title: Super Bowl XI

text: The Raiders overcame an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the New England Patriots, 24–21, with the aid of a penalty call against the Patriots. New England's Ray Hamilton was tagged for roughing the passer in the fourth quarter, turning an incomplete pass on 3rd and 18 into a first down, and the Raiders went on to score on Stabler's 1-yard touchdown run with 14 seconds left in the contest.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: In the AFC Championship Game Oakland then faced the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team that had won the two previous Super Bowls and defeated the Raiders in the playoffs in three out of the last four seasons. However, coming into this game without injured starting running backs Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, the Steelers were soundly thrashed this time around, losing to Oakland, 24–7.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: This was the first Super Bowl game to match both conferences’ No. 1 seeds, the first one held in the Rose Bowl, the last Super Bowl to finish under daylight and the last where both teams’ placekickers (Minnesota's Fred Cox and Oakland's Errol Mann) used the straight-on style. Scheduled on the 9th day of January, the game marks the earliest Super Bowl played during the calendar year. The regular season started one week earlier than usual in order to avoid having playoff games on Christmas Day, which fell on a Saturday in 1976. By moving the season up, the divisional playoffs were held December 18 and 19, and the conference championship games Sunday, December 26. The local starting time for this Super Bowl, 12:47 pm Pacific Time, also was the earliest in history, two minutes earlier than Super Bowl VII at the nearby Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1973.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: The Raiders became the first West Division team from either conference to reach a post-merger Super Bowl.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: The game was televised in the United States by NBC, with play-by-play announcer Curt Gowdy and color commentator Don Meredith. This was Meredith's last broadcast with NBC, as he returned to ABC to rejoin the "Monday Night Football" crew for the season, where he had been a commentator from through . Bryant Gumbel, Lee Leonard, and analyst John Brodie anchored NBC's pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage. With kickoff at 12:30 p.m. PST, this remains the most recent Super Bowl completed in daylight.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: The pregame festivities featured the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) All-City Band and frisbee dog Ashley Whippet. Later, singer Vikki Carr sang "America the Beautiful". To date, this is the only game in Super Bowl history that the national anthem was not sung. This was only the second time in the game's history that "America the Beautiful" was sung before a game, as Charley Pride sang the song at Super Bowl VIII three years prior.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: This was the first Super Bowl where the official coin toss was held at midfield three minutes prior to kickoff. Prior to 1976, the official toss was held 30 minutes prior to kickoff, with captains called to midfield three minutes prior to kickoff so the referee could inform fans and media of the results of the toss. Jim Tunney became the last referee to conduct the Super Bowl coin toss. The year before, former United States Secretary of the Navy John Warner became the first non-official to toss the coin. The next year, Chicago Bears great Red Grange (with Tunney as referee) began the tradition of celebrity coin tossers.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: The halftime show was produced by Disney and was based on "It's a Small World", an attraction at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. The show featured the cast members of The New Mickey Mouse Club. It was the first Super Bowl halftime show to include crowd participation as people in the stadium performed a mass card stunt on cue. The LAUSD All-City Band also played during the show.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: The Raiders took the opening kickoff and advanced all the way to the Vikings’ 12-yard line, but came up empty after kicker Errol Mann hit the left upright on his 29-yard field goal attempt. Later in the quarter, after the teams exchanged punts, the Vikings had a great opportunity to score, when linebacker Fred McNeill blocked a punt from Ray Guy and recovered the ball on the Raiders' 3-yard line. The Vikings' special teams unit was known for blocking kicks, but this was the first time it had happened to Guy. (He had only three of his punts blocked in his 14-year Pro Football Hall of Fame career.) However, two plays later, Minnesota running back Brent McClanahan fumbled the ball while being tackled by Raiders linebacker Phil Villapiano, and linebacker Willie Hall recovered the ball for Oakland. The Raiders then marched 90 yards to the Vikings' 7-yard line, with a 35-yard run by Clarence Davis around left end from the Oakland 6-yard line breaking through Minnesota's front. On the drive's sixth play, quarterback Ken Stabler completed a 25-yard pass to tight end Dave Casper, with Casper breaking through what Stabler called "10 tackles."


title: Super Bowl XI

text: Oakland, however, had to settle for a 24-yard field goal from Mann, giving them a 3–0 lead 48 seconds into the second quarter.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: After forcing Minnesota to punt following a three-and-out, Oakland did even better the next time it got the ball. Stabler completed a 19-yard pass to Casper to reach the Vikings' 26. Running back Carl Garrett carried on three consecutive plays and gained 20 yards, then Stabler hit receiver Fred Biletnikoff along the right sideline for five yards to the 1-yard line. The 64-yard drive in 10 plays then concluded on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Stabler to Casper, increasing the Raiders' lead to 10–0 (the reception was Casper's fourth and final one of the game). On the Vikings' next possession, running back Chuck Foreman gained seven yards on first down and six yards on second down, but a holding penalty on Ron Yary made it second-down-and-13. Tarkenton threw an incomplete pass to rookie receiver Sammy White, then a long pass to Ahmad Rashad was broken up by defensive back Willie Brown, resulting in another three-and-out. Oakland got the ball back in excellent field position, after returner Neal Colzie returned Minnesota's punt 25 yards to the Vikings' 35-yard line. After three running plays, Stabler completed a 17-yard pass to Biletnikoff at the 1-yard line, and running back Pete Banaszak scored a touchdown on the next play, increasing Oakland's lead to 16–0 with 3:33 left in the second quarter, after Mann missed the extra point attempt. To this point, Minnesota had picked up only one first down. They added three more before halftime, including a meaningless 26-yard completion from Tarkenton to Foreman on the last play of the half, which ended up being their longest gain of the entire game. The score at halftime marked the fourth time in as many Super Bowl games that the Vikings failed to score in the first half.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: The second half began with three consecutive punts, but then Colzie returned the Vikings' second punt of the quarter 12 yards to the Oakland 46-yard line. From there, the Raiders advanced to the Minnesota 23-yard line, aided by an 18-yard run by Davis and a 10-yard reception by wide receiver Cliff Branch, to set up Mann's 40-yard field goal to increase their lead to 19–0. After a few more seconds, the Vikings had gone 40 minutes without scoring, same as in all their previous Super Bowls, while as it turned out, Oakland had enough points to win, same as the three earlier games Minnesota had with Kansas City, Miami and Pittsburgh.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: Tarkenton then threw three consecutive incomplete passes on their ensuing drive, forcing the Vikings to punt again. This loomed as the fifth three-and-out drive for Minnesota in the game. However, Oakland linebacker Ted Hendricks was penalized for running into the punter on the play, giving Minnesota a first down. Taking advantage of their second chance, the Vikings ended up with a 12-play, 68-yard drive as Tarkenton completed passes to Stu Voigt, Ahmad Rashad and Chuck Foreman for gains of 15, 21, and 10 yards. On the last play, Tarkenton threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Sammy White, making the score 19–7.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: The Raiders were forced to punt on their next drive, after they were unable to recover from Alan Page's 11-yard sack on first down. Then aided by Tarkenton's completions to White for gains of 14 and 18 yards, respectively, the Vikings advanced to the Oakland 37-yard line (The 18-yard completion to White featured an infamous hit from Jack Tatum that knocked Sammy White's helmet off, sending it and his mouthguard flying, but somehow White held on to the ball and recovered after being knocked out for a moment). However, on third down and 3, Hall intercepted a pass from Tarkenton and returned it 16 yards to the 46-yard line. Three plays later, Biletnikoff's 48-yard catch and run reception moved the ball to the Vikings' 2-yard line, setting up Banaszak's second rushing touchdown to increase Oakland's lead to 26–7. All three Raiders offensive touchdowns had been preceded on the previous play by key Biletnikoff receptions.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: White returned the ensuing kickoff 19 yards to the Minnesota 32-yard line, and four plays later, Tarkenton completed a 25-yard pass to receiver Rashad to reach the Oakland 28-yard line. However, on the next play, defensive back Willie Brown intercepted a pass intended for White and returned it 75 yards for a touchdown. Although Mann missed the extra point attempt, the Raiders put the game out of reach, 32–7.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: After both teams turned the ball over on downs, Minnesota drove 86 yards in 9 plays to score on a 14-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Bob Lee to Voigt. The touchdown cut Minnesota's deficit to 32–14, but by then there were only 25 seconds remaining in the game.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: Stabler finished the game with 12 out of 19 pass completions for 180 yards and 1 touchdown. Davis, who was the top rusher in the game, gained 137 yards on just 16 rushing attempts, an average of 8.5 yards per carry. Of Davis' 16 carries, 11 were runs to the left side, which is where the blocking of guard Gene Upshaw, tackle Art Shell and Casper dominated defensive end Jim Marshall and linebacker Wally Hilgenberg. Marshall made no tackles in the game and Hilgenberg made only two. Oakland set a new rushing record for the Super Bowl with 266 yards gained. As of Super Bowl LVI, only the Washington Redskins have rushed for more yards, doing so in both Super Bowls XVII and XXII. The Raiders had 52 rushing carries, becoming the third consecutive Viking S. B. opponent to rush more than 50 times.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: Casper finished the game with 4 receptions for 70 yards and 1 touchdown. Colzie returned 4 punts for a Super Bowl record 43 yards. Foreman had a solid performance for Minnesota, contributing 44 rushing yards and 62 receiving yards. Tarkenton completed 17 out of 35 pass attempts for 205 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. White recorded 163 total yards, catching 5 passes for 77 yards and 1 touchdown, rushing once for 7 yards, and returning 4 kickoffs for 79 yards. The Raiders won their first Super Bowl and according to Brown, winning Super Bowl XI "made up for the other Raiders who came before and didn’t have a chance to participate on a winning Super Bowl team. This victory meant not only a lot to me, it meant a lot to the entire Raider organization." The win was particularly satisfying for Brown, who scored a Super Bowl touchdown and earned his first championship ring after 14 years of professional football.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: The following records were set in Super Bowl XI, according to the official NFL.com boxscore and the ProFootball reference.com game summary. <br>Some records have to meet NFL minimum number of attempts to be recognized. The minimums are shown (in parenthesis).


