title: Allianz

text: In 1993 Henning Schulte-Noelle commissioned a new Archive for Corporate History, becoming the first Allianz CEO to address the company's activities during the Third Reich. In 1997 Schulte-Noelle asked Gerald Feldman, historian from the University of California-Berkeley, if he would undertake a larger research project on Allianz's past involvement with the Third Reich. After research began, Jewish World War II survivors and their descendants took Allianz and other European insurance companies to court, accusing them of unpaid insurance policies. Allianz and four other insurers supported the creation of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC).


title: Allianz

text: Furthermore, Allianz became a founding member of the German Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future". Feldman published the comprehensive results of his research in September 2001. Based on these results Allianz established an exhibition in the Archive for Corporate History and on the Internet. The research concluded that Allianz, as an organization and through its corporate officers, voluntarily partnered with the Nazi Regime and the Third Reich, starting as early as the early 1930s and continuing all the way through to the collapse of the Third Reich.


title: Allianz

text: Feldman summarized his findings stating: "It was just one more piece of business in the Third Reich, but it demonstrated that such pieces on any large scale made contact at some point with all that is represented by the name 'Auschwitz'– from slave labor to extermination – virtually inescapable."


title: Allianz

text: Major General Gustav Lombard, the former commander of the Waffen-SS’ 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer, worked for Allianz in Munich after the war's end.


title: Blind Faith

text: Blind Faith were an English supergroup featuring Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. They were eagerly anticipated by the music press following on the success of each of the member's former bands, including Clapton and Baker's former group Cream and Winwood's former group Traffic, but they split after a few months, producing only one album and a three-month long summer tour.


title: Blind Faith

text: The group originated with informal jamming by Clapton and Winwood in early 1969 following the break-ups of Cream and Traffic. Baker joined them in rehearsals and they decided to form a group. Grech joined as the fourth member from the band Family in May, and they began recording their eponymous debut album. It drew controversy for featuring a photograph of a topless 11-year-old girl on the front cover, and it was issued with a different cover in the United States.


title: Blind Faith

text: The first Blind Faith concert was on 7 June in front of an estimated 100,000 fans in Hyde Park, London, but they felt that they had not rehearsed enough and were unprepared. They subsequently played concerts in Scandinavia and the US, but the lack of material in the live set led them to play old Cream and Traffic songs which pleased the audience but disillusioned the band. Clapton became increasingly isolated during the tour, preferring to spend time with support act Delaney & Bonnie, and Blind Faith disbanded immediately after their last performance. Clapton and Winwood both enjoyed the music that they played together in the group's limited time, and they have since collaborated on several tours playing Blind Faith material.


title: Blind Faith

text: The origins of Blind Faith lay in the break-up of Cream, in mid-1968. That group had become a major critical and commercial success, selling millions of records within a few years and bringing international popularity to both the group and each individual member. Despite that success, the band was crumbling from within because of frequent animosity between bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, with Eric Clapton doing his best to mediate. In addition, Clapton became tired of playing commercially driven blues and hoped to progress with a new, experimental, less straitjacketed approach to the genre. The group disbanded in November 1968 following two concerts at the Royal Albert Hall.


title: Blind Faith

text: Steve Winwood had faced similar problems to Clapton in The Spencer Davis Group, where he had been the lead singer for three years. Winwood wanted to experiment with the band's sound by infusing jazz elements, but left due to his musical differences, instead forming a new band, Traffic, in 1967. While that band was on hiatus in Christmas 1968, Winwood started to jam with his good friend Clapton in the latter's basement in Surrey, England. Clapton was pleased with the jam sessions with Winwood, but was hesitant to start a serious group. The music press were hopeful that Clapton would form a band even better than Cream. At one point, Clapton and Winwood thought they might record with Duck Dunn and Al Jackson Jr., the rhythm section of Booker T. & the M.G.'s.


title: Blind Faith

text: In early 1969, Clapton and Winwood moved to Traffic's rehearsal cottage in Aston Tirrold, Berkshire. Baker turned up one day to sit in with them, and the three seriously considered forming a group. Clapton questioned letting Baker in the band, because he had promised Bruce that, if they were to work with one another again, all three of them would play. Moreover, Clapton didn't want to reunite with Cream barely nine weeks after the break-up, and also didn't want to deal with another band whose members had large reputations individually. Winwood ultimately persuaded Clapton to finalize Baker's inclusion in the line-up, arguing that Baker strengthened their musicianship and that it would be hard to find an equally talented drummer. Traffic was put on hold and the other remaining members, multi-instrumentalist Chris Wood and drummer / singer Jim Capaldi, were informed. Winwood later realised that Clapton would probably have rather had Capaldi in the new group instead of Baker.


title: Blind Faith

text: Clapton and Winwood's respective managers, Robert Stigwood and Chris Blackwell, said they would be happy to manage the new band. This created immediate tension; Stigwood wanted a quick money-making formula while the band wanted time to write songs and develop as a unit. Winwood later said, "they wanted a supergroup and we didn't".


title: Blind Faith

text: The formation of the group was announced to the press on 8 February 1969. By May, Ric Grech, bassist with Family, was invited to join them. He left Family midway through a US tour, causing considerable acrimony with the rest of the group. The new band's name was confirmed as "Blind Faith" around this time by Clapton, who thought it described everyone's self-belief that the band would be successful, no matter what happened.


title: Blind Faith

text: Because Winwood was signed to Island Records, he had to obtain permission from Blackwell (who owned the label) to appear on Polydor Records (to whom Clapton and Baker were signed in the U.K.). A promotional single was released by Island, although the promotion was for the label itself. It was a single announcing the fact that they were moving their offices, titled "Change Of Address From 23 June 1969". This one-sided promo featured an instrumental jam by Blind Faith, who were not mentioned on the label (the only other label info is the new address, phone number, and new cable address of Island). Recorded at Olympic Studios during session for the debut album, an estimated 500 copies of the single were pressed, and mostly sent to UK disc jockeys and other music industry insiders. The track was finally released widely when it appeared as a bonus track on the two-CD "Deluxe Edition" of the "Blind Faith" album in 2000 (titled "Change Of Address Jam").


title: Blind Faith

text: Upon its release in July 1969, the band's first and only album "Blind Faith" topped both the UK chart and "Billboard"'s chart for Pop Album in the U.S. The album sold more than half a million copies in the first month of its release and helped rejuvenate sales of Cream albums. "Best of Cream" reached No. 3 in the "Billboard" charts at the same time that "Blind Faith" was at the top.


title: Blind Faith

text: The cover art for the album was created by photographer Bob Seidemann, a personal friend and former flatmate of Clapton, who is known primarily for his photos of Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead. The cover was nameless – only the wrapping paper told the buyer who the artist was and the name of the album. It provoked controversy because it featured a topless 11-year-old girl, holding in her hands a silver space ship. The US record company issued it with an alternative cover with a photograph of the band on the front. The model on the cover posed upon consent by her parents and was paid £40 (£ as of ) for the shot.


title: Blind Faith

text: During 2000 the entire album was remastered and re-released as a two-CD deluxe edition from Polydor that includes alternate takes, out-takes and studio rehearsal versions of the band's music created during the early months of 1969.


title: Blind Faith

text: News of Blind Faith's formation created a buzz of excitement among the public and press. The group debuted at a free concert at London's Hyde Park on 7 June 1969 in front of 100,000 fans. Capaldi and Wood attended the gig, as did Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull. The setlist contained all six numbers that would appear on the debut album, along with a cover of The Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb", Traffic's "Means to an End", and Sam Myers' "Sleeping in the Ground". The performance was well received by fans, but troubled Clapton, who thought that the band's playing was sub-par. He spent much of the gig close to his amplifiers and not coming forward on stage; only Baker supplied any showmanship and theatrics during the set.


title: Blind Faith

text: Though the group were still developing, their management insisted they continue touring to provide income. Clapton, knowing the band had not rehearsed enough and was unprepared, was reluctant to tour, but agreed to do so because he could collaborate with Winwood and had no better work offers. The recording of their album continued, followed by a short tour of Scandinavia, where the band played smaller gigs and was able to rehearse their sound and prepare it for bigger audiences in the US and UK. After Scandinavia, the band toured the United States, making their debut at Madison Square Garden on 12 July.


title: Blind Faith

text: A major problem with the tour was that the band had only a few songs in their catalogue, barely enough to fill an hour, which the audience did not know well. Clapton in particular was against any lengthy jamming, which had been Cream's trademark, which would have allowed them to stretch out a set to a sufficient length. The group were forced to play old Cream and Traffic songs, to the delight of a crowd which usually preferred the old hits to the new Blind Faith material. Clapton resented being in a popular supergroup when he had intended to start a more low-key project. They were playing the same material from his Cream days, to appease the audience and to fill the void left by the lack of adequate new material. Clapton wanted to play the Woodstock Festival, which occurred during the tour, but was outvoted by the rest of the group.


title: Blind Faith

text: The tour was supported by opening acts Free, Taste, and R&B-based rock act Delaney & Bonnie. Because Clapton liked the soulful, folksy-sounding blues of Delaney & Bonnie, he began spending most of his time with them instead of Blind Faith, letting Winwood take a more prominent role in the band. Clapton even began sitting in on Delaney & Bonnie's opening sets, sometimes simply playing percussion, and showing more interest in them than his own band. He also wanted them to be the headliners instead of Blind Faith.


title: Blind Faith

text: The band toured for seven more weeks in the US, finishing in Hawaii on 24 August. After the gig, Clapton and Winwood decided to end the group. Grech was immediately informed, but Baker did not find out until he had returned to England following a short holiday in Jamaica. When he finally got home to the UK, he met with Winwood and was upset to find that the band had disbanded.


title: Blind Faith

text: After the tour finished in August, various press reports speculated on future band activity, with Stigwood announcing that there would be further tours forthcoming. In October, the band issued a press release saying they had disbanded. There was no further activity from the group, though several tracks from the band can be found on Steve Winwood's 1995 retrospective album "The Finer Things". In 2005, the live album "London Hyde Park 1969" was released, documenting the entire concert at the park.


