The origin of life on Earth is a scientific problem which is not yet solved. There are many ideas, but few clear facts.

Most experts agree that all life today evolved by common descent from a single primitive lifeform. It is not known how this early life form evolved, but scientists think it was a natural process which happened about 3,900 million years ago. This is in accord with the philosophy of naturalism: only natural causes are admitted.

It is not known if metabolism came first or genetics. The main hypothesis which supports genetics first is the RNA world hypothesis, and the one which supports metabolism first is the protein world hypothesis.

Another big problem is how cells developed. Melvin Calvin, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, wrote a book on the subject, and so did Alexander Oparin. What links most of the early work on the origin of life is the idea that before life began there must have been a process of chemical change. Another question which has been discussed by J.D. Bernal and others is the origin of the cell membrane. By concentrating the chemicals in one place, the cell membrane performs a vital function.

What we call life has only been verified in things that include RNA, mechanisms for encoding and decoding RNA, and mechanisms for building proteins from amino acids. The search for a verifiable theory of biogenesis is a separate field of research.

Fossil record

Earliest claimed life on Earth
The earliest claimed lifeforms are fossilized microorganisms (or microfossils).  They were found in iron and silica-rich rocks which were once  hydrothermal vents in the Nuvvuagittuq greenstone belt of Quebec, Canada.

These rocks are as old as 4.28 billion years. The tubular forms they contain are shown in a report. If this is the oldest record of life on Earth, it suggests "an almost instantaneous emergence of life" after oceans formed 4.4 billion years ago. According to Stephen Blair Hedges, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth… then it could be common in the universe".

Previous earliest
A scientific study from 2002 showed that geological formations of stromatolites 3.45 billion years old contain fossilized cyanobacteria. At the time it was widely agreed that stromatolites were the oldest known lifeforms on Earth which had left a record of its existence. Therefore, if life originated on Earth, this happened sometime between 4.4 billion years ago, when water vapor first liquefied, and 3.5 billion years ago. This is the background to the latest discovery discussed above.

The earliest evidence of life comes from the Isua supercrustal belt in Western Greenland, and from similar formations in the nearby Akilia Islands. This is because a high level of the lighter isotope of carbon is found there. Living things take up lighter isotopes because this takes less energy. Carbon entering into rock formations has a concentration of elemental δ13C of about −5.5. of 12C, biomass has a δ13C of between −20 and −30. These isotopic fingerprints are preserved in the rocks. With this evidence, Mojzis suggested that life existed on the planet already by 3.85 billion years ago. Against that view is the evidence that our Solar System is very unusual in several respects. For example, it is clear that most star systems have their largest planet close to their star.

A few scientists think life might have been carried from planet to planet by the transport of spores. This idea, now known as panspermia, was first put forward by Arrhenius.

History of studies into the origin of life

Spontaneous generation
Until the early 19th century many people  believed in the regular spontaneous generation of life from non-living matter. This was called spontaneous generation, and was disproved by Louis Pasteur. He showed that without spores no bacteria or viruses grew on sterile material.

Darwin
In a letter to Joseph Dalton Hooker on 11 February 1871, Charles Darwin proposed a natural process for the origin of life.

He suggested that the original spark of life may have begun in a "warm little pond, with all sorts of ammonia and phosphoric salts, lights, heat, electricity, etc. A protein compound was then chemically formed ready to undergo still more complex changes". He went on to explain that "at the present day such matter would be instantly devoured or absorbed, which would not have been the case before living creatures were formed".

Haldane and Oparin
No real progress was made until 1924 when Alexander Oparin reasoned that atmospheric oxygen prevented the synthesis of the organic molecules. Organic molecules are the necessary building blocks for the evolution of life. In his The Origin of Life, Oparin argued that a "primordial soup" of organic molecules could be created in an oxygen-less atmosphere through the action of sunlight. These would combine in ever-more complex fashions until they formed droplets. These droplets would "grow" by fusion with other droplets, and "reproduce" through fission into daughter droplets, and so have a primitive metabolism in which those factors which promote "cell integrity" survive, those that do not become extinct. Many modern theories of the origin of life still take Oparin's ideas as a starting point.

Around the same time J.B.S. Haldane also suggested that the Earth's pre-biotic oceans, which were very different from what oceans are now, would have formed a "hot dilute soup". In this soup, organic compounds, the building blocks of life, could have formed. This idea was called biopoiesis, the process of living matter evolving from self-replicating but nonliving molecules.

Early conditions on Earth
There is almost no geological record from before 3.8 billion years ago. The environment that existed in the Hadean era was hostile to life, but how much so is not known. There was a time, between 3.8 and 4.1 billion years ago, which is known as the Late Heavy Bombardment. It is so named because many lunar craters are thought to have formed then. The situation on other planets, such as Earth, Venus, Mercury and Mars must have been similar. These impacts would likely sterilize the Earth (kill all life), if it existed at that time.

Several people have suggested that the chemicals in the cell give clues as to what the early seas must have been like. In 1926, Macallum noted that the inorganic composition of the cell cytosol dramatically differs from that of modern sea water: "the cell… has endowments transmitted from a past almost as remote as the origin of life on earth". For example: "All cells contain much more potassium, phosphate, and transition metals than modern ... oceans, lakes, or rivers". "Under the anoxic, CO2-dominated primordial atmosphere, the chemistry of inland basins at geothermal fields would [be like the chemistry inside] modern cells".

Temperature
If life evolved in the deep ocean, near a hydrothermal vent, it could have originated as early as 4 to 4.2 billion years ago. If, on the other hand, life originated at the surface of the planet, a common opinion is it could only have done so between 3.5 and 4 billion years ago.

Lazcano and Miller (1994) suggest that the pace of molecular evolution was dictated by the rate of recirculating water through mid-ocean submarine vents. Complete recirculation takes 10 million years, so any organic compounds produced by then would be altered or destroyed by temperatures exceeding 300 °C. They estimate that the development of a 100 kilobase genome of a DNA/protein primitive heterotroph into a 7000 gene filamentous cyanobacterium would have required only 7 million years.

History of Earth's atmosphere
Originally, the atmosphere of Earth had almost no free oxygen. It gradually changed to what it is today, over a very long time (see Great Oxygenation Event). The process began with cyanobacteria. They were the first organisms to make free oxygen by photosynthesis. Most organisms today need oxygen for their metabolism; only a few can use other sources for respiration.

So it is expected that the first proto-organisms were chemoautotrophs, and did not use aerobic respiration. They were anaerobic.

Current models
There is no "standard model" on how life started. Most accepted models are built on molecular biology and cell biology:
 Because there are the right conditions, some basic small molecules are created. These are called monomers of life. Amino acids are one type of these molecules. This was proved by the Miller–Urey experiment by Stanley L. Miller and Harold C. Urey in 1953, and we now know these basic building blocks are common throughout space. Early Earth would have had them all.
 Phospholipids, which can form lipid bilayers, a main component of the cell membrane.
 Nucleotides which might join up into random RNA molecules. This might have resulted in self-replicating ribozymes (RNA world hypothesis).
 Competition for substrates would select mini-proteins into enzymes. The ribosome is critical to protein synthesis in present-day cells, but we have no idea as to how it evolved.
 Early on, ribonucleic acids would have been catalysts, but later, nucleic acids are specialised for genomic use.

The origin of the basic biomolecules, while not settled, is less controversial than the significance and order of steps 2 and 3. The basic chemicals from which life is thought to have formed are:
 Methane (CH4),
 Ammonia (NH3),
 Water (H2O),
 Hydrogen sulfide (H2S),
 Carbon dioxide (CO2) or carbon monoxide (CO), and
 Phosphate (PO43-).
 Hydrogen cyanide (HCN)
Molecular oxygen (O2) and ozone (O3) were either rare or absent.

Three stages
 Stage 1: The origin of biological monomers
 Stage 2: The origin of biological polymers
 Stage 3: The evolution from molecules to cells

Bernal suggested that evolution may have started early, some time between Stage 1 and 2.

Origin of organic molecules
There are three sources of organic molecules on the early Earth:
 organic synthesis by energy sources (such as ultraviolet light or electrical discharges).
 delivery by extraterrestrial objects such as carbonaceous meteorites (chondrites);
 organic synthesis driven by impact shocks.

Estimates of these sources suggest that the heavy bombardment before 3.5 billion years ago made available quantities of organics comparable to those produced by other energy sources.

Miller's experiment and the primordial soup

In 1953 a graduate student, Stanley Miller, and his professor, Harold Urey, performed an experiment that showed how organic molecules could have formed on early Earth from inorganic precursors.

The now-famous Miller–Urey experiment used a highly reduced mixture of gases – methane, ammonia and hydrogen – to form basic organic monomers, such as amino acids. We do know now that for more than the first half of the Earth's history its atmosphere had almost no oxygen.

Fox's experiments
In the 1950s and 1960s, Sidney W. Fox studied the spontaneous formation of peptide structures under conditions that might have existed early in Earth's history. He demonstrated that amino acids could by itself form small peptides. These amino acids and small peptides could be encouraged to form closed spherical membranes, called microspheres.

Special conditions
Some scientists have suggested special conditions which could make cell synthesis easier.

Clay world
A clay model for the origin of life was suggested by A. Graham Cairns-Smith. Clay theory suggests complex organic molecules arose gradually on a pre-existing non-organic platform, namely, silicate crystals in solution.

Deep-hot biosphere model
In the 1970s, Thomas Gold proposed the theory that life first developed not on the surface of the Earth, but several kilometers below the surface. The discovery in the late 1990s of nanobes (filamental structures that are smaller than bacteria, but that may contain DNA in deep rocks)  might support Gold's theory.

It is now reasonably well established that microbial life is plentiful at shallow depths in the Earth (up to five kilometers below the surface) in the form of extremophile archaea, rather than the better-known eubacteria (which live in more accessible conditions).

Gold asserted that a trickle of food from a deep, unreachable, source is needed for survival because life arising in a puddle of organic material is likely to consume all of its food and become extinct. Gold's theory was that the flow of food is due to out-gassing of primordial methane from the Earth's mantle.

Self-organization and replication
Self-organization and self-replication are the hallmark of living systems. Non-living molecules sometimes show those features under proper conditions. For example, Martin and Russel showed that cell membranes separating contents from the environment and self-organization of self-contained redox reactions are the most conserved attributes of living things. They argue that inorganic matter like that would be life's most likely last common ancestor.

