title: Bebe Daniels

text: She began her career in Hollywood during the silent film era as a child actress, became a star in musicals such as "Rio Rita", and later gained further fame on radio and television in Britain. Over the course of her 50-year career, Daniels appeared in 230 films.


title: Bebe Daniels

text: Daniels was born Phyllis Virginia Daniels (Bebe was a childhood nickname) in Dallas, Texas. Her father was a travelling theater manager, Scottish-born Melville Daniel MacNeal, who changed his name to Danny Daniels after a disagreement with his own father over his ambition to change from the medical profession to show business. Her mother was Phyllis de Forest Griffin, born in Colombia of an American father and a Colombian mother, a stage actress who was in Danny's travelling stock company when their child was born. At the age of ten weeks her father proudly carried her on stage even though there was no part in the play for a baby. The family moved to Los Angeles, California in her childhood, and she began her acting career at the age of four in the first version of "The Squaw Man". The same year, she went on tour in a stage production of Shakespeare's "Richard III". The following year, she participated in productions by Oliver Morosco and David Belasco.


title: Bebe Daniels

text: By the age of seven, Daniels had her first starring role in film as the young heroine in "A Common Enemy". At the age of nine, she starred as Dorothy Gale in the 1910 short film "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". At the age of 14, she was hired by comedy producer Hal Roach at $5 a day, to star opposite Roach's star comedian Harold Lloyd in a series of one-reel comedies, starting with the 1915 film "Giving Them Fits". Lloyd and Daniels eventually developed a romantic relationship that was well publicized; they were known in Hollywood as "The Boy" and "The Girl."


title: Bebe Daniels

text: In 1919, she declined to renew her contract with Hal Roach, because she wanted to be a dramatic actress. She accepted an offer from producer-director Cecil B. DeMille, who gave her secondary roles in "Male and Female" (1919), "Why Change Your Wife?" (1920), and "The Affairs of Anatol" (1921).


title: Bebe Daniels

text: In the 1920s, Daniels was under contract with Paramount Pictures. She made the transition from child star to adult in Hollywood in 1922 and by 1924 was playing opposite Rudolph Valentino in "Monsieur Beaucaire". Following this, she was cast in a number of light popular films, namely "Miss Bluebeard", "The Manicure Girl", and "Wild Wild Susan". Paramount dropped her contract with the advent of talking pictures. Daniels was hired by the new studio Radio Pictures (later known as RKO Radio) to star in its first feature, the Technicolor musical "Rio Rita", co-starring the comedy team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey. "Rio Rita" turned out not to be RKO's inaugural film due to production delays, but it was still one of the most successful films of that year. Bebe Daniels became established as a musical star, and RCA Victor hired her to record several records for their catalog.


title: Bebe Daniels

text: Radio Pictures starred her in a number of musicals including "Dixiana" (1930) and "Love Comes Along" (1930). Toward the end of 1930, Bebe Daniels appeared in the musical comedy "Reaching for the Moon", released through United Artists. However, by this time, musicals had gone out of fashion, and most of the musical numbers from the film had to be removed before it could be released. Daniels had become associated with musicals, and Radio Pictures did not renew her contract. Warner Bros. realized she was a boxoffice draw, and she was offered a contract. During her years at Warner Bros., she starred in "My Past" (1931), "Honor of the Family" (1931), and the 1931 pre-code version of "The Maltese Falcon". In 1932, she appeared in "Silver Dollar" (1932) and the successful Busby Berkeley choreographed musical comedy "42nd Street" (1933) in which she sang once again. The same year, she played in "Counsellor at Law". Her last film for Warner Bros. was "Registered Nurse" (1934).


title: Bebe Daniels

text: In 1934, Daniels and husband Ben Lyon, whom she had married in June 1930, garnered press attention while having to testify against Albert F. Holland, a 36-year-old World War I veteran with a history of stalking Daniels. Holland had been under the delusion that he had attended school with Daniels and that they had married in Mexico in 1925. In 1931, he broke into Daniels' hotel room in San Francisco, confronting and terrifying her, and had to be removed by security. He was arrested and committed to the Arizona State Asylum. Holland escaped from the institution in 1932, and began sending more than 150 threatening letters to Daniels. Arrested once more, he was again placed in a psychiatric institution. Following his release, another confrontation took place, and Holland was again arrested. A lengthy trial in Los Angeles took place, with Holland conducting most of his own defense, including a lengthy cross-examination of Daniels' husband, Ben Lyon. Actress Doris Kenyon, a friend of Daniels and Lyon, testified for the prosecution. Ultimately, the jury found Holland to be mentally unfit, and he was committed to a psychiatric facility for an indefinite period. Daniels and Lyon subsequently moved to London.


title: Bebe Daniels

text: Bebe Daniels retired from Hollywood in 1935 with her husband, film actor Ben Lyon, and their two children, and moved to London. In February 1939, Daniels and Lyon co-starred in a series of commercial radio shows, the "Rinso Radio Revue", recorded in London for Radio Luxembourg. They and Bebe's mother Phyllis all returned to the U.S. on 14 June 1939, leaving their children in Los Angeles in the care of Phyllis, and returned to London seven weeks later. After the start of World War II, they worked for the BBC, starring in the comedy radio series "Hi Gang!". Born from an idea by Ben, and with most of the dialogue by Bebe, it enjoyed considerable popularity. A few years later, Daniels starred in the London production of "Panama Hattie" in the title role originated by Ethel Merman. The couple remained in England through the days of The Blitz.


title: Bebe Daniels

text: Following the war, Daniels was awarded the Medal of Freedom by Harry S Truman for war service. In 1945, she returned to Hollywood for a short time to work as a film producer for Hal Roach and Eagle-Lion Films. She returned to the UK in 1948 and lived there for the remainder of her life. Daniels, her husband, her son Richard and her daughter Barbara all starred in the radio sitcom "Life with the Lyons" (1951 to 1961), which later made the transition to television.


title: Bebe Daniels

text: Daniels married actor Ben Lyon in June 1930. They had two children: daughter Barbara in 1932 and a son Richard (born Bryan Moore in 1935), whom they adopted from a London orphanage. In an issue of the contemporary magazine Radio Pictorial, she explained how she saw Richard peering through the railings and instantly thought "A brother for Barbara".


title: Bebe Daniels

text: Daniels suffered a severe stroke in 1963 and withdrew from public life. She suffered a second stroke in late 1970. On March 16, 1971, Daniels died of a cerebral hemorrhage in London at the age of 70. Her remains were cremated at London's Golders Green Crematorium and the ashes returned to the United States; she was interred at the Chapel Columbarium at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Upon his death in 1979, Ben Lyon's remains were interred next to Daniels'.


title: Bebe Daniels

text: A biography "Bebe and Ben" was written by Jill Allgood, a personal friend who worked with them at the BBC.


title: Biogen

text: Biogen Inc. is an American multinational biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, specializing in the discovery, development, and delivery of therapies for the treatment of neurological diseases to patients worldwide.


title: Biogen

text: Biogen was founded in 1978 in Geneva as "Biotechnology Geneva" by several prominent biologists, including Kenneth Murray from the University of Edinburgh, Phillip Allen Sharp from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Walter Gilbert from Harvard University (Gilbert served as CEO during the start-up phase of Biogen), Heinz Schaller from the University of Heidelberg, and Charles Weissmann from the University of Zurich (Weissmann contributed the first product interferon alpha). Gilbert and Sharp were subsequently honored with Nobel Prizes: Gilbert was recognized in 1980 with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his understanding of DNA sequencing and Sharp received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1993 for his discovery of split genes.


title: Biogen

text: In 2003, Biogen merged with San Diego, California-based IDEC Pharmaceuticals (formed in 1985 by University of California-San Diego's physicians and immunologists Ivor Royston and Robert E. Sobol, San Diego bio entrepreneur Howard Birndorf, and Stanford University cancer researchers Ron Levy and Richard Miller) and adopted the name Biogen Idec. After the merger, Biogen Idec became the 3rd largest Biotechnology company in the world.


title: Biogen

text: Following shifts in research core areas, the company has since shortened its name, reverting to simply Biogen. Biogen stock is a component of several stock indices such as the S&P 100, S&P 500, S&P 1500, and NASDAQ-100 and the company is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol, BIIB.


title: Biogen

text: In May 2006, the company announced it would acquire cancer specialist, Conforma Therapeutics for $250 million. Later in the same month, the company announced its intention to acquire Fumapharm AG, consolidating ownership of Fumaderm and BG-12, an oral fumarate, which was being studied for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and psoriasis.


title: Biogen

text: In January 2007, the company announced it would acquire Syntonix Pharmaceuticals for up to $120 million, gaining Syntonix's lead product for hemophilia B as well as the technology for developing inhalable treatments.


title: Biogen

text: In 2008, two new brain infection cases from Tysabri users surfaced in Europe that raised international concern about Tysabri and its effects with the progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) brain condition. Biogen is one of the drug’s producers.


title: Biogen

text: In 2011, Biogen announced that its drug Fampyra received conditional marketing approval. Under the conditional approval, Biogen agrees to provide additional data on the long-term benefits and safety of Fampyra.


title: Biogen

text: On December 10, 2012, Biogen announced its global collaboration agreement with Isis Pharmaceuticals to develop and research antisense drugs to treat neurological and neuromuscular diseases.


title: Biogen

text: In February 2013, Bloomberg broke the news that Biogen was planning to pay Elan $3.25 billion for the full rights to Tysabri, used to treat multiple sclerosis.


title: Biogen

text: In January 2015, the company announced that it would acquire Convergence Pharmaceuticals for up to $675 million, with the acquisition aiming to accelerate the development of Convergence's pipeline, in particular CNV1014802 – a Phase II small molecule sodium channel blocking candidate. In October 2015, the company announced that it would lay off 11% of its workforce, effective immediately.


