text: In March, Linda Bilmes of the Harvard Kennedy School noted that "local hotels, restaurants, cafes, shops, car rental agencies and other local businesses obtain a significant share of annual revenue from graduation week and college reunions... these communities will suffer a lot of economic damage if the colleges remain closed at that time."


title: Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education

text: Small towns which rely on college students to support the local economy and provide labour to local businesses are especially impacted by school closures and the exodus of students from campus. In Ithaca, New York, Cornell University students spent at least $4 million a week in Tompkins County. In the wake of Cornell's decision to keep students home following spring break and transition to virtual instruction, the Mayor of Ithaca called for "immediate and forceful federal action — we will see a horrific economic impact as a result of Cornell University closing."


text: International students have contributed to various aspects of education such as diversity, research, cultural enrichment, and economics. They often pay a higher price for education and face higher risks without governmental and administrative protection in times of crisis. COVID-19 is such a time.


text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, international students face disadvantages compared to nationals. This was mainly due to immigration-related governmental decisions of "border-closings, drastic visa, and immigration policy changes" (Mbous et al., 2022). International students had a higher rate of mental and depressive disorders compared to local students.


text: The pandemic forced changes in lifestyle. The most important change is the use of technology,with an increase in computer screen time. Consequently, it leads to an increase in utility consumption. However, international students were not eligible for government's financial support. In addition, the health care cost for international students in the U.S. was significantly higher than American citizens and residents. This healthcare-related financial burden became more significant during a health emergency such as COVID-19, causing international students extra financial stress and concerns.


text: Changes in academic style were the opposite of what international students expect from an American education. The lack of in-person peer interaction and social and professional networks, and limited access to in-school resources and amenities all diminished the quality of istudents' lives and work. International students had to adapt to these academic obstacles on top of the usual challenges during normal times.


text: The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reports data that shows significant decreased in the population of international students in the United States across different categories in 2020 compared to 2019. The most notable decrease in international students population in 2020 in the U.S. comes from the reduction in number of new enrolled students as a result from border closing, international flight cancellations, and changes in immigration policies.


text: Many immigration policies were introduced to either force international students who are taking online courses out of the United States, or prevent them from reentering. International students in institutions that switched to fully remote operation were legally required to leave the U.S. quickly and were not assisted in getting means of transportation. Students with F-1 visa that attended institutions that have mixed remote and in-person operation, are restricted to only taking one course online and the remaining courses in-person. International students were also required to obtain a special certificate from their school to prove that their school program is not entirely online and that they are taking the appropriate number of online classes. No similar restricting policies was issued for American students.


text: Open Education community members have shared open educational resources (OER) in response to COVID-19, including:


text: With schools closed, demand for online education platforms has increased. Coursera, which can be taught online, also grew significantly during the pandemic.


text: The need for a platform for video conferences and facilitating online classrooms was created by the pandemic. Zoom had significantly grown from a lesser-known work software to one of the most popular video conferencing applications.


text: The closure of schools created a need for a virtual classroom portal, and Google Classroom served that purpose for many schools. It offered teachers features such as the integration of the Google Suite along with learning management tools for uploading and submitting assignments. Another factor that helped Google Classroom become a large option for schools is the integration with Chromebooks that many schools had already utilized before the pandemic.


text: Over 1000 colleges in the United States required on-campus students to be fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 for the 2021–2022 academic year. Of those 1000 schools, over 300 also require that students receive a booster shot. These mandates came after over 700,000 COVID cases were linked to U.S. colleges from the start of the pandemic to the end of May 2021. Many of these colleges also required staff and faculty to be fully vaccinated as well, especially after federal vaccine mandates were announced in November 2021.


text: All states have laws that require that universities offer medical exemptions to the vaccine mandate and most also require that Universities offer religious exemptions to the mandate. Universities took varied approaches to disciplining students who did provide proof of vaccination or have an approved medical or religious exemption. The University of Virginia disenrolled students who did not follow the mandate including 49 students who had already been enrolled in classes for the Fall 2021 semester.


title: Weezer discography

text: The discography of Weezer, an American rock band, consists of 15 studio albums, two compilation albums, one video album, nine extended plays, 37 singles and 40 music videos. Weezer's self-titled debut studio album, often referred to as "The Blue Album", was released in May 1994 through DGC Records. The album was a commercial success, peaking at number 16 on the US "Billboard" 200 and spawning the singles "Undone – The Sweater Song" and "Buddy Holly", both of which were responsible for launching Weezer into mainstream success with the aid of music videos directed by Spike Jonze. It has sold 3.3 million copies in the United States and has been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), becoming the band's best selling album to date. Following the success of their debut album, Weezer took a break from touring for the Christmas holidays. Lead singer Rivers Cuomo began piecing together demo material for Weezer's second studio album. Cuomo's original concept for the album was a space-themed rock opera, "Songs from the Black Hole". Ultimately, the "Songs from the Black Hole" album concept was dropped; the band, however, continued to utilize songs from these sessions into work for their second studio album. "Pinkerton" was released as the band's second studio album in September 1996. Peaking at number 19 on the "Billboard" 200, it was considered a critical and commercial failure at the time of its release, selling far less than its triple platinum predecessor. However, in the years following its release, it has seen much critical and commercial championing.


title: Weezer discography

text: Following a hiatus after the release of "Pinkerton", Weezer returned to critical and commercial prominence in May 2001 with the release of their third studio album, a second self-titled album, commonly referred to as "The Green Album". Peaking at number four on the "Billboard" 200, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA. Three singles were released from the album: "Hash Pipe", "Island in the Sun" and "Photograph", all of which reached the top 25 on the US "Billboard" Alternative Songs chart. A year later, the band released their fourth studio album "Maladroit" to positive reviews. The album peaked at number three on the "Billboard" 200 and was certified gold by the RIAA. "Dope Nose" and "Keep Fishin'", the album's two singles, both reached the top 15 on the Alternative Songs chart. In May 2005, the band released their fifth studio album, "Make Believe". Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the album was a commercial success, peaking at number two on the "Billboard" 200 and being certified platinum by the RIAA. It spawned four singles, including the international hit "Beverly Hills", which became the band's first top ten hit on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and the top-selling download of 2005.


title: Weezer discography

text: The band's third self-titled studio album – commonly referred to as "The Red Album" – was released in June 2008 as their sixth studio album. The album peaked at number four on the "Billboard" 200. The first single from the album, "Pork and Beans", spent 11 weeks at the top of the Alternative Songs chart. Two of the three succeeding singles from the album, "Troublemaker" and "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)", peaked at numbers two and 35 on the chart respectively. "Raditude", the band's seventh studio album, was released in November 2009 and peaked at number 7 on the "Billboard" 200. It was preceded by the release of its lead single, "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To", which peaked at number two on the Alternative Songs chart. Weezer released "Hurley", their eighth studio album, in September 2010. The album, their first to be released through Epitaph Records, peaked at number six on the "Billboard" 200 and spawned two singles, "Memories" and "Hang On". Shortly after releasing "Hurley", the band released a compilation album titled "Death to False Metal" in November 2010. An album consisting of previously unreleased tracks recorded at several points throughout Weezer's career, "Death to False Metal" peaked at number 48 on the "Billboard" 200. Worldwide album sales have been verified through RIAA and Geffen Records.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Kota (), previously known as "Kotah", is a city located in the southeast of northern Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located about south of the state capital, Jaipur, situated on the banks of Chambal River. With a population of over 1.2 million, it is the third most populous city of Rajasthan after Jaipur and Jodhpur, 46th most populous city of India and 53rd most populous urban agglomeration of India. It serves as the administrative headquarters for Kota district and Kota division. Kota is a major coaching hub of the country for competitive examination preparations and has a number of engineering and medical coaching institutes.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: The city of Kota was once the part of the erstwhile Rajput kingdom of Bundi. It became a separate princely state in the 16th century. Apart from the several monuments that reflect the glory of the town, Kota is also known for its palaces and gardens.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Mahesh Vijay of Bhartiya Janta Party was the last mayor of Kota. As of now, the city is being divided into two different legislative bodies known as Kota North and Kota South. The current mayor of Kota North is Manju Mehra from Indian National Congress and current mayor of Kota South is Rajeev Agarwal from Indian National Congress. The city was also included among 98 Indian cities for Smart Cities Mission initiated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015 and was listed at 67th place after results of first round were released following which top 20 cities were further selected for funding in the immediate financial year. It is popular among the youth of India for its coaching institutes for engineering and medical entrance examinations. Many students come to Kota to prepare for the JEE, NEET and many other competitive exams.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: The history of the city dates back to the 12th century CE when Rao Deva, a Chauhan Rajput chieftain belonging to the Hada clan conquered the territory and founded Bundi and Hadoti. Later, in the early 17th century, during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, the ruler of Bundi – Rao Ratan Singh, gave the smaller principality of Kota to his son, Madho Singh. Since then Kota became a hallmark of the Rajput gallantry and culture.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Kota became an independent state in 1631 when Rao Madho Singh, the second son of Rao Ratan of [Bundi] was made the ruler, by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. Soon Kota outgrew its parent state to become bigger in area, richer in revenue and more powerful. Maharao Bhim Singh played a pivotal role in Kota's history, having held a 'Mansab' of five thousand and being the first in his dynasty to have the title of Maharao. Zalim Singh, a diplomat, and statesman, emerged as another prominent figure of the state in the 18th century. Although initially being a general of Kota's army, he rose to the regent of the kingdom after the king died leaving a minor on the throne. He remained a direct administrator of the state. In 1817, a treaty of friendship was signed between him and the British on his condition of carving out part from the existing state for his descendants resulting in Jhalawar coming into existence in 1838. Kota was not involved in the earlier events of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. However, when in October 1857 rebels murdered the local British resident and his two sons, British forces responded by storming the city and, after some resistance, capturing it in March 1858.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: In the 1940s, social activist Guru Radha Kishan organised trade union activities and campaigned against the colonial government. He left Kota after the local administration learned of the arrest warrant issued against him for his participation in Indian Independence activities.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Kota became independent in 1579, after Bundi state in Hadoti region had become weak. Then, Kota ruled the territory which now is Kota district and Baran district.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Kota is located along the banks of the Chambal River in the southern part of Rajasthan. It is the 3rd largest city of Rajasthan after Jaipur and Jodhpur. The cartographic coordinates are . It covers an area of . It has an average elevation of 271 metres (889 ft). The district is bound on the north and north west by Sawai Madhopur, Tonk and Bundi districts. The Chambal River separates these districts from Kota district, forming the natural boundary.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: The city of Kota is situated at the centre of the southeastern region of Rajasthan a region very widely known as Hadoti, the land of the Hadas. Kota lies along the banks of the Chambal river on a high sloping tableland forming a part of the Malwa Plateau. The general slope of the city is towards the north. The comparatively rocky, barren, and elevated land in the southern part of the city descends towards a plain agricultural land in the north. The Mukundara hills run from southeast to northwest axis of the town.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Kota has fertile land and greenery with irrigation facilities through canals. The two main canals; called as left main canal (towards Bundi) and right main canal (towards Baran) originate from the reservoir created by Kota Barrage. The tributaries of these canals make up a network in the city and surrounding areas of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and supplements the irrigation of these areas.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Kota has a semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification "BSh") with high temperatures throughout the year. Summers are long, hot, and dry, starting in late March and lasting till the end of June. The temperatures average above 40 °C in May and June, frequently exceed 45 °C with temperatures as high as 48.5 °C also been recorded. The monsoon season follows with comparatively lower temperatures, but higher humidity and frequent, torrential downpours. The monsoons subside in October and temperatures rise again. The brief, mild winter starts in late November and lasts until the last week of February. Temperatures hover between 26.7 °C (max) to 12.0 °C (min). This can be considered the best time to visit Kota because of intense heat in the summer.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: The average annual rainfall in the Kota district is 660.6 mm. Most of the rainfall can be attributed to the southwest monsoon which has its beginning around the last week of June and may last till mid-September. Pre-monsoon showers begin towards the middle of June with post-monsoon rains occasionally occurring in October. The winter is largely dry, although some rainfall does occur as a result of the Western Disturbance passing over the region.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: According to 2011 Census of India, Kota City had a population of 1,001,694 of which male and female are 528,601 and 473,093 respectively. The provisional results of census 2011 reported city's population as 1,001,365. The urban agglomeration of Kota consists of city only. The sex ratio was 895 and 12.14% were under six years of age. The effective literacy rate was 82.80%, with male literacy at 89.49% and female literacy at 75.33%.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Harauti, a dialect of Rajasthani is widely spoken in Kota with Hindi, Marwari and English being the other languages spoken.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: According to 2011 census, Hinduism is the majority religion in the city practised by about 80.5% of the population. Muslims form large minorities (15.9%) followed by Jains (2.2%), Sikhs (0.9%) and Christians (0.4%).


