Jean Henri Becays Ferrand or Jean Marie Begais Ferrand de la Caussade (10 September 1736 – 28 November 1805) became a French general officer early in the French Revolutionary Wars and led troops during two early actions. From a noble family, he was enrolled in the French Royal Army as an officer in the Normandie Infantry Regiment. At the age of ten, he fought at Lauffeld and Bergen op Zoom in the War of the Austrian Succession. In 1760 during the Seven Years' War, he was badly wounded at Kloster Kampen. For distinguished service, he was promoted to captain.

Appointed colonel in 1791, Ferrand was made the commandant of the fortress of Valenciennes the next year. Promoted to maréchal de camp, he led the left wing at the Battle of Jemappes. He was elevated in rank to general of division in May 1793. Ordered by his turncoat superior Charles François Dumouriez to surrender Condé-sur-l'Escaut and Valenciennes, Ferrand refused to carry out his instructions. After the two-month long Siege of Valenciennes, he surrendered the city to Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Sometime after being paroled, he was imprisoned by the Committee of Public Safety for being from the old nobility. He avoided the guillotine and was released when the government of Maximilien Robespierre was overthrown. Napoleon Bonaparte later named him Prefect of Meuse-Inférieure but he retired in 1804, pleading bad health. His surname is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 4.

References

French soldiers
French generals
French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
French military personnel of the Seven Years' War
French military personnel of the War of the Austrian Succession
French Republican military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars
Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars
People from Lot-et-Garonne
French nobility
1736 births
1805 deaths
Names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe

Jean Henri Becays Ferrand


Magnasee is a product used to visualize the magnetic fields recorded onto magnetic recording media such as magnetic tape, diskettes, and the like.

The product contains very fine colloidal iron in a fast-evaporating liquid such as naphtha or fluorocarbons. The liquid is first agitated vigorously to disperse the iron. It may then be carefully poured over the magnetic media of, in the case of tape, the tape may be dipped into the open container of liquid. The iron adheres between the magnetic domains of the media, allowing the user to see where these magnetic domains have been written. Allowing the carrier liquid to evaporate allows very close visualization of the domains.

Various faults in the magnetic recording process could then be visually detected. These included:

 Track mis-alignments including gross azimuth errors
 Missing (unrecorded) tracks
 Failures of the erasure system
 Lift-off of the media from the recording head(s)
 After-the fact destruction of the recording via, say, the application of external magnets

For many older systems that recorded at a low linear bit density, the bit density of the recording could be determined.

While Magnasee was most commonly used on magnetic media that wasn't meant to be re-used (for reading or writing), careful cleaning could remove the iron particles and allow critical media to be re-used.

References
 Magnetic Recording Handbook, Marvin Camras, Springer 1988,

Magnetic devices

Magnasee


Thomas Wilson (1772 – October 4, 1824) was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Thomas Wilson was born near Sunbury, Pennsylvania.  He had the contract for supplying the western forts of the United States from Niagara to New Orleans.  He was engaged in shipbuilding in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1805 and built vessels for commerce on the Great Lakes.  He was burgess of Erie in 1807, town clerk in 1808, treasurer of Erie County from 1809 to 1812, and county commissioner in 1811.  He was also a justice of the peace.

Wilson was elected as a Republican to the Thirteenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused when the representative-elect Abner Lacock resigned before taking his seat.  He was reelected to the Fourteenth Congress.  He was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1817 to 1820.  He was prothonotary and clerk of court of Erie County from 1819 to 1824.  He died in Erie in 1824.

Sources

The Political Graveyard

1772 births
1824 deaths
Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Politicians from Erie, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania prothonotaries
Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania

Thomas Wilson (Pennsylvania politician)


Michał Piotr Boym (; c. 1612 – 1659) was a Polish Jesuit missionary to China, scientist and explorer.  He was an early Western traveller within the Chinese mainland, and the author of numerous works on Asian fauna, flora and geography.  The first European Chinese dictionary, published in 1670, is attributed to Boym.

Biography

Michał Boym was born in Lwów, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine), around 1614, to a well-off family of Hungarian ancestry. His grandfather  Jerzy Boim came to Poland from Hungary with the king  Stefan Batory, and married Jadwiga Niżniowska. Michał's father,  Paweł Jerzy Boim (1581–1641), was a physician to King Sigismund III of Poland. Out of Pawel Jerzy's six sons, the eldest, the ne'er-do-well Jerzy was disinherited; Mikołaj and Jan became merchants;  Paweł, a doctor; while
Michał and  Benedykt Paweł joined the Society of Jesus. The family had their own family chapel in Lviv's central square, which was constructed around the time of Michał's birth.

In 1631, Boym joined the Jesuits in Kraków, and was ordained a priest. In 1643, after almost a decade of intensive studies in the monasteries of Kraków, Kalisz, Jarosław and Sandomierz, Boym embarked on a voyage to Eastern Asia. He first traveled to Rome, where he obtained a blessing for his mission from Pope Urban VIII, and then proceeded to Lisbon. Later that year he embarked with a group of nine other priests and clerics on a voyage to Portuguese Goa, and then Macau. Initially he taught at St. Paul Jesuit College (Macau). He then moved to the island of Hainan, where he opened a small Catholic mission. After the island had been conquered by the Manchus, Boym had to flee to Tonkin in 1647.

Even as Jesuits in northern and central China were successfully switching their loyalties from the fallen Ming Dynasty to the newly established Qing, the  Jesuits in the south of the country continued to work with the Ming loyalist regimes still controlling some of the region. Accordingly, in 1649 Boym was sent  by the Canton-based Vice-Provincial of the China Mission Alvaro Semedo with a diplomatic mission to the court of the Yongli Emperor, the last Chinese ruler of the Ming Dynasty, still controlling parts of Southwestern China.

As the Yongli regime was endangered by the encroaching Manchus, the Jesuit Andreas Wolfgang Koffler, who had been at the Yongli court since 1645, had succeeded in converting many of the members of the imperial family to  Christianity believing this would attract help from Western monarchs for the Southern Ming's struggle to continue to rule China. Among the Christians at the Yongli's court were Empress dowager Helena Wang (Wang Liena), the main wife of the emperor's father; Empress dowager Maria Ma (Ma Maliya), the mother of the emperor; Empress Anne Wang, the main wife of the emperor; and the heir to the throne, prince Constantine (Dangding), Zhu Cuxuan. The Emperor's eunuch secretary Pang Tianshou (龐天壽), known by his Christian name  Achilles, had become a Christian as well, years earlier.

Boym was chosen to present the situation of the Chinese Emperor to the Pope. He received letters from Empress dowager Helena and from Pang Achilles, to give to Pope Innocent X, the General of the Jesuit Order, and Cardinal John de Lugo. Additional letters were dispatched to the Doge of Venice and to the King of Portugal. Together with a young court official named  Andrew Zheng (), Boym embarked on his return voyage to Europe. They arrived at Goa in May 1651, where they learned that the King of Portugal had already abandoned the cause of the Chinese (Southern Ming) Emperor, and that Boym's mission was seen as a possible threat to future relations with the victorious Manchu. This view was also supported by the new local superior of the Jesuits, who believed the Jesuit Order should not interfere in the internal power struggles of China.