Theories

RNA world hypothesis
In this hypothesis, RNA is said to work both as an enzyme and as a container of genes. Later, DNA took over its genetic role.

The RNA world hypothesis proposes that life based on ribonucleic acid (RNA) pre-dates the current world of life based on deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), RNA and proteins. RNA is able both to store genetic information, like DNA, and to catalyze chemical reactions, like an enzyme. It may have supported pre-cellular life and been a major step towards cellular life.

There are some pieces of evidence which support this idea:
There are some RNAs which work as enzymes.
Some viruses use RNA for heredity.
Many of the most fundamental parts of the cell (those that evolve the slowest) require RNA.

Metabolism and proteins
This idea suggests that proteins worked as enzymes first, producing metabolism. After that DNA and RNA began to work as containers of genes.

This idea also has some evidences which supports this.
Protein as enzyme is essential for today's lives.
Some amino acids are formed from more basic chemicals in the Miller-Urey experiment. Some deny this idea because Proteins cannot copy themselves.

Lipids
In this scheme membranes made of lipid bilayers occur early on. Once organic chemicals are enclosed, more complex biochemistry is then possible.

Panspermia
This is the idea suggested by Arrhenius, and developed by Fred Hoyle, that life developed elsewhere in the universe and arrived on Earth in the form of spores. This is not a theory of how life began, but a theory of how it might have spread. It may have spread, for example, by meteorites.

Some propose that early Mars was a better place to start life than was the early Earth.  The molecules which combined to form genetic material are more complex than the "primordial soup" of organic (carbon-based) chemicals that existed on Earth four billion years ago. If RNA was the first genetic material, then minerals containing boron and molybdenum could assist in its formation. These minerals were much more common on Mars than on Earth.

In religion
In Christianity, some people reject the idea of evolution. They believe that the Earth is only a few thousand years old. This is known as Young Earth Creationism.  However, the Bible does not explicitly state the age of the Earth, only that 'In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth' (Genesis 1:1)

Related pages
 Astrobiology
 Earliest known life forms
 Common descent

References

Biology
Earth sciences
Evolutionary biology
Molecular biology
Prokaryotes

Origin of life


The Gelug or Gelug-pa, is a school of Tibetan Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader. The first monastery he established was at Ganden, and to this day the Ganden Tripa is the nominal head of the school, though its most famous person is the Dalai Lama. There are others Gelug Masters, like Trijang Rinpoche and Ling Rinpoche.

Tsongkhapa was a big promoter of the Kadampa (Bka'-gdams-pa) teachings and the mahāyāna principle of universal compassion as the fundamental spiritual orientation. He combined this with a strong emphasis on the cultivation of in-depth insight into the doctrine of emptiness as taught by the Indian masters Nāgārjuna (2nd century) and Candrakīrti (7th century). Tsongkhapa said that these two aspects of the spiritual path, compassion and insight into wisdom, must be rooted in a big wish for liberation driven by a genuine sense of renunciation. He called these the "Three Principal Aspects of the Path", and said that it is on the basis of these three that one must embark on the profound path of vajrayāna Buddhism.

The central teachings of the Gelug School are the Stages of the Path (lamrim), based on the teachings of the Indian master Atiśa (c. 11th century) and the systematic cultivation of the view of emptiness. This is combined with the yogas of highest yoga tantra deities such as Guhyasamāja, Cakrasaṃvara, Yamāntaka and Kālacakra, where the key focus is the direct experience of the union of bliss and emptiness.

Tibetan Buddhism

Gelug


Thomas Prince (May 15, 1687 – August 22, 1758) was a New England clergyman, scholar and historian noted for his historical text A Chronological History of New England, in the Form of Annals. Called 'an American pioneer in scientific historical writing', Prince influenced historians such as Jeremy Belknap and Thomas Hutchinson, and his Annals was still being used as a reference text as late as 1791.

Early life, education and travels
He was the fourth child of Samuel Prince Esq. and Mercy Hinkley, and entered Harvard University in 1703, graduating with a B.A. in 1707. While at Harvard his interest in books was sparked after he  After graduation he began teaching in Sandwich, MA while working on his M.A, which was granted in absentia in 1710 a year after he had begun travelling. He spent 2 years travelling to places such as the West Indies and Madeira before travelling to England in 1711 and preaching in Combs, Suffolk. While in England, he gathered texts on the subject of early American history, hoping to write a book on the topic, but looking after the church and local citizens did not leave him enough time to do so. He returned to Boston in 1717, homesick, and traveled with Deborah and her brother Samuel Denny, members of the congregation at Combs. He married Deborah on October 30, 1719; they had four daughters and a son. He was ordained as a minister on October 1, 1718 by Dr. Joseph Sewell, and became the pastor for Old South Church, a position he retained until his death.

A Chronological History of New England, in the Form of Annals
In 1728 Prince began work on a A Chronological History of New England, in the Form of Annals, a history of New England beginning with the 6th day of creation. He became interested in such a project after, during his travels, he found 'the want of a regular history of this country everywhere complained of' and in an effort to preserve the contents of various texts, some of which by then had already been destroyed. This was such a momentous project that it took him until 1736 to finish the first volume, which covered events up to September 7, 1730 and had to be cut short after the publisher informed him that the book was becoming too large to be effectively published. The volume had poor sales, which is attributed to the lack of need for a text of such detail at that time and the lack of interest in a text 'written for a higher purpose than to amuse its reader'. Despite the lack of interest in the text Prince continued to work as a second volume, releasing it in three parts going up to 1733, each costing sixpence. Due to lack of further interest in the text this format was discontinued. Prince's work is noted for its accuracy, with Prince saying that "I cite my vouchers to every passage, and I have done my utmost, first to find out the truth, and then to relate it in the clearest order. I have laboured after accuracy; and yet I dare not say that I am without mistake; nor do I desire the reader to conceal any he may possibly find."

As a clergyman

Prince, a noted preacher presented a sermon at his own ordination which was said to be "a wonderful production." He was given several offers from various churches in New England upon his return, but chose to settle in Boston as pastor of Old South Church. In the 1740s he was a great supporter of the First Great Awakening, inviting George Whitefield to preach in Boston in September 1740. In an age of increasing religious skepticism, Prince attempted to reconcile scientific theories with orthodox theology, evident in writings such as Earthquakes the Works of God, & Tokens of His Just Displeasure and An Account of a Strange Appearance in the Heavens, a description of the Aurora Borealis he witnessed while in England.

He created the Christian History, a periodical in 1743 to report on the revivals sweeping Europe and the American colonies, with his son Thomas Prince Jr. acting as editor, although the periodical only ran for two years. Printed by Samuel Kneeland, the publication is notable as the first such Christian periodical to be created. In 1743 he wrote An Account of the Revival of Religion in Boston in the Years 1740-1-2-3, an account of the revival of Christianity in Boston linked in part to his support of the Great Awakening. Prince's primary critic was Thomas Fleet a printer and newspaper publisher who emerged on the scene as Prince's nemesis during the public debates over religious revivalism.

Legacy

As well as the obvious collection of books, Thomas Prince also left an intellectual legacy. Dr. Charles Chauncy, a frequent ideological opponent of Prince, said after his death that "He possessed all the intellectual powers in a degree far beyond what is common. He may be justly characterized as one of our great men ... [and] deserves to be remembered with honour." His reliance on primary sources and meticulous checks of factual accuracy also makes his Annals a key historical work, one which is still in print today.

The town of Princeton, Massachusetts was named after Prince due to his high standing within the local community and his ownership of part of the land used to form the town, which was given to him in 1727 as part of the will of Cyprian Stevens; the Thomas Prince School, a school within the town, is also named after him. A printing company named after him (the Prince Association) was also formed in 1858.

The Thomas Prince Collection, belonging to Old South Church and deposited at the Boston Public Library includes, in addition to Thomas Prince's personal library, a copy of the 1640 Bay Psalm Book as well as John Eliot's Indian Bible of 1663), and a collection of Prince's personal correspondence.

The Prince Society (est.1858), described in "The Cambridge History of English and American Literature" as "one of the most honoured of American historical organizations" is also named after him.

Works

The Massachuset Psalter - 1709 with Experience Mayhew
An Account of a Strange Appearance in the Heavens - 1717
Account of the English Ministers at Martha's Vineyard - 1727
Earthquakes the Works of God, & Tokens of His Just Displeasure - 1727
A Sermon on the Death of Cotton Mather - 1728
Memoirs" - 1731
The Vade Mecum for America: or, A Companion for Trades and Travellers (travel guide) - 1731
Chronological History of New England, in the Form of Annals.  Boston: Printed by Kneeland & Green for Samuel Gerrish, 1736
A Thanksgiving Sermon occasioned by the Capture of Louisburg - 1745
Earthquakes of New England - 1751
The New England Psalm-Book, Revised and Improved - 1758

See also
 Old South Meeting House

References

Further reading
 Catalogue of the collection of books and manuscripts which formerly belonged to the Rev. Thomas Prince, and was by him bequeathed to the Old South Church, and is now deposited in the Public Library of the City of Boston. 1870

External links

 http://www.americanantiquarian.org/Inventories/Portraits/97.htm
 Prince's library now resides in the Boston Public Library

Massachusetts colonial-era clergy
American Calvinist and Reformed ministers
Christian revivalists
1687 births
1758 deaths
Libraries in British North America
Harvard University alumni
Princeton, Massachusetts
18th century in Boston
18th-century Christian clergy
People from Sandwich, Massachusetts

Thomas Prince (historian)


StarCraft: Ghost was a military science fiction stealth-action video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. It was intended to be part of Blizzard's StarCraft series and was announced in September 20, 2002. It was to be developed by Nihilistic Software for the GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 video game consoles. Several delays in development caused Blizzard to move back the release date and the game has not materialized. Nihilistic Software ceded development to Swingin' Ape Studios in 2004 before Blizzard bought the company, and plans for the GameCube version were canceled in 2005.