title: Biogen

text: On May 3, 2016, Biogen announced to spin off its hemophilia business, known as Bioverativ. The hemophilia business would become an independent publicly-traded company. Bioverativ offered two hemophilia drugs in 2016, Alprolix and Eloctate, and plans on developing its Hemophilia-focused goals.


title: Biogen

text: In 2016, Biogen released Spinraza (nusersin), a treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. The drug is among the most expensive treatments available, with a price of $750,000 for the first year of doses, and $375,000 for each subsequent year and likely for the rest of a patient's life. While there still isn’t a cure, Spinraza significantly improves the quality of life in infants and adults.


title: Biogen

text: In 2017, Biogen announced that its drug Fampyra converted from conditional marketing authorization to standard marketing approval. EU multiple sclerosis (MS) patients use Fampyra to improve walking.


title: Biogen

text: In February 2020, Biogen and Sangamo Therapeutics announced a global licensing deal to develop compounds for neuromuscular and neurological diseases.


title: Biogen

text: In September 2020, Biogen Inc. made a $10 million deposit in OneUnited Bank to provide more capital to fund home loans and commercial development in Black communities. In November, the company announced it would acquire a $650 million stake in Sage Therapeutics and make an upfront payment of $875 million, in order to jointly develop a number of depression treatments.


title: Biogen

text: In 2007, the company reached a licensing agreement with Neurimmune, a spin-off from the University of Zurich, for the Alzheimer's disease drug Aducanumab developed by this Swiss company. Later, Neurimmune sold its rights for license fees for $200 million to Biogen.


title: Biogen

text: In December 2014, Biogen announced that its Aducanumab drug for Alzheimer’s treatment is preparing to go through a late-stage trial of its experimental Alzheimer's disease treatment after the medication dramatically improved cognition and reduced brain plaque levels in early-stage study.


title: Biogen

text: In March 2015, Biogen’s Aducanumab drug for Alzheimer’s treatment becomes the first experimental Alzheimer’s treatment to show significant results in regard to slowing down cognitive decline and reducing brain-destroying plaques.


title: Biogen

text: In July 2015, Biogen initiates two late-stage studies called ENGAGE and EMERGE, which will assess Aducanumab in adults with early Alzheimer's disease.


title: Biogen

text: In 2016, Biogen’s Aducanumab decreases amoyloid-beta in the brains of people with early-stage Alzheimer's disease, according to a report published in Nature on August 31, 2016.


title: Biogen

text: In March 2019, Biogen announced it would acquire Nightstar Therapeutics for $25.50 per share ($800 million in total). Nightstar focus on adeno-associated virus based gene-therapies for inherited retinal disorders. With a setback in their Alzheimer's drug research, in March 2019 Biogen's shares fell sharply. It ended the trial of its drug aducanumab, which it was making along with Eisai. In October 2019, however, they announced that they would pursue FDA approval for aducanumab together with Eisai.


title: Biogen

text: On October 22, 2019, despite two Phase 3 clinical trials being previously halted for futility, Biogen announced its plan to submit for the FDA’s approval of Aducanumab.


title: Biogen

text: In May 2020, Biogen wrapped up construction on a state-of-the-art facility in Solothurn, Switzerland, which will produce the Alzheimer's drug aducanumab by late 2021, alongside its North Carolina manufacturing facility. The monoclonal antibody, co-developed with Eisai, attracted considerable interest from biotech investors when Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway bought 648,447 Biogen shares at a combined value of $192.4 million.


title: Biogen

text: On July 8, 2020, Biogen and Eisai announced that both companies had together successfully submitted for Aducanumab’s FDA regulatory and marketing approval.


title: Biogen

text: On June 7, 2021, the FDA gave accelerated approval to aducanumab under the name Aduhelm, which proved to be controversial. The drug was priced at $56,000 US dollars per year but it is not covered by many insurers as they wait for further proof that the drug is effective. Also the US Government will not subsidise it outside clinical trials. According to the Food and Treatment Administration's website, the drug is proven to reduce amyloid-beta plaques in the brain, which is likely to benefit patients. The FDA has stated that if the post-approval trial does not indicate that Aduhelm works, the drug may be taken out of the market.


title: Biogen

text: In May 2016, the company announced that it would spin off its hemophilia drug business (Eloctate and Alprolix) into a public company. In August, the company announced that the spun off company would be called Bioverativ, in order to show heritage with Biogen. The company would trade on the NASDAQ exchange under the ticker symbol BIVV and would look to be spun off in early 2017. Bioverativ was acquired by Sanofi in 2018.


title: Biogen

text: The following is an illustration of the company's major mergers and acquisitions and historical predecessors (this is not a comprehensive list):


title: Biogen

text: On March 5, Biogen reported that three individuals who met with their employees at a conference in Boston had tested positive for COVID-19 the previous week. On March 6, public health officials reported five new cases associated with the Biogen leadership meeting and by March 9, Massachusetts health officials had announced 30 new presumptive COVID-19 cases, all connected to the Biogen conference. Researchers first estimated that the conference would be linked to over 20,000 of the state's coronavirus cases. Researchers later estimated that up to 300,000 cases worldwide had been caused by the Biogen conference, including 1.6% of all U.S. cases of the coronavirus.


title: Biogen

text: For the fiscal year 2017, Biogen reported earnings of US$2.539 billion, with an annual revenue of US$12.274 billion, an increase of 7.2% over the previous fiscal cycle. Biogen's shares traded at over $289 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$63 billion in November 2018. The company ranked 228 on the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue.


title: Biogen

text: Biogen focused its R&D efforts on the discovery and development of treatments for patients with high unmet medical needs in the areas of neurology, hematology, and immunology.


title: Biogen

text: Biogen has several candidates in Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials in neurodegenerative and immunological diseases including MS, neuropathic pain, spinal muscular atrophy and lupus nephritis:


title: Biogen

text: Biogen also has several development agreements in place with Ionis Pharmaceuticals to collaborate to leverage antisense technology in advancing the treatment of neurological disorders.


title: Biogen

text: In February 2012, Biogen formalized a joint venture with Samsung, creating Samsung Bioepis. This joint venture brings Biogen's expertise and capabilities in protein engineering, cell line development, and recombinant biologics manufacturing to position the joint venture so Biogen can participate in the emerging market for biosimilars.


title: Biogen

text: In early 2014, Biogen entered into an agreement with Eisai, Inc., to jointly develop and commercialize two of their candidates for Alzheimer's disease, which have the potential to reduce Aβ plaques that form in the brains of patients, as well as to slow the formation of new plaques, potentially improving symptoms and suppressing disease progression.


title: Biogen

text: Biogen also has since 2015 an agreement with AGTC to develop gene therapy for several genetic diseases, including X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS) and X-linked Retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) ophthalmologic diseases. To this aim, Biogen paid AGTC $124 million, including an equity investment of $30 million, and up to 1,1 billion in future milestones.


title: Biogen

text: In March 2019, Biogen halted Phase 3 trials of Alzheimer's disease drug Aducanumab after "an independent group's analysis show[ed] that the trials were unlikely to 'meet their primary endpoint.'" However, in October 2019 they reversed their plans and said that they would be pursuing US FDA approval for Aducanumab. The reversal came after Biogen said a new analysis of a larger patient pool showed promising results. In July 2020, Biogen completed submission of a Biologics license application (BLA) to the FDA for review, and requested accelerated review. However, an advisory panel for the FDA voted against approval of this drug. On June 7, 2021 the FDA granted approval of Aducanumab for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Aducanumab was approved using the accelerated approval pathway, and Biogen will be required to conduct a post-approval clinical trial to verify clinical benefit for continued approval.


title: Biogen

text: In September 2022, Biogen agreed to pay $900 million to the U.S. federal governments, states, and a whistleblower who accused the company of paying kickbacks to doctors between 2009 and 2014 to increase prescriptions of Avonex, Tysabri, and Tecfidera (all for multiple sclerosis).


title: Flag football

text: Flag football is a variant of American football where, instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier ("deflagging") to end a down. The sport has a strong amateur following and several national and international competitions each year sponsored by various associations.


title: Flag football

text: In flag football, contact is limited between players. The international governing body for the sport is the International Federation of American Football (IFAF). In 2022, flag football was shortlisted as a proposed discretionary event for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.


title: Flag football

text: The creation of the game of Flag Football can be attributed to Porter Wilson, who was the man who invented flag-a-tag belts & flags used as equipment to play the sport.


title: Flag football

text: The best available records to date point to the early 1940s during World War II as the sport's starting point. The game began as a recreational sport created for American military personnel to help them stay fit but was designed in a way that would help prevent them from becoming injured during wartime. At the time it was called "Touch and Tail football", which then became "flag football" after the war ended.


title: Flag football

text: The first known recorded history of flag football can be traced to Fort Meade, Maryland, USA, which is now generally accepted as the sport's birthplace. The first national flag football organization, the National Touch Football League, was formed in the 1960's in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 1971, the league has had a national championship game.


title: Flag football

text: The specific rules of flag football vary widely by league, though all share in common their replication of the rules of traditional US-American football with tackling replaced by flag-pulling.


title: Flag football

text: Traditional American football rules are often eliminated or modified to reflect the more recreational nature of the game, the desire to avoid physical contact and injury, and the generally smaller number of participating players per side.


title: Flag football

text: Chiefly, because there is no dominant sanctioning organization for the sport, the game has mutated into many variations: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, and 4 players on each side; coed or single-gender; with kicking and punting and with point-after conversions (including some with 1, 2, and 3 point tries) or without; and field sizes that vary from full Canadian Football League (CFL) size, National Football League (NFL) size (120 yards long by 53 yards wide), to fields a third that size.


title: Flag football

text: An important distinction is whether linemen are allowed to catch passes ("Eligible Linemen") or, as in the NFL / CFL, are not allowed to do so ("Ineligible Linemen"). Flag (and touch) football may also be divided into "contact" or "non-contact", depending on whether or not blocking is allowed; if allowed, blocking is usually restricted to the chest.


