title: Western music (North America)

text: Western music is a form of country music composed by and about the people who settled and worked throughout the Western United States and Western Canada. Western music celebrates the lifestyle of the cowboy on the open ranges, Rocky Mountains, and prairies of Western North America. Directly related musically to old English, Irish, Scottish, and folk ballads, also the Mexican folk music of Northern Mexico and Southwestern United States influenced the development of this genre, particularly corrido, ranchera, New Mexico and Tejano. Western music shares similar roots with Appalachian music (also called "country" or "hillbilly music"), which developed around the same time throughout Appalachia and the Appalachian Mountains. The music industry of the mid-20th century grouped the two genres together under the banner of "country and western music", later amalgamated into the modern name, "country music".


title: Western music (North America)

text: Western music was directly influenced by the folk music traditions of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and many cowboy songs, sung around campfires in the 19th century, like "Streets of Laredo", can be traced back to European folk songs.


title: Western music (North America)

text: Reflecting the realities of the open range and ranch houses where the music originated, the early cowboy bands were string bands supplemented occasionally with the harmonica. The harmonica, invented in the early 19th century in central Europe, arrived in North America shortly before the American Civil War; its small size and portability made it a favorite among the American public and the flood of pioneers heading westward.


title: Western music (North America)

text: Otto Gray, an early cowboy band leader, stated authentic Western music had only three rhythms, all coming from the gaits of the cow pony: walk, trot, and lope. Gray also noted the uniqueness of this spontaneous American song product, and the freedom of expression of the singers.


title: Western music (North America)

text: It is a common impression that Western music began with the cowboy, but this is not the case. The first "western" song was published in 1844. Titled "Blue Juniata", the song is about a young Indian maid waiting for her brave along the banks of the Juniata River in Pennsylvania (at that time, anything west of the Appalachian Mountains was considered "out West"). The song was recorded and sung by the Sons of the Pioneers over a hundred years later and is still being sung today. Subsequent "western" songs down through the years have dealt with many aspects of the West, such as the mountain men, the '49ers, the immigrants, the outlaws, the lawmen, the cowboy, and, of course, the beauty and grandeur of the West. Western music is not limited to the American cowboy.


title: Western music (North America)

text: In 1908, N. Howard "Jack" Thorp published the first book of Western music, titled "Songs of the Cowboys". Containing only lyrics and no musical notation, the book was very popular west of the Mississippi River. Most of these cowboy songs are of unknown authorship, but among the best known is "Little Joe the Wrangler" written by Thorp himself.


title: Western music (North America)

text: In 1910, John Lomax, in his book "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads", first gained national attention for Western music. His book contained some of the same songs as Thorp's book, though in variant versions (most had been collected before Thorp's book was published). Lomax's compilation included many musical scores. Lomax published a second collection in 1919 titled "Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp".


title: Western music (North America)

text: With the advent of radio and recording devices, the music found an audience previously ignored by music schools and Tin Pan Alley. Many Westerners preferred familiar music about themselves and their environment.


title: Western music (North America)

text: The first successful cowboy band to tour the East was Otto Gray's Oklahoma Cowboys, put together by William McGinty, an Oklahoma pioneer and former Rough Rider. The band appeared on radio and toured the vaudeville circuit from 1924 through 1936. They recorded few songs, however, so are overlooked by many scholars of Western music.


title: Western music (North America)

text: Various musicians recorded western songs in the 1920s and early 1930s, before the popularization of commercial singing cowboys, including Carl T. Sprague, John I. White, Jules Verne Allen, Harry McClintock, Tex Owens, and Wilf Carter alias Montana Slim. Many of these early western singers had grown up on ranches and farms or had experience working as cowboys. They typically performed simple arrangements with rustic vocal performances and a simple guitar or fiddle accompaniment.


title: Western music (North America)

text: Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Western music became widely popular through the romanticization of the cowboy and idealized depictions of the west in Hollywood films. Singing cowboys, such as Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, sang cowboy songs in their films and became popular throughout the United States. Film producers began incorporating fully orchestrated four-part harmonies and sophisticated musical arrangements into their motion pictures. Bing Crosby, the most popular singer of that time, recorded numerous cowboy and Western songs and starred in the Western musical film "Rhythm on the Range" (1936). During this era, the most popular recordings and musical radio shows included Western music. Western swing also developed during this time.


title: Western music (North America)

text: The Western Writers of America was formed in 1953 to promote excellence in Western-style writing, including songwriting. Late 1950s, Frankie Laine recorded TV drama Theme "Rawhide".


title: Western music (North America)

text: In 1964, the Country & Western Music Academy was formed in an effort to promote Western music, primarily in the Western United States. The Academy was formed in response to the Nashville-oriented Country Music Association that had formed in 1958. The Academy's first awards were largely dominated by Bakersfield-based artists such as Buck Owens. Over time, the Academy evolved into the Academy of Country Music and its mission is no longer distinguished from other country music organizations.


title: Western music (North America)

text: By the 1960s, the popularity of Western music was in decline. Relegated to the "country and western" genre by marketing agencies, popular Western recording artists sold fewer albums and attracted smaller audiences. Rock and roll dominated music sales and Hollywood recording studios dropped most of their Western artists (a few artists did successfully cross between the two, most prominently Johnny Cash, whose breakthrough hit "Folsom Prison Blues"(1955, Live=1968) combined a western theme with a rock-and-roll arrangement). In addition, the Nashville sound, based more on pop ballads than on folk music, came to dominate the "country and western" commercial sales; except for the label, much of the music was indistinguishable from rock and roll or popular classes of music. The resulting backlash from Western music purists led to the development of country music styles much more influenced by Western music, including the Bakersfield sound and outlaw country. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson were singers in outlaw country genre. In 1979 Johnny Cash recorded "".


title: Western music (North America)

text: Authors such as Barry Mazor, Richard Carlin and John T. Davis have used the term cowboy pop to describe the music of cowboy singers in western films. Jimmy Wakely, for example, was described by Mazor as a cowboy pop singer, and he has written that "when singing cowboy movies ruled, Hollywood hardly made a distinction between the sounds of cowboy pop balladeers and another sound entirely, born in Texas, in which Jimmie Rodgers had a formative role." Several writers have emphasized that historically country music and cowboy music were not considered the same genre; for example, in her essay "Cowboy Songs", Anne Dingus wrote that "cowboy music is not country music, though the two are often lumped together as 'country and western.'" In 1910, John Avery Lomax anthologized over a hundred cowboy songs in his collection "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads".


title: Western music (North America)

text: Older Western music is widely streamed on major platforms, with music by Marty Robbins and Al Hurricane being more easily accessible. Newer takes on Western music are constantly written and recorded and performed all across the American West and Western Canada, thanks to the popularity of New Mexico music within New Mexico and the success of Michael Martin Murphey throughout the Western scene, they’ve resurrected the cowboy song genre, promoting Western singers, Route 66 rockabilly, and cowboy poets. The style has even seen a popularity resurgence globally, thanks to the Western's newfound popularity on streaming services and video games.


title: Western music (North America)

text: The Western Music Association was established in 1989 to preserve and promote Western music. Western music in video games can be traced back to The Oregon Trail series, early Nintendo title Sheriff/Bandido, and arcade games like Sunset Riders. "" relies on a atmospheric Western music style, but it also features old mid-20th century popular Western musicians such as Marty Robbins along with pop music of the day. Furthermore, the Red Dead series of games heavily features Western music, since it takes place in an Old West setting. Bill Elm and Woody Jackson's modern spin on an Old Western game would not be complete without their carefully assembled score; what they call their best project to date Independent video games SteamWorld and Gunman Clive also make use of Western music, as do other larger productions such as Dillon's Rolling Western.


title: Apigenin

text: Apigenin (4′,5,7-trihydroxyflavone), found in many plants, is a natural product belonging to the flavone class that is the aglycone of several naturally occurring glycosides. It is a yellow crystalline solid that has been used to dye wool.


title: Apigenin

text: Apigenin is found in many fruits and vegetables, but parsley, celery, celeriac, and chamomile tea are the most common sources. Apigenin is particularly abundant in the flowers of chamomile plants, constituting 68% of total flavonoids. Dried parsley can contain about 45 mg apigenin/gram of the herb, and dried chamomile flower about 3-5 mg/gram. The apigenin content of fresh parsley is reportedly 215.5 mg/100 grams, which is much higher than the next highest food source, green celery hearts providing 19.1 mg/100 grams.


title: Apigenin

text: Apigenin is biosynthetically derived from the general phenylpropanoid pathway and the flavone synthesis pathway. The phenylpropanoid pathway starts from the aromatic amino acids L-phenylalanine or L-tyrosine, both products of the Shikimate pathway. When starting from L-phenylalanine, first the amino acid is non-oxidatively deaminated by phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) to make cinnamate, followed by oxidation at the "para" position by cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H) to produce "p"-coumarate. As L-tyrosine is already oxidized at the "para" position, it skips this oxidation and is simply deaminated by tyrosine ammonia lyase (TAL) to arrive at "p"-coumarate. To complete the general phenylpropanoid pathway, 4-coumarate CoA ligase (4CL) substitutes coenzyme A (CoA) at the carboxy group of "p"-coumarate. Entering the flavone synthesis pathway, the type III polyketide synthase enzyme chalcone synthase (CHS) uses consecutive condensations of three equivalents of malonyl CoA followed by aromatization to convert "p"-coumaroyl-CoA to chalcone. Chalcone isomerase (CHI) then isomerizes the product to close the pyrone ring to make naringenin. Finally, a flavanone synthase (FNS) enzyme oxidizes naringenin to apigenin. Two types of FNS have previously been described; FNS I, a soluble enzyme that uses 2-oxogluturate, Fe, and ascorbate as cofactors and FNS II, a membrane bound, NADPH dependent cytochrome p450 monooxygenase.


title: Blue Train (album)

text: Blue Train is a studio album by John Coltrane which was released in January 1958 by Blue Note Records. Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, it is the only Blue Note recording by Coltrane as session leader. It has been certified a gold record by the RIAA.


title: Blue Train (album)

text: The album was recorded in the midst of Coltrane's residency at the Five Spot as a member of the Thelonious Monk quartet. The personnel include Coltrane's Miles Davis bandmates, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums, both of whom had worked before with pianist Kenny Drew. Both trumpeter Lee Morgan and trombonist Curtis Fuller were up-and-coming jazz musicians, and both were members of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in due course. Unlike his previous label, Blue Note paid the musicians to rehearse the music for a couple of days before the recording session.


