title: Salary cap

text: Certain payments are excluded from the cap, and concessions are available for some players, in particular "veteran" players (those who have completed 10 seasons with their current club) and "nominated" rookie list players, who are discounted by 50% for purposes of the cap, depending on the number of these players at each club.


title: Salary cap

text: The breaches of the salary cap and salary floor regulations are exceeding the TPP, falling below the salary floor, not informing the AFL of payments, late or incorrect lodgement or loss of documents relating to player financial and contract details, or engaging in draft tampering. Trading cash for players and playing coaches, formerly common practices, are also prohibited to prevent wealthier clubs from circumventing the restrictions of the salary cap and salary floor.


title: Salary cap

text: Penalties for players, club officials or agents include fines of up to one-and-a-half times the amount involved and/or suspension. Penalties for clubs include fines of up to triple the amount involved, forfeiture of draft picks and/or deduction of premiership points. As of 2022, no club has been penalised for breaches of the salary floor regulations, and no punishment has included the deduction of premiership points.


title: Salary cap

text: The VFL/AFL's salary cap has been quite successful in terms of parity: since the cap was introduced in 1987, 17 of the 18 teams have reached the Grand Final, and 14 teams have won the premiership.


title: Salary cap

text: Another major statistic in regards to the success of the VFL/AFL's cap is that the three richest and most successful clubs, Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon, who won 41 of the premierships between them from 75 Grand Finals in the 90 seasons between 1897 and 1986 (83.3% of all Grand Finals for a 45.6% premiership success rate), have only won six of the premierships between them from twelve Grand Finals since (32.4% of all Grand Finals for a 16.2% premiership success rate).


title: Salary cap

text: Of note in this regard is that the Sydney Swans, playing as South Melbourne until 1981, mostly struggled in the 50 seasons between 1946 and 1995, and made the finals on just four occasions in that time (a finals success rate of 8%). They had not won a premiership since 1933 and had not appeared in a Grand Final since 1945, but since 1996, have qualified for the finals in 23 of 27 seasons (a finals success rate of 83%) and played in six Grand Finals, winning the premiership in 2005 and 2012.


title: Salary cap

text: Originally, the cap was only for the Total Player Payments of each club and not the club's football department. This has caused concern in recent years; for instance, three of the four top-spending clubs played in the Preliminary Finals in 2012 and 2013, and the last team to win the premiership outside the top eight spending teams was North Melbourne in 1999.


title: Salary cap

text: There had been calls for a separate cap for the football department, or to reform the salary cap to include football department spending, but these had been opposed by the wealthier clubs, with Sydney CEO Andrew Ireland saying that the AFL needed to examine the gap between football department spending for these teams.


title: Salary cap

text: In 2014, the AFL and its clubs accepted a luxury tax on football department spending (excluding the salary cap) to take effect in 2015 and an overall revenue tax to take effect by 2017. Clubs that exceed the football department cap will pay the AFL the lesser of $1 million or 37.5% of the excess, and repeat offenders will pay the lesser of 75% of the excess or $2 million.


title: Salary cap

text: The AFL salary cap is occasionally controversial, as it is a soft salary cap and can sometimes be slightly different for each club. Clubs in poor financial circumstances have not always used their full cap, in some circumstances not even reaching the salary floor.


title: Salary cap

text: The AFL has also used the cap to pursue its policy of supporting clubs in non-traditional markets such as Sydney and Brisbane.


title: Salary cap

text: Apart from the AFL, several regional leagues also have salary caps which although widening between them and the AFL and overall less than national competitions, are substantial enough to dictate the movement of semi-professional and professional players between states and the overall playing quality and spectator attendance of the state leagues.


title: Salary cap

text: In 2017, the AFL launched a semi-professional women's national league, known as AFL Women's: all of its teams are fielded by AFL clubs.


title: Salary cap

text: In the league's inaugural season of 2017, a three-tiered salary structure was employed: marquee players received A$27,000 for the season, with second-tier players earning $12,000 and other all other listed players $8,500. All three amounts would rise for the league's second season of 2018.


title: Salary cap

text: In the second season of 2022, marquee players received A$71,935 for the season, with second-tier players earning $55,559, third-tier players $47,372 and all other listed players $39,184.


title: Salary cap

text: The National Rugby League has a salary cap of A$9.6 million in 2018, with a salary floor of A$9.12 million (95% of the cap). The salary cap keeps average annual player salaries at around A$364,800.


title: Salary cap

text: The National Rugby League adopted a hard salary cap model in its first season in 1998. The NRL's stated purposes for having a salary cap are "to assist in spreading the playing talent" and "ensure that clubs are not put into positions where they are forced to spend more money than they can afford in terms of player payments, just to be competitive."


title: Salary cap

text: Before the 2012 season, the NRL's then Chief executive David Gallop said "The cap's there to make sure that pure purchasing power cannot dominate the sport... It means we can genuinely say that all 16 teams ... have a chance. For the fan every week, every game is a contest. That's at the core of why rugby league is so successful."


title: Salary cap

text: The breaches of the salary cap and salary floor regulations outlined by the NRL are exceeding the salary cap, falling below the salary floor, not informing the NRL of payments, late or incorrect lodgement or loss of documents relating to player financial and contract details or engaging in contract tampering. Trading cash for players is also prohibited to prevent wealthier clubs from evading the salary cap and salary floor regulations.


title: Salary cap

text: Penalties for players, club officials and agents include fines of the one-and-a-half times of the amount involved and/or suspension. Penalties for clubs include fines of up to triple the amount involved ($10,000 for each document that is late or incorrectly lodged or lost) and/or deduction of premiership points.


title: Salary cap

text: The NRL is one of the few major leagues to implement a salary cap in a sport that has competing leagues in other countries where there is either no salary cap or a much higher cap per club. As a result, at times there has been a tradition of players from Australia moving to Europe where salaries for the elite, and even for average players, were considerably higher. This is often dependent on exchange rates or the rise and fall in the fortunes of international rugby league or union competitions.


title: Salary cap

text: The NRL chooses to continue with the cap, believing that any reduction in quality of the sporting product due to the loss of these players is less than allowing richer clubs to dominate. In practice, the goal of parity has been quite successful, with 12 different clubs winning the 19 premierships between 1998 and 2019.


title: Salary cap

text: Through the 2017 southern hemisphere season, the five Australian teams then playing in rugby union's Super Rugby competition were subjected to an A$5 million salary cap for a squad of 30 full-time players per Australian team. The Australian Rugby Union, now known as Rugby Australia, decided in 2011 to introduce the salary cap because of financial pressures.


title: Salary cap

text: Originally starting in 2012 as a cap of A$4.1 million, it was later was raised to $4.5 million for the 2013 and 2014 seasons to take pressure off the teams' ability to recruit and retain players. The salary cap has been key component of negotiations between Rugby Australia and the Rugby Union Players' Association (RUPA) over the collective bargaining agreement.


title: Salary cap

text: The fact that the Australian teams in Super Rugby face a salary cap has been attributed as a factor that makes it more difficult for Australian teams to win the title.


title: Salary cap

text: Rugby Australia and RUPA later negotiated a new bargaining agreement, running from 2018–2020, that made significant changes to previous cap schemes. The 2018 season, coinciding with the transition from five Australian Super Rugby sides to four, was uncapped, but the salary cap returned for 2019 and 2020, at A$5.5 million. Prior concessions for sponsor payments and non-Australian players were removed, while a salary floor was added at 90% of the cap.


title: Salary cap

text: The 14 teams participating in New Zealand's top domestic competition, now known once again by its historic name of the National Provincial Championship, faced a salary cap in 2013 that was the lesser of $NZ 1.35 million or 36% of the union's commercial revenue. Maximum player salaries are $55,000, and minimum salaries are $18,000. In August 2013, it was announced that the cap would be further reduced, with the team cap for the 2015 season set to $1.025 million.


title: Salary cap

text: New Zealand first implemented the salary cap in the 2006 season. The purpose of the salary cap was to ensure an even spread of players to produce competitive matches and higher television audiences for the new, fully professional competition.


title: Salary cap

text: The salary cap had been as high as $2 million in 2008. However, the competition had generated losses of approximately $9.6m in 2007, and salary payments had increased by 75% in the previous four years. Some teams were reported to be in dire financial position, with four teams having payrolls of $1.75 million or more. The salary cap was cut in 2008, converting what was then known as the ITM Cup into a semi-professional competition, with players not under national team or Super Rugby contracts needing to find other part-time jobs.


title: Salary cap

text: Both national senior association football (soccer) competitions operating under the A-League banner, A-League Men and A-League Women, have salary caps.


title: Salary cap

text: A-League Men had a salary cap of A$2.5 million in its most recently completed 2021–22 season, with the cap set to rise by $50,000 in each of the next two seasons. This value had reached $3.2 million in 2019–20, but was reduced to $2.1 million in 2020–21 due to financial fallout from COVID-19. However, the cap has numerous exceptions. First, then-current player contracts were honoured at their full values and not subjected to the cap. In the 2020–21 season, the league's two newest teams, Western United (which debuted in 2019–20) and Macarthur (which debuted in 2020–21), were allowed a higher cap of $2.433 million. The league also has a salary floor, set at 90% of the cap. The Salary Cap applies to the 20 to 23 Players that Clubs have registered to their A-League Men Player Roster. Unless specifically exempt, all payments and benefits (eg. cars, accommodation, etc) provided by a Club to a Player are included in the Club’s Salary Cap.


title: Salary cap

text: Each team can sign two "marquee players" and one "guest player", the latter of whom can only play for a maximum of 14 matches in a season, whose salaries are excluded from the team's salary cap. A-League Men has also introduced a "junior marquee" for eligible under-23-year-old players with the aim of keeping young talented players in Australia (or New Zealand for the Wellington Phoenix) for a longer period, similar to the Designated Player Rule in Major League Soccer in North America. Each team can also exclude the salaries of up to four "homegrown players", defined as under-23 players who have come from the club's youth system. Finally, once a player has been with a club for 4 consecutive years as a professional, he is considered a "loyalty player", and as long as he remains with that club, part of his salary is excluded from the cap. The percentage of exclusion starts at 12.5% in his fourth season with the club, increases to 25% in his fifth, and increases by 5% in each subsequent season until reaching its maximum value of 50% in his tenth season.


