title: Courland Pocket

text: Hitler's refusal to evacuate the Army Group resulted in the entrenchment of more than 200,000 German troops largely of the 16th Army and 18th Army, in what was to become known to the Germans as the "Courland Bridgehead". Thirty-three divisions of the Army Group North, commanded by Field-Marshall Ferdinand Schörner, were cut off from East Prussia and spread out along a front reaching from Riga to Liepāja, retreating to the more defensible Courland position, abandoning Riga.


title: Courland Pocket

text: Soviet forces launched six major offensives against the German and Latvian forces entrenched in the Courland Pocket between 15 October 1944 and 4 April 1945. The German two-phase withdrawals during the execution of the second stage of the Soviet Baltic Offensive (14 September – 24 November 1944), subsequent to the pocket being formed in the Baltic Offensive's first stage, the Memel Offensive Operation.


title: Courland Pocket

text: From 15 to 22 October 1944 – Soviets launched the Riga Offensive Operation on the 15th at 10:00 after conducting a heavy artillery barrage. Hitler permitted the Army Group Commander, Ferdinand Schoerner, to commence withdrawal from Riga on 11 October, and the city was taken by the 3rd Baltic Front on 13 October. The front stabilised with the main remnant of Army Group North isolated in the peninsula.


title: Courland Pocket

text: From 27 October to 25 November – Soviets launched an offensive trying to break through the front toward Skrunda and Saldus including at one point initiating a simultaneous attack by 52 divisions. Soviet forces also attacked southeast of Liepāja in an attempt to capture that port. 80 divisions assaulted the Germans from 1 to 15 November in a front 12 km wide. The Soviet breakthrough stalled after roughly 4 kilometers.


title: Courland Pocket

text: The third phase of the fighting (also known as "the other Christmas Battle") started on 21 December with a Soviet attack on Germans near Saldus. The Soviet 2nd Baltic (northern sector) and 1st Baltic Fronts (southern sector) commenced a blockade, precipitating the German defence of the Courland perimeter during Soviet attempts to reduce it. In this battle, serving with the 2nd Baltic Front's 22nd Army, the Latvian 130th Rifle Corps faced their opposites in the Latvian 19th SS Division. The battle ended on 31 December and the front was stabilized.


title: Courland Pocket

text: On 15 January 1945, Army Group North was renamed Army Group Courland under Colonel-General Lothar Rendulic. In the middle of January Heinz Guderian got Hitler's permission to withdraw 7 divisions from Courland, however, Hitler refused to consider a total withdrawal. The 4th Panzer Division, 31st, 32nd, 93rd Infantry Divisions, 11th SS Division Nordland and the remnants of the battered 227th, 218th and 389th Infantry Divisions and 15th Latvian SS-Division were evacuated over the sea. On 23 January Soviet forces launched an offensive trying to break through the front toward Liepāja and Saldus. They managed to take the bridgeheads on Bārta and Vārtāja rivers but were once again driven off by the Germans.


title: Courland Pocket

text: The fifth battle started on 12 February with a Soviet attack against the Germans towards . Other attacks took place south of Liepāja where the Soviets massed 21 divisions, and south of Tukums where 11 divisions tried to break through the German front and take the town. On 16 February the Soviets started an offensive against the 19th Division.


title: Courland Pocket

text: On 8 May, Germany's Head of State and President Karl Dönitz ordered Colonel-General Carl Hilpert – the Army Group's last commander – to surrender. Hilpert, his personal staff, and staffs of three Armies surrendered to Marshal Leonid Govorov, the commander of the Leningrad Front. At this time, the group still consisted of the remnants of 27 divisions and one brigade.


title: Courland Pocket

text: On 8 May, General Otto Friedrich Rauser succeeded in obtaining better surrender terms from the Soviet command. On 9 May, the Soviet commission in Peilei started to interrogate the captive staff of Army Group Courland, and general collection of prisoners began.


title: Courland Pocket

text: By 12 May, approximately 135,000 German troops surrendered in the Courland Pocket. On 23 May, the Soviet collection of the German troops in the Courland Pocket was completed. A total of about 180,000 German troops were taken into captivity from the Baltic area. The bulk of the prisoners of war were initially held at the Valdai Hills camps.


title: Courland Pocket

text: Generaloberst Heinrich von Vietinghoff – from 10 March 1945 Generaloberst Lothar Rendulic – from 25 March 1945 Generaloberst Carl Hilpert


title: Courland Pocket

text: General der Infanterie Carl Hilpert – from 10 March 1945 General der Infanterie Ernst-Anton von Krosigk (KIA) – from 16 March General der Gebirgstruppen Friedrich-Jobst Volckamer von Kirchensittenbach


title: Courland Pocket

text: The First Courland Battle was intended to destroy German forces. After that failure, official accounts ignore Courland, stating only that the Soviet goal was to prevent the Germans from escaping.


title: Courland Pocket

text: In this account, the Soviet actions in Courland were defensive blocking operations. Hostilities consisted of containing German breakout attempts, and the Red Army made no concerted effort to capture the Courland Pocket, which was of little strategic importance after the isolation of Army Group North, whereas the main offensive effort was required for the Vistula-Oder and Berlin Offensives. Soviet forces suffered correspondingly low casualties. The modern research of Grigoriy Krivosheev indicates a total of 160,948 Soviet casualties between 16 February and 8 May 1945": 30,501 "irrecoverable" and 130,447 "medical" losses.


title: Courland Pocket

text: According to the Russian historian Aleksei Isaev, Courland was a peripheral front for both the Soviets and Germans. The Soviet goal was to prevent the German troops there from being transported by sea to reinforce the defense of Berlin. Soviet operations intended to further isolate and also destroy the enemy, but the strength of the attacking troops was too low to make any significant progress in the difficult terrain. The Soviet commanders worked competently and as a result the reported casualties were low.


title: Courland Pocket

text: Stalin had initially been intent on destroying the German forces in Courland, reporting in September 1944 that he was "mopping up" in the Baltics, and in November, that the Germans were "now being hammered to a finish." As late as March 1945, Stalin was still making claims that German forces in Courland would soon be defeated. This victory was necessary, in Stalin's eyes, to re-establish Soviet control over its 1941 frontiers following the annexation of the Baltic states.


title: Courland Pocket

text: The Soviets launched six offensives to defeat the German Army Group Courland. Throughout the campaign against the Courland pocket, Soviet forces did not advance more than 25 miles anywhere along the front, ending no more than a few kilometers forward of their original positions after seven months of conflict. The Soviet operations were hampered by the difficult terrain and bad weather.


title: Courland Pocket

text: The German army group reported inflicting heavy losses on the Soviets. However, in the absence of heavy weaponry and a near total lack of air support, total German casualties in Courland were heavy as well, and estimated to be over 150,000.


title: Courland Pocket

text: The withdrawal of Soviet units starting from December 1944 indicates that the Soviet command did not consider Courland to be as important as other sectors of the Eastern Front. Destroying the German forces there was not worth the effort and the goal was now to keep them from breaking out. The next three offensives were most likely intended to prevent the evacuation of German troops by sea. By the start of April 1945, the Soviets viewed the German forces in Courland as not much more than self-supporting prisoners.


title: Courland Pocket

text: On 9 May 1945, General Ivan Bagramyan accepted the surrender of German forces at Ezere Manor in southwest Latvia. According to Russian records, 146,000 German and Latvian troops were taken prisoner, including 28 generals and 5,083 officers, and taken to camps in the USSR interior and imprisoned for years. Current scholarship puts the count of those surrendering at about 190,000: 189,112 Germans including 42 generals—among them the German commander, Carl Hilpert, who died in Soviet captivity in 1947—and approximately 14,000 Latvians.


title: Courland Pocket

text: The Soviets detained all males between the ages of 16 and 60, and conducted widespread deforestation campaigns, burning tracts of forest to flush out resisters.


title: Sin After Sin

text: Sin After Sin is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 8 April 1977 by Columbia Records. Produced by Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover, it was the band's major label debut, their first album for the label, and their only album to feature drummer Simon Phillips, a studio musician who replaced original drummer Alan Moore for the recording sessions.


title: Sin After Sin

text: After releasing their first two albums on the small Gull label, Judas Priest grew dissatisfied with what they saw as a lack of financial support from their record company. Their previous album, "Sad Wings of Destiny", caught the attention of , and with the help of new manager David Hemmings, the band signed with CBS and received a £60,000 budget for the follow-up album, which was to draw its title phrase "sin after sin" from the lyrics to the song "Genocide" from the "Sad Wings" album. The move to CBS required breaking their contract with Gull, and once the legal dust had settled the band had forfeited the rights to those first two albums and all related recordings to Gull.


title: Sin After Sin

text: Rehearsals for the "Sin After Sin" sessions took place at Pinewood Studios in London, with recording commencing in January 1977 at the Who's Ramport Studios in the Battersea district of London. Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover was hired to produce the album with Mark Dodson serving as engineer. The band's studio experiences while with Gull were less than satisfying, particularly during the mixing of "Rocka Rolla", and they were initially quite keen to produce "Sin After Sin" themselves. CBS, however, insisted on an experienced producer. Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover was suggested and the band agreed, but after one session the band fired Glover, informing him that they would continue on their own. After a few weeks of struggling with unsatisfactory recordings, the band recalled Glover and the sessions began anew, with only six allotted days remaining. It was also during this period that the band parted ways with drummer Alan Moore, feeling that his technique was too limited for their evolving sound. Session drummer Simon Phillips was brought in to finish the sessions.


