title: Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two

text: "Ant-Man" is directed by Peyton Reed with a screenplay written by Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish and Adam McKay & Paul Rudd, from a story by Wright & Cornish, that includes both Scott Lang and Hank Pym. Edgar Wright was initially slated to direct and write the film, but left the project in May 2014 due to creative differences. In January 2013, Feige stated that "Ant-Man" would be the first film in Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, in October 2014, it was revealed that the film would be the last film of Phase Two. Pre-production started in October 2013, and principal photography took place from August to December 2014, in San Francisco, Fayette County, Georgia at Pinewood Atlanta Studios, and Downtown Atlanta. In December 2013, Rudd was cast as Ant-Man, followed in January 2014 with the casting of Michael Douglas as Pym and the confirmation of Rudd as Lang. "Ant-Man" had its world premiere in Los Angeles on June 29, 2015, and was released in France on July 14, and in the United States on July 17.


title: Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two

text: The film is set several months after the events of "Avengers: Age of Ultron". Hayley Atwell and John Slattery reprise their MCU roles as Peggy Carter and Howard Stark, respectively. Scott Lang attempts to infiltrate the new Avengers headquarters in Upstate New York featured in "Age of Ultron", and confronts Sam Wilson / Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie. McKay and Rudd decided to add Wilson to "Ant-Man" after watching "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". The Russo brothers filmed the post-credit scene, which was footage from "" (2016), and features Mackie as Wilson, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, and Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes.


title: Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two

text: Marvel One-Shots are a series of direct-to-video short films that are included as special features in the MCU films' Blu-ray and digital distribution releases. They are designed to be self-contained stories that provide more backstory for characters or events introduced in the films.


title: Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two

text: Unlike Phase One, Phase Two was set in relatively real time in order to simplify the timeline of the MCU. Each film was set roughly in real time relating to "The Avengers" (2012). "Iron Man 3" is set around six months later during Christmas, "Thor: The Dark World" is set one year later, and "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" is two years after. "Guardians of the Galaxy" is set explicitly in 2014. "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Ant-Man" ended the Phase in 2015 and several months passed between the films in-universe as in real life.


title: Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two

text: The One-Shot "Agent Carter" is set one year after the events of "" (2011), while "All Hail the King" takes place after the events of "Iron Man 3".


title: Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two

text: In July 2015, Marvel announced a 13-disc box set titled "Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two Collection", for release on December 8, 2015, exclusive to Amazon.com. The box set includes all six of the Phase Two films on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and a digital copy, in a replica of the Orb from "Guardians of the Galaxy", plus a bonus disc and exclusive memorabilia. Material on the bonus disc includes all of the Marvel One-Shots with commentary, deleted scenes and pre-production creative features for each of the films, featurettes on the making of the post-credit scenes for the films, and first looks at "", "Doctor Strange", and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2".


title: Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Two

text: "WHIH Newsfront" is an in-universe current affairs show that serves as a viral marketing campaign for some of the MCU films, created in partnership with Google for YouTube. The campaign is an extension of the fictional news network WHIH World News, which is seen reporting on major events in the MCU. Leslie Bibb reprises her role as Christine Everhart from the "Iron Man" films. The initial videos released during July 2015 focus on the immediate aftermath of "Avengers: Age of Ultron" while leading up to the events of "Ant-Man", with Corey Stoll and Paul Rudd appearing in their respective roles of Darren Cross and Scott Lang.


title: Patty Smyth

text: Patricia Smyth (born June 26, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She first came into national attention with the rock band Scandal and went on to record and perform as a solo artist. Her distinctive voice and new wave image gained broad exposure through video recordings aired on cable music video channels such as MTV. Her debut solo album "Never Enough" was well received, and generated a pair of Top 100 hits. In the early 1990s she reached the top 10 with the hit single "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough," a duet with Don Henley of the Eagles. She performed and co-wrote with James Ingram the song "Look What Love Has Done" for the 1994 motion picture "Junior". The work earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Song Written for Visual Media, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. Smyth married retired tennis player John McEnroe in 1997.


title: Patty Smyth

text: After growing up in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Gerritsen Beach, Smyth joined Scandal as lead vocalist in 1981. The band released a self-titled debut EP the next year. Featuring the song "Goodbye to You," it went on to become Columbia Records' biggest selling EP. In 1984, they put out their follow-up, "Warrior". Buoyed by MTV airplay, the album peaked at No. 17 on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 chart, and the first song off the release, also titled "The Warrior," was a Top 10 hit. However, despite their success, internal strife within the band led to their break-up soon afterwards.


title: Patty Smyth

text: Following the end of Scandal, Smyth was invited by her friend Eddie Van Halen to join the band Van Halen to replace David Lee Roth as lead singer. However, she declined the offer, because she was eight months pregnant and "It was just not the right time for me," she says now. "I was a New Yorker, I didn't want to live in L.A. ... and those guys were drunk and fighting all the time." She guest-appeared on the Hooters 1985 album "Nervous Night" on the song "Where Do the Children Go" as an accompanying vocalist.


title: Patty Smyth

text: Smyth released her first solo album, "Never Enough," in 1987. It contained her version of the Tom Waits song "Downtown Train," which Rod Stewart would make a hit three years later, and the title track "Never Enough," which was co-written with members of the Hooters and based on a song of the same title that Hooters members Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman had written for their earlier band, Baby Grand. In 1988 she contributed the Diane Warren penned "I Run Right Back" to the Caddyshack II soundtrack. She put out another solo effort in 1992, the eponymous "Patty Smyth." Off of that effort, she secured a hit record via a duet with Don Henley of the Eagles, titled "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough." This peaked at No. 2 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and was certified gold for sales of 500,000. The album, also certified gold, featured an additional US Top 40 hit with "No Mistakes" and also spawned the minor hit "I Should Be Laughing." Smyth had previously recorded with Henley as a backing singer on several songs on his albums "Building the Perfect Beast" and "The End of the Innocence."


title: Patty Smyth

text: Smyth subsequently co-wrote the 1994 song "Look What Love Has Done," nominated for a Grammy and an Academy Award after its inclusion in the soundtrack to the feature film "Junior." Further soundtrack commissions resulted in her writing and composing the theme tune, "Wish I Were You," to the 1998 feature film "Armageddon." (Her husband, John McEnroe, claimed in his autobiography that she was inspired to write the song by his own attempt at a musical career; she was struck by his excitement at playing music, when her own feelings about the music industry were much more ambivalent.)


title: Patty Smyth

text: In 2015, to promote the release of her Christmas album called "Come On December," she crowd-funded a campaign to support the "Headstrong Project" with all the money raised on the pre-orders of her album going to the non-profit. The album featured the single "Broken," and the music video for the single was released just before Veterans Day, and was filmed on the grounds of a Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter. The album was released on November 20, 2015.


title: Patty Smyth

text: In 2004, VH1 recruited Smyth and the surviving members of Scandal for a "Bands Reunited" episode, resulting in a small reunion tour of concerts on the East Coast of the United States in 2005. The next year, Columbia/Legacy released a new Scandal compilation CD as part of the "We Are the '80s" series. The compilation contained three unreleased tracks from the 1982 recording sessions ("Grow So Wise", "If You Love Me", "I'm Here Tonight") as well as "All My Life," previously available on the flip side of "Goodbye to You". In July 2008, "Billboard" reported the upcoming release of new music by the band (featuring original members Keith Mack and Benjy King). They debuted their first single as a band ("Hard for You to Love Me," also referred to as "Make It Hard") in over 24 years on January 17, 2009 in Ridgefield, Connecticut.


title: Patty Smyth

text: Smyth has a daughter, Ruby, with her first husband, Richard Hell. She met John McEnroe in 1993; their daughter Anna was born in 1995, and the couple married in 1997. They have since had another daughter, Ava.


title: Robert Sean Leonard

text: Robert Lawrence Leonard (born February 28, 1969), known by his stage name Robert Sean Leonard, is an American actor. He is best known for playing Dr. James Wilson in the television series "House" (2004–2012) and Neil Perry in the film "Dead Poets Society".


title: Robert Sean Leonard

text: Leonard won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in "The Invention of Love" in 2001. His other theater credits include "Candida", "Long Day's Journey Into Night", "Breaking the Code", "The Speed of Darkness", "Philadelphia, Here I Come!", "Arcadia", "The Music Man", "Born Yesterday", "Fifth of July", and "To Kill a Mockingbird".


title: Robert Sean Leonard

text: From 2013 to 2014, Leonard had a recurring role as Dr. Roger Kadar on the television series "Falling Skies". He also starred as the leading role in "Swing Kids" playing Peter Müller.


title: Robert Sean Leonard

text: Leonard grew up in Ridgewood, New Jersey, where he graduated from Ridgewood High School. He studied at Fordham University and later the Columbia University School of General Studies. He studied theater at HB Studio.


title: Robert Sean Leonard

text: Because he shares his birth name with another actor, Leonard modified his name for his Screen Actors Guild membership, using "Sean", the name of his brother, as a middle name.


title: Robert Sean Leonard

text: Leonard is a three-time Tony Award nominee, and won Best Featured Actor in a Play in 2001 for his role as A. E. Housman in Tom Stoppard's "The Invention of Love". He had previously played the role of Valentine in the New York premiere of Stoppard's "Arcadia" at Lincoln Center in 1995. He was nominated for a Tony in 2003 for his portrayal of Edmund Tyrone in a well-received revival of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night"; it co-starred Philip Seymour Hoffman, Brian Dennehy, and Vanessa Redgrave. Leonard has also appeared in Broadway musical productions, in 2001 replacing Craig Bierko as the lead performer in a revival of "The Music Man". Leonard co-starred as Paul Verrall in the 2011 Broadway revival of "Born Yesterday".


title: Robert Sean Leonard

text: In 1997, Leonard received rave reviews for his role in the television film "In the Gloaming", directed by Christopher Reeve. "Entertainment Weekly" said that Leonard "does a first-rate job of juggling Danny's mixture of despair, neediness, and mordant jokiness."


title: Robert Sean Leonard

text: From 2004, he played Dr. James Wilson, head of the oncology department, on the FOX TV series "House", until the series ended in 2012. In 2007 Leonard appeared on "Entertainment Weekly"s 100 list as "Dr. Underrated".


title: Robert Sean Leonard

text: In 2016, Leonard played King Arthur in David Lee's adaptation of the musical "Camelot" at the Westport Country Playhouse in Westport, Connecticut. From February to April 2017, he appeared in the Broadway revival of "Sunday in the Park with George", as Jules/Bob.


