title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: One of the first discoveries was 70 Virginis b, a gas giant initially nicknamed "Goldilocks" due to it being neither "too hot" nor "too cold". Later study revealed temperatures analogous to Venus, ruling out any potential for liquid water. 16 Cygni Bb, also discovered in 1996, has an extremely eccentric orbit that spends only part of its time in the CHZ, such an orbit would causes extreme seasonal effects. In spite of this, simulations have suggested that a sufficiently large companion could support surface water year-round.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Gliese 876 b, discovered in 1998, and Gliese 876 c, discovered in 2001, are both gas giants discovered in the habitable zone around Gliese 876 that may also have large moons. Another gas giant, Upsilon Andromedae d was discovered in 1999 orbiting Upsilon Andromidae's habitable zone.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Announced on April 4, 2001, HD 28185 b is a gas giant found to orbit entirely within its star's circumstellar habitable zone and has a low orbital eccentricity, comparable to that of Mars in the Solar System. Tidal interactions suggest it could harbor habitable Earth-mass satellites in orbit around it for many billions of years, though it is unclear whether such satellites could form in the first place.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: HD 69830 d, a gas giant with 17 times the mass of Earth, was found in 2006 orbiting within the circumstellar habitable zone of HD 69830, 41 light years away from Earth. The following year, 55 Cancri f was discovered within the CHZ of its host star 55 Cancri A. Hypothetical satellites with sufficient mass and composition are thought to be able to support liquid water at their surfaces.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Though, in theory, such giant planets could possess moons, the technology did not exist to detect moons around them, and no extrasolar moons had been discovered. Planets within the zone with the potential for solid surfaces were therefore of much higher interest.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: The 2007 discovery of Gliese 581 c, the first super-Earth in the circumstellar habitable zone, created significant interest in the system by the scientific community, although the planet was later found to have extreme surface conditions that may resemble Venus. Gliese 581 d, another planet in the same system and thought to be a better candidate for habitability, was also announced in 2007. Its existence was later disconfirmed in 2014, but only for short time. As of 2015, the planet has no newer disconfirmations. Gliese 581 g, yet another planet thought to have been discovered in the circumstellar habitable zone of the system, was considered to be more habitable than both Gliese 581 c and d. However, its existence was also disconfirmed in 2014, and astronomers are divided about its existence.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Discovered in August 2011, HD 85512 b was initially speculated to be habitable, but the new circumstellar habitable zone criteria devised by Kopparapu et al. in 2013 place the planet outside the circumstellar habitable zone.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Kepler-22 b, discovered in December 2011 by the "Kepler" space probe, is the first transiting exoplanet discovered around a Sun-like star. With a radius 2.4 times that of Earth, Kepler-22b has been predicted by some to be an ocean planet.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Gliese 667 Cc, discovered in 2011 but announced in 2012, is a super-Earth orbiting in the circumstellar habitable zone of Gliese 667 C. It is one of the most Earth-like planets known.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Gliese 163 c, discovered in September 2012 in orbit around the red dwarf Gliese 163 is located 49 light years from Earth. The planet has 6.9 Earth masses and 1.8–2.4 Earth radii, and with its close orbit receives 40 percent more stellar radiation than Earth, leading to surface temperatures of about ° C. HD 40307 g, a candidate planet tentatively discovered in November 2012, is in the circumstellar habitable zone of HD 40307. In December 2012, Tau Ceti e and Tau Ceti f were found in the circumstellar habitable zone of Tau Ceti, a Sun-like star 12 light years away. Although more massive than Earth, they are among the least massive planets found to date orbiting in the habitable zone; however, Tau Ceti f, like HD 85512 b, did not fit the new circumstellar habitable zone criteria established by the 2013 Kopparapu study. It is now considered as uninhabitable.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Recent discoveries have uncovered planets that are thought to be similar in size or mass to Earth. "Earth-sized" ranges are typically defined by mass. The lower range used in many definitions of the super-Earth class is 1.9 Earth masses; likewise, sub-Earths range up to the size of Venus (~0.815 Earth masses). An upper limit of 1.5 Earth radii is also considered, given that above the average planet density rapidly decreases with increasing radius, indicating these planets have a significant fraction of volatiles by volume overlying a rocky core. A genuinely Earth-like planet – an Earth analog or "Earth twin" – would need to meet many conditions beyond size and mass; such properties are not observable using current technology.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: A solar analog (or "solar twin") is a star that resembles the Sun. To date, no solar twin with an exact match as that of the Sun has been found. However, some stars are nearly identical to the Sun and are considered solar twins. An exact solar twin would be a G2V star with a 5,778 K temperature, be 4.6 billion years old, with the correct metallicity and a 0.1% solar luminosity variation. Stars with an age of 4.6 billion years are at the most stable state. Proper metallicity and size are also critical to low luminosity variation.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Using data collected by NASA's "Kepler" Space observatory and the W. M. Keck Observatory, scientists have estimated that 22% of solar-type stars in the Milky Way galaxy have Earth-sized planets in their habitable zone.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: On 7 January 2013, astronomers from the "Kepler" team announced the discovery of Kepler-69c (formerly "KOI-172.02"), an Earth-size exoplanet candidate (1.7 times the radius of Earth) orbiting Kepler-69, a star similar to our Sun, in the CHZ and expected to offer habitable conditions. The discovery of two planets orbiting in the habitable zone of Kepler-62, by the Kepler team was announced on April 19, 2013. The planets, named Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f, are likely solid planets with sizes 1.6 and 1.4 times the radius of Earth, respectively.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: With a radius estimated at 1.1 Earth, Kepler-186f, discovery announced in April 2014, is the closest yet size to Earth of an exoplanet confirmed by the transit method though its mass remains unknown and its parent star is not a Solar analog.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Kapteyn b, discovered in June 2014 is a possible rocky world of about 4.8 Earth masses and about 1.5 earth radii was found orbiting the habitable zone of the red subdwarf Kapteyn's Star, 12.8 light-years away.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: On 6 January 2015, NASA announced the 1000th confirmed exoplanet discovered by the "Kepler" Space Telescope. Three of the newly confirmed exoplanets were found to orbit within habitable zones of their related stars: two of the three, Kepler-438b and Kepler-442b, are near-Earth-size and likely rocky; the third, Kepler-440b, is a super-Earth. However, Kepler-438b is found to be a subject of powerful flares, so it is now considered uninhabitable. 16 January, K2-3d a planet of 1.5 Earth radii was found orbiting within the habitable zone of K2-3, receiving 1.4 times the intensity of visible light as Earth.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Kepler-452b, announced on 23 July 2015 is 50% bigger than Earth, likely rocky and takes approximately 385 Earth days to orbit the habitable zone of its G-class (solar analog) star Kepler-452.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: The discovery of a system of three tidally-locked planets orbiting the habitable zone of an ultracool dwarf star, TRAPPIST-1, was announced in May 2016. The discovery is considered significant because it dramatically increases the possibility of smaller, cooler, more numerous and closer stars possessing habitable planets.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Two potentially habitable planets, discovered by the K2 mission in July 2016 orbiting around the M dwarf K2-72 around 227 light year from the Sun: K2-72c and K2-72e are both of similar size to Earth and receive similar amounts of stellar radiation.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Announced on the 20 April 2017, LHS 1140b is a super-dense super-Earth 39 light years away, 6.6 times Earth's mass and 1.4 times radius, its star 15% the mass of the Sun but with much less observable stellar flare activity than most M dwarfs. The planet is one of few observable by both transit and radial velocity that's mass is confirmed with an atmosphere may be studied.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Discovered by radial velocity in June 2017, with approximately three times the mass of Earth, Luyten b orbits within the habitable zone of Luyten's Star just 12.2 light-years away.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: At 11 light-years away, a second closest planet, Ross 128 b, was announced in November 2017 following a decade's radial velocity study of relatively "quiet" red dwarf star Ross 128. At 1.35 times Earth's mass, is it roughly Earth-sized and likely rocky in composition.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Discovered in March 2018, K2-155d is about 1.64 time the radius of Earth, is likely rocky and orbits in the habitable zone of its red dwarf star 203 light years away.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: One of the earliest discoveries by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) announced July 31, 2019 is a Super Earth planet GJ 357 d orbiting the outer edge of a red dwarf 31 light years away.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: K2-18b is an exoplanet 124 light-years away, orbiting in the habitable zone of the K2-18, a red dwarf. This planet is significant for water vapour found in its atmosphere; this was announced on September 17, 2019.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: In September 2020, astronomers identified 24 superhabitable planet (planets better than Earth) contenders, from among more than 4000 confirmed exoplanets at present, based on astrophysical parameters, as well as the natural history of known life forms on the Earth.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Liquid-water environments have been found to exist in the absence of atmospheric pressure, and at temperatures outside the CHZ temperature range. For example, Saturn's moons Titan and Enceladus and Jupiter's moons Europa and Ganymede, all of which are outside the habitable zone, may hold large volumes of liquid water in subsurface oceans.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Outside the CHZ, tidal heating and radioactive decay are two possible heat sources that could contribute to the existence of liquid water. Abbot and Switzer (2011) put forward the possibility that subsurface water could exist on rogue planets as a result of radioactive decay-based heating and insulation by a thick surface layer of ice.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: With some theorising that life on Earth may have actually originated in stable, subsurface habitats, it has been suggested that it may be common for wet subsurface extraterrestrial habitats such as these to 'teem with life'. Indeed, on Earth itself living organisms may be found more than 6 kilometres below the surface.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Another possibility is that outside the CHZ organisms may use alternative biochemistries that do not require water at all. Astrobiologist Christopher McKay, has suggested that methane () may be a solvent conducive to the development of "cryolife", with the Sun's "methane habitable zone" being centered on from the star. This distance is coincident with the location of Titan, whose lakes and rain of methane make it an ideal location to find McKay's proposed cryolife. In addition, testing of a number of organisms has found some are capable of surviving in extra-CHZ conditions.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: The Rare Earth hypothesis argues that complex and intelligent life is uncommon and that the CHZ is one of many critical factors. According to Ward & Brownlee (2004) and others, not only is a CHZ orbit and surface water a primary requirement to sustain life but a requirement to support the secondary conditions required for multicellular life to emerge and evolve. The secondary habitability factors are both geological (the role of surface water in sustaining necessary plate tectonics) and biochemical (the role of radiant energy in supporting photosynthesis for necessary atmospheric oxygenation). But others, such as Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen in their 2002 book "Evolving the Alien" argue that complex intelligent life may arise outside the CHZ. Intelligent life outside the CHZ may have evolved in subsurface environments, from alternative biochemistries or even from nuclear reactions.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: On Earth, several complex multicellular life forms (or eukaryotes) have been identified with the potential to survive conditions that might exist outside the conservative habitable zone. Geothermal energy sustains ancient circumvental ecosystems, supporting large complex life forms such as "Riftia pachyptila". Similar environments may be found in oceans pressurised beneath solid crusts, such as those of Europa and Enceladus, outside of the habitable zone. Numerous microorganisms have been tested in simulated conditions and in low Earth orbit, including eukaryotes. An animal example is the "Milnesium tardigradum", which can withstand extreme temperatures well above the boiling point of water and the cold vacuum of outer space. In addition, the lichens "Rhizocarpon geographicum" and "Xanthoria elegans" have been found to survive in an environment where the atmospheric pressure is far too low for surface liquid water and where the radiant energy is also much lower than that which most plants require to photosynthesize. The fungi "Cryomyces antarcticus" and "Cryomyces minteri" are also able to survive and reproduce in Mars-like conditions.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Species, including humans, known to possess animal cognition require large amounts of energy, and have adapted to specific conditions, including an abundance of atmospheric oxygen and the availability of large quantities of chemical energy synthesized from radiant energy. If humans are to colonize other planets, true Earth analogs in the CHZ are most likely to provide the closest natural habitat; this concept was the basis of Stephen H. Dole's 1964 study. With suitable temperature, gravity, atmospheric pressure and the presence of water, the necessity of spacesuits or space habitat analogues on the surface may be eliminated, and complex Earth life can thrive.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Planets in the CHZ remain of paramount interest to researchers looking for intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. The Drake equation, sometimes used to estimate the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy, contains the factor or parameter , which is the average number of planetary-mass objects orbiting within the CHZ of each star. A low value lends support to the Rare Earth hypothesis, which posits that intelligent life is a rarity in the Universe, whereas a high value provides evidence for the Copernican mediocrity principle, the view that habitability—and therefore life—is common throughout the Universe. A 1971 NASA report by Drake and Bernard Oliver proposed the "water hole", based on the spectral absorption lines of the hydrogen and hydroxyl components of water, as a good, obvious band for communication with extraterrestrial intelligence that has since been widely adopted by astronomers involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. According to Jill Tarter, Margaret Turnbull and many others, CHZ candidates are the priority targets to narrow waterhole searches and the Allen Telescope Array now extends Project Phoenix to such candidates.