title: Super Bowl XI

text: The Vikings' loss in Super Bowl XI meant the franchise finished with a 0–4 Super Bowl record under head coach Bud Grant, even though in the same eight-season span their regular season record was 87–24–1, which was the best in the NFL. In 2015, on the occasion of Super Bowl 50, "Slate" webpage writer Justin Peters watched all of the first 49 games over a two-month period. He called the Vikings "the worst franchise in Super Bowl history. Minnesota went to the Super Bowl four separate times from 1970 to 1977 and didn't score a single first-half point in any of those games. The Vikings had a really, really good defense, and their offense just kept on letting the defense down, game after game after game."


title: Super Bowl XI

text: Grant coached Minnesota eight more seasons, but never managed to guide the team back to a Super Bowl. In fact, as of the 2021 season, this remains the Vikings' most recent appearance in a Super Bowl, although they have qualified for the postseason a further 22 times and have reached the NFC Championship six times in 1977, 1987, 1998, 2000, 2009 and 2017.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: Despite a few mediocre seasons, the Raiders would remain an NFL power until 1985 and win two more Super Bowls in their 1980 and 1983 seasons – the second after moving to Los Angeles in 1982. In contrast to their 13–1 1976 regular season, both of these would be won in major upsets. The Raiders would fall to mediocrity in the latter part of the 1980s and most of the 1990s when they were affected by stadium problems that saw them again playing in Oakland in 1995 – although they did reach the AFC Championship in 1991 and be demolished 51-3 by the Bills – before a 33–15 three-season record between 2000 and 2002 saw them return to the Super Bowl for the first time in 19 seasons, losing out to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Since then, the Raiders have been mainly NFL cellar-dwellers, with only two postseason appearances; one in 2016 and again in 2021, along with a record of seven straight seasons with no more than five victories between 2003 and 2009. Principal owner Al Davis died in 2011.


title: Super Bowl XI

text: John Madden died on 28 December 2021, leaving Bud Grant as the only living coach from the first 14 Super Bowls. The picture of Madden celebrating this victory was on the cover of the next gen version of "Madden NFL 23".


title: Nimisha Sajayan

text: Nimisha Sajayan (born 4 January 1997) is an Indian actress in the Malayalam film industry. Nimisha made her acting debut with the film "Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum" directed by Dileesh Pothan. She won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress in 2018 for her performance in Oru Kuprasidha Payyan and Chola.


title: Nimisha Sajayan

text: Nimisha was born in Mumbai to Sajayan, an engineer and Bindhu Sajayan, both originally from Kollam district of Kerala. Her mother's ancestral home is in Punalur, Kollam district.


title: Nimisha Sajayan

text: Nimisha started her acting career with the film "Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum", directed by Dileesh Pothan. She then played the lead role in editor B. Ajithk and Rajeev Ravi's 'Eeda'. She won the 49th Kerala State Film Award for Best actress in 2019 for the movies "Oru Kuprasidha Payyan" directed by Madhupal and "Chola" directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan. "Chola" premiered at several International film festivals.


title: Nimisha Sajayan

text: In 2021, she acted in The Great Indian Kitchen. The movie as well as her performance were well received. The same year, she played lead roles in Nayattu and Malik. In 2022 she was a part of Oru Thekkan Thallu Case, Innale Vare and Heaven. Her upcoming movies are Thuramukham and Chera.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Ashley Nichole Lomberger (née Simmons; born February 5, 1986) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling under the ring name Madison Rayne, where she is also the coach of the women's division. She is best known for her time with Impact Wrestling, where she was the record-breaking three-time Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Champion.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Rayne began her wrestling career on the independent circuit, wrestling under the names Ashley Lane and Lexi Lane. She joined the all-female promotion Shimmer Women Athletes in 2007, where she was one half of the first-ever Shimmer Tag Team Champions, along with Nevaeh. In 2009, she signed with TNA, aligning herself with Angelina Love and Velvet Sky as part of the villainous stable The Beautiful People. In March 2010, alongside Lacey Von Erich and Velvet Sky, she won the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship; all three women defended the title simultaneously under the Freebird Rule. In April 2010, she won her first of five TNA Knockouts Championships. In addition, she was the first wrestler to hold both titles concurrently. She has also competed in Ring of Honor and took part in WWE's 2018 Mae Young Classic.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Ashley Nichole Simmons was born in Columbus, Ohio, on February 5, 1986. She grew up in West Lafayette, Ohio, with her two older brothers. During high school, she was the homecoming queen and a varsity cheerleader. She also ran track and was a member of the drama club. After graduating high school, she studied radiology part-time at college while starting her wrestling career on the independent circuit. She later saw a poster for a local promotion, contacted the promoter, and began training soon after. She left college to pursue a full-time wrestling career, having had a 4.0 GPA at the time of leaving. After completing her training under Jeff Cannon, she began her wrestling career in her home state of Ohio. Her first match took place in her former high school and was refereed by former WWE Diva Ivory.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Under the ring name Lexi Lane, she made her debut for Ohio Championship Wrestling (OCW) on March 13, 2005, event in Coshocton, Ohio, where she teamed up with trainer Jeff Cannon in a losing effort to Cruz Sangria and Jayme Braxton in a mixed tag team match. The following month, Lane made her singles match debut and defeated Jayme Braxton with Ivory as the special guest referee. At the June 18, 2005, event, Lane defeated Brian Biggs in an intergender match. The following month, Lane competed against Jayme Braxton, losing to her twice. At the OCW event on August 13, Lane teamed up with Scotty Sabre in a winning effort against Jayme Braxton and Matt Masonalso in a mixed tag team match. On November 12, Lane defeated Hailey Hatred in a singles match. On February 11, Lane competed against Shantelle Taylor in a winning effort. On the March 11, Lane unsuccessfully challenged Shark Boy for the OCW Cruiserweight Championship in a five-person match, which was won by Vic Montana. On May 12 and 13, Lane competed against Heather Owens in a losing effort.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Lane entered a feud with Jessicka Havok on June 10, after Lane defeated Havok by disqualification. On October 7 and 8, Lane defeated Havok in singles matches. On November 11, Lane teamed up with Traci Brooks in a winning effort against Havok and ODB in a tag team match. At the OCW "Stairway to Stardom" event on January 13, 2007, Lane competed against Havok in a singles match which ended in a no-contest.


title: Madison Rayne

text: At the March 13 "OCW Ladies Night" event, Lane defeated ODB in finals of the tournament to become the promotion's first ever OCW Women's Champion. On April 27, Lane made her first title defense against Sassy Stephie. The following month, Lane once again defeated Stephie in another title match. At the OCW "Fan Appreciation Night", Lane successfully defended her title against Angel Dust. On August 25, Lane successfully retained her title against Stephie and Dust in a triple threat match. The following month, Lane teamed up with Nevaeh in a losing effort to Stephie and Dust in a tag team match. On November 24, Lane lost the Women's Championship to Nevaeh. Lane regained it in May 2008, but lost it to Sara Del Rey in February 2009.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On October 13, 2007, she made her debut in Shimmer Women Athletes as Ashley Lane. At "Volume 15", Lane teamed with Lorelei Lee in a losing effort to Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews. At "Volume 16", Lane lost to Alexa Thatcher.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Lane then formed a tag team with Nevaeh, and they made their debut in loss to The Experience (Lexie Fyfe and Malia Hosaka) at "Volume 17", but then scored a win against The Minnesota Homewrecking Crew (Lacey and Rain) at "Volume 18". At "Volume 19", Lane competed in a battle royal, which was won by Jetta. Later that night, Lane teamed up with Nevaeh where they defeated the duo of Veronika Vice and Cat Power, but lost to The International Home Wrecking Crew (Rain and Jetta) at "Volume 20". On October 19, Lane and Nevaeh emerged victorious from a six-team tag team gauntlet match to crown the first Shimmer Tag Team Champions. Later that evening, they successfully defended the titles against the Canadian NINJAs (Portia Perez and Nicole Matthews). At "Volume 23", Lane and Neveah successfully defended their titles against The International Home Wrecking Crew (Rain and Jetta) in a two out of three falls match. At "Volume 25", Lane and Neveah successfully defended their championships against Amazing Kong and Sara Del Rey. At "Volume 26" on May 3, 2009, Lane and Nevaeh lost the Shimmer Tag Team Championship to the Canadian NINJAs.


title: Madison Rayne

text: At "Volume 27", Lane and Nevaeh lost to the team of Melanie Cruise and Wesna Busic in a tag team match. At "Volume 28", Lane and Naveah defeated Kacey Diamond and Sassy Stephie. Because of agreement with Shimmer and Ring of Honor (ROH), Lane made her debut for ROH on April 19, 2008, where she competed in a Four Corner Survival match against Daizee Haze, Lacey, and MsChif, which was won by MsChif. Lane later left ROH after debuting in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in January 2009.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On October 1, 2011, Lane returned to Shimmer as fan favorite, calling out former partner Nevaeh for turning on MsChif and Jessie McKay during a tag team match. Nevaeh in turn claimed that Lane had turned her back on Shimmer by leaving the promotion in 2009, which led to a brawl between the two. Later that night, Nevaeh defeated Lane in her return match. At "Volume 44", Lane teamed with Mia Yim in a losing effort against Nevaeh and Sassy Stephie.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On July 8, 2017, she made her returns in Shimmer Women Athletes as Ashley Lane at "Volume 92", defeating Taeler Hendrix and at "Volume 93" was defeated by Veda Scott. The following day, she defeated Veda Scott at "Volume 94". On November 11, Hottest Free Agents (Ashley Lane and Deonna Purrazzo) defeated Blue Nation (Charli Evans and Jessica Troy) at "Volume 97" and the following day, at "Volume 98", she and Deonna Purrazzo were defeated by Totally Tubular Tag Team (Delilah Doom and Leva Bates) in a tag team match for the Shimmer Tag Team Championship.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On October 20, at Shimmer Volume 105, she was defeated by Dust in a Heart of Shimmer Championship Match.


title: Madison Rayne

text: In 2009, Lane took part in the first season of Wrestlicious, which began airing on television in March 2010. In the promotion, she played in the role of "Cheerleader" Amber Lively. She debuted in the third episode of "Takedown" (aired on March 17), teaming with Lacey Von Erich and winning by disqualification against the team of Draculetta and White Magic. On the April 7 episode of "Takedown", Lively participated in a "Hoedown Throwdown" battle royal to determine the top two contenders for the Wrestlicious Championship, but failed to advance.