title: Robert Sean Leonard

text: Leonard maintains a close friendship with "House" co-star Hugh Laurie. He and Ethan Hawke, his costar in "Dead Poets Society" and "Tape", have been friends since childhood. Hawke and Leonard founded the Malaparte theater company, along with James Waterston, Steve Zahn, and Frank Whaley.


title: Cauliflower

text: Cauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species "Brassica oleracea" in the genus "Brassica", which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten – the edible white flesh sometimes called "curd" (with a similar appearance to cheese curd). The cauliflower head is composed of a white inflorescence meristem. Cauliflower heads resemble those in broccoli, which differs in having flower buds as the edible portion. "Brassica oleracea" also includes broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, and kale, collectively called "cole" crops, though they are of different cultivar groups.


title: Cauliflower

text: Pliny the Elder included "cyma" among cultivated plants he described in "Natural History": ""Ex omnibus brassicae generibus suavissima est cyma,"" ("Of all the varieties of cabbage the most pleasant-tasted is "cyma""). Pliny's description likely refers to the flowering heads of an earlier cultivated variety of "Brassica oleracea".


title: Cauliflower

text: In the Middle Ages, early forms of cauliflower were associated with the island of Cyprus, with the 12th- and 13th-century Arab botanists Ibn al-'Awwam and Ibn al-Baitar, claiming its origin to be Cyprus. This association continued into Western Europe, where cauliflowers were sometimes known as Cyprus colewort, and there was extensive trade in western Europe in cauliflower seeds from Cyprus, under the French Lusignan rulers of the island, until well into the 16th century.


title: Cauliflower

text: François Pierre La Varenne employed "chouxfleurs" in "Le cuisinier françois". They were introduced to France from Genoa in the 16th century, and are featured in Olivier de Serres' "Théâtre de l'agriculture" (1600), as "cauli-fiori" "as the Italians call it, which are still rather rare in France; they hold an honorable place in the garden because of their delicacy", but they did not commonly appear on grand tables until the time of Louis XIV. It was introduced to India in 1822 by the British.


title: Cauliflower

text: The word "cauliflower" derives from the Italian "cavolfiore", meaning "cabbage flower". The ultimate origin of the name is from the Latin words "caulis" (cabbage) and "flōs" (flower).


title: Cauliflower

text: Cauliflower is relatively difficult to grow compared to cabbage, with common problems such as an underdeveloped head and poor curd quality.


title: Cauliflower

text: Because weather is a limiting factor for producing cauliflower, the plant grows best in moderate daytime temperatures , with plentiful sun, and moist soil conditions high in organic matter and sandy soils. The earliest maturity possible for cauliflower is 7 to 12 weeks from transplanting. In the northern hemisphere, fall season plantings in July may enable harvesting before autumn frost.


title: Cauliflower

text: Long periods of sun exposure in hot summer weather may cause cauliflower heads to discolor with a red-purple hue.


title: Cauliflower

text: Transplantable cauliflowers can be produced in containers as flats, hotbeds, or in the field. In soil that is loose, well-drained and fertile, field seedlings are shallow-planted and thinned by ample space – about 12 plants per . Ideal growing temperatures are about when seedlings are 25 to 35 days old. Applications of fertilizer to developing seedlings begin when leaves appear, usually with a starter solution weekly.


title: Cauliflower

text: Transplanting to the field normally begins late spring and may continue until mid-summer. Row spacing is about .


title: Cauliflower

text: Rapid vegetative growth after transplanting may benefit from such procedures as avoiding spring frosts, using starter solutions high in phosphorus, irrigating weekly, and applying fertilizer.


title: Cauliflower

text: The most important disorders affecting cauliflower quality are a hollow stem, stunted head growth or buttoning, ricing, browning and leaf-tip burn. Among major pests affecting cauliflower are aphids, root maggots, cutworms, moths, and flea beetles. The plant is susceptible to black rot, black leg, club root, black leaf spot, and downy mildew.


title: Cauliflower

text: When cauliflower is mature, heads appear as clear white, compact, and in diameter, and should be cooled shortly after harvest. Forced air cooling to remove heat from the field during hot weather may be needed for optimal preservation. Short-term storage is possible using cool, high-humidity storage conditions.


title: Cauliflower

text: There are hundreds of historic and current commercial varieties used around the world. A comprehensive list of about 80 North American varieties is maintained at North Carolina State University.


title: Cauliflower

text: In 2020, global production of cauliflowers (combined for production reports with broccoli) was 25.5 million tonnes, led by China and India which, combined, had 72% of the world total. Secondary producers, having 0.4–1.3 million tonnes annually, were the United States, Spain, Mexico and Italy.


title: Cauliflower

text: Raw cauliflower is 92% water, 5% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and contains negligible fat (table). A reference amount of raw cauliflower provides of food energy, and has a high content (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of vitamin C (58% DV) and moderate levels of several B vitamins and vitamin K (13–15% DV; table). Contents of dietary minerals are low (7% DV or less).


title: Cauliflower

text: Cauliflower contains several non-nutrient phytochemicals common in the cabbage family that are under preliminary research for their potential properties, including isothiocyanates and glucosinolates. Boiling reduces the levels of cauliflower glucosinolates, while other cooking methods, such as steaming, microwaving, and stir frying, have no significant effect on glucosinolate levels.


title: Cauliflower

text: Cauliflower heads can be roasted, grilled, boiled, fried, steamed, pickled, or eaten raw. When cooking, the outer leaves and thick stalks are typically removed, leaving only the florets (the edible "curd" or "head"). The leaves are also edible but are often discarded.


title: Cauliflower

text: Cauliflower is a low-calorie, gluten-free alternative to rice and flour. Between 2012 and 2016, cauliflower production in the United States increased 63%, and cauliflower-based product sales increased 71% between 2017 and 2018. Cauliflower rice is made by pulsing cauliflower florets followed by cooking the result in oil. Cauliflower pizza crust is made from cauliflower flour and is popular in pizza restaurants. Mashed cauliflower is a low-carbohydrate alternative to mashed potatoes.


title: Cauliflower

text: Cauliflower has been noticed by mathematicians for its distinct fractal dimension, calculated to be roughly 2.8.


title: Cauliflower

text: One of the fractal properties of cauliflower is that every branch, or "module", is similar to the entire cauliflower. Another quality, also present in other plant species, is that the angle between "modules," as they become more distant from the center, is 360 degrees divided by the golden ratio.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: Joseph Dominick Pistone (born September 17, 1939), is an American former FBI agent who worked undercover as Donnie Brasco between September 1976 and July 1981, as part of an infiltration primarily into the Bonanno crime family, and to a lesser extent the Colombo crime family, two of the Five Families of the Mafia in New York City. Pistone was an FBI agent for 17 years, from 1969 until he resigned in 1986. The evidence collected by Pistone led to over 200 indictments and over 100 convictions of Mafia members—and some responsible for his infiltration were also killed by other mobsters.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: Pistone was a pioneer in long-term undercover work. The FBI's former director, J. Edgar Hoover, who died in 1972, did not want FBI agents to work undercover because of the danger of agents becoming corrupted; Pistone's work later helped convince the FBI that using undercover agents in lieu of relying exclusively on informants was a crucial tool in law enforcement. Pistone detailed his undercover experience in his 1988 book "", the basis of the 1997 film about his life.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: Pistone was born in 1939 in Erie, Pennsylvania. He is of Calabrian and Sicilian heritage, and grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, where he attended Eastside High School. He attended Paterson State College (now William Paterson University), obtaining a degree in anthropology in 1965.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: He worked for a year as a teacher at Paterson School No. 10 and at the Office of Naval Intelligence for three years before being sworn into the FBI on July 7, 1969, and assigned to Jacksonville, Florida. In 1974, he was transferred to New York to work in the truck and hijack unit. Because of his ability to drive 18-wheeler trucks and bulldozers, he was eventually given undercover work infiltrating a vehicle theft ring, an assignment that resulted in over 30 arrests and a greater profile for Pistone within law enforcement.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: In the spring of 1976, Pistone volunteered to infiltrate the Bonanno crime family, a job for which his fluency in Italian, Sicilian heritage, and the knowledge of mafia idiosyncrasies gleaned from his Paterson background were well suited. For the undercover operation, the false identity of Donald "Donnie" Brasco was created, with a backstory that involved work as a low-level jewel thief. After extensive preparation including FBI gemology courses, he went undercover as a jewel thief.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: The operation was given the code name "Sun-Apple" after the locations of its two simultaneous operations: Miami ("Sunny Miami") and New York City ("The Big Apple"). After months of planning, in September 1976, Pistone started his undercover operation—an operation that was initially intended to last for around six months turned into several years. The FBI erased Pistone's name on office rolls and his personnel file; anyone who called asking for him would be told that no one by that name was employed there. His co-workers, friends, and informants had no idea what had happened to him. The original focus of the operation was to infiltrate big-time fences and truck hijackings that would in turn lead to the Mafia. While Pistone was undercover, he informed on the activities of the Mafia during some of the most volatile power struggles in organized crime.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: Pistone worked his way into becoming an associate in Jilly Greca's crew from the Colombo family that was primarily involved in hijackings and robberies. After about six months, Pistone shifted to the Bonanno family by developing a relationship with Anthony Mirra. When Mirra was sent to prison, Pistone was tutored in the ways of the Mafia by Bonanno soldier Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero, whose captain was Mike "Mimi" Sabella. Pistone also had vending machine dealings with Frank Balistrieri of the Milwaukee crime family. After the 1979 murder of Carmine Galante, Pistone reported to captain Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: Pistone was responsible for a lucrative business venture in Holiday, Florida, when he opened and operated the King's Court Bottle Club. In Florida, Pistone worked with another FBI agent working undercover as Tony Rossi. Napolitano later contacted Pistone, whom he hoped to make a made man, to murder Alphonse "Sonny Red" Indelicato's son, Anthony "Bruno" Indelicato, who had previously evaded death after missing a May 1981 meeting which left Indelicato, Phillip Giaccone, and Dominick Trinchera dead.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: The FBI then ordered the end of Pistone's operation. He wanted to continue until he was set to become a made man that December; Napolitano would lie about his "making his bones" (participating in a Mafia-ordered hit) to prove his loyalty. However, Pistone's superiors decided that the operation was becoming too dangerous and set an end date of July 26, 1981. Only after Pistone departed did FBI agents Doug Fencl, Jim Kinne, and Jerry Loar inform Napolitano that his longtime associate was an FBI agent. Pistone received a $500 bonus at the end of the operation.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: Shortly thereafter, on August 17, 1981, Napolitano was murdered for having allowed an FBI agent to infiltrate the family; he was shot dead and his hands were cut off. Ruggiero was arrested by the FBI on August 29, 1981. Mirra was also later killed on February 18, 1982. About Napolitano's fate, Pistone had stated, "My intention in all of this was to put people in jail, not get them killed", but is also known to have stated that he never felt a sense of regret. In November 1982, Ruggiero, along with Nicholas Santora, Antonio Tomasulo, and Anthony "Fat Tony" Rabito, would be convicted in a six-week jury trial for racketeering conspiracy, receiving a 15-year prison sentence.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: The Mafia put out a $500,000 contract on Pistone and kicked the Bonanno family off the Commission. FBI agents visited Mafia bosses in New York and advised them not to murder Pistone. The contract was dropped by Paul Castellano, who headed the Commission, as he thought killing a federal agent would "attract too much attention". Pistone publicly testified for the first time on August 2, 1982. The evidence collected by Pistone led to over 200 indictments and over 100 convictions of Mafia members. Although Pistone resigned from the FBI in 1986, he continued to testify when called upon, including at the Pizza Connection Trial.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: While Pistone's infiltration decimated the Bonanno family, the family was consequently not a main target in the Mafia Commission Trial that saw the top leadership of the Five Families sent to prison, as the Bonannos had already been kicked off the Commission. By dodging this bullet, the family kept its leadership intact and was able to consolidate its power once again. The boss who led that resurgence, Joseph Massino, was convicted in 2004 of ordering Napolitano to be killed for allowing Pistone into the family.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: Pistone lives in an undisclosed location with his wife Maggie and their three daughters, under assumed names. Pistone has been active as an author and consultant to worldwide law enforcement agencies, including Scotland Yard, and has been called to testify before the United States Senate as an expert on organized crime.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: In September 2012, Pistone testified in Montreal, Quebec, at the Charbonneau Commission public inquiry into corruption, as an expert witness.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: Pistone detailed his undercover experience in his 1988 book "". The book was the basis for the 1997 film "Donnie Brasco", for which Pistone worked as a technical adviser, starring Johnny Depp as Pistone and Al Pacino as "Lefty" Ruggiero. It was also the basis for the short-lived 2000 television series "Falcone", starring Jason Gedrick as Pistone (whose mob alias was changed from "Donnie Brasco" to "Joe Falcone" for legal reasons). Pistone was a consultant on "Donnie Brasco" to add authenticity to the fictionalized portrayals and settings. His life was used in an episode of "".