title: Sin After Sin

text: The album includes a cover of the Joan Baez song "Diamonds & Rust", a decision which was encouraged by producer Roger Glover in the interest of adding a track with commercial potential. Indeed, "Diamonds & Rust" was the first song by Judas Priest to receive radio play, and Baez herself reportedly enjoyed the cover. This was the band's second attempt to cover the track, and the earlier version from the Gull Records era was only released in 1978 on the compilation album "The Best of Judas Priest" and as a bonus track on the 1987 reissue of "Rocka Rolla".


title: Sin After Sin

text: The "brazenly homoerotic" song "Raw Deal" has been described as vocalist Rob Halford's coming-out song, and a "heavy metal gay rights song". Halford came out as a gay man in 1998.


title: Sin After Sin

text: As session drummer Simon Phillips had commitments to another band, he declined to join Judas Priest as a permanent member. As a result, former Fancy drummer Les Binks was hired for the subsequent tour. An acquaintance of producer Glover, Binks was able to play double bass, and was one of the few drummers who could replicate Phillips' drum parts live.


title: Sin After Sin

text: A live tape from their headlining show in Croydon on 1 May 1977 shows that all the album's songs except one, "Last Rose of Summer", were played on the 1977 tour. "Raw Deal" and "Here Come the Tears" were only played at headlining shows and permanently retired after this tour, "Let Us Prey/Call for the Priest" was also played a few times in 1978, "Sinner" and "Diamonds and Rust" became regulars on future setlists while "Starbreaker" and "Dissident Aggressor" returned to the band's setlists after a lengthy absence, in 2011 and 2008 respectively.


title: Sin After Sin

text: With major label support, "Sin After Sin" marked Judas Priest's first-ever opportunity to tour the United States, where they served as the opening act for REO Speedwagon and Foreigner.


title: Sin After Sin

text: "Sin After Sin" was Judas Priest's most commercially successful release to date, reaching number 23 in the UK Albums Chart. That success was difficult to duplicate in the US where "Sin After Sin" failed to chart. At home, they also faced a somewhat hostile reception or were outright ignored by a music press which was at that time heavily focused on the new genre of punk rock which swept Britain in the late 1970s. Though it would take several years, "Sin After Sin" is the first of eleven consecutive Judas Priest albums to be certified gold or higher by the RIAA.


title: Sin After Sin

text: "Sin After Sin" introduced the combination of the double bass drumming and rapid sixteenth-note bass rhythms combined with rapid sixteenth-note guitar rhythms that would come to define heavy metal in later years, particularly the thrash metal sub-genre which emerged in the 1980s. The track "Dissident Aggressor" was an early example of the tempo and aggression which would soon become synonymous with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Author Andrew L. Cope has described "Sin After Sin" as a key album in the development of heavy metal technique, in particular for its use of double kick drumming.


title: Sin After Sin

text: Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian has been quoted as saying that Mark Dodson's engineering work on this album (and later on 1984's "Defenders of the Faith") inspired the band to hire him to produce their 1988 album "State of Euphoria".


title: Sin After Sin

text: "Sin After Sin" was the final Judas Priest album to feature their original "gothic cursive font" logo, though it would be used on later Gull Records reissues of their pre–"Sin After Sin" material.


title: Sin After Sin

text: The mausoleum depicted on the "Sin After Sin" album cover is based on a photograph of the Egyptianate mausoleum built in 1910 for Colonel Alexander Gordon, located on the grounds of Putney Vale Cemetery in London.


title: Sin After Sin

text: This was the first (in order of release) of Judas Priest's main albums to be remastered in 2001, which included all of the albums between this and their 1990 "Painkiller" album. The remaster corrected an error in the track listing; "Call for the Priest", which forms one track with "Let Us Prey", had erroneously been listed as forming one track with "Raw Deal" until then.


title: Sin After Sin

text: The band Starbreaker, formed in 2005 and led by TNT vocalist Tony Harnell, whose singing style was heavily influenced by Rob Halford in his formative years, named themselves after the song "Starbreaker". Germany's Sinner and its vocalist/bassist Mat Sinner, born Matthias Lasch, both derive their names from the song "Sinner". In 1997, Mat Sinner formed Judas Priest soundalikes Primal Fear whose lead vocalist Ralf Scheepers had been on a list of singers under consideration as the replacement for Rob Halford.


title: Danny Manning

text: Daniel Ricardo Manning (born May 17, 1966) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the Associate Head Mens Basketball Coach at the University of Louisville. Manning played high school basketball at Walter Hines Page High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, as well as Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Kansas. He played college basketball for the Kansas Jayhawks, and played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years. After retiring from professional basketball Manning became an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Kansas. He won the national championship with the Jayhawks in 1988 as a player, and again as an assistant in 2008. He is the all-time leading scorer in Kansas basketball history with 2,951 points. The next closest player to his point total is Nick Collison, who is 854 points behind Manning.


title: Danny Manning

text: Manning is the son of Ed Manning, who was a longtime NBA and ABA player and professional and college coach.


title: Danny Manning

text: As a junior at Page High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, Manning averaged 18.8 points and nine rebounds per game, leading the Pirates to a 26–0 record and the state title.


title: Danny Manning

text: When Ed Manning became an assistant coach at the University of Kansas prior to Manning's senior year, the family moved to Lawrence, Kansas and Manning attended Lawrence High School, where as a senior he was named Kansas Player of the Year. While in Lawrence High, Manning was in the same high school class as Alibaba's Joe Tsai's wife - Clara Wu and played alongside future United States D.C. Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan.


title: Danny Manning

text: Manning led the Jayhawks to the 1988 NCAA title as a senior, leaving KU as its all-time leading scorer and rebounder. He was also the all-time leading scorer in Big Eight Conference history with 2,951 career points. He won the Wooden, Naismith, and NABC awards as the college player of the year in 1988.


title: Danny Manning

text: In Kansas's 83–79 victory over Oklahoma in the 1988 NCAA Championship Game, Manning recorded 31 points, 18 rebounds, 5 steals, and 2 blocked shots. For his seemingly single-handed performance in propelling the underdog Jayhawks to the title, as well as KU's unremarkable record going into the NCAA tournament (21–11, most losses of any NCAA champion), the 1988 Kansas team was nicknamed "Danny and the Miracles" and Manning was honored as Most Outstanding Player in the tournament. A two-time All-American while at KU, Manning was later named the Big Eight Player of the Decade. Kansas retired his famous #25 in February 1992. He is the twelfth all-time leading scorer in NCAA Basketball history, behind Oscar Robertson.


title: Danny Manning

text: Manning was selected to the last all-collegiate USA national basketball team in 1988, which competed at the Summer Olympics against all-professional Soviet and Yugoslavian teams in Seoul, South Korea. The team won the bronze medal but was viewed as a disappointment. Manning failed to score even a single point in that game, and afterward called it "one of the biggest disappointments of my life."


title: Danny Manning

text: On April 2, 2020, The Sporting News deemed Manning the second-best player all-time since the NCAA bracket expanded.


title: Danny Manning

text: Manning was drafted with the first overall pick by the Los Angeles Clippers in the 1988 NBA draft. He played only 26 games as a rookie after a torn anterior cruciate ligament required him to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery, but he returned for the 1989–1990 season. His most productive NBA season was 1992–1993, when he averaged 22.8 points a game for the Clippers and was selected to play in the All-Star Game. He also was selected as an All-Star the following season. On February 24, 1994, Manning was traded to the Atlanta Hawks for Dominique Wilkins and a first-round draft pick. In Los Angeles, he played for head coaches Gene Shue, Don Casey, Mike Schuler, Mack Calvin, Larry Brown, Bob Weiss, and Bill Fitch. In Atlanta, he played for Lenny Wilkens.


title: Danny Manning

text: He won the 1997–1998 Sixth Man Award, while playing for the Phoenix Suns, as the best reserve player in the NBA, averaging 13.5 points while playing about 26 minutes a game. Manning holds the distinction of being the first NBA player to have returned to play after reconstructive surgeries on both knees (a feat since duplicated by Kenyon Martin, Amar'e Stoudemire, Greg Oden and Derrick Rose). In Phoenix, he played for head coaches Paul Westphal, Cotton Fitzsimmons, Danny Ainge, and Scott Skiles.


title: Danny Manning

text: Manning was traded to the Orlando Magic along with Pat Garrity and a conditional first-round draft pick for Penny Hardaway in 1999, and was subsequently traded to the Milwaukee Bucks with Dale Ellis in exchange for Armen Gilliam and Chris Gatling prior to the start of the 1999–2000 season. He played for George Karl. He spent the final three years of his career with the Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, and Detroit Pistons. In Utah, he provided valuable scoring off the bench, as the Jazz were on the lookout for veteran role players to surround stars John Stockton and Karl Malone. He would average 7.4 points per game and 2.6 rebounds during the 2001 season as the Jazz qualified for the NBA Playoffs, where they faced a young and talented Dallas Mavericks team. He would average 10.6 points in the series. In 2001, Manning headed to Dallas to play for Hall of Fame coach Don Nelson. He finished his NBA career in Detroit (2003) playing for head coach Rick Carlisle.


title: Danny Manning

text: He announced his retirement from professional basketball in 2003 and served for four years at the University of Kansas as director of student-athlete development and team manager under KU basketball coach Bill Self. Manning was promoted to assistant coach at the end of the 2006–07 season as a replacement for Tim Jankovich who left the Kansas staff to take the position of head coach at Illinois State University. Manning became a key component of the Jayhawks coaching staff, filling vital roles in both recruiting and his work training the team's big men. In his role as KU assistant coach, Manning worked with the Jayhawk big men and earned a reputation as one of the best coaches of big men in the country. He coached 12 NBA draft picks, including eight first-round selections. Kansas bigs among those NBA draft picks during his tenure included Darrell Arthur, Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun, Cole Aldrich, twins Marcus Morris and Markieff Morris, Thomas Robinson and Jeff Withey. Manning recruited two McDonald's High School All-Americans, including the 2010 NBA first-round draft pick and Oklahoman Xavier Henry. He also coached two Academic All-Americans – Cole Aldrich and Tyrel Reed. Aldrich was selected as the 2010 Academic All-America of the Year for men's basketball. He spent a total of nine years on the staff at Kansas and was part of one NCAA national title, two Final Fours, five NCAA Elite Eight appearances, eight Big 12 regular-season conference titles, five Big 12 tournament championships, and 269 career victories.


