title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Nevertheless, he did not forget his principal target, the Turks. Being unable to go on campaign himself, he entrusted the imperial army to one of his generals, Manuel Komnenos, nephew of the former emperor Isaac I, and elder brother to the future emperor Alexios. He managed to engage the Turks in battle, but was defeated and taken prisoner by a Turkish general named Khroudj. Manuel convinced Khroudj to go to Constantinople and see Romanos in person to conclude an alliance, which was soon completed. This act motivated the Seljuk Sultan Alp Arslan to attack the Byzantine Empire, besieging and capturing the important Byzantine fortresses of Manzikert and Archesh. Romanos, in return, offered to officially exchange Manzikert and Archesh for Hieropolis in Syria, which Romanos had taken three years previously.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Early in the spring of 1071, whilst conducting negotiations with Alp Arslan over Manzikert, Romanos marched at the head of a large army with the intent of recovering the fortress. It was soon evident that the army had a serious discipline problem, with soldiers regularly pillaging the area around their nightly camps. When Romanos attempted to enforce some stricter discipline, a whole regiment of German mercenaries mutinied, which the emperor only managed to control with the greatest difficulty.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Believing that Alp Arslan was nowhere near Manzikert, he decided to divide his army. One part of the army he dispatched to attack Akhlat, at that time in possession of the Turks. Romanos himself advanced with the main body of the army on Manzikert, which he soon recaptured. At this point his advance guard met the Seljuk army, which was rapidly approaching Manzikert. Romanos ordered the forces attacking Akhlat to rejoin the army, but their portion of the army unexpectedly came across another large Turkish army, forcing them to retreat back into Mesopotamia. Already under strength, Romanos' army was further weakened when his Uzes mercenaries deserted to the Turks.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Arslan had no desire to take on the Byzantine army, so he proposed a peace treaty with favourable terms for Romanos. The emperor, eager for a decisive military victory, rejected the offer, and both armies lined up for a battle, which took place on 26 August 1071. The battle lasted all day without either side gaining any decisive advantage, until the emperor ordered a part of his centre to return to camp. The order was misunderstood by the right wing, however, and Andronikos Doukas, who commanded the reserves, and was the son of "Caesar" John Doukas, took advantage of the confusion to betray Romanos. Claiming that Romanos was dead, he marched away from the battle with some 30,000 men, instead of covering the emperor's retreat. The Turks now began to press in on the Byzantine army.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: When Romanos discovered what had happened, he tried to recover the situation by making a defiant stand. He fought on valiantly after his horse was killed under him, killing many enemies and causing others to flee, but he received a wound in the hand, which prevented him from wielding a sword, and he was soon taken prisoner.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: A number of other sources speak of the valor shown by Romanos at Manzikert: Romanus “launched himself into the thick of the battle. He knocked down several very valiant Persian fighters and caused disarray in their ranks,” according to a contemporary Armenian account. Michael Psellus, whom was normally critical, begrudgingly writes, “According to my several informants he actually killed many of them and put others to flight”


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: According to a number of Byzantine historians, including John Skylitzes, Arslan at first had difficulty believing the dusty and tattered warrior brought before him was the Roman Emperor. Romanos and Arslan never expected to meet each other under such circumstances. He then stepped down from his seat and placed his foot on Romanos' neck. After this sign of ritual humiliation, however, Arslan raised Romanos from the ground and ordered him to be treated like a king. From then on he treated him with extreme kindness, never saying a cruel word to him during the Emperor's eight-day stay in his camp. He then released the Emperor in exchange for a treaty and the promise of a hefty ransom. At first Alp Arslan suggested a ransom of 10,000,000 "nomismata" to Romanos IV, but he later reduced it to 1,500,000 "nomismata", with a further 360,000 "nomismata" annually.


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: It is reported that upon seeing the Roman emperor, the sultan leapt from his throne like a mad man, commanded Romanus to kiss the ground, and stepped on his neck. He repeatedly berated the emperor, including for spurning his emissaries and offers of peace. The unrepentant Romanus was laconic, and deigned only to offer the curtest responses to his captor’s fiery upbraiding. He merely had done what was “possible for a man, and which kings are bound to do, and I have fallen short in nothing. But God has fulfilled his will. And now, do what you wish and abandon recriminations.”


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Other muslim sources claim Alp Arslan treated Romanos in a harsh and petty way. “You are too trivial in my view for me to kill you,” the sultan is said to have declared before his Turks in Muslim sources. “Take him to the person who pays most.” When no one reportedly wanted to purchase the “Dog of the Romans,” Alp Arslan scoffed that that was “because the dog is better than he is!” “He struck him three or four blows with his hand and when Romanus collapsed he kicked him a similar number of times”; he “put him in chains and fettered his hand to his neck”; he pulled his hair and put his face to the ground, while informing him, “your troops are food for the Muslims.”


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Wanting to test the Roman, Alp Arslan then asked Romanus what he would do to him if he was his prisoner, Romanus frankly answered "the worst!". The answer impressed Alp Arslan and he said "Ah! by Allah! He has spoken the truth! If he had spoken otherwise, he would be lying. This is an intelligent, tough man. It is not permissible that he should be killed". After agreeing on a ransom, Alp Arslan then sent emperor Romanos back to Constantinople with a Turkish escort that carried a banner above the disgraced Emperor that read:"There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger".


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: In the meantime, the opposition faction scheming against Romanos IV decided to exploit the situation. Michael VII was proclaimed sole ruler on 1 October 1071, declaring Romanos as deposed. A month later, the "caesar" John Doukas and Michael Psellos forced Eudokia to retire to a monastery. They then refused to honor the agreement made between Arslan and the former emperor. Romanos soon returned, and he and the Doukas family gathered troops. A battle was fought between Constantine, Andronikos Doukas and Romanos. Romanos was defeated and retreated to the fortress of Tyropoion, and from there to Adana in Cilicia. Pursued by Andronikos, he was eventually forced to surrender by the garrison at Adana upon receiving assurances of his personal safety. Before leaving the fortress, he collected all the money he could lay his hands on and sent it to the Sultan as proof of his good faith, along with a message: "As emperor, I promised you a ransom of a million and a half. Dethroned, and about to become dependent upon others, I send you all I possess as proof of my gratitude".


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: Andronikos stipulated that his life would be spared if he resigned the purple and retired into a monastery. Romanos agreed, and this agreement was ratified at Constantinople. However, John Doukas reneged on the agreement and sent men to ambush and have Romanos cruelly blinded on 29 June 1072 in Kotyaion. According to Attaleiates, the emperor was led away, pleading for mercy. Per Attaleiates, "when he arose, his eyes were drenched with blood, a pathetic and pitiable sight that made everyone who saw it cry uncontrollably." He was then sent into exile to Prote in the Sea of Marmara. Without medical assistance, his wound became infected, and he soon endured a painfully lingering death. The final insult was given a few days before his death, when Romanos received a letter from Michael Psellos, congratulating him on the loss of his eyes. He finally died, praying for the forgiveness of his sins, and his widow Eudokia was permitted to honor his remains with a magnificent funeral. "His enemies", wrote John Julius Norwich, "martyred a courageous and upright man."


title: Romanos IV Diogenes

text: By his first wife, an unnamed daughter of Alusian of Bulgaria, Romanos IV Diogenes had at least one son:


title: Light pillar

text: A light pillar is an atmospheric optical phenomenon in which a vertical beam of light appears to extend above and/or below a light source. The effect is created by the reflection of light from tiny ice crystals that are suspended in the atmosphere or that comprise high-altitude clouds (e.g. cirrostratus or cirrus clouds). If the light comes from the Sun (usually when it is near or even below the horizon), the phenomenon is called a sun pillar or solar pillar. Light pillars can also be caused by the Moon or terrestrial sources, such as streetlights and erupting volcanoes.


title: Light pillar

text: Since they are caused by the interaction of light with ice crystals, light pillars belong to the family of halos. The crystals responsible for light pillars usually consist of flat, hexagonal plates, which tend to orient themselves more or less horizontally as they fall through the air. Each flake acts as a tiny mirror which reflects light sources which are appropriately positioned below it (See drawing), and the presence of flakes at a spread of altitudes causes the reflection to be elongated vertically into a column. The larger and more numerous the crystals, the more pronounced this effect becomes. More rarely, column-shaped crystals can cause light pillars as well. In very cold weather, the ice crystals can be suspended near the ground, in which case they are referred to as diamond dust.


title: Light pillar

text: Unlike a light beam, a light pillar is not physically located above or below the light source. Its appearance as a vertical line is an optical illusion, resulting from the collective reflection off the ice crystals; but only those that are in the common vertical plane, direct the light rays towards the observer (See drawing). This is similar to viewing a light source on a body of water. Ripples on the surface of the water reflect the light source in many directions, and those that happen to be aimed at the viewer, combine to form a bright line pointing toward the light source.


title: Awara Paagal Deewana

text: Awara Paagal Deewana (English: "Wayward, Crazy, Insane") is a 2002 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film directed by Vikram Bhatt. The film's music was composed by Anu Malik, and the lyrics by Sameer. It has a plot loosely inspired by "The Whole Nine Yards", and features action scenes choreograph by stunt director Dion Lam, who worked on "The Matrix" and Hong Kong action films. It features Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Aftab Shivdasani, Paresh Rawal, Johnny Lever, Preeti Jhangiani, Aarti Chhabria, Amrita Arora and Rahul Dev.


title: Awara Paagal Deewana

text: "Awara Paagal Deewana" released worldwide on 21 June, 2002, received mixed reviews from critics. The film was notable for lavish and exotic song picturizations, action scenes by Akshay Kumar and performances of Paresh Rawal and Johnny Lever.


title: Awara Paagal Deewana

text: The story centres on the legacy of a dead Indian underworld don Baba Baldev Prasad, who dies of a heart attack. He leaves diamonds worth $200mn at the New York Bank, to be distributed equally between his son Vikrant, his daughter Preeti, and Preeti's husband Guru Gulab Khatri. To claim the diamonds, all three benefactors must be present at the bank or, if dead, their death certificates must be presented.