title: Blind Faith

text: Clapton had mixed feelings about ending the group, and felt guilty about abandoning a project that Winwood had put more involvement into than himself. He stepped out of the spotlight, first to sit in with the Plastic Ono Band, and then to tour as a sideman for Delaney & Bonnie and Friends. This freed him of the limelight that he had considered a plague to both Cream and Blind Faith. After his sideman stint, he took several members from Delaney & Bonnie to form a new super-group, Derek and the Dominos. He never dropped his Blind Faith repertoire completely, as "Presence of the Lord" and "Can't Find My Way Home" have been performed occasionally throughout his solo career.


title: Blind Faith

text: Unlike Clapton, Baker had enjoyed his Blind Faith experience and looked to carry on an offshoot of the band in the form of Ginger Baker's Air Force with both Grech and Winwood. After a few shows together, Winwood left to record a solo album "Mad Shadows", which turned into the Traffic album "John Barleycorn Must Die". Clapton turned up backstage to a Traffic gig in 1970 and played dual lead guitar with Winwood on "Dear Mr. Fantasy", fuelling rumours of a reunion of the pair. Grech joined Traffic's touring band after the album was released, and played on the Traffic albums "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" and "Welcome to the Canteen". Winwood would later go on to have a successful solo career, and Grech was a member of various groups before his death in 1990. Baker died on 6 October 2019, leaving Winwood and Clapton as the only two surviving members of Blind Faith.


title: Blind Faith

text: Clapton and Winwood performed together again on stage as part of the Action for Research into Multiple Sclerosis (ARMS) tour in 1983. The shows were a benefit for former Small Faces and Faces member Ronnie Lane, who was suffering from the syndrome.


title: Blind Faith

text: In July 2007, Clapton and Winwood reunited for a performance during the second Crossroads Guitar Festival held at the Toyota Park Center of Bridgeview (Illinois), where the duo performed a number of Blind Faith songs as part of their set. That performance inspired the two to perform three reunion concerts at Madison Square Garden that took place on 25, 26 and 28 February 2008. It was not an official Blind Faith reunion, but simply "Winwood and Clapton". They performed the four songs on the first side of "Blind Faith" as well as selections from Traffic, Derek and the Dominos, Clapton's solo career and some covers. A DVD and a two-disc CD of these performances was released in 2009.


title: Blind Faith

text: On 10 June 2009, Winwood and Clapton began a 14-date United States summer tour at the Izod Center in New Jersey, again including Blind Faith material in their setlist. Winwood and Clapton met again for a series of five concerts at London's Royal Albert Hall from 26 May to 1 June 2011. Clapton and Winwood both returned to play Hyde Park on 8 July 2018, though they performed separately.


title: Blind Faith

text: In February 2020, Clapton and Winwood played a selection of Blind Faith material at a tribute gig to Baker at the Eventim Apollo.


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: Spider-Man (also known as Marvel's Spider-Man) is an American animated television series, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. A replacement for the previous series "Ultimate Spider-Man", the first season premiered on August 19, 2017, on Disney XD. The show was subtitled Spider-Man: Maximum Venom for its third season, which premiered on April 19, 2020.


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: Gifted teenager Peter Parker is given superpowers when he is bitten by a radioactive spider during a school field trip to Oscorp Industries. After the death of his Uncle Ben by a burglar that he hesitated to stop at a wrestling arena, Peter comes to his own terms of being the superhero Spider-Man. Sometime later, Peter begins learning how to balance his crime-fighting career with his new enrollment at Horizon High, a school for students with genius-level intellect run by headmaster Max Modell. Joining Peter in his ordeals against Norman Osborn, Jackal, and numerous other villains are his classmates Gwen Stacy, Miles Morales (who develops powers similar to Peter's and becomes the Ultimate Spider-Man), and Anya Corazon, as well as his best friend Harry Osborn (who eventually becomes the superhero Hobgoblin).


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: Besides Norman and Jackal, other villains introduced this season include Doctor Octopus, Vulture, Venom, Rhino, the Smythes (Spencer and Alistair), Hammerhead, Kraven the Hunter, Black Cat, A.I.M., Curt Connors, Sand Girl, Scorpion, and Crossbones. Other characters introduced in this season include May Parker, Flash Thompson, Liz Allan, Randy Robertson, Iron Man, Hulk, Black Widow, and Sandman.


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: Taking place a few months after the previous season, Peter navigates through his sophomore year while contending with Doctor Octopus' plot of becoming the Superior Spider-Man by possessing his body. Convinced by Peter's memories of Uncle Ben into seeing the error of his ways, Otto Octavious eventually reverses the body-swap and works to restore Peter's relationships with his peers while reforming himself as an ally to Spider-Man. Towards the end of the season, Spider-Man and company discover the existence of a cult-like organization led by Adrian Toomes called themselves the Goblin Nation, armed with the same kind of Goblin technology used by Norman.


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: During this season, Peter gains a career at the "Daily Bugle", Anya becomes Spider-Girl alias when her Spider Powers from the "Spider-Island" incident resurface, Gwen becomes Ghost-Spider after her Spider Powers are awakened by the Blood Gem relic, and Spider-Man forms a "Spider Team" with his inner circle.


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: This season introduces more villains, including Chameleon, Electro, Silvermane, Regent, Beetle, Silver Sable, Tinkerer, Monica Rappaccini, MODOK, Slyde, and Eddie Brock. It also features the Goblin King, who is not Osborn but Adrian Toomes. Other characters introduced in this season include Anna Maria Marconi, Cloak, Dagger, Ms. Marvel, Yuri Watanabe, Prowler, Abraham Brown, Captain America, J. Jonah Jameson, Grady Scraps, and Captain Marvel.


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: Taking place two weeks after the previous season, Spider-Man and Max Modell must save the Earth from an invasion of Klyntar summoned by Venom. Concurrently to all of this, Spider-Man and company must prove Max's innocence after the latter is framed by Dr. Connors, eventually discovering that Norman Osborn has been pulling the strings following his near-death at the hands of Spider-Man and Hobgoblin. While they are able to expose Norman's conspiracy and vanquish the Klyntar for good, the Spider Team's victory comes at the cost of demolishing Horizon High. To keep the spirit of their former school alive, they convince Iron Man to help them fund a tech laboratory called Worldwide Engineering Brigade "W.E.B." at an abandoned warehouse, with Peter believing that a bright future is ahead of them.


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: During this season, Max admits to being aware of Spider-Man's identity since the downfall of the Goblin Nation, Gwen and Anya become aware of Spider-Man's identity and vice versa thanks to Connors' manipulations, Norman is temporarily resurrected as a hybrid of Venom and Jackal's DNA known as the Dark Goblin before being reverted later, and Peter befriends Mary Jane Watson.


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: This season introduces more villains, including Scream, Scorn, Mania, Swarm, Tarantula and Baron Mordo. It also marks the first appearance of Green Goblin in the show, albeit in a “Dark Goblin” persona. Other characters introduced in this season include Ironheart, Totally Awesome Hulk, Doctor Strange, Star-Lord, Groot, Marc Spector, and Anti-Venom.


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: In October 2016, the series was announced by Cort Lane, senior vice president of Marvel Animation, as a replacement for the series' predecessor, "Ultimate Spider-Man", which ended its run in early January 2017. "Spider-Man" premiered on August 19, 2017, on Disney XD.


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: The show was renewed for a second season, which premiered on June 18, 2018. The show was subtitled Spider-Man: Maximum Venom for its third season. Production on "Maximum Venom" started from around February 2019 and ended in October 2019.


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: The show premiered on August 19, 2017, on Disney XD in the United States. It premiered on August 28 on Disney XD in India, and had a simulcast premiere October 14 on Disney Channel and Disney XD in Southeast Asia.


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: The second season premiered June 18, 2018 in the United States, and concluded on December 1, 2019. The third season premiered on April 19, 2020, and concluded on October 25, 2020.


title: Spider-Man (2017 TV series)

text: Dave Trumbore of Collider.com reviewed the series premiere, and praised the series for basing the story around Peter Parker's scientific genius, saying "it pays off in fantastic ways". Trumbore was positive about the animation saying he liked the new look, and also how "strong the writing and performances are".


title: Sweet Girl (film)

text: Sweet Girl is a 2021 American action thriller film directed by Brian Andrew Mendoza in his feature directorial debut and written by Philip Eisner and Gregg Hurwitz. The film stars Jason Momoa, Isabela Merced, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Adria Arjona, Raza Jaffrey, Justin Bartha, Lex Scott Davis, Michael Raymond-James and Amy Brenneman.


title: Sweet Girl (film)

text: "Sweet Girl" was released on Netflix on August 20, 2021, and received negative reviews from critics for its clichéd story and wasted potential, but its stunts were positively noted.


title: Sweet Girl (film)

text: Netflix announced in October 2021 that 68 million accounts had watched at least 2-minutes of the film within 28 days of release.


title: Sweet Girl (film)

text: In Pittsburgh, a woman named Amanda Cooper falls ill with a rare form of cancer. Her husband, the survival expert Ray Cooper, is told that a potentially life-saving drug for Amanda was pulled off the market days before her treatment was set to begin, due to BioPrime CEO Simon Keeley paying the manufacturer to delay production. Watching Keeley on a live debate with Congresswoman Diana Morgan, Ray calls in and threatens Keeley, saying if he doesn't reverse his decision, he'll kill him. Keeley doesn't take the threat seriously and Amanda passes away soon after, devastating Ray and their daughter, Rachel.


title: Sweet Girl (film)

text: Six months later, Ray receives a call from a journalist, Martin Bennett, who tells him that he has evidence of criminal activity committed by BioPrime. They meet on a subway, unknowingly followed by Rachel and a hitman named Santos. Bennett explains that BioPrime has been bribing anyone who questions their dirty deeds, but before he can share his information, Santos stabs him dead. As the train stops at a station, Santos stabs Ray and knocks out Rachel, leaving them both on the platform to die. Two years later, Ray has been obsessively tracking Keeley's movements. Ray poses as a waiter to infiltrate BioPrime's charity auction so he can interrogate Keeley. Keeley says he knows nothing and tells him to go after BioPrime's chairman, Vinod Shah. After a brutal fight that leaves one of Keeley's bodyguards dead, Ray strangles him to death with a plastic bag.


