 18th century survive and give the town its distinctive Georgian flavour.
The city briefly hosted Napoleon in 1815 during his exile on St. Helena and later served as a base for the Royal Navy's efforts to suppress the slave trade. It had no role during the First World War and only played a minor role during the Second World War.
## History
Jamestown was founded in 1659 by the East India Company and is named after James, Duke of York, the future King James II of England. A fort, originally named the Castle of St John, was quickly built and, with the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the fort was renamed James Fort, the town Jamestown and the valley James Valley. The fort and associated gun batteries dominated James Bay and were sporadically improved over the years. In January 1673 the Dutch East India Company briefly seized control of the island until the English East India Company recaptured it in May. Since then the town has been continuously inhabited under English and then British rule.
After his defeat in the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815 and the subsequent occupation of Paris, the Emperor of the French, Napoleon, surrendered to the British and was exiled to St Helena. He arrived on 21 October aboard the 74-gun ship HMS Bellerophon and resided at the Briars in Jamestown for several months until he was transferred to Longwood House in a more remote part of the island in December. Jamestown was chosen to host a vice admiralty court and a naval base for British efforts to interdict the slave traffic between Africa and the Americas. Captured slave ships were often brought to Jamestown to be sold and their cargos were off-loaded in Rupert's Valley. By the time that the naval station was closed in the 1870s, an estimated 25,000 slaves had been rescued, although about 5,000 died shortly after arrival and were buried in Rupert's Valley. Long lost, their graves were rediscovered in 2006 in conjunction with preliminary digging for the airport. A team of archaeologists arrived in mid-2008 to excavate the graves. Some of the finds from the excavations are on exhibit at the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool, England.
The island was too isolated to play any role in the First World War and only played a minimal one during the Second World War. The oil tanker RFA Darkdale was sunk by the in James Bay on 22 October 1941 with only nine of the 50-man crew surviving. She had been sent to St Helena a few months earlier to refuel ships operating in the South Atlantic. The wreck leaked small amounts of oil until its gradual deterioration caused the Ministry of Defence to send a team of divers to pump out all the remaining oil in June 2015.
## Geography and description
The city is built on igneous rock in the James Valley, sandwiched between steep cliffs. It is therefore rather long and thin. The walls of the valley are rough and steep, and rockfalls have been a problem, although now minimised by netting. A small stream, the Run, runs through the valley. The city is commonly divided into lower and upper parts, depending on the distance up James Valley. Being the island's main port (and with the Saint Helena Airport only receiving its first scheduled flight in October 2017) the city is still currently the main entrance to the island to visitors. Despite not being connected to Jamestown proper by road, Rupert's Valley, the next valley north, is also part of the city. It houses much of the island's infrastructure, such as its power station and associated fuel storage, and a one-ship wharf was completed in June 2016.
The city has over 100 listed buildings, mostly from the Georgian era. Main Street has been described as "one of the best examples of unspoilt Georgian architecture anywhere in the world." Many buildings are built out of local volcanic rock. St James' Church dates from 1772 and is the oldest Anglican church in the Southern Hemisphere. Another of the city's prominent features is Jacob's Ladder, a staircase of 699 steps, built in 1829 to connect Jamestown to the former fort on Ladder Hill. The ladder is very popular with tourists, is lit at night and a timed run takes place there every year, with people coming from all over the world to take part. The Museum of Saint Helena is situated in Jamestown, one of two museums on the island (the other being Longwood House).
## Formal status
Jamestown is formally a city, a status granted by Queen Victoria in 1859, and its full name is the "City of James Town". It is also one of the 8 districts (administrative divisions) and is the capital of both the island of Saint Helena and the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The Castle, one of the oldest buildings in the city, is one of the main government buildings.
## Climate
Jamestown features a tropical hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification: BWh) with essentially consistent temperatures throughout the year. Despite the fact that the city has a desert climate, its temperatures are moderated by the adjacent ocean and cold currents therein, leading to a cool climate for the deep tropical latitude. As a result, it seldom gets very hot in Jamestown. The temperature in the Jamestown area is some 5 degrees warmer than the rest of the island, because of the difference in altitude. While Jamestown receives less than 5 inches (13 cm) of rainfall per year, the higher parts of the island are also wetter than the city, which lies on the drier coast and in a sheltered location. The highlands above Jamestown receive up to 39 inches (99 cm) per year of precipitation and are lush with vegetation. The surrounding waters can be quite rough at times, and there is a sea wall to protect the settlement.
## Population
As of 2016, the district Jamestown had 629 residents, a significant decline since the 2008 population of 714. The city's population has been shrinking and it is no longer the largest settlement on the island, having been surpassed by Half Tree Hollow, Saint Paul's and Longwood.
## Education
As a British territory, the island follows the British education system. There is one primary school, serving children ages four to eleven, in Jamestown, Pilling Primary School, which was created by the amalgamation of Jamestown First School and Pilling Middle School in September 2007. The island's only secondary school is Prince Andrew School in Saint Paul's.
## Religion
The Anglican Parish of St. James is one of the three parishes of the Diocese of St Helena on the island. St James' Church is the primary church in the parish and is the oldest Anglican Church in the southern hemisphere; the present building was put up in 1772. There are 3 daughter churches: St John's, in Upper Jamestown, St Mary's, the Briars, and St Michael's, in Rupert's Valley. The sole Catholic Church in St Helena, Sacred Heart Church, is located in Jamestown; as is a Baptist church.
## See also
- List of towns in Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
|
[
"## History",
"## Geography and description",
"## Formal status",
"## Climate",
"## Population",
"## Education",
"## Religion",
"## See also"
] | 1,646 | 1,744 |
26,397,119 |
Newfoundland expedition (1702)
| 1,157,014,579 |
1702 English naval raiding expedition
|
[
"1702 in North America",
"1702 in the British Empire",
"Conflicts in 1702",
"Expeditions from the Kingdom of England",
"History of Saint Pierre and Miquelon",
"Military expeditions",
"Military history of Newfoundland",
"Naval battles involving England",
"Naval battles involving France",
"Naval battles of the War of the Spanish Succession",
"New France",
"Pre-Confederation Newfoundland",
"Prince George of Denmark",
"Queen Anne's War"
] |
The Newfoundland expedition was a naval raiding expedition led by English Captain John Leake between August and October 1702 that targeted French colonial settlements on the North Atlantic island of Newfoundland and its satellite, Saint Pierre. The expedition occurred in the early days of Queen Anne's War, as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession is sometimes known.
Leake's fleet descended on French settlements on the southern shore of Newfoundland, destroying fishing stages and other infrastructure. They captured fishing and trade ships, and destroyed most of the settlement at Saint Pierre. In a final flurry of activity before returning to England, Leake captured several ships from the French merchant convoy as it headed for Europe. More than 50 ships were taken in total, and six seasonal settlements were destroyed. The strongly fortified French base at Plaisance was not attacked.
## Background
Hostilities in the War of the Spanish Succession had begun in 1701, but England did not get involved until 1702, planning a major naval expedition against targets in Spain. On 9 June 1702 (Old Style) Newfoundland also became a target when George Churchill, chief advisor to the Lord High Admiral, Prince George, informed Captain John Leake, "I have proposed to the Prince, your going to command a squadron to Newfoundland; you will be a Chief of Squadron". Leake's commission, issued on 24 June, came with instructions to investigate the military strength of the French in Newfoundland, and to "annoy them there in their fishing harbours and at sea". He was also to convoy merchant ships in both directions, report on the conditions of the English settlements and fisheries, and act as governor of the territory while he was there. To accomplish this he was given command of HMS Exeter and a small fleet of ships. On 22 July 1702, he departed from Plymouth with a fleet of nine ships, including six ships of the line. His ships included (in addition to Exeter) the fourth rates HMS Assistance, HMS Montagu, HMS Lichfield, HMS Medway, and HMS Reserve.
Newfoundland had been the site of much conflict during King William's War (1689–1697). The most ambitious expedition had been conducted by French and Indian forces led by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville in 1696. His raiding expedition was highly destructive: it completely destroyed almost all of the English settlements on the island. Many of these were rebuilt shortly afterwards, and the chief English port at St. John's was strongly fortified.
Permanent French settlements on Newfoundland were relatively few. Most of their settlements, such as those in Trepassey Bay and St. Mary's, were only used in the summertime by fishermen who returned to Europe at the end of the season. The principal town of Plaisance was permanently settled, and its fortifications housed a small garrison. In 1702 it was temporarily under the command of Philippe Pastour de Costebelle, a captain of the French Marines in Canada, who was awaiting the arrival of the next governor, Daniel d'Auger de Subercase (who did not arrive until 1703). The permanent French population of Newfoundland was fairly small—only 180 French settlers left Newfoundland when the colony was abandoned in 1713.
The French also had a small settlement on the island of Saint Pierre, just south of Newfoundland in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Its governor, Sébastien Le Gouès, Sieur de Sourdeval, had only arrived in July 1702, and erected a crude wooden fort armed with a few guns.
## Raids
### Newfoundland
Leake's fleet arrived in late August at Bay Bulls. From the inhabitants they learned that two French fishing ships were loading at Trepassey Bay, and that two French warships were at anchor near the French capital at Plaisance. He also learned that the French routinely posted spies to observe activities at Bay Bulls, and were likely to report the fleet's presence to Plaisance—a three-day overland trek.
Leake consequently moved with speed, heading south and west toward the French settlements. On 28 August the fleet made its first captures, taking a French ship recently arrived from the French West Indian isle of Martinique, the two at Trepassey Bay, and two more that Lichfield chased down. The next day Leake captured another French ship in St. Mary's Bay, and was rejoined by Montagu, which had taken three prizes the day before. Ordering Montagu, Lichfield, and Charles Galley to make for Colinet, Leake took the rest of the fleet to St. Mary's, where he chased a ship aground, and then sent out boats to refloat her. Landing parties were sent ashore, where they destroyed fishing stages, houses, shipbuilding equipment and unfinished ships, and many small boats.
After destroying the facilities at Colinet, the fleet regrouped on the 30th. Leake ordered a few of his ships to escort the captured prizes to St. John's, and then to cruise off Cape Race for 14 days looking for prizes. Leake detached Montagu and Lichfield to destroy St. Lawrence while he sailed for Saint Pierre.
### Saint Pierre
Leake's account places his first arrival off Saint Pierre on 1 September. Bad weather prevented him from entering the harbour until the next day. He was therefore only able to capture two of the eight ships that had been in the harbour, because the rest got away through a shallow channel. On the 3rd he again approached the harbour, but did not report landing, and left then Saint Pierre to head for St. John's.
Leake's fleet reassembled at St. John's on 7 September. He then detached about half the fleet, led by the Medway and Charles Galley, to return to Saint Pierre to destroy it, while he took the other half north toward Bonavista. There he hoped to acquire experienced pilots with knowledge of other French harbours. Failing in this endeavour (none of the pilots he found had the needed experience, and also expressed concerns over the advancing winter conditions), he returned to St. John's. He was met there on 2 October by the other half of the fleet, which had completed the destruction of Saint Pierre.
Saint Pierre's Governor Sourdeval reported in a letter dated 11 October (presumably New Style, thus 30 September Old Style) that the English had twice landed men, on 7 and 8 October. He reported the second landing to consist of 400 men, who besieged him in his small fort. He surrendered after they exchanged gunfire for several hours, after which the English destroyed most of the facilities. They then deposited 52 French prisoners captured earlier in the expedition, and left.
### Cruising for the French convoy
Leake then divided the fleet to begin the return to Europe. Montagu and Looe were assigned to convoy merchants and prizes destined for Portugal, while Reserve, Charles Galley, and Firebrand were set to escort those destined for England. Leake took the rest of the fleet and cruised off Cape Race for several weeks, hoping to intercept the French convoy that would have to pass nearby before winter set it. Weather conditions were often quite stormy, but Leake managed to take eight prizes before he finally sailed for England in mid-October.
## Aftermath
Leake reported taking 51 ships. Sixteen were sent to England, six to Portugal, and five were sold at St. John's. He left two ships at St. John's as part of its defence force. The remaining ships, including their cargoes and trade goods that had not been loaded before they were taken, were destroyed. Six French settlements were destroyed: Trepassey, St. Mary's, Colinet, Great and Little St. Lawrence, and Saint Pierre. Upon his return to England, Leake was received with favour by Queen Anne. He was promoted to rear admiral for his actions, and went on to have a distinguished career for the rest of the war, serving in European waters.
Newfoundland continued to be contested throughout the war, with each side waging economic war against the other's settlements, destroying fishing stages and other infrastructure. The main English settlement at St. John's was besieged in 1705 and captured in 1709 by French forces from Plaisance. Sovereignty of the entire island passed to Great Britain with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, although the French were granted some rights to dry fish on shore. Saint Pierre also came under British control, but it and neighboring Miquelon were eventually given to France after the War of the Austrian Succession.
|
[
"## Background",
"## Raids",
"### Newfoundland",
"### Saint Pierre",
"### Cruising for the French convoy",
"## Aftermath"
] | 1,786 | 32,639 |
66,669,284 |
HMS Setter (1916)
| 1,074,805,843 |
British R-Class destroyer, WW1
|
[
"1916 ships",
"R-class destroyers (1916)",
"Ships built on the Isle of Wight",
"World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom"
] |
HMS Setter was an R-class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy during the First World War. The R class were an improvement on the previous M class with geared steam turbines to improve efficiency. Laid down by J. Samuel White at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, the destroyer was launched on 18 August 1916 and joined the Harwich Force. The ship escorted merchant vessels that travelled between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands as part of a small flotilla of destroyers. The convoys were subject to attack from German warships, but Setter was never hit by enemy attack. Instead, during the foggy night of 17 May 1917, the destroyer was struck by sister ship Sylph, leader of the small flotilla. The damage was critical and the crew were evacuated to Sylph as Setter sank with no loss of life.
## Design and development
Setter was one of seventeen R-class destroyer delivered to the British Admiralty as part of the Sixth War Construction Programme. The design was generally similar to the preceding M class, but differed in having geared steam turbines, the aft gun mounted on a raised platform and minor changes to improve seakeeping. The destroyer had an overall length of 276 feet (84.12 m), with a beam of 26 feet 8 inches (8.13 m) and a draught of 9 feet (2.74 m). Displacement was 975 long tons (991 t) normal and 1,173 long tons (1,192 t) deep load. Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding two Parsons geared turbines rated at 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and driving two shafts, to give a design speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph).
Three funnels were fitted. A total of 296 long tons (301 t) of fuel oil was carried, giving a design range of 3,450 nautical miles (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) due to the enhanced efficiency of the geared machinery. The ship had a complement of 82 officers and ratings.
Armament consisted of three 4-inch (102 mm) Mk IV QF guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft and one between the second and third funnels. A single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun was carried on a platform between two twin mounts for 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes.
## Construction and career
Ordered in July 1915, Setter was laid down by J. Samuel White at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight with the yard number 1478, and launched on 18 August the following year. The destroyer was completed on 12 February 1917 and was deployed as part of the Harwich Force, joining the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla. The ship escorted merchant ships that crossed between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, termed Dutch traffic, which usually involved a flotilla leader and four destroyers steaming almost every alternate day. It was during one of these operations on 12 March that the flotilla was attacked by German torpedo boats. Setter was undamaged, but sister ship Skate was struck by a torpedo, although damage was minor and all the ships returned to Harwich.
On 17 May, while escorting Dutch traffic, Setter was once again part of a flotilla that encountered German torpedo boats. The ships, led by sister ship Sylph and including Minos and Recruit as well as Setter, were covering the rear of the convoy when they saw approaching ships. As the weather was foggy, it was assumed that they were members of the convoy until German voices were heard and a torpedo and three salvoes were fired by the German ships. The attack was possibly launched from the V25-class torpedo boats V71 and G81, although in the confusion of battle it is unclear which members of either the German 3rd Torpedo-Boat Flotilla or the Zeebrugge Half Flotilla were involved as both were deployed against the traffic on the route that night. The torpedo narrowly missed Sylph and the ships lost sight of each other. In the confusion, Setter had to turn sharply to port with engines at full power astern to avoid hitting Recruit. Unfortunately, the manoeuvre put the destroyer straight in front of Sylph, which hit the starboard quarter and caused the engine room to flood. Despite attempts to save the ship, Setter was lost. The crew boarded Sylph and, one hour and twenty minutes after being rammed, the ship sank. One merchant ship from the convoy, SS Cito, was sunk by the German warships. There were no casualties aboard Setter.
## Pennant numbers
|
[
"## Design and development",
"## Construction and career",
"## Pennant numbers"
] | 1,003 | 10,661 |
32,839,428 |
Shivers (The Boys Next Door song)
| 1,169,354,138 |
Single by The Birthday Party
|
[
"1979 singles",
"1979 songs",
"1993 singles",
"Mushroom Records singles",
"Songs about suicide",
"Songs written by Rowland S. Howard",
"The Birthday Party (band) songs",
"The Screaming Jets songs"
] |
"Shivers" is a song by the Australian post-punk band the Boys Next Door, who would later become the Birthday Party. It is the tenth and final track from the band's debut studio album Door, Door, released in 1979 on Mushroom Records. It was released as the album's only single in May 1979, backed with the B-side "Dive Position".
Written by guitarist Rowland S Howard at age 16, "Shivers" is a post-punk ballad featuring ironic lyrics regarding teenage relationships and suicide. Originally intended as humorous by Howard, he felt later it had been misinterpreted due to frontman Nick Cave's vocal delivery on the Boys Next Door version. Despite later distancing himself from the song, "Shivers" remained Howard's most requested song during his lifetime and was met with critical acclaim. It has since been cited as one of the most popular cult hits in Australian music.
Several versions of "Shivers" have been released—including demo and solo recordings by Howard—and it has been covered by a variety of artists, including Marie Hoy, Laura Jane Grace, Courtney Barnett, Julia Jacklin and the Screaming Jets.
## Origin and recording
In 1976, at age 16 and as a member of the Melbourne punk rock band Young Charlatans, Howard wrote "Shivers". Discussing the song's origins, Howard said that "Shivers" was "intended as an ironic comment on the way that I felt that people I knew were making hysterical things out of what were essentially high school crushes". He further explained that the emotional responses of people he knew who were in relationships seemed "incredibly insincere and blown out of proportion" and inspired the cynical lyrics of the song.
Howard composed "Shivers" on an Ibanez Gibson Firebird copy, an electric guitar on which he performed on the first known recording of the song. Recorded as part of a series of demos for the Young Charlatans in 1978, it featured Howard on vocals and guitar, Ollie Olsen on guitar, Janine Hall on bass and Jeff Wegener on drums. They recorded the first (and second) version of 'Shivers' as part of their unreleased demos, which were made by Bruce Milne for a future single on his Au Go Go Records label.
During sessions for Door, Door at Richmond Recorders in Melbourne in January 1979, the Boys Next Door recorded "Shivers". Engineer Tony Cohen suggested that Howard perform the vocals for the track, arguing that his voice was best fitted for his own songs. However, the band's regular vocalist, Nick Cave, insisted on singing on the recording. Howard said later that as a result of Cave's vocals, "Shivers" was "interpreted completely differently and now the song, to most peoples' minds, is something completely different from what I intended it to be". In hindsight, Cave noted that Howard's vocals should have been recorded, as Cave was "never able to do that song justice".
## Music and lyrics
"Shivers" is a post-punk ballad with a length of four minutes and thirty-seven seconds. It is set in common time () and has a slow tempo of 60 beats per minute. The song is composed in the key of A major and on the Boys Next Door version, Nick Cave's vocal range spans one octave from D<sub>4</sub> to E<sub>5</sub>.
Howard wrote intentionally cynical lyrics to "Shivers" regarding relationships and suicide. According to Kelsey Munro of the Sydney Morning Herald, the song "exhibits Howard's enduring gallows humour in its wry treatment of the overwrought protagonist". The first lyrics "I've been contemplating suicide / but it really doesn't suit my style" have been also branded by the Sydney Morning Herald's Jake Wilson as "famous opening lines" and typical of Howard's "wry, guarded romanticism".
According to members of the Boys Next Door, Howard's songwriting was "more precious and stolid" than Cave's or guitarist–keyboardist Mick Harvey's attempts, with "Shivers" and his other songs generally being centred "around a bassline". The final version of "Shivers" featured on Door, Door reflected this, and included only a two-chord progression and four musical instruments: guitar, bass, piano and violin.
## Release and reception
"Shivers" was originally released by the Young Charlatans as part of a Fast Forward cassette compilation, which was issued in April 1981 after the band's dissolution. It was rereleased on CD on the various artists compilation album Inner City Sound: Australian Punk & Post-Punk (2006). The Boys Next Door version was released as Door, Door's only single in May 1979 on Mushroom Records. It was issued as a 7-inch single, backed with "Dive Position". The single soon went out of print, and a second pressing was issued later the same year. The band changed their name to the Birthday Party after relocating to London, England in 1980 and all of their recordings of "Shivers" are credited to the Boys Next Door.
"Shivers" received critical acclaim and became a major underground success in Australia, bringing more national attention to the band. Nick Cave cited it in hindsight as the main reason for the Boys Next Door's eminence. In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Will Lerner wrote that "it's impressive how, even at this early stage, Nick Cave was a confident and unique singer, perfectly aware of the strengths and limitations of his voice ... he knows how to come across in a scary and theatrical manner that perfectly complements the music. Nowhere is this more apparent than on ... 'Shivers', an unashamedly melodramatic example of post-adolescent anguish". "Shivers", along with other songs Howard composed, were "crucial to guiding the band in the darker, wilder direction" that defined the Birthday Party's music, according to Dan Lawrence of Stereogum. The song has since been considered an Australian classic and labelled by ABC Television as "possibly Australia's most enduring cult hit".
A music video for "Shivers" was directed by Paul Goldman in 1979. It is featured on Pleasure Heads Must Burn (1984), a video album released by the Birthday Party. It was directed for a first year University video assignment.
## Live performances
"Shivers" was first performed at Young Charlatans concerts in the late 1970s, of which there were only 13 during the band's career. In 1978, prior to the recording of Door, Door, the Boys Next Door performed "Shivers" with Howard on vocals and Cave on guitar. After the song's release, and changing their name to the Birthday Party, the band performed "Shivers" with their standard line-up of Cave on vocals, Howard and Mick Harvey on guitar, Tracy Pew on bass and Phill Calvert on drums. Cave commented that he "used to dread 'Shivers' coming up in the set" due to the fact "it required a certain amount of proficiency [and] certain amount of talent to sing" because it was one of the band's only melodic songs.
During Howard's solo concerts from 1983 to 1999, "Shivers" was the song most requested by audience members. However, by the time of his final tour in 2009—the year he died—he had stopped receiving requests for it. In an October 2009 interview, Howard commented on his relationship with the song, and its position in his setlists, stating: "I have just tried, perhaps finally successfully, to divorce myself from the song. It's impossible for me to recreate what I was trying to do when I wrote that song so whilst I can see that people have an attachment to it, I don't. I feel like, when I did use to do it in shows, I was doing a cover of some song that had been around forever. That's how it felt. And I guess that is a strange way to feel about a song you wrote, so yeah, I am happy to not have to do it these days".
## Track listing
Australia 7-inch single (Mushroom Records, K7492)
1. "Shivers" (Howard) – 4:37
2. "Dive Position" (Cave) – 2:42
## Personnel
All personnel credits are adapted from Door, Door's album notes.
The Boys Next Door
- Phill Calvert – drums
- Nick Cave – vocals
- Mick Harvey – guitar, keyboards
- Rowland S Howard – guitar
- Tracy Pew – bass
Additional musicians
- Henry Vyhnal – violin
Technical personnel
- The Boys Next Door – production
- Tony Cohen – engineering
- Andrew Duffield – electronics
## The Screaming Jets version
Australian hard rock band the Screaming Jets covered "Shivers" and released it as the second single from their second studio album, Tear of Thought, on 17 January 1993. It peaked at number 19 on the Australian Singles Chart and was ranked at number 95 on Australia's year-end chart.
### Track listing
Australian CD single
1. "Shivers" – 4:32
2. "Think" (acoustic) – 5:24
3. "Fix the Feeble" (acoustic) – 3:22
4. "Shivers" (acoustic) – 5:02
### Charts
#### Weekly charts
#### Year-end charts
## Other cover versions
Since its original release, "Shivers" has been covered by several artists. A live version recorded in Melbourne in 1982 by the Big Bang Combo was issued on volume 13 of the cassette magazine Fast Forward in October of that year. Musician and actress Marie Hoy performed the song in the 1986 independent film Dogs in Space; it appeared on the film's supporting soundtrack released in February 1987 on Chase Records.
In 1996, Nick Cave performed guest vocals with Israeli singer-songwriter Inbal Perlmuter on a version of "Shivers" released by her band Ha-Mechashefot (The Witches) on their covers album, Undercover. Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace performed "Shivers" on her 2013 acoustic mini-tour.
|
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"## Origin and recording",
"## Music and lyrics",
"## Release and reception",
"## Live performances",
"## Track listing",
"## Personnel",
"## The Screaming Jets version",
"### Track listing",
"### Charts",
"#### Weekly charts",
"#### Year-end charts",
"## Other cover versions"
] | 2,151 | 33,607 |
30,678,252 |
Reciprocity (Fringe)
| 1,126,886,393 | null |
[
"2011 American television episodes",
"Fringe (season 3) episodes"
] |
"Reciprocity" is the eleventh episode of the third season of the American science fiction drama television series Fringe, and the 54th episode overall. In the episode, the Fringe division follows a chain of shapeshifter murders as the assembly of the doomsday device nears completion. Ryan McDonald and Charles Parnell guest starred.
Co-executive producer Josh Singer wrote "Reciprocity", his seventh such credit for the series. For his third Fringe directional credit, Jeannot Szwarc served as the director. The episode first aired in the United States on January 28, 2011 to an estimated 4.57 million viewers, making it the highest rated program of the night. Television critics generally viewed the episode positively, with a number praising the revelation of the shapeshifter killer's identity.
## Plot
The Fringe division visits a secured Massive Dynamic facility where the prime universe's version of the doomsday device, believed to be an artifact of the "First People", has been assembled. The company is trying to use the books about the First People, including those that William Bell had sought, that they have collected to understand the workings of the device. They are aware that before her departure, Fauxlivia (Anna Torv)—Olivia's parallel universe doppelgänger—stole one component of the unit, possibly its power source as they cannot find any other way to engage the device. However, as Peter (Joshua Jackson) nears it, the device reacts, moving into a new configuration and sending out electromagnetic pulses, while Peter suddenly has a nosebleed. Peter returns with Olivia (Torv) and Walter (John Noble) to Massive Dynamic to undergo some tests to see if he was the cause for the device's activation. Meanwhile, Broyles (Lance Reddick) asks Astrid (Jasika Nicole) to discreetly review the files pulled from Fauxlivia's computer for any hidden messages, not wishing to have Olivia or Peter be forced to learn of what Fauxlivia wrote about them.
The next day, the corpse of a shapeshifter is found, shot in the head with its data disc—encoded information regarding its mission—missing. When the identity connects it to one of the employees at the facility where the Fringe mainframe is housed, Broyles suspects a mole seeking to wipe out Fauxlivia's data, and orders a mainframe lockdown, while verifying the humanity of key people in the FBI and Massive Dynamic. Astrid identifies several other potential candidates, including a doctor from Massive Dynamic who had already left. By the time Fringe division reaches his home, they find the man, a shapeshifter, already dead.
Olivia returns to the lab and convinces Astrid to let her review Fauxlivia's notes, believing that should she think like her doppelgänger, she will see something they missed. Eventually, she comes to identify a cipher based on her childhood name, Olive, that identifies Newton and the other slain shapeshifters, and one that has yet to be killed. Fringe begins to descend on his residence.
Meanwhile, Walter, having thought Peter had returned to Massive Dynamic for tests, learns he is not there. Walter enters his room, finding printed pages of Fauxlivia's notes including the circled names of the shapeshifters, those that Olivia just identified. Walter arrives at the home of the final shapeshifter just as Peter finishes killing him. Peter tries to justify his actions as no longer wanting to be just reactive to the situation and to learn of the shapeshifters' goal. Peter and Walter depart before the Fringe team arrives; Walter postulates that the device, when it activated, may have "weaponized" Peter to take these steps and fears what else Peter may attempt to do.
## Production
Co-executive producer Josh Singer was responsible for writing "Reciprocity", his seventh such credit for the series. The episode was directed by Jeannot Szwarc, his third directional credit for the series. The episode featured one-time guest roles by actors Charles Parnell as Dr. James Falcon and Sean Campbell as Zach Alpert. Ryan McDonald reprised his role as Massive Dynamic scientist Brandon Fayette.
Alluding to the premise of "Reciprocity", story editor Glen Whitman noted that "often in science fiction simply because you need a source of conflict, it ends up being that science or technology is the source of evil. And that happens a lot in Fringe. I think that’s unavoidable. But the flip side of that coin is that on Fringe, science just as often ends up being able to save the day." The machine around which the episode is based was rendered using CGI.
Since the parallel universe was revealed in the season two finale, viewers have debated nicknames for the various doppelgangers featured. Olivia Dunham's double from the parallel universe was one such matter of contention; such nicknames included Bolivia, Fauxlivia, and Altlivia. "Reciprocity" was believed by some critics to have resolved this, as one character refers to her as Fauxlivia.
As with other Fringe episodes, Fox released a science lesson plan in collaboration with Science Olympiad for grade school children, focusing on the science seen in "Reciprocity", with the intention of having "students learn about the classification of blood into blood types based upon the molecules on the surface of red blood cells."
## Reception
### Ratings
"Reciprocity" was the second episode to air on Friday in the United States. On its initial broadcast on January 28, 2011, "Reciprocity" maintained similar numbers of viewers from the previous episode, "The Firefly", with a 1.9/6 share and an estimated 4.57 million viewers. There was some concern that Fringe would be aired against Supernatural, a CW show with a similar science fiction theme, but that network decided to move the episode to the following week, when it aired opposite the Fringe episode "Concentrate and Ask Again". "Reciprocity" was broadcast against reruns and news programs from the other rival networks. It was the highest-rated program of the night, as it tied with NBC's Dateline, but its ratings were not enough to prevent the Fox network from placing fourth in total viewers. With time shifting devices taken into account, the episode had been watched by an estimated 6.17 million a week from its initial broadcast.
### Reviews
Reviews of the episode from television critics were generally positive. Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly enjoyed the scenes set at Massive Dynamic, and thought the episode did a good job tricking the audience into thinking Peter was not responsible for the shapeshifter killings. After not loving the previous week's episode, Andrew Hanson from the Los Angeles Times thought "Reciprocity" had "all the aspects of Fringe I loved". Hanson particularly loved the opening's first few minutes, and like Tucker, he was pleasantly surprised about Peter and the murders. The A.V. Club's Noel Murray graded "Reciprocity" with a B, explaining that despite the awe-inspiring opening (which reminded him of the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind) and the final revelations, Murray found the episode "solid but largely unexceptional". He thought the shapeshifter investigation "lacked a certain frisson" and found the Peter–Olivia relationship scenes to be "more of a drag".
SFScope contributor Sarah Stegall believed the episode "got us quickly back on track after last week's lackluster tale," and called the killer revelation the greatest shock she has received on the series thus far. She continued that one of her favorite parts of the Peter-as-a-killer arc is being able to watch the emotional setbacks he is facing as a result of Fauxlivia's betrayal; she called it "good characterization, and excellent acting". However, Stegall questioned why Massive Dynamic would build a machine known to be the destroyer of mankind. IGN columnist Ramsey Isler praised the writing staff because "just when you think they might be stuck in old habits, they come up with new ideas and put a whole new perspective on old storylines and characters." Isler continued that while "'Reciprocity'" isn't the most groundbreaking episode in the series, it does try a number of new ideas, and it gives us one big new plot point that could change the tone of the rest of the season."
|
[
"## Plot",
"## Production",
"## Reception",
"### Ratings",
"### Reviews"
] | 1,738 | 12,714 |
15,842,823 |
Kathleen Freeman (classicist)
| 1,144,289,920 |
British writer and scholar
|
[
"1897 births",
"1959 deaths",
"20th-century British novelists",
"20th-century English women writers",
"20th-century pseudonymous writers",
"Academics of Cardiff University",
"Alumni of Cardiff University",
"English classical scholars",
"English mystery writers",
"Members of the Detection Club",
"People from Yardley",
"Pseudonymous women writers",
"Women classical scholars",
"Women mystery writers",
"Writers from Birmingham, West Midlands"
] |
Kathleen Freeman (22 June 1897 – 21 February 1959) was a British classical scholar and author of detective novels. Her detective fiction was published under the pseudonym Mary Fitt. Freeman was a lecturer in Greek at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, Cardiff, between 1919 and 1946.
## Early life and education
Kathleen Freeman was born in Yardley, Birmingham, and was the daughter of a commercial traveller, Charles H. Freeman, and Catharine Freeman, née Mawdesley. By the 1911 census, the family had moved to an eight-room house at 86 Conway Road, Cardiff.<sup>:315</sup> Freeman's mother died in 1919, and her father died in 1932.<sup>:315</sup> Freeman attended Canton High School on Market Road in Cardiff, which opened in 1907. Boys and girls were both educated in the school but separately in different subjects: Canton High School offered Latin but not to girls, and Freeman's schooling did not include Greek or Latin.
In a field dominated by men, she was an unlikely candidate to become a classicist of note.<sup>:315</sup> No details have been found about when or with whom she started to learn ancient Greek.<sup>:316</sup> Freeman knew Latin, French, German, Italian, and ancient and modern Greek. Except for French, which was taught at Canton High School, it remains unclear how she learnt these languages.<sup>:316</sup>
Freeman won a scholarship to study at the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire, Cardiff, which began to accept male and female students in 1893.<sup>:317</sup> She began her degree in 1915 and studied with Professor Gilbert Norwood.
## Academic career
Following her graduation in 1918 when she was awarded a BA, Freeman remained at University College and was appointed Lecturer in Greek in 1919. She went on to earn an MA in 1922 and a DLitt in 1940. A 1922 picture of the faculty at University College shows 41 men and 10 women. Only one of these women, Ida Beata Saxby, had a doctorate (University of London, 1918).<sup>:318</sup>
Freeman is best known for her works The Pre-Socratic Philosophers: A Companion to Diels, Fragmente Der Vorsokratiker (1946), and Ancilla to the Pre-Socratic Philosophers (1947/48), a translation of and handbook to the fragments of Pre-Socratic philosophers collected by Diels.
From early in her career, Freeman worked to bring Greek texts to the general public through her work in translating texts and presenting her ideas to general audiences.<sup>:333</sup> Freeman featured on BBC radio in 1926 presenting a series on 'Writers of Greece', including Greek authors such as Aristophanes, Thucydides and Empedocles.
During the Second World War Freeman delivered lectures on Greece for the Ministry of Information and in the National Scheme of Education for HM Forces in South Wales and Monmouthshire.<sup>:323</sup> She further contributed to the war effort with her selections of translations from Greek authors which featured in The Western Mail, a Cardiff-based newspaper. These were later published as the book, It Has All Happened Before: What the Greeks Thought of their Nazis (1941). Her publications Voices of Freedom (1943), What They Said at the Time: A Survey of the Causes of the Second World War (1945) and her work with the Philosophical Society of England, where she acted as Supervisor of Studies from 1948 to 1952 before becoming the Chairman in 1952, are further testimony to her desire to make Greek ideas accessible through translation. Freeman resigned from the university in 1946 in order to pursue her research and writing.
## Fiction-writing career
Freeman enjoyed success as a writer of fiction and wrote under the pseudonyms Mary Fitt (1936–60), Stuart Mary Wick (1948; 1950), Clare St. Donat (1950) and Caroline Cory (1956).
In 1926, in addition to her study The Work and Life of Solon, Freeman published a collection of short stories The Intruder and Other Stories, and her first novel Martin Hanner. A Comedy. In 1936 she began publishing crime fiction under the pseudonym Mary Fitt, writing 27 books and a number of short stories. In 1950 she became a member of the Detection Club. Her books were critically acclaimed at the time, although since her death many have been out of print. She also wrote twelve children's stories and T'other Miss Austen (1956), a study of Jane Austen.
In recent years Freeman's work has been re-assessed, especially in the light of Welsh women and modernism. <sup>[Acknowledgements]</sup> Her short stories have also been described as antecedents of the Kate North's queer stories, and, as of 2019, republication of some of her short stories was planned. <sup>[p. 442]</sup>
## Personal life
From some time in the 1930s until her death, she lived with her girlfriend, Dr. Liliane Marie Catherine Clopet (1901–1987), a GP and author, at Lark's Rise, a house on Druidstone Road in St Mellons, now a district of Cardiff.
Freeman dedicated all her novels (written as Freeman, rather than Fitt) to Clopet from This Love (1929) onwards. The presentation copy of The Work and Life of Solon has survived, which Freeman dedicated to Clopet, dated to 14 July 1926. Freeman's inscription includes a slight misspelling of Clopet's name, which has been thought by antiquarian bookseller Peter Harrington, to indicate that Freeman and Clopet were in the early stages of their relationship. Freeman died in 1959 in St. Mellons at the age of 61. Clopet considerably outlived Freeman, dying in 1987 in Newport.
|
[
"## Early life and education",
"## Academic career",
"## Fiction-writing career",
"## Personal life"
] | 1,275 | 29,938 |
25,456,963 |
Cryptothecia rubrocincta
| 1,170,145,392 |
Species of fungus
|
[
"Arthoniomycetes",
"Lichen species",
"Lichens described in 1820",
"Lichens of Africa",
"Lichens of North America",
"Lichens of South America",
"Taxa named by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg"
] |
Cryptothecia rubrocincta is a species of lichen in the fungal family Arthoniaceae. The species is distributed in subtropical and tropical locations throughout the southeastern United States, as well as Central and South America, and has been collected infrequently in a few locales in Africa. The body of the lichen forms continuous, circular crust-like patches on dead wood, readily recognizable by the prominent red pigment. The older, central region is covered with red, spherical to cylindrical granules. Moving outwards from the center, zones of color may be distinguished, the first gray-green, the second white, and finally a bright red cottony rim. The red and green colors of this unmistakable woodland lichen give the appearance of a Christmas wreath, suggestive of its common North American name, the Christmas (wreath) lichen. The red pigment, called chiodectonic acid, is one of several chemicals the lichen produces to help tolerate inhospitable growing conditions.
## Taxonomy and naming
The classification of the genus Cryptothecia has been unclear, and historically, C. rubrocincta has been placed in several different genera. Like all lichens, C. rubrocincta is an association of a fungus (the mycobiont) with a photosynthetic organism (the photobiont), in this case, an algae. Initially, it was unknown whether the mycobiont component of C. rubrocincta was an ascomycete or a basidiomycete. Although the vast majority of lichen mycobionts are from the Ascomycota, in 1937 German lichenologist Friedrich Tobler believed the mycobiont to be a basidiomycete, because he interpreted some unusual microscopic structures to be clamp connections, structures associated only with the basidiomycete fungi. In another publication later that year, he specified the mycobiont to be a hymenomycete, and described the monotypic genus Herpothallion to supersede the old name Chiodecton sanguineum. Although Vernon Ahmadjian corroborated the presence of clamp connections in the species when he studied the species' cytology in 1967, other researchers did not find clamp connections in specimens collected from different countries. Further doubt was cast on the possibility of a basidiomycete mycobiont with the discovery of the depside confluentic acid in 1966, concentric bodies in 1975, and woronin bodies in 1983, as all of these characteristics are restricted to Ascomycetes.
The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature states that names of fungi adopted by Fries in Systema Mycologicum vols. 1–3 are sanctioned, that is, they are conserved against earlier homonyms and competing synonyms. This means that the name Hypochnus rubrocinctum has priority over Byssus sanguinea. The type material of H. rubrocinctum was examined by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg in Berlin; it has since been destroyed, probably during the Second World War. The drawing in Erhenberg's 1820 publication serves as the lectotype. The species was transferred to the genus Cryptothecia by Swedish lichenologist Göran Thor in 1991, on the basis of its similarity with C. striata such as the thallus with radiate ridges, granular isidia, and presence of para-depsides (gyrophoric acid in C. striata and confluentic acid in C. rubrocincta).
The red and green of C. rubrocincta give it a Christmas wreath look, hence its common North American name, the Christmas wreath lichen. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin words ruber "red" and cinctus "girdled/encircled" or "banded". The other epithet sanguineum is the neuter form of the Latin adjective sanguineus "bloody".
## Description
Cryptothecia rubrocincta is a crustose lichen, because it grows in the form of a surface crust. The thallus, or body of the lichen is spread out flat and can be either tightly to loosely attached to the growing surface. It is 0.15–0.30 mm thick, and can be smooth, or have low radiating ridges. The older, central region of the lichen surface has many reproductive structures called isidia; they resemble granules that are 0.1–0.4 by 0.1 mm. The species relies entirely on vegetative means to reproduce, and is not known to have any sexual structures. From the center outwards, three color zones can be differentiated in mature specimens; the first grayish-green, the second white, and finally a bright red cottony rim.
The lichen has a distinct prothallus—fibers of whitish fungal hyphae at the edge that lack photobiont, and which project beyond the thallus onto the growing surface. The prothallus is red to whitish in the inner part, red the in outer part. The surface of the thallus does not have a well-defined cortex, an outer layer of well-packed hyphae. The medulla (a loosely arranged layer of hyphae below the cortex and photobiont zone) is whitish but the lower part is red. It has few to many calcium oxalate crystals that are 3–8 μm diameter. The hyphae of the medulla have many such crystals on the walls, that are 1–2 μm in diameter. The algal photobiont (technically a phycobiont, as it is a green algal photosynthetic partner) is from the genus Trentepohlia. Normally, the algae is long and filamentous; when in the lichen state, it is divided into shorter filaments. The alga has a large chloroplast that contains droplets of beta-carotene. The lichen is heteromerous, meaning that the mycobiont and photobiont components are in well-defined layers, with the photobiont in a more or less distinct zone between the upper cortex and the medulla. Cells are single or a few cells aggregated, with dimensions of about 8–15 by 5–11 μm.
The yeast Fellomyces mexicanus, an anamorphic member of the family Cuniculitremaceae, was discovered growing epiphytically on the lichen in 2005.
## Distribution and habitat
The lichen is widely distributed in the southeastern United States; in 1954 the north border of its distribution was given as a line passing through southern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Although the northern limit was extended to southern Delaware, the author later revised his opinion, and the northern limit is thought to be North Carolina. In North Carolina, it is found on Smith Island, a notable location because it represents the northern limit of the distribution of cabbage palmetto (Sabal palmetto). The presence of this 6 meter (20 ft) tree interspersed among the dominant tree species Quercus virginiana give the island a subtropical appearance—consistent with the lichen's preferred climate.
Cryptothecia rubrocincta is also widespread in tropical and subtropical areas of the West Indies and Central and South America. In South America it is found north of Chile and Argentina. It is rarer in Africa, having only been collected from three geographically widely separated mountain regions: São Tomé and Príncipe, Tanzania, and DR Congo. The lichen may be found at altitudes ranging from sea level to 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) (in Colombia).
The lichen typically grows on rough bark in sheltered and shaded habitats in moist and dense subtropical forests. More rarely, it is found on rocks or on leaves. In the USA it occurs in hammocks (hardwood forests) and swamps which have standing water, at least part of the year. It is also common in oak or oak-pine scrub vegetation. The species is often associated with Cryptothecia striata in the USA.
## Chemistry and color
Cryptothecia rubrocincta is easily recognized by the bright red pigment in the thallus. The pigment, first isolated from the species by Hesse in 1904, is called chiodectonic acid. The lichen also contains the colorless depside compound confluentinic acid. A 2005 study employed the technique Raman spectroscopy to determine the chemical composition of the differently colored zones. The white crystalline zone contains calcium oxalate dihydrate, or weddellite, a chemical substance found in other lichens and extremophiles growing on calcium-rich surfaces. Some have suggested that the calcium oxalate serves in the organism's survival strategy: the storage of water as a crystalline hydrate is essential for periods of drought in desiccated environments, and calcium oxalate has been identified as dissuading herbivores. Because the lichen grows on calcium-poor surfaces, calcium ions are thought to be acquired from rain, bird droppings, and airborne particles.
The chemicals in the red-colored zone include an aromatic quinone, beta-carotene, and chlorophyll. The quinone is deep-red colored pigment chiodectonic acid, thought to function as a radiation protectant; in combination with beta-carotene, which has an established role in cellular DNA repair following exposure of the organism to UV-damage, such radiation protectants are often found in lichens and in extremophilic situations and are essential for survival.
The lighter-colored pink zone, located on the inside of the red zone, contains a mixture of chiodectonic acid, beta-carotene and calcium oxalate dihydrate, the red and white mixture of the chiodectonic acid and the calcium oxalate giving rise to the characteristically lighter color.
The elliptical brown-colored flecks, which can be observed in both the red and pink zones of the thallus, are made of confluentic acid and calcium oxalate monohydrate. The monohydrate is thought to be a more chemically stable metabolic byproduct of calcium oxalate dihydrate; the function of confluentic acid in the brown flecks is unclear.
|
[
"## Taxonomy and naming",
"## Description",
"## Distribution and habitat",
"## Chemistry and color"
] | 2,181 | 18,705 |
803,790 |
Caleb Strong
| 1,158,998,654 |
American Founding Father and politician, 1745–1819
|
[
"1745 births",
"1819 deaths",
"American Congregationalists",
"American people of English descent",
"Burials in Massachusetts",
"Federalist Party United States senators from Massachusetts",
"Federalist Party state governors of the United States",
"Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences",
"Founding Fathers of the United States",
"Governors of Massachusetts",
"Harvard College alumni",
"Massachusetts Federalists",
"Massachusetts state senators",
"Members of the American Antiquarian Society",
"People of Massachusetts in the American Revolution",
"People of colonial Massachusetts",
"Politicians from Northampton, Massachusetts",
"Pro-Administration Party United States senators from Massachusetts"
] |
Caleb Strong (January 9, 1745 – November 7, 1819) was an American lawyer, politician, and Founding Father who served as the sixth and tenth governor of Massachusetts between 1800 and 1807, and again from 1812 until 1816. He assisted in drafting the Massachusetts State Constitution in 1779 and served as a state senator and on the Massachusetts Governor's Council before being elected to the inaugural United States Senate. A leading member of the Massachusetts Federalist Party, his political success delayed the decline of the Federalists in Massachusetts.
A successful Northampton lawyer prior to 1774, Strong was politically active in the rebel cause during the American Revolutionary War. He played an influential role in the development of the United States Constitution at the 1787 Philadelphia Convention and, as a U.S. Senator, in the passage of its 11th Amendment. He also played a leading role in the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which established the federal court system.
Adept at moderating the sometimes harsh political conflict between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans in Massachusetts, he navigated the state in a Federalist direction through the early years of the 19th century as the rest of the country became progressively more Republican. Although he sought to retire from politics after losing the 1807 governor's race, the advent of the War of 1812 brought him back to the governor's office as a committed opponent of the war. He refused United States Army requests that state militia be placed under army command and in 1814 sought to engage Nova Scotia Governor John Coape Sherbrooke in peace talks. The state and federal governments' weak defense of Massachusetts' northern frontier during Strong's tenure contributed to the successful drive for Maine's statehood, which was granted in 1820.
## Early years
Caleb Strong was born on January 9, 1745, in Northampton, one of the principal towns of Hampshire County on the Connecticut River in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. His parents were Phebe Lyman Strong and Caleb Strong, the latter a descendant of early Massachusetts settlers such as John Strong, a 1630 immigrant to Massachusetts who was one of the founders of Northampton and the lead elder of the church for many years. Caleb was their only son. He received his early education from Rev. Samuel Moody and entered Harvard College in 1760, graduating four years later with high honors. He was shortly thereafter afflicted with smallpox, which temporarily blinded him and prevented him from engaging in the study of law for several years. He studied law with Joseph Hawley, was admitted to the bar in 1772, and began the practice of law in Northampton. Hawley was also a political mentor, shaping Strong's views on relations between the Colonies and Great Britain.
## American Revolution
Strong and Hawley were both elected to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in 1774. When the Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, Strong was unable to serve in the military because of his damaged sight, but he was otherwise active in the Patriot cause. He served on the Northampton Committee of Safety and in other local offices but refused service in the Continental Congress. He was a delegate to the 1779 Massachusetts Constitutional Convention and was elected to the committee that drafted the state constitution, ratified in 1780. He then served on the first governor's council and in the state senate from 1780 to 1789.
Strong's legal practice thrived during the tumultuous war years and was one of the most successful in Hampshire County. He became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1775 and was appointed county attorney of Hampshire County the following year, a post he held until 1800. On more than one occasion he was offered a seat on the state's supreme court but rejected the position on account of its inadequate salary. Strong was described by a contemporary as meticulously detailed in his preparation of legal paperwork and a persuasive advocate when speaking to a jury.
In 1781 Strong was one of the lawyers (another was Worcester lawyer and future United States Attorney General Levi Lincoln Sr.) who worked on a series of legal cases surrounding Quock Walker, a former slave seeking to claim his freedom. One of the cases, Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Nathaniel Jennison, firmly established that slavery was incompatible with the new state constitution.
## Philadelphia Convention and United States Senator
Strong was elected as a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention that drafted the 1787 Constitution. A committed Federalist, Strong opposed the idea of the Electoral College as a means of electing the president, instead supporting the idea that the legislature should choose him. Although he initially opposed proposals that the number of senators should be equal for all states, he eventually changed his mind, enabling passage of the Connecticut Compromise. To temper the power of the states, he introduced language requiring tax legislation to originate in the House of Representatives. Illness of his wife forced him to return to Massachusetts before the work was completed, so he did not sign the document. He was a vocal supporter of its adoption by the state's ratifying convention.
When the Constitution came into force in 1789, Strong was chosen by the state legislature to serve in the United States Senate. As what is now known as a Class 2 Senator he came up for reelection in 1792, when he was again chosen. He was one of the principal drafters of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which established the federal courts. He was also instrumental in 1793 and 1794 in the development and passage by Congress of the 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution. This measure was enacted in response to Chisholm v. Georgia, a Supreme Court decision in which a private individual sued the state of Georgia. The amendment expanded the sovereign immunity of states to limit suits against them by private individuals from other states.
Strong was also one of a small group of senators who convinced President George Washington in 1794 that a special envoy should be sent to Britain in order to avert war, and who convinced John Jay to accept that role. Jay ended up negotiating what became known as the Jay Treaty, which resolved a number of issues between the two nations but also angered the leadership of Revolutionary France and was widely disliked, criticized, and opposed by Republicans. Strong resigned his seat in 1796 and returned to private life in Northampton.
## First term as governor
In the election of 1800, Strong was nominated by the Federalists as their candidate for governor; his principal opponent was Elbridge Gerry, nominated by the Democratic-Republicans. Strong was criticized by his opponents for his lack of military service and for the fact that he was a lawyer; he countered by asserting his patriotism through his association with Joseph Hawley. His popularity in the western part of the state was decisive: the wide margin by which he won there overcame the smaller advantage by which Gerry carried the east. Acting Governor Moses Gill died ten days before Strong took office at the end of May.
Strong won annual reelection to the governor's seat until 1807. During this tenure, the state introduced a new penitentiary system and reformed the judiciary, reducing the number of judges. Strong's time as governor was also marked by virulent political debate in the state, principally over foreign policy related to British interference with Massachusetts maritime trade. That interference was a consequence of the ongoing Napoleonic Wars engulfing Europe. Over the years of Strong's tenure, the Republicans gradually gained in power both nationally and in Massachusetts.
In the 1806 election, the Republicans secured a majority in the Massachusetts assembly, and the gubernatorial election was notably close. Running mainly against James Sullivan, Strong barely received a majority of the votes cast. With fewer than 200 votes in the balance, the Republican-controlled legislature scrutinized the returns in a partisan manner, discarding ballots that had misspelled Strong's name while retaining those that misspelled Sullivan's and performing tallies in ways that favored their candidate. This process concluded with a finding that Strong in fact lacked a majority of votes, which was required to carry the election, as opposed to the modern plurality requirement. Strong's Federalist allies in the legislature were able to publicize the partisan nature of the analysis, resulting in a hostile public backlash. He was proclaimed the winner after further, less biased, analysis corrected the count in his favor. However, in the 1807 election the rising tide of Republicanism swept Strong (along with other New England Federalists) out of office. Federalists asked him to run in 1808, but he refused, noting that he had "done his part" and that his home base in Hampshire County was strongly Federalist.
## Second term and War of 1812
In 1812 Strong was convinced by Massachusetts Federalist leaders to come out of retirement to run once again for governor. War with Britain was imminent, and the Federalists sought a strong candidate to oppose Elbridge Gerry, who had been victorious against Christopher Gore in the previous two elections. Gerry, who had originally been somewhat moderate, became increasingly partisan during his tenure, and Federalists viewed Strong's earlier success in office and relatively modest demeanor as assets. Strong's victory in the election, which saw the Federalists also regain control of the legislature, was attributed to several factors: Federalists capitalized on the partisanship of the recent redistricting of the state that resulted in the coining of the term "gerrymander", and there was strong anti-war sentiment in the state. Strong was reelected by wide margins in the following war years.
Strong took a principled stand against the War of 1812, generally refusing to assist federal government efforts to prosecute the war. Strong was part of a chorus of Massachusetts (and more broadly New England) Federalists who complained that in "Mr. Madison's War" the federal government was trampling state and individual rights. He adhered to the view that state militia could not be required to serve under regular army command. When the first such requests were made by U. S. Army General Henry Dearborn, Strong refused and was backed by the Governor's Council as well as the Supreme Judicial Court. He argued that there was no need to call out the militia because invasion was not imminent. Because of his stance against regular army command, the state was denied a shipment of arms that was instead diverted to frontier areas and the war theater. Strong also took no particular actions to prevent widespread smuggling along the state's frontiers with the neighboring British provinces.
Strong's opposition to regular army control was more nuanced than that of neighboring Connecticut Governor John Cotton Smith, who ensured that his militia always remained under state command. Strong was more concerned that the state militia not be used except in defense of the state's borders, and he compromised on the issue of command. In 1812, not long after refusing General Dearborn's request, he authorized the dispatch of militia companies to the state's eastern district (now Maine) under U.S. Army command.
With the British naval blockade tightening and threatening the state's coastal communities in early 1814, Strong authorized Brigadier General Thomas H. Cushing to command militia forces in the defenses of Boston Harbor, subject to reasonable limitations. Cushing was transferred to Connecticut, and General Dearborn again commanded the regular army forces in Massachusetts. Dearborn interpreted the agreement Strong had made with Cushing to apply statewide and began reorganizing militia companies to conform to regular army practices. This engendered ill will among the militia, and Strong refused to place additional levies under Dearborn's command.
The defense of Maine, however, proved problematic. Strong's aide William H. Sumner negotiated an agreement with the Army command for the defense of Portland, but the ironically Republican-dominated district militia objected, first to the idea of serving under any regular army leadership, and then to serving under a relatively low-ranked officer (a lieutenant colonel) who was given command of Portland after the agreement was signed. Several units of local militia refused the perform their assigned duties. One consequence of the dispute was that most militia in the state remained under state control and were thus paid from state coffers at a cost of around \$200,000 per month. This further strained the state economy, which was already suffering because of the British blockade.
Following the British seizure of Castine in September 1814, Strong called the legislature into session early in October to respond to the occupation. Given that the federal government was unwilling to fund militia not under its control, the legislature authorized Strong to borrow money to fund a major expansion of the militia, but most of the funds acquired were spent improving Boston's defenses. Another result of the special session was a call for a meeting of states opposed to the war, which became known as the Hartford Convention. Around the time of the convention, which was held in Hartford, Connecticut, beginning in December 1814, Strong secretly wrote to Nova Scotia Lieutenant-Governor Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, essentially offering a separate peace in exchange for the return of the seized territory. He also refused to authorize temporary Massachusetts funding for a federally led expedition to recover Castine, leading to further cries of indignation from Maine's Republicans. The Treaty of Ghent ended the war before the Nova Scotia negotiations went anywhere. Strong's policies during the war are credited as one of the reasons for Maine's drive for statehood, which came to a successful conclusion in 1820.
In 1816, with the war at an end, Strong decided once again to retire from politics. Strong died in Northampton on November 7, 1819, and was buried in its Bridge Street Cemetery.
## Family, charity, and legacy
In 1777 Strong married Sarah Hooker, the daughter of a local pastor and descendant of Thomas Hooker, founder and first governor of Connecticut. They had nine children, four of whom survived the couple. Strong was active in his church and was a leading member of local missionary and Bible societies. He was a founding member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society. In 1813, Strong was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society.
`The town of Strong, Maine, incorporated in 1801, was named for Strong, and Windham Township, Portage County, Ohio was originally named Strongsburg in his honor. The Strongsburg land had been allocated to Strong as part of his ownership share in the Ohio Company and had been sold by him and several minority partners in 1810.`
|
[
"## Early years",
"## American Revolution",
"## Philadelphia Convention and United States Senator",
"## First term as governor",
"## Second term and War of 1812",
"## Family, charity, and legacy"
] | 2,971 | 14,111 |
11,837,498 |
Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston
| 1,165,500,601 |
American baseball club owner
|
[
"1867 births",
"1938 deaths",
"American military personnel of the Spanish–American War",
"American people of Irish descent",
"American railway civil engineers",
"Major League Baseball executives",
"Major League Baseball owners",
"Military personnel from Buffalo, New York",
"National Commanders of the Veterans of Foreign Wars",
"New York Yankees owners",
"Sportspeople from Buffalo, New York",
"Sportspeople from Cincinnati",
"United States Army colonels",
"United States Army personnel of World War I"
] |
Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston (July 17, 1867 – March 29, 1938) was an American civil engineer and businessman. He co-owned the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball with Jacob Ruppert from 1915 to 1923, turning them from one of the worst franchises in baseball into a World Series contender.
A civil engineer by trade, Huston worked for Cincinnati's waterworks before forming a company of volunteer engineers in the Spanish–American War. He was commissioned as a captain, earning him the nickname "Cap". He stayed in Cuba after the war as a private contractor, rebuilding infrastructure in Cuba and earning his personal fortune. Returning to the United States, Huston partnered with Ruppert to buy the Yankees in 1915. Together, they used their wealth to acquire talented players who improved the team, including Babe Ruth.
Huston returned to the military during World War I, and was promoted to major and then to lieutenant colonel. Following a dispute, Huston sold his interests in the Yankees to Ruppert in 1923. He purchased the Butler Island Plantation, which had fallen into disrepair, and rebuilt it as a dairy and lettuce farm. Huston resided at the plantation until his death in 1938.
## Early life
Huston was born in Buffalo, New York, on July 17, 1867, to a schoolteacher from Kentucky and a civil engineer from Ireland. He was one of seven children, and was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he attended public schools. Huston's father named him after two engineers who he admired, and trained him to be an engineer. They worked together on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, and the Cincinnati Southern Railway. In 1890, he returned to Cincinnati and became the assistant chief engineer of the Cincinnati Waterworks, earning \$135 per month (\$ in current dollar terms).
When the Spanish–American War began, Huston organized a company of engineers with expertise in waterworks and masonry for service in Cuba. His company earned the authorization of the United States Department of War, and was joined to the Second Regiment of the United States Volunteer Engineers under the command of Colonel Willard Young. Huston was commissioned as a captain, and was given charge of engineers during their training at Camp Meade. His company was integrated into the Second Army Corps and selected to go to Havana in December 1898. They took over maintenance of Havana's waterworks and also improved sanitation in leper colonies. Huston became an advisor to Leonard Wood, the military governor of Cuba.
In 1901, Huston resigned from the Army. He stayed in Havana, working as a private contractor, and made a personal fortune through government contracts. Huston worked with a company that was based in New York City, so he relocated his family there and visited frequently. He formed a partnership with Norman Davis, and they built highways, railroads, and buildings. In 1911, they were given the charge of dredging Cuban harbors, including Havana Harbor, Santiago Harbor, Cienfuegos Bay, and the Bay of Matanzas. The Congress of Cuba approved a USD\$10 million contract (\$ in current dollar terms) for Huston's company, which was signed into law by José Miguel Gómez, the president of Cuba. His successor, Mario García Menocal, terminated the contract in 1913.
## New York Yankees
### Bill Donovan years (1914–1917)
Huston was a baseball fan. He traveled back to the United States to see baseball games, and arranged for teams to visit Cuba for exhibition games. Huston became friends with John McGraw, the manager of the New York Giants of the National League, whom he met in 1911. Huston entered into a deal to buy the Chicago Cubs of the National League from Charles P. Taft in July 1914, in which McGraw would become a part-owner and manager. The deal fell through when Harry Hempstead refused to let McGraw out of his contract with the Giants. McGraw introduced Huston to Jacob Ruppert, a brewer who was also looking to purchase a baseball team. After meeting for thirty minutes at the Hotel Claridge, Huston and Ruppert entered into a partnership.
By the 1914 season, Frank J. Farrell and William Stephen Devery, the owners of the New York Yankees of the American League, were running out of money. The Yankees were not a competitive franchise on the field, and did not have their own stadium; they were tenants of the Giants at the Polo Grounds, paying \$65,000 annually (\$ in current dollar terms) in rent. In December 1914, Huston and Ruppert entered into negotiations to buy the Yankees, and the deal was completed on January 30, 1915. They paid \$463,000 (\$ in current dollar terms), each contributing half of the purchase price. Ruppert became team president, and Huston served as secretary and treasurer. Bill Donovan was hired to manage the team.
To convince Huston and Ruppert to take on such a troubled franchise, Ban Johnson, the president of the American League, had gotten agreements from other teams to make decent players available to the Yankees at reasonable prices. The Yankees purchased Wally Pipp and Hugh High from the Detroit Tigers for \$5,500 (\$ in current dollar terms), but other owners withheld their players. The Yankees attempted to acquire Shoeless Joe Jackson, but he was traded to the Chicago White Sox instead. Huston accused Johnson of directing the transaction without allowing the Yankees to bid. The Yankees finished in fifth place in the American League in 1915, and retained Donovan as their manager while releasing many players.
Huston and Ruppert used their wealth to acquire talented players, and used the collapse of the Federal League after the 1915 season as an opportunity to acquire them. Huston and Ruppert reported that they spent \$120,000 (\$ in current dollar terms) on player acquisitions in their first year as owners, with the most expensive acquisitions being Home Run Baker, Bob Shawkey, Lee Magee, Dan Tipple, Nick Cullop, and Joe Gedeon. The Yankees finished in fourth place in 1916, their best finish since 1910, and they signed Donovan for another season. In 1917, Huston brought a drill sergeant to spring training to instill discipline in his players, a strategy later adopted by other team owners.
Upon America's entry into World War I in April 1917, Huston reenlisted in the Army as the commander of the 16th Regiment of Engineers. His regiment sailed for Europe on August 1, 1917, and reached France in March 1918, among the first to reach the front lines. He served in France, building roads and railroads behind British lines near Bethune during the German spring offensive, and then with the American Expeditionary Forces near Varennes and Montfaucon during the Meuse–Argonne offensive. Huston was promoted to major in May 1918, and again to lieutenant colonel in September 1918. General John J. Pershing cited Huston for meritorious service.
### Miller Huggins years (1917–1923)
The Yankees slumped in 1917, falling to sixth place. After the 1917 season, Ruppert dismissed Donovan and hired Miller Huggins, who was recommended to Ruppert by Johnson, and signed him to a two-year contract. Huston had wanted to hire Wilbert Robinson as the Yankees' next manager and was angered to find out that Ruppert had hired Huggins. The Yankees finished in fourth place in the 1918 season. Huston returned to the United States in January 1919, after spending 17 months overseas. He never accepted Huggins, and worked to undermine him, while also harboring anger towards Johnson for his interference in the franchise.
In July 1919, Carl Mays left the Boston Red Sox without permission. Johnson demanded that the Red Sox suspend him, but instead, the Red Sox traded Mays to the Yankees. Johnson suspended Mays for deserting the Red Sox. Huston accused Johnson of having a financial interest in the Cleveland Indians, and Huston and Ruppert obtained a temporary injunction allowing Mays to play. New York Supreme Court Justice Robert F. Wagner ruled in favor of the Yankees, granting a permanent injunction. The owners of the Yankees, Red Sox, and Chicago White Sox began to collectively oppose Johnson, becoming known as the "Insurrectos". Though the Insurrectos were outnumbered by the five teams loyal to Johnson, they held three out of the four seats on the board of directors. The conflict between the Insurrectos and Johnson contributed to Kenesaw Mountain Landis's appointment as the first Commissioner of Baseball.
The Yankees finished in third place in 1919, and signed Huggins to manage for another season. In December 1919, the Yankees purchased Babe Ruth from the Red Sox for \$100,000 (\$ in current dollar terms), a record sum for a player. In Ruth's first season as a Yankee, the team set a record for attendance, drawing almost 1.3 million fans during the 1920 season. They finished in third place, and retained Huggins for the 1921 season. The Yankees continued to acquire talented players from the Red Sox, as team owner Harry Frazee had financial difficulties and Johnson prevented the loyal team owners from dealing with Frazee. The players the Yankees acquired from Boston included Waite Hoyt and Wally Schang after the 1920 season, Sad Sam Jones, Bullet Joe Bush, and Everett Scott after the 1921 season, and Herb Pennock before the 1923 season.
Feeling overshadowed by the Yankees in their own stadium, the Giants announced that they would not renew the Yankees' lease at the Polo Grounds for the 1921 season, though they ultimately relented and allowed the Yankees to remain for two more seasons. Huston and Ruppert began looking for a location to build their own stadium, choosing a site adjacent to Macombs Dam Park in the Bronx in 1921. They set out to build the first three-tiered baseball stadium, with an anticipated 75,000 capacity; the Polo Grounds held fewer than 40,000. Construction began in 1922.
The Yankees finished in first place in the American League in 1921, reaching the 1921 World Series, which they lost to the Giants. Huston blamed Huggins, and wanted him fired. The Yankees again won the American League in 1922, but lost to the Giants in the 1922 World Series, and Huston again argued for firing Huggins. When Ruppert refused, Huston announced that he would sell his shares. Despite his desire to sell the team, Huston oversaw the construction of Yankee Stadium, which was completed before the start of the 1923 season. He sold his stake in the Yankees to Ruppert for \$1.25 million (\$ in current dollar terms), finalizing the deal in May 1923. Ruppert gave Huston a seat on the board of directors. With Huston's sale of his share of the Yankees, and Frank Chance's hiring in Boston, relations worsened between the two franchises.
## Later life
After selling his stake in the Yankees, Huston purchased 650 acres (260 ha) on Champney Island, located in the Altamaha River, south of Darien, Georgia, to establish a duck preserve. The land was originally used for cultivating rice, but had been deserted after the American Civil War. When Huston learned about the history of rice cultivation on the land, he decided to restore the area. He bought the 1,250-acre (510 ha) Butler Island Plantation on Butler Island, a neighboring island, and set about recultivating the land. Huston brought in tractors, dredgers, and thousands of workers to rebuild trenches and levees and plant various species of fruits and vegetables. He built the Huston House on the property in 1927. In 1929, Huston began planting lettuce, which the plantation continued to produce after his death. Huston spent over \$100,000 (\$ in current dollar terms) on a herd of Guernsey cattle to establish the plantation as a dairy farm in 1932.
Still interested in baseball, Huston served as an advisor to the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association during the 1933 season. He arranged for Robinson to join the team as its president. In the mid-1930s, Huston attempted to purchase the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League, and he stated that his intention was to hire Ruth as his manager. In 1937, he acknowledged that he had offered to buy the Dodgers for \$1.7 million (\$ in current dollar terms), but was turned down.
## Personal life
Huston served as national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the United Spanish War Veterans in 1923. He toured the country in support of veterans' issues, such as calling for passage of the World War Adjusted Compensation Act. He remained involved in veterans' issues throughout his life. When a game in the 1922 World Series ended as a tie, the gate receipts were donated to the VFW and used to found the VFW National Home for widows and orphans of veterans. Huston served as director of the National Home later in his life. He involved himself in other civic ventures. He was a lifelong member of the Society of Civil Engineers and served as president of the chamber of commerce for Brunswick, Georgia.
Huston and his wife, Lena Belle Glathart, a native of Lawrence, Kansas, had three children. Huston died at the Butler Island Plantation on March 29, 1938, from an apparent heart attack. He was buried at Christ Church at St. Simons, Georgia, on March 31 with military honors.
## See also
- List of civil engineers
- List of New York Yankees owners and executives
|
[
"## Early life",
"## New York Yankees",
"### Bill Donovan years (1914–1917)",
"### Miller Huggins years (1917–1923)",
"## Later life",
"## Personal life",
"## See also"
] | 2,957 | 28,190 |
9,830,345 |
George Washington Cullum
| 1,140,853,352 |
American military engineer and writer (1809–1892)
|
[
"1809 births",
"1892 deaths",
"American male biographers",
"Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery",
"Military personnel from New York City",
"People of New York (state) in the American Civil War",
"Superintendents of the United States Military Academy",
"Union Army generals",
"United States Army colonels",
"United States Military Academy alumni"
] |
George Washington Cullum (25 February 1809 – 28 February 1892) was an American soldier, engineer and writer. He worked as the supervising engineer on the building and repair of many fortifications across the country. Cullum served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, primarily in the Western Theater and served as the 16th Superintendent of the United States Military Academy. Following his retirement from the Army, he became a prominent figure in New York society, serving in many societies, and as vice president of the American Geographical Society. The society named the Cullum Geographical Medal after him.
## Birth and early years
Cullum was born in New York City on 25 February 1809, to Arthur and Harriet Sturges Cullum. He was raised in Meadville, Pennsylvania. His father worked as a lawyer and an agent of a land company. Cullum attended the United States Military Academy, from 1 July 1829 to 1 July 1833, when he graduated third in the Class of 1833. He designed the Independent Congregational Church at Meadville and it was built in 1835–1836. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
## Pre-Civil War service
Cullum was appointed to the United States Army Corps of Engineers as a brevet second lieutenant on 1 July 1833. He served as the assistant engineer for Fort Adams in 1833. The following year Cullum served as the assistant to the chief engineer at Washington D. C., where he remained for two years. He was then involved in inspections of Forts Severn and Madison in Annapolis, Maryland, before returning to work on Fort Adams.
Cullum was promoted to second lieutenant on 20 April 1836. He supervised construction of the facilities on Goat Island until 1838. On 7 July 1838, he was made a captain. Cullum then supervised construction of Fort Trumbull in New London, Connecticut and the lower battery at Fort Griswold in nearby Groton until 1855. He also supervised a number of other projects on the East Coast from 1840 to 1864, including the repairs of sea walls at Deer, Lovells and Rainsford islands; the construction of Forts Warren, Independence, Winthrop and Sumter; the building of cadet barracks at West Point; and the construction of the United States Assay building. He later superintended engineering works on the western rivers.
Cullum was an instructor of practical military engineering at West Point from 1848 to 1851. He then served as director of the Sappers, Miners and Pontoniers at West Point. Cullum published the forerunner of his Biographical Register in 1850. He took two years leave of absence from 1850 to 1852 for health reasons, and traveled throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and the West Indies while recuperating. Cullum then returned to West Point, and taught there until 1855. When Robert E. Lee, at the time superintendent of West Point, went on a vacation to Virginia, Cullum served as acting superintendent of the Academy from 5 July to 27 August 1853.
In 1848, he introduced a type of bridge pontoon, which was used in the Mexican–American War. Cullum published Description of a System of Military Bridges, With India-Rubber Pontons in 1849.
## Civil War and later military service
On 9 April 1861, Cullum was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and shortly after to colonel. He served as an aide-de-camp to General Winfield Scott from 1 April 1861 to 1 November 1861. At the same time he was a member of the United States Sanitary Commission. Cullum was promoted to a Major in the Corps of Engineers, before becoming chief engineer of the Department of the Missouri on 19 November 1861, where he remained until 11 March 1862. Cullum then was chief engineer for the Department of the Mississippi until 11 July.
During the time, he was also the chief of staff for Henry Halleck. He was appointed brigadier general of volunteers on 1 November 1861. From 2 December 1861 to 6 February 1862, Cullum was on the board that inspected the defenses of St. Louis and the board that inspected the condition of the Mississippi Gun and Mortar Boat Flotilla. He travelled to Cairo, Illinois, where he commanded operations auxiliary to various armies in the field and also managed the defense of the District of Cairo. From February to March, he surveyed the Confederate defenses at Columbus, Kentucky.
On 6 February 1862, the Union Army under then Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant captured Fort Henry, and ten days later, on 16 February, they captured Fort Donelson. With these victories, his forces took about 12,000 to 15,000 Confederate prisoners. The army was unprepared to handle this many prisoners and scrambled to find places to house them. Cullum sent many prisoners to St. Louis before he received War Department instructions to direct 7,000 prisoners to Camp Douglas near Chicago. Cullum was chief engineer at the Siege of Corinth.
For the rest of the Civil War, Cullum inspected or built defenses at: Cairo, Illinois; Bird's Point, Missouri; Fort Holt, Kentucky; Columbus, Kentucky; Island Number Ten; New Madrid, Missouri; Corinth, Mississippi; Harpers Ferry, West Virginia; Winchester, Virginia; Martinsburg, West Virginia; Boston Harbor; Nashville, Tennessee; the Potomac aqueduct; Baltimore; and Washington, D.C. He served on boards concerning Timby's Revolving Iron Tower, proposed military bridges, and Army Corps of Engineers officers being considered for promotion. In 1862, Cullum was appointed Chief Engineer of Halleck's armies in the Department of the Missouri.
He was Superintendent of West Point from 1864 to 1866. On 8 March 1866, President Andrew Johnson nominated Cullum to be appointed to the grade of brevet major general, USA, to rank from 13 March 1865. He was mustered out of the volunteers on 1 September 1866. In 1867, Cullum published the first edition of his Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, covering all graduates from the founding of West Point to the class of 1840. The New York Times wrote that "We know of no single contribution to the military history of the Nation so rich in invaluable data and so essential to the future historian or student of American history."
## Later life and death
Cullum retired from active service 13 January 1874, with the permanent rank of colonel and the brevet rank of major general, and returned to New York City. Following his retirement, he married Elizabeth Hamilton, sister of Major General Schuyler Hamilton and the wealthy widow of Major General Henry W. Halleck.
Cullum was vice-president of the American Geographical Society, president of the Geographical Library Society of New York and a member of the board of managers of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. He was also a member of the Farragut Monument Association, a delegate to the 1881 conferences of the Association for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations and of the International Geographical Conference, a corresponding member of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and a member of the American Historical Society and the American Academy. Cullum died on 28 February 1892 in New York City, of pneumonia. He is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.
Cullum left part of his fortune for the continuance of his Biographical Register and for an award of the American Geographical Society "to those who distinguish themselves by geographical discoveries or in the advancement of geographical science", known as the Cullum Geographical Medal. He also left \$250,000 to West Point, "to be used for construction and maintenance of a memorial hall at West Point to be dedicated to the officers and graduates of the U.S. Military Academy". The building is now known as Cullum Hall. Cullum also left \$100,000 for a hall for the American Geographical Society.
## Dates of rank
## Publications
- Description of a System of Military Bridges, With India-Rubber Pontons (1849)
- Systems of Military Bridges (1863)
- Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy (1867; third edition, 1891–1910)
- Campaigns and Engineers of the War of 1812–15 (1879)
- Struggle for the Hudson (in the Narrative and Critical History of America, 1887)
- Fortification and Defenses of Narragansett Bay (1888)
- Feudal Castles of France and Spain
## See also
- List of American Civil War generals (Union)
- Cullum Number (U.S. Military Academy)
- List of Superintendents of West Point
|
[
"## Birth and early years",
"## Pre-Civil War service",
"## Civil War and later military service",
"## Later life and death",
"## Dates of rank",
"## Publications",
"## See also"
] | 1,925 | 3,117 |
2,878,189 |
Majd al-Dawla
| 1,165,605,432 | null |
[
"10th-century Iranian people",
"10th-century monarchs in the Middle East",
"11th-century Iranian people",
"11th-century deaths",
"11th-century monarchs in the Middle East",
"993 births",
"Buyid emirs of Ray",
"Medieval child monarchs",
"Sons of monarchs"
] |
Abu Talib Rustam (Persian: ابو طالب رستم; 997–1029), commonly known by his laqab (honorific title) of Majd al-Dawla (مجد الدوله), was the last amir (ruler) of the Buyid amirate of Ray from 997 to 1029. He was the eldest son of Fakhr al-Dawla (r. 976–980, 984–997). A weak ruler, he was a figurehead most of his reign, whilst his mother Sayyida Shirin was the real ruler of the kingdom.
Majd al-Dawla's reign saw the gradual shrinking of Buyid holdings in central Iran; Gurgan and Tabaristan had been lost to the Ziyarids in 997, while several of the western towns were seized by the Sallarids of Azerbaijan. There were also internal troubles, such as the revolt of the Daylamite military officer Ibn Fuladh in 1016. Following the death of Sayyida Shirin in 1028, Majd al-Dawla was faced with a revolt by his Daylamite soldiers, and thus requested the assistance of the Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud (r. 998–1030) in dealing with them. Mahmud came to Ray in 1029, deposed Majd al-Dawla as ruler, and sacked the city, bringing an end to Buyid rule there.
Majd al-Dawla was reportedly sent to the Ghaznavid capital of Ghazni, where he died.
## Background
Abu Talib Rustam was a member of the Buyid dynasty, a Daylamite family which ruled mainly over what is now the south and western part of Iran, as well as all of present-day Iraq. The Buyid realm was mostly divided into three independent principalities, centered on Ray (in Jibal), Shiraz (in Fars) and Baghdad (in Iraq). Abu Talib Rustam was born in 993. He was the son of the Buyid amir (ruler) Fakhr al-Dawla (r. 976–980, 984–997), who ruled Jibal, Tabaristan and Gurgan. His mother was Sayyida Shirin, a princess from the Bavand dynasty in Tabaristan. Abu Talib Rustam was to be thoroughly educated to become fit to rule. His tutor was Ibn Faris (died 1004), a prominent Persian scholar and grammarian from Hamadan.
## Reign
### Accession
Following Fakhr al-Dawla's death by stomach illness in 997, his realm in Jibal was divided between Abu Talib Rustam, who received the capital of Ray and its surroundings, and the younger son Shams al-Dawla, who received the cities of Hamadan and Qirmisin as far as the borders of Mesopotamia. They were both installed as co-rulers by Sayyida Shirin, who became the regent of the realm due to their young age. Regardless, Shams al-Dawla was Abu Talib Rustam's subordinate. The senior Buyid amir Samsam al-Dawla (r. 983–998), who ruled Fars, had faithfully acknowledged Fakhr al-Dawla as senior amir during the latter's reign. Because of this, Samsam al-Dawla was now entitled to ask for the allegiance of Majd al-Dawla in return.
An arrangement with the Buyid amir of Iraq, Baha al-Dawla (r. 988–1012), and the Abbasid caliph, however, seemed more appealing to the court at Ray. Details regarding the negotiations between the parties are unknown. In 998, on the request of Baha al-Dawla, the caliph al-Qadir (r. 991–1031) gave Abu Talib Rustam the dual title of Majd al-Dawla wa-Falak al-umma. According to the Iranologist Wilferd Madelung; "In return for this service, Baha al-dawla must have gained, besides the recognition of the caliph al-Qadir, an alliance and some kind of recognition of his supremacy, although his name was not mentioned on the coinage of Majd al-dawla until years later."
Samsam al-Dawla soon died afterwards, and by 999 Fars was under the control of Baha al-Dawla, who had now become senior amir.
### Early reign
Following Fakhr al-Dawla's death, the Ziyarid ruler Qabus (r. 977–981, 997–1012) conquered Tabaristan and Gurgan, which he had previously ruled before being defeated by the Buyids. Following Majd al-Dawla's failure to repel Qabus, the latter ruled Tabaristan and Gurgan with little disturbance. Majd al-Dawla also lost several western towns (including Zanjan) to the Sallarids of Azerbaijan. The Hasanwayhid chieftain Badr ibn Hasanwayh (r. 979–1013), who ruled around Qirmisin as a Buyid vassal, went to Ray to help Majd al-Dawla administer the local affairs, but his help was rebuffed. As a result, Badr kept gradually dissociating himself from the affairs at Ray. By at least as early as 1003, Sayyida Shirin had secured the governorship of Isfahan to her first cousin Ala al-Dawla Muhammad, thus marking the start of the Kakuyid dynasty.
In 1005, Majd al-Dawla assumed the imperial Persian title of shahanshah (King of Kings) in order to signal his ascendancy over that of his brothers and vassals. Nevertheless, he did not attempt to challenge the dominant position of Baha al-Dawla. From 1009/10 and onwards, Majd al-Dawla officially recognized Baha al-Dawla as senior amir on his coins. Some of them later on even refers Baha al-Dawla by the title of shahanshah. Baha al-Dawla died in December 1012, and was succeeded by his son Abu Shuja Fanna Khusraw (Sultan al-Dawla), who assumed the title of shahanshah as a claim over his father's dominant position. Majd al-Dawla did not acknowledge Sultan al-Dawla's claim, as he himself had in reality become the senior amir.
### Internal affairs
In 1008, with the assistance of his vizier Abu 'Ali ibn 'Ali, Majd al-Dawla attempted to throw off the regency of his mother. Sayyida Shirin, however, escaped to Badr ibn Hasanwayh, and together with Shams al-Dawla they put Ray under siege. After several battles, the city was taken and Majd al-Dawla was captured. He was imprisoned by his mother in the fort of Tabarak, while Shams al-Dawla took to power in Ray. A year later (in 1009), Sayyida Shirin fell out with Shams al-Dawla, and thus freed and reinstated Majd al-Dawla in Ray, while Shams al-Dawla returned to Hamadan. Power continued to be held by Sayyida Shirin. In 1014, Majd al-Dawla and Sayyida Shirin were forced to flee to Damavand following an attack on Ray by Shams al-Dawla. However, a mutiny amongst the troops of Shams al-Dawla forced the latter to return to Hamadan, while Majd al-Dawla and Sayyida Shirin returned to Ray. In the same year, the distinguished Persian polymath Avicenna (died 1037) went to Ray, where he entered into the service of Majd al-Dawla and Sayyida Shirin. There he served as the physician at the court, treating Majd al-Dawla, who was suffering from melancholia. Avicenna reportedly later served as the "business manager" of Sayyida Shirin in Qazvin and Hamadan, though details regarding this tenure are unclear. Avicenna later joined Shams al-Dawla, possibly due to his opponent Abu'l-Qasim al-Kirmani also working under Sayyida Shirin.
In 1016, Majd al-Dawla and Sayyida Shirin declined the demand of the Daylamite military officer Ibn Fuladh to become the governor of Qazvin. As a result, the latter started attacking the outskirts of Ray. With the help of the Bavandid prince Abu Ja'far Muhammad (died 1028), Majd al-Dawla repelled Ibn Fuladh from Ray, who fled to the Ziyarid ruler Manuchihr (r. 1012–1031). There Ibn Fuladh secured Manuchihr's assistance in exchange for his fealty. Reinforced by 2,000 troops by Manuchihr, Ibn Fuladh laid siege to Ray, thus forcing Majd al-Dawla to appoint him as the governor of Isfahan. Following this event, records of Ibn Fuladh disappear, which suggests he was unable to dislodge the then incumbent governor of Isfahan, Ala al-Dawla Muhammad.
The fragility of Majd al-Dawla's kingdom allowed Ala al-Dawla Muhammad to rule autonomously, as well as expand his realm into the northern and western mountains, then controlled by autonomous Kurdish dynasties such as the Annazids. In 1023, Ala al-Dawla Muhammad captured Hamadan, putting an end to the rule of Shams al-Dawla's son and successor Sama' al-Dawla (r. 1021–1023). Majd al-Dawla was powerless to interfere. Although Ala al-Dawla Muhammad was virtually an independent monarch and the most powerful figure in Jibal, he continued to mint coins inscribed with the name of Majd al-Dawla as his suzerain until the latter's downfall in 1029. A distinguished coin minted by Ala al-Dawla Muhammad in 1019/20 at Isfahan mentions Majd al-Dawla as shahanshah.
### Downfall
When Sayyida Shirin died in 1028, the consequences of the political seclusion of Majd al-Dawla became apparent. He was soon faced with a revolt by his Daylamite soldiers, and requested the assistance of the Ghaznavid ruler Mahmud (r. 998–1030) in dealing with them. Mahmud had been keen to expand his power to the west, but had refrained from attacking Ray due to the resolute presence of Sayyida Shirin. Using Majd al-Dawla's request for help as a pretext, Mahmud conquered Ray in March/April 1029. He deposed Majd al-Dawla as ruler, and sacked the city, bringing an end to Buyid rule there. Much of the great library in Ray was burned, while many inhabitants were assembled and stoned as heretics. Mahmud justified his onslaught as a way of purging "infidel Batiniyya and evil-doing innovators".
The Iranologist Clifford Edmund Bosworth referred to Majd al-Dawla's decision as "foolish." The Arab historian Ibn al-Athir (died 1233) reports that following the conquest of Ray, Mahmud is said to have summoned Majd al-Dawla and asked him; "Have you not read the Shahnama, which is the history of the Persians, and al-Tabari's History, which is the history of the Muslims? When Majd al-Dawla answered yes, Mahmud replied; "Your conduct is not that of one who has." Majd al-Dawla was reportedly sent to the Ghaznavid capital of Ghazni, where he died. One of Majd al-Dawla's sons, Fana-Khusrau, would attempt to restore the power of the Buyids in the following years, but failed. Majd al-Dawla was also survived by another son named Abu Dulaf.