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Instrumentation Ltd is a Public Sector company based in Kota. Its clientele includes public sector entities such as the Indian Railways, BSNL and VSNL. Presently, it has been shut down.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: The city is the trade centre for an area in which cotton, millet, wheat, coriander and oilseeds are grown; industries include cotton and oilseed milling, textile weaving, distilling, dairying, and the manufacture of metal handcrafts. Kota also has an extensive industry of stone-polishing (tiles) of a stone called Kota Stone, used for the floor and walls of residential and business buildings. Since last 15 years Kota has emerged as an Education hub of the country as producing excellent results in IIT-JEE and medical entrance exams.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: A major part of Kota's economy depends on its student population. Every year more than 150,000 students visit and study in Kota to study and prepare for JEE and NEET.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: The entrance coaching industry in Kota generates business of about 40,000 million from them which further contributes towards the economy of the region. Over time, the economical growth and money generated through education in Kota seems to have overtaken other popular economical activities of the region by contributing more and more with time.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: The Kota saris like most traditional piece of work had started becoming lost before designer Vidhi Singhania moved to Kota and started working with the workers to revive its market. Many textile shops in the city sell different varieties of Kota doriya. These saris have become one of the trademarks of the city.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: The fine-grained variety of limestone quarried from Kota district is known as Kota stone, with rich greenish-blue and brown colours. Kota stone is tough, non-water-absorbent, non-slip, and non-porous. The varieties include Kota Blue Natural, Kota Blue Honed, Kota Blue Polished, Kota Blue Cobbles, Kota Brown Natural and Kota Brown Polished.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Kota is one of the industrial hubs in northern India, with chemical, cement, engineering and power plants based there. The total number of industrial units in the district in 2010–11 stood at 12908 with 705 registered units. The district power plants show annual growth of 15–20% due to their strategic locations.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: The city is especially known in India as a center for the preparation of various national level competitive examinations through which the students seek admissions in various engineering and medical colleges of the country. Often termed as the "Kota Factory", the town contains more than 40 large coaching institutes for aspiring students trying to pass entrance exams for Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), through the IIT JEE, other engineering colleges and prominent medical colleges of India.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Since 2000, the city has emerged as a popular coaching destination for competitive exams preparation and for profit educational services. The education sector of Kota has become one of the major contributors to the city's economy. Kota is popularly referred to as "the coaching capital of India". Over 150,000 students from all over the country flock every year towards the city for preparation of various exams such as IIT-JEE and NEET-UG etc. Many hostels and PGs are located in Kota near the vicinity of coaching centres for students. Students live here for 2–3 years and prepare for the exams. The annual turnover of the Kota coaching industry is about ₹1500 crore. The majority of the students here are enrolled in schools, providing the facility of "dummy schooling", which gives students admissions without the need to attend it regularly. However, it is an illegal practice. In 2019, The Viral Fever launched a Web Series called Kota Factory to shed light on the life of students who study at Kota.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Kota's emergence as a coaching hub began in 1985 when Vinod Kumar Bansal, an engineer set up Bansal Classes that eventually became Bansal Classes Private Limited.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: In the past few years, reports of students dying by suicide in the city have increased. As per reports, students feel stressed and get pressurized in order to crack their target competitive exam. As per National Crime Records Bureau report of 2014, 45 suicide cases of students were reported in the city. In year 2015, 17 such cases were found. For the same cause, many coaching centers have also appointed counsellors and are organising recreational activities to help students.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Some of the popular visitor attractions in and nearby the city include Chambal Garden, Chambal River Front, Seven Wonders Park, Kishore Sagar Lake, Jag Mandir, Kota Garh Palace, Chatra Vilas Garden, Ganesh Udyan, Traffic Garden, Godavari Dham Temple, Geparnath Temple, Garadia Mahadev Temple, Chattaneshwar Mandir, Kota Zoological Park, Abheda Biological Park, City Park(IL Oxizone), Chatrapati Shivaji Park, Maharao Madho Singh Museum, Kota Government Museum, Brijraj Bhawan Palace, Abheda Mahal, Royal Cenotaphs at Kshar Bagh, Kota Barrage, Khade Ganesh Ji Mandir, Shiv Puri Dham, Maa Trikuta Mandir, Kansua Shiv Mandir, Darrah National Park and Jawahar Sagar Dam.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Kota is well connected with road and rail to all major cities within Rajasthan as well as those located outside the state.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Kota have two major interstate bus terminals, namely, Nayapura Bus Stand at Nayapura and Roadways New Bus Stand at Ramchandrapura.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: National Highway No.27 (via Udaipur, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Guwahati) and National highway No.52 (via Hisar, Churu, Sikar, Jaipur, Indore, Aurangabad, Solapur and Hubli) pass through the Kota City. National Highway No.27 is a part of East-West Corridor(Porbandar - Silchar) and National Highway No.52 connects Punjab to Karnataka (Sangrur, Punjab—Ankola, Karnataka). The total road length in Kota district is 2,052 km as of March 2011. There are also three upcoming expressway projects in the form of Delhi–Mumbai Expressway (Via Kota, Rajasthan and Vadodara), Kota–Hyderabad Expressway (Via Indore) and Chambal Expressway.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Kota Junction is one of the divisions in West Central Railway. It is a station on the New Delhi–Mumbai main line. There are four railway stations within Kota and in its vicinity. One Substation of East Kota City is Sogariya(Kota Bypass) Railway Station and Another suburban station of South Kota city is Dakaniya Talav railway station which has a stoppage of Avadh Express, Dehradun Express and Ranthambore Express.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: The city is a halt for over 182 trains, including Mumbai Rajdhani Express, August Kranti Rajdhani Express, Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani Express, Madgaon Rajdhani Express, Mumbai New Delhi Duronto Express, Golden Temple Mail, Paschim Express, Bandra Terminus-Hazrat Nizamuddin Garib Rath Express, Kevadiya–Hazrat Nizamuddin Gujarat Sampark Kranti Express, Gujarat Sampark Kranti Express, Maharashtra Sampark Kranti Express, Goa Sampark Kranti Express, Kerala Sampark Kranti Express, Indore–Jaipur Express, Gangaur SuperFast Express, Mewar Express, Dayodaya Express, Jodhpur – Indore Intercity, Hazrat Nizamuddin - Indore Express, Garbha Express, Marusagar Express (Ajmer – Ernakulam Express / Ernakulam Express), Jaipur–Mysore Superfast Express, Swaraj Express, Chennai Central–Jaipur Superfast Express, Coimbatore–Jaipur Superfast Express, Jodhpur – Puri Express, Bandra Terminus–Gorakhpur Avadh Express, Bandra Terminus–Muzaffarpur Avadh Express, Jodhpur – Bhopal Express.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: The district has 148.83 km of railway line in the Kota – Ruthia section, 98.72 km on Nagda—Mathura (Mumbai-Delhi) section and 24.26 km on Kota —Chittorgarh section.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Kota Airport, (IATA: KTU, ICAO: VIKO) is a civil airport serving Kota, Rajasthan, India. Spread over 447 acres, Kota Airport was originally built by the Royal family of the princely state of Kota and was taken over by the government in 1951. This Airport Also Known As Rajputana Airport. Originally serviced by Indian Airlines Dakota aircraft and later by Vayudoot and Jagson Airlines, shutdown of major industries and Kota becoming a major railway junction effected decreased demand for air transport and the withdrawal of the airlines.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Kota Airport has had no scheduled services operating since 1999. The nearest international airport is Jaipur International Airport situated around 240 km away from Kota.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: Development of Greenfield airport at Kota: The representative of Rajasthan Government intimated that runway length of Existing Kota Airport is only 4000 ft., which restricts flight operations under RCS. A new Greenfield Airport is to be constructed in Kota. State Government has earmarked required land for this purpose. State Government has provided Meteorological Information of past 10 years and AAI has carried out pre- feasibility survey & provided its report to the State Government. Further, AAI has been requested twice to carry out Site and OLS Survey and to provide further course of action to be taken by the State Government, which is approved. Directions need to be issued to AAI for early completion of the same. For development of Greenfield airport at Kota, 1250 Acres of land acquired by the State Government and handed over to AAI for development of New Greenfield Airport.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: The city is home to Jay Kaylon Cricket Stadium located in Nayapura area. Among several matches, six Ranji Trophy matches have been played in the stadium. The stadium also hosted RCL T20 2016, an inter state cricket league with six participating teams.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: A wide range of other Hindi, English, and other language channels are accessible via cable subscription and direct-broadcast satellite services. Dish TV, Tata Sky, Radiant Digitek, Airtel digital TV are entertainment services in Kota.