title: Sweet Girl (film)

text: Ray then gets Rachel and they hide in a motel outside of town. Rachel, concerned that her father has gone too far, contacts FBI Agent Sarah Meeker and tries to convince her to look into BioPrime. The next morning, two mercenaries break into the motel and Ray kills them both, resulting in further tension between him and Rachel. Ray plans to go after Shah and lets Rachel help him trap Shah. Ray tries to interrogate him, but Shah refuses to talk and is soon killed by Santos. Ray and Rachel meet with Santos in a diner, and after Santos admits that he finds himself sympathetic to Ray's cause, he reveals that Morgan is his real employer. He also tells Rachel that they will meet again soon.


title: Sweet Girl (film)

text: Returning to the city, Ray is ambushed by the FBI and flees to the roof of PNC Park. As Meeker tries to talk him down, it's revealed that "Ray" is actually Rachel. Ray died from his wounds at the subway and Rachel, suffering from PTSD and dissociative identity disorder, devoted herself to finishing his quest for vengeance. She jumps into the Allegheny River, but gets knocked unconscious and put in an ambulance. After breaking free and crashing the vehicle, she locates Morgan's campaign office, where Santos is waiting. Despite him initially managing to subdue her by strangling and drowning her, Rachel is able to regain her strength and stabs Santos to death. She confronts Morgan and secretly records her admitting she was bribed by BioPrime for government contracts and that she ordered the hit on Bennett and Ray. Rachel flees and sends the recording to the FBI. In the aftermath, Morgan is arrested for her crimes, while Rachel obtains a fake passport, exchanges her money for cryptocurrency, and boards a plane to an uncertain future.


title: Sweet Girl (film)

text: In July 2019, it was announced Jason Momoa had joined the cast of the film, with Brian Andrew Mendoza directing from a screenplay by Philip Eisner, Gregg Hurwitz and Will Staples, Momoa will also serve as a producer on the film, with Netflix distributing. In October 2019, Isabela Merced joined the cast of the film. In December 2019, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Raza Jaffrey, Adria Arjona, Justin Bartha, Lex Scott Davis, Michael Raymond-James, Dominic Fumusa, Brian Howe, Nelson Franklin, and Reggie Lee joined the cast of the film.


title: Sweet Girl (film)

text: Principal photography commenced on November 11, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and wrapped on February 11, 2020.


title: Sweet Girl (film)

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 22% based on 55 reviews, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Burdened with action clichés and tripped up by a late plot twist, "Sweet Girl" wastes a potentially resonant story and some solid work from its well-matched leads." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Marcus Smart

text: Marcus Osmond Smart (born March 6, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.


title: Marcus Smart

text: Smart was drafted with the sixth overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Celtics. He initially came off the bench for the Celtics before starting games regularly in 2018 and becoming the starting point guard in 2021. He was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the 2021–22 season, becoming only the sixth guard in NBA history to win the award. Smart has also been named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team three times and is a two-time NBA Hustle Award winner, winning it in 2019 and 2022. He helped the Celtics reach the NBA Finals in 2022.


title: Marcus Smart

text: Smart is the son of Billy Frank Smart and Camellia Smart, who died of myelodysplastic syndrome on September 16, 2018. He has three older brothers: Todd Westbrook (deceased), Jeff Westbrook, and Michael Smart. He attended Edward S. Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas, along with one of his future Oklahoma State teammates, Phillip Forte. During his senior year, Smart averaged 15.1 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5 assists. In his high school career, he achieved a record of 115–6 through three seasons and was a two-time 5A state champion. He was also named a McDonald's All-American and was an ESPNHS first team All-American. Smart went on to set a new Team USA U18 record for steals over a five-game period when he grabbed 18 during the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championships in Brazil.


title: Marcus Smart

text: Smart played youth football until the sixth grade and continues to enjoy playing tennis in his spare time.


title: Marcus Smart

text: Considered a five-star recruit by ESPN.com, Smart was listed as the No. 1 shooting guard and the No. 10 player in the nation in 2012.


title: Marcus Smart

text: During his freshman year at Oklahoma State, Smart led the Cowboys to a 24–8 record and finished third place in the Big 12 behind Kansas and Kansas State. Smart averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game and led the Big 12 in steals, where he recorded 99 and averaged 3.0 per game. Smart and the Cowboys earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament that year, clinching a #5 seed in the Midwest Region. During the first round of the tournament though, the Cowboys were eliminated by the #12 seed Oregon. On April 17, 2013, Smart held a press conference in the student union at OSU and announced that he would not declare for the NBA draft and instead, return to OSU for his sophomore season. His 99 steals set a freshman record in the Big 12.


title: Marcus Smart

text: On November 19, 2013, Smart tied an OSU single game scoring record with 39 points leading his #7 Oklahoma State Cowboys past #11 Memphis. On February 8, 2014, during a game at Texas Tech, Smart shoved a fan in the stands after a verbal altercation in the closing minutes of the game, and received a technical foul. Reports after the game stated that Smart claimed the fan yelled a racial slur at him. At a press conference the following afternoon, Smart would not comment on that element of the altercation, and coach Travis Ford chose not to address it. The fan denied using a racial slur and stated that he called Smart "a piece of crap". Audio from the incident confirmed the fan's account. Smart was subsequently suspended for three games and the fan agreed not to attend any further Texas Tech games during the 2013–14 season.


title: Marcus Smart

text: Smart was later that year named one of the 30 finalists for the Naismith College Player of the Year. In the first game of the 2014 NCAA tournament, the Cowboys lost to Gonzaga. He finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 steals, becoming the first player in tournament history to record 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals.


title: Marcus Smart

text: During his two seasons at Oklahoma State, Smart averaged 16.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 33.1 minutes per game.


title: Marcus Smart

text: On April 7, 2014, Smart declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final two years of college eligibility.


title: Marcus Smart

text: On June 26, 2014, Smart was selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. He joined the Celtics for the 2014 NBA Summer League, and signed with the team on July 10. In just his fifth NBA game, Smart sprained his left ankle in the Celtics' 101–98 win over the Indiana Pacers on November 7. He underwent an MRI following the game and was ruled out for two to three weeks. After missing ten games with the injury, Smart returned to action on December 3 against the Detroit Pistons. On December 4, he was assigned to the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League. He was recalled the next day after playing in Maine's win over the Erie BayHawks. On March 18, 2015, he scored a season-high 25 points in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. On March 21, he was suspended for one game without pay for hitting San Antonio Spurs forward Matt Bonner in the groin the previous night. On May 18, Smart was named to the NBA's All-Rookie Second Team, garnering 142 points in the voting process.


title: Marcus Smart

text: On July 16, 2015, while playing for the Celtics at the 2015 Las Vegas Summer League, Smart dislocated two fingers on his right hand. On November 15, 2015, he scored a career-high 26 points in a 100–85 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Between November 22 and December 26, Smart missed 18 games with a lower left leg injury. He returned to action on December 27 against the New York Knicks, scoring six points in 13 minutes off the bench. On January 15, 2016, in a win over the Phoenix Suns, Smart recorded his first career triple-double with 10 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds, becoming the first Celtics player to record a triple-double off the bench since Art Williams did so in 1971. On January 31, he tied his career high of 26 points in a loss to the Orlando Magic.


title: Marcus Smart

text: On November 9, 2016, Smart scored a then season-high 20 points in a 118–93 loss to the Washington Wizards. On December 25, he scored 15 points and made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 47 seconds left to help the Celtics claim a 119–114 win over the New York Knicks. On January 7, 2017, he scored a season-high 22 points in a 117–108 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 21, Smart, who started in place of the injured Isaiah Thomas, made seven 3-pointers and scored 27 points to help the Celtics defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 111–108. Boston were blown out in the first two games of the series and came back from a 21-point deficit in the third quarter of Game 3. They went on to lose the series in five games.


title: Marcus Smart

text: On November 27, 2017, Smart scored a season-high 23 points, making 6 of 9 from 3-point range, in a 118–108 loss to the Detroit Pistons. Smart missed 11 games between January 24 and February 14 after cutting his hand on glass at the team hotel in Los Angeles. On March 16, 2018, he was ruled out for the rest of the regular season with a torn ligament in his right thumb. After missing the Celtics' first four games of the playoffs, Smart returned to the line-up for Game 5 of their first-round series against the Milwaukee Bucks. He came off the bench and had nine points, five rebounds, four assists and three blocks in a 92–87 win, helping the Celtics take a 3–2 lead.


title: Marcus Smart

text: On June 29, 2018, the Celtics tendered a qualifying offer to make Smart a restricted free agent. On July 19, he re-signed with the Celtics to a four-year, $52 million contract. On November 9, he had his first double-double of the season with 13 points and a season-high 10 assists in a 123–115 loss to the Utah Jazz. He missed the end of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs with a left oblique tear. He returned during the second round of the playoffs. Following the season, he was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team.


title: Marcus Smart

text: On January 19, 2020, Smart dropped a career-high 37 points on the Phoenix Suns. He went 11 for 22 from three in the game, breaking the Celtics record for three pointers in a single game. On March 20, 2020, he was tested positive for COVID-19 after fellow NBA player Rudy Gobert was tested positive eight days prior, which had caused the NBA season to suspend indefinitely. Smart was one of the first NBA players to speak out publicly regarding the concerns of Covid-19 and how the community should not take the disease lightly. On March 29, 2020, Smart was cleared from COVID-19. After the season, he was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team for the second time.


title: Marcus Smart

text: On April 28, 2021, Smart was suspended for one game without pay for directing threatening language towards a game official.


title: Marcus Smart

text: On August 16, 2021, the Celtics re-signed Smart to a 4-year, $77 million contract extension. During the summer of 2021, new Celtics coach Ime Udoka named Smart the team's starting point guard; he remained in that role throughout the season and during the Celtics' 2022 playoff run. Both Fox Sports and Deadspin have credited Smart's move to the starting point guard role as a major catalyst for the team's successful 2021–2022 season. On October 14, Smart was suspended for the team's final preseason game due to missing a team flight to Florida. As of February 2022, Smart was the longest-tenured member of the Celtics' team.