## Culture
From the end of the 10th-century to 1029, Ray had flourished as a center of learning, possibly partly due to maintaining its independence from other Buyid principalities, as well as only occasionally being involved in dynastic struggles. Majd al-Dawla himself was highly engaged in learning. The western regions of Iran were notable for being dominated by Arabic literature; however, after around the mid 10th-century, Persian literary movements from the eastern region of Khurasan started to gain popularity in the western regions, including the court of Majd al-Dawla.
|
[
"## Background",
"## Reign",
"### Accession",
"### Early reign",
"### Internal affairs",
"### Downfall",
"## Culture"
] | 2,730 | 29,099 |
11,248,798 |
Tropical Storm Barbara (2007)
| 1,171,670,622 |
Pacific tropical storm in 2007
|
[
"2007 Pacific hurricane season",
"2007 in Guatemala",
"2007 in Mexico",
"Eastern Pacific tropical storms",
"Hurricanes in Guatemala",
"Pacific hurricanes in Mexico",
"Tropical cyclones in 2007"
] |
Tropical Storm Barbara was the first tropical cyclone to make landfall during the 2007 Pacific hurricane season. The second storm of the season, Barbara developed from a small low-pressure area on May 29 about 235 miles (380 km) southeast of Acapulco, Mexico. The system drifted southward before turning to a steadily eastward motion, and quickly intensified into a tropical storm. Increased wind shear weakened Barbara, though it re-organized to attain peak winds of 50 mph (80 km/h) before moving ashore just west of the border of Mexico and Guatemala. It rapidly weakened over land, and on June 2 the National Hurricane Center discontinued advisories on the storm. Despite expectations that the storm would attain hurricane status, Barbara moved ashore as a small, weak tropical storm. It produced locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds, and in most locations damage was minor. However, in southern Mexico, the rainfall destroyed large areas of cropland, with crop damage totaling 200 million pesos (2007 MXN, \$55 million 2007 USD). In El Salvador, four people were killed by storm-induced floods.
## Meteorological history
A tropical wave moved off the coast of Africa on May 14, which is believed to have been the impetus to Barbara. The wave axis crossed Central America on May 25 and emerged into the eastern North Pacific Ocean the next day. Interacting with the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a broad surface low-pressure area developed within the area on May 27, and as it drifted northward the system maintained limited and disorganized convection. On May 29, convection increased and became concentrated near the low pressure center, and banding features developed in its eastern semicircle as the circulation became better defined. It is estimated the system formed into Tropical Depression Two-E at 1800 UTC on May 29 about 115 miles (185 km) southeast of Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca. Upon becoming a tropical cyclone, the depression was stationary in an area with warm sea surface temperatures, very light wind shear, and favorable upper-level conditions.
In the hours after becoming a tropical cyclone, the deep convection associated with the depression decreased, though it again increased later in the day. A ragged rainband developed in the southeastern quadrant of the circulation, and based on increased Dvorak numbers and improved presentation on satellite imagery, the National Hurricane Center upgraded the depression to Tropical Storm Barbara on May 30 while it was located about 115 miles (185 km) south of Puerto Escondido. This marked only the third time on record that two storms formed in May in the basin, after 1956 and 1984. Initially, Barbara was forecast to intensify to attain hurricane status and reach winds of 85 mph (135 km/h).
The storm drifted southward and later eastward due to northerly flow behind a mid- to upper-level trough in the Gulf of Mexico. With well-defined outflow and warm sea surface temperatures, Barbara became better organized as tightly curved bands of convection developed near the center. However, by May 31, increased wind shear and less inflow deteriorated the definition of the circulation, causing the storm to weaken. By later that day, the system contained a very small circulation within a large-scale trough, and early on June 1 it was downgraded to tropical depression status. Later in the day, convective banding features re-developed, and after a QuikSCAT overpass indicated a well-defined circulation in the system, Barbara was again upgraded to tropical storm status. The storm reached peak winds of 50 mph (80 km/h) and turned to the northeast as it tracked through a break in a ridge extending from the southwest Gulf of Mexico. Banding features continued to organize, and shortly before moving ashore a low-level eye feature developed. At about 1300 UTC on June 2, Barbara made landfall just west of the border between Mexico and Guatemala. The center quickly deteriorated to tropical depression status over the mountainous terrain of extreme southeastern Chiapas, and Barbara dissipated within twelve hours of moving ashore.
## Preparations and impact
Early in the duration of the cyclone, the National Hurricane Center recommended for interests along the coast of southwestern Mexico to monitor the progress of the storm. Upon regaining tropical storm status on June 1, the governments of Guatemala and Mexico issued a tropical storm watch from Sipacate, Guatemala to Barra de Tonala, Mexico. Later, as the track became more apparent, the watch was replaced by a tropical storm warning, and a tropical storm watch was extended westward to Salina Cruz, Mexico. Officials in Mexico allocated emergency funds for southern regions of Chiapas and Oaxaca in preparation for a potential flooding disaster. At least 1,400 people were evacuated in Chiapas to emergency shelters.
The outer rainbands of the storm first began affecting Guatemala and southeastern Mexico late on June 1. In Mexico, the peak 24-hour rainfall total was 4.96 inches (126 mm) in Huixtla, and across southeastern Mexico, the rainfall led to above normal levels in many rivers. An automatic surface station in Puerto Madero, Mexico recorded sustained winds of 36 mph (58 km/h) with gusts of 53 mph (85 km/h) shortly after landfall. In most locations, damage from the storm was minor, limited to downed light posts, some damaged roofs, and a brief power outage. However, winds and rains from the storm caused moderate to severe crop damage in the mountain range of southern Chiapas. About 35 sq. miles (90 km<sup>2</sup>) of banana crops were destroyed, with about 4 sq. miles (10 km<sup>2</sup>) of coffee damaged. The passage of the storm also resulted in damage to cocoa beans, mango, coconut, and other vegetables, with crop damage totaling about 200 million pesos (2007 MXN, \$55 million 2007 USD). As a result of the crop damage, the government of Mexico provided 108 million pesos (2007 MXN, \$10 million 2007 USD) in financial aid to the affected farmers.
In Ocos, Guatemala near the border, winds from the storm destroyed the roofs of about a dozen palm huts, forcing over 100 residents to evacuate. The winds also downed hundreds of trees near the coastline. Heavy rainfall from the storm led to river flooding; the island of Ocos was separated from the mainland after the bridge was washed away. Heavy rains along the periphery of the storm triggered significant flooding in El Salvador which killed at least four people.
## See also
- Other tropical cyclones named Barbara
- Timeline of the 2007 Pacific hurricane season
- Hurricane Barbara (2013) – same name and affected the same place in the same time
|
[
"## Meteorological history",
"## Preparations and impact",
"## See also"
] | 1,409 | 13,455 |
29,607,672 |
Pterygotioidea
| 1,140,081,615 |
Extinct superfamily of eurypterids
|
[
"Arthropod superfamilies",
"Paleozoic extinctions",
"Paleozoic first appearances",
"Pterygotioidea"
] |
Pterygotioidea (the name deriving from the type genus Pterygotus, meaning "winged one") is a superfamily of eurypterids, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Pterygotioids were the most derived members of the infraorder Diploperculata and the sister group of the adelophthalmoid eurypterids. The group includes the basal and small hughmilleriids, the larger and specialized slimonids and the famous pterygotids which were equipped with robust and powerful cheliceral claws.
Though the more primitive hughmilleriids were small, Hughmilleria wangi being the smallest of all pterygotioids at just 6 centimetres (2.4 in) in length, later members of the group, particularly in the Pterygotidae, would become the largest known arthropods to ever exist with several genera surpassing 2 metres (6.6 ft) in length.
Among all currently recognized eurypterid clades, the Pterygotioidea is the most diverse, containing over 50 species in 10 genera. With the number of recognized eurypterid species being around 250, pterygotioids account for more than a fifth of all known eurypterid species. Though the group only existed for around 70 million years and during a time when most continents were separated by large expanses of water (in contrast with previous and later periods of time when there had been supercontinents), the Pterygotioidea had the most cosmopolitan distribution of all eurypterid groups. Their fossils have been recovered from Europe, Africa, North America, South America, Asia and Australia, with the earliest remains being from the Early Silurian of Scotland and South China. The exact geographical origin of the group remains unknown, but is thought to have been in Laurentia.
Though several characteristic and diagnostic traits can be established for each of the families included within the Pterygotioidea, the group as a whole is primarily joined by the shared features of marginal eyes, that their compound eyes are placed near or on the margin of the carapace (the "head" plate).
## Description
Pterygotioid eurypterids, whose fossils are recovered in deposits ranging in age from the Early Silurian to the Late Devonian, can be distinguished from all other eurypterine eurypterids by the placement of their eyes, being located near or in some cases on the margin of the carapace (the "head" plate). Pterygotioids ranged in size from small eurypterids, the smallest being Hughmilleria wangi at just 6 centimetres (2.4 in) in length, to the largest arthropods to ever live, the largest being Jaekelopterus rhenaniae which might have reached lengths of 2.6 metres (8.5 ft).
Like all other chelicerates, and other arthropods in general, pterygotioid eurypterids possessed segmented bodies and jointed appendages (limbs) covered in a cuticle composed of proteins and chitin. In the Pterygotidae, the outer surface of the exoskeleton was covered in a scale-like ornamentation but it was smooth within Slimonidae and Hughmilleriidae.
The chelicerate body is divided into two tagmata (sections); the frontal prosoma (head) and posterior opisthosoma (abdomen). The appendages were attached to the prosoma, and were characterized in pterygotids and slimonids by being small and slender and lacking spines. In contrast, the more basal Hughmilleriids did possess spines on their appendages.
In derived members of the group, Slimonidae and Pterygotidae, the telson (the posteriormost segment of the body) was expanded and flattened, often with a spike protruding from its end. The telsons of the Hughmilleriidae were not flattened, instead being lanceolate (in the shape of a lance or spike) and similar to those of more primitive eurypterids such as Eurypterus.
Like other chelicerates, pterygotioids possessed chelicerae. These appendages are the only ones that appear before the mouth and take the form of small pincers used to feed in most eurypterid groups. This function is retained in the more basal Hughmilleriidae and Slimonidae, but pterygotid chelicerae were large and long with strong and well developed teeth on specialized chelae (claws).
## History of research
The first pterygotioid fossils to be uncovered were those of the type genus, Pterygotus. Louis Agassiz, a Swiss-American biologist and geologist, described the fossils in 1839 and named the genus Pterygotus, meaning "winged one". Agassiz mistakenly believed that the fossils were the remains of a large fish. Agassiz first recognized the true nature of the fossils as arthropod remains five years later in 1844 after having examined more complete fossils recovered in the Old Red Sandstone of Scotland.
In 1856, the species Pterygotus acuminata was named by John William Salter. The fossils referred to this species, recovered from Lesmahagow, Scotland, were soon realized to be distinct from other species of Pterygotus (such as the type species P. anglicus) and that same year geologist David Page erected a new genus to contain the species. The new genus, Slimonia, could be differentiated from other known species of Pterygotus most apparently by the lack of large cheliceral claws, otherwise a defining characteristic of Pterygotus.
In 1903, the genus Hughmilleria was created based on fossils discovered in the Pittsford Shale Member of the Vernon Formation. Its describer, the American geologist Clifton J. Sarle, considered the genus to represent an intermediate form between the more basal Eurypterus and the derived Pterygotus but did not assign Hughmilleria to any particular family.
The family Pterygotidae was erected in 1912 by John Mason Clarke and Rudolf Ruedemann to constitute a group for the genera Pterygotus, Slimonia, Hastimima and Hughmilleria. Pterygotus had also been designated as containing two subgenera; Pterygotus (Curviramus) and Pterygotus (Erettopterus), but Erettopterus would later be raised to its own genus. American paleontologist Erik N. Kjellesvig-Waering emended the Pterygotidae in 1951, referring the genera Hastimima, Hughmilleria and Slimonia, and the newly named Grossopterus, to their own family within the Eurypteracea, Hughmilleriidae, leaving Pterygotus as the sole pterygotid genus.
In 1955, Norwegian paleontologist and geologist Leif Størmer considered the pterygotid clade to represent a family within the eurypterid superfamily "Eurypteracea". In 1962, Russian paleontologist Nestor Ivanovich Novojilov raised the Eurypteracea and Pterygotidae to subordinal and superfamily status, Eurypteracea becoming the suborder Eurypterina and creating the superfamily Pterygotioidea, containing Hughmilleriidae and Pterygotidae. The same year, Novojilov also reclassified Slimonia into a pterygotioid family of its own as it was considered distinct enough from other hughmilleriids to warrant a separate family, the Slimonidae.
## Classification
### External phylogeny
Pterygotioids are classified within the infraorder Diploperculata, in the Eurypterina suborder of eurypterids. The infraorder Diploperculata contains the four most derived superfamilies of eurypterine eurypterids; Carcinosomatoidea, Adelophthalmoidea, Pterygotioidea and the waeringopteroids, united by the shared feature that the genital operculum (the structure that contains the genital appendage) is made up of two fused segments.
Pterygotioidea is the most derived superfamily of the suborder and contains over 50 species (the exact number obscured by dubious species and possible synonyms), which accounts for more than a fifth of the approximately 250 known eurypterid species. The closest sister group of the Pterygotioidea, Adelophthalmoidea, also contains a large amount of species, over 40, and is the second most diverse eurypterid superfamily.
The cladogram below is simplified from 2007 study by O. Erik Tetlie, showcasing the position of the pterygotioids within the suborder Eurypterina. Placement of Diploperculata follows Lamsdell et al. 2013.
### Internal phylogeny
Though the Pterygotidae are accepted to clearly represent the most derived group within the pterygotioid superfamily, there has been an ongoing debate on whether the hughmilleriids or the slimonids are the most closely related to the pterygotids, and thus also which of the two families is the most basal. This debate was resolved with the description of Ciurcopterus, a primitive pterygotid that clearly combines features of Slimonia (especially within the appendages) and of more derived pterygotid eurypterids, revealing that Slimonidae was the closest sister-group of the Pterygotidae.
The lack of ornamentation in the telson of Hughmilleria, combined with the fact that the genus shares certain characteristics with basal adelophthalmids (in particular the triangular anterior margin of the carapace), places it as the most basal genus in the superfamily. Hughmilleria also possessed far more gnathobasic (of the gnathobase, an appendage used in feeding) teeth than any other pterygotioid, possessing 18-20 whilst more derived pterygotioids (including related hughmilleriid Herefordopterus) possessed only 12–13.
The cladogram presented below, derived from a 2007 study by researcher O. Erik Tetlie, showcases the interrelationships between the pterygotioid eurypterids. Whilst Slimonidae and Pterygotidae form monophyletic (and thus valid) groups, Hughmilleriidae has been recovered as paraphyletic in a number of phylogenetic analyses and does thus not form an actually valid scientific grouping. Nevertheless, the family is retained and routinely used by eurypterid researchers.
## Distribution
Eurypterids are most commonly recovered from fossil deposits in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Britain and North America. During the Silurian and Devonian periods, when pterygotioids were alive, these regions and continents were part of the continents Baltica (Scandinavia and Eastern Europe), Avalonia (Germany, Britain, parts of eastern North America) and Laurentia (most of eastern continental North America). It is around these continents, and the Rheno-Hercynian Terrane (western and central Europe), that pterygotioids are the most common.
Pterygotioid fossils have also been recovered from other parts of the world where fossils of other eurypterid groups are absent, including Australia, Morocco, Libya, Florida, Saudi Arabia, China, Paris, South America, Bohemia and Siberia, which indicates that the group had spread significantly during their 70 million year existence. Pterygotioids appear to have been relatively abundant throughout the Silurian and Devonian world, with unusually (in terms of eurypterids, most groups being absent entirely) large numbers recovered from the ancient continent of Gondwana (composed of Africa, India, South America, Australia and Antarctica).
The earliest known pterygotioids, belonging to the genus Hughmilleria, are from the Llandovery epoch of the Silurian and appear around the same time in Laurentia, Scotland and South China. With the group already being widespread at this seemingly early stage in their evolution, it is difficult to pinpoint their exact geographical point of origin. The closest relatives and sister clade of the pterygotioids, the superfamily Adelophthalmoidea, originated in Laurentia. Modern researchers assume that the case would be the same with the pterygotioids, which are thought to have originated within, or in close proximity to, Laurentia.
It remains unclear whether pterygotioids were capable of crossing oceans on a regular basis or if species recovered outside of Laurentia, Baltica and Avalonia represent isolated occurrences. Pterygotioids were, like the related adelophthalmoids, excellent swimmers which might help explain the intercontinental dispersal patterns and wide-ranging distribution seen in both superfamilies.
## See also
- List of eurypterid genera
- Timeline of eurypterid research
|
[
"## Description",
"## History of research",
"## Classification",
"### External phylogeny",
"### Internal phylogeny",
"## Distribution",
"## See also"
] | 2,784 | 29,574 |
44,436,606 |
The Boat Race 1932
| 999,428,851 | null |
[
"1932 in English sport",
"1932 in rowing",
"1932 sports events in London",
"March 1932 sports events",
"The Boat Race"
] |
The 84th Boat Race took place on 19 March 1932. 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. The race was umpired by former Oxford rower Harcourt Gilbey Gold on a shortened because of repairs to Putney Bridge. Cambridge won by five lengths, the largest winning margin for three years, in a time of 19 minutes 11 seconds, their ninth consecutive victory. The win equalled the record victorious streaks of Oxford between 1861 and 1869, and 1890 and 1898, and took the overall record to 43–40 in their favour.
## 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"). The race was first held in 1829, and since 1845 has taken place on the 4.2-mile (6.8 km) Championship Course on the River Thames in southwest London. The rivalry is a major point of honour between the two universities; it is followed throughout the United Kingdom and, as of 2014, broadcast worldwide. Cambridge went into the race as reigning champions, having won the 1931 race by 2+1⁄2 lengths, and led overall with 42 victories to Oxford's 40 (excluding the "dead heat" of 1877).
Oxford were coached by H. R. Barker (who rowed for the Dark Blues in the 1908 and 1909 races) and John Houghton Gibbon (who had participated in the 1899 and 1900 races, and umpired the previous year's race). Cambridge's coaches were F. E. Hellyer (who had rowed for the Light Blues in the 1910 and 1911 races), J. A. MacNabb (rowed in the 1924 race) and Peter Haig-Thomas (four-time Blue for Cambridge between 1902 and 1905). The race was umpired by Harcourt Gilbey Gold, former Dark Blue president for the 1900 race and four-time Blue, rowing in each race between 1896 and 1899.
The start of this year's race was moved to the University of London Boat Club, approximately 400 yards (370 m) further upstream. After discussion between the umpire, the two boat club presidents, the coaches Haig-Thomas and Gibbon, and a representative of the Port of London Authority, the course was shortened to avoid potential eddies around temporary buttresses erected by Putney Bridge which was undergoing repair. As noted by former Oxford rower E. P. Evans, writing in The Manchester Guardian, "no comparisons of times with previous races can be made, because the points on the course will be different". It was the first time since the 1863 race that the event was not conducted between the University Stone and Mortlake.
Cambridge were considered to be favourites to win the race: according to Evans, they had "a command of their boat" although Oxford had "acquired more 'drive' from the coaching of Colonel J. H. Gibbon". The rowing correspondent for The Times stated that the Cambridge crew were "the steadiest and best combined crew since that of 1924", while Oxford were "not remarkable for good form" and "not very well together in their blade nor very long nor very steady."
## Crews
The Cambridge crew weighed an average of 12 st 2.75 lb (77.3 kg), 3.5 pounds (1.6 kg) per rower more than their opponents. Oxford saw four rowers return to the crew with Boat Race experience. Cambridge's crew also contained four participants who had taken part in the event previously, including bow David Haig-Thomas and number six Harold Rickett. Two participants in the race were registered as non-British, both of whom rowed for Cambridge: Lewis Luxton and William Sambell were Australian.
## Race
Cambridge won the toss and elected to start from the Surrey station, handing the Middlesex side of the river to Oxford. Weather conditions were favourable, with bright sunshine, little wind and calm water, and umpire Gold started the race at 10:30 a.m. Oxford made the quicker start, marginally out-rating the Light Blues and led by a quarter-length by the end of the Fulham Wall. They extended this lead to one third of a length by the time the crews passed the Mile Post. Cambrdige increased their stroke rate and drew level by the Crab Tree pub, and spurting at Harrods Furniture Depository they led by half a length.
As the crews passed below Hammersmith Bridge, Cambridge drew clear and held a two-length lead by the Doves pub. In rough water along Chiswick Reach, Oxford struggled and at Chiswick Steps they were eleven seconds behind the Light Blues. Despite a spurt from the Dark Blues, Cambridge passed under Barnes Bridge five lengths ahead. They held that lead to pass the finishing post in a time of 19 minutes 11 seconds, the largest winning margin since the 1929 race. It was their ninth consecutive victory and the first time in the history of the race that Cambridge had equalled the successful winning streaks of Oxford between 1861 and 1869, and 1890 and 1898.
|
[
"## Background",
"## Crews",
"## Race"
] | 1,141 | 3,105 |
23,624,190 |
Joe Cada
| 1,145,132,003 |
American poker player (born 1987)
|
[
"1987 births",
"American poker players",
"Living people",
"People from Macomb County, Michigan",
"World Series of Poker Main Event winners",
"World Series of Poker bracelet winners"
] |
Joseph Cada (born November 18, 1987) is an American professional poker player from Shelby Charter Township, Michigan, best known as the winner of the Main Event at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP).
By winning the 6,494-entrant Main Event at the age of 21, Cada surpassed Peter Eastgate as the youngest champion ever. Cada had two previous WSOP in the money finishes, both in 2009. Cada had been a regular online poker player for several years prior to winning the live WSOP event. He is primarily an online poker player, with more than \$500,000 in online tournament winnings at present. As of October 2016, his total live tournament winnings exceed \$10,460,000. Cada became a representative of Team PokerStars in 2009 in the weeks prior to becoming World Champion. On June 18, 2012, he lost heads up in the 2,811-entrant \$1,500 No Limit Texas hold 'em event at the 2012 World Series of Poker.
Cada is from a family of card enthusiasts, although his parents disapproved of his chosen profession. His agent dubbed him "The Kid" (although this is already Stu Ungar's nickname), and he has also taken on the role as a statesman of the profession in the media and political circles, where he is a proponent of legalization of gambling.
## Poker career
### Summary
Cada started playing online poker at about the age of 16. He twice staked accounts but lost all the money in the accounts that he shared with his brother Jerome. His first online account was with PartyPoker. Although he was not legally able to play in casinos prior to age 21 in the United States, he could play in Canada at age 19 and play online. After a brief sabbatical from the game subsequent to losing his money, he began to play at a casino in Windsor, Ontario across the Canada–US border from his Detroit-area home. He earned enough to enter contests in the Bahamas and Costa Rica.
At the time of his WSOP success, he was playing approximately 2,000 hands per day online at PokerStars under the User ID jcada99. Cada had been a professional poker player for six years at the time of his world championship. Between the end of 2008 and the 2009 November Nine, Cada had earned \$551,788 online. Prior to the tournament, he had a \$150,000 downswing that necessitated him finding a financial backer for the WSOP. Professional poker financiers Eric Haber and Cliff Josephy paid his entry fee in exchange for half of his winnings.
Cada enjoys playing the "Sunday Major" tournaments at various online sites and says he honed his skill pursuing the knowledge and experience of better players at online training sites. He typically hosts many poker playing friends on Sundays to keep each other company while going through the grueling Sundays of playing the various majors. Usually, on Sundays, Cada hosts about fifteen friends to play online at his house. According to his CardPlayer magazine profile, Cada used several similar aliases to play with various online poker hosts: jcada99 and Joe Cada on the Full Tilt Poker website, jcada99 on PokerStars, and JCADA99 on Absolute Poker.
## World Series of Poker
### 2009 World Series of Poker
At the 2009 World Series of Poker, he had three in the money finishes (all in No limit Texas hold 'em): 64th in the 1,088-entrant June 5–7 Event 13, \$2,500 No Limit Hold'em, which earned him \$6,681; 17th in the 2,095-entrant June 16–18 Event 35, \$1,500 No Limit Hold'em, which earned him \$21,533; and 1st in the 6,494-entrant July 3–15, November 7 and 9 Event 57 \$10,000 World Championship No Limit Hold'em, which earned him \$8,546,435.
Prior to his final table victory, Cada earned a \$1 million contract with PokerStars that pays for all his hotels, travels, and some of his buy-ins. His signing with Pokerstars resulted from an interview on ESPN with Phil Gordon where he expressed an interest in signing with that specific company. His agent had already procured him offers from UltimateBet and PokerHost as a result of his November Nine qualification. Cada was represented by agent Dan Frank.
In the main event, Cada was the tournament chip leader after day 1C, which was the third of the four opening day sessions, but he began the final table with the fifth largest chipstack. In the 122nd final table hand Cada's stack was reduced to 2,275,000—enough for only four big blinds and about 1.2% of the combined total stack at play—due to calling Jeff Shulman's "all in" pre-flop with against . No community cards hit either player, and Shulman was rewarded by his better high card. Cada later went all in twice pre-flop with small pocket pairs and was dominated by higher pocket pairs on both occasions, once with vs. and the other with vs . Both times Cada flopped the winning three of a kind. By the time the field was reduced to two players he had 135 million chips to 58 million for Darvin Moon. During the final heads-up duel, Cada surrendered the chip lead, but he eventually climbed back to 120.1 million before the last hand of the heads-up with Moon. He regained the chip lead on the 80th hand. His winning hand was , which he got all-in pre-flop against Moon's , which was a classic race situation prior to the flop. The board ran . This hand was the 88th hand of heads-up play between Cada and Moon.
These three events account for his total cumulative career live event earnings of over \$8.5 million. With the November 2009 victory, which occurred just over a week before his 22nd birthday, Cada supplanted Peter Eastgate, who won at age 22, as the youngest World Series of Poker Main Event champion. He was 340 days younger than Eastgate had been at the time of becoming world champion. In the week following the WSOP win, Cada made numerous publicity appearances as a poker ambassador. His media events included appearances on CNN, CBS News, CNBC, Late Show with David Letterman, numerous ESPN outlets including First Take, The Scott Van Pelt Show, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPN Inside Deal, and ESPN.com as well as a taping for SportsCenter that was never aired plus a visit to WWE Raw. During the publicity run, Dennis Phillips served as Cada's advisor.
### 2010-2017
Cada finished second in the 2,811-entrant June 16–18, 2012 \$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Event \#31, which earned him \$412,424. He won a bracelet in the 264-entrant June 14–16, 2014 \$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Championship Event \#32, which earned him \$670,041.
### 2018 World Series of Poker
At the 2018 World Series of Poker, Cada earned two more bracelets and a fifth-place finish in the \$10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event, which earned him more than any of his non-main event bracelet victories. He won the 363-entrant May 31 – June 2, 2018 \$3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout Event \#3, which earned him \$226,218. When Cada made the 7,874-entrant July 2 – 14 \$10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event final table for the second time (earning \$2,150,000), he became the first former champion to do so since 1995 winner Dan Harrington reached the 2004 main event final table (although 2001 champion Carlos Mortenson made the unofficial final table in 2013, finishing 10th). After being eliminated from the main event, Cada entered the 3,120-entrant July 12 – 15, 2018 The Closer - \$1,500 No-Limit Hold'em (30 minute levels) - \$1 Million Guarantee Event \#75, which he won for \$612,886 for his 4th career bracelet, and his 2nd of 2018. These finishes gave him a third-place finish in that years WSOP Player of the Year, behind Shaun Deeb and Ben Yu.
## Personal life
Ann Cada, Joe's mother, was a blackjack card dealer at the MotorCity Casino. Cada has an older brother, Jerome, two older sisters Theresa and Jillian, and one half little sister Alex. Cada's father, Jerry, was affected by the late-2000s recession when his automobile industry job was eliminated in a layoff. During the 2009 World Series of Poker's November Nine, dozens of Cada's fans wore T-shirts with Michigan Wolverines team colors (maize and blue) with the words, "PokerStars Michigan Joe Cada 'The Kid'" emblazoned across the front and Michigan baseball caps with "The Kid" on the back. His agent came up with the nickname "The Kid". In an interview in Time, Cada estimates he had about 100 friends in his cheering section.
In the Time interview, Cada expressed his thoughts on legislation related to the legality of gambling: "I support the right to play poker online. Poker isn't gambling. It's a hobby, an activity, a game. It's not about luck—it's about logic, decision-making, math. We all should be able to play poker on the Web if we want to, and I believe that making it illegal strips us of our rights. This is an important issue, and hopefully we'll see it resolved soon." Outside of poker, Cada also plays indoor soccer. , he was considering purchasing a second home in Las Vegas, Nevada and possibly opening a bar.
|
[
"## Poker career",
"### Summary",
"## World Series of Poker",
"### 2009 World Series of Poker",
"### 2010-2017",
"### 2018 World Series of Poker",
"## Personal life"
] | 2,135 | 9,660 |
24,378,814 |
Acafellas
| 1,171,420,527 | null |
[
"2009 American television episodes",
"Glee (season 1) episodes",
"Television episodes written by Ryan Murphy (filmmaker)"
] |
"Acafellas" is the third episode of the American television series Glee. The episode premiered on the Fox network on September 16, 2009. It was directed by John Scott and written by series creator Ryan Murphy. The episode sees glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) form an all-male a cappella group, the Acafellas, neglecting the club in favor of dedicating his time to the new endeavor. New Directions struggle with choreography, and resist attempts at sabotage by members of the cheer squad. Mercedes (Amber Riley) harbors romantic feelings for Kurt (Chris Colfer), who comes out as gay.
Singer Josh Groban guest stars as himself, John Lloyd Young appears as wood shop teacher Henri St. Pierre, and Victor Garber and Debra Monk play Will's parents. The episode features covers of seven songs, including the instrumental piece "La Camisa Negra" performed on guitar by Mark Salling. Studio recordings of two of the songs performed were released as singles, available for digital download, and two of the tracks also appear on the album Glee: The Music, Volume 1.
The episode was watched by 6.69 million US viewers and received mixed reviews from critics. Entertainment Weekly's Tim Stack and The New York Times's Mike Hale welcomed the return of Stephen Tobolowsky as Sandy Ryerson, while Ryan Brockington of the New York Post and Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal praised Riley's cover of Jazmine Sullivan's "Bust Your Windows". However, Rachel Ray, reviewing the episode for The Independent, deemed it "overhyped [...] uninspired, confusing and with a simple plot to boot."
## Plot
When Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) questions director Will Schuester's choreography skills during a glee club rehearsal, he forms an all-male a cappella group, the Acafellas, to build his confidence. The group originally consists of Will, football coach Ken Tanaka (Patrick Gallagher), woodshop teacher Henri St. Pierre (John Lloyd Young) and Howard Bamboo (Kent Avenido), a co-worker of Will's wife Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig). After their first performance however, Henri and Howard drop out and Will replaces them with glee club member Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith), who was considering quitting glee club, and his fellow football player Puck (Mark Salling). Former glee club director Sandy Ryerson (Stephen Tobolowsky) also joins the group, having arranged for singer Josh Groban to be at their next performance. Although the star compliments their rendition of "I Wanna Sex You Up", he reveals that he only attended to make sure Sandy stopped stalking him.
In Will's absence, the glee club hires Dakota Stanley (Whit Hertford), the choreographer of a rival club, Vocal Adrenaline, to help coach them to a Nationals championship. Cheerleaders Quinn (Dianna Agron), Santana (Naya Rivera) and Brittany (Heather Morris) hope that the notoriously harsh Stanley will prompt some members of the club to quit, furthering their plan to sabotage the club. Although Stanley is heavily critical of most of the group, Rachel convinces the members that their differences give them a unique edge, and fires the choreographer. The cheerleaders also lead Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley) to believe that fellow club member Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) has feelings for her, despite Rachel and Tina Cohen-Chang’s efforts to inform Mercedes that Kurt is obviously gay. Mercedes is hurt when Kurt rejects her advances. He misleads her into believing he has feelings for Rachel, which angers Mercedes, and she breaks the windshield of his car and sings "Bust Your Windows". Kurt later confesses to her that he is gay—the first time he has said it to anyone—and the two make up.
Cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) is angry that the club is now stronger than ever, and punishes Quinn and Santana. Quinn retaliates by thanking Sue for helping her realize that believing in herself negates the need to bring other people down. Will realizes that his passion is teaching, not performing, and resolves to recommit to the glee club.
## Production
Recurring cast members who appear in "Acafellas" are Stephen Tobolowsky as former glee club director Sandy Ryerson, Patrick Gallagher as football coach Ken Tanaka, Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins, Kent Avenido as Sheets and Things employee Howard Bamboo, and Naya Rivera and Heather Morris as glee club members Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce. Whit Hertford guest-starred as choreographer Dakota Stanley. Cheyenne Jackson was originally supposed to play Dakota Stanley, but when he arrived in California he learned that he had the flu. John Lloyd Young played Henri, "a retired wood shop teacher with an excellent singing voice", and Victor Garber and Debra Monk played Will's parents. Morrison was "thrilled" by Garber's casting, having been a longstanding fan of his. Josh Groban received special guest star billing, playing, in Colfer's words, "himself as this ignorant asshole". Morrison's rapping in the episode was an already acquired skill, with Gilsig commenting: "He can do it. It didn't look like a joke, it actually looked totally authentic, and he was fantastic. I think he has just an amazing musical range. People like that who have been singing their whole lives, they have such a command of that." Riley deemed Kurt's coming out in the episode "very emotional" and "one of [her] favorite scenes". Colfer described the scene as "very respectful and very touching ... very, very real and serious."
## Music
The episode features cover versions of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow", "This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan, "Poison" by Bell Biv DeVoe, "Mercy" by Duffy, "Bust Your Windows" by Jazmine Sullivan, "I Wanna Sex You Up" by Color Me Badd and an instrumental performance of "La Camisa Negra" by Juanes. Studio recordings of "Bust Your Windows" and "Mercy" were released as singles, available for digital download. "Bust Your Windows" is also featured on the soundtrack album Glee: The Music, Volume 1, with a studio recording of "I Wanna Sex You Up" included as a bonus track on discs purchased from Target.
## Reception
### Ratings
"Acafellas" was watched by 6.69 million US viewers and attained a 3.2/9 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic. It was the tenth most watched show in Canada for the week, with 1.44 million viewers. In the UK, the episode was shown straight after the pilot episode, and was watched by 1.68 million viewers (1.29 million on E4, and 398,000 on timeshift), becoming the most-watched show on cable for the week.
### Critical reception
The episode received mixed reviews from critics. Tim Stack for Entertainment Weekly reviewed the episode positively, deeming it potentially even better than the season premiere. Stack wrote that the best aspect of the episode was the focus placed on previously more minor characters, such as Puck, Mercedes and Kurt. He praised Lynch as Sue and wrote, "Stephen Tobolowsky’s Sandy is also becoming one of the most reliable characters for great lines and laughs." He was disappointed that Garber did not sing in his role as Will's father, but hoped he would return for future episodes. Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal praised Riley's rendition of "Bust Your Windows" as "showstopping", Vocal Adrenaline's "Mercy" as "leg-splits-over-shoulders exciting", and deemed the Acafellas performance of "I Wanna Sex You Up" "corny" but noted: "this is about high school. Corny is de rigueur." Shawna Malcom for the Los Angeles Times wrote that although "Bust Your Windows" was "over the top [...] the emotion behind the whole thing felt appropriately real."
Mike Hale of The New York Times was critical of the episode, discussing the show's "increasingly rapid march toward Hallmark country." He commented that while "Acafellas" did not match the standard of the pilot episode, it was funnier than "Showmance", and praised the return of Stephen Tobolowsky as Sandy Ryerson. Hale called Groban's cameo the "most fun of all" in the episode, but overall noted that: "The humor can’t make up for the lack of big production numbers [...] The problem for this show is always going to be how to fill the gaps between songs. A lot of the current plot lines, like Will and his wife's phantom baby, are already getting old, so it would behoove the producers to keep those gaps as short as possible." Rachel Ray, reviewing the episode for The Independent deemed Glee "overhyped [...] uninspired, confusing and with a simple plot to boot." Ray wrote, Glee's "upbeat message" was "overridden by the show's attempt to be darker than the run-of-the mill high school drama." As with Hale, Ray commented that: "Music should be the redeeming feature of Glee but it's not, because the viewer never gets a satisfying taste of the cast members' musical talents". Shawna Malcom criticized Terri and Will's characterization in the episode, deeming Terri "beyond annoying", but wrote: "I have confidence that creator Ryan Murphy will flesh out Jessalyn Gilsig’s character over time. Her seemingly sincere apology to Will for not being more supportive of his boy band was a nice first step." Of Will, Malcom posed the question: "didn’t it feel as though his commitment to the glee club melted away rather quickly? [...] How could he turn his back so easily?" More positively, Malcom called Kurt's coming out scene "lovely". She wrote that Groban's appearance was "laugh out loud" funny, while Stack commented: "It was a little random, but it's all worth it for the scene when Groban was hitting on Will's mom."
|
[
"## Plot",
"## Production",
"## Music",
"## Reception",
"### Ratings",
"### Critical reception"
] | 2,138 | 13,418 |
20,716 |
Mellitus
| 1,169,764,354 |
7th-century missionary, Archbishop of Canterbury, and saint
|
[
"624 deaths",
"6th-century births",
"7th-century Christian clergy",
"7th-century Christian saints",
"7th-century English clergy",
"7th-century archbishops",
"Anglican saints",
"Archbishops of Canterbury",
"Bishops of London",
"Gregorian mission",
"Italian saints",
"Kentish saints",
"Year of birth unknown"
] |
Saint Mellitus (died 24 April 624) was the first bishop of London in the Saxon period, the third Archbishop of Canterbury, and a member of the Gregorian mission sent to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons from their native paganism to Christianity. He arrived in 601 AD with a group of clergy sent to augment the mission, and was consecrated as Bishop of London in 604. Mellitus was the recipient of a famous letter from Pope Gregory I known as the Epistola ad Mellitum, preserved in a later work by the medieval chronicler Bede, which suggested the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons be undertaken gradually, integrating pagan rituals and customs. In 610, Mellitus returned to Italy to attend a council of bishops, and returned to England bearing papal letters to some of the missionaries.
Mellitus was exiled from London by the pagan successors to his patron, King Sæberht of Essex, following the latter's death around 616. King Æthelberht of Kent, Mellitus' other patron, died at about the same time, forcing him to take refuge in Gaul. Mellitus returned to England the following year, after Æthelberht's successor had been converted to Christianity, but he was unable to return to London, whose inhabitants remained pagan. Mellitus was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 619. During his tenure, he was alleged to have miraculously saved the cathedral, and much of the town of Canterbury, from a fire. After his death in 624, Mellitus was revered as a saint.
## Early life
The medieval chronicler Bede described Mellitus as being of noble birth. In letters, Pope Gregory I called him an abbot, but it is unclear whether Mellitus had previously been abbot of a Roman monastery, or this was a rank bestowed on him to ease his journey to England by making him the leader of the expedition. The papal register, a listing of letters sent out by the popes, describes him as an "abbot in Frankia" in its description of the correspondence, but the letter itself only says "abbot". The first time Mellitus is mentioned in history is in the letters of Gregory, and nothing else of his background is known. It appears likely that he was a native of Italy, along with all the other bishops consecrated by Augustine.
## Journey to England
Pope Gregory I sent Mellitus to England in June 601, in response to an appeal from Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Augustine needed more clergy to join the Gregorian mission that was converting the kingdom of Kent, then ruled by Æthelberht, from paganism to Christianity. The new missionaries brought with them a gift of books and "all things which were needed for worship and the ministry of the Church." Thomas of Elmham, a 15th-century Canterbury chronicler, claimed that in his day there were a number of the books brought to England by Mellitus still at Canterbury. Examination of the remaining manuscripts has determined that one possible survivor of Mellitus' books is the St Augustine Gospels, now in Cambridge, as Corpus Christi College, MS (manuscript) 286. Along with the letter to Augustine, the missionaries brought a letter for Æthelberht, urging the King to act like the Roman Emperor Constantine I and force the conversion of his followers to Christianity. The king was also encouraged to destroy all pagan shrines.
The historian Ian Wood has suggested that Mellitus' journey through Gaul probably took in the bishoprics of Vienne, Arles, Lyons, Toulon, Marseilles, Metz, Paris, and Rouen, as evidenced by the letters that Gregory addressed to those bishops soliciting their support for Mellitus' party. Gregory also wrote to the Frankish kings Chlothar II, Theuderic II, Theudebert II, along with Brunhilda of Austrasia, who was Theudebert and Theuderic's grandmother and regent. Wood feels that this wide appeal to the Frankish episcopate and royalty was an effort to secure more support for the Gregorian mission. While on his journey to England, Mellitus received a letter from Gregory allowing Augustine to convert pagan temples to Christian churches, and to convert pagan animal sacrifices into Christian feasts, to ease the transition to Christianity. Gregory's letter marked a sea change in the missionary strategy, and was later included in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People. Usually known as the Epistola ad Mellitum, it conflicts with the letter sent to Æthelberht, which the historian R. A. Markus sees as a turning point in missionary history, when forcible conversion gave way to persuasion. This traditional view, that the Epistola represents a contradiction of the letter to Æthelberht, has been challenged by the historian and theologian George Demacopoulos, who argues that the letter to Æthelberht was mainly meant to encourage the King in spiritual matters, while the Epistola was sent to deal with purely practical matters, and thus the two do not contradict each other.
## Bishop of London
Exactly when Mellitus and his party arrived in England is unknown, but he was certainly in the country by 604, when Augustine consecrated him as bishop in the province of the East Saxons, making Mellitus the first Bishop of London after the Roman departure (London was the East Saxons' capital). The city was a logical choice for a new bishopric, as it was a hub for the southern road network. It was also a former Roman town; many of the Gregorian mission's efforts were centred in such locations. Before his consecration, Mellitus baptised Sæberht, Æthelberht's nephew, who then allowed the bishopric to be established. The episcopal church built in London was probably founded by Æthelberht, rather than Sæberht. Although Bede records that Æthelberht gave lands to support the new episcopate, a charter that claims to be a grant of lands from Æthelberht to Mellitus is a later forgery.
Although Gregory had intended London to be the southern archbishopric for the island, Augustine never moved his episcopal see to London, and instead consecrated Mellitus as a plain bishop there. After Augustine's death in 604, Canterbury continued to be the site of the southern archbishopric, and London remained a bishopric. It may have been that the Kentish king did not wish greater episcopal authority to be exercised outside his own kingdom.
Mellitus attended a council of bishops held in Italy in February 610, convened by Pope Boniface IV. The historian N. J. Higham speculates that one reason for his attendance may have been to assert the English Church's independence from the Frankish Church. Boniface had Mellitus take two papal letters back to England, one to Æthelbert and his people, and another to Laurence, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He also brought back the synod's decrees to England. No authentic letters or documents from this synod remain, although some were forged in the 1060s and 1070s at Canterbury. During his time as a bishop, Mellitus joined with Justus, the Bishop of Rochester, in signing a letter that Laurence wrote to the Celtic bishops urging the Celtic Church to adopt the Roman method of calculating the date of Easter. This letter also mentioned the fact that Irish missionary bishops, such as Dagan, refused to eat with the Roman missionaries.
Both Æthelberht and Sæberht died around 616 or 618, causing a crisis for the mission. Sæberht's three sons had not converted to Christianity, and drove Mellitus from London. Bede says that Mellitus was exiled because he refused the brothers' request for a taste of the sacramental bread. Whether this occurred immediately after Sæberht's death or later is impossible to determine from Bede's chronology, which has both events in the same chapter but gives neither an exact time frame nor the elapsed time between the two events. The historian N. J. Higham connects the timing of this episode with a change in the "overkingship" from the Christian Kentish Æthelberht to the pagan East Anglian Raedwald, which Higham feels happened after Æthelberht's death. In Higham's view, Sæberht's sons drove Mellitus from London because they had passed from Kentish overlordship to East Anglian, and thus no longer needed to keep Mellitus, who was connected with the Kentish kingdom, in office.
Mellitus fled first to Canterbury, but Æthelberht's successor Eadbald was also a pagan, so Mellitus, accompanied by Justus, took refuge in Gaul. Mellitus was recalled to Britain by Laurence, the second Archbishop of Canterbury, after his conversion of Eadbald. How long Mellitus' exile lasted is unclear. Bede claims it was a year, but it may have been longer. Mellitus did not return to London, because the East Saxons remained pagan. Although Mellitus fled, there does not seem to have been any serious persecution of Christians in the East Saxon kingdom. The East Saxon see was not occupied again until Cedd was consecrated as bishop in about 654.
## Archbishop and death
Mellitus succeeded Laurence as the third Archbishop of Canterbury after the latter's death in 619. During his tenure as archbishop, Mellitus supposedly performed a miracle in 623 by diverting a fire that had started in Canterbury and threatened the church. He was carried into the flames, upon which the wind changed direction, thus saving the building. Bede praised Mellitus' sane mind, but other than the miracle, little happened during his time as archbishop. Bede also mentioned that Mellitus suffered from gout. Boniface wrote to Mellitus encouraging him in the mission, perhaps prompted by the marriage of Æthelburh of Kent to King Edwin of Northumbria. Whether Mellitus received a pallium, the symbol of an archbishop's authority, from the pope is unknown.
Mellitus died on 24 April 624, and was buried at St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury that same day. He became revered as a saint after his death, and was allotted the feast day of 24 April. In the ninth century, Mellitus' feast day was mentioned in the Stowe Missal, along with Laurence and Justus. He was still venerated at St Augustine's in 1120, along with a number of other local saints. There was also a shrine to him at Old St Paul's Cathedral in London. Shortly after the Norman Conquest, Goscelin wrote a life of Mellitus, the first of several to appear around that time, but none contain any information not included in Bede's earlier works. These later medieval lives do, however, reveal that during Goscelin's lifetime persons suffering from gout were urged to pray at Mellitus' tomb. Goscelin records that Mellitus' shrine flanked that of Augustine, along with Laurence, in the eastern central chapel of the presbytery.
## See also
- List of members of the Gregorian mission
|
[
"## Early life",
"## Journey to England",
"## Bishop of London",
"## Archbishop and death",
"## See also"
] | 2,360 | 39,547 |
46,441,175 |
Meadow Brook (Lackawanna River tributary)
| 1,138,897,648 |
River in the United States of America
|
[
"Rivers of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania",
"Rivers of Pennsylvania",
"Tributaries of the Lackawanna River"
] |
Meadow Brook is a tributary of the Lackawanna River in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 2.0 miles (3.2 km) long and flows through Dunmore and Scranton. The watershed of the stream has an area of 2.43 square miles (6.3 km<sup>2</sup>), though it used to be considerably larger. It is designated as a Coldwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery, but many reaches of the stream have been destroyed by mining or post-mining development impacts. The stream flows through a culvert system for much of its length. However, there are areas where it is in an open concrete channel or has a natural streambed. There are also patches of old-growth forest along the stream in the Forest Hill Cemetery.
Meadow Brook has experienced significant flow loss and what flow it does have mainly consists of intermittent stormwater flows. There used to be springs, seeps, and wetlands at the stream's headwaters. However, a colliery (and later a landfill) was built over that area. The Dunmore Cemetery and the Forest Hill Cemetery are in the stream's vicinity. Meadow Brook is a first-order stream.
## Course
Meadow Brook begins near the Dunmore Cemetery in Dunmore. It flows north-northwest for a short distance before turning west for a few tenths of a mile. The stream then turns west-southwest for more than a mile, entering Scranton and losing its surface flow. It then turns southwest for a few tenths of a mile, briefly regaining its surface flow before losing it again and gaining it once more. A short distance further downstream, the stream reaches its confluence with the Lackawanna River.
Meadow Brook joins the Lackawanna River 11.83 miles (19.04 km) upriver of its mouth.
### Tributaries
Meadow Brook used to have a tributary. However, the tributary was destroyed by operations by the Price-Pancost Coal Company in the 1890s, the construction of Interstate 81, and the construction of the Marywood University campus in the 1960s.
## Hydrology and climate
Meadow Brook experiences complete flow loss in some reaches. Reaches of the stream have also been entirely destroyed by past mining or post-mining development. It mainly serves as a sewer shed and its flow consists of intermittent stormwater flows. There is one stormwater detention facility in the stream's watershed. It is owned by the Swift Fence Company.
Several combined sewer overflows in the watershed of Meadow Brook have been identified and removed since the 1990s. The stream typically has a dry streambed. Large amounts of debris have been found in the stream and the streambed, including landscape waste, floral waste, tree debris, and trash. Large deposits of sediment are also present near Jefferson Avenue.
At its mouth, the peak annual discharge of Meadow Brook has a 10 percent chance of reaching 630 cubic feet per second (18 m<sup>3</sup>/s). It has a 2 percent chance of reaching 850 cubic feet per second (24 m<sup>3</sup>/s) and a 1 percent chance of reaching 950 cubic feet per second (27 m<sup>3</sup>/s). The peak annual discharge has a 0.2 percent chance of reaching 1,110 cubic feet per second (31 m<sup>3</sup>/s). Springtime water temperature measurements of the stream have ranged from 54 to 59 °F (12 to 15 °C).
## Geography and geology
The elevation near the mouth of Meadow Brook is 692 feet (211 m) above sea level. The elevation near the stream's source is 935 feet (285 m) above sea level.
Meadow Brook has been so severely affected by urban development or historic mining that it no longer resembles a stream. It has been described as "essentially non-existent". However, some features of the stream's channel still remain. It is similar in these respects to some other streams in the area. Where the streambed is still natural, it consists of a mixture of cobbles and rocks.
The source of Meadow Brook used to be a series of springs and seeps on a ridge near the base of the Moosic Mountains. The springs also fed a complex of glacial bogs and wetlands. However, the Pennsylvania Coal Company eventually constructed the Gypsy Grove Colliery on the site, and eventually the Keystone Sanitary Landfill came to occupy the area.
Two stone arch bridges cross Meadow Brook in the Forest Hill Cemetery, where the stream still maintains a natural channel. Other reaches of the stream are above ground, but in a concrete channel. However, there is an extensive underground culvert system on the stream, and most of its length is within that system. The culvert system crosses under a dozen streets. The stream flows through seven pipes with sizes ranging from 3 to 24 inches (7.6 to 61.0 cm).
## Watershed
The watershed of Meadow Brook has an area of 2.43 square miles (6.3 km<sup>2</sup>). However, it used to have a watershed with an area of 4.0 square miles (10 km<sup>2</sup>). The stream is entirely within the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Scranton. The stream is classified as a first-order stream.
Major land uses in the watershed of Meadow Brook include high-density residential land, industrial land, and open space. The Green Ridge neighborhood is near the stream; other nearby neighborhoods include Hollywood, Marywood University, the Dunmore Cemetery, and the Forest Hill Cemetery. The Keystone Landfill and Interstate 81 are the main land uses in the vicinity of the watershed's upper reaches. A bioswale has been constructed in the stream's watershed, as have subsurface infiltration beds.
Meadow Brook is a source of flooding in the borough of Dunmore. Floodwaters from the stream during Hurricane Diane in 1955 damaged low-lying land in the borough.
## History
Meadow Brook was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1199142.
A reach of Meadow Brook from the Oral School to Sanderson Avenue was culvertized in the 1880s, during the development of the Green Ridge neighborhood. By 1900, the stream had completely lost all of its natural functions, with its base flow being lost due to underground mining. In 1909, the Pennsylvania Coal Company diverted water from the stream into the Underwood Mine Drainage Tunnel. In the 1960s, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection diverted more water to construct boreholes leading to the Underwood Tunnel. In 1995 and 1997, an artificial watershed was constructed to divert stormwater flows from Interstate 81 away from the stream.
There are several cemeteries and institutions in the middle of the watershed of Meadow Brook.
In the early 2000s, the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan recommended that the city of Scranton include protection of Meadow Brook in its zoning plans. It also recommended including the restoration of the stream in the comprehensive plan for Scranton. Restoration of the stream is impractical, but it is possible to conserve surviving stream reaches, such as those near the Dunmore Cemetery and Marywood University. The stream's culvert system between Penn Avenue and its mouth was rebuilt in 2004 in a \$6 million project funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
## Biology
The drainage basin of Meadow Brook is designated as a coldwater fishery and a migratory fishery.
In the reach near the Forest Hill Cemetery, where a natural stream channel still remains, there are some patches of old-growth forest on Meadow Brook. As of the early 2000s, more than twenty white pines, hemlocks, and red oaks with ages over 150 years inhabited this area. However, in 1996, the Cemetery Association allowed the harvesting of more than a dozen even older trees from the area. The harvested trees were between 175 and 250 years old.
In addition to old-growth forests, the understory in the Forest Hill Cemetery reach of Meadow Brook contains old-growth rhododendrons. Mountain laurel and other forested plants occur in the stream's riparian area.
In 1997, the area along a reach of Meadow Brook was noted to be suitable for small mammals such as squirrels, rabbits, and mice. However, no wildlife was observed in this reach except for birds.
## See also
- Roaring Brook (Lackawanna River), next tributary of the Lackawanna River going downriver
- Leggetts Creek, next tributary of the Lackawanna River going upriver
- List of rivers of Pennsylvania
- List of tributaries of the Lackawanna River
|
[
"## Course",
"### Tributaries",
"## Hydrology and climate",
"## Geography and geology",
"## Watershed",
"## History",
"## Biology",
"## See also"
] | 1,866 | 33,659 |
2,395,300 |
Naruto: Clash of Ninja (video game)
| 1,163,189,468 |
2003 video game
|
[
"2003 video games",
"3D fighting games",
"Eighting games",
"GameCube games",
"GameCube-only games",
"Multiplayer and single-player video games",
"Naruto video games",
"Tomy games",
"Video games developed in Japan",
"Video games scored by Shinji Hosoe",
"Video games scored by Yousuke Yasui",
"Video games with cel-shaded animation"
] |
Naruto: Clash of Ninja (激闘忍者大戦!, Naruto: Gekitō Ninja Taisen, lit. "Naruto: Great Ninja Battle") is a 3-D cel-shaded fighting game developed by Eighting and published by D3 Publisher and Tomy. It is based on the popular anime and manga series Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto, and the first installment of the Naruto: Clash of Ninja video game series. In the game, players pit two characters from the Naruto manga and anime series against each other, using basic attacks and special techniques to defeat their opponent in one of the game's modes.
Clash of Ninja was originally released in Japan on April 11, 2003, and the game was subsequently released in North America on March 7, 2006, with the only major difference being the voice-overs by the English voice actors from the Naruto anime. Critical opinions of the game have been mixed, with many praising the simple and easy-to-learn fighting system, with others lambasting the fighting system, and the lack of significant unlockable content.
## Gameplay
Over the course of the game, the player controls one of a select few characters directly based upon their counterparts in the Naruto anime and manga. Clash of Ninja is a member of the fighting game genre; the player pits their character against another character controlled by the game's AI or by another player, depending on the mode that the player is in. The objective is to reduce the opponent's health to zero using basic attacks and special techniques unique to each character that are derived from techniques they use in the Naruto anime or manga. For instance, Naruto Uzumaki is able to use his signature Shadow Clone Jutsu (影分身の術, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, English manga: "Art of the Shadow Doppelganger"), and Rock Lee utilizes many of his Strong Fist style techniques. To use these techniques, characters have available a chakra bar, which depletes upon the execution of a special technique, and regenerates over time. In the game's numerous modes, the player can choose from different styles of play. The game's story mode follows the plot from the anime and manga, and a versus mode pitting two players against each other also included.
## Development
The original Japanese version of Clash of Ninja, the first installment of the Clash of Ninja series, was developed by Eighting and published by D3 Publisher and Tomy, and released on April 11, 2003. On October 27, 2005, both Clash of Ninja and its sequel, Clash of Ninja 2, were confirmed for a 2006 release in North America. The game has a total of ten characters that come from the Land of Waves arc of the series (covers the events up to episode 19 in the anime). Masato Toyoshima, one of the executives of Eighting, stated that the game was designed to appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers. The only significant difference made by Eighting in the development between the English variant and its Japanese counterpart were the voice-overs, which were done by the English voice actors in the Naruto anime. Toyoshima claimed that the development team was especially "proud that [they] were able to accomplish" creating the cel-shaded graphics that closely matched the scenes in the Naruto anime and manga.
## Reception
Clash of Ninja has received mixed reactions from several video game publications. GameRankings gave it a score of 67.35%, while Metacritic gave it 72 out of 100. In Japan, Famitsu gave the game a score of 31 out of 40. The game sold well in North America, becoming part of Nintendo's set of Player's Choice games, which lowers the retail price to \$19.99 if the game has sold at least 250,000 copies.
The gameplay present in the game was subject to mixed opinions amongst critics. IGN lauded the game's battle system as "very balanced, amazingly quick, and still a lot of fun," but accepted that the battle designs were "a bit basic." GameSpot provided a more negative review, deriding the game's different modes as "seriously boring and predictable," as well as criticizing the lack of significant differences in the playing style of the game's characters. GameSpot characterized the voice acting as having "some of the worst stereotypes of anime voice acting," and noted the lack of unlockable items and other incentives to continue play. G4's X-Play gave Clash of Ninja two out of five stars, lambasting the fighting engine as "one of the laziest, most oversimplified engines ever seen in a 3D fighting game," and "ridiculously basic." X-Play also criticized the lack of a significant plot in the story mode and the lack of use of cutscenes or unlockable items. GameSpy commented on this, noting that "considering the charm of the source material, [the game] is really a disappointment".
The cel-shaded graphics and audio received acclaim from reviewers, with GameSpot praising the game's "smooth, powerful-looking animations," as well as extolling how "powerful sound effects and a driving soundtrack" contributed to the game's overall feel. GameSpy noted that "[the game] manages to shine in the visual department," making note of how the varied graphical details were "fluid and precise and doesn't ever slow down or become choppy." X-Play, however, considered the graphics "underwhelming," criticizing the lack of significant usage of animation and cinematic scenes, and remarking that the graphics "follow the rest of the game's lead."
## See also
- Naruto: Clash of Ninja (series)
- List of Naruto video games
|
[
"## Gameplay",
"## Development",
"## Reception",
"## See also"
] | 1,185 | 28,072 |
30,699,118 |
ASM-A-1 Tarzon
| 1,143,411,478 | null |
[
"Bell aircraft",
"Guided bombs of the United States",
"Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1949"
] |
The ASM-A-1 Tarzon, also known as VB-13, was a guided bomb developed by the United States Army Air Forces during the late 1940s. Mating the guidance system of the earlier Razon radio-controlled weapon with a British Tallboy 12,000-pound (5,400 kg) bomb, the ASM-A-1 saw brief operational service in the Korean War before being withdrawn from service in 1951.
## Design and development
Development of the VB-13 Tarzon began in February 1945, with Bell Aircraft being awarded a contract by the United States Army Air Forces for the development of a very large guided bomb. The VB-13 was a combination of a radio-command guidance system as used on the smaller VB-3 Razon ('Range And azimuth only') guided bomb with the British-developed Tallboy 12,000-pound (5,400 kg) "earthquake" bomb, known to the USAAF as M112. The 'Tarzon' name was a portmanteau, combining Tallboy, range and azimuth only, describing the weapon and guidance system; and was pronounced similarly to that of "Tarzan", the popular "ape-man" fictional character.
The VB-13, redesignated ASM-A-1 in 1948, was developed under the project code MX-674. It had an annular wing around the midsection of its body, mounted near the weapon's center of gravity. At the rear of the bomb was an octagonal tail surface containing the Razon control surfaces. Intended to be carried by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, the Tarzon bomb used the combination of AN/ARW-38 [Joint Army Navy, Piloted Aircraft, Radio, Automatic Flight or Remote Control] command link transmitter on the B-29 and an AN/URW-2 [Joint Army Navy, Utility, Radio, Automatic Flight or Remote Control] receiver on the Tarzon to provide manual command guidance of range and azimuth. This was done with visual tracking of the bomb's course, aided by a flare mounted in the tail of the weapon. Gyroscopes on board the ASM-A-1 aided in stabilisation, while a pneumatic system drove the bomb's control surfaces. The guidance system was considered effective; Tarzon proved in testing to have an accuracy of 280 feet (85 m).
In addition to the 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg) nominal weight of the Tallboy it was based on, the annular wing and control surfaces boosted the weight of Tarzon by an additional 1,100 pounds (500 kg). This made the ASM-A-1 too large and heavy to fit inside the bomb bay of a Superfortress; instead, the weapon was carried in a semi-recessed mounting, half the weapon being exposed to the airstream. This increased drag on the carrying aircraft, and caused turbulent airflow that could affect the handling of the B-29.
## Operational history
Although the VB-13 project had not reached the testing stage by the end of World War II, it avoided being cancelled, proceeding as a low-priority project. Limited testing was conducted during 1948 and 1949; additional testing at Alamogordo, New Mexico in 1950 led to the Tarzon being approved for operational service in the Korean War.
Tarzon saw its first combat use in December 1950, the ASM-A-1 replacing the Razon in operational service; the smaller weapon had been determined to be too small for effective use against bridges and other hardened targets. Used solely by the 19th Bomb Group, which had previously conducted the Razon's combat missions, the first Tarzon drop in combat took place on December 14, 1950.
The largest bomb used in combat during the war, Tarzon was used in strikes against North Korean bridges and other hardened targets, the Tarzon's improved accuracy over conventional 'dumb bombs' led to the confirmed destruction of at least six high-priority targets during approximately six months of combat use; these included a hydroelectric plant, proving the effectiveness of guided weapons against conventional targets as well as bridges.
Thirty Tarzon missions were flown between December 1950 and March 1951; the weapon's success led to a contract for the production of 1,000 additional ASM-A-1 missiles. On March 29, 1951, however, a Tarzon strike against Sinuiju went awry; the group commander's aircraft was destroyed as a result of the premature detonation of the bomb when, the aircraft suffering mechanical difficulties, the weapon was jettisoned in preparation for ditching. The thirtieth, and as it proved final, mission, three weeks following the Sinuiju mission, also suffered an unintentional detonation of a jettisoned, "safed" bomb, although this time without the loss of the aircraft.
An investigation proved that the fault lay in the construction of the bomb's tail; breaking up on impact, a 'safed' bomb would have its arming wire removed, rendering it 'unsafe' and detonating the weapon. Modifications were made to solve the problem, but the damage had been done; the safety issues, increased maintenance costs compared to conventional bombs, the fact that the bomb's guidance system required clear-day use only, rendering the bombers vulnerable to enemy fighters, and required that the weapon be released at a prime altitude for the aircraft to be in danger from enemy flak. These combined with the weapon's poor reliability – only six of twenty-eight bombs dropped successfully destroyed their targets – to result in the production order being canceled by the USAF; following this, the Tarzon program as a whole was terminated in August 1951.
## See also
- Azon
- Bat (guided bomb)
- Fritz X
- Grand Slam (bomb)
- Tallboy (bomb)
|
[
"## Design and development",
"## Operational history",
"## See also"
] | 1,203 | 44,441 |
29,103,381 |
Mycena clariviolacea
| 1,059,727,433 |
Species of fungus
|
[
"Fungi described in 2007",
"Fungi of Asia",
"Mycena"
] |
Mycena clariviolacea is a mushroom in the family Mycenaceae. First reported as a new species in 2007, it is known only from Kanagawa, Japan, where it fruits on dead fallen twigs in forests dominated by oak and chinquapin trees. Distinctive features of this species are found in its medium-sized, dark violet fruit bodies, with caps up to 25 mm (0.98 in) in diameter and slender stems that are about 30 to 40 mm (1.2 to 1.6 in) long. Microscopic characteristics include the amyloid spores (staining when treated with Melzer's reagent), the club-shaped cheilocystidia (cystidia on the gill edge) that are covered with one or more, knob-like, apical protuberances, the absence of pleurocystidia (cystidia on the gill face), and the cylindrical, diverticulate caulocystidia (cystidia on the stem).
## Taxonomy, naming, and classification
The mushroom was first collected by Japanese mycologist Haruki Takahashi in 2000, and, along with seven other Mycena species, was reported as a new species in a 2007 publication. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin words clari- (meaning "clear") and violacea ("violaceous"). The Japanese name is Shikon-sakuratake (シコンサクラタケ).
According to Takahashi, the amyloid spores, the cheilocystidia covered with one or more, knob-like, apical excrescences, the diverticulate elements in the cortical layer of cap and stem, and the diverticulate caulocystidia suggest that the species is best classified in the section Fragilipedes, as defined by the Dutch Mycena specialist Maas Geesteranus.
## Description
Depending on the age of the mushroom, the cap can range in shape from conic to convex to bell-shaped to somewhat flattened in age; it reaches 10 to 25 mm (0.4 to 1.0 in) in diameter. It is sometimes shallowly umbilicate (with a small depression like a navel), radially grooved almost to the center, and somewhat hygrophanous (changing color as it loses or absorbs water). The cap surface is dry, and pruinose (covered with what appears to be a fine white powder), but this soon sloughs off, leaving the surface smooth. Initially, the cap color is dark violet, but it later fades to grayish-violet around the edges. The whitish flesh is up to 0.5 mm thick, and lacks any distinctive taste or odor. The slender stem is 30 to 40 mm (1.2 to 1.6 in) long by 1 to 3 mm (0.04 to 0.12 in) thick, cylindrical, centrally attached to the stem, and hollow. Its surface is dry, pruinose over the entire length, and grayish-violet to dark violet in color. The base is covered with a white mycelial tomentum (a hairy covering of short, closely matted hairs). The gills are adnate (fused to the stem), and distantly spaced, with about 15–19 gills reaching the stem. The gills are up to 2.5 mm (0.1 in) broad, thin, and the same color as the cap or paler.
### Microscopic characteristics
The spores are broadly ellipsoid, smooth, colorless, amyloid (staining bluish to blue-black when treated with Melzer's reagent), thin-walled, and measure 8–9 by 5–6 μm. The basidia are 40–60 by 10–12 μm, club-shaped, and four-spored. The cheilocystidia (cystidia on the gill edge) are abundant, club-shaped, and measure 30–45 by 10–17 μm. Their tips are covered with one or more, knob-like short excrescences that are colorless and thin-walled. Pleurocystidia (cystidia on the gill face) are absent. The hymenophoral tissue (tissue of the hymenium-bearing structure) is made of thin-walled hyphae that are 12–21 μm wide, cylindrical (but often somewhat inflated), smooth, and contain cytoplasmic brownish pigment. These hyphae are dextrinoid, meaning that they stain reddish to reddish-brown in Melzer's reagent. The cap cuticle is made of parallel, bent-over hyphae that are 2–7 μm wide, and cylindrical. These hyphae are smooth, or can be covered with scattered, warty or finger-like thin-walled diverticulae that are colorless or pale brownish, and dextrinoid. The layer of hyphae underlying the cap cuticle is parallel, cylindrical, hyaline or brownish, and dextrinoid; it has short and inflated cells that are up to 48 μm wide. The stem cuticle is made of parallel, bent-over hyphae that are 3–8 μm wide, and similar to the hyphae of the cap cuticle. The caulocystidia (cystidia on the stem) are 45–88 by 5–8 μm, cylindrical, diverticulate, colorless or brownish, and thin-walled. The flesh of the stem is composed of longitudinally running, cylindrical hyphae that are 8–25 μm wide, smooth, colorless, and dextrinoid. Clamp connections are present in the cap cuticle, the stem cuticle, the gill flesh, and at the basal septa of the basidia.
### Similar species
Mycena clariviolacea is similar to the Brazilian species M. cerasina and the European M. diosma. Mycena cerasina, which belongs in the section Cerasinae of the genus Mycena, differs in having a grayish-purple cap and stem, and forming somewhat utriform (wineskin-shaped) to lageniform (flask-shaped), smooth cheilocystidia. Mycena diosma, classified in the section Calodontes, subsection Purae, may be distinguished microscopically from M. clariviolacea by its smooth, spindle-shaped cheilocystidia and pleurocystidia, and nondiverticulate hyphae in the cortical layer of cap and stem.
## Habitat and distribution
Mycena clariviolacea is known only from Kanagawa, Japan. Fruit bodies are found growing solitary or scattered, on dead fallen twigs in forests that are dominated by oak and chinquapin trees. The mushroom fruits from June to September.
|
[
"## Taxonomy, naming, and classification",
"## Description",
"### Microscopic characteristics",
"### Similar species",
"## Habitat and distribution"
] | 1,457 | 12,865 |
1,108,124 |
Old Man of Hoy
| 1,167,026,961 |
Sea stack in Orkney, Scotland
|
[
"Climbing areas of Scotland",
"Hoy",
"Landforms of Orkney",
"Stacks of Scotland",
"Tourist attractions in Orkney"
] |
The Old Man of Hoy is a 449-foot (137-metre) sea stack on Hoy, part of the Orkney archipelago off the north coast of Scotland. Formed from Old Red Sandstone, it is one of the tallest stacks in the United Kingdom. The Old Man is popular with climbers, and was first climbed in 1966. Created by the erosion of a cliff through hydraulic action some time after 1750, the stack is not more than a few hundred years old, but may soon collapse into the sea.
## Geography
The Old Man stands close to Rackwick Bay on the west coast of Hoy, in Orkney, Scotland, and can be seen from the Scrabster to Stromness ferry. From certain angles it is said to resemble a human figure.
Winds are faster than 8 metres per second (18 mph) for nearly a third of the time, and gales occur on average for 29 days a year. Combined with the depth of the sea, which quickly falls to 60 metres (200 ft), high-energy waves on the western side of Hoy lead to rapid erosion of the coast.
## Geology
The Old Man of Hoy is a red sandstone stack, perched on a plinth of basalt rock, and one of the tallest sea stacks in the UK. It is separated from the mainland by a 60-metre (200 ft) chasm strewn with debris, and has nearly vertical sides with a top just a few metres wide. The rock is composed of layers of soft, sandy and pebbly sandstone and harder flagstones of Old Red Sandstone, giving the sides a notched and slab-like profile.
## History
The Old Man is probably less than 250 years old and may be in danger of collapsing. The stack is not mentioned in the Orkneyinga saga, written c.1230, and on the Blaeu map of 1600, a headland exists at the point where the Old Man is now. The McKenzie map of Hoy of 1750 similarly shows a headland but no stack, but by 1819 the Old Man had been separated from the mainland. William Daniell sketched the sea stack at this time as a wider column with a smaller top section and an arch at the base, from which it derived its name.
Sometime in the early nineteenth century, a storm washed away one of the legs leaving it much as it is today, although erosion continues. By 1992, a 40-metre (130 ft) crack had appeared in the top of the south face, leaving a large overhanging section that will eventually collapse.
## Human activity
### Climbing
The stack was first climbed by mountaineers Chris Bonington, Rusty Baillie and Tom Patey in 1966. From 8–9 July 1967, an ascent featured in The Great Climb, a live BBC three-night outside broadcast, which had around 15 million viewers. This featured three pairs of climbers: Bonington and Patey repeated their original route, whilst two new lines were climbed by Joe Brown and Ian McNaught-Davis and by Pete Crew and Dougal Haston.
In 1997, Catherine Destivelle made a solo ascent of the Old Man of Hoy; she did so while four months pregnant; her climb is captured in the 1998 climbing film, Rock Queen. This climb was filmed and has often been credited as the first solo ascent, but the Old Man had previously been soloed in October 1985 by Scots climber Bob Duncan; like Destivelle, he backroped the second, crux pitch, though he also backroped the top pitch because "it looked harder from below than it turned out to be".
Red Széll became the first blind person to climb the Old Man, despite suffering from retinitis pigmentosa that left him with 5% vision. With assistance from Martin Moran and Nick Carter, he scaled the stack in 2013.
The youngest person to climb the Old Man is Edward Mills, who was 8 years old when he completed the climb in 4 hours 55 minutes on 9 June 2018, to raise money for the charity Climbers Against Cancer as his mother had terminal breast cancer. He was accompanied by his trainers, Ben West and Cailean Harker.
In 2019, Jesse Dufton became the first blind climber to lead an ascent on Old Man of Hoy. The climb was the subject of the 2020 film Climbing Blind.
The youngest female to climb the Old Man of Hoy is Sophia Wood, who was 10 years old when she completed the climb in just over 3 hours. She traveled from the southeast of Virginia USA to Hoy Scotland UK and completed the climb with her two guides Edmund Hastings and Alex Riley. Sophia used this climb to start a fundraiser to help introduce climbing to kids with the "Boys and Girls Club" in her local area.
There are seven routes up the stack, the most commonly used of which is the original landward facing East Face Route, graded E1 5b (Extremely Severe). A log book in a Tupperware container is buried in a cairn on the summit, as an ascensionists' record. As many as fifty ascents of the stack are made each year.
### Highline
On 10 July 2017, Alexander Schulz completed a highline walk to and from the summit, at 137 m (449 ft) above the sea on a line 180 m (200 yd) long.
### BASE jumping
Roger Holmes, Gus Hutchison-Brown, and Tim Emmett made the first BASE jump from the stack on 14 May 2008. Hutchinson-Brown died 11 days later during a jump in Switzerland. On 27 July 2019, two Poles, Filip Kubica and Dominik Grajner repeated BASE jumped from the top.
## See also
- Clogwyn Du'r Arddu, major British rock climbing venue
|
[
"## Geography",
"## Geology",
"## History",
"## Human activity",
"### Climbing",
"### Highline",
"### BASE jumping",
"## See also"
] | 1,248 | 35,639 |
2,665,125 |
Pieter Nuyts
| 1,157,057,640 |
Dutch explorer, diplomat and politician (1598–1655)
|
[
"1598 births",
"1655 deaths",
"17th-century Dutch explorers",
"Colonial governors of Dutch Formosa",
"Early modern Netherlandish cartography",
"Explorers of South Australia",
"Explorers of Western Australia",
"Leiden University alumni",
"Maritime history of the Dutch East India Company",
"Mayors in Zeeland",
"People from Hulst",
"People from Middelburg, Zeeland",
"Sailors on ships of the Dutch East India Company"
] |
Pieter Nuyts or Nuijts (1598 – 11 December 1655) was a Dutch explorer, diplomat and politician.
He was part of a landmark expedition of the Dutch East India Company in 1626–27 which mapped the southern coast of Australia. He became the Dutch ambassador to Japan in 1627, and he was appointed governor of Formosa in the same year. Later he became a controversial figure because of his disastrous handling of official duties, coupled with rumours about private indiscretions. He was disgraced, fined and imprisoned, before being made a scapegoat to ease strained Dutch relations with the Japanese. He returned to the Dutch Republic in 1637, where he became the mayor of Hulster Ambacht and of Hulst.
He is chiefly remembered today in the place names of various points along the southern Australian coast, named for him after his voyage of 1626–27. During the early 20th century, he was vilified in Japanese school textbooks in Taiwan as an example of a "typical arrogant western bully".
## Early life
Pieter Nuyts was born in 1598 in the town of Middelburg in Zeeland, Dutch Republic to Laurens Nuyts, a merchant, and his wife Elisabeth Walraents, wealthy Protestant immigrants from Antwerp. After studying at the University of Leiden and gaining a doctorate in philosophy, he returned to Middelburg to work in his father's trading company.
In 1613, Pieter Nuyts, who was staying in Leiden with the famous Orientalist Erpenius, is known to have met with the Moroccan envoy in the Low Countries Al-Hajari. Al-Hajari wrote for him an entry in Pieter's Album Amicorum stating:
> The excellent young man Peter Niutsius has asked me to write something for him, so I say to him: Be obedient to the commands of the almighty God and do not worship anyone but him, and be obedient to your parents and humble towards them ...
In 1620, Pieter married Cornelia Jacot, also a child of Antwerp émigrés, who was to bear four of his children—Laurens (born around 1622), Pieter (1624) and the twins Anna Cornelia and Elisabeth (1626). In 1626 he entered service with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and was seen as one of their rising stars.
## Australian expedition
On 11 May 1626 the VOC ship 't Gulden Zeepaert (The Golden Seahorse) departed from Amsterdam with Nuyts and his eldest son Laurens aboard. Deviating from the standard route to the VOC's East Asian Batavia headquarters, the ship continued east and mapped around 1,500 km of the southern coast of Australia from Albany, Western Australia to Ceduna, South Australia. The captain of the ship, François Thijssen, named the region ′t Landt van Pieter Nuyts (Pieter Nuyts' Land) after Nuyts, who was the highest-ranking official on the ship. Today several areas in the state of South Australia still bear his name, such as Nuyts Reef, Cape Nuyts and the Nuyts Archipelago; names given by the British navigator and cartographer Matthew Flinders. Later Nuytsia floribunda, the Western Australian Christmas Tree, was also named for him.
## Ambassador to Japan
On 10 May 1627, a month after completing his Australian voyage, Nuyts was simultaneously appointed both governor of Formosa (Taiwan) and ambassador to Japan for the Dutch East India Company, travelling in this capacity to the court of the shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu, ruler of Japan. At the same time Hamada Yahei, a Japanese trader based in Nagasaki with frequent business in Formosa, had taken a group of sixteen native Formosans to Japan and had them pose as rulers of Formosa. His plan was to have the Formosans grant sovereignty over Taiwan to the shōgun, while Nuyts was in Japan to assert rival Dutch claims on the island. Both embassies were refused an audience with the shōgun (the Dutch failure being variously attributed to Nuyts's "haughty demeanour and the antics of his travel companions" and "Hamada's machinations at the court").
## Governor of Formosa
On returning from his unsuccessful mission to Japan, Nuyts took up his position as the third governor of Formosa, with his residence in Fort Zeelandia in Tayouan (modern-day Anping). One of his early aims was to force an opening for the Dutch to trade in China — something which had eluded them since they arrived in East Asia in the early 17th century. To further this goal, he took the Chinese trade negotiator Zheng Zhilong hostage and refused to release him until he agreed to give the Dutch trading privileges. More than thirty years later it was to be Zheng's son Koxinga who ended the reign of the Dutch on Formosa.
Nuyts acquired some notoriety while governor for apparently taking native women to his bed, and having a translator hide under the bed to interpret his pillow-talk. He was also accused of profiting from private trade, something which was forbidden under company rules. Some sources claim that he officially married a native Formosan woman during this time, but as he was still legally married to his first wife Cornelia, this seems unlikely.
His handling of relations with the natives of Formosa too was a cause for concern, with the residents of Sinkan contrasting his harsh treatment with the "generous hospitality of the Japanese". Nuyts had a low opinion of the natives, writing that they were "a simple, ignorant people, who know neither good nor evil". In 1629 he narrowly escaped death when after being feted at the aboriginal village of Mattau, the locals took advantage of the relaxed and convivial atmosphere to slaughter sixty off-guard Dutch soldiers—Nuyts was spared by having left early to return to Zeelandia. This incident was later used as a justification for the Pacification Campaign of 1635–36.
It was during Nuyts' tenure as governor that the Spanish established their presence on Formosa in 1629. He was greatly concerned by this development, and wrote to Batavia urgently requesting an expedition to dislodge the Spanish from their strongholds in Tamsuy and Kelang. In his letter he stressed the potential for the Spanish to interfere with Dutch activities and the trade benefits the Dutch could gain by taking the north of the island. The colonial authorities ignored his request, and took no action against the Spanish until 1641.
### Hostage crisis
The already troubled relations with Japanese merchants in Tayouan took a turn for the worse in 1628 when tensions boiled over. The merchants, who had been trading in Taiwan long before the Dutch colony was established, refused to pay Dutch tolls levied for conducting business in the area, which they saw as unfair. Nuyts exacted revenge on the same Hamada Yahei who he blamed for causing the failure of the Japanese embassy by impounding his ships and weapons until the tolls were paid. However, the Japanese were still not inclined to pay taxes, and the affair came to a head when Hamada took Nuyts hostage at knifepoint in his own office. Hamada's demands were for the return of their ships and property, and for safe passage to return to Japan. These requests were granted by the Council of Formosa (the ruling body of Dutch Formosa), and Nuyts' son Laurens was taken back to Japan as one of six Dutch hostages. Laurens died in Omura prison on 29 December 1631. During the Japanese era in Taiwan (1895–1945), school history textbooks retold the hostage-taking as the Nuyts Incident (ヌィッチ事件, noitsu jiken), portraying the Dutchman as a "typical arrogant western bully who slighted Japanese trading rights and trod on the rights of the native inhabitants".
## Extradition to Japan
The Dutch were very keen to resume the lucrative trade with Japan which had been choked off in the wake of the dispute between Nuyts and Hamada at the behest of the Japanese authorities in Edo. All their overtures to the Japanese court failed, until they decided to extradite Pieter Nuyts to Japan for the shōgun to punish him as he saw fit. This was an unprecedented step, and was representative of both the extreme official displeasure with Nuyts in the Dutch hierarchy and the strong desire to recommence Japanese trade. It also demonstrates the relative weakness of the Dutch when confronted by powerful East Asian states such as Japan, and recent historiography has suggested that the Dutch relied on the mercy of these states to maintain their position.
A measure of the upset he caused to the Dutch authorities can be gauged by the contents of a letter from VOC Governor-General Anthony van Diemen to VOC headquarters in Amsterdam in 1636, expressing his concern about plans to send a highly paid lawyer to Batavia to draw up a legal code:
> I wonder whether these highly intelligent people do not perform more disservices than services in these quarters, witness the cases of Martinus Sonck, Pieter Nuyts, Pieter Vlack, Antonio van den Heuvel, and others, who have been used to the great disadvantage of the Company ... The Company can draw better resources from experienced, vigilant merchants with alert minds.
Nuyts was held under house arrest by the Japanese from 1632 until 1636, when he was released and sent back to Batavia. During this period he passed the time by mining his collection of classical Latin texts by writers such as Cicero, Seneca, and Tacitus to write treatises on subjects such as the elephant and the Nile Delta, exercises which were designed to display rhetorical flair and high style. He also further annoyed Dutch authorities by spending lavish sums on clothing and food, things for which the VOC had to foot the bill.
Nuyts was released from captivity in 1636, most likely due to the efforts of François Caron, who knew Nuyts from serving as his interpreter during the unsuccessful Japanese embassy of 1627. On returning from Japan, Nuyts was fined by the VOC, before being dishonorably dismissed from the company and sent back to the Netherlands.
## Return to the Dutch Republic
On returning to his home country he first went back to his city of birth Middelburg, before starting a career as a local administrator in Zeelandic Flanders, and settling in Hulst shortly after the town had been wrested from the Spanish in 1645. He eventually rose to be three times mayor of Hulster Ambacht and twice mayor of Hulst. Thanks to powerful allies in the Middelburg chamber of the VOC he was able to successfully appeal for the cancellation of the fines placed on him, and the money was returned. In 1640 he married Anna van Driel, who died that same year while giving birth to Nuyts' third son, also called Pieter. In 1649 he married his third (or perhaps fourth) and final wife, Agnes Granier, who was to outlive him.
### Death
Nuyts died on 11 December 1655 and was buried in a churchyard in Hulst. The tombstone remained until 1983, when it was destroyed during renovations of the church. After his funeral it was discovered that he had collected more taxes from his estates than he had handed over to the authorities; his son Pieter eventually repaid his father's debts. It was the younger Pieter who also arranged the posthumous publication of his father's treatise Lof des Elephants, in 1670 — a single known copy of which still exists, in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in The Hague.
|
[
"## Early life",
"## Australian expedition",
"## Ambassador to Japan",
"## Governor of Formosa",
"### Hostage crisis",
"## Extradition to Japan",
"## Return to the Dutch Republic",
"### Death"
] | 2,495 | 17,248 |
19,826,979 |
Main Navy and Munitions Buildings
| 1,145,707,304 |
20th-century temporary war buildings on the National Mall
|
[
"1918 establishments in Washington, D.C.",
"Buildings of the United States government in Washington, D.C.",
"Demolished buildings and structures in Washington, D.C.",
"Installations of the U.S. Department of Defense"
] |
The Main Navy and Munitions Buildings were constructed in 1918 along Constitution Avenue (then known as B Street) on Washington, D.C.'s National Mall (Potomac Park) as the largest of a set of temporary war buildings on the National Mall. Both buildings were constructed by the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks, with the United States Department of War occupying the Munitions Building. To make the buildings more resistant to fire, the buildings were constructed using concrete. With solid construction, the temporary buildings remained in use long after the end of World War I.
In August 1939, the Secretary of War relocated his offices from the overcrowded State-War-Navy Building (Old Executive Office Building) to the Munitions Building. The Department of War headquarters remained in the Munitions Building, through the early years of World War II, until 1942, when some space became available in the Pentagon, which was under construction. The Munitions Building was turned over to the Navy in 1943, when the Department of War completely vacated the Munitions Building once construction of the Pentagon was completed.
Both buildings suffered serious structural problems in the 1960s. In December 1969, President Richard Nixon announced that both buildings would be demolished, a plan which was carried out in 1970. The land was then reclaimed and turned into Constitution Gardens, with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial built near the former Munitions Building site in the early 1980s.
## Construction
Constructing the Munitions and Main Navy Buildings was an idea conceived by Franklin D. Roosevelt, then the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, who put forth the idea to President Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt originally suggested a temporary building be placed on the Ellipse, but President Wilson disliked the idea of a building on the White House's front lawn. Thus, Roosevelt suggested placing the buildings on the National Mall (Potomac Park) along B Street (renamed Constitution Avenue in 1931), near the Lincoln Memorial. Roosevelt wanted them to be ugly wooden buildings, so that people would want to tear them down right away after World War I. However, to make the buildings more fire resistant, concrete and steel materials were recommended. Roosevelt later expressed regret for allowing these building to be constructed, saying in 1941, "I didn't think I would ever be let into the Gates of Heaven, because I had been responsible for desecrating the parks of Washington."
