title: L. S. Lowry

text: In 1975 he was awarded two honorary Doctor of Letters degrees by the Universities of Salford and Liverpool. In 1964, the art world celebrated his 77th birthday with an exhibition of his work and that of 25 contemporary artists who had submitted tributes at Monk's Hall Museum, Eccles. The Hallé orchestra performed a concert in his honour and Prime Minister Harold Wilson used Lowry's painting "The Pond" as his official Christmas card. Lowry's painting "Coming Out of School" was depicted on a postage stamp of highest denomination in a series issued by the Post Office depicting great British artists in 1968.


title: L. S. Lowry

text: Lowry twice declined appointment to the Order of the British Empire: as an Officer (OBE) in 1955, and as a Commander (CBE) in 1961, Lowry saying "There seemed little point.. once mother was dead" (as seen in the end credits of the movie Mrs Lowry and son). He turned down a knighthood in 1968, and appointments to the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH) in 1972 and 1976. He holds the record for the most honours declined.


title: L. S. Lowry

text: Lowry's work is held in many public and private collections. The largest collection is held by Salford City Council and displayed at The Lowry. Its collection has about 400 works. X-ray analyses have revealed hidden figures under his drawings – the "Ann" figures. "Going to the Match" is owned by the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) and is displayed at The Lowry along with a preparatory pencil sketch.


title: L. S. Lowry

text: The Tate Gallery in London owns 23 works. The City of Southampton owns "The Floating Bridge", "The Canal Bridge" and "An Industrial Town". His work is featured at MOMA, in New York City. The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu in Christchurch, New Zealand has "Factory at Widnes" (1956) in its collection. The painting was one of the gallery's most important acquisitions of the 1950s and remains the highlight of its collection of modern British art.


title: L. S. Lowry

text: In the early days of his career Lowry was a member of the Manchester Group of Lancashire artists, exhibiting with them at Margo Ingham's Mid-Day Studios in Manchester. He made a small painting of the Mid-Day Studios which is in the collection of the Manchester City Art Gallery.


title: L. S. Lowry

text: Five Lowry art works were stolen from the Grove Fine Art Gallery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport on 2 May 2007. The most valuable were "The Viaduct", estimated value of £700,000 and "The Tanker Entering the Tyne", which is valued at over £500,000. "The Surgery", "The Bridge at Ringley" and "The Street Market" were also stolen. The paintings were later found in a house in Halewood near Liverpool. Only one of the four robbers was caught and convicted; two other men were later convicted for possession of the stolen works.


title: L. S. Lowry

text: A further "The Skater" a pencil drawing has never been returned although the gallery owner was taken to court found guilty but declared himself bankrupt leaving the owner, Arnold Monk without the drawing he had lent for display.


title: L. S. Lowry

text: In July 2015 three works – "Lady with Dogs", "Darby and Joan" and "Crowd Scene" – featured in the BBC One series "Fake or Fortune?". The programme enlisted the help of various experts to determine whether the paintings were genuine or forgeries. The works in question had been bought in the 1960s by a Cheshire businessman, Gerald Ames, but their provenance was poor, and it was noted that Lowry was "probably the most faked British artist, his deceptively simple style of painting making him a soft target for forgers". All three works were judged to be genuine by a panel of experts, and the total value of the paintings was estimated to be in excess of £200,000.


title: L. S. Lowry

text: The programme also revealed that while Lowry often claimed to use only five colours (lead white, ivory black, vermillion, Prussian blue and yellow ochre), Lowry was photographed in his studio with titanium white and zinc white stored under his table which he also applied onto his work. The usage of other paints became helpful when determining that the above works were genuine.


title: L. S. Lowry

text: "The Mill, Pendlebury", a painting never publicly exhibited or featured in any book, was found in the estate of Leonard D. Hamilton, a British-American researcher, after his death in 2019. Hamilton was a Manchester Grammar School boy who studied at Balliol College, Oxford, and Trinity College, Cambridge, before moving to the US in 1949. The work was sold, at Christie's modern British art auction, with an estimate is £700,000 to £1 million. The work sold on 21 January 2020, to a private collector, for £2.65 million.


title: L. S. Lowry

text: In March 2014 fifteen of Lowry's works, from the A.J. Thompson Collection, were auctioned at Sotheby's in London; the total sale estimate of £15 million was achieved, even though two paintings failed to reach their reserve price and were withdrawn. Thompson, owner of the "Salford Express", collected only Lowry paintings, starting in 1982. The auction included the paintings "Peel Park, Salford" and "Piccadilly Circus, London", Lowry's most expensive painting at auction to date, which fetched £5.6 million in 2011 but only £5.1 million in 2014. Lowry painted very few London scenes, and only two depict Piccadilly Circus.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Michael Dean Bossy (January 22, 1957April 15, 2022) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player with the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League. He spent his entire NHL career, which lasted from 1977 to 1987, with the Islanders, and was a crucial part of their four consecutive Stanley Cup championships in the early 1980s.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1978 as NHL rookie of the year when he set the then-record for most goals by a rookie with 53. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy in the 1982 Stanley Cup playoffs as the most valuable player and the Lady Byng Trophy for combining high quality play with sportsmanship three times. He led the NHL in goals twice and was second three further times. Bossy was voted to the league's first all-star team as right wing five times, with three further selections to the second all-star team. He is one of two players (Jack Darragh being the other) to score consecutive Stanley Cup-winning goals (1982 and 1983) and the only player to record four game-winning goals in one playoff series (1983 Conference Final).


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy is the NHL's all-time leader in average goals scored per regular season game, holds the NHL's third-highest all-time average points scored per regular season game, and is the second of five players to score 50 goals in 50 games, being the first to accomplish this feat 36 years after Maurice Richard did so. He tied for the record for most 50-goal seasons with Wayne Gretzky and Alexander Ovechkin with nine, though his were consecutive as opposed to Gretzky's and Ovechkin's being non-consecutive; he thus is the sole record-holder for most consecutive 50-goal seasons.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. In 2017, he was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy was the fifth son among ten children, and grew up in a family of Detroit Red Wings fans in the parish of Saint-Alphonse, in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville area of Montreal. Bossy attended St. Pius X Comprehensive High School and then Laval Catholic High School. His mother Dorothy was English and French-Canadian, and his father Borden, who maintained a backyard ice rink at their apartment building, was Ukrainian. When he was 12 years old, Bossy broke a kneecap while competing in long jump at school, later developing chronic knee problems during his hockey career. As a youth, Bossy played in the 1969 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a minor ice hockey team from Montreal. He started his junior career with the Laval National of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League at the age of 15. Despite scoring 309 goals in five seasons, he was considered "not rugged enough" and defensively weak by NHL scouts. His total of 532 points remains a QMJHL record, and his 309 goals is the record for all of major junior. Bossy's #17 is retired by the Acadie–Bathurst Titan, the current incarnation of the former Laval franchise.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy, who had averaged 77 goals per season in junior with Laval, was passed over by twelve teams in the 1977 NHL amateur draft, including the New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs, who each passed over him twice. Toronto expected him to hold out for more than they wanted to pay, according to Bossy, while the Rangers opted for highly-ranked Lucien DeBlois and Ron Duguay. Other teams passed for various reasons: the Buffalo Sabres took Ric Seiling, preferring his checking ability, while the Cleveland Barons, who had the fifth overall pick, passed when Bossy's agent Pierre Lacroix gave the Barons inflated salary requirements, prompting them to select Mike Crombeen instead. Scotty Bowman, coach of the Montreal Canadiens, later regretted that Montreal had passed on Bossy; Bowman and his assistant Claude Ruel had each been impressed with Bossy's play – and scoring – in person, but team scouts questioned his toughness and the Canadiens took Mark Napier with their first pick instead.


title: Mike Bossy

text: The New York Islanders picked Bossy with the 15th overall selection. General manager Bill Torrey was torn at first between taking Bossy and Dwight Foster. Bossy was known as a scorer who could not check, while Foster, who had led the Ontario Hockey Association with 143 points, had a defensive aspect to his game. Various stories exist explaining who persuaded Torrey to select Bossy. One common story credits coach Al Arbour, who figured it would be easier to teach a scorer how to check. Another credits Islanders scout Harry Saraceno, while another credits both Arbour and Saraceno.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy replaced Billy Harris on the Islanders' top line with Bryan Trottier and Clark Gillies, creating a new combination that came to be known as The Trio Grande. He scored against Don Edwards of the Buffalo Sabres in his first career game, a 3–2 loss to Buffalo on October 13, 1977, and by mid-November already had 11 goals. On February 4, 1978, Bossy collected his first career hat trick in a 6–1 win against the Washington Capitals. On February 25, Bossy scored his 45th goal of the season, to pass the previous rookie record of 44 held by Rick Martin. Bossy had boldly told Bill Torrey before the season he would score 50 goals, and wound up with a total of 53, setting a rookie record which stood until broken by Teemu Selanne in 1993. Bossy additionally led the league with 25 powerplay goals. He won the 1977–78 Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year, and was named a Second Team All-Star, and additionally was named the starting right wing for the Campbell Conference in the 1978 NHL All-Star Game.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy managed two goals and two assists against Toronto in the quarterfinals of the 1978 Playoffs, a hard-fought series in which the Trio Grande was somewhat neutralized by Toronto's toughness. In game 6, with the Maple Leafs trailing in the series 3 games to 2, Bossy was hit from behind by Toronto's Jerry Butler and sent to the hospital with a neck sprain; the Leafs won and forced a seventh game. Bossy returned for game 7 but was held scoreless as Toronto won the game – and the series – in overtime.


