The United States Playing Card Company (USPC, though also commonly known as USPCC) is a large American producer and distributor of playing cards. It was established in 1867 as Russell, Morgan & Co. and founded in its current incarnation in 1885. Its many brands include Bicycle, Bee, Tally-Ho, Congress, Aviator, Aristocrat, Mohawk, Maverick, KEM, Hoyle and Fournier. It also produces novelty and custom playing cards, and other playing card accessories such as poker chips. For decades the company was based in Norwood, Ohio, but as of 2009, the USPC is currently headquartered in the Cincinnati suburb of Erlanger, Kentucky.

In December 2019, the United States Playing Card Company became a subsidiary of Belgian card manufacturer Cartamundi.

History
The company was founded in Cincinnati in 1867 as Russell, Morgan & Co. and originally specialized in printing posters for traveling circuses. The company took its name from partners A. O. Russell and Robert J. Morgan, who together with James M. Armstrong and John F. Robinson Jr. purchased the Enquirer Job Printing Rooms division of the newspaper The Cincinnati Enquirer. Among their printed lithographs were advertisements for performances of Edward Owings Towne's Other People's Money.

Playing cards
The company began printing four brands of playing cards in 1881: Tigers ( 101), Sportsman's ( 202), Army and Navy (both  303, and also offered in a deluxe version with gold edges as  505), and Congress ( 404 and with gold edges as  606).

Their fifth brand, introduced in 1883, was the bargain-priced Steamboat ( 999) which competed with other cheap steamboat-themed decks offered by other companies. In 1885, they began printing Bicycle cards ( 808), which would become their most popular line and their only early brand that is still in regular use today. A 32-card Euchre deck called Cabinet ( 707) was introduced in 1888, but would be changed to a regular 52-card deck as the popularity of Euchre waned.

Russell & Morgan then set out to fill their catalog with brands at price-points that sat between their existing lines. These early brands included Tourists ( 155) which were marketed as between Tigers and Sportsman's in quality, Capitol ( 188) which sat between Sportsman's and Bicycle, the casino-oriented Squared Faro ( 366), unenameled cards called Texan ( 45), double-enameled Treasury ( 89), and the top-of-the-line Ivory ( 93). A series of Skat decks were also briefly offered to appeal to German immigrants, featuring either German or American faces.

Business boomed and in 1891 Russell, Morgan, & Co. changed its name to the United States Printing Company. The playing card business was successful enough that it was spun off as a separate business in 1894, as The United States Playing Card Company. Morgan recruited a talented young inventor from New York named Samuel J. Murray, whose patented inventions increased the output of cards at the company's Norwood, Ohio plant fourfold and cut labor costs by 66 percent.  Murray also created a two-sided enameling machine.

The USPCC has historically supported wartime soldiers, starting with the inexpensive Canteen brand of cards during the Spanish–American War and the Pickett brand during World War I. During World War II, USPCC manufactured spotter cards so soldiers could identify enemy units and cooperated with the U.S. Government in creating clandestine decks given to POWs; these cards could be moistened and peeled apart to reveal escape maps.

In May 2011, Marc Hill was named president of The United States Playing Cards Company. In October 2011, the United States Playing Card Company in a partnership with Encore Software announced that they are launching the 2012 Hoyle product line - Hoyle Card Games 2012, Hoyle Casino Games 2012 and Hoyle Puzzle & Board Games 2012.

Acquisitions
The company acquired many smaller playing card manufacturers, starting in 1894 when it absorbed the Standard Playing Card Company of Chicago, the Perfection Playing Card Company of Philadelphia, and the New York Consolidated Card Company. The latter was the maker of the Bee brand and innovators of the "squeezer" card indices in the corners, which became a standard element of playing cards worldwide.

Acquisitions continued in 1907 with the purchase of Andrew Dougherty, adding the Tally-Ho brand, and in 1929 with Russell Playing Card Company, adding the Aristocrat brand. In 1930, New York Consolidated, Andrew Dougherty, and Standard Playing Card Company were merged into a single subsidiary called Consolidated-Dougherty which continued to produce brands from all three predecessors, including Aristocrat, Bee, and Tally-Ho.

Further acquisitions came towards the latter 20th and early 21st century, including an international expansion with the purchase of longtime Spanish card maker Naipes Heraclio Fournier in 1986, Arrco Playing Card Company in 1987, Hoyle Products in 2001, and KEM Playing Cards in 2004.

The USPCC would itself be acquired several times during its history, starting with Diamond International in 1969, Jessup & Lamont in 1982, and Frontenac in 1989. After a brief return to self-ownership from 1994 to 2004, it would be acquired by Jarden which was in turn purchased by Newell Brands. In June 2019, Newell sold USPCC to Belgian card manufacturer Cartamundi, including its two plants in the United States and Spain.

Production

The USPCC currently produces cards in Erlanger, Kentucky and at its Fournier factory in Vitoria, Spain. In 2009, the USPCC closed down its long-time factory in Norwood, Ohio and relocated across the Ohio River to Erlanger.

Playing cards produced between 2009 and 2012 at the Erlanger factory had various quality control issues including mis-centering of art and card handling quality. For example, several playing cards produced in 2010 were "sticky", meaning they did not separate, fan, and perform well. This created a demand for Norwood produced playing cards on the market. Playing cards produced in Norwood typically featured a blue seal, while cards in Kentucky typically feature a black seal, and to this day Norwood produced cards are still sought after by magicians, cardists, professional gamblers, and collectors.

Primary product lines

The company offers several brands of playing cards, including:

Aristocrat
The Aristocrat brand was created in 1915 by the Russell Playing Card Company of New York, which was acquired by the USPC in 1929. It was best known for its higher quality of card stock and varied but always intricate scroll work, in particular the "bank note" back, which resembled the design of United States currency notes at the time it was introduced, as Russell had acquired the playing card business of the American Bank Note Company in 1914. While the cards sold to the public carried the unique scroll-work, Aristocrat also produced the "Club Special" line of Aristocrat cards specifically for casinos. These were similar to Bee cards in that their backs were borderless with a diamond pattern and could optionally have casino logos added to the backs. Aristocrat was discontinued as a retail brand in the mid-1980s, but continued to be sold directly to casinos. Out of print for over thirty years, original Aristocrat cards were reprinted in 2017, and are currently still in production.

Aviator
Introduced in 1927 in commemoration of Charles Lindbergh's trans-Atlantic flight in the Spirit of St. Louis, Aviator playing cards (stock  914) feature a bordered, monochrome back design of predominantly circles. Aviator cards are less expensive compared to Bee and Bicycle as the card stock is thinner and has a smooth finish, unlike the textured "air-cushion" finish used in many of the company's premium brands. Until the late 1980s, the Aviator Ace of Spades and Joker carried no specific branding. Aviator cards were often used as a generic brand for limited-run, giveaway or promotional/advertising decks. They also were used to fill boxes of cards primarily sold for export or for military or institutional use. Budget brands such as Caravan, Torpedo, Mohawk, Battle Axe, Uncle Sam, and Tuxedo were generally filled with Aviator cards, and a few of these brands are still sold in other countries.

Bee

Bee is a casino card brand also sold at retail. Bee playing cards were first manufactured by the New York Consolidated Card Company in 1892, hence the number "92" on the Ace of Spades; the USPC acquired the company two years later, but it continued to operate independently, even after merging with Andrew Dougherty and Standard Playing Card Company to form Consolidated-Dougherty. Standard Bee playing cards have a diamond back, typically blue or red, though casinos frequently use customized Bee cards featuring a logo added to the various colored backs. Until 2010, Bee cards were also sometimes printed in a smooth finish, with a back known as "No. 35", which features worm-like squiggle patterns. Unlike Bicycle cards, Bee cards usually have borderless backs, making the facing of any card that is even partially revealed clearly visible. However, the standard diamond back of the card is very regular and low-profile compared to other back designs, which simplifies "bottom dealing" and some other forms of sleight-of-hand.

Bicycle

Bicycle Playing Cards (stock  808) are the USPC's flagship brand of cards, introduced in 1885.

The typical Bicycle deck is a standard deck of cards consisting of 52 traditional French-suited playing cards, two jokers and two advertising cards. The Bicycle trademark is printed on the ace of spades. The type number of a Bicycle deck can be found both on the bottom of the deck box and on the stone of the joker artwork. Bicycle cards have a textured 'air cushion' finish for improved handling.

Bicycle cards are sold in poker and bridge widths, with additional deck configurations for use in other games such as pinochle, rummy, euchre, and canasta. Back designs include the standard 'Rider' back, the 'Vintage' back modeled on the original card design, and many specialty designs. Back colors include traditional red and blue, along with black, silver, and pastel colors. Face designs include standard, jumbo index, low-vision cards for the visually impaired, and a 'PokerPeek' design on their pro-series decks that simplifies looking at hole cards. Novelty 'Big Bicycle' cards that are four times the normal bridge card size, and mini-sized cards are also available.

Bicycle playing cards are commonly used by magicians in card magic and flourishes due to their ordinary appearance. The USPCC has released look-alike card designs under stock number 809 called Mandolin-backs and Maiden-backs for use in producing marked decks. In addition to specialty decks specifically designed for magic, cardistry or purely aesthetic reasons, USPC also make other kinds of non-standard card decks, such as a gaff deck (contained in a mirrored-art box) with an assortment of unusually altered cards that can be used with regular cards for tricks.

Starting in 2019, Bicycle started a "Games by Bicycle" division to enter into the hobby board game market, with party games and light strategic games using playing-card sized cards. These include Tattoo Stories, It's Blunderful, and Shuffle Grand Prix.

Subject to certain guidelines, the Bicycle brand can be licensed from USPC.

Hoyle

The Hoyle brand was originally produced by the Brown & Bigelow Company in 1927, and was the main competitor to USPC's Bicycle brand for over 70 years. The cards proved such a success that Brown & Bigelow's card division was renamed Hoyle Products in 1975. Hoyle's shell back design is well-recognized, but Hoyle's most iconic figure is its Joker: a colorful jester whose face (repeated atop his scepter) is an optical illusion. The USPC purchased Hoyle Products from Brown & Bigelow in 2001, and unlike most of its other playing card company acquisitions, has kept a few of the popular Hoyle brands in print. Since production was taken over by the USPCC, Hoyle playing cards are also produced in an all-plastic version.

KEM

KEM cards were first manufactured in 1935. Unlike normal playing cards which are made from plastic-coated paper, KEM cards are made entirely from cellulose acetate and are waterproof. USPC purchased KEM Cards in 2004. After a two-year hiatus, USPC restarted KEM card production, which continues today. KEM cards are available to the consumer (usually at specialty game shops) with various back colors and designs in both poker and bridge sizes. In 2007, KEM bridge cards (using Bicycle artwork) were adopted as the official cards of the World Series of Poker.