title: Blue Train (album)

text: All of the compositions were written by Coltrane, with the exception of the standard "I'm Old Fashioned". Though at this point his compositions used conventional diatonic harmonies, they were set in unconventional ways. The title track is a bluesy song with a quasi-minor (Eb7#9) theme. "Locomotion" is also a blues riff tune, in forty-four-bar form. "Lazy Bird" is in part a transposition into the key of "G" of the Tadd Dameron composition "Lady Bird".


title: Blue Train (album)

text: Coltrane's playing exhibits the move toward what would become his signature style. His solos are more harmonic or "vertical" and lines arpeggiated. His timing was often apart from or over the beat, rather than playing on or behind it. During a 1960 interview, Coltrane described "Blue Train" as his favorite album of his own up to that point.


title: Blue Train (album)

text: Michael Cuscuna, the reissue producer at Blue Note had this to say from Joe Vella's podcast "Traneumentary": "We’re listening to Blue Train, which to me is one of the most beautiful pieces on one of the most beautiful records that Coltrane recorded in the fifties. It’s his first real mature statement and he wrote all but one of the tunes on this album which was very rare in the fifties and each one is a gem, particularly the title tune Blue Train. And while it’s kind of easy to play the blues, this has a suspended and haunting kind of quality to it."


title: Blue Train (album)

text: John Coltrane's next major album, "Giant Steps", recorded in 1959, would break new melodic and harmonic ground in jazz, whereas "Blue Train" adheres to the hard bop style of the era. Musicologist Lewis Porter has also demonstrated a harmonic relationship between Coltrane's "Lazy Bird" and Tadd Dameron's "Lady Bird".


title: Blue Train (album)

text: In 1997, "The Ultimate Blue Train" was released, adding two alternate takes and enhanced content, and in 1999 a 24bit 192 kHz DVD-Audio version was issued. In 2003, both a Super Audio Compact Disc version was released, as well as a remastered compact disc as part of Blue Note's Rudy Van Gelder series.


title: Blue Train (album)

text: In 2000 it was voted number 339 in Colin Larkin's "All Time Top 1000 Albums". He stated "Coltrane may have made more important albums, but none swung as effectively as this one."


title: Blue Train (album)

text: In 2015, Blue Note/Universal released a Blu-Ray Audio edition of the album with four bonus tracks, one of which is a previously unreleased take of "Lazy Bird".


title: Dikkiloona

text: Dikkiloona is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language science fiction comedy film written and directed by Karthik Yogi. The film stars Santhanam, Anagha and Shirin Kanchwala, while Yogi Babu, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendran and Anandaraj play supporting roles. The film features music composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, with cinematography and editing were performed respectively by Arvi and Jomin. The film was released on ZEE5 on 10 September 2021, coinciding with the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, and received mixed reviews from critics.


title: Dikkiloona

text: Mani, an ex-hockey player leads a stressful married life, and works as a lineman for the electricity board. While trying to solve an issue, he meets a group of scientists who are developing a time machine. He uses it to travel back to 2020 and change the root cause of all his problems.


title: Dikkiloona

text: Mani in the year 2027 is not in good terms with his wife Priya and his parents-in-law as he did not achieve big as a hockey player and instead works as EB Lineman with meagre amount of salary. Priya is upset with him as she thinks Mani cheated her regarding his career as hockey player. She keeps throwing tantrums on him which makes Mani frustrated. Mani with help of his friend Albert, who works as a cleaner in a scientists team who work on making a Time travel device to work, travels through time in backwards just 2 days before his wedding with Priya in the year 2020. Mani introduces himself to his past version as EB Mani and the groom Mani does not believe him and rather doubts he must be a doppelganger born out of his father's illicit relationship. But when Mani reveals about few things which he only knew, groom Mani believes him. EB Mani demands him to stop the marriage but groom Mani refuses. EB Mani blackmails him with a video and tells if he does not stop his marriage, he will circulate the video to everyone. EB Mani also gives his exit watch to groom Mani and tells him to travel to his future in 2027 so that he will understand why insists to stop the wedding. Groom Mani travels to 2027. He is shocked to see his then wife Priya who is not having good relationship with him and his family. His parent-in-law are also not giving any respect. He has not achieved in Hockey and works only as an ordinary technician in Electricity board. Groom Mani is devastated that Priya regrets for marrying him and tells him that had this marriage not happened both of them would have led a happy life elsewhere. Groom Mani also understands that Priya's friend Meghna is the woman who will be an apt wife for him as she is so supportive of him even during his downfall. She had also divorced her husband Karthik who she thinks is unworthy of her. Groom Mani returns to 2020 and stops the marriage with Priya and proposes to Meghna (Groom Mani intervenes during the timeline of Meghna being proposed to by Karthik).


title: Dikkiloona

text: EB Mani is now in the new timeline in 2027. He is happy that he had achieved as hockey player but shocked that he is in final stage of divorce with Meghna. Mani drops the divorce proposal without knowing why he filed for divorce and both start to live together again. Mani now understands why he filed for divorce. Meghna is a spoilt brat from rich family. She always wants to be in limelight and goes to any extent together with her so-called boy bestie to gain likes in social media Tik-tok which reflects in his career when he loses his national team selection match. EB Mani is neither able to live with Meghna nor able to change her. He regrets his decision of changing the past. He tries to get in contact with Priya who is now working in a small restaurant as waitress shocking Mani. Priya apologizes to him for forcing him to marry her when she knew he is not willing to. She is feeling guilty of aborting their child after the wedding was stopped. EB Mani now decides to change everything back to normal again. With help of Albert in the new timeline, he once again invokes the time travel machine to go to the same day when he tried to stop the wedding. However, one of the scientists is angry at him for using the device for his personal benefit, and therefore tampers with the machine half way during his travel which leads to EB Mani ending up in a mental asylum.


title: Dikkiloona

text: After much struggles in mental asylum he arrives on time when EB Mani has sent groom Mani to 2027 and groom Mani returns to 2020 after his time travel. Both Manis are surprised to see their alternate self introducing him as Goundamani. Groom Mani is confused as EB Mani urges to stop the wedding while new Mani tells not to after he explains about his experiences in new timeline. When groom Mani refuses to marry Priya, new Mani tells that Priya is pregnant and she is not as bad as understood by them. Groom Mani goes to Priya just few minutes before the marriage and confesses that he may or may not be a successful person in future and if she is willing to accept him still, they can marry. While waiting in mandap regarding the decision, Priya arrives to mandap to Mani's surprise. She tells she is ready to marry him because he told her the truth. Priya and Mani happily marry. EB Mani and new Mani disappear to their new timeline. Meghna is proposed to by Karthik.


title: Dikkiloona

text: In new 2027 Mani sees himself as successful hockey player, father of a daughter and Priya as his wife screaming at him for silly reasons. This time Mani is not irritated by her and rather sees her in different perspective.


title: Dikkiloona

text: On 5 September 2019, KJR Studios announced its collaboration with K. S. Sinish's newly formed production house Soldiers Factory, for a science fiction comedy film titled "Dikkiloona", and further stated that Santhanam will star in the film in triple roles for the first time, as protagonist, antagonist as well as a comedian. The film also features him in the nude for a scene. The film's title was inspired from the word "Dikkilona" which was used by Goundamani and Senthil in the film "Gentleman" (1993).


title: Dikkiloona

text: In October 2019, the makers announced that former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh would play the supporting role in the project, eventually marking his debut in Tamil cinema. The following month, Anagha who played lead role in "Natpe Thunai" was cast in the female lead role alongside Shirin Kanchwala. Munishkanth, Anandaraj, Yogi Babu, Rajendran and Nizhalgal Ravi, Sha Ra and Arun Alexander joined the cast in the same month, along with film critic Prasanth Rangaswamy, in his acting debut.


title: Dikkiloona

text: The principal photography of the film commenced in November 2019 with the film being mostly set in Chennai. Harbhajan Singh began shooting for his portion of the film in December 2019. The filming was wrapped up in March 2020 before the COVID-19 lockdown in India.


title: Dikkiloona

text: The music for the film is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, collaborating for the first time with Santhanam after the latter's transformation into lead roles, with lyrics written by Ku. Karthik, Arunraja Kamaraj and Saravedi Saran. Yuvan remixed a popular classical song "Per Vachalum Vaikama Ponalum" from "Michael Madana Kama Rajan" (1990) which was composed by his father Ilaiyaraaja, and was released as a single on 3 September 2021. The full album was released by Sony Music India on 6 September 2021.


title: Dikkiloona

text: The film was initially supposed to have its theatrical release in April 2020 but was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India. KJR Studios announced that the film would be released via over-the-top media service. The film released on ZEE5 on 10 September 2021, coinciding with the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.


title: Dikkiloona

text: Baradwaj Rangan wrote for "Film Companion","The film doesn’t use the time machine concept well nor is it a great vehicle for a leading man." M Suganth of "The Times of India" gave 3.0 out of 5 stars and stated that "It is these scenes that rescue the film and make us wonder if this material would have worked better if the director had chosen to make it as an out-and-out comedy. In its present state, it is merely diverting fare that you forget once it ends."


title: Dikkiloona

text: Santhanam's mockery of disabled people in the film was met with harsh condemnation from various social activists.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: No. 303 Squadron RAF, also known as the 303rd "Tadeusz Kościuszko Warsaw" Fighter Squadron, was one of two Polish squadrons that fought during the Battle of Britain along with No. 302 Squadron, of 16 total Polish squadrons in the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. Flying Hawker Hurricanes, the squadron claimed the largest number of aircraft shot down of the 66 Allied fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it joined the fray two months after the battle had begun.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: No. 303 Squadron RAF was formed in July 1940 in Blackpool, England before deployment to RAF Northolt on 2 August as part of an agreement between the Polish Government in Exile and the United Kingdom. It had a distinguished combat record and was disbanded in December 1946.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: "Had it not been for the magnificent material contributed by the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry," wrote Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, head of RAF Fighter Command, "I hesitate to say that the outcome of the Battle (of Britain) would have been the same."


