Hrachya Petikyan (, born 23 February 1960) is an Armenian sports shooter and USSR, European, four-time World and Olympic Champion. Petikyan is a four-time Olympian who has represented three nations: the Soviet Union, the Unified Team and the Republic of Armenia. He has been awarded the Honored Master of Sport of the USSR title.

Petikyan started shooting in the Yerevan dynamo sports club under the honored coach of Armenia, Martyn Kalechyan. For many years, Petikyan was a member of the USSR national team and a Champion of Europe and the World in individual and team competitions. He has also won many medals at ISSF world competitions that are now discontinued.

At the 1988 Summer Olympics, competing as a Soviet, Petikyan participated in the 10 metre air rifle and the 50 metre rifle, three positions. He notably came in sixth place in the latter.

Petikyan was entrusted with carrying the Armenian flag at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He won the gold medal in the 50 metre rifle three positions and set the Olympic record at 1,267.4 in the finals. He also came in eighth place in the 50 metre rifle prone, meaning he had ranked in the top eight of every rifle competition at the Olympics.

Petikyan now began representing his native Armenia. He competed for Armenia at the 1996 Summer Olympics and 2000 Summer Olympics, each in his specialty, the men's 50 metre rifle three positions. However, he was unable to qualify for the finals at either Olympics.

In 1997, he headed the Armenian Shooting Federation and junior sports school for shooting in Armenia. In 2007, Petikyan participated in the ceremony to light the fire for the IV Pan-Armenian Games.

References

External links

1960 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Yerevan
Armenian male sport shooters
Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR
Shooters at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Shooters at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Shooters at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Shooters at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Olympic shooters for the Soviet Union
Olympic shooters for the Unified Team
Olympic shooters for Armenia
Olympic gold medalists for the Unified Team
Olympic medalists in shooting
Soviet Armenians
Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Armenian sports executives and administrators
Ethnic Armenian sportspeople

Hrachya Petikyan


Jan Sterling (born Jane Sterling Adriance; April 3, 1921 – March 26, 2004) was an American film, television and stage actress. At her most active in films during the 1950s (immediately prior to which she had joined the Actors Studio), Sterling received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The High and the Mighty (1954), as well as an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination. Her best performance is often considered to be opposite Kirk Douglas, as the opportunistic wife in Billy Wilder's 1951 Ace in the Hole. Although her career declined during the 1960s, she continued to play occasional television and theatre roles.

Early life
Born in New York City, Sterling was the daughter of Eleanor Ward (née Deans) and William Allen Adriance Jr, an architect and advertising executive. She had a younger sister, Ann "Mimi" Adriance, a model and businesswoman. Jane grew up in a wealthy household and attended private schools before moving with her family to Europe and South America. In London and Paris she was schooled by private tutors, and in London she attended Fay Compton's dramatic school. During the taping of the pilot of a game show in 1968, she told the story of having been sent airfare to fly back to the United States; seeing some lingerie she liked in a shop window, she used the last of her money to buy it, then traded in the airfare and booked aboard a steamship.  Midway through the voyage, she found out that the airship she had originally been booked on, the Hindenburg, had been destroyed in a massive fire upon arriving in New Jersey on May 6, 1937.

Acting career

As a teenager, she returned to the borough of Manhattan, and using variations of her given name, including "Jane Adriance" and "Jane Sterling", she began her acting career in 1938 by performing on Broadway as the character Chris Faringdon in Bachelor Born. She then appeared in a variety of other Broadway productions during the 1940s, such as When We Were Married, This Rock, and The Rugged Path. In 1947 she made her film debut in Tycoon, billed as Jane Darian. Ruth Gordon reportedly insisted she change her stage name, and they agreed upon Jan Sterling. She played a prominent supporting role in Johnny Belinda (1948). Alternating between films and television, Sterling appeared in several television anthology series during the 1950s, and played film roles in Caged (1950), Mystery Street (1950), Union Station (1950), The Mating Season (1951), Ace in the Hole (1951), Flesh and Fury (1952), The High and the Mighty (1954), Female on the Beach (1955), and High School Confidential (1958). Often cast as hard and determined characters, she played a more sympathetic character in Sky Full of Moon (1952). In 1950, she was cast as "Ruth" (the girlfriend of Deputy Roscoe, played by veteran western film star Roscoe Ates) on ABC's The Marshal of Gunsight Pass.

In 1954, Sterling was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The High and the Mighty. Later that year, she travelled to Britain to play the role of Julia in the first film version of George Orwell's 1984, despite being several months pregnant at the time. During the following years, she appeared regularly in films. Some of her appearances on American television series include the title character in "The Annie Griffith Story" on Wagon Train in 1959 and "The Selena Hartnell Story" in 1961; and during the 1960s, guest-starring role on Riverboat, her performance as Dianne Jordan in a 1960 Bonanza episode ("The Blood Line"), her portrayal of Nurse Murdoch in the 1963 episode "Millions of Faces" on ABC's Breaking Point, and her performance in the 1967 episode "Eleven Miles to Eden" of NBC's The Road West. In late 1968, Sterling began portraying the conniving "Miss Foss" on The Guiding Light. After performing in the 1969 film The Minx, she curtailed her appearances in films and on television but continued to work on stage. She did, however, return to television in 1979 to portray the wife of President Herbert Hoover in Backstairs at the White House, and in 1981 Sterling made her last film appearance playing Walter Matthau's wife in the First Monday in October.

Marriages
Sterling was married twice. In 1941 she wed actor John Merivale, a union that ended in divorce seven years later. She then married another actor, Paul Douglas, in 1950 and remained with him until his death in 1959. In the 1970s, she entered into a long-lasting personal relationship with Sam Wanamaker. Inactive professionally for nearly two decades, she made an appearance at the Cinecon Film Festival in Los Angeles in 2001.

Health and death
Sterling's later life was marked by illness and injury that included diabetes, a broken hip and a series of strokes. Her son died of heart failure in December 2003 aged 48. Sterling died three months later, on March 26, 2004, aged 82, at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California.

Films

Tycoon (1947) – Dancer at Fiesta (uncredited)
Johnny Belinda (1948) – Stella McCormick
Caged (1950) – Jeta Kovsky – aka Smoochie
The Skipper Surprised His Wife (1950) – Rita Rossini
Mystery Street (1950) – Vivian Heldon
Gunfire (1950) – Flo – Saloon Girl (uncredited)
Union Station (1950) – Marge Wrighter
Snow Dog (1950)
The Mating Season (1951) – Betsy
Appointment with Danger (1951) – Dodie
Ace in the Hole (1951) – Lorraine Minosa
Rhubarb (1951) – Polly Sickles
Flesh and Fury (1952) – Sonya Bartow
Sky Full of Moon (1952) – Dixie Delmar
Pony Express (1953) – Denny Russell
Split Second (1953) – Dottie Vale
The Vanquished (1953) – Rose Slater
Alaska Seas (1954) – Nicky Jackson
The High and the Mighty (1954) – Sally McKee
Return from the Sea (1954) – Frieda
The Human Jungle (1954) – Mary Abbott
Women's Prison (1955) – Brenda Martin
Female on the Beach (1955) – Amy Rawlinson
Man with the Gun (1955) – Nelly Bain
1984 (1956) – Julia of the Outer Party
The Harder They Fall (1956) – Beth Willis
Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (1957) – Madge Pitts
The Female Animal (1958) – Lily Frayne
High School Confidential! (1958) – Arlene Williams
Kathy O' (1958) – Celeste Saunders
Love in a Goldfish Bowl (1961) – Sandra Slide
The Incident (1967) – Muriel Purvis
The Angry Breed (1968) – Gloria Patton
The Minx (1969) – Louise Baxter
Sammy Somebody (1976)
First Monday in October (1981) – Christine Snow

Selected Television appearances
 Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1958) (Season 3 Episode 20: "On the Nose") - Fran Holland
 Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961) (Season 6 Episode 17: "The Last Escape") - Wanda Ferlini
 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) (Season 1 Episode 14: "The Tender Poisoner") - Beatrice Bartel

Radio appearances

References

External links

 The Guardian UK obituary
 Images of Jan Sterling's 1960 passport (with incorrect year of birth), passportland.com; accessed May 3, 2014.

1921 births
2004 deaths
20th-century American actresses
Actresses from New York City
American film actresses
American stage actresses
American television actresses
Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners
Deaths from diabetes
American expatriates in France
American expatriates in the United Kingdom
21st-century American women

Jan Sterling


The Snorkel is a 1958 British thriller film from Hammer Films. It was directed by Guy Green and stars Peter van Eyck, Betta St. John and Mandy Miller. It was the last film role for Miller.

Plot
Paul Decker kills his wife, Madge, by drugging her and then gassing her in a room in their Italian villa, sealing all the windows and doors but concealing himself under floorboards in the room, covered by a rug and using a snorkel attached to air pipes to breathe while hidden. Household servants discover her body in the morning and as the room has been locked and sealed from the inside, it appears to the local Italian police Inspector and British Consulate Mr. Wilson to be a case of suicide, although no suicide note has been found.

Madge's teenage daughter Candy arrives from England with her dog Toto and travelling companion Jean Edwards, and immediately accuses her stepfather, Decker, of killing her mother, based on the fact that she believes - correctly - that he also killed her father years before and made it look like an accident.  Toto senses Decker's presence under the floorboards but is not taken any notice of.  It is suggested that Candy and Jean go to America where Decker will join them later, but Candy is determined to investigate further; she goes to Decker's room to look for evidence, but it is Toto that finds the snorkel but again Candy does not recognise its importance and puts it back in a wardrobe.  When Decker finds Candy in the room she leaves shortly afterwards, but Toto again finds the snorkel and Decker realises that the dog is proving a problem and poisons him; Candy again senses the truth and accuses Decker of killing her dog, which he denies.

Decker, Jean and Candy go on a beach picnic, and Candy, seeing a man swimming with a snorkel, starts to realise how her mother's murder was carried out; when she then swims out too far, Decker swims out to her, pretending to save her but in reality hoping to drown her and make it look like an accident, but before he can do so Jean also swims out and he gives up on the idea, although again Candy knows what he was trying to do.

Decker decides that he will have to kill Candy, and, establishing an alibi as before, lures her to the villa by telling her that he has found his wife's suicide note and has asked the police Inspector to come over as well.  He 'reads' Madge's suicide note to Candy and encourages her to drink a drugged glass of milk; by the time she realises that he has made up the story she is too drowsy and Decker continues to carry out his plan, hiding under the floorboards and the rug as before.  This time however Wilson and Jean arrive in time and rescue Candy, although they refuse to believe her story that Decker was trying to kill her, believing her to be unbalanced following her mother's death.  She insists that they search the room thoroughly, including moving a heavy cabinet out from the wall, but finally agrees to leave with them.  As they leave Decker attempts to come out from his place of concealment, but the cabinet is now over the rug and he can't get out.  Candy decides to go back one more time to the room, where she hears Decker calling out for help, and realises what has happened.  She leaves him there and at first goes off with Wilson and Jean, leaving Decker to suffocate slowly, but changes her mind and tells the police Inspector to go up to the room in order to solve the case.

