Abyss & Apex Magazine (A&A) is a long-running, semi-pro online speculative fiction magazine. The title of the zine comes from a quote by Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), "And if you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." The stories and poetry therefore follow the pattern of "how would humans react?" if a new technology or a type of magic or supernatural power affected them.

Abyss & Apex publishes somewhat dark fiction, but not horror. Instead, Abyss & Apex publishes about fifty percent each fantasy and science fiction. The magazine was issued bimonthly until #13 and thereafter quarterly.

Subgenres
Per Wendy S. Delmater, "A&A likes to show all the different things speculative fiction can be (except horror)." From their submissions page: "We look for the unique: stories that stand out in a genre that pushes the envelope of unusual. We take special delight in detailed world-building: we like slipstream, YA, hypertext fiction, dark fantasy, science fiction puzzle stories, magical realism, hard science fiction, soft science fiction, science fantasy, urban fantasy, military science fiction, ghost stories, space opera, cyberpunk, steampunk... there is very little we will not look at, although we have a severe allergy to zombies, elves, retold fairy tales, sports, westerns, vampires, and gratuitous sex and violence. We have no subject/topic preference, beyond a requirement that the work have a speculative element. We are happy to read stories that don't quite seem to fit elsewhere."

Abyss & Apex has therefore published a rather broad range of subgenres of both science fiction and fantasy, everything from hypertext science fiction to YA fantasy.

Past and present editors
Abyss & Apex was founded by Carol Burrell, and published by Burrell under the ByrenLee Press imprint, Riverdale, New York. Elizabeth Bear was managing editor from the first issue (January/February 2003), to issue #7 (January/February 2004) with editor Leah Bobet, followed by Kathryn Allen (March/April 2004 #8), Aleta Daknis (to #16 October 2005). From issue #15 onward (January 2006) Wendy S. Delmater has been the managing editor; she also became publisher from #37 (January 2011) when the magazine moved to a WordPress format, via Abyss & Apex Publishing, Lexington, SC. Wendy S. Delmater continues as head editor. Poetry editors have included Robin Mayhall, Trent Waters, Stephen A. Wilson, and John C. Mannone. Since 2010 Abyss & Apex has had a flash editor, Jennifer Dawson, with a staff dedicated to this very short form of fiction. Over the course of their history there have been several assistant editors, most notably Rob Campbell (New Zealand) as science fiction editor and Jude-Marie Green as associate editor, and Tonya Liburd as senior editor – to date the genre's only Caribbean magazine editor.

New and contributing writers
Twenty-five percent of the stories Abyss & Apex have published are first-time publications for their authors. Publication in Abyss & Apex also became a cover letter credit for writers that later went on to be well known. Among other well-known names, Abyss & Apex published early Aliette de Bodard,  Marie Brennan, Karl Bunker, Paul Carson, Rae Carson, J. Kathleen Cheney, N.K. Jemisin, Lisa Mantchev, Will McIntosh, Tony Pi, Mercurio D. Rivera, Lawrence M. Schoen, and Lavie Tidhar.

Abyss & Apex has a policy of trying to publish veteran science fiction and fantasy writers to put their up-and-coming new authors on the same Table of Contents with established people in the genre, thereby giving a boost to new careers.  Such authors include Barth Anderson,  Greg Beatty, C. J. Cherryh, Ian Creasey, Paul Di Filippo, Samantha Henderson, Matthew Kressel, Jay Lake, Richard A. Lovett, Tim Pratt, Cat Rambo, Ken Scholes, Justin Stanchfield, Bud Sparhawk, Michael Swanwick, and Rachel Swirsky.

Anthology
A selection of fiction and poetry, predominantly from issues #15 to #27, was published in The Best of Abyss & Apex, Volume One (Hadley Rille Books, 2009) edited by Wendy S Delmater.

Awards and honors
2015
 Abyss & Apex was nominated for a 2015 Hugo in the Best Semiprozine category.

2014
 "Principles of Entropy" by Shelagh M. Rowan-Legg was nominated for a 2014 Rhysling Award by the Science Fiction Poetry Association.

2013
 Year's Best SF (Gardner Dozois), honorable mentions for 2013: "The Artist, Deeply, Brushes" by Ken Altabef, "Luminous Fish Scanalyze My Name" by Paul Di Filippo and Damien Broderick, "The Shadow Artist" by Ruth Nestvold.
 Abyss & Apexs 4Q 2010 story, "Rumor of Wings" by Alter S. Reiss, was the featured story on the 12/5/13 Podcastle.

2012
 Year's Best SF (Gardner Dozois), honorable mentions for 2012: "Land of Fire & Ashes" by Colin P Davies, "Lace Downstairs" by Arkady Martine, "Aurum" by Genevieve Valentine.

2011
 Year's Best SF (Gardner Dozois), honorable mentions for 2011: "A New Bridge Across the Lethe" by Howard V. Hendrix, "Bots D'Amour" by Cat Rambo.

2010
 Year's Best SF (Gardner Dozois), honorable mentions for 2010: "Sunlight" by Kelly Dwyer, "Anything Chocolate" by Caren Gussoff, "Talking to Elephants" by Mary Anne Mohanraj, "Ice Moon Tale" by Eilis O'Neal, "Night of the Manticore" by Tony Pi, "High Art" by Alan Smale, "The Tortouous Path" by Bud Sparhawk, "Spirits in the Night" by Michael Swanwick, "The Monks of Udom Xhai" by Lavie Tidhar.