title: Circumstellar habitable zone

text: Because the CHZ is considered the most likely habitat for intelligent life, METI efforts have also been focused on systems likely to have planets there. The 2001 Teen Age Message and the 2003 Cosmic Call 2, for example, were sent to the 47 Ursae Majoris system, known to contain three Jupiter-mass planets and possibly with a terrestrial planet in the CHZ. The Teen Age Message was also directed to the 55 Cancri system, which has a gas giant in its CHZ. A Message from Earth in 2008, and Hello From Earth in 2009, were directed to the Gliese 581 system, containing three planets in the CHZ—Gliese 581 c, d, and the unconfirmed g.


title: Outback Steakhouse

text: Outback Steakhouse is an American chain of Australian-themed casual dining restaurants, serving American cuisine, based in Tampa, Florida. The chain has over 1,000 locations in 23 countries throughout North and South America, Asia, and Australia. It was founded in March 1988 with its first location in Tampa by Bob Basham, Chris T. Sullivan, Trudy Cooper, and Tim Gannon. It was owned and operated in the United States by OSI Restaurant Partners until it was acquired by Bloomin' Brands, and by other franchise and venture agreements internationally.


title: Outback Steakhouse

text: Canadian Outback Steakhouse restaurants began in 1996. In March 2009, Outback Steakhouse Canada abruptly closed all nine locations in the province of Ontario, citing poor economic conditions, but in June 2009, Outback Steakhouse opened a location in Niagara Falls, Ontario. A second location in Niagara Falls has been opened, but these are the only Outback Steakhouse locations operating in Canada.


title: Outback Steakhouse

text: Outback Steakhouse opened in the UK with a website at Outbackpom.com and locations in Birmingham, Basildon, Enfield, Romford, Stevenage and Staines. By September 2011, only its Basildon and Romford stores remained and this closed down on September 13, ending Outback's foray into the UK market.


title: Outback Steakhouse

text: On June 14, 2007, OSI Restaurant Partners completed a stock repurchase plan, and the company became privately held. In April 2012, Bloomin' Brands, the current owner of Outback Steakhouse, filed with the SEC to raise up to $300 million in an initial public offering.


title: Outback Steakhouse

text: The Bloomin' Onion is a signature Outback item. It is a one-pound onion cut to 'bloom' open, breaded, deep-fried and served with mayonnaise-horseradish sauce. Other restaurants offer items similar to the Bloomin' Onion, as in Chili's Awesome Blossom (discontinued), Texas Roadhouse's Cactus Blossom, and Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon's Texas Rose. Many of the Bloomin' Onions have come under fire for high-calorie counts, sometimes going over 1,500 calories.


title: Outback Steakhouse

text: Outback Steakhouse has a program to support the communities in which its restaurants are located. They have also joined GroupRaise, a platform where non-profits can book restaurant fundraisers in their locations. On a national level, Outback partners with Heineken USA and their Heineken with a Heart program to raise funds for various organizations in these communities.


title: Outback Steakhouse

text: The company and its founders are major contributors, via the Outback Steakhouse PAC, to the Republican Party, contributing $303,015 and $334,197 for the 2000 and 2004 election cycles, respectively. The Outback Steakhouse PAC itself is one of the largest donors in the food and beverage sector, second only to the National Restaurant Association, which itself represents 300,000 restaurants.


title: Outback Steakhouse

text: Outback Steakhouse was the title sponsor of the Outback Champions Series tennis events and NCAA football's Outback Bowl. The sponsorship lasted through 2020.


title: Outback Steakhouse

text: In 2012, Outback Steakhouse became a sponsor of the Ryan Newman and the No. 39 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. In their first race as sponsor, Newman won the 2012 Goody's Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway. One of the promotions the company had with Newman is a free Bloomin' Onion on the Monday after a race in which Newman would finish in the Top 10. Kevin Harvick took over Outback's sponsorship and promotion in 2014 for two races in their No. 4, after Newman left the team to drive Richard Childress Racing's No. 31 car. The company was on Harvick’s car from 2014 until 2018, including his championship in 2014, and in 2019 and until the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, the steakhouse was a personal sponsor which kept the Blooming Monday promotion around still. It ended after 2020. The company also sponsored retired Sprint Cup Series driver and current "Fox NASCAR" announcer Jeff Gordon's No. 67 for the AC-Delco 200 in the Busch Series during the 1990 season.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: Yakov Naumovich Pokhis (; born 24 January 1951), better known as Yakov Smirnoff (; ), is a Russian-American comedian, actor and writer. He began his career as a stand-up comedian in Soviet Union, then immigrated to the United States in 1977 in order to pursue an American show business career, not yet knowing any English.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: He reached his biggest success in the mid-to-late 1980s, appearing in several films which include "Moscow on the Hudson" with Robin Williams, "The Money Pit" with Tom Hanks, "Heartburn" with Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, and "Brewster's Millions" with Richard Pryor. He was a star of the television series "What a Country!" and was a recurring guest star on NBC's hit television series "Night Court" playing a part of Yakov Korolenko. His comic persona was of a naive immigrant from the Soviet Union who was perpetually confused and delighted by life in the United States. His humor combined a mockery of life under Communist states and of consumerism in the United States, as well as word play caused by misunderstanding of American phrases and culture, all punctuated by the catchphrase, "And I thought, 'What a country!'


