title: Ivan Lendl

text: Early in his career, Lendl played a sliced backhand, but in the early 1980s he learned to hit his backhand with significant topspin. This shift allowed him to defeat John McEnroe in 1984 in the French Open, Lendl's first Grand Slam victory. In the first two sets, McEnroe used his habitual proximity to the net to intercept Lendl's cross-court passing shots. In the third set, Lendl started using lobs, forcing McEnroe to distance himself from the net to prepare for the lobs. McEnroe's further distance from the net opened the angles for Lendl's cross-court passing shots, which ultimately gained Lendl points and turned the match around.


title: Ivan Lendl

text: At the beginning of his professional career, Lendl used Adidas clothing and Kneissl rackets, subsequently changing to Adidas rackets. Toward the end of his days on the ATP tour, Lendl ended his long-term clothing, shoe, and racket deal with Adidas. He signed with Mizuno, and finally began to play with a mid-sized racket very similar to the Adidas racket he had used throughout most of his career, itself based on the Kneissl White Star model. Since 2010, he has been using Bosworth rackets.


title: Ivan Lendl

text: Lendl reached 19 Grand Slam singles finals in his career. He won eight titles, and was a runner-up in 11.


title: Ivan Lendl

text: Lendl was the International Tennis Federation's World Champion on four occasions (1985, 1986, 1987, 1990) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Player of The Year three times (1985, 1986, 1987). Earlier in his career, he was also named ATP Most Improved Player, in 1981.


title: Ivan Lendl

text: Due to his achievements, Lendl is often considered among the greatest tennis players in the sport's history. In his book "Modern Encyclopedia of Tennis", Bud Collins included Lendl in his list of the greatest men's tennis players of the period 1946–1992. "Tennis" magazine described Lendl as "the game's greatest overachiever" in its 40th anniversary series. In 1986, North Korea issued a postage stamp featuring Lendl.


title: Ivan Lendl

text: Lendl successfully applied for a U.S. Permanent Resident Card in 1987, hoping to obtain U.S. citizenship in time to represent the US in the 1988 Olympic Games and in the Davis Cup. A bill in Congress to bypass the traditional five-year waiting procedure was rejected in 1988 because Czechoslovak authorities refused to provide the necessary waivers. He became a U.S. citizen on July 7, 1992.


title: Ivan Lendl

text: On September 16, 1989, six days after competing in the final of the US Open versus Boris Becker, Lendl married Samantha Frankel. They have five daughters: Marika, twins Isabelle and Caroline, Daniela, and Nikola. Two of his daughters (Marika and Isabelle) were members of the University of Florida Women's Golf Team. Daniela was a member of the University of Alabama Women's Golf Team. His daughter Caroline was a part of the University of Alabama Women's Rowing Team for the 2011–2012 academic year, and his daughter Nikola was an instructor at SoulCycle.


title: Ivan Lendl

text: After finishing his tennis career in 1994, Lendl took up golf, reaching a handicap of 0 and achieving a win on the Celebrity Tour. Lendl has played in the Gary Player Invitational charity Pro-Am several times, and organized a charity competition in 2004 called the Ivan Lendl Celebrity Golf Tournament. Still competitive at the mini-tour levels, Lendl now spends much of his time managing his daughters' golfing careers.


title: Ivan Lendl

text: Lendl had a nearly complete collection of posters by Alfons Mucha. The collection was exhibited in Prague in 2013. He sold the collection in 2014 to Czech businessman Richard Fuxa for 3.5 million dollars.


title: Sigrid (singer)

text: Sigrid Solbakk Raabe (born 5 September 1996), known mononymously as Sigrid, is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. She has released two studio albums, "Sucker Punch" (2019) and "How to Let Go" (2022), both of which charted in Norway and the United Kingdom. She has also released two EPs.


title: Sigrid (singer)

text: Sigrid Solbakk Raabe was born in Ålesund to Håkon Raabe and Anette Sølberg Solbakk on 5 September 1996. She has two older siblings, a brother, Tellef, who is also a musician, and a sister, Johanne. At her first performance, in kindergarten, she had to be pulled off the stage after crying. She began playing the piano at age 7 and began singing at age 13. When she was 13, she performed a version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". In her early youth, she planned to become a teacher or lawyer or journalist, thinking a career in music would be too uncertain. In her first year of high school, she realized that music was more than just a hobby. When she was 17, she and her sister Johanne started a band called Sala Says Mhyp, which was named after their late cat, Sala. After finishing high school in Ålesund, Sigrid moved to Bergen for its indie music scene, living in a shared flat with her brother and friends. She was a college drop out.


title: Sigrid (singer)

text: At the age of 16 she wrote her first song, "Sun", after her brother, who is also a musician, told her to stop performing cover versions of Adele songs at performances and challenged her to write a song that she could perform at one of his gigs. In 2013, she released "Sun" as her debut single. The song received airplay on Norwegian radio stations. She signed to Petroleum Records the following year, and performed at festivals such as Øyafestivalen.


title: Sigrid (singer)

text: In 2016, in partnership with Martin Sjølie, she wrote "Don't Kill My Vibe", inspired after a producer belittled and patronized her in a songwriting session. After executives at Island Records heard the song, they immediately signed her to a recording contract. On 5 May 2017 she released her debut EP which was named after the song. The EP charted in Norway, Australia, and the United Kingdom. In the spring and summer of 2017, Sigrid performed at The Great Escape Festival, Roskilde Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Latitude Festival, and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. She was also a part of "" soundtrack with the Simlish version of her song, "Don't Kill My Vibe". She is also featured on the 2017 "Justice League" soundtrack, performing a cover of Leonard Cohen's 1988 classic "Everybody Knows".


title: Sigrid (singer)

text: In January 2018, Sigrid was announced as the winner of BBC Music Sound of 2018. On 10 February 2018, she was a guest presenter for an episode of "The Playlist" for CBBC. In the same month, Sigrid won the Newcomer of the Year award at Spellemannprisen. On 11 July 2018, "Raw," her second EP, which features 5 tracks was released.


title: Sigrid (singer)

text: On 8 March 2019, Sigrid's debut album, "Sucker Punch", was released. The album consists of 12 tracks, including five songs released prior to the album. In 2019, Sigrid toured with Maroon 5 for the Red Pill Blues Tour in Europe, was the support act for George Ezra's tour across the United Kingdom, and headlined a tour in North America and Europe. Sigrid contributed a song, "Home to You" for "The Aeronauts" soundtrack.


title: Sigrid (singer)

text: In 2020, Sigrid was one of many artists that took part in a BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge cover of the Foo Fighters song "Times Like These" that was organised to raise funds for the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Sigrid (singer)

text: In November 2021, Sigrid performed in Dingle, Ireland as part of the twentieth series of the live music series Other Voices.


title: Sigrid (singer)

text: Sigrid's songs are underpinned by anger, melancholia, and disappointment; she says that it is easier to write about frustration than about having a nice time. For her love songs Sigrid cites Bonnie Raitt, Coldplay, Adele, Lykke Li, and Robyn as influences.


title: Sigrid (singer)

text: Sigrid is a brand ambassador for Gore-Tex. While filming a commercial for the brand, she met Nikolai Schirmer, a professional skier from Tromsø. They dated, but the relationship had ended by June 2022.


title: Michoacán

text: Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo (), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia (formerly called Valladolid). The city was named after José María Morelos, a native of the city and one of the main heroes of the Mexican War of Independence.


title: Michoacán

text: Michoacán is located in Western Mexico, and has a stretch of coastline on the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. It is bordered by the states of Colima and Jalisco to the west and northwest, Guanajuato to the north, Querétaro to the northeast, the State of México to the east, and Guerrero to the southeast.


title: Michoacán

text: The name Michoacán is from Nahuatl: "Michhuahcān" from "michhuah" ("possessor of fish") and -"cān" (place of) and means "place of the fishermen" referring to those who fish on Lake Pátzcuaro. In pre-Hispanic times, the area was the home of the Purépecha Empire, which rivaled the Aztec Empire at the time of Spanish encounter. After the Spanish conquest, the empire became a separate province which became smaller over the colonial period. The state and its residents played a major role in the Mexican War of Independence.


title: Michoacán

text: Today, the state is still home to a sizable population of Purépecha people as well as minor populations of Otomi and Nahua.


title: Michoacán

text: The economy is based on agriculture, ranching, fishing, mining, and the arts. The major tourism draw for the state is the Lake Pátzcuaro–Tzintzuntzan–Quiroga area, which was the center of the Purépecha Empire; as well as the location of the Tzintzuntzan yácata pyramids. The national and state parks which include the winter grounds of the monarch butterflies "(Mariposas Monarca)" are located here. Michoacán is known for its Spanish colonial towns. In 1991, Morelia was declared an UNESCO World Heritage Site for its well-preserved colonial buildings, pink stone cathedral, historic center, and aqueduct. Michoacán has eight "Pueblos Mágicos"; such as the towns of Tlalpujahua and Santa Clara del Cobre.


title: Michoacán

text: Day of the Dead celebrations in some parts of Michoacán, such as the towns of Janitzio and Pátzcuaro, are often considered to be the most elaborate and famous in all of Mexico. The famous Paricutín volcano, which is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, is located near the city of Uruapan. The state is known as "the soul of Mexico".


title: Michoacán

text: According to archaeological evidence, there has been human habitation within the territory of the Mexican state of Michoacán for at least 10,000 years. In the pre-Hispanic period, there were waves of migration into the area, including the Pirinda, Nahua, Huetamo, Colima, Purépecha and other peoples. There are sites of formal settlements from all Mesoamerican periods. Important sites include El Opeño and those in Curutarán, Tepalcatepec, Apatzingán, Zinapécuaro and Coalcomán. The territory has been inhabited by the Nahua, Otomi, Matlatzinca, Pirinda and Teco peoples as well as the Purépecha.