title: Kota, Rajasthan

text: There are five radio stations in Kota, with four broadcasting on the FM band, and one All India Radio station broadcasting on the AM band.


title: Time in Russia

text: There are eleven time zones in Russia (within its internationally recognized borders), which currently observe times ranging from UTC+02:00 to UTC+12:00. Daylight saving time (DST) has not been used in Russia since 26 October 2014. From 27 March 2011 to 26 October 2014, permanent DST was used.


title: Time in Russia

text: Daylight saving time in Russia was originally introduced on 1 July [14 July, ] 1917 by a decree of the Russian Provisional Government. However, it was abandoned by a decree of the Soviet government six months later.


title: Time in Russia

text: Daylight saving time was re-introduced in the USSR in 1981, beginning on 1 April and ending on 1 October each year, until mid-1984, when the USSR began following European daylight saving time rules, moving clocks forward one hour at 02:00 local standard time on the last Sunday in March, and back one hour at 03:00 local daylight time on the last Sunday in September until 1995, after which the change back occurred on the last Sunday in October.


title: Time in Russia

text: On 27 March 2011, clocks were advanced as usual, but they did not go back on 30 October 2011, effectively making Moscow Time UTC+04:00 permanently. On 26 October 2014, following another change in the law, the clocks in most of the country were moved back one hour, but summer Daylight Time was not reintroduced; Moscow Time returned to UTC+03:00 permanently.


title: Time in Russia

text: In the Russian Empire, most of the nation observed solar time. From 1740s to 1867, Alaska belonged to Russia (Russian America) which used the Julian calendar which was 11 or 12 days behind the Gregorian calendar as the rest of Russia and had local times up to GMT+15:10. The westernmost area of Russia was Congress Poland, with local times down to GMT+01:10.


title: Time in Russia

text: During the late 19th century, Moscow Mean Time was introduced on 1 January [13 January, N.S.] 1880, originally at . 2:30:17 corresponds to 37.6166667°, the longitude of Moscow. Other parts of Russia kept solar time for several years.


title: Time in Russia

text: Russia adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1918, when Wednesday 31 January (O.S.) was followed by Thursday 14 February (N.S.), which dropped 13 days from the calendar.


title: Time in Russia

text: After the Soviet Union was created, Moscow Time became UTC+02:00 and the various other time zones (up to UTC+12:00) were introduced throughout Russia and the rest of the Soviet Union, for example Irkutsk Time UTC+07:00 (Irkutsk has since this always been MSK+5). Between 1917 and 1922 the time was less ordered, with daylight saving time some of those years, some with two hours addition, and some of those years with one or two hours extra winter time.


title: Time in Russia

text: On 21 June 1930, the Soviet Union advanced all clocks by one hour, effectively making the nation run on daylight saving time all year (the so-called decree time).


title: Time in Russia

text: On 1 April 1981, 00:00:00, Oymyakonsky District changed its time zone from MSK+6 to MSK+8. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+09:00 to UTC+12:00, the offset without DST was therefore changed from UTC+09:00 to UTC+11:00.


title: Time in Russia

text: On 1 April 1982, 00:00:00, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug changed its time zone from MSK+10 to MSK+9, thus eliminating Anadyr Time (MSK+10 or without DST). The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+14:00 to UTC+13:00, the offset without DST was therefore changed from UTC+13:00 to UTC+12:00.


title: Time in Russia

text: On 27 March 1988, 02:00:00, Saratov and Volgograd oblasts changed its time zone from MSK+1 to MSK. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+05:00 to UTC+04:00, the offset without DST was therefore changed from UTC+04:00 to UTC+03:00.


title: Time in Russia

text: On 26 March 1989, Kaliningrad Oblast switched from Moscow Time to Eastern European Time, and the following areas switched to Moscow Time (thus eliminating Samara Time; MSK+1 or UTC+04:00 without DST):


title: Time in Russia

text: Russia and most republics in the Soviet Union abolished the decree time (not moving the clocks) on 31 March 1991, but Russia reversed this the following year (except Samara Oblast which was already in UTC+04:00).


title: Time in Russia

text: On 20 October 1991, Samara Oblast changed its time zone from MSK to MSK+1 (thus reinstating Samara Time; MSK+1), so from UTC+03:00 to UTC+04:00.


title: Time in Russia

text: On 23 May 1993, Novosibirsk Oblast changed its time zone from MSK+4 to MSK+3. The change occurred during DST effectively changing the offset from UTC+08:00 to UTC+07:00, the offset without DST was therefore changed from UTC+07:00 to UTC+06:00.


title: Time in Russia

text: The following time zone changes occurred on 28 March 2010, which, in particular, led to abolition of two of the eleven time zones.


title: Time in Russia

text: Although the Russian government wanted to reduce the number of time zones even further, there were protests in far-eastern Russia on the changes, including a 20,000-strong petition in support of Kamchatka returning to UTC+12:00.


title: Time in Russia

text: Decree No. 725 of 31 August 2011 changed the UTC offset for Moscow Time and the other time zones. Moscow Time Zone began using UTC+04:00 all year around. The notions of decree time and daylight saving time were abolished, but in fact, this decree mandated permanent daylight saving time (or even double daylight saving time in regions that had not abolished the decree time).


title: Time in Russia

text: The decree also changed the offset of some parts of the Sakha Republic from Moscow. Oymyakonsky District switched from Magadan Time (MSK+8) to Vladivostok Time (MSK+7), and the following areas switched from Vladivostok Time (MSK+7) to Yakutsk Time (MSK+6):


title: Time in Russia

text: As a result of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, local authorities in the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol decreed that clocks in the newly proclaimed Russian federal subjects should jump ahead two hours at 10 p.m. on 29 March 2014 to switch from Eastern European Time (UTC+02:00) to Moscow Time (UTC+04:00).


title: Time in Russia

text: In July 2014, further changes were passed, which took effect on 26 October 2014. Almost all of Russia moved back one hour, so Moscow Time became UTC+03:00 again. Some areas changed offset from Moscow:


title: Time in Russia

text: The parts of the Magadan Time zone that remained on MSK+8 were given a new time zone name, Srednekolymsk Time, UTC+11:00. Annual DST changes were not observed.


title: Time in Russia

text: On 24 April 2016, Magadan Oblast moved forward one hour from UTC+10:00 to UTC+11:00 (from Vladivostok to Srednekolymsk time). After this change, the UTC+11:00 time zone was again called Magadan Time.


title: Time in Russia

text: On 29 May 2016, Tomsk Oblast moved forward one hour from UTC+06:00 to UTC+07:00 (from Omsk to Krasnoyarsk time).


title: Time in Russia

text: On 24 July 2016, Novosibirsk Oblast moved forward one hour from UTC+06:00 to UTC+07:00 (from Omsk to Krasnoyarsk time).


title: Time in Russia

text: On 4 December 2016, Saratov Oblast moved forward one hour from UTC+03:00 to UTC+04:00 (from Moscow to Samara time).


title: Time in Russia

text: On 28 October 2018, Volgograd Oblast moved forward one hour from UTC+03:00 to UTC+04:00 (from Moscow to Samara time), but this change was reverted on 27 December 2020.


title: Time in Russia

text: Until 2018, all timetables on Russian Railways (except Sakhalin railways) followed Moscow Time. From 2018 time tables follow local time.


title: Time in Russia

text: The list below shows the 16 zones for Russia as defined in the file zone.tab of the database. The database aims to identify regions that had the same time offset rules since 1970.


title: Time in Russia

text: Two federal subjects are contained in more than one tz zone. The Sakha Republic is divided into three: west, central, east. Sakhalin Oblast is divided into two: Sakhalin Island with Kurilsky and Yuzhno-Kurilsky districts in the Kuril Islands, and Severo-Kurilsky District in the Kuril Islands.