title: Awara Paagal Deewana

text: Shortly after Don's death, Vikrant attempts to eliminate Guru by assassinating the Indian home minister in full view of television cameras while disguised as him. Guru flees to the US disguised as someone else to escape prosecution. Guru moves to the street where Anmol and his family live. Anmol recognizes him from the news. His mother-in-law forces him to go to India, along with his father-in-law, Manilal to tell Vikrant about Guru and get the reward. But everything turns wrong when Vikrant doesn't give the reward and instead sends Anmol and Manilal back to the US with his hired men, Yeda Anna and Chota Chathri to kill Guru. Later, they find out that Yeda Anna was a double agent: He was working for Guru the whole time because he offered more money. The group receive Vikrant and Preeti at the airport and drive to the hotel. At the hotel, Vikrant is kidnapped by a mysterious group of Chinese goons. Yeda Anna receives a phone call and finds out that the kidnapped Vikrant was a duplicate of the real one and the real one was going to come later by plane. They kill the second Vikrant and put his body in a car by the Brooklyn Bridge.


title: Awara Paagal Deewana

text: With Vikrant's death, Preeti and Guru each get half of the diamonds. When they are outside the bank, a group of policemen arrest them and take them to an unknown desert area. It is revealed that Vikrant is still alive and the first Vikrant was kidnapped by Chinese goons. Vikrant gets the diamonds and tries to kill Guru. A fight occurs. At the end of the fight, Guru kills Vikrant. When it's all over, they ask each other to find out who has the diamonds. Anmol has them and says he will give them to Guru if he gives Preeti a divorce. Guru arrives at the location selected by Anmol and gets the diamonds while giving Anmol the divorce papers. Yeda Anna double crosses Guru and tries to steal the diamonds. Guru wins in a fight and Yeda gives the diamonds to Guru while hanging him to a bar and having him stand on Chota Chathri's shoulders. In the end, Anmol and his love, Preeti, are seen going to India. Anmol's ex-father-in-law gives him some diamonds that he received from Guru. Preeti comments that she didn't know that Guru was so nice.


title: Awara Paagal Deewana

text: Taran Adarsh of IndiaFM gave the film 2 stars out of 5, writing ″On the whole, AWARA PAAGAL DEEWANA has an excellent first half, but a just-about-okay second half. From the box-office point of view, the fabulous stunts, excellent music and an aggressive promotion will help the film reach the safety mark. Business in metros should prove to be the best. Well worth a watch!″ Anjum N of Rediff.com wrote ″Director Bhatt should concentrate on what he does best --- make small budget, non star cast films (Ghulam being an exception). Here, he shows his capability in handling the comic scenes well --- there weren't many light scenes in his earlier films. But overall, he fails to hold the audience's attention. See the film only if you are a diehard fan of Rawal's comic talent or Akshay's action scenes.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Texas City is a city in Galveston County in the U.S. state of Texas. Located on the southwest shoreline of Galveston Bay, Texas City is a busy deepwater port on Texas's Gulf Coast, as well as a petroleum-refining and petrochemical-manufacturing center. The population was 51,898 at the 2020 census, making it the third-largest city in Galveston County, behind League City and Galveston. It is a part of the Houston metropolitan area. The city is notable as the site of a major explosion in 1947 that demolished the port and much of the city.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Three duck hunters in 1891 noted that a location along Galveston Bay, known locally as Shoal Point, had the potential to become a major port. Shoal Point had existed since the 1830s, when veterans of the Texas Revolution (1835–1836) were awarded land for their services. The name was applied to the community when a post office opened in 1878. The duck hunters were three brothers from Duluth, Minnesota, named Benjamin, Henry, and Jacob Myers. After they returned to Duluth, they formed the Myers Brothers syndicate, convinced other investors to put up money to buy of Galveston Bay frontage, including Shoal Point. They renamed the area Texas City.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: By 1893, the investors had formed the Texas City Improvement Company (TCIC), which plotted and filed the townsite plan. A post office opened in 1893 with Frank B. Davison appointed as the town's first postmaster, to serve about 250 people who had moved there from Minnesota and Michigan. TCIC also received permission from the federal government to dredge an eight-foot channel in the bay from Bolivar Roads (at the east end of Galveston Island) to serve Texas City. In 1894, the channel was first used commercially. TCIC eventually dredged the channel to a 40-foot depth and extended the length of the port to 1.5 mi. TCIC also built a 4-mi railroad to the Texas City Junction south of town, where it connected to two other rail lines: Galveston, Houston and San Antonio and Galveston-Houston and Henderson.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Despite these successes, the TCIC went bankrupt in 1897. Its assets were reorganized into two new companies: Texas City Company (TCC), and Texas City Railway Terminal Company (TCRTC). TCC acquired 3,000 city lots and provided water, gas, and electricity to the town. TCRTC operated the railroad. These companies were chartered on February 4, 1899.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: A grid of streets and avenues was laid out during the 1890s, and houses and other structures began to appear. The Davison Home, where the first childbirth in the town took place, was constructed between 1895 and 1897. As the TCIC, the TCC, and TCRTC expanded, urbanization expanded.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Permission was granted in the summer of 1900 to dredge the Texas City channel to a depth of 25 ft. The disastrous Galveston Hurricane of 1900 interrupted the project, washing the dredge ashore. However, the Texas City port remained open after the storm passed. Even before the channel dredging was complete, the first ocean-going ship, SS "Piqua", arrived at the port from Mexico on September 28, 1904. Dredging was completed March 19, 1905, when the US government opened a customs house in Texas City. Port growth progressed rapidly after this, from 12 ships in 1904, to 239 in 1910.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Texas City Refining Company was chartered in 1908 to build a refinery adjacent to the port facility. For several years, it was the only Texas refinery capable of producing the byproducts wax and lubricating oil. This facility was later acquired and expanded by Texas oilman Sid Richardson. Three more refineries soon followed, making Texas City a major port for deepwater shipping of Texas petroleum products to the Atlantic Coast.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Texas City incorporated in 1911 with a mayor and commission form of government. It held its first mayoral election on September 16, choosing William P. Tarpey as mayor.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The 2nd Division of the United States Army deployed to Texas City in 1913 to guard the Gulf Coast from incursions during the Mexican Revolution, essentially encamping nearly half of the nation's land military personnel there, due to the perceived double threat that the Mexican Revolution might spill over across the border or that the neighboring country might become a German ally in the incipient World War.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The military deployment also included the 1st Aero Division, and the Wright brothers trained over a dozen soldiers as military pilots, essentially turning Texas City into the birthplace of what became the United States Air Force, as the city claims at its monument of the birthplace of the Air Force at Bay Street City Park. Speed and distance records were set by pilots trained and planes flying out of Texas City's impromptu military air base.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: An August 1915 hurricane completely demolished the encampment. Nine soldiers were killed. Military leaders promptly moved the camp to San Antonio.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: In 1921, the Texas City Railway Terminal Company took over operations of the port facilities. Hugh B. Moore was named president of the company and began an ambitious program of expansions. He was credited with attracting a sugar refinery, a fig processing plant, a gasoline cracking plant, and a grain elevator. Also, more warehouses and tank farms were built to support this growth. By 1925, Texas City had an estimated population of 3,500 and was a thriving community with two refineries producing gasoline, the Texas City Sugar Refinery, two cotton compressing facilities, and even passenger bus service.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The Great Depression and competition caused the sugar refinery to fail in 1930. Economic hard times afflicted the city for a few years until the oil business returned to expansion. Republic Oil Refinery opened a gasoline refinery in 1931. In 1934, Pan American Refinery (a subsidiary of Standard Oil Company of Indiana) began operating. Moore was able to win this refinery from the Houston Ship Channel because of Texas City's location nearer the Gulf of Mexico. By the end of the 1930s, Texas City's population had grown to 5,200.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Seatrain Lines constructed a terminal at the Texas City port during 1939–1940. This was a specialized company that owned ships designed to carry railroad cars from Texas City to New York City on a weekly schedule. By 1940, Texas City was the fourth-ranked Texas port, exceeded only by Houston, Beaumont, and Port Arthur.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Texas City is home to the Texas City Dike, a man-made breakwater built of tumbled granite blocks in the 1930s, that was originally designed to protect the lower Houston Ship Channel from silting. The dike, famous among locals as being "the world's longest man-made fishing pier", extends roughly to the southeast into the mouth of Galveston Bay.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Prosperity and industrial expansion returned as the United States became more involved in World War II. Enemy submarines had almost completely stopped the shipment of petroleum products to friendly countries from the Middle East, South America, and Southeast Asia. Texas City refineries and chemical plants worked around the clock at full capacity to supply the war effort. Realizing that all of the world's tin smelters could no longer supply the US demand, Jesse H. Jones, head of the Defense Plant Corporation, decided to build such a smelter in Texas City. The government also funded construction of a petrochemical plant to make styrene monomer, a vital raw material for synthetic rubber. Monsanto Chemical Company contracted to operate the facility, which became the nucleus of an even larger petrochemical complex after the war. By 1950, the local population had reached 16,620.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The postwar prosperity was interrupted on the morning of April 16, 1947, when the French ship "Grandcamp", containing ammonium nitrate fertilizer, exploded, initiating what is generally regarded as the worst industrial accident in United States history, the Texas City disaster. The fertilizer manufactured in Nebraska and Iowa was already overheating when stored at the Texas City docks. The blast devastated the Monsanto plant and offices, which were immediately across the slip from the "Grandcamp", blew away the warehouses, showered shrapnel from the ship in all directions, and ignited a second ship, the S.S."High Flyer", docked at an adjacent slip. Released from its mooring by the blast, the "High Flyer" rammed a third ship, SS "Wilson B. Keene", docked across the slip. Both ships also carried ammonium nitrate fertilizer and were ablaze. They, too, exploded. In all, the explosions killed 581 and injured over 5,000 people. The explosions were so powerful and intense that many of the bodies of the emergency workers who responded to the initial explosion were never accounted for. The entire Texas City and Port Terminal Fire departments were wiped out.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The steel-reinforced concrete grain elevator was pockmarked with shrapnel and the drive shaft of the "Grandcamp" was embedded in the headhouse. The ship's anchor was hurled several miles away, where it was discovered embedded in the ground at the PanAmerican refinery. School children and townspeople who were attracted to the smoke also died, and entire blocks of homes near the port were destroyed. People in Galveston away were knocked to their knees. Surrounding chemical and oil tanks and refineries were ignited by the blast. At least 63 who died and were not able to be identified are memorialized in a cemetery in the north part of town. The Texas City disaster is widely regarded as the foundation of disaster planning for the United States. Monsanto and other plants committed to rebuilding, and the city ultimately recovered quite well from the accident. Numerous petrochemical refineries are still located in the same port area of Texas City. The city has often referred to itself as "the town that would not die," a moniker whose accuracy would be tested once again in the days surrounding Hurricane Ike's assault on the region early on September 13, 2008.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: On October 30, 1987, a crane at the Marathon Oil refinery accidentally dropped its load on a tank of liquid hydrogen fluoride, causing a release of of hydrogen fluoride gas and requiring 3,000 residents to be evacuated.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: On March 23, 2005, the city suffered another explosion in a local BP (formerly Amoco) oil refinery which killed 15 and injured 180. In the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB)'s final report on the accident, published in March 2007, they described the event as "one of the worst industrial disasters in recent U.S. history." The BP facility in Texas City is the United States' third-largest oil refinery, employing over 2,000 people, processing 460,000 barrels (73,000 m³) of crude oil each day, and producing roughly 4% of the country's gasoline.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Even in the widespread destruction throughout Galveston County caused by the wind and surge associated with Ike, Texas City was largely spared the devastation that other low-lying areas suffered. Texas City is mostly surrounded by a levee system that was built in the early 1960s following the devastating floods from Hurricane Carla in 1961. Together with pump stations containing several Archimedes' screws located at various places throughout the northeast periphery of the city adjoining Galveston, Dollar Bay, and Moses Lake, the levee and pump station system may well have saved the city from wholesale devastation at the hands of Ike's powerful tidal surge. Damage in the city was largely limited to that caused by Ike's powerful winds and heavy rains.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Beginning Sunday, September 14, 2008, the day after landfall, Texas City's high school football complex, Stingaree Stadium, was used as a staging and relocation area for persons evacuated by National Guard Black Hawk helicopters from nearby bayfront communities such as the Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island. Also, by the morning of Monday, September 15, the American Red Cross had opened a relief and material distribution center in the city.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The Texas City Dike was overtopped by a greater than storm surge when Hurricane Ike barreled through the region in the early-morning hours of Saturday, September 13, 2008. Although all buildings, piers, and the Dike Road were destroyed, the dike itself weathered the storm. The dike was closed for three years while the road and supporting facilities were rebuilt. It was reopened to traffic in September 2011.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Texas City is located at (29.399983, −94.933851). This is northwest of Galveston and southeast of Houston.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and , or 65.61%, is covered by water.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Officially, the elevation of Texas City is 10 feet above sea level, though some areas are even lower. It was naturally vulnerable to flooding by hurricane storm surges and heavy rainstorms.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The land south and west of the city is flat coastal plain. A large part of this area to the south is marshland. Texas City is bounded on the north by Moses Lake, which is fed by Moses Bayou, a freshwater stream. The lake drains into Galveston Bay, which bounds the city on the east.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 51,898 people, 17,499 households, and 11,795 families residing in the city.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: As of the census of 2000, 41,521 people, 15,479 households, and 10,974 families resided in the city. The population density was 665.7 people per square mile (257.0/km). The 16,715 housing units averaged 268.0/sq mi (103.5/km). The racial makeup of the city was 60.75% White, 27.47% African American, 0.50% Native American, 0.88% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 8.23% from other races, and 2.12% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 20.52% of the population.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Of the 15,479 households, 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.6% were married couples living together, 17.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.1% were not families. About 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.62 and the average family size was 3.13.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: In the city, the population was distributed as 26.7% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 27.8% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.7 males.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The median income for a household in the city was $35,963, and for a family was $42,393. Males had a median income of $36,463 versus $24,754 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,057. About 12.0% of families and 14.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.5% of those under age 18 and 11.2% of those aged 65 or over.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The Hispanic and Latino population's percentage of the overall population of Texas City had increased to 29.9% in 2017 from 27% in 2010, and by then the city had a Hispanic supermarket and other businesses catering to Hispanics. The African-American percentage had declined to 28% in 2017 from 30.8% in 2010.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The Texas City economy has long been based on heavy industry, particularly shipping at the Port of Texas City, as well as petroleum and petrochemical refining. The Texas City Industrial Complex is a leading center of the petrochemical industry. Within this complex, the Galveston Bay Refinery operated by Marathon is the second-largest petroleum refinery in Texas and third-largest in the United States. The Port of Texas City became the third-leading port in Texas by tonnage and ninth in the nation. In recent decades, the city's planners have made efforts to diversify the economy into tourism, health care, and many other sectors. As early as 1974, Texas City was placed on the top-ten list for the EPA superfund. Outdated practices for the disposal of toxic waste have continued there for years.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: , SSA Marine Company had plans to build a major new cargo container shipping terminal known as the Texas City International Terminal at Shoal Point. The project is intended to capitalize on the expansion of the Panama Canal, scheduled for completion in 2014, which city officials expect to substantially increase trade between the Gulf Coast and Asia.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The Port of Texas City, operated by the Port of Texas City / Texas City Terminal Railway, is the eighth-largest port in the United States and the third-largest in Texas, with waterborne tonnage exceeding 78 million net tons. The Texas City Terminal Railway Company provides an important land link to the port, handling over 25,000 carloads per year. The Port of Texas City's success as a privately owned port has been aided by its shareholders, the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads, whose connections allow for expeditious interchange of their traffic.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: In 2008, the city government replaced civilian code-enforcement officers with police officers after finding that residents tended to ignore civilian officials, who must go through a lengthy process to force compliance, said George Fuller, city director of community development.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The Texas Department of Criminal Justice maintains the Young Medical Facility Complex for females in Texas City. Young opened in 1996 as the Texas City Regional Medical Unit.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Most of Texas City is served by the Texas City Independent School District, which has four elementary schools for grades K–4: Kohfeldt Elementary, Roosevelt-Wilson Elementary, Heights Elementary, and Guajardo Elementary. The TCISD intermediate school, Levi Fry Intermediate, provides for fifth and sixth graders, and one TCISD middle school, Blocker Middle School, provides for seventh and eighth graders. Texas City High School serves the TCISD portion of Texas City.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Some were previously in the La Marque Independent School District. On December 2, 2015, Texas Education Agency (TEA) Commissioner Michael Williams announced that the Texas City Independent School District would absorb the La Marque district effective July 1, 2016.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Our Lady of Fatima School, a Roman Catholic elementary school operated by the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, is in Texas City.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The Moore Memorial Public Library is located at 1701 9th Avenue North. In 1928, the City of Texas City dedicated a room in city hall to form a municipal library. The Texas City Civic Club operated the library in the room. In 1947, city hall received damage from the Texas City explosion; it was later demolished. In 1948, the library moved to a former house at 5th Street and 9th Avenue North and received its current name; it was named after Hugh Benton Moore and Helen Moore. In 1964, the library moved into its current building. In 1984, the building was expanded to .


