title: Apology (Plato)

text: For his self-defence, Socrates first eliminates any claim that he is a wise man. He says that Chaerephon, reputed to be impetuous, went to the Oracle of Delphi and asked her, the prophetess, Pythia, to tell him of anyone wiser than Socrates. The Pythia answered to Chaerephon that there was no man wiser. On learning of that oracular pronouncement, Socrates says he was astounded, because, on the one hand, it is against the nature of the Oracle to lie, but, on the other hand, he knew he was not wise. Therefore, Socrates sought to find someone wiser than himself, so that he could take that person as evidence to the Oracle at Delphi. Hence why Socrates minutely queried everyone who appeared to be a wise person. In that vein, he tested the minds of politicians, poets, and scholars, for wisdom; although he occasionally found genius, Socrates says that he found no one who possessed wisdom; yet, each man was thought wise by the people, and each man thought himself wise; therefore, he thought he was the better man, because he was aware that he was not wise.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Socrates explained that the young, rich men of the city of Athens have little to do with their time. They, therefore, follow him about the city, observing his questioning of intellectual arguments in dialogue with other intellectual men. In turn, young men imitate the method of Socrates. Socrates thought that the arguments of the men he examined were wanting, and when he said this, to not lose face, they would restate stock accusations against Socrates; that he is a morally abominable man who corrupts the youth of Athens with sophistry and atheism. In his defence, Socrates said: "For those who are examined, instead of being angry with themselves, are angry with me!".


title: Apology (Plato)

text: The "Apology of Socrates", by Plato, is a Socratic dialogue in three parts that cover the Trial of Socrates (399 BC): (i) the legal self-defence of Socrates, (ii) the verdict of the jury, and (iii) the sentence of the court.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Socrates begins his legal defence by telling the jury that their minds were poisoned by his enemies when they (the jury) were young and impressionable. He also says that his false reputation as a sophistical philosopher comes from his enemies and that all of them are malicious, yet must remain nameless—except for the playwright Aristophanes, who lampooned him (Socrates) as a charlatan-philosopher in the comedy play "The Clouds" (423 BC). About corrupting the rich, young men of Athens, Socrates argues that deliberate corruption is an illogical action because it would hurt him, as well. He says that the accusations of him being a corrupter of youth began at the time of his obedience to the Oracle at Delphi, and tells how Chaerephon went to the Oracle, to ask her, the Pythian prophetess, if there was a man wiser than Socrates. When Chaerephon reported to him that the Oracle said there is no wiser man, Socrates interpreted that divine report as a riddle—because he was aware of possessing no wisdom "great or small", and that lying is not in the nature of the gods.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Socrates then sought to solve the divine paradox—how an ignorant man also could be the wisest of all men—in effort to illuminate the meaning of the Oracles' categorical statement that he is the wisest man in the land. After systematically interrogating the politicians, the poets, and the craftsmen, Socrates determined that the politicians were not wise like he was. He says of himself, in reference to a politician: "I am wiser than this man; it is likely that neither of us knows anything worthwhile, but he thinks he knows something when he does not."(21d). Socrates says that the poets did not understand their poetry; that the prophets and seers did not understand what they said; and that the craftsmen while knowing many things, thought they also had much knowledge on things of which they had none. In that light, Socrates saw himself as a spokesman for the Oracle at Delphi (22e). He asked himself if he would rather be an impostor, like the "wise people" he interrogated, or if he would rather be himself, Socrates of Athens. Socrates tells the jury that he would rather be himself than be anyone else. He says that in searching for a man wiser than himself, he came to be regarded as a social gadfly and acquired a bad reputation among Athens' politically powerful personages.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Having addressed the social prejudices against him, Socrates addresses the first accusation—the moral corruption of Athenian youth—by accusing his accuser, Meletus, of being indifferent to the persons and things about which he professes to care. Whilst interrogating Meletus, Socrates says that no one would intentionally corrupt another person—because the corrupter later stands to be harmed in vengeance by the corrupted person. The matter of moral corruption is important for two reasons: (i) the accusation is that Socrates corrupted the rich, young men of Athens by teaching atheism; (ii) that if he is convicted of corruption, it will be because the playwright Aristophanes already had corrupted the minds of his audience, when they were young, by lampooning Socrates as the "Sophistical philosopher" in "The Clouds", a comic play produced about twenty-four years earlier.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Socrates then addresses the second accusation—"asebeia" (impiety) against the pantheon of Athens—by which Meletus says that Socrates is an atheist. In cross-examination, Socrates leads Meletus to contradict himself: that Socrates is an atheist who also believes in spiritual agencies and demigods. Socrates tells the judges that Meletus has contradicted himself and then asks if Meletus has designed a test of intelligence for identifying logical contradictions.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Socrates proceeds to say that people who fear death are showing their ignorance, because death might be a good thing, yet people fear it as if it is evil; even though they cannot know whether it is good or evil. Socrates says that his wisdom is in being aware that he is ignorant on this, and other topics.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Regarding a citizen's obedience to authority, Socrates says that a lawful authority, either human or divine, should always be obeyed. In a conflict of obedience to such authorities, he thinks that obeying divine authority supersedes obeying human authority: "Gentlemen, I am your grateful and devoted servant, but I owe a greater obedience to the [Delphic] god than to you; and, as long as I draw breath and have my faculties, I shall never stop practising philosophy"(29d). As a spokesman for the Oracle at Delphi, he is to spur the Athenians to greater awareness of ethics and moral conduct and always shall question and argue. Therefore, the philosopher Socrates of Athens asks his fellow citizens: "Are you not ashamed that you give your attention to acquiring as much money as possible, and similarly with reputation and honour, and give no attention or thought to truth and understanding, and the perfection of your soul?"(29e)


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Granting no concession to his precarious legal situation, Socrates speaks emotionally and provocatively to the court and says that the greatest good to occur upon Athens is his moral concern for them as fellow citizens. He thinks that material wealth is a consequence of goodness; that the god does not permit a better man to be harmed by a lesser man; and that he is the social gadfly required by Athens: "All day long, I will never cease to settle here, there, and everywhere — rousing, persuading, and reproving every one of you." In support of the moral mission assigned him by the Oracle at Delphi, Socrates tells the court that his "daimonion" continually forbids him to act unethically (implicitly validating Meletus' accusation that Socrates believes in novel deities not of the Athenian pantheon).


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Socrates says he never was a paid teacher; therefore, he is not responsible for the corruption of any Athenian citizen. If he had corrupted anyone, he asks: why have they not come forward to bear witness? If the corrupted Athenians are ignorant of having been corrupted, then why have their families not spoken on their behalf? Socrates indicates, in point of fact, relatives of the Athenian youth he supposedly corrupted are present in court, giving him moral support.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Socrates concludes his legal defence by reminding the judges that he shall not resort to emotive tricks and arguments, shall not cry in public regret, and that his three sons will not appear in court to pathetically sway the judges. Socrates says he is not afraid of death and shall not act contrary to religious duty. He says he will rely solely upon sound argument and truth to present his case at trial.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: In Plato's version of the trial, Socrates mocks oratory as a deceitful rhetorical practice designed to lead jurors away from the truth. Some scholarship, however, views this mockery only as a critique of narrow views of rhetoric-as-speechmaking and, in turn, sees the whole trial as an implicit depiction of a more expansive view of rhetoric that unfolds over the course of a lifetime.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: The jurors of the trial voted the guilt of Socrates by a relatively narrow margin(36a). In the "Apology of Socrates", Plato cites no total numbers of votes condemning or acquitting the philosopher of the accusations of moral corruption and impiety; Socrates says that he would have been acquitted if thirty more jurors had voted in his favour. This would likely mean that if the court were composed of 500 people then 280 voted against Socrates and 220 voted in his favor. This would make the margin about 12 percent. In such cases—where the penalty of death might arise as a legal sanction for the accusations is presented—Athenian law required that the prosecutor and the defendant each propose an administrative penalty to punish the actions reported in the accusations.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Socrates antagonises the court by proposing, rather than a penalty, a reward—perpetual maintenance at public expense. He notes that the vote of judgement against him was close. In that vein, Socrates then engages in dark humour, suggesting that Meletus narrowly escaped a great fine for not meeting the statutory requirement of receiving one-fifth of the votes of the assembled judges in favour of his accusations against Socrates. In that way, Socrates published the financial consequence for Meletus to consider as a plaintiff in a lawsuit—because the Athenian legal system discouraged frivolous lawsuits by imposing a financially onerous fine upon the plaintiff if the vote of the judges was less than one-fifth of the number of judges required by the type of lawsuit.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: As punishment for the two accusations formally presented against him at trial, Socrates proposed to the court that he be treated as a benefactor to the city of Athens; that he should be given free meals, in perpetuity, at the Prytaneum, the public dining hall of Athens. Receiving such public "largesse" is an honour reserved for Olympic athletes, prominent citizens, and benefactors of Athens, as a city and as a state.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Finally, after the court dismisses the proposed reward—free meals at the Prytaneum—Socrates considers imprisonment and banishment, before settling upon a punishment fine of 100 drachmae. Despite his poverty, this was a minor punishment compared to the death penalty proposed by the prosecutors, and encouraged by the judges of the trial. His supporters, Plato, Crito, Critobulus, and Apollodorus offered even more money to pay as a fine—3,000 drachmae (thirty minae); nonetheless, to the judges of the trial of Socrates, a pecuniary fine was insufficient punishment.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: In the Trial of Socrates, the judgement of the court was death for Socrates; most of the jurors voted for the death penalty ("Apology" 38c), yet Plato provides no jury-vote numbers in the text of the "Apology of Socrates"; but Diogenes Laërtius reports that 280 jurors voted for the death penalty and 220 jurors voted for a pecuniary fine for Socrates (2.42). Moreover, the politically provocative language and irreverent tone of Socrates's self-defence speech angered the jurors and invited their punishment of him.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Socrates responds to the death-penalty verdict by first addressing the jurors who voted for his death. He says that instead of waiting a short time for him to die from old age, they will now have to accept the harsh criticisms from his supporters. He prophesied that his death will cause the youngsters to come forward and replace him as a social gadfly, spurring ethical conduct from the citizens of Athens, in a manner more vexing than him(39d).