title: Salary cap

text: The breaches of the salary cap and salary floor regulations outlined by the A-League are exceeding the salary cap, falling below the salary floor, not informing the A-League of payments, late or incorrect lodgement or loss of documents relating to player financial and contract details or engaging in contract tampering.


title: Salary cap

text: Penalties for players, club officials or agents include fines of up to one and one half times the amount involved and/or suspension. Penalties for clubs include fines of up to triple the amount involved ($7,500 for each document that is late or incorrectly lodged or lost) and/or deduction of competition points.


title: Salary cap

text: In the 2006–07 season, Sydney FC were fined $174,000 and deducted three competition points after it was found that they had exceeded the salary cap by $110,000 and failed to declare third-party payments during the 2005–06 season in which they were premiers.


title: Salary cap

text: In 2014–15, Perth Glory were fined $269,000, deducted nine points and ruled ineligible to compete in the finals series after it was found that they had exceeded the salary cap by $400,000 during the season.


title: Salary cap

text: A-League Women had a cap of $450,000 and floor of $315,000 in the 2021–22 season. The floor is set to rise to $390,000 by 2025–26, with the cap level to be reviewed annually.


title: Salary cap

text: The National Basketball League has a salary cap of A$1.1 million for each of its eight teams as of the 2016–17 season. In addition, from 2003–04 through 2015–16, the NBL used a "points cap" to encourage spread of talent: players were assigned points on a 1–10 basis each season "based on their performance in the NBL or based on the league they have participated in for the season just concluded", and each team's player roster (of between 10 and 12 players) had to fall within a "Total Team Points" limit.


title: Salary cap

text: On May 9, 2014, in order to help attract high-calibre imports or offer financial incentive for local stars considering overseas opportunities, the NBL introduced a marquee player rule. It originally allowed a team to nominate one player whose salary was paid outside the cap, with a 25% Marquee Player levy applied to any payment made above the salary cap. The levy still applies to non-local marquee players (i.e., players who are neither Australians nor New Zealanders), with one exception introduced in 2016–17.


title: Salary cap

text: Effective with the 2016–17 season, several significant changes were made to the cap scheme. First, the cap was changed from a hard cap of A$1 million to a soft cap of $1.1 million. Teams exceeding the cap are required to pay "salary equalisation" (effectively a luxury tax) equal to the amount above the cap. Additionally, players' values for purposes of the cap are not based on their publicised salaries, but are instead determined by an NBL panel. Also, the points system in place for the previous 13 seasons was scrapped; in its place, a salary cap provision was added requiring that all teams have at least one group of five players with a collective cap value of no more than A$400,000. Second, the Marquee Player rule was modified with regard to "non-restricted" players; the cap charge for a qualifying player who fills the marquee player slot is now $150,000, regardless of his actual salary. Since that season, "non-restricted" players have been defined as all Australians and New Zealanders, plus one player per team from another country that is a member of either FIBA Asia or FIBA Oceania.


title: Salary cap

text: The 2018–19 season saw another significant change to the cap scheme with the introduction of the NBL's "Next Stars" initiative, targeted mainly at young American players seeking an alternative to U.S. college basketball, plus Australians and New Zealanders considering U.S. college basketball. The league identifies young prospects preparing to graduate from secondary school and offers them NBL contracts at a first-year salary of A$100,000, plus housing and transport allowances. Players who sign "Next Stars" contracts are then allocated among the league's teams, with each team receiving an extra import roster slot intended to be filled by a "Next Star". As these slots are funded by the NBL, they do not count against the salary cap.


title: Salary cap

text: In netball's now-defunct ANZ Championship, which featured five teams each from Australia and New Zealand, each franchise was restricted to a NZ$380,000 salary cap (as of 2013) from which player salaries were paid. Salary amounts varied among players, but each player received a retainer of at least NZ$12,000 per season; high-profile players were expected to earn up to NZ$50,000.


title: Salary cap

text: Following the 2016 season, Australia's national governing body of Netball Australia broke away from the trans-Tasman championship and launched its own national league, Suncorp Super Netball. The initial team salary cap in the new league was A$675,000, with minimum player salaries of A$27,375. This latter figure was more than double the minimum wage of A$13,250 in the final season of the ANZ Championship. New Zealand rebranded its now-domestic league as the ANZ Premiership, presumably retaining its prior salary cap provisions.


title: Salary cap

text: Since then, Super Netball's salary cap has risen modestly. The original team cap of A$675,000 had been structured with a $500,000 cap on playing payments, plus an additional $150,000 for club-related employment, educational, and ambassadorial roles, and the balance for health insurance and technology allowances. For the 2019 season, the minimum player wage (not including the health insurance allowance, set at $1,635 for that season) rises to $30,000, and the team cap on playing payments rises to $515,000.


title: Salary cap

text: Following a 2020 season financially rocked by COVID-19, the Chinese Super League saw major turmoil. In February 2021 alone, the reigning champions Jiangsu F.C. folded; Shandong Taishan were expelled from the AFC Champions League for "overdue payables"; and Tianjin Jinmen Tiger were reportedly at risk of collapsing, with Chinese media reporting that the club had not paid players in 10 months. In 2020, then-current Super League member Tianjin Tianhai folded, as did Liaoning F.C., which had been the first Chinese club to win the AFC Champions League before dropping to the country's lower levels.


title: Salary cap

text: In December 2020, the Chinese Football Association imposed a salary cap on the Super League. Effective in 2021, total player wages are capped at RMB 600 million (US $91.7 million at March 2021 exchange rates), with a separate cap of €10 million (US $12.1 million) on total wages of foreign players. Individual player salaries are also capped at RMB 5 million (US $765,000) before tax for Chinese players and €3 million (US $3.63 million) for foreign players.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless included brilliant military exploits which contributed to the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire during the 10th century. In the east, Nikephoros completed the conquest of Cilicia and even retook the islands of Crete and Cyprus, thus opening the path for subsequent Byzantine incursions reaching as far as Upper Mesopotamia and the Levant; these campaigns earned him the sobriquet "pale death of the Saracens". Meanwhile in the west, he inflamed conflict with the Bulgarians and saw Sicily completely turn over to the Muslims, while he failed to make any serious gains in Italy following the incursions of Otto I. At home, Nikephoros' administrative policies caused controversy. He financed his wars with increased taxes both on the people and on the church, while maintaining unpopular theological positions and alienating many of his most powerful allies. These included his nephew John Tzimiskes, who would take the throne after killing Nikephoros in his sleep.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: Nikephoros Phokas was born around 912. From his paternal side, he belonged to the Phokas family which had produced several distinguished generals, including Nikephoros' father Bardas Phokas, brother Leo Phokas, and grandfather Nikephoros Phokas the Elder, who had all served as commanders of the field army ("domestikos tōn scholōn"). From his maternal side he belonged to the Maleinoi, a powerful Anatolian Greek family which had settled in Cappadocia. Early in his life Nikephoros had married Stephano. She had died before he rose to fame, and after her death he took an oath of chastity.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: Nikephoros joined the army at an early age. He was appointed the military governor of the Anatolic Theme in 945 under Emperor Constantine VII. In 954 or 955 Nikephoros was promoted to Domestic of the Schools, replacing his father, Bardas Phokas, who had suffered a series of defeats by the Hamdanids and by the Abbasids. The new position essentially placed Nikephoros in charge of the eastern Byzantine army. From 955, the Hamdanids in Aleppo entered a period of unbroken decline until their destruction in 1002. In June 957 Nikephoros managed to capture and destroy Adata. The Byzantines would continue to push their advantage against the Arabs until the collapse of the Hamdanids, except for the period from 960 to 961, when the army turned its focus to the reconquest of Crete.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: From the ascension of Emperor Romanos II in 959, Nikephoros and his younger brother Leo Phokas were placed in charge of the eastern and western field armies respectively. In 960, 27,000 oarsmen and marines were assembled to man a fleet of 308 ships carrying 50,000 troops. At the recommendation of the influential minister Joseph Bringas, Nikephoros was entrusted to lead this expedition against the Muslim Emirate of Crete. Nikephoros successfully led his fleet to the island and defeated a minor Arab force upon disembarking near Almyros. He soon began a nine-month siege of the fortress town of Chandax, where his forces suffered through the winter due to supply issues. Following a failed assault and many raids into the countryside, Nikephoros entered Chandax on 6 March 961 and soon wrested control of the entire island from the Muslims. Upon returning to Constantinople, he was denied the usual honor of a triumph, being permitted a mere ovation in the Hippodrome.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: Following the conquest of Crete, Nikephoros returned to the east and marched a large and well-equipped army into Cilicia. In February 962 he captured Anazarbos, while the major city of Tarsus ceased to recognize the Hamdanid Emir of Aleppo, Sayf al-Dawla. Nikephoros continued to ravage the Cilician countryside, defeating the governor of Tarsus, ibn al-Zayyat, in open battle; al-Zayyat later committed suicide on account of the loss. Thereafter, Nikephoros returned to the regional capital of Caesarea. Upon the beginning of the new campaigning season al-Dawla entered the Byzantine Empire to conduct raids, a strategy which left Aleppo dangerously undefended. Nikephoros soon took Syrian Hierapolis. In December, an army split between Nikephoros and John I Tzimiskes marched towards Aleppo, quickly routing an opposing force led by Naja al-Kasaki. Al-Dawla's force caught up with the Byzantines, but he too was routed, and Nikephoros and Tzimiskes entered Aleppo on 24 December. The loss of the city would prove to be both a strategic and moral disaster for the Hamdanids. It was probably on these campaigns that Nikephoros earned the sobriquet "The Pale Death of the Saracens".