Boym was placed under house arrest. However, he managed to escape and continue his voyage  on foot. By way of Hyderabad, Surat, Bander Abbas and Shiraz, he arrived at Isfahan, in Persia. From there he continued his journey to Erzerum, Trabzon and İzmir, where he arrived near the end of August 1652. As the Venetian court was having conflicts with the Jesuits, Boym discarded his habit and dressed up as a Chinese Mandarin, before he arrived in Venice in December of that year. Although he had managed to cross uncharted waters and unknown lands, his mission there would not be easy, as the political intrigues at the European courts proved to be extremely complicated.

Initially the Doge of Venice refused to grant Boym an audience, as Venice wanted to maintain a neutral stance in regards to China. Boym managed to convince the French ambassador to support his cause, and the Doge finally saw Boym and accepted the letter. However, the French involvement caused a negative reaction from the Pope, as Innocent X was actively opposed to France and its ambitions. Also the newly elected General of the Jesuits, Gosvinus Nickel, believed Boym's mission might endanger other Jesuit missions in China and other parts of the world. A new Pope was elected in 1655, and after three years, Alexander VII finally saw Boym on 18 December 1655. However, although Alexander was sympathetic to the Ming dynasty and its dilemma, he could not offer any practical help and his letter to the Chinese emperor contained little but words of empathy and offers of prayers. However, the letter from the new Pope opened many doors for Boym and his mission. In Lisbon, he was granted an audience by King John IV, who promised to help the Chinese struggle with military force.

In March 1656, Boym started his return trip to China. Out of eight priests accompanying him, only four survived the journey. Upon reaching Goa it turned out that Yongli's situation was dire and that the local Portuguese administration, despite direct orders from the monarch, did not want to let Boym travel to Macau. This was in order not to compromise their commercial enterprises with the victorious Manchu. Boym again ignored the Portuguese monopoly by travelling on foot, this time by an uncharted route to Ayutthaya, the capital of Siam. He arrived there in early 1658, and hired a ship from pirates, with which he sailed to northern Vietnam. In Hanoi, Boym tried to procure a guide to lead him and the priests travelling with him to Yunnan. However, he was unsuccessful and he had to continue the journey alone, with the assistance only of Chang, who had travelled with him all the way to Europe and back. They reached the Chinese province of Guangxi, but on 22 June 1659 Boym died, having failed to reach the emperor's court. The burial place remains unknown.

Works

Boym is best remembered for his works describing the flora, fauna, history, traditions and customs of the countries he travelled through. During his first trip to China he wrote a short work on the plants and animals dwelling in Mozambique. The work was later sent to Rome, but was never printed. During his return trip he prepared a large collection of maps of mainland China and South-East Asia. He planned to expand it to nine chapters describing China, its customs and political system, as well as Chinese science and inventions. The merit of Boym's maps was that they were the first European maps to properly represent Korea as a peninsula rather than an island. They also took notice of the correct positions of many Chinese cities previously unknown to the westerners or known only by the semi-fabulous descriptions of Marco Polo. Boym also marked the Great Wall and the Gobi Desert. Although the collection was not published during Boym's lifetime, it extended the knowledge of China in the west.

The best known of Boym's works is the Flora Sinensis ("Chinese Flora"), published in Vienna in 1656. The book was the first description of an ecosystem of the Far East published in Europe. Boym underlined the medicinal properties of the Chinese plants. The book also included pleas for support of the Catholic Chinese emperor and a poem containing nearly a hundred chronograms pointing to the date of 1655, the date of coronation of Emperor Leopold I as the King of Hungary, as Boym wanted to gain support of that monarch for his mission.

Athanasius Kircher heavily drew on the Flora Sinensis for the chapters on the plants and animals of China in his celebrated China Illustrata (1667).  Boym authored the first published Chinese dictionary for a European language, a Chinese–French dictionary published in the first French edition of Kircher's work, in 1670.

In his other works, such as Specimen medicinae Sinicae ("Chinese medicinal plants") and Clavis medica ad Chinarum doctrinam de pulsibus ("Key to the Medical Doctrine of the Chinese on the Pulse") he described the Chinese traditional medicine and introduced several methods of healing and diagnostics previously unknown in Europe, particularly measurement of the pulse.
The latter book was likely written by the Dutch doctor and scholar Willem ten Rhijne.

See also

Benedict of Poland
Jan Mikołaj Smogulecki
List of Jesuit scientists
List of Roman Catholic cleric-scientists
Nicolae Milescu

Notes and references

External links

 Flora Sinensis 1656 at Bibliothèque Universitaire Moretus Plantin.
 Hartmut Walravens, "Michael Boym und die Flora Sinensis" - very good bio, and analysis of Flora Sinensis
 https://web.archive.org/web/20070727002548/http://form.nlc.gov.cn/sino/show.php?id=2 (Chinese)

1610s births
1659 deaths
17th century in China
Jesuit missionaries in China
Polish explorers
Clergy from Lviv
17th-century Polish Jesuits
Polish people of Hungarian descent
Polish Roman Catholic missionaries
Polish sinologists
Roman Catholic missionaries in China
Jesuit scientists
Jesuit missionaries
Polish expatriates in China
Missionary linguists
17th-century writers in Latin

Michał Boym


Thomas Mar Makarios (born 26 May 1926 in India and died on 23 Feb 2008 in Newcastle, England) was the founder of the diocese of the United States and Canada of the Malankara Orthodox Church and the first metropolitan of the UK, Europe , Africa diocese , the diocese of the United States and Canada and the Diocese of Bombay .

Makarios began his career as a school teacher in India, resigning this position to study theology.  He was ordained a priest in 1952, and was appointed first vicar of the Malankara Orthodox Church in New Delhi.  In 1963 he entered the United States to study for an advanced degree, receiving a Master's in religion from Virginia Theological Seminary, and a doctorate in theology from Union Theological Seminary of Richmond, Virginia.

Upon returning to India he was appointed a professor of church history at the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam.  He was elevated to bishop in 1975 and appointed the first metropolitan bishop of the new Bombay Diocese.

Indian Christians who had settled in the United States applied for support for their religious efforts in the 1970s, and in 1979 Bishop Makarios moved to Staten Island, New York, in 1980 consecrating the first parish church of the new diocese, St. George Malankara Orthodox Church, in the New Dorp Beach section of Staten Island.  This was followed by the consecration of an additional 74 parishes in the diocese by the bishop.

From 1983 until his death, he was a visiting professor of religious studies at Alma College in Alma, Michigan.

Bishop Makarios later headed the Diocese of the United Kingdom and Europe.  While making an annual pastoral visit to parishes in England, he was injured in a traffic accident on 5 January 2008, dying of his injuries seven weeks later.

See also
 Malankara Orthodox Diocese of Northeast America
 UK, Europe and Africa Malankara Orthodox Diocese

References

1926 births
2008 deaths
Alma College faculty
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church bishops
Oriental Orthodoxy in North America
Oriental Orthodoxy in the United States
Oriental Orthodoxy in Canada
Oriental Orthodoxy in the United Kingdom
Virginia Theological Seminary alumni
Union Presbyterian Seminary alumni
20th-century Oriental Orthodox bishops
21st-century Oriental Orthodox bishops

Thomas Makarios


The Pigou effect is an economics term that refers to the stimulation of output and employment. It is caused by increasing consumption due to a rise in real balances of wealth. It often happens particularly during deflation.

