title: Arn Anderson

text: In December 1989, Anderson left the WWF and went back to WCW. Blanchard was slated to return as well but WWF accused him of testing positive for cocaine. Crockett's company was now called World Championship Wrestling and was under the ownership of billionaire mogul Ted Turner. Anderson helped to reform the Horsemen and he quickly found success in the company, winning the NWA World Television Championship on January 2, 1990. Anderson remained the champion almost the entire year before dropping it to Tom Zenk. Zenk's reign would be short lived, however, as Anderson regained the title, having been renamed the WCW World Television Championship on January 14, 1991. His third reign with the title was also considered successful as he held the title a little more than five months before dropping it to "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton on May 19, 1991. Afterwards, with Horsemen members Ric Flair and Sid Vicious gone to the WWF and Barry Windham having turned face, Anderson entered the tag team ranks of WCW.


title: Arn Anderson

text: In the summer of 1991, Anderson formed a tag team with Larry Zbyszko and they called themselves the Enforcers. After competing for several months and moving up in the tag team ranks, they successfully captured the WCW World Tag Team Championship on September 2, 1991. The reign would be short lived, however, as they lost the titles roughly two and a half months later to Ricky Steamboat and Dustin Rhodes. Anderson and Zbyszko wrestled their final match as a tag team in December 1991 as part of WCW's "Roar Power" tour of Europe.


title: Arn Anderson

text: Later in December 1991, Anderson joined Paul E. Dangerously's new stable the Dangerous Alliance, where he formed a new tag team with "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton. They quickly moved up the tag team division and were soon a threat to Steamboat and Rhodes. Anderson and Eaton quickly won the titles on January 16, 1992, and defended the titles against all comers for the next four and a half months before losing the titles to the Steiner Brothers in May 1992. The Dangerous Alliance disbanded in November 1992 following Clash of the Champions XXI, following which Anderson took a short hiatus from WCW.


title: Arn Anderson

text: While still under WCW contract, Anderson wrestled a handful of matches for Smoky Mountain Wrestling in March and April 1993, teaming with the Rock 'n' Roll Express. At in May 1993, Anderson unsuccessfully challenged Barry Windham for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.


title: Arn Anderson

text: In May 1993, Anderson joined Ole Anderson and Ric Flair to once more reform the Four Horsemen. The Horsemen introduced Paul Roma as their newest member. Although athletic and a skilled in-ring competitor, Roma had spent much of his career as a jobber in the WWF. As part of an interview segment for the "Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen" DVD, Triple H stated that he thought the addition of Roma made the membership the weakest in the history of the group, and Arn himself referred to Roma as "a glorified gym rat". Although Anderson and Roma won the WCW World Tag Team Championship in August, the group was seen as a failure by WCW. The stable disbanded in October 1993 after Anderson was legitimately injured in an altercation with Sid Vicious.


title: Arn Anderson

text: Anderson returned to the ring in December 1993, facing his former stablemate Paul Roma in a series of matches. In February 1994, he formed a short-lived tag team with Ricky Steamboat. In May 1994, Anderson wrestled at the Eastern Championship Wrestling event When Worlds Collide as part of a talent exchange between WCW and ECW. At the event, Anderson teamed with Terry Funk in an unsuccessful challenge to Sabu and Bobby Eaton.


title: Arn Anderson

text: In May 1994, Anderson formed another new tag team, this one with Dustin Rhodes. At Bash at the Beach 1994, Anderson and Rhodes faced Col. Rob Parker's Stud Stable; during the match, Anderson betrayed Rhodes and cost him them match, subsequently joining the Stud Stable alongside Terry Funk, Bunkhouse Buck, "Stunning" Steve Austin and Meng. The Stud Stable feuded with Dusty and Dustin Rhodes until late 1994 when Funk left.


title: Arn Anderson

text: Anderson's last championship run began on January 8, 1995, after winning the World Television Championship from Johnny B. Badd. Anderson helped restore the prestige of the title, which he held for just over six months before dropping it to The Renegade at Great American Bash 1995. He briefly feuded with long-time friend Flair, and was assisted by Brian Pillman in his efforts.


title: Arn Anderson

text: In 1995, Anderson reformed the Four Horsemen yet again with Flair, Anderson, Pillman, and a partner to be named later (who ended up being Chris Benoit).


title: Arn Anderson

text: By the end of 1996, Anderson rarely competed in the ring as years of wear and tear on his body finally started to catch up with him. On the November 25 edition of "Nitro", Anderson fought Luger to a double count-out in a quarter-final tournament match for the vacant WCW United States Championship.


title: Arn Anderson

text: On the August 25, 1997, episode of "Monday Nitro", Anderson formally announced his retirement from the ring. While standing in the ring, surrounded by Ric Flair and newest Horsemen members Steve McMichael and Benoit, Anderson declared that his last official act as the "Enforcer" for the Four Horsemen was to offer his "spot" in the group to Curt Hennig, as he was forced to retire due to extensive neck and upper back injuries. He worked a couple tag matches afterward, including teaming with David Flair on an episode of "WCW Thunder", but his physical involvement was extremely limited in those bouts.


title: Arn Anderson

text: On the September 14, 1998, edition of "Nitro", alongside Steve McMichael, Dean Malenko, and Chris Benoit, Anderson ceremoniously reintroduced Ric Flair to WCW after his 12-month hiatus. In doing so, they reformed the Horsemen who then feuded with WCW President Eric Bischoff. Flair won the presidency of WCW from Bischoff on the December 28, 1998, episode of "Nitro" followed by winning the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Uncensored 1999 and turn heel in the process. Anderson remained Flair's right-hand man during this time as he attempted to keep Flair's delusional hunger for power at bay.


title: Arn Anderson

text: In 2000, Anderson was a member of the short-lived Old Age Outlaws. Led by Terry Funk, the group of veteran wrestlers battled the revived New World Order. On May 9, Anderson wrestled in two matches losing to David Flair and a week later teaming with Ric to defeat David Flair and Crowbar.


title: Arn Anderson

text: Not long after the closing of WCW, Anderson became a road agent for WWF, renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May 2002. He occasionally appeared on WWE television trying to, with the help of other WWE management, pull apart (kayfabe) backstage brawls. Before the WCW/ECW Invasion storyline, Anderson took up color commentary for a WCW World Heavyweight Championship match between Booker T and Buff Bagwell, WCW Cruiserweight Championship match with Billy Kidman and Gregory Helms as well as another WCW Championship match between Diamond Dallas Page and Booker T, which would be his only appearances as a commentator in WWE. He made an appearance on "Raw" in 2002 delivering a video to Triple H before he was supposed to renew his wedding vows to then-heel, Stephanie McMahon. Anderson was also assaulted on "Raw" by The Undertaker leading up the Undertaker vs. then-babyface, Ric Flair match at WrestleMania X8. During that bout, Anderson made a brief in-ring appearance, delivering his signature "spinebuster" to The Undertaker. He would later turn heel once again by helping Ric Flair in his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, leading to Austin (kayfabe) urinating on him. Several months later he became a face once again and attempted to help a then-babyface Flair gain (kayfabe) sole ownership of WWE during a match with Vince McMahon, but backed down from a confrontation with Brock Lesnar, who entered the ring to assist McMahon.


title: Arn Anderson

text: Anderson made a special appearance at the October 2006 "Raw" Family Reunion special, in which he was in Ric Flair's corner for his match against Mitch of the Spirit Squad. Anderson was in the corner of Flair, Sgt. Slaughter, Dusty Rhodes, and Ron Simmons at Survivor Series 2006, where the four faced the Spirit Squad, but was ejected from the arena during the match. On the March 31, 2008 "Raw", Anderson came out to say his final goodbye to Ric Flair and thank him for his career. At No Mercy, he was backstage congratulating Triple H for retaining the WWE Championship against Jeff Hardy.


title: Arn Anderson

text: On an episode of "Smackdown Live" in August 2016, Anderson made an appearance as one of the people asked by Heath Slater to be his tag team partner for the tournament to determine the inaugural winners of the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Anderson refused to help Slater upon learning that he was not Slater's first choice as a tag team partner. On the August 8, 2017, episode of "Smackdown Live", Anderson made a guest appearance on Fashion Police, revealing himself to be the one who destroyed Breezango's toy horse, Tully, and boasting he was the best horse from the Four Horsemen, and that "Tully" should have been named "Arn".


title: Arn Anderson

text: On February 22, 2019, it was reported Anderson had been released from the WWE. It was later reported this was due to Anderson allowing an intoxicated Alicia Fox to wrestle a match at a WWE Live Event on February 10. At Starcast II, Anderson spoke briefly about his release saying he didn't want to be somewhere he was not wanted and the hours had become too much for him. He couldn't say much due to being bound by a non-disclosure agreement.


title: Arn Anderson

text: On August 31, 2019, Anderson made a surprise appearance at the All Elite Wrestling (AEW) pay-per-view event, All Out, assisting Cody in his match against Shawn Spears by hitting Spears with a spinebuster. On November 6, 2019, Anderson would be a guest commentator on "AEW Dark".


title: Arn Anderson

text: On December 30, 2019, AEW announced that Arn Anderson had signed a contract with the company as Cody's personal advisor and head coach. He would make his "AEW Dynamite" debut on the January 1, 2020, episode, assisting Cody to win his match against Darby Allin. On June 3, 2020, Anderson announced that he had signed a new multi-year contract with AEW.


title: Arn Anderson

text: On the June 11, 2021 episode of "Dynamite", in an interview with Tony Schiavone, Anderson (alongside his son Brock and Cody Rhodes) announced that Brock would be wrestling with AEW and would join the Nightmare Family. The interview was interrupted by QT Marshall and a fight ensued. On the June 18 episode of "Dynamite", Anderson accompanied Brock to the ring for his debut match. Brock, teaming with Cody Rhodes defeated QT Marshall & Aaron Solow. After the match Anderson hugged Brock and raised his hand.


