title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: Powerplant failure of the type that afflicted the LOT aircraft was extremely rare because bearing wear is generally identified by vibration tests during maintenance. At the time, however, LOT did not have equipment to test or fault-diagnose engines of the size used in the Il-62. Unfortunately this meant that any potential problem might not be identified between overhauls. There were other known instances of engine failure, but these did not result in loss of control. The LOT accidents involving different engine types (but same engine position) was a fatal crash-rate 30 times higher than the Il-62 average (2.8% vs 0.092%). At least one other LOT Soloviev D-30-equipped aircraft (Tu-154) also suffered a similar engine failure (non-fatal) around this time. After 1987, LOT introduced turbine vibration-detecting equipment and shortened the time between inspections. It also adopted the dual flight control system used on some other Il-62s and deleted the auxiliary engine-pod fuel tanks. These planes were subsequently sold to Air Ukraine in 1991/1992 which operated them until the airline closed in 2000. In 2010, 30 years after the loss of Flight 007, an investigation of previously unreleased IPN archives at Instytut Pamięci Narodowej revealed that during the industrial unrest of the 1980s LOT had been instructed by the PRL authorities to effect operational cost savings by over-exploitation of service life of its jet engines (see LOT Flight 007, Causes of disaster).


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: Several special conversions were made to the basic Il-62, the main ones being the Il-62 and Il-62M salon VIP versions used by heads of state, and the Il-62M airborne command aircraft (just one example) used by the Russian government. Although the Il-62 had been introduced during Khrushchev's time, it was during the Brezhnev era that Ilyushin was asked to develop the salon versions which have been used by Russian leaders ever since right up to the Putin years (during which time both Il-62 and Il-96 aircraft were used in combination). The VIP examples were fitted with conference rooms and rest areas, rooms for the retinue, and service personnel and bodyguards, while the secure communication equipment enabled contact with Moscow and other cities from any part of the globe. Examples were also delivered to other countries including Czechoslovakia, Germany, North Korea, Sudan and Ukraine.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: An airborne command Il-62M (RA-86570) was customised for the emergency response agency EMERCOM to provide evacuation transport for Russian citizens from foreign countries and act as airborne command post for these and other emergency situations. It operates in conjunction with at least one other Il-62M and a fleet of Il-76, Il-76TD waterbombers, An-72 and helicopters which have operated in some 60 countries and is credited with having saved 50,000 lives since the agency was created in 1994. Apart from basic interior changes, RA-86570 features hush-kitted engines and Honeywell electronics with global communication ability via satellite, and an Inmarsat system. The aircraft was used as a command post during the combat of forest fires in the Far East, when dealing with the Chechen terrorist attack in Kaspiysk when an apartment building was blown up, and to bring a Russian Deputy Foreign Minister to Sharjah in 1996 and from there collecting the crew of an Il-76 freighter who had escaped from the Taliban militia in Afghanistan.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: The Il-62 is a conventional all-metal low-wing monoplane of riveted sectional semi-monocoque construction to fail-safe design principles (a structure designed so that failure of one major member does not cause immediate failure of the whole). Its service life was initially set at 30,000 flight hours and subject to extensions and curtailments according to the quality of service procedures, inspection and manufacturer's bulletins. The aircraft features pressurised cabin and freight holds (with fuselage dimensions of 3.8 m width x 4.1 m height), duplex all-mechanical flight controls, though with twin electric motors for tailplane incidence control; hydraulic nosewheel steering, landing gear and tail strut actuation, and wheel brakes. The Il-62M has spoilers and lift dumpers which extend automatically upon landing and are hydraulically operated. Control surfaces include a variable-incidence tailplane with dynamically and weight-compensated elevators with trim tabs, triple-section tabbed ailerons (outermost for low speed and innermost for high speed) which are interlinked with a torsion bar, spoilerons (Il-62M), spoilers and lift dumpers, and pneumatically actuated thrust reversers on the two outboard engines (the reversers are flight-rated on the Il-62M).


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: 27 V AC electrics are used throughout with a TA-6 auxiliary power unit (a turbine generator which supplies electric power and air conditioning on the ground) in the lower tailcone plus backup lead-zinc batteries.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: The aircraft uses conventional hot air de-icing using engine bleed air. Its sea level is equivalent to 2,400 m (8,000 ft) above mean sea level and thereafter reducing to the equivalent of 2,400 m (8,000 ft) to cruise altitude. It was originally built with no automatic oxygen masks; emergency supply comprises hatrack-housed oxygen bottles and masks for manual distribution to passengers by cabin crew. Since 1997, most aircraft have been retrofitted with automatic oxygen supply systems with drop-down masks.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: Its avionics include a Polyot-1 automatic flight control system (a "super autopilot," able to be programmed with a set route which it can fly without human intervention but under constant flight crew monitoring; ICAO Cat. 1 approaches standard, Cat. 2 optional), Doppler navigational radar replaced by triplex INSS (Inertial Navigation System Sets) on Il-62M after 1978 and by Satellite navigation sets on many aircraft after 1991, triple VHF and HF flightdeck radios, automatic direction finders, Soviet and Western instrument landing system receivers, vertical omnidirectional radio range and radio beacon receivers, duplex radio altimeters, automatic radio transponders, a full ICAO-standard navigation lights fit, cabin tannoy and intercom systems. Soviet/Russian and Warsaw Pact sovereign examples are additionally fitted with triplex "Odd Rods" (NATO code name) IFF (identification friend or foe) air defence transponders identifiable by three closely spaced short aerials.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: Emergency evacuation systems include inflatable life rafts and manually extendable canvas evacuation slides. Most aircraft are now retrospectively fitted with emergency floor lighting strips and some aircraft equipped with automatically inflatable evacuation slides. Fire extinguishers are sited in engine nacelles, flightdeck compartment, cabin crew rest areas and toilets.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: The Il-62 offers accommodation for up to 198 passengers in a single-class layout, seated six-abreast at 84 cm (33 in) seat pitch in two cabins separated by a vestibule, galley/pantry and cabin crew rest area. There are three toilets, forward, midships, and aft. It has a buffet/bar and a further cabin crew rest area in a vestibule forward, with a further optional cabin crew rest area aft. Typical mixed-class accommodation ranges between 128 and 144, seated four or six abreast, and a common single aisle configuration for long distance Aeroflot examples was first class (2-abreast) 3 rows, business class (3-abreast) 4 rows, economy class (3-abreast) 17 rows (Thiel, 2001). In this configuration, the central aisle in business and economy classes is quite narrow. A first class compartment is optionally sited aft of forward entry door or just forward of midships entry door, with an economy compartment further forward in the latter case. "Skycot" fitments are located in hatracks, while later Il-62Ms (1978 onwards) feature enclosed hatracks. Customer-optionable interior fitments. No in-flight entertainment systems are available except a public-address system that may be coupled to an open-reel or audio cassette player. Individual aircraft were experimentally fitted with television sets for Soviet-standard videotape entertainment during the 1970s. Some aircraft were retrospectively fitted with Western in-flight entertainment (solely audio) systems after 1991.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: A sideline to the Il-62 story concerns alleged industrial espionage. As the Il-62 was developed at about the same time as the VC10, to which it bears a marked external resemblance, British Cold War commentators implied that the VC10 design may have been copied by dubbing the Il-62 the "VC10-ski." (Thiel, 2001), but no evidence of this was ever presented. There are significant differences between the Il-62 and the VC10, as the Soviet type is larger, lifts a greater load, and is designed for use exclusively at developed airports whereas the British type can adapt to "up-country" bases. Unlike the VC10, the Il-62 uses conservative technology, such as mechanical control surface linkages, and is an entirely civilian machine, whereas the VC10 was designed to serve as both a civilian airliner and military airlifter and freighter. The Il-62 found more buyers and was built in much larger numbers than the VC10 (292 vs 54), and as of November 2018 many examples are still in service. On the other hand, the VC10 has been retired from that role (in 1966 BOAC described the aircraft as uneconomic and asked for government subsidies to continue operating it, although some VC10s were used by Britain's Royal Air Force in support roles). China and Czechoslovakia were two countries that cancelled orders for the VC10 (for CAAC and Czechoslovak Airlines, respectively) and purchased the Il-62 instead (see VC10: Sales and airline service).