title: Danny Manning

text: On April 4, 2012, Manning was officially announced as Tulsa's head coach. In his first year, the Golden Hurricane posted a 17–16 overall record and an 8–8 mark in Conference USA play, finishing fifth in the league's regular season. With the fifth-least-experienced team in the nation in 2012–13 and battling injuries all season, TU advanced to the semifinals of the Conference USA Championship and played in the CBI postseason tournament. Two Hurricane players, James Woodard and D'Andre Wright, were selected to the C-USA All-Freshman Team. Tulsa improved their record to 21–13 in Manning's 2nd year, while going 13 – 3 in Conference play. Tulsa subsequently emerged as the C-USA regular-season leader and won the Conference tournament to advance onto an NCAA tournament berth for the first time since 2003. The Golden Hurricane lost in the second round to the UCLA Bruins 76–59. Manning was named the 2014 Conference USA Coach of the Year. He was also a finalist for two national Coach of the Year awards including the Jim Phelan Award and the Ben Jobe Award. Seven players moved on to play professional basketball once their careers concluded at Tulsa.


title: Danny Manning

text: On April 4, 2014, Manning agreed to become the head coach at Wake Forest University. He guided 14 players who went on to play professionally, including NBA players John Collins and Jaylen Hoard. Manning's work in player development was evident with Collins being the named the 2017 ACC Most Improved Player while Doral Moore in 2018 and Olivier Sarr in 2020 were runner-ups in the voting for the award. In the third season at WF, the team went 19-14 and reached the NCAA First Four, its first postseason appearance in seven seasons. Wake Forest ranked in the top 10 nationally in offensive efficiency, averaged 82.8 points per game, and set school records with 268 3-pointers and 77.8 percent from the free-throw line. The Deacs were led by All-American John Collins, who was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the No. 19 overall selection of the NBA draft. Following the season, Manning received the Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award. His first season at the helm in 2014-15, a young Demon Deacon squad that had three freshmen among its top five scorers developed throughout the season despite a 13-19 record. Five of their wins came against teams that competed in the postseason, including a victory over eventual NCAA Sweet 16 squad NC State, while three of their losses were by single digits to teams ranked in the top-five nationally. The Demon Deacons went 11-20 during Manning's second season, highlighted by a third-place finish at the Maui Invitational. In 2017-18, the Deacs posted a pair of wins over Sweet 16 teams, downing Syracuse and Florida State and last year posted a win over a nationally-ranked NC State squad.  In 2019-20, the Demon Deacons posted wins over nationally-ranked Xavier and Duke. 16 players made the dean's list and 29 players made 3.0 at some point during their career at WF. After going 78–111 in six seasons—only 1 winning record and never finishing better than 10th in the ACC—Manning was dismissed on April 25, 2020 from Wake Forest.


title: Danny Manning

text: In 2014, Manning served as a court coach at the 2014 USA Men's U18 National Team training camp with coaches Billy Donovan (Oklahoma City Thunder), Ed Cooley (Providence College) and Sean Miller (University of Arizona). The 2014 team won the Gold Medal. In 2017, he served with coaches John Calipari (Kentucky) and Tad Boyle (Colorado). The 2017 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup was held in Cairo, Egypt, winning a Bronze Medal. In 2018, he served with Kansas head coach Bill Self, Dayton head coach Anthony Grant, won the U18 team, Gold Medal, competing in the 2018 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in St. Catherines, Ontario.


title: Danny Manning

text: In 2021, Manning joined the coaching staff of his former Kansas teammate Mark Turgeon at Maryland. After Turgeon stepped down as head coach on December 2, 2021, Manning was named Interim Head Coach. Maryland finished the season 15-17 with seven quad 1 & 2 wins, four top 25 wins after playing 18 games vs teams in the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Maryland finished first in the Big Ten in both free throws made (456) and free throw percentage (.760), while ranking third in free throws attempted (600). The Terrapins were 13-1 when leading with 5:00 minutes to play, with its lone loss of the season coming at No. 3 Purdue. They were also 10-4 when out-rebounding their opponent on the season.


title: Danny Manning

text: Manning was hired as Associate Head Basketball Coach at the University of Louisville on April 15, 2022.


title: Danny Manning

text: Manning has been involved with and served with the Special Olympics, NBA Retired Players Association, Advocates for Athletic Equity (AAE) (formerly Black Coaches Association), National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Boys & Girls Club, Kansas Governors Council on Fitness, Lawrence Community Shelter, NBA Read to Achieve Program, Sunflower State Games/Grand Canyon State Games, Grand Canyon State Games as well as numerous youth camps across the country.


title: Danny Manning

text: Manning is the son of former NBA player, Ed Manning. Manning's own son, Evan, was a walk-on for the men's basketball team at Kansas where he played for four seasons and is a graduate assistant at Gonzaga, while his daughter, Taylor, was a member of the Kansas volleyball team. Manning was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame on November 23, 2008. In addition to his College Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement, in June 2008 Manning was named to the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame for his early high school career at Page High School in North Carolina. He is also a member of the Lawrence High School Hall of Fame.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. A total of 4352 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events, making it the largest Commonwealth Games to date. It was also the largest international multi-sport event to be staged in Delhi and India, eclipsing the Asian Games in 1951 and 1982. The opening and closing ceremonies were held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium of the event.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: It was the first time that the Commonwealth Games were held in India and the second time they were held in Asia after Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998. It was also the first time a Commonwealth republic hosted the games, second in a country not presently headed by British monarch since Malaysia in 1998. The official mascot of the Games was "Shera" and the official song of the Games, "Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto", was composed by Academy and Grammy awardee Indian recording artist A.R. Rahman.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: Preparation for the Games received widespread international media attention, with criticism being levelled against the organisers for the slow pace of work, as well as issues related to security and hygiene. In spite of threats of boycotts and athlete withdrawals however, all member nations of the Commonwealth of Nations participated in the event, with the exceptions of Fiji, which is suspended from the Commonwealth, and Tokelau, which didn't send a team.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The internationally acclaimed opening ceremony improved the image of the Games, and dispelled negative notions surrounding them, with many observers remarking that they began on an apprehensive note, but were an exceptional experience with a largely positive ending. The President of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, said that India had made a good foundation for a future Olympics bid, which was reiterated by the Australian Minister of Sports. Commonwealth games Federation chief Mike Fennell stated that "Delhi delivered a fantastic Games". Some observers accused sections of the media of bias, unfair expectations, and negative reporting.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The final medal tally was led by Australia with 74 golds and 177 most medals overall. The host nation India achieved its best performance ever at the Commonwealth Games, finishing second overall by winning 38 golds and 101 total medals.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: Delhi was selected as the host city of the 2010 Commonwealth Games on 14 November 2003 during the CGF General Assembly in Montego Bay, Jamaica, defeating bid from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. India's bid motto was "New Frontiers and Friendships".