title: Marcus Smart

text: Smart was named the 2021–22 NBA Defensive Player of the Year on April 18, 2022, the first guard to win the award since Gary Payton won it in 1996. Smart became the fifth guard in NBA history (alongside Michael Jordan, Gary Payton, Sidney Moncrief, and Alvin Robertson) to win the award. Smart was also named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team, receiving more first-place votes than any other NBA player.


title: Marcus Smart

text: On May 19, 2022, in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Smart recorded a playoff career-high 12 assists along with 24 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals in a 127–102 win over the Miami Heat to tie the series at 1–1. In Game 7 of the series, Smart logged 24 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in a 100–96 victory over the Heat, advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time in his career, and the Celtics' first NBA Finals appearance since 2010. In Game 3 of the Finals, Smart posted 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a 116–100 win over the Golden State Warriors. The Celtics took a 2–1 series lead, but eventually lost in 6 games.


title: Marcus Smart

text: Smart plays both the point guard and shooting guard positions, but in 2021, was named the team's starting point guard. Smart, at height 6'3" with a 6'9" wingspan, is capable of guarding all five positions, enabling the Celtics to play a switching defense with historic efficiency.


title: Marcus Smart

text: Smart has earned a reputation as a hustle player. He is known for diving for loose balls and taking charges, and has been nicknamed "The Cobra" as a result. Because of his physicality, quick hands, and elite basketball IQ, many consider Smart to be one of the most versatile and consistent defenders in the NBA.


title: Marcus Smart

text: Although not a high percentage shooter, Smart is aggressive on offense and defense. He often guards opposing players taller than he is, using his physicality to make them uncomfortable and often causing turnovers or missed shots. Over his years in the league, his three-point shooting has improved to the point where he has become a league-average three-point threat. His former teammate, Kemba Walker, describes the energy he brings to the game: "It's exciting. It's energizing. He just gets everybody going. Gets us going, gets the crowd going. Like I said, we just kinda feed off him. He just does so many great things. And propels our defense each and every night."


title: Storm Area 51

text: Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us, also known as the Raid on Area 51 or simply the Area 51 Raid, was an American Facebook event and series of music festivals that took place on and around September 20, 2019, in the desert surrounding Area 51, a United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range.


title: Storm Area 51

text: The event, created as a sardonic shitpost by Matty Roberts on June 27, 2019, asked Facebook users to band together and raid the site in a search for extraterrestrial life that conspiracy lore claims may be concealed inside. More than 2 million people responded "going" and 1.5 million "interested" on the event's page, which subsequently attracted widespread media attention and caused the event to become an Internet meme. Roberts later stated his intentions for the event had been purely comedic, and disavowed responsibility for any casualties had there been any actual attempt to raid the military base.


title: Storm Area 51

text: On the day of the event, only about 150 people were reported to have shown up at the two entrances to Area 51, with none succeeding in entering the site. Two music festivals were planned to coincide with the event: Alienstock in Rachel, Nevada, and Storm Area 51 Basecamp in Hiko, Nevada. An estimated 1,500 people attended these festivals, according to state and local law enforcement. Air Force spokeswoman Grace Manock stated government officials were briefed on the event and discouraged people from attempting to enter military property. Nevada law enforcement also warned potential participants against trespassing. The event had an effect on businesses both locally in Nevada and around the United States, which prepared products for visitors and those attending the event.


title: Storm Area 51

text: Area 51 is a common name given to a United States Air Force (USAF) facility in the Nevada Test and Training Range. Opening in 1955, the facility functioned as an aircraft testing and development facility during the Cold War. The facility is kept highly classified, protected from unauthorized entry by warning signs, electronic surveillance and armed guards. The CIA declassified documents related to Area 51 and recognized its existence in 2013.


title: Storm Area 51

text: Area 51's intense secrecy has caused it to become the subject of many conspiracy theories regarding the presence of aliens on the site. These began in the 1950s, when some individuals reported seeing UFOs at the location of the base. Conspiracy theorists believe aliens, UFOs, or information related to them are stored at Area 51.


title: Storm Area 51

text: Matty Roberts was a Bakersfield resident, and a moderator of the Facebook page "Shitposting cause I'm in shambles". "Shitposting" is the act of posting content online with intentionally ironic or poor quality. Matty devised the idea of creating the Storm Area 51 event after watching Area 51 conspiracy theorist Bob Lazar and filmmaker Jeremy Corbell on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast on June 20, 2019. He created the event on Facebook on June 27, 2019.


title: Storm Area 51

text: The event was planned to take place in Amargosa Valley from 3a.m. to 6a.m. PDT on September 20, 2019. The Facebook event wrote, "If we naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Lets see them aliens", referring to the distinctive running style of anime character Naruto Uzumaki and several other characters, who run with their arms stretched behind them, head down and torso tilted forward. Roberts stated the event had only received around 40 responses three days into the event's listing, before it suddenly and unexpectedly went viral.


title: Storm Area 51

text: The resulting meme quickly spread to other social media applications such as TikTok, Reddit, and Instagram. The Facebook page for the event was filled with thousands of satirical posts discussing topics like means of breaking into Area 51. The meme's virality caused Roberts to worry that he would receive a visit from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The event received 2million "going" and another 1.5 million "interested" signatures as of August 22.


title: Storm Area 51

text: Rapper Lil Nas X released a music video for the Young Thug and Mason Ramsey remix of "Old Town Road" about the planned raid. Copycat events such as plans to storm a genealogical vault of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Loch Ness, Bermuda Triangle and the Vatican City's archives were also created.


title: Storm Area 51

text: On July 10, speaking with "The Washington Post", Air Force spokeswoman Laura McAndrews stated officials were aware of the event, and issued a warning saying: "[Area 51] is an open training range for the U.S. Air Force, and we would discourage anyone from trying to come into the area where we train American armed forces", adding that "[t]he U.S. Air Force always stands ready to protect America and its assets". A public information officer at Nellis Air Force Base told KNPR that "any attempt to illegally access the area is highly discouraged". The FBI also stated that they would be monitoring the situation and the number of people that would come to the events.


title: Storm Area 51

text: The events also prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to post two temporary flight restrictions, closing the airspace above two places nearby Area 51 during the days surrounding the planned raid. The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), the military's public relations office, made a Twitter post on September 20 depicting military personnel and a B-2 stealth bomber with the caption "The last thing #Millennials will see if they attempt the #area51raid today". The tweet was later deleted, and the DVIDS issued an apology.


title: Storm Area 51

text: In August 2019, Lincoln County officials drafted an emergency declaration and a plan to pool resources with neighboring counties, anticipating the region being overwhelmed by a crowd of 40,000 people. The county had just 184 hotel rooms, and officials expected the local cellphone network to be unable to cope with the additional traffic; they also expressed concerns about overcrowding at campsites, gas stations, and public medical facilities. County sheriff Kerry Lee said an extra 300 paramedics and 150 police officers would be brought in from across Nevada.


title: Storm Area 51

text: The town of Rachel posted a caution on its website, advising attendees to be "experienced in camping, hiking and surviving in a harsh desert environment and have a vehicle in good shape". They advised that the town would likely be unable to provide sufficient food, water or gas to visitors, and expected local law enforcement to be overwhelmed. The website warned that local residents would readily protect their property, predicting that Alienstock would be "Fyre Festival 2.0".


title: Storm Area 51

text: Business owners in and around Rachel, Nevada, a town of just 56 people just outside of the base, made preparations for visitors who planned to go to Area 51. Connie West, co-owner of the Little A'Le'Inn restaurant and inn, had all 13 rooms of the inn booked and planned to open up 30 acres for camping, also stating she would possibly create merchandise for the event. Las Vegas businessman George Harris planned to hire bands to play at an annual festival called "The Swarm". Kosmic Kae, owner of the shop Aliens R Us in Boulder City, stated that even though the shop was 170 miles away from Area 51, business had increased due to fascination regarding aliens.


title: Storm Area 51

text: Other businesses around the U.S. based products and services on the event, and a collection of merchandise related to the event was launched from online retailers. Bud Light planned to release a promotional alien-themed beer label and promised a free beer to "any alien that makes it out" as long as a tweet showing the new design received 51,000 retweets. Fast food restaurant Arby's had planned to deliver food with a special menu to the event.


title: Storm Area 51

text: While the event was intended as comedic, some took it seriously, and traveled to areas surrounding the facility. Beginning on September 19, the day before the planned event date, people were reported to be showing up and camping around Rachel in preparation for the raid.


title: Storm Area 51

text: The Lincoln County Sheriff estimated that about 1,500 people showed up at the festivals, while about 150 people made the journey over several miles of rough roads to the back gate of Area 51. Some camped overnight outside the perimeter of the base while others arrived to gather and take selfies near the front gate before leaving. One person attempted to enter the facility and received a warning, while six others were arrested for crimes including public urination, alcohol-related offenses and indecent exposure. Near Rachel, two people were injured in a rollover crash which resulted in one victim being airlifted to Dixie Regional Medical Center. The speed of the emergency response was abnormally fast for an area so remote, and one of the victims expressed gratitude to the emergency personnel who were stationed close by to monitor the Alienstock festival.


title: Storm Area 51

text: Two music festivals were announced in the county in response to the event's popularity: Alienstock in Rachel, Nevada, and Storm Area 51 Basecamp in Hiko, Nevada. Local governments and police feared that even these legal events could be problematic if too many individuals attended.


title: Storm Area 51

text: Event creator Roberts pulled out of Alienstock 10 days before the festival, leaving other organizers and booked entertainers to run the event. Roberts claimed his last-minute departure with $70,000–$100,000 in sponsorship money and donations was "due to poor planning", and he instead joined an alien-themed party already planned in Las Vegas, although the Little A'Le'Inn owner Connie West continued with the name Alienstock in Rachel, Nevada. Roberts's lawyers sent her a cease and desist regarding use of the name, but West was in possession of all of the Alienstock permits and ignored the legal threats.


title: Storm Area 51

text: After the raid, Keith Wright, a promoter for the Area 51 Basecamp event, stated that his event was a failure. Connie West, who organized Alienstock, declared her event a success. The event's aftermath saw several pending lawsuits surrounding the festival and Roberts's call to breach the government facility. Although much less than the estimated 30,000 attendees expected before Roberts's departure—and a press campaign claiming Alienstock was canceled—the event was thought to have brought the largest influx of people ever to visit Lincoln County at the same time.