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The Texas City Museum is at 409 6th Street North, in a two-story building formerly occupied by J. C. Penney Co. It is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 – 4. The Galveston County Model Railroad Club exhibit on the second floor is open on Saturdays.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The Texas City Prairie Preserve is a nature preserve located on the shores of Moses Lake opposite the city. The terrain of the preserve includes prairie and wetland habitats. The preserve includes of public-access areas, including campsites. The remainder of the preserve is available for tours, including boardwalk access through the marshes.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The Bay Street Park is a property near the bay and the levee. Part of the park commemorates the Aero Squadron, one of the first U.S. Army air squadrons and a precursor to the modern Air Force. The rest of the park features wilderness trails and family entertainment areas.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Nessler Park is a property used for community events such as the annual "Music Fest by the Bay". Other large city parks include Carver Park, Godard Park, and Holland Park.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The centerpiece of Texas City's Heritage Square historical district is the former residence of one of the city's fathers, Frank B. Davison, located at 109 3rd Ave. N, just west of the Texas City Dike's location. The Davison Home, maintained by the Texas City Museum with the help of the Texas City Historical Association, is a Victorian-styled home finished in 1897, and the site where the first child was born in the new community of Texas City.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: The major freeway serving the area is the Gulf Freeway, part of Interstate 45, which connects Texas City with Galveston and Houston. Texas State Highway 146 locally connects Texas City with other Galveston Bay Area communities on the shoreline. Texas Loop 197 combines with Highway 146 to form a ring around the city, providing access to the city's major areas.


title: Texas City, Texas

text: Greyhound Bus Lines provides passenger bus service to destinations nationwide at the Texas City La Marque Station in neighboring La Marque. Amtrak provides a connecting motorcoach service from nearby Galveston.


title: Marquess of Queensberry Rules

text: The Marquess of Queensberry Rules, also known as Queensbury Rules, are a code of generally accepted rules in the sport of boxing. Drafted in London in 1865 and published in 1867, they were named so as the 9th Marquess of Queensberry publicly endorsed the code, although they were written by a Welsh sportsman named John Graham Chambers from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire. The code of rules on which modern boxing is based, the Queensberry rules were the first to mandate the use of gloves in boxing.


title: Marquess of Queensberry Rules

text: The Queensberry Rules eventually superseded the London Prize Ring Rules (revised in 1853), and are intended for use in both professional and amateur boxing matches, thus separating it from the less-popular American Fair Play Rules, which were strictly intended for amateur matches. In colloquial use the term is sometimes used to refer to a sense of sportsmanship and fair play.