Maverick
Maverick was Hoyle's budget brand when it was acquired by USPC with the rest of Hoyle Products in 2001. It was introduced in 1959, during the run of the popular Maverick TV series. Unlike most USPC current product lines, Maverick is now being printed by outsourced manufacturers.

Streamline
Streamline is a low-end brand, similar to Maverick, with a bordered monochrome back and a smooth plastic-coated finish. Streamline came to the USPCC from the Arrco Playing Card Company, longtime manufacturers of a large variety of low-end and budget-priced cards, which the USPC acquired in 1987. Like Maverick, Streamline cards are produced by outsourced manufacturers.

Tally-Ho
Tally Ho was originally a product of Andrew Dougherty, one of the earliest American card manufacturers, introduced in 1885, the same year Bicycle was introduced. Dougherty's company was acquired by the USPC in 1907, bringing Tally-Ho into its assortment. Dougherty would then be merged with New York Consolidated Card Company and Standard Playing Card Company to form Consolidated-Doughterty. Tally-Ho cards come in two back designs, known as the "fan" back and the "circle" back, typically in traditional red and blue. Due to the unique finish, known as "linoid", and the distinct designs, they are popular for card flourishes.

International product lines
In addition to exporting cards produced within the United States, the USPCC produces some brands specifically for international markets.

500

The 500 (or Five Hundred) brand was originally created by the National Playing Card Company as a "6 handed" 60-card rummy deck which includes 11-spot and 12-spot cards, as well as one joker. Eventually 500 decks also included 2 13-spot playing cards for the hearts and diamond suits, bringing up the total number of playing cards to 62 (excluding the joker). When introduced, 500 brand playing cards came in Ivory or Air-Cushion finish and were available in four back designs - Bid, Full-House, Griffin, and Swastika (which was discontinued likely due to association with the Nazi Party). Originally it was stored in an ornate hard tuck case with gold lettering. Around the 1970s the fancier tuck cases were phased out. Sometime during the 1990s the unique box art was changed to a plainer design that says "500 Playing Card Game". It is currently produced and sold mainly for export to Australia.

Aladdin
The Aladdin brand was first produced by the National Card Company of Indianapolis in the 1880s. The stock number is "1001," although there is also a "1002" version, which is identical except that the 1002 features gilded edges. There is also a "1004" variant, which had no indices in the corners. At least four different back designs were produced, but it is unknown how many were produced, or for how long. Aladdins were retained and marketed by USPCC after USPCC acquired NCC. They are produced by USPCC today primarily for export. The cards are said to be designed to withstand the constant humidity and heat of Singapore. They are produced with a "smooth finish" and an "air-cushion" finish.

Fournier

Naipes Heraclio Fournier S.A. manufactures many different sets of playing cards, most for sale in Europe. Fournier cards are also common choices for casinos around the world. In addition to their signature  1 Spanish playing cards, they also produce poker cards (the  18 line), tarot cards, and specialty cards. Since their acquisition by USPC, Fournier has also made use of the Bicycle brand name to distribute special-edition decks featuring unique artwork. They have also taken advantage of USPC's acquisition of KEM's plastic card technology to sell all-plastic versions of their cards ( 2100 is the all-plastic version of their  1).

Limited or discontinued brands

Arrco
The Arrco Playing Card Company began operations in Chicago 1927 under the name Arrow Playing Card Company. The company's founder, Theodore Regensteiner, helped popularized the Arrco brand by implementing a new easy-to-handle plastic coating for his decks. While Arrco sustained sales of a variety of budget and low-end playing cards throughout the later half of the 20th century, the Regensteiner family decided to sell the company to USPC in 1987. The USPC continued to print the Arrco brand until it was discontinued in 2011.

Army & Navy
One of the first five brands of cards introduced by the company in 1881, when it was still known as Russell, Morgan, and Co., Army and Navy were originally two separate brands although they shared the same two stock numbers: their standard  303 and the deluxe  505 which had gold edges. The two brands were then merged into the single Army & Navy brand in 1884. True to the name, the Joker and Ace of Spades of these brands tended to feature American military imagery, which changed over the years of its production.

Canteen & Picket
Stock  515, Canteen was issued during the Spanish–American War in 1898.  They were of a low quality so as to be inexpensive and easily bought by the soldiers. It was discontinued shortly after the war. In World War I, the stock number was reused for Picket, another inexpensive brand which was again printed for sale to soldiers. Printing of Picket ceased after the Armistice.

Congress
Congress was the most expensive of the first four brands introduced by the company in 1881, when it was still known as Russell, Morgan, and Co. Congress was printed under two stocks: their standard  404 and the deluxe  606 which had gold edges.

In modern use, the Congress brand is used for contract bridge and canasta cards and accessories. Congress cards are available in a wide assortment of back designs, and are typically housed in a velour covered box with a pull-out tray. Each Congress deck consists of the 52 standard cards, two jokers (which feature an image of the United States Capitol), and an information card describing bridge scoring. Congress cards are usually sold in coordinated sets of two decks to facilitate the common bridge practice of alternating decks between hands. Early Congress cards came in three variations: Poker size (1881-1922), Whist size (early 1900s to 1922), and bridge size 1922-on). From 1881 to around 1900, decks featured Lord Dundreary as the joker and the backs were solid color borders with gold (and sometimes copper) colored ink, affectionately called "lacquer backs". In 1899, pictorial backs became the norm. Between 1897 and 1904, the jokers were a black and white image of the back design.

Rambler
Rambler playing cards (Stock  23,) are another brand of playing cards that were originally produced by National Card Company. They feature gilded edges and a waterproof smooth aluminum oxide finish. They are primarily produced for export along with Aladdin playing cards, for usage in humid regions of Asia. Original production halted in 2009 with the closure of the Norwood factory due to quality control issues at the Kentucky plant and resumed sporadically after 2011.

Sportsman's
One of the first four brand of cards introduced by the company in 1881, when it was still known as Russell, Morgan, and Co., Sportsman's (stock  202) was the highest-end brand of playing cards originally produced, featuring hunting and fishing themes. The card backs featured game animals, whilst the ace of spades and jokers featured hunters, guns and hunting dogs. Production of these cards continued until 1936.

Steamboat 999
The fifth brand of cards introduced by the USPC (stock  999, introduced in 1883), this brand was introduced to meet a growing demand for inexpensive playing cards (at the time of their introduction, Steamboat cards were available for as little as 5¢ a pack). Until the 1990s when the cards had a cardstock change, Steamboat was the company's least expensive line of playing cards. The cards had a price increase as the original 999 stock was replaced with Aviator and Bicycle 808 stock. Steamboat cards were offered with an Air Cushion finish until 2009 when the United States Playing Card Company moved to Erlanger.

Stud
Stud was an exclusive house brand of the Walgreens drug store chain. They were originally produced by the Arrco company, and used the primary Arrco casino export card stock, Stock 21. When acquired by the USPCC in 1986, Stud playing cards stopped being printed on Arrco stock and were printed on the linen finish Aristocrat stock. They feature a "stud" horse on the tuck case, ace of spades, and jokers, as well as windmills on the card backs. The playing cards feature the Arrco styled court cards. Stud playing cards of all ages are widely sought after by cardistry enthusiasts and magicians due to their excellent handling. The Stud name was discontinued briefly and replaced by "Play Right", but the name change was not popular. Even less popular was the unusual indexing (Red decks were standard size, and blue decks were jumbo size). In 2019, Walgreens stopped ordering Stud playing cards in favor of Theory11 designed cards.

Squeezers
 Squeezer brand cards were originally printed by the New York Consolidated Card Company. The New York Consolidated Card Company, Andrew Dougherty and Standard Playing Card Company were all eventually bought out and merged to form the Consolidated-Doughterty branch of the USPCC. Squeezer playing cards are printed with the Cambric Finish of Bee playing cards. Squeezer playing cards traditionally came in several back designs, but only the two most popular (the famous Bulldog and Angel Back) are still printed. Unlike most other USPCC cards, these cards are only printed occasionally.

Texan No. '45

The Texan No. '45, originally printed as the '45 Texan, was in print for over 120 years. These playing cards, unlike most, were borderless, and featured a scene of Texas palmetto leaves, with a star in the center. The cards also were unique, as they were slightly asymmetrical. Whilst originally printed in the United States, the Texan No. '45, in later years, was a Canadian-exclusive brand of playing cards. Unlike some other brands, the Texan brand was still printed after the move to Erlanger. After being in print for over 120 years, the production ceased.

Tigers
Stock  101, Tigers was the first brand published in 1881 and the cheapest of the earliest four brands. Its name comes from the tiger that appeared on the joker. After the introduction of the Steamboat line, the importance of Tigers was diminished. It was discontinued around 1930.

Notes

External links

Playing card manufacturers
Manufacturing companies based in Kentucky
American companies established in 1867
Manufacturing companies established in 1867
1867 establishments in Ohio
1969 mergers and acquisitions
1982 mergers and acquisitions
1989 mergers and acquisitions
2004 mergers and acquisitions
2016 mergers and acquisitions
2019 mergers and acquisitions
Kenton County, Kentucky
American subsidiaries of foreign companies

United States Playing Card Company


Leon Edwards (born 25 August 1991) is an English professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Welterweight Champion. A professional competitor since 2011, Edwards formerly competed for BAMMA, where he was the BAMMA Welterweight Champion. As of March 7, 2023, he is #4 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.

Background
Edwards was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and lived with his parents and his brother in a one-room house. Growing up, he was surrounded by crime, and his father was involved in what he describes as "questionable activities". Edwards moved to the Aston area of Birmingham, England at age nine, and his father was shot and killed in a nightclub in London when Edwards was thirteen. He was then involved in criminal activity such as drug dealing, street fighting, and knife possession along with his social circle, but was able to get out of his lifestyle at age 17, when his mother got him to join an MMA club.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career
Edwards began his professional fighting career in 2010, making his debut as an amateur at Bushido Challenge 2 - A New Dawn. Edwards fought Carl Booth, winning via Armbar submission in round two.

Fight UK MMA
Edwards then signed a contract with Fight UK MMA. He debuted for the promotion against Damian Zlotnicki, winning via technical knockout in the first round. He had two more fights for the promotion, winning against Pawel Zwiefka and losing against Delroy McDowell via DQ by way of an illegal knee.