title: Basil II

text: Basil II Porphyrogenitus ( ; 958 – 15 December 1025), nicknamed the Bulgar Slayer (, ), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 976 to 1025. He and his brother Constantine VIII were crowned before their father Romanos II died in 963, but they were too young to rule. The throne thus went to two generals, Nikephoros Phokas (963–969) and John Tzimiskes (r. 969–976), before Basil became senior emperor, though his influential great-uncle Basil Lekapenos remained as the "de facto" ruler until 985. His reign of 49 years and 11 months was the longest of any Roman emperor.


title: Basil II

text: The early years of Basil's reign were dominated by civil wars against two powerful generals from the Anatolian aristocracy; first Bardas Skleros and later Bardas Phokas, which ended shortly after Phokas's death and Skleros's submission in 989. Basil then oversaw the stabilization and expansion of the eastern frontier of the Byzantine Empire and the complete subjugation of the First Bulgarian Empire, its foremost European foe, after a prolonged struggle. Although the Byzantines had made a truce with the Fatimid Caliphate in 987–988, Basil led a campaign against the Caliphate that ended with another truce in 1000. He also conducted a campaign against the Khazar Khaganate that gained the Byzantine Empire part of Crimea and a series of successful campaigns against the Kingdom of Georgia.


title: Basil II

text: Despite near-constant warfare, Basil distinguished himself as an administrator, reducing the power of the great land-owning families who dominated the Empire's administration and military, filling its treasury, and leaving it with its greatest expanse in four centuries. Although his successors were largely incapable rulers, the Empire flourished for decades after Basil's death. One of the most important decisions taken during his reign was to offer the hand of his sister Anna Porphyrogenita to Vladimir I of Kiev in exchange for military support, thus forming the Byzantine military unit known as the Varangian Guard. The marriage of Anna and Vladimir led to the Christianization of the Kievan Rus' and the incorporation of later successor states of Kievan Rus' within the Byzantine cultural and religious tradition. Basil is seen as a Greek national hero but is a despised figure among Bulgarians.


title: Basil II

text: The courtier and historian Michael Psellos, who was born towards the end of Basil's reign, gives a description of Basil in his "Chronographia". Psellos describes him as a stocky man of shorter-than-average stature who nevertheless was an impressive figure on horseback. He had light-blue eyes, strongly arched eyebrows, luxuriant side whiskers—which he had a habit of rolling between his fingers when deep in thought or angry—and in later life a scant beard. Psellos also states that Basil was not an articulate speaker and had a loud laugh that convulsed his whole frame. Basil is described as having ascetic tastes and caring little for the pomp and ceremony of the Imperial court, typically wearing a sombre, dark-purple robe furnished with few of the gems that usually decorated imperial costumes. He is also described as a capable administrator who left a well-stocked treasury upon his death. Basil supposedly despised literary culture and affected scorn for the learned classes of Byzantium.


title: Basil II

text: According to the 19th century historian George Finlay, Basil saw himself as "prudent, just, and devout; others considered him severe, rapacious, cruel, and bigoted. For Greek learning he cared little, and he was a type of the higher Byzantine moral character, which retained far more of its Roman than its Greek origin". The modern historian John Julius Norwich wrote of Basil: "No lonelier man ever occupied the Byzantine throne. And it is hardly surprising: Basil was ugly, dirty, coarse, boorish, philistine and almost pathologically mean. He was in short deeply un-Byzantine. He cared only for the greatness of his Empire. No wonder that in his hands it reached its apogee".


title: Basil II

text: Basil II was born in 958. He was a "porphyrogennetos" ("born into the purple"), as were his father Romanos II and his grandfather Constantine VII; this was the appellation used for children who were born to a reigning emperor. Basil was the eldest son of Romanos and his Laconian Greek second wife Theophano, who was the daughter of a poor tavern-keeper named Krateros and may have originated from the city of Sparta. He may have had an elder sister named Helena (born 955). Romanos succeeded Constantine VII as sole emperor upon the latter's death in 959. Basil's father crowned him as co-emperor on 22 April 960, and his brother Constantine (born 960 or 961, eventually to rule as sole emperor Constantine VIII in 1025–1028) in 962 or 963. Only two days after the birth of his youngest child Anna, Romanos II died on 15 March 963 at 24 years of age. His unexpected death was commonly thought at the time to be the result of poisoning with hemlock; the chroniclers Leo the Deacon and John Skylitzes imply that Theophano was responsible, and according to Skylitzes, she had been complicit in an earlier attempt by Romanos II to poison Constantine VII.


title: Basil II

text: Basil and Constantine were too young to rule in their own right when Romanos died in 963. Therefore, although the Byzantine Senate confirmed them as emperors with their mother as the nominal regent, "de facto" power passed for the time into the hands of the "parakoimomenos" Joseph Bringas. Theophano did not trust Bringas, however, and another enemy of the powerful "parakoimomenos" was Basil Lekapenos, an illegitimate, eunuch son of Emperor Romanos I–Basil's great-grandfather. Lekapenos himself had been "parakoimomenos" to Constantine VII and "megas baioulos" to Romanos II. Yet another enemy of Bringas was the successful and widely popular general Nikephoros Phokas, who had just returned from his conquest of the Emirate of Crete and a highly successful raid into Cilicia and Syria, which culminated in the sack of Aleppo. Phokas was proclaimed emperor by his men in July and marched on Constantinople. Bringas tried to bring in troops to stop his rival's advance, but the capital's populace supported Nikephoros. Bringas fled, leaving his post to Lekapenos, and on 16 August 963 Nikephoros Phokas was crowned emperor.


title: Basil II

text: On 20 September, Phokas married Theophano, but problems resulted; it was a second marriage for each spouse and Nikephoros was thought to be the godfather of Basil or his brother, perhaps both. Although Polyeuctus, the patriarch of Constantinople, disapproved of the marriage, the Church declared it to be valid. With it, Nikephoros secured his legitimacy and became the guardian of Romanos' sons. He was murdered in December 969 by Theophano and his nephew John Tzimiskes, who then became emperor John I and exiled Theophano. John married Theodora, a sister of Romanos II. Basil II acceded to the throne as effective ruler and senior emperor when John died on 10 January 976. He immediately had his mother brought back from her convent.


title: Basil II

text: Basil was a very successful soldier on horseback and through his achievement he proved himself to be an able general and a strong ruler. In the early years of his reign, administration remained in the hands of Basil Lekapenos. As president of the Byzantine Senate, Lekapenos was a wily, gifted politician who hoped the young emperors would be his puppets. The younger Basil waited and watched without interfering, devoting himself to learning the details of administrative business and military science.


title: Basil II

text: Nikephoros II and John I were brilliant military commanders but proved to be poor administrators. Towards the end of his reign, John I had belatedly planned to curb the power of the great landowners; his death, which occurred soon after he spoke out against them, led to rumors that he had been poisoned by Lekapenos, who had illegally acquired vast estates and feared an investigation and punishment. At the start of his reign, the failures of his immediate predecessors left Basil II with a serious problem: Bardas Skleros and Bardas Phokas, members of the wealthy military elite of Anatolia, had sufficient means to undertake open rebellion against his authority.


title: Basil II

text: Skleros and Phokas, both of whom were experienced generals, wanted to assume the Imperial position that Nikephoros II and John I had held, and thus return Basil to the role of impotent cypher. Basil, showing a penchant for ruthlessness, took to the field himself and suppressed the rebellions of both Skleros (979) and Phokas (989) with the help of 12,000 Georgians of Tornikios and David III Kuropalates of Tao. The fall of Lekapenos occurred between the rebellions in 985; he was accused of plotting with the rebels and was punished with exile and the confiscation of his property.


title: Basil II

text: The relationship between the two generals was complicated; Phokas was instrumental in defeating the rebellion of Skleros but when Phokas later rebelled, Skleros returned from exile to support him. When Phokas died in battle, Skleros, whom Phokas had imprisoned, assumed the leadership of the rebellion. Basil's brother Constantine—who had no interest in politics, statecraft, or the military–led troops alongside Basil; this was the only military command Constantine would hold. The campaign ended without combat when Skleros was forced to surrender to Basil in 989. Skleros was allowed to live but he died blind, either through disease or from being blinded as punishment for his insurrection.


title: Basil II

text: These rebellions had a profound effect on Basil's outlook and methods of governance. Psellos describes the defeated Skleros giving Basil the following advice, which he took to heart: "Cut down the governors who become over-proud. Let no generals on campaign have too many resources. Exhaust them with unjust exactions, to keep them busied with their own affairs. Admit no woman to the imperial councils. Be accessible to no-one. Share with few your most intimate plans."


title: Basil II

text: To defeat these dangerous revolts, Basil formed an alliance with Prince Vladimir I of Kiev, who in 988 had captured Chersonesos, the Empire's main base in the Crimean Peninsula. Vladimir offered to evacuate Chersonesos and to supply 6,000 of his soldiers as reinforcements to Basil. In exchange, he demanded to be married to Basil's younger sister Anna. At first, Basil hesitated. The Byzantines viewed all of the peoples of Northern Europe—namely Franks and Slavs—as barbarians. Anna objected to marrying a barbarian ruler because such a marriage would have no precedent in Imperial annals.


title: Basil II

text: Vladimir had researched various religions, having sent delegates to various countries. Marriage was not his main reason for choosing Christianity. When Vladimir promised to baptize himself and to convert his people to Christianity, Basil finally agreed. Vladimir and Anna were married in Crimea in 989. The Rus' warriors taken into Basil's army were instrumental in ending the rebellion; they were later organized into the Varangian Guard. This marriage had important long-term implications, marking the beginning of the process by which the Grand Duchy of Moscow many centuries later would proclaim itself "The Third Rome", and claim the political and cultural heritage of the Byzantine Empire.


