title: Mano (gesture)

text: The respect for elders stems from the high value of family in Filipino culture. Filipinos are loyal to their family, such that the elderly live in the homes of their children and/or grandchildren to be taken care of, and the nursing home business is almost nonexistent in the Philippines. By having the elderly live at home, you are respecting their value in the family.


title: Mano (gesture)

text: Though the "mano po" gesture is usually practiced on one's parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts, it is not restricted to one’s relatives. Godparents are often greeted this way as well. During the Spanish colonial times, Catholic priests were also greeted this way alongside the European practice of hand-kissing, and this still continues today often after a Catholic Mass, though the latter has fallen out of use.


title: Mano (gesture)

text: The reason why Filipinos "mano" elders although they are not necessarily a relative is due to the value of family. Filipinos call older non-relatives "grandfather/mother, aunt, uncle, etc." even when they are not actually related in this way. By addressing elders in this way, you are acknowledging their age and the respect you need to show them. It’s considered to be disrespectful to call an elder just by their first name. Hence, Filipinos treat friends and acquaintances like family.


title: Mano (gesture)

text: The "mano po" gesture is usually followed by a response of "God bless you" or "May the Lord have mercy on you" by the elder; the sign of the cross may be made over the recipient. The latter response of "May the Lord have mercy on you" is used when the "pagmamano" is performed with both hands to ask an elder's pardon and forgiveness. With both hands, the younger person takes the elder's hands and lifts them to the forehead to formally ask forgiveness for an offence. This may be done whilst kneeling and weeping. This is the highest form of the "pagmamano".


title: Mano (gesture)

text: Though the "mano po" gesture is still widely used at present in the Philippines, many Filipinos have also replaced this gesture with the "beso". The "beso-beso" which originated from the Spanish word for "kiss", is a common greeting in the Philippines similar to the "mano". The "beso-beso" is a cheek-to-cheek kiss. The "beso" is more commonly used amongst the upper classes as a greeting to relatives and close friends, but is not reserved for an older person unlike the "mano".


title: Mano (gesture)

text: Similar to the "mano po" gesture, "po" and "opo" are also distinctly Filipino ways of showing respect to one's elders. The "po" is usually affixed to the end of sentences or phrases when one is addressing someone older than him or her. For example, "paumanhin" in Filipino means sorry. To an elder, one would say "paumanhin po", The word "po" alone has origins as a respectful honorific but in contemporary times, it does not carry its past implications anymore besides its contemporary meaning to add formality as a sign of respect. This is why it is affixed to "mano" and thus is said as "mano po" when one is requesting the blessing of an elder.


title: 4D film

text: 4D film is a high technology multisensory presentation system combining motion pictures with physical effects that are synchronized and occur in the theatre. Effects simulated in 4D films include motion, vibration, scent, rain, mist, bubbles, fog, smoke, wind, temperature changes, and strobe lights. Advanced seats in 4D venues vibrate and move during these multisensory presentations. Other common effects include air jets and water sprays. Auditorium effects may include smoke, rain, lightning, bubbles, and scent. 4D films are exhibited in every major global market in stadium seating multiplexes and are exhibited via worldwide theatrical releases.


title: 4D film

text: Multinational mobile 4D theatres include Cinetransformer venues. And as of 2022, 4D films are exhibited in more than 65 countries globally. 4D motion pictures are also exhibited in theme parks.


title: 4D film

text: The precursors of the modern 4D film presentation include Sensurround, which debuted in 1974 with the film "Earthquake". Only a few films were presented in Sensurround, and it was supplanted by Dolby Stereo in 1977, which featured extended low frequencies and made subwoofers a common addition to cinema . Other notable efforts at pushing the boundaries of the film viewing experience include Fantasound, the first use of stereo sound, Cinemiracle, and Cinerama, both widescreen formats utilizing multiple projectors.


title: 4D film

text: "The Sensorium" is regarded as the world's first commercial 4D film and was first screened in 1984 at Six Flags Power Plant in Baltimore. It was produced in partnership with Landmark Entertainment.


title: 4D film

text: 4DX, D-Box Technologies, and Mediamation all currently integrate 4D technology in global stadium seating multiplexes.


title: Himmatwala (2013 film)

text: Himmatwala () is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language action comedy film written and directed by Sajid Khan and jointly produced by UTV Motion Pictures and Vashu Bhagnani. The film features Ajay Devgn and Tamannaah in the lead roles. Set in 1983, it is an official remake of 1983 film of the same name by K. Raghavendra Rao, which was, in turn, a remake of the 1981 Telugu film "Ooruki Monagadu". The film was released on 29 March 2013. The film marks Tamannaah's comeback to Bollywood after she debuted in the 2005 film "Chand Sa Roshan Chehra".


title: Himmatwala (2013 film)

text: Set in 1983, the story begins with Ravi (Ajay Devgn) winning a fighting competition at a club. He is known as Himmatwala ("courageous man"). He then goes to Ramnagar village, where he meets his mother, Savitri (Zarina Wahab), and his younger sister, Padma (Leena Jumani), who are living a miserable life.


title: Himmatwala (2013 film)

text: Ravi's mother Savitri, tells Ravi that Ravi's father Dharamurthy (Anil Dhawan) was an honest and respected man, and he was the priest of the temple. His father was framed by Sher Singh (Mahesh Manjrekar), the tyrant zamindar (landlord), for robbing the temple since the latter saw him commit a murder. Disgusted, Ravi's father committed suicide. In revenge, young Ravi tried to kill Sher Singh but failed. When Ravi's house is burnt, Savitri tells him to run away as Sher Singh will kill him.


title: Himmatwala (2013 film)

text: With revenge in his mind, Ravi beats up Narayan Das (Paresh Rawal), Sher Singh's manager and brother-in-law, as well as threatening Sher Singh. The next day, he publicly humiliates Sher Singh's daughter, Rekha (Tamannaah), because she was beating up her innocent driver. In response, Rekha unleashes a tiger on the village in front of Ravi. Her plan was unsuccessful, however, as it backfired. Rekha falls down from the terrace and is about to be attacked by the animal when Ravi jumps and saves her life. Rekha falls in love with Ravi, and afterward, saves Ravi's life against her father Sher Singh's plans.


title: Himmatwala (2013 film)

text: On the other hand, Ravi learns that Padma is in love with Shakti (Adhyayan Suman), Narayan Das's son. He has his objections, and so has Narayan. However, Sher Singh tells Narayan Das that marrying Shakti with Padma would give them an upper hand over Ravi as they can ill-treat Padma and keep Ravi in control. Meanwhile, Padma now knows that Ravi, who is living with her, is not the real Ravi (Riteish Deshmukh), and Ravi died in a road accident. Before dying, the real Ravi asked him to take care of his family. Padma is initially upset but then reconciles after Ravi saves her life.


title: Himmatwala (2013 film)

text: Shortly after Padma and Shakti get married, both the father and son start ill-treating Padma. In revenge, Ravi uses Rekha against her own father, just like what she advises him. After Rekha tells her father, Sher Singh, that she is pregnant with Ravi's child, Sher Singh begs Ravi to marry Rekha. Eventually, Ravi punished Narayan Das and Shakti by doing all the household chores. He also wins the Sarpanch election, and Sher Singh finally gives all the property documents back to the villagers, which Sher Singh had illegally taken from them before.


title: Himmatwala (2013 film)

text: However, Shakti overhears Rekha and Ravi's conversation about the fake pregnancy and that he is not the real Ravi. Angered, Sher Singh tries to kill him by bringing 20 fighters from the city but failed. While they are beating Ravi, the tiger (which Ravi had fought with) comes and saves his life. Ravi then brutally beats Shakti and is about to kill Sher Singh when his mother stops him.


title: Himmatwala (2013 film)

text: In the end, Sher Singh, Narayan Das, and Shakti ask for forgiveness from Ravi, Savitri, Padma, and the rest of the villagers.


title: Himmatwala (2013 film)

text: The first look poster of "Himmatwala" film was released on 23 March 2013, whilst the trailer was released on 24 January 2013.


title: Himmatwala (2013 film)

text: The soundtrack includes remakes of the songs from the original version of the film, "Taki O Taki" and "Nainon Mein Sapna". The song promo of "Naino Mein Sapna" was released on 8 February 2013. The background score was composed by Sandeep Shirodkar, while the songs are composed by Sajid–Wajid and Sachin–Jigar. Lyricist Indeevar wrote for "Taki O Taki" and "Nainon Mein Sapna", alongside Sameer, who wrote for all the songs except a disco-based song, for which lyricist Mayur Puri wrote.


title: Jean Sagal

text: Jean Sagal is an American television actress and director. In the 1980s, she co-starred with her twin sister Liz Sagal in the television series "Double Trouble" that ran from 1984–85. She has since appeared on such shows as "Picket Fences", "Knots Landing", "Quantum Leap" and "21 Jump Street". She has directed episodes of "Two and a Half Men", "Mad TV", "So Little Time" and "Just Shoot Me". Sagal and her twin sister also served for a time as the "Doublemint Twins" in the ad campaign by Doublemint gum.


title: Jean Sagal

text: Sagal is part of a family of entertainment industry professionals. She is the daughter of television director Boris Sagal and the stepdaughter of Marge Champion. Her siblings, older sister Katey Sagal, brother Joey Sagal and twin sister Liz Sagal, are all active in the industry.


title: Jean Sagal

text: She was the associate director for "2 Broke Girls" (42 episodes), and "Two and a Half Men" (166 episodes). She has also directed episodes for five television shows: "Wizards of Waverly Place" (1 episode), "Two and a Half Men" (3 episodes), "MADtv" (3 episodes), "So Little Time" (9 episodes), and "Just Shoot Me!" (4 episodes).


title: Isra Hirsi

text: Isra Hirsi (born February 22, 2003) is an American environmental activist. A self-described communist, she co-founded and served as the co-executive director of the U.S. Youth Climate Strike. In 2020, she was named in the "Fortune"'s 40 Under 40 Government and Politics list. She is the daughter of U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.