Post-Fight UK MMA
Edwards obtained a 2–1 record after leaving Fight UK MMA. He then fought Craig White at the Strength and Honor 14, winning by decision. Edwards then went to fight for "BAMMA", in which he went 5–0. During his stint with BAMMA, he won the welterweight championship against Wayne Murrie and he defended it once against Shaun Taylor in what was his last fight with BAMMA before going to the UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
Edwards made his promotional debut against Cláudio Silva on 8 November 2014 at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Saint Preux. He was defeated via split decision.

Edwards faced veteran Seth Baczynski on 11 April 2015 at UFC Fight Night 64. Edwards won the fight via KO at 0:08 of the first round. This result earned him a Performance of the Night bonus and marked one of the sixth fastest knockouts in the organization.

Edwards faced Pawel Pawlak on 18 July 2015 at UFC Fight Night 72. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Edwards next faced eventual UFC champion Kamaru Usman on 19 December 2015 at UFC on Fox 17.  He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Edwards faced Dominic Waters on 8 May 2016 at UFC Fight Night 87. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Edwards next faced Albert Tumenov on 8 October 2016 at UFC 204. He won the fight via submission in the third round.

Edwards faced Vicente Luque on 18 March 2017 at UFC Fight Night 107. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Edwards faced Bryan Barberena on 2 September 2017 at UFC Fight Night 115. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Edwards faced Peter Sobotta on 17 March 2018 at UFC Fight Night 127. He won the fight via TKO at 4:59 in the third round.

Edwards faced Donald Cerrone on 23 June 2018 at UFC Fight Night 132. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Edwards faced Gunnar Nelson on 16 March 2019 at UFC Fight Night 147. He won the bout by split decision. After the event, Edwards was punched backstage by Jorge Masvidal, which left Edwards with a laceration under his left eye.

Edwards faced former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos on 20 July 2019 in the main event of UFC on ESPN 4. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

As the first bout of his new, multi-fight contract, Edwards was scheduled to face Tyron Woodley on 21 March 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards. However, the restrictions related to COVID-19 forced Edwards to withdraw as the event was meant to be moved from London to the United States, and the event was subsequently cancelled.

After a 425-day hiatus since his bout with Dos Anjos, the UFC had removed Edwards from the UFC rankings due to inactivity on 22 October 2020. However, one day later, it was announced that he had been scheduled to face undefeated prospect Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of UFC Fight Night 183 on 19 December 2020. This involved Edwards being back to the #3 spot in the UFC rankings. On 29 November, it was announced that Chimaev had allegedly tested positive for COVID-19, which meant the bout was declared on jeopardy. On 1 December, Edwards officially tested positive for COVID-19 and allegedly lost twelve pounds due to the severity of his case, so the bout was subsequently postponed. On 22 December, it was announced that the contest has been rescheduled for 20 January 2021, at UFC Fight Night 185. In turn, Chimaev pulled out of the contest on 29 December due to lingering effects of his own COVID-19 struggle. As a result, the bout was temporarily cancelled. On 13 January, the bout was scheduled for the third time, and was scheduled to headline UFC Fight Night 187 on 13 March 2021. However, on 11 February, UFC president Dana White announced the fight was once again cancelled due to Chimaev suffering from lingering effects of COVID-19. On February 18, it was announced that Belal Muhammad would be the replacement opponent for Edwards. During the beginning of the second round, Edwards accidentally poked Muhammad in the eye rendering him unable to continue. The fight was declared a no contest, snapping his 8-fight win streak.

Edwards was expected to face Nate Diaz on 15 May 2021 at UFC 262, marking the first time a non-main event and non-title bout had been scheduled for 5 rounds in UFC history. However, the bout was moved to UFC 263 due to a minor injury sustained by Diaz. Edwards controlled a vast majority of the bout, but was stunned badly with punches late in the fifth. Edwards won the fight by unanimous decision (49–46, 49–46, 49–46).

Edwards was scheduled to face Jorge Masvidal on 11 December 2021 at UFC 269. However, Masvidal withdrew due to injury and the bout was scrapped.

UFC Welterweight Champion

Edwards rematched Kamaru Usman on 20 August 2022 at UFC 278 for the UFC Welterweight Championship. After having a successful first round and struggling for the next four, Edwards won the fight and title via knockout in the fifth round, claiming the UFC Welterweight Championship. The win earned him the Performance of the Night award. This victory is considered by many to be one of the best knockouts of all-time, as well as one of the best comebacks to ever be pulled off in combat sports history.

A third fight between Edwards and Usman took place on March 18, 2023, at UFC 286. With a point deduction in the third round due to grabbing the fence to prevent a takedown, he won the bout via majority decision. Aside from the fence grab, Edwards was commended for showing significant improvement from the second meeting with Usman, defending 11 of Usman's 15 takedown attempts and out-striking Usman on the feet for most of the fight.

Edwards is scheduled to defend the UFC Welterweight Championship title against  Colby Covington on December 16, 2023, at UFC 296.

Personal life
Leon grew up in Aston, Birmingham, England but is originally from Kingston, Jamaica. He started training mixed martial arts when he was 17. His nickname, Rocky, was given to him by his friends in school. His brother, Fabian, is also a mixed martial artist for Bellator MMA.

Championships and achievements

Mixed martial arts
Ultimate Fighting Championship
UFC Welterweight Championship (One time; current)
One successful title defense
First Jamaican-born champion in UFC history
Performance of the Night (Two Times) vs. Seth Baczynski and Kamaru Usman
Sixth-fastest finish in UFC history  (8 seconds)
Tied (Georges St-Pierre) for the second longest unbeaten streak in UFC Welterweight Division history (12)
BAMMA
BAMMA RDX Welterweight Championship (One time, former)
One successful title defence
MMAjunkie.com
2022 August Knockout of the Month
ESPN
2022 Knockout of the Year
Cageside Press
2022 Comeback of the Year
2022 Knockout of the Year

Mixed martial arts record

|-
| Win
| align=center| 21–3 (1)
| Kamaru Usman
| Decision (majority)
| UFC 286
|
| align=center| 5
| align=center| 5:00
| London, England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 20–3 (1)
| Kamaru Usman
| KO (head kick)
| UFC 278
|
| align=center| 5
| align=center| 4:04
| Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 19–3 (1)
| Nate Diaz
| Decision (unanimous)
| UFC 263
|
| align=center| 5
| align=center| 5:00
| Glendale, Arizona, United States
|
|-
| NC
| align=center|
| Belal Muhammad
| NC (accidental eye poke)
| UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Muhammad
|
| align=center| 2
| align=center| 0:18
| Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|18–3
|Rafael dos Anjos
|Decision (unanimous)
|UFC on ESPN: dos Anjos vs. Edwards
|
|align=center|5
|align=center|5:00
|San Antonio, Texas, United States
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|17–3
|Gunnar Nelson
|Decision (split)
|UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
|London, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|16–3
|Donald Cerrone
|Decision (unanimous)
|UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Edwards
|
|align=center|5
|align=center|5:00
|Kallang, Singapore
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|15–3
|Peter Sobotta
|TKO (punches)
|UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Volkov
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|4:59
|London, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|14–3
|Bryan Barberena
|Decision (unanimous)
|UFC Fight Night: Volkov vs. Struve
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
|Rotterdam, Netherlands
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|13–3
|Vicente Luque
|Decision (unanimous)
|UFC Fight Night: Manuwa vs. Anderson
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
|London, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|12–3
|Albert Tumenov
|Submission (rear-naked choke)
|UFC 204
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|3:01
|Manchester, England
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|11–3
|Dominic Waters
|Decision (unanimous)
|UFC Fight Night: Overeem vs. Arlovski
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
|Rotterdam, Netherlands
|
|-
|Loss
|align=center|10–3
|Kamaru Usman
|Decision (unanimous)
|UFC on Fox: dos Anjos vs. Cowboy 2
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
|Orlando, Florida, United States
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|10–2
|Pawel Pawlak
|Decision (unanimous)
|UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Leites
|
|align=center|3
|align=center|5:00
|Glasgow, Scotland
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 9–2
|Seth Baczynski
|KO (punches)
|UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop 2
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 0:08
|Kraków, Poland
|
|-
|Loss
|align=center| 8–2
|Cláudio Silva
|Decision (split)
|UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Saint Preux
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|Uberlândia, Brazil
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 8–1
|Shaun Taylor
|KO (punch)
|BAMMA 16
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 3:30
|Manchester, England
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 7–1
| Wayne Murrie
| Submission (rear-naked choke)
|BAMMA 15
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 3:13
|London, England
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 6–1
| Wendle Lewis
| KO (punches)
|BAMMA 14
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 1:20
|Birmingham, England
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 5–1
| Adam Boussif
| Submission (arm-triangle choke)
|BAMMA 13
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 2:10
|Birmingham, England
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 4–1
| Jonathan Bilton
| TKO (knees)
|BAMMA 11
|
|align=center| 2
|align=center| 1:11
|Birmingham, England
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 3–1
| Craig White
| Technical Decision
|SAH 14: Strength And Honour 14
|
|align=center| 2
|align=center| 5:00
|Exeter, England
|
|-
|Loss
|align=center| 2–1
| Delroy McDowell
| DQ (illegal knee)
|Fight UK MMA: Fight UK 6
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 2:40
|Leicester, England
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 2–0
| Pawel Zwiefka
| Decision (unanimous)
|Fight UK MMA: Fight UK 5
|
|align=center| 3
|align=center| 5:00
|Leicester, England
|
|-
| Win
|align=center| 1–0
| Damian Zlotnicki
| TKO (punches)
|Fight UK MMA: Fight UK 4
|
|align=center| 1
|align=center| 2:15
|Leicester, England
|
|}

Pay-per-view bouts

See also
 List of current UFC fighters
 List of male mixed martial artists

References

External links

1991 births
Living people
English male mixed martial artists
English practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Jamaican male mixed martial artists
Jamaican practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica
English sportspeople of Jamaican descent
Jamaican emigrants to the United Kingdom
Welterweight mixed martial artists
Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters
Ultimate Fighting Championship champions

Leon Edwards


The Noctuinae are a subfamily of the family Noctuidae, and is composed of moths. The larvae of many species feed on roots or stems of various grasses. Some are generalist feeders which makes them potential pests.

Noctuid systematics is in a state of flux; the list of tribes is provisional and other groups now considered more distinct (e.g. Hadeninae) were formerly included here. Likewise, the validity of the tribe Xestiini is doubtful for example.

See also
 List of Noctuinae genera

References

Moth subfamilies

Noctuinae


The State University of New York at Potsdam (SUNY Potsdam or, colloquially, Potsdam) is a public college in  Potsdam,  New York. It is the northernmost member of the State University of New York (SUNY) system.  Founded in 1816, it is among the oldest colleges in the United States. It is composed of the College of Arts & Sciences, the School of Education and Professional Studies, and the Crane School of Music.

