title: The Crystal Palace

text: In 1868, the world's first aeronautical exhibition was held in the Crystal Palace. In 1871, the world's first cat show, organised by Harrison Weir, was held there. Other shows, such as dog shows, pigeon shows, honey, flower shows, as well as the first national motor show were also held at the Palace. The match which later has been dubbed the world's first bandy match was held at the Palace in 1875; at the time, the game was called "hockey on the ice". The new site was also the location of one of Charles Spurgeon's sermons, without amplification, before a crowd of 23,654 people on 7 October 1857.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: In 1895, the African Exhibition at the Crystal Palace included African animals, birds and reptiles, and a group of eighty Somalis. In 1905, the Colonial and Indian Exhibition took place and is reported to have been larger and more popular than the African Exhibition and the most direct forerunner of the 1911 Festival of Empire.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: A colourful description of a visit to the Crystal Palace appears in John Davidson's poem "The Crystal Palace", published in 1909.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: In 1909, Robert Baden-Powell first noticed the interest of girls in Scouting while attending a Boy Scout meeting at Crystal Palace. This observation later led to the formation of Girl Guides, then Girl Scouts.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: In 1911, the Festival of Empire was held at the Palace to mark the coronation of George V and Queen Mary. Large pavilions were built for and by the Dominions; that for Canada, for example, replicated the Parliament in Ottawa. A good record of the Festival is provided by the photogravure plates in the sale catalogue published shortly afterwards by Knight, Frank and Rutley and Horne & Co "The Crystal Palace Sydenham To be sold at auction on Tuesday 28th November" (London, 1911)


title: The Crystal Palace

text: During the First World War, it was used as a naval training establishment, under the name of HMS "Victory VI", informally known as HMS "Crystal Palace". More than 125,000 men from the Royal Naval Division, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and Royal Naval Air Service were trained for war at "Victory VI".


title: The Crystal Palace

text: Towards the end of the First War World War, the Crystal Palace re-opened as the site of the first Imperial War Museum; in 1920, this major initiative was fully launched with a program as the 'Imperial War Museum and Great Victory Exhibition Crystal Palace' (published by Photocrom). A few years later, the Imperial War Museum moved to South Kensington, and then in the 1930s to its present site Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, formerly Bedlam.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: The development of ground and gardens of the park cost considerably more than the rebuilt Crystal Palace. Edward Milner designed the Italian Garden and fountains, the Great Maze, and the English Landscape Garden. Raffaele Monti was hired to design and build much of the external statuary around the fountain basins, and the urns, tazzas and vases.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: The sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins was commissioned to make 33 lifesized models of the (then) newly discovered dinosaurs and other extinct animals in the park. The Palace and its park became the location of many shows, concerts and exhibitions, as well as sporting events after the construction of various sports grounds on the site. The FA Cup Final was held here between 1895 and 1914. On the new site were also various buildings that housed educational establishments such as the Crystal Palace School of Art, Science, and Literature as well as engineering schools.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: Joseph Paxton was first and foremost a gardener, and his layout of gardens, fountains, terraces and cascades left no doubt as to his ability. One thing he did have a problem with was water supply. Such was his enthusiasm that thousands of gallons of water were needed to feed the myriad fountains and cascades abounding in the Park: the two main jets were high. Water towers were duly constructed, but the weight of water in the raised tanks caused them to collapse.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: Isambard Kingdom Brunel was consulted and came up with plans for two mighty water towers, one at the north end of the building and one at the south. Each supported a tremendous load of water, which was gathered from three reservoirs, at either end of and in the middle of the park. The grand fountains and cascades were opened, again in the presence of the Queen, who got wet when a gust of wind swept mists of spray over the royal carriage.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: While the original Palace cost £150,000 (equivalent to £ in ), the move to Sydenham cost £1,300,000—(£ in ), burdening the company with a debt it never repaid. This was partly because admission fees were depressed by the inability to cater for Sunday visitors in its early years: many people worked every day except Sunday, when the Palace was closed. The Lord's Day Observance Society held that people should not be encouraged to work at the Palace on Sunday, and that if people wanted to visit, then their employers should give them time off during the working week. The Palace was eventually opened on Sundays by 1860, and it was recorded that 40,000 visitors came on a Sunday in May 1861.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: By the 1890s, the Palace's popularity and state of repair had deteriorated; the appearance of stalls and booths had made it a much more downmarket attraction.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: In the years after the Festival of Empire the building fell into disrepair, as the huge debt and maintenance costs became unsustainable, and in 1911, bankruptcy was declared. In 1911 the Earl of Plymouth bought it for £230,000 () to save it from the developers with the understanding that a fund raised by the Lord Mayor of London would reimburse him. The mayor announced in 1913 that £90,000 was still required in addition to the money already raised by local authorities.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: "The Times" held an appeal, and the amount was raised in 13 days; £30,000 was contributed by an unknown individual. Camberwell Borough Council refused to contribute and Penge Urban District Council reduced their contribution from £20,000 to £5,000. The Earl of Plymouth made up the resulting deficit, some £30,000 less than the amount he originally paid.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: In the 1920s, a board of trustees was set up under the guidance of manager Sir Henry Buckland. He is said to have been a firm but fair man, who had a great love for the Crystal Palace, and soon set about restoring the deteriorating building. The restoration not only brought visitors back, but also meant that the Palace started to make a small profit once more. Buckland and his staff also worked on improving the fountains and gardens, including the Thursday evening displays of fireworks by Brocks.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: On the evening of 30 November 1936, Sir Henry Buckland was walking his dog near the Palace with his daughter Crystal, named after the building, when they noticed a red glow within it. When Sir Henry went inside, he found two of his employees fighting a small office fire that had started after an explosion in the women's cloakroom. Realising that it was a serious fire, they called the Penge fire brigade. Although 89 fire engines and over 400 firemen arrived, they were unable to extinguish it.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: Within hours, the Palace was destroyed: the glow was visible across eight counties. The fire spread quickly in the high winds that night, in part because of the dry old timber flooring, and the huge quantity of flammable materials in the building. Buckland said, "In a few hours we have seen the end of the Crystal Palace. Yet it will live in the memories not only of Englishmen, but the whole world". One-hundred thousand people came to Sydenham Hill to watch the blaze, among them Winston Churchill, who said, "This is the end of an age".


title: The Crystal Palace

text: Just as in 1866, when the north transept burnt down, the building was not adequately insured to cover the cost of rebuilding (at least £2 million).


title: The Crystal Palace

text: The South Tower and much of the lower level of the Palace had been used for tests by television pioneer John Logie Baird for his mechanical television experiments, and much of his work was destroyed in the fire. Baird himself is reported to have suspected the fire was a deliberate act of sabotage against his work on developing television, but the true cause remains unknown.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: All that was left standing after the 1936 fire were the two water towers and a section of the north end of the main nave which was too badly damaged to be saved. The south tower to the right of the Crystal Palace entrance was taken down shortly after the fire, as the damage sustained had undermined its integrity and presented a major risk to houses nearby. Thos. W. Ward Ltd., Sheffield, dismantled the Crystal Palace.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: The north tower was demolished with explosives in 1941. No reason was given for its removal – it was rumoured that it was to remove a landmark for German aircraft in the Second World War. In fact Luftwaffe bombers actually navigated their way to Central London by tracking the River Thames. The Crystal Palace grounds were also used as a manufacturing base for aircraft radar screens and other hi-tech equipment of the time. This remained a secret until well after the war.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: After the destruction of the Palace, the High Level Branch station fell into disuse, and was finally shut in 1954.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: After the war the site was used for a number of purposes. Between 1927 and 1972, the Crystal Palace motor racing circuit was located in the park, supported by the Greater London Council, but the noise was unpopular with nearby residents and racing hours were soon regulated under a high court judgment. The Crystal Palace transmitting station was built on the former Aquarium site in the mid-1950s and still serves as one of London's main television transmission masts.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: In northern corner of the park is the Crystal Palace Bowl, a natural amphitheatre where large-scale open-air summer concerts have been held since the 1960s. These have ranged from classical and orchestral music, to rock, pop, blues and reggae. The likes of Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, Elton John, Eric Clapton and the Beach Boys all played the Bowl during its heyday. The stage was rebuilt in 1997 with an award-winning permanent structure designed by Ian Ritchie.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: The Bowl has been inactive as a music venue for several years and the stage has fallen into a state of disrepair, but as of March 2020 London Borough of Bromley Council are working with a local action group to find "creative and community-minded business proposals to reactivate the cherished concert platform".


title: The Crystal Palace

text: In 2020 the base and foundation of the south tower were given historic status. They are located near the Crystal Palace Museum on Anerley Hill, which is dedicated to the history of the building.


title: The Crystal Palace

text: The Crystal Palace was used several times in Russian Literature as a symbol of progress or utopian rationality. Nikolay Chernyshevsky did so in his novel "What Is to Be Done?".


title: The Crystal Palace

text: After a visit to London as a tourist during the Expedition of 1862, Fyodor Dostoevsky made reference to the Palace in his travelogue "Winter Notes on Summer Impressions" and in "Notes from Underground".


title: The Crystal Palace

text: "Crystal Palace" is one of the 'investitures' or meeting places of The Baker Street Irregulars, a Sherlock Holmes fan club.


title: Orange Revolution

text: The Orange Revolution () was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate aftermath of the run-off vote of the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, which was claimed to be marred by massive corruption, voter intimidation and electoral fraud. Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, was the focal point of the movement's campaign of civil resistance, with thousands of protesters demonstrating daily. Nationwide, the revolution was highlighted by a series of acts of civil disobedience, sit-ins, and general strikes organized by the opposition movement.


title: Orange Revolution

text: The protests were prompted by reports from several domestic and foreign election monitors as well as the widespread public perception that the results of the run-off vote of 21 November 2004 between leading candidates Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych were rigged by the authorities in favour of the latter. The nationwide protests succeeded when the results of the original run-off were annulled, and a revote was ordered by Ukraine's Supreme Court for 26 December 2004. Under intense scrutiny by domestic and international observers, the second run-off was declared to be "free and fair". The final results showed a clear victory for Yushchenko, who received about 52% of the vote, compared to Yanukovych's 45%. Yushchenko was declared the official winner and with his inauguration on 23 January 2005 in Kyiv, the Orange Revolution ended. In the following years, the Orange Revolution had a negative connotation among pro-government circles in Belarus and Russia.