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: No. 303 Squadron was based at RAF Northolt from 2 August 1940, and became operational on 31 August. Its initial cadre was 13 Officer and 8 NCO pilots and 135 Polish ground staff. At the outset, serving RAF officers were appointed to serve as CO (S/Ldr RG Kellett) and Flight Commanders (F/Lt JA Kent and F/Lt AS Forbes) alongside the Poles, as the Polish pilots were unfamiliar with RAF Fighter Command language, procedures and training.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: The nickname chosen by the squadron was in honour of the famous 18th century Polish general Tadeusz Kościuszko. No. 303 Squadron was also linked to the original 1919 Kościuszko Escadrille through personnel that had served in that squadron. Later, further air force units from this unit were renamed the 7th, 121st and 111th Escadrilles of the Polish Air Force.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: During the Battle of Britain, No. 303 Squadron was equipped with Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft. Manned by experienced veterans, equipped with a fighter plane on a technical par with most of its opponents, and expertly backed by the well established RAF command, communication and logistics infrastructure, the squadron was able to become an effective fighting force during the Battle. After a period of training, the squadron was scrambled for the first time on 24 August 1940, although it did not come into contact with any enemy aircraft on this occasion. On 30 August 1940, the squadron scored its first victory while still officially non-operational, when a German Messerschmitt Bf 110 of 4./ZG 76 (initially incorrectly recorded as a Dornier Do 17) was shot down by F/O Ludwik Paszkiewicz during a training flight. The wreck was excavated in 1982. After S/L Kellet's personal recommendation, the squadron was declared operational next day by No. 11 Group RAF.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: On 31 August 1940, the squadron was scrambled in the late afternoon on its first operational sortie. In a dogfight over Kent, "A" Flight claimed four confirmed and two probable victories over Messerschmitt Bf 109s, possibly of LG 2. Claimants were S/Ldr Kellet, F/O Henneberg, P/O Ferić and Sgt. Karubin.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: During 2 September 1940, the squadron was scrambled three times. On the last scramble, P/O Ferić shot down a Bf 109 and then made a forced landing near Dover while former Czechoslovak Air Force pilot Sgt. Josef František claimed a Bf 110. The following day over Dover, František claimed his second victory; with a total of 17 victories he was the top-scoring Allied fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain. On 5 September, nine No. 303 Hurricanes intercepted a German bombing formation escorted by Bf 109s, with the Poles claiming five Bf 109s and three Junkers Ju 88s for one loss: P/O Łapkowski who bailed out wounded.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: On 6 September 1940, nine Hurricanes were scrambled towards incoming bomber formations. However, during the climb, they were bounced by Bf 109s of III./JG 27. S/Ldr Kellet and F/Lt Forbes both force-landed, and were wounded slightly, while Sgt Karubin bailed out wounded, S/Ldr Krasnodębski was severely burned and three other Hurricanes were damaged. The squadron claimed five Bf 109s (of JG 27 and JG 52), a Do 17 and a Heinkel He 111. F/O Witold Urbanowicz was appointed as acting Squadron Leader.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: On 7 September 1940, the German air offensive switched to the London docks. No. 303 Squadron was successfully vectored towards the incoming bomber streams and claimed 12 Do 17s and two Bf 109s, with P/O Zumbach, P/O Ferić, Sgt. Szaposznikow and Sgt. Wójtowicz all scoring double victories. P/O Daszewski was shot down and seriously wounded, while F/O Pisarek bailed out. His Hurricane crashed in a back garden of a house in Loughton, killing a family of three in their shelter. Two other aircraft were damaged. On 9 September 1940, 12 Hurricanes were scrambled and two claims made over Bf 109s by Zumbach (both of JG 53) and one by František – a Bf 109 of 7./JG 27 – who also claimed a He 111 of KG 53 as a "probable", while a Bf 110 was shot down by F/L Kent. Sgt. Kazimierz Wünsche had to bail out with burns over Beachy Head, and Sgt. František crash-landed.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: At 16:00 hours on 11 September 1940, the squadron attacked a bomber formation south of London. F/O Cebrzyński was fatally wounded by return fire, while Sgt. Wójtowicz shot down two Messerschmitt Bf 110s before being shot down and killed. The pilots claimed two Bf 110s, one Bf 109, three Do 17s and four He 111s.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: In the massed dogfights over London on 15 September 1940, the squadron was heavily involved, with nine Hurricanes led by F/Lt Kent intercepting a German raid in mid-morning. Nine kills were claimed: six Bf 109s, one Bf 110 and two Do 17s. In the afternoon, a flight formation led by S/Ldr Kellet claimed four victories, while the five-strong "B" Flight led by F/O Urbanowicz, claimed two Do 17s, for two Polish pilots shot down (Sgt. Brzezowski killed, Sgt Andruszków bailed out while P/O Łokuciewski was wounded in the leg, returning to base safely). During the day, No. 303 Squadron claimed 15 victories.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: On the afternoon of 26 September 1940, No. 303 Squadron was scrambled towards a large enemy raid over Hampshire, with the Poles claiming 13 victories for three Hurricanes damaged (actual "Luftwaffe" losses were nine in total). There was further intense fighting on 27 September 1940, with 11 Hurricanes engaged by massed escorts to a KG 77 30-bomber formation. The squadron claimed 15 victories: six Bf 109s, two Bf 110s of LG 1, four "He 111s" (probably Ju 88s) and three Ju 88s although F/O Paszkiewicz and Sgt Andruszków were killed. F/O Żak was wounded and bailed out over Horsham and four Hurricanes were lost in total. Just six aircraft were serviceable during the afternoon, engaging a raid of 15 Ju 88s. Two bombers were brought down before the escort intervened, and a Bf 109 was also claimed. F/O Urbanowicz claimed four German aircraft during the day. On 30 September 1940, F/O Urbanowicz once again claimed four victories, while a Do 17 was brought down by P/O. Radomski, who bailed out, as did Sgt. Bełc, while Sgt. Karubin claimed a Bf 109.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: On 5 October 1940, Polish pilots claimed five Bf 110s and four Bf 109s, though P/O Wojciech Januszewicz was killed. ("Erprobungsgruppe 210" lost two Bf 110s "Jabos" and JG 3 and JG 53, a Bf 109 each). A fight over the Thames Estuary on 7 October saw claims for three Bf 109s of LG 2. On 8 October, Czech ace Josef František died in an air crash. He was the highest scoring pilot of 303rd Squadron and the second highest scoring ace in the Battle of Britain, with 17 claims. On 11 October 1940, the squadron was transferred for a rest to Leconfield in No. 12 Group, ending its participation in the Battle of Britain.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: No. 303 Squadron claimed the largest number of aircraft shot down of the 66 Allied fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it joined the fray two months after the battle had begun.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: Its success in combat can be mainly attributed to the years of extensive and rigorous pre-war training many of the long-serving Polish veterans had received in their homeland, far more than many of their younger and inexperienced RAF comrades then being thrown into the fray. Tactics and skill also played a role; on one occasion, No. 303's Sgt Stanislaw Karubin resorted to extreme tactics to bring down a German fighter. Following a prolonged air battle, Karubin was chasing a German fighter at treetop level. As he closed in on the tail of the German fighter, Karubin realised that his Hurricane had run out of ammunition. Rather than turning back to base, he closed the distance and climbed right above the German fighter. The German pilot was so shocked to see the underside of the Hurricane within arm's reach of his cockpit that he instinctively reduced his altitude to avoid a collision and crashed into the ground.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: At the time it was withdrawn from battle for a rest on 11 October 1940, the squadron had claimed 126 kills in six weeks. Relative to enemy aircraft downed, Polish losses were small with 18 Hurricanes lost, seven pilots killed and five badly wounded.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: It also had the highest kill-to-loss ratio, 2.8:1. However, J. Alcorn was not able to attribute 30 aircraft shot down to any particular unit, and according to Jerzy Cynk and other Polish historians, the actual number of victories for No. 303 Squadron was about 55–60. According to Polish historian Jacek Kutzner, the verified number of kills of 303 Squadron is around 58.8, which would still place it above all other squadrons for verified kills. This is presented by Kutzner's chart, which shows Polish confirmed kills (left column), confirmed kills of all Allied squadrons, including Polish (central column) and real German losses on each day when No. 303 Squadron was involved in air combat (right column). In its first seven days of combat, the squadron claimed nearly 40 enemy aircraft.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: By 1941, the immediate threat to the UK was over and RAF Fighter Command formulated more offensive fighter operations over occupied Europe. One of these was codenamed "Rhubarb", improvised low-level strafing attacks against opportunist targets on the ground. No. 303 flew its first "Rhubarb"' sorties on 22 January 1941. Six Hurricanes led by F/L Henneberg attacked 1./JG 26's airfield at Crecy, killing one ground crewman and destroying two Bf 109s, also wounding a pilot.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: In late January 1941, the squadron converted to the Supermarine Spitfire Mk I. In February, the unit participated in the first fighter offensive sweeps, usually escorting a small number of light bombers.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: In early April 1941, No. 306 (Polish) Squadron arrived at Northolt, and with No. 303 formed No. 1 Polish Fighter Wing. No. 601 Squadron RAF, also stationed at Northolt, complemented the two Polish units. The Wing was commanded by W/C Johnny Kent with W/C Urbanowicz. On 12 April 1941, six No. 303 Spitfires led by S/L Henneberg carried out a series of strafing attacks on German airfields. S/L Henneberg's Spitfire IIa (P8029) was hit by flak and the pilot had to ditch in the channel; despite an intensive search and rescue operation, he was never found. On 11 April 1941, F/L Kustrzyński shot down a Bf109 during a rhubarb over France.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: On 16 April 1941, the Polish Wing flew its first "Circus" escort operation. Engaged by Bf 109s, two Poles were lost: P/O Waszkiewicz and P/O Mierzwa. On 18 June 1941, No. 303 pilots claimed four Bf 109s without loss; two to P/O Drobiński, as RAF Fighter Command claimed 10 destroyed (The Jagdwaffe suffered no losses). On 21 June, Drobiński badly damaged the Bf 109F-2 of "Oberst" Adolf Galland, CO of JG 26, who made a forced landing at Calais, while W/C Kent downed Fw. Hegenauer (Galland's wingman).


