title: Thermal energy storage

text: Using this method, the solar energy acquired from the solar panels is converted into fuel (hydrogen) without releasing the so-called greenhouse gasses. This fuel can be stored into a fuel cell and, at a later time, used to generate electricity.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Another promising way to store solar energy for electricity and heat production is a so called ‘molecular solar thermal system’ (MOST). With this approach a molecule is converted by photoisomerization into a higher-energy isomer. Photoisomerization is a process in which one (cis-trans) isomer is converted into another by light (solar energy). This isomer is capable of storing the solar energy until the energy is released by a heat trigger or catalyst (than the isomer is converted into its original isomer). A promising candidate for such a MOST are Norbornadienes (NBD). This is because there is a high energy difference between the NBD and the quadricyclane (QC) photoisomer. This energy difference is approximately 96 kJ/mol. It is also known that for such systems, the donor-acceptor substitutions provide an effective means for redshifting the longest-wavelength absorption. This improves the solar spectrum match.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: A crucial challenge for a useful MOST system is to acquire a satisfactory high energy storage density (if possible, higher than 300 kJ/kg). Another challenge of a MOST system is that light can be harvested in the visible region. The functionalization of the NBD with the donor and acceptor units is used to adjust this absorption maxima. However, this positive effect on the solar absorption is compensated by a higher molecular weight. This implies a lower energy density. This positive effect on the solar absorption has another downside. Namely that the energy storage time is lowered when the absorption is redshifted. A possible solution to overcome this anti-correlation between the energy density and the redshifting is to couple one chromophore unit to several photo switches. In this case, it is advantageous to form so called dimers or trimers. The NBD share a common donor and/or acceptor.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: In a recent published article in "Nature Communications", Kasper Moth-Poulsen and his team tried to engineer the stability of the high energy photo isomer by having two electronically coupled photo switches with separate barriers for thermal conversion. By doing so, a blue shift occurred after the first isomerisation (NBD-NBD to QC-NBD). This led to a higher energy of isomerisation of the second switching event (QC-NBD to QC-QC). Another advantage of this system, by sharing a donor, is that the molecular weight per norbornadiene unit is reduced. This leads to an increase of the energy density.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Eventually, this system could reach a quantum yield of photoconversion up 94% per NBD unit. A quantum yield is a measure of the efficiency of photon emission. With this system the measured energy densities reached up to 559 kJ/kg (exceeding the target of 300 kJ/kg). So, the potential of the molecular photo switches is enormous. Not only for solar thermal energy storage, but for other applications as well.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: In 2022, researchers reported combining the MOST with a chip-sized thermoelectric generator to generate electricity from it. The system can reportedly store solar energy for up to 18 years and may be an option for renewable energy storage.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Storage heaters are commonplace in European homes with time-of-use metering (traditionally using cheaper electricity at night time). They consist of high-density ceramic bricks or feolite blocks heated to a high temperature with electricity, and may or may not have good insulation and controls to release heat over a number of hours. Some advise not to use them in areas with young children or where there is an increased risk of fires due to poor housekeeping, both due to the high temperatures involved.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Solar energy is an application of thermal energy storage. Most practical solar thermal storage systems provide storage from a few hours to a day's worth of energy. However, a growing number of facilities use seasonal thermal energy storage (STES), enabling solar energy to be stored in summer to heat space during winter. In 2017 Drake Landing Solar Community in Alberta, Canada, achieved a year-round 97% solar heating fraction, a world record made possible by incorporating STES.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: The combined use of latent heat and sensible heat are possible with high temperature solar thermal input. Various eutectic metal mixtures, such as aluminium and silicon () offer a high melting point suited to efficient steam generation, while high alumina cement-based materials offer good storage capabilities.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: In pumped-heat electricity storage (PHES), a reversible heat-pump system is used to store energy as a temperature difference between two heat stores.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Isentropic systems involve two insulated containers filled with e.g., crushed rock or gravel; a hot vessel storing thermal energy at high temperature/ pressure, and a cold vessel storing thermal energy at low temperature/pressure. The vessels are connected at top and bottom by pipes and the whole system is filled with an inert gas such as argon.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: While charging, the system can use off-peak electricity to work as a heat pump. One prototype used argon at ambient temperature and pressure from the top of the cold store is compressed adiabatically, to a pressure of e.g., 12 bar, heating it to around . The compressed gas is transferred to the top of the hot vessel where it percolates down through the gravel, transferring heat to the rock and cooling to ambient temperature. The cooled, but still pressurized, gas emerging at the bottom of the vessel is then adiabatically expanded to 1 bar, which lowers its temperature to −150 °C. The cold gas is then passed up through the cold vessel where it cools the rock while warming to its initial condition.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: The energy is recovered as electricity by reversing the cycle. The hot gas from the hot vessel is expanded to drive a generator and then supplied to the cold store. The cooled gas retrieved from the bottom of the cold store is compressed which heats the gas to ambient temperature. The gas is then transferred to the bottom of the hot vessel to be reheated.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: The compression and expansion processes are provided by a specially designed reciprocating machine using sliding valves. Surplus heat generated by inefficiencies in the process is shed to the environment through heat exchangers during the discharging cycle.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: The developer claimed that a round trip efficiency of 72–80% was achievable. This compares to >80% achievable with pumped hydro energy storage.


title: Thermal energy storage

text: Another proposed system uses turbomachinery and is capable of operating at much higher power levels. Use of phase change material as heat storage material could enhance performance.


title: Jake Bugg

text: Jake Bugg (born Jake Edwin Charles Kennedy on 28 February 1994) is an English singer-songwriter. His self-titled debut album, "Jake Bugg", some of which was co-written with songwriter Iain Archer, was released in October 2012 and reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. His second album, "Shangri La", was released in November 2013 and his third, largely self-produced album "On My One", in June 2016. His fourth album "Hearts That Strain", a largely acoustic effort, produced by Dan Auerbach, was released in September 2017. After a gap of four years, in August 2021, Bugg released the more pop-influenced fifth album "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning."


title: Jake Bugg

text: Jake Bugg was born Jake Edwin Charles Kennedy in Nottingham to musical parents who separated when he was young. His father, David Bugg, was a nurse, and his mother worked in sales, both parents having previously made recordings. He grew up in the Clifton council estate of Nottingham and started playing guitar at the age of 12 after being introduced to the instrument by his uncle Mark. He attended Farnborough School Technology College in Clifton. He has described a formative musical moment when, aged 12, he heard Don McLean's "Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)" on an episode of "The Simpsons". He was enrolled in a music technology course but, by the age of 16, he had dropped out and was writing and performing his own songs.


title: Jake Bugg

text: Bugg was selected to perform on the "BBC Introducing" stage at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival at age 16 after submitting material to their website, and subsequently signed to Mercury Records. His songs were then placed on various BBC Radio playlists, with "Country Song" being used in a national TV beer commercial for Greene King IPA.


title: Jake Bugg

text: Bugg's self-titled debut album was released on 15 October 2012. Talking about Bugg and his debut, "Clash" hailed the "precocious talent fusing retro folk with blistering contemporary rock riffs". On 21 October 2012 the song "Two Fingers" charted at 28 in the UK while the album reached number one in the UK charts. The album has sold 604,100 copies in the United Kingdom and is the 57th best selling album of the 2010s decade. Bugg's touring band drummer Jack Atherton and bassist Tom "Robbo" Robertson performed on five songs on the album.


title: Jake Bugg

text: On 22 May 2012, Bugg appeared on the BBC music programme "Later... with Jools Holland". In July, he kept a long term promise and performed on legendary radio show "Notts Live", hosted by Bainy and Andy Haynes. In August 2012 Bugg was a supporting act for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds at Belsonic Music Festival, Belfast. On 1 October 2012, he performed live on the BBC Radio 6 Music programme "Live at Maida Vale". In 2014, "Simple As This" was featured in the movie The Fault in Our Stars


title: Jake Bugg

text: Bugg had been in Malibu working with Rick Rubin and Iain Archer, and had had some interactions with Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, working on the drums to some of his songs, including the single "Broken". On 8 September 2013, Bugg tweeted, "2nd album done! Hope you're all well!" On 23 September 2013, Bugg announced his new album, "Shangri La", along with a new single, "What Doesn't Kill You". "Shangri La" was released on 18 November 2013. This album is named after the studio Bugg recorded it in. "Shangri La" includes Elvis Costello's drummer Pete Thomas, and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The album has generally received positive reviews from the music community. Bugg was one of five nominees for the 2013 Brit Award for "British Breakthrough Act", which was voted on by BBC Radio 1 listeners. The award was won by Ben Howard.


title: Jake Bugg

text: On 28 June, Bugg performed an afternoon set on the Pyramid Stage at the 2013 Glastonbury Festival, making him the first artist that has moved from the BBC Introducing Stage to the Main Pyramid stage in successive years. On 12 July, Bugg played the Radio 1 Stage at T in the Park. On 13 July he supported The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park in London. On 20 July, Bugg headlined at the Splendour festival in Nottingham. On 2 August, Bugg performed at the Osheaga Festival in the Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, Quebec. On 23–25 August, Bugg performed at the Reading and Leeds Festival on the Radio 1/NME stage. On 13 October, Bugg performed at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, California. The song "Me and You" was featured in the credits of the movie "Dumb and Dumber To". That same month, he was also at the River Stage at Ottawa Bluesfest and performed at Paléo Festival near the Lake Geneva in Switzerland. His music was also featured in the movie "The Fault in Our Stars". On 5 October 2014, at Cardiff, he played for the first time two new songs: "Down the Avenue" and "Hold on You". A new song, "Feel What's Good", was in the soundtrack of "The Giver".


