The Second United Front () was the alliance between the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to resist the Japanese invasion of  China during the Second Sino-Japanese War, which suspended the Chinese Civil War from 1937 to 1945.

Background
In 1927 the Chinese Communists retaliated against Kuomintang following a betrayal of its members in Shanghai by National Revolutionary Army commander Chiang Kai-shek, which marked the end of the KMT's four-year alliance with the Soviet Union and its cooperation with the CCP during the Northern Expedition (aka First United Front) to defeat warlords and unify China.

In 1931 the Japanese launched its invasion and subsequent occupation of Manchuria.  Chiang Kai-shek, who de facto led the central government of China, decided that China must avoid all-out war with Japan due to domestic turmoil and inadequate preparation.  Therefore, he "pursued a strategy of appeasing Japan while struggling for real national unity and over time sufficient strength to confront the Imperial army. This appeasement policy lasted for another six years". Even though his campaigns against the Communists resulted in their retreat and a 90% reduction in their fighting strength, he was unable to eliminate their forces entirely, and his policy of "internal pacification before external resistance" (:) was very unpopular with the Chinese populace, which caused widespread resentment and demonstration against the ruling KMT leadership and its regional warlord allies.

Xi'an Incident

In 1936, Chiang Kai-shek assigned "The Young Marshal" Zhang Xueliang, leader of Northeastern Army, the duty of suppressing the Red Army of the CCP. Battles with the Red Army resulted in great casualties for Zhang's forces, but Chiang Kai-shek did not provide any support to his troops.

On 12 December 1936, a deeply disgruntled Zhang Xueliang kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek in Xi'an to force an end to the conflict between KMT and CCP. To secure the release of Chiang, the KMT was forced to agree to a temporary end to the Chinese Civil War and the forming of a united front between the CCP and KMT against Japan on 24 December 1936. However, by the time Chiang arrived in Xi'an on 4 December 1936, negotiations for a united front had been in the works for two years.

The China Democratic League, an umbrella organization for three political parties and three political pressure groups, also agreed to take part in the united front formed by KMT and the CCP.

Cooperation during the War of Resistance

As a result of the truce between KMT and CCP, the Red Army was reorganized into the New Fourth Army and the 8th Route Army, which were placed under the command of the National Revolutionary Army. The CCP agreed to accept the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, and began to receive some financial support from the central government run by KMT. In agreement with KMT Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Region and Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region were created. They were controlled by the CCP.

After the commencement of full-scale war between China and Japan, the Communists forces fought in alliance with the KMT forces during the Battle of Taiyuan, and the high point of their cooperation came in 1938 during the Battle of Wuhan.

However, the Communists submission to the chain of command of the National Revolutionary Army was in name only. The Communists acted independently and hardly ever engaged the Japanese in conventional battles. The level of actual coordination between the CCP and KMT during the Second Sino-Japanese War was minimal.

Breakdown and aftermath

In the midst of the Second United Front, the Communists and the Kuomintang were still vying for territorial advantage in "Free China" (i.e. those areas not occupied by the Japanese or ruled by puppet governments).  The uneasy alliance began to break down by late 1938 as a result of the Communists' efforts to aggressively expand their military strength through absorbing Chinese guerrilla forces behind enemy lines. For Chinese militia who refused to switch their allegiance, the CCP would call them "collaborators" and then attack to eliminate their forces. For example, the Red Army led by He Long attacked and wiped out a brigade of Chinese militia led by Zhang Yin-wu in Hebei in June, 1939.

In December 1940, Chiang Kai-shek demanded that the CCP's New Fourth Army evacuate Anhui and Jiangsu Provinces.  Despite the intense pressure, the New Fourth Army commanders committed insubordination by marching in an unauthorized direction and also missed the deadline to evacuate. Added to this were the attacks by the Communist Party on the Kuomintang Forces in Hebei in August 1939 and in Jiangsu in October 1940, so they were ambushed and defeated by Nationalist troops in January 1941. This clash, which would be known as the New Fourth Army Incident, weakened but didn't end the CCP position in Central China and effectively ended any substantive co-operation between the Nationalists and the Communists and both sides concentrated on jockeying for position in the inevitable Civil War. It also ended the Second United Front formed earlier to fight the Japanese.

Afterwards, within the Japanese occupied provinces and behind enemy lines the KMT and CCP forces carried on warfare with each other, with the Communists eventually destroying or absorbing the KMT partisan forces or driving them into the puppet forces of the Japanese.  The communists under the leadership of Mao Zedong also began to focus most of their energy on building up their sphere of influence wherever opportunities were presented, mainly through rural mass organizations, administrative, land and tax reform measures favoring poor peasants; while the KMT allocated many divisions of its regular army to carry out military blockade of the CCP areas in an attempt to neutralize the spread of Communist influence until the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

After 1945

After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong attempted to engage in peace talks. This effort failed and by 1946 the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party were engaged in all-out civil war. The Communists were able to obtain seized Japanese Army weapons in the Northeast – with Soviet acquiesce – and took the opportunity to engage the already weakened KMT. In October 1949, Mao established the People's Republic of China, while Chiang retreated to the island of Taiwan.

See also
 First United Front
 United front (People's Republic of China)
 United front in Taiwan
 United front in Hong Kong

References

Citations

Sources

 Resistance and Revolution in China

1930s in China
1940s in China
China in World War II
Chinese Civil War
Defunct left-wing political party alliances
National Revolutionary Army
Political party alliances in China
Second Sino-Japanese War
History of the Chinese Communist Party
United front (China)

Second United Front


The Camionetta Desertica Model 42 (also known as the SPA-Viberti AS.42 or Sahariana) was an Italian reconnaissance car of World War II. The AS.42 (Africa Settentrionale = North Africa) was developed by SPA-Viberti using the same chassis as the AB 41 armoured car, including its four-wheel steering, but with a 2x4 transmission specifically for desert operations, primarily in a reconnaissance role. Its origins trace back to requests stemming from units operating on the North African front for a long range, highly maneuverable vehicle, similar to those widely used by the highly successful British reconnaissance and raiding force, the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG).

Design
The AS.42 was a 4x2 unarmored vehicle with a boat hull based on the chassis of the AB 41 armored car, but with a 2x4 transmission. The  SPA ABM 3 6 cylinder petrol engine  was located in the rear.  The open compartment's only overhead protection was a waterproof canvas sheet. Besides the driver's seat, the crew that served the on board weapons were seated on four folding seats on the sides. The AS 42 had internal fuel tanks of 145 liters with an additional 20 jerrycans externally mounted on both sides between the wheels plus 4 on the front fenders, holding a total of 80 liters of water and 400 liters of fuel. One source claims that a full fuel tank and the additional fuel canisters allowed a maximum range of , and another source claims a maximum range of . Crew complement consisted of 3-6 troops

A second model, the SPA 43, called Camionetta II or Metropolitana, entered service in Italy in 1943. It differed from the first model by the absence of the two upper side rows of petrol jerrycans, replaced by two large caissons for ammunition, and the presence of a canvas top. In addition, this version was fitted with new Pirelli Artiglio, Sigillo Verde or Raiflex  tires adapted to mud and snow of the mainland, unlike the previous Pirelli Tipo Libia or Superflex sand tires.

Armament & Armor
The main weapon fitted was either a  Breda Model 35 autocannon, a 20 mm Solothurn S-18/1000 anti-tank rifle or a  Breda M35. They were also fitted with one to three Breda M37 or Breda 38 8 mm machine-guns. The second model did not make use of the S-18/1000. Armor was 17mm thick around the entire chassis, with three 12mm plates of bulletproof glass for the windshield.

Service
From September to November 1942, the first batch of 14 vehicles was delivered to the Regio Esercito. The unit that gave the AS 42 its baptism of fire in November 1942 was the "Raggruppamento Sahariano AS". The good results achieved by the "Raggruppamento Sahariano AS" quickly led to the formation of at least four more "Compagnia Arditi Camionettisti": the 103rd, 112th, 113th, and 123rd.

Saharianas were stationed in North Africa, Sicily, and Rome. The vehicle's low profile allowed it to hide behind desert dunes and wait for the arrival of the enemy unseen, and its great capacity for autonomous action allowed it to chase enemy forces for long periods. The AS.42 participated in the final stages of the Libyan campaign and the entire campaign in Tunisia. It was mainly assigned to aviation companies of the Auto-Saharan Company and the 103rd Battalion.

Surviving vehicles were later used by the 2nd Battalion of the 10th Regiment in the defense of Sicily and southern Italy. The same unit and the Motorized Assault Battalion employed the "Sahariana" and "Metropolitana" models in the defence of Rome on 8 September 1943. After that, a few Saharianas stayed in Northern Italy with Mussolini's Italian Social Republic. Seven vehicles fought on the Eastern Front as part of the 2. Fallschirmjäger Division. They were in service throughout 1944 and 1945 as reconnaissance vehicles on the Eastern Front, in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1943 the Polizia dell'Africa Italiana, including the "Barbarigo" battalion of the Xª MAS Flotilla, used the Sahariana for patrols in Rome.  On June 4, 1944 an AS.42 stumbled across an M4 Sherman that sent a shell through the vehicle, destroying both front and rear spare tires.

After the war, seven vehicles were supplied to the Polizia di Stato. They were modified by the removal of weapons, pioneering tools, and Jerry cans, and painted amaranth red. In Udine and Bologna they were used until 1954. An unknown quantity were produced specifically for the Italian State Police in 1946.

See also
S.P.A. (Società Piemontese Automobili)

References

External links
Italian newsreel footage

World War II vehicles of Italy
Reconnaissance vehicles of World War II
Military vehicles introduced from 1940 to 1944

SPA-Viberti AS.42


The Al Ikhwan el Muslimeen,
the  Society of the Muslim Brothers, often called the Muslim Brotherhood, or The Brotherhood, is an Islamist movement. Today, it exists in many states and often is one of the largest political opposition groups. The group is the world's oldest and largest Islamic political group, and the "world's most influential Islamist movement". Hassan al-Banna founded the group in Egypt in 1928.