The project was originally intended for just the Navy, but the Department of War also wanted in on the project, thus two buildings were proposed. With concrete construction not unreasonably more expensive than a wood frame building, Congress accepted the proposal for concrete buildings, and approved the funds for the project in March 1918. The task of design and construction of the buildings was given to the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks, and the buildings were completed in 51⁄2 months. The primary designer of the buildings was Lieutenant Commander Frederic W. Southworth, chief architect of the Bureau, under the supervision of Commander Archibald L. Parsons.
## Munitions Building
The Munitions Building, constructed in 1918, contained 841,000 square feet (78,100 m<sup>2</sup>) of space across three stories, and was designed to provide temporary accommodations for 9,000 Department of War employees. During World War I, the War Department had greatly expanded, and by the end of the war, the Main Navy and Munitions Building together housed 14,000 military personnel, including the Secretary of the Navy. A large parking lot 100 feet (30 m) wide and 1⁄2 mile (800 m) long, was located at the rear of the Munitions Building, with space to accommodate approximately 1,000 cars. Various small exhibits were on display in the corridors of the Munitions Buildings, showing military uniforms, types of gas masks, military daily rations, and Army photographs. The Munitions Building was separated from the Main Navy Building by a vehicle entryway at 19th Street, and the main entrance of the Munitions Building was located at 20th Street. The Munitions Building had a total of eight wings.
At the end of World War I, the Munitions Building housed technical branches, including the Quartermaster General, United States Army Corps of Engineers, Ordnance Corps, Chemical Warfare Service, Signal Corps, and Army Air Service. In March 1923, the Army's Finance Office also moved into the Munitions Building. In February 1924, plans were put forth to build an oil steam plant for the Main Navy and Munitions Building. In November 1933, the Army Inspector General's office, along with the Organized Reserves, the welfare section of the Secretary's office, and the Office of Chief of Chaplains moved into the Munitions Building. The National Guard Bureau also was housed in the Munitions Building, as was the Army Industrial College.
### Headquarters
At the time when the Munitions Building was constructed, the War Department was headquartered in the State-War-Navy Building, which was completed in 1888 and located on 17th Street NW, next to the White House. By the 1930s, the War Department was being squeezed out by the Department of State, and the White House was also in need of additional office space. In August 1939, Secretary of War Harry H. Woodring, along with Acting Chief of Staff of the Army George C. Marshall, moved his office into the Munitions Building. In the late 1930s, a new War Department Building was constructed at 21st and C Streets in Foggy Bottom, but upon completion, the new building did not solve the department's space problem, and ended up being used by the Department of State. To help deal with the space shortage, a fourth story was added to the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings during World War II.
Coming into office, with World War II breaking out in Europe, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson was faced with the situation of the War Department spread out in numerous buildings across Washington, D.C., as well as Maryland and Virginia, and the Munitions Building was overcrowded. On 28 July 1941, Congress authorized funding for a new Department of War building in Arlington, Virginia, which would house the entire department under one roof. When office space became available in 1942 at the Pentagon in the first completed wing, the Secretary of War vacated the Munitions Building and moved to the Pentagon. The Department of War vacated the Munitions Building in 1943, once construction of the Pentagon was completed. The Department of Navy took over the Munitions Building once the Department of War relocated out of the building, and placed the Navy's Material Systems Command offices in the Munitions Building.
### World War II
The Signal Intelligence Service was located in the Munitions Building during the early years of World War II. In September 1939, the Signal Intelligence Service was able to break Japan's cipher, Purple. The Department of War continued to receive intercepted messages, codenamed Magic, including final messages to the Japanese Embassy in Washington before the Attack on Pearl Harbor.
## Main Navy
The Main Navy building was used by the Navy from the time it was built, until it was demolished in 1970. The building contained 940,000 square feet (87,000 m<sup>2</sup>) of space, nine wings, and was connected to the Munitions Building by an elevated covered walkway.
Navy offices housed in the Main Navy building soon after it opened included the Bureau of Ships, Bureau of Navigation, Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, Bureau of Steam Engineering, Bureau of Construction and Repair, the Bureau of Yards and Docks, Bureau of Ordnance, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, the Secretary of Navy's offices, along with Naval Operations, and the Compensation Board. Later on, other Navy Offices moved into Main Navy, including the Dispensary, the Navy Red Cross, Examining Board, and Retiring Board, which were previously housed in Corcoran Courts, an apartment building converted into offices. The Hydrographic Office and United States Marine Corps moved to Main Navy from a Navy Annex building, located at New York Avenue and 18th Street, and the United States Coast Guard relocated from the Munsey Building. The Navy Department Library was relocated to the Main Navy building in 1923. From 1926 to 1941, a small reinforced concrete roof penthouse on the Main Navy building was used for radio and communication intercepts training.
## Criticism
The Main Navy and Munitions Buildings were disliked by many, as going against the intentions of Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant of making the National Mall into an open space surrounded by aesthetically pleasing government buildings. The Munitions and Navy buildings were described as "unsightly shacks, of which many scores sprung up like mushrooms during the war". Due to their solid construction, some were concerned that the buildings would remain for a long period.
## Demolition
By 1960, the Munitions Building housed approximately 7,000 employees of not only the Navy, but also the Army, Air Force, Veterans Administration, and the Department of State. After decades of use, the building experienced structural problems in the late 1950s and 1960s, including cracked concrete piers, numerous interior cracked and bent walls, and settling floors. The buildings, constructed on marshy parkland, were damp and the foundations settling. Portions of the buildings were declared unsafe in 1969, resulting in approximately 3,000 employees relocating to other facilities. In December 1969, President Richard Nixon announced a plan for demolishing the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings. The plan involved moving Navy employees to new buildings in the Crystal City and Ballston areas in Arlington, Virginia. The Main Navy and Munitions Buildings remained on the Mall until 1970, when they were demolished.
In the 1970s, Constitution Gardens was built on the former site of the Main Navy and Munitions Buildings, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was built nearby in the early 1980s.
## In popular culture
The buildings are briefly featured in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora! and are used as a backdrop setting in the matters of the War Department leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Shortly after the film was made, the buildings were demolished.
|
[
"## Construction",
"## Munitions Building",
"### Headquarters",
"### World War II",
"## Main Navy",
"## Criticism",
"## Demolition",
"## In popular culture"
] | 2,153 | 9,056 |
73,873,871 |
Bellona's Husband: A Romance
| 1,169,198,197 |
1887 novel by William James Roe
|
[
"1887 American novels",
"1887 science fiction novels",
"Novels set on Mars",
"Utopian novels",
"Works published under a pseudonym"
] |
Bellona's Husband: A Romance is an 1887 science fiction novel by William James Roe, published under his pseudonym Hudor Genone. It is a tale of a utopian society on Mars where everyone ages backwards, identified by John Clute in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction as possibly the first story to revolve around the conceit.
It received mixed reviews upon release, and later assessments have largely reiterated the main points thereof. Critics felt that it did not live up to Roe's previous novel, the 1886 satirical novel Inquirendo Island, nor to the works of satirist Jonathan Swift. Several of them nevertheless appreciated the humorous aspects, while the overall writing quality in terms if plot and pacing was generally found to be lacking. The notion of Martians speaking English was also derided as implausible.
## Synopsis
Protagonist Archibald Holt invests a moderate sum of money in the latest invention of Professor Garrett: a spaceship in the form of an "ethereal disc", powered by the novel material "hydrogenium" which enables anti-gravity. They take off for Mars alongside a third member of the expedition, Trip. On approach, they see that the Martian moons of Deimos and Phobos are also spacecraft, albeit abandoned ones. Upon landing on Mars, they spot a naked old man wandering in the wilderness; Garrett postulates that he has been left to die as a form of Malthusian population control. Once they enter Martian society, they discover that the Martians speak English. Garrett worries that this means that Mars has been settled from Earth and that the patent for his method of space travel would thus be invalid. It turns out, however, to be a result of life developing in the same way on Mars as on Earth, and the Martians have evolved further than Earth in achieving a universal language spoken by all across the planet. The trio quickly run afoul of the Martian legal system, which is based on strict adherence to the literal truth at all times.
Holt—although he is already married on Earth—falls in love with a Martian woman, Bellona Harbinger, and the two are engaged. At this point, the Earthmen discover that the Martians age backwards—the old man they saw upon arrival was in fact being born, not dying. Bellona, though she looks to be in her twenties, is in fact eighty years old and a widow several times over. Holt is tasked with finding Bellona's uncle, who is due to be born. He finds a man who fits the description, but grows suspicious when he recognizes the man's shoes as Earth-made. The man reveals himself to be Cuban physicist Palma Zanchese, who had ventured to Mars before Garrett's expedition and been mistaken for a magical "never-aging" (i.e. never growing younger) Martian when he went for a swim, and had decided to play along. Zanchese and Holt combine the last of the hydrogenium left from their respective journeys to power a single spaceship and go back to Earth, leaving Garrett and Trip behind on Mars.
## Publication history
Bellona's Husband: A Romance was written by US author William James Roe (1843–1921), who wrote speculative fiction under the pseudonym Hudor Genone and conventional fiction under his own name. He also used other pseudonyms, including G. I. Cervus and Viroe. The book was published in 1887 by US publishing house J. B. Lippincott & Co. under the Genone pseudonym. Through the 20th century, it never saw a reprint.
Roe had previously written the satirical novel Inquirendo Island, which was published by G. P. Putnam's Sons in 1886, also under the Genone pseudonym. Bellona's Husband was marketed as "by Hudor Genone, author of Inquirendo Island. Roe's later novel The Last Tenet Imposed upon the Khan of Thomathoz was published in 1892 by Charles H. Kerr & Company, likewise as by Genone.
## Reception
### Contemporary
Reviews upon initial release were mixed. An 1887 review in the New-York Tribune, reprinted by various outlets, said that while the work demonstrated a certain amount of talent in its author, the execution was "not free from the defect of clumsiness". Maurice F. Egan, in the October 1887 edition of The Catholic World, described the story as "amusing but not very carefully written". A review in the September 15, 1887 edition of New York magazine The Independent said that while the book is occasionally rather humorous—describing it as a burlesque—the author "as a satirist shows but a dull pen". The review also criticized the moral tone of the work and a perceived lack of refinement, concluding that the book is "a skit for the smoking-room rather than for the library-table".
On the negative side, a review in the July 30, 1887 edition of New York magazine The Critic said the only good aspect of the book was the concept of Martians aging backwards, finding the plot to be otherwise "coarse, disagreeable, and flat", and describing the general impression as "a long, elaborate, and exhaustive effort to be funny". The October 1887 edition of The Atlantic Monthly similarly said "Mere eccentricity is far removed from originality and this bewildering, crazy piece of fiction has not the charm of good-natured nonsense."
On the positive side, the June 25, 1887 edition of Philadelphia publication The American described the book as "deliciously absurd yet thoughtfully natural" and gave it a strong recommendation for its humorous qualities above all, while finding the pacing to be overly slow at times and recommending skipping the postface for reasons of undercutting the book's serious messages. A brief book description in the June 1887 edition of Book Chat pointed to the courtship as an interesting part of the novel. The July 2, 1887 edition of Public Opinion said that the book had serious flaws but was nevertheless an enjoyable read, and predicted that it would be "soundly berated by a few, and extravagantly applauded by thousands who will read the strange story with wonder and delight". In particular, the review commended the depiction of the Martian society as a vehicle for satire and social commentary, even if not reaching the quality of the works of Jonathan Swift or Jules Verne. The August 15, 1887 edition of The American Bookseller commended the humour of the piece and particularly the satire element, saying that those factors outweighed what deficiencies there are to be found in the storytelling, and concluding that "There is an undeniable vein of talent in the author". The Annual American Catalogue edition for 1887 described its main characteristics as "originality and a rather broad humor".
Recurring features in these reviews include commenting on the implausibility of Martians speaking English, and comparing it at least somewhat unfavourably to Roe's previous work, the 1886 novel Inquirendo Island.
### Later
E. F. Bleiler, in the 1990 reference work Science-Fiction: The Early Years, commends the mystery aspect while commenting that the book lacks "the clarity of Inquirendo Island". Science fiction critic Robert Crossley [Wikidata], in the 2011 non-fiction book Imagining Mars: A Literary History, writes that "[o]f all the Martian books of the 1880s and 1890s, Bellona's [Husband] is closest to being pure whimsy." In Crossley's opinion, the book does not reach the satirical quality of the works of Jonathan Swift, but nevertheless serves as a forerunner for later works of satire set on Mars. Writing in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, John Clute comments that Bellona's Husband: A Romance "may be the earliest example of the Time in Reverse tale presented in full-fledged narrative form"; David Langford mentions a brief thought experiment in Plato's c. 360 BCE work Statesman as an earlier example of aging backwards and Enrique Gaspar's 1887 short story "El anacronópete" as an early example of certain events being seen to unfold in reverse. More generally, says Clute, "Genone's novels stand out by virtue of the intermittent but genuine pungency of their thought". Mike Ashley comments that the work is an example of the trend at the time to have Martians speaking English as a consequence of parallel evolution, and George Edgar Slusser identifies it as belonging to the tradition of utopian fiction set on Mars.
## See also
- Mars in fiction
- Other stories from this era set on Mars:
- Across the Zodiac (1880), by Percy Greg
- Mr. Stranger's Sealed Packet (1889), by Hugh MacColl
- A Plunge into Space (1890), by Robert Cromie
- Journey to Mars (1894), by Gustavus W. Pope
|
[
"## Synopsis",
"## Publication history",
"## Reception",
"### Contemporary",
"### Later",
"## See also"
] | 1,860 | 13,564 |
53,805,322 |
Theoris of Lemnos
| 1,129,675,779 |
4th-century BC Greek woman
|
[
"4th-century BC Greek people",
"4th-century BC Greek women",
"4th-century BC deaths",
"Ancient Greek businesspeople",
"Ancient Lemnos",
"Ancient businesswomen",
"People executed for witchcraft",
"People from Lemnos",
"Year of birth unknown"
] |
Theoris of Lemnos (Ancient Greek: Θεωρίς) (died before 323 BC) was an ancient Greek woman from Lemnos who lived in Athens in the fourth century BC. She worked as a witch or folk-healer. At some point before 323, she was tried and executed along with her children, though the precise details of her offence are unclear. Three ancient accounts survive of her prosecution, which constituted the most detailed account of a witch trial to survive from Classical Greece.
## Accounts
The trial of Theoris of Lemnos is the best-known of several classical Athenian trials of women who practiced magic; it is also the best-attested, appearing in three ancient sources. The earliest and most detailed source is Demosthenes' speech Against Aristogeiton, which was addressed to jurors in the trial of Aristogeiton, an Athenian orator. The speech mentions Theoris because of her connection to Eunomus, the brother of Aristogeiton. The speaker attempts to persuade the jury that Eunomus' testimony should be ignored, in part because of his own questionable past, and his involvement in the affair which, according to the speaker, caused Theoris to be convicted and executed.
> It was this man [Eunomus, brother of Aristogeiton] who took the potions and incantations from the maidservant of Theoris of Lemnos, the filthy sorceress whom you executed for these things, both her and all her family. The maidservant informed against her mistress, and this evildoer has had children by her, and with her help performs his tricks and acts of deceit, and says he treats those who are seized by fits, when he himself is caught in acts of wickedness of every kind.
The brief account of Theoris' trial given in Demosthenes' speech seems to assume that the jury will have been familiar with the trial, suggesting that Theoris' case was well-known. Two later versions of the story of Theoris also survive, both based on the one in Against Aristogeiton. One is by the Hellenistic atthidographer Philochorus, cited by Harpocration in the second century AD; the other is from Plutarch's biography of Demosthenes, which also dates to the second century AD. Plutarch's account of the case seems to conflate the story of Theoris with that of another woman mentioned in the speeches of Demosthenes, Ninos, who was executed in the 350s or 340s BC – apparently for performing rites which mocked the Dionysian mysteries.
## Life
Theoris was originally from the island of Lemnos, but lived in Athens. Lemnos had been controlled by Athens since 390 BC, and so Theoris may have been an Athenian citizen; alternatively she may have been one of the "dispossessed" Lemnians who were not from Athenian settlements on the island. Theoris had children, but there is no mention of a husband in the ancient sources. Her children may have been fathered by Eunomus, the brother of Aristogeiton, though Demosthenes' text is not clear on this. Her household also included the maidservant who, according to Demosthenes, denounced Theoris, which suggests that she had some level of wealth.
Theoris was apparently some kind of magic user. Demosthenes describes her as a pharmakis, literally a provider of drugs and potions, but in this context meaning a witch or sorceress, and Philochorus calls her a mantis or 'seer'. These two descriptions are not necessarily incompatible: though the terms pharmakis and mantis both have specific meanings, magic users in ancient Greece did not necessarily restrict themselves to one type of supernatural activity, and the same person might both tell fortunes and supply pharmaka. According to Demosthenes, Eunomus – who acquired Theoris' potions and incantations after her death – claimed to be able to cure epilepsy, and Theoris may also have claimed that her pharmaka could heal. Plutarch describes Theoris as a hiereia or priestess – though, unusually for Plutarch, does not identify the deity she served – but he may be conflating her with Ninos.
Some time before 323 Theoris was put on trial in Athens, convicted, and executed along with her children. Plutarch claims that the prosecution was brought by Demosthenes. It is not certain exactly what crime Theoris was charged with, as the surviving ancient sources differ. According to Demosthenes it was for casting incantations and using harmful drugs; Philochorus reports that she was charged with asebeia (impiety); and Plutarch says that she was convicted of "committing many misdeeds and teaching the slaves to deceive".
## Crime
Most of the scholarly attention to the case of Theoris has focused on identifying the exact charge which was brought against her, which is complicated by the brevity of and inconsistencies between the three ancient sources which discuss her.
In classical Athens, using magic was not in itself criminal, though using potions or drugs to kill was. Derek Collins suggests that Theoris was probably charged with this crime, intentional homicide by poisoning. If that were the case, she would have been tried before the Areopagus. Alternatively, she may have been charged with bouleusis (planning) to commit homicide, and been tried at the Palladion. As Theoris' family were executed with her, Collins argues that the former scenario is more likely.
According to Philochorus, Theoris was prosecuted for asebeia. In classical Athens, the law against asebeia potentially applied to a very wide variety of possible actions: the law probably did not define what constituted impiety, and it will have been the responsibility of the prosecutor to show that the accused's actions were covered under the law. Michael Rinella argues that sorcery could be prosecuted under the law against impiety. However, Collins argues that this was not the case, as aside from Theoris there is no evidence for the prosecution of witches in classical Athens.
Matthew Dickie argues that Philochorus is correct in identifying Theoris' crime as asebeia. He observes that only in the most serious cases, such as asebeia, were slaves encouraged to denounce their owners; the fact that according to Against Aristogeiton Theoris' maid informed against her suggests that her crime was asebeia rather than simple homicide. Esther Eidinow suggests that Theoris's offences were more to do with offending religious or social sensibilities. She argues that if Theoris had been prosecuted for homicide, the charge would have been described more explicitly in Against Aristogeiton – as it is in Antiphon's speech Against the Stepmother for Poisoning which uses the word phonos ('homicide') to describe a similar crime. A charge of impiety, according to Eidinow, would better explain the reluctance to specify the charge against her in Against Aristogeiton and would explain the description of her in that speech as miaros ('polluted').
|
[
"## Accounts",
"## Life",
"## Crime"
] | 1,491 | 24,140 |
73,971,288 |
Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years
| 1,169,936,978 |
1998 reference work by E. F. Bleiler and Richard Bleiler
|
[
"1998 non-fiction books",
"20th-century encyclopedias",
"Encyclopedias of literature",
"Science fiction studies"
] |
Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years is a 1998 reference work covering the history of English-language science fiction magazines from 1926 to 1936, comprising 1,835 individual stories by more than 500 different authors across a total of 345 issues from 14 magazines. It was written by E. F. Bleiler with the assistance of his son Richard Bleiler, a follow-up to their previous Science-Fiction: The Early Years (1990).
The book received positive reviews, with critics commending its comprehensiveness and level of detail. Reviewers found it to live up to the standards set by its predecessor. Several critics described it as indispensable; science fiction scholars James E. Gunn and Gary Westfahl both commented that their own previous research would have been greatly aided by the book, had it been available to them.
## Creation
Science-Fiction: The Gernsback Years was conceived of as a follow-up to E. F. Bleiler's previous bibliographical reference works, The Guide to Supernatural Fiction (1983) and Science-Fiction: The Early Years (1990). The title refers to science fiction editor Hugo Gernsback, who created the first science fiction magazine—Amazing Stories—in 1926, coined the term "scientifiction", and for whom the science fiction literature Hugo Award is named. E. F. Bleiler researched and summarized the primary literature, while his son Richard Bleiler tracked down biographical and bibliographical details.
## Contents
The book begins with a preface and introduction by Bleiler providing background information. This includes an outline of the approach taken and an overview of the magazines, as well as two tables tracking the use of various motifs and story formulas across the time period.
The main portion of the book consists of a complete catalogue of all stories published in English-language science fiction magazines between 1926 (when Gernsback founded Amazing) and 1936 (the year Gernsback sold Wonder Stories). The magazines in question include the major publications Amazing, Wonder, and Astounding Stories, as well as their spinoffs such as Amazing Stories Annual and Amazing Stories Quarterly, and minor publications like Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazine and Miracle Science and Fantasy Stories. A total of 345 issues from 14 different magazines are covered, of which all but the British publication Scoops are from the United States. The stories are arranged alphabetically by author and then chronologically for each author. Each story receives a summary of its plot spanning a few hundred words, about 200 on average, and additionally a single-sentence critical evaluation by Bleiler. The total number of stories thus covered is 1,835 across 522 pages. Each author also gets a brief biographical description, where such information is known. The total number of authors represented exceeds 500.
The remainder of the book consists of multiple appendices and indices, as well as a bibliography of secondary literature. One of the appendices, entitled "Magazine Histories and Contents", spans 57 pages and covers various information about the magazines including an overview of each magazine's history, the complete contents of each individual issue (both the fiction itself and nonfiction content such as editorials, reviews, and letters), pricing, pagination, and the people involved—publishers, editors, authors, and artists alike. The other appendices include a list of anthologies in which the stories have been reprinted, a list of science fiction poetry, a list of stories that were originally published outside of the magazines but reprinted in them, and a section on magazine artists including black-and-white reproductions of a selection of 13 covers. There are three indices: one for motifs and themes, containing entries like "High civilizations of the past, non-human" and "Mad scientist, motivations, purposes"; one for titles; and one for authors.
## Reception
James E. Gunn reviewed the book for Utopian Studies in 1999, writing of it and its two predecessors that "Bleiler's work is so sound and so thorough that every college library ought to have copies, and enterprising scholars may well wish to have the series as close to hand as The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction". He particularly appreciated the "Magazine Histories and Contents" appendix, writing that "Data such as this is invaluable to the scholar and researcher, and I wish I had had the books when I was working on Alternate Worlds and The Road to Science Fiction". Gunn nevertheless identified several negatives. He found the font and three-column layout of the magazine section to make it unnecessarily difficult to read. He also stated that he would have preferred Bleiler to have elaborated on the reasons for his more critical assessments. Gunn further identified some factual errors and criticized a habit of speculating without presenting evidence. Finally, Gunn found the selection of secondary literature in the bibliography lacking, writing that "Bleiler's focus on the literature itself is salutory, but his acquaintance with secondary materials seems hit-and-miss".
Thomas Easton, in a review originally published in the June 1999 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact (later republished in Easton's 2006 collection Off the Main Sequence), called the book "an invaluable reference". Besides the main contents of the book, Easton found the description of the science fiction magazine readership in the book's introduction particularly interesting—noting that while Bleiler describes the general readership in a fairly unflattering manner, he also lists a large number of people among the most devoted fans who would go on to be significant personages within the fields of science and literature (according to Easton, "the proportion is such as to leave a Harvard in the dust").
David Pringle, reviewing the book for Science Fiction Studies in July 2000, compared it favourably to its predecessor Science-Fiction: The Early Years—commenting that while it is somewhat shorter in length, it is in turn entirely comprehensive within its scope, and concluding that it is an equally indispensable resource for science fiction scholars. In Pringle's view, Bleiler's reading of the primary material "in a sense, has relieved the rest of us from the necessity of ever having to do likewise", writing that the low availability of many of the magazines and the lack of reprinting of the majority of the stories (in anthologies or otherwise) means that "it is for the detailed second-hand knowledge of these that it provides that Bleiler's book will be particularly valuable". Pringle also commended the detailed knowledge on display, writing that the small number of errors he noted did not detract from the overall impression.
Gary Westfahl, in a 2000 review for Extrapolation, described it as "an indispensable, even wondrous reference book: meticulously researched, thorough in its coverage, usefully organized, and fascinating to read in its entirety". On the usefulness of the volume for scholars, Westfahl described the contents as "information that I would have died for ten or twenty years ago and information that will vastly improve any future research into this era of science fiction history", while at the same time cautioning against using the tome as a substitute for reading the primary literature itself when conducting research.
Michael Schoenecke, reviewing the book for the Journal of American and Comparative Cultures in 2000, praised the work's comprehensiveness within its scope. Schoenecke described the book as "a rich harvest, fascinating and informative".
In the 2002 edition of Reference Guide to Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror by Michael Burgess and Lisa R. Bartle, the book is described as "both authoritative and well-written", with its level of detail receiving specific praise. The ease of navigation is also highlighted as a positive.
Robert Silverberg described the book in Asimov's Science Fiction in May 2003 as "a monumental work of a grandeur and magnificence verging on lunacy [...] a meticulous work of scholarship with an almost medieval intensity about it, the equivalent of what teams of monks might have spent decades producing in the thirteenth century". Silverberg praised in particular the devotion to reading all the included stories and providing critical commentary, expressing amusement at Bleiler's at times blunt dismissals of literary merit. He nevertheless found himself inspired by the book to revisit some of the more obscure works discussed and suggested readers look into two anthologies of works from this era to get an appreciation for the level of quality some of them reached: Isaac Asimov's Before the Golden Age (1974) and Damon Knight's Science Fiction of the Thirties (1976).
Neil Barron, in the 2004 edition of his Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction, called the book "[a]n essential companion to the author's equally authoritative Science-Fiction: The Early Years". Gary K. Wolfe, writing in the same volume, similarly described it as "one of the major indispensable works of SF scholarship".
John Clute, writing in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, commented that Bleiler's suite of reference works culminating in The Gernsback Years "stands as a central resource for the study of sf books" alongside the works of authors such as Barron and Donald H. Tuck (author of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy). Clute also wrote that all three works are characterized both by extraordinary scope and extraordinary thoroughness.
|
[
"## Creation",
"## Contents",
"## Reception"
] | 1,904 | 16,832 |
16,432 |
Janusz Zajdel
| 1,160,341,192 |
Polish writer
|
[
"1938 births",
"1985 deaths",
"Deaths from lung cancer in Poland",
"Janusz Zajdel",
"Polish science fiction writers",
"University of Warsaw alumni",
"Writers from Warsaw"
] |
Janusz Andrzej Zajdel (15 August 1938 – 19 July 1985) was a Polish science fiction author, second in popularity in Poland to Stanisław Lem. His major genres were social science fiction and dystopia. His main recurring theme involved the gloomy prospects for a space environment into which mankind carried totalitarian ideas and habits: Red Space Republics, or Space Labor Camps, or both. His heroes desperately try to find meaning in the world around them.
The Polish science fiction fandom award was named after him: the Janusz A. Zajdel Award. He was a trustee of World SF.
## Life
Janusz Zajdel was born 15 August 1938 in Warsaw, Poland. He studied physics at the University of Warsaw. After graduating, he worked many years as a radiological engineer and an expert on nuclear physics at the Central Laboratory of Radiological Protection in Poland. He published a number of academic works, handbooks of safety regulations, as well as educational and popular science texts.
In his spare time, he popularized science by writing science fiction. With his brother, he started a column in a Polish magazine for young people interested in science and engineering, ' (Young Technician), in which they proposed various futuristic gadgets. In 1961 Młody Technik published Zajdel's science-fiction debut, the short story "Tau Ceti" (Polish: Tau Wieloryba). Other stories by him soon appeared in several other Polish magazines.
His first book was published in 1965, a short-story anthology, Jad mantezji (The Venom of Mantesia), which included stories from Młody Technik and some others that had already appeared a year earlier in another anthology. By 1982 he had published four more collections: Przejście przez lustro (Through the Mirror, 1975); Iluzyt (1976); Feniks (The Phoenix, 1981); and Ogon diabła (The Devil's Tail, 1982).
His first novel, Lalande 21185, appeared in 1966, a year after his first short-story anthology, and was geared toward young adults. His first serious science-fiction novel was a "first contact"-type SF mystery, ' (Right of Return, 1975); but it was his novels of the late 1970s and early 1980s – Cylinder van Troffa (Van Troff's Cylinder, 1980); Limes inferior (The Lower Limit, 1982); Cała prawda o planecie Ksi (The Whole Truth about Planet Xi, 1983); '' (Out of the Shadows, 1983); and Paradyzja (Paradise: World in Orbit, 1984) – that earned him a reputation as one of the most important Polish science-fiction writers.
He was an active member of Polish and international science fiction fandom, and a Trustee of World SF. In the 1980s he was an active supporter of the Polish Solidarity movement.
On 19 July 1985 he died of lung cancer, after three years' struggle against the disease.
## Themes
Zajdel's early works, from the 1960s and early 1970s, focuses on scientific inventions and their role in space exploration, alien contact or artificial intelligence. As his writing career continued, however, his stories evolved to focus on the social aspects and often negative consequences of those inventions. Over time, a theme became increasingly visible in his works - a concern over dangers inherent in attempts to control the human society. He is also condemning human ignorance, warning against xenophobia, and asking philosophical questions about the nature of the universe, happiness and human destiny. Zajdel's works from his second period - late 1970s and 1980s - and represent the genres of social and dystopian fiction. In his works, he envisions totalitarian states and societies living under extreme forms of mass surveillance.
His works are also recognized as being a critique of the totalitarian, communist state, a reality of his life in People's Republic of Poland. Science fiction genre, with its outer-worldly, clearly fictional, and often allegorical setting and invented jargon was able to debate fundamentals of such systems with frankness that more mainstream literature would not be allowed to.
## Importance
Zajdel has been described as the second science fiction writer in popularity in Poland after Stanisław Lem. He has also been described as the writer who replaced Lem as the "top Polish SF writer", after "Lem vacated [this position] earlier of his own volition".
He is recognized as an originator of the social science fiction genre in Polish science fiction, known in Poland as the sociological speculative fiction (fantastyka socjologiczna). He has been an inspiration to a number of younger Polish science fiction authors such as Maciej Parowski and Marek Oramus.
His works have been translated into Belarusian, Bulgarian, Czech, Esperanto, Finnish, German, Hungarian, Russian and Slovenian. As of August 2015, the only work translated into English is the short story Wyjątkowo trudny teren ("Particularly Difficult Territory") that Zajdel wrote for the English language Tales from the Planet Earth anthology edited by Frederik Pohl and Elizabeth Anne Hull.
## Recognition
In 1973 Zajdel received an honorary award Magnum Trophaeum from the Młody Technik (Young Technician) magazine for long-term cooperation. In 1980 Zajdel received the Polish Ministry of Culture and Arts Best SF Book of the Year Award for Van Troff's Cylinder. Zajdel also received the Golden Sepulka Award two times: for Limes Inferior (1982 novel; 1983 award) and Wyjście z cienia ("Out of the Shadow") (1983 novel; 1984 award).
In 1984 Polish fantasy and science fiction fandom (associated with the Polish SF convention Polcon) decided to establish an annual award, initially named Sfinks ("Sphynx"). Janusz A. Zajdel became the first winner of this award, for his 1984 novel Paradyzja. He won the award posthumously in 1985, shortly after his death, at which time it was decided to rename the award after him, and it became known as the Janusz A. Zajdel Award.
Frederik Pohl dedicated the anthology Tales From The Planet Earth'' to Zajdel and A. Bertram Chandler.
## See also
- Koalang – term invented by Zajdel
|
[
"## Life",
"## Themes",
"## Importance",
"## Recognition",
"## See also"
] | 1,368 | 3,745 |
2,814,494 |
Ooh La La (Goldfrapp song)
| 1,165,050,410 |
2005 single by Goldfrapp
|
[
"2005 singles",
"Goldfrapp songs",
"Mute Records singles",
"Number-one singles in Spain",
"Songs written by Alison Goldfrapp",
"Songs written by Will Gregory",
"Synth-pop songs"
] |
"Ooh La La" is a song by English electronic music duo Goldfrapp from their third studio album, Supernature (2005). Written and produced by Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory, the song consists largely of a synthesiser and guitar arrangement, and has been described as "a dirty, decadent homage to Marc Bolan".
The song was released as the album's lead single in August 2005 to positive reviews from music critics. It was a commercial success, reaching the top 40 on the majority of the charts it appeared, and topped the United States dance chart. The song has been remixed a number of times and was nominated for Best Dance Recording at the 49th Grammy Awards in 2007.
## Background and writing
Goldfrapp began work on "Ooh La La" in late 2004 in a small rented house in the countryside of Bath, England. The song was composed as a collaborative effort between Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory while jamming in the recording studio, bouncing song ideas off each other. Goldfrapp contributed the song's lyrics, and has described the song as being "sulky, sexual and a bit ambiguous". In "Ooh La La", she confesses to wanting only a sexual relationship without romance.
"Ooh La La" was Goldfrapp's first song to feature the electric guitar, an instrument that they had avoided due to its overly recognisable rhythm. When they recorded the song, Gregory played the keyboard bass as Goldfrapp sang. Her microphone picked up the "clattering" of Gregory's pressing the keys, which they added to the chorus; Gregory described the sound as "like horses galloping". The song is written in the common verse-chorus form and features additional instrumentation from synthesisers and a bass guitar.
The song has been compared to Norman Greenbaum's 1969 song "Spirit in the Sky", Juana Molina's 2003 song "Sonamos" and Rachel Stevens' 2004 song "Some Girls" (itself heavily influenced by Goldfrapp's own "Strict Machine"). Gregory noted that comparisons to Greenbaum were made when the duo released the song "Train" in 2003, adding that the two tracks share the same glam swing. Goldfrapp rejected comparisons to Stevens, stating that "Some Girls" was "very bland".
## Critical reception
"Ooh La La" received positive reviews from music critics. MusicOMH.com reviewer Michael Hubbard described the song as "sensational", writing that "Ooh La La" "will spawn a million remixes, and deservedly so". Heather Phares of AllMusic named "Ooh La La" as the best song from Supernature. Jessica Suarez of Spin magazine compared "Ooh La La" with Black Cherrys "Strict Machine", saying that the song sounds "so simplistic that [its] minimalist repetition occasionally teeters over into redundancy". PopMatters also compared the two songs, but wrote that the "gimmick remains something they do incredibly well, and when the chorus kicks in, Alison lala-ing away, it's impossible not to give in".
Rolling Stone magazine included the song in its list of the top hundred songs of 2006, ranking it at number ten. At the 2007 Grammy Awards, the song was nominated for Best Dance Recording, losing out to Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack".
## Release and commercial performance
"Ooh La La" was chosen as the album's lead single "because it was up and in your face and it carried on the theme of the glammy, discoey beat from the last album". The song was released on various formats throughout the world. While most territories received a CD and download release, in the UK the single was additionally released on DVD and limited edition 12" vinyl. The DVD single included the music video for "Ooh La La" and a short documentary titled "Little Pictures".
"Ooh La La" entered the UK Singles Chart on 14 August 2005 at number 4, remaining on the chart for 13 weeks. It finished as the 91st best-selling single of 2005 in the United Kingdom. Elsewhere, the single reached number one in Spain, number 16 in Ireland, and number 36 in Australia. In North America, "Ooh La La" was released as the album's second single in February 2006. In the United States, the song became Goldfrapp's third consecutive release to reach the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. The song also reached number three on the Hot Dance Airplay chart.
## Music video
The music video for "Ooh La La" was directed by Dawn Shadforth. Inspired by "glam rock '70s TV", the video features Goldfrapp and a backing band (not portrayed by her regular live musicians) performing in a large green room. Scenes of Alison Goldfrapp riding on a digital sparkling horse are intercut toward the end of the video. Alison Goldfrapp has described the video as "harking back to Eno-era Roxy Music and old Top of the Pops". The complete version of "Ooh La La" featured in the music video has been released commercially through CD singles and digital downloads, and some include remixes by Benny Benassi, Tiefschwarz, and Andy Bell.
## Track listings
- CD single 1
1. "Ooh La La" (Single Version) – 3:00
2. "All Night Operator (Part 1)" – 4:00
- CD single 2
1. "Ooh La La" (Benny Benassi Remix) (Extended) – 6:53
2. "Ooh La La" (Phones Re-Edit) – 6:31
3. "Ooh La La" (Tiefschwarz Dub) – 6:39
- DVD single
1. "Ooh La La" (Video) – 3:20
2. "Ooh La La" (Little Pictures) – 2:43
3. "Ooh La La" (When Andy Bell Met Manhattan Clique Mix) (Audio) – 6:20
- 12-inch single 1
1. "Ooh La La" (Original Extended Mix) – 5:12
2. "Ooh La La" (Phones Re-Edit) – 6:29
- 12-inch single 2
1. "Ooh La La" (Benny Benassi Remix) (Extended) – 6:50
2. "Ooh La La" (Benny Benassi Dub) – 6:28
3. "Ooh La La" (Tiefschwarz Dub) – 6:36
- Digital single (2019)'
1. "Ooh La La" (Single Version) – 2:57
2. "All Night Operator (Pt. 1)" – 3:59
3. "Ooh La La" (Extended Mix) – 5:14
4. "Ooh La La" (Benny Benassi Remix) (Extended) – 6:52
5. "Ooh La La" (Benny Benassi Dub) – 6:30
6. "Ooh La La" (Phones Re-edit) – 6:31
7. "Ooh La La" (Tiefschwarz Dub) – 6:38
8. "Ooh La La" (When Andy Bell Met Manhattan Clique Remix) – 6:20
9. "Ooh La La" (Peter Rauhofer Reconstruction Mix) – 9:13
## Personnel
The following people contributed to "Ooh La La":
- Alison Goldfrapp – lead vocals, backing vocals, synthesizer
- Nick Batt – synthesizer, programming
- Will Gregory – synthesizer
- Adrian Utley – guitar
- Charlie Jones – bass
- Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
- Ted Jensen – mastering
## Charts
### Weekly charts
### Year-end charts
## Certifications
## Release history
|
[
"## Background and writing",
"## Critical reception",
"## Release and commercial performance",
"## Music video",
"## Track listings",
"## Personnel",
"## Charts",
"### Weekly charts",
"### Year-end charts",
"## Certifications",
"## Release history"
] | 1,695 | 17,308 |
1,711,263 |
Dejarik
| 1,167,787,260 |
Fictional board game
|
[
"Augmented reality in fiction",
"Chess variants",
"Fictional games",
"Holography in fiction",
"Star Wars games"
] |
Dejarik, also known as holographic chess or holochess, is a primarily-fictional board game appearing in the Star Wars space opera franchise that uses holographic figures as pieces. The game has been roughly described as that universe's equivalent of terrestrial chess since it is played on a board with a chequered pattern, each piece has a specific way of moving and attacking, and if it lands on a spot occupied by an opponent, it destroys the other piece. Over the years, several official and fan-made replicas have been made. As of 2021, no single, official rule set for the game has been released, and instead, a number of different rule sets (mostly designed by fans) for the game co-exist. Even the number of figures to be used in the game is unclear, although the best known variant uses eight.
The game debuted in the 1977 film Star Wars, in a scene on board the Millennium Falcon. It is notable as one of the classic, early examples of holograms, 3D and AR in fiction.
## Origins and history
Dejarik first appeared on screen in the 1977 space opera film Star Wars. In a scene lasting about 15 seconds, while traveling from Tatooine to Alderaan aboard Han Solo's light Corellian space freighter the Millennium Falcon, the Wookiee Chewbacca plays the game against the droid R2-D2. When R2 seems to be winning, Chewbacca rages, to which C-3PO comments on his useless anger. Han Solo then chimes in on how it is better not to displease Chewbacca, since Wookiees are famous for ripping their opponents' arms, at which point a scared 3PO changes his mind and suggests that R2 "let the Wookiee win". The dejarik board later appears when the starship is flying from the Death Star to Yavin IV, as Luke Skywalker sits in front of it, mourning Obi-Wan Kenobi's death at the hands of Darth Vader.
The movie prop representing the game used in the scene was designed and created by Phil Tippett and Jon Berg. The game later made appearances in a number of Star Wars media, including the television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. In the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Finn briefly activates the Falcon's dejarik board, and in 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, Chewbacca and Tobias Beckett play the game aboard the Millennium Falcon.
## In the Star Wars Universe
Dejarik is a popular holographic game in the world of Star Wars, installed, for example, on the decks of starships in order to provide entertainment during long flights through hyperspace. A typical game station consists of a hologram generator, usually placed in the cylindrical base of the set, on which there is a board made of three circles filled with alternating white and black fields. When launched, colorful, three-dimensional characters are generated. These characters are controlled by the player using a keyboard built into the table. Each piece has its own specific abilities that can be used during the game. When two characters take the same place on the board, they fight each other.
The 1977 scene was originally designed to include ten figures, but the version shown in the film in 2018 has ten. This was because ten figures were originally designed in 1977, but George Lucas preferred the visually "less cluttered" version with eight. In Solo, a prequel to the 1977 Star Wars, Chewbacca damages the dejarik projector on the Millennium Falcon, providing an in-universe explanation as to why there are only eight figures on the screen. This implies that the full version of the game should have ten, not eight, figures.
## Rules
The detailed rules of the game were not described in the film or other official media, and due to a lack of an official, licensed release of the game, a number of fans have created their own ruleset variants over the years. More official rules were created in 2017, when the first licensed computer game implementing dejarik (Star Wars: Jedi Challenges) was created; in 2019, a licensed board game version known as Galaxy's Edge: Dejarik Board Game with Checkers was also released, but with different rules than the computer version from 2017. In 2020 it was announced that at some point, Lucasfilm developed gameplay rules for dejarik, but as of 2021 they were still not publicly released. All known rules so far (as of 2021) are for the version with eight figures.
## Significance
In addition to a number of licensed merchandise products, several Star Wars fans have created their own dejarik game replicas over the years. A theme-park replica of the game has been created in 2017 in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge theme park.
Dejarik has been the subject of scientific research in the field of human–computer interaction and has been identified as one of the classic, early examples of holograms and AR (augmented reality) in fiction. Dejarik has also inspired a number of inventors to create physical devices that would imitate the holographic effects seen in the film, from older products such the 1983 Archon computer game to more recent ones such as those designed by Voxiebox.
## See also
- 3D chess
- Sabacc
- Star Wars Chess
|
[
"## Origins and history",
"## In the Star Wars Universe",
"## Rules",
"## Significance",
"## See also"
] | 1,126 | 36,851 |
37,219,237 |
Farm to Market Road 1957
| 1,157,967,232 |
Road in Texas
|
[
"Farm to Market Roads in Texas",
"Transportation in Bexar County, Texas",
"Transportation in Medina County, Texas",
"Transportation in San Antonio"
] |
Farm to Market Road 1957 (FM 1957) is a Farm to Market Road in Texas. Located in Medina and Bexar counties, the 15.983-mile-long (25.722 km) highway serves as an arterial street through the growing western suburbs of San Antonio. FM 1957 is known as Potranco Road within Bexar County.
The modern routing of this highway was originally defined in 1954. Since then, FM 1957's western terminus has been extended to FM 471 near Rio Medina, and the entire routing along Culebra Road was transferred to FM 3487. Before the current routing was established, FM 1957 was also the designation for a highway in Borden County from 1951 to 1954, now part of FM 1610.
## Route description
FM 1957 begins at FM 471 near Rio Medina, as a two-lane country road. It then traverses mostly rural, undeveloped land, before reaching the Bexar–Medina county line, where it becomes Potranco Road. In far western Bexar County, Potranco Road travels through recently built, patchy, residential developments. Development becomes somewhat heavier after the highway passes State Highway 211 (SH 211), but FM 1957 still displays mostly rural characteristics until the highway reaches Loop 1604, at which point it enters the San Antonio city limits. Now four-to-five lanes wide, with two lanes in each direction and an intermittent center turn lane, the legislative definition of FM 1957 becomes UR 1957; however, Potranco Road remains signed as FM 1957.
The highway continues eastward, serving residential developments, commercial outlets, and John Paul Stevens High School. It intersects with SH 151, where development once again becomes patchy. The most notable development along this stretch of Potranco is a National Security Agency data center. State maintenance ends at an intersection with Culebra Road (formerly FM 3487), slightly west of Interstate 410 (I-410). Potranco Road continues as a city street until Ingram Road.
## History
### Previous designation
FM 1957 was formerly designated as a highway in Borden County, defined on November 20, 1951. This road traveled from U.S. Highway 180 near Gail to Union school, a distance of 8.5 miles (13.7 km). The former FM 1957 was combined with FM 1610 on September 30, 1954.
### Current designation
The present-day FM 1957 was defined on October 15, 1954. The original routing was along Culebra Road from its intersection with Grissom Road (FM 471) to Potranco Road, which it followed to the Medina County line, a distance of 13.8 miles (22.2 km). The highway gained a 0.1-mile (0.16 km) spur connection to Loop 13 (present-day I-410) on November 21, 1956. On October 31, 1957, FM 1957 was extended to its present western terminus, at FM 471 near Rio Medina. This added 5.3 miles (8.5 km) to the highway. On December 30, 1988, the entire routing along Culebra Road was transferred to the newly created FM 3487. (FM 3487 would be deleted on December 18, 2014.) The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) started defining urban roads on June 27, 1995, at which time the segment of FM 1957 east of Loop 1604, measuring 5.4 miles (8.7 km), was transferred to the newly defined Urban Road 1957 (UR 1957). The designation of this segment reverted to FM 1957 with the elimination of the Urban Road system on November 15, 2018.
On May 9, 2016, construction began to widen FM 1957 from two to four lanes between SH 211 and Loop 1604. The project was financed with a pass-through partnership between Bexar County and TxDOT, with the county providing initial funding and the state reimbursing the costs later. Construction finished on July 19, 2019.
## Junction list
## See also
|
[
"## Route description",
"## History",
"### Previous designation",
"### Current designation",
"## Junction list",
"## See also"
] | 908 | 32,669 |
4,800,552 |
Live Together, Die Alone
| 1,161,301,115 | null |
[
"2006 American television episodes",
"Lost (season 2) episodes",
"Television episodes directed by Jack Bender",
"Television episodes written by Damon Lindelof"
] |
"Live Together, Die Alone" is the second season finale of the ABC television series Lost, consisting of the 23rd and 24th episodes of the second season. It is also the 48th and 49th episodes overall. The episode was written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, and directed by Jack Bender. It first aired in the United States on May 24, 2006, on the American Broadcasting Company. The episode was watched by 17.84 million people and received positive reviews.
In the episode, flashbacks reveal how Desmond came to the island. In realtime, Desmond unintentionally returns to the beach and is enlisted by Locke to help him stop the button in the hatch from being pushed. Meanwhile, several castaways head off to rescue Michael's son, Walt, from the Others.
## Plot
### Flashbacks
Desmond Hume (Henry Ian Cusick) is being released from a military prison in 2001 with a dishonourable discharge, for unknown reasons. Upon leaving, he runs into Charles Widmore (Alan Dale) who reveals that he prevented communication between his daughter Penelope (Sonya Walger) and Desmond while he was in prison, and strongly warns Desmond against attempting to reform a relationship. Desmond, wanting to prove that he is not a coward, travels to the United States from the United Kingdom to train for a sailing race around the world, sponsored by Widmore. He meets Libby (Cynthia Watros) in a cafe, and after a deep conversation, Libby gives Desmond a yacht owned by her late husband. While Desmond is training, Penny tracks him down and angrily questions him. (There is a moment in the background where Jack is seen arriving at the stadium to run.) Desmond tells her that he is determined to win Widmore's race and promises that he will return. However, while sailing, Desmond gets caught in a bad storm, and washes up on the island. He is rescued by a man in a yellow HAZMAT suit, Kelvin Inman (Clancy Brown) (who also is the American intelligence officer that releases Sayid in one of his flashbacks) who takes him to the Dharma Initiative Swan Station and shows him the Orientation film. He explains that it was edited by Stuart Radzinsky, his former partner who faked a lockdown event and created an invisible map on the blast doors with him and then took his own life while Inman was asleep. Inman also explains that the incident was a "leak" of electromagnetic energy from the Swan that builds up and has to be discharged by pushing the button unless someone accesses a fail-safe and "blows the dam." Desmond lives together with Kelvin for three years before he finds out that Inman is secretly planning on escaping the island using Desmond's boat. Desmond violently confronts Inman about this, accidentally killing him in the process. After almost letting the countdown timer run down and causing a "System Failure", Desmond starts drinking liquor and a few days later, contemplates suicide. Before he shoots himself however, he hears John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) banging on the hatch door, and turns on a light. Desmond then realizes that there is still hope and decides not to kill himself.
### On the island
While at the funeral for Ana Lucia Cortez (Michelle Rodriguez) and Libby, a boat comes into view out at sea. Jack, Sayid, and Sawyer swim out to it and climb onto the boat. They hear music coming from inside it. Shots are fired from inside the boat through the boat hatch entrance. After breaking the hatch open, they find a drunken Desmond piloting the boat. The next day, after Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) prevents Locke from destroying the computer that controls the timer, Locke enlists Desmond's help in letting the timer run down to zero. Desmond hotwires the blast doors shut, locking Eko outside the computer room and Desmond and Locke inside of it. Eko, distraught, seeks Charlie Pace's (Dominic Monaghan) help. The two attempt to use dynamite to blow the blast door open, but the blast doors are unscathed, while they are both injured.
Meanwhile, Desmond and Locke discuss the purpose of the stations and discover that when Desmond accidentally caused the "System Failure", the magnetic force pulled Oceanic Flight 815 toward the island, thus causing the crash. Locke continues to doubt that the timer has any meaning, but Desmond assures him that it is all real. As the timer passes zero, causing another "System Failure", Desmond retrieves the failsafe key he obtained from Inman and crawls underneath the hatch, saying he will "blow the dam". After he turns the key in the system termination switch, a shrill humming noise and violet-white light envelops the entire island, causing the Oceanic 815 survivors and the Others alike on opposite sides of the island to bend in apparent pain. That night, Charlie is the only person to return from the hatch; the whereabouts of Desmond, Eko, and Locke are not revealed. Charlie reconnects with Claire Littleton (Emilie de Ravin), and they kiss as they sit among their fellow plane survivors.
The survivors split up into two groups to head to the Others' camp. Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau), Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox), Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly), James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway), and Hugo "Hurley" Reyes (Jorge Garcia) walk on land to the camp, bringing guns and ammunition with them. Meanwhile, Sayid Jarrah (Naveen Andrews), Sun-Hwa Kwon (Yunjin Kim), and Jin-Soo Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim) plan to use Desmond's sailboat to go by sea. Sayid plans to use black smoke as a signal, saying that "this time, they will know that we are coming", a reference to the attacks in the first-season finale. When the boat reaches the Others' camp, Sayid finds it to be deserted. Meanwhile, Michael, Jack, Sawyer, Hurley and Kate engage in a gun battle with some Others that were following them, and Sawyer kills one. Jack confronts Michael about leading the group into a trap, and Michael confesses to the murders of Ana Lucia and Libby. They realize that Michael has led them to a location other than the beach, ruining their former plan to meet up with Sayid. There, they see a large pile of pneumatic tubes, suggesting that the reports sent out from the monitoring hatch discovered in the episode "?" had never been read. Shortly after the discovery of the tube pile, they hear whispers, and suddenly Sawyer, Kate, and Jack are incapacitated by electric darts. The hostages, bound and gagged, are brought to a dock, where it appears that the Others are led by Henry Gale (Michael Emerson). Gale keeps his bargain with Michael, returning his son, Walt Lloyd (Malcolm David Kelley), to him and giving them an old fishing boat with instructions to sail on a heading of 325 degrees until they are rescued. Michael threatens Henry that he could tell the outside world of the island's location. Henry responds by telling him that it wouldn't matter as they would not be able to find the island, should they return. He also gives Michael a counter-threat: if he did tell people of the island's location, people would know what he did to get his son back. Michael reluctantly accepts but asks who Henry and his people are, to which Henry responds "We're the good guys, Michael". Michael uses the boat to get him and Walt off the island. Hurley is then released and sent back to the other survivors with a message that they are to stay away from the Others' part of the island. As Hurley is let go, the other three captives are taken away.
### Epilogue
The scene shifts to a cramped research station somewhere far from the island, in a polar climate; two Portuguese-speaking men who are playing chess are interrupted by an alert on a monitor displaying the message "\>/ 7418880 Electromagnetic Anomaly Detected" (the number 7,418,880 being the product of the numbers, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42). One of the men makes a frantic phone call that wakes up Penelope in the middle of the night, telling her, "I think we've found it."
## Production
"Live Together, Die Alone" was the thirteenth episode of the series directed by Jack Bender. The episode was written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, the ninth episode that the two had written together.
Due to being two hours long, more time went into shooting "Live Together, Die Alone" than most episodes. It was shot in 17 days by two separate crews. Several scenes had to be shortened or cut due to time constraints. One scene that was cut was: after it is revealed that Michael was a traitor, Sawyer wanted to go back to the camp, because he thought it would be stupid to keep following someone who lied to him. In the past, Lost has had an issue with spoilers being leaked from the set, so for the production of "Live Together, Die Alone", the crew took extra steps to ensure secrecy of pivotal scenes. Alex Petrovitch, who played Henrik, recalled that when auditioning for his part "names, places, and circumstances (of his scene) were shifted so that you couldn’t link the scene to the show." Even other cast members were not told about Petrovitch's scene. Another measure used by the cast and crew to limit the release of spoilers was calling the final scene by the code name "Challah" instead of referencing anything in the scene. However, the attempts to cover up the flashback scenes were less successful and a call sheet was leaked by Lost fan Ryan Ozawa onto the internet, detailing the full plotlines of Desmond's flashbacks, about a month before the episode aired. It is in this episode that it is revealed that Henry Gale is in fact the leader of the Others.
## Reception
"Live Together, Die Alone" received a 7.6 in the ages 18–49 demographic in the Nielsen ratings. The episode was watched by 17.84 million viewers.
"Live Together, Die Alone" has been generally well received. IGN's Eric Goldman praised actor Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume) for giving "a likable, sympathetic performance". Goldman went on to say that the episode "was a much better finale than last season", and that it contained one of the "more interesting flashbacks of the entire season". Entertainment Weekly writer Scott Brown described his viewing experience as "I was up, I was down, I was frustrated, I was thrilled, and finally I was...well, a bit numb." Brown criticized the way Charlie reacted to the hatch explosion, stating that he felt the writers were trying to "get us to hate Charlie".
Deathcore band, Veil of Maya have a song named "Namaste", in which the song's chorus has the lyric "Live together, die alone" referencing the episode. The song's breakdowns are also actually written in-key the series' mythic numbers (4 8 15 16 23 42).
|
[
"## Plot",
"### Flashbacks",
"### On the island",
"### Epilogue",
"## Production",
"## Reception"
] | 2,332 | 13,073 |
10,501,623 |
American Pie Presents: Beta House
| 1,172,229,982 |
2007 film by Andrew Waller
|
[
"2000s American films",
"2000s Canadian films",
"2000s English-language films",
"2000s sex comedy films",
"2007 direct-to-video films",
"2007 films",
"American Pie (film series)",
"American sex comedy films",
"American teen comedy films",
"Canadian sex comedy films",
"Direct-to-video comedy films",
"Direct-to-video sequel films",
"English-language Canadian films",
"Films about fraternities and sororities",
"Films about striptease",
"Films shot in Hamilton, Ontario",
"Films shot in Toronto",
"Rogue (company) films",
"Universal Pictures direct-to-video films",
"Zoophilia in culture"
] |
American Pie Presents: Beta House is a 2007 American sex comedy film released by Universal Pictures. It is the third installment in the American Pie Presents film series, a spin-off of the American Pie franchise. John White stars as Erik Stifler, a college freshman who pledges the Beta House fraternity led by his cousin Dwight Stifler (Steve Talley). Christopher McDonald co-stars as Erik's father and Eugene Levy plays Beta House alumnus Noah Levenstein. It is a Direct Sequel to The Naked Mile (2006).
Universal commissioned the film after positive commercial reaction to The Naked Mile. Writer Erik Lindsay, producer W.K. Border and four of the five main cast members from the preceding film returned. Principal photography took place for seven to eight weeks from June 4, 2007, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
American Pie Presents: Beta House was released direct-to-DVD internationally on December 10, 2007, and in the United States on December 26, 2007. The film was a moderate financial success, generating US\$18.55 million in United States sales. It received generally negative reviews from film critics.
## Plot
After his girlfriend Tracy breaks up with him, Erik Stifler and his friend Cooze arrive at the University of Michigan as freshmen. Erik meets a girl named Ashley and his new roommate Bobby. Erik is then welcomed by his cousin, Dwight Stifler, the leader of the Beta House fraternity; who invites Erik, Cooze and Bobby to a party. They meet Wesley, the rush chair of Beta House who experiences alcohol blackouts, and learn how they can gain eligibility to pledge for the Beta House. They are also informed by Dwight that the Geek House, run by wealthy nerds, has been trying to shut down Beta House.
Erik and Ashley go on a first date at a restaurant where he has hot soup spilled accidentally on his lap, so she brings him to her room to clean up. As Ashley rubs lotion on Erik's thigh, he accidentally ejaculates on her belongings. Erik apologizes, explaining that, after breaking up with Tracy, he has not had an orgasm in four months as masturbation is taboo in his house because of a previous incident.
Meanwhile, Cooze falls for Ashley's roommate Denise; however, she is nervous about having sex with him, so she gives Cooze a handjob instead. After talking with Erik, Bobby and Dwight about Denise, Cooze develops suspicions that Denise might have a penis.
Along with two other pledges, Erik, Cooze and Bobby complete fifty tasks to pledge the Beta House, including: getting their butts signed by a stripper, having sex with a professor, marrying a fellow pledge, and placing a live ostrich in the Geek House. After they complete their final task (stealing something from the Geek House), Edgar, the president of the Geek House, challenges the Beta House to the "Greek Olympiad", with the winners taking the loser's House. Before the competition starts, Dwight learns that while attempting to rush the midget fraternity, Edgar had sex with a sheep.
Being the Olympiad's last winner, Beta House alumnus Noah Levenstein returns to campus to officiate the competition. The first game is won by Beta House as Dwight and Edgar compete in removing girls' brassieres. Geek House win the next three matches: a pugil bout turned lightsaber duel, catching a greased pig, and a two-person "69" race. Beta House wins the fifth and sixth competitions: a Russian roulette challenge between Dwight and Edgar with aged horse semen; and a beer drinking competition between all members of both Houses ultimately won by Wesley via a keg stand.
During the final lap dance challenge, Beta House uses Edgar's sheep fetish against him with Bobby's girlfriend Margie wearing a sheep costume, which ultimately costs him and his house the tournament. Having won the Geek House mansion, the Beta House hosts a toga party. Erik and Ashley establish their relationship and have sex. Meanwhile, Cooze and Denise finally sleep together as well, and Cooze discovers that what Denise is hiding is the fact that she ejaculates during sex, much to his excitement.
In a post-credits scene, Edgar instructs a stripper at the Silver Dollar to dance with the headpiece of the sheep costume.
## Cast
## Production
American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile, the second installment of the American Pie Presents film series, was a commercial success, and Universal Pictures prepared for a sequel. The Naked Mile's writer, Erik Lindsay, pitched the film by saying: "Look, we're not going to top Animal House of course, but it's been 25 years. I was in a fraternity for six years. Let's just make a straight pledging movie." Universal gave Lindsay the green light to write Beta House, and also hired Andrew Waller and The Naked Mile's producer, W. K. Border, as the film's director and producer, respectively. The film's screenplay was based on characters by Adam Herz and on aspects of Lindsay's own life. Lindsay felt that Universal being unworried about making the film similar to Animal House provided "more opportunities to keep the story organic," which he found the challenge of writing a sequel.
The film features the same principal cast as The Naked Mile are John White, Steve Talley, Christopher McDonald and Eugene Levy reprise their roles from the preceding film. Levy returned to play Noah Levenstein for his sixth time of American Pie franchise. Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment said: "we think he [Levy] is crucial to this franchise because his character represents the heart of the movie." Jake Siegel, Jaclyn A. Smith, Dan Petronijevic and Jordan Prentice also reprise their roles from The Naked Mile.
Principal photography began on June 4, 2007, and lasted about "seven [to] eight weeks." Filming took place at the University of Toronto, Pinewood Toronto Studios and at the Brass Rail strip club in Toronto. Neo Art & Logic, Rogue Pictures and Universal Pictures produced the film on a budget of less than \$10 million. The film was intended to be the center of a trilogy beginning with The Naked Mile and although talks for a concluding sequel were held, one has yet to materialise.
## Release
American Pie Presents: Beta House was released direct-to-DVD internationally on December 10, 2007, and in the United States on December 26, 2007. It was marketed with the tagline "the most outrageous slice of pie!" The film was released in two single-disc DVD editions. The R-rated edition included no special features, while the unrated edition included a commentary track, behind-the-scenes clips, deleted scenes and storylines, a fake service announcement, featurettes, outtakes, a mock in-character interview with Noah Levenstein, music videos by God Made Me Funky, and a 30 Rock episode. Through its first four weeks the DVD sold over 534,000 copies in the United States, generating \$12.25 million in sales. Universal Pictures expected to sell more than a million units; sales have since totaled over 898,000 units in the United States, with \$18.55 million in revenue.
### Critical reception
The film received generally negative reviews from film critics. LaRue Cook of Entertainment Weekly graded the film with a "D" and wrote, "what was once a fresh slice of teen comedy has become a slab of stale crudeness." Scott Weinberg of Moviefone, in his negative review, found the film "slightly more amusing to sit through than the two previous entries", in particular praising the Star Trek sexual roleplay scene as "extremely effective." DVD Talk's Jeffrey Robinson writes that "if anything, it will bore you and leave you wondering why you wasted an hour and a half of your life." Writing in JoBlo.com, Adam Quigley poked fun at the film's themes, declaring that "if there's a lesson to be taken from these films, it's that women are objects, and should always be treated as such." IGN's Hock Teh gave the film 5/10, writing that it "stays very close to the American Pie formula," while criticizing the story as "devoid of anything remotely semi-compelling or even noteworthy." In a positive review, Peter Hammond of Maxim describes American Pie Presents: Beta House as "loaded with sex, laughs and raunchy fun," writing that it "may be the most outrageous slice of pie yet!"
|
[
"## Plot",
"## Cast",
"## Production",
"## Release",
"### Critical reception"
] | 1,757 | 12,365 |
4,050,232 |
New York State Route 210
| 1,135,188,032 |
State highway in Orange County, New York, US
|
[
"State highways in New York (state)",
"Transportation in Orange County, New York"
] |
New York State Route 210 (NY 210) is a state highway in Orange County, New York, in the United States. It runs north from the New Jersey state line—where it continues south as Passaic County Route 511 (CR 511)—along the west shore of Greenwood Lake to the eponymous village of Greenwood Lake, where it ends at a junction with NY 17A. It was once much longer, as it originally extended east along NY 17A and CR 106 in Orange and Rockland counties to Stony Point when it was assigned as part of the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York. The route was truncated to its current length in 1982. Prior to becoming NY 210 in 1930, the road alongside Greenwood Lake was part of NY 55, a route connecting New Jersey to Goshen, in the 1920s.
## Route description
NY 210 commences at the New York–New Jersey state line in the town of Warwick, where it connects to CR 511 in West Milford Township, Passaic County, New Jersey. Like CR 511 in New Jersey, NY 210 is the primary lakeside roadway along Greenwood Lake, an interstate lake located roughly equally in New Jersey and New York. NY 210 heads north from the state line along the western edge of the base of a deep valley surrounding the lake to a community known as Indian Park, entirely situated on the steep incline leading away from the lake. The route continues on to the eponymous village of Greenwood Lake, located at the northern tip of the lake.
NY 210 enters the village center from the west on Jersey Avenue. It follows the village street for four blocks to Windermere Avenue, where it turns to follow that street to the northeast. The route terminates nine blocks later upon intersecting NY 17A north of the village center.
## History
### Old roads
From 1930 to 1982, NY 210 extended eastward into Rockland County. This 20-mile (32 km) extension was primarily made up of several highways that were previously part of a privately maintained road. On March 10, 1824, the New York State Legislature passed a law incorporating the Monroe and Haverstraw Road Company. The new company was tasked with building a turnpike from the hamlet of Monroe (now Southfields) east to the town of Haverstraw, where it ended at a fork in the road somewhere in the town. The turnpike company ceased to exist on April 28, 1870, when the legislature passed a law repealing the 1824 document that created the turnpike company. The highway was subsequently sold off in order to pay off the debts of the company and to finance repairs to bridges along the road.
When Harriman State Park opened in 1910, the Monroe–Haverstraw highway was renamed Southfields Road. Three years later, a portion of the route became part of Seven Lakes Drive, a major highway built to traverse the park. In 1916, Rockland County numbered its highways for the first time. The Rockland County section of the former Monroe and Haverstraw Road was designated as CR 416 at this time. From 1919 to 1920, the highway was reconstructed and rebuilt to state standards.
### Designation
In the late 1920s, what is now NY 210 was originally designated as part of NY 55, a connector between NY 17 in Goshen and the New Jersey state line south of the village of Greenwood Lake. In the 1930 renumbering of state highways in New York, NY 55 was incorporated into two longer routes: NY 210 from New Jersey to Greenwood Lake and NY 17A from Greenwood Lake to Goshen. Initially, NY 17A ended in Greenwood Lake while NY 210 continued east to U.S. Route 9W (US 9W) on the banks of the Hudson River in West Haverstraw. From Greenwood Lake to Southfields, NY 210 was routed on modern NY 17A. The route continued east from there along Southfields Road to the eastern fringe of Harriman State Park, at which point it headed to West Haverstraw via Willow Grove and Letchworth Village roads, Suffern Lane, and Railroad Avenue.
By 1933, NY 17A was extended eastward along NY 210 to Southfields, completing the alternate loop of NY 17, while NY 210 was realigned on its east end by 1938 to end at US 9W in Stony Point. Instead of following Willow Point Road, the highway remained on modern Gate Hill Road to the vicinity of Stony Point, where it entered the hamlet on Main Street. It was rerouted again between 1968 and 1973 to bypass Main Street to the south on Central Drive.
On April 1, 1980, ownership and maintenance of the portion of NY 210 from NY 17 to the Orange–Rockland county line was transferred from the state of New York to Orange County as part of a highway maintenance swap between the two levels of government. Two years later, the portion of the route within Rockland County was turned over from the state to the county. As a result, NY 210 was truncated to the former western terminus of its overlap with NY 17A in Greenwood Lake. The former routing of NY 210 is now designated as CR 106 in both Orange and Rockland counties.
### Accidents
Over the years, at least two fatal accidents have occurred on the portion of NY 210 that runs alongside Greenwood Lake. On July 15, 1940, a Brooklyn couple was killed when their car struck a stone ledge near the lake. Two others were injured in the accident. On December 1, 1968, three were killed and one person was injured when two cars had a head-on collision just north of the New Jersey state line.
## Major intersections
## See also
|
[
"## Route description",
"## History",
"### Old roads",
"### Designation",
"### Accidents",
"## Major intersections",
"## See also"
] | 1,242 | 24,953 |
48,429,283 |
July 18, 1998, Albanian–Yugoslav border clashes
| 1,168,390,639 |
1998 Albanian–Yugoslav border clashes
|
[
"1998 in Kosovo",
"1998 in Yugoslavia",
"Albania–Serbia border",
"Battles involving FR Yugoslavia",
"Border incidents",
"Conflicts in 1998",
"July 1998 events in Europe",
"Military operations of the Kosovo War",
"Serbian–Albanian conflict"
] |
On July 18, 1998 a Yugoslav Army (VJ) border patrol ambushed a column of Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) insurgents and foreign mujahideen just west of Dečani, on the frontier between Albania and Yugoslavia. The ambush resulted in the deaths of four KLA fighters and 18 mujahideen, most of whom were citizens of Saudi Arabia. Twelve militants were wounded, and a further six were arrested by the Yugoslav authorities and charged with illegal entry and gunrunning. The VJ reported seizing a significant amount of arms and ammunition that the militants had been smuggling. One Yugoslav border guard was seriously wounded in the clash.
According to the Israeli historian Shaul Shay, the ambush represented the first clash of the Kosovo War between the VJ and foreign mujahideen. The Human Rights Watch advisor Fred C. Abrahams conjectures that the mujahideen may have deliberately been led into a trap by the KLA as part of a plan to reduce the influence of Islamic extremists within the organization's ranks.
Later in the day, 19 KLA fighters were wounded when the VJ shelled an arms smuggling route near the site of the ambush. They were evacuated by Albanian border guards and airlifted to receive treatment in the country's capital, Tirana. Albanian officials later alleged that two of the mortar rounds fired by Yugoslav troops had landed inside Albania, sparking further tension between the two countries. That afternoon, KLA militants attacked a Yugoslav border patrol, wounding another soldier.
## Background
Following World War II, Kosovo was given the status of an autonomous province within the Socialist Republic of Serbia, one of six constitutional republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. After the death of Yugoslavia's long-time leader Josip Broz Tito in 1980, Yugoslavia's political system began to unravel. In 1989, Belgrade revoked Kosovo's autonomy as part of Serbian President Slobodan Milošević's "anti-bureaucratic revolution". Kosovo, a province predominantly inhabited by ethnic Albanians, is of great historical and cultural significance to Serbs, who formed a majority there before the mid-19th century but by 1990 represented only about ten percent of the population. Alarmed by their dwindling numbers, the province's Serbs began to fear that they were being "squeezed out" by the Albanians, and ethnic tensions worsened. Once Kosovo's autonomy was abolished, a minority government run by Serbs and Montenegrins was appointed by Milošević to oversee the province, enforced by thousands of heavily armed paramilitaries from Serbia-proper. Albanian culture was systematically repressed and hundreds of thousands of Albanians working in state-owned companies lost their jobs. In 1991–92, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia disintegrated following the secession of former constituent republics Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1992, amidst the breakup of Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav Wars, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a Serb-controlled federation consisting of Serbia (including Kosovo) and Montenegro, was proclaimed.
In 1996, a group of Albanian nationalists calling themselves the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) began attacking the Serb-dominated Yugoslav Army (Serbo-Croatian: Vojska Jugoslavije; VJ) and the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs (Serbo-Croatian: Ministarstvo unutrašnjih poslova; MUP) in Kosovo. Their goal was to separate the province from the rest of Yugoslavia. At first, the KLA carried out hit-and-run attacks (31 in 1996, 55 in 1997, and 66 in January and February 1998 alone). It gained popularity among young Kosovo Albanians, many of whom rejected the non-violent resistance to Yugoslav authorities advocated by the politician Ibrahim Rugova and favoured a more aggressive approach. The organization received a significant boost in 1997, when an armed uprising in neighbouring Albania led to thousands of weapons from the Albanian Army's depots being looted. Many of these weapons ended up in the hands of the KLA, which already had substantial resources due its involvement in the trafficking of drugs, weapons and people, as well as through donations from the Albanian diaspora. Cross-border arms smuggling flourished; the unit charged with securing the Yugoslav border was the 549th Motorized Brigade, under the command of General Božidar Delić.
The KLA's popularity skyrocketed after the VJ and MUP attacked the compound of KLA leader Adem Jashari in March 1998, killing him, his closest associates and most of his family. The attack prompted thousands of young Kosovo Albanians to join the ranks of the KLA, fueling the Kosovar uprising that eventually erupted in the spring of 1998.
## Timeline
### Prelude
In the summer of 1998, a number of senior U.S. intelligence officials met with the leaders of the KLA, and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents arrived in northern Albania to monitor the fighting in Kosovo and assist in training rebel fighters. In exchange for American military, financial and intelligence support, KLA leaders promised not to carry out any actions outside Kosovo, not to continue participating in the drug trade, and not to accept help from Islamic radicals. Thus, the KLA ordered the 36 foreign Islamist fighters (or mujahideen) fighting in their ranks to leave Kosovo. Though few Kosovo Albanians sympathized with the Islamists, some argued that the KLA should have accepted assistance from any source, fundamentalist or otherwise. When KLA commanders ordered the mujahideen to leave, they refused, and disagreements arose within the KLA ranks as what was to be done with them.
Serb sources assert that the first mujahideen began arriving in Kosovo in the spring of 1998, mainly from Bosnia and Herzegovina. By that summer, about 240 mujahideen were present in Kosovo and northern Albania. Most of these were ethnic Albanians, but the group also included several dozen Arabs from the Middle East and North Africa. They were led by a militant named Alija Rabić.
### Clashes
In the early morning hours of Saturday, July 18, 1998, the mujahideen and KLA militants left their base in northern Albania and departed for Kosovo. Estimates of their strength vary. Human Rights Watch observer Fred C. Abrahams writes that the group consisted of 24 mujahideen and 200 KLA. The political scientist David L. Phillips and diplomat Nicholas Burns state that there were 22 mujahideen and 300 KLA fighters. Tim Judah, a journalist specializing in the Balkans, believes that the group may have been made up of as many as 700 militants. The VJ reported up to 1,000 militants. The group crossed the Albanian–Yugoslav border at Maja e Ujazës, northeast of Bajram Curri. The guerrillas were carrying a large quantity of arms and ammunition, which significantly impeded their movement and obliged them to move slowly across the Albanian–Yugoslav frontier. One hypothesis is that they were heading to reinforce KLA fighters battling for the town of Orahovac.
At 02:00, the column was ambushed by Yugoslav border guards between Mount Đeravica and the Košare border outpost, west of Dečani. The ambush occurred about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the Albanian border. A 122 mm (4.8 in) shell struck the column, killing eight. Clashes ensued, reportedly lasting until about 07:00. According to Abrahams, the ambush ultimately resulted in the deaths of 22 militants, including 18 mujahideen and four KLA. Twelve militants were wounded. Rabić was among those killed; documents recording the KLA and mujahideen's journey were recovered off his corpse by the Yugoslav authorities. Sixteen of the mujahideen were citizens of Saudi Arabia and one was a citizen of Yemen. Six were carrying forged Macedonian passports under ethnic Albanian pseudonyms. According to the Israeli historian Shaul Shay, the incident represented the first skirmish between the VJ and foreign mujahideen during the Kosovo War. It is unclear if the ambush came as a result of Yugoslav vigilance or if the KLA deliberately led the mujahideen into a trap with the goal of eliminating them and thus limiting the influence of Islamic extremists within the KLA's ranks. Survivors told monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe that KLA fighters had led the mujahideen into a trap and fled. A Yugoslav lance corporal was seriously wounded in the exchange.
Most of the surviving militants either retreated to Albania or went into hiding along the border. As they fled, they dropped large quantities of Chinese-made weapons and munitions, which were subsequently seized by the Yugoslav authorities. Six militants, all citizens of Albania, were captured. They were charged with illegally crossing the border and gunrunning. Yugoslav officials stated that more than 10 tonnes (9.8 long tons; 11 short tons) of weapons and ammunition, including about 300 rifles, 60 machine guns, ten recoilless guns and a number of mortars, had been confiscated. Later that day, the VJ shelled a known arms trafficking route near the site of the ambush, wounding 19 KLA fighters. The militants were rescued by Albanian border guards and airlifted by helicopter to receive treatment in a Tirana hospital. At 13:30, two militants opened fire on a Yugoslav border patrol within 300 metres (980 ft) of the Albanian frontier. The border patrol returned fire and the militants fled to Albania. One Yugoslav soldier was slightly wounded.
## Aftermath
Judah described the ambush as a "catastrophic disaster" for the KLA. Albania's deputy Minister of Interior Affairs, Ilir Çano, claimed two Yugoslav mortars had landed inside Albania. "These ... incidents could have very dangerous consequences," he warned. Albanian officials indicated that the mortars did not cause any injuries. Albania lodged a formal protest and demanded an explanation from the Yugoslav authorities. Yugoslav officials denied shelling the border and accused the Albanian authorities of turning a blind eye to KLA arms smuggling in northern Albania. Albanian Foreign Minister Paskal Milo stated that Albania "expresses its fraternal solidarity and supports the just struggle of Albanians in Kosovo." The Albanian Government released a statement describing the ambush as a "Serb provocation" and calling on the international community to "stop, by any means, the fascist aggression Belgrade is inflicting on the Albanian population of Kosovo." In turn, Yugoslav officials accused Albania of sending 300 soldiers to fight alongside the KLA in Kosovo, citing the testimony of captured KLA personnel. Albanian officials denied having troops in the province.
The United States warned Yugoslavia against shelling Albanian territory. State Department spokesman James Rubin told reporters that the alleged shelling was likely an attempt to prevent the insurgents from re-entering Kosovo. "If true, the shelling represents an unacceptable violation of Albanian territory." He continued. "Belgrade must understand that such shelling runs the risk of further escalating the current conflict." Rubin said that the U.S. was opposed to the creation of a pan-Albanian state, and emphasized that calls for its establishment were a "very dangerous development that could affect the stability of the region." Russian officials accused KLA fighters of stoking the clashes, and called for peace talks between the militants and Yugoslav authorities. On July 19, Albanian officials requested that Greece—an important trading partner for Albania and traditional ally of Serbia—mediate to end the fighting. Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos issued a condemnation, saying "these senseless acts of violence must stop." The European Union condemned the militant incursion, as well as the alleged cross-border shelling.
## See also
- April 23, 1998 Albanian–Yugoslav border ambush
- December 14, 1998 Albanian–Yugoslav border ambush
|
[
"## Background",
"## Timeline",
"### Prelude",
"### Clashes",
"## Aftermath",
"## See also"
] | 2,544 | 15,059 |
1,394 |
Algol
| 1,171,540,766 |
Eclipsing variable star in the constellation Perseus
|
[
"Algol variables",
"Am stars",
"Astronomical objects known since antiquity",
"B-type main-sequence stars",
"Bayer objects",
"Bright Star Catalogue objects",
"Durchmusterung objects",
"F-type main-sequence stars",
"Flamsteed objects",
"Henry Draper Catalogue objects",
"Hipparcos objects",
"K-type subgiants",
"Perseus (constellation)",
"Stars with proper names",
"Triple star systems"
] |
Algol /ˈælɡɒl/, designated Beta Persei (β Persei, abbreviated Beta Per, β Per), known colloquially as the Demon Star, is a bright multiple star in the constellation of Perseus and one of the first non-nova variable stars to be discovered.
Algol is a three-star system, consisting of Beta Persei Aa1, Aa2, and Ab – in which the hot luminous primary β Persei Aa1 and the larger, but cooler and fainter, β Persei Aa2 regularly pass in front of each other, causing eclipses. Thus Algol's magnitude is usually near-constant at 2.1, but regularly dips to 3.4 every 2.86 days during the roughly 10-hour-long partial eclipses. The secondary eclipse when the brighter primary star occults the fainter secondary is very shallow and can only be detected photoelectrically.
Algol gives its name to its class of eclipsing variable, known as Algol variables.
## Observation history
An ancient Egyptian calendar of lucky and unlucky days composed some 3,200 years ago is said to be the oldest historical documentation of the discovery of Algol.
The association of Algol with a demon-like creature (Gorgon in the Greek tradition, ghoul in the Arabic tradition) suggests that its variability was known long before the 17th century, but there is still no indisputable evidence for this. The Arabic astronomer al-Sufi said nothing about any variability of the star in his Book of Fixed Stars published c.964.
The variability of Algol was noted in 1667 by Italian astronomer Geminiano Montanari, but the periodic nature of its variations in brightness was not recognized until more than a century later, when the British amateur astronomer John Goodricke also proposed a mechanism for the star's variability. In May 1783, he presented his findings to the Royal Society, suggesting that the periodic variability was caused by a dark body passing in front of the star (or else that the star itself has a darker region that is periodically turned toward the Earth). For his report he was awarded the Copley Medal.
In 1881, the Harvard astronomer Edward Charles Pickering presented evidence that Algol was actually an eclipsing binary. This was confirmed a few years later, in 1889, when the Potsdam astronomer Hermann Carl Vogel found periodic doppler shifts in the spectrum of Algol, inferring variations in the radial velocity of this binary system. Thus Algol became one of the first known spectroscopic binaries. Joel Stebbins at the University of Illinois Observatory used an early selenium cell photometer to produce the first-ever photoelectric study of a variable star. The light curve revealed the second minimum and the reflection effect between the two stars. Some difficulties in explaining the observed spectroscopic features led to the conjecture that a third star may be present in the system; four decades later this conjecture was found to be correct.
## System
Algol is a multiple-star system with three confirmed and two suspected stellar components. From the point of view of the Earth, Algol Aa1 and Algol Aa2 form an eclipsing binary because their orbital plane contains the line of sight to the Earth. The eclipsing binary pair is separated by only 0.062 astronomical units (au) from each other, whereas the third star in the system (Algol Ab) is at an average distance of 2.69 au from the pair, and the mutual orbital period of the trio is 681 Earth days. The total mass of the system is about 5.8 solar masses, and the mass ratios of Aa1, Aa2, and Ab are about 4.5 to 1 to 2.
The three components of the bright triple star used to be, and still sometimes are, referred to as β Per A, B, and C. The Washington Double Star Catalog lists them as Aa1, Aa2, and Ab, with two very faint stars B and C about one arcmin distant. A further five faint stars are also listed as companions.
The close pair consists of a B8 main sequence star and a much less massive K0 subgiant, which is highly distorted by the more massive star. These two orbit every 2.9 days and undergo the eclipses that cause Algol to vary in brightness. The third star orbits these two every 680 days and is an A or F-type main sequence star. It has been classified as an Am star, but this is now considered doubtful.
Studies of Algol led to the Algol paradox in the theory of stellar evolution: although components of a binary star form at the same time, and massive stars evolve much faster than the less massive stars, the more massive component Algol Aa1 is still in the main sequence, but the less massive Algol Aa2 is a subgiant star at a later evolutionary stage. The paradox can be solved by mass transfer: when the more massive star became a subgiant, it filled its Roche lobe, and most of the mass was transferred to the other star, which is still in the main sequence. In some binaries similar to Algol, a gas flow can be seen. The gas flow between the primary and secondary stars in Algol has been imaged using Doppler Tomography.
This system also exhibits x-ray and radio wave flares. The x-ray flares are thought to be caused by the magnetic fields of the A and B components interacting with the mass transfer. The radio-wave flares might be created by magnetic cycles similar to those of sunspots, but because the magnetic fields of these stars are up to ten times stronger than the field of the Sun, these radio flares are more powerful and more persistent. The secondary component was identified as the radio emitting source in Algol using Very-long-baseline interferometry by Lestrade and co-authors.
Magnetic activity cycles in the chromospherically active secondary component induce changes in its radius of gyration that have been linked to recurrent orbital period variations on the order of ΔP/P ≈ 10<sup>−5</sup> via the Applegate mechanism. Mass transfer between the components is small in the Algol system but could be a significant source of period change in other Algol-type binaries.
Algol is about 92.8 light-years from the Sun, but about 7.3 million years ago it passed within 9.8 light-years of the Solar System and its apparent magnitude was about −2.5, which is considerably brighter than the star Sirius is today. Because the total mass of the Algol system is about 5.8 solar masses, at the closest approach this might have given enough gravity to perturb the Oort cloud of the Solar System somewhat and hence increase the number of comets entering the inner Solar System. However, the actual increase in net cometary collisions is thought to have been quite small.
## Names
Beta Persei is the star's Bayer designation. The name Algol derives from Arabic رأس الغول raʾs al-ghūl : head (raʾs) of the ogre (al-ghūl) (see "ghoul"). The English name Demon Star was taken from the Arabic name. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union organized a Working Group on Star Names (WGSN) to catalog and standardize proper names for stars. The WGSN's first bulletin of July 2016 included a table of the first two batches of names approved by the WGSN; which included Algol for this star. It is so entered on the IAU Catalog of Star Names.
In Hebrew folklore, Algol was called Rōsh ha Sāṭān or "Satan's Head", as stated by Edmund Chilmead, who called it "Divels head" or Rosch hassatan. A Latin name for Algol from the 16th century was Caput Larvae or "the Spectre's Head". Hipparchus and Pliny made this a separate, though connected, constellation.
In Chinese, 大陵 (Dà Líng), meaning Mausoleum, refers to an asterism consisting of β Persei, 9 Persei, τ Persei, ι Persei, κ Persei, ρ Persei, 16 Persei and 12 Persei. Consequently, the Chinese name for β Persei itself is 大陵五 (Dà Líng wu, English: The Fifth Star of Mausoleum.). According to R.H. Allen the star bore the grim name of Tseih She 積屍 (Zhi Shī), meaning "Piled up Corpses" but this appears to be a misidentification, and Dié Shī is correctly π Persei, which is inside the Mausoleum.
## Cultural significance
Historically, the star has received a strong association with bloody violence across a wide variety of cultures. In the Tetrabiblos, the 2nd-century astrological text of the Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy, Algol is referred to as "the Gorgon of Perseus" and associated with death by decapitation: a theme which mirrors the myth of the hero Perseus's victory over the snake-haired Gorgon Medusa. In the astrology of fixed stars, Algol is considered one of the unluckiest stars in the sky, and was listed as one of the 15 Behenian stars.