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: On 15 March 963, Emperor Romanos II died unexpectedly at the age of twenty-six of uncertain cause. Both contemporary sources and later historians seem to either believe that the young Emperor had exhausted his health with the excesses of his sexual life and his heavy drinking, or suspect that the Empress Theophano (c. 941–after 976), his wife, poisoned him. Theophano had already gained a reputation as an intelligent and ambitious woman. Unfavorable accounts of her by later historians would characterize her as a woman known for ruthlessness in achieving her goals. Romanos had already crowned as co-emperors his two sons Basil II and Constantine VIII. At the time that Romanos died, however, Basil was five years old and Constantine only three years old, so Theophano was named regent.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: Theophano, however, was not allowed to rule alone. Joseph Bringas, the eunuch palace official who had become Romanos' chief councilor, maintained his position. According to contemporary sources he intended to keep authority in his own hands. He also tried to reduce the power of Nikephoros Phokas. The victorious general had been accepted as the actual commander of the army and maintained a strong connection to the aristocracy. Bringas was afraid that Nikephoros would attempt to claim the throne with the support of both the army and the aristocracy. This is exactly what he did. On July 2 in Caesarea, his armies, along with his highest-ranking officers, proclaimed Nikephoros emperor. From his position in Caesarea, and in advance of the news of his proclamation as emperor, Nikephoros sent a fleet to secure the Bosphorus Strait against his enemies. Around the same time, he appointed Tzimiskes as Domestic of the East, now taking on the formal roles of emperor. He then sent a letter to Constantinople requesting to be accepted as co-emperor. In response, Bringas locked down the city, forcing Nikephoros' father Bardas Phokas to seek sanctuary in the Hagia Sophia, while his brother Leo Phokas escaped the city in disguise. Bringas was able to garner some support within the city from a few high-ranking officers, namely Marianos Argyros, but he himself was not a skilled orator, and he was unable to obtain the support of other popular officials such as the Patriarch Polyeuctus and the general Basil Lekapenos. The people of Constantinople soon turned against his cause, killing Argyros in a riot and soon forcing Bringas to flee. On August 16, Nikephoros was proclaimed emperor and married the empress Theophano.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: Nikephoros II was not very successful in his western wars. Under his reign, relations with the Bulgarians worsened. It is likely that he bribed the Kievan Rus' to raid the Bulgarians in retaliation for them not blocking Magyar raids. This breach in relations triggered a decades-long decline in Byzantine-Bulgarian diplomacy and was a prelude to the wars fought between the Bulgarians and later Byzantine emperors, particularly Basil II.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: Nikephoros' first military failures would come in Sicily. In 962 the son of the governor of Fatimid Sicily, Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Kalbi, captured and reduced the Byzantine city of Taormina. The last major Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, Rometta, appealed to the newly crowned emperor Nikephoros for aid against the approaching Muslim armies. Nikephoros renounced his payments of tribute to the Fatimid caliphs, and sent a huge fleet, purportedly boasting a crew of around 40,000 men, under Patrikios Niketas and Manuel Phokas, to the island. The Byzantine forces, however, were swiftly routed in Rometta and at the Battle of the Straits, and Rometta soon fell to the Muslims, completing the Islamic conquest of Sicily.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: In 967, the Byzantines and the Fatimids hastily concluded a peace treaty to cease hostilities in Sicily. Both empires had grander issues to attend to: the Fatimids were preparing to invade Egypt, and tensions were flaring up on mainland Italy between the Byzantines and the German emperor Otto I. The constant tension between the Germans and the Byzantines was largely due to mutual cultural biases, but also to the fact that both empires claimed to be the successors of Rome. Conflicts in southern Italy were preceded by religious contests between the two empires and by the malicious writings of Liutprand of Cremona. Otto first invaded Byzantine Apulia in 968 and failed to take Bari. Early the next year, he once again moved against Byzantine Apulia and Calabria, but, unable to capture Cassano or Bovino, failed to make any progress. In May he returned north, leaving Pandulf Ironhead to take charge of the siege. Pandulf was defeated and taken prisoner by the Byzantine general Eugenios, who went on to besiege Capua and enter Salerno. The two empires would continue to skirmish with each other until after the reign of Nikephoros, but neither side was able to make permanent or significant gains.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: From 964 to 965, Nikephoros led an army of 40,000 men which conquered Cilicia and conducted raids in Upper Mesopotamia and Syria, while the patrician Niketas Chalkoutzes recovered Cyprus. In the spring of 964, Nikephorus headed east. During the summer he captured Anazarbos and Adana before withdrawing. Later that year, Nikephoros attempted to quickly take Mopsuestia, but failed, returning to Caesarea. It was around this time that Niketas Chalkoutzes instigated a coup in Cyprus, which at the time was a shared condominium between the Byzantines and the Arabs. In the summer of 965, the conquest of Cilicia began in earnest. Nikephorus and Tzimiskes seized Mopsuestia July 13, while Leo Phokas invested Tarsus and Nikephoros and Tzimiskes arrived soon after. Nikephoros won a pitched battle against the Tarsiots, routing their forces with his "ironclad horsemen", referencing the Byzantine cataphracts. Within a fortnight, Tarsus surrendered on August 16 to Nikephoros who allowed the inhabitants to leave the city unharmed but plundered the city. With the fall of these two strongholds, Cilicia was in the hands of the Byzantines.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: In June 966, there was an exchange of prisoners between Sayf al-Dawla and the Byzantines, held at Samosata. In October 966, Nikephoros led an expedition to raid Amida, Dara and Nisibis, then he marched towards Hierapolis, where he took a relic with the image of Jesus to be later placed in the Church of the Virgin of the Pharos in Constantinople. He later sent a detachment to Barbalissos which returned with 300 prisoners, then he went to raid Wadi Butnan, Qinnasrin, Tizin and Artah, before laying siege to Antioch, but it was abandoned after eight days due to the lack of supplies.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: In 967 or 968, Nikephoros annexed the Armenian state of Taron by diplomacy, in addition to Arzen and Martyropolis. In October 968, Nikephoros conducted another expedition which started by besieging Antioch for thirteen days, then he went south raiding and sacking most of the fortresses and cities along his path including Maarrat Misrin, Arra, Kafartab, Larissa, Epiphania and Emesa in the Orontes valley until he reached the city of Tripoli, then he went to take Arca, Tartus, Maraclea, Gabala and received the submission of Laodicea. His aim was to cut off Antioch from its allies: the city was unsuccessfully blockaded two times in 966 and 968, and so the emperor decided to take it by hunger (so as not to damage to city) and left a detachment (a taxiarchy) of 1500 men in the fort of Baghras, which lies on the road from Antioch to Alexandretta. The commander of the fort, the patrikios Michael Bourtzes, disobeyed the emperor's orders and took Antioch with a surprise attack, supported by the troops of the stratopedarch Petros, eunuch of the Phokas family. Bourtzes was disgraced for his insubordination, and later joined the plot that killed Phokas.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: Nikephoros' popularity was largely based on his conquests. Due to the resources he allocated to his army, Nikephoros was compelled to exercise a rigid economic policy in other departments. He retrenched court largess and curtailed the immunities of the clergy, and while he had an ascetic disposition, he forbade the foundation of new monasteries. By his heavy imposts and the debasement of the Byzantine currency, along with the enforcement and implementation of taxes across the centralized regions of the empire, he forfeited his popularity with the people and gave rise to riots.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: Nikephoros also disagreed with the church on theological grounds. He wished the church to elevate those soldiers who died in battle against the Saracens to the positions of martyrs in the church - similar to the status of "Shahid" which the Emperor's Muslim foes bestowed on their own fallen soldiers. However, in the Christian context, this was a highly controversial and unpopular demand.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: In 967, he sparked a controversy in the capital by making a display of his military maneuvers in the Hippodrome similar in style to those displayed by the emperor Justinian centuries earlier preceding the Nika riots and its violent suppression within the stadium itself. The crowd within the Hippodrome panicked and began a stampede to retreat from the stadium, resulting in numerous deaths.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: Nikephoros was the author of extant treatises on military tactics, most famously the "Praecepta Militaria", which contains valuable information concerning the art of war in his time, and the less-known "On Skirmishing" (), which concerned guerrilla-like tactics for defense against a superior enemy invasion force along the eastern frontier; though it purports that the tactics were no longer needed since the danger of the Muslim states to the east had subsided. It is likely that this latter work, at least, was not composed by the Emperor but rather for him; translator and editor George T. Dennis suggests that it was perhaps written by his brother Leo Phokas, then Domestic of the West. Nikephoros was a very devout man, and he helped his friend, the monk Athanasios, found the monastery of Great Lavra on Mount Athos.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: The plot to assassinate Nikephoros began when he dismissed Michael Bourtzes from his position following his disobedience in the siege of Antioch. Bourtzes was disgraced, and he would soon find an ally with whom to plot against Nikephoros. Towards the end of 965, Nikephoros had John Tzimiskes exiled to eastern Asia Minor for suspected disloyalty, but was recalled on the pleading of Nikephoros' wife, Theophano. According to Joannes Zonaras and John Skylitzes, Nikephoros had a loveless relationship with Theophano. He was leading an ascetic life, whereas she was secretly having an affair with Tzimiskes. Theophano and Tzimiskes plotted to overthrow the emperor. On the night of the deed, she left Nikephoros' bedchamber door unlocked, and he was assassinated in his apartment by Tzimiskes and his entourage on 11 December 969. Following his death, the Phokas family broke into insurrection under Nikephoros' nephew Bardas Phokas, but their revolt was promptly subdued as Tzimiskes ascended the throne.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: The tension between East and West resulting from the policies pursued by Nikephoros may be glimpsed in the unflattering description of him and his court by Bishop Liutprand of Cremona in his "Relatio de legatione Constantinopolitana". His description of Nikephoros was clouded by the ill-treatment he received while on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople. Nikephoros, a man of war, was not apt at diplomacy. To add insult to injury, Pope John XIII sent a letter to Nikephoros while Liutprand was in Constantinople calling Otto I Emperor of Rome and even more insultingly referring to Nikephoros merely as Emperor of the Greeks. Liutprand failed in his goal of procuring an Imperial princess as a wife for Otto's young son, the future emperor Otto II.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: Whereas Bishop Liutprand describes the emperor's hair as being bristly, Leo the Deacon says it was black with "tight curls" and "unusually long".