title: Michoacán

text: The main pre-Hispanic civilization of the state is that of the Purépecha, which was centered in the Lake Pátzcuaro area. Before the 13th century, both Nahua and Purépecha peoples were here, sustaining themselves by agriculture and fishing. The Purépecha are descendants of a late arrival of Chichimeca who came from the north. At Lake Patzcuaro, they came upon people with similar cultures to their own but who were more technological and socially advanced. The formation of the Purépechan state in the 13th century, when these people started their own dominion at Uayameo, today Santa Fé de la Laguna, and becoming dominant over the entire Lake Patzcuaro area by the 15th century. Conquest of neighboring tribes and territories occurred between 1401 and 1450, as they absorbed peoples with different cultures and languages into the empire. By the late 15th century, this state rivaled that of the Aztecs, having expanded their territory over much of what is now Michoacán and into part of Colima, Nayarit, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Guerrero and Jalisco. The Aztecs attempted to invade the Purépecha but were repelled. Because of this attack, the Purépecha later denied the Aztecs aid in their defense of Tenochtitlan against the Spanish and the Tlaxcala. The Purépechas are noted by historians to be one of the few rare instances in the Americas were the indigenous people had some experience with metallurgy prior to the arrival of the Europeans, especially coppersmithing and other metal ores located in their empire. Their descendants are still widely regarded for this today.


title: Michoacán

text: Prior to the arrival of any Spaniard in the territory, then-ruler Zuanga died of smallpox, presumably carried by one of the Aztec delegations seeking military aid. He was succeeded by Tanganxoan II. The first Spaniard to the area was Cristóbal de Olid. The Spanish destruction of Tenochtitlan and their promise to allow him to remain ruler convinced Tanganxoan II to submit to Spanish rule. But, Nuño de Guzmán reneged on this agreement and killed Tanganxoan II in 1530, a crime for which he was tried and exiled to Spain where he would die in prison.


title: Michoacán

text: During the first years of the Conquest, Michoacán was part of the "kingdom of Mexico" which included the current states of Mexico, Querétaro, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Oaxaca, Morelos, Guerrero, Veracruz, Tabasco, Michoacán, Guanajuato and parts of San Luis Potosí, Jalisco and Colima. These lands were divided into encomiendas among the conquistadors. The provinces with the largest populations were called Alcaldias Mayores, with Michoacán being one of these, with its capital initially at Tzintzuntzan. Soon after, it was moved to Patzcuaro and eventually settled in what is now Morelia. The provincial and later state capital was founded by viceroy Antonio de Mendoza in 1541. It became the political and ecclesiastical center of the province after the death of Vasco de Quiroga in 1565.


title: Michoacán

text: Soon after the Spanish Conquest, evangelists from the Franciscan, Augustinian, Carmelite and other orders established monasteries all over the territory. Some of the best-known are Juan de Moya, Martín de la Coruña and Jacob the Dacian. As first governor, Nuño de Guzmán disrupted and devastated the social and economic order of the area. Vasco de Quiroga succeeded Guzman, bringing Franciscan and Augustinian friars to both evangelize and repair the area's broken economy and social institutions. Quiroga founded the Spanish city of Patzcuaro in 1538, calling it the Ciudad de Mechuacán. For his efforts, Quiroga is still referred to in the Patzcuaro area as "Tata (grandfather) Vasco". The diocese of Michoacán was established in 1536 by Pope Paul III, and its boundaries coincide with the old Purépecha kingdom. Its first bishop was Vasco de Quiroga.


title: Michoacán

text: The Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo began as the Colegio de San Nicolas Obispo, founded by Vasco de Quiroga in Patzcuaro in 1540. It was originally a seminary for the training of evangelists. It was granted a royal seal in 1543 to become the Real Colegio de San Nicolás Obispo. The school was moved to Morelia in 1580 and was fused with the Colegio de San Miguel Guayangareo. In 1590, its name was changed to the Seminario Tridentino, afterwards to Seminario Conciliar in 1601. By the end of the 17th century, the name returned to Colegio de San Nicolás but its structure was profoundly changed, adding studies such as philosophy, civil law, and others. At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, a number of figures associated with the Mexican War of Independence, such as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, José María Morelos and others were associated with this school. By the mid-19th century, the school had been secularized and renamed the Primitivo y Nacional Colegio de San Nicolás de Hidalgo adding studies such as chemistry, physics and other sciences. The current name and organization was adopted after the Mexican Revolution in 1917.


title: Michoacán

text: From the 16th to the 18th centuries, Augustinian, Franciscan and Carmelite missions were constructed in the territory as well as civil constructions, especially in the city now known as Morelia. Mining in areas such as Angangueo, Tlalpujahua and Inguaran had begun, as well as the establishment of agricultural and livestock haciendas. The first school of higher education, called the Primera Casa de Altos Estudios en América, was founded by Alonso de la Veracruz in Tiripetío. Michoacán was made a separate province from "Mexico" in 1602. By the mid-17th century, the indigenous population had declined by half. In 1776, the territory of Michoacán was reduced to the area in which the modern states of Michoacán and Colima are now. Soon after, Colima split to join with the province of Guadalajara, leaving Michoacán roughly with the territory it has today.


title: Michoacán

text: During the entire colonial period, the economy was concentrated in the hands of the Spanish-born, who held vast lands and haciendas. They also held the rights over minerals mined in places such as Tlalpujahua, Angangueo and Huetamo. Indigenous peoples were exploited for their work, and slavery was not uncommon. Education was restricted for only those born in Spain and their descendants and was controlled by the Church. The main educational institutions were the Colegio de San Nicolas, founded in the 16th century; and the Seminary of San Pedro and San Pablo, founded in the 18th century. These schools produced a number of distinguished men, but the best-known is Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla.


title: Michoacán

text: At the end of the 18th century, ideas from Europe began to infiltrate the upper classes of the state, especially in Valladolid (Morelia) and Zamora. These would eventually lead to the Mexican War of Independence in the early 18th century. This war was foreshadowed by the 1809 conspiracy in Valladolid.


title: Michoacán

text: One of the early and main protagonists of the war, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, was educated as a priest in the state and began to disseminate Enlightenment ideas here. Soon after Hidalgo performed the Grito de Dolores in Dolores (now Dolores Hidalgo), Guanajuato, a number of people influenced by his thought took up arms against the colonial government. These included Manuel de la Torre Lloreda, Gertrudis Bocanegra, José María Garcia Obeso and Ignacio López Rayón. During his campaign, Hidalgo returned to Valladolid, issuing a decree eliminating slavery.


title: Michoacán

text: After Hidalgo's death, much of the insurgency and spies against the Spanish viceroy were located in Michoacán, with documents such as the "Primera Constitución o Decreto Constitucional para la Libertad de la América Mexicana" (First Constitution or Constitutional Decree for the Liberty of the Mexican America) and "Sentimentos de la Nacion", both of which would shape constitutions and governments in the years to come. The first Mexican Supreme Court was also founded here. The Mexican War of Independence was culminated by the army of Agustín de Iturbide, also a Michoacán native, who took Morelia in May 1821.


title: Michoacán

text: After the war ended in 1821, the territory of Michoacán became the "Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán on January 31, 1824. This state was initially divided into 4 departments and 22 portions (partidos) under the Ley Territorial of 1825, with the first constitution ratified in the same year. The name of the capital was changed from Valladolid to Morelia at the same time.


title: Michoacán

text: In 1831, the state was reorganized into 61 municipalities and 207 locales (tenencias). Due to the struggle between centralists and federalists in Mexico in the 19th century, Michoacán's rights as an entity would change depending on who was in control. The state was declared a department in 1836 but became a more independent state again in 1846. Colima broke off from Michoacán to form its own state in this year. In 1849, the municipality of Coyuca was separated to form the state of Guerrero. In 1853, the state became a department again, regaining state status in 1856. In 1857, Contepec was separated from the state of Guanajuato and attached to Michoacán. In 1863, the diocese of Michoacán was reduced in size, but its status was also elevated to archdiocese.


title: Michoacán

text: During the French Intervention in Mexico, Morelia was taken by French forces in 1863. Since resistance to the French was particularly strong here, punitive acts were undertaken by the French in places like Zitácuaro, where much of the city was burned. One of the first victories against the French during the Intervention occurred in Zamora.


title: Michoacán

text: In 1907, Michoacán's boundaries changed again with the addition of the communities of Pungarabato and Zirandaro added from Guerrero state to make the Balsas River a natural border. The Mexican Revolution came to Michoacán in 1911, when those loyal to Francisco I. Madero proclaimed Santa Clara del Cobre as their territory, then went on to take towns around Lake Patzcuaro under the leadership of Salvador Escalante. The governor of the state, Aristeo Mendoza, resigned. Fighting among various factions would continue in parts of the state for the rest of the war. The state's current constitution was ratified in 1918. In 1920, the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo was founded.


title: Michoacán

text: Soon after the end of the Revolution, the Cristero War would affect the state, which affected agricultural production and distribution. In 1926, hostilities closed the seminaries in Morelia and Zamora. Near the end of the war, Lázaro Cárdenas was elected governor of the state and served until 1932; he became president of Mexico in 1934.


title: Michoacán

text: Michoacán has been badly affected by the Mexican Drug War, due to its methamphetamine and marijuana production. That resulted in the start of an anti-drug trafficking campaign in 2006, an anti-narcotics operation since 2006, grenade attacks in 2008, a shootout in 2015 as well as a massacre and clashes in 2019.


title: Michoacán

text: The state is located in the center west of the Mexican Republic, on the extreme southwest of the central highlands. It borders the states of Mexico, Querétaro, Guerrero, Guanajuato, Jalisco and Colima, with a coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The state has a territory of , making it the sixteenth-largest in Mexico (exactly at the midpoint among Mexican states in area). It also has of marine territory off its Pacific coast.


title: Michoacán

text: The state is crossed by the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and the Inter-mountain Valleys region. The Sierra Madre del Sur crosses the state northwest to southeast for approximately in the southwest between the municipalities of Chinicuila and Arteaga along the Pacific Coast. It is considered to be a continuation of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Peaks in this range average about above sea level, with the largest being the Cerro de las Canoas. The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt crosses the state from west to east toward the Toluca Valley and Valley of Mexico. This mountain range is marked by appearance of many volcanoes, active, dormant, and extinct alike. This system is subdivided into regions such as the Sierra de Tancítaro, Sierra de Periban, Sierra de San Angel and others. The best-known volcano in this region is the Paricutín volcano.


