The North Sea Region (NSR) of Europe refers to European countries and regions that have access to the North Sea. Cultural and economic co-operation has a strong tradition in the area, dating back to the Vikings and the Hanseatic League.

Although not a formally established entity, in political terms the North Sea Region is consolidated through international organisations like the North Sea Commission and transnational co-operation programmes like the North Sea Region Programme of the European Union.

Geographic area

North Sea Commission
The partnership of the CPMR North Sea Commission consists of most Norwegian county councils (Trondelag, More og Romsdal, Vestland, Rogaland, Agder, Vestfold og Telemark and Viken), the regions Halland, Västra Götaland and Örebro in Sweden, the three Danish regions of Nordjylland, Midtjylland and Syddanmark, the German Länder Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and Bremen, all coastal provinces of the Netherlands (Groningen, Friesland, Drenthe, Flevoland, North Holland, South Holland and Zeeland) and the Province of West Flanders in Belgium as well as counties and authorities from eastern England (Southend-on-Sea) and Scotland (Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Fife and Highland).

North Sea Region Programme – Cooperation Area
The North Sea Region, as defined in the Operational Programme of the Interreg North Sea Programme 2021-2027, covers an area of approximately . The programme covers all of Denmark and the Netherlands, the southern part of Norway, the Flemish Region of Belgium, northwestern regions of Germany, southwestern parts of Sweden and northwestern regions of France.

Geographically, the region is connected by the large sea basin of the North Sea.

Population
Based on the co-operation area of the North Sea Region Programme, about 61  million inhabitants (2023) live in the North Sea Region. The population density of the region varies widely, ranging from sparsely populated areas like Finnmark () in Norway to densely inhabited urban centres like the German city of Hamburg ().

Economy
The North Sea Region belongs to the most prosperous parts of the European Union. The average level of GDP across the region was  €28,516 per capita in 2002 ($ in 2002 conversion rate). The unemployment rate is below the EU average in most areas. However, there are notable differences concerning economic performance and employment between the areas in the North Sea Region.

Currently, the economic structure of the regions bordering the North Sea is undergoing considerable changes, such as shrinking labour markets in the agriculture and fisheries sector and a decline in old industrialised areas.

See also
 North Sea
 North Sea Commission (NSC)
 North Sea Region Programme (NSRP)

References

External links

 North Sea Region Programme VIB 2021–2027
 North Sea Region Programme VB 2014–2020
 North Sea Region Programme IVB 2007-2013
 North Sea Region Programme IIIB 2000-2006

Region
Euroregions
Transnationalism

North Sea Region


Percy Shaw,  (15 April 1890 – 1 September 1976) was an English inventor and businessman.  He patented the reflective road stud or "cat's eye" in 1934, and set up a company to manufacture his invention in 1935.

Biography
Percy Shaw was born in Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the fourth child and second son of James Shaw, a dyehouse labourer who worked at a local mill, and his second wife Esther Hannah Morrell. Shaw's father also had seven children by his first wife, Jane Brearley, who died in 1883. In 1892, his parents moved their large family to Boothtown in Halifax, where Shaw lived for the rest of his life.

Shaw was educated at Boothtown Board School, and started work as a labourer in a cloth mill at the age of 13. He became apprenticed to a wire drawer, but the low wages on offer were not attractive and he soon took a series of unskilled jobs in local engineering works. He was thus well placed to join his father in a new business repairing small machine tools used in munitions production during the First World War. After his father's death in 1929, he started his own small business as a road contractor, repairing roads until his death in the 1970s. He received an OBE in 1965.

Invention

Shaw was inventive, even at an early age, but his most famous invention was the cat's eye for lighting the way along roads in the dark. There are several stories about how he came up with the idea. The most famous involves his driving down the difficult road (Queensbury Road, part of the A647 with a very steep drop to one side) from the Old Dolphin public house in Clayton Heights to his home in Halifax, when a cat on a fence along the edge of the road looked at the car and reflected his headlights back to him, allowing him to take corrective action and remain on the road. In an interview with Alan Whicker, however, he told a different story of being inspired on a foggy night to think of a way of moving the reflective studs on a road sign to the road surface. Further, local schoolchildren who were taken on visits to the factory in the late 1970s were told that the idea came from Shaw seeing light reflected from his car headlamps by tram tracks in the road on a foggy night. The tram tracks were polished by the passing of trams and by following the advancing reflection, it was possible to maintain the correct position in the road.

In 1934, he patented his invention (patents Nos. 436,290 and 457,536), based on the 1927 reflecting lens patent of Richard Hollins Murray. A year later, Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd was formed to manufacture the devices. Sales were initially slow, but approval from the Ministry of Transport and the blackout in the Second World War gave a huge boost to production and the firm, located near Shaw's home in Boothtown, grew in size making more than a million roadstuds a year, which were exported all over the world. A later patent added a rainwater reservoir to the rubber shoe, which could be used to wash the glass "eyes" when a car drove over the stud.  Such a success was the invention of the "cat's eye" that he was rewarded with an OBE for services to exports in the birthday honours list in 1965.

He became eccentric in later life, removing the carpets, curtains and much of the furniture from his isolated home, and keeping four televisions running constantly (respectively tuned to BBC1, BBC2 and ITV, all with the sound turned down) with a fourth showing BBC2 in colour. On each Friday a few friends would come to the house and Percy would supply crates of bottled ale and boxes of potato crisps. He told Alan Whicker that the reason for keeping the TVs on simultaneously was so that his friends could watch whichever of the then existing channels they chose to, and there would be no arguments. One luxury was his Rolls-Royce Phantom. He never married and he died from cancer and heart disease at Boothtown Mansion, Halifax, where he had lived for all but two of his 86 years. Despite rumours of a personal fortune, his personal estate was admitted to probate in December 1976 at a value of £193,500. He was an agnostic, but his funeral was held at Boothtown Methodist Church, and he was cremated in Elland.

In 2005, he was listed as one of the 50 greatest Yorkshire people in a book by Bernard Ingham.

Commemoration
A pub in Broad Street, Halifax, is named for Shaw.  A blue plaque was erected by the Halifax Civic Trust.

References

 John A. Hargreaves, "Shaw, Percy (1890–1976)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; online edition, January 2008; last accessed 1 September 2009
 Cat's eyes of the future, Giles Chapman, The Daily Telegraph, 18 August 2007
 Percy Shaw: Man with his eye on the road, Robert Colvile, The Daily Telegraph, 30 November 2007
 Percy Shaw O.B.E. 15 April 1890 to 1 September 1976, from Reflecting Roadstuds Limited

External links
 Halifax Today article on Percy Shaw
 Catseye Patent GB457536 (Improvements relating to blocks for road surface marking)
 Design Museum (Archive copy: 3 September 2013)
 Cat's eyes: How a pub trip made the world's roads safer, BBC

1890 births
1976 deaths
People from Halifax, West Yorkshire
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
20th-century British inventors

Percy Shaw


Katrina Patchett (born 12 December 1986) is a professional ballroom dancer from Perth, Western Australia.

Early life
She has been dancing since the age of three and competing since the age of seven.  She was brought up in her mother (Julie Patchett)'s dance studio in Perth, Western Australia, daughter of two internationally successful ballroom dancers who reached seventh in the world. At age thirteen she became a Western Australian State Champion.

Career
Patchett moved to Europe at the age of 16, living, training and working in Denmark (partnering with Joachim Dahlström) before moving to France, at 19, to partner with the former winner of The Dancing Show, Maxime Dereymez. Together in 2007, they became the French national champions.   The couple also reached fourth place at the IDSF Open in 2007. After three years in France, Patchett moved to Slovenia to dance with Blaz Pocajt and compete in the professional category at the age of 22. Towards the end of 2010, Dereymez and Patchett decided to renew their partnership.  They both competed on TF1's Danse avec les stars. Patchett won the first season of Danse avec les stars with her partner French singer/songwriter, Matt Pokora, on 19 March 2011.

Patchett speaks French, and lives in Paris.

Danse avec les stars

Celebrity partners

1 David Douillet didn't got a single note in season 12.

DWTS Australia

References

Living people
1986 births
Australian ballroom dancers
Modern dance
Australian expatriates in France
People from Perth, Western Australia
Danse avec les stars winners
21st-century Australian dancers

Katrina Patchett


Egor Mikhailovich Zakroev (; born 31 December 1993) is a Russian pair skater. With partner Maria Vigalova, he is the 2014 World Junior bronze medalist, a two-time JGP Final medalist (2013 silver, 2012 bronze), and the 2014 Russian national senior bronze medalist.

Personal life
Egor Mikhailovich Zakroev was born 31 December 1993 in Achinsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. He relocated to Perm in 2010.

Career
Zakroev started skating in Achinsk, taught by Gennadiy Petrov. In 2010, he teamed up with Maria Vigalova in Perm. The two were coached by Valentina Tiukova, Valeri Tiukov, and Pavel Sliusarenko at Perm's Figure Skating Academy. Olga Volozhinskaya visits the pair three to four times a year to work on choreography and presentation.

In the 2011–12 season, Vigalova/Zakroev finished tenth in their senior Russian Championships debut and placed fourth on the junior level.

Vigalova/Zakroev debuted on the Junior Grand Prix series in the 2012–13 season. They won the bronze medal at JGP Austria and silver at JGP Germany, qualifying them for the JGP Final in Sochi, Russia, where they won the bronze medal. At the Russian Championships, the pair finished ninth on the senior level and then fourth again on the junior level behind Kamilla Gainetdinova / Ivan Bich.

Vigalova/Zakroev's first event of the 2013–14 season was the 2013 JGP Latvia where they won the bronze medal behind teammates Evgenia Tarasova / Vladimir Morozov. They won gold for the first time at the 2013 JGP Slovakia while posting new personal best scores – 57.75 (SP), 110.35 (FS), 168.10 points (overall). Their results qualified them to the JGP Final in Fukuoka, Japan. At the final, Vigalova/Zakroev placed third in the short program and first in the free skate, winning the silver medal behind Yu Xiaoyu / Jin Yang. After the event, Zakroev underwent treatment for cysts. At the Russian Championships, the pair won bronze on the senior level and silver on the junior level. They were assigned to the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, where they won the bronze medal after placing fourth in the short program and third in the free skate.