Wealth was defined by Arthur Cecil Pigou as "the sum of the money supply and government bonds divided by the price level". He explained that Keynes' General theory was incomplete because it was not clarifying a link from "real balances" to current consumption. He also pointed out that it didn't include such a "wealth effect" would make the economy more 'self correcting' to drops in aggregate demand than Keynes predicted. Because the effect derives from changes to the "Real Balance", this is also called the Real Balance effect.

Economics

Pigou effect


Both Members of This Club is an oil painting by George Bellows. It hangs in the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. It dates to 1909 and measures 115 x 160.5 cm (45 1/4 x 63 3/16 in.)

Both Members of This Club was inspired by the fights Bellows attended at Tom Sharkey's Athletic Club in New York. At the time, public boxing matches were illegal in the city. Organizations like Sharkey's made fighters temporary members of the "club" on the night of the event. This allowed the men to fight and not break the law."

References

American paintings
1900s paintings
1909

Both Members of This Club


Karel Cejp (22 February 1900 – 22 September 1979) was a Czech botanist and mycologist. After finishing highschool (rokycanském gymnáziu), he worked with Bohuslav Horak, an expert in the flora of the Balkan Peninsula and the Mediterranean. Later, he studied at Charles University in Prague with Josef Velenovský. In 1933 he was appointed an associate professorship, and in 1948 became a full professor. Cejp became the editor of the mycological journal Czech Mycology in 1948. Fungal taxa named in his honour include Cejpia, Cejpomyces (now Thanatephorus), and Cejpomycetaceae (since subsumed in Ceratobasidiaceae).

Further reading

References

Czechoslovak botanists
Czech mycologists
1900 births
1979 deaths
Charles University alumni

Karel Cejp


Woman with Basket of Beans in the Kitchen Garden (1651 or 1661) is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch painter Pieter de Hooch. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is now in the Kunstmuseum Basel.

Description
This painting was documented by Peter C. Sutton in 1980, who felt the date of 1651 was too early and that the "5" was written suspiciously heavily leading him to date it tentatively as 1661. He also compared the painting to other paintings of gardens that De Hooch made in the early 1660s and remarked that the man's portrait on the window shutter in the foreground only appeared after the painting was cleaned at some point during the years 1913–1927.

Depending on the year, the painting depicts a garden in Delft or Amsterdam, but in any case this scene's narrow garden is very similar to narrow gardens of other paintings De Hooch made:

See also
 List of paintings by Pieter de Hooch

References

1650s paintings
Paintings by Pieter de Hooch
Paintings in the Kunstmuseum Basel

A Woman with a Basket of Beans in a Garden


Bo Evert Ericson (28 January 1919 – 14 February 1970) was a Swedish hammer thrower who won a gold medal at the 1946 European Athletics Championships in Oslo with a throw of 56.44 metres. He was also a finalist at the 1948 Olympics in London, but he finished in sixth place with a throw of 52.98 metres.

Ericson twice broke the Swedish national record for the hammer throw–in 1941 with a throw of 56.66 metres and, secondly, in 1947 with a throw of 57.19 metres–and held the record outright from 1941 until 1955. He was a ten-time winner of the hammer throw at the Swedish national championships.

References

1919 births
1970 deaths
Athletes from Gothenburg
Swedish male hammer throwers
Olympic athletes for Sweden
Athletes (track and field) at the 1948 Summer Olympics
European Athletics Championships medalists

Bo Ericson (athlete)


Holmgrenanthe petrophila (rocklady, formerly Maurandya petrophila) is a rare perennial desert plant in the plantain family (Plantaginaceae), and the sole species of the genus Holmgrenanthe. It forms low mats of branched stems growing from a woody base. The leaves have small spines along their edges. The solitary yellow flowers are tubular with five free lobes at the end, the upper two pointing backwards, the lower three projecting forwards. The species is known only from about ten locations, most in the Titus Canyon and the adjacent Fall Canyon, all within the Californian section of Death Valley National Park. It grows in limestone crevices on the canyon walls, often on the north face.

Description

Holmgrenanthe petrophila is an herbaceous perennial with fibrous roots. It is low growing with slender, branched stems arising from a woody base; as it often grows on vertical faces, the stems tend to hang down. Close relatives climb using twining leaf stalks (petioles), but H. petrophila has straight petioles,  long. The leaves are rounded or kidney shaped with small spines or bristles along the margins (spinulose) and at the apex. They are  long by  wide.

In its native habitat, H. petrophila flowers and fruits in spring and early summer, between April and June. The solitary flowers are borne on very short stalks (peduncles), only  long. The green sepals are narrow, pointed and not joined, forming an urn shape around the base of the flower. They are  long by  wide at the base. They have small spines along their margins, like the leaves. The five petals forming the corolla are joined at their bases to form a tube  long. The free lobes at the end of the flower are  long and differentiated into two upper lobes, curving backwards, and three lower lobes, pointing forwards. The color of the corolla has been described as either sulfur yellow throughout or white with a yellow throat.

The style and stamens stay within the flower. The four stamens are of two lengths, the upper two with filaments  long, the lower two with filaments  long. There is also a fifth rudimentary sterile stamen. The ovary has a single chamber with an incomplete T-shaped septum. After fertilization, a globe shaped capsule forms containing tan colored seeds.

Taxonomy

The genus Holmgrenanthe was established in 1985 by Wayne J. Elisens solely for the species H. petrophila, previously placed in Maurandya (including Maurandella). Elisens considered the species sufficiently different from other members of Maurandya to warrant a new genus. For example, it has short mat-forming stems, rather than long climbing or scrambling stems; the edges of the leaves and sepals are spiny; the ovary has a single chamber rather than two. The generic name honors Arthur H., Noel H., and Patricia K. Holmgren, described by Elisens as "dedicated botanists and students of the western flora."

The genus is placed in the tribe Antirrhineae, originally part of the family Scrophulariaceae, but now in the Plantaginaceae.  Within this tribe, Elisens defined the subtribe Maurandyinae for the five North American genera Holmgrenanthe, Lophospermum, Mabrya, Maurandya and Rhodochiton (the last of which he included in Lophospermum).

Phylogeny

Lack of relevant information has led to Holmgrenanthe being excluded from the molecular phylogenetic studies confirming that Elisen's Maurandyinae together with Asarina and Cymbalaria form a monophyletic group (clade), but analyses based on morphological characters suggest that Holmgrenanthe was the first diverging genus within the clade, retaining features of the earliest ancestor. The cladogram presented by Ghebrehiwet is shown below:

Species

The sole species in the genus, Holmgrenanthe petrophila, was first described in 1935 by Frederick Vernon Coville and Conrad Vernon Morton (as Maurandya petrophila). They did not explain the origin of the specific epithet, but petro- is derived from the Greek for rock and -phila from the Greek for beloved, so that petrophila means "rock-loving". The plants described by Coville and Morton were growing in a north facing vertical limestone wall in Titus Canyon in Death Valley, California. As noted above, the species was transferred to the new genus by Elisens in 1985.

Distribution and habitat

After the species was first discovered in Titus Canyon, further plants were found in the adjacent Fall Canyon. It is known only from about ten locations, mostly in these two  canyons, all within the Californian section of Death Valley National Park. It grows in limestone crevices on the canyon walls, often on the north face, in areas dominated by creosote bush scrub. Elisens suggested that Holmgrenanthe petrophila might be a "paleoendemic", originally having a much larger range, but now confined to more sheltered and moister microhabitats in desert canyons as a consequence of a warming and drying trend 11,000–8,000 years ago.