Blizzard announced in March 2006 that the game was put on "indefinite hold" while the company investigated seventh generation video game console possibilities. Subsequent public statements from company personnel had been contradictory about whether production was to be renewed or planned story elements worked into other products. The continued delay of Ghost caused it to be labeled vaporware, and it was ranked fifth in Wired News annual Vaporware Awards in 2005. In 2014, Blizzard president Mike Morhaime confirmed that Ghost had been canceled.

Unlike its real-time strategy predecessor StarCraft, Ghost was to be a third-person shooter, and intended to give players a closer and more personal view of the StarCraft universe. Following Nova, a Terran psychic espionage operative called a "ghost", the game would have been set four years after the conclusion of StarCraft: Brood War and cover a conspiracy about a secretive military project conducted by Nova's superiors in the imperial Terran Dominion. Very little of the game's storyline has been released; however, in November 2006 after the game's postponement, a novel was published called StarCraft Ghost: Nova, which covers the backstory of the central character.

Gameplay

Campaign

During StarCraft: Ghosts gameplay, the player's character Nova used stealth and darkness to reach objectives and remain undetected. Nova had a cloaking device that allowed for temporary concealment, but certain hostile non-player characters could overcome this with special devices and abilities. Nova was also equipped with thermal imaging goggles and a special EMP device for disabling electronic devices and vehicles. In addition to the focus on stealth elements, StarCraft: Ghost included a complex combat system. Blizzard planned to include a small arsenal of weaponry with assault and sniper rifles, grenades, shotguns, and flamethrowers. Nova could engage in hand-to-hand combat and used these skills to eliminate enemy threats quietly. If alerted, enemy characters would hunt for the player, set up traps, and fire blindly to nullify Nova's cloaking device.

Nova was agile, acrobatic, and able to perform maneuvers such as mantling and climbing ledges, hanging from pipes, and sliding down ziplines. The player had access to Nova's psionic powers honed through training as a ghost agent, such as the ability to improve her speed and reflexes drastically. StarCraft: Ghost included many of the vehicle units featured in StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War. Some vehicles, such as space battlecruisers and starfighters, only played support roles, while others, such as hoverbikes, scout cars, and futuristic siege tanks, could be piloted.

Multiplayer
The multiplayer mode in StarCraft: Ghost differed from the stealth-based mechanics of the single-player portion. It aimed to give players a personal view of the battles from the real-time strategy games of the series. Accordingly, Ghosts multiplayer was structured around class-based team gameplay and fighting in a variety of game modes. Ghost incorporated traditional game modes from multiplayer video games such as deathmatch, capture the flag, and king of the hill, but also introduced two game modes specifically designed for the StarCraft universe. The first was "Mobile Conflict", which required two teams to fight for control of a single Terran military factory with the ability of atmospheric flight. Using vehicles and team tactics, both teams were required to first board the structure and then capture its control room to fly it to the team's starting point. The structure was then landed and had to be defended from capture by the opposing team for a set amount of time.

The second mode was "Invasion", in which two teams fought for control of mineral resource nodes. Whenever teams captured a node they gained points that could be used to purchase classes and vehicles. In all of the team-based game modes, teams had access to four Terran unit classes: light infantry, marine, firebat, and ghost. The light infantry class had minimal armor but a larger range of weapons, while the marine was a heavily armored soldier with an assault rifle and grenades. The firebat was a heavy marine armed with a flamethrower and napalm rockets. Finally, the ghost was a variation of Nova's character in the single-player mode, equipped with a cloaking device, thermal vision, EMP device, and sniper rifle, but lacked the speed ability. Due to the size of the armor worn by marines and firebats, only ghosts and light infantry could pilot vehicles.

Plot
Ghost took place in the fictional universe of the StarCraft series. The series is set in a distant part of the galaxy called the Koprulu Sector and begins in the year 2499. Terran exiles from Earth are governed by a totalitarian empire, the Terran Dominion, that is opposed by several smaller rebel groups. Two alien races discover humanity: the insectoid Zerg, who begin to invade planets controlled by the Terrans; and the Protoss, an enigmatic race with strong psionic power that attempt to eradicate the Zerg. Ghost took place four years after the conclusion of StarCraft: Brood War, in which the Zerg become the dominant power in the sector and leave both the Protoss and the Dominion in ruins. The game followed the story of Nova, a young ghost agent—a human espionage operative with psychic abilities—in the employ of the Dominion.

Although the game was canceled, the backstory for Nova was released in the novel StarCraft Ghost: Nova by Keith R. A. DeCandido. It was meant to accompany the game's release, but was published in 2006 after development halted. In the novel, Nova is a fifteen-year-old girl and daughter to one of the ruling families of the Confederacy of Man, an oppressive government featured in StarCraft. The Confederacy is overthrown by rebels, who go on to form the Dominion. Nova has significant psionic potential, but has been kept out of the Confederate ghost operative training program because of her father's influence. After her family is murdered by rebels, Nova loses control of her mental abilities and accidentally kills 300 people around her home. She flees from her home before she is caught, and is later forced to work for an organized crime boss as an enforcer and executioner. She is rescued by a Confederate agent who is investigating her disappearance during a rebel attack on the Confederate capital that leads to the Confederacy's destruction. Nova is consequently acquired by the newly formed Terran Dominion, who erase her memory and train her as a ghost agent.

Few details have been revealed about Ghosts plot beyond Nova's backstory. Under emperor Arcturus Mengsk, the Terran Dominion has rebuilt much of its former strength and controls a new military formed to counter the Zerg. To further bolster the effectiveness of his military, Mengsk initiates a secret research operation codenamed Project: Shadow Blade and places it under the command of his right-hand man, General Horace Warfield. In the program, an experimental and potentially lethal gas called terrazine is used to enhance the genetic structure of the Dominion's psychic ghost agents. The process is described as changing the agents into "shadowy superhuman beings bent on executing the will of their true master". It is into the midst of this that Nova finishes her training and is dispatched in operations against the Koprulu Liberation Front, a rebel group that challenges Mengsk's empire. However, Nova's mission leads her to uncover a conspiracy that involves Shadow Blade. This revelation causes her to question her loyalty to the Dominion and could upset the balance of power within the galaxy.

Development and cancellation
On September 20, 2002, Blizzard Entertainment announced the development of StarCraft: Ghost in conjunction with fellow video game company Nihilistic Software. Nihilistic aimed to release the game for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube video game consoles in late 2003, which elicited positive reactions from the press. The game was consistently delayed, and during the third quarter of 2004, Nihilistic discontinued their work on the project. Blizzard stated that Nihilistic had completed the tasks it had been contracted for, and the game would be delivered on time.

In July 2004, Blizzard Entertainment began collaboration with Swingin' Ape Studios to work on the game, and bought the company in May 2005. Despite anticipation for the game by industry journalists, Ghost was delayed again and its release date was pushed back to September 2005. At Electronic Entertainment Expo 2005, Ghost was officially reannounced, but the GameCube version was canceled by Swingin' Ape Studios due to the platform's lack of online support. The game's release on the remaining two platforms was again delayed until 2006. Despite the efforts of Swingin' Ape, Ghost failed to materialize as scheduled, and in March 2006 Blizzard Entertainment announced an indefinite postponement on development of Ghost while the company explored new options with the emerging seventh generation of video game consoles. Despite its long development history, IGN noted that the concept of Ghost still held promise. Although the game's development was suspended, Keith R. A. DeCandido's novel StarCraft Ghost: Nova was published several months later in November 2006.

Complementing Nihilistic's and Swingin' Ape Studio's work on the game, Blizzard's cinematics team—originally formed to develop StarCrafts cut scenes—created the cut scenes for Ghosts single-player campaign, which are integral to the game's storyline. The team, which originally consisted of six people, grew to 25, and used newer hardware, software, and cinematics techniques to create higher quality cut scenes than those featured in StarCraft and Brood War. The game's trailer, composed of the cinematics team's work, was released in August 2005.

Since Ghosts production halted, Blizzard Entertainment has sporadically released information about the title. The game's protagonist, Nova, shows up in one campaign mission of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, in which players are given the option to side with her or fight against her forces. She also features in StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, as well her own campaign in StarCraft II: Nova Covert Ops. Metzen further stated that he believed Ghost had an excellent storyline that may be told in future novels following from DeCandido's Nova. In June 2007, Rob Pardo, one of the lead developers at Blizzard Entertainment, indicated that there still was interest in finishing Ghost. Later in an interview, Pardo stated that Blizzard had been "stubborn" in persevering with Ghost, but they "were not able to execute [the game] at the level we wanted to". Blizzard's president Mike Morhaime and Pardo gave a presentation on the company's history at the D.I.C.E. Summit in February 2008. During the presentation, they listed games canceled by Blizzard, which did not include Ghost. When questioned about this, Blizzard's co-founder Frank Pearce explained that the title was never "technically canceled" and that it was not in the company's focus at the time due to a finite amount of development resources. Morhaime later elaborated that it was the sudden success of World of Warcraft and the concurrent development of StarCraft II that consumed Blizzard's resources, leading to Ghost being put on hold. Despite Blizzard's announcements, many of the video games industry's journalists now list Ghost as canceled and consider it vaporware; the game was ranked fifth in the 2005 edition of Wired News annual Vaporware Awards.

On September 23, 2014 in an interview with Polygon about the cancellation of Blizzard's next generation MMO Titan, Mike Morhaime confirmed that StarCraft: Ghost was also cancelled. Morhaime said, "It was hard when we canceled Warcraft Adventures. It was hard when we canceled StarCraft: Ghost, but it has always resulted in better-quality work." In a July 2016 Polygon article, it was suggested that when the game's production halted the main reasons it was shelved were because the game worked on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, but it was scheduled to be released in 2005 when the Xbox 360 was about to be released, and it would take a lot of resources to move from the previous console generation to the current generation as well as Blizzard having a lot of success with its then recently released PC-only game World of Warcraft.

Leak
In January 2020, videos appearing to be from the Xbox version of the cancelled game started appearing online. On February 16, 2020, numerous videos showing different missions, areas, and gameplay were uploaded to the web. Reports of the Xbox development version game files leaking to the public started to emerge. Journalists at gaming publications such as Kotaku verified the legitimacy of the code that began to disseminate online. Throughout the day, infringement notices were issued to channels hosting footage of the game on YouTube, resulting in many videos being removed. Eventually the files widely disseminated online through filesharing methods such as public torrent trackers. This was the second time a playable, albeit unfinished and rough, version of a cancelled Blizzard game has leaked online, with Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans being leaked online in September 2016.