title: Time in Russia

text: On the last Sunday in October 2011, daylight-saving time ended in tzdata, but all zones moved forward one hour. In other words, the clocks did not change, but the names of the time zones reverted permanently to their standard time variants and there will be no more daylight-saving time.


title: Time in Russia

text: If available, the change column lists the offset changes that caused a creation of a new zone in the tz database.


title: Time in Russia

text: "Initial zone" means that in 1970 there was already a difference in time offset from the offsets in any other zone.


title: Time in Russia

text: Asia/Ulan Ude was a time zone identifier from the zone file of the tz database. The reference point was Ulan-Ude. It was added in tz version 2011e. Edition 2011i did not contain it anymore. The area remained at Asia/Irkutsk.


title: Eric Roberts filmography

text: Eric Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with "King of the Gypsies" (1978), earning a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor Debut. He earned both a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination for his supporting role in "Runaway Train" (1985).


title: Eric Roberts filmography

text: Through the 1990s and 2000s, he maintained dramatic film and TV film roles while appearing in TV series. His TV work includes playing the Master in the 1996 Doctor Who TV Movie,


title: Eric Roberts filmography

text: His sisters Julia Roberts and Lisa Roberts Gillan, and daughter Emma Roberts, also have acting careers.


title: Eric Roberts filmography

text: To date, Roberts has made appearances in over 700 different productions, making him the third-most prolific screen actor of all time.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: Carlos Austin Boozer Jr. (born November 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. The two-time NBA All-Star played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers, and then spent his last season playing overseas with the Guangdong Southern Tigers. As a member of Team USA, Boozer won an Olympic bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and an Olympic gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: Although born at a military base in Aschaffenburg, West Germany, Boozer grew up in Juneau, Alaska. He was one of five children of Carlos and Renee, both of whom worked two jobs as he grew up.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: Boozer was a two-time member of the "PARADE" All-American high school basketball team, leading the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears to back-to-back state titles. He was recruited by many top-tier collegiate basketball programs, including St. John's and UCLA, but Boozer elected to play for coach Mike Krzyzewski at Duke University, helping the team win the 2001 NCAA championship.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: In 2001–02, Boozer, Jason Williams, and Mike Dunleavy, Jr. each scored at least 600 points for the season, a feat only matched at Duke by Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith in the 2009–10 season.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: Boozer was selected with the 35th overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Boozer averaged 10.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in his rookie campaign, and followed it up with 15.5 points and 11.4 rebounds per game his second year.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: After the 2003–04 season, the Cavaliers had the option of allowing him to become a restricted free agent, or keeping him under contract for one more year at a $695,000 salary. The Cavaliers claimed to have reached an understanding with Boozer and his agent on a deal for approximately $39 million over six years, which he would have signed if they let him out of his current deal.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: Cleveland then proceeded to release him from his contract making him a restricted free agent. During this period, the Utah Jazz offered Boozer a six-year, $70 million contract that Cleveland chose not to match due to salary cap considerations. On July 30, 2004, Boozer officially signed with the Jazz.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: Then Cavaliers owner Gordon Gund said, "In the final analysis, I decided to trust Carlos and show him the respect he asked for. He did not show that trust and respect in return." However, Boozer denied that he made any commitment to the Cavaliers: "There was no commitment. It's unfortunate how the turn of events went through the media", Boozer said shortly after signing the deal with Utah. "I'm not a guy that gives my word and takes it away. I think I've made that clear."


title: Carlos Boozer

text: In his first season with the Jazz in 2004–05, Boozer averaged 17 points and 9 rebounds per game. However, he suffered an injury, missing the later part of the season, which contributed to the Jazz missing the playoffs for only the second time in 22 years, and he was publicly criticized for a lack of effort by team owner Larry Miller.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: As the 2005–06 season began, Boozer was still recovering from injury, and then aggravated a hamstring, causing him to miss the first half of that season as well. He returned to action in late February, easing into action by coming off the bench for the Jazz. In the middle of March, he was placed back into the starting lineup. From that point, he finished the season in impressive fashion, averaging over 20 points and almost 10 rebounds per game and firmly establishing himself as the Jazz's starting power forward once again.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: Boozer got off to a strong start in the 2006–07 season, winning the Western Conference Player of the Week Award and helping the Jazz to win eleven of their first twelve games. Boozer was named part of the NBA All-Star roster as a reserve, but could not participate because of a hairline fracture in his left fibula.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: In an April 23, 2007 game against the Houston Rockets (game two of the first round of the 2007 playoffs), Boozer scored 41 points, tying the career high he had set a month earlier on March 26 (vs. the Washington Wizards). He also led the Jazz past the Rockets in game 7 of the first round in the NBA Playoffs, scoring 35 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and two clutch free throws to secure the victory in Boozer's first playoff series.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: The Jazz would go on to win their second round series against the upstart Golden State Warriors, 4 games to 1, and advance to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 1998. Even though they lost 4 games to 1 to the more experienced San Antonio Spurs, Boozer proved valuable and durable. He ended the season averaging 20.9 points and 11.7 rebounds per game, and playing in 74 of 82 games. He was even better in the playoffs, increasing his output to 23.5 points and 12.2 rebounds per game, and appearing in all 17 Jazz playoff games.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: In November 2007, Boozer was named Western Conference Player of the Month. By mid-December, he was among the league's top five performers in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage. Although he later slipped in all of these categories, he continued to produce solid numbers. Boozer was again chosen as a backup in the All-Star Game, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds in just 19 minutes of play. He registered his first career triple-double against the Seattle SuperSonics on February 13, 2008, with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: In the 2008 playoffs, the Jazz faced the Houston Rockets in the first round for the second year in a row. Determined to not allow him to beat them, the Rockets geared their defense more to stopping Boozer and his production was somewhat limited (16.0 points and 11.7 rebounds per game), but the Jazz defeated the Rockets, 4–2. In the second round of the 2008 playoffs, the Jazz lost to the top seeded Los Angeles Lakers in six games.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: During the 2008–09 season, Boozer's ability to stay healthy was questioned by fans and media alike, as he missed 44 games following arthroscopic left knee surgery. He missed time from late November 2008 to late February 2009. When he played, his numbers were 16.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, in 37 games (all starts). With his possible pending free agency at the end of the season looming, it seemed likely Boozer would leave. However, when the deadline for choosing free agency or opting into the remaining year came, he surprised many by opting in for the 2009–10 season with the Jazz. The Jazz management stated publicly they were happy to have him return and play for them, and Boozer did the same.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: In 2009–10, Boozer played well, averaging 19.5 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, and shot 56.2% from the field, a career high. He played in 78 of 82 games and avoided injury, which boded well heading into the 2010 summer.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: Despite missing 23 games due to injury in 2010–11, Boozer still managed to average 17.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game while also helping the Bulls get the first seed in the Eastern Conference. His production saw a decline the following year, as he averaged just 15 points and 8.5 rebounds per game (while playing in all 66 games). Boozer rebounded with a healthy, solid 2012–13 season, averaging 16.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game while playing in 79 games.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: On July 17, 2014, Boozer was claimed off amnesty waivers by the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers paid $3.25 million of his $16.8 million salary, while the Bulls paid the remaining $13.55 million. On February 4, 2015, he scored a season-high 28 points in a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: Boozer's final NBA game was on April 15, 2015 in a 99 - 122 loss to the Sacramento Kings where he recorded 10 points and 6 rebounds.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: On July 30, 2016, Boozer signed with the Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association. On December 18, 2017, Boozer announced his retirement.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: On January 25, 2018, Boozer signed with the BIG3 league as a co-captain of the Ghost Ballers. He later was waived and was later picked up by 2018 Big3 champions Power.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: Boozer was selected as a member of the U.S. Olympic basketball team, which won a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He was also part of the U.S. national team from 2006 to 2008, but did not compete in the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship due to his wife's pregnancy. Boozer participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics as the U.S. national team went unbeaten en route to the gold medal, defeating the 2006 World Champion Spain for their first gold medal since the 2000 Summer Olympics.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: Boozer is a Christian. Boozer has various tattoos about his faith including a Christian cross on his chest and the Bible verse Philippians 4:13 on his left forearm.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: Boozer was married to his wife CeCe for six years before he filed for divorce in March 2009, (it was finalized in 2015). Boozer and CeCe have three children together: Carmani (who had a bone marrow transplant in 2007 to treat sickle-cell disease), and twins, Cameron and Cayden.


title: Carlos Boozer

text: After leaving Duke his junior year to play in the NBA, Carlos Boozer was three classes shy of finishing his degree. In 2020, he officially graduated from


title: The Endless River

text: The Endless River is the fifteenth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released in November 2014 by Parlophone Records in Europe and Columbia Records in the rest of the world. It was the third Pink Floyd album recorded under the leadership of guitarist David Gilmour after the departure of bassist Roger Waters in 1985, and the first following the death of keyboardist Richard Wright in 2008, who appears posthumously. Gilmour has said it will be the final Pink Floyd album.


title: The Endless River

text: "The Endless River" is a double-album that comprises mainly instrumental and ambient music based on material recorded during sessions for the previous Pink Floyd album, "The Division Bell" (1994). Additional material was recorded in 2013 and 2014 on Gilmour's "Astoria" boat studio and in Medina Studios in Hove, England. It was produced by Gilmour, Youth, Andy Jackson and Phil Manzanera. Only one track, "Louder than Words", has lead vocals. After the death of longtime Pink Floyd artist Storm Thorgerson in 2013, the cover was created by artist Ahmed Emad Eldin, design company Stylorouge and Aubrey Powell, co-founder of Thorgerson's design company Hipgnosis.