Goals

The Brotherhood's stated goal is to instill the Qur'an and Sunnah as the "sole reference point for ... ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community ... and state". Since it was created, in 1928 the movement has officially opposed violent means to achieve its goals, with some exceptions such as in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or to overthrow secular Ba'athist rule in Syria (see Hama massacre). This position has been questioned, particularly by the Egyptian government, which accused the group of a campaign of killings in Egypt after World War II.

In Egypt

The Muslim Brotherhood is banned in Egypt. People have been arrested because they participated in the group. To circumvent this ban, supporters of the group often run for office as independent candidates.

Outside Egypt

Outside Egypt, the group's political activity is more traditional and conservative. Inside Egypt, the group is modernist and wants reforms to happen.
In Kuwait,for example, the Muslim Brotherhood says that women should not have a right to vote in elections. The Brotherhood condemned terrorism and the 9/11 attacks. Whether the group has ties to terrorist organisations is disputed.

The question  whether and how to use violence has also led to disputes inside the movement. At times, those in favour of using violence split from the main group and created their own groups. Examples of such groups are Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (The Islamic Group) and Al Takfir Wal Hijra (Excommunication and Migration).

Among the Brotherhood's more influential members was Sayyid Qutb. Qutb was the author of one of Islamism's most important books, Milestones. The book called for the restoration of Islam by re-establishing the Sharia and by using "physical power and Jihad for abolishing the organizations and authorities of the Jahili system. Qutb believed these included the entire Muslim world.  The book also reveals that Qutb no longer held the Brotherhood's ideas and that he was closer to the ideas of Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is concluded in the introduction and dedication of the book"     While studying at university, Osama bin Laden claimed to have been influenced by the religious and political ideas of several professors with strong ties to the Muslim Brotherhood including both Sayyid Qutb and his brother Muhammad Qutb. However, once Al Qaeda was fully organized, they denounced the Muslim Brotherhood's reform through nonviolence and accused them of "betraying the cause of Islam and abandoning their 'jihad' in favour of forming political parties and supporting modern state institutions".

The Brotherhood is financed by contributions from its members, who are required to allocate a part of their income to the movement. Some of these contributions are from members who live in oil-rich countries.

References

Islamic organizations based in Egypt
1928 establishments
20th-century establishments in Egypt

Muslim Brotherhood


Moana () is a 1926 American silent documentary film, or more strictly a work of docufiction, which was directed by Robert J. Flaherty, creator of Nanook of the North (1922).

Description

Moana was filmed in Samoa (then under the Western Samoa Trust Territory) in the villages of Safune district on the island of Savai'i. The name of the lead male character, Moana, means 'deep sea, deep water' in the Samoan language. In making the film, Flaherty lived with his wife and collaborator Frances H. Flaherty and their three daughters in Samoa for more than a year. They arrived in Samoa in April 1923 and stayed until December 1924, with the film being completed in December 1925.

Hoping that Flaherty could repeat the success of Nanook, Paramount Pictures sent him to Samoa to capture the traditional life of the Polynesians on film. Flaherty reportedly arrived with 16 tons of filmmaking equipment. This included both a regular movie camera and a Prizma color camera, as Flaherty hoped to film some footage in that color process, but the Prizmacolor camera malfunctioned.

Moana is thought to be the first feature film made with panchromatic black-and-white film rather than the orthochromatic film commonly used at the time in Hollywood feature films. Flaherty developed his film as he went along, in a cave on Savai'i. In the process, he inadvertently poisoned himself and required treatment after he drank water from the cave that contained silver nitrate, which washed off the film stock. The silver nitrate also caused spots to form on the negative.

As in the earlier Nanook (and his later film, Man of Aran), Flaherty went well beyond recording the life of the people of Samoa as it happened. He followed his usual procedure of "casting" locals whom he considered potentially photogenic performers into "roles", including creating fictitious family relationships.

He also, as in the other films, on occasion set up scenes in which exotic earlier practices were re-enacted as if still current. In Nanook and Man of Aran, it included setting up anachronistic hunting sequences. In Moana, at a time when Samoans were typically wearing modern Western-style clothing under the influence of Christian missionaries, Flaherty persuaded his performers to don traditional tapa cloth costumes (made from the bark of the paper mulberry tree, in a process shown in some detail in the film); the "maidens" went topless.

He also staged a coming-into-manhood ritual in which the young male lead underwent a painful traditional Samoan tattoo, for which the young man required a generous compensation. Those devices have led to Flaherty's films sometimes being categorized as "docufiction".

Still, it emerged that living off the land and the ocean in Samoa was comparatively easy, leaving limited scope for Flaherty to draw on his favored theme of "Man against Nature" as he had in Nanook and was to again in Man of Aran. Thus, although the film was visually stunning and drew critical praise at the time, it lacked the raw drama of Nanook, which may have contributed to its failure at the box office. (Bruce Posner, the film's restorer, commented: "God knows what Paramount expected. It was just poorly released. They tried to shift it into a love story of the South Seas, which it is, but not a conventional one.")

The word documentary was first applied in a cinematic context in a review of this movie written by "The Moviegoer", a pen name for John Grierson, in the New York Sun on February 8, 1926.

Restoration
The youngest of the children Robert and Frances Flaherty brought with them to Samoa was their then-three-year-old daughter Monica. In 1975, Monica Flaherty returned to Savai'i to create a soundtrack for her parents' hitherto-silent film, including recording ambient sounds of village life, dubbed Samoan dialogue and traditional singing. The resulting "Moana with Sound" was completed in 1980, with help from filmmakers Jean Renoir and Richard Leacock, and first shown publicly in Paris in 1981. At that stage, however, with the original negative no longer in existence, the visual quality of Monica Flaherty's 16 mm print (a copy of a copy of her father's original 35 mm nitrate film) left much to be desired, and it was to suffer further degradation with time. The 1981 version was not distributed, partly because of its visual flaws and partly because Monica Flaherty did not reach an agreement with Paramount over the proceeds.

More recently, preservationist and curator Bruce Posner and Finnish filmmaker Sami van Ingen, a great-grandson of the Flahertys, drew on the best surviving 35 mm copies of the film to prepare, with the assistance of restorer Thomas Bakels, a digitally restored print. This was matched by sound expert Lee Dichter to Monica Flaherty's soundtrack. The restored "Moana with Sound" was shown at the New York Film Festival on September 30, 2014, and has also appeared, among other showings, at the National Archives in Washington DC (January 2015). The program for the New York Film Festival describes the restored version as "absolutely wondrous".

See also
 Docufiction
 List of docufiction films
 South Seas genre

References

External links

  Moana, Broadway newspaper advertisement for a 1926 screening of the film (Wayback Machine)
 Why 'Moana,' the First Docufiction in History, Deserves a New Life - article by Laya Maheshwari at Indiewire, July 3, 2014
 Southseascinema.org; Shows, J thru R
 Film still at fineartamerica.com

1926 documentary films
1926 films
American black-and-white films
American documentary films
American silent feature films
Anthropology documentary films
Black-and-white documentary films
Documentary films about Oceania
Ethnofiction films
Films directed by Robert Flaherty
Films set in Samoa
Films shot in Samoa
Paramount Pictures films
Samoan words and phrases
American docufiction films
1920s American films
Silent American drama films
Articles containing video clips

Moana (1926 film)


David Octavius Hill (20 May 1802 – 17 May 1870) was a Scottish painter, photographer and arts activist. He formed Hill & Adamson studio with the engineer and photographer Robert Adamson between 1843 and 1847 to pioneer many aspects of photography in Scotland.

Early life

David Octavius Hill was born in 1802 in Perth. His father, a bookseller and publisher, helped to re-establish Perth Academy and David was educated there as were his brothers. When his older brother Alexander joined the publishers Blackwood's in Edinburgh, Hill went there to study at the School of Design. He learned lithography and produced Sketches of Scenery in Perthshire which was published as an album of views. His landscape paintings were shown in the Institution for the Promotion of the Fine Arts in Scotland, and he was among the artists dissatisfied with the Institution who established a separate Scottish Academy in 1829 with the assistance of his close friend Henry Cockburn. A year later Hill took on unpaid secretarial duties. He sought commissions in book illustration, with four sketches being used to illustrate The Glasgow and Garnkirk Railway Prospectus in 1832, and went on to provide illustrations for editions of Walter Scott and Robert Burns.

In the 1830s he is listed as living at 24 Queen Street, in Edinburgh's New Town. In 1836 the Royal Scottish Academy began to pay him a salary as secretary, and with this security he married his fiancée Ann Macdonald the following year. After the birth of their daughter, Charlotte Hill, Ann was invalided, and died on 5 October 1841, aged 36, and was  buried with her family in Greyfriars Churchyard in Perth. Charlotte Hill went on to marry the author Walter Scott Dalgleish LLD and is buried in Grange Cemetery, The Grange, Edinburgh.

He continued to produce illustrations and to paint landscapes on commission. During this period he lived at 28 Inverleith Row in Edinburgh's northern suburbs.

Free Church of Scotland

Hill was present at the Disruption Assembly in 1843 when over 450 ministers walked out of the Church of Scotland assembly and down to another assembly hall to found the Free Church of Scotland. He decided to record the dramatic scene with the encouragement of his friend Lord Cockburn and another spectator, the physicist Sir David Brewster who suggested using the new invention, photography, to get likenesses of all the ministers present. Brewster was himself experimenting with this technology which only dated back to 1839, and he introduced Hill to another enthusiast, Robert Adamson. Hill and Adamson took a series of photographs of those who had been present and of the setting. The  x  painting was eventually completed in 1866.

Photography studio

Hill moved to "Calton Hill Stairs" in 1850.

Their collaboration, with Hill providing skill in composition and lighting, and Adamson considerable sensitivity and dexterity in handling the camera, proved extremely successful, and they soon broadened their subject matter. Adamson's studio, "Rock House", on Calton Hill in Edinburgh became the centre of their photographic experiments. Using the calotype process, they produced a wide range of portraits depicting well-known Scottish luminaries of the time, including Hugh Miller, both in the studio and outdoors, often amongst the elaborate tombs in Greyfriars Kirkyard.

They photographed local and Fife landscapes and urban scenes, including images of the Scott Monument under construction in Edinburgh. As well as the great and the good, they photographed ordinary working folk, particularly the fishermen of Newhaven, and the fishwives who carried the fish in creels the 3 miles (5 km) uphill to the city of Edinburgh to sell them round the doors, with their cry of "Caller herrin" (fresh herring). They produced several groundbreaking "action" photographs of soldiers and - perhaps their most famous photograph - two priests walking side by side.