Cast
 Peter van Eyck - Paul Decker
 Betta St. John - Jean Edwards
 Mandy Miller - Candy Brown
 Grégoire Aslan - Inspector
 William Franklyn - Wilson
 Marie Burke - Daily Woman
 Irene Prador - French Woman
 Henri Vidon - Italian Gardener
 Armand Guinle - Waiter
 Robert Rietti - Station Sergeant
 David Ritch - Hotel Clerk
 John Holmes' dog Flush - Toto

Production

In the book Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography, director Green recalled working on The Snorkel with producer Michael Carreras, whom he called "...very cooperative, as well as a delightful person to be with, and very much responsible for making the film a most pleasant experience. He and I had a great time casting the smaller roles." The film was the first starring vehicle for actress Mandy Miller; Green described her as "...a natural talent and a very professional girl, but a bit too mature for the part, and all our efforts failed to disguise this." Of star Peter van Eyck, Green said that "he had to do a lot of difficult swimming and, one day after spending most of the morning manfully keeping up with a motorboat from which he was being photographed, Peter said, 'You never asked me if I could swim before giving me the part.' It was true. I didn't."

The budget on The Snorkel was about 20 per cent above the average Hammer Films shoot, due to the extensive location photography (the Italian villa used in the movie was Villa della Pergola, located in Alassio, Liguria's riviera).

The film was reportedly produced without a distribution deal in place. Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography claims that an agreement with Warner Bros. had fallen through and Hammer executive James Carreras (father of producer Michael) only later struck a deal with Columbia Pictures for both The Snorkel and its co-feature in a double-bill, The Camp on Blood Island.

The film's story, credited to '"Anthony Dawson", has sometimes been attributed to Italian Horror director Antonio Margheriti, who often used the anglicised pseudonym "Anthony Dawson." In 2010, however, Margheriti's son denied his father was involved with the production, stating that he did not begin using the name "Anthony Dawson" until 1960. It seems likely that the true author of The Snorkel'''s story was actor Anthony Dawson, who also appeared in Hammer's Curse of the Werewolf.

The film had its premier aboard the luxury liner Queen Elizabeth, during a crossing of the Atlantic in May 1958.

Director Guy Green called it "an interesting story."

 Reception

In The New York Times, critic Richard W. Nason offered lukewarm praise for the film, writing that, "Hammer Films apparently has become proficient in the manufacture of motion pictures that are not greatly distinguished but that nonetheless manage to be more absorbing than the usual low-budget program film.... because of the competence of the direction, acting and particularly the editing, the audience is kept awake throughout the running of the twin bill. This is no mean achievement, when you consider the number of ho-hum melodramas that flow from the world's film factories every year... Anyone who wonders how a simple skin-diving snorkel can be used this way will have to see the film... And, once you think about it, it's a very silly way to do away with somebody. Both [this film and its double-bill, The Camp on Blood Island,] are for those who are looking to kill time."

Glenn Erickson of DVDTalk also offered mixed praise, calling van Eyck's character "underdeveloped but menacing," and noting that, "Mandy Miller's likeable teen heroine is a doubtful mix of immature emotions and steely resolve, as shown in one poorly handled scene when Candy underreacts to the death of her beloved dog." However, he goes on to write, "The film's good reputation comes from fans that admire the killer's technically elaborate murder scheme, and ace Hammer cameraman Jack Asher's arresting camerawork. A final surprise lifted from The Third Man could have provided a perfect shock finish, but the movie goes on a bit longer, clearly to tie up some moral loose ends for the censors."

John M. Miller, writing for Turner Classic Movies, was more positive: "The Snorkel'' opens with one of the more memorable pre-credits sequences to be found in a thriller...While not a classic, this clever and twisted thriller, as well as Peter van Eyck's chilling performance, is overdue for greater exposure."

References

External links

1958 films
British thriller films
1950s thriller films
1950s English-language films
Films directed by Guy Green
Columbia Pictures films
Hammer Film Productions films
Films with screenplays by Jimmy Sangster
1950s British films
English-language thriller films

The Snorkel


Gary Stevens (born March 19, 1943) is a former American football coach.  He was the  offensive coordinator Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1989 to 1997. He also coached at the University of Miami from 1980 to 1988, helping the Hurricanes win national championships in 1983 and 1987.  From 1980 to 1982 he served as the wide receivers coach for the Hurricanes before being promoted to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, positions he held from 1983 to 1988.  Stevens was a finalist for the Miami Hurricanes and Philadelphia Eagles head coaching jobs in 1995.

References

1943 births
Living people
American football running backs
Atlanta Falcons coaches
John Carroll Blue Streaks football players
Miami Hurricanes football coaches
Miami Dolphins coaches
Oakland Raiders coaches
Sportspeople from Cleveland
Players of American football from Cleveland

Gary Stevens (American football)


Mount Kephart is a mountain in the central Great Smoky Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States.  The Appalachian Trail crosses the mountain's south slope, making it a destination for thru-hikers.  The Jumpoff, a  cliff on the northeast side of the mountain, has views of the central and eastern Smokies.  A stand of Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest coats the mountain's upper elevations.

Mount Kephart is the 22nd highest mountain in the eastern U.S., and the 7th-highest mountain in the state of Tennessee.  Its topographic prominence is drastically reduced, however, due to the mountain's close proximity to two higher neighbors, Clingmans Dome and Mount Le Conte.

Like much of the Smokies crest, Mount Kephart lies on the Tennessee-North Carolina border, in Sevier County, Tennessee and Swain County, North Carolina.  The mountain rises nearly  above its  northern base at Porters Flat, and approximately  above its southern base along the Oconaluftee headwaters.  Newfound Gap, at just over , divides Mount Kephart from Fork Ridge (Mt. Collins) to the west.  The gap is traversed by U.S. Highway 441, the only paved road crossing the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from north to south.

Geology
Mount Kephart is composed of a type of slate and metasiltstone known as Anakeesta Formation, which is common throughout the central Smokies.  This type of rock is exposed at Charlies Bunion, just to the northeast of Kephart.

The Anakeesta Formation rocks are part of the Ocoee Supergroup, formed from ocean sediments nearly a billion years ago.  The mountain itself was formed 200 million years ago when the African and North American plates collided and thrust the rock upward during the Appalachian orogeny.

History

Mount Kephart is named after Horace Kephart, an author and early proponent of establishing a national park in the Smokies.  The mountain was called "Mount Collins" until the USGS gave it its current name in 1931, reshifting the name "Mount Collins" to the peak between Clingmans Dome and Newfound Gap.  Before the 1880s, Mount Kephart was known by various local names.

Mount Kephart was probably visited and measured by Arnold Guyot during his survey of the Smokies crest in the late 1850s.  The name he used for the mountain, however, is uncertain.  Guyot listed two mountains between Laurel Top and New (Newfound) Gap as having elevations greater than  — Peck's Peak, which Guyot measured at , and Mount Ocona, which Guyot measured at .  The former may refer to Peck's Corner, although Peck's Corner isn't between Laurel Top and Newfound Gap, and Guyot would have missed its elevation by a staggering .  Other than Mt. Kephart, the only peak between Laurel Top and Newfound Gap higher than  is Mt. Ambler, a knob on Kephart's southwest slope.

Laura Thornborough, a writer who made many excursions into the Smokies in the 1930s, recalled a stream now known as Icewater Spring, on Kephart's south slope:

Our party reached a good spring on the Carolina side of Mt. Kephart, about three miles (5 km) from our starting point.  It had been freshly cleaned out and lined with native rock.  The water was clear and icy cold."

A CCC Camp operated on the mountain's southern base in the 1930s, the chimney of which remains near the head of the Kephart Prong Trail.  During World War II, this camp was used to house conscientious objectors.  Also in
this area are the remains of a WPA fish hatchery built in 1936.

Access

The Appalachian Trail crosses Mt. Kephart's southern slope en route to The Sawteeth and the eastern Smokies.  While the trail misses the summit by just over , several clearings between Mt. Ambler and Icewater Spring have views of the south-central Smokies and Clingmans Dome. There is a backcountry shelter at Icewater Spring for Appalachian Trail thru-hikers.

The Jumpoff Trail crosses the summit en route to the Jumpoff, a high cliff on the mountain's northern slope.  The view from the Jumpoff is usually greater than 180 degrees, from Mount Le Conte to northwest to the Balsam Mountains to the southeast.  The Jumpoff Trail is just a few feet beyond the Appalachian Trail and Boulevard Trail intersection, approximately three miles from Newfound Gap.

The Kephart Prong Trail ascends the mountain's south slope to the Kephart Backcountry Shelter.  Its trailhead is on U.S. 441 between Newfound Gap and the Oconaluftee Valley.  After two miles (3 km), the Kephart Prong Trail forks, one way following the Sweat Heifer Trail to Kephart's southwest slope (near Mt. Ambler), the other continuing on to Dry Sluice Gap (near Charlies Bunion).

References

External links

 Great Smoky Mountains National Park Trail Map — Large file in .pdf format.
 Mount Kephart — Peakbagger.com
 Mount Kephart — SummitPost.org
  Icewater Spring Shelter — Appalachian Trail backcountry shelter near the summit of Mt. Kephart
 Horace Kephart: Revealing an Enigma — Website dedicated to the legacy of Horace Kephart

Mountains of Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Mountains on the Appalachian Trail
Mountains of Tennessee
Mountains of North Carolina
Southern Sixers
Protected areas of Sevier County, Tennessee
Protected areas of Swain County, North Carolina
Mountains of Swain County, North Carolina
Mountains of Sevier County, Tennessee

Mount Kephart


In telecommunication, a variable length buffer or elastic buffer is a buffer into which data may be entered at one rate and removed at another rate without changing the data sequence.

Most first-in first-out (FIFO)  storage devices are variable-length buffers in that the input rate may be variable while the output rate is constant or the output rate may be variable while the input rate is constant. Various clocking and control systems are used to allow control of underflow or overflow conditions.

See also
Buffer (telecommunication)
Circular buffer

References

Synchronization
Computer memory

Variable-length buffer


Chiapas Media Project was formerly known by the Spanish name Proyecto de Medios en Chiapas. The organization is now a Mexican NGO known as ProMedios de Comunicacion Comunitaria (Promedios.) It is now part of the Americas Media Initiative (AMI) and is solely a distributor of CMP/Promedios documentaries.