title: Apology (Plato)

text: To the jurors who voted to acquit him, Socrates gives encouragement: his supernatural "daimonion" did not interfere with his conduct of the legal defence, which he viewed as a sign that such a defence was the correct action. In that way, the "daimonion" communicated to Socrates that death might be a good thing; either death is annihilation (release from earthly worry) and not to be feared, or death is migration to a higher plane of existence in which reside the souls of personages and heroes, such as Hesiod and Homer and Odysseus.


title: Apology (Plato)

text: Socrates concludes his self-defence by saying to the court that he bears no ill-will, neither towards his accusers—Lycon, Anytus, and Meletus—nor the jurors. He then asks the Athenians to correct his three sons if they value material wealth more than living virtuously, or if they become too prideful; and in doing that, justice will finally be served.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin is a song by Phil Spector, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, first recorded in 1964 by the American vocal duo the Righteous Brothers, whose version was also produced by Spector and is cited by some music critics as the ultimate expression and illustration of his Wall of Sound recording technique. The record was a critical and commercial success on its release, reaching number one in early February 1965 in both the United States and the United Kingdom. The single ranked No. 5 in "Billboard"'s year-end Top 100 of 1965 Hot 100 hits – based on combined airplay and sales, and not including three charted weeks in December 1964 – and has entered the UK Top Ten on an unprecedented three occasions.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin has been covered successfully by numerous artists. In 1965, Cilla Black's recording reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. Dionne Warwick took her version to No. 16 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart in 1969. A 1971 duet version by singers Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway peaked at No. 30 on the "Billboard" R&B singles chart. Long John Baldry charted at No. 2 in Australia with his 1979 remake and a 1980 version by Hall and Oates reached No. 12 on the US Hot 100.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: Various music writers have described the Righteous Brothers version as "one of the best records ever made" and "the ultimate pop record". In 1999 the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) ranked the song as the most-played song on American radio and television in the 20th century, having accumulated more than 8 million airplays by 1999, and nearly 15 million by 2011. It held the distinction of being the most-played song for 22 years until 2019, when it was overtaken by "Every Breath You Take". In 2001 the song was chosen as one of the Songs of the Century by RIAA, and in 2003 the track ranked No. 34 on the list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by "Rolling Stone". In 2015 the single was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: In 1964, music producer Phil Spector conducted the band at a show in San Francisco where the Righteous Brothers was also appearing, and he was impressed enough with the duo to want them to record for his own label, Philles Records. All the songs previously produced by Spector for Philles Records featured African-American singers, and the Righteous Brothers would be his first white vocal act. However, they had a vocal style, termed blue-eyed soul, that suited Spector.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: Spector commissioned Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil to write a song for them, bringing them over from New York to Los Angeles to stay at the Chateau Marmont so they could write the song. Taking a cue from "Baby I Need Your Loving" by The Four Tops, which was then rising in the charts, Mann and Weil decided to write a ballad. Mann wrote the melody first, and came up with the opening line, "You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips", influenced by a line from the song "I Love How You Love Me" that was co-written by Mann and produced by Spector – "I love how your eyes close whenever you kiss me". Mann and Weil wrote the first two verses quickly, including the chorus line "you've lost that lovin' feelin. When Spector joined in with the writing, he added "gone, gone, gone, whoa, whoa, whoa" to the end of the chorus, which Weil disliked. The line "you've lost that lovin' feelin was originally only intended to be a dummy line that would be replaced later, but Spector liked it and decided to keep it. The form of the song is of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus or ABABCB form. Mann and Weil had problems writing the bridge and the ending, and asked Spector for help. Spector experimented on the piano with a "Hang On Sloopy" riff that they then built on for the bridge.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: Weil recalled that, "after Phil, Barry and I finished [writing it], we took it over to the Righteous Brothers. Bill Medley, who has the low voice, seemed to like the song." However, Medley initially felt that the song did not suit their more uptempo rhythm and blues style, and Mann and Spector had sung the song in a higher key: "And we just thought, 'Wow, what a good song for The Everly Brothers.' But it didn't seem right for us." The song, which has a very big range, was originally written in the higher key of F. But to accommodate Medley's baritone voice, the key was gradually lowered to C in the recording, which, together with slowing the song down, changed the "whole vibe of the song", according to Medley.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: Bobby Hatfield reportedly expressed his annoyance to Spector when he learned that Medley would start the first verse alone and that he had to wait until the chorus before joining in. Prior to this, they would have been given equal prominence in a song. When Hatfield asked Spector just what he was supposed to do during Medley's solo, Spector replied, "You can go directly to the bank!"


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: The song was recorded at Studio A of Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles. When Hatfield and Medley went to record the vocals a few weeks after the song was written, all the instrumental tracks had already been recorded and overdubbed. They recorded the vocal many times – Medley sang the opening verse over and over again until Spector was satisfied, and the process was then repeated with the next verse. The recording took over 39 takes and around eight hours over a period of two days.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: The song would become one of the foremost examples of Spector's "Wall of Sound" technique. It features the studio musicians the Wrecking Crew; playing on this recording were Don Randi on piano, Tommy Tedesco on guitar, Carol Kaye and Ray Pohlman on bass, and Steve Douglas on sax. They were also joined by Barney Kessel on guitar and Earl Palmer on drums. Jack Nitzsche usually arranged the songs for Spector, but he was absent, and the arrangement was done by Gene Page. As with his other songs, Spector started by cutting the instrumental track first, building up layers of sound to create the Wall of Sound effect. The recording was done mono so Spector could fix the sound exactly as he wanted it. According to sound engineer Larry Levine, they started recording four acoustic guitars; when that was ready, they added the pianos, of which there were three; followed by three basses; the horns (two trumpets, two trombones, and three saxophones); then finally the drums. The vocals by Hatfield and Medley were then recorded and the strings overdubbed. The background singers were mainly the vocal group The Blossoms, joined in the song's crescendo by a young Cher. Reverb was applied in the recording, and more was added on the lead vocals during the mix. According to music writer Robert Palmer, the effect of the technique used was to create a sound that was "deliberately blurry, atmospheric, and of course huge; Wagnerian rock 'n' roll with all the trimmings."


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: The song started slowly in the recording, with Medley singing in a low baritone voice. Right before the second verse started, Spector wanted the tempo to stay the same, but the beat to be just a little behind where they are supposed to land to give the impression of the song slowing down. The recorded song was three ticks slower and a tone and a half lower than what Mann and Weil had written. When Mann heard the finished record over the phone, he thought that it had been mistakenly played at 33 1/3 instead of 45 rpm and told Spector, "Phil, you have it on the wrong speed!"


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: Even with his interest in the song, Medley had his doubts because it was unusually long for a pop song at the time. In an interview with "Rolling Stone" magazine, he recalled, "We had no idea if it would be a hit. It was too slow, too long, and right in the middle of The Beatles and the British Invasion." The song ran for nearly four minutes when released. This was too long by contemporary AM radio standards; radio stations at that time rarely played songs longer than three minutes because longer songs meant that fewer ads could be placed between song sets. Spector, however, refused to shorten it. Following a suggestion by Larry Levine, Spector had "3:05" printed on the label, instead of the track's actual running time of 3:45. He also added a false ending which made the recording more dramatic, and also tricked radio DJs into thinking it was a shorter song.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: The production of the single cost Spector around $35,000, then a considerable amount. Spector himself was deeply concerned about the reception to a song that was unusual for its time, worrying that his vision would not be understood. He canvassed a few opinions – his publisher Don Kirshner suggested that the song should be re-titled "Bring Back That Lovin' Feelin, while New York DJ Murray the K thought that bass line in the middle section, similar to that of a slowed-down "La Bamba", should be the start of the song. Spector took these as criticisms and later said: "I didn't sleep for a week when that record came out. I was so sick, I got a spastic colon; I had an ulcer."


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: Andrew Loog Oldham, who was then the manager of the Rolling Stones and a fan and friend of Spector, chanced upon Spector listening to a test pressing of the song that had just been delivered. Loog Oldham later wrote, "The room was filled with this amazing sound, I had no idea what it was, but it was the most incredible thing I'd ever heard." He added, "I'd never heard a recorded track so emotionally giving or empowering." Later, when Cilla Black recorded a rival version of the same song and it was racing up the British charts ahead of The Righteous Brothers' version, Loog Oldham was appalled, and took it upon himself to run a full-page ad in "Melody Maker":


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: In other ads, Loog Oldham also coined a new term to describe the song, "Phil Spector's Wall of Sound", which Spector later registered as a trademark.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: Assessments by music writers were also highly positive. Nick Logan and Bob Woffinden thought that the song might be "the ultimate pop record ... here [Spector's] genius for production truly bloomed to create a single of epic proportion ..." Richard Williams, who wrote the 1972 biography of Phil Spector "Out of His Head", considered the song to be one of the best records ever made, while Charlie Gillett in his 1970 book "The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll" wrote that "the ebb and flow of passion the record achieved had no direct equivalent." Mick Brown, author of a biography of Spector, "Tearing Down the Wall of Sound", considered the song to be "Spector's defining moment" and his "most Wagnerian production yet - a funeral march to departed love". The opening line was said to be "one of the most familiar opening passages in the history of pop", and "Vanity Fair" described the song as "the most erotic duet between men on record". However, when it was first presented on the BBC television panel show "Juke Box Jury" in January 1965 upon its release in the UK, it was voted a miss by all four panelists, with one questioning if it was played at the right speed.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: There were initially reservations about the song from the radio industry; a common complaint was that it was too long, and others also questioned the speed of the song, and thought that the singer "keeps yelling". Some stations refused to play the song after checking its length, or after it had caused them to miss the news. The radio industry trade publication "Gavin Report" offered the opinion that "blue-eyed soul has gone too far". In Britain, Sam Costa, a DJ on the BBC Light Programme, said that The Righteous Brothers' record was a dirge, adding, "I wouldn't even play it in my toilet." However, despite the initial reservations, the song would become highly popular on radio.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys heard the song and rang Mann and Weil in January 1965 to say: "Your song is the greatest record ever. I was ready to quit the music business, but this has inspired me to write again." Wilson later referred to the Beach Boys' 1966 song "Good Vibrations" as his attempt to surpass "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin". Over the subsequent decades, he recorded numerous unreleased renditions of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin. One of them, recorded during the sessions for the 1977 album "The Beach Boys Love You", was released on the 2013 compilation "Made in California".