title: Jake Bugg

text: Speaking with NME in early 2015, Bugg said that he was working on his third album, of which "the content of the songs was much darker" than earlier work. On the 16 February 2016 he released free of charge a new song: "On My One". On 25 February his new single "Gimme the Love" debuted on BBC Radio 1. Bugg also talked about the forthcoming album "On My One", announcing its release for June. On 26 February he announced the album would be released on 17 June. He also shared the track list and revealed the artwork. In May 2016 a number of tour dates, in London and Nottingham, for June, were announced. His 2012 single "Trouble Town" was used as the theme for the BBC TV series "Happy Valley" broadcast in 2014 and 2016.


title: Jake Bugg

text: On 2 August 2017, Jake Bugg's new single "How Soon the Dawn" was played on BBC Radio 1, hosted by Annie Mac. On 4 August Bugg released the single on all platforms with a music video. He later announced his fourth studio album titled "Hearts That Strain". It was released on 1 September 2017. He will embark on an acoustic tour through November to support the new album. Jake Bugg would also release a piano-laden song with Noah Cyrus called "Waiting".


title: Jake Bugg

text: On 26 October 2020 issued the single "All I Need". The song followed "Rabbit Hole" and "Saviours Of The City", the latter of which was the Nottingham singer-songwriter's first new music of 2020 when it was shared in April. He accompanied the release with a short film.


title: Jake Bugg

text: On 19 March 2021, it was announced that Bugg would release his fifth album, "Saturday Night, Sunday Morning" in August 2021, featuring previously released singles "All I Need" and "Kiss Like the Sun". The album, his first effort under the Sony RCA label, is expected to be accompanied by a UK tour in Spring 2022.


title: Jake Bugg

text: In April 2013, Bugg was reported to be in a relationship with English model, actress, and singer Cara Delevingne. By 2017, model Roxy Horner was quoted by Nottinghamshire Live as his current girlfriend. The couple parted two years later.


title: Jake Bugg

text: In June 2017, Bugg was confirmed as the shirt sponsor of his favourite and local football team, Notts County, taking the November slot in a season-long rotation. In September 2020 the club announced that Bugg would sponsor their away shirt during the 2020–2021 season.


title: Henry Dunant

text: Henry Dunant (born Jean-Henri Dunant; 8 May 182830 October 1910), also known as Henri Dunant, was a Swiss humanitarian, businessman, and social activist. He was the visionary, promoter, and co-founder of the Red Cross. In 1901, he received the first Nobel Peace Prize together with Frédéric Passy. Dunant was the first Swiss Nobel laureate.


title: Henry Dunant

text: In 1859, Dunant was witness to the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino in Italy. He recorded his memories and experiences in the book "A Memory of Solferino" which inspired the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1863. The 1864 Geneva Convention was based on Dunant's idea for an independent organization to care for wounded soldiers.


title: Henry Dunant

text: Dunant was born in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1828 as the first son of businessman Jean-Jacques Dunant and Antoinette Dunant-Colladon. His family was devoutly Calvinist and had significant influence in Geneva society. His parents stressed the value of social work, and his father was active helping orphans and parolees, while his mother worked with the sick and the poor.


title: Henry Dunant

text: Dunant grew up during the period of religious awakening known as the "Réveil", and at age 18 he joined the Geneva Society for Alms giving. In the following year, together with friends, he founded the so-called "Thursday Association", a loose band of young men that met to study the Bible and help the poor, and he spent much of his free time engaged in prison visits and social work. On 30 November 1852, he founded the Geneva chapter of the YMCA and three years later he took part in the Paris meeting devoted to the founding of its international organization.


title: Henry Dunant

text: In 1849, at age 21, Dunant left the Collège de Genève due to poor grades and began an apprenticeship with the money-changing firm "Lullin et Sautter". After its successful conclusion, he stayed as an employee of the bank.


title: Henry Dunant

text: In 1853, Dunant visited Algeria, Tunisia, and Sicily, on assignment with a company devoted to the "colonies of Setif" ("Compagnie genevoise des Colonies de Sétif"). Despite little experience, he successfully fulfilled the assignment. Inspired by the trip, he wrote his first book with the title "An Account of the Regency in Tunis" ("Notice sur la Régence de Tunis"), published in 1858.


title: Henry Dunant

text: In 1856, he created a business to operate in foreign colonies, and, after being granted a land concession by French-occupied Algeria, a corn-growing and trading company called the Financial and Industrial Company of Mons-Djémila Mills ("Société financière et industrielle des Moulins des Mons-Djémila"). However, the land and water rights were not clearly assigned, and the colonial authorities were not especially cooperative. As a result, Dunant decided to appeal directly to French emperor Napoléon III, who was with his army in Lombardy at the time. France was fighting on the side of Piedmont-Sardinia against Austria, who had occupied much of today's Italy. Napoleon's headquarters were located in the small city of Solferino. Dunant wrote a flattering book full of praise for Napoleon III with the intention to present it to the emperor, and then traveled to Solferino to meet with him personally.


title: Henry Dunant

text: Dunant arrived in Solferino on the evening of 24 June 1859, on the same day a battle between the two sides had occurred nearby. Forty thousand wounded, dying and dead remained on the battlefield, and there appeared to be little attempt to provide care. Shocked, Dunant himself took the initiative to organize the civilian population, especially the women and girls, to provide assistance to the injured and sick soldiers. They lacked sufficient materials and supplies, and Dunant himself organized the purchase of needed materials and helped erect makeshift hospitals. He convinced the population to service the wounded without regard to their side in the conflict as per the slogan ""Tutti fratelli"" (All are brothers) coined by the women of nearby city Castiglione delle Stiviere. He also succeeded in gaining the release of Austrian doctors captured by the French.


title: Henry Dunant

text: After returning to Geneva early in July, Dunant decided to write a book about his experiences, which he titled "Un Souvenir de Solferino" ("A Memory of Solferino"). It was published in 1862 in an edition of 1,600 copies and was printed at Dunant's own expense. In the book, he described the battle, its costs, and the chaotic circumstances afterwards. He also developed the idea that in the future a neutral organization should exist to provide care to wounded soldiers. He distributed the book to many leading political and military figures in Europe.


title: Henry Dunant

text: Dunant also began to travel through Europe to promote his ideas. His book was largely positively received, and the President of the Geneva Society for Public Welfare, jurist Gustave Moynier, made the book and its suggestions the topic of the 9 February 1863 meeting of the organization. Dunant's recommendations were examined and positively assessed by the members. They created a five-person Committee to further pursue the possibility of their implementation and made Dunant one of the members. The others were Moynier, the Swiss army general Henri Dufour, and doctors Louis Appia and Théodore Maunoir. Their first meeting on 17 February 1863 is now considered the founding date of the International Committee of the Red Cross.


title: Henry Dunant

text: From early on, Moynier and Dunant had increasing disagreements and conflicts regarding their respective visions and plans. Moynier considered Dunant's idea to establish neutrality protections for care providers unfeasible and advised Dunant not to insist upon this concept. However, Dunant continued to advocate this position in his travels and conversations with high-ranking political and military figures. This intensified the personal conflict between Moynier, who took a rather pragmatic approach to the project, and Dunant, who was the idealist among the five.


title: Henry Dunant

text: In October 1863, 14 states took part in a meeting in Geneva organized by the committee to discuss the improvement of care for wounded soldiers. Dunant was a protocol leader during the meeting. A year later on 22 August 1864, a diplomatic conference organized by the Swiss government led to the signing of the First Geneva Convention by 12 states. Dunant was in charge of organizing accommodation for the attendees.


title: Henry Dunant

text: Dunant's businesses in Algeria had suffered. In April 1867, the bankruptcy of the financial firm "Crédit Genevois" led to a scandal involving Dunant. He declared bankruptcy. The social outcry in Geneva, a city deeply rooted in Calvinist traditions, also led to calls for him to separate himself from the International Committee. Already on 25 August 1867, he resigned as Secretary and, on 8 September 1867, he was fully removed from the committee. Dunant was condemned by the Geneva Trade Court on 17 August 1868 for deceptive practices in the bankruptcies. Due to their investments in the firm, his family and many of his friends were also heavily affected by the downfall of the company.


title: Henry Dunant

text: In February 1868, Dunant's mother died. Later that year he was expelled from the YMCA. In March 1867, he left his home city Geneva and would not return for the rest of his life. In the following years, Moynier likely used his influence to attempt to ensure that Dunant would not receive assistance and support from his friends. For example, the gold medal prize of "Sciences Morales" at the Paris World's Fair did not go to Dunant as originally planned but to Moynier, Dufour, and Dunant together so that the prize money would only go to the committee as a whole. Napoléon III's offer to take over half of Dunant's debts if Dunant's friends would secure the other half was also thwarted by Moynier's efforts.


title: Henry Dunant

text: Dunant moved to Paris, where he lived in meagre conditions. However, he continued to pursue his humanitarian ideas and plans. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), he founded the Common Relief Society ("Allgemeine Fürsorgegesellschaft") and soon after the Common Alliance for Order and Civilisation ("Allgemeine Allianz für Ordnung und Zivilisation"). He argued for disarmament negotiations and for the erection of an international court to mediate international conflicts. Later he worked for the creation of a world library, an idea which had echoes in future projects such as UNESCO.


title: Henry Dunant

text: In his continued pursuit and advocacy of his ideas, he further neglected his personal situation and income, falling further in debt and being shunned by his acquaintances. Despite being appointed an honorary member of the national Red Cross societies of Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, Prussia and Spain, he was nearly forgotten in the official discourse of the Red Cross Movement, even as it was rapidly expanding to new countries. He lived in poverty, moving to various places between 1874 and 1886, including Stuttgart, Rome, Corfu, Basel, and Karlsruhe. In Stuttgart he met the Tübingen University student Rudolf Müller with whom he would have a close friendship. In 1881, together with friends from Stuttgart, he went to the small Swiss resort village Heiden for the first time. In 1887 while living in London, he began to receive some monthly financial support from some distant family members. This enabled him to live a somewhat more secure existence, and he moved to Heiden in July. He spent the rest of his life there, and after 30 April 1892 he lived in a hospital and nursing home led by Dr. Hermann Altherr.