title: Madison Rayne

text: As Madison Rayne, she made her debut for Remix Pro Wrestling (RPW) on April 24, 2010, at the "Remix Pro Throw Down For The Pound 2" event in Marietta, Ohio, where she defeated Nevaeh and Sojournor Bolt in a triple threat match. Rayne made her debut for Purks International Championship Wrestling (PICW) on August 10 event in Cedartown, Georgia, where she defeated Tracy Taylor. On April 2, 2011, at the "Remix Pro Throw Down-Hoedown For The Pound 3" event, she defeated Sara Del Rey in a singles match.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Rayne made her debut for Family Wrestling Entertainment (FWE) at the "FWE Fallout" pay-per-view, where she was defeated by Tara with Christy Hemme as the special guest referee. On September 22, 2012, Rayne made her debut for Northeast Wrestling, teaming up with Rosita to defeat The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky) in a tag team match. Rayne made her debut for National Wrestling Superstars (NWS) on December 12, 2012, at the "NWS Jingle Brawl", where she, along with Danny Demanto, accompanied Nikki Addams where Addams competed against Nikki Richardson. Later that night, Rayne teamed up with Demanto in a losing effort to Chris D'Andrea and Rosita in a mixed tag team match. The following night, Rayne teamed up with Demanto in a winning effort defeating D'Andrea and Rosita in a rematch.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Lane debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as Madison Rayne on the January 8, 2009, episode of "TNA Impact!", where she was defeated by Awesome Kong. She returned on the February 12 episode of "Impact!" in a Knockouts gauntlet match, and was one of the finalists, but was eliminated by Sojo Bolt. The following week, she began her first storyline by slapping and walking out on her tag team partner Taylor Wilde in a match against The Beautiful People (Angelina Love and Velvet Sky), and her character became villainous in the process. On the March 5 episode of "Impact!", Rayne aligned herself with The Beautiful People after assisting them in winning a four-way tag team match. At Destination X in March, Rayne made her pay-per-view debut, teaming with Love and Sky against The Governor, Taylor Wilde and Roxxi in a losing effort.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Rayne's hazing continued after The Beautiful People won an "Impact!" tag team match against Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed, after which Rayne tried to cut the braided hair of the TNA Knockouts Champion Kong. With Sky in her corner, Angelina Love faced Kong and perennial nemesis Taylor Wilde in a three-way cage match for the Knockout Championship at Lockdown, which Love would win. The following week on "Impact!", Mi Pi Sexy had a celebration with male dancers and named Rayne an official member of the Beautiful People. However, the celebration was cut short by Kong. Kong continued her attack on Mi Pi Sexy and proved her dominance by making her way through Rayne, Sky and Cute Kip, who Love brought back to stop her, in stretcher matches on the following weeks of "Impact!".


title: Madison Rayne

text: At Hard Justice in August, Rayne cost Love her Knockouts Championship when her interference in the match backfired. On the following episode of "Impact!", Rayne was scheduled to face Love in a match, but before it started, Love attacked her from behind. After Love had pinned Rayne, Sky showed up holding a brown paper bag and put it on Rayne's head to humiliate her. Rayne was then saved by Tara and Christy Hemme. On the September 10 episode of "Impact!", Rayne and partner Roxxi lost to The Beautiful People in a match that was part of a tournament to crown the inaugural Knockouts Tag Team Champions.


title: Madison Rayne

text: The following week, Rayne, after helping Love and Sky advance to the finals of the tournament, was welcomed back into The Beautiful People. At No Surrender, Rayne replaced Love, who had been released from her contract due to work visa issues prior to the event, and teamed up with Sky in the tournament finals, where they were defeated by the team of Sarita and Taylor Wilde.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On the October 1 episode of "Impact!", The Beautiful People apologized to the TNA fans and wrestlers for their behavior, blaming their past actions on Love. They invited the Knockouts Tag Team Champions, Taylor Wilde and Sarita, down to the ring to prove their apology was genuine and expressed their desire for a competitive match at Bound for Glory. The Beautiful People shook their hands, but then attacked them. As they began to lose the advantage in the assault, the debuting Lacey Von Erich took out Wilde and Sarita. The three then posed in the ring, welcoming Von Erich into The Beautiful People. Rayne gained her first victory in TNA on the October 8 episode of "Impact!" by scoring the deciding fall in an eight-wrestler elimination match where she, Sky, Alissa Flash and Traci Brooks defeated Sarita, Taylor Wilde, Hamada and Christy Hemme after the interference from Von Erich.


title: Madison Rayne

text: The three then won their first match as a team, defeating ODB, Tara and Awesome Kong, but was unsuccessful in their Tag Team title rematch at Bound For Glory. On the October 22 episode of "Impact!", The Beautiful People began appearing in backstage segments they dubbed as their reality show "The Meanest Girls", an allusion to the 2004 teen comedy "Mean Girls".


title: Madison Rayne

text: In the pilot episode, The Beautiful People attacked Taylor Wilde and Sarita, and engaged in a food fight, with The Beautiful People coming out on top. In the sequel, which aired on the November 5 episode of "Impact!", the Beautiful People attacked ODB, setting up a six-wrestler tag team match at Turning Point, for both the Knockouts Championship and the Knockouts Tag Team Championship. At the pay-per-view, the Beautiful People were unsuccessful, as ODB pinned Rayne to win the match for the reigning champions. Around this time, the Beautiful People began using a weapon dubbed Lacey's Ugly Stick, a pink side-handle baton.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Angelina Love returned to the company on the January 14, 2010, episode of "Impact!", but instead of re-joining The Beautiful People, she attacked them. Several weeks later on March 8, Rayne and Velvet Sky defeated the teams of Love and Tara, and Sarita and Taylor Wilde in a three-way match to win the vacant Knockouts Tag Team Championship. Under the Freebird Rule, all three members of The Beautiful People were considered champions, and any combination of two members were permitted to defend the title. At Lockdown in April, Rayne and Sky partnered against Tara and Angelina Love in a tag team cage match, during which Rayne pinned Tara to win Love's Knockouts Championship. With the win, she became the first person to hold both the Knockout Championship and the Knockouts Tag Team Champiobnship simultaneously. The following month at Sacrifice, Rayne defeated Tara in a Title vs. Career match, causing Tara to retire from TNA and ending the storyline rivalry between Tara and The Beautiful People. At Slammiversary VIII Rayne retained her title against Roxxi in another Title vs. Career match.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On July 11 at the Victory Road pay-per-view, Madison Rayne defended her Knockouts Championship against Angelina Love in another Title vs. Career match with the added stipulation that Madison would lose the title by disqualification if either Velvet Sky or Lacey Von Erich interfered; the match ended when a villainess masked with a motorcycle helmet attacked Angelina and Madison was disqualified. losing the title. Prior to the match, it was decided that the title would change hands by disqualification if either in the match. However, the title was returned to her on the July 22 episode of "Impact!" as there was no proof that the masked woman was either Sky or Von Erich.


title: Madison Rayne

text: After weeks of arguing amongst each other over Rayne's attitude, the Beautiful People agreed to a truce on the July 29 episode of "Impact!". However, on the following episode of "Impact!", Rayne and the mystery woman inadvertently cost Sky and Von Erich the Knockouts Tag Team Championship in a match against Hamada and Taylor Wilde, when their interference backfired. The following week, Rayne lost the Knockouts Championship to Angelina Love, after a distraction caused by Velvet Sky attacking the mystery woman. Rayne received her rematch for the title on the following week's episode of "Impact!", but was again defeated by Love, after an interference from Velvet Sky. After the match Rayne and the mystery woman beat down Love and Sky. Rayne's mysterious ally was finally unmasked and revealed as Tara on the September 2 episode of "Impact!", when the two of them defeated the Beautiful People in a tag team match. At the No Surrender pay-per-view, Rayne was defeated by Velvet Sky in a singles match. On the September 16 episode of "Impact!", Rayne and Tara turned on Lacey Von Erich, after she and Rayne failed to regain the Knockouts Tag Team Championship from Hamada and Taylor Wilde. Von Erich was then saved by Love and Sky, who took her back into the Beautiful People. On the September 30 episode of "Impact!", Rayne signed a waiver to allow Tara to return to the ring, after losing a Title vs. Career match, which was supposed to end her TNA career.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Rayne attempted to regain the Knockout Championship in a four corners match with Love, Sky and Tara on October 10 at the Bound for Glory pay-per-view, but was unsuccessful, when Tara pinned Sky to win the title. After the match, the outraged Rayne went after special guest referee Mickie James, but ended up being laid out by her. On the October 14 episode of "Impact!", Tara laid down for Rayne and let her pin her to win the championship back, making her a three-time Knockout Champion. On the December 16 episode of "Impact!", Rayne and Tara defeated Mickie James and Miss Tessmacher to advance to the finals of a tournament for the vacated Knockouts Tag Team Championship. The following week, they were defeated in the finals by the team of Angelina Love and Winter.