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin debuted on the American national chart on December 12, 1964. It topped the "Billboard" Hot 100 on February 6, 1965, and remained there for another week; its 16-week run on the Hot 100 was unusually lengthy at that time. And it was the longest recording to top the chart up to that time. In addition, the single crossed over to the R&B charts, peaking at No. 2. "Billboard" ranked the record as the No. 5 single of 1965.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: The single was released in the UK in January 1965, debuting at No. 35 in the chart dated January 20, 1965. In its fourth week it reached number one, where it remained for two weeks, replaced by the Kinks' "Tired of Waiting for You". It would become the only single to ever enter the UK Top Ten three times, being re-released in 1969 (No. 10), and again in 1990 (No. 3). The 1990 re-release was issued as a double A-sided single with "Ebb Tide" and was a follow-up to the re-release of "Unchained Melody", which had hit number one as a result of being featured in the blockbuster film "Ghost". "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin also reached No. 42 after a 1977 re-release and in 1988 reached No. 87.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: In Ireland, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin charted twice, first in January 1965, when it peaked at No. 2, and again in December 1990, following its reissue as a double A-sided single with "Ebb Tide", when it climbed to No. 2 again. The original Righteous Brothers recording remains the only version of the song to chart in Ireland. In the Netherlands "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" reached No. 8 in March 1965, with three versions ranked together as one entry: those of the Righteous Brothers, Cilla Black (a UK No. 2) and Dutch singer Trea Dobbs ().


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: In 1965, the Righteous Brothers recording of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin was nominated in the Best Rock and Roll Recording category at the 7th Annual Grammy Awards. It was also awarded Best Pop Single To Date 1965 in the "Billboard" Disc Jockey Poll.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: In 2001, this recording was ranked at No. 9 in the list of Songs of the Century released by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2004, the same recording was ranked at No. 34 by "Rolling Stone" magazine in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2005, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin was awarded the Songwriters Hall of Fame's Towering Song Award presented to "the creators of an individual song that has influenced the culture in a unique way over many years".


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: In 2015, the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, which each year selects from 130 years of sound recordings for special recognition and preservation, chose the Righteous Brothers rendition as one of the 25 recordings that have "cultural, artistic and/or historical significance to American society and the nation's audio legacy".


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: English singer Cilla Black first achieved major chart success by covering Dionne Warwick's newly released American hit "Anyone Who Had a Heart" for the UK market, which gave her a number one song in both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart in February 1964, out-performing Dionne Warwick's original version, which only peaked at No. 42 in the UK. Black's producer George Martin repeated this strategy with the Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" that had just been released in the US. Black's version is shorter with an abbreviated bridge, which she explained by saying: "I don't want people to get bored". The abridgement also removed the necessity of Black's attempting to match the Righteous Brothers' climactic vocal trade-off.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: Both Cilla Black's and the Righteous Brothers versions of the song debuted on the UK chart in the same week in January 1965, with Black debuting higher at No. 28. According to Tony Hall of Decca Records who was responsible for promoting the Righteous Brothers record in the UK, Black's version was preferred by BBC radio where one of its DJs disparaged the Righteous Brothers' version as a "dirge" and refused to play it. Hall therefore requested that Spector send the Righteous Brothers over to Britain to promote the song so it might have a chance on the chart.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: The following week Black remained in ascendancy at No. 12 with the Righteous Brothers at No. 20. The Righteous Brothers came over to Britain, spent a week promoting the song and performed for television shows in Manchester and Birmingham. At the same time, Andrew Loog Oldham placed a full-page ad on "Melody Maker" promoting the Righteous Brothers version at his own initiative and expense, and urged the readers to watch the Righteous Brothers appearance on the ITV television show "Ready Steady Go!" In its third week on the February 3, 1965 chart, Black jumped to No. 2, while the Righteous Brothers made an even larger jump to No. 3. Hall recalled meeting at a party Brian Epstein, the manager of Black, who said that Black's version would be number one and told Hall, "You haven't a hope in hell."


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: However, in its fourth week, Black's version began its descent, dropping to No. 5, while the Righteous Brothers climbed to number one. Cilla Black then reportedly cabled her congratulations to the Righteous Brothers on their reaching number one. Black's version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin would prove to be her highest charting UK single apart from her two number ones: "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "You're My World". While Black's version was released in Ireland, it did not make the official Irish Singles Chart as published by RTÉ, but it reached No. 5 on the unofficial Evening Herald charts.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: In 1969, American singer Dionne Warwick recorded a cover version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" for her studio album "Soulful". Her version was the only single released from the album and it was aimed to showcase Warwick as more of an R&B singer than was evidenced by her work with Burt Bacharach. Co-produced by Warwick and Chips Moman and recorded at American Sound Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, "Soulful" was one of Warwick's most successful albums peaking at No. 11 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The single "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" reached No. 16 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, and charted at No. 13 on the "Billboard" R&B singles chart. In Australia the "Go-Set" Top 40 chart ranked Warwick's version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" with a No. 34 peak in January 1970. In Warwick's version of the song, she spells the last word of the title out fully as "feeling" rather than the usual "feelin.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: In 1971, American singers Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway recorded a cover version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin. Their version of the song was produced by Joel Dorn and was included on their 1972 self-titled duet album "Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway", issued on the Atlantic Records label. Their version of the song was released as the second single from the album after the Top 30 version of "You've Got a Friend". The Flack/Hathaway take on "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin reached No. 30 on the "Billboard" R&B singles chart and charted at No. 71 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 pop chart. It also reached No. 57 in the "Cash Box" Top 100 Singles and peaked at No. 53 on the "Record World" 100 Pop Chart.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: In 1979, English blues singer Long John Baldry recorded a cover version of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling as a duet with Kathi McDonald for his album "Baldry's Out", the Jimmy Horowitz-produced disc which was Baldry's first recording in his newly adopted homeland of Canada. In this version, Kathi McDonald sang the latter half of the first verse using the part from the second verse ("It makes me just feel like crying ..."), inverting the usual order.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: Released as a single, Baldry's "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin charted at No. 45 on the Canadian "RPM" singles chart, and spilled over into the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart at No. 89. The single also reached No. 2 in Australia in 1980. Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers told Baldry that he liked their remake of the song better than his own. Baldry had first recorded the song – as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin – for his 1966 album "Looking at Long John". The Baldry/McDonald duet version of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" also reached No. 37 in New Zealand.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: In 1980, the American musical duo Hall & Oates recorded a cover version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin for their ninth studio album "Voices". Their version of the song was produced by the duo and included a sparse arrangement contrasting with the lavish Righteous Brothers original version. It was the second non-original song Hall & Oates had ever recorded. According to Oates, this was the last song recorded for the album, as it had been deemed complete with the other ten tracks. However, Hall and Oates felt that there was "something missing" from the album. Then they came across the Righteous Brothers' version of the song on a jukebox machine while going out to get food and they decided to cover it. They went back to the studio, cut it in a period of four hours, and placed on the album.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: The track was issued on RCA Records as the album's second single after the original "How Does It Feel to Be Back" peaked at No. 30 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The November peak of No. 12 on the Hot 100 chart made "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin the first Hall & Oates single to ascend higher than No. 18 since the number one hit "Rich Girl" in the spring of 1977. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin also reached No. 15 on the "Billboard" Adult Contemporary chart, on the Radio & Records Airplay chart the song debuted at No. 30 on the September 26, 1980 issue, after seven weeks it reached and peaked at No. 4 staying there for one week, the song stayed on the top 10 of the chart for six weeks and remained on it for thirteen. It also reached No. 55 in the UK Singles Chart.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: The song is highly popular on the radio; according to the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), it became the most-played song of all time on American radio in 1997 with over 7 million airplays (all versions), overtaking the Beatles' "Yesterday". At the end of 1999, the song was ranked by the BMI as the most-played song of the 20th century, having been broadcast more than 8 million times on American radio and television, and it remains the most-played song, having accumulated almost 15 million airplays in the US by 2011. The song also received 11 BMI Pop Awards by 1997, the most for any song, and has received 14 in total so far. In 2019, "Every Breath You Take" by The Police displaced it as the most played song on US radio.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: The popularity of the song also means that it is one of the highest grossing songs for its copyright holders. It was estimated by the BBC programme "The Richest Songs in the World" in 2012 to be the third biggest earner of royalties of all songs, behind "White Christmas" and "Happy Birthday to You".