title: Michoacán

text: The state has a large number of lakes, waterfalls, lagoons, hot springs, and a natural system of waterways, including parts of two of the country's largest rivers, the Lerma and the Balsas. These waterways are divided into three regions, called the North, Central and South. The North region includes the Lerma Basin. On the Lerma River is the Tepuxtepec Dam which has a capacity of 371 million m. Rivers that empty into the Lerma in Michoacán include the Tlalpuhahua, Cachivi and Duero. Another river basin here is that of Lake Cuitzeo, which extends over an area of . The two main rivers that feed this lake are the Grande de Morelia and Queréndaro.


title: Michoacán

text: The Central region is represented by lakes Pátzcuaro and Zirahuén. Lake Pátzcuaro has a surface area of 1,525 km. This lake is fed by a number of surface and subterranean water flows with the principal rivers leading here including the San Gregorio and Chapultepec. This lake has five islands within it called Janitzio, Yunuén, La Pacanda, Tecuén, Jarácuaro, Urandén and Carián. Lake Zirahuén has an area of and is fed by streams such as Manzanilla and Zinamba. These two lakes are considered to be the main tourist attraction of the state.


title: Michoacán

text: Most of the state's rivers and streams are located in the south region of the state, with the Balsas River being the most important. The most important tributaries of this river include the Cutzamala, Carácuaro and Tepalcatepec rivers. Within this region is the coastal watershed, which is the area between the Sierra Madre del Sur and the coastline. This area includes small rivers such as the Coahuayana, Aquila, Ostula, Motín del Oro, Coire, Cachán and Nexpa which flow directly into the Pacific.


title: Michoacán

text: Much of the climate of the state is determined by altitude and other geographical features. Average temperatures vary from to . Lower temperatures correspond with the highland areas in the north and east while the lower south and west, called La Costa (the coast) or Tierra Caliente (hot land) register higher temperatures. In the hotter lowlands, high temperatures regularly exceed and have been known to reach over in the summer. The lowest temperatures are registered in highland areas such as the Sierra de Coalcomán and the Sierra del Centro located near the border with the State of Mexico. Except for the Tierra Caliente, most of the state can experience freezing temperatures in the winter. Rainfall is also dependent on altitude with the lowlands receiving less rain than the mountain areas. There is a well-defined rainy season which extends from June to October over the entire state.


title: Michoacán

text: Ecosystems vary by altitude. Between above sea level, most of the vegetation are conifer forests. Between , there are mixed forests and below this are broadleaf or tropical forests. Tree species include oak, cedar, and pine. Mango trees can be found in the eastern and western regions.


title: Michoacán

text: Animal types vary from region to region but among mammals these can be found: skunks, raccoons, cacomistle, coyotes, lynxes, rabbits, bats, deer, armadillos, mountain lions, foxes, and jaguars. The latter is an important symbol in Purépecha culture. Numerous bird species can be found including water fowl such as ducks, storks and seabirds along the coast. Eagles, parrots, and hawks are found in the tropical and mountainous regions. Both owls and hummingbirds are important cultural symbols to the Purépecha. It is also one of three Mexican states where the tarantula species "Brachypelma hamorii" is found, the other two being Jalisco and Colima.


title: Michoacán

text: Tiger sharks, thresher sharks, and porpoises can be found in coastal waters. Reptiles including crocodiles, sea turtles, iguanas, snakes, and caimans can be found in the waterways and along the coastal regions. Michoacán includes critical over-wintering habitat for most of the monarch butterflies from eastern North America. To the Purépechas, the monarch butterfly symbolizes the spirits of the dead as they journey from the afterlife.


title: Michoacán

text: Bosencheve, Cerro de Garnica, Insurgente José María Morelos, Lago de Camécuaro, and Rayón national parks, Monarch Butterfly and Zicuirán-Infiernillo biosphere reserves, and Pico de Tancítaro Flora and Fauna Protection Area. Lake Pátzcuaro and Zacapu Lagoon are Ramsar Sites, designated wetlands of international importance.


title: Michoacán

text: The economy of the state is based on agriculture, ranching, forest products, fishing and crafts. Most of the population is employed in three sectors: agriculture (34%), mining and manufacturing (23%), and commerce (37%).


title: Michoacán

text: Agriculture occupies over a million hectares of land in the state or 20% of the land area. Three-fifths of this agriculture occurs only during the rainy season. Irrigation farming is restricted to areas such as the Apatzingán Valley, the Bajío area of Michoacán, the Zamora Valley and some others. Principal crops include corn, sorghum, avocados, strawberries, peaches, wheat, limes, sugar cane and mangos. While corn accounts for 43% of the crops harvested, Michoacán is the largest producer of avocados in Mexico and in the world. Forty three percent of farmland in the territory is dedicated to the raising of livestock, including cattle, domestic fowl, sheep, goats and pigs. In 2007, the state's production of meat, dairy and eggs was valued at over four billion pesos.


title: Michoacán

text: Sixty percent of the state is covered in forest, with the most economically important of these located in the higher elevations at the eastern side. These forests mostly produce lumber and resin. These areas are estimated at 2,160,000 hectares, over half of which is pine forest. The most productive forests are located in the central and eastern portions of the state. Rainforest areas are estimated at 460,500 hectares. One problem facing the forested areas of the state is unsustainable logging. In addition to exploitable forest, there are also ecological reserves with tourist importance, especially the various monarch butterfly sanctuaries in the extreme east of the state.


title: Michoacán

text: Michoacán's lakes, rivers and coastline make it an important producer of fish and seafood, both caught in the wild and farmed. The most important commercial fishing is for tilapia and carp.


title: Michoacán

text: Mining is an important economic activity in the state, which is mostly concentrated on the eastern side near the Mexico State border. However, iron is mined in the Lázaro Cárdenas area near the coast. Both metallic and non-metallic minerals are mined in the state. These include silver, gold, zinc, cadmium, lead, iron, copper, fill dirt, sand, gravel, lime, limestone, marble, and others. There are thirteen principal mining areas: Tlalpujahua, Angangueo, Los Azufres, Real de Otzumatlán, Tzitzio, Tiámaro, El Bastán, San Diego Curucupacéo, Inguarán, Las Truchas, and La Minita de Coalcomán. Michoacán is the second-largest producer of coke and third-largest producer of iron, which are essential to the steel industry, in Mexico. While there remains significant metallic deposits, their mining only contributes 1.64% to the economy.


title: Michoacán

text: Most industrial activity is concentrated in the central region of the state, near the capital, where a number of industrial parks are located, such as Ciudad Industrial Morelia. However. there are other areas with industry, such as Apatzingán, Zamora, Jiquilpan and Sahuayo, as well as in the Lázaro Cárdenas area. Major production areas are iron and steel (34.27%), bottling (10.43%) and paper products (8.36%).


title: Michoacán

text: Most people in the state are employed in service and commerce, and this sector contributes 19.07% to the overall economy. Most sales are in foodstuffs, drinks and tobacco.


title: Michoacán

text: The state contains more than of federal, state and local roads. Major highways in the state include Federal Highway 15 and the Morelia-Patzcuaro highway. Intercity and interstate buses provide connections to places within the state and the rest of Mexico. About 91% of these bus lines are second class while just under nine percent are first class. Most rail lines are limited to the north and center of the state, providing freight service to Mexico City and Guadalajara. The state's main port is the city of Lázaro Cárdenas which contains of dock space. The dock is used mostly for the shipping of minerals and grains. There are two major international airports, Morelia International Airport and Uruapan International Airport. Smaller facilities exist in Zamora and Lázaro Cárdenas. The state has abundant hydroelectrical production due to dams on the Balsas River, the Lerma River and the Tepalcatepec River.


title: Michoacán

text: One notable actress from Santa Elena, Michoacán is Elpidia Carrillo. She is best known for starring in the 1987 science fiction horror film "Predator" alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger.


title: Michoacán

text: As of 1995, the state had eight television stations, with seven out of operation. There is a system of educational television with 528 broadcast antennas.


title: Michoacán

text: Newspapers and news sites of Michoacán de Ocampo include: "La Opinión de Apatzingán", "a. m. de La Piedad", "Diario ABC de Michoacán", "El Diario Grande de Michoacán Provincia", "El Sol de Morelia", "El Sol de Zamora", "Frecuencia Informativa Escrita ", "La Jornada Michoacán", "La Opinión de Michoacán", "La Voz de Michoacán."


title: Michoacán

text: The state provides public education from preschool level to high school. "Formal preschool" is offered in communities which have twenty five or more qualified students. Less formal preschools are operated in smaller communities. As of 1996, there were 5,433 primary schools serving 705,694 students with 25,485 teachers. There is a failure rate from grade to grade of about 9.7% with just under five percent leaving school permanently before finishing primary studies. The most common reason for departure is poverty. At the secondary level there are 174,354 students, which represent 22% of these eligible to attend. High school level studies are mostly geared to vocational studies and many attend via distance education. There are 24 public and private institutions of higher learning offering 49 different majors. Eight are technical colleges, four for teachers, the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, the Instituto Michoacano de Ciencias de la Educación and ten private institutions.


title: Michoacán

text: The Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo is located in Morelia. Its historical predecessor was founded in 1540, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher education in the Americas.


title: Michoacán

text: Carnitas are originally from Michoacán. Other traditional foods include cotija cheese, guacamole, morisqueta, tamales, pozole, enchiladas, mole sauce, and various sweets such as pan de muerto and chocolate champurrado (during the Day of the Dead celebrations), ice cream, churros, and ate, a kind of Mexican jelly made of many typical fruits.


title: Michoacán

text: The state ministry of tourism has divided the state into regions, mostly based on the major cities of Morelia, Uruapan, Lázaro Cárdenas, Patzcuaro, Zamora and Zitácuaro. The state contains a large number of potential attractions, most of which are classified as suitable for ecotourism. However, only 6.2% of these sites are visited by international tourists. Most visitors to sites are from within the state.


title: Michoacán

text: The Morelia region stresses its cultural and artistic heritage, especially its colonial architecture . The most important colonial structures are in Morelia and built in the 18th century. These include the cathedral, finished in 1744 and the main aqueduct finished at the end of the century. This architecture has made the city a World Heritage Site. In addition to the state capital, the region includes towns such as Charo, Capula, Tiripetio, Cuitzeo and Huandacareo, which contain archaeological sites, water parks and traditional cuisine. The rural areas of this zone contain more than 400 thermal springs, many of which have been turned into recreational areas and parks. These include Reino de Atzimba, Cointzio, Huandacareo and El Ejido. Morelia holds the annual "Festival Internacional de Música de Morelia". The festival consists of more than forty concerts with over 500 artists from Michoacán and from around the world. Other festivals include the popular "SalsaMich" that features a 3-day Salsa dance competition. The "Festival Internacional de Cine de Morelia" is celebrated annually that is dedicated to Mexican cinema. The Plaza Monumental de Morelia was established in 1951, which was destined exclusively for bullfights. Nowadays, the ring also hosts concerts, lucha libre, and weddings.