title: Orange Revolution

text: In the 2010 presidential election, Yanukovych became Yushchenko's successor as President of Ukraine after the Central Election Commission and international observers declared that the presidential election was conducted fairly. Yanukovych was ousted from power four years later following the February 2014 Euromaidan clashes in Kyiv's Independence Square. Unlike the bloodless Orange Revolution, these protests resulted in more than 100 deaths, occurring mostly between 18 and 20 February 2014.


title: Orange Revolution

text: Georgiy Gongadze, a Ukrainian journalist and the founder of "Ukrayinska Pravda" (a newspaper well known for publicising the corruption or unethical conduct of Ukrainian politicians) was kidnapped and murdered in 2000. Though no one accused Ukrainian President Kuchma of personally murdering him, persistent rumours suggested that the President had ordered the killing. Gen. Oleksiy Pukach, a former police officer, was accused of the murder under the orders of a former minister who committed suicide in 2005. Pukach was arrested in 2010 and was sentenced to life in prison in 2013. This murder sparked a movement against Kuchma in 2000 that can be seen as the origin of the Orange Revolution in 2004. After two terms of presidency (1994-1999) and the Cassette Scandal of 2000 that ruined his image irreparably, Kuchma decided not to run for a third term in the 2004 elections and instead supported Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in the presidential race against Viktor Yushchenko of the Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc.


title: Orange Revolution

text: The state of Ukraine during the 2004 presidential election is considered an "ideal condition" for an outburst from the public. During this time Ukrainians were impatient while waiting for the economic and political transformation. The results of the election were thought to be fraudulent.


title: Orange Revolution

text: The Revolution empowered many Ukrainians to take to the streets and participate in the protests, some lasting as long as seventeen days. The protests did not have national participation, but mostly was joined by western and central Ukrainians. Ukraine gained independence in 1995 and it was the quest for that independence that supported the Orange Revolution. Ukrainians for the most part did not want to be associated with the past of the Soviet Union. The Austro-Hungarian roots in eastern Europes area helped shape Ukrainians national identity.


title: Orange Revolution

text: The Ukrainian regime that was in power before the Orange Revolution created a path for a democratic society to emerge. It was based on a "competitive authoritarian regime" that is considered a "hybrid regime", allowing for a democracy and market economy to come to life. The election fraud emphasised the Ukrainian citizens' desire for a more pluralistic type of government.


title: Orange Revolution

text: The Cassette Scandal sparked the public's desire to create a social reform movement. It not only undermined the peoples' respect for Kuchma as a president but also for the elite ruling class in general. Because of Kuchma's scandalous behaviour, he lost many of his supporters with high ranking government positions. Many of the government officials who were on his side went on to fully support the election campaign of Yushchenko as well as his ideas in general.


title: Orange Revolution

text: After a clear lack of faith in the government had been instilled in the Ukrainian population, Yushchenko's role had never been more important to the revolution. Yushchenko was a charismatic candidate who showed no signs of being corrupt. Yuschenko was on the same level as his constituents and presented his ideas in a "non-Soviet" way. Young Ukrainian voters were extremely important to the outcome of the 2004 Presidential election. This new wave of younger people had different views of the main figures in Ukraine. They were exposed to a lot of negativity from the Kuchmagate and therefore had very skewed visions about Kuchma and his ability to lead their country.


title: Orange Revolution

text: The abundance of younger people who participated showed an increasing sense of nationalism that was developing in the country. The Orange Revolution had enough popular impact that it interested people of all ages.


title: Orange Revolution

text: In late 2002, Viktor Yushchenko (Our Ukraine), Oleksandr Moroz (Socialist Party of Ukraine), Petro Symonenko (Communist Party of Ukraine) and Yulia Tymoshenko (Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc) issued a joint statement concerning "the beginning of a state revolution in Ukraine". The communists left the alliance: Symonenko opposed the idea of a single candidate from the alliance in the Ukrainian presidential election of 2004; but the other three parties remained allies until July 2006. (In the autumn of 2001 both Tymoshenko and Yushchenko had broached the idea of setting up such a coalition.)


title: Orange Revolution

text: On 2 July 2004 Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc established the "Force of the People", a coalition which aimed to stop "the destructive process that has, as a result of the incumbent authorities, become a characteristic for Ukraine" - at the time President Leonid Kuchma and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych were the "incumbent authorities" in Ukraine. The pact included a promise by Viktor Yushchenko to nominate Tymoshenko as Prime Minister if Yushchenko won the October 2004 presidential election.


title: Orange Revolution

text: The election took place in a highly charged atmosphere, with the Yanukovych team and the outgoing president's administration using their control of the government and state apparatus for intimidation of Yushchenko and his supporters. In September 2004 Yushchenko suffered dioxin poisoning under mysterious circumstances. While he survived and returned to the campaign trail, the poisoning undermined his health and altered his appearance dramatically (his face remains disfigured by the consequences ).


title: Orange Revolution

text: The two main candidates were neck and neck in the first-round vote held on 31 October 2004, winning 39.32% (Yanukovych) and 39.87% (Yushchenko) of the votes cast. The candidates who came third and fourth collected much less: Oleksandr Moroz of the Socialist Party of Ukraine and Petro Symonenko of the Communist Party of Ukraine received 5.82% and 4.97%, respectively. Since no candidate had won more than 50% of the cast ballots, Ukrainian law mandated a run-off vote between two leading candidates. After the announcement of the run-off, Oleksandr Moroz threw his support behind Viktor Yushchenko. The Progressive Socialist Party's Natalia Vitrenko, who won 1.53% of the vote, endorsed Yanukovych, who hoped for Petro Simonenko's endorsement but did not receive it.


title: Orange Revolution

text: In the wake of the first round of the election, many complaints emerged regarding voting irregularities in favour of the government-supported Yanukovych. However, as it was clear that neither nominee was close enough to collect an outright majority in the first round, challenging the initial result would not have affected the outcome of the round. So the complaints were not actively pursued and both candidates concentrated on the upcoming run-off, scheduled for 21 November.


title: Orange Revolution

text: Pora! activists were arrested in October 2004, but the release of many (reportedly on President Kuchma's personal order) gave growing confidence to the opposition.


title: Orange Revolution

text: Yushchenko's supporters originally adopted orange as the signifying colour of his election campaign. Later, the colour gave its name to an entire series of political labels, such as "the Oranges" ("Pomaranchevi" in Ukrainian) for his political camp and its supporters. At the time when the mass protests grew, and especially when they brought about political change in the country, the term "Orange Revolution" came to represent the entire series of events.


title: Orange Revolution

text: In view of the success of using colour as a symbol to mobilise supporters, the Yanukovych camp chose blue for themselves.


title: Orange Revolution

text: Protests began on the eve of the second round of voting, as the official count differed markedly from exit poll results which gave Yushchenko up to an 11% lead, while official results gave the election win to Yanukovych by 3%. While Yanukovych supporters have claimed that Yushchenko's connections to the Ukrainian media explain this disparity, the Yushchenko team publicised evidence of many incidents of electoral fraud in favour of the government-backed Yanukovych, witnessed by many local and foreign observers. These accusations were reinforced by similar allegations, though at a lesser scale, during the first presidential run of 31 October.


title: Orange Revolution

text: The Yushchenko campaign publicly called for protest on the dawn of election day, 21 November 2004, when allegations of fraud began to spread in the form of leaflets printed and distributed by the 'Democratic Initiatives' foundation, announcing that Yushchenko had won – on the basis of its exit poll. Beginning on 22 November 2004, massive protests started in cities across Ukraine: the largest, in Kyiv's Maidan Nezalezhnosti "(Independence Square)", attracted an estimated 500,000 participants, who on 23 November 2004, peacefully marched in front of the headquarters of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, many wearing orange or carrying orange flags, the colour of Yushchenko's campaign coalition. One of the most prominent activists of that time was Paraska Korolyuk, subsequently bestowed with the Order of Princess Olga. From 22 November Pora! undertook the management of the protests in Kyiv until the end of the demonstration.


title: Orange Revolution

text: The local councils in Kyiv, Lviv, and several other cities passed, with the wide popular support of their constituency, a largely symbolic refusal to accept the legitimacy of the official election results, and Yushchenko took a symbolic presidential oath. This "oath" taken by Yushchenko in half-empty parliament chambers, lacking the quorum as only the Yushchenko-leaning factions were present, could not have any legal effect. But it was an important symbolic gesture meant to demonstrate the resolve of the Yushchenko campaign not to accept the compromised election results. In response, Yushchenko's opponents denounced him for taking an illegitimate oath, and even some of his moderate supporters were ambivalent about this act, while a more radical side of the Yushchenko camp demanded him to act even more decisively. Some observers argued that this symbolic presidential oath might have been useful to the Yushchenko camp should events have taken a more confrontational route. In such a scenario, this "presidential oath" Yushchenko took could be used to lend legitimacy to the claim that he, rather than his rival who tried to gain the presidency through alleged fraud, was a true commander-in-chief authorised to give orders to the military and security agencies.


title: Orange Revolution

text: At the same time, local officials in Eastern and Southern Ukraine, the stronghold of Viktor Yanukovych, started a series of actions alluding to the possibility of the breakup of Ukraine or an extra-constitutional federalisation of the country, should their candidate's claimed victory not be recognised. Demonstrations of public support for Yanukovych were held throughout Eastern Ukraine and some of his supporters arrived in Kyiv. In Kyiv the pro-Yanukovych demonstrators were far outnumbered by Yushchenko supporters, whose ranks were continuously swelled by new arrivals from many regions of Ukraine. The scale of the demonstrations in Kyiv was unprecedented. By many estimates, on some days they drew up to one million people to the streets, in freezing weather.