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: On 22 June 1941, Fighter Command optimistically claimed 29 fighters shot down, No. 303 claiming six of these, two to S/L Lapkowski (JG 2 and JG 26 actually lost three aircraft). On 23 June 1941, No. 303 flew two full strength escort missions over France, and against 9./ JG 2 claimed five fighters destroyed. P/O 'Mike' Bolesław Gładych claimed three confirmed but was wounded and managed to crash land in the UK. JG 2 lost six Bf 109s and four pilots. On 28 June, No. 303 claimed another four Bf 109s, although P/O J. Bondar was shot down and killed by "Uzz." Babenz, 3./JG 26. Fighter Command claimed six kills (JG 26 lost two, with three more badly damaged).


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: On 2 July 1941, No. 1 Polish Wing, with No. 303, engaged some 60 Bf 109s over Lille. Although No. 303 claimed four kills, (JG 2 lost three Bf 109s) the squadron lost S/L Łapkowski killed, while Sgt Górecki had to bail out and was rescued from the channel. Command passed to S/L Arentowicz, who himself was shot down and killed just six days later. He was replaced by F/L Jankiewicz. After five months of operations, No. 303 was rested on 13 July moving to Speke near Liverpool, in 9 Group, Fighter Command.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: On 7 October 1941, the squadron returned to Northolt and re-equipped with the Spitfire Mk Vb. Its opponents now included the formidable Focke-Wulf Fw 190, and on 13 October camera gun film from a No. 303 pilot gave the RAF the first photographic evidence of the new fighter. As winter approached, poor weather reduced operations significantly. However, on 24 October, No. 303 claimed four fighters downed over Gravelines.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: During combat operations throughout 1941, No. 303 Squadron claimed some 46 enemy aircraft destroyed, seven probably destroyed and four damaged, for a loss of nine pilots (including three Commanding Officers). Some 20 Spitfires were written off or lost in action.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: After a quiet start to the year, on 12 February 1942, No. 303 Squadron participated in the RAF's offensive response to the 'Channel Dash' of the German battleships "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau". Led by W/C Rolski, the Polish Wing flew several sorties in bad weather.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: On 13 March 1942, the Squadron lost F/Lt W Łokuciewski, shot down by JG 26 and taken prisoner, and on 4 April F/L Daszewski (killed) and F/L Kustrzyński (POW) were lost over Saint-Omer having shot down two FW190 fighters. F/L Kustrzyński was taken prisoner while still sitting in the cockpit of his crash-landed Spitfire because his back was badly injured and he could not move. He was later transferred to Colditz Castle POW camp and ultimately to Stalag Luft III Sagan for continually trying to escape. He finally made a successful escape with RAF fighter ace, W/C Robert Stanford Tuck, and they were repatriated back to Britain by Russian military authorities who found them after they had walked across Poland following their escape.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: During the spring of 1942, the frequency of offensive sorties increased and by May, No. 303 flew over the Channel daily, in numerous "Circus" escort missions and fighter sweeps. It engaged German fighters on numerous occasions, although JG 2 and JG 26, the main fighter units against Fighter Command, took an increasing toll utilising the superior Fw 190A. In early June, the unit flew sixteen squadron-strength sorties, in addition to numerous air-sea rescue, interception and convoy escort missions. On 5 June 1942, the squadron engaged Fw 190 fighters and claimed three for no loss. The squadron was rested on 15 June, relocating to Kirton in Lindsey in Lincolnshire.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: On 15 August 1942, the squadron temporarily moved to Redhill near London in preparation of the Allied raid on Dieppe (Operation Jubilee). No. 303 was to fly with No. 317 Polish Fighter Squadron and four other squadrons. Covering the naval and ground forces, No. 303 Squadron claimed the highest number of aircraft shot down of all Allied squadrons participating. No. 303 then returned to Kirton in Lindsey, where it remained until March 1943.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: No. 303 Squadron claimed 21 enemy aircraft destroyed in 1942, losing 10 pilots: four killed in action, two in accidents and four taken prisoner.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: In early June 1943, the unit returned once again to Northolt, and No. 1 Polish Wing. The squadron converted to the new Spitfire Mk IX and in June resumed operations. On 9 June 1943, F/O Śliwinski claimed the unit's 200th victory, a Fw 190. On 14 June 1943, Sgt. Pilot Józef Dąbrowski died on an interception practice when his aircraft crashed into the ground at Islington Cemetery, Finchley. On 24 June, both P/O Karcmarz and P/O Kobyliński were downed by 10./JG 26 pilots and made POWs.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: In July 1943, S/L Falkowski replaced S/L Bieńkowski. On 6 July, the squadron, led by F/L Majewski and with No. 316 Squadron over Amiens, fought a prolonged dogfight with Fw 190s with No. 303 claiming three German fighters from JG 2 and JG 27 without loss. By this time, much of No. 303's work was escort missions for the increasing numbers of United States Army Air Forces Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber missions over Europe. During escort cover for the ill-fated Schweinfurt mission on 17 August 1943, No. 303 claimed a further three fighters downed. On a 6 September "Ramrod" mission, the squadron claimed another six fighters destroyed.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: On 12 November 1943, the unit was posted to RAF Ballyhalbert in Northern Ireland and soon after S/L Koc assumed command. The squadron flew convoy patrols and carried out operational training. By the end of 1943, No. 303 Squadron had claimed 203 enemy aircraft destroyed, 40 probables, and 25 damaged.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: In April 1944, the squadron moved to the advanced landing ground at Horne, 30 miles south of London and joined No 142 Fighter Wing. The unit began flying escort sorties for bombing missions against V-1 flying bomb facilities. On 21 May the squadron strafed targets near Lille losing two pilots: F/O Brzeski and Sgt Kempka were shot down and taken prisoner. Next day Sgt Bartkowiak was also lost though he evaded capture and returned to the unit four months later.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: For Operation Overlord (the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944) the squadron was equipped with the Spitfire V LF operating from a temporary airfield at Horne, Surrey as part of Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB), though under the operational control of RAF Second Tactical Air Force. On D-Day, 303 flew several times over the landing beaches. After D-Day, the squadron remained with ADGB. With the commencement of the V-1 offensive on London, on 19 June 1944, No. 303 moved to RAF Westhampnett and then to RAF Merston. In June, F/S Chudek (nine kills) was shot down and killed. On 18 July, the unit went back to Westhampnett and received new Spitfire Mk IXs. Any Luftwaffe fighter opposition now remained largely absent from the Squadron's sphere of operations, but flak defences still took a toll. On 26 September S/L Drobinski replaced S/L Koc, and No. 303 continued using its Spitfires on various ground attack missions on V-1 and V-2 launch sites located in the Netherlands.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: In 1945, 303 Squadron moved to RAF Coltishall in Norfolk, East Anglia, for operations over the Netherlands. During 1945, 303 Squadron continued to operate over the Netherlands. On 3 April, the squadron joined 133 Squadron at Andrews Field, and was re-equipped with the North American Mustang Mk. IV. On 25 April 1945, 303 Squadron made its last wartime operational sortie, escorting Avro Lancasters in a raid on Berchtesgaden.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: No. 303 Squadron was the most effective Polish RAF squadron during the Second World War. Some sources state that its pilots were invited to the London Victory Parade of 1946, "The Daily Telegraph" says that it was the only representative of the Polish Armed Forces in the West. The invitation was refused because no other Polish units were invited. However, according to other sources No. 303 Squadron was not invited and so could not have refused the invitation. After the end of the war, squadron morale decreased due to the treatment of Poland by the Allies (Western betrayal of Poland), and the squadron was eventually disbanded in December 1946. After the war, they were honoured by the erection of the Polish War Memorial in West London, listing the names of all Polish pilots who served in the RAF.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: In 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine for a second time, the number "303" was chosen by a group of Polish internet activists to name their Squad 303 which sends anti-war messages to individual Russian people - subjects.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: The squadron was the subject of the 1942 book "Squadron 303", written by the Polish writer Arkady Fiedler, which is considered the most popular among this writer's many works and has sold over 1.5 million copies.


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: "Because the book was published during the war, in order to protect the Polish airmen and their families remaining in occupied Poland from German reprisals, Fiedler used pseudonyms for the airmen of 303 Squadron. This practice was mandated in a memo regarding confidential information issued by the Air Ministry dated Oct. 14, 1949.[33] In connection with the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain in 2010, a new English translation was commissioned by publisher Aquila Polonica at the request of Fiedler's son. 303 Squadron: The Legendary Battle of Britain Fighter Squadron is the first new English-language edition of Dywizjon 303 since 1942, and for the first time in English identifies the pilots by their true names."


title: No. 303 Squadron RAF

text: In 2010, the squadron's involvement in the Battle of Britain was featured in the dramatised documentary "The Polish Battle of Britain" produced by Hardy Pictures for the Channel 4 series "Bloody Foreigners". Channel Four also made a game called "Battle of Britain: 303 Squadron".


title: Superettan

text: Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Allsvenskan and Division 1. Seasons run from April to October, with teams playing 30 matches each, totalling 240 matches in the season.


title: Superettan

text: The league was created in 2000. The second tier of Swedish football had previously consisted of a varying number of regionalized leagues operating under the Division 2 (1924–1986) and Division 1 (1987–1999) names.


title: Superettan

text: There are 16 clubs in Superettan. During the course of a season (starting in April and ending in October) each club plays the other twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 30 games. At the end of each season the two lowest placed teams are relegated to Division 1 and the two winning teams from the two Division 1 leagues are promoted in their place while the third and fourth lowest teams in Superettan play a promotion/relegation play-off against the two-second placed teams in Division 1. The top two teams in Superettan are promoted to Allsvenskan and the two lowest placed teams from Allsvenskan are relegated in their place. The third placed team in Superettan plays a promotion/relegation play-off against the third lowest team in Allsvenskan.


title: Superettan

text: The Swiss corporation Kentaro has owned the TV rights for Superettan since 2006. Through license agreements with the media company TV4 Group matches are aired on TV4 Sport who will broadcast a total of 90 matches in 2013 with the remaining 150 games available as online pay per view. The current license agreement is valid from 2011 to 2015.


title: Superettan

text: On March 24, 2017, Discovery-owned broadcaster Eurosport will be the new domestic broadcaster for both SEF competitions (Allsvenskan and Superettan) effectively from 2020 until 2025.


title: Superettan

text: Superettan had an average attendance of 1,632 during its most recent season (2019). The highest attendance ever recorded at a Superettan match is 31,074 (Hammarby vs Ljungskile in 2014).


title: Superettan

text: The league's best season attendance-wise was 2014 when Hammarby's average attendance reached a level that was extraordinary for Superettan.