title: Flag football

text: The ability or inability for the quarterback to advance the ball past the line of scrimmage (LOS) by running is another rule subject to variation by league.


title: Flag football

text: The sport is also played on surfaces other than a traditional grass football field, including on sand beaches; beach flag football has previously featured as a discipline at the Asian Beach Games.


title: Flag football

text: The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) had selected Israel to host the Flag Football World Championships for 2021 IFAF Flag Football World Championship with World Games places up for grabs. The Kraft Family Sports Campus in Jerusalem, was originally scheduled to stage the men's and women's events, however, due to expected high winds the games were played at Teddy Stadium.


title: Flag football

text: An IFAF event record of 39 men's and women's teams combined, spanning 22 countries, competed at the tournament in Israel. Normally conducted every two years, Denmark was scheduled to host the 2020 edition only for it to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.


title: Flag football

text: The United States retained their men's and women's titles at the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) World Flag Football Championships in Jerusalem. The US fought back in both finals, against Mexico to successfully defend their world crowns.


title: Flag football

text: Against Mexico in the women's gold-medal match, the Americans scored 12 unanswered points in the second period to seal a 31-21 victory. In the semi-finals the US beat Austria 33-6, and Mexico beat Brazil 47-6 to reach the final.


title: Flag football

text: The US Mens team too rallied from behind against Mexico to a 44-41 victory and retain their world title. A 35-6 win over Panama sent the US through to the final, and Mexico beat Italy 36-35 to join them in the tournament's showpiece contest.


title: Flag football

text: In July 2022, the National Football League (NFL) and the IFAF partnered on a bid for flag football to be included as an optional event during the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Executive VP of football operations Troy Vincent stated that the sport was "the future of American football", as it was inclusive and had fewer barriers to access. The NFL had sponsored the inclusion of flag football as an invitational event during that month's 2022 World Games—a multi-sport event featuring sports and disciplines not currently contested at the Olympics—in Birmingham, Alabama. The men's tournament was won by the United States, and the women's tournament by Mexico. In August 2022, flag football was shortlisted as one of nine sports advancing to the next phase of the bid process.


title: Flag football

text: For the 2023 Pro Bowl, the National Football League will showcase its premier Pro Bowl players and the best of NFL Flag teams from around the country with their skills in a week-long celebration, "The Pro Bowl Games", featuring an new format spotlighting Flag Football.


title: Flag football

text: The National Football League and its teams have promoted and sponsored flag football leagues in the United States as a youth sport under the branding NFL Flag; in 2020, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson became a chairman and co-owner of NFL Flag, as part of efforts by the NFL to expand its promotion of the sport into other territories. The program has also placed a particular focus on expanding women's flag football, due to gridiron football having predominantly been played by men.


title: Flag football

text: On June 28, 2017, the inaugural game for the newly formed American Flag Football League was played. The league plans to launch eight league-owned teams for 2018.


title: Flag football

text: The Canadian Flag Football League (CFFL) was established in 2019 and runs Canada's CFFL National Championship. The league is affiliated with Football Canada, the national governing body for football in Canada and its variants. The winners of the CFFL National Championship also gain the opportunity to represent Canada in international competition.


title: Flag football

text: The league's major objective is to help integrate existing adult flag leagues on a nationwide basis. Depending on the region, teams compete in their Regional Championships, either Eastern, Western, or Central. The top two teams from each division will advance to the national championship.


title: Flag football

text: In May 2020, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), in partnership with the NFL, announced the addition of flag football as a varsity sport for female student-athletes. The NAIA became the first collegiate governing body to sanction the sport at the varsity level.


title: Flag football

text: Women's flag began during the 2020–21 season as an emerging sport with at least 15 teams, and the NAIA and NFL also expected an upgrade of the sport to an invitational level sport by 2022 with at least 25 teams.


title: Flag football

text: The International Woman's Flag Football Association, otherwise known as the IWFFA, hosts 8 on 8 flag football tournaments and flag football trainings across the world with participants from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Scotland and several other nations. The organization is the largest organization for women and girls in the sport of flag football. The most active tournament is held each February in Key West, Florida, called the Kelly McGillis Classic where over 90 women and girls teams participate in 8 on 8, semi - blocking contact flag football. There are no restrictions to for girls and women to play.


title: Flag football

text: The International Federation of American Football (IFAF) organizes the IFAF Flag Football World Championship every two years since 2002.


title: Flag football

text: The International Flag Football Festival (IFFF) organizes the World Cup of Flag Football featuring teams from the United States, Mexico and several other nations.


title: Flag football

text: Flag football competition in the United Kingdom is 5-a-side and organized by The British American Football Association (BAFA). At a senior level as of 2021, there are fifty eight teams divided into six divisions, Highland (North Division), Northern (West Division), Southern (East Division), Northern (East Division), Southern (Wales Division), and Southern (West Division) with the top teams qualifying for playoffs at the end of the season. As of 2021 the league will also run The Youth Flag Football League (YFFL) and organize teams competing at under 17, under 14, and non-competitive under 11. Flag matches in the UK are played with five players on each side with no contact, and are officiated according to the IFAF flag football rules with a few minor variations. The U17s and U14s compete in the National Youth Flag Football League, which runs from April to August, with teams battling it out to qualify for National Finals Day and ultimately be crowned National Champions.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: The Atlanta"-class cruisers were eight United States Navy light cruisers which were designed as fast scout cruisers or flotilla leaders but which proved to be effective anti-aircraft cruisers during World War II. They were also known as the Atlanta"-"Oakland" class. The "Atlanta" class had 12 x /38 caliber guns, mounted in three superfiring sets of two-gun turrets fore and three more aft. The first four ships of the class also had an additional two twin 5-inch/38 mounts, one port and one starboard, giving these first four "Atlanta"-class cruisers the heaviest anti-aircraft armament of any cruiser of World War II. The last four ships of the class, starting with , had slightly different armament as they were further optimized for anti-aircraft fire.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: The "Atlanta" class saw heavy action during World War II, collectively earning 54 battle stars. Two ships of the class were sunk in action: and , both at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. The other six were decommissioned shortly after the war and were scrapped in the 1960s.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: As built, the original main gun battery of the first quartet of the "Atlanta" class was composed of eight dual 5-inch/38 caliber gun mounts (8 × 2 5-inch guns). This battery could fire over of shells per minute, including the radar-fuzed "VT" anti-aircraft (AA) shells. Fire control was by two Mk 37 fire control systems located on the centerline atop the superstructure. As built, these ships lacked radar but from the spring of 1942 they were re-fitted with FD (Mk 4) fire control radar and SC-1 and SG search radar. From 1943 the FD (Mk 4) radar was replaced by the improved Mk 12/Mk 22 combination.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: The first four "Atlanta" class cruisers originally had a secondary anti-aircraft armament of twelve /75 caliber guns in three quad mountings, without directors fitted. By early 1942, as more weapons became available, a fourth quad mount had been installed on the quarterdeck and directors were fitted (probably Mk 44). By late 1942 these troublesome and relatively ineffective weapons began to be replaced in the surviving ships by twin mountings for the new and far superior Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns with Mk 51 directors.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: Also from early 1942, close-range AA armament was augmented by eight 20 mm rapid-fire anti-aircraft cannons in single Mk 4 mountings disposed two on the forward superstructure, four amidships between the funnels (displacing some of the ship's boats) and two on the quarterdeck aft. From 1943 onward, two more Mk 4 mountings were added on the forward superstructure and a pair on each side of the second funnel to counter the danger of Japanese air attacks (especially "kamikazes"). From the end of 1943, a quadruple 40 mm Bofors mounting replaced the twin mount on the quarterdeck, with the six depth charge projectors being removed as compensation. The additions of radar, additional close-range anti-aircraft guns and other equipment seriously impaired the stability of these ships as the war progressed and resulted in overcrowding as more ratings had to be added to man them.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: The second quartet of the "Atlanta" class, sometimes known as the "Oakland" class, was commissioned with only six twin 5-inch/38 mounts and with Bofors guns from the start, with four additional twin Bofors 40 mm mounts compared to their predecessors: two displacing the former 5-inch/38 wing turrets (improving both stability and close-range AA firepower while easing congestion) and two between the funnels displacing the previous two pairs of 20 mm Oerlikons. In addition the battery of 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons was increased with a pair on the bow, four on the forward superstructure, eight amidships arrayed on either side of the aft funnel and two on the quarterdeck aft for a total of sixteen.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: The "Atlanta"-class cruisers were the only class of U.S. Navy cruisers commissioned during World War II to be armed with torpedo tubes, with eight torpedo tubes in two quad launchers.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: By the end of the war had been given an anti-"kamikaze" upgrade which included replacing the four aft twin Bofors with quad mountings and greatly reducing the number of 20 mm mounts (to possibly as few as six) while replacing those that remained with twin rather than single guns. The torpedo tubes were removed.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: Although ships of this class were planned as destroyer flotilla leaders, the original design did not include anti-submarine armament such as sonar or a depth charge battery. In early 1942, along with anti-aircraft and radar upgrades, these ships were fitted with sonar and the standard destroyer battery of six depth charge projectors and two stern mounted tracks. When the vessels were determined to be more valuable as protection against aircraft, the projectors were removed but the tracks were retained. The "Oakland" sub-class never received the projectors, getting only two stern tracks, probably due to marginal stability.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: The class was powered by four 665 psi boilers, connected to two geared steam turbines producing , and the ships could maintain a top speed of . On trial the "Atlanta" made and . The ships of the "Atlanta" class had thin armor: a maximum of on their sides covering machinery and magazines, with the 5-inch gun mounts being protected by only and the conning tower by .