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: John Julius Norwich says, about his murder and burial, "It was a honourable place; but Nikephoros Phocas, the White Death of the Saracens, hero of Syria and Crete, saintly and hideous, magnificent and insufferable, had deserved a better end".


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: During the last decades of the tenth century, the Phokades repeatedly tried to get their hands again on the throne, and almost succeeded when Nikephoros' nephew, Bardas Phokas the Younger, rebelled against the rule of Basil II. His death, possibly by cardiac arrest, put an end to the rebellion, and ultimately to the political prominence of the Phokades, although Bardas the Younger's own son, Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos, launched another abortive revolt in 1022 along with Nikephoros Xiphias.


title: Nikephoros II Phokas

text: On 19 November 2004, the Hellenic Navy named its tenth in his honour as "Nikiforos Fokas" F-466 (formerly HNLMS "Bloys Van Treslong" F-824). Also, in the Rethymno regional unit in Crete, a municipality (Nikiforos Fokas) is named after him, as are many streets throughout Greece.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall (originally titled Sidney Hall) is a 2017 American mystery drama film directed and co-written by Shawn Christensen and starring Logan Lerman, Elle Fanning, Michelle Monaghan, Nathan Lane and Kyle Chandler.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: Principal photography of "The Vanishing of Sidney Hall" began in late April 2016. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2017. The film was released on January 25, 2018, through DirecTV Cinema before a limited release on March 2, 2018, by A24, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 20, 2018, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: The film centers around Sidney Hall a young novelist whose life is depicted in a non-linear narrative, through elliptical flashbacks and flash-forwards through three periods of his life.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: At the age of eighteen, Sidney reads a story about masturbating in the sixth grade to his English class, to the chagrin of his teacher. He is spared from expulsion by a fellow English teacher, Duane Jones, who encourages him with his writing. Sidney is subsequently approached by a bully, Brett Newport, who requests assistance with digging up a package they buried when they were small children. Sidney declines and returns home to his abusive mother Velouria, his downtrodden disabled father Gerald, as well as a love letter from an unidentified "Melody". Duane encourages Sidney to use unorthodox, loud tactics to draw Melody out, which he attempts, to no avail.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: He spots a girl from the Jameson family across the street and correctly deduces that she is Melody, though she is hesitant to directly interact with him. After seeing Brett bully a classmate, Sidney agrees to help him dig up the package, on the condition that he ceases bullying. The pair go and dig the package up, but as they are about to part ways, Brett's father, Judge George Newport, violently arrives on the scene and Brett is forced to hand the package off to Sidney. Sidney watches the tape, to discover that it is a recording of Judge Newport having sex with an adolescent girl. Sidney and Brett rendezvous and agree to go to the authorities with the tape.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: Melody calls Sidney and arranges an impromptu date to the fair with him, in which she takes her family's car without permission. At the fair, they bond and Melody admires a small wooden statue at a booth. The carver at the booth, Johan Tidemand, gives Sidney the statue for free. Having watched Brett's tape and read Sidney's unflattering personal notebooks, Velouria confronts Sidney and throws them into the fireplace. Sidney informs Brett that the tape is destroyed, prompting Brett to commit suicide. This inspires Sidney to begin writing a controversial novel called ""Suburban Tragedy"", which Duane admires and sends to the publisher Harold, at Porterhouse, who inks a book deal, with Duane as Sidney's agent. Sidney confronts Velouria about him moving away. She attacks Sidney, who hits his head on a mantelpiece. Sidney and Melody subsequently move away together.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: At the age of twenty-four, Sidney is a successful, albeit alcoholic, writer with two books- "Suburban Tragedy" and "State of Execution"- atop "The New York Times" Best Seller list and his name in contention for a Pulitzer Prize. He suffers from hallucinations, as his head injury left scarring on the left side of his brain. At a book signing, Sidney meets an obsessed fan called Henry Crowe, who quotes "Suburban Tragedy" and speaks of knowing what must be done. Shortly after, Crowe attempts murder and commits suicide, casting the book in a negative light, leading to a competitor on the list, Francis Bishop, to win the Pulitzer. With his marriage with Melody failing, Sidney has a discreet, ongoing affair with Harold's daughter, Alexandra. Melody informs Sidney that she is pregnant, though she insists that he is honest if he is having an affair, which he denies. He reveals that he purchased their dream house in New Mexico. While Sidney and Melody are at a restaurant, Alexandra confronts them, revealing the affair. Sidney and Melody make their way to their apartment, and while Melody attempts to leave in the elevator, the power goes out, trapping them. Melody suffers an asthma attack and due to not having her inhaler, dies in Sidney's arms in the elevator. Sidney leaves his apartment with the keys inside.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: At the age of thirty, Sidney has not been seen nor heard from in five years. Downtrodden, he spends his time going from library to library, burning copies of his books. An apparent detective, The Searcher, traces his steps and interviews those who have known him, including librarians, Duane and Johan, who forged identities for him. After making his way to New Mexico and riding on trains with his dog, Sidney is arrested for having an open alcohol container in public. The Searcher bails Sidney out of jail and takes him for breakfast, where he reveals himself to be Francis Bishop, wishing to write a biography about Sidney. Francis takes Sidney to the house in New Mexico, where Francis reveals that the positive influence from "Suburban Tragedy" dissuaded his son from committing suicide. The writers part ways. Sidney's health takes a turn for the worse from the seizures and effects from alcoholism, putting him in a terminal state in the hospital. Sidney summons Francis, who he gives all his writings to and reveals the secrets about the inspiration for "Suburban Tragedy", as well as Judge Newport's perversion. Sidney goes silent and Francis departs from the hospital room. Sidney sees a vision of Melody and, taking the form of his eighteen-year-old self, holds her hand as he passes away.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: While touring alongside The Killers in the United States with his band, Stellastarr in 2004, Shawn Christensen wrote a spec script called "Sidney Hall" with his best friend and roommate Jason Dolan, which he shared in increments with his friend, Paul Wesley. The inspiration for the screenplay was that Christensen and Dolan mused about the differences in life between the ages of eighteen and when they would turn thirty. They initially considered to make the titular character into an influential rock musician, but decided to go with the route of him being an author, when they realized the expectations of creating new music that could realistically be considered groundbreaking. Wesley received the completed draft of the screenplay, which he described in an interview as, "one of the most beautiful things [he] ever read in [his] life". Wesley presented the screenplay to William Morris Endeavor, which signed both Christensen and Dolan. The screenplay for "Sidney Hall" was first reported to have been acquired through a discretionary fund by Scott Free Productions in 2008. Joe Russo was to direct, Michael Costigan was to be the producer, Ridley Scott and Tony Scott were to be the executive producers and Jim Sturgess was to play the titular character.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: After the release of his feature length directorial debut in 2014, "Before I Disappear", Christensen looked to "Sidney Hall" as his next project, which had not seen active development by Fox Searchlight Pictures in five years. A number of film production companies, including Amazon Studios, aggressively pursued rights to the film, but Christensen opted to have the film independently produced and financed.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: For casting the titular protagonist that Jim Sturgess was previously attached to portray, Shawn Christensen auditioned a significant number of young male actors, before twenty-four year-old Logan Lerman was cast to play the character for all three stages of his life portrayed. According to Lerman, he was brought onto the project a year prior to the commencement of principal photography and assisted Christensen and producer Jonathan Schwartz with executive producing. On April 13, 2016, Lerman's involvement with the project was revealed, along with Elle Fanning playing opposite of him. On April 21, Michelle Monaghan, Kyle Chandler and Nathan Lane were announced to have joined the principal cast, as well. "Variety" revealed on April 25 that Blake Jenner, Margaret Qualley and Tim Blake Nelson had joined the cast.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: Principal photography of the film began on April 22, 2016, at the Rockefeller State Park Preserve, in Pleasantville, New York. Approximately a third of the film takes place in a suburban setting, inspired by Christensen's hometown of Wappingers Falls, New York. However, due to a tax credit that made production less expensive, the suburban scenes were shot in Rockland County, New York. The cinematographer, Daniel Katz, shot the film with an Arri Alexa Studio and predominantly with natural lighting, as well as different kinds of lights for the three stages of the main character's life. The production team considered utilizing traditional photographic film, but opted for digital cinematography, due to the feasibility of utilizing it for an independent production. According to Logan Lerman, an excess of footage was captured, in order to create more options for the post-production stage. The production featured twelve-hour work days, beginning in April and going into May, shot between New York and New Mexico.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: Darren Morze, who composes all of Christensen's films, was hired to do the music for "The Vanishing of Sidney Hall". Utilizing a computer in his home's recording studio, Morze began composing the music prior to the principal photography stage, which allowed for the music to be played on set, to help the actors understand the mood of their scenes. Morze and Christensen considered a number of sources of inspiration for the score, including Vangelis and John Carpenter. Due to tonal needs, they decided to pursue a score complementary to Philip Glass's work- even including a single composed by him. Contrary to Christensen's previous works that featured somber soundtracks, Morze looked to give "The Vanishing of Sidney Hall" a generally more hopeful tone. According to Morze, he committed more time to composing in August 2016 and continued to work alone on the score for the film until just prior to its release in January 2017.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: "Sidney Hall" premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, in Park City, Utah. The film was first screened on January 25, 2017. In April 2017, A24 and DirecTV Cinema acquired distribution rights to the film. The film, re-titled "The Vanishing of Sidney Hall", was released on January 25, 2018, through DirecTV Cinema before a limited release on March 2, 2018, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 20, 2018, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The film grossed $923,465 in worldwide theatrical box office, and $176,242 with home video sales.