2009
 Year's Best SF (Gardner Dozois), honorable mentions for 2009: "Letter Found in a Chest Belonging to the Marquis de Montseraille Following the Death of That Worthy Individual" by Marie Brennan, "Mirror Girl" by Paul Carson, "A Hundredth Name" by Christopher Green, "East of Chula Vista" by Samantha Henderson, "In The Middle of Nowhere With Company" by Ruth Nestvold, "Rainbows and Other Shapes" by Patricia Russo, "No Cord or Cable" by Bud Sparhawk.
 Howard Hendrix's poem "Bumbershoot", published in 2009, won the 2010 Dwarf Stars Award (Best Poem of 10 lines or less) from the Science Fiction Poetry Association.
 "Incarnation in the Delta" by Richard Foss (Abyss & Apex, #29: First Quarter 2009) was on the Tangent Online Recommended Reading List for 2009.

2008
 "Snatch Me Another" by Mercurio D. Rivera (Abyss & Apex 1Q/08) was reprinted in Unplugged: The Web's Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy, 2008 edited by Rich Horton and made the Locus Recommended Reading list for 2008.
 Alan Smale's "Quartet, With Mermaids" and Joanne Steinwachs' "The Number of Angels in Hell" were given honorable mentions in Ellen Datlow's The Best Horror of the Year: Volume One
 Tony Pi's "Metamorphoses In Amber" was a 2008 Prix Aurora Awards Finalist for Best Short Form Work in English.
 Year's Best SF (Gardner Dozois), honorable mentions for 2008: "Quartet, with Mermaids" by Alan Smale, "Dancing For the Monsoon" by Aliette de Bodard, "Stories of the Alien Invasion" by Manek Mistry, "Metamorphoses in Amber" by Tony Pi.

2007
 Year's Best SF (Gardner Dozois), honorable mentions for 2007: "The Man Behind the Curtain" by Joseph Paul Haines,

2006
 Year's Best SF (Gardner Dozois), honorable mentions for 2006: "In the Season of Blue Storms" by Jude Marie Green, "New Spectacles" by Will MacIntosh, "Interfaith" by Lisa Mantchev, "All the Wonder in the World" by Lavie Tidhar.

2005
 "Prayer Causes Stars" was nominated for the 2006 Rhysling Award (short poem category) and won Third Place, Dwarf Stars contest, 2006
 Year's Best SF (Gardner Dozois) honorable mention for 2005: "Museum Beetles" by Simon Kewin.

2004
 "No Ruined Lunar City" (October 2004 #11) by Greg Beatty won the Rhysling Award (short poem category) in 2005.
 Year's Best SF (Gardner Dozois), honorable mentions for 2004: "Live from the Volgograd Blackout!" by Barth Anderson, "Those Boiled Bones" by Jay Lake.
 "Making a Sparrow", Abyss & Apex March/April 2004 was listed in the Honor Roll in The Year's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for Teens, edited by Jane Yolen and Patrick Nielsen Hayden; Honorable Mention, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link & Gavin Grant.

External links
 Abyss & Apex Magazine
 Announcing the 2014 Campbellian Anthology

 The 2010 Dwarf Stars Anthology and Award
 Tangent Online 2009 Recommended Reading List
 Recommended reading list, Locus Magazine February 2009 issue
 Unplugged: The Web's Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy, 2008
 SFPA Rhysling Award Archive
 The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror by volume

Bimonthly magazines published in the United States
Online literary magazines published in the United States
Quarterly magazines published in the United States
Science fiction magazines published in the United States
Fantasy fiction magazines
Magazines established in 2003
Magazines published in South Carolina
Science fiction webzines

Abyss & Apex Magazine


Anthrax wur an anarcho punk baund formed in Gravesend, Kent, Ingland in 1980. They recorded their first demo in 1981 an went on to release twa 7" EPs on Crass Records an Small wonder. They appeared on compilations released bi Crass Records, Mortarhate Records an Fightback Records. They toured ootside the UK twice in the Netherlands with Dutch baund The Ex.

In 2007 the baund compiled a compilation CD entitled One Last Drop which includes baith demos, baith EPs, the Mortarhate compilation track an twa live tracks.

Line up
Oskar – vocals
Gareth – bass
Pete – drums
Dee – guitar
Laurence Windle – bass
Shaun – rhythm guitar

Discography

Demos
 81 Demo  (Tape 1981)
 Capitalism Gives Opportunites in Life, Anarchy Gives Life (Tape 1982)

EPs
 Capitalism is Cannibalism (EP, Crass Records, 1982)
 They've Got It All Wrong (EP, Small Wonder Records, 1983)
 " One last drop /welcome   "(cd single happy release 2, 2009)

Compilation tracks
 "All the Wars" on Bullshit Detector Volume 2 (LP Compilation, Crass Records, 1982)
 "It'll Be Alright on the Night" on Who? What? Why? Where? When? (LP Compilation,Mortarhate Records, 1983)
 "Violence Is Violence 82" on We Don't Want Your Fucking War! (LP Compilation, Fightback Records, 1984)