History
Potsdam was founded by Benjamin Raymond in 1816 as the St. Lawrence Academy. In 1834, the academy was chosen by the New York State Legislature to exclusively offer a teacher education program for its senatorial district. With funds from the state, and from support by preceptor Reverend Asa Brainerd, the first diploma in teaching was given in 1836, thus beginning the academy's and eventually the college's longstanding tradition of excellence in the field of teacher education.

In 1866, the State Legislature ended its funding of teacher education departments in private academies, and began establishing several normal schools throughout the state. The Village of Potsdam was thus named as one of four locations for new normal schools, and in 1867, the St. Lawrence Academy became the Potsdam Normal School.

By 1886, the Potsdam Normal School had become the first institution in the United States to offer a normal training course for public school music teachers in the United States. Founded by Julia E. Crane, the Crane Normal Institute of Music continues today as the world-renowned Crane School of Music as a leader in the field of music education.

The State University of New York was founded in 1948, and Potsdam became one of its founding members, and was thus renamed New York State Teachers College at Potsdam. In 1964, the college's mission changed to providing multiple programs, and the university adopted its current name.

During the 1980s, despite the college's traditional strengths in music and education, the college gained recognition for its quickly blossoming mathematics program under the guidance of Clarence F. Stephens. Known as the Potsdam Miracle, Stephens transformed a practically non-existent department to having the third largest number of mathematics majors of any institution in the United States during his tenure.

In 2010, the college had a total enrollment of approximately 4,500 students, with approximately 930 freshmen entering, the largest first-year class since 1982.

Since that time, enrollment has declined by 43%, and the student body now hovers at around 2,500 students. In response to declining enrollment, in September 2023, SUNY Potsdam president Suzanne Smith announced a plan to reduce the deficit of $9 million by eliminating up to 14 degree programs over the next 3 to 5 years.

Campus
The campus is in the village of Potsdam, near the Canada–United States border. It is situated in the St. Lawrence Valley, between the St. Lawrence River and the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains, approximately 20 miles from the border of The Adirondack Park. The Raquette River flows through the middle of the town of Potsdam.

The school sits on  and consists of 44 buildings. Barrington Drive runs through the center of the campus, with all academic buildings on the northwest side of the street, and all campus life and residence buildings on the southeast side. The Crane School of Music campus is in the northern part of the campus, east of the academic quad.

The college has two libraries, the Frederick W. Crumb Memorial Library in the center of the academic quad, and the Crane Music Library in Schuette Hall at the Crane complex. The college also has six performance facilities: Hosmer Hall, Snell Theatre, and Wakefield Recital Hall (three venues in The Crane School of Music), the Proscenium Theater, the Black Box Theater, and the Dance Theater (three venues in the college's new Performing Arts Center).  The college also houses an art gallery and the Maxcy Hall Athletic Facility.

SUNY Potsdam is home to the Charles T. Weaver Anthropology Museum, a teaching museum that allows students to curate exhibitions and have hands on experience with the museum's collection. Also on campus is the Art Museum at SUNY Potsdam, also known as the Gibson Gallery, which stresses its mission to connect students, faculty and all those on campus with visual art.

The affiliated non-profit organization that provides dining services and runs the union market and college bookstore on campus is known as PACES or Potsdam Auxiliary College Education Services. This organization is the largest financial supporter of the college, annually donating significant portions of their proceeds back to the college in support of scholarships and other initiatives on campus.

Athletics
In 1981 and 1986, under Hall of Fame Coach Jerry Welsh, the Potsdam Bears basketball team won the NCAA Division III National Championship.  In 1979, 1982, and 1985, the Potsdam Bears were national runners-up for this title. The SUNY-Potsdam men's ice hockey team has competed in the NCAA since 1976. Most recently, they played in the State University of New York Athletic Conference, which is a Division III athletics conference. The 1995-96 Men's Ice Hockey team won the hockey program's only SUNYAC title in school history, under Hall of Fame Coach Ed Seney.

SUNY Potsdam athletics were recently placed on NCAA probation due to an inadvertent error in the awarding of international student grants. The teams affected by the NCAA probation are men's and women's hockey, women's volleyball, men's and women's lacrosse, and women's soccer.

A Cappella
SUNY Potsdam has four a cappella groups on campus – The Potsdam Pointercounts (1993–Present), The A Sharp Arrangement (1994–Present), The Potsdam Pitches (2007–Present) and Stay Tuned (2012–Present). All four groups have competed in the ICCA (International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella) run by Varsity Vocals. In 2018, The Potsdam Pitches made their way to the ICCA finals and performed at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. This was the first time that a SUNY Potsdam group had made in to finals.

Notable faculty emeriti and alumni

 Ernest Blood, Basketball coach, enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame
 Stephanie Blythe, Opera singer, mezzo-soprano
 T. Coraghessan Boyle, Author
 Marc Butler, Politician and member of the New York State Assembly
 Michael J. Colburn, 27th Director of the United States Marine Band
 Mike Deane, Former Division 1 head basketball coach
 Daniel Decker, Composer and recording artist
 Renée Fleming, Opera singer, soprano
Stacey Fox, Percussionist, composer, filmmaker and animator
 Arthur Frackenpohl (Professor Emeritus), Composer and Author
 David J. Hanson (Professor Emeritus), alcohol researcher
 Maurice Kenny (Emeritus Writer-in-Residence), poet, editor/publisher, and essayist
 Stanley Kunitz, former U.S. poet laureate
 Chris Lee, Professional Hockey Player, KHL All-Star, 2018 Canadian Olympian
 Chuck Lorre, television director, writer, producer, composer, and actor
 Brock McElheran (Professor Emeritus), conductor and author
 C. J. Rapp, Entrepreneur and Beverage Executive (creator of Jolt Cola)
 William Buell Richards, First Chief Justice of Canada
 Stephen Savoia, Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer
 Daniel Schaefer, politician, former U.S. Representative from Colorado
 Clarence F. Stephens (Professor Emeritus), mathematics educator
 Joy Tanner, actress
 David Valesky, Politician and member of the New York State Senate
 Lisa Vroman, Singer and stage actress, soprano
 Tim Welsh, Former Head Basketball Coach at Providence College
 John Zakour, writer / cartoonist

References

External links
 Official website
 Official athletics website

Mathematics education in the United States
Potsdam, State University of New York
Educational institutions established in 1816
Universities and colleges in St. Lawrence County, New York
1816 establishments in New York (state)
Public universities and colleges in New York (state)

State University of New York at Potsdam


Orrell Rugby Union Football Club is a rugby union club from Orrell in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester.

The club was founded in 1927, holding a place in the top-tier of rugby union from 1986 to 1997.

History
Orrell Rugby Union Football Club was founded in 1927 by a group of friends from Orrell and neighbouring Pemberton who travelled daily by train to Liverpool. One of the stops on that journey was at Rainford where some young men from that village joined the train. The talk and banter was often about rugby and eventually a challenge was issued by the men from Rainford, and of course duly taken up. In such circumstances was Orrell Rugby Union Football Club born.

In those early days, the club led a very nomadic existence with grounds in Kitt Green, Orrell Mount, Abbey Lakes, Alma Hill and Up Holland, and men could be seen most Saturdays carrying rugby posts and sawdust to mark out the pitch in one locality or another before they eventually settled at the YMCA cricket ground in Winstanley Road.

The Second World War forced the suspension of the club, but as soon as hostilities ceased Orrell RUFC was re-constituted. With rapid growth in playing membership, new premises were sought and a site at Edge Hall Road was purchased in 1950, an ex-army hut being used as changing accommodation. Orrell soon developed a reputation on the field that was as much respected as it was feared, but improvements in the fixture list were not easily come by as they were told by side after side that they would play, but only if others played them also.

On the field, Orrell began to do very well indeed. Between 1961 and 1966 they played 139 games with only 14 defeats. In September 1968, Orrell became the first club in Lancashire to erect floodlights, enabling the club to play in mid-week. The 1970s saw Orrell's success continue: In the 1970–71 season they played 42 games and only lost 4 of those. In 1971–72 they won the resurrected Lancashire Cup without conceding a point, which also qualified them to take part in the following season's National Knockout Competition. In the second round they defeated the famous Harlequins and received wide press coverage, prompting the famous quote 'beaten by a lay-by off the M6!' With eight teams representing Orrell at various levels in 1973, re-building began to add extra changing rooms, a gym and a kitchen. This work was finished in 1974 being officially opened on 4 April that year by the RFU President Micky Steele-Bodger.

In the 1980s Orrell had some memorable moments, winning the Lancashire cup for the 6th time in 8 years in the 1981–82 season. They finished 2nd in the Northern merit table in 1982–83 and were quarter finalists in the National Knockout Cup in successive seasons. In 1984–85 season they entered the record books setting a new record for the number of points scored in a season by an English club - 1295. Their consistency in the merit tables was recognised and Orrell joined the new Courage League set up in 1986–87 finishing 6th in 1987–88 and 4th in 1988–89. The club continued to go from strength to strength, reaching the Pilkington Cup semi and quarter finals on a number of occasions. They were an ever-present in the English First Division until 1997, and finished runners up to Bath in 1991–92, losing the title on the final day of the season following defeat by Wasps. The club built its strength on its commitment to junior rugby and bringing players up 'through the ranks', many of whom played for the first team and achieved representative honours.

Orrell always supported the Lancashire cause and was the backbone of the county side for many years, with the club itself becoming synonymous with the Red Rose success supplying many players including great county captains in Des Seabrook and Sammy Southern. During the re-introduction of Divisional rugby in the late 1980s, Orrell were well represented.  For the game against the U.S.A. Eagles in 1989, Simon Langford, Gerry Ainscough, Sammy Southern, Neil Hitchen and Bob Kimmins were in the side that day.  Between 1967 and 1987 Orrell won the Glengarth Sevens at Stockport R.U.F.C a record 8 times.

On the international stage, Nigel Heslop, Gerry Ainscough, Neil Hitchen and Bob Kimmins were selected in the England 'B' side against Spain in 1989. Frank Anderson, Peter Williams, Fran Clough, Dave Cusani, Nigel Heslop, and Phil Jones have represented England, whilst playing for the Black with Ambers. John Carleton and Dewi Morris have also played for the British Lions. Simon Mason represented Ireland, Steve So'ioalo and Opeta Palepoi, Samoa with Andy Craig capped for Scotland.