Conservation

, Holmgrenanthe petrophila is listed by the California Native Plant Society as "rare, threatened, or endangered in California and elsewhere". It is listed as critically endangered by the California State but is not listed at the federal level in the United States, nor in the IUCN Red List.

References

Plantaginaceae
Plantaginaceae genera
Flora of the California desert regions
Endemic flora of California
Monotypic Lamiales genera

Holmgrenanthe


Herta Glaz (also spelled Hertha; September 16, 1910 in Vienna – January 28, 2006 in Hamden, Connecticut) was an Austrian-born American operatic mezzo-soprano, voice teacher, and opera director of Austrian birth. She became a United States citizen in 1943. From 1942 to 1956, she was a fixture at the Metropolitan Opera, where she sang in more than 300 performances. She was also highly active with the San Francisco Opera between 1944 and 1951. Some of the roles she portrayed on stage were Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Annina, Siegrune in Die Walküre, Flosshilde in Götterdämmerung and Magdalene in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

In her later years, Glaz became a celebrated voice teacher and opera director. She taught voice at the Manhattan School of Music from 1956 to 1977, University of Southern California from 1977 to 1994, the Aspen Music Festival  between 1987 and 1994, and privately from her homes in New Haven and Los Angeles. Her notable pupils included sopranos Susan Davenny Wyner and Sally Sanford, and mezzos Gail Dubinbaum, Jacalyn Kreitzer, and Cynthia Munzer. In 1963 she founded the New Haven Opera Society which later became the New Haven Opera Theater (NHOT). She served as NHOT's director until the company disestablished due to financial reasons in 1976. With the company she presented 12 seasons of fully staged opera productions, as well as a highly active schedule of opera performances for school children.

Glaz was trained at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna and the Mozarteum University of Salzburg. She married several times during her life: first to conductor Joseph Rosenstock and then to Viennese composer Paul August Csonka. Her third and last marriage was to Viennese psychiatrist Frederick Redlich which lasted nearly fifty years. Redlich was notably the Dean of the Yale University School of Medicine.

References

1910 births
2006 deaths
Aspen Music Festival and School faculty
Manhattan School of Music faculty
Operatic mezzo-sopranos
University of Southern California faculty
20th-century American women opera singers
Austrian music educators
Austrian women music educators
Austrian emigrants to the United States
American women academics
21st-century American women

Herta Glaz


Russkaya Koshka (Russian: Русская Кошка) is a spit that divides the Anadyr Estuary from the Gulf of Anadyr. The name literally translates as "the Russian cat"; but in fact koshka is the dialectal word for "sand spit". The spit is 16 km long and up to 2 km wide. It has an average elevation of 3 to 4 meters. An unusually low lighthouse stands at the end of the spit.  The southern tip of the spit is Cape St. Basil (or St. Basilius) in old sources. The bay between the spit and the mainland is (or was) called Klinkowstroem Bay, an arm of the Anadyr Estuary.

Spits of Russia
Landforms of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug
Landforms of the Bering Sea

Russkaya Koshka


Moonhole is a private community on the island of Bequia (Bek-way) in the Grenadines.  Moonhole derives its name from a massive arch formed in volcanic substrate through which the setting moon is sometimes visible.

Founded by Thomas and Gladys Johnston in the 1960s, Moonhole is now a private nature preserve. In the late 1960s, the Johnstons retired from an advertising business in New York and founded the Moonhole community on the narrow western tip of the island.  Tom and Gladys began building a house beneath the arch with the aid of local masons from the nearby village of Paget Farm. Using whalebones, native hardwoods, and objects recovered from the sea, they built large open rooms with sea views. Without wells or electricity, they collected rainwater from the roofs and stored it in cisterns for bathing and washing. The master bath had a large tree that grew right up through a large hole in the roof. Large windows facing the prevailing trade winds had plexiglass panes that could be lowered into place. The bedrooms surrounded a central dining room, veranda and large bar made from a humpback whale's jaw bone.  In the early years there was not even a road to Moonhole. People from Paget Farm walked in daily to bring in fresh fruit and freshly baked bread and to do any necessary cooking.

Tom and Gladdie later formed Moonhole Company Limited and contributed the approximately  property to the company. Tom bequeathed his controlling interest in Moonhole Company Limited to a trust for the protection and preservation of Moonhole for posterity.  The Thomas and Gladys Johnston Moonhole Conservation Trust Limited is dedicated to preserving the unique architecture, lifestyle, and vision of the Johnstons and to protecting the birds, wildlife and marine life on the peninsula at the western end of Bequia. There are now eleven privately owned homes at Moonhole and four houses owned by Moonhole Company Limited. Some of these properties are available for rent throughout the year.

In 2004 the New York Times described Moonhole as "a quirky 19-home ecologically oriented development built of native stone, with whalebone accents, on the steep hills of the island's southern tip. The name comes from a soaring natural arch on the shore through which the moon can be seen at times. The whalebones, remnants of aboriginal whaling by the islanders, are big enough to work as elements like stair railings. The houses, which rely on solar electricity, rainwater and propane tanks, are mostly fanciful open-air affairs with lines blurred between indoors and out."

References

External links
 Moonhole Company Website
 Sports Illustrated interview
 New York Times feature (2004)
 New York Times feature (1975)
Du Jour Magazine (2013)

Populated places in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Houses in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Moonhole


Masters of the Universe: The Movie is an action-adventure game developed by Gremlin Graphics, and published in 1987. It is based on the American film Masters of the Universe (1987), directed by Gary Goddard. The film and the game are part of the Masters of the Universe media franchise.

A promotional photo of Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Frank Langella as Skeletor illustrates the video game packaging. The MSX version of the game is titled Masters of the Universe.

Two other Masters of the Universe video games were published in the same year: Masters of the Universe: The Arcade Game and Masters of the Universe: The Super Adventure.

See also
 1987 in video gaming

References

External links

1987 video games
Masters of the Universe video games
Video games based on films
Amstrad CPC games
Commodore 64 games
MSX games
Video games developed in the United Kingdom
Video games set on fictional planets
ZX Spectrum games

Masters of the Universe: The Movie


University Credit Union Pavilion (formerly McKeon Pavilion) is a 3,500-seat multi-purpose arena at Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, California.  Home men's and women's basketball and volleyball games are held in the gymnasium, the team nickname being the Gaels.  Many athletic camps for youths also use the gym, primarily in the summer, and other on-campus events, such as the Baccalaureate mass, are also held there.  Banners commemorating successful seasons, championships and post-season appearances for all Saint Mary's sports hang on the back wall.  At well-attended games, the court-level bleachers opposite the benches are reserved entirely for students.

Common criticism of the gym, including by students, is its age and size.  It is one of the smaller gyms in the West Coast Conference.  The seating is mainly along two sides, running along the long sides of the court.  Behind one basket is a large wall, and behind another a handful of elevated, VIP seats.  Seating is mostly bleacher-style, not stadium style.  However, many feel that the small size of the gym adds to the intensity of the crowd at sold-out games, when the cheers of 3,500 fans are amplified due to the small space. Because of this, McKeon Pavilion is considered by many to be one of the tougher gyms to play in for an opposing team. Current athletic director Mark Orr has said there are design plans that would knock out the front and back walls of the gym, adding 1,000 seats, but there is not yet funding for the project.