Reissue
 "Capitalism is Cannibalism...Violence is Violence" on A Sides. Part Two. 1982-1985 (LP Compilation, Crass Records 1985)
 "It'll Be Alright on the Night" on We Won't Take No More (CD Compilation, Go Kart Records, 2001)
 "It'll Be Alright on the Night" on Who? What? Why? Where? When? (CD Compilation,Mortarhate Records, 2003)
 "Violence Is Violence 82" on We Don't Want Your Fucking War! (CD Compilation, Mortarhate Records, 2006)
 One Last Drop (CD, Happy Release Records, 2007)

Anarcho-punk groups
Inglis muisical groups
Muisical groups established in 1980
Fowk frae Gravesend

Anthrax (UK baund)


The Drake, a Hilton Hotel, 140 East Walton Place, Chicago, Illinois, is a luxury, full-service hotel, located downtown on the lake side of Michigan Avenue two blocks north of the John Hancock Center and a block south of Oak Street Beach at the top of the Magnificent Mile. Overlooking Lake Michigan, it was founded in 1920, and soon became one of Chicago's landmark hotels and a longtime rival of the Palmer House. It has 535 bedrooms (including 74 suites), a six-room Presidential Suite, several restaurants, two large ballrooms, the "Palm Court" (a club-like, secluded lobby), and Club International (a members-only club introduced in the 1940s). Designed in the Italian Renaissance style by the firm of Marshall and Fox, the hotel's silhouette and sign contribute to the Gold Coast skyline.

History

Second-generation hotel magnates Tracy Drake and John Drake Jnr. acquired the property from the estate of Potter Palmer in 1916.  The building was financed by a syndicate of family friends including members of the Palmer, Armour, Swift, and McCormick families and the hotel's architects, Benjamin Marshall and Charles Fox. Including the land, construction, and furnishing, the Drake cost $10 million, which in present-day dollars is roughly $120 million.

At the time of its completion, the Drake provided a transition between the fashionable Gold Coast residential area and the new commercial north Michigan Avenue. The building's Walton Place main entrance avoided the commotion of the commercial thoroughfare and increased vehicular access. The Drake brothers upheld the family reputation as a main focus of social, commercial, and political life in Chicago with its ownership and management of the city's two most prominent hotels as Michigan Avenue bookends. (See Blackstone Hotel.)

The Drake served as the original studios of radio station WGN when it was renamed from WDAP in 1924.

William Drake and his wife Elizabeth lived at the hotel for several years until the family lost the property during the Great Depression.

When Francesco ("Frank 'The Enforcer' Nitti") Nitto headed the Chicago Outfit in the 1930s and early 1940s, he maintained his office for a time in a suite of rooms. From the 1950s through the 1980s, the Drake Hotel maintained its status, continuing to attract several notable guests, and became even more prominent as the Magnificent Mile further developed and the residential Gold Coast saw parts of it, primarily Oak Street, developed with luxury boutiques, fine jewelry stores, and spas. Such development allowed the centrally located Drake Hotel to act as a connection of sorts for the burgeoning, prestigious areas.

Hilton International assumed operation of the hotel in 1980, under their Vista International Hotels brand. Hilton International purchased the property outright in 1996. They renovated the hotel from 1998 to 2003, at a cost of $45 million.  In 2005 and 2006, owners added a fitness center, executive conference center, and new furnishings in all the guest rooms at a cost of $15 million. In 2005, Hilton Hotels Corporation acquired Hilton International, and The Drake became part of the Hilton Hotels Corporation and The Hilton Family of Hotels.

Notable visitors
The Drake has been frequented by many heads of state, assorted celebrities, international personalities, and members of the European aristocracy (some as long-term residents) since opening in 1920. Notable guests included Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, Presidents Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales (albeit separately), Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, Hugh Hefner, Owe Lundberg, Theodore S. Wiles, Walt Disney, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Charles Lindbergh, the Marchese and Marchesa Chiaramonte-Ragusa. Prince Felix Yusupov, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, King Hussein of Jordan, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and Julia Roberts. Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe carved their initials into the wooden bar of the Cape Cod Room during a visit; this can still be seen today. Diana, Princess of Wales, stayed at the Drake in 1996 during her only visit to Chicago, a year before her death.

Urban legends

According to local legend, John Drake (1826–1895) (the father of this hotel's founders) was standing with a hotel owner watching the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The owner, seeing his hotel threatened by the flames, offered to sell it for any price. Drake noticed that the wind direction was changing and made an offer and so founded the Drake Hotel. If this were true it would have occurred 49 years before the hotel's founding. The story is possibly confused with the interim New Tremont House purchase by John Drake, at the time of the Great Fire.

Additionally, the hotel features in several ghost stories.

In popular culture
Scenes from the movies Risky Business, My Best Friend's Wedding, Hero, What Women Want, Continental Divide, Flags of Our Fathers, Wicker Park, Mission: Impossible, and Carol were filmed or at least set at the hotel. Mission: Impossible mentions Jon Voight's character Jim Phelps as having stayed there shortly before the events of the film. Agent X, season one, partially revolves around photos the Vice President (Sharon Stone) receives of her deceased husband having an affair at the Drake. In an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, a character falsely claims that the Cobb salad was invented at the hotel. The Family Matters episode "Dream Date" has Laura Winslow and Steve Urkel attending their senior prom at the Drake Hotel.