title: Isra Hirsi

text: Hirsi was born on 22 February 2003 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is the daughter of Somali American U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi. At the age of 12, she was one of the participants protesting for justice for Jamar Clark at the Mall of America. Hirsi attended Minneapolis South High School, from which she graduated in 2021. She became involved in climate activism after joining her high school's environmental club in her freshman year.


title: Isra Hirsi

text: Hirsi coordinated the organization of hundreds of student-led strikes across the United States on March 15 and May 3, 2019. She co-founded the U.S. Youth Climate Strike, the American arm of a global youth climate change movement, in January 2019. She acts as the co-executive director of this group. In 2019, she won a Brower Youth Award. That same year, Hirsi received the Voice of the Future Award. In 2020, Hirsi was placed on BET's "Future 40" list.


title: Isra Hirsi

text: Hirsi attends Barnard College of Columbia University as of fall 2021. In May 2021, Hirsi put the hammer and sickle on her Twitter profile.


title: Isra Hirsi

text: Hirsi endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for President of the United States in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.


title: The Sign (song)

text: "The Sign" is a song by Swedish group Ace of Base from their first North American studio album, "The Sign" (1993), and their re-released debut studio album, "Happy Nation" (1992), titled "Happy Nation (U.S. Version)". The song was released as a single in Europe on 1 November 1993, and in the US on 14 December 1993. It was written by band member Jonas Berggren, who also produced the song with Denniz Pop and Douglas Carr. "The Sign" is a techno-reggae, Europop, and pop ballad with lyrics describing a couple contemplating the state of their relationship.


title: The Sign (song)

text: "The Sign" topped the "Billboard" Hot 100 for six non-consecutive weeks in the United States, which allowed Ace of Base to become the first Swedish group to simultaneously have a number one song and album on the Hot 100 and "Billboard" 200 respectively. Consequently, the song was ranked as the number one song of 1994 on "Billboard"s year-end chart. It also reached number one in countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, and New Zealand, and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. "The Sign" was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 37th Annual Grammy Awards.


title: The Sign (song)

text: Ace of Base originally released their debut studio album "Happy Nation" in 1992, which did not include "The Sign", as it was intended to be for their next album. The head of Arista Records, Clive Davis, heard the song's demo, and in turn passed it to Swedish producers Douglas Carr and Denniz Pop, as he wanted something different from "Happy Nation". The demo only contained the song's instrumental, which Pop thought that the verse was the chorus. In contrast to their 1992 single "All That She Wants", Pop knew what he wanted to do with the song from the beginning.


title: The Sign (song)

text: "The Sign" was recorded at Cheiron Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. Ace of Base members Linn and Jenny Berggren re-arranged the song like they wanted to, so that it would become a duet between both women. Jenny played around with the chords at the end and composed the harmonies around it. In an interview with Idolator, Jonas Berggren stated that Jenny and Linn split the chorus into two parts, with the former singing the second and fourth parts. He acknowledged that it "was hard to sing" since there was no breathing time. The song was recorded at a loud volume, which caused the producers Pop, Douglas Carr, and Jonas Berggren, to lower the sound by three decibels during audio mastering.


title: The Sign (song)

text: "The Sign" is a techno-reggae, Europop, and pop ballad. The song's lyrics describe a couple contemplating the state of their relationship and deciding to split up as a result. During recording, Jonas Berggren added hums between the melody lines to become "major and minor" with the chorus being "mostly major", as he believed that the song was originally "too merry". He added that the lyrics are "about thinking back on an old [relationship]", but are deliberately oblique to allow listeners to form their own meanings. Jenny Berggren compared the lyrics to the "road of life" metaphor, noting, "You see signs in your life, and that's why you change direction."


title: The Sign (song)

text: "The Sign" is performed in the key of G major for the verses and chorus but in G minor for the intro and instrumental breaks. It follows a tempo of 97 beats per minute in common time. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, the group's vocals span from the low note of A to the high note of E. The song initially begins with the sounds of a hand clap, kick drum, and snare over a four bar beat, which was sampled from "Shack Up" by American funk group Banbarra. The melodic hook contains a synth flute, with a bass combining a Moog sub-bass and a Korg M1 bass. Throughout the verses, a Yamaha TG77 synthesizer is used to create a reggae rhythm guitar sound. During the bridge, the band's vocal range increases by an octave.


title: The Sign (song)

text: AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated that the success of singles such as "The Sign" was attributed to "relentless" beats and an "incessantly catchy" hook. Howard Cohen from "Herald-Journal" noted that it is flavoured with "faux reggae rhythms". Chuck Campbell from Scripps Howard News Service claimed that "The Sign" "could be a bigger hit" than "All That She Wants", due to its "infectious Europop energy and cosmic synths set to a reggae beat". Writing for the Dance Update column of "Music Week", James Hamilton described it as a "US smash typical 96.7bpm cod-reggae jogger". Jim Farber from "New York Daily News" compared the song's "dinky synths, impish dance beats and miniaturized vocals" to musicians from the 1980s such as A Flock of Seagulls and Falco. Neil Strauss from "The New York Times" wrote that Ace of Base used "a deceptively mystical hook over a minimal bass line" to create the song. A reviewer from "People" acknowledged that tunes like "The Sign" "prove Ace of Base to be more substantive than a mere ABBA clone." Bob Waliszewski of "Plugged In" noted that the song's lyrics "demonstrate[s] strength in the wake of romantic rejection". "Press-Telegram" stated that it is "packed with unforgettable hooks". "The Rolling Stone Album Guide" compared "The Sign" to Gloria Gaynor's 1978 song "I Will Survive", writing that it was "the wisest, catchiest, most triumphant kiss-off".


title: The Sign (song)

text: Chuck Eddy of "LA Weekly" labeled the music video as "fun", but described "The Sign" as undistinctive. Mario Tarradell from "Miami Herald" opined that the song was "annoyingly chirpy". Alan Jones from "Music Week" wrote that Ace of Base's attempts to imitate "All That She Wants" by using a "shuffling reggae beat" was "less charming and effective", but believed "The Sign" was "bright enough" to chart in the top 20 on the UK Singles Chart. Tom Doyle from "Smash Hits" gave "The Sign" two out of five in his review, stating that the reggae beat, saxophone, and tune were similar to "All That She Wants". Writing for "Entertainment Weekly", David Thigpen described it as "a wasteland of neutered hip-hop and lumbering dance rhythms", criticizing Linn Berggren's vocals as "inert" and "colorless". Barry Walters for the "San Francisco Examiner" stated that the song "blankly chirps".


title: The Sign (song)

text: In Europe "The Sign" reached number one in Denmark, Finland, Germany and Spain. On 28 November, it entered the Eurochart Hot 100 at number 29 and peaked at number two eight weeks later. Additionally, the song was a top 10 hit also in Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland (#2), Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Scotland (#2), Sweden (#2), Switzerland and the United Kingdom (#2). In the latter, it peaked in its second week at UK Singles Chart on 27 February 1994. It was held off reaching the top spot by Mariah Carey's "Without You" (1994), and spent a total of three weeks as number two on the chart.


title: The Sign (song)

text: Outside Europe, "The Sign" peaked at number one in Australia, Israel, New Zealand Canada and Zimbabwe. In the United States the song topped the "Billboard" Hot 100 on the chart dated 12 March 1994. This allowed Ace of Base to become the first Swedish group to simultaneously score a number one single and album on the "Billboard" charts. "The Sign" also topped the US "Cash Box" Top 100. "The Sign" was the number one song of 1994 according to "Billboard" magazine's year-end charts. The song was ranked at number 60 on "The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs" for the first 55 years of the Hot 100 chart, and received a nomination for Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 1995 Grammy Awards.


title: The Sign (song)

text: In 1994, "Music & Media" published as assessment of the chart performance of "The Sign", which stated that it "entered Border Breakers at number ten on November 21, 1993, due to crossover airplay in Central Europe. It also peaked twice at number one; on December 18, staying for five weeks and again on March 9 for a two week stay. It entered the Eurochart November 28 at 29 and peaked at two eight weeks later", and that it "[...] also holds the record for longest-running single on Border Breakers—42 weeks before slipping off on August 20."


title: The Sign (song)

text: Amos Barshad of Vulture stated in his retrospective review of the band's 1993 studio album "The Sign" that "The Sign" "is still a very good pop song" despite being outdated in production techniques, stating that it sounded analog. American singer Katy Perry acknowledged in a 2009 MTV News interview that the song, along with the Cardigans' 1996 song "Lovefool", served as an inspiration for her recordings. John Seabrook, a staff writer at "The New Yorker", praised the song in his 2015 book "The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory", stating that "the song is a three-minute, thirty-second sonic thrill rise of Swedish funk." He also acknowledged that the song's success was due to three people: Denniz Pop, Clive Davis, and Clive Calder. Seabrook concluded that it had an influential impact on pop music, suggesting that "a Swedish hit factory for US and British artists had never happened before. ... 'The Sign' really was the sign that that could happen". Annie Zaleski from "The A.V. Club" wrote that the song "is full of cheerful shade", noting that it combined a "breezy reggae vibe" with 1990s Europop.


title: The Sign (song)

text: Idolator ranked "The Sign" at number one on their ranking of The 50 Best Pop Singles of 1994, with author Robbie Daw writing that it "was a straight-up smash that was tailor made for radio". "Rolling Stone" placed the song at number 42 on their list of 50 Best Songs of the Nineties, while BuzzFeed listed the song at number 28 on their 2017 list of The 101 Greatest Dance Songs Of the '90s. "Billboard" ranked "The Sign" at number 65 on their 2018 ranking of All-Time Top 100 Songs, stating in a separate article that it "led pop into a new era, putting Sweden on the map as a credible hitmaking hub, pushing electronic production closer to the forefront of popular music and helping ignite a collaborative approach to songwriting that has become an industry standard".