title: Madison Rayne

text: In 2011, Rayne would start a rivalry with Mickie James over the Knockouts Championship, and would successfully defend the title against her at Genesis, and at Against All Odds in a Last Knockout Standing match, both times after interference from Tara. Afterwards, Rayne, claiming to now be done with James, announced the beginning of an open challenge series intended to find her new opponents, and, as part of it, successfully defended the Knockout Championship against former Knockouts ODB, Roxxi and Alissa Flash. However, during the storyling, Tara began claiming that Rayne had gone too far in her brutality towards James, but was forced to follow her orders due to being under exclusive contract with Rayne and not with TNA. After Rayne lost her title to James at Lockdown, ending her reign at 188 days, James agreed to give her a rematch for it on the condition that if she is unable to regain the title, Tara would be released from her contract with Rayne. On May 15 at Sacrifice, Tara turned on Rayne during her match with James, costing her the Knockout Championship and guaranteeing herself a release from her contract with Rayne. Rayne attacked Tara on the June 9 episode of "Impact Wrestling", costing her and Mickie James their tag team match against Angelina Love and Winter. The two faced each other in a singles match on the July 14 episode of "Impact Wrestling", where Tara was victorious after distracting Rayne with her pet tarantula Poison. Rayne returned on the September 29 episode of "Impact Wrestling", defeating Tara to earn a shot at the Knockouts Championship at Bound for Glory.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On October 16 at the Bound for Glory pay-per-view, Rayne was defeated by Velvet Sky in the four-way title match, which also included Mickie James and Winter. On the following episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne aligned herself with the returning Gail Kim and the Vice President of the Knockouts Division, Karen Jarrett.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On the November 3 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne and Kim defeated TnT (Brooke Tessmacher and Tara) to win the Knockouts Tag Team Championship. The following week, they made their first title defense, defeating Mickie James and Velvet Sky. On December 11 at the Final Resolution pay-per-view, Rayne caused a distraction during a Knockouts Championship match between Gail Kim and Mickie James, costing James the title. After Karen Jarrett was, in storyline, fired from TNA on the December 15 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne took over her role as the Vice President of the Knockouts Division, until Sting revoked her power on December 29 episode of "Impact Wrestling". Later that same night, Rayne interfered in the main event between Gail Kim and Mickie James, once again costing James the Knockouts Championship. On the January 5 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne and Kim retained their titles against James and Traci Brooks. On the January 19 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne was defeated by James in a steel cage match. After walking out on Gail Kim at the Against All Odds pay-per-view, Rayne became the number one contender to her Knockouts Championship by winning a battle royal on the February 16 episode of "Impact Wrestling". In the following weeks, tension between Rayne and Kim began show, with the two negatively interfering in each other's matches. On the March 8 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Kim and Rayne lost the Knockouts Tag Team Championship to Eric Young and ODB. On March 18 at the Victory Road pay-per-view, Rayne failed to capture the Knockouts Championship from Kim. On the March 29 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Kim and Rayne reconciled and remained together as a team.


title: Madison Rayne

text: The July 5 episode of "Impact Wrestling" saw the culmination of a several month long storyline, when Rayne revealed referee Earl Hebner as her secret crush. On the August 2 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Hebner helped Rayne win a four-way match over Gail Kim, Mickie James and Tara to become the number one contender to the Knockouts Championship. On August 12 at the Hardcore Justice pay-per-view, Hebner helped Rayne defeat Miss Tessmacher to win the Knockouts Championship for the fourth time. Rayne lost the title back to Tessmacher on the following episode of "Impact Wrestling" in a match refereed by the debuting Taryn Terrell.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Rayne returned to TNA on the November 15 episode of "Impact Wrestling", where competed in a battle royal to become the number one contender to the Knockouts Championship, but failed to win after being eliminated by ODB. Rayne faced off against the returning Velvet Sky on the December 13 episode of "Impact Wrestling", where she was defeated by Sky. On March 17, 2013, Rayne made an appearance at TNA's Knockouts Knockdown pay-per-view to congratulate and crown her former tag team partner Gail Kim, who was named "Queen of the Knockouts". Rayne would later stop appearing on television due to being on a legitimate maternity leave. On July 3, Rayne announced on her Twitter account that her contract with TNA had expired.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Rayne returned to TNA on the December 12 episode of "Impact Wrestling", saving ODB, who was being attacked by Lei'D Tapa and Rayne's former partner, the Knockouts Champion Gail Kim, establishing herself as a face in the process. Rayne made her in-ring return on the December 19 episode of "Impact Wrestling", when she teamed with ODB to defeat Lei'D Tapa and Gail Kim, after Rayne pinned Kim.<ref name="Impact12/19/13"></ref> On the January 2, 2014, episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne defeated Kim in an open challenge match, thus earning a match for the Knockouts Championship.<ref name="Impact1/2/14"></ref> On January 16 at the "Impact Wrestling: Genesis" special episode, Rayne defeated Kim to win the Knockouts Championship for a record-tying fifth time. On the January 30 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne and her former The Beautiful People partner Velvet Sky teamed up in a tag team match, which they won against Kim and Tapa. The rivalry between Kim and Rayne continued as the two competed in a street fight on the February 20 episode of "Impact Wrestling", which Kim would win after a distraction by Lei'D Tapa. The following week on the February 27 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne once again reunited with Sky in a tag team match against Tapa and Alpha Female, which they would lose when Tapa pinned Rayne. On March 2, both Rayne and Gail Kim were part of a group of TNA wrestlers that took part in Wrestle-1's event in Tokyo, Japan. During the event, Kim defeated Rayne in a non-title match. A week later at the Lockdown pay-per-view, Rayne defeated Kim in a steel cage match to retain the Knockouts Championship.


title: Madison Rayne

text: After ending her rivalry with Kim, Rayne entered a storyline with Angelina Love, who returned on the March 13 episode of "Impact Wrestling", with the intent to reunite The Beautiful People. On the March 20 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Velvet Sky would accept Love's offer, while Rayne would decline and was attacked by Love as a result. On the March 27 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne was defeated by Love due to interference from Sky. On the April 3 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne teamed with Brittany against The Beautiful People, and came out on the losing side when Love pinned Brittany. On April 27 at the Sacrifice pay-per-view, Rayne lost the Knockout Championship to Love, ending her reign at 101 days. After this, Rayne would enter a storyline in which Brittany would attempt to get involved in Rayne's feud with The Beautiful People, only to be repeatedly rejected. On the May 29 episode of "Impact Wrestling", after Rayne refused to be Brittany's tag team partner, Brittany would confront Rayne and confess her attraction towards her, only to be rejected. On the June 5 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne received her rematch clause against Love in a losing effort, after a distraction by Sky. On the June 12 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne was defeated by Gail Kim in a number one contender's match, which also involved Brittany. On the July 3 episode of "Impact Wrestling", during an in-ring segment, Rayne was attacked by Brittany after she promised to remain friends with Rayne. The feud between Brittany and Rayne culminated in a no count-out, no disqualification match on the July 17 episode of "Impact Wrestling", which Rayne won.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Rayne competed in a #1 Contender's match against Taryn Terrell on the August 27 episode of "Impact Wrestling", but was unsuccessful, despite showing signs of a villainous turn. On the October 8 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne became the number one contender to Havok's Knockouts Championship, after defeating Angelina Love and Taryn Terrell in a three–way match. After the match, Rayne continued displaying her heel persona when she left Terrell to be attacked by Havok. Rayne received her title opportunity on the following week's episode of "Impact Wrestling" but was unsuccessful in winning the championship from Havok. On the October 29 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne turned heel by attacking Taryn Terrell during their tag team match against The Beautiful People, allowing Love and Sky to win.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On the January 30, 2015, episode of "Impact Wrestling", the villainous Rayne unsuccessfully challenged Taryn Terrell for the Knockouts Championship in a three-way match, also involving Gail Kim. On the "TKO: Night of Knockouts" edition of "Impact Wrestling" on April 24, Rayne competed in a four-way number one contender's match against Angelina Love, Brooke and Gail Kim, which was ultimately won by Brooke. On the September 2 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne and Angelina Love came to the aid of Velvet Sky, who was being beaten down by Dollhouse members Rebel, Jade and Marti Bell, turning face and reforming The Beautiful People in the process. During October and November (taped in July), she participated in the TNA World Title Series, where she ended third of her block, tied with Brooke, failing to advance to the finals.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Rayne started competing individually after winning a match against Velvet Sky for a title shot against Gail Kim. She participated in a three-way match against Gail Kim and Jade for the TNA Knockouts Championship, which was won by Jade. On the August 25 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne competed in five-way match against the champion Sienna, Marti Bell, Jade and Allie for the TNA Knockouts Championship, which was won by the latter. On September 8, 2016, Rayne was announced as a new member of TNA's creative team, replacing Christy Hemme, who left TNA earlier in April 2016. Since then she has been acting as a female color commentator during the Knockouts matches. On April 6, 2017, during the episode of "Impact Wrestling", Rayne slowly became a villainess once again and participated in a gauntlet match to become number one contender for Rosemary's Knockouts Championship, which was won by ODB. She left the promotion in July 2017. On October 13, 2017, it was announced that Rayne would be attending tryouts at the WWE Performance Center.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On November 8, 2017, Ring of Honor announced that Lomberger was signed to compete for ROH for the first time in nine years. She debuted at the Survival of the Fittest event in Oklahoma City in singles competition against Deonna Purrazzo.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On January 10, 2018, Rayne was announced to compete in the Women of Honor Championship tournament. Rayne was defeated by Mandy Leon in a first-round match that was uploaded on February 21, 2018. On July 21, 2018, in the ROH TV Tapings, she was defeated by Sumie Sakai in a Women of Honor World Championship Match, that was uploaded on August 31. On September 19, Rayne announced that she signed one-year deal with ROH. On December 14, at Final Battle (2018) Rayne participated in a Four Corner Survival match for the Women of Honor World Championship, where she was unsuccessful to capture the title after being eliminated by Kelly Klein. Rayne and ROH came to terms on her release from her contract on February 28, 2019, reportedly due to creative differences.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On July 30, 2018, WWE announced that Simmons would compete as Ashley Rayne in the 2018 Mae Young Classic tournament. She was eliminated in the first round after losing to Mercedes Martinez.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On the November 29 episode of "Impact!", Rayne returned as a heel in a three-way match between herself, Laurel Van Ness and K. C. Spinelli in a losing effort.


title: Madison Rayne

text: Rayne once again returned on the May 17 episode of "Impact!" on commentary during a knockouts match between Tessa Blanchard and Kiera Hogan. After the match, Madison Rayne came down to the ring to save Hogan from the assault by Tessa Blanchard. On the May 31 episode of "Impact!", she defeated Blanchard. At Slammiversary XVI, she unsuccessfully challenged Su Yung for the Impact Knockouts Championship. On August 24, 2018, Rayne's profile on Impact's website was moved to the alumni section.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On March 1, 2019, one day after her release from ROH, Rayne signed a multi-year contract to return to Impact Wrestling. In her first match on "Impact!" since her return, Rayne unsuccessfully challenged Jordynne Grace to become the #1 contender for the Impact Knockouts Championship. On the July 17 episode of "Impact!", after Rayne lost to Grace in a triple threat match that also involved Hogan, Rayne joined forces with Hogan by attacking Grace, turning heel in the process.


title: Madison Rayne

text: During 2020, Rayne transitioned into a more active role in commentary along with her husband Josh Mathews, being the first female figure on the commentary on a weekly basis. On the "Countdown to Hard to Kill" pre-show for Hard to Kill (2021), Rayne announced her retirement from the wrestling business. She made her final appearance on Hard to Kill proper, presenting the Knockouts Tag Team Championship belts to Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz alongside former championship partner Gail Kim.