History
The Chiapas Media Project (CMP) was founded in 1998 by Alexandra Halkin and Paco Vazquez. CMP collaborated with indigenous filmmakers from Oaxaca in creating a program to teach video and computer skills to the autonomous Zapatista communities focusing on the communities of Morelia, Oventic,  and , and to provide video cameras, editing equipment, and computers. Special training programs have focused on the empowerment of women.

Extensive documentation of the Zapatistas indigenous movement includes hundreds of videos, films, books, and websites created by external researchers and journalists. The introduction of CMP project represented efforts by the autonomous Zapatista communities to tell their own stories, in their own languages and from their own perspectives.

Work
With CMP, the Zapatista communities have produced videos on agricultural collectives, fair trade coffee, women's collectives, autonomous education, traditional healing, and the history of their struggle for land. With the Community Human Rights Defenders Network, CMP produced a video about the work of this group to educate other communities. Videos produced with Community Human Rights Devenders Network were used as evidence in court proceedings related to human rights abuses, resulting in compensation to indigenous families. In Guerrero, CMP worked with the Organization of Campesino Environmentalists to document and draw attention to the destruction of virgin forests in the region.

CMP/Promedios built four media centers in the state of Chiapas, including facilities for video production and satellite internet access. Zapatista videos have been screened at film festivals, college and university campuses, and other locations across the globe. Training was provided out of a CMP Media Center in San Cristobal de las Casas.

CMP organized delegations of youth from the United States to meet with human rights, religious, and women's organizations, travelling to other communities to screen current productions and meet with other indigenous groups.

References

External links
 Chiapas Media Project Homepage
 ProMedios de Comunicación Comunitaria
 Resist: Mexico, The Chiapas Media Project
 Americas Media Initiative
 Chiapas Media Project Records, Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University Special Collections

Chiapas
Mass media in Mexico
Mexico–United States relations

Chiapas Media Project


Earth X is a 1999 comic book limited series published by American company Marvel Comics. Earth X was written by Jim Krueger with art by John Paul Leon. Based on Alex Ross' notes, the series features a dystopian version of the Marvel Universe.

The series was followed by two sequels, Universe X and Paradise X, and a prequel, Marvels X. The universe of Earth X is designated Earth-9997.

The Earth X incarnation of Spider-Man made his cinematic debut in the 2023 feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, depicted as a member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Forces.

History
Earth X began in 1997 when Wizard magazine asked Alex Ross to create a possible dystopian future for Marvel. Ross designed a future where all ordinary humans had gained superpowers, and he examined how some of the most well-known Marvel characters (including Spider-Man, Captain America and the Incredible Hulk) would manage a world where their superhero powers had now become commonplace. The issue of Wizard that contained the Ross article sold out rapidly. Demand was so extensive that in 1999 (in affiliation with Marvel), they republished the article as the Earth X Sketchbook, which also sold out. Based on this indicator of fan interest, Marvel commissioned Ross to create a full series based on his notes.

Plot summary

Earth X
Earth X is one of a number of planets implanted with a gestating Celestial egg. About ten years after the end of the heroic age, Black Bolt releases the mutagenic Terrigen Mists into Earth's atmosphere, seeking to transform humanity into Inhumans so that his people would not suffer persecution.

He blinded Uatu the Watcher to prevent him from witnessing his actions, and Black Bolt and the Inhumans leave Earth. Unable to operate his observation equipment, Uatu transports X-51 (Machine Man)—who has long since given up super-heroics to imitate the life of his human creator—to the Moon to act as Earth's new Watcher. X-51 gets increasingly annoyed at Uatu's assurance of the heroes' defeat.

After killing Red Skull, Captain America quits the Avengers, considering himself unfit for the team. Shortly afterward, Reed Richards constructs a worldwide network of vibranium power centers to solve the looming energy crisis, but the experiment fails when one of Reed's scientists falls into the reactor, causing a worldwide explosive chain reaction. The scientist that fell into the reactor became encased within vibranium and discovered that she can manipulate the rare metal, becoming the Iron Maiden.

The Terrigen Mists begin mutating Earth's human population, though much of the world blames "Plague X" on Richards' failed experiment. Benny Beckley, the young son of Comet Man, gains the ability to control the actions of others and becomes known as Skull. Nearly all of the world's telepaths are killed by the backlash caused by Beckley's power manifestation. Meanwhile, Doctor Doom and Namor the Sub-Mariner fight the Fantastic Four. Doom is killed in an explosion along with Susan Richards. Namor kills Johnny Storm. Franklin Richards responds by cursing Namor, causing one side of his body to burst into flame upon contact with air, forcing Namor back into the ocean. A distraught Reed Richards dons Doom's armor and exiles himself to Castle Doom in Latveria.

Soon after, the Absorbing Man absorbs Ultron. The Vision defeats the Absorbing Man with a computer virus. Attempting to isolate the virus by turning to stone, the Absorbing Man is shattered by the Vision after murdering the Avengers. Absorbing Man's pieces are scattered amongst the world's leaders so that he can never be reassembled.

Norman Osborn manipulates America into electing him President by using alien DNA to create the Hydra—a parasite collective that mind-controls its host bodies. Osborn grants Tony Stark (one of the last unmutated humans) political asylum in exchange for constructing robotic replicas of the fallen Avengers to battle the Hydra menace.

Loki tricked Odin into changing Thor into a female and discovers an elaborate Celestial manipulation on a cosmic scale: ancient humans were modified by the Celestials, given the ability to develop powers in order to act as a type of anti-bodies, to stop radical elements such as Deviants and alien species from harming the Earth and the Celestial embryo growing within it. Along with Earth, the Celestials modified the native species of many planets harboring Celestial embryos. Species affected by Celestial modification gradually undergo an evolution process where they develop powers either through natural means such as mutants, or unnatural means, as with meta-humans like Spider-Man. Species with Celestial modifications in theory hold enough power to rival the Celestials, but are inhibited by a psychological safeguard put in place by the Celestials. The safeguard relates to constructivist philosophy, that essentially states that people are shaped by their environment. The deities and devils within the Marvel universe are species that were modified by Celestials and unwittingly inhibit their own abilities due to the fact that they self-identify as a Marvel deity or devil. These evolved beings hold their sense of identity being reinforced by those that interact with them. Loki realizes that he was only the evil son of Odin and a Norse God because when he evolved beyond his mortal form his psyche became a tabula rasa. The first interaction that he had with another in that form were Nordic humans who thought that he was an evil god and thus he became one.

Captain America and his partner Redwing learn that the Skull is gathering a mind-controlled army. After Redwing is overcome by the Skull's powers, Captain America retreats and recruits allies to fight the Skull.

The Inhuman Royal Family return from space and contact Reed Richards, hoping to reunite with their people. While trying to find the lost Inhuman nation with Cerebro, Richards discovers Bolt's actions. The Skull's army reaches New York, overtaking it, and Captain America and his allies fall to the Skull's powers. While the Skull is distracted, Captain America kills the child dictator and liberates his followers.

Before the heroes can celebrate, the Celestials arrive on Earth to germinate the embryo. As the Celestials prepare to attack New York, Loki arrives with a host of Asgardians found in the afterlife and announces he's not bad because he formed the Avengers. Stark sacrifices himself while trying to hold off the arriving Celestials. Black Bolt is killed after using his voice to travel across the universe and call for Galactus, who is revealed to be devouring worlds in order to destroy Celestial embryos growing within them. Galactus kills several Celestials and forces the others to flee. Afterwards, Galactus consumes Earth's Celestial embryo. Galactus prepares to leave, and Reed requests that he remove his helmet. Galactus reluctantly agrees, revealing that he is actually Franklin Richards. Franklin Richards previously convinced himself that he was Galactus, willingly sacrificing his own identity to turn into the destroyer of worlds after realizing that Galactus needed to exist in order to keep the Celestial population in check. This needed to be done after the Fantastic Four killed the original Galactus with the ultimate nullifier. Reed Richards also realizes this fact and makes the heartbreaking decision to not remind Franklin of who he originally was for the sake of the universe.

X-51 realizes the Watchers' true purpose is to watch over Celestial eggs because one of their numbers failed to stop the birth of Galactus millions of years ago. X-51 destroys Uatu's ears and decides to destroy all Celestial eggs gestating inside the various planets within the universe. Reed converts his vibranium power network into "Human Torches", hoping to burn off the Terrigen Mists and restore Earth's human population.

Universe X
With the Celestial embryo gone, the Earth's mass is reduced, causing a shift in orbit and polarity as well as drastic worldwide climate changes. One-fourth of New York's population dies as temperatures plummet. The Tong of Creel, a cult dedicated to reassembling the Absorbing Man, begins killing those who hold his fragments. Under Mephisto's influence, Pope Immortus founds a church advocating mutant dominance of the galaxy and the destruction of Reed's Human Torches. Meanwhile, Mar-Vell is reincarnated as the child of the synthetic Him and Her, though his soul remains in the Realm of the Dead. Captain America becomes the Mar-Vell child's guardian and embarks on a worldwide quest with his new ward to obtain various items in order to deal with Earth's restless mutant population and prepare for an impending war in the Realm of the Dead. Arriving at Zero Street, the duo is attacked by the Night People, and Captain America sacrifices his life to save the Mar-Vell child.

Mar-Vell reveals that other than creating constructivist safeguards to stop species that they modified from being able to challenge their supremacy, the Celestials also schemed to manipulate causality and fatalism by helping to create beings such as death and Mephisto to distort truth and reality. Mar-Vell also discovered that beings that travel through time actually create new universes in the process of doing so and Celestials, acting through others such as Mephisto, encouraged time travel as it created entirely new universes for the Celestial to inhabit and grow in number.

When the Tong of Creel finally reassembles the Absorbing Man in New York, he attacks the city's Human Torch. Battling New York's heroes, the Absorbing Man absorbs Manhattan itself, adding its buildings and streets to his being, but Loki and Iron Maiden convince the villain to transform himself into vibranium and use his mass to stabilize the planet's fluctuating orbit and polarity. Meanwhile, in the Realm of the Dead, Mar-Vell leads an army of deceased heroes and villains against Thanos and Death. With the artifacts collected by himself and Captain America in his possession, Mar-Vell shows Thanos how Death has manipulated him and convinces Thanos to use the Ultimate Nullifier on the entity.

Paradise X

With Death destroyed, Mar-Vell constructs a Paradise in the center of the Negative Zone for the dead to inhabit. However, those among the living find themselves unable to die.