title: Orange Revolution

text: In total 18.4% of Ukrainians have claimed to have taken part in the Orange Revolution (across Ukraine).


title: Orange Revolution

text: Although Yushchenko entered into negotiations with outgoing President Leonid Kuchma in an effort to peacefully resolve the situation, the negotiations broke up on 24 November 2004. Yanukovych was officially certified as the victor by the Central Election Commission, which itself was allegedly involved in falsification of electoral results by withholding the information it was receiving from local districts and running a parallel illegal computer server to manipulate the results. The next morning after the certification took place, Yushchenko spoke to supporters in Kyiv, urging them to begin a series of mass protests, general strikes and sit-ins with the intent of crippling the government and forcing it to concede defeat.


title: Orange Revolution

text: In view of the threat of illegitimate government acceding to power, Yushchenko's camp announced the creation of the "Committee of National Salvation" which declared a nationwide political strike.


title: Orange Revolution

text: On 1 December 2004, the Verkhovna Rada passed a resolution that strongly condemned pro-separatist and federalisation actions, and passed a non-confidence vote in the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, a decision Prime Minister Yanukovych refused to recognise. By the Constitution of Ukraine, the non-confidence vote mandated the government's resignation, but the parliament had no means to enforce a resignation without the co-operation of Prime Minister Yanukovych and outgoing President Kuchma.


title: Orange Revolution

text: On 3 December 2004, Ukraine's Supreme Court finally broke the political deadlock. The court decided that due to the scale of the electoral fraud it became impossible to establish the election results. Therefore, it invalidated the official results that would have given Yanukovych the presidency. As a resolution, the court ordered a revote of the run-off to be held on 26 December 2004. This decision was seen as a victory for the Yushchenko camp while Yanukovych and his supporters favoured a rerun of the entire election rather than just the run-off, as a second-best option if Yanukovych was not awarded the presidency. On 8 December 2004 the parliament amended laws to provide a legal framework for the new round of elections. The parliament also approved the changes to the Constitution, implementing a political reform backed by outgoing President Kuchma as a part of a political compromise between the acting authorities and opposition.


title: Orange Revolution

text: In November 2009 Yanukovych stated that although his victory in the elections was "taken away", he gave up this victory in order to avoid bloodshed. "I didn't want mothers to lose their children and wives their husbands. I didn't want dead bodies from Kyiv to flow down the Dnipro. I didn't want to assume power through bloodshed."


title: Orange Revolution

text: The 26 December revote was held under the intense scrutiny by local and international observers. The preliminary results, announced by the Central Election Commission on 18 December, gave Yushchenko and Yanukovych 51.99% and 44.20% of the total vote which represented a change in the vote by +5.39% to Yushchenko and −5.27% from Yanukovych respectively when compared to the November poll. The Yanukovych team attempted to mount a fierce legal challenge to the election results using both the Ukrainian courts and the Election Commission complaint procedures. However, all their complaints were dismissed as without merit by both the Supreme Court of Ukraine and the Central Election Commission. On 10 January 2005 the Election Commission officially declared Yushchenko as the winner of the presidential election with the final results falling within 0.01% of the preliminary ones. This Election Commission announcement cleared the way for Yushchenko's inauguration as the President of Ukraine. The official ceremony took place in the Verkhovna Rada building on 23 January 2005 and was followed by the "public inauguration" of the newly sworn President at Maidan Nezalezhnosti ("Independence Square") in front of hundreds of thousands of his supporters. This event brought the Ukrainian Orange Revolution to its peaceful conclusion.


title: Orange Revolution

text: According to one version of events recounted by "The New York Times", Ukrainian security agencies played an unusual role in the Orange Revolution, with a KGB successor agency in the former Soviet state providing qualified support to the political opposition. As per the paper report, on 28 November 2004 over 10,000 MVS (Internal Ministry) troops were mobilised to put down the protests in Independence Square in Kyiv by the order of their commander, Lt. Gen. Sergei Popkov. The SBU (Security Service of Ukraine, a successor to the KGB in Ukraine) warned opposition leaders of the crackdown. Oleksander Galaka, head of GUR (military intelligence) made calls to "prevent bloodshed". Col. Gen. Ihor Smeshko (SBU chief) and Maj. Gen. Vitaly Romanchenko (military counter-intelligence chief) both claimed to have warned Popkov to pull back his troops, which he did, preventing bloodshed.


title: Orange Revolution

text: In addition to the desire to avoid bloodshed, the "New York Times" article suggests that "siloviki", as the security officers are often called in the countries of the former Soviet Union, were motivated by personal aversion to the possibility of having to serve President Yanukovych, who was in his youth convicted of robbery and assault and had alleged connection with corrupt businessmen, especially if he were to ascend to the presidency by fraud. The personal feelings of Gen. Smeshko towards Yanukovych may also have played a role. Additional evidence of Yushchenko's popularity and at least partial support among the SBU officers is shown by the fact that several embarrassing proofs of electoral fraud, including incriminating wiretap recordings of conversations among the Yanukovych campaign and government officials discussing how to rig the election, were provided to the Yushchenko camp. These conversations were likely recorded and provided to the opposition by sympathisers in the Ukrainian Security Services.


title: Orange Revolution

text: According to Abel Polese, Kuchma was concerned about its reputation in the West; because of lack of natural resources to finance his regime he had to show a commitment to democracy in order to be targeted for Western financial assistance.


title: Orange Revolution

text: Throughout the demonstrations, Ukraine's emerging Internet usage (facilitated by news sites that began to disseminate the Kuchma tapes) was an integral part of the orange revolutionary process. It has even been suggested that the Orange Revolution was the first example of an Internet-organised mass protest. Analysts believe that the Internet and mobile phones allowed an alternative media to flourish that was not subject to self-censorship or overt control by President Kuchma and his allies and pro-democracy activists (such as Pora!) were able to use mobile phones and the Internet to coordinate election monitoring and mass protests.


title: Orange Revolution

text: As part of the Orange Revolution, the Ukrainian constitution was changed to shift powers from the presidency to the parliament. This was Oleksandr Moroz's price for his decisive role in winning Yushchenko the presidency. The Communists also supported these measures. These came into effect in 2006 during which Yanukovych's Party of Regions won the parliamentary election, creating a coalition government with the Socialists and the Communists under his leadership. As a result, President Viktor Yushchenko had to deal with a powerful Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych who had control of many important portfolios. His premiership ended in late 2007 after Yushchenko had succeeded in his months-long attempt to dissolve parliament. After the election, Yanukovych's party again was the largest, but Tymoshenko's finished far ahead of Yushchenko's for second place. The Orange parties won a very narrow majority, permitting a new government under Tymoshenko, but Yushchenko's political decline continued to his poor showing in the 2010 presidential election.


title: Orange Revolution

text: On 1 October 2010, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine overturned the 2004 amendments, considering them unconstitutional.


title: Orange Revolution

text: A Circuit administrative court in Kyiv forbade mass actions at Maidan Nezalezhnosti from 9 January 2010 to 5 February 2010. The Mayor's office had requested this in order to avoid "nonstandard situations" during the aftermath of the 2010 presidential election. Apparently (in particular) the Party of Regions, All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" and Svoboda had applied for a permit to demonstrate there. Incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko got a dismal 5.45% of votes during the election.


title: Orange Revolution

text: "Ukraine is a European democratic country", said Yushchenko in a sort of political will at the polling station. "It is a free nation and free people." According to him, this is one of the great achievements of the Orange Revolution.


title: Orange Revolution

text: In the 2010 presidential election Viktor Yanukovych was declared the winner which was labeled by some Yanukovych supporters as "an end to this Orange nightmare". Immediately after his election Yanukovych promised to "clear the debris of misunderstanding and old problems that emerged during the years of the Orange power". According to influential Party of Regions member Rinat Akhmetov the ideals of the Orange Revolution won at the 2010 election "We had a fair and democratic independent election. The entire world recognised it, and international observers confirmed its results. That's why the ideals of the Orange Revolution won". According to Yulia Tymoshenko the 2010 elections were a missed "chance to become a worthy member of the European family and to put an end to the rule of the oligarchy".


title: Orange Revolution

text: President Viktor Yushchenko decreed in 2005 that 22 November (the starting day of the Orange Revolution) will be a non-public holiday "Day of Freedom". This date was moved to 22 January (and merged with Unification Day) by President Viktor Yanukovych late December 2011. President Yanukovych stated he moved "Day of Freedom" because of "numerous appeals from the public".


title: Orange Revolution

text: Outright vote rigging diminished after the 2004 presidential election. No officials involved in the 2004 elections that preceded the Orange Revolution were convicted for election fraud.


title: Orange Revolution

text: A 2007 research revealed that opinion about the nature of the Orange Revolution had barely shifted since 2004 and that the attitudes about it in the country remained divided along the same largely geographical lines that it had been at the time of the revolution (West and Central Ukraine being more positive about the events and South and Eastern Ukraine more cynical (seniors also)). This research (also) showed that Ukrainians in total had a less positive view on the Orange Revolution in 2007 than they had in 2005. It has been suggested that since the Orange Revolution was impactful enough to interest people of all ages it increased the overall unity of Ukraine.


title: Orange Revolution

text: During the elections campaign of the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election the Party of Regions' campaign focused heavily on (what they called) "the chaos and ruins of 5 years of orange leadership".


title: Orange Revolution

text: In March 2005 Ukrainian Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk stated that Ukraine would not be exporting revolution.


title: Orange Revolution

text: During Alexander Lukashenko's inauguration (ceremony) as President of Belarus of 22 January 2011 Lukashenko vowed that Belarus would never have its own version of the Orange Revolution and Georgia's 2003 Rose Revolution. In the aftermath of the 2011 South Ossetian presidential election (in December 2011) and during the protests following the 2011 Russian elections (also in December 2011) the Ambassador of South Ossetia to the Russian Federation Dmitry Medoyev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Putin's supporters named the Orange Revolution an infamous foreknowledge for their countries. Putin also claimed that the organisers of the Russian protests in December 2011 were former (Russian) advisors to Yushchenko during his presidency and were transferring the Orange Revolution to Russia. A 4 February 2012 rally in favor of Putin was named the "anti-Orange protest". In 2013 a Russian State Duma Oleg Nilov and former fellow Russian politician Sergey Glazyev referred to political adversaries as "different personalities in some sort of orange or bright shorts" and "diplomats and bureaucrats that appeared after the years of the 'orange' hysteria". In 2016 the Russian newspaper Izvestia claimed, "in Central Asia weak regimes are already being attacked by extremists and 'Orange Revolutions'."