title: Slamball

text: Slamball is a form of basketball played with four trampolines in front of each net and boards around the court edge. The name SlamBall is the trademark of SlamBall, LLC. While SlamBall is based on basketball, it is a contact sport, with blocks, collisions and rough physical play a part of the game, similar to elements of American football and ice hockey.


title: Slamball

text: Professional SlamBall games aired on television with Spike TV for two seasons in 2002–2003, and the POWERade SlamBall Challenge was aired on CSTV, now CBS Sports Network, in 2007. SlamBall returned in August 2008, airing on Versus, now NBC Sports Network, and CBS. The 2008 SlamBall season aired at one point on weekends on Cartoon Network. Slamball was shown on One HD in Australia during 2009. SlamBall held its first major international tournament in China in 2012.


title: Slamball

text: SlamBall was invented in 1999 by Mason Gordon, who was working at the time for Tollin/Robbins Productions and had written episodes for the television shows "Kenan & Kel" and "Cousin Skeeter". The name SlamBall is owned by Gordon's company. Inspired by video games, Gordon sketched an idea on a napkin for a sport that combined several existent ones. He approached his boss, movie and television producer Mike Tollin, who liked the idea and thought Gordon was "onto something." Tollin helped finance the construction of a prototype court in an East Los Angeles warehouse six months later.


title: Slamball

text: Gordon then tried to convince street basketball players to test his new idea; he wanted to find skilled, strong players who could compete comfortably while launching off trampolines and crashing into each other in mid-air.


title: Slamball

text: Five recruits—James Willis, Sean Jackson, David Redmond, Michael Goldman and Jeff Sheridan—trained with Gordon to produce the first games. These original six players were part of the first two teams, the Los Angeles Rumble and the Chicago Mob. These two teams played an exhibition series in 2001, which the Chicago Mob won. Soon, more players were brought in, including Stan Fletcher, Rob Wilson and Dion Mays.


title: Slamball

text: First played in Los Angeles, the game gained attention from street basketball players in the area. Within a year, 400 people had been enlisted as potential players. Open tryouts were held and the selection of players based on athletic ability, body control and court awareness started. Reducing numbers to about 60 players, the first ever SlamBall combine was held where players and coaches learned safety, the game and basic strategy.


title: Slamball

text: In 2002, SlamBall made its television debut, on The National Network (later Spike TV and now the Paramount Network), soon after former Philadelphia 76ers owner Pat Croce had signed on as a partner. Six teams (the Bouncers, Diablos, Mob, Rumble, Slashers, and Steal) played in the inaugural season. Former NBA All-Star Reggie Theus served as studio co-host and color commentator. ReelSports served as the event organizers for the new league. SlamBall also aired on the British television station Trouble and ESPN aired a feature on the new league.


title: Slamball

text: After the second season in 2003, SlamBall creator Mason Gordon and co-producer Telepictures Productions had a disagreement. The league was dissolved. Five years later the league resurfaced for one more season. The league opened its doors to open try-outs.


title: Slamball

text: The first SlamBall draft in 2002 saw Canadian Robert Wilson drafted as the first No. 1 pick ever in the sport.


title: Slamball

text: Before the second season of SlamBall debuted on the newly renamed Spike TV, two expansion teams (the Riders and Bandits) were added and a new court was built at Universal City, California. One notable player on the Bandits was Craig Skistimas, who would later go on to co-create the video game entertainment channel ScrewAttack!


title: Slamball

text: In 2007, the "POWERADE SlamBall Challenge" took place at Hoop City, a fan interactive event, at the 2007 Final Four in Atlanta, Georgia, and aired on CSTV in April 2007.


title: Slamball

text: In 2008, SlamBall began planning for a new season, to be financed by IMG. The league accepted applications through its website for new players and coaches, and tryouts were held in three U.S. cities in April, 2008. A training camp for the 2008 season of SlamBall was held at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida from April to June 2008. Over 100 potential players participated in tryouts, eventually leaving 64 players after an 8-team draft. The league was cut to the 6 current teams. Some figures associated with the new season of SlamBall include: Commissioner Pat Croce and Coaches Kenny Anderson, John Starks, Raghib Ismail and Ken Carter. In summer 2008, SlamBall played its first season since 2003 at Universal Citywalk in Universal Studios, California. These games aired in a "Game of the Week" format on Versus beginning 31 August and led up to the finals on CBS on 2 November 2008.


title: Slamball

text: In the 2008 season championship, the Slashers, led by Kevin Stapleton, defeated the Rumble. The coach of the Rumble was Ken Carter, of the famed Coach Carter. The season aired on Australia's One HD and Fuel TV.


title: Slamball

text: In August 2022 Mason Gordon announced that Slamball would be making a comeback with a new season in 2023.


title: Slamball

text: Scoring is achieved by putting the ball into the net at the opponent's end of the court for points, while preventing the opposing team from doing the same at one's own net. The aim is to have outscored the opposing team when the game ends. A successful score can be worth two points if the ball is thrown through the hoop without the offensive player touching the hoop. Slam dunks are scored three points. All shots outside the three-point arc are worth three points as well. Four players from each team (out of an 8-10 player roster) may be on the court at one time. Substitutions are unlimited and can be done during play (as in the game of hockey). Each team has a coach and additional staff which includes assistant coaches, managers, statisticians, doctors, etc.


title: Slamball

text: The game is controlled by two referees and the table officials. The table keeps track of the score, time, team possessions, fouls and the shot clock.


title: Slamball

text: Games are played in four 5-minute quarters, unlike the NBA, which plays for four 12-minute quarters. The game commences with a "bounce-off" in which the ball is bounced at center court. The ball must reach its apex uninterrupted, at which point the players are allowed to "check" each other. Ten minutes are allowed for a half-time break; only one time-out is permitted to each team, which may only be used during the last two minutes of regulation play. A 15-second shot clock is utilized. Teams change ends for the second half. A tie score at the end of regulation time is settled by a series of "face offs" (see Fouls below).


title: Slamball

text: Teams are free to choose their own configuration, the usual formations being 1 stopper, 2 handlers, and 1 gunner OR 1 stopper, 1 handler, and 2 gunners.


title: Slamball

text: Each player can commit just three personal fouls before he is removed from the match (unlike in the NBA, where it is six personal fouls). A coach or player displaying poor sportsmanship (such as fighting, arguing vehemently against an official) may be charged with a technical foul. Two technical fouls results in a disqualification.


title: Slamball

text: When a foul is called, the player who has committed it will then take position on the baseline of the lower trampolines while the player who was offended will take up offensive position at center court. This is called a "face-off". Upon a signal from the referee the offensive player will be free to mount an attack at the basket, which the defender now must endeavor to stop. The defender must enter the lower trampoline only after bouncing in from the side trampoline. If the offensive player is successful, then points will be awarded depending on the shot converted and the offensive players' team will retain possession of the ball. In the case of any tie-ups, the defensive team always gain possession, but if the shot was blocked, the offensive team retains the ball from center court.


title: Slamball

text: The spring floor lies adjacent to two sets of four trampoline or spring bed 'quads' which dominate each end of the court. Each trampoline surface measures .) The shock absorbent panels pair with the competition bed trampolines to create a unique playing surface that both launches players to inhuman heights and cushions their landing upon returning to the floor. Specifically engineered pads are designed to cover the frame rails and their tapered design allows for maximum safety for on-court play. This entire playing surface will be surrounded with an Plexiglass wall much like in a hockey rink. Players wear protective cups and special equipment to protect various areas of the body. This consists of knee and elbow pads, and an optional SlamBall-specific helmet.


title: Slamball

text: In 2015 Slamball resurfaced in China. After what appeared to be an extended courtship with the Chinese government, and community at large, new Slamball facilities began construction throughout China. Eventually, the new partnership with Chinese entities created five teams to officially expand the league to Asia. Slamball creator Mason Gordon did exhaustive leg work advancing the process. In 2015 all Gordon's hard work would pay off as Slamball started capturing the attention of the Chinese public.


title: Slamball

text: According to a report published by Vice Sports, Mason Gordon was quoted as saying, "We never left, we just needed to take the best path for us." There were even talks of Slamball college teams in the coming years.


title: Slamball

text: On television, the sport has been seen on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", "One Tree Hill", CBS's "King of Queens", "Method & Red", "ESPN's SportsCenter", "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" and "Fuel TV". In print, SlamBall has been featured in "The New York Times", "Sports Illustrated", "USA Today", "Time" and European editions of "Maxim", "GQ" and "FHM".


title: Slamball

text: Because of the nature of SlamBall, a broad scope is considered in the recruitment of the players. New players for the League have come from various areas. SlamBall has recruited players directly from college and pro basketball programs across the country. Football players are used to the full-contact, up-tempo style of play, and many of the better players of SlamBall found their origins on the gridiron.


title: Narco-submarine

text: A narco-submarine (also called a drug sub or narco sub) is a type of custom ocean-going self-propelled typically semi-submersible (sometimes fully-submersible) vessel built for smugglers.


title: Narco-submarine

text: Newer submarines are 'nearly-fully' submersible to be difficult to detect visually, by radar, sonar, or infrared systems. Cargos are typically several tons. In 2015, the largest-known cargo of was seized on a semi-submersible.


title: Narco-submarine

text: The capabilities of these craft are increasing (some are capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean); their operating places and circles are widening; and their numbers are growing.


title: Narco-submarine

text: The drug trafficker Laureano Oubiña affirms the existence of a marine cemetery of narco-submarines near the Canary Islands (Spain).


title: Narco-submarine

text: During the 1980s, go-fast boats were the smuggling vessel of choice in many parts of the world, although these vessels could be detected by radar. As radar coverage improved, smugglers developed semi-submersibles to avoid radar detection.


title: Narco-submarine

text: In 1988, an unmanned submarine was found off Boca Raton, Florida. It was designed to be towed by a boat, and submerged by remote control. The sub was empty, but officials and authorities believe it was for smuggling after it was realized the hatch could be opened only from the outside.