title: Arn Anderson

text: On the September 29 episode of "Dynamite", Anderson dumped Rhodes, who was on a losing streak, and left the ring with Lee Johnson, who had just successfully scored a winning pinfall while teaming with Rhodes. During the promo when he dumped Rhodes, Anderson (a real-life gun enthusiast) told him that Rhodes would allow a carjacker to steal his car while Anderson would "pull out the Glock, put it on his forehead, and spill his brains all over the concrete". The promo, which received approval in advance from both Tony Khan and TNT, received universal critical praise from fans and other wrestlers, as the quote got Anderson trending on Twitter; AEW promptly released a T-shirt featuring the quote due to the reaction. However, Anderson would afterwards resume coaching Rhodes, who would later go on to have another reign as AEW TNT Champion.


title: Arn Anderson

text: Although he was billed as such at various times, Anderson is not related to the Anderson family or Ric Flair. He was given the "Anderson" name and was originally billed as Ole Anderson's brother, and then later billed as Ole's nephew, because of his resemblance to Ole in appearance and wrestling style. He was also billed as Flair's cousin. Flair is not related to any of the Andersons, but he is a longtime friend of Anderson.


title: Arn Anderson

text: Anderson married Erin Lunde in 1985. They reside in Charlotte, North Carolina, and have two sons named Brock and Barrett. Brock followed in his father's footsteps and became a professional wrestler. Anderson stated on an episode of his podcast "The Arn Show" that the only reason he had stayed in the business for so long was to make sure Brock was able to get his start in it.


title: Arn Anderson

text: During a WCW tour of Europe, Anderson and Sid Eudy (better known as Sid Vicious or Sycho Sid) were involved in an argument at a hotel bar in the English town of Blackburn on October 27, 1993. Anderson threatened Eudy with a broken bottle; after being sent to their rooms by security chief Doug Dillinger, Eudy later came to Anderson's room and attacked him with a chair leg, and Anderson retaliated with pair of scissors. Eudy received four stab wounds and Anderson received 20, losing a pint and a half of blood in the process. The fight was broken up by fellow wrestler 2 Cold Scorpio, who was credited with saving Anderson's life. Neither man pressed charges against the other, and British police declined to do so since both men would soon be leaving the country. Eudy was later fired over the incident.


title: Arn Anderson

text: As stated in his biography, Anderson was thrown into the ring ropes during a match in 1994. The top rope broke from the turnbuckle, but he was able to land on his feet. Six months later, the same event happened again, but this time he landed full-force on to the concrete and hit his head, neck, and upper back. He never took time off to heal. As time passed, with no down time, the injuries worsened. In his biography, Anderson states that the first sign of problems was his left arm suddenly going numb and unresponsive during a match. Doctors found that a rib, possibly torn away from the spine during the accident, was popping in and out of the joint and causing shoulder discomfort and weakness. Upon seeing his chiropractor in Charlotte, North Carolina, and consulting medical experts in Atlanta, Georgia, the damage to Anderson's body was found to be much more severe than previously thought and surgery was deemed the only option to keep his left arm functioning at all. Surgery occurred in Atlanta in late 1996 (resulting in a left posterior laminectomy of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th cervical bones and a fusion of the 7th cervical and 1st thoracic bones) and was successful in repairing most of the damage, but Anderson still has some muscle weakness, loss of fine motor control, and loss of muscle mass in his left arm. He spent many weeks in the hospital during that time, crediting his recovery to his wife, his physical therapist, and the fact he did not want his children to be fatherless. He would be readmitted in March 1997 with symptoms akin to cardiac arrest and pulmonary failure, but was released soon afterwards.


title: Arn Anderson

text: Anderson has appeared in the video games "WWE Legends of WrestleMania", "WWE '12", "WWE 2K16" (as DLC), and "WWE 2K17" as a member of The Enforcers with Larry Zbyszko.


title: Arn Anderson

text: Autobiography: Anderson, Arn. "Arn Anderson 4 Ever: A Look Behind the Curtain". Kayfabe Pub Group, 1998


title: Submarine-launched ballistic missile

text: A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a nuclear warhead and allows a single launched missile to strike several targets. Submarine-launched ballistic missiles operate in a different way from submarine-launched cruise missiles.


title: Submarine-launched ballistic missile

text: Modern submarine-launched ballistic missiles are closely related to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), with ranges of over , and in many cases SLBMs and ICBMs may be part of the same family of weapons.


title: Submarine-launched ballistic missile

text: The first practical design of a submarine-based launch platform was developed by the Germans near the end of World War II involving a launch tube which contained a V-2 ballistic missile variant and was towed behind a submarine, known by the code-name "Prüfstand XII". The war ended before it could be tested, but the engineers who had worked on it were taken to work for the United States (Operation Paperclip) and for the Soviet Union on their SLBM programs. These and other early SLBM systems required vessels to be surfaced when they fired missiles, but launch systems eventually were adapted to allow underwater launching in the 1950-1960s. A converted Project 611 (Zulu-IV class) submarine launched the world's first SLBM, an R-11FM (SS-N-1 Scud-A, naval variant of the SS-1 Scud) on 16 September 1955. Five additional Project V611 and AV611 (Zulu-V class) submarines became the world's first operational ballistic missile submarines (SSBs) with two R-11FM missiles each, entering service in 1956–57.


title: Submarine-launched ballistic missile

text: The United States Navy initially worked on a sea-based variant of the US Army Jupiter intermediate-range ballistic missile, projecting four of the large, liquid-fueled missiles per submarine. Rear Admiral W. F. "Red" Raborn headed a Special Project Office to develop Jupiter for the Navy, beginning in late 1955. However, at the Project Nobska submarine warfare conference in 1956, physicist Edward Teller stated that a physically small one-megaton warhead could be produced for the relatively small, solid-fueled Polaris missile, and this prompted the Navy to leave the Jupiter program in December of that year. Soon Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Arleigh Burke concentrated all Navy strategic research on Polaris, still under Admiral Raborn's Special Project Office. All US SLBMs have been solid-fueled while all Soviet and Russian SLBMs have been liquid-fueled except for the Russian RSM-56 Bulava, which entered service in 2014.


title: Submarine-launched ballistic missile

text: The world's first operational nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) was with 16 Polaris A-1 missiles, which entered service in December 1959 and conducted the first SSBN deterrent patrol November 1960 – January 1961. "George Washington" also conducted the first successful submerged SLBM launch with a Polaris A-1 on 20 July 1960. Forty days later, the Soviet Union made its first successful underwater launch of a submarine ballistic missile in the White Sea, on 10 September 1960 from the same converted Project 611 (NATO reporting name Zulu-IV class) submarine that first launched the R-11FM. The Soviets were only a year behind the US with their first SSBN, the ill-fated K-19 of Project 658 (Hotel class), commissioned in November 1960. However, the Hotel class carried only three R-13 missiles (NATO reporting name SS-N-4) each and had to surface and raise the missile to launch. Submerged launch was not an operational capability for the Soviets until 1963, when the R-21 missile (SS-N-5) was first backfitted to Project 658 (Hotel class) and Project 629 (Golf class) submarines. The Soviet Union was able to beat the U.S. in launching and testing the first SLBM with a live nuclear warhead, an R-13 that detonated in the Novaya Zemlya Test Range in the Arctic Ocean, doing so on 20 October 1961, just ten days before the gigantic 50 Mt Tsar Bomba's detonation in the same general area. The United States eventually conducted a similar test in the Pacific Ocean on 6 May 1962, with a Polaris A-2 launched from as part of the nuclear test series Operation Dominic. The first Soviet SSBN with 16 missiles was the Project 667A (Yankee class), which first entered service in 1967 with 32 boats completed by 1974. By the time the first Yankee was commissioned the US had built 41 SSBNs, nicknamed the "41 for Freedom".


title: Submarine-launched ballistic missile

text: The short range of the early SLBMs dictated basing and deployment locations. By the late 1960s the Polaris A-3 was deployed on all US SSBNs with a range of , a great improvement on the range of Polaris A-1. The A-3 also had three warheads that landed in a pattern around a single target. The Yankee class was initially equipped with the R-27 Zyb missile (SS-N-6) with a range of . The US was much more fortunate in its basing arrangements than the Soviets. Thanks to NATO and the US possession of Guam, US SSBNs were permanently forward deployed at Advanced Refit Sites in Holy Loch, Scotland, Rota, Spain, and Guam by the middle 1960s, resulting in short transit times to patrol areas near the Soviet Union. The SSBN facilities at the Advanced Refit Sites were austere, with only a submarine tender and floating dry dock. Converted merchant ships designated T-AKs (Military Sealift Command cargo ships) were provided to ferry missiles and supplies to the sites. With two rotating crews per boat, about one-third of the total US force could be in a patrol area at any time. The Soviet bases, in the Murmansk area for the Atlantic and the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky area for the Pacific, required their SSBNs to make a long transit (through NATO-monitored waters in the Atlantic) to their mid-ocean patrol areas to hold the continental United States (CONUS) at risk. This resulted in only a small percentage of the Soviet force occupying patrol areas at any time, and was a great motivation for longer-range Soviet SLBMs, which would allow them to patrol close to their bases, in areas sometimes referred to as "deep bastions". These missiles were the R-29 Vysota series (SS-N-8, SS-N-18, SS-N-23), equipped on Projects 667B, 667BD, 667BDR, and 667BDRM (Delta-I through Delta-IV classes). The SS-N-8, with a range of , entered service on the first Delta-I boat in 1972, before the Yankee class was even completed. A total of 43 Delta-class boats of all types entered service 1972–90, with the SS-N-18 on the Delta III class and the R-29RM Shtil (SS-N-23) on the Delta IV class. The new missiles had increased range and eventually multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV), multiple warheads that could each hit a different target.


title: Submarine-launched ballistic missile

text: Although the US did not commission any new SSBNs from 1967 through 1981, it did introduce two new SLBMs. Thirty-one of the 41 original US SSBNs were built with larger diameter launch tubes with future missiles in mind. In the early 1970s the Poseidon (C-3) missile entered service, and those 31 SSBNs were backfitted with it. Poseidon offered a massive MIRV capability of up to 14 warheads per missile. Like the Soviets, the US also desired a longer-range missile that would allow SSBNs to be based in CONUS. In the late 1970s the Trident I (C-4) missile with a range of and eight MIRV warheads was backfitted to 12 of the Poseidon-equipped submarines. The SSBN facilities (primarily a submarine tender and floating dry dock) of the base at Rota, Spain were disestablished and the Naval Submarine Base King's Bay in Georgia was built for the Trident I-equipped force.