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: Pistone revisited his experiences as Donnie Brasco in his books "The Way of the Wiseguy" (2004) and "Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business" (2007, co-authored with Charles Brandt). Pistone wrote a novel titled, "The Good Guys" (2005), with Joseph Bonanno's son, Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno. He has also written several works of fiction such as "Deep Cover", "Mobbed Up" and "Snake Eyes". He has served as an executive producer on movies relating to the Mafia, including the 2006 film "10th & Wolf". In 2008, Italian artist Rossella Biscotti interviewed Pistone in her video "The Undercover Man". A play based on Donnie Brasco opened at the Pennsylvania Playhouse.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: Pistone is featured in the eighth episode of UK history TV channel Yesterday's documentary series "Mafia's Greatest Hits". A "Secrets of the Dead" episode, "Gangland Graveyard", features Pistone and his infiltration of the Mafia as part of the long-running investigation into the murder of three Mafia captains by Massino.


title: Joseph D. Pistone

text: Pistone featured prominently in the 2013 mini-series "Inside the American Mob". He features prominently in episode 1 "Stayin' Alive in the '70s" and is the main focus of episode 2, "Operation Donnie Brasco".


title: Bob Sapp

text: Robert Malcolm Sapp (born September 22, 1973) is an American mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler, actor, and former American football player. He is currently under contract with Rizin Fighting Federation. Sapp has a combined fight record of 24–39–1, mostly fighting in Japan. He is well known in Japan, where he has appeared in numerous commercials, television programs, and various other media, and has released a music CD, "Sapp Time". He is known there as a "gaijin tarento" (foreign-born talent). He is currently working sporadically for various MMA promotions in the U.S., Japan, and Europe.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp played college football as a guard for the Washington Huskies with whom he won the Morris Trophy. He was drafted in the third round of the 1997 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears with whom he played for one season seeing no game action before playing with the Minnesota Vikings for another two seasons, only playing in one game. He later began a career in professional wrestling before branching out into mixed martial arts and kickboxing, where he initially enjoyed significant success and popularity before eventually developing a reputation as a tomato can.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp began his athletic career in high school playing football at Mitchell High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He received a football scholarship to the University of Washington, where he won the Morris Award in 1996. He took part in "The Whammy in Miami", the Washington Huskies' upset win over the Miami Hurricanes that broke the latter's 58 game home winning streak.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round (69th overall) of the 1997 NFL Draft. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings after being released by the Bears. However, his career took a hit after he was suspended by the NFL in 1998 for alleged steroid abuse. He spent two seasons with the Vikings and only played in one game.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Afterwards, Sapp was left in poverty after being defrauded by his economic advisor, and was resorted to working at a funeral home moving coffins to make a living. He eventually decided to pursue a career in professional wrestling on the advice of his friend Mike Morris, who saw a chance for Sapp on it.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Bob Sapp's professional wrestling career started in NWA Wildside in 2001, before he was quickly contracted by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as a developmental wrestler. There he started honing his "The Beast" persona, which at this stage was a villainous, feral tarzan-like gimmick, but his development was cut short when the company was bought out by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He left professional wrestling for many years, attracted instead to a fighting career under the training of fellow WCW developmental wrestler Sam Greco.


title: Bob Sapp

text: In 2002, riding his success in K-1, Sapp made his professional wrestling debut for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). Introduced as a member of chairman Antonio Inoki's army of fighters, Sapp replaced an injured Yoshihiro Takayama in his October 14 match against Manabu Nakanishi. The two exchanged taunts and attacks on the weeks leading to the match, with Sapp ultimately winning after executing his finishing move, the "Beast Bomb", on the ringside, where he left Nakanishi to be counted out. This victory led to many other wrestlers to suggest to take their chance against Sapp, among them Yuji Nagata and Takayama himself, but the American refrained from participating.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp balanced his NJPW appearances with similar ventures in All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he intruded to challenge Bill Goldberg and Keiji Mutoh. He first appeared in Wrestle-1, a copromotion between K-1 and AJPW, where he faced Mutoh's alter ego The Great Muta in November 2002. Sapp defeated him after pinning him with a diving headbutt. He returned to the event in January 2003, where he wrestled his kickboxing rival Ernesto Hoost, yet this time Sapp lost after Hoost's cornerman Johann Vos intervened in the bout.


title: Bob Sapp

text: In October 2003, Sapp returned to NJPW, taking part again of Inoki's MMA army along with Takayama, Kazuyuki Fujita, Shinsuke Nakamura and Minoru Suzuki to face Nakanishi, Nagata, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Seiji Sakaguchi. He followed by some team matches along with Nakamura and AJPW's Keiji Mutoh, but his main push would come in his singles career. On March 28, 2004, Sapp defeated Kensuke Sasaki to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, becoming the first (and only, to date) African-American to hold the title. After successfully defending the title against Shinsuke Nakamura on May 3 at "Nexess", Sapp forfeited the title due to having lost to Kazuyuki Fujita in a mixed martial arts fight.


title: Bob Sapp

text: In 2005, Sapp returned to Wrestle-1, taking part on its inaugural Grand Prix tournament and beating Giant Bernard and Jun Akiyama in road to the finals. However, Wrestle-1 was discontinued before the tournament could win.


title: Bob Sapp

text: On October 16, 2007, Sapp made a surprise appearance at Hustle's Korakuen Hall event, attacking Razor Ramon HG and his partner Wataru Sakata. Sapp aligned himself with Generalissimo Takada's villainous Monster Army. After defeating Razor Ramon RG in his debut match for the company, it was announced that he would wrestle at the Hustlemania Yokohama Arena event. His opponent was later confirmed to be Razor Ramon HG, whom Sapp went on to defeat.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp was later put into a tag team with fellow superheavyweight Monster Bono, but a falling out between the two due to miscommunications in the ring led Sapp to attack Bono with a chair. Sapp and Bono entered a short feud, which culminated with the American's victory and Bono's expulsion from the Monster Army. Sapp then started teaming up with Commander An Jo, eventually entering another feud with Hustle Army member Wataru Sakata. Sapp was defeated by him, breaking his winning streak in professional wrestling. He would try to bounce back by participating in the Hustle Grand Prix 2008, but he was shockingly eliminated by Osaka Pro Wrestling representative Zeus after having beaten Tiger Jeet Singh. After another short rivalry with Genichiro Tenryu, Sapp was defeated in a rematch against Bono as his last appearance for Hustle.


title: Bob Sapp

text: In 2008, Sapp began to participate in WWA, a pro wrestling organization in South Korea. On October 26, 2009, Sapp captured the WWA Heavyweight title by defeating Lee Wang-pyo. On July 24, 2011, Sapp made his debut for Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) at Ryōgoku Peter Pan 2011, using a "Beast will fight for money" gimmick. In a comedy match, he was defeated by Danshoku Dino, a wrestler with a homosexual character, being pinned after a kiss and a "Gaydo Clutch".


title: Bob Sapp

text: At a NJPW event on December 20, 2012, Toru Yano announced that Sapp would represent the villainous Chaos stable on January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7 in Tokyo Dome. At the event, Sapp teamed with Yano, Takashi Iizuka and Yujiro Takahashi in an eight-man tag team match, where they were defeated by Akebono, Manabu Nakanishi, MVP and Strong Man. Sapp made another appearance for New Japan on April 7, 2013, at Invasion Attack, where he and Chaos stablemates Takashi Iizuka, Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshi-Hashi were defeated by Akebono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi and Super Strong Machine in another eight-man tag team match.


title: Bob Sapp

text: On September 8, Sapp took part in the Wrestle-1 promotion's inaugural event, teaming with Keiji Mutoh in a main event tag team match, where they defeated René Duprée and Zodiac.


title: Bob Sapp

text: In 2014, he would compete in the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) and would lose to Aztecaser in his debut match.