## See also
- Jaana Toivari-Viitala, egyptologist who contributed to understanding Ancient Egypt and the star
|
[
"## Observation history",
"## System",
"## Names",
"## Cultural significance",
"## See also"
] | 2,018 | 4,677 |
32,424,201 |
Typhoon Ma-on (2011)
| 1,162,850,328 |
Pacific typhoon in 2011
|
[
"2011 Pacific typhoon season",
"2011 in Japan",
"July 2011 events in Japan",
"Tropical cyclones in 2011",
"Typhoons",
"Typhoons in Japan",
"Typhoons in the Northern Mariana Islands"
] |
Typhoon Ma-on, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Ineng, was a large and powerful typhoon that affected southern Japan in July 2011. It was the sixth named storm and second typhoon of the 2011 Pacific typhoon season. Originating from an area of low pressure near Wake Island on July 9, the precursor to Ma-on gradually developed as it moved westward. By July 11, it had become sufficiently organized to be declared a tropical depression, although the cyclone's circulation remained broad. Over the following days, Ma-on gradually intensified and attained typhoon status on July 14. Favorable environmental conditions allowed for additional strengthening, and the storm ultimately attained peak ten-minute sustained winds of 175 km/h (109 mph) on July 16. After turning northward in response to a weakening subtropical ridge, the typhoon underwent a series of eyewall replacement cycles that caused it to weaken. On July 19, Ma-on struck Shikoku before turning southeastward and moving back over water. Slow weakening continued as Ma-on succumbed to the effects of high wind shear. The system ultimately became extratropical on July 24, and was last noted by the Japan Meteorological Agency a week later near the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Initially, Ma-on posed a slight threat to the Mariana Islands and prompted the issuance of tropical storm warnings. However, the system remained far away from the area and only produced scattered rainfall. In Japan, hundreds of people evacuated from mudslide-prone areas. Torrential rains produced by the storm, estimated at more than 1,200 mm (47 in), led to widespread and damaging floods. Five people perished as a result of Ma-on, and damage reached ¥3.9 billion (2011 JPY, \$50 million 2011 USD).
## Meteorological history
The origins of Ma-on were from an area of convection that meandered near Wake Island on July 9. The disturbance slowly consolidated and developed a low-level circulation. Based on the presence of low wind shear and generally favorable environmental conditions, tropical cyclone forecast models anticipated that the system would develop into a tropical cyclone. Early on July 11, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a tropical cyclone formation alert, and a few hours later the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported the formation of a tropical depression about halfway between Wake Island and the Northern Marianas Islands. The JTWC followed suit and initiated advisories on Tropical Depression 08W.
The depression tracked westward due to a ridge to its north. Its circulation was initially broad and ill-defined, with patches of disorganized convection due to dry air. The depression was able to intensify due to generally favorable conditions, and the JMA upgraded the depression to Tropical Storm Ma-on at 0600 UTC on July 12. Gradually the thunderstorms became concentrated around the center, despite restricted outflow to the north and west. Ma-on intensified at a slower than climatological rate, although an eye feature became evident by early on July 13. At 0000 UTC that day, the JMA upgraded Ma-on to a severe tropical storm, and 24 hours later the storm intensified into a typhoon to the northeast of the Northern Marianas. By that time, it was also located about 970 km (600 mi) southeast of Iwo Jima. A ragged eye became apparent on satellite imagery, and after developing an anticyclone aloft, its outflow became much better defined.
By July 15, Typhoon Ma-on had a well-defined eye with the strongest convection in its southern periphery. It continued intensifying, and the JTWC estimated 1-minute sustained winds of 220 km/h (140 mph). Late on July 15, Ma-on weakened slightly due to stronger wind shear, which caused its eyewall to break apart in the northwest quadrant. It re-intensified the next day after an eyewall replacement cycle commenced. At 0600 UTC on July 16, the JMA estimated peak 10-minute sustained winds of 175 km/h (109 mph) while the typhoon was located about 1,185 km (736 mi) southeast of Okinawa. Around that time, Ma-on began a motion to the northwest due to a weakening of the subtropical ridge, and it briefly entered the area warned by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA); the agency gave it the local name Ineng.
Late on July 17, Ma-on underwent another eyewall replacement cycle and weakened, despite developing improved outflow and convection in the northern quadrant. The typhoon's large size prevented re-intensification – gale force winds extended 370 km (230 mi) east of the center. In addition, the intrusion of dry air diminished thunderstorms in the western periphery. By July 18, Ma-on reached the western extent of the ridge and began a motion to the north toward Japan. The next day, it turned to the northeast as it paralleled the Japan coastline just offshore. At around 1400 UTC on July 19, Ma-on made landfall on Shikoku as a minimal typhoon. Turning to the east, the typhoon weakened to a severe tropical storm before moving over the southern tip of the Kii Peninsula early on July 20. After emerging from the country, Ma-on turned to the southeast. Increased wind shear displaced the convection to the east, although slight re-intensification was expected. However, the JTWC downgraded Ma-on to a tropical depression on July 21 after the storm lost much of its convection. The circulation became ill-defined, and the JTWC discontinued advisories on July 22, noting the system was in the process of dissipation. However, the JMA maintained Ma-on as a severe tropical storm until July 23, by which time the storm had turned to the northeast. The storm became extratropical on July 24 near the Kuril Islands, lasting another seven days before dissipating east of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
## Preparations and impact
After Ma-on attained tropical storm status, the Tiyan, Guam National Weather Service office issued a tropical storm watch for Agrihan, Pagan, and Alamagan. It was later upgraded to a tropical storm warning after Ma-on became a typhoon, which was canceled after the storm passed the islands to the north. The typhoon produced high waves in Guam, as well as gusty winds and precipitation in an outer feeder band.
High waves in advance of the typhoon capsized a boat in the East China Sea, although the six passengers were rescued. Moisture from the storm extended west to Taiwan, where over 600 mm (24 in) of rainfall was reported. The heavy rainfall caused flooding and mudslides that blocked roadways and forced evacuations.
In Japan, the typhoon was forecast to strike areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Officials prepared by installing a cover to prevent rain contamination. Ultimately, there still was rain contamination, and Ma-on's passage produced 2,000 tons of radioactive water. Before the storm struck Japan, officials in Miyakonojō, Miyazaki advised the evacuation of about 900 people in areas prone to mudslides. At least 300 airline flights were canceled due to the storm. The typhoon also caused delays in the nation's rail system. Nippon Oil stopped shipping oil during the storm. As Ma-on moved across Japan, it produced winds of 108 km/h (67 mph), along with heavy rainfall of up to 1,200 mm (47 in). Rainfall in a 24‐hour period reached 860 mm (34 in) in Umaji, Kōchi, which set a 24‐hour rainfall record and exceeded the average July precipitation by 265.5 mm (10.45 in). The rains flooded houses and roads in the region. High rains closed several expressways, and in Shizuoka Prefecture, a blocked road stranded 96 mountain climbers. Strong winds left about 11,000 people without power on Shikoku Island. The combination of winds and rain damaged the 385‐year‐old Nijō Castle in Kyoto. The typhoon injured 60 people, and killed five people. One of the deaths was from a man who drowned while checking on his boat during the storm. Damage was estimated at ¥3.9 billion (2011 JPY, \$50 million 2011 USD).
Following Ma-on's passage, temperatures decreased across Japan, which led to a marked decrease in heat stroke deaths. Throughout the month, heat stroke deaths were 70% less than in July 2010.
## See also
- Other tropical cyclones named Ma-on
- Other tropical cyclones named Ineng
|
[
"## Meteorological history",
"## Preparations and impact",
"## See also"
] | 1,812 | 18,586 |
6,642,952 |
Live at Wembley (Beyoncé album)
| 1,153,117,342 | null |
[
"2004 live albums",
"2004 video albums",
"Albums produced by Beyoncé",
"Beyoncé albums",
"Beyoncé video albums",
"Columbia Records live albums",
"Columbia Records video albums",
"Live albums recorded at Wembley Stadium",
"Live video albums"
] |
Live at Wembley is a video album by American singer Beyoncé. It was released on April 26, 2004, by Sony Urban Music and Columbia Music Video. The DVD features her concert at Wembley Arena in London, as part of her Dangerously in Love Tour in support of her debut solo studio album Dangerously in Love (2003). Most of the songs on Live at Wembley originate from Dangerously in Love, although Beyoncé also performed a medley of past songs by her former group Destiny's Child. Live at Wembley was critically acclaimed, with AllMusic giving it a grade of three-and-a-half stars out of five. The cover of Rose Royce's "Wishing on a Star", included on the album, was nominated in the category for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards (2006).
The album debuted at number 17 on the US Billboard 200, selling 45,000 copies in its first week. It also charted on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums at number eight. Live at Wembley managed to top the DVD charts in the United States, Australia and Spain and peaked within the top 10 in Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy and the United Kingdom. The DVD was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album was also certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).
## Background and development
Live at Wembley was filmed at the London's Wembley Arena show of the Dangerously in Love Tour, Beyoncé's first international solo tour, on November 10, 2003. The tour supported her debut solo album, Dangerously in Love (2003). Most of the songs on Live at Wembley originate from that album, but it also contains a medley of past songs by her former group Destiny's Child and two soundtrack singles: "Work It Out" and "Summertime". The second disc of Live at Wembley contains three previously unreleased studio recorded songs, including a cover of Rose Royce's "Wishing on a Star", and one remix each of "Crazy in Love", "Baby Boy" and "Naughty Girl". Behind-the-scenes footage can be also seen on the DVD.
The concert audio was mixed by Rick Camp, the same engineer who mixed at the concert venues. It is uncommon for mix engineers to specialize in both live and recorded mixing. For Camp, "Mixing Beyoncé is a pleasure because she's a real singer and makes it easy. There is hardly an overdub on this project — it's 95 percent live Beyoncé." He further talked about the collaboration with Beyoncé with Mix magazine, saying: "In my 22 years of mixing, I've never come across anyone who could deliver like she does: vocally and her ability to do a show. I've seen this young woman run across a 60-foot stage, hit every note and never miss a thing. And that makes my job so much easier."
## Show synopsis
On stage, Beyoncé was backed by several male and female dancers performing choreography during the show. DJ Diamond who served as a DJ during the performances and a backing band provided the music. The performance starts with footage of the crowd during the concert cheering before the appearance of Beyoncé. The curtains are lifted to reveal the stage and Beyoncé appears in red clothes hanging upside down while being taken to a sofa on the stage with a harness singing "Baby Boy". She is backed by a big screen and several dancers on stage who perform a choreography around her. She later starts dancing with them as the song plays and a breakdown towards the end is also featured. She asks from the girls in the crowd to sing to "Naughty Girl" as she dances with background dancers while the words "Naughty Girl" are displayed on the screen behind her. Towards the end of the song she performs portions of Vanity 6's song "Nasty Girl" (1982) as a short dance break. The lights are turned off and later silhouettes of Beyoncé and her dancers appear performing a choreography in front of the screen which is colored white while a backing track is played. She continues to perform a cover version of Little Willie John's song "Fever" wearing white pieces of wardrobe backed by four male dancers. The words "Pure Players" start appearing on the screen as a man's voice says them and "Hip Hop Star" is performed next with Big Boi's and Sleepy Brown's vocals played on a backing track while Beyoncé performs a choreography with several background dancers. "Yes" is performed with Beyoncé and her female dancers dancing on a fence. "Work It Out" follows and Beyoncé tells the fans that she's going to "slow it down" for the performance of "Gift from Virgo" as she hangs in the air on a yellow curtain wearing a yellow dress. In the middle of the song, she is taken down to the stage where she continues to perform the song.
She continues telling to the crowd that she would sing a song from Dangerously in Love further asking the attendees how many of them have the album. She then introduces "Be with You" as one of her favorite slow jams and starts singing it. For the beginning of "Speechless" she sits on a chair singing the song. She asks the fans in the arena to cheer and announced "Well, this is my very first solo tour as an artist and I'm very happy to share this wonderful experience with you all tonight in London". She then starts performing a short Destiny's Child medley beginning with "Bug a Boo". Beyoncé then tells the story about the group's first single "No, No, No Part 2" and continues performing the song. "Bootylicious", "Jumpin' Jumpin'", "Say My Name", "Independent Women Part I", "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" and "Survivor" are performed afterwards as part of the medley. She introduces the next song "Me, Myself and I" saying that she wrote it for all the ladies, "I thought it was something we all need to hear. When we get in these relationships they don't work out. Sometimes we blame the man, we blame another girl, we blame ourselves. But I think we should take every experience and learn a lesson out of it, even the bad experiences and I want all the ladies to know that we will never disappoint ourselves. You'll always have yourself." She introduces the next song "Summertime" as one of her favorite songs asking from the crowd to dance further performing a step dance while footage of flowers was projected on the screen. The lights go out again and Beyoncé appears wearing a grey, sparkly dress for an extended performance of "Dangerously in Love" surrounded by smoke. After the word "Beyoncé" is written on the screen several times, she appears on a staircase wearing a long shirt as the opening lines of "Crazy in Love" start and the song's music video is projected on the screen. Beyoncé then continues singing the song and performing its choreography with her female background dancers and confetti are dropped on stage during the end of the performance.
## Release and promotion
Live at Wembley premiered at Regal Entertainment Group cinemas around the United States on April 26, 2004. Tickets for the theater premieres were purchasable by members of the public. The album was released by Sony Music Entertainment and RCA Records in Europe the same day, and by Columbia Music Video in United States the following day. It was released in both CD and DVD formats. On August 17, 2010, Beyoncé's cover of "Wishing on a Star" was released as a promotional single through several online digital retailers. It peaked at number one on the Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and number 28 on the US Adult R&B Airplay chart. At the 48th Grammy Awards held on February 8, 2006, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, the cover received a nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
## Critical reception
Website AllMusic graded the album with three-and-a-half stars out of five. A writer further praised the CD of the album, writing that "a fun, late-1970s/early-'80s vibe pervades the record". The writer added that the album "opens with a sexy cover of... 'Wishing on a Star'... 'What's It Gonna Be' drips honeyed harmonies over a funky beat, while 'My First Time' falls somewhere between Rufus and Shalamar, with its dreamy '80s-funk-fueled R&B." He further praised the soulful slow-tempo remix version of "Crazy in Love" and the high-powered techno reworking of "Baby Boy". The DVD was also included in Vibe magazine's list of "Get in Tune With New Music" in June 2004. In an interview with The New York Times in 2007, American singer Miranda Lambert stated that she admired Beyoncé's performance in Live at Wembley, saying "The charisma and the confidence — she's the ultimate diva." She further revealed that the album inspired her to "take little bits from that [Beyoncé's performance] for her live shows."
## Commercial performance
Live at Wembley debuted at number 17 on the US Billboard 200, selling 45,000 copies in its first week. The DVD was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping 200,000 copies to retailers inside the United States. According to Nielsen SoundScan, it had sold 264,000 copies in the United States by October 2007, while as of October 6, 2010, it has sold 197,000 digital downloads. Live at Wembley entered the Schweizer Hitparade Albums Chart in Switzerland on May 16, 2004, at number 73, and moved to number 89 the following week, before dropping out of the chart. The album spent one week on the AFP Albums Chart in Portugal at number 26. It also spent four weeks in the German Albums Chart, peaking at number 59.
Live at Wembley peaked at number one on the Billboard Top Music Video chart in May 2004. The album debuted atop the ARIA DVD Chart in Australia the week ending on May 24, 2004, and remained in the chart for 32 weeks, dropping out in January 2005. It was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for selling 30,000 copies. Live at Wembley spent 20 weeks in the Oricon Albums Chart in Japan, peaking at number eight. On July 22, 2004, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), denoting shipment of 100,000 units. In Italy, the album appeared at number five on the FIMI DVD Chart ending April 4, 2010, but did not re-enter the chart. Live at Wembley became the third-best-selling music DVD in the world in 2004.
## Track listing
## Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes and AllMusic.
- Sharon Ali – producer, video producer
- Zakari Asher – dancer
- Bill Ashworth – camera operator
- Carmit Bachar – dancer
- Peter Barnes – lighting design
- Alan Beechey – lighting technician
- Ahmet Bekir – camera operator
- Angela Beyincé – personal assistant
- Beyoncé – creation
- John Blow – editing
- Daniel Boland – lighting director
- Lanar Brantley – bass, music director
- Charlie Bryan – camera operator
- Lenora Dee Bryant – wardrobe
- William Burke – Pro-Tools
- Anthony Burrell – dance director, dancer
- Kim Burse – creation, creative director
- Anwar Burton – dancer
- Alice Butts – package design
- Thom Cadley – mixing, surround sound
- Rick Camp – engineer
- Shawn Carrington – guitar
- Matt Cashman – camera operator
- Justin Collie – lighting director
- Mike Colucci – set construction
- Annie Crofts – liner note producer
- Mark Cruickshank – camera operator
- Mark Davies – camera operator
- Ceire Deery – production coordination
- Milan Dillard – dancer
- DJ Diamond – DJ
- Richard Ellis – camera operator
- Renece Fincher – dancer
- Alan Floyd – tour manager
- Aisha Francis – dance director, dancer
- Michael Garabedian – set construction
- Frank Gatson – choreographer, creation, staging
- Danielle Green – production coordination
- Brandon Henchel – dancer
- Gerald Heyward – drums
- Tim Highmoor – camera operator
- Chris Hollier – camera operator
- Adrian Homeshaw – camera operator
- Tyrone"Ty" Hunter – assistant hair stylist, stylistic advisor
- Chris Issacson – technician
- Ed Jarman – video engineer
- Paul Jarvis – camera operator
- Scott Jenkins – camera operator
- Harold Jones – production coordination
- Pete Jones – sound recording
- Chris Keating – video director
- Julia Knowles – director, producer
- Mathew Knowles – executive producer
- Tina Knowles – stylist
- Casper Leaver – camera operator
- Melanie Lewis – dancer
- Jim Littlehayles – camera operator
- Sophie Lote – production coordination
- Carl Lott – drum technician, guitar technician
- Darragh McAuliffe – lighting technician
- James "McGoo" McGregor – DJ, drum technician
- Neil McLintock – camera operator
- Nahum – director, editing
- Kenneth Nash – monitor engineer
- Naomi Neufeld – technical director
- Vincent Perreux – sound technician
- Arthur Ross – camera operator
- Mark Scott – engineer, sound recording
- Rod Spicer – photography
- Tim Summerhayes – audio supervisor
- Horace Ward – engineer
- Daniel Weatherspoon – keyboards
- Mark Wilder – mastering
- Joe "Flip" Wilson – keyboards
## Charts
### Weekly charts
### Year-end charts
## Certifications
## Release history
|
[
"## Background and development",
"## Show synopsis",
"## Release and promotion",
"## Critical reception",
"## Commercial performance",
"## Track listing",
"## Personnel",
"## Charts",
"### Weekly charts",
"### Year-end charts",
"## Certifications",
"## Release history"
] | 2,982 | 17,426 |
48,647,344 |
2015 Philadelphia Cycling Classic
| 1,091,308,724 | null |
[
"2015 UCI Women's Road World Cup",
"2015 in American sports",
"Philadelphia Cycling Classic"
] |
The 2015 Philadelphia Cycling Classic, known as The Parx Casino Philly Cycling Classic for sponsorship purposes, was the sixth round of the 2015 UCI Women's Road World Cup. It was held on June 7, 2015, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The event had last appeared in the Women's Road World Cup in 2001, as the Liberty Classic.
On a six-lap course which climbed the Manayunk Wall – an 800-metre (2,600 ft) long climb with an average gradient of 8 percent – at the end of each lap, Jasmin Glaesser () established an early breakaway, leading for two laps before being caught by the peloton. Her breakaway earned her sufficient "Queen of the Mountain" points for her to win that title. Further attacks were made, but none were successful. On the final ascent of Manayunk Wall, Lizzie Armitstead () won in a sprint, beating Elisa Longo Borghini () and Alena Amialiusik ().
## Entry
The organizers of the Philadelphia Cycling Classic indicated that they would invite the top twenty ranked UCI teams at the end of 2014, and then any further allocations would be assigned to highly-ranked national teams and other UCI teams. A list of seventeen participating teams was published in March, just over ten weeks prior to the race. Of those teams, , and the Canadian national team did not feature in the race, while further teams were added to feature 96 riders across 19 teams.
## Course
The Philadelphia Cycling Classic followed a six-lap course near the Schuylkill River in northwest Philadelphia. It started and finished at the top of the Manayunk Wall, an 800-metre (2,600 ft) long climb which peaked at a gradient of 17 percent, though it only averaged around 8 percent. The course also included climbs up Lemon Hill and Strawberry Mansion Drive. Each of the six laps was 19.71 kilometres (12.25 miles) in length, giving a total race length of 118.26 kilometres (73.48 miles). "Queen of the Mountain" points were awarded for the first rider to the top of Manayunk Wall and Lemon Hill each lap, while an intermediate sprint was located roughly halfway along the outward section of the lap, where Kelly Drive intersected with Midvale Avenue.
## Preview
After five rounds of the 2015 UCI Women's Road World Cup, there had been five different winners; Jolien D'Hoore at the Ronde van Drenthe, Lizzie Armitstead at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio, Elisa Longo Borghini at the Tour of Flanders, Anna van der Breggen at the La Flèche Wallonne Féminine, and Giorgia Bronzini at the Tour of Chongming Island. Anna van der Breggen led the World Cup standings as the racing moved to Philadelphia, with 290 points, but her team had opted not to take part in the event. Annemiek van Vleuten and Jolien D'Hoore, who were second and third in the standings, had not travelled with their teams to the event. Elisa Longo Borghini () and Lizzie Armitstead (), who entered the race placed fourth and fifth, were highlighted as possible favorites for the race, though Armitstead's teammate, Evelyn Stevens had won the race in both 2013 and 2014.
## Race
There was no significant breakaways during the first lap, but as the riders climbed Lemon Hill on the second of six laps, Jasmin Glaesser () established a gap, and maintained the lead of the race for two laps, earning her the Queen of the Mountain award. She was caught during an attack by Alison Jackson (), but the pair could not maintain their advantage, and were caught by the peloton on the climb up Manayunk Wall at the end of the third lap. attacked each of the intermediate sprints, with Kirsten Wild providing a lead-out each lap for her teammate Emilie Moberg. They also attempted to make breakaways of their own, and Moberg managed to lead off the front of the peloton for around half a lap before being caught once more by the peloton. The team attacked through the fourth lap, with each of their riders riding off the front in turn, but they failed to establish a breakaway.
Entering the final lap, the peloton remained close, although a number of riders had fallen behind or dropped out, particularly through the cobbled bends at the base of the Manayunk Wall. A series of attacks were made on the final lap; Charlotte Becker () gained an advantage, but it was closed again due to work from the team. Once Becker had been caught, Dalia Muccioli () made a move, but the team worked to eliminate her lead. A sprint to the bottom of the Manayunk Wall was led by Loren Rowney (), but more riders struggled over the cobblestones and dropped back. Alexis Ryan () took over the lead of the peloton at the bottom of the hill, and established a fast pace up the lower slopes, leading Joëlle Numainville () and her teammate Coryn Rivera. also had a number of riders near the front, while Elisa Longo Borghini () and Lizzie Armitstead () were just behind. Longo Borghini attacked first, but Armitstead went with her and passed her just before the line to claim victory. Alena Amialiusik () and Shelley Olds () finished in third and fourth; the top four were all classified with the same time.
## Results
### Race results
### World Cup standings
|
[
"## Entry",
"## Course",
"## Preview",
"## Race",
"## Results",
"### Race results",
"### World Cup standings"
] | 1,190 | 12,022 |
955,614 |
Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance
| 1,173,904,906 |
Honor presented to artists for rap performances
|
[
"1989 establishments in the United States",
"Awards established in 1989",
"Grammy Award categories",
"Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance"
] |
The Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance is an honor presented to recording artists for quality rap performances. It was first presented at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards in 1989 and again at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards in 1990, after which point the award was split into two categories: Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. These two categories were combined again in 2012 as a result of a restructure of Grammy categories, and the reinstated Award for Best Rap Performance was presented at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012. The restructuring was the consequence of the Recording Academy's wish to decrease the number of categories and awards and to eliminate distinctions between solo and duo or group performances.
The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony established in 1958, and originally called the Gramophone Awards, are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
The award goes to the artist. The producer, engineer and songwriter can apply for a Winners Certificate.
The first award for Best Rap Performance was presented to DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (the vocal duo consisting of DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith) for "Parents Just Don't Understand". The ceremony was not without controversy; nominees Jeff and Smith led a boycott in protest of the awards presentation not being televised, and some members of the rap community felt that more qualified artists were overlooked. After the reintroduction of the category in 2012 American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West won the award two consecutive time; the two rappers were surpassed in terms of wins by fellow American rapper Kendrick Lamar, who holds the record with six awards. American rapper Megan Thee Stallion and American singer-songwriter Beyoncé became the first female artists to win the category with "Savage (Remix)".
## Background
The Best Rap Performance category was first presented at the 31st Annual Grammy Awards in 1989. NARAS President Mike Green said in Billboard that the music genre has "matured into several kinds of music, with several kinds of artists doing it". Diane Theriot, a representative of the awards department for the academy, recalled being "inundated with eligible rap entries during the first few years of having the category". In 1991, the category was split into the categories Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Recognizing that both categories were continuing to receive numerous entries, the Best Rap Album recognition was established for the 38th Grammy Awards in 1996—the inaugural award was presented to Naughty by Nature for Poverty's Paradise. In 2003, the Best Rap Solo Performance category was divided into separate recognitions for Female and Male Rap Solo Performances. The categories remained separated by gender until 2005 when they were combined into the genderless category originally known as Best Rap Solo Performance. Additional rap categories include Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Rap Song, established in 2002 and 2004, respectively.
## History
For the 31st Grammy Awards (1989), Best Rap Performance nominees included DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince for "Parents Just Don't Understand", J. J. Fad for "Supersonic" (from the album of the same name), Kool Moe Dee for "Wild Wild West", LL Cool J for "Going Back to Cali", and Salt-n-Pepa (the duo consisting of Cheryl James and Sandra Denton) for "Push It". The duo known as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince consisted of DJ Jazzy Jeff (birth name Jeffrey Townes) and actor Will Smith, whose nickname also appeared in the American television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, in which he starred. "Parents Just Don't Understand" appeared on the duo's 1988 album He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper. "Going Back to Cali" appeared on the soundtrack to the film Less than Zero as well as LL Cool J's 1989 studio album Walking with a Panther. Kool Moe Dee's "Wild Wild West" and Salt-n-Pepa's "Push It" appeared on the albums How Ya Like Me Now and Hot, Cool & Vicious, respectively.
Rap and heavy metal categories were introduced the same year (along with Best Bluegrass Album), but, according to the show's producers, time constraints prevented both categories from being televised. Nominee Kool Moe Dee performed during the ceremony, but the rap award was presented during the "usually fast-paced pre-televised ceremony". DJ Jazzy Jeff and Will Smith led a boycott of the ceremony and were joined by fellow nominees LL Cool J and Salt-n-Pepa. Salt-n-Pepa issued the following statement: "If they don't want us, we don't want them." Adding to the controversy surrounding the category, some members of the rap community believed artists such as Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, and N.W.A (whose debut album Straight Outta Compton "launched gangsta rap") were overlooked. Awards were presented to Jeff and Smith at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. While Smith was absent from the ceremony, Jeff was present to accept his award. In 2004, Serena Kappes of People magazine ranked Smith's ceremony boycott number eight on its list of Top 10 Grammy Moments. Jeff and Smith were also recognized by the American Music Awards in 1989 with awards for Favorite Rap Artists and Favorite Rap Album, and "Parent's Just Don't Understand" also earned the duo the first MTV Video Music Award for Best Rap Video. Smith later earned Best Rap Solo Performance awards in 1998 for "Men in Black" and 1999 for "Gettin' Jiggy wit It", and was nominated again in 2000 for "Wild Wild West".
Nominees for the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards included De La Soul for "Me Myself and I", DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince for "I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson", Public Enemy for "Fight the Power", Tone Lōc for "Funky Cold Medina", and Young MC for "Bust a Move". "Me Myself and I" appears on De La Soul's studio album 3 Feet High and Rising and in 2008 was ranked number 46 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs Ever!!! "I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson", written by the duo along with Pete Harris, appears on DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's third album And in This Corner.... "Fight the Power" appeared on the 1988 soundtrack for the film Do the Right Thing and later on Public Enemy's third studio album Fear of a Black Planet (1990). The song ranked number one on VH1's aforementioned list, number 40 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list, and number 322 on Rolling Stone**s 2004 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". "Funky Cold Medina", written by Young MC, Michael L. Ross and Matt Dike, first appeared on Tone Lōc's debut album Lōc-ed After Dark. "Bust a Move" appeared on Young MC's debut album Stone Cold Rhymin**. Allmusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the song as "unabashed catchy" due to its "skittish, rhythmic guitar riff, looped beats", backing vocals, and "funny" rhymes. The award was presented to Young MC. In 2010, Joshua Ostroff of Spinner included Young MC's win on his list of "The Grammy Awards' Biggest Mistakes", asserting that "Bust a Move" was merely a "fun little hip-pop song" while "Fight the Power" was a "revelatory single that still stands tall as one of music's greatest (and funkiest) political statements and perhaps hip-hop's finest moment".
## Recipients
## Artists with multiple wins
6 wins
- Kendrick Lamar
2 wins
- Jay-Z
- Kanye West
## Artists with multiple nominations
10 nominations
- Drake
7 nominations
- Kendrick Lamar
6 nominations
- Jay-Z
- Kanye West
5 nominations
- Lil Wayne
4 nominations
- Cardi B
- J. Cole
3 nominations
- Future
2 nominations
- Big Sean
- DaBaby
- DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
- Eminem
- Megan Thee Stallion
- Nicki Minaj
- 2 Chainz
- Nipsey Hussle
- Young Thug
## See also
- History of hip hop music
|
[
"## Background",
"## History",
"## Recipients",
"## Artists with multiple wins",
"## Artists with multiple nominations",
"## See also"
] | 1,815 | 22,898 |
31,151,091 |
Garage Sale (The Office)
| 1,077,027,392 | null |
[
"2011 American television episodes",
"The Office (American season 7) episodes"
] |
"Garage Sale" is the nineteenth episode of the seventh season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's 145th episode overall. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 24, 2011. The episode was written by Jon Vitti and directed by series cast member, Steve Carell. The episode marks Carell's third director's credit for the series and the final physical appearance of Amy Ryan, having appeared as a regular since "Classy Christmas". (She makes a voice-only appearance in the episode "Goodbye, Michael".)
In the episode, Michael (Steve Carell) decides to propose to Holly (Amy Ryan), and runs into trouble thinking of how to do it well with his expensive diamond ring. He consults several coworkers on advice and for ideas on how to propose. Meanwhile, Dunder Mifflin Scranton's warehouse and crew hosts a public garage sale.
"Garage Sale" was met with critical acclaim by television reviewers as well as fans. Furthermore, HitFix reviewer Alan Sepinwall wrote that the episode could have served as Carell's last episode. It is considered one of the best episodes of The Office. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was viewed by more than 7 million viewers and received a 3.4 rating/10% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49 which marked a slight rise in the ratings from the previous episode, "Todd Packer".
## Plot
Michael Scott (Steve Carell) decides to propose to Holly Flax (Amy Ryan), and runs into trouble thinking of how to do it in the most elaborate way possible with his expensive diamond ring (which cost what he believes is the traditional "three years' salary"). He pours gasoline in the parking lot in the shape of letters, planning to light them on fire and show it to Holly. Pam Halpert (Jenna Fischer) stops it and gathers a meeting of Michael, herself, Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), Ryan Howard (B. J. Novak), and Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez). They believe Holly truly is "the one" for him and give him anecdotes and ideas. They are shocked at Michael's suggestion, particularly one where he throws a corpse dressed as him off the roof, and are stunned at his huge engagement ring. He calls Holly's father to ask his permission (although he leaves a message rather than speak to him personally). Holly catches onto the idea when she calls her parents herself, but she notices her parents seem mentally disoriented. She talks to Michael later and says she wants to move back to Colorado to be there for her dad, and Michael supports her decision. Holly seems to be gearing up for a proposal, but Michael abruptly leaves, not wanting to be proposed to in such a casual way.
Dunder Mifflin Scranton's warehouse and crew host a public garage sale. Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) attempts to walk away with the most expensive item by trading smaller items with his office mates beginning with a thumbtack (a reference to One red paperclip) and continuously trading up from table to table. One item on Jim and Pam's table that piques his interest is a packet of "miracle legumes." Jim claims he received them from a mysterious old man on vacation, and that they keep reappearing on his table whenever he puts them away. Dwight initially believes Jim is trying to prank him, but is astonished when they reappear after Jim had seemingly destroyed the packet. Eventually, his curiosity gets the better of him and he trades Jim a \$150 telescope for the legumes. At the end of the episode, Dwight plants and waters the seeds and Jim secretly replaces the pots with full-grown plants.
Andy Bernard (Ed Helms), Darryl Philbin (Craig Robinson), and Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner) play and bet on the Dallas board game, which Kevin had for sale. As the instruction booklet is not with the game, Andy and Darryl make up the rules as they go along; when Kevin objects, Andy simply claims "that's Dallas." Eventually, Kevin notices the money they had bet on the game is missing, and storms out. As Darryl and Andy look at each other in confusion, Kevin reveals to the cameras that he has the money, stating, "And that... is Dallas", mocking Andy's statement.
Michael takes Holly on a walk through the office, pointing out the locations of various events throughout their courtship. He opens the door to the kitchen, revealing all of the other employees holding candles, a path in between them. Various members of the office ask Holly if she will marry them (all part of Michael's plan) and she politely declines each one. Michael then leads Holly out to her desk, which is surrounded by dozens of candles. Michael gets down on his knee and begins to make a speech when the fire sprinklers go off due to the burning candles. The water drenches everyone in the office and Michael proposes. Holly accepts. Everyone then begins to congratulate Michael. However, Michael announces he is moving to Colorado with Holly, leaving his employees in shock.
## Production
This episode was written by consulting producer Jon Vitti, his second writing credit of the series since joining the staff at the beginning of the seventh season. It was directed by series star Steve Carell, the third episode he has directed for the series. The episode marked Amy Ryan's last physical appearance on the series, although she did speak in "Goodbye, Michael". Ryan later said in an interview with New York that "The script was so sweet anyway that it made us all have a good cry" especially adding the fact that it was her final appearance. She also expressed her confidence that the series could survive without Carell and that it was the right move for him to leave. Vitti later submitted the episode for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, but it was not nominated.
## Cultural references
"Garage Sale" features several callbacks to previous episodes. Kevin's skills at poker were previously shown in "Casino Night". Michael's St. Pauli Girl sign was previously shown in "Dinner Party". Michael mentions when Toby left for Costa Rica from "Night Out".
## Reception
### Ratings
In its original American broadcast, "Garage Sale" was viewed by an estimated 7.07 million viewers and received a 3.4 rating/10% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. This means that it was seen by 3.4% of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 10% of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of the broadcast. This marked a slight rise in the ratings from the previous episode, "Todd Packer", which received series lows. The episode ranked second in its timeslot beating the Fox crime drama Bones, which was seen by 8.78 million households; and CBS coverage of NCAA basketball, which was seen by 6.82 million household; but it was defeated by the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy, which was seen by an average 10.1 million households.
### Reviews
This episode received critical acclaim and is considered one of the best Office episodes. HitFix reviewer Alan Sepinwall called it one of his "favorite Office episodes ever" and also called it one of the greatest romantic sitcom episodes of all-time. He also said the episode could have served as Carell's last episode, and praised "Garage Sale" for its multiple subplots, its exploration of the ensemble cast, and Jim's prank against Dwight. Sepinwall named it one of the best TV episodes of 2011 for series that were not great the whole year and praised it for showcasing "the ridiculous and romantic sides of The Office". He also wrote that it gave Fischer and Krasinski their best material for the series in years. Cindy White of IGN praised it for its mix of comedy and drama. She also complimented it for the showcase of the cast, ultimately giving the episode a 9/10. James Poniewozik of Time said it "was unspectacular as an episode overall but did build to a delightful moment as Michael finally proposed to Holly", later naming it one of his honorable mentions for the top 10 TV episodes of 2011.
The A.V. Club writer Myles McNutt called the episode a "spiritual successor to 'Casino Night', which remains one of my all-time favorite episodes of the series" for "turning what could feel like a gimmicky sitcom scenario into something that feels distinct to both the office [the characters] ... and The Office". He ultimately gave the episode an A−. Kevin Fallon of The Atlantic compared the proposal to other television proposals on Friends, Cheers and Frasier. New York writer Willer Paskin praised the writers for being adept at writing for romance. Following the airing of the episode, Colorado governor John Hickenlooper issued a press release appointing Michael Scott to the position of Director of Paper Distribution in the Department of Natural Resources. "Garage Sale" was voted the third-highest-rated out of 24 from the seventh season, according to a "Survivor" episode poll at the fansite OfficeTally. It was later named the 20th-best episode of the series according to an episode poll by OfficeTally. BuddyTV named the episode the 19th-best TV episode of 2011 and it was the only episode of the series to make the list.
|
[
"## Plot",
"## Production",
"## Cultural references",
"## Reception",
"### Ratings",
"### Reviews"
] | 1,956 | 15,206 |
9,226,331 |
Stranger in a Strange Land (Lost)
| 1,161,302,414 | null |
[
"2007 American television episodes",
"Lost (season 3) episodes",
"Television episodes directed by Paris Barclay"
] |
"Stranger in a Strange Land" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American drama television series Lost, and the show's 58th episode overall. The episode was written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Christina M. Kim, and directed by Paris Barclay. It first aired in the United States on February 21, 2007, on ABC.
In the episode, Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly), Karl (Blake Bashoff), and James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway) continue to journey back to the beach camp, while Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) and Alex (Tania Raymonde) must save Juliet Burke (Elizabeth Mitchell) from execution. Flashbacks reveal the origin of Jack's tattoos.
## Plot
### Flashbacks
In flashbacks, Jack is in Phuket, Thailand, where he meets a local woman named Achara (Bai Ling); the two soon enter into a relationship. After finding out that she works in a tattoo parlor and claims to be able to see who people really are, Jack demands that she give him a tattoo. Achara is hesitant to give him a tattoo, but she does so anyway and tells him there will be consequences. The next morning, he is beaten up by her brother and other locals and told to leave.
### On the Island
Sawyer and Kate begin the episode on Alex's canoe with an unconscious Karl, paddling away from the Hydra island. Kate suggests returning for Jack; however, Sawyer refuses. Kate and Sawyer land on the main island and question Karl about the Others. Karl reveals that the Others work on the Hydra island, but live on the main island. The next morning, Sawyer finds Karl crying in the jungle. Karl says that he is crying because he misses Alex. Sawyer asks Karl if he is in love, which Karl affirms to be true. Sawyer tells him that love is worth the risks of getting caught by the Others and lets Karl go into the jungle to find Alex.
Jack is put into the bear cage, and notices a handcuffed Juliet being led to his old prison. She visits him later and asks Jack to treat Ben's back, which has become infected following the surgery, but Jack refuses. She also explains that she is in trouble with the Others for killing Pickett. Later, Isabel (Diana Scarwid), the Others' "sheriff," arrives at the cage and discusses Jack's tattoo with him, as she can read the Chinese. Isabel brings him to a room where Juliet is being held and asks him whether Juliet told him to kill Ben or not. Jack lies and says she did not and is brought back to his cage. Once back, he is visited by Cindy Chandler (Kimberley Joseph) and the previously kidnapped members of the tail-section. Cindy starts to ask Jack questions, saying they are here to "watch", but he angrily sends her away. Alex visits Jack later and tells him that the Others are planning to execute Juliet. Alex helps him escape from his cage, and they go to Ben Linus (Michael Emerson), who writes a note, sparing Juliet, in return for Jack's continuing to be Ben's doctor. The two then go to a trial the Others are holding for Juliet, and Alex gives Isabel Ben's note, which says Juliet is not to be executed, but is to be marked instead (with a branded symbol at the base of her spine). When Juliet later asks Jack why he helped her, he replies that it is because Ben said he would let both of them off the island and he wants to make that happen by working together. At the end of the episode, Jack and the Others travel back to the main island on a boat. Just before leaving, Isabel translates Jack's tattoo, "He walks amongst us, but he is not one of us". Jack replies, "That's what they say, that's not what they mean."
## Production
"Stranger in a Strange Land" was the first episode of the series directed by Paris Barclay. Barclay had previously won two Emmy Awards for directing episodes of NYPD Blue. The episode was written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Christina M. Kim, the pair had previously worked together on the second season episodes "The Hunting Party", "The Whole Truth", and "Two for the Road".
Although Jack had tattoos on his arm the entire series, their origin had never been explained. Matthew Fox received the tattoos before Lost was even created. The producers considered putting make-up over them, but instead, decided just to keep them and fit it in with the plot. According to Assistant Professor Xinping Zhu of Northeastern University, the tattoo is made up of four Chinese characters from a poem written by Mao Zedong in 1925. Fox's tattoo translates to "Eagles high up, cleaving the space". (In this episode however, one of "the Others" tells Jack that his tattoo translates as: "He walks among us, but he is not one of us." Jack replies, "That's what they say, that's not what they mean.") The number 5 can also be seen on Fox's forearm; he got that tattoo while working on Party of Five, along with another cast member. In an interview, Fox said that for him, getting a tattoo was a "pretty intense experience", and something he would not do in the "spur of the moment". He thought Jack having tattoos was a "really cool idea". Since Fox used tattoos to represent memories or meaningful events in his life, the writers took a similar approach when dealing with Jack's tattoos.
"Stranger in a Strange Land" was shot in various places on the island of Oahu. The scenes with Kate, Sawyer, and Karl on the canoe were shot in Kāne'ohe Bay, while the flashback beach scenes were filmed on Waimanalo Beach. The shots of Jack in a cage were done in Oahu's Paradise Park. The Others' tank and operating room are located in a film studio on the island. Bai Ling, who played Achara, recalled that when shooting the sex scene between her character and Jack, she was "kind of nervous" because she did not know Fox very well. Ling recalls that "we (she and Fox) both had a mutual understanding to just go for it. Sometimes I'm on top of him, sometimes he's on top of me."
## Reception
"Stranger in a Strange Land" was watched by 12.95 million Americans, ranking Lost as the 21st most watched program of the week. This was an increase in viewers from the previous episode, making Lost the number one scripted television series in the adults 18-49 category for the third consecutive week. The episode garnered more viewers than other television series' showing at the same time on other networks, including Criminal Minds and CSI: NY. The ratings, however, were a decrease compared to the same time the previous year, when the episode "One of Them" garnered 18.20 million Americans.
"Stranger in a Strange Land" garnered many negative reviews from critics. Chris Carabott, a writer for IGN, wrote that "the episode was "nothing more than a transition episode". Carabott felt that although it was "a necessary evil in episodic television like Lost", it did not "excuse the poor execution and uninteresting story". IGN later chose it as the worst episode of the series, describing it as "pointless and boring". Cinemablend.com's Josh Spiegel claimed that the episode "was the first rough patch of an otherwise very good third season." Spiegel went on to write that although previews for "Stranger in a Strange Land" promised that three questions would be answered, they were not the mysteries he had been worried about. Mac Slocum of Filmfodder.com was upset about the "overblown marketing" which failed to deliver the answers that he wanted.
"Stranger in a Strange Land" is widely considered amongst Lost fans as the worst episode of the series, and was even recognized as such by show runner Damon Lindelof in an interview. It was part of the inspiration to set an end date for the series.
|
[
"## Plot",
"### Flashbacks",
"### On the Island",
"## Production",
"## Reception"
] | 1,677 | 17,908 |
266,760 |
New Jersey Route 162
| 1,067,960,115 |
State highway in Lower Township, New Jersey
|
[
"Intracoastal Waterway",
"Lower Township, New Jersey",
"State highways in New Jersey",
"State highways in the United States shorter than one mile",
"Transportation in Cape May County, New Jersey"
] |
Route 162 is an unsigned 0.70-mile (1.13 km) long state highway in Lower Township, New Jersey, United States. The highway's designation consists entirely of a bridge on Seashore Road (County Route 626 or CR 626), which is known as Relocated Seashore Road. The southern terminus of the highway is an intersection with County Routes 641 and 626 in Lower Township. After crossing the Cape May Canal, Route 162 terminates at an intersection with County Routes 603 and 626 in Lower Township. Route 162 and County Route 626 date back to the 1850s, when local businessmen and county financial Richard Holmes put together the Cape May Turnpike. The turnpike was chartered in 1854, but construction did not begin until 1857, with completion in April of the next year. The turnpike however, caused a lot of controversy, and struggled to live. For many years, railroads were proposed, becoming possible competition for Holmes, who did not appreciate the idea. The railroad was constructed in 1863, just nine years after the charter of the turnpike syndicate.
Route S4C was designated by the New Jersey Legislature in 1929 as a spur of Route 4 (now U.S. Route 9), beginning at Bennett and running south on Seashore Road and Broadway, past Sunset Boulevard to the Delaware Bay. Route S4C was never taken over by the state. However, when the United States Army Corps of Engineers built the Cape May Canal during World War II, Seashore Road was chosen as one of two roads to cross the canal. (The other was Route 4, now Route 109). The Army Corps built a low level bridge close to the pre-canal alignment. The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) built a higher bridge in 1971 on a new alignment.
## History
### The Cape May Turnpike: the precedent to Seashore Road
Before 1854, the area based around Bridgeton was a strong business and legal section in Cape May County. The local residents there, however, wanted to have a strong banking industry, but a local named Richard Holmes along with several other locals turned to the strong type of enterprise, a turnpike company. Holmes and the locals began a local turnpike syndicate with other businessmen and began the Cape May Turnpike Company upon incorporation in 1854. The turnpike company, upon incorporation, was to build a toll road along roughly the U.S. Route 9 corridor. Progress in constructing the toll road was slow at first, with subscribers from Cape May County being hesitant to buy stock from the turnpike company. A friend of Richard Holmes, Wilmon Whilldin, owned a steamboat company in Cape May and apologized for not buying stock in the company. Citing the Panic of 1857 made it hard to convert securities to cash, Whilldin suggested that a steamboat would be more profitable than the turnpike. The money from the steamboat would go ahead and helped the financially depressed businesses in local communities.
Although local business owners and land owners held out hope that the turnpike company would pay off, the turnpike experienced problems. Richard Holmes and Henry Swain, the director of the turnpike company, were running into problems including failure to buy land from Elijah Hand's pasture and Samuel Hoffman's local residence for the turnpike route, because they kept land prices high. The farmers refused to the sell their rightful land, and locals started showing opposition due to the fact it would cost money to deliver important foods. One of those locals, John Tomlin from Goshen, soon after brought up the idea of the "Shunpike" – a free turnpike road to the west of the Cape May Turnpike. However, the turnpike company kept pushing forward, persuading Hand and Hoffman to sell land in 1857 and erecting two tollhouses in the route, one at the Court House (now Cape May Court House) and one near Cold Spring. Eventually, locals finally began to move towards support of the turnpike. In April 1858, John Wiley, who helped persuade Hand and Hoffman to sell, announced that in three weeks, the route would be complete as one continuous road from Cape Island to Cape May Court House.
After completion of the turnpike in April–May 1858, the Cape May Turnpike did not receive much profits. Even with tolls being collected and stock being bought, these could not offset the costs of repairs and maintenance. The roadbed was commonly washed away in storms and it was becoming a less used route as the "Shunpike" (now Route 162/County Route 626) nearby was free to use, taking away traffic from the turnpike. Walters Miller, a big investor of the turnpike company, decided to leave the syndicate in favor of working towards railroads. Miller himself looked into the construction of railroads in the area, hiring William Cook, who engineered the Camden and Amboy Railroad into producing routes along the peninsula. Cook proposed three routes in 1852, one from the Camden waterfront to Cape May economic region, one through Millville and Bridgeton and a third through Salem. Although the rights for a railroad in the area by the New Jersey General Assembly had been allowed since 1832, there has been no progress on any railroad in Cape May County until 1863. That year, progress started on constructing the Camden and Atlantic Railroad using the first proposal by Cook in 1852. Jonathan Pitney of Absecon spent two years trying to obtain the charter from the General Assembly. In a letter to Richard Holmes, Pitney said the chances of getting the railroad charter and building it were "good". Holmes, however, was cautious towards the railroad company investment, showing little thought of having a railroad created that would compete with his struggling turnpike syndicate.
Businessmen in Cape May County believed the economy in the area was still unstable for quite an engineering project. An adviser to Richard Holmes suggested to be careful on future investments that he would take, including investing into the railroad company. The adviser believed that it would be "bad policy" to make such decisions. Debate continued about the railroad line for at least a decade, and the heads of the Camden and Atlantic Railroad put forth a proposal to build a portion of railroad from Absecon to Cape May along the Tuckahoe River. After attempts to revive the railroad were attempted by several other companies (including the Glassboro and Millville Railroad), the attempts failed. An eventual formation of the Cape May and Millville Railroad in 1860 pushed forward more proposals, and a railroad was constructed in 1863 (and leased in 1869), and the alignment of Seashore Road became part of a stagecoach route from Cold Spring to Cape Island.
### Route S4C and construction of Route 162
In 1929, a route from the Delaware Bay just short of Sunset Boulevard (the former Cape Island Turnpike) northward to U.S. Route 9 at Bennett Station via Broadway and Seashore Road was designated in the state legislature as State Highway Route S4C. The route was designated along County Route 626's length along with County Route 604 as a county-maintained highway, remaining the same until January 1, 1953. On that day, State Highway Route S4C was decommissioned during the 1953 New Jersey state highway renumbering. No number was designated to replace the highway's former number.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the proposal for a canal to supply ships with an evacuation route from Germany's U-boats in World War II along with dangerous shoals of the Delaware Bay came forward. The canal, now the Cape May Canal, was approved in 1941 and was constructed in 1942 to supply this need along with a strong usage by yachts. By 1944, a bridge was constructed across the canal, which was replaced in 1971. That year, the state built a brand new bridge and denoted it as Relocated Seashore Road, a 485.89 feet (148.10 m) long steel girder bridge over the Canal. The bridge was built south of U.S. Route 9 and has stood since and received the designation of Route 162 upon completion.
## Route description
At the intersection with Bridge Road and CR 641, Route 162 officially begins though the county maintains the state numbered alignment of the road from this intersection to the beginning of the Relocated Seashore Road Bridge. The route heads northward from CR 641, paralleling both roads as it heads up the bridge approach and following the shoreline. From there, Route 162 reaches the Cape May Canal, crossing on the two-lane Relocated Seashore Road Bridge for a short distance. NJDOT maintains the bridge itself but once the route returns to land on the other side of the canal, county maintenance resumes. More farms and residences can be seen from the northern approach of the bridge. Route 162 curves to the northwest, intersecting with Seashore Road (CR 603). At that intersection, Route 162 ends but Seashore Road continues once again as CR 626.
## Major intersections
## See also
|
[
"## History",
"### The Cape May Turnpike: the precedent to Seashore Road",
"### Route S4C and construction of Route 162",
"## Route description",
"## Major intersections",
"## See also"
] | 1,914 | 6,103 |
53,457,038 |
David Martin Long
| 1,166,032,138 |
American murderer (1953–1999)
|
[
"1953 births",
"1999 deaths",
"20th-century executions by Texas",
"American people executed for murder",
"Executed suspected serial killers",
"People convicted of murder by Texas",
"People executed by Texas by lethal injection",
"People with antisocial personality disorder"
] |
David Martin Long (July 15, 1953 – December 8, 1999) was an American murderer executed by lethal injection in Texas for the stabbing deaths of three women, and later confessed his involvement in seven murders. His case received media attention after he was placed on life support for a drug overdose two days before his scheduled execution. The New York Times said that the medical personnel who treated Long "found themselves in the odd situation of trying to restore to good health a man with only two days left to live."
A native of Texas, Long grew up mostly in California. He started drinking alcohol at age 12, was sent to a reformatory around that time, and spent many years addicted to drugs. In 1986, Long confessed to killing three women in Lancaster, Texas; he was convicted of capital murder and sent to death row. He was never tried for any other murders, but while in police custody for the murders in Lancaster, he confessed to two additional crimes: the fatal 1978 beating of a gas station attendant in San Bernardino, California, and a 1983 arson that killed his former boss, Bobby Neal Rogers, in Bay City, Texas. Long later confessed to setting a 1986 fire in West Texas that killed two women. While Long's confession in the West Texas fire was found to lack credibility, it sparked new interest in the validity of Ernest Willis's conviction for the crime. The conviction was overturned and Willis was released from prison in 2004, having spent 17 years on death row.
On December 6, 1999, two days before Long was to be executed, he took an overdose of prescription drugs. He was placed on a ventilator and admitted to an intensive care unit in Galveston, Texas. Officials in Texas refused to delay his execution. Long's condition improved significantly by the day after the overdose. He was placed on a medically supervised flight back to death row in Huntsville on December 8, and he was executed that day as scheduled.
## Early life
Long was born in Tom Green County, Texas. He had two brothers and a sister, and he lived in California as a child. Two of Long's older siblings said that their father was an alcoholic who often neglected them. Long's behavior became problematic after their mother died when Long was ten years old. He was sent to foster homes, and he was enrolled in a reformatory by the age of 12. He began regularly drinking alcohol around that time, and he subsequently abused illicit drugs, including heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.
As a young adult, Long worked as an installation technician for cable television companies in Texas. One of his coworkers said that Long made a strong first impression on people because of his good looks and blue eyes. Another coworker said that Long had a demanding personality when he was working under the influence of drugs.
## Triple murder
On September 19, 1986, after being expelled from an alcohol rehabilitation program in Little Rock, Arkansas, Long was hitchhiking when 37-year-old Donna Sue Jester gave him a ride and allowed him to stay at her home in Lancaster, Texas. In exchange for having a place to live, Long agreed to perform repair work on the home. Jester lived with her 64-year-old blind and bedridden adoptive mother, Dalpha Lorene Jester, and with 20-year-old Laura Lee Owens. Long and Owens began a romantic relationship. Like Long, Owens was homeless and had been allowed to stay in the Jester home.
The three women were killed with a steak knife and a hatchet on September 27, but their bodies were not discovered for two days. Based on crime scene evidence, police officers believed that Long killed Donna Sue and Dalpha Jester first. They said that Owens came home, saw the two dead women, and tried to flee before Long killed her. Long left the house in a station wagon belonging to Donna Sue Jester.
## Arrest, release, and recapture
The night of the murders, Long was arrested for drunken driving in Leon County, Texas, about 100 miles south of Lancaster. He was still driving Donna Sue Jester's vehicle, heading north in a southbound lane on Interstate 45. Officers said that Long had run several cars off the road, that he banged his head on the police car until he was bleeding, and that he was "ranting and raving about Jesus or God."
Long told Leon County jailers about killing the three women in Lancaster. However, the women's bodies had not been discovered, so Long's story was not taken seriously and he was released from jail on September 29. A jailer said that before Long's release, he woke up Sheriff Royce Wilson; the jailer said he was told to forget about Long's murder claims. Wilson later said that no one told him about a possible murder confession. Police in Lancaster discovered the murdered women's bodies the same day Long was released from jail. Long became a suspect in the Lancaster murders when officers found an entry in Donna Sue Jester's diary that described how she met Long and allowed him to move in with her. He was apprehended in Austin for public intoxication on October 24. He had hitchhiked, and the driver called police when Long passed out in the vehicle.
While he was in police custody, Long granted an interview to The Dallas Morning News in which he confessed to killing the three women in Lancaster. He said that he "just got tired of hearing all the bickering" from the women, and he said that the women had objected to his drinking. "I've got something in my head that clicks sometimes. It just goes off," he said. Long said that he was not bothered by committing the murders, saying that he felt like he was watching a movie during the killings.
In the same interview, Long confessed to the murders of gas station attendant James Carnell in San Bernardino, California, and Long's former boss, Bob Neal Rogers, in Bay City, Texas. Long said that Carnell's 1978 murder occurred after Carnell had overcharged him for the repair of a tire. He said he beat Carnell with a tire iron and then shoved a broom handle down Carnell's throat. Rogers, who died in 1983 after his mobile home was set on fire, had angered Long by accusing him of misuse of a company vehicle. Long had been arrested shortly after the Bay City fire, but a grand jury had found insufficient evidence for an indictment. Long said he thought his criminal tendencies would get better with time, but he noticed that they were getting worse. He said that Texas seemed to fairly dispense the death penalty, and he indicated that he was "pretty much ready to call it a day" because of his demented personality, saying that he did not belong in society. "I think I need to go ahead and leave," he continued. "I like to call it being put to sleep, kind of like they do to animals."
## Trial
For the murders of the three women in Lancaster, Long was indicted by a Dallas County grand jury in November 1986. He entered a plea of not guilty, claiming insanity. His trial began in January 1987. Defense attorneys requested a change of venue out of Dallas County, but the trial proceeded in Dallas.
Long's attorneys built their defense around his history of psychiatric problems, including schizophrenia, and his reported head injuries. Before the trial, Long told a psychiatrist that Donna Jester's home had a foul smell and that he became agitated around foul odors because he associated them with his mother's death. Long suspected that dead bodies were buried behind Jester's home. He said that he retrieved the hatchet on the day of the murders because he thought the three women in the Jester home were conspiring against him and trying to jeopardize his relationship with Owens.
On the witness stand, Long said he believed that some of his actions were related to being possessed by Satan. Psychologist William Hester testified for the defense, stating that Long was likely psychotic – and may have been hallucinating from alcohol withdrawal – at the time of the crime. The prosecution pointed to inconsistencies between two of Hester's interviews with Long, and they highlighted one of Hester's earlier written notes, which said Hester found no evidence that Long was insane. Testifying for the state, psychiatrist James Grigson said that Long had antisocial personality disorder, which he said was not considered a mental disease or defect. Grigson said that Long could distinguish right from wrong at the time of the crime.
While the court was in session on February 4, Long stood up and yelled to the jury that he was guilty and that he never wanted to advance the insanity defense in the first place. Long first asked Judge Larry Baraka if he was allowed to change his plea from not guilty to no contest. Then, against the advice of his attorneys, he asked to be able to enter a guilty plea. Judge Baraka noted Long's request without ruling on whether he would instruct the jury to automatically find Long guilty.
Long was convicted of murder on February 7, 1987. At Long's request, his attorneys did not present any evidence during the punishment phase of the trial. The jury sentenced him to the death penalty on February 10, 1987.
## Time on death row
Three years after arriving on death row, Long gave investigators a three-hour confession in which he admitted to starting a 1986 house fire that killed two women in the West Texas town of Iraan. Long said that he set the fire because he was angry at Billy Willis, one of the occupants of the house. Billy's cousin, Ernest Willis, had already been found guilty of capital murder in connection with the fire, and he had been sentenced to the death penalty in 1987. The prosecutor in the case had described the evidence against Ernest Willis as circumstantial.
When Willis's appeals attorneys called Long to the witness stand during an evidentiary hearing, Long refused to testify. The presiding judge allowed the videotape of Long's confession to be admitted into court, but he said that Willis's attorneys had to present evidence to corroborate Long's story before the confession would make a difference in the case.
Willis's appeals lawyers spent several years looking for evidence to support Long's version of the events. They found that Long knew Billy Willis because the two had engaged in criminal activity together for many years. In Long's confession, he said that he used a mixture of Everclear and Wild Turkey to start the fire, and subsequent experiments showed that such a mixture could be used as an accelerant in this type of fire. Long was also associated with arson as a modus operandi, having confessed to the Bay City fire.
In 2004, Willis's conviction was overturned due to deficient legal representation and evidence that the state had unnecessarily medicated Willis during his trial. New fire investigators looked at the case and said that there was no physical evidence from this fire that supported a finding of arson. They said the fire was more likely due to an electrical problem. According to author Welsh White, Long's confession was probably untrue, but it was "the catalyst that precipitated the massive investigation that resulted in Willis's exoneration."
In Long's own death penalty case, he lost a 1991 appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The next year, the U.S. Supreme Court denied his request for writ of certiorari. His execution was scheduled for September 17, 1992, but two days before he was set to die, he received a stay of execution to pursue further appeals.
## Overdose
Long exhausted his appeals and was scheduled for execution on December 8, 1999. Two days before the scheduled execution, Long was found unresponsive after taking an overdose of antipsychotic medication. He was placed on life support and admitted to an intensive care unit in Galveston, Texas. On December 7, Long improved enough that his breathing tube was removed.
On December 8, the day of Long's scheduled execution, Long remained on oxygen but his condition was upgraded from critical to serious, and state officials asked intensive care physician Alexander Duarte to sign an affidavit stating that it would be safe to transport Long to Huntsville. Duarte refused, saying that under normal circumstances Long would have stayed in intensive care for another day or two. The doctor warned that Long still required continual medical care. That same day, state officials arranged a medically supervised transport from Galveston to Huntsville via airplane so that he could be executed as scheduled.
## Execution
Having found no relief from appellate courts, Long's attorneys asked for clemency from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles; this request was also denied. Long's legal team appealed to Governor George W. Bush for a 30-day stay of execution because of Long's hospitalization. Bush was out of state campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, so Lt. Governor Rick Perry was left with the decision. Perry refused to grant a stay, and a spokesperson for Bush said that the governor agreed with Perry's decision. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Long's final appeal, and he was taken to the execution chamber. He was executed, as scheduled, on December 8, 1999.
Long gave a last statement, saying:
> Ah, just ah sorry y'all. I think of tried everything I could to get in touch with y'all to express how sorry I am. I, I never was right after that incident happened. I sent a letter to somebody, you know a letter outlining what I feel about everything. But anyway I just wanted, right after that apologize to you. I'm real sorry for it. I was raised by the California Youth Authority, I can't really pin point where it started, what happened but really believe that's just the bottom line, what happened to me was in California. I was in their reformatory schools and penitentiary, but ah they create monsters in there. That's it, I have nothing else to say. Thanks for coming Jack.
## See also
- Capital punishment in Texas
- Capital punishment in the United States
- List of people executed in Texas, 1990–1999
|
[
"## Early life",
"## Triple murder",
"## Arrest, release, and recapture",
"## Trial",
"## Time on death row",
"## Overdose",
"## Execution",
"## See also"
] | 2,919 | 9,919 |
27,377,975 |
Michel Ordener
| 1,145,175,931 |
General of division and commander in Napoleon's elite Imperial Guard (1755–1811)
|
[
"1755 births",
"1811 deaths",
"Burials at the Panthéon, Paris",
"Commanders in the French Imperial Guard",
"French commanders of the Napoleonic Wars",
"French generals",
"French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars",
"Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe",
"People from Forbach"
] |
Michel Ordener (; 2 September 1755 – 30 August 1811) was a French general of division and a commander in Napoleon's elite Imperial Guard. Of plebeian origins, he was born in L'Hôpital and enlisted as private at the age of 18 years in the Prince Condé's Legion. He was promoted through the ranks; as warrant officer of a regiment of Chasseurs à Cheval, he embraced the French Revolution in 1789. He advanced quickly through the officer ranks during the French Revolutionary Wars.
In 1804, Ordener organized and led the controversial kidnapping of the Duke d'Enghien. In 1805, he commanded a regiment of the Imperial Guard cavalry at several important battles, including the Battle of Austerlitz; although he led an energetic and opportune charge, Napoleon noted that Ordener seemed tired and predicted that the general would last only five or six years more. Ordener participated in one more campaign and then accepted a post in the Senate. Napoleon appointed him as Josephine Bonaparte's equerry, supervising the care and maintenance of her horses. He followed this with the post as governor of the Emperor's household in Compiegne, where Ordener died on 30 August 1811.
## Career
Although little is known of Ordener's youth, he was the son of commoners and joined the legion of the Prince of Conde (cousin to the king) at the age of 18 (1776). He was assigned as a private of the Boufflers Dragoons, part of this legion. In 1783, he was appointed to the quartermaster corps and in 1787, he was promoted to warrant officer. In the early days of the French Revolution, he adopted its principles with zeal and enthusiasm.
Subsequently, Ordener took part in all the French Revolutionary Wars. In the War of the First Coalition, he served with distinction in the armies of the Moselle, the Rhine, the Danube and in northern Italy. He was promoted to lieutenant in the 10th Regiment Chasseurs à Cheval (light horse) on 25 January 1792 and captain the following year. In 1796 he was promoted to chef de brigade of the 10th Regiment. At the Battle of Lodi, in northern Italy, despite the ravaging fire of Austrian cannons, Ordener held the famous bridge until the arrival of Napoleon with the rest of the army. Ordener crossed the Adda river with a brigade to encircle and envelope the Austrians at the Battle of Pavia. Afterward, he helped to take Milan.
At the onset of the War of the Second Coalition in 1799, when the armies of the Danube and Helvetia were formed, he was assigned to the Army of the Danube under command of Jean Baptiste Jourdan. His 10th Regiment was part of Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr's III. Division, and held the far left flank at the Battle of Ostrach, 21 March 1799, in southwestern Germany. Although he was wounded on 14 August 1799 in Switzerland, he participated in the Second Battle of Zurich in which his 10th Chasseurs à Cheval routed a division of Russians, a decisive moment in the French victory. Ordener was promoted to colonel of the regiment in 1801 and on 29 August 1803, he was promoted to general of brigade.
### Duke d'Enghien affair
On Napoleon's orders, Ordener entered into the most controversial action of his career, leading a raid into the sovereign Grand Duchy of Baden to arrest Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien, in 1804. Napoleon's orders were specific: Ordener and Armand Augustin Caulaincourt were to take 300 dragoons into the duchy, surround the village of Ettenheim, where the Duke lived, arrest the Duke and Charles Francois Dumouriez, who Napoleon believed was present, and bring both of the men back to France. Ordener and Caulaincourt were instructed also to take their own provisions and to inflict neither harm nor damage on any of the duchy's inhabitants or their property. In the night of 14–15 March, the dragoons crossed the Rhine and surrounded the Duke's lodgings. Dumouriez was not there, nor had he been, but they kidnapped the Duke and took him away to France. Within a few days, the Duke was spirited into the Chateau de Vincennes, on the outskirts of Paris. There he was tried for treason and executed immediately after the verdict. This action, which involved the invasion of a sovereign state, the kidnapping of a duke and a sham trial for treason followed by the man's immediate execution, had political and diplomatic repercussions throughout Europe.
### Campaigns in Austria and Prussia
In 1805, Ordener participated in the campaign against Austria as commander of a regiment of horse grenadiers of the Imperial Guard. At the Battle of Austerlitz, he led a decisive and energetic charge. He executed this, upon order of Napoleon, with impetuosity; this was the charge that pushed the Russians onto the ice and during which, French sources maintain, 40,000 Russians drowned and another 30,000 were taken prisoner. Although this charge garnered for Ordener his promotion to general of division, Napoleon commented that Ordener was worn out. He followed this observation with the frequently quoted prediction, "I think we have no more than five or six years left of him."
In the 1806 campaign against Prussia, Ordener commanded a division of the elite Imperial Guard cavalry. After this campaign, he became a senator and was appointed to first equerry to the Empress Josephine. In this responsibility, he supervised the care of the empress's horses, and acted as her senior aid. Michel Ordener's daughter, Josephine-Eugenie Ordener, was one of Josephine Bonaparte's ladies-in-waiting. He also received the Order of the Iron Crown.
In December 1808, Ordener was raised to Count of the Empire by Napoleon. The following year, Napoleon nominated him as governor for the imperial Château of Compiegne, where he died in 1811 of an attack of apoplexy. He is buried at the Panthéon. François Joseph Lefebvre, Duke of Danzig, another of Napoleon's generals of plebeian origins and with whom Ordener had developed a long-standing friendship, gave the eulogy:
> "It is not because of simple regrets and because of honorable mourning that we must recognize the services of a warrior who has dedicated his whole life to his fatherland and his prince. Let us give public testimony to his virtues, to his merit, to all the qualities that have made him esteemed by the Emperor and that have rendered him dear to his friends and to his family. Let us praise him today at least, because his modesty can no longer prevent us, and let us not fear to offend a virtue that he has loved so much during his life."
## Family
Michel Ordener married Madeleine-Françoise Walter while he served in the quartermaster corps. They had two children, a daughter mentioned above, and a son. The son, also named Michel, was born in Huningue, on 2 (or 3) April 1787 and attended the special military academy at Metz from which he graduated on 8 December 1803 with the grade of sous-lieutenant (second lieutenant) and an assignment to the 24th Regiment of Dragoons. He also took part in the expedition to Spain and the subsequent invasion of Portugal in 1808. He was promoted to colonel and chef de brigade of the 30th Regiment of Dragoons. The Dragoons received battle honors for their participation at the Battle of Borodino. He was wounded on 28 November 1812 in the withdrawal from Russia, at the Battle of Berezina, and again prior to Napoleon's abdication, at the Battle of Montmartre. He later fought at the Battle of Waterloo. Despite his record in the Napoleonic wars and his father's common origins, he remained at his rank of colonel at the Bourbon Restoration, was confirmed as the second Count Ordener, and was acknowledged as a Knight of the Order of Saint Louis. Michel Ordener Jr., married Marie-Francoise-Pauline Legouis in 1829 and died in 1875.
|
[
"## Career",
"### Duke d'Enghien affair",
"### Campaigns in Austria and Prussia",
"## Family"
] | 1,775 | 16,263 |
1,853,511 |
Johnny Jeter
| 1,168,918,055 |
American professional wrestler
|
[
"1981 births",
"21st-century professional wrestlers",
"American accountants",
"American male professional wrestlers",
"California State University, Northridge alumni",
"Living people",
"OVW Heavyweight Champions",
"Professional wrestlers from California",
"Sportspeople from San Diego",
"World Tag Team Champions (WWE)"
] |
John Jeter (born December 14, 1981) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2006 as Johnny, a member of The Spirit Squad.
Jeter was trained by Nick Dinsmore (also known as Eugene), and made his wrestling debut in 2001. He began working for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), which led to him signing a developmental contract with WWE in 2003. Alongside Matt Cappotelli, he won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, and also won the OVW Heavyweight Championship in singles competition. Jeter became part of the Spirit Squad and debuted on Raw in January 2006. They won the World Tag Team Championship once. After being released from WWE, he returned to OVW. He retired, but returned to the ring in 2019.
## Professional wrestling career
### Early career (2001–2003)
After being trained by Nick Dinsmore, Jeter debuted in 2001, and began working for Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).
### World Wrestling Entertainment
#### Ohio Valley Wrestling (2003–2005)
In 2003, Jeter signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and continued to wrestle in OVW, which was WWE's developmental territory, although he occasionally made appearances in dark matches for WWE. In one of his earliest dark matches, Jeter teamed with Nova in a loss to Chuck Palumbo and Nunzio on the February 23, 2003 episode of Velocity. His pay-per-view debut was at the 2003 Vengeance event, when Jeter appeared as the masked Conquistador \#2 in the APA's Barroom Brawl match.
In 2004, Jeter formed a tag team with Matt Cappotelli known as the Thrillseekers. The Thrillseekers wrestled in several dark matches before both Raw and SmackDown, defeating the teams of Johnny Nitro and Chris Cage, and MNM. On January 19, 2005, The Thrillseekers defeated MNM to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship. They successfully defended the championship against MNM and The Heart Throbs, before losing it to the Blond Bombers (Tank and Chad Toland) on April 6.
On July 27, The Thrillseekers defeated MNM to become the number one contenders to the Tag Team Championship, in a match with the added stipulation that whoever gained the pin would receive a match for the OVW Heavyweight Championship. The Thrillseekers got simultaneous pins, but it was Jeter who received the championship match. On August 3, Jeter defeated the OVW Heavyweight Champion, Brent Albright, to win the championship, after Ken Anderson and Daniel Puder interfered on his behalf. After the match, Jeter turned into a heel (villainous character) by attacking Cappotelli, who had suffered an injury. In the following weeks, Jeter also attacked Albright, announcer Dean Hill, and official Danny Davis.
Jeter quickly formed an alliance with Ken Anderson, who helped him retain the championship on several occasions. They later added Paul Burchill to the alliance as an enforcer. After holding the OVW Heavyweight Championship for five months, Jeter lost it to Cappotelli in a two out of three falls match on November 9, 2005. Jeter challenged Cappotelli on numerous occasions Cappotelli in an attempt to regain the championship, but was unsuccessful.
#### The Spirit Squad (2006)
In OVW, he became a part of The Spirit Squad, a faction using the in-ring personas of male cheerleaders, using the name "Johnny". On January 23, 2006, they had their WWE television debut as a group, appearing on Raw and helping Jonathan Coachman win a Royal Rumble qualifying match against Jerry Lawler by distracting Lawler and performing cheers for Coachman. They later became a part of the ongoing scripted feud between WWE chairman Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels. The heel (villainous) McMahon brought in The Spirit Squad to attack Michaels on numerous occasions, including placing them in multiple handicap matches.
They also wrestled in the tag team division and on Raw on April 3, The Spirit Squad won the World Tag Team Championship when Kenny and Mikey, with outside help from the other three members, defeated Kane and The Big Show. After winning the championship, all five members of The Spirit Squad were recognized as the champions, allowing any combination of them to defend the championship.
In May, McMahon signed another handicap match, with The Spirit Squad facing Michaels. The Spirit Squad instead attacked Michaels before the match started, and Triple H came out to help The Spirit Squad. Triple H felt disrespected by The Spirit Squad however, and as a result, helped Michaels instead. This led to Triple H and Michaels reforming D-Generation X (DX) and they began a feud with The Spirit Squad. DX played various sophomoric jokes on The Spirit Squad and the McMahons, as well as defeating The Spirit Squad in handicap tag team matches at Vengeance and a clean sweep in an elimination handicap match at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII.
At the same time as their feud with DX and their alignment with McMahon, The Spirit Squad also wrestled other teams in Raw's tag division over their World Tag Team Championship, successfully defending the championship against the teams of Jim Duggan and Eugene, Charlie Haas and Viscera, and Snitsky and Val Venis. They then entered a lengthy feud with The Highlanders, whom they eventually defeated to retain the championship at the Unforgiven pay-per-view in September. The Spirit Squad as a whole later began a losing streak with Johnny, Mikey, and Mitch losing singles matches to Ric Flair on consecutive episodes of Raw. After two consecutive losses to the debuting Cryme Tyme, Kenny announced that he was going to defeat Flair, and was successful with the help of the other members. It was then announced that Flair and a legend, selected by interactive voting, would wrestle the team for the World Tag Team Championship at the Cyber Sunday pay-per-view in early November. The fans chose Roddy Piper, and he and Flair defeated Kenny and Mikey to win the championship.
The group disbanded on the November 27 episode of Raw, when they were defeated in a five-on-three handicap match by DX and Flair. In a backstage segment later that night, DX placed all members into a crate stamped "OVW, Louisville, Kentucky", a reference to the developmental territory from where The Spirit Squad had come.
Following the breakup of The Spirit Squad, Johnny became the second member of the team to return to the main roster when he appeared during a 30-man battle royal on the December 18 episode of Raw, wearing new wrestling attire.
#### Ohio Valley Wrestling (2007–2008)
Jeter made his return to OVW on February 14, 2007, by defeating Deuce in a dark match prior to the television tapings. In May 2007, Jeter challenged Shawn Spears for the OVW Television Championship, but was unsuccessful. In June, he formed a team with Seth Skyfire, before returning to competing in the singles division. He challenged Paul Burchill for the OVW Heavyweight Championship in mid-2008, but was unsuccessful.
Beginning in August, Jeter made numerous appearances in dark matches prior to Raw and SmackDown!. He also wrestled at ECW live events. Beginning with the October 17, 2007 live event in Manchester, England, Jeter changed his ring name to "Jayden Jeter". In June 2008, it was revealed that Jeter had been quietly released from his contract before January 2008. In 2019, Jeter clarified that he left WWE on his own terms, rather than being released, after having to overcome the addiction to painkillers.
### Chikara (2014)
In September 2014, Jeter broke his retirement to participate in the Chikara promotion's 2014 King of Trios tournament, wrestling as "Johnny" and teaming with his former Spirit Squad stablemates Kenny and Mikey. After a win over Sinn Bodhi and the Odditorium (Qefka the Quiet and Sir Oliver Grimsly) on September 19, the Spirit Squad was eliminated from the tournament in the second round on September 20 by the Golden Trio (Dasher Hatfield, Icarus and Mark Angelosetti). Following the tournament, Jeter returned to retirement.
### Championship Wrestling from Arizona (2019–present)
In early-2019, Jeter broke his retirement once again, beginning making appearances with Championship Wrestling from Arizona (CWFA).
## Personal life
Following his initial retirement in 2008, Jeter went back to college to study accounting at California State University, Northridge. Jeter has since earned his Bachelor of Science in Professional Accountancy and works in Internal Audit.
## Championships and accomplishments
- Ohio Valley Wrestling
- OVW Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Matt Cappotelli
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked No. 70 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2004
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kenny, Mikey, Mitch, and Nicky
`Johnny defended the championship with either Kenny, Mitch, Nicky, or Mikey under the Freebird Rule.`
|
[
"## Professional wrestling career",
"### Early career (2001–2003)",
"### World Wrestling Entertainment",
"#### Ohio Valley Wrestling (2003–2005)",
"#### The Spirit Squad (2006)",
"#### Ohio Valley Wrestling (2007–2008)",
"### Chikara (2014)",
"### Championship Wrestling from Arizona (2019–present)",
"## Personal life",
"## Championships and accomplishments"
] | 1,992 | 16,060 |
70,017,612 |
Laurence Cousin
| 1,166,911,468 |
Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner from France (born 1981)
|
[
"1981 births",
"20th-century French women",
"21st-century French women",
"Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champions (women)",
"Female Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners",
"French practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu",
"French submission wrestlers",
"Living people",
"People awarded a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu"
] |
Laurence Cousin Fouillat (born 7 August 1981) is a French submission grappler and third degree black belt Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor and instructor. Considered a pioneer in the sport, Cousin is regarded as the first European female to receive a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. In 2005 she won the CBJJO World Jiu-Jitsu Cup and medalled at the IBJJF World Championship taking place in Rio de Janeiro. In 2007 Cousin became the first woman from outside Brazil to become IBJJF World jiu-jitsu champion.
## Early life
Laurence Cousin was born on 7 August 1981, in Saint Germain en Laye, France. From the age of eight she trained in Aikido before discovering Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) through a presentation at her dojo. Looking to train and compete, Cousin joined Europe's oldest BJJ academy Le Cercle Tessier in 1999, becoming their first and only female member. Cousin received her blue belt in 2001 then started to travel to Brazil to train and compete, receiving her purple belt from red belt Flavio Behring at the Behring academy in 2002. As a purple belt Cousin won Bronze at the 2003 World Championship competing in the purple/brown/black division. In the year 2004 Cousin received her brown belt and won the 2005 CBJJO World Jiu-Jitsu Cup, she then won bronze in the brown/black division at the 2005 IBJJF World Championship taking place in Brazil. That same year, she was awarded her black belt by Flavio Behring during a seminar of Saulo Ribeiro.
## Black belt career
In 2007 Cousin switched club and started training with François Laurent, David Pierre Louis and Alain Nagera of the Sankuno Academy Paris, all the while working as a Police officer. Representing Behring Jiu Jitsu, she won gold at the 2007 IBJFF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, taking place in Long Beach, California, beating favourite Leticia Ribeiro of Gracie Humaita in the semi-final and Sayaka Shioda in the final. Cousin became the first French and European BJJ black belt world champion, also finishing third in the Open Class category. In 2008 and 2009 Cousin competed at the FILA Grappling World Championship taking place in Fort Lauderdale, winning gold both year in the Gi and No-Gi categories. In 2009 she won the ADCC Submission Wrestling European Championship Trials, then finished fourth at the ADCC World Championship taking place in Barcelona losing to Hillary Williams by points.
In 2010 following a back injury Cousin decided to step away from training and competing. Two years later, in 2012 she left Paris for Toulouse in the south of France where she established, with her husband Erwan Fouillat, her own academy Acemat. In 2013 Cousin returned to competition, winning gold at the IBJJF London International Open in the lightweight division and silver in Open Class, under team Tropa de Elite. in 2014 Cousin became a member of brothers Xande and Saulo Ribeiro BJJ team, making Acemat their first French affiliation. Competing under Acemat /Ribeiro jiu-jitsu, Cousin won double gold at the 2014 London Open International (in both her division and in Open Class) followed by gold at the 2014 European Championship.
In 2015 she won gold at the IBJJF World Master, bronze at the IBJJF European championship and competing in Sport Ju-Jitsu, gold at the JJIF Newaza No-Gi European Championships. In 2016 Cousin participated in Polaris Pro 3 in England, won silver at the 2016 European championship then won silver at the 2016 World Master IBJJF Championship in her weight class and won bronze in the Open Class. In 2017 Cousin entered the European Master Championship winning bronze in two categories, the following year she won gold in both her division and in Open Class.
In 2019 Cousin won the IBJJF World Master 2 in her weight division and silver in the Open Class as well as becoming for the second time double European Master Champion. In 2022 she became French JJIF Newaza Champion for the fourth time, that same year, competing in Ju-jitsu at the 2022 World Games she won bronze in Newaza (−57 kg) and gold in the National team competition representing France. Cousin won gold in January at the 2023 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu European Championship competing in Master 2 featherweight division.
## Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitive summary
Main Achievements:
- IBJJF World Champion in 2007
- CBJJO World Jiu-Jitsu Cup Champion (2005 brown)
- IBJFF European Champion (2014)
- ADCC European Trials winner (2009)
- IBJJF London International Open Champion (2013 / 2014)
- 2 x World FILA Gi Champion (2009, 2008)
- 2 x World FILA Nogi Champion (2009, 2008)
- 2nd place IBJJF World Championship (2008)
- 2nd place IBJFF European Championship (2016)
- 2nd place IBJJF London International Open Championship (2013)
- 3rd place IBJJF World Championship (2015 Black, 2005 brown, 2003 purple)
- 4th place ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship (2009)
## Instructor lineage
Cousin's jiu-jitsu instructor lineage can be traced from the Gracie brothers, the founders of the art, to Grand Master Flavio Behring (9th degree):
Mitsuyo Maeda \> Carlos Gracie \> Helio Gracie \> Flavio Behring \> Laurence Cousin
|
[
"## Early life",
"## Black belt career",
"## Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitive summary",
"## Instructor lineage"
] | 1,251 | 24,484 |
47,441,507 |
Leschi (fireboat)
| 1,090,660,594 |
Fireboat operated by the Seattle Fire Department
|
[
"2007 ships",
"Fireboats in Seattle, Washington",
"Ships built in Washington (state)"
] |
Leschi, named for the native American leader Chief Leschi, is a fireboat operated by the Seattle Fire Department. The ship was laid down in 2006 and commissioned in 2007; its sponsor was Sharon Nickels, wife of the then-mayor Greg Nickels.
The 108-foot (33 m) Leschi has been described as the "dreadnought of Seattle's fireboat fleet". Carrying a normal complement of four, its mission includes firefighting, search and rescue, and response to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) emergencies. It can also be used as a mobile pump and fuel station and as emergency medical treatment and command center.
## History
### Background
Seattle is one of the largest ports on the United States west coast and waterfront fires have been a continual concern for the city. Since 1891 the Seattle Fire Department has regularly operated at least two fireboats, which can be augmented by ships and small craft with fire suppression capabilities from the U.S. Coast Guard, Seattle Police, and neighboring municipalities. One of the worst maritime fires in the city's history occurred in 1968 when an electrical malfunction at Todd Shipyards sparked a fire that took 14 engine companies, two fireboats, two U.S. Coast Guard cutters, and several conscripted Foss Maritime tugboats more than half-a-day to extinguish.
In the 1970s the United States Maritime Administration funded a special program to train a contingent of 50 Seattle firefighters to provide land-based support in the control and extinguishing of dockside and shipboard conflagrations. The effort, which was studied by the Stanford Research Institute, later became a model for other waterfront cities.
### Procurement
Prior to Leschi's construction, Seattle's flagship firefighting vessel was the aging Alki, which was built in 1927 and operated alongside a newer vessel, Chief Seattle. Once known as the world's third "most powerful fireboat," by the early 2000s the antique Alki had become increasingly difficult to operate. On one occasion, in 2003, an engine problem left the vessel dead in the water and the ship was only able to move by firing its legendarily powerful water cannons.
Procurement of a modern fireboat to replace Alki was part of a successful public safety levy enacted by Seattle voters in 2003 approving its construction. Leschi was built at a cost of \$12 million by Dakota Creek Industries of Anacortes, Washington, from a design by Jensen Marine Consultants. The Seattle Fire Department took delivery of the vessel in 2007 during a commissioning ceremony attended by mayor Greg Nickels. The ship sponsor was Nickels' wife, Sharon. The name, Leschi, had been suggested by Kadi Camara, a Seattle elementary school student, as part of a naming competition held by the city. It was meant to honor a former Nisqually chief. Camara got to ride on the ship as a prize. Following the commissioning of Leschi, Alki was retired. Leschi is berthed on Elliott Bay where it is the primary response vehicle for maritime fires on the city's outer shoreline.
## Design and specifications
Described as the "dreadnought of Seattle's fireboat fleet," Leschi is one of three fireboats currently operated by the Seattle Fire Department (SFD), the others being Chief Seattle and Marine One. The 108-foot (33 m) Leschi is powered by twin diesel engines rated at 1,550 horsepower (1,160 kW), turning 72-inch (1,800 mm) four-blade propellers, which give the ship a flank speed of 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). Two additional engines, rated at 1,440 horsepower (1,070 kW), power the ship's four water pumps. Unlike its predecessor, Alki, Leschi has touchscreen consoles for bridge command controls instead of manual "knobs and levers". By displacement and pump capacity, it is the largest of ten municipal-owned fireboats that support the U.S. Coast Guard's regional marine firefighting plan for Puget Sound.