title: Submarine-launched ballistic missile

text: Both the United States and the Soviet Union commissioned larger SSBNs designed for new missiles in 1981. The American large SSBN was the "Ohio" class, also called the "Trident submarine", with the largest SSBN armament ever of 24 missiles, initially Trident I but built with much larger tubes for the Trident II (D-5) missile, which entered service in 1990. The entire class was converted to use Trident II by the early 2000s. Trident II offered a range of over with eight larger MIRV warheads than Trident I. When the commenced sea trials in 1980, two of the first ten US SSBNs had their missiles removed to comply with SALT treaty requirements; the remaining eight were converted to attack submarines (SSN) by the end of 1982. These were all in the Pacific, and the Guam SSBN base was disestablished; the first several "Ohio"-class boats used new Trident facilities at Naval Submarine Base Bangor, Washington. Eighteen "Ohio"-class boats were commissioned by 1997, four of which were converted as cruise missile submarines (SSGN) in the 2000s to comply with START I treaty requirements. The Soviet large SSBN was the Project 941 Akula, famous as the Typhoon-class (and not to be confused with the Project 971 Shchuka attack submarine, called "Akula" by NATO). The Typhoons were the largest submarines ever built at 48,000 tons submerged. They were armed with 20 of the new R-39 Rif (SS-N-20) missiles with a range of and 10 MIRV warheads. Six Typhoons were commissioned 1981–89.


title: Submarine-launched ballistic missile

text: New SSBN construction terminated for over 10 years in Russia and slowed in the US with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War in 1991. The US rapidly decommissioned its remaining 31 older SSBNs, with a few converted to other roles, and the base at Holy Loch was disestablished. Most of the former Soviet SSBN force was gradually scrapped under the provisions of the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction agreement through 2012. By that time the Russian SSBN force stood at six Delta-IVs, three Delta-IIIs, and a lone Typhoon used as a testbed for new missiles (the R-39s unique to the Typhoons were reportedly scrapped in 2012). Upgraded missiles such as the R-29RMU Sineva (SS-N-23 Sineva) were developed for the Deltas. In 2013 the Russians commissioned the first Borei-class submarine, also called the "Dolgorukiy" class after the lead vessel. By 2015 two others had entered service. This class is intended to replace the aging Deltas, and carries 16 solid-fuel RSM-56 Bulava missiles, with a reported range of and six MIRV warheads. The US is building a replacement for the "Ohio" class; however, the first of the class wasn't laid down until October 2020.


title: Submarine-launched ballistic missile

text: Ballistic missile submarines have been of great strategic importance for the United States, Russia, and other nuclear powers since they entered service in the Cold War, as they can hide from reconnaissance satellites and fire their nuclear weapons with virtual impunity. This makes them immune to a first strike directed against nuclear forces, allowing each side to maintain the capability to launch a devastating retaliatory strike, even if all land-based missiles have been destroyed. This relieves each side of the necessity to adopt a launch on warning posture, with its attendant risk of accidental nuclear war. Additionally, the deployment of highly accurate missiles on ultra-quiet submarines allows an attacker to sneak up close to the enemy coast and launch a missile on a depressed trajectory (a non-optimal ballistic trajectory which trades off reduced throw-weight for a faster and lower path, effectively reducing the time between launch and impact), thus opening the possibility of a decapitation strike.


title: Submarine-launched ballistic missile

text: Some former Russian SLBMs have been converted into Volna and Shtil' launch vehicles to launch satellites – either from a submarine or from a launch site on land.


title: Drag reduction system

text: In motor racing, the drag reduction system (DRS) is a form of driver-adjustable bodywork aimed at reducing aerodynamic drag in order to increase top speed and promote overtaking. It is an adjustable rear wing of the car, which moves in response to driver commands. DRS often comes with conditions, such as the requirement in Formula 1 that the pursuing car must be within one second (when both cars cross the detection point) for DRS to be activated.


title: Drag reduction system

text: DRS was introduced in Formula One in 2011. The use of DRS is an exception to the rule banning any moving parts whose primary purpose is to affect the aerodynamics of the car.


title: Drag reduction system

text: The system is also used in the Formula Renault 3.5 since 2012, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since 2013, Super Formula since 2014, GP2 Series later FIA Formula 2 Championship since 2015, GP3 Series later FIA Formula 3 Championship since 2017. An adjustable wing was also used by the Nissan DeltaWing at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans, although with free usage.


title: Drag reduction system

text: In Formula One, the DRS opens an adjustable flap on the rear wing of the car, in order to reduce drag, thus giving a pursuing car an overtaking advantage over the car in front. The FIA estimate the speed increase to be between by the end of the activation zone, while others, such as technical staff at racecar-engineering.com, cite a much lower figure of . When the DRS is deactivated or closed, it increases downforce, giving better cornering.


title: Drag reduction system

text: The device can only be used during a race after two racing laps have been completed, and when the pursuing car enters a designated "activation" zone defined by the FIA. This also includes having to wait 2 laps after a safety car restart.


title: Drag reduction system

text: In , the FIA increased the number of DRS zones to two on some circuits featuring multiple long straights. In Valencia and in Montreal, two zones were endorsed on consecutive long straights, while in Monza and in Buddh, two zones were created on separate parts of the circuit. Two zones had originally been planned for every race with multiple long straights from Montreal onwards (depending on Montreal/Valencia success), but this was not implemented. However, at the penultimate round of the 2011 season, two zones on consecutive long straights saw a return at Yas Marina.


title: Drag reduction system

text: When usage of the DRS remained legal for the season, a second zone was added to the opening round's track in Melbourne. A third DRS zone was added during and seasons in Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Austria, Singapore, and Mexico. In the season, a fourth zone was initially added for the track in Melbourne, after the circuit redevelopment, before being removed for safety reasons.


title: Drag reduction system

text: The horizontal elements of the rear wing consist of the main plane and the flap. The DRS allows the flap to lift a maximum of from the fixed main plane. This reduces opposition (drag) to airflow against the wing and results in less downforce. In the absence of significant lateral forces (straight line), less downforce allows faster acceleration and potential top speed, unless limited by the top gear ratio and engine rev limiter. Sam Michael, sporting director of the McLaren team, believes that DRS in qualifying will be worth about half a second per lap.


title: Drag reduction system

text: The effectiveness of the DRS will vary from track to track and, to a lesser extent, from car to car. The system's effectiveness was reviewed in 2011 to see if overtaking could be made easier, but not to the extent that driver skill is sidelined. The effectiveness of DRS seems likely to be determined by the level of downforce at a given circuit (where the cars are in low drag trim at circuits like Monza, the effects may be smaller), length of the activation zone, and characteristics of the track immediately after the DRS zone.


title: Drag reduction system

text: A dashboard light notifies the driver when the system is enabled (the driver can also see the system deploy in his wing mirrors). The system is deactivated when the driver releases the button or uses the brakes.


title: Drag reduction system

text: There are lines on the track to show the area where the one-second proximity is being detected (the detection point) and a line later on the track (the activation point), along with a sign vertically marked "DRS" where the DRS zone itself begins.


title: Drag reduction system

text: There has been a mixed reaction to the introduction of DRS in Formula One amongst both fans and drivers. Some believe that this is the solution to the lack of overtaking in F1 in recent years while others believe this has made overtaking too easy. Former Formula One and current Team Penske IndyCar Series driver Juan Pablo Montoya described it as "like giving Picasso Photoshop". The principal argument for the opponents of DRS is that the driver in front does not have an equal chance of defending his position because they are not allowed to deploy DRS to defend. The tightening up on the rules for a leading driver defending his position has added to this controversy. In 2018, then-Scuderia Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel stated that he preferred throwing bananas 'Mario Kart Style' over the use of DRS.


title: Drag reduction system

text: The McLaren P1 coupé is the first road car to have incorporated the F1-style rear wing Drag Reduction Systems. Porsche 911 (992) GT3 RS later followed suit by the introduction of the same system in 2022


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Robert Emmet Chambers Jr. (born September 25, 1966) is an American criminal and convicted murderer. He was dubbed the Preppy Killer and the Central Park Strangler by the media after the August 26, 1986, strangulation death of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin in New York City's Central Park, for which he was originally charged with second degree murder. Chambers changed his story during the course of the ensuing investigation, ultimately claiming that Levin's death was the accidental result of him pushing her off of him when she caused him pain as she sexually assaulted him, an account that was characterized by media accounts as one of "rough sex". Chambers later pleaded guilty to manslaughter after a jury failed to reach a verdict after nine days of deliberation.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Robert Chambers was born in New York City on September 25, 1966, to Robert Chambers, Sr. and Phyllis Chambers. His father was a videocassette distributor and his mother worked as a private nurse, once treating a young John F. Kennedy Jr. for bronchitis and arranging a play date for him and Robert. The family lived in a working-class section of Queens before moving to the Upper East Side when Chambers' parents divorced.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Though not affluent, Chambers' mother worked to pay for his childhood attendance at prestigious prep schools on the Upper East Side, though scholarships assisted in this luxury. The fact that his family had far less money than his classmates created social problems, including difficulty socializing with his peers. By the time he reached college age, Chambers had descended into a life of petty theft, alcoholism, and drug use.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Chambers was accepted by Boston University, but was asked to leave after one semester for reasons including the use of a stolen credit card. He later committed other petty thefts and burglaries in connection with his drug and alcohol abuse. Unable to hold a job, Chambers was issued a summons for disorderly conduct one night after leaving Dorrian's Red Hand, a bar located at 300 East 84th Street in Manhattan. He destroyed the summons as the police were leaving the scene, yelling, "You fucking cowards, you should stick to niggers!"