One of the greatest driving forces on the playing side of the club has been Des Seabrook. As a player and club captain, Seabrook, more than anyone, forged the side that took the club into senior status through the resurrected Lancashire Cup and into the National Cup where his side inflicted famous defeats on the likes of Northampton and Harlequins. His leadership on the field was legendary and later as club coach and Director of Rugby it was Seabrook who worked with the side that remained an ever-present in Division One until more recent times. He coached England, The North, The North West Counties and Lancashire.

One of the greatest strengths of the Orrell club has always been in the quality and calibre of its administration working away from the pitch to ensure that the club became one of the elite of the game. Alf Swift who was Club President from 1975/77 was an early driving force behind the Orrell advance. Long before he became President, Swift was one of a group of committee men who recognised the potential of the club to compete with the best the game had to offer.  He began the search for top quality fixtures, mainly in the Northwest and Yorkshire. With an improving fixture list, Orrell began to rise up the ranks but Swift was not satisfied and insisted that the club should seek out fixtures on a national scale and used success in the Lancashire Cup to further his aims.

Following on from Swift, the one man who must be credited with Orrell's overall success is Eric Smith. Smith, a former club captain who served as club Chairman from 1969/78 and President from 1982/87, more than anyone was responsible for Orrell emerging on the national stage as a senior club. He transformed the administration and ensured that Orrell acted in a 'professional' way both on and off the field long before money was placed into players pockets. He was a well-respected figure at RFU, sitting on many committees, especially the contentious Competitions Committee when league rugby was first introduced, ensuring of course, that Orrell always had a voice at the 'top table'. Although he had little 'truck' for anyone who would hold the club back nor for the faint hearts who hesitated at the thought of progress, he was an Orrell man through and through, the appellation 'Mr Orrell' given to him by a section of the press, being not that wide of the mark.

The advent of the professional game hit the club hard. Poor financial management plunged the club into debt, and as figures began to spiral out of control, the club made the conscious decision at the beginning of the 1996–97 season to spend only what it could afford. By steadfastly refusing to chase the big-spending monied outfits, the club was faced with the mass exodus of sixteen of their first team squad. They were inevitably relegated.

Unable to return to the elite at the first time of asking, Orrell suffered a severe reduction in income and, as the financial screws began to tighten, a drastic re-appraisal of the financial and rugby structure of the club was carried out. Still refusing to mortgage their assets in an attempt to keep up with more wealthy competitors they decided to cut their cloth accordingly. The whole squad moved to part-time, Director of Coaching Ged Glynn departed to be replaced by 'Sammy' Southern, who returned as Chairman of Rugby, and a coaching panel came in under former club captain Bill Lyon, assisted by Phil Moss and former British Lions and England wing Mike Slemen. The situation was explained to the players and this resulted in a further exodus with Ben Cronin and Brian Walsh returning to Ireland, Zimbabwean international Doug Trivella moving to Rotherham, Charlie Harrison signing for Bedford and Nigel Heslop choosing junior rugby with local side West Park. However, Ian Wynn and Paul Manley returned from the 'White Rose' county and other players were recruited, including David Slemen son of the former British Lion together with a number of others out of the local junior ranks.

The influence of the 1st XV's new coaching regime of Bill Lyon, Phil Moss, Mike Slemen and 'Sammy' Southern in particular cannot be underestimated. There was a restored vibrancy about the rugby at Edge Hall Road in the late nineties, and a new-found confidence amongst the players, capable of playing good quality rugby, remaining never less than competitive. Unfortunately Orrell were unable to satisfy creditors, and were forced to go into administration, leading to the departure of Manley and Stuart Turner to Worcester. The club managed to hang on at the second level until, despite a last-day home victory over London Welsh, a convenient draw between Otley and Bedford saved the status of both teams, seeing  Orrell relegated to National Division Two at the end of the 2000–01 season.

Following relegation from the top flight, some club members, concerned about the diminishing level of senior rugby being played at Orrell, got together to re-form the Orrell third XV. The following year, the side was formally registered with the RFU as Orrell Anvils, a purely amateur side with good relations with the professional set-up, and entered the RFU league structure as a new side in the South Lancashire and Cheshire league. In the first league season 1998–99, with a very young side, the Anvils missed out on promotion by a single point, and part way through the season Colin Nicholson having been asked to coach the professional 2nd XV, passed on the coaching responsibility to a current coaching team headed by Tony Pegg. Recruitment of additional players took place during the summer of 1999, adding a number of experienced players to the existing squad of promising younger players.
This blend of youth and experience saw the Anvils go through the 1999–2000 season unbeaten, winning the league and scoring over 500 points in 10 games by playing an expansive and attractive game.

The 'ethos' of the Anvils was one of enjoyment of rugby, both on and off the field. Competition for places in the side was strong, with a squad of over 30 players, yet team spirit remained high. Players with extensive first team experience such as Jeff Huxley, Nigel Heslop, Steve Taberner, Micky Glynn and Dick Fisher played alongside promising young players like Paul Engwell, Andy Carroll, David Honor, Mike Caldwell and Ricky Rimmer. The Anvils became the perfect vehicle for senior players, who had perhaps had enough of the pressures and demands of 1st XV rugby but who still wanted to enjoy playing the game, to pass on their experience to younger lads hoping to progress to play at a more senior level. From that point of view the Anvils became an integral part of the Orrell set up and saw players go on to play 2nd and 1st team rugby.

With the real possibility of not having enough players to start the 2001–02 season the Orrell directors decided that something had to be done. Wigan Warriors Rugby League Club Chairman Maurice Lindsay and business tycoon Dave Whelan, the then owner of the JJB Sports empire, had already been making noises about forming a rugby union side. Initial contact was made via Whelan's Finance Director Simon Moorehead and an exciting night saw the members promised £10,000,000 investment over 5 years, with Mr Whelan expressing the dream to be drinking red wine away to Toulouse in the European Cup in the not-too-distant future. Wide-eyed, and with these promises of future success, the members reluctantly sold their shares in the club for £1,000 each, to the new owners, with Lindsay becoming the club's new Chairman.

Immediate changes were seen, not all of them universally popular with the former members, but Orrell began to prosper again. Most of the players who had been looking elsewhere were persuaded to stay, and Phil Jones, who completed his first season in the game by playing for the full England side against the Barbarians at Twickenham, was recruited from the Rugby League Club. Andy Craig who had been playing rugby league for Widnes Vikings returned, and was capped for Scotland on their summer tour of North America and played for Scotland throughout the autumn series of internationals and the Six Nations. Also that season, Wade Kelly an outstanding centre from Australia, Nick Easter at the time playing for Rosslyn Park who has won 54 caps as the England No.8, Sam Reay a former England Rugby League school boy came from Rugby League side Wigan Warriors, along with Simon Haughton who played for England Rugby League during the 1995 Rugby League World Cup and won the Super League Grand Final with Wigan in 1998 and Wes Davies, a Wales Rugby League International swelled the ranks. They were joined by Orrell stalwarts the journeyman locks Alex Bennett and the legendary Chas Cusani.

Under the management of Sammy Southern as director of rugby, assisted by Bill Lyon, the team beat main rivals Plymouth Albion both home and away and took the league title at Nottingham, beating the home side 66-15, and were immediately promoted back to National One. Unfortunately after giving a lifetime service to the club Southern was now thought to be superfluous to requirements as Director of Rugby, and left the club, a decision that did little to further an already tenuous relationship between the loyal supporters and  Maurice Lindsay.

During the close season, former Australian International flank-forward Ross Reynolds was appointed as head coach, most of the previous season's squad re-signed and further re-enforcements were drafted-in with the signing of Samoan scrum half Stephen So'oialo, hooker Mike Howe from Newcastle, Steve Barretto a prop from Leinster, Drew Hickey a super 12 player from Australia, Simon Haughton, another rugby league international out of the Warriors stable, and Steve Moore a Welsh international lock. They went full-time at the end of the season and set their sights on Premiership rugby. With a new side coming together they had a disastrous opening month but then things improved, with them only losing one more league game throughout the campaign to finish a creditable 4th. Their season highlight was a 20-13 win over Exeter in the Powergen Shield final at Twickenham.

Off the field, Orrell's clubhouse was destroyed by arson in the early hours of Monday 12 August 2002, before the season had even begun but ominously as it proved, there was no rush by the new owners to rebuild. Irreplaceable items were lost, including representative and international shirts that had been donated to the club by former players, and the trophy cabinet containing much of the club's silverware.

Reynolds strengthened the side with the signing of Simon Emms from Bath, England hooker Neil McCarthy from Bristol, Alfie Too'ala from Rotherham, Rodd Penney who played for England in the World Sevens, Gavin Cattle and Leigh Hinton from Birmingham, together with Jim McKay who was brought in as backs coach. Another successful season followed, losing only four games and finishing second to Worcester. Hopes were high that one more season would see them in the Premiership. With expectations high it came as a cruel blow that backer David Whelan decided to withdraw his investment after promising supporters that he was in for the 'long haul.'

News following a meeting seeking clarification of Whelan's exact intentions, revealed that he was giving ownership of the clubhouse and the first team pitch over to Wigan Warriors Rugby League Club, but offered a 25-year lease to Orrell at a prohibitively expensive rent. He also announced that his £30,000 per annum sponsorship of the club through his JJB Sports Store empire would cease at the end of the 2004 / 2005 season.

Following Dave Whelan's announcement that he would no longer back Orrell in early 2004, a takeover bid was launched by a South African consortium led by millionaire businessman Johann Rupert. The intention was to relocate the club to QPR's Loftus Road stadium and brand the new venture London Tribe. However, the offer was refused and Orrell was handed back to its members in the Summer of 2004.

The decision had immediate effect as nearly the whole squad and coaching staff left for pastures new and with little interest being shown by the management, there was a real danger that this once proud club could fold. In the end, Sale Sharks Assistant Coach Mark Nelson took over coaching duties and assembled a squad with Richard Wilks had appointed as Club Captain. Unfortunately it was late in the day and the side began the season both underpowered and under-prepared. The frailties were immediately exposed and although they managed a draw away at Bedford with the help of players on loan from Sale Sharks, the arrangement with the Premiership club was less than successful with Orrell not knowing from one week to the next who was going to be available. Despite some close encounters the side did not record a league win until they beat Henley Hawks at Edge Hall Road in November. They were not to win again until the final game of the season when they beat Nottingham at Edge Hall Road to enthusiastic acclaim from their faithful fans. But by then relegation back to National Two had long been decided. In difficult circumstances Nelson must be credited with doing a solid enough job to ensure that the club would survive through the season and the players who had been drawn in from all over the North showed remarkable passion, spirit and resilience throughout the whole season.