title: Bob Sapp

text: In 2002, after Sapp was released from WCW, he was picked up by FX for its amateur boxing show "The Toughman Competition". Sapp was pitted against William "The Refrigerator" Perry as a pro wrestling representative and, despite not having any prior boxing experience, won by knocking out Perry in round 2. Then Sapp's friend and trainer Sam Greco showed his match to Kazuyoshi Ishii, chairman of Japanese kickboxing promotion K-1. Ishii then invited Sapp to Japan in order to start a career in the ring, seeing a combination of great potential and great marketability in him. After training for six months in United States in the AMC Pankration and Team Quest gyms, he would be sent to mixed martial arts company Pride Fighting Championship, which had expressed interest on him too, in order to make his professional debut first under such rules. Sapp competed under both rulesets indistinctly for the rest of his career, usually for the promotion K-1.


title: Bob Sapp

text: After arriving to Japan, Sapp debuted in Pride as a K-1 representative against former professional wrestler and longtime Fighting Network RINGS competitor Yoshihisa Yamamoto, who he finished by TKO at 2:44 of the first round by way of wild hooks. The bout, which attracted 10 million viewers, quickly turned Sapp into a fan favorite due to his size, charisma and aggression, and prepared him for his kickboxing debut against Tsuyoshi Nakasako a month later. Sapp lost by disqualification in 1:30 when he pushed Nakasako to the corner, threw him to the ground and rained illegal strikes on him until being restrained by ring crew. The act caused a brawl on the ring when the cornermen jumped in, but Sapp was surprisingly received with cheers from the crowd. He became an overnight sensation in Japan afterwards, appearing on numerous television shows and advertisements and becoming K-1's most popular fighter. Sapp contributed by creating an outrageous public persona, nicknamed "The Beast", under which he played an unhinged, loudmouthed, yet also humorous version of himself.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp's second Pride match was against two-time RINGS Openweight Champion Kiyoshi Tamura. Though Tamura was a highly respected fighter who held wins over the likes of Pat Miletich, Jeremy Horn and Renzo Gracie, he was giving up 150 lbs to his foe and was quickly overwhelmed by the much larger American, succumbing to strikes just 11 seconds into the bout.


title: Bob Sapp

text: In a show held by both Pride and K-1 called "Dynamite", Sapp faced then Pride champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. The latter had originally been slated for a kickboxing bout against K-1 fighter Mark Hunt, but negotiations fell out, as Nogueira had proposed to fight two separate bouts under mixed martial arts and kickboxing rules respectively, which was rejected by Hunt. The Pride champion then accepted to fight Sapp as a replacement, noting that "nobody wanted to fight Sapp, and some other Pride fighters already had their fights matched." Due to the usual size disparity, this time amounting to 127 pounds, Nogueira accepted a special rule to ban knee strikes on the ground, making it a more even affair. Despite this, the match would quickly become a memorable battle of strength against technique.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp opened the match almost finishing Nogueira in mere seconds, as the latter charged with a takedown only to be lifted and slammed onto his head. Sapp looked to repeat the technique, but Nogueira managed to avoid it and momentarily ready Sapp for an unsuccessful armbar. Taking his turn, Sapp started punishing him with ground and pound through the Brazilian's guard, nullifying his armlocks by sheer strength and landing powerbombs every time Nogueira tried his trademark triangle choke. The bout continued this way, with Nogueira trying fruitless submissions from the bottom while Sapp grinded him with heavy blows, until action finally slowed down into the second round, as Sapp was unaccustomed to such a long time of fighting. Nogueira, who had endured the beating through impressive will and looked "only half-conscious" according to reviewers, finally pulled a tired Sapp down and mounted him. The Brazilian seized an armbar and, although Sapp blocked it, he had no left energy to resist and had to concede the hold and the match.


title: Bob Sapp

text: The fight received critical acclaim by reviewers, with website Ichiban Puroresu calling it "an awesome fight" and "better drama than any fight this year," Keith Vargo commenting that "victory and defeat were changing sides so fast that either man could have won any moment," and Scott Newman opining it was "probably the best heavyweight fight [he had] ever seen in fact." Mirko Cro Cop, who would defeat Sapp in K-1, was quoted as, "It was the craziest fight I've ever seen. I couldn't believe that 'Minotauro' was able to survive all the things that happened to him. He almost broke his spine. Unbelievable." Sapp himself was praised by his performance, to the extent Pride commentators Stephen Quadros and Bas Rutten speculating he could become a major fighter with only more training. He actually expressed desire for a rematch, but Nogueira, who came from the fight with both cheekbones broken, actively rejected it.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp stated interest in fighting Fedor Emelianenko after he won the Pride Heavyweight Championship from Nogueira, which Emelianenko accepted, though joking he would have to gain 70 kg to face Sapp in even terms. Nothing of this materialized, and Sapp would never again compete in Pride, instead focusing his attention on K-1. When Sapp returned to the kickboxing ring the next month, this time against Cyril Abidi and with K-1 chairman Kazuyoshi Ishii as a special referee, he scored his first kickboxing victory, cornering his opponent and unloading punches and hammerfists on him for the KO.


title: Bob Sapp

text: His greatest in-ring success, though, would come in his match over K-1 legend Ernesto Hoost. They first met at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Final Elimination on October 5, 2002, where Sapp replaced an injured Cro Cop in his bout against Hoost. The latter was expected to win thanks to his experience and technical superiority despite being outweighed by over 100 pounds, but Sapp claimed he would not need more than the first round to defeat Hoost, thus setting up an anticipated matchup. Once the fight came around, all while under a television viewership of 19.8%, Sapp surprised the crowd when he started dominating Hoost effectively through his already known charging strategy. By pushing Hoost against the ring's corners and unloading punches there with all of his strength, Sapp controlled the entire the first round, and still landed controversially three more punches after the bell sounded. After the round, the ring doctor declared Hoost was unable to continue due to cuts, and Sapp was ultimately deemed winner while Hoost collapsed visibly in his corner, fulfilling his previous prediction.


title: Bob Sapp

text: His solid victory over Hoost, much like his dominant effort with Nogueira, proved that the trust put on Sapp by K-1 executives had not been in vain. Sapp would compare his situation to "taking someone off the streets and throwing him into the ring with Mike Tyson and then watching that person win," given how much he had accomplished with so little experience and training. According to future adversary Mirko Cro Cop, Sapp's reputation caused that many potential opponents were scared to fight him, both in Pride and K-1. However, Hoost was reportedly discontent with the match's refereeing, citing the illegalities committed by Sapp, and expressed desire for a rematch.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Two months later, Sapp was slated to fight Semmy Schilt at K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Final quarter-finals, but an injury suffered by the latter granted Hoost his second chance as a replacement. Sapp declared he would finish him in one round again. The bout would be a more even affair, however, as although Sapp looked to use his familiar strategy, this time Hoost scored a knockdown through two well placed body blows and survived the first round. Hoost followed on this tactic at the second, but Sapp eventually stunned him and knocked him down in return via repeated arm clubs to the head. The fighters went back and forth for the rest of the assault, until a drained Sapp finally managed to corner Hoost and overwhelm him with unanswered haymakers. At this point, referee Nobuaki Kakuda stopped the fight and gave Sapp the win. Those last seconds were a new source of controversy, as while Hoost was receiving continuous punishment, the stoppage still happened before he fell down. A worn Sapp forfeited his place in the tournament due to exhaustion and an injured hand, being ironically replaced by Hoost himself, who went to win the cup.


title: Bob Sapp

text: At the ending of 2002, Sapp fought professional wrestler Yoshihiro Takayama at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye event. After rushing Takayama to the ground as usual, Sapp proved he had his own way with basic submissions by transitioning to an armbar from mount, making the wrestler tap out. Their fight reached a 24.5 rating in TV. By this time, Sapp's media schedule had grown up so much that he found himself without time to properly train for his fighting career. His trainer Matt Hume would describe it as, "if he would have had time to dedicate to strict training, he would have been


title: Bob Sapp

text: a better fighter, however K-1 and Bob's priority was media exposure, so we accepted it and worked with it."


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp's first defeat came at his fourth match, pitted against former K-1 champion Mirko Cro Cop on March 30, 2003. Despite being dedicated to mixed martial arts at the moment, Cro Cop had accepted the bout due to a lack of fighters willing to matchup with Sapp after his 2002 performance. Sapp also prepared specially for the fight, learning proper muay thai and rumoredly training under Bas Rutten. Although Sapp pushed the fight for a minute, the mobile Cro Cop landed a liver shot and followed with a left hand that broke completely Sapp's orbital bone, making him collapse on the mat and give up while in visible pain. He would need urgent surgery to repair the damage. Both Sapp and Cro Cop later talked about rematching under MMA rules, but this never came to fruition. Before this, Sapp had been placed in an upcoming fight against Francisco Filho, which had to be scrapped due to Sapp being ruled out from competition due to the injury.


title: Bob Sapp

text: A month later, hoping to capitalize on the success of Sapp and others, K-1 made a new fighting division called "Beast" (Sapp's nickname), which featured superheavyweights fighters such as Choi Hong-man. However, the division was stopped after two events due to disappointing reviews and gate takes. Still, Sapp was perceived to play a role in popularizing superheavyweights like Choi or Giant Silva in the sport, which he considered an accomplishment.


title: Bob Sapp

text: In August, Sapp participated in a special K-1 event in Las Vegas, where he went against Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Kimo Leopoldo. Sapp had trained orthodox kickboxing with fellow UFC champion Maurice Smith for the match, and it could be noted in several powerful punches and knees that stunned Leopoldo. However, Sapp's stamina started to falter, which a slightly better conditioned Leopoldo capitalized on to take his turn, eventually knocking Sapp down at the end of the round. Controversy happened before the second, as referee Nobuaki Kakuda seemed to be deliberately giving Sapp time to recover, but the match continued anyway. Perceiving himself outclassed at a technical level, Sapp decided to return to his old bullrushing style, which paid off quickly by knocking Leopoldo down with a left hand. The UFC fighter tried to return the favor, but Sapp was already en route to overpower him and finally rendered him KO with an unchecked rabbit punch. In a marked contrast to Japan, American audiences booed Sapp.