title: Marquess of Queensberry Rules

text: The boxing code was written by John Graham Chambers, a Welshman from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, and drafted in London in 1865, before being published in 1867 as "the Queensberry rules for the sport of boxing". At the time, boxing matches were conducted under the London Prize Ring Rules, written in 1838 and revised in 1853. Bare-knuckle fights under the London Prize Rules continued for the next several decades, although the Queensberry Rules would eventually become the standard set of rules under which all boxing matches were governed. This version persuaded boxers that "you must not fight simply to win; no holds barred is not the way; you must win by the rules".


title: Marquess of Queensberry Rules

text: One early prize fighter who fought under Marquess of Queensberry rules was Jem Mace, former English heavyweight champion, who defeated Bill Davis in Virginia City, Nevada under these rules in 1876. In 1889, the Queensberry rules came into use in the United States and Canada.


title: Marquess of Queensberry Rules

text: A boxing match consists of a determined number of three-minute rounds, a total of up to 12 rounds (formerly 15). A minute is typically spent between each round with the fighters in their assigned corners receiving advice and attention from their coaches. The fight is controlled by a referee who works in the ring to judge and control the fight, rule on the ability of the fighters to fight safely, count knocked-down fighters, and rule on fouls.


title: Marquess of Queensberry Rules

text: There are three judges at ringside to score the fight and assign points to the boxers, based on connecting punches, defense, knockdowns, and other subjective measures—such as who lands the more accurate punches (e.g., a punch that lands squarely on the opponent's chin versus one that lands on the shoulder and then continues through to the head). Because of the open ended nature of judging, there have been many controversial rulings.


title: Marquess of Queensberry Rules

text: If the fight goes to the conclusion of the scheduled number of rounds without a knockout or technical knockout, then the fighter with the higher score at the end of the fight is ruled the winner and the three judges rule it as A) a unanimous decision, B) a split decision, or C) a draw.


title: Marquess of Queensberry Rules

text: If a fighter is knocked down during the fight, determined by whether the boxer touches the canvas floor of the ring with any part of their body other than the feet as a result of the opponent's punch and not slip, as determined by the referee, the referee begins counting until the fighter returns to his or her feet and can continue. Should the referee count to ten, then the knocked-down boxer is ruled "knocked out" (whether unconscious or not) and the other boxer is ruled the winner by knockout (KO).


title: Marquess of Queensberry Rules

text: A "technical knockout" (TKO) is possible as well, and is ruled by the referee, fight doctor, or a fighter's corner if a fighter is unable to safely continue to fight, based upon injuries or being judged unable to effectively defend himself. There is also the "three-knockdown rule", in which three knockdowns in a single round result in a TKO. A TKO is considered a knockout in a fighter's record.


title: Marquess of Queensberry Rules

text: A "standing eight" count rule may also be in effect. This gives the referee the right to step in and administer a count of eight to a fighter that he feels may be in danger, even if no knockdown has taken place. After counting the referee will observe the fighter, and decide if he is fit to continue. For scoring purposes, a standing eight count is treated as a knockdown.


title: Marquess of Queensberry Rules

text: Violations of these boxing rules may be ruled a "foul" by the referee, who may issue warnings, deduct points, or disqualify an offending boxer, causing an automatic loss, depending on the seriousness and intentionality of the foul. An intentional foul that causes injury that prevents a fight from continuing usually causes the boxer who committed it to be disqualified. A fighter who suffers an accidental low-blow may be given up to five minutes to recover, after which they may be ruled knocked out if they are unable to continue. Accidental fouls that cause injury ending a bout may lead to a "no contest" result, or else cause the fight to go to a decision if enough rounds (typically four or more, or at least three in a four-round fight) have passed.


title: Marquess of Queensberry Rules

text: Boxers are prohibited from hitting below the belt, holding, tripping, pushing, biting, spitting on or wrestling their opponent. Boxers typically wear shorts or trunks with the waistband raised so the opponent is not allowed to strike the groin area. They also are prohibited from kicking, head-butting, or striking with any part of the arm other than the knuckles of a closed fist. They are prohibited as well from hitting the back, the back of the head/neck (commonly called a "rabbit-punch"), or the kidneys. They are prohibited from holding the ropes for support when punching, holding an opponent while punching, or ducking below the level of the opponent's belt. If a "clinch" – a defensive move in which a fighter wraps his arms around those of the opponent and holds on to create a pause – is broken by the referee, each fighter must take a full step back before punching again. Alternatively, the referee may direct the fighters to "punch out" of the clinch. When a boxer is knocked down, the other boxer must immediately cease fighting and move to the furthest neutral corner of the ring until the referee has either ruled a knockout or called for the fight to continue; however, once a fighter is knocked down, the referee must count to eight seconds before the fight can continue.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: The Bristol Type 175 Britannia is a retired British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the Commonwealth. During development two prototypes were lost and the turboprop engines proved susceptible to inlet icing, which delayed entry into service while solutions were sought.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: By the time development was completed, "pure" jet airliners from France, the United Kingdom, and the United States were about to enter service, and consequently, only 85 Britannias were built before production ended in 1960. Nevertheless, the Britannia is considered one of the landmarks in turboprop-powered airliner design and was popular with passengers. It became known as "The Whispering Giant" for its quiet exterior noise and smooth flying, although the passenger interior remained less tranquil.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: Canadair purchased a licence to build the Britannia in Canada, adding another 72 aircraft in two variants. These were the stretched Canadair CL-44/Canadair CC-106 Yukon, and the greatly modified Canadair CP-107 Argus maritime patrol aircraft.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: In 1942, during the Second World War, Allied aircraft construction saw the UK of necessity concentrating on heavy bombers, leaving the production of transport aircraft to the USA. This would have left the UK with little experience in transport construction at the end of the war, so in 1943, a committee under Lord Brabazon of Tara investigated the future British civilian airliner market. The Brabazon Committee called for several aircraft to be developed to its specifications for Britain's civilian aviation needs.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: Bristol won the Type I and Type III contracts, delivering their Type I design, the Bristol Brabazon in 1949. The requirement for the 1946 British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) Medium Range Empire (MRE) Requirements coincided with the Type III, Specification C.2/47, issued in April 1947 by the Minister of Supply. The specifications called for an airliner capable of carrying 48 passengers and powered with Bristol Centaurus radial engines or Napier Nomad turbo-compound Diesel engine. Turboprop options were also considered, but they were so new that Bristol could not guarantee their performance.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: Although in-company Proposals "X" for conversions of Lockheed Constellations to Centaurus 662 powerplants or "Y" for licence production of the Constellation were considered in late 1946, BOAC decided that an entirely new design was preferred. After wrangling between the Ministry of Supply and BOAC over costs, the go-ahead for the project assigned the company designation Model 175 in July 1948. Three prototypes were ordered with the first being Mk 1 (Centaurus 662), and the second and third prototypes designated Mk 2 (to be convertible to Bristol Proteus turboprops, then under development).