title: Michoacán

text: The Uruapan region stresses its cultural and natural heritage. The city is one of the oldest settlements in the state, which was initially settled by the Meseta Purépecha. This city contains a number of attractions such as La Huatápera, colonial era hospital founded by Vasco de Quiroga, the Temple of San Francisco and the Eduardo Ruiz Municipal Museum. One other attraction is the narrowest house in the world as documented by the Guinness Book of World Records. Other important cities in the region are Apatzingán and Caracha.


title: Michoacán

text: Uruapan is surrounded by hundreds of hectares of forests and by fertile fields growing fruits and flowers, many of which only grow here. Some of the natural attractions of the zone include the Santa Catarina Dam and the La Tzaráacua and La Tzararacuita waterfalls. Smaller towns and villages in this region are known for their religious and popular festivals, many of which occur in the summer. Examples of these are the feasts of Señor del Calvario in Quinceo, of San Mateo Ahuiran in Paracho and the National Guitar Festival in Paracho. The best-known town in the region is San Juan Nuevo Parangaricutiro, which was founded due to the destruction of its original namesake by the eruption of the Paricutín volcano. The pre-Hispanic sites of Tingambato and Taretan are in this zone as well, which were important Purépecha cities.


title: Michoacán

text: The town of Paracho is well known throughout both Mexico and elsewhere in the world as a hub of lutherie. This is because the town's craftsmen are reputed to making the best sounding guitars and vihuelas in all of Mexico. The town is full of music shops that sell ten-string mandolins, armadillo-backed guitars (concheras), acoustic bass guitars; as well as regular classical guitars and mandolins, bajo sextos, vihuelas, guitarrones and many others. Many of the stores and workshops allow visitors to watch the guitar-making process directly.


title: Michoacán

text: The Lázaro Cárdenas region is named after Michoacán's largest port and oceanside city. Here the state stresses the kilometres of beaches and other natural areas in which to practice ecotourism and extreme sports. Beaches include Maruata, Faro de Bucerías, the Pichi Estuary, La Laguna de Mezcala, La Ticla and Nexpa, with the last two considered suitable for surfing, with their regular two-three-meter waves. A number of these beaches are protected areas, due to being a breeding ground for sea turtles.


title: Michoacán

text: The Patzcuaro region is extremely important to the state due to its history of having been the center of the Purépecha Empire as well as the first capital of the colonial province of Michoacán. Its pre-Hispanic heritage is evident by the Tzintzuntzan and Ihuatizo sites as well as the large number of people who still speak the Purépecha language and maintain pre-Hispanic customs. Vasco de Quiroga established the first capital at Patzcuaro and was instrumental to building the colonial era economy of the Lake Patzcuaro area. The lake is surrounded by mountains and forests as well as the towns of Cuanajo, Tupátaro, Eronguícuaro and Quiroga. These towns are noted for their crafts and popular religious festivals such as the feast of the Señor del Rescate in Tzintzuntzan, Holy Week, and especially Noche de Muertos or Night of the Dead. This area is the most important to the state with the most visited town, Patzcuaro with its basilica and museums.


title: Michoacán

text: One of the largest tourist events in the state is Noche de Muertos or Night of the Dead. This is celebrated on the dates around November 2. Essentially, these are Day of the Dead celebrations, which are celebrated all over Mexico, but with unique variations. The events of these days show a blending of both pre-Hispanic and Catholic beliefs and traditions. Noche de Muertos is celebrated most strongly in the towns and villages around Lake Patzcuaro such as Tzintzuntzan, Ihuatzio, Janitzio, as well as Patzcuaro itself, which was the center of the Purépecha Empire. As in other parts of Mexico, altars to the dead, both in homes and on graves are erected and covered with offerings such as bread, fruit and other items. One aspect which is unique to the event here is the lighting and floating of hundreds of small candles and flowers on Lake Patzcuaro on the night between November 1 and 2. It is also believed that on this night the ghosts of Mintzita, the daughter of Purépecha king Tzintzicha, and Itzihuapa arise. Their story is similar to that of Romeo and Juliet as they were never able to marry due to the Spanish invasion of their lands. Today, it is said that the two rise up and head toward a specific cemetery to receive visitors. There are a number of other rituals performed on these days such as the Terescuan y Campaneri, a kind of treasure hunt for hidden harvest items.


title: Michoacán

text: The Zamora region is center of the city of the same name in an area known as the Purépecha Mesa. Pre-Hispanic language and customs are preserved here as well as a large number of crafts such as the pottery of Ptamban and the embroidery of Tarecuato. The region is part of an area of Mexico known as the Bajío and has extensive agriculture, livestock and some industry. Regional dishes such as pigs' feet, breads baked in wood fired ovens, tamales, pozole and dishes made with avocados and corn are promoted here. Important towns outside of Zamora include Camécuaro, Orandiro, La Estancia and La Alberca. The city of Zamora is home to one of the oldest cultures in the west of Mexico which dates to about 1750 BCE, known as the Opeño. The Spanish city was founded as a military garrison.


title: Michoacán

text: The Zitacuaro region contains approximately a half million hectares of conifer forests, but is best known as being part of the wintering grounds of the monarch butterfly. The area is filled with old mining towns as well as an important archaeological site. The region is home to the Mazahua and Otomi peoples, many of whom produce crafts such as blankets, rebozos and ceramics. The city of Zitacuaro is the site of an important battle during the French Intervention in Mexico, which gives it the title of "Heroic City". Other important communities include Añgangueo, San Matias and Ciudad Hidalgo. The most important places to see monarch butterflies in the winter are in municipalities of Angangeo and Ocampo. The butterfly sanctuaries are called El Rosario, Cerro Campanario, Sierra Chincua and El Llanno de las Papas. In 2008, UNESCO declared this region part of a Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.


title: Michoacán

text: Due to crime, the United States Bureau of Consular Affairs advises not to travel to Michoacán (April 2021). During the COVID-19 pandemic, while the Mexican government was occupied, cartels took advantage as an opportunity to gain more power. Tancítaro has assembled the CUSEPT, civilian gunmen funded by local avocado growers, to protect against organized crime. Such non-governmental police groups have been formed because local police are sometimes seen as unhelpful or complicit. Turf disputes happen too.


title: Michoacán

text: La Familia Michoacana, Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Los Zetas, Beltrán-Leyva Organization, the Knights Templar Cartel and Cárteles Unidos operate in Michoacán.


title: Michoacán

text: Michoacán is the seventh most populated state in Mexico and the average resident has a life expectancy of 73.3 years. It is estimated that each year about 40,000 people immigrate to the state while 78,000 leave, leading to population loss. Of those who leave, about one third go to other places in Mexico and the rest to other countries, principally the United States. The cities with the densest populations are Morelia, Uruapan and Zamora. The majority of the population are mestizos; meaning that they are part indigenous, part European (mainly from Spain), and some African. Michoacán is one of the most Catholic regions in Mexico.


title: Michoacán

text: Charreada is an important sport in the state. It celebrates the mestizo culture and heritage of Michoacán; in which the Spaniards employed the indigenous people as vaqueros or ranchers to herd cattle. During the Mexican Revolution, both sides used charros as soldiers. They were also used to maintain order against bandits. The typical Michoacán charro outfit consists of tight, embroidered pants and jacket, dress shirt, chaps, a cloak-like sarape, and a sombrero.


title: Michoacán

text: Michoacán has a history of European immigrants including: Italians, Spaniards, and the French. There are small Italian communities found throughout the state including the cities of Nueva Italia, Michoacán and Lombardia in Michoacán, both founded by Dante Cusi from Gambar in Brescia.


title: Michoacán

text: During the Spanish Civil War, 456 children from Spain arrived in Morelia as refugees. Most of them stayed even after the war concluded.


title: Michoacán

text: The indigenous population is estimated at just over seven percent of the total, with most living in 29 municipalities. Many are Purépecha, which are located in the Meseta-Cañada, Patzcuaro Lake, Zirahuén Lake, and Zacapu regions. In the east of the state, in the municipalities of Ocampo, Anguangueo, Tuxpan, Hidalgo, Maravatío and Zitácuaro, there is a mix of Mazahua, Otomi and Purépecha. On the coast can be found the Aquila, Chinicuila and Coahuayana peoples. The Purépecha are seen as Michoacán's most devoted Catholics; as well as mixing traditional indigenous elements such as Noche de Muertos.


title: Michoacán

text: According to the 2020 Census, 1.55% of Michoacán's population identified as Black, Afro-Mexican, or of African descent.


title: Michoacán

text: Michoacán, as all states of Mexico, is divided into municipalities ("municipios"), creating 113 municipalities of Michoacán.


title: Handedness

text: In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjectively preferred, is called the non-dominant hand. In a study from 1975 on 7688 children in US grades 1-6, Left handers comprised 9.6% of the sample, with 10.5% of male children and 8.7% of female children being left-handed. Handedness is often defined by one's writing hand, as it is fairly common for people to prefer to do some tasks with each hand. There are examples of true ambidexterity (equal preference of either hand), but it is rare—most people prefer using one hand for most purposes.


title: Handedness

text: Most of the current research suggests that left-handedness has an epigenetic marker—a combination of genetics, biology and the environment.


title: Handedness

text: Because the vast majority of the population is right-handed, many devices are designed for use by right-handed people, making their use by left-handed people more difficult. In many countries, left-handed people are or were required to write with their right hands. Left-handed people are also more prone to certain health problems. However, left-handed people have an advantage in sports that involves aiming at a target in an area of an opponent's control, as their opponents are more accustomed to the right-handed majority. As a result, they are over-represented in baseball, tennis, fencing, cricket, boxing, and mixed martial arts (MMA).


title: Handedness

text: Handedness may be measured behaviourally (performance measures) or through questionnaires (preference measures). The Edinburgh Handedness Inventory has been used since 1971 but contains many dated questions and is hard to score. The longer Waterloo Handedness Questionnaire is not widely accessible. More recently, the Flinders Handedness Survey (FLANDERS) has been developed.