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: The ships were originally designed for 26 officers and 523 men, but this increased to 35 officers and 638 men with the first four ships, and 45 officers and 766 men with the second group of four ships beginning with "Oakland". The ships were also designed as flagships with additional space for a flag officer and his staff but the additional space was used for additional crew necessary to man anti-aircraft weapons and electronics.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: Although very formidable as anti-aircraft ships, the "Atlanta"-class cruisers did not fare well in surface combat. The only two cruisers of the class that engaged in surface combat were sunk: "Atlanta" and "Juneau". The U.S. Navy lost three light cruisers during World War II, two of which were "Atlanta"s. One was sunk in surface combat during the Guadalcanal Campaign while the other was heavily damaged in the same battle and sunk by on her way back for repairs. Both of these vessels received their fatal blows from Japanese torpedoes, and gunfire from larger, more heavily armed ships. The unique armament of the "Atlanta" class did not contribute to their loss.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: The "Atlanta"-class design was also criticized for its shortage of gunfire directors for the main 5-inch gun battery, which reduced its effectiveness. Initially there were not enough intermediate anti-aircraft guns (i.e. 1.1 in guns, Bofors 40 mm and the Oerlikon 20 mm rapid-fire cannons). These problems were somewhat corrected in naval shipyards by the end of 1942, but the "Atlanta"-class warships were thereafter overloaded with weight, compared to the size of their hulls. Throughout World War II and the postwar years, they had problems with topside weight; this was addressed by a redesign of the class which was then constructed as the three s.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: All eight ships in this class served during World War II, and six ships survived the war. The lead ship of this class, , was laid down on 22 April 1940 and launched on 6 September 1941. "Atlanta" was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 24 December 1941, just a few weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor of 7 December. "Atlanta" participated as an anti-aircraft cruiser in the decisive American victory at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 before she was sent south to fight in the Solomon Islands. "Atlanta" was scuttled after receiving a torpedo hit and heavy gunfire damage from Japanese surface warships and on 13 November 1942 during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. was also heavily damaged in surface combat in the same battle and then sunk by the , on 13 November 1942. was torpedoed off Leyte on 4 November 1944 resulting in a large fire and significant flooding, but was saved from sinking by the damage control efforts of the crew.


title: Atlanta-class cruiser

text: After the war, the six surviving ships in this class were decommissioned between 1947 and 1949 and placed in the reserve fleet. The ships received a new type designation of CLAA in 1949. None of these ships were recommissioned to serve in an active role; all were ultimately struck and scrapped by 1970.


title: Boeing B-54

text: The Boeing B-54 was an American strategic bomber designed by Boeing for use by the United States Air Force. Derived from the


title: Boeing B-54

text: YB-50C Superfortress, construction of the prototype was canceled before completion, and the aircraft was never flown.


title: Boeing B-54

text: Begun in 1947, the B-54 was the planned production version of the YB-50C prototype. The standard Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines of the normal B-50 bomber were replaced with R-4360-51 Variable Discharge Turbine (VDT) turbo-compound engine, the fuselage was lengthened by over and the wingspan was extended by , which required the installation of outrigger landing gear in the first and fourth engine nacelles. Large fuel tanks under the outboard wing section were required to carry an additional of fuel to reach the intended range; 14 .50-caliber machine guns comprised the specified defensive armament.


title: Boeing B-54

text: On May 29, 1948, contracts were placed by the Air Force for 21 B-54A bombers and 52 RB-54A reconnaissance aircraft; However, on April 18, 1949, the B-54 project was cancelled due to the development of better-performing jet aircraft; construction of the prototype B-54A had started at Seattle but was never completed. The cancellation was lambasted by the Seattle press, who claimed that it was a political decision instead of a military one.


title: HOTAS

text: HOTAS, an acronym of hands on throttle-and-stick, is the concept of placing buttons and switches on the throttle lever and flight control stick in an aircraft's cockpit. By adopting such an arrangement, pilots are capable of performing all vital functions as well as flying the aircraft without having to remove their hands from the controls.


title: HOTAS

text: HOTAS was originally applied to military aircraft, starting with the British interceptor aircraft, the English Electric Lightning, in the late 1950s. The concept quickly spread to numerous other aircraft, such as the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, Mikoyan MiG-29, and Eurofighter Typhoon. In more modern implementations, it is often combined with several other input systems, such as direct voice input and helmet-mounted display, to further reduce workload upon pilots as well as the need to divide their attention between the primary controls and other systems. Outside of the cockpit, the Ground Control Stations (GCS) used by drone operators have commonly implemented HOTAS principles as well. Outside of the aviation sector, the HOTAS concept has made a noticeable impact upon both the road vehicle and gaming industries.


title: HOTAS

text: HOTAS is a shorthand term which refers to the typical configuration of the core controls of fighter aircraft. Having all critical switches on the stick and throttle allows the pilot to keep both "hands on throttle-and-stick". Used in combination with a head-up display (HUD), the pilot can focus their attention upon flying the aircraft, manipulating sensors, and engaging targets rather than looking for controls in the cockpit. The goal is to improve pilots' situational awareness, their ability to manipulate switch and button controls in turbulence, under stress, or during high G-force maneuvers, to improve reaction time, to minimize instances when hands must be removed from one or the other of the aircraft's controls to use another aircraft system, and reduce total time spent doing so.


title: HOTAS

text: HOTAS enables the pilot to manipulate all the radar's important functions without taking their hands away from the stick or throttle. It is typical for several other functions to be potentially incorporated into this control arrangement; features including a radio communications switch, chaff and flare countermeasure activation, speed brake controls, nose wheel steering, and aerial refueling disconnect may be controlled as such. The precise arrangement of each aircraft's cockpit is unique, having been designed specific to mission requirements, equipment fitout, performance capabilities, and general airframe configuration of that aircraft. For instance, the F-15E Strike Eagle throttle incorporates the ability to interact with an onboard FLIR sensor.


title: HOTAS

text: The HOTAS concept was initially pioneered by the Royal Air Force during the 1950s. The newly-developed supersonic point-defense interceptor aircraft, the English Electric Lightning, was furnished with the Ferranti AIRPASS radar and gunsight control system, giving its pilots an earlier implementation of the practice. By 1960, Ferranti were reportedly developing such fire control systems for foreign aircraft as well. HOTAS controls have become commonplace amongst the fighter aircraft of various nations. Various aircraft flown by the United States Air Force, including the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, feature such control systems.


title: HOTAS

text: Numerous cockpits of modern military aircraft have seen the HOTAS concept combined or enhanced by the use of further control technologies. One such example is the use of direct voice input; the combination of Voice and HOTAS control schemes has sometimes been referred to as the "V-TAS" concept. A prominent fighter aircraft to be furnished with a V-TAS cockpit is the Eurofighter Typhoon. Other examples includes the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, the Dassault Rafale and the Saab JAS 39 Gripen.


title: HOTAS

text: Another common enhancement has been the combination of helmet mounted display (HMD) systems. These commonly allow the pilot to control various systems using his line of sight, extending even to guiding missiles by simply looking at the target. One such HMD arrangement is the Soviet "Schlem" system, which has been used on both the Mikoyan MiG-29 and Sukhoi Su-27 fighter aircraft; another is used on the F-35, which dispenses with a traditional head-up display mounted on the dashboard in favour of displaying such data via the HMD, allowing pilots to see target info regardless of the direction they are facing.


title: HOTAS

text: Several car manufacturers have opted to integrate the HOTAS concept into the control systems of their vehicles. In the ordinary consumer market, a wide range of vehicles have had controls integrated into the steering wheel, typically for ancillary functions such as controlling the entertainment system, adjusting its cruise control and interacting with onboard computers and mobile phones. The purpose of such systems is that drivers can keep their hands upon the wheel, removing the need for the driver to look away from the road while still allowing such interactions to be performed.


title: HOTAS

text: Furthermore, numerous racecars have been produced with steering wheels configured to control various aspects of the car's systems, such as communications and gear shifting. Such vehicles have been frequently used in competitive racing, such as Formula One and the Indy Racing League.


title: HOTAS

text: Several game controllers have incorporated HOTAS-like control arrangements. Such controllers have been commonly used by flight simulators; one example is the Thrustmaster Warthog, which is claimed to be based on the A-10. Optional controllers for the Xbox One games console include a flight stick that has been described as having HOTAS functionality.


title: HOTAS

text: Several Ground Control Stations (GCS) have used HOTAS principles amongst their control schemes. Such stations are commonly used to remotely operate unmanned aerial vehicles.


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: Forte dei Marmi () is a sea town and "comune" in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany (Italy). It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013.


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: Tourism is the principal activity of Forte dei Marmi's citizens. The population of the town, amounting to some 7,700, nearly triples during the summer, because of the hundreds of tourists who mainly come from Florence, Milan, Germany, and Russia. Forte dei Marmi is one of the major destinations which attract the Italian upper class.


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: The city contains a gate built in a former bog, a historical artifact that relates to strategic planning by the ancient Roman army.


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: In Italian "Forte dei Marmi" means "Fort of the marbles". The town takes its name from the fortress that rises in the middle of the main square, built under Grand Duke Peter Leopold, who was to become Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1788. The fortress was built to defend the coast from outer attacks, but in the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century it became the place where the marble quarried from the Alpi Apuane (they are the same mountains of the famous marble of Carrara) was stocked before being sent to the pier for shipping.


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: During their expansion within the Italian territory, the Romans settled in Versilia. The army managed to overcome the people of Liguria in the 2nd century BC, under the skillful command of the proconsuls Publius Cornelius Cethegus and Marcus Baebius Tamphilus. The whole territory was centuriated to create new settlements for the colonies coming from Luni and Lucca. The silver lead and iron mines were exploited and the area became a strong economic resource. Between Querceta (Seravezza) and the Vaiana area, where Forte dei Marmi is currently located, there was a road that represented one of the axes of the Roman land centuriation (This road was later called "Via delle mordure", and to this day it bears this name).