title: The Vanishing of Sidney Hall

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 11% based on 27 reviews and an average rating of 2.8/10. The critics consensus reads: "There's no mystery here: "The Vanishing of Sidney Hall" may be nicely shot, but it is ultimately vapid and forgettable." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 18 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". Writing for RogerEbert.com, Glenn Kenny gave it no stars and a thumbs down, and called it "worthless woman-hating garbage". Robert Abele of the "Los Angeles Times" called it a "risible indie drama" that "grates as both an agonized-artist pity party and a male fantasy of envied power". At "The New York Times", Jeannette Catsoulis wrote that the cinematography and performances can not save the film from its pretentiousness.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: The first Battle of Smolensk (, 'Cauldron-battle at Smolensk'; ) was a battle during the second phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, in World War II. It was fought around the city of Smolensk between 10 July and 10 September 1941, about west of Moscow. The Ostheer had advanced into the USSR in the 18 days after the invasion on 22 June 1941.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: The Soviet 16th, 19th and the 20th armies were encircled and destroyed just to the east of Smolensk, though many of the men from the 19th and 20th armies managed to escape the pocket. Some historians have asserted that the cost to the Germans during this drawn-out battle and the delay in the drive towards Moscow led to the victory of the Red Army in the Battle of Moscow of December 1941.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: On 22 June 1941, the Axis nations invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa. At first, the campaign met with spectacular success, as the surprised Soviet troops were not able to offer coordinated resistance. After three weeks of fighting, the Germans had reached the Dvina and Dnieper rivers and planned for a resumption of the offensive. The main attack, aimed at Moscow, was carried out by Army Group Centre (Fedor von Bock). Its next target on the way to the Soviet capital was the city of Smolensk. The German plan called for the 2nd Panzer Group (later 2nd Panzer Army) to cross the Dnieper, closing on Smolensk from the south, while the 3rd Panzer Group (later 3rd Panzer Army) was to encircle the town from the north.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: After their initial defeats, the Red Army began to recover and took measures to ensure a more determined resistance and new defensive line was established around Smolensk. Stalin placed Field Marshal Semyon Timoshenko in command and transferred five armies out of the strategic reserve to Timoshenko. These armies had to conduct counter-offensives to blunt the German drive. The German high command (OKW) was not aware of the Soviet build-up until they encountered them on the battlefield.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: Facing the Germans along the Dnieper and Dvina rivers were stretches of the Stalin Line fortifications. The defenders were the 13th Army of the Western Front and the 20th Army, 21st Army and the 22nd Army of the Soviet Supreme Command (Stavka) Reserve. The 19th Army was forming up at Vitebsk, while the 16th Army was arriving at Smolensk.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: In Soviet histories, the great Battle ("Srazheniye") of Smolensk (10 July – 10 September 1941) is divided into the following phases and operations:


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: Prior to the German attack, the Soviets launched a counter-offensive; on 6 July, the 7th and 5th Mechanized Corps of the Soviet 20th Army attacked with about 1,500 tanks near Lepiel. The result was a disaster, as the offensive ran directly into the anti-tank defenses of the German 7th Panzer Division and the two Soviet mechanized corps were virtually wiped out.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: On 10 July, Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group began a surprise attack over the Dnieper, his forces overran the weak 13th Army and by 13 July, Guderian had passed Mogilev, trapping several Soviet divisions. His spearhead unit, the 29th Motorised Division, was already within of Smolensk. The 3rd Panzer Group had attacked, with the 20th Panzer Division establishing a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Dvina river, threatening Vitebsk. As both German panzer groups drove east, the 16th, 19th and 20th armies faced the prospect of encirclement west of Smolensk. From 11 July, the Soviets tried a series of concerted counter-attacks. The Soviet 19th Army and 20th Army struck at Vitebsk, while the 21st and the remnants of the 3rd Army attacked against the southern flank of 2nd Panzer Group near Bobruisk.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: Several other Soviet armies also attempted to counter-attack in the sectors of the German Army Group North and Army Group South. This effort was apparently part of an attempt to implement the Soviet prewar general defense plan. The Soviet attacks managed to slow the Germans but the results were so marginal that the Germans barely noticed them as a large coordinated defensive effort and the German offensive continued.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: Hoth's 3rd Panzer Group drove north and then east, parallel to Guderian's forces, taking Polotsk and Vitebsk. The 7th Panzer Division and 20th Panzer Division reached the area east of Smolensk at Yartsevo on July 15. At the same time, the 29th Motorized Division, supported by the 17th Panzer Division broke into Smolensk, captured the city except for the suburbs and began a week of house-to-house fighting against counter-attacks by the 16th Army. Guderian expected that the offensive would continue towards Moscow as its main focus and sent the 10th Panzer Division to the Desna River to establish a bridgehead on the east bank at Yelnya and cleared that as well by the 20th. This advanced bridgehead became the center of the Yelnya Offensive, one of the first big coordinated Soviet counter-offensives of the war.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: This objective (Yelnya) was south of the Dnieper and well clear of the objective of liquidating the armies trapped at Smolensk. Under Fuhrer Directive 33 issued on July 14, the main effort of the Wehrmacht was re-orientated away from Moscow towards a deep encirclement of Kiev in Ukraine and Bock was becoming impatient, wanting Guderian to strike north and link up with Hoth's Panzer Group so resistance in the city could be mopped up.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: On July 27, Bock held a conference at Novy Borisov, which was also attended by Commander-in-Chief Walther von Brauchitsch, the head of the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH), the High Command of the Army. The generals were required to sit without an opportunity to comment, while a memorandum was read to them by one of Brauchitsch's aides, instructing them that they were to strictly follow Fuhrer Directive 33 and were under no circumstance to try to push further east. They were ordered to concentrate on mopping up, refurbishing equipment, restocking supplies and straightening the German front line, which had become more of an "S" shape, due to the advances of Guderian and Hoth. Coming away from this meeting, Hoth and Guderian were angry and frustrated. Guderian wrote in his journal that night that Hitler "preferred a plan by which small enemy forces were to be encircled and destroyed piecemeal and the enemy thus bled to death. All the officers who took part in the conference were of the opinion that this was incorrect". Whether or not this was true, it was this meeting that some have pointed to that marked a critical point where the Wehrmacht leadership broke trust with Hitler. After returning to his post, Guderian conspired with Hoth and Bock to "delay the implementation" of Directive 33, in defiance of the orders of the Fuhrer and OKH. Guderian hastily put together a plan of attack for his and Hoth's forces for August 1, the Roslavl-Novozybkov Offensive Operation.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: In the north, the 3rd Panzer Group was moving much more slowly. The terrain was swampy, made worse by rain and the Soviets were fought to escape the trap. On 18 July, the armored pincers of the two panzer groups came within of closing the gap. Timoshenko put newly promoted Konstantin Rokossovsky, who had just arrived from the Ukrainian front, in charge of assembling a stopgap force, which held the attack of the 7th Panzer Division and with continuous reinforcements, temporarily stabilized the situation. The open gap allowed Soviet units to escape that were then pressed into service, holding the gap open.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: The Soviets transferred additional troops from newly formed armies into the region around Smolensk, namely the 29th, 30th, 28th, and 24th Armies. These newly built formations would, immediately upon arrival, start a heavy counter-attack against the German forces around the Smolensk area from 21 July on. This put a heavy strain on the overextended Panzer forces, which had to cover a large area around the perimeter. However, poor coordination and logistics on the part of the Soviets allowed the Germans to successfully defend against these offensive efforts, while continuing to close the encirclement. The Soviet attacks would last until 30 July, when the Germans finally repelled the last of them.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: Finally, on 27 July, the Germans were able to link up and close the pocket east of Smolensk, trapping large portions of 16th, 19th, and 20th Armies. Under the leadership of 20th Army, Soviet troops managed to break out of the pocket in a determined effort a few days later, assisted by the Soviet offensive efforts along the Smolensk front line. On 5 August von Bock reported that a total of 309,000 prisoners had been captured during the Battle of Smolensk at all. This number later increased to 350,000. Thus, only about 50,000 people from the encircled 16th and 20th armies escaped from the "cauldron" by 7 August.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: After the battle for encirclement near Smolensk ended on 5 August, the opponents drew different conclusions. The Soviet command was satisfied that they managed to restore the front line on the road to Moscow and save part of the encircled armies. It was decided to continue to strike at the opposing German forces, despite high losses. Thus, from their point of view, the battle was just beginning. In the following month, there were two major Soviet offensives: 6–24 August and 29 August – 12 September 1941.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: Soviets did make progress and pushed Germans back, but movement forward was rather slow. Main reason for this was quality of German defense. Soviets small unit tactics were implemented with depleted companies even before the operation began, as seen on the example of the 900th Rifle Regiment, which was part of the 242nd Rifle Division. Rifle Regiment attacking village of Svity was composed of 79 rifles (soldiers able to attack the enemy).