Although relegation was inevitable, it was to the club's great relief that towards the end of the season, the rebuilt clubhouse was opened, following almost three seasons without one. With the club reverting to a members committee, whose intention was to return Orrell to a 'proper' rugby club, former Irish international Simon Mason was appointed as full-time Director of Rugby with the brief of 'kick starting' the revival, the hope initially being one of consolidation in National Division Two. Although a sizable number of the previous season's squad had promised to stay, they subsequently left, leaving Mason and assistant Mike Howe to start, yet again, from square one. They began the season with a very young and inexperienced squad, and while they matured significantly it was a case of too little, too late and another relegation for the club. Whelan also limited Orrell's use of the clubhouse to matchdays-only, preventing any significant form of revenue generation.

Coach Mason was lured away by better financial prospects at Caldy, and the club appointed Chris Chudleigh as their new coach, joining the club from the British Army where he held the rank of captain. He worked as the Army Officer responsible for introducing and developing the military's sporting strategic initiatives in schools and youth organisations, nationwide, as part of the policy to introduce young people to a potential career in the Army. However, a lack of cash meant that few players remained from the previous season's National Two campaign, and while Fijians and Army players were  brought in together with some talented young South Africans (like Jimmy Baloyi and Sibu Ndungane) and New Zealanders, the team struggled to excel.

As Orrell no longer owned Edge Hall Road, they had to train at a local college and to compound difficulties, they were deducted six league points by the RFU for playing two unregistered players at the beginning of the season against Morley. Off the field circumstances became similarly bleak, the once famous club are having to use the local Station Hotel as their headquarters, with the memorabilia that was left after the fire, transferred from the brand new clubhouse which, for some bizarre reason, Dave Whelan and Maurice Lindsay were no longer allowing them to use. It sat disused for 7 months before Wigan Warriors converted it into a high performance training centre in January 2007. A thread-bare committee devoted as much of their spare time to the running of the club. This proved extremely difficult, as Chairman Tony Pegg was frequently travelling internationally, Treasurer Simon 'Chappers' Chapman was suffering with cancer, and a recent University graduate was managing the media and commercial areas from his bedroom. With no assets to appeal to sponsors, attracting investment to the ailing club was virtually impossible.

By the half-way point of the season, Orrell still had not won a game, and with this back-drop, the side started to break up, with players, including the club captain, moving to other clubs or off to Rugby League. Coach Chris Chudleigh secured the talents of university students from Manchester, including Richard Bradley, Fergus Owens (later Sedgley Park), David Spiers (ex Colston's School First XV), Ed Sayce (later Macclesfield RUFC), Robert Townsend (later National league 2 with Halifax RUFC) and Chris Naisbitt (later Sale Jets). This was aided by the signings of Blackpool Panthers rugby league duo Martin Gambles and Keiron Seeds (Scotland U19 Rugby League), to attempt to kick start the team's hopes. A members meeting confirmed the overwhelming feeling that the club should at least look into the possibility of moving elsewhere at the end of the season, providing a suitable location could be found.

The story was becoming one of heartbreak for all those former players and stalwarts who had made Orrell one of the top clubs in the country before the professional era. A difficult, and at times heated process, off the field ensued, with the local newspaper reporting a group of members' intention to set up a breakaway club, before agreement from the existing committee that amateur rugby was the only way forward for rugby in Orrell, and a new start would allow the name and heritage of Orrell Rugby Union Football Club to move forward based on the values that were established by predecessors of this great club.

The season saw record losses for the club, the worst being a misery-compounding 18-try 124-0 defeat away to Blaydon, after finding just seventeen players able to travel to the fixture. Without a win and just two draws to their name, Orrell bode a sad farewell to Edge Hall Road on 21 April when they were defeated 24-17 by Morley despite a heroic and spirited performance from the Orrell youngsters. Chudleigh subsequently left the club at the end of another relegation season to join the coaching staff at Halifax RUFC, a job he combined with the role of Community Marketing Manager for Sale Sharks. In 2008, he was appointed the new First XV coach at West Park St Helens RFC.

Orrell played the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons in the Euromanx South Lancs and Cheshire 2. Despite suffering a 10-point deduction in the 08/09 season (subsequently demoting the club to 11th of 12 teams) for repeatedly postponing games due to poor playing surfaces at St John Rigby, it is believed the club will remain at this level once the RFU restructuring is finalised.

For the club's inaugural season in SLC2, six players from the professional era stayed with the team - Brian Roberts, Martin McKeown, David Price, Andy Daley, Andrew Statter and John Hyland. The committee is continuing to search for land to develop a new ground on, and are currently drawing up proposals for a site that could house two pitches and a clubhouse.

In the 2010–11 season, the club was promoted from South Lancs and Cheshire 2.

Honours

First team:
Glengarth Sevens main event winners (8): 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1985
Lancashire Cup winners (10): 1972, 1973, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1997
Gala Sevens winners: 1975
Glengarth Sevens Davenport Plate winners: 1979
Merit Table B champions: 1985-86
National 2 champions: 2001–02
Powergen Shield winners: 2003
Lancs/Cheshire 2 champions: 2010–11
Lancs/Cheshire 1 champions: 2019–20

Orrell Anvils (third team):
South Lancs/Cheshire 4 champions (2): 1999–00, 2000–01

Ground

Orrell played their home games at Edge Hall Road from 1950 until 2007. Sub-landlord Dave Whelan, who was granted ownership of the lease on the land in 2001 after paying members £1,000 each for their shares, subsequently bought the freehold of the site on the death of the owner and sold the three pitches that had hosted the 2nd, 3rd and 4th XV's as well as all Junior sides for over £3 million.

As Edge Hall Road was brown-belt land, Whelan was required to provide the same facilities of the three fields at an alternate venue before a deal to build housing on the land could be finalized. Eventually, he contributed £400,000 to the construction of the all-weather pitch at St John Rigby college.

In 2008, current owners Wigan Warriors tied up a sponsorship deal with the Co-operative. As such, Edge Hall Road has been renamed the Co-operative Community stadium.

Club colours
Orrell traditionally played in black and amber hooped shirts until they formed their first major technical partnership in 1993 with Nuttalls, seeing them switch to an all-black home kit with yellow, red and white hoops on the arms. The away for that season was a reverse with amber the dominant color. They employed a white version of this kit for their European tours and a red away version for the 1994–95 season.

They reverted to black and amber hoop designs with Cica (1995–97) and Halbro (1997–00) before switching to Patrick in the summer of 2000. Their 2001–2005 jerseys were sponsored by JJB and featured amber lines on the sides and sleeves. For the 2006–07 season, the club's kit was produced by Kooga and sponsored by Bullit Recruitment Solutions. For the 2008–09 season, the club reverted to its original badge and used a low-budget amber and black hooped jersey.

League performance
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|-
! style="width:180px;"|Season
! style="width:20px;"|Pld
! style="width:20px;"|W
! style="width:20px;"|D
! style="width:20px;"|L
! style="width:20px;"|F
! style="width:20px;"|A
! style="width:30px;"|+/-
! style="width:20px;"|Pts
! style="width:20px;"|Pos
! style="width:180px;"|Notes
|- style="background:thistle;"
|align=left| 2008–09
South Lancs & Cheshire 2
|22||9||0||13||313||313||0||8||11th||-10 points for postponing 5 games
|- style="background:#abcdef;"
|align=left| 2007–08
South Lancs & Cheshire 2
|22||13||2||7||372||313||59||26||4th||-2 points for postponing a game
|- style="background:thistle;"
|align=left| 2006–07
National League 3 North
|26||0||2||24||293||1219||-926||4||14th||Relegated
|}

Notable former players

Lions Tourists
The following Orrell players have been selected for the Lions tours while at the club:

John Carleton (1980 & 1983)

Dewi Morris (1993)

Rugby World Cup
The following are players which have represented their countries at the Rugby World Cup whilst playing for Orrell:

Other notable former players
  Austin Healey, England & British Lions
  Nick Easter, England
  Wes Davies, Rugby League international with Wales
  Simon Haughton, England Rugby league International & Super League Grand Final Winner
  Neil McCarthy, England
  Brian Ashton, England head coach
  Alfie To'oala, Samoa
  Dan Luger, England & British Lions

References

External links

Premiership Rugby teams
Rugby union teams in England
Rugby clubs established in 1927
Sport in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan
1927 establishments in England
Rugby union in Greater Manchester

Orrell R.U.F.C.


or Spectacles Bridge, over the Nakashima River (中島川) was built in Nagasaki in 1634 by the Chinese monk Mokusunyoujo who was in the second generation of Chinese monks living at Kofukuji Temple. It is said to be the oldest stone arch bridge in Japan along with Edo's Nihonbashi bridge and Iwakuni's Kintaikyou bridge and has been designated as an Important Cultural Property. Megane Bridge is also part of the first group of bridges built over Nakashima river. Megane Bridge is made of stone and is a double arch bridge. It received the nickname "Spectacles Bridge" because its two arches and their reflection in the water create the image of a pair of spectacles. Vehicles are prohibited from crossing the bridge and is strictly prohibited to pedestrians only.
On July 23, 1982, a disastrous deluge washed away six of the ten stone bridges over the Nakashima River. Meganebashi was badly damaged but almost all the original stones were retrieved and the bridge was restored to its original appearance. As well as being damaged in a flood in 1982 another flood in 1647 destroyed Megane Bridge but was rebuilt the following year in 1648 by Koumu Hirado.

There is a similar but larger "Spectacles Bridge" in Isahaya Park.

Near Megane Bridge are 20 heart shaped stone within the bridge's embankment from which you can make a wish for eternal love. It is also said that the more heart shaped stones you find the more lucky you will be.

Notes

Buildings and structures in Nagasaki
Stone bridges in Japan
Roads in Nagasaki Prefecture
Stone arch bridges
Bridges in Japan

Megane Bridge


The Tate House is a historic house museum at 1270 Westbrook Street, near the Fore River in the Stroudwater neighborhood of Portland, Maine, United States.  The house, one of the oldest in Portland, was built in 1755 for George Tate, a former Royal Navy captain who was sent by a contractor to the Navy to oversee the felling and shipment of trees for use as masts.  Because of the house's comparatively remote location away from central Portland, it (along with a number of other homes that make up the Stroudwater Historic District) survived Portland's numerous fires intact.  The house was designated a National Historic Landmark as a rare surviving example of a once-common colonial housing form, the clerestory gambrel roof.  Since 1935 it has been a museum operated by the National Society of the Colonial Dames.