## Mission and capabilities
According to Professional Mariner, Leschi's mission is "firefighting, mobile platform for emergency medical treatment and command center, mobile pump and fuel station, and response to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) emergencies."
The ship's principal fire suppression equipment comes in the form of four 5,000-US-gallon (19,000 L; 4,200 imp gal) per-minute water pumps. In addition to pumping water, the ship's firefighting apparatus can tap an integrated 6,000-US-gallon (23,000 L; 5,000 imp gal) foam tank for use against chemical-fueled fires. Leschi also has a 55-foot (17 m) telescoping crane with ladder and fire line for use against container ship fires and the ship is able to douse itself with a cooling fog to allow for operation directly adjacent to a major fire.
In addition to marine firefighting, Leschi can support land-based firefighters in the event of a disaster that destroys Seattle's water mains. Manifolds on Leschi's deck provide ports through which hose lines can be run to provide fire engines with direct access to seawater.
Leschi is designed to operate with a complement of four personnel, but has a command and communications room for use by senior SFD officers in the event of a catastrophe that renders land facilities unusable. The ship is outfitted with a CBRN defense system for crew protection in the event of a nuclear or chemical weapons attack against Seattle, or similar disaster. When activated, the system automatically seals pressurized hatches to the bridge and command center; uncontaminated air is provided by a fan and filter system.
The ship is regularly equipped with a rigid-hulled inflatable boat that can be launched from the ship's stern. A thermal imaging camera system allows the ship's crew to locate distressed persons in the water (such as in a man overboard emergency) at night or during other low-visibility conditions.
|
[
"## History",
"### Background",
"### Procurement",
"## Design and specifications",
"## Mission and capabilities"
] | 1,267 | 8,736 |
73,493,422 |
HMS Martin (1910)
| 1,152,436,840 |
Destroyer of the Royal Navy
|
[
"1910 ships",
"Acorn-class destroyers",
"Ships built by John I. Thornycroft & Company",
"World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom"
] |
HMS Martin was one of 20 Acorn-class (later H-class) destroyers built for the Royal Navy. The destroyer served in the First World War. The Acorn class was smaller than the preceding Beagle class but oil-fired and better armed. Launched in 1910, Martin joined the Second Destroyer Flotilla. After the British Empire declared war on Germany at the beginning of the First World War, the ship joined the Grand Fleet and was based at Devonport. While undertaking anti-submarine patrols and escorting merchant ships around the British Isles, the destroyer damaged the submarine U-60 and potentially sank U-69. Martin ended the war in Brindisi with the Mediterranean Fleet. After the Armistice, the destroyer remained in the Mediterranean until being sold to be broken up in 1920.
## Design and description
The first decade of the twentieth century saw dramatic strides in the development of destroyers, and the Royal Navy demanded more powerful designs capable of independent operation. The coal-burning Beagle class were followed by the Acorn class, which saw the Navy return to oil-firing. Pioneered by the Tribal class of 1905 and HMS Swift of 1907, using oil enabled a more efficient design, leading to a smaller vessel which also had increased deck space available for weaponry. In addition, unlike previous destroyer designs, where the individual yards had been given discretion within the parameters set by the Admiralty, the Acorn class was a set, with the propulsion machinery the only major variation between the different ships. This enabled costs to be reduced. The class was renamed H class in October 1913.
Martin was 240 feet (73 metres) long between perpendiculars and 246 ft (75 m) overall, with a beam of 25 ft 5 in (7.7 m) and a deep draught of 8 ft 6 in (2.6 m). Displacement was 730 long tons (820 short tons; 740 tonnes) normal and 855 long tons (958 short tons; 869 t) full load. Power was provided by Parsons steam turbines, fed by four Yarrow boilers. Parsons supplied a set of direct-drive turbines that drove three shafts. Three funnels were fitted. The engines were rated at 13,500 shaft horsepower (10,100 kW) and design speed was 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph). On trial, Martin achieved 28.9 kn (53.5 km/h; 33.3 mph). The vessel carried 170 long tons (170 t) of fuel oil which gave a range of 1,540 nautical miles (2,850 km; 1,770 mi) at a cruising speed of 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph).
Armament consisted of a single BL 4 in (102 mm) Mk VIII gun carried on the forecastle and another aft. Two single QF 12-pounder 3 in (76 mm) guns were mounted between the first two funnels. Two rotating 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes were mounted aft of the funnels, with two reloads carried, and a searchlight fitted between the tubes. The destroyer was later modified to carry a single Vickers QF 3-pounder 2 in (47 mm) anti-aircraft gun and depth charges for anti-submarine warfare. The ship's complement was 72 officers and ratings.
## Construction and career
The 20 destroyers of the Acorn class were ordered by the Admiralty under the 1909–1910 Naval Programme. One of three in the class built by John I. Thornycroft & Company, Martin was laid down at the company's Woolston shipyard on 21 December 1909, launched on 15 December 1910 and completed in March 1911. The ship was the eleventh in Royal Navy service to be given the name.
Martin joined the Second Destroyer Flotilla. After the British Empire declared war on Germany at the beginning of the First World War in August 1914, the flotilla became part of the Grand Fleet. Between 13 and 15 October 1915, the flotilla supported the battleships of the Grand Fleet in a training exercise. On 8 November 1916, the destroyer, alongside sister ship Brisk and the Thornycroft-built Acasta-class destroyer Unity, left Devonport to search for submarines. The search was unsuccessful in finding any enemy vessels, but no British ships were attacked during the next two days. This was a rare hiatus, sinkings resuming immediately afterwards. The destroyer was then deployed to Dover. On 3 December, Martin, alongside sister ship Hope, was called upon to join a search for submarines in the English Channel. The lack of success with British anti-submarine measures had meant that merchant shipping had ceased travelling through the Strait of Dover. The search was unsuccessful and instead the ships continued to have to route via the western coast of Britain.
From January 1917, Martin escorted merchant ships off the Isles of Scilly. On 19 February, the destroyer escorted SS Headley, which was attacked by torpedo by the submarine U-60. When the merchant ship sank, the destroyer followed the torpedo's track to find the submarine and dropped depth charges that are reported by the crew of the submarine to have caused damage as the boat escaped. On 7 August, the destroyer was leaving Lough Swilly to join a convoy when the crew saw a periscope off the port side. The ship sped to the spot as the submarine submerged and attacked. Sister ships Lyra, Ruby and three other destroyers quickly followed and between them the warships laid a pattern of 13 depth charges. Although it is not confirmed, the submarine may have been U-44, in which case it escaped. Alternatively, it may have been U-69, which was sunk during that period. On 2 October, the destroyer was called to escort the Drake-class armoured cruiser Drake, returning to port after being torpedoed by a German submarine. The stricken vessel attempted to beach but before that could be completed, the cruiser started to capsize. The crew evacuated, the Arabis-class sloop Delphinium and Martin sharing the responsibility for taking them to shore.
During 1918, the destroyer was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet based at Brindisi. After the Armistice, Martin remained with the Mediterranean Fleet. The deployment did not last long. The Royal Navy needed to return to a peacetime level of strength and both the number of ships and the amount of personnel were reduced to save money. On 21 August 1920, the vessel was sold in Malta to be broken up by Agius Bros.
## Pennant numbers
|
[
"## Design and description",
"## Construction and career",
"## Pennant numbers"
] | 1,390 | 7,752 |
7,635,971 |
Iowa Highway 25
| 1,097,598,104 |
Highway in Iowa
|
[
"State highways in Iowa",
"Transportation in Adair County, Iowa",
"Transportation in Adams County, Iowa",
"Transportation in Greene County, Iowa",
"Transportation in Guthrie County, Iowa",
"Transportation in Ringgold County, Iowa",
"Transportation in Taylor County, Iowa",
"Transportation in Union County, Iowa"
] |
Iowa Highway 25 (Iowa 25) is a north–south highway in the southwest and west-central portion of the state. It begins at Iowa 2 seven miles (11 km) south of Clearfield. It heads north along a two-lane road through Creston, Greenfield, and Guthrie Center on its way to its northern end at U.S. Route 30 (US 30) near Scranton.
Iowa 25 was created in 1926 as a replacement for Primary Road No. 16, which was redesignated further east. It originally connected US 30 to US 34 in Creston. In the early 1930s, it was extended south to Blockton by absorbing all of Iowa 184. By the end of the 1930s, the highway reached the Missouri state line, where it ended for over 40 years. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the highway south of Iowa 2 was turned over to local jurisdictions.
## Route description
Iowa 25 begins at a T intersection with Iowa 2 along the Taylor–Ringgold county line south of Clearfield. Eastbound Iowa 2 comes from the south along the county line and turns east into Ringgold County while Iowa 25 heads north from the intersection along the county line. It passes through Clearfield, which lies in Taylor County, and continues north towards the quadripoint of Taylor, Adams, Union, and Ringgold counties (counter-clockwise from the southwest).
North of the quadripoint, Iowa 25 runs along the Adams–Union county line. It crosses the Platte River south of the unincorporated community of Kent. North of Kent, the highway meets U.S. Highway 34 (US 34) and the two routes head east together towards Creston. Shortly after crossing into Union County, the two routes turn to the northeast. In southern Creston, the two routes split with US 34 continuing to the east and Iowa 25 heading north along Sumner Street through the western part of town. Near Southwestern Community College, the route turns to the west along Townline Road. It crosses Summit Lake, a reservoir created by damming the Platte River. West of Summit Lake, the highway turns 90 degrees to the north and passes close to Green Valley State Park.
Iowa 25 crosses into Adair County near the source of the East Nodaway River. At Orient, the highway turns to the west, but west of the town, it turns back to the north. It heads through rural Adair County, occasionally passing a roadside farmhouse. The highway enters Greenfield on the town's eastern side and intersects Iowa 92. The section of the route from Creston to Greenfield is part of the Mormon Pioneer Trail, which roughly marks the trail used by Mormons on their exodus to Utah. North of Greenfield, Iowa 25 passes through land equally as rural as that south of the town. In the northern part of the county, the highway passes Freedom Rock, a large boulder painted every year to honor U.S. veterans and their families. Just north of Freedom Rock, it meets Interstate 80 (I-80) and US 6 at a diamond interchange adjacent to a golf course.
North of the interchange, Iowa 25 enters Guthrie County and briefly overlaps part of the White Pole Road, formerly known as Iowa 925, by heading west towards Casey. The concurrency ends as the White Pole Road curves to the southwest while Iowa 25 turns to the north. Continuing north through the rolling hills of Guthrie County, Iowa 25 eases to the west through a series of S curves which aligns the road with 5th Street, the main north–south road in Guthrie Center. Just before it enters the city, the highway crosses the South Raccoon River. In downtown Guthrie Center, it meets Iowa 44 at a four-way stop. North of Guthrie Center, the highway crosses Brushy Creek, a tributary of the South Raccoon River. Near Springbrook State Park, it crosses the Middle Raccoon River. Further north, between the communities of Bayard and Bagley, Iowa 25 intersects Iowa 141. The two routes head west towards Bayard and split on the eastern side of town.
North of Bayard, Iowa 25 crosses into Greene County, the final county through which it passes. The highway heads due north through farmland, passing a few houses along the way to Scranton. Just south of Scranton, it picks up the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, a designation it carries to its end. The route goes through the west side of Scranton and continues north to its endpoint at US 30. North of US 30, the roadway becomes County Road N65 (CR N65), which carries the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway.
## History
The original Primary Road No. 25 was designated with the rest of the Iowa Primary Highway System in 1920. It spanned 20 miles (32 km) from Adel to Winterset. This designation only lasted a few years; it was absorbed by Primary Road No. 16 in 1926. When the Adel–to–Winterset route changed numbers in 1926, it was not paved at all, but the segment in Madison County was graded, the first step in becoming a paved road.
The second iteration of Iowa 25 was created in 1925 during the time when the Iowa State Highway Commission was designating the new U.S. Highway System on the state's primary road network. In order to avoid driver confusion, the commission reorganized various route numbers to simplify the system and to remove any duplicated numbers, i.e. US 30 and Primary Road No. 30. Iowa 25 was allocated along a section of former Primary Road No. 16 from Scranton to Creston. Iowa 16 was rerouted to the east, absorbing all of the previous incarnation of Primary Road No. 25.
A few years later, the highway commission created Iowa 184, which ran from US 34 south to Blockton. In early 1933, Iowa 25 was extended southward along US 34 and absorbed all of Iowa 184. In 1938, it was extended an additional four miles (6.4 km) to the Missouri state line. Iowa 357 was created as a short spur route into Blockton.
Iowa 25 stayed largely the same for over 40 years. By 1980, it was truncated at County Road J55 (formerly Iowa 357) near Blockton. Two years later, it trimmed back to its northern junction with Iowa 2, where it remains today.
## Major intersections
## Related routes
- Iowa 184 was the 27-mile-long (43 km) route that connected Blockton to US 34. It was designated in 1931 and absorbed into Iowa 25 two years later.
- Iowa 357 was a short spur that entered Blockton after Iowa 25 was extended to the Missouri state line in 1938. It was turned over to Taylor County in 1964.
|
[
"## Route description",
"## History",
"## Major intersections",
"## Related routes"
] | 1,470 | 33,574 |
390,246 |
EMD AEM-7
| 1,164,402,479 |
Twin-cab four-axle 7,000 hp (5.2 MW) B-B electric locomotive built by Electro-Motive Division
|
[
"11 kV AC locomotives",
"25 kV AC locomotives",
"ASEA locomotives",
"Amtrak locomotives",
"B-B locomotives",
"Electric locomotives of the United States",
"Electro-Motive Division locomotives",
"Multi-system locomotives",
"Passenger locomotives",
"Passenger trains running at least at 200 km/h in commercial operations",
"Railway locomotives introduced in 1980",
"SEPTA Regional Rail",
"Standard gauge locomotives of the United States"
] |
The EMD AEM-7 is a twin-cab four-axle 7,000 hp (5.2 MW) B-B electric locomotive built by Electro-Motive Division (EMD) and ASEA between 1978 and 1988. The locomotive is a derivative of the Swedish SJ Rc4 designed for passenger service in the United States. The primary customer was Amtrak, which bought 54 for use on the Northeast Corridor and Keystone Corridor. Two commuter operators, MARC and SEPTA, also purchased locomotives, for a total of 65.
Amtrak ordered the AEM-7 after the failure of the GE E60 locomotive. The first locomotives entered service in 1980 and were an immediate success, ending a decade of uncertainty on the Northeast Corridor. In the late 1990s, Amtrak rebuilt 29 of its locomotives from DC to AC traction. The locomotives continued operating through the arrival of the final Siemens ACS-64 in June 2016. MARC retired its fleet in April 2017 in favor of Siemens Chargers, and SEPTA retired all seven of its AEM-7s in November 2018 in favor of ACS-64s.
## Background
Amtrak assumed control of almost all private sector intercity passenger rail service in the United States on May 1, 1971, with a mandate to reverse decades of decline. Amtrak retained approximately 184 of the 440 trains which had run the day before. To operate these trains, Amtrak inherited a fleet of 300 locomotives (electric and diesel) and 1190 passenger cars, most of which dated from the 1940s–1950s.
Operation on the electrified portion of the Northeast Corridor was split between the Budd Metroliner electric multiple units and PRR GG1 locomotives. The latter were over 35 years old and restricted to 85 mph (137 km/h). Amtrak sought a replacement, but no US manufacturer offered an electric passenger locomotive. Importing and adapting a European locomotive would require a three-year lead time. With few other options, Amtrak turned to GE to adapt the E60C freight locomotive for passenger service. GE delivered two models, the E60CP and the E60CH. However, the locomotives proved unsuitable for speeds above 90 mph (145 km/h), leaving Amtrak once again in need of a permanent solution.
Amtrak then examined existing European high-speed designs, and two were imported for trials in 1976–77: the Swedish SJ Rc4 (Amtrak X995, SJ No. 1166), and the French SNCF Class CC 21000 (Amtrak No. X996, SNCF No. 21003). Amtrak favored the Swedish design, which became the basis for the AEM-7.
## Design
The AEM-7 was far smaller than its predecessors, the PRR GG1 and the GE E60. It measured 51 ft 1+25⁄32 in (15.59 m) long by 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m) wide, and stood 14 ft 9.5 in (4.51 m) tall, a decrease in length of over 20 ft (6.1 m). The AEM-7's weight was half that of the E60CP or the GG1. On its introduction it was the "smallest and lightest high horsepower locomotive in North America." The Budd Company manufactured the carbodies for the initial Amtrak order, while the Austrian firm Simmering-Graz-Pauker built the carbodies for the MARC and SEPTA orders.
Reflecting the varied electrification schemes on the Northeast Corridor the locomotives could operate at three different voltages: 11 kV 25 Hz AC, 12.5 kV 60 Hz AC and 25 kV 60 Hz. A pair of Faiveley DS-11 two-stage pantographs, one at each end of the locomotive, collected power from the overhead catenary wire. Thyristor converters stepped down the high-voltage AC to provide DC power at a much lower voltage to four traction motors, one per axle. As built the AEM-7 was rated at 7,000 hp (5.2 MW), with a starting tractive effort of 51,710 lbf (230 kN) and a continuous tractive effort of 28,100 lbf (125 kN). Its maximum speed was 125 miles per hour (201.2 km/h). A separate static converter supplied 500 kW 480 V head-end power (HEP) for passenger comfort. This was sufficient to supply heating, lighting, and other electrical needs in 8-10 Amfleet cars.
### AEM-7AC
The rebuilt AEM-7ACs used AC traction instead of DC traction. The power modules used water-cooled insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) technology and provided about 5,000 kilowatts (6,700 horsepower) of traction power plus 1,000 kilowatts (1,300 horsepower) of HEP, twice the HEP capacity of the original DC units. The 6 FXA 5856 traction motors, from Alstom's ONIX family of propulsion components, had a maximum rating of 1,250–1,275 kilowatts (1,676–1,710 horsepower) each and a continuous rating of 1,080 kilowatts (1,450 horsepower). The remanufactured AEM-7ACs were the world's first passenger locomotives to incorporate IGBT technology.
## History
Amtrak planned a fleet of 53 locomotives, with an estimated cost of \$137.5 million. Limited funding hampered that plan, but in September 1977 Amtrak proceeded with a plan to buy 30 locomotives for \$77.8 million. Five groups bid on the contract: General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD)/ASEA, Morrison–Knudsen/Alstom, Brown Boveri, Siemens/KraussMaffei, and AEG/KraussMaffei. Amtrak awarded the contract to the EMD/ASEA partnership in January 1978. It ordered 17 more locomotives in February 1980, bringing the total to 47.
Revenue service began on May 9, 1980, when No. 901 departed Washington Union Station with a Metroliner service. The Swedish influence led to the nickname "Meatball", after Swedish meatballs. Railfans nicknamed the boxy locomotives "toasters". Between 1980 and 1982, 47 AEM-7s (Nos. 900–946) went into service. Amtrak retired the last of its PRR GG1s on May 1, 1981, while most of the GE E60s were sold to other operators. The new locomotives swiftly proved themselves; Car and Locomotive Cyclopedia stated that no new locomotive since the New York Central Hudson had "such an impact on speeds and schedule performance."
This strong performance led to further orders. Amtrak added seven more locomotives in 1987, delivered in 1988, for a total of 54. Two commuter operators in the Northeast ordered AEM-7s. MARC ordered four in 1986 for use on its Penn Line service on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., and Perryville, Maryland. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) ordered seven in 1987. Amtrak also used the AEM-7s to handle the Keystone Service on the Keystone Corridor between Harrisburg and Philadelphia as the Budd Metroliners, displaced from the Northeast Corridor, reached the end of their service lives.
### Refurbishment
In 1999, Amtrak and Alstom began a remanufacturing program for Amtrak's AEM-7s. Alstom supplied AC propulsion equipment, electrical cabinets, transformers, HEP, and cab displays. The rebuild provided Amtrak with locomotives that had improved high end tractive effort and performance with longer trains. Amtrak workers performed the overhauls under Alstom supervision at Amtrak's shop in Wilmington, Delaware. These remanufactured AEM-7s were designated AEM-7AC. Between 1999 and 2002, Amtrak rebuilt 29 of its AEM-7s.
### Retirement
As the locomotives passed 30 years of service their operators made plans for replacements. In 2010, Amtrak ordered 70 Siemens ACS-64 locomotives to replace both the AEM-7s and the newer but unreliable Bombardier/Alstom HHP-8s. The ACS-64s began entering revenue service in February 2014. The last two active AEM-7s, Amtrak Nos. 942 and 946, made their final run on June 18, 2016, on a special farewell excursion that ran between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.
While Amtrak was replacing its AEM-7s, MARC initially decided in 2013 to phase out its electric operations on the Penn Line altogether and retire both its AEM-7 and Bombardier–Alstom HHP-8 locomotives, but the railroad instead started a refurbishment program for its HHP-8s in 2017. As of September 2017, the first HHP-8 reconditioned under this program had been delivered and was undergoing successful testing. MARC selected the Siemens Charger diesel locomotive as the replacement for its AEM-7 fleet in 2015. The last of the MARC AEM-7s were retired by April 2017, with the Chargers entering service on January 2018.
SEPTA will continue to use electric traction, replacing its seven AEM-7s and lone ABB ALP-44, an improved AEM-7, with fifteen ACS-64s. The first SEPTA ACS-64, \#901, entered revenue service on July 11, 2018. On December 1, 2018, SEPTA held a farewell excursion for the AEM-7 and ALP-44 locomotives along the Paoli/Thorndale Line.
### Post-retirement
Two locomotives, ex-Amtrak Nos. 928 and 942, were moved to the Transportation Technology Center in July 2017.
Caltrain, which operates commuter trains in the San Francisco Bay Area, purchased two retired Amtrak AEM-7s to test their electrification system once completed. The units would also serve as backup power for EMU cars. On June 7, 2018, the board awarded two contracts totalling approximately \$600,000: one to purchase two AEM-7ACs from Mitsui & Co, and the other to Amtrak for refurbishment, training, and transportation to the Caltrain maintenance facility in San Jose. Locomotive Nos. 929 and 938 were delivered to California by Amtrak in June 2019.
Seven of the remaining SEPTA AEM-7s were leased to NJ Transit beginning in late December 2018 for the purpose of allowing NJ Transit to roster additional locomotives equipped with positive train control (PTC) in order to meet a deadline for operating PTC-capable equipment. However, they were never used and subsequently returned. SEPTA then used them exclusively for overnight work service during autumn, cleaning tracks and applying traction gel. In 2022, SEPTA sold the AEM-7s and ALP-44 for scrap.
Two units have been preserved: ex-Amtrak Nos. 915 at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, and 945 at the Illinois Railway Museum.
## See also
- ABB ALP-44 A similar locomotive used by SEPTA and New Jersey Transit.
|
[
"## Background",
"## Design",
"### AEM-7AC",
"## History",
"### Refurbishment",
"### Retirement",
"### Post-retirement",
"## See also"
] | 2,504 | 36,325 |
23,846,526 |
A Room with No View
| 1,053,289,368 | null |
[
"1998 American television episodes",
"Millennium (season 2) episodes"
] |
"'A Room with No View" is the twentieth episode of the second season of the American crime-thriller television series Millennium. It premiered on the Fox network on April 24, 1998. The episode was written by Ken Horton, and directed by Thomas J. Wright. "A Room With No View" featured an appearance by recurring guest star Sarah-Jane Redmond.
Millennium Group member Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) learns that a figure from his past has been abducting students, seemingly in an attempt to quash their hopes and aspirations. The episode was Horton's first script for the series, and saw the return of villain Lucy Butler (Redmond), who appeared sporadically throughout the series. "A Room With No View" received positive feedback from television critics, and was viewed by approximately 4.7 million households in its initial broadcast.
## Plot
A young man tunnels out of a farmhouse in Oregon City, Oregon, escaping into the night. He finds an abandoned car and attempts to hot-wire it; someone inside starts the engine and runs him off the road, injuring his ankle. A woman, face obscured, and her male accomplice exit the car and throw the man into its trunk.
In Seattle, two friends argue about applying for college. Landon Bryce (Christopher Kennedy Masterson) tells his friend Howard Gordon (Michael R. Coleman) to apply, but Gordon has been convinced by school counselor Teresa Roe (Mariangela Pino) that his progress is too mediocre to make it worthwhile. Bryce accosts Roe, calling her a failure. That night, Gordon is killed, and Bryce is kidnapped. Millennium Group criminal profiler Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) learns that Gordon died of a heart attack, which the coroner believes was caused by fear. Black visits the crime scene, and sees visions of Lucy Butler (Sarah-Jane Redmond), a woman who killed his friend and colleague Bob Bletcher (in season one's Lamentation). Meanwhile, Bryce is bound and gagged in a remote farmhouse, then left in a room with the would-be escapee. The woman from earlier tells Bryce she loves him.
Black speaks to fellow Group member Peter Watts (Terry O'Quinn) about his Butler vision. Watts informs Black that a Group member, Olson, has been tasked with monitoring Butler since her release. Watts and Black travel to Butler's last known address and find Olson's long-dead body. They realize Butler had been filing her own surveillance reports in Olson's name. Meanwhile, Bryce attempts to escape, but is subdued and later comforted by Lucy Butler. Black interviews Roe, suspecting her involvement when she continually refers to Bryce in the past tense. He later discovers that in every school she has worked for, students have been kidnapped; all the victims resembled Bryce in being average students who showed signs of promise.
Bryce learns about the tunnel from his cellmate, and the two escape again. Emerging from the tunnel, they are met by Butler and a dog that attacks Bryce. After being brought back to the farmhouse, Bryce is told to accept that he is mediocre and ordinary. Elsewhere, Black and Watts interview Roe again, who seems to espouse the same mindset. Black reveals that he knows Roe was once a promising student, and accuses her of being cowed by a fear of failure. Frightened, she reveals the location of Butler's farm. Police raid the farm, freeing several captive youths, including Bryce, but Butler is nowhere to be found.
## Production
"A Room With No View" was directed by Thomas J. Wright, who helmed a total of twenty-six episodes across all three seasons. Wright would also go on to direct "Millennium", the series' crossover episode with its sister show The X-Files. "A Room With No View" was the first to have been written by producer Ken Horton, and his only solo writing credit. Horton would pen a further two episodes in the third season, both with Chip Johannessen.
"A Room With No View" saw the third appearance of recurring villain Lucy Butler, who had previously appeared in "Lamentation" and "Powers, Principalities, Thrones and Dominions", and would return for the third season episodes "Antipas" and "Saturn Dreaming of Mercury". Redmond, a fan of series creator Chris Carter and recurring series director David Nutter, had initially auditioned for another episode of the first season which would have been directed by Nutter. Redmond did not get the part she auditioned for but was instead contacted about portraying a minor recurring role instead, which led to her casting as Butler. The episode features the repeated use of the song "Love Is Blue", performed by Paul Mauriat.
## Broadcast and reception
"A Room With No View" was first broadcast on the Fox network on April 24, 1998. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 4.8 during its original broadcast, meaning that 4.8 percent of households in the United States viewed the episode. This represented approximately 4.7 million households, and left the episode the eighty-second most-viewed broadcast that week.
The episode has received positive reviews from critics. The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen rated the episode an "A", finding it to be a particularly well-executed version of kidnapping trope in crime thrillers. Handlen also praised the development of the Lucy Butler character, feeling positively that her scenes did not seem like "rote horror" but made use of clear motives and characterization. Bill Gibron, writing for DVD Talk, rated the episode 4.5 out of 5, praising the dialogue and the use of "Love Is Blue". However, Gibron felt that the episode did little to move the series along, not exploring any of the season's themes or mythology. Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated "A Room With No View" five stars out of five. Shearman felt the episode was the season's most frightening installment, as it dispensed with the wider theological trappings that he felt lessened the impact of other episodes. He also praised the decision to bring back Redmond as Lucy Butler, finding the character to be a good balance between the different depictions of evil depicted throughout the series.
|
[
"## Plot",
"## Production",
"## Broadcast and reception"
] | 1,305 | 9,209 |
23,893,092 |
Hurricane Alma (1970)
| 1,163,091,385 |
Category 1 Atlantic hurricane in 1970
|
[
"1970 Atlantic hurricane season",
"1970 in the Caribbean",
"1970 meteorology",
"1970 natural disasters in the United States",
"Category 1 Atlantic hurricanes",
"Hurricanes in Cuba"
] |
Hurricane Alma was one of only four Atlantic tropical cyclones to reach hurricane status in the month of May. It developed on May 18, 1970 north of Panama, and rapidly intensified on May 20 to peak winds of 75 mph (120 km/h), near Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. It stalled south of Cuba and deteriorated due to wind shear, and by May 22 it weakened to tropical depression status. After progressing northwestward and crossing western Cuba, Alma reorganized in the Gulf of Mexico, although continued shear prevented strengthening. It moved across Florida on May 25, and on May 27 it dissipated off the coast of Virginia.
The storm first brought gusty winds and heavy rainfall to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. While it was weakening, Alma produced flooding in central and eastern Cuba, causing seven deaths and forcing 3,000 people to evacuate. Moderate precipitation spread across Florida, while thunderstorms from the storm caused light damage, killing one. Moisture from the storm spread up the Atlantic coast.
## Meteorological history
Late on May 17, the US National Hurricane Center, reported that a tropical depression had formed about 470 miles (760 km) to the southeast of Kingston, Jamaica. Over the next couple of days, the depression became better organized as it moved towards the northwest; on May 19 it entered an area of favorable environmental conditions, which enabled the depression to rapidly intensify. On May 20 it strengthened into a tropical storm, at which point it was given the name Alma. That day, it rapidly strengthened under favorable developmental conditions, which included low wind shear, strong upper-level outflow, and apparent eastward inflow. Later on May 20, a Navy reconnaissance plane recorded winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), which proved to be the peak intensity of Alma. It became one of only four Atlantic hurricanes on record in the month of May. In January 2022, as part of the ongoing HURDAT Atlantic hurricane reanalysis project, the peak intensity of Alma was downgraded slightly to 75 mph (120 km/h).
Subsequent to its peak intensity, increasing westerly shear disrupted the storm's circulation and thermal pattern, which caused rapid weakening to tropical storm strength and later tropical depression status. By May 22, the low pressure area became poorly defined after stalling south of Cuba; with only a few squalls and showers, advisories were discontinued on Alma. The remnants of Alma continued westward near the Cayman Islands, and later turned to the north, passing over western Cuba.
On May 24, the low pressure area reorganized as spiral rainbands became more evident on radar, and Alma was re-classified as a tropical depression. As the depression approached the Florida coast, radar imagery indicated the system remained well-organized, with a spiral band structure around an eye feature; however, wind shear limited convection and strength, and Alma moved ashore as a depression near Cedar Key on May 25. It turned northeastward and moved across the southeastern United States, becoming extratropical in North Carolina on May 27. After moving off the coast of Virginia, the remnants of Alma were absorbed by an approaching cold front.
## Impact
After Alma weakened from hurricane status, it passed near the Cayman Islands on May 21, where winds of up to 65 mph (105 km/h) were recorded. Gale-force winds and heavy rainfall also occurred in Jamaica. Heavy rains ahead of the storm caused flash flooding in central and eastern Cuba. Seven people died as a result, and several homes were destroyed. The flooding forced the evacuation of 3,000 people in Oriente Province. Inclement weather closed 16 sugar mills, which stalled harvesting that was already behind schedule in the country.
In Florida, the remnants of Alma brought rainfall across most of the state, with some isolated areas experiencing 5 inches (12.70 cm) or more. The highest rainfall from the storm was near Miami, Florida, with 6.66 inches (16.92 cm) of rain. The rainfall was beneficial in alleviating drought conditions, although thunderstorms caused hazardous driving conditions in the Florida Keys and elsewhere in the state. Small craft warnings were posted along the coast. One girl died from lightning in Miami, and a thunderstorm near Fort Myers damaged some roofs and outbuildings. In Saint Petersburg, flooding disrupted phonelines in about 400 households. Merritt Island experienced 45 mph (72 km/h) wind gusts. In Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, Alma dropped moderate rainfall, with some isolated areas receiving up to 3 inches (7.62 cm). Near Columbia, South Carolina, the remnants of Alma spawned a tornado which destroyed a roof.
## See also
- List of off-season Atlantic hurricanes
- 1970 Atlantic hurricane season
|
[
"## Meteorological history",
"## Impact",
"## See also"
] | 986 | 34,797 |
43,875,844 |
Renaissance Girls
| 1,122,351,693 | null |
[
"2013 singles",
"2013 songs",
"Electropop songs",
"Oh Land songs",
"Songs with feminist themes",
"Songs written by Oh Land"
] |
"Renaissance Girls" is a song by Danish recording artist Oh Land, taken from her third studio album Wish Bone (2013). It was released as the album's lead single on 6 August 2013 by Tusk or Tooth and A:larm Music. The track was written by Nanna Øland Fabricius, while David Andrew Sitek solely produced it. Musically an electropop song, the lyrics discuss finding a balance between societal roles and tasks that a woman might perform, alongside accomplishing her dreams. Oh Land questions why the term "renaissance men" exists when there is no female counterpart.
Oh Land described the writing process as inspiring, and claimed that the single notices what it is like to be a woman in today's society. "Renaissance Girls" was well received by music critics, who appreciated the singer's empowering lyrics. An accompany music video was released on 7 August 2013 and features Oh Land and backup dancers performing choreography within an abandoned warehouse. For the visual, the singer wanted it to be simple yet spontaneous, and features wardrobes provided by fashion designer Phillip Lim.
## Background and release
After taking a yearlong hiatus following the release of her eponymous second studio album, Oh Land (2011), she began to start writing and recording new material for an upcoming project. Oh Land enlisted the help of TV on the Radio's David Andrew Sitek, who she praised as a "brilliant instrumentalist"; the pair collaborated for the aforementioned project, which would later become her third record, Wish Bone (2013). The singer billed the record as her "most directly personal album that [she has] done to date", and also claimed that the lyrics stood out for being extremely vulnerable. "Renaissance Girls" was released for digital consumption on 6 August 2013 through Tusk or Tooth and A:larm Music.
"Renaissance Girls" was released on 6 August 2013 as a digital download in her home country of Denmark, through Tusk or Tooth and A:larm Music. In the United States and Europe, it was made available as a 12-inch single and digital download on the same day. A digital extended play featured a remix of the single was released in the same year, on 27 August by Federal Prism Records. A CD single was also issued from the same label in 2013.
## Music and lyrics
An electropop song, "Renaissance Girls" lasts three minutes and nine seconds. For the track's entire duration, she sings with constant staccato over a furious melody. Michelle Geslani of Consequence of Sound called it an "off-kilter electro-pop [...] girl-power anthem". Geslani stated it was "abuzz with a swarm of busy, twinkling beats". Lyrically, Oh Land sings about performing common household tasks, followed by reaching her goals: "Doing the laundry and planning for the future / Is the nature of a renaissance girl". The singer also claims to giving birth to three children, yet still "remaining a virgin". Oh Land commented on her inspiration in the lyrics of "Renaissance Girls":
> The inspiration is taken from my own life, but also all my girlfriends who are very strong, confident girls who want to be their best in all levels of life. They’re kind of like overachievers and never seem to be satisfied with how [much] they achieve in life. I can see that with myself as well because you expect so much from yourself. You expect yourself to be the best friend, have a great career, be really talented and be able to cook—you just have to be great at everything. I think genders have been washed out a little bit -- like you have to have masculine qualities as well as feminine. It’s just a song that recognizes what it takes to be a girl today, and it’s quite a lot.
Additionally, the singer acknowledged that the term "Renaissance Man" is given to artistic individuals like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, but that the female equivalent has never existed. She claimed the release serves as "an ode" to her friends who are "good at doing everything at once". She speaks of the dedication in lines such as "I can be an engine / Buzzing like a bee / I'm a real independent". Both the lyrics and production were considered reminiscent of Oh Land's previous work, according to Sam Lansky of Idolator.
## Critical reception
"Renaissance Girls" received generally favourable reviews from music critics. Geslani from Consequence of Sound applauded the single's message, which she described as: "We can basically do anything we want". A reviewer from CMJ New Music Monthly acclaimed the recording by claiming that "Oh Land might just give Superwoman a run for her money". A critic from Pretty Much Amazing praised Sitek's production on the track, but Slant Magazine's Jesse Cataldo disliked the song, along with album tracks "Bird in an Aeroplane" and "Love a Man Dead". He claimed they all make use of a "shimmering simplicity and hypnotic circularity" formula, that becomes "stale" after a while. On a different note, Kayleigh Watson from Renowned for Sound described "Renaissance Girls" as a highlight, in addition to calling it an "addictively catchy number that calls to the modern, independent woman". Jennifer Joh from Neon Tommy also was positive towards the song, which she found to be "dazzling and exuberant", while James Christopher Monger of AllMusic called it "ultimately infectious".
## Music video
An accompanying music video to "Renaissance Girls" was released on 7 August 2013 through YouTube. In the visual, the singer performs choreography alongside a "juxtaposition of dance of scenery". Other scenes display semi trucks and cement mixers driving away from a building that Oh Land and several individuals are dancing in. Fashion designer Phillip Lim lent several outfits of his to Oh Land for the video, which she declared was "so simple and clean, but [it] still has a playfulness to it". The singer commented on the video's synopsis:
> We really wanted to do something that just shows who I am. We weren't trying to make a better version of myself. It was really more about fun and being spontaneous. All of the mistakes were allowed to be there, which was the same for the song. The way that the song was recorded was very live. We played everything live, we didn't stop to edit ourselves, it was very intuitive and I wanted the video to have that energy, as well.
The visual opens with a scene of trucks pulling away from a large, brick building. Oh Land is then seen wearing pink overalls entering the building and sitting down in a folding chair towards the center. As the first verse begins, she stands up and dances around the open space, which continues into the chorus. For the second verse, she is joined by four background dancers, who are now sitting in chairs, much like Oh Land. The singer has changed outfits and is now shown knitting. The next scene has the five women standing spaced apart, before they all begin dancing again. Two female children watch the dancers with curiosity. For the song's refrain, Oh Land rides an all-terrain vehicle, before the video concludes with a large group of children joining the women for a final dance.
The video was positively viewed by critics, including by Lauren Musacchio of Rolling Stone, who called the video's storytelling "fun". A reviewer from Baeble Music shared a similar opinion, in addition to praising its playfulness.
## Track listings and formats
Denmark Digital download
1. "Renaissance Girls" – 3:09
2. "Renaissance Girls (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah's Remix)" – 3:41
Europe CD single
1. "Renaissance Girls" – 3:09
2. "Renaissance Girls (Nick Zinner Remix)" – 3:41
Europe Digital download
1. "Renaissance Girls" – 3:25
Europe Remix EP
1. "Renaissance Girls (Nick Zinner Remix)" – 3:40
2. "Renaissance Girls" – 3:11
3. "Renaissance Girls (Instrumental)" – 3:09
United States 12-inch single
- A1. "Renaissance Girls" – 3:11
- A2. "Renaissance Girls (Nick Zinner Remix)" – 3:41
- B1. "Renaissance Girls" – 3:11
- B2. "Renaissance Girls (Instrumental)" – 3:09
## Release history
|
[
"## Background and release",
"## Music and lyrics",
"## Critical reception",
"## Music video",
"## Track listings and formats",
"## Release history"
] | 1,800 | 1,917 |
25,381,960 |
Charles Fryatt
| 1,173,155,111 |
British mariner
|
[
"1872 births",
"1916 deaths",
"British Merchant Navy officers",
"British Merchant Service personnel of World War I",
"Burials in Essex",
"Civilians killed in World War I",
"Civilians who were court-martialed",
"Deaths by firearm in Belgium",
"English sailors",
"Executed British people",
"Executed people from Hampshire",
"Great Eastern Railway people",
"Military discipline and World War I",
"People executed by Germany by firing squad",
"People executed by military occupation forces",
"People executed by the German Empire",
"People from Harwich",
"People from Southampton",
"Steamship captains",
"World War I civilian detainees held by Germany",
"World War I crimes by Imperial Germany"
] |
Charles Algernon Fryatt (2 December 1872 – 27 July 1916) was a British merchant seaman who was court martialled by the Imperial German Navy for attempting to ram a German U-boat in 1915. When his ship, the SS Brussels, was captured off occupied Belgium in 1916, Captain Fryatt was court-martialled under German military law and sentenced to death for "illegal civilian warfare". International outrage followed his execution by firing squad near Bruges, Belgium. In 1919, his body was reburied with full honours in the United Kingdom.
## Early life
Fryatt was born on 2 December 1872 in Southampton, the son of Charles and Mary Fryatt. He attended Freemantle School in the late 1870s. In 1881, Fryatt's family lived at 22 Trinity Terrace, in St Mary's, Southampton, but later moved to Harwich, Essex where he attended the Corporation School. He and his wife, Ethel, had seven children; six girls and one boy. The children were Olive, Victoria, Doris, Vera, Mabel, Charles and Dorothy. The younger Charles later followed his father into the merchant navy, training at HMS Worcester.
On leaving school, Fryatt entered the Mercantile Marine, serving on SS County Antrim, SS Ellenbank, SS Marmion and SS Harrogate. In 1892, Fryatt joined the Great Eastern Railway as a seaman on SS Ipswich. Fryatt's father had been the First Officer on SS Cambridge. Fryatt rose through the ranks, serving on various ships. His first command was SS Colchester. In 1913, he was appointed master of SS Newmarket.
## U-boat attack
On 3 March 1915, Fryatt's command, SS Wrexham, a Great Central Railway ship, was attacked by a German U-boat. The ship was chased for 40 nautical miles (74 km). With deckhands assisting the stokers, the vessel made 16 knots (30 km/h) when it would normally have been pushed to make 14 knots (26 km/h). Wrexham arrived at Rotterdam with burnt funnels. The Great Eastern Railway presented Fryatt with a gold watch for this feat. The watch was inscribed Presented to Captain C. A. Fryatt by the chairman and Directors of the G.E Railway Company as a mark of their appreciation of his courage and skilful seamanship on March 2nd, 1915. Later that month he was in charge of Colchester when it was unsuccessfully attacked by a U-boat.
On 28 March 1915, as captain of the SS Brussels, he was ordered to stop by U-33 when his ship was near the Maas lightvessel. Seeing the U-boat had surfaced to torpedo his ship, Fryatt ordered full steam ahead and tried to ram U-33, which crash-dived. This action complied with Winston Churchill's orders to captains of merchant ships, which included treating the crews of U-boats as felons and not as prisoners of war, in consideration of the German Empire's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. White flags were to be ignored. Churchill's order also stated that survivors from U-boats might be shot if this was more convenient than taking them prisoner. If a captain were to surrender his ship he would be prosecuted by the British. The Germans became aware of these orders when they found a copy of them upon capturing the SS Ben Cruachan in October 1915. For this second action, Fryatt was awarded a gold watch by the Admiralty. The watch was inscribed Presented by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to Chas. Algernon Fryatt Master of the S.S. 'Brussels' in recognition of the example set by that vessel when attacked by a German submarine on March 28th, 1915. Fryatt was presented with a certificate on vellum by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. He was also praised in the House of Commons.
## Capture
On 23 June 1916 Brussels left Hook of Holland bound for Harwich. Lights were shown from the beach and a flare was fired. A passenger is reported to have remained on deck and signalled to shore. Five German destroyers surrounded Brussels. The passengers were told to prepare to take to the lifeboats and orders were given for official papers to be destroyed, which was done successfully. Brussels was taken by the Germans, and the radio was destroyed. She was escorted into Zeebrugge and then to Bruges.
## Court-martial
Fryatt and his crew were sent to the civilian internment camp at Ruhleben, near Berlin. On 16 July 1916, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported that Fryatt had been charged with sinking a German submarine. In reality, U-33 had not been sunk. At the time of the trial she was on active service as part of the Constantinople Flotilla. The basis for the charge was the inscription on his gold watch from the Admiralty. Fryatt was tried at a court-martial by the Imperial German Navy on 27 July 1916, at Bruges Town Hall. Captain Fryatt was found guilty of being a franc-tireur and sentenced to death. The sentence was confirmed by the Kaiser. At 19:00, Fryatt was executed by a Naval firing squad at Bruges within the harbour grounds. The execution was witnessed by one of the town's Aldermen. He was buried in a small cemetery just outside Bruges that was used for burying Belgian civilians executed after being convicted of offenses involving guerrilla warfare or perfidy. The grave was later visited by diplomat Sir Walter Townley (British Ambassador to the Netherlands from 1917 to 1919) and his wife.
An execution notice was published in Dutch, French and German announcing the death of Fryatt. It was signed by Admiral Ludwig von Schröder. A translation of the execution notice reads:
> NOTICE. The English captain of a merchant ship, Charles Fryatt, of Southampton, though he did not belong to the armed forces of the enemy, attempted on March 28th, 1915, to destroy a German submarine by running it down. For this he has been condemned to death by judgment this day of the Field Court Martial of the Naval Corps, and has been executed. A ruthless deed has thus been avenged, belatedly but just. Signed VON SCHRÖDER, Admiral Commandant of the Naval Corps, Bruges, July 27th, 1916.
### German post-war confirmation of court-martial
On 2 April 1919, a German international law commission named the "Schücking Commission", after its chairman Walther Schücking, reconfirmed Fryatt's sentence:
> The execution by firing squad of Captain Charles Fryatt, ordered by the Court Martial of Bruges following judgment in the court-martial proceedings of 27 July 1916, involves no violation of international law. [However, t]he Commission regrets most deeply the haste with which the sentence was carried out.
The commission's ruling was not unanimous. Two members of the legal review panel, Eduard Bernstein and Oskar Cohn, dissented because in their opinion Fryatt's conviction and execution had been "a serious violation of international law" and "an inexcusable judicial murder".
## Reaction
On 31 July 1916, British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith issued a statement in the House of Commons.
> I deeply regret to say that it appears to be true that Captain Fryatt has been murdered by the Germans. His Majesty's Government have heard with the utmost indignation of this atrocious crime against the laws of nations and the usages of war. Coming as it does contemporaneously with the lawless cruelty towards the population of Lille and other occupied districts of France, it shews that the German High Command, under the stress of military defeat, have renewed their policy of terrorism. It is impossible of course to conjecture to what atrocities they may proceed.
>
> His Majesty's Government desire to repeat emphatically their resolve that such crimes shall not, if they can help it, go unpunished. When the time arrives they are determined to bring to justice the criminals whoever they maybe and whatever position they may occupy. In such cases as these the authors of the system under which such crimes are committed may well be the most guilty of all. The question of what immediate action can be taken is engaging the earnest attention of the Government and I hope very soon to announce to the House of Commons what we can do.
Lord Claud Hamilton, MP, Chairman of the Great Eastern Railway, denounced the execution as "sheer, brutal murder". The Mayor of Harwich opened a fund to erect a permanent memorial to Fryatt. A similar fund was opened in the Netherlands.
In the United States, The New York Times denounced the execution as "a deliberate murder". The New York Herald called it "The crowning German atrocity". In the Netherlands, the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant described the execution as "arbitrary and unjust", while the Handelsblad Holland called it "A cowardly murder inspired by hatred and revenge". In Switzerland, the Journal de Genève said "It is monstrous to maintain that armed forces have a right to murder civilians but that civilians are guilty of a crime in defending themselves". The Dutch branch of the League of Neutral States presented the Great Eastern Railway a memorial tablet which was erected at Liverpool Street station. The memorial was unveiled on 27 July 1917, exactly a year after Fryatt's execution. The scrap value of Brussels was donated towards the cost.
The Great Eastern Railway awarded Fryatt's widow a pension of £250 per annum. The Government granted her an extra £100 per annum pension on top of her entitlement. Fryatt's insurers, the Provident Clerk's Association, paid the £300 that Mrs Fryatt was entitled to immediately, dispensing with the usual formalities. The Royal Merchant Seaman's Orphanage offered to educate two of Fryatt's seven children. The King expressed his indignation and abhorrence at the execution of Fryatt in a letter to Mrs Fryatt. In the letter, he also wrote: "The action of Captain Fryatt in defending his ship against the attack of an enemy submarine was a noble instance of the resource and self-reliance so characteristic of his profession."
The incident inspired an Australian film, The Murder of Captain Fryatt (1917).
## Funeral and reburial
In 1919, Fryatt's body was exhumed and returned to the United Kingdom for burial. Fryatt was one of only three sets of British remains given a state funeral following the end of World War I, the others being Edith Cavell and The Unknown Warrior. His coffin was landed at Dover, and transported in South Eastern and Chatham Railway PMV No.132 to London. On 8 July 1919, his funeral service was held at St Paul's Cathedral. Hundreds of merchant seamen and widows of merchant seamen and fishermen attended. Representing the Government were many members of the Admiralty, the Board of Trade, the Cabinet and the War Office.
The band of the Great Eastern Railway, augmented by drummers from the Royal Marines, played the Dead March. "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" and "Abide with Me" were sung, and a blessing given by the Bishop of London. The route of the coffin to Liverpool Street station was lined with people.
Fryatt was buried at All Saints' Church, Upper Dovercourt. His coffin was carried from the station to the church on a gun carriage. His widow was presented with the insignia of the Belgian Order of Leopold that had been posthumously awarded to Fryatt. Fryatt was also posthumously awarded the Belgian Maritime War Cross. In November 2018, Fryatt's grave was restored after years of neglect.
## Namesakes
In Zeebrugge there is a street named after Captain Fryatt – Kapitein Fryattstraat. A wing at Dovercourt Cottage Hospital – which is now known as the Captain Fryatt Memorial Hospital. – was named in Fryatt's honour. A public house in nearby Parkeston is also named in Captain Fryatt's honour.
In Canada, the 11,027 feet (3,361 m) high Mount Fryatt () was named in 1921 in honour of Captain Fryatt. The 10,317 feet (3,145 m) high Brussels Peak () was named in honour of his ship.
## Commemoration
In 2016, an exhibition was held from 23 to 31 July at the Masonic Hall, Harwich, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his execution.
## See also
- Baralong incidents - shipwrecked U-boatmen fired upon and massacred by Royal Navy sailors
- Crash of Zeppelin LZ 54 (L 19) – German crew abandoned by British to drown in North Sea
- Thrasher incident
|
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"### German post-war confirmation of court-martial",
"## Reaction",
"## Funeral and reburial",
"## Namesakes",
"## Commemoration",
"## See also"
] | 2,711 | 14,524 |
10,189,121 |
Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss
| 1,169,200,274 | null |
[
"2000s American animated films",
"2000s English-language films",
"2006 animated films",
"2006 films",
"American flash animated films",
"American independent films",
"American romance films",
"Animated adaptations of William Shakespeare",
"Animated films about fish",
"Animated films about otters",
"Films about pinnipeds",
"Films about prejudice",
"Films about sharks",
"Films based on Romeo and Juliet",
"Films directed by Phil Nibbelink"
] |
Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss is a 2006 American animated romantic fantasy comedy-drama film loosely following the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. The film is about two star-crossed seals, Romeo and Juliet (voiced by Daniel and Patricia Trippet respectively), who fall in love against the wishes of their warring families. It was released in Spain in mid-2006 and on October 27 in the United States.
The film was written, animated, and directed entirely by one man, former Disney animator Phil Nibbelink. The film, created on an estimated budget of \$2 million, took 41⁄2 years to complete and required 112,000 frames, all drawn by Nibbelink on a Wacom tablet directly into Flash 4 in combination with Moho software. Despite the film's negative reviews, it won an award in Best in Show at the Southwest Film Festival.
## Plot
Warring Capulets herd (Michael Toland) and Montagues herd (Stephen Goldberg), portrayed as Steller sea lions and California sea lions respectively, have their feud watched in horror and astonishment by Capulet's only daughter, Juliet (Patricia Trippett). A fight on the shore is ended when the prince (Phil Nibbelink), a monstrous elephant seal, appears and warns the two groups that, if there is any more disturbance, the seal who caused it shall be exiled to Shark Island where his henchman Sharky the Great White Shark lives. Romeo (Daniel Tripett), Montague's only son, is depressed, wishing to fall in love with someone. His humorous and rebellious friend, Mercutio (Chip Albers), urges him and another of his friends, Benvolio (Sam Gold), to go to a Capulet party later that evening. They attend the party, covered in white sand to look like Capulets, and Romeo falls in love with Juliet at first sight. Juliet, however, was promised by her father to marry the Prince, who attends the party. Romeo and his friends manage to wreak havoc, and are revealed to be Montagues. Later that evening, the play's balcony scene is recreated on a cliff on the beach where a tree grows. Romeo promises Juliet that they shall marry the next morning, and she will not have to marry the Prince.
Romeo begs Friar Lawrence the sea otter, to wed them. After some thought, the friar believes their marriage will end the feud between their families, and agrees. Romeo and Juliet are wed that morning and traverse the sea in their happiness. However, even the other sea and land animals strongly oppose their being together. A kissing fish named Kissy finds them a lovely couple, but warns them that they will be in big trouble if the Prince finds out. Back on the beach, Mercutio is telling many jokes, which leads to him making insulting jokes against the Capulets, and the Prince is headed in that direction. When he arrives, Mercutio mocks him as well. Romeo rushes to aid his friend, but after a struggle Mercutio falls off the cliff where Juliet met Romeo the previous evening, and everyone thinks that he is dead. The Prince, jealous of Juliet's affection for Romeo, exiles Romeo to Shark Island. In despair, Juliet seeks the Friar's help, and he gives her a potion to put her in a deathlike state. Mercutio is revealed to be alive and sees the whole thing, remarking, "What a tangled web we weave."
Lawrence shows the Capulet seals that Juliet is "dead", right as they were celebrating the marriage. But Benvolio sees her as well, and swims to Shark Island to tell Romeo. The Friar chases him to stop him, but is attacked by Sharky. After receiving the terrible news from Benvolio, Romeo heads to the shore to see if Juliet is truly dead. Friar Lawrence arrives too late and tries to follow Romeo, only to have his tail maimed by Sharky. After an undersea chase and some help from Kissy, the fish Romeo and Juliet met earlier, Lawrence escapes and heads to the beach. A heartbroken Romeo walks past the mourning Capulets and tries to kiss Juliet, only to have some of the potion slip into his own mouth, putting him in a deathlike state as well. Two groups of seals begin to weep for their loss, and Lawrence, who has just arrived, teaches them a lesson about where hatred leads them to evil. Suddenly, Romeo and Juliet awaken, and all is well. Mercutio returns, and the prince finds a new mate, a large elephant seal like himself. The movie ends with the two families at peace, and Romeo and Juliet remaining together.
## Cast and characters
- Daniel Trippett as Romeo, a kind Montague and Juliet's love interest, later husband.
- Patricia Trippett as Juliet, a Capulet and Romeo's love interest, later wife.
- Chip Albers as Mercutio, Romeo's trouble-making best friend.
- Michael Toland as
- Capulet, Juliet's father
- Friar Lawrence, a sea otter and a good friend of Romeo, he knows that Romeo and Juliet shouldn't be married, but realizes that the wedding will stop the rivalry of the two families.
- Stephen Goldberg as Montague, Romeo's father.
- Phil Nibbelink as The Prince, an elephant seal who has rancid breath and a quick temper.
- Chanelle Nibbelink as Kissy the Kissing Fish, a small goldfish who acts as a comic relief.
- Sam Gold as Benvolio, a good friend of Romeo.
## Production
### Background
Nibbelink, a former Disney animator, founded an independent company with his wife, Margit Friesacher, called Phillip Nibbelink Productions, in 1998. He stated that he grew tired of the "big industry merry-go-round" and wanted to make films himself. He had independently created two feature-length animated films before Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss—Puss in Boots & Leif Ericson: The Boy Who Discovered America. Nibbelink decided to make Romeo and Juliet in 2000, when he was finishing Leif Ericson, and began work on it in early 2003. Nibbelink wanted the film to be a family-friendly version of Shakespeare's original tale, because of the few appropriate family films available at the time.
### Animation
The film took 41⁄2 years of animating and required 112,000 frames, each of which were completed in under 2 minutes and drawn on a Wacom tablet directly into Flash 4, in combination with Moho software. All the frames together were done in a month, by Nibbelink's estimation. The Moho software was used for the "over-the-shoulder" or the "listening" characters, or crowd scene characters. The film was a half-year in post-production. Nibbelink used Flash 4 because when he tried to migrate to Flash 5, it created forward-compatibility problems. Even cut-and-paste work using Flash 4 and Flash 5 launched at the same time created RAM issues and crashed.
### Audio
Most actors of the film were Nibbelink's friends and children, whose voices he recorded in a studio in his basement. The film's Spanish dub was originally done in Madrid. Nibbelink said his daughter's voice-over was completely unscripted. "I would take these silly improvs that my little daughter would do. I mean, lines like, she would say, ‘Babies – p-ew! I hate stinky babies!’ I said, ‘That's hilarious!’ So I would use it."
The film had no official composer. Nibbelink bought melodies from royalty-free music compositions, and wrote the lyrics for the music. These royalty free music companies were Intents Creative Music, British Audio Publishing, Crank City Music, Jack Waldenmaier Music Productions in association with The Music Bakery, River City Sound Productions, Bejoodle Music, Fresh Music, and Music 2 Hues. Three songs are included in the film: a version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", performed by Chanelle Nibbelink and arranged by Elva Nibbelink, "Bite My Tail", performed by Michael Toland and arranged by Nibbelink, and "Singing Starfish", performed by Jennifer, Russell, and Gigi Nibbelink.
## Release
### Theatrical release
Nibbelink tried to sell the film to 800 people, and it was picked up by distributors MarVista Entertainment for release in foreign territories and Indican Pictures for a domestic release. A preview of the film was screened at Sony Pictures Entertainment in Los Angeles, California on November 17, 2004, and the movie was later showcased at the 2005 Asia Television Forum in Singapore. It was released as Fofita, una foquita la mar de salada to 32 theaters in Madrid and Seville on June 23, 2006.
Sealed with a Kiss was rated "G" by the Motion Picture Association of America. The film had a domestic total of \$463,002 in its 34-week (238-day) box office run. On opening weekend in 2006, the film, which debuted in Los Angeles, California, grossed \$80,938, with an average of \$4,220. That same week, it grossed a total \$109,720. The film closed its box office run on July 19, 2007, having grossed just \$895 that same week. Despite being a minor box office bomb, as of June 2013, the film is the third most profitable film released by Indican Pictures.
### Home media
The film was released to DVD on June 12, 2007. Animatedviews.com's Ben Simon, in his review of the DVD, gave it an overall 7 out of 10, praising the large bonus content for a low-budget film, but criticizing the glitchy sound and audio of the feature. A giveaway was previously held in 2005 by Abbey Home Media and Courier Kids, and the prize was a DVD copy of the film and a toy seal. Ten copies were given. Reissuing this movie on DVD and a Blu-ray release of it have yet to be scheduled.
### Online streaming
The film was available to stream on Netflix, but is eventually taken down in 2016. It was also available to purchase on iTunes and Amazon Prime, but removed from the sites in 2018. As of today, Lionsgate holds the film's streaming rights via their purchase of Starz in 2016.
## Critical reception
The film was negatively received by critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that only 20% of critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 3/10, based on 5 reviews. Movies.com's Dave White compared what he considered the film's poor animation to the animation of The Wild, and criticized some dialogue of the film judged "vaguely Shakespearean", satirizing the fact that "children like English pronouns 15th century." Sam Adams of the Los Angeles Times called the film a "genuine tragedy, although not in the Shakespearean sense" and wrote that a "comprehensive list of what's wrong with Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With a Kiss would stretch farther than the unabridged works of William S." LA Weekly's Luke Y. Thompson said that the film "should find its primary audience among college potheads who like to watch '70s Hanna-Barbera creations on the Cartoon Network late at night." Common Sense Media writer Renee Schonfeld said in his 2012 review that it was "an amateurish effort with a grating villain, tired jokes, and sub-par music". He gave it 2 out of 5 stars.
Despite the mostly negative reviews, most critics did commend Nibbelink for animating the entire movie by himself.
In contrast, Reel.com's Pam Grady gave the film a 2.5 out of 4, saying that, "surprisingly, it's not terrible". Animatedviews.com's Ben Simon defended the film, saying it was "a charming little movie" that "remains faithful to Shakespeare's text." The film won two awards at the Southwest Film Festival, in the animation and Best in Show category.
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60,115,881 |
Bit House Saloon
| 1,159,236,451 |
Bar and restaurant in Portland, Oregon, U.S.
|
[
"2015 establishments in Oregon",
"2022 disestablishments in Oregon",
"Buckman, Portland, Oregon",
"Defunct drinking establishments in Oregon",
"Defunct restaurants in Portland, Oregon",
"Restaurants disestablished in 2022",
"Restaurants established in 2015"
] |
Bit House Saloon was a bar and restaurant in Portland, Oregon, United States. Established in 2015, the business operated in the Nathaniel West Buildings in the city's Buckman neighborhood. The high-energy squad "Team Riff-Raff" managed the bar from 2016 to 2021, hosting pop-ups and inviting other chefs to collaborate.
Bit House garnered a positive reception and was included in several lists of Portland's best bars. The business was named "Portland's 2015 Bar of the Year" by The Oregonian, and was named among Playboy's fifty "Best New Bars 2016". Bit House Saloon rebranded as Bit House Collective in 2021, staying open and serving meals and drinks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The managing partnership shifted to a new bartender and chef, as well as Pono Brewing, featuring "Filipino drinking food".
In June 2021, that management was replaced by Jewan Manuel's pop-up Plant Based Papi, serving vegan entries. By early 2022, the vegan Cuban pop-up restaurant Miami Nice used the space. Bit House Collective also hosted drag brunches before closing in 2022.
## Description
Bit House Saloon was housed in an 1896 building constructed by Nathaniel West, part of the National Register of Historic Places-listed Nathaniel West Buildings, in southeast Portland's Buckman neighborhood. Condé Nast Traveler described the bar as "a swanky cocktail lounge, a casual tap house, and a happy-hour destination", with "universal appeal". In Moon Oregon (2020), Judy Jewell and W. C. McRae described the business as a "large and rollicking redbrick bar with a nice patio".
### Food menu
The food menu included a bologna sandwich, Rocky Mountain oysters, and biscuits. It was later changed to include crunchwraps, tacos, and tamales. The restaurant also served chicken wings with jalapeño, serrano, fresno and ancho chilies with onion, garlic, vinegar and butter. Bit House's brunch menu, launched in 2018, included "a melange of breakfast classics with a hint of Latin American flavors", such as horchata French toast, roasted poblano hash, a McMuffin-like breakfast sandwich with chorizo, and a frozen blackberry margarita.
### Drinks
Cocktails included the Ace of Spades (whiskey) and the Sloe Gin Fizz 3000 (gin, cinnamon, lemon, egg white, and a sodium bicarbonate cube). The Wexter's Playground has been described as a "tiki and comic book-inspired behemoth ... starring a dinosaur, powdered sugar, and single-barrel brandy from Germain Robin". The drink included Orchard Pear liqueur, Pedro Ximenez Sherry, lime, Blackstrap bitters, and salted almond, and was garnished with a toy dinosaur, mint, and apple slices. The Boom Swagger Swagger had Cruzan Black Strap Rum, falernum, Dry Curaçao, and Stumptown cold brew nitro draft.
The K23 had rum, jasmine, mint, lemon, and beet, and the House of Bambooze had sherry, vermouth, and salted almonds. The Breakfast with Paula Deen had coffee, cherry-washed bourbon, pecan milk, and "toffee-rich chantilly French cream liqueur". One version of a boilermaker paired Angel's Envy Rye with Scrimshaw Pilsner, from North Coast Brewing Company. The restaurant also served single-barrel bourbons on tap.
Bit House Collective had a drink called the Padam, Pandan, Pandan O.F. with vodka, bourbon, pandan, blueberry, galangal root and bitters.
## History
### Bit House Saloon
"Bit House" is a colloquial term for a cheap saloon. The 150-seat Bit House Saloon opened on July 31, 2015, in a space previously occupied for more than three decades by East Bank Saloon. Elk Collective oversaw the remodel prior to opening. Days after opening, shelves behind the bar displaying "rare, hard-to-find and almost-impossible-to-replace imported and Japanese whiskeys" collapsed.
Bit House Saloon was named among Playboy's fifty "Best New Bars 2016". The review began, "Five of Oregon's best bar managers walk into a bar. And they don't leave! Instead, they form Team Riff Raff, the high-energy squad behind Portland's Bit House Saloon." Team Riff Raff members included Jesse Card, Chris Churilla, Nick Cifuni, Brian Gilbert, and Chauncey Roach. Card left in 2017.
Ricky Bella became chef in 2017. In 2022, Brooke Jackson-Glidden of Eater Portland wrote, "To bring people into the bar on slow nights, Bella began hosting pop-ups, collaborating with chefs and line cooks from around town; people like Top Chef and fellow Imperial alumnus Doug Adams would step into the kitchen at Bit House. He remembers one particular Cinco de Mayo with other Mexican American chefs; they set up a trompo outside the bar, made with a side of pork."
Bit House hosted The Cockpit, an event described by Willamette Week as a "recurring deep house club staple", as of 2017. Vektroid unveiled a "video mixtape" at the restaurant in 2018.
### Transition to Bit House Collective and closure
In 2021, Bit House Saloon was rebranded as Bit House Collective, with a changed managing partnership that included bartender Natasha Mesa, chef Carlo Lamagna of the restaurant Magna, and local brewery Pono Brewing. Characterizing it as a "long-term takeover of Bit House", Pono Brewing said that "the island influence" of its beers would pair well with "Magna's food and Natasha's cocktails". Bit House Collective began operating on March 3.
Andrea Damewood of Willamette Week noted how the business was intentional during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many restaurants operated via take-out. She recommended the waffle fries and lumpia and said Mesa's cocktails were "clearly designed to complement" Lamagna's "Filipino drinking food, which state law insists you must order along with any cocktail to go".
In June 2021, the Magna team left to open Magna Kusina and was replaced by Jewan Manuel's pop-up Plant Based Papi. For three months, Manuel served vegan tacos, pastas, and other comfort foods five days a week. Plant Based Papi also served birria tacos, jalapeño mac and cheese, fried "chicken" sandwiches, and a birria burrito.
The vegan Cuban pop-up restaurant Miami Nice used the space in early 2022. Miami Nice served "Flantastic flan", described as "a light, custard-y dessert soaked in caramel syrup", as well as "a selection of shots, non-alcoholic cocktails, and frozen drinks with a vegan Cubanito, a sandwich featuring slow-roasted jackfruit marinated in a citrus mojo". Elizabeth Delgado and Chandler Petersen included Miami Nice in Eater Portland'''s 2022 overview of "where to find exceptional Cuban food in Portland and beyond", during the pop-up's tenure at Bit House.
Bit House hosted a Great Gatsby-themed party for the 2021 New Year's Eve. In March 2022, Bit House Collective began hosting Fever Dream, a monthly dance event series prioritizing LGBTQ+ DJs of color. The event had "emcees, turntables, garish lights, and go-go dancers" and was staffed entirely by BIPOC individuals. Bit House also hosted drag brunches in June (Pride Month) in 2021 and 2022. In 2022, Bit House Collective closed and Swan Dive took over the space.
## Reception
The Oregonian named Bit House Saloon "Portland's 2015 Bar of the Year". Playboy's review said that the "old-timey feel is dialed up to 11 at Bit House, where the floors are made from old bourbon barrels, the bar is built from Oregon wine barrel staves and the room is dotted with leather armchairs and brass light fixtures. The cocktail menu has bold cocktails alongside precious ones." In his 2016 review of the bar, Willamette Week contributor Matthew Korfhage wrote:
> Bit House is a bit like a circus for bar people ... The crowd, meanwhile, is like a shotgun blasted into a census report—bar service pros, French tourists, old dudes, suburbanites, posh youth, you name it ... I literally never know what to expect in here, but there's always something new, and the eavesdropping at the back fire pit is some of my favorite in town.
Bit House was a runner-up in the Best New Bar category of Willamette Week's annual Best of Portland readers' poll in 2016. The business received the editor's choice award for "Bar of the Year" from Mattie John Bamman of Eater Portland, as part of Eater Awards 2016. In 2017, Bamman wrote, "Bit House Saloon offers perhaps the most comprehensive drink offerings in the city, from its in-house, single-barrel-spirits program, to well-priced, thoughtfully sourced boilermakers. Its creative cocktails even warrant hiring a full-time employee focused exclusively on bar prep."
Thoms Ross of the Portland Mercury wrote in 2017:
> The pages-long cocktail menu at Bit House includes classics, blendies, swizzles, toddies, and even draft cocktails, yet what Bit House seems to specialize in is the novelty cocktail. It's not unlikely that you'll see a smoke gun behind the bar, or a sous-vide machine, or a contingent of Campari gummy bears. From an 'umami bomb' black-sesame-orgeat cocktail the color of dried lava, to a michelada with ceviche on top, the cocktail menu always features fun—often actually funny—cocktails, and yet they're preposterously delicious.
### Lists
Emmie Martin included Bit House in Business Insider's 2015 list of Portland's 16 "coolest new businesses" and said the establishment was "already making waves in the Portland bar scene". The Oregonian's Michael Russell included Bit House in his 2016 list of the city's 21 "essential" bars. That year, Russell also included the business in his lists of Portland's 23 best patios and 25 "coziest restaurant and bar fireplaces". He also listed it in a 2017 overview of the city's 37 "best restaurant and bar patios".
Thrillist included the business in their 2016 lists of the city's best cocktail bars and the "best bars in Portland right now". The website's "national burger critic" also ranked Bit House eleventh in a 2016 list of the city's best burgers. Eater Portland included Bit House in a 2018 list of 25 happy hours "Portland can't live without" and a 2019 list of the city's 16 "essential" bars. In 2018, The Daily Meal ranked Bit House number 49 in a list of the best bars in the U.S., and Condé Nast Traveler'' included the business in a list of Portland's thirteen best bars.
## See also
- List of defunct restaurants of the United States
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Southeast Portland, Oregon
|
[
"## Description",
"### Food menu",
"### Drinks",
"## History",
"### Bit House Saloon",
"### Transition to Bit House Collective and closure",
"## Reception",
"### Lists",
"## See also"
] | 2,403 | 15,852 |
32,672,730 |
Blue Gardenia (album)
| 1,161,247,638 |
2001 studio album by Etta James
|
[
"2001 albums",
"Covers albums",
"Etta James albums",
"Private Music albums"
] |
Blue Gardenia is the twenty-fifth studio album by Etta James, released through the record label Private Music. It was produced by John Snyder, who had worked with James on five of her previous studio albums. Blue Gardenia contains thirteen jazz standards from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. All of the standards were arranged by pianist Cedar Walton, with the exception of "Love Letters", which was arranged by Josh Sklair. Between November 2000 and February 2001, Snyder and Walton assembled musicians to record tracks while James was recovering from a flu; her vocals were added following her recovery. In addition to Walton, artists appearing on the album included Red Holloway on tenor saxophone and Dorothy Hawkins, James' mother, who provided vocals on the title track. Hawkins died in May 2002, less than a year after the album's release.
James promoted the album by touring throughout the United States leading up to and following its release. Critical reception of the album was positive overall. The album reached number one on Billboard's Top Jazz Albums chart.
## Composition
Blue Gardenia contains thirteen jazz standards from the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s arranged by pianist Cedar Walton, with the exception of "Love Letters", which was arranged by Josh Sklair. The album was produced by John Snyder, who had produced five of James' past studio albums: The Right Time (1992), Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday (1994), Time After Time (1995), 12 Songs of Christmas (1998) and Heart of a Woman (1999). Between November 2000 and February 2001, Snyder and Walton assembled a group of jazz musicians to record tracks for the album in the absence of James, who was suffering from the flu. A few months later, James recorded vocals following her recovery. AllMusic's Jonathan Widran described the album as having an "old school big band flavor" with a "bed of simmering brass"; instrumentation included bass, flugelhorn, guitar, piano, percussion, tenor saxophone, trombone and trumpet.
The album opens with a rendition of Clyde Otis' "This Bitter Earth", a song popularized by Dinah Washington and later added to Aretha Franklin's repertoire, followed by "He's Funny That Way" (Neil Moret, Richard A. Whiting). Both tracks include improvisations by Walton on piano. According to Dorothy Hill, blues editor for Jazz Now, listeners can hear James "murmuring admiration" for Walton's piano work in the background of "He's Funny That Way". "In My Solitude", originally by Duke Ellington, features a "passionate" interlude by Red Holloway on tenor saxophone. Other standards appearing on the album include "There Is No Greater Love" (Isham Jones, Marty Symes), Joe Greene's "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying", and "Love Letters", originally written by Edward Heyman and Victor Young. Sklair arranged the latter song and performed on guitar; also featured is Rick Baptist on flugelhorn. "These Foolish Things", originally written by Harry Link, Holt Marvell and Jack Strachey, previously appeared on James' 1995 album of the same name. Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer's "Come Rain or Come Shine" is followed by "Don't Worry 'bout Me" (Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler). Leading up to the album's close are Arthur Hamilton's "Cry Me a River", "Don't Blame Me" (Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh), and "My Man" which features a trombone solo by George Bohannon. The album's closing and title track features vocals by James' mother, Dorothy Hawkins.
## Reception
Critical reception of Blue Gardenia was positive overall. Jonathan Widran wrote a positive review for the album, complimenting Walton's arrangements and the featured soloists. Widran also said that each track allowed James to "explore both tenderness and guttural emotions" and that James' mother's contributions to the title track provided a "unique touch that [added] emotional dimension to an already emotionally rich affair". Music critic Robert Christgau awarded the album an "A−" rating and wrote that James "[lets] the songs do the talking and [leaves] you to wonder whether her modest melodic variations bespeak sly musicality or weathered pipes." Isaac Guzman of the New York Daily News thought that the album showcased James' ability to "get inside the gentle nuances of classic torch songs and ballads". Dorothy Hill noted the blues sound of the album and the "ache" in James' voice. She complimented the performances by the guest musicians appearing on the album, including Hawkins, whose vocal contribution Hill called "unpolished but alluring".
Billboard's Bill Holland called James and the material on Blue Gardenia a "near-perfect fit" after noting her "hit-or-miss relationship with standards" in the past. Holland felt that Walton's arrangements were designed for a singer with a "less robust style", but considered "Blue Gardenia" and "Cry Me a River" to be "riveting". Lorraine Ali's review for Newsweek called Blue Gardenia a "smooth cocktail", suggesting that James' vocal performance reflected her difficult past. Dave Nathan of All About Jazz concluded that "James may have slowed a bit when it comes to technical skills. But the fervency, the soul and the passion not only are still there, but have grown keener with age. This is an album of more than an hour of from the heart singing by one of the great ones and is recommended."
## Track listing
1. "This Bitter Earth" (Clyde Otis) – 4:20
2. "He's Funny That Way" (Neil Moret, Richard A. Whiting) – 6:00
3. "In My Solitude" (Eddie DeLange, Duke Ellington, Irving Mills) – 5:16
4. "There Is No Greater Love" (Isham Jones, Marty Symes) – 5:18
5. "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" (Joe Greene) – 5:18
6. "Love Letters" (Edward Heyman, Victor Young) – 3:59
7. "These Foolish Things" (Harry Link, Holt Marvell, Jack Strachey) – 5:14
8. "Come Rain or Come Shine" (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) – 5:39
9. "Don't Worry 'bout Me" (Rube Bloom, Ted Koehler) – 5:52
10. "Cry Me a River" (Arthur Hamilton) – 5:02
11. "Don't Blame Me" (Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh) – 5:01
12. "My Man" (Channing Pollack, Yvain-Albert, Maurice Yvain) – 5:09
13. "Blue Gardenia" (Lester Lee, Bob Russell) – 5:07
Track listing adapted from AllMusic.
## Personnel
Credits adapted from AllMusic.
- Rick Baptist – flugelhorn
- George Bohanon – trombone
- Ronnie Buttacavoli – flugelhorn, trumpet
- Lupe DeLeon – executive producer
- Tony Dumas – bass
- Dorothy Hawkins – vocals
- Red Holloway – tenor saxophone
- Etta James – vocals
- Ralph Penland - drums
- Alan Mason – assistant
- Richard McKernan – assistant
- Sonny Mediana – art direction, photography
- John Nelson – engineer
- Jay Newland – engineer
- Ron Powell – percussion
- Josh Sklair – arranger, guitar
- John Snyder – producer
- Cedar Walton – arranger, piano
- Charlie Watts – engineer
## Charts
Blue Gardenia reached number one on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart and held the position for at least four weeks. This was James' first number one position on any Billboard chart; previously, Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday (1994) and Matriarch of the Blues (2000) had reached number two on the Top Jazz Albums and Top Blues Albums charts, respectively. The June 8, 2002, issue of Billboard, which featured year-to-date rankings as part of the publication's "Jazz Spotlight", included Blue Gardenia at number six on the Top Jazz Albums chart.
|
[
"## Composition",
"## Reception",
"## Track listing",
"## Personnel",
"## Charts"
] | 1,792 | 9,703 |
12,599,529 |
Coffin ray
| 1,108,890,081 |
Species of cartilaginous fish
|
[
"Fish described in 1795",
"Marine fish of Australia",
"Strongly electric fish",
"Taxonomy articles created by Polbot",
"Torpedinidae"
] |
Hypnos monopterygius, also known as the coffin ray or Australian numbfish, is a species of electric ray endemic to Australia, where it is common in inshore waters shallower than 80 m (260 ft). It is the sole member of its genus Hypnos, and family Hypnidae. This small species typically reaches 40 cm (16 in) in length. Greatly enlarged pectoral fins and an extremely short tail, coupled with diminutive dorsal and caudal fins all concentrated towards the rear, give the coffin ray a distinctive pear-like shape. It is a varying shade of brown in color above, and has tiny eyes and a large, highly distensible mouth.
The sluggish and nocturnal coffin ray frequents sandy or muddy habitats, where it can bury itself during daytime. It can produce a powerful electric shock reaching 200 volts for attack and defense. This species is a voracious predator that feeds mainly on benthic bony fishes, often tackling fish approaching or exceeding itself in size. On occasion, it may also consume invertebrates and even small penguins and rats. Reproduction is aplacental viviparous, in which the developing embryos are nourished by yolk and maternally produced histotroph ("uterine milk"). The female gives birth to 4–8 pups during summer. The coffin ray can deliver a severe, albeit non-fatal, shock to a human. Not valued commercially, it is very hardy and can usually survive being captured and discarded. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed this species under Least Concern, as its population does not seem threatened by human activity.
## Taxonomy and phylogeny
The first scientific reference to the coffin ray was written by English zoologist and botanist George Shaw to accompany Frederick Polydore Nodder's illustrations of a beached fish, published in their 1795 work The Naturalist's Miscellany. Shaw interpreted the specimen as a goosefish, calling it the "single-finned Lophius" or Lophius monopterygius in Latin. Independently, French zoologist Auguste Duméril described a new electric ray in an 1852 volume of the journal Revue et Magasin de Zoologie, based on two specimens collected off New South Wales. He named it Hypnos subnigrum; the genus name is derived from ancient Greek ῠ̔́πνος (húpnos, "sleep"), for the ray's ability to induce numbness. Eventually, Gilbert Percy Whitley recognized that Nodder had illustrated the same species that Duméril had described, and thus the proper binomial name became Hypnos monopterygius. In 1902, Edgar Ravenswood Waite proposed Hypnarce as a replacement name for Hypnos, which he believed was preoccupied by the butterfly genus Hypna. However, the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) does not seem to require the change, and thus Hypnarce is regarded as a junior synonym.
The common name "coffin ray" comes from the coffin-like shape of beached specimens, which become bloated after death. This species may also be referred to as crampfish, electric ray, numbfish, numbie, short-tail electric ray, or torpedo. Phylogenetic studies, based on morphology, have found that Hypnos is most closely related to the genus Torpedo. Hence, some taxonomists classify it with Torpedo in the family Torpedinidae (in its own subfamily, Hypninae). On the other hand, there are also taxonomists who believe Hypnos to be distinctive enough to merit its own separate family, Hypnidae.
## Distribution and habitat
The coffin ray has a wide but disjunct distribution in tropical and warm-temperate Australian waters. The western part of its range extends from Gulf St Vincent in South Australia to Broome in Western Australia, and the eastern part from Eden in New South Wales to Heron Island in Queensland. It does not occur off Victoria or Tasmania. This common, bottom-dwelling species is typically found close to shore, no deeper than 80 m (260 ft), though it has been recorded from as deep as 240 m (790 ft). In 1910, the trawler Endeavour caught several coffin rays at depths ranging from 47 to 120 fathoms (86–219 metres). The coffin ray favors habitats with sandy or muddy bottoms, including beaches, estuaries, and bays, and can also be found over seagrass as well as on and around rocky and coral reefs.
## Description
The unusual pear-like shape of the coffin ray distinguishes it from all other rays. Its body is flabby, with two large, kidney-shaped electric organs visible on both sides of the head. The pectoral fins form a greatly enlarged disc about as wide as long, that is thick at the center and thin at the margins. The leading margin of the disc is straight to gently concave. The eyes are minute and can be elevated on short stalks. Close behind the eyes and slightly larger are the spiracles, which are rimmed by small papillae in some individuals. The nostrils are located just ahead of the mouth, and are connected to it by a pair of broad grooves. Between the nostrils is a short curtain of skin that overlaps the mouth. The capacious mouth forms a very long, wide arch; the slender jaws can be distended dramatically, though are not particularly protrusible. Adults have over 60 rows of small teeth in either jaw; each tooth has three long cusps. The five pairs of gill slits are small and placed beneath the disc.
The pelvic fins are relatively large and merged with the pectoral fin disc at the front to form a roughly circular secondary disc. The two dorsal fins are shaped like rounded lobes and are located very close to the caudal fin, which is of similar size with a nearly symmetrical, rounded margin. The tail is extremely short, such as that the caudal fin barely extends past the pelvic fin disc. The skin is entirely devoid of dermal denticles, and may be creased in areas. The dorsal coloration ranges from dark to reddish brown, to grayish, pinkish, or yellowish, and may be plain or sparsely patterned with irregular darker and lighter markings. The underside is pale, as are the spiracle papillae. This species grows to a length of 70 cm (28 in), or possibly even 92 cm (36 in), though most are only around 40 cm (16 in) long.
## Biology and ecology
The coffin ray is a slow and weak swimmer that moves forward with a jerky, fluttery motion. It is nocturnal and spends most of the day buried in sediment with only its spiracles showing. When disturbed, it has been observed performing a possible defense behavior, wherein it erupts from the bottom and swims in a loop with its mouth agape. This species is sometimes stranded on land by the ebbing tide, but can survive out of water for hours. Like in other electric rays, the coffin ray's electric organs are derived from muscle tissue and consist of numerous vertical columns, each formed from a stack of jelly-filled "electric plates" that essentially acts as a battery. It is capable of generating up to 200 volts of electricity and delivering 50 shocks over span of ten minutes, with each successive shock weakening. The coffin ray employs electricity both to subdue prey and deter predators.
The diet of the coffin ray consists mostly of benthic bony fishes, but also includes cephalopods and on occasion crustaceans and polychaete worms. Penguins and rats have also been recorded from the stomachs of this species. The coffin ray ambushes prey from the substrate, and swallows them whole head-first before re-burying. It often takes extremely large prey relative to its size; one observed individual 60 cm (24 in) long had swallowed a flathead (Platycephalus sp.) 70 cm (28 in) long, and the tail of the prey fish was still protruding from its mouth. Dead specimens have been recovered that had apparently choked trying to swallow too-large prey. The coffin ray is aplacental viviparous, in which the developing embryos are nourished by yolk, later supplemented by histotroph ("uterine milk") secreted by the mother. Females give birth to litters of 4–8 pups in summer; the newborns measure approximately 8–11 cm (3.1–4.3 in) long. Males and females both attain sexual maturity around 40–48 cm (16–19 in) long. This species is known to be parasitized by the tapeworms Acanthobothrium angelae and Lacistorhynchus dollfusi, and the nematode Echinocephalus overstreeti.
They are preyed upon by tiger sharks. One large tiger shark caught at Port Stephens in the early 20th century had more than thirty of them in its stomach.
## Human interactions
When approached, the coffin ray tends to keep still in its place of concealment on the sea floor. As a result, many divers, swimmers, and bathers have been shocked after accidentally contacting it. While not life-threatening, the shock can be quite severe; strong enough to numb a human limb for several minutes or knock a standing adult human off his feet. The shock can still be perceived by a person pouring a stream of seawater on the ray, or handling a net in which a coffin ray is held. The fish is capable of issuing multiple shocks in a short period of time, though each shock is weaker than the last.
In 1883, Edward Pierson Ramsay noted that it was the only ray native to Port Jackson that was inedible. The coffin ray has no economic value. It is caught incidentally by commercial trawlers, but is hardy enough to usually be returned to the water alive. It is also caught in lobster traps and infrequently taken by spear fishers. As it remains common and widespread, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as Least Concern. It has been kept in public aquariums, but requires moving food.
|
[
"## Taxonomy and phylogeny",
"## Distribution and habitat",
"## Description",
"## Biology and ecology",
"## Human interactions"
] | 2,157 | 28,167 |
21,631,427 |
Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans
| 1,161,246,272 |
2009 video game
|
[
"2009 video games",
"Bandai games",
"Dragon Ball games",
"Monolith Soft games",
"Nintendo DS games",
"Nintendo DS-only games",
"Role-playing video games",
"Single-player video games",
"Video games developed in Japan",
"Video games scored by Tsukasa Masuko"
] |
Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans, known in Japan as Dragon Ball Kai: Saiyan Invasion, is a video game based on the Dragon Ball franchise for the Nintendo DS. It was released in Japan on April 29, 2009, and in Europe and North America in November 2009. The game is developed by Monolith Soft and distributed by Namco Bandai in North America (and everywhere else under the Bandai label); it is one of the first games in the Dragon Ball franchise to be published by Namco Bandai, as the company would acquire the license from previous holder Atari in July of the same year.
