title: Women in space

text: China's first female astronaut candidates, chosen in 2010 from the ranks of fighter pilots, were required to be married mothers. The Chinese stated that married women were "more physically and psychologically mature" and that the rule that they had have had children was because of concerns that spaceflight would harm their reproductive organs (including unreleased ova). The unknown nature of the effects of spaceflight on women was also noted. However, the director of the China Astronaut Centre has stated that marriage is a preference but not a strict limitation. Part of why they were so strict was because it was their first astronaut selection and they were trying be "extra cautious". China's first woman astronaut, Liu Yang, was married but had no children at the time of her flight in June 2012.


title: Women in space

text: Wang Yaping became the second Chinese female astronaut as a member of the Shenzhou 10 spaceship crew, which orbited the Earth in June 2013, and of the Tiangong-1 orbiting space station with which it docked. In 2021, Wang again flew on Shenzhou 13 where she became the first Chinese female astronaut to perform a spacewalk.


title: Women in space

text: After the second privately co-funded person overall and first woman Helen Sharman, Anousheh Ansari was the fourth overall privately funded space traveler, the first Iranian woman citizen (dual citizenship with the US) to go to space, as well as the first privately funded woman to fly to the International Space Station. She flew to the station in 2006 on the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft. Her mission launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 18, 2006. Soyuz TMA-9 transported two-thirds of ISS Expedition 14 to the space station along with Ansari. Ansari performed several experiments on behalf of the European Space Agency.


title: Women in space

text: As the somewhat broader category of "space flight participants", four women have been classified: Helen Sharman, Claudie Haigneré (state funded), Anousheh Ansari, and Yi So-yeon (state funded).


title: Women in space

text: After the first twelve US women, the third and last woman launched by the USSR was Helen Sharman in 1991, the first woman from Western Europe and the first who went to the space station Mir. She is the first United Kingdom woman citizen, making the United Kingdom the first of two countries (the other being South Korea) to have a woman as its first person to go to space. She was however not sent by the United Kingdom government, but by the privately funded Project Juno. As such, she was the second person and first woman to be funded privately to go to space. Vanessa O'Brien would carry the UN Women's flag on her sub-orbital spaceflight Blue Origin NS-22.


title: Women in space

text: In 2019 Beth Moses became the first commercial astronaut woman to go to space (sub-orbital). Wally Funk, member of the Mercury 13, became the oldest woman in space when she flew on Blue Origin's New Shepherd flight on 20 July 2021. In addition to being the only member of the Mercury 13 to ever fly in space, she also broke the record for oldest person in space at the age of 82, though her record was broken by William Shatner in October that same year. On 16 September 2021, Sian Proctor and Hayley Arceneaux became the first female commercial astronauts to go into orbit on board Inspiration4


title: Women in space

text: Space programs allowed women generally only well into the space age, with NASA opening its space program in 1976. When Sally Ride became the first female US astronaut to go into space in 1983, the press asked her questions about her reproductive organs and whether she would cry if things went wrong on the job.


title: Women in space

text: Women with children have also been faced with questions about how they would compare to traditional expectations of motherhood. Shannon Lucid, one of the first group of female US astronauts, remembers questions by the press on how her children would handle her being a mother in space. Women are often expected to be the ones mainly responsible for child-rearing, which can impact their career.


title: Women in space

text: Female astronauts are subject to the same general physical effects of space travel as men. These include physiological changes due to weightlessness such as loss of bone and muscle mass, health threats from cosmic rays, dangers due to vacuum and temperature, and psychological stress.


title: Women in space

text: NASA reports initially argued that menstruation could pose serious health risks or have a negative effect on performance, although it is now dealt with as a matter of routine.


title: Women in space

text: Since women have been sent to space, the previously men focused clothing has been reconsidered addressing the issues and needs for clothing like space suits for extravehicular activity (EVA) and bras, e.g. for exercise in micro-g environments.


title: Women in space

text: Furthermore, space toilet designs did not have women in mind, until October 2020 when the first toilet with better design for women (as well as men) was delivered to the ISS.


title: Women in space

text: Massive particles are a concern for astronauts outside the earth's magnetic field who receive solar particles from solar proton events (SPE) and galactic cosmic rays from cosmic sources. These high-energy charged nuclei are blocked by Earth's magnetic field but pose a major health concern for astronauts traveling to the moon and to any distant location beyond the earth orbit. Evidence indicates past solar particle event (SPE) radiation levels that would have been lethal for unprotected astronauts.


title: Women in space

text: However, due to the currently used risk models for endometrial, ovarian and breast cancer, women at NASA can currently only spend half as much time on missions as men, which limits their career options compared to men.


title: Women in space

text: Astronauts on Apollo and Skylab missions received on average 1.2 mSv/day and 1.4 mSv/day respectively. Exposures on the ISS average 0.4 mSv per day (150 mSv per year), although frequent crew rotations minimize risk to individuals.


title: Women in space

text: A trip to Mars with current technology might be related to measurements by the Mars Science Laboratory which for a 180-day journey estimated an exposure approximately 300 mSv, which would be equivalent of 24 CAT scans or "15 times an annual radiation limit for a worker in a nuclear power plant".


title: Women in space

text: A study published in 2005 in the "International Journal of Impotence Research" reported that short-duration missions (no longer than nine days) did not affect "the ability of astronauts to conceive and bear healthy children to term." In another experiment, the frog Xenopus laevis successfully ovulated in space.


title: Women in space

text: NASA has not permitted pregnant astronauts to fly in space, and there have been no pregnant women in space. However, various science experiments have dealt with some aspects of pregnancy.


title: Women in space

text: For air travel, the United States' Federal Aviation Administration recommends a limit of 1 mSv total for a pregnancy, and no more than 0.5 mSv per month.


title: Women in space

text: Additionally children of female astronauts could be sterile if the astronaut were exposed to too much ionizing radiation during the later stages of a pregnancy. Ionizing radiation may destroy the egg cells of a female fetus inside a pregnant woman, rendering the offspring infertile even when grown.


title: Women in space

text: While no human had gestated in space , scientists have conducted experiments on non-human mammalian gestation. Space missions that have studied "reproducing and growing mammals" include Kosmos 1129 and 1154, as the Shuttle missions STS-66, 70, 72, and 90. A Soviet experiment in 1983 showed that a rat that orbited while pregnant later gave birth to healthy babies; the babies were "thinner and weaker than their Earth-based counterparts and lagged behind a bit in their mental development," although the developing pups eventually caught up.


title: Women in space

text: The lack of knowledge about pregnancy and birth control in micro-gravity has been noted in regards to conducting long-term space missions.


title: Women in space

text: A 1998 Space Shuttle mission showed that rodent "Rattus" mothers were either not producing enough milk or not feeding their offspring in space. However, a later study on pregnant rats showed that the animals successfully gave birth and lactated normally.


title: Women in space

text: To date no human children have been born in space; neither have children gone into space. Nevertheless, the idea of children in space is taken seriously enough that some have discussed how to write curriculum for children in space-colonizing families.


title: Women in space

text: Astronautics is the science behind going to space, and has been made possible beside the woman astronauts particularly by the many women who have been working in this and related fields.


title: Women in space

text: A number of other high-profile women have contributed to interest in space programs. In the early 2000s, Lori Garver initiated a project to increase the visibility and viability of commercial spaceflight with the "AstroMom" project. She aimed to fill an unused Soyuz seat bound for the International Space Station because "…creating a spacefaring civilization was one of the most important things we could do in our lifetime.”


title: Begich Towers

text: The Begich Towers Condominium is a building in the small city of Whittier, Alaska. The structure is notable for operating like a small-scale arcology, being the residence for nearly the entire population of the city, as well as containing many of its public facilities. This has earned Whittier the nickname of a "town under one roof".


title: Begich Towers

text: The area where modern-day Whittier sits was developed during World War II, when it was chosen as the place to build a military harbor and a logistics base for the US Army. After the war, the military planned to develop a large complex in the area. What is now the Begich Towers was part of that plan.


title: Begich Towers

text: The building was designed in 1953 by Anton Anderson to host the headquarters of the US Army Corps of Engineers. It was named the Hodge Building in memory of Colonel William Walter Hodge, commander of the 93rd Engineer Regiment on the Alcan Highway. The Hodge Building was part of a larger project meant to include the construction of ten other similar buildings for military use. Construction started with the Hodge Building, along with the Buckner Building to the northeast, with both opening in 1957. Despite the ambitious plan, these buildings were the only two to be built, and they were used by the US Army until the early 1960s; the Buckner Building has been abandoned since 1966.


title: Begich Towers

text: In 1964, the area was hit by a tsunami caused by the Good Friday earthquake, but the damage was not extensive. The Hodge Building was transformed into a public building with several units, including the headquarters of the major institutions and commercial services of Whittier.


title: Begich Towers

text: In 1972, the building was renamed Begich Towers Condominium, in memory of Nick Begich, a Congressman from Alaska who disappeared in the area and is presumed to have died in a plane crash. In 1974, the Begich Towers Condominium Association of Apartment Owners Inc. became the official manager of the entire structure.


title: Begich Towers

text: With most of the community and its services either inside of or connected to the building, residents are able to remain inside the building for long periods of time if the weather is inclement, or they simply do not want to leave.


title: Begich Towers

text: Completed in 1957, the building has a rectangular plan and a flat roof. It is 14 floors high and is made up of three modules connected together. The north side has two protruding modules that form two square towers. Inside, sets of branched corridors and elevators allow residents access to all areas of the complex. The school is connected to the towers via a tunnel.


title: Begich Towers

text: In addition to the residential areas, the building contains the basic services for condo owners and guests: a post office, a general store and a laundromat. There is also a small Baptist church, two floors of bed and breakfast daily rentals, a conference room, and an indoor playground at the school.


title: Begich Towers

text: During the U.S. military's tenure in Whittier, all Whittier buildings had their hydronic heating needs fulfilled by a single heating plant. Following the Army's departure, each building had to get its own system, including the Begich Towers, which had a pair of boilers in a side building.