title: The Endless River

text: "The Endless River" was promoted with the "Louder than Words" single and artwork installations in cities around the world. It became the most pre-ordered album of all time on Amazon UK and debuted at number one in several countries. The vinyl edition was the fastest-selling UK vinyl release since 1997. The album received mixed reviews: some critics praised the nostalgic mood, while others found it unambitious or meandering.


title: The Endless River

text: "The Endless River" is based on music recorded during the sessions for Pink Floyd's previous studio album, "The Division Bell" (1994). "The Division Bell" was recorded in 1993 and 1994 in Britannia Row Studios in London, and on the "Astoria" boat studio, belonging to guitarist David Gilmour. Pink Floyd recorded hours of music during the sessions; the engineer Andy Jackson edited it into an hour-long ambient composition tentatively titled "The Big Spliff", but the band did not release it.


title: The Endless River

text: Keyboardist Richard Wright died of cancer on 15 September 2008. In 2013, Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason decided to revisit the unused "Division Bell" recordings to make a new album, rerecording parts, adding new ones, and using modern studio technology. Gilmour said: "With Rick gone, and with him the chance of ever doing it again, it feels right that these revisited and reworked tracks should be made available as part of our repertoire." Only a small part of "The Big Spliff" was used.


title: The Endless River

text: Gilmour asked guitarist and producer Phil Manzanera, who co-produced his 2006 solo album "On an Island", to work on the material. Manzanera, Jackson and engineer Damon Iddins spent six weeks assembling four 14-minute pieces. Gilmour gave two pieces to producer Youth, who added guitar and bass parts. In November 2013, Gilmour led sessions with Manzanera, Youth and Jackson to record material with Mason, saxophonist Gilad Atzmon and bassist Guy Pratt. Vocalists including Durga McBroom recorded backing vocals, and Gilmour recorded lead vocals on "Louder than Words", with lyrics by his wife, author Polly Samson. Bassist and songwriter Roger Waters, who left Pink Floyd in 1985, was not involved.


title: The Endless River

text: "Autumn '68", named in reference to the 1970 Pink Floyd song "Summer '68", features a recording of Wright playing the Royal Albert Hall pipe organ during the rehearsal for Pink Floyd's show at Royal Albert Hall on 26 June 1969. "Talkin' Hawkin contains a sample of scientist Stephen Hawking's speech taken from a British Telecom commercial also sampled for "The Division Bell" on "Keep Talking". Mason received writing credits for "Sum", and "Skins", a two-and-a-half-minute drum solo. Gilmour said "The Endless River" would be Pink Floyd's last album, saying: "I think we have successfully commandeered the best of what there is ... It's a shame, but this is the end."


title: The Endless River

text: "The Endless River" comprises four pieces, which form a continuous flow of mostly ambient and instrumental music. Gilmour said: "Unapologetically, this is for the generation that wants to put its headphones on, lie in a beanbag, or whatever, and get off on a piece of music for an extended period of time. You could say it’s not for the iTunes, downloading-individual-tracks generation." Mason described the album as a tribute to Wright: "I think this record is a good way of recognising a lot of what he does and how his playing was at the heart of the Pink Floyd sound. Listening back to the sessions, it really brought home to me what a special player he was."


title: The Endless River

text: "Louder than Words" is the only track with a lead vocal. Samson wrote the lyrics after observing the band's interaction during the rehearsals for their 2005 Live 8 reunion, their first performance with Waters in over 24 years. She said: "What struck me was, they never spoke ... It’s not hostile, they just don’t speak. And then they step onto a stage and musically that communication is extraordinary." The album title is taken from a lyric on the last track of "The Division Bell", "High Hopes": "The water flowing / The endless river / For ever and ever." Gilmour said it suggested a continuum between the records.


title: The Endless River

text: "The Endless River "cover art depicts a young man punting a Thames skiff across a sea of clouds towards the sun"."" "After the death of longtime Pink Floyd artist Storm Thorgerson in 2013, Pink Floyd collaborated with Aubrey Powell, co-founder of Thorgerson's design company Hipgnosis. Powell discovered 18-year-old Egyptian artist Ahmed Emad Eldin and asked to use the concept from his piece "Beyond the Sky" for "The Endless River". Eldin was a Pink Floyd fan and accepted enthusiastically. Powell felt Ahmed's concept had "an instant Floydian resonance", and described it as "enigmatic and open to interpretation". The final cover is a recreation of Eldin's work by London design firm Stylorouge. Powell felt that the cover summed up the title and music, and was appropriate for the recording on the Thames.


title: The Endless River

text: "The Endless River "was also released in boxed DVD and Blu-ray "deluxe" editions, containing a 24-page hardback book, postcards, and a bonus disc of three additional tracks and six music videos. Two tracks, "TBS9" and "TBS14", are outtakes from "The" "Big Spliff". The DVD edition includes the album in Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround sound, plus a 48 kHz /24 bit stereo version. The Blu-ray has DTS Master Audio and PCM, 96/24 5.1 surround and a PCM stereo 96/24 version.


title: The Endless River

text: "The Endless River" is the second Pink Floyd album distributed by Parlophone, following the release of the 20th anniversary editions of "The Division Bell" in 2014. "The Division Bell", along with subsequent live and compilation albums, were previously published by EMI in Europe and Sony counterpart Columbia Records for the rest of the world.


title: The Endless River

text: Pink Floyd were affected by the sale of EMI to the Universal Music Group, which lasted from 2011 to 2013. The European Commission and the Federal Trade Commission approved the sale with conditions, including the sale of certain EMI assets. Pink Floyd, along with many other bands under the EMI roster, were transferred to different labels during the process. The Parlophone Label Group was formed under Parlophone as one of many assets to be sold off by Universal following the acquisition of EMI, with Pink Floyd transferred to the Parlophone Label Group during the sale. The Warner Music Group, in 2013, struck a deal with Universal to buy the Parlophone label Group from EMI, acquiring publishing rights to Pink Floyd's back catalog and future releases in the process.


title: The Endless River

text: In a tweet on 5 July 2014, Samson released the album title and a projected release window of October 2014 to pre-empt a tabloid newspaper report. The announcement was followed by backing vocalist Durga McBroom posting a photo of her alongside Gilmour in the recording studio. Details about "The Endless River" were announced on Pink Floyd's website on 7 July.


title: The Endless River

text: Pink Floyd and Parlophone unveiled "The Endless River" on 22 September 2014, including the release date, artwork and track listing, accompanied by a promotional website, a hyperstitial for the Pink Floyd website. The site featured an artist's statement, photographs from the "Division Bell" sessions, pre-order details and two teasers, one featuring a 30-second snippet of "It's What We Do", and a television advertisement, featuring the album's geometric-based artwork. Pre-orders on physical and digital formats started the same day. Prominent installations of the album's artwork were placed around the world, including a four-sided 8m tall billboard placed in South Bank, London, and large-scale poster advertisements in cities such as Berlin, Paris, Los Angeles, Milan, New York and Sydney. Also the album was promoted in the US with a Premiere radio show hosted by Redbeard of In the Studio (who also hosted the US premiere of The Division Bell 20 years earlier) where he conducted new interviews with David Gilmour and Nick Mason about the album and played much of the album on the special.


title: The Endless River

text: The album's only single, "Louder than Words", premiered on Chris Evans' breakfast show on BBC Radio 2 as a shortened radio edit. Gilmour and Mason appeared in an interview for BBC Radio 6 Music to promote the album and to discuss Wright's contributions. The track "Allons-y (1)" was made available to download from the iTunes Store on 4 November 2014. In the week before release, "The Endless River" became the most pre-ordered album in Amazon UK's history; the following week, the record was broken by "III" by Take That. There was no "Endless River" tour, as Gilmour said it was impossible without Wright.


title: The Endless River

text: On the review aggregator site Metacritic, "The Endless River" has a score of 58 based on 24 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: The Endless River

text: Ludovic Hunter-Tilney of the "Financial Times "praised the nostalgic "Floydian" sound, reminiscent of Pink Floyd's work prior to "The Wall ("1979), and wrote: "How fitting that a band so accustomed to loss should close their account with an engrossing elegy to their own past." Cameron Cooper of "The Music" gave the album three and a half out of five, writing that it felt "less like a swansong and more like a final homage ... the lack of vocals gives the music more freedom, allowing it to speak for itself". In "The Guardian", Alexis Petridis described it as "not a new album from an extant band, but an echo from the past – or a last, warm but slightly awkward group hug ... on those terms, it works just fine". He praised the lead single and final track "Louder than Words" as "stately, poignant and open-hearted". In "Rolling Stone, "David Fricke wrote:" ""Wright was the steady, binding majesty in the Floyd's explorations. This album is an unexpected, welcome epitaph." "The Observer" wrote that the album is "an understated affair but unmistakably the Floyd ... a pretty good way to call it a day."


title: The Endless River

text: J.C. Maçek III of PopMatters wrote: "Without the vocals, something is very clearly missing and the listener is left wanting more. While this makes for a good album, "The Endless River" is not quite fitting to serve as the final album of the greatest rock band of their kind, to say nothing of one of the greatest rock bands of any kind ever to perform." Andy Gill of "The Independent" called it "just aimless jamming, one long thread of Dave Gilmour's guitar against Rick Wright's pastel keyboards and Nick Mason's tentative percussion, with nary a melody of any distinction alighted upon for the duration ... without the sparking creativity of a Syd or Roger, all that's left is ghastly faux-psychedelic dinner-party muzak." The "NME" wrote that "The Endless River" was "a collection of spruced-up outtakes ... On those limited terms it works well enough, and it's interesting from a certain geeky perspective, but it's never quite as satisfying or substantial as you want it to be." "Pitchfork" wrote that "The Endless River" "is quintessentially and self-consciously Pink Floyd, for better or for worse ... it proves to be one of the few Pink Floyd releases that sounds like a step backwards, with nothing new to say and no new frontiers to explore." Mikael Wood of the "Los Angeles Times" called it "so excruciatingly dull (even by Pink Floyd's often-dull standards) that the band's name on the cover feels like a straight-up bait-and-switch".