title: Orange Revolution

text: In Russian nationalist circles the Orange Revolution has been linked with fascism because, albeit marginally, Ukrainian nationalist extreme right-wing groups and Ukrainian Americans (including Viktor Yushchenko's wife, Kateryna Yushchenko, who was born in the United States) were involved in the demonstrations; Russian nationalist groups see both as branches of the same tree of fascism. The involvement of Ukrainian Americans lead them to believe the Orange Revolution was steered by the CIA.


title: Axis Bank

text: Axis Bank Limited, formerly known as UTI Bank (1993–2007), is an Indian banking and financial services company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It sells financial services to large and mid-size companies, SMEs and retail businesses.


title: Axis Bank

text: As of 30 June 2016, 30.81% shares are owned by the promoters and the promoter group (United India Insurance Company Limited, Oriental Insurance Company Limited, National Insurance Company Limited, New India Assurance Company Ltd, GIC, LIC and UTI). The remaining 69.19% shares are owned by mutual funds, FIIs, banks, insurance companies, corporate bodies and individual investors.


title: Axis Bank

text: The bank was founded on 3 December 1993 as UTI Bank, opening its registered office in Ahmedabad and a corporate office in Mumbai. The bank was promoted jointly by the Administrator of the Unit Trust of India (UTI), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), General Insurance Corporation, National Insurance Company, The New India Assurance Company, The Oriental Insurance Corporation and United India Insurance Company. The first branch was inaugurated on 2 April 1994 in Ahmedabad by Manmohan Singh, then finance minister of India.


title: Axis Bank

text: In 2001 UTI Bank agreed to merge with Global Trust Bank, but the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) withheld approval and the merger did not take place. In 2004, the RBI put Global Trust under moratorium and supervised its merger with Oriental Bank of Commerce. The following year, UTI bank was listed on the London Stock Exchange. In the year 2006, UTI Bank opened its first overseas branch in Singapore. The same year it opened an office in Shanghai, China. In 2007, it opened a branch in the Dubai International Financial Centre and branches in Hong Kong.


title: Axis Bank

text: As of 12 August 2016, the bank had a network of 4,096 branches and extension counters and 12,922 ATMs.


title: Axis Bank

text: Axis Bank has the largest ATM network among private banks in India. It even operates an ATM at one of the world's highest sites at Thegu, Sikkim at a height of 4,023 meters (13,200 ft) above sea level.


title: Axis Bank

text: The bank has nine international offices with branches at Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai (at the DIFC), Shanghai, Colombo and representative offices at Dhaka, Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, which focus on corporate lending, trade finance, syndication, investment banking and liability businesses. In addition to the above, the bank has a presence in UK with its wholly owned subsidiary Axis Bank UK Limited.


title: Axis Bank

text: The bank offers lending services to individuals and small businesses, along with liability products, card services, Internet banking, automated teller machines (ATM) services, depository, financial advisory services, and Non-resident Indian (NRI) services. Axis bank is a participant in RBI's NEFT enabled participating banks list.


title: Axis Bank

text: Transaction banking: Axis Bank provides products and services related to transaction banking to customers in areas of current accounts, cash management services, capital market services, trade, foreign exchange and derivatives, cross-border trade and correspondent banking services and tax collections on behalf of the Government and various State Governments in India.


title: Axis Bank

text: Investment banking and trustee services: The bank provides investment banking and trusteeship services through its owned subsidiaries. Axis Capital Limited provides investment banking services relating to equity capital markets, institutional stock brokering besides M&A advisory. Axis Trustee Services Limited is engaged in trusteeship activities, acting as a debenture trustee and as a trustee to various securitization trusts.


title: Axis Bank

text: The bank offers corporate banking, trade finance, treasury and risk management through the branches at Singapore, Hong Kong, DIFC, Shanghai and Colombo, and also retail liability products from its branches at Hong Kong and Colombo. The representative office at Dhaka was inaugurated during the current financial year.


title: Axis Bank

text: Axis Banks's equity shares are listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). The company's global depository receipts (GDRs) are listed on the London Stock Exchange. The Bonds issued by the bank under the MTN program are listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.


title: Axis Bank

text: An Indian online magazine conducted a sting operation which was publicised along with 2013 videos evidence showing a wide range of violations and money-laundering schemes by top officials at a number of Indian banks, including Axis Bank. Consequently, penalties of on Axis Bank, on HDFC Bank, and on ICICI Bank were imposed by the Reserve Bank of India.


title: Axis Bank

text: Following the 2016 Indian Banknote Demonetisation, a number of Axis Bank employees were arrested for facilitating money laundering activities. Some media outlets highlighted the disproportionate number of cases involving the bank, and claimed that the bank's aggressive performance targets and internal culture fostered such activities and that the blame does not lie solely in the hands of arrested employees.


title: Axis Bank

text: An innovation hub located in Bengaluru has an in-house innovation team and an accelerator program. With this launch, Axis Bank became the first Indian bank to introduce a dedicated innovation lab in the country.


title: Axis Bank

text: Asha home loans targets first-time home buyers in the lower-income segment. The product offers loans from – in small towns (population less than 1 million) and up to in larger towns (population over 1 million), to customers with family incomes of – per month and above.


title: Axis Bank

text: eKYC (electronic know your customer) is an online, paperless Aadhaar card-based process for fulfilling KYC requirements to start investing in mutual funds without the submission of any documents. Axis Bank partnered with Visa Inc. to launch the 'eKYC' facility, and was the first organization in India to introduce biometrics-based KYC.


title: Axis Bank

text: Axis Capital Ltd. was incorporated in India as a wholly owned subsidiary of the bank on 6 December 2005 and received its certificate of commencement of business on 2 May 2006. Certain businesses of M/s. Enam Securities Pvt. Ltd. were merged with Axis Capital Ltd. as part of a scheme and the following companies became direct subsidiaries of Axis Capital:


title: Axis Bank

text: Axis Securities Ltd., Axis Finance Ltd. and Axis Securities Europe Ltd. later became direct subsidiaries of the bank in line with the RBI directives.


title: Axis Bank

text: Axis Securities Ltd.was incorporated in India on 21 July 2006. The sales and securities business, including the retail broking business of Axis Capital Ltd, was merged with ASL on 25 May 2013. ASL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the bank and offers retail asset products, credit cards and retail brokerage services.


title: Axis Bank

text: Axis Private Equity Ltd. was incorporated in India as a wholly owned subsidiary of the bank on 3 October 2006 and received its certificate of commencement on 4 December 2006. APE manages investments, venture capital funds and offshore funds.


title: Axis Bank

text: Axis Bank acquired Freecharge, a digital marketplace for financial services in 2017 for approximately ₹385 crore.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: Lucas Tolentino Coelho de Lima (born 27 August 1997), better known as Lucas Paquetá (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club West Ham United and the Brazil national team.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: Lucas Paquetá arrived at Flamengo in 2007 at the age of 10. At the age of 15, he was very technically skilled but did not have the physicality of other players his age (he was only 5 ft tall). By age 18, however, he had grown 27 cm (10.6 inches). With the Flamengo youth team he won the 2016 Copa São Paulo de Júniores title, the most important youth tournament in Brazil. Alongside other standout players Léo Duarte, Felipe Vizeu and Ronaldo, Lucas was promoted the club's professional team right after the competition.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: In March 2016 Paquetá got promoted to Flamengo's professional team and signed a contract extension until 2020. On 5 March 2016, Lucas debuted as a starter in a 3–1 win over Bangu in a 2016 Rio de Janeiro State League match. Paquetá scored his first professional goal on 19 February 2017 in a 4–0 victory against Madureira at the Estádio Raulino de Oliveira in Volta Redonda.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: Paquetá scored in both the 2017 Copa do Brasil final in a 1–1 draw against Cruzeiro at the Maracanã Stadium and in the 2017 Copa Sudamericana final against Independiente, also a 1–1 draw in the Maracanã. In both matches, Flamengo were defeated and were runners-up to their opponents in the competitions. In the Copa Sudamericana final, he was named the best Flamengo player in the match. He finished 2017 being considered by fans to be, alongside Juan, the highlight of Flamengo.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: In the 2018 Campeonato Carioca, Lucas Paquetá was chosen as the best left-winger of the tournament and was the only Flamengo player selected to the team of the tournament.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: On 10 October 2018, news agencies across Brazil and Italy reported that a €35M deal had been agreed between AC Milan and Flamengo for the transfer of player, beating stiff competition from French club Paris Saint-Germain.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: On 4 January 2019, the transfer was made official, with Milan announcing the player had signed a five-year contract. He chose to wear the shirt number 39. Because of his mother's Portuguese descent, he was eligible for registration as a European player.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: Paquetá made his club debut on 12 January 2019, playing 85 minutes before being replaced by Fabio Borini as Milan beat Sampdoria 2–0 in extra time in the Coppa Italia. Four days later, Paquetá played in the 2018 Supercoppa Italiana, held at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where Juventus beat Milan 1–0. On 21 January 2019, Paquetá made his Serie A debut in a 2–0 win over Genoa at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. During the match, Paquetá performed a rainbow flick over opponent Daniel Bessa, flicking the rolling ball up and propelling it over the head of his opponent. Paquetá scored his first goal for Milan in 3–0 win against Cagliari, scoring the second goal. He dedicated his goal for the victims of a fire at his old club Flamengo, all members of the under-15 team.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: On 30 September 2020, French club Lyon announced the signing of Paquetá, who signed for €20 million on a five-year contract.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: In the 21/22 season, the midfielder was elected the best foreign player in the French Championship, Ligue 1. The election was carried out by popular vote and was supported by more than 20,000 people. Paquetá, 25 years old, competed with the defender of PSG Marquinhos, the marfileño midfielder of Lens Fofana and the Canadian leader of Lille Jonathan David.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: On 29 August 2022, West Ham United announced the signing of Paquetá for a club record fee undisclosed by the club. He signed a five-year contract for a fee estimated by the BBC to be more than £50m with additional add-ons, beating the fee paid for Sebastien Haller in 2019. He made his West Ham and Premier League debut on 31 August in a 1-1 home draw against Tottenham Hotspur.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: On 1 April 2016, Paquetá was called up for the first time to represent Brazil U20 in two friendly matches in Europe. He scored his first goal in his debut in a 2–1 win against England U20 on 4 September.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: In October 2016, he was called up for the "Quadrangular de Seleções" tournament, a friendly round-robin against the U20 squads of Ecuador, Uruguay, and Chile.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: When he was 18, Paquetá was called to practice with the Brazil U23 team in preparation for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Coach Rogério Micale called some younger players born in 1997 and 1998, including Lucas, to participate in group training in hopes of them eventually competing in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: In 2018, he was selected to be one of the twelve alternatives for the Brazilian national team by coach Tite for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Of the 35 players on the 23-man roster and provisional roster, Lucas was the youngest.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: On 17 August 2018, Paquetá was called for the first time for the Brazilian national team by manager Tite to play in friendly matches against United States and El Salvador in September. On 7 September, he made his debut with the national team, coming off the bench to replace Philippe Coutinho in the 71st minute during a friendly match against the United States. On 23 March 2019, he scored his first goal in a 1–1 friendly draw against Panama, wearing Brazil's iconic No. 10 shirt. In May 2019, he was included in Brazil's 23-man squad for the 2019 Copa América.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: On 2 July 2021, in the 2021 Copa América quarter-final clash against Chile, he came on as a substitute at half-time and scored in the 47th minute to give Brazil a 1–0 win.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: On 6 July 2021, he once again scored the only goal after an assist from Neymar Junior in the semi-final against Peru.