With gym renovations years away, the college has made several upgrades to the facility.  Prior to the 2005-2006 season new floors were installed.  Before the 2006-2007 season, the lower level reserved seating (directly behind the benches) was changed from bleachers to stadium-style seats with backs.  The bleachers in the student section (also known as Gaelforce) - opposite the benches - were painted dark blue.  Large banners were hung from the railings separating the upper and lower seating sections, reading "Saint Mary's College" behind the reserved seating and "Gaelforce" behind the student section.

In the 21st century, the arena's culture has increasingly reflected the Gaels' strong Australian connections, with at least one Australian player on the men's basketball roster in each season since 2001–02 (among them current NBA players Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova) and a program record of seven in the 2016–17 season. The student section has been filled with Australian flags, a large Australian flag is now prominently displayed on a back wall of the arena, and the student section regularly responds to big plays with the "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" chant.

In recent memory, the gym has seen the 2001 women's basketball team and the 2005 men's basketball team reach the NCAA Tournament. The women's volleyball team has also achieved much success, reaching the post-season in 2004-2006. During the 2004–2005 season the men's basketball team posted a 15–1 record in their home gym en route to a bubble NCAA tournament berth. On January 8, 2005, the men's basketball team defeated West Coast Conference powerhouse Gonzaga University 89–81 in McKeon, ending a 17-game losing streak against the Zags and handing Gonzaga its first conference loss in 17 games.

It opened January 21, 1978. It is the largest enclosed arena in Contra Costa County. In 2019, the name was changed to University Credit Union Pavilion.

See also
 List of NCAA Division I basketball arenas

References

Saint Mary's Gaels basketball
College basketball venues in the United States
College volleyball venues in the United States
Sports venues in the San Francisco Bay Area
Indoor arenas in California
1978 establishments in California
Sports venues completed in 1978
Basketball venues in California
Volleyball venues in California

McKeon Pavilion


Monsieur Pierre, or simply Pierre, was the professional name of Pierre Jean Phillipe Zurcher-Margolle, (born Toulon, France – London, 1963). Pierre was a professional dancer and dance teacher; he was a Fellow, Examiner and committee member of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) and a Member of the Official Board of Ballroom Dancing (OBBD).

Pierre was the main person responsible for introducing the Latin American dances to England. He set them up for use in competitions and in social dance. The system he and his colleagues developed became the basis for all Latin American competitions held under the World Dance Council (WDC).

After World War I ended in 1918 he started on a career as a professional ballroom dancer in London. Although he spent the rest of his life resident in London, Pierre never gave up his French citizenship.

Latin dance in England
The rhythms which make Latin American dance popular were brought to Britain between the two World Wars. Pierre was already an accomplished dancer and teacher in the English ballroom style. In Latin dances, his repertoire first consisted of the Argentine tango, the Paso doble and the Samba.

"The tango was always his speciality in demonstrations and as a result many teachers were attracted to it and first learnt it from him".
"Pierre had been a celebrated exponent and teacher of tango. He had established a reputation as the leading specialist for all Latin dances".

By the 1930s Pierre had moved more towards the Latin American dances, and in 1934 his full-page trade adverts featured the rumba. The studio stayed open all through World War II, and was a popular meeting place for the Free French fighters on leave in London. Pierre's studio always played authentic music for its LA dance instruction.

The rumba arrives in London
Originally, Pierre had visited Paris to find out how their dancers and teachers dealt with the rumba. But after the war, in 1947, Pierre visited Cuba, where he discovered to his surprise that the Cubans danced it differently. When he was there, he danced at the acadamias every night. After this he returned to London determined to teach the Cuban rumba, sistema cubano. To this end, Pierre wrote the first account of his ideas on the rumba as a dance.

One of the characteristics of Cuban dance to the Son, and other similar rhythms, was, and still is, their method of taking three steps to four beats of music (whether 2/4 or 4/4). The Cuban rumba figure starts on beat 2, counting (pause) 2, 3, 4-1 as (pause) quick, quick, slow with the hip settling over the standing foot on 4-1.

All social dances in Cuba involve a hip-sway over the standing leg and, though this is scarcely noticeable in fast salsa, it is more pronounced in the slow ballroom rumba. In general, steps are kept compact and the dance is without any rise and fall. The argument in favour of this method was authenticity, and also satisfaction at the dance effect the Cuban style achieved.

The Latin and American section of the ISTD Ballroom Branch was formed in 1947 by Monsieur Pierre as Chairman. The syllabus finally agreed in 1955 has been the foundation of teaching and competition in the Latin American dances ever since. This work naturally included the Samba, Paso doble and Jive as well. After further visits to Cuba in the early 1950s, when Doris Lavelle and James Arnell accompanied Pierre, the Cha-cha-cha was added to make the five Latin American dances which are still the basis of teaching and competition today.

On Pierre's death in 1963, his colleague Doris Nichols commented:
"The Latin American dancing world was so influenced, fostered and built up by him that the names of 'Pierre' and 'Latin American' became virtually synonymous".

Notes

French dancers
1963 deaths
1890s births

Monsieur Pierre


Shaun Ricker (born November 1, 1982) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name LA Knight.

Ricker began his wrestling career on the independent circuit in 2003. He joined Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (CW) in 2010, when the promotion was affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). After leaving in 2013, he signed a developmental contract with WWE and performed in its developmental territory NXT under the ring name Slate Randall, before being released in 2014. He signed with Impact Wrestling in 2015 under the Eli Drake name and soon found breakout success, becoming a one-time Impact World Champion, one-time TNA King of the Mountain Champion, and one-time Impact World Tag Team Champion alongside Scott Steiner. He also won Impact's Feast or Fired briefcase twice.

After leaving Impact in 2019, Ricker signed with the rebooted NWA, where he became a one-time NWA World Tag Team Champion alongside James Storm. He left the NWA in 2021 to rejoin WWE, where he returned to NXT and was renamed LA Knight. During his time in NXT, he won the Million Dollar Championship after defeating Cameron Grimes. He moved up to the main roster in 2022 and was given a manager role, portraying a talent agent named Max Dupri who led the Maximum Male Models group. He betrayed the group a few months later and reverted back to his LA Knight persona, subsequently resuming his in-ring wrestling career. He suddenly accumulated an enormous level of fan support due to his promo delivery skills and character work despite being booked to lose most of his matches, a trend which was slowly reversed in response to the increasingly fervent support he received from fans.

Outside of wrestling, Ricker appeared as a cast member on Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's 2013 reality show The Hero, had a small role in a 2015 episode of the comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and provided the motion capture for other WWE wrestlers in many of the WWE 2K series of video games.

Early life
Shaun Ricker was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, on November 1, 1982. He has two older siblings and started watching professional wrestling at the age of three. He graduated from North Hagerstown High School.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2003–2010)
Ricker moved to Cincinnati after high school and began training at the age of 20 on March 17, 2003, supporting himself with work at a lumber mill and a Ruby Tuesday restaurant. He began working regularly for the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) later that year under the ring name Deuce. On November 9, 2004, Deuce won the HWA Television Championship, and dropped it on January 4, 2005.

