DC Comics, Inc. (or simply DC) is an American comic book company. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery., which itself is owned by Time Warner. Its first well-known comics were such as Action Comics, Detective Comics, All Star Comics, and Sensation Comics. They were essential in introducing three well-known superheroes to life: Superman (1938), Batman (1939) and Wonder Woman (1941). DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, which is best well known for making "superhero" comic books; with their first comic under the DC banner being published in 1937, and is very famous in the modern art subject Graphics.

The majority of its publications takes place within the fictional DC Universe and features many famous and iconic superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Shazam, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Cyborg, Robin/Nightwing, Batgirl, Supergirl, the Atom, and Blue Beetle. Some notable and popular teams include the Justice League, the Justice League Dark, the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Suicide Squad, the Justice Society of America, the Young Justice, and the Teen Titans. The company also features a wide variety of well-known supervillains such as Lex Luthor, the Joker, Catwoman, the Scarecrow, the Penguin, Cheetah, Black Adam, the Riddler, Captain Cold, Brainiac, Bizarro, Gorilla Grodd, General Zod, Sinestro, Black Manta, Darkseid, Ra's al Ghul, Doomsday, Harley Quinn, and Bane. The company has published non-DC Universe-related material, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Fables and many titles under their alternative imprint Vertigo and now DC Black Label.

Originally in Manhattan at 432 Fourth Avenue, the DC Comics offices have been located at 480 and later 575 Lexington Avenue; 909 Third Avenue; 75 Rockefeller Plaza; 666 Fifth Avenue; and 1325 Avenue of the Americas. DC had its headquarters at 1700 Broadway, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, but DC Entertainment relocated its headquarters to Burbank, California in April 2015.

Penguin Random House Publisher Services distributes DC Comics' books to the bookstore market, while Diamond Comic Distributors supplied the comics shop direct market until June 2020, where Lunar Distribution and UCS Comic Distributors, who already distributed to the direct market due to Diamond's distribution interruption as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, replaced Diamond to distribute to that market. Its top rival is Marvel Comics (the publications of Spider-Man and Hulk) which was acquired in 2009 by The Walt Disney Company, WarnerMedia's main competitor, they shared approximately 70% of the American comic book market in 2017, though this number may give a distorted view since graphic novels are excluded. With the sales of all books included, DC is the second biggest publisher, after Viz Media, and Marvel is third.

DC Comics has adapted its characters into different forms of media, including action figures, animated/live-action movies, animated/live-action television series, and video games, which have made them even more popular.

History
Pulp writer Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications in 1934. The following year, the company published New Fun—the first comic book to feature entirely new material rather than reprints of newspaper strips. In need of cash, Wheeler-Nicholson partnered with magazine distributors Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz and founded Detective Comics, Inc., in 1937. Wheeler-Nicholson was unable to repay his debts to Donenfeld and Liebowitz, and he was soon fired from the company. A series of mergers in the 1940s led to the creation of a new company called National Periodical Publications (NPP). In 1969 NPP was purchased by Kinney National Company, which in turn was bought by Warner Brothers–Seven Arts. For much of its history, the company was colloquially known as DC Comics, but it did not officially adopt that name until 1977.

DC Universe

Golden Age and Silver Age of Comics
In 1938, DC published the first Superman story in Action Comics no. 1. The massive commercial success of that character was responsible for creating the costumed superhero genre, which has been a pillar for the comic book industry ever since. DC introduced many superheroes throughout the so-called Golden Age of comics, most notably Batman (1939) and Wonder Woman (1941). The success of those characters was amplified by Licensing Corporation of America, a division of National Periodicals. Licensing Corporation of America, which was created as Superman Inc., displayed various DC characters through a wide range of products, and it oversaw (supervise) the use of DC characters in other media.

Throughout the first half of the 1950s, the popularity of superhero comics declined, though comic books featuring Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman remained popular. DC canceled its other superhero titles, concentrating on books in genres such as science fiction, westerns, and crime drama. Beginning in 1956, under the supervision of editor Julius Schwartz, DC began reintroducing superhero comics. In Showcase no. 4 (October 1956), writer Robert Kanigher and artist Carmine Infantino unveiled an updated version of the 1940s-era hero the Flash. In doing so they ushered (guide) in the Silver Age of comics, and over the next few years new versions of classic characters such as Green Lantern and Hawkman also appeared. Superheroes regained popularity among readers, and the commercial success of DC's superhero books soon led rival companies (most notably Marvel Comics) to also return to the genre.