Their partnership produced around 3,000 prints, but was cut short after only four years due to the ill health and death of Adamson in 1848. The calotypes faded under sunlight, so had to be kept in albums, and though Hill continued the studio for some months, he became less active and abandoned the studio, though he continued to sell prints of the photographs and to use them as an aid for composing paintings. In 1862 he remarried, to the sculptor Amelia Robertson Paton, 20 years his junior, and around that time took up photography again, but the results were more static and less successful than his collaboration with Adamson. He was badly affected by the death of his daughter and his work slowed. In 1866 he finished the Disruption picture which received wide acclaim, though many of the participants had died by then. The photographer F.C. Annan produced fine reduced facsimiles of the painting for sale throughout the Free Church, and a group of subscribers raised £1,200 to buy the painting for the church. In 1869 illness forced him to give up his post as secretary to the RSA, and he died in May 1870.

Hill is buried in Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh - one of the finest Victorian cemeteries in Scotland. He is portrayed in a bust sculpted by his second wife, Amelia, who is buried alongside him.

Exhibitions
Some of his photographs were put on show in Glasgow in 1954 but the first major exhibition of his work was in 1963 in Essen, Germany.

References

Further reading
 Macmillan, Duncan (1984), Scottish Painting: The Later Enlightenment, in Parker, Geoff (ed.), Cencrastus No. 19, Winter 1984, pp. 25 – 27,
 Michaelson, Katherine (1970), David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, catalogue for Scottish Arts Council exhibitions

External links

Works in the National Galleries of Scotland
Metropolitan Museum of Art - David Octavius Hill (1802-1870) and Robert Adamson (1821-1848)

British portrait photographers
19th-century Scottish photographers
1802 births
1870 deaths
People from Perth, Scotland
Burials at the Dean Cemetery
People educated at Perth Academy
Alumni of the Trustees' Academy
19th-century Scottish painters
Scottish male painters
19th-century Scottish male artists

David Octavius Hill


Milojko Lešjanin (; Lešje, 15 February 1830 – Belgrade, 15 February 1896) was a Serbian military officer and politician. He served as Minister of Army and Chief of the Serbian General Staff for several times in the 1870s and 1880s. As corps and army commander he took part in the wars with Ottoman Turks and Bulgarians in 1876–1885. He led the Serbian troops at the conquest of Niš in 1877 (together with Jovan Belimarković) and at the blockade of Vidin in 1885. He also served as Chief of the Military Academy of Serbia for several times in the 1860s and 1880s.

Biography

Education and teaching career
The son of a merchant from Lešje (near Paraćin), Lešjanin joined the Armed forces of the Principality of Serbia in 1849. He graduated from the Artillery School (modern Military Academy) in Belgrade as a lieutenant in engineering, and later completed a three-year course at the Prussian Staff College in Berlin and a one-year internship at the Prussian General Staff.

After his return to his homeland, he was a longtime teacher (between 1859 and 1880, intermittently) at the Artillery School, and served three times (1865–1868, 1874–1875, June–November 1880) as its Chief. In 1870 (now with the rank of major) he was again in the Prussian General Staff, this time as an observer of the fighting in the Franco-Prussian War. He witnessed the sieges of Metz and Strasbourg.

Military career
In 1862, during the bombardment of Belgrade by the Ottoman Turks, Lešjanin commanded a section of the defence and was promoted to the rank of captain I class. At the beginning of the First Serbian–Turkish War in the summer of 1876, Lešjanin (who was promoted to the rank of colonel the previous year) commanded the Timok Army, which aimed to invade the northwestern Ottoman Bulgaria and to raise the Bulgarians in revolt. His attempt to accomplish this task was thwarted by the Turks; Lešjanin then ceded command to the Imperial Russian Army general Mikhail Chernyayev. At Veliki Izvor, Lešjanin led the Zaječar detachment on the left flank of the Serbian troops. The battle ended in defeat for the Serbs, who were soon forced to abandon Zaječar to the Turks.

During the Second Serbian–Turkish War in the winter of 1877–1878, Colonel Lešjanin was commander of the Morava Corps (16,715 soldiers and 46 cannons), advancing on both banks of South Morava and took part in the operations (29 December 1877 – 11 January 1878) that led to the capture of Niš. After this success, Lešjanin was entrusted with the joint command of the Morava and Timok Corps to take over Pristina. He failed to accomplish this task due to unsuccessful assault on Turkish–Albanian positions near Samokovo. In February 1878 he was a special envoy of the Prince Milan Obernović to the Russian headquarters in San Stefano (modern Yeşilköy) for the negotiations that led to the Treaty of San Stefano, unfavorable for Serbia.

Upon his return from San Stefano, Lešjanin was promoted to the rank of general. He commanded the Timok Corps, and in 1879–1880 and 1882–1885 he was Chief of the Serbian General Staff, and in 1883–1884 he was also the commander of the active army. In the Serbo-Bulgarian War in November 1885, General Lešjanin commanded the Timok Army during the unsuccessful siege of Vidin. After the war, Lešjanin took over the leadership of the General Staff for the third time, in 1886–1888; afterwards, he left the Royal Serbian Army and entered politics.

In 1888 he replaced Đorđe Simić as president of The Red Cross of Serbia. His tenure lasted from 1888 to 1896 when he was succeeded by General Jovan Mišković.

Political career
Lešjanin became Minister of Army for the first time in 1873, when he entered the Liberal government headed by Jovan Ristić. From 1880 to 1882 he held the same position in the Progressive government of Milan Piroćanac. After his dismissal, he participated in the drafting of the Constitution of 1888 and in the work of the Parliament (representing the Liberal Party) in the early 1890s.

References

Sources
 Chief of the General Staff: 1876–2000, Ivetić Velimir, Belgrade 2000.

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1830 births
1896 deaths
People from Paraćin
People from the Principality of Serbia
People from the Kingdom of Serbia
Serbian military personnel
Serbian generals
Chiefs of the Serbian General Staff
Royal Serbian Army soldiers
Serbian–Turkish Wars (1876–1878)
People of the Serbo-Bulgarian War
Government ministers of Serbia
Liberal Party (Kingdom of Serbia) politicians
Defence ministers of Serbia

Milojko Lešjanin


Eric Stanley is the first and only extended play (EP) released by American violinist, Eric Stanley. The EP was officially released on 10 July 2015, three months after Stanley's national debut on ESPN's First Take. The EP included four tracks ("Voltaire", "Another Year", "Stay Inspired" and "Amazing Grace").

Track listing

References

2015 debut EPs
Instrumental EPs

Eric Stanley (EP)


A level is an optical instrument used to establish or verify points in the same horizontal plane in a process known as levelling. It is used in conjunction with a levelling staff to establish the relative height or levels (the vertical separation) of objects or marks. It is widely used in surveying and construction to measure height differences and to transfer, measure, and set heights of known objects or marks.

It is also known as a surveyor's level, builder's level, dumpy level or the historic "Y" level. It operates on the principle of establishing a visual level relationship between two or more points, for which an inbuilt optical telescope and a highly accurate bubble level are used to achieve the necessary accuracy. Traditionally the instrument was completely adjusted manually to ensure a level line of sight, but modern automatic versions self-compensate for slight errors in the coarse levelling of the instrument, and are thereby quicker to use.

The optical level should not be confused with a theodolite, which can also measure angles in the vertical plane.

Description
The complete unit is normally mounted on a tripod, and the telescope can freely rotate 360° in a horizontal plane. The surveyor adjusts the instrument's level by coarse adjustment of the tripod legs and fine adjustment using three precision levelling screws on the instrument to make the rotational plane horizontal. The surveyor does this with the use of a bull's eye level built into the instrument mount.

The surveyor looks through the eyepiece of the telescope while an assistant holds a vertical level staff which is graduated in inches or centimeters. The level staff is placed with its foot on the point for which the level measurement is required. The telescope is rotated and focused until the level staff is plainly visible in the crosshairs. In the case of a tilting level, the fine level adjustment is made by an altitude screw, using a high accuracy bubble level fixed to the telescope. This can be viewed by a mirror whilst adjusting, or the ends of the bubble in a "split bubble" display can be viewed within the telescope. This also allows assurance of the accurate level of the telescope whilst the sight is being taken. However, in the case of an automatic level, altitude adjustment is done automatically by a suspended prism due to gravity, as long as the coarse levelling of the instrument base is accurate within certain limits.

When level, the staff graduation readings at the crosshairs and stadia marks are recorded, and an identifying mark or marker placed where the level staff rested on the object or position being surveyed.

Invention
In 1832, English civil engineer and inventor William Gravatt, who was commissioned to examine a scheme for the South Eastern Railway's route from London to Dover, became frustrated with the slow and cumbersome operation of the "Y" level during the survey work, and devised the more transportable, easier-to-use "dumpy" level, so called because of its shorter appearance.

The telescope of the historic "Y" level is held in two brass arms, which are part of the mount and the telescope could be easily removed to allow sighting reversal though 180 degrees or an axial rotation of the telescope; both to compensate for optical collimation errors. Because the telescope is not fixed to the level adjusting mechanism, the "Y" instrument is assembled and disassembled for each sighting station. However, the dumpy level is permanently secured to its two support arms and the levelling mechanism, thereby reducing measurement uncertainty and considerably reducing the time taken to set up the instrument. The dumpy uses the same basic principle of level sighting.

Survey operation

After careful setup of the level, the height of the crosshairs is determined by either sighting from a known benchmark with known height determined by a previous survey or an arbitrary point with an assumed height is used.

Sighting is done with an assistant surveyor who holds a graduated staff vertical at the point under measurement. The surveyor rotates the telescope until the graduated staff is in the crosshairs and records the reading. This is repeated for all sightings from that datum. Should the instrument be moved to another position within sighting distance, it is re-levelled, and a sighting taken of a known level in the previous survey. This relates any new levels to the previous levels.

Variants

The Y level or wye level is the oldest and bulkiest of the older style optical instruments. A low-powered telescope is placed in a pair of clamp mounts, and the instrument then leveled using a spirit level, which is mounted parallel to the main telescope.