title: Bristol Britannia

text: In October 1947, with work already underway, Bristol had settled on a Centaurus-powered design with a gross weight of and a payload of . The anticipated Karachi-Cairo run necessitated a 48-seat limit including sufficient fuel for the lengthy stage. On 5 July 1949, the Ministry of Supply ordered five such prototypes with the understanding that BOAC would contract for 25 production units. BOAC purchased options for 25 aircraft on 28 July powered by the Bristol Centaurus, but to be re-fitted with the Bristol Proteus when available.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: In November 1948, the Type 175 was revised again to accommodate 74 passengers and a longer wingspan in a contemplated long-range version aimed at long-haul Empire and transatlantic routes rather than the medium-haul Empire routes originally planned. On reflection, BOAC decided that only the Proteus engine was viable, necessitating a further redesign eliminating the Centaurus option. Senior figures within BOAC such as the Deputy Chairman Whitney Straight, however, considered the Proteus engine to be "an obsolete contraption". Despite BOAC's desire to have a turboprop engine, the Type 175 project was contingent on the Proteus passing a 150-hour Type Test.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: During April 1950, the airliner's name, "Britannia", was selected. The designation "Britannia 101" was applied to first pair of prototypes, which were powered by the early Proteus 625, the successor to the 600 series engine that had already completed type trials.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: The first prototype, registered "G-ALBO", with Bristol Chief Test Pilot A.J. "Bill" Pegg at the controls, first flew on 16 August 1952 at Filton Aerodrome. During the maiden flight, the over-sensitive flying controls led to wild pitching before Pegg restored control. During the landing approach, smoke filled the cockpit and the main undercarriage bogie temporarily stuck, only fully deploying seconds before landing. The snags were resolved and by September, the prototype was cleared to perform at the 1952 SBAC Display at Farnborough where spectators commented on the "quietness" of the giant airliner. In November 1952, Popular Science reported that by 1954 BOAC would have 25 of these aircraft on routes such as London-to-Tokyo over the Arctic and North Pole.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: However, in 1953 and 1954, three de Havilland Comets crashed without explanation, which led the Air Ministry to demand that the Britannia undergo lengthy tests. Further delays were attributed to teething problems with the engine resulting in the loss in February 1954 of the second prototype, "G-ALRX", caused by a failed reduction gear that led to an engine fire and the aircraft landing on the mudflats of the Severn Estuary. Resolving inlet icing issues (by selecting a different cruising height) that were discovered as the first aircraft were being delivered to BOAC, and which were exaggerated by BOAC, devastated future sales and delayed the Britannia's introduction by two years, also took time.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: The first prototype "G-ALBO" was modified to more closely approximate a production standard, but was retained by the company to undergo engine testing and development. Bristol revised the design into a larger transatlantic airliner for BOAC, resulting in the Series 200 and 300; the Britannia 300LR (Long-Range) was viewed as being "eminently suitable" for BOAC's services between London and Sydney. The purchase price for each Britannia 100-series aircraft was agreed by BOAC in 1955 at £768,000.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: Australian airline Qantas considered the procurement of a Britannia fleet, however its protracted development eroded any competitive advantage against the Douglas DC-8 and de Havilland Comet 4. Route-proving trials continued through 1955, although orders were on the books from "El Al" and Canadian Pacific Air Lines alongside the standing order placed by BOAC.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: During the first eight months of its operational trials, a total of 16 in-flight engine failures and 49 unscheduled engine changes punctuated the ongoing engine dilemma and delayed the Britannia's in-service date until February 1957, roughly two years late. The Britannia received a fair amount of attention in both the popular press and the British House of Commons, especially when it was revealed that BOAC had contemplated fitting Rolls-Royce Tynes to their fleet of Douglas DC-7s as an interim measure until the Britannia was cleared for service.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: In 1956, Bristol's managing director Peter Masefield flew the tenth production Britannia, G-ANBJ, on a world sales tour. American interest was strong, since the Britannia seemed to be a faster, longer-range, higher-capacity sister of the Vickers Viscount, which was already a marketing success on US domestic routes, and, compared to the piston-engined DC-7C, itself a new type, the Britannia offered similar transcontinental or transatlantic range with greater speed and the public appeal of more modern powerplants. Eastern Air Lines and TWA both wished to place orders, which might have forced competitors to follow suit. TWA's majority owner Howard Hughes took the controls of the Britannia for one flight and immediately requested 30 aircraft. However, the Americans wanted delivery within a couple of years, and Bristol, with its limited production facilities and the prior commitment to the BOAC order, could not meet that requirement, so, with the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 jets expected in service by 1958-9, the opportunity passed.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: In 1954, a licence was issued to Canadair to build the derivative Canadair CL-28/CP-107 Argus, and the Canadair CL-44/Canadair CC-106 Yukon. Based on the Britannia, the Argus maritime patrol and anti-submarine military aircraft was optimised for endurance on long-range patrol, not speed, and used four Wright R-3350-32W Turbo-Compound engines that used less fuel at low altitude. Unlike its Britannia forebear, the Argus was a hybrid, using the Britannia wings, tail surfaces and landing gear matched to a "purpose-built", unpressurised fuselage. It substituted North American materials and standard parts for British parts.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: The interior of the Argus was well equipped to conduct anti-submarine warfare — navigation, communication and tactical electronic equipment along with weapon loads that included bombs, torpedoes, mines and depth charges. A total of 33 Argus aircraft were built in two series (Mk 1 and Mk 2), serving the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Canadian Forces from 1957 to 1982.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: Canadair built 39 Canadair CL-44/Canadair CC-106 Yukon turboprop Rolls-Royce Tyne-powered aircraft, comprising 12 CC-106 Yukon for the RCAF and 27 CL-44D4 passenger/cargo variants for the civil market. Civilian operators typically operated the type as freighters. Four CL-44D4s were converted as CL-44Js with lengthened fuselages for service with the Icelandic "budget" airline "Loftleiðir". The CL-44D4s were all built with swing-tails to allow straight-in cargo loading and served with a variety of carriers, most notably Flying Tiger Line. The similar CC-106 Yukon was used by the RCAF in a solely passenger configuration.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: A final "one-off" development was the Conroy Skymonster, nicknamed "Guppy", based on a Canadair CL-44D4 N447T. The prominent modification was an enlarged fuselage, like the Mini Guppy, which was produced by Jack Conroy's previous company, Aero Spacelines. After a long operational career as a freighter, the "Guppy" was stored at Bournemouth Airport in 2003 and was later sold.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: Following a long period of uneventful development flying trials and the fitting of a modified Proteus 765 series engine that greatly reduced breakdowns, a full Certificate of Airworthiness was awarded at the end of 1955. The first two Model 102s were delivered to BOAC on 30 December 1955 for crew training. The Model 102 began scheduled service on 1 February 1957 with a BOAC flight from London to Johannesburg, flights to Sydney following in March and to Tokyo in July. By August 1957, the first 15 Model 102 aircraft had been delivered to BOAC. The last 10 aircraft of the order were built as Series 300 aircraft for transatlantic flights.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: In April 1959, a Model 102 Britannia was leased by BOAC to Ghana Airways for flights between Accra and London, and several more Britannias were purchased by the airline in the early 1960s. The Model 102 was eventually made available to other BOAC associates, including Cathay Pacific, Central Africa, East African, Nigeria and Malayan airlines.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: The next production series was based on the long-range, mixed passenger/freight Model 200 series that was intended for civil airline use, but ultimately Bristol offered the series to the Royal Air Force (RAF) instead. The production series of three Model 252 and 20 Model 253 aircraft were purchased by RAF Transport Command in 1959, assigned the designation "Britannia C.2" (first Model 252 series) and "C.1" (Model 253 series). Those in RAF service were allocated the names of stars, such as "Arcturus", "Sirius" and "Vega". On retirement from the RAF in 1975, many Model 200 series were subsequently used by independent civil operators for cargo operations, harkening back to their original intended role.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: Although the Bristol Model 302 was built first as part of the original BOAC order, BOAC released this series to other airlines; "Aeronaves de Mexico" took two Model 302s, which entered service in December 1957. The 18 Bristol Britannia 312s for BOAC were delivered from September 1957 with its service introduction on the first-ever non-stop flight from London to Canada on 19 December 1957. In late December 1957, BOAC began regular Britannia flights from London to New York. Other airlines, such as Israel's "El Al", also operated the Britannia on transatlantic routes.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: In 1959, BOAC started flying the Britannia across the Pacific to Tokyo and Hong Kong, thus extending their network round the world. The westbound routing in 1959 for these intercontinental BOAC Britannia flights between the U.K. and Asia was London-New York-San Francisco-Honolulu-Wake Island-Tokyo-Hong Kong.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: On 1 April 1958 Canadian Pacific Air Lines took delivery of the first of six Model 314 Britannias, with an additional two Model 324s (built to a 320 standard) arriving later and sold to Cathay Pacific in 1961. BOAC ordered seven Model 302s, but never took delivery, instead they were taken on by airlines including "Aeronaves de México" and Ghana Airways. The main long-range series were the 310s, of which BOAC took 18 and, after deliveries began in September 1957, put them into service between London and New York City; in March 1964 BOAC owned 50 aircraft, 10 being Britannia 312s. BOAC's last scheduled Britannia flight was April 1965.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: The 310 series (the Model 318) also saw transatlantic service with "Cubana de Aviación" starting in 1958, in spite of the Cuban Revolution the airline had a special accord with British aircraft manufacturers to maintain this model of aircraft. In 1975, multiple Cuban Britannias were used to transport hundreds of soldiers of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces to Angola in Operation Carlota, a proxy war. "Cubana de Aviación" continued to fly its fleet of Britannias until March 1990.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: Following the purchase of remaining spare parts from the Royal Aircraft Establishment and Cubana, Zaïrois airlines continued to operate several Britannias into the early 1990s on regular cargo flights from N'djili Airport to various destinations within the country.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: Most aircraft were built by Bristol at Filton, but 30 were built at Belfast by Short Brothers and Harland. Due to the extended development instead of a projected production of 180 Britannias, only 80 were sold. The negative experience with the development of the Britannia caused BOAC to be more cautious towards other British-made aircraft such as the Vickers VC10. Throughout the Britannia's lifespan, the engine icing condition remained a "continual potential hazard" that flight crews ultimately learned to manage with a "high-lo" flight regime that minimized the danger, Squadron Leader David Berry who had 5,000 hours on the type characterised it as flying "Beauty and the Beast." "Aeroplane" in "100 Great British Aircraft" (2008) said the Britannia counted among the "greats".


title: Bristol Britannia

text: All cargo variant with a 124 ft 3 in (38 m) fuselage, BOAC option for five was cancelled, none built.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: Passenger-only "stretched" version of the 200 series, incorporating longer fuselage, capable of carrying up to 139 (originally 99) passengers, medium-fuel capacity.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: As 305 series, but with strengthened fuselage skin and undercarriage. Long-range fuel capacity and was originally known as 300LR.


title: Bristol Britannia

text: Fourteen Britannias were lost with a total of 365 fatalities between 1954 and 1980. The worst accident was the 1967 Nicosia Britannia disaster with a loss of life totalling 126.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: Cyperus papyrus, better known by the common names papyrus, papyrus sedge, paper reed, Indian matting plant, or Nile grass, is a species of aquatic flowering plant belonging to the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is a tender herbaceous perennial, native to Africa, and forms tall stands of reed-like swamp vegetation in shallow water.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: Papyrus sedge (and its close relatives) has a very long history of use by humans, notably by the Ancient Egyptians (as it is the source of papyrus paper, one of the first types of paper ever made). Parts of the plant can be eaten, and the highly buoyant stems can be made into boats. It is now often cultivated as an ornamental plant.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: In nature, it grows in full sun, in flooded swamps, and on lake margins throughout Africa, Madagascar, and the Mediterranean countries. It has been introduced outside its range to tropical regions worldwide (such as the Indian subcontinent, South America, and the Caribbean).


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: This tall, robust aquatic plant can grow high, but on the margins of high altitude lakes such as Lake Naivasha in Kenya and Lake Tana in Ethiopia, at altitudes around the papyrus culms can measure up to in length, with an additional for the inflorescence (a spicate umbel; i.e. each of the up to one thousand rays of the umbel terminates in a spike of small flowers) for a total height of . Each culm is a single internode; the longest known of any plant. At Lake Naivasha, the culms, triangular in cross-section, were as much as on a side in width. It forms a grass-like clump of triangular green stems that rise up from thick, woody rhizomes. Each stem is topped by a dense cluster of thin, bright green, thread-like rays around in length, resembling a feather duster when the plant is young. Greenish-brown flower clusters eventually appear at the ends of the rays, giving way to brown, nut-like fruits.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: Although no leaves are apparent above the soil line, the younger parts of the rhizome are covered by red-brown, papery, triangular scales, which also cover the base of the culms. Technically, these are reduced leaves, so strictly it is not quite correct to call this plant fully "leafless".