title: The Sign (song)

text: The accompanying music video for "The Sign" is directed by Mathias Julien and was shot on Filmhuset in Stockholm in November 1993. The opening of the video is a homage to Depeche Mode's 1990 song "Enjoy the Silence". It features the Ace of Base members singing amidst romantic and joyful images; "The Sign" was depicted as a computer generated ankh and a djed. Amid the images is a little story of a man and woman (played by Jenny Berggren) sitting side by side until the man leaves, seemingly abandoning the woman. However, he comes back with a rose and offers it to the woman. The woman graciously accepts and takes his hand. However, a bright light shines in the woman's face, drawing her away, abandoning the man and dropping the rose on the chair. The video received heavy rotation on MTV Europe and was A-listed on Germany's VIVA. As of December 2022, "The Sign" has over 107 million views on YouTube.


title: Khanda (sword)

text: The khanda () is a double-edge straight sword originating from the Indian subcontinent. The Maratha warrior clans venerated the khanda as a weapon of great prestige. It is often featured in religious iconography, theatre and art depicting the ancient history of India. It is a common weapon in Indian martial arts. Khanda often appears in the Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and Hindu scriptures and art.


title: Khanda (sword)

text: The word "khanda" has its origins in the Sanskrit ' (खड्ग) or ', from a root ' meaning "to break, divide, cut, destroy". The older word for a bladed weapon, ', is used in the Rigveda in reference to either an early form of the sword or to a sacrificial knife or dagger to be used in war.


title: Khanda (sword)

text: The blade broadens from the hilt to the point, which is usually quite blunt. While both edges are sharp, one side usually has a strengthening plate along most of its length, which both adds weight to downward cuts and allows the wielder to place their hand on the plated edge. The hilt has a large plate guard and a wide finger guard connected to the pommel. The pommel is round and flat with a spike projecting from its centre. The spike may be used offensively or as a grip when delivering a two-handed stroke. The hilt is identical to that employed on another South Asian straight sword, the firangi.


title: Khanda (sword)

text: Early swords appear in the archaeological record of ritual copper swords in Fatehgarh Northern India and Kallur in Southern India. although the Puranas and Vedas give an even older date to the sacrificial knife. Straight swords, (as well as other swords curved both inward and outward), have been used in Indian history since the Iron Age Mahajanapadas (roughly 600 to 300 BC), being mentioned in the Sanskrit epics, and used in soldiers in armies such as those of the Mauryan Empire. Several sculptures from the Gupta era (AD 280-550) portray soldiers holding khanda-like broadswords. These are again flared out at the tip. They continued to be used in art such as Chola-era murtis.


title: Khanda (sword)

text: There is host of paintings depicting the khanda being worn by Rajput kings throughout the medieval era. It was used usually by foot-soldiers and by nobles who were unhorsed in battle. The Rajput warrior clans venerated the khanda as a weapon of great prestige.


title: Khanda (sword)

text: According to some, the design was improved by the Great Rajput Emperor Prithviraj Chauhan. He added a back spine on the blade to add more strength. He also made the blade wider and flatter, making it a formidable cutting weapon. It also gave a good advantage to infantry over light cavalry enemy armies.


title: Khanda (sword)

text: Rajput warriors in battle wielded the khanda with both hands and swung it over their head when surrounded and outnumbered by the enemy. It was in this manner that they traditionally committed an honourable last stand rather than be captured. Even today they venerate the khanda on the occasion of Dasara.


title: Khanda (sword)

text: The son in law of Miyan Tansen, Naubat Khan also wielded khanda and the family was known as Khandara Beenkar.


title: Khanda (sword)

text: Many Sikh warriors of the Akali-Nihang order are known to have wielded khandas. For instance, Baba Deep Singh is famous for wielding a khanda in his final battle before reaching his death, which is still preserved at Akaal Takhat Sahib. Akali Phula Singh is also known to have wielded a khanda, and this practise was popular among officers and leaders in the Sikh Khalsa Army as well as by Sikh sardars of the Misls and of the Sikh Empire. The Sikh martial art, Gatka also uses khandas.


title: Khanda (sword)

text: The Khandayat community of Odisha is known for being a martial community mastering the wielding of Khanda Sword.


title: Khanda (sword)

text: In Dharmic religions, Khanda is represented as "wisdom" cutting through veil of ignorance. Hindu and Buddhist deities are often shown wielding or holding khanda sword in religious art. Notably, Buddhist guardian deities like Arya Achala, Manjushri, Mahakala, Palden Lhamo etc.


title: Khanda (sword)

text: In Sikhism the Khanda serves as a religious symbol, with the Khanda itself taking center within a chakram, flanked by two kirpan.


title: Dermestidae

text: Dermestidae are a family of Coleoptera that are commonly referred to as skin beetles. Other common names include larder beetle, hide or leather beetles, carpet beetles, and khapra beetles. There are over 1,100 species described.


title: Dermestidae

text: Dermestids have a variety of habits; most genera are scavengers that feed on dry animal or plant material, such as skin or pollen, animal hair, feathers, dead insects and natural fibers. Members of "Dermestes" are found in animal carcasses, while others may be found in mammal, bird, bee, or wasp nests. "Thaumaglossa" only lives in the egg cases of mantids, while "Trogoderma" species are pests of grain.


title: Dermestidae

text: These beetles are significant in forensic entomology. Some species are associated with decaying carcasses, which helps with criminal investigations. Some species are pests (urban entomology) and can cause extensive damage to natural fibers in homes and businesses.


title: Dermestidae

text: They are used in taxidermy and by natural history museums to clean animal skeletons. Some dermestid species, commonly called "bow bugs", infest violin cases, feeding on the bow hair.


title: Dermestidae

text: Adult Dermestidae are generally small beetles (1-12 mm long), rounded to oval in shape, with hairy or scaly elytra that may form distinctive and colourful patterns. Except in genera "Dermestes" and "Trichelodes", there is a single ocellus in the middle of the head. The antennae are clubbed (except in male "Thylodrias contractus") and usually fit into a groove on the underside of the thorax, concealing them when the beetle is at rest. Adult females of "T. contractus" are notable for being larviform, meaning they retain a larval morphology even into adulthood.


title: Dermestidae

text: Larval Dermestidae range from 5 to 15 mm long and are usually covered in tufts of long, dense hairs (setae). In subfamily Megatominae and the genus "Trinodes", some of these setae are hastisetae: barbed setae ending in spear-like heads ("hasta" being the Latin word for "spear"). Hastisetae serve a defensive role, detaching and entangling predators.


title: Dermestidae

text: Pupae of subfamilies Dermestinae and Attageninae are covered in structures known as gin-traps, as defense against predators. Pupae of Megatominae are protected within the exuviae of the last larval instar.


title: Dermestidae

text: Dermestid larvae are typically found on dry organic items that are hard for other organisms to digest, such as dried foodstuffs, skins, hides, wood and other natural fibers. In forensic studies, the larvae are found on human corpses during the dry and skeletal phases of decomposition, which occurs several days after death. Larvae also move away from light and often hide in any cavity in order to remain undisturbed. In natural habitats, they can be found on animal carcasses, under bark, and in the webs, nests and burrows of various animals.


title: Dermestidae

text: Larvae of subfamilies Dermestinae and Attageninae (which lack hastisetae), burrow into feeding substrates, pupate in concealed locations, and show fast escape behaviours when disturbed. Larvae of Megatominae (which have hastisetae), do not burrow, pupate where they have been feeding, and their response to disturbance is to stop moving, arch the body and spread the hastisetae. This difference may be because hastisetae would be a hindrance for burrowing larvae.


title: Dermestidae

text: Adult dermestids are known to feed on pollen and nectar. Adults of "Dermestes" are cannibalistic and will eat young larvae and pupae; this means that when kept in captivity, adults should be placed in separate containers from the immature stages.


title: Dermestidae

text: Dermestid beetles are destructive to a number of common items. Natural fibers such as wool, silk, cotton, linen, fur, or feathers are much more prone to attack than synthetic fibers. Dermestids also attack chocolate, copra, and cocoa beans.


title: Dermestidae

text: Dermestid hastisetae, both those attached to exuviae and those shed by larvae, cause health problems in humans when inhaled (rhinoconjunctivitis, asthma), ingested in contaminated food (nausea, fever, diarrhea, proctitis, perianal itching) or touched with skin (dermatitis).


title: Dermestidae

text: "Dermestes maculatus", hide beetles, also have the potential to offer investigators an estimation of the time since death in homicide or questionable cases. Similar to the use of flies in forensic entomology, the arrival of "D. maculatus" to carrion occurs in a predictable succession. Adult "D. maculatus" beetles generally arrive 5 to 11 days after death. In an attempt to refine this relatively wide range, recent research has repeated arthropod succession studies. These studies are applied to estimate the arrival of various species of Dermestidae after death. Development for dermestids is temperature dependent, and the optimal temperature for "D. maculatus" is 30˚C. Development data is normalized using Accumulated Degree Days. Dermestids can also be used in cases involving entomotoxicology, where feces and shed larval skins can be analyzed for toxins.


title: Dermestidae

text: The larva of the larder beetle "Dermestes lardarius" is longer than the adult and is covered in reddish brown or black setae. It has two back-curved, spine-like appendages on the posterior end. The larva of the black larder beetle has less strongly curved appendages. Mature larvae of both species tend to bore into hard substrates such as wood, cork, and plaster to pupate.


title: Dermestidae

text: Larder beetles are infrequent household pests. Adults and larvae feed on raw skins and hides. Adult larder beetles are generally 1/3 to 3/8 of an inch long and are dark brown with a broad, pale yellow spotted band across the upper portion of the elytra. There are three black dots arranged in a triangle shape on each wing. The sternum and legs of the larder beetle are covered in fine, yellow setae. Adult larder beetles are typically found outdoors in protected areas during the winter, but during the spring and early summer they enter buildings. Females lay approximately 135 eggs near a food source, and the eggs will hatch in about 12 days. The life cycle of larder beetles lasts around 40 to 50 days.