Bronze Age and Crisis On Infinite Earths
In 1970, writer Dennis ("Denny") O'Neil and artist Neal Adams introduced a new level of maturity to the superhero genre with Green Lantern/Green Arrow. The book, which featured stories that dealt directly with social issues such as race relations, pollution, and drug abuse, is regarded as one of the defining titles of the Bronze Age of comics. O'Neil and Adams also teamed on an influential run of Batman stories, and Adams drew what is widely considered to be the definitive modern version of that character. During that time the DC superhero books—along with many of their books in other genres—were considered to be set in the same fictional universe and shared the same continuity.

By 1985, with nearly half a century of disparate and occasionally contradictory stories contributing to its ongoing narrative, DC's editorial staff felt that the DC universe had become too cumbersome and confusing for new readers. The 12-issue Crisis on Infinite Earths by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez was essentially a reboot of the entire DC superhero universe, with a new continuity that was derived from, but not beholden to, that which came before. DC's flagship characters were relaunched, John Byrne retelling and modernizing Superman's origin with The Man of Steel (1986) and Frank Miller recounting Batman's early adventures in his Year One (1987) story arc. The mid-1980s were also an exceptionally fruitful period for nontraditional comics at DC. Miller wrote and drew Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (1986), a brave look at an aging Batman set against the backdrop of the Cold War, while Alan Moore breathed new life into Swamp Thing (1984–87). Moore teamed with artist Dave Gibbons on the graphic novel Watchmen (1986–87), which deconstructed the superhero genre to enormous commercial success and critical acclaim.

Vertigo and continuity reboots
DC attempted to address the growing market for mature readers with its Piranha Press imprint. Launched in 1989 with the ongoing title Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children, Piranha was a bold, if not entirely successful, experiment in creator-owned content. The imprint folded (colapse) in 1993, but it was revived in 1995 as Paradox Press. Although Paradox lasted only slightly longer than Piranha, it published John Wagner's A History of Violence (1997) and Road to Perdition (1998) by writer Max Allan Collins and artist Richard Piers Rayner. Both graphic novels were later adapted into award-winning motion pictures. Far more enduring was DC's Vertigo imprint, which began in 1993 as a home for mature-themed horror titles such as Hellblazer, Swamp Thing, and Neil Gaiman's Sandman. Under the leadership of editor Karen Berger, the Vertigo line expanded dramatically to include Grant Morrison's metafictional secret society saga The Invisibles (1994–2000), Garth Ennis's acerbic morality play Preacher (1995–2000), Brian Azzarello's Machiavellian crime story 100 Bullets (1999–2009), Bill Willingham's twisted fairy tale Fables (2002–15), and Brian K. Vaughan's apocalyptic bildungsroman Y: The Last Man (2002–08). Other DC imprints included Milestone Media, a comics line cofounded by writer Dwayne McDuffie that promoted the work of minority creators; WildStorm, an independent publisher launched by artist Jim Lee that was purchased by DC in 1999; and CMX, a line of Japanese manga comics that were adapted for a North American audience. In 2018 DC launched its Black Label imprint to serve as an umbrella for its adult-themed titles, and Vertigo was shuttered the following year. In some cases characters that were introduced in imprint titles were later integrated into the mainstream DC universe.

During the early 1990s the comic book industry experienced a boom in sales, with books tied to DC's massive The Death of Superman crossover event selling millions of copies. Such growth proved unsustainable, as sales soon declined to a fraction of their previous levels. Less than a decade after Crisis, DC rebooted its line again in the Zero Hour (1994) crossover, and in 1999 writer Mark Waid attempted to address the DC universe's lingering continuity issues by introducing Hypertime, a concept that, in essence, restored the pre-Crisis multiverse. In 2010 the company began to produce digital editions of its comics, and the following year, in an attempt to boost sales, DC Comics again rebooted its fictional continuity with a series of comics collectively referred to as the "New 52." Another reboot followed in 2016 with the Rebirth event, and in 2021 DC rebooted its entire line yet again during the Infinite Frontier crossover.