title: Begich Towers

text: As of 2015, only one of the two boilers serving Begich Towers was functional, but it experienced major maintenance-related issues almost daily. The problems were traced back to the hydronic loop using water, which was susceptible to freezing, instead of a mixture of domestic water and glycol, which lowers the freezing point and prevents pipes from bursting due to ambient temperature drops below zero degrees Celsius.


title: Begich Towers

text: As of 2016, funding for repairs relating to maintaining mechanical systems and renovating the façade came with a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.


title: Perlis

text: Perlis, (Northern Malay: "Peghelih"), also known by its honorific title Perlis Indera Kayangan, is the smallest state in Malaysia by area and population. Located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, it borders the Thai provinces of Satun and Songkhla to the north and the Malaysian state of Kedah to the south. It was called Palit () by the Siamese when it was under their influence. Perlis had a population of 227,025 as of the 2010 census.


title: Perlis

text: The capital of Perlis is Kangar, and the royal capital is Arau. Another important town is Padang Besar, at the Malaysia–Thailand border and Kuala Perlis, the ferry town to Langkawi. The main port and ferry terminal is at the small village of Kuala Perlis, linking mostly to Langkawi Island. Another important lately developed area is Pauh Putra within subdistrict of Kurong Anai which houses the main campus of Malaysia University of Perlis and Politeknik Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin. Perlis has a famous snake farm and research centre at Sungai Batu Pahat. Perlis State Park and Gua Kelam are among the popular tourist attractions.


title: Perlis

text: The honorific Indera Kayangan was given by Tuanku Raja Syed Hussin Jamalullail (who ruled Perlis from 1843 to 1873) after the royal town of Indera Kayangan II (1797 until 1813) he was raised in now located in Kampung Langgar, Kayang within the Kuala Perlis area. However, this epithet became less popular under the recommendation of Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail in 2015, in which according to him is inline with the official singular name given in the state constitution his father signed without any long epithets in general "which is related to deities, or any 'Darul'..."".


title: Perlis

text: Perlis was originally part of Kedah, although it occasionally came under rule by Siam or Aceh. Perlis was historically an important realm within the Kingdom of Kedah. Sultan Muhyiddin of Kedah made his capital in Kota Sena, while Sultan Dhiauddin II made Kota Indera Kayangan his capital. Sultan Dhiauddin II of Kedah was honorifically titled as Raja Muda of Perlis and Kedah, akin to the title Prince of Wales in the United Kingdom. During his reign as the Sultan of Kedah, he oversaw a treaty with George Leith to cede Province Wellesley to Penang. He was titled as Raja Muda of Perlis and Kedah. This fact depicted Perlis was a special realm within the Kedah sultanate.


title: Perlis

text: Sultan Dhiauddin then made Syed Harun Jamalullail, father of the future first Raja of Perlis as chieftain of Arau as a wedding gift to his marriage with his daughter, Tengku Sofiah. Syed Harun's descendant will eventually become deputy governor (1839) and King of Perlis.


title: Perlis

text: After the Siamese conquered Kedah in 1821, the British felt their interests in Perak to be threatened. This resulted in the 1826 Burney and Low Treaties formalising relations between the two Malay states and Siam, their nominal overlord. In the Burney Treaty, the exiled Kedah sultan Ahmad Tajuddin was not restored to his throne. Sultan Ahmad and his armed supporters then fought in a series of war known as Perang Musuh Bisik for his restoration over twelve years (1830–1842).


title: Perlis

text: In 1842, the Sultan finally agreed to accept Siamese terms and was restored to his throne of Kedah. However, Siam separated Perlis into a separate principality directly vassal to Bangkok. The Siamese made Raja Long Krok as the Governor of Siam in Perlis while Syed (or Sayyid) Hussain Jamalullail as deputy governor. Finally, on 20 May 1843, the Siamese made Sayyid Hussain Jamalulail, the paternal grandson of a Hadhrami Arab Sayyid immigrant and maternal grandson of the Sultan of Kedah, became the first Raja of Perlis. This made Perlis as a sovereign state. His descendants still rule Perlis, but as "rajas", instead of as "sultans".


title: Perlis

text: In 1897, Kedah led by its Prime Minister, Wan Mat Saman started effort to end the sovereignty of Perlis as what had become to the Kingdom of Kubang Pasu, which was returned to Kedah crown. After several tense occasions and disputes, Siamese King Chulalongkorn sided with Perlis. Perlis also had several disputes with the state of Setul before the 1900s.


title: Perlis

text: As with Kedah, the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 forced Siam to relinquish its southern Malay vassal states of Kelantan, Trengganu, and Monthon Syburi (comprising Kedah, Perlis, and Satun (which remained with Thailand)) to Great Britain. The British installed a Resident in the Perlis Royal capital of Arau. Perlis was returned to Siam in World War II as a reward for Siam's alliance with Japan, but this brief annexation ended with the Japanese surrender. After World War II, Perlis returned to British rule until it became part of the Malayan Union, then the Federation of Malaya in 1957, and lastly, Malaysia in 1963.


title: Perlis

text: Since 2000, the Raja or hereditary monarch has been Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin. He was the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia from 13 December 2001 to 12 December 2006. Tuanku Syed Faizuddin Putra was the Regent of Perlis during the five-year period when Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin was Yang di-Pertuan Agong. The Chief Executive or "Menteri Besar" is currently Azlan Man of Barisan Nasional.


title: Perlis

text: The Coat of Arms of Perlis consists of a sturdy green wreath of padi, indicating the wealth of the kingdom and the chief economic activity of the people.


title: Perlis

text: The shield in the centre represents the pride of the people. Inside the shield is a ring of golden rice surrounding the name "Perlis" written in the Jawi script.


title: Perlis

text: Perlis is ruled by the House of Jamalullail. Unlike other Malaysian monarchical states, in which the ruler is a "Sultan", the Perlis ruler is called the "Raja".


title: Perlis

text: Legislative power in the state is exercised by the Perlis State Legislative Assembly, a unicameral chamber in which all 15 seats are elected from single-member constituencies. After the 2022 state election, the Perikatan Nasional coalition, led by the Malaysian Islamic Party, holds 14 of the assembly's 15 seats.


title: Perlis

text: Raja appoints Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) and an Executive Council (akin to a Cabinet). Generally, the chief minister is a member of the legislative assembly who can command a majority on the assembly's floor. The Raja's appointment powers were at the centre of a brief constitutional crisis in the state after the 2008 general election. The Raja sought to appoint a Barisan Nasional assemblyman, Md Isa Sabu, as chief Minister despite Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who led the national coalition, nominating the incumbent Shahidan Kassim to continue in office. The Raja prevailed, and swore in Md Isa, who proceeded to serve a full term as chief minister.


title: Perlis

text: The state elects three members of the federal House of Representatives, for the constituencies of Arau, Kangar and Padang Besar. After the 2022 general election, all three seats are held by Perikatan Nasional.


title: Perlis

text: The state also has two federal senators; like all other states, the senators are not directly elected but appointed by a vote of the state legislative assembly.


title: Perlis

text: Perlis, being the smallest state by area in Malaysia, is not divided into administrative districts. Nevertheless, it is still divided into several mukims (communes), namely:


title: Perlis

text: The ethnic composition for the year 2000 in Perlis was: Malay (174,805 or 79.74%), Chinese (21,058 or 9.6%), Indian (2,658 or 1.21%) and others (20,690 or 9.45%).


title: Perlis

text: As of 2010 the population of Perlis is 87.9% Muslim, 10.0% Buddhist, 0.8% Hindu, 0.6% Christian, 0.2% Taoist or Chinese religion followers, 0.2% non-religious, 0.2% unknown / none, and 0.1% followers of other religions.


title: Perlis

text: The Malaysian constitution strictly defines what makes a "Malay", considering Malays those who are Muslim, speak Malay regularly, practise Malay customs, and lived in or have ancestors from Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore. Statistics from the 2010 Census indicate that 83.6% of the Chinese population identify as Buddhist, with significant numbers of adherents following Taoism (3.4%) and Christianity (11.1%), along with small Hui-Muslim populations in areas like Penang. The majority of the Indian population follow Hinduism (86.2%), with a significant minority identifying as Christians (6.0%) or Muslims (4.1%). Christianity is the predominant religion of the non-Malay bumiputera community (46.5%) with an additional 40.4% identifying as Muslims.


title: Perlis

text: Majority of Perlis' population speaks Perlis Malay which is a sub-dialect of Kedah Malay but also has its own unique features compared to those of neighbouring Kedah. Besides that there is also Hokkien, Mandarin, English, Tamil, Malayalam as well as small numbers of Southern Thai speakers, mostly ethnic Malaysian Siamese. However, large numbers of Perlisians regardless of ethnic origin mainly uses Perlis Malay as a lingua franca. In particular, Perlis is well known for its distinctive Hokkien language, known as Penang Hokkien. Hokkien serves as the lingua franca among the various ethnic Chinese communities in Perlis.


title: Perlis

text: There is an outdoor rock climbing in the limestone hills of Bukit Keteri with over 50 sport climbing routes that are bolted by the world's climbing team Mammut & Camp5; the crags split into 2 next to each other and the rockfaces rising up about 350 m. The range of difficulty is from beginner to expert and many varieties of climbs are available.


title: Houston Gamblers (2022)

text: The Houston Gamblers are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. They are one of eight members of United States Football League (USFL).


title: Houston Gamblers (2022)

text: They currently play their home games at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis Tennessee, which also hosts the Memphis Tigers.


title: Houston Gamblers (2022)

text: The Houston Gamblers were one of eight teams that were officially announced as a USFL franchise on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" on November 22, 2021.


title: Houston Gamblers (2022)

text: On January 6, 2022, it was announced on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" that former NCAA Football Head coach Kevin Sumlin was named the Head coach and General manager of the Gamblers.


title: Houston Gamblers (2022)

text: Initially, each team carried a 38-man active roster and a 7-man practice squad, but the rosters were increased to 40 active players and 50 total in May, 2022.