title: Mike Bossy

text: In the 1978–79 NHL season, Bossy was again named a Second Team All-Star after leading the league with 69 goals, at the time the second-highest single season total. On December 23, 1978, the members of the Trio Grande combined for 17 points in a 9–4 victory over the Rangers, including a hat trick and three assists for Bossy; Gillies collected four assists, while Trottier scored five times and picked up three assists. On February 19, 1979, Bossy recorded his 100th goal in his 129th game, becoming the fastest to reach that milestone, and his two-year total of 122 goals was the most by any NHL player over his first two seasons. During the season Bossy represented the NHL All-Stars in the 1979 Challenge Cup against the Soviet Union, scoring against Vladislav Tretiak in the first game of the three-game series. Bossy set an Islanders playoffs record for single-game points with four in a 1979 quarterfinal game against the Chicago Black Hawks. The Islanders swept Chicago in four games and Bossy set another team playoffs mark by collecting five goals over the series, including the overtime winner in game 2. In the semifinals, the Islanders were upset by the Rangers in six games, who targeted the Trio Grande with "honest checking", and kept Bossy from scoring until the final game.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Going into the 1979–80 season, Bossy signed a new two-year contract with the Islanders worth $500,000. After finishing in first place the season before, the Islanders got off to their worst start in six years, and in early December were out of a playoff spot, and had a losing record as late as January 9; the Islanders won only 6 of their first 21 games. Coach Al Arbour split up the Trio Grande by shifting Gillies, but while Bossy and Trottier still scored the bulk of the team's goals the remaining lines were ineffectual. Bossy and Trottier scored the only Islander goals in a 5–2 season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Flyers, and Bossy had both goals in their second game, another 5–2 loss, this time to Buffalo. Down 3–0 to Chicago on October 27, Arbour reunited the linemates with explosive results – Trottier recorded a hat trick, and he, Gillies and Bossy all scored in a 49-second span (an Islanders team record) in a 6–4 Islanders victory. Still, the Islanders were giving up goals faster than they could score them – in November, a run of five games in which they had yielded a cumulative 26 goals culminated in a 6–3 loss to the St. Louis Blues in which Bossy, Gillies and Trottier were the only Islanders to put the puck in the net. It took until their 41st game for the Islanders to get over .500, and after acquiring Butch Goring on March 10, the Islanders went unbeaten for the rest of the season, and finished second in the Patrick Division. The acquisition of Goring made splitting up the Trio Grande more workable, as Gillies went with him, while Bossy and Trottier were joined on the second line by Bob Bourne, and the Islanders attack became more balanced. At the same time, Bossy's goal output fell to 51, leading him to joke it was a "bad season". Bossy played in the all-star game for the Campbell Conference.


title: Mike Bossy

text: In the 1979–80 Stanley Cup playoffs, Bossy scored one goal in two games in the opening round victory against the Los Angeles Kings, and missed the first three games of the quarterfinals against the Boston Bruins with a hand injury but scored twice when he returned in game 4. In the semifinals against the Sabres Bossy collected three goals and three assists, as the Islanders advanced to the final round. In the 1980 Stanley Cup Finals, with the Islanders up three games to two against the Philadelphia Flyers, Bossy scored a power play goal in the second period of game 6, giving New York a 3–2 lead at the time. After the Flyers tied the game at 4 in the third period, the Islanders won the game – and the Cup – on an overtime goal by Bobby Nystrom. Bossy led all scorers in the Finals with 11 points, and finished second to teammate Trottier in scoring with 23 points as the Islanders won their first Stanley Cup.


title: Mike Bossy

text: In the 1980–81 season, Bossy and Charlie Simmer of the Kings contended to be the first to score 50 goals in 50 games since Maurice Richard 36 years earlier. On January 24, both Bossy and Simmer played their 50th games; Simmer recorded a hat trick in the afternoon to fall just shy at 49. That evening, Bossy scored twice against the Quebec Nordiques in the final five minutes, including the second goal with 89 seconds left, becoming the second to achieve 50 in 50. Richard sent a congratulatory telegram to Bossy. Bossy's season included an NHL-record 9 hat tricks, and he finished the season with 68 goals, and through his first four seasons had the highest goals per game average in NHL history with .785. Bossy was again named a starter for the 1981 All-Star Game, and was named a First Team All-Star at the end of the season.


title: Mike Bossy

text: In the opening round of the 1981 Playoffs, Bossy and Trottier tied for the team lead with 10 points each, as the Islanders swept the Maple Leafs. The Islanders then defeated the Edmonton Oilers in six games, in which Bossy led all scorers with 11 points, and his 21 total points tied him with Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky for the playoff lead. In the semifinals against the Rangers, Bossy scored two powerplay goals in the final game of a four-game sweep, and finished the series with five goals total. The Islanders then defeated the Minnesota North Stars in the 1981 Stanley Cup Finals, as Bossy set records for most points (35), and power-play goals (9) and most goals combining regular season and playoffs (85; 68 regular season plus 17 playoff), and the Islanders won their second Stanley Cup.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Going into the 1981–82 NHL season, Bossy signed a new six-year contract with the Islanders. That season Bossy set records for right-wingers with 83 assists and 147 points, and was +69 on the season. Bossy scored twice in the 1982 NHL All-Star Game, his fourth appearance, to lead the Wales Conference to a 4–2 victory, and was named the game's MVP. A late-season knee injury limited Bossy's mobility in the Islanders' Patrick Division semifinal against the Pittsburgh Penguins, although he still managed to score goals in the first two games. In the Patrick Division final, the Islanders next faced the Rangers, against whom Bossy had scored six goals with nine assists in eight regular season games. Bossy's knee still bothered him, but he scored four goals through the first four games of the series; he also recorded four assists in the series as the Islanders won in six games. In the Wales Conference Final against the Nordiques, Bossy scored twice in game 2, including the game-winner, and twice more in game 3, again totaling eight points in the series as the Islanders swept. Going into the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals against the Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver's Tiger Williams, whose intimidation tactics against Bossy dated back to the 1978 playoffs with Toronto, told reporters that the Canucks planned to check Bossy hard. In the opening game, Bossy recorded a hat trick, including tying the game with under five minutes left, and then intercepted a Harold Snepsts clearing attempt to score the winner in overtime. Bossy scored again in game 2 on the power play, as the Islanders took a 6–4 lead. In game 3, an acrobatic backhand goal resulting from a hit by either Williams or Lars Lindgren was the second in a 3–0 Islanders win. Two powerplay goals by Bossy in game 4 included the winner, as New York swept the series for their third Stanley Cup win. In spite of lingering knee issues, Bossy recorded 27 points and a league-leading 17 playoff goals. Bossy scored seven times in the Finals, tying him with Jean Beliveau for most goals in the final round, and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoffs MVP.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy became the first to score at least 60 goals in three consecutive seasons in 1982–83, and collected 118 points. At the end of the season, Bossy won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for "gentlemanly" play, for a season in which he received only 17 penalty minutes; he was also named a First Team All-Star for the third time. Bossy skated the 1983 NHL Playoffs on the Islanders top line, with Trottier and Anders Kallur; collectively they accounted for 17 Islander goals. In the Patrick Division semifinal against the Washington Capitals, Bossy scored a hat trick in game 4, as the Islanders won the series with a 6–3 victory. In the Wales Conference Final against the Boston Bruins, Bossy scored nine times, including an NHL-record four game-winning goals, as the Islanders advanced to the Finals for the fourth straight year. The nine goals themselves tied a then-modern era record for most in a playoff series, and included the 27th powerplay goal of his playoffs career, which broke another Jean Beliveau record. The Islanders went on to win their fourth straight Stanley Cup by sweeping the Oilers in the 1983 Stanley Cup Finals. On May 17, Bossy scored the winning goal in game 4, becoming the second player to score Stanley Cup-winning goals in consecutive years, joining Jack Darragh in 1920 and 1921.


title: Mike Bossy

text: As the 1983–84 NHL season got underway, Bossy had five goals in the first three games of the season, before missing six games with a hip injury. Bossy put together a 15-game point streak that ended in early December. He promptly put together a 19-game streak that lasted until mid-January. On January 15, Bossy scored his 400th career regular season goal, the fastest to hit that milestone, doing so in his 506th game, a 4–2 win against the Rangers. Bossy was named to appear in the 1984 NHL All-Star Game, which would have been his sixth consecutive All-Star game, but a collision with Detroit's Dwight Foster resulted in a knee injury and Rick Middleton took his place in the starting lineup; Bossy wound up missing six games with this injury. At the end of the season, Bossy had 51 goals, for his seventh consecutive season with at least 50. Bossy was named a First Team All-Star for the fourth straight year, and again won the Lady Byng Trophy; the Lady Byng Trophy was presented to Bossy at the NHL Awards by Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau.


title: Mike Bossy

text: In the 1984 Stanley Cup playoffs, Bossy scored four times combined in the opening rounds against the Capitals and Rangers, but then equaled that total against the Canadiens, including three game-winners, as the Islanders won their record 19th straight playoff series and advanced to their fifth straight Stanley Cup final. Bossy missed game 1 of the 1984 Stanley Cup Finals, a rematch against the Oilers, with tonsillitis. When he returned, Bossy, who had scored 17 goals in each of the previous three post-seasons, failed to score, and was held without a shot on goal in two of the games, as the Oilers won their first Stanley Cup.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy started the 1984–85 NHL season strong, tying his own team record by scoring in ten consecutive games, and by early November was leading the league with 33 points. By early December, he was scoring at better than a goal per game, with 25 markers in 23 contests. With Trottier missing time with injuries, the team's top line during the first five weeks of the season consisted of Bossy, Brent Sutter and John Tonelli, with that combination providing more than half of the team's offense. After Trottier returned, he took his usual place alongside Bossy, joined with Greg Gilbert, but the Bossy-Tonelli-Sutter combination would be resurrected later in the season when the team needed a boost. After 41 games, Bossy was having his best season so far, with 37 goals and 39 assists in that span, as he continued to carry the team. He was selected for the 1985 NHL All-Star Game, his seventh selection overall and the only unanimous choice that year. Bossy finished the season with 58 goals, his eighth consecutive season of 50-goals plus, and earned Second Team All-Star honours, as the Islanders stumbled into the playoffs. In the opening round of the 1985 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Islanders narrowly got past Washington in the opening round, with Bossy assisting on Brent Sutter's game-winning goal. In the second round, the Philadelphia Flyers held Bossy scoreless through the first three games, taking a 3–0 series lead; when Bossy scored in a 6–2 Islanders game 4 victory, it tied Maurice Richard's record for career playoff goals with 82. The Islanders were eliminated in game 5, a 1–0 shutout, as Bossy was held to two shots on goal.