Description and history
The Tate House is set on a rise above the north bank of the Stroudwater River, shortly before it empties into the Fore River on the west side of Portland.  It is a -story wood-frame structure, five bays wide, with a large central chimney.  Its unusual roof line has a basic two-stage gambrel form, except the steeper-pitched lower section is separated from the upper section by a bank of clerestory windows.  This form, once common in northern New England, is only known to survive in one other building in Maine, the Burnham Tavern.  The house is clad in unfinished clapboards.  The interior has a typical center-chimney plan, with a narrow vestibule and winding stair at the front.  The first floor is otherwise divided into three rooms: living room/parlor to the right, dining room to the left, and a large kitchen extending across the back.  The second floor has three bedrooms, and the third has two more.  The public rooms of the house feature high-quality Georgian carved paneling, which is believed to have been brought over from England.

In 2014, an archaeological dig at the Tate House found significant wares from the 1750s to 1780s. Pieces of 1750s salt-glazed stoneware, 1760s creamware and 1780s pearlware were discovered. Also found was a white piece of porcelain with tiny brass fears. The dig occurred prior to work beginning on repairing the drainage system. The drainage problem, which funnels water into the basement, creates a significant amount of moisture and poses a threat to the rest of the house. The drainage repair issue will cost $10,000 to $12,000.

See also
List of National Historic Landmarks in Maine
National Register of Historic Places listings in Portland, Maine

References

External links

 The Tate House Museum website

Houses completed in 1755
National Historic Landmarks in Maine
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine
Houses in Portland, Maine
Museums in Portland, Maine
Historic house museums in Maine
National Society of the Colonial Dames of America
National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Maine
Historic district contributing properties in Maine

Tate House (Portland, Maine)


Cliff Leeman (September 10, 1913 – April 26, 1986) was an American jazz drummer. His nickname was "Mr. Time".

Leeman, born in Portland, Maine, United States, played percussion with the Portland Symphony Orchestra at age 13, and toured as a xylophonist on the vaudeville circuit late in the 1920s. He first made his name in the jazz world working in the swing bands of Artie Shaw (1938–39), Glenn Miller (1939), Tommy Dorsey (1939), Charlie Barnet (1940–43), Johnny Long, and Woody Herman (1943–44). After a stint in the Army in 1944, he worked with Don Byas, John Kirby (1944–45), Raymond Scott, Jimmy Dorsey, and Ben Webster.

He left the music industry briefly before joining the Casa Loma Orchestra in 1947, later moving on to Charlie Barnet's orchestra (1949) and Bob Chester's big band ensemble (1949–50). He played on radio and television in the 1950s, in addition to playing live often with Eddie Condon and Bobby Hackett. Later associations include Pee Wee Erwin, Yank Lawson/Bob Haggart, Ralph Sutton, Billy Butterfield, Bob Crosby (1960), Wild Bill Davison (1962), Dukes of Dixieland (1963–64), Peanuts Hucko, Joe Venuti, The Kings of Jazz (1974), Bud Freeman, Don Ewell, the World's Greatest Jazz Band (1976–77), and Jimmy McPartland. He recorded several albums for Fat Cat Jazz in the 1970s.

His drumming can also be heard on some of the early recorded hits of Bill Haley & His Comets.

References
Footnotes

General references
Scott Yanow, [ Cliff Leeman] at AllMusic

External links
 Cliff Leeman recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.

1913 births
1986 deaths
20th-century American drummers
20th-century American male musicians
American jazz drummers
American male drummers
American male jazz musicians
Casa Loma Orchestra members
Military personnel from Maine
Military personnel from Portland, Maine
United States Army personnel of World War II
World's Greatest Jazz Band members

Cliff Leeman


A wildebeest (or gnu) is an animal. It is a large hoofed mammal in the Bovidae family. There are two species of wildebeest. Both live in Africa.

Taxonomy
 Genus Connochaetes
Blue wildebeest or brindled gnu (Connochaetes taurinus)
Black wildebeest or white-tailed gnu (Connochaetes gnou)

Size
Wildebeest grow to 1.15 to 1.40 metres (at the shoulder) and they weigh between 150 and 250 kilograms when they are fully grown. They live in the plains and open woodlands in southern Africa. The biggest herds can be found in the Serengeti. Wildebeest can live for more than 20 years.

What they eat
Like other members of the same family (antelopes, deer and goats, amongst others), they mainly eat grass. But since in the African grasslands, there is not always grass, wildebeest are forced to migrate to find food all year round. In May, about 1.5 million animals move from the grasslands to the woods. In November they move back; there is grass in the plains in summer.

Breeding and mating season

The cows (female Gnus) will calve (give birth to the young) in summer in the plains. After the females have given birth, the breeding season begins. The dominant males mark off (and defend) some territory. They do this with feces, and with scent.

Wildebeest are an important part of the ecosystem. With their feces, they fertilize the ground, and their trampling is good for new growth. They also provide food for predators, like lions and hyenas.

References
The Columbia Encyclopedia

Other websites

The Great Migration , on migration patterns of the wildebeest
Wildebeest images

Bovids
Mammals of Africa

Wildebeest


Terror is a state of fear, an overwhelming sense of imminent danger.
See Horror

Terror could also mean:

In history
Reign of Terror, a period of extreme violence, 1793 - 1794, during the French Revolution
The last weeks of the Reign of Terror are sometimes referred to as the "Red Terror" or "Great Terror"; see below for other uses of those terms.
Red Terror, a campaign of repression and violence by Bolsheviks in Soviet Russia 1918 - 1922
White Terror, acts of violence by reactionary groups as part of a counter-revolution
The White Terror (France), two similar movements against the French Revolution 1794 - 1795
Great Terror, another name for the Great Purge, campaigns of repression and persecution in the Soviet Union during the late 1930s

In popular culture
The Terror (1963 movie), a 1963 horror movie directed by Roger Corman
The Terror (novel), a 2007 novel by Dan Simmons
Terror (band), an American hardcore punk band from California
"Terror", a song by My Ruin from their 1999 album Speak and Destroy

In comics
Terror (New England Comics), a supervillain from The Tick comic books, cartoon, and live-action TV series
Terror Inc., a 1992 Marvel Comics series
Terror (Marvel Comics), the fictional Marvel Comics character of the 1940s

Other uses
Green terror, a tropical freshwater fish
Night terror, a sleep disorder
HMS Terror (disambiguation), nine ships of the Royal Navy
USS Terror (disambiguation), three ships of the United States Navy
Mount Terror (disambiguation), two mountains
Terrorism, act of extreme hatred against a group of people resulting in multiple deaths, these people are known as terrorists.
A person who causes terror for one or more people can also be called a terrorist.

Related pages
Terrorism
Terrorist (disambiguation)

Terror


In number theory, a prime number p is a Sophie Germain prime if 2p + 1 is also prime. The number 2p + 1 associated with a Sophie Germain prime is called a safe prime. For example, 11 is a Sophie Germain prime and 2 × 11 + 1 = 23 is its associated safe prime. Sophie Germain primes are named after French mathematician Sophie Germain, who used them in her investigations of Fermat's Last Theorem. One attempt by Germain to prove Fermat's Last Theorem was to let p be a prime number of the form 8k + 7 and to let n = p – 1. In this case,  is unsolvable. Germain's proof, however, remained unfinished. Through her attempts to solve Fermat's Last Theorem, Germain developed a result now known as Germain's Theorem which states that if p is an odd prime and 2p + 1 is also prime, then p must divide x, y, or z. Otherwise, . This case where p does not divide x, y, or z is called the first case. Sophie Germain's work was the most progress achieved on Fermat's last theorem at that time. Later work by Kummer and others always divided the problem into first and second cases. Sophie Germain primes and safe primes have applications in public key cryptography and primality testing. It has been conjectured that there are infinitely many Sophie Germain primes, but this remains unproven.

Individual numbers
The first few Sophie Germain primes (those less than 1000) are

2, 3, 5, 11, 23, 29, 41, 53, 83, 89, 113, 131, 173, 179, 191, 233, 239, 251, 281, 293, 359, 419, 431, 443, 491, 509, 593, 641, 653, 659, 683, 719, 743, 761, 809, 911, 953, ...

Hence, the first few safe primes are

5, 7, 11, 23, 47, 59, 83, 107, 167, 179, 227, 263, 347, 359, 383, 467, 479, 503, 563, 587, 719, 839, 863, 887, 983, 1019, 1187, 1283, 1307, 1319, 1367, 1439, 1487, 1523, 1619, 1823, 1907, ...

In cryptography much larger Sophie Germain primes like 1,846,389,521,368 + 11600 are required.

Two distributed computing projects, PrimeGrid and Twin Prime Search, include searches for large Sophie Germain primes.  Some of the largest known Sophie Germain primes are given in the following table.

On 2 Dec 2019, Fabrice Boudot, Pierrick Gaudry, Aurore Guillevic, Nadia Heninger, Emmanuel Thomé, and Paul Zimmermann announced the computation of a discrete logarithm modulo the 240-digit (795 bit) prime RSA-240 + 49204 (the first safe prime above RSA-240) using a number field sieve algorithm; see Discrete logarithm records.

Properties
There is no special primality test for safe primes the way there is for Fermat primes and Mersenne primes. However, Pocklington's criterion can be used to prove the primality of 2p + 1 once one has proven the primality of p.

Just as every term except the last one of a Cunningham chain of the first kind is a Sophie Germain prime, so every term except the first of such a chain is a safe prime. Safe primes ending in 7, that is, of the form 10n + 7, are the last terms in such chains when they occur, since 2(10n + 7) + 1 = 20n + 15 is divisible by 5.

Modular restrictions
With the exception of 7, a safe prime q is of the form 6k − 1 or, equivalently, q ≡ 5 (mod 6) – as is p > 3. Similarly, with the exception of 5, a safe prime q is of the form 4k − 1 or, equivalently, q ≡ 3 (mod 4) — trivially true since (q − 1) / 2 must evaluate to an odd natural number. Combining both forms using lcm(6, 4) we determine that a safe prime q > 7 also must be of the form 12k − 1 or, equivalently, q ≡ 11 (mod 12).

It follows that, for any safe prime q > 7:
 both 3 and 12 are quadratic residues mod q (per law of quadratic reciprocity)
 neither 3 nor 12 is a primitive root of q
 the only safe primes that are also full reptend primes in base 12 are 5 and 7
 q divides 3(q−1)/2 − 1

If p is a Sophie Germain prime greater than 3, then p must be congruent to 2 mod 3. For, if not, it would be congruent to 1 mod 3 and 2p + 1 would be congruent to 3 mod 3, impossible for a prime number. Similar restrictions hold for larger prime moduli, and are the basis for the choice of the "correction factor" 2C in the Hardy–Littlewood estimate on the density of the Sophie Germain primes.

If a Sophie Germain prime p is congruent to 3 (mod 4) (, Lucasian primes), then its matching safe prime 2p + 1 (congruent to 7 modulo 8) will be a divisor of the Mersenne number 2p − 1. Historically, this result of Leonhard Euler was the first known criterion for a Mersenne number with a prime index to be composite. It can be used to generate the largest Mersenne numbers (with prime indices) that are known to be composite.