title: Fragmentation (weaponry)

text: Fragmentation is the process by which the casing, shot, or other components of an anti-personnel weapon, bomb, barrel bomb, land mine, IED, artillery, mortar, tank gun, or autocannon shell, rocket, missile, grenade, etc. are dispersed and/or shattered by the detonation of the explosive filler.


title: Fragmentation (weaponry)

text: The correct term for these pieces is "fragmentation"; "shards" or "splinters" can be used for non-preformed fragments. Preformed fragments can be of various shapes (spheres, cubes, rods, etc.) and sizes, and are normally held rigidly within some form of matrix or body until the high explosive (HE) filling is detonated. The resulting high-velocity fragments produced by either method are the main lethal mechanisms of these weapons, rather than the heat or overpressure caused by detonation, although offensive grenades are often constructed without a frag matrix.


title: Fragmentation (weaponry)

text: These casing pieces are often incorrectly referred to as "shrapnel", particularly by non-military media sources.


title: Fragmentation (weaponry)

text: The use of fragmentation in bombs dates to the 14th century, and appears in the Ming Dynasty text "Huolongjing". The fragmentation bombs were filled with iron pellets and pieces of broken porcelain. Once the bomb explodes, the resulting fragments are capable of piercing the skin and blinding enemy soldiers.


title: Fragmentation (weaponry)

text: The modern fragmentation grenade was developed during the 20th century. The Mills bomb, first adopted in 1915 by the British army, is an early fragmentation grenade used in World War I. The Mk 2 grenade was a fragmentation grenade adopted by the American military based on the Mills bomb, and was in use during World War II.


title: Fragmentation (weaponry)

text: The term "shrapnel" is commonly, although incorrectly from a technical standpoint, used to refer to fragments produced by "any" explosive weapon. However, the shrapnel shell, named for Major General Henry Shrapnel of the British Royal Artillery, predates the modern high-explosive shell and operates by an entirely different process.


title: Fragmentation (weaponry)

text: A shrapnel shell consists of a shell casing filled with steel or lead balls suspended in a resin matrix, with a small explosive charge at the base of the shell. When the projectile is fired, it travels a pre-set distance along a ballistic trajectory, then the fuse ignites a relatively weak secondary charge (often black powder or cordite) in the base of the shell. This charge fractures the matrix holding the balls in place and expels the nose of the shell to open a path for the balls, which are then propelled out of the front of the shell without rupturing the casing (which falls to earth relatively unharmed and can be retrieved and reused). These balls continue onward to the target, spreading out in a cone-shaped pattern at ground level, with most of their energy coming from the original velocity of the shell itself rather than the lesser force of the secondary charge that freed them from the shell. Since the cone of impact is relatively small, no more than 10 to 15 times the diameter of the shell, true shrapnel shells needed to be carefully sighted and judiciously used in order to maximize their impact on the enemy.


title: Fragmentation (weaponry)

text: In contrast, a high-explosive shell contains a relatively large and energetic secondary charge of high explosive (known as a burster charge) which, when ignited by the fuse, produces a powerful supersonic shock wave that shatters the entire shell casing into many fragments that fly in all directions. The use of high explosives with a fragmenting case improves efficiency as well as propelling a larger number of fragments at a higher velocity over a much wider area (40-60 times the diameter of the shell), giving high-explosive shells a vastly superior battlefield lethality that was largely impossible before the Industrial Era. World War I was the first major conflict in which HE shells were the dominant form of artillery; the failure to adapt infantry tactics to the massive increase in lethality they produced was a major element in producing the ghastly subterranean stalemate conditions of trench warfare, in which neither side could risk movement above ground without the guarantee of instant casualties from the constant, indiscriminate hail of HE shell fragments.


title: Fragmentation (weaponry)

text: One easy comparison between fragmenting HE and shrapnel shells would be to imagine a shell of each type standing stationary and base-first on the ground; a high-explosive shell would be equally lethal if detonated in this state vs. detonating on impact after being fired, whereas a shrapnel shell would ineffectually fire its contents only a few feet into the air in a cone-shaped pattern (while the casing itself remained intact). However, the reduced area of effect of shrapnel shells can be exploited, such as in the creeping barrage tactics of World War I, where shrapnel shells were able to be used much closer to friendly infantry than HE shells could.


title: The Captain (2017 film)

text: The Captain () is a 2017 international co-produced historical drama film written and directed by Robert Schwentke. It was screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. It tells the story of German war criminal Willi Herold, who assumed a stolen identity as a German officer and orchestrated the killing of deserters and other prisoners at one of the Emslandlager camps.


title: The Captain (2017 film)

text: In April 1945, during the final weeks of the war, Willi Herold, a young Luftwaffe Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper) escapes the pursuit of a roving German military police commando that wishes to execute him for desertion. After his escape, Herold finds an abandoned car containing the uniform of a decorated Luftwaffe captain. Herold takes the uniform and impersonates a captain, taking command of a number of stragglers as he moves through the German countryside under the guise that he is on a mission, ordered by Hitler himself, to assess morale behind the front. Although initially promising the local populace a decrease in looting, Herold becomes increasingly despotic as more disparate troops join his command, named "Kampfgruppe Herold". These troops include Freytag, a kind, aging rifleman who is made Herold's driver, and Kipinski, a sadistic drunk. Eventually, the "Kampfgruppe" find a German camp full of deserters awaiting execution and assumes control over operations there.


title: The Captain (2017 film)

text: While in the camp, Herold orders the execution of dozens of prisoners (with Kipinski being the principal executioner), and becomes increasingly infatuated with his newfound power. Over the course of their stay, Freytag becomes suspicious of Herold, and realises that the captain's uniform does not belong to him after seeing a tailor shorten the pant legs. Eventually, the camp is destroyed by an Allied air raid, and "Kampfgruppe Herold" moves to a local town. While there, the group loots considerably from the local population, and sets up a makeshift command post in a hotel under the name "Sonderkommando und Schnellgericht" [summary court] "Herold". Under this command, Herold orders the execution of Kipinski. After a night of debauchery, the group's hotel is stormed by military police and Herold is arrested. In court, Herold claims that he acted only in the defense of the German people, and escapes out of a window before being sent back to the front. In the final scene, Herold is seen walking through a forest filled with skeletal remains, and the audience is informed that after the war he and several of his accomplices were sentenced to death and executed by the Allied forces.


title: The Captain (2017 film)

text: The ending credits are accompanied by a sequence of Herold and his group driving through the streets of modern-day Görlitz in their Mercedes-Benz G3, eventually stopping to accost and harass local passersby on foot.


title: The Captain (2017 film)

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 83% based on 53 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""The Captain" makes chillingly persuasive points about the dark side of human nature -- and underscores how little certain tendencies ever really change."


title: Consolidated Edison

text: Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison (stylized as conEdison) or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through its subsidiaries:


title: Consolidated Edison

text: In 2015, electric revenues accounted for 70.35% of consolidated sales (70.55% in 2014); gas revenues 13.61% (14.96% in 2014); steam revenues 5.01% (4.86% in 2014); and non-utility revenues of 11.02% (9.63% in 2014).


title: Consolidated Edison

text: In March 1823, Con Edison's earliest corporate predecessor, the New York Gas Light Company, was founded by a consortium of New York City investors. A year later, it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Due to the Board of Aldermen's authority to grant franchises in the City of New York in the early to mid 1800s, interaction with Tammany Hall was required to expand business. By William M. Tweed's reign in the late 1860s as the boss of Tammany Hall, the power to authorize franchises lay with the County Board of Supervisors, of which Tweed had been a member. By 1871, Tweed was a member of the board of the Harlem Gas Light Company, a precursor to the Consolidated Edison Company. In 1884, six gas companies combined into the Consolidated Gas Company.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: The New York Steam Company began providing service in lower Manhattan in 1882. Today, Con Edison operates the largest commercial steam system in the world, providing steam service to nearly 1,600 commercial and residential establishments in Manhattan from Battery Park to 96th Street.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: Con Edison's electric business also dates back to 1882, when Thomas Edison's Edison Illuminating Company of New York began supplying electricity to 59 customers in a square-mile area in lower Manhattan. After the "war of currents", there were more than 30 companies generating and distributing electricity in New York City and Westchester County. But by 1920 there were far fewer, and the New York Edison Company (then part of Consolidated Gas) was clearly the leader.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: In 1936, with electric sales far outstripping gas sales, the company incorporated and the name was changed to Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. The years that followed brought further amalgamations as Consolidated Edison acquired or merged with more than a dozen companies between 1936 and 1960. Con Edison today is the result of acquisitions, dissolutions and mergers of more than 170 individual electric, gas and steam companies.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: Consolidated Edison acquired land on the Hudson River in Buchanan, NY, in 1954 for the Indian Point nuclear power plant. The first reactor (Indian Point 1) began generating power on September 16, 1962. The reactor was shut down on October 31, 1974, because the emergency core cooling system did not meet regulatory requirements. The company built two more reactors at Indian Point during the 1970s: Indian Point 2 and 3. Indian Point 3 was sold to the New York Power Authority in 1975. Entergy acquired Indian Point 2 in November 2000, nine months after a steam generator leak. With the sale of Indian Point 2, the last power plant it owned, Consolidated Edison, Inc. became primarily an energy distributor.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: On January 1, 1998, following the deregulation of the utility industry in New York state, a holding company, Consolidated Edison, Inc., was formed. It is one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $13 billion in annual revenues and $47 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through two regulated utility subsidiaries and three competitive energy businesses. Under a number of corporate names, the company has been traded on the NYSE without interruption since 1824—longer than any other NYSE stock. Its largest subsidiary, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc., provides electric, gas and steam service to more than 3 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York, an area of with a population of nearly 9 million. Also in 1998, Consolidated Edison, Inc. acquired Orange & Rockland Utilities, which is operated separately.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: To date, Con Edison has invested $3 billion in solar and wind projects. In September 2017 it was announced that the company would invest $1.25 billion in “renewable energy production facilities over the next three years.”