title: Mike Bossy

text: After starting the 1985–86 NHL season with Trottier again, Bossy found himself on continually changing lines throughout the course of the season. By mid-October he had been teamed with Pat LaFontaine and rookie Ari Haanpaa. Al Arbour would frequently juggle the lines to spark his team with varying results; reuniting Bossy with Tonelli and Brent Sutter coincided with a Bossy hat trick in a 4–4 tie with Minnesota in November, while Bossy scored the winner in a 7–4 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins after being teamed with Trottier and Mikko Makela. Bossy and Trottier were playing alongside Tonelli in February, connecting on the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Vancouver, but this tandem was itself split up when Tonelli was traded to the Calgary Flames in March for Steve Konroyd and Richard Kromm. The Islanders and Flames faced each other on the same day as the trade, and Bossy scored four goals, while on a line with Kromm and Trottier.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy hit a number of milestones during the course of the season. On January 2, 1986, Bossy became the fastest player to reach 500 goals in NHL history, scoring twice in his 647th game, a 7–5 victory against the Boston Bruins. On January 24, Bossy collected his 1,000th regular season point by assisting on a Trottier goal in a 7–5 win against Washington; a goal in the same game moved Bossy into 10th place at the time on the all-time scoring list. Bossy's four-goal game against Calgary on March 11 included his 50th of the year, making this the record-setting ninth straight season in which he had scored at least 50 goals. Bossy scored his 61st goal in the last game of the season against the New Jersey Devils, completing his record fifth season with at least 60 goals.


title: Mike Bossy

text: In the 1986 NHL All-Star Game, Bossy assisted on Bryan Trottier's overtime game-winning goal in a 4–3 Wales Conference victory. The Islanders did not make it past the opening round of the 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs as they were swept in three games by Washington, but Bossy did set a new all-time record by scoring his 83rd playoff goal. Bossy was named a First Team All-Star and won the Lady Byng Trophy for the third time.


title: Mike Bossy

text: At the beginning of training camp Bossy experienced back pain, and after playing two uncomfortable games in which he did not score, he was ordered to rest for 10 days. The hiatus spanned four games, after which Bossy returned strong, scoring 12 times across 12 games, in addition to recording 9 assists. By Christmas, Bossy had 22 goals but was playing through pain and was not at his usual level, and was undergoing chiropractic treatments and considering taking time off in February. On January 6, playing on a line with Gilbert and Trottier against Minnesota, Bossy scored twice and was still on pace for another 50-goal season. Bossy then missed seven consecutive games in January as the back pain flared up, and doctors were at a loss to determine a diagnosis. It was believed that he was putting undue strain on his back by skating in a manner to take pressure off his right knee, which had required surgery when he was a child; Bossy had broken the kneecap when he was twelve. Bossy was voted to be the starting right wing representing the NHL against the Soviet Union in Rendez-vous '87, the 1987 replacement for the NHL All-Star Game, but ultimately pulled out of the series due to his back problems. Bossy still hoped to record a tenth consecutive 50-goal season, with it still possible as of early February, and had reached 32 by the end of the month. However by late March it was apparent to Bossy that he would not be reaching the milestone, as the pain increased, and he additionally found himself the target of hits that exploited his condition. In a March 14 game against New Jersey, Bossy scored his 38th goal of the season, which proved to be his last, as he finished the season tied with Pat LaFontaine for the team lead. After sitting out the final seven games of the season to rest his back for the 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs, Bossy returned for the opening game of the Patrick Division semifinal against Washington, and scored a powerplay goal. He then suffered an injury to his left knee on a hit from Lou Franceschetti in game 2, and missed the rest of the series, in which the Islanders came back from a three-games-to-one deficit and won the deciding seventh game in quadruple overtime. Bossy returned to the ice in the fourth game of the Patrick Division final against Philadelphia, scoring his 85th career playoffs goal in game 6 as the Islanders again were coming back from a three-to-one deficit, but the Islanders were eliminated with a 5–1 loss in game 7.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy intended to attend training camp in 1987, but with his condition remaining stagnant, and pain preventing him from bending to tie his own skates, Bossy instead underwent a series of tests and x-rays on his back. Doctors eventually concluded that he had two discs in his lower back that were damaged and could not be repaired by surgery, leading Bossy to sit out the 1987–88 season in favour of therapy. During his season off, Bill Torrey had offered to trade Bossy to the Canadiens, so he could be closer to home, but Bossy declined. The Los Angeles Kings acquired Wayne Gretzky in the summer of 1988, and owner Bruce McNall and general manager Rogie Vachon each invited Bossy to sign with the team as a free agent; Bossy declined this offer as well, believing he would not have been able to meet expectations. Bossy officially retired in October 1988, having played his last game at the young age of 30; he scored 573 goals and 553 assists in 752 NHL games, all with the Islanders.


title: Mike Bossy

text: The Islanders retired Bossy's uniform number, No. 22, on March 3, 1992, the second Islander afforded that honour after longtime teammate Denis Potvin.


title: Mike Bossy

text: At the end of his shortened playing career, Bossy had impressive numbers. He scored 573 goals and had 553 assists in only 752 games. In 129 playoff games, he had eighty-five goals and seventy-five assists. When he retired, he held the record for most goals per season average with 57.3. While he wanted to be considered a great overall player, he was best known for his impressive scoring output. In Stan Fischler's "The All-New Hockey's 100", Bossy says, "About 90 percent of the time I don't aim: I just try to get my shot away as quick as possible as a surprise element. I just try to get the puck on net." Bossy was also noted for his clean play and won the Lady Byng Trophy for gentlemanly play three times: 1983, 1984, and 1986. He spoke out against hockey violence.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy aspired to be the best player of his era but fell short, as the Hart Memorial Trophy and Art Ross Trophy were two of the awards that eluded Bossy during his career, going to Guy Lafleur, Trottier, and Wayne Gretzky. Bossy is frequently compared to Lafleur as they were both considered among the best right-wing snipers, although their styles contrasted as Lafleur was a stylish skater while Bossy was the more accurate shooter.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Although the Islanders swept the Edmonton Oilers in the 1983 final to win a fourth consecutive championship, Gretzky and his Oilers still received the most attention. Bossy harboured some animosity towards Gretzky and the Oilers, stating that the Islanders got little recognition for their dynasty compared to them or the Montreal Canadiens. Bossy complained "I do a lot of promoting for how good [the Islanders] were ... We never got one millionth of the recognition we should. We had a very low-key organization. They didn't want guys doing too much, because they thought the hockey might suffer. People don't talk about us in the first mention of great teams."


title: Mike Bossy

text: After his playing days were over, Bossy was unable to play hockey or even work out because of his back and knees. Bossy returned to Laval with his family. He went into business with Pierre Lacroix, his agent, and joined Titan, a hockey stick manufacturer, as vice-president. He was also a broadcaster for the Quebec Nordiques. By 1992, in addition to golfing and public speaking, he represented Karhu, Titan's former parent company, and CUMIS, an insurance agency, in public relations positions.


title: Mike Bossy

text: In 1993, Bossy broke into radio, and by 1994, he was part of the "Y'e trop d'bonne heure" (It's too early) morning show on CKOI-FM, a French-language radio station in Montreal. Originally brought on to read the sports, Bossy became known for comic leanings, until he left in 1996. By 1999, Bossy was doing public relations for Humpty Dumpty, and became the Quebec sales director of the company in 2003. He also joined Bobby Orr and Cassie Campbell as ambassadors for Hockey Canada's Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey program.


title: Mike Bossy

text: He afterwards recalled not being able to get a job with an NHL organization for over a decade and a half. "I called the Canadiens at least two or three times [in the mid-1990s] because I thought I could help the organization in some way, not necessarily as a coach but in some role that could be developed," Bossy told "Sports Illustrated" in 2005. "They never called back." When former linemate Bryan Trottier was hired as New York Rangers coach in 2002, Bossy was certain Trottier would hire him on in some capacity. "The reason was," Bossy said, "I remember having umpteen conversations with Bryan, having roomed with him for 10 years, that went, 'One of these days, Mike, we're going to take a team and do it our way.' I've found out since from Bryan [who was fired in his first season] that he wasn't going to be given that chance."


title: Mike Bossy

text: On October 13, 2006, the Islanders announced that Bossy had rejoined the organization, working with the front office in sponsor and fan development.


title: Mike Bossy

text: In September 2014, Bossy joined MSG Networks as a hockey analyst, and in September 2015, he officially joined TVA Sports, an official French-language broadcaster of the NHL in Canada, as a colour commentator. Bossy appeared on the late night show "Dave Morissette Live" and "TVA Sports at 5".


title: Mike Bossy

text: In 1982, Game Plan, Inc. produced a prototype pinball machine named, "Mike Bossy the Scoring Machine". Only one unit was made by the company.


title: Mike Bossy

text: At the 1985 All-Star Game, Bossy and other NHL all-stars took part in filming scenes for the music video for "Tears Are Not Enough", a Canadian charity single produced by David Foster, who wanted hockey players to participate as being emblematic of Canada. Bossy said of the experience that his "fantasy is to be a singer".


title: Mike Bossy

text: In 2005, Bossy played himself in "Les Boys 4", a sequel in the popular French Canadian "Les Boys" series. Bossy served as a consultant for "The Raccoons on Ice", a hockey-themed special episode of the animated TV series "The Raccoons". For most of the episode, the character Cedric Sneer is seen wearing a New York Islanders jersey with the number 22, as an homage to Bossy.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy holds several Islanders team records, including as the all-time regular season goals leader with 573. He is also the team leader in career playoff goals with 85, and holds the team single-season record for playoff goals, which he achieved in three straight playoffs starting with 1980–81.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy also led the league in goals twice, in 1978–79 and 1980–81 (both predate the Rocket Richard Trophy).


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. His No. 22 sweater was retired by the Islanders on March 3, 1992. In 1997, he was ranked number 20 on "The Hockey News" list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players.


title: Mike Bossy

text: Bossy met his future wife Lucie Creamer when he was 14, and she was working the snack bar at a rink where he was playing; they were married July 23, 1977. Bossy and his wife had two daughters, Josiane and Tanya, and two grandchildren.


title: Mike Bossy

text: On October 19, 2021, Bossy announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He died in Rosemère on April 15, 2022, at the age of 65. A week after Bossy's death, Guy Lafleur also succumbed to lung cancer (he and Bossy smoked heavily during their playing days); both Bossy and Lafleur were Quebec natives whose contemporary careers as star right-wingers were often compared.