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Chambers’ girlfriend at the time of the murder was future television actress Alex Kapp. The couple broke up after Chambers stole Kapp's $50 allowance, and, according to Kapp, after Levin had started to pursue him. Levin and Chambers briefly dated. On the day of the murder, both were at Dorrian's Red Hand.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: A bicyclist found Levin's half-naked corpse on August 26, 1986, at about 6:15 a.m., in Central Park near Fifth Avenue and 83rd Street, behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her body was lying twisted by a tree, with her bra and top pulled up. Levin's body and face were covered in scratches and bite marks. Deep red marks were across her neck, her left eye was swollen, and her fingernails were bruised, suggesting that in her final moments she had tried to pull down whatever had been strangling her.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Chambers hid and watched as police officers surveyed the scene. Investigators found Levin's underwear some away.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Levin's autopsy was performed by associate medical examiner Dr. Maria Luz Alandy, who determined that Levin had been strangled. Levin was estimated to have died around 5:30 a.m.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: After several of Dorrian's patrons told police that they had last seen Levin leaving the bar with Chambers, police went to his home. Upon arrival, they saw that Chambers had fresh and bloody scratches on both sides of his face, which he blamed on his cat before later admitting his cat was declawed. Chambers agreed to accompany police to the Central Park precinct for questioning. There he was asked if he left Dorrian's with Levin, which he denied. After police told him that bar patrons had witnessed him leaving with Levin, he admitted that he had. He said that she quickly went to buy cigarettes. Detectives pointed out that Levin did not smoke and Chambers admitted that she hadn’t gone for cigarettes. He then claimed that she cajoled him into going to Central Park to have sex and she died during an aggressive sexual encounter in the park. Before booking, Chambers was permitted to see his father, to whom he said, "That fucking bitch, why didn't she leave me alone?"


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Archbishop Theodore Edgar McCarrick of Newark, New Jersey, later Archbishop of Washington, wrote a letter of support for Chambers' bail application. He had known Chambers and his mother because she had been employed as a nurse by Cardinal Terence Cooke. McCarrick was close to the Chambers family and had served as Robert's godfather at his baptism. In 2019, he was defrocked for sex offenses against adults and minors. Chambers had secured bail through his family and the owner of the bar, Jack Dorrian, who put up his townhouse as collateral for a bail bond.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Chambers was charged with, and tried for, two counts of second-degree murder. His defense was that Levin's death had occurred during "rough sex". He was defended by Jack Litman, who had previously used the temporary insanity defense on behalf of Richard Herrin for the murder of Yale University student Bonnie Garland. Litman claimed Levin was promiscuous, saying she had a sex diary and that her sexual history was admissible as evidence, prompting headlines such as "How Jennifer Courted Death" in New York's "Daily News". On remand, Chambers was filmed twisting off the head of a Barbie doll and saying, "Oops, I think I killed her."


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Prosecutor Linda Fairstein stated: "In more than 8,000 cases of reported assaults in the last ten years, this is the first in which a male reported being sexually assaulted by a female."


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Chambers' trial began on January 4, 1988, and lasted 13 weeks. Alandy testified on February 9 that pinpoint hemorrhages observed in the soft tissue around Levin's eyes could be caused by a constriction of the blood vessels in the neck. She explained that this was evidence of compression of her neck, and an indication that she had been strangled. When Chambers' attorney, Jack Litman, suggested on cross-examination that Chambers could have choked Levin in an arm lock that could cause death in seconds, and that the marks on her neck could have been made when she quickly moved her head from side to side in a struggle for air, Alandy stated that while such an occurrence was possible, this did not occur in Levin's case. She also stated that while some of the injuries on Levin's neck could have been caused by Chambers' wristwatch and shirt, rather than his hands, her injuries overall were not consistent with the scenario Litman described.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: When the jury failed to reach a verdict after nine days of deliberation, the prosecution and Chambers agreed to a plea bargain. He pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter, which carried a sentence of between five and fifteen years. He was also required to admit that he intended to hurt Levin sufficiently to cause her death. During his sentencing that April, he stated in court, "It breaks my heart to have to say that. The Levin family has gone through hell because of my actions, and I am sorry." Chambers received a sentence of 15 years in prison.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: In 1997, Chambers sent an untitled essay he wrote to prison anthologist Jeff Evans. The piece, subsequently titled "Christmas: Present", appeared in the book "Undoing Time: American Prisoners in Their Own Words". Written while Chambers was incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility in Stormville, New York, the essay is an entry from one of his journals, which he calls "a record of the meaningless hope and frightening losses of a person I don't even know."


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Chambers was released from Auburn Prison on February 14, 2003, after having served the entirety of his prison term due to his numerous infractions. His release was a media circus, with reporters staking out prime sections of the sidewalk opposite the prison as early as thirteen hours before his 7:30 a.m. release time. The same day, "Dateline NBC" interviewed Chambers, who continued to claim that he strangled Levin accidentally in an attempt to stop her from hurting him during rough sex. He also falsely denied that he had been disciplined in prison.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Jack Dorrian settled with Levin's parents on their claim that Dorrian's bar, where Levin and Chambers had been before they went to Central Park on the night of her death, had served too much alcohol to Chambers. A wrongful death lawsuit, which Chambers did not contest, provides that he must pay all lump sums he receives, including any income from book or movie deals, plus ten percent of his future income (up to $25 million), to the Levin family. The family has said all the money it gets from Chambers will go to victims' rights organizations.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: In July 2005, Chambers pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor drug charge and on August 29 was given a reduced sentence of 90 days in jail and fined $200 for a license violation. The judge added 10 days to the time prosecutors and Chambers' lawyer had agreed on because he was an hour late for the hearing. He would have faced up to a year in jail if he had been convicted after trial.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: On October 22, 2007, Chambers was arrested again, this time in his own apartment, and charged with three counts of selling a controlled substance in the first degree, three counts of selling a controlled substance in the second degree, and one count of resisting arrest. His longtime girlfriend, Shawn Kovell, was also arrested on one count of selling a controlled substance in the second degree. The "Daily News" reported:


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Cops said Chambers, 41, struggled with officers who tried to handcuff him on the felony charges. One detective suffered a broken thumb in the fracas.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Commenting on his new arrest, former Assistant District Attorney Linda Fairstein, who had prosecuted Chambers for Levin's death, said:


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Doesn't surprise me. I always believed his problem with drugs and alcohol would get him in trouble again. He's had the opportunity in prison to detox and take college courses, to straighten out his life, but that clearly is of no interest to him. He's learned nothing in the last 20 years.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: Chambers and Kovell were charged with running a cocaine operation out of the apartment. The two had previously been given notices for not paying rent, and the phone had been disconnected. Chambers appeared in court on December 18; according to the "New York Post", his lawyer filed "new papers elaborating on his psychiatric defense". The filing claimed that Chambers had become an addict at the age of 14 and was, by 2007, using 10 to 12 bags of heroin a day. It was also reported that he also used cocaine, was smoking marijuana and taking prescription drugs. Chambers planned to plead insanity. Prosecutors countered that Chambers was a drug dealer and had sold as much as $2,800 in heroin at a time to undercover police. Chambers faced life in prison on the drug charges.


title: Robert Chambers (criminal)

text: On August 11, 2008, the Manhattan DA's office announced that Chambers had pleaded guilty to selling drugs. On September 2, 2008, he was sentenced to 19 years on the drug charge. As of July 2021, he is at Shawangunk Correctional Facility, New York State Department of Corrections DIN (Department Identification Number) #08A4763. His earliest release date from prison is January 25, 2024. His latest possible release date is October 15, 2026.


title: Lily Cowles

text: Lily Cowles (born September 7, 1987) is an American actress known for her role as Isobel Evans in "Roswell, New Mexico" and Helen Park in .


title: Lily Cowles

text: Cowles was born in 1987 and raised in rural Connecticut, the daughter of actress Christine Baranski and playwright Matthew Cowles. Cowles has an older sister, an attorney named Isabel. Cowles earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in religious studies from Princeton University. Cowles' father died of congestive heart failure in 2014.


title: Lily Cowles

text: After graduating from Princeton University, Cowles relocated to Los Angeles. She began her career in entertainment as a personal assistant to Jonah Hill during the production of "True Story". In 2016, Cowles also had a reoccurring role in the political satire, "BrainDead". Cowles was later cast in the CW reboot of "Roswell", titled "Roswell, New Mexico". 2020 saw Cowles play the role of Helen Park in the first-person shooter video game "".


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: Nyle DiMarco (born May 8, 1989) is an American model, actor, and deaf activist. In 2015, DiMarco was the winner of The CW's reality television series "America's Next Top Model" in season 22, becoming the second male winner and the first deaf winner. In the following year, he and professional dance partner Peta Murgatroyd were the winners of the ABC televised dance competition "Dancing with the Stars" in season 22.


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: DiMarco was born in Queens, New York as Nyle Thompson, explaining in 2016 that at some unspecified point, "We changed our last name from Thompson to DiMarco (our mother's maiden name)." He is of English, Scottish, Italian and German descent. DiMarco grew up in Frederick, Maryland, where he attended the Maryland School for the Deaf, and went on to graduate from Gallaudet University in 2013, with a degree in mathematics. American Sign Language (ASL) is his native language but he uses English fluently in writing. Nyle also gets by with lip reading and nonverbal communication. He has a fraternal twin brother, Nico, and an older brother, Neal.


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: In 2013, DiMarco had a leading role in the independent film "In the Can", an American Sign Language Films production. In 2014 and 2015, he played the recurring role of Garrett Banducci in "Switched at Birth" on the Freeform network.


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: DiMarco was doing freelance modeling for about a year before he was contacted by "America's Next Top Model" producers in 2015. They scouted him via his social media without realizing he was deaf. He was named the winner of the season after beating out Mamé Adjei in the season finale. He is the only deaf male in the show's history, the first deaf winner, and the second male to win.


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: On March 8, 2016, DiMarco was announced as one of the celebrities who would compete on season 22 of "Dancing with the Stars". He was partnered with professional dancer Peta Murgatroyd. DiMarco is the second deaf contestant to compete on the show after Marlee Matlin. On May 24, 2016, DiMarco and Murgatroyd were announced as the winners of the season. DiMarco became the first deaf celebrity to win any global version of BBC Worldwide's "Dancing with the Stars" franchise.