title: Consolidated Edison

text: The company's “renewable portfolio” contains more than 1.5 gigawatts of operating capacity. Seventy-five percent of that capacity comes from solar energy. Clean energy accounts for around eight percent of the company's earnings, as of fall 2017.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: To support electric vehicles, Con Edison partnered with the company FleetCarma to provide $500 in rewards to owners of electric vehicles in New York City and Westchester County, New York. Through this program, Con Edison pays customers to charge their vehicles when energy demand is low.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: The Con Edison electrical transmission system utilizes voltages of 138 kilovolts (kV), 345 kV, and 500 kV. The company has two 345 kV interconnections with upstate New York that enable it to import power from Hydro-Québec in Canada and one 345 kV interconnection each with Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) in New Jersey and Long Island. Con Edison's connection with Hydro-Québec is via a series of transmission lines owned by the New York Power Authority and neighboring utilities; a more-direct connection via the Champlain Hudson Power Express HVDC line is expected to come online in 2025.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: Con Edison is also interconnected with PSE&G via the Branchburg-Ramapo 500 kV line. Con Ed's distribution voltages are 33 kV, 27 kV, 13 kV, and 4 kV.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: The of underground cable in the Con Edison system could wrap around the Earth 3.6 times. Nearly of overhead electric wires complement the underground system—enough cable to stretch between New York and Los Angeles 13 times.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: The Con Edison gas system has nearly of pipes—if laid end to end, long enough to reach Paris and back to New York City, and serves Westchester County, the Bronx, Manhattan and parts of Queens. Gas service in Brooklyn, Staten Island and the rest of Queens is provided by National Grid USA's New York City operations, with the exception of the Rockaway peninsula, which is serviced by National Grid's Long Island operations. The average volume of gas that travels through Con Edison's gas system annually could fill the Empire State Building nearly 6,100 times.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: Con Edison produces 30 billion pounds of steam each year through its seven power plants which boil water to before distributing it to hundreds of buildings in the New York City steam system, which is the biggest district steam system in the world. Steam traveling through the system is used to heat and cool some of New York's most famous addresses, including the United Nations complex, the Empire State Building, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: ConEd offers a variety of programs and resources for its customers and stakeholders, organized in such categories as, "For Renters", "For Residential Owners", "For Small & Medium Businesses", "For Commercial & Industrial", "Business Partners", "Investors", "Community Affairs", and "Municipalities". Examples of such resources include:


title: Consolidated Edison

text: Con Edison contributes substantial funding and volunteer hours to many non-profit organizations and learning centers including New York Botanical Garden, Hudson Valley Groundworks Science Barge, Teatown Reservation, Jay Heritage Center, and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: On January 14, 2009, eleven Con Edison supervisors were arrested for demanding more than $1 million in kickbacks related to work done by a construction company that was repairing the midtown steam pipe eruption of 2007. According to federal prosecutors, the employees had approved payment for work that was unnecessary or not performed, and promised faster payment for some work performed by the construction company in exchange for the bribes. The FBI had two retired Con Edison employees and the president of the construction company wear recording devices that recorded the suspects demanding bribes of between $1000 to $5000. Later that year Con Edison sued Brendan Maher, one of the construction supervisors who was arrested and later admitted taking bribes that the utility company claimed amounted to $10,000.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: In April 2016, Con Edison agreed to pay over $171 million, about 1.5% of its annual revenue, back to its customers in compensation for harm resulting from the bribery. The Public Service Commission had found that Con Edison failed to supervise the employees. Con Edison admitted no wrongdoing.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: ● In March 2002, "Fortune" magazine named the company as one of "America's Most Admired Companies" in the publication's newest corporate ranking survey. In 2003, Con Edison ranked second on the top ten list for electric and gas utilities.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: ● In December 2011, the non-partisan organization Public Campaign released a report criticizing ConEd for spending $1.8 million on lobbying and not paying any taxes during 2008–2010, instead getting $127 million in tax rebates, despite making a profit of $4.2 billion, and increasing executive pay by 82% to $17.4 million in 2010 for its top five executives.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: ● In 2014, Con Edison was named the #1 utility and #16 overall among corporations, in "Newsweeks" Green Rankings, and one of the 50 best companies for Latinas by "Latina Style Magazine". In its "Best of the Best" issue in 2015, "Hispanic Network Magazine" named the company a top employer among energy, gas, and oil companies. Con Edison was also selected as one of the top regional utilities by "DiversityInc" magazine in 2014. In 2016, the company was listed among America's best large employers by "Forbes".


title: Consolidated Edison

text: ● In February 2021, The Energy and Policy Institute criticized Con Edison for touting clean energy while investing in Gas Infrastructure. This is unclean fracked gas. (Fracked gas is methane gas produced by hydraulic fracturing.) The article explained,


title: Consolidated Edison

text: "A recent analysis of utility executive compensation by the Energy and Policy Institute found that Con Edison’s executive compensation policies include renewable energy growth as components of broader goals, but do not reward executives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: Con Edison purchases methane gas collected through the process of hydraulic fracturing. This is not green energy, nor is it sustainable energy. Hydraulically fractured gas is a potent greenhouse gas. In a recent letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Con Edison supported Kinder Morgan’s East 300 Upgrade Project, in environmentally protected lands in NJ. This expansion includes two additional compressor stations, in West Milford and Wantage, NJ. Con Edison buys gas that is transported from the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, to Westchester NY, via Kinder Morgan's Tennessee Gas Pipeline, 300 Line. The compressor stations on this pipeline routinely blow-down toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) contained in the gas. The new compressor stations, supported by Con Edison, will blow VOCs over the protected Highland Forest and water sources of northern New Jersey. Recent studies show that the death rate increases in counties with compressor stations. This will effect Passaic County and Sussex County NJ.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: In addition to the carbon impact from burning natural gas, generators receive gas under an "interruptible" service. This means that the generator will pay a preferential rate for their gas and in return will switch to using much more polluting oil during times when the gas supply is strained. This both lowers the cost of the generated electricity, making renewables less competitive, and increases the carbon footprint. Interruptible gas service is no longer an option for gas customers in NYC, giving the existing generators another leg up. NYS also decommissioned the two nuclear generating stations at Indian Point, which was responsible for satisfying a portion of the City's energy requirement. This capacity was replaced with gas and oil plants, increasing the carbon footprint.


title: Consolidated Edison

text: When a New York City contractor is unable to repair a reported nonfunctioning or malfunctioning street light, traffic light or pedestrian Walk/Don't Walk light because of a failure in the power to the affected unit, a stop tag is assigned by "Con Ed". When a caller to NYC's 311 asks for followup information about a reported outage, they're told the "stop tag" number, and told to call "Con Ed" at 800-752-6633 (800-75-CON-ED).


title: Consolidated Edison

text: "The New York Times" wrote that it can take over two years for some repairs. Sometimes an entire fixture must be removed, repaired, then returned. Other times the streets must be torn up to replace underground wiring. Temporary fixes, using what was described as "nothing more than overhead extension cords" (called "Shunts") at times are left in place for an extended period. In 2017 Con Ed committed to repair "at least 90% ... within 90 days."


title: Consolidated Edison

text: A former Con Edison building on West 53rd Street in Manhattan was converted first into the studio for the television game show "Let's Make a Deal", and later into a recording studio called "Power Station" because of its Edison history. In 1996, the studio was renamed Avatar Studios and then in 2017 back to "Power Station".


title: Consolidated Edison

text: In 1978, Con Edison sold the Excelsior Power Company Building, a former substation on Gold Street in Manhattan's Financial District. It was renovated into an apartment building, and became a New York City designated landmark in 2016.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: Joseph Leynard Smith (born July 26, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player, who mostly played at power forward, for 12 teams in the National Basketball Association during his 16-year career.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: Born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, Smith was the College Player of the Year at Maryland in 1995 and the No. 1 pick of that season's NBA draft, picked by the Golden State Warriors. He was named to the 1995–96 All-Rookie team. Smith was mobile throughout his career, as he was one of the most traded players in league history. In 1998, Smith was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers; he then played for the Minnesota Timberwolves (with a midway pitstop for the Detroit Pistons) until 2003. He later played for the Milwaukee Bucks, the Denver Nuggets, the 76ers again, the Chicago Bulls, the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Atlanta Hawks, the New Jersey Nets, and the Los Angeles Lakers.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: Smith played for Maryland for two seasons. As a sophomore, Smith averaged 20.8 points and 10.6 rebounds a game, and was named to the AP NCAA All-America Team. On March 2, 1995, Smith scored a collegiate career high 40 points and made a game winning tip in shot during a 94-92 victory over Duke.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: In the 1995 NBA draft, Smith was selected by the Golden State Warriors as the first overall pick, before fellow power forwards Kevin Garnett, Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace, as well as guard Jerry Stackhouse. On November 30, 1995, Smith scored his highest single game point total of his rookie season, with 30 points in a 125-121 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. On January 20, 1996, Smith grabbed a career high 20 rebounds, while also scoring 21 points, during a 110-102 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. At the end of the year, after starting all 82 games, Smith was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team for the 1995–96 season and finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting to Damon Stoudamire and Arvydas Sabonis.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: The following season, Smith would average a career best 18.7 points per game, second on the team only to Latrell Sprewell's 24.2 points per game. On January 8, 1997, Smith scored a career high 38 points in a 109-95 loss to the Vancouver Grizzlies. For the second season in a row, however, the Warriors would again miss the postseason, this time with a 30-52 record.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: Smith would play two-and-a-half years for the Warriors before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers with Brian Shaw for Clarence Weatherspoon and Jim Jackson midway through the 1997–98 season. The trade was engineered by Golden State as Smith had made clear his desire to return to the east coast, and he was approaching free agency (halfway through the final year of his 3-year rookie contract). Smith turned down a multi year $80+ million contract with the Warriors. He made a reported $61 million over his career.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: Despite a drop in production, Smith was seen still as a hot commodity in the free agency blitz that followed the strike in lockout 1998. In what seemed at the time like a bizarre move, Smith signed for very little money with the Minnesota Timberwolves. For the next two years, Smith played very productively at small forward alongside All-Star Kevin Garnett.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: Following the 1999–2000 season, it was discovered that Smith was involved in a salary cap-evading scandal involving Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and general manager Kevin McHale. Smith was allegedly promised a future multimillion-dollar deal if he signed with the team for below market value, allowing the team to make some additional player moves in the short term. As part of the deal, Smith signed three one-year contracts for less than $3 million apiece, allowing the Timberwolves to retain his "Bird rights" and exceed the cap to re-sign him. At the end of the last one-year contract, Smith could have signed a new long-term contract that would have paid as much as $86 million.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: The beginning of the end for the illicit deal came when Smith's agent, Andrew Miller, left the sports marketing firm helmed by Eric Fleisher and retained Smith and Garnett as clients. Fleisher sued, and details of the illegal contract came to light in discovery. NBA Commissioner David Stern severely punished the Timberwolves in response. He fined the team $3.5 million and voided all three short-term contracts—and with them, Smith's "Bird rights." He also barred Taylor from having any role in the Timberwolves' operations until August 31, 2001, and forced McHale to take an unpaid leave of absence through July 31, 2001. More seriously in the long run, Stern stripped the Timberwolves of their first-round draft picks in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 (though the 2003 and 2005 picks were ultimately returned).