title: Dermestidae

text: The black larder or incinerator beetle, "Dermestes ater", is completely dark with scattered yellow setae on the body. It is similar to "Dermestes maculatus" but lacks serrations on its elytra. Its ventral surface is yellow instead of white. This beetle is a pest of fish, mushrooms, and cheese.


title: Dermestidae

text: "Dermestes maculatus", known as the hide beetle, leather beetle, or skin beetle, feeds on raw skins and hides like the larder beetle. This species is similar in appearance to the larder beetle, with larvae covered in short and long reddish brown or black setae, but its two spine-like posterior appendages curve forward. Also, in adults, the forewings are dark brown and the sternum is mostly white with some black. Its life cycle is 60 to 70 days and the female can lay up to 800 eggs.


title: Dermestidae

text: The hide and larder beetles both feed on an assortment of animal protein based products and cause serious damage in the areas of silkworm production and museums.


title: Dermestidae

text: Carpet beetle larvae start to feed as soon as they hatch. They are carrot shaped and heavily covered with setae, especially on their posterior end. The number of instars typically ranges from five to 11 and in some cases may reach as high as 20. Larvae of the black carpet beetle "Attagenus megatoma" may grow up to 1/2 inch (12 mm) and be yellow to brown in color. Other types of carpet beetle are regularly 1/4 to 1 inch (6 to 25 mm) long and covered with dark setae. Certain species have distinctive tufts of setae extending from their posterior end. These beetles are attracted to soiled fabrics and crevices where dead insects may serve as a food source. The larvae of the carpet beetle are often referred to as "woolly bears" or "buffalo moths".


title: Dermestidae

text: The black carpet beetle, "Attagenus megatoma", is a widely known stored product pest and one of the most destructive because of its potential damage to household products containing keratin, which is a protein found in animal hair and feathers. They are also able to burrow through various types of food packaging, allowing passage for other insects.


title: Dermestidae

text: Females can lay up to 90 eggs and they hatch in about 8 to 15 days. Generally, this species only has one generation a year. The time it takes to become an adult varies from six months to a year. In addition, an adult black carpet beetle can live for an additional two months. The average adult size is about 2.8 to 5 mm long and they are oval, dark brown to shiny-black in color, and have brown legs.


title: Dermestidae

text: The varied carpet beetle, "Anthrenus verbasci", attacks typical household objects. Carpet beetles are normally associated with things such as carpets, wool, furs, and any processed animal or plant food. Their appetite also includes dead insects, spiders, and even nectar and pollen. They are typically found throughout the United States and Canada. Females can lay up to 40 eggs and the number of larval instars is seven or eight. The time it takes to become an adult varies from about eight months to a year. In addition, the adults can live around 2 to 6 weeks. This species varies in shape, size, color, and pattern of scales. On average, the adults are 2 to 3 mm in length and have scales that vary from white, brown, yellow, or even gray-yellow. The hairs of the larvae can cause allergic reactions such as contact dermatitis or blisters in humans who come into contact with the sharp tiny hairs.


title: Dermestidae

text: On hatching, the larvae of khapra beetle ("Trogoderma granarium") are around 1.6 to 1.8 mm long and mostly covered with dense setae, some simple and some barbed. Larvae are yellow-white but the head and body setae are brown. As the larvae further develop, their color changes to a golden or reddish brown and the abdomen portion becomes proportionally shorter. The mature larvae reach a maximum length of 6 mm long and 1.5 mm wide.


title: Dermestidae

text: The khapra beetle is a stored-product pest. Infestations are difficult to control because they crawl into cracks and crevices, remaining for long periods of time. They tend to infest grains and create serious losses to stored products. The adults are covered with setae and are approximately 1.5 to 3 mm long and 1 to 2 mm wide. Male khapra beetles are brown to black with reddish brown markings on the elytra. Females are slightly larger and are lighter in color. The short, 11 segmented antennae has a club of 3 to 5 segments, which fit into a groove on the side of the pronotum.


title: Dermestidae

text: Modern methods of meat slaughtering, storage, and distribution have reduced potential infestations of hide beetles. Proper housekeeping is crucial for the prevention of infestations. Dead insects in homes usually attract these beetles because they are a prime food source for hide and larder beetles. Food must be tightly sealed or stored in a refrigerator to avoid any beetle access. Freezing food for a week or heating meat in a pan or microwave for prolonged lengths can kill insects found in infested foods and prevent them from spreading.


title: Dermestidae

text: Household fibers, such as wool and silk, are especially prone to moth damage and special cleaning, which includes moth proofing, needs to be done frequently. Application of insecticides must be by spot treatment to crack and crevice sites where they are suspected of hiding. Pyrethrins are labeled for use against hide beetles. Insecticides used for carpet beetles are also appropriate to use against hide and larder beetles.


title: Dermestidae

text: Regular cleaning of spilled food or lint will eliminate any sites for potential breeding. Susceptible items like food, woolens, and furs should be stored in an insect-proof container. If an infestation is suspected then the source of the problem must be removed and destroyed to further limit any possibility of spreading. These beetles can be killed with extreme heat or exposure to freezers.


title: Dermestidae

text: Pyrethroid insecticides can be used to control carpet beetles. These contain active ingredients such as permethrin, bifenthrin, deltamethrin and tralomethrin.


title: Melody Anderson

text: Melody Anderson (born December 3, 1955) is a Canadian retired actress, social worker and public speaker specializing in the impact of addiction on families. As an actress, her most high-profile role was playing Dale Arden in the 1980 adaptation of "Flash Gordon". She later starred in the 1986 film "Firewalker", with Chuck Norris. While singing, she also trained as an actress, leading to roles in films and television during the late 1970s and 1980s.


title: Melody Anderson

text: After high school, Anderson completed a bachelor's degree in Journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. Anderson served a brief stint as an on-air reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation before travelling to Southeast Asia and Australia where she worked as one of the first non-Australian female reporters working for a Sydney newspaper.


title: Melody Anderson

text: Returning to North America, Anderson's first national exposure was as a guest star in the 1977 series "Logan's Run" and as a "Sweathog" in a 1977 episode of "Welcome Back, Kotter". She made numerous guest appearances on television, including "Archie Bunker's Place", "Battlestar Galactica", "Dallas", "T. J. Hooker", "CHiPs", the pilot episode of "The A-Team" and "The Fall Guy". She had recurring roles on "St. Elsewhere" and "Jake and the Fatman". She was the female lead of the NBC 1983 series "Manimal". She was a guest star in the "Murder, She Wrote" episode "Prediction: Murder" in 1989.


title: Melody Anderson

text: Anderson played the female lead Dale Arden in "Flash Gordon" (1980) and Janet Gillis in "Dead and Buried" (1981). In 1983, she played the title role in a made-for-television film called "Policewoman Centerfold", in which her character, a divorced police officer, is fired after posing nude for a men's magazine (based loosely on the true story of Springfield, Ohio patrolwoman Barbara Schantz, who was subsequently fired from her job after posing nude in "Playboy" magazine in the early 1980s).


title: Melody Anderson

text: In 1986 she appeared with Nicolas Cage in "The Boy in Blue" and with Chuck Norris in "Firewalker". She starred in the made-for-television movie "Beverly Hills Madam" (1986), which starred Faye Dunaway. From 1992–93, Anderson portrayed Natalie Marlowe, and briefly her twin sister Janet Dillon, on the soap opera "All My Children". She starred as Edie Adams in the television film "Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter", opposite Jeff Goldblum as Ernie Kovacs and played the coveted role of Marilyn Monroe in the television movie "Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair" (1993). Her last television appearance was in 1995 as a guest star in the short-lived CBS revival of "Burke's Law".


title: Melody Anderson

text: Anderson has made appearances at genre conventions, such as the October 2009 Big Apple Convention in Manhattan.


title: Melody Anderson

text: Anderson is a LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) in the states of New York and California, with private practices in Manhattan and West Los Angeles. She also facilitates therapy groups at several treatment centers in the Los Angeles area. Anderson is an international lecturer and media spokesperson on addictions and the family. She has made presentations about substance abuse and other mental health-related areas of study.


title: Warranty

text: In contract law, a warranty is a promise which is not a condition of the contract or an innominate term: (1) it is a term "not going to the root of the contract", and (2) which only entitles the innocent party to damages if it is breached: i.e. the warranty is not true or the defaulting party does not perform the contract in accordance with the terms of the warranty. A warranty is not a guarantee. It is a mere promise. It may be enforced if it is breached by an award for the legal remedy of damages.


title: Warranty

text: A warranty is a term of a contract. Depending on the terms of the contract, a product warranty may cover a product such that a manufacturer provides a warranty to a consumer with which the manufacturer has no direct contractual relationship.


title: Warranty

text: A warranty may be express or implied. An express warranty is expressly stated (typically, written); whether or not a term will be implied into a contract depends on the particular contract law of the country in question. Warranties may also state that a particular fact is true at one point in time or that the fact will continue into the future (a "continuing warranty").


title: Warranty

text: Warranties provided in the sale of goods (tangible products) vary according to jurisdiction, but commonly new goods are sold with implied warranty that the goods are as advertised. Used products, however, may be sold "as is" with no warranties. Each country, however, defines its own parameters with regard to implied conditions or implied warranties. This is because each country (a country as defined by international civil law) has its own system of contract law with its own set of rules. Said rules are largely standardised; i.e., the concepts of "offer", "acceptance", "consideration", "capacity to contract" and "intention to create legal relations". Those are the five elements to create a legally binding contract in the United States (all 50 states), England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, each of the seven states of Australia, and all other common law countries. Countries with civil law, however, recognise legally binding contracts which are not supported by consideration.


title: Warranty

text: In the United States, various laws apply, including provisions in the Uniform Commercial Code which provide for implied warranties. However, these implied warranties were often limited by disclaimers. In 1975 the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act was passed to strengthen warranties on consumer goods. Among other things, under the law implied warranties cannot be disclaimed if an express warranty is offered, and attorney fees may be recovered. In some states, statutory warranties are required on new home construction, and "lemon laws" apply to motor vehicles.