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: After the introduction of the Il-62M, Aeroflot (the largest operator of the plane) gradually upgraded and later replaced its fleet of NK-8 powered Il-62s with the newer Soloviev D-30 KU-powered Il-62M. Coupled with engine nacelle and other modifications, greatly reduced the chance of contiguous powerplant damage. By mid-1973, the airline was operating 60 Il-62s, and by 1989 this had increased to 165 (Il-62 and Il-62M). The Il-62M had a dispatch rate with Aeroflot of 97% with some examples logging as many as 17 flight hrs/day, and it was described as the most reliable type in the fleet at that time. It set several international records in its class, mostly exemplifying a range capability far in excess of the conservative Aeroflot calculations applied in Soviet times. Some of these records were set by an all-woman crew of five captained by Iraida ("Inna") Vertiprahova. With 10 tonnes of freight, the Il-62M had a maximum range of 10,300 km compared to 9,412 km for the VC10 carrying the same weight. With a 23 tonne payload, the Il-62M range was 8000 km, compared to 6,920 km for a Boeing 707 with maximum payload. Because of its capacity, the plane has historically been used for emergency civilian evacuation flights, one of the most notable being the landing of an Aeroflot-registered Il-62 at Santiago Airport, Chile on the night of 10 September 1973 (the day before the military coup by Augusto Pinochet) in order to evacuate 147 Cuban embassy personnel. In April 2015 two EMERCOM IL-62Ms (including RA-86495 of the Russian Federation Air Force) were used to evacuate around 900 foreign nationals and Yemenis from Sanaa during the Saudi-led military operation against Yemen.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: The Il-62 was said to be well regarded by pilots and passengers alike, especially for its strong directional stability in high turbulence (although landings are sometimes bouncy), smooth cruising ability and very quiet interior in cruise mode due partly to engine placement. Although the original IL-62 was rated for a service life of 23 years and was criticised for heavy fuel consumption, upgraded M versions are sometimes rated for 50 years and have greatly improved operational economics. One of the drawbacks of the original Il-62 design was the lack of a cargo bay roller transfer system, which necessitated manual loading of pre-packaged baggage and cargo thus making preparation of the aircraft rather slow (a cargo/baggage conveyance system is standard on the Il-62M). There is relatively easy access to all serviceable mechanical components including the engines whilst the plane's thrust reversal capabilities allows reverse taxiing without the need for tow-vehicles. Powerplant overhaul intervals varied between specifications and maintenance procedures and between the thrust reverse-capable outer engines and the inner ones. Czech Airlines operated an early Il-62 on a proving basis up to 3000 hrs between overhauls, which was well beyond the recommended (and their usual) intervals which were nearer 2000 hrs although Interflug were able to designate up to 5000 hrs with their service facilities. Subsequent upgrades to some Il-62Ms provided for 6000 hr overhaul intervals (with total engine life of 18,000–20,000 hrs). Later examples of the Il-62M remain in regular commercial service (as of 2016), and the type also sees continued use as a VIP/head of state transport.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: Although the plane's safety record does not equal that of later airliners, there were no fatal accidents involving an Il-62 between 1989 and 2009 during which time the highest number of planes were in service. With successive Il-62M upgrades and improved avionics, including triplex inertial navigation systems and enhanced flight controls to cope with poor visibility (IMP, 1997), the plane gained a reputation as a very safe airliner whose record compares favorably with similar airliners, most of which are no longer in civilian use. Its total hull loss rate (7.7%) is lower than those of the Boeing 707 (16.4%) and DC-8 (14.9%), and near that of the VC10/Super VC10 (= 7.8% if one excludes the three examples destroyed by terrorists) although the VC10 was only in civilian service for 16 years (versus 48 years for the Il-62, as at 2015), and only 40 of 54 airframes were built as airliners (the remaining 14 going to the RAF). Several Il-62/M accidents over the first decades of operation mainly involved runway overruns or aborted takeoffs. The braking system employed the reverse thrust of the outer engines only, and if for some reason one or other failed to engage, the aircraft could become difficult to steer for an unprepared pilot. In seven takeoff or landing accidents there were no fatalities, a testament to the high level of structural integrity, and in two cases with landing-related fatalities [CCCP-86470 and UP-16208] these were due to the aircraft colliding with structures near the runway [tower and concrete wall, respectively]. The Il-62/M fuselage features a strengthened hull with 'ski' keel originally designed to allow for an undercarriage-up emergency landing (in practice the undercarriage and landing gear proved extremely reliable). The trade-off for the reinforced airframe is the relatively high fuel consumption and some airlines such as Interflug modified their planes to reduce fuel consumption.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: Production is said to have continued until 1995, although continuous production ended in 1993. Including prototypes, total production is surmised as being 289. However, the factory states 292 (5 prototypes, 94 Il-62s and 193 Il-62Ms).


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: Four aircraft remained unsold at the factory as of 1997, while the last delivery was reportedly RA-86586 of Magma, built in 1995, but only delivered in 1999 as a result of tariffs imposed on imported western aircraft. The last airframe was built in 2004 for the Sudanese government.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: The Il-62M variant is still listed as an available option on the product page of Ilyushin's website, which may imply the existence of additional incomplete or unsold airframes.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: During the Syrian Civil War, Russian Air Force Il-62M were observed flying between Russia and Syria. Starting at the end of 2015, with the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, Russian Air Force Il-62M were frequently reported departing and landing at the Khmeimim Air Base in Latakia, Syria, moving materiel and personnel in and out of Syria.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: As of July 2017, a total of six Il-62 aircraft remained in passenger or government service (excluding converted freighter versions).


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: Over 30 countries have operated the Il-62 since 1967, although exports did not begin until initial Aeroflot needs had been met (rapid replacement of Tu-114s on international services). First exports were in late 1969 to CSA Czechoslovak Airlines. The pattern was similar with the Il-62M, of which the first export (to Cubana) was delayed until 1977. Among Eastern Bloc nations, Bulgaria and Hungary did not operate the Il-62 series, although Hungary briefly leased one example pending Boeing 767 services in 1990. As a curiosity, Malev was the first and only foreign airline to order the IL-62 according to the October 1967 issue of "Flight International". In 1968 the new political trend called "New Economic Mechanism" introduced by the Hungarian Council of Ministers led to the deletion of the order, because of financing problems. This was due, among other more important reasons, to heavy anti-Ilyushin lobbying by Tupolev in the former country and to commercial considerations in both countries whose airlines preferred to concentrate on short and medium range routes, that was equal to the low demand for the long-haul service.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Cuba were amongst the largest foreign customers for the Il-62. The former East German airline Interflug owned 24 aircraft: 21 in civilian service and three for airforce and presidential use (later transferred to the united German airforce), including six Il-62s, 16 Il-62Ms and two rare Il-62MKs (after unification, seven Interflug IL-62s were on-sold to Uzbekistan which later also bought the three airforce examples). Czech Airlines (formerly Czechoslovak Airlines) operated 21 planes between 1969 and 1997, including 15 Il-62s and six Il-62Ms, of which 15 were registered under the famous CSA 'OK jet' designation, and six were leased from Aeroflot. Some of these planes were still operational in 2012. Cuba operated 27 different Il-62s, of which 12 were leased either from Aeroflot or Tarom (which operated three Il-62s and two Il-62Ms alongside its Boeing 707s) and 15 were owned by Cubana which became a long-term operator with its first Il-62M purchase in 1977. After 2000, Cubana refurbished its remaining planes for international routes, on which they operated until March 2011. Poland operated 23 Il-62s and Il-62Ms, including aircraft leased from Aeroflot and Tarom. The largest non-state operator of the Il-62 was Russian-based Domodedovo Airlines which acquired 45 planes from Aeroflot (42 Il-62Ms and 3 Il-62s) that were used for domestic services including continuous operations on the world's longest internal route, Moscow to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a distance of .


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: From 1970, Air France and Japan Air Lines wet-leased a number of Aeroflot Il-62s for long-haul services, and from 1971, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines operated nine Aeroflot-registered Il-62s for the Moscow-Amsterdam route (these planes wore joint Aeroflot/KLM markings).


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: Due to strained relations between the Soviet Union and the US during the 1980s, in 1984 Aeroflot coordinated with Irish carrier Aer Lingus to use Shannon airport as a hub for connecting flights from Moscow and Leningrad to link with the Irish carrier's New York routes. Aeroflot was also granted rights to use Shannon for flights to Cuba and South America (Peru). From 1992 Irish tour operators contracted Aeroflot to carry tourists to the eastern US (Miami) and later to the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, using Il-62Ms. On any given day, Shannon hosted up to eight Il-62s and Il-86s (in addition to Tu-154s and Tu-134s). By 1995/1996, Shannon was handling 2,400 Aeroflot transit flights carrying 250,000 passengers per annum (including government-registered Il-62Ms) with Aeroflot crews being housed near Shannon airport. By 1995, direct flights between Moscow and the US became possible and the use of Shannon as a hub declined. For its US west-coast air links (which began in 1991) Aeroflot Il-62s flew east to Anchorage from Moscow and several cities in the Russian Far East (Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Magadan, and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk), often continuing on to San Francisco. Trans-Pacific Il-62 flights between the Russian Far East and Anchorage continued until 2000.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: Il-62M/MKs remained popular for civilian service in Russia up until the economic recession of 2008. In late 2008, Russian-operated planes were removed from scheduled passenger operations due to a severe economic crisis affecting major operators Interavia Airlines, Dalavia and Domodedovo Airlines. As a result, Rossiya became the largest operator, but it uses the Il-62 for government service only. By September 2009 a total of 38 Il-62s (all versions) remained in service worldwide (compared with 88 planes in service in 2006), only one of which was the original series aircraft operating with Russian Air Force whilst others were M or MK-series aircraft. In 2011 Cubana retired its last civilian examples 33 years after receiving its first IL-62. Some other airlines and governments also operate small numbers of the type. In 2013 DETA Air ceased operations of Il-62M.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: The aircraft has seen military use with the air force of East Germany (DDR [GDR]) and later the united Germany (one Il-62MK and two Il-62Ms) and is believed to have been operated by the air forces of other countries including Cuba, Gambia, Georgia, Libya, North Korea, Russia, Romania and Ukraine. It is used as an emergency response aircraft by the Russian government (RA-86570 and RA-86495). In addition to military use, it has been used as a personnel or head-of-state transport by Russia (at least eight examples), Ukraine, East Germany, Georgia (2748552), Uzbekistan (UK-86569), Gambia (C5-RTG), Mozambique, Sudan (ST-PRA), Cuba, North Korea, and Czechoslovakia, the government of which used an Il-62 (OK-BYV) and three Il-62Ms between 1974 and 1996. Some head-of-state examples were produced in VIP interior configuration whilst others were standard civilian versions.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: In North Korea, two IL-62Ms (operated by Air Koryo) are owned by the North Korean government. Both of which have government liveries and VIP interior configurations and are given the call sign "Chammae" (national bird of North Korea). One is coded as "Chammae-1" which transports Kim Jong Un while the other, Chammae-2, provides transport to high level government officials and VIPs. Chammae-2 was seen transporting officials of the high-level DPRK delegation including Kim Yong Nam and Kim Yo Jong to Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Both aircraft are part of Air Koryo's inventory of four IL-62Ms.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: Since its first flight in 1963 there have been 12 fatal accidents during civilian service, namely: nine crashes, two landing overruns and an aborted takeoff (fatalities of the last three resulted from collisions with structures near the runway). The complete list of incidents include eight of Il-62M (a total of 25 incidents/accidents in ASN database, 14 of which were Il-62M, including 24 April 1998 and 20 April 2008).