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: Staying on small unit tactics, switch to night operations yielded good results and Soviets were not only able to close in on enemy positions but to push the Germans back in close combat. Clandestine movement to get as close as possible to the German positions, quiet sprint to the positions, and engagement, including rifle fire and bayonet attack. Attacks on this sector would be supported by artillery, both anti-aircraft used in ground role and divisional level support in the form of Artillery Support Group (ASG) 900.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: German small unit opposing the 900th Rifle Regiment at this time were the elements of the 240th Infantry Regiment of the 106th Infantry Division, and 900 Mechanized Lehr Brigade and its Panzerjäger 1 tank destroyers. After initial night attack described above, the Germans adjusted and began counterattacking and winning the ground they would lose earlier in the night, inflicting heaviest casualties in the 25th July to 5th August. Heavy casualties were by Soviet small unit leader's assessments, not by current assessments of Western historians. Specifics: 200 Soviet soldiers involved in the night attack which was not successful. 5th Rifle Company (of 2nd Rifle Battalion, 900th Rifle Regiment) reported 18 MIA, 11 wounded. The 519th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion which was attacking the German positions with it reported 4 KIA, 7 WIA from that one attack. Total 7 KIA, 18 MIA, 18 WIA.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: This is radically different than assessments made before about the methodology of Soviet attacks and how the casualties were sustained versus Germans in general. Lets look at this in detail. First reason for this discovery may be in that the Soviet regimental, company, and personal documents of soldiers are not usually examined, and the small unit losses would be extrapolated from divisional level, at best. Most quality authors would be doing small unit combat loss assessments from statistical analysis of Krivosheev's work on Soviet combat losses, which is a very large data set Front, STAVKA and above level. Extrapolations from large data sets led them to the conclusion that the attacks themselves were a lot bloodier than they actually were due to losses sustained from bombings and artillery bombardments, or many other scenarios which caused legitimate Soviet divisional level losses, for example. Another reason still, is the fact that same Soviet units would be attacking over the span of days, resulting in accumulation of losses over time, and not sustaining it in a single attack. In other words, tip of the Soviet spear may of been being blunted at a slower rate, while casualties around the would be attained by other means as well. Soviet small unit attack methodologies may of not been as ignorant or casualty producing as originally thought.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: Back to the operational level. On the part of the Germans, opinions were divided: von Bock believed that the battle was over, and after rest and replenishment, the troops of Army Group Center could continue their successful offensive against Moscow. However, Hitler was preoccupied with the stubborn defense of the Soviet Southwestern Front near Kiev and the increasing resistance of the Soviet troops of Zhukov and Timoshenko in the Moscow direction. On the other hand, Guderian's victory at Roslavl, on the right flank of Army Group Center, opened up the possibility of an attack to the south and a gigantic encirclement of Soviet troops near Kiev. Gradually OKH leaned towards Hitler's opinion. However, neither Bock nor Hitler planned an immediate offensive directly on Moscow, and the need to constantly repel Soviet strikes exhausted the troops. Von Bock wrote: "I was now forced to commit all of my combat-capable divisions from the army group’s reserve into combat…. We needed every man forward… In spite of huge losses… the enemy attacked daily in several sectors so that, up to this time, it has not been possible to regroup forces and bring up reserves."


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: Thus, in the next month after the elimination of the "cauldron" near Smolensk, von Bock's armies defended themselves in the center and attacked with limited forces on the flanks. In the south, Guderian won the battles near Gomel and Krichev, and in the north, Group Stumme captured Velikiye Luki and advanced further to the east to Andreapol. Most of the attacks of the Soviet troops were successfully repelled, but the Germans had to be withdrawn from the salient near Yelnya.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: Official Soviet data on losses in the Battle of Smolensk (10 July - 10 September 1941) were disclosed only in 1993. According to the study by a team of authors led by Grigori F. Krivosheev, the troops of the four "fronts" and the Soviet lost a total of:


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: What part of the 486,171 irrecoverable losses relates to the killed and what part to the prisoners-of-war is not indicated. The Germans reported the following number of prisoners for some operations during this time:


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: The losses of the German side, according to one of the documents from the Russian archives, amounted to only 101,000 men. Historian David Glantz draws attention to the fact that the number of killed for the 9th army in this document is obviously too low. In his opinion, this number should be 7 thousand higher. His own estimate of the personnel losses of Army Group Center for the period 10 July - 10 September, made on the base of known German documents, gives around 115,500 killed and wounded, compared with the 760,000 losses the Soviet fronts incurred during the same period.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: During the battle, the German army captured the Archives of Smolensk Oblast Committee of Communist Party of the Soviet Union, a large amount of documents about local history from 1917 to 1941. The Germans used the document for propaganda about Soviet repression and transported them back to Germany.


title: Battle of Smolensk (1941)

text: The Battle of Smolensk was another severe defeat for the Red Army in the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa. For the first time, the Soviets tried to implement a coordinated counter-attack against a large part of the front; although this counter-attack turned into a military disaster, the stiffening resistance showed that the Soviets were not yet defeated and that the Blitzkrieg towards Moscow was not going to be an easy undertaking. Dissent within the German high command and political leadership was exacerbated. The leaders of the General Staff, Franz Halder and Brauchitsch and commanders like Bock, Hoth and Guderian counselled against dispersing the German armoured units and to concentrate on Moscow. Hitler reiterated the lack of importance of Moscow and of strategic encirclements and ordered a concentration on economic targets such as Ukraine, the Donets Basin and the Caucasus, with more tactical encirclements to weaken the Soviets further. The German offensive effort became more fragmented, leading to the Battle of Kiev and the Battle of Uman. The battles were German victories but costly in time, men and equipment on their approach towards Moscow, allowing the Soviets time to prepare the defenses of the city.


title: Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer

text: Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer, (30 October 1857 – 26 September 1922), styled The Honourable Charles Spencer until 1905 and known as Viscount Althorp between 1905 and 1910, was a British courtier and Liberal politician from the Spencer family. An MP from 1880 to 1895 and again from 1900 to 1905, he served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from 1892 to 1895. Raised to peerage as Viscount Althorp in 1905, he was Lord Chamberlain from 1905 to 1912 in the Liberal administrations headed by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith. In 1910, he succeeded his half-brother as Earl Spencer. He was married to Margaret Baring, a member of the Baring family.


title: Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer

text: Known as "Bobby", Spencer was born in St. James's, Westminster, the son of Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer, by his second wife Adelaide Seymour, daughter of Horace Beauchamp Seymour and granddaughter of Lord Hugh Seymour. John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer, was his elder half-brother. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge.


title: Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer

text: Spencer represented Northamptonshire North in parliament from 1880 to 1885 and Northamptonshire Mid from 1885 to 1895 and again from 1900 to 1905, from his home at Dallington Hall. In 1898, he contested Hertford. He was a Groom in Waiting to Queen Victoria between February and June 1886. In 1892, he was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household under William Ewart Gladstone, a post he held until 1895, the last year under the premiership of Lord Rosebery. Between 1900 and 1905, he was a Liberal whip.


title: Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer

text: On 19 December 1905, he was created Viscount Althorp, of Great Brington in the County of Northampton, to allow him to become Lord Chamberlain in Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's new Liberal administration. (His older brother was still Earl Spencer at that time, but was 70 years old and childless, and so it was clear that his younger brother would inherit.) On 13 August 1910, he inherited the earldom on the death of his childless elder brother, John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer. He remained Lord Chamberlain until 1912. From 1908 to 1922, he was Lord Lieutenant of Northamptonshire. He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in 1911 and a Knight of the Garter in 1913. He was also awarded the Volunteer Reserve Decoration.


title: Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer

text: Lord Spencer held a large number of foreign decorations: the Grand Crosses of Order of the Dannebrog of Denmark, Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav, Order of the Polar Star of Sweden, Order of the Rising Sun of Japan, the White Eagle of Serbia, Order of the Red Eagle of Prussia and Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Carlos III. He was also an honorary major in and later honorary colonel of the 4th Volunteer Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment.


title: Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer

text: Lord Spencer married the Hon. Margaret Baring (14 December 1868 – 4 July 1906), daughter of Edward Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke, at St James's Church, Piccadilly, on 23 July 1887. They had six children:


title: Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer

text: Lord Spencer died in September 1922 at his home in St James Place, London, aged 64. He had been ill for four months after contracting a "chill" at a public event in his home county, Northamptonshire. His eldest son Albert succeeded in the earldom. Lord Spencer was buried next to his wife in Saint Mary the Virgin with St John Churchyard, Great Brington, Northamptonshire.


title: Turner Field

text: Turner Field was a baseball stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1997 to 2016, it served as the home ballpark to the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Originally built as Centennial Olympic Stadium in 1996 to serve as the centerpiece of the 1996 Summer Olympics, the stadium was converted into a baseball park to serve as the new home of the team. The Braves moved less than one block from Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, which served as their home ballpark for 31 seasons from 1966 to 1996.


title: Turner Field

text: Opening during the Braves' "division dominance" years, Turner Field hosted the NLDS a total of 11 times (1997–2005, 2010, 2013), the NLCS four times (1997–1999, 2001), one World Series (1999), one NL Wild Card Game (2012, the first in baseball history), and the 2000 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The Braves played the final game at Turner Field on October 2, 2016, a 1–0 win over the Detroit Tigers. The franchise allowed its lease on the facility to expire at the end of the calendar year. In 2017, the team moved to the newly constructed SunTrust Park (now called Truist Park), located in nearby Cobb County.


title: Turner Field

text: The stadium has been reconfigured for the second time, redesigned for college football in 2017 as Center Parc Stadium for Georgia State University. Architecture firm Heery was responsible for both stadium conversions. The stadium is also the second former Braves ballpark to be converted to a college football stadium, the first being Braves Field when it was renovated into Nickerson Field in 1955.


title: Turner Field

text: The ballpark was built in the Southeastern Atlanta neighborhood of Summerhill. across the street from the former home of the Braves, Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, which was demolished in the summer of 1997 and replaced with a parking lot. The parking lot is painted with the field location and configuration of the old ballpark. The section of the outfield wall with the monument marking where Hank Aaron's 715th home run went over it was reinstalled in its original location, and still stands today. From 2002 to 2004, the failed Fanplex entertainment center was located adjacent to the stadium's parking lot. The stadium contained 5,372 club seats, 64 luxury suites, and three party suites.


title: Turner Field

text: The most popular name choice among Atlanta residents for the new stadium at the time of its construction (according to a poll in "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution") was Hank Aaron Stadium. After the ballpark was instead named after Ted Turner (and subsequently nicknamed "The Ted" by fans), the city of Atlanta renamed the section of Capitol Avenue on which the stadium sits Hank Aaron Drive, giving Turner Field the street number 755, after Aaron's home run total.


title: Turner Field

text: The stadium was originally constructed as the 85,000-seat Centennial Olympic Stadium and used for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Immediately after the 1996 Summer Paralympics, which followed the Olympics, much of the north end of the stadium was removed in order to convert it to its permanent use as a 49,000-seat baseball park. The stadium hosted the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball from to , following a multimillion-dollar renovation to retrofit the stadium for baseball by removing the temporary stands that had made up nearly half the stadium and building the outfield stands and other attractions behind them.