Meanwhile, X-51 decides that the inhabitants of alternate Earths should be warned about the Celestial embryos he believes are growing within their planets. He spreads the alarm across the multiverse by recruiting and dispatching Heralds from alternate timelines such as Bloodstorm (Ororo Munroe, Earth-1298), Deathlok (Luther Manning, Earth-7484), Hyperion (Earth-1121), Killraven (Earth-691), Iron Man 2020 (Earth-8410), Spider-Girl (Earth-1122), and Wolverine (Days of Future Past Earth-811).

After banishing the Watchers of Earth-9997 to alternate worlds with the hope that their presence will lead to the discovery and destruction of each Celestial embryo, X-51 takes his Heralds to his Earth, where he will aid each in achieving his or her wishes. In Mar-Vell's Paradise, the High Evolutionary's equipment transforms the souls of Black Bolt, Captain America, Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Dr. Doom, Giant-Man, Phoenix, and Tony Stark into the Avenging Host, charged with ushering souls from the Realm of the Dead to Paradise. Those who enter Paradise consume a piece of the Cosmic Cube, enabling them to create their own, seemingly perfect pocket reality. But as more souls enter Paradise, it begins to expand and consume entire worlds within the Negative Zone, causing Blastaar and Annihilus to attack the Baxter Building in New York.

Reed Richards, Bruce Banner, the Beast, and several other brilliant scientists convene to discuss a solution to Death's absence. They decide to access the imprisoned Jude the Entropic Man, who can turn others to dust on contact, and synthesize his essence into a chemical to end the suffering of those unable to die. With the chemical complete, Reed, growing suspicious of Mar-Vell's motives, plans to use Pym Particles to slow Paradise's rapid growth within the Negative Zone. Mephisto frees Jude from captivity, convincing him to go on a killing spree. Mephisto then steers Jude to Britain, where Mephisto hopes to find the Siege Perilous, which will allow him to traverse the multiverse. With the help of Merlin, Doctor Strange, Psylocke and the sacrifice of a recently resurrected Meggan, King Britain is able to slay Mephisto with Excalibur. Meanwhile, in Paradise, Reed and a legion of heroes confront Mar-Vell. After Paradise is nearly conquered in the name of the Supreme Intelligence by the arriving souls of the Kree military, Mar-Vell explains to Reed that he (Reed) is to become the new Eternity.

Using his new role as Eternity, Reed is able to end the conflict and free the remaining heroes from their Cosmic Cube-induced dream-worlds. Once this is accomplished, Mar-Vell explains to Reed that his plan is to build a wall around their universe, preventing any further influence from the Celestials. Feeling that his work is not yet complete, Mar-Vell tells the people of Paradise that he is going to the source of Excalibur, which is strongly implied to be the original universe.

Marvels X
In 2020 Marvel published Marvels X, a prequel to Earth X written by Krueger. It focuses on the last normal human being on Earth named David as he deals with the aftermath of the terrigen mist that turns most of the individuals of Earth into super powered beings and freaks.

Characters (Earth X and Universe X)
 Uatu – Uatu has been blinded and has not been able to watch the Earth for twenty years, and has become very nihilistic and callous.
 Machine Man – A transparent Machine Man has become the New Watcher after Uatu became blind, and ultimately renders Uatu useless by removing his source of hearing, annoyed at his assurance at the heroes' defeat.

Avengers
 Steve Rogers/Captain America – Steve Rogers/Captain America is 100 years old and showing his age, although still in physically good shape. He has become a broken, haunted man who struggles to maintain hope in defending the nation whose name he bears. He bears an A-shaped scar on his forehead.
 T'Challa/Black Panther – T'Challa/Black Panther mutated and now is a Panther-Man.
 Bruce Banner/Hulk – Hulk has been separated from Bruce Banner, and Bruce is now a child while the Hulk has devolved into an ape-like creature. The Hulk serves as Bruce Banner's eyes as Bruce is now blind.
 Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel – Ms. Marvel assisted Mar-Vell in fighting Death.
 Thor – Thor is now a woman due to Loki tricking Odin into thinking that Thor needs to learn humility as a female.

Avenging Host
After Mar-Vell killed Death, he reshapes part of the Realm of the Dead into a paradise and selected a group of dead heroes to be its guardians called the Avenging Host where most of its members have angel-like forms.

 Blackagar Boltagon/Black Bolt – After trying to stop Maximus from detonating the Terrigen Crystal Bomb, he died in battle against the Celestials. He sports an angel-like appearance with a skin pattern and wings that resemble his costume.
 Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom – He dies in an explosion. Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom adopts metallic skin and bird-like wings.
 Hank Pym/Giant-Man – Absorbing Man kills him by impaling him on the Washington Monument.
 Clint Barton/Hawkeye – Clint Barton/Hawkeye was mutated to have two additional sets of arms. Absorbing Man kills him by absorbing rubber and deflecting his arrows back at him.
 Tony Stark/Iron Man – Fearing mutation, Tony Stark isolates himself in a sterile environment, remotely controlling his Iron Man suits.
 Matt Murdock/Daredevil – He and Elektra Natchios are killed by Bullseye.
 Phoenix Force – In death, adopts a hybrid appearance of Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force.

Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four no longer exist with the exception of Invisible Woman.

 Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic – Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic wears Doctor Doom's armor and inhabits his castle.  In Universe X, he donates an arm for Alicia Master to sculpt in the image of Susan Storm-Richards and the two are reunited. In Paradise X, he becomes the New Eternity.
 Susan Storm/Invisible Woman – Invisible Woman accepted her fate and ultimately learned to live in the dystopian society, in addition to never return to her home.
 Ben Grimm/Thing – Thing married Alicia Masters and they have two children, Buzz and Chuck (Brothers Grimm).
 Johnny Storm/Human Torch - The Human Torch was killed by Namor the Sub-Mariner snapping his neck.

X-Men
 Charles Xavier/Professor X – Charles Xavier/Professor X died at the beginning of the mutations when the Skull's power manifestation caused a psychic backlash and the X-Men disbanded. His spirit later aided Mar-Vell in fighting Death.
 Warren Worthington/Archangel – Archangel lost his fortune and became a literal "guardian angel".
 Sean Cassidy/Banshee – Banshee was killed by Black Tom Cassidy. His spirit later aided Mar-Vell in fighting Death.
 Hank McCoy/Beast – Beast's fur became white and he moved to Wakanda to work under Black Panther.
 Nathan Summers/Cable – Cable fully succumbed to the techno-organic virus and took refuge in Sentinel City.
 Piotr "Peter" Rasputin/Colossus – Colossus became the Czar of Russia.
 Scott Summers/Cyclops – Cyclops, under a new identity called Mr. S, becomes the leader of a new team of X-Men to help Captain America.
 Alison Blaire/Dazzler – Dazzler was killed by Mephisto in retaliation for Mar-Vell killing Death.
 Alex Summers/Havok – Havok joined his father Corsair in space following Professor X's death.
 Robert "Bobby" Drake/Iceman – Iceman is trapped in his ice form and was forced to move to a colder climate. He built a city at the North Pole.
 Katherine "Kitty" Pryde/Shadowcat – Katherine "Kitty" Pryde/Shadowcat was killed when protecting Piotr "Peter" Rasputin/Colossus from a bullet that was meant for him at the time when he could not shift to his metal form.
 Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler – Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler is a shadow of his former self and has forgotten that identity. After some trickery by Mephisto, Nightcrawler becomes what he always resembled, a demon. After losing his arm, Nightcrawler becomes Belasco: Lord of Limbo (an alternate realm sometimes referred to as Purgatory).
 Jean Grey – A woman who appears to be Jean is now married to Wolverine and the Phoenix Force resides in the Realm of the Dead. It is unclear how Jean could be alive when the Skull's emergence apparently killed all other telepaths. Later in the Earth X series as she is leaving Wolverine, the woman states that she is in fact Madelyne Pryor.
 Longshot – Longshot went missing and not even X-51 can find him.
 Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man – Multiple Man ended up with the Wendigo Curse when he ate one of his duplicates due to a food shortage.
 Nate Grey – Nate was infected by the techno-organic virus and became Stryfe. He battled Cable and died trying to protect Madelyne Pryor.
 Lorna Dane/Polaris – Polaris leaves with Havok to join Corsair in space.
 Anna Marie/Rogue – According to X-51, Rogue was killed by a kiss that killed Gambit as well. However, Beast recounts that Rogue was so grief-stricken by Gambit's death that she sought a cure for her mutant ability through Sauron (who ended up taking her life as well as her powers). The details of either of these two accounts, or if they are related or not, remains to be substantiated.
 Ororo Munroe/Storm – Ororo Munroe/Storm marries T'Challa/Black Panther and becomes the Queen of Wakanda.
 John Proudstar/Thunderbird – John Proudstar/Thunderbird is seen in the Realm of the Dead talking with Professor X.
 James "Logan" Howlett/Wolverine – Wolverine is married to the woman claiming to be Jean Grey. He is overweight and appears to be drunk despite his healing factor. With help from Machine Man, he discovers that he is a descendant of Moon-Boy's species.

New X-Men
This is the new incarnation of the X-Men that is led by Cyclops. They were former members of the second Daredevil's circus:

 Charmer – Charmer can create energy constructs in the shape of snakes. She has feelings for her new mentor, which remains unrequited.
 Dogface – Dogface is implied to be a mutated dog living in Wakanda. He was the Dog-Faced Boy before joining the X-Men.
 Double-Header – Double-Header is a two-headed human.
 Mermaid – Mermaid has mutated a fish tail giving her the appearance of a mermaid. She is able to "swim" in the air.
 Tower – Tower is a giant human.