title: Henry Dunant

text: In Heiden, he met the young teacher Wilhelm Sonderegger and his wife Susanna; they encouraged him to record his life experiences. Sonderegger's wife founded a branch of the Red Cross in Heiden and in 1890 Dunant became its honorary president. With Sonderegger, Dunant hoped to further promote his ideas, including publishing a new edition of his book. However, their friendship later was strained by Dunant's unjustified accusations that Sonderegger, with Moynier in Geneva, was somehow conspiring against Dunant. Sonderegger died in 1904 at age 42. Despite their strained relationship, Dunant was deeply moved by the unexpected death. Wilhelm and Susanna Sonderegger's admiration for Dunant, felt by both even after Dunant's allegations, was passed on to their children. In 1935, their son René published a compilation of letters from Dunant to his father.


title: Henry Dunant

text: In September 1895, Georg Baumberger, the chief editor of the St. Gall newspaper "Die Ostschweiz", wrote an article about the Red Cross founder, whom he had met and conversed with during a walk in Heiden a month earlier. The article entitled "Henri Dunant, the founder of the Red Cross", appeared in the German Illustrated Magazine "Über Land und Meer", and the article was soon reprinted in other publications throughout Europe. The article struck a chord, and he received renewed attention and support. He received the Swiss Binet-Fendt Prize and a note from Pope Leo XIII. Because of support from Russian tsarist widow Maria Feodorovna and other donations, his financial situation improved remarkably.


title: Henry Dunant

text: In 1897, Rudolf Müller, who was now working as a teacher in Stuttgart, wrote a book about the origins of the Red Cross, altering the official history to stress Dunant's role. The book also contained the text of "A Memory of Solferino". Dunant began an exchange of correspondence with Bertha von Suttner and wrote numerous articles and writings. He was especially active in writing about women's rights, and in 1897 facilitated the founding of a "Green Cross" women's organization whose only section was briefly active in Brussels.


title: Henry Dunant

text: In 1901, Dunant was awarded the first-ever Nobel Peace Prize for his role in founding the International Red Cross Movement and initiating the Geneva Convention. By public and private means, Müller, and later Norwegian military physician Hans Daae (who had received a copy of Müller's book), advocated Dunant's case to the Nobel committee over the course of 4 years. The award was jointly given to French pacifist Frédéric Passy, founder of the Peace League and active with Dunant in the Alliance for Order and Civilization. The official congratulations which he received from the International Committee finally represented the rehabilitation of Dunant's reputation:


title: Henry Dunant

text: "There is no man who more deserves this honour, for it was you, forty years ago, who set on foot the international organization for the relief of the wounded on the battlefield. Without you, the Red Cross, the supreme humanitarian achievement of the nineteenth century would probably have never been undertaken."


title: Henry Dunant

text: Moynier and the International Committee as a whole had also been nominated for the prize. Although Dunant was supported by a broad spectrum in the selection process, he was still a controversial candidate. Some argued that the Red Cross and the Geneva Convention had made war more attractive and imaginable by eliminating some of its suffering. Therefore, Müller, in a letter to the committee, argued that the prize should be divided between Dunant and Passy, who for some time in the debate had been the leading candidate to be the sole recipient of the prize. Müller also suggested that if a prize were to be warranted for Dunant, it should be given immediately because of his advanced age and ill health.


title: Henry Dunant

text: By dividing the prize between Passy, a pacifist, and Dunant, a humanitarian, the Nobel Committee set a precedent for the conditions of the Nobel Peace Prize selection which would have significant consequences in later years. A section of Nobel's will had indicated that the prize should go to an individual who had worked to reduce or eliminate standing armies, or directly to promote peace conferences, which made Passy a natural choice for his peace work. On the other hand, the arguably distinct bestowal for humanitarian effort alone was seen by some as a wide interpretation of Nobel's will. However, another part of Nobel's testament marked the prize for the individual who had best enhanced the "brotherhood of people," which could be interpreted more generally as seeing humanitarian work like Dunant's as connected to peacemaking as well. Many recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize in later years can be assigned to either of these two categories first roughly established by the Nobel committee's decision in 1901.


title: Henry Dunant

text: Hans Daae succeeded in placing Dunant's part of the prize money, 104,000 Swiss Francs, in a Norwegian Bank and preventing access by his creditors. Dunant himself never spent any of the money during his lifetime, continuing to live simply and reserving it for bequests in his will to those who cared for him and charitable causes.


title: Henry Dunant

text: Among several other awards in the following years, in 1903 Dunant was given an honorary doctorate by the medical faculty of the University of Heidelberg. He lived in the nursing home in Heiden until his death. In the final years of his life, he suffered from depression and paranoia about pursuit by his creditors and Moynier. There were even days when Dunant insisted that the cook of the nursing home first taste his food before his eyes to protect him against possible poisoning. In his final years, he spurned and attacked Calvinism and organized religion generally. He was said to be agnostic.


title: Henry Dunant

text: According to his nurses, the final act of his life was to send a copy of Müller's book to the Italian queen with a personal dedication. He died on 30 October 1910, and his final words were "Where has humanity gone?"


title: Henry Dunant

text: According to his wishes, he was buried without ceremony in the Sihlfeld Cemetery in Zurich. In his will, he donated funds to secure a "free bed" in the Heiden nursing home always to be available for a poor citizen of the region and deeded some money to friends and charitable organizations in Norway and Switzerland. The remaining funds went to his creditors partially relieving his debt; his inability to fully erase his debts was a major burden to him until his death.


title: Henry Dunant

text: His birthday, 8 May, is celebrated as the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day. The former nursing home in Heiden now houses the Henry Dunant Museum. In Geneva and other places there are numerous streets, squares, and schools named after him. The Henry Dunant Medal, awarded every two years by the standing commission of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is its highest decoration.


title: Henry Dunant

text: His life is represented, with some fictional elements, in the film "D'homme à hommes" (1948), starring Jean-Louis Barrault, and the period of his life when the Red Cross was founded in the international film coproduction "Henry Dunant: Red on the Cross" (2006). In 2010 the Takarazuka Revue staged a musical based on his time in Solferino and the founding of the Red Cross entitled "Dawn at Solferino, or Where has Humanity Gone?".


title: Cooper Andrews

text: Andrew Lawrence Cooper (born March 10, 1985), known professionally as Cooper Andrews, is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Jerry in "The Walking Dead".


title: Cooper Andrews

text: Andrews was born in Smithtown, New York on Long Island. His father is Samoan and his mother is of Hungarian Jewish descent. He grew up with his mother, and was raised Jewish. Andrews lived in Atlanta for many years and is a graduate of Dunwoody High School.


title: Cooper Andrews

text: Andrews played the recurring character Yo-Yo Engberk in the first three seasons in AMC's "Halt and Catch Fire". He went on to be cast as Jerry in "The Walking Dead" and Víctor Vásquez in "Shazam!". Andrews has also worked behind the camera as boom operator, stunt coordinator and assistant director.


title: The Dropout (podcast)

text: The Dropout is an American podcast hosted by Rebecca Jarvis that follows the story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. It was produced by ABC News, Taylor Dunn, Victoria Thompson, and Rebecca Jarvis. Following the podcast, a two-hour "20/20" episode premiered in March 2019, following the popularity of the podcast, and was nominated for a news Emmy Award in the Outstanding Feature Story in a Newsmagazine category. The podcast has been adapted to a limited series of the same name starring Oscar-nominee Amanda Seyfried as Holmes. Jarvis, Dunn, and Thompson served as executive producers along with showrunner Elizabeth Meriwether.


title: The Dropout (podcast)

text: Holmes dropped out of Stanford University and founded Theranos, a medical technology company, in 2003 and became the world's youngest female self-made billionaire. The company was valued at approximately $9 billion. The company claimed that it could complete a full range of blood tests with a single drop of blood, testing for hundreds of diseases. Theranos sold its blood-testing technology to Walgreens. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission later charged Holmes with defrauding investors. Holmes was indicted in June 2018 on 11 counts of felony fraud. The podcast interviews former employees, investors, and patients and includes portions of deposition tapes.


title: Paul Calderón

text: Paul Calderón is a Puerto Rican actor, writer, director and producer. He is a founding member of the Touchstone Theatre, the American Folk Theatre and the LAByrinth Theater Company. He is also a member of the Actors Studio, auditioning and accepted as a member in 1984 alongside Melissa Leo and two other actors.


title: Paul Calderón

text: Calderón was born in Puerto Rico, and moved to New York City as a child. After a stint in the United States Army, studied acting under the G.I. Bill. He became a member of the Actors Studio in 1984, and was a founding member of the LAByrinth Theater Company.


title: Paul Calderón

text: Calderón got his big break in 1984 in a revival of Miguel Piñero's "Short Eyes" directed by Kevin Conway at the Second Stage Theatre. In 1995 he won an Obie and an Audelco Award for his performance in "Blade to the Heat" at the Public Theater. His most notable Broadway role was opposite Robert De Niro in "Cuba and His Teddy Bear".


title: Paul Calderón

text: He appeared Off-Broadway in such plays as "Requiem for a Heavyweight"; "Two Sisters and a Piano" and "Dancing on Her Knees", both written by Nilo Cruz; "Troilus and Cressida" at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, in the role of Achilles; and "Divine Horsemen" for the LAByrinth Theater Company, a play which he had written, directed and produced.


title: Paul Calderón

text: In the 1980s, Calderón appeared in several TV series. He acted in three episodes of "Miami Vice", playing a different character in each. He also appeared in the extended music video of "Bad" by Michael Jackson (who played the film's main character, Darryl).


title: Paul Calderón

text: Calderón co-wrote Abel Ferrara's 1992 crime drama "Bad Lieutenant", starring Harvey Keitel; Calderón also performed in the film. He has had various short stories published in literary journals. His last published story was "Primitive Grace" for the international e-magazine "Noir Nation".