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: One reason for the song's resurgence during the mid-1980s was the song's inclusion in the iconic '80s film "Top Gun". After Maverick (assisted by Goose) serenades his love interest with the tune, she returns the favor by selecting it on the jukebox at his old hangout to catch his attention and reunite. As the end credits begin to roll, the main character, Maverick, literally flies off into the sunset as the Righteous Brothers harmonic chorus continues in the background.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: The song also made a significant appearance in the TV sitcom "Cheers". It was said to be the favorite song of main character Rebecca Howe (Kirstie Alley) in the episode "Please Mr. Postman" and was included in multiple episodes throughout the series.


title: You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'

text: The song has been adopted as a terrace chant by supporters of English football club Nottingham Forest. On 14 September 2013, Bill Medley visited Forest's City Ground to meet supporters before a match against Barnsley.


title: Languages of Ghana

text: Ghana is a multilingual country in which about eighty languages are spoken. Of these, English, which was inherited from the colonial era, is the official language and lingua franca. Of the languages indigenous to Ghana, Akan is the most widely spoken.


title: Languages of Ghana

text: Ghana has more than seventy ethnic groups, each with its own distinct language. Languages that belong to the same ethnic group are usually mutually intelligible. The Dagbanli and Mampelle languages of Northern Region, for instance, are mutually intelligible with the Frafra and Waali languages of the Upper West Region of Ghana. These four languages are of Mole-Dagbani ethnicity.


title: Languages of Ghana

text: Eleven languages have the status of government-sponsored languages: three Akan ethnic languages (Akuapem Twi, Asante Twi and Fante) and two Mole-Dagbani ethnic languages (Dagaare and Dagbanli). The others are Ewe, Dangme, Ga, Nzema, Gonja, and Kasem.


title: Languages of Ghana

text: In April 2019, the Ghanaian government declared its intention to make French one of Ghana's official languages due to the country being surrounded by Francophone countries (Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast and Togo) and the presence of a French speaking minority in the country.


title: Languages of Ghana

text: The number of government-sponsored languages is either eleven or nine, depending on whether or not Bono, Akuapem Twi, Asante Twi, and Fante are considered a single language. They are supported by the Bureau of Ghana Languages, which was established in 1951 and publishes materials in the languages; during the periods when Ghanaian languages were used in primary education, these were the languages which were used. All these languages belong to the Niger–Congo language family, though to several different branches.


title: Languages of Ghana

text: Akan, part of the Kwa branch of the Niger–Congo family, is a dialect continuum, but with regard to official status, only a few out of the many varieties of Akan are recognised: Bono, Fante, Asante Twi, Akuapem Twi. Taken as a whole, Akan is the most-widely spoken language in Ghana.


title: Languages of Ghana

text: Ewe is a Gbe language, part of the Volta–Niger branch of the Niger–Congo family. The Ewe Language is spoken in Ghana, Togo and Benin with a trace of the language in West Nigeria. Out of the many dialects of Ewe spoken in Ghana, the major ones are Anlo, Tongu, Vedome, Gbi, and Krepi.


title: Languages of Ghana

text: Dagbani is one of the Gur languages. It is the most spoken language in Northern Ghana. The number of native speakers numbers more than three million, This number will reach six million if dialects such as Nanumba, Mamprusi and Kamara are added. It belongs to the larger Mole-Dagbani ethnic group found in Ghana and makes up about 18.5% of the population. It is spoken by Dagombas in the Northern Region of Ghana..


title: Languages of Ghana

text: Dangme is one of the Ga–Dangme languages within the Kwa branch. It is spoken in Greater Accra, in south-east Ghana and Togo.


title: Languages of Ghana

text: Dagaare is another of the Gur languages. It is spoken in the Upper West Region of Ghana. It is also spoken in Burkina Faso.


title: Languages of Ghana

text: Ga is the other Ga–Dangme language within the Kwa branch. Ga is spoken in south-eastern Ghana, in and around the capital Accra.


title: Languages of Ghana

text: Nzema is one of the Bia languages, closely related to Akan. It is spoken by the Nzema people in the Western Region of Ghana. It is also spoken in the Ivory Coast.


title: Languages of Ghana

text: Kasem is a Gurunsi language, in the Gur branch. It is spoken in the Upper Eastern Region of Ghana. It is also spoken in Burkina Faso.


title: Languages of Ghana

text: Gonja is one of the Guang languages, part of the Tano languages within the Kwa branch along with Akan and Bia. It is spoken in the Northern Region of Ghana and Wa


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Rin Tin Tin or Rin-Tin-Tin (September 1918 – August 10, 1932) was a male German Shepherd born in Flirey, France, who became an international star in motion pictures. He was rescued from a World War I battlefield by an American soldier, Lee Duncan, who nicknamed him "Rinty". Duncan trained Rin Tin Tin and obtained silent film work for the dog. Rin Tin Tin was an immediate box-office success and went on to appear in 27 Hollywood films, gaining worldwide fame. Along with the earlier canine film star Strongheart, Rin Tin Tin was responsible for greatly increasing the popularity of German Shepherd dogs as family pets. The immense profitability of his films contributed to the success of Warner Bros. studios and helped advance the career of Darryl F. Zanuck from screenwriter to producer and studio executive.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: After Rin Tin Tin died in 1932, the name was given to several related German Shepherd dogs featured in fictional stories on film, radio, and television. Rin Tin Tin Jr. appeared in some serialized films, but was not as talented as his father. Rin Tin Tin III, said to be Rin Tin Tin's grandson, but probably only distantly related, helped promote the military use of dogs during World War II. Rin Tin Tin III also appeared in a film with child actor Robert Blake in 1947.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Duncan groomed Rin Tin Tin IV for the 1950s television series "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin", but the dog performed poorly in a screen test and was replaced in the TV show by trainer Frank Barnes's dogs, primarily one named Flame Jr., called JR, with the public led to believe otherwise. Instead of shooting episodes, Rin Tin Tin IV stayed at home in Riverside, California. The TV show "Rin Tin Tin" was nominated for a PATSY Award in both 1958 and 1959 but did not win.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: After Duncan died in 1960, the screen property of Rin Tin Tin passed to TV producer Herbert B. Leonard, who worked on further adaptations such as the 1988–1993 Canadian-made TV show "Katts and Dog", which was called "Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop" in the US and "Rintintin Junior" in France. Following Leonard's death in 2006, his lawyer James Tierney made the 2007 children's film "Finding Rin Tin Tin", an American–Bulgarian production based on Duncan's discovery of the dog in France. Meanwhile, a Rin Tin Tin memorabilia collection was being amassed by Texas resident Jannettia Propps Brodsgaard, who had purchased several direct descendant dogs from Duncan beginning with Rinty Tin Tin Brodsgaard in 1957. Brodsgaard bred the dogs to keep the bloodline. Brodsgaard's granddaughter, Daphne Hereford, continued to build on the tradition and bloodline of Rin Tin Tin from 1988 to 2011; she was the first to trademark the name Rin Tin Tin, in 1993, and she bought the domain names rintintin.com and rintintin.net to establish a website. Hereford also opened a short-lived Rin Tin Tin museum in Latexo, Texas. Hereford passed the tradition to her daughter, Dorothy Yanchak, in 2011. The current dog, Rin Tin Tin XII, owned by Yanchak, takes part in public events to represent the Rin Tin Tin legacy.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Following advances made by American forces during the Battle of Saint-Mihiel, Corporal Lee Duncan, an armourer of the U.S. Army Air Service, was sent forward on September 15, 1918, to the small French village of Flirey to see if it would make a suitable flying field for his unit, the 135th Aero Squadron. The area had been subjected to aerial bombing and artillery fire, and Duncan found a severely damaged kennel which had once supplied the Imperial German Army with German Shepherd dogs. The only dogs left alive in the kennel were a starving mother with a litter of five nursing puppies, their eyes still shut because they were less than a week old. Duncan rescued the dogs and brought them back to his unit.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: When the puppies were weaned, he gave the mother to an officer and three of the litter to other soldiers, but he kept one puppy of each sex. He felt that these two dogs were symbols of his good luck. He dubbed them Rin Tin Tin and Nanette after a pair of good luck charms called Rintintin and Nénette that French children often gave to the American soldiers. Duncan sensed that Nanette was the more intelligent of the two puppies. (The soldiers were usually told that Rintintin and Nénette were lucky lovers who had survived a bombing attack, but the original dolls had been designed by Francisque Poulbot before the war in late 1913 to look like Paris street urchins. Contrary to linguistic clues and popular usage, Poulbot said that Rintintin was the girl doll.)


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: In July 1919, Duncan sneaked the dogs aboard a ship taking him back to the US at the end of the war. When he got to Long Island, New York, for re-entry processing, he put his dogs in the care of a Hempstead breeder named Mrs. Leo Wanner, who trained police dogs. Nanette was diagnosed with pneumonia; as a replacement, the breeder gave Duncan another female German Shepherd puppy. Duncan travelled to California by rail with his dogs. While Duncan was travelling by train, Nanette died in Hempstead. As a memorial, Duncan named his new puppy Nanette II, but he called her Nanette. Duncan, Rin Tin Tin, and Nanette II settled at his home in Los Angeles. Rin Tin Tin was a dark sable colour and had very dark eyes. Nanette II was much lighter in colour.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: An athletic silent film actor named Eugene Pallette was one of Duncan's friends. The two men enjoyed the outdoors; they took the dogs to the Sierras, where Pallette liked to hunt, while Duncan taught Rin Tin Tin various tricks. Duncan thought that his dog might win a few awards at dog shows and thus be a valuable source of puppies bred with Nanette for sale. In 1922, Duncan was a founding member of the Shepherd Dog Club of California, based in Los Angeles. At the club's first show, Rin Tin Tin showed his agility but also demonstrated an aggressive temper, growling, barking, and snapping. It was a very poor performance, but the worst moment came afterward when Duncan was walking home. A heavy bundle of newspapers was thrown from a delivery truck and landed on the dog, breaking his left front leg. Duncan had the injured limb set in plaster and he nursed the dog back to health for nine months.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Ten months after the break, the leg was healed and Rin Tin Tin was entered in a show for German Shepherd dogs in Los Angeles. Rin Tin Tin had learned to leap great heights. At the dog show while making a winning leap, he was filmed by Duncan's acquaintance Charley Jones, who had just developed a slow-motion camera. Seeing his dog being filmed, Duncan became convinced Rin Tin Tin could become the next Strongheart, a successful film dog that lived in his own full-sized stucco bungalow with its own street address in the Hollywood Hills, separate from the mansion of his owners, who lived a street away next to Roy Rogers. Duncan later wrote, "I was so excited over the film idea that I found myself thinking of it night and day."