The term dumpy level (also builder's level) endures despite the evolution in design. They can be manual or automatic, the latter being much quicker to set up.

A tilting level is a variant which has a precision vertical adjustment screw which tilts both the telescope and the high accuracy bubble level attached to it to make them level. This reduces the complete reliance on the levelling accuracy of the instruments' bottom mount, and the "split bubble" display gives additional assurance that the telescope is level whilst taking the sight. This allows faster operation as the bottom mount need not be truly level, though it will introduce a slight error as the vertical axis of the mount is not completely co-incident with the telescope centre. The split bubble works by displaying half of both ends of the bubble side by side in the telescope, and when the curved ends are aligned it is level.

An automatic level, self-levelling level, or builder's auto level includes an internal compensator mechanism (a swinging prism) that, when set close to level, automatically removes any remaining variation. This reduces the need to set the instrument base truly level, as with a dumpy level. Self-levelling instruments are the preferred instrument on building sites, construction, and during surveying due to ease of use and rapid setup time.

A digital electronic level is also set level on a tripod and reads a bar-coded staff using electronic laser methods. The height of the staff where the level beam crosses the staff is shown on a digital display. This type of level removes interpolation of graduation by a person, thus removing a source of error and increasing accuracy. During night time, the dumpy level is used in conjunction with an auto cross laser for accurate scale readings.

A transit level also has the ability to measure both the altitude and azimuth of a target object with respect to a reference in the horizontal plane.  The instrument is rotated to sight the target, and the vertical and horizontal angles are read off calibrated scales

In popular culture
In the first chapter of Thomas Hardy's 1887 novel The Woodlanders, the narrator states, "He knew every subtle incline of the ten miles of ground between Abbot's Cernel and Sherton—the market town to which he journeyed—as accurately as any surveyor could have learnt it by a Dumpy level."

In the online game World of Warcraft, there is a quest in Wetlands given by Surveyor Thurdan to retrieve his lost dumpy level. He even comments on the name, saying, "I didn't name the bloody thing, alright? Go look it up!"

See also
Glossary of levelling terms
 Laser level
 Laser line level
 Theodolite
 Total station
 Philadelphia rod
 Water level (device)

References

External links
Checking a level
Wye level (Y level)

British inventions
Construction surveying
Optical instruments
Surveying instruments
Vertical position

Level (optical instrument)


Community High School, Ileogbo was established on May 25, 1982, by the people of Ileogbo, Osun State, Nigeria. It is situated along Gbongan road. The first principal was Mr. M.O. Ajayi while the second principal was chief S.O. Ogundeji.

Community High School is divided into junior and senior secondary schools. The name of the principal for junior secondary school is Mr. S.A. Nafiu while the name of the principal for senior secondary school is chief B.T. Obisesan.

The principal of senior school, chief B.T. Obisesan is the Akeweje of Ileogbo Land and the president of All Nigeria Confederation of Principal of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) in Osun State.

Educational institutions established in 1982
Secondary schools in Osun State
1982 establishments in Nigeria

Community High School, Ileogbo


A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a large baleen whale with long flippers and a knobbly head. They can be found in every ocean.

They can grow to 15–16 m (49–52 ft) long and weigh up to 40 metric tons.

Life history
Humpback whales can live up to 45 years.  They migrate between the places they feed in the winter and the places they give birth in the summer. They usually live alone.

Feeding

Humpback whales eat krill and small fish, for example herring, capelin, and sand lance. They scoop up their food in their large mouths. Sometimes they round up their prey by swimming in tight circles and blowing curtains of bubbles around them. They often hunt in small groups, called pods.

Whale song
The male whale is known to sing for up to 22 hours at a time. Because whales do not have vocal cords, they make songs by forcing air through their nasal passages. Every male has a different song. We don't yet know why they sing, it might be to call a female or scare away other males. The songs are made up of a pattern of low notes repeated over a period of hours or days. The whales slowly change their songs over a period of years.

Other sounds

Both the male and female humpback whales make other sounds, such as moans and grunts, to communicate with each other.

References

Baleen whales

Humpback whale


Pedro Bernardino María de Anaya y Álvarez (20 May 1795 – 21 March 1854) was a Mexican soldier who served twice as interim president of Mexico during the Mexican-American War. Inbetween presidencies, he directly participated in the fighting as an officer, distinguishing himself at the Battle of Churubusco.

Early life
Pedro Maria Anaya was born in the town of Huichapam in 1795 and began his military career in June 1811, joining the Regiment of Tres Villas as a cadet when the Mexican War of Independence had already begun. He had reached the rank of captain by 1819, and initially fought on the side of the Spanish, having fought in twenty battles as part of his hometown company the Dragoons of Sierra Gorda, when he decided to switch sides on June 20, 1821 to join Agustin de Iturbide's Plan of Iguala. He was assigned to march with General Vicente Filísola to Guatemala, and in 1823 was promoted to squadron commander, and five years later was a lieutenant colonel. During the presidency of Valentin Gomez Farias he was promoted to brigadier general for having been loyal to the liberal party. After this Anaya occupied civilian posts, including a stint as administrator of the postal service.

Under President Jose Joaquin Herrera he was appointed Minister of War from August to December 1845, during a time when war ministers were repeatedly resigning due to fears of going against the popular sentiments favoring a war with the United States as opposed to President Herrera's more moderate course. After the fall of the Herrera government in December, 1845, Anaya retired from publics, as he was against President Mariano Paredes' policies. When Gomez Farias returned to the presidency in 1847, Anaya was president of the congress and he signed Gomez Farias' controversial wartime decree nationalizing church lands.

First presidency
When the Revolt of the Polkos subsequently broke out, Anaya stood behind Gomez Farias, but Santa Anna arrived to moderate a solution between the two factions and deposed Gomez Farias, Anaya was chosen as the interim president while Santa Anna went to deal with the American expeditionary force that had landed at Veracruz.

Anaya was authorized by congress to place the capital under a state of siege and he had to work very hard to fight the provincialism that served as an obstacle against a united war effort, with states resisting to contribute as much as they could, and making alliances with each other. After the Battle of Cerro Gordo in which the Americans broke through the defenses on the way to Mexico City, congress gave the president extraordinary faculties, without giving him the faculty to make a peace treaty on his own, or to alienate any portion of national territory, and anyone who now attempted to negotiate with the Americans was declared a traitor. A commission was set up to continue the task of legislation in the case that congress was unable to continue in its duties. On April 2, Anaya convoked a junta in which he to resolve the issue on whether to defend the capital in case there was not a reasonable chance of winning. All of the supply and budget issues were expounded and the cabinet endorsed guerrilla warfare. When Santa Anna returned to the capital, Anaya passed the presidency down to him.

Battle of Churubusco
Anaya then joined the military to help the war effort. At the head of a brigade, he took part in the defense of the Convent of Churubusco. He managed to repulse an entire enemy column, and he suffered burns after an explosion of artillery, he finally surrendered under orders, and fell prisoner. When General Anaya was asked by General Twiggs to surrender his ammunition after the end of the battle, he famously remarked, "If I had any ammunition, you would not be here". After the armistice was signed between Santa Anna and Winfield Scott, he was released.  As the government of Mexico, including the congress moved to Queretaro, Anaya was once again named president.

Second presidency
Upon assuming the presidency for the second time, he proclaimed his support for the federal system and his hope that it was the only one fit to deal with such a perilous situation, and that to innovate with political systems at the time would be to turn over Mexico to its enemies. He assured that the security of people and property would be sacrosanct. He had to take military precautions because of a rumor that American troops under Scott would continue their march towards San Luis Potosi. Congress meanwhile proclaimed that nobody under any public post could appropriate private property, the free cultivation of tobacco was permitted, it attempted to dissolve the general-commandancies, and Aguascalientes was designated as new seat of government in case the Americans took Queretaro. There were a few deputies that did not wish to negotiate with the Americans if they wished to annex any territory, but a lack of quorum caused the sessions to end prematurely. The budget problems, the lack of arms, and loss of the capital proved to be far too demoralizing to continue the war effort.

The legislature of the State of Mexico asked the government not to make a peace settlement before hearing the opinions of each state in the republic, and two commissioners were named by each state legislature, with the powers granted by each, to form a commission and decide the best course of action. The governor of San Luis Potosi, Ramon Adame, declared his support for the continuance of the war, and protested against any peace settlement. Guerilla warfare however threatened to afflict Mexicans themselves and President Anaya made a show of force with sixteen thousand troops at his command. Various governors ultimately did gather at Queretaro without being able to agree upon a course of action. The legislature of Chihuahua suggested that the United States take the sparsely populated northern areas, the home of many Indian tribes that were raiding Mexican settlements, and then help secure the frontier, fighting against the sale of plunder, and also help prevent the sale of arms to the Indians.

The government of Anaya continued with financial difficulties, in large part because relinquishing the tobacco monopoly deprived the government of a large portion of revenue. In accordance with the decree that named Anaya interim president, his term was to cease on January 8, 1848. He handed the government over at this point and took over the post of Minister of War, faithfully following the policies of President Peña y Peña. After the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the government returned to Mexico City.

Later life
Anaya continued in the post of Minister of War during the presidency of Mariano Arista and continued with President Ceballos for only three days, resigning out of disagreement with the course of events, as yet another coup was bringing Santa Anna back to power. The restored Santa Anna nonetheless made Anaya the postmaster, and it was at this post that Anaya would die on March 21, 1854, in consequence of a violent attack of pneumonia that killed him within hours.