title: Paul Calderón

text: Calderón was almost cast as Jules Winnfield in the 1994 film "Pulp Fiction", since director Quentin Tarantino was so impressed by his audition. The role eventually went to Samuel L. Jackson, but Calderón was given a role as a bartender, Paul, who quips the famous line, "Hey, my name's Paul and this shit's between y'all," to John Travolta's character, Vincent Vega.


title: Paul Calderón

text: He has performed in numerous feature films, including "King of New York", "Sea of Love", "The Last Castle", "The Firm", "Four Rooms", "Out of Sight", "La Soga", "Cop Land", "Addiction", and "21 Grams".


title: Paul Calderón

text: He has made many guest appearances on television series, including recurring roles on "Dream Street", "Law & Order" and "Miami Vice". In 2012, he guest-starred in the "Blue Bloods" episode "Domestic Disturbance", playing Lieutenant Martin Perez. (He reprised the role in the 2016 "Blue Bloods" episode "Back in the Day".) Calderón worked on two films in 2012: "West End", directed by Joe Basille; and "Biodegradable", a futuristic film shot in the Dominican Republic with an all Latino cast, directed by Juan Basanta. In 2014, he played Arquimedes, the bodyguard of Enoch "Nucky" Thompson in seven episodes of the fifth (final) season of the HBO series "Boardwalk Empire". He played Alejandro, a recurring role on "Fear the Walking Dead". Since 2017, he has appeared as Detective Santiago "Jimmy" Robertson on the Amazon TV series, "Bosch".


title: BBC Television

text: BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 1932, although the start of its regular service of television broadcasts is dated to 2 November 1936.


title: BBC Television

text: The BBC's domestic television channels have no commercial advertising and collectively they accounted for more than 30% of all UK viewing in 2013. The services are funded by a television licence.


title: BBC Television

text: As a result of the 2016 Licence Fee settlement, the BBC Television division was split, with in-house television production being separated into a new division called BBC Studios and the remaining parts of television (channels and genre commissioning, BBC Sport and BBC iPlayer) being renamed as BBC Content.


title: BBC Television

text: The BBC operates several television networks, television stations (although there is generally very little distinction between the two terms in the UK), and related programming services in the United Kingdom. As well as being a broadcaster, the corporation also produces a large number of its own programmes in-house and thereby ranks as one of the world's largest television production companies.


title: BBC Television

text: John Logie Baird set up the Baird Television Development Company in 1926; on 30 September 1929, he made the first experimental television broadcast for the BBC from its studio in Long Acre in the Covent Garden area of London via the BBC's London transmitter. Baird used his electromechanical system with a vertically scanned image of 30 lines, which is just enough resolution for a close-up of one person, and a bandwidth low enough to use existing radio transmitters. The simultaneous transmission of sound and pictures was achieved on 30 March 1930, by using the BBC's new twin transmitter at Brookmans Park. By late 1930, thirty minutes of morning programmes were broadcast from Monday to Friday, and thirty minutes at midnight on Tuesdays and Fridays after BBC radio went off the air. Baird's broadcasts via the BBC continued until June 1932.


title: BBC Television

text: The BBC began its own regular television programming from the basement of Broadcasting House, London, on 22 August 1932. The studio moved to larger quarters in 16 Portland Place, London, in February 1934, and continued broadcasting the 30-line images, carried by telephone line to the medium wave transmitter at Brookmans Park, until 11 September 1935, by which time advances in all-electronic television systems made the electromechanical broadcasts obsolete.


title: BBC Television

text: After a series of test transmissions and special broadcasts that began in August 1936, the BBC Television Service officially launched on 2 November 1936 from a converted wing of Alexandra Palace in London. "Ally Pally" housed two studios, various scenery stores, make-up areas, dressing rooms, offices, and the transmitter itself, which then broadcast on the VHF band. BBC television initially used two systems on alternate weeks: the 240-line Baird intermediate film system and the 405-line Marconi-EMI system. The use of both formats made the BBC's service the world's first regular high-definition television service; it broadcast from Monday to Saturday between 15:00 and 16:00, and 21:00 and 22:00. The first programme broadcast – and thus the first ever, on a dedicated TV channel – was "Opening of the BBC Television Service" at 15:00. The first major outside broadcast was the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in May 1937.


title: BBC Television

text: The two systems were to run on a trial basis for six months; early television sets supported both resolutions. However, the Baird system, which used a mechanical camera for filmed programming and Farnsworth image dissector cameras for live programming, proved too cumbersome and visually inferior, and ended with closedown (at 22:00) on Saturday 30 January 1937. It was advertised in Radio Times for 2 weeks later but the decision to end the Baird system was made too late for it be changed in the printed Radio Times.


title: BBC Television

text: Initially, the station's range was officially a 40 kilometres radius of the Alexandra Palace transmitter—in practice, however, transmissions could be picked up a good deal further away, and on one occasion in 1938 were picked up by engineers at RCA in New York, who were experimenting with a British television set. The service was reaching an estimated 25,000–40,000 homes before the outbreak of World War II which caused the BBC Television service to be suspended on 1 September 1939 with little warning.


title: BBC Television

text: On 1 September 1939, the station went off the air; the government was concerned that the VHF transmissions would act as a beacon to enemy aircraft homing in on London. Also, many of the television service's technical staff and engineers would be needed for the war effort, in particular on the radar programme. The last programme transmitted was a Mickey Mouse cartoon, "Mickey's Gala Premier" (1933), which was followed by test transmissions; this account refuted the popular memory according to which broadcasting was suspended before the end of the cartoon.


title: BBC Television

text: According to figures from Britain's Radio Manufacturers Association, 18,999 television sets had been manufactured from 1936 to September 1939, when production was halted by the war.


title: BBC Television

text: BBC Television returned on 7 June 1946 at 15:00. Jasmine Bligh, one of the original announcers, made the first announcement, saying, 'Good afternoon everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh?'. The Mickey Mouse cartoon of 1939 was repeated twenty minutes later. Alexandra Palace was the home base of the channel until the early 1950s, when the majority of production moved into the newly acquired Lime Grove Studios.


title: BBC Television

text: Postwar broadcast coverage was extended to Birmingham in 1949, with the opening of the Sutton Coldfield transmitting station, and by the mid-1950s most of the country was covered, transmitting a 405-line interlaced image on VHF.


title: BBC Television

text: When ITV was launched in 1955, the BBC Television Service (renamed "BBC tv" in 1960) showed popular programming, including comedies, drama, documentaries, game shows, and soap operas, covering a wide range of genres and regularly competed with ITV to become the channel with the highest ratings for that week. The channel also introduced the science fiction show "Doctor Who" on 23 November 1963 - at 17:16 - which went on to become one of Britain's most iconic and beloved television programmes.


title: BBC Television

text: BBC TV was split into BBC1 and BBC2 in 1964, the third television station (ITV was the second) for the UK. Its remit was to provide more niche programming. The channel was due to launch on 20 April 1964, but this was postponed after a fire at Battersea Power Station resulted in most of west London, including Television Centre, losing power. A videotape made on the opening night was rediscovered in 2003 by a BBC technician. The launch went ahead the following night, beginning with host Denis Tuohy sarcastically blowing out a candle. BBC2 was the first British channel to use UHF and 625-line pictures, giving higher definition than the existing VHF 405-line system.


title: BBC Television

text: On 1 July 1967, BBC Two became the first television channel in Europe to broadcast regularly in colour, using the West German PAL system that was used for decades until it was gradually superseded by digital systems. (BBC One and ITV began 625-line colour broadcasts simultaneously on 15 November 1969). Unlike other terrestrial channels, BBC Two does not have soap opera or standard news programming, but a range of programmes intended to be eclectic and diverse (although if a programme has high audience ratings it is often eventually repositioned to BBC One). The different remit of BBC2 allowed its first controller, Sir David Attenborough to commission the first heavyweight documentaries and documentary series such as "Civilisation", "The Ascent of Man" and "Horizon".


title: BBC Television

text: Attenborough was later granted sabbatical leave from his job as Controller to work with the BBC Natural History Unit which had existed since the 1950s. This unit is now famed throughout the world for producing high quality programmes with Attenborough such as "Life on Earth", "The Private Life of Plants", "The Blue Planet", "The Life of Mammals", "Planet Earth" and "Frozen Planet".


title: BBC Television

text: National and regional variations also occur within the BBC One and BBC Two schedules. England's BBC One output is split up into fifteen regions (such as South West and East), which exist mainly to produce local news programming, but also occasionally opt out of the network to show programmes of local importance (such as major local events). The other nations of the United Kingdom (Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) have been granted more autonomy from the English network; for example, programmes are mostly introduced by local announcers, rather than by those in London. BBC One and BBC Two schedules in the other UK nations can vary immensely from BBC One and BBC Two in England.


title: BBC Television

text: Programmes, such as the politically fuelled "Give My Head Peace" (produced by BBC Northern Ireland) and the soap opera "River City" (produced by BBC Scotland), have been created specifically to cater for some viewers in their respective nations. BBC Scotland produces daily programmes for its Gaelic-speaking viewers, including current affairs, political and children's programming such as the popular "Eòrpa" and "Dè a-nis?". BBC Wales also produces a large amount of Welsh language programming for S4C, particularly news, sport and other programmes, especially the soap opera "Pobol y Cwm" ('People of the Valley') briefly shown on BBC2 across the UK with subtitles in the 1990s. The UK nations also produce a number of programmes that are shown across the UK, such as BBC Scotland's comedy series "Chewin' the Fat", and BBC Northern Ireland's talk show "Patrick Kielty Almost Live".


title: BBC Television

text: During the 1980s, the BBC came under pressure to commission more programmes from independent British production companies, and following the Broadcasting Act 1990 it was legally required to source 25% of its output from such companies by the terms of the Act. This eventually led to the creation of the "WoCC" (Window of Creative Competition) for independent production companies to pitch programmes to the BBC.