title: Turner Field

text: After the 1996 Olympics were complete the stadium was leased by the Atlanta Braves. Private entities, including NBC and other Olympic sponsors, agreed to pay a large sum of the cost to build Centennial Olympic Stadium (approximately $170 million of the $209 million bill). The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) sought to build the stadium in a way that it could be converted to a new baseball stadium, and ACOG paid for the conversion. This was considered a good agreement for both the Olympic Committee and the Braves. The 71,228 seat Georgia Dome had been completed four years earlier by the state of Georgia, so there was no need for another large stadium in downtown Atlanta. Furthermore, the Braves had already been exploring opportunities for a new stadium. The Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority owns Turner Field and leased it to the Braves, who operated the stadium. The end of the Braves' most recent lease in 2016 coincided with the team's departure for SunTrust Park (now Truist Park).


title: Turner Field

text: Because of the need to fit a track within the stadium in its earlier configuration, the field of play, particularly foul territory, while not large by historical standards, was still larger than most MLB stadiums of its era. The fence line around the north main entrance, beyond left field, marks the original extent of Centennial Olympic Stadium.


title: Turner Field

text: Turner Field was a relatively new facility, being younger than 14 of Major League Baseball's other 29 stadiums at the time of the Braves' last game there. However, the Braves executives complained that its downtown location restricted game attendance because of traffic into the city and a shortage of on-site parking. The stadium was ¾ mile (1200 m) from the nearest Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) stop, and many fans were unwilling to brave Atlanta's infamous congestion to attend games; plus, the team could not secure more parking spaces. In addition, team VP for business operations Mike Plant said the site "doesn't match up with where the majority of our fans come from", as the stadium is near some of Atlanta's poorest neighborhoods. Plant also said that while the Braves operated Turner Field, they had no control over the commercial development around the stadium. Other stadiums built in recent years have been accompanied by shopping and entertainment facilities in the surrounding area (as Truist Park later would be).


title: Turner Field

text: According to Braves team president John Schuerholz, Turner Field required $150 million in renovation costs merely for structural upkeep, including replacing seats, lighting, and plumbing, to remain operating for the future. He estimated that fan improvement renovations would have cost an additional $200 million. The Braves were in talks in 2013 with the Recreational Authority over extending the team's original lease, Plant said, but those talks broke down. Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed said the city could not afford to support the kind of renovations the Braves desired.


title: Turner Field

text: After negotiations broke down, the team began planning a new stadium, SunTrust Park. The stadium would be built in southern Cobb County, with an Atlanta address, located "near the geographic center of the Braves' fan base." The new stadium was constructed in a public/private partnership. The projected cost was $672 million. It occupies of a lot, with the remainder of the space devoted to parking, green space, and mixed-use development. The new stadium is part of a 60-acre development called The Battery Atlanta. Although Cobb County is not presently served by MARTA, the Braves use a "circulator" bus system to shuttle fans to and from the stadium. Construction on SunTrust Park broke ground on September 16, 2014. Had SunTrust Park been behind schedule, the Braves had the option (but ultimately declined) to extend their lease at Turner Field up to 5 years. Braves executive vice president Mike Plant has stated that capital maintenance would be much less at SunTrust Park. While Turner Field was designed from the ground up with the Braves in mind, Plant said that it required higher capital maintenance costs in the long run because it was value engineered for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Plant estimates that capital maintenance costs at SunTrust Park will be no more than $80 million after 30 years – less than half of the $150 million in capital maintenance needed for Turner Field after 17 years.


title: Turner Field

text: In April and May 2014, Georgia State University officials expressed an interest in acquiring Turner Field and converting it into a 30,000-seat open-air stadium for the Panthers football program. New development, including retail, residential and student housing, would also be put into use on the Turner Field site. Additionally, a new baseball field would be built on the former Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium site, incorporating the outfield wall where Hank Aaron hit his record-breaking 715th home run. While Mayor Reed showed preference towards Georgia State's plan, at least three offers from other developers were up for consideration. On August 13, 2015, the Braves officially gave notice to the city of Atlanta and Fulton County that the team would not exercise the option to extend their lease at Turner Field and would vacate the stadium by December 31, 2016, allowing the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority to move forward with any redevelopment plans. On November 23, 2015, Georgia State submitted an alternative proposal for redeveloping Turner Field, where portions of the current ballpark would be rebuilt into a mixed retail and housing development and a new football-specific stadium would be constructed north of Turner Field along with the new baseball field. While vetting bids for redevelopment, two casino firms showed interest in the Turner Field property; however, they did not submit bids due to Mayor Reed's and the community's opposition to casino gaming. On December 21, 2015, the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority announced that they have accepted the joint bid by Georgia State University and real estate firm Carter for the stadium property. Georgia State was considered the front-runner for the property as the other two bids submitted were from little known entities with no documented redevelopment experience. Residents of the Summerhill neighborhood expressed their criticism for Turner Field's quick sale without their input; however, city and county officials stated that a quick sale was necessary to keep the burden of the stadium's security and upkeep from falling on the tax payers' shoulders once the Braves move out. On August 18, 2016, Georgia State and the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority reached a tentative purchase agreement for Turner Field, and the purchase and redevelopment plan was approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia on November 9, 2016. On January 5, 2017, the sale of the Turner Field property to Georgia State was officially closed, with the stadium conversion project beginning in February 2017. The stadium conversion would occur over multiple phases, while the first phase was completed in time for Georgia State's opener on August 31, 2017.


title: Turner Field

text: The Braves' final game at Turner Field was October 2, 2016, an interleague game against the Detroit Tigers, which the Braves won 1–0; the last run was scored by Adonis Garcia off a sacrifice fly ball from Freddie Freeman, and Julio Teherán had a career-high 12 strikeouts to earn the final win at the field.


title: Turner Field

text: Prior to the game, the Braves unveiled their All-Turner Field Team, as chosen on the team's website by fans: catcher Javy López, first baseman Freddie Freeman, second baseman Marcus Giles, shortstop Rafael Furcal, third baseman Chipper Jones, left fielder Ryan Klesko, center fielder Andruw Jones, right fielder Brian Jordan, utility player Martin Prado, pitchers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, and Julio Teheran, and relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel.


title: Turner Field

text: In a post-game ceremony, home plate was removed and delivered to SunTrust Park by Hank Aaron and Braves chairman Terry McGuirk, as those remaining at Turner Field watched its progress on the video board. While home plate was being driven up Interstate 75, the ceremony included a parade of fans representing each state in the Braves' television footprint and speeches from Braves dignitaries, followed by a simultaneous performance of the Braves' signature "Tomahawk Chop" rally cry by the crowd still at Turner Field and the small gathering of team executives and Little Leaguers at SunTrust Park.


title: Turner Field

text: The first game played at Turner Field was an exhibition game against the New York Yankees on March 29, 1997; Braves starter Tom Glavine threw the first pitch, a swinging fastball strike, to Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and the Braves won the exhibition game 2–0. The first regular season game played at Turner Field was on April 4, 1997 against the Chicago Cubs, with Denny Neagle making the start for the Braves. The Braves were losing 4–3 in the eighth inning when Chipper Jones drove in the tying run. A Michael Tucker single gave the Braves the lead as they won their first regular season game at Turner Field 5–4.


title: Turner Field

text: The first postseason game played at Turner Field was also during the 1997 season between the Braves and the Houston Astros in the NLDS. Starting pitcher Greg Maddux pitched a complete game, giving up only one run and leading the Braves to a 2–1 victory. Following a sweep of the Astros, the Braves went on to the NLCS, where Tom Glavine picked up the first NLCS win at Turner Field; however, the Braves lost to the eventual-World Series-champion Florida Marlins.


title: Turner Field

text: The first World Series game ever played at Turner Field was Game 1 of the 1999 World Series, where the starting pitcher Maddux and the Braves were defeated 4–1 by the New York Yankees' Orlando Hernández and series MVP Mariano Rivera; the Braves went on to lose the series by a four-game sweep. The only Major League Baseball All-Star Game ever to be played at Turner Field was in 2000. Atlanta's Chipper Jones hit the lone home run in the game, and Braves outfielder Andruw Jones drove in a run as the National League was defeated 6–3.


title: Turner Field

text: Turner Field was also home to the first NL Wild Card Game in 2012 between the Braves and St. Louis Cardinals. The Braves were behind 6–3 in the bottom of the 8th inning when Andrelton Simmons hit a fly ball to shallow left field that dropped in between Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma and left fielder Matt Holliday. Umpire Sam Holbrook called Simmons out, citing the infield fly rule. Had an infield fly not been called, Simmons would have been credited with a single and Atlanta would have had the bases loaded with one out. Fans at Turner Field began to litter the field with debris, prompting the game to be delayed for 19 minutes. The Braves lost the game 6–3, ending their season.


title: Turner Field

text: Significant renovations to the stadium were put into place for the 2005 season. Among the improvements was installation of a $10 million video display, which was at the time listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest HD video board. The video board was kept by Georgia State as part of the football stadium.


title: Turner Field

text: Other renovations in that year included the addition of a 1,080 foot (329 meter) long LED display to the stadium's upper deck, primarily for advertising purposes.


title: Turner Field

text: Turner Field's left field vista was dominated by advertising fixtures from two iconic Atlanta corporations. In 2009, a new large Coca-Cola bottle was installed behind left field. Replacing an earlier version made of various pieces of baseball equipment, the new bottle featured a HD display around the label, as well as LED lighting. Next to this second iteration of Turner Field's Coca-Cola bottle was a Chick-fil-A cow, added in 2008. Wearing a Braves hat, the cow did the Tomahawk Chop along with fans while holding a sign with rotating slogans which tie in to the fast-food chain's successful "Eat Mor Chikin" advertising campaign. The cow was removed from Turner Field following the 2015 season for refurbishment before being installed at Truist Park.


title: Turner Field

text: The highest recorded attendance for a playoff game, and overall, was 54,357 and was set on October 5, 2003, against the Chicago Cubs. The number includes standing room tickets.