title: Bob Sapp

text: The event in Las Vegas would not end without more controversy, as the victorious Sapp got in a verbal confrontation with former boxing Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson, who was sitting at ringside. Tyson jumped on the ring after Sapp and caused a brief brawl, after which Sapp and him exchanged challenges for a bout between the two. It was soon announced by K-1 that the match was in talks, with Tyson considering training with kickboxing coach Jacob Duran in case the bout was hosted under K-1 rules. However, Tyson's status as a convicted felon made him unable to get a visa to fight in Japan where the fight would have been most profitable. Other locations for the proposed fight were made, but the fight ultimately never happened.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp returned to Japan in September, facing another superheavyweight, Stefan Gamlin, under MMA rules at K-1 Japan Grand Prix 2003. Despite being outweighed by the first time in his career, Sapp won in 0:52 with a guillotine choke. He continued challenging Tyson, claiming he would knock him out with high kicks, and also proposed a matchup against Francois Botha.


title: Bob Sapp

text: The next month, this time under K-1 rules, he fought Dutch champion Remy Bonjasky at the first round of the 2003 K-1 World Grand Prix. The match started with Bonjasky, famous for his flying knees and kicks, almost falling out the ring when Sapp threw him on the ropes in response to such attacks. The American chased a covered up Bonjasky through the ring while scoring punches and knees, but his opponent eventually bypassed his defense and landed a sharp roundhouse kick to end the first round. Bonkasky kept landing through the second, knocking Sapp down with a combination, but Sapp answered by pushing him to the ground and landing a heavy illegal punch. As Bonjasky refused to continue after the strike, Sapp was disqualified.


title: Bob Sapp

text: At the end of the year, Sapp was involved in a highly publicized matchup at K-1 PREMIUM 2003 Dynamite!! with former yokozuna Akebono Taro, who was doing his debut. The combined popularity of Sapp and Akebono attracted a crowd of 45,000 to the Nagoya Dome and granted the event a 43% viewership (roughly 54 million of the 127 million people in Japan at the time), making it the first time a combat sports event outdrew the NHK music festival "Kōhaku Uta Gassen", Japan's traditionally biggest New Year's Eve show. The classical matchup of an American foreigner like Sapp against a Japanese national like Taro, a cultural contraposition, also gained comparisons with Japanese professional wrestling legend Rikidōzan in his bouts against The Sharpe Brothers. The match itself, however, was short and intense. Though outweighed by over 150 pounds, Sapp had the advantage at experience and stamina, allowing him endure Akebono's initially energetic sumo pushes in order to counterattack. He attacked Akebono with low kicks and punching combinations to the head and body, knocking him down twice before finishing him by KO at 2:58. After defeating Akebono, Sapp engaged in another verbal exchange with Mike Tyson about a possible match, although nothing came from it.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp opened 2004 facing Dolgorsürengiin Sumyaabazar, multiple wrestling champion and brother to yokozuna Asashoryu, under a mixed martial arts ruleset at his own event, K-1 Beast. Showing improvement in his MMA technique, Sapp defended from his guard after being taken down, trading short strikes from there and threatening with Kimura locks. Sumyaabazar ended up passing his guard, but Sapp reversed and captured his back, almost closing a rear naked choke, Sumyaabazar had to abandon the match before the second round due to a groin injury. Only two weeks later, he fought against Seth Petruzelli, this time at kickboxing, but the result was similar: although he knocked Sapp down, Petruzelli injured his biceps and was forced to bow out.


title: Bob Sapp

text: After a 0:33 victory over muay thai journeyman Tommy Glanville, Sapp was pitted against wrestler Kazuyuki Fujita at K-1 Romanex. Although the American looked to strike, Fujita scored an early takedown and initiated a grappling scuffle. Sapp looked to defend from the bottom and at one point pursued a heel hook, transitioned into a toehold, but the Japanese escaped to his feet and started delivering soccer kicks with his wrestling shoes to Sapp's head. Fujita kept landing brutal kicks and punches to a desperately covered up Sapp until the latter tapped out at 2:15. After this sound loss, Sapp lost again in a two-round fight against Ray Sefo.


title: Bob Sapp

text: At K-1 Premium Dynamite!! Sapp faced Jérôme Le Banner in a special mixed rules match, in which first and third rounds would be under regular K-1 rules and under MMA rules the second and fourth. Sapp spent the first round covering and guarding up, almost being finished, but he recovered in the second one by taking down Le Banner and raining ground and pound from the mount. He kept the momentum at the third, utilizing a defensive strategy of charging and clinching to neutralize Le Banner; however, most of the action would take place at the fourth and last, which saw the two trading dominant positions and ended with Sapp looking for an armlock. Under the agreed upon rules, the fight was declared a draw. Sapp dedicated the fight to the memory of sparring partner Masaaki Miyamoto's father who had recently died.


title: Bob Sapp

text: 2005 would be a fruitful year for Sapp, starting by a win over judo medalist Kim Min-soo at K-1's new MMA sub-promotion Hero's. Although the debutant Kim, clad in a full judogi, managed to cut Sapp with an early punch, the American swiftly overpowered him and knocked him out to punches in a minute. This prepared Sapp for a run to the 2005 K-1 Hiroshima Grand Prix, where he would face three fighters on a single night in order to qualify for the 2005 K-1 World Grand Prix. In a departure from his explosive yet ephemeral performances up to the point, Sapp showcased greatly improved stamina and much better technique, gained both after intensive training under his long time friend Sam Greco.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp met upcoming fighter Yoshihiro Nakao in the quarter-final, where he would fight all three rounds in dominant fashion. Nakao taunted Sapp during the fight, but the American kept landing kicks and knees in addition to his personal bullrushing style, including also previously unseen counterstrikes. After securing a unanimous decision, Sapp advanced round and faced young fighter Hiraku Hori, who had just defeated. This time Sapp increased his aggression and came near to finishing Hori early with a barrage of punches and a cut, but the Japanese resisted and kept him at bay with high kicks towards the end of the first round. The second would see Sapp uncharacteristically standing still and inviting his opponent to charge at him, which he capitalized on to knock down Hori with hooks before finishing him. The final saw Sapp being pitted against Tatsufumi Tomihira, a karateka famous for his own fouls. The American methodically dismantled Tomihira, scoring two consecutive knockdowns in the first seconds and almost finishing him in the last ones with a cornering barrage. After slowing down in the second and third rounds, where they exchanged kicks and punches, Sapp controlled him for a unanimous decision win, taking the victory at the tournament.


title: Bob Sapp

text: In the post-event interview, Greco praised Sapp's dedication, while Sapp himself gave a speech about his tenure. "I've had low points in my career, now this is a high point and I am enjoying it! I think I've proven I belong in K-1." As promised, Sapp won a prize of 5,000,000 yen and a place among the 16 fighters qualified for the K-1 World Grand Prix.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Shortly after, Sapp returned to MMA format for Hero's, where he was pitted against Russian sumo wrestler Alan Karaev. With Sapp's former opponent Akebono in attendance, Karaev surprised the American with aggression and a quick takedown to mount, but Sapp managed to get out after a failed rear naked choke attempt and hold his own mount for a longer time. Restarted the fight on the feet, Sapp knocked Karaev out with a left jab.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Come the K-1 Grand Prix 2005, Sapp was paired against fellow superheavyweight Choi Hong-man in the first round. Choi's large reach and great size allowed him to land hits regularly through Sapp's charges, but the latter pressed on and got an early knockdown by low kicks to the knee. However, although Sapp came aggressively again in the second round, his stamina started faltering, giving Choi the chance to unload multiple punches. Ultimately, a series of wild battles against an already similarly tired Choi were decided in the latter's favor, granting him a majority decision win.


title: Bob Sapp

text: On May 13, 2006, Sapp was to headline the K-1 show in the Netherlands against Ernesto Hoost, in which Hoost had stated that it was to be his last match in the Netherlands before his retirement. Sapp attended all the pre-fight press conferences and even attended the opening ceremonies for the show. It is unclear at the moment as to why, but Sapp pulled out of the event midway through the show. K-1 issued a statement claiming Sapp pulled out due to new demands he brought to promoters during the show. Sapp disagreed with K-1's account of events, claiming the promotion had tried to delay his payment without any contractual safety.


title: Bob Sapp

text: However, he did participate in 2007's K-1 event in the Amsterdam Arena, fighting as a replacement for Remy Bonjasky against Peter Aerts. Sapp lost the fight by KO within 20 seconds in the first round by a knee to the liver.


title: Bob Sapp

text: After his falling out with K-1, Sapp began to get offers from World Wrestling Entertainment as well as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling to work with them, but his K-1 contract prohibited him from going through with any return to the ring. It was reported WWE was considering an angle between Sapp and Chris Benoit in case they managed to clear his contract out, but they were unsuccessful. Sapp finally made a surprise return to the K-1 ring in Japan after a two-year absence against comedian and part-time K-1 competitor Bobby Ologun. Ologun was unable to mount any effective offense as he was quickly run down and overpowered by Sapp in the first round. Afterwards, with his K-1 contract finally done, Sapp signed up with Hustle and focused on his professional wrestling career.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Since his last matches for K-1 in 2007, Sapp continued his career for small promotions in a limited, non-competitive in-ring way that was described as throwing fights. He would step into the ring after great amounts of promotion, often against upcoming stars and heavily promoted local fighters, only to turtle down and tap out in a few seconds. This routine, labelled in sports as a "tomato can" act, effectively ended his already inconsistent reputation in the sports, attracting large losing streaks and the accusations of "making a mockery of the sport of MMA" and "being a one-man circus". His usual commentator Mirko Cro Cop expressed his belief that Sapp was intentionally allowing himself to lose against very inferior opponents.


title: Bob Sapp

text: When asked about it, Sapp denied he was throwing fights, and claimed he was doing this routine to collect quick paychecks in a late career he did not deem economically worthy to risk his health. He also pointed out a perceived injustice in contemporaneous MMA business, where fighters carrying accolades and important legacies would be left in economic instability after retiring. He explained:


title: Bob Sapp

text: On February 10, 2007 it was announced by the United Kingdom's Cage Rage promotion that Sapp would appear on its Cage Rage 21 event on April 21, facing Gary Turner. The move was partly a retaliatory one, as the UFC had chosen to run its first British show in years that same night at the Manchester Evening News Arena, headlined by Mirko Cro Cop, Andrei Arlovski and British star Michael Bisping. Though Cage Rage promoter Andy Geer said that the UFC show would not affect ticket sales for CR21, the signing of Sapp was a clear sign that the company knew it would need a superstar draw in order to successfully compete with the American promotion. A few days before the event Bob Sapp pulled out of the scheduled fight. On short notice, Tank Abbott stepped in for Sapp and lost to Gary Turner.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp faced the South African fighter Jan "The Giant" Nortje at the event in Tacoma, Washington, at the Tacoma Dome on February 23, 2008. Sapp was defeated at the 55-second mark of the first round by TKO after receiving an unanswered amount of punches. Sapp then returned to Japan on New Year's Eve 2008 and defeated Akihito Tanaka via first-round TKO.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp lost to Japanese Ikuhisa Minowa at "Dream 9" on May 26, 2009, due to Achilles lock. He fought and lost to Bobby Lashley at Ultimate Chaos in Biloxi, Mississippi, on June 27, 2009, due to first round tapout from strikes. On October 6, Sapp stood in for an injured Gegard Mousasi to face Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in the semi-finals at Dream 11. He lost via TKO (punches) in the first round.