Afternoon Tea
Visitors to Chicago are often drawn to Afternoon Tea, a tradition that dates back to 1840. The Empress of Japan, Princess Diana, and Queen Elizabeth II have all participated in the custom. Tea is held in the Palm Court, which is decorated entirely in white. The hotel has a specialty custom-made "Palm Court" blend, which is made out of four teas: Indian Assam, chocolate notes from Chinese Keemun, Ceylon, and a Formosa Oolong. Live harp music occurs Wednesday through Sunday. In 2013, USA Today ranked the Drake Hotel as one of the best hotels for afternoon tea in the country.

Retail tenants
The Drake, a Hilton Hotel has Chanel, Georg Jensen, and Van Cleef & Arpels as retail tenants, all of which have a street-level presence on the Magnificent Mile.

Footnotes

References

External links

Official website
Hotel Reviews

Hilton Hotels & Resorts hotels
Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Chicago
Hotels established in 1920
Hotel buildings completed in 1920
1920 establishments in Illinois
Historic Hotels of America

Drake Hotel (Chicago)


Stephanie Diana Wilson (born September 27, 1966) is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut. She flew to space onboard three Space Shuttle missions, and is the second African American woman to go into space, after Mae Jemison.  her 42 days in space are the second most of any female African American astronaut, having been surpassed by Jessica Watkins in 2022.

Early life and education
Stephanie Wilson was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on September 27, 1966. About a year later, her parents, Eugene and Barbara Wilson, decided to move to Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Eugene, a native of Nesmith, South Carolina, used his electronics training from his time in the Navy to get himself a degree from Northeastern University and a long career in electrical engineering for Raytheon, Sprague Electric, and Lockheed Martin, while Barbara, from Talbot County, Georgia, worked as a production assistant for Lockheed Martin.

After attending Stearns Elementary School, she attended Crosby Junior High School. For a career awareness class in middle school, Wilson was assigned to interview someone in a field that interested her. Since she liked to look up at the sky, she interviewed Williams College astronomer Jay Pasachoff, clarifying her potential career interest in space. In high school, Eugene encouraged Stephanie to go into engineering, so she decided to become an aerospace engineer.

Wilson graduated from Taconic High School, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1984.  She attended Harvard University, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering science in 1988.  Wilson earned a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas, in 1992. Wilson has returned to Harvard as a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers. She was the Chief Marshal for the 362nd Harvard Commencement on May 30, 2013.

Career

Engineering
Wilson worked for two years for the former Martin Marietta Astronautics Group in Denver, Colorado. As a Loads and Dynamics engineer for the Titan IV rocket, Wilson was responsible for performing coupled loads analyses for the launch vehicle and payloads during flight events. Wilson left Martin Marietta in 1990 to attend graduate school at the University of Texas. Her research focused on the control and modeling of large, flexible space structures.

Following the completion of her graduate work, Wilson began working for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in 1992. As a member of the Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem for the Galileo spacecraft, Wilson was responsible for assessing attitude controller performance, science platform pointing accuracy, antenna pointing accuracy, and spin rate accuracy. She worked in the areas of sequence development and testing as well. While at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Wilson also supported the Interferometery Technology Program as a member of the Integrated Modeling Team, which was responsible for finite element modeling, controller design, and software development.

NASA
Selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in April 1996, Wilson reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. Having completed two years of training and evaluation, she is qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. She was initially assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Space Station Operations Branch to work with Space Station payload displays and procedures. She then served in the Astronaut Office CAPCOM Branch, working in Mission Control as a prime communicator with on-orbit crews. Following her work in Mission Control, Wilson was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Shuttle Operations Branch involving the Space Shuttle Main Engines, External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters.

Wilson has flown on three shuttle missions. On STS-121, Wilson flew aboard as a mission specialist. She also flew on the STS-120 mission that delivered the Harmony connecting module to the International Space Station. In April 2010, Wilson flew as a mission specialist on STS-131.

On October 18, 2019, Wilson was ground controller at Houston for the first all woman spacewalk by Christina Koch and Jessica Meir

On December 9, 2020, NASA announced that Stephanie Wilson was among the candidates for the Artemis program and if selected, she could be both the first woman and the first African-American on the Moon.

Spaceflight experience

STS-121

STS-121 (July 4–17, 2006), was a return-to-flight test mission and assembly flight to the International Space Station. During the 13-day flight, the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery tested new equipment and procedures that increase the safety of space shuttles, repaired a rail car on the International Space Station and produced never-before-seen, high-resolution images of the Shuttle during and after its July 4 launch. Wilson supported robotic arm operations for vehicle inspection, Multi-Purpose Logistics Module installation and EVAs and was responsible for the transfer of more than 28,000 pounds of supplies and equipment to the ISS. The crew also performed maintenance on the space station and delivered a new Expedition 13 crew member to the station. The mission was accomplished in 306 hours, 37 minutes and 54 seconds.

STS-120
STS-120 (October 23 – November 7, 2007) was a 6.25 million mile Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It delivered the Harmony module, and reconfigured the P6 truss in preparation for future assembly missions. STS-120 carried a new Expedition 16 crew member, Daniel Tani, and returned Expedition 15 and Expedition 16 crewmember Clayton Anderson. The crew conducted four spacewalks and performed a previously untested repair method on the station's solar array. The mission was accomplished in 15 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes, during 238 orbits.