title: Warranty

text: Express warranties are created when the seller makes a guarantee to the buyer that the product/service being offered has certain qualities. For there to exist an express warranty 1) a statement regarding the product/service must be made to the buyer and 2) the statement must play a role in the buyers decision to purchase the product/service. If, after purchase, the buyer feels that the given statement was a misrepresentation of the actual product/service, the buyer can file for breach of express warranty.


title: Warranty

text: Implied warranties are unwritten promises that arise from the nature of the transaction, and the inherent understanding by the buyer, rather than from the express representations of the seller. In the United States, Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (which has been adopted with variations in each state) provides that the following two warranties are implied unless they are explicitly disclaimed (such as an "as is" statement):


title: Warranty

text: A common kind of warranty on goods is a warranty that the product is free from material defects in materials and workmanship. This simply promises that the manufacturer properly constructed the product, out of proper materials. This implies that the product is not defective for the purposes for which it was made.


title: Warranty

text: Warranties may be time limited, thus limiting the time the buyer has to make a claim for breach of warranty. For example, a typical 90-day warranty on a television gives the buyer 90 days from the date of purchase to claim that the television was improperly constructed. Should the television fail after 91 days of normal usage, which because televisions customarily last longer than 91 days means there was a defect in the materials or workmanship of the television, the buyer nonetheless may not collect on the warranty because it is too late to file a claim. Consumer protection law, implement by statute, however, provide additional remedies as it is not usually expected that a television will last for only 90 days.


title: Warranty

text: Time-limited warranties are often confused with performance warranties. A 90-day performance warranty would promise that the television would work for 90 days, which is fundamentally different from promising that it was delivered free of defects and limiting the time the buyer has to prove otherwise. But because the usual evidence that a product was delivered defective is that it later breaks, the effect is very similar.


title: Warranty

text: One situation in which the effect of a time-limited warranty is different from the effect of a performance warranty is where the time limit exceeds a normal lifetime of the product. If a coat is designed to last two years, but has a 10-year limited warranty against defects in materials and workmanship, a buyer who wears the coat for 3 years and then finds it worn out would not be able to collect on the warranty. But it is different from a 2-year warranty because if the buyer starts wearing the coat 5 years after buying it, and finds it wears out a year later, the buyer would have a warranty claim in Year 6. On the other hand, a 10-year performance warranty would promise that the coat would last 10 years.


title: Warranty

text: In the United States, the Magnuson–Moss Warranty Act of 1976 provides for enforcement of a satisfaction guarantee warranty. In these cases, the advertiser must refund the full purchase price regardless of the reason for dissatisfaction.


title: Warranty

text: A lifetime warranty is usually a warranty against defects in materials and workmanship that has no time limit to make a claim, rather than a warranty that the product will perform for the lifetime of the buyer. The actual time that product can be expected to perform is normally determined by the custom for products of its kind used the way the buyer uses it.


title: Warranty

text: If a product has been discontinued and is no longer available, the warranty may last a limited period longer. For example:


title: Warranty

text: Warranties are breached when the promise is not performed at all, or not performed in accordance with the contract. The seller may honor the warranty by making a refund or a replacement. The statute of limitations depends on the jurisdiction and contractual agreements. In the United States, the Uniform Commercial Code § 2-725 provides for a four-year time limit, which can be limited to one year by contract, starting from the date of delivery or if future performance is guaranteed from the date of discovery. Refusing to honor the warranty may be an unfair business practice. In the United States, breach of warranty lawsuits may be distinct from revocation of contract suits; in the case of the breach of warranty, the buyer's item is repaired or replaced while breach of contract involves returning the item to the seller.


title: Warranty

text: Some warranties require that repairs be undertaken by an authorized service provider. In such cases, service by non-authorized personnel or company may void (nullify) the warranty. However, according to the Magnuson-Moss Act (a U.S. Federal law that governs warranties, which was passed in 1975), if the warranty does not provide full or partial payment of labor (to repair the device or system), it is the owner's choice who will provide the labor, including the possibility of DIY ("Do It Yourself") repairs, in which case the device or system owner will pay zero dollars for labor, yet the company that provided the warranty must still provide all the parts needed for the repair at absolutely no charge to the owner.


title: Warranty

text: If the defective product causes injury, this may be a cause of action for a product liability lawsuit (tort). Strict liability may be applied.


title: Warranty

text: In addition to standard warranties on new items, third parties or manufacturers may sell or offer extended warranties (also called service contracts). These extend the warranty for a further length of time. However, these warranties have terms and conditions which may not match the original terms and conditions. For example, these may not cover anything other than mechanical failure from normal usage. Exclusions may include commercial use, "acts of God", owner abuse, and malicious destruction. They may also exclude parts that normally wear out such as tires and lubrication on a vehicle.


title: Warranty

text: These types of warranties are provided for various products, but automobiles and electronics are common examples. Warranties which are sold through retailers such as Best Buy may include significant commission for the retailer as a result of reverse competition. For instance, an auto warranty from a car dealership may be subcontracted and vehicle repairs may be at a lower rate which could compromise the quality of service. At the time of repair, out-of-pocket expenses may be charged for unexpected services provided outside of the warranty terms or uncovered parts. Extended Warranties are mostly back to back underwritten by underwriters, who are the actual bearer of the risk.


title: Warranty

text: Statements of fact in a contract or in obtaining the contract are considered to be either warranties or representations. Traditionally, warranties are factual promises which are enforced through a contract legal action, regardless of materiality, intent, or reliance. Representations are traditionally *pre*contractual statements which allow for a tort-based action if the misrepresentation is innocent, negligent or fraudulent. In U.S. law, the distinction between the two is somewhat unclear; warranties are viewed as primarily contract-based legal action while negligent or fraudulent misrepresentations are tort-based, but there is a confusing mix of case law in the United States. In modern English law, sellers often avoid using the term 'represents' in order to avoid claims under the Misrepresentation Act 1967 (although English law will look to the substance rather than the form of the representation to decide what it is), while in America 'warrants and represents' is relatively common. Some modern commentators suggest avoiding the words and substituting 'state' or 'agree', and some model forms do not use the words; however, others disagree.


title: Warranty

text: Written warranties on new major appliances, such as refrigerators, kitchen stoves and dishwashers, usually cover the cost of parts and labor to repair defects in materials or workmanship which appear under normal home use.


title: Warranty

text: Warranties often cover defects up to a year after purchase or delivery. However some exclude new owners when a house or appliance is sold within the year (Frigidaire, LG, Samsung). Others do let warranties transfer to new buyers (Amana, General Electric, Whirlpool). Some manufacturers cover refrigerators' sealed parts (compressors, tubing, etc.) for five years (General Electric, Samsung, Whirlpool) or seven years (LG) or ten years (KitchenAid).


title: Warranty

text: Warranties on water heaters cover parts for 5 to 12 years in single family residences, one year otherwise. They do not cover new owners when a house or heater is sold; nor do they cover the original owner if the heater is moved to a second location.


title: Warranty

text: Tank models from A. O. Smith do not allow heating elements to be replaced with lower (or higher) wattages, and do not cover renter-occupied single family. They end if the unit is flooded or ever uses desalinated or deionized water, such as municipal desalination plants or reverse osmosis filters.


title: Warranty

text: Smith's tank models for manufactured housing do not provide coverage if a whirlpool or hot tub is connected.


title: Warranty

text: Tank water heater warranties exclude labor, liability for water damage, and shipping cost to return the old heater or parts. Tankless warranties do not exclude water damage; they cover labor for a year, and Ruud/Rheem covers return shipping on tankless models.


title: Warranty

text: Smith's tankless water heaters do not restrict coverage to a single family, and require professional installation.


title: Warranty

text: Implied warranties under US law could extend for longer periods. However, most states allow the written warranties to include clauses which limit these implied warranties to the same time period as the written warranty.


title: Warranty

text: New car factory warranties commonly range from one year to five years and in some cases extend even 10 years, with typically a mileage limit as well. Car warranties can be extended by the manufacturer or other companies with a renewal fee.


title: Warranty

text: In the United Kingdom, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which began to regulate insurance contracts in this context in 2005, determined that additional warranties sold by car dealerships are "unlikely to be insurance". Insurance warranties may offer greater protection to the consumer.


title: Warranty

text: A home warranty protects against the costs of home and appliance repair by offering home warranty coverage for houses, townhomes, condominiums, mobile homes, and new construction homes. When a problem occurs with a covered appliance or mechanical system such as an air conditioning unit or furnace, a service technician repairs or replaces it. The homeowner may have to pay for a service call fee and the home warranty company pays the balance for the repair or replacement of the covered item.


title: Warranty

text: Warranty data consists of claims data and supplementary data. Claims data are the data collected during the servicing of claims under warranty and supplementary data are additional data such as production and marketing data. This data can help determine product reliability and plan for future modifications.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska, and Washington University in St. Louis. Additionally, the University of Iowa was an original member of the MVIAA, while maintaining joint membership in the Western Conference (now the Big Ten Conference).


