title: Radiation pressure

text: where formula_3 is pressure (usually in Pascals), formula_4 is the incident irradiance (usually in W/m) and formula_5 is the speed of light in vacuum. Here, .


title: Radiation pressure

text: If the surface is planar at an angle α to the incident wave, the intensity across the surface will be geometrically reduced by the cosine of that angle and the component of the radiation force against the surface will also be reduced by the cosine of α, resulting in a pressure:


title: Radiation pressure

text: The momentum from the incident wave is in the same direction of that wave. But only the component of that momentum normal to the surface contributes to the pressure on the surface, as given above. The component of that force tangent to the surface is not called pressure.


title: Radiation pressure

text: The above treatment for an incident wave accounts for the radiation pressure experienced by a black (totally absorbing) body. If the wave is specularly reflected, then the recoil due to the reflected wave will further contribute to the radiation pressure. In the case of a perfect reflector, this pressure will be identical to the pressure caused by the incident wave:


title: Radiation pressure

text: For a partially reflective surface, the second term must be multiplied by the reflectivity (also known as reflection coefficient of intensity), so that the increase is less than double. For a diffusely reflective surface, the details of the reflection and geometry must be taken into account, again resulting in an increased net radiation pressure of less than double.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Just as a wave reflected from a body contributes to the net radiation pressure experienced, a body that emits radiation of its own (rather than reflected) obtains a radiation pressure again given by the irradiance of that emission "in the direction normal to the surface" "I":


title: Radiation pressure

text: The emission can be from black-body radiation or any other radiative mechanism. Since all materials emit black-body radiation (unless they are totally reflective or at absolute zero), this source for radiation pressure is ubiquitous but usually tiny. However, because black-body radiation increases rapidly with temperature (as the fourth power of temperature, given by the Stefan–Boltzmann law), radiation pressure due to the temperature of a very hot object (or due to incoming black-body radiation from similarly hot surroundings) can become significant. This is important in stellar interiors.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Electromagnetic radiation can be viewed in terms of particles rather than waves; these particles are known as photons. Photons do not have a rest-mass; however, photons are never at rest (they move at the speed of light) and acquire a momentum nonetheless which is given by:


title: Radiation pressure

text: where "p" is momentum, "h" is Planck's constant, λ is wavelength, and "c" is speed of light in vacuum. And "E" is the energy of a single photon given by:


title: Radiation pressure

text: The radiation pressure again can be seen as the transfer of each photon's momentum to the opaque surface, plus the momentum due to a (possible) recoil photon for a (partially) reflecting surface. Since an incident wave of irradiance "I" over an area "A" has a power of "IA", this implies a flux of "I/E" photons per second per unit area striking the surface. Combining this with the above expression for the momentum of a single photon, results in the same relationships between irradiance and radiation pressure described above using classical electromagnetics. And again, reflected or otherwise emitted photons will contribute to the net radiation pressure identically.


title: Radiation pressure

text: In general, the pressure of electromagnetic waves can be obtained from the vanishing of the trace of the electromagnetic stress tensor: since this trace equals 3"P" − "u", we get


title: Radiation pressure

text: This can also be shown in the specific case of the pressure exerted on surfaces of a body in thermal equilibrium with its surroundings, at a temperature "T": the body will be surrounded by a uniform radiation field described by the Planck black-body radiation law and will experience a compressive pressure due to that impinging radiation, its reflection, and its own black-body emission. From that it can be shown that the resulting pressure is equal to one third of the total radiant energy per unit volume in the surrounding space.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Solar radiation pressure is due to the Sun's radiation at closer distances, thus especially within the Solar System. (The radiation pressure of sunlight on Earth is very small: it is equivalent to that exerted by about a thousandth of a gram on an area of 1 square metre, or 10 μN/m.) While it acts on all objects, its net effect is generally greater on smaller bodies, since they have a larger ratio of surface area to mass. All spacecraft experience such a pressure, except when they are behind the shadow of a larger orbiting body.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Solar radiation pressure on objects near the Earth may be calculated using the Sun's irradiance at 1 AU, known as the solar constant, or "G", whose value is set at 1361 W/m as of 2011.


title: Radiation pressure

text: All stars have a spectral energy distribution that depends on their surface temperature. The distribution is approximately that of black-body radiation. This distribution must be taken into account when calculating the radiation pressure or identifying reflector materials for optimizing a solar sail, for instance.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Momentary or hours long solar pressures can indeed escalate due to release of solar flares and coronal mass ejections, but effects remain essentially immeasureable in relation to earth's orbit. However these pressures persist over eons, such that cumulatively having produced a measureable movement on earth-moon system's orbit.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Solar radiation pressure at the Earth's distance from the Sun, may be calculated by dividing the solar constant "G" (above) by the speed of light "c". For an absorbing sheet facing the Sun, this is simply:


title: Radiation pressure

text: This result is in pascals, equivalent to N/m (newtons per square meter). For a sheet at an angle "α" to the Sun, the effective area "A" of a sheet is reduced by a geometrical factor resulting in a force "in the direction of the sunlight" of:


title: Radiation pressure

text: To find the component of this force normal to the surface, another cosine factor must be applied resulting in a pressure "P" on the surface of:


title: Radiation pressure

text: Note, however, that in order to account for the net effect of solar radiation on a spacecraft for instance, one would need to consider the "total" force (in the direction away from the Sun) given by the preceding equation, rather than just the component normal to the surface that we identify as "pressure".


title: Radiation pressure

text: The solar constant is defined for the Sun's radiation at the distance to the Earth, also known as one astronomical unit (au). Consequently, at a distance of "R" astronomical units ("R" thus being dimensionless), applying the inverse-square law, we would find:


title: Radiation pressure

text: Finally, considering not an absorbing but a perfectly reflecting surface, the pressure is "doubled" due to the reflected wave, resulting in:


title: Radiation pressure

text: Note that unlike the case of an absorbing material, the resulting force on a reflecting body is given exactly by this pressure acting normal to the surface, with the tangential forces from the incident and reflecting waves canceling each other. In practice, materials are neither totally reflecting nor totally absorbing, so the resulting force will be a weighted average of the forces calculated using these formulae.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Solar radiation pressure is a source of orbital perturbations. It significantly affects the orbits and trajectories of small bodies including all spacecraft.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Solar radiation pressure affects bodies throughout much of the Solar System. Small bodies are more affected than large ones because of their lower mass relative to their surface area. Spacecraft are affected along with natural bodies (comets, asteroids, dust grains, gas molecules).


title: Radiation pressure

text: The radiation pressure results in forces and torques on the bodies that can change their translational and rotational motions. Translational changes affect the orbits of the bodies. Rotational rates may increase or decrease. Loosely aggregated bodies may break apart under high rotation rates. Dust grains can either leave the Solar System or spiral into the Sun.


title: Radiation pressure

text: A whole body is typically composed of numerous surfaces that have different orientations on the body. The facets may be flat or curved. They will have different areas. They may have optical properties differing from other aspects.


title: Radiation pressure

text: At any particular time, some facets are exposed to the Sun, and some are in shadow. Each surface exposed to the Sun is reflecting, absorbing, and emitting radiation. Facets in shadow are emitting radiation. The summation of pressures across all of the facets defines the net force and torque on the body. These can be calculated using the equations in the preceding sections.


title: Radiation pressure

text: The Yarkovsky effect affects the translation of a small body. It results from a face leaving solar exposure being at a higher temperature than a face approaching solar exposure. The radiation emitted from the warmer face is more intense than that of the opposite face, resulting in a net force on the body that affects its motion.


title: Radiation pressure

text: The YORP effect is a collection of effects expanding upon the earlier concept of the Yarkovsky effect, but of a similar nature. It affects the spin properties of bodies.


title: Radiation pressure

text: The Poynting–Robertson effect applies to grain-size particles. From the perspective of a grain of dust circling the Sun, the Sun's radiation appears to be coming from a slightly forward direction (aberration of light). Therefore, the absorption of this radiation leads to a force with a component against the direction of movement. (The angle of aberration is tiny, since the radiation is moving at the speed of light, while the dust grain is moving many orders of magnitude slower than that.) The result is a gradual spiral of dust grains into the Sun. Over long periods of time, this effect cleans out much of the dust in the Solar System.


title: Radiation pressure

text: While rather small in comparison to other forces, the radiation pressure force is inexorable. Over long periods of time, the net effect of the force is substantial. Such feeble pressures can produce marked effects upon minute particles like gas ions and electrons, and are essential in the theory of electron emission from the Sun, of cometary material, and so on.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Because the ratio of surface area to volume (and thus mass) increases with decreasing particle size, dusty (micrometre-size) particles are susceptible to radiation pressure even in the outer solar system. For example, the evolution of the outer rings of Saturn is significantly influenced by radiation pressure.


title: Radiation pressure

text: As a consequence of light pressure, Einstein in 1909 predicted the existence of "radiation friction", which would oppose the movement of matter. He wrote: "radiation will exert pressure on both sides of the plate. The forces of pressure exerted on the two sides are equal if the plate is at rest. However, if it is in motion, more radiation will be reflected on the surface that is ahead during the motion (front surface) than on the back surface. The backward acting force of pressure exerted on the front surface is thus larger than the force of pressure acting on the back. Hence, as the resultant of the two forces, there remains a force that counteracts the motion of the plate and that increases with the velocity of the plate. We will call this resultant 'radiation friction' in brief."


title: Radiation pressure

text: Solar sailing, an experimental method of spacecraft propulsion, uses radiation pressure from the Sun as a motive force. The idea of interplanetary travel by light was mentioned by Jules Verne in "From the Earth to the Moon".


title: Radiation pressure

text: A sail reflects about 90% of the incident radiation. The 10% that is absorbed is radiated away from both surfaces, with the proportion emitted from the unlit surface depending on the thermal conductivity of the sail. A sail has curvature, surface irregularities, and other minor factors that affect its performance.


title: Radiation pressure

text: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has successfully unfurled a solar sail in space, which has already succeeded in propelling its payload with the IKAROS project.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Radiation pressure has had a major effect on the development of the cosmos, from the birth of the universe to ongoing formation of stars and shaping of clouds of dust and gasses on a wide range of scales.