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: Egyptians used the plant (which they called "aaru", or the subspecies "C. p. papyrus", which came very close to extinction, but was rediscovered in 1968.) for many purposes, including for making papyrus paper. Its name has an uncertain origin, but was rendered in Hellenistic Greek as πάπυρος.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: In the Nile Delta, "Cyperus papyrus" was widely cultivated in ancient times. It is for example depicted on a restored stucco fragment from the palace of Amenhotep III near the present-day village of Malkata. Currently, only a small population remains in Egypt, in Wadi El Natrun. Theophrastus's "History of Plants" (Book iv. 10) states that it grew in Syria, and according to Pliny's "Natural History", it was also a native plant of the Niger River and the Euphrates.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: Neither the explorer Peter Forsskål, an apostle of Carl Linnaeus, in the 18th century, nor the Napoleonic expedition saw it in the delta.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: Aside from papyrus, several other members of the genus "Cyperus" may also have been involved in the multiple uses Egyptians found for the plant. Its flowering heads were linked to make garlands for the gods in gratitude. The pith of young shoots was eaten both cooked and raw. Its woody root made bowls and other utensils and was burned for fuel. From the stems were made reed boats (seen in bas-reliefs of the Fourth Dynasty showing men cutting papyrus to build a boat; similar boats are still made in southern Sudan), sails, mats, cloth, cordage, and sandals. Theophrastus states that King Antigonus made the rigging of his fleet of papyrus, an old practice illustrated by the ship's cable, wherewith the doors were fastened when Odysseus slew the suitors in his hall ("Odyssey" xxi. 390).


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: The "rush" or "reed" basket in which the Biblical figure Moses is supposed to have been placed may have been made from papyrus.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: The adventurer Thor Heyerdahl had a boat built for him of papyrus, "Ra", in an attempt to demonstrate that ancient African or Mediterranean people could have reached America. He was unsuccessful with this boat. Fishermen in the Okavango Delta use small sections of the stem as floats for their nets.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: Papyrus can be found in tropical rain forests, tolerating annual temperatures of and a soil pH of 6.0 to 8.5. It flowers in late summer, and prefers full sun to partly shady conditions. Like most tropical plants, it is sensitive to frost. In the United States, it has become invasive in Florida and has escaped from cultivation in Louisiana, California, and Hawaii.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: Papyrus sedge forms vast stands in swamps, shallow lakes, and along stream banks throughout the wetter parts of Africa, but it has become rare in the Nile Delta. In deeper waters, it is the chief constituent of the floating, tangled masses of vegetation known as "sudd". It also occurs in Madagascar, and some Mediterranean areas such as Sicily and the Levant.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: The "feather-duster" flowering heads make ideal nesting sites for many social species of birds. As in most sedges, pollination is by wind, not insects, and the mature fruits after release are distributed by water.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: Papyrus is a C4 sedge that forms highly productive monotypic stands over large areas of wetland in Africa.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: The papyrus plant is relatively easy to grow from seed, though in Egypt, it is more common to split the rootstock, and grows quite fast once established. Extremely moist soil or roots sunken in the water is preferred and the plant can flower all year long. Vegetative propagation is the suggested process of creating new plants. It is done by splitting the rhizomes into small groups and planting normally. It can reach heights of up to 16 feet tall. "C. papyrus" is considered to be hardy in USDA hardiness zones 9 and 10.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: "C. papyrus" and the dwarf cultivar "C. papyrus" 'Nanus' have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017).


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: In Ancient Egypt, papyrus was used for various of purposes such as baskets, sandals, blankets, medicine, incense, and boats. The woody root was used to make bowls and utensils, and was burned for fuel. The Papyrus Ebers refers to the use of soft papyrus tampons by Egyptian women in the 15th century BCE. Egyptians made efficient use of all parts of the plant. Papyrus was an important "gift of the Nile" which is still preserved and perpetuated in Egyptian culture.


title: Cyperus papyrus

text: in "southern Iraq", in the region of the "Marsh Arabs" the Flowers of the plant are used to make a candy called: "Khirret".


title: Mebeverine

text: Mebeverine is a drug used to alleviate some of the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. It works by relaxing the muscles in and around the gut.


title: Mebeverine

text: Mebeverine is used to alleviate some of the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and related conditions; specifically stomach pain and cramps, persistent diarrhoea, and flatulence.


title: Mebeverine

text: Data from controlled clinical trials have not found a difference from placebo or statistically significant results in the global improvement of IBS.


title: Mebeverine

text: It has not been tested in pregnant women nor in pregnant animals so pregnant women should not take it; it is expressed at low levels in breast milk, while no adverse effects have been reported in infants, breastfeeding women should not take this drug.


title: Mebeverine

text: Adverse effects include hypersensitivity reactions and allergic reactions, immune system disorders, skin disorders including hives, oedema and widespread rashes.


title: Mebeverine

text: Additionally, the following adverse effects have been reported: heartburn, indigestion, tiredness, diarrhoea, constipation, loss of appetite, general malaise, dizziness, insomnia, headache, and decreased pulse rate.


title: Mebeverine

text: Mebeverine is an anticholinergic but its mechanism of action is not known; it appears to work directly on smooth muscle within the gastrointestinal tract and may have an anaesthetic effect, may affect calcium channels, and may affect muscarinic receptors.


title: Mebeverine

text: Mebeverine exists in two enantiomeric forms. The commercially available product is a racemic mixture of them. A study in rats indicates that the two have different pharmacokinetic profiles.


title: Mebeverine

text: It is a second generation papaverine analog, and was first synthesized around the same time as verapamil.


title: Fat Girl

text: Fat Girl () is a 2001 drama film written and directed by Catherine Breillat, and starring Anaïs Reboux and Roxane Mesquida. It was released in certain English-speaking countries under the alternative titles For My Sister and Story of a Whale. The film's plot follows two young sisters as they deal with coming-of-age, sibling rivalry, and desire while on vacation with their family.


title: Fat Girl

text: Anaïs and her older sister, Elena, are vacationing with their parents on the French seaside. Bored of staying in their vacation home, the two walk into town while discussing relationships and their virginities. Although the conventionally attractive Elena has been promiscuous, she is saving actual intercourse for someone who loves her, while overweight Anaïs thinks it is better to lose one's virginity to a "nobody" just to get it over with.


title: Fat Girl

text: They meet an Italian law student, Fernando, at a cafe. Later, Fernando sneaks into the girls' bedroom for a liaison with Elena. Anaïs is awake and watches their entire interaction. After a conversation about Fernando's previous relationships with other women, Elena consents to have sex with him but backs out at the last minute. Frustrated, Fernando pressures her through various means, including threatening to sleep with some other woman just to alleviate himself. Finally, Elena is coerced into anal sex as a "proof of love," although it is obviously a painful experience for her.


title: Fat Girl

text: In the morning, Fernando asks for oral sex from Elena before he leaves, but Anaïs has had enough and tells them to let her sleep in peace. The next day, the girls and Fernando go to the beach. Anaïs sits in the ocean in her new dress and sings to herself while Elena and Fernando go off alone together. Later, as the girls are reminiscing about their childhood together back at the house, Elena reveals Fernando gave her a ring while at the beach. Anaïs openly expresses her suspicions about Fernando's intentions. That night, Elena gives up her virginity to Fernando as Anaïs silently cries on the other side of the room.


title: Fat Girl

text: Later, Fernando's mother arrives at the vacation house, asking for the ring Fernando gave to Elena back, as it belongs to her and is one of a collection of pieces of jewelry from past lovers that she keeps. On discovering Elena and Fernando's relationship, their mother angrily decides to drive back from Les Mathes to their home in Paris. On the way back, she becomes tired and decides to sleep at a rest stop, where a man smashes the windshield of their car with an axe, kills Elena, and strangles their mother while ripping her clothes. When Anaïs gets out of the car and starts backing away, he takes Anaïs into the woods and rapes her. When the police arrive the next morning, Anaïs, recalling her conversation with Elena about virginity, insists he did not rape her.


title: Fat Girl

text: Breillat's experience during principal photography inspired her 2002 film "Sex Is Comedy", which revolves around shooting a sex scene from the film. Mesquida reprised the scene for the later film. Principal photography took place in Les Mathes, France from late 1999 to early 2000.


title: Fat Girl

text: Catherine Breillat revealed she had a big concern about censorship because in the movie you could see Anaïs's breasts. "I actually wanted her not to have breasts, but her body changed between casting and the end of shooting. It's funny that, if she had been flat-chested, it wouldn't have been an issue", the director said.


title: Fat Girl

text: The film received generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 73% based on 86 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The site's consensus reads: "The controversial "Fat Girl" is an unflinchingly harsh but powerful look at female adolescence." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 77 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Fat Girl

text: "Fat Girl" got an "A" from Lisa Schwarzbaum of "Entertainment Weekly" and was called a "startling vision of the prickly crawlspace between innocence and sexual awakening" by Ed Gonzalez of "Slant Magazine". Carla Meyer of the "San Francisco Chronicle" wrote the film "[e]xposes the less sexy things that lust can awaken, like viciousness, deceit and amoral longing".


title: Fat Girl

text: Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" wrote "Reboux's extraordinary performance conveys Anaïs's mixture of precocious insight, animal canniness and vulnerability so powerfully that it ranks among the richest screen portrayals of a child ever filmed". In a review for "Chicago Sun-Times" Roger Ebert wrote "There is a jolting surprise in discovering that this film has free will, and can end as it wants, and that its director can make her point, however brutally".


title: Fat Girl

text: David Stratton of "Variety" praised the cinematography by Yorgos Arvanitis, calling the film "beautifully photographed and framed". Neil Smith of BBC said that "Breillat has fashioned another characteristically raw and honest portrait of sexual relations".