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: As of July 2012 there had been 23 hull losses from all causes including prototype testing, fires, runway overruns, navigational errors, and non-operational incidents, 48% of which did not involve fatalities, with 1,141 fatalities total. This figure and the list below includes planes that were still operable but were deemed uneconomic to return to service due to their age and/or flight hours (YR-IRD and CU-T1283).


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: Within the group of comparable airliners (Il-62/Il-62M, VC10/Super VC10, Boeing 707, DC8) the Il-62M had the second highest hull loss rate (25) after the DC-8.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: There were three fatal accidents involving an Il-62 between 1989 and 2009 the most recent one Jul 2009, overall there are thirteen fatal accidents involving a Il-62.


title: Ilyushin Il-62

text: As the first long-range jet airliner to be put into service by a number of nations, some retired Il-62s have been converted into museums and other uses in countries such as the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Cuba and China. The best known example was the Il-62 "DDR-SEG" from the former East German airline Interflug. On 23 October 1989, DDR-SEG was intentionally landed on the short grass Stolln/Rhinow airfield in a famous but potentially dangerous manoeuvre. Fire trucks and ambulance crews were positioned on hand for the landing but were not needed. The jet is used to commemorate the site of the fatal crash of Otto Lilienthal (1848–1896) at the Gollenberg hill. Nicknamed "Lady Agnes" after Lilienthal's wife, it is now a museum with the fuselage divided between the Lilienthal collection and a wedding registry. In July 1983, another landing of an IL-62 on unimproved ground took place at Monino, Russia, when Ilyushin OKB Chief Test Pilot Stanislav Bliznyuk delivered CCCP-86670 to the Monino outdoor Air Force Museum.


title: Walter McMillian

text: Walter "Johnny D." McMillian (October 27, 1941 – September 11, 2013) was a pulpwood worker from Monroeville, Alabama, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to death. His conviction was wrongfully obtained, based on police coercion and perjury. In the 1988 trial, under a controversial Alabama doctrine called "judicial override", the judge imposed the death penalty, although the jury had voted for a sentence of life imprisonment.


title: Walter McMillian

text: From 1990 to 1993, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals turned down four appeals. In 1993, after McMillian had served six years on Alabama's death row, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the lower court decision and ruled that he had been wrongfully convicted.


title: Walter McMillian

text: The controversial case received national attention beginning in the fall of 1992. Bryan Stevenson, McMillian's defense attorney, raised awareness on the CBS News program "60 Minutes". Journalist Pete Earley covered it in his book "Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town" (1995). Stevenson featured this early case of his career in a TED talk and in his memoir "Just Mercy" (2014). This was adapted as an eponymous feature film, released in 2019. Jamie Foxx portrays McMillian and Michael B. Jordan stars as Stevenson.


title: Walter McMillian

text: Walter McMillian, who was born on October 27, 1941, lived in a black settlement near Monroeville where he "grew up picking cotton." Monroe County was described by "The Guardian" as "a remote, dirt-poor region of pine trees and bean farms". According to his attorney Bryan Stevenson, McMillian purchased logging and paper mill equipment and became a "moderately successful businessman". A journalist described him as a "black pulpwood worker". In 1986 he had been married to Minnie McMillian for 25 years and they had nine children. McMillian held two jobs and "no criminal record other than a misdemeanor charge stemming [from] a barroom fight". He "did not have a history of violence."


title: Walter McMillian

text: McMillian was known in the small community for having an affair with a white woman, Karen Kelly. In addition, one of his sons had married a white woman. Both McMillian and the attorney he had in 1987, J. L. Chestnut, "contended that Mr. McMillian's relationships alone had made him a suspect." In a prison interview in 1993, McMillian said, "The only reason I'm here is because I had been messing around with a white lady and my son married a white lady."


title: Walter McMillian

text: Eighteen-year-old Ronda Morrison, a white dry-cleaning clerk, was murdered at Jackson Cleaners on November 1, 1986, in Monroeville, Alabama. She had been shot numerous times from behind. At the time of her murder, Walter McMillian was at a church fish fry, where he was seen by dozens of witnesses, one of whom was a police officer.


title: Walter McMillian

text: McMillian, who had "no prior felony convictions", was arrested by newly elected Sheriff Tom Tate, who was under pressure to find a suspect. McMillian was arrested in June 1987. In what "The New York Times" described as "an extraordinary move", McMillian "was immediately sent to Alabama's Death Row, in Holman State Prison, Atmore, which is usually reserved for convicted murderers awaiting execution." He was held there, pre-trial, for 15 months.


title: Walter McMillian

text: McMillian had explained to Sheriff Tate shortly after his arrest that he was at the fish fry on the morning of November 1. Tate replied, "I don't give a damn what you say or what you do. I don't give a damn what your people say either. I'm going to put twelve people on a jury who are going to find your goddamn black ass guilty."


title: Walter McMillian

text: On December 11, 1987, Walter McMillian and Ralph Bernard Myers, a career criminal, were jointly indicted. McMillian was charged with a two-count indictment "for the offense of murder made capital because it was committed during a robbery in the first degree", and the jury recommended a life sentence. Myers pleaded guilty as a conspirator in the murder and received a 30-year prison term.


title: Walter McMillian

text: The trial began on August 15, 1988. Judge Robert E. Lee Key, Jr., "had McMillian await trial on death row, as if a death sentence were a foregone conclusion, and relocated the trial from a county that was forty per cent black to an overwhelmingly white one," Baldwin County, where 86 percent of the residents were white, because the case had "generated extraordinary publicity." McMillian was represented by attorney J. L. Chestnut.


title: Walter McMillian

text: The trial lasted only a day and a half. On August 17, 1988, the jury of eleven whites and one African American found McMillian "guilty of the capital offense charged in the indictment" and recommended a life sentence, based on the testimony of four state's informants found by the prosecution: Ralph Myers, a career criminal; Bill Hooks, Jr.; Joe Hightower; and one other. Two of the witnesses claimed to have seen McMillian's "low-rider" truck outside the dry cleaner's around the time that the crime occurred.


title: Walter McMillian

text: The "jury ignored multiple alibi defense witnesses, who were black, who testified under oath that he was at a fish fry at the time of the crime." There was no physical evidence implicating McMillian.


title: Walter McMillian

text: Six years after the original trial, in an unrelated case, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals found that the prosecutor, District Attorney Theodore Pearson, and Judge Key "had practiced 'intentional racial discrimination' in jury selection."


title: Walter McMillian

text: On September 19, 1988, Judge Robert E. Lee Key, Jr., overruled the jury's recommendation of a life sentence and imposed the death penalty. Key remarked that "McMillian deserved to be executed for the brutal killing of a young lady in the first full flower of adulthood." This practice, called judicial override, allows "elected trial judges to override jury verdicts of life and impose death sentences." According to the Equal Justice Initiative of Montgomery, Alabama, "No capital sentencing procedure in the United States has come under more criticism as unreliable, unpredictable, and arbitrary" than the judge override.


title: Walter McMillian

text: Since then, the frequency of the judge override in Alabama has come under scrutiny: "Nearly seventy Alabama judges have single-handedly ordered an inmate's execution, and collectively they have done so more than a hundred times. Thirty-six of the nearly two hundred convicts on death row are there because of override."


title: Walter McMillian

text: In November 1988, 28-year-old attorney Bryan Stevenson, a Harvard Law School and Harvard School of Government graduate, who was the director of the newly formed Alabama Capital Representation Resource Center in Montgomery, took on the task of appealing the case. When he visited McMillian in prison, McMillian maintained his innocence. Stevenson was motivated to take McMillian's case because of the use of the judge override.


title: Walter McMillian

text: After he had decided to take the appeal, he got a phone call from Judge Key discouraging Stevenson from taking the case. In a 2015 NPR interview, Stevenson described how that phone call was a "very, very bizarre start to my career and to the work that I was doing in Alabama." Stevenson then visited McMillian's community and "met dozens of African-Americans who were with this condemned man at the time the crime took place 11 miles away who absolutely knew he was innocent."


title: Walter McMillian

text: From 1990 to 1993, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals turned down four appeals. McMillian's conviction and death sentence were affirmed on appeal in 1991 in "McMillian v. State", 594 So. 2d 1253 (Ala.Cr. App.1991).


title: Walter McMillian

text: Following his own trial and sentencing, Ralph Bernard Myers told McMillian's trial counsel that the testimony he gave "against McMillian was false." Myers confessed that "he knew nothing about the crime, that he was not present when the crime was committed, that he had been told what to say by certain law enforcement officers, and that he had testified falsely against McMillian because of pressure from the officers." McMillian's attorneys from the Equal Justice Initiative filed a petition for a new trial alleging various constitutional violations, including "that a key state witness had recanted his testimony, that the appellant's conviction had been obtained by perjured testimony, and that the evidence of perjury was newly discovered." The petition also alleged that the state of Alabama "had violated his constitutional rights by withholding exculpatory and impeachment information".


title: Walter McMillian

text: In 1992 the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals in "McMillian v. State" 594 So. 2d 1289 (Ala.Cr.App.1992) denied the claims by McMillian's attorneys.


title: Walter McMillian

text: February 23, 1993, in "Walter McMillian v. State" in the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, all judges concurred that "the state suppressed exculpatory and impeachment evidence that had been requested by the defense, thus denying the appellant due process of law, requiring the reversal of his conviction and death sentence, and the remand of the case for a new trial." D.A. Pearson had failed to disclose exculpatory evidence to McMillian's attorneys, including records from the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility and Myers' June 3 and August 27 statements.


title: Walter McMillian

text: Further investigation revealed that McMillian's truck, supposedly seen by witnesses at the scene of the crime, had not been converted to a "low-rider" until six months after the crime took place. It also emerged that District Attorney Theodore Pearson "had concealed evidence proving his innocence": a witness had seen the victim alive after the time when prosecutors claimed that McMillian had killed her.