Other heroes
 Brian Braddock/Captain Britain – Brian Braddock/Captain Britain is the king of Britain.
 Christopher Summers/Corsair – Christopher Summers/Corsair is joined by Alex Summers/Havok and Lorna Dane/Polaris in space.
 Daredevil II – Following the death of the original Daredevil, a man with a powerful healing factor (who Thing believes to be Wade Wilson/Deadpool) has taken his name and performs as a circus stunt-man, using his powers to overcome horrific injuries.
 Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy – Devil Dinosaur and Moon-Boy are both dead. Their corpses are found on the Blue Area of the Moon.
 Doc Samson – Doc Samson becomes a psychiatrist of the Skull. He is killed when the Skull uses his powers to make Doc Samson rip himself inside out.
 Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange – Doctor Strange is killed in his astral form by Clea, who then allies herself with Loki. His body is looked after by Wong. Mar-Vell later restores his astral form enabling Doctor Strange to return to life.
 Kevin Plunder/Ka-Zar – Ka-Zar mutates to have the head of a smilodon.
 Luke Cage – Luke Cage fights crime as a police officer.
 Mar-Vell – Mar-Vell is reborn as a child and goes on a crusade to gather various powerful artifacts in order to create a paradise. Captain America joins him on his quest.
Namor McKenzie/Namor the Sub-Mariner – Namor is cursed by Franklin Richards for killing Human Torch. One side of his body burns when in contact with air forcing him to remain in the ocean.
 Kyle Richmond/Nighthawk – Kyle Richmond/Nighthawk's eyes, given by a disguised Mephisto, allow him to see into the future. He dictates what he sees to his colleague Isaac Christians so that a record can be kept of what will become of history.
 Hobbes Brown/Prowler – Hobbes Brown/Prowler possesses a piece of Absorbing Man following his rampage in Washington DC.
 Rom – Rom is stranded in Limbo and is forced to fight Dire Wraiths constantly. He is referred to as "the greatest Spaceknight".
 The Micronauts  - referred to as the "ant-men"
 Shanna O'Hara/Shanna the She-Devil – Shanna O'Hara/Shanna the She-Devil mutates to resemble a humanoid leopard.
 Peter Parker/Spider-Man – Peter Parker is publicly revealed as Spider-Man and retires, figuring he is no longer needed in this world of powers. However, he leaps into action once again after his daughter had been turned into a slave of the Skull.
 May "Mayday" Parker/Spider-Girl – Spider-Girl has bonded with the Venom symbiote, though she remains fully in control.
 Shiro Yoshida/Sunfire – Sunfire now rules Japan as its emperor.

Villains
 Carl "Crusher" Creel/Absorbing Man – Carl "Crusher" Creel/Absorbing Man absorbs Ultron's intelligence and gains better knowledge of his abilities. He kills the Avengers until Vision infects him with a virus and shatters him. Absorbing Man is brought back by the Tong of Creel and attacks New York. He is convinced by Loki and Iron Maiden to turn his body into Vibranium to save New York.
 Bullseye – Bullseye is killed when Daredevil learns the Hand's body-swapping technique.
 Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus – Doctor Octopus is seen in Spider-Man's illusion on Peter Parker of which he took control.
 Enforcers – The Enforcers act as the bodyguards to President Norman Osborn.
 Fancy Dan – Fancy Dan mutates and becomes invisible except for his mustache.
 Montana – Montana mutates and develops the ability to change his hands into lassos.
 Ox – Ox mutates, taking the form of a humanoid ox (somewhat similar to a minotaur).
 Norman Osborn/Green Goblin – Norman Osborn is the President. His face has mutated to resemble a goblin, but he wears a mask to look human. He is later killed by the Skull. After he is tossed from his office window, his foot catches on the flag which breaks his neck, thus killing him in a way similar to Gwen Stacy's death.
 High Evolutionary – High Evolutionary uses one of his devices to convert Franklin Richards into the new Galactus.
 Immortus – Immortus is the Pope of a church dedicated to himself.
 Billy Russo/Jigsaw – Jigsaw commits suicide and dwells in the Realm of the Dead.
 Wilson Fisk/Kingpin – Kingpin is dead and dwells in the Realm of the Dead.
 Loki – Loki has figured out that the Gods (of this Marvel Earth) are instead long-lived mutants who are mind-locked by the Celestials into believing that they are immortal, never-changing gods so that they won't evolve further as mutants and potentially threaten the Celestials (as was the case with Reed Richards' son Franklin, who is so powerful as a mutant that just by believing himself to be Galactus, gained the powers and abilities of Galactus).
 Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto – At the time when the Terrigen Mist is in the atmosphere, Magneto thinks he is getting a "mutant" brother through every mutation. Magneto manipulates the Sentinels into building a sanctuary called Sentinel City in the Savage Land. Due to the polar shift in the planet, he loses his power which was later gained by Toad. Toad humiliates Magneto until Iron Maiden with the help of Cable restores part of earth's polarity giving Magneto back his power.
 Calvin Zabo/Mister Hyde – Mister Hyde is in the Realm of the Dead as one of the mindless dead. The details of his death are unknown.
 Karl Lykos/Sauron – Hank McCoy/Beast claims that, grief-stricken after killing Gambit with a kiss, Anna Marie/Rogue turns to Sauron's draining abilities in an attempt to lose her powers, but ended up losing her life as well. Whether this is true is not confirmed.
 Skull – Son of Comet Man, Benjamin Buckley aka The Skull is the main antagonist of the series. An adolescent neo-Nazi, he uses his Terrigen Mist granted-telepathic powers to rule the world, taking advantage of the Mists' catastrophic effects. Captain America defeats him by snapping his neck.
 Spiders Man – An African-American homeless man who mutates to a reptilian form that resembles Spider-Man's costume. He uses energy webs that can trap people in an illusion.
 Ultron – His intelligence is absorbed by Carl "Crusher" Creel/Absorbing Man.
 Adrian Toomes/Vulture – Adrian Toomes/Vulture mutates into his namesake minus the wings. He is associated with the Enforcers.

Other characters
 Harry Osborn – Harry is seen in Spider-Man's illusion on Peter Parker of which he gained control.
 J. Jonah Jameson – J. Jonah Jameson loses his job and the Daily Bugle goes out of business when Spider-Man reveals his identity as Peter Parker. Jameson later mutates into a humanoid donkey.
 John Jameson – John becomes Man-Wolf. Regulates his Man-Wolf transformations with a special device created by Reed Richards that absorbs ambient sunlight, which retards the transformation into the Man-Wolf during the evening hours.
 Red Ronin - decommissioned by Norman Osborn, his blueprints were used to make Iron Man's very last armor.

Clarifications
Initially, the Earth X storyline was purported as being the future of Earth-616, but the series often substantially retconned the origins and workings of characters to better suit the story, to the point where they were no longer reconcilable with their counterparts in the mainstream Marvel Universe. One example is the revelation in Paradise X that Wolverine is not a mutant, but instead one of the few remaining "pure strain humans", free from the genetic manipulations of the Celestials (as well as a descendant of Moon-Boy). Marvel editors solved these discrepancies by officially declaring that anything stated in Earth X would not be considered canonical. It is later revealed in issue #11 of Paradise X that the events shown in the series are not set in an alternative future, but rather an alternative present (the issue reveals that Paradise X is set in 2003, the year of publication).

The Paradise X series was never properly concluded, due to editorial interference midway through its publication. Due to dwindling sales, the X and A specials, which were intended to be double-sized issues, were both reduced to 22 pages and the intended ending was never used. Writer Jim Krueger expressed dismay at the loss of pages and not being able to use the original ending. In the intended ending, Captain America, suspecting Captain Marvel's treachery, would have killed Marvel just as Marvel put the energy wall around the universe to keep out the Celestials and Elders. At this final moment, having ascended to the throne of Paradise, Captain America would have realized that Marvel's intentions were good: "Cap would have sat on the throne, completely unworthy of it. And this, this would have been the final testing necessary to make Cap worthy of it".

Additionally, a planned limited series, Tales of Earth X, was proposed but never greenlighted. The series, set before the events of Earth X, would have revealed the final days of characters like Professor X before the mutation that turned the world into mutants and killed all of Earth's psychics.

A one-shot called The Earth X Companion was released in 2008, containing production notes and sketches by Jim Krueger and Alex Ross as well as a short story drawn by artist Bill Reinhold detailing the fate of one of Nick Fury's Life Model Decoys.

Collected editions
In September 2005, Marvel released a 592-page hardcover deluxe edition of Earth X. This new edition includes 12 issues of the Earth X regular series, the #0 and #X bookends, the #1/2 issue (drawn by artist Bill Reinhold) and the Epilogue. It also contains extras pulled from the Graphitti hardcover, Marvel's trade paperback and the sketchbooks.

The various volumes include:

Earth X (hardcover, September 2005, , softcover, January 2001, , July 2006, )
Universe X:
Volume 1 (softcover, February 2002, , December 2006, )
Volume 2 (softcover, June 2002, , March 2007, )
Paradise X:
Volume 1 (softcover, October 2003, , August 2007, )
Volume 2 (softcover, December, 2003, , September 2007, )

Accompanying volumes include:

Earth X Trilogy Companion (collects Earth X #1/2, background material and sketches, 200 pages, October 2007, )

In other media
The Earth X incarnation of Spider-Man will make his cinematic debut in the 2023 feature film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, depicted as a member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Forces.

See also
 Multiverse (Marvel Comics)
 Inhumanity
 Kingdom Come, another alternate universe series, illustrated by Alex Ross for DC Comics which has similar themes and artwork to Earth X.

References

External links

 Read Earth X #1 online
 Infinite Ammo: Greatest Graphic Novels Review

Dystopian comics
Marvel Comics dimensions
X
Comics about parallel universes

Earth X


Western Film Exchange was founded in Milwaukee in July 1906 by John R. Freuler and Harry E. Aitken for the purpose of mass-producing and distributing Western films to movie theaters throughout the American midwest. One of over 100 such "exchanges," Western Film proved to be more successful than most, opening branch offices in several midwestern cities, including Chicago, St. Louis, and Joplin, Missouri. Exchanges would negotiate with film studios for the rights to a completed film production, and would distribute the product to nickelodeon movie theaters.

This business model came to an end in 1908 when the Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC; commonly known as the Edison Trust) sued independent film studios on grounds of patent infringement. Most studios did not have the means to stand against the Trust and were forced out of operation. With fewer films being produced, Freuler and Aitken were soon faced with financial difficulties. In order to keep Western Film afloat, they formed a succession of independent studios expressly for the purpose of keeping Western Film supplied with new pictures. The first of these studios was the American Film Manufacturing Company, founded in 1910, which was soon joined by Majestic Film. Both Western Film and its various affiliated studios were targeted by the MPPC to little avail: so successful were Freuler and Aitken's ventures that, in 1912, they partnered with the Shallenberger brothers (Wilbert E. and William Edgar), Crawford Livingston, and Charles J. Hite to found a new company, Mutual Film Corporation, which eventually came to replace the Western Film Exchange.

References
 Larry Widen. "John Freuler and Harry Aitken: Local Boys Make Good." Milwaukee History. 2000. Accessed on March 3, 2005.

Film distributors of the United States
Film production companies of the United States
History of film
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Western Film Exchange


Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield,  (23 July 1666 – 28 April 1732) was an English Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1705 to 1710. He was Lord Chief Justice from 1710 to 1718 and acted briefly as one of the regents before the arrival of King George I in Britain. His career ended when he was convicted of corruption on a massive scale and he spent the later years of his life in retirement at his home, Shirburn Castle in Oxfordshire.