STS-131

STS-131 (April 5–20, 2010) was a resupply mission to the International Space Station. Space Shuttle Discovery was launched pre-dawn from Kennedy Space Center. Once docked to the space station, the crew delivered more than 27,000 pounds of hardware, supplies, experiments and equipment, including a tank full of ammonia coolant that required three spacewalks and robotics to install, new crew sleeping quarters, a window observation facility and a freezer for experiments.

During the mission, Wilson was responsible for robotics for spacewalking support using the space station robotic arm and for robotic removal of the "Leonardo" Multi-Purpose Logistics Module from the payload bay of Discovery. For the return to Earth, Wilson robotically installed Leonardo, which was packed with more than 6,000 pounds of hardware, science results and used supplies, inside Discovery's payload bay. The STS-131 mission was accomplished in 15 days, 2 hours, 47 minutes and 10 seconds and traveled 6,232,235 statute miles in 238 orbits.

Artemis
Artemis (2017–Present) is the mission NASA announced in 2020 to return to the Moon, scheduled for 2024. Wilson has been selected as one of eighteen astronauts comprising the Artemis team. This mission will send the first woman and next man to walk on the lunar surface.

Personal life
Wilson is a Christian. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Her hobbies include skiing and stamp collecting. She is married to Julius McCurdy.

Awards and honors
 NASA Distinguished Service Medal (2009, 2011)
 NASA Space Flight Medal (2006, 2007, 2010)
 Honorary Doctorate of Science from Williams College (2011)
 Harvard College Women's Professional Achievement Award (2008)
 Harvard Foundation Scientist of the Year Award (2008)
 Young Outstanding Texas Exes Award (2005)
 Johnson Space Center Innovation Group Achievement Award (2013)
 Johnson Space Center Director Commendation Award (2013)
 Salem Trailblazer Award (2019)

Spaceflight gallery

See also
 List of African-American astronauts

References

External links

 NASA biography June 2019

1966 births
Living people
People from Boston
American astronauts
Women astronauts
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni
University of Texas at Austin College of Education alumni
African-American women engineers
American women engineers
African-American engineers
African-American Methodists
People of the African Methodist Episcopal church
African-American women aviators
American women aviators
African-American aviators
Aviators from Massachusetts
Martin Marietta people
Space Shuttle program astronauts

Stephanie Wilson


Federal elections were held in Germany on 27 September 1998 to elect the members of the 14th Bundestag. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) emerged as the largest faction in parliament for the first time since 1972, with its leader Gerhard Schröder becoming chancellor. The Christian Democrats had their worst election result since 1949.

Issues and campaign
Since German reunification on 3 October 1990, the unemployment rate in Germany had risen from 4.2% to 9.4% in 1998, with the Federal Labor Office registering more than 4 million unemployed.  The unified Germany had to fight economic and domestic difficulties even as it actively participated in the project of European integration.  Most people blamed the centre-right coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) for the economic difficulties. Longtime Chancellor Helmut Kohl's government was regarded by many as not having fully implemented the unification after eight years, in view of the mass protests in many eastern German towns due to job losses and social welfare cuts.

The 1998 campaign began with both the CDU and SPD questioning who would lead their parties.  There had been rumours that Kohl would resign and allow Wolfgang Schäuble to take the reins of the CDU, but these rumours were rendered obsolete when Kohl announced in April 1997 that he would seek the chancellorship for a sixth term. The two contenders for the SPD nomination were Oskar Lafontaine, the party's chairman, and Gerhard Schröder, Minister-President of Lower Saxony.

On 1 March 1998, Schröder led the SPD to a huge victory in the Lower Saxony state election, gaining an unusual absolute majority for the second time and effectively receiving the SPD nomination for federal chancellor.  Schröder had announced he would withdraw his bid for the nomination if he received below 42 percent of the popular vote.  In the 1998 general elections, Schröder received 47.9 percent. Following this election, Lafontaine withdrew his bid and Schröder was inaugurated in the May 1998 convention. For the SPD, Schröder offered a new face for the party. He gave the party a new vigor, one that was lacking in the CDU after Kohl proclaimed his nomination. Many in the CDU questioned if Kohl had made the right choice for the party.

The CDU campaign was based on the experience and reputation of Kohl. One of the CDU's main slogans was 'Safety, not Risks.' "Kohl exploited his familiarity and experience, as well as his status as Europe's longest serving head of government." The SPD on the other hand ran the campaign using strategies developed in the United States and the United Kingdom.  The SPD set up election headquarters and introduced 'rapid rebuttal units' not unlike those used by Bill Clinton of the United States in his successful presidential bid in 1992.  The SPD avoided direct attacks at Kohl, but rather focused on their message of a "new center".

The FDP had usually ridden on the coattails of the CDU, and was mostly disapproved in the polls.  With the SPD well ahead in the polls, many of the voters from the CDU had fewer incentives to vote for the FDP.  The FDP was also having trouble projecting a coherent platform to voters.  The Greens too were having issues concerning their platform.

The two factions in the Greens, the fundamentalists and the pragmatists, had problems settling on their platform since the founding of the Green party.