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: Vaiana is mentioned in a document from 794 AD that registers the sale of a piece of land then called "Vaiano", where it was later discovered that there were springs that contributed to the waterlogging of the nearby countrysides.


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: In 1515 the marble quarries of the Versilian municipalities were donated to the Medici family; consequently new quarries were opened and a new road was laid out to bring the marble blocks down to the sea, where a pier was built.


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: In the mid-17th century, the Medici government decided to divert the flow of the river Versilia, to avoid the flooding of the town of Pietrasanta. A new course was laid so that the waters of the Versilia would overflow naturally in the swamps of lake Porta. This meant that the territories of Querceta and Vaiana had to be cut out of the river's trajectory. At about 1,500 meters, the river Versilia's new path crossed a road wanted and planned by Michelangelo, so a wooden bridge was built (this bridge was called "Ponte delle Tavole": "bridge made out of wooden planks").


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: Throughout the years, other canals were built and the area was reclaimed. The road became more and more important for the marble transportation.


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: The first stable settlement on the coast was called Caranna; it was not far from the watersprings of Vaiana. Later on, other settlements were built in what now is the current Forte dei Marmi city centre. Initially, the area was called "Magazzino del Ferro" (The Iron deposit) or "Magazzino della Magona" or "Magazzino dei Marmi" (The Marble deposit) because of the only building on the seashore. The whole district was also known as "Marina"; the county road that went from Querceta to the sea is to this day known as "Provinciale di Marina" (Marina county road).


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: In 1788 the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Peter Leopold II, commissioned the construction of a fort, the Forte Lorense, to defend the marble shipments and promote the territory. It was similar to the forts of Marina di Castagneto and Marina di Bibbona on the Maremman seaside.


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: The fort was completed on 6 February 1788. It was a defense point against pirate raids and it was also used as a deposit for the marble that came from the Apuane mountains to be shipped out to sea. Thus, the area began to be known as Forte dei Marmi (The Fortress of Marble).


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: In 1833 the Grand Ducal Government asked engineer Giovanni Franchi to reconstruct the Ponte delle Tavole (The bridge was destroyed in 1944, during the nazi invasion of Italy. It was later rebuilt in bricks).


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: In the meantime, the town of Forte dei Marmi was considered part of the municipality of Pietrasanta at the Unification of Italy in 1861. The touristic development at the beginning of the 20th century led to the birth of a city committee that asked for the detachment from Pietrasanta and planned on joining the town of Serravezza or on affirming its own independence. With the political support of Giovanni Montauti from Lucca, sponsored by the counts Siemens-Schuckert who owned most of the territory, Forte dei Marmi declared its autonomy as a separate "comune" on 26 April 1914.


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: Tourism in Forte dei Marmi started at the end of the 18th century when the rich families of the inland went to the coast to breathe healthy air and to sandbathe. At the beginning of the 19th century many wealthy families from Tuscany and the north of Italy started to choose this town for their summer holidays. Later on, also European families started to do so. Many notable people started to arrive in the area and the first villas were built in the pinewood near the sea. The first ones were Agnelli, Siemens, Giovanni Gentile, Thomas Mann, Renato Fucini, Italo Balbo, Curzio Malaparte, Enrico Pea, Aldous Huxley, Guglielmo Marconi, the writer Riccardo Bacchelli, the sculptor Henry Moore, Luchino Visconti and many Italian noble families. Artists meeting every day talking about arts and culture created a group called Quarto Platano. The Grand Hotel in Forte became an important place for the European high society and the hotel was chosen also from the Belgian royal family. Tourism increased after the Second World War, especially in the Sixties when more and more families love spending their summer and this lovely paradise. Many houses and hotels were built near the sea. In 1991 hotels were 101, most of them open only during the summer and some of them family-run businesses.


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: Today the area is still a destination for businessmen, managers, politicians, show-men, movie and sport stars. It is still a town immersed in the pinewood with a sandy beach. The number of hotels decreased from 101 in 1991 to 58 hotels today. However, the number of people that have bought vacation houses here has increased. Many of the area's hotels have been renovated and are now apartments, private villas or three and four star hotels. Today, the 58 hotels have a total of 1.965 rooms. In 2010 in Forte dei Marmi 109.379 tourists spend an average of 3.9 nights for a total of 428.352 visits. The total visits were 423.250 in 2009 and 450.800 in 2008. In 2010, 49% were foreign tourists, in 2009 45% and in 2008 46%. The majority of Italian tourists come from Tuscany, then Lombardia, Piemonte, Emilia Romagna and the fifth region is Lazio. The foreign tourists came from Germany, Russia, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland and the USA (ISTAT data).


title: Forte dei Marmi

text: The Fortress (Italian "Fortino"), after being employed as a postal service office, is now a museum of satirical art. It was damaged during a recent earthquake. Each Wednesday, a market is held which sells discounted designer clothes, leather goods, and other products.


title: Pierfrancesco Favino

text: Pierfrancesco Favino (; August 24, 1969) is an Italian actor, voice actor and producer. He has appeared in more than fifty European and American movies and television series since the early 1990s, including "The Prince of Homburg" (1997), "The Last Kiss" (2001), "" (2002), "The Keys to the House" (2004), "Romanzo Criminale" (2005), "The Unknown Woman" (2006), "Night at the Museum" (2006), "Saturn in Opposition" (2007), "" (2008), "Angels & Demons" (2009), "ACAB – All Cops Are Bastards" (2012) "" (2012), "World War Z" (2013), "Rush" (2013), "Suburra" (2015) and "The Traitor" (2019). In 2020, he won the Volpi Cup at Venice Film Festival for his performance in "Padrenostro".


title: Pierfrancesco Favino

text: Favino was born in Rome, Italy, to Apulian parents from Candela, a "comune" in the province of Foggia. He has appeared in more than 40 European films and television series since the early 1990s, including Paolo Poeti's "Amico mio", Gabriele Muccino's "The Last Kiss", Gianni Amelio's "The Keys to the House", Giuseppe Tornatore's "The Unknown Woman" and Ferzan Özpetek's "Saturn in Opposition". In 1999 he starred in the HBO film "Excellent Cadavers", an adaptation of Alexander Stille's novel of the same name. In 2006 he received the David di Donatello award - the Italian equivalent of the Oscar - for his role in the crime film "Romanzo Criminale", directed by Michele Placido.


title: Pierfrancesco Favino

text: In 2006 he portrayed Christopher Columbus in Twentieth Century Fox's "Night at the Museum". In 2008 he played General Glozelle, the leader of Miraz's Telmarine troops in "". He has worked with American director Ron Howard twice: in the 2009 film "Angels & Demons", the adaptation of the novel of the same name by Dan Brown, in which he played the role of Inspector Ernesto Olivetti, and in the 2013 film "Rush", in which he played the role of Formula One racing car driver Clay Regazzoni.


title: Pierfrancesco Favino

text: Other significant roles include the partisan leader Peppi Grotta in Spike Lee's "Miracle at St. Anna" in 2008, the sadistic riot control force policeman Cobra in Stefano Sollima's "ACAB – All Cops Are Bastards" in 2012, the anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli in Marco Tullio Giordana's "", and the W.H.O. doctor in Marc Forster's apocalyptic-horror "World War Z" (2013).


title: Pierfrancesco Favino

text: In February 2018, he co-hosted the 68th edition of the Sanremo Music Festival, alongside Claudio Baglioni and Michelle Hunziker.


title: Pierfrancesco Favino

text: Favino has been in a relationship with Italian actress Anna Ferzetti since 2003. The couple have two daughters together, one born in 2006 and the other born in 2012.


title: 2021 Seattle Seahawks season

text: The 2021 season was the Seattle Seahawks' 46th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 20th playing their home games at their current venue, Lumen Field, as well as their 12th under head coach Pete Carroll.


title: 2021 Seattle Seahawks season

text: This was the Seahawks’ first season since 2010 without long-time linebacker K. J. Wright, as he signed with the Las Vegas Raiders on September 2.


title: 2021 Seattle Seahawks season

text: The Seahawks failed to improve on last year's 12–4 record after their Week 7 loss to the New Orleans Saints, and after their 10–20 loss to the rival Los Angeles Rams in Week 15, the Seahawks suffered their first losing season since 2011, and their first and only losing season in the Russell Wilson era. Following their Week 16 loss to the Chicago Bears, the Seahawks suffered their first double digit losing season since 2009, finished last in their division for the first time since 1996 when they played in the AFC West, and were eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 2017.


title: 2021 Seattle Seahawks season

text: The Seahawks continued to struggle defensively from the previous year ranking dead last in total yards allowed, giving up a total of 2,254 yards in the first five games of season and were on pace to give up the most yards in a season in NFL history for the second straight year. Overall, the Seahawks allowed 6,445 yards, or 379.1 per game. Russell Wilson also missed a game for the first time in his career, missing three games after injuring his middle finger in Week 5 against the Rams.


title: 2021 Seattle Seahawks season

text: It was also the last season with quarterback Russell Wilson and linebacker Bobby Wagner on the roster. Wagner was released on March 9, 2022, and signed a five-year contract worth up to $65 million with the defending Super Bowl LVI champion Los Angeles Rams on March 31, while Wilson was traded to the Denver Broncos along with a 4th round pick for quarterback Drew Lock, defensive lineman Shelby Harris, tight end Noah Fant, two first-round picks, two second-round picks & a fifth round pick on March 16. Both were the last remaining members from their 2013 Super Bowl-winning season on the roster.


title: 2021 Seattle Seahawks season

text: This was the first time the Seahawks were shutout in a game since Week 2 of the 2011 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Russell Wilson return from finger injury.


title: 2021 Seattle Seahawks season

text: With the loss, the Seahawks were eliminated from the playoff contention for the first time since 2017.


title: 2021 Seattle Seahawks season

text: That is the last game that Russell Wilson is a Seahawks Quarterback because the following season, he got traded to the Denver Broncos for their 2022 season.