title: Big Eight Conference

text: The conference was dissolved in 1996. Its membership at its dissolution consisted of the University of Nebraska, Iowa State University, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, the University of Missouri, the University of Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State University. The Big Eight’s headquarters were located in Kansas City, Missouri.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: In February 1994, the Big Eight and the Southwest Conference announced that the two leagues had reached an agreement to merge and form a new conference. The eight members of the Big Eight joined with SWC schools Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, and Texas Tech to form the Big 12 Conference the following year. A vote was conducted on whether to keep the new conference's headquarters in Kansas City, and by a vote of 7–5 the conference members voted to move to Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The two Oklahoma schools, all four Texas schools, and Colorado voted for the move while both Kansas schools, Nebraska, Missouri, and Iowa State voted for Kansas City.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: The conference was founded as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) at a meeting on January 12, 1907, of five charter member institutions: the University of Kansas, the University of Missouri, the University of Nebraska, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Iowa, which also maintained its concurrent membership in the Western Conference (now the Big Ten Conference). However, Iowa only participated in football and outdoor men's track and field for a brief period before leaving the conference in 1911.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: In 1908, Drake University and Iowa Agricultural College (now Iowa State University) joined the MVIAA, increasing the conferences membership to seven. Iowa, which was a joint member, departed the conference in 1911 to return to sole competition in the Western Conference, but Kansas State University joined the conference in 1913. Nebraska left in 1918 to play as an independent for two seasons before returning in 1920. In 1919, the University of Oklahoma and Saint Louis University applied for membership, but were not approved due to deficient management of their athletic programs. The conference then added Grinnell College in 1919, with the University of Oklahoma applying again and being approved in 1920. Oklahoma A&M University (now Oklahoma State University) joined in 1925, bringing conference membership to ten, an all-time high.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: At a meeting in Lincoln, Nebraska, on May 19, 1928, the conference split up. Six of the seven state schools (all except Oklahoma A&M) formed a conference that was initially known as the Big Six Conference. Just before the start of fall practice, the six schools announced they would retain the MVIAA name for formal purposes. However, fans and media continued to call it the Big Six. The three private schools – Drake, Grinnell, and Washington University – joined with Oklahoma A&M to form the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). The old MVIAA's administrative staff transferred to the MVC.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: The similarity of the two conferences' official names, as well as the competing claims of the two conferences, led to considerable debate over which conference was the original and which was the spin-off, though the MVIAA went on to become the more prestigious of the two. For the remainder of the Big Eight's run, both conferences claimed 1907 as their founding date, as well as the same history through 1927. To this day, it has never been definitively established which conference was the original.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: Conference membership grew with the addition of the University of Colorado on December 1, 1947, from the Mountain States Conference. Later that month, Reaves E. Peters was hired as "Commissioner of Officials and Assistant Secretary" and set up the first conference offices in Kansas City, Missouri. With the addition of Colorado, the conference's unofficial name became the Big Seven Conference, coincidentally, the former unofficial name of the MSC.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: The final membership change happened ten years later, when Oklahoma A&M joined (or rejoined, depending on the source) the conference on June 1, 1957, and the conference became known as the Big Eight. That same year, Peters' title was changed to "Executive Secretary" of the conference. He retired in June 1963 and was replaced by Wayne Duke, whose title was later changed to "Commissioner".


title: Big Eight Conference

text: In 1964, the conference legally assumed the name "Big Eight Conference". In 1968 the conference began a long association with the Orange Bowl, sending its champion annually to play in the prestigious bowl game in Miami, Florida, all except the 1974 Orange Bowl and the 1975 Orange Bowl. Instead, Big 8 representative Nebraska Cornhuskers played in the 1974 Cotton Bowl Classic and the 1974 Sugar Bowl.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: In the early 1990s, most of the colleges in Division I-A (now known as the Football Bowl Subdivision) were members of the College Football Association; this included members of the Big Eight and Southwest Conferences. Following a Supreme Court decision in 1984, the primary function of the CFA was to negotiate television broadcast rights for its member conferences and independent colleges. In February 1994, the Southeastern Conference announced that they, like the Big Ten, Pac-10, and Notre Dame before them, would be leaving the CFA and negotiate independently for a television deal that covered SEC schools only. This led "The Dallas Morning News" to proclaim that "the College Football Association as a television entity is dead". More significantly, this change in television contracts ultimately would lead to significant realignment of college conferences, with the biggest change being the dissolution of the Big Eight and Southwest Conferences and the formation of the Big 12.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: After the SEC's abandonment of the CFA, the Southwest Conference and the Big Eight Conference saw potential financial benefits from an alliance to negotiate television deals, and quickly began negotiations to that end, with ABC and ESPN. Though there were complications over the next several weeks (some of which are detailed below), on February 25, 1994, it was announced that a new conference would be formed from the members of the Big Eight and four of the Texas member colleges of the Southwest Conference. Though the name would not be made official for several months, newspaper accounts immediately dubbed the new entity the "Big 12". Charter members of the Big 12 included the members of the Big Eight plus Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: Following the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1994, the Big Eight continued operations until August 30, 1996, when the conference was formally dissolved and its members officially began competition in the Big 12 Conference.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: Although the Big 12 was essentially the Big Eight plus the four Texas schools, the Big 12 regards itself as a separate conference and does not claim the Big Eight's history as its own.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: Following are the MVIAA/Big Eight regular-season conference champions from 1908 to 1996 (showing shared championships in "italics"):


title: Big Eight Conference

text: " Kansas would have won the 1960 title, but after found to be using an ineligible player they were forced to forfeit their victories over Missouri and Colorado, which meant that Missouri was awarded the 1960 Big Eight title."


title: Big Eight Conference

text: " Oklahoma initially won the 1972 title, but after it was found that they used ineligible players, they were penalized by the NCAA, though they did not force OU to forfeit games. The Big Eight asked them to forfeit three games and awarded the title to Nebraska, but Oklahoma still claims these wins and this title."


title: Big Eight Conference

text: The following is a complete list of the 100 AIAW, NCAA and college football championships won by teams that were representing the Big Eight Conference in NCAA- or AIAW-recognized sports at the time of the championship.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: The national championships listed below are for the final eight members of the conference, as of July 2014. Football, Helms, and equestrian titles are included in the total, but excluded from the column listing NCAA and AIAW titles.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: The history of the Big Eight Conference straddles the era of racial segregation in the United States, particularly as it relates to African Americans.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: Before the formation of the conference, three African-American brothers at the University of Kansas are the first known to have participated in organized sports for a league school: Sherman Haney played baseball for KU beginning in 1888, followed by Grant Haney and then Ed Haney, the last of whom also played football at KU in 1893. At the same time, the University of Nebraska football team had on its roster George Flippin, the son of a slave, beginning in 1891. Nebraska's football team featured three more African-American players over the next 12 years. Notable among these NU players was Clinton Ross, who in 1911 apparently became the first African-American to participate in sport in the MVIAA, following the league's formation in 1907.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: Race relations in the United States, however, deteriorated in the early 20th century, and African-American athletes disappeared almost entirely from the conference in the four decades after Ross's final season at NU in 1913. The lone exception during the following decades was Iowa State. In 1923 Jack Trice became the first African-American athlete at Iowa State – and the only one in the conference. Tragically, Trice died two days after playing his second football game with Iowa State, due to injuries suffered during the game (against Minnesota). Jack Trice Stadium at Iowa State is now named in his honor. Trice was followed at Iowa State by Holloway Smith, who played football for ISU in 1926 and 1927. After Smith, the league's teams were all-white for more than two decades. (During this time all of the major professional sports leagues in the U.S. were also segregated.)


title: Big Eight Conference

text: The modern era of full integration of league sports began at Kansas State, with Harold Robinson. In 1949, Harold Robinson played football for Kansas State with an athletic scholarship. In doing so, Robinson broke the modern "color barrier" in conference athletics, and also became the first ever African-American athlete on scholarship in the conference. Harold Robinson later received a letter of congratulations from Jackie Robinson, who had reintegrated major league baseball in 1947 while playing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: In the spring of 1951 the conference's baseball color barrier was broken by Kansas State's Earl Woods, and in the winter of 1951–1952 Kansas State's Gene Wilson and Kansas's LaVannes Squires jointly broke the conference color barrier in basketball.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: Nebraska was the third league school to (re)integrate its athletic teams, with Charles Bryant joining the football team in 1952. Iowa State would be next, with Harold Potts and Henry Philmon reintegrating the Cyclone football team in 1953. The following season, Franklin Clarke became the first varsity African-American football player at the University of Colorado. In 1955, Homer Floyd became the first African-American to play football for Kansas since Ed Haney in 1893. Sports teams at the remaining three conference schools (Oklahoma, Missouri and Oklahoma State) were subsequently all integrated by the end of the 1950s. Most notably, Prentice Gautt became the first black player for Bud Wilkinson at Oklahoma in 1956.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: Every college football team of the Big Eight was fully integrated by the end of the 1950s, and this gave the conference an advantage throughout the 1960s, as many opposing conferences had not yet integrated their sports teams. The Southeastern Conference, the last major college sports conference to oppose integration, had particular trouble against the Big Eight during its final years fielding all white teams. The first SEC school to integrate, Kentucky, did so in 1967, and the last school to do so, Mississippi, did so in 1972. During the SEC’s 8-year national championship drought between 1965 and 1973, the Big Eight teams repeatedly defeated the SEC teams in inter-conference games, largely due to their integrated teams.


title: Big Eight Conference

text: The Big Eight's best season ever, 1971, ended with three Big Eight schools - Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Colorado - finishing Number 1, 2, and 3 in the final AP poll, the only season in college football history that three teams from the same conference finished in the top three rankings. During that season, all three of those teams beat SEC schools - Alabama, Auburn, and LSU - in blowout victories. In each of the Big Eight victories throughout that period, and especially in the 1971 season, the performance of each Big Eight schools’ black players, many of whom were All-Americans, was a deciding factor in their teams' victories. These players' performance contributed to the SEC schools recruitment of black players, with the result that the next national championship won by the SEC was by the 1973 Alabama team, which was fully integrated.


title: Perseids

text: The Perseids are a prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Swift–Tuttle. The meteors are called the Perseids because the point from which they appear to hail (called the radiant) lies in the constellation Perseus.


title: Perseids

text: The stream of debris is called the Perseid cloud and stretches along the orbit of the comet Swift–Tuttle. The cloud consists of particles ejected by the comet as it travels on its 133-year orbit. Most of the particles have been part of the cloud for around a thousand years. However, there is also a relatively young filament of dust in the stream that was pulled off the comet in 1865, which can give an early mini-peak the day before the maximum shower. The dimensions of the cloud in the vicinity of the Earth are estimated to be approximately 0.1 astronomical units (AU) across and 0.8 AU along the Earth's orbit, spread out by annual interactions with the Earth's gravity.


