Jalil Zandi (2 May 1951 – 1 April 2001) was an Iranian flying ace in the Iran-Iraq War. He was an F-14 Tomcat pilot. He had the most victories in the air combat in the Iran-Iraq War: 11 victories ( 8 confirmed victories and 3 probable victories). His victories include 4 MiG-23s, 2 Su-22s, 2 MiG 21s and 3 Mirage F1s). He was also the most successful F-14 pilot ever.
He had the rank of brigadier general.
He died with his wife Zahra Mohebshahedin in 2001 in a car accident near Tehran. He is buried in Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in the south of Tehran.
John Le Mesurier
John Le Mesurier (John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 1912 – 15 November 1983) was an English actor and comedian. He is best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation comedy "Dad's Army" (1968–77).
Le Mesurier was born on 5 April 1912 in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. He studied at the Sherborne School.
Le Mesurier was married to June Melville from 1940 until they divorced in 1949. Then he was married to Hattie Jacques from 1949 until they divorced in 1965. Then he was married to Joan Malin from 1966 until his death in 1983. He had two sons.
Le Mesurier died from a stomach hemorrhage caused by cirrhosis of the liver in Ramsgate, Kent, England, aged 71.
Free Realms
Free Realms is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. It is set in a fantasy-themed world, named "Sacred Grove". It was made by Sony Online Entertainment for PC, Mac and PlayStation 3. The game was released on 29 April 2009. On March 31, 2014, the game was officially shut down.
Cellular automaton
A cellular automaton is a model used in computer science and mathematics. The idea is to model a dynamic system by using a number of cells. Each cell has one of several possible states. With each "turn" or iteration the state of the current cell is determined by two things: its current state, and the states of the neighbouring cells.
A very famous example of a cellular automata is Conway's Game of Life. Stanislaw Ulam and John von Neumann first described cellular automata in the 1940s. Conway's Game of Life was first shown in the 1970s.
Some biological processes occur—or can be simulated—by cellular automata.
The patterns of certain seashells are generated by natural cellular automata. Examples can be seen in the genera "Conus" and "Cymbiola". The pigment cells are in a narrow band along the shell's lip. Each cell secretes pigments according to the activating and inhibiting activity of its neighbor pigment cells, obeying a natural version of a mathematical rule. The cell band leaves the colored pattern on the shell as it grows slowly. For example, the widespread species "Conus textile" bears a pattern resembling Wolfram's rule 30 cellular automaton.
Plants regulate their intake and loss of gases via a cellular automaton mechanism. Each stoma on the leaf acts as a cell.
Moving wave patterns on the skin of cephalopods can be simulated with a two-state, two-dimensional cellular automata, each state corresponding to either an expanded or retracted chromatophore.
Threshold automata have been invented to simulate neurons, and complex behaviors such as recognition and learning can be simulated.
Fibroblasts are similar to cellular automata, as each fibroblast only interacts with its neighbors.
Henry Morgentaler
Heniek "Henry" Morgentaler, (March 19, 1923 – May 29, 2013), was a Polish-born Canadian physician and pro-choice activist who fought many legal battles about expanding abortion rights in Canada. When he was young during World War II, Morgentaler was imprisoned at the Łódź Ghetto and later at the Dachau concentration camp. He survived the Holocaust.
He was a humanist and received the Order of Canada in 2008.
Morgentaler was born on March 19, 1923 in Łódź, Poland. He was married to Chava Rosenfarb from 1945 until they divorced in 1975. Morgentaler died on May 29, 2013 in Toronto, Canada from a heart attack, aged 90.
Andrew Greeley
Andrew M. Greeley (February 5, 1928 – May 29, 2013) was an American Roman Catholic priest, educator, sociologist, journalist, philanthropist, and popular author.
Greeley was born on February 5, 1928 in Oak Park, Illinois to an Irish family. He was raised a Catholic. Greeley studied at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary and at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary. He retired in 2009 after an injury.
Greeley suffered skull fractures in a fall in 2008 when his clothing got caught on the door of a taxi as it pulled away; he was hospitalized in critical condition. He remained in poor health. Greeley died on May 29, 2013 at his Chicago home. He was 85.
Coriaria ruscifolia
Coriaria ruscifolia are shrubs or small trees with bright red fruits like berries. The fruits and the leaves are very poisonous.
This species has many names in Latin America. Some of them are:
"Coriaria ruscifolia" was described for the first time by Linnaeus in 1753 in "Species Plantarum" (Vol. 2, page 1037), from a plant from Peru.
The species is divided in two subspecies:
Shrub up to 4 metres high. Dark green leaves on the top and pale gray on the underside. Flowers grouped in terminal inflorescences on lateral branches, sepals are green to red, small petals, yellow or red anthers. Fruits look like berries but they are small nuts (achenes). The fruits are covered by the petals.
The number of chromosomes is 40.
The plants of "C. ruscifolia" subsp. "microphylla" can fix nitrogen from the air because they have bacteria in their roots.
C. ruscifolia grows in the Americas and some Pacific Islands:
It is a very toxic plant. Fruits are hallucinogens exciting the nervous system. The leaves have tannin and serve for tanning (making leather out of skins). It is recommended as an ornamental.
In Chile, the fruits are used mixed with bread to kill mice and rats.
The Little Mermaid (statue)
The Little Mermaid is a statue in Copenhagen, Denmark. It sits on a rock in the harbor. It was inspired by a performance of a ballet based on the fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen. It is tall. Sculptor Edvard Eriksen created the bronze statue. It was presented to the public on 23 August 1913.
The statue was the idea of Carl Jacobsen, son of the founder of Carlsberg. He asked ballerina, Ellen Price of Copenhagen's Royal Theatre, to pose for the statue. Only the statue's head was modelled on Price. She did not agree to pose in the nude, so the sculptor's wife, Eline Eriksen, posed for the body.
The Little Mermaid has been the victim of vandalism many times since the 1960s. Her head has been cut off, and she has had paint poured over her several times. In September 2003, the statue was knocked off its base with explosives. The statue has always been repaired after such acts.
Dean Brooks
Dean Kent Brooks (July 22, 1916 – May 30, 2013) or Dean R. Brooks was an American physician and actor.
Brooks was born on July 22, 1916 in Everett, Washington. He studied at University of Kansas Medical School.
He was the head of the Oregon State Hospital in 1975 when the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was filmed there, which is why he appeared in the movie. He starred as Dr. John Spivey M.D.. Brooks was the superintendent of Oregon State Hospital for 27 years from 1955 to 1982. Brooks was first licensed in Oregon to practice psychiatry in 1950. He retired from the practice of Psychiatric Medicine in 1999.
He was married to Ulista Jean Moser until her death in 2006. They had two daughters.
Brooks died on May 30, 2013 in Salem, Oregon from natural causes, aged 96.
My Cousin Vinny
My Cousin Vinny is a 1992 American criminal comedy movie. Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei star. The subject of the movie is two young New Yorkers traveling across rural Alabama. They are put on trial for a murder they did not commit. Tomei plays Mona Lisa. Pesci plays Vincent ("Vinny" for short). This comedy movie was released in March 1992 in the United States. It received positive reviews from the critics.
Bulgarian Orthodox Church