title: Radiation pressure

text: The photon epoch is a phase when the energy of the universe was dominated by photons, between 10 seconds and 380,000 years after the Big Bang.


title: Radiation pressure

text: The process of galaxy formation and evolution began early in the history of the cosmos. Observations of the early universe strongly suggest that objects grew from bottom-up (i.e., smaller objects merging to form larger ones). As stars are thereby formed and become sources of electromagnetic radiation, radiation pressure from the stars becomes a factor in the dynamics of remaining circumstellar material.


title: Radiation pressure

text: The gravitational compression of clouds of dust and gases is strongly influenced by radiation pressure, especially when the condensations lead to star births. The larger young stars forming within the compressed clouds emit intense levels of radiation that shift the clouds, causing either dispersion or condensations in nearby regions, which influences birth rates in those nearby regions.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Stars predominantly form in regions of large clouds of dust and gases, giving rise to star clusters. Radiation pressure from the member stars eventually disperses the clouds, which can have a profound effect on the evolution of the cluster.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Many open clusters are inherently unstable, with a small enough mass that the escape velocity of the system is lower than the average velocity of the constituent stars. These clusters will rapidly disperse within a few million years. In many cases, the stripping away of the gas from which the cluster formed by the radiation pressure of the hot young stars reduces the cluster mass enough to allow rapid dispersal.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Star formation is the process by which dense regions within molecular clouds in interstellar space collapse to form stars. As a branch of astronomy, star formation includes the study of the interstellar medium and giant molecular clouds (GMC) as precursors to the star formation process, and the study of protostars and young stellar objects as its immediate products. Star formation theory, as well as accounting for the formation of a single star, must also account for the statistics of binary stars and the initial mass function.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Planetary systems are generally believed to form as part of the same process that results in star formation. A protoplanetary disk forms by gravitational collapse of a molecular cloud, called a solar nebula, and then evolves into a planetary system by collisions and gravitational capture. Radiation pressure can clear a region in the immediate vicinity of the star. As the formation process continues, radiation pressure continues to play a role in affecting the distribution of matter. In particular, dust and grains can spiral into the star or escape the stellar system under the action of radiation pressure.


title: Radiation pressure

text: In stellar interiors the temperatures are very high. Stellar models predict a temperature of 15 MK in the center of the Sun, and at the cores of supergiant stars the temperature may exceed 1 GK. As the radiation pressure scales as the fourth power of the temperature, it becomes important at these high temperatures. In the Sun, radiation pressure is still quite small when compared to the gas pressure. In the heaviest non-degenerate stars, radiation pressure is the dominant pressure component.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Solar radiation pressure strongly affects comet tails. Solar heating causes gases to be released from the comet nucleus, which also carry away dust grains. Radiation pressure and solar wind then drive the dust and gases away from the Sun's direction. The gases form a generally straight tail, while slower moving dust particles create a broader, curving tail.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Lasers can be used as a source of monochromatic light with wavelength formula_20. With a set of lenses, one can focus the laser beam to a point that is formula_20 in diameter (or formula_22).


title: Radiation pressure

text: The radiation pressure of a "P" = 30 mW laser with "λ" = 1064 nm can therefore be computed as follows.


title: Radiation pressure

text: The reflection of a laser pulse from the surface of an elastic solid can give rise to various types of elastic waves that propagate inside the solid or liquid. In other words, the light can excite and/or amplify motion of, and in, materials. This is the subject of study in the field of optomechanics. The weakest waves are generally those that are generated by the radiation pressure acting during the reflection of the light. Such light-pressure-induced elastic waves have for example observed inside an ultrahigh-reflectivity dielectric mirror. These waves are the most basic fingerprint of a light-solid matter interaction on the macroscopic scale. In the field of "cavity" optomechanics, light is trapped and resonantly enhanced in optical cavities, for example between mirrors. This serves the purpose of gravely enhancing the power of the light, and the radiation pressure it can exert on objects and materials. Optical control (that is, manipulation of the motion) of a plethora of objects has been realized: from kilometers long beams (such as in the LIGO interferometer) to clouds of atoms, and from micro-engineered trampolines to superfluids.


title: Radiation pressure

text: Opposite to exciting or amplifying motion, light can also damp the motion of objects. Laser cooling is a method of cooling materials very close to absolute zero by converting some of material's motional energy into light. Kinetic energy and thermal energy of the material are synonyms here, because they represent the energy associated with Brownian motion of the material. Atoms traveling towards a laser light source perceive a doppler effect tuned to the absorption frequency of the target element. The radiation pressure on the atom slows movement in a particular direction until the Doppler effect moves out of the frequency range of the element, causing an overall cooling effect.


title: Radiation pressure

text: An other active research area of laser–matter interaction is the radiation pressure acceleration of ions or protons from thin–foil targets. High ion energy beams can be generated for medical applications (for example in ion beam therapy) by the radiation pressure of short laser pulses on ultra-thin foils.


title: 2021 Australian Open – Men's singles

text: Two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated Daniil Medvedev in the final, 7–5, 6–2, 6–2 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2021 Australian Open. It was his record-extending ninth Australian Open title and his 18th major title overall. With his fourth round win against Milos Raonic, Djokovic joined Roger Federer as only the second man with 300 or more match wins in major singles competitions.


title: 2021 Australian Open – Men's singles

text: This marked the first major main-draw appearance for future world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz; he lost to Mikael Ymer in the second round. At 17 years old, Alcaraz became the youngest man to win a main-draw match at the Australian Open since Bernard Tomic in the 2009 Australian Open, defeating fellow qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp in the previous round.


title: 2021 Australian Open – Men's singles

text: Aslan Karatsev became the first male qualifier to reach a major semifinal since Vladimir Voltchkov in the 2000 Wimbledon Championships, and the first since Bob Giltinan in December 1977 to do so at the Australian Open. He was also the lowest-ranked player to reach a major semifinal since Goran Ivanišević (ranked 125) at the 2001 Wimbledon Championships, the lowest ranked to do so at the Australian Open since Patrick McEnroe (also ranked 114) in 1991, and the first man to reach a major semifinal in the Open Era on his main draw debut.


title: 2021 Australian Open – Men's singles

text: This was the first major in the Open Era to feature three Russian men in the quarterfinals, those being Karatsev, Medvedev and Andrey Rublev.


title: 2021 Australian Open – Men's singles

text: The following are the seeded players. Seedings are based on ATP rankings as of 1 February 2021. Rankings and points before are as of 8 February 2021.


title: Ralph Stanley

text: Ralph Edmund Stanley (February 25, 1927 – June 23, 2016) was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. Stanley began playing music in 1946, originally with his older brother Carter Stanley as part of The Stanley Brothers, and most often as the leader of his band, The Clinch Mountain Boys. He was also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley.


title: Ralph Stanley

text: He was part of the first generation of bluegrass musicians and was inducted into both the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor and the Grand Ole Opry.


title: Ralph Stanley

text: Stanley was born, grew up, and lived in rural Southwest Virginia—"in a little town called McClure at a place called Big Spraddle, just up the holler" from where he moved in 1936 and lived ever since in Dickenson County. The son of Lee and Lucy Stanley, Ralph did not grow up around a lot of music in his home. As he says, his "daddy didn't play an instrument, but sometimes he would sing church music. And I'd hear him sing songs like 'Man of Constant Sorrow,' 'Pretty Polly' and 'Omie Wise.'"


title: Ralph Stanley

text: He graduated from high school on May 2, 1945, and was inducted into the Army on May 16, serving "little more than a year." He immediately began performing when he got home:


title: Ralph Stanley

text: After considering a course in "veterinary", he decided instead to join his older guitar-playing brother Carter Stanley (1925–1966) to form the Clinch Mountain Boys in 1946. Drawing heavily on the musical traditions of the area, which included the unique singing style of the Primitive Baptist Universalist church and the sweet down-home family harmonies of the Carter Family, the two Stanley brothers began playing on local radio stations. They first performed at Norton, Virginia's WNVA, but did not stay long there, moving on instead to Bristol, Virginia, and WCYB to start the show "Farm and Fun Time", where they stayed "off and on for 12 years".


title: Ralph Stanley

text: At first they covered "a lot of Bill Monroe music" (one of the first groups to pick up the new "bluegrass" format). They soon "found out that didn't pay off—we needed something of our own. So we started writing songs in 1947, 1948. I guess I wrote 20 or so banjo tunes, but Carter was a better writer than me." When Columbia Records signed them as The Stanley Brothers, Bill Monroe left in protest and joined Decca. Later, Carter went back to sing for the "Father of Bluegrass", Bill Monroe.


title: Ralph Stanley

text: Ralph Stanley gave his opinion on Bill Monroe's apparent change of heart: "He [Bill Monroe] knew Carter would make him a good singer ... Bill Monroe loved our music and loved our singing."


title: Ralph Stanley

text: The Stanley Brothers joined King Records in the late '50s, a record company so eclectic that it included James Brown at the time. In fact, James Brown and his band were in the studio when the Stanley Brothers recorded "Finger Poppin' Time". "James and his band were poppin' their fingers on that" according to Ralph. At King Records, they "went to a more 'Stanley style', the sound that people most know today."


title: Ralph Stanley

text: Ralph and Carter performed as The Stanley Brothers with their band, The Clinch Mountain Boys, from 1946 to 1966. Ralph kept the band name when he continued as a solo act after Carter's death, from 1967 until his death in 2016.


title: Ralph Stanley

text: After Carter died of complications of cirrhosis in 1966, after ailing for "a year or so", Ralph faced a hard decision on whether to continue performing on his own. "I was worried, I didn't know if I could do it by myself. But boy, I got letters, 3,000 of 'em, and phone calls ... I went to Syd Nathan at King and asked him if he wanted me to go on, and he said, 'Hell yes! You might be better than both of them.'"