title: Narco-submarine

text: In 2006, a submarine was seized southwest of Costa Rica. The U.S. Coast Guard dubbed it "Bigfoot" because they heard rumors of their existence, but never saw any. In 2006, the U.S. detected three vessels in total, and their best estimate was twenty-five or maybe forty semi-subs departed from South America in 2007. In 2008, authorities spotted ten per month, but only one out of ten was intercepted. In the first six months of 2008, the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy detected forty-two subs off the coasts of Central America, but few seizures resulted. According to various press-releases, an estimated eighty-five events could potentially bring about 544 tons of cocaine to U.S. customers by the end of 2008. In 2008, the Mexican Navy intercepted a submarine in international waters about southwest of Oaxaca. Mexican Navy Special Forces rappelled from a helicopter on to its deck and arrested four smugglers. According to one press-release, the vessel carried 5.3 tons of cocaine; it was towed to Huatulco, Oaxaca, by a Mexican Navy patrol boat. Also, in 2008, the U.S. Coast Guard captured a semi-submersible vessel in international waters about west of Guatemala; it was carrying an even seven tons of cocaine. The steel/fiberglass vessel was detected by a U.S. Navy aircraft as part of Operation Panama Express, and was intercepted by Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 402 aboard USS "McInerney". Five days later, an semi-submersible was seized in international waters by the U.S. Coast Guard "Midgett" about south of Guatemala. Few other submarines were seized because their crews scuttled them upon interception.


title: Narco-submarine

text: In 2009, the U.S. detected "as many as sixty" submarine related events, and calculated they were moving as much as a ton of cocaine daily. In the same year, three submarines were seized on the shores of the Pacific coast, loaded with 1.5 tons of cocaine. The Colombian navy had intercepted or discovered thirty-three submarines by 2009.


title: Narco-submarine

text: After the November 5, 2010 arrest of Harold Mauricio Poveda, a key Mexican–Colombian link, exigent interrogation methods revealed FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) were behind the construction of submarines, and were collaborating with the Sinaloa Cartel to fund their activities.


title: Narco-submarine

text: In 2012, United States Coast Guard officials expressed concerns such vessels could potentially be used for terrorism.


title: Narco-submarine

text: In 2016, the U.S. Coast Guard seized a semi-submersible in international waters about 300 miles west of Panama, carrying about 6 tons of cocaine with a street value of about $200 million to U.S. customers.


title: Narco-submarine

text: In 2017, the U.S. Coast Guard detained a semi-submersible off the coast of Texas carrying of cocaine, and on 13 November the US Coast Guard located and seized another one off the coast of Panama.


title: Narco-submarine

text: In 2019, Spanish authorities apprehended a 20 m semi-submersible off Galicia, containing 3,000 kg of cocaine, in the first known incident of a submarine crossing the Atlantic Ocean. "Operation Black Tide: The Suicidal Journey", a book from author Javier Romero, is a detailed narrative of the enterprise. Amazon Prime Video has made Romero's book into both a television documentary account of the voyage and a drama serial, released in February and March 2022.


title: Narco-submarine

text: A submarine was captured by the Peruvian Navy on 8 December 2019 carrying over 2,000 kg of cocaine off of the coast of the Department of Piura.


title: Narco-submarine

text: According to a press-release, on November 5, 2020, a submarine was seized in Colombia. A further interception was made in October 2021 by the Ecuadorian naval training ship the "Guayas" in the Pacific Ocean.


title: Narco-submarine

text: Costing up to two million dollars each to construct, submarines can move enough cocaine in a single trip to generate more than 100 million USD in illicit proceeds for the traffickers.


title: Narco-submarine

text: Colombia's Pacific coastline is filled with thick jungles and waterways, which can be used as clandestine shipyards. A Colombian Navy Commander stated that it is most striking to notice the logistical capacity required of these criminals in order to take all the material into the heart of the jungle, including heavy equipment such as propulsion gear and generators. Sometimes they are put together in pieces and then reassembled in other locations under the jungle canopy, in camps outfitted with sleeping quarters for workers. The narco-submarines can cost about $2 million USD and take upward of a year to build. Despite the costs, some of the craft are intended for one-time use, being abandoned at sea after a successful delivery, given that their cargoes carry a street value of up to $400 million. On other seized craft however, officials found zinc bars used as sacrificial anodes, reducing corrosion on metal parts exposed to seawater. As corrosion would not be a concern on a single trip but is a factor influencing long-term durability, this is a clear indication that multiple use was intended. This, in turn, opens up the question of any illicit return cargo, like weapons, that they might carry back to Colombia.


title: Narco-submarine

text: The design and manufacturing techniques employed in their construction have improved over time: the boats have become faster, more seaworthy, and of higher capacity than earlier models. An long narco-submarine can reach speeds of and carry up to 10 tons of cocaine. They are typically made of fiberglass, powered by a 225–260 kW diesel engine and manned by a crew of four. They have enough cargo space to carry two to ten tons of cocaine, carry large fuel tanks which give them a range of , and are equipped with satellite navigation systems and long-range HF-SSB radio communications capabilities. There is no head (toilet), and accommodation is cramped.


title: Narco-submarine

text: Because much of its structure is fiberglass and it travels barely under the surface, the vessel is nearly impossible to detect via sonar or radar, and very difficult to spot visually. The newer models pipe their exhaust along the bottom of the hull to cool it before venting it, making the boat even less susceptible to infrared detection. They are most easily spotted visually from the air, though even that is difficult as they are camouflaged with blue paint and produce almost no wake. They have ballast tanks to alter the vessel's buoyancy so that they ride low in the water.


title: Narco-submarine

text: Narco-submarines were considered by officials to be an oddity until 2000, when Colombian police discovered what was reported to be a half-built 36 m-long true submarine in a warehouse outside Bogotá. The double-hulled steel vessel could have traveled 3,700 kilometers, dived 100 m, and could have carried about 15 tonnes of cocaine.


title: Narco-submarine

text: On 3 July 2010 the Ecuadorian authorities seized a fully functional, completely submersible diesel electric submarine in the jungles bordering Ecuador and Colombia. It had a cylindrical fiberglass and Kevlar hull long, a conning tower with periscope, and air conditioning. The vessel had the capacity for about 10 tonnes of cargo, a crew of five or six people, the ability to fully submerge down to , and the capacity for long-range underwater operation. Ecuadorean authorities seized the vessel before its maiden voyage.


title: Narco-submarine

text: On 14 February 2011 another submarine was seized by the Colombian navy. The 31 m-long fiberglass and Kevlar vessel was found hidden in a jungle area in Timbiquí, in south-western Colombia. It was capable of travelling below water and it could carry four people and up to 8 tonnes of cargo.


title: Narco-submarine

text: In August 2005, authorities discovered an unmanned semi-submersible in the Pacific Ocean, a "torpedo-style cargo container" (instead of a full-featured self-propelled ship). These versions use a ballast tank (submersion control) to keep them at about under water while towed by a fishing vessel. If a patrol ship is spotted, the "torpedo" cargo container is released. While submerged, it automatically releases a buoy concealed as a wooden log so it would be mistaken for marine debris. This log-buoy is equipped with a location transmitter system so coworkers can retrieve the torpedo after the vessel and her crew are released by authorities. If the original vessel was detained or otherwise unable to retrieve the cargo torpedo, the location transmission system also allowed for a second support fishing vessel to retrieve it and then continue the delivery. Such a log-buoy was designed to be used as a last resort; risks are involved with the deployment of said buoy:


title: Narco-submarine

text: The buoy contains a mechanism to temporarily raise then lower its antenna to transmit its coordinates in encrypted form at irregular intervals. Encrypted codes are used in case of signal interception. Such an encryption could, at a minimum, delay authorities in their attempt to reach the cargo, allowing the narco-traffickers to reach it first. This system evolved from existing buoys used on fishing nets. The buoy designers claim a near 100% shipment delivery success, and state the "torpedo" development is evolving into remote-control using encrypted signals transmitted via satellite.


title: Narco-submarine

text: Similar to most coastlines, the western Colombian shore is ideal for smuggling. About a third of the two tons of cocaine coming out of Colombia each day leaves via the Pacific coast in semi-submersibles. Homeland Security estimate submarines carry one-third of smuggled maritime goods to United States customers, while claiming they "are clueless" about the rest.


title: Narco-submarine

text: For smugglers, the trips are worth the investment—a nine-ton load earns nearly US$200 million wholesale from U.S. customers. Professional fishermen are often at the controls, and earn about US$3,000 after completing the excursion.


title: Narco-submarine

text: Submarine smugglers unload their cargo onto fast-boats for the final leg to shore. According to press-releases, none of the submarines are known to unload at North American ports or beaches.


title: Narco-submarine

text: In March 2006, according to a press-release, the Calabrian Mafia ('Ndrangheta) ordered a shipment of nine tons of cocaine to be transported by a narco-submarine from Colombia to Italy, but according to a countering press-release, the vessel was discovered during construction.


title: Narco-submarine

text: In 2007, thirteen of the vessels were seized on Colombian dry land or stopped at sea by Colombian or U.S. patrol boats, more than in the previous fourteen years combined, but arrests are rare. After clandestine shipyards are discovered, workmen escape into the jungle. In some instances, semi-subs are towed behind fishing vessels, and are scuttled if detected.


title: Narco-submarine

text: In 2007, the U.S. Coast Guard adjusted their underwater acoustic sensors to listen for submarines. According to a 2019 press-release, the U.S. Coast Guard reports they capture 11% of submarines.


title: Narco-submarine

text: If various militaries attempt to seize the semi-submersibles in international waters, the crews usually scuttle them. Until 2008, in accordance with international maritime law, the crew was rescued, and, if there was no evidence of wrongdoing, released. To address this loophole, the US Drug Trafficking Vessel Interdiction Act in September 2008 made it a "felony for those who knowingly or intentionally operate or embark in a self-propelled semi-submersible (SPSS) without nationality and that is or ever navigated international waters, with the intent to evade detection". The penalty is a prison term of up to twenty years in the U.S.


title: Narco-submarine

text: The U.S. law does not apply to flagged vessels (i.e., registered with some officially-recognized government). The bill grants extraterritorial jurisdiction over international waters, and makes it illegal to lack relevant documents. Instead of an anti-narcotics operation turning into a rescue mission after submarines are sunk, the crew can be detained and interrogated using 'exigent methods'.


title: Narco-submarine

text: In 2009, Colombia's Congress passed a law punishing builders of semi-submersible vessels with up to 12 years in prison, or 14 years if they are used to transport drugs.


title: Narco-submarine

text: Security issues related to "torpedo-style cargo containers", semi-submersible vessels, and submarines were reviewed in an August 2012 article in the US publication Homeland Security Affairs.