title: Walter McMillian

text: The two witnesses who had testified that they had seen McMillian's truck retracted their testimony, and admitted that they lied at trial, committing perjury.


title: Walter McMillian

text: McMillian's "appellate lawyers discovered that prosecutors had withheld evidence and that the state's star witnesses had lied." It emerged that Sheriff Tate and investigators with the Monroe County D.A.'s office and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation (ABI) had "pressured [Myers] into lying about Mr. McMillian." In pursuing those claims, the attorneys obtained the original recording of Myers' confession. After listening to it, they flipped the tape over and discovered a recorded conversation in which Myers complained bitterly that he was being forced to implicate McMillian, whom he did not know, for a crime neither of them had any role in.


title: Walter McMillian

text: Upon discovery of this evidence, District Attorney Thomas Chapman, who had represented the state in McMillian's previous appeals, told Stevenson, "I want to do everything I can so that your client will not have to spend a single day more than he already has on death row. I feel sick about the six years that [McMillian] has spent in prison and the part I played in keeping him there."


title: Walter McMillian

text: On February 23, 1993, in his fifth appeal to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, the judges ruled 5–0 to reverse McMillian's conviction and grant him a new trial. McMillian's attorney then filed a motion to dismiss all charges. The following week, on March 2, Circuit Court Judge Pamela W. Baschab ruled on the motion, dismissing all charges against McMillian.


title: Walter McMillian

text: Chapman, who did not prosecute the original case in 1987, "joined the defense in seeking to have the charges" against McMillian dismissed. However, Chapman did not agree that there had been a "deliberate effort to frame Mr. McMillian." He claimed that McMillian's exoneration "proved the system worked." Stevenson disagreed, telling the court that "it was far too easy to convict this wrongly accused man for murder and send him to death row for something he didn't do and much too hard to win his freedom after proving his innocence."


title: Walter McMillian

text: After returning to his family and hometown of Monroeville, McMillian filed a civil lawsuit against state and local officials, including "the three men in charge of investigating the Morrison murder – Tom Tate, the Sheriff of Monroe County; Larry Ikner, an investigator with the District Attorney's office in Monroe County; and Simon Benson, an investigator with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation", for his wrongful prosecution and conviction. It was appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled against McMillian, holding that a county sheriff could not be sued for monetary damages. Subsequently, McMillian settled out of court with other officials for an undisclosed amount. McMillian's case served as a catalyst for Alabama's compensation statute, which was passed in 2001.


title: Walter McMillian

text: McMillian later developed dementia, believed to have been brought on by the trauma of imprisonment. He died on September 11, 2013.


title: Walter McMillian

text: In the fall of 1992, McMillian's case received national attention in the CBS News program "60 Minutes". It was pointed out that Monroeville, Alabama, was "best known as the home of Harper Lee, whose "To Kill a Mockingbird" told a painful story of race and justice in the small-town Jim Crow South."


title: Walter McMillian

text: The story was featured in a 1995 book entitled "Circumstantial Evidence: Death, Life, and Justice in a Southern Town" by former "Washington Post" journalist Pete Earley.


title: Walter McMillian

text: The 2019 film "Just Mercy" dramatizes McMillian's case, and stars Jamie Foxx as McMillian and Michael B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson, with direction by Destin Daniel Cretton, based on Stevenson's 2014 book "Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption."


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Modern Hebrew: מנחם מענדל שניאורסון; old-fashioned spelling: מנחם מענדל שניאורסאהן; April 5, 1902 OS – June 12, 1994; AM 11 Nissan 5662 – 3 Tammuz 5754), known to many as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or simply the Rebbe, was a Russian Empire-born American Orthodox rabbi, the most recent Rebbe of the Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty and an electrical engineer. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: As leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, he took an insular Hasidic group that almost came to an end with the Holocaust and transformed it into one of the most influential movements in religious Jewry, with an international network of over 5,000 educational and social centers. The institutions he established include kindergartens, schools, drug-rehabilitation centers, care-homes for the disabled, and synagogues.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson's published teachings fill more than 400 volumes, and he is noted for his contributions to Jewish continuity and religious thought, as well as his wide-ranging contributions to traditional Torah scholarship. He is recognized as the pioneer of Jewish outreach. During his lifetime, many of his adherents believed that he was the Messiah. His own attitude to the subject, and whether he openly encouraged this, is hotly debated among academics. During Schneerson's lifetime, the messianic controversy and other issues elicited fierce criticism from many quarters in the Orthodox world, especially earning him the enmity of Rabbi Elazar Shach.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1978, the U.S. Congress asked President Jimmy Carter to designate Schneerson's birthday as the national Education Day U.S.A. It has been since commemorated as Education and Sharing Day. In 1994, Schneerson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his "outstanding and lasting contributions toward improvements in world education, morality, and acts of charity." Schneerson's resting place attracts both Jews and non-Jews for prayer.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Menachem Mendel Schneerson was born on April 5, 1902 (OS) (11 Nissan, 5662) in the Black Sea port of Nikolaev in the Russian Empire (now Mykolaiv in Ukraine). His father was rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, a renowned Talmudic scholar and authority on Kabbalah and Jewish law. His mother was Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson ("née" Yanovski). He was named after the third Chabad rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the "Tzemach Tzedek", from whom he was a direct patrilineal descendant.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1907, when Schneerson was five years old, the family moved to Yekatrinoslav (today, Dnipro), where Levi Yitzchak was appointed Chief Rabbi of the city. He served until 1939, when he was exiled by the Soviets to Kazakhstan. Schneerson had two younger brothers: Dov Ber, who was murdered in 1944 by Nazi collaborators, and Yisrael Aryeh Leib, who died in 1952 while completing doctoral studies at Liverpool University.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: During his youth, he received a private education and was tutored by Zalman Vilenkin from 1909 through 1913. When Schneerson was 11 years old, Vilenkin informed his father that he had nothing more to teach his son. At that point, Levi Yitzchak began teaching his son Talmud and rabbinic literature, as well as Kabbalah. Schneerson proved gifted in both Talmudic and Kabbalistic study and also took exams as an external student of the local Soviet school. He was considered an "illui" and genius, and by the time he was 17, he had mastered the entire Talmud, some 5,894 pages, as well as all its early commentaries.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Throughout his childhood Schneerson was involved in the affairs of his father's office. He was also said to have acted as an interpreter between the Jewish community and the Russian authorities on a number of occasions. Levi Yitzchak's courage and principles were a guide to his son for the rest of his life. Many years later, when he once reminisced about his youth, Schneerson said "I have the education of the first-born son of the rabbi of Yekaterinoslav. When it comes to saving lives, I speak up whatever others may say."


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson went on to receive separate rabbinical ordinations from the Rogatchover Gaon, Yosef Rosen, and Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, author of "Sridei Aish".


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1923, Schneerson visited the sixth Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, for the first time. He met the rabbi's middle daughter Chaya Mushka (Mousia) – they were distant cousins. Sometime later they became engaged, but were not married until 1928 in Warsaw, Poland. Taking great pride in his son-in-law's outstanding scholarship, Yosef Yitzchak asked him to engage in learned conversation with the great Torah scholars that were present at the wedding, such as Meir Shapiro and Menachem Ziemba. Menachem Mendel and Chaya Mushka were married for 60 years, and were childless.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Menachem Mendel Schneerson and Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn were both descendants of Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, known as the Tzemach Tzedek, the third Rebbe of Chabad Lubavitch. Schneerson later commented that the day of his marriage bound the community to him and him to the community.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1947 Schneerson traveled to Paris, to take his mother, Chana Schneerson, back to New York with him. Schneerson would visit her every day and twice each Friday and prepare her a tea. In 1964, Chana Schneerson died.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: On February 10, 1988, Schneerson's wife, Chaya Mushka Schneerson died. A year after the death of his wife, when the traditional year of Jewish mourning had passed, Schneerson moved into his study above the central Lubavitch synagogue on Eastern Parkway.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: After his wedding to Chaya Mushka in 1928, Schneerson and his wife moved to Berlin, where he was assigned specific communal tasks by his father-in-law Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, who also requested that he write scholarly annotations to the responsa and various hasidic discourses of the earlier Rebbes of Chabad-Lubavitch. Schneerson studied mathematics, physics, and philosophy at the University of Berlin. He would later recall that he enjoyed Erwin Schrödinger's lectures. His father-in-law took great pride in his erudite son-in-law's scholarly attainments, and paid for all the tuition expenses and helped facilitate his studies throughout.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: During his stay in Berlin, his father-in-law encouraged him to become more of a public figure, but Schneerson described himself as an introvert, and was known to plead with acquaintances not to make a fuss over the fact that he was the son-in-law of Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: While in Berlin, Schneerson met Joseph B. Soloveitchik and the two formed a friendship that remained between them years later when they both emigrated to America.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: He wrote hundreds of pages of his own original Torah discourses, and conducted a serious interchange of halachic correspondence with many of Eastern Europe's leading rabbinic figures, including the Talmudic genius known as the Rogachover Gaon. In 1933 he also met with Chaim Elazar Shapiro, as well as with Talmudist Shimon Shkop. During this time he kept a diary in which he would carefully document his private conversations with his father-in-law, as well as his kabbalistic correspondence with his father, Levi Yitzchak Schneerson.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1933, after the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, the Schneersons left Berlin and moved to Paris, where Menachem Mendel (known as "RaMash" before accepting the leadership of Chabad) continued his religious and communal activities on behalf of his father-in-law, Yosef Yitzchak. He continued studying mechanics and electrical engineering at the ESTP, a Grande école in the Montparnasse district and graduated in July 1937 with a degree. In November 1937, he audited classes at the Sorbonne, studying mathematics until World War II broke out in 1939.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: During that time, Yosef Yitzchak recommended that Professor Alexander Vasilyevitch Barchenko consult with Schneerson regarding various religious and mystical matters, and prominent rabbis, such as Yerachmiel Binyaminson and Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler turned to Schneerson with their rabbinic and kabbalistic queries.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: On June 11, 1940, three days before Paris fell to the Nazis, the Schneersons fled to Vichy, and later to Nice, where they stayed until their final escape from Europe in 1941.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1941, Schneerson escaped from Europe via Lisbon, Portugal. On the eve of his departure, Schneerson penned a treatise where he revealed his vision for the future of world Jewry and humanity. He and his wife Chaya Mushka arrived in New York on June 23, 1941.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Shortly after his arrival, his father-in-law appointed him director and chairman of the three Chabad central organizations, Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, Machneh Israel and Kehot Publication Society, placing him at the helm of the movement's Jewish educational, social services, and publishing networks. Over the next decade, Yosef Yitzchak referred many of the scholarly questions that had been inquired of him to his son-in-law. He became increasingly known as a personal representative of Yosef Yitzchak.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: During the 1940s, Schneerson became a naturalized US citizen and, seeking to contribute to the war effort, he volunteered at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, using his electrical engineering background to draw wiring diagrams for the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63), and other classified military work.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1942 Schneerson launched the Merkos Shlichus program where he would send pairs of yeshiva students to remote locations across the country during their summer vacations to teach Jews in isolated communities about their heritage and offer education to their children.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: As chairman and editor in chief of Kehot, Schneerson published the works of the earlier Rebbes of Chabad. He also published his own works including the Hayom Yom in 1943 and Hagadda in 1946.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: On a visit to Paris in 1947 he established a school for girls and worked with local organizations to assist with housing for refugees and displaced persons. Schneerson often explained that his goal was to "make the world a better place," and to do what he could to eliminate all suffering. In a letter to Israeli President Yitzchak Ben Tzvi, Schneerson wrote that when he was a child the vision of the future redemption began to take form in his imagination "a redemption of such magnitude and grandeur through which the purpose of the suffering, the harsh decrees and annihilation of exile will be understood ..."