title: The Endless River

text: In the week before its release, "The Endless River" displaced "Four "by One Direction as the most pre-ordered album of all time on Amazon UK. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, with sales totaling 139,351 the third highest opening sales week of 2014, making it Pink Floyd's sixth UK number one. As of 27 November 2014, the vinyl edition had sold 6,000 copies, making it the fastest-selling UK vinyl release of 2014 and the fastest-selling since 1997. The album also debuted at number one in several other countries, including France, Germany, Portugal, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand, and Canada. In the US, it debuted at number 3 on the "Billboard" 200 with 170,000 copies sold in its first week; by January 2015, it had sold 355,000 copies there. Worldwide, "The Endless River" sold over 2.5 million copies in 2014.


title: The Endless River

text: On 13 December 2019, Pink Floyd released the box set, "The Later Years 1987–2019". The box contains a 5.1 surround mix of "The Endless River" set to a film by Ian Emes; artwork related to the album; and previously unreleased tracks from "The Division Bell" sessions, including "Nervana". Also included are the "Louder than Words" video, a video of the album's launch party, and the electronic press kit.


title: Thawb

text: Thawb ( "garment"), also spelled thobe or tobe and known by various other names in different regions, is an ankle-length robe, usually with long sleeves. It is commonly worn in the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, North Africa, and other neighbouring Arab countries, and some countries in East and West Africa.


title: Thawb

text: The word "thawb" (ثَوْب) is the Arabic word for "garment". It is also romanized as "thobe" or "thaub".


title: Thawb

text: The "thawb" is commonly worn by men in the Arabian Peninsula. It is normally made of cotton, but heavier materials such as sheep's wool can also be used, especially in colder climates in Iraq and Syria. The style of the thawb varies slightly among the various regions in the area. The sleeves and the collar can be stiffened to give a more formal appearance. Other names may be used for this garment. In Iraq, Kuwait, the Levant, and Oman, "dishdashah" is the most common word for the garment; in the United Arab Emirates and the Maghreb, the word "kandura" is used. The neck also tends to be more open than in its Saudi counterpart and, along with the breast pocket, is often embroidered. It might also lack buttons altogether. The thawb is known as a Jallabiya in Egypt, not to be confused with the Sa'idi or Fallahi Jallabiya, and is primarily worn by Arabs of Sinai, the Eastern desert, and Sharqia.


title: Thawb

text: In Sudan, the term "tobe" is used to refer to women's outer garments. In her book "Khartoum at night: Fashion and body politics in imperial Sudan", cultural historian Marie Grace Brown explained: "Meaning “bolt of cloth,” a "tobe" is a rectangular length of fabric, generally two meters wide and four to seven meters long. It is worn as an outer wrapper whenever women are outside their homes or in the company of unrelated males. The tobe’s origins date back to the late eighteenth century when prosperous merchants in Darfur clothed their wives and daughters in large swaths of fine imported linen, muslin, and silk as a sign of their wealth and prestige." In the context of urban culture in Sudan since the 1930s, new and often colourful styles of "tobes" became fashionable, as Sudanese women "expressed their growing opportunities and desires through fashion."


title: Thawb

text: The traditional Palestinian woman's long tunic is also called "thawb". It's is richly embroidered, with different colours and patterns signifying various aspects of the wearer's social position and it's unique from town or city to another.


title: Thawb

text: A thawb is sometimes worn with a "bisht" (), also known in other parts of the Arabian Peninsula as a "mishlah" () or "ʿabāʾ" (), meaning 'cloak'. It is usually worn in ceremonial occasions or by officials. A bisht is usually worn by religious clergy, but can also be worn in weddings, Eids, and funerals.


title: Thawb

text: It was originally manufactured in Syria, Iraq and Jordan, and it is usually worn in Arabian peninsula, Jordan, Syria, and parts of southern Iraq.


title: Thawb

text: According to H. R. P. Dickson, Bedouin women would mount a brightly coloured thawb on a pole in front of a tent in order to welcome home a traveller or an important person coming to visit.


title: Thawb

text: Rashida Tlaib, a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan and the first Palestinian-American woman elected to that body, wore a thawb to her swearing-in ceremony on January 3, 2019. This inspired a number of Palestinian and Palestinian-American women to share pictures on social media with the hashtag #TweetYourThobe.


title: E.164

text: E.164 is an international standard (ITU-T Recommendation), titled "The international public telecommunication numbering plan", that defines a numbering plan for the worldwide public switched telephone network (PSTN) and some other data networks.


title: E.164

text: E.164 defines a general format for international telephone numbers. Plan-conforming telephone numbers are limited to only digits and to a maximum of fifteen digits. The specification divides the digit string into a country code of one to three digits, and the subscriber telephone number of a maximum of twelve digits.


title: E.164

text: Alternative formats (with area codes and country specific numbers) are available. Any country-specific international call prefixes are not contained in the specification.


title: E.164

text: The title of the original version and first revision of the E.164 standard was "Numbering Plan for the ISDN Era"


title: E.164

text: E.163 was the former ITU-T recommendation for describing telephone numbers for the public switched telephone network (PSTN). In the United States, this was formerly referred to as a "directory number". E.163 was withdrawn, and some recommendations were incorporated into revision 1 of E.164 in 1997.


title: E.164

text: This recommendation describes the procedures and criteria for the reservation, assignment, and reclamation of E.164 country codes and associated "identification code" (IC) assignments. The criteria and procedures are provided as a basis for the effective and efficient utilization of the available E.164 numbering resources.


title: E.164

text: This recommendation contains the criteria and procedures for an applicant to be temporarily assigned a three-digit identification code within the shared E.164 country code +991 for the purpose of conducting an international non-commercial trial.


title: E.164

text: This recommendation describes the principles, criteria, and procedures for the assignment and reclamation of resources within a shared E.164 country code for groups of countries. These shared country codes will coexist with all other E.164-based country codes assigned by the ITU. The resource of the shared country code consists of a "country code" and a "group identification code" (CC + GIC) and provides the capability for a group of countries to provide telecommunication services within the group. The Secretariat of the ITU Standardization Sector (ITU-T), the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) is responsible for the assignment of the CC + GIC.


title: E.164

text: The E.164 recommendation provides the telephone number structure and functionality for five categories of telephone numbers used in international public telecommunication.


title: E.164

text: For each of the categories, it details the components of the numbering structure and the digit analysis required for successful routing of calls. Annex A provides additional information on the structure and function of E.164 numbers. Annex B provides information on network identification, service parameters, calling/connected line identity, dialing procedures, and addressing for Geographic-based ISDN calls. Specific E.164-based applications which differ in usage are defined in separate recommendations.


title: E.164

text: The number categories are all based on a fifteen-digit numbering space. Before 1997, only twelve digits were allowed. The definition does not include any international call prefixes, necessary for a call to reach international circuits from inside the country of call origination.


title: E.164

text: E.164 numbers were originally defined for use in the worldwide public switched telephone network (PSTN). The early PSTN collected routing digits from users (e.g. on a dial pad), signaled those digits to each telephony switch, and used the numbers to determine how to ultimately reach the called party.


title: E.164

text: ITU-T E.123 entitled "Notation for national and international telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and Web addresses" provides guidance when printing E.164 telephone numbers. This format includes the recommendation of prefixing international telephone numbers with a plus sign (+) and including visual separators such as the hyphen (-).


title: E.164

text: The presentation of a telephone number with the plus sign (+) indicates that the number should be dialed with an international calling prefix, in place of the plus sign. The number is presented starting the country calling code. This is called the "globalized" format of an E.164 number, and is defined in the Internet Engineering Task Force RFC 2806. The international calling prefix is a trunk code to reach an international circuit in the country of call origination.


title: E.164

text: Some national telephone administrations and telephone companies have implemented an Internet-based database for their numbering spaces. E.164 numbers may be registered in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet in which the second-level domain e164.arpa has been reserved for telephone number mapping (ENUM). In the system, any telephone number may be mapped into a domain name using a reverse sequence of subdomains for each digit. For example, the telephone number translates to the domain name . When a number is mapped, a DNS query may be used to locate the service facilities on the Internet that accept and process telephone calls to the owner of record of the number, using, for example, the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), a call-signaling VoIP protocol whose SIP addresses are similar in format (user@domain...) to e-mail addresses. This allows a direct, end-to-end Internet connection without passing through the public switched telephone network.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: During the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (AD 306–337), Christianity began to transition to the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. Historians remain uncertain about Constantine's reasons for favoring Christianity, and theologians and historians have often argued about which form of early Christianity he subscribed to. There is no consensus among scholars as to whether he adopted his mother Helena's Christianity in his youth, or, as claimed by Eusebius of Caesarea, encouraged her to convert to the faith he had adopted.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Constantine ruled the Roman Empire as sole emperor for much of his reign. Some scholars allege that his main objective was to gain unanimous approval and submission to his authority from all classes, and therefore chose Christianity to conduct his political propaganda, believing that it was the most appropriate religion that could fit with the imperial cult. Regardless, under the Constantinian dynasty Christianity expanded throughout the empire, launching the era of the state church of the Roman Empire. Whether Constantine sincerely converted to Christianity or remained loyal to paganism is a matter of debate among historians. His formal conversion in 312 is almost universally acknowledged among historians, despite that it was claimed he was baptized only on his deathbed by the Arian bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia in 337; the real reasons behind it remain unknown and are debated also. According to Hans Pohlsander, professor emeritus of history at the University at Albany, SUNY, Constantine's conversion was just another instrument of "realpolitik" in his hands meant to serve his political interest in keeping the empire united under his control:


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Constantine's decision to cease the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire was a turning point for early Christianity, sometimes referred to as the Triumph of the Church, the Peace of the Church or the Constantinian shift. In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan decriminalizing Christian worship. The emperor became a great patron of the Church and set a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor within the Church and raised the notions of orthodoxy, Christendom, ecumenical councils, and the state church of the Roman Empire declared by edict in 380. He is revered as a saint and isapostolos in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, and various Eastern Catholic Churches for his example as a Christian monarch.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: The first recorded official persecution of Christians on behalf of the Roman Empire was in AD 64, when, as reported by the Roman historian Tacitus, Emperor Nero attempted to blame Christians for the Great Fire of Rome. According to Church tradition, it was during the reign of Nero that Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome. However, modern historians debate whether the Roman government distinguished between Christians and Jews prior to Nerva's modification of the "Fiscus Judaicus" in 96, from which point practising Jews paid the tax and Christians did not.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Christians suffered from sporadic and localized persecutions over a period of two and a half centuries. Their refusal to participate in the imperial cult was considered an act of treason and was thus punishable by execution. The most widespread official persecution was carried out by Diocletian beginning in 303. During the Great Persecution, the emperor ordered Christian buildings and the homes of Christians torn down and their sacred books collected and burned. Christians were arrested, tortured, mutilated, burned, starved, and condemned to gladiatorial contests to amuse spectators. The Great Persecution officially ended in April 311, when Galerius, senior emperor of the Tetrarchy, issued an edict of toleration which granted Christians the right to practice their religion, although it did not restore any property to them. Constantine, caesar in the Western Empire, and Licinius, caesar in the East, also were signatories to the edict. It has been speculated that Galerius' reversal of his long-standing policy of Christian persecution has been attributable to one or both of these co-caesars.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: It is possible (but not certain) that Constantine's mother, Helena, exposed him to Christianity. In any case, he only declared himself a Christian after issuing the Edict of Milan. Writing to Christians, Constantine made clear that he believed that he owed his successes to the protection of the High God alone.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: In 310 a panegyric, preserved in the "Panegyrici Latini" collection and delivered at Trier for the joint occasion of the city's birthday and Constantine's quinquennalia, recounted a vision apparently seen by the emperor while journeying between Marseille and Trier. The panegyricist recounts that the god Apollo appeared to Constantine in company with Victoria and together presented him with three wreaths representing thirty years of power. This vision was perhaps in a dream experienced by the emperor while practising incubation at the shrine of Apollo Grannus in Grand, Vosges. Eusebius was aware of this vision, or reports of it, and refers in his own "Panegyric of Constantine" of 336 to "tricennial crowns" bestowed by the hand of God in Christianity on Constantine, "augmenting the sway of his kingdom by long years".


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Eusebius of Caesarea and other Christian sources record that Constantine experienced a dramatic series of events sometime between his father Constantius I's death in 306 and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312. The battle secured Constantine's claim to the title of "augustus" in the West, which he had assumed unilaterally when his father died. According to the Eusebius' "Life of Constantine", Constantine saw a vision of "a cross-shaped trophy formed from light" above the sun at midday.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: The Greek words """" (in this sign, conquer) are often rendered in a Latin version, ""in hoc signo vinces"" (in this sign, you will conquer). According to Eusebius, Constantine also had a dream that same night. In the dream,


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Writing his "Church History" shortly after 313, Eusebius makes no mention of this story in that work and does not recount it until composing his posthumous biography of Constantine decades afterwards. "Life of Constantine" was written by Eusebius after Constantine had died, and Eusebius admitted that he had heard the story from Constantine long after it had happened. Lactantius, writing 313–315 and around twenty years before Eusebius's "Life", also does not mention a vision in the sky. Instead, Lactantius mentions only that Constantine's dream took place on the eve of the climactic battle on the "Pons Milvius" across the Tiber, with the crucial detail that the "sign" was marked on the Constantinian soldiers' shields. According to Lactantius:


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: It is unclear from these sources what Constantine saw and what was marked on his army's shields. Eusebius's description of the daytime vision suggests a cross-shaped (either Τ or †) symbol, whereas Lactantius's description suggests a staurogram (⳨), although the "crux ansata" (☥) or the Egyptian hieroglyph "ankh" (𓋹) have been proposed as interpretations as well. All of these symbols were used by Christians in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Eusebius concurs with Lactantius that a new device was added to Constantine's soldiers' shields but does not connect this with the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, saying only that the "sign of the saving trophy" was marked, but not specifying when. Sometime after 317, Eusebius was permitted by Constantine, probably either in 325 or in 335, to see a standard that was made according to the emperor's dreamt instructions during the civil war. He described it as:


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: This later description of Eusebius's, written after 324, suggests a more elaborate symbol than does Lactantius's earlier text, involving the Greek letters "rho" (Ρ) and "chi" (Χ) ligatured as the c"hi rho" (☧), a monogram of , referring to Jesus. Possibly Eusebius's description refers to a "chi"-"rho" inside the loop of an "ankh".


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Following the battle and the defeat and death of Maxentius, Constantine became the undisputed emperor in the West and performed an "adventus", a ceremonial entrance to the city. Arriving inside Rome's walls he ignored the altars to the gods prepared on the Capitoline Hill and did not carry out the customary sacrifices to celebrate a general's victorious entry into Rome, instead heading directly to the imperial palace. This is probably because the traditional Roman triumph, concluding with the sacrifice to Jupiter "Optimus Maximus" at his temple on the Capitoline, was traditionally celebrated after victory over Rome's enemies, rather than after the conquest of the city by a claimant in a civil war. The Arch of Constantine, for which numerous reliefs from earlier monuments depicting prior emperors sacrificing to various gods were re-carved with the face of Constantine, does not have an image of Constantine sacrificing to Jupiter, although he is shown sacrificing to Apollo and to Hercules.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: In 313 Constantine and Licinius announced "that it was proper that the Christians and all others should have liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them appeared best," thereby granting tolerance to all religions, including Christianity. The Edict of Milan went a step further than the earlier Edict of Serdica by Galerius in 311, returning confiscated Church property. This edict made the empire officially neutral with regard to religious worship; it neither made the traditional religions illegal nor made Christianity the state religion, as occurred later with the Edict of Thessalonica of 380. The Edict of Milan did, however, raise the stock of Christianity within the empire and reaffirmed the importance of religious worship to the welfare of the state. Most influential people in the empire, especially high military officials, had not been converted to Christianity and still participated in the traditional religions of Rome; Constantine's rule exhibited at least a willingness to appease these factions. The Roman coins minted up to eight years after the battle still bore the images of Roman gods. The monuments he first commissioned, such as the Arch of Constantine, contained no reference to Christianity.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: The accession of Constantine was a turning point for early Christianity. After his victory, Constantine took over the role of patron of the Christian faith. He supported the Church financially, had a number of basilicas built, granted privileges (e.g., exemption from certain taxes) to clergy, promoted Christians to high-ranking offices, returned property confiscated during the Great Persecution of Diocletian, and endowed the church with land and other wealth. Between 324 and 330, Constantine built a new city, New Rome, at Byzantium on the Bosporos, which would be named Constantinople for him. Unlike "old" Rome, the city began to employ overtly Christian architecture, contained churches within the city walls, and had no pre-existing temples from other religions.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: In doing this, however, Constantine required those who had not converted to Christianity to pay for the new city. Christian chroniclers tell that it appeared necessary to Constantine "to teach his subjects to give up their rites ... and to accustom them to despise their temples and the images contained therein," This led to the closure of temples because of a lack of support, their wealth flowing to the imperial treasure; Constantine did not need to use force to implement this. It was the chronicler Theophanes who added centuries later that temples "were annihilated", but this was considered "not true" by contemporary historians.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Constantine respected cultivated persons, and his court was composed of older, respected, and honored men. Men from leading Roman families who declined to convert to Christianity were denied positions of power yet still received appointments; even up to the end of his life, two-thirds of his top government were non-Christian. Constantine's laws enforced and reflected his Christian attitudes. Crucifixion was abolished for reasons of Christian piety but was replaced with hanging, to demonstrate the preservation of Roman supremacy. On March 7, 321, Sunday, which was sacred to Christians as the day of Christ's resurrection and to the Roman Sun God Sol Invictus, was declared an official day of rest. On that day markets were banned and public offices were closed, except for the purpose of freeing slaves. There were, however, no restrictions on performing farming work on Sundays, which was the work of the great majority of the population.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Some laws made during his reign were even humane in the modern sense and supported tolerance, possibly inspired by his Christianity: a prisoner was no longer to be kept in total darkness but must be given the outdoors and daylight; a condemned man was allowed to die in the arena, but he could not be branded on his "heavenly beautified" face, since God was supposed to have made man in his image, but only on the feet. Publicly displayed gladiatorial games were ordered to be eliminated in 325.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: According to Eusebius, in 331 Constantine had commissioned him to deliver fifty volumes of scriptures for the churches of Constantinople, which were to be bound in leather and easily portable. Only three or four churches are known certainly to have existed in Constantine's reign, but others appear to have been planned or established, for which the scriptures were commissioned. The volumes were likely gospel books containing the Canonical Gospels of the Four Evangelists rather than complete Bibles with the entire Biblical canon, which were very rare in antiquity.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Athanasius ("Apol. Const. 4") recorded around 340 Alexandrian scribes preparing Bibles for Constans. Little else is known. It has been speculated that this may have provided motivation for canon lists, and that Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus are examples of these Bibles. Together with the Peshitta and Codex Alexandrinus, these are the earliest extant Christian Bibles.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: According to Socrates Scholasticus, Constantine commissioned the construction of the first Church of Hagia Irene in Constantinople, on the site now occupied by the Justinian church of the same name. It commemorated the peace won by Constantine and Crispus's victory over Licinius and Licinius II at the Battle of Chrysopolis in 324; its name, the Church of the Holy Peace () recalled the Altar of Peace () built by Augustus, the first deified Roman emperor. Two other large churches were dedicated to Saint Mocius and to Saint Acacius; both worthies had supposedly been martyred in Byzantium during the Diocletianic Persecution. The Church of St Mocius was supposed to have included parts of a former temple of Zeus or Hercules, though it is unlikely that such a temple existed on the site, which was without the walls of the Constantinian city as well as of erstwhile Severan Byzantium. According to Eusebius, Christian liturgies were also performed in Constantine's Mausoleum, the site of which became the Church of the Holy Apostles; although Eusebius does not mention any Byzantine church by name, he reports that Christian sites were numerous inside the city and around it. Later tradition ascribed to Constantine the foundations in Constantinople of the Church of Saint Menas, the Church of Saint Agathonicus, the Church of Saint Michael at nearby Anaplous, and the Church of Hagios Dynamis ().