In preparation for the 2014–15 season, Vigalova/Zakroev spent some time training in Sochi and Novogorsk, near Moscow, as well as their regular training site in Perm. Their first event of the season was at the 2014 JGP Estonia where they won the gold medal with a score of 161.83 points. Their next event at the 2014 JGP Croatia, they won another gold with a total of 167.98 points qualifying them to their third ISU JGP Final held in Barcelona, Spain where they took the bronze medal behind teammates Lina Fedorova / Maxim Miroshkin.

Programs
(with Vigalova)

Competitive highlights
CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Vigalova

References

External links

Russian male pair skaters
World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists
1993 births
Living people
People from Achinsk
Sportspeople from Krasnoyarsk Krai

Egor Zakroev


Gustav Knittel (27 November 1914 – 30 June 1976) was a Sturmbannführer (major) in the SS Division Leibstandarte (LSSAH) who was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. Sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering the illegal executions of 8 American prisoners of war, he was released in 1953.

World War II

Born in 1914, Gustav Knittel volunteered for the SS on 15 April 1933 and the Nazi Party on 1 May 1933. In August 1934, Knittel joined the Nazi Party's paramilitary force, which later became the Waffen-SS. He attended the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz as an SS officer candidate on 1 October 1937 and successfully took his final exams on 28 July 1938. Subsequent Knittel was sent on a platoon leader course at SS training camp Dachau adjacent to the infamous Dachau concentration camp. On 9 November 1938 he was inducted as SS-Untersturmführer. With the SS-Regiment Deutschland, Knittel took part in the occupation of the Sudetenland after the Munich Agreement. He served with various SS units before becoming adjutant of SS Reserve Battalion Ellwangen in August 1939. Serving with the Leibstandarte Division, Knittel took part in the Battle of France. He was then posted as commander of the heavy company in the reconnaissance battalion of the LSSAH.

After taking part in the German attack on Yugoslavia and the Battle for Greece he next participated in Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. He led his company during the drive of the Leibstandarte on Zhytomyr; he was wounded on 11 July 1941. After recovery, he was posted to the SS Training camp Dachau. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st class and returned to his company in November.

Kharkov battles
In March 1942 he was appointed as the company commander of the armored halftrack company in the Reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH. Knittel led this company during the Third Battle of Kharkov and distinguished himself between 2 and 4 February 1943. On 2 February 1943 he received orders to lead an ad hoc battlegroup and move behind enemy lines to cover the retreat of the 298 Infantry Division. He made contact with this division in Shevchenkove, was cut off by the advancing Red Army but fought his way back to the German lines with his battlegroup and a group of Wehrmacht soldiers. When the reconnaissance battalion of LSSAH was encircled in Alexejewka, Knittel led one of the counterattacks against the Red Army on 13 February. On 15 February Meyer and Wünsche wanted to reach the German lines held by Fritz Witt. Knittel with his company was sent to Bereka to reconnoitre the planned route. He found Bereka occupied by the Red Army and he was wounded in the following attack. The next day the combined battlegroup of Meyer and Wünsche reached Yefremivka.

Massacre of civilians
Ukrainian sources, including surviving witness Ivan Kiselev, who was 14 at the time of the massacre, described the killings at the villages of Yefremovka and Semyonovka on 17 February 1943. On 12 February the LSSAH occupied the two villages, where retreating Soviet Army forces had wounded two SS troops. In retaliation, five days later LSSAH troops killed 872 men, women and children. Some 240 of these were burned alive in the church of Yefremovka. Knittel could not have participated in the massacre: the casualty reports of the Aufklärungsabteilung 'LSSAH' and his medical records kept by the Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) show that due to the bullet wound in his thigh incurred in front of Bereka on 15 February he was hospitalized in Krasnohrad on 16 February 1943 and was transferred to a field hospital in Poltava on 18 February.

Battle of the Bulge

Divisional commander Wilhelm Mohnke ordered Knittel to return to the Leibstandarte. On 13 December 1944 he arrived at the divisional headquarters near Euskirchen where he asked Mohnke to grant Emil Wawrzinek the command of the 1st SS reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH. Wawrzinek had led the battalion since its return from France and had rebuilt it during the past months. But the next day Mohnke insisted that Knittel lead the reinforced battalion that would become Schnelle Gruppe (fast group) Knittel.

That same day, 14 December, Knittel was briefed about the upcoming Operation Wacht am Rhein, the German attempt to break through the American lines and cut the allied forces in two. With the Leibstandarte as spearhead of the 6th Panzer Army of Sepp Dietrich Schnelle Gruppe Knittel was to follow the battlegroups of Joachim Peiper and Max Hansen, then use its speed to capture a bridge across the Meuse River south of Liège enabling the Leibstandarte to move toward Antwerp. On 15 December Knittel was further briefed at the headquarters of Hermann Prieß, the commanding officer of the 1st SS-Panzerkorps. During this briefing Otto Skorzeny was introduced and the details of Operation Greif were revealed. After this meeting Knittel drove to the command post of his battalion in Glaadt to pass the orders and specifics on to his company commanders.

The offensive started the next day, 16 December 1944. Initially Knittel advanced quickly, following in the wake of Peiper and Hansen without enemy contact, through Hallschlag, Manderfeld, Holzheim, Honsfeld, Heppenbach, Amel and Born. On 17 December a scouting party of Schnelle Gruppe Knittel murdered eleven African-American soldiers of the 333rd Artillery Battalion in Wéreth.

On 18 December it became clear that Peiper made the best progress and Mohnke ordered Knittel to follow that battlegroup. After a short meeting with Hansen in Recht, Knittel moved to Stavelot. After leaving instructions for his company commanders he crossed the Amblève River bridge in Stavelot at noon to contact Peiper in La Gleize. Elements of his battlegroup followed during the afternoon and early evening but the American 30th Infantry Division recaptured the northern part of the town, blocking the advance route of the rest of Schnelle Gruppe Knittel and the battlegroup of Rudolf Sandig. The next day, 19 December, Mohnke ordered Knittel and the elements of his fast group that did manage to reach La Gleize back to Stavelot to recapture the town and open the advance route which was also essential in supplying battlegroup Peiper with fuel and ammunition. Knittel set up his command post in the Antoine Farm west of Stavelot. The counterattack he deployed failed and that day members of his battalion murdered civilians in Trois-Ponts, Parfondruy, Renardmont and Stavelot. That evening, the Americans demolished the bridge in Stavelot.

Increased pressure from American forces stalled the advance of the Leibstandarte and continued attempts from Knittel and Sandig to recapture Stavelot failed while Peiper had come to a halt in La Gleize. The elements of Schnelle Gruppe Knittel on the western bank of the Amblève River were trapped between Stavelot, Coo and Trois-Ponts. On 20 December US Taskforce Lovelady from 3rd Armored Division attacked Knittel's positions from the direction of Trois-Ponts but was halted by a King Tiger tank and some anti-tank guns positioned near Petit-Spai. That evening elements from the 82nd Airborne Division moved in on the positions near Petit-Spai and cut off the road to Wanne. On 21 December elements of the 3rd Armored Division pushed Schnelle Gruppe Knittel out of its positions in Ster, but elements of Kampfgruppe Hansen had reached Petit-Spai during the night, and their counterattack pushed the 82nd Airborne Division back to Trois-Ponts. On 22 December a major attack from the 30th Infantry Division threw Knittel's men out of their positions at the western edge of Stavelot.

It had become clear that the Meuse River could not be reached and Peiper decided on 23 December to abandon his vehicles and retreat through the woods to escape capture. He left La Gleize with the remaining men. 36 hours later he reached the German lines at Petit-Spai and then Wanne. In the early morning of 25 December Knittel cleared his positions on the western bank of the Amblève River and withdrew his men to Wanne. There the Leibstandarte regrouped before moving to the Bastogne area. The Ardennes Offensive ended for Knittel when airplanes from the American 9th Tactical Airforce bombed his command post near Vielsalm on 31 December 1944. He was hospitalized in Germany with serious concussion.

Trial and conviction

In May 1945 Knittel returned to his family in Neu-Ulm but soon decided to hide on a farm near Stuttgart. He returned to his hometown later that year but when he met with his wife on 5 January 1946 he was captured by Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) agents Michel Thomas and Theodore Kraus. Knittel was detained by the CIC in Ulm and interrogated by Thomas. Knittel later claimed that he was physically abused by his guards, which Thomas denied.

In March, Knittel was transferred to Schwäbisch Hall, where Peiper and the other suspects of the Malmedy massacre were detained. Knittel and his Schnelle Gruppe had not taken part in the Malmedy Massacre since they had used a more southerly route. However, Knittel was questioned about war crimes in the Stavelot area. Knittel confessed that on 21 December 1944 he had ordered the murder of eight American prisoners of war at the command post of his heavy company near Petit-Spay, east of Trois-Ponts. Following his self-incriminating confession, (and despite "fully expecting and accepting that he would shortly be executed"), he was sentenced to life imprisonment on 16 July 1946 during the Malmedy massacre trial.

Knittel and his lawyers immediately filed a request with the War Crimes Board of Review to have his case reopened. He retracted his confession and, like other defendants, complained that the interrogations included psychological torture. Knittel claimed to have been threatened with being handed over to the Belgians and that his interrogators suggested that signing a confession or not was the choice between fair American justice and Belgian revenge. Knittel complained that his defence lawyers had not been allowed to use the war diaries of the American units which had opposed his Schnelle Gruppe during the Battle of the Bulge to prove that no Americans were murdered at the date and location he gave in his confession. However, the war diary of the 82nd Airborne Division shows that on 21 December 1944, during the battle between elements of Schnelle Gruppe Knittel and the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment between Trois-Ponts and Petit-Spay, an eight-man strong bazooka team was captured by the Germans less than a mile away from the command post described by Knittel in his confession.

Unaware of the contents of the war diary of the 82nd Airborne Division, in March 1948 the reviewing authority reduced his sentence to 15 years imprisonment. In May 1948 the War Crimes Review Board Nr. 4 rejected the claim that irregularities had occurred during the trial against Knittel but following the Simpson Report and the findings of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services his sentence was further reduced to 12 years imprisonment. Knittel was released from Landsberg Prison on 7 December 1953 following a Christmas amnesty.

Knittel later worked as a car salesman for Opel in Ulm until health problems, including several cardiac arrests, forced him to retire in 1970. Knittel died on 30 June 1976 in Ulm hospital.