title: Ralph Stanley

text: He decided to go it alone, eventually reviving The Clinch Mountain Boys. Larry Sparks, Roy Lee Centers, and Charlie Sizemore were among those with whom he played in the revived band. He encountered Ricky Skaggs and Keith Whitley arriving late to his own show: "They were about 16 or 17, and they were holding the crowd 'til we got there ... They sounded just exactly like (the Stanley Brothers)." Seeing their potential, he hired them "to give 'em a chance", though that meant a seven-member band. Eventually, his son, Ralph Stanley II, took over as lead singer and rhythm guitarist for The Clinch Mountain Boys. His grandson Nathan Stanley became the last lead singer and band leader for The Clinch Mountain Boys.


title: Ralph Stanley

text: Around 1970, he ran for Clerk of Court and Commissioner of Revenue in Dickenson County only to state this:


title: Ralph Stanley

text: Stanley's work was featured in the very popular 2000 film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", in which he sings the Appalachian dirge "O Death". The soundtrack's producer was T-Bone Burnett. Stanley said the following about working with Burnett:


title: Ralph Stanley

text: With that song, Stanley won a 2002 Grammy Award in the category of Best Male Country Vocal Performance. "That put the icing on the cake for me," he said. "It put me in a different category."


title: Ralph Stanley

text: He was known in the world of bluegrass music by the popular title, "Dr. Ralph Stanley", having been awarded an honorary doctorate in music from Lincoln Memorial University of Harrogate, Tennessee in 1976. Stanley was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1992 and in 2000, and became the first person to be inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in the third millennium.


title: Ralph Stanley

text: He joined producers Randall Franks and Alan Autry for the "In the Heat of the Night" cast CD "Christmas Time's A Comin"', performing "Christmas Time's A Comin'" with the cast on the CD released on Sonlite and MGM/UA; it was one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers.


title: Ralph Stanley

text: On November 10, 2007, Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys performed at a rally for presidential candidate John Edwards in Des Moines, Iowa, just before the Democratic Party's annual Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner. Between renditions of "Man of Constant Sorrow" and "Orange Blossom Special", Stanley told the crowd that he had cast his first vote for Harry S. Truman in 1948 and would cast his next for John Edwards in 2008.


title: Ralph Stanley

text: Stanley's autobiography, "Man of Constant Sorrow", coauthored with the music journalist Eddie Dean, was released by Gotham Books on October 15, 2009. In 2012, Stanley was featured on several tracks of the soundtrack for Nick Cave's film "Lawless", with music by Cave and Warren Ellis. His solo track "White Light/White Heat" is prominent in several scenes of the movie.


title: Ralph Stanley

text: Stanley maintained an active touring schedule; appearances in his later years included the 2012 Muddy Roots Music Festival in Cookeville, Tennessee, and the 2013 FreshGrass Festival in North Adams, Massachusetts. In June 2013, he announced a farewell tour, scheduled to begin in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on October 18 and extending to December 2014. However, upon notification of being elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (awarded October 11, 2014) a statement on his own website appeared, saying that he would not be retiring.


title: Ralph Stanley

text: Stanley created a unique style of banjo playing, sometimes called "Stanley style". It evolved from Wade Mainer style two-finger technique, later influenced by Scruggs style, which is a three-finger technique. "Stanley style" is distinguished by incredibly fast "forward rolls", led by the index finger (instead of the thumb, as in Scruggs style), sometimes in the higher registers using a capo. In "Stanley style", the rolls of the banjo are continuous, while being picked fairly close to the bridge on the banjo, giving the tone of the instrument a very crisp, articulate snap to the strings as the player would strike them.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: A shoulder, hard shoulder (British) or breakdown lane, is an emergency stopping lane by the verge of a road or motorway, on the right side in countries which drive on the right, and on the left side in countries which drive on the left. Many wider (U.S.) freeways, or expressways elsewhere have shoulders on both sides of each directional carriageway — in the median, as well as at the outer edges of the road, for additional safety. Shoulders are not intended for use by through traffic, although there are exceptions.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: The shoulder is usually slightly narrower than a full traffic lane. In some cases, particularly on older rural roadways, shoulders that initially existed were hardened with gravel rather than being paved with asphalt or concrete. In Britain, motorway shoulders are now paved, but are still known as 'hard shoulders.' Older, gravel shoulders have sometimes been termed soft shoulders by comparison. Because the paved surface ends at that point, they are less safe if they need to be used for emergency maneuvers. Notably, the section of Ontario Highway 401 between Windsor and London had soft shoulders with a sharp slope which was blamed for facilitating vehicle rollovers, if drivers accidentally drifted off the paved section of the road and then overreacted after hitting the gravel. Modern practice is to build a continuous paved shoulder whenever possible.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: The US Federal Highway Administration encourages the placement of a "Safety Edge"—a 30° compacted taper on the end of the pavement dropoff—to ensure that any driver running off the edge of the roadway is better able to maintain control while trying to steer back onto the roadway. The Safety Edge is effective on roads where the shoulder is narrow or nonexistent.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: To save money, the shoulder was often not paved to the same thickness as the through lanes, so if vehicles were to attempt to use it as a through lane regularly, it would rapidly deteriorate. In Britain, shoulder running can occur during roadworks, and full depth construction is now standard. In some metro areas, road authorities also allow shoulders to be used as lanes at peak periods. However, rural shoulders often collects various bits of road debris that can make driving there less safe.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: Drivers will sometimes drift into the shoulder when being overtaken by passing vehicles, particularly on two-lane roads. However, it is extremely unsafe, and in most jurisdictions illegal, to abuse the shoulder by 'undertaking' passing vehicles that are nearer the center of the road.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: On older roads, the shoulder may disappear for short periods, near exits or when going across or under bridges or tunnels where the cost savings were thought to outweigh the safety benefits of the shoulder. Some roads have a narrow shoulder for significant distances. This makes it difficult for large vehicles to pull into the hard shoulder altogether.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: The Jingjintang Expressway in northeastern China is an example of this phenomenon. Its shoulder is only wide, which is not wide enough for some automobiles—a standard lane in the U.S. and UK is . As a result, some motorists are unable to fully exit the mainline when they need to pull over, so they end up in a position that is halfway in the rightmost lane and only partly on the shoulder. The end result is often a traffic jam and occasionally a collision.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: In some jurisdictions in the United States and Canada, buses are allowed to drive on the shoulder to pass traffic jams, which is called a bus-only shoulder or bus-bypass shoulder (BBS); the term "bus-only shoulder lane" is incorrect from a technical and legal standpoint.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: In Ontario, Highway 403 had its shoulders between Hurontario Street and Erin Mills Parkway widened in 2003 so they serve a dual purpose as bus lanes and accident lanes. In the Minneapolis–Saint Paul region of Minnesota, over 270 miles of shoulder have been designated for use by buses. The Route 9 BBS in Central New Jersey which runs along two stretches of shoulders are dedicated for exclusive bus use during peak hours. The bus lanes, which run for approximately 3 miles (4.83 km) are the first component of a planned BBS corridor. In the Chicago area, Pace buses are authorized to use the shoulder of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway, Edens Expressway, and Stevenson Expressway to avoid traffic congestion.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: In the Seattle area, Community Transit and Sound Transit Express commuter buses are authorized to use the shoulders of Interstate 5 and Interstate 405 on small segments in Snohomish County as part of a pilot project that aims to reduce delayed bus trips.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: There are also some bus-bypass shoulders in the United Kingdom, on the motorways of Northern Ireland heading towards Belfast and the M90 motorway in Scotland towards Edinburgh.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: In the United Kingdom, usage of the hard shoulder is known as "hard shoulder running". A pilot project on an 11-mile stretch of the M42 motorway, near Birmingham, began in September 2006. Active traffic management with special signage, new turnouts (laybys) and a variable speed limit have been put in place to improve safety. This has proved very successful, with journey times decreasing by 26% northbound and 9% southbound. Drivers can also better predict their journey times as the variability decreased by 27%. The average accident rate dropped from 5.2 to 1.5 per month. It has also proved popular with motorists, 60% of whom want to see it expanded to other English motorways. This 'smart motorway' system has been expanded to the M6, M1 and M25, as well as parts of the M60 and M62.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: In the United States, on Interstate 93 between Exit 35 (formerly 41) and Exit 46 (formerly 43) and SR 3 between Exit 27 (formerly 12) and Exit 38 (formerly 16) in the Boston metro area, cars are allowed to use the shoulder as they would a normal lane during morning and evening rush hours. The same scheme is employed elsewhere, such as on Interstate 580 in California on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, on Interstate 66 in Virginia between the Capital Beltway and US-50, and on Interstate 405 between SR 527 and I-5 in Bothell.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: Florida has developed a plan for the use of shoulders by moving traffic during hurricane evacuations on select portions of Interstate 4, Interstate 10, Interstate 75, and Interstate 95. The shoulder-use plan was implemented in place of labor- and resource-intensive contraflow lane reversal, in which both sides of an interstate highway are used for one direction of traffic. The first implementation of the plan occurred on 8–9 September 2017 before the arrival of Hurricane Irma. Texas has also considered emergency shoulder use for hurricane evacuations.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: Although direct rear impacts only make up 3% of motorist-on-cyclist collisions, they are a more prominent collision type in arterial road type situations. When they occur in such circumstances, they are also associated with significantly increased risk of fatality. Data collated by the OECD indicates that rural locations account for 35% or more of cycling fatalities in Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain, Japan, the Netherlands, and Spain.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: The use of appropriately designed segregated space on arterial or interurban routes appears to be associated with reductions in overall risk. In Ireland, the provision of hard shoulders on interurban routes in the 1970s reportedly resulted in a 50% decrease in accidents. It is reported that the Danes have also found that separate cycle tracks lead to a reduction in rural collisions.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: In some countries, the use of shoulders is optional for cyclists, who may choose not to use it for reasons such as: it being too narrow, inviting dangerously close passes at high speed by motorists; it having a road surface unsuitable for cycling or putting the path of the cyclist in direct conflict with the paths of other road users, such as those turning across the shoulder. Generally, the usable width of the road begins where one can ride without increased danger of falls, jolts or blowouts. A road may have a gravel shoulder, its edge may be covered with sand or trash and the pavement may be broken.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: Full-width hard shoulders are provided on most new, upgraded (from the 1980s onwards), and major "national roads" in the Republic of Ireland, especially on wide two-lane and dual-carriageway roads (the shoulders on most 2+1 roads are narrow however). They are defined within the official document the "Rules of the Road" as a part of the road that should normally only be used by cyclists and pedestrians. Their provision of on interurban routes in the 1970s reportedly resulted in a 50% decrease in accidents involving pedal cyclists.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: The hard shoulder is usually demarcated by road markings in the form of a single dashed yellow line with the addition of yellow cat's eyes. On motorways, and at critical points on other routes (e.g. between junctions or interchanges, or beneath overpasses) a solid yellow line is used, denoting additional restrictions on usage of the hard shoulder. At junctions and on-ramps and off-ramps, the yellow line peels away into the turn, with a dashed white line (with green cats' eyes) denoting a lane division following the main route (i.e. in most cases the road remains the same width, and a turn lane takes the place of the hard shoulder).