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: The reign of Constantine established a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor in the Church. Emperors considered themselves responsible to the gods for the spiritual health of their subjects, and after Constantine they had a duty to help the Church define and maintain orthodoxy. The Church generally regarded the definition of doctrine as the responsibility of the bishops; the emperor's role was to enforce doctrine, root out heresy, and uphold ecclesiastical unity. The emperor ensured that God was properly worshiped in his empire; what proper worship (orthodoxy) and doctrines and dogma consisted of was for the Church to determine.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Constantine had become a worshiper of the Christian God, but he found that there were many opinions on that worship and indeed on who and what that God was. In 316, Constantine was asked to adjudicate in a North African dispute of the Donatist sect (who began by refusing obedience to any bishops who had yielded in any way to persecution, later regarding all bishops but their own sect as utterly contaminated). More significantly, in 325 he summoned the First Council of Nicaea, effectively the first ecumenical council (unless the Council of Jerusalem is so classified). The Council of Nicaea is the first major attempt by Christians to define orthodoxy for the whole Church. Until Nicaea, all previous Church councils had been local or regional synods affecting only portions of the Church.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Nicaea dealt primarily with the Arian controversy. Constantine was torn between the Arian and Trinitarian camps. After the Nicene council, and against its conclusions, he eventually recalled Arius from exile and banished Athanasius of Alexandria to Trier.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Just before his death in May 337, it is claimed that Constantine was baptised into Christianity. Up until this time he had been a catechumen for most of his adult life. He believed that if he waited to get baptized on his death bed he was in less danger of polluting his soul with sin and not getting to heaven. He was baptized by his distant relative Arian Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia or by Pope Sylvester I which is maintained by the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Antiochian Orthodox Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, the Serbian Orthodox Church, upon by many other Eastern Orthodox, Nestorian Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox Churches. During Eusebius of Nicomedia's time in the imperial court, the Eastern court and the major positions in the Eastern Church were held by Arians or Arian sympathizers. With the exception of a short period of eclipse, Eusebius enjoyed the complete confidence both of Constantine and Constantius II and was the tutor of Emperor Julian the Apostate. After Constantine's death, his son and successor Constantius II was an Arian, as was Emperor Valens.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Constantine's position on the religions traditionally practiced in Rome evolved during his reign. In fact, his coinage and other official motifs, until 325, had affiliated him with the pagan cult of Sol Invictus. At first, Constantine encouraged the construction of new temples and tolerated traditional sacrifices; by the end of his reign, he had begun to order the pillaging and tearing down of Roman temples.


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Beyond the "limes", east of the Euphrates, the Sasanian rulers, perennially at war with Rome, had usually tolerated Christianity. Constantine is said to have written to Shapur II in 324 and urged him to protect Christians under his rule. With the establishment of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire, Christians in Persia would be regarded as allies of Persia's ancient enemy. According to an anonymous Christian account, Shapur II wrote to his generals:


title: Constantine the Great and Christianity

text: Constantinian shift is a term used by some theologians and historians of antiquity to describe the political and theological aspects and outcomes of the 4th-century process of Constantine's integration of the imperial government with the Church that began with the First Council of Nicaea. The term was popularized by the Mennonite theologian John H. Yoder. The claim that there ever was a Constantinian shift has been disputed; Peter Leithart argues that there was a "brief, ambiguous 'Constantinian moment' in the fourth century," but that there was "no permanent, epochal 'Constantinian shift'."


title: Everclear (band)

text: Everclear is an American rock band formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1991. The band was formed by Art Alexakis, the band's lead songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist; and for most of the band's height of popularity, consisted of Craig Montoya on bass guitar and Greg Eklund on drums. After the limited release of their independently released debut album, "World of Noise", the band found success with their first three albums on Capitol Records: "Sparkle and Fade", "So Much for the Afterglow", and "", which were all certified platinum in sales. However, the following two albums "" and "Slow Motion Daydream", were not as well received, and as sales suffered, Montoya and Eklund left the band shortly after in 2003.


title: Everclear (band)

text: After a brief stint of solo performances, Alexakis decided to push forward with the Everclear name, finding new musicians to perform with and releasing two more albums, "Welcome to the Drama Club" and "Invisible Stars". In 2012, Alexakis started a 1990s nostalgia tour, named the Summerland Tour, which occurs every summer with Everclear and other 1990s alternative rock bands. In April 2015, the band released a ninth studio album, entitled "Black is the New Black".


title: Everclear (band)

text: Art Alexakis suffered through a troubled youth, beginning with his father walking out when Alexakis was a child. Financial hardships pushed his family into the slums of Los Angeles, where Alexakis became a heavy drug user. During his teenage years, Alexakis was shuttled around the country between various family members (including a brief period in Houston living with his father's new family), but the drug addiction persisted. Eventually, Alexakis suffered a near-fatal cocaine overdose, which finally pushed him to clean up. In the late 1980s, Alexakis played in a short-lived rock band in Los Angeles called Shakin' Brave, where he began to hone his songwriting skills. Frustrated by the inattention of the L.A. music scene, Art relocated to San Francisco, where he fell into the then-burgeoning cowpunk scene.


title: Everclear (band)

text: Alexakis founded Shindig Records, a label that represented San Francisco's cowpunk scene. He began recording material of his own for a solo album, but it eventually evolved into a group project called Colorfinger. Alexakis wrote under the pseudonym "A.D. Nation" while writing/recording with Colorfinger. While involved with Colorfinger, he wrote several songs that would later find success as Everclear songs, including "The Twistinside", "Heartspark Dollarsign", and "Why I Don't Believe in God".


title: Everclear (band)

text: In a single month in 1992, Shindig failed (when its distributor went bankrupt), Colorfinger broke up, and Alexakis learned that his girlfriend was pregnant. Seeking a change of location, Alexakis and his girlfriend moved to her hometown, Portland, Oregon. There, he placed an ad in local music weekly "The Rocket", which earned two responses: bass player Craig Montoya and drummer Scott Cuthbert. The name Everclear was chosen as a reference to the infamous grain alcohol. In an interview with The Discovering Alcoholic, Alexakis called it "pure, white evil" for its deceptive nature. The new band began recording in a friend's basement, essentially bartering for recording time with musical gear and whatever limited funds they could scrounge up. The sessions culminated in two releases: the "Nervous & Weird" EP and the band's first full-length release "World of Noise", both released by Portland's Tim/Kerr Records in 1993. Frustrated by Tim/Kerr's limited resources, Alexakis hired independent promoters to help push the album.


title: Everclear (band)

text: The band spent much of 1994 seeking out a major label deal. After a modest bidding war, they were signed to Capitol Records by Gary Gersh, who was responsible for signing Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and Counting Crows to DGC Records. Just before their signing, Everclear parted ways with drummer Cuthbert, citing personality conflicts, and brought in former Jollymon drummer Greg Eklund. In May 1995, the band released their first album for the label, "Sparkle and Fade".


title: Everclear (band)

text: The album's first single, "Heroin Girl", received some modest airplay via MTV's "120 Minutes", but was generally missed by the mainstream. However, near the end of 1995, the second single "Santa Monica" found a strong audience via the burgeoning alternative radio format, which eventually carried over to mainstream success. The album subsequently was certified platinum. However, two ensuing singles, "Heartspark Dollarsign" and "You Make Me Feel Like a Whore", failed to find a wide audience, and the band ended 1996 fast at work on their second full-length album.


title: Everclear (band)

text: As "Sparkle and Fade" reached its audience, Everclear had to endure consistent comparisons to Nirvana, particularly given the album's subject matter and drug references. Following a show with the Foo Fighters at the end of 1995, Dave Grohl told MTV News that he did not think that Everclear sounded like Nirvana, noting that Bush sounded more like Nirvana than any other band.


title: Everclear (band)

text: By the end of 1996, the band had nearly completed the album, which they planned to release under the title "Pure White Evil". Alexakis, however, was dissatisfied with the results, and decided to work on more songs for the effort, including "One Hit Wonder" and the eventual title-track to the album, "So Much for the Afterglow". The songs "The Swing" and "Otis Redding" were cut from the Pure White Evil Sessions and were not included on "So Much for the Afterglow". Eventually they were released: the former on the soundtrack album for "Scream 2" and the latter on "". "So Much for the Afterglow" was released in October 1997. The first two singles from the album, "Everything to Everyone" and "I Will Buy You a New Life", performed modestly, but helped to begin a slow build for the album, while "Local God" was featured in Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet" in 1996 as well as on the soundtrack. The band completed a US tour at the end of the year, and started 1998 with a tour of Australia.