title: Fat Girl

text: "Fat Girl" was banned in Ontario by the Ontario Film Review Board in late 2001 due to objections regarding the frank representation of teenage sexuality. American film critic Wheeler Winston Dixon noted that the film was not only banned in Ontario, but was "severely restricted to adult audiences throughout the world". Dixon described the film as a "harrowing tale of a 13-year-old girl's coming of age as her 15-year-old sister embarks on a series of sexual relationships", featuring "explicit sexual scenes" in a "brutal narrative structure." The ban in Canada was eventually overturned and the film played in several theatres in 2003.


title: Fat Girl

text: In 2001, the film won the Manfred Salzgeber Award at the 51st Berlin International Film Festival and the France Culture Award at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.


title: Rick Gomez

text: Richard Harper Gomez (born June 1, 1972) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Radio Technician 4th Grade George Luz in the HBO television miniseries "Band of Brothers", and as "Endless Mike" Hellstrom in the Nickelodeon TV series "The Adventures of Pete and Pete". He is the older brother of actor Joshua Gomez.


title: Dudeism

text: Dudeism is a religion, philosophy, or lifestyle inspired by "The Dude", the protagonist of the Coen Brothers' 1998 film "The Big Lebowski". Dudeism's stated primary objective is to promote a modern form of Chinese Taoism, outlined in "Tao Te Ching" by Laozi (6th century BCE), blended with concepts from the Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (341–270 BCE), and presented in a style as personified by the character of Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, a fictional character portrayed by Jeff Bridges in the film. Dudeism has sometimes been regarded as a mock religion due to its use of comedic film references and occasional criticism of religion in its traditional sense but its founder and many adherents take the underlying philosophy seriously. March 6 is the annual sacred high holy day of Dudeism: The Day of the Dude.


title: Dudeism

text: Founded in 2005 by Oliver Benjamin, a journalist based in Chiang Mai, Thailand, Dudeism's official organizational name is "The Church of the Latter-Day Dude". An estimated 450,000 Dudeist Priests have been ordained worldwide as of May 2017 and marriages have been officiated legally by Dudeist clergy in some US states.


title: Dudeism

text: Although Dudeism primarily makes use of iconography and narrative from "The Big Lebowski", adherents believe that the Dudeist worldview has existed since the beginnings of civilization, primarily to correct societal tendencies towards aggression and excess. They list individuals such as Laozi, Epicurus, Heraclitus, Buddha, and the pre-ecclesiastical Jesus Christ as examples of "Great Dudes in History". More recent antecedents include pillars of American Transcendentalism such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman and humanists such as Kurt Vonnegut and Mark Twain.


title: Dudeism

text: The Dudeist belief system is essentially a modernized form of Taoism stripped of all of its metaphysical and medical doctrines. Dudeism advocates and encourages the practice of "going with the flow", "being cool headed", and "taking it easy" in the face of life's difficulties, believing that this is the only way to live in harmony with our inner nature and the challenges of interacting with other people. It also aims to assuage feelings of inadequacy that arise in societies which place a heavy emphasis on achievement and personal fortune. Consequently, simple everyday pleasures like bathing, bowling, and hanging out with friends are seen as far preferable to the accumulation of wealth and the spending of money as a means to achieve happiness and spiritual fulfillment. As the Dude himself says in the movie: "the dude abides", which essentially just means to keep existing.


title: Dudeism

text: The Church of the Latter-Day Dude launched its official publication, "The Dudespaper", in the fall of 2008. A Dudeist holy book, "The Tao Dude Ching", went online in July 2009. It was renamed "The Dude De Ching" in December 2009 to avoid being confused with an upcoming book by Oliver Benjamin called "The Tao of the Dude". "The Dude De Ching" is a reinterpretation of Peter Merel's translation of the "Tao Te Ching" using dialogue and story elements from "The Big Lebowski". In 2016, "The Dude De Ching" was completely re-written by Benjamin, featuring a new "Tao Te Ching" translation and essays interpreting each verse.


title: Dudeism

text: In August 2011, "The Abide Guide"—a "Dudeist self-help book" employing life lessons from "The Big Lebowski" and other sources, was published by Ulysses Press. Written by Benjamin and the Arch Dudeship Dwayne Eutsey, it also contains material by other members of The Church of the Latter-Day Dude. An Italian translation was released in November 2013 under the title "Il vangelo secondo Lebowski".


title: Dudeism

text: In November 2013, "Lebowski 101" — a compilation of mostly scholarly essays edited by Benjamin which dissected and celebrated "The Big Lebowski" — was published by the Church. Over 80 writers and illustrators contributed to the book.


title: Dudeism

text: In April 2015 "The Tao of the Dude" was published, featuring essays and illustrations by Benjamin as well as quotes from various philosophers and writers throughout history. The objective of the book is to show that Dudeism is a philosophy that has existed since the dawn of civilization.


title: Dudeism

text: "The Dude and the Zen Master", a 2013 book by Jeff Bridges and Buddhist teacher Bernie Glassman, uses the character as a starting point for philosophical discussion. Asked at a promotional event what The Dude would think of Dudeism, Bridges replied, "He'd be flabbergasted. And he would dig it."


title: Hyperparameter (machine learning)

text: In machine learning, a hyperparameter is a parameter whose value is used to control the learning process. By contrast, the values of other parameters (typically node weights) are derived via training.


title: Hyperparameter (machine learning)

text: Hyperparameters can be classified as model hyperparameters, that cannot be inferred while fitting the machine to the training set because they refer to the model selection task, or algorithm hyperparameters, that in principle have no influence on the performance of the model but affect the speed and quality of the learning process. An example of a model hyperparameter is the topology and size of a neural network. Examples of algorithm hyperparameters are learning rate and batch size as well as mini-batch size. Batch size can refer to the full data sample where mini-batch size would be a smaller sample set.


title: Hyperparameter (machine learning)

text: Different model training algorithms require different hyperparameters, some simple algorithms (such as ordinary least squares regression) require none. Given these hyperparameters, the training algorithm learns the parameters from the data. For instance, LASSO is an algorithm that adds a regularization hyperparameter to ordinary least squares regression, which has to be set before estimating the parameters through the training algorithm.


title: Hyperparameter (machine learning)

text: The time required to train and test a model can depend upon the choice of its hyperparameters. A hyperparameter is usually of continuous or integer type, leading to mixed-type optimization problems. The existence of some hyperparameters is conditional upon the value of others, e.g. the size of each hidden layer in a neural network can be conditional upon the number of layers.


title: Hyperparameter (machine learning)

text: Usually, but not always, hyperparameters cannot be learned using well known gradient based methods (such as gradient descent, LBFGS) - which are commonly employed to learn parameters. These hyperparameters are those parameters describing a model representation that cannot be learned by common optimization methods but nonetheless affect the loss function. An example would be the tolerance hyperparameter for errors in support vector machines.


title: Hyperparameter (machine learning)

text: Sometimes, hyperparameters cannot be learned from the training data because they aggressively increase the capacity of a model and can push the loss function to an undesired minimum (overfitting to, and picking up noise in the data), as opposed to correctly mapping the richness of the structure in the data. For example, if we treat the degree of a polynomial equation fitting a regression model as a trainable parameter, the degree would increase until the model perfectly fit the data, yielding low training error, but poor generalization performance.


title: Hyperparameter (machine learning)

text: Most performance variation can be attributed to just a few hyperparameters. The tunability of an algorithm, hyperparameter, or interacting hyperparameters is a measure of how much performance can be gained by tuning it. For an LSTM, while the learning rate followed by the network size are its most crucial hyperparameters, batching and momentum have no significant effect on its performance.


title: Hyperparameter (machine learning)

text: Although some research has advocated the use of mini-batch sizes in the thousands, other work has found the best performance with mini-batch sizes between 2 and 32.


title: Hyperparameter (machine learning)

text: An inherent stochasticity in learning directly implies that the empirical hyperparameter performance is not necessarily its true performance. Methods that are not robust to simple changes in hyperparameters, random seeds, or even different implementations of the same algorithm cannot be integrated into mission critical control systems without significant simplification and robustification.


title: Hyperparameter (machine learning)

text: Reinforcement learning algorithms, in particular, require measuring their performance over a large number of random seeds, and also measuring their sensitivity to choices of hyperparameters. Their evaluation with a small number of random seeds does not capture performance adequately due to high variance. Some reinforcement learning methods, e.g. DDPG (Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient), are more sensitive to hyperparameter choices than others.


title: Hyperparameter (machine learning)

text: Hyperparameter optimization finds a tuple of hyperparameters that yields an optimal model which minimizes a predefined loss function on given test data. The objective function takes a tuple of hyperparameters and returns the associated loss.


title: Hyperparameter (machine learning)

text: Apart from tuning hyperparameters, machine learning involves storing and organizing the parameters and results, and making sure they are reproducible. In the absence of a robust infrastructure for this purpose, research code often evolves quickly and compromises essential aspects like bookkeeping and reproducibility. Online collaboration platforms for machine learning go further by allowing scientists to automatically share, organize and discuss experiments, data, and algorithms. Reproducibility can be particularly difficult for deep learning models.


title: Raj Kiran (actor)

text: Raj Kiran Mahtani (born 19 June 1949) is a former Indian actor who is recognised for his work in Bollywood. Born in a Sindhi family in Bombay, he made his debut opposite Sarika in B. R. Ishara's "Kaagaz Ki Nao" (1975) and achieved the crest of his career in the 1980s, having appeared in more than 100 films.


title: Raj Kiran (actor)

text: Throughout his career, he accepted leading as well as supporting roles. He was loved for his leading roles in films such as "Kaagaz Ki Nao" (1975), "Shikshaa" (1979), "Maan Abhiman" (1980) and "Ek Naya Rishta" (1988) as well as being appreciated for his supporting roles in films such as "Karz" (1980), "Baseraa" (1981), "Arth" (1982), "Raaj Tilak" (1984), and "Waaris" (1988) to name a few. He was often typecasted as a romantic as well as kind-hearted hero.


title: Raj Kiran (actor)

text: He disappeared from the industry and was thought to be living as a recluse in the United States for many years. Rishi Kapoor was reportedly told by Gobind Mahtani, the brother of Raj Kiran that the actor was in Atlanta in an asylum where he was living due to a mental illness. In 2011, his daughter issued a public statement negating the reports of Raj Kiran being found in Atlanta. She and her family have been looking for him with the assistance of New York police and private detectives for years.