title: Handedness

text: One common handedness theory is the brain hemisphere division of labor. In most people, the left side of the brain controls speaking. The theory suggests it is more efficient for the brain to divide major tasks between the hemispheres—thus most people may use the non-speaking (right) hemisphere for perception and gross motor skills. As speech is a very complex motor control task, the specialised fine motor areas controlling speech are most efficiently used to also control fine motor movement in the dominant hand. As the right hand is controlled by the left hemisphere (and the left hand is controlled by the right hemisphere) most people are, therefore right-handed. The theory depends on left-handed people having a reversed organisation. However, the majority of left-handers have been found to have left-hemisphere language dominance—just like right-handers. Only around 30% of left-handers are not left-hemisphere dominant for language. Some of those have reversed brain organisation, where the verbal processing takes place in the right-hemisphere and visuospatial processing is dominant to the left hemisphere. Others have more ambiguous bilateral organisation, where both hemispheres do parts of typically lateralised functions. When tasks investigating lateralisation are averaged across a group of left-handers, the overall effect is that left-handers show the same pattern of data as right-handers, but with a reduced asymmetry. This finding is likely due to the small proportion of left-handers who have atypical brain organisation.


title: Handedness

text: Handedness displays a complex inheritance pattern. For example, if both parents of a child are left-handed, there is a 26% chance of that child being left-handed. A large study of twins from 25,732 families by Medland et al. (2006) indicates that the heritability of handedness is roughly 24%.


title: Handedness

text: Two theoretical single-gene models have been proposed to explain the patterns of inheritance of handedness, by Marian Annett of the University of Leicester, and by Chris McManus of UCL.


title: Handedness

text: However, growing evidence from linkage and genome-wide association studies suggests that genetic variance in handedness cannot be explained by a single genetic locus. From these studies, McManus et al. now conclude that handedness is polygenic and estimate that at least 40 loci contribute to the trait.


title: Handedness

text: Brandler et al. performed a genome-wide association study for a measure of relative hand skill and found that genes involved in the determination of left-right asymmetry in the body play a key role in handedness. Brandler and Paracchini suggest the same mechanisms that determine left-right asymmetry in the body (e.g. nodal signaling and ciliogenesis) also play a role in the development of brain asymmetry


title: Handedness

text: In 2019, Wiberg et al. performed a genome-wide association study and found that handedness was significantly associated with four loci, three of them in genes encoding proteins involved in brain development.


title: Handedness

text: Twin studies indicate that genetic factors explain 25% of the variance in handedness, and environmental factors the remaining 75%. While the molecular basis of handedness epigenetics is largely unclear, Ocklenburg et al. (2017) found that asymmetric methylation of CpG sites plays a key role for gene expression asymmetries related to handedness.


title: Handedness

text: Four studies have indicated that individuals who have had in-utero exposure to diethylstilbestrol (a synthetic estrogen based medication used between 1940 and 1971) were more likely to be left-handed over the clinical control group. Diethylstilbestrol animal studies "suggest that estrogen affects the developing brain, including the part that governs sexual behavior and right and left dominance".


title: Handedness

text: Previc, after reviewing a large number of studies, found evidence that the position of the fetus in the final trimester and a baby's subsequent birth position can affect handedness. About two-thirds of fetuses present with their left occiput (back of the head) at birth. This partly explains why prematurity results in a decrease in right-handedness. Previc argues that asymmetric prenatal positioning creates asymmetric stimulation of the vestibular system, which is involved in the development of handedness. In fact, every major disorder in which patients show reduced right-handedness is associated with either vestibular abnormalities or delay, and asymmetry of the vestibular cortex is strongly correlated with the direction of handedness.


title: Handedness

text: Another theory is that ultrasound may sometimes affect the brains of unborn children, causing higher rates of left-handedness in children whose mothers receive ultrasound during pregnancy. Research suggests there may be a weak association between ultrasound screening (sonography used to check the healthy development of the fetus and mother) and left-handedness.


title: Handedness

text: Researchers studied fetuses in utero and determined that handedness in the womb was a very accurate predictor of handedness after birth. In a 2013 study, 39% of infants (6 to 14 months) and 97% of toddlers (18 to 24 months) demonstrated a hand preference.


title: Handedness

text: Infants have been observed to fluctuate heavily when choosing a hand to lead in grasping and object manipulation tasks, especially in one- versus two-handed grasping. Between 36 and 48 months, there is a significant decline in variability between handedness in one-handed grasping; it can be seen earlier in two-handed manipulation. Children of 18–36 months showed more hand preference when performing bi-manipulation tasks than with simple grasping.


title: Handedness

text: The decrease in handedness variability in children of 36–48 months may be attributable to preschool or kindergarten attendance due to increased single-hand activities such as writing and coloring. Scharoun and Bryden noted that right-handed preference increases with age up to the teenage years.


title: Handedness

text: Recently, studies have shown that left-handers and right-handers differ in their growth trajectory, i.e., among kindergarten children left-handers have longer digit length whereas among adults left -handers have shorter digit lengths.


title: Handedness

text: In his book "Right-Hand, Left-Hand", Chris McManus of University College London argues that the proportion of left-handers is increasing, and that an above-average quota of high achievers have been left-handed. He says that left-handers' brains are structured in a way that increases their range of abilities, and that the genes that determine left-handedness also govern development of the brain's language centers.


title: Handedness

text: Studies in the U.K., U.S. and Australia have revealed that left-handed people differ from right-handers by only one IQ point, which is not noteworthy ... Left-handers' brains are structured differently from right-handers' in ways that can allow them to process language, spatial relations and emotions in more diverse and potentially creative ways. Also, a slightly larger number of left-handers than right-handers are especially gifted in music and math. A study of musicians in professional orchestras found a significantly greater proportion of talented left-handers, even among those who played instruments that seem designed for right-handers, such as violins. Similarly, studies of adolescents who took tests to assess mathematical giftedness found many more left-handers in the population.


title: Handedness

text: Conversely, found that evidence for left-handers was overrepresented amongst those with higher cognitive skills, such as Mensa members and higher-performing takers of SAT and MCAT tests, due to methodological and sampling issues in studies. He also found that left-handers were overrepresented among those with lower cognitive skills and mental impairments, with those with intellectual disability (ID) being roughly twice as likely to be left-handed, as well as generally lower cognitive and non-cognitive abilities amongst left-handed children. In a systematic review and meta-analysis, Ntolka and Papadatou-Pastou found that right-handers had higher IQ scores, but that difference was negligible (about 1.5 points).


title: Handedness

text: The prevalence of "difficulties" in left-right discrimination was investigated in a cohort of 2,720 adult members of Mensa and Intertel by Storfer. According to the study, 7.2% of the men and 18.8% of the women evaluated their left-right directional sense as poor or below average; moreover participants who were relatively ambidextrous experienced problems more frequently than did those who were more strongly left- or right-handed. The study also revealed an effect of age, with younger participants reporting more problems.


title: Handedness

text: Nelson, Campbell, and Michel studied infants and whether developing handedness during infancy correlated with language abilities in toddlers. In the article they assessed 38 infants and followed them through to 12 months and then again once they became toddlers from 18 to 24 months. They discovered that when a child developed a consistent use of their right or left hand during infancy (such as using the right hand to put the pacifier back in, or grasping random objects with the left hand), they were more likely to have superior language skills as a toddler. Children who became lateral later than infancy (i.e., when they were toddlers) showed normal development of language and had typical language scores. The researchers used Bayley scales of infant and toddler development to assess all the subjects.


title: Handedness

text: In two studies, Diana Deutsch found that left-handers, particularly those with mixed hand preference, performed significantly better than right-handers in musical memory tasks. There are also handedness differences in perception of musical patterns. Left-handers as a group differ from right-handers, and are more heterogeneous than right-handers, in perception of certain stereo illusions, such as the octave illusion, the scale illusion, and the glissando illusion.


title: Handedness

text: Studies have found a positive correlation between left-handedness and several specific physical and mental disorders and health problems. For example:


title: Handedness

text: A variety of neuropsychiatric and developmental disorders like autism spectrum disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and alcoholism have been associated with left- and mixed-handedness.


title: Handedness

text: A 2012 study showed that nearly 40% of children with cerebral palsy were left-handed, while another study demonstrated that left-handedness was associated with a 62% increased risk of Parkinson's disease in women, but not in men. Another study suggests that the risk of developing multiple sclerosis increases for left-handed women, but the effect is unknown for men at this point.


title: Handedness

text: Left-handed women may have a higher risk of breast cancer than right-handed women and the effect is greater in post-menopausal women.


title: Handedness

text: At least one study maintains that left-handers are more likely to suffer from heart disease, and are more likely to have reduced longevity from cardiovascular causes.


title: Handedness

text: One systematic review concluded: "Left-handers showed no systematic tendency to suffer from disorders of the immune system".


title: Handedness

text: As handedness is a highly heritable trait associated with various medical conditions, and because many of these conditions could have presented a Darwinian fitness challenge in ancestral populations, this indicates left-handedness may have previously been rarer than it currently is, due to natural selection. However, on average, left-handers have been found to have an advantage in fighting and competitive, interactive sports, which could have increased their reproductive success in ancestral populations.


title: Handedness

text: In a 2006 U.S. study, researchers from Lafayette College and Johns Hopkins University concluded that there was no statistically significant correlation between handedness and earnings for the general population, but among college-educated people, left-handers earned 10 to 15% more than their right-handed counterparts.


title: Handedness

text: However, more recently, in a 2014 study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Harvard economist Joshua Goodman finds that left-handed people earn 10 to 12 percent less over the course of their lives than right-handed people. Goodman attributes this disparity to higher rates of emotional and behavioral problems in left-handed people.


title: Handedness

text: Interactive sports such as table tennis, badminton and cricket have an overrepresentation of left-handedness, while non-interactive sports such as swimming show no overrepresentation. Smaller physical distance between participants increases the overrepresentation. In fencing, about half the participants are left-handed. The term "southpaw" is sometimes used to refer to a left-handed individual, especially in baseball and boxing. Some studies suggest that right handed male athletes tend to be statistically taller and heavier than left handed ones.