title: Shoulder (road)

text: In the 2000s, Bus Éireann coaches were allowed to use the hard shoulders on national roads into Dublin. However, dedicated bus lanes are now present on sections of some routes, such as the N7 "Naas Road", and such use of actual hard shoulder is not universal.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: The right-hand shoulder is separated by a solid white line, and the left-hand shoulder (if the road is one-way, such as part of a divided highway) is separated from the leftmost through lane by a solid yellow line. On many roads, the lines are supplemented by reflective raised pavement markers or rumble strips to provide additional visual and tactile feedback to drivers crossing the lines.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: On freeways in foggy areas of California, there is an obvious break in the line of the shoulder before every exit. This is to help drivers find their exits in heavy fog (especially the dangerous tule fog).


title: Shoulder (road)

text: Full width hard shoulders are usually provided only on motorways and are usually wide, but there are exceptions. Some motorways do not have hard shoulders at all (for example the A57(M) and many smart motorways where the hard shoulder has been converted into a running lane) and there are a small number of dual carriageway A-roads which do possess hard shoulders (for example, parts of the A1, A2 and A27). Hard shoulders are always marked with a reflectorized solid white line which is wide and is provided with a rumble strip. A line of red cats' eyes is also used, and is placed to the side of the line.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: On many modern non-motorway roads, a "hard strip" is provided. These are usually wide, and are bounded by thinner solid white lines, and often without a rumble strip.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: The shoulders located on the sides of Italy's highways are normally used as emergency lanes in case of breakdown or by emergency vehicles in case of queues. According to the regulation in force, it is mandatory to wear a high visibility jacket when dismounting from a vehicle stopped in an emergency lane.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: Normally one is not allowed to drive on the shoulder, but in case of traffic blockage, use of the shoulder is allowed to reach an exit if it is within 500 meters.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: In France, roadway shoulders are usually wide, or wide when the roadway carries more than 2,000 vehicles per day. The main difference from other European countries is that the white line is dashed, typically long with gaps long. The design is intended to provide a guide for drivers to maintain a safe distance between vehicles. Road signs can be found along motorways, to indicate the safe distance (1 line = too close, 2 lines = safe distance). At some points (tunnel, bridge, narrow road with no shoulder, tight curve) the edge line becomes solid.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: In a similar manner to Canada, Italy and the United States, the shoulders located on the side of Australia's highways are normally used as an emergency lane in the case of a breakdown or by emergency vehicles in the case of road congestion. However, no mandatory regulations exist to wear a high visibility jacket when dismounting from the vehicle stopped in an emergency lane.


title: Shoulder (road)

text: A recent study conducted by the National Coroners Information System (NCIS) in Australia has revealed 29 closed case fatalities (and at least a dozen case fatalities still under coronial investigation) that had been reported to Australian coroners where a person was "struck in an emergency lane after their vehicle had stopped" between July 2000 and November 2010.


title: Legato

text: In music performance and notation, legato (; Italian for "tied together"; French "lié"; German "gebunden") indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, the player makes a transition from note to note with no intervening silence. Legato technique is required for slurred performance, but unlike slurring (as that term is interpreted for some instruments), legato does not forbid re-articulation.


title: Legato

text: Standard notation indicates legato either with the word "legato", or by a slur (a curved line) under notes that form one legato group. Legato, like staccato, is a kind of articulation.


title: Legato

text: There is an intermediate articulation called either "mezzo staccato" or "non-legato" (sometimes referred to as "portato").


title: Legato

text: In music for Classical string instruments, legato is an articulation that often refers to notes played with a full bow, and played with the shortest silence, often barely perceptible, between notes. The player achieves this through controlled wrist movements of the bowing hand, often masked or enhanced with vibrato. Such a legato style of playing can also be associated with portamento.


title: Legato

text: In guitar playing (apart from classical guitar) legato is used interchangeably as a label for both musical articulation and a particular application of technique—playing musical phrases using the fretting hand to play the notes—using techniques such as glissando, string bending, hammer-ons and pull-offs instead of picking to sound the notes. The fact that the same finger is both setting the string vibrating and setting the pitch leads to smoother transitions between notes than when one hand is used to mark pitch while the other strikes the string. Legato "technique" to provide legato "articulation" on electric guitar generally requires playing notes that are close and on the same string, following the first note with others that are played by hammer-ons and pull-offs.


title: Legato

text: Some guitar virtuosos (notably Allan Holdsworth, Shawn Lane and Brett Garsed) developed their legato technique to the extent that they could perform extremely complex passages involving any permutation of notes on a string at extreme tempos, and particularly in the case of Holdsworth, tend to eschew pull-offs entirely for what some feel is a detrimental effect on guitar tone as the string is pulled slightly sideways. The term "hammer-ons from nowhere" is commonly employed when crossing strings and relying solely on fretting hand strength to produce a note but on a plucked string. Many guitar virtuosos are well-versed in the legato technique, as it allows for rapid and "clean" runs. Multiple hammer-ons and pull-offs together are sometimes also referred to colloquially as "rolls," a reference to the fluid sound of the technique. A rapid series of hammer-ons and pull-offs between a single pair of notes is called a trill.


title: Legato

text: Legato on guitar is commonly associated with playing more notes within a beat than the stated timing, i.e., playing 5 (a quintuplet) or 7 (a septuplet) notes against a quarter-note instead of the usual even number or triplet. This gives the passage an unusual timing and when played slowly an unusual sound. However, this is less noticeable by ear when played fast, as legato usually is. There is a fine line between legato and two-hand finger tapping, in some cases making the two techniques harder to distinguish by ear. Generally, legato adds a more fluid, smooth sound to a passage.


title: Legato

text: In synthesizers legato is a type of monophonic operation. In contrast to the typical monophonic mode where every new note articulates the sound by restarting the envelope generators, in legato mode the envelopes are not re-triggered if the new note is played "legato" (with the previous note still depressed). This causes the initial transient from the attack and decay phases to sound only once for an entire legato sequence of notes. Envelopes reaching the sustain stage remain there until the final note is released.


title: Legato

text: In classical singing, legato means a string of sustained vowels with minimal interruption from consonants. It is a key characteristic of the bel canto singing style that prevailed among voice teachers and singers during the 18th century and the first four decades of the 19th century. Usually referred to as "the line", a good, smooth legato is still necessary for successful classical singers. In Western Classical vocal music, singers generally use it on any phrase without explicit articulation marks. Usually the most prevalent issue with vocal legato is maintaining the "line" across registers.


title: Knacker

text: A knacker (), knackerman or knacker man is a person who removes and clears animal carcasses (dead, dying, injured) from private farms or public highways and renders the collected carcasses into by-products such as fats, tallow (yellow grease), glue, gelatin, bone meal, bone char, sal ammoniac, soap, bleach and animal feed. A knacker's yard or a knackery is different from a slaughterhouse or abattoir, where animals are slaughtered for human consumption. Since the Middle Ages, the occupation of "knacker man" was frequently considered a disreputable occupation. Knackers were often also commissioned by the courts as public executioners.


title: Knacker

text: The oldest recorded use of the word "knacker" dates to 1812, meaning "one who slaughters old or sick horses" and in 1855 "to kill, castrate", and is believed to be the same word as the earlier knacker/nacker "harness-maker" from the 1570s, surviving in 18th century dialects. The sense extension is perhaps because "knackers" provided farmers with general help in horse matters, including the disposal of dead horses. The word is of uncertain origin, perhaps from the Scandinavian word represented by Old Norse "hnakkur", saddle, and related to "hnakki", "back of the neck", possibly relating to neck.


title: Knacker

text: The term is in this literal sense in British English and Irish English, and gained some notoriety during the outbreak of mad cow disease (BSE) in the United Kingdom. The "Slaughterhouses Act" 1974, the "Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations" 1982, and the "Food Safety Act" 1990 all define a "knacker's yard" as "any premises used in connection with the business of slaughtering, skinning or cutting up animals whose flesh is not intended for human consumption".


title: Knacker

text: Knackery by-products are rendered under regulation into fats and meat and bone meal for incineration. Cattle hides may be recovered for leather production. The kinds of animal processing which can occur at knackeries are defined by law, for example, in Australia by the Commonwealth "Meat Inspection Act" 1983. In the EU, the legislation covering knackeries is Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of 21 October 2009. It regulates animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption.


title: Knacker

text: "Knackered" meaning tired, exhausted or broken in British and Irish slang is commonly used in Australia, Ireland, Newfoundland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. In southern parts of Australia, if something is rendered useless or broken by an inept person, it is said to be "knackered". "Knackers" is also a British/Australasian vulgar slang for testes, although this usage may be derived from nakerssmall medieval kettle drums which were typically played in pairs suspended from a belt around the waist.


title: Knacker

text: The term "knacker drinking" refers to the practice of consuming alcohol in the open, e.g. in a field or a park, or by a roadside or canal; the drink is typically cheap cider, beer or vodka from an off licence. "Knacker drinking" is commonly done by teenagers or students.


title: Knacker

text: The British satirical magazine "Private Eye" often refers to senior police figures as "Inspector Knacker" or the police force in general as "Knacker of the Yard", a reference to Jack "Slipper of the Yard" Slipper.