title: Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj

text: Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj is an American comedy streaming television talk show hosted by Hasan Minhaj that premiered on October 28, 2018, on Netflix and ran until June 28, 2020. It also had all the episodes, exclusives, and deep cuts on its YouTube channel. The series was created by Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam, both of whom also executive produce alongside Jim Margolis, Michelle Caputo, Shannon Hartman, and Jennie Church-Cooper. With 40 episodes across six seasons, the show has won an Emmy, a Peabody Award, and two Webby Awards. In August 2020, Netflix canceled the series after six seasons.


title: Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj

text: "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj" aims to "explore the modern cultural and political landscape with depth and sincerity." In an attempt to separate his show from similar political satire shows, Minhaj said he wanted to create a show that is "timely and timeless."


title: Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj

text: On March 1, 2018, it was announced that Netflix had given a series order to a new weekly series created by Hasan Minhaj and Prashanth Venkataramanujam for a first season consisting of thirty-two episodes, split into several volumes. Executive producers were expected to include Minhaj, Venkataramanujam, Michelle Caputo, Shannon Hartman, and Jennie Church-Cooper. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of Art & Industry and Haven Entertainment. On June 7, 2018, it was reported that Jim Margolis had joined the series as showrunner and an executive producer. On August 9, 2018, it was revealed that the series had been titled "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj" and that it would premiere on October 28, 2018. Volume 3 taped and aired on Netflix in May and June 2019, and Volume 4 was released on August 4. Volume 5 of Patriot Act released on Netflix on November 10, 2019. Volume 6 was due to release on March 29, 2020 but was postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. On August 18, 2020, Netflix canceled the series after six seasons.


title: Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj

text: The series has been met with widespread critical acclaim from critics upon its premiere. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the first season of the series holds a 100% approval rating with an average rating of 7.79 out of 10 based on 15 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, ""Patriot Act" stands apart from other like-minded comedy shows thanks to Hasan Minhaj's masterful blending of thought and feeling, catharsis and criticism." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 78 out of 100 based on 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj

text: In October 2018, a segment of the episode "Saudi Arabia" included reference to offensive language – the term "Negro Blood" – used in an online manual for US troops deployed to Saudi Arabia to describe the indigenous Gulf Arabs of that country. Following the episode's release, U.S. Central Command issued an apology and removed the online manual.


title: Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj

text: On January 1, 2019, it was reported that the episode "Saudi Arabia" had been removed from Netflix's service in Saudi Arabia after the country's Communications and Information Technology Commission issued a request to the company to take it down over concerns regarding its content, which included criticism of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. However, the episode was still available in the country at the time of the report through the show's official YouTube channel.


title: Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj

text: "Patriot Act" has also drawn controversy in other countries the show has covered. The March 2019 episode "Indian Elections" covered the 2019 Indian general election, criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his BJP government, interviewed Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, and tackled issues such as Hindu nationalism, the Kashmir conflict, and mob lynchings against Muslim and Dalit minorities. The episode drew controversy in India, among supporters and opponents of Modi's BJP government. The May 2019 episode "Brazil, Corruption and the Rainforest" covered the 2019 Philippine general election, criticized President Rodrigo Duterte, and tackled issues such as the Philippine Drug War. The episode drew controversy in the Philippines among supporters and opponents of Duterte, leading to a response from the Malacañang Palace attacking the show.


title: Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj

text: The show's influence was recognized by "Time Magazine", which included Hasan Minhaj on its list of the 100 most influential people in the world in April 2019. "The Daily Show" host Trevor Noah described "Patriot Act" as a "groundbreaking Netflix show."


title: Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj

text: After the show's cancellation, several producers including Nur Ibrahim Nasreen, Sheila V Kumar, and Amy Zhang claimed to have experienced abuse, mistreatment, and harassment while in the workplace.


title: Cercis canadensis

text: Cercis canadensis, the eastern redbud, is a large deciduous shrub or small tree, native to eastern North America from southern Michigan south to central Mexico, east to New Jersey. Species thrive as far west as California and as far north as southern Ontario, roughly corresponding to USDA hardiness zone 6b. It is the state tree of Oklahoma.


title: Cercis canadensis

text: The eastern redbud typically grows to tall with an spread. It generally has a short, often twisted trunk and spreading branches. A 10-year-old tree will generally be around tall. The bark is dark in color, smooth, later scaly with ridges somewhat apparent, sometimes with maroon patches. The twigs are slender and zigzag, nearly black in color, spotted with lighter lenticels. The winter buds are tiny, rounded and dark red to chestnut in color. The leaves are alternate, simple, and heart shaped with an entire margin, long and wide, thin and papery, and may be slightly hairy below.


title: Cercis canadensis

text: The flowers are showy, light to dark magenta pink in color, long, appearing in clusters from spring to early summer, on bare stems before the leaves, sometimes on the trunk itself. There are cultivars with white flowers. The flowers are pollinated by long-tongued bees such as blueberry bees and carpenter bees. Short-tongued bees cannot reach the nectaries. The fruit are flattened, dry, brown, pea-like pods, long that contain flat, elliptical, brown seeds long, maturing in August to October.


title: Cercis canadensis

text: The leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera—for example, Henry's elfin, the redbud leaffolder, the red-humped caterpillar (which can cause extensive defoliation in late summer but generally does no lasting harm to a healthy tree), the fall webworm (also a late-season defoliator), the white flannel moth, the American dagger moth, the grape leaffolder, and the Io moth.


title: Cercis canadensis

text: "Cercis canadensis" is grown in parks and gardens, with several cultivars being available. The cultivars 'Forest Pansy'


title: Cercis canadensis

text: have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit (confirmed 2017). Both are cultivated for their showy purple leaves, which turn brilliant shades of red and orange in the fall (autumn). 'Ruby Falls' is a weeping form.


title: Cercis canadensis

text: In the wild, eastern redbud is a frequent native understory tree in mixed forests and hedgerows. It is also much planted as a landscape ornamental plant.


title: Cercis canadensis

text: In the United States, this tree is difficult to grow farther west into arid areas west of western Kansas and Colorado, as there is not enough rain. There has been success growing the tree in Columbus, Wisconsin, whose cultivar has become known as the "Columbus strain" and is a seed source for nurseries. Seeds can be made to germinate by first dipping in boiled (99 °C) water for one minute and then sowing in a pot (do not boil the seeds).


title: Cercis canadensis

text: In some parts of southern Appalachia, green twigs from the eastern redbud are used as seasoning for wild game such as venison and opossum. Because of this, in these mountain areas the eastern redbud is sometimes known as the spicewood tree.


title: Cercis canadensis

text: Native Americans consumed redbud flowers raw or boiled, and ate roasted seeds. Analysis of nutritional components in edible parts of eastern redbud reported that the flower extract contains anthocyanins, green developing seeds contained proanthocyanidin, and linolenic, α-linolenic, oleic and palmitic acids are present in seeds.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: The Duchy of Swabia (German: "Herzogtum Schwaben") was one of the five stem duchies of the medieval German Kingdom. It arose in the 10th century in the southwestern area that had been settled by Alemanni tribes in Late Antiquity.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: While the historic region of Swabia takes its name from the ancient Suebi, dwelling in the angle formed by the Rhine and the Danube, the stem duchy comprised a much larger territory, stretching from the Alsatian Vosges mountain range in the west to the right bank of the river Lech in the east and up to Chiavenna ("Kleven") and Gotthard Pass in the south. The name of the larger stem duchy was often used interchangeably with "Alamannia" during the High Middle Ages, until about the 11th century, when the form Swabia began to prevail.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: The Duchy of Swabia was proclaimed by the Ahalolfing count palatine Erchanger in 915. He had allied himself with his Hunfriding rival Burchard II and defeated King Conrad I of Germany in a battle at Wahlwies. The most notable family to hold Swabia were the Hohenstaufen, who held it, with a brief interruption, from 1079 until 1268. For much of this period, the Hohenstaufen were also Holy Roman Emperors.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: After a centuries-long struggle with the House of Zähringen, the Margraviate of Baden detached itself from the Swabian duchy in the 12th century. The remaining duchy persisted until 1268, ending with the execution of the last Hohenstaufen duke Conradin. Count Rudolf of Habsburg, elected King of the Romans in 1273, attempted to revive the Swabian ducal title, bestowing it on his youngest son, the later Duke Rudolf II of Austria, who passed it to his son John Parricida. John died without an heir, in 1312 or 1313, marking the end of the "revived" title.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: In 496 the Alamanni tribes were defeated by King Clovis I, incorporated into Francia, and governed by several "duces" who were dependent on the Frankish kings. In the 7th century the people converted to Christianity, bishoprics were founded at Augsburg and Constance, and in the 8th century notable abbeys at Reichenau Island and Saint Gall.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: The Alamanni in the 7th century retained much of their former independence, Frankish rule being mostly nominal, but in 709, Pepin of Herstal conquered the territory and in 730 his son Charles Martel again reduced them to dependence.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: The so-called Blood Court at Cannstatt in 746 marked the end of the old stem duchy, and the Alamanni now came fully under Frankish administration. Charles' son Pepin the Short abolished the tribal duke and ruled Alamannia by counts palatine, or "Kammerboten". King Charlemagne married the Alamannian princess Hildegard of the Vinzgau in 771.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: At this time the duchy, which was divided into numerous "Gaue" (counties), took the shape which it retained throughout the Middle Ages. It stretched south of Frankish Austrasia (the later Duchy of Franconia) along the Upper Rhine, Lake Constance, up the High Rhine, and down the Danube to the Lech tributary. The Lech, separating Alamannia from the Duchy of Bavaria in the east, did not form, either ethnologically or geographically, a very strong boundary, and there was a good deal of intercommunion between the two peoples.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: By the 843 Treaty of Verdun, Alamannia fell to East Francia. During the later and weaker years of the Carolingian Empire the counts became almost independent, and a struggle for supremacy took place between them and the Bishops of Constance. From about 900, two chief dynasties emerged: the Hunfriding counts in Raetia Curiensis ("Churrätien") and the Ahalolfings ruling the Baar estates around the upper Neckar and Danube rivers. Their members were sometimes called margraves and sometimes, as in the case of Rudolf of Rhaetia, dukes. Finally, the Hunfriding count Burchard I was called "dux" of Alamannia. However, he was killed in 911, for which two Swabian counts palatine, Bertold and Erchanger, were accused of treason. Erchanger proclaimed himself duke in 915, but was put to death by order of the German king Conrad I two years later.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: Upon Erchanger's execution, Burchard II, son of the late Burchard I and count in Raetia Curiensis, took the title of duke. Burchard secured his rule by defending the Thurgau region against the claims of King Rudolph II of Burgundy in the 919 Battle of Winterthur. Rudolph II had attempted to expand his Upper Burgundian territory up to Lake Constance by capitalising on the feud between the Ahalolfing and Hunfriding dynasties. He occupied the palace at Zürich and marched into the Thurgau from there. He was defeated by Burchard near Winterthur and was forced to abandon Zürich, retreating beyond the Reuss. Duke Burchard's rule subsequently was acknowledged as such by the newly elected king Henry the Fowler.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: Burchard's position was virtually independent, and when he died in 926 he was succeeded by Hermann, a Franconian noble, who married his widow.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: When Hermann died in 948 Otto the Great gave the duchy to his own son Liudolf, who had married Hermann's daughter Ida; but he reduced the ducal privileges and appointed counts palatine to watch the royal interests. Liudolf revolted, and was deposed, and other dukes followed in quick succession. Burchard III, son of Burchard II, ruled from 954 to 973, when he was succeeded by Liudolf's son, Otto, afterwards duke of Bavaria, to 982, and Conrad I, a relative of Duke Hermann I, until 997. Hermann II, possibly a son of Conrad, succeeded, and, dying in 1003, was followed by his son Hermann III. During these years the Swabians were loyal to the kings of the Saxon house, probably owing to the influence of the bishops. Hermann III had no children, and the succession passed to Ernest II, son of his eldest sister Gisela and Ernest I, Margrave of Austria. Ernest I held the duchy for his son until his own death in 1015, when Gisela undertook the government, and was married a second time, to Conrad, duke of Franconia, who was afterwards the German king Conrad II. When Ernest came of age he quarrelled with his step-father, who deposed him and, in 1030, gave the duchy to Gisela's second son, Hermann IV and then, on the death of Hermann IV in 1038, to Henry, his own son by Gisela. In 1045 Henry, who had become German king as Henry III, granted Alamannia to Otto, grandson of the emperor Otto II and count palatine of the Rhine, and, in 1048, to Otto III, count of Schweinfurt. Rudolph, count of Rheinfelden, was the next duke, and in 1077 he was chosen German king in opposition to the emperor Henry IV, but found little support in Swabia, which was given by Henry to his faithful adherent, Frederick I, count of Hohenstaufen.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: Frederick had to fight for his position with Bertold, son of Duke Rudolph, and the duke's son-in-law, Bertold II, duke of Zahringen, to whom he ceded the Breisgau in 1096. Frederick II succeeded his father in 1105, and was followed by Frederick III, afterwards the emperor Frederick I. The earlier Hohenstaufen increased the imperial domain in Swabia, where they received steady support, although ecclesiastical influences were very strong. In 1152 Frederick I gave the duchy to his kinsman, Frederick, count of Rothenburg and duke of Franconia, after whose death in 1167 it was held successively by three sons of the emperor, the youngest of whom, Philip, was chosen German king in 1198. During his struggle for the throne Philip purchased support by large cessions of Swabian lands, and the duchy remained in the royal hands during the reign of Otto IV, and came to Frederick II in 1214. Frederick granted Swabia to his son Henry, and, after his rebellion in 1235, to his son Conrad, whose son Conradin, setting out in 1266 to take possession of Sicily, pledged his Swabian inheritance to Ulrich II, count of Württemberg. The duchy fell into abeyance after Conradin's death in 1268.