title: Handedness

text: Other, sports-specific factors may increase or decrease the advantage left-handers usually hold in one-on-one situations:


title: Handedness

text: According to a meta-analysis of 144 studies, totaling 1,787,629 participants, the best estimate for the male to female odds ratio was 1.23, indicating that men are 23% more likely to be left-handed. For example, if the incidence of female left-handedness was 10%, then the incidence of male left-handedness would be approximately 12% (10% incidence of left-handedness among women multiplied by an odds ratio of 1:1.23 for women:men gives us a 12.3% incidence of left-handedness among men).


title: Handedness

text: Some studies examining the relationship between handedness and sexual orientation have reported that a disproportionate minority of homosexual people exhibit left-handedness, though findings are mixed.


title: Handedness

text: A 2001 study also found that males whose gender identity did not align with their sex assigned at birth, were more than twice as likely to be left-handed than a clinical control group (19.5% vs. 8.3%, respectively).


title: Handedness

text: Paraphilias (atypical sexual interests) have also been linked to higher rates of left-handedness. A 2008 study analyzing the sexual fantasies of 200 males found "elevated paraphilic interests were correlated with elevated non-right handedness". Greater rates of left-handedness have also been documented among pedophiles.


title: Handedness

text: A 2014 study attempting to analyze the biological markers of asexuality asserts that non-sexual men and women were 2.4 and 2.5 times, respectively, more likely to be left-handed than their heterosexual counterparts.


title: Handedness

text: A study at Durham University—which examined mortality data for cricketers whose handedness was a matter of public record—found that left-handed men were almost twice as likely to die in war as their right-handed contemporaries. The study theorised that this was because weapons and other equipment was designed for the right-handed. “I can sympathise with all those left-handed cricketers who have gone to an early grave trying desperately to shoot straight with a right-handed Lee Enfield .303,” wrote a journalist reviewing the study in the cricket press. The findings echo those of previous American studies, which found that left-handed US sailors were 34% more likely to have a serious accident than their right-handed counterparts.


title: Handedness

text: A high level of handedness (whether strongly favoring right or left) is associated with poorer episodic memory, and with poorer communication between brain hemispheres, which may give poorer emotional processing, although bilateral stimulation may reduce such effects.


title: Handedness

text: A high level of handedness is associated with a smaller corpus callosum whereas low handedness with a larger one.


title: Handedness

text: Many tools and procedures are designed to facilitate use by right-handed people, often without realizing the difficulties incurred by the left-handed. John W. Santrock has written, "For centuries, left-handers have suffered unfair discrimination in a world designed for right-handers."


title: Handedness

text: As a child British King George VI (1895-1952) was naturally left-handed. He was forced to write with his right hand, as was common practice at the time. He was not expected to become king, so that was not a factor. McManus noted that, as the Industrial Revolution spread across Western Europe and the United States in the 19th century, workers needed to operate complex machines that were designed with right-handers in mind. This would have made left-handers more visible and at the same time appear less capable and more clumsy. During this era, children were taught to write with a dip pen. While a right-hander could smoothly drag the pen across paper from left to right, a dip pen could not easily be pushed across by the left hand without digging into the paper and making blots and stains.


title: Handedness

text: Moreover, apart from inconvenience, left-handed people have historically been considered unlucky or even malicious for their difference by the right-handed majority. In many languages, including English, the word for the direction "right" also means "correct" or "proper". Throughout history, being left-handed was considered negative, or evil; even into the 20th century, left-handed children were beaten by schoolteachers for writing with their left hand.


title: Handedness

text: The Latin adjective "sinister" means "left" as well as "unlucky", and this double meaning survives in European derivatives of Latin, including the English words "sinister" (meaning both 'evil' and 'on the bearer's left on a coat of arms') and "ambisinister" meaning 'awkward or clumsy with both or either hand'.


title: Handedness

text: There are many negative connotations associated with the phrase "left-handed": clumsy, awkward, unlucky, insincere, sinister, malicious, and so on. A "left-handed compliment" is one that has two meanings, one of which is unflattering to the recipient. In French, "gauche" means both "left" and "awkward" or "clumsy", while "droit(e)" (cognate to English "direct" and related to "adroit") means both "right" and "straight", as well as "law" and the legal sense of "right". The name "Dexter" derives from the Latin for "right", as does the word "dexterity" meaning manual skill. As these are all very old words, they would tend to support theories indicating that the predominance of right-handedness is an extremely old phenomenon.


title: Handedness

text: Until very recently in Taiwan (and still in Mainland China, Japan and both North and South Korea), left-handed people were forced to switch to being right-handed, or at least switch to writing with the right hand. Due to the importance of stroke order, developed for the comfortable use of right-handed people, it is considered more difficult to write legible Chinese characters with the left hand than it is to write Latin letters, though difficulty is subjective and depends on the writer. Because writing when moving one's hand away from its side towards the other side of the body can cause smudging if the outward side of the hand is allowed to drag across the writing, writing in the Latin alphabet might possibly be less feasible with the left hand than the right under certain circumstances. Conversely, right-to-left alphabets, such as the Arabic and Hebrew, are generally considered easier to write with the left hand in general. Depending on the position and inclination of the writing paper, and the writing method, the left-handed writer can write as neatly and efficiently or as messily and slowly as right-handed writers. Usually the left-handed child needs to be taught how to write correctly with the left hand, since discovering a comfortable left-handed writing method on one's own may not be straightforward.


title: Handedness

text: In the Soviet Union, all left-handed children were forced to write with their right hand in the Soviet school system.


title: Handedness

text: International Left-Handers Day is held annually every August 13. It was founded by the Left-Handers Club in 1992, with the club itself having been founded in 1990. International Left-Handers Day is, according to the club, "an annual event when left-handers everywhere can celebrate their sinistrality (left-handedness) and increase public awareness of the advantages and disadvantages of being left-handed." It celebrates their uniqueness and differences, who are from seven to ten percent of the world's population. Thousands of left-handed people in today's society have to adapt to use right-handed tools and objects. Again according to the club, "in the U.K. alone there were over 20 regional events to mark the day in 2001 – including left-v-right sports matches, a left-handed tea party, pubs using left-handed corkscrews where patrons drank and played pub games with the left hand only, and nationwide 'Lefty Zones' where left-handers' creativity, adaptability and sporting prowess were celebrated, whilst right-handers were encouraged to try out everyday left-handed objects to see just how awkward it can feel using the wrong equipment."


title: Handedness

text: Kangaroos and other macropod marsupials show a left-hand preference for everyday tasks in the wild. 'True' handedness is unexpected in marsupials however, because unlike placental mammals, they lack a corpus callosum. Left-handedness was particularly apparent in the red kangaroo ("Macropus rufus") and the eastern gray kangaroo ("Macropus giganteus"). Red-necked (Bennett's) wallabies ("Macropus rufogriseus") preferentially use their left hand for behaviours that involve fine manipulation, but the right for behaviours that require more physical strength. There was less evidence for handedness in arboreal species. Studies of dogs, horses, and domestic cats have shown that females of those species tend to be right-handed, while males tend to be left-handed.


title: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency (TV series)

text: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency is a BBC America comic science fiction detective television series created and primarily written by Max Landis. The two seasons are inspired by the novel series of the same name by Douglas Adams. The series is co-produced and distributed by BBC America and Netflix, along with AMC Studios, Ideate Media and IDW Entertainment. Filming primarily took place in Vancouver, British Columbia.


text: The series features an ensemble cast, including Samuel Barnett as the "holistic detective" Dirk Gently, and Elijah Wood as his reluctant sidekick Todd. Other main cast members include Hannah Marks as Todd's sister Amanda, Jade Eshete as security officer Farah Black, Fiona Dourif as "holistic assassin" Bart, and Mpho Koaho as computer technician Ken. The first season is set in Seattle, Washington and the second season is set in the fictional town of Bergsberg, Montana.


text: The eight-episode first season premiered on BBC America on October 22, 2016, to positive reviews, before concluding on December 10, 2016. All episodes were made available on Netflix (outside of the United States) on December 11, 2016. On November 21, 2016, BBC America renewed the series for a 10-episode second season which premiered on 14 October 2017. Following the broadcast of the second-season finale, the show was cancelled.


text: The show is based around the eccentric Dirk Gently (Samuel Barnett) who claims to be a "holistic detective", investigating obscure cases based on the inter-connectivity of all things. During the first season he befriends Todd Brotzman (Elijah Wood) and Farah Black (Jade Eshete) who help him with his cases. Dirk's past is linked with "Project Blackwing", a secret CIA project to evaluate subjects with strange abilities. Dirk is not only followed by agents of Blackwing trying to recapture him but also by Bart Curlish (Fiona Dourif), another Blackwing subject who considers herself a "holistic assassin" and believes she is destined to kill Dirk.


text: The Rowdy 3 is a hedonist group first introduced as a group of four. (In season 2, it is revealed that they were initially three.) At the end of season 1, Amanda joins their ranks, making them five. The Rowdy 3 are among the people studied by the government organization tracking Dirk. They were originally classified as vampires because they survive by consuming people's emotional energy. At the end of season 2, the Rowdy 3 gain yet another member, The Beast.


text: The first season received a favorable response from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 71% approval rating based on 28 reviews, with an average rating of 6.54/10. The site's consensus reads "Odd and ambitious, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" sometimes overdoses on pure weirdness but offers absurdist rewards to those who stick with it." On Metacritic, the first season has a score of 62 out of 100 based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


text: The second season was also received favorably. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 100% approval rating based on 11 reviews, with an average rating of 7.33/10. However, its viewership was down from the first season, averaging fewer than 250,000 views per episode compared to 287,000 per episode from Season 1. It is believed these numbers, which were slightly lower than fellow BBC America program "Orphan Black", led the choice for the network to cancel the show. Following the broadcast of the second-season finale, BBC America announced the show's cancellation. The decision to cancel the series sparked outrage among fans of the show, and a petition was started to renew the series. As of March 2018, the petition had received over 100,000 signatures.


title: Sokushinbutsu

text: There is a common suggestion that Shingon school founder Kukai brought this practice from Tang China as part of secret tantric practices he learned. During the 20th century, Japanese scholars found very little evidence of self-starvation of Sokushinbutsu. They rather concluded that mummification took place after the demise of the monk practising this kind of asceticism.