Infinitude and density

It is conjectured that there are infinitely many Sophie Germain primes, but this has not been proven. Several other famous conjectures in number theory generalize this and the twin prime conjecture; they include the Dickson's conjecture, Schinzel's hypothesis H, and the Bateman–Horn conjecture.

A heuristic estimate for the number of Sophie Germain primes less than n is

where

is Hardy–Littlewood's twin prime constant. For n = 104, this estimate predicts 156 Sophie Germain primes, which has a 20% error compared to the exact value of 190. For n = 107, the estimate predicts 50822, which is still 10% off from the exact value of 56032. The form of this estimate is due to G. H. Hardy and J. E. Littlewood, who applied a similar estimate to twin primes.

A sequence (p, 2p + 1, 2(2p + 1) + 1, ...) in which all of the numbers are prime is called a Cunningham chain of the first kind. Every term of such a sequence except the last is a Sophie Germain prime, and every term except the first is a safe prime. Extending the conjecture that there exist infinitely many Sophie Germain primes, it has also been conjectured that arbitrarily long Cunningham chains exist, although infinite chains are known to be impossible.

Strong primes
A prime number q is a strong prime if  and  both have some large (around 500 digits) prime factors. For a safe prime , the number  naturally has a large prime factor, namely p, and so a safe prime q meets part of the criteria for being a strong prime.  The running times of some methods of factoring a number with q as a prime factor depend partly on the size of the prime factors of .  This is true, for instance, of the p − 1 method.

Applications

Cryptography
Safe primes are also important in cryptography because of their use in discrete logarithm-based techniques like Diffie–Hellman key exchange.  If  is a safe prime, the multiplicative group of  integers modulo  has a subgroup of large prime order.  It is usually this prime-order subgroup that is desirable, and the reason for using safe primes is so that the modulus is as small as possible relative to p.

A prime number p = 2q + 1 is called a safe prime if q is prime. Thus, p = 2q + 1 is a safe prime if and only if q is a Sophie Germain prime, so finding safe primes and finding Sophie Germain primes are equivalent in computational difficulty. The notion of a safe prime can be strengthened to a strong prime, for which both p − 1 and p + 1 have large prime factors. Safe and strong primes were useful as the factors of secret keys in the RSA cryptosystem, because they prevent the system being broken by some factorization algorithms such as Pollard's p − 1 algorithm. However, with the current factorization technology, the advantage of using safe and strong primes appears to be negligible.

Similar issues apply in other cryptosystems as well, including Diffie–Hellman key exchange and similar systems that depend on the security of the discrete log problem rather than on integer factorization. For this reason, key generation protocols for these methods often rely on efficient algorithms for generating strong primes, which in turn rely on the conjecture that these primes have a sufficiently high density.

In Sophie Germain Counter Mode, it was proposed to use the arithmetic in the finite field of order equal to the safe prime 2128 + 12451, to counter weaknesses in Galois/Counter Mode using the binary finite field GF(2128). However, SGCM has been shown to be vulnerable to many of the same cryptographic attacks as GCM.

Primality testing
In the first version of the AKS primality test paper, a conjecture about Sophie Germain primes is used to lower the worst-case complexity from  to .  A later version of the paper is shown to have time complexity  which can also be lowered to  using the conjecture.  Later variants of AKS have been proven to have complexity of  without any conjectures or use of Sophie Germain primes.

Pseudorandom number generation
Safe primes obeying certain congruences can be used to generate pseudo-random numbers of use in Monte Carlo simulation.

Similarly, Sophie Germain primes may be used in the generation of pseudo-random numbers. The decimal expansion of 1/q will produce a stream of q − 1 pseudo-random digits, if q is the safe prime of a Sophie Germain prime p, with p congruent to 3, 9, or 11 modulo 20. Thus "suitable" prime numbers q are 7, 23, 47, 59, 167, 179, etc. () (corresponding to p = 3, 11, 23, 29, 83, 89, etc.) (). The result is a stream of length q − 1 digits (including leading zeros). So, for example, using q = 23 generates the pseudo-random digits 0, 4, 3, 4, 7, 8, 2, 6, 0, 8, 6, 9, 5, 6, 5, 2, 1, 7, 3, 9, 1, 3. Note that these digits are not appropriate for cryptographic purposes, as the value of each can be derived from its predecessor in the digit-stream.

In popular culture
Sophie Germain primes are mentioned in the stage play Proof and the subsequent film.

References

External links

Classes of prime numbers
Unsolved problems in number theory

Safe and Sophie Germain primes


The Steyr LP 10 is a single shot  calibre pre-charged pneumatic air pistol designed for the 10 metre air pistol ISSF shooting events. It is manufactured by Steyr Sportwaffen GmbH of Austria.

To promote comfortable and accurate shooting from a standing position, match air pistols must have fast lock times, shoot practically recoillessly and vibration free, and exhibit minimal movement and balance shifts during discharge. The pistol must also be able to be tailored by adjustable user interfaces and various accessories to individual shooters' personal preferences. Combined with appropriate match pellets, the pistol has to produce a consistent 10-ring performance, so a non-maximal result during the initial phase can be attributed to the participant.

History
Since its introduction in 2000, the LP 10 has proven to be a competitive match air pistol. It was used by top competition shooters to achieve the current (2009) 10 metre air pistol world record and win all the gold medals in the men's and women's 2012 Summer Olympics, 2010 ISSF World Shooting Championships, 2008 Summer Olympics, 2006 ISSF World Shooting Championships, 2004 Summer Olympics and 2002 ISSF World Shooting Championships. In ISSF World Cup events, competitors equipped with LP 10s also won multiple medals.

Design details
The pistol uses dehumidified compressed air as propellant for the diabolo air gun pellets. This is stored in compressed-air cylinders that have a maximum filling pressure of 200 bar and built-in pressure gauges that indicate the current pressure level in the cylinder. The air for actual shooting is drawn from the compressed-air storage cylinder and reduced by a reduction valve to the pistol's working pressure of about 55 bar. According to Steyr, their compressed-air cylinders have storage capacity for about 180 shots.

A distinctive feature designed by Steyr and called the stabilizing system incorporates a small tungsten piston to compensate for the impulse caused by the movement of the pellet and some other internal parts in an attempt to stabilize the pistol during discharge. Further, the barrel has three holes drilled on top along its length and a muzzle brake to counteract muzzle rise and reduce recoil. Finally, the muzzle velocity of the pellets is adjustable to minimize movement and balance shifts during discharge.

Like all air pistols designed for the 10 metre air pistol event, it has fully adjustable sights. The rear sight is adjustable without tools for elevation and windage. The depth of the rear notch is adjustable with a screwdriver to lengthen or shorten the sight line length from 316 up to 365 mm.

The pistol has two-stage, three-dimensionally adjustable trigger which can be adjusted for overtravel, first stage weight and travel, second stage weight and sear engagement. The trigger pull weight is factory-adjusted to 500 gram (17.6 oz) to comply with the ISSF 10 metre air pistol rules. The trigger mechanism also has dry fire capability. Dry fire means a shooter can practice/simulate shooting without actually firing a pellet or seeping any air from a mounted pre-compressed air cylinder.

The standard anatomically shaped grip made by Morini has an adjustable palm shelf. Rake and rotation can be adjusted with screws under the grip.

Visually, the LP 10 is set apart from most similar pistols due to its barrel shroud. It is also offered in an optional distinctive silver-coloured brushed metal finish. The pistol comes with four 10-gram barrel weights that fit in slots on either side of the barrel.

The pistol is currently delivered in a polymer pistol carrying case with manuals, two pre-compressed air cylinders with built-in pressure gauges, some spare air -sealing parts, an air filling adapter and adjustment tools. Older pistols were delivered in a simple cardbox case with pre-compressed air cylinders and a separate pressure gauge.
Steyr factory accessories like an ambidextrous grip, additional 10- and 25-gram barrel weights, various front sight blades, a CO2 conversion kit, long and short compressed-propellant cylinders, and air and CO2 fill adapters are available.
Aftermarket accessories from other manufacturers, like target pistol grips that will fit the LP 10, are also available.

Variants
In 2009 Steyr released the LP 10 E, which has an electronic trigger.
According to the manufacturer two standard 1.5 V AAA batteries provide enough electric capacity for 25,000 shots/trigger release cycles.
In 2016 Steyr released the evo featuring a mechanical trigger and the evo E, which has an electronic trigger as successor model. The evo pistols are technically based on the LP 10 line and feature several evolutionary improvements. According to the manufacturer the rechargeable battery in the evo E provides enough electric capacity for 10,000 shots/trigger release cycles. Besides these pistols the Steyr evo line also includes the evo Compact and evo E Compact shortened somewhat lighter variants.
The Steyr LP 2 is an updated (compressed-air) LP-1P that complements the LP 10 in the Steyr LP line. Slightly less expensive and lacking a few of the LP 10's refinements, it is still a very high quality target air pistol.
The Steyr LP 50 is a 5-shot semi-automatic air pistol that shares many parts with the LP 10 and can be used for the training of dynamic pistol disciplines.
The Steyr LP 1 is the predecessor of the LP 10, available both for use with compressed air and with compressed CO2 as propellant.

See also

Jin Jong-oh, world record holder since April 12, 2009 and 2012 Summer Olympics Champion (LP 10E).
Guo Wenjun, 2012 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics Champion.
Tomoyuki Matsuda, 2010 World Champion.
Zorana Arunovic, 2010 World Champion.
Pang Wei, 2008 Summer Olympics Champion and 2006 World Champion.
Natalia Paderina, 2006 World Champion.
Wang Yifu, 2004 Summer Olympics Champion and 1992 Summer Olympics Champion (LP 1).
Olena Kostevych, 2004 Summer Olympics Champion and 2002 World Champion.
Mikhail Nestruev, 2002 World Champion.
Svetlana Smirnova, world record holder since May 23, 1998 (LP 1).
Marina Logvinenko, 1992 Summer Olympics Champion (LP 1).
Jasna Šekarić, 1990 (LP 1) and 1994 World Champion (LP 1).

References

 Steyr Match LP 10 Manual
 Steyr LP 10 Technical Datasheet

External links
Manufacturer's Website
Steyr LP 10 Black High Resolution Image
Steyr LP 10 Silver High Resolution Image
Steyr LP 10 E High Resolution Image
Steyr LP 10 test (Dutch)
Steyr LP 10 at Shooting Wiki

Pneumatic weapons
Air pistols

Steyr LP 10