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Duncan walked his dog up and down Poverty Row, talking to anyone in a position to put Rin Tin Tin in film, however modest the role. The dog's first break came when he was asked to replace a camera-shy wolf in "The Man from Hell's River" (1922) featuring Wallace Beery. The wolf was not performing properly for the director, but under the guidance of Duncan's voice commands, Rin Tin Tin was very easy to work with. When the film was completed, the dog was billed as "Rin Tan". Rin Tin Tin would be cast as a wolf or wolf-hybrid many times in his career because it was much more convenient for filmmakers to work with a trained dog. In another 1922 film titled "My Dad", Rin Tin Tin picked up a small part as a household dog. The credits read: "Rin Tin Tin – Played by himself".


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Rin Tin Tin's first starring role was in "Where the North Begins" (1923), in which he played alongside silent screen actress Claire Adams. This film was a huge success and has often been credited with saving Warner Bros. from bankruptcy. It was followed by 24 more screen appearances. Each of these films was very popular, making such a profit for Warner Bros. that Rin Tin Tin was called "the mortgage lifter" by studio insiders. A young screenwriter named Darryl F. Zanuck was involved in creating stories for Rin Tin Tin; the success of the films raised him to the position of film producer. In New York City, Mayor Jimmy Walker gave Rin Tin Tin a key to the city.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Rin Tin Tin was much sought after and was signed for endorsement deals. Dog food makers Ken-L Ration, Ken-L-Biskit, and Pup-E-Crumbles all featured him in their advertisements. Warner Bros. fielded fan letters by the thousands, sending back a glossy portrait signed with a paw print and a message written by Duncan: "Most faithfully, Rin Tin Tin." In the 1920s, Rin Tin Tin's success for Warner Bros. inspired several imitations from other studios looking to cash in on his popularity, notably RKO's Ace the Wonder Dog, also a German Shepherd dog. Around the world, Rin Tin Tin was extremely popular because as a dog he was equally well understood by all viewers. At the time, silent films were easily adapted for various countries by simply changing the language of the intertitles. Rin Tin Tin's films were widely distributed. Film historian Jan-Christopher Horak wrote that by 1927, Rin Tin Tin was the most popular actor with the very sophisticated film audience in Berlin. "He is a human dog", one fan wrote, "human in the real big sense of the word."


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: A Hollywood legend holds it that at the first-ever Academy Awards competition in 1929, Rin Tin Tin was voted Best Actor, but that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, wishing to appear more serious and thus determined to have a human actor win the award, removed Rin Tin Tin as a choice and re-ran the vote, leading to German actor Emil Jannings winning the award. Author Susan Orlean stated this story as fact in her 2011 book "". However, former Academy head Bruce Davis has written that the 1928 ballots, kept in storage at the Academy's Margaret Herrick Library, show a complete absence of votes for Rin Tin Tin. Davis called the story an urban legend that probably originated in a joke ballot circulated that year by Zanuck, who wanted to mock the concept of the Academy Awards.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Although primarily a star of silent films, Rin Tin Tin did appear in four sound features, including the 12-part Mascot Studios chapter-play "The Lightning Warrior" (1931), co-starring with Frankie Darro. In these films, vocal commands would have been picked up by the microphones, so Duncan likely guided Rin Tin Tin by hand signals. Rin Tin Tin and the rest of the crew filmed much of the outdoor action footage for "The Lightning Warrior" on the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, known for its huge sandstone boulders and widely recognized as the most heavily filmed outdoor shooting location in the history of the movies.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Rin Tin Tin and Nanette II produced at least 48 puppies; Duncan kept two of them, selling the rest or giving them as gifts. Greta Garbo, W.K. Kellogg, and Jean Harlow each owned one of Rin Tin Tin's descendants.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: On August 10, 1932, Rin Tin Tin died at Duncan's home on Club View Drive in Los Angeles. Duncan wrote about the death in his unpublished memoir: He heard Rin Tin Tin bark in a peculiar fashion so he went to see what was wrong. He found the dog lying on the ground, moments away from death. Newspapers across the nation carried obituaries. Magazine articles were written about his life, and a special Movietone News feature was shown to movie audiences. In the press, aspects of the death were fabricated in various ways, such as Rin Tin Tin dying on the set of the film "Pride of the Legion" (where Rin Tin Tin Jr. was working), dying at night, or dying at home on the front lawn in the arms of actress Jean Harlow, who lived on the same street. In a private ceremony, Duncan buried Rin Tin Tin in a bronze casket in his own backyard with a plain wooden cross to mark the location. Duncan was suffering the financial effects of the Great Depression and could not afford a finer burial, nor even his own expensive house. He sold his house and quietly arranged to have the dog's body returned to his country of birth for reburial in the Cimetière des Chiens et Autres Animaux Domestiques, the pet cemetery in the Parisian suburb of Asnières-sur-Seine.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: In the United States, his death set off a national response. Regular programming was interrupted by a news bulletin. An hour-long program about Rin Tin Tin played the next day. In a ceremony on February 8, 1960, Rin Tin Tin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1627 Vine Street.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Rin Tin Tin Jr. was sired by Rin Tin Tin, and his mother was Champion Asta of Linwood, also owned by Lee Duncan. Junior appeared in several films in the 1930s. He starred with Rex the Wild Horse in the Mascot Pictures serials "The Law of the Wild" (1934) and "The Adventures of Rex and Rinty" (1935). He voiced the part of Rinty in the radio shows produced during that era as well.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Rin Tin Tin III starred alongside a young Robert Blake in 1947's "The Return of Rin Tin Tin" but is primarily credited with assisting Duncan in the training of more than 5,000 dogs for the World War II war effort at Camp Hahn, California.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Between 1930 and 1955, Rin Tin Tin was cast in three different radio series, beginning April 5, 1930, with "The Wonder Dog", in which the original Rin Tin Tin performed some of the sound effects until his death in 1932. (Most of the dog noises were performed live on radio by a man named Bob Barker.) This 15-minute program was broadcast Saturdays on the Blue Network at 8:15 pm until March 1931, when it moved to Thursdays. Storylines were often highly unlikely, with Rin Tin Tin saving a group of space-exploring scientists from giant Martians in one episode.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: In September 1930, the title changed from "The Wonder Dog" to "Rin Tin Tin". Don Ameche and Junior McLain starred in the series, which ended June 8, 1933. With Ken-L Ration as a sponsor, the series continued on CBS from October 5, 1933, until May 20, 1934, airing Sundays at 7:45 pm.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: The final radio series was broadcast on Mutual from January 2, 1955, to December 25, 1955, a 30-minute program heard Sunday evenings. Sponsored by National Biscuit for Shredded Wheat and Milk-Bone, the series featured Rin Tin Tin's adventures with the 101st Cavalry in the same manner as the concurrent TV show, "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin". The radio show also starred Lee Aaker (1943–2021) as Rusty, James Brown (1920–1992) as Lieutenant Ripley "Rip" Masters, and Joe Sawyer (1906–1982) as Sergeant Biff O'Hara.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin", an ABC television series, ran from October 1954 to May 1959. Duncan's Rin Tin Tin IV was nominally the lead dog, but nearly all of the screen work was performed by a dog named Flame Jr., nicknamed JR (pronounced Jay Are), owned by trainer Frank Barnes. Other dogs that sometimes played TV's Rin Tin Tin included Barnes's dog Blaze and Duncan's dog Hey You from the Rin Tin Tin bloodline. Hey You had suffered an eye injury during his youth; he was used as a stunt dog and for fight scenes. TV's Rin Tin Tin was far lighter in color than the original sable-colored dog of silent film.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Lee Duncan died on September 20, 1960, without ever having trademarked the name "Rin Tin Tin". The tradition continued in Texas with Jannettia Brodsgaard Propps, who had purchased several direct descendant dogs from Duncan. Her granddaughter, Daphne Hereford, continued the lineage and the legacy of Rin Tin Tin following her grandmother's death on December 17, 1988. Hereford passed the tradition to her daughter, Dorothy Yanchak, in July 2011. The current Rin Tin Tin is twelfth in line from the original silent film star and makes personal appearances across the country to promote responsible pet ownership. Rin Tin Tin was the recipient of the 2011 American Humane Association Legacy award, accepted by a twelfth-generation Rin Tin Tin legacy dog in October 2011 at the first annual Hero Dog Awards in Beverly Hills. Mickey Rooney narrated a memorial tribute film about Rin Tin Tin. The next year, Rin Tin Tin was honored by the Academy of Arts and Sciences in a special program, "Hollywood Dogs: From Rin Tin Tin to Uggie", on June 6, 2012, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre. Rin Tin Tin's silent-era career was compared to that of contemporary film dog Uggie (2002–2015).


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: In 1976, a film loosely based on Rin Tin Tin's debut was produced: "Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood". Producer David V. Picker offered a fee to Herbert B. Leonard, but Leonard disagreed with the basic premise of a film ridiculing the famous dog. Leonard sued the filmmakers for infringement on the Rin Tin Tin legacy and lost.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Originally co-produced by Leonard, the 1988–93 Canadian TV series "Katts and Dog" featured the adventures of a police officer and his canine partner. The series was titled "Rin Tin Tin: K9 Cop" for its American showings; in France it was presented as "Rintintin Junior". Leonard was funded by the Christian Broadcasting Network, whose founder, televangelist Pat Robertson, had been enthusiastic for the idea. Leonard was criticized by his fellow producers for staying with his new wife in Los Angeles rather than helping with the show on location in Canada. Partway through the first season, Robertson said that some of his viewers were deeply concerned that the plot involved a widowed mother who was living unmarried in the same house with the brother of her late husband. Robertson recommended the mother character be killed off to stop the complaints, but Leonard protested such a change. After Leonard quit the show, the problematic character was killed off. Though separated from the show, Leonard continued to receive a fee for the screen rights to Rin Tin Tin.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: In 2007, a children's film was produced—"Finding Rin Tin Tin"—based on the story of Lee Duncan finding Rin Tin Tin on a battlefield in France and making a star of him in Hollywood. The film was the subject of a lawsuit brought in October 2008 by Daphne Hereford, who asked a federal court in Houston, Texas, to protect her rights to the Rin Tin Tin trademark. The judge ruled in favor of the filmmakers, declaring the use of the name in the film to be fair use.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: A fictionalized account of Lee Duncan finding and raising Rin Tin Tin is a major part of the novel "Sunnyside" by Glen David Gold.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Rin Tin Tin has been featured as a character in many fiction works, including a children's book in which Rin Tin Tin and the other animal characters are able to talk to one another but are unable to talk to humans.