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: India shifted the balance in its favour in the second round of voting with a promise that it would provide US$100,000 to each participating country, along with air tickets, boarding, lodging and transport. The successful 2003 Afro-Asian Games held in Hyderabad was also seen as having shown that India has the resources, infrastructure and technical know-how to stage a big sporting event. Meanwhile, Hamilton struggled with the notion a country would not be awarded two major multi sports events in the same year, after Vancouver was awarded the 2010 Winter Olympics earlier in the year.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: Delhi bid for the 1990 and 1994 Commonwealth Games but lost to Auckland and Victoria respectively. The Hamilton bid was Canada's attempt to hold the games for the fifth time.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The organisation of 2010 Commonwealth Games was beset by delays: in January 2010, the Indian Olympic Association vice-chairman Raja Randhir Singh expressed concern that Delhi was not up to speed in forming and organising its games committee and, following a 2009 Indian Government report showing two-thirds of venues were behind schedule, Commonwealth Games Federation president Mike Fennell stated that the slow progress of preparations represented a serious risk to the event. Singh also called for a revamp of the games' organising committees: Jarnail Singh, a former Secretary of the Government of India, was appointed as the chief executive officer and Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi was appointed as head of the committee. In spite of delays and the corruption cases levied on the organisers, commentators stated that they were confident that India will successfully host the games and do so on time.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: At the launch of the Queen's Baton Relay in October 2009, the Business Club of India (BCI) was formed through the partnership of the organising committee, the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The BCI was formed to both market the Games and promote Indian business interests internationally.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: Events took place at 12 competition venues. A total of 20 training venues were used in the Games. Of these 20, one was used for archery; three for aquatics; two for lawn bowls; two for netball; eight for rugby sevens, including seven venues within Delhi University; two for shooting; one for squash; two for table tennis; one for weightlifting, three for wrestling and two for tennis.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: A total of five venues were newly constructed for the games; the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, the Siri Fort Sports Complex, the Thyagaraj Sports Complex, the Yamuna Sports Complex as well as a rugby sevens facility in Delhi University Stadium. This does not include the two venues—the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium—that received major renovations or an uplift. All other venues had existed prior to the games. The largest venue was the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, with a capacity of 60,000, was the main venue of the Games, hosting both the opening and the closing ceremonies. On the other hand, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Shooting Range located in Kadarpur had the smallest seating capacity, at 345.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: There were three main non-competition venues in the Games, besides the Commonwealth Games Village; namely the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee Headquarters, the Main Media Centre, and the Games Family Hotel, Hotel Ashok.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The Commonwealth Games Village provided accommodation and training for athletes of the Games, and was opened from 23 September to 18 October 2010. It is located along the east bank of the River Yamuna, in proximity to competition and training venues as well as city landmarks, and is spread over an area of . Comprising five main zones—the Residential Zone, the International Zone, the Training Area, the Main Dining and the Operational Zone—the Games Village, which was a non-smoking zone, was universally accessible particularly to accommodate para-sport athletes. Free accommodation for all athletes at the Games Village, as well as free transport and other benefits, such as a free trip to the famed Taj Mahal and a reserved lane for participants on selected highways were provided. The Games Village accommodated over 8,000 athletes and officials for the Games.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The initial total budget estimated by the Indian Olympic Association in 2003 for hosting the Games was . In 2010, however, the official total budget soon escalated to an estimated , a figure which excluded non-sports-related infrastructure development. Business Today magazine estimated that the Games cost . The 2010 Commonwealth Games were reportedly the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever. Prior to the Games, it was also the second most expensive international multi-sport event ever held in Asia, after the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: A four-lane flyway, stretch from Lodhi Road to trans-Yamuna, linking the Games Village to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium was constructed which reduced the travelling time between the village and the Stadium to six minutes.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: In response to concerns over the large number of trains that pass by the Delhi metropolitan region daily, construction of road under-bridges and over-bridges along railway lines have been completed. To expand road infrastructure, flyovers, cloverleaf flyovers, and bridges were built to improve links for the Games and city in general. Road-widening projects were finished with an emphasis being placed on expanding national highways. To improve traffic flow on existing roads, plans were made to make both the inner and outer Ring roads signal free.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: To support its commitment to mass transport, nine corridors have been identified and were constructed as High Capacity Bus Systems (for example, one from Ambedkar Nagar to Red Fort). Six of these corridors were expected to be operational in 2010. Additionally, The Delhi Metro was expanded to accommodate more people and boost the use of public transport during the 2010 games. The metro has extended to Gurgaon and the Noida area. For this large increase in the size of the network, Delhi Metro had deployed 14 tunnel boring machines. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) was used to tag vehicles in venue parking lots to help organise mass parking and increase security.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: Indira Gandhi International Airport was modernised, expanded, and upgraded. Costing nearly $1.95 billion, Terminal 3 has increased airport passenger capacity to more than 37 million passengers a year by 2010. A new runway has been constructed, allowing for more than 75 flights an hour. At more than 4400 metres long, it is one of Asia's longest. The airport has been connected to the city via a six-lane expressway (Delhi–Gurgaon Expressway) and the $580 million Delhi Airport Metro Express line.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The organisers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Environment Programme to show the intention to host a "sustainable games" and to take the environment into consideration when constructing and renovating venues. Thyagaraj Stadium is intended to be a key example of environmentally considered construction.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: In opposition to this intention, a number of environmental controversies arose and the adverse ecological impact of various aspects of the games have been protested by city residents. City residents filed a public interest petition to the Supreme Court of India against the felling of 'heritage' trees in the Siri Fort area to make way for Games facilities. The court appointed architect Charles Correa to assess the impact and he severely criticised the designs on ecological grounds. In spite of this, in April 2009 the Supreme Court allowed the construction on the grounds that "much time had been lost" and "the damage already caused to the environment could not be undone".


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The Commonwealth Games village, located on the flood plains of the Yamuna, has also been the subject of controversies about the flouting of ecological norms. After a prolonged legal battle between city residents and the state, construction was permitted to continue on the basis of an order of the Supreme Court of India in July 2009, which held that the government had satisfied the requirements of "due process of the law" by issuing public notice of its intention to begin construction work in September 1999 (a date four years prior to the acceptance of Delhi's bid for the games).


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The Queen's Baton Relay began when the baton, which contains Elizabeth II's message to the athletes, left Buckingham Palace on 29 October 2009. The baton arrived at the 2010 Games opening ceremony on 3 October 2010, after visiting the other 54 nations of the Commonwealth and travelling throughout India, reaching millions of people to join in the celebrations for the Games. The baton arrived in India on 25 June 2010 through the Wagah Border crossing from Pakistan.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The baton was designed by Michael Foley of Foley Designs and a graduate of the National Institute of Design. It is a triangular section of aluminium twisted into a helix shape and then coated with coloured soils collected from all the regions of India. The coloured soils are a first for the styling of a Queen's Baton. A jewel-encrusted box was used to house the Queen's message, which was laser-engraved onto a miniature 18 carat gold leaf—representative of the ancient Indian 'patras. The Queen's baton is ergonomically contoured for ease of use. It is high, wide at the base, and wide at the top and weighs .


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: In preparation for an influx of English-speaking tourists for the Games, the Delhi government implemented a program to teach English, and the necessary skills for serving tourists, to key workers—such as cab drivers, security workers, waiters, porters, and service staff. In the two years prior to the Games 2000 drivers were taught English. In addition to Delhi, the Indian Government plans to expand the program to teach people in local tourist destinations in other parts of India.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: To facilitate hassle-free sightseeing in Delhi, Delhi Tourism undertook the launch of India's very first Hop on Hop Off bus known as HOHO DELHI, modelled on popular concept of transport facilities in Western countries. The bus, which is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies like digital video screens and GPS systems, also had trained guides who were responsible for giving information about the sites.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: To prepare for the energy-usage spike during the games and to end chronic power cuts in Delhi, the government undertook a large power-production initiative to increase power production to 7000 MW (from the previous 4500 MW). To achieve this the government streamlined the power distribution process, directed additional energy to Delhi, and constructed new power plants.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: Indian states trained state police forces to handle tourist-related issues and deploy them prior to the Games. A large-scale


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: construction and "beautification" project has resulted in the demolition of hundreds of homes and the displacement of city dwellers—at least 100,000 of New Delhi's 160,000 homeless people have removed from shelters, some of which have been demolished. Bamboo screens have been erected around city slums to separate visitors from the sights of the slums, a practice which human rights campaigners have deemed dishonest and immoral.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The Delhi High Court implemented a series of "mobile courts" to be dispatched throughout Delhi to relocate migrant beggars from Delhi streets. The mobile courts would consider each beggar on a case-by-case basis to determine whether the beggar should be sent back to his/her state of residence, or be permitted to remain in government-shelters.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The opening ceremony was held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the main stadium of the event, in New Delhi, India. It began at 19:00  (IST) on 3 October. The opening ceremony was directed by Ganapathy Bharat, known commonly as Bharat Bala, an acclaimed Tamil film director, screenwriter and film producer based in Kodambakkam, Chennai. The ceremony featured over 8,000 performers, and lasted for two-and-a-half hours. It is estimated that 3.50 billion (US$77 million) were spent to produce the ceremony.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The ceremony was divided into six separate segments, each showcasing the rich, ancient and diverse cultures of India, including art, traditions, dances, music and colours. It began with a showcase of a variety of drummers from all parts of India, accompanied by seven-year-old tabla player Keshav. The countdown took place on a screen in the stadium, and was accompanied by fireworks. The centerpiece of the ceremony was the helium aerostat, which acted as a giant 360° screen for spectators. The ceremony showcased a fusion of various classical dances from all parts of India, mehendi decorations, sand paintings and yoga. The title song was performed by A R Rahman. Singer Hariharan sang the welcome song for the Games, titled "Swagatam", with thousands of school children.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The Prince of Wales (representing Elizabeth II as Head of the Commonwealth) and President of India Pratibha Patil officially declared the Games open. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the host nation, India, attended the opening ceremony as well. A total of three heads of state from outside India attended the opening ceremony; two from Commonwealth nations and one from a non-Commonwealth nation. The three head of states were Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives, Marcus Stephen, President of Nauru and a multiple Commonwealth gold medallist, and Albert II, Prince of Monaco, representing the International Olympic Committee. As well, Sir Anand Satyanand, the Governor General of New Zealand, attended the ceremony.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The closing ceremony featuring both Indian and Scottish performers. The closing ceremony was not as well received as the opening ceremony. The Commonwealth Games flag was handed over to representatives of Glasgow, Scotland, which hosted the XX Commonwealth Games in 2014. At the closing ceremony, the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation declared that Delhi had hosted a "truly exceptional Games". A day after the ceremony, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond stated that