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1991, a car accompanying Schneerson's motorcade accidentally struck two Guyanese-American children while attempting to catch up to Schneerson's vehicle. One of the children was killed. The incident triggered the Crown Heights riot.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: After the death of Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn in 1950, Chabad followers began persuading Schneerson to succeed his father-in-law as Rebbe on the basis of his scholarship, piety, and dynasty. Schneerson was reluctant, and actively refused to accept leadership of the movement. He continued, however, all the communal activities he had previously headed. It would take a full year until he was persuaded by the elders of the movement to accept the post.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: On the first anniversary of his father-in-law's passing, 10 Shevat 1951, in a ceremony attended by several hundred rabbis and Jewish leaders from all parts of the United States and Canada, Schneerson delivered a Hasidic discourse "(Ma'amar)", the equivalent to a President-elect taking the oath of office, and formally became the Rebbe. On the night of his acceptance, members of the Israeli Cabinet and Israel's Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Herzog sent him congratulatory messages.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Reiterating a longstanding core Chabad principle at his inaugural talk, he demanded that each individual exert themselves in advancing spiritually, and "not" rely on the Rebbe to do it for them, saying:


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: "Now listen, Jews. Generally, in Chabad it has been demanded that each individual work on themselves, and not rely on the Rebbes. One must, "on their own", transform the folly of materialism and the passion of the 'animal soul' to holiness. I do not, God Forbid, recuse myself from assisting as much as possible, however; if one does not work on "themselves", what good will submitting notes, singing songs, and saying lechayim do?" At the same talk, Schneerson said "one must go to a place where nothing is known of Godliness, nothing is known of Judaism, nothing is even known of the Hebrew alphabet, and while there to put oneself aside and ensure that the other calls out to God." When he spoke to "Forward" journalist Asher Penn that year, he said, "we must stop insisting that Judaism is in danger, an assertion that does little but place Jewry on the defensive. We need to go on the offensive."


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: As Rebbe, Schneerson would receive visitors for private meetings, known as "yechidus", on Sunday and Thursday evenings. Those meetings would begin at 8pm and often continue until five or six in the morning and were open to everyone. Schneerson, who spoke several languages including English, Yiddish, Hebrew, French, Russian, German and Italian, would converse with people on all issues and offer his advice on both spiritual and mundane matters. Politicians and leaders from across the globe came to meet him, but Schneerson showed no preference to one person over another. His secretary once even declined to admit John F. Kennedy because Schneerson was already meeting 'ordinary' people who had requested appointments months previously. Those meetings were discontinued in 1982 when it became impossible to accommodate the large number of people. Meetings were then held only for those who had a special occasion, such as a bride and groom for their wedding or a boy and his family on the occasion of a bar mitzvah.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: During his four decades as Rebbe, Schneerson would deliver regular addresses, centered on the weekly Torah portion and on various tractates of the Talmud. These talks, delivered without text or notes, would last for several hours, and sometimes went for eight or nine hours without a break. During the talks, Schneerson demonstrated a unique approach in explaining seemingly different concepts by analysis of the fundamental principle common to the entire tractate, and referenced both classic and esoteric sources from all periods, citing entire sections by heart.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1951 Schneerson established a Chabad women's and girl's organization and a youth organisation in Israel. Their mission was to engage in outreach which was exclusively directed at women and teens. In 1953 he opened branches of these organizations in New York, London and Toronto. In a marked departure from an entrenched tendency to limit high-level Torah education to men and boys, Schneerson equally addressed his teachings to both genders. He addressed meetings of the organisations, and led gatherings exclusively for women. Schneerson would describe the increase in Torah study by women as one of the "positive innovations of the later generations."


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: That same year, Schneerson sent his first emissary to Morocco, and established schools and a synagogue for the Moroccan Jewish community. In 1958 Schneerson established schools and synagogues in Detroit, Michigan, in Milan, Italy, and in London, England. In 1988, Schneerson sent 22-year-old Rabbi Shmuley Boteach as a Chabad-Lubavitch "shaliach" (emissary) to Oxford, England, where he served as rabbi to Oxford University's students for 11 years.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Beginning in the 1960s, Schneerson instituted a system of "mitzvah campaigns" to encourage the observance of ten basic Jewish practices, such as tefillin for men, Shabbat candles for women, and loving your fellow for all people. Schneersohn's campaign brought the concept of tefillin to Jewish men everywhere, and he has been referred to as "the great modern popularizer of tefillin." Until his campaign, tefillin was largely the domain of the meticulously observant.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Following the death of his mother Chana Schneerson in 1964, Schneerson began to offer an additional weekly sermon in her memory. These sermons consisted of original insights and unprecedented analysis of Rashi's Torah commentary, which were delivered at the regular public gatherings. Schneerson gave these sermons each week until 1992.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1973, Schneerson started a Chanukah campaign to encourage all Jews worldwide to light their own menorah. After all tin menorahs were given out that year, a military manufacturer was commissioned to make tens of thousands of additional menorahs for distribution. In 1974, a public lighting of a Chanukah menorah was held by the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and in years following menorah lightings on public grounds were conducted in cities worldwide. Legal challenges to the lightings on public grounds reached the Supreme Court and it was ruled that public lightings did not violate the Constitution. Public lightings continue in thousands of cities today.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Chabad established an annual Lag BaOmer parade at '770', one of the largest celebrations of its kind, where thousands of Jews celebrate the holiday.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1979, during the Iranian Revolution and Iranian hostage crisis, Schneerson directed arrangements to rescue Jewish youth and teenagers from Iran and bring them to safety in the United States. The militant Islamist hostilities towards the United States were seen by Schneerson as behavior that could threaten the country's status as an "untouchable" superpower, and that would cause it to try to appease Arab countries, thus "endanger[ing] the security of Israel." As a result of Schneerson's efforts, several thousand Iranian children were flown from Iran to the safety of New York.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1983 Schneerson launched a global campaign to promote awareness of the Supreme Being and observance of the Noahide Laws among all people, arguing that this was the basis for human rights for all civilization. Several times each year his addresses were broadcast on national television. On these occasions Schneerson would address the public on general communal affairs and issues relating to world peace such as a moment of silence in U.S. public schools, increased government funding for solar energy research, U.S. foreign aid to developing countries and nuclear disarmament.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1984, Schneerson initiated a campaign for the daily study of Maimonides's Mishneh Torah. Each year at the completion of the learning cycle there is Siyum celebration marking the end of the cycle and beginning of the new one. These events have been attended by many Jewish leaders.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1986, Schneerson began a custom where each Sunday he would stand outside his office, greet people briefly, give them a dollar bill and encourage them to donate to the charity of their choice. Explaining his reason for encouraging charitable giving among all people, Schneerson quoted his father-in-law who said that "when two people meet, it should bring benefit to a third." People in line would often take this opportunity to ask Schneerson for advice or request a blessing. Thousands of people attended this event each week, which lasted up to six hours, and is often referred to as "Sunday Dollars."


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson's wife, Chaya Mushka Schneerson died in 1988. During the week of shiva Schneerson wrote a will in which he bequeathed his entire estate to Agudas Chasidei Chabad, the Chabad umbrella organisation.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: During a talk in 1991, Schneerson spoke passionately about Moshiach (the Messiah) and told his followers that he had done all that he could to bring world peace and redemption, but that it was now up to them to continue this task: "I have done my part, from now on you do all that you can." A few months later, when a reporter from CNN came to meet him at dollars, he said, "Moshiach is ready to come now, it is only on our part to do something additional in the realm of goodness and kindness."


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: On Sunday, March 1, 1992, Gabriel Erem, the editor of "Lifestyles Magazine" told Schneerson that on the occasion of his ninetieth birthday they would be publishing a special issue and wanted to know what his message to the world was. Schneerson replied that "'Ninety', in Hebrew, is 'tzaddik'; which means 'righteous.' And that is a direct indication for every person to become a real tzaddik—a righteous person, and to do so for many years, until 120. "This message", Schneerson added, "applies equally to Jews and non-Jews".