title: BBC Television

text: Programmes have also been imported mainly from English-speaking countries: notable—though no longer shown—examples include "The Simpsons" from the United States and "Neighbours" from Australia. Programming from countries outside the English-speaking world consisted of feature films, shown in the original language with subtitles instead of being dubbed, with dubbing only used for cartoons and children's programmes. These included programmes from Eastern Europe, including "The Singing Ringing Tree" from East Germany, although voice-over translation was used instead of dubbing for budgetary reasons.


title: BBC Television

text: Ceefax, the first teletext service, launched on 23 September 1974. This service allowed BBC viewers to view textual information such as the latest news on their television. CEEFAX did not make a full transition to digital television, instead being gradually replaced by the new interactive BBCi service before being fully closed down on 22 October 2012.


title: BBC Television

text: In March 2003 the BBC announced that from the end of May 2003 (subsequently deferred to 14 July) it intended to transmit all eight of its domestic television channels (including the 15 regional variations of BBC1) unencrypted from the Astra 2D satellite. This move was estimated to save the BBC £85 million over the next five years.


title: BBC Television

text: While the "footprint" of the Astra 2D satellite was smaller than that of Astra 2A, from which it was previously broadcast encrypted, it meant that viewers with appropriate equipment were able to receive BBC channels "free-to-air" over much of Western Europe. Consequently, some rights concerns have needed to be resolved with programme providers such as Hollywood studios and sporting organisations, which have expressed concern about the unencrypted signal leaking out. This led to some broadcasts being made unavailable on the Sky Digital platform, such as Scottish Premier League and Scottish Cup football, while on other platforms such broadcasts were not disrupted. Later, when rights contracts were renewed, this problem was resolved.


title: BBC Television

text: The BBC Television department headed by Jana Bennett was absorbed into a new, much larger group; BBC Vision, in late 2006. The new group was part of larger restructuring within the BBC with the onset of new media outlets and technology.


title: BBC Television

text: In 2008, the BBC began experimenting with live streaming of certain channels in the UK, and in November 2008, all standard BBC television channels were made available to watch online via BBC iPlayer.


title: BBC Television

text: When Tony Hall became Director General in April 2013, he reverted the division to its original name of BBC Television. As Television it was responsible for the commissioning, scheduling and broadcasting of all programming on the BBC's television channels and online, as well as producing content for broadcast.


title: BBC Television

text: Following the 2016 Licence Fee settlement, BBC Television was split into two divisions, with in-house television production being separated into a new division called BBC Studios controlled by Mark Linsey and the remaining parts of television (channels and genre commissioning, BBC Sport and BBC iPlayer) being renamed as BBC Content, controlled by Charlotte Moore. As a result, the BBC Television division is now known internally as BBC Content and "BBC Television" as an entity has ceased to exist.


title: BBC Television

text: On 8 December 2020, Moore announced a new leadership structure for BBC Content taking effect in April 2021, which will prioritise iPlayer in order to compete with commercial streaming services. The role of Controller for BBC One, Two, and Four will be scrapped, in favour of giving the BBC's genre heads autonomy in commissioning programmes without the requirement for a channel controller to provide secondary approval. A team of "portfolio editors" will select from these commissions for carriage on BBC television channels and iPlayer, with iPlayer Controller Dan McGolpin will becoming Portfolio Director for iPlayer and channels. McGolpin and the genre heads will report to Moore.


title: BBC Television

text: The BBC domestic television channels do not broadcast advertisements; they are instead funded by a television licence fee which TV viewers are required to pay annually. This includes viewers who watch real-time streams or catch up services of the BBC's channels online or via their mobile phone. The BBC's international television channels are funded by advertisements and subscription.


title: BBC Television

text: "These channels are also available outside the UK in neighbouring countries e.g. Belgium, the Netherlands and the Republic of Ireland."


title: BBC Television

text: The BBC's wholly owned commercial subsidiary, BBC Studios, also operates several international television channels under BBC branding:


title: BBC Television

text: BBC Japan was a general entertainment channel, which operated between December 2004 and April 2006. It ceased operations after its Japanese distributor folded.


title: Marina Shafir

text: Marina Shafir (Moldovan Cyrillic: Марина Шафир; born 14 April 1988) is a Moldovan professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She formerly competed for Invicta Fighting Championships in the women's featherweight division. Shafir is best known for her time in WWE, where she was the first and to date only Moldovan to ever compete for that promotion.


title: Marina Shafir

text: Shafir moved from Moldova to the United States when she was five years old. Her father, a mechanic, and her mother, a teacher, settled in New York along with Marina and her two older brothers. Shafir began training judo when she was six years old and started competing at a high level in the sport when she was 12. However, she stopped competing in judo in her late teens.


title: Marina Shafir

text: Shafir began her mixed martial career at an amateur level in 2012. In a two year spell, she was unbeaten, winning all five of her matches by submission (four by armbar and one by arm-triangle choke). She turned professional in early 2014.


title: Marina Shafir

text: Shafir's first professional fight was against Chandra Engel on April 12, 2014, where she won by submission in the first round. Later that year, Shafir suffered her first-ever loss in a first-round defeat to Amanda Bell. The following year, she signed with Invicta Fighting Championships. Her first match in the Invicta promotion was against Amber Leibrock on July 9, 2015, which was Leibrock's first professional fight. Shafir was defeated in the first round.


title: Marina Shafir

text: On May 7, 2018, WWE announced that Shafir, along with Jessamyn Duke, had signed with WWE and reported to their Performance Center for training. On October 28 at WWE Evolution, Shafir and Duke made their WWE debuts as heels when they interfered during the NXT Women's Championship match, in which they helped Shayna Baszler regain the title over Kairi Sane. They made another appearance at , when they interfered during Baszler and Sane's two out of three falls match, in which Baszler scored the first fall and the victory in the latter to retain the title. On the December 19, 2018 episode of "NXT", Shafir and Duke made their NXT in ring debut, but were defeated by Io Shirai and Dakota Kai, when Shirai pinned Shafir after a moonsault. At , Shafir and Duke assisted Baszler in retaining the title against Bianca Belair. In October 2019, Duke and Shafir were defeated by Kai and Tegan Nox in a number one contender's match for the Women's Tag Team Championship. After several months of inactivity, Shafir returned to WWE TV on August 17, 2020, reuniting with Baszler and Duke, and winning a "Raw Underground" match. On June 25, 2021, Shafir was released from her WWE contract.


title: Marina Shafir

text: On October 22, 2021, she defeated Masha Slamovich at Game Changer Wrestling Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 7. On the November 13, 2021 episode (taped October 7, 2021) of UWN Primetime Live Championship Wrestling from Georgia, she defeated Nightmare Factory alum, Brooke Havok.


title: Marina Shafir

text: On the December 14, 2021 episode of "AEW Dark", Shafir made her All Elite Wrestling debut, where she was defeated by Kris Statlander. After going on a six match winning streak, on the April 22, 2022 episode of "AEW Rampage", Shafir challenged Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship in a losing effort. On June 8 on "AEW Dynamite", Shafir faced Thunder Rosa for the AEW Women's World Championship which Shafir lost.


title: Marina Shafir

text: Shafir is a close friend of Ronda Rousey, who trained with her at Glendale Fighting Club, and had a similar background in judo. They lived together for a number of years in Venice, California, along with Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke.


title: Marina Shafir

text: In December 2015, Shafir got engaged to professional wrestler Christopher Lindsey, better known as Roderick Strong. On April 24, 2017, Shafir gave birth to their first child, Troy Veniamin Lindsey. The two were married on November 7, 2018.


title: Naruto (season 2)

text: The second season from the anime series "Naruto" is directed by Hayato Date, and produced by Studio Pierrot and TV Tokyo. Based on Masashi Kishimoto's manga series, the season follows Naruto Uzumaki succeeding the Chūnin Exams only to discover the invasion of the Leaf Village.


title: Naruto (season 2)

text: The English dub aired on both Cartoon Network's Toonami and YTV's Bionix programming blocks from November 11, 2006 to August 19, 2007.


title: Naruto (season 2)

text: Sony Pictures Entertainment collected the episodes in a total of twelve DVD volumes under the name "2nd Stage", between January and December 1, 2004. Episodes from this season were released on by Viz Media between the ninth and twenty-first DVD volumes from the series, while several uncut DVD boxes have also been released.