title: Eggplant emoji

text: The Eggplant emoji (🍆), also known by its Unicode name of Aubergine, is an emoji featuring a purple eggplant. It is one of the most commonly used emojis on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Social media users have noted the emoji's phallic appearance and often use it as a euphemistic or suggestive icon during sexting conversations.


title: Eggplant emoji

text: The "eggplant" emoji was originally included in proprietary emoji sets from SoftBank Mobile and au by KDDI. When Apple released the first iPhone in 2007, there was an emoji keyboard intended for Japanese users only, which encoded them using SoftBank's Private Use Area scheme. However, after iPhone users in the United States discovered that downloading Japanese apps allowed access to the keyboard, pressure grew to expand the availability of the emoji keyboard beyond Japan.


title: Eggplant emoji

text: As part of a set of characters sourced from SoftBank, au by KDDI, and NTT Docomo emoji sets, the eggplant emoji was approved as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010 under the name "Aubergine". In 2011, Apple made the emoji keyboard a standard iOS feature worldwide. Global popularity of emojis then surged in the early to mid-2010s.


title: Eggplant emoji

text: The eggplant emoji has been included in the Unicode Technical Standard for emoji (UTS #51) since its first edition (Emoji 1.0) in 2015.


title: Eggplant emoji

text: The "aubergine" or "eggplant" emoji is commonly used to represent a penis in sexting conversations. This usage has been noted to be common particularly in the United States, as well as in Canada. In line with the eggplant emoji's common usage in sexual contexts, Emojipedia noted that the emoji is popularly paired with the peach emoji (🍑), which is often used to represent a buttocks or female genitalia.


title: Eggplant emoji

text: The emoji was used as a reference to penis on Twitter as early as 2011. By the mid-2010s, online magazine outlets wrote about how the emoji's usage in sexual contexts morphed society's connotations of the eggplant "from an innocuous vegetable to America's favorite shorthand for a throbbing cock." "Slate" writer Amanda Hess stated that "the eggplant has risen to become America's dominant phallic fruit." Writing for "Cosmopolitan", Kathryn Lindsay stated that "this simple, previously neglected vegetable rocketed into stardom in a matter of years, thanks to our collective decision to deem it the universal symbol for dick."


title: Eggplant emoji

text: In 2018, Dictionary.com became the first major reference to add explanations for emojis, although these explanations are only included on the editorial section of the website.


title: Eggplant emoji

text: The eggplant emoji has been referenced by popular culture numerous times. In 2017, Netflix won a bidding war to distribute a film titled "The Eggplant Emoji". The film was ultimately renamed "The Package". In 2019, the cosmetics retailer Lush sold bath bombs resembling the eggplant emoji for Valentine's Day. The company expanded their eggplant and peach emoji-themed product line the following year.


title: Eggplant emoji

text: As early as 2013, online media outlets have commented on the eggplant emoji's resemblance to a penis, with "Complex" listing it as one of "10 emojis to send while sexting."


title: Eggplant emoji

text: In April 2015, Instagram released a feature allowing users to hashtag emojis. Shortly after, the platform banned the hashtag "🍆", as well as any references to "eggplant" from its search function. Later in 2019, Facebook and Instagram both banned using the eggplant or peach emojis alongside "sexual statements about being horny."


title: Eggplant emoji

text: In 2016, the eggplant emoji's widespread usage as sexual innuendo led the American Dialect Society to vote it as the "Most Notable Emoji" of 2015.


title: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

text: The 2019 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game that was played on February 17, 2019, during the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2018–19 season. It was the 68th edition of the NBA All-Star Game, and was played at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the home of the Charlotte Hornets. Team LeBron defeated Team Giannis, 178–164. This was the second time that the NBA All-Star Game format was not Eastern Conference versus Western Conference. Charlotte was announced as host on May 24, 2017. This was the second time that Charlotte hosted the All-Star Game; the first time was in 1991, at the Hornets' previous home arena Charlotte Coliseum.


title: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

text: Charlotte was originally selected to host the 2017 All-Star Game, but it was moved to New Orleans that year because of controversy surrounding North Carolina's Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act. The 2019 game was televised by TNT for the 17th straight year, while a special “Players Only” alternate telecast was aired on TBS.


title: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

text: The two teams were coached from their respective conference. Mike Budenholzer, coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, was named as the head coach for Team Giannis. Michael Malone, coach of the Denver Nuggets, was named as the head coach for Team LeBron. It marks the first time since the 2008 NBA All-Star Game where both coaches did not have a playoff berth during the previous season.


title: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

text: The rosters for the All-Star Game are selected through a voting process. The NBA partnered with Google and Twitter counting hashtags as fan votes. The starters were chosen by the fans, media, and current NBA players. Fans made up 50% of the vote, and NBA players and media each comprised 25% of the vote. The two guards and three frontcourt players who received the highest cumulative vote totals were named the All-Star starters. NBA head coaches will vote for the reserves for their respective conferences, none of which can be players from their own team. Each coach selects two guards, three frontcourt players and two wild cards, with each selected player ranked in order of preference within each category. If a multi-position player is to be selected, coaches are encouraged to vote for the player at the position that was "most advantageous for the All-Star team", regardless of where the player was listed on the All-Star ballot or the position he was listed in box scores.


title: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

text: The All-Star Game starters were announced on January 24, 2019. Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics and Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets were named the backcourt starters in the East, earning their sixth and third all-star appearances, respectively. Kawhi Leonard of the Toronto Raptors and Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks were named the frontcourt starters in the East, both earning their third all-star appearances. Joining in the East frontcourt was Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers, his second selection.


title: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

text: Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and James Harden of the Houston Rockets were named to the starting backcourt in the West, earning their sixth and seventh all-star appearances, respectively. In the frontcourt, Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors was named to his tenth career all-star game, along with Paul George of the Oklahoma City Thunder and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers, their sixth and 15th all-star selections, respectively.


title: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

text: The All-Star Game reserves were announced on January 31, 2019. The West reserves include Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder, his eighth selection, Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors, his fifth selection, LaMarcus Aldridge of the San Antonio Spurs, his seventh selection, Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers, his fourth selection, Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans, his sixth selection, Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets, his first selection, and Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, his second selection.


title: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

text: The East reserves include Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors, his fifth selection, Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks, his first selection, Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards, his second selection, Victor Oladipo of the Indiana Pacers, his second selection, Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers, his first selection, Nikola Vučević of the Orlando Magic, his first selection, and Blake Griffin of the Detroit Pistons, his sixth selection.


title: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

text: On February 1, 2019, Commissioner Adam Silver named Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki as special team roster additions for the game, citing their contributions to the game. They were selected in the final round of the 2019 All-Star Draft, making each roster consist of 13 players.


title: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

text: The draft took place on February 7, 2019, and was televised by TNT. This was the first time that the All-Star Game Draft was televised, after the league was criticized for not televising the draft the previous year. LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo were named as captains for receiving the most votes from the West and East, respectively. The first eight players drafted are starters. The next 14 players (seven from each conference) were chosen by NBA head coaches. The final two selections were selected from the special team roster additions to the game. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will select the replacement for any player unable to participate in the All-Star Game, choosing a player from the same conference as the player who is being replaced. Silver's selection would join the team that drafted the replaced player. If a replaced player is a starter, the head coach of that team will choose a new starter from his cast of players instead.


title: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

text: James picked Kevin Durant with his first pick, and Antetokounmpo picked Stephen Curry second. After the draft, James traded 16th pick Russell Westbrook to Antetokounmpo for 13th pick Ben Simmons. Team Giannis was the home team due to the Eastern Conference having home team status for the game.


title: 2019 NBA All-Star Game

text: The 2019 All-Star Weekend began on Thursday, February 14, 2019, with the annual "NBA on TNT American Express Road Show", a live broadcast of "Inside the NBA" that took place at The Fillmore Charlotte in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was hosted by Ernie Johnson Jr., Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O'Neal, with special performances by Chris Tucker (Thursday) and Rae Sremmurd (Friday).


title: Jonjoe Kenny

text: Jonjoe Kenny (born 15 March 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Bundesliga club Hertha BSC. He came through the youth system of Everton, where he had been a professional since July 2014.


title: Jonjoe Kenny

text: Kenny signed on loan for League One side Wigan Athletic on 21 July 2015. Having played seven times for the first team, he returned to Everton at the end of the loan, despite Wigan manager Gary Caldwell expressing a desire to extend the deal. On 27 January 2016, Kenny joined Oxford United of League Two, initially on a one-month loan, later extended to the end of the season.


title: Jonjoe Kenny

text: He made his Premier League debut for Everton, coming on as a substitute for Matthew Pennington against Norwich City, on 15 May 2016. His second Premier League appearance was again as a substitute, for Mason Holgate against Swansea City on 6 May 2017.


title: Jonjoe Kenny

text: Kenny began the 2017/18 season as fourth choice under Ronald Koeman, however soon impressed when given his chance. He made his first Premier League start on 22 October at home to Arsenal in a 5–2 defeat. Following Koeman's sacking, he made 13 consecutive starts in the league, playing in 16 out of 19 games from October until the return of Seamus Coleman in January. He played 25 games in all competitions.


title: Jonjoe Kenny

text: The following season began with Kenny as back up to Coleman, before impressing as the Irishman suffered with a foot injury. He played four Premier League games in a row. Following the win away to Leicester on 6 October, he was dropped out of the starting XI and didn't play again until New Year's Day, again against Leicester, this time in a 1–0 defeat. He kept his place for an FA Cup 3rd round win over Lincoln City. He returned the XI on 28 January in a 1–0 victory over Huddersfield Town, coming on as a makeshift left back for the final 20 minutes, following an injury to Leighton Baines and a red card for his substitute Lucas Digne. He continued at left back against Wolves four days later, coming on for Leighton Baines on the 20th minute. After impressing, he played the following two matches against Man City and Watford in which he picked up the Man of the Match award.