Early life
Parker was born in Staffordshire, the son of Thomas Parker, an attorney at Leek and his wife Anne, daughter of Robert Venables of Nuneham, Cheshire. Sir Richard Levinge, 1st Baronet, a leading figure in Irish public life for three decades, was his first cousin. He was educated at Adams' Grammar School at Newport, Shropshire, Derby School in 1680 and at Rev. Samuel Ogden's school at Derby. He was admitted at Inner Temple in 1684 and at Trinity College, Cambridge as a pensioner in 1685. On 23 April 1691, he married Janet Carrier, whose sister was the wife of William Anson and mother of the future Admiral Lord Anson. He was called to the bar in 1694. Together they had two children:

Lady Elizabeth Parker (d. 21 Feb 1747) married Sir William Heathcote, 1st Baronet. They had six sons and three daughters.
George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield (circa 1697 – 17 Mar 1764)

Political career
Parker was returned as Whig Member of Parliament for Derby at the 1705 English general election and was appointed QC and serjeant-at-law and knighted on 9 July 1705. He was returned unopposed for Derby at the 1708 British general election. Like other Whigs, he voted for the general naturalization of foreign Protestants in 1709. Being one of the leading Whig lawyers in the House of Commons, he was deeply involved in the moves to impeach Dr Sacheverell. He was appointed to the committee to draw up the articles of impeachment on 14 December 1709. The committee was later given the management of the trial. In 1710 he refused the office of Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, but was made a Privy Counsellor. The office of Lord Chief Justice fell vacant in 1710 and the administration wanted a quick replacement. Parker was appointed on 11 March 1710 and vacated his seat in the House of Commons.

Lord Chief Justice

From 1710 to 1718 Parker was involved in the prosecution of Henry Sacheverell. He made a vehement attack on Sacheverell and the high church clergy. He defended Whig propagandists and harried Tory publicists, including Defoe and Swift, on the slightest suspicion of favouring the Pretender. He spoke against the peace in the Privy Council in April 1713. In June 1714 he was given evidence of the recruiting activity of Jacobite agents which resulted in a price being placed on the Pretender's head. On 1 August 1714, Queen Anne died, and her successor, King George I, was in Hanover, so Baron Parker was designated as one of the regents of Great Britain, Ireland and the realms beyond the seas until the new monarch arrived in Britain. His support for the Hanoverian succession was appreciated by King George I who reappointed him lord chief justice in 1714, and raised him to the peerage as Baron Parker of Macclesfield in 1716, in which year he purchased, and then commenced to restore, Shirburn Castle in Oxfordshire, which was to be the seat of the house of Macclesfield for the next 300 years. In 1718, because the King could not speak English, Parker read the King's Speech in the House of Lords.

Lord Chancellor
In 1718, Parker became Lord Chancellor, and was given a pension for life. In 1721, he was advanced to the title Earl of Macclesfield with the additional subsidiary title of Viscount Parker.

Impeachment
In 1724, Parker was implicated in financial irregularities, but he did not resign as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain until 1725. In 1725, he was impeached and tried in the House of Lords. He was, unanimously, convicted of corruption for taking more than £100,000 in bribes (the equivalent of more than £11,000,000 today). He was fined £30,000 and placed in the Tower of London until payment was received. He was also struck off the roll of the Privy Council. He was a fabulously wealthy man, possibly because of his corruption, but as this money was confiscated, he had no resources to pay a fine. He spent most of the rest of his life at Shirburn Castle. He died in Soho Square, London on 28 April 1732 and was buried at Shirburn.

Parker was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1713. He was a friend of Bernard de Mandeville, whose satirical Fable of the Bees became highly controversial in the 1720s. He was patron of a grammar school built at Leek, his home town. In 1727, he was a pallbearer at the funeral of another friend, Sir Isaac Newton.

References

External links
 Manuscript reference
 'everything' on-line reference
 document relating to his impeachment.
 How Much Is That Worth Today?

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OHADA (Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa) is a system of corporate law and implementing institutions adopted by seventeen West and Central African nations in 1993 in Port Louis, Mauritius before it was revised in 2008 in Quebec, Canada. OHADA is the acronym for the French "Organisation pour l'harmonisation en Afrique du droit des affaires", which translates into English as "Organisation for the Harmonisation of Corporate Law in Africa".

The OHADA Treaty is made up today of 17 African states. Initially fourteen African countries signed the treaty, with two countries (Comoros and Guinea) subsequently adhering to the treaty and a third (the Democratic Republic of Congo) joined on 12 September 2012. The Treaty is open to all states, whether or not they are members of the Organisation of African Unity.  OHADA was created with the objective of fostering economic development in West and Central Africa by creating a better investment climate so as to attract investment in a 225 million-consumer market.

Characteristics
As a West and Central African initiative to harmonize business laws and implementing institutions, OHADA aims to find alternative solutions to the lack of economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa - a region which has challenged and puzzled development economists for several decades. The stated purpose of the initiative is to facilitate and encourage both domestic and foreign investment in the member states, and as most of the participating countries are former French colonies, they draw chiefly on a modernised French legal model to achieve their goals. The laws promulgated by OHADA are exclusively business-related. The OHADA treaty has created a supranational court (Common Court of Justice and Arbitration of the Organization for the Harmonization in Africa of Business Law) to ensure uniformity and consistent legal interpretations across the member countries, and the French influence in court proceedings is apparent.

The most critical tool for legal integration is the Uniform Act. A uniform act is the recollection of all relevant legal norms needed to ease business in the Member States. As of today, OHADA includes nine validated Uniform Acts: General Commercial Law, Commercial Companies and Economic Interest Groups, Secured Transactions Law, Debt Resolution Law, Insolvency Law, Arbitration Law, Harmonization of Corporate Accounting, Contracts for the Carriage of Goods, Cooperatives Companies Law. Two Uniform Acts (Arbitration and Accounting) are currently being revised.

Member States

 Benin
 Burkina Faso
 Cameroon
 Central African Republic
 Chad
 Comoros
 Côte d'Ivoire
 Democratic Republic of Congo
 Equatorial Guinea
 Gabon
 Guinea
 Guinea-Bissau
 Mali
 Niger
 Republic of the Congo
 Senegal
 Togo

Notes

External links

Business law
International organizations based in Africa
Legal organizations based in Africa

OHADA


The Wolfpack is a 2015 American documentary film, directed by Crystal Moselle. It is about the Angulo family, who homeschooled and raised their seven children (six boys and one girl) in the confinement of their apartment in the Lower East Side of New York City. The film premiered on January 25, 2015 at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize.

Synopsis
Locked away in an apartment in the Lower East Side of Manhattan for fourteen years, the Angulo family's seven children — Visnu, their only daughter, and her six brothers: Bhagavan (b. 1991/1992), twins Narayana (who now goes by Josef) and Govinda (b. 1993/1994), Mukunda (b. 1995/1996), Krisna (who now goes by Glenn, b. 1997/1998), and Jagadesh (who now goes by Eddie, b. 1998/1999) — learned about the world through watching films. They also re-enact scenes from their favorite movies. They were homeschooled by their mother and confined to their sixteenth story four-bedroom apartment in the Seward Park Extension housing project. Their father, Oscar, had the only door key and prohibited the kids and their mother Susanne from leaving the apartment except for a few strictly monitored trips on the "nefarious" streets.

Everything changed for them when 15-year-old Mukunda decided to walk around the neighborhood in January 2010, against their father's instruction to remain inside. All the brothers then decided to begin exploring Manhattan and the world outside.

Production
In 2010, Crystal Moselle, then a graduate of New York's School of Visual Arts, chanced upon a striking group of six siblings while walking down First Avenue in Manhattan. The six male siblings, who were then between 11 and 18 years old, wore black Ray-Ban sunglasses reminiscent of Reservoir Dogs and had waist-long hair. Moselle became friends with them and later found out that they had been confined to their Manhattan apartment for 14 years; that they had learned about the world by watching movies; and that most, if not all, social situations were new to them. They bonded quickly with Moselle because of their shared love of films.

The Tribeca Film Institute provided financial support and assistance to the film director. Magnolia Pictures bought worldwide rights to the documentary.

The film had its London premiere on August 21, 2015.

Reception

, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 85% of 125 film critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.1 out of 10. The site's summary states: "Offering a unique look at modern fears and our fascination with film, The Wolfpack is a fascinating—and ultimately haunting—urban fable." , on Metacritic the film has a score of 74 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Jordan Hoffman of The Guardian gave the film a five-star review and compared it to Grey Gardens, saying, "Not since Grey Gardens has a film invited us into such a strange, barely-functioning home and allowed us to gawk without reservation." Scott Foundas of Variety also gave the film a positive review: "There is much to enjoy in director Crystal Moselle's debut documentary feature, which if nothing else begs a where-are-they-now sequel a few years down the road." Jordan Raup of The Film Stage in his review said that "The Wolfpack is an endlessly fascinating documentary, but it's not quite a great one." Eric Kohn in his review for Indiewire graded the film B+ and said that "Crystal Moselle's portrait of teens trapped in an apartment for most of their lives is filled with compelling mysteries."

However, John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter criticized the film, saying, "This debut doc doesn't quite make the most of fascinating and likeable subjects." Kate Erbland of The Playlist said that 'The Wolfpack' is a film about access, and though we are admitted into the world of the eponymous Wolfpack, not understanding how we got there robs the film of compelling commentary." Paul Byrne, while conceding that Wolfpack is 'a confronting and confounding true story', writes; "Some of the boys were barely teenagers when Moselle started to film, too young to give consent. The sister is mentally handicapped, so incapable of consent. The father might be mentally ill – another problem of consent...The question then becomes how much [Moselle's] presence changes what we see." Steve Thomas of The Conversation points to "ethical questions surrounding The Wolfpack", saying; "truth is that whilst filmmakers can cite signed release forms to justify their actions, these are just pieces of paper. Consent in longitudinal documentary projects (which follow people over a long period of time) is an ongoing process."

The story was covered in the June 19, 2015, episode of ABC 20/20.

The film was the Closing Night film of Maryland Film Festival 2015.

Accolades

References

External links

2015 documentary films
American documentary films
Documentary films about education in the United States
Documentary films about New York City
Films about siblings
Films set in Manhattan
Sundance Film Festival award-winning films
2015 independent films
2015 films
Works about homeschooling and unschooling
2010s English-language films
2010s American films

The Wolfpack


The Clutag Press was established in 2000 as a venture by Andrew McNeillie to issue Clutag Poetry Leaflets, by established and emerging poets. In 2004, it received backing from The Christopher Tower Fund (in association with Christ Church, Oxford, Oxford University). As a result, it began issuing more substantial poetry pamphlets, full-length books, and CD sound recordings.