title: Bob Sapp

text: On November 27, Sapp fought against Swedish K-1 veteran Jörgen Kruth. The fight got a lot of publicity in Swedish and international press, but ended with an anticlimax when Sapp's corner threw in the towel after only 45 seconds, after Kruth hit Sapp with a knee to the liver.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp was next going to face Stav Economou at BAMMA 5, but the event was canceled due to extreme weather conditions.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp was scheduled to fight at K1 Dynamite!! 2010. He was set to battle Shinichi Suzukawa on New Year's Eve in a Pancrase-style matchup, but pulled out at the last minute due to contract disputes. When questioned about Sapp's refusal to fight on the day of the event, FEG President Sadaharu Tanikawa asked, "Does anyone actually care? I don't know the reasons why, but we did our best to make him fight. He just said he didn't want to. This is typical [of Sapp]." Sapp claims he refused to fight after promoters were contracted to pay him $30,000 for the fight, but Tanikawa only offered him $15,000 after he arrived in Japan for the event.


title: Bob Sapp

text: On February 11, 2012, Sapp debuted for the Asian ONE Fighting Championship promotion. He faced Rolles Gracie at in Jakarta, Indonesia and lost via submission to strikes in the first round.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp fought in the main event of the Super Fight League's inaugural event, SFL 1, against James Thompson on March 11, 2012. Sapp tapped out due to a Thompson takedown that caused a leg injury to Sapp in the first round.


title: Bob Sapp

text: He also fought Yōsuke Nishijima in Nishijima's retirement fight under kickboxing rules "Legend 4" in Kumamoto, Japan on November 17, 2013. Sapp was dropped with a body shot, stood back up but was then finished with body shots followed by couple of right hooks.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp announced his retirement in April 2014 citing that he'd paid off big medical bills and will be retiring with several million dollars in savings (including money doing work outside of fights).


title: Bob Sapp

text: Returning to kickboxing after a nearly two-year hiatus, Sapp appeared at Fight Night Saint Tropez on August 4, 2017 in Saint Tropez, France. He faced Greg Tony and lost the bout via TKO in the first round.


title: Bob Sapp

text: On January 27, 2018, Sapp faced Selcuk Ustabasi at MFC 24. Sapp lost the bout via TKO in the first round.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp had a rematch against Akebono with shoot boxing rules on December 31, 2015 at Rizin Fighting Federation Grand Prix event. Unlike his usual performances, he won the fight by technical decision.


title: Bob Sapp

text: He returned in September 2018 at Rizin 13, where he fought former sumo Osunaarashi. Sapp received intense striking during the first round and was taken down at the second, but he reversed Osunaarashi as they fell and gained top position, from which he controlled the rest of the round. He went to dominate an uneventful last round for a unanimous decision and his first MMA win in nearly nine years.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Sapp was said to go up against Mike Tyson in a 8 round exhibition boxing match, however no personal terms were agreed and Tyson fought Roy Jones Jr. instead.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Having no background in martial arts prior to his fighting career, Sapp's fighting style was relatively devoid of technique, and was more so distinguished by an aggressive usage of size and strength, pressuring his opponent's with an unorthodox "bullrush" technique (which he dubbed as "NFL Style"), whereby he would rush an opponent, usually at the beginning of the round, and overwhelm them with a barrage of punches.


title: Bob Sapp

text: Although defined by his brute strength, Sapp's wins over opponents such as Yoshihiro Takayama and Stefan Gamlin showed that he did possess a knowledge of basic submission techniques.


title: Bob Sapp

text: In December 2017, it was reported in Japanese newspaper "Shukan Bunshun" that a woman claiming to be Sapp's girlfriend accused him of domestic violence. She provided photographs of the alleged injuries and told how she had been abused by Sapp for six years. Although the article included an apology message supposedly sent by him, Sapp did not make public comments about the accusation. No civil suit was filed, and no criminal proceedings were announced as a result of the allegations.


title: Angie Bowie

text: Angela Bowie (born Mary Angela Barnett; September 25, 1949) is an American model, actress, and journalist. Alongside her ex-husband David Bowie, she influenced the glam rock culture and fashion of the 1970s. She was married to Bowie (whom she assisted in conceptualizing the costumes for the Ziggy Stardust stage show) from 1970 until their divorce in 1980. They had one child together, film director Duncan Jones.


title: Angie Bowie

text: Bowie was born Mary Angela Barnett in Ayios Dhometios (then in British Cyprus) on September 25, 1949, the daughter of Canadian mother Helena Maria Galas Barnett and American father George M. Barnett. Her father was a U.S. Army colonel who later worked as a mining engineer and ran a mill for the Cyprus Mines Corporation. She has a brother who is 16 years older than her. Both of her parents died in 1984.


title: Angie Bowie

text: Bowie is of English and Polish descent, and was raised Roman Catholic. She has identified as Cypriot due to the circumstances of her birth and early life, writing in 2000, "I am a Cypriot by disposition. I don't have a passport or Cypriot nationality but my heart is Cypriot, not Greek or Turkish Cypriot, just Cypriot." She was educated in Cyprus, Switzerland, and England (at Kingston Polytechnic), then moved to the U.S. to briefly attend Connecticut College until she was expelled after she had an affair with a fellow female student.


title: Angie Bowie

text: During the 1970s, Bowie occasionally appeared as a guest on television talk shows. She appeared on "The Tonight Show", hosted by Johnny Carson, on November 16, 1973. She also performed on "The Mike Douglas Show" in early 1975.


title: Angie Bowie

text: She auditioned for the title role for the television movie "Wonder Woman", which aired on March 12, 1974, and starred Cathy Lee Crosby (not, as often reported, for the later television series "Wonder Woman", in which the title role was played by Lynda Carter). "Newsweek" hypothesized in its February 11, 1974, issue that she lost the part because of her refusal to wear a bra.


title: Angie Bowie

text: Later in 1975, Bowie bought the television rights to Marvel Comics' characters Black Widow and Daredevil, hoping to develop and sell a series featuring the two heroes. She planned to play Black Widow, with actor Ben Carruthers as Daredevil. The series failed to secure a studio deal, and it never went beyond the development stage.


title: Angie Bowie

text: In March 1982, Bowie appeared on the television program "The Old Grey Whistle Test", reciting poetry, while Mick Karn, from the band Japan, played bass. Her performance was lambasted by the British media.


title: Angie Bowie

text: Bowie appeared as herself in the D.A. Pennebaker concert film "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" (1973) and "Glitter Goddess of Sunset Strip" (1991). She also has had credited acting roles in at least four films: "Eat the Rich" (1987, as Henry's wife), "Demented" (1994), "Deadrockstar" (2002, as Bartender) and "La Funcionaria Asesina" ("The Slayer Bureaucrat", 2009, as Helen Price/Constance).


title: Angie Bowie

text: On January 5, 2016, Bowie appeared on the seventeenth series of "Celebrity Big Brother". On January 10, she was informed off screen of the death of her former husband David Bowie. Although she initially chose to stay in the house, she voluntarily decided to leave on January 19, in part on medical grounds.


title: Angie Bowie

text: Bowie has written two autobiographies: "Free Spirit" (1981, including samples of the author's poetry), as well as the "Backstage Passes: Life On the Wild Side with David Bowie", published in 1993 and updated in 2000. It detailed her alleged drug-fueled and openly bisexual lifestyle with her former husband and many other well-known musicians. In 2014, she produced a large book about sex titled "Pop Sex" as well as a book about cats titled "Cat-Astrophe". In 2015, she released the book "Fancy Footwork: Poetry Collection".


title: Angie Bowie

text: The CD maxi-single "The World Is Changing", with six mixes, including prominent vocal support by Dabonda Simmons, was credited to Bowie with co-composers David Padilla, Morgan Lekcirt, Tom Reich, Jim Durban and D.J. Trance. It appeared in 1996 on New York label Warlock Records (distributed in Europe through Music Avenue on the Nite Blue label). The cover featured a logo of the Bowie name clearly modeled on the one seen on her former husband's "Let's Dance" releases. The album "Moon Goddess" was released in 2002 on the record label The Electric Label.


title: Angie Bowie

text: She sang with Subterraneans vocalist Jude Rawlins on a version of the Rolling Stones song "The Last Time", also included on the 2003 Subterraneans album "Orly Flight".


title: Angie Bowie

text: Bowie has reinvented herself as a journalist specializing in gender issues. She served as a "roving reporter" for the transgender and drag monthly "Frock Magazine". In 2002, she wrote a "Pocket Essentials" book titled "Bisexuality".


title: Angie Bowie

text: She met musician David Bowie in London in 1969, at the age of 19. According to her, they met through their mutual friendship with record executive Calvin Mark Lee. The couple married one year later, on March 19, 1970, at Bromley Register Office in Beckenham Lane, Kent. They had an open marriage. She stated that they were not in love, and the union was a marriage of convenience. She told the "Evening Standard", "We got married so that I could work [to get a permit]. I didn't think it would last and David said, before we got married, 'I'm not really in love with you' and I thought that's probably a good thing." Their son Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones was born on May 30, 1971. He later preferred to be known as Joe or Joey but has reverted to the name Duncan Jones. After nine years of marriage, Angie and David Bowie separated, and they divorced on February 8, 1980, in Switzerland. In the divorce settlement, she received £500,000, paid in installments, and a 10-year gagging clause. Not wanting to fight over custody, she left their son with David. She stated that David's drug habit had become so out of control that she believed giving him the responsibility of raising their son would stabilize him.