title: Basil II

text: Once the internal strife was quelled, Basil turned his attention to the Empire's other enemies. The Byzantine civil wars had weakened the Empire's position in the east, and the gains of Nikephoros II and John I had nearly been lost to the Fatimid Caliphate. In 987–988, a seven-year truce with the Fatimids was signed; it stipulated an exchange of prisoners, the recognition of the Byzantine emperor as protector of Christians under Fatimid rule and of the Fatimid Caliph as protector of Muslims under Byzantine control, and the replacement of the name of the Abbasid caliph with that of the Fatimid caliph in the Friday prayer in the mosque at Constantinople. This lasted until the long-time vizier Yaqub ibn Killis died in 991. Fatimid caliph Al-Aziz Billah chose to pursue a more aggressive stance in Syria and appointed Manjutakin as governor of Damascus.


title: Basil II

text: Encouraged by the defectors after the death of emir Sa'd al-Dawla, Al-Aziz decided to renew his attacks on the Hamdanid Emirate of Aleppo, a Byzantine protectorate, perhaps expecting Basil would not interfere. Manjutakin invaded the emirate, defeated a Byzantine force under the "doux" of Antioch Michael Bourtzes in June 992, and laid siege to Aleppo. The city easily resisted. In early 993, after thirteen months of campaigning, a lack of supplies forced Manjutakin to return to Damascus.


title: Basil II

text: In 994, Manjutakin resumed his offensive and in September scored a major victory at the Battle of the Orontes against Bourtzes. Bourtzes' defeat forced Basil to intervene personally in the East; with his army, he rode through Asia Minor to Aleppo in sixteen days, arriving in April 995. Basil's sudden arrival and the exaggeration of his army's strength circulating in the Fatimid camp caused panic in the Fatimid army, especially because Manjutakin, expecting no threat, had ordered his cavalry horses to be dispersed around the city for pasture. Despite having a considerably larger and well-rested army, Manjutakin was at a disadvantage. He burned his camp and retreated to Damascus without battle. The Byzantines besieged Tripoli unsuccessfully and occupied Tartus, which they refortified and garrisoned with Armenian troops. Al-Aziz now prepared to take to the field in person against the Byzantines and initiated large-scale preparations but they were abandoned upon his death.


title: Basil II

text: Warfare between the two powers continued as the Byzantines supported an anti-Fatimid uprising in Tyre. In 998, the Byzantines under Damian Dalassenos, the successor of Bourtzes, launched an attack on Apamea but the Fatimid general Jaysh ibn al-Samsama defeated them in battle on 19 July 998. This defeat drew Basil back into the conflict; he arrived in Syria in October 999 and remained there for three months. Basil's troops raided as far as Heliopolis, placed a garrison at Larissa, and burnt three minor forts in the vicinity of Abu Qubais, Masyath and Arca. The siege of Tripoli in December failed while Emesa was not threatened. Basil's attention was diverted to developments in Georgia following the murder of David III Kuropalates; he departed for Cilicia in January and dispatched another embassy to Cairo.


title: Basil II

text: In 1000, a ten-year truce was concluded between the two states. For the remainder of the reign of Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ( 996–1021), relations remained peaceful as al-Hakim was more interested in internal affairs. Even the acknowledgement of Fatimid suzerainty by Abu Muhammad Lu'lu' al-Kabir of Aleppo in 1004 and the Fatimid-sponsored installment of Aziz al-Dawla as the city's emir in 1017 did not lead to a resumption of hostilities, especially because al-Kabir continued to pay tribute to the Byzantines and al-Dawla quickly began acting as an independent ruler. Al-Hakim's persecution of Christians in his realm and especially the 1009 destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at his orders strained relations and, along with Fatimid interference in Aleppo, provided the main focus of Fatimid–Byzantine diplomatic relations until the late 1030s.


title: Basil II

text: Basil sought to restore former territories of the Byzantine Empire. At the start of the second millennium, he fought Samuel of Bulgaria, his greatest adversary. Bulgaria had been partly subjugated by John I after the invasion of Svyatoslav I of Kiev but parts of the country had remained outside Byzantine control under the leadership of Samuel and his brothers.


title: Basil II

text: Because the Bulgars had been raiding Byzantine lands since 976, the Byzantine government sought to cause dissension among them by allowing the escape of their captive emperor Boris II of Bulgaria. This ploy failed so Basil used a respite from his conflict with the nobility to lead a 30,000-strong army into Bulgaria and besiege Sredets (Sofia) in 986. Taking losses and worried about the loyalty of some of his governors, Basil lifted the siege and returned for Thrace but he fell into an ambush and suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of the Gates of Trajan. Basil escaped with the help of his Varangian Guard and attempted to recover his losses by turning Samuel's brother Aron against him. Aron was tempted by Basil's offer of his sister Anna in marriage, but the negotiations failed when Aron discovered the bride he was sent was an imposter. By 987, Samuel had eliminated Aron. Another brother of Samuel, called David, was killed in 976 by the Vlachs, the guards of caravans, between Prespa and Kastoria. Although the titular emperor Roman of Bulgaria was captured in 991, Basil lost Moesia to the Bulgarians.


title: Basil II

text: While Basil was distracted with internal rebellions and recovering the military situation on his eastern frontier, Samuel had extended his rule from the Adriatic Sea to the Black Sea, recovering most of the territory that was controlled by Bulgaria before the invasion of Svyatoslav. He also conducted damaging raids into Byzantine territory as far as central Greece. In 996, the Byzantine general Nikephoros Ouranos defeated a Bulgarian army raid at the Battle of Spercheios in Thessaly. Samuel and his son Gabriel narrowly escaped capture.


title: Basil II

text: Beginning in 1000, Basil was free to focus on a war of conquest against Bulgaria, which he fought with grinding persistence and strategic insight. In 1000, the Byzantine generals Nikephoros Xiphias and Theodorokanos took the former Bulgarian capital Great Preslav, and the towns Lesser Preslav and Pliskova. In 1001, Basil, operating from Thessalonica, regained control of Vodena, Verrhoia and Servia. The following year, he based his army in Philippopolis and occupied the length of the military road from the western Haemus Mountains to the Danube, cutting off communications between Samuel's Macedonian heartland and Paristrion (the lands south of the lower Danube). Following this success, Basil laid siege to Vidin, which fell after a prolonged resistance. Samuel reacted to the Byzantine campaign by launching a large-scale raid into the heart of Byzantine Thrace and took the major city of Adrianople by surprise.


title: Basil II

text: After turning homeward with his extensive plunder, Samuel was intercepted near Skopje by a Byzantine army commanded by Basil, whose forces stormed the Bulgarian camp, defeating the Bulgarians and recovering the plunder from Adrianople. Skopje surrendered shortly after the battle, and Basil treated its governor Romanos with overt kindness. In 1005, the governor of Dyrrhachium Ashot Taronites surrendered his city to the Byzantines. The defection of Dyrrhachium completed the isolation of Samuel's core territories in the highlands of western Macedonia. Samuel was forced into an almost entirely defensive stance; he extensively fortified the passes and routes from the coastlines and valleys held by the Byzantines to the territory remaining in his possession. During the next few years, the Byzantine offensive slowed and no significant gains were made, although an attempt by the Bulgarians to counter-attack in 1009 was defeated at the Battle of Kreta, to the east of Thessalonica.


title: Basil II

text: In 1014, Basil was ready to launch a campaign aimed at destroying Bulgarian resistance. On 29 July 1014, in the Battle of Kleidion, he and his general Nikephoros Xiphias outmaneuvered the Bulgarian army, which was defending one of the fortified passes. Samuel avoided capture through the valor of his son Gabriel. Having crushed the Bulgarians, Basil exacted his vengeance cruelly—he was said to have captured 15,000 prisoners and fully blinded 99 of every 100 men, leaving one one-eyed man in each cohort to lead the rest back to their ruler. A possible reason for this vengeance was that, in Byzantine eyes, the Bulgarians were rebels against their authority, and blinding was the usual punishment meted out to rebels. Samuel was struck down by the sight of his blinded army and died two days later on 6 October 1014 after suffering a stroke.


title: Basil II

text: Bulgaria fought on for four more years, its resistance fired by Basil's cruelty, but it submitted in 1018. This submission was the result of continued military pressure and a successful diplomatic campaign aimed at dividing and suborning the Bulgarian leadership. This victory over the Bulgarians and the later submission of the Serbs fulfilled one of Basil's goals; the Empire regained its ancient Danubian frontier for the first time in 400 years.


title: Basil II

text: The rulers of neighbouring Croatia, Krešimir III and Gojslav, who were previously allies of Bulgaria, accepted Basil's supremacy to avoid the same fate as Bulgaria; Basil warmly received their offers of vassalage and awarded them the honorary title of "patrikios". Croatia remained a tributary state to Basil until his death in 1025. Before returning to Constantinople, Basil celebrated his triumph in Athens. He showed considerable statesmanship in his treatment of the defeated Bulgarians, giving many former Bulgarian leaders court titles, positions in provincial administration, and high commands in the army. In this way, he sought to absorb the Bulgarian elite into Byzantine society. Because Bulgaria did not have a monetary economy to the same extent as Byzantium, Basil decided to accept Bulgarian taxes in kind. Basil's successors reversed this policy, a decision that led to considerable Bulgarian discontent and rebellion later in the 11th century.


title: Basil II

text: Although the Kievan Rus' had broken the power of the Khazar Khaganate in the 960s, the Byzantines had not been able to fully exploit the power vacuum and restore their dominion over Crimea and other areas around the Black Sea. In 1016, Byzantine armies in conjunction with Mstislav of Chernigov attacked the Crimea, much of which had fallen under the control of the Khazar successor kingdom of George Tzoul based at Kerch. Kedrenos reports that Tzoul was captured and the Khazar successor kingdom was destroyed. Subsequently, the Byzantines occupied southern Crimea.