title: Jonjoe Kenny

text: Kenny signed for Bundesliga team Schalke 04 in June 2019 on a season-long loan. He scored for "Die Knappen" on his third Bundesliga appearance and was awarded the August 2019 Rookie of the Month award. He made 31 league appearance in 2019-20, scoring twice., before returning to Everton at the end of the season.


title: Jonjoe Kenny

text: Kenny only made eight appearances for Everton in 2020-21 before again going out on loan. He joined Scottish Premiership side Celtic in February 2021 until the end of the season. Despite being offered a new contract at the end of the 2021–22 season, Kenny opted to leave Everton upon the expiration of his contract, signing a contract to join Hertha BSC through the 2025 season.


title: Jonjoe Kenny

text: In May 2014, Kenny was part of the England under-17 side that won the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. In the final, Kenny converted the match-winning penalty in the penalty shoot-out against the Netherlands. He was named in UEFA's team of the tournament.


title: Jonjoe Kenny

text: Kenny was a member of the England squad for the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, starting in the semi-final defeat against Italy.


title: Jonjoe Kenny

text: Kenny was selected for the England under-20 team in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He played in all seven matches of the tournament. In the final England beat Venezuela 1–0, which is England's first win in a global tournament since their World Cup victory of 1966.


title: Jonjoe Kenny

text: In May 2019, Kenny was named in the England Under-21 squad for the UEFA European U-21 Championship in Italy and San Marino. Kenny was among three Everton players that were named as Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Kieran Dowell were also included in the 23-man squad. Kenny scored a stunning strike and England's third during a 3–3 draw with Croatia at the San Marino Stadium on 24 June 2019.


title: Plautus

text: Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus. The word Plautine refers to both Plautus's own works and works similar to or influenced by his.


title: Plautus

text: Not much is known about Titus Maccius Plautus's early life. It is believed that he was born in Sarsina, a small town in Emilia Romagna in northern Italy, around 254 BC. According to Morris Marples, Plautus worked as a stage-carpenter or scene-shifter in his early years. It is from this work, perhaps, that his love of the theater originated. His acting talent was eventually discovered; and he adopted the names "Maccius" (a clownish stock-character in popular farces) and "Plautus" (a term meaning either "flat-footed" or "flat-eared", like the ears of a hound). Tradition holds that he made enough money to go into the nautical business, but that the venture collapsed. He is then said to have worked as a manual laborer and to have studied Greek drama—particularly the New Comedy of Menander—in his leisure. His studies allowed him to produce his plays, which were released between c. 205 and 184 BC. Plautus attained such popularity that his name alone became a hallmark of theatrical success.


title: Plautus

text: Plautus's comedies are mostly adapted from Greek models for a Roman audience, and are often based directly on the works of the Greek playwrights. He reworked the Greek texts to give them a flavour that would appeal to the local Roman audiences. They are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature.


title: Plautus

text: The oldest manuscript of Plautus is a palimpsest, known as the Ambrosian palimpsest (A), dating to the 3rd or 4th century, but not discovered until 1815. This manuscript is only partly legible, since the parchment was cleaned and a copy of the books of Kings and Chronicles was written on top. Plays beginning in letters early in the alphabet have very poor texts (e.g. the end of "Aulularia" and start of "Bacchides" are lost), plays with letters in the middle of the alphabet have better texts, while only traces survive of the play "Vidularia".


title: Plautus

text: A second manuscript tradition is represented by manuscripts of the Palatine family, so called because two of its most important manuscripts were once kept in the library of the Elector Palatine in Heidelberg in Germany. The archetype of this family is now lost but it can be reconstructed from various later manuscripts, some of them containing either only the first half or the second half of the plays. The most important manuscript of this group is "B", of the 10th or early 11th century, now kept in the Vatican library. Manuscripts C and D also belong to this family.


title: Plautus

text: At some stage the plays in the P family were divided into two halves, one containing "Amphitruo" to "Epidicus" (omitting "Bacchides"), and the other containing "Bacchides" and "Menaechmi" to "Truculentus". The first eight plays are found in B, and the first three and part of "Captivi" are found in D. The last twelve plays are found in B, C, and D. In addition there was once a fragmentary manuscript called the Codex Turnebi (T), which was used by a French scholar called Turnèbe in the 16th century. Although this manuscript is now lost, some readings from it were preserved by Turnèbe himself, and others were recorded in the margins of a 16th-century edition discovered by Lindsay in the Bodleian Library Oxford.


title: Plautus

text: There are certain indications (for example, small gaps in the text where there appears to have been in a hole or in the parchment) that the original P manuscript must have had 19, 20 or 21 lines to the page, in other words it was a book very similar to A, which has 19 lines to the page, and probably it was about the same age. However, the order of plays in A is slightly different from that in the P family of manuscripts. The names at the top of the scenes in A, which were written in red ink, have been totally washed away, and those in the P family seem to be based on guesswork and so were probably missing in the lost P codex. For this reason the names of some of the minor characters are not known.


title: Plautus

text: The historical context within which Plautus wrote can be seen, to some extent, in his comments on contemporary events and persons. Plautus was a popular comedic playwright while Roman theatre was still in its infancy and still largely undeveloped. At the same time, the Roman Republic was expanding in power and influence.


title: Plautus

text: Plautus was sometimes accused of teaching the public indifference and mockery of the gods. Any character in his plays could be compared to a god. Whether to honour a character or to mock him, these references were demeaning to the gods. These references to the gods include a character comparing a mortal woman to a god, or saying he would rather be loved by a woman than by the gods. Pyrgopolynices from "Miles Gloriosus" (vs. 1265), in bragging about his long life, says he was born one day later than Jupiter. In "Curculio", Phaedrome says "I am a God" when he first meets with Planesium. In "Pseudolus," Jupiter is compared to Ballio the pimp. It is not uncommon, too, for a character to scorn the gods, as seen in "Poenulus" and "Rudens".


title: Plautus

text: However, when a character scorns a god, it is usually a character of low standing, such as a pimp. Plautus perhaps does this to demoralize the characters. Soldiers often bring ridicule among the gods. Young men, meant to represent the upper social class, often belittle the gods in their remarks. Parasites, pimps, and courtesans often praise the gods with scant ceremony.


title: Plautus

text: Tolliver argues that drama both reflects and foreshadows social change. It is likely that there was already much skepticism about the gods in Plautus' era. Plautus did not make up or encourage irreverence to the gods, but reflected ideas of his time. The state controlled stage productions, and Plautus' plays would have been banned, had they been too risqué.


title: Plautus

text: The Second Punic War occurred from 218 to 201 BC; its central event was Hannibal's invasion of Italy. M. Leigh has devoted an extensive chapter about Plautus and Hannibal in his 2004 book, "Comedy and the Rise of Rome". He says that "the plays themselves contain occasional references to the fact that the state is at arms...". One good example is a piece of verse from the "Miles Gloriosus," the composition date of which is not clear but which is often placed in the last decade of the 3rd century BC. A. F. West believes that this is inserted commentary on the Second Punic War. In his article "On a Patriotic Passage in the "Miles Gloriosus" of Plautus", he states that the war "engrossed the Romans more than all other public interests combined". The passage seems intended to rile up the audience, beginning with "hostis tibi adesse", or "the foe is near at hand".


title: Plautus

text: At the time, the general Scipio Africanus wanted to confront Hannibal, a plan "strongly favored by the plebs". Plautus apparently pushes for the plan to be approved by the senate, working his audience up with the thought of an enemy in close proximity and a call to outmaneuver him. Therefore, it is reasonable to say that Plautus, according to P. B. Harvey, was "willing to insert [into his plays] highly specific allusions comprehensible to the audience". M. Leigh writes in his chapter on Plautus and Hannibal that "the Plautus who emerges from this investigation is one whose comedies persistently touch the rawest nerves in the audience for whom he writes".


title: Plautus

text: Later, coming off the heels of the conflict with Hannibal, Rome was preparing to embark on another military mission, this time in Greece. While they would eventually move on Philip V in the Second Macedonian War, there was considerable debate beforehand about the course Rome should take in this conflict. But starting this war would not be an easy task considering those recent struggles with Carthage—many Romans were too tired of conflict to think of embarking on another campaign. As W. M. Owens writes in his article "Plautus' "Stichus" and the Political Crisis of 200 B.C.", "There is evidence that antiwar feeling ran deep and persisted even after the war was approved." Owens contends that Plautus was attempting to match the complex mood of the Roman audience riding the victory of the Second Punic War but facing the beginning of a new conflict. For instance, the characters of the dutiful daughters and their father seem obsessed over the idea of "officium", the duty one has to do what is right. Their speech is littered with words such as "pietas" and "aequus", and they struggle to make their father fulfill his proper role. The stock parasite in this play, Gelasimus, has a patron-client relationship with this family and offers to do any job in order to make ends meet; Owens puts forward that Plautus is portraying the economic hardship many Roman citizens were experiencing due to the cost of war.


title: Plautus

text: With the repetition of responsibility to the desperation of the lower class, Plautus establishes himself firmly on the side of the average Roman citizen. While he makes no specific reference to the possible war with Greece or the previous war (that might be too dangerous), he does seem to push the message that the government should take care of its own people before attempting any other military actions.


title: Plautus

text: Greek New Comedy greatly differs from those plays of Aristophanes. The most notable difference, according to Dana F. Sutton, is that New Comedy, in comparison to Old Comedy, is "devoid of a serious political, social or intellectual content" and "could be performed in any number of social and political settings without risk of giving offense". The risk-taking for which Aristophanes is known is noticeably lacking in the New Comedy plays of Menander. Instead, there is much more of a focus on the home and the family unit—something that the Romans, including Plautus, could easily understand and adopt for themselves later in history.


