IN: Matthew Fontaine Maury (January 14, 1806 - February 1, 1873) was an American astronomer, United States Navy officer, historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, and educator. He was nicknamed "Pathfinder of the Seas" and "Father of Modern Oceanography and Naval Meteorology" and later, "Scientist of the Seas" for his extensive works in his books, especially The Physical Geography of the Sea (1855), the first such extensive and comprehensive book on oceanography to be published. Maury made many important new contributions to charting winds and ocean currents, including ocean lanes for passing ships at sea.

The war brought ruin to many in Fredericksburg, where Maury's immediate family lived. Thus, returning there was not immediately considered. After the war, after serving Maximilian in Mexico as "Imperial Commissioner of Immigration" and building Carlotta and New Virginia Colony for displaced Confederates and immigrants from other lands, Maury accepted a teaching position at the Virginia Military Institute, holding the chair of physics. Maury advocated the creation of an agricultural college to complement the institute. That led to the establishment of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia, in 1872. Maury declined the offer to become its first president partly because of his age. He had previously been suggested as president of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1848 by Benjamin Blake Minor in his publication the Southern Literary Messenger. Maury considered becoming president of St. John's College in Annapolis Maryland, the University of Alabama, and the University of Tennessee. It appears that he preferred being close to General Robert E. Lee in Lexington from statements that Maury made in letters. Maury served as a pall bearer for Lee. During his time at Virginia Military Institute, Maury wrote a book, entitled The Physical Geography of Virginia. He had once been a gold mining superintendent outside Fredericksburg and had studied geology intensely during that time and so was well equipped to write such a book. During the Civil War, more battles took place in Virginia than in any other state (Tennessee was second), and Maury's aim was to assist wartorn Virginia in discovering and extracting minerals, improving farming and whatever else could assist it to rebuild after such a massive destruction. Maury later gave talks in Europe about co-operation on a weather bureau for land, just as he had charted the winds and predicted storms at sea many years before. He gave the speeches until his last days, when he collapsed giving a speech. He went home after he recovered and told Ann Hull Herndon-Maury, his wife, "I have come home to die."
QUESTION: Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
IN: Yao Ming (Chinese: Yao Ming ; born September 12, 1980) is a Chinese former professional basketball player who played for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. At the time of his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in). He is the only player outside of the United States to lead the NBA in All-Star voting.

Yao was pressured to enter the NBA draft in 1999 by Li Yaomin, the deputy general manager of the Shanghai Sharks. Li also influenced Yao to sign a contract for Evergreen Sports Inc. to serve as his agent. The agreement entitled Evergreen to 33% of Yao's earnings, but the contract was later determined to be invalid. When Yao decided to enter the 2002 NBA draft, a group of advisers was formed that came to be known as "Team Yao". The team consisted of Yao's negotiator, Erik Zhang; his NBA agent, Bill Duffy; his Chinese agent, Lu Hao; University of Chicago economics professor John Huizinga; and the vice president for marketing at BDA Sports Management, Bill Sanders. Yao was widely predicted to be picked number one overall. However, some teams were concerned about Yao's NBA eligibility because of uncertainty over whether the CBA would let Yao play in the United States. Shortly after Wang Zhizhi refused to return to China to play for the national team and was subsequently banned from playing for China, the CBA stipulated that Yao would have to return to play for the national team. They also said they would not let him go to the United States unless the Houston Rockets would take him first overall. After assurances from Team Yao that the Rockets would draft Yao with their number one pick, the CBA gave permission on the morning of the draft for Yao to play in the U.S. When the Rockets selected Yao with the first pick of the draft, he became the first international player ever to be selected first overall without having previously played U.S. college basketball.
QUESTION: What else did he do outside of the NBA?
IN: Hawthorne Heights is an American rock band from Dayton, Ohio, formed in 2001. Their lineup currently consists of JT Woodruff (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Matt Ridenour (bass guitar, backing vocals) Mark McMillon (lead guitar, backing vocals), and Chris Popadak (drums, percussion). On November 24, 2007, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Casey Calvert died, leaving the band as a four-piece.

Hawthorne Heights released a demo for their new song "Come Back Home" on their MySpace page in 2007. A reprised version of the song became one of the twelve tracks that were selected for the band's third studio album. A second song was released on their Myspace, a cover of the Smashing Pumpkins song "Bullet with Butterfly Wings", which was contributed to MySpace Tribute to The Smashing Pumpkins. This cover song, however, did not become a track on the album. Hawthorne Heights and Victory Records patched up their relationship and the band's third album, Fragile Future, was released with the label on August 5, 2008. Jeff Schneeweis produced the album. The lead single "Rescue Me" was released on July 22, 2008. Hawthorne Heights played "Rescue Me" live as special guests on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as host after the album's full release, on September 18, 2010, as promotion for Fragile Future. Rhapsody Originals was released exclusively for Rhapsody as the first EP by Hawthorne Heights on August 26, 2008. It was recorded by Rhapsody, and released as promotion for the studio album Fragile Future. It contains three live acoustic songs from Fragile Future, and one from their second studio album, If Only You Were Lonely. Hawthorne Heights performed at Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution 2008 tour this year on the Revolution Stage with former labelmates Atreyu, Armor For Sleep, Street Drum Corps, and 10 Years. Joining Linkin Park on the Main Stage was Chris Cornell, The Bravery, Busta Rhymes, and Ashes Divide.
QUESTION:
What is Fragile Future?