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: The Fall of Communism starting in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union 1991 brought an end to Smirnoff's widespread popularity, although he continued to perform. In 1993, he began performing year round at his own theater in Branson, Missouri. He occasionally still performs limited dates at his theater in Branson while touring worldwide. Smirnoff earned a master's degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 and a doctorate in psychology and global leadership from Pepperdine University in 2019. He has also taught a course titled "The Business of Laughter" at Missouri State University and at Drury University.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: The son of Naum Pokhis and Klara Pokhis, Smirnoff was born in Odessa, Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union (USSR). He was an art teacher in Odessa, as well as a comedian. As a comedian, he entertained occasionally on ships in the Black Sea, where he came into contact with Americans who described life in the United States to him. That was when he first considered leaving the country.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: After two years of attempting to leave, he came to the United States with his parents in 1977, arriving in New York City. His family was allowed to come to America because of "an agreement between the USSR and America to exchange wheat for Soviet citizens who wished to defect". At the time, neither he nor his parents spoke any English. On arrival to the United States, he was almost sent back to the USSR when his translator mistranslated his occupation, comedian, as "party organizer", which immigration authorities thought meant that he was an organizer for the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: Smirnoff spent a portion of his early days in the United States working as a busboy and bartender at Grossingers Hotel in the Catskill Mountains of New York and living in the employee dormitory.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: Smirnoff began doing stand-up comedy in the US in the late 1970s. He chose the last name "Smirnoff" after trying to think of a name that Americans would be familiar with; he had learned about Smirnoff vodka in his bartending days.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: In the early 1980s, he moved to Los Angeles to further pursue his stand-up comedy career. There he was roommates with two other aspiring comedians, Andrew Dice Clay and Thomas F. Wilson. He appeared often at renowned L.A. club The Comedy Store.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: After achieving some level of fame, Smirnoff got his first break with a small role in the 1984 film "Moscow on the Hudson"; on the set, he helped star Robin Williams with his Russian dialogue. He subsequently appeared in several other motion pictures, including "Buckaroo Banzai" (1984), "Brewster's Millions" (1985) and "The Money Pit" (1986). Among his numerous appearances on television, he was featured many times on the sitcom "Night Court" as "Yakov Korolenko", and appeared as a comedian and guest on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson".


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: He had a starring role in the 1986–87 television sitcom "What a Country!" In that show, he played a Russian cab driver studying for the U.S. citizenship test. In the late 1980s, Smirnoff was commissioned by ABC to provide educational bumper segments for Saturday morning cartoons Fun Facts, punctuated with a joke and Smirnoff's signature laugh.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: In 1987, Smirnoff was invited to a party hosted by "Washington Times" editor-in-chief Arnaud de Borchgrave which featured President Ronald Reagan as the guest of honor. Reagan and Smirnoff immediately hit it off due to Reagan's love of jokes about life in the Soviet Union. Reagan enjoyed telling such jokes in speeches, and Smirnoff became one of his sources for new material. An example of a joke Reagan later told that originated from Smirnoff was "In Russia, if you say, 'Take my wife - please', you come home and she is gone." Smirnoff was enlisted by Dana Rohrabacher, who was then a speechwriter for Reagan, to help with material for Reagan's speeches, including a speech given in front of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev when Reagan visited the Soviet Union during the Moscow Summit in 1988. Rohrabacher later stated that Smirnoff became "one of the inner circle" of speechwriting advisers during Reagan's final years in office, due to the quality of Smirnoff's suggestions.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: Since 1993, he has been performing at his own 2,000-seat theater, and over the years has entertained more than 5 million people in a live setting. His 28th consecutive season was commemorated in Branson, Missouri in 2021. In the late 1990s he retooled his stand-up act to focus on the differences between men and women, and on solving problems within relationships.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: In 2002, Yakov Smirnoff appeared in an episode on "King of the Hill", "The Bluegrass Is Always Greener""." Also, in an episode on "The Simpsons", "The Old Man and the Key""."


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: In 2003, he appeared on Broadway in a one-man show, "As Long As We Both Shall Laugh," quoted by "The New York Times" as "Warmhearted, delightful, and splendidly funny!". He was a featured writer for "AARP Magazine" and gave readers advice in his column, "Happily Ever Laughter".


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: After a successful career in television, movies and Broadway, Smirnoff received a master's degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught classes at Drury University along with Missouri State University on this topic. He also gives seminars and self-help workshops on the topic of improving relationships. Smirnoff earned his doctorate in psychology and global leadership at Pepperdine University, graduating on May 18, 2019.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: In 2016, Smirnoff produced and starred a PBS Comedy Special, "Happily Ever Laughter", which was named "PBS Special of the Year of 2016–2017".


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: Some of Smirnoff's jokes involved word play based on a limited understanding of American idioms and culture:


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: He once told Johnny Carson, "I enjoy being in America: it's fun, you know, because you have, you have so many things we never had in Russia—like warning shots".


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: Smirnoff is often credited with inventing or popularizing the type of joke known as the "Russian reversal", in which life "in Soviet Russia" or "in Russia" is described through an unexpected flip of a sentence's subject and object; a type of chiasmus. While such jokes predated Smirnoff's act, and he rarely told them, one exception was a 1985 Miller Lite commercial, in which Smirnoff stated, "In America, there is plenty of light beer and you can always find a party. In Russia, Party always finds you.". Since the 1980s, Smirnoff has become more associated with the forms as the Russian reversal joke has become a common cultural meme. The joke has been used in TV and cartoons like "Family Guy", typically uttered in the style of Smirnoff.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: Smirnoff is also a painter and has frequently featured the Statue of Liberty in his art since receiving his U.S. citizenship. On the night of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he started a painting inspired by his feelings about the event, based on an image of the Statue of Liberty. Just prior to the first anniversary of the attacks, he paid US$100,000 for his painting to be transformed into a large mural. Its dimensions were 200 feet by 135 feet (61 m by 41 m). The mural, titled "America's Heart," is a pointillist-style piece, with one brush-stroke for each victim of the attacks. Sixty volunteers from the Sheet Metal Workers Union erected the mural on a damaged skyscraper overlooking the ruins of the World Trade Center. The mural remained there until November 2003, when it was removed because of storm damage. Various pieces of the mural can now be seen on display at his theater in Branson, Missouri.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: The only stipulation he put on the hanging of the mural was that his name not be listed as the painter. He signed it: ""The human spirit is not measured by the size of the act, but by the size of the heart.""


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: Smirnoff had a wife, Linda; they divorced in 2001. They have two children: a daughter, Natasha, born in 1990, and a son, Alexander, born in 1992.


title: Yakov Smirnoff

text: Among his film credits, Smirnoff has co-starred in movies with Robin Williams ("Moscow on the Hudson", 1984), Tom Hanks ("The Money Pit", 1986), and Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep ("Heartburn", 1986), in addition to single episodes of several TV series.


title: Plyometrics

text: Plyometrics, also known as jump training or plyos, are exercises in which muscles exert maximum force in short intervals of time, with the goal of increasing power (speed-strength). This training focuses on learning to move from a muscle extension to a contraction in a rapid or "explosive" manner, such as in specialized repeated jumping. Plyometrics are primarily used by athletes, especially martial artists, sprinters and high jumpers, to improve performance, and are used in the fitness field to a much lesser degree.


title: Plyometrics

text: Plyometrics include explosive exercises to activate the quick response and elastic properties of the major muscles. It was initially adopted by Soviet Olympians in the 1950s, and then by sportspeople worldwide. Sports using plyometrics include basketball, tennis, badminton, squash and volleyball as well as the various codes of football. The term "plyometrics" was coined by Fred Wilt after watching Soviet athletes prepare for their events in track and field. He began a collaboration with trainer Michael Yessis to promote plyometrics.


title: Plyometrics

text: Since its introduction in the early 1980s, two forms of plyometrics have evolved. In the original version, created by Russian scientist Yuri Verkhoshansky, it was defined as the shock method. In this, the athlete would drop down from a height and experience a "shock" upon landing. This in turn would bring about a forced eccentric contraction which was then immediately switched to a concentric contraction as the athlete jumped upward. The landing and takeoff were executed in an extremely short period of time, in the range of 0.1–0.2 second. Explosive plyometrics describes the approach originally created by Verkhoshansky. He experimented with many different exercises, but the depth jump appeared to be the best for duplicating the forces in the landing and takeoff.


title: Plyometrics

text: The second version of plyometrics, seen to a greater extent in the United States, involves any form of jump regardless of execution time.


title: Plyometrics

text: The term plyometric is a combination of Greek roots that means to increase measurement—"plio-" means "more" and "metric" means "length".


title: Plyometrics

text: "Plyo-" comes from the Greek word "plythein", which means “to increase.” "Plio" is the Greek word for “more,” and metric literally means “to measure.”


title: Plyometrics

text: Fred Wilt, a former US Olympic long-distance runner, is credited with coining the term plyometrics. He admits that it is not a very good term, but it was the best he could come up with after watching the Russians execute jumps in their warm-ups prior to their event in track and field. He could not understand why the Russians were doing all of these jumps while the Americans were doing multiple static stretches, but he firmly believed it was one of the reasons why they were so successful in many events.


title: Plyometrics

text: From its beginnings in the early 1980s, the term plyometrics gained greater popularity and is now well established. When Fred Wilt learned of the work being done by Michael Yessis in the field of Russian training methods, they quickly teamed up to help disseminate information on plyometrics.


title: Plyometrics

text: In collaboration with Yessis who visited and worked with Verkhoshansky in the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, plyometrics was gradually disseminated in the US. Yessis brought this information on plyometrics back to the US and in the following years was able to create even more ways of using this method to train and improve explosive power.


title: Plyometrics

text: Plyometrics (the shock method) was created by Yuri Verkhoshansky in the late 1960s, early 1970s. Since then, the shock method of plyometrics is still being practiced for improvement of athletic performance by what appears to be a relatively limited number of athletes. These athletes still do depth jumps, the key exercise in the shock method, according to the guidelines established by Verkhoshansky.


title: Plyometrics

text: Most athletes execute simple and complex jumps and call them plyometrics rather than jump training as it was called in the past. This includes the depth jump which was executed in ways different from what was recommended by Verkhoshansky. This form of jump training is very popular but plyometrics is a buzzword for all types of jumps, regardless of how long it takes to execute the jump. Its use is so pervasive that it is even possible to find push-ups described as being plyometric.


title: Plyometrics

text: Due to the wide use and appeal of the term plyometrics, the true meaning of plyometrics as developed by Verkhoshansky has for the most part been forgotten. Verkhoshansky was well known and respected worldwide in both the scientific and in the coaching arenas. He was relatively unknown in the United States except for some of his articles that were translated and published in the "Soviet Sports Review", later called the "Fitness and Sports Review International".