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: During his decades of leadership, Schneerson worked over 18 hours a day and never took a day of vacation. He rarely left Brooklyn except for visits to his father-in-law's gravesite in Queens, New York. Schneerson was opposed to retirement, seeing it as a waste of precious years. In 1972, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, instead of announcing a retirement plan, Schneerson proposed the establishment of 71 new institutions to mark the beginning of the 71st year of his life.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1977, during the "hakafot" ceremony on Shemini Atzeret, Schneerson suffered a heart attack. At his request, rather than transporting him to a hospital, the doctors set up a mini-hospital at his office where he was treated for the next four weeks by doctors Bernard Lown, Ira Weiss, and Larry Resnick.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: He made a full recovery from the heart attack with few if any noticeable lasting effects or changes to his work habits.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Fifteen years later Schneerson suffered a serious stroke while praying at the grave of his father-in-law. The stroke left him unable to speak, and paralyzed on the right side of his body. During this time, the hope that Schneerson could be revealed as the Messiah (Moshiach) became more widespread.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: On the morning of June 12, 1994 (3 Tammuz 5754), Schneerson died at the Beth Israel Medical Center and was buried at the Ohel next to his father-in-law, Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, at Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, New York. Shortly after Schneerson's death, the executors of his will discovered several notebooks in a drawer in his office, in which Schneerson had written his scholarly thoughts and religious musings from his earliest years. The majority of entries in these journals date between the years 1928 and 1950 and were subsequently published.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Following age-old Jewish tradition that the resting place of a tzadik is holy, Schneerson's gravesite is viewed by many as a holy site and has been described by the "Yedioth Ahronoth" as "the American Western Wall", where thousands of people, Jews and non-Jews, go to pray each week. Many more send faxes and e-mails with requests for prayers to be read at the gravesite.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson died without naming a successor as leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch dynasty, causing controversy within Chabad about Schneerson's will. He did, however, write one legal will, which was signed before witnesses, whereby he transferred stewardship of all the major Chabad institutions as well as all his possessions to Agudas Chassidei Chabad.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Another will, no executed copies of which are known to be in existence, named three senior Chabad rabbis as directors of Agudas Chassidei Chabad.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson had a passion and desire to raise awareness of the coming of the Messiah. During his life, many of his admirers hoped that he would be revealed as the Messiah. They pointed to traditional Jewish theology which teaches that in every generation there is one person who is worthy of being the Messiah, and if God deems the time right, he will be revealed by God as such. Chabad followers also pointed to a tradition that in every generation there is one person who is considered the Messiah of the generation.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson's supporters have claimed that many Jews felt that if there was indeed a person worthy of such stature, it was Schneerson. Although Schneerson constantly objected to any talk that he could be the Messiah, this notion sparked controversy, particularly among those who were unfamiliar with these traditional teachings. Detractors criticized a children's song with the words "We want "moshiach" (the messiah) now / We don't want to wait," that Schneerson commended. Since Schneerson's passing, the Messianic movement has largely shrunk, although some followers still believe him to be the Messiah. The Chabad umbrella organization, Agudas Chasidei Chabad, has condemned Messianic behavior, stating that it defies the express wishes of Schneerson.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson spoke of the position of the United States as a world superpower, and would praise its foundational values of '"E pluribus unum'—from many one", and "In God We Trust". He called on the government to develop independent energy, and not need to rely on totalitarian regimes whose countries national interests greatly differed from the U.S. Schneerson also called for the U.S. Government to use its influence on countries who were receiving its foreign aid to do more for the educational and cultural needs of their deprived citizens.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson placed a strong emphasis on education and often spoke of the need of a moral educational system for all people. He was an advocate of a Department of Education as a separate cabinet position from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Schneerson proclaimed 1977 as a "Year of Education" and urged Congress to do the same. He stated that education "must think in terms of a 'better living' not only for the individual, but also for the society as a whole. The educational system must, therefore, pay more attention to the building of character, with emphasis on moral and ethical values. Education must put greater emphasis on the promotion of fundamental human rights and obligations of justice and morality, which are the basis of any human society".


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: The Ninety-Fifth Congress of the United States issued a Joint Resolution proclaiming 1978 as a Year of Education and designating April 18, 1978, as "Education Day, U.S.A.". Each year since, the President of the United States has proclaimed Schneerson's birthday as "Education Day, U.S.A." in his honor.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: During his life, Schneerson had great influence on numerous political leaders from across the aisle, many of whom would seek his advice. He was visited by Presidents, Prime Ministers, Governors, Senators, Congressmen and Mayors. Notable among them are John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr., Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Jacob Javits, Ed Koch, Rudy Giuliani, David Dinkins and Joe Lieberman.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: According to Howard Mortman's book, "When Rabbis Bless Congress", Schneerson was the rabbi most mentioned in Congress.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson took great interest in the affairs of the state of Israel, and did whatever was in his power to support the infrastructure of the state and advance its success. He was concerned with the agricultural, industrial and overall economic welfare of Israel, and sought to promote its scientific achievements, and enhance Israel's standing in the international community. Schneerson consistently expressed enormous recognition of the role of the Israel Defense Forces and stated that those who serve in the Israeli army perform a great "mitzvah".


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 1950, Schneerson encouraged the establishment of Israel's first automobile company, Autocars Co. Ltd. (Hebrew: אוטוקרס) of Haifa. By 1956, the company was responsible for 28% of Israel's exports. Schneerson established a network of trade schools in Israel to provide Israeli youth, new immigrants and Holocaust survivors with vocational training and livelihood. In 1954, Schneerson established a school for carpentry and woodwork. In 1955, he established a school for agriculture. In 1956, he established a school for printing and publishing and, in 1957, a school for textiles.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Although he never visited Israel, many of Israel's top leadership made it a point to visit him. Israeli President Zalman Shazar would visit Schneerson and corresponded extensively with him as would Prime Minister Menachem Begin who came to visit him before going to Washington to meet President Carter. Ariel Sharon, who had a close relationship with Schneerson, often quoted his views on military matters and sought his advice when he considered retiring from the military. Schneerson advised the general to remain at his post. Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu also visited and sought Schneerson's advice. Israeli politicians and military experts who came to consult with him were surprised by his detailed knowledge of their country's local affairs and international situation on strategic and diplomatic fronts. Despite his advisory meetings with American and Israeli political notables, Schneerson stated his nonpartisan policy many times, warning of his non-involvement in politics.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson publicly expressed his view that the safety and stability of Israel were in the best interests of the United States, calling Israel the front line against those who want the anti-Western nations to succeed. He was opposed to land for peace, which he called an "illusion of peace", saying that it would not save lives, but harm lives. Schneerson stated that this position was not based on nationalistic or other religious reasons, but purely out of concern for human life. Benjamin Netanyahu said that while serving as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations in 1984, Schneerson told him: "you will be serving in a house of darkness, but remember, that even in the darkest place; the light of a single candle can be seen far and wide ..." Netanyahu later retold this episode in a speech at the General Assembly, on September 23, 2011.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Just before the outbreak of the Six-Day War, Schneerson called for a global Tefillin campaign, to see that Jews observe the Mitzvah of wearing Tefillin as a means of ensuring divine protection against Israel's enemies. Speaking to a crowd of thousands of people on May 28, 1967, only a few days before the outbreak of the war, he assured the world that Israel would be victorious. He said Israel had no need to fear as God was with them, quoting the verse, "the Guardian of Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers". Within the Haredi community, criticism of the campaign was voiced at the Agudat Israel convention of 1968. However, following the incident, Yitzchok Hutner, a prominent Orthodox rabbi who had corresponded with Schneersohn in the past, wrote to Schneerson privately, distancing himself from the convention. Hutner wrote that he had not been at the convention and asked forgiveness for any pain his earlier letters (discussing halachic issues regarding the tefillin campaign) may have caused.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: After the Operation Entebbe rescue, in a public talk on 16 August 1976, Schneerson applauded the courage and selflessness of the IDF, "who flew thousands of miles, putting their lives in danger for the sole purpose of possibly saving the lives of tens of Jews". He said: "their portion in the Hereafter is guaranteed". He was later vilified by ultra-haredi rabbis for publicly praising the courage of the IDF and suggesting that God chose them as a medium through which he would send deliverance to the Jewish people. Schneerson protested vehemently against those elements within the ultra-haredi society who sought to undermine the motivations and actions of the soldiers.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: He corresponded with David Ben-Gurion on the issue of Judaism in the State of Israel, asking the Prime Minister to ensure that Israel "remains Jewish". He lobbied Israeli politicians to pass legislation in accordance with Jewish law on the question "Who is a Jew?" and asked that they add the words "according to Halakha" to the declaration so that it state that "only one who is born of a Jewish mother or converted according to Halakha is Jewish". This caused a furor in the United States. Some American Jewish philanthropies stopped financially supporting Chabad-Lubavitch since most of their members were connected to Reform and Conservative Judaism.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson greatly encouraged the Jews who lived in Communist states. He sent many emissaries on covert missions to sustain Judaism under Communist regimes and to provide them with their religious and material needs. Many Jews from behind the Iron Curtain corresponded with Schneerson, sending their letters to him via secret messenger and addressing Schneerson in code name.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson, who had an intimate knowledge of the Soviet government and their tactics, opposed demonstrations on behalf of Soviet Jews, stating that he had evidence that they were harming Russia's Jews. Instead he advocated quiet diplomacy, which he said would be more effective. Schneerson did whatever was in his power to push for the release of Jews from the former Soviet Union and established schools, communities and other humanitarian resources to assist with their absorption into Israel. On one known occasion he instructed Senator Chic Hecht to provide President Ronald Reagan with contact information of people who wished to leave so that he could lobby their release.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, Schneerson called for efforts to rescue Ukrainian Jewish children from Chernobyl and founded a special organization for this purpose. The first rescue flight occurred on August 3, 1990, when 196 Jewish children were flown to Israel and brought to a shelter campus. Since then, thousands of children have been rescued and brought to Israel, where they receive housing, education, and medical care in a supportive environment.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Natan Sharansky, the Chairman of the Jewish Agency said that Chabad Lubavitch was an essential connector to Soviet Jewry during the Cold War, while Shimon Peres has stated that it's to Schneerson's credit that "Judaism in the Soviet Union has been preserved".