title: Naruto (season 2)

text: Six pieces of theme music are used for the episodes in Japanese version; two opening themes and four closing themes. The first opening theme is by Little By Little, which is used until episode 80, and "GO!!!" by Flow, used for episodes 81 to 100. The four closing themes are "Viva Rock" by Orange Range (used until episode 63), "Alive" by Raico (used for episodes 64 to 76), by The Mass Missile (used for episodes 77 to 89), and by TiA (used for episodes 90 to 100). The opening theme for the English airing is "Haruka Kanata" by Asian Kung-Fu Generation, which is used until episode 80, and is then replaced by "GO!!!" in the same way as the Japanese version, while the closing theme is "Rise" by Jeremy Sweet and Ian Nickus, which is used in all episodes.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: The 2020 Super ShowDown was the third annual and final Super ShowDown professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on February 27, 2020, at the Mohammed Abdu Arena on the Boulevard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was the fifth event that WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030. Until Crown Jewel in October 2021, it was the last event held by WWE in Saudi Arabia, as the COVID-19 pandemic began severely restricting travel only weeks after Super ShowDown, with WWE holding all events behind closed doors until July 2021.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: Ten matches were contested at the event including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Goldberg defeated "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt to win SmackDown's Universal Championship for a second time, giving Wyatt's Fiend character his first loss. Goldberg also became the first wrestler to win a world championship after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Other prominent matches saw Brock Lesnar retain Raw's WWE Championship against Ricochet, Bayley defeated Naomi to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship in the penultimate match, which was the first women's championship match contested in the country, and Roman Reigns defeated King Corbin in a Steel Cage match. In the final live in-ring match of his career, The Undertaker made a surprise return as an unannounced entrant in the gauntlet match and lastly eliminated AJ Styles to win the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy in the opening bout.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: The event received negative reviews, with the Universal Championship and WWE Championship matches, the gauntlet match, and Reigns vs. Corbin being largely criticized, and the decision to have Goldberg defeat Wyatt being universally singled out as the one worst booking decisions of the entire year. However, the two tag team championship matches received some praise, with The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) vs. The Miz and John Morrison for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship being singled out as the best match of the night by most critics. Several media outlets noted the hostile fan reaction to the event, in particular to Goldberg's win over Wyatt.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: In early 2018, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE began a 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with the General Sports Authority in support of Saudi Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's social and economic reform program. After the first Super Show-Down was held in Australia, Super ShowDown became one of the recurring pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network events for the Saudi Arabian partnership in 2019. A third Super ShowDown, and subsequently the fifth event in the Saudi Arabian partnership, was officially announced during the 2020 Royal Rumble. It was scheduled to be held at the Mohammed Abdu Arena on the Boulevard in Riyadh on February 27, 2020, and feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: On January 30, 2020, wrestling journalist Mike Johnson reported that Hulk Hogan would make an appearance at the event. Prior to the event, The Undertaker was seen arriving with other WWE personnel at the airport in Riyadh.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: The event comprised ten matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, "Monday Night Raw" and "Friday Night SmackDown."


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: After WWE announced that John Morrison—who last wrestled in WWE in November 2011—had re-signed with the company, Morrison made his first appearance on the January 3 episode of "SmackDown" in a brief backstage interview, coming out of The Miz's locker room. The two formally reunited the following week during a segment of "Miz TV", in which Morrison criticized the fans for turning on Miz the previous week after he attacked Kofi Kingston following his match. Miz and Morrison then began a rivalry with SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) in which Morrison would defeat Kingston and Big E on the next two episodes, respectively. On the January 31 episode, Miz and Morrison defeated Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik), and The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) in a fatal four-way tag team match to earn a championship match against The New Day at Super ShowDown.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: On the January 6 episode of "Raw", WWE Champion Brock Lesnar declared himself as the first entrant in the men's Royal Rumble match as he felt that no one was worthy of challenging him for the title. A few weeks later on the January 20 episode, Ricochet interrupted a promo by Paul Heyman and declared that he was not afraid to fight Lesnar and asked if Lesnar was scared to fight him. In response, Lesnar attacked Ricochet with a low blow and stated he was not scared. At the Royal Rumble, Lesnar dominated the first half of the Royal Rumble match until Ricochet entered as the fifteenth entrant. In response to what Lesnar did to him on "Raw", Ricochet attacked Lesnar from behind with a low blow, which allowed eventual winner Drew McIntyre to eliminate him with a Claymore Kick. On the February 3 episode of "Raw", Ricochet defeated Bobby Lashley and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match to earn a WWE Championship opportunity against Lesnar at Super ShowDown.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: At the Royal Rumble, Roman Reigns defeated King Corbin in a falls count anywhere match; both also unsuccessfully competed in the Royal Rumble match. Reigns and The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) then defeated Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, and Robert Roode on the following "SmackDown" in a six-man tag team match, in which the loser ate dog food. The following week, Corbin stated that he should have won all of those matches and that he would have won the ones against Reigns had it not been for The Usos' interference. He then demanded one more match with Reigns, who came out and attacked Corbin, who managed to escape. Afterwards, Reigns accepted the challenge as a steel cage match, which was scheduled for Super ShowDown.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: On the February 7 episode of "SmackDown", WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg was interviewed from his home via satellite. He stated that after watching the Royal Rumble, it made him want to get back in the ring—his last match was at SummerSlam in August 2019. With his old rival Brock Lesnar tied up with Ricochet and Drew McIntyre over the WWE Championship, Goldberg turned his attention to the Universal Championship, as he never received a rematch for the title after losing it to Lesnar back at WrestleMania 33 in April 2017. After Universal Champion Bray Wyatt interrupted Goldberg with a special news version of the "Firefly Fun House", Goldberg challenged Wyatt's alter-ego "The Fiend" for the Universal Championship. Wyatt then stated that "The Fiend" accepted. The match was then scheduled for Super ShowDown.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: On the February 10 episode of "Raw", a gauntlet match for the first-ever Tuwaiq Trophy was scheduled for Super ShowDown. AJ Styles, United States Champion Andrade, Bobby Lashley, Erick Rowan, R-Truth, and Rusev were announced for the match. Rusev, however, was removed from the match and replaced by Rey Mysterio on the February 24 episode of "Raw".


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: At the Royal Rumble during the women's Royal Rumble match, Naomi made a surprise return following a six-month hiatus, while later on the show, Bayley successfully retained the SmackDown Women's Championship. On the following "SmackDown", Bayley claimed that she had defeated every woman on the roster. Naomi interrupted, taking exception to the claim as Bayley had never defeated her. The following week, Naomi participated in a fatal four-way match to determine Bayley's next opponent, which was won by Carmella, who faced Bayley for the title on the February 14 episode; however, Bayley retained after using the ropes as leverage to pin Carmella. After the match, both Carmella and Naomi attacked Bayley. A match between Carmella and Naomi was then scheduled for the following week that Naomi won, thus earning her a title match against Bayley at Super ShowDown, marking the second women's match to be held in Saudi Arabia, but the first to be contested for a championship.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: On the February 17 episode of "Raw", after Kevin Owens and The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) defeated Murphy and AOP (Akam and Rezar) via disqualification due to Seth Rollins' interference, The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) came out and aided Owens and The Viking Raiders by attacking Murphy, Akam, and Rezar while Rollins retreated. Later, Rollins and Murphy were scheduled to defend the Raw Tag Team Championship against The Street Profits at Super ShowDown.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: On the February 26 episode of "The Bump", three further matches were announced for Super ShowDown. Saudi's own and NXT wrestler Mansoor was scheduled to face Dolph Ziggler, Humberto Carrillo was scheduled to face NXT's Angel Garza in a rematch from the February 24 episode of "Raw", and The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) were scheduled to face The O.C. (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) on the Super ShowDown Kickoff pre-show.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: During the Super ShowDown Kickoff pre-show, The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) faced The O.C (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson). In the end, as Ivar attempted a moonsault on Anderson, the latter moved out of the way and tagged in Gallows. The O.C. then performed the Magic Killer on Ivar to win the match.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: The actual pay-per-view opened with the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy Gauntlet Match. The match began with R-Truth and Bobby Lashley (accompanied by Lana) as the first two participants. Truth eliminated Lashley with a roll up. After his elimination, Lashley attacked Truth. The third participant was United States Champion Andrade, who was eliminated after exchanging headbutts with Truth, after which, Truth landed onto Andrade for the pin. The fourth participant was Erick Rowan. During the match, Rowan threw Truth into the ring steps which knocked over Rowan's cage which was on top of the steps. An irate Rowan then attacked Truth with the steel steps, thus being eliminated by disqualification. The penultimate participant was AJ Styles, who eliminated Truth by submitting him with the Calf Crusher. The final participant was originally Rey Mysterio, however, Mysterio was attacked backstage by The O.C (Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson). Styles then claimed himself the winner by forfeit, however, the referee declared that Styles would only win by forfeit if Mysterio did not make it to the ring by the count of ten. As the referee counted, the camera cut backstage and showed that The O.C. were attacked by The Undertaker, who then made his entrance, taking Mysterio's place. Undertaker then performed a Chokeslam on a surprised Styles to win the match and the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: Next, The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships against The Miz and John Morrison. During the match, Kingston attempted a suicide dive on Miz who was outside the ring, only for Miz to avoid Kingston. Miz performed a Skull Crushing Finale on Big E for a nearfall. In the climax, Morrison attacked Kingston with a chair and Miz performed a roll-up on Kingston to win the title.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: After that, Humberto Carrillo faced Angel Garza. In the end, Garza performed a roll-up on Carrillo to win the match.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: In the fourth match, Seth Rollins and Murphy defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford). After Murphy performed a Ripcord Knee on Dawkins, he fell onto the bottom ring rope, allowing Rollins to perform The Stomp on Dawkins. Murphy then pinned Dawkins to retain the title.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: Next, Mansoor faced Dolph Ziggler (accompanied by Robert Roode). Before the match officially began, Roode had an altercation with Mansoor, after which, Mansoor attacked Roode. This resulted in the referee ejecting Roode from ringside. In the end, Mansoor performed a moonsault on Ziggler to win the match. Following the match, Mansoor gave a heartwarming speech to his hometown crowd.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: After that, Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defended the WWE Championship against Ricochet. Lesnar performed three German suplexes and an F-5 on Ricochet to retain the title in under two minutes.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: Next, Roman Reigns fought King Corbin in a Steel Cage match. Reigns was carrying a chain around his neck and as Reigns locked the cage door with it, Corbin attacked Reigns. During the match, Corbin managed to unlock the cage door. As Corbin tried to escape, Reigns attacked Corbin with the cage door. Corbin mocked Reigns and attempted to perform his own Superman Punch on Reigns but with the chain wrapped around his fist, however, Reigns intercepted Corbin with one of his own for a nearfall. In the end, Reigns performed a Superman Punch (with the chain wrapped around his fist) on Corbin to win the match.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: In the penultimate match, Bayley defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Naomi. The end saw Bayley trap Naomi's leg in her shirt and perform a facebuster on Naomi to retain the title. Due to Saudi Arabian modesty laws, both women wore full body suits and t-shirts, though while Bayley's was an all-black body suit, Naomi's was colourful to match her glow gimmick.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: In the main event, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defended the Universal Championship against Goldberg. After a stare down, Goldberg quickly performed a spear on The Fiend for a nearfall. The Fiend then applied the Mandible Claw on Goldberg, who managed to power out of it. Goldberg performed three more spears on The Fiend for a nearfall. The Fiend then sat up to a surprised Goldberg and applied another Mandible Claw on him, however, Goldberg managed to power out of it again and performed a Jackhammer on the Fiend to win the title for a second time, becoming the first wrestler to win a world championship after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. This also gave The Fiend his first loss since the debut of the character. After the match, The Fiend quickly rose to his feet and stared down a celebrating Goldberg, only for the lights to go out, when the lights illuminated, The Fiend had disappeared.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: The event received overall negative reactions from fans and critics, with the matches for the Tuwaiq Trophy, the WWE Championship, and the Universal Championship being near-universally panned. Jason Powell of "Pro Wrestling Dot Net" calling it "not a hot show" and gave a negative review, while Nolan Howell of "Slam! Sports" did the same, calling it "boring" and stating, "The most you can hope for is these shows [in Saudi Arabia] ending up being inoffensive and this show JUST managed to make it past that mark." Elton Jones of "Heavy" stated that it continued WWE's habit of weak pay-per-views in Saudi Arabia, calling it "yet another subpar show full of basic bouts that belong on a house show, puzzling booking decisions, and only one or two worthwhile matches worth watching again." Larry Csonka of "411mania" gave the event a 4.5/10 rating, while Daniel Van Boom of "CNET" stated that "the overwhelming majority of the card was just OK. Not terrible, not good, just there." The negative fan reaction to the event (most notably to Goldberg's win) was noted by various media outlets; the hashtag "CancelWWENetwork" became a trending topic, similarly to other poorly received recent WWE events. "Sports Illustrated" stated that fans were "incandescent about what took place".