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: In 2016, DiMarco appeared in the Hulu comedy series "Difficult People". Later on, he appeared on Tóc Tiên's music video for "Big Girls Don't Cry" in January and Alex Newell's music video for "Basically Over You (BOY)" in March.


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: DiMarco was featured on DIVERSEability Magazine's 2017 Summer issue. He was also honored as DEAF LIFE Magazine's "Deaf Person of the Year" (January 2017 issue).


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: DiMarco played the lead role in Dan + Shay's "Tequila" music video, which premiered in February 2018.


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: Dimarco was partnered with professional ballroom dancer Peta Murgatroyd on the 22nd season of the ABC televised dance competition "Dancing with the Stars".


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: In October 2015, DiMarco came out as "sexually fluid" when asked during an interview with "Out" magazine about his sexuality.


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: DiMarco does not consider himself disabled by deafness and sees his media profile as an opportunity to bring awareness to Deaf culture. He views deafness as an advantage in modeling because he is accustomed to communicating without speaking. He believes deaf actors should play deaf roles.


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: DiMarco is a spokesperson for LEAD-K (Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids). He is also a signer and creative collaborator on The ASL App, an app that teaches ASL.


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: In 2016, DiMarco started The Nyle DiMarco Foundation, a non-profit organization providing access to resources for deaf children and their families.


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: DiMarco supported Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign during the 2016 U.S. election. He criticized Republican nominee Donald Trump, after reports surfaced of ableist comments, one directed at deaf actress Marlee Matlin. DiMarco stated, "[T]here are 55 million disabled people living in America. I don't want a president who marginalizes my community."


title: Nyle DiMarco

text: On November 22, 2020, DiMarco delivered the keynote address at the closing general session of the Annual Convention and Expo of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. In the keynote address, DiMarco drew comparisons between his experiences in education (both in Deaf schools and in hearing schools) and the experiences of learners of world languages negotiating cultural differences. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference was fully online, so DiMarco delivered the keynote via video streaming.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: , is a Japanese "shōjo" manga series written and illustrated by Yoko Kamio and set in Tokyo, Japan, and the fictional "Eitoku Academy" (an elite school for children from rich families). It tells the story of Tsukushi Makino, a girl from a middle-class family, whose mother enrolls her in an elite high school to compete with the families from her husband's company. While at Eitoku, she encounters the F4, a gang of four young men who are children of Japan's wealthiest families and who bully anyone that gets in their way.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: The manga was launched in Shueisha's "Margaret" magazine in October 1992 and ran until January 2004. Two epilogue chapters were later published in "Margaret", in July 2006 and January 2008. The English translation was published by Viz Media from August 2003 to October 2009. "Boys Over Flowers" is the best selling shōjo manga of all time and enjoys immense popularity in the Eastern Asia region.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: The manga has been adapted into various mediums, some before the manga itself had finished serialization. It was first adapted as an audio drama released on CD from July 1993 to July 1994. This was followed by a live-action feature film in 1995, then an animated television series, produced by Toei Animation, that was broadcast by ABC from 1996 to 1997.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: The first live-action television adaptation was one produced in Taiwan, titled "Meteor Garden" (2001). It was also produced before the manga was completed. After Taiwan's "Meteor Garden", a number of other live-action television adaptations have followed. A Japanese live-action series aired from 2005 to 2007 (and was followed by ), a South Korean adaptation aired in 2009, a mainland Chinese adaptation, also titled "Meteor Garden" aired in 2018, and a Thai adaptation, "", was aired from 2021 to 2022.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: in Yamanote, Japan is a prestigious school that caters to children from upper-class families. Hence, Tsukushi Makino, who comes from a middle-class family, fulfills the literal meaning of her name, as she is initially considered to be the "weed" of the school.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: The school is ruled by the F4 ("Flower Four"), four young men from Japan's wealthiest families. Tsukasa Domyoji is the son of the wealthiest, most powerful family in Japan. They initially bully Tsukushi when she stands up to them. However, Domyoji eventually takes an interest in her because she is the only girl in the school who stands up to him.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: Tsukushi, however, is repulsed by his hot-headed nature and bullying demeanor, falling instead for soft-spoken and sensitive Rui Hanazawa (Tsukasa's best friend since childhood). This love triangle forms the basis of the entire series.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: The other two members of the F4 are Akira Mimasaka, the laid-back peacemaker of the group, and Sojirou Nishikado, an unrepentant playboy. They both usually have at least one girlfriend at any one time; Akira prefers older women because the women of his household (his mother and two younger sisters) are quite childish. Sojirou is happy to be in casual relationships with many women, although we later discover that at one time he was in love with a childhood friend.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: Over time, Tsukushi's feelings towards Tsukasa evolve, as she begins to appreciate the degree of change that occurred in Tsukasa once he fell in love with her. However, because of the difference in social class, Tsukushi and Tsukasa's relationship is blocked by Tsukasa's mother, Kaede (but supported by his elder sister, Tsubaki, who becomes friends with Tsukushi).


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: "Boys Over Flowers" was serialized in Shueisha's bi-weekly Japanese-language magazine "Margaret" magazine from October 1992 to September 2003. It was also serialized into 36 stand-alone volumes between 1992 and 2004, with an epilogue (issue #37) that came out in 2008. English translations of all 37 volumes were released between 2003 and 2009. It has also been published by Glénat in France and by Planeta DeAgostini in Spain.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: Kamio began a sequel, "Boys Over Flowers Season 2", in Shueisha's "Shōnen Jump+" online magazine on February 15, 2015.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: In July 2006, a short story based on the manga was published in issue 15 of "Margaret" magazine. Another two-installment short story was published in January 2007. Both short stories were by Yoko Kamio.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: An audio drama adaptation of "Hana yori Dango", marketed as , was released from July 1993 to July 1994. It starred Takuya Kimura, in his voice-acting debut, as the voice of Rui Hanazawa, whom this adaptation focused on.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: An anime series produced by Toei Animation and broadcast by on television by Asahi Broadcasting Corporation and TV Asahi in 1996. It was followed by a spin-off theatrical short film, set in an alternate universe, in 1997. The anime was later released in Northern America on DVD by Viz Media in 2003, as "Boys Over Flowers". It was then rereleased by Discotek Media in 2016, as "Hana yori Dango".


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: "Boys Over Flowers" won the 41st Shogakukan Manga Award for "shōjo" manga. With 61 million copies sold as of 2015, it is one of the best-selling manga series of all time and the best-selling "shōjo manga" of all time. On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150.000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, "Boys Over Flowers" ranked 70th.


title: Boys Over Flowers

text: F4 (Flower Four) or JVKV was a Taiwanese boy band consisting of cast members of the 2001 Taiwanese version, "Meteor Garden": Jerry Yan, Vanness Wu, Ken Chu, and Vic Chou. It formed in 2001 after the "Meteor Garden" series ended. They released three albums, "Meteor Rain" (2001), "Fantasy 4ever" (2002), and "Waiting for You" (2007). According to "Forbes", F4 has sold 3.5 million copies of their first two albums all over Asia as of July 2003. In 2007, due to copyright issues, the group changed its name to JVKV, using the initials of its members in descending order their ages.


title: Tehran Conference

text: The Tehran Conference (codenamed Eureka) was a strategy meeting of Joseph Stalin, Franklin Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill from 28 November to 1 December 1943, after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran. It was held in the Soviet Union's embassy in Tehran, Iran. It was the first of the World War II conferences of the "Big Three" Allied leaders (the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom) and closely followed the Cairo Conference, which had taken place on 22–26 November 1943, and preceded the 1945 Yalta and Potsdam conferences. Although the three leaders arrived with differing objectives, the main outcome of the Tehran Conference was the Western Allies' commitment to open a second front against Nazi Germany. The conference also addressed the 'Big Three' Allies' relations with Turkey and Iran, operations in Yugoslavia and against Japan, and the envisaged postwar settlement. A separate protocol signed at the conference pledged the Big Three to recognize Iranian independence.


title: Tehran Conference

text: Once the German-Soviet War broke out in June 1941, Churchill offered assistance to the Soviets, and an agreement to that effect was signed on 12 July 1941. However, Churchill, in a spoken radio transmission announcing the alliance with the Soviets, reminded listeners that the alliance would not change his stance against communism.


title: Tehran Conference

text: Delegations had traveled between London and Moscow to arrange the implementation of that support, and when the United States joined the war in December 1941, the delegations met in Washington as well. A Combined Chiefs of Staff committee was created to co-ordinate British and American operations and their support to the Soviets. The consequences of a global war, the absence of a unified Allied strategy, and the complexity of allocating resources between Europe and Asia had not yet been sorted out, which soon gave rise to mutual suspicions between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. There was the question of opening a second front to alleviate the German pressure on the Soviet Red Army on the Eastern Front, the question of mutual assistance (since both the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union were looking towards the United States for credit and material support, there was tension between the United States and Britain since the Americans had no desire to prop up the British Empire in the event of an Allied victory). Also, neither the United States nor the United Kingdom was prepared to give Stalin a free hand in Eastern Europe, and there was no common policy on how to deal with Germany after the war. Communications regarding those matters between Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin took place by telegrams and via emissaries, but it was evident that direct negotiations were urgently needed.


title: Tehran Conference

text: Stalin was reluctant to leave Moscow and unwilling to risk journeys by air, and Roosevelt was physically disabled and found travel difficult. Churchill was an avid traveller and, as part of an ongoing series of wartime conferences, had already met with Roosevelt five times in North America and twice in Africa and had also held two prior meetings with Stalin in Moscow. To arrange the urgently-needed meeting, Roosevelt tried to persuade Stalin to travel to Cairo. Stalin turned down the offer and also offers to meet in Baghdad or Basra. He finally agreed to meet in Tehran in November 1943.