title: Lucas Paquetá

text: Lucas has an older brother, Matheus, who also plays football. His nickname, Paquetá, refers to Paquetá Island and the eponymous neighborhood he grew up in. He is a big fan of funk carioca and sometimes imitates funk dance steps during his goal celebrations.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: Gianluigi Donnarumma (born 25 February 1999) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in world football.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: Coming through the team's youth system, Donnarumma began his career with AC Milan in 2015, becoming the second-youngest goalkeeper ever to debut in Serie A, aged 16 years and 242 days; he immediately broke into the starting line-up, earning a reputation as arguably the most promising young goalkeeper in the world at the time. In 2021, Donnarumma helped Milan secure a second-place finish in the 2020–21 Serie A and qualification for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League after an eight-year absence. He was also named Serie A's Best Goalkeeper of the Year, IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper and also won the Yashin Trophy. After six years with Milan, Donnarumma moved to Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain in June 2021 on a free transfer.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: Internationally, Donnarumma broke the record as the youngest Italian to ever play for the U21 team, aged 17 years and 28 days in March 2016. Six months later, he made his senior international debut, becoming the youngest goalkeeper ever to appear for Italy, aged 17 years and 189 days. Donnarumma represented Italy at UEFA Euro 2020, helping the team win the tournament and winning the Player of the Tournament award.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: Donnarumma grew up in the football academy of ASD Club Napoli in his native Castellammare di Stabia, which he joined in 2003. In 2013, at the age of 14, he was signed for €250,000 by AC Milan, the team for which his elder brother, Antonio, had already played. Between 2013 and 2015, he was part of the "Rossoneri" youth academy, where he always played in the age group above him, beginning with the "Giovanissimi", then the "Allievi", and finally the "Primavera". Three days before his 16th birthday, in February 2015, he received his first call-up to the senior team from manager Filippo Inzaghi; though he did not feature in the league match against Cesena, his presence on the substitutes' bench had required a special dispensation due to his age. In March 2015, Donnarumma signed his first professional contract with Milan, effective from 1 July 2015 until 30 June 2018.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: At the beginning of the 2015–16 season, Donnarumma was promoted to the senior team by manager Siniša Mihajlović, initially as the third-choice goalkeeper behind Diego López and Christian Abbiati. During Milan's pre-season tour of China, he made his debut in an International Champions Cup match against Real Madrid on 30 July. Replacing López in the 72nd minute, he kept a clean sheet for the remainder of the match, but was one of two Milan players to miss his penalty shoot-out attempt in an eventual 10–9 loss. His subsequent starting appearance against Sassuolo in the final of the TIM Trophy saw him save two penalties in the shootout to secure Milan's victory.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: Donnarumma made his competitive debut in Serie A on 25 October against Sassuolo at the San Siro stadium; chosen to start ahead of López, he helped the team achieve a 2–1 victory after three matches without a win. At the age of 16 years and 242 days, he was the second-youngest goalkeeper to start a match in the history of Italian football; 13 days older than Giuseppe Sacchi, who coincidentally made his Serie A debut with Milan on the very same date, 73 years earlier. López subsequently hailed him as "the future of Milan and of Italian football". Donnarumma kept his first clean sheet three days later in a 1–0 win against Chievo. After three successive victories featuring Donnarumma in the starting line-up, Milan avoided a defeat against Atalanta as a result of an impressive display from their goalkeeper; "Donnarumma worked miracles," commented the "Gazzetta dello Sport". His performances that year earned him a place among the top 25 of "Don Balón"s ranking of the world's best footballers under age 21.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: By the start of 2016, Donnarumma had firmly supplanted López as the first-choice goalkeeper for Milan, who subsequently offered him a revised, three-year contract. His first appearance in the "Derby della Madonnina", Milan's crosstown rivalry with Internazionale, came on 31 January; the clash ended in a 3–0 victory after he stopped Éder from scoring. In March, he was briefly hospitalised after suffering a head injury in an on-pitch collision with Chievo's Fabrizio Cacciatore. Donnarumma featured ahead of Abbiati in Milan's 1–0 defeat to Juventus in the Coppa Italia Final, as the club failed to qualify for European competition at the end of the season.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: In the club's opening league match of the 2016–17 season against Torino, on 21 August, Donnarumma saved the first penalty of his professional career; he stopped Andrea Belotti's shot in injury time, which enabled Milan to seal a 3–2 victory at home. He kept his first clean sheet of the season in the 1–0 victory against Sampdoria on 16 September. On 23 December, Donnarumma helped lead Milan to victory in the Supercoppa Italiana, saving Paulo Dybala's penalty in a 4–3 shoot-out win following a 1–1 draw after extra time. On 15 June 2017, it was initially announced that Donnarumma would not be renewing his contract with Milan, however on 11 July, after much speculation, he renewed with Milan until 2021. Under the terms of a new contract, negotiated by agent Mino Raiola on behalf of the player, Donnarumma's annual salary rose to €6 million; the deal also included a verbal agreement to sign his older brother, Antonio, as a backup goalkeeper with an annual salary of €1 million.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: Donnarumma played his first European game in a 1–0 win against Universitatea Craiova in the first leg of Milan's Europa League third-round qualification match on 27 July 2017, in which he managed to keep a clean sheet. He also kept another clean sheet in the second leg the following week, as Milan beat their opponent 2–0. He kept his third consecutive clean sheet in the competition in Milan's 6–0 win against Shkëndija in the first leg of the play-off round. He kept another clean sheet in his first match in new Serie A season against Crotone. On 30 December 2017, Donnarumma played his 100th game for Milan in a 1–1 draw against Fiorentina; becoming the youngest player to make 100 appearances with Milan's jersey. On 28 February 2018, following a 0–0 aggregate draw after extra-time, Donnarumma saved two penalties in a 5–4 shoot-out victory over Lazio in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-finals in Rome, which allowed Milan to advance to the final of the competition. On 15 April 2018, Donnarumma became the youngest player to reach 100 appearances in Serie A, aged 19 years and 49 days, after a 0–0 home draw against Napoli. On 9 May, Donnarumma started in Milan's 4–0 defeat to Juventus in the Coppa Italia final, who won their fourth consecutive title.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: Following the arrival of Pepe Reina during the 2018–19 season, manager Gennaro Gattuso announced that the two goalkeepers would share the role of starting goalkeeper across the club's competitions, with Donnarumma starting in Serie A, while Reina started in the Europa League. On 3 February 2019, Donnarumma was named man-of-the-match in Milan's 1–1 away draw with Roma in the 21st Round of the 2018–19 Serie A season, making five important saves. On 10 February, he made his 150th Milan appearance in a 3–0 home win over Cagliari in Serie A; as a result he became Milan's tenth-most capped keeper of all time, behind Christian Abbiati (380), Sebastiano Rossi (330), Dida (302), Lorenzo Buffon (300), Enrico Albertosi (233), Dario Compiani (221), Fabio Cudicini (183), Giovanni Rossetti (180), and Mario Zorzan (176).