title: Sokushinbutsu

text: There is at least one "self-mummified" 550-year-old corpse in existence: that of a Buddhist monk named Sangha Tenzin in a northern Himalayan region of India, visible in a temple in Gue village, Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. This mummy was rediscovered in 1975 when the old stupa preserving it collapsed and it is estimated to be from about the 14th century. The monk was likely a Tibetan dzogpa-chenpo practitioner and similar mummies have been found in Tibet and East Asia. The preservation of the mummy for at least five centuries was possible due to the aridity of the area and cold weather.


title: Sokushinbutsu

text: According to Paul Williams, the "Sokushinbutsu" ascetic practices of Shugendō were likely inspired by Kūkai—the founder of Shingon Buddhism, who ended his life by reducing and then stopping intake of food and water, while continuing to meditate and chant Buddhist mantras. Ascetic self-mummification practices are also recorded in China, but are associated with the "Ch'an" (Zen Buddhism) tradition there. Alternate ascetic practices similar to "Sokushinbutsu" are also known, such as public self-immolation practice in China, such as that of Fayu Temple in 396 CE and many more in the centuries that followed. This was considered as evidence of a renunciant bodhisattva.


title: Sokushinbutsu

text: A mountain-dwelling religion called Shugendō emerged in Japan as a syncretism between Vajrayana Buddhism, Shinto and Taoism in the 7th century, which stressed ascetic practices. One of these practices was "Sokushinbutsu" (or "Sokushin jobutsu"), connoting mountain austerities in order to attain Buddha-nature in one's body. This practice was perfected over a period of time, particularly in the Three Mountains of Dewa region of Japan, that is the Haguro, Gassan and Yudono mountains. These mountains remain sacred in the Shugendō tradition to this day, and ascetic austerities continue to be performed in the valleys and mountain range in this area.


title: Sokushinbutsu

text: In medieval Japan, this tradition developed a process for "Sokushinbutsu", which a monk completed over about 3,000 days. It involved a strict diet called "mokujiki" (literally, "eating a tree"). The diet abstained from any cereals, and relied on pine needles, resins and seeds found in the mountains, which would eliminate all fat in the body. Increasing rates of fasting and meditation would lead to starvation. The monks would slowly reduce then stop liquid intake, thus dehydrating the body and shrinking all organs. The monks would die in a state of "jhana" (meditation) while chanting the "nenbutsu" (a mantra about Buddha), and their body would become naturally preserved as a mummy with skin and teeth intact without decay and without the need of any artificial preservatives. Many Buddhist "Sokushinbutsu" mummies have been found in northern Japan and estimated to be centuries old, while texts suggest that hundreds of these cases are buried in the stupas and mountains of Japan. These mummies have been revered and venerated by the laypeople of Buddhism.


title: Sokushinbutsu

text: One of the altars in the Honmyō-ji temple of Yamagata prefecture continues to preserve one of the oldest mummies—that of the "sokushinbutsu" ascetic named Honmyōkai. This process of self-mummification was mainly practiced in Yamagata in Northern Japan between the 11th and 19th century, by members of the Japanese Vajrayana school of Buddhism called Shingon ("True Word"). The practitioners of "sokushinbutsu" did not view this practice as an act of suicide, but rather as a form of further enlightenment.


title: Sokushinbutsu

text: Emperor Meiji banned this practice in 1879, and assisted suicide—including religious suicide—is now illegal.


title: Sokushinbutsu

text: The practice was satirized in the story "The Destiny That Spanned Two Lifetimes" by Ueda Akinari, in which such a monk was found centuries later and resuscitated. The story appears in the collection "Harusame Monogatari".


title: Sokushinbutsu

text: The practice is also extensively referenced in Japanese author Haruki Murakami's 2017 novel "Killing Commendatore".


title: Sokushinbutsu

text: In Rumiko Takahashi's series "InuYasha", a priest named Hakushin was a "living mummy" who sacrificed himself via sokushinbutsu to save the people he served.


title: Sokushinbutsu

text: In the video game series "Shin Megami Tensei", the recurring enemy Daisoujou is based on sokushinbutsu.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Mark Richard Hunt (born 23 March 1974) is a New Zealand former mixed martial artist and kickboxer of Samoan descent, currently living in Sydney, Australia. Hunt competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) until 2018 and was the winner of the 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix. He is known as "King of Walk-Offs" due to his popularization of walking away and stopping attacks before the referee officially ends the match.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt was born in South Auckland, into a large Samoan family, and was a troubled child eventually leading to two jail terms for violent offending. He had no intention to be a professional fighter until a late night altercation outside a nightclub just after getting out of jail for the second time in Auckland changed the course of his life. The brawl did not last long, and Hunt knocked out multiple people. Sam Marsters, one of the bouncers at the door was impressed by the young man's knockout power and invited him to his gym to take up formal training, and a week later, Hunt won a Muay Thai kickboxing match via knockout. Hunt received a six-pack of beer as a reward for the fight. Later that year Hunt moved to Sydney, Australia (residing in Campbelltown), to train with Alex Tui, and few years later he settled in Liverpool Kickboxing Gym under Maori instructor Hape Ngaranoa.


title: Mark Hunt

text: In the beginning of his career, Hunt was used by the promoters as a stepping stone for their up-and-coming fighters, taking up fights at short notice, until Tarik Solak promoted K-1 Oceania tournament in February 2000. With a record of (15–4, 3 KO's) Hunt entered his first K-1 tournament as a heavy underdog.


title: Mark Hunt

text: He won the K-1 Oceania title by knocking out "The Coconut Crusher" Aumitagi in quarter finals, Rony Sefo in semis and Phil Fagan in the finals. After this he was invited to Japan for K-1 qualifications. He lost his first international fight by unanimous decision against Jérôme Le Banner.


title: Mark Hunt

text: In 2001, Hunt returned to K-1 by winning the K-1 Oceania tournament for the second consecutive year. After that he took part of K-1 World GP 2001 in Melbourne, where he beat Japanese boxer Hiromi Amada, before suffering a close unanimous decision loss to reigning champion Ernesto Hoost. However, because of his exciting fighting style Hunt was granted a wildcard spot in the repercharge tournament for the K-1 World GP 2001 Finals, when Mirko Cro Cop had to pull out due to injury. He was drawn against Ray Sefo, who won the bout by outpointing Hunt. After the fight however, Sefo suffered an eye injury and was not able to continue, allowing Hunt to proceed in his place. Hunt then TKO'd Adam Watt to earn his place in the K-1 World Grand Prix Finals at the Tokyo Dome.


title: Mark Hunt

text: During the matchmaking for the K-1 Finals, Hunt surprised the crowd by choosing Jérôme Le Banner, whom he had just lost in the previous year, as his quarterfinal opponent. Hunt won the rematch by knocking out Le Banner in the second round and advanced himself onto the semi-finals facing Stefan Leko. Hunt knocked down Leko two times in the first round and went on to win the fight by unanimous decision. The stage was set for the final battle against Brazilian Kyokushin karate champion Francisco Filho. In the final Hunt defeated Filho by unanimous decision to become the K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 champion.


title: Mark Hunt

text: In 2002, Hunt went to Paris to fight Le Banner again for the third time what turned out to be one of the biggest battles in K-1 history. Le Banner, fighting in front of his hometown audience, knocked down Hunt in the second round but was in turn knocked down himself a few seconds later. In the final moments of the round, Hunt was knocked down for the second time again by the powerful Frenchman. In between rounds the towel was thrown in as Hunt could not continue.


title: Mark Hunt

text: On 17 December 2002, Mark Hunt returned to defend his K-1 World Grand Prix Championship. In quarter finals, entering the third round and behind on all scorecards, Mark was able to connect with a right cross that knocked out Stefan Leko and advanced him to the semi-finals against his career long nemesis Jerome Le Banner. Despite knocking down the Frenchman at the end of the third round, Hunt lost the fight by decision. It would to be his last K-1 World Grand Prix appearance.


title: Mark Hunt

text: In April 2008, FEG announced Hunt's return to K-1 and nominated him as the challenger of K-1 Super Heavyweight Championship held by Semmy Schilt. The match was held on 13 April 2008, in Yokohama, Japan at the K-1 World GP 2008 in Yokohama. Hunt lost the fight at the end of the first round by spinning back kick to the body.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt's mixed martial arts career saw him fight in events in Japan's PRIDE Fighting Championships. His first MMA fight was a submission loss to Hidehiko Yoshida, an Olympic gold medalist in judo. In his second fight, he defeated American wrestler Dan Bobish by TKO. Hunt stepped in as a late replacement for Sakuraba, and won a split decision against an outweighed PRIDE middleweight (205 lb) champion Wanderlei Silva. Silva, renowned for his brutal punching and Muay Thai clinch game, was neutralized by the hard-hitting Samoan and knocked down several times in the fight. At the "PRIDE Shockwave 2005" event, Hunt surprisingly defeated Mirko Cro Cop via a split decision, after his earlier loss to him in K-1. At "PRIDE 31: Unbreakable", Hunt defeated Japanese boxer Yosuke Nishijima in the third round with a powerful one-two punch.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt's next fight was in the opening round of PRIDE's 2006 Open-Weight Grand Prix ("PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute") on 5 May 2006. His opponent was Japan's Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, who he defeated by TKO in the second round. He then faced American catch-wrestler Josh Barnett at "PRIDE Critical Countdown Absolute" in the second round of the tournament. Hunt was immediately taken down by Barnett and ultimately lost to a kimura submission roughly two and a half minutes into the first round.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Following that fight, Hunt next lost to PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko at "PRIDE Shockwave 2006". Hunt controlled Emelianenko most of the fight and even effectively countered an armbar early in the bout. Hunt's greatest chance of winning came when he was able to put Emelianenko in an americana. Unfortunately for Hunt, Emelianenko was able to fight through it and submit Hunt with a kimura.


title: Mark Hunt

text: On 21 July 2008, more than a year after his previous MMA fight, Hunt returned to MMA to face Alistair Overeem at the Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 Final Round, and was submitted by an armlock in just over a minute into the first round.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt was set to fight Jerome Le Banner at "Dynamite!! 2008" but ended up fighting late replacement Melvin Manhoef after Le Banner pulled out. Despite the fact that he had a substantial weight advantage over Manhoef, he was knocked out in 18 seconds in the first round. This marked the first time he had been stopped by knockout due to punches to the head.