See also

 List of heads of state of Mexico

References

Further reading
 Rivera  Marín,  Guadalupe. "Si hubiera parque!: Pedro María Anaya." Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de la Revolución Mexicana, Secretaría de Gobernación, 1993.
 Sanchez, Javier Ernesto. "Valor Wrought Asunder: The Mexican General Officer Corps in the U.S.-Mexican War, 1846-1847." (2011). http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ltam_etds/3

External links

|-

Presidents of Mexico
Mexican military personnel of the Mexican–American War
Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies (Mexico)
Mexican people of Spanish descent
1795 births
1854 deaths
19th-century Mexican politicians
1840s in Mexico
People from Hidalgo (state)
19th-century Mexican military personnel

Pedro María de Anaya


Nido may refer to:

 Nido (brand), a brand of powdered milks
 Nido Creek, a creek in British Columbia, Canada
 Nido Formation, a geological formation in British Columbia, Canada

People with the name
 Alberto A. Nido (1919–1991), American Air Force officer
 Miguel Nido (born 1963), Puerto Rican tennis player
 Tomás Nido (born 1994), Puerto Rican baseball player
 Nido Pavitra, Indian politician
 Nido Qubein (born 1948), American Lebanese-Jordanian businessman and motivational speaker
 Nido Taniam (1990s–2014), Indian student and murder victim

Chemistry
 Nido cluster, a type of deltahedral atom cluster where one vertex is missing. The descriptor nido- is typically applied boranes, derivatives such as carboranes, and deltahedral metal cluster compounds such as stannides, plumbides and bismuth polycations. The term is usually used in the context of polyhedral skeletal electron pair theory or systematic nomenclature in inorganic chemistry. From the Latin for nest, see :Wiktionary:nido-.

See also
 El Nido (disambiguation)

Nido


Aluetelevisio (ATV) was a Finnish cable television channel which operated from the end of the 1990s to the start of the 2000s. ATV was owned by Christian Moustgaard. His son Eetu Moustgaard worked at ATV as a reporter.

The channel was known in Helsinki for its (then) revolutionary approach to urban journalism and TV entertainment in general. The production team had no  previous experience in TV work and the channel basically "made it up as they went along". In a way the programs looked much like the reality-TV shows  that the modern day television is packed with. But as the term Reality-TV did not yet exist, ATV was heavily criticised for its amateurish look and at times challenging views as being unprofessional and childish. Mostly it seems, though, that the channel's utter lack of resemblance with conventional television and its immediacy in regard to the surrounding urban landscape was welcomed by the majority of viewers.

In an attempt to attract attention and to accumulate much-sought revenues from related SMS-services, ATV soon after its launch took to showing pornography without charge during nighttime.

1999 establishments in Finland
2002 disestablishments in Finland
Defunct television channels in Finland
Television channels and stations established in 1999
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2002
Mass media in Helsinki

Aluetelevisio


is a top-view shoot-'em-up game originally released in 1993 by Konami for the Super Famicom in Japan. The game was also released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in the PAL region. It is the sixth game in the TwinBee series and a direct follow-up to the arcade game Detana!! TwinBee (Bells & Whistles). The European version was published by Konami's Palcom Software division and was the first of three TwinBee games localized for the European market, followed by a Game Boy version of Pop'n TwinBee (which was actually an earlier game titled TwinBee Da!! in Japan) and the side-scrolling platform game Pop'n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures. It was released in North America 27 years after its Super Famicom launch through a February 2020 update to the Nintendo Switch Online Super NES library.

Plot
The game's opening sequence shows TwinBee and WinBee patrolling the skies of Donburi Island when they suddenly receive a distress signal from a young girl named Madoka. Madoka reveals that she is the granddaughter of Dr. Mardock, who was once a benevolent scientist until a bump in the head turned him insane. Dr. Mardock now seeks to conquer the world with an army of Acorn Men and only TwinBee and WinBee can stop him.

Gameplay
The gameplay is similar to Detana!! TwinBee, the second coin-op game in the series, but with a few notable additions and changes. Like in previous TwinBee, up to two players can play simultaneously, Player 1 controls TwinBee (the blue aircraft), while Player 2 controls WinBee (the pink aircraft). When the player begins the game, they'll be asked to enter their name and choose between three types of companion ships (whether their companions will follow their ship, engulf them, or surround them). The player's objective is to maneuver their spacecraft through a series of seven stages and defeat every enemy who gets in the way, facing a boss at the end of each stage. Unlike previous games, instead of extra lives, the player has a life meter that determines how much damage the player's ship can take before losing. When the player loses, they will be given a chance to restart at the stage where they left off, but only limited chances are given to continue.

Like in previous TwinBee games, the player shoots at airborne enemies with their gun and drops bombs to the land. The player can also attack airborne enemies with their ship's punches as well at close range. The player can shoot tiny-sized replicas of their ship that will fly and attack all on-screen enemies. The player can only perform this attack based on the number of stocks they have. During a 2-player game, one player can give the other player a bit of their life energy to replenish it or even use the other player's ship as a projectile against the enemy. As usual, the main power-up items are bells that can change colors by shooting them in the air, giving the player a different upgrade when one is retrieved depending on the bell's color.

On the game's option settings, the player can adjust the game's difficulty, controls, and sound, as well as switch between "normal" and "couple" mode. During couple mode, the enemy attacks will aim primarily at Player 1 if two players are playing together. This feature is intended to allow less experienced players enjoy the game if they're playing with a more experience partner.

Soundtrack
The upbeat and light hearted soundtrack, composed by Kazuhiko Uehara among others, takes influence from Japanese Idol songs.

Reception
The game was reviewed by Weekly Famitsu, and was given a score of 30 out of 40.

References

External links
 TwinBee Portable at Konami
 Official website (in Japanese)

1993 video games
Super Nintendo Entertainment System games
TwinBee games
Video game sequels
Video games developed in Japan
Video games scored by Michiru Yamane
Virtual Console games
Virtual Console games for Wii U
Nintendo Switch Online games

Pop'n TwinBee


Nokia 9500 Communicator is a smartphone produced by Nokia, introduced on 24 February 2004 and released in November 2004. It runs on the Symbian-based Series 80 platform.

The 9500 is equipped with a 150 MHz Texas Instruments OMAP processor and 64 megabytes of SDRAM. It features two screens – a fully functional interior screen, and a restricted-function external screen, which operates on a stripped-down Series 40 user interface.

Connectivity features of the 9500 include: Bluetooth, infrared, USB, Wi-Fi (Nokia's first device with Wi-Fi), CSD, HSCSD, GPRS and EDGE. It has send and receive fax facilities (without scanner) and multi-account POP3/IMAP email client.

The built-in Web browser, a Nokia-branded version of Opera, is able to render both WAP and HTML Web pages. Like others in the Communicator series, the 9500 has a full QWERTY keyboard.

Built-in software includes a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation program, which are compatible with the Microsoft Office suite equivalents; also featured is an MP3 player. In addition to the software applications provided by Nokia, a large range of third-party software is available; many programs written for older Nokia Communicators are compatible with the 9500 and new software can be written in C++ or OPL.

The 9500 also runs Java ME applications, but some do not make full use of the unusually large and wide screen, so that many existing Java games will run, but only use the top left hand corner of the screen. It supports storage on a Multimedia Card (MMC) of up to 2 GB (on later firmware versions).

The 9500 is only available with 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz radios. There were many rumors that a U.S. version with 850 MHz radio capability was going to be made, but it never materialized. Nokia was producing simultaneously the 9500 and its related version, the 9300, so they decided to make a U.S. version of the 9300 instead.

References

See also
 Nokia 9210, predecessor (2002)
 Nokia 9300, a device with similar specs, except smaller and without Wi-Fi and camera.
 Nokia E90 Communicator, successor to the 9500
 List of Nokia products

Nokia smartphones
Symbian devices
Flip phones
Mobile phones with an integrated hardware keyboard
Mobile phones with infrared transmitter

Nokia 9500 Communicator


Zhenyuanlong is a genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China. It lived in the early Cretaceous period, about 125 million years ago.

There is just one specimen. It is estimated the skeleton would have been about 165 centimetres (5.41 ft) long when complete. That means the animal was too large to have flown, especially since early flight was, almost certainly, less efficient than the flight of modern birds. It would surely have looked more like a bird than a modern reptile. This is shown in most reconstructions of dinobirds.

This type specimen has a nearly complete skeleton with traces of feathers, including long tail feathers and large wings. This specimen is the first evidence of well-developed feathers in a large, non-flying dromaeosaur. The feathers probably had two functions: temperature control and signalling.

References

Dromaeosauridae

Feathered dinosaurs

Zhenyuanlong


Meera Chandrasekhar (ಡಾ. ಮೀರಾ ಚಂದ್ರಶೇಖರ್), is a Curators' Teaching of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Missouri, United States. She is the recipient of the 2014 Baylor University's Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching.  Her research focuses on optical spectroscopy of semiconductors and superconductors under pressure.  Meera has also developed several hands-on physics programs for students in grades 5–12, and summer institutes for K-12 teachers.

Early life and education
Chandrasekhar was born in Andhra Pradesh, India. Her father Chandrapal (ಚಂದ್ರಪಾಲ್) was an officer in the Indian Army, and her mother Kusuma (ಕುಸುಮಾ) was a home-maker. During her childhood she lived in several towns and cities across India. She is married to H.R.Chandrasekhar, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Missouri. They have three children.

Education
Chandrapal obtained a B.Sc. degree from M.G.M.College, Udupi, in 1968, an M.Sc. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, and a Ph.D. from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (1976). After a post-doctoral fellowship at Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, Stuttgart, Germany, she came to the University of Missouri, Columbia, in 1978, where she is currently a professor in the department of physics and astronomy.

Research interests
Chandrasekhar's research interests are in the area of optical spectroscopy of semiconductors, superconductors, and conjugated polymers, with an emphasis on high-pressure studies. She has published over 120 papers in this area.

Educational interests
Chandrasekhar has an interest in education at all levels. At the university level she has restructured several courses in her department, and developed a physics course for elementary education majors that has an annual enrollment of over 140 students. Beginning in 1993, she led a series of programs for K-12 students and their teachers, supported by the National Science Foundation, and the Missouri Department of Higher Education. The programs included Exploring Physics for 5-7 grade female students, which focused on learning physics concepts through hands-on activities; Family Evenings with Science and Technology (FEST), a middle school parent and student program where each team built a miniature working drawbridge; Saturday Scientist, an industry based experience for 8-9 grade students designed to increase students' awareness of potential careers in the physical sciences; Newton Summer Science Academy for 9-11 grade girls, which integrated science, engineering and mathematics through a toy factory building project; and summer teacher academies for 5-12 grade science teachers. For her mentoring of young students, she received the Presidential Award for Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) award in 1999. The most recent project, A TIME for Physics First, focuses on professional development and leadership training for science teachers so they can implement a yearlong course in physics at the 9th grade level. As part of this project, she and a colleague, Dorina Kosztin led the development of Exploring Physics, a digital curriculum for conceptual physics.