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: The WWE Championship and Universal Championship matches were both universally panned for their short lengths, and for damaging the credibility of their respective losers, in particular Wyatt's. "CBSSports.com" gave the WWE Championship match a D rating (the lowest on the card), calling it "a complete waste of time and another nail in the coffin that is Ricochet's WWE booking." They rated the Universal Championship match a D+ and panned the booking, stating: "The length of the match made sense due to Goldberg's age and energy level, but the fact that he was able to beat The Fiend so easily whereas a dozen Stomps from Seth Rollins followed by tons of weapon shots [referring to Hell in a Cell 2019] could not put him down makes absolutely no booking sense. That's not to mention the fact that a 53-year-old Goldberg went over a guy in Wyatt who WWE has been building up specifically for 'Mania over the last four-plus months in 2:57."


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: The Tuwaiq Trophy match was criticized for its length and twist ending, with some critics comparing the finish to Shane McMahon's panned win of the WWE World Cup at the Crown Jewel event in 2018, which also took place in Saudi Arabia. "Pro Wrestling Dot Net" called the match "ridiculous". "411mania" also compared it to the WWE World Cup by stating that "[WWE] killed another Saudi special match with a winner that wasn't even involved."; they gave the match a 1/5 rating, stating "this was bad, long for the sake of being long".


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: Conversely, the two tag team championship matches were praised, with the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match being singled out as the best match of the night by most. "CBSSports.com" described the SmackDown Tag Team Championship match to have "very good tag action," particularly complimenting the performances of John Morrison and Kofi Kingston. They also described the Raw Tag Team Championship match as an "exciting, entertaining match that [had] easily stolen the show to [that] point." "Heavy" named the SmackDown match the Match of the Night, giving it a 3.5/5 rating and stating that "props goes out to both of these teams for a job well done. [...] What we got here was a fun, well-paced matchup that was capped off by a welcome title change." They also gave the Raw match a 3/5 rating, calling it "a fun and solid affair.""Pro Wrestling Dot Net" also reacted positively towards the SmackDown tag team title match, stating that it had "good action down the stretch." The tag team championship matches were the only matches to receive a rating average or above from "Slam! Sports", who stated about The SmackDown tag team title match: "Miz and Morrison aren't missing a beat in their return and their cutting off New Day comebacks played really well here" and rating it 3.25/5, the highest-rated match of the card. The event would be voted as the Worst Major Wrestling Show of 2020 by readers of the "Wrestling Observer Newsletter".


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: New Universal Champion Goldberg appeared on the following night's episode of "SmackDown" and issued an open challenge that was accepted by Roman Reigns. The match was scheduled for WrestleMania 36, though due to concerns over Reigns' health because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he was replaced by Braun Strowman in the match.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: Following his loss to Goldberg, "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt appeared on the following night's episode of "SmackDown" and confronted a returning John Cena, who was seemingly announcing his retirement. The Fiend challenged Cena to a match at WrestleMania 36 and Cena accepted the challenge.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley refused to face Naomi in a rematch, stating that she already defeated her at Super ShowDown. Bayley then introduced a returning Sasha Banks and she and Bayley proceeded to attack Naomi. Lacey Evans came out to even the odds and a tag team match featuring Evans and Naomi against Banks and Bayley was scheduled. Naomi and Evans won with Naomi pinning Bayley. Bayley was eventually scheduled to defend her title in a fatal five-way elimination match against the other three women, as well as a returning Tamina, at WrestleMania 36.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: After winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, The Miz and John Morrison were scheduled to defend the title in a tag team Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber. The challengers announced for the match were former champions The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston), The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik), and Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: On the following "Raw", a disgruntled AJ Styles mocked The Undertaker for still wrestling and issued a warning. The Undertaker in turn cost Styles his match at Elimination Chamber. Styles eventually challenged Undertaker to a match at WrestleMania 36 as a Boneyard match that Undertaker accepted, cutting a promo akin to his "American Bad Ass" gimmick (circa 2000–2003). Following this non-live cinematic match, The Undertaker retired from the industry, rendering his Super ShowDown bout the final live in-ring match of his career.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: On the following "Raw", The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) were given one final opportunity at the Raw Tag Team Championship where they defeated Rollins and Murphy to win the title. Another rematch was then scheduled for Elimination Chamber.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: Also on "Raw", Humberto Carrillo teamed with Rey Mysterio to face Angel Garza and United States Champion Andrade. Carrillo pinned Andrade, earning a title match at Elimination Chamber.


title: Super ShowDown (2020)

text: Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a Super ShowDown event was not held in 2021. COVID restrictions were lifted later that year, and WWE returned to Saudi Arabia with the Crown Jewel event in October. That same month, the company revealed their PPV calendar for 2022, and Super ShowDown was not included. WWE's two Saudi Arabian PPVs for 2022 would be Elimination Chamber in February, and Crown Jewel in November.


title: About Last Night (1986 film)

text: About Last Night (stylized as "About Last Night...") is a 1986 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Edward Zwick, and starring Rob Lowe and Demi Moore as Chicago yuppies who enter a committed relationship for the first time. The screenplay by Tim Kazurinsky and Denise DeClue is based on the 1974 David Mamet play "Sexual Perversity in Chicago". The film received positive reviews. It was remade in 2014.


title: About Last Night (1986 film)

text: In Chicago, Dan Martin and Bernie Litko, two 20-something friends and colleagues, discuss their sexual escapades. Later on, Bernie and Dan's recreational softball team, sponsored by local bar "Mother's," plays against a local advertising agency and wins. Attending this game with her girlfriends is Debbie Sullivan, who works at the advertising company and is sleeping with her boss, Steve.


title: About Last Night (1986 film)

text: Debbie catches Dan's eye and they flirt at the beer keg. She and her friends, Joan and Pat, decide to attend the game's afterparty at Mother's, where Debbie again runs into Dan, with whom Pat flirts and Joan takes an immediate dislike to. They wind up back at Dan's apartment and sleep together, after which Debbie hastily leaves.


title: About Last Night (1986 film)

text: The next day, Dan calls Debbie at work "about last night," and asks her out on a second date, to which she accepts. Afterwards, they again wind up in bed together and spend the following day exploring the city, where Dan reveals to Debbie that his dream is to quit his job at a restaurant supply company and open his own restaurant. They begin dating more seriously and move in together, much to the chagrin of Joan and Bernie, who dislike each other as well.


title: About Last Night (1986 film)

text: As neither has ever been in a serious relationship before, they attempt to navigate cohabitation without much support from their friends. They experience much throughout their relationship: Dan being contacted by a former lover who is married with children, Debbie's boss Steve having difficulty accepting the end of their affair, Joan softening when she begins dating her new boyfriend Gary, a pregnancy scare, and Dan having difficulties with his boss, who wants him to stop providing supplies to the Swallow, an oldish diner owned by his client-turned-friend Gus.


title: About Last Night (1986 film)

text: Despite having told each other the “L Word,” Debbie and Dan's relationship becomes strained. It reaches a boiling point at a New Year's Eve party at Mother's, where Debbie witnesses a drunken Pat making advances towards Dan, and Joan discovers her boyfriend is married and returning to his wife. Joan tearfully asks Debbie to take her home, to which she agrees, despite Dan's drunken objections. Upon Debbie's return home, Dan says he's not happy, and ends their relationship. Debbie immediately moves out of their apartment and back in with Joan. Despite getting back on the dating scene quickly, Dan begins to regret his decision regarding Debbie.


title: About Last Night (1986 film)

text: After a few months he calls her and acts nonchalant; Debbie tells him to get lost and hangs up on him. He starts to lurk around Debbie's social outings, culminating in him telling her he made a mistake and misses her at the St. Patrick's Day celebration at Mother's. Debbie turns him down, saying, "You asked me to leave and I left" and that getting over him was the hardest thing she's ever had to do.


title: About Last Night (1986 film)

text: Hoping to move on with his life, Dan partners with Gus to revitalize the Swallow into an old-school diner, achieving his dream. That summer, at another softball game, Dan and Bernie see Debbie riding her bike through the park with Joan, who convinces her to go and talk to Dan. She approaches him and they both express regret at how their relationship turned out. As Debbie begins to turn away, Dan asks her out again and suggests they go to a great new place, but she suggests with a smile that they just go to "some old joint," signifying that she is aware of his new restaurant. As she rides away on her bike, Bernie convinces Dan to run after her, and the camera pans out to see Dan and Debbie passing through the park, hinting at their renewed relationship.