title: Plautus

text: One main theme of Greek New Comedy is the father–son relationship. For example, in Menander's "Dis Exapaton" there is a focus on the betrayal between age groups and friends. The father-son relationship is very strong and the son remains loyal to the father. The relationship is always a focus, even if it's not the focus of every action taken by the main characters. In Plautus, on the other hand, the focus is still on the relationship between father and son, but we see betrayal between the two men that wasn't seen in Menander. There is a focus on the proper conduct between a father and son that, apparently, was so important to Roman society at the time of Plautus.


title: Plautus

text: This becomes the main difference and, also, similarity between Menander and Plautus. They both address "situations that tend to develop in the bosom of the family". Both authors, through their plays, reflect a patriarchal society in which the father-son relationship is essential to proper function and development of the household. It is no longer a political statement, as in Old Comedy, but a statement about household relations and proper behavior between a father and his son. But the attitudes on these relationships seem much different—a reflection of how the worlds of Menander and Plautus differed.


title: Plautus

text: There are differences not just in how the father-son relationship is presented, but also in the way in which Menander and Plautus write their poetry. William S. Anderson discusses the believability of Menander versus the believability of Plautus and, in essence, says that Plautus' plays are much less believable than those plays of Menander because they seem to be such a farce in comparison. He addresses them as a reflection of Menander with some of Plautus' own contributions. Anderson claims that there is unevenness in the poetry of Plautus that results in "incredulity and refusal of sympathy of the audience."


title: Plautus

text: The poetry of Menander and Plautus is best juxtaposed in their prologues. Robert B. Lloyd makes the point that "albeit the two prologues introduce plays whose plots are of essentially different types, they are almost identical in form..." He goes on to address the specific style of Plautus that differs so greatly from Menander. He says that the "verbosity of the Plautine prologues has often been commented upon and generally excused by the necessity of the Roman playwright to win his audience." However, in both Menander and Plautus, word play is essential to their comedy. Plautus might seem more verbose, but where he lacks in physical comedy he makes up for it with words, alliteration and paronomasia (punning). See also "jokes and wordplay" below.


title: Plautus

text: Plautus is well known for his devotion to puns, especially when it comes to the names of his characters. In "Miles Gloriosus", for instance, the female concubine's name, Philocomasium, translates to "lover of a good party"—which is quite apt when we learn about the tricks and wild ways of this prostitute.


title: Plautus

text: Plautus' characters—many of which seem to crop up in quite a few of his plays—also came from Greek stock, though they too received some Plautine innovations. Indeed, since Plautus was adapting these plays it would be difficult not to have the same kinds of characters—roles such as slaves, concubines, soldiers, and old men. By working with the characters that were already there but injecting his own creativity, as J.C.B. Lowe wrote in his article "Aspects of Plautus' Originality in the Asinaria", "Plautus could substantially modify the characterization, and thus the whole emphasis of a play."


title: Plautus

text: One of the best examples of this method is the Plautine slave, a form that plays a major role in quite a few of Plautus' works. The "clever slave" in particular is a very strong character; he not only provides exposition and humor, but also often drives the plot in Plautus' plays. C. Stace argues that Plautus took the stock slave character from New Comedy in Greece and altered it for his own purposes. In New Comedy, he writes, "the slave is often not much more than a comedic turn, with the added purpose, perhaps, of exposition". This shows that there was precedent for this slave archetype, and obviously some of its old role continues in Plautus (the expository monologues, for instance). However, because Plautus found humor in slaves tricking their masters or comparing themselves to great heroes, he took the character a step further and created something distinct.


title: Plautus

text: Of the approximate 270 proper names in the surviving plays of Plautus, about 250 names are Greek. William M. Seaman proposes that these Greek names would have delivered a comic punch to the audience because of its basic understanding of the Greek language. This previous understanding of Greek language, Seaman suggests, comes from the "experience of Roman soldiers during the first and second Punic wars. Not only did men billeted in Greek areas have opportunity to learn sufficient Greek for the purpose of everyday conversation, but they were also able to see plays in the foreign tongue." Having an audience with knowledge of the Greek language, whether limited or more expanded, allowed Plautus more freedom to use Greek references and words. Also, by using his many Greek references and showing that his plays were originally Greek, "It is possible that Plautus was in a way a teacher of Greek literature, myth, art and philosophy; so too was he teaching something of the nature of Greek words to people, who, like himself, had recently come into closer contact with that foreign tongue and all its riches."


title: Plautus

text: At the time of Plautus, Rome was expanding, and having much success in Greece. W.S. Anderson has commented that Plautus "is using and abusing Greek comedy to imply the superiority of Rome, in all its crude vitality, over the Greek world, which was now the political dependent of Rome, whose effete comic plots helped explain why the Greeks proved inadequate in the real world of the third and second centuries, in which the Romans exercised mastery".


title: Plautus

text: Plautus was known for the use of Greek style in his plays, as part of the tradition of the variation on a theme. This has been a point of contention among modern scholars. One argument states that Plautus writes with originality and creativity—the other, that Plautus is a copycat of Greek New Comedy and that he makes no original contribution to playwriting.


title: Plautus

text: A single reading of the "Miles Gloriosus" leaves the reader with the notion that the names, place, and play are all Greek, but one must look beyond these superficial interpretations. W.S. Anderson would steer any reader away from the idea that Plautus' plays are somehow not his own or at least only his interpretation. Anderson says that, "Plautus homogenizes all the plays as vehicles for his special exploitation. Against the spirit of the Greek original, he engineers events at the end... or alter[s] the situation to fit his expectations." Anderson's vehement reaction to the co-opting of Greek plays by Plautus seems to suggest that they are in no way like their originals were. It seems more likely that Plautus was just experimenting putting Roman ideas in Greek forms.


title: Plautus

text: One idea that is important to recognize is that of "contaminatio", which refers to the mixing of elements of two or more source plays. Plautus, it seems, is quite open to this method of adaptation, and quite a few of his plots seem stitched together from different stories. One excellent example is his "Bacchides" and its supposed Greek predecessor, Menander's "Dis Exapaton." The original Greek title translates as "The Man Deceiving Twice", yet the Plautine version has three tricks. V. Castellani commented that:


title: Plautus

text: Plautus' attack on the genre whose material he pirated was, as already stated, fourfold. He deconstructed many of the Greek plays' finely constructed plots; he reduced some, exaggerated others of the nicely drawn characters of Menander and of Menander's contemporaries and followers into caricatures; he substituted for or superimposed upon the elegant humor of his models his own more vigorous, more simply ridiculous foolery in action, in statement, even in language.


title: Plautus

text: By exploring ideas about Roman loyalty, Greek deceit, and differences in ethnicity, "Plautus in a sense surpassed his model." He was not content to rest solely on a loyal adaptation that, while amusing, was not new or engaging for Rome. Plautus took what he found but again made sure to expand, subtract, and modify. He seems to have followed the same path that Horace did, though Horace is much later, in that he is putting Roman ideas in Greek forms. He not only imitated the Greeks, but in fact distorted, cut up, and transformed the plays into something entirely Roman. In essence it is Greek theater colonized by Rome and its playwrights.


title: Plautus

text: In Ancient Greece during the time of New Comedy, from which Plautus drew so much of his inspiration, there were permanent theaters that catered to the audience as well as the actor. The greatest playwrights of the day had quality facilities in which to present their work and, in a general sense, there was always enough public support to keep the theater running and successful. However, this was not the case in Rome during the time of the Republic, when Plautus wrote his plays. While there was public support for theater and people came to enjoy tragedy and comedy alike, no permanent theater existed in Rome until Pompey dedicated one in 55 BC in the Campus Martius.


title: Plautus

text: The lack of a permanent space was a key factor in Roman theater and Plautine stagecraft. In their introduction to the "Miles Gloriosus," Hammond, Mack and Moskalew say that "the Romans were acquainted with the Greek stone theater, but, because they believed drama to be a demoralizing influence, they had a strong aversion to the erection of permanent theaters". This worry rings true when considering the subject matter of Plautus' plays. The unreal becomes reality on stage in his work. T. J. Moore notes that, "all distinction between the play, production, and 'real life' has been obliterated [Plautus' play "Curculio"]". A place where social norms were upended was inherently suspect. The aristocracy was afraid of the power of the theater. It was merely by their good graces and unlimited resources that a temporary stage would have been built during specific festivals.


title: Plautus

text: Roman drama, specifically Plautine comedy, was acted out on stage during the "ludi" or festival games. In his discussion of the importance of the "ludi Megalenses" in early Roman theater, John Arthur Hanson says that this particular festival "provided more days for dramatic representations than any of the other regular festivals, and it is in connection with these "ludi" that the most definite and secure literary evidence for the site of scenic games has come down to us". Because the "ludi" were religious in nature, it was appropriate for the Romans to set up this temporary stage close to the temple of the deity being celebrated. S.M. Goldberg notes that ""ludi" were generally held within the precinct of the particular god being honored."


title: Plautus

text: T. J. Moore notes that "seating in the temporary theaters where Plautus' plays were first performed was often insufficient for all those who wished to see the play, that the primary criterion for determining who was to stand and who could sit was social status". This is not to say that the lower classes did not see the plays; but they probably had to stand while watching. Plays were performed in public, for the public, with the most prominent members of the society in the forefront.


title: Plautus

text: The wooden stages on which Plautus' plays appeared were shallow and long with three openings in respect to the scene-house. The stages were significantly smaller than any Greek structure familiar to modern scholars. Because theater was not a priority during Plautus' time, the structures were built and dismantled within a day. Even more practically, they were dismantled quickly due to their potential as fire-hazards.


title: Plautus

text: Often the geography of the stage and more importantly the play matched the geography of the city so that the audience would be well oriented to the locale of the play. Moore says that, "references to Roman locales must have been stunning for they are not merely references to things Roman, but the most blatant possible reminders that the production occurs in the city of Rome". So, Plautus seems to have choreographed his plays somewhat true-to-life. To do this, he needed his characters to exit and enter to or from whatever area their social standing would befit.