title: Plyometrics

text: In addition to creating the shock method, Verkhoshansky is credited with developing the stretch-shortening concept of muscle contractions and the development of specialized (dynamic correspondence) strength exercises. Plyometrics, or more specifically the shock method, is considered a form of specialized strength development.


title: Plyometrics

text: Before undertaking plyometric training, it is necessary to distinguish jumps that are commonly called plyometric and true plyometric jumps as exemplified in the depth jump which is illustrative of the shock method. Since its inception in the former Soviet Union as the shock method, there have been other forms of the plyometric exercises created by Yessis that do not involve jump exercises. For details and illustrations of these exercises see "Explosive Running" and "Explosive Plyometrics". These exercises involve the stretch-shorten concept that underlies the shock method.


title: Plyometrics

text: In the depth jump, the athlete experiences a shock on landing in which the hip, knee, and ankle extensor muscles undergo a powerful eccentric contraction. For the muscles to respond explosively, the eccentric contraction is then quickly switched to the isometric (when the downward movement stops) and then the concentric contraction, in a minimum amount of time. This allows the athlete to jump upward as high as possible.


title: Plyometrics

text: In the eccentric contraction, the muscles are involuntarily lengthened, while in the concentric contraction, the muscles are shortened after being tensed. Most of the stretching and shortening takes place in the tendons that attach to the muscles involved rather than in the muscles.


title: Plyometrics

text: To execute the depth jump, the athlete stands on a raised platform, usually not greater than high, and then steps out and drops down in a vertical pathway to make contact with the floor. The height used by most athletes is usually quite low in the early stages of training. The key is how high the athlete jumps in relation to the height of the takeoff platform. Technique and jump height are most important at this time.


title: Plyometrics

text: While the body is dropping, the athlete consciously prepares the muscles for the impact by tensing the muscles. The flooring upon which the athlete drops down on should be somewhat resilient, mainly for prevention of injury. Upon making contact with the floor, the athlete then goes into slight leg flex to absorb some of the force for safety. However, the main role played by the muscles and tendons is to withstand the force that is experienced in the landing. This force is withstood in eccentric contraction. When muscle contraction is sufficiently great, it is able to stop the downward movement very quickly.


title: Plyometrics

text: This phase is sometimes called the phase of amortization in which the athlete absorbs some of the force and stops downward movement by the strong eccentric contraction of the muscles. The strong eccentric contraction prepares the muscles to switch to the concentric contraction in an explosive manner for takeoff.


title: Plyometrics

text: When the athlete drops down to the floor, the body experiences an impact upon landing. The higher the height of the step-off platform, the greater the impact force upon landing. This creates a shock to the body which the body responds to by undergoing a strong involuntary muscular contraction to prevent the body from collapsing on the ground. This in turn produces great tension in the muscles and tendons which is then given back in a return upward movement. The faster the change in the muscular contractions, the greater the power created and the resulting height attained.


title: Plyometrics

text: More specifically, the muscles and tendons undergo a stretch (eccentric contraction) while landing which is needed to absorb some of the force generated but most importantly, to withstand the force that is produced by the shock that occurs on the landing. The greater the shock (forces experienced on landing), the stronger the eccentric contraction will be, which in turn produces even greater tension. This tension, which is potential force, is then given back in the return movement when the muscular contractions switch to the concentric or shortening regime.


title: Plyometrics

text: However, for maximum return of energy, minimum time must elapse from when the force is received to when they are returned. The greater the time between receiving the forces and giving them back, the less is the return and the less the height that can be achieved in the jump. Most of the lengthening and shortening occurs in the respective muscle tendons which have greater elasticity.


title: Plyometrics

text: Another way of saying this is that the faster the switching from the eccentric to the concentric contraction, the greater will be the force produced and the greater the return movement. The speed of the switching is extremely fast, 0.20 seconds or less. For example, high-level sprinters execute the switch from the eccentric contraction that occurs when the foot hits the ground to the concentric contraction when the foot breaks contact with the ground in less than 0.10 seconds. In world-class sprinters, the time is approximately 0.08 seconds.


title: Plyometrics

text: The exact platform height used by most athletes in the depth jump should be less than in the early stages of training. Most athletes start at approximately after doing some jump training. They then gradually work up to and then to 30 inches depending upon how well the jumps are executed. The main criterion is that the athlete is jumping as high as possible on every jump.


title: Plyometrics

text: If the athlete gradually improves his jump height, the same platform height is continued until increases in jump height are no longer observed. At this time, takeoff height is increased by a few inches. If the athlete continually fails to jump very high, the height of the drop-down is lowered somewhat. Most important here is how high the athlete jumps after the drop-down.


title: Plyometrics

text: The maximum platform height used by a high level athlete is no more than . Rather than developing greater explosive power this height leads to more eccentric strength development. Going higher than is usually counterproductive and may lead to injury. This occurs when the intensity of the forced involuntary eccentric contraction upon landing is greater than the muscles can withstand. In addition, the athlete will not be able to execute a quick return (fast transition between muscular contractions), which is the key to successful execution of explosive plyometrics.


title: Plyometrics

text: Because of the forces involved and the quickness of execution, the central nervous system is strongly involved. It is important that the athlete not overdo using the shock plyometric method. Doing so will lead to great fatigue, and, according to Verkhoshansky, sleep disturbances. Athletes have great difficulty sleeping well if they execute too many depth jumps. This indicates that athletes must be well-prepared physically before doing this type of training.


title: Plyometrics

text: Technique of jumping is also very important when executing plyometric exercises. In essence, the athlete goes into a slight squat (crouch) upon landing in which the hip, knee, and ankle joints flex. The takeoff or jump upward is executed in a sequence initiated by hip-joint extension followed by knee-joint extension which begins during the hip-joint extension. As the knee-joint extension is taking place, ankle-joint extension begins and is the only action that occurs as the takeoff (breaking contact with the ground) takes place. All three actions contribute force to the upward jump, but the knee-joint extension is the major contributor.


title: Plyometrics

text: The most common type of plyometrics used in the United States is simple and relatively easy jump exercises executed with little regard to execution time. These jumps are effective for athletes who execute skills in their sport that do not require explosive type muscular contractions. An example is long-distance running in which the runners execute repeat actions of 20 to 30 consecutive jumps and other cyclic-type activities such as leaping for multiple repetitions.


title: Plyometrics

text: Such plyometric jumps are also used as a warm-up for doing explosive plyometric jumps and for initial preparation of the muscles prior to undertaking exercises such as depth jumps. In essence, they are effective in the early stages of learning how to do plyometric exercises and for preparing the muscles for explosive or quick jumps. These jumps are similar to those done by youngsters in the playground or in neighborhood games and as such, do not require additional preparation. Athletes, regardless of their level of expertise, can undertake such jumps in the initial stages of training.


title: Plyometrics

text: When athletes who have been doing plyometrics without regard to time of execution first attempt to execute explosive plyometrics, they often fail because the time of execution is too long. This occurs quite often in the depth jump. The athlete usually sinks (drops) too low which takes too long to make the transition from the eccentric to the concentric contraction. As a result, the exercise becomes a jump-strength exercise and not a true plyometric one.


title: Plyometrics

text: Jump technique remains the same regardless of whether it is a true plyometric exercise or a jump exercise. The hips, knees, and ankles flex when landing and the joints extend on the upward return. The sequence and overlapping in the sequence is basically the same, beginning with the hip extension, followed by knee extension, and ending with the ankle-plantar flexing. The major differences in execution are the depth of the landing and the time of executing the switch from the eccentric to the concentric contraction.


title: Plyometrics

text: Studies have been conducted testing ten various plyometric exercises on overall performance during jumping examined by EMG, power, and ground reaction force (GRF). Of the ten exercises, the single-leg cone hops, box jumps, tuck jumps, and two-legged vertical jumps produced the highest EMG values, alluding to greater motor recruitment. Power was examined in dumbbell jumps, depth jumps, countermovement jumps, squat jumps, and tuck jumps which all produced the higher power scale readings. In terms of athletic performance and training, the plyometric movements that utilize total body vibration produced an overall increase in performance output. A recent study examined two groups using the same plyometric protocol in combination with weight training, one using high loads and the other utilizing small loads, and similar decreases in power were found. This shows that the plyometric exercises themselves had a greater effect in the decrease in power output rather than the type of weight training.


title: Plyometrics

text: Plyometrics have been shown to have benefits for reducing lower extremity injuries in team sports while combined with other neuromuscular training (i.e. strength training, balance training, and stretching). Plyometric exercises involve an increased risk of injury due to the large force generated during training and performance, and should only be performed by well conditioned individuals under supervision. Good levels of physical strength, flexibility, and proprioception should be achieved before beginning plyometric training.


title: Plyometrics

text: The specified minimum strength requirement varies depending on where the information is sourced and the intensity of the plyometrics being performed. Chu (1998) recommends that a participant be able to perform 50 repetitions of the squat exercise at 60% of his or her body weight before doing plyometrics. Core (abdomen) strength is also important.


title: Plyometrics

text: Flexibility is required both for injury prevention and to enhance the effect of the stretch shortening cycle. Some advanced training methods combine plyometrics and intensive stretching in order to both protect the joint and make it more receptive to the plyometric benefits.


title: Plyometrics

text: Proprioception is an important component of balance, coordination and agility, which is also required for safe performance of plyometric exercises.


title: Plyometrics

text: Plyometrics are not inherently dangerous, but the highly focused and intense movements used in repetition increase the potential level of stress on joints and musculo-tendonous units. Therefore, safety precautions are strong prerequisites to this particular method of exercise. Low-intensity variations of plyometrics are frequently utilized in various stages of injury rehabilitation, indicating that the application of proper technique and appropriate safety precautions can make plyometrics safe and effective for many people.