West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) is a wholly owned enterprise of Government of West Bengal, established in 2007 as one of the two successors of West Bengal State Electricity Board, and is responsible for providing power to 96% of West Bengal with a customer base of more than 1.68 crore across the state. The company has achieved a profit of (PAT) in the fiscal year 2010–11.


title: West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company

text: It states its Vision 'To Be The Best Power Utility In India In Terms Of Customer Service, Efficiency And Financial Viability' while its Mission to "Supply Uninterrupted and Quality Power to All.


text: It is expanding the range and quantity of uninterrupted electric supply in the remote villages in rapid speed.


text: The Government of West Bengal unbundled the erstwhile West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) into two companies viz., "West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited" (WBSEDCL) and "West Bengal State Electricity Transmission Company Limited" (WBSETCL). The main business of WBSEDCL is distribution and hydro generation of electricity. It is also the Nodal Agency of the Government of West Bengal for undertaking the Rural Electrification task in the State with the objective of providing access to electricity to all rural households in the state in line with the National Rural Electrification Policy. After the successful implementation of the Purulia Pumped Storage Project in the 10th Plan period with a capacity of 900 MW hydel power, the company has taken up the ambitious plan of implementing the "Turga Pumped Storage Project" in the 13th Plan period with an installed capacity of 4 x 250 MW.


text: The company is managed by a Board of Directors comprising twelve members out of which seven are executive directors including Chairman & Managing Director. Besides one Woman Director and four Independent Directors constitute the Board.[5] includes


text: WBSEDCL provides power to a customer base of more than 2.03 crores across West Bengal through its service network spanning 5 Zones, 20 Regional Offices, 76 Distribution Divisions, and 534 Customer Care Centers.


text: In the field of Information Technology, WBSEDCL has implemented Enterprise Resource Planning – SAP in Financial Accounting & Control, Material Management, HR with Payroll, Plant Maintenance and Project System. Apart from that SCADA, Smart Grid, development of IT system through R-APDRP Project, Mobile App development, e-payment through own website and third party,Spot bill, collection kiosk etc. have been implemented.


text: After successful implementation of Purulia Pumped Stotage Project in 10th Plan period with a capacity of 900 MW hydel power, the company has taken up the ambitious plan of implementing Turga Pumped Storage Project in the 13th Plan period with installed capacity of 4 x 250 MW.


text: A Project titled Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS)for strengthening of sub-transmission and Distribution networks, metering of Distribution transformers, reduction of AT&C loss, access to power to all houseland etc. in the urban areas having population of more than 50,000 as per 2011 census has been undertaken. Many new Sub-Stations have been constructed under this centrally funded scheme across the state of West Bengal.


text: A Project titled DEENDAYAL UPADHYAYA GRAM JYOTI YOJANA (DDUGJY) for separation of agricultural and non-agricultural feeders, strengthening of sub-transmission and Distribution networks, metering of Distribution transformers, reduction of AT&C loss, access to power to all houseland etc. in the rural areas has been undertaken. Many new Sub-Stations have been constructed under this centrally funded scheme across the state of West Bengal.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: Geoffrey Edwin Kondogbia (born 15 February 1993) is a professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Atlético Madrid. Born in France, he represents the Central African Republic national team as a defensive midfielder. He can also play as a central defender or left back.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: Kondogbia started his career at Lens, then signed with Sevilla at the age of 19. In 2013 he was bought by Monaco for €20 million, and then by Inter Milan for €31 million two years later. He returned to Spain in 2017 to play for Valencia, and in 2020 moved to Atlético Madrid.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: Kondogbia earned 57 caps for France across its youth levels, before making his debut for the senior team in 2013. In August 2018, he was cap-tied to the Central African Republic by switching his allegiance, and made his debut for its national team in an official match shortly after.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: Kondogbia was born in Nemours, Seine-et-Marne of Central African descent, joining Lens' youth system at the age of 11. On 11 April 2010 he signed his first professional contract, agreeing to a four-year deal. He made his debut in Ligue 1 on 21 November, appearing as a late substitute against Olympique Lyonnais.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: Kondogbia spent the 2011–12 season in Ligue 2 after the "Sang et Or"'s relegation. He scored his only official goal for the team on 13 April 2012, netting the opener in a 3–0 success at Tours FC.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: On 24 July 2012, Kondogbia signed with Spanish club Sevilla FC for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of €3 million. He first appeared in La Liga on 15 September, replacing goalscorer Piotr Trochowski in the 82nd minute of the 1–0 defeat of reigning champions Real Madrid, at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium. He scored his first goal for the Andalusians on 28 January 2013, heading home the first for his team in an eventual 3–0 home derby win against Granada CF.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: In Sevilla's semi-final second leg tie of the Copa del Rey against eventual winners Atlético Madrid, on 27 February 2013, Kondogbia picked up a red card as his team ended the match with nine men in the 2–2 home draw, and fell to a 3–4 aggregate loss.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: Kondogbia returned to the French top division on 31 August 2013, signing a five-year contract with newly promoted AS Monaco FC worth a reported €20 million. He contributed with 26 games and one goal in his first season, helping the club finish second and return to the UEFA Champions League after one decade.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: In the Champions League round-of-16's first leg, on 25 February 2015, Kondogbia put his team ahead at Arsenal in an eventual 3–1 win.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: On 22 June 2015, Inter Milan announced that they had signed Kondogbia on a five-year deal for an initial fee of €31 million, subject to a medical, beating a reported €40m bid from city rival A.C. Milan. He scored his first goal for his new team on 8 November, the only away against Torino FC. On 14 February of the following year, he was sent off at the conclusion of a bad-tempered 1–2 loss at ACF Fiorentina for sarcastically applauding the referee; he received a two-match ban.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: On 21 August 2017, Valencia CF announced that they reached an agreement with Internazionale for the loan of Kondogbia until 30 June 2018, with an option to make the deal permanent. The deal was part of a loan exchange, with João Cancelo moving in the other direction. He scored on his debut six days later, playing the full 90 minutes and helping to a 2–2 away draw against Real Madrid.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: On 24 May 2018, Valencia redeemed the buyout clause of Kondogbia and the player signed a four-year contract.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: On 3 November 2020, Kondogbia joined Atlético Madrid on a four-year contract. The club was granted an exception to sign him outside of the transfer window after Arsenal had met the release clause of Thomas Partey on deadline day.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: Kondogbia was selected to the French squad for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup. In the nation's first group match against Ghana, on 21 June, he scored the opening goal in an eventual 3–1 victory, being chosen by some publications as man of the match for his all-around performance. He netted for the second time in the tournament against hosts Turkey in the round-of-16, leading to a 4–1 victory.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: Kondogbia made his debut for the senior team on 14 August 2013 at the age of 20, playing 63 minutes in a 0–0 friendly draw away to Belgium.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: As all five matches he played for France at senior level were not in competitive matches, Kondogbia was never cap-tied and was thus still eligible to represent the Central African Republic, for which he qualified through his parents. He received an official call on 31 August 2018 and made his debut on 12 October, starting and acting as captain in a 4–0 away loss to Ivory Coast in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. On 18 November in the same competition, he scored an added-time equaliser in a 2–2 draw away to Rwanda.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: Kondogbia's older brother, Evans, was also a footballer. He spent most of his career in Belgium, and represented the Central African Republic internationally.


title: Geoffrey Kondogbia

text: "Central African Republic score listed first, score column indicates score after each Kondogbia goal."


title: Cumania

text: The name Cumania originated as the Latin exonym for the Cuman–Kipchak confederation, which was a tribal confederation in the western part of the Eurasian Steppe, between the 10th and 13th centuries. The confederation was dominated by two Turkic nomadic tribes: the Cumans (also known as the Polovtsians or "Folban") and the Kipchaks. Cumania was known in Islamic sources as Desht-i Qipchaq, which means "Steppe of the Kipchaks"; or "foreign land sheltering the Kipchaks", in Persian and al-Qumāniyīn in Arabic. Russian sources have referred to Cumania as the "Polovtsian Steppe" ("Polovetskaia Step"), or the "Polovtsian Plain" ("Pole Polovetskoe").


title: Cumania

text: A different, more organized entity that came later known as the Golden Horde was also referred to as "Comania" by Armenian chronicler Hethum (Hayton) of Korykos. "Cumania" was also the source of names, or alternate names, for several smaller areas – some of them unconnected geographically to the area of the federation – in which Cumans and/or Kipchaks settled, such as the historic region of Kunság in Hungary, and the former Roman Catholic Diocese of Cumania (in Romania and Hungary). Hethum of Korykos described Cumania as "wholly flat and with no trees". Ibn Battuta said of Cumania, "This wilderness is green and grassy with no trees, nor hills, high or low ... there is no means of travelling


title: Cumania

text: in this desert except in wagons." Battuta's contemporary, Hamdallah Mustawfi, elaborated, "This is of the Sixth Clime, its plains bear excellent pasturage ... but there are here few houses or towns or villages. Most of the inhabitants are nomads of the plain ... Most of the lands here are swamps ... The pasturage, however, being excellent, horses and cattle are numerous, and the population for the most part subsists on the produce thereof. The climate is cold, and their water comes from springs and wells."


title: Cumania

text: By the 11th and 12th centuries, the nomadic confederacy of the Cumans and (Eastern) Kipchaks (who were a distinct tribe with whom the Cumans created a confederacy, although other sources say that Cumans and Kipchak are simply different names for the same tribe ) were the dominant force over the vast territories stretching from the present-day Kazakhstan, southern Russia, Ukraine, to southern Moldavia and eastern Wallachia in present day Romania. Considering the nomadic way of life of these peoples, these frontiers can be regarded only as approximate; hence there were various definitions over what Cumania meant over the course of time. Depending on their region and their time, different sources each used their own vision to denote different sections of the vast Cuman territory: in Byzantine, Russian, Georgian, Armenian, Persian and Muslim sources, Cumania meant the Pontic steppe, that is the steppelands to the north of the Black Sea and on its eastern side as far as the Caspian Sea, where the lowlands between the Dnieper, the Volga, the Ural and the Irtysh rivers were favorable to the nomadic lifestyle of the Cumans. Later, for a short time period, in Western sources Cumania also referred to the area in eastern Wallachia and southern Ukraine (centered on the lowlands of Budjak and the Bărăgan Plain), referring to the area where the first contact between the Cumans and the Western Christians took place, and where, later, the Cumans of the region would accept Roman Catholicism.


title: Cumania

text: Using the traditional Turkic assignment of colours to the cardinal points, White Cumania used to be located to the west and may have denoted eastern Wallachia, while Black Cumania was located to its north and may have denoted Moldavia.