title: Knacker

text: Automotive junkyards, salvage yards or recyclers may also be referred to as "knackers' yards" or "knackers".


title: Knacker

text: The word has also been used as a derogatory term against members of the Travelling Community in both Britain & Ireland. There have been some calls to cease the use of slang terms like "knacker drinking" and "knackered" as a result.


title: Avantika Mishra

text: Avantika Mishra is an Indian actress and former model who predominantly appears in Telugu films. She has also acted in Tamil films.


title: Avantika Mishra

text: A native of New Delhi, She studied in the Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute and K V Hebbal, Bangalore. Later, she traveled a lot for modeling assignments, which gave her the confidence to enter the film industry. After being in modeling for six months, she got a chance to meet director Neelakanta and it took just 10 minutes to finalize her for the role.


title: Avantika Mishra

text: Mishra began her career as a model for Puma, Femina, and several other brands. Her first acting role was in Neelakanta's "Maaya". She played the lead in "Meeku Meere Maaku Meme" alongside Tarun Shetty; the film was released on 17 June 2016.


title: Avantika Mishra

text: She appeared alongside Tharun Bhascker Dhaassyam and Vani Bhojan in the film "Meeku Maathrame Cheptha" produced by Vijay Deverakonda. She will be next seen as a lead in D Block, a college-based drama alongside actor Arulnithi and directed by YouTuber Vijay Kumar Rajendran (of Eruma Saani fame). She is also playing the lead in "Enna Solla Pogirai", a film to be directed by debutante Hariharan for "Trident Arts" production co-starring Ashwin Kumar Lakshmikanthan.


title: Button

text: A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole.


title: Button

text: In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, or seashell. Buttons can also be used on containers such as wallets and bags. Buttons may be sewn onto garments and similar items exclusively for purposes of ornamentation. In the applied arts and craft, a button can be an example of folk art, studio craft, or even a miniature work of art. In archaeology, a button can be a significant artifact.


title: Button

text: Buttons and button-like objects used as ornaments or seals rather than fasteners have been discovered in the Indian Indus Valley civilization during its Kot Diji phase (c. 2800–2600 BC), at the Tomb of the Eagles, Scotland (2200-1800 BC), and at Bronze Age sites in China (c. 2000–1500 BC) and Ancient Rome.


title: Button

text: Buttons made from seashell were used in the Indus Valley Civilization for ornamental purposes by 2000 BC. Some buttons were carved into geometric shapes and had holes pierced into them so that they could be attached to clothing with thread. Ian McNeil (1990) holds that "the button was originally used more as an ornament than as a fastening, the earliest known being found at Mohenjo-daro in the Indus Valley. It is made of a curved shell and about 5000 years old."


title: Button

text: Egypt’s Eighteenth Dynasty left behind ornate wig covers, fabricated through sewing buttons formed of precious metals onto strips of backing material.


title: Button

text: Leatherwork from the Roman Empire incorporates some of the first buttonholes, with the legionary Loculus (satchel) closed through the insertion of a metallic buckle, or button into a leather slit. A similar mechanism would later feature in early medieval footwear.


title: Button

text: Buttons appeared as a means to close cuffs in the Byzantine Empire and to fasten the necks of Egyptian tunics by no later than the 5th century AD.


title: Button

text: Since at least the seventeenth century, when box-like metal buttons were constructed especially for the purpose, buttons have been one of the items in which drug smugglers have attempted to hide and transport illegal substances. At least one modern smuggler has tried to use this method.


title: Button

text: Also making use of the storage possibilities of metal buttons, during the World Wars, British and U.S. military locket buttons were made, containing miniature working compasses.


title: Button

text: Because buttons have been manufactured from almost every possible material, both natural and synthetic, and combinations of both, the history of the material composition of buttons reflects the timeline of materials technology.


title: Button

text: Buttons can be individually crafted by artisans, craftspeople or artists from raw materials or found objects (for example fossils), or a combination of both. Alternatively, they can be the product of low-tech cottage industry or can be mass-produced in high-tech factories. Buttons made by artists are art objects, known to button collectors as "studio buttons" (or simply "studios", from studio craft).


title: Button

text: In 1918, the US government made an extensive survey of the international button market, which listed buttons made of vegetable ivory, metal, glass, galalith, silk, linen, cotton-covered crochet, lead, snap fasteners, enamel, rubber, buckhorn, wood, horn, bone, leather, paper, pressed cardboard, mother-of-pearl, celluloid, porcelain, composition, tin, zinc, xylonite, stone, cloth-covered wooden forms, and papier-mâché. Vegetable ivory was said to be the most popular for suits and shirts, and papier-mâché far and away the commonest sort of shoe button.


title: Button

text: Nowadays, hard plastic, seashell, metals, and wood are the most common materials used in button-making; the others tending to be used only in premium or antique apparel, or found in collections.


title: Button

text: Historically, fashions in buttons have also reflected trends in applied aesthetics and the applied visual arts, with buttonmakers using techniques from jewellery making, ceramics, sculpture, painting, printmaking, metalworking, weaving and others. The following are just a few of the construction and decoration techniques that have been used in button-making:


title: Button

text: The size of the button depends on its use. Shirt buttons are generally small, and spaced close together, whereas coat buttons are larger and spaced further apart. Buttons are commonly measured in lignes (also called "lines" and abbreviated "L"), with 40 lines equal to 1 inch. For example, some standard sizes of buttons are 16 lignes (10.16 mm, standard buttons of men's shirts) and 32 lignes (20.32 mm, typical button on suit jackets).


title: Button

text: Some museums and art galleries hold culturally, historically, politically, and/or artistically significant buttons in their collections. The Victoria and Albert Museum has many buttons, particularly in its jewellery collection, as does the Smithsonian Institution.


title: Button

text: Hammond Turner & Sons, a button-making company in Birmingham, hosts an online museum with an image gallery and historical button-related articles, including an 1852 article on button-making by Charles Dickens. In the US, large button collections are on public display at the Waterbury Button Museum of Waterbury, Connecticut, the Keep Homestead Museum of Monson, Massachusetts, which also hosts an extensive button archive, and in Gurnee, Illinois at The Button Room.


title: Button

text: Classic clothing has the button on the left side for women and on the right side for men. Some Jews reverse this.


title: Button

text: The mainly American tradition of politically significant clothing buttons appears to have begun with the first presidential inauguration of George Washington in 1789. Known to collectors as "Washington Inaugurals", they were made of copper, brass or Sheffield plate, in large sizes for coats and smaller sizes for breeches. Made in twenty-two patterns and hand-stamped, they are now extremely valuable cultural artifacts.


title: Button

text: Between about 1840 and 1916, clothing buttons were used in American political campaigns, and still exist in collections today. Initially, these buttons were predominantly made of brass (though horn and rubber buttons with stamped or moulded designs also exist) and had loop shanks. Around 1860 the badge or pin-back style of construction, which replaced the shanks with long pins, probably for use on lapels and ties, began to appear.


title: Button

text: One common practice that survived until recent times on campaign buttons and badges was to include the image of George Washington with that of the candidate in question.


title: Button

text: Some of the most famous campaign buttons are those made for Abraham Lincoln. Memorial buttons commemorating Lincoln's inaugurations and other life events, including his birth and death, were also made, and are also considered highly collectible.


title: 100% Wolf

text: 100% Wolf is a 2020 computer-animated adventure fantasy comedy film directed by Alexs Stadermann and produced by Alexia Gates-Foale and Barbara Stephen. It is adapted from Jayne Lyons' 2009 novel of the same name.


title: 100% Wolf

text: Freddy Lupin is the young heir to a werewolf pack that has been protecting their local town for years. When he attempts to follow his family during their nightly patrol using a magical Moonstone, he loses the Moonstone to Foxwell Cripp, and Flashheart is apparently killed when he falls off a cliff. Freddy's uncle Hotspur becomes the new pack leader.


title: 100% Wolf

text: Six years later, the time comes for Freddy to experience his first wolf transformation, but despite the encouragement of long-term housekeeper Mrs. Mutton, he is humiliated when he turns into a poodle instead. Faced with the disdain of his pack, Freddy is challenged to prove his wolf status by moonrise the next day or risk being banished. Freddy decides to try and retrieve the Moonstone from Cripp.


title: 100% Wolf

text: While searching in town, Freddy befriends Batty, a stray dog also known as 'Houndini' for her ability to escape the dog catchers consistently. Batty leads him to Cripp, where they are both caught by dog catchers and placed in Coldfax Dog Pound. After an escape attempt goes wrong, Freddy is sent to a pit with 'the Beast', an unknown monster that supposedly eats dogs. Freddy learns that the 'Beast' is actually his father. The dog catchers captured Flasheart after he was injured by the fall, and Hotspur left him in Coldfax with a silver bracelet to keep him trapped in his wolf state. Batty and the other dogs escape into the vents and help Freddy free his father.


title: 100% Wolf

text: Freddy leads Flasheart and the dogs home to confront Hotspur. Cripp attacks the other wolves with a mass of silver concentrate, but Freddy stops Cripp's attack. Hotspur tries to attack while the other wolves are weakened by the silver, but the dogs are able to get the wolves to safety while Freddy lures his uncle to the mansion roof. Transforming back into a poodle in the moonlight and accepting his form, Freddy lets out a loud roar to affirm his status as an alpha wolf, sending Hotspur falling back into the mansion and affirming his failure as a leader.


title: 100% Wolf

text: Sometime later, Freddy's reflections reveal that not only have werewolves and dogs gotten on better terms, but the pack has also opened the mansion up to all dogs, with Hotspur and his children reduced to dog-walkers and picking up after the mutts, while Coldfax is shut down. Flasheart has returned to his old role as pack leader, but assures Freddy that he is proud of him and believes he will be a good leader when the time comes.


title: 100% Wolf

text: A 26-episode TV series spin-off, 100% Wolf: Legend of the Moonstone (Season 1) screened on ABC ME from 28 December 2020, produced by Flying Bark Productions and Studio 100 Animation, due to the series having a lower budget than the film, it can be seen as less realistic.