title: Angie Bowie

text: During her marriage, she often accompanied her husband on his international concert tours. He wrote the song "The Prettiest Star", about her. (During a backstage sequence in the concert film "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars", David calls Angie by the name Star). After the divorce, Bowie said she was blackballed from the entertainment industry and was so depressed that she considered suicide.


title: Angie Bowie

text: Following her divorce, Angela Barnett had a long-term relationship with punk musician Drew Blood (born Andrew Lipka); they had a daughter, Stacia Larranna Celeste Lipka (also referred to as Stasha). She later lived in Tucson, Arizona.


title: Angie Bowie

text: In 1993, she began a relationship with Michael Gassett, an electrical engineer nearly 20 years her junior. As of 2016 they lived in Acworth, Georgia.


title: Angie Bowie

text: Bowie is estranged from her son Duncan Jones, saying in a 2010 interview that a reconciliation was unlikely. She also mentioned the estrangement during her 2016 appearance on "Celebrity Big Brother". She previously said that, although she has not seen her son since he was 13, he had been in very brief contact with her daughter Stasha in the early 2000s. "He emailed me and I didn't know what to say. So I put them together. They corresponded for a bit and then that stopped. He is cold, like his father. David cut me off. Zowie, or Duncan, cut me and Stasha off", she said.


title: Angie Bowie

text: When asked by "The Times" in 2017 whether she had been in touch with her son since David Bowie's death the year before, she responded "My son? No, why should I be? I'm not interested. It stopped when my father changed his will to not include an educational trust fund for Zowie because David divorced me. When my father did that, I followed precedent. It's over. Nothing. Nothing to do with me." In a 2018 interview for the podcast "WTF with Marc Maron", Jones reiterated that they never had reconciled, saying she was a "corrosive person."


title: Angie Bowie

text: Angie Bowie has long claimed to have inspired The Rolling Stones' hit song "Angie" from their 1973 album "Goats Head Soup". However, the songwriters Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have consistently denied this. In 1993, in the liner notes to the Rolling Stones' compilation album "", Richards said that the title was inspired by his newborn daughter, Dandelion Angela. Later, in his 2010 memoir "Life", he said that he had chosen the name at random when writing the song and that it "was not about any particular person." According to "NME", the lyrics of the song were inspired by Jagger's breakup with Marianne Faithfull.


title: Angie Bowie

text: The fictional character of Mandy, portrayed by Toni Collette in the film "Velvet Goldmine", was based upon Bowie.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: USS "Arizona" was a battleship built for the United States Navy in the mid-1910s. Named in honor of the 48th state, she was the second and last ship in the . After being commissioned in 1916, "Arizona" remained stateside during World War I but escorted President Woodrow Wilson to the subsequent Paris Peace Conference. The ship was deployed abroad again in 1919 to represent American interests during the Greco-Turkish War. Two years later, she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet, under which the ship would remain for the rest of her career.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: The 1920s and 1930s saw "Arizona" regularly deployed for training exercises, including the annual fleet problems, excluding a comprehensive modernization between 1929 and 1931. The ship supported relief efforts in the wake of a 1933 earthquake near Long Beach, California, and was later filmed for a role in the 1934 James Cagney film "Here Comes the Navy" before budget cuts led to significant periods in port from 1936 to 1938. In April 1940, the Pacific Fleet's home port was moved from California to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as a deterrent to Japanese imperialism.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: On 7 December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and "Arizona" was hit by several air-dropped armor-piercing bombs. One detonated an explosive-filled magazine, sinking the battleship and killing 1,177 of its officers and crewmen. Unlike many of the other ships attacked that day, "Arizona" was so irreparably damaged that it was not repaired for service in World War II. The shipwreck still lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor beneath the USS "Arizona" Memorial. Dedicated to all those who died during the attack, the memorial is built across the ship's remains.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: The "Pennsylvania"-class ships were significantly larger than their predecessors, the . "Arizona" had an overall length of , a beam of (at the waterline), and a draft of at deep load. This was longer than the older ships. She displaced at standard and at deep load, over more than the older ships. The ship had a metacentric height of at deep load. Her crew numbered 56 officers and 1,031 enlisted men as built.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: The ship had four direct-drive Parsons steam turbine sets, each of which drove a propeller in diameter using steam provided by twelve Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbines were designed to produce a total of , but achieved only during "Arizona"s sea trials, when she met her designed speed of . However, she did manage to reach during a full-power trial in September 1924. She was designed to carry enough fuel oil to steam at a speed of for with a clean bottom. She had four turbo generators.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: "Arizona" carried twelve 45-caliber 14-inch guns in triple gun turrets. The turrets were numbered from I to IV from front to rear. Defense against torpedo boats was provided by twenty-two 51-caliber guns mounted in individual casemates in the sides of the ship's hull. Positioned as they were they proved vulnerable to sea spray and could not be worked in heavy seas. The ship mounted four 50-caliber guns for anti-aircraft defense, although only two were fitted when completed. The other pair was added shortly afterwards on top of Turret III. "Arizona" also mounted two torpedo tubes underwater, one on each broadside, and carried 24 torpedoes for them.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: The "Pennsylvania"-class design continued the all-or-nothing principle of armoring only the most important areas of the ship begun in the "Nevada" class. The waterline armor belt of Krupp armor measured thick and covered only the ship's machinery spaces and magazines. It had a total height of , of which was below the waterline; beginning below the waterline, the belt tapered to its minimum thickness of . The transverse bulkheads at each end of the ship ranged from 13 to 8 inches in thickness. The faces of the gun turrets were thick while the sides were thick and the turret roofs were protected by of armor. The armor of the barbettes was thick. The conning tower was protected by of armor and had a roof eight inches thick.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: The main armor deck was three plates thick with a total thickness of 3 inches; over the steering gear the armor increased to in two plates. Beneath it was the splinter deck that ranged from in thickness. The boiler uptakes were protected by a conical mantlet that ranged from in thickness. A three-inch torpedo bulkhead was placed inboard from the ship's side and the ship was provided with a complete double bottom. Testing in mid-1914 revealed that this system could withstand of TNT.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: The keel of battleship number 39 (hull number: BB-39) was laid on the morning of 16 March 1914 with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Delano Roosevelt in attendance. The builders intended to set a world-record ten months between the ship's keel-laying and launch, for what "The New York Times" declared would be "the world's biggest and most powerful, both offensively and defensively, superdreadnought ever constructed," but the ship was only a little over half complete a year later. She was launched on 19 June 1915, making it about fifteen months from keel-laying to launch. In the meantime, the ship was named after the newest state in the union by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: "The New York Times" estimated that 75,000 people attended the launch, including John Purroy Mitchel, the mayor of New York City, George W. P. Hunt, the governor of Arizona, and many high-ranking military officials. Several warships were also nearby, including many of the new dreadnoughts which had already entered service (, , , , , and ). Esther Ross, the daughter of W. W. Ross of Prescott, Arizona, was given the honors of ship sponsor and christening. To acknowledge a ban on alcohol recently passed by the state legislature, the state's governor decided that two bottles would be used: one full of sparkling wine from Ohio, and another filled with water from the Roosevelt Dam. After the launch, "Arizona" was towed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for fitting-out.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: "Arizona" was commissioned into the Navy on 17 October 1916 with Captain John McDonald in command. She departed New York on 10 November 1916 after the crew had cleaned the ship and the propulsion system had been tested at the dock. After declinating the ship's magnetic compasses, the ship sailed south for her shakedown cruise. Outside Guantanamo Bay, a stripped turbine on 7 December forced the navy to order "Arizona" back to New York for repairs, although she was able to enter Chesapeake Bay to test her main and secondary gun batteries on 19–20 December. The turbine could not be repaired inside the ship, so the yard workers had to cut holes in the upper decks to lift the damaged casing out. It was reinstalled after almost four months of repairs at the naval yard.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: "Arizona" left the yard on 3 April 1917, and three days later, the United States declared war on Germany. Assigned to Battleship Division 8 operating out of the York River, "Arizona" was employed only as a gunnery training ship for the crewmen on armed merchant vessels crossing the Atlantic in convoys. Shortly after the war began, eight of her 5-inch guns (the four guns farthest forward and the sternmost four guns) were removed to equip merchant ships. When the ship sailed near the wreck of the old "San Marcos" (ex-"Texas"), the wreck was sometimes used as a target for the 14-inch guns. "Arizona" rarely ventured into the ocean for fear of U-boats, and when she did, it was only in the company of other battleships and escort ships. Four coal-fired American dreadnoughts (it was easier to obtain coal than oil in the United Kingdom) were eventually sent across the Atlantic in December 1917 as Battleship Division Nine, but "Arizona" was not among them. Life for "Arizona"s crew was not all training, as the race-boat team from "Arizona" was able to win the Battenberg Cup in July 1918 by beating the team from by three lengths over the three-mile course.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: The fighting ended on 11 November 1918 with an armistice. A week later, the ship left the United States for the United Kingdom, arriving on 30 November 1918. After two weeks berthed at Portland Harbor in Dorset, "Arizona" sailed for France. On 13 December 1918, "Arizona" joined nine battleships and twenty-eight destroyers escorting President Woodrow Wilson on the ocean liner into Brest for one day on Wilson's journey to the Paris Peace Conference. The ten battleships departed France the next day, taking less than two weeks to cross the Atlantic, and arrived in New York on 26 December to parades, celebrations, and a full naval review by Secretary Daniels. "Arizona" was the first in line and rendered a nineteen-gun salute to Daniels. Along with many of the other members of the recently returned fleet, she was anchored off New York City for the next several weeks and open to the public.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: "Arizona" sailed from New York for Hampton Roads on 22 January 1919; she continued south to Guantanamo Bay on 4 February and arrived on four days later. The time in Caribbean waters was mostly used in training for battles and fleet maneuvering, although it included a liberty visit to Port of Spain. In April, "Arizona"s crew won the Battenberg Cup rowing competition for the second straight year before the ship was deployed to France once again to escort President Wilson back to the United States. While the ship was awaiting Wilson's departure, she was redeployed to Smyrna (now Izmir) in Turkey in response to tensions between Greece and Italy over the awarding of Smyrna to Greece in the Paris Peace Treaty. The Greek and Italian governments had each deployed a major warship to the area ("Georgios Averof" and "Duilio", respectively) to enforce their interests. Shortly after "Arizona" arrived, Greek ground forces arrived in transports and were off-loaded in the port. The resultant chaos in the city caused many American citizens in the area to seek shelter on board "Arizona".