References

See also

Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans, another cancelled Blizzard project

Action games
Cancelled GameCube games
Cancelled PlayStation 2 games
Cancelled Xbox games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Spy video games
StarCraft games
Stealth video games
Third-person shooters
Vaporware video games
Video games scored by Kevin Manthei
Video games about psychic powers
Video games developed in the United States
Video games featuring female protagonists

StarCraft: Ghost


Linda Andersen was murdered by her two teenage daughters, Sandra and Elizabeth Andersen, on January 18, 2003 in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The names in this article are aliases, for legal reasons.

Sandra and Elizabeth Andersen were each sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2005. Neither sister served their full-time prison sentence: Sandra Andersen was released to a halfway house in 2009 and Elizabeth Andersen was released in 2010. Since they were under-aged at the time of the murder, the Canadian government is protecting the sisters' true identities and has issued the Andersen sisters with aliases. Linda Andersen's murder case was broadcast on the television series Deadly Women in 2010, and was the subject of Bob Mitchell's book 'The Class Project: How to Kill a Mother: The True Story of Canada's Infamous Bathtub Girls'. In 2014, a crime drama, Perfect Sisters, was released, which was additionally based on the murder of Linda Andersen.

According to police reports, Sandra and Elizabeth Andersen, aged 16 and 15 respectively, had become irritated of their mother "wasting. money on alcohol". Linda also had abusive relationships with men which also caused unrest for the girls. They were also unhappy that their friends had "better things like swimming pools and clothes". Because of their discontent, the sisters began to search on the Internet for ways to kill their mother. Elizabeth and Sandra Andersen believed that by killing their mother, they would be entitled to insurance money. This compensation, the sisters resolved, would be spent on a trip to Europe with their friends as well as a large house, with a backyard filled with marijuana. The sisters decided to drown Linda Andersen, because they believed it would be "fast and spectacular".

After formulating a murder plan, Elizabeth and Sandra Andersen informed their friends, who both encouraged the sisters and laughed at the idea of murdering Linda Andersen.

Murder
During lunch time on January 18 2003, Sandra and Elizabeth began giving their mother liquor in order to get her drunk. Their plan was to make Linda fully inebriated so that she could not resist their attack.  Linda was also given pain killers by her daughters, to slow down her heartbeat. Sandra and Elizabeth then waited for the drugs to work. While waiting, the sisters communicated with their friends online, one of whom ended their conversation with the phrase "well good luck - wear gloves".

Sandra and Elizabeth Andersen filled the family bathtub with water and took Linda Andersen to the bathroom. Linda had difficulty getting into the bathtub, because of the mixture of vodka and pills she had been given. After putting gloves on, Sandra and Elizabeth gave their mother a massage. Within minutes, according to police reports, Sandra Andersen instructed her mother to lay on her stomach so that she could scrub her back. Sandra Andersen instantly pulled her mother's head down and did not let go. After four minutes, Sandra Andersen released her mother's head and found Linda Andersen to be dead. After having killed their mother, Sandra and Elizabeth Andersen went with their friends to a nearby restaurant where they celebrated their victory. Later that night, Sandra and Elizabeth Andersen called 9-1-1 and informed them that they had found their mother laying in the bathtub.

The 9-1-1 operator told Sandra and Elizabeth Andersen to take their mother out of the bathtub and to perform CPR. The Andersen sisters cried over the phone, telling the operator that Linda Andersen could not be resuscitated. When police arrived, they believed Sandra and Elizabeth Andersen's story.

Arrest
A year after the murder, Sandra and Elizabeth Andersen held a party. Sandra, who was drunk, told a male at the party about the murder of Linda Andersen that both she and Elizabeth had committed. She then told a guy that liked her that her mothers death might have not been an accident. He felt suspicious which  later led him to the police to report what he was told. Sandra and Elizabeth Andersen were subsequently arrested, tried and sentenced to 10 years in prison. They were released in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

Life after
The older sister, Sandra Andersen, was released to a halfway house in 2009, whilst the younger sister, Elizabeth Andersen, was released a year later. The girls' father unsuccessfully attempted to have Elizabeth Andersen released earlier so that she could complete her sentence under house arrest in their hometown. Since both Sandra and Elizabeth Andersen were under the age of 18 at the time of the murder, their identities have been protected under Canadian law. After release, Sandra Andersen was accepted to the University of Waterloo with a $2000 scholarship; Elizabeth Andersen traveled to Ottawa with the intention of applying to university.

References

Other websites
How To Kill A Mother review
May 3, 2008 story on The Star
Perfect Sisters the movie based on the murder

2003 crimes
2003 deaths
2003 in Canada
Deaths by drowning
Murder in Canada
Murder in the 2000s
People from Mississauga
People murdered in North America

Murder of Linda Andersen


Brown v. Louisiana, 383 U.S. 131 (1966), was a United States Supreme Court case based on the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. It held that protesters have a First and Fourteenth Amendment right to engage in a peaceful sit-in at a public library. Justice Fortas wrote the plurality opinion and was joined by Justice Douglas and Justice Warren. Justices Brennan and Byron White concurred. Justices Black, Clark, Harlan and Stewart dissented.

Background
In order to protest their denial of their right to equal treatment guaranteed by the Constitution, five African-Americans entered the Audubon Regional Library. Audubon Regional Library is a public library in Clinton, Louisiana. There was no one else in the library room except the library assistant. One of the African-Americans (Brown) requested a book, and upon checking, the library assistant informed Brown that they did not have the book, and that she would request it from the State Library. (The book was later mailed to him with instructions for its return). The library assistant then asked them to leave, but instead for the purpose of maintaining their silent protest against the library's policy of segregation, Brown sat down and the others stood around him. There was no noise or boisterous talking. 10 to 15 minutes after they had entered the library, the sheriff and deputies arrived, and they were arrested. They were charged under the Louisiana breach of the peace statute, which makes it a crime to "with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, or under circumstances such that a breach of the peace may be occasioned thereby" or to crowd in a public place and refuse to disperse.

Justice Fortas and Justice Black each included a summary of the events in their opinions. Justice Fortas' summary for the majority is more concise than Justice Black's in his dissent.

Decision
Justice Abe Fortas wrote the plurality opinion, joined by Chief Justice Warren, and Justice Douglas, with Justices Brennan and White writing concurring opinions. Fortas concluded that there was no evidence to support the use of the breach of the peace statute, and that the protest was considerably less disruptive than earlier situations that the Court had invalidated convictions—including Cox v. Louisiana.

Dissent
Justice Black, in his dissent, finds nothing preventing Louisiana from banning sit-in demonstrations, and criticises the majority opinion for acting as if Louisiana had intended to deny access to the libraries based upon race. Black also noted that when Brown asked for a book, he was served. Thus showing that he was not denied access or service, and discussed that there was no racial discrimination on the part of the library.

See also
List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 383
Cox v. Louisiana
Adderley v. Florida
Edwards v. South Carolina

External links

Freedom of assembly
United States Supreme Court cases
United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court
United States Free Speech Clause case law
1966 in United States case law

Brown v. Louisiana


The Geely BL is a coupe automobile frae Cheenese manufacturer, Geely Automobile. The "BL" name stands for "Beauty Leopard". The caur wis designed wi help frae Daewoo an wis introduced tae production in Januar 2003. It is best kent ootside Cheenae for being the first vehicle wi an in-caur karaoke machine.

The Geely BL is considered a sports caur in Cheenae.  It haes a top speed o 180 km/h (approx 111 mph).

Its 1.3 L ingine is a Toyota design, produced bi Xiali.

Ane noticeable trait o the Geely BL is that its taillichts closely resemble that o a European-spec Toyota Supra.

External links
Offeecial wabsite o the BL

BL

Geely BL


Sir Arthur Mielziner Myers (19 May 1868 – 9 October 1926) was a New Zealand politician. He was Mayor of Auckland City from 1905 to 1909, Member of the House of Representatives from 1910 to 1921, and a Cabinet Minister. Today he is remembered mainly for the public works constructed in Auckland during his term as Mayor, and partly from his donations, including Grafton Bridge and Myers Park.

Early life
Myers was born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, the child of Louis Myers and Catherine Ehrenfried. Following the death of his father in 1870, his mother moved to Wellington, New Zealand. Myers went to Wellington College from 1880 to 1883. His main sporting interests were rowing and swimming. The family moved to Auckland in 1886, where his uncle, Louis Ehrenfried had moved the family brewing business from Thames. Later, in 1897, the successful brewery was combined with that of Logan Campbell to form Campbell and Ehrenfried. An able administrator and already something of a financial wizard at the age of 30, Myers became Managing Director of the merged company following the death of his uncle in 1897.

In 1903 Myers journeyed to London to marry Vera Anita Levy who he had met two years before. She was the daughter of Benjamin Levy, one of the owners of a large British business empire with interests in Australia. Married in London, they returned to New Zealand, where his wife became a well-known hostess and patron of the local cultural scene. It was she who encouraged Myers to eventually run for public office.

Public life

Myers ran for and succeeded in becoming Mayor of Auckland City for the term 1905 to 1909. He improved the finances of the city administration, improved services such as the water supply and drainage. The construction of the new Auckland Town Hall was largely due to his efforts, as was the new Grafton Bridge across Grafton Gully. Myers Park, located between Karangahape Road and Mayoral Drive, is named after him, as in 1913 he donated £10,000 to develop the previously overgrown gully into a child-friendly park and to build the adjacent 'Myers Free Kindergarten' (still operating in the same heritage building). One of his few major failures was an unsuccessful attempt to reduce the plethora of local Councils then governing the Auckland isthmus. Nevertheless, he had become known as a popular and effective politician.

Active in the volunteer defence movement, he served as major in the 1st Battalion Auckland Infantry Volunteers and as commanding officer, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, of the New Zealand Forces Motor Service Corps.

Myers donated the Myers cup to the new Auckland Rugby League in 1910. It was contested as the top prize in the inaugural 1910 season and again in 1911. In 1914 Myers was elected the Auckland Rugby League president and he served in this role until his death in 1926.