Honors
 2014 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, Baylor University
 2013 Finalist, Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching, Baylor University
 2008 Missouri Educator Award, Science Teachers of Missouri
 2006 Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching, University of Missouri
 2004 Curator's Distinguished Teaching Professorship, University of Missouri
 2004 Science Teachers of Missouri Distinguished Service Award
 2002 Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
 1999 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring
 1998 Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching
 1997 William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence, University of Missouri
 1992 Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society
 1990 Chancellor's Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity in the Physical and Mathematical Sciences, University of Missouri
 1987 Purple Chalk award for Excellence in Teaching. College of Arts and Science Student Government
 1985 Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship
 1970 Bronze Medal and Certificate of Merit for the first rank in the M.Sc. class, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
 1968 Gold Medal for distinction and first rank in the B.Sc. class, Mysore University
 1965-70 National Science Talent Search Scholarship sponsored by the Government of India

Interactions with popular media
 Getting Girls to E=mc^2, Columbia Missourian, 1993.
 Kemper Award, Columbia Missourian, 1997
 Scientist who Mentors Girls gets Presidential Award, St. Louis Post Dispatch, 1999.
 An Interview with Meera Chandrasekhar Making Strides Newsletter, News On Minority Graduate Education (MGE) Volume 2 Number 1 February 2000.  By Virginia Van Horne, MGE Senior Research Associate.

References

External links
 Blind to Polarization - What Humans do not see (video) Lecture at Baylor University, October 2013.
Indian-American Wins Top US Teaching Award, The Economic Times, 18 January 2014.
 Semiconductors and Superconductors Under High Pressure, Bangalore Science Forum Lecture (video), 5 July 2015.
 Transforming Perceptions of Physics IIT Madras - I & AR, Leadership Lecture series (video) 9 July 2015.
 Missourian. MU professors develop app to help teach ninth-graders physics, YUAN YUAN 14 Sep 2015
 Physics now mandatory in some Freshman classrooms, KMZU 100.7 FM, Ashley Johnson, 15 September 2015
 A conversation with Meera Chandrasekhar: This MU physics professor is bringing technology, gender balance and understanding to science education VOX magazine – By Arthur Cook Bremer, 3 December 2015

21st-century American physicists
Indian emigrants to the United States
American people of Indian descent
American people of Telugu descent
1949 births
Living people
People from Udupi
University of Missouri physicists
Physicists from Missouri
Women physicists
Fellows of the American Physical Society

Meera Chandrasekhar


Suzanne Oxenaar (born 1950s-1960s) is a Dutch cultural entrepreneur, designer and co-founder and artistic director of the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam.

Biography
Oxenaar is the daughter of Rudi Oxenaar, former director of the Kröller-Müller Museum, and Thil Oxenaar-van der Haagen (1931-1985). Her brother Aart Oxenaar (1958) is director of the Academy of Architecture in Amsterdam.

Oxenaar came into prominence in the late 1980s with the renovation of an old Amsterdam theater into an art center. In 1990 with her own office she managed an art exhibition in Loevestein Castle with artists such as Klaas Gubbels, David van de Kop, Gabriëlle van de Laak and Bořek Šípek.

Another of her early adventures was the initiation of the Supper Club in Amsterdam in 1991. A year later in 1992 she managed to transform an old hospital in Gorkum into an temporary exhibition space.

Later the 1990s with the historian Otto Nan she developed a plan to renovate and old Lloyd office in Amsterdam into the Lloyd Hotel, which was put into action. In 2004 the hotel opened their doors. In 2009 Oxenaar was awarded the Benno Premsela Prize.

Publications
 Shuzo Azuchi Gulliver, Suzanne Oxenaar, Pierre Tuning. Ambition/field climbing: project in de 'Historische Tuin Aalsmeer' 1996. Mondriaan Fund, 1997
 Suzanne Oxenaar (ed), Het vijfde seizoen, Amsterdam : SKOR, 2002.

References

External links
 Suzanne Oxenaar - Lloyd Hotel - MfDC

Living people
Dutch designers
Dutch directors
Year of birth missing (living people)

Suzanne Oxenaar


Elves is a 1989 American horror film directed by Jeffrey Mandel and starring Dan Haggerty, Deanna Lund, and Ken Carpenter.

Plot
When teenager Kirsten accidentally cuts her hand during an "Anti-Christmas" pagan ritual with her friends Brooke and Amy in the woods, her spilled blood awakens an ancient demonic Christmas elf. The elf is the central figure in a modern-day Neo-Nazi plot to finally bring about the master race with which Hitler had always dreamed of conquering the world. Rather than a race of pure-blood Aryans, it is revealed that Hitler instead dreamed of a race of half-human/half-elf hybrids; it is also revealed that elves figured heavily into a pseudo-cult religion that the Nazis practiced in secret. Kirsten is also a figure in this plot, as she is the last remaining pure-blooded Aryan virgin in the world, her grandfather being a former Nazi who was once involved in the plot, but is now reformed; he is also her father, as inbreeding was somehow considered crucial to maintaining a pure Aryan bloodline. Unaware of all these sinister goings-on, the non-festive Kirsten continues to sulk her way through the Christmas season as she works at the snack counter of a local department store.

Mike McGavin is an ex-cop who lost his badge when he lost control of his alcoholism. Jobless, penniless, and recently served a notice of eviction from his ramshackle trailer home, Mike turns to his old friend — the manager of the department store — for help, and winds up becoming the store Santa after the prior Santa is murdered by the elf. Without a proper home, Mike sneaks into the store at night to sleep in the storage room and live off the snack counter left-overs. One night, he hears Kirsten and her friends, who have also sneaked in, frolicking through the store as they wait for their boyfriends to show up for an all-night party. The shadowy Nazi group arrives instead, planning to kidnap Kirsten and find the elf so the master race can finally be made reality. With Mike's help, Kirsten escapes with her life, though her friends are not so lucky. Promptly fired for breaking into the store after hours, Mike and Kirsten are able to devote their time to unraveling the plot. After making a Christmas Eve visit to the local college library and later breaking into a professor's home to demand information, Mike realizes what is afoot and sets out to protect Kirsten. Mike, Kirsten and her grandfather have a final climactic showdown with the Nazis and the elf in Kirsten's home, culminating in the woods where Kirsten destroys the elf by performing a ritual involving an "elfstone" from her grandfather's study. The following morning, Kirsten huddles in the now inexplicably destroyed forest as it begins to snow for the first time that winter. The film ends on the image of a fetus, suggesting perhaps that the plot was successful despite the elf's seeming inability to actually copulate with Kirsten before its demise.

Cast
 Dan Haggerty as Mike McGavin
 Julie Austin as Kirsten
 Deanna Lund as Kirsten's mother
 Borah Silver as Kirsten's grandfather
 Mansell Rivers-Bland as Rubinkraur
 Christopher Graham as Willy
 Laura Lichstein as Brooke
 Stacey Dye as Amy
 Winter Monk as Kurt
 Jeff Austin as Emil
 Allen Lee as Dr. Fitzgerald
 Paul Rohrer as Prof. O'Conner
 Ken Carpenter as Shaver
 Michael Tatlock as Hugh Reed
 Michael Herst	as Sgt. DeSoto
 Chris Hamner as Kevin
 D.L. Walker as Dave
 James Albert as Mark

Release
It premiered in a limited theatrical release in 1989, and it was given a PG-13 rating. It was released on VHS on December 19, 1994 by AIP Home Video and Hemdale Home Video. As of 2023, the film is still yet to have a DVD or Blu-ray release.

Reception

Ryne Barber from HorrorNews.net wrote in his review of the film, "It's hard to dread seeing the elf if it's not even potentially frightening. Most of the time, you'll be laughing at how ridiculous the death scenes are to even think about being scared. It might seem that because the film is so bad it's funny, it would be worth a watch. It's not — the plot ambles along so slowly, so pointlessly, that Elves is only recommended for those hardcore viewers who completely love bad movies for whatever reason. Anyone else will see no point to this somnolent movie, especially because of the confusing ending". Charles Tatum from DVD Talk awarded the film 1/5 stars, writing, "One real drawback is the fact that this film is very ugly. It is mean. It is not scary, and not fun in a scary way. It is just plain mean." Brett Gallman from Oh, the Horror! criticized the film's absurd plot, and dialogue, calling it "completely harmless". Jeremy Wheeler from AllMovie wrote, "No holiday horror viewing would be complete without a little screening of the horrendously strange low-budget opus Elves...  this old VHS gem delivers the ridiculous goods hand over fist time and again."

References

External links

1989 films
1989 horror films
1980s monster movies
1980s Christmas horror films
American independent films
American monster movies
American dark fantasy films
Demons in film
American Christmas horror films
Films set in Colorado
Films shot in Colorado
1989 fantasy films
Incest in film
Nazi exploitation films
1980s exploitation films
Films about elves
1980s English-language films
1980s American films

Elves (film)


On February 23, 1997, Ali Hassan Abu Kamal, a 69-year-old Palestinian teacher, opened fire on the observation deck of the Empire State Building in Manhattan, New York City. The gunman killed one person and wounded six others before taking his own life with a gunshot to the head.

Law enforcement officials ruled it was a premeditated attack after finding notes indicating Abu Kamal's anger over Palestine and Israel. At the time, Abu Kamal's widow stated the shooting spree was not politically motivated, but rooted in his despondency over financial ruin.

Ten years after the shooting, Abu Kamal's daughter revealed that she had lied in hiding that her father's actions had in fact been motivated by Palestinian nationalism. Her mother's 1997 account was a cover story fabricated by the Palestinian Authority as Abu Kamal sought revenge against the Americans, the British, and the French for supporting Israel.

Shooting
Abu Kamal opened fire shortly after 5 p.m. on February 23, 1997, on the 86th floor observation deck of the Empire State Building, one of New York City's most popular tourist attractions. Before he started shooting, he muttered something about Egypt, apparently shouting, "Are you from Egypt?" The NYPD said they did not know whether it was said in an effort to spare or identify potential victims. Surviving victims however witness that Abu Kamal asked them in a friendly way whether "you are Italian or American?" before the shooting started.