title: 100% Wolf

text: Additional Voices: Elizabeth Nabben, Peter McAllum, Aleks Mikic, Elise Humphreys, Rupert Degas, Victoria Zerbst.


title: 100% Wolf

text: Freddy Lupin may be a poodle, but he has the heart of a wolf, and he's going to prove it by graduating from the werewolf-only Howlington Academy.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as a recurring adversary of the superhero Wonder Woman, and an occasional foil of the superhero the Atom. She debuted as a brutish strongwoman in 1944's " Wonder Woman " #9, written by Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston and illustrated by Harry G. Peter, and went on to become one of Wonder Woman’s most recognizable and persistent foes, appearing during every major era of the hero’s comic book adventures, and adapted frequently for television and animation.


title: Giganta

text: The Post-Crisis incarnation of Giganta possesses the superhuman ability to increase her physical size and mass, effectively transforming into a giantess. This power-set was not a feature of her Golden or Silver Age comic book appearances, but was rather introduced in 1978 as part of the character’s TV adaptation for Hanna-Barbera's popular Saturday morning cartoon series "The Challenge of the Super Friends". The size-changing ability would later be incorporated into the comic book Giganta's characterization for her Post-Crisis appearances.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta has been adapted into several Wonder Woman-related television and animated film projects. She was played by trans actress Aleshia Brevard in the 1979 NBC live-action "Legends of the Superheroes" TV specials, in which the character was paired with the Atom (actor Alfie Wise) for a comedic tell-all interview about their supposed "odd couple" romance. Several years prior, actor Mickey Morton donned a gorilla-suit to play a version of the character (called "Gargantua") in a 1976 episode of the ABC TV series "Wonder Woman". In animation, Giganta has been played by voice actors Kimberly Brooks, Grey DeLisle, Joan Gerber, Jennifer Hale and Vanessa Marshall.


title: Giganta

text: In her first appearance, written by Wonder Woman’s creator William Moulton Marston, Giganta is presented as a preternaturally strong gorilla who, through advanced technology, is mutated into a hulking, red-haired human woman. In an ensuing struggle with Wonder Woman and her allies, Giganta foments a savage revolution, leading a group of prehistoric “cavemen” in an attempt to conquer civilized society.


title: Giganta

text: Marston was a psychologist who conceived many of Wonder Woman’s early foes as allegories for psychological and moral motifs. His characterization of Giganta blends a common early-20th century misconception about Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution (the fallacy that early human beings descended from modern apes) with another Western commonplace: the colonialist conflation of pre-civilization with amorality. As such, Giganta’s nature as a supposedly primitive human being was understood as granting her both animalistic and potentially malicious characteristics.


title: Giganta

text: After several clashes with Wonder Woman, Giganta became a member of Villainy Inc., a team of supervillains consisting of several other foes of the hero, including the Cheetah, Doctor Poison and Queen Clea.


title: Giganta

text: By the 1960s, Wonder Woman’s comic book adventures had made the leap from the Golden Age world of Earth-2 to the Silver/Bronze Age world of Earth-1. Giganta was reintroduced in a series of stories also featuring another of Wonder Woman’s arch-foes, Doctor Psycho. In a slight reworking of her Golden Age origin, the now-blonde Silver Age Giganta was still a mutated ape, albeit better at speaking English, and less focused on a caveman revolution than on a resentment of Wonder Woman.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta would return in 1980 as an ally and romantic interest for the Flash's foe Gorilla Grodd, in a plot against Gorilla City. Once again red-haired, the character’s visual design reflected her TV appearances two years earlier on "The Challenge of the Super Friends".


title: Giganta

text: After DC Comics rebooted its continuity in 1985 (in a publication event known as the "Crisis on Infinite Earths"), Wonder Woman, her supporting characters and many of her foes were re-imagined and reintroduced. Though Giganta was initially absent from this revised set of storylines, she eventually returned to the continuity in 1998 in a story by "Wonder Woman" writer/artist John Byrne as a research scientist named Dr. Doris Zuel. No longer a gorilla mutated into a human form, this Post-Crisis version of the character was now a human being who transferred her consciousness into the body of a gorilla named Giganta. Through a series of convoluted circumstances prescribed by several writers across several years, Zuel would subsequently transfer her consciousness again, this time into the body of a red-haired metahuman woman. Now possessing the ability to increase her size and mass, Zuel began using the gorilla’s name “Giganta” as her supervillainous nom de guerre. She embarked on a campaign to bring down Wonder Woman, a project which would lead her to join Villainy Inc.


title: Giganta

text: The characterization of the Post-Crisis Giganta de-emphasized savagery in favor of a more sympathetic interpretation. Storylines in "The All-New Atom " and "Secret Six" focus with some humor on Zuel’s attempt to juggle a legitimate career in academia with a side-hustle as a villain-for-hire, as well as more seriously on the history of the chronic degenerative illness that led her to seek to transfer her consciousness.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta was introduced as a foe of DC Comics character Wonder Woman during the Golden Age of Comic Books. In the story, a scientist named Professor Zool artificially mutates an ape named Giganta into a malicious red-haired strongwoman. The mutation machine goes haywire and somehow reverts the world to an earlier stage. Giganta joins a primitive tribe to attack Wonder Woman, but is defeated. When the world gets to the Golden Age of humanity, Giganta causes trouble by encouraging a rebellion, which Wonder Woman stops. When the world returns to normal, Giganta is still in her "strongwoman" form. Giganta is ultimately subdued and captured by Wonder Woman and taken to Themiscyra for rehabilitation.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta joins a rebellion of prisoners held on the island started by the Saturnian slaver Eviless, thereby becoming a member of the criminal team Villainy Inc. Eviless steals Wonder Woman's lasso and kidnaps Hippolyta. Giganta joins with the Atlantean Queen Clea to cause trouble.


title: Giganta

text: In 1966, Giganta's origin is revamped to include Doctor Psycho. In this story, Doctor Psycho hypnotized a zoo gorilla named Giganta to fall in love with Steve Trevor. After Wonder Woman defeats Giganta, Professor Zool appeared asking to have the gorilla turned over to her for experimentation. Taking advantage of this, Doctor Psycho took Giganta out of the zoo and brought her to Professor Zool so that he can use an evolution ray on her. This turned Giganta into a huge blonde woman who still loves Steve Trevor. Wonder Woman defeated Giganta and took her to Paradise Island for rehabilitation.


title: Giganta

text: The contemporary version of the character is the alter-ego of Dr. Doris Zuel, who suffers from a fatal blood disease. She captures Wonder Woman and plans to put her "life-essence" into Wonder Woman's body using an experimental machine. Interrupted by Wonder Girl halfway through the experiment she ends up with her consciousness in a test animal gorilla named Giganta.


title: Giganta

text: Desperate to return her mind to a human body, Zuel the gorilla abducts a comatose circus strongwoman named Olga with size-changing abilities through unknown means (though Olga was comatose due to a mysterious shaman) and uses the machine to successfully transfer her mind into that body, keeping the villain name "Giganta".


title: Giganta

text: Following her transformation, Giganta allies herself with Queen Clea and Villainy Inc. in an attempt to conquer the lost world of Skartaris. Villainy Inc. is defeated by Wonder Woman, but Giganta is subsequently seen as a member of several criminal groups, including the Secret Society of Super Villains.


title: Giganta

text: As part of the Society, she takes part in the "Battle of Metropolis", a confrontation with multiple heroes, including Elasti-Girl, the size-changing member of the Doom Patrol. The Society ultimately loses this battle.


title: Giganta

text: When Diana Prince noted that Giganta's intellect reduces as she grows in size, compelling the villain to become less rational and more prone to violence, she was corrected by her colleagues in the Department of Metahuman Affairs. They implied that Giganta has overcome that limitation and retains her full intelligence at any size.


title: Giganta

text: "One Year Later," Giganta, along with The Cheetah and Doctor Psycho, engage in a battle with Donna Troy (who has assumed the identity of Wonder Woman one year after the events of "Infinite Crisis"), as part of a search for, as they term it, the "real" Wonder Woman (Diana of Themyscira). The villains continue their quest, holding Troy hostage in order to draw Diana out for a rescue attempt and contend with the current Wonder Girl, Robin, and Diana herself in the guise of government agent Diana Prince. Giganta and her allies also battle Hercules, with the giantess being felled by the legendary champion.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta is a teacher at Ryan Choi's Ivy Town University. Infected and controlled by M'Nagalah, the monstrous "Cancer god", she was sent to seduce and capture Ryan Choi, the new Atom, in the process even going so far as to swallow the miniature hero alive (he escapes, and also discovers that she has a tongue piercing). Now free of M'Nagalah's control, a seemingly repentant Dr. Zuel retains her position at Ivy University and has approached Ryan for a second chance, despite the bizarre circumstances of their first meeting.


title: Giganta

text: Before their second date, the Atom is approached by Wonder Woman on behalf of the Department of Metahuman Affairs and asked to wear a wire on his date with Dr. Zuel. After professing her desire to reform, she is informed that Ryan is wearing a wire and tears off the roof of the restaurant to see Wonder Woman and Ryan talking - unaware that Ryan had removed the wire. A fight between Wonder Woman and Giganta ensues. Wonder Woman quickly knocks Giganta out but Ryan intervenes to stop Wonder Woman from beating her further, after admitting she had lost her temper - they realize that Dr. Zuel has disappeared. Whether she heard or saw Ryan's actions to stop her from getting further injuries is yet to be seen.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta is a member of the new Injustice League and she is one of the villains featured in the Salvation Run.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta is also a member of Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains, during the Final Crisis and is shown as a thrall of Darkseid alongside several other super-powered women. She is now called Gigantrix. Over the course of the series she fights as one of the new incarnations of the Female Furies with Wonder Woman, Batwoman and Catwoman. She is possessed by the spirit of the fury Stompa, and only freed when Supergirl smashes the skull-and-crossbones mask from her face.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta is attacked by Diana while on her way to a date with Ryan Choi, implying that their relationship has survived despite earlier difficulties. Mellower than in her appearances in the "All-New Atom" series, she seems to accept and respect the shortcomings brought by their different lifestyles, going so far as to help Wonder Woman in a mission, reasoning that, with Ryan being a superhero, they should both be used to putting their heroics in front of their private lives.