Summary of SS career
Dates of rank
Adjutant SS-Kradschützen-Reserve Battalion "Ellwangen": 26 August 1939 – May 1940
Platoon Commander 15 Company/LSSAH, 15 May – 19 August 1940
Commander 4th Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH, 19 August 1940 – March 1942
Commander 3rd Company 1st Reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH, March 1942 – April 1943
Commander 1st SS Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion LSSAH, 22 April 1943 – August 1944
Commander SS Field Reserve Battalion LSSAH, November 1944 – 12 December 1944
Commander 1st SS Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st SS Panzer Division LSSAH, 14 December 1944 – 31 December 1944 (wounded)

Awards

 German Cross in Gold on 23 January 1944 as SS-Sturmbannführer in the SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 1 "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler"
 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 4 June 1944 as SS-Sturmbannführer and commander of SS-Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung 1 "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler".

References

Citations

Bibliography

1914 births
1976 deaths
German mass murderers
German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
Military personnel from Baden-Württemberg
People convicted in the Malmedy massacre trial
People from Neu-Ulm
People from the Kingdom of Bavaria
Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States military
Recipients of the Gold German Cross
Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
SS-Sturmbannführer
Waffen-SS personnel

Gustav Knittel


Ottavio Baussano (19 April 1898 – 1970) was an Italian painter and scenic designer.

Biography

He was born in Asti, and active there in both painting and teaching. As a young man, he was mentored by Canuto Borelli, director of an art institute in Asti. He enrolled to study at the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti in Genoa. In the 1930s, during the Fascist rule of Italy, he set a teaching institute. He is known for painting decorations recalling folkloric history and medieval traditions of Asti, such as his works in the Palazzo Communale of Asti depicting elements of the Palio.

References

20th-century Italian painters
20th-century Italian male artists
Italian male painters
1898 births
1970 deaths
Painters from Piedmont
Italian landscape painters
Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti alumni

Ottavio Baussano


Chris Joseph Columbus (born September 10, 1958) is an American filmmaker. Born in Spangler, Pennsylvania, Columbus studied film at Tisch School of the Arts where he developed an interest in filmmaking. After writing screenplays for several teen comedies in the mid-1980s, he made his directorial debut with a teen adventure, Adventures in Babysitting (1987). Columbus gained recognition soon after with the highly successful Christmas comedy Home Alone (1990) and its sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992).

The comedy Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), starring Robin Williams, was another box office success for Columbus. He went on to direct several other films throughout the 1990s, which were mostly met with lukewarm reception. However, he found commercial success again for directing the film adaptations of J. K. Rowling's novels, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and its sequel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), which are his highest-grossing films to date. In addition to directing, Columbus was a producer for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), and the drama The Help (2011). He also directed the fantasy Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) and the 3D action comedy Pixels (2015).

Columbus is the co-founder of 1492 Pictures, a film production company that has produced some of his films since 1995. More recently, he co-founded another production firm with his daughter in 2014, called Maiden Voyage Pictures. In 2017, he launched ZAG Animation Studios, alongside Michael Barnathan, Haim Saban, and Jeremy Zag. Columbus is also known for his collaboration with composer John Williams, with whom he had worked on the films Home Alone and Harry Potter.

Early life
Columbus was born in Spangler, Pennsylvania, and raised in Champion, Ohio, the only child born to Mary Irene (née Puskar), a factory worker, and Alex Michael Columbus, an aluminum plant worker and coal miner. He is of Italian and Czech descent. As a child, he enjoyed drawing storyboards and began making 8mm films in high school.

After graduating from John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio, he went on to study at New York University's film school at the Tisch School of the Arts, where he was a schoolmate of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Alec Baldwin. Although he received a scholarship, he forgot to renew it and was forced to take a factory job to pay for schooling. While on shifts, he secretly worked on a 20-page screenplay, which one of his teachers would later use to help him get an agent. Columbus now states that the experience "saved my life" and he was able to acknowledge "the terrifying reality I faced of having to live and work in that factory for the rest of my life in that town if I didn't make it".

In 1980, while at NYU, Columbus directed a short film entitled I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here that was later noticed by Steven Spielberg. I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2014.

Film career

1984–1990: Early success
Columbus' professional career began in the early 1980s, as a writer for the screenplay of Reckless (1984). Columbus later said, "it wasn't my best work. I intended it to be semi-biographical ... and the film was based on my attempts to break free. But the director turned it into a clumsy teen sex drama and the experience was so degrading." Dissatisfied, Columbus conceived a new screenplay whilst living in an apartment loft, a comedy-horror titled Gremlins (1984). In late 1981, he eventually received a phone call from Steven Spielberg, who expressed an interest buying the script. Upon release, the film was a critical success. Columbus then moved to Los Angeles to work for Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, writing more scripts including The Goonies and Young Sherlock Holmes (both 1985).

After staying in Los Angeles for two years, he said, "There's an unreality to the place, a lack of connection with real people." He decided to move back to New York City. He wrote episodes for the animated series Galaxy High (1986) and received screenwriting credit for Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989). Columbus then started his directing career with the teen comedy Adventures in Babysitting (1987). The film received mixed reviews from critics and was regarded as a "mediocre debut". Next, he wrote and directed Heartbreak Hotel (1988) which is a story about Elvis Presley being kidnapped and finding himself offering counsel and help to a small-town family. The film was a commercial failure at the box office and it also received mixed-to-negative reviews.

In the late 1980s, fellow filmmaker John Hughes approached Columbus to direct Home Alone (1990), a comedy film written by Hughes, where eight-year-old Kevin McCallister must defend his home from two burglars. Columbus had left National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation before shooting started, because of a personality clash with actor Chevy Chase, who Columbus said treated him "like dirt". Columbus particularly enjoyed the Christmas theme of the Home Alone script and quickly accepted the offer. Subsequently, Columbus hired Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, and Catherine O'Hara as the principal cast. Filming took four months between February and May 1990 and the film was released to theaters on November 16, 1990, to commercial success. Home Alone grossed $285 million in North America and $190 million elsewhere for a worldwide $476.7 million, against a budget of $18 million. Nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, the film served as Culkin's breakthrough role. Dave Kehr of Chicago Tribune praised Hughes for writing recognizable characters, and Columbus for direction with "wit and warmth". Home Alone has since been regarded as a "classic" to watch during the holiday season.

1991–2000: Comedies and romances
In 1991, Columbus wrote and directed the romantic comedy-drama Only the Lonely (1991), with John Hughes serving as co-producer. Starring John Candy, Maureen O'Hara, Ally Sheedy, and Anthony Quinn, the film depicts a Chicago policeman who must balance his loyalty between his mother and a shy funeral home employee, a loose adaptation of Marty. The film managed to garner some favourable reviews despite performing tepidly at the box office. In 1992, Columbus returned to direct a sequel to Home Alone, titled Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Featuring the same principal cast of its predecessor, the plot takes place one year after the events of the first film. The film follows Kevin McCallister as he accidentally boards the wrong flight to New York City and finds himself confronted by the same two burglars. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York was released on November 20, 1992, to mixed reviews, but strong box office results, grossing $359 million worldwide. Janet Maslin for The New York Times wrote that "Home Alone 2 may be lazily conceived, but it is staged with a sense of occasion and a lot of holiday cheer. The return of Mr. Culkin in this role is irresistible, even if this utterly natural comic actor has been given little new to do. Mr. Pesci and Mr. Stern bring great gusto to their characters' stupidity".

Columbus' next directorial feature was Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), an adaptation of Anne Fine's novel Alias Madame Doubtfire about an unemployed father who disguises himself as a nanny so he can spend time with his children. Starring Robin Williams, Sally Field and Pierce Brosnan, Williams was given creative freedom to improvise his lines, provoking amusement to all of the cast and crew. The film was released by 20th Century Fox in November 1993 to mixed and positive reception. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 72%, praising Williams. Roger Ebert calls Williams "a mercurial talent who loves to dart in and out of many different characters and voices", but thought Mrs. Doubtfire "has the values and depth of a sitcom". However, the film performed well at the box office, earning $441.3 million worldwide. The film also won the Academy Award for Best Makeup, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor and Golden Globe Award for Best Picture.

In 1995, Columbus co-founded his own production company, 1492 Pictures, named after the year that Christopher Columbus reached the Americas; a pun on his own name. He then wrote and directed another film, a remake of the French film Neuf mois titled Nine Months (1995), which was produced by 1492 Pictures. A romantic comedy, Nine Months starred Hugh Grant, Julianne Moore, Tom Arnold, Joan Cusack, Jeff Goldblum, and Robin Williams. The story centers on a man who finds out that his longtime girlfriend is pregnant and has to change his lifestyle. Although the film was criticized for being "mismanaged", it was a commercial success, grossing $138.5 million at the box office. Columbus followed up on this effort with Stepmom (1998), a comedy-drama starring Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, and Ed Harris. Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan praises Roberts and Harris' performances despite the script having a "tiny handful of honest moments". With an estimated budget of $50 million, the film grossed a healthy $159.7 million worldwide. Sarandon also earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama.

Columbus reunited with Robin Williams for his next project, 1999's Bicentennial Man. Based on the novel The Positronic Man, by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg, the film tells the story of a robot who becomes human-like and acquires emotions. The supporting cast included Sam Neill, Embeth Davidtz, Wendy Crewson, and Oliver Platt. The film was released on December 17, 1999, and was a commercial failure, grossing $87.4 million from a budget of $100 million. Critical response to the film were mixed, with Ben Falk of the BBC describing it as "the worst kind of movie – one with no direction, no identity, and above all no heart". Peter Stack of San Francisco Chronicle opined of the film, "It's a bit strange, and strained. More syrupy melodrama than comedy [...] doesn't have much of the usual Williams manic antics", but compliments the computer-generated imagery. Bicentennial Man was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Makeup at the 72nd Academy Awards.

2001–2010: Harry Potter and other film series

After reading J. K. Rowling's 1997 fantasy novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Columbus expressed a strong desire to direct the film adaptation. In 2000, he convinced Warner Bros. to select him as director for it. The film is the first installment of the Harry Potter film series and was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman. The story follows Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and his self-discovery as a famous wizard. Columbus relocated to the United Kingdom with his family to focus on directing. Columbus said the casting process was "very intense", but Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson were eventually picked for the lead roles. Filming began on September 29, 2000, and lasted for 180 days. The film premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on November 4, 2001, to critical and commercial success, grossing $975.1 million worldwide. The film was praised for its sets, costumes, casting, musical score, cinematography and special effects. In addition, it was nominated for three Academy Awards for Best Original Score, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

In 2002, Columbus returned to direct the second installment, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), based on Rowling's second novel. Featuring much of the same cast from the first film, the story follows Harry Potter's second year at the school when a chamber is opened unleashing a monster. Producer David Heyman said, "Fortunately, we benefited from the experience of the first film ... [the cast] have maintained their enthusiasm, sense of wonder". Columbus also opted to use more handheld cameras for freedom of movement. The film was released to theaters on November 15, 2002. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets shared similar critical acclaim to the first film, and grossed $879 million worldwide. A. O. Scott of The New York Times observed that the film was long but praised it for the special effects and "thrilling" sequences. At the 2003 BAFTA Awards, the film garnered nominations for Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Special Visual Effects.