title: Mark Hunt

text: On 26 May 2009, Hunt fought former DREAM Middleweight Champion Gegard Mousasi in the opening round of the Super Hulk Grand Prix at Dream 9. He lost the fight via submission in the first round.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt was transferred to the UFC as part of their acquisition of Pride Fighting Championships. The UFC offered to pay up Hunt's contract and more – totaling $450,000 – but Hunt elected to fight instead.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt made his UFC debut on 25 September 2010, at UFC 119 against fellow UFC newcomer and undefeated prospect Sean McCorkle. Hunt trained with American Top Team for the fight. Photos that had emerged on the internet had shown that Hunt had lost a considerable amount of weight in comparison to that of his Pride days. Hunt lost the fight via submission in the first round.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt's next fight in the UFC was against Chris Tuchscherer at UFC 127 on 27 February 2011, in Sydney, Australia. Hunt defeated Tuchscherer in the second round via KO, earning "Knockout of the Night" honors.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt next faced Cheick Kongo on 26 February 2012, at UFC 144. He won the fight via TKO in the first round.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt was expected face Stefan Struve on 26 May 2012, at UFC 146. However, he pulled out of the bout due to injury ten days prior to the event.


title: Mark Hunt

text: The bout with Struve was rescheduled for 3 March 2013, at UFC on Fuel TV 8. Hunt defeated Struve via third-round TKO in a performance that earned him "Knockout of the Night" honors.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced Junior dos Santos on 25 May 2013, at UFC 160, replacing an injured Alistair Overeem. Hunt lost the fight via knockout in the third round in a bout that earned both participants "Fight of the Night" honors. Afterwards, some major MMA media outlets were considering this to be the best fight in the history of the UFC heavyweight division.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced Antônio Silva in the main event on 7 December 2013, at UFC Fight Night 33. The fight went to a decision, with one judge scoring it 48–47 for Hunt, while the other two judges had the scores even 47–47, resulting in a majority draw. Post-fight, Dana White stated that the bout won "Fight of the Night" and, despite the draw result, both men would receive their win bonuses. The bout with Silva has been described as one of the best in the promotion's heavyweight history. In a post-fight test, Silva tested positive for elevated testosterone, which was believed to be attributed to undergoing UFC-approved testosterone replacement therapy. In turn, the bout is still a "draw" on Hunt's official record, while in Silva's case it was overturned to a no-contest.


title: Mark Hunt

text: On 5 August 2014, Hunt posted cryptic tweets about becoming unemployed, which Dana White immediately denied. At first, Hunt blamed his tweets on hunger, but later in mid-August he revealed that he had decided to walk away from the sport due to business reasons. Hunt originally wanted a three-fight contract while the UFC wanted an eight-fight contract. After Hunt's decision to walk away, his wife convinced him to return to fighting and he ended up with a six-fight contract with the organization. At the end of August 2014, Hunt revealed that the contract would be the last of his mixed martial arts career.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced Roy Nelson on 20 September 2014, at UFC Fight Night 52. He won the fight via knockout in the second round. The win earned Hunt his first "Performance of the Night" bonus award, and the World MMA Awards' 2014 "Knockout of the Year" award.


title: Mark Hunt

text: On 21 October 2014, it was announced that Hunt would replace injured UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez in the main event of UFC 180. He faced off against Fabrício Werdum for the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship. Despite having early success and dropping Werdum twice, Hunt lost the fight via TKO in the second round.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced Stipe Miocic on 10 May 2015, at UFC Fight Night 65. He lost the fight via TKO in the fifth round. Miocic set a UFC record for the most strikes landed in a fight, outlanding Hunt 361 – 48 over the duration of the bout.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced Antônio Silva in a rematch on 15 November 2015, at UFC 193. Hunt won the fight via TKO, after dropping Silva with a straight right up against the fence at 3:41 of the first round.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced Frank Mir on 20 March 2016, at UFC Fight Night 85. He won the fight via KO in the first round after sending Mir to the canvas with a right hand. He was awarded with "Performance of the Night" for his efforts. It was later announced that Mir failed an in-competition drug test.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Despite talks about Hunt's current contract being his last, on 14 April 2016, it was announced that Hunt had signed a new six-fight, multi-million dollar contract with the UFC.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced a returning Brock Lesnar on 9 July 2016, at UFC 200. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. However, on 15 July, it was revealed that Lesnar had tested positive for a banned substance in a pre-fight drug test. The test result was conducted on 28, 11 June days prior to the fight, and was flagged by USADA as a potential anti-doping violation. On 19 July, the UFC announced that Lesnar tested positive for the same banned substance in a second, in-competition sample. On 23 August, the Nevada Athletic Commission confirmed that Lesnar twice tested positive for the estrogen blocker clomiphene, and that he has been temporarily suspended. Due to Lesnar's positive tests, the result of the fight was changed to a no contest.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced Alistair Overeem in a rematch on 4 March 2017, at UFC 209. He lost the fight via knockout in the third round.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced Derrick Lewis on 11 June 2017, in the main event at UFC Fight Night 110. It was the first combat sports event in Auckland since UFC Fight Night 43 in Vector Arena. He won the fight via TKO in round four. The win also earned Hunt his third "Fight of the Night" bonus award.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt was expected to face Marcin Tybura on 19 November 2017, at . However, on 10 October, Hunt was pulled from the card and was replaced by Fabrício Werdum after UFC officials reviewed Hunt's article, entitled, "If I Die Fighting, That's Fine" on his health status from the consequences he suffered from his long term fighting career (slur speech and loss of memory- an early signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)). Hunt was upset with the news, responding on his Instagram that the quote was taken out of context and that he had been cleared to fight by doctors two days before he was pulled from the bout.


title: Mark Hunt

text: On 5 December 2017, it was announced that Hunt had been cleared to fight after undergoing medical tests in Las Vegas that were arranged by the UFC.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced Curtis Blaydes on 11 February 2018, at UFC 221. Prior to the event, Hunt announced that he would not seek to renew his contract after it expired. Hunt knocked down Blaydes in the first round, but would be outwrestled for the remainder of the fight and lost via unanimous decision.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced Aleksei Oleinik on 15 September 2018, in the main event of UFC Fight Night 136. He lost the fight via rear-naked choke submission in the first round.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced Justin Willis on 2 December 2018, at UFC Fight Night 142. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. The fight was his last fight of his UFC contract, with Hunt stating that he would continue his fighting career with other organizations.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced Paul Gallen in a six-round heavyweight match on 16 December 2020 at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney, Australia. He lost via unanimous decision.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt faced Sonny Bill Williams on 5 November 2022 at Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney, Australia. He won the fight via technical knockout in the fourth round.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt had his first professional wrestling appearance on 25 November 2007 for Japanese promotion Hustle. He was introduced as a living weapon sorted in a Dynamite Hardcore Weapons Match between a team of the babyface faction Hustle Army (formed by Kintaman and Kurodaman) and one of the heel stable Takada Monster Army (Monster C and "Fire Monster" Achichi). After Kintaman gained control of him, Hunt knocked out both C and Achichi and allowed the Hustle Army to win the match. Hunt stayed in the ring and danced with the victorious Kintaman and Kurodaman, though accidentally knocking them out as well in the process.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt returned to the promotion on 21 February 2008, coming to the ring to save Monster Bono from a beating by Tiger Jeet Singh and his allies of the Takada Monster Army. Hunt and Bono teamed up at the next event on 24 February, marking Hunt's first and last professional wrestling match. They wrestled Singh and Commander An Jo and won the bout when Bono pinned the latter.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt is known as a brawler and prefers to fight standing up. He has a powerful left hook and right straight. The majority of Hunt's MMA career wins have come via KO or TKO from punches; he has no submission wins. Hunt also holds a notable KO victory over Roy Nelson, who is cited as having one of the most durable chins in combat sports.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt is known for having a strong chin. This was shown in his bout against Mirko Cro Cop in K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Nagoya, in which he went the distance with the Croatian in spite of being hit by one of Cro Cop's famous headkicks in the third round. Hunt fought Cro Cop a second time in Pride Shockwave 2005 and won by decision.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt is the subject of a feature-length documentary "The Art of Fighting" (2013), which premiered on Fuel TV (Australia) on 22 May 2013.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Hunt was born a Mormon, but is now a born-again Christian. He lives in Australia with his second wife and has six children. The first two children from his first marriage are already adults. Hunt and his second wife, Julie, met in a reggae club around 1994 and have four children. In December 2014 Hunt's older brother John committed suicide at the age of 44.


title: Mark Hunt

text: In August 2015, Hunt became a vegan after viewing undercover video footage of the insides of a factory farm. On his Facebook page, where he posted the video, he captioned, "I'm going vegan, hate this". However, on 7 July 2016, Hunt stated that he has not gone completely vegan due to the time demands of the sport, but is a vegetarian.


title: Mark Hunt

text: Auckland's UFC team and "Game of Thrones" star Jason Momoa (Khal Drogo) performed "Haka – a traditional war cry, dance or challenge from the Maori people from New Zealand" to cheer and support Hunt on his upcoming fight against Derrick Lewis.


title: Jordana Spiro

text: Jordana Spiro (born April 12, 1977) is an American actress, director, and writer. As an actress, she has starred in numerous films and television series including Netflix's "Ozark" and TBS comedy television program "My Boys".


title: Jordana Spiro

text: Her debut feature "Night Comes On", which she directed and co-wrote (with Angelica Nwandu) premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018. She developed the film at the Sundance Institute’s Directors, Screenwriters, and Composers Labs, and through a Cinereach development grant. Her short "Skin" premiered at Sundance and won the Women In Film Productions award. "Skin" also won the Honorable Mention Award at SXSW, showed at Telluride, Palm Springs, and AFI among others. Spiro earned her MFA in Film from Columbia University (2015) and received the Adrienne Shelly Foundation Fellowship. She studied drama at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York and was selected to join the Berlinale Talent Campus in Berlin.


title: Jordana Spiro

text: Spiro was born and raised in New York City. She is Jewish. Spiro has a brother and three sisters. She studied at the Circle in the Square Theatre school and briefly attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. In fall 2009, she began the MFA Program in Filmmaking at Columbia University. She finished the degree in 2015. Spiro currently splits her time between Los Angeles and New York.