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: The team still found success, culminating in 2004 when the Timberwolves finished with the best record in the Western Conference, and advanced all the way to the Western Conference Finals.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: Joe Smith was released by the Timberwolves and signed with the Detroit Pistons for the 2000–01 season as a backup. Smith produced good numbers for the Pistons and, at the end of the season, he re-signed with his former team the Timberwolves where he played for two more seasons until the end of the 2002-03 NBA season.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: In 2003, Smith and teammate Anthony Peeler were traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Sam Cassell and Ervin Johnson. Smith spent three seasons with the Bucks. During the 2004 NBA Playoffs, Smith averaged postseason career highs of 13.2 points and 10 rebounds per game during a 4-1 first round loss to the Pistons.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: Prior to the 2006–07 season, Smith was traded to the Nuggets for Ruben Patterson, where he only played in 11 games before being traded, along with Andre Miller, back to the 76ers for former teammate Allen Iverson. Despite being considered an add-in on the deal, Smith averaged over 25 minutes per game with the 76ers, during the team's ultimately unsuccessful second-half battle to make the playoffs. For the 2007–08 season, Smith signed with the Chicago Bulls. Smith averaged over 11 points and 5 rebounds per game for the Bulls, but the team managed only 33 wins the whole season. Smith was traded in a three-team deal at the trade deadline to the Cleveland Cavaliers.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: On August 13, 2008, Smith was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a three-team, six-player deal involving the Thunder, the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Cleveland Cavaliers that sent Milwaukee's Mo Williams to Cleveland, Smith and Milwaukee's Desmond Mason to Oklahoma City, and Cleveland's Damon Jones and Oklahoma City's Luke Ridnour and Adrian Griffin to Milwaukee.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: The Thunder traded Smith to the New Orleans Hornets along with Chris Wilcox and draft rights to DeVon Hardin on February 17, 2009 for Tyson Chandler but on February 18, 2009 the trade was rescinded after Chandler failed a physical with Oklahoma City.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: On March 1, 2009, the Thunder bought out the remainder of Smith's contract and released him. Two nights later, he agreed to terms to rejoin the Cavaliers.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: On August 25, 2009, he signed a one-year contract with the Atlanta Hawks. On March 17, 2010, Smith became the 92nd player in NBA history to reach 1,000 games played, in a victory over the New Jersey Nets.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: On December 15, 2010, Smith was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in a three-team trade involving the Nets and Houston Rockets. On January 2, 2011, Smith made his debut for the Lakers. Two days later, he scored his first points as a member of the team.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: Smith wound up participating in one of the Phoenix Suns' pre-draft practices on June 9, 2015 as someone to help out center Alex Len during practice. He was initially considered a candidate to take on one of the Suns' player development coaching roles, but he was ultimately not hired for the position.


title: Joe Smith (basketball)

text: Smith has recorded a solo rap album under the pseudonym 'Joe Beast'. Included on the album are tracks titled "Murda Kapital" and "I Does This". The album was produced in Oklahoma City, by Tommy Switch and Lorin Roberts, while Smith was playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: The Ventura first entered combat in Europe as a bomber with the RAF in late 1942. Designated PV-1 by the United States Navy (US Navy), it entered combat in 1943 in the Pacific. The bomber was also used by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), which designated it the Lockheed B-34 ("Lexington") and B-37 as a trainer. British Commonwealth forces also used it in several guises, including antishipping and antisubmarine search and attack.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: The Ventura was developed from the Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar transport, as a replacement for the Lockheed Hudson bombers then in service with the Royal Air Force. Used in daylight attacks against occupied Europe, they proved to have weaknesses and were removed from bomber duty and some used for patrols by Coastal Command.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: After USAAF monopolization of land-based bombers was removed, the US Navy ordered a revised design which entered service as the PV-2 Harpoon for anti-submarine work.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: At the start of the war, Lockheed proposed military conversions of the Lodestar for the RAF as replacement for the Hudson reconnaissance aircraft and the Bristol Blenheim bomber. The first British order was placed in February 1940 for 25 Model 32 as bombers. This was followed by an order for 300 Model 37 with Double Wasp engines, then for a further 375 later in 1940. Lockheed needed more production capacity and nearby Vega Aircraft Corporation was contracted for building the Ventura.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: The Ventura was very similar to its predecessor, the Lockheed Hudson. The primary difference was not in layout; rather, the Ventura was larger, heavier, and used more powerful engines than the Hudson. The RAF ordered 188 Venturas in February 1940, which were delivered from mid-1942. Venturas were initially used for daylight raids on occupied Europe but, like some other RAF bombers, they proved too vulnerable without fighter escort, which was difficult to provide for long-range missions. Venturas were replaced by the faster de Havilland Mosquito. The Venturas were transferred to patrol duties with Coastal Command as the Mosquito replaced them in bomber squadrons; 30 went to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and some to the South African Air Force (SAAF). The RAF placed an order for 487 Ventura Mark IIs but many of these were diverted to the USAAF, which placed its own order for 200 Ventura Mark IIA as the B-34 Lexington, later renamed RB-34.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: In August 1941, large orders for Venturas were placed with Lend-Lease Act money. Among the orders were for 550 armed reconnaissance versions of the Ventura. This aircraft was originally planned to be built under the designation O-56. The main differences between the Ventura and the O-56 were in the engines: rather than the 2,000 hp (1,491 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-2800 radials of the Ventura, the O-56 used 1,700 hp (1,270 kW) Wright R-2600-13 radials.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: Before completion of the first O-56, the U.S. Army Air Forces dropped the "O-" category used to designate "observation" (reconnaissance) aircraft. The O-56 was redesignated the RB-34B (the "R" denoted 'restricted' meaning it was not to be used for combat). Before the first of these flew, the design was redesignated again as the B-37 with a higher powered version of the R-2600, later it also was designated the RB-37.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: While 550 were ordered by the Army Air Forces, acquisition by the USAAF stopped after only 18 Venturas were accepted, when the Army Air Forces agreed to turn over exclusive use of the Ventura to the United States Navy.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: The PV-1 Ventura, built by the Vega Aircraft Company division of Lockheed (hence the "V" Navy manufacturer's letter that later replaced the "O" for Lockheed), was a version of the Ventura built for the U.S. Navy (see Venturas in U.S. Navy service below). The main differences between the PV-1 and the B-34 were the inclusion of special equipment in the PV-1, adapting it to its patrol bombing role. The maximum fuel capacity of the PV-1 was increased from 1,345 gal (5,081 L) to 1,607 gal (6,082 L), to increase its range; the forward defensive armament was also reduced for this reason. The most important addition was of an ASD-1 search radar.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: Early production PV-1s still carried a bombardier's station behind the nose radome, with four side windows and a flat bomb-aiming panel underneath the nose. Late production PV-1s dispensed with this bombardier position and replaced it with a pack with three 0.50 inch (12.7 mm) machine guns underneath the nose. These aircraft could also carry eight 5-inch (127 mm) HVAR rockets on launchers underneath the wings.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: The PV-1 began to be delivered in December 1942, and entered service in February 1943. The first squadron in combat was VP-135, deployed in the Aleutian Islands in April 1943. They were operated by three other squadrons in this theatre. From the Aleutians, they flew strikes against bases in Paramushiro and Shimushu, Japanese islands in the Kurile chain. Often, PV-1s would lead B-24 bomber formations, since they were equipped with radar. In late 1943, some PV-1s were deployed to the Solomon Islands as night fighters with VMF(N)-531, a Marine Corps fighter squadron.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: The PV-2 Harpoon was a major redesign of the Ventura with the wing area increased from 551 ft (51.2 m) to 686 ft (63.7 m) giving an increased load-carrying capability, and which first flew on 3 December 1943. The motivation for redesign was weaknesses in the PV-1, which had shown itself to have problems in taking off when carrying a full load of fuel. On the PV-2, the armament became standardized at five forward-firing machine guns. Many early PV-1s had a bombardier's position, which was deleted in the PV-2. Some other significant developments included the increase of the bombload by 30% to 4,000 lb (1,800 kg), and the ability to carry eight 5-inch (127 mm) HVAR rockets under the wings.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: While the PV-2 was expected to have increased range and better takeoff, the anticipated speed statistics were projected lower than those of the PV-1, due to the use of the same engines but an increase in weight. The Navy ordered 500 examples, designating them with the popular name "Harpoon".