The major issue of the 1998 campaign was unemployment.  In 1996, the unemployment rate in Germany surpassed the government's "limit" of 4 million unemployed people.  Both parties blamed high labor costs, high taxes and the high welfare costs as the causes of the problem.  During the campaign, Schröder used this issue against Kohl, calling him 'the unemployment chancellor.'  Unemployment was worst in the former East Germany.  While the national rate stood at 9.4 percent, former East Germany was suffering with unemployment at 20 percent. Many in the former East Germany blamed Kohl for the slow economic recovery.

Another issue at hand were Germany's tax and welfare reforms. While the CDU/CSU had offered proposals to reduce benefits in healthcare and pensions, the SPD controlled Bundesrat secured the passage of the bill. The proposed bill also offered tax cuts that were to benefit the rich, something the SPD opposed.  While Kohl continually pushed the issue of European integration, the issue fell short from voters' minds.  Schröder, on the other hand, almost ignored the issue. Many voters in Germany had other concerns besides the European Union.

Opinion polls

Results

Results by state
Second vote (Zweitstimme, or votes for party list)

Constituency seats

List seats

Post-election

Results

Toward the end of the campaign, polls placed the CDU/CSU and FDP coalition in a tie with the SPD and Green coalition.  Despite these polls, the final numbers told a different story.  The SPD-Green coalition won an unexpectedly large victory, taking 345 seats and earning a strong majority in the Bundestag—the first centre-left absolute majority in post-World War II Germany.  The SPD won 40.9 percent of the vote, due to an increase of 4.5 percent from 1994.

The CDU/CSU-FDP coalition had gone into the election with a solid majority and 341 seats, but was cut down to 288 seats.  The CDU/CSU lost 6.2% of its 1994 vote, and lost 109 electoral districts to the SPD.  Germany's mixed-member proportional system, in which a slate of statewide delegates are elected alongside the electorate delegates, softened the blow somewhat, so the CDU/CSU only suffered a net loss of 49 seats.  It was still the CDU/CSU's worst defeat ever.  By contrast, their junior coalition partner, the FDP, netted a loss of just 4 seats.

The SPD swept all single-member constituency seats in the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Saarland, Bremen, Hamburg and (for the first and last time) Schleswig-Holstein. Kohl lost his own constituency of Ludwigshafen, though he was still re-elected to the Bundestag through the Rhineland-Palatinate CDU party list, and he had not won the seat in the 1983 and 1987 elections. Future Chancellor Angela Merkel only narrowly won her constituency of Stralsund – Rügen – Grimmen with only 37.3 percent of the vote; the only time she got less than 40 percent of the vote.

A new government was formed by a coalition between the SPD and the Greens, with the SPD's Gerhard Schröder as chancellor and Greens leader Joschka Fischer as vice-chancellor and foreign minister.  It was the first red-green coalition government at the federal level in Germany, as well as the first purely centre-left government in post-World War II Germany.

Kohl stepped down as chairman of the CDU, as did CSU chairman Theodor Waigel.

Legacy

The 1998 German election was historic in many ways.  It resulted in a centre-right government being succeeded by a left-wing one—the first in postwar Germany (the SPD's previous term in government had been at the helm of a centre-left coalition).

In addition, it brought to an end the sixteen-year rule of Kohl – the second-longest of any German chancellor, and the longest tenure for a democratically elected head of government in German history.  It has been compared to the defeat of Winston Churchill in 1945 – both were seen as conservative wartime leaders, and in both cases both were turned out of office by the electorate once the war was over. Churchill was ousted before World War II was even over, while Kohl managed to hang onto power for two more terms after the reunification of Germany (which is often considered to be the end of the Cold War).

Literature

References

 "Social Democrats win German elections." Europe Oct. 1998 LexisNexis Academic. Leslie F. Maplass Library, Macomb, IL.
 The Federal Returning Officer

Federal elections in Germany
Federal Election
Federal Election

1998 German federal election


Greiz () is a town in the state of Thuringia, Germany, and is the capital of the district of Greiz. Greiz is situated in eastern Thuringia,  east of state capital Erfurt, on the river White Elster.

Greiz has a large park in its center (Fürstlich Greizer Park) which is classified as an English garden. Thomasstraße, Burgstraße, Marktstraße, Waldstraße, and Leonhardtstraße with their Jugendstil houses are well known examples of that architectural style. Prof.-Dr.-Friedrich-Schneider-Straße 4 is one of the earliest examples of Art Deco architecture (built in 1911).

History
As with other nearby settlements, the place name (originally Grouts) is of Slavic origin and means gord. The first documented mention of the settlement dates from 1209. The prime location of Greiz on the confluence of the White Elster river and its tributary Göltzsch helped to make it a fast-growing town. From the 12th century it was governed by advocati (), but in 1236 it came into the possession of Gera. It was recognized as a town in the 13th century. Later the House of Reuss, a ruling German dynasty whose male members were all named Heinrich, built two castles in Greiz: the "Oberes Schloss" (Upper Castle) and the "Unteres Schloss" (Lower Castle). Both were built by famous architects and are still considered unique. Greiz became the capital of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz until 1918.

The town was wholly destroyed by fire in 1494, and almost totally in 1802.

Between 1934 and 1943 809 people were forcibly sterilized by Nazis in the district hospital in Wichmannstraße. The local old folk's home and the care home submitted 122 sick people to the euthanasia program Aktion T4.