title: Madison Rayne

text: On the August 12, 2021, episode of "Impact!", Rayne returned to Impact Wrestling, attacking Taylor Wilde during her match against Tenille Dashwood, and aligning with Dashwood after the match. In October, Rayne entered a tournament to determine the inaugural Impact Digital Media Champion, where she lost to Chelsea Green in the first round; however, Rayne replaced Dashwood to compete against Jordynne Grace in the final at Bound for Glory, where she lost. Rayne wrestled her final match on the August 11, 2022 episode of Impact against Mia Yim, in a losing effort, ending her third tenure with the company.


title: Madison Rayne

text: All Elite Wrestling announced in August 2022 that Rayne had signed as a coach for the promotion's women's division. She is also set to compete as a wrestler. Rayne made her in-ring debut for the promotion on the August 5 episode of "AEW Rampage".


title: Madison Rayne

text: Simmons married Jesse Cabot on February 8, 2011. Their child, a daughter named Charley, was born on August 29, 2013. Simmons and Cabot divorced in 2015. Later that year, in August, Simmons married Impact Wrestling commentator Josh Lomberger (better known as Josh Mathews).


title: 24 (season 1)

text: The first season of the American drama television series "24", also known as Day 1, was first broadcast from November 6, 2001, to May 21, 2002, on Fox. The season's storyline starts at midnight and ends at the following midnight on the day of the California presidential primary.


title: 24 (season 1)

text: The season's main plot revolves around an assassination attempt on David Palmer, a U.S. Senator from Maryland who is a candidate for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, on the day of the primary in California. The central character is Jack Bauer, a former United States Army Delta Force operator who is the Director of the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) in Los Angeles. Bauer becomes professionally as well as personally involved when his wife Teri and daughter Kim are kidnapped by the people behind the assassination plot.


title: 24 (season 1)

text: The season is divided into two halves; the first revolves around a mercenary group's efforts to control Jack Bauer by kidnapping his wife and daughter and forcing him to kill Senator Palmer. This culminates in Jack's successful rescue of his family. In the second half, a second wave of assassins is discovered. As CTU tracks their activities, Jack learns why he and the Senator are being targeted, and motions to counter against the assassins.


title: 24 (season 1)

text: Fox initially ordered only 13 episodes—the successful rescue at the end of the season's first half was planned as a series finale in the event that the show was not renewed.


title: 24 (season 1)

text: The show rotates between the points of view of each of the five main cast members: Jack Bauer, Teri Bauer, Nina Myers, Kim Bauer, and David Palmer, as well as one main villain—Mandy for the first three hours, followed by Ira Gaines, Andre Drazen, and finally Victor Drazen. The day's situations—both ongoing events and the relationships between these five characters and their associates—form the basis for the season's subplots.


title: 24 (season 1)

text: Season 1 starts and ends at 12:00 a.m. PST. The season's first half centers on the efforts of a terrorist cell led by Ira Gaines to assassinate presidential candidate David Palmer. They kidnap Jack Bauer's wife and daughter in order to force him to aid in the assassination and take the fall for Palmer's death. Jack eventually defeats this cell and Gaines in the process of saving his wife and daughter, but this only leads to information about a second group of terrorists who had employed the first cell. The second cell is led by those ultimately responsible for the day's events: Andre and Alexis Drazen.


title: 24 (season 1)

text: Two years ago, to the day, Bauer was sent as part of a classified team to Kosovo on the orders of a secret U.S. Congressional panel headed by Palmer to kill Victor Drazen, Slobodan Milošević's "shadow." In order to keep Operation Nightfall totally secret, the panel never met nor knew the team of operatives, nor did the team know the panel. Therefore, Palmer and Bauer never knew about each other. The Drazens found out about both Palmer's and Bauer's involvement in the attack against their father and the death of his daughter and his wife. Incidentally, Bauer was believed to be the only operative still alive, and the whole assassination plot was to practice revenge: Palmer would be dead, Jack would be imprisoned for the assassination, and his family would be killed.


title: 24 (season 1)

text: During the last few episodes, the plot twists revealed many surprises. It was revealed that Bauer's team had only killed Drazen's body double. Drazen's wife and daughter, however, were inadvertently killed, prompting the "eye for an eye" aspect of the plot: as Drazen's wife and daughter died, so would Bauer's wife and daughter. Viewers also discovered that the real Victor Drazen is a top secret, unofficial prisoner of the U.S. government, and the Drazens' primary goal was to free Victor Drazen.


title: 24 (season 1)

text: Eventually, to satisfy the Drazens, Palmer's death is faked. The Drazens recapture Bauer's daughter Kim and offer to exchange her life for Bauer's. However, Kim escapes and the Drazens soon learn that Palmer is still alive. With time running out on his chance to escape before he is recaptured, in desperation, the freed Victor Drazen tells his mole inside CTU, who is revealed to be Nina Myers, to call Bauer and tell him that his daughter is dead and that the U.S. Coast Guard has found her body. Drazen knows that a grieving Jack will attack him, and he believes he, his son Andre Drazen (the other, Alexis, having been seriously injured earlier by an aide to Sen. Palmer and later dying of his wounds during transportation to the Drazen hideout) and their henchmen can kill Jack. Nina is reluctant, knowing that if Drazen's plan fails, Jack will very quickly learn that Kim is not dead and that, since Nina lied to him, she must be the mole. However Nina does tell this lie to Jack.


title: 24 (season 1)

text: Drazen's plot backfires rather spectacularly, as an enraged Jack kills Drazen's son and guards, and in the process corners Victor Drazen before killing him, after both have exchanged fire in a shootout. Afterwards, Jack Bauer speaks with a member of the Coast Guard to arrange to claim his daughter's body. The Coast Guard informs Bauer that they did not find a body that night. Bauer realizes that Nina Myers is the mole. He calls George Mason and tells him to detain Myers, but Myers, who heard that Bauer had survived, was already preparing for exfiltration by erasing all the incriminating information of herself on CTU's computer. Bauer's wife, Teri, is confused about the events surrounding Jack's attempt to rescue their daughter, and looks for Myers, whom she trusts. Teri realizes that Myers is the mole, however, and Myers ties her to a chair. Jack comes to CTU and lets the agents take Myers into custody (as opposed to killing her). He then discovers his wife's body in the chair with a fatal gunshot wound to her abdomen. The season ends with Jack cradling his dead wife in his arms, while he constantly tells her he is sorry.


title: 24 (season 1)

text: The first season introduced split screens into "24", a feature which continued to play a role in all of the seasons, especially the early ones. Editors originally wanted the boxes showing separate characters to overlap but Stephen Hopkins decided not to do this. The writers were intentionally secretive about whether Teri Bauer would be killed in the final episode. To cast doubt about the outcome, three endings were filmed, two of which showed that Teri survived. Writers Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran originally planned for Teri to survive, but half-way through the season, they decided that a happy ending would not be as satisfying. They instead went with the ending where Teri dies. Surnow explained, "It made the show feel more real. And it gives our audience a sense when they're going to watch the show next season, of not being able to expect anything they’ve come to expect in a normal television show."


title: 24 (season 1)

text: The trailer for the first season aired some time between April and November, 2001. The trailer announces that David Palmer may become the first black U.S. President and shows Jack Bauer learning about the assassination attempt and corruption within his agency. Notably, the trailer shows the explosion of a commercial plane that was edited out of the show in response to the September 11 attacks. All other scenes shown are from the premiere episode.


title: 24 (season 1)

text: The first season received universal acclaim, scoring a Metacritic rating of 88/100 based on 27 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 95% with an average score of 8.7 out of 10 based on 21 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Brimming with tension and political intrigue, "24" successfully introduces its unique, high-concept format and a compelling hero worth watching in Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer."


title: 24 (season 1)

text: Kiefer Sutherland won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and the Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama for his role as Jack Bauer for this season. In 2009, the season finale ("11:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.") was listed in "TV Guide"s list of the top 100 episodes of all time, at number 10. In 2005, TV Land included the same episode as part of its "100 Most Unexpected Moments in TV History", ranking it number 32. Teri Bauer's death at the end of the finale was voted by "TV Guide" as the second-most shocking death in television history.


title: 24 (season 1)

text: The first season was released on DVD in region 1 on , and in region 2 on . A special-edition version was released in region 1 on . The season 1 DVD features an alternative ending in which Teri Bauer survives.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: William Ralph Wright (born January 20, 1960) is an American video game designer and co-founder of the former game development company Maxis, and then part of Electronic Arts (EA). In April 2009, he left EA to run Stupid Fun Club Camp, an entertainment think tank in which Wright and EA are principal shareholders.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: The first computer game Wright designed was "Raid on Bungeling Bay" in 1984, but it was "SimCity" that brought him to prominence. The game was released by Maxis, a company Wright formed with Jeff Braun, and he built upon the game's theme of computer simulation with numerous other titles including "SimEarth" and "SimAnt".


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: Wright's greatest success to date comes from being the original designer for "The Sims". The game spawned multiple sequels, including "The Sims 2", "The Sims 3", and "The Sims 4" and expansion packs, and Wright has earned many awards for his work. His latest work, "Spore", was released in September 2008 and features gameplay based upon the model of evolution and scientific advancement. The game sold 406,000 copies within three weeks of its release.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: As a child, his interest in game design began with the Chinese/Japanese strategy board game Go. It has a "simple set of rules" yet "the strategies in it are so complex" according to Wright, and he was "fascinated with the idea that complexity can come out of such simplicity."


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: After graduating at 16 from Episcopal High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he enrolled in Louisiana State University, transferring two years later to Louisiana Tech. Beginning with a start at an architecture degree, followed by mechanical engineering, he fell into computers and robotics. He excelled in subjects he was interested in—architecture, economics, mechanical engineering, military history, and language arts. His earlier dream of space colonization remained, and was joined by a love for robotics.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: After another two years at Louisiana Tech, in the fall of 1980, Wright moved on to The New School in Manhattan. He lived in an apartment over Balducci's, in Greenwich Village, and spent much of his spare time searching for spare parts in local electronics surplus stores. After one year at the New School, Wright returned to Baton Rouge without his degree, concluding five years of collegiate study.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: Wright enjoyed playing board wargames like "PanzerBlitz" as a teenager. While living in New York City he purchased an Apple II+. Wanting to implement Conway's Game of Life on it led Wright to teach himself Applesoft BASIC, Pascal, and assembly language. As others like Bill Budge and Nasir Gebelli were already producing multiple Apple video games, Wright decided to develop for the newer Commodore 64. His first game was the helicopter action game "Raid on Bungeling Bay" (1984).