title: Rin Tin Tin

text: Rin Tin Tin finds mention in Anne Frank's diary in her second entry on June 14, 1942. Frank wishes she had a dog like Rin Tin Tin. She also wrote about the 1924 Rin Tin Tin silent film "The Lighthouse by the Sea", which she and her school friends watched together in her house for her birthday party. According to her, the movie was a big hit with her friends.


title: Siege of Masada

text: The siege of Masada was one of the final events in the First Jewish–Roman War, occurring from 73 to 74 CE on and around a hilltop in present-day Israel.


title: Siege of Masada

text: The siege is known to history via a single source, Flavius Josephus, a Jewish rebel leader captured by the Romans, in whose service he became a historian. According to Josephus the long siege by the troops of the Roman Empire led to the mass suicide of the Sicarii rebels and resident Jewish families of the Masada fortress, although this is not supported by archaeological investigation.


title: Siege of Masada

text: The siege has become controversial, with some Jews regarding Masada as a place of reverence, commemorating ancestors who fell heroically against oppression, and others regarding it as a testament to extremism and a refusal to compromise.


title: Siege of Masada

text: Masada has been described as "a lozenge-shaped table-mountain" that is "lofty, isolated, and to all appearance impregnable". Historically, the fortress could be reached only by a single pathway that was too narrow for men to walk abreast. This pathway was named "the Snake" for the way it twists and zig-zags to the summit. Masada was named as the place where David rested after fleeing from his father-in-law, King Saul.


title: Siege of Masada

text: Flavius Josephus, a Jew born and raised in Jerusalem, is the only historian to provide a detailed account of the First Jewish–Roman War and the only person who recorded what happened on Masada. After being captured during the Siege of Yodfat and then freed by Vespasian, Josephus chronicled the Roman campaign. Josephus presumably based his narration on the field commentaries of the Roman commanders.


title: Siege of Masada

text: According to Josephus, Masada was first constructed by the Hasmoneans. Between 37 and 31 BCE Herod the Great fortified it as a refuge for himself in the event of a revolt. In 66 CE, at the beginning of the First Jewish–Roman War, a group of Jewish extremists called the Sicarii overcame the Roman garrison of Masada and settled there. The Sicarii were commanded by Eleazar ben Ya'ir, and in 70 CE they were joined by additional Sicarii and their families expelled from Jerusalem by the Jewish population with whom the Sicarii were in conflict. Shortly thereafter, following the Roman siege of Jerusalem and subsequent destruction of the Second Temple, additional members of the Sicarii and many Jewish families fled Jerusalem and settled on the mountaintop, with the Sicarii using it as a refuge and base for raiding the surrounding countryside. According to modern interpretations of Josephus, the Sicarii were an extremist splinter group of the Zealots and were equally antagonistic to both Romans and other Jewish groups. It was the Zealots, in contrast to the Sicarii, who carried the main burden of the rebellion, which opposed Roman rule of Judea.


title: Siege of Masada

text: According to Josephus, on Passover, the Sicarii raided Ein Gedi, a nearby Jewish settlement, and killed 700 of its inhabitants.


title: Siege of Masada

text: Archaeology indicates that the Sicarii modified some of the structures they found at Masada; these include a building that was modified to function as a synagogue (it may in fact have been a synagogue to begin with), although it did not contain a "mikvah" or the benches found in other early synagogues. It is one of the oldest synagogues in Israel.


title: Siege of Masada

text: In 72 CE, the Roman governor of Judaea, Lucius Flavius Silva, led Roman legion X "Fretensis", a number of auxiliary units and Jewish prisoners of war, totaling some 15,000 men and women (of whom an estimated 8,000 to 9,000 were fighting men) to lay siege to the 960 people in Masada. The Roman legion surrounded Masada and built a circumvallation wall, before commencing construction of a siege ramp against the western face of the plateau, moving thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth to do so. Josephus does not record any attempts by the Sicarii to counterattack the besiegers during this process, a significant difference from his accounts of other sieges of the revolt.


title: Siege of Masada

text: The ramp was completed in the spring of 73, after probably two to three months of siege. A giant siege tower with a battering ram was constructed and moved laboriously up the completed ramp, while the Romans assaulted the wall, discharging "a volley of blazing torches against ... a wall of timber", allowing the Romans to finally breach the wall of the fortress on April 16, 73 CE. When the Romans entered the fortress, however, they found it to be "a citadel of death". The Jewish rebels had set all the buildings but the food storerooms ablaze and had killed each other, declaring "a glorious death ... preferable to a life of infamy".


title: Siege of Masada

text: According to Josephus, "The Jews hoped that all of their nation beyond the Euphrates would join together with them to raise an insurrection", but in the end there were only 960 Jewish Zealots who fought the Roman army at Masada. When these Zealots were trapped on top of Masada with nowhere to run, Josephus tells us that the Zealots believed "it [was] by the will of God, and by necessity, that [they] are to die." According to William Whiston, translator of Josephus, two women, who survived the suicide by hiding inside a cistern along with five children, repeated Eleazar ben Ya'ir's exhortations to his followers, prior to the mass suicide, verbatim to the Romans:


title: Siege of Masada

text: As Judaism prohibits suicide, Josephus reported that the defenders had drawn lots and killed each other in turn, down to the last man, who would be the only one to actually take his own life. Josephus says that Eleazar ordered his men to destroy everything except the foodstuffs to show that the defenders retained the ability to live, and so had chosen death over slavery. However, archaeological excavations have shown that storerooms which contained their provisions were also burnt, though whether this was by Romans, by Jews, by later events or natural fire spreading is unclear.


title: Siege of Masada

text: According to Shaye Cohen, archaeology shows that Josephus' account is "incomplete and inaccurate". Josephus only writes of one palace, archaeology reveals two, his description of the northern palace contains several inaccuracies, and he gives exaggerated figures for the height of the walls and towers. Josephus' account is contradicted by the "skeletons in the cave, and the numerous separate fires".


title: Siege of Masada

text: According to Kenneth Atkinson, there is no "archaeological evidence that Masada's defenders committed mass suicide."


title: Siege of Masada

text: According to archaeologist Eric H. Cline, Josephus' narrative is impossible because the Romans would have immediately pressed their advantage, leaving no time for Eleazar's speech or the mass suicides. Instead, Cline proposes that the defenders were massacred by Romans.


title: Siege of Masada

text: The siege of Masada is often revered in modern Israel as "a symbol of Jewish heroism". According to Klara Palotai, "Masada became a symbol for a heroic 'last stand' for the State of Israel and played a major role for Israel in forging national identity". To Israel, it symbolized the courage of the warriors of Masada, the strength they showed when they were able to keep hold of Masada for almost three years, and their choice of death over slavery in their struggle against an aggressive empire. Masada had become "the performance space of national heritage", the site of military ceremonies. Palotai states how Masada "developed a special 'love affair' with archeology" because the site had drawn people from all around the world to help locate the remnants of the fortress and the battle that occurred there.


title: Siege of Masada

text: Others, however, see it as a case of Jewish radicals refusing to compromise, resorting instead to suicide and the murder of their families, both prohibited by Rabbinic Judaism. Researchers are questioning the findings of Yigael Yadin, the Israeli archaeologist who first excavated Masada. Masada was once a place of celebration for Israelis, but now "Israelis [have] become less comfortable with glorifying mass suicide and identifying with religious fanatics". Other archaeologists have reviewed Yadin's findings and have found some discrepancies. During Yadin's excavations, he found three bodies that he claimed were Jewish Zealots. Anthropologist Joe Zias and forensic expert Azriel Gorski claim that the bodies were actually three Romans taken hostage by the Jewish Zealots. If this is true, "Israel might have mistakenly bestowed the honour [of recognition as Jewish heroes and a state burial] on three Romans". There is also some discussion of Masada's defenders, and whether they were "the heroic hard core of the great Jewish revolt against Rome, or a gang of killers who became victims of a last Roman mopping-up operation".


title: Niko Bellic

text: Niko Bellic is a fictional character and the playable protagonist of Rockstar North's 2008 video game "Grand Theft Auto IV", the sixth main instalment in Rockstar Games' "Grand Theft Auto" series. He also makes non-playable appearances in the game's episodic content "The Lost and Damned" and "The Ballad of Gay Tony", both released in 2009. Michael Hollick provided the character's voice and motion capture.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Within the game's storyline, Niko is an ex-soldier from Eastern Europe, who was shaped by his experiences in an unidentified war he fought in, developing a very cynical view on life. After becoming involved with a Russian crime syndicate, and discovering that his unit was sold out to enemy forces, he decides to move to Liberty City to pursue the American Dream, inspired by his cousin Roman’s personal tales of luxury and riches that he had experienced while living there for the past decade. However, upon his arrival, he discovers that those stories were greatly exaggerated, and attempts to improve his and Roman's financial situation by becoming involved with the local criminal underworld. As the game's story progresses, Niko works for various prominent fictional crime figures, in the hopes of finding the traitor who betrayed his unit during the war, while slowly learning to let go of his past and quest for revenge, and attempting to leave the criminal life that comes with major risks.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Niko's character received critical acclaim for his maturity, moral ambiguity, and personal growth, and has been frequently called the best protagonist in the series. For his role, Hollick won Best Performance by a Human Male at the 2008 Spike Video Game Awards.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Niko's nationality is unspecified in the game and is subject to debate. It was believed by some that he was Russian, Serbian, or Croatian. Executive producer Sam Houser spoke on the matter, saying that Niko is "from that grey part of broken-down Eastern Europe", suggesting that Niko's nationality was left intentionally vague or to the interpretation of the player. Following the game's release, several journalists referred to Niko as Serbian. In the game, it is suggested by his cousin Roman that Niko can speak Serbian.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Niko was born to Milica Bellic and an unnamed father in an unspecified country in Eastern Europe. Milica, a maternal and caring presence in Niko's life, regrets that her sons have been forced to endure the hardships they did as children, including their abusive, alcoholic father. As a teenager, Niko participated in an unnamed war as an infantryman, tank operator, and helicopter pilot, during which he witnessed numerous atrocities that traumatised him, leading to his cynical view on life. After his unit of fifteen men from his village were ambushed by the enemy, Niko escaped and concluded that the unit had been betrayed by one of their own soldiers. He later learned that there are two other survivors, Florian Cravic and Darko Brevic, and vowed to search for the traitor.