title: Tehran Conference

text: The conference was to convene at 16:00 on 28 November 1943. Stalin had arrived well before, followed by Roosevelt, who brought in his wheelchair from his accommodation adjacent to the venue. Roosevelt, who had traveled to attend and whose health was already deteriorating, was met by Stalin. This was the first time that they had met. Churchill, walking with his general staff from their accommodations nearby, arrived half an hour later. According to Roosevelt's interpreter, Charles Bohlen, Roosevelt was accompanied by Harry Hopkins, who had served as Roosevelt's personal emissary to Churchill, and W. Averell Harriman, the U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union. Stalin was accompanied by Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov and military leader Kliment Voroshilov. Churchill brought Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden and chief military assistant Hastings Ismay, in addition to his interpreter Arthur Birse.


title: Tehran Conference

text: As Stalin had been advocating for a second front since 1941, he was very pleased and felt that he had accomplished his principal goal for the meeting. Moving on, Stalin agreed to enter the war against Japan once Germany was defeated:


title: Tehran Conference

text: The leaders then turned to the conditions under which the Western Allies would open a new front by invading northern France (Operation Overlord), as Stalin had pressed them to do since 1941. Until then, Churchill had advocated the expansion of joint operations of British, American, and Commonwealth forces in the Mediterranean, as opening a new western front had been physically impossible because of a lack of existing shipping routes. That left the Mediterranean and Italy as viable goals for 1943. It was agreed Operation Overlord would be launched by American and British forces by May 1944 and that Stalin would support the Allies with a concurrent major offensive on Germany's eastern front (Operation Bagration) to divert German forces from northern France.


title: Tehran Conference

text: Additional offensives were also discussed to complement the undertaking of Operation Overlord, including the possible allied invasion of southern France prior to the landings at Normandy with the goal of drawing German forces away from the northern beaches and even a possible strike at the northern tip of the Adriatic to circumvent the Alps and drive towards Vienna. Either plan would have relied on Allied divisions engaged against the German Army in Italy around the time of the conference.


title: Tehran Conference

text: Iran and Turkey were discussed in detail. Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin all agreed to support the Iranian government, as addressed in the following declaration:


title: Tehran Conference

text: In addition, the Soviets pledged support to Turkey if it entered the war. Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin agreed that it would also be most desirable if Turkey entered on the Allies' side before the year was out.


title: Tehran Conference

text: Churchill argued for the invasion of Italy in 1943, then Overlord in 1944, on the basis that Overlord was physically impossible in 1943 for lack of shipping and that it would be unthinkable to do anything important until it could be launched. Churchill successfully proposed to Stalin a westward movement of Poland, which Stalin accepted. It gave the Poles industrialized German land to the west but took marshlands to the east. It also providing a territorial buffer to the Soviet Union against invasion. Churchill's plan involved a border along the Oder and the Eastern Neisse, which he views to give Poland a fair compensation for the Eastern Borderlands.


title: Tehran Conference

text: Before the Tripartite Dinner Meeting of 29 November 1943 at the Conference, Churchill presented Stalin with a specially commissioned ceremonial sword (the "Sword of Stalingrad," made in Sheffield), as a gift from King George VI to the citizens of Stalingrad and the Soviet people, commemorating the Soviet victory at Stalingrad. When Stalin received the sheathed sword, he took it with both hands and kissed the scabbard. (He then handed it to Marshal Kliment Voroshilov, who mishandled it, causing the sword to fall to the ground.)


title: Tehran Conference

text: Stalin proposed executing 50,000 to 100,000 German officers so that Germany could not plan another war. Roosevelt, believing that Stalin was not serious, joked that "maybe 49,000 would be enough." Churchill, however, was outraged and denounced "the cold blooded execution of soldiers who fought for their country." He said that only war criminals should be put on trial in accordance with the Moscow Document, which he had written. He stormed out of the room but was brought back in by Stalin, who said he was joking. Churchill was glad Stalin had relented but thought that Stalin had been testing the waters.


title: Tehran Conference

text: On 1 December 1943, the three leaders re-assembled and issued a set of declarations. They also negotiated the following military conclusions at the conference.


title: Tehran Conference

text: Iran would go to war with Germany, a common enemy to the three powers. Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt addressed the issue of Iran's special financial needs during the war and the possibility of needing aid after the war. The three powers declared to continue to render aid to Iran. The Iranian government and the three powers reach an accord within all the disagreements to maintain the independence, sovereignty, and integrity of Iran. The United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom expected Iran to follow along with the other Allies to establish peace once the war was over, which was agreed upon when the declaration was made.


title: Tehran Conference

text: Stalin and Churchill discussed the future borders of Poland and settled on the Curzon Line in the east and the Oder-Eastern Neisse Line in the west. Roosevelt had asked to be excused from any discussion of Poland out of consideration for the effects of any decision on Polish voters in the US and the upcoming 1944 election. The decision was therefore not ratified until the Potsdam Conference of 1945.


title: Tehran Conference

text: During the negotiations, Roosevelt secured the reincorporation of the Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia into the Soviet Union only after the citizens voted on those actions. Stalin would not consent to any international control over the elections and stated that all issues would have to be resolved in accordance with the Soviet Constitution.


title: Tehran Conference

text: The Yugoslav Partisans were given full Allied support, and Allied support to the Yugoslav Chetniks was halted. (They were believed to be cooperating with the occupying Germans rather than fighting them; see Yugoslavia and the Allies.)


title: Tehran Conference

text: The communist Partisans under Josip Broz Tito took power in Yugoslavia as the Germans gradually retreated from the Balkans in 1944 and 1945.


title: Tehran Conference

text: Turkish President İsmet İnönü conferred with Roosevelt and Churchill at the Cairo Conference in November 1943 and promised to enter the war when his country had become fully armed. By August 1944, Turkey broke off relations with Germany. In February 1945, Turkey declared war on Germany and Japan, which may have been a symbolic move that allowed Turkey to join the future United Nations.


title: Tehran Conference

text: Roosevelt and Stalin spent much of the conference to try to convince Churchill to commit to an invasion of France and finally succeeded on 30 November, when Roosevelt announced at lunch that they would be launching the invasion in May 1944. That pleased Stalin, who had been pressing his allies to open a new front in the west to alleviate some pressure on his troops. That decision may be the most critical to come out of this conference, as the desired effect of the relief of Soviet troops was achieved and led to a Soviet rally and advance toward Germany, a tide that Hitler could not stem.


title: Tehran Conference

text: The Tehran Conference also served as one of the first conversations surrounding the formation of the United Nations. Roosevelt first introduced Stalin to the idea of an international organization comprising all nation states, a venue for the resolution of common issues, and a check against international aggressors. With Germany having thrust the world into chaos for the second time in as many generations, the three world leaders all agreed that something must be done to prevent a similar occurrence.


title: Tehran Conference

text: There was a shared view among the participants that a postwar division of Germany was necessary with the sides differing on the number of divisions needed to neutralize her ability to wage war. The numbers that were proposed varied widely and never came to fruition, but the powers would effectively divide modern Germany into two parts until the end of the Cold War. During one dinner, Churchill questioned Stalin on his postwar territorial ambitions. Stalin replied, "There is no need to speak at this present time about any Soviet Desires, but when the time comes we will speak."


title: Tehran Conference

text: On 29 November, Roosevelt asked Stalin five questions about data and intelligence relating to Japanese and Siberian ports and about air bases in the Maritime Provinces for up to 1,000 heavy bombers. On 2 February, Stalin told the American ambassador that America could operate 1,000 bombers from Siberia after the Soviet Union had declared war on Japan (Vladivostok is in the Russian Far East, not Siberia).


title: Tehran Conference

text: According to Soviet reports, German agents planned to kill the Big Three leaders at the Tehran Conference, but called off the assassination while it was still in the planning stage. The NKVD, the USSR's counterintelligence unit, first notified Mike Reilly, Roosevelt's chief of security, of the suspected assassination plot several days before Roosevelt's arrival in Tehran. Reilly had gone to Tehran several days early to evaluate security concerns and explore potential routes from Cairo to Tehran. Just before Reilly returned to Cairo, the NKVD informed him that dozens of Germans had been dropped into Tehran by parachute the day before. The NKVD suspected German agents were planning to kill the Big Three leaders at the Tehran Conference.


title: Tehran Conference

text: When housing accommodations for the meeting were originally discussed, both Stalin and Churchill had extended invitations to Roosevelt, asking him to stay with them during the meeting. However, Roosevelt wanted to avoid the appearance of choosing one ally over another and decided it was important to stay at the American legation to remain independent. Roosevelt arrived in Tehran on 27 November 1943 and settled into the American legation. Close to midnight, Vyacheslav Molotov, Stalin's top aide, summoned Archibald Clark-Kerr (the British ambassador in the Soviet Union) and Averell Harriman (the American ambassador in the Soviet Union) to the Soviet embassy, warning them of an assassination plot against Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. Molotov informed them several assassins had been apprehended, but reported additional assassins were at large and expressed concerns for President Roosevelt's safety. Molotov advised Roosevelt should be moved to the safety of the British or Soviet embassy.


title: Tehran Conference

text: Americans suspected Stalin had fabricated the assassination plot as an excuse to have Roosevelt moved to the Soviet embassy. Mike Reilly, Roosevelt's chief of Secret Service, advised him to move to either the Soviet or British embassies for his safety. One of the underlying factors influencing their decision was the distance Churchill and Stalin would need to travel for meetings at the American legation. Harriman reminded the President that the Americans would be held responsible if Stalin or Churchill were assassinated while traveling to visit Roosevelt all the way across the city. Earlier that day, Molotov had agreed to hold all meetings at the American legation because traveling was difficult for Roosevelt. The timing of Molotov announcing an assassination plot later that night aroused suspicion that his motives were to keep Stalin safely within the guarded walls of the Soviet embassy. Harriman doubted the existence of an assassination plot, but urged the President to relocate to avoid the perception of putting Churchill and Stalin in danger. Roosevelt did not believe there was a credible threat of assassination, but agreed to the move so he could be closer to Stalin and Churchill. Living in the Soviet embassy also allowed Roosevelt to gain more direct access to Stalin and build his trust. Stalin liked having Roosevelt in the embassy because it eliminated the need to travel outside the compound and it allowed him to spy on Roosevelt more easily. The Soviet embassy was guarded by thousands of secret police and located adjacent to the British embassy, which allowed the Big Three to meet securely.