National Wrestling Alliance (2009–2012)

NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (2010–2013)
In December 2010, Ricker moved to work for NWA Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. He joined forces with Brian Cage, forming The Natural Selection tag team and winning the NWA Heritage Tag Team Championship from The RockNES Monsters on December 8. After holding the titles for over 200 days, The Natural Selection lost them to The Tribe when Cage missed the event, causing the match to become a handicap match. Ricker then feuded with Cage for several months, staying even on victories until he defeated Cage to end their feud in late 2012.

On December 24, Ricker unsuccessfully challenged Adam Pearce for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. However, he won the Percy Pringle III Cup, where the winner earned a shot at any championship, any time, any place.. On May 5, 2013, Ricker won the 30-Man Red Carpet Rumble for the CWFH Heritage Heavyweight Championship in homage to his late friend and manager Percy Pringle. That same night, he successfully defended the title against Ryan Taylor.

Ricker would lose the championship to Scorpio Sky in a Loser Leaves Hollywood match later that night; this match was scheduled to air on June 2, on tape delay, but was never aired due to the controversial finish. After the cameras went off, Ricker got on the microphone and thanked all of the fans for coming out, saying it would be the last time he would be seen in a ring for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. All of the wrestlers came out from the back and gave Ricker a standing ovation. However, he made one more final television appearance, defeating Sky's fellow Experience members Big Duke and Xtian Cole.

WWE (2013–2014)
In May 2013, Ricker was one of many independent wrestlers undergoing the necessary medical testing required to be signed by WWE before he reported to the WWE Performance Center. He had previously made sporadic appearances in WWE over the years; he teamed with Jon Moxley in a losing effort against Big Show in a dark handicap match in May 2006, teamed with Gene Snitsky in a losing effort against Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad Gaspard) on ECW in 2008, and played a security guard during a segment featuring CM Punk and Kevin Nash on Raw in August 2011.

Upon signing to WWE, Ricker was given the ring name Slate Randall and made his debut by defeating Yoshi Tatsu in a dark match during an October 2013 taping of NXT. Following that victory, he competed only as an enhancement talent for NXT, losing to names such as Baron Corbin, Mojo Rawley, and Mason Ryan. He was released from his WWE contract on August 1, 2014.

Return to the independent circuit (2014–2019)
After his release from WWE, Ricker returned to wrestling on the independent circuit and began competing under the ring name Eli Drake. On September 5, at Full Impact Pro's Fallout, he participated in a trios tournament along with Mason Ryan and Michael Tarver, but they were defeated by the Full Impact Puerto Ricans (Lince Dorado, Jay Cruz, and Jay Rios) in the semifinals. On November 21, Ricker defeated Kenny King at FSW Luck of the Draw.

Drake lost a fatal four way at Maverick Pro Wrestling's event on May 11, 2019. On August 17, he made his debut for World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico at WWC Aniversario, wrestling Carlito Colon.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / Impact Wrestling (2015–2019)

The Rising (2015–2016)

On February 16, 2015, Drake participated in TNA One Night Only's TNA Gut Check tournament, defeating Crazzy Steve to qualify for a five-way elimination match won by Tevita Fifita. On the March 27 episode of Impact Wrestling, he joined Drew Galloway and Micah to form The Rising, defeating The Beat Down Clan in his debut. On the July 1 episode of Impact Wrestling, The Beat Down Clan defeated The Rising in a 4-on-3 handicap match, forcing The Rising to dissolve. On the July 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake turned heel when he cost Galloway a match against TNA World Heavyweight Champion Ethan Carter III. At No Surrender on August 5, Drake defeated Galloway. On August 19 at Turning Point, Drake was defeated by Galloway in a No Disqualification match. At Bound for Glory on October 4, Drake competed in the Bound For Gold Gauntlet, which was won by Tyrus. Drake participated in the TNA World Title Series as a member of group Future 4, along with Jessie Godderz, Micah and Crimson, advancing the round of 16 along with Godderz, where he lost in the round of 16 to Mahabali Shera, being eliminated from the tournament. On January 5, 2016, the first live edition of Impact Wrestling on Pop, Drake and Jessie Godderz started feuding with Kurt Angle and Drew Galloway, leading to a match at TNA One Night Only Live three days later, which The Wolves won.

On January 26, 2016, Drake won the Feast or Fired match and the briefcase that contained a title shot for the future TNA King Of The Mountain Championship. On the February 9 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake was attacked by Grado, who had been fired after his Feast or Fired briefcase contained the pink slip. Later that night, Drake interrupted him backstage, telling him "he better shut up about whatever he thinks he knows" and attacked Grado again, having him escorted out of the building through the tunnel. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake lost to Grado, who was masked as Odarg the Great. On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, he faced Grado in a ladder match with Grado's career on the line, but was defeated.

Fact of Life and Namer of Dummies (2016–2017)

On the May 31 episode of Impact on Pop, Drake cashed in his Feast or Fired briefcase for his shot at the TNA King of the Mountain Championship, defeating Bram, who was just viciously attacked by Lashley, winning his first title in TNA. On June 12 at Slammiversary, Drake retained the title against Bram. On the June 28 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake hosted a Fact of Life segment, inviting James Storm as his guest and proceeded to insult him; Storm eventually hit Drake with the Last Call, igniting a feud between the two. On the July 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake defended the King of the Mountain Championship against Storm, but intentionally disqualified himself to save the title. However, on the August 4 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake lost the championship to Storm. Drake then entered the Impact Grand Championship tournament, defeating Jessie Godderz in the first round, but lost to Aron Rex in the semi-finals. On October 2 at Bound for Glory, Drake won the Bound for Gold Gauntlet by last eliminating Tyrus. On the October 6 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake started a feud against Ethan Carter III, after his Fact of Life segment. On the October 27 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Rex defeated EC3 and Jessie Godderz. On the November 10 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake cashed in his Bound for Gold opportunity, but failed to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship from Eddie Edwards. On the November 24 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake faced EC3 in a title shot vs. voice match where if Ethan lost, he would lose his heavyweight title shot, and if Drake lost, he would not be able to talk for the rest of 2016; EC3 won by submission.

On the January 5, 2017, episode of Impact Wrestling, Eli Drake had a confrontation against The Broken Hardys during his returning Fact of Life segment. At One Night Only: Live! the next day, Drake and Tyrus unsuccessfully challenged the Hardys for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Tyrus helped Drake take the red case during the Race for the Case on the January 19 episode of Impact Wrestling. On the February 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake cashed in his Race for the Case briefcase for a match against Ethan Carter III, but lost. After the match, he and Tyrus attacked EC3, but were assaulted by the Death Crew Council. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake abandoned Tyrus during their handicap match against The Death Crew Council, causing them to lose. A match was scheduled between Drake and Tyrus two weeks later, which ended in a disqualification victory for Tyrus. After the match, Drake proposed more money to Tyrus for keeping him as a bodyguard, which Tyrus accepted. On the March 16 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Tyrus were defeated by Garza Jr. and Laredo Kid after Drake unintentionally hit Tyrus, causing the loss. On the April 13 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Tyrus, alongside Bram and Lashley as Team Josh Mathews, were defeated by Team Jeremy Borash (Alberto El Patron, Chris Adonis, Magnus and Matt Morgan).