In 2004, Columbus wrote and produced Christmas with the Kranks, a Christmas comedy based on the 2001 novel Skipping Christmas by John Grisham; the film was a box office success but received mostly negative reviews. In the same year, Columbus returned for the third installment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Physically exhausted from the first two films, he decided not to direct but serve as producer alongside Heyman and director Alfonso Cuarón. The film premiered on May 31, 2004, in the United Kingdom to strong critical praise and earned $796.9 million worldwide. After returning to the United States in 2005, Columbus intended to produce a superhero film, Fantastic Four, but due to disagreements with director Tim Story, he was fired. Next, he directed 2005's Rent, a musical drama adapted from the 1996 Broadway musical of the same name. The film, starring six of the original Broadway cast members, depicts the lives of several Bohemians and their struggles living in East Village of New York City from 1989 to 1990. The film had mixed reviews and a poor box office performance.

In 2006, Columbus served as a producer for Night at the Museum, a fantasy film based on the 1993 children's book of the same name by illustrator Milan Trenc, and is the first installment in the Night at the Museum series. The film stars Ben Stiller as Larry Daley, a father who applies for a job at the American Museum of Natural History and subsequently discovers that the exhibits come to life at night. Next, he served as an executive producer for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), a sequel to the first film which was also a commercial success. In 2009, he produced Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, the second installment of the series. Despite mixed reviews, the film was a box office success, earning $413.1 million worldwide. That same year, he directed I Love You, Beth Cooper, a comedy starring Hayden Panettiere and Paul Rust, based on a novel by Larry Doyle. The film was released in July 2009 to negative reviews; Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote that Columbus "flattens every joke and sucks the life out of the actors", adding it is "super bad".

Despite this setback, Columbus was hired by 20th Century Fox to direct Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010), which he also produced. The film is the first installment in the Percy Jackson series and is based on fantasy Greek mythology: the 2005 novel The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Starring an ensemble led by Logan Lerman, the film received mixed reviews (and was panned by fans of the original series) but found box office success upon its release in February. The film grossed $226.4 million worldwide. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described it as "unadventurous and uninteresting" and criticized screenwriter Craig Titley for changing the original story. The Toronto Stars Linda Barnard praised Columbus' ability to "woo a young audience" but thought the film lacked Harry Potter charm.

2011–present: Focus as a producer and Pixels
As early as 2009, Variety magazine reported that Columbus, Michael Barnathan, and Mark Radcliffe were working on a film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel The Help. Released in 2011, the film of the same name was directed by Tate Taylor with Columbus serving as producer. The film and novel recount the story of a young white aspiring journalist, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, and her relationship with two black maids, Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson, during the Civil Rights Movement. The film received critical and commercial success, earning $216.6 million worldwide. Roger Ebert described it as "involving and wonderfully acted", and Amy Biancolli of the San Francisco Chronicle called it "a film that makes us root for the good guys, hiss at the bad and convulse in laughter when good wreaks vengeance with a smile". At the 84th Academy Awards, Octavia Spencer won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role. The film also received three other nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. The film won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.In 2013, Columbus co-authored the House of Secrets book series with Ned Vizzini. Shortly, Columbus returned to the Percy Jackson series, as an executive producer for the sequel titled Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. Directed by Thor Freudenthal, and starring much of the cast from the previous installment, the film grossed $200.9 million worldwide. However, it received a divided critical reaction. Columbus next produced Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, the final installment in the Night at the Museum series. Released in December 2014, the film was a financial success, grossing $363.2 million at the box office. It was also Robin Williams' final film appearance before his death.

In 2014, Columbus cofounded production company Maiden Voyage Pictures with his daughter, Eleanor. He also co-founded an animation studio called ZAG Animation Studios with Saban Capital Group and ZAG Entertainment.

Columbus directed the science fiction comedy Pixels (2015). He first learned about the project from Adam Sandler; Columbus said "he gave me the Pixels script after we hit it off. My daughter read it and said, 'You have to read this movie. It's completely fun and unexpected'". The film is based on Patrick Jean's 2010 short film of the same name, which depicts aliens who attack the Earth in the form of arcade video games. Principal photography took three months in Toronto, after which computer-generated imagery and visual effects were then applied. Starring Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad and Brian Cox, Pixels was met with mixed reviews but earned $244.9 million at the box office. Marjorie Baumgarten of The Austin Chronicle said the film is "flat-footed and grows tedious after the first hour" but praised the 3D effects which "enhances the action". Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film one star out of four, calling it "a 3D metaphor for Hollywood's digital assault on our eyes and brains [...] relentless and exhausting".

Also in 2015, Columbus served as a producer for three films: supernatural horror The Witch, Italian drama Mediterranea, and a comedy titled It Had to Be You. During 2016, Columbus produced small-scale and independent features. First, The Young Messiah, a fictional story of a seven-year-old Jesus who tries to discover the truth about his life when he returns to Nazareth from Egypt. Second, Tallulah, a comedy drama starring Elliot Page, Allison Janney, and Tammy Blanchard; the film is about a young woman who takes a baby from its negligent mother and pretends the child is her own. Tallulah premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2016 and was released on Netflix on July 29, 2016. In 2017, Columbus served as an executive producer for Menashe, and a producer for Patti Cake$ and I Kill Giants. Columbus also produced The Christmas Chronicles (2018), a family film directed by Clay Kaytis. In 2019, Columbus joined the producers of The Lighthouse, a film directed by Robert Eggers and starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as two lighthouse keepers who lose their sanity. In 2018 it was announced that Columbus would serve as an executive producer for Scoob!, an animated adventure film featuring characters from the Scooby-Doo franchise; it was released on May 15, 2020. He has also directed The Christmas Chronicles 2, a sequel to the film he had co-produced.

Upcoming projects
Columbus has been attached as a director to upcoming films; a Hello Ghost remake was announced in 2011, while Melody and a Five Nights at Freddy's film adaptation were both announced in 2015. However, on September 29, 2021, Columbus officially backed out of his involvement of the Five Nights at Freddy's film. Speaking to Slashfilm in 2017, Columbus said he had written a script for Gremlins 3 which is currently in development.

Filmmaking style
Columbus' films are often grounded in stories about unconventional and dysfunctional families, and explore characters who lose their loved ones. He is regarded as a "sentimental" filmmaker due to his exploration of contemporary domesticity. "One of the themes I've always been fascinated by is a character facing the potential of losing their family and what that means," Columbus said in 2017. Columbus is also known for creating "emotionally vivid scenes", and admits that he is drawn to extreme emotions.

Burhan Wazir of The Guardian states that Columbus prefers characters that are the "everyday American men, women, and children who struggle to uphold family traditions against a changing, sometimes intimidating society". In 1993, Columbus said: "I can understand the validity of showing people the ugliness of the world, but I also think there is a place for movies to leave people with a sense of hope. If your film isn't going to do that, I just don't think it's worth making". Culture website The Take opined that Columbus excels in creating heartwarming family films with untrained child actors, but found box office success without an "incredibly distinct cinematic style" to his work.

Personal life
Columbus married choreographer Monica Devereux in 1983. The couple have four children named Eleanor, Violet, Brendan, and Isabella. Eleanor had a non-speaking role as Susan Bones in the first two Harry Potter films which her father directed. The family reside in San Francisco. Columbus endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election. He is also a partner at Ocean Blue Entertainment, a creative content company focused on film production.

Filmography

Critical reception
Below are the average ratings of Columbus's films provided by two review aggregator websites.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
|-
!Year
! Film
! Rotten Tomatoes
! Metacritic
|-
|1987
| Adventures in Babysitting || 69% || N/A
|-
|1988
| Heartbreak Hotel || 38%|| N/A
|-
|1990
| Home Alone || 67% || 63%
|-
|1991
|Only the Lonely
|64%
|N/A
|-
|1992
| Home Alone 2: Lost in New York || 34% || N/A
|-
|1993
| Mrs. Doubtfire || 71% || 53%
|-
|1995
| Nine Months || 23% || N/A
|-
|1998
| Stepmom || 46% || 58%
|-
|1999
| Bicentennial Man || 36% || 42%
|-
|2001
| Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone || 81%|| 64%
|-
|2002
| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets || 82%<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_chamber_of_secrets/ |title=Rotten Tomatoes T-Meter Rating of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=December 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131123002500/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_chamber_of_secrets/ |archive-date=November 23, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> || 63%
|-
|2005
| Rent || 46% || 53%
|-
|2009
| I Love You, Beth Cooper || 13% || 32%
|-
|2010
| Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief || 49% || 47%
|-
|2015
| Pixels || 17% || 27%
|-
|2020
| The Christmas Chronicles 2 || 67% || 51%
|}

 See also
 Chris Columbus's unrealized projects

References

External links

BBC Movies article about Chris Columbus
Chris Columbus biography from The New York Times''

1958 births
Living people
American people of Italian descent
American film producers
American male screenwriters
American people of Czech descent
Comedy film directors
Fantasy film directors
Film directors from Pennsylvania
Film directors from San Francisco
Film directors from Ohio
People from Cambria County, Pennsylvania
People from Warren, Ohio
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from Ohio
Screenwriters from Pennsylvania
Tisch School of the Arts alumni
Writers from San Francisco
Writers from Youngstown, Ohio

Chris Columbus (filmmaker)


Volumetric efficiency (VE) in internal combustion engine engineering is defined as the ratio of the equivalent volume of the fresh air drawn into the cylinder during the intake stroke (if the gases were at the reference condition for density) to the volume of the cylinder itself. The term is also used in other engineering contexts, such as hydraulic pumps and electronic components.

Internal combustion engines
Volumetric Efficiency in an internal combustion engine design refers to the efficiency with which the engine can move the charge of fresh air into and out of the cylinders. It also denotes the ratio of equivalent air volume drawn into the cylinder to the cylinder's swept volume.  This equivalent volume is commonly inserted into a mass estimation equation based upon Boyle's Gas Law. When VE is multiplied by the cylinder volume, an accurate estimate of cylinder air mass (charge) can be made for use in determining the required fuel delivery and spark timing for the engine.