title: Duchy of Swabia

text: When the emperor Maximilian I divided the Holy Roman Empire into Imperial Circles in 1512, one, which was practically coterminous with the duchy, was called the Swabian Circle. The area, which was formerly Swabia, was covered by the County of Württemberg, the Margraviate of Baden and the western part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Although the name Swabia is occasionally used in a general way to denote the district formerly occupied by the duchy, the exact use of the name is now confined to the Bavarian Swabia Regierungsbezirk, with its capital at Augsburg.


title: Bal du moulin de la Galette

text: Bal du moulin de la Galette (commonly known as Dance at Le moulin de la Galette) is an 1876 painting by French artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It is housed at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and is one of Impressionism's most celebrated masterpieces. The painting depicts a typical Sunday afternoon at the original Moulin de la Galette in the district of Montmartre in Paris. In the late 19th century, working class Parisians would dress up and spend time there dancing, drinking, and eating galettes into the evening.


title: Bal du moulin de la Galette

text: Like other works of Renoir's early maturity, "Bal du moulin de la Galette" is a typically Impressionist snapshot of real life. It shows a richness of form, a fluidity of brush stroke, and a flickering, sun-dappled light.


title: Bal du moulin de la Galette

text: From 1879 to 1894 the painting was in the collection of the French painter Gustave Caillebotte; when he died it became the property of the French Republic as payment for death duties. From 1896 to 1929 the painting hung in the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris. From 1929 it hung in the Musée du Louvre until it was transferred to the Musée d'Orsay in 1986.


title: Bal du moulin de la Galette

text: Renoir painted a smaller version of the picture (78 × 114 cm) with the same title. The painting is now believed to be in a private collection in Switzerland. Apart from their size, the two paintings are virtually identical, although the smaller is painted in a more fluid manner than the d'Orsay version. One is presumably a copy of the original, but it is not known which is the original. It is not even known which was the one first exhibited at the 3rd Impressionist exhibition of 1877, because although the painting was catalogued and given favourable attention by critics, its entry did not indicate the size of the painting, information that would serve to identify it.


title: Bal du moulin de la Galette

text: For many years it was owned by John Hay Whitney. On May 17, 1990, his widow sold the painting for US$78 million at Sotheby's in New York City to Ryoei Saito (Saitō Ryōei), the honorary chairman of Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Company, Japan.


title: Bal du moulin de la Galette

text: At the time of sale, it was one of the top two most expensive artworks ever sold, together with van Gogh's "Portrait of Dr. Gachet", which was also purchased by Saito. Saito caused international outrage when he suggested in 1991 that he intended to cremate both paintings with him when he died. However, when Saito and his companies ran into severe financial difficulties, bankers who held the painting as collateral for loans arranged a confidential sale through Sotheby's to an undisclosed buyer. Although not known for certain, the painting is believed to be in the hands of a Swiss collector.


title: Bal du moulin de la Galette

text: Renoir conceived his project of painting the dancing at "Le Moulin de la Galette" in May 1876 and its execution is described in full by his civil servant friend Georges Rivière in his memoir "Renoir et ses amis". In the first place, Renoir needed to set up a studio near the mill. A suitable studio was found at an abandoned cottage in the rue Cortot with a garden described by Rivière as a "beautiful abandoned park". Several of Renoir's major works were painted in this garden at this time, including "La balançoire (The Swing)". The gardens and its buildings have been preserved as the Musée de Montmartre.


title: Bal du moulin de la Galette

text: Rivière identified several of the personalities in the painting. Despite Renoir's resource of distributing a sought after fashionable hat of the time amongst his models (the straw bonnet with a wide red ribbon top right is an example of this hat, called a "timbale"), he was unable to persuade his favourite sixteen-year-old model Jeanne Samary, who appears in "La balançoire", to pose as principal for the painting (in fact she was conducting an affair with a local boy at the time). It is her sister Estelle who poses as the girl wearing a blue and pink striped dress. These two girls came to "Le Moulin" every Sunday with their family; with two younger sisters barely taller than the tables, and their mother and father, properly chaperoned by their mother (entry was free for girls at "Le Moulin" and not all were models of virtue). Beside her is a group consisting of Pierre-Franc Lamy and Norbert Goeneutte (also appearing in "La balançoire"), fellow painters, as well as Rivière himself. Behind her, amongst the dancers, are to be found Henri Gervex, Eugène Pierre Lestringuez and Paul Lhote (who appears in "Dance in the Country"). In the middle distance, in the middle of the dance hall, the Cuban painter Don Pedro Vidal de Solares y Cardenas is depicted in striped trousers dancing with the model called Margot (Marguerite Legrand). Apparently the exuberant Margot found Solares too reserved and was endeavouring to loosen him up by dancing polkas with him and teaching him dubious songs in the local slang. She was to die of typhoid just two years later, Renoir nursing her until the end, paying both for her treatment and her funeral.


title: Bal du moulin de la Galette

text: Rivière describes the painting as executed on the spot and that not without difficulty as the wind constantly threatened to blow the canvas away. This has led some critics to speculate that it was the larger d'Orsay painting that was painted here, as the smaller would have been easier to control. On the other hand, the smaller is much the more spontaneous and freely worked of the two, characteristic of "en plein air" work.


title: Arthur (2011 film)

text: Arthur is a 2011 American romantic comedy film written by Peter Baynham and directed by Jason Winer. It is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name written and directed by Steve Gordon. Its story follows Arthur, a wealthy and alcoholic philanderer who, after a drunken run in with the law, is forced by his mother to marry Susan, a suitable spouse, or else he will be stripped of his inheritance, but things suddenly become complicated once he meets and falls in love with a free-spirited woman named Naomi. It stars Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, Greta Gerwig, and Nick Nolte.


title: Arthur (2011 film)

text: The film was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and was released on April 8, 2011. It grossed $12.2 million during its opening weekend and $48.1 million worldwide, against a budget of $40 million. It received generally negative reviews and has rating based on votes on Rotten Tomatoes.


title: Arthur (2011 film)

text: Boozy Arthur Bach and his chauffeur, Bitterman, dress up in Batman and Robin costumes for a formal dinner hosted by Arthur's mother, Vivienne. The dinner is intended to announce Arthur as the new chairman of her corporation, Bach Worldwide. Driving to the dinner in a Batmobile, an intoxicated Arthur is chased by police, arrested and released the next day.


title: Arthur (2011 film)

text: Vivienne forms a plan to have her shrewd assistant Susan Johnson marry Arthur to ensure stable leadership and help Arthur's reputation. Arthur initially refuses (citing that he and Susan have nothing in common for a loveless relationship), but is told that he will be cut off from his $950 million inheritance if he does not marry Susan. He reluctantly agrees, and eventually asks Susan's father, Burt Johnson, for permission to marry. Burt agrees, after forcing Arthur against a table saw and warning him not to embarrass Susan.