title: Perseids

text: The shower is visible from mid-July each year, with the peak in activity between 9 and 14 August, depending on the particular location of the stream. During the peak, the rate of meteors reaches 60 or more per hour. They can be seen all across the sky; however, because of the shower's radiant in the constellation of Perseus, the Perseids are primarily visible in the Northern Hemisphere. As with many meteor showers the visible rate is greatest in the pre-dawn hours, since more meteoroids are scooped up by the side of the Earth moving forward into the stream, corresponding to local times between midnight and noon, as can be seen in the accompanying diagram. While many meteors arrive between dawn and noon, they are usually not visible due to daylight. Some can also be seen before midnight, often grazing the Earth's atmosphere to produce long bright trails and sometimes fireballs. Most Perseids burn up in the atmosphere while at heights above .


title: Perseids

text: Some Catholics refer to the Perseids as the "tears of Saint Lawrence", suspended in the sky but returning to Earth once a year on August 10, the canonical date of that saint's martyrdom in 258 AD.


title: Perseids

text: The saint is said to have been burned alive on a gridiron, and this tradition is almost certainly the origin of the Mediterranean folk legend that the shooting stars are the sparks of that fire and that during the night of August 9–10 its cooled embers appear in the ground under plants, and which are known as the "coal of Saint Lawrence".


title: Perseids

text: The transition in favor of the Catholic saint and his feast day on August 10 and away from pagan gods and their festivals, known as Christianization, was facilitated by the phonetic assonance of the Latin name Laurentius with Larentia.


title: Perseids

text: In 1836 Adolphe Quetelet wrote, "J'ai cru remarquer aussi une fréquence plus grande de ces météores au mois d'août (du 8 au 15)." - "I think I noticed also a greater frequency of these meteors in the month of August (from 8 to 15 )." After studying historical records, he predicted a peak on 10 August. He then wrote to other astronomers who confirmed this prediction on the night of 10 August 1837. Quetelet missed the shower due to bad weather.


title: Perseids

text: In 1866, after the perihelion passage of Swift-Tuttle in 1862, the Italian astronomer Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli discovered the link between meteor showers and comets. The finding is contained in an exchange of letters with Angelo Secchi.


title: Perseids

text: In his 1972 song "Rocky Mountain High", American singer-songwriter John Denver refers to his experience watching the Perseid meteor shower during a family camping trip in the mountains near Aspen, Colorado, with the chorus lyric, "I've seen it raining fire in the sky."


title: Perseids

text: In the 1998 song "Hoshi no Furu Oka" (Starry Hill) from her debut album, Misia sings about finding herself alone atop a starry hill and reminiscing on watching the Perseid meteor showers the previous year in the company of her lover.


title: Perseids

text: In his 2006 novel Against the Day, American novelist Thomas Pynchon refers to the Perseid meteor showers being watched by three characters west of the Dolores Valley after playing a game of tarot.


title: Perseids

text: In the popular Japanese band Sandaime J Soul Brothers's 2013 song "R.Y.U.S.E.I" (Meteor), they describe the Perseid meteor as falling like an evening rain shower – its shooting stars like raindrops pulling their tails behind them.


title: Perseids

text: In the 2014 song “RPG,” by Japanese band Sekai no Owari, the narrator mentions watching the Perseid meteor shower on the night something “precious to them fell apart.”


title: Perseids

text: The 2014 pop song "Meteorites" by Canadian musician LIGHTS uses Perseids as a metaphor for escaping financial hardship.


title: Perseids

text: In the popular TV Series Curious George, season 7 episode 1b, George and his friends Allie and Bill hunt for the Perseids, which they believe are creatures that look like purses. At the end of the episode, Allie's grandfather Mr. Renkins says that the Perseids is a meteor shower happening in early August.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: Zoran Đinđić (, ; 1 August 1952 – 12 March 2003) was a Serbian politician who served as the prime minister of Serbia from 2001 until his assassination in 2003. He was the mayor of Belgrade in 1997. Đinđić was a long-time opposition politician, and held a doctorate in philosophy.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: Đinđić was one of the original thirteen restorers of the modern day Democratic Party, becoming its president in 1994. During the 1990s, he was one of the co-leaders of the opposition to the administration of Slobodan Milošević, and became the Prime Minister of Serbia in 2001 after the overthrow of Milošević.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: As Prime Minister, he advocated pro-democratic reforms and the integration of Serbia into European structures. His government ratified the European Convention on Human Rights and implemented innovations in line with the Council of Europe recommendations, which led to the introduction of institutions for the protection of human rights and freedoms, as well as for Serbia and Montenegro to become a member state of the Council of Europe in 2003. His government strongly advocated cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Following the arrest of Special Operations Unit (JSO) members and extradition to the ICTY, the JSO organized an armed mutiny in November 2001 in Belgrade. Đinđić was assassinated in 2003 by Zvezdan Jovanović, a former JSO member operative with ties to the Zemun Clan.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: Đinđić was born in Bosanski Šamac, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia where his father was stationed as an officer of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). His paternal side hailed from Toplica in southern Serbia. His mother Mila Dušanić (c. 1931-2 - 14 March 2016), a housewife, raised him and his elder sister Gordana; the family moved according to his father's jobs. Ten years of Zoran's childhood were spent in the town of Travnik, in central Bosnia. Eventually, the family moved to capital Belgrade, after his mother had gained a post there. Đinđić attended Ninth Belgrade Gymnasium, subsequently enrolling at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Philosophy, graduating in 1974. During his university days he developed an interest in politics.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: After being convicted in 1974 by the communist authorities and through Party-controlled media for his role in his attempt to organize an independent political movement of Yugoslav students, Đinđić emigrated to West Germany thanks to the intervention of former German Chancellor Willy Brandt, who persuaded authorities to let Đinđić come to Germany instead of serving his sentence in Yugoslavia. He continued his studies with professor Jürgen Habermas in Frankfurt. In Germany, Đinđić obtained a PhD in philosophy from the University of Konstanz in 1979. As a student, he was greatly influenced by Habermas's advice that an intellectual had a duty not only to think, but to act. One fellow Yugoslav student who knew him in Germany, Milorad Vučelić, recalled that Đinđić was known on campus "not only for his brilliance as a student, but that he was open to life. He wasn't a typical boring intellectual. He knew how to live. He had great-looking girlfriends. He was extremely cool." While a student at the University of Konstanz, he maintained close ties to student anarchist groups and participated in the Praxis-run Korčula Summer School. He became proficient in German. Later, while serving as Serbian prime minister, he also mastered English.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: In 1979, Đinđić returned to Yugoslavia to take a teaching post at the University of Novi Sad. In the 1980s, he was a writer for the "Literary Review", an influential Belgrade journal. In Serbia in common with the other "submerged" nations of Eastern Europe that have all at one time or other been ruled by outsiders, the "intelligentsia" has a tremendous prestige as the bearers of the national culture, keeping alive a sense of national identity.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: In an essay in the June 1988 edition of the "Literary Review", Đinđić called for preserving the status quo established in 1974 with the Kosovo region to remain an autonomous province within the Socialist Republic of Serbia, declaring that if Kosovo were to lose its autonomy: "we will be able to declare with considerable certainty that in every future Serbian state Kosovo will be a permanent source of repression." Đinđić's stance on the Kosovo question marked him as an opponent of Slobodan Milošević who starting in 1987 had campaigned to end Kosovo's autonomy. One intellectual, Drinka Gojković recalled in 1996: "You can't imagine how wonderful it was then to read his writing. While everyone was screaming, using shocking language to fan hatred, Zoran was writing these beautiful essays, arguing that nationalism was not the way". On 28 June 1989, Milošević ended the autonomy of Kosovo, which caused much alarm in the other Yugoslav republics where it was feared that Milošević might do something similar.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: On 11 December 1989 together with other Serb intellectuals and pro-democracy activists he founded the liberal Democratic Party (DS) based on the similarly conceptualized Democratic Party that existed in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He became the party's Executive Board Chairman in 1990, and got elected to the Parliament of Serbia the same year. In the early 1990s, Đinđić shifted over to a more nationalist position that was broadly supportive of Milošević's policies, much to the chagrin of his former admirers. In 1993, he played a leading role in writing the platform of the DS, calling for a referendum on the restoration of the monarchy. Đinđić made it clear that he personally favored restoring the House of Karađorđević. The same platform called for the Kosovo region to remain part of Serbia proper and for the government to take anti-natalist policies designed to limit the birthrate of the Kosovo Albanians. In January 1994 he replaced Dragoljub Mićunović as President of the Democratic Party.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: The new balance of power within DS led to an early party conference. At the party conference on 5 January 1994 in Belgrade, Đinđić became president, pushing out personal political mentor Mićunović who was forced into resigning as the local party branches turned against him. The (in)famous quip uttered at the conference by 41-year-old Đinđić about 63-year-old Mićunović was: "Mićunović's time has passed... He's no Tina Turner who sings better now than when she was thirty". In his embittered speech at the conference during which he resigned his post, Mićunović characterized the manner of Đinđić's takeover of DS as the "combination of Machiavellianism and revolutionary technique". In this internal party showdown with Mićunović, Đinđić also benefited from some discreet support in the Milošević-controlled state-run media. Though many DS members didn't like the way this transfer of power was executed, symbolically referring to it as "oceubistvo" (patricide).Đinđić managed to quickly move DS away from what he occasionally referred to in derisive terms as the "debate club" towards a modern and efficient organizational structure that functioned according to a business management model. In February 1994, Đinđić visited Pale to meet with Radovan Karadžić, saying that he had gone to Bosnia to "express solidarity with the people of the Bosnian Serb republic."