Its literary archive is now collected exclusively by the Bodleian Library, Oxford University, in digital and paper formats.

Bibliography
Its catalogue of poetry pamphlets includes:

Paul Thomas Abbott - FLOOD (2008)
Tom Paulin - The Camouflage School (2007)
Mick Imlah - DIEHARD  (2006)
Anne Stevenson - A Lament For The Makers  (2006)
Andrew McNeillie and Julian Bell - Arkwork with Artwork (2006)
Geoffrey Hill - A Treatise of Civil Power  (2005)
Seamus Heaney - A Shiver  (2005)
John Fuller - The Solitary Life  (2005)

Its catalogue of prose books includes:
Andrew McNeillie - Ian Niall: Part of his Life (2007)
John McNeillie - My Childhood (2004)

Its catalogue of CDs and sound recordings includes:
Geoffrey Hill - Poetry Reading, Oxford (2006)

Archipelago
In summer 2007, the Clutag Press launched a new magazine: Archipelago. Its first issue featured contributions from: Paul Thomas Abbott, Norman Ackroyd, John Beatty, Julian Bell, Roger Deakin, Greg Delanty, Seamus Heaney, Mick Imlah, Nicolas Jacobs, Andrew Kahn, Michael Longley, Robert Macfarlane, Derek Mahon, Osip Mandelshtam, Andrew McNeillie, Gail McNeillie, David Nash, Bernard O'Donoghue, Angharad Price and Mark Williams.

Writing in the Guardian, Robert Macfarlane said its tone was "praiseful and attentive, content to acknowledge both the mystery of placehood and the strangeness of material fact."

References

External links
 Clutag Press website.

Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom
Small press publishing companies
Publishing companies established in 2000

Clutag Press


Poulaines, also known by other names, were a style of unisex footwear with extremely long toes that were fashionable in Europe at various times in the Middle Ages. The poulaine proper was a shoe or boot of soft material whose elongated toe (also known as a poulaine or pike) frequently required filling to maintain its shape. The chief vogue for poulaines spread across Europe from medieval Poland in the mid-14th century and spread across Europe, reaching upper-class England with the 1382 marriage of Richard II to Anne of Bohemia and remaining popular through most of the 15th century. Sturdier forms were used as overshoes and the sabatons of the era's armor were often done in poulaine style. Poulaines were periodically condemned by Christian writers of the time as demonic or vain. Kings of the era variously taxed them as luxuries, restricted their use to the nobility, or outright banned them. After becoming more common as women's footwear and expanding to awkward lengths, poulaines fell from fashion in the 1480s and were seldom revived, although they are considered an influence on some later trends such as the 1950s British winklepicker boots.

Names

The usual English name poulaine () is a borrowing and clipping of earlier Middle French  ("shoes in the Polish fashion") from the style's supposed origin in medieval Poland. They have also been known as pikes from the common weapon of the era; as piked, peaked, or copped shoes; as cracows, crakows, and krakows from the former Polish capital; or simply as pointed shoes, pointy shoes, or long toed shoes. Poulaine, pike, crakow, and liripipe can also be used particularly for the elongated toe itself, causing some writers to mistakenly restrict the usage of poulaine to only the toe and to insist on crakow as the name of the footwear itself. Despite appearing in a 2014 Vogue article, however, use of crakow for the shoe is now so uncommon as to be marked obsolete in the Oxford English Dictionary. The elongated toe was also known as a beak, although this was not generally applied to the shoe itself.

History

Shoes with pointed, curled, and/or elongated toes are documented in the archeological record back to at least 3000BC and have passed in and out of fashion over time. In classical antiquity, the Etruscan  ("turned calceus") was worn by both genders before becoming particularly associated under the Romans with Juno Sospita and related goddesses. In Byzantine fashion, priestly vestments included gilt slippers ending in forward point from at least the 5th century.

Pointed-toed shoes first became a major trend in Western fashion with the late-11th-century pigache. They were ridiculed by poets and historians and censured by the clergy, who compared them to scorpion's tails and ram's horns and repeatedly connected them to effeminacy and homosexuality while simultaneously condemning how most courtiers adopted the fashion to "seek the favors of women with every kind of lewdness". As a returning papal legate, the former professor Robert de Courson banned other faculty of the University of Paris from wearing them in August 1215. The same year, the Fourth Lateran Council also banned embroidered and pointed-toe shoes for clergy. Guibert of Nogent blamed the origin of the pigache on footwear exported from Islamic Cordoba, Orderic Vitalis on the promiscuous Fulk of Anjou's attempts to disguise the deformity of his bunions. The fashion historian Ruth Wilcox offers that it may have been a simple adaptation of the Normans' own sabatons, which they had extended to a point and turned down in the late 11th century to better hold their stirrups during battle. After its initial excesses reaching about  beyond the foot and a trend of stuffing and styling the ends started by William Rufus's courtier Richard the Horny (), the style settled into a more conservative and compact form for a century until the Black Death. It was still necessary, however, to restate the injunctions against clerical use of the shoes in 1281 and 1342.

Poulaines proper spread across Europe in the mid-14th century before falling out of fashion in the 1480s. It spread from the Polish court of Casimir the Great to France and thence to Burgundy, Germany, England, and Scotland.

The arrivalor resumptionof this fashion in England is traditionally associated with the marriage of  and Anne of Bohemia, daughter of the emperor  in 1382. In his entry for the year 1394, the Evesham monk who wrote the History of the Life and Reign of  claimed that "with this Queen there came from Bohemia into England those accursed vices, namely shoes with a long beakthe English cracows or pikestaking up  in length so that it is necessary to tie them to the shin with silver chains before they can be used to walk forward". In fact, the style had reached England before Anne's birth. In his entry for the year 1362, the Malmesbury monk who wrote the  states that "Moreover they have beaked shoes a finger in length that they call cracows. They are better called demons' claws than decorations for men." Similarly, John of Reading complained in the 1360s of Englishmen's "shoes... with sideways beaks". It seems more likely, instead, that Anne's entourage further popularized the style or simply that the monastic author at Evesham was using the fiction for political ends.

The 14th-century poulaines so far recovered in London have only been found only in men's sizes, although depictions of Lora St. Quintinwife of John de Grey's son Robert de Marmionshow her wearing shorter poulaines with their points curved to the sides. By the 15th century, art shows frequent use by both men and women, with the toes of men's shoes being the most extravagantly long.

They were a controversial fashion and faced criticism from several quarters. In 1368, Charles V of France issued an edict banning their construction and use in Paris. An English poem from 1388 complained that men were unable to kneel in prayer because their toes were too long. The  morality play Castle of Perseverance includes the footwear in the "advice" that Humanum Genus ("Mankind") gets from Superbia ("Pride"): "Look that thou blow mickle boasts with long crakows on thy shoes".

In 1463,  passed a sumptuary law that "no knight under the state of a lord, esquire, gentleman, nor other person shall use nor wear after the... feast of Saint Peter any shoes or boots having pikes passing the length of two inches" (5 cm). In 1465, they were banned in England altogether, so that all cordwainers and cobblers within the City of London and environs were prohibited from making shoes with pikes more than 2 inches long.

By the 1480s, poulaines had generally fallen from fashion in favor of the wide duckbill shoes supposedly popularized by CharlesVIII of France owing to his own six-toed foot. The poulaine inspired later footwear fashions, such as the 1950s winklepicker boots.

Design

Toe length
Archaeological evidence in the form of surviving shoe soles shows that the length of the point beyond the toes of the foot was rarely, if ever, more than 50% of the length of the foot. This is consistent with depictions of highly fashionable European men from the third quarter of the 15th century when poulaines were at the height of their popularity. As with many items of high fashion, the most extreme examples were worn by the upper classes.

Stuffing
Poulaine toes were packed with stuffing to provide rigidity and help them hold their shape. Surviving examples from medieval London have the points stuffed with moss. An Italian chronicler noted in 1388 that they were also sometimes stuffed with horsehair.

Tying up the toes
Although there is no archaeological or medieval iconographic evidence to support the idea that the toes were ever tied up to the leg, as noted earlier, there is direct literary evidence dating from 1394 which states that this was the practice at the time these shoes were introduced into England.  Additionally, the practice is mentioned by the antiquarian John Stow in his 1698 publication A Survey of London, where he wrote:

However, given that John Stow was writing over 100 years after the shoes fell out of fashion, and the lack of rigorous historical research in the writings of the time, he cannot be considered a reliable source. His record of Act 4 of Edward IV is exaggerated—the actual act does mention restrictions in length, but not monetary penalties, parliament or clergy:

Health effects
A 2005 study of early and late medieval remains found bunions exclusively in corpses from the poulaine era. A 2021 study of 177 corpses from four cemeteries around Cambridge, England, affirmed this, finding that those who lived in more fashionable neighborhoods during the height of the poulaine fashion were far more likely to have bunions, misshapen feet, and FOOSH (fall on outstretched hand) bone fractures associated with injury from falling. One of the coauthors, Piers Mitchell, noted "People really did wear ridiculously long, pointy shoes, just like they did in Blackadder". Of the remains that could be dated, 27% from the 14th and 15th centuries had bunions pronounced enough to cause skeletal deformation versus only 6% prevalence during the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. Emma McConnachie of the College of Podiatry noted that the findings "highlight these have been around for quite some time" and "the fashion choices of the 14th century inflicted similar issues from footwear as we see presenting in clinics today."

Related footwear

Pattens

Pattens were protective overshoes frequently worn in the late medieval and early modern period to protect footwear from mud and filth while outdoors. They were typically made from wood and fitted to the shoe with leather straps. The name poulaine was sometimes used for the elongated pattens necessary to protect the full length of the long-toed shoes of the period.

Sabatons
Sabatons were the protective footwear used with medieval European armor. During the period that poulaines were in fashion, the sabatons sometimes became similarly awkwardly long or pointed and interfered with soldiers' ability to walk or run. At the 1386 Battle of Sempach, it became necessary for the knights of Leopold III, Duke of Austria, to quickly dismount and fight on foot. Because they had not prepared for this, many were obliged to cut off the tips of their sabatons on the field to continue. Swiss chroniclers report a huge pile of these shoetips were found in a heap after the battle and this was illustrated in the account of the battle in the 1513 Luzerner Schilling. A surviving pair of sabatons belonging to Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, have extremely long ends for use on horseback but these are detachable if fighting on foot became necessary. The catches can be seen over the area of the big toe.