The game is a turn-based RPG that adapts events from the "23rd Tenkaichi Budokai" story arc to the eponymous "Saiyan" arc of the original manga. Despite the game's Japanese and Western titles, the former arc wasn't adapted into either the 1989 Dragon Ball Z anime series nor its revised version, Dragon Ball Z Kai, which also premiered in 2009.
Attack of the Saiyans received generally mixed reviews by gaming critics, while complimenting the battle system, its visuals, and its ability to stay true to the series. It would go on to be the third-best selling video game during the month of May 2009 in Japan.
## Gameplay
Presented in traditional 2-D animation sprites, the game consists of three modes to help navigate, the map of the Dragon World, the area maps, and the battle mode. The world map will be available from the start, and will allow players easy access to each of the areas throughout the game. On area maps the player will navigate through various places such fields, forests, caves, and towns on the top screen. The touch screen will display available equipment that can be used while in fields. These items are available courtesy of Capsule Corporation Dyno-Caps which can be bought, given, or found in various spots and or treasure chests. Many of these areas have obstacles such as rocks and brush which the player will have to overcome with ki blasts. However, some of these obstacles require stronger levels of ki blasts. The battle screen will take place at the screen with the party facing off with a monster or a boss, their stats and the command select icon presented via the touch screen. The game makes little to no use of the stylus, forcing players to rely on the control pad.
In combat, the player's active party members will consist of only first three members of their party or less. Players can swap available members at any time throughout the game. Each character will have a few set attacks and techniques at the player's disposal while the rest are locked. When the player wins a battle, each member of their party will earn Ability Points or AP. Ability Points can be used to buy or upgrade skills in a character's skill menu. When certain skills are unlocked or upgraded new skills will become available. Each character will have a "Rage Gage". This meter will gradually fill throughout the course of combat. When a character's gauge is full, they can perform an ultimate attack. If two or more characters gauges are full, the player can execute a Sparking Combo. By which the chosen characters will perform a tag team attack. When an ultimate attack or a Sparking Combo is performed the gauge returns to zero. Players also have the ability to block enemy attacks with the Active Guard or A Guard. This allows a chosen character to only take minimal damage when their corresponding button is pressed at the moment before an attack.
## Development
The game was first announced in the December 22, 2008, issue of Weekly Shonen Jump magazine with the title Dragon Ball Z Story: Saiyan Invasion (ドラゴンボールZストーリー サイヤ人来襲, Doragon Bōru Zetto Sutōrī Saiyajin Raishū). The article stated that the game would be an RPG in development by Monolith Soft exclusively for the DS, it would take start at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai saga and extend into the Saiyan saga, and it would be released sometime in 2009. Several screenshots were shown in the article. One of which depicted different looking graphics command icons. It was also revealed that only six of the main characters Goku, Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha, would be playable. In the February issue of V Jump, it was announced that the title had been changed to tie-in with Dragon Ball Kai, a revised version of the anime series Dragon Ball Z, which would later premiere in April of the same year.
On May 25, Namco Bandai's European branch released a press statement announcing that they would be releasing the game throughout Europe and the PAL regions under the new name Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans. On June 2, Namco Bandai's American branch issued a press release stating that they would release the game as Attack of the Saiyans throughout North America. The announcement also mentioned that the game would include numerous alternate storylines for a better understanding of the Dragon Ball universe, a three character party and combo attack system, that certain ki attacks would be needed to solve puzzles or unlock secrets, and that their release date would be sometime in the Fall of 2009. Following that statement, the company issued another press release stating that they had acquired the North American license from previous license holder Atari, and would publish future Dragon Ball games for, at least, the next five years starting with Attack of the Saiyans, Raging Blast, and Revenge of King Piccolo. In November, Namco Bandai issued a press release stating that the game was available throughout all North American markets.
## Reception
Attack of the Saiyans was released in Japan on April 29, 2009, in Australia on November 19, 2009, in Europe on November 6, 2009, and in North America on November 10, 2009. Following its release, the game would go on to become the third best-selling video game in Japan during the month of May 2009, falling behind two other DS games Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth.
The game received "average" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one six, one seven, and two eights, for a total of 29 out of 40.
Charles Onyett of IGN found the gameplay enjoyable and enough to be appreciated by any genre fan. Yet he stated that if players were not Dragon Ball fans, then they will not want to play the game. Robert Thompson of Nintendojo felt that the game would satisfy fans of both the series and the genre, but he would complain about the ki and Sparking Combo attacks being repetitive, and the story shifting control of the characters, stating it could make unfamiliar gamers disoriented. Ryan Olsen of Kombo.com praised the battle system, calling it more engaging than the ones found in the average RPG. Still he would call the game a cut and dried RPG, calling the Active Guard system the only exotic aspect of the game. Neal Ronaghan of Nintendo World Report called the game vanilla with an interesting twists, stating that the fans should be the ones playing the game. He also drew comparisons of the Active Guard system to the Timed Hit system from Super Mario RPG, and Rage Gage to the Limit Break from Final Fantasy. Brittany Vincent of RPGFan would call side quests like Krillin's return home an added treat to the long story. She pointed out the game's difficulty being frustrating, stating that the game will cause players to revert to the start screen many times, yet is still beatable.
Joe Law of GameFocus criticized the Rage Gage system, stating that it had been done better in other games. However he cited the game's overall length a good thing as he felt the game had no replay value. Nick Valentino of GameZone praised the game, calling it the best RPG to make use of the Dragon Ball label, and the game was the perfect introduction into the franchise. Mike Moehnke of RPGamer cited the games as not being perfect, but was superior to the Super Famicom game Legend of the Super Saiyan. Kat Bailey of 1UP.com felt the game was made with children in mind, stating that the vibrant colors and the fast-paced gameplay would keep kids interested in the game.
|
[
"## Gameplay",
"## Development",
"## Reception"
] | 1,748 | 21,648 |
69,677,801 |
HMS Moorsom (1914)
| 1,146,723,288 |
British M-Class destroyer, WW1
|
[
"1914 ships",
"Admiralty M-class destroyers",
"Ships built on the River Clyde",
"World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom"
] |
HMS Moorsom was an Admiralty M-class destroyer which served in the Royal Navy during the First World War. The M class was an improvement on the preceding L class, capable of higher speed. Moorsom, the first ship to enter navy service to be named after Admiral Sir Robert Moorsom, was launched in December 1914, initially serving as part of the Grand Fleet before being transferred to the Harwich Force the following year. Briefly rejoining the Grand Fleet, the destroyer saw service in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 supporting the British battlecruisers and received hits from a battleship of the German High Seas Fleet. Moorsom also undertook other duties, including escorting the troop ship in June 1915 and the minelayer Princess Margaret in August 1915 and November 1916. Placed within the Dover Patrol, the destroyer formed part of the cover for monitors including Erebus and Terror on attacks on Ostend and Zeebrugge in May and June 1917, and April and May 1918. After the Armistice, the destroyer was placed in reserve and subsequently sold to be broken up in November 1921.
## Design and development
Moorsom was one of the initial six Admiralty M-class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in May 1913 as part of the 1913–14 Naval Programme, one of the last destroyers to be ordered before the outbreak of the First World War. The M-class was an improved version of the earlier L class destroyers, designed to reach a higher speed in order to counter rumoured German fast destroyers, although it transpired these vessels did not exist. Although envisioned to have a maximum speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph), they were eventually designed for a speed 2 knots (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph) slower.
The destroyer was 273 feet 8 inches (83.4 m) long overall, with a beam of 26 feet 9 inches (8.2 m) and a draught of 16 feet 3 inches (5.0 m). Displacement was 860 long tons (870 t) normal and 1,021 long tons (1,037 t) full load. Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding Brown-Curtis steam turbines rated at 25,000 shaft horsepower (19,000 kW) that drove three shafts to give a design speed of 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph). Three funnels were fitted and 296 long tons (301 t) of oil was carried, giving a design range of 3,450 nautical miles (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).
Armament consisted of three single QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised platform and one between the middle and aft funnels. A single 2-pounder 40 mm (2 in) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft gun was carried, while torpedo armament consisted of two twin mounts for 21 in (533 mm) torpedoes. The ship had a complement of 76 officers and ratings.
## Construction and career
Moorsom was laid down by John Brown & Company of Clydebank on 27 February 1914 with the yard number 427, was launched on 20 December, started trials on 1 February in the Firth of Clyde the following year and was completed on 17 March. The vessel was the first to be named after the naval officer Admiral Sir Robert Moorsom. Moorsom was deployed as part of the Grand Fleet, joining the newly formed Tenth Destroyer Flotilla.
The destroyer took part in a wide range of activities during the war, usually alongside other members of the flotilla. For example, the flotilla was involved in escorting ships in 1915. Moorsom was chosen to accompany on 9 and 10 June as the troop ship sailed to join the Gallipoli campaign. On 16 August, the ship formed part of a flotilla of eight destroyers that escorted the minelayer Princess Margaret on a sortie from Sheerness. One of their number, Mentor, was torpedoed by the torpedo boats of the German Second Flotilla, but the crew of Moorsom thought the explosion meant that they had entered a minefield and, taking refuge behind the minelayer, escaped without harm. By October, the destroyer, along with the rest of the flotilla, had been transferred to the Harwich Force.
At the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, Moorsom was attached to the Thirteenth Destroyer Flotilla under the light cruiser Champion. The destroyer was transferred from the Harwich Force, along with Morris, to supplement the Grand Fleet, which had insufficient destroyers to shield both the 1st and 2nd Battlecruiser Squadrons. The flotilla attacked the battlecruisers of the German High Seas Fleet after the destruction of the Indefatigable and Queen Mary. The vessel became separated from the flotilla and instead joined in a melee with German torpedo boats led by V27. Disengaging, the destroyer sighted the departing vessels of the High Seas Fleet and launched four torpedoes, none of which hit. Moorsom did not return to the battle and instead was forced to return to port with damaged oil tanks. It is likely the tanks were hit by 5.9 in (150 mm) shells from the battleship Grosser Kurfürst. On 18 August, the destroyer was briefly, with Milne and Murray, again seconded to the Grand Fleet, serving with the 3rd Battle Squadron. By the following day, the ship had returned to the Tenth Flotilla, now based in Dover. On 28 November, Moorsom once again escorted Princess Margaret on a mission, this time to lay 500 mines 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) west of Borkum.
Moorsom was one of eight destroyers of the Tenth Flotilla sent with the destroyer leader Nimrod to Dunkirk on 19 January 1917 to provide reinforcement to the Dover Patrol in the event of German torpedo attacks on the Dover Barrage and shipping in the English Channel. On 22 January, an intercepted German radio signal warned the British Admiralty that the German Sixth Torpedo Boat Flotilla was to be sent from the High Seas Fleet to reinforce their forces at Flanders. By 27 January, the destroyer was part of a flotilla, which also included Manly, Mansfield, Matchless, Morris, Nimrod and Phoebe, that was to patrol east of the Schouwen Bank. The force did not see the German ships, but Moorsom was nearly accidentally rammed by Starfish, which was part of another destroyer division operating in the area, due to the lack of visibility. The warship was then given a refit, returning to Dover on 28 February. Moorsom rejoined the Dover Patrol, which now included thirteen monitors, forming part of the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla. On 11 May, the destroyer was part of the escort for the monitors Erebus, Marshal Soult, Sir John Moore and Terror in their bombardment of Ostend. The operation was deemed a success as the Admiralty gained intelligence that the bombardment led to the German command doubting that Ostend was a safe haven for their warships. Moorsom formed part of the support for a similar bombardment on 5 June by Erebus and Terror.
The destroyer accompanied a subsequent attack on Zeebrugge by monitors on 23 April 1918, which also included the sinking of blockships to impede the flow of German submarines leaving the port. The ship provided a similar service to the monitors that attacked Ostend on 9 May, which again included Erebus, Sir John Moore and Terror. Although this operation did not meet the expectations of the Admiralty and the port remained open, the bombardment was achieved without interference by enemy warships or the loss of any British vessel.
After the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that ended the war, the Royal Navy returned to a peacetime level of strength and both the number of ships and the amount of personnel needed to be reduced to save money. Moorsom was declared superfluous to operational requirements. On 15 October 1919, the destroyer was given a reduced complement and placed in reserve at Devonport. However, this did not last long and, on 8 November 1921, Moorsom was sold to Slough TC to be broken up in Germany.
## Pennant numbers
|
[
"## Design and development",
"## Construction and career",
"## Pennant numbers"
] | 1,841 | 9,027 |
200,430 |
USS Admiralty Islands
| 1,170,367,349 |
Casablanca-class escort carrier of the US Navy
|
[
"Casablanca-class escort carriers",
"S4-S2-BB3 ships",
"Ships built in Vancouver, Washington",
"World War II escort aircraft carriers of the United States"
] |
USS Admiralty Islands (CVE-99) was the forty-fifth of fifty Casablanca-class escort carrier built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after the Admiralty Islands campaign, a series of battles against isolated Japanese forces throughout the Admiralty Islands in the Bismarck Archipelago. The ship was launched in May 1944, commissioned in June, and served as a replenishment carrier, under the command of Capt. Edward Hastings Eldredge, in support of the invasion of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet. She was decommissioned in November 1946, when she was mothballed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Ultimately, she was sold for scrapping in January 1947.
## Design and description
Admiralty Islands was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carriers ever built, and designed specifically to be mass-produced using prefabricated sections, in order to replace heavy early war losses. Standardized with her sister ships, she was 512 ft 3 in (156.13 m) long overall, she had a beam of 65 ft 2 in (19.86 m), at her widest point, this was 108 ft (33 m), and a draft of 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m). She displaced 8,188 long tons (8,319 t) standard, 10,902 long tons (11,077 t) with a full load. She had a 257 ft (78 m) long hangar deck and a 477 ft (145 m) long flight deck. She was powered with two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, which drove two shafts, providing 9,000 shaft horsepower (6,700 kW), thus enabling her to make . The ship had a cruising range of 10,240 nautical miles (18,960 km; 11,780 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). Her compact size necessitated the installment of an aircraft catapult at her bow, and there were two aircraft elevators to facilitate movement of aircraft between the flight and hangar deck: one each fore and aft.
One 5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by eight Bofors 40 millimeters (1.6 in) anti-aircraft guns in single mounts, as well as 12 Oerlikon 20-millimeter (0.79 in) cannons, which were mounted around the perimeter of the deck. By the end of the war, Casablanca-class carriers had been modified to carry thirty 20 mm cannons, and the amount of 40 mm guns had been doubled to sixteen, by putting them into twin mounts. These modifications were in response to increasing casualties due to kamikaze attacks. Although Casablanca-class escort carriers were designed to function with a crew of 860 and an embarked squadron of 50 to 56, the exigencies of wartime often necessitated the inflation of the crew count. Casablanca-class escort carriers were designed to carry 27 aircraft, but the hangar deck could accommodate more. Because Admiralty Islands only operated in a replenishment capability, she usually operated with about 60 aircraft on board, the maximum carrying capacity at which take-offs would still be possible.
## Construction
Her construction was awarded to Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington under a Maritime Commission contract, on 18 June 1942, under the name Chaplin Bay, as part of a tradition which named escort carriers after bays or sounds in Alaska. She was renamed Admiralty Islands on 26 April 1944, as part of a new naval policy which named subsequent Casablanca-class carriers after naval or land engagements. As the ninety-ninth escort carrier, and the forty-fifth of the Casablanca class carriers, she received the hull symbol CVE-99. The escort carrier was laid down on 26 February 1944, MC hull 1136, the forty-fourth of a series of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers. She was launched on 10 May 1944; sponsored by the wife of Vice Admiral Homer N. Wallin; transferred to the United States Navy and commissioned on 13 June 1944, with Captain James Duke Barner in temporary command. Later that day, command of the ship was passed to Captain Marcel Emil Alcan Gouin.
## Service history
Upon being commissioned, Admiralty Islands got underway, on 2 July 1944, from Astoria, Oregon on a shakedown cruise down the West Coast to San Francisco. Upon arriving, she took on fuel oil and aviation gas. Proceeding southwards, she arrived at San Diego on 14 July, for additional training. There, she was assigned to join the Carrier Transport Squadron of the Pacific Fleet, ferrying aircraft, personnel, and supplies to the frontline in the West Pacific. She took on a load of cargo at San Diego, and departed westwards.
Transiting via Pearl Harbor, Admiralty Islands headed to Majuro, in the Marshall Islands, arriving there on 9 August, where she disembarked her cargo. She returned to Pearl Harbor, where she transported aircraft and personnel back to the West Coast, arriving at San Francisco on 24 August. She then made another round-trip transport run in September, this time to Finschhafen, New Guinea. She returned to San Diego on 7 October, where she underwent refit from 8 October to 26 October. On 29 October, she left port, headed northwards towards Alameda, where she loaded aircraft and passengers from Naval Air Station Alameda. She then commenced another trip to Finschhafen, arriving on 21 November. Upon disembarking her load, she proceed to Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands, docking in Seeadler Harbor on 23 November. On her way back, she stopped at Pearl Harbor from 6 to 7 December, before reaching San Diego a week later. There, she loaded more aircraft and military passengers, and sailed westwards, touching Pearl Harbor on 24 December. On 26 December, the day after Christmas, she left port, bound for Guam.
Upon reaching Guam on 6 January 1945, Admiralty Islands conducted training operations for two days, before sailing for Hawaii on 10 January. She reached Pearl Harbor on 20 January, where repairs were made to her main engine, finishing on 31 January. Upon the completion of repairs, she was assigned to become a replenishment carrier as a part of Task Group 50.8.4, the mobile replenishment group supporting the frontline Fifth Fleet. Replenishment carriers enabled larger fleet carriers to operate out at sea for extended periods of time without having to withdraw to port. She served alongside three other escort carriers, Bougainville, Attu, and Windham Bay. She took on a complement of sixty-one replacement planes at Pearl Harbor, and she left port on 2 February, bound for the waters off of Iwo Jima, in support of the planned landings there. After stopping at Eniwetok and Ulithi, she began replenishment operations on 16 February, continuing throughout the next five months.
On 2 March, the carrier returned to Guam for provisioning and minor repairs. On 13 March, she sortied, this time in support of the prolonged Battle of Okinawa. This time, her task group had the task of resupplying both the escort carriers and the fleet carriers of the Fast Carrier Task Force. Throughout this period, she received provisions and aircraft from Guam, making trips to and from the island. On 18 April, Admiralty Islands suffered an operational casualty from a Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter crashing into her flight deck. At 12:17, she sounded flight quarters, and she commenced launching replacement aircraft at 13:52, delivering one Grumman F6F Hellcat, two Grumman TBM Avengers, and two Curtiss SB2C Helldivers to the fleet carrier Essex. At 14:06, she began recovering ten combat-fatigued aircraft (commonly known as "Flyable Duds") from Essex.
The first aircraft which attempted to land was a Hellcat, piloted by Ensign Roy Edward Jones. As it approached Admiralty Islands, the pilot received a signal to abort its landing, after it responded poorly to "low" and "opposite slant" flag signals. With the "wave off" signal from the Landing Signal Officer (LSO) being sent late, the aircraft continued to lose altitude. As the pilot applied full throttle, its tail hook caught the No 5. arresting wire, forcing the aircraft onto a gun mount, splitting the fighter in half. The cockpit and engine were ejected into the ocean, whilst the latter half dangled off the wire. The carrier's crew was unable to retrieve the front half of the fighter, nor the body of the pilot. The LSO was forced to jump into the safety net, breaking his leg.
Admiralty Islands returned to Guam on 24 April for repairs to her boilers, two of which had become dysfunctional. Whilst she was moored for repairs, the other three escort carriers of her task group endured Typhoon Connie, which transited northwards through the waters east of Okinawa. Upon the completion of repairs, she departed on 14 May to continue replenishment duties. She continued these duties throughout May, before being detached and transiting, via Guam, to Saipan on 15 June. She remained in port for two weeks, before being assigned to Task Group 30.8, the Fleet Oiler and Transport Group which was supporting the Third Fleet, which was conducting airstrikes against the Japanese mainland. She suffered another casualty on 20 July, when aircraft from one of the fleet carriers conducting strikes was diverted to Admiralty Islands because its home carrier had experienced a crash landing, with a resulting fire. All of the aircraft landed safely, except for one, which was unable to eject its spare belly-mounted gasoline tanks. As the plane circled the carrier, refusing the order to ditch and struggling to jettison its belly tank, the rest of the aircraft had already been stowed beyond the forward wire barriers.
With the aircraft stored away, the plane was given the greenlight to attempt a landing, some forty-five minutes before sunset. As the plane caught the first arresting gear, the gasoline tank detached, skidded down the flight deck, hit a crewman, and exploded, killing the man. The explosion sprayed burning gasoline onto the parked planes, and set alight the wooden flight deck. The fire forced the evacuation of the bridge, and the engines were cut to deny the fire wind. It appears that the pilot of the landing plane escaped without injury. As a result of the damage sustained from this accident, Admiralty Island was ordered to detach from the task group and to retire to the West Coast. On 21 July, she was detached from Task Group 30.8, and she steamed for Guam, where she unloaded her cargo, and refueled.
After refueling, Admiralty Islands proceeded to the West Coast, arriving at San Diego on 11 August, before heading northwards to San Pedro for refit. Most of the planned alterations were cancelled, as a result of the Japanese surrender being announced on 15 August. Nonetheless, repairs were conducted, and on 1 September, she was assigned to join the "Magic Carpet" fleet, which repatriated servicemen from throughout the Pacific.
She conducted "Magic Carpet" runs until 24 April 1946, when she was decommissioned. She was struck from the Navy list on 8 May, and the hull was sold on 2 January 1947 to the Zidell Machinery and Supply Company of Portland, Oregon. She was ultimately broken up just miles from where she was constructed. Admiralty Islands received three battle stars for her World War II service.
|
[
"## Design and description",
"## Construction",
"## Service history"
] | 2,498 | 31,045 |
73,181,430 |
BP Refinery v Tracey
| 1,153,646,873 |
2020 case in the Federal Court of Australia
|
[
"2010 in case law",
"2020 in Australian law",
"Federal Court of Australia cases"
] |
BP Refinery v Tracey [2020] FCAFC 89 was a decision by the Full Federal Court of Australia ruling that the rejection of an application for unfair dismissal had been decided incorrectly by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). BP employee Scott Tracey had been terminated following his involvement in the production and circulation of a parodic video. A scene from the 2004 film Downfall was at the time widely used on the internet to parody various events. Tracey distributed a video using this footage to depict BP management, mocking their behaviour during negotiations on pay and conditions for employees at the Kwinana Oil Refinery.
Following his termination, Tracey applied for unfair dismissal seeking reinstatement and compensation for lost salary. His application was dismissed after the FWC held the video was sufficiently offensive to constitute a valid reason for dismissal. Tracey appealed to the Full Bench of the FWC, which overturned the initial decision. BP then sought an order from the Full Federal Court to quash the fresh decision. The Full Federal Court rejected arguments made by BP, concluding the Full Bench of the FWC correctly applied its jurisdiction and that the video was not offensive. Tracey was eventually reinstated to his position and received \$200,000 in compensation.
## Background
Scott Tracey was an employee at BP's Kwinana Oil Refinery. During his employment, he and other employees were engaged in collective bargaining, a process of negotiation between employees and an employer aimed at forming an agreement to regulate pay and working conditions. The discussions for this agreement saw tough tactics used by both sides. In order to push workers onto the underlying industrial award, BP sought to cancel the current agreement. The union and its members engaged took industrial action which was terminated by the FWC.
In the midst of bargaining, Tracey participated in the production of a video which depicted BP management as Nazis. The video showed a scene from the movie Downfall, in which Adolf Hitler acts upset and belligerent when he is notified that his regime has lost World War II. This specific scene had become commonly used on the internet for parodic purposes. Referred to by some as the "Downfall Hitler meme", individuals utilise the scene where Hitler breaks down and then add English subtitles different to the spoken Germanic words to create a video intended to be humorous. Tracey's video was posted in a Facebook group with the title: "Hitler Parody [collective bargaining] Negotiations not going [BP's] way". The video included parodic captions such as "I offered the carrot, I tried using the stick...Don't they know I'm in charge?" and "I made promises to London".
BP management responded to the video by commencing an investigation, directing him not to attend work until further notice. The investigation was completed, with Tracey then invited to attend a meeting where he was required to demonstrate why he should not face disciplinary action for his conduct. During the meeting, Tracey objected to the investigation process and its findings. Approximately a month later, Tracey's employment was terminated with salary paid in lieu of notice. BP's reason for termination was that Tracey had distributed highly offensive and inappropriate material in breach of its code of conduct, policies, and permitted use of information technology equipment.
## Legal proceedings
Tracey made an application for unfair dismissal to the Fair Work Commission (FWC). Unfair dismissal in Australian labour law refers to a termination of employment which an employee alleges is "harsh, unjust, or unfair". In the first instance, deputy president Melanie Binet rejected his claim that he was unfairly dismissed. Binet held that it was not unreasonable to find that Tracey, in helping to make the video, had likened BP management to Hitler, Nazis or mass murderers. She considered the video inappropriate and offensive, and that BP had a valid reason for his subsequent dismissal. Binet stated that she "did not accept that by labelling something as a parody [one would get] a 'get out of jail free card' and necessarily means something is not offensive".
### Appeal by Tracey to the Full Bench of the FWC
In lodging an appeal to the Full Bench of the FWC against the initial decision, Tracey was represented by plaintiff law firm Maurice Blackburn. His legal representative told the Australian Financial Review it "[would submit] that the dismissal is incredibly harsh when [considering] the true nature and effect of the video, which is a well-known Downfall parody video...I don't think it could be reasonably considered that the video likens any BP managers or staff to Hitler or Nazis, but ultimately this will be a decision for the full bench of the [FWC]".
The primary issue in dispute was whether Tracey's actions constituted a valid reason for dismissal. Tracey argued that in failing to understand the video in its broader cultural context, she had erroneously mischaracterised it as offensive and that it was a "device to make a humorous point about a matter not going to plan". Vice president of the FWC Adam Hatcher stated thousands of similar parodies had been posted to the internet since the meme hit its peak in 2010, and the Full Bench would apply an objective test to determine the offensiveness of the video.
The Full Bench of the FWC overturned the first decision, finding the video compared the position BP reached in the negotiations with that which the Nazi regime was faced at the end of World War II, observing that the meme was "culturally dissociat[ed]" from real events and that it has been used "thousands of times over a period of more than a decade for the purpose of creating, in an entirely inventive way, a satirical depiction of contemporary situations". The Full Bench of the FWC concluded that it was unreasonable to find the video likened BP management to Nazis, stating "anyone with knowledge of the meme could not seriously consider that the use of the clip was to make some point involving Hitler or Nazis".
### Appeal by BP to the Full Federal Court
BP then applied to the Full Federal Court seeking a writ of certiorari – effectively requesting it quash the decision made by the Full Bench of the FWC on the grounds its decision was contrary to law. First, BP argued the Full Bench of the FWC erred in applying its discretion in not applying a test which required Binet's decision to be "fundamentally wrong and not reasonably open on the facts, rather than just a decision that the appellate court would itself not have reached on an evaluation of the evidence". Second, BP claimed that the Full Bench of the FWC had neglected to evaluate whether there was a major error of fact and that the issue of whether Tracey's behaviour breached the relevant BP Code of Conduct was one of fact. The Full Federal Court dismissed BP's claims and instead upheld the decision made by the Full Bench of the FWC. The Full Federal Court ordered Tracey's reinstatement, and he returned to work in March of 2020.
### Compensation
After being returned to work, compensation for the work he had missed between his termination and subsequent reinstatement was the only outstanding issue. Almost two years after Tracey lodged his initial unfair dismissal application, Tracey was awarded compensation by the Full Bench of the FWC. BP argued Tracey should receive less than the salary he otherwise would have earned during this time due to his misconduct. BP also claimed his payment should be reduced because he ought to have found other work during the time he awaited an outcome. Tracey argued he had looked for work, which the Full Bench of the FWC accepted. It was also held his misconduct could only justify withholding any money he may have earned from potential promotion during his absence. The Full Bench of the FWC ordered Tracey be paid a total of \$201,394.92 in lost wages and retirement benefits. The Australian Workers Union said Tracey's win was a "victory for workers rights...and Aussie larrikinism".
## Impact
The decision by the Full Federal Court to overturn Binet's decision was praised as one of few legal decisions in recent times to "put a handbrake on the increasing levels of employer control over employee conduct" and their right to free speech. The Sydney Morning Herald opined the decision indirectly boosts the right of employees in the workplace to free speech, though conceded such rights are limited and the scope of free speech required exploring by future cases.
The proceedings surrounding Tracey's dismissal by BP spawned another version of the Downfall meme, parodying the initial decision by Binet, mocking her interpretation of Tracey's video. It eventually attracted more views than the video produced by Tracey.
|
[
"## Background",
"## Legal proceedings",
"### Appeal by Tracey to the Full Bench of the FWC",
"### Appeal by BP to the Full Federal Court",
"### Compensation",
"## Impact"
] | 1,754 | 16,000 |
2,078,240 |
SR Q1 class
| 1,169,508,800 |
Class of 0-6-0 freight engines designed by Oliver Bulleid
|
[
"0-6-0 locomotives",
"Freight locomotives",
"Railway locomotives introduced in 1942",
"Southern Railway (UK) locomotives",
"Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain"
] |
The SR Q1 class is a type of austerity steam locomotive constructed during the Second World War. The class was designed by Oliver Bulleid for use on the intensive freight turns experienced during wartime on the Southern Railway network. A total of 40 locomotives were built. Bulleid incorporated many innovations and weight-saving concepts to produce a highly functional design. The class lasted in service until July 1966, and the first member of the class, number C1, has been preserved by the National Railway Museum.
The highly unusual and controversial design represents the ultimate development of the British freight engine, capable of hauling trains that were usually allocated to much larger locomotives on other railways. Nicknames for the class included "Ugly Ducklings", "Coffee Pots", "Charlies", "Biscuit Tins", "Biscuit Barrels", "Clockworks" and "Frankensteins".
## Background
In late 1939, the Southern Railway, until then primarily a high-density commuter railway serving London and South-East England, much of it electrified with third-rail pick-up, found itself on the British front line of the Second World War, with a severe lack of modern freight-handling capability. The newest freight design was the Q class 0-6-0 of 1938, the last locomotive designed by Richard Maunsell. Built to essentially Victorian era principles, these had been designed as replacements for many of the older 0-6-0s inherited by the Southern Railway in 1923, and entered service in January 1938. Maunsell, having retired at the end of October 1937, was replaced by Oliver Bulleid.
The Southern Railway became an essential strategic war-asset because of its proximity to continental Europe, and needed to equip itself with adequate freight-handling capability to transport the vast quantities of supplies and troops required for the conflict. The brief stipulated high route availability and high tractive effort.
## Construction history
The answer to this problem came from the drawing board of the Southern Railway's innovative Chief Mechanical Engineer, Oliver Bulleid, in the shape of the Q1. Using the minimum amount of raw materials, and with all superfluous features stripped away, he produced in 1942 the most powerful steam locomotive ever to run on Britain's railways. The first twenty locomotives were constructed at Brighton works and the remaining twenty at Ashford. Powerful and light, the Q1s formed the backbone of the Southern's heavy freight capability. The engine weighed less than 90 tons (90.6 tonnes) and could be used on more than 97% of the Southern Railway's route mileage.
### Design
The class was one of several built under the wartime austerity regime, which stressed pure functionality above any considerations of style or decoration. This austere approach to the design explains its functional appearance. One aspect of their shape was that, like Bulleid's SR Merchant Navy class and SR West Country and Battle of Britain classes, they could be simply driven through a coach-washer for cleaning at a time when manpower for this time-consuming chore could not be spared.
The unusual shape was also dictated by the use of materials; the lagging was made of a glass fibre insulation material known as 'Idaglass', which, although cheap and plentiful during the war years, could not support any weight, and therefore a separate casing was required which followed that seen in the Merchant Navy class locomotives, and the boiler rings were adapted to lend the lagging the support needed. A copper, rather than steel, firebox was utilised, unlike Bulleid's Pacific designs. The wheels were smaller, 5 ft 1 in (1.55 m) adaptations of the Bulleid Firth Brown wheels utilised on the Pacifics. The locomotive had two cylinders with Stephenson link outside admission piston valves, having a travel in full gear of 6+1⁄8 in (155.58 mm) and a steam lap of 1+5⁄8 in (41.28 mm). It was provided with a five-nozzle blast-pipe.
The boiler design was based upon that of the Lord Nelson class, and the firebox used the same throatplate and backplate. The boiler barrel measured 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) in length, with diameters of 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m) at the front and 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) at the back. The grate area was 27 sq ft (2.51 m<sup>2</sup>), the heating surface of the 209 tubes and 21 flues was 1,302 sq ft (120.96 m<sup>2</sup>), that of the firebox was 170 sq ft (15.79 m<sup>2</sup>) giving a total evaporative heating surface of 1,472 sq ft (136.75 m<sup>2</sup>); the superheater heating surface was 218 sq ft (20.25 m<sup>2</sup>).
## Operational details
The Q1 was the final development of the British main line steam locomotive. Later designs of medium-powered freight locomotives, such as the LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 and LMS Ivatt Class 4 Moguls, had a wheel arrangement: the wheel arrangement was not used in the BR Standard designs of locomotive.
BR classified the Q1 class in the power classification 5F. This was unusual: few other s exceeded the classification of 4F. Notable exceptions were the LNER Class J20 (5F), LNER Class J39 (4P5F) and LNER Class J38 (6F).
The Q1's route availability meant that although they were primarily freight locomotives they also frequently deputised on secondary passenger services. However, the class gained a reputation for poor braking on unfitted freight trains due to the light construction of the tender braking system.
The Q1s thrived on their intended duties during World War II, and were an indispensable addition to the Southern locomotive fleet, to such an extent that they all remained in service until the 1960s, long after they were intended to cease operation as an "austerity" design. Withdrawals began in 1963, when one had a broken cylinder that was deemed not worthy of repairing. The last example of the class was withdrawn in 1966.
## Livery and numbering
### Southern Railway and Bulleid numbering system
Livery of the Q1 Class was plain freight black, with Sunshine Yellow numbering on the cabside, and "Southern" lettering on the tender, shaded in green. Bulleid advocated a continental style of locomotive nomenclature, based upon his experiences at the French branch of Westinghouse Electric before the First World War, and those of his tenure in the rail operating department during that conflict. The Southern Railway number followed an adaptation of the UIC classification system where "C" refers to the number of coupled driving axles – in this case three. All these locomotives therefore carried numbers which started "C" followed by the individual identifier from C1 to C40.
### Post-1948 (nationalisation)
After nationalisation, the original Southern livery was in continued use, although with "British Railways" on the tender in Sunshine Yellow. From 1950 onwards, livery remained plain, although in the guise of British Railways Freight Black without lining of any description. The British Railways crest was located on the tender side. Given the British Railways power classification 5F, the locomotives were also renumbered to the British Railways' standard numbering system as 33001–33040.
## Preservation
Only one locomotive of the class survived into preservation. First-of-class 33001 (C1) has been preserved, and now resides at the National Railway Museum in York, where it carries its original SR livery and number. Before it moved to York in 2004, the locomotive worked on the Bluebell Railway in East Sussex: it ran from 14 September 1980 to Spring 1983. Its second period of running was from 9 September 1992 to Summer 2000 and that is the last time it ran.
|
[
"## Background",
"## Construction history",
"### Design",
"## Operational details",
"## Livery and numbering",
"### Southern Railway and Bulleid numbering system",
"### Post-1948 (nationalisation)",
"## Preservation"
] | 1,725 | 19,837 |
11,951,953 |
William Sudell
| 1,155,168,944 |
British football businessman
|
[
"1851 births",
"1911 deaths",
"19th-century English businesspeople",
"Association football players not categorized by nationality",
"Baseball in the United Kingdom",
"Deaths from pneumonia in South Africa",
"English emigrants to South Africa",
"English football chairmen and investors",
"English fraudsters",
"Footballers from Preston, Lancashire",
"Loyal Regiment officers",
"Men's association football players not categorized by position",
"Military personnel from Preston, Lancashire",
"Preston North End F.C."
] |
Major William Sudell (1850–1911) was an English association football player and administrator, who was the first chairman of Preston North End. He joined the Preston Nelson sports club on 3 August 1867, aged 17. Initially a player of several sports, by his mid-twenties he had become chairman of the club. In 1880 the club decided to play football exclusively, and from the following year Sudell managed the team.
To aid the performances of his team, Sudell recruited several Scottish players, giving them nominal jobs in the cotton mill he managed. After a dispute arising from payments to players resulted in Preston's withdrawal from the 1884 FA Cup, Sudell became an outspoken proponent of professionalism. His actions resulted in the acceptance of professionalism by the Football Association (FA), and led to Preston becoming the leading team of the early professional era. Under Sudell's leadership, Preston North End became founder members of the Football League, and won a league and cup double, going unbeaten for the entire season.
Sudell's career as a football administrator ended in disgrace, when in 1895 he was found guilty of fraudulently redirecting funds from the mill to the football club. Sudell was sentenced to three years' imprisonment. Upon his release, he emigrated to South Africa, where he died in 1911.
## Football career
Born in Preston in 1850, descended from an old Preston family that included a Preston Guild Mayor, Sudell joined the Preston Nelson sports club in August 1867, aged 17. During this period the club were recruiting many young sportsmen from the area to play new sports, in order to relieve financial pressures. Sudell proved adept at several sports including swimming, cycling, cricket and rugby. The club played its first game of association football in 1878, against Eagley, with Sudell a member of the team. However, Sudell did not go on to play on a regular basis; only two other football matches featuring him as a player are known.
Sudell became the chairman of the sports club, which by then was known as Preston North End, in 1874 or 1875, while still in his mid-twenties. In 1880 the club voted to play football exclusively, and the following year Sudell took responsibility for the management of the team. From 1883 the club fielded several Scottish players, after Sudell went on a recruitment expedition to Scotland. The club arranged jobs for the players, and supplemented their income with off-balance sheet payments. At this time professionalism was not permitted, but such payments were common among Lancashire clubs.
After Preston won an FA Cup match against Upton Park in 1884, the Londoners protested, seeking the result to be overturned due to professionalism in the Preston ranks. This sparked a series of events which threatened to split the FA. Under Sudell's instruction, Preston withdrew from the competition. Fellow Lancashire clubs Burnley and Great Lever followed suit. The protest gathered momentum, to the point where more than 30 clubs, predominantly from the north, announced that they would set up a rival British Football Association if the FA did not permit professionalism. At the FA conference called to discuss the issue, Sudell was a member of the committee. He argued passionately for the acceptance of professionalism, but met opposition from southern-based amateur clubs, who viewed sport solely as a pastime. Backed by figures such as the more moderate but influential William McGregor of Aston Villa, the advocates of professionalism won the day and secured its acceptance. However, each club was permitted to only pay players who had been born or who had lived within six miles of the home stadium for at least two years.
With professionalism legalised, Preston flourished. Keen to make use of tactics, Sudell was the first person to use a blackboard to dictate positions and strategy to his players. In 1887, Preston recorded the biggest win in the history of the FA Cup, beating Hyde 26–0 in the first round. The club progressed to the final having amassed a run of 42 consecutive wins in all competitions, but were beaten in the FA Cup Final by West Bromwich Albion.
During this time moves were afoot to prevent cancellation of matches by creating a new competition with a "fixity of fixtures". The brainchild of Aston Villa's William McGregor, the competition became known as The Football League. Sudell himself suggested the name "Football League", as an alternative to McGregor's suggestion, "Association Football Union". Plans to create the competition had been ongoing for a period of months without Preston's involvement, but as the most skilful team McGregor was keen to interest them. Once involved, Sudell was eager for the embryonic League to assert primacy in relation to other competitions, joining with J. J. Bentley to propose that "The clubs forming the League shall support each other and bind themselves to carry out in the strictest sense the arrangements for matches between them, and not allow them to be cancelled on account of any cup competition or other matches". Sudell was more financially minded than the egalitarian McGregor, and urged the League to dispense with proposals for equal sharing of gate money and residential requirements for players.
The League kicked off in September 1888, with Preston one of the 12 founder members. North End proved superior to their opponents, winning the title with several matches to spare. This allowed the club to concentrate on the FA Cup, which they duly won by defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers. In completing the League and Cup double Preston remained unbeaten for the entire season. The team, nicknamed the "Invincibles", contained ten Scots, tempted south by the money on offer as professionalism was still banned in Scotland. Wishing for a grander gesture to celebrate his team's success than the League committee's suggestion of a flag bearing the club's name, Sudell convinced the League to spend 50 guineas on a trophy. However, despite being responsible for the creation of the trophy, Preston North End have not won it since.
For the first four years of the League's existence, Sudell acted as honorary treasurer. In 1892, with his health declining, Sudell relinquished his position, and was succeeded by Stoke's Harry Lockett. He left Preston North End the following year. In 1894 the League gave him £50 for a testimonial.
## Outside football
Sudell worked in a cotton mill, where thanks to his numeracy he quickly worked his way up the ranks; eventually he became manager. His military title came from service in the local Volunteer Force rifle unit, a precursor of the Territorial Army. He was initially commissioned as quartermaster in the 11th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps in August 1874, he resigned that commission in February 1879, to take a commission as lieutenant in the same unit. He was promoted captain on 23 June 1886, and was granted the honorary rank of major on 19 October 1889; the unit had now become part of the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment. In March 1890 Sudell agreed to form a professional baseball club at Preston North End Baseball Club for the upcoming 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain. Professional football clubs were chosen as ideal partners for new baseball clubs. He retired on 30 July 1892, and was permitted to retain his rank, and continue wearing the battalion's uniform.
### Embezzlement
After his time as Preston chairman, in 1895, Sudell was convicted of embezzling thousands of pounds from the cotton mill at which he worked, in order to fund players' wages and expenses, though he did not gain personally. The fraud, totalling £5,326, resulted in a three-year prison sentence. Upon his release, Sudell emigrated to South Africa. In Cape Town, Sudell enjoyed a successful second career as a popular sports writer and footballing missionary. A member of the editorial staff of the South African News, he became one of the foremost sporting experts in the colony. Sudell rebuilt his life. According to this account Sudell became a successful rugby journalist, dying from pneumonia on 5 August 1911.
|
[
"## Football career",
"## Outside football",
"### Embezzlement"
] | 1,695 | 20,252 |
15,353,087 |
Windsor Gardens station
| 1,171,111,962 |
Railway station in Norwood, Massachusetts
|
[
"1971 establishments in Massachusetts",
"MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Norfolk County, Massachusetts",
"Norwood, Massachusetts",
"Railway stations in the United States opened in 1971",
"Stations along New York and New England Railroad lines"
] |
Windsor Gardens station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Franklin Line station in southern Norwood, Massachusetts. The station has a single side platform serving a single track; it is not accessible. The only entrance to the station is from an adjacent apartment complex; use of the station is not restricted to residents of the complex, though there is no public parking.
A station serving the South Norwood area was opened around 1850, with two more added on a separate line in 1892. The three stations closed in 1938 as part of the 88 stations case. The line became part of the MBTA Commuter Rail system in the 1960s and 1970s. Windsor Gardens station opened on March 29, 1971, to serve the apartment complex, which opened in 1962.
## Station design
Windsor Gardens station is located in the South Norwood neighborhood of Norwood, Massachusetts, just north of the Walpole border. It is located off Engsmore Lane within the Windsor Gardens apartment complex, though use of the station is not restricted to residents. There is no public parking or bicycle facilities at the station; there is pedestrian access through the complex from Walpole Street. The station has a single side platform, about 350 feet (110 m) long, on the west side of the single track of the Franklin Branch. The low-level platform is not accessible. The station has two small shelters for passengers, but no station building.
## History
### Former stations
The Norfolk County Railroad opened through South Dedham (now Norfolk) on April 23, 1849. Within two years, Winslow(s) station (also called Durfees and South Dedham–East Walpole) was located at Washington Street. The line went through several operators in its early decades, with the New York and New England Railroad (NY&NE) taking over in 1875. The Washington Street grade crossing adjacent to the station was replaced by a railroad bridge and road underpass in 1897.
The Old Colony Railroad extended its Wrentham Branch north to in February 1892. Among the stations on the extension were Morrills, located at Morse Street adjacent to the George H. Morill Printing Ink Works in Norwood, and East Walpole (also called Bird Mills) at Washington Street in Walpole. The Old Colony became part of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (NYNH&H) in 1893, followed by the NY&NE (as the Midland Division) in 1898.
Winslows, Morrills, and East Walpole stations were closed on July 17, 1938, as part of the 88 stations case, which included the termination of all Wrentham Branch passenger service. This left no stations on the Midland Division between Norwood Central and . The three station buildings are no longer extant, though an 1890s-built freight house at East Walpole has been repurposed for commercial use.
### Windsor Gardens
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was founded in 1964 to subsidize suburban commuter rail service. MBTA subsidies for Midland Division service began in 1966. The NYNH&H merged into Penn Central at the end of 1968. In January 1973, the MBTA purchased the Penn Central commuter rail lines; Midland Division service became the Franklin Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system.
The first part of the 676-unit Windsor Gardens apartment complex opened in 1962. After several years of negotiations, Windsor Gardens station opened on March 29, 1971 to serve the complex. It was initially served by two daily round trips; a local official expected it to "lift a mile of traffic off the Southeast Expressway a day". The station was featured in advertisements for the complex; a promotion with free tickets was used to attract residents later in 1971.
By 1983, the station had nearly 400 daily riders. Harbor station – a similar station in Gloucester which also served a single apartment complex – was in use from 1977 to 1985 but failed to attract riders. Accessible mini-high platforms were added to several Franklin Line stations in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but Windsor Gardens was not made accessible. A planned project to double-track the line, announced in November 2019, would add a second track (and possibly a second platform) at the station. Windsor Gardens became a flag stop for all trains effective October 11, 2021.
|
[
"## Station design",
"## History",
"### Former stations",
"### Windsor Gardens"
] | 941 | 9,337 |
34,139,046 |
2012 Budweiser Shootout
| 1,101,180,358 |
Stock car race
|
[
"2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series",
"2012 in sports in Florida",
"February 2012 sports events in the United States",
"NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway"
] |
The 2012 Budweiser Shootout was the first exhibition stock car race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The 34th annual running of the Budweiser Shootout, it was held on February 18, 2012 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, before a crowd of 82,000 people. Kyle Busch of the Joe Gibbs Racing team won the 82-lap race. It was Busch's first victory in the event; Stewart-Haas Racing driver Tony Stewart finished second with Richard Petty Motorsports racer Marcos Ambrose third.
Pole position driver Martin Truex Jr. was immediately passed by Jeff Gordon before the first turn, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. led at the end of the first lap. On the ninth lap, a multiple-car accident prompted the first caution flag. Sixteen laps later the second caution was issued, with Jamie McMurray leading. During the caution period, all teams made pit stops. On lap 62 Gordon reclaimed the lead, holding it until he was involved in an accident (the race's final caution). Stewart led at the final restart, holding it until the final lap when Busch passed him to win. Five cautions were issued during the race, which saw twenty-six lead changes by thirteen different drivers and attracted 7.46 million television viewers.
## Background
The 2012 Budweiser Shootout was the first of two exhibition stock car races of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and the 34th annual edition of the event. It took place on February 18, 2012, in Daytona Beach, Florida, at Daytona International Speedway, a superspeedway that holds NASCAR races. Its standard track is a four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.0 km) superspeedway. Daytona's turns are banked at 31 degrees, and the front stretch (the location of the finish line) is banked at 18 degrees.
The Budweiser Shootout was created by Busch Beer brand manager Monty Roberts as the Busch Clash in 1979. The race, designed to promote Busch Beer, invites the fastest NASCAR drivers from the previous season to compete. The race is considered a "warm-up" for the Daytona 500. It was renamed the Bud Shootout in 1998. The name changed to the Budweiser Shootout in 2001, the Sprint Unlimited in 2013 and the Advance Auto Parts Clash in 2017.
Thirty-three drivers were eligible to compete in the race, including the top 25 in the 2011 championship standings and previous winners at Daytona (including the Daytona 500 and the Coke Zero 400). Kurt Busch was the defending champion. The race was scheduled to be 75 laps long, with two segments of 25 and 50 laps separated by a ten-minute pit stop. During the pit stop, teams could change tires, add fuel, and make normal chassis adjustments but could not change springs, shock absorbers or rear ends. Work could be done in the garage or on the pit road. Caution and green-flag laps were counted in the race.
After the two-car style draft (also called tandem racing) dominated races held on restrictor plate tracks during 2011, NASCAR reduced the size of the radiators from five liters to two liters and the air intakes were moved towards the car's fascia section. The size of the restrictor plate was reduced by 1⁄64 inch (0.4 mm) and the cars were required to run with softer springs and a smaller rear spoiler. These changes were intended to reduce the effectiveness of two-car style drafting and to make the cars more challenging to turn. Sprint Cup Series director John Darby stated NASCAR wanted to be able to allow teams more options with drafting and hoped the difference in speeds between tandem drafting and pack style racing would be reduced.
## Practice and qualification
Two practice sessions were held on Friday afternoon. The first session lasted 45 minutes; the second, scheduled for 60 minutes, was shortened to ten because of rain. Matt Kenseth had the fastest time (44.607 seconds, five-thousandths of a second faster than Jeff Burton) in the first session (where drivers tried out pack and tandem drafting). David Ragan was third, ahead of Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, and Denny Hamlin. Brad Keselowski was seventh, within one second of Kenseth's time. Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch collided near the end of the session, beginning a chain-reaction accident involving cars driven by A. J. Allmendinger, Keselowski and Kyle Busch; Keselowski, Allmendinger, and Kyle and Kurt Busch were required to use their backup cars. Stewart was taken to the track's infield care center where he was treated for minor injuries and later released. McMurray was fastest in the second practice session, (where twelve drivers took part) with a lap of 45.524 seconds. Juan Pablo Montoya was second, ahead of Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne. Marcos Ambrose was fifth-fastest, and Hamlin, Michael Waltrip, Joey Logano, Kenseth, and Carl Edwards rounded out the top ten positions.
The 25 drivers determined their starting positions by lot, a feature that is unique to the event. Martin Truex Jr. drew the pole position, with Kyle Busch, Keselowski, McMurray and Ragan rounding out the first five positions. Kurt Busch drew sixth place and Biffle drew seventh, ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Allmendinger in eighth and ninth. Logano, Edwards, Burton, Newman, and Jeff Gordon drew the next five positions. Stewart, who drew fifteenth, was followed by Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Kahne, and Waltrip for the first 20 spots. Ambrose, Kevin Harvick, Kenseth, Paul Menard, and Montoya drew the last five positions in the race. Once the lot was completed, Truex commented, "I haven't been in this race in a few years. I absolutely hated being down here (those years) and watching this race, so it's cool just to be in it and to get the pole is icing on the cake."
### Qualifying results
## Race
The race began at 8:10 pm Eastern Standard Time, and was broadcast live on television in the United States by Fox, and by TSN2 in Canada. Commentary was provided by Mike Joy, with analysis given by retired driver Darrell Waltrip and former crew chief Larry McReynolds. Tim McNeil of First Methodist Church began the pre-race ceremonies with an invocation. Country music group Little Big Town performed the national anthem, and Petty 1st Class Officer William Kimberl, Petty 1st Class Officer Andres Reyes and Petty Officer 2nd Class Aaron Schwartz from the United States Armed Forces commanded the drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, Keselowski, Allmendinger, and Kyle and Kurt Busch had to move to the rear of the grid because they had switched to their backup cars.
McMurray accelerated faster than Truex off the line (leading him at the first turn), but by the end of the first lap Earnhardt had the lead. Three laps later, McMurray reclaimed the lead; one lap later, Logano passed him. On lap six, Truex briefly reclaimed the lead before Harvick passed him. Three laps later a multiple-car collision between turns one and two, involving Waltrip, Menard, Kahne, Burton, Ragan, Kenseth, and Montoya, triggered the first caution of the race and the pace car. The race restarted on lap sixteen, with Earnhardt leading Harvick and Truex. Harvick took the lead on the same lap with assistance from McMurray. On the seventeenth lap, McMurray passed Harvick on the backstraightaway to move into the lead. One lap later, Truex took the lead before he was briefly passed by Kurt Busch but Truex retook the first position before the end of the lap. On the 21st lap, McMurray moved back into second place; two laps later McMurray passed Truex to reclaim the lead, with Edwards moving into second.
On lap 25, Gordon passed Edwards between the third and fourth turns to move into second place and a second caution was issued shortly afterward. After the caution, all the teams made a ten-minute pit stop before the restart. McMurray led Gordon, Edwards, Johnson, and Biffle in the first lap of the rolling start before Gordon took the lead; one lap later, Edwards passed Kyle Busch to move into second place. On lap 28, Biffle, assisted by teammate Edwards, passed Gordon to take the lead. Bowyer experienced oversteer on lap 29, but regained control of his car. Three laps later, Bowyer spun sideways into the infield grass in the first turn after he was hit by teammate Truex leaving the tri-oval; a third caution was issued, during which most of the leaders, including Biffle, made pit stops for fuel and tires. Biffle led the field back up to speed at the restart on 37. Montoya received drafting aid from McMurray to move to the lead on the same lap. McMurray reclaimed the lead on lap 38; Earnhardt tried to pass underneath McMurray going into the third turn two laps later, but McMurray kept the position. Truex passed McMurray on lap 44, with help from Earnhardt. By the 47th lap, Harvick had moved into the lead position; Kyle Busch collided with the wall, escaping with minor damage to the front of his car. He passed McMurray to briefly reclaim the lead one lap later, with Gordon taking over first place by the start of lap 50. Two laps later McMurray, aided by teammate Harvick, regained the lead.
The fourth caution was issued on lap 55 when Ambrose made contact with the left-rear of Logano's car, causing a multiple-car collision involving Earnhardt, Harvick, Kenseth, and Truex. Most of the leaders made pit stops during the caution. During lap 55 Harvick and Logano drove to their garages, retiring from the race. Biffle led at the lap 62 restart, before Gordon reclaimed the lead, with Johnson moving into second place. Ten laps later, Kyle Busch took the lead until Stewart passed him two laps later. On lap 74, Kyle Busch lost control of his car in turn four from left-rear contact with Gordon, who hit the wall; his car rolled over onto its roof after sliding 800 m (2,600 ft) on its left-hand side, prompting the fifth and final caution. Kurt Busch, Johnson, Allmendinger, Edwards and McMurray were caught up in the wreck. The race restarted on lap 81, for a green–white–checker finish (extending the race to 82 laps) with Stewart leading Ambrose, Bowyer and Keselowski until Ambrose (with assistance from Keselowski) passed him. On the final lap, Stewart reclaimed the lead (with help from Kyle Busch) before Busch passed him on the outside in the last 100 yd (91 m) in the tri-oval to win the race. The margin of victory was 0.013 seconds, the closest in the history of the event. Ambrose finished third, Keselowski fourth and Hamlin fifth. Biffle, Newman, Bowyer, Edwards and Montoya rounded out the top ten finishers in the race.
### Post-race comments
Kyle Busch appeared in Victory Lane to celebrate his first victory in the Budweiser Shootout at his sixth attempt; the win earned him \$198,550. He said, "I don't know how many times I spun out and didn't spin out. Amazing race. It was fun to drive when I wasn't getting turned around", and, "Stab and steer, stab and steer, That's what you do. And some brakes. There are brakes involved, too. I thought I was clear ... and I tried going down slowly, and Jimmie just must have been there a little bit, turned me sideways and got me on the apron—scared everybody half to death, including me." Stewart, who finished second, said, "I actually had fun racing at Daytona again, which I haven't had for a while. I don't know what the consensus is from everybody else, but I had more fun as a driver tonight than what we've had in the past." Ambrose, who finished third in the race, explained, "It's definitely a lot more fun, more entertaining for the fans, and more in control for the drivers."
According to Ragan, who was involved in the race's largest accident, "Everybody was real racy and I just got into the back of Menard. You get a good run, and you're pushing a little bit, and I guess he was pushing whoever was in front of him. And when you've got the meat in between the sandwich, you usually get wrecked." Harvick blamed the accident on drivers who had little experience of pack racing: "The biggest problem is the tandem racing has been so easy for these guys to stay attached that some of them haven't raced in pack racing. It's going to take a lot more patience from a lot of guys who haven't done this before." Nevertheless, Menard thought that the pack style of racing would be a good combination for the Daytona 500 and believed it would be "chaotic" and "exciting". Four days after the race, NASCAR announced that the pressure relief values in the engine would be increased from 25 psi (1.7 bar) to 28 psi (1.9 bar) after some drivers complained of overheating issues while they were running in packs. The race had a television audience of 7.46 million viewers.
### Race results
|
[
"## Background",
"## Practice and qualification",
"### Qualifying results",
"## Race",
"### Post-race comments",
"### Race results"
] | 2,918 | 43,587 |
44,557,148 |
Laves graph
| 1,153,504,214 |
Periodic spatial graph
|
[
"Crystallography",
"Infinite graphs",
"Regular graphs"
] |
In geometry and crystallography, the Laves graph is an infinite and highly symmetric system of points and line segments in three-dimensional Euclidean space, forming a periodic graph. Three equal-length segments meet at 120° angles at each point, and all cycles use ten or more segments. It is the shortest possible triply periodic graph, relative to the volume of its fundamental domain. One arrangement of the Laves graph uses one out of every eight of the points in the integer lattice as its points, and connects all pairs of these points that are nearest neighbors, at distance $\sqrt2$. It can also be defined, divorced from its geometry, as an abstract undirected graph, a covering graph of the complete graph on four vertices.
`named this graph after Fritz Laves, who first wrote about it as a crystal structure in 1932. It has also been called the K`<sub>`4`</sub>` crystal, (10,3)-a network, diamond twin, triamond, and the srs net. The regions of space nearest each vertex of the graph are congruent 17-sided polyhedra that tile space. Its edges lie on diagonals of the regular skew polyhedron, a surface with six squares meeting at each integer point of space.`
Several crystalline chemicals have known or predicted structures in the form of the Laves graph. Thickening the edges of the Laves graph to cylinders produces a related minimal surface, the gyroid, which appears physically in certain soap film structures and in the wings of butterflies.
## Constructions
### From the integer grid
As describes, the vertices of the Laves graph can be defined by selecting one out of every eight points in the three-dimensional integer lattice, and forming their nearest neighbor graph. Specifically, one chooses the points $\begin{align}(0,0,0),\quad (1,2,3),\quad (2,3,1),\quad (3,1,2),\\
(2,2,2),\quad (3,0,1),\quad (0,1,3),\quad (1,3,0),\\
\end{align}$ and all the other points formed by adding multiples of four to these coordinates. The edges of the Laves graph connect pairs of points whose Euclidean distance from each other is the square root of two, $\sqrt{2}$, as the points of each pair differ by one unit in two coordinates, and are the same in the third coordinate. The edges meet at 120° angles at each vertex, in a flat plane. All pairs of vertices that are non-adjacent are farther apart, at a distance of at least $\sqrt{6}$ from each other. The edges of the resulting geometric graph are diagonals of a subset of the faces of the regular skew polyhedron with six square faces per vertex, so the Laves graph is embedded in this skew polyhedron.
It is possible to choose a larger set of one out of every four points of the integer lattice, so that the graph of distance-$\sqrt{2}$ pairs of this larger set forms two mirror-image copies of the Laves graph, disconnected from each other, with all other pairs of points farther than $\sqrt{2}$ apart.
### As a covering graph
As an abstract graph, the Laves graph can be constructed as the maximal abelian covering graph of the complete graph $K_4$. Being an abelian covering graph of $K_4$ means that the vertices of the Laves graph can be four-colored such that each vertex has neighbors of the other three colors and so that there are color-preserving symmetries taking any vertex to any other vertex with the same color. For the Laves graph in its geometric form with integer coordinates, these symmetries are translations that add even numbers to each coordinate (additionally, the offsets of all three coordinates must be congruent modulo four). When applying two such translations in succession, the net translation is irrespective of their order: they commute with each other, forming an abelian group. The translation vectors of this group form a three-dimensional lattice. Finally, being a maximal abelian covering graph means that there is no other covering graph of $K_4$ involving a higher-dimensional lattice. This construction justifies an alternative name of the Laves graph, the $K_4$ crystal.
A maximal abelian covering graph can be constructed from any finite graph $G$; applied to $K_4$, the construction produces the (abstract) Laves graph, but does not give it the same geometric layout. Choose a spanning tree of $G$, let $d$ be the number of edges that are not in the spanning tree (in this case, three non-tree edges), and choose a distinct unit vector in $\mathbb{Z}^d$ for each of these non-tree edges. Then, fix the set of vertices of the covering graph to be the ordered pairs $(v,w)$ where $v$ is a vertex of $G$ and $w$ is a vector in $\mathbb{Z}^d$. For each such pair, and each edge $uv$ adjacent to $v$ in $G$, make an edge from $(v, w)$ to $(u,w\plusmn\epsilon)$ where $\epsilon$ is the zero vector if $uv$ belongs to the spanning tree, and is otherwise the basis vector associated with $uv$, and where the plus or minus sign is chosen according to the direction the edge is traversed. The resulting graph is independent of the chosen spanning tree, and the same construction can also be interpreted more abstractly using homology.
Using the same construction, the hexagonal tiling of the plane is the maximal abelian covering graph of the three-edge dipole graph, and the diamond cubic is the maximal abelian covering graph of the four-edge dipole. The $d$-dimensional integer lattice (as a graph with unit-length edges) is the maximal abelian covering graph of a graph with one vertex and $d$ self-loops.
### As a unit distance graph
The unit distance graph on the three-dimensional integer lattice has a vertex for each lattice point; each vertex has exactly six neighbors. It is possible to remove some of the points from the lattice, so that each remaining point has exactly three remaining neighbors, and so that the induced subgraph of these points has no cycles shorter than ten edges. There are four ways to do this, one of which is isomorphic as an abstract graph to the Laves graph. However, its vertices are in different positions than the more-symmetric, conventional geometric construction.
Another subgraph of the simple cubic net isomorphic to the Laves graph is obtained by removing half of the edges in a certain way. The resulting structure, called semi-simple cubic lattice, also has lower symmetry than the Laves graph itself.
## Properties
The Laves graph is a cubic graph, meaning that there are exactly three edges at each vertex. Every pair of a vertex and adjacent edge can be transformed into every other such pair by a symmetry of the graph, so it is a symmetric graph. More strongly, for every two vertices $u$ and $v$, every one-to-one correspondence between the three edges incident to $u$ and the three edges incident to $v$ can be realized by a symmetry. However, the overall structure is chiral: no sequence of translations and rotations can make it coincide with its mirror image. The symmetry group of the Laves graph is the space group $I4_132$.
The girth of this structure is 10—the shortest cycles in the graph have 10 vertices—and 15 of these cycles pass through each vertex. The numbers of vertices at distance 0, 1, 2, ... from any vertex (forming the coordination sequence of the Laves graph) are:
If the surrounding space is partitioned into the regions nearest each vertex—the cells of the Voronoi diagram of this structure—these form heptadecahedra with 17 faces each. They are plesiohedra, polyhedra that tile space isohedrally. Experimenting with the structures formed by these polyhedra led physicist Alan Schoen to discover the gyroid minimal surface, which is topologically equivalent to the surface obtained by thickening the edges of the Laves graph to cylinders and taking the boundary of their union.
The Laves graph is the unique shortest triply-periodic network, in the following sense. Triply-periodic means repeating infinitely in all three dimensions of space, so a triply-periodic network is a connected geometric graph with a three-dimensional lattice of translational symmetries. A fundamental domain is any shape that can tile space with its translated copies under these symmetries. Any lattice has infinitely many choices of fundamental domain, of varying shapes, but they all have the same volume $V$. One can also measure the length of the edges of the network within a single copy of the fundamental domain; call this number $L$. Similarly to $V$, $L$ does not depend on the choice of fundamental domain, as long as the domain boundary only crosses the edges, rather than containing parts of their length. The Laves graph has four symmetry classes of vertices (orbits), because the symmetries considered here are only translations, not the rotations needed to map these four classes into each other. Each symmetry class has one vertex in any fundamental domain, so the fundamental domain contains twelve half-edges, with total length $6\sqrt2$. The volume of its fundamental domain is 32. From these two numbers, the ratio $L^3/V$ (a dimensionless quantity) is therefore $27/\sqrt2$. This is in fact the minimum possible value: All triply-periodic networks have $\frac{L^3}{V}\ge \frac{27}{\sqrt2},$ with equality only in the case of the Laves graph.
## Physical examples
### Art
A sculpture titled Bamboozle, by Jacobus Verhoeff and his son Tom Verhoeff, is in the form of a fragment of the Laves graph, with its vertices represented by multicolored interlocking acrylic triangles. It was installed in 2013 at the Eindhoven University of Technology.
### Molecular crystals
The Laves graph has been suggested as an allotrope of carbon, analogous to the more common graphene and graphite carbon structure which also have three bonds per atom at 120° angles. In graphene, adjacent atoms have the same bonding planes as each other, whereas in the Laves graph structure the bonding planes of adjacent atoms are twisted by an angle of approximately 70.5° around the line of the bond. However, this hypothetical carbon allotrope turns out to be unstable.
The Laves graph may also give a crystal structure for boron, one which computations predict should be stable. Other chemicals that may form this structure include SrSi<sub>2</sub> (from which the "srs net" name derives) and elemental nitrogen, as well as certain metal–organic frameworks and cyclic hydrocarbons.
The electronic band structure for the tight-binding model of the Laves graph has been studied, showing the existence of Dirac and Weyl points in this structure.
### Other
The structure of the Laves graph, and of gyroid surfaces derived from it, has also been observed experimentally in soap-water systems, and in the chitin networks of butterfly wing scales.
|
[
"## Constructions",
"### From the integer grid",
"### As a covering graph",
"### As a unit distance graph",
"## Properties",
"## Physical examples",
"### Art",
"### Molecular crystals",
"### Other"
] | 2,365 | 16,330 |
2,400,582 |
Harlem–148th Street station
| 1,158,892,236 |
New York City Subway station in Manhattan
|
[
"Harlem",
"IRT Lenox Avenue Line stations",
"New York City Subway stations in Manhattan",
"New York City Subway terminals",
"Railway stations in the United States opened in 1968"
] |
The Harlem–148th Street station (also signed as 148th Street–Lenox Terminal station) is a New York City Subway station on the IRT Lenox Avenue Line in Harlem, Manhattan. It serves as the northern terminal station of the 3 train at all times as well as the Northern terminal of the IRT Lenox Avenue line. The entrance to the station is located at the intersection of 149th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, which has historically been known as 7th Avenue. The station contains a pair of tracks and an island platform and is located at ground level (although at a lower elevation than the adjacent streets). A parking structure for the adjacent Frederick Douglass Academy is located above the station, forming a roof above the platform and tracks.
Although the Lenox Avenue Line was constructed in 1904, the Harlem–148th Street station was not part of the original line. The station was first proposed in 1940, and was opened in 1968 within the confines of the preexisting Lenox Yard. The station was intended to replace 145th Street, the next stop south, as the northern terminal of the Lenox Avenue Line. However, the 145th Street station remained open as a result of community opposition.
## History
### Background
The station's location and tracks were originally part of the Lenox Avenue Yard opened in 1904, where 3 trains are currently stored. An extension of the Lenox Avenue line to 149th or 150th Street had been proposed since the Dual Contracts of the 1910s. In 1916, an extension to 149th Street was proposed as part of a connection between the Lenox Avenue Line and the IRT Jerome Avenue Line in the Bronx (served by the ).
In 1940, the New York City Board of Transportation proposed extending the IRT Lenox Avenue Line to the Bronx along the northern portion of the IRT Ninth Avenue Line, in turn connecting to the Jerome Avenue Line at 167th Street. However, the tunnel from Sedgwick Avenue to Anderson–Jerome Avenues was built to elevated-railway standards, whose "open" third rails, which did not have any protective covers on top, were shorter than the subway's "covered" third rails. Another issue was that the Ninth Avenue Line could not carry subway cars, as it was only strong enough to carry the lighter wooden elevated cars. These incompatibilities prevented the connection from being built.
### Opening
In 1957, a station at 150th Street within the Lenox Yard was proposed to better serve the local area (including the nearby Harlem River Houses). The station, and the Bronx extension, had been requested by local citizens since the 1940s due to unreliable bus and surface trolley service. The station was later moved to 149th Street due to Lenox Yard's downsizing in the 1960s, with the land sold to the developers that would build the Frederick Douglass Academy and the Esplanade Gardens apartment complex above the yard and station.
The new terminal, upon completion, was intended to replace the former terminal at 145th Street station due to the proximity of switches that prevented that station's lengthening to accommodate ten-car trains. However, plans to shut down 145th Street were cancelled due to protests from local residents. Trains began operating without passengers to the 148th Street station on May 5, 1968, and the station officially opened on May 13, 1968. The project was completed at a relatively low cost because the extension made use of two existing yard tracks. The station cost \$1.29 million, track improvements cost \$3.178 million, and signaling cost \$3.553 million. The name of the station was originally planned to be 149th Street–Seventh Avenue station, but because of possible confusion with 149th Street–Grand Concourse, it was changed to 148th Street–Lenox Terminal.
### Later changes
The station sign was reversed as Lenox Terminal–148th Street in the 1990s before reverting to its original name by 2003. From August 5, 1990 to September 4, 1994 and from September 10, 1995 to July 27, 2008, this station lacked full-time service, as 3 trains did not operate during late nights. Full-time service was restored on July 27, 2008.
In December 2019, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that this station would become ADA-accessible as part of the agency's 2020–2024 Capital Program.
## Station layout
The station is the northern terminus for the 3 train at all times; the next stop to the south is 145th Street. When this station opened, it supplanted 145th Street, the next stop south, as the northern terminal of the IRT Lenox Avenue Line. The station has two tracks and one island platform, and the tracks end at bumper blocks at the west end of the platform. The station is adjacent to Lenox Yard, which is used for train storage and has no maintenance facility. Due to the high ceiling, platform service information signs are hung from heavy cables.
While this station appears to be underground, it and the adjacent yard are actually at-grade. The Esplanade Gardens apartment complex is located between 147th and 149th streets while Frederick Douglass Academy High School sits between 149th and 150th Streets; both structures rest on pilotis above the station and yard. The Esplanade Gardens are also at the same level of the platforms. Unlike other at-grade stations, 148th Street is not ADA-accessible because there is a staircase down to platform level. Plans to make the station ADA-accessible were included in the 2020-2024 MTA Capital Program.
### Exit
The station's only mezzanine is at the west (railroad north) end of the station. From the single island platform, a double-wide stairway leads up to a set of doors that separate the street-level station-house at Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. There are three turnstiles and a token booth.
|
[
"## History",
"### Background",
"### Opening",
"### Later changes",
"## Station layout",
"### Exit"
] | 1,278 | 32,741 |
48,723,612 |
1st Cavalry Division (Kingdom of Yugoslavia)
| 1,153,745,187 |
Royal Yugoslav Army combat formation
|
[
"Military units and formations disestablished in 1941",
"Military units and formations of Yugoslavia in World War II"
] |
The 1st Cavalry Division of the Royal Yugoslav Army was established in 1921, soon after the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. In peacetime it consisted of two cavalry brigade headquarters commanding a total of four regiments. It was part of the Yugoslav 1st Army Group during the German-led World War II Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, with a wartime organisation specifying one cavalry brigade headquarters commanding two or three regiments, and divisional-level combat and support units.
Along with the rest of the Royal Yugoslav Army, the 1st Cavalry Division began mobilising on 3 April 1941 following a coup d'état. Three days later, with mobilisation not complete, the Germans began an air campaign and a series of preliminary operations against the Yugoslav frontiers. By the end of the following day, the division's cavalry brigade headquarters and all of the division's cavalry regiments had been detached for duty with other formations of the 1st Army Group. The divisional headquarters and divisional-level units remained in the vicinity of Zagreb until 10 April, when they were given orders to establish a defensive line southeast of Zagreb along the Sava River, with infantry and artillery support. The division had only begun to deploy for this task when the German 14th Panzer Division captured Zagreb. The divisional headquarters and all attached units were then captured by armed Croat fifth column groups, or surrendered to German troops.
## Background
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was created with the merger of Serbia, Montenegro and the South Slav-inhabited areas of Austria-Hungary on 1 December 1918, in the immediate aftermath of World War I. The Army of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was established to defend the new state. It was formed around the nucleus of the victorious Royal Serbian Army, as well as armed formations raised in regions formerly controlled by Austria-Hungary. Many former Austro-Hungarian officers and soldiers became members of the new army. From the beginning, much like other aspects of public life in the new kingdom, the army was dominated by ethnic Serbs, who saw it as a means by which to secure political hegemony for the large Serb minority.
The army's development was hampered by the kingdom's poor economy, and this continued during the 1920s. In 1929, King Alexander changed the name of the country to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, at which time the army was renamed the Royal Yugoslav Army (Serbo-Croatian Latin: Vojska Kraljevine Jugoslavije, VKJ). The army budget remained tight, and as tensions rose across Europe during the 1930s, it became difficult to secure weapons and munitions from other countries. Consequently, at the time World War II broke out in September 1939, the VKJ had several serious weaknesses, which included reliance on draught animals for transport, and the large size of its formations. These characteristics resulted in slow, unwieldy formations, and the inadequate supply of arms and munitions meant that even the very large Yugoslav formations had low firepower. Generals better suited to the trench warfare of World War I were combined with an army that was neither equipped nor trained to resist the fast-moving combined arms approach used by the Germans in their invasions of Poland and France.
The weaknesses of the VKJ in strategy, structure, equipment, mobility and supply were exacerbated by serious ethnic disunity within Yugoslavia, resulting from two decades of Serb hegemony and the attendant lack of political legitimacy achieved by the central government. Attempts to address the disunity came too late to ensure that the VKJ was a cohesive force. Fifth column activity was also a serious concern, not only from the Croatian nationalist Ustaše but also from the country's Slovene and ethnic German minorities.
## Formation and composition
### Peacetime organisation
The 1st Cavalry Division was a horsed cavalry formation established soon after the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and was part of the army order of battle formalised in 1921, at which time it consisted of four regiments. According to regulations issued by the VKJ in 1935, the 1st Cavalry Division was headquartered in Zagreb during peacetime, and was under the control of Cavalry Command in Belgrade, as was the 2nd Cavalry Division, which was located in southeastern Yugoslavia at Niš. The division's units were manned by a mixture of full-time and part-time personnel. In peacetime, the 1st Cavalry Division comprised:
- Headquarters 1st Cavalry Brigade in Čakovec near Zagreb
- Headquarters 2nd Cavalry Brigade in Subotica in the Banat north of Belgrade
- 2nd Cavalry Regiment, based in Virovitica on the Drava River in Slavonia
- 3rd Cavalry Regiment, based in Subotica
- 6th Cavalry Regiment, based in Zagreb
- 8th Cavalry Regiment, based in Čakovec
### Wartime organisation
The wartime organisation of the Royal Yugoslav Army was laid down by regulations issued in 1936–1937, which introduced a requirement to raise a third cavalry division for war service. The strength of a cavalry division was 6,000–7,000 men. The theoretical war establishment of a fully mobilised Yugoslav cavalry division was:
- headquarters and headquarters company
- a cavalry brigade consisting of 2 or 3 cavalry regiments
- an artillery battalion of four batteries, one of which was motorised and equipped with 47-millimetre (1.9 in) anti-tank guns
- a bicycle-mounted infantry battalion with three rifle companies and one machine gun company
- a signals squadron
- a bridging squadron equipped with pontoons
- a chemical defence platoon
- a divisional cavalry battalion consisting of two cavalry squadrons, a machine gun squadron, an engineer squadron and a bicycle company
- logistics units, including a transport battalion
Each cavalry regiment was to consist of four cavalry squadrons, a machine gun squadron, and an engineer squadron. Shortly before the war, an abortive attempt was made to motorise the 1st Cavalry Division, but this was stymied by a lack of motor transport and the division largely remained a horsed formation throughout its existence. The 1st Cavalry Division was also never equipped with the planned motorised anti-tank battery, and the divisional artillery battalion was largely equipped with World War I-vintage pieces. Two peacetime components of the division, the Headquarters of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, were earmarked to join other formations when they were mobilised, so the primary fighting formation of the 1st Cavalry Division was the 1st Cavalry Brigade, commanding the 2nd, 6th and 8th Cavalry Regiments.
## Deployment plan
In case of war, Yugoslav planners saw the 1st Cavalry Division as forming the reserve for the 1st Army Group. The 1st Army Group was responsible for the defence of northwestern Yugoslavia, with the subordinate 4th Army defending the eastern sector along the Hungarian border, and the 7th Army stationed along the German and Italian borders. The 1st Cavalry Division was to be deployed around Zagreb. On the right of the 4th Army was the 2nd Army of the 2nd Army Group, the boundary running from just east of Slatina through Požega towards Banja Luka, and on the left flank of the 7th Army, the Adriatic coast was defended by Coastal Defence Command. The Yugoslav defence plan saw the 1st Army Group deployed in a cordon, the 4th Army behind the Drava River between Varaždin and Slatina, and the 7th Army along the border region from the Adriatic in the west to Gornja Radgona in the east. The planners estimated that cavalry formations would take four to seven days to mobilise.
## Mobilisation
After unrelenting pressure from Adolf Hitler to join the Axis powers, Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact on 25 March 1941. Two days later, a military coup d'état overthrew the government that had signed the pact, and a new government was formed under the Royal Yugoslav Army Air Force commander, Armijski đeneral Dušan Simović. A general mobilisation was not called by the new government until 3 April 1941, out of fear of offending Hitler and thus precipitating war. The same day as the coup, Hitler had issued Führer Directive 25, which called for Yugoslavia to be treated as a hostile state; on 3 April, Führer Directive 26 was issued, detailing the plan of attack and the command structure for the invasion, which was to commence on 6 April.
According to the Yugoslav historian Velimir Terzić, on 6 April the mobilisation of the division was proceeding slowly due to the low number of conscripts that reported for duty, and the poor provision of animals and vehicles. A large portion of the strength of the division had been earmarked to be detached to one of the formations of the 4th Army, Detachment Ormozki.
The commander of the 1st Cavalry Division was Divizijski đeneral Dragoslav Stefanović. While the divisional headquarters and other divisional-level units were mobilising in Sesvete near Zagreb, the headquarters of the 1st Cavalry Brigade had been designated to command Detachment Ormozki, and the 6th and 8th Cavalry Regiments and the divisional artillery battalion had also been allocated to that formation. This reduced the main fighting elements of the division to a single cavalry regiment (the 2nd), which was mobilising in Virovitica. The rest of the 1st Army Group reserve comprised an independent artillery battalion mobilising in Zagreb, and the 110th Infantry Regiment which was moving to Zagreb from Celje, a distance of 114 km (71 mi) to the northwest. By early morning of 6 April 1941 when the invasion commenced, the 110th Regiment had reached Zidani Most, still some 90 km (56 mi) from Zagreb.
## Operations
Stripped of most of its subordinate units, the 1st Cavalry Division remained in reserve near Zagreb during the first few days of fighting. On 10 April, due to the critical situation on the front of the 4th Army, the division was directed to take under its command the 110th Infantry Regiment and the independent artillery battalion, and defend against crossings of the 110-kilometre (68 mi) stretch of the River Sava between Jasenovac and Zagreb, while collecting stragglers and organising resistance. These orders were quickly overtaken by the rapid advance of the 14th Panzer Division to Zagreb when it broke out of its bridgehead across the Drava River at Zákány on the Hungarian border. By 19:30 on 10 April, lead elements of the 14th Panzer Division had reached the outskirts of Zagreb, having covered nearly 160 km (99 mi) in a single day. Armed fifth column Ustase groups and German troops disarmed the division and its attached units before they could establish any coherent defence along the Sava.
On 15 April, orders were received that a ceasefire had been agreed, and that all VKJ troops were to remain in place and not fire on German personnel. After a delay in locating appropriate signatories for the surrender document, the Yugoslav Supreme Command unconditionally surrendered in Belgrade effective at 12:00 on 18 April. Yugoslavia was then occupied and dismembered by the Axis; Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and Albania all annexed parts of its territory. Almost all of the Croat members of the division taken as prisoners of war were soon released by the Germans; 90 per cent of those held for the duration of the war were Serbs.
|
[
"## Background",
"## Formation and composition",
"### Peacetime organisation",
"### Wartime organisation",
"## Deployment plan",
"## Mobilisation",
"## Operations"
] | 2,554 | 39,864 |
758,441 |
Candida (song)
| 1,172,532,244 | null |
[
"1970 singles",
"1970 songs",
"Andy Williams songs",
"Bell Records singles",
"Cashbox number-one singles",
"Number-one singles in Spain",
"Number-one singles in Sweden",
"Songs written by Irwin Levine",
"Songs written by Toni Wine",
"Tony Orlando songs"
] |
"Candida" was the first single released by the American pop music group Dawn, with vocals by Tony Orlando, in July 1970. The song, written by Irwin Levine and Toni Wine, was produced by Dave Appell and Hank Medress for Bell Records. Appell and Medress originally recorded another singer on the track, but decided that a different vocal approach would be preferable. Medress then approached Orlando to do the vocals. Orlando had been a professional singer in the early 1960s, but now worked as a music publishing manager for Columbia Records. Although initially worried about losing his job at Columbia, Orlando eventually agreed to lend his voice to the track.
"Candida" became a worldwide hit, reaching number one in five countries, and the top ten in many others, including number 3 in the USA. It was included on Dawn's debut LP in 1970 and later appeared on several compilation albums. Andy Williams, Jesse Winchester, Ray Conniff, and Bernd Spier are among the artists who have covered the song.
## Background and recording
In 1970 Hank Medress of The Tokens and Dave Appell were producing a song called "Candida" for Bell Records. The composition was written by Toni Wine and Irwin Levine. For the first recording of the song, the lead vocal was done by blues singer Frankie Paris, in a style reminiscent of the Drifters. Paris's performance was deemed unsatisfactory, and a new singer was sought for the track. Medress believed that "an ethnic feel" would suit the song well. He asked his friend Tony Orlando, whose heritage is Puerto Rican and Greek, to perform its lead vocal.
Orlando, a former professional singer, had had two top-40 hits in the USA in 1961, but later moved into the music publishing business; in 1967 Columbia Records chose him to manage their publishing division, April-Blackwood Music. When Medress approached Orlando, he was reluctant to perform on a Bell Records single, as he did not want to jeopardize his job at Columbia. Medress reassured him by saying they would use a band name for the release, and that nobody would know who the singer was. Orlando finally agreed, partly because he believed the song would be unsuccessful and would not attract any attention. He went into a studio with Appell and Medress, and sang his lead vocal over prerecorded tracks. Background vocals were done by Wine and the Tokens' Jay Siegel; Orlando was not present when these were recorded. By different accounts, additional background singers may have included Ellie Greenwich, Robin Grean, Leslie Miller, and Linda November. Phil Margo and Siegel played instruments on at least one of the versions of the song. The music of Orlando's version has been described as having "a lilting, sing-along groove".
## Release
"Candida" was released as a single in July 1970 under the moniker Dawn, named after the daughter of either Jay Siegel or Bell Records executive Steve Wax. The single reached number one in Brazil, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, and Sweden, and the top ten in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the UK, and the USA. It also reached the top twenty in Australia, Belgium, and Germany. Billboard ranked the record as the No. 18 song of 1970.
Jay Warner, author of American Singing Groups: A History from 1940 to Today, notes that the group the Corporation released a different version of "Candida" around the same time as Dawn's. The Corporation's recording was produced by Bill and Steve James, and released on Musicor Records. Warner believes that this version was based on an early, slower piano-and-vocals demo by Toni Wine. A July 1970 capsule review in Billboard magazine of both Dawn's and the Corporation's versions categorized the latter's recording as possessing "a strong blues and Tex-Mex flavor", and stated that both singles had "equal sales and chart potential". However, although for a short while it seemed there might be competition between the two, the Corporation's single did not sell well.
Dawn's version was released on their debut album, Candida, in 1970, and later on the Dawn compilations Greatest Hits, The World of Tony Orlando & Dawn, The Definitive Collection, and The Big Hits. It has also appeared on various-artists compilations including Today's Super Hits, AM Gold: 1970, and Real 70's: the Polyester Hits, Disc One.
## Covers
Numerous musicians have covered "Candida", among them Andy Williams, Jesse Winchester, Jimmy Velvet, Ray Conniff, and reggae artists Owen Gray and the Pioneers. Foreign-language versions have included recordings in Portuguese by the Fevers, in Spanish by La Tropa Loca, and in German by Bata Illic and Bernd Spier.