The shooter used a 14-shot .380-caliber Beretta 84 handgun that he apparently bought in Florida at the end of January 1997.  Abu Kamal killed one person and wounded another six before shooting himself in the head. He was taken to a hospital where he died five hours later.

The sole murder victim was 27-year-old Christoffer Burmeister, a Danish musician who was living in New York and played in a band. He was visiting the Empire State Building with bandmate Matthew Gross, who was critically wounded in the attack.

Perpetrator
Ali Hassan Abu Kamal was a 69-year-old Palestinian English teacher. He was born in Jaffa in Mandate Palestine on September 19, 1927. He was the son of a refugee family that fled the city during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and resettled in Gaza. He became a well-respected English teacher at a local high school and a university, and he was also a well-paid tutor and accomplished translator. He earned about $3,000 a month and lived in an affluent neighborhood with his wife, and had six children.

In 1996, he decided his family should relocate to the United States for a better life. He obtained a legal nonimmigrant visa and arrived in New York on December 24, 1996.

Motive
According to law enforcement officials, Abu Kamal's attack was premeditated, based on his visit to the observation deck the day before the shooting. A pair of identical letters, one in English and one in Arabic, was also found in a pouch around his neck. The letters were a diatribe against the "Big Three" of the United States, France, and England for their mistreatment of Palestinians, as well as against Zionism, which he said oppressed Palestinians.

Despite the letter's reference to Palestine and Zionists, Abu Kamal's widow offered another explanation that the real motive for the shooting spree was not political but rooted in financial ruin. The letter had also named two business partners, who Abu Kamal claimed swindled him out of money, losing $300,000 in a business venture. At that point, she said he became suicidal.
His daughter added that he could not return home after losing the money. Fathiya Abu Kamal told the press:

My husband is not a terrorist, he was just hopeless. He was aged, he had nothing to do with politics, or terrorism, or crime.

In February 2007, 10 years after the shooting, the New York Daily News reported that Abu Kamal's daughter, Linda, was "tired of lying" about her father's motives for the attack. She told the Daily News that her father wanted to punish the U.S. for supporting Israel and revealed that her mother's 1997 account was a cover story fabricated by the Palestinian Authority:
A Palestinian Authority official advised us to say the attack was not for political reasons because that would harm the peace agreement with Israel. We didn't know that he was martyred for patriotic motivations, so we repeated what we were told to do... His goal was patriotic. He wanted to take revenge from the Americans, the British, the French and the Israelis... He wrote that after he raised his children and made sure that his family was all right he decided to avenge in the highest building in America to make sure they get his message.

Aftermath
Following the shooting New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani called for more consistent gun control laws across the US, saying "It should be as difficult to get a gun in Florida as it is in New York City."

See also

1994 Brooklyn Bridge shooting
2000 Bronx terror attack
2009 Bronx terrorism plot
2011 Manhattan terrorism plot
2012 Empire State Building shooting

References

1997 murders in the United States
1997 mass shootings in the United States
1997 in New York City
1990s in Manhattan
February 1997 crimes in the United States
Antisemitic attacks and incidents in the United States
Antisemitism in New York (state)
Attacks in the United States in 1997
Terrorist incidents in the United States in 1997
Islamic terrorism in New York (state)
Terrorist incidents in New York City
Palestinian political violence
Murder–suicides in New York City
Empire State Building
Murder in New York City
Deaths by firearm in Manhattan
Crimes in Manhattan
Mass shootings in the United States
Mass shootings in New York City

1997 Empire State Building shooting


The Hello Kitty murder case was the murder of Fanin Hong Kong. Man-yee lived in an orphanage until she was 15, when she was kicked out because no one wanted to take her. She became homeless and got addicted to drugs. Eventually, she became a street prostitute and when she turned 21, she joined a brothel. Fan married a fellow addict, who was also her client in 1996. She gave birth to a boy in 1998. Man-yee's husband was abusive, as claimed by their neighbors.

Background
A triad member named Chan Man-lok (34 years old) was a regular client of Fan Man-yee. In early 1999, Fan Man-yee stole about $4000 HK ($500) from Man-lok. When she got caught, she immediately returned the wallet. But, when Chan Man-lok asked for an extra $HK 10,000 from her, she said that she needed more time to get the money. The kidnapping took place on 17th March, 1999.

Kidnapping and death
She was kidnapped by 3 men and a young girl, Ah Fong who was groomed by Chan Man-lok. They took her to an apartment in Tsim Sha Tsui (No. 31 Granville Road) and imprisoned her for a month until her death.

She was raped and tortured and was beaten with household items and was also used as a punching bag. She was also kicked in the head (around 50 times). Her legs and feet were burned with wax and hot plastic which made her unable to walk. She was also forced to consume Ah Fong's feces and the men's urine. And, if she was refusing, she would be beaten more. She was forced to smile and say that she had enjoyed the abuse. Eventually, she died because of traumatic shock on 15th April 1999. Her body was dismembered and boiled, and her head was shoved into a Hello Kitty doll, providing a title for this case. Only her skull, one tooth and few internal organs remained.

Trial and convictions
Ah Fong told the police about this after she had been seeing the image of a young woman in her 20s haunting her, which she assumed was Fan Man-yee. The people who allegedly abused her repeatedly were Leung Wai-Lun (21), Leung Shing-cho (27), Chan Man-Lok (34) and his grooming victim, Ah Fong (14). After a six-week long trial, the three men were convicted of manslaughter due to the jury's inability to judge whether her death was due to a drug overdose or murder. But, they sentenced the men because their abuse had a role in her death. Ah Fong testified in trial as an exchange for immunity.

Justice Peter Nguyen states that Hong Kong had never heard of a more gruesome crime, and the psychiatric reports marked the three as 'remorseless'. There was no review for parole for 20 years, until 2020.
People murdered in Asia

Hello Kitty murder case


The Poker House, subsequently retitled as Behind Closed Doors, is a 2008 American independent drama film written and directed by Lori Petty, in her directorial debut. Based on Petty's early life during the 1970s, the film depicts a painful day in the life of Agnes (Jennifer Lawrence) a teenage girl who is raising her two younger sisters, Bee (Sophi Bairley) and Cammie (Chloë Grace Moretz), in their mother's whorehouse.

The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the characters, writing and performances of the ensemble cast (particularly that of Lawrence) although the plot was criticized. At the Los Angeles Film Festival, Lawrence won an Outstanding Performance Award for her performance.

Plot
Sarah, a woman addicted to alcohol and drugs, is the mother of three abused and neglected sisters, 14-year-old Agnes, 12-year-old Bee, and 8-year-old Cammie. She has been coerced into prostitution to support her pimp, Duval. Sarah is unable to care for the girls, forcing Agnes to take responsibility for her two younger sisters. Sarah's house has become known as the Poker House, where neighborhood pimps and criminals gather to play poker, as well as buying sex.

Agnes believes Duval is her boyfriend and that he loves her, despite being much older and his abuse towards her mother. Agnes wakes Bee and prepares her for her paper route. Cammie has stayed the night at her friend Sheila's house. It is revealed that before they left their father, who was a preacher, he used to beat Sarah and the girls. The four fled, and Sarah, struggling to take care of the girls on her own, became a prostitute after meeting Duval.

Bee speaks of moving into a foster home, hoping to be adopted. Cammie spends the day at a bar, making friends with Dolly, the bar owner, and Stymie, an alcoholic. Agnes rides through town, talking with a few friends, playing a game of basketball, and picking up a couple of paychecks from her part-time jobs. Towards the end of the day, Agnes climbs through Bee's window, avoiding the living room, which is full of gamblers, pimps, and drunks. Bee has locked herself in her room, and like Agnes, avoids the downstairs chaos. Agnes makes Bee leave the house, telling her not to come back for a while.

Later that evening after Duval and Agnes begin kissing, Duval then rapes her. As Duval releases her, she runs to the bathroom to clean herself, horrified by the thoughts of the violence and possibility of pregnancy. She is completely traumatized. Her mother enters the bathroom, and as Agnes reaches for her in utter distress, Sarah refuses to touch her, and instead tells Agnes to go to the store to pick up alcohol. Soon after, Agnes overhears Duval telling Sarah that he will begin pimping and selling Agnes. Agnes threatens to shoot Duval, firing a couple of shots and screaming to her mother that he raped her. Sarah tells Agnes that she will defend him.

Agnes, a school basketball star, scores 27 points in the second half alone, a record that lasts for years to come. However, she falls when she scores the last goal, limps to the car, and has a meltdown. She then drives off and finds Bee and Cammie at a nearby bridge. The two get in the car, with Agnes not telling her young sisters of events that took place that evening, and instead takes them to get dinner. Cammie then plays "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", and the three girls sing together.

Agnes later leaves Iowa to go to New York and become an actress and artist. Some 20 years later, she is shown to have directed the movie, revealing the movie is the true story of director Lori Petty's childhood.

Cast
Jennifer Lawrence as Agnes
Selma Blair as Sarah
Chloë Grace Moretz as Cammie
Bokeem Woodbine as Duval
David Alan Grier as Stymie
Danielle Campbell as Darla
Sophi Bairley as Bee
Casey Tutton as Sheila

Jennifer Lawrence's father, Gary Lawrence, appears uncredited in the film as the basketball coach of the other team.

Reception

Critical response
The Poker House has received mixed reviews from film critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 63% of critics have given the film a positive review based on eight reviews, with an average score of 6.2/10.

References

External links

2008 drama films
American coming-of-age drama films
2000s coming-of-age drama films
American independent films
2008 directorial debut films
2008 films
Films about prostitution in the United States
Films about rape
American films based on actual events
Films directed by Lori Petty
Films set in 1976
Films set in Iowa
Films shot in Chicago
2000s English-language films
2000s American films

The Poker House


George Vere Irving (1816–1869) was a Scottish lawyer and antiquary.

Life
George Vere Irving was born on 9 October 1816 and was the only son of Alexander Irving of Newton, Lanarkshire, who became a Scottish judge with the title of Lord Newton. In 1837, he was called to the Scottish bar.