See also

 Pointed shoe (disambiguation)
 1300–1400 in European fashion
 1400–1500 in European fashion

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

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Shoes
Historical footwear
Polish clothing
French clothing
English clothing
14th century in Europe
15th century in Europe
Medieval European costume

Poulaine


The Beijing–Tibet Expressway (), commonly abbreviated to Jingzang Expressway (), also known as Beijing–Lhasa Expressway (Jingla Expressway; ) or China National Expressway 6, is part of the Chinese national expressway network and is planned to connect the nation's capital, Beijing, to the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Lhasa.

It passes through seven of China's administrative regions, including the Beijing municipality, the province of Hebei, the autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia and Ningxia, the provinces of Gansu and Qinghai, and finally the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Passage

Beginning from Beijing and driving southwest to Lhasa, The expressway runs approximately  through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Gansu and Qinghai, for a total of seven provincial-level divisions.  Excluding the two terminal points, it passes through the major cities of Zhangjiakou, Jining District, Hohhot, Bayannur, Wuhai, Yinchuan, Wuzhong, Baiyin, Lanzhou, Xining and Golmud.

As of August 2010, just over fifty percent of the expressway is open to traffic, which mainly comprises the stretch between Beijing and Xining. Like China National Highway 109 and the Qingzang railway, it is expected to pass west through Golmud before heading southwest into Tibet and Lhasa. Because of climatic conditions, this stretch of the expressway does not yet have a construction timetable.

As of 2019 the expressway is completed between Beijing and Golmud, and the section between Nagqu and Lhasa has completed in August 2021. The mountainous section between Golmud and Nagqu is not yet shown on maps, and reserved for future plans.

The G6 merges with the G7 in Huhhot and does not split until Linhe (now Baynnur).

Ningxia
The expressway is of particular importance in Ningxia, where 86.7% of the urban population lives in cities along the expressway, and over 90% of the provincial GDP is generated in these cities. In 2020, a 2x4 lane bypass around Ningxia's capital Yinchuan was opened, and another   in Ningxia will be widened to 2x3 lanes.

Detailed itinerary

See also
 Badaling Expressway (part of the G6 in Beijing)
 Expressways of China
 Jingzhang Expressway (part of the G6 in Hebei)

References

06
Expressways in Beijing
Expressways in Hebei
Expressways in Inner Mongolia
Expressways in Ningxia
Expressways in Gansu
Expressways in Qinghai
Expressways in Tibet

G6 Beijing–Lhasa Expressway


Henry Sass (24 April 1788 – 1844) was an English artist and teacher of painting, who founded an important art school, Sass's Academy (later "Cary's Academy"), in London, to provide training for those seeking to enter the Royal Academy. Many distinguished British painters received their early training here. Such was Sass's commitment to art education that Sir David Wilkie said he could have "taught a stone to draw".

Life and work
Sass was born in London. His father, who was also an artist, belonged to an old Courland family from what is now Latvia. Sass's father and mother settled in London after their marriage and his elder half-brother Richard Sass became a landscape painter and art tutor to members of the royal family.

Sass became a student at the Royal Academy and practised his art by copying paintings held at the British Institution. His early work which was exhibited in 1807 and 1808 at the Royal Academy included, "The Descent of Ulysses into Hell" which Sass also executed as an etching. However his later work was portraiture. In 1815 he married Mary Robinson, whose family was related to the Earls of Ripon. In the same year he travelled to Italy, returning two years later. However, despite publishing a book about his Italian trip he was not able to make a living from his painting.

Sass decided to open the first school of drawing for artists who were intending to study at the Royal Academy' school. Sass established it in a house at No. 6 Charlotte Street, at the corner with Streatham Street, in Bloomsbury, London. Sass's pupils included Sir John Millais P.R.A., Charles West Cope K.A., William Powell Frith R.A., William Edward Frost R.A. Sir Thomas Lawrence the President of the Royal Academy was amongst the school's supporters. Such was Sass's commitment to art education that Sir David Wilie said he could have taught a "stone to draw".

Sass's Academy is caricatured in the novel "The Newcomes" by Thackeray, who was once a student at the school. The real academy, however, is only used as a basis for the fictional art school and Thackeray does not refer to Sass or his school in particular.

Sass was now well off and he and Mary entertained the intelligentsia of the day. Among his friends were Sir Edwin Landseer, William Etty, and particularly J. M. W. Turner. Two years before his death Sass passed the directorship of the school to Francis Stephen Cary due to his failing mental health. Sass died in 1844, having had nine children including an eldest surviving son, Henry William Sass who was an architect and Edwin Etty Sass who entered the medical profession.

Artistic Recognition

A bust of Sass by William Grinsell Nicholl was commissioned in 1820.

References

Further reading
William Powell Frith. My autobiography and reminiscences, volume 1 (New York: Harper & brothers, 1888), chapter 4 - "The School of Art".

External links
Sass's Academy

19th-century English painters
English male painters
English portrait painters
British art teachers
English travel writers
1788 births
1844 deaths
English male non-fiction writers
19th-century English male artists

Henry Sass


Charles-Hippolyte-Philippe Spinola, known as Philippe Spinola (–1670) was count of Bruay, baron of Andre, and lord of Kounice, a lordship which he later exchanged for those of Calonne-sur-la-Lys and Viefville, Grandee of Spain and Knight of the Golden Fleece.

Life
Born in or before 1612, Spinola was the youngest son of Bertin Spinola, Count of Bruay. At the age of 15 he enlisted in the Walloon regiment of Albert de Ligne, Prince of Barbançon, soon coming to command a company of the regiment, and eventually a regiment of his own as Maestre de Campo.

In 1652 he was appointed sergeant-general and in 1655 governor and captain-general of Walloon Flanders. He was the last man to hold this position under the King of Spain. In 1667 Louis XIV besieged Lille and conquered the province. After this defeat Spinola retired from public life. He died on 14 January 1670 after a short illness.

References

1610s births
1670 deaths
Knights of the Golden Fleece
Grandees of Spain
People of the War of Devolution

Philippe Spinola


Daya Kishan Sapru (16 March 1916 – 20 October 1979), was an Indian actor famed for a variety of character roles in Hindi cinema, particularly villains, judges and aristocrats in crime thrillers and dramas. His most notable performances were in Bollywood productions of between the late 1950s and early 1970s, including Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Heer Raanjha, Pakeezah, Kala Pani, Dooj Ka Chand,  Tere Mere Sapne, Humjoli, Jewel Thief, and Deewar.

Born to Kashmiri Pandit parents in 1916, Sapru made his Bollywood debut in Chand (1944), starring Prem Adib, another Kashmiri Pandit actor. By the early 1970s, Sapru had risen to prominence as a villain in crime thrillers. Although he died in 1979, he continued to appear in several films that were released in the 1980s, including Krodhi (1981).

His son Tej Sapru and younger daughter Preeti Sapru are actors in Punjabi and Hindi films. His elder daughter Reema Rakesh Nath is a scriptwriter and director, and her son, actor Karan Nath, is Sapru's only grandson.

Selected filmography

References

External links

1916 births
1979 deaths
Male actors in Hindi cinema
Male actors from Jammu and Kashmir
20th-century Indian male actors
Kashmiri people

D. K. Sapru


Henricus Aeneae (born Henricus Aenee, 19 August 1743 – 1 November 1810) was a Dutch scientist and mathematician.

Biography
Henricus Aeneae was born 19 August 1743 at Oudemirdum, Friesland, where his father Eduard Schultetus Aenee was a minister. The son, on the advice of the rector of the Latin schools, added a Latin ending to his name and called himself from then on Aeneae, was initially prepared to become a teacher, visiting the Latin schools in Leeuwarden and the college of Franeker. At the latter location, he studied mathematics and physics with the professors Nicolaas Ypeij and Antonius Brugmans; he enjoyed these sciences so much that he decided to devote himself to them. Guided by the famous Jan van der Bildt, who was at the time partly living in Franeker, and by Wytze Foppes, who lived in Dongjum, half an hour away from Franeker, he practised making binoculars and telescopes, driven as he was by his interest in optics.

Because he was meanwhile married and thus needed some means of living, he went in 1767 to Amsterdam, where he taught mathematics, with among his pupils the great Nieuwland. Two years after his arrival in Amsterdam, he was promoted to Master in the Free Arts and Doctor in Philosophy in Leiden, with a dissertation on frost.

In 1778, the company Felix Meritis made him an honorary member and their Lector or Physics because of his capacities and ever increasing fame: because Aeneae not only became famous by his great progress in physics and mathematics and especially in optics and mechanics, but especially by his methods of teaching. In this he was truly unique and his merits where above all praise. With the utmost clarity and simplicity and in an enjoyable manner he taught physics, while a more than normal dexterity made his experiments extremely important.

Until the revolution of 1795, Aeneae only occupied himself with teaching his beloved sciences, but then he was swiftly called to aid his country with his capacities. Immediately after the revolution, he became a member of the Committee of the Marine, and not long thereafter he was given, together with the captains Story and Lucas and ship builder Glavimans, the honorable task of inspecting all warships in these countries on their ability of being brought into service. Even more all encompassing was the job he was called to in 1798, when he received the honour to go together with professor Jan Hendrik van Swinden to Paris, to deliberate about the metric system of measures and weights together with the most prominent French and other scientists, which was eventually mostly brought to its current perfection by these two Dutchmen.

After being remade a member of the Marine in 1801, and later Advisor in mathematics, physics, chemistry and mechanics, Inspector of measures and weights, and member of the Central Committee of the Marine, he died in The Hague on November 1, 1810.

Among his works are:
"Wiskundige Beschouwing van een hellend waterscheprad, door A.G. Eckhardt uitgevonden", Amsterdam 1775, 8o. 2 parts, illustrated
"Verhandeling over de Molenwieken in het algemeen en over die, welke eene schroefwijze gedaante hebben, volgens de uitvinding van Jan van Deyl en Zoon", Amsterdam 1785, 8o.
"Rekenboek voor de Nederlandsche jeugd, uitgegeven door de Maatschappij Tot Nut van 't Algemeen", Amsterdam 1792, 2 parts.
"Iets over de waterweegkunde", Amsterdam 1808.

Aeneae was a member of all learned societies in the Netherlands which only present membership as an appreciation of merit. The first to bring this honour were the Zeeuws and Provinciaal Utrechts Genootschap, followed by the Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen in Haarlem and the Genootschap der Proefondervindelijke Wijsbegeerte in Rotterdam. He was a contributing member of the Genoolschap der Proefondervindelijke Natuurkunde at The Hague since 1800, and he was one of the first members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

References

1743 births
1810 deaths
18th-century Dutch mathematicians
Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
People from Gaasterlân-Sleat
19th-century Dutch mathematicians

Henricus Aeneae