## Chart performance
### Weekly charts
### Year-end charts
|
[
"## Background and recording",
"## Release",
"## Covers",
"## Chart performance",
"### Weekly charts",
"### Year-end charts"
] | 1,026 | 19,517 |
3,586,403 |
Leslie Hunter
| 1,173,149,456 |
Scottish painter (1877–1931)
|
[
"1877 births",
"1906 San Francisco earthquake",
"1931 deaths",
"19th-century Scottish male artists",
"19th-century Scottish painters",
"20th-century Scottish male artists",
"20th-century Scottish painters",
"British Impressionist painters",
"British expatriates in the United States",
"Modern painters",
"Painters from San Francisco",
"People from Rothesay, Bute",
"Scottish Colourists",
"Scottish male painters"
] |
George Leslie Hunter (7 August 1877 – 7 December 1931) was a Scottish painter, regarded as one of the four artists of the Scottish Colourists group of painters. Christened simply George Hunter, he adopted the name Leslie in San Francisco, and Leslie Hunter became his professional name. Showing an aptitude for drawing at an early age, he was largely self-taught, receiving only elementary painting lessons from a family acquaintance. He spent fourteen years from the age of fifteen in the US, mainly in California. Hunter made an extended trip to Scotland, Paris and New York from 1903 to 1905. In 1906 he left San Francisco and returned to Scotland, painting and drawing there, notably in Fife and at Loch Lomond. Subsequently he travelled widely in Europe, especially in the South of France, but also in the Netherlands, the Pas de Calais and Italy. He also returned to New York in 1924 and 1928–1929.
Hunter painted a variety of still-lifes, landscapes and portraits, and his paintings are critically acclaimed for their treatment of light and the effects of light. Except, what Hunter set out to do was not about light, but to capture the essence of nature through pure colour. His paintings became popular with more progressive critics and collectors during his lifetime and have grown to command high prices since his death, becoming among the most popular in Scotland.
## Biography
### Early life
Hunter was born in Rothesay, at 7 Tower Street, on the Isle of Bute on 7 August 1877. He was the youngest child of five, born to William and Jeanie (née Stewart) Hunter. George, as he was then known, showed an aptitude for drawing when very young and when he was about thirteen, his mother arranged for him to have painting lessons with a lady acquaintance. In February 1892, Hunter's elder sister Catherine died. Shortly after, in March, another elder sibling, James, also died. Both were in their early twenties. It is thought they may have been victims of an influenza pandemic. William, the father, and Jeanie, seem already to have contemplated emigrating, because a home had been sold. Evidently, the tragic deaths sealed the matter, and the remaining family departed for California via New York on 1 September 1892, aboard the SS Ethiopia.
### Emigration to California and move to San Francisco, leaving parents
Hunter was fifteen when he emigrated with his parents and two surviving siblings to California. Initially, he lived with his family on an orange grove, 50 miles east of Los Angeles. He continued sketching and loved the climate, but showed little interest in farm management. Hunter moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 1899 and began making a living primarily as a newspaper and journal illustrator. He counted among his friends and acquaintances, journalist Will Irwin, early photographer Arnold Genthe, poet Gelett Burgess, as well as significant literary figures such as Bret Harte and Jack London, all members of the San Francisco Bohemian Club. Hunter provided illustrations for Overland Monthly. In 1899, a full-page black and white drawing for Overland Monthly is signed G. Leslie Hunter, the first recorded occasion of his use of "Leslie". In 1902, Hunter became part of a group of artists that included Maynard Dixon, Gottardo Piazzoni, Xavier Martinez and Arthur Putnam. Together they founded the California Society of Arts, the short-lived alternative to the conservative San Francisco Art Association. Clearly, Hunter had a completely different artistic exposure compared with others of the Scottish Colourists group, such as John Duncan Fergusson or Samuel John Peploe. Hunter was at this stage quite a successful American graphic artist, considering his young age. "Sunset, The Pacific Monthly", was another journal commissioning his work and altogether, Smith & Marriner catalogue over two hundred publication and book illustrations commissioned from Hunter.
### Beginnings in fine art
In 1904, Hunter made a visit to Paris, funded by his earnings as an illustrator. He was inspired by the numerous artistic experiences there, and became fully resolved to take up oil painting. When he returned to San Francisco in 1905, he began preparing for his first solo exhibition, which was to be held the following year. However, Hunter's early work was destroyed in the fire that followed the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and he returned to Scotland shortly afterwards, settling in Glasgow. Initially he continued to make his living there primarily as an illustrator. His oil painting began with still lifes on black backgrounds, influenced by the Dutch style.
In 1908, whilst back in Paris, Hunter met Alice Toklas, whom he had known previously in San Francisco. She took him to see the art collection at 27 rue de Fleurus, that was being started by Gertrude Stein and her brother Leo Stein. The collection included wildly-coloured Fauve works by Matisse, and early works by Picasso. Toklas wrote that the pictures shocked Hunter profoundly, and he wished he had never gone to see the them. Nevertheless his consciousness had been jolted.
In November 1913 the influential art dealer Alexander Reid gave Hunter his first one-man-show, at his gallery at West George Street. It was popular but the public did not have any real understanding of his sense of colour and line. At the show Hunter was probably introduced to the Dundee collector John Tattersall. Through Reid, Hunter most likely first met William McInnes of Gow, Harrison & Company (shipbuilders) who became a close friend and patron to Hunter. McInnes went on to buy 23 works in total.
Hunter's landscape style began to change after visits to Etaples in 1913 and 1914, although Hunter did not necessarily appear to be part of the existing Etaples art colony. Here, inspired by French art and the local landscape, he began to develop the style and ability that would later identify him as a colourist. However, with the onset of the First World War Hunter was forced to leave Paris and return to Scotland. Hunter had become an American citizen in 1906 and conscription was not introduced until early 1916. Possibly in response to the government's urging able-bodied men and women to help with the war effort, Hunter moved from Glasgow to his cousin's farm near Larkhall where he worked on the land until the end of the war.
In Scotland, Alexander Reid was acting as his agent, remaining in constant contact with him throughout the First World War. In March 1916, Hunter held his second one-man exhibition with Reid in Glasgow. Hunter's work at this stage of his career focused primarily on still lifes, inspired by Chardin, Kalf and Manet. During the 1920s, Hunter began to be associated with a group of three other artists: John Duncan Fergusson, F. C. B. Cadell, and Samuel Peploe. The four of them became known as the Scottish Colourists, although the term was not used until 1948, by which time only Fergusson was still alive.
In July 1917 (through Reid) the collector William Burrell bought his first Hunter: "Peaches" for 10 guineas and in September 1917 bought a still life for £38.
### European travel and return to Fife
In 1922, Hunter began to make a series of trips to mainland Europe, where he visited Paris, Venice, Florence and the Riviera. Fergusson accompanied him on a number of these visits. Hunter's visits abroad produced a large number of paintings and his style changed noticeably in this period of European travel as he began using dabs of colour placed instinctively to portray underlying form.
When Hunter returned from his first series of trips abroad, in 1922, he settled in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland and, between 1924 and 1927, he remained in Scotland, dividing his time between Fife and Glasgow. His paintings from this period include a number inspired by views of Loch Lomond, and these landscapes increasingly took inspiration from the work of Cézanne to create colourful and atmospheric compositions. In 1925, Hunter's work was displayed at an exhibition in Leicester Square in London, along with works by Peploe, Cadell and Fergusson. Walter Sickert, in his introduction to the exhibition, wrote that "Hunter uses the refractory ... to inspired ends on normal and traditional lines".
Hunter travelled again to the South of France on a number of occasions between 1927 and 1929, and based himself at Saint-Paul-de-Vence. He sent paintings back to Reid to be exhibited in Glasgow and London, but he spent a great deal of time sketching and his output of finished oil paintings was low. One exhibition in London had to be postponed due to a lack of paintings. The France trips culminated in 1929 with a critically acclaimed exhibition at the Ferargil Galleries in New York.
### London, ill-health and death
However, shortly after returning to the French Riviera in 1929, Hunter suffered a severe breakdown, forcing his sister to bring him home to Scotland in September. He recovered, and began to paint a number of portraits of his friends, including one of Dr Tom Honeyman, the Director of the Glasgow Art Gallery and Museum from 1939 until 1954. Honeyman, at the time an art dealer, had assisted Hunter in developing his career, and painting the portrait may have been a gesture of thanks.
In 1930 he embarked upon a series of drawings and watercolours of Hyde Park, which were due to be exhibited in London. Hunter hoped to move to the city permanently, as he found it livelier than Glasgow and the art market was more secure. However, his health deteriorated and he began to suffer badly from stomach pains. He died in Glasgow in the Claremont Nursing Home on 7 December 1931, aged 54. The cause of death was cardiac failure due to blood poisoning, following an unsuccessful gall bladder operation. A member of Glasgow Art Club, work by Hunter was included in the club's Memorial Exhibition of 1935, in memory of those of its members who had died since the First World War.
## Popularity
Hunter's paintings were popular with critics during his lifetime, and he had successful exhibitions in Glasgow, London and New York. Shortly before his death, the Glasgow Herald commented that while Hunter was already "well known as a painter of landscape and still-life," his move to portrait painting would "cause a good deal of interest and discussion."
Many years after his death, solo exhibitions of Hunter's paintings were still held and, in 1953, the display of a selection of watercolours and paintings in Glasgow attracted numerous visitors. The art critic of the Glasgow Herald described the "varied and uneven genius" of the painter, and praised one painting as having been executed with "such a freedom and economy of touch one cannot well see how any amount of extra thought or technical application could have bettered it."
Paintings by Hunter have gone on to sell for large sums in the early 21st century, with one painting described as the "star lot" in a Bonhams auction in June 2010 selling for £144,000. Another painting was sold in June 2010 for £78,000. Nick Curnow, head of pictures at Lyon & Turnbull, said of it "This is a very special painting, so typical of Hunter."
## Style
Hunter focused for much of his life on landscapes and on still lifes, working in both pen and ink and oil on canvas. His still lifes of fruit are particularly distinctive, but he also painted a variety of landscapes, especially of Scotland and France. In his earlier paintings, Hunter was influenced by Cézanne to produce domestic landscapes. Later, however, in common with the other members of the Scottish colourists movement, he was heavily influenced by contemporary French artists like Monet and Matisse, and his paintings began to make bolder and more energetic use of colour.
Hunter particularly strove to capture in his paintings the effects of light, and would repeatedly paint the same objects or locations under a range of lighting conditions. His brush style was influenced by the French avant garde and, especially in his later work, is described by art critics as '"open and free" and "energetic".
|
[
"## Biography",
"### Early life",
"### Emigration to California and move to San Francisco, leaving parents",
"### Beginnings in fine art",
"### European travel and return to Fife",
"### London, ill-health and death",
"## Popularity",
"## Style"
] | 2,566 | 35,588 |
36,803,227 |
Christine Love (writer)
| 1,173,236,854 |
Canadian writer
|
[
"1989 births",
"21st-century Canadian LGBT people",
"Canadian LGBT novelists",
"Canadian graphic novelists",
"Canadian science fiction writers",
"Electronic literature writers",
"Female comics writers",
"Indie game developers",
"Interactive fiction writers",
"Living people",
"Video game writers",
"Women video game developers",
"Writers from Toronto"
] |
Christine Love (born 10 December 1989) is a Canadian independent visual novel writer best known for her original works Digital: A Love Story; don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story; Analogue: A Hate Story; and Ladykiller in a Bind. Love began creating visual novels while in university, making a few small games, visual novels, and pieces of written fiction before coming into prominence with the release of Digital in 2010. She went on to work on Love and Order, a dating simulation by Italian video game designer Celso Riva, as well as don't take it personally, both released in 2011. Her first commercial project on which she was the primary developer is Analogue, released in February 2012; Love dropped out of her English degree during its development, and is currently a full-time game developer. She released an expansion to the game, titled Hate Plus, in 2013. In October 2016, she released Ladykiller in a Bind. Her latest project is Get in the Car, Loser!, a road trip adventure game that was released on 21 September 2021.
## Biography and career
Christine Love was born on 10 December 1989. She began creating visual novels while in school at Trent University. By January 2010, she had made a few small video games; written a novel and a few short stories, which she largely unsuccessfully tried to sell; and had made a visual novel each March for three consecutive years for NaNoRenO (National Ren'ai Game Writing Month), a month-long contest in the vein of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) where developers attempt to create a visual novel in one month. In February 2010, she started a fourth visual novel, which resulted in Digital: A Love Story, her first game to receive widespread attention and acclaim. Set "five minutes into the future of 1988", Digital tells the story of the silent protagonist's online relationship with a girl named \*Emilia, and a mystery surrounding the "murders" of several AI programs. The game is presented entirely through the interface of a 1980s computer with online bulletin board system posts and messages from other characters; the protagonist's own messages are implied but never shown. Love expected the game to reach as many people as her prior work, "a dozen or so people"; instead, the free game was noticed by video game publications and websites such as PC Gamer and Gamasutra and received much more attention, becoming what Love believes was "a defining point in [her] writing career". Widely praised by critics, Digital earned an honourable mention in Gamasutra's "Best Indie Games of 2010" list. Love felt that Digital's success turned her from a writer into an indie game developer.
After Digital, Love worked on her first commercial game project, Love and Order, a dating simulation by video game designer Riva Celso. She did writing and design work for the game, set in the Crown attorney's office in Montreal, which was released in February 2011. Love describes the game as "not really my best work", as dating simulations are not her strong point. Nevertheless, proceeds from the game were enough to support her financially for a while, and showed Love that creating games and visual novels could be a full-time profession. In 2011, she spent the month of March working on another visual novel, don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story, which was released as a free download on 4 April 2011. A spiritual sequel to Digital, the game follows John Rook, a private school literary teacher in 2027, over the course of a semester. He can see students' private messages at any time via the school's social network. Don't take it personally deals with themes of internet privacy and relationships in the future. The game was again widely praised by critics, with The Daily Telegraph awarding the game for "Best Script" in its video game awards of 2011.
That summer, Love began working on a larger, commercial game. She was beginning to believe that her games could be successful commercially, a belief supported by messages to that effect by fans of her previous works. The game, Analogue: A Hate Story, was released in February 2012. Love dropped out of university during the game's development in her fourth year of an English undergraduate degree. She felt that she was "not really learning a whole lot" and was unable to balance school and work on the game. Set centuries after Digital: A Love Story, the plot of Analogue revolves around an unnamed investigator, who is tasked with discovering the reason for an interstellar ship's disappearance once it reappears 600 years after "going dark". The game's themes focus similarly around human/computer interaction, interpersonal relationships, and LGBT issues, primarily on "transhumanism, traditional marriage, loneliness and cosplay." The release of Analogue, Love's first commercial game as main developer, currently fully supports her financially. Although Analogue is a sequel "of sorts" to Digital, the time difference between the two games means that they are connected more in spirit than directly, similar to the connections between Digital and don't take it personally. Analogue sold over 40,000 copies by December 2012, and has inspired the release of a soundtrack album by the game's composer, Isaac Schankler, as well as a commercial expansion to the game, titled Hate Plus. Along with her visual novels, Love has also developed a few games using the interactive fiction tool Twine. These games include Even Cowgirls Bleed, and Magical Maiden Madison. In 2016, Love released a new visual novel, Ladykiller in a Bind. She described the game as "an erotic visual novel about social manipulation and girls tying up other girls". Ladykiller in a Bind won the Excellence in Narrative award at the Independent Games Festival 2017. It was followed in 2021 by Get in the Car, Loser!, a role-playing game.
## Influences and philosophy
Christine Love describes herself as "a writer first, and a game designer second", as writing was her initial goal. She originally pictured her future as that of a novelist, with a day job as a programmer to support herself. Love describes her games as being about "our relationship with technology, about human relationships in general, and about seeing things from different perspectives," as well as having "a ton of words". She strives for her stories to be true and sincere, but not necessarily realistic. She believes strongly in the power of cuteness. Love describes cuteness and sincerity to be the most important things to her, and believes human beings should work together to make the world a cuter place. Love is also interested in the portrayal of gender and sexuality in video games; in Digital and Analogue, she was careful to avoid mentioning or assuming the gender of the player or the character they control, though the love interests in the games are female. Privately, however, she thinks of them as female, as her intention was to create games that could be easily appreciated by queer people such as herself, without having to project themselves onto a relationship that did not match up to their perceptions. Love believes that indie games have "more meaningful depictions of queer experiences" than those from larger studios.
Love's design process has become more refined as time goes on. For Digital, she did not plan anything in advance; while for Analogue, she worked out the entire design and pacing game in flowcharts before starting. For all of her games, however, she does a lot of research into the time periods and issues involved. Love does not feel that text is necessarily the best way to tell a story in a game, but finds it easier to communicate with it as a writer.
## Works
- Digital: A Love Story (2010)
- Love and Order (2011)
- don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story (2011)
- Analogue: A Hate Story (2012)
- Hate Plus (2013)
- Interstellar Selfie Station (2014)
- Ladykiller in a Bind (2016)
- Get in the Car, Loser! (2021)
|
[
"## Biography and career",
"## Influences and philosophy",
"## Works"
] | 1,698 | 25,396 |
21,132,149 |
Blood Drive (The Office)
| 1,167,437,621 | null |
[
"2009 American television episodes",
"Television episodes directed by Randall Einhorn",
"The Office (American season 5) episodes"
] |
"Blood Drive" is the eighteenth episode of the fifth season of the American comedy television series The Office, and the 90th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 5, 2009.
In the episode, a lonely Michael strikes up a pleasant conversation with a woman while giving blood, but passes out before he can learn her name. He holds a Valentine's Day singles party at the Dunder Mifflin office with the hopes of meeting her. Meanwhile, Jim and Pam go on an awkward double date with Phyllis and Bob Vance.
The episode was written by Brent Forrester and directed by Randall Einhorn. It featured the first appearance of actress Lisa K. Wyatt as Lynn, who would make recurrent appearances as a love interest for Kevin. The episode received generally mixed reviews and, according to Nielsen ratings, was watched by 8.63 million viewers during its original broadcast.
## Plot
Michael Scott (Steve Carell) is depressed because it is the first Valentine's Day since he and Holly Flax broke up. Michael donates blood at a mobile blood drive being held in Dunder Mifflin’s parking lot and has a nice conversation with a female donor (Katie Aselton) laying next to him. When they both finish at the same time, Michael passes out because he did not eat for three days before giving blood out of nerves, and when he wakes up she is gone. A disappointed Michael finds a glove he assumes she left behind and takes it, hoping she will come back for it. When Michael goes back into the office, he gathers all the single employees into the conference room to discuss their own personal romantic dilemmas. After becoming further depressed by their sad dating stories, Michael tries lifting their spirits by holding a singles mixer. He puts up flyers which also advertise the finding of a missing glove, hoping his mystery woman will come to the party as a result.
Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) receive remarks about their relationship from the rest of the office, who are down due to their own struggling love lives, with Michael threatening them with banishment after they constantly gaze happily on each other. Taking pity on them as a fellow coupled person, Phyllis Vance (Phyllis Smith) invites them to have lunch with her and her husband Bob Vance (Robert R. Shafer). Their meal initially goes well, but Phyllis and Bob disappear for a while after their food arrives. Hungry and not wanting to be rude by eating before they get back, Jim and Pam check the bathrooms and hear Phyllis and Bob having sex in the disabled stall. Phyllis and Bob finally come back to their table and Jim and Pam lose their appetites and look on in disgust as Phyllis and Bob seductively put food in each other's mouths.
A few outsiders attend Michael's party. One of the attendees (Tate Hanyok) strikes up a conversation with Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson), who tries to sell her paper; Dwight becomes angry when she tells him she already has a paper supplier. Another attendee named Lynn (Lisa K. Wyatt) converses with Kevin Malone (Brian Baumgartner), who is still somewhat depressed over his breakup with his fiancée Stacy and walks away when he admits it was she who broke it off. Kevin returns later to apologize to Lynn and admits he gets nervous talking to pretty girls; Lynn is flattered and gives Kevin her e-mail address. Afterwards, Michael is disappointed the woman who lost her glove does not show up and tells the employees they can go home early, but the empathetic staff decide to stay, and encourage Michael to leave with them when she doesn't arrive.
Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker) attempts to get a cookie from a blood drive nurse at the drive by claiming he gave blood earlier and showing a cotton ball taped to his arm as proof. The nurse recognizes he is lying because they are using band-aids; a frustrated Stanley leaves, and tells Phyllis, who is about to try the same trick. Creed Bratton (Creed Bratton) leaves the blood mobile with a bag of donated blood in his coat pocket.
## Production
"Blood Drive" was written by Brent Forrester and directed by Randall Einhorn. It featured the first appearance of actress Lisa K. Wyatt as Lynne, who would continue to make frequent appearances as a romantic interest for Kevin. During the episode, the Ed Helms character Andy is described as attending solo honeymoons in Napa Valley, The Bahamas and Walt Disney World Resort, which he previously booked before breaking off his engagement with Angela. Following the episode, NBC posted fake photos of Ed Helms visiting those locations on the show's official Angela Martin and Andrew Bernard wedding website. The photos included Helms scuba-diving, standing in front of a hot air balloon and visiting Disney's Epcot Center, and includes an assurance by Andy that he "wanted all my bros and bras in cyberspace to know that the Ol' Nard Dog is doing just fine.”
The official website for The Office included three cut scenes from "Blood Drive" within a week of its original release. In the first 85-second clip, Dwight assures his office-mates that the blood taken in the bloodmobile will not be used in any "ritualistic ways". Later, while giving blood himself, he asks the hospital employee, "How do I know it's not going to go into a person who will later come back to kill me?" The second clip was two minutes of extended footage from the singles party. Meredith talks about her husband leaving her for a garbage-woman whom her kids now consider their real mother instead of herself, and Dwight said he believes his soulmate, "probably died 700 years ago in feudal Japan after having impersonated a samurai, or at the very least she lives somewhere outside the Scranton Wilkes-Barre corridor." In the final 90-second clip, Dwight shows off his bobblehead doll collection to a woman, Creed tries unsuccessfully to pick up Lynne, and Dwight gets rid of an attractive male visitor who Michael fears could be competition. Dwight tells him the party is cancelled "due to a death in the elevator".
## Cultural references
During the singles party, Angela mentions that two men previously had a duel over her in Ohio, which is the second duel fought over her. This is a reference to "The Duel", an Office episode from earlier in the fifth season, in which Andy and Dwight duel for her affections in the Dunder Mifflin parking lot. In the beginning of the "Blood Drive" episode, Jim, Pam, Michael and Dwight drive a phone salesman away by repeatedly saying "Ayyyy!" in the style of Fonzie, the popular character from the sitcom Happy Days. The mysterious woman leaves a single pink glove behind after meeting Michael, in a similar fashion to the classic folk tale Cinderella. Kelly refers to the encounter as "like a modern-day Enchanted". Michael says he was hit by "Cupid's sparrow", a mistaken reference to the Roman mythological god who would inspire love by shooting people with arrows.
Michael makes jokes about feeling like a human juice box, describing himself as "Type O-Cean Spray", a combination of type O blood and the Ocean Spray juice company, and as "Hawaiian Blood Punch", a reference to the fruit punch drink Hawaiian Punch. Jim says, "I have a lot of work to do this afternoon. Those mines aren't going to sweep themselves," a reference to the computer game Minesweeper. Ryan is said to be "sleeping with random prostitutes" in Thailand; prostitution in the Southeast Asian nation is technically illegal, but is in practice tolerated and regulated. Kevin said his previous engagement ended immediately after he remarked that the Philadelphia Eagles, a National Football League football team, might have a chance at winning the NFC East division championship.
## Reception
In its original American broadcast on March 5, 2009, "Blood Drive" was watched by 8.63 million overall viewers, which was about average for the series at the time. The episode received a 5.1 rating/14 share among viewers aged between 18 and 34, and a 4.5 rating/11 share among viewers between 18 and 49. The episode of 30 Rock, which aired at 9:30 p.m. directly after The Office, was seen by 7.35 million viewers, an increase of 30 percent in viewership from the previous week's 6.3 million. Commentators said "Blood Drive" was directly responsible for this ratings increase for 30 Rock because the lead-in Office episode was new, whereas the previous week's episode was a repeat.
The episode received generally mixed reviews. Brian Howard of The Journal News described it as "classic Office" and praised the camaraderie the staff showed for each other and the "bizarre discomfort" of the double date with Jim, Pam, Phyllis and Bob. Howard described Dwight and Kevin as the episode's stand-outs. Alan Sepinwall of The Star-Ledger said the episode lacked many laugh-out-loud moments, but was effective because the characters are so well developed: "The Office has, over the years, become as much of a kitchen sink drama as it is a comedy. ... The characters are so well-drawn by now, and for the most part so likable, that a sweet, low-key episode about Michael and the staff bonding over their singlehood worked even without a lot of memorable jokes." Travis Fickett of IGN described the episode as "familiar territory, but it has plenty of fun moments." Fickett praised the scene with Carell and the mystery woman, and Jim and Pam's lunch. But Fickett said the series needed to address why Pam was staying with the company: "Jim and Pam still work there because, well, that's part of the show – but there really isn't a very good reason as to why these two would still be at this dead end job."
Will Leitch of New York magazine described "Blood Drive" as "mostly a placeholder episode", although he said it was "legitimately touching" when the cast stays late with Michael during the party. Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club, who gave the episode a B+ grade, said the episode included both pathos and "big laughs". He particularly liked the joke of Andy attending all his honeymoons: "The thought of Andy forlornly embarking on a couple's massage solo or sharing a romantic hot-air balloon ride with himself was funny and sad in the best Office tradition." Entertainment Weekly writer Jeff Labrecque said the episode was "unusually sweet", but said the double date with Pam, Jim, Phyllis and Bob "felt slightly undercooked". Josh McAuliffe of The Times-Tribune of Scranton, Pennsylvania, said the episode was "a highly amusing, if not fantastic, half-hour" and particularly praised the opening scene involving the phone system salesman.
Several reviewers described Dwight's quote, "I can retract my penis up into itself," as the most memorable line of the episode. Phyllis and Bob Vance's sexual rendezvous in the handicapped restroom during the double date ranked number 8 in phillyBurbs.com's top ten moments from the fifth season of The Office. "Blood Drive" was voted the seventeenth-highest-rated episode out of 26 from the fifth season, according to an episode poll at the fansite OfficeTally; the episode was rated 7.86 out of 10.
|
[
"## Plot",
"## Production",
"## Cultural references",
"## Reception"
] | 2,396 | 27,963 |
30,619,863 |
Mir EO-19
| 1,054,759,375 |
Nineteenth expedition to Mir space station
|
[
"1995 in spaceflight",
"Mir"
] |
Mir EO-19 (Russian: Мир ЭО-19, also known as Principal Expedition 19) was the nineteenth crewed expedition to the space station Mir, lasting from June to September 1995. The crew, consisting of Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and Nikolai Budarin, launched on June 27, 1995 aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-71 mission. After remaining aboard Mir for approximately 75 days, Solovyev and Budarin returned aboard the Soyuz TM-21 spacecraft on September 11, 1995.
EO-19 lasted just under three months and was the only complete all-Russian crewed expedition to Mir in 1995 and was the first Mir expedition launched on an American Space Shuttle. The mission that launched EO-19, STS-71, was the first Space Shuttle docking to Mir.
## Crew
Antatoly Solovyev served as a crew member on three spaceflights prior to EO-19: Mir EP-2, Soyuz TM-9, and Soyuz TM-15. This flight was his first aboard a Space Shuttle, with his three previous flights being on the Soyuz. EO-19 was the first spaceflight for Nikolai Budarin, who completed his cosmonaut training in 1991 and completed specialized training on the systems of Mir and the Soyuz-TM spacecraft in 1993.
Both spent just over 75 days in space during EO-19 and completed 1194 orbits of the Earth.
### Backup crew
## Mission highlights
### Crew launch and arrival
The crew of Mir EO-19 launched aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on June 27, 1995 as part of the STS-71 mission. STS-71 was the first docking of a Space Shuttle to the Mir space station and the first docking of an American and Russian spacecraft in 20 years.
STS-71 docked with Mir on June 29 and performed a crew exchange between the EO-19 and EO-18 crews aboard the space station. The crews of EO-18, EO-19, and STS-71 performed a ceremony inside Spacelab aboard Atlantis during which the ten crew members assembled a commemorative pewter medallion and exchanged gifts. Shortly thereafter, the crews began transferring supplies and tools to Mir from Atlantis.
On July 4, The newly arrived crew of EO-19 undocked temporarily from the station aboard Soyuz TM-21 to observe and photograph the departure of the STS-71 and EO-18 crews aboard Atlantis. TM-21 undocked at 10:55 GMT, followed by STS-71 at 11:09:45 GMT. The EO-19 crew redocked aboard TM-21 at 11:39 GMT as Atlantis conducted a fly-around of the station. Atlantis, carrying the crews of EO-18 and STS-71, landed on July 7 after several more days in Earth orbit.
### Mission operations
The crew of EO-19 conducted their first Extra-vehicular activity, or spacewalk, on July 14. Before the mission, the crew had trained to use special tools in order to release a stuck solar array on the exterior of the Spektr module. During the spacewalk, the pair cut a problematic restraint from the solar array. All but one section of the array deployed successfully. They then proceeded to inspect a docking mechanism in preparation for the relocation of the Kristall module. The final task of the spacewalk was to inspect a solar array on Kristall that was not tracking the Sun properly. The excursion ended after five hours and thirty-four minutes outside the station.
The crew relocated the Kristall module to another docking port from the port intended for use by Progress M-28 on July 17 using its Lyappa manipulator arm. This operation was performed in preparation for the next docking of Space Shuttle Atlantis to the station on the STS-74 mission later in the year.
During the mission's second spacewalk on July 19, the crew were to deploy a 220 kg (490 lb) Belgian-French spectrometer, named MIRAS (Mir infrared spectrometer) on the Spektr module. Following a malfunction in Anatoly Solovyev's Orlan space suit minutes into the excursion, mission control directed him to remain attached to the Kvant-2 module via umbilical cable. Despite this setback, Nikolai Budarin was able to perform several tasks alone, including preparatory work for the installment of MIRAS and retrieval of an American cosmic ray detector, TREK. The crew returned to the airlock after three hours and eight minutes. Upon returning to the airlock, the crew discovered a 2 mm (0.079 in) gap in the seal, which created difficulty in sealing the hatch.
July 20 saw the launch of the Progress M-28 resupply ship to the station, which docked on July 22. The Progress-M spacecraft remained docked to the station until September 4, when it undocked from Mir filled with waste and excess equipment and intentionally burned up on reentry.
During the mission's third and final spacewalk on July 21, the two cosmonauts made a second attempt at installing the MIRAS spectrometer, which they completed without any major problems. The spacewalk lasted five hours and thirty-five minutes.
During the later part of their mission in August, the crew focused on completing experiments and doing research in the areas of astrophysics, life sciences, and smelting. The remainder of the crew's activities during this time consisted of unloading the newly arrived Progress cargo ship and monitoring its automated refueling of the station's core module.
### End of mission and crew departure
The Mir EO-20 crew consisting of cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Avdeyev, as well as ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter conducting Euromir '95, launched on September 3 at 9:00 GMT aboard Soyuz TM-22. The crew of EO-20 docked with the station on September 5 at 10:29:54 GMT, with hatch opening occurring at 11:01:23.
After transferring command of Mir to EO-20, the crew of EO-19 boarded the Soyuz TM-21 spacecraft, which arrived with the crew of Mir EO-18 in March 1995, on September 11 and undocked from the Kvant-1 module at 3:30:44 GMT. Soyuz TM-21, along with cosmonauts Solovyev and Budarin, subsequently landed at 6:52:40 GMT about 108 km (67 mi) Northeast of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan.
## See also
- List of Mir Expeditions
- STS-71
- Soyuz TM-21
|
[
"## Crew",
"### Backup crew",
"## Mission highlights",
"### Crew launch and arrival",
"### Mission operations",
"### End of mission and crew departure",
"## See also"
] | 1,400 | 35,911 |
59,575,510 |
SOLRAD 2
| 1,143,754,513 |
U.S. satellite launched in 1960
|
[
"1960 establishments in Florida",
"1960 in spaceflight",
"Satellites of the United States",
"Spacecraft launched in 1960"
] |
SOLRAD (SOLar RADiation) 2 was the public designation for a combination surveillance and solar X-rays and ultraviolet scientific satellite, the second in the SOLRAD program developed by the United States Navy's Naval Research Laboratory. The SOLRAD scientific package aboard the satellite provided cover for the GRAB (Galactic Radiation and Background) electronic surveillance package, the mission of which was to map the Soviet Union's air defense radar network.
SOLRAD 2 was launched along with Transit 3A atop a Thor-Ablestar rocket on 30 November 1960, but both satellites failed to reach orbit when the booster flew off course and was destroyed, raining debris over Cuba, which prompted official protests from the Cuban government. As a result, future SOLRAD flights were programmed to avoid a Cuban flyover during launch.
## Background
In 1957, the Soviet Union began deploying the S-75 Dvina surface-to-air missile, controlled by Fan Song fire control radars. This development made penetration of Soviet air space by American bombers more dangerous. The U.S. Air Force began a program of cataloging the rough location and individual operating frequencies of these radars, using electronic reconnaissance aircraft flying off the borders of the Soviet Union. This program provided information on radars on the periphery of the Soviet Union, but information on the sites further inland was lacking. Some experiments were carried out using radio telescopes looking for serendipitous Soviet radar reflections off the Moon, but this proved an inadequate solution to the problem.
In March 1958, while the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) was heavily involved in Project Vanguard, the U.S. Navy's effort to launch a satellite, NRL engineer Reid D. Mayo, determined that a Vanguard derivative could be used to map Soviet missile sites. Mayo had previously developed a system for submarines whereby they could evade anti-submarine aircraft by picking up their radar signals. Physically small and mechanically robust, it could be adapted to fit inside the small Vanguard frame.
Mayo presented the idea to Howard Lorenzen, head of the NRL's countermeasures branch. Lorenzen promoted the idea within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and six months later the concept was approved under the name "Tattletale". President Eisenhower approved full development of the program on 24 August 1959.
After a news leak by The New York Times, Eisenhower cancelled the project. The project was restarted under the name "Walnut" (the satellite component given the name "DYNO".) after heightened security had been implemented, including greater oversight and restriction of access to "need-to-know" personnel. American space launches were not classified at the time, and a co-flying cover mission that would share space with DYNO was desired to conceal DYNO's electronic surveillance mission from its intended targets.
The study of the Sun's electromagnetic spectrum provided an ideal cover opportunity. The U.S. Navy had wanted to determine the role of solar flares in radio communications disruptions and the level of hazard to satellites and astronauts posed by ultraviolet and X-ray radiation. Such a study had not previously been possible as the Earth's atmosphere blocks the Sun's X-ray and ultraviolet output from ground observation. Moreover, solar output is unpredictable and fluctuates rapidly, making sub-orbital sounding rockets inadequate for the observation task. A satellite was required for long-term, continuous study of the complete solar spectrum.
The NRL already had a purpose-built solar observatory in the form of Vanguard 3, which had been launched in 1959. Vanguard 3 had carried X-ray and ultraviolet detectors, though they had been completely saturated by the background radiation of the Van Allen belts. Development of the DYNO satellite from the Vanguard design was managed by NRL engineer Martin Votaw, leading a team of Project Vanguard engineers and scientists who had not migrated to NASA. The dual-purpose satellite was renamed GRAB ("Galactic Radiation And Background"), sometimes referred to as GREB ("Galactic Radiation Experiment Background"), and referred to in its scientific capacity as SOLRAD ("SOLar RADiation").
A dummy mass simulator SOLRAD was successfully launched on 13 April 1960, attached to a Transit 1B, proving the dual satellite launch technique. On 5 May 1960, just four days after the downing of Gary Powers' U-2 flight over the Soviet Union highlighted the vulnerability of aircraft-based surveillance, President Eisenhower approved the launch of an operational SOLRAD satellite. SOLRAD/GRAB 1 was launched into orbit on 22 June 1960, becoming both the world's first surveillance satellite and the first satellite to observe the Sun in X-ray and ultraviolet light.
## Spacecraft
SOLRAD 2 was roughly a duplicate of its predecessor, SOLRAD/GRAB 1, spherical and 51 cm (20 in) in diameter, slightly lighter than SOLRAD/GRAB 1 despite carrying the same scientific experiments (18 kg (40 lb) versus 19.05 kg (42.0 lb)), and powered by six circular patches of solar cells. The solar cells powered nine D cell batteries in series (12 volts total) providing 6 watts of power.
The satellite's SOLRAD scientific package included two Lyman-alpha photometers (nitric oxide ion chambers) for the study of ultraviolet light in the 1,050–1,350 Å wavelength range and one X-ray photometer (an argon ion chamber) in the 2–8 Å wavelength range, all mounted around the equator of the satellite. As with SOLRAD 1, permanent magnets were installed to deflect charged particles from the detector windows to address the saturation issue that had impacted the Vanguard 3 mission.
The satellite's GRAB surveillance equipment was designed to detect Soviet air defense radars broadcasting on the S-band (1,550–3,900 MHz), over a circular area 6,500 km (4,000 mi) in diameter beneath it. A receiver in the satellite was tuned to the approximate frequency of the radars, and its output was used to trigger a separate Very high frequency (VHF) transmitter in the spacecraft. As it traveled over the Soviet Union, the satellite would detect the pulses from the missile radars and immediately re-broadcast them to American ground stations within range, which would record the signals and send them to the NRL for analysis. Although GRAB's receiver was omnidirectional, by looking for the same signals on multiple passes and comparing that to the known location of the satellite, the rough location of the radars could be determined, along with their exact pulse repetition frequency.
Telemetry was sent via four whip-style 63.5 cm (25.0 in) long antennas mounted on SOLRAD's equator. Scientific telemetry was sent on 108 MHz, the International Geophysical Year standard frequency used by Vanguard. Commands from the ground and electronic surveillance were collected via smaller antennas on 139 MHz. Data received on the ground was recorded on magnetic tape and couriered back to the NRL, where it was evaluated, duplicated, and forwarded to the National Security Agency (NSA) at Army Fort Meade, Maryland, and the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Offut Air Force Base Omaha, Nebraska, for analysis and processing.
Like most early automatic spacecraft, SOLRAD 2, though spin stabilized, lacked active attitude control systems and thus scanned the whole sky without focusing on a particular source. So that scientists could properly interpret the source of the X-rays detected by SOLRAD 2, the spacecraft carried a vacuum photocell to determine when the Sun was striking its photometers and the angle at which sunlight hit them.
## Mission
In November 1960, Votaw and his 14-man team drove the technical components for the SOLRAD 2 launch (loaded in the trunks of their own cars) from NRL headquarters in Washington, D.C. to Cape Canaveral, flying having been ruled out due to the recent rash of skyjackings to Cuba. Upon arrival, the NRL team set up a temporary ground station in a hangar on the Cape's west side. SOLRAD 2's booster (first stage Thor No. 283 and second stage Able-Star 006) was erected nearly three miles away at Cape Canaveral Pad LC-17B.
On launch day, 30 November 1960, minor glitches caused so many holds in the hours-long countdown that the NRL team commissioned a betting pool as to when the launch would occur. Nevertheless, SOLRAD 2 did launch, along with Transit 3A (a separate satellite on the same rocket), at 19:50 GMT, into a sunny sky. The Thor first stage shut down prematurely (it had been scheduled to burn for 163 seconds). Out of caution, despite the possibility that its payload could still be orbited, the now separated first and second stages of the booster were destroyed by the range safety officer.
Like SOLRAD 1 (but no other American launches to date), SOLRAD 2's course to orbit took it over the Caribbean island of Cuba. As a result of the rocket's destruction, fragments fell over Cuba's Oriente Province at the eastern end of the island, northwest of the U.S. Navy's Guantanamo Bay base. The Cuban Army post at Holguín reported fragments falling along a 200 sq mi (518 km<sup>2</sup>) swath and reported recovering "two complete sphere [sic], two apparatuses in the form of cones and various cylinders" with English inscriptions. One piece of recovered debris was described as a "sealed sphere of some 40 pounds". Given that Vanguard TV-3's satellite survived a booster explosion, it is possible that this was SOLRAD 2, recovered intact. The items were then delivered to army headquarters at Palma Soriano. According to a 1988 Chinese document, some of the recovered debris was sold to the People's Republic of China and used in aid of the design of the second stage of the CSS-4 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
The Cuban government protested the incident: Revolución, an official Cuban newspaper, accused the United States of "Yankee provocation", and government radio stations denounced what they described as efforts to destroy Castro's regime. Cuba lodged an official complaint with the United Nations. In response to these protests, American launches overflying Cuba were postponed, improvements were made to the range-safety system at Cape Canaveral, and future SOLRAD flights were programmed to follow a more northerly course to orbit during launch that did not overfly Cuba.
## Legacy
The SOLRAD/GRAB series flew three more times finishing with the SOLRAD 4B mission launched 26 April 1962. Of the five SOLRAD/GRAB missions, only SOLRAD/GRAB 1 and SOLRAD 3/GRAB 2 were successes, the others failing to reach orbit. In 1962, all U.S. overhead reconnaissance projects were consolidated under the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which elected to continue and expand the GRAB mission starting July 1962 with a next-generation set of satellites, code-named POPPY. With the initiation of POPPY, SOLRAD experiments would no longer be carried on electronic spy satellites; rather, they would now get their own satellites, launched alongside POPPY missions to provide some measure of mission cover. Starting with SOLRAD 8, launched in November 1965, the final five SOLRAD satellites were scientific satellites launched singly, three of which were also given NASA Explorer program numbers. The last in this final series of SOLRAD satellites flew in 1976. In all, there were thirteen operational satellites in the SOLRAD series. The GRAB program was declassified in 1998.
## See also
- General information on the SOLRAD project
- General information on the GRAB project
|
[
"## Background",
"## Spacecraft",
"## Mission",
"## Legacy",
"## See also"
] | 2,422 | 37,965 |
52,281,693 |
Mary Stuart Smith
| 1,149,099,178 |
American author and translator
|
[
"1834 births",
"1917 deaths",
"19th-century American translators",
"19th-century American women writers",
"19th-century American writers",
"20th-century American women writers",
"20th-century American writers",
"Burials at the University of Virginia Cemetery",
"Harrison family of Virginia",
"Women cookbook writers",
"Writers from Charlottesville, Virginia"
] |
Mary Stuart Harrison Smith (February 10, 1834 – December 8, 1917) was an American author, translator, and women's advocate. Her Virginia Cookery Book (1885) is one of the country's early modern cookbooks. In addition to other original works, she published over fifty translated compositions, primarily from the German to English. She was a descendant of the Harrison family of Virginia, and also authored numerous book reviews for various periodicals.
In 1893, Smith attended and spoke on behalf of Virginia women at the Chicago World's Congress, which was designed to highlight women's rights. In 1895 she was among the women invited by the Virginia governor to represent the commonwealth's female workers at the Board of Women's convention at the International Exposition in Atlanta.
Smith is prominently memorialized at the University of Virginia chapel—she was likely a participant in the funding and creation of the chapel as a resident of the campus at the time.
## Early life and family
Smith was born at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, on February 10, 1834. She was the second child of Professor Gessner Harrison and wife Eliza Lewis Carter Tucker. Professor Harrison was the son of Dr. Peachy Harrison and Mary (née Stuart). Dr. Harrison was a physician and politician in Harrisonburg, which was founded by his grandfather, Daniel Harrison. Eliza Tucker was the daughter of Prof. George Tucker and Maria Ball Carter.
Smith’s education was provided by family and private tutors—her grandfather and father taught philosophy and ancient languages, respectively. She studied Latin, German, French, Italian, and Greek, and she demonstrated a proclivity for poetry beginning at age 13.
On July 31, 1853, she married Francis H. Smith (1829–1928), son of Daniel Grove Smith and Eleanor Buckey. He was a Professor and Faculty Chairman at the university and they made their 69-year residence on the Lawn in Pavilion V there.
The Smiths had eight children in addition to four who died in infancy:
- Eliza Lewis Carter—died 1880; married William W. Walker
- Eleanor Annabel—married 1st, Fielding Miles, married 2nd, Dr. Charles W. Kent
- Lelia Maria—portraitist; married Lucien Cocke
- Gessner Harrison—1861–1892
- George Tucker, M.D.—Rear Admiral, U.S.N; died 1939
- Mary Stuart—died 1900
- Eleanor Rosalie—1870–1956; married Isaac Carrington Harrison, M.D.
- James Duncan—1879–1934; portraitist
## Career
### Original works
After the American Civil War, Smith's nascent interest in writing began to flourish with her Art of Housekeeping in 1878, which first appeared as a series of papers written for the New York Fashion Bazar. Her first original book Heirs of the Kingdom was published in Nashville in 1880, for which a prize of \$300 was awarded by a select committee.
Smith's Virginia Cookery Book was one of the early modern efforts made of that genre in America, in 1885. In the preface, Smith provided her principal motivation for the book, as one of “expediency” in light of “old domestic institutions being done away with.” She then gave reverence to her forebears in cookery, saying, “Enough it will be for the Virginia Cookery Book to take its place on the housekeeper’s pantry-shelf alongside the similar works of Miss Leslie, Marion Harland, Mrs. Henderson, and Mrs. Hale.” Smith further emphasized the role of her book as “a memento of the past, as well as a help in the present,” extolling Mary Randolph‘s Virginia Housewife (1824), of which there was then no authorized edition extant. Smith then reproduced the introduction to Randolph's book, which was written for that lady by Smith's grandfather, Professor Tucker.
Smith's Lang Syne, or the Wards of Mt. Vernon was published on the occasion of the Washington Centennial, held in New York in April 1887. Her series of Letters from a Lady in New York was published (date unknown) in the Religious Herald.
### Translations
Critics thought Smith had a special gift for translating German poetry, including her Chidhe in the Overland Monthly. She authored many translations for leading periodicals and publishing houses. From Ernst Werner, she translated A Hero of the Pen, Hermann, Good Luck, What the Spring Brought, St. Michael, A Judgment of God, and Beacon Lights. Her translations from other German writers were Lieschen, The Fairy of the Alps, The Bailiff's Maid, Gold Elsie, Old Ma'amselle's Secret, The Owl House, The Lady With the Rubies, Serapis, The Bride of the Nile, and Lace by Paul Lindau, and others. She also translated from the French, The Salon of Mine and Necker.
Her work includes books for children, also translations from the German, such as The Canary Bird and Other Stories and Jack the Breton Boy. Other children's works were adaptations from the French, including How Lillie Spent Her Day and Little May and Her Lost A.
### Review articles
Some of Smith's articles were in the form of reviews for the Southern Review, the Southern Methodist Quarterly, and the Church Review. Among her best review articles were Askaros Kassis Karis, Robert Emmet, Queen Louisa of Prussia, John of Barneveldt, What the Swallows Sang, The Women of the Revolution, The Women of the Southern Confederacy, Madame de Stael and Her Parents, The Necker Family, Madam Recamier, Mary and Martha Washington, and The Virginia Gentlewoman of the Olden Time.
Smith also made numerous contributions of practical articles in Harper's Bazar, as well as others in the American Agriculturist, Good Housekeeping, and other periodicals.
### Advocacy for women
Smith attended the Congress of Representative Women held at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. The Congress focused on the political, social, and technical agendas of women, including suffrage, and was attended by activists including Jane Addams, Bertha Palmer, Lucy Stone, and Susan B. Anthony. Smith spoke on "The Virginia Woman of Today" and included an anecdote reflecting the admitted, but officially unacknowledged, ability of Virginia women in the fine arts:
> "Mr. Lewis Ginter, one of Richmond's wealthiest citizens, sent an order to New York for two watercolor drawings...and the art dealer there sent him two that were executed by Miss Williams of Mr. Ginter's own city. But, you observe, the New York seal was required upon this Southern work before its value was acknowledged at home. The failure to recognize and cherish the genius of her own artists and literary workers is one of the blots on Virginia's escutcheon. May it be the happy portion of the present generation to wipe out this reproach."
Smith in her speech also reviewed the remarkable efforts of Dr. Orianna Moon as an example of indomitable feminine spirit—Dr. Moon of Scottsville, Virginia, became a pioneer for women seeking a career as a medical doctor. Smith concluded her remarks as follows:
> “Sisters of other states! Few experiences has the writer found more thrilling than to converse at this Congress with women of other lands and different training. ...Let the last word now spoken concerning Virginia women be a greeting on their part of warm good-will to those who preside over these Congresses, and to the genial, liberal women assembled here from all parts of the world.”
The World’s Fair ended abruptly with the tragic assassination of Chicago's Mayor, and Smith's distant cousin, Carter Harrison, Sr.
In 1895 Smith was in a group commissioned by Virginia Governor Charles T. O’Ferrall to represent the Virginia Dept. of Women Workers at the Board of Women of the Cotton States International Exposition in Atlanta. The Virginia legislature was not then in session and, there being no funds available for the journey and stay in Atlanta, the women's group resolved to raise the funds by individually creating patriotic song lyrics for compilation and sale. Smith therefore served as editor in producing From Virginia to Georgia, A Tribute in Song by Virginia Women, that included three entries of her own, one of which, The Ideal Wife, is at margin.
## University of Virginia memorial
The University of Virginia Christian community remembers Smith positively. A stained glass window 4.0 m (13 ft) high at the University Chapel is dedicated to her memory. Smith's connection with the chapel is not otherwise documented. Record of the original funding and construction of the chapel, which coincide with Smith's lifelong campus residency, indicates the formation in 1883 of the Ladies Chapel Aid Society, prior to the laying of the chapel's cornerstone in 1885 and completion in 1889. The chapel's exhibit at the university's library indicates, "A chapel was finally built on the grounds in the 1880s after a successful campaign led by women dedicated to the spiritual needs of the University community." Library records further show total funds raised were about \$36,000.
Smith is interred in the university cemetery with her husband.
## Gallery–University of Virginia Chapel and Cemetery
## Works
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"## Career",
"### Original works",
"### Translations",
"### Review articles",
"### Advocacy for women",
"## University of Virginia memorial",
"## Gallery–University of Virginia Chapel and Cemetery",
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60,554,421 |
Estella Hijmans-Hertzveld
| 1,173,290,171 |
Dutch writer (1837–1881)
|
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"1881 deaths",
"19th-century Dutch poets",
"19th-century deaths from tuberculosis",
"19th-century translators",
"Dutch Orthodox Jews",
"Dutch anti-war activists",
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"Dutch translators",
"Dutch women poets",
"English–Dutch translators",
"German–Dutch translators",
"Jewish anti-war activists",
"Jewish feminists",
"Jewish poets",
"Jewish women writers",
"Translators from Norwegian",
"Tuberculosis deaths in the Netherlands",
"Writers from The Hague"
] |
Estella Dorothea Salomea Hijmans-Hertzveld (14 July 1837 – 4 November 1881) was a Dutch poet, translator, and activist. From a young age, her poems, mainly on Biblical and historical themes, appeared regularly in respectable literary journals. Frequently, her work also addressed contemporary social issues, including the abolition of slavery, Jewish emancipation, and opposition to war. A collection of her best-known poems, entitled Gedichten ('Poems'), was published several weeks before her death in 1881.
## Biography
### Early life
Estella Hertzveld was born at The Hague in 1837 to Devora Elka (née Halberstamm) and Salomon Hartog Hertzveld, the eldest of six children. Her father was a senior civil servant and taxation expert in the Ministry of Finance from a family of renowned rabbis; her grandfather, Hartog Joshua Hertzveld, served as Chief Rabbi of Overijssel and Drenthe from 1808 to 1864.
Hertzveld distinguished herself at a young age as a gifted writer and poet and was mentored by Dutch poet Carel Godfried Withuys. At the age of 14, she composed "Sauls Dood" ('Saul's Death'), which appeared in the Vaderlandsche Letteroefeningen [nl], then edited by Withuys, in 1852. The composition was recited to great approbation by poet Jacob van Gigh at a meeting of the Maatschappij tot Nut der Israëlieten ('Society for the Benefit of Israelites'). The Jewish convert to Christianity Abraham Capadose dedicated to Hertzveld his 1853 translation of Leila Ada, the Jewish Convert; in public letters she distanced herself from Capadose's beliefs.
### Career
Her poems soon appeared regularly in the Israëlietische Jaarboekje ('Israelite Yearbook') and the Almanak voor het schoone en goede ('Almanac for the Beautiful and Good'), most notably "Elias in de Woestijn" ('Elias in the Desert', 1853) and "Tocht der Israëlieten door de Roode zee" ('Journey of the Jewish People Through the Red Sea', 1854). She would later publish poetry in the periodicals Amora, Castalia, Vaderlandsche Letteroefeningen, Jaarboekje voor Tesselschade, and Jaarboekje voor Rederijkers.
At the same time, Hertzveld mastered German, English, French, Danish, Norwegian, Italian, and Hebrew, and began penning translations of novels in these languages.
Prominent among Dutch literary circles, Hertzveld maintained close ties with other Dutch writers, including Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint and Johannes Jan Cremer. She was often asked to give presentations at festive occasions and wrote hymns for the consecration of a new schoolhouse and new synagogues in Hardenberg (1855) and Delft (1862).
### Later life
Hertzveld married Jacobus Hijmans, a successful businessman from Veenendaal twenty-one years her senior, in Delft on 16 December 1863. After the wedding, officiated by Chief Rabbi Issachar Baer Berenstein, the two settled in Arnhem. They together had six children: Hannah [nl] (1864–1937), Dorothea Dina Estella (1865–1899), Hugo Siegfried Johan (1867–1944), Willem Dagobert George Marie (1868–1872), Leopold Maurits Bernard (1870–1904), and Maria Sophia Elisabeth (1871–1961).
She co-founded and chaired the Arnhem division of the Arbeid Adelt women's rights organisation in 1872, but stepped down after the death of her son Willem that year.
A few years later she was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. Still, she wrote a poem for an album presented to Prince Hendrik on the occasion of his marriage in the summer of 1878, and a verse in an album for Queen Emma in the fall of the same year. From 1880 she inhabitted a sanatorium in Reichenthal, Upper Austria. In anticipation of approaching death, she arranged a collection of her poems dedicated to her children. It was published under the title Gedichten van Estella Hijmans-Hertzveld ('Poems by Estella Hijmans-Hertzveld') by her brother-in-law George Belinfante in October 1881. She died a few weeks later at the age of 44, and was interred at the Joodse begraafplaatsen [nl] in Wageningen.
## Work
Hertzveld composed "Esther" for Samuel Israel Mulder's 1854 collection of Biblical poetry, and her 1856 work "Het Gebed" ('The Prayer') was translated into Hebrew by Abraham D. Delaville. In support of the devastating floods in 1855 and 1861 across the Netherlands, she published "God redt" ('God Saves') and "Januari 1861" (January 1861), respectively. In 1863 Hertzveld wrote an epic poem to Empress Maria Theresa of Austria for the collection Historische vrouwen ('Historical Women'). Her poem "De Priesterzegen" ('The Priestly Blessing', 1853), which draws a link between the priests of the Temple service and the service in a ghetto synagogue, inspired paintings by Dutch Jewish painters Maurits Léon and Eduard Frankfort.
Among other writings, she translated from German Ludwig Philippson's oratio Mose auf Nebo (1858), from English Grace Aguilar's Sabbath Thoughts and Sacred Communings (1859), and a series of Norwegian articles by Henrik Wergeland, who advocated for the opening of Norway's borders to Jewish immigration.
The poetry of her later career was characterized by its emphasis on social activism. Hertzveld composed "Lied der negerin, een dag vóór de vrijheid" ('Song of the Negro, a Day Before Freedom') in celebration of the abolition of slavery in the Dutch colonies in 1863; "Stemmen en zangen" ('Voices and Chants'), decrying the Prussian invasion of Schleswig-Holstein in 1864, a copy of which her father gifted to Hans Christian Andersen during his second visit to the Netherlands in 1866; and "Het triomflied der beschaving" ('The Triumphant Song of Civilisation'), denouncing the horrors of war, in 1866.
Hertzveld's poems "Poezie" ('Poetry'), "De laatste der Barden" ('The Last of the Bards'), "Abd-el-Kader" ('Abdelkader'), and "Het triomflied der beschaving" were featured in Jan Pieter de Keyser's Dutch Literature in the Nineteenth Century (1881), and the poem "Abram" in Samuel Johannes van den Bergh [nl]'s Bloemlezing der poëzie van Nederlandse dichteressen.
### Publications
|
[
"## Biography",
"### Early life",
"### Career",
"### Later life",
"## Work",
"### Publications"
] | 1,528 | 31,334 |
3,168,379 |
George Whitney Calhoun
| 1,146,989,746 |
American sports editor
|
[
"1890 births",
"1963 deaths",
"20th-century American newspaper editors",
"Editors of Wisconsin newspapers",
"Green Bay Packers executives",
"Sportswriters from Wisconsin",
"University at Buffalo alumni",
"Writers from Green Bay, Wisconsin"
] |
George Whitney Calhoun (September 16, 1890 – December 6, 1963) was an American newspaper editor and co-founder of the Green Bay Packers, a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. After establishing the Packers in 1919 with Curly Lambeau, Calhoun served the team in various capacities for 44 years until his death in 1963. Utilizing his editorial job at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, he became the team's first publicity director, helping to establish local support and interest. He also served as the first team manager and was a member of the board of directors of the non-profit corporation that owns the team. Although often overshadowed by the more famous Curly Lambeau, Calhoun was instrumental to the early success of the Packers. In recognition of his contributions, Calhoun was elected to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1978.
## Personal life
George Whitney Calhoun was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin on September 16, 1890, the son of Walter A. Calhoun and Emmeline Whitney Calhoun. The Calhoun family was well known in the area: Walter was employed at the Green Bay Water Company and Emmeline was the granddaughter of Daniel Whitney, one of the founders of Green Bay. Calhoun and his family moved to Buffalo, New York, where they lived until 1915. While in New York, Calhoun attended the University at Buffalo where he played hockey and football. While being tackled during a collegiate football game, he crashed into a goalpost, which left him temporarily paralyzed and permanently unable to play competitive sports. Calhoun recovered and completed his studies in 1913. Before moving back to Green Bay in 1915, he started working in the newspaper industry for the Buffalo Times, where he stayed for two years.
In 1915, Calhoun was hired by the Green Bay Review as a telegraph editor, where he worked for two years. He then joined the Green Bay Press-Gazette, also as a telegraph editor, a job he held for 40 years until his retirement in 1957. While working for the Press-Gazette, Calhoun helped form hockey, baseball, and football teams across the region. He also became a well-known sportswriter who was respected by his peers for his knowledge of the Green Bay Packers and the early history of the National Football League (NFL). Calhoun died on December 6, 1963, in Green Bay, six years after retiring from the Press-Gazette.
## Green Bay Packers
Professional football began in Green Bay in 1919, although various city teams had been organized for years. During a chance encounter, Calhoun raised the idea of starting a football team with Curly Lambeau. Calhoun was familiar with Lambeau's sports experience at Green Bay East High School and maintained a friendship with him while Lambeau was at the University of Notre Dame to play football. Their encounter occurred after Lambeau had dropped out of Notre Dame due to illness. Lambeau still wanted to play football, so Calhoun recommended they start a football team together. Lambeau persuaded his employer the Indian Packing Company to sponsor the team and pay for its uniforms and equipment. Calhoun, using his job at the Press-Gazette, wrote a few articles inviting potential football players to attend a meeting to discuss the formation of a local football team. The Green Bay Packers were officially organized on August 11, 1919, in the Press-Gazette office. A second meeting three days later on August 14 attracted up to 25 people interested in playing for the newly formed team.
After two years of playing teams around Wisconsin, the Packers entered the American Professional Football Association, the precursor to the modern-day NFL. Calhoun became the team's publicity director and traveling manager, helping to organize games and promote the new franchise. Because the Packers played in such a small market, they relied heavily on the revenue from away games, which was generated by Calhoun's efforts promoting the team. He also helped raise funding for the Packers during periods of financial difficulty. Before the Packers charged for admission, he organized cash collections during games to raise additional funds. After the Packers erected a fence, Calhoun manned the front gates and ensured game attendees paid to enter the grounds.
Calhoun wrote The Dope Sheet, the Packers' official newsletter and game program from 1921 to 1924. Because of the constant changing of teams and players in the NFL during the 1920s, The Dope Sheet was important in keeping fans up-to-date on the Packers and their opponents. Calhoun used his job at the Press-Gazette to network with other sports editors and maintain a vast database of early NFL game summaries and statistics. His love of beer and his unique networking abilities were so well known that Calhoun's hotel room was a popular venue before and after Packers games.
Calhoun continued in his role as publicity director until 1947, when he was forced to resign by Lambeau. This was unpopular and permanently damaged Calhoun's relationship with Lambeau. Even after leaving the team, Calhoun remained a strong supporter of the Packers and attended every home game from 1919 to 1956. He also served on the Board of Directors of Green Bay Packers, Inc. until his death.
## Legacy
Calhoun's legacy is complicated and often overlooked when compared to his counterpart, Curly Lambeau. Lambeau served as both a player (for ten years) and the head coach, a role he had for 30 years from 1919 to 1949. The prominence of these roles and the early success of the Packers helped enshrine Lambeau in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and led to the Packers naming their current stadium after him. Calhoun never received these same honors, although his contributions were significant. Calhoun's penchant for publicizing the team, his ability to raise funds, and his role as team manager were essential to the Packers surviving as a franchise and succeeding on the field. He is attributed with developing the name "Packers" and his Dope Sheet was an important tool to keep fans informed of game results, statistics, and players.
The Packers have recognized Calhoun's influence and contributions in many ways. After Calhoun's death in December 1963, his ashes were scattered on the field at City Stadium. In 1978, Calhoun was elected to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in recognition of his status as a founder of the team, publicist, and board member. In 2013, a bronze sculpture of Calhoun was dedicated as part of the Packers Heritage Trail plaza in downtown Green Bay. Decades after its last publication, the Packers revived the title The Dope Sheet for its modern-day game program to honor Calhoun's early contributions to the team.
|
[
"## Personal life",
"## Green Bay Packers",
"## Legacy"
] | 1,444 | 811 |
23,350,971 |
Hurricane Andres (2009)
| 1,165,416,767 |
Category 1 Pacific hurricane in 2009
|
[
"2009 Pacific hurricane season",
"Category 1 Pacific hurricanes",
"Pacific hurricanes in Mexico",
"Tropical cyclones in 2009"
] |
Hurricane Andres was the first named storm and hurricane of the 2009 Pacific hurricane season. Forming on June 21, Andres gradually intensified as it tracked along the Mexican coastline. Deep convection developed around the center of circulation and by June 23, the storm attained hurricane-status, peaking with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h). Upon attaining this intensity, the storm featured a developing eyewall within a central dense overcast. Within 36 hours, the storm rapidly degenerated, having most of the convection being displaced by high wind shear, becoming a non-tropical trough during the afternoon of June 24.
Prior to becoming a tropical depression, Andres produced heavy rainfall in Oaxaca and Honduras, resulting in two deaths. Rough seas off the coast of Guerrero resulted in one fatality. Inland, flooding caused by heavy rains killed two additional people. An additional 20 people were injured. Several dozen structures were damaged and a few were destroyed. Total losses from the hurricane reached MXN 3 million (\$231,000 USD) in Colima. Following the storm, roughly 350 people were left homeless.
## Meteorological history
Hurricane Andres originated out of a tropical wave that entered the eastern Pacific basin on June 16 after crossing Central America. Over the following few days, showers and thunderstorms began to organize around the wave. At this time, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) remarked upon the possibility for tropical cyclogenesis. By June 20, the wave spawned an area of low pressure roughly 175 mi (280 km) south-southeast of Acapulco, Mexico. Around 1200 UTC the following day, the system had become sufficiently organized for the NHC to designate the low as Tropical Depression Two-E. The depression briefly track westward before turning towards the northwest, a track which it would maintain for the remained of its existence, due to a mid-tropospheric ridge located northeast of the system.
It continued to organize throughout the day on June 21, developing banding features and increased convection. Several hours after being classified a depression, the system intensified into a tropical storm, at which time it received the name Andres. Upon being named, Andres marked latest date that the first named storm of a season developed since 1969 when Tropical Storm Ava developed on July 1 of that year. By the morning of June 22, very deep thunderstorm activity existed near the center, and the overall convective pattern had become more symmetric in nature. Favorable conditions, warm sea surface temperatures, allowed Andres to gradually intensify as it tracked near the Mexican coastline. However, strong wind shear, a factor that generally weakens tropical cyclones, had little effect on the developing storm.
By the evening of June 22, satellite imagery indicated the formation of an eyewall; by this time Andres was near hurricane status. Early the next day, the center of circulation became embedded within a central dense overcast and Andres intensified into a hurricane, the first of the season, around 0600 UTC. At this time, the storm attained its peak intensity with winds of 80 mph (130 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 984 mbar (hPa; 29.06 inHg); the storm was located roughly 80 mi (130 km) southwest of Lázaro Cárdenas upon attaining this intensity. Twelve hours after becoming a hurricane, most of the deep convection associated with the storm had weakened; however, Hurricane Hunters still recorded 75 mph (120 km/h) winds despite the ragged appearance of Andres.
By the evening of June 23, Andres weakened to a tropical storm due to increasing wind shear, decreasing sea surface temperatures as it entered a more stable air mass. The system began to rapidly degenerate, as convection became dislocated from the center and the overall structure of Andres degraded. By 1200 UTC on June 24, the storm weakened into a tropical depression while situated roughly 100 mi (155 km) west of Cabo Corrientes, Jalisco. Shortly after, the depression sharply turned north and degenerated into a trough of low pressure, no longer a tropical cyclone.
## Preparations and impact
The NHC issued several watches and warnings for portions of the Mexican coastline; the first was a tropical storm watch for areas between Zihuatanejo and Manzanillo on June 22. Several hours later, a portion of the watch was upgraded to a warning as Andres neared the coastline. By 1500 UTC, a hurricane watch was declared for areas between Lazaro Cardenas and Cabo Corrientes, Jalisco and the tropical storm watch for Zihuatanejo to Lazaro Cardenas was discontinued. Roughly six hours later, a hurricane warning was raised for Punto San Telmo to Cabo Corrientes and the tropical storm warning and hurricane watch were extended northward to Punto San Telmo. By the following afternoon, the hurricane watch was discontinued and several hours later, areas under a tropical storm warning followed suit. Early on June 24, all watches and warnings associated with Andres were discontinued as it rapidly dissipated offshore. Authorities closed ports in Lázaro Cárdenas, Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta because of rough seas. Schools throughout Colima were closed prior to the storm and Mexican officials raised the awareness level to orange.
Prior to classification as a tropical cyclone, the storm dropped over 160 mm (6.3 in) of rainfall in some areas, triggering flooding and landslides. Heavy rain, produced by the wave that spawned Andres, in Honduras killed two people. A river overflowed its banks, flooding homes and surrounding land. On Mexican Federal Highway 200, gusty winds blew down about fifteen trees. In the city of Acapulco, it was reported that fallen trees damaged two cars. Rough seas led to the drowning of a fishermen in a lagoon at Tecpán de Galeana, Guerrero, while flooding caused by the storm prompted the evacuation of 200 people; 14 shelters were opened to accommodate the evacuees. Additionally, some trees were downed along the coast. Swells up to 4 m (13 ft) caused structural damage along the Mexican coastline, with the worst being around Acapulco where several bars and restaurants were damaged or destroyed. In Jalisco, 20 temporary shelters were opened to house evacuees following the storm. The Civil Protection System prepared relief materials, consisting of 600 blankets, 600 mattresses and 700 cots to house people in emergency shelters.
In the municipality of Atoyac de Alvarez, in the community of Cerro Prieto, 350 people were left homeless by the storm. Similarly, the paths that connect the towns of San Vicente de Jesus San Vicente and La Soledad Benítez-Paradise in this town, there were cuts in solitary vehicle traffic. In the community of La Soledad, heavy rains accompanied by hail hit 38 homes, crops and coffee grounds cultivation in the region. In Colima, 50 homes and two hotels were inundated by flood waters, leaving MXN 3 million (\$231,000 USD) in damage. In Puebla, heavy rains produced by the outer bands of the hurricane triggered flooding that killed two people. In addition to the fatalities, 20 people were injured by the storm. In the wake of the storm, the Government of Mexico allocated roughly MXN 3 million (US\$231,000) in funds which would be distributed to 96 businesses significantly affected by the storm. These funds accounted for supplies, such as refrigerators and stoves to help restart their industries.
## See also
- List of Pacific hurricanes
- 2009 Pacific hurricane season
- Timeline of the 2009 Pacific hurricane season
|
[
"## Meteorological history",
"## Preparations and impact",
"## See also"
] | 1,607 | 1,342 |
59,748 |
Bored of the Rings
| 1,163,226,553 |
Parody of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings by the Harvard Lampoon
|
[
"1969 American novels",
"American satirical novels",
"Middle-earth parodies",
"Parody novels",
"Signet Books books",
"The Harvard Lampoon",
"Works based on The Lord of the Rings"
] |
Bored of the Rings is a 1969 parody of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. This short novel was written by Henry Beard and Douglas Kenney, who later founded National Lampoon. It was published in 1969 by Signet for the Harvard Lampoon, and, unusually for a parody, has remained in print for over 40 years. It has been translated into at least twelve languages.
The parody steps through The Lord of the Rings, in turn mocking the prologue, the map, and the main text. The text combines slapstick humor with deliberately inappropriate use of brand names.
## Book
### Approach
The parody closely follows the outline of The Lord of the Rings, lampooning the prologue and map of Middle-earth; its main text is a short satirical summary of Tolkien's plot. The witty text combines slapstick humour and deliberately inappropriate use of brand names. For example, the carbonated beverages Moxie and Pepsi replace Merry and Pippin. Tom Bombadil appears as "Tim Benzedrine", a stereotypical hippie married to "Hashberry". Her name alludes to Haight-Ashbury, a district of San Francisco nicknamed Hashbury for its hippie counterculture at that time. Saruman is satirised as Serutan, a laxative, who lives in a "mighty fortress" with "pastel pink-and-blue walls" and a "pale-lavender moat crossed by a bright-green drawbridge", giving access to an amusement park for tourists. Minas Tirith appears as Minas Troney, designed by Beltelephon the senile. Other characters include the boggies (Hobbits) Dildo Bugger of Bug End and Frito Bugger (Bilbo and Frodo Baggins), Goddam (Gollum), and Arrowroot, son of Arrowshirt (Aragorn, son of Arathorn).
### Main text
The main text broadly follows the plot of The Lord of the Rings, its ten chapters roughly corresponding to key chapters of Tolkien's novel.
1. The parody starts with "It's My Party and I'll Snub Who I Want To", mocking the opening of I:1 "A Long-expected Party" and Bilbo's leaving party. The Boggies are excited at the prospect of free food, especially the drooling and senile Haf Gangree, who has retired on the takings from his thriving blackmail business.
2. "Three's Company, Four's a Bore" parodies I:3 "Three is Company". Goodgulf (Gandalf) translates the writing on the Ring, beginning "'This Ring, no other, is made by the elves, / Who'd pawn their own mother to grab it themselves.' 'Shakestoor, it isn't, said Frito'".
3. "Indigestion at the Sign of the Goode Eats" derides I:9 "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony" in the village of Whee in Wheeland, "a small and swampy region populated mostly by star-nosed moles".
4. "Finders Keepers, Finders Weepers" is a parody of II:1 "Many Meetings" and II:2 "The Council of Elrond". Orlon (Elrond) and the Lady Lycra sit at the head of the table in dazzling whiteness: "Dead they looked, and yet it was not so". An ancient lament of the Auld Elves runs "A Unicef clearasil / Gibberish 'n' drivel ... Sing hey nonny nembutal", mocking the Sindarin hymn A Elbereth Gilthoniel.
5. "Some Monsters" echoes II:3 "A Journey in the Dark" and II:5 "The Bridge of Khazad-Dum". In a parody of the Fellowship's encounter with the Watcher in the Water, the chapter includes: "'Aiyee!' shouted Legolam (Legolas). 'A Thesaurus!' 'Maim!' roared the monster. 'Mutilate, mangle, crush. See HARM.'" They enter the dread Andrea Doria (Moria), and fight the ballhog (Balrog). "'Dulce et decorum', said Bromosel (Boromir), hacking at the bridge." Goodgulf dies. The chapter continues with a parody of II:6 "Lothlórien". They meet Lord Cellophane and Lady Lavalier (Celeborn and Galadriel). "'You have much to fear', said Cellophane. 'You leave at dawn', said Lavalier." The travellers are given magic cloaks "that blended in with any background, either green grass, green trees, green rocks, or green sky". Spam (Sam Gamgee) gets a gift of insect repellent.
6. "The Riders of Roi-Tan" parodies III:2 "The Riders of Rohan". "Vere ist you going und vat are you doing here" asks the leading Rider from the back of her bull merino sheep. The text continues, mocking III:3 "The Uruk-Hai"; "'Okay, okay', sobbed Pepsi. 'Untie me and I'll draw you a map.' Goulash (Grishnakh) agreed to this in his greedy haste..." Pepsi and Moxie escape into the forest, for III:4 "Treebeard", where they meet the terrifying Birdseye, Lord of the Vee-Ates, the jolly green giant, who makes puns about vegetables (lettuce go...). Meanwhile, echoing III:5 "The White Rider", Arrowroot, Legolam, and Gimlet (Gimli) meet the reborn Goodgulf who is wearing new clothes from a boutique in Lornadoon (Lothlórien).
7. "Serutan Spelled Backwards is Mud" parodies chapters including III:7 "Helm's Deep" and III:10 "The Voice of Saruman". The travellers "stare with apprehension at the motionless wheels and tarpaulined exhibits" of the fairground of Serutanland. Birdseye and his vegetables arrive and bombard Serutan's fortress with giant suicide scallions and kamikaze kumquats. "The ramparts were littered with chopped parsley, diced onion, and grated carrots."
8. "Schlob's Lair and Other Mountain Resorts" mocks much of Book IV as Frito and Spam meet Goddam, cross the "mucky pools" of the Ngaio Marsh (the Dead Marshes), pass the black chimneys of Chikken Noodul (Minas Morgul), "the dread company town that stood across from Minas Troney", and climb the Sol Hurok, the great cliffs of Fordor (Mordor). They enter Schlob's (Shelob the giant spider's) lair. Frito slashes at Schlob's "sharp red fingernails" with his sword Tweezer, "only managing to chip the enamel". "As the ravenous creature closed in, Frito's last memory was of Spam frantically schpritzing insect repellent into Schlob's bottomless gullet".
9. "Minas Troney in the Soup" parodies V:4 "The Siege of Gondor" and V:6 "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields". The boggies are dressed in armour; Goodgulf "wore only an old deep-sea diver's suit of stoutest latex. ... In his hand he carried an ancient and trusty weapon, called by the elves a Browning semi-automatic".
10. "Be it Ever so Horrid" briefly mocks Frodo's homecoming, ignoring the tales of VI:8 "The Scouring of the Shire" and VI:9 "The Grey Havens": "he walked directly to his cozy fire and slumped in the chair. He began to muse upon the years of delicious boredom that lay ahead. Perhaps he would take up Scrabble".
### Other materials
Aside from the main text, the book includes:
- Inside cover reviews from a variety of supposed sources such as "This book ... tremor ... Manichean guilt ... existential ... pleonastic ... redundancy ..." by a Mr Orlando di Biscuit of the publication Hobnob, and concluding with a quotation by a Professor Hawley Smoot in the publication Our Loosely Enforced Libel Laws.
- A list of other books in the Matzoh "series" including The Matzoh of Casterbridge and Matzoh Dick, with the rider "Unfortunately all of these books have been completely sold out".
- A double-page map by William S. Donnell, with places such as "The Square Valley Between the Mounts", "The Intermittent Mountains", the lands of "Fördør" and "Gönad", "The Big Wide River", "The Legendary Drillingrigs", and the "Lümbar" region.
- A text that purports to be a salacious sample from the book, in which an elf-maiden sets about seducing Frito.
- A "Foreword" and "Prologue" that mock the equivalent sections in The Lord of the Rings.
- A laudatory back cover review, written at Harvard, possibly by the authors themselves.
## Reception
The Tolkien scholar David Bratman, writing in Mythlore, quotes an extended passage from the book in which Frito, Spam Gangree (Sam Gamgee), and Goddam jostle on the edge of the "Black Hole" (a tar pit), commenting "Those parodists wrought better than they knew". He explains that Tolkien, in his many drafts, came very close to "inadvertently writing the parody version of his own novel", though in the end he managed to avoid that, in Bratman's view, remarkably completely.
The author Mike Sacks, quoting the book's opening lines, writes that the book has had the distinction, rare for a parody, of being continuously in print for over 40 years, was one of the earliest parodies of "a modern, popular bestseller", and has inspired many pop culture writers including those who worked on Saturday Night Live and The Onion.
Leah Schnelbach, on the science fiction and fantasy site Tor.com, writes that the book is full of "interesting comedic thoughts ... stuffed in under all the silliness". In her view, it takes "an easy, marketable hook" and creates "a cutting satire of shallow consumerism and the good-old-fashioned American road trip". She remarks, too, on the rescue of the Boggies Frito and Spam by the eagle Gwahno. The eagle "is efficient to the point of rudeness, yelling at them to fasten their seatbelts, snapping at them to use the barf bags if necessary, and complaining about running behind schedule: he's the encapsulation of everything wrong with air travel". Schnelbach writes that after a picaresque journey through American kitsch, "they end firmly in the angry, efficiency-at-all-costs Jet Age. And thus this ridiculous parody becomes a commentary on the perils of modernism, just like Lord of the Rings itself."
## Artwork
The Signet first edition cover, a parody of the 1965 Ballantine paperback covers by Barbara Remington, was drawn by Muppets designer Michael K. Frith. Current editions have different artwork by Douglas Carrel, since the paperback cover art for Lord of the Rings prevalent in the 1960s, then famous, is now obscure. William S. Donnell drew the "parody map" of Lower Middle Earth.
## Derivative works
Delta 4's 1985 Bored of the Rings was among the role-playing games inspired by the book, but it was not directly based on it.
In 2013, an audio version was produced by Orion Audiobooks, narrated by Rupert Degas.
## Translations
The book has been translated into several languages, often with a title that puns on The Lord of the Rings:
## In the media
The book is featured in the film A Futile and Stupid Gesture, which follows the times of its authors at the Harvard Lampoon and the National Lampoon.
## See also
- Dmitry Puchkov, an author who intentionally mistranslated Lord of the Rings
- The Last Ringbearer by Kirill Eskov, Lord of the Rings told from Mordor's perspective
- Hordes of the Things and ElvenQuest, radio parodies from the BBC
|
[
"## Book",
"### Approach",
"### Main text",
"### Other materials",
"## Reception",
"## Artwork",
"## Derivative works",
"## Translations",
"## In the media",
"## See also"
] | 2,628 | 34,459 |
8,628,596 |
Charles Allen Thomas
| 1,169,619,877 |
American chemist (1900–1982)
|
[
"1900 births",
"1982 deaths",
"20th-century American businesspeople",
"20th-century American chemists",
"20th-century American engineers",
"Founding members of the United States National Academy of Engineering",
"Manhattan Project people",
"Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni",
"Medal for Merit recipients",
"Members of the American Philosophical Society",
"Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences",
"Monsanto",
"People from Scott County, Kentucky",
"Transylvania University alumni",
"Washington University in St. Louis people"
] |
Charles Allen Thomas (February 15, 1900 – March 29, 1982) was a noted American chemist and businessman, and an important figure in the Manhattan Project. He held over 100 patents.
A graduate of Transylvania College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Thomas worked as a research chemist at General Motors as part of a team researching antiknock agents. This led to the development of tetraethyllead, which was widely used in motor fuels for many decades until its toxicity led to its prohibition. In 1926, he and Carroll A. "Ted" Hochwalt co-founded Thomas & Hochwalt Laboratories in Dayton, Ohio, with Thomas as president of the company. It was acquired by Monsanto in 1936, and Thomas would spend the rest of his career with Monsanto, rising to become its president in 1950, and chairman of the board from 1960 to 1965. He researched the chemistry of hydrocarbons and polymers, and developed the proton theory of aluminium chloride, which helped explain a variety of chemical reactions, publishing a book on the subject in 1941.
From 1943 to 1945, he coordinated Manhattan Project work on plutonium purification and production. He also coordinated development of techniques to industrially refine polonium for use with beryllium in the triggers of atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project's Dayton Project, part of which was conducted on the estate of his wife's family. Shortly before the war ended, he took over the management of the Clinton Laboratories in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Monsanto pulled out of Oak Ridge in December 1947, but became the operator of the Mound Laboratories in 1948. Secretary of State Dean Acheson appointed Thomas to serve on a 1946 panel to appraise international atomic inspection, which culminated in the Acheson–Lilienthal Report. In 1953 he was appointed as a consultant to the National Security Council, and served as U.S. Representative to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission.
## Early life and education
Charles Allen Thomas was born on a farm in Scott County, Kentucky, the son of a Disciples of Christ minister, Charles Allen, and his wife Frances Carrick Thomas. His father died when he was six months old, and he and his mother went to live with his grandmother in Lexington, Kentucky, just across the street from Transylvania College. While living on the farm he was home schooled by his mother and grandmother. After moving to Lexington he attended Hamilton College's preparatory school, and then Morton High School. When he was 16, he entered Transylvania College, which awarded him his Bachelor of Arts (AB) degree in 1920. During World War I, he served in the Student Army Training Corps, and for a time was a rifle instructor at Camp Perry. He then entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), from which he received a Master of Science (MS) degree, majoring in chemistry, in 1924. To help pay for his tuition, he worked as a professional singer, and for a time he considered a career as a vocalist. His singing voice was described by his son as a high baritone.
In 1923 Charles F. Kettering and Carroll A. "Ted" Hochwalt recruited Thomas to work as a research chemist at General Motors (GM). There, he worked with Thomas Midgley, Jr., as part of Kettering's team researching antiknock agents. This led to the development of tetraethyllead, which was used in motor fuels for many years before being banned in most parts of the world as a poison. At General Motors, Thomas also worked on a process for extracting bromine from sea water, and with Midgely on making synthetic rubber from isoprene. Thomas left General Motors in 1924 for a job as a research chemist, a joint venture between GM and Esso to make and sell tetraethyllead gasoline additives.
Thomas married Margaret Stoddard Talbott, the sister of Harold E. Talbott, Jr. on September 25, 1926. They had four children: Charles Allen Thomas III, Margaret Talbott, Frances Carrick, and Katharine Tudor. That year, he and Hochwalt co-founded Thomas & Hochwalt Laboratories in Dayton, Ohio, with Thomas as president of the company. The company carried out research for various companies, looking into such diverse subjects as a fire extinguisher that would not freeze in unheated buildings, and a means to speed up the aging of whiskey. Their work attracted the attention of Edgar Monsanto Queeny, the chairman of Monsanto, who bought Thomas & Hochwalt Laboratories for \$1.4 million in Monsanto stock in 1936. Queeny moved Thomas to St Louis, Missouri, where he became director of Central Research, while Hochwalt remained in Dayton to work on Acrilan, Monsanto's acrylic fiber.
Thomas would spend the rest of his career with Monsanto, becoming a member of its board of directors in 1942, vice president in 1943, executive vice president in 1947, president in 1950, and ultimately chairman of the board from 1960 to 1965. He subsequently served as chairman of Monsanto's Finance Committee from 1965 to 1968. He retired in 1970. In this time, Monsanto's annual sales grew from \$34 million to \$1.9 billion, and its expenditure on research from \$6.2 million to 101.4 million. He researched the chemistry of hydrocarbons and polymers. In studying the chemical reactions between alkenes and dienes, particularly in the presence of an aluminium chloride catalyst, he developed the proton theory of aluminium chloride, which helped explain a variety of chemical reactions, including cracking, polymerization and dehydrogenation. This research culminated in the publication of his book Anhydrous Aluminum Chloride in Organic Chemistry in 1941.
## Manhattan Project
In December 1942, during World War II, Thomas joined the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) as the Deputy Chief of its Division 8, which was responsible for propellants, explosives and the like. Early in 1943, he traveled to the East with Richard Tolman, a member of the NDRC, and James B. Conant, the president of Harvard University and the chairman of the NDRC, to witness a demonstration of a new underwater explosive. Conant and Tolman took the opportunity to quietly investigate Thomas's background. Thomas was then invited to a meeting in Washington DC with Brigadier General Leslie R. Groves, Jr., the director of the Manhattan Project, and, as he discovered when he got there, Conant.
Groves and Conant were hoping to harness his industrial expertise for the benefit of the project. They offered him a post as a deputy to Robert Oppenheimer, at the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, but he did not wish to move his family or give up his responsibilities at Monsanto. Instead he accepted the role of coordinating the plutonium purification and production work being carried out at Los Alamos, the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago, Radiation laboratory in Berkeley, and Ames Laboratory in Iowa. Monsanto's Central Research Department began to conduct research on behalf of the Manhattan Project as part of the Manhattan Project's Dayton Project, some of which was conducted on the estate of his wife's family.
Initially, there were concerns about the purity of plutonium, an element about which little was known, but Thomas was able to report to Groves and Conant in June 1944 that techniques had been developed that would yield highly pure plutonium, and that the problem was solved. Unfortunately, experiments by Emilio G. Segrè and his P-5 Group at Los Alamos on reactor-produced plutonium showed that it contained impurities in the form of the isotope plutonium-240, which has a far higher spontaneous fission rate than plutonium-239, making it unsuitable for use in the Thin Man gun-type nuclear weapon design.
Thomas attended a series of crisis meetings in Chicago with Connant, Groves, Arthur Compton, Kenneth Nichols and Enrico Fermi. It was agreed that the isotopes could not be separated, so high-purity plutonium would not be required. Thomas therefore decided to disband his plutonium purification team. The Los Alamos laboratory then turned to the technologically much more difficult task of building an implosion-type nuclear weapon.