The flow restrictions in the intake and exhaust systems create a reduction in the inlet flow which reduces the total mass delivery to the cylinder. Under some conditions, ram tuning may either increase or decrease the pumping efficiency of the engine. This happens when a favorable alignment of the pressure wave in the inlet (or exhaust) plumbing improves the flow through the valve. Increasing the pressure differential across the inlet valve typically increases VE throughout the naturally aspirated range. Adding intake manifold boost pressure from a supercharger or turbocharger can increase the VE, but the final calculation for cylinder airmass takes most of this benefit into account with the pressure term in n=PV/RT which is taken from the intake manifold pressure.

Many high performance cars use carefully arranged air intakes and tuned exhaust systems that use pressure waves to push air into and out of the cylinders, making use of the resonance of the system. Two-stroke engines are very sensitive to this concept and can use expansion chambers that return the escaping air-fuel mixture back to the cylinder. A more modern technique for four-stroke engines, variable valve timing, attempts to address changes in volumetric efficiency with changes in speed of the engine: at higher speeds the engine needs the valves open for a greater percentage of the cycle time to move the charge in and out of the engine.

Volumetric efficiencies above 100% can be reached by using forced induction such as supercharging or turbocharging. With proper tuning, volumetric efficiencies above 100% can also be reached by naturally aspirated engines. The limit for naturally aspirated engines is about 130%; these engines are typically of a DOHC layout with four valves per cylinder.  This process is called inertial supercharging and uses the resonance of the intake manifold and the mass of the air to achieve pressures greater than atmospheric at the intake valve. With proper tuning (and dependent on the need for sound level control), VE's of up to 130% have been reported in various experimental studies.

More "radical" solutions include the sleeve valve design, in which the valves are replaced outright with a rotating sleeve around the piston, or alternately a rotating sleeve under the cylinder head. In this system the ports can be as large as necessary, up to that of the entire cylinder wall. However, there is a practical upper limit due to the strength of the sleeve, at larger sizes the pressure inside the cylinder can "pop" the sleeve if the port is too large.

Volumetric Efficiency is sometimes confused with Load, which is ratio (or percentage) of the mass of air that is trapped by the cylinder during induction divided by the mass that would occupy the cylinder's swept volume if the air density in the cylinder were equal to the reference ambient density. Although the two correlate, they are not mathematically equal.

Hydraulic pumps
Volumetric efficiency in a hydraulic pump refers to the percentage of actual fluid flow out of the pump compared to the flow out of the pump without leakage. In other words, if the flow out of a 100cc pump is 92cc (per revolution), then the volumetric efficiency is 92%. The volumetric efficiency will change with the pressure and speed a pump is operated at, therefore when comparing volumetric efficiencies, the pressure and speed information must be available. When a single number is given for volumetric efficiency, it will typically be at the rated pressure and speed.

Electronics

In electronics, volumetric efficiency quantifies the performance of some electronic function per unit volume, usually in as small a space as possible.  This is desirable since advanced designs need to cram increasing functionality into smaller packages, for example, maximizing the energy stored in a battery powering a cellphone.  Besides energy storage in batteries, the concept of volumetric efficiency appears in design and application of capacitors, where the "CV product" is a figure of merit calculated by multiplying the capacitance (C) by the maximum voltage rating (V), divided by the volume. The concept of volumetric efficiency can be applied to any measurable electronic characteristic, including resistance, capacitance, inductance, voltage, current, energy storage, etc.

See also
Two-stroke power valve system
Variable compression ratio

Notes

External links
 2 Stroke Tuned Pipe (Expansion Chamber) Design Software

Engine technology
Two-stroke engine technology
Engineering ratios

Volumetric efficiency


Muriel Gardiner Buttinger (née Morris; November 23, 1901 – February 6, 1985) was an American psychoanalyst and psychiatrist.

Early life and career
Gardiner was born on November 23, 1901, in Chicago, the daughter of Edward Morris, president of the Morris & Company meat-packing business, and Helen (née Swift) Morris, a member of the family which owned Swift & Company, another meat-packing firm (her parents eventually divorced and her mother remarried to British politician and playwright Francis Neilson). Similarly to other writers of the Lost Generation, Gardiner was born into a family of wealth and privilege.

After graduating from Wellesley College in 1922 she traveled to Europe where she lived until the outbreak of World War II. She attended the University of Oxford and then, in 1926, went to what was then still "Red Vienna", hoping to study psychoanalysis with Sigmund Freud. She received a degree in medicine from the University of Vienna and married Joseph Buttinger, leader of the underground wing of the Social Democratic Party of Austria.

After the Social Democratic Party was banned following an armed insurgency against the newly founded Federal State of Austria and Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, Gardiner became involved in the covert activities of the Party as it continued in the underground. Using the code name "Mary", she smuggled passports and money and offered her home as a safe house for paramilitaries and dissidents, until fleeing from Nazi Austria to the Third French Republic after the Anschluss. Her former covert activities were described in her memoir Code Name Mary: Memoirs of an American Woman in the Austrian Underground (1983). At the outbreak of World War II on September 1, 1939, Gardiner, Buttinger and their daughter moved to the still neutral United States.

Gardiner edited The Wolf-Man by the Wolf-Man, which documents the case history of Sergei Pankejeff, a member of the Russian nobility who travelled to Vienna to be treated for clinical depression in 1910 and was psychoanalyzed by Freud. Pankejeff, under the code name "der Wolfsmann", became the subject of Freud's History of an Infantile Neurosis. Gardiner met Freud only once, but she had also known Pankejeff very well in Vienna, and Code Name Mary carries a foreword by Freud's daughter, Anna Freud. In 1976, she authored a study of teenage violence called The Deadly Innocents.

Between 1965 and 1984, Gardiner gave a total of  to the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association (now called The Watershed Institute), including Brookdale Farm and two other properties.

In 1983, Gardiner became entangled in the controversy between Mary McCarthy and Lillian Hellman, when she claimed that she was the character called Julia in Hellman's alleged memoirs, Pentimento (1973), and in the movie Julia based on a chapter in that alleged memoir. Hellman, who never met Gardiner, insisted that her friend really was "Julia" was killed by the Gestapo as described in the story and was someone completely different.

Gardiner wrote that, while she never met Hellman, she had often heard about her from a friend, Wolf Schwabacher, who was Hellman's lawyer. In Gardiner's account, Schwabacher had visited Gardiner in Vienna and, after Muriel Gardiner, Joseph Buttinger and their daughter moved into their house at Brookdale Farm in Hopewell Township near Pennington, New Jersey, in 1940, the house was divided with the Gardiner-Buttinger family living in one half and Wolf and Ethel Schwabacher in the other for more than ten years. Most people now believe that Hellmann wrote a fictional story in her "memoir", based on stories told by Schwabacher about Gardiner's life. Gardiner's editor further cited the unlikelihood that there were two millionaire American women who were medical students and anti-Nazi activists in Vienna during the late 1930s.

Personal life and death
She was briefly married to physician Harold Abramson in 1925.  Her second husband was British artist Julian Benedict Orde Gardiner (1903-1982); they had a daughter, Constance, whom she raised in Vienna before sending her to New York City to live with her sister, Dr. Ruth Morris Bakwin, a pediatrician married to Dr. Harry Bakwin. She married Joseph Buttinger before the couple fled Europe in 1939.  Muriel Gardiner died of cancer on February 6, 1985, in Princeton, New Jersey, aged 83.

Legacy
Muriel-Gardiner-Buttinger-Platz in Vienna is named in her honour.
 The Western New England Psychoanalytic Society in  New Haven, Connecticut, runs a series of monthly meetings called the Muriel Gardiner Program in Psychoanalysis and the Humanities.

References

Further reading
Sheila Isenberg, Muriel's War: An American Heiress In The Austrian Resistance, Palgrave, 2010,

External links
Photograph of Muriel Gardiner

1901 births
1985 deaths
20th-century American physicians
20th-century American women physicians
Alumni of the University of Oxford
American expatriates in Austria
American people of British descent
American people of German-Jewish descent
American psychiatrists
American women psychiatrists
Analysands of Ruth Mack Brunswick
Deaths from cancer in New Jersey
Morris family (meatpacking)
Physicians from Chicago
People from Mercer County, New Jersey
University of Vienna alumni
Wellesley College alumni

Muriel Gardiner


Archibald Maxwell Gubbrud (December 31, 1910 – April 26, 1987) was an American politician who served as the 22nd Governor of South Dakota.

Early life
Gubbrud was born in Norway Township in Lincoln County, South Dakota.  He was one of four children born to Torval Marius and Ella (Rommeriam) Gubbrud. From 1911 to 1914, Gubbrud's grandfather Andrew Rommeriam had served in the South Dakota House of Representatives and had been a friend of South Dakota governor Peter Norbeck.  In 1929, Gubbrud graduated from Augustana Academy in Canton, South Dakota. After the death of his father in 1934, Gubbrud became responsible for the Gubbrud family farm and was quite successful at farming.  He married Florence Dexter and they had two children.

Career
His political career started that same year when he became Norway Township clerk.  From 1947 to 1952, Gubbrud served as chairman of Elmwood School.  In 1948, he was the Lincoln County delegate to the South Dakota state Republican convention.  In 1950, Gubbrud was elected to the South Dakota House of Representatives.  In 1951, he won the Mississippi Valley Association Soil Conservation Award for South Dakota.  He served as Speaker of the South Dakota House of Representatives from 1959 to 1961, and was also the Chairman of the Legislative Research Council Executive Board at the same time.

In 1960, Gubbrud ran for Governor of South Dakota, beating the incumbent, Ralph Herseth, by only 4,435 votes. In 1962, Gubbrud was elected for a second term when he beat Ralph Herseth by 31,000 votes. During his tenure he doubled aid to education.  The Custer State Hospital and state budget office were also started with his recommendation.  In 1965, Gubbrud left office and returned to the Gubbrud family farm seven and a half miles northeast of Alcester, South Dakota. In 1968, Gubbrud reluctantly ran for the office of United States Senator after being urged to do so by the Republicans but was beat by the incumbent, Senator George McGovern.

In 1969, President Richard Nixon appointed Gubbrud as state director of the Farmers Home Administration; he held that position until 1977.

Death
Gubbrud returned to the Gubbrud farm and remained there until the time of his death from lung cancer; he died at McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, aged 76. He was interred in Lands Lutheran Church cemetery.