After a break from politics for a world tour, he entered Parliament for the seat of Auckland East in the , replacing his cousin Frederick Baume and won comfortably. He held his seat until 3 October 1921 when he resigned between general elections, resulting in the . He was an Independent initially, and from 1911 he stood for the Liberal Party.

In the short-lived Mackenzie Ministry of 28 March to 10 July 1912 he held three important portfolios; Finance, Defence, Railways, also the Tax Department. From 12 August 1915 to 25 August 1919 he served as Minister of Customs and Minister in charge of Munitions and Supplies, Pensions, Advertising and National Provident Fund during the wartime National (coalition) Ministry, where the gained much acclaim for his efficiency and impartiality. In the 1924 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Knight Bachelor, in recognition of his public services.

Deciding to leave politics—as he had no wish for a long period of opposition for his party—he left politics in 1921, and also left New Zealand, as he had promised his wife at the time of their wedding that they would eventually return to London where she had grown up. The departure was seen a great loss by many locals. Active for the National Bank of New Zealand, he otherwise led a semi-retired life and took up golf. He died in London in 1926 to the effects of a series of heart attacks. He was survived by his children and his wife Vera. His son, Ken Myers, took over the company. A grandson, Douglas Myers, became CEO of Campbell and Ehrenfried in 1965 and later created Lion Nathan.

References

|-

1868 births
1926 deaths
Jewish mayors
New Zealand Knights Bachelor
People educated at Wellington College (New Zealand)
Mayors of Auckland
Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
New Zealand defence ministers
New Zealand finance ministers
Jewish New Zealand politicians
New Zealand Liberal Party MPs
Australian emigrants to New Zealand
Australian Jews
New Zealand rugby league administrators
Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates
People from Ballarat

Arthur Myers


Kamaishi is a city in Iwate Prefecture. 32,609 people live there as of March 2020. It is a historic city because of its part in World War II where it was the first naval bombardment by the U.S. Navy. The city was completely detroyed on June 15, 1896 when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the coast of Iwate. The city was again destroyed in 2011 by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

Other websites
 Kamaichi's Official city website (Japanese)

Cities in Iwate Prefecture

Kamaishi, Iwate


The 1965 Yerevan Demonstrations were a 24-hour mass protest in Yerevan, Armenian SSR on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. It is said that this event constitutes the first step in the struggle for the recognition of the 1915 genocide.

On April 24, 1965, for the first time for any such demonstration in the entire Soviet Union, one million protesters held a 24-hour demonstration in front of the Opera House, and demanded that the Soviet Union government officially recognize the Armenian Genocide committed by the Young Turks in the Ottoman Empire, and build a memorial in Armenia's capital city of Yerevan to perpetuate the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Many committed intellectuals, such as Silva Kaputikyan, had made impassioned pleas to the authorities in Moscow. The memorial, on Tsitsernakaberd hill, was completed in 1967.

Following the example of this high-profile demonstration, similar protests were made throughout the world, in whichever country the Armenian Diaspora exists. Since the day of the protests, Armenians to this day visit the memorial and make protests around the world to gain acceptance of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey.

Related pages
Armenian Genocide

References

Other websites
Armenian Genocide time line
24th of April in Armenia

20th century in Armenia
Armenian Genocide
Yerevan

1965 Yerevan demonstrations


Lucien Rivard (June 16, 1914 – February 3, 2002) was a Quebec criminal known for a sensational prison escape in 1965.

Background
Rivard had been engaged in robbery and smuggling drugs since the 1940s. He has been described as a "petty crook" in his early years, but in the 1950s he moved to Cuba and operated a casino, and became involved in the heroin business. In 1958 he moved back to Laval, Quebec, and operated the business "Domaine Idéal" to continue dealing drugs and weapons.

In 1965, Rivard was in a Montreal prison, but used a water hose to climb a wall and escape. He was missing for four months before being caught and extradited to the United States. During his absence, he wrote letters to various people, telling the Prime Minister of Canada Lester B. Pearson "Life is short, you know. I don't intend to be in jail for the rest of my life."

Aftermath
Allegations of bribery regarding the government of Canada during Rivard's escape provoked an investigation, and Attorney General Guy Favreau left office as a consequence. Favreau had been gaining prestige at the time, and when he left, Prime Minister Pearson sought out new Quebec MPs to replace him, namely Jean Marchand, Pierre Trudeau and Gérard Pelletier. Trudeau became Prime Minister in 1968.

The escape inspired the song "The Gallic Pimpernel." In addition, the Canadian Press voted Rivard the Canadian Newsmaker of the Year for 1965 - the first time a convicted criminal had been given that title. In 2006, it was announced that the Quebec government would help sponsor the film The American Trap (Le piège américain), to be directed by Charles Binamé with Rémy Girard to play Lucien Rivard.

The escape also inspired the song "A Government Inquiry" by The Brothers-in-Law in their album Oh, Oh Canada (Arc A636), and comedian Rich Little to parody Prime Minister Lester Pearson singing "Old Man Rivard".

References

1914 births
2002 deaths
20th-century Canadian criminals
Canadian escapees
Canadian drug traffickers
Canadian male criminals
Criminals from Quebec
Escapees from Canadian detention
Fugitives wanted by Canada
People extradited from Canada to the United States
People from Laval, Quebec
French Quebecers

Lucien Rivard


Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg (En: Tannhäuser and the Singers' Contest at Wartburg) is a three-act opera with words and music by Richard Wagner. It was Wagner's fifth opera. He worked on it between 1842 and 1845. It was first performed at the Dresden Royal Opera on 19 October 1845 with Wagner conducting. The opera was a success. It became hugely popular in Germany.

In 1859, Tannhäuser was the first Wagner opera to be performed in the United States of America. By 1861, the opera had been performed many times in Germany when Wagner was asked to revise the work for the Paris Opéra. Despite his best efforts, Wagner failed. He was not popular. Anti-Wagner riots broke out. He withdrew the work. It was not staged again in France until 1895. Meanwhile, the opera opened the second season of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in November 1884.

Background

Wagner was in Paris completing The Flying Dutchman when he began thinking about writing another opera. A friend suggested Tannhäuser as a subject. Wagner did not like the tale. Back in Germany however, he gathered materials by Tieck, Heine, and others about Tannhäuser. Vacationing in Bohemia, he had a change of heart. He began preparing an outline for Tannhäuser. Returning home to Dresden, he immersed himself in the tale. He completed the opera in October 1845. He conducted the first performance that month at the Royal Opera House.

His Venus said, "You are a genius, but you write such eccentric stuff that it is impossible to sing." His Tannhäuser was completely baffled. The audience was puzzled. The reception was lukewarm. Wagner began revisions at once. The second performance played to a near empty house. In 1859, Wagner offered Tannhäuser to the Paris Opéra. They wanted it sung in French. They also wanted  a ballet in the second act. This so the Jockey Club had time to finish dinner and arrive at the Opéra just in time to ogle the dancers. Wagner refused to move the ballet from the first act to the second act. There were complaints. Jockey Club members interrupted the performance whenever possible. It was a disaster.

The opera disappeared from the French stage for 34 years. A few years after the Jockey Club incident, Wagner began revising the Paris version. He produced a sophisticated sound version that was superior to the first draft. Though there are several set pieces in the opera, the opera is closer to Wagner's vision of complete independence from such set pieces. Tannhäuser is on the threshold of the leitmotif, and the diminishing of the sound power of the orchestra in favor of the sung word.

Sources
Wagner's sources for the opera are spread over 600 year time span. In 1391, and again at the beginning of the 15th century, tales were in circulation about a paradise within a German mountain and a traveler who idles with a Sybil before heading to Rome for the Pope's forgiveness. The "Song of Tannhäuser" of 1515 combines moralizing with the adventures of an historical Minnesinger named Danhuser,  Tanhuser, or Tannenhauser. This Minnesinger's songs told of erotic love and its opposite, holy love.

Wagner was an insatiable reader, always on the alert for material that could be adapted to an opera. For Tannhäuser, he combined elements not only from traditional tales but material from C. J. L. Lukas's Essay (1838) on the character of Tannhäuser and Ludwig Tieck's Faithful Eckart (1799). Ludwig Bechstein's Thuringian Legends (1835) included the story of the song contest. Wagner was familiar with the song contest through E. T. A. Hoffmann's Serapion Brothers, Friedrich de la Motte-Fouque's drama The Singers Dispute in the Wartburg (1828), and Wagensil's Nuremberg Chronicle.''

Roles

 Tannhäuser, a knight and Minnesinger - tenor
 Venus - soprano
 Elisabeth, niece of the Landgrave - soprano
 Hermann, Landgrave of Thuringia - bass
 Wolfram von Eschenbach, a knight and Minnesinger - baritone
 Walther von der Vogelweide, a knight and Minnesinger - tenor
 Biterolf, a knight and Minnesinger - bass
 Heinrich der Schreiber, a knight and Minnesinger - tenor
 Reinmar von Zweter, a knight and Minnesinger - bass
 Young shepherd - soprano
 Four noble pages - trebles

Story of the opera

The story is about the struggle between sacred love and profane love, and redemption (salvation) through love.  The story is based on the historical character of Tannhäuser, about whom very little is known except the myths about him.  It is also about the myth of Venus, but it also deals with the medieval Minnesinger (minstrel). Half of the opera takes place in a historical setting, and half takes place in the mythological Venusberg.

Act 1. With the coming of Christianity, the old gods and goddesses of the ancient world were dispersed. Venus has been living in the Venusberg in Germany. Tannhäuser, a minstrel, has been passing his time with her. He has grown tired of his indulgent and jaded life. He longs to return to the world above. Venus releases him but predicts that he will someday return to her. The minstrel finds himself in the valley of the Wartburg, the home of his former love Elisabeth. He is discovered in prayer by the Landgrave and his knights. They welcome him. He returns to the castle with them.
Act 2. Elisabeth joyfully enters the castle's Hall of Song. She is thrilled Tannhäuser has returned. She renews her vows of love with him. Wolfram, Tannhäuser's friend, looks on sorrowfully. He loves Elisabeth, too. The Landgrave announces a song contest. Guests fill the Hall. The singers are to sing about the true nature of love. While the others sing of chaste and pure love, Tannhäuser sings of profane love. The guests are shocked. Elisabeth defends Tannhäuser. The Landgrave orders Tannhäuser to go to Rome and beg forgiveness of the Pope. The minstrel joins a band of pilgrims and leaves.
Act 3. Months have passed. Tannhäuser has not returned with the pilgrims. Elisabeth is heartbroken. Wolfram sings to the evening star. Wolfram finds Tannhäuser on a path to the castle. The Pope has not forgiven him because of his time with Venus. Tannhäuser despairs. Venus appears in a vision, ordering Tannhäuser to return to his old life. Wolfram whispers the name of Elisabeth. The vision disappears. A procession appears bearing the dead Elisabeth. Tannhäuser throws himself over her corpse and dies. Pilgrims appear announcing a miracle. The Pope's wooden staff has burst into bloom. Tannhäuser has been forgiven.