title: Plyometrics

text: Many professional and Olympic athletes use plyometrics training to improve muscular strength and jumping abilities which therefore increases their power. There are varying levels of intensity to plyometrics. Another benefit of plyometrics is that you can vary your level of intensity which means anyone looking to improve strength and jumping training can be involved regardless of fitness. With there being so many exercises this means you are less likely to get burned out and have a wide range of exercises to choose from. Another good reason with so many exercises being available are that you can find exercises that don't require the use of any equipment. It also increases muscular strength and endurance, also increases metabolic rate which increases weight loss and heart rate.


title: Plyometrics

text: Plyometric exercises are sometimes performed with an additional load, or weight added. In such cases, they are referred to as loaded plyometrics or weighted jumps. The weight is held or worn. It may be in the form of a barbell, trap bar, dumbbells, or weighted vest. For instance, a vertical jump whilst holding a trap bar or jumping split squats whilst holding dumbbells. In addition, a regular weight lifting exercise is sometimes given a plyometric component, such as is found in a loaded jump squat. Jumping onto plyo boxes or over hurdles whilst holding weights is not recommended for safety reasons. The advantage of loaded plyometric exercises is that they increase the overall force with which the exercise is performed. This can enhance the positive effect of the exercise and further increase the practitioner's ability to apply explosive power.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Adjustment disorder is a maladaptive response to a psychosocial stressor. It is classified as a mental disorder. The maladaptive response usually involves otherwise normal emotional and behavioral reactions that manifest more intensely than usual (considering contextual and cultural factors), causing marked distress, preoccupation with the stressor and its consequences, and functional impairment.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Diagnosis of adjustment disorder is common. Lifetime prevalence estimates for adults range from five percent to 21%. Adult women are diagnosed twice as often as men. Among children and adolescents, girls and boys are equally likely to be diagnosed with an adjustment disorder.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Adjustment disorder was introduced into the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" in 1980 (DSM-III).


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Other names for adjustment disorder are stress response syndrome (new name as of 2013) and situational depression since it is one of the most common symptoms.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Some emotional signs of adjustment disorder are: sadness, hopelessness, lack of enjoyment, crying spells, nervousness, anxiety, desperation, feeling overwhelmed and thoughts of suicide, performing poorly in school/work etc.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Common characteristics of Adjustment disorder include mild depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and traumatic stress symptoms or a combination of the three. According to the DSM-5, there are six types of Adjustment disorder, which are characterized by the following predominant symptoms: depressed mood, anxiety, mixed depression and anxiety, disturbance of conduct, mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct, and unspecified. However, the criteria for these symptoms are not specified in greater detail. Adjustment disorder may be acute or chronic, depending on whether it lasts more or less than six months. According to the DSM-5, if the Adjustment disorder lasts less than six months, then it may be considered acute. If it lasts more than six months, it may be considered chronic. Moreover, the symptoms cannot last longer than six months after the stressor(s), or its consequences, have terminated. However, the stress-related disturbance does not only exist as an exacerbation of a pre-existing mental disorder.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Unlike major depression, the disorder is caused by an outside stressor and generally resolves once the individual is able to adapt to the situation. The condition is different from anxiety disorder, which lacks the presence of a stressor, or post-traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder, which usually are associated with a more intense stressor.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Suicidal behavior is prominent among people with Adjustment disorder of all ages, and up to one-fifth of adolescent suicide victims may have an adjustment disorder. Bronish and Hecht (1989) found that 70% of a series of patients with Adjustment disorder attempted suicide immediately before their index admission and they remitted faster than a comparison group with major depression. Asnis et al. (1993) found that Adjustment disorder patients report persistent ideation or suicide attempts less frequently than those diagnosed with major depression. According to a study on 82 Adjustment disorder patients at a clinic, Bolu et al. (2012) found that 22 (26.8%) of these patients were admitted due to suicide attempt, consistent with previous findings. In addition, it was found that 15 of these 22 patients chose suicide methods that involved high chances of being saved. Henriksson et al. (2005) states statistically that the stressors are of one-half related to parental issues and one-third in peer issues.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Adjustment disorder has six different subtypes, and they are all based on what the main symptoms are.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Those exposed to repeated trauma are at greater risk, even if that trauma is in the past. Age can be a factor due to young children having fewer coping resources and because they are less likely to realize the consequences of a potential stressor.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: A stressor is generally an event of a serious, unusual nature that an individual or group of individuals experience. Adjustment disorders can come from a wide range of stressors that can be traumatic or relatively minor, like the loss of a girlfriend/boyfriend, a poor report card, or moving to a new neighborhood. It is thought that the more often the stressor occurs, the more likely it is to produce Adjustment disorder. The objective nature of the stressor is of secondary importance. A stressor gains its pathogenic potential when the patient perceives it as stressful. The identification of a causal stressor is necessary if a diagnosis of adjustment disorder is to be made.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: In a study conducted from 1990 to 1994 on 89 psychiatric outpatient adolescents, 25% had attempted suicide in which 37.5% had misused alcohol, 87.5% displayed aggressive behaviour, 12.5% had learning difficulties, and 87.5% had anxiety symptoms.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: The basis of the diagnosis is the presence of a precipitating stressor and a clinical evaluation of the possibility of symptom resolution on removal of the stressor due to the limitations in the criteria for diagnosing Adjustment disorder. In addition, the diagnosis of Adjustment disorder is less clear when patients are exposed to stressors long-term, because this type of exposure is associated with Adjustment disorder and major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Some signs and criteria used to establish a diagnosis are important. First, the symptoms must clearly follow a stressor. The symptoms should be more severe than would be expected. There should not appear to be other underlying disorders. The symptoms that are present are not part of a normal grieving for the death of family member or other loved one.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Adjustment disorders have the ability to be self-limiting. Within five years of when they are originally diagnosed, approximately 20–50% go on to be diagnosed with psychiatric disorders that are more serious.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), assigns codes to classify diseases, symptoms, complaints, social behaviors, injuries, and such medical-related findings.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Individuals with an adjustment disorder and depressive or anxiety symptoms may benefit from treatments usually used for depressive or anxiety disorders. The use of different therapies can be beneficial for any age group. There is also a list of medications that can be used to help people with adjustment disorder whose symptoms are too severe for therapy alone. If a person is considering taking medication, they should talk to their doctor.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Specific treatment is based on factors of each individual separately. These factors include but are not limited to age, severity of symptoms, type of adjustment disorder, and personal preference.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: In addition to professional help, parents and caregivers can help their children with their difficulty adjusting by:


title: Adjustment disorder

text: Like many of the items in the DSM, adjustment disorder receives criticism from a minority of the professional community as well as those in semi-related professions outside the healthcare field. First, there has been criticism of its classification. It has been criticized for its lack of specificity of symptoms, behavioral parameters, and close links with environmental factors. Relatively little research has been done on this condition.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: An editorial in the "British Journal of Psychiatry" described adjustment disorder as being so "vague and all-encompassing… as to be useless," but it has been retained in the DSM-5 because of the belief that it serves a useful clinical purpose for clinicians seeking a temporary, mild, non-stigmatizing label, particularly for patients who need a diagnosis for insurance coverage of therapy.


title: Adjustment disorder

text: A study was conducted in Poland, during the first phase of the pandemic. The study used self-report surveys to measure the prevalence and severity of symptoms of adjustment disorder compared to PTSD, depression, and anxiety. The data was collected in the first quarantine period between March 25 to April 27, 2020.


title: Racing de Santander

text: Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. It was founded in 1913. It holds home games at Campos de Sport de El Sardinero, with a capacity for 22,222 spectators. It is one of the ten founding clubs of La Liga.


title: Racing de Santander

text: Racing de Santander played its first match on 23 February 1913, losing 1–2 to neighbouring "Strong". It was officially founded on 14 June, as "Santander Racing Club", appearing in its first tournament during that summer (Luis Redonet Trophy) and being admitted to the Northern Federation on 14 November, eventually merging with Santander Football Club.


title: Racing de Santander

text: In the 1928–29 season, the Spanish League competition began. After a complicated elimination process to determine the tenth and final team for the new First Division, Racing successively beat Valencia, Betis and Sevilla. The club was part of the first goalless game in the league, against Athletic Bilbao.


title: Racing de Santander

text: During the Second Republic, the classifications of Santander varied. In the 1930–31, It achieved the runner-up position in the Spanish League, tied at 22 points with champion Athletic Bilbao, and third-place Real Sociedad. This is the highest finish achieved by the club in all its history, trained by the English Robert Firth and chaired by Fernando Pombo.


title: Racing de Santander

text: They also participated in the International Tournament of Paris, falling in the semifinal to Slavia of Prague (2–1). In the 1930s, under the presidency of the academic José María de Cossío, it had varied positions, from third place in (1933–34) to low table rankings. In seasons 1934–35 and 1935–36, Racing played in the Commonwealth Championship of Castilla-Aragón, in which it finished second in the first season. Meanwhile, in Cantabria a lesser championship was disputed, not qualifying for the Spanish Cup; Santoña won it. During the 1935–36 season, Racing was the first club in the Spanish league to beat Barcelona and Real Madrid in the four league matches (both home and two as a visitor) in the same season: on 8 December 1935 they won 4–0 against Barcelona in the Campos de Sport de El Sardinero, on 15 December they won in Madrid 2–4, on 8 March 1936 they beat Barcelona 2-3 and on 15 March they defeated Madrid 4–3 at El Sardinero. The only player to score in all matches (one goal in each match, and two in Madrid) was Milucho.