On the May 4 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake lost to Alberto El Patron, failing to be the #1 contender for the GFW Global Championship. The following week, with help from Tyrus and Chris Adonis, he attacked Impact Grand Champion Moose after his match against Marshe Rockett. On the June 1 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake failed to win the Impact Grand Championship from Moose. At Slammiversary on July 2, Drake and Adonis lost to Moose and DeAngelo Williams.

Impact Global Champion (2017–2018)

On the August 24 episode of Impact!, Drake won a 20-man gauntlet match, from the second entrant position, to win the vacant GFW Global Championship for the first time; it was later renamed to the Impact Global Championship. This was Drake's first world title reign from a major wrestling promotion in his career. Drake would defend the title against Matt Sydal on Impact, and against Cody Hall in Japan for Pro Wrestling Noah. He would soon begin feuding with Johnny Impact for the title, as Drake retained the title against Impact on September 28 at Victory Road after repeated interference from Adonis and a low blow. At Bound for Glory on November 5, Drake retained the title against Impact in a rematch after the returning Alberto El Patron hit Impact with a steel chair. On January 25, 2018, Drake would retain the title against Impact and El Patron in a Six Sides of Steel match at Genesis. He lost his renamed Impact World Championship on the February 1 episode of Impact Wrestling against the returning Austin Aries, ending his reign at 146 days. On the February 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake failed to regain the title from Aries.

On the March 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake won a briefcase during the Feast or Fired containing an opportunity for an Impact World Tag Team Championship match, which he did not want as he no longer had a tag team partner. Then, he challenged Moose for his World Championship briefcase on the April 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, which he won, thanks to an intervention of Ohio Versus Everything. At Redemption on April 22, Drake and his tag team partner Scott Steiner defeated The Latin American Xchange to become the new Impact World Tag Team Champions. On the April 26 episode of Impact!, Drake and Steiner defeated LAX in a rematch to retain the Tag Team Championship. Two weeks later, Drake cashed in his World Championship briefcase against Pentagón Jr., but failed to win the title. On the May 17 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Steiner lost the titles against D&E (DJZ and Andrew Everett). After some tensions between the two partners, on May 31 at Under Pressure, Drake won a match against Steiner after a chair shot.

On the June 7 episode of Impact Wrestling, during his Fact of Life segment, Drake ranked Moose number one in his top five dummies in Impact. Moose confronted Drake later and challenged him for a match to determine the number one contender to the Impact World Championship at Slammiversary XVI. Drake accepted the challenge and attacked Moose. The following week at House of Hardcore, Drake lost to Moose. On June 25, Eli Drake signed a new contract with Impact Wrestling. On the July 12 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake flirted with Grado's girlfriend, Katarina, during a backstage segment. This led to a match between Drake and Grado later that night, which was won by Drake. After the match, he tried again to flirt with Katarina, but Drake was stopped by Joe Hendry. On the August 2 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake aligned himself with the Cult of Lee (Trevor Lee and Caleb Konley) and defeated Hendry and Grado. Drake issued various open challenges by this time, including one at Bound for Glory. At the event on October 14, Drake defeated James Ellsworth. After the match, Drake asked for a new challenger, a "Hall of Fame material" which resulted in Abyss, the newest Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame member, showing up and hitting him with a chokeslam through a table.

Feuding with hardcore wrestlers and departure (2018–2019)
On the October 18 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake "sued" Impact Wrestling management for "unsafe working environment" after the attack of Abyss at Bound for Glory. On the November 8 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake betrayed his lawyer Joseph Park after a low-blow. The following week, Drake criticized hardcore wrestling before being confronted by Tommy Dreamer. Two weeks later, Drake lost to Dreamer via count-out after walking away from the match. However, the match was restarted by Impact Wrestling management, and become a No Disqualification match, which Drake won. On the January 3 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake was confronted and attacked by Dreamer and Raven. At Impact Wrestling Homecoming three days later, Drake defeated Abyss in a Monster's Ball match.

On the January 11, 2019, episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake confronted Eddie Edwards, talking down about his hardcore style. On the February 22 episode of Impact Wrestling, Edwards defeated Drake with a roll-up. Two weeks later, Eli saved Edwards from the Desi Hit Squad. Now having formed a tag team, on the April 5 episode of Impact Wrestling, Drake and Edwards defeated LAX with the help of the Lucha Bros. Two weeks later, Drake and Edwards challenged the Lucha Bros for the Impact World Tag Team Championship, but failed to win the titles. During this time, a match was booked between Drake and Tessa Blanchard at United We Stand. However, he legitimately refused to partake in the match and criticized intergender wrestling, and was replaced in the match by Joey Ryan. After his comments, as well as statements he had made disparaging Impact's booking of him, Drake was fired via email on April 7. Following this, Impact tried to lock him into a non-compete clause due to breach of contract. On June 4, Drake released a statement speaking positively about his time at Impact and announced that he was now a free agent.

National Wrestling Alliance (2019–2021)
On June 28, 2019, Drake appeared at the Ring of Honor event Best in the World, being revealed as the mystery partner of Nick Aldis and the newest person to sign an exclusive deal with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). At Hard Times on January 24, 2020, Drake and James Storm defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) and The Wild Cards (Royce Isaacs and Thom Latimer) in a triple threat tag team match to win the NWA Tag Team Championship. On November 10 at UWN Primetime Live, Drake and Storm would drop the titles to Aron Stevens and JR Kratos. On February 14, 2021, it was announced that Ricker had been quietly released from the NWA in late 2020 after only signing a new deal with the company a few months beforehand.

Return to WWE

NXT (2021–2022)
On February 14, 2021, it was reported that Ricker had re-signed with WWE. At NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day later that night, he debuted as a heel under the new ring name LA Knight. He made his in-ring debut on the March 17 episode of NXT, defeating August Grey. On the first night of TakeOver: Stand & Deliver on April 7, he participated in a Gauntlet Eliminator for a future NXT North American Championship match, but was eliminated. Knight then aligned himself with Ted DiBiase. At TakeOver: In Your House on June 13, he defeated Cameron Grimes in a ladder match to win the re-introduced Million Dollar Championship. Knight later turned on DiBiase, attacking him during the championship ceremony before being driven off by Grimes. Knight defeated Grimes at The Great American Bash on July 6, with Grimes becoming his personal butler per the stipulation of the rematch. On the August 10 episode of NXT, Knight agreed to defend the championship against Grimes at NXT TakeOver 36 on the condition that DiBiase would replace Grimes as Knight's butler if Knight won. At the event on August 22, Knight lost the title to Grimes following interference from DiBiase, ending his reign at 70 days.

On the September 14 episode of NXT, Knight lost to the debuting Bron Breakker. Later that night, he failed to win a fatal four-way match for the vacant NXT Championship. In October, he began a feud with Grayson Waller. On the November 23 episode of NXT, Waller turned heel by berating the fans and Knight turned face by confronting him; before his match with Joe Gacy, he was attacked by Waller. At WarGames on December 5, Knight teamed with Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne, and Tommaso Ciampa as Team Black & Gold, where they were defeated by Team 2.0 (Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, and Tony D'Angelo) in a WarGames match. On March 8 at Roadblock, Knight faced Waller in a Last Man Standing match, which he lost. The following week on NXT, he unsuccessfully challenged Dolph Ziggler for the NXT Championship. After this, he started a brief feud with Gunther, who had taken offense at Knight getting an NXT Championship match simply by calling out Ziggler. The next week, Knight confronted Gunther after his match with Duke Hudson and challenged him to a match at NXT Stand & Deliver on April 2. He was defeated by Gunther in what would be his final NXT match before being promoted to the main roster.