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: There were 71 participating nations at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. As Fiji was suspended from the Commonwealth, it was banned from participating in the Games. Rwanda fielded a team for the games for the first time after becoming a Commonwealth member in 2009. The numbers of athletes from each country is shown in brackets.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: Triathlon was excluded from the games as there was no suitable location for the swimming stage. The organisers have also removed basketball, but included archery, tennis and wrestling. Cricket, although in strong demand, did not make a comeback as the Board of Control for Cricket in India were not keen on a Twenty20 tournament, and the organisers did not want a one day tournament.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The official song of the 2010 Commonwealth Games "Jiyo Utho Bado Jeeto" was composed and performed by the Indian musician A. R. Rahman. The song's title is based on the slogan of the games, "Come out and play". The song was written by Mehboob in Hindi with a sprinkling of English words. It was released on 28 August 2010. The music video, directed by Bharath Bala was released on 23 September and featured a shorter version of the song. A. R. Rahman also gave a live concert for the theme song in Gurgaon, Haryana, which was previewed on various news channels. The official video of the song has been released on YouTube. However this song was not much appreciated by the people as it was being compared with 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa's official song Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) of Shakira.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: Several concerns were raised over the preparations of the Games and these included excessive budget overruns, likelihood of floods in Delhi due to heavy monsoon rains, infrastructural compromise, poor living conditions at the Commonwealth Games Village, delays in construction of the main Games' venues, the withdrawal of prominent athletes, widespread corruption by officials of the Games' Organising Committee and possibility of a terrorist attack by militants.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The negative pre-event publicity and heavy security presence played in part in low spectator attendance during the initial events. However the numbers picked up as the Games progressed.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: The day after the conclusion of the Games, the Indian Government announced the formation of a special committee to probe the allegations of corruption and mismanagement against the Organising Committee. The probe committee will be led by former Comptroller and Auditor General of India VK Shunglu. This probe will be in addition to the Central Bureau of Investigation, Enforcement Directorate, and Central Vigilance Commission investigations already underway. The Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh had promised in mid-August, when reports of the bungling first surfaced, that corrupt officials will be given "severe and exemplary" punishment after the Games. The probe committee is tasked with looking into "all aspects of organising and conducting" the Games, and "to draw lessons from it." It was given three months to submit its report, but the report was never publicly released. The Indian Sports Ministry has directed the Organising Committee of the 2010 Commonwealth Games (led by Suresh Kalmadi), to not release any staffer from their positions until the probe committee's work is finished.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: One of the aims of hosting the Commonwealth Games was to build world-class athletics infrastructure within the country, expose audiences to top-level non-cricket competition and encourage the youth to "Come out and play" (the official theme of the games). Building a sporting culture that looks beyond cricket is seen as an important task for a country which won its first ever individual Olympic gold medal in Beijing 2008, despite having the world's second-largest population.


title: 2010 Commonwealth Games

text: Sebastian Coe, former Olympic gold medalist and chairman of the 2012 Summer Olympics Organising Committee, was at the stadium during the 4 × 400 m women's relay and described the audience's cheers for the racers as "potentially the moment that could change the course of athletics in Asia, the moment that could inspire thousands of people who'd never even seen an athletics track before to get involved... To build a truly global capacity in sport, you have to take it round the world – out of your own backyard. That means taking risks and facing challenges, but it has to be done."


title: Blackout (Scorpions album)

text: Blackout is the eighth studio album by German rock band Scorpions. It was released in 1982 on Harvest Records and Mercury Records.


title: Blackout (Scorpions album)

text: After losing his voice during the writing of the album lead singer Klaus Meine had to undergo surgery on his vocal cords and was uncertain as to whether or not he would be able to record. Demos of the material were recorded with singer Don Dokken. However none of those recordings are featured on the album and Dokken is only credited with backing vocals.


title: Blackout (Scorpions album)

text: In "Kerrang!" issue 12 Rudolf Schenker said that he could not choose between his guitar solos on "China White" so the US and European releases differed in this detail.


title: Blackout (Scorpions album)

text: A self-portrait of artist Gottfried Helnwein is featured on the cover of the album. Rudolf Schenker portrays this character in the "No One Like You" music video.


title: Blackout (Scorpions album)

text: "China White" was used as entrance music for the professional wrestling tag team The Skyscrapers in World Championship Wrestling.


title: Blackout (Scorpions album)

text: "Rolling Stone" ranked "Blackout" as 73rd on their list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" in 2017.


title: German passport

text: German passport (, ) are issued to nationals(for example, G01E) of Germany for the purpose of international travel. A German passport is, besides the German ID card and the German Emergency Travel Document (called ""), the only other officially recognised document that German authorities will routinely accept as proof of identity from German citizens. Besides serving as proof of identity and presumption of German nationality, they facilitate the process of securing assistance from German consular officials abroad (or other EU members in the case that a German consular facility is absent). German passports are valid for ten years (for people over the age of 24) or six years (for people under the age of 24) and share the standardised layout and burgundy red design with other EU passports. Every German citizen is also a citizen of the European Union. The passport, along with the national identity card, allows for free rights of movement and residence in any of the states of the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland.


title: German passport

text: The first passport regulations of what nowadays constitute Germany were first enacted by the North German Confederation on 12 October 1867.


title: German passport

text: During the First World War and in the interwar period thereafter, supplementary ordinances were issued on the obligation for German citizens to possess a passport. This determined that a visa was required for entry and exit. Passports issued until the end of 1922 were only valid for one year; they could not be renewed after the introduction of the new model after 1923. The "Bekanntmachung zur Ausführung der Paßverordnung" as enacted on 4 June 1924 stipulated that only the new type in the form of a 15½ x 10½ cm booklet could be used. Entry and exit visas were also abolished. Such passports, which could only be issued to citizens of the Reich, were now valid for two years. The fee was set at 5 RM in 1924. They could be extended for a total period of five years, by one year each. Service passports also followed this pattern. However, their covers were green instead of the otherwise used grey covers. Diplomatic and ministerial passports continued to be issued in sheet form until further notice. Identity cards, which could also be issued to foreigners who could not obtain a passport in their native countries, were regarded as a full-fledged passport replacement. Such documents were valid for one year and could be extended for another year. The fee was set at 10 RM in 1924. These identity cards were also considered to be precursors of the Nansen passport.


title: German passport

text: Between 1933 and 1936, the enactment of foreign exchange restrictions (10 marks of silver as cash) and the thousand-mark ban by the Nazi government effectively constituted exit permits.


title: German passport

text: From 1949 until 1950, the issuance of West German passports mainly fell under the authority of the Allied High Commission which governed West Germany at that time. On 1 January 1950, the German Office for Entry and Exit Affairs became the main authority for issuing West German passports, although it was still under the control of the Allied High Commission. Only on 1 February 1951 did West Germany gain full rights to issue its own passports independent of the Allied occupying forces. West German passports at that time contained a "Job Description" field of the passport holder; this was initially necessary as the Allied occupying forces reserved the right to approve West German citizens obtaining travel visas until 1955. The "Job Description" field was eliminated after a passport regulation change on 12 June 1967.


title: German passport

text: In 1980, the biggest passport scandal in the history of Germany was uncovered when 19 North American ice hockey players were found to have been issued fake German passports in order to play in the "Eishockey-Bundesliga".


title: German passport

text: After the reunification of Germany in 1990, residents of the former East Germany were allowed to use valid East German passports for overseas travel until 31 December 1995, after which any such passports with remaining validity were automatically deemed invalid and these people had to apply for and obtain a German passport to travel overseas.


title: German passport

text: Processing time for a German passport is usually four to six weeks, but one can be issued in three days by using the Express service if processed before 11 am


title: German passport

text: German passports have, since 1 January 1988, followed the standard European Union passport design, with burgundy red cover and the German Eagle emblazoned in the centre of the front cover. On 23 February 2017, Germany unveiled a new passport design to be put in use from 1 March 2017. The words "Europäische Union" (German for European Union) and "Bundesrepublik Deutschland" (German for Federal Republic of Germany) are inscribed above the coat of arms. The words ""Reisepass"" (German for "travel passport") and ""Passport"" and ""Passeport"" (English and French respectively, printed in a smaller font) appear below.


title: German passport

text: German passports are normally 32 pages long; a 48-page version for frequent travellers can be issued on request.


title: German passport

text: The first two pages of a German passport are security laminated and the second page includes the following data:


title: German passport

text: The page ends with a 2-line machine readable zone, according to ICAO standard 9303. The country code is not DEU as is the standard country code for Germany (according to ISO 3166-1 alpha-3), but D. This is the only country/citizen code which does not consist of 3 letters.


title: German passport

text: In November 2001, the so-called "Identigram" feature was added – a number of holographic security elements, including a three-dimensional eagle, a holographic copy of the holder's picture (the so-called "Holographic Shadow Picture"), a holographic copy of the machine-readable zone, holographic microprinting, and kinematic elements.


title: German passport

text: The data page/information page is printed in German, English, and French. On the second cover (information page) and Page 2, 4, 5, and 32 or 48 there are all 24 official Languages from the European Union which describe the information in other EU languages, for example the Romanian word for authority is Autoritatea emitentă. (German passport page 4/5 number 9).


title: German passport

text: Since 1 November 2005, German passports have had a contactless smartcard (proximity card) chip and 13.56 MHz loop antenna embedded into the front cover page, in accordance with ICAO standards. The chip and antenna are not easily visually recognisable, but their presence is indicated using the ICAO biometric passport symbol at the bottom of the front cover. It carries all the data printed in the passport, including a JPEG file of the photo, protected by a digital signature. Germany therefore became only the fifth country in the world (after Malaysia, Thailand, Sweden, and Australia) to introduce biometric passports.


title: German passport

text: German names: German names containing umlauts (ä, ö, ü) and/or ß are spelled in the correct way in the non-machine-readable zone of the passport, but with AE, OE, UE, and/or SS in the machine-readable zone, e.g. Müller becomes MUELLER, Groß becomes GROSS, and Gößmann becomes GOESSMANN.


title: German passport

text: The transcription mentioned above is generally used for aircraft tickets etc., but sometimes (like in US visas) also simple vowels are used (MULLER, GOSSMANN), so passport, visa, and aircraft ticket may display different spellings of the same name.


title: German passport

text: The three possible spelling variants of the same name (e.g. Müller / Mueller / Muller) in different documents sometimes lead to confusion, and the use of two different spellings within the same document may give persons unfamiliar with German orthography the impression that the document is a forgery.


title: German passport

text: Non-German names: In some names of naturalised citizens, some special letters that are not available may always be replaced by simple letters, also in the non-machine-readable zone. The ""Bundesdruckerei AG,"" which prints the German passports, uses the font "LA8 Passport," which includes a Latin subset of the Unicode characters (ISO 10646), so that letters such as ç and ł can be displayed at least in the non-machine-readable passport zone. In the machine-readable zone, special characters are either replaced by simple characters ( e.g., é becomes E) or transcribed according to the ICAO rules (e.g., å becomes AA, ø becomes OE, etc.).