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: In "Raid on Bungeling Bay", the player flies over islands while dropping bombs. Wright found that he had more fun creating the islands with his level editor for "Raid on Bungeling Bay" than he had actually playing the game. He created a new game that would later evolve into "SimCity", but he had trouble finding a publisher. The structuralist dynamics of the game were in part inspired by the work of two architectural and urban theorists, Christopher Alexander and Jay Forrester.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: In an interview with "The Times", Wright expressed his belief that computers extend the imagination, and posits the emergence of the "metabrain", stating:


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: In 1986, Wright met Jeff Braun, an investor interested in entering the computer game industry, at what Wright has called "the world's most important pizza party." Together they formed Maxis the next year in Orinda, California. "SimCity" (1989) was a hit and has been credited as one of the most influential computer games ever made. Wright himself has been widely featured in several computer magazines—particularly "PC Gamer", which has listed Wright in its annual 'Game Gods' feature, alongside such notables as Roberta Williams and Peter Molyneux.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: Following the success of "SimCity", Wright designed "SimEarth" (1990) and "SimAnt" (1991). He co-designed "SimCity 2000" (1993) with Fred Haslam and in the meantime Maxis produced other "Sim" games. Wright's next game was "SimCopter" (1996). Although none of these games were as successful as "SimCity", they further cemented Wright's reputation as a designer of "software toys"—games that cannot be won or lost, but played indefinitely. In 1992, Wright moved to Walnut Creek, California.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: Wright has a great interest in complex adaptive systems and most of his games have been based around them or books that describe them ("SimAnt": E.O. Wilson's "The Ants", "SimEarth": James Lovelock's "Gaia Theory", "SimCity": Jay Forrester's "Urban Dynamics" and "World Dynamics", "Spore," "Drake's Equation" and "Powers of Ten") Wright's role in the development of the concepts from simulations to games is to empower the players by creating what he dubs "possibility spaces", or simple rules and game elements that add up to a very complex design. All Maxis, and later games that Wright had a hand in designing, adhere to these design principles.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: Maxis went public in 1995 with revenue of US$38 million. The stock reached $50 a share and then dropped as Maxis posted a loss. EA bought Maxis in June 1997. Wright had been thinking about making a virtual doll house ever since the early 1990s, similar to "SimCity" but focused on individual people; after losing his home during the Oakland firestorm of 1991, he was inspired to turn his experiences of rebuilding his life into a game. "The Sims" would be based on Wright's focus on building homes, which came from inspiration he found first-hand. Wright, was even sure to include many fires in the game, which were extra difficult for the player to extinguish. Themes like carpentry, home construction, and bare ground in need of landscaping, are common throughout the game. Originally conceived of as an architectural design game called "Home Tactics", Wright's idea changed when someone suggested the player should be rated on the quality of life experience by the homeowners. It was a difficult idea to sell to EA, because already 40% of Maxis's employees had been laid off.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: When Wright took his idea to the Maxis board of directors, Jeff Braun said, "The board looked at "The Sims" and said, 'What is this? He wants to do an interactive doll house? The guy is out of his mind. Maxis gave little support or financing for the game. However, EA was more enthusiastic. Steven Levy wrote: "Wright's games were so different from EA's other releases that it was hard to imagine the two being united in the same enterprise." However, the success of "SimCity" had already established Sim as a strong brand, and EA, which by then, fifteen years after its founding, was becoming a Procter & Gamble-style brand-management company, foresaw the possibility of building a "Sim" franchise.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: EA published "The Sims" in February 2000 and it became Wright's biggest success at the time. It eventually surpassed "Myst" as the best-selling computer game of all time and spawned numerous expansion packs and other games. He designed a massively multiplayer version of the game called "The Sims Online", which was not as popular as the original. By November 2006, the "Sims" franchise had earned EA more than a billion dollars.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: In a presentation at the Game Developers Conference on March 11, 2005, Wright announced his latest game "Spore". He used the current work on this game to demonstrate methods that can be used to reduce the amount of content that needs to be created by the game developers. Wright hopes to inspire others to take risks in game creation.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: Wright has said that he believes that simulations, as games, can be used to improve education by teaching children how to learn. In his own words:


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: After building his reputation as one of the most important game designers in the world, Wright left Maxis in 2009. His first post-EA venture was the Stupid Fun Club startup company and experimental entertainment development studio, with a focus on "video games, online environments, storytelling media, and fine home care products", as well as toys. In October 2010, Current TV announced that Will Wright and his team from Stupid Fun Club will produce a new show for the network.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: The program, entitled "Bar Karma", began airing in February 2011, and featured scenes and twists pitched by an online community, using an online story creator tool designed by Wright. Stupid Fun Club ran for four years before closing down, with much of the team following Wright to found the social media app and graphic novel builder Thred.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: In October 2011, Will Wright became a member of the board of directors of Linden Lab, the creators of "Second Life".


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: At the Game Developers Conference in March 2018, Will Wright announced a new project, the upcoming mobile game "Proxi".


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: At GalaVerse on December 11, 2021, Will Wright announced a new project, in partnership with Gala Games, called "VoxVerse". Wright said "VoxVerse" will be a blockchain game, where players will be able to create areas to explore and interact with and share these with other players of the game, incentivizing creators through the ability to trade or sell their works as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) using cryptocurrency. Wright stated that the use of blockchain and NFTs are mechanisms needed to support the vision he has, but has no interest in selling NFTs directly to players as other blockchain games or NFT schemes have had done in the past. He likened it to early players in "The Sims" that found ways to modify the game to include their own creation. The game is being developed by Gallium Games, a studio he co-founded with Lauren Elliott, and being created in the Unity engine.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: Wright was given a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2001. In 2002, he became the fifth person to be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame. Until 2006, he was the only person to have been honored this way by both of these industry organizations. In 2007 the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awarded him a fellowship, the first given to a game designer.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: He has been called one of the most important people in gaming, technology, and entertainment by publications such as "Entertainment Weekly", "Time", "PC Gamer", "Discover" and GameSpy. Wright was also awarded the "PC Magazine" Lifetime Achievement Award in January 2005. Later that year, Wright earned the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Progress and Service awarded by the Georgia Institute of Technology. He delivered a forward looking acceptance speech entitled "Stealth Communities".


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: In 1980, along with co-driver and race organizer Rick Doherty, Wright participated in the U.S. Express, a cross-country race that was the successor to The Cannonball Run. Wright and Doherty drove a specially outfitted Mazda RX-7 from Brooklyn, New York to Santa Monica, California in 33:39, winning the illegal race. Wright only competed once in the race, which continued until 1983. Wright had a daughter, Cassidy, in 1986, which motivated him greatly over the next five years to hone his craft.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: Since 2003, in his spare time, Wright has collected leftovers from the Soviet space program, "including a 100-pound hatch from a space shuttle, a seat from a Soyuz ... control panels from the Mir", and the control console of the Soyuz 23, as well as dolls, dice, and fossils.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: He once built competitive robots for "BattleBots" with his daughter, but no longer does so. As of November 2006, Wright still had remnant bits of machined metal left over from his "BattleBots "days strewn about the garage of his home. Wright was a former "Robot Wars" champion in the Berkeley-based robotics workshop, the Stupid Fun Club. One of Wright's bots, designed with the help of Wright's daughter, Cassidy, "Kitty Puff Puff", fought against its opponents by sticking a roll of tape onto its armature and circling around them, encapsulating them and denying them movement. The technique, "cocooning", was eventually banned.


title: Will Wright (game designer)

text: Wright lives in Oakland, California, with his son. He is an atheist. Wright lost his home and most records of his early career in the Oakland firestorm of 1991. He is on the board of trustees of the X Prize Foundation, a non-profit organization that designs and hosts public competitions intended to encourage technological development to benefit humanity.


title: UiPath

text: UiPath is a global software company that makes robotic process automation (RPA) software. It was founded in Bucharest, Romania, by Daniel Dines and Marius Tîrcă. Its headquarters are in New York City. The company's software monitors user activity to automate repetitive front and back office tasks, including those performed using other business software such as customer relationship management or enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.


title: UiPath

text: In December 2020, the company filed confidentially for an initial public offering, and became public on April 21, 2021.


title: UiPath

text: UiPath was founded in 2005 in Bucharest, Romania as DeskOver, by Romanian entrepreneurs Daniel Dines and Marius Tîrcă.


title: UiPath

text: In 2013, the company released the first UiPath Desktop Automation product line, which gave companies RPA tools to automate manual and repetitive back office tasks.


title: UiPath

text: In 2015, the company changed its name to UiPath. Also in 2015, after receiving seed funding from Accel Partners and earlier investors, the company also opened offices in London, New York City, Bangalore, Paris, Singapore, Washington, D.C., and Tokyo.


title: UiPath

text: By April 2016, the company had released its Front Office and Back Office Server suites, and also released its Studio Community Edition. Within six months, the company had 10,000 active members, and more than 250 enterprise customers.


title: UiPath

text: In 2017, UiPath reported 590 employees and moved its headquarters to New York to be closer to its international customer base.


title: UiPath

text: In June 2019, research firm Gartner announced that from 2017 to 2018 UiPath moved from #5 to #1 in RPA market share. In September, UiPath was ranked #3 on the Forbes Cloud 100. The company was the featured cover story of the September 30, 2019 Forbes print edition with UiPath CEO Daniel Dines called "Boss of the Bots."


title: UiPath

text: In October 2019, UiPath announced the acquisition of Ukrainian process documentation company StepShot and Dutch process mining company ProcessGold. Also in October, the company announced UiPath Explorer, a new product using technology from the acquired companies; a robot communication tool called UiPath Apps; a low code robot programming tool called UiPath StudioX; an embedded analytics tool called UiPath Insights; and UiPath Connect, a tool that allowed every employee to find new processes to automate.