During World War II hundreds of prisoners of war as well as men and women from countries occupied by Nazi Germany worked as forced laborers in Sorgwald near Thalbach, a village about 2 km south-east of Greiz and in other enterprises. At least 102 of them died. There is a memorial for them in the Old Cemetery.

There is also a monument to the officer Kurt von Westernhagen, who refused orders in April 1945 to blow up the bridge and defend the town, for which he was shot by the Gestapo.

During World War II, Greiz did not suffer much damage, although 3 of the 5 bridges in town were destroyed. In 1941, Ulf Merbold , who became in 1983 the first astronaut from West Germany was born in 1943.

Greiz has a population of about 20,400 people. The former municipality Neumühle/Elster was merged into Greiz in December 2019.

Economy
In addition to a chemical works and a disused paper factory there are mechanical engineering operations, plastics manufacturing businesses, wood machining enterprises, medical technology, suppliers to the automobile industry, printing houses and breweries. In recent years various high tech businesses (sensor technology, climate simulators, micro-chip production) and environmental technology companies developed.

Neighbouring towns and districts
The following are the districts adjacent to Greiz:
 In the Greiz district: Zeulenroda-Triebes, Langenwetzendorf, Mohlsdorf-Teichwolframsdorf, Berga/Elster
 In the Vogtlandkreis district (Saxony): Reichenbach im Vogtland, Netzschkau, Elsterberg, Pöhl, Plauen, Rosenbach/Vogtl.
Adjacent towns include:
 Elsterberg
 Reichenbach im Vogtland
 Hohenleuben
 Werdau

Transport
Greiz station is on the Gera Süd–Weischlitz railway.

Demographics
The current population is about 20,400. Like many towns in the former East Germany, Greiz has suffered from population decline in recent years.

References

External links

 Town of Greiz

Greiz (district)
Principality of Reuss-Greiz

Greiz


ArenaBowl XIV is widely hailed as one of the most exciting games in ArenaBowl history, ranking alongside classics such as ArenaBowl XVIII and ArenaBowl XIX.  Featuring two teams from the Arena Football League's Southern Division, the game went as a Southern Division game might be expected to: a low-scoring, largely defensive struggle.  In the end, however, Orlando Predator kicker David Cool converted a 19-yard field goal as time expired to give the Predators a 41-38 victory over the Nashville Kats and their second ArenaBowl title in three years.

Game summary
The Orlando Predators got out to a fast start in ArenaBowl XIV, opening the game with a safety and following with a pair of touchdowns to take a 15-0 lead.  Though Nashville quarterback Andy Kelly would soon connect with Jeff Russell to pull within 15-7, Predators quarterback Connell Maynor answered with two more touchdown passes of his own, putting Orlando ahead 29-7 with 10 minutes to play in the first half.  The score remained that way for nearly eight minutes until Nashville's William Gaines recorded a safety, seemingly awakening the Kats and beginning a furious comeback.

Kelly threw for two touchdowns in the final minute of the first half, pulling the Kats within six at halftime, and took a 30-29 lead by opening the second half with a touchdown pass to lineman James Baron. A field goal by Orlando's David Cool was followed by a touchdown pass from Maynor to Bret Cooper (though, critically, Cool missed the extra point), giving the Predators a 38-30 advantage early in the fourth quarter. Nashville's momentum was further slowed by the loss of Kelly, who left with a knee injury and was replaced by rookie backup James Brown.  Brown threw an interception on his first possession but, after Cool missed a 22-yard field goal, quickly atoned for the mistake by finding Darryl Hammond for a 45-yard score, and connected with Cory Fleming for the two-point conversion, tying the game at 38 with 6:26 to play. Defense again took over as the game went scoreless until the Predators drove down the field to set up a potentially game-winning 19-yard field goal by Cool as time expired.  Cool had struggled all game, having missed two extra points and three field goals, but was able to convert this one, giving Orlando the 41-38 win.

Scoring summary
1st Quarter
ORL - Safety
ORL - Dell 16 pass from Maynor (Cool kick)
ORL - Douglass 3 run (Cool kick failed)
NASH - Russell 33 pass from Kelly (McLaughlin kick)
2nd Quarter
ORL - Hamilton 18 pass from Maynor (Cool kick)
ORL - Douglass 5 pass from Maynor (Cool kick)
NASH - Safety
NASH - Fleming 1 pass from Kelly (McLaughlin kick)
NASH - Hammond 5 pass from Kelly (McLaughlin kick)
3rd Quarter
NASH - Baron 28 pass from Kelly (McLaughlin kick)
ORL - FG Cool 38
4th Quarter
ORL - Cooper 15 pass from Maynor (Cool kick failed)
NASH - Hammond 45 pass from Brown (Fleming pass from Brown)
ORL - FG Cool 19

Trivia
On the Arena Football League's 20 Greatest Highlights Countdown (shown on arenafootball.com during the AFL's 20th season), this game is tied at #17.

External links
 ArenaFan Box Score
 Box Score and Summary from Arenabowl.com

014
2000 Arena Football League season
2000 in sports in Florida
2000s in Orlando, Florida
Orlando Predators
Sports competitions in Orlando, Florida
Nashville Kats
August 2000 sports events in the United States

ArenaBowl XIV


The Breitachklamm is a gorge created by the river Breitach in the Allgäu region in Southern Germany. It is located at the exit of the Kleinwalsertal near Tiefenbach, a city district of Oberstdorf.