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: Early tests indicated a tendency for the wings to wrinkle dangerously. As this problem could not be solved by a 6 ft (1.8 m) reduction in wingspan (making the wing uniformly flexible), a complete redesign of the wing was necessitated. This hurdle delayed entry of the PV-2 into service. The PV-2s already delivered were used for training purposes under the designation PV-2C. By the end of 1944, only 69 PV-2s had been delivered. They finally resumed when the redesign was complete. The first aircraft shipped were the PV-2D, which had eight forward-firing machine guns and was used in ground attacks. When World War II ended, all of the order was cancelled.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: With the wing problems fixed, the PV-2 proved reliable, and eventually popular. It was first used in the Aleutians by VP-139, one of the squadrons that originally used the PV-1. It was used by a number of countries after the war's end, but the United States ceased ordering new PV-2s, and they were all soon retired from service.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: Ex-military PV-1 Venturas from Canada and South Africa were converted by Howard Aero in San Antonio, Texas, in the 1950s and 1960s as high-speed executive transports. The earliest conversions, called Super Venturas, incorporated a 48 in (122 cm) fuselage stretch, extra fuel tankage, large picture windows, luxury interiors, and weapons bays transformed into baggage compartments. The landing gear was swapped for the heavier-duty units from the PV-2. Later conversions, of which eighteen were completed in the 1960s, were called Howard 350s.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: At least nineteen PV-1s were further modified, including cabin pressurization under the designation Howard 500. A final PV-1 modification by Howard was the Eldorado 700, with longer wings, a pointed nose, and streamlined engine cowlings.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: A notable crash of a civilian version occurred on December 17, 1954, killing four, including Fred Miller, president of the Miller Brewing Company and grandson of founder Frederick Miller. The company plane was bound for Winnipeg, Manitoba, but had trouble with both engines and crashed shortly after takeoff from Mitchell Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Also killed were his oldest son, 20-year-old Fred, Jr., and the two company pilots, Joseph and Paul Laird.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: Oakland Airmotive (later Bay Aviation Services, based in Oakland, California) also offered a PV-2 executive aircraft conversion dubbed Centaurus starting in 1958. The cost of the conversion was $155,000 in addition to the airframe.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: The Portuguese Air Force received 42 Lockheed PV-2C Harpoons from 1953, which replaced the Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver as an anti-submarine aircraft. The Harpoons equipped squadrons 61 and 62 at the Montijo Air Base. In 1960, the Harpoons were replaced as maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft by Lockheed P2V-5 Neptunes. The remaining Harpoons were sent to Angola and Mozambique, where they formed Squadron 91 operating from Luanda Air Base and Squadron 101 from Beira Air Base. The Harpoons were used on operations in the Angolan and Mozambican theatres of the Portuguese Overseas War (1961–1974). They served mainly as light bombers and ground attack aircraft, with occasional reconnaissance, transport and maritime patrol sorties. The last Portuguese Harpoons were retired in 1975. The Museu do Ar (Portuguese Air Museum) has what is believed to be the only remaining Lockheed PV-2C Harpoon in Europe.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: The first Ventura Mark Is were accepted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) in September 1941, with aircraft being delivered to Britain from April 1942. By the end of August, enough Venturas had arrived to equip No. 21 Squadron RAF, No. 487 Squadron RNZAF and No. 464 Squadron RAAF. The Ventura flew its first operational mission for the RAF on 3 November 1942, when three Venturas of 21 Squadron attacked railway targets near Hengelo in the Netherlands. On 6 December 1942, 47 Venturas from 21, 464 (RAAF) and 487 (RNZAF) squadrons participated in Operation Oyster, the large daylight 2 Group raid against the Philips radio and vacuum tube factories at Eindhoven. Also committed to the raid were 36 Bostons and 10 de Havilland Mosquitos.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: Carrying incendiaries, they were placed in the third wave of aircraft, and suffered the highest rate of loss. Nine of the 47 Venturas were shot down and many others were damaged by flak or bird strikes. The force also lost four Bostons and one Mosquito. Six months later, on 3 May 1943, Venturas of 487 Squadron RNZAF were sent on Operation Ramrod 16, an attack on a power station in Amsterdam. The squadron was told that the target was of such importance to Dutch morale, that the attack was to be continued regardless of opposition. Significant problems developed with rendezvousing with the escorting fighters, with the result that all 10 Venturas that crossed the coast were lost to German fighters. Squadron Leader Leonard Trent (later the last of the Great Escapers) won the Victoria Cross for his leadership in this raid.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: The Ventura was never very popular among RAF crews. Although it was faster and carried more than twice the bomb load of its predecessor, the Hudson, it proved unsatisfactory as a bomber. By the summer of 1943, the Ventura had been replaced by the de Havilland Mosquito. The last Ventura raid was flown by 21 Squadron on 9 September 1943. Some Venturas were modified to be used by Coastal Command as the Ventura G.R.I. and 387 PV-1s were used by the RAF as the Ventura G.R.V in the Mediterranean and by Coastal Command. Some RAF aircraft were modified into Ventura C.V transport aircraft. A small number of Venturas were also used in other air forces, including the RCAF, RNZAF and SAAF.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: In the United Kingdom, No. 464 Squadron RAAF formed (mixure of Commonwealth personnel) at RAF Feltwell in September 1942 to operate the Ventura as part of 2 Group, Bomber Command; it converted to the de Havilland Mosquito in September 1943. In the Mediterranean, No. 459 Squadron RAAF was equipped with the Ventura V between December 1943 to July 1944, flying mainly anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: In Australia, 55 PV-1s were supplied to the RAAF for use in the South West Pacific Area. No. 13 Squadron RAAF was the only operational squadron in Australia equipped with the Ventura. It operated primarily in north-eastern Queensland and then the Northern Territory, and later serving in the Borneo campaign of 1945. After the war, the squadron used its aircraft to help transport liberated prisoners of war.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: A total of 157 Ventura G.R. Mk. Vs were used operationally by the RCAF from 16 June 1942 to 18 April 1947 in the home defence coastal patrol role in both Eastern and Western Air Command. They were flown by 8, 113, 115, 145, and 149 Squadrons. A further 21 Ventura Mk. Is and 108 Ventura Mk. IIs were used in a training role at 1 Central Flying School, Trenton, Ontario, and at RCAF Station Pennfield Ridge, New Brunswick (RAF No. 34 Operational Training Unit) as part of the BCATP. A total of 21 Mk. Is, 108 Mk. IIs, and 157 G.R. Mk. Vs were in service during this period for a total of 286 aircraft.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: The SAAF also received some 135 PV-1s, which were used to protect shipping around the Cape of Good Hope and to bomb Italian shipping in the Mediterranean. In December 1942 four SAAF Venturas dropped supplies to survivors of the shipwreck on South-West Africa's Skeleton Coast. Venturas served in the South African Air Force until 1960.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: A few US Navy PV-1s force-landed in the Soviet Union after attacking Japanese targets on the Kurile islands and were impounded. Some of them were repaired and pressed into service by the Soviet Air Force where the type became known as the B-34. By December 1944, eight planes were located on airfields on Kamchatka: four were fully airworthy, three were undergoing repairs and one was a write-off.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: By 1945 seven PV-1s (five of them being airworthy) were used by the Soviets, one plane was the personal liaison aircraft of Ltc M.A. Yeryomin. The planes were used during the Soviet-Japanese campaign in August 1945. After the end of the war only one aircraft remained in service.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: From August 1942, 487 Squadron RNZAF, (operating in Europe as part of the RAF), was equipped with the type, although losses (including on 3 May 1943 the loss of all 11 aircraft attacking Amsterdam), led to their replacement with the de Havilland Mosquito in June.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: The Royal New Zealand Air Force in the Pacific received 139 Venturas and some Harpoons from June 1943 to replace Lockheed Hudsons in the maritime patrol bomber and medium bomber roles. Initially Venturas were unpopular with the RNZAF due to rumoured poor performance on one engine, the fate of Squadron Leader Leonard Trent VC of 487 Squadron (above) as well as the failure of the U.S. to provide New Zealand with promised B-24 Liberators. Despite that the RNZAF Venturas came to be among the most widely used of any nation's, seeing substantial action until VJ Day over South West Pacific islands.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: The first 19 RB-34s that arrived by sea from the U.S. in June had much equipment either missing or damaged. Six airworthy machines were hurriedly produced by cannibalization and sent into action with No. 3 Squadron RNZAF in Fiji. On 26 June the first PV-1s were flown to Whenuapai and No. 1 Squadron RNZAF was able to convert to 18 of these by 1 August, then replacing the mixed 3 Squadron in action at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal in late October.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: By this time No. 2 Squadron RNZAF at Ohakea and No. 9 Squadron RNZAF were also using the type. The following year No. 4 Squadron RNZAF and No. 8 Squadron RNZAF also received Venturas. Some squadrons were retained on "garrison" duty while others followed the allied advance to Emirau and Green Island and to New Britain. RNZAF Venturas were tasked with routine patrols, anti-shipping strikes, minelaying, bombing and strafing missions, air-sea rescue patrols, and photographic reconnaissance missions. In an apparently bizarre case of taking Lockheed's marketing slogan of The Fighter-Bomber too literally, even briefly, Venturas conducted fighter sweeps.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: RNZAF machines often clashed with Japanese fighters, notably during an air-sea rescue patrol on Christmas Eve 1943. NZ4509 was attacked by nine Japanese single-engined fighters over St. George's Channel. It shot down three, later confirmed, and claimed two others as probables, although it suffered heavy damage in the action. The pilot, Flying Officer D. Ayson and navigator, Warrant Officer W. Williams, were awarded the DFC. The dorsal turret gunner Flight Sergeant G. Hannah was awarded the DFM.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: By late 1944 the Ventura began to be phased out of front line action as the RNZAF backed away from the Patrol Bomber concept, orders for PV-2 Harpoons were canceled after a handful of aircraft had been delivered. At VJ Day only 30 PV-1 aircraft remained on the front-line with No. 3 Squadron at Jacquinot Bay.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: Planned re-equipment with de Havilland Mosquitos did not take place until after the cessation of hostilities. The last Ventura unit was No. 2 Squadron, which continued to operate PV-1 and PV-2 aircraft on meteorological duty until 1948. A restored RNZAF RB-34 (NZ4600) is owned by the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: Some 264 Ventura Mark IIs ordered by the RAF were transferred to the U.S. Army Air Forces. Though some were used as anti-submarine patrol bombers under the designation B-34 Lexington, most were used for training with various stateside units. Twenty-seven of these were used by the U.S. Navy for anti-submarine patrols as well; these were designated PV-1 Ventura and PV-2 Harpoon.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: During the early months of 1942, the primary responsibility for anti-submarine warfare in the United States was shouldered by the Army Air Forces. This irked the Navy, as it considered this region of battle its burden. To carry out such a task, the Navy was pursuing a long-range, land-based patrol and reconnaissance aircraft with a substantial bomb load. This goal was always resisted by the Army Air Forces, which carefully protected its monopoly on land-based bombing. This forced the navy to use long-range floatplanes for these roles. The Navy was unable to upgrade to more capable aircraft until the Army Air Forces needed the Navy plant in Renton, Washington to manufacture its Boeing B-29 Superfortress. In exchange for use of the Renton plant, the Army Air Forces would discontinue its objections to Naval land-based bombers, and provide aircraft to the Navy. One of the clauses of this agreement stated that production of the B-34 and B-37 by Lockheed would cease, and instead these resources would be directed at building a navalized version, the PV-1 Ventura.