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: The following year, on 15 April 1995, regular party conference was held and Đinđić got re-elected as party president. Though a much better organized party under Đinđić, DS still experienced trouble formulating a clear stance on the national question. Đinđić's own actions perhaps made a good illustration of this seemingly confused standing on both sides of the issue. Đinđić basically refused to acknowledge the national question as a real issue, making not a single mention of the Serbs living in other parts of the former Yugoslavia in his book "Yugoslavia as an Unfinished State". At the same time he maintained close links with Bosnian Serb politician and the President of Republika Srpska Radovan Karadžić, visiting him at Pale in February 1994 while American forces threatened to bombard Bosnian Serb positions. This seeming flip-flopping on the national issue was effectively used by DS' political opponents and Đinđić's critics across the political spectrum.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: As the Bosnian War ended with the signing of the Dayton Agreement in November 1995, in addition to his grip on power domestically, Milošević enjoyed stable support from the international community that recognized him as the "peace and stability factor in the Balkans". The next chance to dent his armour came at the November 1996 municipal elections, which the DS entered as part of an opposition coalition called Zajedno featuring SPO, DSS, and GSS. Democratic Party (at the time with a total of only 7,000 members across Serbia) joined Zajedno against Đinđić's personal wishes as he got outvoted on three separate occasions when the decision was discussed internally. Following opposition victories in key Serbian cities such as Belgrade, Niš and Novi Sad, Milošević refused to recognize the results, sparking three months of protest marches by hundreds of thousands of citizens. After a massive series of public protests over election fraud perpetrated by the central government under Slobodan Milošević during the winter 1996–1997, Đinđić became Mayor of Belgrade, the first post-communist mayor to hold that post after the Second World War. Under pressure, Milošević acknowledged the results and on 21 February 1997 Đinđić got inaugurated as the mayor.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: Later that year Đinđić made a bold decision to boycott the parliamentary elections on 21 December 1997, thus breaking up the Zajedno coalition.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: United only by their political enemy, the coalition "Zajedno" (Together) with Vuk Drašković's SPO and Vesna Pešić's GSS collapsed only four months after their victory. Đinđić was voted out of his position as Belgrade mayor by the SPO, SPS and SRS.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: Đinđić and his party boycotted the 1997 Serbian presidential and parliamentary elections, as did others in the "democratic bloc" including Vojislav Koštunica's Democratic Party of Serbia. This caused the Socialists and Radicals to sweep most of the seats, leaving the third largest portion to Vuk Drašković's SPO. The boycott helped forced a second set of elections when the second round was ruled to have had insufficient turnout. Serbian law at the time mandated at least 50% turnout for a president to be elected.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: In this case, Vojislav Šešelj won the second round against the Socialists' Zoran Lilić; when the election was re-done, Šešelj lost to the Socialists' Milan Milutinović. This caused Šešelj to allege electoral fraud and lead protests against the government. He changed his mind however, when the Kosovo crisis began in early 1998, and his Radicals joined the government as a coalition partner. When Vuk Drašković joined the Yugoslav government in early 1999, this left Đinđić as Serbia's main opposition leader as NATO's war began against Yugoslavia.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: After former secret policeman, anti-Milošević publisher and journalist Slavko Ćuruvija was murdered on Orthodox Easter during NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Đinđić sought safety and fled to temporary exile in Montenegro, allegedly because he was next on the assassination list of then-President Slobodan Milošević's secret service.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: In September 1999, Đinđić was named by "Time" magazine as one of the most important politicians at the beginning of the 21st century. Upon his return to the country in July 1999, Đinđić was charged with endangering state security in a trial that was closed to the public and subsequently found out to be rigged.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: A series of mysterious assassinations, including the shooting of Yugoslav Defence Minister Pavle Bulatović on 7 February 2000 in a restaurant, began taking place. Serbian Radical Party leader Vojislav Šešelj maintained during his testimony at Milošević's trial that this murder was carried as a prelude to the successful hijacking of the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro in October 2000 by Predrag Bulatović, who successfully reversed the parliamentary majority won by Milošević and his allies, moving his party in alliance with Đinđić's Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS). In April, JAT chairman and Yugoslav United Left member Žika Petrović was gunned down as he was walking his dog. In late August, former Serbian President Ivan Stambolić disappeared; he had been murdered on Fruška Gora mountain by members of Serbia's Special Operations Unit. Đinđić and his allies openly accused Milošević of these events, claiming that he had either ordered them or was no longer able to maintain control and should therefore step down.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: Đinđić played a prominent role in the September 2000 presidential elections in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and in the 5th October uprising that overthrew Milošević after further street protests. While Koštunica headlined the effort in October, Đinđić lead the broad-based 19-party Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS) coalition to its victory in Serbian elections of December 2000. The Democratic Party was the largest party of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia block that won 64.7% of the votes in the December 2000 elections, getting 176 of 250 seats in the Parliamentary Assembly. In 2001 Đinđić was appointed Prime Minister of Serbia at the head of the first post-Milošević government on 25 January 2001.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: On 1 April 2001, former president Slobodan Milošević was arrested by Yugoslav authorities. Although no official charges were made, Milošević was suspected of abuse of power and corruption. Following Milošević's arrest, the United States pressured the Yugoslav government to extradite Milošević to the ICTY or lose financial aid from the IMF and World Bank. President Koštunica opposed extradition of Milošević, arguing that it would violate the Yugoslav Constitution. Prime Minister Đinđić called an extraordinary meeting of the government to issue a decree for extradition. Milošević's lawyers appealed the extradition process to the Yugoslav Constitutional Court. The court requested two weeks to deliberate the appeal. Ignoring objections from the president and the constitutional court, Đinđić ordered the extradition of Milošević to the ICTY. On 28 June, Milošević was flown by helicopter from Belgrade to the U.S. air base in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina from where he was then flown to The Hague, Netherlands.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: Đinđić played a key role in sending Milošević to the ICTY in The Hague. The extradition caused political turmoil in Yugoslavia. President Koštunica denounced the extradition as illegal and unconstitutional, while a junior party in the Đinđić coalition government left in protest. Đinđić stated there would be negative consequences if the government did not cooperate. Additionally, the government argued that sending Milošević to the ICTY was not extradition as it is a UN institution and not a foreign country. Following the extradition, Yugoslavia received approximately $1 billion dollars in financial aid.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: Later, Đinđić said that he became disillusioned with the protracted trial of Milošević, qualifying it as a "circus". Đinđić said the court in The Hague was "allowing Milošević to behave like a demagogue and to control the trial".


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: In August 2001, after meeting with Koštunica's cabinet, former Serbian State Security officer Momir Gavrilović was murdered. Koštunica claimed that Gavrilović was briefing his cabinet about connections of some members of Serbian government with organized crime. This caused Koštunica and his 45 DSS members of parliament to withdraw from DOS and the government. Đinđić attempted to expel the DSS members from parliament, referring to the existence of imperative mandate that places all deputies under the control of the party elected to parliament. Meanwhile, Koštunica and his party openly accused Đinđić of involvement with organised crime.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: Đinđić was received favorably by Western nations. His meetings with Western leaders George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac and others strongly indicated that the West supported his politics. Đinđić had constant disagreements with his ex-coalition partner and then-Yugoslav federal president Vojislav Koštunica, who was his biggest political rival in Serbia itself. His earlier close relationship with the Montenegrin president Milo Đukanović had also cooled due to Đukanović's separatist aspirations for an independent Montenegro state.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: Đinđić had also increased economic reforms while prime minister of Serbia. Such reforms include price liberalization and a reduction of the money supply with the goal of achieving macroeconomic stability. Small-scale privatization also occurred with regards to banking assets and the financial sector. Lastly, the government of Serbia eliminated many trade barriers with the goal of eventually integrating into the European Union. The early economic reforms under the Koštunica-Đinđić government had been maintained after his assassination allowing the economy to increase substantially prior to the global economic crisis of 2008. However, unemployment still remained very high, and the pace and quantity of reforms did not return Serbia to the same living standards it had prior to 1990.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: From January 2003, Đinđić launched a wide diplomatic campaign for the determination of the Kosovo issue.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: Shortly before his assassination, Đinđić made a statement in which he was talking about an idea of creating a Union of Serb States consisting of Serbia, Montenegro and Republika Srpska, which would be a federal nation state.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: As reported by Reuters on 18 March 2003, according to Carla Del Ponte, Đinđić had predicted his own assassination on 17 February just weeks before it happened. Despite Koštunica's accusations of Đinđić being close to organised crime, the latter always insisted that he was determined to clean Serbia, and created the "Special Tribunal" with a witness protection program. This alarmed organized crime leaders who were intertwined with elements of the Serbian secret police which remained loyal to the ousted Milošević.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: Under orders from Milorad "Legija" Ulemek, the former commander of the Special Operations Unit of Yugoslavia's secret police, Đinđić was assassinated by Ulemek's soldier Zvezdan Jovanović in Belgrade on 12 March 2003. Jovanović shot him from the building across from the main Serbian government building at 12:23 PM, hitting him once in the chest. The high-power bullet of a Heckler & Koch G3 battle rifle penetrated his heart and killed him almost instantly.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: He was rushed to a hospital where he was treated, but pronounced dead one hour later. Ulemek was blamed as the mastermind of the crime. He was one of the leading persons in the Zemun clan, a leading organized crime group in Serbia. He was later prosecuted and convicted of being involved in some of the mysterious assassinations and assassination attempts that marked Yugoslavia in the months before Đinđić took power. Nataša Mićić, then acting President of Serbia, declared a state of emergency immediately. Zoran Živković was elected by the Serbian Democratic Party as Đinđić's successor.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: On 23 May 2007, twelve men were convicted for assassination of Zoran Đinđić. Among the convicted defendants was Ulemek, who, during the four years preceding the murder of Đinđić, had traveled to Switzerland, Austria, the Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Singapore and Croatia using a fraudulent passport that had been one of a batch of blank passports stolen from the Croatian Consulate in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1999. Ulemek, along with Zvezdan Jovanović, was charged with being the ringleader of the assassination plot carried out on 12 March 2003, when Đinđić was fatally shot. Three of the twelve men convicted are still on the run and remain the subject of INTERPOL Red notices. Specialist officers in INTERPOL's Fugitive Investigative Support Unit continue to liaise with and assist member countries in the investigation of various leads for the following individuals wanted by Serbian authorities: Milan Jurišić, Ninoslav Konstantinović and Vladimir Milisavljević.


title: Zoran Đinđić

text: Đinđić and his wife Ružica had a daughter and a son, Jovana and Luka, both minors at the time of his assassination.