title: About Last Night (1986 film)

text: The film was a box office success, grossing $38,702,310 domestically. It was the 26th highest-grossing movie of 1986, and the tenth highest-grossing R-rated movie of 1986.


title: About Last Night (1986 film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 61% rating based on 28 reviews. The site's consensus states: ""About Last Night" will perturb fans of the original stage play by sanding down its pricklier edges, but an amiable cast and sexual frankness make this a pleasantly grounded romantic comedy." On Metacritic the film has a score 70% based on reviews from 17 critics, "indicating generally favorable reviews." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A−" on scale of A to F.


title: About Last Night (1986 film)

text: Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 4 out of 4 stars, writing in his review that ""About Last Night . . . " is one of the rarest of recent American movies, because it deals fearlessly with real people, instead of with special effects." The lead performances were especially praised, with Ebert writing "Lowe and Moore, members of Hollywood's "Brat Pack," are survivors of last summer's awful movie about yuppie singles, "St. Elmo's Fire". This is the movie "St. Elmo's Fire" should have been. Last summer's movie made them look stupid and shallow. "About Last Night . . . " gives them the best acting opportunities either one has ever had, and they make the most of them." Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times called it "Tender, marvelously well played (by almost everyone) and thoroughly engaging. When it comes to the current sexual skirmishes between men and women, screenwriters Tim Kazurinsky and Denise DeClue (Second City alumni) know every inch of enemy territory and take no prisoners." Vincent Canby of the New York Times gave it a mixed review, calling it "an occasionally bright, knowing look at the same singles scene that's been explored no less effectively by a number of other, very similar movies".


title: About Last Night (1986 film)

text: The film's music soundtrack album was released on EMI Records. The album includes music by Sheena Easton, Michael Henderson, John Oates; as well as Jermaine Jackson, Bob Seger, Paul Davis and John Waite.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: Spanning over three thousand years, ancient Egypt was not one stable civilization but in constant change and upheaval, commonly split into periods by historians. Likewise, ancient Egyptian architecture is not one style, but a set of styles differing over time but with some commonalities.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: The best known example of ancient Egyptian architecture are the Egyptian pyramids, while excavated temples, palaces, tombs, and fortresses have also been studied. Most buildings were built of locally available mud brick and limestone by levied workers. Monumental buildings were built using the post and lintel method of construction. Many buildings were aligned astronomically. Columns were typically adorned with capitals decorated to resemble plants important to Egyptian civilization, such as the papyrus plant.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: Ancient Egyptian architectural motifs have influenced architecture elsewhere, reaching the wider world first during the Orientalizing period and again during the nineteenth-century Egyptomania.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: Due to the scarcity of wood, the two predominant building materials used in ancient Egypt were sun-baked mud brick and stone, mainly limestone, but also sandstone and granite in considerable quantities. From the Old Kingdom onward, stone was generally reserved for tombs and temples, while bricks were used even for royal palaces, fortresses, the walls of temple precincts and towns, and for subsidiary buildings in temple complexes. The core of the pyramids consisted of locally quarried stone, mud bricks, sand or gravel. For the casing, stones were used that had to be transported from farther away, predominantly white limestone from Tura and red granite from upper Egypt.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: Ancient Egyptian houses were made out of mud collected from the damp banks of the Nile river. It was placed in moulds and left to dry in the hot sun to harden for use in construction. If the bricks were intended to be used in a royal tomb like a pyramid, the exterior bricks would also be finely chiselled and polished.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: Many Egyptian towns have disappeared because they were situated near the cultivated area of the Nile Valley and were flooded as the river bed slowly rose during the millennia, or the mud bricks and sun-dried brick of which they were built were used by peasants as fertilizer. Others are inaccessible, new buildings having been erected on ancient ones. However, the dry, hot climate of Egypt preserved some mud brick structures. Examples include the village Deir al-Madinah, the Middle Kingdom town at Kahun, and the fortresses at Buhen and Mirgissa. Also, many temples and tombs have survived because they were built on high ground unaffected by the Nile flood and were constructed of stone.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: Thus, our understanding of ancient Egyptian architecture is based mainly on religious monuments, massive structures characterized by thick, sloping walls with few openings, possibly echoing a method of construction used to obtain stability in mud walls. In a similar manner, the incised and flatly modeled surface adornment of the stone buildings may have derived from mud wall ornamentation. Although the use of the arch was developed during the fourth dynasty, all monumental buildings are post and lintel constructions, with flat roofs constructed of huge stone blocks supported by the external walls and the closely spaced columns.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: Exterior and interior walls, as well as the columns and piers, were covered with hieroglyphic and pictorial frescoes and carvings painted in brilliant colors. Many motifs of Egyptian ornamentation are symbolic, such as the scarab, or sacred beetle, the solar disk, and the vulture. Other common motifs include palm leaves, the papyrus plant, and the buds and flowers of the lotus. Hieroglyphs were inscribed for decorative purposes as well as to record historic events or spells. In addition, these pictorial frescoes and carvings allow us to understand how the Ancient Egyptians lived, statuses, wars that were fought, and their beliefs. This was especially true in recent years when exploring the tombs of Ancient Egyptian officials.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: Ancient Egyptian temples were aligned with astronomically significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes, requiring precise measurements at the moment of the particular event. Measurements at the most significant temples may have been ceremonially undertaken by the Pharaoh himself.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: As early as 2600 BC the architect Imhotep made use of stone columns whose surface was carved to reflect the organic form of bundled reeds, like papyrus, lotus and palm; in later Egyptian architecture faceted cylinders were also common. Their form is thought to derive from archaic reed-built shrines. Carved from stone, the columns were highly decorated with carved and painted hieroglyphs, texts, ritual imagery and natural motifs. Egyptian columns are famously present in the Great Hypostyle Hall of Karnak (circa 1224 BC), where 134 columns are lined up in 16 rows, with some columns reaching heights of 24 metres.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: One of the most important type are the papyriform columns. The origin of these columns goes back to the 5th Dynasty. They are composed of lotus (papyrus) stems which are drawn together into a bundle decorated with bands: the capital, instead of opening out into the shape of a bellflower, swells out and then narrows again like a flower in bud. The base, which tapers to take the shape of a half-sphere like the stem of the lotus, has a continuously recurring decoration of stipules. At the Luxor Temple, the columns are reminiscent of papyrus bundles, perhaps symbolic of the marsh from which the ancient Egyptians believed the creation of the world to have unfolded.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments is located some 8 kilometers (5 mi) inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 20 kilometers (12 mi) southwest of Cairo city center. This ancient Egyptian necropolis consists of the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the Great Pyramid or the Pyramid of Cheops), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Kephren/Chefren), and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinus/Mycerinus), along with a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, the Great Sphinx as well as a few hundred mastabas and chapels.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: The pyramids, which were built in the Fourth Dynasty, testify to the power of the pharaonic religion and state. They were built to serve both as grave sites and also as a way to make their names last forever. The size and simple design show the high skill level of Egyptian design and engineering on a large scale. The Great Pyramid of Giza, which was probably completed c. 2580 BC, is the oldest of the Giza pyramids and the largest pyramid in the world, and is the only surviving monument of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The pyramid of Khafre is believed to have been completed around 2532 BC, at the end of Khafre's reign. Khafre ambitiously placed his pyramid next to his father's. It is not as tall as his father's pyramid but he was able to give it the impression of appearing taller by building it on a site with a foundation 33 feet (10 m) higher than his father's. Along with building his pyramid, Chefren commissioned the building of the giant Sphinx as guardian over his tomb. The face of a human, possibly a depiction of the pharaoh, on a lion's body was seen as a symbol of divinity among the Greeks fifteen hundred years later. The Great Sphinx is carved out of the limestone bedrock and stands about 65 feet (20 m) tall. Menkaure's pyramid dates to circa 2490 BC and stands 213 feet (65 m) high making it the smallest of the Great Pyramids.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: Popular culture leads people to believe that Pyramids are highly confusing, with many tunnels within the pyramid to create confusion for grave robbers. This is not true. The shafts of pyramids are quite simple, mostly leading directly to the tomb. The immense size of the pyramids attracted robbers to the wealth that lay inside which caused the tombs to be robbed relatively soon after the tomb was sealed in some cases. There are sometimes additional tunnels, but these were used for the builders to understand how far they could dig the tomb into the crust of the Earth. Also, it is popularly thought that due to grave robbers, future kings were buried in the Valley of the Kings to help keep them hidden. This is also false, as the pyramid construction continued for many dynasties, just on a smaller scale. Finally, the pyramid construction was stopped due to economic factors, not theft.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: The Luxor Temple is a huge ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the River Nile in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes). Construction work on the temple began during the reign of Amenhotep III in the 14th century BC. Horemheb and Tutankhamun added columns, statues, and friezes – and Akhenaten had earlier obliterated his father's cartouches and installed a shrine to the Aten – but the only major expansion effort took place under Ramesses II some 100 years after the first stones were put in place. Luxor is thus unique among the main Egyptian temple complexes in having only two pharaohs leave their mark on its architectural structure.


title: Ancient Egyptian architecture

text: The temple proper begins with the high First Pylon, built by Ramesses II. The pylon was decorated with scenes of Ramesses's military triumphs (particularly the Battle of Qadesh); later pharaohs, particularly those of the Kushite dynasty, also recorded their victories there. This main entrance to the temple complex was originally flanked by six colossal statues of Ramesses – four seated, and two standing – but only two (both seated) have survived. Modern visitors can also see a tall pink granite obelisk: this one of a matching pair until 1835, when the other one was taken to Paris where it now stands in the centre of the Place de la Concorde.