title: Tehran Conference

text: After the Tehran Conference ended, Harriman asked Molotov whether there was really ever an assassination threat in Tehran. Molotov said that they knew about German agents in Tehran, but did not know of a specific assassination plot. Molotov's response minimized their assertions of an assassination plot, instead emphasizing that Stalin thought President Roosevelt would be safer at the Soviet embassy. American and British intelligence reports generally dismissed the existence of this plot and Otto Skorzeny, the alleged leader of the operation, later claimed that Hitler had dismissed the idea as unworkable before planning had even begun. The topic continues to be a theme of certain Russian historians.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here.


title: Stockport

text: Most of the town is within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, with the area north of the Mersey in the historic county of Lancashire. Stockport in the 16th century was a small town entirely on the south bank of the Mersey, known for the cultivation of hemp and manufacture of rope. In the 18th century, it had one of the first mechanised silk factories in the British Isles. Stockport's predominant industries of the 19th century were the cotton and allied industries. It was also at the centre of the country's hatting industry, which by 1884 was exporting more than six million hats a year; the last hat works in Stockport closed in 1997.


title: Stockport

text: Dominating the western approaches to the town is Stockport Viaduct. Built in 1840, its 27 brick arches carry the mainline railways passing through the town over the River Mersey.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport was recorded as "Stokeport" in 1170. The currently accepted etymology is Old English "port", a market place, with "stoc", a hamlet (but more accurately a minor settlement within an estate); hence, a market place at a hamlet. Older derivations include "stock", a stockaded place or castle, with "port", a wood, hence a castle in a wood. The castle probably refers to Stockport Castle, a 12th-century motte-and-bailey first mentioned in 1173.


title: Stockport

text: Other derivations are based on early variants such as Stopford and Stockford. There is evidence that a ford across the Mersey existed at the foot of Bridge Street Brow. Stopford retains a use in the adjectival form, Stopfordian, for Stockport-related items, and pupils of Stockport Grammar School style themselves Stopfordians. Stopfordian is used as the general term, or demonym used for people from Stockport, much as someone from London would be a Londoner.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport has never been a sea or river port as the Mersey is not navigable here; in the centre of Stockport the river has been culverted and the main shopping street, Merseyway, built above it.


title: Stockport

text: The earliest evidence of human occupation in the wider area are microliths from the hunter-gatherers of the Mesolithic period (the Middle Stone Age, about 8000–3500 BC) and weapons and stone tools from the Neolithic period (the New Stone Age, 3500–2000 BC). Early Bronze Age (2000–1200 BC) remains include stone hammers, flint knives, palstaves (bronze axe heads), and funerary urns; all finds were chance discoveries, not the results of systematic searches of a known site. There is a gap in the age of finds between about 1200 BC and the start of the Roman period in about 70 AD, which may indicate depopulation, possibly due to a poorer climate.


title: Stockport

text: Despite a strong local tradition, there is little evidence of a Roman military station at Stockport. It is assumed that roads from Cheadle to Ardotalia (Melandra) and Manchester to Buxton crossed close to the town centre. The preferred site is at a ford over the Mersey, known to be paved in the 18th century, but it has never been proved that this or any roads in the area are Roman. Hegginbotham reported (in 1892) the discovery of Roman mosaics at Castle Hill (around Stockport market) in the late 18th century, during the construction of a mill, but noted it was "founded on tradition only"; substantial stonework has never been dated by modern methods. However, Roman coins and pottery were probably found there during the 18th century. A cache of coins dating from 375 to 378 AD may have come from the banks of the Mersey at Daw Bank; these were possibly buried for safekeeping at the side of a road.


title: Stockport

text: Six coins from the reigns of the Anglo-Saxon English Kings Edmund (reigned 939–946) and Eadred (reigned 946–955) were found during ploughing at Reddish Green in 1789. There are contrasting views about the significance of this; Arrowsmith takes this as evidence for the existence of a settlement at that time, but Morris states the find could be "an isolated incident". The small cache is the only Anglo-Saxon find in the area. However, the etymology "Stoc-port" suggests inhabitation during this period.


title: Stockport

text: No part of Stockport appears in the Domesday Book of 1086. The area north of the Mersey was part of the hundred of Salford, which was poorly surveyed. The area south of the Mersey was part of the Hamestan hundred. Cheadle, Bramhall, Bredbury, and Romiley are mentioned, but these all lay just outside the town limits. The survey includes valuations of the Salford hundred as a whole and Cheadle for the times of Edward the Confessor, just before the Norman invasion of 1066, and the time of the survey. The reduction in value is taken as evidence of destruction by William the Conqueror's men in the campaigns generally known as the Harrying of the North. The omission of Stockport was once taken as evidence that destruction was so complete that a survey was not needed.


title: Stockport

text: Arrowsmith argues from the etymology that Stockport may have still been a market place associated with a larger estate, and so would not be surveyed separately. The Anglo-Saxon landholders in the area were dispossessed and the land divided amongst the new Norman rulers. The first borough charter was granted in about 1220 and was the only basis for local government for six hundred years.


title: Stockport

text: A castle held by Geoffrey de Costentin is recorded as a rebel stronghold against Henry II in 1173–1174 when his sons revolted. There is an incorrect local tradition that Geoffrey was the king's son, Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, who was one of the rebels. Dent gives the size of the castle as about , and suggests it was similar in pattern to those at Pontefract and Launceston. The castle was probably ruinous by the middle of the 16th century, and in 1642 it was agreed to demolish it. Castle Hill, possibly the motte, was levelled in 1775 to make space for Warren's mill, see below. Nearby walls, once thought to be either part of the castle or of the town walls, are now thought to be revetments to protect the cliff face from erosion.


title: Stockport

text: The regicide John Bradshaw (1602–1659) was born at Wibersley, in the parish of Stockport, baptised in the parish church and attended Stockport Free School. A lawyer, he was appointed lord president of the high court of justice for the trial of King Charles I in 1649. Although he was dead by the time of the Restoration in 1660, his body was brought up from Westminster Abbey and hanged in its coffin at Tyburn.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport bridge has been documented as existing since at least 1282. During the English Civil War the town was supportive of Parliament and was garrisoned by local militias of around 3000 men commanded by Majors Mainwaring and Duckenfield. Prince Rupert advanced on the town on 25 May 1644, with 8–10,000 men and 50 guns, with a brief skirmish at the site of the bridge, in which Colonel Washington's Dragoons led the Royalist attack. Rupert continued his march via Manchester and Bolton to meet defeat at Marston Moor near York.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport bridge was pulled down in 1745 and trenches were additionally dug in the fords to try to stop the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart as they marched through the town on the way to Derby. The vanguard was shot at by the town guard and a horse was killed. The army also passed through Stockport on their retreat back from Derby to Scotland.


title: Stockport

text: One of the legends of the town is that of Cheshire farmer, Jonathan Thatcher, who, in a 1784 demonstration against taxation, avoided Pitt the Younger's saddle tax on horses by riding to market at Stockport on an ox. The incident is also celebrated in 'The Glass Umbrella' in St Petersgate Gardens, one of the works on Stockport's Arts Trail.


title: Stockport

text: Hatmaking was established in north Cheshire and south-east Lancashire by the 16th century. From the 17th century Stockport became a centre for the hatting industry and later the silk industry. Stockport expanded rapidly during the Industrial Revolution, helped particularly by the growth of the cotton manufacturing industries. However, economic growth took its toll, and 19th century philosopher Friedrich Engels wrote in 1844 that Stockport was "renowned as one of the duskiest, smokiest holes" in the whole of the industrial area.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport was one of the prototype textile towns. In the early 18th century, England was not capable of producing silk of sufficient quality to be used as the warp in woven fabrics. Suitable thread had to be imported from Italy, where it was spun on water-powered machinery. In about 1717 John Lombe travelled to Italy and copied the design of the machinery. On his return he obtained a patent on the design, and went into production in Derby. When Lombe tried to renew his patent in 1732, silk spinners from towns including Manchester, Macclesfield, Leek, and Stockport successfully petitioned parliament to not renew the patent. Lombe was paid off, and in 1732 Stockport's first silk mill (the first water-powered textile mill in the north-west of England) was opened on a bend in the Mersey. Further mills were opened on local brooks.


title: Stockport

text: Silk weaving expanded until in 1769 two thousand people were employed in the industry. By 1772 the boom had turned to bust, possibly due to cheaper foreign imports; by the late 1770s trade had recovered. The cycle of boom and bust would continue throughout the textile era.


title: Stockport

text: The combination of a good water power site (described by Rodgers as "by far the finest of any site within the lowland" [of the Manchester region]) and a workforce used to textile factory work meant Stockport was well placed to take advantage of the phenomenal expansion in cotton processing in the late 18th century. Warren's mill in the market place was the first. Power came from an undershot water wheel in a deep pit, fed by a tunnel from the River Goyt. The positioning on high ground, unusual for a water-powered mill, contributed to an early demise, but the concept of moving water around in tunnels proved successful, and several tunnels were driven under the town from the Goyt to power mills. In 1796, James Harrisson drove a wide cut from the Tame which fed several mills in the Park, Portwood. Other water-powered mills were built on the Mersey.


title: Stockport

text: The town was connected to the national canal network by the of the Stockport branch of the Ashton Canal opened in 1797 which continued in use until the 1930s. Much of it is now filled in, but there is an active campaign to re-open it for leisure uses.


title: Stockport

text: In the early 19th century, the number of hatters in the area began to increase, and a reputation for quality work was created. The London firm of Miller Christy bought out a local firm in 1826, a move described by Arrowsmith as a "watershed". By the latter part of the century hatting had changed from a manual to a mechanised process, and was one of Stockport's primary employers; the area, with nearby Denton, was the leading national centre. Support industries, such as blockmaking, trimmings, and leatherware, became established. Stockport Armoury was completed in 1862.


title: Stockport

text: The First World War cut off overseas markets, which established local industries and eroded Stockport's eminence. Even so, in 1932 more than 3000 people worked in the hatting industry, making it the third biggest employer after textiles and engineering. The depression of the 1930s and changes in fashion greatly reduced the demand for hats, and the demand that existed was met by cheaper wool products made elsewhere, for example the Luton area.