title: Lockheed Ventura

text: The PV-1 began to be delivered in December 1942, and entered service in February 1943. The first squadron in combat was VP-135, deployed in the Aleutian Islands in April 1943. They were operated by three other squadrons in this theatre. From the Aleutians, they flew strikes against Paramushiro, a Japanese island. Often, PV-1s would lead B-24 bomber formations, since they were equipped with radar. In late 1943, PV-1s were deployed to the Solomon Islands and to the newly captured field at Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. After the war, the U.S. Navy deemed many PV-1s obsolete and the aircraft were sent to Naval Air Station Clinton, Oklahoma to be demilitarized and reduced to scrap.


title: Epitaph

text: An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves before their death, while others are chosen by those responsible for the burial. An epitaph may be written in prose or in poem verse.


title: Epitaph

text: Most epitaphs are brief records of the family, and perhaps the career, of the deceased, often with a common expression of love or respect—for example, "beloved father of ..."—but others are more ambitious. From the Renaissance to the 19th century in Western culture, epitaphs for notable people became increasingly lengthy and pompous descriptions of their family origins, career, virtues and immediate family, often in Latin. Notably, the Laudatio Turiae, the longest known Ancient Roman epitaph, exceeds almost all of these at 180 lines; it celebrates the virtues of an honored wife, probably of a consul.


title: Epitaph

text: Some are quotes from holy texts, or aphorisms. One approach of many epitaphs is to "speak" to the reader and warn them about their own mortality. A wry trick of others is to request the reader to get off their resting place, inasmuch as the reader would have to be standing on the ground above the coffin to read the inscription. Some record achievements (e.g., past politicians note the years of their terms of office). Nearly all (excepting those where this is impossible by definition, such as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier) note name, year or date of birth, and date of death. Many list family members and the relationship of the deceased to them (for example, "Father / Mother / Son / Daughter of").


title: Epitaph

text: The history of epitaphs extends as far back as the ancient Egyptians and have differed in delivery. The ancient Greeks utilised emotive expression, written in elegiac verse, later in prose. Ancient Romans' use of epitaphs was more blunt and uniform, typically detailing facts of the deceased – as did the earliest epitaphs in English churches. "May the earth lie light upon thee" was a common inscription for them. Due to the influence of Roman occupiers, the dominant language of epitaphs was Latin, evidenced by the oldest existing epitaphs in Britain. French and English came into fashion around the 13th and 14th centuries, respectively.


title: Epitaph

text: By the 16th century, epitaphs had become more literary in nature and those written in verse were involved in trade. In America and Britain, comedic epitaphs are common in the form of acrostics, palindromes, riddles, and puns on names and professions – Robert Burns, the most prolific pre-Romantic epitaphist, wrote 35 pieces, them being largely satirical. The rate of literary epitaphs has been historically overshadowed by "popular sepulchral inscriptions which are produced in countless numbers at all time"; "strictly literary" epitaphs were most present during the start of the Romantic period.


title: Epitaph

text: The Lake Poets have been credited with providing success to epitaph-writing adjacent to that of poetry significance – Robert Southey, in focusing simultaneously upon transience and eternity, contributed substantially. General interest for epitaphs was waning at the cusp of the 19th century, in contrast to a considerable burgeoning intellectual interest. Critical essays had been published before on the matter, possibly contributing towards its flourishing in the latter half of the 18th century. Epitaphs never became a major poetic form and, according to Romantic scholar Ernest Bernhardt-Kabisch, they had "virtually disappeared" by 1810. "The art of the epitaph was largely lost in the 20th century", wrote Encyclopedia Britannica.


title: Epitaph

text: Sarcophagi and coffins were the choice of ancient Egyptians for epitaphs; brasses was the prominent format for a significant period of time. Epitaphs upon stone monuments became a common feature by the Elizabethan era.


title: Epitaph

text: Stock phrases or standard elements present in epitaphs on mediaeval church monuments and ledger stones in England include:


title: Epitaph

text: In a more figurative sense, the term may be used for music composed in memory of the deceased. Igor Stravinsky composed in 1958 "Epitaphium" for flute, clarinet and harp. In 1967 Krzysztof Meyer called his Symphony No. 2 for choir and orchestra "Epitaphium Stanisław Wiechowicz in memoriam". Jeffrey Lewis composed "Epitaphium – Children of the Sun" for narrator, chamber choir, piano, flute, clarinet and percussion. In 1969, King Crimson released the song "Epitaph", giving a reference to epitaphs within the song. Bronius Kutavičius composed in 1998 "Epitaphium temporum pereunti". Valentin Silvestrov composed in 1999 "Epitaph L.B." (Епітафія Л.Б.) for viola (or cello) and piano. In 2007 Graham Waterhouse composed "Epitaphium" for string trio as a tribute to the memory of his father William Waterhouse. The South African poet Gert Vlok Nel wrote an (originally) untitled song, which appeared on his first music album "Beaufort-Wes se Beautiful Woorde" as "Epitaph", because his producer Eckard Potgieter told him that the song sounded like an epitaph. David Bowie's final album, "Blackstar", released in 2016, is generally seen as his musical epitaph, with singles "Blackstar" and "Lazarus" often singled out.