title: Basil II

text: The integrity of the Byzantine Empire was threatened after a full-scale rebellion led by Bardas Skleros broke out in 976. After winning a series of battles, the rebels conquered Asia Minor. In the urgency of the situation, Georgian prince David III of Tao aided Basil; after a decisive loyalist victory at the Battle of Pankaleia, he was rewarded by lifetime rule of key imperial territories in eastern Asia Minor. David's rebuff of Basil in Bardas Phokas' revolt of 987, however, evoked Constantinople's distrust of the Georgian rulers. After the revolt's failure, David was forced to make Basil the legatee of his extensive possessions. In 1001, after the death of David of Tao, Basil inherited Tao, Phasiane and Speri. These provinces were then organized into the theme of Iberia with the capital at Theodosiopolis. This forced the successor Georgian Bagratid ruler Bagrat III to recognize the new rearrangement. Bagrat's son George I, however, inherited a longstanding claim to David's succession. George, who was young and ambitious, launched a campaign to restore the Kuropalates's succession to Georgia and occupied Tao in 1015–1016. He entered in an alliance with the Fatimid caliph of Egypt, al-Hakim, forcing Basil to refrain from an acute response to George's offensive. The Byzantines were also involved in a relentless war with the Bulgarians, limiting their actions to the west. As soon as Bulgaria was conquered in 1018 and al-Hakim was dead, Basil led his army against Georgia. Preparations for a larger-scale campaign against the Kingdom of Georgia were set, beginning with the re-fortification of Theodosiopolis.


title: Basil II

text: In late 1021, Basil, at the head of a large Byzantine army reinforced by the Varangian Guard, attacked the Georgians and their Armenian allies, recovering Phasiane and continuing beyond the frontiers of Tao into inner Georgia. King George burned the city of Oltisi to prevent it falling to the enemy and retreated to Kola. A bloody battle was fought near the village Shirimni at Lake Palakazio on 11 September; the emperor won a costly victory, forcing George I to retreat northwards into his kingdom. Basil plundered the country and withdrew for winter to Trebizond.


title: Basil II

text: Several attempts to negotiate the conflict failed. George received reinforcements from the Kakhetians and allied himself with the Byzantine commanders Nikephoros Phokas Barytrachelos and Nikephoros Xiphias in their abortive insurrection in the emperor's rear. In December, George's ally the Armenian king Senekerim of Vaspurakan, who was being harassed by the Seljuk Turks, surrendered his kingdom to the emperor. During early 1022, Basil launched a final offensive, defeating the Georgians at the Battle of Svindax. Menaced both by land and sea, George agreed to a treaty that handed over Tao, Phasiane, Kola, Artaan and Javakheti, and left his infant son Bagrat as Basil's hostage.


title: Basil II

text: In 992, Basil concluded a treaty with the Doge of Venice Pietro II Orseolo under terms reducing Venice's custom duties in Constantinople from 30 "nomismata" to 17 "nomismata". In return, the Venetians agreed to transport Byzantine troops to southern Italy in times of war. According to one estimate, a Byzantine landowning farmer might expect a profit of 10.2 "nomismata" after paying dues for half of his best-quality land. Basil was popular with the country farmers, the class that produced most of his army's supplies and soldiers. To assure this continued, Basil's laws protected small agrarian property owners and lowered their taxes. Despite the almost constant wars, Basil's reign was considered an era of relative prosperity for the class.


title: Basil II

text: Seeking to protect the lower and middle classes, Basil made ruthless war upon the system of immense estates in Asia Minor—which his predecessor Romanos I had endeavored to check—by executing a legal decree in January 996 that limited rights to property ownership. If the owner of an estate could prove that he claimed his estate prior to the Novels of Romanos, he would be allowed to keep it. If a person had illegally seized an estate following the Novels of Romanos, he would have his rights to the estate declared null and the legal owners could reclaim it. In 1002, Basil also introduced the "allelengyon" tax as a specific law obliging the "dynatoi" (wealthy landholders) to cover for the arrears of poorer tax-payers. Though it proved unpopular with the wealthier sections of Byzantine society, Basil did not abolish the tax; the emperor Romanos III abolished the "allelengyon" in 1028. By 1025, Basil—with an annual revenue of 7 million "nomismata"—was able to amass 14.4 million "nomismata" (or 200,000 pounds/90 tonnes of gold) for the Imperial treasury due to his prudent management. Despite his attempts to control the power of the aristocracy, they again took control of the government following his death.


title: Basil II

text: Basil II was praised by his army because he spent most of his reign campaigning with it rather than sending orders from Constantinople, as had most of his predecessors. This allowed his army to be largely supportive of him, often making his stance in political and church matters unquestionable. He lived the life of a soldier to the point of eating the same daily rations as the rest of the army. He also took the children of dead army officers under his protection and offered them shelter, food and education. Many of these children became his soldiers and officers, taking the places of their fathers. One of them, Isaac Komnenos, later became emperor himself.


title: Basil II

text: Basil did not innovate in terms of military organization: in the conquered territories he introduced both the small themes or "strategiai", centred around a fortress town, that were such a common feature of the 10th-century reconquests of the East under Phokas and Tzimiskes, as well as the extensive regional commands under a "doux" or "katepano" (Iberia in 1000, Asprakania or Upper Media in 1019/22, Paristrion in 1000/20, Bulgaria in 1018, and Sirmium in 1019). The exact size of the army under Basil II is unknown, but estimates put it as high as 110,000 men, excluding the imperial "tagmata" in Constantinople; a considerable force, compared with the nominal establishment force of 120,000 in the 9th–10th centuries, or the 150,000–160,000 of the field armies under Justinian I. At the same time, however, under Basil the practice began of relying on allied states—most notably Venice—for naval power, beginning the slow decline of the Byzantine navy during the 11th century.


title: Basil II

text: Basil II later secured the annexation of the sub-kingdoms of Armenia and a promise that its capital and surrounding regions would be willed to Byzantium following the death of its king Hovhannes-Smbat. In 1021, he also secured the cession of the Kingdom of Vaspurakan by its king Seneqerim-John, in exchange for estates in Sebasteia. Basil created a strongly fortified frontier in those highlands. Other Byzantine forces restored much of Southern Italy, which had been lost during the previous 150 years.


title: Basil II

text: Basil was preparing a military expedition to recover the island of Sicily when he died on 15 December 1025, having had the longest reign among any Byzantine or Roman emperor. At the time of his death, the Empire stretched from southern Italy to the Caucasus and from the Danube to the Levant, which was its greatest territorial extent since the Muslim conquests four centuries earlier. Basil was to be buried in the last sarcophagus available in the rotunda of Constantine I in the Church of the Holy Apostles but he later asked his brother and successor Constantine VIII to be buried in the Church of St. John the Theologian ("i.e.", the Evangelist) at the Hebdomon Palace complex outside the walls of Constantinople. The epitaph on Basil's tomb celebrated his campaigns and victories. His final resting place carried the following inscription: "From the day that the King of Heaven called upon me to become the Emperor, the great overlord of the world, no one saw my spear lie idle. I stayed alert throughout my life and protected the children of the New Rome, valiantly campaigning both in the West and at the outposts of the East ... O, man, seeing now my tomb here, reward me for my campaigns with your prayers". In 1260, during the unsuccessful Nicean Byzantine siege of Constantinople, then held by the Latin Empire, a corpse was found, upright in a corner of the Church of St. John the Evangelist, with a shepherd's flute placed in its mouth. An inscription allowed the Nicaean soldiers to identify the corpse as the remains of Basil II. The body of Basil II was transferred to the Monastery of the Saviour at Selymbria. The following year Constantinople was recovered by the Byzantines.


title: Basil II

text: An assessment of the reign in the eyes of the subsequent generations is given by Psellos:He crushed rebellions, subdued the feudal landowners, conquered the enemies of the Empire, notably in the Danubian provinces and the East. Everywhere the might of Roman arms was respected and feared. The treasury was overflowing with the accumulated plunder of Basil's campaigns. Even the lamp of learning, despite the emperor's known indifference, was burning still, if somewhat dimly. The lot of ordinary folk in Constantinople must have been pleasant enough. For most of them life was gay and colourful, and if the city's defensive fortifications were at some points in disrepair they had no cause to dread attacks.


title: Basil II

text: Basil II's reign is one of the most significant in Byzantine history. His constant military campaigns led to the zenith of Byzantine power in the Middle Ages. The restoration of the Danubian frontier helped establish a more stable and secure border for the empire in Europe, maintaining a stronger barrier against Hungarian and Pecheneg raiders. The conquest of Bulgaria and the submission of the South Slavs created relative peace for the empire's Balkan lands, keeping larger cities—including Constantinople—safe from the previously frequent sieges and looting. Basil's military experience that allowed him to eventually turn the war against Bulgaria in the Byzantine Empire's favor were gained through the revolts of Phokas and Skleros in Anatolia that challenged his throne and sometimes got close to deposing him. Basil's creation of the Varangian Guard provided him and his successors with an elite mercenary force capable of changing battle outcomes and boosting morale that became feared by the emperor's enemies.


title: Basil II

text: At this time, the Macedonian Renaissance was taking effect, seeing the rise of classical Greek scholarship being assimilated into Christian art and the study of ancient Greek philosophy being widespread. The studies of these subjects, and the enlargement projects of the emperors, greatly expanded the library of the University of Constantinople, which again established itself as the main source of learning for its day. Though he was not a man of literature, Basil was a relatively pious ruler who involved himself in the construction of churches, monasteries and, to some extent, cities.


title: Basil II

text: Literary works, eulogies and poems were made by the great cities of the Byzantine Empire that mostly tried to juxtapose the classic past of kingdoms and empires with the new expansion of Basil II in which he was compared with many important figures of the east such as Cyrus the Great and Artaxerxes. He was also particularly compared with Alexander the Great who was believed to be Basil's ancestor. Classical works such as "The Persians" by the ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus were among the most recited in the empire during the expansion given the different confrontations against the caliphates that the Byzantines indiscriminately and classically called "Medes". Despite the great expansion during his reign, his military and non-scholastic character led him to be criticized and related to the ancient Spartan monarchs or tyrants who at that time were remembered for being men of action, cruelty and decision who, like Basil, paid little attention to promoting the arts or literary culture and preferred a military environment.


title: Basil II

text: Basil II lacked heirs due to the "dearth of cousins found within the Macedonian dynasty", so he was succeeded by his brother Constantine and his family, who proved to be ineffective rulers. Nevertheless, fifty years of prosperity and intellectual growth followed because the funds of state were full, the borders were safe from intruders, and the Empire remained the most powerful political entity of the age. At the end of Basil II's reign, the Byzantine Empire had a population of approximately 12 million people.


title: Basil II

text: Although they were beneficial, Basil's achievements were reversed very quickly. Many of the Georgian, Armenian and Fatimid campaigns were undone after the succession crisis and eventual civil war after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. Because many of the empire's governors went to the capital with their soldiers to seize power after the capture of emperor Romanos IV, the Anatolian frontier was largely left undefended against the Seljuk Empire. The Normans permanently pushed the Byzantines from Southern Italy in April 1071.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: Rio Tinto Group is an Anglo-Australian multinational company that is the world's second-largest metals and mining corporation (behind BHP). The company was founded in 1873 when of a group of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto, in Huelva, Spain, from the Spanish government. It has grown through a long series of mergers and acquisitions. Although primarily focused on extraction of minerals, Rio Tinto also has significant operations in refining, particularly the refining of bauxite and iron ore. Rio Tinto has joint head offices in London (global and "plc") and Melbourne ("Limited" Australia).