title: Racing de Santander

text: In 1950, the Cantabrians returned to the top flight after a ten-year absence, scoring 99 goals in only 30 games.


title: Racing de Santander

text: During the period of Francoist Spain, the club was renamed "Real Santander" in 1941, because of the prohibition on non-Spanish names. The name was restored in 1973 as the team returned to the first division one year after nearly relegating, under young manager José María Maguregui. Racing was immediately relegated, And spent the ensuing seasons bouncing between divisions one and two, also being crowned champions in Segunda División B (the new third level, created in 1977) in 1991. Veteran Quique Setién returned to his main club the following year, helping it return to the top flight and scoring in the 1994–95 campaign against FC Barcelona, in a historic 5–0 home win.


title: Racing de Santander

text: Racing was the first Spanish team to wear a sponsor's name on their shirt: German electronics company Teka on 27 December 1981 away to Real Madrid (the corporation then sponsored the opponents early in the following decade).


title: Racing de Santander

text: In the 2000s, Racing only played one season in the second division, winning promotion with Setién as manager. Racing finished the 2005–06 season in the 16th position, just 1 point away from relegation back to Segunda división. The next season was much better, as the club finished 10th, easily retaining its place in the top flight. In 2007–08, under Marcelino García Toral, it finished in sixth position, thus qualifying to the UEFA Cup for the first time ever; additionally the club reached the semifinals of the Copa del Rey twice during this decade, being ousted by eventual runners-up Getafe CF and Atlético Madrid in 2008 and 2010, respectively.


title: Racing de Santander

text: On 22 January 2011, Indian business tycoon Ahsan Ali Syed, founder and chairman of Western Gulf Advisory, an investment company, purchased Racing de Santander, immediately firing coach Miguel Ángel Portugal. The 2011–12 season brought with it three different managers, and the side returned to the second level after one full decade in the top division.


title: Racing de Santander

text: At the end of the following campaign, Racing again finished in 20th position and suffered relegation, also being immersed in a severe institutional and economic crisis. Ending their 22 years in professional league. In spite of that plight, the team was able to reach the quarterfinals in the 2013–14 edition of the domestic cup after ousting top-divisioners Sevilla FC and UD Almería; in the first leg against the latter, club fans stormed the presidential tribune at "Estadio El Sardinero" and assaulted chairman Ángel Lavín.


title: Racing de Santander

text: On 27 January 2014, Racing's players, citing several months of unpaid wages, announced they would not play their upcoming Cup match unless the club's president and board resigned. Three days later, prior to the second leg against Real Sociedad and after a 1–3 loss in the first match, Racing players gathered at the centre circle immediately after kick-off and refused to play. Referee Jesús Gil Manzano suspended the game after one minute, and the home team was given a loss due to forfeit; as a result of the protest the club was fined and banned from the following edition of the tournament, and on 31 January Lavín was sacked, with former player Juan Antonio Sañudo being appointed his successor by practically all the shareholders.


title: Racing de Santander

text: Racing won their group in the 2013–14 Segunda División B, and won the playoff against Llagostera to be promoted back to the second tier, but they were immediately relegated in the 2014–15 season. They again took first place in the Segunda B section in 2015–16, but were eliminated in the promotion playoffs, failing to score a goal across four matches in the ties lost to Reus and Cádiz.


title: Racing de Santander

text: Racing was promoted back to the second division after four years in the third tier in 2018–19, by winning their regional group and defeating Atlético Baleares in the promotion playoff on the away goals rule, but they were immediately relegated in the 2019–20 season after only winning five games out of 42 and finished in last place. They were unable to bounce back to the second tier immediately, finishing fourth then second in the unique small two-phase group setup during 2020–21 Segunda División B to find themselves remaining at the third level, in the newly formed Primera División RFEF, for the 2021–22 season. Racing confirmed their finish the season in first place and promoted to Segunda División, after two years in third division and fighting with Deportivo La Coruña for the top spot. On 3 June 2022, Racing took the inaugural Primera División RFEF title with a 3-0 win over Andorra.


title: Racing de Santander

text: Racing Santander is one of few Spanish teams that have played the majority of their history in La Liga, but do not have a major rival, mostly because Racing are the only fully professional team from Cantabria, so there isn't much competition between Racing and any other club from that area, with most others playing at the regionalised fourth level; only Gimnástica de Torrelavega have ever reached the second tier. However, Racing fans generally consider their biggest rivals to be the two major teams from the Basque Country, Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao, due to geographic proximity and the long history between these clubs. Bilbao is the closest city to Santander (approximately ), and the relationship between Racing and Athletic has been described in the past as 'the duel of the North', although the rivalry is dormant as Racing have not played in the top division since 2012.


title: Racing de Santander

text: There is also a minor rivalry between Racing and the two biggest clubs from neighboring Asturias: Real Oviedo and Sporting de Gijón.


title: Racing de Santander

text: Note: this list includes players that have appeared in at least 100 league games and/or have reached international status.


title: Racing de Santander

text: The following players have been selected by their country in the World Cup Finals, while playing for Racing Santander.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The Imperial Russian Army (, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Army consisted of more than 900,000 regular soldiers and nearly 250,000 irregulars (mostly Cossacks).


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: Russian tsars before Peter the Great maintained professional hereditary musketeer corps known as "streltsy". These were originally raised by Ivan the Terrible; originally an effective force, they had become highly unreliable and undisciplined. In times of war the armed forces were augmented by peasants.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The regiments of the new order, or regiments of the foreign order ("Полки нового строя" or "Полки иноземного строя", "Polki novovo (inozemnovo) stroya"), was the Russian term that was used to describe military units that were formed in the Tsardom of Russia in the 17th century according to the Western European military standards.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: There were different kinds of regiments, such as the regulars, dragoons, and reiters. In 1631, the Russians created two regular regiments in Moscow. During the Smolensk War of 1632–1634, six more regular regiments, one reiter regiment, and a dragoon regiment were formed. Initially, they recruited children of the landless boyars and "streltsy", volunteers, Cossacks and others. Commanding officers comprised mostly foreigners. After the war with Poland, all of the regiments were disbanded. During another Russo-Polish War, they were created again and became a principal force of the Russian Army. Often, regular and dragoon regiments were manned with "datochniye lyudi" for lifelong military service. Reiters were manned with small or landless gentry and boyars' children and were paid with money (or lands) for their service. More than a half of the commanding officers were representatives from the gentry. In times of peace, some of the regiments were usually disbanded.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: In 1681, there were 33 regular regiments (61,000 men) and 25 dragoon and reiter regiments (29,000 men). In the late 17th century, regiments of the new type represented more than a half of the Russian Army and at the beginning of the 18th century were used for creating a regular army.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: Conscription in Russia was introduced by Peter the Great in December 1699, though reports say Peter's father also used it. The conscripts were called "recruits" (not to be confused with voluntary army recruitment, which did not appear until the early 20th century).