title: Epitaph

text: In the late 1990s, a unique epitaph was flown to the Moon along with the ashes of geologist and planetary scientist Eugene Shoemaker. At the suggestion of colleague Carolyn Porco, Shoemaker's ashes were launched aboard the "Lunar Prospector" spacecraft on January 6, 1998. The ashes were accompanied by a laser-engraved epitaph on a small piece of foil. The spacecraft, along with the ashes and epitaph, crashed on command into the south polar region of the Moon on July 31, 1999.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: Dennis Raymond Alexio (born March 12, 1959) is an American former professional kickboxer and actor who competed in the light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. Starting out as a light heavyweight, Alexio kicked off his career with an extensive, knockout-laden undefeated streak before losing a decision to Don "The Dragon" Wilson in a World Kickboxing Association (WKA) World Super Light Heavyweight Full Contact Championship match in 1984. He rebounded from this by winning the Professional Karate Association (PKA) World Light Heavyweight title that same year before moving up to cruiserweight and taking the International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) World Cruiserweight Full Contact strap. In the late 1980s, he began his transition to the heavyweight division where he won six world titles and was considered the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. He faced the two toughest tests of his career in 1992 against Branko Cikatić and Stan Longinidis - both of whom were heavier fighters - fighting to a controversial draw with Cikatić and losing to Longinidis via an early low kick KO which resulted in a broken leg.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: An aggressive fighter possessing good boxing skills, a powerful spinning back kick and Muay Thai style roundhouse kick to the midsection, head and legs, Alexio retired with an impressive 92% KO ratio. he is in prison on multiple counts of tax evasion.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: Dennis Alexio was born and raised in Vacaville, California. He was a standout athlete in his youth, excelling in American football, baseball and basketball. In an interview with "Inside Karate" magazine, he claimed to have turned down an offer to play baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He began his martial arts training in Kajukenbo and in college, he played American football as a linebacker, using karate to get faster and more flexible for football. Liking karate, he decided to pursue the full contact aspect of it, not just point sparring. So Alexio started learning other styles like tang soo do before moving on to full-contact karate/professional kickboxing, where he added boxing and Muay Thai skills to his kickboxing repertoire along with his karate training. His entrance music was "The Final Countdown" by Swedish rock band Europe.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: Alexio debuted as a professional kickboxer in early 1980, losing to Mike King via technical knockout in Culver City, California in his freshman appearance. The outcome of the bout was later overturned to a no contest by the PKA, however, with the fight deemed a mismatch as Alexio was competing for the first time with no amateur fights or any fighting experience, while King was a Professional Full Contact Karate/Kickboxer. Alexio learned from that fight and trained hard, he went on to win seventeen consecutive fights after that, all by knockout with only one going past the third round. In his first international match-up, Alexio stopped Basil Gura with a kick in round three of their contest in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia on November 19, 1983.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: Having established himself as a force on the world stage with his extensive winning streak, Alexio was given the chance to fight Don "The Dragon" Wilson for the inaugural WKA World Super Light Heavyweight (-83.2 kg/183.4 lb) Full Contact Championship in Hollywood in Wilson's home state of Florida on March 29, 1984. Televised on NBC's "Sports World" and with the #1 spot in the STAR System World Kickboxing Ratings on the line, Alexio's straight forward, boxing-based style played into the hands of the counterfighter Wilson, who pelted him with unchecked low kicks throughout the twelve round bout. Wilson won by a unanimous decision 119-106,119-112,118-114. Alexio disputed the result, calling it a "hometown decision." A second bout between the pair would never come to fruition.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: Alexio rebounded from this defeat by winning the PKA World Light Heavyweight title in his hometown of Vacaville on September 14, 1984, knocking down Rob Salazar twice in round five en route to a decision win. He made successful defences of this belt against Bernard Clark and Neil Singleton the following year before moving up to the cruiserweight division where he was soon crowned the ISKA World Cruiserweight (-88.2 kg/194.4 lb) Full Contact Champion. He also briefly pursued a career in professional boxing between 1984 and 1985, going 7-1 with five KO victories.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: In an ISKA title defence on August 16, 1986, in Denver, Colorado, Alexio survived an early scare as he was dropped with a big right hook from Lowell Nash in the first round, coming back by flooring Nash with a right hook of his own before finishing him with a right cross at the end of the fourth.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: By 1987, Alexio's record consisted of twenty-six wins and one loss, and so he made the transition to the heavyweight class where, at 1.80m/5 ft 11in and just over 91 kg/200 lb, he was one of the smaller competitors. After winning the Karate International Council of Kickboxing (KICK) full contact world heavyweight title, he made one last defence of his ISKA cruiserweight belt on June 3, 1987, when he outpointed Larry McFadden over twelve rounds in Stateline, Nevada. Less than a month later, he defended his KICK Heavyweight belt and also won the vacant ISKA Heavyweight (-96.4 kg/212.5 lb) title against Jeff Hollins on June 20, 1987, in Denver.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: On August 6, 1990, at Harrah's Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Alexio faced Canadian taekwondo stylist Darrell Henegan in a heavyweight unification fight with Alexio's ISKA and KICK titles, and Henegan's Fight Factory Karate Association (FFKA) title on the line. Alexio won via TKO after the referee stopped the fight towards the end of the fifth round.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: At the end of 1990, he re-located to Honolulu, Hawaii where he fought twenty times at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center, winning all twenty by knockout. He also adopted the nickname of "Kaheke" while fighting there and often fought in a Hawaiian grass skirt.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: In another heavyweight title unification bout, Alexio put his ISKA belt on the line against Jerry Rhome with the vacant PKC title also up for grabs at "KarateMania III" held at Caesars Tahoe in Stateline on August 24, 1991. He floored Rhome with a roundhouse kick on the bell at the end of the fourth before going out and finishing him off early in five. Alexio then defeated a number of middle-of-the-road challengers from around the world under full contact before seeking super fights with champions from other rule sets.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: On March 16, 1992, Alexio faced his toughest opponent to date when he met Croatian Muay Thai fighter Branko Cikatić in at the "World Martial Arts Challenge" at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although Alexio still held the ISKA, KICK and FFKA heavyweight world titles, and Cikatić was the WKA/IKBF World Cruiserweight Champion, the only title on the line was the inaugural World Martial Arts Challenge (WMAC) Heavyweight Championship. The rules of the bout were disputed between both fighters right up to the day of the fight. Alexio, who had competed exclusively under full contact rules, wanted both fighters to wear foot pads. Cikatić, a Muay Thai stylist and international rules fighter, wanted low kicks as well as the Thai clinch to be allowed. In the end, low kicks were allowed and Alexio wore foot pads, and knees and the clinch were banned. The duration of the fight was set at eight, three-minute rounds.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: The first two rounds were a battle but Alexio was winning with his barrage of un-answered uppercuts, hooks to the head and body kicks, but Cikatić was game and did fire back. Alexio utilized his better boxing skills but Cikatić used his powerful low kicks to his advantage. Cikatić was docked a point in the second round for kneeing Alexio in the clinch, which was not legal for this bout. The fight then ended in confusion in the third round when a stoppage was called as Alexio's right foot pad came off. The referee, Pat Burleson, decided to continue the fight without retrieving the foot pad as it had fallen out of the ring. However, before the fight was restarted Alexio hit Cikatić with two left hooks and then kicked at him but missed as he fell to the canvas. The fight was stopped there and, as it had gone less than half of the set eight rounds, was ruled a technical draw.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: Following this, Alexio went on to collect three straight KO wins before agreeing to fight Australian Stan Longinidis, an up-and-coming fighter who had been calling him out for some time. One of the most highly anticipated fights in the sport's history at the time, and a bad-blooded affair, the bout took place in Longinidis' hometown of Melbourne, Victoria on December 6, 1992, with the vacant ISKA International rules Heavyweight Championship of the World up for grabs. Six seconds into the fight, Longinidis hit Alexio with a right low kick, causing Alexio's fibula and tibia to break. Officially, the fight lasted just fifteen seconds and Longinidis was named the winner via technical knockout.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: Alexio and his manager, Bob Wall, disputed the fight and claimed that the fracture was caused by Alexio twisting his leg on a depression in the ring floor. Although Wall did initially comment after the fight, that Longinidis clearly won with an excellent legal kick. The outcome of the review was divided: the United States division of the ISKA overturned the ruling to a no contest, while the WKA and Australian division of the ISKA upheld the original decision.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: One of kickboxing's biggest stars at the time, Dennis Alexio was offered the opportunity to fight at "UFC 1", the first mixed martial arts tournament held in North America, in 1993 but declined because of the money and he was still recovering from his broken leg and a screw was sheared off by accident into his leg which complicated his return to the ring. Alexio recovered from his broken leg and made a comeback on January 22, 1994, in Lake Tahoe, where he defeated England's Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion and K-1 Kickboxer Mark Russell Of England via technical knockout in the second round to defend the PKC World Heavyweight Full Contact Karate/Kickboxing title. His first significant fight since his comeback came on March 26, 1994, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada when he defeated Dick Kimber to defend the PKC belt at "KarateMania VIII". He was ordered by the referee to remove his Hawaiian grass skirt at the end of round one, and came out wearing a pair of traditional kickboxing trunks in round two and battered Kimber to a TKO victory.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: He would end out his career fighting mostly in Honolulu and under full contact rules, beating a number of K-1 fighters. During the mid-1990s, he began to face growing criticism of his opponents, with Rick Roufus and Maurice Smith claiming that he was avoiding them and other high-level heavyweights, but he has stated on numerous occasions on television that he would take them on but the promoters couldn't get the fighters together with the money or the cable networks and pay per view to televise the fights with the arrival and popularity of the UFC/MMA American Kickboxing viewership was on the decline and the television ratings and Pay per view buys weren't there any longer for the networks to justify those big money fights so they never happened.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: On May 31, 1997, Alexio won the vacant IKF World Heavyweight Championship when he defeated European Super Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion and MMA fighter Barrington Patterson of England who was often referred to as one of Britain's "hardest men" by TKO at the end of the fifth round in Honolulu. His first defense of this title was on November 21, 1997, when he defeated Jeff Gibson. In May 1998 in Sacramento, California, he defeated French Kickboxing/Savate Heavyweight Champion Achille Roger of France by TKO in round five to defend his title for a second time. His title was retired by the IKF on November 24, 2003. The IKF organization had been trying to contact Alexio since June 2003, to discuss what his future plans for the sport were, such as a title defense or a retirement of his title. However, they never received any return phone call.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: His last ever fight came on December 18, 1999, at Honolulu's Neal S. Blaisdell Center, where he knocked out Welshman Gordon Minors to win the WAKO Pro World Heavyweight Full Contact Championship, his eight world title.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: Alexio starred alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme in the 1989 film "Kickboxer". He also had a small role in the 1988 film "Picasso Trigger" in addition to an appearance in a 1990 episode of "Super Force".


title: Dennis Alexio

text: Alexio was charged with two counts of bank fraud in addition to failing to pay child support on July 1, 2003. On December 20, 2005, a federal magistrate ordered that he be detained and returned to California.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: On June 12, 2007, Alexio was arrested at his home in Aiea, Hawaii for failing to appear as a witness before a federal grand jury and on an outstanding federal warrant issued in San Francisco for bank fraud. A federal judge in West Virginia had issued a warrant for his arrest on April 20 when he failed to appear as summoned to testify in a fraud case.


title: Dennis Alexio

text: Alexio was again arrested by federal agents at a coffee shop in Aiea, Hawaii on November 21, 2013, and his wife Anitalei was later arrested at their home. The couple was charged with 36 counts of filing false tax claims, wire fraud and money laundering from December 2008 to August 2013. The federal government also accused him of sending false documents to obtain gold bars and coins worth hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars. Both pleaded not guilty and were scheduled to stand trial on the charges in January 2014. On January 22, 2016, Alexio was found guilty on 28 counts, including tax fraud, theft and money laundering. On April 27, 2017, Alexio was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. He is serving his sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, Safford.


title: Clark Atlanta University

text: Clark Atlanta University (CAU or Clark Atlanta) is a private, Methodist, historically black research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Clark Atlanta is the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the Southern United States. Founded on September 19, 1865, as Atlanta University, it consolidated with Clark College (established 1869) to form Clark Atlanta University in 1988. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".


title: Clark Atlanta University

text: Atlanta University was founded on September 19, 1865, as the first HBCU in the Southern United States. Atlanta University was the nation's first graduate institution to award degrees to African Americans in the Nation and the first to award bachelor's degrees to African Americans in the South; Clark College (1869) was the nation's first four-year liberal arts college to serve African-American students. The two consolidated in 1988 to form Clark Atlanta University.


title: Clark Atlanta University

text: In the city of Atlanta, while the Civil War was well underway, two literate African American ex-slaves, James Tate and Grandison B. Daniels, in 1862 established the first school in Atlanta for African American children. It was located on the corner of Courtland and Jenkins Streets in an old church building of Friendship Baptist Church, the original home of First Baptist Church. Tate and Daniels, along with 25 other former slaves, founded Friendship Baptist Church, the first black Baptist autonomous congregation. They began holding classes in an old church building built in 1848. The building was badly damaged during the Siege of Atlanta in 1864. The school would later become Atlanta University in September 1865.


title: Clark Atlanta University

text: When white missionary Reverend Frederick Ayer, along with his wife, arrived in Atlanta in November 1865 under the auspices of the American Missionary Association, the AMA church purchased a boxcar for $310 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and sent it to Friendship by the Ninth Street Baptist Church of Cincinnati, Ohio. The modest space of the boxcar served two purposes: a new teaching space for Atlanta University and a meeting space for the Friendship Church congregation. Tate and Daniels readily transferred their responsibilities to Ayer, who was better prepared to lead the educational effort, in 1865.