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: During the 2019–20 season, Donnarumma maintained his place in the starting line-up. On 21 July 2020, he played his 200th game for the club in a 2–1 away win over Sassuolo in Serie A, during which he wore the captain's armband for the first time in his career, after Alessio Romagnoli was subbed off due to injury. Following his performances throughout the season, in March 2021, he was named the 2020 Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year by AIC and named to the Serie A Team of the Year at the Gran Galà del Calcio, the first time in his career that he had received this honour.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: In the 2020–21 season, Donnarumma continued to be a starting goalkeeper (with Ciprian Tătărușanu as a primary back-up) and the team's occasional captain, in particular during the latter part of season. He appeared in all but one game in Serie A and 11 times in the Europa League as Milan finished second and reached the round of 16, respectively. Prior to and during the season, the club's management made numerous attempts to extend Donnarumma's expiring contract yet failed to meet the player's wage demands of €1 million per month as well as €20 million in agent commission for Mino Raiola and pulled out of the negotiation in late May 2021.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: On 26 May 2021, Milan director of football Paolo Maldini confirmed that Donnarumma would leave Milan when his contract expired on 30 June. During his time with Milan, Donnarumma made 251 appearances for the club in all competitions, keeping 88 clean sheets, and played a key role in helping the club finish second in Serie A (and qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2014) in his final season. For his performances, Donnarumma was named Lega Serie A Best Goalkeeper.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: On 16 June 2021, Donnarumma agreed to a five-year contract with Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), as reported by Fabrizio Romano and "The Guardian". According to reports, PSG offered him a salary of €8 million per season. He passed his medical in Florence on 21 June. On 15 July 2021, Donnarumma officially joined PSG and signed a five-year contract until 30 June 2026.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: Donnarumma made his debut for PSG in a 4–0 league win over Clermont on 11 September 2021. He made his UEFA Champions League debut in a 2–0 win over Manchester City on 28 September. On 3 November, Donnarumma saved his first PSG and Champions League penalty in a 2–2 draw against RB Leipzig.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: On 29 November 2021, Donnarumma won the Yashin Trophy, awarded to the best performing goalkeeper of the year.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: Donnarumma was the starting goalkeeper for Italy's under-17 team at the 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. The following year on 24 March, he made his debut for the under-21 side in a 4–1 win over the Republic of Ireland, becoming the youngest player ever to play for the team, aged 17 years and 28 days, breaking the record previously held by Federico Bonazzoli.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: In June 2017, he was included in the Italy under-21 squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship by manager Luigi Di Biagio. Italy were eliminated in the semi-finals following a 3–1 defeat to Spain on 27 June.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: Though predicted to attend the 2016 UEFA European Championship, Donnarumma did not make Antonio Conte's final squad for the tournament. On 27 August, he was called up to the senior squad by Gian Piero Ventura for a friendly against France on 1 September and a 2018 World Cup qualification match on 5 September against Israel, making him the youngest player, aged 17 years and six months, to be called up to the senior squad since 1911. On 1 September, in the match against France, Donnarumma made his senior debut, subbing out Gianluigi Buffon at the half-time mark of a 3–1 home loss; the youngest goalkeeper to ever play for Italy aged 17 years and 189 days. On 28 March 2017, he made his first starting appearance in a 2–1 away win over the Netherlands; the youngest goalkeeper for Italy to do so aged 18 years and 31 days.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: Widely regarded as the heir of Buffon, following the international retirement of the latter in 2018 Donnarumma was chosen as the first-choice goalkeeper by the new head coach Roberto Mancini and played as a starter in all the matches of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League disputed by the "Azzurri".


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: In June 2021, Donnarumma was included in Italy's squad for UEFA Euro 2020. In his first game at the competition, on 11 June against Turkey, he kept a clean sheet in a 3–0 win for Italy. In the semi-final against Spain on 6 July, following a 1–1 draw after extra-time, he saved Álvaro Morata's spot-kick to help Italy to a 4–2 penalty shoot-out victory, which allowed Italy to advance to the final of the tournament. On 11 July in the final against England at Wembley Stadium, following a 1–1 draw after extra-time, Donnarumma saved two spot kicks during the penalty shootout, including the decisive final kick, to win the tournament for Italy for the first time since 1968. For his performances throughout the competition, including keeping three clean sheets, making nine saves, and conceding only four goals in seven appearances, he was named "player of the tournament" by UEFA, the first time a goalkeeper had won the award.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: Long considered one of Italy's most exciting prospects, and one of the most promising young footballers of his generation, Donnarumma is widely regarded as the successor to Gianluigi Buffon. Buffon himself has in turn praised the teenager's physical strength and technical abilities, mental composure and decision making. Predicting an "extraordinary career" in his future, he commended Donnarumma's maturity and ability to cope with the pressures of being a goalkeeper at such a young age. Another of Italy's World Cup-winning goalkeepers, Dino Zoff, similarly said Donnarumma seems "predestined to become a great goalkeeper," adding that "it all depends completely on him." Former Milan and Italy goalkeeper Giovanni Galli also described Donnarumma as a potentially world-class goalkeeper, applauding him for his discipline, intelligence, concentration, and professionalism, despite his young age.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: A 2015 ESPN profile praised Donnarumma's fundamental goalkeeping skills, identifying his large slender frame and reach, agility, and composed nature as his biggest strengths; writer Nick Dorrington additionally described the teenager as "a natural leader [with] the necessary confidence to organise a defence featuring players twice his age." Despite his tall and imposing stature, Donnarumma possesses good reactions, and is effective at stopping penalties. Matt Jones has also praised Donnarumma for his shot-stopping ability, and speed when rushing off his line to face opponents in one on one situations. Former Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati touted Donnarumma as a potential future captain for Milan in 2016, noting that Donnarumma's temperament, introverted character, and ability to withstand pressure were all the necessary qualities needed for him to succeed in this role. Although Donnarumma is regarded as being competent with the ball at his feet, pundits such as Mina Rzouki, Paolo Menicucci, and Sam Lopresti, as well as former goalkeeper Fernando Orsi, have cited his ball control and distribution, as well as his overall consistency, positioning, handling, punching technique, and his ability to defend crosses and command his box as areas in which he needs to improve as he gains more experience.


title: Gianluigi Donnarumma

text: Donnarumma was born in Castellammare di Stabia in the Province of Naples, the son of Alfonso and Marinella. His older brother, Antonio, also came through Milan's youth system as a goalkeeper. Since childhood, he has supported Milan, although he grew up idolising Gianluigi Buffon.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. It was released on July 21, 1987, by Geffen Records. The album was released to little mainstream attention in 1987. It was not until the following year that "Appetite for Destruction" became a commercial success, after the band had toured and received significant airplay with the singles "Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child o' Mine". The album peaked at number one on the US "Billboard" 200 and became the seventh best-selling album of all time in the United States, as well as the best-selling debut album. With over 30 million copies sold worldwide, it is also one of the best-selling albums of all time.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: Although critics were originally ambivalent toward the album, "Appetite for Destruction" has received retrospective acclaim and has been viewed as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2018, it was re-released as a remastered box set to similar acclaim.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: Guns N' Roses' first recordings were for a planned EP in March 1985, shortly after forming, with "Don't Cry", a cover of "Heartbreak Hotel", "Think About You" and "Anything Goes". However, plans for the release fell through, as original guitarist Tracii Guns left the band, being replaced by Slash. Shortly afterward, the classic lineup of Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, Slash, Steven Adler and Izzy Stradlin was finalized.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: After heavy touring of the Los Angeles club scene, the group signed with Geffen Records in March 1986. In December of that year, the group released the four-song EP "Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide", designed to keep interest in the band alive while the group withdrew from the club scene to work in the studio. The EP release was designed to soothe the label, which believed the band did not have enough songs to record a full-length album.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: Rose stated that many of the songs on the album were written while the band was performing on the Los Angeles club circuit, and a number of songs that were ultimately featured on later Guns N' Roses albums were considered for "Appetite for Destruction", such as "Back Off Bitch", "You Could Be Mine", "November Rain" and "Don't Cry". It is said that the reason for not putting "November Rain" on "Appetite for Destruction" was that the band had already agreed to put "Sweet Child 'O Mine" on the album and thus already had a "ballad" on the track list.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: Producer Spencer Proffer was hired to record "Nightrain" and "Sweet Child o' Mine" to test his chemistry with the band. The band eventually recorded nine songs with Proffer during these sessions, including "Heartbreak Hotel", "Don't Cry", "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Shadow of Your Love". In mid- to late 1986, the band recorded demos with Nazareth guitarist Manny Charlton, which were released in 2018. (See Below for more info)


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: The band initially considered Paul Stanley of KISS to produce, but he was rejected after he wanted to change Adler's drum set more than Adler wanted. Robert John "Mutt" Lange was also considered, but the label didn't want to spend the extra money on a famous producer. Ultimately, Mike Clink (who had produced several Triumph records) was chosen, and the group recorded "Shadow of Your Love" first with Clink as a test.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: After some weeks of rehearsal, the band entered Daryl Dragon's Rumbo Recorders in January 1987. Two weeks were spent recording basic tracks, with Clink splicing together the best takes with his razor blade. Clink worked eighteen-hour days for the next month, with Slash overdubbing in the afternoon and evening, and Rose performing vocals. Slash struggled to find a guitar sound before coming up with a Gibson Les Paul copy equipped with Seymour Duncan Alnico II pickups and plugged into a Marshall amplifier. He spent hours with Clink paring down and structuring his solos. The total budget for the album was about $370,000. According to drummer Steven Adler, the percussion was done in just six days, but Rose's vocals took much longer as he insisted on doing them one line at a time, in a perfectionism that drove the rest of the band away from the studio as he worked. Final overdubs and mixing were done at Mediasound Studios, and mastering at Sterling Sound, New York City.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: Many of the songs on "Appetite For Destruction" began as solo tracks that individual band members wrote separate from the band, only to be completed later. These songs include "It's So Easy" (Duff McKagan) and "Think About You" (Izzy Stradlin). "Rocket Queen" was an unfinished Slash/McKagan/Adler song that was written from their earlier band Road Crew, whereas "Anything Goes", written by Hollywood Rose and included in their compilation album "The Roots of Guns N' Roses", was later re-written for "Appetite". Most of the songs reflect the band's personal experiences and daily life, such as "Welcome to the Jungle", some of the lyrics of which Rose wrote after he encountered a man in New York shortly after arriving there from Indiana in 1980, and "Mr. Brownstone", which is about the band's problems with heroin. Lyrics to some of the songs focus on the band members' younger years, like "Out ta Get Me", which focuses on lead singer Axl Rose's constant trouble with the law as a youth in Indiana.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: The album's original cover art was based on Robert Williams' painting "Appetite for Destruction." It depicted a robotic rapist about to be punished by a metal avenger. After several music retailers refused to stock the album, the label compromised and put the controversial cover art inside, replacing it with an image depicting a Celtic cross and skulls of the five band members with (designed by Billy White Jr., originally as a tattoo), each skull representing one member of the band: Izzy Stradlin, top skull; Steven Adler, left skull; Axl Rose, center skull; Duff McKagan, right skull; and Slash, bottom skull. In a 2016 interview, Billy White Jr. explained, "The cross and skulls that looked like the band was Axl's idea, the rest was me. The knot work in the cross was a reference to Thin Lizzy, a band Axl and I both loved."