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: Rio Tinto is a dual-listed company traded on both the London Stock Exchange, where it is a component of the FTSE 100 Index, and the Australian Securities Exchange, where it is a component of the S&P/ASX 200 index. Additionally, American depositary shares of Rio Tinto's British branch are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, giving it listings on a total of three major stock exchanges. In the 2020 "Forbes" Global 2000, Rio Tinto was ranked as the 114th-largest public company in the world.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: In May 2020, to expand the Brockman 4 mine, Rio Tinto demolished a sacred cave in Juukan Gorge, Western Australia, which had evidence of 46,000 years of continual human occupation, and was considered the only inland site in Australia to show signs of continual human occupation through the last Ice Age. Rio Tinto later apologised for the distress caused and CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques subsequently stepped down.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: Rio Tinto has been widely criticised by environmental groups as well as the government of Norway for the environmental impacts of its mining activities: claims of severe environmental damages related to Rio Tinto's engagement in the Grasberg mine in Indonesia led the Government Pension Fund of Norway to exclude Rio Tinto from its investment portfolio.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: Academic observers have also expressed concern regarding Rio Tinto's operations in Papua New Guinea, which they allege were one catalyst of the Bougainville separatist crisis. There have also been concerns over corruption: in July 2017 the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced the launch of a fraud and corruption investigation into the company's business practices in Guinea.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: Since antiquity, a site along the Rio Tinto in Huelva, Spain, has been mined for copper, silver, gold and other minerals. Around 3000 BC, Iberians and Tartessians began mining the site, followed by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths and Moors. After a period of abandonment, the mines were rediscovered in 1556 and the Spanish government began operating them once again in 1724.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: However, Spain's mining operations there were inefficient, and the government itself was otherwise distracted by political and financial crises, leading the government to sell the mines in 1873 at a price later determined to be well below actual value. The purchasers of the mine were led by Hugh Matheson's Matheson and Company, which ultimately formed a syndicate consisting of Deutsche Bank (56% ownership), Matheson (24%) and the civil engineering firm Clark, Punchard and Company (20%). At an auction held by the Spanish government to sell the mine on 14 February 1873, the group won with a bid of GB£3.68 million (ESP 92.8 million). The bid also specified that Spain would permanently relinquish any right to claim royalties on the mine's production. Following purchase of the mine, the syndicate launched the Rio Tinto Company, registering it on 29 March 1873. At the end of the 1880s, control of the firm passed to the Rothschild family, who increased the scale of its mining operations.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: Following their purchase of the Rio Tinto Mine, the new ownership constructed a number of new processing facilities, innovated new mining techniques, and expanded mining activities.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: The company's failure to diversify during this period led to the slow decline of the company among the ranks of international mining firms. However, this changed in 1925, when Sir Auckland Geddes succeeded Lord Alfred Milner as chairman. Geddes and the new management team he installed focused on diversification of the company's investment strategy and the introduction of organisational and marketing reforms. Geddes led the company into a series of joint ventures with customers in the development of new technologies, as well as exploration and development of new mines outside of Spain. Between 1925 and 1931, Geddes recruited two directors: JN Buchanan (finance director) and RM Preston (commercial director), as well as other executives involved with technical and other matters.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: Perhaps most significant was the company's investment in copper mines in Northern Rhodesia, later Zambia, which it eventually consolidated into the Rhokana Corporation. These and later efforts at diversification eventually allowed the company to divest from the Rio Tinto mine in Spain. By the 1950s, Franco's nationalistic government had made it increasingly difficult to exploit Spanish resources for the profit of foreigners. Rio Tinto Company, supported by its international investments, was able to divest two-thirds of its Spanish operations in 1954 and the remainder over the following years.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: Like many major mining companies, Rio Tinto has historically grown through a series of mergers and acquisitions.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: The company's first major acquisition occurred in 1929, when the company issued stock for the purpose of raising 2.5 million pounds to invest in Northern Rhodesian copper mining companies, which was fully invested by the end of 1930. The Rio Tinto company consolidated its holdings of these various firms under the Rhokana Corporation by forcing the various companies to merge.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: Rio Tinto's investment in Rhodesian copper mines did much to support the company through troubled times at its Spanish Rio Tinto operations spanning the Spanish Civil War, World War II and Franco's nationalistic policies. In the 1950s, the political situation made it increasingly difficult for mostly British and French owners to extract profits from Spanish operations, and the company decided to dispose of the mines from which it took its name. Thus, in 1954, Rio Tinto Company sold two-thirds of its stake in the Rio Tinto mines, disposing of the rest over the following years. The sale of the mines financed extensive exploration activities over the following decade.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: The company's exploration activities presented the company with an abundance of opportunities, but it lacked sufficient capital and operating revenue to exploit those opportunities. This situation precipitated the next, and perhaps most significant, merger in the company's history. In 1962, Rio Tinto Company merged with the Australian firm Consolidated Zinc to form the Rio Tinto – Zinc Corporation (RTZ) and its main subsidiary, Conzinc Riotinto of Australia (CRA). The merger provided Rio Tinto the ability to exploit its new-found opportunities, and gave Consolidated Zinc a much larger asset base.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: RTZ and CRA were separately managed and operated, with CRA focusing on opportunities within Australasia and RTZ taking the rest of the world. However, the companies continued to trade separately, and RTZ's ownership of CRA dipped below 50% by 1986. The two companies' strategic needs eventually led to conflicts of interest regarding new mining opportunities, and shareholders of both companies determined a merger was in their mutual best interest. In 1995, the companies merged into a dual listed company, in which management was consolidated into a single entity and shareholder interests were aligned and equivalent, although maintained as shares in separately named entities. The merger also precipitated a name change; after two years as RTZ-CRA, RTZ became Rio Tinto plc and CRA became Rio Tinto Limited, referred to collectively as Rio Tinto Group or simply Rio Tinto.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: Major acquisitions following the Consolidated Zinc merger included U.S. Borax, a major producer of borax, bought in 1968, Kennecott Utah Copper and BP Australia's coal assets which were bought from BP in 1989, and a 70.7% interest in the New South Wales operations of Coal & Allied, also in 1989. In 1993, the company acquired Nerco and the United States coal mining businesses of Cordero Mining Company.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: In 2000, Rio Tinto acquired North Limited, an Australian company with iron ore and uranium mines, for $2.8 billion. The takeover was partially motivated as a response to North Limited's 1999 bid to have Rio Tinto's Pilbara railway network declared open access. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission regulatory body approved the acquisition in August 2000, and the purchase was completed in October of the same year. That year, Rio Tinto also bought North Limited and Ashton Mining for US$4 billion, adding additional resources in aluminium, iron ore, diamonds and coal. In 2001, it bought (under Coal and Allied Industries) the Australian coal businesses of the Peabody Energy Corporation.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: On 14 November 2007, Rio Tinto completed its largest acquisition to date, purchasing Canadian aluminium company Alcan for $38.1 billion, , "the largest mining deal ever completed". Alcan's chief executive, Jacynthe Côté, led the new division, renamed Rio Tinto Alcan with its headquarters situated in Montreal.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: Activity in 2008 and 2009 was focused on divestments of assets to raise cash and refocus on core business opportunities. The company sold three major assets in 2008, raising about $3 billion in cash. In the first quarter of 2009, Rio Tinto reached agreements to sell its interests in the Corumbá iron ore mine and the Jacobs Ranch coal mine, and completed sales of an aluminium smelter in China and the company's potash operations, for an additional estimated $2.5 billion.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: On 5 July 2009, four Rio Tinto employees were arrested in Shanghai for corruption and espionage. One of the arrested, Australian citizen Stern Hu, was "suspected of stealing Chinese state secrets for foreign countries and was detained on criminal charges", according to a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry. Stern Hu was also accused of bribery by Chinese steel mill executives for sensitive information during the iron ore contract negotiations.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: On 19 March 2010 Rio Tinto and its biggest shareholder, Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chinalco), signed a memorandum of understanding to develop Rio Tinto's iron ore project in the Simandou mine in Simandou, Guinea. On 29 July 2010, Rio Tinto and Chinalco signed a binding agreement to establish this joint venture covering the development and operation of the Simandou mine.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: Under the terms of the agreement, the joint venture maintains Rio Tinto's 95% interest in the Simandou project as follows: By providing US$1.35 billion on an earn-in basis through sole funding of ongoing development over a 2-3 year period, Chalco, a subsidiary of Chinalco, would acquire a 47% interest in the joint venture. Once the full sum was paid, Rio Tinto would be left with a 50.35% interest in the project and Chalco would have 44.65%. The remaining 5% would be owned by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the financing arm of the World Bank. On 22 April 2011 Rio Tinto, its subsidiary Simfer S.A. (Simfer), and the Guinean Government signed a settlement agreement that secured Rio Tinto's mining rights in Guinea to the southern concession of Simandou, known as blocks 3 and 4. According to the agreement, Simfer would pay US$700 million and receive mining concession and government approval of the proposed Chalco and Rio Tinto Simandou joint venture.


title: Rio Tinto (corporation)

text: In 2011, the company rekindled its interest in potash when it entered a joint venture with Acron Group to develop the Albany potash development, in southern Saskatchewan, Canada. Following an exploration program, Acron in a June 2014 statement described Albany as "one of the best potash development opportunities in the world".