title: Cumania

text: As in the case of many other large nomadic Eurasian confederacies, the ethnonym "Cuman" (referring to the inhabitants of Cumania) denoted different ethnic realities. While the main component was probably the Turkic-speaking tribes, the confederacy included other ethnic components as well. "Cumania" was primarily a political name, referring to the leading, integrating tribe or clan of the confederacy or state. The Cumans, when they first appear in written sources, are members of a confederacy irrespective of their tribal origin. Former tribal names disappeared when the tribe in question became part of a political unit. For instance, when we hear of an incursion of Cumans, it means that certain tribes of the Cuman confederacy took part in a military enterprise. In his ""History of the Mongols"", the Persian historian Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, referred to Cumania around 1236–1237, during the Mongol invasion of Möngke, the future Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. Among others, he mentions the Kipchaks, the Turkophone Asi (probably the same as the later Jassic tribe) and the "Karaulaghi" (Black, i.e. "from the north", Vlachs).


title: Cumania

text: The vast territory of this Cuman-Kipchak realm, consisting of loosely connected tribal units who were the military dominating force, was never politically united by a strong central power. Cumania was neither a state nor an empire, but different groups under independent rulers, or khans, who acted on their own initiative, meddling in the political life of the surrounding states: the Russian principalities, Bulgaria, Byzantium and the Wallachian states in the Balkans, Armenia and Georgia (see Kipchaks in Georgia) in the Caucasus, and Khwarezm, having reached as far as to create a powerful caste of warriors, the Mamluks, serving the Muslim Arab and Turkish Caliphs and Sultans.


title: Cumania

text: In the Balkans, we find the Cumans in contact with all of the statal entities of that time, fighting with the Kingdom of Hungary, allied with the Bulgarians and Vlachs against the Byzantine Empire For example, Thocomerius, by name apparently a Cuman warlord (also known as Tihomir, he might have been a Bulgarian noble), was possibly the first one to unite the Bulgarian states, north from the Danube, from the west and the east of the Olt River, and his son Basarab I is considered the first ruler of the united and independent Wallachia. This interpretation corresponds with the general view of the situation of the Romanian lands in the 11th century, with the natives living in collections of village communities, united in various small confederacies, with more or less powerful chiefs trying to create little kingdoms, some paying tribute to the various militarily dominant nomadic tribes (see Romania in the Middle Ages).


title: Cumania

text: This pontic Cumania, (and the rest of the Cumanias to the east), ended its existence in the middle of the 13th century, with the Great Mongol Invasion of Europe. In 1223, Genghis Khan defeated the Cumans and their Rus' allies at the Battle of Kalka (in modern Ukraine), and the final blow came in 1241, when the Cuman confederacy ceased to exist as a political entity, with the remaining Cuman tribes being dispersed, either becoming subjects of the Mongol conquerors as part of what was to be known as the Golden Horde, or fleeing to the west, to the Byzantine Empire, the Bulgarian Empire, and the Kingdom of Hungary.


title: Cumania

text: On the Great Hungarian Plain, Cuman settlers gave their name to two regions known as Kunság, the Hungarian word for Cumania: Greater Cumania ("Nagykunság") and Little Cumania ("Kiskunság"), located on the Great Hungarian Plain. Here, the Cumans maintained their language and some ethnic customs well into the modern era.


title: Cumania

text: Cumania name was also preserved as part of the Roman Catholic ecclesiastical structure with a "Diocese of Cumania" existing until 1523 in what is now Romania, long after the Cumans ceased to be a distinct group in the area. At Milcovul, years earlier, in 1227, the Cuman warlord Bortz accepted Catholic Christianity from missionary Dominican friars. Pope Gregory IX heard about the mass conversion of the Cumans, and on 1 July 1227 empowered Robert, Archbishop of Esztergom, to represent him to Cumania and in neighbouring Land of the Brodnici. Teodoric, the bishop of this new diocese, became the guardian of the Dominican Order in the Kingdom of Hungary.


title: Cumania

text: Hence, Cumania diocese became part of the superior archbishopric of Esztergom, determining King Béla IV of Hungary to add "Rex Cumaniae" (King of Cumania) to his titles in 1228, and later to grant asylum to the Cumans in face of the Mongol invasion. The Diocese of Cumania, or of Milcovul, had subordinated in Transylvania the abbacy of Sibiu, the dioceses of Burzenland, Brasso and Orbai, and over the Carpathians, in the lands of the "infidel" Orthodox Vlachs ("in partibus infidelium"), all the Christian Catholics, irrespective of their ethnicity, despite the fact that many believers fell under the influence of the Romanian Orthodox "pseudo" bishops ("episcopo Cumanorum, qui loci diocesanus existit, sed a quibusdam pseudoepiscopis Graecorum ritum tenentibus").


title: Cumania

text: So, at that moment, Hungarian and Papal documents use the name Cumania to refer to the land between the eastern border of the lands of Seneslau and the land of the Brodnici (Buzău, southern Vrancea and southern Galați): that is Cumania meant, more or less, Muntenia. At that time, the use of the name "Cumania" should not to be understood as asserting the existence of a Cuman state, nor even a land inhabited by Cuman tribes (as the bulk of them had either fled, or were destroyed by the Mongols, and the rest had been absorbed) but rather to the Diocese of Cumania. From the military point of view, the land comprising the Diocese of Cumania was held either by the Teutonic Order (as early as 1222), or by the Vlachs (Brodnics or the Vlachs of Seneslau). The term Cumania had come to mean any Catholic subordinated to the Milcovul Diocese, so much so that in some cases, the terms Cuman and Wallach (more precisely, Roman Catholic Wallach, as the Orthodox Christians were considered schismatic, and the Pope did not officially recognise them) were interchangeable.


title: Cumania

text: In a charter from 1247, parts of this earlier Cumania were granted to the Knights Hospitaller, as were the Banate of Severin and the Romanian cnezats of Ioan and Lupu ("a fluvio Olth et Alpibus Ultrasylvanis totam Cumaniam …excepta terra Szeneslai Woiavode Olacorum"). These, from a juridical point of view, had an inferior status than the states of Seneslau (east of the Olt River) and Litovoi (west of the Olt River), cnezats which continued to belong to the Romanians ("quam Olacis relinquimus prout iidem hactenus tenuerant"), "like they held them so far".


title: Zainab bint Muhammad

text: Zainab bint Muhammad () (598/599—629 CE), was the eldest daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad by his first wife Khadijah.


title: Zainab bint Muhammad

text: She married her maternal cousin, Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi', before December 610, and Khadija gave her a wedding present of an onyx necklace. They had two children, son Ali, who died in childhood, and daughter Umamah, who would bear children, including Hilal or Muhammad al-Awsat. Zainab became a Muslim soon after Muhammad first declared himself a prophet. The Quraysh pressured Abu al-As to divorce Zainab, saying they would give him any woman he liked in exchange, but Abu al-As said that he did not want any other woman, a stance for which Muhammad commended him. Muhammad had no jurisdiction over Mecca and therefore could not force them to separate, so they continued to live together despite Abu al-As's refusal to convert to Islam. Zainab remained in Mecca when the other Muslims following Muhammad migrated to Medina.


title: Zainab bint Muhammad

text: Abu al-As was one of the polytheists who was captured at the Battle of Badr. Zainab sent the money for his ransom, including the onyx necklace. When Muhammad saw the necklace, he refused to accept any cash ransom for his son-in-law. He sent Abu al-As home, and Abu al-As promised to send Zainab to Medina.


title: Zainab bint Muhammad

text: Zainab accepted this instruction. About a month after the battle, Zainab's adopted brother, Zayd, arrived in Mecca to escort her to Medina. She entered a "hawdaj" and her brother-in-law, Kinana, led the camel to Zayd in broad daylight. The Quraysh perceived this as an unnecessary flaunting of Muhammad's triumph at Badr. A group of them pursued Zainab and overtook her at Dhu Tuwa. A man named Habbar ibn Al-Aswad threatened her with his lance and pushed her. She fell out of the hawdaj onto a rock. Kinana showed the arrows in his quiver and threatened to kill anyone who came any closer. Then Abu Sufyan arrived, telling Kinana to put away his bow so that they could discuss it rationally. He said that they had no intention of keeping a woman from her father in revenge for Badr, but that it was wrong of Kinana to humiliate the Quraysh further by parading her removal in public; he must do it quietly, when the "chatter" had died down. Kinana took Zainab home again. There she suffered a miscarriage, losing a great deal of blood, which she attributed to having been assaulted by Habbar.


title: Zainab bint Muhammad

text: A few nights later, Kinana took her quietly to meet Zayd, and he escorted her to Medina. Anas ibn Malik recalled seeing Zainab in Medina wearing a striped silk cloak.


title: Zainab bint Muhammad

text: Zainab did not see her husband again until September or October 627, when he entered her house in Medina by night, asking for protection. Muslim raiders had stolen some merchandise that he was keeping in trust for other Quraysh, and he wanted to try to recover it. The next morning, Zainab sat among the women at dawn prayers and shouted: "I have given protection to Abu al-As ibn al-Rabi!" As soon as prayers were over, Muhammad confirmed that he had not known anything about it, but "We protect whomever she protects." He told Zainab to treat Abu al-As like a guest. Then he arranged for the Quraysh merchandise to be returned, and Abu al-As took it to its owners in Mecca.


title: Zainab bint Muhammad

text: Abu al-As then converted to Islam and returned to Medina. Muhammad restored his marriage to Zainab, and they resumed their married life.


title: Zainab bint Muhammad

text: Their reconciliation was short-lived, for Zainab died in May or June 629. Her death was attributed to complications from the miscarriage that she had suffered in 624. The women who washed her dead body included Umm Ayman, Sawdah and Umm Salama.


title: Farrah Forke

text: Farrah Rachael Forke (January 12, 1968 – February 25, 2022) was an American actress known for her roles as Alex Lambert on the NBC sitcom "Wings", and Mayson Drake on "". She also voiced the character Big Barda on the animated television series "Batman Beyond" and "Justice League Unlimited".


title: Farrah Forke

text: Forke was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, on January 12, 1968. She was one of two children of Chuck Forke and Beverly (Mendleski). Forke was named after Farrah Fawcett, who was a family friend. In an interview, she said: "I was a huge fan of hers, thinking as a child 'If she can do it so can I.'" She attended the Hockaday School, an all-girls private school in Dallas, where she was a cheerleader. She started acting with a role in a Texas production of the musical "The Rocky Horror Show". After graduating from high school, she relocated to New York City in 1989 to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute. She also worked as a bartender while studying in the city.