title: Niko Bellic

text: After the war, Niko experienced difficulty leading a normal life, and his brother was killed in action. Knowing only violence, Niko turned to the Balkanic criminal underworld. He joined a smuggling and trafficking ring run by Russian crime lord Ray Bulgarin. During one smuggling run into Italy, the boat that Niko was working on sank in the Adriatic Sea. He was able to swim to safety, but Bulgarin accused him of sinking the ship intentionally to escape with the money. Niko later joined the merchant navy to flee from Bulgarin, befriended the crew of the "Platypus" cargo ship, and contemplated his cousin Roman's requests for him to come to Liberty City in the United States.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Once in Liberty City in 2008, Niko quickly realises that Roman's stories of success were exaggerated. In reality, his cousin lives in a small, decrepit apartment in the Broker district, and owes gambling debts across the city, which he struggles to pay through his unprofitable taxi service. In addition to working for Roman as a cab driver, Niko must protect him from loan sharks and work for Russian gangster Vlad Glebov to prevent Roman from sinking further into debt. Niko completes most of the jobs he is given with ease, as his military skills give him an advantage over the street thugs of Liberty City. During this time, he also begins making criminal contacts that will eventually become important allies, such as Yardie underboss Little Jacob and car entrepreneur Brucie Kibbutz. Niko's professional and personal relationships expand over the course of the game, as he is introduced to more powerful and influential criminals.


title: Niko Bellic

text: After Niko kills Vlad as revenge for sleeping with Roman's long-time girlfriend Mallorie, he and Roman are kidnapped by Russian mobsters on orders of their boss Mikhail Faustin. Not bothered by Vlad's murder, Faustin releases them and later employs Niko as a hitman. Niko quickly discovers Faustin's true nature after being ordered to kill the son of powerful Russian crime lord Kenny Petrović. When Petrović threatens retaliation, Faustin's deputy Dimitri Rascalov convinces Niko to assassinate Faustin to make amends, but later betrays him by bringing him before Ray Bulgarin, revealed to be an old friend of Dimitri's, who demands what he is owed. With Little Jacob's help, Niko survives the ambush, but Dimitri and Bulgarin later retaliate by burning down Roman's apartment and cab depot.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Forced to move to the Bohan district and lay low for a while, Niko begins making new criminal contacts, including several drug dealers and the Irish mob, for whom he begins working in an effort to secure a better life and locate Florian, who Niko knows also lives in Liberty City. In the process, he befriends Irish gangster Patrick McReary, and discovers that his girlfriend Michelle is an undercover government agent actually named Karen, who entraps Niko into working for her agency, known only by its cover: the United Liberty Paper (ULP). Niko assassinates several known or suspected terrorists for the agency in exchange for clearing his criminal record and assistance in finding the man who betrayed his unit.


title: Niko Bellic

text: After assisting Ray Boccino, a "caporegime" in the Pegorino Crime Family with an important diamond deal, Niko finally locates Florian, now the flamboyant homosexual Bernie Crane, only to discover he is not the traitor. He then sets off to find Darko, now revealed as the one who betrayed their unit, while continuing to work for the Italian Mafia in Liberty City, including the Pegorino and Gambetti families. While helping Patrick trade Don Giovanni Ancelotti's kidnapped daughter for the diamonds, Niko crosses paths with Bulgarin again, whose interference in the exchange results in the diamonds' loss.


title: Niko Bellic

text: During this time, Niko's conflict with Dimitri escalates as the former rescues Roman after he is kidnapped by Dimitri's men, thwarts his plot to blackmail Liberty City's deputy mayor, and disrupts his drug operations while working for the Mafia. Niko and Roman eventually secure the lifestyle they sought after the latter rebuilds his taxi company and buys a new apartment in Algonquin using insurance money from his formerly destroyed business.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Eventually, the ULP locates Darko and brings him to Liberty City for Niko to decide his fate. Having achieved closure on his past, Niko is summoned by Don Jimmy Pegorino for one final favour: to help with an extremely lucrative deal on heroin in collusion with Dimitri. After learning where Dimitri is, however, Niko is left to choose between exacting revenge on him or going through with the deal.


title: Niko Bellic

text: The former scenario sees Niko successfully killing Dimitri and his men, only for Pegorino, enraged at losing out on a substantial profit, to try and exact revenge on him at Roman and Mallorie's wedding. Pegorino performs a drive-by attack on Niko, but accidentally kills Patrick's sister Kate, whom Niko had been dating. Little Jacob and Roman help Niko find and kill Pegorino, who by this point was targeted by most of the Liberty City underworld. If Niko instead agrees to work with Dimitri again, the latter betrays him by keeping the heroin for himself, and sending a hitman to murder him at Roman and Mallorie's wedding. Niko survives the attempt on his life, but the hitman accidentally kills Roman with a stray bullet. With Little Jacob's help, the vengeful and devastated Niko tracks down and kills Dimitri, who in turn murdered Pegorino.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Depending on the ending chosen, Niko is later informed by Mallorie or Roman that the former is pregnant. He either vows to protect the child and become a father figure for them, or is told by Roman that the couple have decided to name their child in Kate's memory, should it be a girl. Either way, the game ends with Niko musing on the American Dream and concluding that it is a hollow promise, which no one can truly achieve.


title: Niko Bellic

text: In "Grand Theft Auto V", set in 2013, Lester Crest briefly refers to "an Eastern European making moves in Liberty City" who "went quiet", implying Niko left his life of crime behind. If selected as a crew member for a heist, Patrick, who has moved to Los Santos some time after the events of "Grand Theft Auto IV", will mention Niko by name while talking about a bank robbery they carried out together; Patrick claims that he has not heard from Niko since he left Liberty City and that the latter is "probably dead". An Easter egg in the game reveals that Niko still works for Roman's taxi company, and an in-game social media post indicates that the latter is alive.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Niko is portrayed as a down-to-business man with a volatile temper. He has a dry, sarcastic sense of humour, and often makes acerbic remarks. Though he regrets his past crimes, he feels that his soul is permanently tainted, and that killing is all he can do. Niko appears to be a more mature, empathetic, and sensible person than many of his acquaintances. His female acquaintances often point out that Niko has sophisticated manners and appears to be a very courteous person. Many times he attempts to resolve conflicts between two parties without the use of violence.


title: Niko Bellic

text: The most significant aspect of Niko's personality is his cynicism, which he gained in the war. Although generally he is a caring individual, Niko's realistic view of life allows him the ability to manipulate people. Niko's biggest weakness is his inability to let go of the past, and the desire for revenge is a driving force in many of his decisions. Despite his long involvement with criminal activity, Niko holds a somewhat sympathetic view of law enforcement, stating that cops are just people trying to survive. Near the end of the game, Niko expresses a desire to move on from his criminal past and get a fresh start. Niko has a distaste for drugs, despite his frequent involvement in the drugs trade, and regularly refuses offers of marijuana by Little Jacob.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Niko Bellic is voiced by Michael Hollick. Hollick was paid about $100,000 for his voice acting and motion-capture work over the course of about 15 months from 2006 to 2007. Hollick was paid about $1,050 a day for his work on the game, about 50% more than the standard Screen Actors Guild-negotiated rate for actors, although he claimed it was still a fraction of the income he would receive from a film or TV-show performance, and that he was upset about not getting residuals from game sales, putting the blame on the union for not securing such agreements. Hollick told "The New York Times" that while he was a theatre student at Carnegie Mellon University he developed a talent for dialects.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Actor and former mixed martial artist Bas Rutten performed the motion capture for Niko's fighting scenes; he worked on the game for over a year, and brought mixed martial artist Amir Perets for additional work. Niko's fighting style is primarily Krav Maga.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Russian actor Vladimir Mashkov claims he was in discussions with Rockstar Games to voice the character, and that the character's appearance is based on him, specifically from his role of the Tracker, Sasha Ivanic, in the 2001 movie "Behind Enemy Lines", but he ultimately turned down the offer. Rockstar Games have not commented on Mashkov's claims.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Niko plays a minor role in both of "Grand Theft Auto IV"s expansion packs, "The Lost and Damned" and "The Ballad of Gay Tony" (both 2009), which take place simultaneously with the storyline of the base game, from the perspective of characters with minor roles in "GTA IV"'s narrative. He appears as an NPC in the missions that cross over with the base game.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Niko is mentioned several times in "Grand Theft Auto V" (2013), indirectly by Lester Crest, who, when planning a jewellery store robbery alongside protagonist Michael De Santa, considers "an Eastern European guy making moves in Liberty City" as a possible accomplice, before dismissing the idea, claiming that he "went quiet". If selected as a crew member for "The Paleto Score", Patrick McReary will talk about the bank heist he, Niko, his brother Derrick, and accomplice Michael Keane carried out in Liberty City, mentioning how the latter two are dead and that Niko is probably dead as well, as he hasn't heard from him in the past five years. As an Easter egg in the game, players can view Niko's LifeInvader profile, which reveals that he is still working for Roman's taxi company. Niko's latest message to his cousin is wishing him a happy birthday; this implies that Roman survived the game's events.


title: Niko Bellic

text: In the "Collector's Edition" of "Grand Theft Auto Online", players can choose what their character is to look like by selecting between different parents; Niko is one of the special parents available, meaning that players can select Niko so that their character has a level of resemblance to him.