title: UiPath

text: In November of the same year, the company reported it had 5,000 customers worldwide, and a developer community of more than 500,000 people. In November, the company was ranked first in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500.


title: UiPath

text: In April 2020, UiPath was named the top tech company and #2 overall in the Financial Times FT1000 ranking of Americas' fastest growing companies 2020. In June, UiPath was named to the CNBC 2020 Disruptor 50 ranking. In September, UiPath was ranked #3 on the Forbes Cloud 100 list for the second consecutive year. On December 17, Bloomberg reported that UiPath filed confidentially for an initial public offering (IPO).


title: UiPath

text: In March 2021, UiPath acquired Cloud Elements, an interconnectivity platform to advance API-based automation capabilities.


title: UiPath

text: In April 2021, UiPath raised $1.3 billion in an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in one of the largest US software IPOs in history.


title: UiPath

text: In July 2022, UiPath acquired Re:infer, a natural language processing developer, for an undisclosed sum.


title: UiPath

text: UiPath develops software to automate repetitive digital tasks normally performed by people. The technology combines emulating how humans read computer screens (AI computer vision), together with APIs, and gives users access to pre-built automation components that can be combined to automate routine processes. Its earlier products simplified tasks performed using other business software such as CRM or ERP systems, in internal and back-office areas like accounting, human resources paperwork, and claims processing. Newer applications of the company's software include coordinating with artificial intelligence systems to simplify repetitive front office tasks including customer management. UiPath's built-in OCR engines from Google, Microsoft, and ABBYY can read information from a screen or scanned document.


title: UiPath

text: UiPath's main product is the UiPath Automation Platform. The platform combines a family of low-code visual integrated development environment (IDE) products called Studio for process creation, with client-side agents called Robots that execute those processes. The processes are deployed, monitored and managed remotely with a central management tool called Orchestrator.


title: UiPath

text: UiPath's software products are available as native software or using the Software as a Service (SaaS) model.


title: UiPath

text: UiPath also hosts the UiPath Academy, to provide job training and certification in the field of Robotic Process Automation.


title: Defense Superior Service Medal

text: The Defense Superior Service Medal (DSSM) is a military decoration of the United States Department of Defense, which is presented to United States Armed Forces service members who perform superior meritorious service in a position of significant responsibility.


title: Defense Superior Service Medal

text: The decoration is most often presented to general and flag officers, followed by a lesser number of Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force colonels and Navy and Coast Guard captains. The medal is presented in the name of the United States Secretary of Defense and was established by President Gerald R. Ford on February 6, 1976, in . It is analogous and senior to the Legion of Merit, albeit awarded for service in a joint duty capacity.


title: Defense Superior Service Medal

text: The Defense Superior Service Medal is the United States Department of Defense's second-highest non-combat related military award and it is the second-highest joint service decoration. The Defense Superior Service Medal is awarded by the Secretary of Defense to members of the United States Armed Forces who have rendered superior meritorious service while serving in a position of great responsibility. This service must be as part of a joint activity. The award is generally for a period of time exceeding 12 months and encompassing an entire joint assignment. Service members assigned to or attached to a Joint Task Force as individuals, not members of a specific military service's unit, can be eligible for the DSSM. The DSSM has also been awarded to a small cohort of U.S. military officers serving as astronauts for service leading up to and during Space Shuttle missions carrying classified and unclassified Department of Defense payloads. In these cases, the 12 month time period was considered to include the training period prior to that actual space flight, said training which typically exceeded a year in duration.


title: Defense Superior Service Medal

text: Members of service-specific units are eligible for awards of personal decorations from their parent service. The Defense Superior Service Medal is specifically intended to recognize exceptionally superior service, and to honor an individual's accomplishments over a sustained period. Joint or Department of Defense awards, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, may be awarded posthumously.


title: Defense Superior Service Medal

text: At the time of creation of the Defense Superior Service Medal it was decided that it would be obtained at the lowest possible cost and with as little involvement as possible. For these reasons, and because it would rank just below the Defense Distinguished Service Medal for similar service, it was decided to use the same design as the Defense Distinguished Service Medal. The difference is that it is finished in silver rather than gold and the inscriptions on the reverse of the medal are appropriately modified.


title: Defense Superior Service Medal

text: The medal is made of a silver-colored metal with blue enamel, 1 7/8 inches (4.76 cm) in height overall. The obverse depicts a silver American eagle superimposed over a medium blue pentagon. The eagle has outstretched wings, charged on its breast is the shield of the United States. In its talons are three crossed arrows in silver. The tips of the wings cover a surrounding arc of silver five-pointed stars encircling the top and sides of the pentagon, while the bottom is surrounded by a silver wreath encircling the base composed of a laurel branch on the left and an olive branch on the right.


title: Defense Superior Service Medal

text: The reverse is plain except for the inscription at the top, "For Superior Service". Below in the pentagon is the inscription "From The Secretary of Defense To".


title: Defense Superior Service Medal

text: The medal is suspended from a ribbon 1 3/8 inch (3.49 cm) in width composed of the following vertical stripes: Golden Yellow 3/16 inch (.48 cm), Bluebird 1/4 inch (.64 cm), White 3/16 inch (.48 cm), Scarlet 1/8 inch (.32 cm), White 3/16 inch (.48 cm), Bluebird 1/4 inch (.64 cm) Golden Yellow 3/16 inch (.48 cm).


title: Defense Superior Service Medal

text: Subsequent awards of the Defense Superior Service Medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters worn on the suspension and service ribbons of the medal.


title: Mil Mi-2

text: The Mil Mi-2 (NATO reporting name Hoplite) is a small, three rotor blade Soviet-designed multi-purpose helicopter developed by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant designed in the early 1960s, and produced exclusively by WSK "PZL-Świdnik" in Poland.


title: Mil Mi-2

text: The first production helicopter in the Soviet Union was the Mil Mi-1, modelled along the lines of the S-51 and Bristol Sycamore and flown by Mikhail Mil's bureau in September 1948. During the 1950s it became evident, and confirmed by American and French development, that helicopters could be greatly improved with turbine engines. S. P. Isotov developed the GTD-350 engine and Mil used two of these in the far superior Mi-2.


title: Mil Mi-2

text: The twin shaft-turbine engines used in the Mi-2 develop 40% more power than the Mi-1's piston engines, for barely half the engine weight, with the result that the payload was more than doubled. The Mi-2 fuselage was extensively altered from its predecessor, with the engines mounted overhead. However, the external dimensions remained similar.


title: Mil Mi-2

text: The Mil-built prototype first flew in the Soviet Union on 22 September 1961, after the initial development the project was transferred to Poland in 1964. The first Świdnik-built example flew on 4 November 1965 (making this the only Soviet-designed helicopter to be built solely outside the Soviet Union). PZL-Świdnik produced a total of 5,497 helicopters, about a third for military users. The factory also developed fiberglass rotor blades, and developed the wide-body Mi-2M seating 10 passengers instead of eight. Most typical role-change kits include four stretchers for air ambulance usage, or aerospraying or cropdusting applications.


title: Mil Mi-2

text: In Poland, several specialized military variants were also developed in early 1970s for support or training roles, with 23 mm autocannon, machine guns and/or two 57 mm rocket pods, four 9K11 Malyutka anti-tank missiles or Strela-2 AA missiles.


title: Mil Mi-2

text: The Mi-2 was first introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1965. The Mi-2 is used by mainly former Soviet and Eastern Bloc countries, although it was also purchased by Mexico and Myanmar armed forces.


title: Mil Mi-2

text: Most of the armed Mi-2 variants were used by Poland. Some were also used by the former East Germany (with 7.62 mm machine gun and 57 mm unguided rocket armament only).


title: Mil Mi-2

text: During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces were recorded capturing three Mi-2 helicopters in Kherson International Airport.


title: Mil Mi-2

text: The helicopter is also used to spray agricultural chemicals by private owners in Ukraine. 2 were killed in a crash in 2021 near Zaive in the region of Mykolaiv.


title: Zhengzhou

text: Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National Central Cities in China, the centre of Central Plains area, and serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational center of the province. The Zhengzhou metropolitan area (including Zhengzhou and Kaifeng) is the core area of the Central Plains Economic Zone.


title: Zhengzhou

text: The city lies on the southern bank of the Yellow River. Zhengzhou is a major hub of China's national transportation network, with railways connecting Zhengzhou to Europe and an international airport. Zhengzhou is a and a State-list Famous Historical and Culture City. As of 2020, there are two World Cultural Heritage Sites in Zhengzhou. The Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) is China's first futures exchange. Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone is China's first Airport Economy Zone.


title: Zhengzhou

text: As of the 2020 Chinese census, the prefecture-level city of Zhengzhou had a population of 12,600,574 inhabitants, whom 10,260,667 lived in its built-up (or metro) area made of 6 urban districts plus Zhongmu county, Xinzheng and Xingyang cities now largely being conurbated. The city had a total GDP of 1.014 trillion (RMB) in 2018. Greater Zhengzhou was named as one of the 13 emerging mega-cities in China in a July 2012 report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, and officially named as the eighth National Central City in 2017 by the central government in Beijing.


title: Zhengzhou

text: Zhengzhou is a major city for scientific research, appearing among the world's top 100 cities as tracked by the Nature Index. The city is home to several national key universities in China, notably Zhengzhou University, Henan University, Henan Agricultural University, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, and Henan University of Technology.


title: Zhengzhou

text: The Shang dynasty established Aodu () or Bodu () in Zhengzhou. This prehistorical city had become abandoned as ruins long before the First Emperor of China in BC 260. Since 1950, archaeological finds in a walled city in Eastern Zhengzhou have provided evidence of Shang dynasty settlements in the area around BC 1600. Outside this city, remains of large public buildings and a complex of small settlements have been discovered. The site is generally identified with the Shang capital of Ao and is preserved in the Shang dynasty Ruins monument in Guanchen District. The Shang, who continually moved their capital due to frequent natural disasters, left Ao at around 13th century BC. The site, nevertheless, remained occupied; Zhou (post-1050 BC) tombs have also been discovered. Legend suggests that in the Western Zhou period (1111–771 BC) the site became the fief of a family named "Guan". From this derives the name borne by the county ("xian") since the late 6th century BC—Guancheng (City of the Guan). The city first became the seat of a prefectural administration in AD 587, when it was named "Guanzhou". In 605 it was first called Zhengzhou—a name by which it has been known virtually ever since.