Criticism

The critics took Wagner to task for his historical inaccuracies. First, the real Tannhauser was only a boy at the supposed time of the song contest. Secondly, they regarded Wagner's Elisabeth with scorn: Wagner had made the character an amalgamation of several historical women.

Production
Cuts to the original were made almost immediately because the singers were not capable of understanding and thus acting their roles. The Prelude to Act 3 was cut from 155 bars to 92. In the original final scene, neither Elisabeth or Venus appeared on stage. The audience was puzzled.

The original final scene was retained until the 13th performance in 1847. Wagner then recast the final pages to make Venus visible on stage. The Venusberg did not appear however. This new ending disturbed the audience because they were used to the older version. Wagner had also cut the pilgrim's chorus, further antagonizing the audience. Another version was made restoring the chorus.

Early productions

The first performance outside Dresden occurred at Weimar. This production showed that small theaters could also stage the opera. Other productions took place in Schwerin, Breslau, Prague, Wiesbaden, and other small houses. The opera played in New York in 1859. It played in London (in Italian) in 1876. In Vienna, Johann Strauss performed excerpts in 1853. The first Austrian staging occurred at Graz in 1854. Vienna mounted the opera in 1857. The opera was performed at the Vienna court opera in 1875. In 1860, the Paris Opera wanted the work in a revised version in French. Wagner made extensive revisions for Paris.

Popular numbers in the early years
 Tannhäuser's song in praise of Venus
 Pilgrims' Chorus
 Wolfram's plea to Tannhäuser to return to the Minnesingers
 Entrance of the Guests
 Wolfram's song to the Evening Star

References

Operas by Richard Wagner
1840s operas

Tannhäuser


L'elisir d'amore () is an Italian comic opera in two acts.  The music was written by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's Le philtre (1831).

The opera was first performed at the Teatro della Canobbiana, Milan, Italy on May 12, 1832. L'elisir d'amore is number 12 on the Operabase list of the most performed operas in the world. The aria "Una furtiva lagrima" () is very famous. In 1840, Richard Wagner arranged the opera for piano.  W. S. Gilbert wrote a parody of the opera called Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack in 1866.

Roles

Plot
Place: A small village in the Basque Country.
[The Schirmer English edition of the score states that the action takes place 'In a small Italian Village'].
Time: The end of the 18th century

Act 1

Nemorino, a poor peasant, is in love with Adina, a beautiful landowner. She torments him with her seeming indifference. When Nemorino hears Adina reading to her workers the story of Tristan and Isolde, he considers using a magic potion to gain Adina's love. He is afraid she loves  Sergeant Belcore. The Sergeant appears with his regiment. He proposes marriage to Adina. The traveling quack salesman, Dulcamara arrives, selling his bottled cure-all to the townspeople. Nemorino asks Dulcamara if he has anything like Isolde's love potion. Dulcamara says he does. He sells it to Nemorino at a price matching the contents of Nemorino's pockets. The bottle contains only wine. In order to make a timely escape, Dulcamara tells Nemorino the potion will not take effect until the next day. Nemorino drinks it, feeling its effects immediately.

Emboldened by the 'elixir' Nemorino encounters Adina. She teases him mercilessly, the audience senses that the attraction might be mutual, were it not for the marriage proposal of the Sergeant Belcore. In fact, their wedding date has been set for six days hence. Nemorino's confidence that tomorrow he will win Adina by virtue of the elixir, causes him to act indifferently toward her. This upsets Adina, but she attempts to hide her feelings. Instead, she ups the ante as well by agreeing to Sergeant Belcore's alternate suggestion: that they marry immediately as he has just received orders that the regiment must ship off the next morning. Both Adina and the Sergeant gauge Nemorino's reaction to this news, the Sergeant with resentment, Adina with despair. Nemorino panics, and cries out for Doctor Dulcamara to come to his aid.

Act 2
Adina's outdoor wedding party is in full swing. Dr. Dulcamara is there, and performs a song with Adina to entertain the guests. The notary arrives to make the marriage official. Adina is sad to see that Nemorino has not appeared. Everyone goes inside to sign the wedding contract. But Dulcamara stays outside, helping himself to food and drink. Nemorino appears, having seen the notary, realizes that he has lost Adina. He sees the Doctor and frantically begs him for more elixir, of the type that will work immediately. But because Nemorino has no money, the Doctor refuses, disappearing inside. The Sergeant emerges, alone, wondering aloud why Adina has suddenly put off the wedding and the signing of the contract. Nemorino spots his rival, but is powerless to do anything. The Sergeant asks about Nemorino's dejection. When Nemorino says he has no money Belcore immediately suggests that if he joins the army he'll be paid immediately. He produces a contract, which Nemorino signs (with an X) in return for the cash Belcore gives him on the spot. Nemorino privately vows to fly to Dulcamara for more potion, while Belcore muses that he has easily dispatched of his rival by sending him off to war.

Later that evening the women of the village are gossiping that Nemorino is unaware that he has just inherited a large fortune from his deceased uncle. They spot Nemorino, who has clearly spent his military signing bonus, and has bought and consumed a large amount of 'elixir' (wine again) from Dr. Dulcamara. The women approach Nemorino with overly friendly greetings, the likes of which he has never seen. This is proof to Nemorino that this dose of the elixir has worked. Adina sees Nemorino in a jolly mood and, encountering Dr. Dulcamara, wonders what has gotten into him. Dulcamara, unaware that Adina is the object of Nemorino's affection, tells her the story of the smitten bumpkin who spent his last penny on the elixir, and even signed his life away, joining the army for money to get more, so desperate was he to win the love of some unnamed cruel beauty. Adina immediately realizes Nemorino's sincerity, and regrets teasing him. She falls for Nemorino, basking in the sincerity of his love. Dulcamara interprets this behavior as some sort of condition requiring a cure by one of his potions.

They depart. Nemorino appears alone, pensive, reflecting on a tear he saw in Adina's eye when he was ignoring her earlier. Based on that tear alone, he is sincerely convinced that Adina loves him. She enters, asking him why he has chosen to join the army and leave the town. When Nemorino says he's seeking a better life, Adina responds by telling him he is loved, and that she has purchased his military contract from Sergeant Belcore. She offers the cancelled contract to Nemorino, asking him to take it. He is free now. She says, however, that if he stays, he will no longer be sad. As he takes the contract Adina turns to leave. Nemorino believes she is abandoning him and flies in to a desperate fit, vowing that if he is not loved, if the elixir has not worked, and the Doctor has fooled him, then he might as well go off and die a soldier. Adina stops him and confesses that she loves him. Nemorino is ecstatic. Adina begs him to forgive her for teasing him. He does so with a kiss. The sergeant returns, seeing the two in an embrace. Adina explains that she loves Nemorino. The Sergeant takes the news in stride, noting that there are plenty of other women in the world. Dulcamara, his bags packed, pops out of a doorway, adding that he will happily provide elixir for the Sergeant's next conquest. A crowd has gathered by now, all agreeing that the elixir has done its job as they bid a fond farewell to the doctor.

Recordings

References

Other websites
 Full score with English translation at the International Music Score Library Project
 Vocal score with English translation
 Karadar.com | Libretto (Italian)
 Stanford.edu | Libretto (Italian)
 Essay by Thomas May for San Francisco Opera
  & (Occitan) Cross-over between L'Elisir d'amore and the traditional music from County of Nice, France

Compositions by Gaetano Donizetti
1830s operas

L'elisir d'amore


The Biellmann spin is a spin in figure skating. It is performed on one foot. The free leg (the leg not on the ice) is pulled up from behind and pulled above the head. The knee is bent slightly and the back is bent backwards into the spin. This forms a teardrop position with the body. In the classic version of the spin, both arms are used to hold up the leg. A slightly changed version has one hand on the skate and the other hand on the arm holding up the skate. A change can be made in that one hand can be dropped. If the hand holding up the spin is on the same side of the body as the leg, the spin is referred to as a one-hand Biellmann spin, because the spin is being performed with one hand. If the hand holding up the spin is on the opposite side of the body as the leg, the spin is referred to as a cross-grab Biellmann spin, because that hand has to cross the body to grab the skate.

The spin has also been said to look like a tulip on a turntable. It is one of the most iconic figure skating moves. Along with the layback spin, the Biellmann is used in advertisements and icons representing figure skating. The position is also used in spiral sequences.

Spin history
No one knows who invented the spin. Cecilia Colledge of Great Britain performed a one-handed Biellmann spin in 1937. There is a famous photograph of her doing the spin at the 1937 World Figure Skating Championships. Tamara Moskvina of the Soviet Union performed the spin at the 1965 European Championships and there is a famous photo of her doing it as well. Both Janet Champion and Slavka Kohout of the United States performed this spin early on.

The spin is named after Swiss skater Denise Biellmann, who popularized the move. Biellmann performed the spin beginning in the 1970s, having learned it from her teammate, fellow Swiss skater Karin Iten. Biellmann performed the spin on her way to becoming World Champion and the spin was officially named for her. It is the only figure skating spin officially named after a skater in International Skating Union regulations.

Positions
The classic positions is explained above. This position is often entered into through a layback spin. The free leg of the layback is grasped by one or both hands and brought up above the head.

Irina Slutskaya of Russia is officially credited with inventing the change foot Biellmann spin. She performs the Biellmann on one foot, then drops her free leg and performs the spin on her other leg.

A half-Biellmann spin, also called the catch-foot camel spin, is a Biellmann variation in which the free leg is grasped in a camel spin position and brought up above the head, but the upper body is not lifted into the teardrop position.