title: Giganta

text: Most recently, Bane hires her on as one of the new members of Secret Six. The team also includes the shrinking killer, Dwarfstar, who recently hired Deathstroke and his to kill Ryan Choi. Giganta initially seems unaware of this fact, admitting to Dwarfstar that she is dating the Atom (much to Dwarfstar's amusement). Following a disastrous mission to Skartaris, Amanda Waller reveals the details of Ryan's murder to Giganta. After luring Dwarfstar to her bedroom with the promise of sex, Giganta strips him of his belt (the source of his powers) and beats him into submission. She is last heard covering Dwarfstar's mouth with duct tape to stifle his screams, telling him that she plans on keeping him alive so that she can prolong his suffering.


title: Giganta

text: In September 2011, DC Comics revised the fictional history of its comic book line under the title "The New 52". In the revised comic book line, Doris Zuel was bullied as a child due to a rare blood disease. When she got older, Doris tried to cure herself using radiation which resulted in her gaining sizeshifting abilities. Giganta appears as a member of the Secret Society during the "Trinity War" storyline. She assists Vandal Savage and Signalman into tracking Pandora. When the three villains attack Pandora, Pandora successfully subdues Giganta. Her costume combines elements from her original and "One Year Later" costumes.


title: Giganta

text: After her first encounter with Pandora, Giganta returns for revenge following the conclusion of the "Forever Evil" storyline. During their fight, Pandora looks into Giganta's soul, and reveals her origin story. Doris Zuel was a bullied child with a blood disease, but cured herself with a radical procedure that gave her her growth powers. A side-effect of the untested operation was that it reduced her intellect.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta is later recruited by agents of S.H.A.D.E. to serve as a supernormal asset, fighting vampires and other monsters. She is tempted by the offer of a pardon for her crimes almost as much for the chance to kill things, which she admits to enjoying.


title: Giganta

text: After the events of "DC Rebirth," Giganta appeared alongside several other villains as they battled the Justice League.


title: Giganta

text: Later, Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor tracked Giganta down to a Los Angeles museum. Giganta had been stealing mystical artifacts for unknown reasons. Wonder Woman managed to defeat the giantess. She was then taken into custody. When Steve Trevor interrogated Giganta in Belle Reve alongside Amanda Waller, he discovered that Giganta had been recruited by Darkseid to steal the artifacts. She told Steve Trevor where to find the remaining artifacts. She stated that she, Steve, and Wonder Woman have had a long history together.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta was then recruited by Amanda Waller into Task Force XL in order to capture the powerful creature known as Damage. During the battle, Giganta revealed that she would love to study Damage's physiology. However, Damage burst through Giganta's hand, leaving her to bandage herself while the rest of the team battled the creature.


title: Giganta

text: In the "Watchmen" sequel "Doomsday Clock," Giganta is among the villains that attend the underground meeting held by Riddler that talks about the Superman Theory. When Comedian crashes the meeting, Giganta attacks him as the villains start to scatter. Later on, she takes part in the attack led by Black Adam against the United Nations, where she is beaten back by Wonder Woman. Giganta was with Black Adam's group when the People's Heroes, the Outsiders, and the Doomed tried to get to Superman and gets into an all-out battle with them until it is broken up when Doctor Manhattan undoes the experiment that erased the Justice Society of America and the Legion of Super-Heroes.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta has the ability to increase her size from 6'6" to several hundred feet. These powers seem to have been given to her magically since the magical power stealing Black Alice is able to copy her powers.


title: Giganta

text: Though strength and durability are not at superhuman level until she grows, she is still a formidable foe possessing some training in personal combat. As a giant, she is one of the strongest beings in DC; she has overpowered Wonder Woman, Wonder Girl and Power Girl with one hand while not at her maximum height. In fact she is able to crush the bones of all those characters while in her virtually unescapable grip. When fighting vampires alongside Pandora, she grew to eight feet tall and her strength and endurance were enhanced to the point where a vampire's fangs could not pierce her skin.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta's suit is specialized to grow with her and enhances her invulnerability. Even at normal size, it is bulletproof and resistant to extremes of heat and cold. Unlike Wonder Woman she is not bulletproof at normal size, but unlike her is bulletproof as a giant.


title: Giganta

text: Some versions of Giganta in the stories where she appears are presented as scientists with genius-level intellect. The Post-Crisis version suffered diminished intelligence when she changed size.


title: Giganta

text: In the 'Odyssey' storyline that ran through issues 601-614 of "Wonder Woman", Giganta was one of many characters re-imagined in the alternate reality created by the goddess Nemesis. She was part of a trio - along with Artemis of Bana-Mighdall and Barbara Minerva - of dead Amazons resurrected by the Morrigan to hunt Wonder Woman.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta possessed no size-altering power, instead relying upon enormous natural strength (enough to shatter a stone statue and throw a school bus) and a double-headed axe to fight. She dressed in Amazonian battle-garb decorated with leopard print, in a callback to her original costume, and stood over six feet tall.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta is eventually won around to Diana's side after being shown the truth of the Morrigan's lies. She joins her in attacking their stronghold, killing Bellona with her axe even as her flesh is melted from her bones by the goddess' magic.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta was featured as a member of the Legion of Doom in Alex Ross' maxi-series "Justice". Here she is in her traditional costume, though she briefly disguises herself as a nurse and wears hunting gear in her first appearance. She attempts to assassinate the Atom in his office using a sniper rifle, but Palmer is distracted by a phone call and is instead hit in the shoulder. Later in the hospital, Giganta tries to smother the Atom to death with a pillow, though he escapes using his belt and knocks Giganta out a window by getting in her eye. Later, when the Legion toast their apparent victory, she is seen talking with Gorilla Grodd about his suspicions towards Lex Luthor and Brainiac's goals. When the Justice League storm the Hall of Doom itself, Giganta fights the League as a whole rather than any particular target. In the end she is defeated by Rita Farr of the Doom Patrol. Her origin is more in-line with that of her Golden Age and DC animated universe counterparts, having originally been a gorilla altered into a human, though she has no known connections with Gorilla Grodd or Gorilla City itself.


title: Giganta

text: In the "Flashpoint" universe, two conflicting versions of Giganta existed. In Lois Lane's tie-in miniseries, she joined with the Amazons' Furies, as they had taken over the United Kingdom, and ambushed the resistance. Here her appearance resembled that of her 'Odyssey' counterpart, and she seemingly possessed no super-powers. She was last seen fighting against Grifter on London Bridge, parrying his gunshots with twin swords.


title: Giganta

text: Conversely, in Hal Jordan's miniseries, Giganta appears in her traditional, original costume, and is capable of growing large enough to grasp and crush fighter jets in her hands. When she is about to kill Hal while he struggles to control his damaged plane, Giganta is shot in the eyes by Carol Ferris, collapsing and playing no further role in the fight.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta was set to appear in the second volume to "The Legend of Wonder Woman", a retelling of Wonder Woman's origins by Renae de Liz and Ray Dillon. However, DC cancelled the project under unknown circumstances. De Liz later posted preliminary artwork featuring Giganta on Twitter.


title: Giganta

text: In the digital-first anthology series "Sensational Wonder Woman", Giganta appears in the story "The Queen's Hive", where she, Blue Snowman, Doctor Poison, and Silver Swan serve as Queen Bee's generals.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta appears in the anthology series "Wonder Woman: Black & Gold". In the story "Amazing" by Paul Azaceta, Giganta battles Wonder Woman in an unspecified city. Wonder Woman defeats Giganta, rescuing a child from perishing during her apartment building's destruction.


title: Giganta

text: Giganta and her pet giraffe, Patches, appear in "The Biggest Little Hero", by John Sazaklis and published by Capstone as part of their "DC Super-Pets" line of illustrated children's books.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Ernest Ladd (November 28, 1938 – March 10, 2007), nicknamed "The Big Cat", was an American professional football player and professional wrestler. A standout athlete in high school, Ladd attended Grambling State University on a basketball scholarship before being drafted in 1961 by the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL). Ladd found success in the AFL as one of the largest players in professional football history at 6′9″ and 290 pounds. He helped the Chargers to four AFL championship games in five years, winning the championship with the team in 1963. He also had stints with the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Oilers. Ladd took up professional wrestling during the AFL offseason, and after a knee injury ended his football career turned to it full-time in 1969.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: As a professional wrestler, Ladd became one of the top heels in the business. For the majority of his career, he played a villainous character who would arrogantly taunt both opponents and crowds. Ladd feuded with many popular wrestlers of the time, including Wahoo McDaniel, André the Giant, Bobo Brazil, Dusty Rhodes, and Mr. Wrestling, before retiring from the ring in 1986.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Ladd was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame in 1981, the Grambling State University Hall of Fame in 1989, and the WWF Hall of Fame in 1995.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Ladd was diagnosed with colon cancer in the winter of 2003–2004, and died from the disease on March 10, 2007 at the age of 68.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Ladd was born in Rayville, Louisiana and raised in Orange, Texas, where he was a high school football and basketball star. His football coach was William Ray Smith Sr., father of NFL star Bubba Smith. Ladd subsequently attended Grambling State University on a basketball scholarship. He was the nephew of Grambling and Houston Oilers teammate Garland Boyette.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Ladd was drafted in the fourth round of the 1961 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. He was also taken by the American Football League's San Diego Chargers with their 15th pick (119th overall) in the 1961 AFL draft. He chose to sign with the Chargers.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: At 6′9″ and 290 pounds, Ladd was said to be the biggest and strongest man in professional football during his era. His physical measurements included a 52-inch chest, 39-inch waist, 20-inch biceps, 19-inch neck, and size 18D shoes.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Ladd played in four AFL championship games, helping the Chargers win the American Football League title in 1963 with teammate Earl Faison, both members of the original Fearsome Foursome. Ladd, an American Football League All-Star from 1962 through 1965, was one of the AFL players that organized a walkout on the 1965 AFL All-Star Game due to the racism they experienced in New Orleans.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Although Ladd found success with the Chargers, he had a contentious relationship with the Chargers front office. He started the 1965 season being indefinitely suspended from the team by Coach/General Manager Sid Gillman.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Ladd stated he and teammate Earl Faison would play out their contract options, opting to take a 10 percent cut in salary in exchange for becoming free agents at the end of the season. A planned trade with the Oilers in early 1966 would have sent Faison and Ladd to Houston. However, both were declared free agents by AFL commissioner Joe Foss, who ruled Oilers owner Bud Adams had tampered in trade dealings with the Chargers. Ladd refused to re-sign with the Chargers and suggested he might instead turn to professional wrestling full-time.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Eventually, Ladd signed with the Oilers and spent the 1966 season playing for them before moving in 1967 to the Kansas City Chiefs. There, with similarly king sized Grambling teammate and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Buck Buchanan (6′7″, 286 lbs), he filled out what was probably the biggest defensive tackle tandem in history. Both Ladd and Buchanan were inducted into the Grambling State University Athletic Hall of Fame.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Boston Patriots center Jon Morris said Ladd was so big "It was dark. I couldn’t see the linebackers. I couldn’t see the goalposts. It was like being locked in a closet." In 1981, Ladd was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Ladd started wrestling in 1961. As a publicity stunt, some wrestlers in the San Diego area challenged Ladd to a private wrestling workout. Before long, Ladd was a part-time competitor in Los Angeles, during football's off-season. Ladd became a huge draw in short order. When knee problems cut his football career short, Ladd turned to the more financially lucrative business of wrestling full-time in 1969. After a run as a fan favorite, Ladd became one of wrestling's most hated heels during the 1970s, as well as one of the first black wrestlers to portray a heel character. He riled crowds with his arrogant and colorful demeanor during interviews, especially with his less than politically correct nicknames for opponents such as Wahoo McDaniel (whom he referred to as "the Drunken Indian"), and Mr. Wrestling (whom he called "the Masked Varmint" and insisted he was an escaped criminal). Ladd also controversially employed a taped thumb, claiming the support was needed due to an old football injury. Often when Ladd appeared to be in serious trouble during a match, he would walk out of the arena and accept a countout loss, known since as "pulling an Ernie Ladd".