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: Peter formed a modern regular army built on the German model, but with a new aspect: officers not necessarily from nobility, as talented commoners were given promotions that eventually included a noble title at the attainment of an officer's rank (such promotions were later abolished during the reign of Catherine the Great). Conscription of peasants and townspeople was based on quota system, per settlement. Initially it was based on the number of households, later it was based on the population numbers.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The term of service in the 18th century was for life. In 1793 it was reduced to 25 years. In 1834, it was reduced to 20 years plus five years in the reserve, and in 1855 to 12 years plus three years in the reserve.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The history of the Russian Army in this era was linked to the name of Russian General Alexander Suvorov, considered to be one of the few great generals in history who never lost a battle.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: From 1777 to 1783 Suvorov served in the Crimea and in the Caucasus, becoming a lieutenant-general in 1780, and general of infantry in 1783, on the conclusion of his work there. From 1787 to 1791 he again fought the Turks during the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1792 and won many victories. Suvorov's leadership also played a key role in a Russian victory over the Poles during the Kościuszko Uprising.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: As a major European power, Russia could not escape the wars involving Revolutionary France and the First French Empire, but as an adversary to Napoleon, the leadership of the new emperor, Alexander I of Russia (r. 1801–1825), who came to the throne as the result of his father's assassination (in which he was rumoured to be implicated) became crucial.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The Russian Army in 1805 had many characteristics of "Ancien Régime" organization: there was no permanent formation above the regimental level, senior officers were largely recruited from aristocratic circles, and the Russian soldier, in line with 18th-century practice, was regularly beaten and punished to instill discipline. Furthermore, many lower-level officers were poorly trained and had difficulty getting their men to perform the sometimes complex manoeuvres required in a battle. Nevertheless, the Russians did have a fine artillery arm manned by soldiers trained in academies and who would regularly fight hard to prevent their pieces from falling into enemy hands.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: Both the Russians and Austrians met a decisive military defeat at the hands of Napoleon during the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The War of the Fourth Coalition (1806–1807) involving Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Sweden and the United Kingdom against France formed within months of the collapse of the previous coalition. In August 1806, King Frederick William III of Prussia made the decision to go to war independently of any other great power except neighbouring Russia. Another course of action might have involved declaring war the previous year and joining Austria and Russia. This might have contained Napoleon and prevented the Allied disaster in the Battle of Austerlitz. In any event, the Russian Army, an ally of Prussia, still remained far away when Prussia declared war.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: Napoleon smashed the main Prussian armies at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt on 14 October 1806 and hunted down the survivors during the remainder of October and November. Having destroyed all Prussian forces west of the Oder, Napoleon pushed east to seize Warsaw. In late December, the initial clashes between the French and Russians at Czarnowo, Golymin, and Pułtusk were without result. The French emperor put his troops into winter quarters east of the Vistula River, but the new Russian commander Levin August von Bennigsen refused to remain passive.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: Bennigsen shifted his army north into East Prussia and launched a stroke at the French strategic left wing. The main force of the blow was evaded by the French at the Battle of Mohrungen in late January 1807. In response, Napoleon mounted a counterattack designed to cut off the Russians. Bennigsen managed to avoid entrapment and the two sides fought the Battle of Eylau on 7 and 8 February 1807. After this indecisive bloodbath both sides belatedly went into winter quarters. In early June, Bennigsen mounted an offensive that was quickly parried by the French. Napoleon launched a pursuit toward Königsberg but the Russians successfully fended it off at the Battle of Heilsberg. On 14 June, Bennigsen unwisely fought the Battle of Friedland with a river at his back and saw his army mauled with heavy losses. Following this defeat, Alexander was forced to sue for peace with Napoleon at Tilsit on 7 July 1807, with Russia becoming Napoleon's ally. Russia lost little territory under the treaty, and Alexander made use of his alliance with Napoleon for further expansion. Napoleon created the Duchy of Warsaw out of former Prussian territory.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: At the Congress of Erfurt (September–October 1808) Napoleon and Alexander agreed that Russia should force Sweden to join the Continental System, which led to the Finnish War of 1808–1809 and to the division of Sweden into two parts separated by the Gulf of Bothnia. The eastern part became the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The Russo-Turkish War broke out in 1805–06 against the background of the Napoleonic Wars. The Ottoman Empire, encouraged by the Russian defeat in the Battle of Austerlitz, deposed the Russophile hospodars of its vassal states Moldavia (Alexander Mourouzis) and Wallachia (Constantine Ypsilantis). Simultaneously, their French allies occupied Dalmatia and threatened to penetrate the Danubian principalities at any time. In order to safeguard the Russian border against a possible French attack and support the First Serbian uprising, a 40,000-strong Russian contingent advanced into Moldavia and Wallachia. The Sultan reacted by blocking the Dardanelles to Russian ships in 1807 and declared war on Russia. The war lasted until 1812.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: In the Finnish War Alexander wrested the Grand Duchy of Finland from Sweden in 1809, and acquired Bessarabia from Turkey in 1812.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The requirement of joining France's Continental Blockade against Britain was a serious disruption of Russian commerce, and in 1810 Alexander repudiated the obligation. This strategic change was followed by a substantial reform in the army undertaken by Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly as the Minister of War.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: At the same time, Russia continued its expansion. The Congress of Vienna created the Kingdom of Poland (Russian Poland), to which Alexander granted a constitution. Thus, Alexander I became the constitutional monarch of Poland while remaining the autocratic Emperor of Russia. He was also the Grand Duke of Finland, which had been annexed from Sweden in 1809 and awarded autonomous status.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The Russo-French alliance gradually became strained. Napoleon was concerned about Russia's intentions in the strategically vital Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits. At the same time, Alexander viewed the Duchy of Warsaw, the French-controlled reconstituted Polish state, with suspicion. The result was the War of the Sixth Coalition from 1812 to 1814.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: In 1812, Napoleon invaded Russia to compel Alexander I to remain in the Continental System and to remove the imminent threat of Russian invasion of Poland. The Grande Armée, 650,000 men (270,000 Frenchmen and many soldiers of allies or subject powers), crossed the Neman on 23 June 1812. Russia proclaimed a Patriotic War, while Napoleon proclaimed a Second Polish war, but against the expectations of the Poles who supplied almost 100,000 troops for the invasion force he avoided any concessions toward Poland, having in mind further negotiations with Russia. Russia maintained a scorched earth policy of retreat, broken only by the Battle of Borodino on 7 September, when the Russians stood and fought. This was bloody and the Russians eventually retreated, opening the road to Moscow. Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov made the decision in order to preserve the army. By 14 September, the French captured Moscow. The Russian governor Prince Rastopchin ordered the city burnt to the ground and large parts of it were destroyed. Alexander I refused to capitulate, and with no sign of clear victory in sight, Napoleon was forced to withdraw from Moscow's ruins. So the disastrous Great Retreat began, with 370,000 casualties largely as a result of starvation and the freezing weather conditions, and 200,000 captured. Napoleon narrowly escaped total annihilation at the Battle of Berezina, but his army was wrecked nevertheless. By December only 20,000 fit soldiers from the main army were among those who recrossed the Neman at Kaunas. By this time Napoleon had abandoned his army to return to Paris and prepare a defence against the advancing Russians.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: As the French retreated, the Russians pursued them into Poland and Prussia, causing the Prussian Corps under Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg that had been formerly a part of the Grande Armée to ultimately change sides in the Convention of Tauroggen. This soon forced Prussia to declare war on France, and with its mobilisation, for many Prussian officers serving in the Russian Army to leave, creating a serious shortage of experienced officers in the Russian Army. After the death of Kutuzov in early 1813, command of the Russian Army passed to Peter Wittgenstein. The campaign was noted for the number of sieges the Russian Army conducted and a large number of "Narodnoe Opolcheniye" (irregular troops) that continued to serve in its ranks until newly trained recruits could reach the area of combat operations. Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov emerged as one of the leading and talented senior commanders of the army, participating in many important battles, including the Battle of Leipzig.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: In 1813 Russia gained territory in the Baku area of the Caucasus from Qajar Iran as much due to the news of Napoleon's defeat in 1812 as the fear by the Shah of a new campaign against him by the resurgent Russian Army where the 1810 campaign led by Matvei Platov failed. This was immediately used to raise new regiments, and to begin creating a greater foothold in the Caucasus. By the early 19th century, the empire also was firmly ensconced in Alaska reached via Cossack expeditions to Siberia, although only a rudimentary military presence was possible due to the distance from Europe.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The campaign in France was marked by persistent advances made by the Russian-led forces towards Paris despite attempts by Alexander's allies to allow Napoleon an avenue for surrender. In a brilliant deceptive manoeuvre Alexander was able to reach, and take Paris with the help of the treason of Marshal Marmont before Napoleon could reinforce its garrison, effectively ending the campaign. More pragmatically, in 1814 Russia, Britain, Austria, and Prussia had formed the Quadruple Alliance. The allies created an international system to maintain the territorial status quo and prevent the resurgence of an expansionist France. This included each ally maintaining a corps of occupation in France. The Quadruple Alliance, confirmed by a number of international conferences, ensured Russia's influence in Europe, if only because of the proven capability of its army to defeat that of Napoleon and to carry the war to Paris.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: After the allies defeated Napoleon, Alexander played a prominent role in the redrawing of the map of Europe at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Many of the prominent Russian commanders were feted in the European capitals, including London. In the same year, under the influence of religious mysticism, Alexander initiated the creation of the Holy Alliance, a loose agreement pledging the rulers of the nations involved—including most of Europe—to act according to Christian principles. This emerged in part due to the influence religion had played in the army during the war of 1812, and its influence on the common soldiers and officers alike.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The Russian occupation forces in France, though not participating in the Belgian campaign, re-entered combat against the minor French forces in the East and occupied several important fortresses.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: Following Russia's defeat in the Crimean War during the reign of Alexander II, the Minister of War, Count Dmitry Milyutin,