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: The photographs used for the back of the album and liner notes were taken by Robert John, Marc Canter, Jack Lue, Leonard McCardie, and Greg Freeman. The original cover was supposed to be on the 2008 vinyl reissue, though the record label replaced it with the "Skulls" art at the last minute.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: The band stated the artwork is "a symbolic social statement, with the robot representing the industrial system that's raping and polluting our environment." In albums which were issued on double sided media (vinyl records and audio cassettes) the two sides were not conventionally labeled "A" and "B", but "G" and "R". Tracks 1–6 which compose side "G" all deal with drugs and hard life in the big city ("Guns" side). The remaining tracks, which compose side "R", all deal with love, sex and relationships ("Roses" side). In an interview with "That Metal Show" in 2011, Rose stated his original idea for the cover art was to be the photo of the Space Shuttle Challenger exploding, which was on the cover of "Time" magazine in 1986, but Geffen refused it saying it was "in bad taste".


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: "Appetite for Destruction" was released by Geffen on July 21, 1987, receiving little notice from American press and radio, apart from some airplay in California. Music journalist Stephen Davis later attributed this to competing rock music in the mainstream at the time, including Aerosmith's comeback hit "Permanent Vacation", Def Leppard's presence on radio with their "Hysteria" album, and the dominance of U2's spiritual rock on MTV's prime-time viewership.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: In the week of August 29, 1987, "Appetite for Destruction" debuted at number 182 on the "Billboard" 200, but several months after its release had only sold 200,000 copies, and Geffen was "walking away" from the record.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: Radio stations originally did not want to play the band's single "Welcome to the Jungle", nor had MTV wanted to air its music video. However, after several months of lobbying the network, Geffen general manager Al Coury convinced MTV to play the video just once a night for three nights. "Welcome to the Jungle" became the most requested video on MTV's network, a success that Coury pitched to radio stations while sending them promo copies of "Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City", and "Sweet Child o' Mine".


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: With the radio and video airplay, as well as the band's touring, "Appetite for Destruction" managed to top the "Billboard" 200 on August 6, 1988, after a year of having been released. It spent four non-consecutive weeks at number one and a total of 147 weeks on the chart. "We thought we'd made a record that might do as well as, say, Motörhead," Slash recalled. "It was totally uncommercial. It took a year for it to even get on the charts. No one wanted to know about it."


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: By September 2008, the album had been certified 18x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), having shipped over 18 million copies in the United States, making it the country's 11th best-selling album ever. According to "Billboard" in 2008, it is also the best-selling debut album of all time in the US. That year, Sky News reported the album's worldwide sales to be approximately 28 million copies, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. More recent figures have it at approximately 30 million sold worldwide.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: "Appetite for Destruction" was not well received by contemporary critics. Many complained that its massive success with consumers was fostered by the taboo of "sex, drugs and rock & roll" during the 1980s, when much of the cultural atmosphere in the US became informed by the Reagan-Bush Administration, the AIDS crisis, and the popularity of MTV. Reviewing in 1987, Dave Ling from "Metal Hammer" dismissed the album as an inferior mix of elements from bands such as Aerosmith, Hanoi Rocks, and AC/DC. Critics in England were more positive; "Kerrang!" claimed that "rock is at last being wrestled from the hands of the bland, the weak, the jaded, the tired, the worn, and being thrust back into the hands of the real raunch rebels." It was voted the 26th best album of the year in "The Village Voice"s 1988 Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics nationwide. Robert Christgau, the poll's supervisor, was qualified in his praise while reviewing the album for his 1990 book "". While applauding Rose's "effortless, convincing vocal abilities" as "undeniable and [setting] him apart from his contemporaries", the journalist found his performance undermined by questionable lyrics that reveal darker ideas: "He doesn't love 'Night Train', he loves alcoholism. And once that sweet child o' his proves her devotion by sucking his cock for the portacam, the evil slut is ready for 'See me hit you you fall down.'"


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: In a retrospective review for "The Rolling Stone Album Guide" (2004), Ann Powers wrote that Guns N' Roses "produced a unique mix of different rock values", such as "speed and musicianship, flash and dirt", on an album that "changed hard rock's sensibilities at the time." Stephen Thomas Erlewine also viewed it as a "turning point for hard rock" in his review for AllMusic and felt Rose's singing and songwriting are enhanced by Slash and Stradlin's dual guitar playing, which helped make "Appetite for Destruction" "the best metal record of the late '80s". According to Jimmy Martin of "The Quietus", as the 1980s' best hard rock album, "Appetite for Destruction" had an "unrefined, punk quality" that marked a "shift away" from hair metal bands commercialized by MTV. According to "Billboard" magazine's Christa Titus, "Appetite for Destruction" appealed to rock music's various listeners because the band incorporated "metal's forceful playing, punk rock's rebellious themes, glam metal's aesthetic, and bluesy guitar riffs that appealed to purists." Russell Hall, the features writer for Gibson's online publication, said the album "injected a much-needed dose of ’70s-style rebellion into the frothy pop metal of the '80s", by "combining the swagger of late '60s Stones and vintage Aerosmith with the menace of punk and a trash-glam aesthetic".


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: Writing for "Pitchfork", Maura Johnston called the album "a watershed moment in '80s rock that chronicled every vice of Los Angeles led by the lye-voiced Axl Rose and a legendary, switchblade-sharp band." BBC Music's Dennis O'Dell said the engagingly hedonistic album remains the band's best, as did Ric Albano of "Classic Rock" magazine: "This band would never again reach this level of importance and breakthrough originality." In a 2000 list, "Q" named it one of the greatest metal albums ever and hailed it as "a riotous celebration of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll". Chuck Klosterman said it would be the only pop metal album to make a theoretical list of rock's ten best albums. and Chuck Eddy named it one of his essential hair metal records; it was "the greatest album ever made about how you can't run away from yourself", he wrote in "Spin". On the other hand, Sputnikmusic believed the album has been somewhat overrated and that most of the songs suffer by comparison with the highlights "Welcome to the Jungle", "Sweet Child o' Mine", "Paradise City", "Mr. Brownstone", and "Rocket Queen".


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: In 1999, Rose had the album re-recorded with the then current lineup (Rose, Robin Finck, Tommy Stinson, Paul Tobias, Josh Freese, Dizzy Reed & Chris Pitman) to "spruce up" the album with new recording techniques. The re-recorded version of the album was never released, although an edited clip of "Sweet Child O' Mine" featuring the second half of the song using the re-recorded version was included over the credits of the movie "Big Daddy" in 1999.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: According to Acclaimed Music, "Appetite for Destruction" is the 63rd most ranked record on critics' all-time lists.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: On April 30, 2018, billboards appeared in several large cities, and a website was launched, with the tagline "Destruction Is Coming." The website was updated with a countdown clock to May 4, 2018, and a snippet of the Hollywood Rose song "Shadow of Your Love" playing. Journalist Mitch Lafon stated the campaign was for a deluxe edition of "Appetite for Destruction". A video announcement was inadvertently released a day early, detailing the "Appetite for Destruction: Locked N Loaded" edition, which was released June 29, 2018. The box set includes 73 songs (49 of which were previously unreleased) on four compact discs and seven 12-inch 180-gram LP's. It includes remastered versions of "Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide", an EP of b-sides, 25 recordings from the group's 1986 Sound City Studios sessions with producer Manny Charlton, and two previously unreleased tracks from the group's sessions with Mike Clink. Three of the four songs from the "G N' R Lies" EP are included, with the exception of the controversial "One in a Million".


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: In addition to the music, included are 96-page book with unreleased photos from Rose's personal archive, 12 lithographs visualizing each song on the album and assorted replica memorabilia. "Shadow of Your Love" was released as a single on May 4, 2018, the band's first single in almost a decade. The full Locked N' Loaded edition initially retailed for $999; a deluxe edition which includes the five discs and extras and standard editions with just the remastered album and bonus tracks were also made available. In addition, the deluxe and super deluxe versions were made available for streaming and paid download.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: On May 21, 2018, the band released the unseen music video for "It's So Easy" on Apple Music. "Welcome to the Jungle" (1986 Sound City Session), "Move to the City" (1988 Acoustic Version), and "November Rain" (Piano Version, 1986 Sound City Session) were released as promotional singles in June before the album's release. A hidden tape of the band's five-song 1985 Mystic Studios demo session is included as an easter egg in one of the drawers of the Locked N' Loaded edition.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: A Pop-up shop was opened in London on the day of release, featuring Guns N' Roses themed drinks, a tattoo artist, merchandise, and a large screen showing the band's 1988 show at The Ritz.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: The remastered release resulted in "Appetite for Destruction" re-entering the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for the first time in 29 years.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: The box set received universal critical acclaim, with Metacritic scoring it 95 out of 100, based on nine reviews. It was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Boxed Set, their first nomination since 1993 (However, it lost to "").