title: Niko Bellic

text: Niko's character has been well received by both critics and fans. He was voted as the 14th top character of the 2000s decade by readers of "Game Informer". In 2008, "The Age" ranked Niko as the second greatest Xbox character of all time, as "few characters in video game history have provided us with such a spectrum of emotions. Niko's tale is such a roller coaster ride that by the climax you'd be forgiven for feeling exhausted and perhaps even a little numb." IGN's Hilary Goldstein commented "Niko's struggles with his ruthless nature never inhibit the gameplay, but instead enhance the emotional gravity of a brilliant storyline. The more absurd the action becomes, the greater we feel the very real pathos of Niko Bellic." Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer opined Niko "himself is quickly sympathetic - his moral latitude is rooted in horrible war stories, but he's warm-hearted - and imposing." GameDaily included him in a top 25 list of video game anti-heroes, stating that he has a heart-of-gold beneath his rough exterior. In another article, GameDaily listed the "scary foreigner" as one of their top 25 video game archetypes, using Niko as an example of this due to his "European thug" appearance. They also used him as an example for the "walking stereotype" archetype. In 2011, readers of "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition" voted Niko as the 13th-top video game character of all time. "GamesRadar" staff ranked Niko Bellic 97th place in a list of the 100 best heroes in video games, published in 2013. Yahtzee Croshaw of Zero Punctuation found Niko to be an improvement over previous GTA protagonists, regarding him as "a very human, very relatable character who could still believably lose his mind."


title: Khmer Republic

text: The Khmer Republic (, ; ) was a pro-United States military-led republican government of Cambodia that was formally declared on 9 October 1970. The Khmer Republic was politically headed by Prime Minister Lon Nol and Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak who took power in the 18 March 1970 coup against Prince Norodom Sihanouk.


title: Khmer Republic

text: The main causes of the coup were Norodom Sihanouk's toleration of the North Vietnamese activity within Cambodia's borders, allowing heavily armed Vietnamese communist outfits "de facto" control over vast areas of eastern Cambodia. Another important factor was the dire state of the Cambodian economy, an indirect result of Sihanouk's policies of pursuing neutrality.


title: Khmer Republic

text: With the removal of Sihanouk, the existing Kingdom of Cambodia became a republic, officially removing Sisowath Kossamak. The character of the new regime was far-right and militaristic; most significantly, it ended Sihanouk's period of covert co-operation with the North Vietnamese regime and the Viet Cong, and aligned Cambodia with South Vietnam in the ongoing Second Indochina War. The Khmer Republic was opposed within the Cambodian borders by the National United Front of Kampuchea ("Front uni national de Kampuchéa", FUNK), a relatively broad alliance between Sihanouk, his supporters, and the Communist Party of Kampuchea.


title: Khmer Republic

text: The insurgency itself was conducted by the CPNLAF, the Cambodian People's National Liberation Armed Forces: they were backed by both the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the National Liberation Front (NLF, better known as the Viet Cong), who occupied parts of Cambodia as part of their ongoing war with the South Vietnamese government.


title: Khmer Republic

text: Despite the large quantities of military and financial aid from the United States, its Khmer National Armed Forces ("Forces armées nationales khmères", or FANK) was poorly trained and unable to defeat either the CPNLAF or the Vietnamese forces of the PAVN and NLF. The Republic eventually fell on 17 April 1975, when the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh and briefly restored the Kingdom of Cambodia before renaming itself Democratic Kampuchea on 5 January 1976.


title: Khmer Republic

text: Sihanouk himself claimed that the coup was the result of an alliance between his longstanding enemy, the exiled right-wing nationalist Son Ngoc Thanh, the politician Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak (depicted by Sihanouk as a disgruntled rival claimant to the Cambodian throne) and the CIA, who wished to install a more US-friendly regime. There is in fact little if any evidence of CIA involvement in the coup, although it seems that sections of the US military establishment – notably the Army Special Forces – may have had some involvement in terms of offering support and training to the plotters after being approached by Lon Nol.


title: Khmer Republic

text: While Sihanouk was out of the country on a trip to France, anti-Vietnamese rioting took place in Phnom Penh, during which the North Vietnamese and NLF embassies were sacked. It seems likely that this rioting was at least tolerated, and possibly actively organised, by Lon Nol, the Prime Minister, and his deputy Prince Sirik Matak. On 12 March, the prime minister closed the port of Sihanoukville – through which weapons were being smuggled to the NLF – to the North Vietnamese and issued an impossible ultimatum to them. All PAVN/NLF forces were to withdraw from Cambodian soil within 72 hours (on 15 March) or face military action.


title: Khmer Republic

text: Despite these actions, which directly contradicted Sihanouk's policy of partial tolerance of North Vietnamese activity, it appears that Lon Nol himself had great personal reluctance to depose the Head of State: he initially may merely have wanted Sihanouk to apply more pressure to the North Vietnamese. He initially refused to commit to the plan; to convince him, Sirik Matak – who appears to have had a coup in mind from the start – played him a tape-recorded press conference from Paris, in which Sihanouk threatened to execute them both on his return to Phnom Penh. However, the Prime Minister remained uncertain, with the result that Sirik Matak, accompanied by three army officers, compelled a weeping Lon Nol to sign the necessary documents at gunpoint.


title: Khmer Republic

text: A vote was taken in the National Assembly on 18 March under the direction of In Tam, in which Sihanouk was stripped of his power: Lon Nol assumed the powers of the Head of State on an emergency basis. On 28 and 29 March there were large-scale popular demonstrations in favour of Sihanouk in several provincial cities, but Lon Nol's forces suppressed them with great brutality, causing several hundred deaths. Lon Nol's brother Lon Nil was among a number of government officials who were murdered by demonstrators.


title: Khmer Republic

text: Foreign regimes were initially uncertain as to the level of support to give to the new government. The North Vietnamese continued to hold talks with Lon Nol regarding the reinstatement of the cancelled trade agreement, though subsequent events meant that these were soon to come to an end.


title: Khmer Republic

text: The most significant immediate effect of the coup was the Cambodian Campaign of April–July 1970, in which the South Vietnamese army (ARVN), backed by US troops, entered eastern Cambodia to attack North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces operating there. Despite this assault, many of the communist forces escaped westward, deeper into Cambodia, or to the rural areas of the north-east, where they would provide support for the insurgency against Lon Nol.


title: Khmer Republic

text: Lon Nol's immediate reaction was to condemn the action as a violation of Cambodian territory. He later informed Alexander Haig that his country had been placed in serious danger as a result. When Haig told him that American ground forces would not be used to assist the Cambodian army, and that (in accordance with the Nixon Doctrine) a programme of aid would be given instead, Lon Nol openly wept.


title: Khmer Republic

text: On 9 October Sihanouk was condemned to death "in absentia" by a military court; his mother, Queen Kossamak – the symbolic representative of the monarchy under Sihanouk's regime – was placed under house arrest, and his wife Monique was sentenced to life imprisonment. The new regime simultaneously declared the Khmer Republic, and a new constitution was eventually to be adopted in 1972. Sihanouk, in the meantime, had formed GRUNK, a Beijing-based government-in-exile incorporating the communists and dedicated to the Republic's overthrow; he declared Lon Nol to be a "complete idiot" and characterised Sirik Matak as "nasty, perfidious, a lousy bastard".


title: Khmer Republic

text: The relatively small royal army, which at the time of the coup had around 35,000 troops (in accordance with Sihanouk's stated policy of neutrality), was greatly expanded. Reorganising as FANK, the republican army had grown to around 150,000 men as early as the end of 1970, mainly through voluntary enlistment as Lon Nol sought to capitalise on a wave of anti-Vietnamese sentiment. The US also implemented its programme of structured military aid and assistance in training, and flew in several thousand Khmer Serei and Khmer Kampuchea Krom militia, trained in South Vietnamese bases. The Joint Chiefs insisted on massive expansion of FANK to over 200,000 men, despite concerns at the severe negative effect this would have on Cambodia's economy, while the Military Equipment Delivery Team, led by General Theodore C. Mataxis, demanded the 'Americanisation' of the army's French-influenced internal structures, in spite of the chaos this caused in the supply chain.


title: Khmer Republic

text: Despite the US aid, FANK (commanded by General Sosthène Fernandez) was seriously handicapped by corruption, particularly by officers claiming salaries for non-existent troops, and military incompetence. Although one of the FANK commanders – the former rebel Prince Norodom Chantaraingsey, who was coaxed out of military retirement by Lon Nol to raise FANK's 13th Brigade – was to have considerable success in 'pacifying' the area around the strategic Highway 4 and the Kirirom Plateau, the majority of its generals had little military experience or ability. The large-scale FANK offensives against the Vietnamese, Operations Chenla I and II, ended in heavy defeat despite the conspicuous bravery of the individual Cambodian infantrymen.


title: Khmer Republic

text: As well as fighting the Cambodian Civil War against the pro-Sihanouk and communist insurgents and the North Vietnamese, the Khmer Republic faced considerable internal problems. Sihanouk's domination of political life during the 1950s and 60s meant that there were few confident or experienced Cambodian politicians. Almost from the start, the Republic was plagued by many of the same political divisions and infighting that had marked Sihanouk's regime; primary among these was a damaging power struggle between Lon Nol and Sirik Matak. Sirik Matak had been acting Prime Minister during the Republic's first year, when Lon Nol's health had been extremely poor, but had engendered considerable resentment due to his administrative style and royal connections; there was also growing frustration amongst young, urban Cambodians at the continued corruption and inefficiency of the regime.


title: Khmer Republic

text: On Lon Nol's return from hospital in Hawaii in April 1971, he instigated a cabinet crisis by resigning, providing a means to dissolve the government, with the probable encouragement of his brother Lon Non (a figure of considerable influence, especially with the military). After much political squabbling, a new cabinet was formed, though Sirik Matak continued as acting premier with the title of "Prime Minister-Delegate". On 16 October 1971, Lon Nol took action to strip the National Assembly of legislative power, and ordered it to write a new constitution, claiming that these actions were necessary to prevent anarchy; this provoked a protest by In Tam and 400 Buddhist monks.