title: German passport

text: Names originally written in a non-Latin writing system may pose another problem if there are various internationally recognised transcription standards.


title: German passport

text: German naming law accepts umlauts and/or ß in family names as a reason for an official name change (even just the change of the spelling, e.g. from Müller to Mueller or from Weiß to Weiss is regarded as a name change).


title: German passport

text: German passports are issued, just like German ID cards, by local municipal registration offices. Applicants have to apply for a new passport in person and the data in newly issued passports is essentially an authenticated copy of the personal data found in locally stored registration documents. Passports are then manufactured centrally at the Bundesdruckerei in Berlin.


title: German passport

text: If the necessity can be proven, more than one passport can be issued with overlapping validity (e.g. when travelling to Arab countries with an Israeli stamp in the passport, or when needed for professional reasons). In theory, a person can concurrently hold up to ten passports. The additional passports have six instead of ten years validity.


title: German passport

text: A German passport (32 pages, delivered within a month, issued to a person 24 years and older) costs €60. A passport for a person under the age of 24 which has a validity of six years costs €37.50. A 48 pages passport costs a premium of €22, express delivery a premium of €32.


title: German passport

text: A type of passport issued by Germany since 2006 is a child passport (in German: Kinderreisepass). Unlike a regular German passport, the Kinderreisepass does not include biometric features and lacks the inscription "European Union" at the top of the front cover. The exclusion of biometric information is due to the ongoing development of infants and young children and the low security risk they pose; nevertheless, the photo used in the passport does have to comply with biometric standards. All other features are similar to those of a regular passport: the burgundy red colour and the German coat of arms printed at the centre of the front cover. Children's passports are issued for children up to twelve years of age and are valid for a period of six years. When a child reaches the age of twelve, a regular passport must be obtained for international travel.


title: German passport

text: A child passport has sixteen pages (unlike the regular's 32), of which eleven are designated for stamping and the others are used for a title page, instructions and personal information. The first page features the words “Child's Passport” in three languages: German, English, and French.


title: German passport

text: Unlike a regular passport, the information pages in a Kinderreisepass are not security laminated (yet do have other security features) and have a different format. The information included is more or less the same, with the following differences: The type of passport is PC (Passport for children) instead of P (Passport). As in other passports, the main information page ends with a 2-line machine-readable code, according to ICAO standard 9303.


title: German passport

text: A child passport serves just like any other passport, with the exception that it is not biometric (or e-Passport). As a result, travelling to the US, for example, requires a tourist visa in spite of Germany's participation in the United States Visa Waiver Program. Alternatively, infants and children of any age are allowed to obtain a regular German passport (biometric) instead of a child's passport, which nevertheless has the advantages of low cost, short processing times, and being issuable by honorary consuls (making them easier to obtain by German emigrants who live far away from a German embassy or consulate). Just like provisional passports, children's passports are issued without being sent to the Bundesdruckerei GmbH in Berlin, which is the main reason behind these advantages.


title: German passport

text: Germany allows its citizens "in exceptional cases" to hold more than one valid German passport to circumvent certain travel restrictions. (For example, some Arab countries refuse entry if the passport contains an Israeli stamp; journalists may need several passports when travelling abroad when passports have been sent to consular officials for visas that take a long time to issue.) In extreme cases, up to 10 German passports can be held at the same time. However, these additional passports are valid for only 6 years even if the "original" passport is valid for 10 years.


title: German passport

text: The right to hold both a German passport and a foreign passport at the same time (dual citizenship) is restricted under the current German nationality law. Germany allows dual citizenship with other EU countries and Switzerland; dual citizenship with other countries is possible with special permission or if obtained at birth (for example, one German parent and one foreign parent, or if a child is born to German parents in a jus soli country such as the United States of America). Under Article 116 par. 2 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz), former German citizens who between January 30, 1933, and May 8, 1945, were deprived of their German citizenship on political, racial, or religious grounds may re-invoke their citizenship and the same applies to their descendants, and are permitted to hold dual (or multiple) citizenship.


title: German passport

text: Children born on or after 1 January 2000 to non-German parents acquire German citizenship at birth if at least one parent has a permanent residence permit (and had this status for at least three years) and the parent was residing in Germany for at least eight years. The children must have lived in Germany for at least eight years or attended school for six years until their 21st birthday. Non-EU- and non-Swiss-citizen parents born and grown up abroad usually cannot have dual citizenship themselves (but exceptions are made for citizens of countries that do not allow the renunciation of citizenship or have too expensive / difficult / humiliating renunciation procedures and for citizens whose citizenship was restored under Article 116 (2)).


title: German passport

text: Naturalized Germans can lose their German citizenship if it is found out that they got it by willful deceit / bribery / menacing / giving intentionally false or incomplete information that had been important for the naturalization process if they still own a citizenship of a different country. In June 2019, it was decided to prolong the deadline from 5 to 10 years after naturalization.


title: German passport

text: A law adopted in June 2019 allows for the revocation of the German citizenship of dual citizens who have joined or supported a terror group such as the Islamic State and are at least 18 years old.


title: German passport

text: Visa requirements for German citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Germany. As of 19 September 2022, German citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 190 countries and territories, ranking the German passport third in the world and first in Europe and the EU in terms of travel freedom (tied with the Spanish passport) according to the Henley Passport Index.


title: German passport

text: German citizens can live and work in any country within the EU as a result of the right of free movement and residence granted in Article 21 of the EU Treaty.


title: Strom Thurmond filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957

text: On August 28, 1957, Strom Thurmond, a Democratic United States senator from South Carolina, began a filibuster intended to prevent the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957. The filibuster, an extended speech designed to stall legislation, began at 8:54p.m. and lasted until 9:12p.m. the following day, a duration of 24 hours and 18 minutes. This made the filibuster the longest single-person filibuster in United States Senate history, a record that still stands . The filibuster focused primarily on asserting that the bill in question, which provided for expanded federal protection of African American voting rights, was both unnecessary and unconstitutional, and Thurmond recited from documents including the election laws of each U.S. state, Supreme Court decisions, and George Washington's Farewell Address. Thurmond focused on a particular provision in the bill that dealt with certain court cases, but opposed the entirety of the bill.


text: Thurmond, an ardent segregationist, had served in the Senate for only three years before the speech, but was politically well-known even before his election to the body. Although the filibuster was supported by many South Carolinians and citizens of other Southern states, Thurmond's decision to filibuster the bill went against a previous agreement among Southern senators. As a result, Thurmond received mixed praise and criticism for his speech. In more recent years, Thurmond's filibuster has been described as racist because of its goal of preventing access to voting for black Americans. Nevertheless, the bill passed two hours after the filibuster and was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower within two weeks.


text: The Fifteenth Amendment had guaranteed citizens of all races the right to vote in 1870, but state laws, poll taxes, and other institutions still prevented many African Americans from voting. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was designed to federally secure and protect the right of African Americans to vote, and was supported by the NAACP alongside the Dwight D. Eisenhower administration. The Act aimed to protect this right by establishing a Civil Rights Division within the Department of Justice and a U.S. Civil Rights Commission. In the Senate, many Democrats from Southern states were angered by the bill. The original bill had passed in the House of Representatives in June, but when the bill was sent to the Senate it was significantly watered down by a compromise to satisfy the Democrats. The Senate compromise removed a provision that would have allowed the Attorney General to file suit for discrimination in public places and added an amendment that guaranteed a trial by jury for anyone charged with restricting an individual's right to vote. This modified version of the bill passed the House on August 27 by a vote of 279–97.


text: Strom Thurmond, a United States senator from South Carolina, remarked that the civil rights bill constituted a "cruel and unusual punishment", and stated that he hoped to "educate the country" by means of an extended speech against the legislation. Senate rules allow for virtually unlimited debate on a bill, and a filibuster is a means of using these rules to prevent a bill's passage by speaking for as long as possible. At the time of Thurmond's filibuster, leaving the chamber or sitting down while speaking would end a senator's speech. A filibuster can also be ended by a cloture vote, which requires a certain percentage of senators to agree that a speech should be ended. At the time of Thurmond's speech, the threshold for cloture was a two-thirds majority. Thurmond holds the record for the longest filibuster, but longer filibusters have been carried out by groups of senators.


text: Thurmond's filibuster was primarily focused on a specific provision in the civil rights bill that focused on minor voting rights contempt cases. The provision allowed these cases to be tried by a judge without a jury present, but allowed a second trial by jury if penalties in the first trial exceeded 45 days' imprisonment or $300 in fines. This arrangement had been decided through a compromise between Republicans and Democrats, though according to historian Joseph Crespino it had very little practical impact since many judges would not hear a case without a jury if doing so made a second trial more likely. Thurmond and other Southern senators saw the provision as a violation of the defendant's right to a trial by jury, which is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.


text: Thurmond had been significantly involved in politics before his senatorship: he had served as Governor of South Carolina, helped to found the States' Rights Democratic Party after a walkout over civil rights at the 1948 Democratic National Convention, and ran against Harry S. Truman and Thomas E. Dewey as the new party's candidate in the 1948 presidential election. Thurmond garnered more than one million votes and won four states in this third-party presidential bid as a Dixiecrat. Six years later, Thurmond ran as a Democrat and was elected to the Senate as the junior senator from South Carolina in a write-in campaign. Thurmond's political candidacies were largely based on his opposition to racial integration.


text: An agreement among the Southern senators to not stage an organized filibuster had been reached in Senator Richard Russell's office on August 24, four days before Thurmond's speech. Thurmond's departure from the senators' agreement was later criticized by party leaders including Russell and Herman Talmadge.