title: Stockport

text: In 1966, the largest of the region's remaining felt hat manufacturers, Battersby & Co, T & W Lees, J. Moores & Sons, and Joseph Wilson & Sons, merged with Christy & Co to form Associated British Hat Manufacturers, leaving Christy's and Wilson's (at Denton) as the last two factories in production. The Wilson's factory closed in 1980, followed by the Christy's factory in 1997, bringing to an end over 400 years of hatting in the area. The industry is commemorated by the UK's only dedicated hatting museum, Hat Works.


title: Stockport

text: Since the start of the 20th century Stockport has moved away from being a town dependent on cotton and its allied industries to one with a varied base. It makes the most of its varied heritage attractions, including a national museum of hatting, a unique system of Second World War air raid tunnel shelters in the town centre, and a late medieval merchants' house on the 700-year-old Market Place. In 1967, the Stockport air disaster occurred, when a British Midland Airways C-4 Argonaut aeroplane crashed in the Hopes Carr area of the town, resulting in 72 deaths among the passengers and crew.


title: Stockport

text: On 23 November 1981, an F1/T2 tornado formed over Cheadle Hulme. It subsequently passed over Stockport town centre.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council has embarked on an ambitious regeneration scheme, known as Future Stockport. The plan is to bring more than 3000 residents into the centre of the town, and revitalise its residential property and retail markets in a similar fashion to the nearby city of Manchester. Many ex-industrial areas around the town's core will be brought back into productive use as mixed-use residential and commercial developments. Property development company FreshStart Living has been involved in redeveloping a former mill building in the town centre, St Thomas Place. The company plan to transform the mill into 51 residential apartments as part of the regeneration of Stockport.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport was a township mostly within the Macclesfield Hundred within the historic county of Cheshire with a small part on the north side of the Mersey in Lancashire. The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 made Stockport a municipal borough divided into six wards with a council consisting of 14 aldermen and 42 councillors. Under the terms of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, Stockport Poor Law Union was established on 3 February 1837 and was responsible for an area covering 16 parishes with a total population of 68,906. Stockport Union built a workhouse at Shaw Heath in 1841. In 1888, its status was raised to County Borough, becoming the County Borough of Stockport. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Stockport amalgamated with neighbouring districts to form the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester.


title: Stockport

text: In 1986, Greater Manchester County Council was abolished and Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council assumed many of its functions, effectively becoming a unitary authority.


title: Stockport

text: In 2011, Stockport bid for city status as part of the 2012 Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations but was unsuccessful.


title: Stockport

text: There are four parliamentary constituencies in the Stockport Metropolitan Borough: Stockport, Cheadle, Hazel Grove, and Denton and Reddish. Stockport has been represented by the Labour MP Nav Mishra since 2019. Mary Robinson has been the Conservative MP for Cheadle since 2015; and William Wragg has been the Conservative MP for Hazel Grove since 2015. The constituency of Denton and Reddish bridges Stockport and Tameside; the current member is Andrew Gwynne for the Labour Party.


title: Stockport

text: There are 21 electoral wards in Stockport, each with three councillors, giving a total of 63 councillors with one-third elected three years out of four.


title: Stockport

text: At (53.408°, −2.149°) Stockport is on elevated ground, south-east of Manchester city centre, at the confluence of the rivers Goyt and Tame, creating the River Mersey. It shares a common boundary with the City of Manchester.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport stands on Permian sandstones and red Triassic sandstones and mudstones, mantled by thick deposits of till and pockets of sand and gravel deposited by glaciers at the end of the last glacial period, some 15,000 years ago. To the extreme east is the Red Rock fault, and the older rocks from the Upper Carboniferous period surface. An outcrop of Coal Measures extends southwards through Tameside and into Hazel Grove. The Pennines lie to the east of the town, consisting of the upland moors and Millstone Grit outcrops of sandstones and shales in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District.


title: Stockport

text: At the 2001 UK census, Stockport had a population of 136,082. The 2001 population density was 11,937 per mi (4,613 per km), with a 100 to 94.0 female-to-male ratio. Of those over 16 years old, 32% were single (never married) and 50.2% married. Stockport's 58,687 households included 33.1% one-person, 33.7% married couples living together, 9.7% were co-habiting couples, and 10.4% single parents with their children, these figures were similar to those of Stockport Metropolitan Borough and England. Of those aged 16–74, 29.2% had no academic qualifications, significantly higher than that of 25.7% in all of Stockport Metropolitan Borough but similar to the whole of England average at 28.9%.


title: Stockport

text: Although suburbs such as Woodford, Bramhall and Cheadle Hulme are relatively wealthy and 45% of the borough is green space, districts such as Edgeley, Adswood, Shaw Heath and Brinnington are among the poorer areas. In the north-west of the borough are the prosperous areas of Heaton Moor and Heaton Mersey, which together with Heaton Chapel and Heaton Norris comprise the so-called "Four Heatons".


title: Stockport

text: Stockport's principal commercial district is the town centre, with branches of most high-street stores to be found in the Merseyway Shopping Centre or The Peel Centre. Redrock Stockport has a ten-screen cinema, bars and several restaurants. Stockport is from Manchester, making it convenient for commuters and shoppers. In 2008, the council's £500 million plans to redevelop the town centre were cancelled after construction company Lend Lease Corporation pulled out of the project, blaming the credit crunch. More recently work has begun with talks of a metrolink to Manchester, redevelopment of the old bus station amongst many old buildings becoming luxury apartments. Also many roadworks to deal with the intended growth from the development.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport Town Hall, designed by Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas, has a ballroom described by John Betjeman as "magnificent" which contains the Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ formerly installed in the Paramount and later Odeon Theater in Manchester. The war memorial and art gallery are on Greek Street, opposite the town hall. Underbank Hall is a Grade II* listed late 16th-century timber-framed building which was the townhouse of the Arderne family from Bredbury who occupied it until 1823. Since 1824, it has been used as a bank and its main banking hall lies behind the 16th-century structure and dates from 1915.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport Viaduct is high, and carries four railway tracks over the River Mersey on the line to Manchester Piccadilly. The viaduct built of 11,000,000 bricks, a major feat of Victorian engineering, was completed in 21 months at a cost of £70,000. The structure is Grade II* listed.


title: Stockport

text: Beside the M60 motorway is the Stockport Pyramid, a distinctive structure designed by Christopher Denny from Michael Hyde and Associates. It has a steel frame covered with mostly blue glass and clear glass paneling at the apex and was intended to be the signature building for a much larger development planned in 1987. Construction began in the early 1990s and it was completed in 1992 but an economic downturn caused the project to be abandoned as the developers went into administration. The building lay empty until 1995 when The Co-operative Bank repossessed it and opened it as a call centre.


title: Stockport

text: Vernon Park, to the east towards Bredbury, was opened on 20 September 1858 on the anniversary of the Battle of Alma in the Crimean War. It was named after Lord Vernon who presented the land to the town.


title: Stockport

text: St Elisabeth's Church, Reddish and the model village are parts a mill community designed in the main by Alfred Waterhouse for workers of Houldsworth Mill.


title: Stockport

text: The Manchester orbital M60 motorway and the A6, which connects Carlisle with Luton, cross at Stockport.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport railway station is a principal station on the Manchester spur of the West Coast Main Line. It is served by Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Northern Trains, TransPennine Express and Transport for Wales services.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport Tiviot Dale station also served the town centre between 1865 and 1967, lying on routes from Manchester Central to Liverpool, Derby and Sheffield. Most of the station site now lies under the M60 motorway.


title: Stockport

text: Manchester Airport, the busiest in the UK outside London, is south-west of the town, which lies under the airport's flightpath. Historically known as Ringway airport, the area formed part of the Stockport Metropolitan Borough until it transferred to Manchester.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport bus station, which served as a terminus for many services across the borough, was one of the largest and busiest bus stations in Greater Manchester. It was demolished in late 2021 and is currently being rebuilt into Stockport Interchange; bus services are therefore commencing, stopping and terminating at nearby locations.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport College is based in the town centre. Also Stockport is home to Stockport Grammar School, established in 1487, one of the oldest in the north-west of England.


title: Stockport

text: St Mary's Church, the town's oldest place of worship, was the centre of a large ecclesiastical parish covering Bramhall, Bredbury, Brinnington, Disley, Dukinfield, Hyde, Marple, Norbury, Offerton, Romiley, Stockport Etchells, Torkington and Werneth. Chapels and churches were built in those townships and the parish today covers a much smaller area. Parts of the church, situated by the market place, date to the early 14th century and it houses the Stockport Heritage centre, run by volunteers on market days. The church is Grade I listed. In the town are the Grade II listed Roman Catholic St Joseph's Church and Our Lady and the Apostles Church.


title: Stockport

text: Stockport's museums include the Hat Works in Wellington Mill, a former hat factory, and Stockport Air Raid Shelters in the tunnels dug in World War II to protect inhabitants in air raids. Staircase House, a Grade II* listed medieval townhouse, houses the Stockport Story Museum.


title: Stockport

text: The Plaza is a Grade II* listed Super Cinema and Variety Theatre built in 1932. It is the last venue of its kind operating in its original format, making it of international significance.


title: Stockport

text: In 2018, a new leisure complex opened called Redrock Stockport providing facilities including a cinema, restaurants, bars and a gym. In the same year, it was named by "Building Design" magazine as the "worst new building" in its annual Carbuncle Cup competition.


title: Stockport

text: Strawberry Studios at No. 3 Waterloo Road was a recording studio from 1968 to 1993, partly owned and used extensively by 10cc, as well as many other major artists including Joy Division, Neil Sedaka, Barclay James Harvest, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, Paul McCartney and St Winifred's School Choir.


title: Stockport

text: Local writer Simon Stephens' play "Port" is set in and around Stockport. The play has been performed at the National Theatre, London.


title: Stockport

text: Paul Eastham, the front man of folk rock band COAST, was born in Stockport in July 1981 at Stepping Hill Hospital.


title: Stockport

text: Claire Foy, an actress who is best known for her main role in "The Crown" as Queen Elizabeth II, was born in Stockport in April 1984 at Stepping Hill Hospital