Irving took part in the volunteer movement, and became captain of the Carnwath troop. He died at 5 St. Mark's Crescent, Regent's Park, London, on 29 October 1869, aged 53.

Works
Irving's works were:

 Digest of the Law of the Assessed Taxes in Scotland, Edinburgh, 1841.
 Digest of the Inhabited House Tax Act, London, 1852.
 The Upper Ward of Lanarkshire described and delineated. The Archæological and Historical Section by G. V. Irving. The Statistical and Topographical Section by Alexander Murray, 3 vols. Glasgow, 1864.

Irving was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and vice-president of the British Archæological Association. He also contributed frequently to Notes and Queries.

Notes

Attribution

1816 births
1869 deaths
Scottish lawyers
Scottish legal writers
Scottish antiquarians

George Vere Irving


Orvar or Örvar is a Nordic male given name, which means "arrow" in Old Norse. Örvar-Oddr ("arrow's point") is a legendary hero in a 13th-century Icelandic saga. The name may refer to:

Orvar Bergmark (1930–2004), Swedish football player and manager
Orvar Jönsson (born 1950), Swedish fencer
Orvar Lindwall (born 1941), Swedish fencer
Orvar Säfström (born 1974), Swedish film critic
Örvar Þóreyjarson Smárason (born 1977), Icelandic musician
Orvar Trolle (1900–1971), Swedish swimmer

References

Scandinavian masculine given names
Swedish masculine given names
Masculine given names

Orvar


Attila (; ) is a 1954 Italian-French co-production, directed by Pietro Francisci and produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti for Lux Film. Based on the life of Attila the Hun, it stars Anthony Quinn as Attila and Sophia Loren as Honoria, with French leading man, Henri Vidal, as the Hun's antagonist, Flavius Aetius. Irene Papas, in the second of three contract pictures for Lux Film, plays one of Attila's wives, Grune. Ettore Manni, Christian Marquand, and Claude Laydu are among the supporting cast of mostly French and Italian actors. American Scott Marlowe (1932–2001) made his screen debut in the film. Along with The Pride and the Passion and Houseboat, it was one of Loren's biggest box-office successes during the 1950s.

Filmed immediately following the breakthrough Italo-American co-production, Ulysses (Lux Film / Ponti-DeLaurentiis / Paramount Pictures, 1954), Attila, Scourge of God represented an independent attempt by the same Italian producers to make a film with an American lead actor in hopes of licensing it to an American studio for distribution on more lucrative terms.  It failed to secure this goal for a variety of reasons unforeseen at the outset.  However, three and a half years later (retitled, Attila) it proved to be the vehicle which launched the career of Joe Levine -- Joseph E. Levine presents—as a producer and distributor of international films, many of them Italian in origin.  While never to be a financially or critically acclaimed motion picture, Attila ultimately achieved the status of a significant product in the evolution of world film markets.

Plot

The story is set in 450-52 A.D. The Huns, a horde of barbarians from the distant plains of Asia, move toward the rich western lands of Germania, led by a savage chief, Attila.

Flavius Aetius, a Roman general, is the only person who knows Attila since he was a hostage with the Huns for years. Aetius and his companion Prisco carry a message from the Roman emperor Valentinian III to the Hun's king Rua. After reaching their palace, Aetius learns that the king has died, and that two brothers Bleda and Attila are now ruling the Hun kingdom. Bleda favours peace and tolerance, but Attila is at odds with him, and tensions develop. Yet Aetius knows to make an alliance between the Western Roman Empire and the Huns.

Aetius returns to the Imperial court at Ravenna, where the childish emperor Valentinian III is busy with Roman parties in his palace and enjoying himself, while ignoring the fact that the Empire is beginning to fall apart. Because of this, his mother Galla Placidia is de facto ruling the Empire. Honoria, daughter of Galla Placidia and sister of Valentinian, hopes to get rid of them, but needs help to do so. She asks Aetius to join her in a coup d'état, but he has vowed an oath to serve the Empire and refuses, even if he's arrested and stripped of his military rank by Valantinian and Galla Placidia due to his alliance to the Huns.

The two brothers battle, Attila wins by ordering his bodyguard to fire arrows at Bleda and his bodyguard during the hunt, and declares himself the sole leader of the Huns, riling them to support his aspirations of conquering the Roman Empire.

Flavius Aetius returns to Ravenna, and finds Emperior Valentinian enraged by imagined attempts against his rule. Galla Placidia realizes that the Empire is now on the edge of destruction and gives Aetius full military powers in an effort to protect her son.  As Roman legions march to block Attila's path, Honoria slips away from the Imperial court and visits the Hun in his camp.

The battle is eventually joined with a frontal attack on the Roman encampment by Hunnic cavalry.  This first move is a deception, designed to draw the legions out of their fortified position.  Aetius decides to pursue the retreating Huns, anyway.  His cavalry charges and his foot soldiers follow them into the fray.  After a clash of arms on the open plains, the fighting moves into the Hun camp.  Here Honoria is found hiding in a nomad cart and killed.  But Aetius is soon killed by an arrow through the neck and the Romans lose their will to fight.  They flee the field and the Huns follow to burn their encampment.  As night falls, Attila takes his young son, Bleda, to view the carnage strewn battlefield.  There, a badly wounded Roman archer manages to fire a last shot.  The arrow misses Attila, but kills Bleda.  This emotionally traumatizes the Hun.  He appears to lose his passion for conquest and plunder.

On the way toward Rome, a sullen Attila and his horde come upon a procession of Christians led by Pope Leo I. Bewildered by the assembly he faces, Attila speaks alone with the Pope in the middle of a stream that separates his army from the religious gathering.  Leo calmly tells Attila,  "You can kill everybody...old people, women, children..." and Attila suddenly hears the disembodied words of his murdered brother Bleda.  "Innocent blood won't be washed away. It will come back to haunt you."   With this warning in mind, Attila suddenly decides to turn back towards the Alps, leaving Rome unscathed.

Cast
 Anthony Quinn as Attila
 Sophia Loren as Honoria
 Henri Vidal as Aetius
 Irene Papas as Grune
 Ettore Manni as Bleda
 Christian Marquand as Ezio
Claude Laydu as Valentiniano Caesar
Colette Règis as Galla Placidia
Guido Celano as Tribe Chieftain
Marco Guglielmi as Kadis
Eduardo Ciannelli as Onegesius, counsellor to Attila
Carlo Hintermann as Tribe Chieftain
Mimmo Palmara as Lottatore
Mario Feliciani as Ippolito

US release (1958): The dawn of saturation booking

Attilas release was a signal moment in US film distribution. It established an exhibition pattern which came to be known as "saturation booking". Joseph E. Levine, previously a US states-rights distributor/exhibitor based in Boston, quickly moved some 90 prints through regional distribution hubs, managing to assemble ad hoc arrays of mostly low-end theaters, where he could book short period playdates with favorable box-office terms.  This dense concentration of venues allowed for the cost effective use of local TV and radio spots, and he spent far more than most would have considered prudent. The film opened on 300 theatres in New England on April 23, 1958 before opening in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Milwaukee, New York and Philadelphia in May. Following this pattern, Levine was able to generate over $2 million in US box-office rentals with only a ten-day-per-screen exhibition average. The success of Attila proved that an exploitable picture with heavy TV-advertising, and a dense concentration of theaters, could break through traditional road blocks to success for an independent release.

Levine licensed the US theatrical, non-theatrical, and television exhibition rights to Attila for a 10-year term (through March 1968) for $90,000, plus the cost of supplied film and sound mastering elements from the Italian producers, Lux Film / Ponti-DeLaurentiis. He also remade the picture's main-title and head-credits in English, typesetting them (in a 1.66:1 title-safe aspect-ratio) over a simple weaved cloth background. In all, about $110,000 was expended to get the film ready for printing.  In the course of its initial release, Levine also spent $590,000 on print and newspaper advertising, and $350,000 on radio and TV spots, enabling the picture to earn back over $2 million in US rentals. It was re-released in 1961 on a double-bill with Steve Reeves' Hercules, then sold into TV-syndication.

By contract, all US 35mm and 16mm, prints and masters, were collected and disposed of in 1968. The film was then out of US distribution for decades.  The picture's 1958 US copyright was renewed in 1986, by a Parisian law firm believed to be acting on behalf of Carlo Ponti and the French StudioCanal film library. An Italian-language version (with English sub-titles) was finally issued to US home video in 2008 as part of a 4-film collection from Lionsgate which contained some of Sophia Loren's earlier works. Since the movie's initial release, English-language versions have featured a track dubbed by Anthony Quinn. This track was also used on Joe Levine's American distribution prints and contains many lines in English which do not match the dialogue spoken in Italian.

Warner Bros. was so impressed with the exhibition showmanship and business acumen that Joe Levine had brought to Attila, they paid him a $300,000 advance to secure the distribution-rights for his pending release of Pietro Francisci's muscleman epic, Hercules.  The results Levine had achieved with Attila were then intensified (utilizing Warner Bros' nationwide network of print exchanges) to realize the far greater take of $4.7 million in North American rentals, when that film was released to great fanfare with over 600 prints, the following summer. 175 of these played simultaneously in the Greater New York City area, at a time when major studio releases often opened, nationally, with such a number. The dubbed Italian sword-and-sandal film, which was produced for about a half-million dollars (Levine purchased North American rights for approximately a third of this figure), became the 4th highest-grossing US release of 1959, easily surpassing all previous box office takes for a foreign-film in the United States. Financially, it was widely viewed as a  "Joe Levine presents" promotion-fueled blockbuster.

See also
List of historical drama films
List of films set in ancient Rome
Sign of the Pagan

References

External links

1954 films
1950s biographical drama films
1950s historical drama films
Peplum films
French biographical drama films
Italian biographical drama films
Films directed by Pietro Francisci
Classical war films
Films set in ancient Rome
Films set in the Roman Empire
Films set in the 5th century
Films produced by Carlo Ponti
Films produced by Dino De Laurentiis
Cultural depictions of Attila the Hun
Lux Film films
Sword and sandal films
1954 drama films
Films scored by Enzo Masetti
Cultural depictions of Flavius Aetius
French historical drama films
Italian historical drama films
1950s Italian films
1950s French films

Attila (1954 film)