References

External links
 Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 3 (Westport, Conn.; Meckler Books, 4 vols. 1978)

1910 births
1987 deaths
American Lutherans
Republican Party governors of South Dakota
Deaths from lung cancer
American people of Norwegian descent
Deaths from cancer in South Dakota
People from Lincoln County, South Dakota
Farmers from South Dakota
Speakers of the South Dakota House of Representatives
Republican Party members of the South Dakota House of Representatives
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American politicians
20th-century Lutherans

Archie M. Gubbrud


The Schlieffen Plan was a strategic plan made by Count Alfred Graf von Schlieffen (Born ; 28 February 1833 : Berlin, Brandenburg, Prussia, German Confederation-Died ; 4 January 1913 : Berlin, Brandenburg, Prussia, Germany) who worked for the German navy . It was made for the army of the German Empire in 1905. It was designed for a war between France on one side and the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Italy on the other. Germany and their allies would invade France through Belgium, instead of directly attacking. With help from allies, Germany would have just enough men to beat France in a few months. Alfred Graf Von Schliffen worked for the Prussian Army from 1853-1871 in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the Franco-Prussian War from 1870-1871 during the Unification of Germany . He later worked in the Imperial German Army from 1871-1906 and was chief from 1891-1906 he died in 1913 aged 79 .

When Schlieffen retired in 1906, and the WW1 came up 9 years later, in August 1914, the German officers and tactic leaders dug up the plan that Schlieffen had made and thought that the plan would work like it would in Schlieffen's hypothetical war. However, the plan didn't work, because the plan was outdated and things had changed a lot within the decade.

Even though he did not have enough men to beat France, Moltke still attacked France through Belgium. He did this because he thought attacking was always better than defending. Moltke was sure that the Russo-Japanese War proved this because Japan always attacked, and Japan won.

Schlieffen believed that defending was usually better than attacking. Schlieffen said that a defender's men can ride trains to a place faster than an attacker's men can walk there. This meant that the defender would always have enough men to stop the attacker. Schlieffen also said that trenches, machine guns, and barbed wire would help the defender a lot. Schlieffen was right. In WWI, defense was always better until attackers used lots of artillery to help their infantry.

A similar idea to the Schlieffen Plan was used by Hitler's generals Erich Von Manstein and Heinz Guderian in World War II. In that war, Germany invaded France by attacking Belgium and The Netherlands. Because in the Schlieffen Plan Germany attacked mostly through northern Belgium, France thought Germany would do this again. France put most of her soldiers in north Belgium. But Germany invaded mostly through South Belgium. German troops marched to the sea and trapped half of the French Army in northern Belgium. Because the trapped French troops were starving and could not get any more food, they surrendered. France tried to continue fighting but was too weak to resist and surrendered.

References

World War I

Schlieffen Plan


Doric Wilson (February 24, 1939May 7, 2011) was an American playwright, director, producer, critic and gay rights activist.

He was born Alan Doric Wilson in Los Angeles, California, where his family was temporarily located. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, he was raised on his grandfather's ranch at Plymouth, Washington on the Columbia River. He wrote his first play at Kennewick High School, but was accused of plagiarism when a teacher informed him that no student of hers would ever be able to write such a play.

Training
Wilson received his early theater training under Lorraine Larson, apprenticed with Dorothy Seeburger and the Richland Players, and studied briefly at the Drama Department of the University of Washington until he was forced to leave after he initiated a one-person protest against anti-gay sniper attacks at a nearby park.

New York career
Wilson moved to NYC in 1959 where he had a brief acting career playing such roles as Valère to the Mariane of Dawn Wells (later Mary Ann on Gilligan's Island) in Molière's Tartuffe and Older Patrick to Nancy Wilder's Auntie Mame in various stock productions. In 1961, he became one of the first resident playwrights at NYC's legendary Caffe Cino, his comedy, And He Made a Her, opened there with Jane Lowry and Larry Neil Clayton leading the cast and Paxton Whitehead directing.

The success of his four plays at Caffe Cino helped, in the words of playwright Robert Patrick, "establish the Cino as a venue for new plays, and materially contributed to the then-emerging concept of Off-Off-Broadway."  His Now She Dances! (1961), a fantasia on the trial of Oscar Wilde, was the first Off-Off-Broadway play to deal positively with gay people. Now She Dances! is the subject of season one (2021) of the LGBTQ theatre history podcast, Out Lines.

Under the mentorship of producer Richard Barr, Wilson became a pioneer of the alternative theatre movement, dedicating his career to writing, directing, producing and/or designing hundreds productions. He was one of the first playwrights invited to join the Barr/Wilder/Albee Playwright's Unit and later became a founding member of Circle Repertory Company.

Gay activism
A veteran of the anti-war and civil rights demonstrations of the early 1960s-mid 1970s, Wilson was a participant in the Stonewall Riots (1969) and became active in the early days of the New York Gay Liberation movement as a member of GAA (Gay Activist Alliance). He supported his theatrical endeavors by becoming a "star" bartender and manager of the post-Stonewall gay bar scene, opening such landmark institutions as The Spike, TY's and Brothers & Sisters Cabaret. In 2004, Wilson was named a Grand Marshal of the 35th Anniversary Pride Day Parade in New York City. He is featured in the documentary Stonewall Uprising (2010) by Kate Davis and David Heilbroner.

Gay theater
In 1974, Wilson (with Billy Blackwell, Peter del Valle and John McSpadden) formed TOSOS (The Other Side of Silence), the first professional theatre company to deal openly and honestly with the gay experience. The company featured new plays and revivals by such writers as Brendan Behan, Noël Coward, Christopher Hampton, Joe Orton, Terrence McNally, Robert Patrick, Sandra Scoppettone, Martin Sherman and Lanford Wilson. Theatre scholar Jordan Schildcrout writes that TOSOS "combined the non-commercial and experimental ethos of the Caffe Cino with the politics and community activism of the gay liberation movement."

In June 2001, Wilson, and directors Mark Finley and Barry Childs resurrected the company as TOSOS II. TOSOS produces two full-length plays each season, in addition to the Chesley/Chambers Play-Reading Series, named after playwrights Robert Chesley and Jane Chambers, both friends of Wilson's. Recent productions include a revival of Wilson's Street Theater, as well as Waiting for Giovanni by Jewelle Gomez, Secret Identity by Chris Weikel, and Bar Dykes by Merril Mushroom.

Death
Wilson died on May 7, 2011, aged 72, from natural causes at his home in Manhattan.

Reviewer
Over the years Wilson reviewed theater for Other Stages, The Villager in NYC and various publications in Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland, Oregon. Selected reviews are posted on the Purple Circuit.

Principal plays
 And He Made a Her (Caffe Cino, NYC, 1961)
 Babel Babel Little Tower (Caffe Cino, NYC, 1961)
 Now She Dances! (One act version: Caffe Cino, NYC, 1961; full-length version: Flexible Deadlock, Glasgow, Scotland, 2000)
 Pretty People (Caffe Cino, NYC, 1961)
 Some People Are (opera libretto for Walter Torgerson, 1966)
 In Absence (45th Street Playhouse, NYC, 1968)
 The West Street Gang (TOSOS, Spike Bar, NYC, 1977)
 A Perfect Relationship (The Glines, NYC, 1978)
 Turnabout (under pseudonym Howard Aldon)  (Richland Players, Washington, 1980)
 Forever After (The First Gay American Arts Festival, NYC, 1980)
 Street Theatre (Theatre Rhinoceros, San Francisco, 1982; Meridian Theater, The Mineshaft, NYC, 1983)

Publishing
United Stages has published Now She Dances!; Street Theatre; and And He Made a Her (which includes a CD of the original 1961 Caffe Cino performance). Earlier versions of Street Theater and A Perfect Relationship are published by TNT Press; Street Theater is also included in the Don Shewey edited anthology Out Front (Grove Press).

Awards and honors
2010 Honorary Golden Pineapple Award for Lifetime Achievement, presented by NY Artists Unlimited.
2010 PassionFruit Award for Enduring and Continuing Pioneer Work in LGBT Theater, Fresh Fruit Festival
2009 Elected a member of the National Theater Conference:
2009 ATHE (Association for Theatre in Higher Education) Career Achievement Award
2007 Mark Finley presented Wilson with the Artistic Achievement Award from the New York Innovative Theatre Awards. This honor was bestowed on Wilson on behalf of his peers and fellow artists of the Off-Off-Broadway community "in recognition of his visionary artistic contributions and unwavering dedication and character that helped shape the Off-Off-Broadway community."
1994 - The first Robert Chesley Award for Lifetime Achievement in Gay and Lesbian Playwrighting.
Numerous "best play" honors, including: 1982: The Villager and the Chambers-Blackwell Best Play citations for Street Theater; 2002-3: oobr Award for A Perfect Relationship; 2007: nomination of the 2007 Lambda Award for the revival of And He Made a Her.

The Doric Wilson Awards
There are two theater awards named for Doric Wilson.

The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival  has presented the Doric Wilson Award for International Cultural Dialogue Through Theater every year since 2011. The award is presented each year at the Festival Gala to an artist or company whose work has created new or innovative dialogue about LGBTQ issues.

The New York Independent Theater Awards have presented the Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award since 2012. The award is given to a playwright whose writing "honors the innovation, uncompromising vision, heart, and spirit that was Doric Wilson and his work."

References
Footnotes

General citations
Bottoms, Stephen J. Playing Underground: A Critical History of the 1960s Off-Off-Broadway Movement. 2004. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 2004.
Carter, David. Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution. New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 2004.
Clum, John M. Acting Gay: Male Homosexuality in Modern Drama. New York City, Columbia University Press, 1994.
Crespy, David A. Off-Off-Broadway Explosion: How Provocative Playwrights of the 1960s Ignited a New American Theater. New York: Back Stage Books, 2003.
Loughery, John. The Other Side of Silence. New York City, Henry Holt and Company, 1998
Schildcrout, Jordan. "Envisioning Queer Liberation: The Performance of Communal Visibility in Doric Wilson's Street Theater," Modern Drama 61:1, 82-105, Spring 2018.
Stone, Wendell C. Caffe Cino: The Birthplace of Off-Off-Broadway. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 2005.
Solomon, Alisa & Minwalla, Framji. The Queerest Art: Essays on Lesbian and Gay Theater. New York City, New York: New University Press, 2002.
Susoyev, Steve & Birimisa, George. Return to the Caffe Cino. San Francisco, California: Moving Finger Press, 2006.
Trodd, Zoe.  American Protest Literature. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006.