All Star DC Comics
In 2000, Marvel Comics started an imprint called ultimate marvel in which the characters' origin is changed and modernized. This eventually led DC to starting an imprint of their own in 2005, thus All Star was born.

Both All-Star series are in their own continuity, except All Star Batman and Robin which was part of Earth-31.

All Star Batman
All Star Batman was an ongoing series that premiered in August 2016 as part of the DC Rebirth relaunch, and ran for 14 issues until October 2017. The creative team consisted of writer Scott Snyder and multiple artists, mainly John Romita Jr.. Despite the title, the series told stories that were set in the mainstream DC Universe continuity.

All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder
All Star Batman started in 2005 and was written by Frank Miller and Penciled by Jim Lee. This was the first series in the All Star imprint and opened to mainly negative reviews but had high sales. The series was released in a sporadic schedule. The series only reached 10 issues (2008) 2 issues before the intended end of the series.

All Star Superman
All Star Superman started in 2006 and was written by Grant Morrison and Penciled by Frank Quitley. This was the second series under the All Star imprint, the first being All Star Batman and Robin. The series opened to mainly good reviews and went on to win the Eisner Award for best new series in 2006 and best ongoing series in 2007 and 2009. Like All Star Batman the series was also released in a sporadic schedule. The series ended with issue 12. The series overall has widely considered to be one of the best Superman stories of all time.

All Star Wonder Woman
All Star Wonder Woman started in 2006 and was written by Adam Hughes from San Diego Con 2006.

DC characters in television and film
Despite the attention given to DC's main comic business, in the 21st century only a small part of the revenue generated by DC characters came from the sale of traditional comic books. As more and more superheroes jumped from the printed page to the silver screen, Hollywood took on an increasingly important role for comic publishers. Perhaps the most obvious outward sign of this shift came in 2015, when DC closed its longtime New York City offices and relocated its headquarters to the Warner Brothers complex in Burbank, California.

DC scored two early blockbusters with Richard Donner's Superman (1978) and Tim Burton's Batman (1989), both of which led to successful franchises. Director Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997), were also released. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, DC characters were mainstays on television. The visually memorable Batman: The Animated Series (1992–95) featured superb writing by Paul Dini and won an Emmy for outstanding animated program. This set the stage for later DC animated projects starring the Justice League, the Teen Titans, and the Milestone teen hero Static. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–97) put a romantic comedy twist on the superhero genre, while Smallville (2001–11) returned the last son of Krypton to his small-town roots. Producer Greg Berlanti focused on one of DC's lesser-known heroes in his gritty street-level series Arrow (2012–20). The success of that show would spark the creation of an interconnected television universe (dubbed the "Arrowverse", "Berlantiverse", or "CWverse" by fans) that included The Flash (2014–23), Supergirl (2015–21), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (2016–22), and Black Lightning (2017–21) among others. Damon Lindelof's stand-alone HBO miniseries Watchmen (2019) was a critical smash, and it won nearly a dozen Emmy Awards.

In the 21st century, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy grossed some $2.5 billion worldwide, and Heath Ledger's captivating performance as the Joker in the second film of that series earned him a posthumous Academy Award for best supporting actor. Director Bryan Singer's Superman Returns (2006) was released and stars Brandon Routh as Superman, who later played the Atom in The CW Arrowverse series and reprised his role as Superman, with elements from the Kingdom Come version of the character in the Arrowverse crossover event titled ''Crisis on Infinite Earths''.

Green Lantern (2011), directed by Martin Campbell, was released. The movie stars Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan / Green Lantern, and was met with negative reviews, with criticism aimed at its script, tone, visual effects, and unfaithfulness to the source material. The film was one of the biggest box-office bombs in history, grossing $220 million against a production budget of $200 million.

Zack Snyder's Man of Steel (2013) earned more than $600 million and served as the foundation for the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), a shared storytelling world for all of DC's film properties. Later films in the DCEU included Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) in which Gal Gadot debuted her popular role as Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman (2017), Justice League (2017), Aquaman (2018), Shazam! (2019), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), and Birds of Prey (2020). Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), a four-hour-long alternate edit of the box-office bomb Justice League, drew largely positive reviews from fans and critics when it premiered on the streaming service HBO Max. The psychological thriller Joker (2019) tells the origin story of the classic Batman villain, but the film was not connected to the broader DCEU. Joker proved to be DC's biggest critical success on the silver screen, earning nearly a dozen Academy Award nominations; Joaquin Phoenix won the Academy Award for best actor for his performance in the title role. A sequel of the Joker is officially in development, with Phoenix set to return and will include singer and actress Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. The Suicide Squad (2021), directed by James Gunn, is a stand-alone movie that serves as a sequel to 2016's Suicide Squad, and was premiered on HBO Max, as well as Peacemaker (2022-present), a spin-off series starring John Cena.