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: The "Locked N' Loaded" Edition and the "Super Deluxe Edition" have the same musical contents. Disc one is the original album.


title: Appetite for Destruction

text: A fifth disc is included; a Blu-ray disc, which has 96 kHz 24-bit 5.1 Surround Sound and stereo mixes, mixed by Elliot Scheiner and Frank Filipetti. It includes all of "Appetite for Destruction", alongside bonus tracks "Shadow of Your Love", "Patience", "Used to Love Her", "You're Crazy", and "Move to the City (1988 Acoustic version)". In addition, it includes music videos for "Welcome to the Jungle", "Sweet Child O' Mine", "Paradise City", "Patience", and a previously unreleased video of "It's So Easy".


title: Dak Prescott

text: Rayne Dakota Prescott (born July 29, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Mississippi State, where he twice received first-team All-SEC honors, and was selected by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft.


title: Dak Prescott

text: Intended to serve as a backup in his rookie season, Prescott became the Cowboys' starting quarterback after starter Tony Romo was injured in the preseason. He went on to lead the Cowboys to the top seed of the National Football Conference (NFC) and set several rookie quarterback records, earning him Offensive Rookie of the Year. Prescott has since led the Cowboys to two additional division titles and made two Pro Bowl appearances.


title: Dak Prescott

text: Dak is the youngest of Nathaniel Prescott's and his late wife Peggy's three children. While she worked as a manager of a truck stop, Prescott attended Haughton High School in Haughton, Louisiana, where he played football for the Buccaneers. As a senior, he completed 159-of-258 passes for 2,860 yards and 39 touchdowns. He also rushed for 951 yards on 90 attempts with 17 touchdowns, and led Haughton to become 2010 District 1-AAAA Champions. Peggy had colon cancer and died on November 3, 2013. A 3-star recruit, Dak accepted a scholarship from Mississippi State over offers from Louisiana Tech, LSU, Memphis, Nicholls State, North Texas, and TCU.


title: Dak Prescott

text: Prescott was redshirted as a true freshman with Mississippi State in 2011. As a backup to Tyler Russell in 2012, he played in 12 games, completing 18 of 29 passes for 194 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He also scored four rushing touchdowns, with 110 yards on 32 carries.


title: Dak Prescott

text: Prescott began as the backup to Russell again in the 2013 season, but took over as the starter when Russell suffered a concussion. He played in 11 games, completing 156 of 267 passes for 1,940 yards with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also ran for 829 yards on 134 carries with 13 touchdowns. He was the MVP of the 2013 Liberty Bowl after leading the Bulldogs to a 44–7 win over the Rice Owls. His 2013 season performance ranks seventh in passing yards (1,940), tied for fifth in rushing touchdowns (13), and fourth in total yards (2,769) and total touchdowns (23). Following the season, he was named to the 2013 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.


title: Dak Prescott

text: In his first season as a full-time starter in 2014, Prescott led the Bulldogs to a 10–2 regular season record, its first #1 ranking in program history, and led them to the Orange Bowl. During the 2014 season, Prescott broke 10 school records including: single season passing yards (3,449), total yards of total offense (4,435), passing touchdowns (27), and total touchdowns (41). Additionally his 14 rushing touchdowns is tied for fourth in school history. Prescott also garnered several accolades throughout and following the season. He was named the Manning Award Player of the Week five times (vs. UAB, at LSU, vs. Texas A&M, vs. Auburn, vs. Vanderbilt); the 2014 SEC Offensive Player of the Week three times (at LSU, vs. Auburn, vs. Vanderbilt); the Athlon Sports, Davey O'Brien, Maxwell Award Player of the Week twice each (at LSU, vs. A&M); and the 24/7 Sports National Offensive Player of Week (at LSU). He was named a 2014 Honorable Mention All-American by SI.com; named to the 2014 First-team All-SEC team by the AP, Coaches, and ESPN.com; and on the 2014 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll. He won the Conerly Trophy and was a finalist for the Maxwell Award, the Davey O'Brien Award, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award, and the Manning Award. He also finished eighth in the 2014 Heisman Trophy voting and received two first-place votes.


title: Dak Prescott

text: Prior to the 2015 season, he was named a 2015 National Player of the Year Candidate, was selected to two Preseason All-American teams (Athlon Sports and Phil Steele), and was chosen First-team Preseason All-SEC by the media. During the 2015 season, he became the fourth player in FBS history to pass for 60 touchdowns and rush for 40 touchdowns in a career, joining Dan LeFevour of Central Michigan, Tim Tebow of Florida, and Colin Kaepernick of Nevada. His 2,411 rushing yards places him third in all-time rushing yards by a quarterback in SEC history behind Tebow and Matt Jones of Arkansas. He ranks fourth in SEC history with 107 total touchdowns responsible for (passing, rushing, and receiving) and fifth in total yards (rushing and passing) with 11,153. His streak of 288 consecutive pass attempts without an interception is the longest in school history and third-longest in SEC history. In the Bulldogs' 2015 game against the Arkansas, he set the school single game record and tied the SEC single game record for touchdowns responsible for with seven (five passing two rushing) and set a new school record for touchdown passes in a single game. He was named the AutoNation National Offensive Player of the Week by the Football Writers Association of America, the Davey O'Brien Award National Quarterback of the Week, a Manning Award Star of the Week by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and the SEC offensive player of the week following his performance in the Bulldogs' victory over Kentucky, a game in which he passed for 348 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 117 yards and three touchdowns. The six touchdowns in a single contest tied the school record set by Jackie Parker in 1952 and Prescott became the first player in school history to throw for over 300 yards and rush for over 100 yards in the same game. This was the fourth time that he has been named SEC Offensive Player of the Week, the most in program history. Prescott received further national recognition by being placed on several national award watch lists including being named a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, a semifinalist for both the Maxwell Award and the Davey O'Brien Award, placed on the watch list for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, the Manning Award, the Wuerffel Trophy, and the Senior Bowl, and won the Senior CLASS Award as well as being awarded the 2017 NCAA Today's Top 10 Award. For the season he passed for 3,793 yards, 29 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns.


title: Dak Prescott

text: For his career, Prescott finished third in SEC history in total yards, and fourth in total touchdowns. He holds 38 school records.


title: Dak Prescott

text: The Dallas Cowboys entered the 2016 NFL Draft with a plan to acquire a young quarterback to develop behind Tony Romo. After failing to trade up to select Paxton Lynch and Connor Cook, they selected Prescott in the fourth round (135th overall). He was signed to a four-year deal.


title: Dak Prescott

text: When Prescott joined the Dallas Cowboys for their rookie mini camp, he was issued #10 since veteran wide receiver Devin Street wore his college number 15. During the first week of rookie mini camp, he decided to switch to #4 in honor of his mother, whose birthday is on September 4. He is the first Dallas Cowboys quarterback in history to wear #4.


title: Dak Prescott

text: The rookie moved up on the depth chart when backup quarterback Kellen Moore broke his right tibia during the first week of training camp and after the Cowboys could not reach an agreement with the Cleveland Browns to trade for backup Josh McCown.


title: Dak Prescott

text: After Moore's injury, Prescott competed with second-year quarterback Jameill Showers for the backup job to established starter Tony Romo. Several reports from August training camp indicated that Showers outperformed Prescott, showing greater accuracy and a quicker release. However, the Cowboys coaching staff made the decision to start Prescott in the team's preseason opener at the Los Angeles Rams. Working with the Cowboys' first-team offense, Prescott completed 10 of 12 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns in one half of action, though Dallas would lose the game 28–24. Prescott continued his hot streak throughout the rest of the preseason, impressing all with his veteran-like pocket poise and decision making.


title: Dak Prescott

text: After starting quarterback Tony Romo suffered a vertebral compression fracture during the first quarter of the Cowboys' Week 3 preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks, and in light of Romo's projected 8–10 week recovery time, Prescott was named the Cowboys starter for the beginning of the 2016 season.


title: Dak Prescott

text: Prescott's first regular-season start came on September 11 at home against the New York Giants, becoming the fourth rookie quarterback to open the season as a starter in franchise history, and the first rookie to start at quarterback for the Cowboys since Quincy Carter in 2001. He totaled 227 passing yards, as the Cowboys lost, 20–19. During Week 2 against the Washington Redskins, Prescott had 292 passing yards and a rushing touchdown as the Cowboys won, 27–23. Prescott threw his first NFL touchdown, a 17-yarder to wide receiver Dez Bryant, during the Cowboys' Week 3 matchup against the Chicago Bears. In total, he threw for 248 yards, the one touchdown, and also had a rushing score. The Cowboys won 31–17. In Week 4 at the San Francisco 49ers, Prescott passed for two touchdowns and 245 yards as the Cowboys won, 24–17. Against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5, Prescott threw for 227 yards and a touchdown while rushing for a touchdown in a 28–14 Cowboys victory. During Week 6 against the Green Bay Packers, Prescott had three touchdowns and 247 passing yards as the Cowboys won 30–16. The game marked the end of Prescott's interception-free streak. After a bye week, the Cowboys faced off against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8, and fellow rookie quarterback Carson Wentz for their first career matchup. The Cowboys prevailed in overtime 29–23, with Prescott totaling three touchdowns (two passing and one rushing) on 287 passing yards.


title: Dak Prescott

text: Week 9 saw the Cowboys beat the Cleveland Browns 35–10, with Prescott providing 247 passing yards and three touchdowns. In Week 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cowboys won 35–30, with Prescott passing for 319 yards and three touchdowns. One of the touchdowns was a then-career-high 83-yarder to Ezekiel Elliott. The Cowboys continued their win streak in Week 11 by beating the Baltimore Ravens 27–17 with Prescott throwing for 301 yards and three touchdowns. Week 12's annual Thanksgiving game provided a 31–26 win over the Washington Redskins in their second divisional matchup. Prescott had two touchdowns (one rushing and one passing) and 195 passing yards. His outstanding performance in November earned him Offensive Rookie of the Month.


title: Dak Prescott

text: During Week 13 against the Minnesota Vikings, the Cowboys won 17–15, with Prescott passing for 139 yards and one touchdown. In Week 14, the Cowboys were dealt their second loss on the season, by a score of 10–7, from division rival New York Giants, with Prescott passing for 169 yards and one touchdown in the contest. In Week 15, the Cowboys beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26–20, with Prescott providing 279 passing yards and one rushing touchdown. Against the Detroit Lions in Week 16, the Cowboys won 42–21. Prescott passed for 212 yards and three touchdowns. In the Week 17 regular season finale, with the top playoff seed in the NFC clinched, the Cowboys decided to rest several starters. They lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 27–13, with Prescott only attempting eight passes for a total of 37 yards before being benched. As a rookie, Prescott started all 16 games with 3,667 passing yards, 282 rushing yards, 29 total touchdowns, and only four interceptions, and his 67.8% completion percentage ranked fourth among NFL quarterbacks in 2016.