title: Raj Kiran (actor)

text: Raj Kiran made his debut opposite Sarika in B. R. Ishara's "Kaagaz Ki Nao" (1975) and had the major flow in his career in the 1980s. In 1980, he hit the theatre with his successive eight releases – "Karz", "Bambai Ka Maharaja", "Maan Abhiman", "Manokamnaa", "Nazrana Pyar Ka", "Patita", "Saajan Mere Main Saajan Ki" and "Yeh Kaisa Insaaf".


title: Raj Kiran (actor)

text: Throughout his career, he accepted leading as well as supporting roles. He was loved for his leading roles in films such as "Kaagaz Ki Nao" (1975), "Shikshaa" (1979), "Maan Abhiman" (1980) and "Ek Naya Rishta" (1988) as well as appreciated for his supporting roles in films such as "Karz" (1980), "Baseraa" (1981), "Arth" (1982) and "Raaj Tilak" (1984) to name a few.


title: Raj Kiran (actor)

text: He was often typecasted as a romantic as well as kind hearted hero which was considered as his most loved image by viewers. Sometimes his roles were apparently flawed but at the end they turned out to be generous. His role as Gopal in "Justice Chaudhury" (1983) abandons his wife to blackmail his father-in-law, but it is later revealed that he has been trapped into doing so. In his role as the womanizer and alcoholic businessman Rajiv Tandon in "Ek Naya Rishta" (1988) he falls in love with a sex worker and marries her.


title: Raj Kiran (actor)

text: Since the beginning of 1990s, his career began to slow down. Further, he made his television debut in the Shekhar Suman starrer, much acclaimed TV series "Reporter" (1994).


title: Raj Kiran (actor)

text: Raj Kiran went into acute depression after his career had taken a backseat. Reportedly, the actor also went through a series of domestic crises. Later, he was admitted to Byculla Mental asylum in Mumbai. He disappeared from the industry and was thought to be living as a recluse in America for many years. Deepti Naval endeavoured to look for the missing actor through Facebook writing on her timeline, "Looking for a friend from the film world his name is Raj Kiran – we have no news of him – last heard he was driving a cab in NY city if anyone has any clue, please tell . . ."


title: Raj Kiran (actor)

text: In June, 2011, Rishi Kapoor, on a trip to the United States made a phone call to the missing actor's brother Gobind Mahtani, who told him that the actor was in Atlanta in an asylum where he was living due to a mental illness. He refused to give any more details.


title: Raj Kiran (actor)

text: In 2011, his daughter Rishika issued a public statement negating the reports of Raj Kiran being found in Atlanta. She and her family have been looking for him with the assistance of New York police and private detectives for years.


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: "El Cóndor Pasa" (, Spanish for "The Condor Passes") is an orchestral musical piece from the zarzuela "El Cóndor Pasa" by the Peruvian composer Daniel Alomía Robles, written in 1913 and based on traditional Andean music, specifically folk music from Peru.


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: Since then, it has been estimated that, around the world, more than 4,000 versions of the melody have been produced, along with 300 sets of lyrics. In 2004, Peru declared this song to be a part of their national cultural heritage. This song is now considered the second national anthem of Peru.


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: It is the best-known Peruvian song in the English-speaking world, due to a 1970 cover by Simon & Garfunkel on their "Bridge over Troubled Water" album. Their version is called "El Cóndor Pasa (If I Could)".


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: In 1913, Peruvian songwriter Daniel Alomía Robles composed "El Cóndor Pasa", and the song was first performed publicly at the Teatro Mazzi in Lima. The song was originally a musical piece in the Peruvian zarzuela (musical play), "El cóndor pasa".


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: Its music was composed by Daniel Alomía Robles in 1913 and its script was written by Julio de La Paz (pseudonym of the Limenian dramatist Julio Baudouin). The piano arrangement of this play's most famous melody was legally registered on May 3, 1933, by The Edward B. Marks Music Corp. in the Library of Congress, under the number 9643. The zarzuela is written in prose and consists of one musical play and two acts.


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: In July 2013, the Colectivo Cultural Centenario El Cóndor Pasa cultural association re-edited the original script which had been lost for a period of time, and published it together with a CD containing the recorded dialogues and seven musical pieces. The music from the original score was reconstructed by musicologist Luis Salazar Mejía with the collaboration of musicians Daniel Dorival and Claude Ferrier and the support of cultural promoter Mario Cerrón Fetta, and re-released on November 14, 15, and 16, 2013 at the Teatro UNI in Lima to celebrate its first centenary. The zarzuela included the famous melody of the same name, without lyrics, based on the traditional Andean music of Peru, where it was declared a National Cultural Heritage in 2004.


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: In 1965, the American pop musician Paul Simon heard for the first time a version of the melody by the band Los Incas in a performance at the "Théâtre de l'Est parisien"


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: in Paris in which both were participating. Simon became friendly with the band, later even touring with them and producing their first US-American album. He asked the band for permission to use the piece in his production. The band's director and founding member Jorge Milchberg


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: , who was collecting royalties for the piece as co-author and arranger, responded erroneously that it was a traditional Peruvian composition. Milchberg told Simon he was registered as the arrangement's co-author and collected royalties.


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: In 1970, the Simon & Garfunkel duo recorded the Los Incas version, adding English lyrics which included Paul Simon in the author credits under the song name "El Cóndor Pasa (If I Could)". The instrumental version by Los Incas was used as the base track. They included the song on the 1970 album "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Simon & Garfunkel released their version as a single in the US, which reached number 18 on the "Billboard" Pop Singles chart and number 6 on the Easy Listening chart, in fall 1970. This cover achieved major international success and fame.


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: In regard to the Simon & Garfunkel version, Daniel Alomía Robles, Jorge Milchberg, and Paul Simon are now all listed as songwriters, with Simon listed alone as the author of the English lyrics.


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: In late 1970, Daniel Alomía Robles' son Armando Robles Godoy, a Peruvian filmmaker, filed a successful copyright lawsuit against Paul Simon. The grounds for the lawsuit extended that the song had been composed by his father, who had copyrighted the song in the United States in 1933. Armando Robles Godoy said that he held no ill will towards Paul Simon for what he considered a "misunderstanding" and an "honest mistake".


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: "It was an almost friendly court case because Paul Simon was very respectful of other cultures. It was not carelessness on his part", said Armando Robles Godoy. "He happened to hear the song in Paris from a vernacular group Los Incas. He liked it, he went to ask the band for permission and they gave him the wrong information. Jorge Milchberg told him it was a traditional folk song from the 18th century and not my father's composition. It was a court case without further complications."


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: Later that year, Perry Como released a recording of Paul Simon's version on his album "It's Impossible", while Julie Felix had a UK Top 20 hit with it, taking advantage of Simon & Garfunkel's decision not to release their version as a UK single.


title: El Cóndor Pasa (song)

text: Armando Robles Godoy subsequently wrote new Spanish lyrics for the song, taking Paul Simon's version as a reference.


title: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1983 TV series)

text: G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (retitled Action Force in the United Kingdom) is a half-hour American animated television series created by Ron Friedman. Based on the from Hasbro, the cartoon ran in syndication from 1983 to 1986. 95 episodes were produced.


text: When Hasbro launched the "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero" toyline in 1982 alongside the , it commissioned Marvel Productions to produce a series of fully animated 30-second television commercials which were broadcast in order to promote the comic book publication, since advertising regulations for a literary work were more lax than for a direct toy commercial. The commercial for the first issue began airing throughout the Spring of 1982. The popularity of these commercials led to the production of a five-part "G.I. Joe" mini-series which aired in 1983 (later known as "The M.A.S.S. Device" when it re-aired during the series' syndication).


text: The plot centers on the titular M.A.S.S. Device, a powerful matter-transporter, and G.I. Joe and Cobra's race around the world to acquire the three catalytic elements which power the machine. A second five-part mini-series followed in 1984, "G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra" (titled "The Weather Dominator" in later airings), with a similar plot that involved the Joes and Cobras traveling around the world to recover the scattered fragments of Cobra's new weather-controlling weapon, the Weather Dominator. Both mini-series were written by Ron Friedman.


text: "G.I. Joe" was promoted to a full series in 1985, with an initial order for a first season of 55 more episodes (in order to make up the required 65 episodes for syndication). This season began with a third Friedman-penned five-part adventure, "The Pyramid of Darkness"; the story sees most of the existing cast from the two previous mini-series held captive by Cobra, while a new assortment of characters (that is, the new 1985 range of toys) thwart Cobra's attempts to surround the Earth with the electricity-negating Pyramid of Darkness. Both the new and old characters then shared the spotlight throughout the course of the remaining fifty episodes of the series, which were primarily stand-alone single-episode adventures, with the occasional two-part story. The season was story edited by Steve Gerber.


text: A second season of 30 episodes followed in 1986, beginning with a fourth five-part story, "Arise, Serpentor, Arise!" in which Cobra scientist Doctor Mindbender, inspired by a recurring dream, uses the DNA of history's most ruthless conquerors and rulers to genetically engineer Serpentor, who usurps Cobra Commander's leadership of Cobra. This mini-series introduced the new 1986 range of toys into the story, which were at the center of most stories across the rest of the season; in particular, the mini-series debuted former WWF and then-current AWA professional wrestler Sgt. Slaughter as a member of G.I. Joe, played by himself. For this season, Buzz Dixon replaced Steve Gerber as story editor.


text: "G.I. Joe: The Movie", a feature-length film version of the series, was intended to be released theatrically, followed by the release of "". However, the movie encountered unexpected production delays which allowed the "Transformers" feature to be released first. Due to the poor box office performances of the "Transformers" and "" films, "G.I. Joe" was relegated to direct-to-video status. It was released on VHS on April 20, 1987, and was later split into a five-part mini-series for television syndication.