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson initiated Jewish outreach in the post-Holocaust era. He believed that world Jewry was seeking to learn more about its heritage, and sought to bring Judaism to Jews wherever they were. British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said of Schneerson "that if the Nazis searched out every Jew in hate, the Rebbe wished to search out every Jew in love". He oversaw the building of schools, community centers, and youth camps and created a global network of emissaries, known as "shluchim".


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Today there are "shluchim" in all of the 50 US states, in over 100 countries and 1,000 cities around the world, totaling more than 3,600 institutions including some 300 in Israel. Chabad is very often the only Jewish presence in a given town or city and it has become the face of Jewish Orthodoxy for the Jewish and general world.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson's model of Jewish outreach has been imitated by all Jewish movements including the Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Haredi. His published works fill more than 200 volumes and are often used as source text for sermons of both Chabad and non-Chabad rabbis. Beyond the Jewish world, Peggy Noonan has written that moral issues would be better addressed by leaders such as Schneerson than by politicians, and since his death, Schneerson has been referred to as the Rebbe for all people.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson's contributions to education and the betterment of mankind have been recognized by every president since Richard Nixon. In 1978, Schneerson became the first rabbi to have a U.S. national day proclaimed in his honor, when the U.S. Congress and President Jimmy Carter designated Schneerson's birthdate as "Education Day USA." Each year since, the President has called on all Americans to focus on education in honor of Schneerson. In 1982, Ronald Reagan proclaimed Schneerson's birthday as a "National Day of Reflection", and presented the "National Scroll of Honor" that was signed by the President, Vice-President and every member of Congress.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Many officials attended Schneerson's funeral, including New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Benjamin Netanyahu and the entire staff of the Israeli consulate in Washington.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: President Bill Clinton penned a condolence letter "to the Chabad-Lubavitch community and to world Jewry" and spoke of Schneerson as "a monumental man who as much as any other individual, was responsible over the last half a century for advancing the instruction of ethics and morality to our young people." Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, cited Schneerson's great scholarship and contribution to the entire Jewish people and proclaimed "The Rebbe's loss is a loss for all the Jewish people." Foreign Minister Shimon Peres cited words from the prophet Malachi as applying with particular force to Schneerson: "He brought back many from iniquity. For a priest's lips shall guard knowledge, and teaching should be sought from his mouth. For he is a messenger of the Lord."


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Shortly after his death, Schneerson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, honoring Schneerson for his "outstanding and enduring contributions toward world education, morality, and acts of charity". President Bill Clinton spoke these words at the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony:


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: In 2009, the National Museum of American Jewish History selected Schneerson as one of eighteen American Jews to be included in their "Only in America" Hall of Fame.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson's contribution with respect to comprehension of human emotion is considered by many to be unparalleled; as Elie Wiesel said of the Rebbe, "When the Rebbe was alone with anyone, it was an opening. He opened doors for his visitor, or his student or Chasid—secret doors that we all have. It wasn’t a break-in. It was just an invitation. And that was really the greatness of the Rebbe. I think the Rebbe had a great talent for that—one of the greatest and the best that Judaism has ever seen." Schneerson is often considered to be one of the most, if not the most, influential rabbis of the twentieth century.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: From the 1970s onwards, Elazar Shach of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak was publicly critical of Schneerson, accusing him of creating a cult of crypto-messianism around himself. He objected to his calling upon the Messiah to appear and eventually called for a boycott of Chabad and its institutions.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Though Schneerson never responded publicly to Shach's attacks, he did rebuke those who disparaged (religious and non-religious) Jews and for bringing division among them in apparent response to Shach, explaining that "every Jew, regardless of differences and levels of observances, is part of Am Echad," the unified Jewish people.


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson is recognized for his scholarship and contributions to Talmudic, Halachic, Kabalistic and Chasidic teachings. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, who knew Schneerson from their days in Berlin, and remained in contact once the two men came to America, told his students after visiting Schneerson "the Rebbe has a "gewaldiger" (awesome) comprehension of the Torah," and "He is a "gaon", he is a great one, he is a leader of Israel."


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: According to Mordechai Eliyahu, former Chief Rabbi of Israel, his meeting with Schneerson "covered all sections of the Torah". Eliyahu said, "The Rebbe jumped effortlessly from one Talmudic tractate to another, and from there to Kabbalah and then to Jewish law ... It was as if he had just finished studying these very topics from the holy books. The whole Torah was an open book in front of him".


title: Menachem Mendel Schneerson

text: Schneerson's teachings have been published in more than two hundred volumes. Schneerson also penned tens of thousands of letters in reply to requests for blessings and advice. These detailed and personal letters offer advice and explanation on a wide variety of subjects, including spiritual matters as well as all aspects of life.


title: Reena Roy

text: Reena Roy (born Saira Ali; 7 January 1957), is an Indian actress. At the age of 15, she made her film debut with the drama "Zaroorat" (1972), but gained wider public recognition with her roles in the romantic comedy "Jaise Ko Taisa" (1973) and the romance-action film "Zakhmee" (1975). By 1976, Roy became one of the highest-paid actresses of Bollywood after starring in two of the year's biggest box-office successes, the action thriller "Kalicharan" and the horror film "Nagin".


title: Reena Roy

text: Roy went on to earn a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in the drama "Apnapan" (1977), but declined it due to categorical issues. Her success nevertheless continued throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s when she featured in several notable films including the horror film "Jaani Dushman" (1979), the dramas "Aasha" (1980), "Arpan" (1983) and "Asha Jyoti" (1984), the multi genre "Naseeb" (1981) and the romantic comedy "Sanam Teri Kasam" (1982). In 1983, Roy married cricketer Mohsin Khan and announced a sabbatical. She subsequently shifted to Pakistan with her husband and gave birth to their daughter, Jannat, better known as Sanam Khan.


title: Reena Roy

text: Roy returned to India in 1992 after divorcing Khan and made a comeback in Hindi cinema with the drama "Aadmi Khilona Hai" (1993). She further acted in supporting roles notably in the romance-action films "Ajay" (1996) and "Gair" (1999), and the romantic drama "Refugee" (2000). Since the early 2000s, she has primarily focused on raising her daughter, but has made occasional appearances on television, most recently on "Indian Idol". Along with her sister Barkha, Roy also runs an acting school.


title: Reena Roy

text: Roy was born Saira Ali, the third daughter of Sadiq Ali, a small-time actor and Sharda Rai, who acted in film "Bawre Nain" and later produced the film Gunehgar Kaun. She has three siblings who all disowned their father after the parents divorced. Her mother renamed all the four children after the divorce. Roy was initially renamed Roopa Rai, which was changed to "Reena Roy" by the producer of her first film, "Zaroorat". Roy started acting in films in her teens. She disputed reports that her decision to enter films was to financially support her mother and siblings.


title: Reena Roy

text: Roy has two sisters, Barkha and Anju and a brother, Raja. Following a highly-publicised love affair with Shatrughan Sinha, in 1983, Roy decided to quit the film industry to marry Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan. The couple later divorced in the 1990s; Roy found it difficult to adjust with Khan's flamboyant lifestyle. Roy initially lost custody of her daughter Sanam, but after her ex-husband remarried, Roy regained custody.


title: Reena Roy

text: In 1971, Roy was cast by director B. R. Ishara in "Nayi Duniya Naye Log" opposite Danny Denzongpa, but the film was shelved and would not be released until 1973. Undeterred by the problems, Ishara offered Roy the leading role in his another directorial venture, "Zaroorat". Roy was initially reluctant to select the project due to its risque subject and potentially controversial scenes, but agreed later. "Zaroorat" was theatrically released in 1972, failing at the box office, but Roy's sensual performance was noted by contrast. Roy's subsequent roles too focused on her sex appeal, such as in "Jaise Ko Taisa" (1973), which became known for the track "Ab Ke Sawan Mein Jee Dare" in which Roy and Jeetendra dance together in heavy rain. The film was a box-office hit, and along with another successful release, "Zakhmee" (1975), where she had a supporting role, prompted filmmakers to approach Roy with more significant films.


title: Reena Roy

text: Subhash Ghai's action thriller "Kalicharan" (1976) made her more popular among directors and audiences.Initially, there was low expectations with Kalicharan, since Subhash Ghai, a failed actor, was making his directorial debut, and Shatrugan Sinha, an actor known for his villainous roles, was making his first mark as the lead hero. But the film defied everyone's expectations and became a surprise hit, and Reena as Shatrugan's love interest got attention from audiences. They became a off-screen pair as well. She also starred in another hit family drama "Udhar Ka Sindur" alongside "Jeetendra" in that year.


title: Reena Roy

text: Roy's career-turning point came in 1976, when she featured as the title role in "Rajkumar Kohli's" thriller "Nagin", which featured an ensemble cast including Sunil Dutt, Jeetendra, Rekha and Mumtaz. She avenges the death of her lover by ruthlessly murdering five leading male-stars. The film became a huge hit. Also appreciated by critics, "Nagin" became the highest-grossing production of the year. Analysing the film, writer Meheli Sen commented, "Reena Roy as the nagin is unabashed in her sexuality; [...] she embodies a kind of feral sexuality that remains remarkable in its directness." Roy also received a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Actress at the 24th Filmfare Awards. "Box Office India" published that Roy established herself as a leading actress of Bollywood with the success of "Kalicharan" and "Nagin".


title: Reena Roy

text: . In a mixed review, "The Illustrated Weekly of India" lamented that Roy was used in the film for aesthetic purposes, but the film emerged as a major commercial success, turning Roy as well as Sinha into Bollywood stars.