title: Farrah Forke

text: She became best known as Alex Lambert for two seasons on the NBC sitcom "Wings." Only her second professional acting role, it became one of her biggest roles. She said she was nervous during the early episodes. "I was so green and so nervous," she said. "There were so many people around, and four cameras. My hands used to shake in the early  episodes. You'll see me holding coffee cups with both hands to control the shaking." She drew on personal experience to play the character, who was not at all like the actress. "I am really nothing like her," she said in an interview, "but the toughness I got to display as a real bartender in New York at closing time prepared me for the role of Alex. I would lower the tone of my voice to show I meant business and I used that in my audition. I knew I could play her." Overall, the part taught the young actress a lot. "It was a great learning experience. I learned so much, especially from Steven Weber and Tony Shaloub." The part was a recurring role during the 1992–93 season, the fourth season of the show, and a regular cast role the following year, the fifth season. Forke was upset not to be asked back for the sixth season as a regular cast member. The writers found the Alex character difficult to write for and felt they had run out of stories for the character and wanted to explore her onscreen boyfriend Brian's (played by Weber) single life instead. Forke was asked back for a guest appearance in one episode of the sixth season, which gave a conclusion to her character.


title: Farrah Forke

text: After "Wings", Forke played Carey, an office manager for a computer software company, in the 1995 CBS sitcom "Dweebs" (1995), and then, from 1996 to 1997, a prep school teacher in NBC's "Mr. Rhodes". She also appeared on "Ned and Stacey" with her "Wings" castmate Thomas Haden Church. Forke was the voice woman of several companies, such as Arby's, Cadillac, Checkers, and Vanderbilt.


title: Farrah Forke

text: Forke had a recurring role on "Lois and Clark" as Mayson Drake, an attorney who considers Superman a vigilante, but holds a candle for Clark Kent. Forke would once again take part in the Superman universe by voicing the character Big Barda in two episodes of "Batman Beyond" and one episode of "Justice League Unlimited", animated shows set in the same universe as "".


title: Farrah Forke

text: In films, she featured in Academy Award winner Barry Levinson's "Disclosure" (1994), Michael Mann's "Heat" (1995), and "Ground Control" (1998). She appeared in "Kate's Addiction" (1998), in which she and actress Kari Wuhrer play women in a lesbian love affair, as well as the TV-movies "" (CBS, 1993) with Lindsay Wagner. Other TV movie roles include "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (NBC, 1993), "Complex of Fear" (CBS, 1993), "Bionic Ever After?" (CBS, 1994) (again with Wagner), and "Abandoned and Deceived" (ABC, 1995).


title: Farrah Forke

text: Her final onscreen role was in the 2001 movie "It Is What It Is" directed by Billy Frolick. Forke was very proud of the role. "It's by far the best work I've ever done," she said in a 2003 interview. She also served as executive producer on the movie. Around the time of the 2003 interview, she moved to New Mexico and, though mentioned she was planning to return to LA for pilot season, seemingly decided to retire permanently from acting, later moving back to Texas. She would later say: "I have no plans to return to Hollywood. I love my life here in Texas, raising my twin boys. Life is good." She had one more role, a voice role, in 2005, resuming her voice work as Big Barda in "Justice League Unlimited".


title: Farrah Forke

text: Forke underwent plastic surgery in 1989, when she was 21, to receive silicone breast implants. However, the implants later ruptured and caused her health complications. She consequently had them removed four years later in February 1993. She then filed a lawsuit in Houston on March 24 of the following year against Dow Corning, the Dow Chemical Company, the Inamed Corporation and the McGhan Corporation.


title: Farrah Forke

text: She was dear friends with actress Caroline Aaron, who played Mary Pat Lee on "Wings." The two featured together in Forke's last episode of the series.


title: Farrah Forke

text: Forke met Mark Layton Brown while he was working in the art department of "Wings". Together, they had two children: twin sons Chuck and Wit. She took a hiatus from acting during the mid-2000s and returned to Texas to raise her children, eventually deciding the hiatus would become a permanent retirement from Hollywood.


title: Farrah Forke

text: Forke died at her home in Houston, Texas, on February 25, 2022, at the age of 54. She had been battling cancer in the years leading up to her death.


title: Farrah Forke

text: Many tributes were paid to her, including from her cast mate Steven Weber, who played her onscreen boyfriend Brian in "Wings," saying: "She was every bit as tough, fun, beautiful and grounded as her character “Alex” on "Wings"."


title: Hevea brasiliensis

text: Hevea brasiliensis, the Pará rubber tree, "sharinga" tree, seringueira, or most commonly, rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family Euphorbiaceae originally native to the Amazon basin, but is now pantropical in distribution due to introductions. It is the most economically important member of the genus "Hevea" because the milky latex extracted from the tree is the primary source of natural rubber.


title: Hevea brasiliensis

text: "H. brasiliensis" is a tall deciduous tree growing to a height of up to in the wild, but cultivated trees are usually much smaller because drawing off the latex restricts the growth of the tree. The trunk is cylindrical and may have a swollen, bottle-shaped base. The bark is some shade of brown, and the inner bark oozes latex when damaged. The leaves have three leaflets and are spirally arranged. The inflorescence include separate male and female flowers. The flowers are pungent, creamy-yellow and have no petals. The fruit is a capsule that contains three large seeds; it opens explosively when ripe.


title: Hevea brasiliensis

text: In the wild, the tree can reach a height of up to . The white or yellow latex occurs in latex vessels in the bark, mostly outside the phloem. These vessels spiral up the tree in a right-handed helix which forms an angle of about 30 degrees with the horizontal, and can grow as high as .


title: Hevea brasiliensis

text: In plantations, the trees are generally smaller for two reasons: 1) trees grow more slowly when they are tapped for latex, and 2) trees are generally cut down after only 30 years, because latex production declines as trees age, and they are no longer economically productive. The tree requires a tropical or subtropical climate with a minimum of about per year of rainfall, and no frost. If frost does occur, the results can be disastrous for production. One frost can cause the rubber from an entire plantation to become brittle and break once it has been refined.


title: Hevea brasiliensis

text: Harvesters make incisions across the latex vessels, just deep enough to tap the vessels without harming the tree's growth, and the latex is collected in small buckets. This process is known as rubber tapping. Latex production is highly variable from tree to tree and across clone types.


title: Hevea brasiliensis

text: As latex production declines with age, rubber trees are generally felled when they reach the age of 25 to 30 years. The earlier practice was to burn the trees, but in recent decades, the wood has been harvested for furniture making.


title: Hevea brasiliensis

text: The South American rubber tree grew only in the Amazon rainforest, and increasing demand and the discovery of the vulcanization procedure in 1839 led to the rubber boom in that region, enriching the cities of Belém, Santarém, and Manaus in Brazil and Iquitos, Peru, from 1840 to 1913. In Brazil, before the name was changed to 'Seringueira' the initial name of the plant was 'pará rubber tree', derived from the name of the province of Grão-Pará. In Peru, the tree was called 'árbol del caucho', and the latex extracted from it was called 'caucho'. The tree was used to obtain rubber by the natives who inhabited its geographical distribution. The Olmec people of Mesoamerica extracted and produced similar forms of primitive rubber from analogous latex-producing trees such as "Castilla elastica" as early as 3,600 years ago. The rubber was used, among other things, to make the balls used in the Mesoamerican ballgame. Early attempts were made in 1873 to grow "H. brasilensis" outside Brazil. After some effort, 12 seedlings were germinated at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. These were sent to India for cultivation, but died. A second attempt was then made, some 70,000 seeds being smuggled to Kew in 1875, by Henry Wickham, in the service of the British Empire. About four percent of these germinated, and in 1876, about 2,000 seedlings were sent, in Wardian cases, to Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) and 22 were sent to the botanic gardens in Singapore.


title: Hevea brasiliensis

text: Once established outside its native country, rubber was extensively propagated in the British colonies. Rubber trees were brought to the botanical gardens at Buitenzorg, Java, in 1883. By 1898, a rubber plantation had been established in Malaya, with imported Chinese field workers being the dominant work force in rubber production in the early 20th-century.


title: Hevea brasiliensis

text: The cultivation of the tree in South America (Amazon) ended early in the 20th century because of indigenous blights that targeted the rubber tree. The blight, called South American leaf blight, is caused by the ascomycete "Pseudocercospora ulei", also called "Microcyclus ulei", or "Dothidella ulei". Rubber production then moved to parts of the world where it is not indigenous, and therefore not affected by local plant diseases. Today, most rubber tree plantations are in South and Southeast Asia, the top rubber producing countries in 2011 being Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Vietnam.


title: Hevea brasiliensis

text: The toxicity of arsenic to insects, bacteria, and fungi has led to the heavy use of arsenic trioxide on rubber plantations, especially in Malaysia.


title: Hevea brasiliensis

text: The majority of the rubber trees in Southeast Asia are clones of varieties highly susceptible to the South American leaf blight—"Pseudocercospora ulei". For these reasons, environmental historian Charles C. Mann, in his 2011 book, "1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created", predicted that the Southeast Asian rubber plantations will be ravaged by the blight in the not-too-distant future, thus creating a potential calamity for international industry.


title: Hevea brasiliensis

text: "H. brasiliensis" produces cyanogenic glycosides (CGs) as a defense, concentrated in the seeds. (Although effective against other attackers, CGs are not very effective against fungal pathogens. In rare cases, they are even detrimental. This is the case for "H. b.", which actually suffers "worse" from "Pseudocercospora ulei" if the rubber tree produces more CGs. This may be because cyanide inhibits the production of other defensive metabolites. This results in significantly divergent subpopulations with selection for or against CGs, depending on local likelihoods of fungal or non-fungal pest pressure.) The carbon and nitrogen in CGs are recycled for growth and latex production if needed, and the ease of doing so makes them an attractive nitrogen store - especially if the plant is light-deprived and storage in photosynthesis proteins would thus be unhelpful. The α-hydroxynitrilases are likely contained in the cytoplasm. Linamarin is hydrolyzed by an accompanying linamarase, a β-glycosidase. "H. b." linamarase "does" act upon linamarin because it is a monoglucoside, while it does "not" for linustatin because it is a diglucoside - in fact, the production of linustatin inhibits linamarase cleavage of linamarin. This allows intra-plant, post-synthesis transport of linustatin without risking premature cleavage.


title: FlashForward

text: FlashForward is an American television series, adapted for television by Brannon Braga and David S. Goyer, which aired for one season on ABC between September 24, 2009, and May 27, 2010. It is based on the 1999 novel "Flashforward" by Canadian science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer. The series revolves around the lives of several people as a mysterious event causes nearly everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for two minutes and seventeen seconds on October 6, 2009. During this blackout, people see what appear to be visions of their lives on April 29, 2010, a global "flashforward" six months into the future.