Many skaters have performed a Biellmann variation in which the free leg is brought down towards the face, with the knee bent inwards. This spin has mostly been performed by Junior-level or Junior-age skaters, because this is easiest to perform before puberty. It is unknown who invented this variation. It was performed by Naomi Nari Nam at the United States nationals in 1999. More recently it has been brought back by Junior level skaters including Caroline Zhang of the United States who performed the spin on her way to winning the 2007 World Junior title.

As well, Zhang and other Junior skaters are known for doing a hyper-extended Biellmann spin in which the leg is pulled straight up in the air and the back bent as far into the spin as possible. Zhang is able to perform the spin with her free leg pulled straight up into the air, making the spin look like a capital-I. This position is not original to Zhang, but she has been the one to popularize it.

In skating competitions
Because of Code of Points, the Biellmann spin has been used too much in competitions. Many skaters would perform the spin even if they were not flexible enough because it was a good way of getting a lot of points. The International Skating Union has limited the number of Biellmann spins that can be performed in a single program.

The spin is almost entirely performed by women, and it is a common feature in most Junior and Senior level ladies programs, as well as being a position for ice dancing lifts. It is generally not performed by men because most male skaters are not flexible enough to perform the spin. The most famous male skater to perform the spin is Evgeni Plushenko. However, he has not done it in competition since 2003. Shawn Sawyer has also performed the spin at the Junior level. Recently, the spin has been performed in competition by Ryo Shibata of Japan and Eliot Halverson of the United States.

References
 ISU Communication No. 1319

Figure skating

Biellmann spin


Stevenage is a town in Hertfordshire in England. It is between the towns of Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City.

In 1801, 1,430 people lived in Stevenage. In 1901, 4,049 people lived in Stevenage. In 2001, 79,724 lived in Stevenage. The town grew the most in the 1950s and 1960s, when it became the first new town in the world.

History
The name Stevenage may come from an Old English word meaning "place at the stiff oak". Stevenage started as a village and people have lived there since Roman times. Some Roman remains were found when the New Town was being built. There are also six Roman round barrows, which is where a local family was buried.

In 1281, Stevenage was allowed to have a market twice a week and a fair every year. The fair still takes place every year.

Modern-day Stevenage
Stevenage became the first New Town on 1 August 1946, and was planned with six neighbourhoods.

The town centre was the first shopping area in Britain with no traffic. It was opened in 1959 by Queen Elizabeth II. In the town centre there is a clock tower, fountain and a statue called "Joyride", which is a statue of a mother and child. It was made by Franta Belsky.

In 1999, a millennium countdown clock was put up on the town centre clock tower, which showed how much time was left until the year 2000. In 2005, plans were made for the town centre to be made more modern. The changes could take 10 years.

Next to the town centre is the town gardens, a modern church and a museum.

Stevenage has lots of roundabouts and not very many traffic lights. There are also lots of cycle tracks for people to ride on. Stevenage has some of the tallest street lights in the country. The town is a very green town, with lots of trees and grass. Fairlands Valley is a large park in the middle of Stevenage. There are also many playing fields. The schools in Stevenage all have large fields.

Many schools were built in the 1950s and 1960s because a lots of people from London were moving to Stevenage. The town has around 23 primary schools and several secondary schools.

Stevenage has a leisure centre and a theatre in the town centre. There is a leisure park with a large cinema, and lots of clubs and restaurants. Stevenage also has two industrial areas.

Stevenage F.C. is the town's football team, which plays in League Two and is based at The Lamex Stadium.

Stevenage holds a number of events every year including Stevenage Day, Rock in the Park and Stevenage Carnival. The Carnival ended in 2003 but it is returning 6th June 2010.

Stevenage has lots of places of worship for people of several different religions. Many of the Christian churches work together for town-wide projects.

Town twinnings
Stevenage is twinned with the following places around the world:
  Shymkent in Kazakhstan.
Stevenage has been twinned with Shymkent since 1990
  Kadoma in Zimbabwe
Stevenage has been twinned with Kadoma since 1989 and recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. [www.skla.org.uk]
  Ingelheim in Germany
Stevenage has been twinned with Ingelheim since 1963 [www.tsiaa.org.uk]
  Autun in France
Stevenage has been twinned with Autun since 1975. It was incorporated into the Stevenage-Ingelheim Association as Ingelheim and Autun were already twinned. see Stevenage-Ingelheim-Autun Association.

References

Other websites
 Stevenage Borough Council
 Stevenage Borough Football Club
 Stevenage travel information at Wikivoyage

Towns in Hertfordshire

Stevenage


The John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences  "for noteworthy and distinguished accomplishments in any field of science within the charter of the Academy".  Established by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) and first awarded in 1932, the medal has been awarded in specific fields since 1961. The recipient is awarded a $25,000 prize.

It is named after John J. Carty, an American electrical engineer who worked at AT&T.

Recipients
Source: National Academy of Sciences
 2022 Barney S. Graham For his groundbreaking work on vaccine and monoclonal antibody development for COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, HIV, and other emerging viruses.
 2020 Carolyn R. Bertozzi For her invention of bioorthogonal chemistry—a broadly applicable class of processes for scalable production of novel biomaterials. Her innovative technologies have been extensively translated to commercial settings for therapeutic and diagnostics discovery. She also employs these tools for glycobiology studies and tuberculosis research.
 2018 David M. Kreps, Paul Milgrom, and Robert B. Wilson (economics), For making fundamental advances to game theory by showing how incomplete information alters equilibrium outcomes
 2016 Michael Goddard and  (agricultural sciences), For the development of genomic selection - uniting quantitative genetic theory with genomics technology - revolutionizing the genetic improvement of livestock and crops. Their research also invigorated genomic prediction, which has far ranging implications for fields from human medicine to conservation biology
 2014 Joseph DeRisi (genome biology), for pioneering efforts to develop new genomic technologies and using the technologies to make discoveries in virology that are of fundamental and practical importance
 2012 Michael I. Posner ( cognitive science), for outstanding contributions to the understanding of spatial attention and for pioneering investigations of the neural basis of cognition using non-invasive functional brain imaging methods.
 2010 Andre Geim (physics), for his experimental realization and investigation of graphene, the two-dimensional form of carbon.
 2009 Joseph Felsenstein (evolution), for revolutionizing population genetics, phylogenetic biology, and systematics by developing a sophisticated computational framework to deduce evolutionary relationships of genes and species from molecular data.
 2008 Thomas Eisner (ecology), for pathbreaking studies of the myriad ways that organisms utilize chemistry to mediate ecological interactions and providing a foundation for the field of chemical ecology.
 2007 Joseph R. Ecker (plant science), for contributions in the areas of ethylene signal transduction and Arabidopsis genomics that have paved the way for a revolution in modern agriculture.
 2006 Russell F. Doolittle (computational science), for contributing seminal insights and methods for using computers as an aid to characterizing protein function, in comparing amino acid sequences, and for phylogenetic reconstructions.
 2005 Robert J. Cava (materials), for his outstanding contributions in the synthesis and characterization of many new materials that display interesting and important superconducting, dielectric, magnetic, or thermal properties.
 2004 Elinor Ostrom (social/political science), for her exceptional contributions to the study of social institutions, research that has greatly advanced our understanding of resource management, and the governance of local public economies.
 2003 David A. Freedman (statistics), for his profound contributions to the theory and practice of statistics, including rigorous foundations for Bayesian influence and trenchant analysis of census adjustment.
 2000 Donald Lynden-Bell (astronomy/astrophysics), for his outstanding work in theoretical astrophysics, and especially for the originality of his contributions to our understanding of the collective dynamic effects within stellar systems.
 1997 Patrick V. Kirch (anthropology), for the unique breadth of his distinguished anthropological accomplishments, spanning many Pacific islands and joining their archeology with ethnobotany, ethnobiohistory, historical linguistics, and human biology.
 1994 Marina Ratner (mathematics), for her striking proof of the Raghunathan conjectures.
 1992 Joseph H. Taylor, Jr. (physics), for developing pulsar timing experiments with exquisite accuracy to make fundamental studies of gravitation, including gravitational radiation and high-order tests of general relativity.
 1987 Motoo Kimura (evolutionary biology), "for demonstrating the role of stochastic processes in inducing and maintaining most allelic  in nature, thereby unifying molecular biology with evolutionary theory, strengthening both fields".
 1984 Robert H. Burris (agricultural sciences), for his penetrating studies of the biochemistry of nitrogen fixation have enriched the agricultural sciences by deed and example.
 1981 Shing-Tung Yau (mathematics)
 1978 John N. Mather (pure mathematics)
 1975 J. Tuzo Wilson (earth science)
 1971 James D. Watson (molecular biology)
 1968 Murray Gell-Mann (theoretical physics)
 1965 Alfred H. Sturtevant (biochemistry)
 1963 Maurice Ewing (geophysics)
 1961 Charles H. Townes (physics)
 1953 Vannevar Bush
 1950 Irving Langmuir
 1947 Ross G. Harrison
 1945 William F. Durand
 1943 Edwin G. Conklin
 1939 Sir William Bragg
 1936 Edmund B. Wilson
 1932 John J. Carty

See also

 List of general science and technology awards
 List of awards named after people

References

External links
John J. Carty Award National Academy of Sciences web site

Awards established in 1932
Awards of the United States National Academy of Sciences
1932 establishments in the United States


Philip Kindred Dick (16 December 19282 Mairch 1982) wis an American writer, that published warks mainly belanging tae the genre o science feection. Dick explored philosophical, sociological an poleetical themes in novelles wi plots dominatit bi monopolistic corporations, authoritarian govrenments, alternate universes, an altered states o consciousness. His wark reflectit his personal interest in metaphysics an theology, an eften drew upon his life experiences in addressin the naitur o reality, identity, drog abuise, schizophrenia, an transcendental experiences.