text: The filibuster began at 8:54p.m. on August 28, 1957, with a reading of the election laws of each of the 48 states, and continued with readings from U.S. Supreme Court rulings, "Democracy in America" by Alexis de Tocqueville, and George Washington's Farewell Address. The Senate chamber gallery, filled with hundreds of spectators at the beginning of the filibuster, dwindled to just NAACP lobbyist Clarence Mitchell Jr. and Thurmond's wife Jean at points during the early morning hours. On the morning of the 29th, Thurmond's voice dropped to a mumble and his tone became increasingly monotonous. Republican leader William Knowland from California requested around midday that Thurmond speak up so he could be sure no motions were being made, but Thurmond responded by suggesting that the senator move closer. Knowland remained where he was. At approximately 1p.m., Thurmond yielded to allow for the swearing-in of William Proxmire, who had been elected following the death of Joseph McCarthy, after which he resumed his speech. Thurmond was also allowed breaks throughout the day by other senators, including some in support of the bill, when they questioned him at length.


text: Thurmond concluded his filibuster after 24 hours and 18 minutes at 9:12p.m. on August 29, making it the longest filibuster ever conducted in the Senate . This surpassed the previous record set by Wayne Morse, who spoke against the Submerged Lands Act for 22 hours and 26 minutes in 1953. Teams of Congressional stenographers worked together to record the speech for the "Congressional Record", which ultimately consumed 96 pages in the "Record" and cost over $7,000 in printing costs ($ in dollars).


text: Thurmond's filibuster has been described by historian and biographer Joseph Crespino as "kind of a urological mystery". Thurmond took regular steam baths leading up to the filibuster to draw fluids out of his body, thus dehydrating himself and allowing himself to absorb fluids for a longer period of time during the filibuster. It has also been rumored within the African American community that Thurmond used other methods to avoid leaving for the restroom. "The Chicago Defender" stated that Thurmond had worn "a contraption devised for long motoring trips" that allowed him to relieve himself on the stand, and longtime Capitol Hill staffer Bertie Bowman claimed in his memoir that Thurmond had been fitted with a catheter. Thurmond was allowed to leave for the restroom one time, approximately three hours into the filibuster. Senator Barry Goldwater quietly asked Thurmond how much longer he could hold off using the restroom, to which he replied, "about another hour". Goldwater asked Thurmond to yield the floor to him for a few minutes, and Thurmond was able to use the restroom while Goldwater made an insertion to the "Congressional Record". An aide had prepared a bucket in the Senate cloakroom for Thurmond to relieve himself if the need arose, but Thurmond did not end up using it. Thurmond's health had become an item of concern by the evening of the 29th among his aides and the Senate doctor George W. Calver, who threatened to personally remove him from the floor if senatorial staff could not convince Thurmond to end his speech.


text: During the filibuster, Thurmond sustained himself on diced pieces of pumpernickel bread and small pieces of ground steak. He also brought throat lozenges and malted milk tablets onto the floor with him in his pockets. Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois brought Thurmond a pitcher of orange juice as noon approached on the 29th, but a staffer quickly put it out of his reach after Thurmond had drunk a glass to reduce the likelihood of him needing to leave for a restroom.


text: The filibuster failed to prevent the passage of the bill, and further failed to change the vote whatsoever. The bill passed two hours after Thurmond finished speaking by a vote of 60–15, and was signed into law by President Eisenhower less than two weeks later. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first U.S. civil rights bill passed in 82 years.


text: Thurmond received significant criticism, even from Democrats who signed or were aligned with the goals of the Southern Manifesto, including Talmadge, Russell, and the Southern Caucus as a whole. Talmadge referred to the speech as a form of grandstanding, and Russell denounced it as "personal political aggrandizement". These senators had received several telegrams during Thurmond's speech encouraging them to assist Thurmond in his filibuster by relieving him, and Thurmond's staff received correspondence from hundreds of Southerners congratulating and encouraging him. Southern Democratic senators did not join the filibuster, despite its popularity among their constituents, because (as Russell put it) the South had already secured a compromise in the bill which would be jeopardized by a filibuster and there was not enough support to prevent a cloture vote anyway.


text: In 1964, Thurmond was involved in a second filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Later that year, he switched his affiliation to the Republican Party. The 1964 filibuster was carried out by a group of Southern senators and was only ended by a cloture vote. Thurmond was repeatedly elected and served in the Senate for 48 years, retiring in 2003 at the age of 100 as the oldest U.S. senator ever.


text: Although the filibuster did not use any "overtly racist language" according to "The Washington Post"s Gillian Brockell in 2021, it has been described as racist by the newspaper because the bill Thurmond filibustered against protected the right of African Americans to vote. In his 2012 biography of Thurmond, "Strom Thurmond's America", Crespino noted the impact of Thurmond's filibuster and partial authorship of the Southern Manifesto, a document designed to unify the South against school integration, the previous year. He described these events as "[sealing] Thurmond's reputation as one of the South's last Confederates, a champion of white southerners' campaign of 'massive resistance to civil rights. He further argues that the filibuster was a way for Thurmond to uphold Southern ideas about white strength and endurance, while also burnishing his personal image of masculinity and health.


title: Sob Rock

text: Sob Rock is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter John Mayer, released on July 16, 2021, by Columbia Records. The single "New Light", released in May 2018, is included on the album, as are Mayer's two singles from 2019, "I Guess I Just Feel Like" and "Carry Me Away". The lead single "Last Train Home" was released on June 4, 2021, and features guest vocals from Maren Morris. Mayer toured the United States with Dead & Company from August through October 2021 and embarked on a solo tour in support of the album in 2022.


title: Sob Rock

text: Mayer has stated that this album was mostly born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, with most of the songs on the album resulting from the time after March 2020 when touring was shut down for many artists. Mayer's goal was to work on a 10-track album that paid homage to the songs he heard in his childhood growing up in the 80s. Mayer said that the idea of this album was meant to "confuse the listeners" and "implant false memories." He also stated in an interview with Zane Lowe that the record was meant to be a shitpost, trying to go against everything he had released up to that point.


title: Sob Rock

text: Mayer also decided that three of his previous singles were also going to be on the album when it released. These singles ("New Light", "I Guess I Just Feel Like", and "Carry Me Away") had all been released in the time from mid-2018 to late 2019 and were not originally intended to be on an album.


title: Sob Rock

text: Initially, Mayer claimed that the album was to be released in mid-April 2021. However he later announced the delay of the record to July 16. It was recorded between late 2017 and early 2021. Mayer released "Last Train Home" as a single on June 4, 2021. Before that, clips of the track were released onto Mayer's TikTok account in late March 2021. It was also announced that the album was to be released on physical formats, adding different vinyl and cassette editions.


title: Sob Rock

text: In addition to Mayer himself creating a TikTok account, Columbia Records also pushed a marketing campaign revolving around a 1980s advertising aesthetic. A couple months before the album released or was even formally announced, posters appeared in various locations in cities around the world. They all described the sound of "Sob Rock" but never explicitly confirmed ties with Mayer releasing an album. A site called sobrock.net went up around the same time, with a newsletter sign up and a copyright for "John Mayer Enterprises".


title: Sob Rock

text: On June 1, 2021, Mayer finally confirmed that his new album was indeed called "Sob Rock", and additionally gave the release date and cover. From there, Columbia went public and posted 1980s themed billboards and posters to promote the album and single, "Last Train Home". Those who had previously signed up for the website newsletter received a zine focused around the album in the mail.


title: Sob Rock

text: After "Last Train Home" was released, Mayer released a music video for the single and then performed the song on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on June 7, 2021.


title: Sob Rock

text: When the album was officially released, Mayer went on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" and performed the songs "Shouldn't Matter but It Does" and "Last Train Home". The day after this he confirmed numerous tour dates across America for a Sob Rock Tour in 2022.


title: Sob Rock

text: Mayer further went on to release "Wild Blue" as a single, which received an accompanying music video on August 18, 2021.


title: Sob Rock

text: "Sob Rock" received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 70 based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.


title: Hot Topic

text: Hot Topic, Inc. (stylized as HOT TOPIC) is an American retail chain specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, and most of their audience ranges from teens to young adults. Approximately 40% of Hot Topic's revenue comes from sales of licensed band T-shirts. Hot Topic often negotiates exclusive licensing arrangements with musical artists, movie studios, and graphic artists. The majority of the stores are located in regional shopping malls.


title: Hot Topic

text: The first Hot Topic store was opened in November 1989 in Montclair Plaza, Montclair, California, by Orv Madden, a former executive at The Children's Place, who retired as CEO in 2000 and was replaced by Betsy McLaughlin, who headed the company until 2011. Lisa harper assumed the position of CEO in March 2011 until Steve Vranes was announced as the new CEO in 2016. The company went public and began trading on NASDAQ in 1996.


title: Hot Topic

text: The store has been through a number of phases in its history, reflective of various alternative culture and pop culture (including geek culture) trends (prime examples being Lolita, goth, or cosplay outfits). In the early 2000s, the store was known for heavily marketing nu-metal merchandise relating to bands. During that period, the store was also known for its sales of controversial gel bracelets (often rumored to be "sex bracelets") as well as the equally controversial styles of phat pants-inspired bondage pants popular among teenagers in the late 1990s and early-to-mid 2000s.


title: Hot Topic

text: The store later focused on skinny jeans and merchandise related to scene, emo and hardcore punk music and fashion, with a much larger focus on goths and spiky chokers and clothing. At present, the store's selection is largely focused on licensed video game merchandise and internet memes popular on sites such as tumblr, as well as anime, manga, Japanese films, and the associated otaku subculture.


title: Hot Topic

text: Hot Topic launched Torrid, a concept store that sells clothing for plus-size women, in 2001. While still under the same parent umbrella as Hot Topic, in 2015 the company branched off to become Torrid, LLC.