External links

 Doric Wilson website (includes free download of his major plays), doricwilson.com
 TOSOS theater company website, tosos2.org
 Caffe Cino Picture Pages (includes many images of Wilson and his work), caffecino.wordpress.com
 2 Part Interview with William M. Hoffman (pg. 14), robertpatrickpersonal.wordpress.com

1939 births
2011 deaths
American activists
Place of death missing
Writers from Washington (state)
American LGBT dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
American gay writers
21st-century American LGBT people
Veterans of the Stonewall riots

Doric Wilson


Bill Leslie (born 1971) is a British football commentator.

Biography

Bill Leslie was born in London in 1971.

Leslie's first broadcasting experience was with London radio station Capital Gold, working initially as a football reporter and secondary commentator before taking the lead role on Jonathan Pearce's departure to the BBC in 2002. His first television commentary experience was with Channel Five – covering the 2002 UEFA Under-21 Championship.

Leslie transferred to Sky in 2003, initially to work on coverage of the UEFA Champions League and soon after helped launch Football First in 2004. He commentated on the first "Game of the Day" between Bolton Wanderers and Charlton Athletic at the start of the 2004–2005 season.

Following the departure of Ian Crocker to Setanta Sports in the summer of 2006, Leslie took over the role as Sky's principal commentator on the Football League. He was also given the role of commentary on Sky Sports' now limited Scottish football output. He covers all Scotland's home matches and all Scottish Cup matches which Sky Sports show live. Key matches covered so far outside of the Premier League and UEFA Champions League are the 2007 Scottish Cup Final, Scotland's home victory over France in 2007 and the Championship Play-Off Finals from 2007 to 2016. He was also part of the commentary team for the UEFA Under-21 Championships in 2007.

Leslie's live Premier League debut for the Sky Sports corparation came in the clash between Birmingham City and Aston Villa in the 2004–2005 season. The match was shown on the now defunct Sky Sports PayPerView service PremPlus. He commentated on the first game of the Premier League season: Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion, and various other live matches. He has commentated on all of Celtic's UEFA Champions League games except those involving Manchester United.

Leslie can now most often be heard as lead commentator on Sky Sports coverage of the Premier League or EFL Championship.

References

British association football commentators
British sports broadcasters
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
Sportspeople from London
1971 births

Bill Leslie (commentator)


Saint Bercharius (Bererus; ) (636 – March 28, 696) was abbot of Hautvillers in Champagne.  Descended from a distinguished Aquitanian family, he received his instruction from Saint Nivard (Nivo), Archbishop of Reims.

Bercharius entered the monastery of Luxeuil under Saint Walbert, and soon stood out from the rest of his fellow-novices. Upon his return to Reims he persuaded Saint Nivard to establish the monastery of Hautvillers.  Bercharius himself became the first abbot. Entirely given up to prayer and meditation he also instructed his brethren to lead a contemplative life.

He founded two religious houses in the Diocese of Châlons-sur-Marne, the one (Puisye or Montier-en-Der Abbey) for men, the other (Pellmoutier or  Puellarum Monasterium) for women. These institutions he enriched by donations of valuable relics, procured on a journey to Rome and the Holy Land.

The monk Daguin, provoked by a reprimand from Bercharius, stabbed him during the night. According to one account, Bercharius did not condemn or complain about the injury he received, but instead asked Daguin to perform penance and to make a pilgrimage to Rome to obtain pardon and absolution. Daguin left the monastery never to return. After two days of severe suffering, the saint succumbed to his wound, and was considered a martyr.

Veneration
His remains were preserved at Moutier-en-Der until the suppression of religious orders in the 1790s.

The commemoration of his name occurs in the martyrology on 16 October.

External links

636 births
696 deaths
7th-century Frankish saints

Bercharius of Hautvillers


John G. Rarity   is professor of optical communication systems in the department of electrical and electronic engineering at the University of Bristol, a post he has held since 1 January 2003. He is an international expert on quantum optics, quantum cryptography and quantum communication using single photons and entanglement. Rarity is a member of the Quantum Computation and Information group and quantum photonics at the University of Bristol.

Education
Rarity was educated at the University of Sheffield (BSc) and awarded a PhD from the Royal Military College of Science in 1984 for research on spectroscopy applied to coagulating dispersions.

Research and career
Prior to moving to the University of Bristol in 2001, Rarity worked as a physicist at the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) arm of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom).

Notable early achievements while at DERA included demonstrations of quantum interference and non-locality over large distances, demonstrating a violation of Bell's Inequality over 4 km of optical fibre in 1994. These experiments were followed by work in quantum cryptography, resulting in his team at DERA setting a world record of 1.9 km range for free space secure quantum cryptography. A collaboration with Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich in 2002 successfully demonstrated an open air quantum cryptography experiment over a distance of 23.4 km.

Since moving to the University of Bristol, Rarity has built up a group working in experimental quantum optics. One project which has received substantial publicity recently in collaboration with the Quantum Information Processing group at HP Labs is developing affordable quantum key distribution systems. The scheme reduces the cost by using pulsed LEDs rather than lasers as the source of transmitted qubits.

In 2007 Rarity collaborated in a demonstration of quantum key distribution using free space optical communications over 144 km between the islands of Tenerife and La Palma.

Publications
His books include Microcavities and Photonic Bandgaps: Physics and Applications and highly cited papers include Practical quantum cryptography based on two-photon interferometry and Experimental violation of Bell's inequality based on phase and momentum.

Awards and honours
Rarity won the Thomas Young Medal and Prize in 1995.

Rarity was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2015.

References

Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
People associated with Malvern, Worcestershire
Academics of the University of Bristol
British physicists
Quantum physicists
Fellows of the Royal Society

John Rarity


"Imperial" was the second story arc from Grant Morrison's run on the Marvel Comics title New X-Men, running from issues #118-126. It further explored the origin behind the character Cassandra Nova as well as giving more depth to the student body at the Xavier Institute, specifically the Stepford Cuckoos, Beak, and Angel Salvadore.

Plot

As mutant culture takes center stage in the world media, a new movement propagated by book The Third Species begins to affect human/mutant relations. Several school shootings occur where the assailant takes mutant organs to graft to themselves, believing they will transcend to a higher state of evolution (somehow superior to the natural mutations occurring). Cyclops and Emma investigate the impetus behind this movement by confronting John Sublime, the book's author. He reveals himself to be leader of the U-Men, a radical group that doesn't improve themselves by changing their own genes, but by harvesting mutant parts from unwilling donors. Cyclops and Emma are taken hostage for fatal surgery.

Meanwhile, Wolverine is following a lead on a new mutant, arriving just in time to stop a crew of U-men from killing Angel Salvadore for her insect wings. Despite her reluctance in accepting her mutation, and anyone's help in coming to grips with it, she does follow Wolverine back to the institute, where several squads of U-men are about to assault and slaughter the student body. Jean Grey, with help from her students, fends off the attack, eventually manifesting a phoenix raptor display in psychic dominance. Emma Frost and Cyclops escape from their captors, with Emma confronting John about the damage done to her cosmetically enhanced face, threatening to drop him from the highrise window his office sits in. John forces himself from Emma's grip, seemingly convinced by Martha Johansson, a floating brain in a jar John used to exert psychic control of his captives.

Back at the mansion, Hank McCoy staggers from his ICU bed onto the front lawn. He cradles Cassandra Nova's body in his arms, revealing that Professor Xavier's mind has been switched and he is trapped. Emma and Jean psychically probe Nova's body, discovering that she and Xavier were fraternal twins, but the instant Xavier became aware, he tried to kill his twin in the womb.

In the far reaches of space, the Shi'ar empire is being slowly torn apart by the possessed Charles Xavier. Empress Lilandra sends Smasher through 4-space to warn the Earth of the villainess' coming. Smasher arrives in a field populated by cows, and he loses consciousness before finding someone to spread his message.

The X-Men convene in Cerebra to share what they know about Cassandra Nova. As Jean and Emma's psychic excavation reveals, she is a living entity of pure emotional energy, who used Charles' DNA to form a body. In her mind, the universe and the womb that housed her brother are one and the same. Only she and Charles Xavier are real. Thus, her competition for survival is her twin "brother," and he must be killed. Inside a body booby trapped with numerous degenerative disorders, Xavier telepathically requests a last press conference for the X-Men to communicate his final message to humanity about mutantkind. Cyclops leaves to Xorn, in an attempt to find a way to save Xavier from dying.

During the press conference, Beast discovers that the minor annoyance of a flu epidemic is in fact, a systematic nano-Sentinel attack. This news is overshadowed, however, by the sudden reveal that the Imperial Guard is about to sterilize the entirety of mutantkind, starting with the X-Men. Aboard the Shi'ar Superdestroyer, Cyclops pleads with his and Xorn's captors that the Charles Xavier they are allied with is the very same Cassandra Nova entity they seek to fight, to no avail. At the X-mansion, the Stepford Cuckoos ally with Angel to overthrow the invading Shi'ar, while Jean and Beast shelter the rest of the student body and the visiting media. Beast and Wolverine fend off the assaults of the Guardians, when Smasher is finally found and able to convince Gladiator of the X-Men's innocence. As Cassandra Nova drives Lilandra to command her fleet to die, Cyclops and Xorn fight their way to freedom, saving Lilandra in the process.

Angel and the Cuckoos find Beak, who advises using the Guardian Stuff to free Emma Frost. Xorn heals the X-Men of their sentinel infestations. Afterwards, Jean Grey and Charles Xavier trick Cassandra into using Cerebra for her original goal of erasing mutantkind; however, the moment she uses Cerebra to connect to the worldwide mutant population, she finds one thing in common to all of them: Charles. In the same moment, Jean Grey, who at the moment was becoming increasingly more powerful due to a manifestation of the Phoenix Force, psionically attacks Cassandra and forces her out of the Professor's body. With Charles Xavier's mind restored to his body, Emma Frost uses Stuff's malleable body as a trick to entice Cassandra Nova back into her own body, now a mental prison for her boundless energy. Finally, Charles Xavier is now miraculously able to use his legs.

Major consequences
Introduced the characters Angel Salvadore, John Sublime, the U-Men, and the Stepford Cuckoos.
Xorn joins the X-Men.