1928 births
1982 daiths
20t-century American novelists
American Episcopalians
American science feection writers
American short story writers
American philosophers
American tax reseesters
American alternate history writers
Berkeley High School (Berkeley, Californie) alumni
Hugo Awaird-winnin writers
Neurological disease daiths in the Unitit States
Fowk frae Fullerton, Californie
Fowk frae Marin Coonty, Californie
Postmodren writers
Psychedelic drog advocates
Science Fiction Hall of Fame inductees
Twin fowk frae the Unitit States
Cyberpunk writers
Writers frae Californie
Writers frae Chicago
Writers frae the San Francisco Bay Aurie
Fowk wi schizophrenia
American male novelists
American male short story writers
American psychological feection writers
Fowk frae Santa Ana, Californie
Hyperreality theorists

Philip K. Dick


Albert Dwayne Newman (born June 30, 1960) is a former infielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Montreal Expos (1985–1986), Minnesota Twins (1987–1991) and Texas Rangers  (1992). Newman was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed.

San Diego State (1979–1982)
Newman attended San Diego State University where he played for the renowned coach Jim Dietz, majored in Accounting and also played football as a running back. In 1980, 1981, and 1982, he played in the National Baseball Congress Tournament in Wichita, KS. Newman left college with two All-Conference seasons.

Drafted in the third round of the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft by the California Angels, Newman turned down their offer and returned to college. In 1980, Newman was again drafted in the third round and declined contract offers, this time by the Texas Rangers. In the June secondary phase of the 1980 draft, he was selected in the second round by the New York Mets and did not sign. On June 8, 1981, Newman was drafted in the first round (12th overall) by the Montreal Expos, with whom he would sign his first Major League Baseball contract.

Minor Leagues (1980–1985)
Newman spent much of the next four years in the minor leagues. Newman debuted in organized baseball with the Memphis Chicks, Montreal's AA-level team, and was a South Atlantic League All-Star second baseman during the 1982 season. In 1983, Newman started the season again at Memphis before being promoted to Montreal's AAA-level team, the Wichita Aeros. On December 7, 1983, Newman was included in a large, three-team trade that saw the Expos send him to the San Diego Padres and starting pitcher Scott Sanderson to the Chicago Cubs. To round out the trade, the Padres sent Gary Lucas to the Expos while the Cubs sent Carmelo Martinez, Craig Lefferts, and Fritzie Connally to the Padres.

Newman started the 1984 season back at the AA level, playing for the Beaumont Golden Gators in the Texas League, before being traded back to the Expos on July 20, 1984, for starting pitcher Greg Harris. Newman spent the rest of the 1984 season and much of 1985 season with the Expos' new AAA team, the Indianapolis Indians.

Major Leagues (1985–1992)
Primarily a second baseman, Newman also played shortstop, third base and left field at some point in his career. He made his major league debut on 14 June 1985 when he was brought in as a pinch runner and scored a run. Newman was used sparingly by the Expos, playing in 32 games in 1985 and 95 games in 1986. On July 6, 1986, Newman hit his only Major League home run (off Atlanta's Zane Smith), the same game in which the Braves' Bob Horner hit four home runs. Newman ended his career with a staggering 4.000 slugging percentage against Smith as this home run was hit in his only at bat versus the pitcher.

Prior to the beginning of the 1987 season, Newman was traded to the Minnesota Twins for career minor league pitcher Mike Shade. Upon first arriving in Minnesota and seeing Kirby Puckett take batting practice, Newman was quoted as saying, "He's the eighth wonder of the world!" Newman saw much more playing time with the Twins, proving to be a valuable utility player and pinch runner, but had trouble hitting for average in 1987, including a 0–31 hitless streak. Newman was a member of two World Series teams in 1987 and 1991 and had two hits, including a triple, and one walk and one RBI in eight World Series plate appearances. His most productive season came in 1989 with the Twins, when he posted career-highs in stolen bases (25), hits (113), doubles (18), runs batted in (38), runs (62) and batting average (.253).

During the 1989 season, Newman was interviewed along with teammate Gary Gaetti about playing the "hot corner" (third base) for the Minnesota Twins. Newman recounted an experience playing the position when future Hall of Famer (and future Twin) Dave Winfield came to the plate, "Dave Winfield hit one right at me last year. I had no chance to move. I looked and the ball was in my glove. I made like I knew what I was doing." In 1990, Al Newman was a part of setting a major league record as the Twins turned two triple plays in one game against the Boston Red Sox, making the final throw in both. Also during the 1990 season, teammate and future Hall of Famer, Kirby Puckett, was moved around the field from his normal centerfield position to play right field, third base, shortstop, and second base in a single game. Newman jokingly remarked to the press following the game, "I'm glad Puck's one of us utility guys now. Maybe he'll raise the salary structure a little."

Only weeks after the 1991 World Series victory, Newman was granted free agency by the Twins and was not re-signed. After weighing his options, Newman signed with the Cincinnati Reds on February 2, 1992, but was released on April 1 during the final roster cutdowns. However, Newman was signed just two days later by the Texas Rangers in what would turn out to be his final major league season. In 246 at-bats in 1992, Newman amassed 54 hits, 25 runs, 9 stolen bases, and 34 walks.

In an eight-season career, Newman was a .226 hitter with one home run and 156 RBI in 854 games. As his career hitting statistics would indicate, Newman did not exactly excel at the plate and displayed little power. Newman finished with the third-most career at-bats of any player with only one home run since World War II.

In 1992, to commemorate the Twins' World Series victory of the previous year, the team issued a set of playing cards on which Newman was featured on the "3 of Clubs".

Coach, manager, and scout (1992–2006)
Following his playing career, Newman managed the Twins AA team, the New Britain Rock Cats of the Eastern League for the 1996 and 1997 seasons. In 1996, his team finished last at 61–81, but showed improvement in 1997, posting a 70–72 record and finishing third to last. In the 1997 Arizona Fall League, Newman managed the Sun City Solar Sox finishing second in their division with a 22–23 record. in 1998, he was the bench coach for the Twins' AAA affiliate, the Salt Lake City Buzz. From 1999 to 2001, Newman was the manager of the Twins' rookie league Gulf Coast League Twins. After a 33–32 record in 2000, Newman added former 1991 World Series teammate Jarvis Brown to his coaching staff.

In 2002, following Twins manager Tom Kelly's retirement, Newman accepted the job of third base coach (formerly occupied by Ron Gardenhire, who was named the new manager). Newman would be the Twins third base coach from 2002 to 2005 and even celebrated in a Twins hype commercial. In April 2003, Kirby Puckett had fallen out of favor with the public after a Sports Illustrated article chronicled a personal life much different from his public persona. Newman sympathized with his long-time friend, saying, "I'm scared to death for him. I'm scared because of his health and about his frame of mind. He's a baseball man and the game that gave him everything -- the game that got him out of the Chicago ghetto -- is gone from him now. The people who loved him don't love him anymore. He's on an island by himself and he's trying to figure out how to get home."  During the 2003 season, Newman said of pitcher Jamie Moyer "He's like a fine wine, he gets better with age. No, actually, he just gets slower."

On September 10, 2003, during warm-ups in Chicago during a tight pennant race, Newman took a turn in the batter's box during warm-ups to take some fun hits. Shortly after completion, Newman collapsed on the field and was immediately rushed to the hospital. After several tests, it was determined he had had a brain hemorrhage. His wife Deborah and Twins general manager Terry Ryan remained at the hospital with him throughout the stay where he remained unconscious until September 26. During that time, Gardenhire struggled to keep his team focused while all dealt with their feelings for Newman. Minnesota Twins center fielder Torii Hunter said of Newman, "For me, I think it hurt me more than anybody to see him go down like that, because this is the guy who pretty much taught me the game, and how to play the game hard." While Newman was away from the team, his jersey, number 62, was hung in the dugout for each game as a salute. On October 4, 2003, after being released from the hospital, Newman threw out the first pitch prior to Game 3 of the Twins American League Divisional Series versus the New York Yankees. Gardenhire waved Newman's jersey to fans and was visibly emotional to have him back on the field with him after his long hospital stay.

By March 4, 2004, Newman had returned to the Twins including being on the field a Grapefruit League pre-season game versus the Cincinnati Reds. During Newman's first weeks in return to the Twins, he experienced issues with high blood pressure and was prescribed medication and relaxation.

In 2006, Newman left the Twins and became an advance scout with the Arizona Diamondbacks. On March 12, 2006, Newman, along with former Twins players Kent Hrbek, Torii Hunter, Dave Winfield, and Harmon Killebrew, former manager Tom Kelly, former general manager Andy MacPhail, and longtime Oriole Cal Ripken Jr., spoke at Kirby Puckett's funeral. Newman and Puckett played together throughout Newman's career with the Twins and were good friends and known as pranksters around the clubhouse.

After baseball
On January 22, 2008, Newman announced the creation of "Newmie Rewards LLC", a business created to aid in fund raising for athletic teams.

On July 27, 2008, Newman began broadcasting "The Al Newman Show" on radio WWTC AM1280 "The Patriot" in Minneapolis, MN. The short-lived program was a weekly family-friendly show about sports.

Al Newman has long been involved in the youth baseball player development. As noted above, throughout his coaching career, and also by holding off-season clinics for youth sports.

In 2010, Newman participated in the opening ceremonies for the Target Field, the new home of the Twins, alongside many other former Twins such as Jim Kaat, Bert Blyleven, and Jack Morris. In the same year, Al Newman was the head coach for the Apple Valley, Minnesota High School baseball team.

Newman served as a field manager for the Saint Cloud Rox in the Northwoods League and is an instructor at Acceleration Baseball in Saint Cloud. He left the Rox after the 2018 season.

During his Major League Baseball Hall of Fame induction speech on July 24, 2022, David Ortiz specifically noted Al Newman and John Russell as coaches who worked with him daily to build his confidence to become the player he became.

References

External links

1960 births
Living people
African-American baseball coaches
African-American baseball managers
African-American baseball players
American expatriate baseball players in Canada
Arizona Diamondbacks scouts
Baseball coaches from Missouri
Baseball players from Kansas City, Missouri
Beaumont Golden Gators players
Caribbean Series managers
Chaffey Panthers baseball players
Indianapolis Indians players
Major League Baseball infielders
Major League Baseball third base coaches
Memphis Chicks players
Minnesota Twins coaches
Minnesota Twins players
Minnesota Twins scouts
Minor league baseball managers
Montreal Expos players
People from Ontario, California
San Diego State Aztecs baseball players
San Diego State Aztecs football players
Texas Rangers players
Wichita Aeros players
21st-century African-American people
20th-century African-American sportspeople

Al Newman