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: (who held the post from 16 May 1861 to 21 May 1881) introduced military reforms. The reforms carried on during Milyutin's long tenure abolished the system of conscription of children, and resulted in the levy system being introduced in Russia and military districts being created across the country.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: As part of Milyutin's reforms, on 1 January 1874, the emperor approved a conscription statute that made military service compulsory for all 20-year-old males with the term reduced for land army to six years plus nine years in reserve. This conscription created a large pool of experienced military reservists who would be ready to mobilize in case of war. It also permitted the Russian Empire to maintain a smaller standing army in peacetime. Ironically, this reform was a disaster for the Tsarist regime. By reducing the length of service, peasant elders and officials could no longer threaten radical youths with conscription. Soldiers now kept their peasant identities and many learned new skills and became literate. They radicalised the villages on their return.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The system of military education was also reformed, and elementary education was made available to all the draftees. Milyutin's reforms are regarded as a milestone in the history of Russia: they dispensed with the military recruitment and professional army introduced by Peter the Great and created the Russian army such as it continued into the 21st century. Up to Dmitry Milyutin's reforms in 1874 the Russian Army had no permanent barracks and was billeted in dugouts and shacks.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: During the Boxer Rebellion 100,000 Russian troops fought to pacify part of Manchuria and to secure its railroads. Some Russian military forces were already stationed in China before the war, and one of them met a grotesque end at the Battle of Pai-t'ou-tzu when the dead Russians were mutilated by Chinese troops, who decapitated them and sliced crosses into their bodies. Other battles fought include Boxers attacks on Chinese Eastern Railway, Defence of Yingkou, Battles on Amur River, and the Russian Invasion of Northern and Central Manchuria.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The army's share of the budget fell from 30% to 18% in 1881–1902. By 1904 Russia was spending 57% and 63% of what Germany and Austria-Hungary were spending on each soldier, respectively. Army morale was broken by crushing over 1500 protests from 1883 to 1903.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The army was defeated by Japan during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, notable engagements being the Siege of Port Arthur and the Battle of Mukden. There were over 400 mutinies from autumn 1905 to summer 1906.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: At the outbreak of the war, Emperor Nicholas II appointed his cousin, Grand Duke Nicholas as Commander-in-Chief. On mobilization, the Russian Army totalled 115 infantry and 38 cavalry divisions with nearly 7,900 guns (7,100 field guns, 540 field howitzers and 257 heavy guns). There were only 2 army ambulances and 679 cars. Divisions were allocated as follows: 32 infantry and 10.5 cavalry divisions to operate against Germany, 46 infantry and 18.5 cavalry divisions to operate against Austria-Hungary, 19.5 infantry and 5.5 cavalry divisions for the defence of the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea littorals, and 17 infantry and 3.5 cavalry divisions were to be transported in from Siberia and Turkestan.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: Among the army's higher formations during the war were the Western Front, the Northwestern Front and the Romanian Front. The war in the East began with Russian invasion of East Prussia (1914) and the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia. The first ended in a Russian defeat by the German Empire in the Battle of Tannenberg (1914). In the west, a Russian Expeditionary Force was dispatched to France in 1915. Amid the Russian Revolution of 1917 the Imperial Russian Army collapsed and dissolved. The rebellious remnants of the Imperial army evolved to become part of the new Red Army.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The Imperial Russian Army entered the Napoleonic Wars organized administratively and in the field on the same principles as it had been in the 18th century of units being assigned to campaign headquarters, and the "army" being known either for its senior commander, or the area of its operations. Administratively, the regiments were assigned to Military Inspections, the predecessors of military districts, and included the conscript training depots, garrisons and fortress troops and munitions magazines.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The army had been thoroughly reorganised on the Prussian model by the emperor's father Paul I against wishes of most of its officer corps, and with his demise immediate changes followed to remove much of the Prussianness from its character. Although the army had conventional European parts within it such as the monarch's guard, the infantry and cavalry of the line and field artillery, it also included a very large contingent of semi-regular Cossacks that in times of rare peace served to guard the Russian Empire's southern borders, and in times of war served as fully-fledged light cavalry, providing invaluable reconnaissance service often far better than that available to other European armies due to the greater degree of initiative and freedom of movement by Cossack detachments. The Ukrainian lands of the Empire also provided most of the Hussar and Ulan regiments for the regular light cavalry. Another unusual feature of the army that was seen twice during the period was the constitution of the "Narodnoe Opolcheniye", for the first time since the coming to power of the Romanov dynasty.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: In 1806 most of the Inspections were abolished, and replaced by divisions based on the French model although still territorially based. By 1809 there were 25 infantry divisions as permanent field formations, each organised around three infantry brigade and one artillery brigade. When Barclay de Tolly became the Minister of War in 1810, he instituted further reorganization and other changes in the army, down to company level, that saw the creation of separate grenadier divisions, and dedication of one brigade in each division to the jaeger light infantry for skirmishing in open order formations.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: Throughout the Napoleonic Wars the Imperial Russian Guard was commanded by Grand Duke Konstantin. The guard grew from a few regiments to two infantry divisions combined into the V Infantry Corps commanded at Borodino by General Lieutenant Lavrov and two cavalry divisions with their own artillery and train by the conclusion of the 1814 campaign.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: At Austerlitz in 1805 the artillery of the Guard included the Lifeguard Artillery Battalion under General Major Ivan Kaspersky. At Borodino in 1812 the artillery of the Guard included the Lifeguard Artillery Brigade (now a part of the Guard Infantry Division), the Lifeguard Horse Artillery under Colonel Kozen, attached to the 1st Cuirassier Division, and the


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: At Austerlitz in 1805 the Lifeguard Cossack regiment (five "sotnias") was attached to the 1st Brigade of the Guard Cavalry Division. At Borodino in 1812 the Cossacks of the Guard included the Lifeguard Cossack regiment (five "sotnias"), the Black Sea Cossack Guard sotnia, and the Lifeguard Orel sotnia.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The General Staff Academy was established in 1832 in Saint Petersburg to train officers for the Army's General Staff.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: On August 26, 1827, Nicholas I of Russia declared the "Statute on Conscription Duty". This statute made it mandatory that all Russian males ages twelve to twenty-five were now required to serve in the Russian armed forces for 25 years. This was the first time that the massive Jewish population was required to serve in the Russian military. The reasoning for Nicolas for mandatory conscription was because “in the military they would learn not only Russian but also useful skills and crafts, and eventually they would become his loyal subjects."


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: Many Jewish families began to emigrate out of the Russian Empire in order to escape the conscription obligations. Due to this, the government began to employ "khapper"s who would kidnap Jewish children and turn them over to the government for conscription. It became known that "the khappers were not scrupulous about adhering to the minimum age of 12 and frequently impressed children as young as 8." "By the time the empire collapsed, around 1.5 million Jewish soldiers fulfilled what was often seen as a highly burdensome and intrusive obligation." At first many Jews were hesitant, but by 1880 Russian Jews were fully integrated into the Russian military.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: In the Russian Empire, the Cossacks were organized into several "voiskos" (hosts), named after the regions of their location, whether along the Russian border, or internal borders between Russian and non-Russian peoples. Each host had its own leadership and traditions as well as uniforms and ranks. However, by the late 19th century, the latter were standardized following the example of the Imperial Russian Army. Each host was required to provide a number of regiments for service in the Imperial Russian Army and for border patrol work. While most Cossacks served as cavalry, there were infantry and artillery units in several of the larger hosts. Three regiments of Cossacks formed part of the Imperial Guard, as well as the "konvoi"—the emperor's mounted escort. The Imperial Guard regiments wore tailored government-issue uniforms of a spectacular and colourful appearance. As an example, the Konvoi wore scarlet cherkesskas, white beshmets and red crowns on their fleece hats.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: The Cossack institution recruited and incorporated Muslim Mishar Tatars. Cossack rank was awarded to Bashkirs. Muslim Turkics and Buddhist Kalmyks served as Cossacks. The Cossack Ural, Terek, Astrakhan, and Don Cossack hosts had Kalmyks in their ranks. Mishar Muslims, Teptiar Muslims, service Tatar Muslims, and Bashkir Muslims joined the Orenburg Cossack Host. Cossack non Muslims shared the same status with Cossack Siberian Muslims. Muslim Cossacks in Siberia requested an Imam. Cossacks in Siberia included Tatar Muslims like in Bashkiria.


title: Imperial Russian Army

text: Bashkirs and Kalmyks in the Russian military fought against Napoleon's forces. They were judged suitable for inundating opponents but not intense fighting. They were in a non standard capacity in the military. Arrows, bows, and melee combat weapons were wielded by the Muslim Bashkirs. Bashkir women fought among the regiments. Denis Davidov mentioned the arrows and bows wielded by the Bashkirs. Napoleon's forces faced off against Kalmyks on horseback. Napoleon faced light mounted Bashkir forces. Mounted Kalmyks and Bashkirs numbering 100 were available to Russian commandants during the war against Napoleon. Kalmyks and Bashkirs served in the Russian Army in France. A nachalnik was present in every one of the 11 cantons of the Bashkir host which was created by Russia after the Pugachev's Rebellion. Bashkirs had the military statute of 1874 applied to them.


title: Viy 2: Journey to China

text: Viy 2: Journey to China (, ), released in English-speaking countries as Iron Mask or The Iron Mask, is a 2019 Russian-Chinese fantasy adventure film., directed by Oleg Stepchenko. It is the sequel to "Viy", the 2014 cinema hit loosely based on the Nikolai Gogol story "Viy". Produced by Gleb Fetisov, Alexey A. Petrukhin and Sergey Sozanovskiy, the film is directed by Oleg Stepchenko from a screenplay by Stepchenko, Petrukhin and Dmitri Palees. The film stars Jason Flemyng and Charles Dance (who reprise their roles from the first film), Rutger Hauer (in one of his final films before his death), Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Helen Yao.


title: Viy 2: Journey to China

text: Set in the 18th century, the film follows the continuing exploits of cartographer Jonathan Green as he undertakes a scientific and supernatural journey that leads him from England to China.


title: Viy 2: Journey to China

text: Along the way, he discovers Russian Tzar Peter I in prison in the Tower of London under the watch of pugilistic Warden Hook, as his wife Lady Emma discovers the Chinese Princess posing as Jonathan's assistant Chen-Lan.


title: Viy 2: Journey to China

text: As Tzar Peter escapes and joins a Russian ship, he tails Lady Emma as she uncovers an imposter robbing the Chinese people while posing as Princess Chen-Lan.


title: Viy 2: Journey to China

text: On 5 April 2015, a press conference was held in Moscow with producers Alexey Petrukhin and Sergei Selyanov, actors Jason Flemyng, Rutger Hauer, and Helen Yao. During the conference, it was confirmed that the filming of the sequel, titled "Viy 2: Journey to China", has been started.


title: Viy 2: Journey to China

text: Major film stars were planned to appear in the sequel. Initial reports had Jackie Chan, Jason Statham, and Steven Seagal as appearing in the film. In November 2016, it was confirmed that Chan would co-star alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger.


title: Viy 2: Journey to China

text: The release of "Viy 2" in Russia was to be held on 16 August 2018, but subsequently the premiere was postponed to 19 September 2019 while pending censorship approval in China. After the completion of the regulation of issues, the film premiered in China on 16 August 2019.


title: Viy 2: Journey to China

text: The film was digitally released on demand and on DVD in the United States as "Iron Mask" on 24 November 2020.


title: Viy 2: Journey to China

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film earned positive reviews from of critics, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: ""Iron Mask" unites Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger for a bizarrely misguided adventure that aims for epic fantasy with unintentionally hilarious results." At Metacritic, which calculated a weighted average score of 32/100 based on 4 reviews, the film received "generally unfavorable reviews".


title: Viy 2: Journey to China

text: Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of "The A.V. Club" gave the film a grade C+, saying that "two-thirds of [the film] is funny on purpose" but that it was "eventually dragged down by compounding inertia."


title: Viy 2: Journey to China

text: Al Horner of Empire Magazine gave it 2 out of 5 and wrote: "It could have been a tantalising coming-together of two icons of action cinema. Instead, The Iron Mask feels oddly anemic."