title: Hot Topic

text: In 2008, Hot Topic launched ShockHound, an online retailer and social networking music site. In March 2011, Hot Topic made a public statement announcing the shutdown of ShockHound. The site is no longer live, all merchandise was moved to HotTopic.com, and the company ceased sales of MP3s.


title: Hot Topic

text: In August 2010, Hot Topic opened two new stores in Canada, which also marked the chain's first two international outlets. The first store opened on August 11 at Square One Shopping Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, and then at Scarborough Town Centre in Toronto, Ontario the following day. The company has since also opened additional Canadian locations as well as locations in Puerto Rico.


title: Hot Topic

text: In 2012, Hot Topic launched Blackheart Lingerie, a concept store that sells lingerie and clothing for women.


title: Hot Topic

text: On May 26, 2015, Hot Topic announced its intent to acquire Geeknet Inc., owner of the online retailer ThinkGeek, for $122 million. However, the company received a $140 million counter-offer from GameStop, which Hot Topic did not choose to exceed.


title: Hot Topic

text: On October 14, 2015, Hot Topic launched BoxLunch, a gift and novelty retail store. For every $10 spent, a meal is donated to a person in need.


title: Hot Topic

text: The company sponsored the 2004 Ozzfest concert tour, the 2005 through 2007 Sounds of the Underground tour, the 2008 Taste of Chaos tour, and had a stage at and sponsored the 2008 and 2009 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tours. The company went on to sponsor Black Veil Brides 2014 Black Mass tour with special guests Falling in Reverse.


title: Ben Silverman

text: Benjamin Noah Silverman (born August 15, 1970) is an American media executive. He is the co-CEO and chairman of the entertainment production company Propagate.


title: Ben Silverman

text: From 2007–2009, Silverman served as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. He is also an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning executive producer of such shows as "The Office", "Jane The Virgin", "Ugly Betty", "Marco Polo", "The Tudors" and "The Biggest Loser". Silverman also produced CW's praised "No Tomorrow" and Apple's first reality television show "Planet of the Apps". On July 10, 2014, The Banff World Media Festival presented Silverman with the "Award of Excellence in Digital Innovation". As of the fourth quarter 2016, Silverman's most recently released feature film "Hands of Stone" starring Edgar Ramirez, Robert De Niro and Usher, and was released theatrically in North America on August 26, 2016 through The Weinstein Company.


title: Ben Silverman

text: Silverman was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. He was raised in a Reform Jewish family in Manhattan. Silverman is a 1992 "magna cum laude" graduate of Tufts University, where he majored in history and belonged to the Epsilon Theta chapter of the Theta Chi fraternity. His mother, Mary (Delson) Silverman, was an actress and programming executive whose career included employment at the Disney Channel, BBC, USA Network, Lifetime Television, and Court TV. His father, Stanley Silverman, is a music composer/arranger.


title: Ben Silverman

text: He had summer internships at Warner Bros., and after college in 1993, worked at CBS and then worked for Brandon Tartikoff at New World Entertainment. He worked for the William Morris Agency starting in 1995; Silverman was in charge of the international packaging division, where he was the company's youngest division head, packaging more than 25 television series, including "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire", "Weakest Link", "Big Brother", and "Queer as Folk". He worked for William Morris Agency until 2002, when he left to found Reveille.


title: Ben Silverman

text: In 2007, Silverman received the P.T. Barnum Award from Tufts University for his exceptional work in the field of media and entertainment. Silverman is involved with multiple philanthropic endeavors, including Seeds of Peace, a group helping to foster peace among young people from adversarial cultures. In addition, Silverman sits on the Cedars-Sinai Hospital board of governors. Silverman also serves on the board of directors of Best Buddies, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with intellectual disabilities by providing guidance and integrated employment.


title: Ben Silverman

text: Silverman is the founder of Reveille, a television, film, and theater production and distribution company now owned by Shine Limited under News Corporation. He founded Reveille in 2002 in order to exploit international formats by selling them in the United States. Through his work at Reveille, he is the executive producer of such shows as NBC's "The Office", "The Restaurant", "The Biggest Loser", and ABC's "Ugly Betty", as well as several cable shows, including "Nashville Star", on USA Network, "30 Days" on FX, MTV's "Parental Control" and "Date My Mom", "Blow Out" on Bravo, and "House of Boateng" on the Sundance TV.


title: Ben Silverman

text: Journalist Michael Wolff wrote a 2001 profile of Silverman in "New York Magazine" a year before he founded Reveille. "In some sense, he's like those boy geniuses of the eighties and nineties who invented new financial instruments -- junk bonds and derivatives and whatnot. The discovery and marketing of a new format is really like that. It's creating something that is negotiable and transferable and that people believe in deeply -- it solves all their problems. Now, obviously, there is a certain obsolescence to these formats (with junk bonds you had inevitable bankruptcies). And Ben, of course, is already searching the world for new formats. Variety shows might be a possibility," Wolff wrote.


title: Ben Silverman

text: Silverman was named co-chairman of NBC Entertainment in 2007 (along with Marc Graboff), succeeding Kevin Reilly. That same year, Silverman was the first producer since Norman Lear, 34 years earlier, to have two shows nominated for an Emmy in the best comedy category ("The Office" and "Ugly Betty"). He is credited for his role in saving the critically acclaimed but low-rated NBC drama "Friday Night Lights" by striking an innovative deal with DirecTV. The satellite television provider agreed to take on a substantial amount of the show's production budget in exchange for exclusive first-window airing rights on its 101 channel. NBC would then repurpose the episodes to be aired on the network later in the season.


title: Ben Silverman

text: On July 27, 2009, Silverman announced he was leaving NBC to form a new company, Electus, in partnership with Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp, that would produce and distribute programs across media platforms, for television, the Web and mobile devices. As part of its inception, IAC partnered Electus with the interactive comedy portal CollegeHumor. In January 2010, Silverman and Electus partnered with Jason Bateman and Will Arnett to launch their sponsor-driven advertising and digital production company DumbDumb. Electus also has partnerships with 5x5 and DiGa. On May 8, 2014, The CW announced a first season order for Silverman's new television show "Jane The Virgin".


title: Ben Silverman

text: Silverman had a cameo appearance in the first episode of the fifth season of the television show "Entourage". Silverman read a single line in which he expressed annoyance at Johnny Drama wasting his time.


title: Ben Silverman

text: Silverman appeared in four episodes during the ninth season of the television show "The Office", starting with "Here Comes Treble"; he played Isaac, one of Jim's business partners.


title: 1981 in film

text: The following is an overview of events in 1981 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.


title: Monokini

text: The monokini, designed by Rudi Gernreich in 1964, consisting of only a brief, close-fitting bottom and two thin straps, was the first women's topless swimsuit. His revolutionary and controversial design included a bottom that "extended from the midriff to the upper thigh" and was "held up by shoestring laces that make a halter around the neck." Some credit Gernreich's design with initiating, or describe it as a symbol of, the sexual revolution.


title: Monokini

text: Gernreich designed the monokini as a protest against a repressive society. He did not initially intend to produce the monokini commercially, but was persuaded by Susanne Kirtland of "Look" to make it available to the public. When the first photograph of a frontal view of Peggy Moffitt wearing the design was published in "Women's Wear Daily" on June 3, 1964, it generated a great deal of controversy in the United States and other countries. Gernreich sold about 3,000 suits, but only two were worn in public. The first was worn publicly on June 22, 1964, by Carol Doda in San Francisco at the Condor Nightclub, ushering in the era of topless nightclubs in the United States, and the second at North Avenue beach in Chicago in July 1964 by artist's model Toni Lee Shelley, who was arrested.


title: Monokini

text: Some manufacturers and retailers refer to modern monokini swimsuit designs as a topless swimsuit, topless bikini, or unikini.


title: Monokini

text: Gernreich may have chosen his use of the word "monokini" ("mono" meaning 'single') through back-formation by interpreting the "bi" of "bikini" as the Latin prefix "bi-" ('two'), denoting a two-piece swimsuit. But in fact the bikini swimsuit design was named by its inventor Louis Réard after the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific, five days after Operation Crossroads, the first peace-time test of nuclear weapons, took place there. Réard hoped his design would have a similarly explosive effect.


title: Monokini

text: Austrian-American fashion designer, co-founder of the Mattachine Society, and nudist Rudi Gernreich had strong feelings about society's sexualization of the human body and disagreed with religious and social beliefs that the body was essentially shameful. Gernreich developed a reputation as an avant-garde designer who broke many of the rules, and his swimsuit designs were unconventional. In its December 1962 issue, "Sports Illustrated" remarked, "He has turned the dancer's leotard into a swimsuit that frees the body. In the process, he has ripped out the boning and wiring that made American swimsuits seagoing corsets." That month he first envisioned creating a topless swimsuit which he called a monokini.


title: Monokini

text: At the end of 1963, editor Susanne Kirtland of "Look" called Gernreich and asked him to submit a design for the suit to accompany a trend story along futuristic lines. He resisted the idea at first, but said, "It was my prediction. For the sake of history, I didn't want Pucci to do it first. Gernreich found the design more difficult than the expected. His initial designs looked like trunks or boxer shorts. He felt the swimsuit ought to just be bikini bottoms, but realized that this wouldn't constitute a unique design. He initially designed a Balinese sarong that began just under the breasts, but Kirtland didn't feel the design was bold enough and needed to make more of a statement. Gernreich finally chose a design that ended around mid-torso and then added two straps that rose between the breasts and were tied around the neck. The first two initial attempts to cut the design failed. When a photo shoot was arranged on Montego Bay in the Bahamas, all five models hired for the session refused to wear the design. The photographer finally persuaded an adventurous local to model it.