Collected editions
The series has been collected into a trade paperback:

Imperial (collects New X-Men #118-126, )

As well as:

New X-Men Omnibus (collects New X-Men #114-154 and Annual 2001, 992 pages, December 2006 )
 New X-Men by Grant Morrison Ultimate Collection: Volume 1 (collects New X-Men #114-126, and Annual 2001, 376 pages, May 2008, )

References

New X-Men story arcs
Sterilization in fiction

Imperial (comics)


"Somebody's Watching Me" is a 1984 hit song performed by Rockwell with Michael Jackson behind the chorus. The song is about a person worried that somebody may be stalking him. This was released in January 1984 and has been performed by or sampled in songs of other musicians.

Pop songs
Funk pop songs
1984 songs

Somebody's Watching Me


Saltuk II (İzzettin Saltuk) was a bey of Saltukids in the 12th century.

Background
After Alp Arslan of Seljukids defeated Byzantine army in the battle of Manzikert in 1071,  a series of Turkmen beyliks (kingdoms) were formed in Anatolia before Anatolia was united by the Sultanate of Rum. Saltukids was one of them. Its capital was Erzurum. Saltuk II was the fourth Sultan of this Saltukids.

Plot
Saltuk became the bey after the death of his uncle Ziyaeddin in 1132. He formed family relations with the other Turkmen beyliks around Erzurum. However, when Fakr al-Din Shaddad, a Shaddadid  emir of Ani asked for Saltuk's daughter's hand Saltuk refused him. This caused a deep hatred in Şeddat towards Saltuk. In 1154 he planned a plot and formed a secret alliance with the Demetrius I of Georgia. While a Georgian army waited in ambush, he invited Saltuk to Ani with the pretext of selling the fort to Saltukids. Saltuk was taken prisoner by the Georgians. After ransom was paid by Saltuk's sons in law and Saltuk swore not to fight against the Georgians he returned home.

Ani campaign
Towards the end of Saltuk's reign in 1161, George III of Georgia captured Ani. Turkmen beys formed a coalition to recapture Ani. Saltuk was a part of this coalition. But during the siege, Georgian army arrived to defend the fort and Saltuk remembering his oath, left the battle field. The campaign was a failure. However, two years later, Georgians were defeated by a coalition of Muslim leaders and Saltuk was able to expand his territory.

Death
Saltuk died in 1168. He was succeeded by his son Nasiruddin Muhammed. Next ruler after Nasiruddin was Mama Hatun (a female ruler, a rare example in an Islamic land) who was Saltuk's daughter. His other daughter, Shahbanu, married Sökmen II, ruler of Ahlatshahs.

References

1168 deaths
History of Erzurum Province
Anatolian beyliks
12th-century rulers

Saltuk II


"Tengo Todo Excepto a Ti" ("I Have Everything Except for You") is a song written, produced, and arranged by Juan Carlos Calderón, and performed by Mexican singer Luis Miguel. It was released as the lead single from his studio album 20 Años (1990). It reached the number one position all over Ibero-America, became his fourth number-one single in the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart after "Ahora Te Puedes Marchar", "La Incondicional" and "Fría Como el Viento" and was nominated for Pop Song of the Year at the Lo Nuestro Awards. The parent album peaked at number two in the Latin Pop Albums chart and sold more than 600,000 copies in its first week of release.

The singer made the transition into adulthood with the album 20 Años, which reflected his age at the time of its release. "Tengo Todo Excepto a Ti" was included in the track list for his 20 Años Tour in 1990, also in a medley along "Yo Que No Vivo Sin Tí", "Culpable o No", "Más Allá de Todo", "Fría Como el Viento", "Entrégate" and "La Incondicional" during his live performances in the National Auditorium in México City. This performance was later released on his album El Concierto (1995). In 2005, the song was included on the compilation album Grandes Éxitos.

Chart performance
The song debuted in the Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart (formerly Hot Latin Tracks) at number 33 in the week of June 2, 1990, climbing to the top ten two weeks later. "Tengo Todo Excepto a Ti" peaked at number-one on July 21, 1990, holding this position for eight consecutive weeks, replacing "El Cariño Es Como Una Flor" by Rudy La Scala and being replaced by José Feliciano with "¿Por Qué Te Tengo Que Olvidar?". "Tengo Todo Excepto a Ti" ranked second in the Billboard Year-End Chart of 1990, and became Luis Miguel's longest stay at number-one and his fourth single to peak at the top, following "Ahora Te Puedes Marchar" (1987), "La Incondicional" and "Fría Como el Viento" (both 1989). The single also peaked at number-one in Mexico.

Music video

A video for the song was made in locations of Los Roques, Venezuela. It was directed and produced in 1990 by Henrique Lazo. The video was filmed on the beach with Luis Miguel alongside actress and former model Ruddy Rodríguez.

Cover versions
"Tengo Todo Excepto a Ti" has been covered by several performers, including Aramis Camilo, Carlos Cuevas, Los Flamers, Darvel García, Kika y Raúl, Komboloko and Giovanni Vivanco. Mexican band La Posta also recorded a version of the track, which was used as the main theme for the telenovela of the same title, which was broadcast in México by TV Azteca. The song was also recorded by Mexican singer Edith Márquez and was included on her album ¿Quién Te Cantará? La Música de Juan Carlos Calderón, a 2003 tribute album produced by Calderón. Márquez was awarded with a Gold album certification in México for this album.

Charts

Weekly charts

See also
List of number-one Billboard Hot Latin Tracks of 1990

References

1990 singles
1990 songs
Luis Miguel songs
Spanish-language songs
Songs written by Juan Carlos Calderón
Warner Music Latina singles
Song recordings produced by Juan Carlos Calderón
1990s ballads
Pop ballads

Tengo Todo Excepto a Ti


A pelisse was originally a short fur-trimmed jacket which hussar light-cavalry soldiers from the 17th century onwards usually wore hanging loose over the left shoulder, ostensibly to prevent sword cuts. The name also came to refer to a fashionable style of woman's coat-like garment worn in the early-19th century.

Military uniform
The style of uniform incorporating the pelisse originated with the hussar mercenaries of Hungary in the 17th century. As this type of light cavalry unit became popular in Western Europe, so too did their dress. In the 19th century pelisses were in use throughout most armies in Europe, and even some in North and South America.

In appearance the pelisse was characteristically a very short and extremely tight fitting (when worn) jacket, the cuffs and collar of which were trimmed with fur. The jacket was further decorated with patterns sewn in bullion lace, often in a pattern matching that of the dolman worn beneath it. The front of the jacket was distinctive and typically featured several rows of parallel froggings and loops, and either three or five vertical lines of buttons. For officers of the British Hussars this frogging, regimentally differentiated, was generally of gold or silver bullion lace, to match either gold (gilt) or silver buttons. Other ranks had either yellow lace with brass buttons or white lace with "white-metal" (nickel) buttons. Lacing varied from unit to unit and country to country. It was held in place by a lanyard. In cold weather the pelisse could be worn over the dolman.

The prevalence of this style began to wane towards the end of the 19th century, but it was still in use by some cavalry regiments in the Imperial German, Russian and Austro-Hungarian armies up until World War I. In the Prussian Army the pelisse had been abolished in 1853 but between 1865 and 1913 it was reintroduced for ceremonial wear by nine hussar regiments and the Life-Guard Hussar Regiment, usually at the request of the regimental Colonel-in-Chief. The two hussar regiments of the Spanish Army retained pelisses until 1931. The Danish Garderhusarregimentet are  the only modern military unit to retain this distinctive item of dress, as part of their mounted full-dress uniform.

Ladies fashion

Through the 18th and 19th centuries, the term pelisse was used in western women's fashionable dress to refer to both an outer coat-like garment (pelisse, pellicle, pelisse-mantle, pelisson, curricle pelisse), and also a dress (pelisse robe) worn as daywear.

Pelisse of the 18th century resembled a hooded cloak, whereas those of the early 19th century, as both a coat-like garment and a dress, were more fitted to the body, reflecting the Empire line of the period. Pelisse could be made from any number of different fabrics, from lightweight cotton muslins to heavier woollens.

In early 19th-century Europe, when military clothing was often used as inspiration for fashionable ladies' garments, the Regency-era initially imitated the Hussars' fur and braid. Though pelisse soon lost these initial associations, being made entirely of fabrics such as silk, the womenswear garment did, however, tend to retain traces of their military inspiration with frog fastenings and braid trim. Many pelisse had small capes, the curricle pelisse of the 1820s being particularly notable, as it featured three.

The pelisse robe, a day dress with similar styling to coat-like pelisse, had similar features to the pelisse, such as front fastenings, and was often intricately decorated with such applications as ribbons and embroidery. In the 1840s, the pelisse robe became more commonly referred to as a redingote.

Depending on the season and use of the pelisse, the garment could be made of cotton, silk, taffeta, or wool, and trimmed - usually on the collar, center front edges, cuffs, and hem – with fur, swansdown, lace, velvet, fringe, or silk plush.

Pelisse finally lost any resemblance to their origins in men's military dress as skirts and sleeves widened in the 1830s, and the increasingly large crinoline skirts of the 1840s and 1850s caused fashionable women to turn to loose mantles, cloaks, and shawls (especially those of Paisley design) instead. The term pelisse did however continue to be used, with the pelisse-mantle of c.1838-1845, a long cloak with fitted back, and pelisse-robe of c.1817-1850 contributing to the garment's longevity.

See also
Hussar
Redingote
Witzchoura
Mantle
Cloak
Shawl
Cape
Paisley shawl
Jacket
Dolman

References

External links
 Coat (Pelisse), 1800-1815, in the Staten Island Historical Society Online Collections Database

17th-century fashion
18th-century fashion
19th-century fashion
20th-century fashion
Robes and cloaks
History of clothing (Western fashion)
Hungarian clothing
History of clothing
Military uniforms

Pelisse


Bouillabaisse is a French fisherman's soup. This traditional Provençal fish stew originated in the port  of Marseille. The word is a compound of bolhir (to boil) and abaissar (to reduce heat, i.e., simmer).

It was a stew made by Marseille fishermen using the bony rockfish they were unable to sell. As well as fish, the soup has mussels (fr: moules) and may have other marine invertebrates. Vegetables such as leeks, onions, tomatoes, celery, and potatoes are simmered together with the broth and served with the fish.

The broth is traditionally served with a rouille, a mayonnaise made of olive oil, garlic, saffron, and cayenne pepper on grilled slices of bread.

In Marseille, the broth is served first in a soup plate with slices of bread and rouille, then the fish is served separately on a large platter  (see image). A simpler version has the fish and broth brought to the table separately and served together in large soup plates.

References

Soups
French food

Bouillabaisse