title: FlashForward

text: In May 2010, ABC announced that "FlashForward" had been cancelled. The season finale for Season 1 was shot before it was known the show would be cancelled and showed another flashforward event happening more than 20 years in the future. This more closely followed the original book, which featured a flashforward that peered 21½ years into the future.


title: FlashForward

text: "FlashForward" is constructed around a high-concept narrative where a mysterious event has caused nearly everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for 137 seconds, during which time people see what appears to be a vision of their own life approximately six months in the future: a global "flashforward". A team of Los Angeles FBI agents, led by Stanford Wedeck (Vance) and spearheaded by Mark Benford (Fiennes) and his partner Demetri Noh (Cho), begin the process of determining what happened, why, and whether it will happen again. Benford contributes a unique perspective on the investigation; in his flashforward, he saw the results of six months of investigation that he had done on the flashforward event, and he and his team use those clues to recreate the investigation.


title: FlashForward

text: The team investigates a number of events related to the flashforward, including "Suspect Zero", who did not lose consciousness during the event because of a quantum entanglement device (QED), the sinister "D. Gibbons/Dyson Frost", and a similar mass loss of consciousness in Somalia many years earlier in 1991. Meanwhile, personal revelations contained within the flashforwards occupy the personal lives of the principal characters. Mark Benford sees himself relapsing into alcoholism; his wife sees herself with another man; Demetri Noh sees nothing, which could mean that he will not be alive to see the day everyone else has glimpsed or, perhaps, that his future was not set on the day of the flashforward. Other characters grapple with similarly unexpected or surprising revelations in their flashforwards.


title: FlashForward

text: The pilot was written by David S. Goyer (who also directed) and Brannon Braga, from Robert J. Sawyer's novel, with Goyer and Braga executive producing alongside Jessika Borsiczky Goyer, Vince Gerardis, and Ralph Vicinanza.


title: FlashForward

text: "FlashForward" was originally developed at HBO, which sold its option because it thought the show would be a better fit for a broadcast network. After purchasing the series and ordering a pilot, ABC picked up "FlashForward" for thirteen episodes in May 2009. On October 12, 2009, ABC picked up the series for a 22-episode season. Later the same day, it was announced ABC had ordered a further three episodes for a 25-episode first season, which was later adjusted to 24.


title: FlashForward

text: On October 21, 2009, it was announced that executive producer Marc Guggenheim would leave ABC's "FlashForward". Co-creator and executive producer David S. Goyer stepped in to replace him as showrunner. On February 5, 2010, Goyer announced he would be stepping down as showrunner to focus on feature films and directing. He remained involved with the show, however. Goyer was replaced as showrunner by his wife, Jessika Goyer, along with Lisa Zwerling and Timothy J. Lea.


title: FlashForward

text: On May 13, 2010, it was reported that "FlashForward" would not be renewed for a second season because of the decline of viewers.


title: FlashForward

text: Each episode's title sequence includes a hidden image within the "FlashForward" logo to show a piece of what the episode is about. These images are visible when the sequence is paused at the right time.


title: FlashForward

text: In 2015, Robert J. Sawyer shared his memo that he sent to producers and staff writers on February 19, 2010 outlining his suggestion for season two.


title: FlashForward

text: "FlashForward" has sold in over 100 territories worldwide. Overseas air-dates are typically close to the original U.S. broadcasts, in an attempt to limit piracy.


title: FlashForward

text: The series airs on AXN in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Japan, AXN in Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Venezuela, and Uruguay. It airs in Australia on the Seven Network, in Austria on ORF1, in Canada on /A\, and in Estonia on Fox Life. In Greece it is broadcast on FX, in Hong Kong on TVB Pearl, in New Zealand on TV2, and in Russia on Channel One. In Singapore it is shown on MediaCorp Channel 5 and Starhub Fox Channel – Channel 505, in Slovakia on TV JOJ, in Slovenia on TV3 Slovenia, in South Africa on M-Net, in Taiwan on Public Television Service, and in Turkey on Dizimax and ATV. In Western Europe, "FlashForward" airs on Kanal 5 in Denmark, Nelonen in Finland, Canal + and TF1 in France, ProSieben in Germany by RTÉ Two, in Ireland, TV 2 in Norway, Cuatro in Spain, TV4 in Sweden, TSR1, La 2 & SF zwei in Switzerland, ORF1 in Austria, Five in the United Kingdom, Fox in Italy, Veronica in the Netherlands, BeTV in Belgium, and SIC in Portugal. It is also aired in the Philippines on Studio 23. In Israel it airs on Satellite TV yes stars Action as well as Cable TV HOT3., in Indonesia by RCTI.


title: FlashForward

text: Season 1, Part 1 of the series was released on DVD on February 23, 2010. This DVD has the first ten episodes, plus bonus material. The full series was released on DVD on August 31, 2010 (including more bonus material). The full series was also supposed to be released on Blu-ray on the same date, but the Blu-ray release was indefinitely delayed and later cancelled. The first 2 discs of the 5-disc full series set are the same as the 2-disc set of episodes 1-10.


title: FlashForward

text: It is also available to stream for free on ABC.com and for digital purchase through Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, and Vudu. On February 23, 2021, the show was added to the steaming platform, Disney+ in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.


title: FlashForward

text: After the news of cancellation, dedicated fans created a campaign, "Save "Flashforward"" to try to keep the series on the air. They signed petitions to show support and also planned staged "blackouts" in front of ABC offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and several other major cities on June 10, 2010. Fans also sent calendars with the date April 29 circled (the date of the flashforwards and of the second global blackout), friendship bracelets based on the same items in the show, and letters to ABC President at the time, Stephen McPherson.


title: FlashForward

text: Although launching to large audiences of 12.47 million viewers in the US, the show's ratings rapidly declined to ratings about one-third that figure. The show's scheduling in the US was held to blame by some people; an unexpected extended hiatus may have contributed to the deteriorating fanbase. However, in other countries such as the UK, where the show was given prime time scheduling on terrestrial television, ratings also dwindled. In the UK, the show was screened on Channel Five, a channel which receives fairly poor viewing figures in comparison to its peers.


title: FlashForward

text: The show was watched by an average of 8.5 million viewers per episode, ranking it 44th most watched show of the season.


title: FlashForward

text: "FlashForward" received generally positive reviews, with a Metacritic score of 72 out of 100, based on 26 critic reviews. In September 2009, Tim Goodman of the "San Francisco Chronicle" deemed the series "enormously entertaining" with a "tantalizing premise", while Ginia Bellafante of "The New York Times" wrote that it "begins in such a spirit of bracing suspense that [she was] challenged to recall another pilot that lured [her] so quickly into addiction." "Variety" Brian Lowry gave a more measured review, opining, "It's an intriguing, mind-bending concept that's mostly well executed [...] there's a solid desire to see more but not such wonderment as to proclaim unwavering fealty until the show peers a little farther down the road." "Entertainment Weekly"'s Ken Tucker graded the series "B+", stating, ""FF" isn't perfect. Much thought has been given to plot and character but not enough to the visuals: This is one of the most drab-looking of intelligent shows. Thematically, "FF" makes major philosophical points— living in the moment, etc.—but instead of dramatizing them, it often just has its characters speak them." Tucker described the show as " sci-fi-ish conspiracy suspense with excellent prime-time-soap drama".


title: Poonam Sinha

text: Poonam Sinha ("née" Chandiramani) is an Indian politician and former actress, fashion model. She acted in Hindi cinema under the screen name Komal in her early career. She was crowned Miss Young India in 1968. She is married to actor and politician Shatrughna Sinha. She worked in lead roles in Hindi movies and has also produced two films.


title: Poonam Sinha

text: She was credited as Komal in all her films as heroine, including "Jigri Dost", "Dil Diwana" and others. She was cast with Shatrughan Sinha in the movie "Sabak" (1973). The two later got married in 1980. They had earlier met in a train compartment while travelling.


title: Poonam Sinha

text: After her marriage, she largely left her acting career to raise their children. After a long gap of thirty years, she starred in the film "Jodhaa Akbar" (2008) playing Mallika Hamida Banu Begum—mother of Emperor Akbar, enacted by Hrithik Roshan, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker.


title: Poonam Sinha

text: On 16 April 2019, she joined the Samajwadi Party, while her husband Shatrughan Sinha joined Indian National Congress after resigning from BJP. She lost the Loksabha election to Rajnath Singh from Lucknow (Lok Sabha constituency).


title: Poonam Sinha

text: She is married to actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha. They have twin sons, actors Luv Sinha and Kush Sinha, and a daughter, Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha.


title: Poonam Sinha

text: She currently lives with her husband, sons and daughter Sonakshi in their Juhu bungalow, "Ramayan." Sonakshi, her daughter had said she lives with her parents due to her being a mommy/daddy's girl and that she has all the space she needs at her parents house and that her apartment is more of a studio.