title: Zhengzhou

text: The name Zhengzhou came from the Sui dynasty (AD 582), even though it was located in Chenggao, another town. The government moved to the contemporary city during the Tang dynasty. It achieved its greatest importance under the Sui (AD 581–618), Tang (618–907), and early Song (960–1127) dynasties, when it was the terminus of the New Bian Canal, which joined the Yellow River to the northwest. There, at a place called Heyin, a vast granary complex was established to supply the capitals at Luoyang and Chang'an to the west and the frontier armies to the north. In the Song period, however, the transfer of the capital eastward to Kaifeng robbed Zhengzhou of much of its importance.


title: Zhengzhou

text: In 1903 the Beijing–Hankou Railway arrived at Zhengzhou, and in 1909 the first stage of the Longhai Railway gave it an east–west link to Kaifeng and Luoyang; it later was extended eastward to the coast at Lianyungang, Jiangsu, and westward to Xi'an (Chang'an), Shaanxi, as well as to western Shaanxi. Zhengzhou thus became a major rail junction and a regional center for cotton, grain, peanuts, and other agricultural produce. Early in 1923 a workers' strike began in Zhengzhou and spread along the rail line before it was suppressed; a 14-story double tower in the center of the city commemorates the strike. On June 10, 1938, Chiang Kai-shek's National Revolutionary Army opened up the dikes retaining the Yellow River at Huayuankou between Zhengzhou and Kaifeng, in an effort to stem the tide of invading Japanese; however, the ensuing 1938 Yellow River flood also killed hundreds of thousands of Chinese.


title: Zhengzhou

text: Zhengzhou also has a locomotive and rolling-stock repair plant, a tractor-assembly plant, and a thermal generating station. The city's industrial growth has resulted in a large increase in the population, coming predominantly from industrial workers from the north. A water diversion project and pumping station, built in 1972, has provided irrigation for the surrounding countryside. The city has an agricultural university.


title: Zhengzhou

text: In July 2021, record breaking floods left over a million people displaced and at least 300 people dead.


title: Zhengzhou

text: Located just north of the province's centre and south of the Yellow River, Zhengzhou borders Luoyang to the west, Jiaozuo to the northwest, Xinxiang to the northeast, Kaifeng to the east, Xuchang to the southeast, and Pingdingshan to the southwest. With the land within its administrative borders generally sloping down from west to east, Zhengzhou is situated at the transitional zone between the North China Plain to the east and the Song Mountains and Xionger Mountains to the west, which are part of the greater Qinling range. The city centre is situated to the south of the middle reach of the Yellow River, where its valley broadens into the great plain. Zhengzhou is at the crossing point of the north–south route skirting the Taihang Mountains and the mountains of western Henan. The prefecture spans 34° 16' ~ 34° 58 N latitude and 112° 42' ~ 114° 14' E longitude, covering a total area of , including the metropolitan area, which covers , and the city centre, which occupies .


title: Zhengzhou

text: A section of the Yellow River passes by the northern edges of the urban area, extending within Zhengzhou prefecture. However, Jialu River, a secondary tributary of the Huai River, is Zhengzhou's main urban river and flood channel. The Jialu enters Zhengzhou from Xinmi to the southwest, and turns to the southeast within the city. Mountains loom over the western counties of Gongyi and Dengfeng while the easternmost county of Zhongmu is a vast, fertile floodplain, with the counties in between being hilly transitions.


title: Zhengzhou

text: Zhengzhou experiences a monsoon-influenced, four-season humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification "Cwa"), with cool, dry winters and hot, humid summers. Spring and autumn are dry and somewhat abbreviated transition periods. The city has an annual mean temperature of , with the monthly 24-hour average temperature ranging from in January to in July. The frost-free period lasts on average 220 days. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from on 2 January 1955, 27 December 1971 and 1 February 1990 to on 19 July 1966.


title: Zhengzhou

text: Rainfall is primarily produced by the monsoonal low during summer; in winter, when the vast Siberian High dominates due to radiative cooling from further north, the area receives little precipitation. During the summer season, the city is also often affected by tropical depressions, which bring additional amounts of rain. The annual precipitation is about . With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 45 percent in February and March to 54 percent in May, the city receives 2,182 hours of sunshine per year, which is just under half the possible total.


title: Zhengzhou

text: On July 20, 2021, "The heaviest hour of rainfall ever reliably recorded in China crashed like a miles-wide waterfall over the city of Zhengzhou on July 20, killing at least 300 people, including 14 who drowned in a subway tunnel." Although an emergency alert was issued the day before the flood, businesses and subways remained open. From 4pm to 5pm on July 21, 7.95 inches of rain fell. A collapsed retaining wall allowed water to pour into subway tunnels. "The Chinese government now appears to be acknowledging missteps by local officials, as well as the possibility that severe weather events will become increasingly common."


title: Zhengzhou

text: Zhengzhou is divided into 6 urban districts, 5 county-level cities and 1 county. These subdivisions are likely to undergo significant changes in the near future due to increasingly rapid urban expansion and urban planning.


title: Zhengzhou

text: The municipality is home to 8,626,505 inhabitants (2010 census) and 6,35 million in its built up area made of 6 urban and suburban districts, Xingyang and Xinzheng cities and now Zhongmu county largely being urbanized, making the city one of the main built-up areas of the province.


title: Zhengzhou

text: Zhengzhou was the capital of China during the Shang dynasty. Parts of the Shang-era capital city wall that were built 3,600 years ago still remain in Downtown Zhengzhou (see Zhengzhou Shang City). Zhengzhou maintains abundant cultural heritages that reflect its history as well as the culture of Henan Province. Zhengzhou Confucius Temple, initially built during the Eastern Han dynasty 1900 years ago, is one of the oldest Confucian Temples in China. Other important architectural heritage sites in the city center include Town God Temple and Erqi Memorial Tower.


title: Zhengzhou

text: The internationally known tourist attraction is the Shaolin Monastery, which is in Dengfeng, about southwest of downtown Zhengzhou (1.5 hours by coach). The Shaolin Monastery is not only known as one of China's most important Buddhist shrines, but also as the ancient center of Chinese Kung-fu. Shaolin Monastery and its famed Pagoda Forest were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010.


title: Zhengzhou

text: The Henan Museum is one of China's most important museums. It has a collection of more than 130,000 pieces of cultural relics includes exhibitions from prehistoric times, including dinosaur fossils and prehistoric human remains, up through the modern eras.


title: Zhengzhou

text: Zhengzhou's most developed and modern area is the Zhengdong New Area, which is in the eastern part of the city. It is home to some of the tallest skyscrapers in Zhengzhou, including the tall Zhengzhou Greenland Plaza ("Big Corn"), which is one of the most prominent landmarks in Zhengzhou, and the twin towers of Zhengzhou Greenland Central Plaza (), which are currently the tallest skyscrapers in the city. The tallest structure in Zhengzhou is the 388-meter height Zhongyuan Tower, located on Hanghai East Road in the south of Zhengdong New Area. It is used as a television tower, with a revolving restaurant and an observation deck. The tower is among the tallest towers in the world.


title: Zhengzhou

text: Zhengzhou, along with Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing and Wuhan, are some of the most economically important cities in inland China. Zhengzhou is the economic center of the province and the surrounding areas such as southeastern Shanxi and southwestern Shandong. Due to its strategic location in one of the most populous areas in the world (nearly 100 million people in Henan alone) and in China's railway, road and aviation transport networks, Zhengzhou is increasingly attracting domestic and international investment as well as migrants from other areas, transforming the city into one of the largest economic centers in China. In 2018, total GDP of Zhengzhou was ￥ 1020 billion, ranked 17th in China.


title: Zhengzhou

text: By the end of 2006, Zhengzhou had a total population of over 7 million, of which 2.88 million lived in rural areas. Its main products include apples, paulownia, tobacco, maize, cotton, and wheat. In addition, Zhengzhou also produces Yellow River carp, Zhengzhou watermelons, Xinzheng jujube, Xingyang dried persimmons, Guangwu Pomegranate and Zhongmu garlic, all of which are specialties that are rarely found outside the region.


title: Zhengzhou

text: Zhengzhou and the surrounding area have large reserves of coal and other minerals. Coal mining and electricity generation are traditionally important in the local economy.


title: Zhengzhou

text: Zhengzhou has been one of the major industrial cities in The People's Republic of China since 1949. The city's staple industry is textiles. Others manufactured items include tractors, locomotives, cigarettes, fertilizer, processed meats, agricultural machinery, and electrical equipment. Some high-tech companies in new material, electronics and biotechnology are also growing rapidly during the recently years, especially in the high-tech industrial park in the northwest of the city.


title: Zhengzhou

text: The service industries of Zhengzhou include retail, wholesale, hospitality, finance, exhibition, transport and delivery, tourism, and education. With a number of domestic and international institutions having regional offices in the city, Zhengzhou is becoming the financial center in central China. Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE) is one of the only four future exchanges (inc. Shanghai Futures Exchange and Dalian Commodity Exchange and China Financial Futures Exchange) in China and is becoming an important global player specialised in agricultural future exchange. Equipped with newly built facilities such as Zhengzhou International Conference and Exhibition Center. Third party logistics (3PL) in Zhengzhou has also been experiencing industrial boom during the past few years. As a transit and tourist center of Henan Province and central China, Zhengzhou is the center of Henan cuisine.


title: Zhengzhou

text: The Zhengdong New Area (), literally Eastern Zhengzhou New Area, similar to Hangzhou Bay New Area in Ningbo and Hengqin New Area in Zhuhai, is one of dozens of major economic zones that are currently developing in various regions of China. Established in 2003 by the provincial and municipal governments, it has become the financial center of Henan province and one of the most rapidly growing areas of China.


title: Zhengzhou

text: Kisho Kurokawa, a Japanese world-renowned planner and architect, was appointed to design the overall planning scheme for Zhengdong New Area. He brought in advanced ideas including ecological city, co-existing city, metabolic city and ring city ideas. The scheme won the "Prominent Award for City Planning Design" at the first session of Annual Meeting of the World Architects Alliance in 2002. Zhengdong New Area is mainly constituted by the CBD area, the Longhu commercial and residential area, the Longzihu college area, and the Zhengzhou East railway station commercial area.