Monsanto was already working on a key component of the device. In April 1943, Robert Serber had proposed that instead of relying on spontaneous fission, the chain reaction inside the bomb should be triggered by a neutron initiator. The best-known neutron sources were radium-beryllium and polonium-beryllium. The later was chosen as it had a 140-day half life, which made it intense enough to be useful but long-lived enough to be stockpiled. Thomas brought in Monsanto to work on the development of techniques to industrially refine polonium for use with beryllium in the urchin detonators.
Thomas established the project in the Runnymede Playhouse on the grounds of his wife's family estate in a wealthy residential section of Oakwood, a suburb of Dayton. He promised the Oakwood City Council that he would return the Runnymede Playhouse building intact after the war, but he was unable to keep this promise because the building became so badly contaminated with radioactivity. The facility, also known as Dayton Unit IV, was in use for nuclear work until 1949 when Mound Laboratories opened in Miamisburg, Ohio. The Playhouse was dismantled in 1950, and buried in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Thomas was one of a number of scientists who watched their work come to fruition on July 16, 1945, at the Trinity nuclear test. For his work on the project, he received the Medal for Merit from the president Harry S. Truman in 1946. On May 2, 1945, Groves and Thomas agreed that Monsanto would take over the running of the Clinton laboratories at Oak Ridge, Tennessee from July 1, 1945. Thomas brought in some 60 new staff from Dayton to help run the Clinton Laboratories, and he persuaded Eugene Wigner to come from Chicago to work on new reactor designs. Under Wigner, the Laboratories made a pioneering study of Wigner's disease, the swelling and distortion of the graphite used as a moderator in reactors due to the neutron bombardment produced in a reactor. Thomas became frustrated with restrictions on spending and the uncertainty about the future of the laboratory. In May 1947, he decided not to renew the contract with the Atomic Energy Commission to operate the Clinton Laboratories on a month-to-month basis while a new operator was found. Union Carbide took over the contract in December 1947. Monsanto was, however, given the contract to operate the new Mound Laboratories in early 1948.
## Later life
In 1946 Secretary of State Dean Acheson appointed Thomas to serve on a panel with Robert Oppenheimer, David Lilienthal, Chester I. Barnard and Harry Winne to appraise international atomic inspection, culminating in the Acheson–Lilienthal Report. In 1951 Truman appointed Thomas to the Science Advisory Committee, an eleven-man committee of prominent scientists to advise on defense planning. In 1953 President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed him a scientific consultant to the National Security Council, and he was the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission. In the wake of the Sputnik crisis, Thomas was part of a group that persuaded Secretary of Defense Neil H. McElroy to establish DARPA.
Thomas served as a trustee of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Universities Research Association, a curator of Transylvania College, chairman of the board of trustees of Washington University in St. Louis, a member of the Corporation that runs MIT, and the chairman of the board of directors of the Washington University Medical Center. He was also member of the board of directors of several companies, including Chemstrand Corporation, Southwestern Bell, St. Louis Union Trust, the First National Bank in St. Louis, the Central Institute for the Deaf, Metropolitan Life Insurance, RAND Corporation and the Civic Center Redevelopment Corporation of St. Louis. He was involved with organizations including the Boy Scouts of America, Radio Free Europe and the St Louis Research Council.
Thomas was elected to the National Academy of Sciences at age forty-eight and was one of the founding members of the National Academy of Engineering. He was also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Member of the American Philosophical Society. In addition, he received over 100 patents, the Industrial Research Institute Medal in 1947, the American Institute of Chemists Gold Medal in 1948, the Missouri Award for Distinguished Service in Engineering in 1952, the Society of Chemical Industry's Perkin Medal in 1953, the American Chemical Society Priestley Medal in 1955, the Société de Chimie Industrielle (American Section) International Palladium Medal in 1963, the American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award in 1965, and the St. Louis Globe-Democrat Man of the Year award in 1966.
Thomas was concerned that the United States did not spend enough money on basic research. To this end he donated \$600,000 to Washington University in St. Louis as an endowment for a chair, the Charles Allen Thomas Professor of Chemistry. He rejected the notion large corporations as being driven solely or mainly by greed. In a 1952 speech he enjoined his fellow businessmen to "remember that our businesses and their profits are only a means to an end, a means toward making Americans happier and America a stronger and more unified nation."
In retirement, Thomas spent much of his time managing Magnolia Plantation, a 15,000-acre (6,100 ha) family farm near Albany, Georgia, where he employed a staff of 50 and grew peanuts, pecans, soybeans, corn and timber. His first wife died in 1975, and he married Margaret Chandler Porter in 1980. He died at his farm on March 29, 1982. He was survived by his second wife and four children. His papers are collected at Washington University in St. Louis.
|
[
"## Early life and education",
"## Manhattan Project",
"## Later life"
] | 2,967 | 17,519 |
28,018,823 |
And Still I Rise
| 1,161,024,789 |
Poem by Maya Angelou
|
[
"1978 poetry books",
"American poetry collections",
"Books by Maya Angelou",
"Poetry by Maya Angelou"
] |
And Still I Rise is author Maya Angelou's third volume of poetry, published by Random House in 1978. It was published during one of the most productive periods in Angelou's career; she had written three autobiographies and published two other volumes of poetry up to that point. Angelou considered herself a poet and a playwright, but was best known for her seven autobiographies, especially her first, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, although her poetry has also been successful. She began, early in her writing career, alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of poetry.
And Still I Rise is made up of 32 short poems, divided into three parts. The poems' themes focus on a hopeful determination to rise above difficulty and discouragement, and on many of the same topics as Angelou's autobiographies and previous volumes of poetry. Two of her most well-known and popular poems, "Phenomenal Woman" and "Still I Rise", are found in this volume. She speaks for her race and gender in many of the poems, and again emphasizes the strength and resiliency of her community. Like her previous volumes of poetry, the reviews of And Still I Rise were mixed.
The collection's title poem, "Still I Rise", was the center of an advertising campaign for the United Negro College Fund. Two others, "Phenomenal Woman" and "Just For a Time", were previously published in Cosmopolitan. "Phenomenal Woman" was one of Angelou's poems featured in the film Poetic Justice.
## Background
And Still I Rise is Maya Angelou's third volume of poetry. She studied and began writing poetry at a young age. After her rape at the age of eight, as recounted in her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969), she dealt with her trauma by memorizing and reciting great works of literature, including poetry, which helped bring her out of her self-imposed muteness.
The publication of And Still I Rise occurred during one of the most productive periods of Angelou's career. She had written songs for Roberta Flack and had composed movie scores. She had written articles, short stories, TV scripts and documentaries, autobiographies, and poetry; she produced plays; and she was named a visiting professor of several colleges and universities. In 1977, Angelou appeared in a supporting role in the television mini-series Roots. She was given a multitude of awards during this period, including over thirty honorary degrees from colleges and universities from all over the world.
Although Angelou considered herself a playwright and poet when her editor Robert Loomis challenged her to write Caged Bird, she was best known for her autobiographies. Many of Angelou's readers identify her as a poet first and an autobiographer second, but like Lynn Z. Bloom, many critics consider her autobiographies more important than her poetry. Critic William Sylvester agrees, and states that although her books have been best-sellers, her poetry has "received little serious critical attention". Bloom also believes that Angelou's poetry was more interesting when she recited it. Bloom calls her performances "characteristically dynamic" and says that Angelou "moves exuberantly, vigorously to reinforce the rhythms of the lines, the tone of the words. Her singing and dancing and electrifying stage presence transcend the predictable words and phrases".
Angelou began, early in her writing career, alternating the publication of an autobiography and a volume of poetry. By the time And Still I Rise was published in 1978, she had published three autobiographies, eventually going on to publish seven. In 1993, she read her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration. The following year, her publisher, Random House, placed the poems in And Still I Rise in her first collection of poetry, The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou. Also in the 1994 collection were her two previous collections, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971) and Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well, along with her two volumes published afterwards, Shaker, Why Don't You Sing? (1983) and I Shall Not Be Moved (1990). Angelou's publisher placed four poems in a smaller volume, entitled Phenomenal Woman, in 1995.
Two of the poems in And Still I Rise, "Phenomenal Woman" and "Just For a Time", appeared in Cosmopolitan in 1978. In 1994, the title poem, "Still I Rise", was part of an advertising campaign for the 50th anniversary of the United Negro College Fund.
## Themes
According to scholar Carol E. Neubauer, the themes in the poems in And Still I Rise, as the title of the volume suggests, focus on a hopeful determination to rise above difficulty and discouragement. Neubauer states, "These poems are inspired and spoken by a confident voice of strength that recognizes its own power and will no longer be pushed into passivity". Angelou focuses on the same themes as her previous volumes, including love, loneliness, and Southern racism, but with the added twist of the nature of women and the importance of family. They cover a wider range of topics, including springtime, aging, sexual awakening, drug addiction, and Christian salvation.
"Phenomenal Woman", a crowd-pleaser that Angelou often performed for audiences, has been called her "personal theme-poem". Neubauer and literary critic Harold Bloom both consider it one of the best poems in the volume. The poem was featured in the motion picture Poetic Justice (1993), directed by John Singleton. Bloom calls it a "hymn-like poem to woman's beauty". Angelou "skillfully engages" in some word-play with the word "phenomenally". As Angelou often does in her poetry, "Phenomenal Woman" is paired with the one that follows it, "Men", in which Angelou uses a raw egg metaphor to contrast dominant masculinity with fragile and cautious femininity. She celebrates both "her slightly mysterious power" and the excitement created by men. The poem is characteristic of Angelou's style, with terse and forceful lines and irregular rhymes. The short and often monosyllabic words, as Neubauer states, "create an even, provocative rhythm that resounds with underlying confidence". Angelou said that she wrote the poem for all women, regardless of their race or appearance. She also stated, "Now, I know men are phenomenal, but they have to write their own poem".
Many of Angelou's poems focus on racial subjects and themes. They continue the themes of mild protest and survival also found in her autobiographies, and inject hope through humor. In "Ain't That Bad?", she uses the Black English vernacular word "bad" to connote positive connections with Black culture, mores, customs, and leaders, and to help build Black pride. Scholar Lyman B. Hagen calls it a "shouting poem" due to its short lines and repetition. In "Lady Luncheon Club", Angelou humorously describes an overly intellectual speaker at a woman's club.
Critic Robert B. Stepto states that the poem "One More Round" is heavily influenced by the work and protest songs of the past. The even-number stanzas in the eight-stanza poem create a refrain like those found in many work songs and are variations of many protest poems. He is impressed with the creation of a new art form out of work and protest forms, but does not feel that Angelou develops it enough.
In Angelou's favorite poem, "Still I Rise", which shares its title with a play she wrote in 1976, she refers to the indomitable spirit of Black people, using repetition and the categorization of injustices against them. She quoted it during interviews and often included it in her public readings. Despite adversity and racism, Angelou expresses her faith that one will overcome and triumph. Hagen compares "Still I Rise" with spirituals that express hope. As she does in "Phenomenal Woman" and throughout her poetry and autobiographies, Angelou speaks not only for herself, but for her entire gender and race. Reviewer Ellen Lippmann calls "Still I Rise" a "proud, even defiant statement of behalf of all Black people". Angelou, during an interview in 1997, stated that she used the poem to help sustain her during hard times, and that many people, both Black and white, used it in the same way.
Two of the poems in And Still I Rise, "Woman's Work" and "Momma's Welfare Roll", speak about women positively. "Woman Work", without explaining or complaining, lists the mundane chores a stay-at-home wife and mother must accomplish. Neubauer compares the poem to "Phenomenal Woman", both of which share the same strong rhyme scheme, forceful rhythms, and theme of women's vitality. In "Momma Welfare Roll", Angelou speaks about the courage of a mother who goes on welfare, and acknowledges the demeaning turmoil she experiences when accepting government assistance.
## Reviews
Like many reviewers of Angelou's poetry, Ellen Lippmann of School Library Journal finds Angelou's prose stronger than her poetry, but found her strength more apparent in the poems in this volume than it was in her first autobiography. Mary Silva Cosgrave, in her review in Horn Book Magazine, praises Angelou for finding rhythm in everyday life and is impressed with the poems in And Still I Rise, especially "Phenomenal Woman"; Cosgrave states, "To her third collection of poems the author has brought a life full of zest and style that is phenomenally her own". Harold Bloom states that although "Phenomenal Woman" has received few reviews, it is one of the most popular and powerful poems Angelou recites in her public appearances.
Stepto considers the poems in And Still I Rise as slight and "thin stuff", and expresses his disbelief that Angelou's poems would be produced by a major publishing house while poetry written by other lesser-known talents could not. He is able to see the possibilities of what he considered good poetry in her writing, and states that her best poems borrow "various folk rhythms and forms and thereby buttresses her poems by evoking aspects of a culture's written and unwritten heritage". He places Angelou's work in the tradition of other Black poets, and compares the poems in And Still I Rise to the works of Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Sterling Brown. For example, many of Angelou's poems remind Stepto of Brown's poems. "Still I Rise" reminds Stepto of Brown's most famous poem, "Strong Men". Stepto explains Angelou's success and popularity as a poet with her autobiographies, which he calls "marvelous" and the real reason for her success as a poet. He states that her poetry serves as explanatory texts for her prose works, which he calls "more adeptly rendered self-portraits".
Joyce Boyarin Blundell is positive in her review of And Still I Rise in Library Journal. She recognizes many of the same themes in Angelou's autobiographies, but calls the poems in this volume uneven. Blundell finds the poems similar to speech patterns and songs the most effective, while she finds others "mired in hackneyed metaphor and forced rhyme". Despite the volume's weaknesses, she considers it successful as a statement of a Black woman's experiences and of her determination to survive and grow.
## Poems
And Still I Rise consists of 32 poems, divided into three parts. The first part, entitled "Touch Me, Life, Not Softly", has been called "joyful" and affirms the poet's strength as a woman and as a lover. Part Two, "Traveling", focus on the hardships, such as drug addiction, child abuse, inner-city life, and conditions in the Old South, that the author and others have experienced. Part Three, "And Still I Rise", which gets its name from the volume's title poem, reiterates the themes in Part One and emphasizes the strength she finds in herself and in her community. The volume is dedicated to Jessica Mitford, Gerard W. Purcell, and Jay Allen, whom Angelou calls "a few of the Good Guys".
Part One: Touch Me, Life, Not Softly
- "A Kind of Love, Some Say"
- "Country Lover"
- "Remembrance"
- "Where We Belong, A Duet"
- "Phenomenal Woman"
- "Men"
- "Refusal"
- "Just for a Time"
Part Two: Traveling
- "Junkie Monkey Reel"
- "The Lesson"
- "California Prodigal"
- "My Arkansas"
- "Through the Inner City to the Suburbs"
- "Lady Luncheon Club"
- "Momma Welfare Roll"
- "The Singer Will Not Sing"
- "Willie"
- "To Beat the Child Was Bad Enough"
- "Woman Work"
- "One More Round"
- "The Traveler"
- "Kin"
- "The Memory"
Part Three: And Still I Rise
- "Still I Rise"
- "Ain't That Bad?"
- "Life Doesn't Frighten Me"
- "Bump d'Bump"
- "On Aging"
- "In Retrospect"
- "Just Like Job"
- "Call Letters: Mrs. V. B."
- "Thank You, Lord"
|
[
"## Background",
"## Themes",
"## Reviews",
"## Poems"
] | 2,809 | 31,489 |
58,675,817 |
German torpedo boat T27
| 1,122,100,981 |
German torpedo boat
|
[
"1942 ships",
"Maritime incidents in April 1944",
"Ships built by Schichau",
"Ships built in Elbing",
"Type 39 torpedo boats"
] |
The German torpedo boat T27 was one of fifteen Type 39 torpedo boats built for the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) during World War II. Completed in early 1943, the boat was transferred to France in August. T27 helped to lay a minefield in the English Channel the following month, and later escorted a blockade runner through the Bay of Biscay. She participated in the Battle of Sept-Îles in October and played a minor role in the Battle of the Bay of Biscay. The boat was lightly damaged during the action of 26 April 1944 off the coast of Brittany and ran aground during the subsequent battle two days later. Her wreck was destroyed shortly afterwards by the British.
## Design and description
The Type 39 torpedo boat was conceived as a general-purpose design, much larger than preceding German torpedo boats. The boats had an overall length of 102.5 meters (336 ft 3 in) and were 97 meters (318 ft 3 in) long at the waterline. They had a beam of 10 meters (32 ft 10 in), a draft of 3.22 meters (10 ft 7 in) at deep load and displaced 1,294 metric tons (1,274 long tons) at standard load and 1,754 metric tons (1,726 long tons) at deep load. Their crew numbered 206 officers and sailors. The Type 39s were fitted with a pair of geared steam turbine sets, each driving one propeller, using steam from four high-pressure water-tube boilers. The turbines were designed to produce 32,000 shaft horsepower (24,000 kW) which was intended give the ships a maximum speed of 33.5 knots (62.0 km/h; 38.6 mph). They carried enough fuel oil to give them a range of 2,400 nautical miles (4,400 km; 2,800 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).
As built, the Type 39 ships mounted four 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK C/32 guns in single mounts protected by gun shields; one forward of the superstructure, one between the funnels, and two aft, one superfiring over the other. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by four 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 AA guns in two twin-gun mounts on platforms abaft the rear funnel, six 2 cm (0.8 in) C/38 guns in one quadruple mount on the aft superstructure and a pair of single mounts on the bridge wings. They carried six above-water 533 mm (21 in) torpedo tubes in two triple mounts amidships and could also carry 30 mines; the full complement of 60 mines made the ships top-heavy which could be dangerous in bad weather. For anti-submarine work the boats were fitted with a S-Gerät sonar and four depth charge launchers. The Type 39s were equipped with a FuMO 21 radar. In January–February 1944 the single 2 cm mounts in the bridge wings were replaced by quadruple mounts and FuMB7 "Naxos" and FuMB8 "Wanz G" radar detectors were installed.
## Construction and career
Originally ordered as a Type 37 torpedo boat on 30 March 1939, T27 was reordered on 10 November 1939 from Schichau. The boat was laid down on 2 July 1941 at their Elbing, East Prussia, shipyard as yard number 1486, launched on 20 June 1942 and commissioned on 17 April 1943. After working up, T27 and her sister T26 departed for Western France on 30 August 1943. The sisters, together with the torpedo boats Kondor, Greif and T19, laid a minefield in the Channel on 29–30 September.
### Battle of Sept-Îles
On 22 October, the 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, now consisting of T27, T26, and their sisters T22, T23 and T25, sortied from Brest to provide cover for the unladen blockade runner Münsterland and her close escort from the 2nd Minesweeping Flotilla as they sailed up the Channel. The British were aware of Münsterland and attempted to intercept her on the night of the 23rd with a scratch force that consisted of the light cruiser Charybdis and the destroyers Grenville, Rocket, Limbourne, Wensleydale, Talybont and Stevenstone. T22's hydrophones detected the British ships off the Sept-Îles at 00:25 and Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant commander) Franz Kohlauf maneuvered his flotilla to intercept them before they could reach Münsterland. Limbourne overheard the radio transmissions about 01:20 as the German ships turned, and alerted the other British ships. At 01:36 Charybdis's radar detected the German torpedo boats at a range of 8,100 yards (7,400 m) and she fired star shells in an unsuccessful attempt to spot them visually. About this time, T23 spotted Charybdis silhouetted against the lighter horizon and Kohlauf ordered every boat to fire all of their torpedoes. Two of these struck the cruiser, which sank shortly afterwards, and another blew the bow off Limbourne, which had to be scuttled later. The loss of the flagship threw the British into confusion as they had not worked together before the attack, and the torpedo boats successfully disengaged before the senior surviving British captain realized that he was in command.
### Battle of the Bay of Biscay
On 24–26 December T27 was one of the escorts for the 6,951 GRT blockade runner through the Bay of Biscay. Another blockade runner, the 2,729 GRT refrigerated cargo ship , trailed Osorno by several days and four destroyers of the 8th Destroyer Flotilla and the six torpedo boats of the 4th Flotilla set sail on 27 December to escort her through the Bay. The Allies were aware of these blockade runners through their Ultra code-breaking efforts and positioned cruisers and aircraft in the Western Atlantic to intercept them in Operation Stonewall. A Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber from No. 311 Squadron RAF sank Alsterufer later that afternoon.
The German ships were unaware of the sinking until the following afternoon and continued onward to the rendezvous point. They had been spotted by an American Liberator bomber on the morning of the 28th and the British light cruisers Glasgow and Enterprise, which were assigned to Stonewall, maneuvered to intercept them. By this time, the weather had gotten significantly worse and the German ships were steaming for home, hampered by the rough seas that threw sea spray over their forward guns that made their operation difficult. It also severely reduced visibility and hampered the rangefinders and sights for the guns and torpedoes. Using her radar, Glasgow was the first to open fire at 13:46 at a range of 19,600 meters (21,400 yd) with Enterprise following a few minutes later. About that time, the destroyers began firing back with guns and torpedoes; the latter all missed and one hit was made on Glasgow at 14:05. Kapitän zur See (Captain) Hans Erdmenger, commander of the 8th Flotilla, decided to split his forces and ordered the destroyers Z23 and Z27, together with T22, T25 and T26, to reverse course to the north at 14:18. All of the ships in the southern group, including T27, were able to successfully disengage.
### Subsequent activities
On the night of 21/22 April 1944, the 4th Flotilla, now consisting of T27 and her sisters T24 and T29, transferred from Cherbourg to Saint-Malo. After laying a minefield off the Sept-Îles on the north coast of Brittany on the night of 25/26 April, the flotilla was engaged by an Allied force that consisted of the light cruiser HMS Black Prince and the destroyers HMS Ashanti, , and off the Île de Batz. The Allied ships were engaged by German coastal artillery without effect and the flotilla headed west in search of the Allied ships, but the Germans were spotted first by Black Prince's radar at a range of 21,000 yards (19,000 m) at 02:07. They detected the Allied ships shortly afterwards and reversed course. The Allied ships were faster than the torpedo boats and had closed the range to 13,000 yards (12,000 m) by 02:20 when Black Prince began firing star shells. The destroyers began firing at T27 and T24 at a range of 9,000 yards (8,200 m) as Black Prince hung back in support until one of her forward turrets jammed. The Allied fire was accurate and one shell struck T27 at 02:31 and reduced her speed to 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph); Kohlauf ordered her into Morlaix Bay and the Allies lost her radar reflection amongst the rocks of the bay.
After emergency repairs, T27 joined T24 in Saint-Malo during the night of 26/27 April. The sister departed Saint-Malo bound for Brest on the night of 28/29 April and were spotted by British coastal radar. They intercepted by Haida and Athabaskan off Île Vierge. Haida opened the engagement by firing star shell at 04:12; the Germans laid a smoke screen in response and turned away. The sisters fired all of their torpedoes as they turned, T24 firing three off the wrong side of the boat, but one of the others hit Athabaskan. Shortly afterwards, she blew up, probably from a magazine explosion, and sank at 04:42. Haida pursued T27 and hit her at least seven times, setting her on fire and destroying both quadruple 2 cm mounts on the bridge wings. While trying to reach Aber Wrac'h, she accidentally ran aground at ; Haida continued to engage the torpedo boat and ignited the 2 cm ready-use ammunition on the bridge wings before returning to rescue Athabaskan's survivors. Lacking power, T27's crew was unable to put the fire out and abandoned ship at 04:35, having lost 11 men killed. T24 and a pair of minesweepers later failed in their attempt to pull her off, but they rescued 83 crewmen before they abandoned the wreck. British motor torpedo boats and aircraft destroyed the wreck in early May.
|
[
"## Design and description",
"## Construction and career",
"### Battle of Sept-Îles",
"### Battle of the Bay of Biscay",
"### Subsequent activities"
] | 2,254 | 22,543 |
55,171,881 |
Siege of Minerve
| 1,165,790,018 |
Part of Albigensian Crusade
|
[
"13th-century military history of France",
"Albigensian Crusade",
"Battles in Occitanie",
"Catharism",
"Conflicts in 1210",
"Genocidal massacres",
"History of Catholicism in France",
"History of Hérault",
"Massacres in France"
] |
The siege of Minerve was a military engagement which took place in June and July 1210 during the Albigensian Crusade in the town of Minerve in southern France. It was undertaken by the Catholic Crusaders against the Cathars in southern France, who were regarded as a heretical sect. The Crusaders, led by French nobleman Simon de Montfort, besieged and captured the town. The Crusaders allowed the soldiers defending the town, Catholics, and any Cathars who had not yet reached the status of perfect to go free. Three Cathar perfects who repented were pardoned, but 140 others who refused to do so were burnt at the stake.
## Background
The Albigensian Crusade was initiated in the Kingdom of France at the behest of Pope Innocent III. Its purpose was to squash the growing Cathar movement, which flourished mainly in the Languedoc region of what later became Southern France. The immediate cause was the killing of the papal legate, Pierre de Castelnau. The Crusaders set out in the summer of 1209. After several military victories, they were able to capture many towns without a fight. After the fall of Carcassonne, papal legate Arnaud Amalric, who had led troops during the Massacre at Béziers, was replaced as commander of the Crusader force by Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, although Amalric continued to accompany the army.
Minerve was a well-fortified city. It is located at the confluence of the Cesse and Brian rivers, which has cut deep ravines in the nearby area. It was also one of the largest towns in the Languedoc, situated near the Mediterranean coast. Minerve was a small castra deep in the mountains, and thus not of major strategic importance to the military. However, it had become an important place of refuge for Cathar perfectus and taking it would thus increase the authority of both Simon as count and the Catholic Church in the area, which seems to have influenced Simon's decision to attack the city.
In the winter of 1209-1210, large offensives ceased on account of the weather and small size of the Crusader army. In March and April, the Crusaders conducted successful raids against food sources near Minerve, capturing many important areas nearby and effectively isolating the city.
## Siege
In early June, the Crusader army besieged Minerve. The town was commanded by Lord Guilhem de Minerve. Unable to feed his army exclusively from the agricultural area around the town, Simon imported supplies from areas many miles away, such as Carcassonne.
The steep gorges surrounding the town made it virtually impossible to storm. However, the gorges were also very narrow, making a bombardment more practical. Simon realized this and decided to use his artillery to capture Minerve. The Crusaders relied effectively upon siege equipment. Simon made his headquarters east of the town, where a crew lobbed heavy objects into the walls of the town. On the west, a rock thrower called a petraria (trebuchet) was used, in one of its earliest appearances in Europe. This machine, named mala vazina ("Bad Neighbor"), bombarded the town very heavily, partially destroying Guilhelm's home, and towards the end of June destroying the main wall of the city. The defenders held on for several more weeks, but the occupants began to run low on water. On 22 July the city surrendered. Laurence Marvin calls Simon's techniques an example of "a skillful use of siege warfare to take castles in geographically hostile conditions."
Simon and Guilhem de Minerve agreed to terms of surrender. However, Amalric, who had been absent at the time, returned to camp. He insisted that no agreements could be considered binding without the assent of himself as papal legate. Simon wished to treat the occupants leniently, but Amalric wanted them put to death. Eventually, the two worked out a solution. The Crusaders allowed the soldiers defending the town, as well as the Catholics inside of it, to leave. The Cathars who had not yet reached the status of perfect were also allowed to go free. The Cathar perfects were given the choice to return to Catholicism or face death. This solution angered many of the soldiers, who had wanted to participate in a massacre. Amalric calmed them by insisting that the majority of perfects would not recant. His prediction was correct.
The soldiers entered the town singing Te Deum, while the Cathars, segregated male and female, knelt in prayer. The abbot Guy of Vaux-de-Cernay began to preach the Catholic faith to the men. He was interrupted and told, "We will have none of your faith. We have renounced the Church of Rome: your labor is in vain; for neither death nor life will make us renounce the opinions that we have embraced." The abbot then went to the women, who even more stubbornly refused to convert. Simon also urged both groups to abandon their Cathar faith. "Be converted to the Catholic faith," Simon said. Gesturing to the collection of dry wood that had been assembled, he continued, "Or ascend this pile." Ultimately, only three women repented. The 140 people who refused were burned at the stake. Some Cathars chose to jump freely into the flames rather than wait for their executioners.
Cistercian monk Peter of Vaux-de-Cernay records two miracles which allegedly took place during the siege of Minerve. In one instance, a spring from which very little water flowed began to gush water shortly after the Crusaders arrived for the siege. Afterwards, it was reduced once again to a trickle. In the other, as the Crusaders were leaving, they set fire to all the huts which they had made out of branches and dry leaves. One hut, in which a priest had said Mass, while in close proximity to the others, was somehow spared from the flames.
## Aftermath
After the Cathars had been burnt, their bodies were buried in shallow mud graves. The Crusaders continued their campaign against the Cathars, capturing many more towns. The siege of Termes came directly after.
|
[
"## Background",
"## Siege",
"## Aftermath"
] | 1,301 | 15,358 |
5,498,387 |
Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt, BWV 18
| 1,105,472,855 |
Church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach
|
[
"1713 compositions",
"Church cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach"
] |
Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt (Just as the rain and snow fall from heaven), BWV 18, is an early church cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. He composed it in Weimar for the Sunday Sexagesimae, the second Sunday before Lent, likely by 1713.
The cantata is based on a text by Erdmann Neumeister published in 1711. While at Weimar Bach set at least one other cantata text by this librettist; he also set others by the court poet Salomon Franck. The text cites Isaiah, related to the gospel, the parable of the Sower. The third movement is in the style of a sermon, combined with a litany by Martin Luther. The closing chorale is the eighth stanza of Lazarus Spengler's hymn "Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt".
The cantata falls relatively early in Bach's chronology of cantata compositions. It was possibly composed for performance on 24 February 1715, but more likely for a year or even two earlier. Sexagesima always falls within January or February, so the title's reference to snowfall would have been relevant to the weather at the time. Bach structured the work in five movements, a sinfonia, a recitative, a recitative with chorale, an aria and a closing chorale. He scored it for three vocal soloists, a four-part choir only in the chorale, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble which is unusual in having violas but no violins. The instruments originally specified were four violas, cello, bassoon and basso continuo. When he performed the work again as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, he added two recorders to double viola I and II an octave higher, thus creating a lighter sound overall.
## History and words
Bach worked for the court in Weimar from 1708. As part of his work at previous posts, he had composed cantatas, but at Weimar he was at first mainly occupied with other projects. In 1713 he was offered a post at the Marktkirche, a church in Halle, but was offered inducements to stay on at Weimar. He received a promotion on 2 March 1714 which resulted in him composing cantatas on a monthly schedule. BWV 18 is believed to be one of a small number of cantatas which Bach composed at Weimar prior to 1714. Like the later Weimar cantatas, it would have been performed at the Schlosskirche, the chapel of his employers the co-reigning dukes.
Bach composed this cantata for the second Sunday before Lent, called Sexagesima. The prescribed readings for the Sunday were taken from the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, "God's power is mighty in the weak" (), and from the Gospel of Luke, the parable of the Sower ().
The cantata is based on a text by Erdmann Neumeister, a pioneer of the use of a format using recitative and aria, which was new in religious music. This text was written for the Eisenach court and published in Gotha in 1711 in the collection Geistliches Singen und Spielen (Sacred singing and playing), which had been set to music by Georg Philipp Telemann. It is one of few texts set to music in Weimar which were not written not by the court poet Salomon Franck. The text cites Isaiah in the second movement, "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, ... So shall my word be ..." (), related to the Gospel about God's word compared to seed. In the third movement, the poet combines warnings of the dangers to God's word in the style of a sermon with four lines of prayer from a litany by Martin Luther. The closing chorale is the eighth stanza of Lazarus Spengler's hymn "Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt" (1524).
The cantata falls relatively early in Bach's chronology of cantata compositions. It was possibly composed for 24 February 1715, but more likely a year or two earlier. The Bach scholar Christoph Wolff states: "The original performing material has survived and allows us to date the work to 1713". Bach performed the cantata again when he was Thomaskantor in Leipzig in 1724, with an expanded scoring in a different key. It was then probably performed in the same service as the newly composed Leichtgesinnte Flattergeister, BWV 181.
## Music
### Structure and scoring
Bach structured the cantata in five movements, an instrumental sinfonia, a recitative, a recitative with chorale, an aria and a closing chorale. He scored the work, like other cantatas written in Weimar, for a small ensemble of three vocal soloists (soprano (S), tenor (T), bass (B)), a four-part choir only in the chorales, and a Baroque instrumental ensemble of four violas (Va), cello (Vc), bassoon (Fg) and basso continuo. The setting for four violas is unusual. In a similar orchestration, the Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 also omits violins.
The second version of this cantata for a performance in Leipzig adds two recorders, which double viola I and II an octave higher. John Eliot Gardiner compares the effect to a four-foot stop on a pipe organ. The cantata begins in G minor in the Weimar version, in A minor in the Leipzig version. In the following table of the movements, the scoring and keys follow the Neue Bach-Ausgabe for the Leipzig version. The time signatures are taken from the book on all cantatas by the Bach scholar Alfred Dürr, using the symbol for common time (4/4). The continuo, played throughout, is not shown.
### Movements
The keys in this section refer to the Weimar version, although the recording by Masaaki Suzuki, with commentary by Klaus Hofmann, uses the Leipzig keys. Hofmann notes the work's "Lutheran character", quoting Luther's litany inserted in the third movement, and sees it as a "recitative study", exploring the secco recitative of the Italian opera, introduced by Erdmann Neumeister, and also the accompagnato with rich instrumental accompaniment. Gardiner finds all three cantatas for the occasion, dealing with God's word, "characterised by his vivid pictorial imagination, an arresting sense of drama, and by music of freshness and power that lodges in the memory".
#### 1
The cantata opens with a sinfonia in G minor, which illustrates falling rain and snow in descending phrases. In da capo form, it is reminiscent both of a chaconne and a concerto. The four violas and continuo, with bassoon and cello parts specified, create an unusual sound, termed "magically dark-hued sonority" by Gardiner.
#### 2
The quotation from Isaiah, "Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt und nicht wieder dahin kommet" (Just as the rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return again to it), is sung by the bass, the vox Christi (voice of Christ), in a secco recitative. This is Bach's first adaptation of recitative in a church cantata, not following operatic patterns, but "a lucid presentation of the text in a dignified, highly personal style".
#### 3
The central movement, "Mein Gott, hier wird mein Herze sein" (My soul’s treasure is God’s word), is unique in Bach's cantatas, the choir soprano interrupts the prayer of the male soloists four times, followed by a conclusion of the full choir "Erhör uns, lieber Herre Gott!" (Hear us, dear Lord God!). The recitatives are marked adagio in E-flat major, while the interspersed litany is presented dramatically (allegro in C minor). Gardiner compares the imagery of the recitatives: "all adds up to a vivid, Brueghel-like portrayal of rural society at work – the sower, the glutton, the lurking devil, as well as those pantomime villains, the Turks and the Papists. He compares the movement to Telemann's setting of the same text and states:
> On the other hand here is Bach, seeming to relish the contrast between archaic litany and his new 'modern' recitative style in which he empowers his two male soloists to voice personal pleas for faith and resolution in the face of multiple provocation[s] and devilish guile, with increasingly virtuosic displays of coloratura, ever-wider modulations and extravagant word-painting on 'berauben' (to rob), 'Verfolgung' (persecution) and 'irregehen' (to wander off course).
#### 4
The only aria, "Mein Seelenschatz ist Gottes Wort" (My soul’s treasure is God’s word), is set for soprano, accompanied by the four violas in unison.
#### 5
The cantata closes with a four-part setting of Spengler's hymn stanza, "Ich bitt, o Herr, aus Herzens Grund" (I pray, o Lord, from the bottom of my heart), It is Bach's first of many to come as the typical conclusion of his cantatas.
## Recordings
The selection is taken from the listing of the Bach Cantatas Website. Choirs with one voice per part (OVPP) and ensembles playing period instruments in historically informed performances are marked by green background.
|
[
"## History and words",
"## Music",
"### Structure and scoring",
"### Movements",
"#### 1",
"#### 2",
"#### 3",
"#### 4",
"#### 5",
"## Recordings"
] | 2,045 | 8,735 |
41,116,231 |
Siege of Kamarja
| 1,156,890,291 |
Battle fought in 729 CE
|
[
"720s conflicts",
"720s in the Umayyad Caliphate",
"729",
"Battles involving the Türgesh Khaganate",
"Muslim conquest of Transoxiana",
"Samarqand Region",
"Sieges involving the Umayyad Caliphate"
] |
The siege of Kamarja was fought in 729 between the Arab Muslims of the Umayyad Caliphate and the Türgesh Khaganate, along with its Soghdian allies. The Umayyad conquest of Transoxiana had been undone in the 720s by the uprisings of the local Soghdian princes and the Türgesh invasions. By 729, the small fortress of Kamarja near Samarkand (in modern Uzbekistan) was one of the last remaining Arab strongholds in Transoxiana, when it was attacked by the Türgesh under the personal direction of their ruler, Suluk. The subsequent siege, for which a detailed account survives in the history of al-Tabari, lasted for 58 days and ended with the negotiated withdrawal of its garrison to Samarkand. The stubborn defence of Kamarja was celebrated in Arabic literature, but the Arab hold over the region was broken after the Battle of the Defile two years later. It was only following the collapse of the Türgesh Khaganate after 738 that the Arabs re-established their rule over Transoxiana.
## Background
The region of Transoxiana (Arabic: Ma wara' al-nahr) had been conquered by the Umayyad leader Qutayba ibn Muslim in the reign of al-Walid I (r. 705–715), following the Muslim conquests of Persia and Khurasan in the mid-7th century. The loyalty to the Caliphate of Transoxiana's native Iranian and Turkic populations and of the autonomous local rulers remained questionable, and in 719 the latter requested aid from the Chinese and their Türgesh vassals. In response, from 720 on the Türgesh launched a series of attacks against the Muslims in Transoxiana, coupled with uprisings against the Caliphate among the local Soghdians. The Umayyad governors initially managed to suppress the unrest, although control over the Ferghana Valley was lost. In 724, governor Muslim ibn Sa'id al-Kilabi and his army suffered a heavy defeat (the so-called "Day of Thirst") at the hands of the Türgesh when he tried to recapture Ferghana. This defeat pushed the Arabs on the defensive, and even though no pitched battles took place, over the next few years the Arab position in Transoxiana collapsed swiftly. By 728, in the face of the Türgesh attacks and a widespread anti-Arab revolt, only Samarkand and the two fortresses of Kamarja and Dabusiyya on the Zarafshan River remained in Arab hands in all of Transoxiana.
## Siege
In 729, the new Arab governor, Ashras ibn Abdallah al-Sulami, managed to cross the Oxus River and reach Bukhara against stiff opposition by the Türgesh and their Soghdian allies. The Arab victory was narrow, and the Türgesh were able to withdraw unmolested back towards the region of Samarkand, which brought them near the Arab fortress of Kamarja, a fortified town some seven farsakhs—roughly 42 kilometres (26 miles)—west of Samarkand. The subsequent siege of Kamarja, narrated in al-Tabari's History of the Prophets and Kings is, in the words of the historian Hugh N. Kennedy, "one of the most vividly described set pieces of the war".
The Türgesh army under the khagan Suluk, which included the contingents of Ferghana, al-Taraband (capital of Shash, modern Tashkent), Afshinah (a town near Samarkand), Nasaf, and Bukhara, approached along the Bukhara–Samarkand road. When they reached Kamarja, the Türgesh and their allies left the road and made camp, but the town's garrison was unaware of their approach as their movements were screened by a hill. The next morning, when the Arabs took their animals out to water them and climbed the hill, they were amazed to encounter the "mountain of steel" of their enemies' army, as al-Tabari writes. The Arabs sent some of their animals down the hill towards the river to lure the Türgesh that way, and hastened back to the town. The Türgesh soon discovered them and began pursuit, but the Arabs knew the terrain better and managed to reach the town and find refuge behind its earthworks, just before their pursuers caught up with them. A fierce fight developed as the Türgesh attacked the gates and tried to enter the town, until the Arabs threw burning bundles of wood at them, driving them back across the moat. In the evening, the Türgesh withdrew, and the Arabs burned the wooden bridge that spanned the moat.
The khagan then sent two emissaries to the besieged. The first to approach the wall was Khosrau, a grandson of the last Sassanid Persian ruler, Yazdegerd III (r. 632–651). Khosrau's father, Bahram, had fled to the Tang court in China, and now Khosrau accompanied the Türgesh in hopes of recovering his ancestral throne. When he approached the garrison, he urged them to surrender and offered them a safe-conduct, while proclaiming the restoration of his realm. The Arabs, however, indignantly refused to hear him and hurled abuses at him. As the Orientalist scholar H.A.R. Gibb writes, the presence of Khosrau "might be taken as an indication that the rebels were receiving encouragement from China also, though the Chinese records are silent on this expedition". After Khosrau's failure, the khagan sent a local, Bazaghari, to parley with the garrison, bringing a few Arab captives along with him to intimidate them. The khagan offered to take up the Arab garrison into his own army, doubling their salary, but this proposal too was rejected with disdain by the Arab negotiator, Yazid ibn Sa'id al-Bahili (chosen because he spoke a little Turkish), with the words "How can the Arabs, who are wolves, be with the Türgesh, who are sheep?" His reply infuriated Bazaghari's companions, who threatened to kill him, so Yazid offered to split the garrison up: one half with their portable wealth would be allowed to retreat safely, while the other half would remain in service with the Türgesh. Bazaghari accepted this offer and sent Yazid back to convey the terms to the garrison, but once he was back inside the wall, he rejected the terms and exhorted his fellow Arabs to resist.
The khagan then ordered his men to fill the moat with green wood, so that it would not burn, which the garrison countered by throwing in dry wood as well. After six days, when the moat was full, the Arabs set it afire; aided by a strong wind, the hard work of the Türgesh was put to nought. The Arab archers also proved effective, exacting a heavy toll among the Türgesh, including Bazaghari. The Türgesh then executed a hundred Arab captives in full view of the garrison. In response, the Arabs killed the 200 young locals they held as hostages, despite their desperate resistance. The narrative of the siege in al-Tabari, evidently drawing from eyewitness accounts, continues with isolated episodes: the determined Türgesh assault on the gate, with five of them managing to climb the wall before being repelled, the Soghdian prince of al-Taraband who with his companions assaulted a breach in the wall which led into a house only to be killed by the house's elderly and sick owner and his family, how the Arabs used the wooden boards lining the irrigation ditches to improve their earthworks, or the time when the khagan, coming to inspect the Arab fortifications, received an arrow-shot in the face but was saved by his helmet's nose-guard.
The stubborn defence of the garrison irritated the khagan, who blamed his Soghdian allies for claiming that there were "fifty donkeys in this (town) and that we would take it in five days, but now the five days have become two months". At length, the khagan resumed negotiations, and offered safe-conduct to either Dabusiyya or Samarkand, which were still in Arab hands. The garrison sent a rider to Samarkand to ask for advice, and was told to choose Dabusiyya, which was closer to Kamarja. After fifty-eight days, out of which, according to al-Tabari, the garrison "did not water their camels for thirty-five days", the siege was over. The Arabs and Türgesh exchanged five hostages each, including one of Suluk's most important nobles, Kursul. After the mutual massacre of captives early in the siege, the Arabs' mistrust was such that they refused to leave until the khagan and his army had departed, and an Arab with a dagger in his hand was seated behind each of the Türgesh hostages, who wore no armour.
As the Arab garrison of Kamarja approached Dabusiyya, the latter's garrison at first believed that Kamarja had fallen and that the soldiers coming towards them were Türgesh, but as they arrayed themselves for battle, a rider sent by the Kamarja troops alerted them as to the real situation, and "the men of al-Dabusiyya galloped forward to carry whoever was too weak to walk or was wounded". At this the hostages began being released, with the Arabs sending a hostage back and the Türgesh in turn releasing one of the hostages they held. In the end, when the last two hostages were left, neither side was willing to let its own hostage go first, until the Arab hostage volunteered to go last. For this act of chivalry, he was richly rewarded by Kursul with a suit of armour and a horse.
## Aftermath
As Gibb writes, "the fame of the defence of Kamarja spread far and wide, but it brought little relief to the pressure on the Arabs". Almost all of Transoxiana, except for Bukhara and Samarkand, was lost, and even in neighbouring Khwarizm, a revolt broke out, which was nonetheless swiftly suppressed by the local Arab settlers. Samarkand remained the last major outpost of Arab rule deep in Soghdia, and subsequent operations by both sides focused around it. It was while attempting to relieve the Türgesh siege of the city in 731 that the Arabs suffered the calamitous Battle of the Defile, which was followed by the complete collapse of the Arab position in Transoxiana. The Arabs were not able to recover until the murder of Suluk in 738, which led to the outbreak of civil war and brought about the rapid decline of Türgesh power. In 739–741, under the governorship of Nasr ibn Sayyar, the Arabs managed to re-establish the Caliphate's authority up to Samarkand.
|
[
"## Background",
"## Siege",
"## Aftermath"
] | 2,376 | 2,003 |
18,664,181 |
Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's individual road race
| 1,150,058,677 |
Cycle race at the Beijing Olympics
|
[
"2008 in women's road cycling",
"Cycling at the Summer Olympics – Women's road race",
"Road cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics",
"Women's events at the 2008 Summer Olympics"
] |
The women's road race was one of the cycling events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. It took place on 10 August 2008, featuring 66 women from 33 countries. It was the seventh appearance of an Olympic women's road race event and featured a longer course than any of the previous six races. The race was run on the Urban Road Cycling Course (one of Beijing's nine temporary venues), which is 102.6 kilometres (63.8 mi) total. Including a second lap around the 23.8 km (14.8 mi) final circuit, the total distance of the women's race was 126.4 km (78.5 mi), less than half the length of the men's race.
Heavy rain during most of the race made conditions difficult for the competitors. A group of five broke away during the final lap and worked together until the final sprint, where Nicole Cooke won the race. Cooke earned Great Britain's first medal at these Games and 200th Olympic gold medal overall. Emma Johansson of Sweden and Tatiana Guderzo of Italy, finishing second and third place with the same time as Cooke, received silver and bronze medals respectively.
The race marked the first positive drug test of the 2008 Olympic Games, by María Isabel Moreno of Spain. She was scheduled to compete in this event and the time trial to follow, but left Beijing on 31 July, before the race. The International Olympic Committee said on 11 August that she had tested positive for EPO. This left 66 cyclists to compete, one fewer than in 2004.
## Qualification
The 2008 Summer Olympics marked the seventh appearance of an Olympic women's road race event. Qualification for the race was restricted to three athletes per National Olympic Committee (NOC) for the 16 top-ranked countries in overall Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) standings at 1 June 2008, and a maximum of two athletes each for the countries ranking 17–24. An NOC with an athlete in the top 100 at 31 May 2008 received a place, which was taken from the countries ranked 17–24 in reversed order, provided that these athletes qualified through the UCI World Tour rankings. Additionally, three places were available at the B World Championship for NOCs that did not qualify through the UCI standing; Gu Sun-Geun, Hae Ok-Jeong and Thatsani Wichana secured Olympic qualification for their NOCs in this way, but only the first was chosen by her national committee to compete. The maximum quota of the event was set at 67 cyclists, and as of 5 June, 66 cyclists were qualified in this way. Although the Chinese and Austrian NOCs were allowed to enter three cyclists, they only entered two. This left three open positions: two were allotted to South Africa and New Zealand, based on their World Tour rankings, and the third was given to Mauritius by direct invitation. Only 66 of the 67 entrants began the race, as María Isabel Moreno of Spain left the country days earlier after failing a drug test.
## Preview
Judith Arndt, the German rider who finished second at the 2004 Summer Olympics, was a strong favourite. Arndt had recently finished first at the 2008 Coupe du Monde Cycliste Féminine de Montréal, and her form in the months that preceded the race was excellent. Among other contenders were UCI Women's Road standings leader, Marianne Vos of the Netherlands; Briton Nicole Cooke, who said she had greater confidence in her team on this occasion than in 2004, when she finished fifth; and Noemi Cantele of Italy. The Australian team was considered strong: it included Sara Carrigan (the defending champion), Oenone Wood (winner of the 2008 Australian Road Race), and Katherine Bates, all of whom could work on each other's behalf. Because the final leg of the course involved steep ramps, riders considered to be climbing experts (including Cooke, Vos, and Susanne Ljungskog) were favoured. Although not seen as a strong medal contender, one former champion participating in the race was 49-year-old Jeannie Longo from France, who won the road race in 1996 and had competed in the inaugural event in 1984, making this her seventh appearance.
Many cyclists expected tropical conditions during the race and adjusted their training to compensate. For example, Marianne Vos prepared in El Salvador. Cyclists had also anticipated a problem with high levels of pollution in Beijing, but these did not appear to affect the results of the men's road race. Although the pollution levels in Beijing on 10 August far exceeded the World Health Organization's safety level, the rain during the women's race decreased the smog level.
In the men's race, conducted the previous day, humidity and heat had taken the greatest toll on the athletes. To compensate for the expected warm weather, some female cyclists chose not to wear undershirts. This proved to be a misjudgment, as conditions were cooler in the Great Wall section than on the previous day—19 °C (66 °F) compared to 26 °C (79 °F). Thunderstorms, bringing persistently heavy rain and strong winds, resulted in actual race conditions far different from expected. Other riders, such as Katherine Bates (who did not finish), prepared by wearing cooling vests before the race and stocked up on ice packs during it.
## Course
The race was run on the Urban Road Cycling Course (one of Beijing's nine temporary venues), which was 102.6 km (63.8 mi) in its entirety. Unlike the previous Olympic races, the start and finish were not at the same location. The early section of the race took place within central Beijing; the gradient of this part of the race was relatively flat. After approximately 78.8 km (49.0 mi), the riders reached the Badaling section of the Great Wall and began two loops of 23.8 km (14.8 mi) between the Badaling and Juyong Passes. The gradient increased at this point, as the Badaling Pass gained 338.2 m (1,110 ft) in elevation 12.4 km (7.7 mi) from the start of the circuit to the highest point, including ramps as steep as a 10 percent gradient. From there the cyclists rode over a false flat before descending a highway towards the Juyong Pass. The final 350.0 m (1,148.3 ft) were a moderately steep climb, designed to ensure an exciting finale should several riders be grouped together at the end of the race. In total, the distance of the women's race was 126.4 km (78.5 mi), less than half the length of the men's race.
The race's starting line was at the Yongdingmen Gate, a remnant of Beijing's old city wall, which is a part of the Chongwen District of northern Beijing. The route passed through eight districts: Chongwen, Xuanwu, Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chaoyang, Haidian, Changping, and Yanqing. Landmarks such as the Temple of Heaven, the Great Hall of the People, Tiananmen Square, the Yonghe Temple, and sections of the Great Wall of China were passed as the course journeyed from urban Beijing into the countryside. It passed the architectural features of the 2008 Olympics, including the Beijing National Stadium and Beijing National Aquatics Center (known colloquially as the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube). The course ended at the Juyong Pass in the Changping District. The course's scenery was described by The Guardian as "visually sumptuous".
Due to security regulations put in place by the Olympic organisers, spectators were not permitted to stand roadside along the course. Several prominent figures in cycling protested against this decision, including UCI president Pat McQuaid and two Australian riders, Stuart O'Grady and Cadel Evans, who competed in the men's race. McQuaid and O'Grady felt that the absence of people along the course deprived the race of the atmosphere present at other cycling events, and said that it failed to take supporters' wishes into consideration. Cycling Australia's reaction to the cyclists' complaints was to request that security restrictions be eased for the time trial to follow, but this plea was ignored.
## Race
The race started at 14:00 China Standard Time (UTC+8), and was scheduled to last until 17:30. The weather was unseasonably cool. It was cloudy and the roads were dry at the start of the race. The clouds brought steady rainfall midway through the race, making conditions challenging.
The race saw some incidents which caused riders to lose valuable time. Gu Sun-Geun (South Korea) lost control of her bike, bringing others down with her. She eventually fell into a concrete ditch on the side of the highway. Natalia Boyarskaya (Russia), who had built a lead of 59 seconds over the top of Badaling, had to stop to see which way to choose at a poorly marked intersection.
The chase for Boyarskaya was led by Christine Thorburn (United States), who brought the lead down to 34 seconds prior to the final loop of 23.8 km (14.8 mi). Emma Pooley (Great Britain) and Tatiana Guderzo (Italy) rode away from the bunch on the climb and caught Boyarskaya with 22 km (14 mi) to go, forming a three rider breakaway. The German team, with a steady pace, caught them soon after. Guderzo attacked with about 13 km (8.1 mi) to go over the final summit. She was soon joined by Christiane Soeder (Austria), Emma Johansson (Sweden), Nicole Cooke (Great Britain) and Linda Villumsen (Denmark). With 7 km (4.3 mi) remaining, the group had gained 16 seconds on the main peloton. Marianne Vos (Netherlands), one of the pre-race favourites who was not in the leading group, hesitated before leading the chase together with other pre-race favourite Judith Arndt. Cooke looked out of contention as the five came round the final bend, but she came around the other riders with 200 metres (660 ft) to go, claiming the gold medal with a clear margin. Johansson came in second and Guderzo won the bronze. Vos eventually led the bunch over the finish line, 21 seconds after the winner.
It was later revealed that Cooke had held back intentionally, as she was using lightweight tyres not suited to rainy conditions. The British women's road team manager Julian Winn said "We were afraid someone might come down in front of her, so we told her to keep to the left. We knew she would chew them up after that." Cooke's victory was the result of meticulous planning, as the team had ridden the course before the race and formulated the winning plan.
## Doping incident
The day after the race, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesperson announced that Spanish rider María Isabel Moreno had become the first athlete of the 2008 Olympics to test positive for a banned substance. Moreno had provided a urine sample the day she arrived in Beijing (31 July), but flew back to Madrid on the same day, after suffering a panic attack, and did not return to take part in the race. The urine sample tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO). The IOC stripped Moreno of her Games accreditation, later referring the matter to the UCI which confirmed the positive result. A statement on Moreno's website read that "she does not feel ready to justify or explain her reasons for leaving the [Olympic] village".
## Final classification
A total of 66 cyclists have been qualified in the event at these Games. Most of them are not expected to finish one-day races, having worked in support for their teams (in this case, nations) to place riders with better climbing skills in good positions once the mountainous part of a course begins. Additionally, any rider lapped by the race leader on the Badaling circuit would be forced to stop, although this situation did not occur. The notation "s.t." indicates that the rider crossed the finish line in the same group as the cyclist before her, and was therefore credited with the same finishing time.
|
[
"## Qualification",
"## Preview",
"## Course",
"## Race",
"## Doping incident",
"## Final classification"
] | 2,572 | 43,153 |
6,520 |
Cow tipping
| 1,173,271,008 |
Urban legend
|
[
"Cattle",
"Fictional activities",
"Stereotypes of rural people",
"Urban legends"
] |
Cow tipping is the purported activity of sneaking up on any unsuspecting or sleeping upright cow and pushing it over for entertainment. The practice of cow tipping is generally considered an urban legend, and stories of such feats viewed as tall tales. The implication that rural citizens seek such entertainment due to lack of alternatives is viewed as a stereotype. The concept of cow tipping apparently developed in the 1970s, though tales of animals that cannot rise if they fall has historical antecedents dating to the Roman Empire.
Cows routinely lie down and can easily regain their footing unless sick or injured. Scientific studies have been conducted to determine if cow tipping is theoretically possible, with varying conclusions. All agree that cows are large animals that are difficult to surprise and will generally resist attempts to be tipped. Estimates suggest a force of between 3,000 and 4,000 newtons (670 and 900 pounds-force) is needed, and that at least four and possibly as many as fourteen people would be required to achieve this. In real-life situations where cattle have to be laid on the ground, or "cast", such as for branding, hoof care or veterinary treatment, either rope restraints are required or specialized mechanical equipment is used that confines the cow and then tips it over. On rare occasions, cattle can lie down or fall down in proximity to a ditch or hill that restricts their normal ability to rise without help. Cow tipping has many references in popular culture and is also used as a figure of speech.
## Scientific study
Some versions of the urban legend suggest that because cows sleep standing up, it is possible to approach them and push them over without the animals reacting. However, cows only sleep lightly while standing up, and they are easily awakened. They lie down to sleep deeply. Furthermore, numerous sources have questioned the practice's feasibility, since most cows weigh over 450 kilograms (990 pounds) and easily resist any lesser force.
A 2005 study led by Margo Lillie, a zoologist at the University of British Columbia, and her student Tracy Boechler, concluded that tipping a cow would require a force of nearly 3,000 newtons (670 lb<sub>f</sub>) and is therefore impossible to accomplish by a single person. Her calculations found that it would require more than four people to apply enough force to push over a cow, based on an estimate that a single person could exert 660 newtons (150 lb<sub>f</sub>) of force. However, since a cow can brace itself, Lillie and Boechler suggested that five or six people would, most likely, be needed. Further, cattle are well aware of their surroundings and are very difficult to surprise, due to excellent senses of both smell and hearing. Lillie and Boechler's analysis found that if a cow did not move, the principles of static physics suggest that two people might be able to tip a cow if its centre of mass were pushed over its hooves before the cow could react. However, cows are not rigid or unresponsive, and the faster humans have to move, the less force they can exert. Thus Lillie and Boechler concluded that it is unlikely that cows can actually be tipped over in this way. Lillie stated, "It just makes the physics of it all, in my opinion, impossible."
Although biologist Steven Vogel agrees that it would take a force of about 3,000 newtons to push over a standing cow, he thinks that the study by Lillie and Boechler overestimates the pushing ability of an individual human. Using data from Cotterell and Kamminga, who estimated that humans exert a pushing force of 280 newtons, Vogel suggests that someone applying force at the requisite height to topple a cow might generate a maximum push of no more than 300 newtons. By this calculation, at least 10 people would be needed to tip over a non-reacting cow. However, this combined force requirement, he says, might not be the greatest impediment to such a prank. Standing cows are not asleep and, like other animals, have ever-vigilant reflexes. "If the cow does no more than modestly widen its stance without an overall shift of its center of gravity", he says, "about 4,000 newtons or 14 pushers would be needed—quite a challenge to deploy without angering the cow."
## Historical origins
The belief that certain animals cannot rise if pushed over has historical antecedents. Julius Caesar recorded a belief that a European elk had no knee joints and could not get up if it fell. Pliny said the same about the hind legs of an animal he called the achlis, which Pliny's 19th-century translators Bostock and Riley said was merely another name for the elk. They also noted that Pliny's belief about the jointless back legs of the achlis (elk) was false.
In 1255, Louis IX of France gave an elephant to Henry III of England for his menagerie in the Tower of London. A drawing by the historian Matthew Paris for his Chronica Majora can be seen in his bestiary at Parker Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. An accompanying text cites elephant lore suggesting that elephants did not have knees and were unable to get up if they fell.
Journalist Jake Steelhammer believes the American urban myth of cow tipping originated in the 1970s. It "stampeded into the '80s", he says, "when movies like Tommy Boy and Heathers featured cow tipping expeditions." Stories about cow tipping tend to be second-hand, he says, told by someone who does not claim to have tipped a cow but who knows someone else who says they did.
## Veterinary and husbandry practices
Cattle may need to be deliberately thrown or tipped over for certain types of husbandry practices and medical treatment. When done for medical purposes, this is often called "casting", and when performed without mechanical assistance requires the attachment of 9 to 12 metres (30 to 40 ft) of rope around the body and legs of the animal. After the rope is secured by non-slip bowline knots, it is pulled to the rear until the animal is off-balance. Once the cow is forced to lie down in sternal recumbency (on its chest), it can be rolled onto its side and its legs tied to prevent kicking.
A calf table or calf cradle, also called a "tipping table" or a "throw down", is a relatively modern invention designed to be used on calves that are being branded. A calf is run into a chute, confined, and then tipped by the equipment onto its side for easier branding and castration.
Hydraulic tilt tables for adult cattle have existed since the 1970s and are designed to lift and tip cattle onto their sides to enable veterinary care, particularly of the animals' genitalia, and for hoof maintenance. (Unlike horses, cows generally do not cooperate with a farrier when standing.) A Canadian veterinarian explained, "Using the table is much safer and easier than trying to get underneath to examine the animal", and noted that cows tipped over on a padded table usually stop struggling and become calm fairly quickly. One design, developed at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, included "cow comfort" as a unique aspect of care using this type of apparatus.
### Involuntary recumbency
Cows may inadvertently tip themselves. Due to their bulk and relatively short legs, cattle cannot roll over. Those that lie down and roll to their sides with their feet pointing uphill may become stuck and unable to rise without assistance, with potentially fatal results. In such cases, two humans can roll or flip a cow onto its other side, so that its feet are aimed downhill, thus allowing it to rise on its own. In one documented case of "real-life cow tipping", a pregnant cow rolled into a gully in New Hampshire and became trapped in an inverted state until rescued by volunteer fire fighters. The owner of the cow commented that he had seen this happen "once or twice" before.
Trauma or illness may also result in a cow unable to rise to its feet. Such animals are sometimes called "downers." Sometimes this occurs as a result of muscle and nerve damage from calving or a disease such as mastitis. Leg injuries, muscle tears, or a massive infection of some sort may also be causes. Downer cows are encouraged to get to their feet and have a much greater chance of recovery if they do. If unable to rise, some have survived—with medical care—as long as 14 days and were ultimately able to get back on their feet. Appropriate medical treatment for a downer cow to prevent further injury includes rolling from one side to the other every three hours, careful and frequent feeding of small amounts of fodder, and access to clean water.
### Death
Dead animals may appear to have been tipped over, but this is actually the process of rigor mortis, which stiffens the muscles of the carcass, beginning six to eight hours after death and lasting for one to two days. It is particularly noticeable in the limbs, which stick out straight. Post-mortem bloat also occurs because of gas formation inside the body. The process may result in cattle carcasses that wind up on their back with all four feet in the air.
## In popular culture
Assorted individuals have claimed to have performed cow tipping, often while under the influence of alcohol. These claims, to date, cannot be reliably verified, with Jake Swearingen of Modern Farmer noting in 2013 that YouTube, a popular source of videos of challenges and stunts, "fails to deliver one single actual cow-tipping video".
Pranksters have sometimes pushed over artificial cows. Along Chicago's Michigan Avenue in 1999, two "apparently drunk" men felled six fiberglass cows that were part of a Cows on Parade public art exhibit. Four other vandals removed a "Wow cow" sculpture from its lifeguard chair at Oak Street Beach and abandoned it in a pedestrian underpass. A year later, New York City anchored its CowParade art cows, including "A Streetcow Named Desire", to concrete bases "to prevent the udder disrespect of cow-tippers and thieves."
Cow tipping has been featured in films from the 1980s and later, such as Heathers (1988), Tommy Boy (1995), Barnyard (2006), and I Love You, Beth Cooper (2009). It was also used in the title of a 1992 documentary film by Randy Redroad, Cow Tipping—The Militant Indian Waiter.
Variants of cow tipping have also been seen in popular media such as the film Cars (2006), which features a vehicular variant called tractor-tipping, and the video game Fallout: New Vegas, which allows the character to sneak up on and tip over a Brahmin, the game's two-headed cow-like animal. The board game Battle Cattle is based on the practice, with heavily armed cows having "Tipping Defense Numbers."
In The Little Willies song "Lou Reed" from their 2006 self-titled debut album, Norah Jones sings about a fictional event during which musician Lou Reed tips cows in Texas. In another medium, The Big Bang Theory, a television show, uses cow tipping lore as an element to establish the nature of a rural character, Penny.
The term cow tipping is sometimes used as a figure of speech for pushing over something big. In A Giant Cow-Tipping by Savages, author John Weir Close uses the term to describe contemporary mergers and acquisitions. "Tipping sacred cows" has been used as a deliberate mixed metaphor in titles of books on Christian ministry and business management.
|
[
"## Scientific study",
"## Historical origins",
"## Veterinary and husbandry practices",
"### Involuntary recumbency",
"### Death",
"## In popular culture"
] | 2,412 | 27,080 |
34,984,719 |
Bolckow, Vaughan
| 1,173,144,761 |
English ironmaking and mining company
|
[
"Ironworks and steelworks in England",
"Mining companies of the United Kingdom",
"Teesside"
] |
Bolckow, Vaughan & Co., Ltd was an English ironmaking and mining company founded in 1864, based on the partnership since 1840 of its two founders, Henry Bolckow and John Vaughan. The firm drove the dramatic growth of Middlesbrough and the production of coal and iron in the north-east of England in the 19th century. The two founding partners had an exceptionally close working relationship which lasted until Vaughan's death.
By 1907 Bolckow, Vaughan was possibly the largest producer of pig iron in the world. The firm failed to modernise at the start of the 20th century, and was closed in 1929.
## History
### Origins, 1840–51
In 1840, Henry Bolckow (1806–1878) and John Vaughan (1799–1868) set up in business in Middlesbrough to make iron. They lived side by side in two town houses, the Cleveland Buildings, about 400 yards (370 m) away from their ironworks which were on Vulcan Street, and they married a pair of sisters, which may explain their close friendship.
In 1846, Bolckow and Vaughan built their first blast furnaces at Witton Park, founding the Witton Park Ironworks. The works used coal from Witton Park Colliery to make coke, and ironstone from Whitby on the coast. The pig iron produced at Witton was transported to Middlesbrough for further forging or casting.
In 1850, Vaughan and his mining geologist John Marley discovered iron ore, conveniently situated near Eston in the Cleveland Hills of Yorkshire. Unknown to anyone at the time, this vein was part of the Cleveland Ironstone Formation, which was already being mined in Grosmont by Losh, Wilson and Bell.
### The boom years, 1851–1868
To make use of the ore being mined at Eston, Bolckow and Vaughan built a blast furnace in 1851 at nearby South Bank, Middlesbrough, enabling the entire process from rock to finished products to be carried out in one place. It was the first to be built on Teesside, on what was later nicknamed "the Steel River". Middlesbrough grew from 40 inhabitants in 1829 to 7600 in 1851, 19,000 in 1861 and 40,000 in 1871, fuelled by the iron industry.
In 1864, Bolckow, Vaughan and Company Ltd was registered with capital of £2,500,000, making it the largest company ever formed up to that time. By that time, the company's assets included iron mines, collieries, and limestone quarries in Cleveland, County Durham and Weardale respectively, and had iron and steel works extending over 700 acres (280 ha) along the banks of the River Tees.
In 1868, Vaughan died. The Institution of Civil Engineers, in their obituary, commented on the relationship between Vaughan and Bolckow: "There was indeed something remarkable in the thorough division of labour in the management of the affairs of the firm. While possessing the most unbounded confidence in each other, the two partners never interfered in the slightest degree with each other's work. Mr. Bolckow had the entire management of the financial department, while Mr. Vaughan as worthily controlled the practical work of the establishment."
### Industrial giant, 1869–1929
In 1871, Edward Johnson-Ferguson (1849–1929) became a director of Bolckow & Vaughan; he became chairman and managing director (and was knighted) in 1906, remaining so until his death.
In 1875, Edward Windsor Richards became the General Manager of the Middlesbrough Ironworks. Richards was in charge of the design and construction of the new plant at Eston, the Cleveland Steel Works. It had three coke fired haematite blast furnaces. Richards' work helped to improve the Bessemer process for making steel, in the case when the ore is rich in phosphorus, and an alkaline rock (dolomite, limestone or magnesite) is used. This variant is called the Gilchrist-Thomas process, after its inventor Sidney Gilchrist Thomas who persuaded Richards to adopt it.
In 1877, the Eston Ironworks acquired a rolling mill engine from the Vulcan Iron Works of Thwaites and Carbutt, Bradford. It had a 36-inch (910 mm) bore, and a 54-inch (1,400 mm) stroke.
A profitable sideline to the production of iron was salt. In 1863, John Marley discovered a deposit of rock salt at Middlesbrough while drilling for water. The salt bed was 100 feet (30 metres) thick at a depth of 1,300 feet (400 metres) below the surface, but it proved too costly to mine conventionally because of continual flooding, and mining was abandoned. However, in 1882 the technique of hydraulic extraction of salt was introduced. Salt was brought to the surface by pumping fresh water down a borehole, allowing the salt to dissolve, and pumping the brine back up. Production by Bolckow, Vaughan and other companies reached 300,000 tons per year in the 1890s.
On 2 June 1884, Sir Joseph Pease unveiled a monument to John Vaughan in Exchange Square, Middlesbrough, which still stands. He gave a speech to the crowd of 15,000 people, in which he described the town as "the greatest iron-producing district in the world", and compared Bolckow and Vaughan to the mythical founding fathers of Rome, Romulus and Remus. The bronze statue was sculpted by George Anderson Lawson of the New Sculpture movement.
Bulmer's Gazetteer of 1890 records that in 1888 Bolckow, Vaughan owned 6 of the 36 ironstone mines in Cleveland and Whitby; the ironstone in their mine at Eston contained 33.62% Iron. By 1887 the company owned 4 of the 21 ironworks in Cleveland, with 21 of the 91 blast furnaces.
In the 1900s, Bolckow, Vaughan was certainly the largest steel producer in Britain, and possibly the largest in the world. In 1905, the firm produced 820,000 tons of pig iron, which was 8.5% of Great Britain's output, and twice as much as the next largest producer. In 1907 it was one of the largest firms in Britain, with 20,000 employees.
In 1918, the firm even had its own women's football team. Bolckow, Vaughan's women workers were runners-up in a replayed final tie for the Tyne Wear & Tees Alfred Wood Munition Girls Cup. They were defeated 5–0 by Blyth Spartans.
### Collapse
Fresh management was brought into Bolckow Vaughan in the later 1920s, Holberry Mensforth as managing director working with Henry Duncan McLaren. The works were reorganised, and consultation with the workforce introduced. Financial pressures saw it undergo a merger with Dorman Long, in 1931. The causes of failure included: poor decision-making in the period from 1900 to 1910 which delayed the introduction of improved steelmaking technology; optimistic belief in promises of funding made by the British government during the war, leading to reliance on costly bank loans in 1918, rather than issuing share capital as the firm later did in 1919 and 1923; failure to diversify into profitable steel products such as pipes, sheet steel and shipbuilding plates; and failure to invest in its own coal mines to provide enough for steel production, and for cash. There were thus both long-term and short-term failures of strategy. No company history was written.
The rise and fall of the company can be seen in the numbers of mines and collieries that it owned:
The production of pig-iron, which was once profitable, but later became a weakness when rivals were producing steel, shows growth and slow decline:
## Legacy
Few visible signs of the company remain. The former extent of the Bolckow, Vaughan property at the Eston Sheet and Galvanizing Works beside the River Tees Dockyard is still marked by boundary stones on Smiths Dock Road, Middlesbrough. The graves of the founding fathers of the company and of Middlesbrough, Henry Bolckow and John Vaughan, in St Cuthbert's Churchyard, Marton, fell into disrepair. They were refurbished in 2009.
|
[
"## History",
"### Origins, 1840–51",
"### The boom years, 1851–1868",
"### Industrial giant, 1869–1929",
"### Collapse",
"## Legacy"
] | 1,788 | 35,236 |
38,076,198 |
Pikes Hotel
| 1,158,977,129 |
Luxury hotel in Ibiza, Balearic Islands of Spain
|
[
"Hotels established in 1978",
"Hotels in Ibiza",
"Spanish companies established in 1978"
] |
Pikes Hotel, now known as Pikes Ibiza, is a luxury hotel in Ibiza, in the Balearic Islands of Spain. It is located in the countryside, 1.6 miles (2.6 km) to the northeast of the town of Sant Antoni de Portmany, and 10.2 miles (16.4 km) to the northwest of Ibiza Town. A 15th-century stone mansion which was a finca (farm estate), it was converted into a hotel in 1978 by British-born Australian Anthony Pike.
The hotel, cited as one of the most famous or infamous hotels on the island, developed a notorious reputation for hedonism in the 1980s, and is associated with being a playground for the rich and famous. It is best known for being the location of filming for Wham!'s 1983 hit "Club Tropicana" and for Freddie Mercury's 41st birthday bash in 1987, cited as one of the most lavish parties ever to be held on Ibiza.
By the 1990s the hotel had fallen into difficulties and after Pike's son was murdered in 1998 attempting to sell the hotel, it was later sold to the Ibiza Rocks organization, which also owns clubs on the island and the Ibiza Rocks Hotel in the nearby town. Today it has 26 rooms, and the restaurant, named Room 39, has earned critical acclaim on the island.
## History
Tony Pike arrived in Ibiza in 1978. Yachtsman and former hat maker Pike led a very colourful life, which had already seen him shipwrecked in the Caribbean, injured in a bobsleigh accident, serving in the military, indulge in heavy drinking, and married and divorced three times. Pike had rented a finca for three months during which time he met his next partner Lyn. Together they bought a derelict finca called Ca’n Pep Toniet in the countryside east of Sant Antoni and they decided to renovate it into a hotel. Tony, along with Lyn and his two sons, did most of the work themselves. Bo Palk, the managing director of MGM Studios, checked into the hotel just as Pike was finishing the last bathroom of the hotel. An acquaintance of Palk’s, Simon Napier-Bell, visited him at the hotel whilst scouting for a video shoot location. As a result, Wham!'s "Club Tropicana" was shot at the hotel in 1983. The video was directed by Duncan Gibbins with scenes shot of George Michael, the lead singer of the band and his fellow band member Andrew Ridgeley and their backing singers Dee C. Lee and Shirlie Holliman. The scenario saw George Michael "floating about on a lilo in his Speedoes and shades", relaxing with the boys by Pike’s pool sipping cocktails. The scene of the trumpet-playing took place in the pool itself. Tony Pike got on well with the band and he was persuaded to take a small part in the video as the barman in one of the scenes. The success of the video and Wham!'s status at the time firmly placed Pike’s Hotel in the circles of the music industry and within a short time the hotel was attracting other stars and people connected to the industry.
In the 1980s, the authorities on Ibiza grew very concerned about the wild orgies and drug use which were taking place at the hotel. They showed particular concern over the extensive cocaine use at the hotel. In 1987, Freddie Mercury celebrated his 41st birthday at Pikes, several months after discovering that he had contracted HIV. Mercury sought much comfort at the retreat, and was a close friend of Pike. The party, held on 5 September 1987, has been described as "the most incredible example of excess the Mediterranean island had ever seen", and "the most lavish party even Pike had ever thrown." It has been cited as a legendary party, with a celebrity guest list of some 500 people and up to 700 people in total which included Julio Iglesias, Grace Jones, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kylie Minogue, Nigel Benn, Anthony Quinn, Bon Jovi, Boy George, Five Star, Tony Curtis, Robert Plant, Naomi Campbell, and Spandau Ballet. A notable feature of the party was its thousands of gold and black helium balloons which reportedly took three days to inflate, and a grand firework display at the end which was reported to have been seen on Majorca. 350 bottles of Moet & Chandon champagne, and a cake in the shape of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Cathedral were provided for the party, although the original cake collapsed and was replaced with a 2-metre-long sponge with the notes from Mercury's song "Barcelona". The bill, which included 232 broken glasses, was presented to Queen's manager, Jim Beach.
By the 1990s the hotel was beginning to lose its reputation and a slow decline in popularity began. In 1998, Pike had put the hotel up for sale. He signed a deal to sell it to the Italian TV producer Enrico Forti. His son, Anthony Dale Pike, flew to Miami to deal with Forti in person, since Tony had been diagnosed with AIDS-related dementia. Dale was killed on February 15, 1998, shot twice in the head and dumped in a secluded forest at Virginia Key beach. The police arrested and questioned Tony's longtime friend and Forti's neighbor, Thomas Heinz Knott, who was later convicted of running up \$90,000 on Tony Pike's credit cards. In June 2000, Forti was convicted of murdering Anthony Dale Pike in Miami. Forti is now serving a lifetime prison sentence at the Everglades Correctional Institution in Florida. In Italy the verdict has been viewed as a miscarriage of justice, because of the lack of a valid motive and solid proof.
Pike estimated that the hotel was worth \$5 million (£3.2 million) in 2002. He later sold it to Ibiza Rocks in 2008. A television documentary, screened on Sky Living that same year, also showed him and the hotel in an unfavourable light, and it appeared to be living on its past reputation.
In the summer of 2011, Pikes Hotel was re-launched as Ibiza Rocks House at Pikes Hotel. The hotel has been restored under the ownership Andy McKay, the man behind the Ibiza Rocks, Ibiza Rocks Hotel and Mallorca Rocks brands, with new décor, whilst trying to maintain its rock'n'roll image of its most glamorous years. The new owners made Tony Pike the first full-time resident of the hotel and he lived permanently in Room 25 until his death in 2019. Ibiza Rocks publicizes the hotel and its chain as "After sex and drugs, comes rock and roll." Scottish rockband Biffy Clyro and Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue stayed at the hotel during the Ibiza Rocks Festival in 2011.
## Features
Pikes Hotel is a luxury hotel, set in a 15th-century stone mansion, a finca, which was a farm for centuries. It is accessed off a long lane leading off the main road from Sant Antoni de Portmany. Stuart Husband of The Independent describes Pikes Hotel as "a notorious Ibiza hotel where anything goes". It is considered to be one of the most famous or infamous hotels on the island and has been cited as one of the "world's true spiritual homes of rock n’ roll hedonism". Iain Stewart of The Rough Guide to Ibiza considers Pikes Hotel to be an "almost legendary, relaxed and idiosyncratic rural hotel, popular with visiting celebrities". Anthony himself said: "it's been claimed we break every law, but I wouldn't be in business if that was the case." Boy George referred to Pike as the "Hugh Hefner of Ibiza".
Pikes Hotel has 26 rooms with king-sized beds, one restaurant named Room 39 which has received much critical acclaim, and two bars. As of 2009 it costs £157 to stay at the hotel. The rooms retain the sense of the original farmhouse, and are furnished in the Moroccan style with some heavy dark wood furnishings. The rooms each have different themes, including "Honeysuckle" and "Sunset", the latter of which is set behind the middle of three dark wood doors on the second floor of a small outhouse. According to author Stephen Armstrong, this room had a "modest sitting room with a huge antique mirror, plush sofas and a CD player which didn't work". The bedroom was enormous, and the bathroom was decorated in a vaguely Moroccan style with a curtained bath nestling behind a low arch.
A wide range of entertainment is put on at the hotel, from flamenco shows to costume balls. The hotel also offers a VIP card to visitors to many of the notable clubs, bars, and casinos in the town. The garden has a memorial to Anthony Dale Pike (1955-1998), which says, "In loving memory of eldest son Dale. Here a portion of his ashes are laid to rest while the remainder flow within the currents of his beloved Pacific Ocean. May his spirit strive no more but rest within this tree in peace and tranquility. I loved you, my son."
|
[
"## History",
"## Features"
] | 1,923 | 6,637 |
3,317,021 |
Bart's Inner Child
| 1,149,917,033 | null |
[
"1993 American television episodes",
"Cultural depictions of James Brown",
"James Brown",
"The Simpsons (season 5) episodes"
] |
"Bart's Inner Child" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 11, 1993. In the episode, Marge — realizing her excessive nagging spoils the family's fun — seeks help from self-help guru Brad Goodman. He praises Bart's irreverent attitude and encourages his followers to emulate Bart's care-free antics. Soon everyone in Springfield starts to act like Bart, who feels that his role as a troublemaker is usurped. After the inaugural "Do What You Feel Festival" ends in calamity and a riot, the town decides to stop acting like Bart.
The episode was written by George Meyer and directed by Bob Anderson — his first time directing the show. Actor Albert Brooks guest stars in the episode as Brad Goodman, a self-help guru modelled after John Bradshaw. It was Brooks' third of ten appearances in the Simpsons franchise. Singer James Brown guest stars as himself; he sings his 1965 song "I Got You (I Feel Good)". In 2006, Brooks was named the best Simpsons guest star by IGN, while Brown's appearance has been described as "hilariously over-the-top".
The episode features cultural references to several films, television shows, and songs, including the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, Scott Joplin's piano rag "The Entertainer", and the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons.
In its original broadcast, "Bart's Inner Child" finished 40th in the weekly ratings with a Nielsen rating of 11.8, and was viewed in 11.12 million households.
## Plot
Krusty gives a free trampoline to Homer, who places it in the Simpsons' backyard. Bart and Lisa are thrilled, but Marge frets it may be dangerous. Homer ignores her fretting and charges neighbors a fee to use it. When scores of people are injured, Homer heeds Marge's advice to get rid of the trampoline. After several failed attempts to dispose of it, Bart suggests chaining it to a pole to tempt thieves with the challenge of stealing it. Soon Snake breaks the chain and takes it.
Although he agrees Marge was right about the trampoline, Homer argues that he is at least willing to go out and try new things while she is considered a bore who nags too much. When Bart and Lisa agree with Homer's assessment, Marge is angrier and visits Patty and Selma. They show her an infomercial featuring self-help guru Brad Goodman to help conquer her chronic nagging. After Marge and Homer watch a Brad Goodman video, they learn to express their frustrations with each other using self-help language and get along better.
The Simpsons attend a Brad Goodman lecture, hoping they will learn how to curb Bart's unruly behavior. When Bart interrupts the lecture, Brad Goodman, who acts more like a director than a psychiatrist, praises him as an example of a well-adjusted person and encourages the town to adopt Bart's irreverent and carefree attitude. Soon the whole town begins to act like Bart, doing whatever they please while ignoring the consequences. However, Bart becomes downhearted when he feels as if his reputation as a troublemaker has been usurped.
To celebrate their new-found attitude, the town holds a "Do What You Feel Festival". It goes awry because maintenance workers "didn't feel like" erecting the stage or installing amusement rides properly. A runaway Ferris wheel smashes the gates of a zoo, sending a stampede of wild animals through the streets. Soon a riot starts because everyone has learned to say whatever they are thinking, regardless of its effect on others. Blaming Bart for starting the whole "Do What You Feel" fiasco, a mob chases him. Using a parade float, Homer saves him. The town gives up the chase despite the float's slow speed. The Simpsons return home and conclude that everyone is fine the way they are.
## Production
"Bart's Inner Child" was written by George Meyer and directed by Bob Anderson. It was Anderson's directorial debut on The Simpsons. Meyer's inspiration for the episode came from the fact that he was going through therapy at the time and he thought it would be a good idea "to send up these self-help gurus".
Actor Albert Brooks guest starred in the episode as Brad Goodman. It was Brooks' third appearance on the show after playing Jacques in "Life on the Fast Lane" and Cowboy Bob in "The Call of the Simpsons". He would later guest star as Hank Scorpio in "You Only Move Twice", Tab Spangler in "The Heartbroke Kid", and Russ Cargill in The Simpsons Movie. Executive producer David Mirkin describes Brooks as "really weird to direct" because "almost every one of his takes is flawless, but each one has different material. He makes up the stuff as he goes." He uses a combination of the jokes in the script and his own material and because many of his takes are different, it is difficult for the producers to decide which lines to use. Goodman was based on the American self-help author John Bradshaw, who popularized such psychological ideas as the "wounded inner child" and the dysfunctional family.
Singer James Brown guest stars as himself. Brown makes an appearance at the "Do What You Feel" festival, during which he sings his 1965 song "I Got You (I Feel Good)". After a bandstand collapses, he proclaims "Hey, wait a minute, hold on here! This bandstand wasn't double-bolted!" He described the experience as "good, clean, and humorous. And we need more of that around." According to Mirkin, the writers like to give guest stars awkward lines that then sound funny coming from them. They knew Brown would not be "the greatest actor in the world" but still "gave him these incredibly hilarious, stiff lines that killed." Mirkin described Brown's line as "horrible" but because of Brown's reading, "you have something that just sounds perfectly wrong and it makes it funny." In his book Planet Simpson, Chris Turner describes Brown's performance as "hilariously over-the-top" and uses it as an example of how the early seasons of the show would include celebrity cameos and not point out the "enormity of their fame".
## Cultural references
The episode features cultural references to several films, television shows, and songs. The scene with a field full of injured children from the trampoline is a reference to the field of injured soldiers shot in the film Gone with the Wind. There is a sequence of Homer trying to push the trampoline off of a cliff, but once he pushes it over the edge, it lands on a pillar of rock and bounces back up. This is a reference to the Chuck Jones-directed Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner Looney Tunes cartoons. The background imitates the desert landscape from the cartoons. At church, Reverend Lovejoy attempts to play the classic rag "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin on the organ.
## Reception
### Critical reception
In 2006, Albert Brooks was named the best Simpsons guest star by IGN, who said he "captivate[s] the audience with his unique characters".
In Planet Simpson, Chris Turner also praised Brooks' performance, writing that "Brooks went for a subtle, slow-burn lampoon rather than broad caricature: his Goodman doesn't ooze insincerity, he just lightly dribbles it. [...] Through a dozen little touches, Brooks created a timeless Simpsons character." Turner described the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner homage as "one of the show's most overt and inspired tributes to the Warner cartoons."
Today'''s Patrick Enwright listed the episode as his ninth favorite in the show in 2007, saying it "brilliantly skewers new-agey self-help gurus" and adding that "it's also noteworthy for clever pop-cultural references."
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, described it as "A very bizarre episode in which everyone just has a good time."
DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson wrote: "A certified classic, 'Child' mocks the self-help field and makes a good point along the way. Of course, it does all this with scads of clever moments and becomes a great show. As one who works in psychology, it's hard to resist this program's spoofery."
Patrick Bromley of DVD Verdict gave the episode a grade of B+ and described Homer's escapades with the trampoline as "the episode's brightest spot."
Bill Gibron of DVD Talk gave the episode a score of 4.5 out of 5.
### Ratings
In its original broadcast, "Bart's Inner Child" finished 40th in the weekly ratings during the week of November 8–14, 1993 with a Nielsen rating of 11.8, and was viewed in 11.12 million households. It was the highest-rated show on Fox that week.
|
[
"## Plot",
"## Production",
"## Cultural references",
"## Reception",
"### Critical reception",
"### Ratings"
] | 1,883 | 17,396 |
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