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: When the crisis abated, "Arizona" was ordered to Constantinople (now Istanbul) before she sailed for home on 15 June. She put into the New York Navy Yard on 30 June for an overhaul, where six 5-inch guns were removed and the fire control system was modernized. Work was completed in January 1920 and the battleship sailed south to Guantanamo Bay for crew training. During this time, "Arizona" was fitted with a flying-off platform similar to the one given to "Texas" in March 1919. In April, "Arizona" lost the Battenberg Cup to "Nevada", and in June she was present for the Naval Academy's graduation ceremonies. In August she became the flagship of Battleship Division Seven, although it was only later in 1920 that the battleship was refitted to be an admiral's flagship.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: In company with six battleships and eighteen destroyers, "Arizona" was sent south again to transit the Panama Canal in January 1921. After meeting up with the Pacific Fleet, "Arizona" continued on to Peru for a week before the two fleets combined to practice battle maneuvers. After a short return to the Atlantic, which included an overhaul in New York, "Arizona", under the command of Jehu V. Chase, returned to Peru in the summer before she began operating from her new home port of San Pedro, California, part of Los Angeles, where she was based until 1940.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: For the rest of the 1920s, "Arizona"s service consisted of routine training exercises. Naval historian Paul Stillwell remarked that "the Pacific years included a great deal of sameness and repetition", and his chronology of the ship's movements is filled with phrases like "torpedo-defense practice", "battle-practice rehearsal", "gunnery practice", "en route to…", and "anchored at…". A recurring theme in these years were the annual Fleet Problems, which began in 1923 and simulated large fleet actions by having most of the active fleet face off against each other. The first two simulated an attack on the Panama Canal from the west, while in 1925 they attempted to defend the Hawaiian Islands. Other 1920s Fleet Problems included the Caribbean, near Central America, the West Indies, and Hawaii. On 27 July 1923 the ship, under command of John Y.R. Blakely, joined President Warren G. Harding's naval review in Seattle. Harding died just one week later, and "Arizona" joined the Pacific Fleet to fire a salute in his honor on 3 August.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: Sometime in early March 1924 a prostitute named Madeline Blair stowed away aboard "Arizona," trading sex for a free voyage to San Pedro until she was discovered on 12 April while the ship was anchored in Balboa, Panama. She was sent back to New York City and Captain Percy Olmstead later convened courts-martial for 23 sailors once the ship began her refit in the Bremerton Navy Yard, which imposed sentences of up to 10 years imprisonment. Admiral Henry A. Wiley, commander of the Battle Fleet, issued a letter of reprimand to all officers of the ship, including future Admiral and Chief of Naval Operations Arleigh Burke, then an ensign. Admiral William V. Pratt, then in command of the division to which "Arizona" was assigned, thought the penalties excessive, and he ordered the reprimands stricken from the officer's records when he became Chief of Naval Operations in 1930.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: Four months after Fleet Problem IX in January 1929, "Arizona" was modernized at the Norfolk Navy Yard. New tripod masts, surmounted by three-tiered fire-control directors for the main and secondary armament, replaced the old hyperboloid cage masts; the number of five-inch guns was reduced to 12 and the guns re-positioned one deck higher, and eight 25-caliber five-inch anti-aircraft guns replaced the three-inch guns with which she had been originally equipped. These changes increased her crew to 92 officers and 1,639 enlisted men. The ship's main gun turrets were modified to increase the maximum elevation of their guns to 30°. The compressed-air catapult on the quarterdeck was replaced by one that used black powder. Her deck armor was increased by the addition of a thickness of Special Treatment Steel, and the ship was bulged to protect her from torpedoes. An additional bulkhead was added to the sides of the boiler rooms for the same purpose. At the same stroke, her own outfit of two submerged torpedo tubes was removed during this refit in light of a new appreciation that anticipated battleship engagement ranges made their future use improbable. This alteration also permitted the large transverse flat in which the tubes had been situated to be subdivided to reduce risks of flooding in action. "Arizona"s machinery was almost entirely replaced; her high-pressure turbines were replaced by more powerful geared turbines from the canceled battleship , and six new boilers replaced her originals. Their additional power offset the ship's increased displacement as demonstrated during her sea trials; "Arizona" made with at a displacement of .


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: On 19 March 1931, even before "Arizona" was put through post-modernization sea trials, she hosted President Herbert Hoover for a brief vacation in the Caribbean. The President visited Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Returning on 29 March, "Arizona" conducted her sea trials at Rockland, Maine, and had another catapult fitted on the top of Turret III, before she was transferred to the West Coast in August with her sister "Pennsylvania". In February 1932, the ship participated in Grand Joint Exercise No. 4 in which carrier aircraft successfully attacked Pearl Harbor on Sunday morning, 7 February. After returning to the West Coast from Fleet Problem XIV in 1933, the ship was anchored in San Pedro when an earthquake struck nearby Long Beach, California, on 10 March. Sailors from the ship joined the relief efforts, providing food, treating the injured, and providing security from looters.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: In early 1934, the ship and her crew were filmed for the James Cagney/Warner Brothers film "Here Comes the Navy", which made extensive use of exterior footage as well as on-board location shots. In the early morning of 26 July, "Arizona" collided with a fishing trawler, "Umatilla", that was under tow by another trawler off Cape Flattery. Two men aboard "Umatilla" were killed in the collision and the Navy convened a Court of Inquiry to investigate the incident. The court recommended that the ship's captain, Captain MacGillivray Milne, be court-martialed. This took place at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, while the ship was participating in that year's Fleet Problem off the East Coast. Milne was judged guilty and replaced several months later by Captain George Baum after the ship returned to the West Coast. In the meantime, Rear Admiral Samuel W. Bryant assumed command of Battleship Division Two on 4 September, with "Arizona" as his flagship.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: Rear Admiral George T. Pettengill relieved Bryant on 4 March 1935 and the ship participated in Fleet Problem XVI two months later. "Arizona" made a port visit to Balboa in May 1936 during Fleet Problem XVII. On 8 June, Captain George A. Alexander relieved Baum as captain, and, 15 days later, Rear Admiral Claude C. Bloch relieved Pettengill. During gunnery practice on 24 July, the combustion gases from one gun of Turret II entered the gun turret, burning one crewman. The turret's sprinkling system was turned on to prevent any powder explosion, but the released water leaked into the turret's electrical switchboard and started a small fire that was easily put out. Due to the navy's limited budget, the ship spent most of this period in port as a fuel-saving measure. In Fiscal Year 1936–37, the ship was anchored for 267 days; the following year it was in port for 255 days. The ship spent the rest of her career based on the West Coast or in Hawaii.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: On 2 January 1937, Rear Admiral John Greenslade assumed command of Battleship Division Two from Bloch and transferred his flag to the battleship on 13 April. Rear Admiral Manley H. Simons, commander of Battleship Division One, transferred his flag to "Arizona" on 7 August. He was relieved by Rear Admiral Adoplhus E. Watson on 8 November. Captain Alfred Winsor Brown relieved Baum on 11 December. The ship participated in Fleet Problem XIX off Hawaii in April–May 1938. Captain Brown died in his sleep on 7 September and Captain Isaac C. Kidd assumed command of the ship on 17 September 1938. That same day, Rear Admiral Chester Nimitz assumed command of Battleship Division One. Nimitz was relieved on 27 May 1939 by Rear Admiral Russell Willson. Captain Harold C. Train assumed command of the ship on 5 February 1940.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: "Arizona"s last fleet problem was off Hawaii in April–May 1940. At its conclusion, the United States Pacific Fleet was retained in Hawaiian waters, based at Pearl Harbor, to deter the Japanese. She was overhauled at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, from October 1940 to January 1941. During this refit, the foundation for a search radar was added atop her foremast, her anti-aircraft directors were upgraded and a platform for four water-cooled caliber M2 Browning machine guns was installed at the very top of the mainmast. Her last flag change-of-command occurred on 23 January 1941, when Willson was relieved by Isaac Kidd, by that time a rear admiral.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh relieved Train on 5 February 1941. On 22 October 1941, during an exercise taking place in heavy fog, the ship was hit in the bow by the . "Arizona" had been scheduled to depart for Bremerton Navy Yard in November to undergo an overhaul. The accident instead required her to be dry-docked at Pearl Harbour for repairs to the collision damage. As a result, she remained in Hawaii. The ship's last sortie was a night-firing exercise on the night of 4 December as part of Battleship Division One, alongside "Nevada" and "Oklahoma". All three ships moored at quays along Ford Island on the following day. On 6 December, the repair ship came alongside to assist the ship's crew with minor repairs.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: Shortly before 08:00 local time on 7 December 1941, Japanese aircraft from six aircraft carriers struck the Pacific Fleet as it lay in port at Pearl Harbor, and wreaked devastation on the warships and installations defending Hawaii. On board "Arizona", the ship's air raid alarm went off at about 07:55, and the ship went to general quarters soon after. Shortly after 08:00, ten Nakajima B5N2 "Kate" torpedo bombers, five each from the carriers and , attacked "Arizona". All of the aircraft were carrying armor-piercing shells modified into bombs. Flying at an estimated altitude of , "Kaga"s aircraft bombed "Arizona" from amidships to stern. Soon after, "Hiryū"s bombers hit the bow area.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: The aircraft scored four hits and three near misses on and around "Arizona". The near miss off the port bow is thought to have caused observers to believe that the ship had been torpedoed, although no torpedo damage has been found. The sternmost bomb ricocheted off the face of Turret IV and penetrated the deck to detonate in the captain's pantry, causing a small fire. The next forward most hit was near the port edge of the ship, abreast the mainmast, probably detonating in the area of the anti-torpedo bulkhead. The next bomb struck near the port rear 5-inch AA gun.


title: USS Arizona (BB-39)

text: The last bomb hit at 08:06 in the vicinity of Turret II, likely penetrating the armored deck near the magazines located in the forward section of the ship. While not enough of the ship is intact to judge the exact location, its effects are indisputable: about seven seconds after the hit, the forward magazines detonated in a cataclysmic explosion, mostly venting through the sides of the ship and destroying much of the interior structure of the forward part of the ship. This caused the forward turrets and conning tower to collapse downward some and the foremast and funnel to collapse forward, effectively tearing the ship in half. The explosion touched off fierce fires that burned for two days; debris showered down on Ford Island in the vicinity. The blast from this explosion also put out fires on the repair ship "Vestal", which was moored alongside. The bombs and subsequent explosion killed 1,177 of the 1,512 crewmen on board at the time, approximately half of the lives lost during the attack.