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Ladd wrestled for a number of different professional associations, including the World Wide Wrestling Federation numerous times form 1968 to 1981. Additionally, he had several successful runs in the NWA territories, The Mid-South promotion, NWF, and WWC promotion.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Known for his immense size and power, it was a natural for Ladd to engage in feuds with other giants, including famously with André the Giant (whom Ladd antagonizingly referred to as "Andre the Dummy" or "The Big Fat French Fry" during interviews).


title: Ernie Ladd

text: In certain areas, Ladd's wrestling nickname was "The King", and he would wear an ornate crown. In other wrestling associations, he was "The Big Cat", and entered wearing a big cowboy hat.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: After handily pinning Earl "Mr. Universe" Maynard the month prior, Ladd challenged Bruno Sammartino at Madison Square Garden for the WWWF title on March 1, 1976. In 1978, he wrestled WWWF champion Bob Backlund. When the International Wrestling Association had its brief run in the New York area, Ladd lost a two out of three falls match at Roosevelt Stadium, in Jersey City, New Jersey, to champion Mil Mascaras, two falls to one (he pinned Mascaras the first fall, was disqualified in the second, and was pinned by Mascaras in the third).


title: Ernie Ladd

text: After leaving the WWWF, Ladd ventured to the Mid-South territory promoted by Bill Watts. While there, Ladd feuded with Paul Orndorff, Ray Candy, and Junkyard Dog. He also served as a manager to Afa and Sika, The Wild Samoans. Ladd also had a decent run as part of a tag team with "Bad" Leroy Brown in the early 1980s. Ladd also assisted Watts as a booker behind the scenes and had a large part in the development of Sylvester Ritter as the area's top draw.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Ladd retired from wrestling in 1986 due to recurring knee problems. He then returned to the WWF as a color commentator, calling the 20-man battle royal at Wrestlemania 2 (which featured NFL players) and then earning a trial run doing commentary for various shows, including the April 1986 show at Madison Square Garden. He was also used as a fill-in for matches on syndicated programming such as "WWF Championship Wrestling". Ladd also teamed with Gorilla Monsoon and Johnny Valiant in the broadcast booth during The Big Event at C.N.E. Stadium in Toronto, Ontario. Ladd, Monsoon, and Valiant were the original three-man team for the first few weeks of "WWF Wrestling Challenge", before Ladd was replaced by Bobby Heenan and Valiant's role was reduced significantly to only calling matches when Heenan had to be at ringside for one of the wrestlers he managed. Following this, Ladd quietly left the WWF.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: He wrestled one more match on January 3, 1988 at a WWF house show in Long Island, New York in a 20 man battle royal won by Bam Bam Bigelow.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: He was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame in 1994 and the WWF Hall of Fame class of 1995, becoming the first (and for several years only) inductee in both halls.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Ladd was a longtime friend of the Bush family and supported the 2000 campaign of George W. Bush. Ladd also owned and operated Big Cat Ernie Ladd's "Throwdown" BBQ Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana, until it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. In the disaster's aftermath, he ministered to Katrina evacuees at the Astrodome. He was a friend of WWE Hall of Fame commentator Jim Ross. Ladd also appeared in an episode of "That '70s Show" entitled "That Wrestling Show." He was in the locker room with The Rock, who was playing his own father "Soul Man" Rocky Johnson. Ladd was also a basketball coach for young kids in Franklin, Louisiana.


title: Ernie Ladd

text: Ladd was diagnosed with colon cancer in the winter of 2003–2004, being advised he had three to six months to live. He reportedly ignored the doctor's diagnosis, stating “The doctor told me I had three to six months to live…I told the doctor that he’s a liar and that Dr. Jesus has got the verdict on me! I also told him, ‘You’re working with a miracle when you work with me.” The cancer eventually spread to his stomach and bones, and three years passed before he died on March 10, 2007 at the age of 68.


title: Sheila Carter

text: Sheila Carter is a fictional character from "The Young and the Restless" and "The Bold and the Beautiful", American soap operas on the CBS network. Created by William J. Bell, the role was introduced in 1990 — by Edward J. Scott — under the portrayal of Kimberlin Brown, who originally portrayed the role from 1990 to 1992 on "The Young and the Restless", although she continued to make guest appearance until 1995. From 1992 to 1998, Brown played the role on "The Bold and the Beautiful", returning for stints in 2002 and 2003, before returning to "The Young and the Restless" from 2005 to January 2006. That same year, Michelle Stafford took over the role, after Sheila had plastic surgery to look like Phyllis Summers. Brown returned to the role of Sheila on "The Bold and the Beautiful" from June 9, 2017, to March 23, 2018, and then again from August 6, 2021.


title: Sheila Carter

text: Sheila is known as a villain. A significant portion of Sheila's history on both soaps revolves around her long-running conflict with Lauren Fenmore, whom she has attempted to kill on multiple occasions. She has also had conflicts with Stephanie Forrester, Maggie Forrester, Amber Moore, Taylor Hayes, Brooke Logan, Phyllis Summers, Quinn Fuller, Steffy Forrester and Li Finnegan, as well as numerous other characters on both soaps.


title: Sheila Carter

text: The role was portrayed by Kimberlin Brown for a total of 16 years. Her first run was on "The Young and the Restless" from May 16, 1990 to May 20, 1992, when the character crossed over to "The Bold and the Beautiful" from May 21, 1992, to October 2, 1998, again from May 24 to November 5, 2002, and again finally from September 26 to October 10, 2003. Despite being a regular cast member on "The Bold and the Beautiful", Brown returned to "The Young and the Restless" for several guest appearances beginning on October 27, 1992. Brown departed on November 5, 1992, and reappeared for one episode on December 23, 1992. She continued making appearance from January 7 to 14, 1993, February 19, 1993, to March 2, 1993, October 11, 1993, October 19 to 27, 1993, January 12, 1994, and February 28, 1995, until March 2, 1995.


title: Sheila Carter

text: In July 2005, after a 10-year absence from "The Young and the Restless", it was announced that Brown was to reprise the role. At the time, Brown had been appearing on ABC's "One Life to Live" as Paige Miller, and Brown reportedly opted to leave the role when ABC was unable to match the financial terms of a contract offered to her by CBS. She returned on August 5, 2005, and her run ended on January 11, 2006. However, that December, the character returned, though not portrayed by Brown, but by Michelle Stafford, who in addition portrayed Phyllis Summers. For the reason of Brown not returning to the role, the actress said: "I had a bad accident last year, and when they wanted me back in November, I really couldn't go at that time, and that's why I came back looking like somebody else." Stafford only portrayed the role for two months until February 9, 2007, when Sheila was shot by her longtime enemy Lauren Fenmore and presumed dead.


title: Sheila Carter

text: In 2009, reports speculated that Brown would reprise the role again on "The Bold and the Beautiful", which was followed by more rumors speculating a return to "The Young and the Restless". "I actually got a call from ["B&B" head writer and executive producer] Brad Bell a while back asking if I'd be interested in coming back, and I said, 'Sure!' The thing with daytime is that the storylines are [written] so far in advance, you just never know when [you might be needed]," Brown said at the time. When asked where her alter-ego may be "hiding out", Brown said: "I am still getting healthy from my car accident. Right now, Sheila is hiding out in North Carolina—playing golf. But don't worry: Sheila always comes back!"


title: Sheila Carter

text: In June 2017, Kimberlin Brown reprised her role as Sheila on "The Bold and the Beautiful". Executive producer Brad Bell announced Brown had been signed to a one-year deal with the serial. She exited the role the following year, departing on March 23, 2018. On August 2, 2021, "Soap Opera Digest" broke the exclusive announcement that Brown will return to the role as part of the development of John "Finn" Finnegan's (Tanner Novlan) backstory which accompanies the revelation that Sheila is Finn's biological mother. She began airing on Friday, August 6, 2021.