Pre-Columbian transoceanic contact theories are speculative theories which propose that possible visits to the Americas, possible interactions with the indigenous peoples of the Americas, or both, were made by people from Africa, Asia, Europe, or Oceania prior to Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the Caribbean in 1492 (i.e., during any part of the pre-Columbian era). Studies between 2004 and 2009 suggest the possibility that the earliest human migrations to the Americas may have been made by boat from Beringia and travel down the Pacific coast, contemporary with and possibly predating land migrations over the Beringia land bridge, which during the glacial period joined what today are Siberia and Alaska. Whether transoceanic travel occurred during the historic period, resulting in pre-Columbian contact between the settled American peoples and voyagers from other continents, is vigorously debated.


title: Pre-Columbian transoceanic contact theories

text: Only a few cases of pre-Columbian contact are widely accepted by mainstream scientists and scholars. Yup'ik and Aleut peoples residing on both sides of the Bering Strait had frequent contact with each other, and Eurasian trade goods have been discovered in archaeological sites in Alaska. Maritime explorations by Norse peoples from Scandinavia during the late 10th century led to the Norse colonization of Greenland and a base camp L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, which preceded Columbus's arrival in the Americas by some 500 years. Recent genetic studies have also suggested that some eastern Polynesian populations have admixture from coastal western South American peoples, with an estimated date of contact around 1200 CE.


text: Scientific and scholarly responses to other claims of post-prehistory, pre-Columbian transoceanic contact have varied. Some of these claims are examined in reputable peer-reviewed sources. Many others are based only on circumstantial or ambiguous interpretations of archaeological evidence, the discovery of alleged out-of-place artifacts, superficial cultural comparisons, comments in historical documents, or narrative accounts. They have been dismissed as fringe science, pseudoarchaeology, or pseudohistory.


text: Norse journeys to Greenland and Canada prior to Columbus's voyages are supported by historical and archaeological evidence. A Norse colony was established in Greenland in the late 10th century and lasted until the mid-15th century, with court and parliament assemblies ("þing") taking place at Brattahlíð and a bishop being posted at Garðar. The remains of a Norse settlement used as a base-camp at L'Anse aux Meadows in what is now Newfoundland, a large island on the Atlantic coast of Canada, were discovered in 1960 and have been radiocarbon-dated to between 990 and 1050 CE. More recently, tree-ring analysis of structures at the site have been dated to the year 1021.


text: This remains the only site widely accepted as evidence of post-prehistory, pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact with the Americas. L'Anse aux Meadows was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978. It is also possibly connected with the attempted colony of Vinland established by Leif Erikson around the same period or, more broadly, with Norse exploration of the Americas.


text: Though L'Anse aux Meadows establishes that Norse colonists traveled to and built permanent structures in North America, few sources describing contact between indigenous peoples and Norse people exist. Contact between the Thule people (ancestors of the modern Inuit) and Norse in the 12th or 13th century is known. The Norse Greenlanders called these native people "skrælingar". Conflict between the Greenlanders and the "skrælings" is recorded in the "Icelandic Annals". The term "skrælings" is also used in the Vínland sagas, which relate to events during the 10th century, when describing trade and conflict with native peoples.


text: Between 2007 and 2009, geneticist Erik Thorsby and colleagues published two studies in "Tissue Antigens" that evidence an Amerindian genetic contribution to human populations on Easter Island, determining that it was probably introduced before European discovery of the island. In 2014, geneticist Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas of The Center for GeoGenetics at the University of Copenhagen published a study in "Current Biology" that found human genetic evidence of contact between the populations of Easter Island and South America, dating to approximately 600 years ago (i.e. 1400 CE ± 100 years).


text: Two remains of "Botocudo" people (a term used to refer to Native Americans who live in the interior of Brazil that speak Macro-Jê languages), were found in research published in 2013 to have been members of mtDNA haplogroup B4a1a1, which is normally found only among Polynesians and other subgroups of Austronesians. This was based on an analysis of fourteen skulls. Two belonged to B4a1a1, while twelve belonged to subclades of mtDNA haplogroup C1 (common among Native Americans). The research team examined various scenarios, none of which they could say for certain were correct. They dismissed a scenario of direct contact in prehistory between Polynesia and Brazil as "too unlikely to be seriously entertained." While B4a1a1 is also found among the Malagasy people of Madagascar (which experienced significant Austronesian settlement in prehistory), the authors described as "fanciful" suggestions that B4a1a1 among the Botocudo resulted from the African slave trade (which included Madagascar). A 2020 study strongly questioned the premise of the paper as being based on outdated racial classifications.


text: In 2020, a study in "Nature" found that populations in the Mangareva, Marquesas, and Palliser islands and Easter Island had genetic admixture from indigenous populations of South America, with the DNA of contemporary populations of Zenú people from the Pacific coast of Colombia being the closest match. The authors suggest that the genetic signatures were probably the result of a single ancient contact. They proposed that an initial admixture event between indigenous South Americans and Polynesians occurred in eastern Polynesia between 1150 and 1230 CE, with later admixture in Easter Island around 1380 CE, but suggested other possible contact scenarios—for example, Polynesian voyages to South America followed by Polynesian people's returning to Polynesia with South American people, or carrying South American genetic heritage. Several scholars uninvolved in the study suggested that a contact event in South America was more likely.


text: The sweet potato, a food crop native to the Americas, was widespread in Polynesia by the time European explorers first reached the Pacific. Sweet potato has been radiocarbon-dated to 1000 CE in the Cook Islands. Current thinking is that it was brought to central Polynesia c. 700 CE and spread across Polynesia from there. It has been suggested that it was brought by Polynesians who had traveled across the Pacific to South America and back, or that South Americans brought it to Polynesia. It is also possible that the plant floated across the ocean after being discarded from the cargo of a boat. Phylogenetic analysis supports the hypothesis of at least two separate introductions of sweet potatoes from South America into Polynesia, including one before and one after European contact.


text: Dutch linguists and specialists in Amerindian languages Willem Adelaar and Pieter Muysken have suggested that the word for sweet potato is shared by Polynesian languages and languages of South America. Proto-Polynesian *"kumala" (compare Easter Island "kumara", Hawaiian "uala", Māori ; even though a proto-form is reconstructed above, apparent cognates outside Eastern Polynesian are either definitely borrowed from Eastern Polynesian languages or irregular, calling Proto-Polynesian status and age into question) may be connected with dialectal Quechua and Aymara "k'umar ~ k'umara"; most Quechua dialects actually use "apichu" instead, but "comal" was attested at extinct Cañari language on the coast of what is now Ecuador in 1582.


text: Adelaar and Muysken assert that the similarity in the word for sweet potato "constitutes near proof of incidental contact between inhabitants of the Andean region and the South Pacific." The authors argue that the presence of the word for sweet potato suggests sporadic contact between Polynesia and South America, but not necessarily migrations.


text: "Ageratum conyzoides", also known as billygoat-weed, chick weed, goatweed, or whiteweed, is native to the tropical Americas, and was found in Hawaii by William Hillebrand in 1888 who considered it to have grown there before Captain Cook's arrival in 1778. A legitimate native name ("meie parari" or "mei rore") and established native medicinal usage and use as a scent and in leis have been offered as support for the pre-Cookian age.


text: Turmeric ("Curcuma longa") originated in Asia, and there is linguistic and circumstantial evidence of the spread and use of turmeric by the Austronesian peoples into Oceania and Madagascar. Günter Tessmann in 1930 (300 years after European contact) reported that a species of "Curcuma" was grown by the Amahuaca tribe to the east of the Upper Ucayali River in Peru and was a dye-plant used for the painting of the body, with the nearby Witoto people using it as face paint in their ceremonial dances. David Sopher noted in 1950 that "the evidence for a pre-European, transpacific introduction of the plant by man seems very strong indeed".


text: In December 2007, several human skulls were found in a museum in Concepción, Chile. These skulls originated on Mocha Island, an island which is located just off the coast of Chile on the Pacific Ocean, formerly inhabited by the Mapuche. Craniometric analysis of the skulls, according to Lisa Matisoo-Smith of the University of Otago and José Miguel Ramírez Aliaga of the Universidad de Valparaíso, suggests that the skulls have "Polynesian features" – such as a pentagonal shape when they are viewed from behind, and rocker jaws.


text: Rocker jaws have also been found at an excavation led José Miguel Ramírez in the coastal locality of Tunquén, Central Chile. The site of excavation corresponds to an area with pre-Hispanic tombs and shell middens (). A global review of rocker jaws among different populations show that while rocker jaws are not unique to Polynesians "[t]he rarity of rocker jaw in South American natives supports" the view of "Polynesian voyagers who ventured to the west coast of South America".


text: In 2007, evidence emerged which suggested the possibility of pre-Columbian contact between the Mapuche people (Araucanians) of south-central Chile and Polynesians. Bones of Araucana chickens found at El Arenal site in the Arauco Peninsula, an area inhabited by Mapuche, support a pre-Columbian introduction of landraces from the South Pacific islands to South America. The bones found in Chile were radiocarbon-dated to between 1304 and 1424, before the arrival of the Spanish. Chicken DNA sequences were matched to those of chickens in American Samoa and Tonga, and found to be dissimilar to those of European chickens.


text: However, this finding was challenged by a 2008 study which questioned its methodology and concluded that its conclusion is flawed, although the theory it posits may still be possible. Another study in 2014 reinforced that dismissal, and posited the crucial flaw in the initial research: "The analysis of ancient and modern specimens reveals a unique Polynesian genetic signature" and that "a previously reported connection between pre-European South America and Polynesian chickens most likely resulted from contamination with modern DNA, and that this issue is likely to confound ancient DNA studies involving haplogroup E chicken sequences."


text: A 2019 study of South American chickens "revealed an unknown genetic component that is mostly present in the Easter Island population that is also present in local chicken populations from the South American Pacific fringe". The Easter Island chicken's "genetic proximity with the SA continental gamefowl can be explained by the fact that both populations were not crossed with cosmopolitan breeds and therefore remain closer to the ancestral population that originated them. " The genetic proximity might also "be indicative of a common origin of these two populations".


text: Researchers including Kathryn Klar and Terry Jones have proposed a theory of contact between Hawaiians and the Chumash people of Southern California between 400 and 800 CE. The sewn-plank canoes crafted by the Chumash and neighboring Tongva are unique among the indigenous peoples of North America, but similar in design to larger canoes used by Polynesians and Melanesians for deep-sea voyages. "Tomolo'o", the Chumash word for such a craft, may derive from "tumula'au"/"kumula'au", the Hawaiian term for the logs from which shipwrights carve planks to be sewn into canoes. The analogous Tongva term, "tii'at", is unrelated. If it occurred, this contact left no genetic legacy in California or Hawaii. This theory has attracted limited media attention within California, but most archaeologists of the Tongva and Chumash cultures reject it on the grounds that the independent development of the sewn-plank canoe over several centuries is well-represented in the material record.


text: Archaeological artefacts known as clava hand-clubs found in Araucanía and nearby areas of Argentina have a strong resemblance to the mere okewa found in New Zealand. The clava hand-clubs are also mentioned in the Spanish chronicles dating to the Conquest of Chile. According to Grete Mostny clava hand-clubs "appear to have arrived to the west coast of South America from the Pacific". Polynesian clubs from Chatham Islands are reportedly the most similar to those of Chile. The clava hand-club is one of various Polynesian-like Mapuche artifacts known.


text: On Easter Island, the word for a stone axe is ""; among the New Zealand Maori, the word "toki" denotes an adze; in the Mapuche language of Chile and Argentina, the word for a stone axe is "toki"; and further afield in Colombia, the Yurumanguí word for an axe is "totoki". The Mapuche word "toki" may also mean "chief" and thus may be related to the Quechua word "toqe" ("militia chief") and the Aymara word "toqueni" ("person of great judgement"). In the view of Moulian et al. (2015) the possible South American links complicate matters regarding the meaning of the word "toki" because they are suggestive of Polynesian contact.