title: Turner Field

text: The longest game by time, and in Braves history, was played on July 26–27, 2011 between the Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The game lasted 6 hours and 39 minutes with the Braves winning controversially 4–3 in 19 innings. The Braves' previous longest game by time was 6:10 against the Mets on July 4, 1985, at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium.


title: Turner Field

text: The most runs scored by either team in a single inning was 10, set on October 5, 2001 between the Braves and the Florida Marlins. The record was set in the 1st inning of the game. The Braves won the game 20–3.


title: Turner Field

text: On May 21, 2008, during a game against the New York Mets, fan Justin Hayes was attempting to slide down the staircase railing from the club level to the field level; he slipped and fell to his death. Police later confirmed alcohol as a factor in the accident.


title: Turner Field

text: On August 13, 2013, Ronald Lee Homer, Jr., a fan attending the game against the Philadelphia Phillies, fell to his death after leaping over the fourth level wall in the rear of the stadium and landing in the player's parking lot. His death was later ruled a suicide.


title: Turner Field

text: On August 29, 2015, during a game against the New York Yankees, as Alex Rodriguez was being introduced for his first plate appearance of the series, 60-year-old Greg Murrey fell from section 402 in the stadium's upper deck into the second and third rows of seats in section 202. He was pronounced dead on scene from his injuries. Murrey was a longtime season ticket holder and "incredibly passionate Braves fan", the team said.


title: Turner Field

text: Turner Field featured multiple premium seating areas and suites. The "SunTrust Club" was named for the bank holding company headquartered in Atlanta and was reserved for official partners and luxury clients of the ballpark. This $6 million addition was completed in 2008 and its 143 premium seats were just from home plate, closer than seats in any other MLB ballpark of the era (and closer to home plate than the pitcher's mound). SunTrust Club members also had access to an exclusive club area located under the Hank Aaron Seats (Section 101) that consists of free food and drinks for club members. The club area featured a waitstaff that catered to club members in their seats during the games. Members could choose to watch the games from their reserved seats, or from inside the club itself on high definition televisions.


title: Turner Field

text: The "755 Club" (named in honor of Hank Aaron's home run record) was the stadium's predominant suite location. The club was a area of space rented for special events and parties; individual suites were rented for individual games or for the entire season. The "Delta Sky 360 Lounge" was added in 2010 and was located behind the 755 Club suites on the second level of the ballpark. The lounge could only be accessed by members of the 755 Club. The lounge consisted of multiple premium eateries not found in the rest of the ballpark. Other Delta Sky 360 Lounges could be found at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, and one was included in the construction of SunTrust Park. The 755 Club became the "University Club" as part of the Georgia State football stadium.


title: Turner Field

text: Turner Field also featured the "Georgia's Own Credit Union Club" and "Superior Plumbing Club", consisting of 152 collective premium seats located directly adjacent to each side of the press box. The original club, sponsored by Georgia's Own Credit Union and featuring 80 seats, was added to the ballpark for the 2012 season and also contained multiple upscale dining options and in-seat food and beverage services. Instead of stadium seats, patrons faced the field in chairs around semicircular tables. A slightly-smaller second section, sponsored by Superior Plumbing and featuring 72 seats, was added for the 2013 season on the opposite side of the press area. The "Club Level" was another indoor premium concourse level located on the second deck of the ballpark. This level featured multiple VIP suites that could be purchased for individual games and used for party-style affairs, among other events. For Turner Field's final few seasons, the Club Level had no title sponsor; in previous years, it was known as the "Lexus Level" and "Golden Moon Casino Level".


title: Turner Field

text: During its tenure, Turner Field was also used as a concert venue, with capacity of up to 60,000. Among the performers who performed at the stadium are the Dave Matthews Band, Metallica, Eminem, Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones.


title: Turner Field

text: From 2003 to 2016, the NCAA baseball teams of Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, which had previously played two games on each school's campus, replaced one of the home and home pairs in favor of a third game at Turner Field. This rivalry game at Turner Field was one of the most attended games in college baseball, with the 2004 game drawing 28,836—larger than that year's College World Series games. Proceeds from this annual match benefit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. The annual event moved to SunTrust Park in 2017.


title: Turner Field

text: The stadium was used as a central location in many films and television series, including "Flight", "The Change-Up", "Trouble with the Curve" and the 19th season of "The Amazing Race", which took place outside of the stadium.


title: Turner Field

text: There were 11 retired numbers on display at Turner Field. The numbers were on display at the Monument Grove section of the ballpark, as well as on display inside the actual stadium. From the time of its opening in 1997 until the 2012 season, the retired numbers were commemorated by the number as pictured below hanging from the facade in left field. These were removed for the 2013 season and replaced with a modern representation of the player's first name followed by their number and last name (such as Dale 3 Murphy), which were located on the left and right sides of the club level.


title: Turner Field

text: Of the 10 Braves whose numbers were retired prior to Turner Field's closure, nine (Spahn, Mathews, Aaron, Niekro, Cox, Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz and Jones) were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, while Murphy's eligibility expired without election. Only Glavine, Jones, Maddux, and Smoltz appeared in games at Turner Field. Cox managed the team for 25 seasons in all, including its first 14 seasons in Turner Field.


title: Sugriva

text: Sugriva (, , ) is a character In the ancient Indian epic Ramayana. He is the younger brother of Vali, whom he succeeded as ruler of the vanara kingdom of Kishkindha. Rumā is his wife. He is a son of Surya, the Hindu deity of the sun. As the king of the vanaras, Sugriva aided Rama in his quest to liberate his wife Sita from captivity at the hands of the rakshasa king Ravana.


title: Sugriva

text: The story of Sugriva is part of Ramayana and in an abbreviated version, is also present in the Mahabharata.


title: Sugriva

text: The king of Kishkindha, Vrikshraja, was a divine creature born from Brahma’s tilaka. He had the body of a human and face and tail of a monkey. He was instructed to roam the forests and kill demons. One day, Vriksharaja entered an enchanted pond, and was transformed into a beautiful lady, attracting the attention of both Indra and Surya. Soon after, they each sired Vali and Sugriva respectively. Vali and Sugriva were born having brute strength, equal to Indra and Surya.


title: Sugriva

text: Vali ruled the kingdom of Kishkindha; his subjects were the vanaras. Tara is his wife. Angada is his son. His son left his house at a very young age and later became a follower of Vaishnavism. A raging demon by the name of Mayavi came to the gates of the capital and challenged Vali to a fight. Vali accepted the challenge, but when he sallied forth, the demon fled in terror into a deep cave. Vali entered the cave in pursuit of the demon, telling Sugriva to wait outside. When Vali did not return and upon hearing demonic shouts in the cave and seeing blood streaming from its mouth, Sugriva concluded that his brother had been slain. With a heavy heart, Sugriva rolled a boulder to seal the cave's opening, returned to Kishkindha, and assumed kingship over the vanaras, taking his brother's wife Tara as his queen. Vali, however, ultimately prevailed in his combat with the demon and returned home. Seeing Sugriva acting as king, he concluded that his brother had betrayed him. Though Sugriva humbly attempted to explain himself, Vali would not listen. As a result, Sugriva is exiled from the kingdom. To exact his vengeance, Vali forcibly took Sugriva's wife Ruma for his own, and the brothers became bitter enemies. Sugriva went on to live upon the mountain Rishyamukh, the only place on earth that Vali could not tread on. The king had been previously cursed by Sage Mathanga to be unable to lay a foot on this mountain on pain of death.


title: Sugriva

text: In exile, Sugriva made the acquaintance of Rama, the avatar of Vishnu, who is on a quest to rescue his wife Sita from the demon Ravana, king of the rakshasas. Rama promised Sugriva that he would kill Vali and would reinstate Sugriva as the king of the vanaras. Sugriva, in turn, promised to help Rama with his quest.


title: Sugriva

text: Together, Sugriva and Rama went to seek out Vali. While Rama stood back, Sugriva shouted a challenge and dared him to battle. The brothers rushed at each other, fighting with trees and stones, with fists, nails, and teeth. They were evenly matched and indistinguishable to the observer, until Sugriva's counsellor Hanuman, stepped forward and placed a garland of flowers around Sugriva's neck. It is then that Rama emerged with his bow and drove an arrow through Vali's heart. After Vali’s death, Sugriva reclaimed the vanara kingdom, took back his first wife, Ruma, and also reclaimed Vali's primary wife, Tara, who became his queen. Her son by Vali, Angada, became the crown prince.


title: Sugriva

text: On Lakshmana's request and after Guru Vasistha's approval, Rama plans to do Ashvamedha yajna. At this auspicious occasion he calls Sugriva along with Angada, Nala, Nila, Jambavantha and Hanuman to come to Ayodhya. Rama greets and hugs Sugriva, Jambavantha and others on their arrival to Ayodhya.


title: Sugriva

text: The yajna horse is captured by Lava and Kusha brothers. In the Rama's army the news spreads that two muni kumara's has captured the Yagya's horse. Shatrughana walks and fights with Lava and he is defeated by Lava. Then Lakshamana comes and he is also defeated by Lava. Then Bharata asks Rama to give him the permission to go to set horse free from both muni Kumara. Sugriva and Hanuman also request Rama to permit them to go along with Bharata in the battle. Lava and Kusha defeat Bharata and Sugriva and took Hanuman as a prisoner. Hanuman is the only one who knew that Lava and Kusha were sons of his master Rama & Sita and thus allowed himself to be imprisoned by his master's sons.


title: Sugriva

text: When Rama decided to depart from the world and took "samadhi" in the Sarayu River, Sugriva also retired from earth and went with his father Surya. He crowned his nephew Angada as the next king of Kishkindha.


title: Sugriva

text: According to Jain texts, Sugriva is a human being and he took Jain Diksha and attained Moksha from Mangi-Tungi.


title: Kang Min-ah

text: Kang Min-ah (; born March 20, 1997), is a South Korean actress. She is known for the television dramas "Schoolgirl Detectives" (2014–2015), "True Beauty" (2020–2021), and "At a Distance, Spring Is Green" (2021).