Main roster beginnings (2022–2023)
Knight made his first main roster appearance on the January 24, 2022 episode of Raw, participating in a backstage segment with The Dirty Dawgs (Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode). In a dark segment before the April 15 episode of SmackDown, Knight appeared as a heel manager by announcing his new stable, "Knight Model Management", and became the manager of Mace and Mansoor. The angle went to television on the May 20 episode of SmackDown, when he made his televised debut on the brand under the ring name Max Dupri. On July 1 episode of SmackDown, Dupri announced Mace and Mansoor, under the tweaked names "ma.çé" and "mån.sôör", as Maximum Male Models, and was joined by his storyline sister Maxxine Dupri (formerly known as Sofia Cromwell from NXT). Dupri ended his relationship with Maximum Male Models on the September 30 episode of SmackDown. The following week, he beat down Mace and Mansoor and reverted to his LA Knight persona.

After a brief feud with Ricochet, Knight became involved in a feud with Bray Wyatt in November and lost to him in a Mountain Dew Pitch Black match at the Royal Rumble in January 2023; this would be Wyatt's final match before his unexpected death eight months later at age 36. On the March 31 episode of SmackDown, Knight competed in the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but was eliminated by Bronson Reed.

Rise in popularity (2023–present)
Over the next few months, Knight's popularity with fans began increasing despite his poor win record and his onscreen character being a heel. On the June 2 episode of SmackDown, Knight defeated Montez Ford to qualify for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match. At the namesake event, the match was won by Damian Priest, who threw Knight off the ladder in order to grab the briefcase. Knight participated in the United States Championship Invitational tournament but lost at the semifinal stage. The next week, he defeated Ashante "Thee" Adonis and was confirmed to be an entrant in the Slim Jim Battle Royal match at the upcoming SummerSlam event in August, which he eventually won by last eliminating Sheamus. Two nights later on Raw, after months of performing as a tweener, he turned face when he began a feud with The Miz. At Payback, he defeated Miz with John Cena as the surprise special guest referee. Two weeks later on the September 15 episode of SmackDown, Knight would defeat Miz in a rematch, ending their feud.

After taking time off for a week, Knight returned on the September 29 episode of SmackDown to assist Cena against Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa, replacing AJ Styles who was injured by Jimmy and Solo. Knight would team with Cena against Jimmy and Solo at Fastlane, successfully winning with Knight pinning Uso. Knight would proceed to return to NXT on the October 10 episode to be the special guest referee for the NXT Championship match that night between Ilja Dragunov and NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio. Knight would then enter into a feud with WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns, with a title match being announced for Crown Jewel.

Professional wrestling persona and popularity
Many fans have favorably likened Knight's brash gimmick and promo style to that of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson or "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, complimenting his recognizable catchphrases and considering his charismatic trash-talking character a throwback to the Attitude Era. The same comparison has also been made in a negative fashion, notably by former wrestler Kevin Nash.

Knight began to gain a notable amount of popularity in early 2023; despite his feud with Bray Wyatt being written to re-establish the returning Wyatt as a monster character, Knight's ability to hold his own verbally throughout the feud led fans to start siding with him. He stated in an interview with Chris Van Vliet that he first noticed how fast his popularity was growing when the crowd cheered loudly when his entrance music hit as he walked out to confront Drew McIntyre and Sheamus on SmackDown on March 3, 2023.

Since early 2023, fans and critics alike have been vocal about WWE's poor booking of Knight; this includes his high rate of losses since joining the main roster, not appearing at WrestleMania 39 despite WWE promising an "LA Knight moment" at the event, and losing the 2023 Money in the Bank ladder match after WWE acknowledged him as the clear favorite to win by allowing him more promo time than the other competitors in the weeks leading up to the match. Many former wrestlers and wrestling personalities, such as Konnan and Jim Cornette, have been critical of WWE's poor treatment of Knight and failure to capitalize on him despite his popularity continuing to grow among fans. Triple H, WWE's chief content officer and the head of its creative team, acknowledged Knight's popularity during the Money in the Bank post-show press conference and said that "great things come to those who wait".

Other media
In 2013, Ricker appeared on the TNT reality television show The Hero, which was hosted by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

In 2015, Ricker appeared in the Brooklyn Nine-Nine episode "Boyle-Linetti Wedding" in a non-speaking role as Mario, a male bodybuilder who is getting married. Detective Terry Jeffords (Terry Crews) plays the minister.

In January 2020, Ricker shot scenes for the ultimately-abandoned fourth season of the Netflix dramedy GLOW as a character named DJ Henderson, alongside Ryan Nemeth.

In 2021, Ricker appeared in a CarShield commercial as The Overcharger, a heel wrestler dressed like an automotive repair technician and defiantly bragging about how nobody can stop him from unfairly charging used-vehicle-owning customers for repair work. He is instantly struck down by Ric Flair, the ad campaign's star and pitchman.

As LA Knight, Ricker appears as a playable character in WWE 2K22 and WWE 2K23. He also voiced "Paragon Jay Pierce" in the MyRise mode of WWE 2K22, as well as performing the motion capture for other WWE wrestlers in many of the WWE 2K games.

Personal life
Ricker is in a long-term relationship with fitness instructor Michelle Yavulla. They have two dogs and reside in Orlando, Florida.

Championships and accomplishments

 Championship Wrestling From Hollywood
 CWFH Heritage Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 NWA Heritage Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Brian Cage
 Red Carpet Rumble (2013)
 DDT Pro-Wrestling
 Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)
 Future Stars of Wrestling
 FSW Heavyweight Championship (2 time)
 Empire Wrestling Federation
 EWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 Great Goliath Battle Royal (2011) – with Josh Dunbar
 Heartland Wrestling Association
 HWA Television Championship (1 time)
 Mach One Wrestling
 M1W Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Brian Cage
 M1W Tag Team Championship Tournament (2010) – with Brian Cage
National Wrestling Alliance
NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with James Storm
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 Ranked No. 32 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2018
Pro Wrestling Revolution
 PWR Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / Impact Wrestling
Impact World Championship (1 time)
Impact World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott Steiner
TNA King of the Mountain Championship (1 time)
Gauntlet for the Gold (2016, 2017 – Heavyweight)
Race for the Case (2017 – Red Case)
Feast or Fired (2016 – King of the Mountain Championship contract)
Feast or Fired (2018 – World Tag Team Championship contract)
Ultimate Championship Wrestling
UCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 Worst Gimmick (2022) as part of Maximum Male Models
WWE
Million Dollar Championship (1 time)
SummerSlam Slim Jim Battle Royal (2023)

References

External links

1982 births
21st-century professional wrestlers
American male professional wrestlers
Living people
Million Dollar Champions
Professional wrestlers from Maryland
Sportspeople from Hagerstown, Maryland
TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions
TNA Television Champions
TNA/Impact World Tag Team Champions
Ironman Heavymetalweight Champions
NWA World Tag Team Champions

LA Knight