It is one of the deepest gorges of the Bavarian Alps and the deepest rocky gorge of Central Europe. Every year around 300.000 visitors walk the 2.5 km long path through the gorge.

The upper entrance of the Breitachklamm is located near the Walserschanz in Austria, with limited parking space, whereas the lower one in Oberstdorf-Tiefenbach offers a visitor center and ample parking.

Formation
The Breitachklamm was formed only during the last 10,000 years after the Würm ice age. Glaciers had eroded soft rocks, and hard rocks remained. When the glaciers had melted, the Breitach river had to grind its way through the hard rocks, over a distance of 2.5 km and up to  deep.

Development

The first efforts to make the gorge accessible date from the end of the 19th century, but they were not successful.

Eventually the young pastor Johannes Schiebel from Tiefenbach ventured to develop the Klamm, sought sponsors and founded the Breitachklammverein eG (Breitachklamm society). His main motivation was to find a new source of income for his poor parish and to develop the upcoming tourism in the region.

The first blasting was executed on July 25, 1904, and on July 4, 1905, the access to the gorge was inaugurated.

On September 23, 1995, at 6:00 a.m. a massive rockfall occurred, causing  of rock and debris to slide into the gorge. Subsequently, 300,000 m³ of water were dammed up  high. On March 23, 1996, at 11:30 a.m. the water broke through, thoroughly devastating the gorge and causing damages of 150,000 euros.

In December 2004 a new visitor center was put into operation. By means of interactive models the effect of water on the mountains is demonstrated.

See also
 Waterfalls in Germany

References

External links

 Die Breitachklamm - Wunder der Natur - aus der Reihe Allgäuer Geotope
 Impressionen der Breitachklamm

Canyons and gorges of Germany

Breitachklamm


The Mapparium is a three-story-tall globe made of stained glass that is viewed from a  bridge through its interior.  As of August 2021, it is part of the "How Do You See the World?" exhibit of the Christian Science Publishing Society in Boston, Massachusetts.

Built in 1935 and based upon Rand McNally political maps published the previous year, the Mapparium shows the political world as it was at that time, including such long-disused labels as Italian East Africa and Siam, as well as more recently defunct political entities such as the Soviet Union.  In 1939, 1958, and 1966 the Church considered updating the map, but rejected it on the basis of cost and the special interest it holds as a historical artifact.

Design and construction
In the 1930s, during the construction of the Christian Science Publishing Society building, the architect Chester Lindsay Churchill was inspired to design a globe to represent The Christian Science Monitors global awareness and global reach.

Churchill was originally influenced by the famous spinning globe in the lobby of the New York Daily News Building.

The 608 stained glass panels were produced by the Rambusch Company of New York City and the Mapparium was opened to the public on June 1, 1935.

The Mapparium was closed in 1998 for a four-year cleaning and renovation.  It reopened in 2002 as an exhibit of the Mary Baker Eddy Library, and now features a light-and-sound-show that illustrates how the world has changed since 1935.  Computer-controlled lighting by the Color Kinetics company provides effects and highlights regions as the narration discusses them. The stained glass restoration was performed by the Boston-area firm Serpentino Stained Glass. As of August 2021 the Mapparium is no longer an exhibit of the Mary Baker Eddy Library, but is part of the Church's 'How Do You See the World?' exhibit on the ground floor of the Christian Science Publishing House.

In 2004, the name Mapparium was registered as a U.S. trademark (#2861312) by the Board of Directors of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, for "Educational services, namely, providing an educational exhibition of the earth. First use: 19350531. First use in commerce: 19350531."

View from within
The Mapparium was designed to allow the countries of the world to be viewed in accurate geographical relationship to each other, hence the design of the Mapparium—a mirror-image, concave reversal of the Earth, viewed from within. This is the only configuration that places the eye at the same distance from every point on the globe.

Andrew Sinclair's comments show the success of this idea

The Mapparium is so large, and you can see so much of it at once (because it's concave instead of convex), that you can really get an idea of relative sizes and distances. For example, you can see why a plane from London to San Francisco flies over Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Nevada. You also notice just how far north the United States, Europe, and Asia are. Standing at the equator, you really have to strain your neck to see them.

Acoustics
The hard spherical surface of the globe reflects sound and produces  striking acoustical effects.  It forms a remarkable whispering gallery so that visitors standing at corresponding locations near opposite ends of the bridge can speak to each other and be heard as if they were standing next to each other. One visitor writes:

There are many whispering galleries around the world, such as in St Paul's Cathedral in London, or the Echo Wall in Beijing's Temple of Heaven. However, the Mapparium is different in that speaking in any direction, since it is a full sphere, will result in the same effect. Furthermore, standing in the middle of the sphere and speaking produces the unnerving effect of hearing yourself in surround sound with startling clarity.

References

 Warner, Richard Fay (1951), "Back to Back Bay After an Absence of Ten Years," New York Times, June 10, 1951, p. XX17
 "He Knows How To Let The Sunshine In: Local Artisan Brings Out True Colors," Boston Globe, January 9, 2005, p. 10. Restoration work by Matthew Fallon.

Christian Science in Massachusetts
Buildings and structures in Boston
Buildings and structures completed in 1935
20th-century maps and globes

zh:地球馆

Mapparium