title: Reena Roy

text: Reena Roy-Shatrugan Sinha became a famous team after "Kalicharan," and had delivered 9 hits off the 16 they did together as the lead pair. But it was Reena's chemistry with Jeetendra in 17 marital dramas like Badaltey Rishtey (1978) and Pyaasa Sawan (1982) that set her career soaring. Jeetendra- Reena Roy had 12 box office hits off the 17 movies where they were paired romantically. The duo produced three of their greatest classics together - Apnapan (1977), Aasha (1980) and Arpan (1983). Reena's poignant dance in "Aasha" to the melody of "Shisha Ho Yah Dil" immortalized her as an icon of desire and tragedy. Her dark-shaded role in "Apnapan," as the selfish gold-digger that abandons her husband and child, won her the Best Supporting Actress Filmfare Award, beating out icons Nutan and Asha Parekh. (This was the precursor to the type of role that Meryl Streep played two years later in "Kramer vs. Kramer" (1979)). Reena rejected the Award on basis that she is the heroine of the film, not the supporting actress! And finally, her screen image as a sacrificing symbol of Indian womanhood is glorified in the immensely popular, "Arpan."


title: Reena Roy

text: Jeetendra-Reena Roy have worked in 22 films together and in 17 movies they were paired romantically. 12 of the 17 films where she was heroine to Jeetendra were super-hits.


title: Reena Roy

text: In 1977, Roy garnered critical acclaim for playing Kamini, a "gold-digger" woman who abandons her husband (Jeetendra) for a much senior but richer man (Ifthekar) in J. Om Prakash's drama "Apnapan". Vijay Lokapally of "The Hindu" stated that Roy "lives the role" and rated her performance superior to that of Jeetendra and Sulakshana Pandit. However, when Roy won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 25th Filmfare Awards, she refused to accept it, citing that her role was parallel to Pandit's. 1978 saw Roy collaborating with Subhash Ghai for the second time on the action film "Vishwanath", opposite Sinha, and in the following year, she re-united with Rajkumar Kohli for the horror film "Jaani Dushman" (1979). Both the films emerged as box-office hits. Regarding her performance in the latter, "Film World" remarked, "Reena Roy is easy on the eye and acts with effortless ease in a role which demands nothing.".


title: Reena Roy

text: In the same year she was also starred in Raj Kumar Kohli's "Muqabla (1979 film)" alongside her then rumoured boyfriend "Shatrughan Sinha".The film was very successful at box office.


title: Reena Roy

text: "Rajkumar Kohli" worked with Reena and churned out greatest multi-starer blockbusters "Nagin (1976 film)" , "Jaani Dushman", "Muqabla (1979 film)" and "Raaj Tilak".


title: Reena Roy

text: In 1980, Roy appeared as a rebellious daughter-in-law of Lalita Pawar in Vijay Sadanah's melodrama "Sau Din Saas Ke". Although the film only a moderate financial success, Roy's work was picked up by critics for praise. Her most significant release of the year was the drama "Aasha" (1980), alongside Jeetendra, in which she played the titular role. She received a second nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her portrayal. It was a blockbuster success, as was the 1981 release "Naseeb", a "masala" film directed by Manmohan Desai, which featured Roy alongside an ensemble cast of Sinha, Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor and Hema Malini. "India Today" described the film as "enjoyable but terrible for your health", but Shahid Khan of "Planet Bollywood" commented that Roy nevertheless, "leaves a mark in her few dramatic scenes."


title: Reena Roy

text: After the box office success of "Aasha," for which she received her second Filmfare nomination as Best Actress, Reena Roy entered the 1980s as a leading lady in demand, securing herself critical roles with Superstar Rajesh Khanna in 4 films which became super-hits. She is the defiant widow who reforms the egotistical Rajesh Khanna of "Dhanwan (1981 film)" ; the beautiful 'actress' that dies on stage performing her last 'mujra' for Dharmendra in "Naukar Biwi Ka" (1983); and the talented psychiatrist determined to cure Vinod Khanna in the comical, Jail Yatra (1981). Top directors like Prakash Mehra, Raj Khosla and Sultan Ahmad grabbed her for crucial roles. Her off-screen relationship with Shatrugan ended by 1979.


title: Reena Roy

text: Reena Roy concentrated more on her career, as she was at the No. 1 position by 1980. Reena was trailed by "Rekha", "Hema Malini" and "Zeenat Aman" for the number one spot from 1980 to 1983 until "Sridevi" arrived with a bombardment called "Himmatwala (1983 film)" in early 1983.


title: Reena Roy

text: In 1981, Roy performed a parallel leading role besides debutante Sanjay Dutt and Tina Munim in Sunil Dutt's romance-action film "Rocky" (1981), which emerged as a financial success.


title: Reena Roy

text: In 1982 alone, she had thirteen releases, by far more than any of her rivals. She was not only effectively stealing the show from Rekha in emotional melodramas like "Prem Tapasya" (1983) and "Asha Jyoti" but also fetching the heroine role from most of the films they worked together, such as "Nagin (1976 film)" , "Jaani Dushman", "Muqabla (1979 film)" etc. This also signifies her star power and dominance over other actresses back then.


title: Reena Roy

text: Her characters became more versatile, as did her dances, as she effortlessly shifted from classical 'natyam' (Rocky (1981)) to "Disco Station" "Haathkadi (1982 film)". The sophisticated, glamorous model of "Karishmaa", 1984 was equally seductive as the village belle of "Dharam Kanta" in 1982. Her profile was further enhanced with an extraordinary double role in the Muslim social, Ladies Tailor (1981), opposite Sanjeev Kumar.


title: Reena Roy

text: At the pinnacle of her popularity, Reena's dormant desire to prove herself found expression in a number of female-oriented films. Enacting the role of a tormented 'bahu' in Sau Din Saas Ke (1980), she defies conventions to oppose her tyrant mother-in-law. With an author-backed role in Bezubaan (1982), she gives a realistic portrayal of a woman whose past returns to threaten her present married life. But it was Roy's presentation, Lakshmi (1982) that glorified the presence of Reena Roy in Bollywood cinema. Playing the role of a misfortune 'tawaif', she dances to her never-ending tragedies. Reena, anguished by the commercial failure of Lakshmi, found solace in the sensational success of her other home production - the musical comedy, Sanam Teri Kasam (1982), opposite upcoming Kamal Hasan and produced by her sister Barkha Roy.


title: Reena Roy

text: This series of successful films continued in 1983 with Prakash's drama "Arpan", also starring Jeetendra and Parveen Babi. Roy also appeared in T. Rama Rao's action film "Andha Kanoon" (1983) and the comedy "Naukar Biwi Ka" (1983) before announcing a sabbatical after marrying Mohsin Khan in the same year. In the following years, she continued to deliver hits and a number of Roy's previously completed films were released and successful at the box office, notable ones being Kohli's epic "Raaj Tilak" (1984), Dasari Narayana Rao's melodrama "Asha Jyoti" (1984), J. P. Dutta's action-drama "Ghulami" (1985) and Satpal's drama "Do Waqt Ki Roti" (1988).


title: Reena Roy

text: Roy returned to Bollywood in 1992, in a mature supporting role as a sister-in-law ('bhabhi') in "Aadmi Khilona Hai" (1993) but could not repeat her success of the early days of her career. Her last film appearance was in J. P. Dutta's "Refugee" (2000). She has since turned to acting in television serials, such as "Eena Meena Deeka," produced by her sister Barkha. After the serial ended, the sisters opened an acting school in 2004. Roy has also campaigned for the Indian National Congress.


title: Carlos Gracie

text: Carlos Gracie (September 14, 1902October 7, 1994) was a Brazilian martial artist who is credited with being one of the primary developers of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Along with his younger brother Hélio Gracie and fellow students Luis França and Oswaldo Fadda, he helped develop Brazilian jiu-jitsu based on the teachings of famed Japanese "judōka," Mitsuyo Maeda in Kano Jujitsu (Judo) and is widely considered to be the martial-arts patriarch of the Gracie family. He purportedly acquired his initial knowledge of Jujitsu by studying in Belem under Maeda and his students. As he taught the techniques to his brothers, he created a martial arts family with Hélio and with other members of the Gracie family who provided key contributions to the style and development, eventually creating their own self defence system named Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is distinct from its indirect predescessor jujutsu, focusing primarily on the grappling techniques while downplaying the striking elements common among older schools of Japanese jujitsu.


title: Carlos Gracie

text: Carlos was born in Belém in 1902, the first of eight children. He was a mischievous, aggressive child, prone to getting involved in brawls and getting expelled from schools. When Carlos was 15 years old, hoping to find a way for him to vent his aggression, his father Gastão took him to a professional wrestling challenge hosted in the circus he owned, where Carlos witnessed how the judoka Mitsuyo Maeda defeated a much bigger man. Impressed by the feat, he allegedly started taking classes under Maeda and his assistant Jacyntho Ferro, albeit for a short time, as his family moved to Rio de Janeiro for economic reasons.


title: Carlos Gracie

text: There, Gracie started working as a bouncer in his father's casino until a falling out between them, and after some other jobs he became a pupil of Donato Pires dos Reis, a police hand-to-hand instructor and apprentice to Maeda. Under him, Carlos had his first formal training, learning especially self-defense-oriented techniques.


title: Carlos Gracie

text: He started his career on the rings by challenging judoka Geo Omori in São Paulo in 1929, although he was initially rejected due to Carlos's lack of training and experience. They eventually faced off in two exhibitions (non-competitive matches) of "jiu-jitsu" (judo and jiu-jitsu were terms used interchangeably at the time in Brazil) staged as a favor to Carlos's father for the Municipal Guard in January 1930.


title: Carlos Gracie

text: Afterwards, Carlos and his brother George founded a small school in the city's Perdizes neighborhood, where they brought in Omori to teach them further jiu-jitsu. Gracie claimed to have faced several "no holds barred" challenges in his school by this time. However, after Carlos was arrested and jailed for assault on three men who had supposedly insulted his girlfriend, the two brothers had to move back to Rio de Janeiro. There they joined Donato Pires's school, opened in Marquez de Abrantes in September 1930. The date of their return to Rio is both popularly and officially given as 1925, but sources of the time place it in the mentioned year.