Director Matt Reeves' The Batman (2022), a reboot of the character and starring Robert Pattinson as Batman, received positive reviews from critics, praising the acting, action scenes and music, however some did not like how long the movie was. It is a stand-alone movie and it is not connected to the DCEU. Sequels have been confirmed, as well as several spin-off series. Black Adam (2022), a Shazam spin-off movie, was released. It stars Dwayne Johnson as Black Adam, and received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $393 million worldwide, widely labeled as a box-office bomb after marketing and distribution costs were factored in.

The 2023 movie Shazam! Fury of the Gods was released. It is a sequel to Shazam!, and received mixed reviews form critics, who considered it inferior to its predecessor. It was a box-office failure, grossing just over $132 million worldwide against a production budget of $110–125 million. The Flash (2023), directed by Andy Muschietti and starring Ezra Miller as the Flash, was released. It is based on the Flashpoint comic book and explores the multiverse concept; with several DCEU stars returning to their respective roles. In the movie, the actor Michael Keaton reprised his role as Batman from Tim Burton's Batman movies, as well as the actress Sasha Calle, who portrayed Kara Zor-El / Supergirl. The movie received mixed reviews from critics, praising its story, action sequences, humor, and acting (particularly of Miller and Keaton), but it was criticized due to its third act and visual effects. It has grossed $263 million worldwide against a production budget of $200–220 million, not including marketing costs, making it one of the biggest box-office bombs of all time, with projections of as much as a $200 million loss for Warner Bros.

Blue Beetle, starring actor Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle, was released in the United States on August 18, 2023. The film grossed $115 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews from critics, but it emerged as a box-office bomb, grossing nearly $125 million worldwide against a production budget of $104 million and became the lowest-grossing film in the DCEU. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the sequel to Aquaman, is scheduled to be released on December 20, 2023, following several delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and post-production and financial setbacks.

By the end of 2022, director James Gunn and producer Peter Safran were officially hired as co-CEOs of the newly branded DC Studios. On January 31, 2023, Gunn announced new projects for the new franchise titled ''DC Universe'', starting with Superman: Legacy, which will premiere in July 2025.

DC Imprints and Sub-Imprints

Active

 Vertigo (1993-)
 MAD/ MAD Magazine (Acquired by Warner in the 60's, integrated with DC Comics around 2001.)

Defunct

 WildStorm (1999-2010)*
 CMX (2004-2010)
 Homage Comics
 Cliffhanger
 America's Best Comics (1999-2010)
 Helix (1996-1998)
 Tangent Comics (1997-2008)
 Paradox Press (1993-2001)
 Piranha Press (1989-1994)
 Humanoids (2004)
 2000AD (Reprints from Rebellion's 2000 AD line)
 Milestone (Owned by Milestone Media)
 Impact!
 Focus
 Minx (2007-2008)
 Zuda (2007-2010)

*the imprint was founded in 1992 but as part of the Image conglomerate and only moved to DC in 1999.

1934 establishments in the United States
Comics publishing companies

is:DC Comics

DC Comics


Garhwal District is a former district in Kumaon of British India of the United Provinces, and had an area of . It later became a part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, today it is part of the Indian state Uttarakhand.

History
The first dynasty that ruled over Uttarakhand was Katyuri. It marked various milestones in the area of inscriptions and temples. After the downfall of Katyuris the whole of Garhwal region was broken up into more than sixty four principalities which were ruled by a chieftain. Originally Garhwal had 52  (fortresses). These  were small and had their own chiefs who were responsible for the welfare of the fort. The Garhwal Kingdom was found by one of the chief named Ajay Pal, who reduced the petty forts and brought them under his own chieftainship. He and his ancestors ruled over Garhwal and Tehri till 1803. During their rule they encountered various attacks from "Mughals", "Sikhs", "Rohillas" and "Gorkhas". The Garhwalis started associating the term "Gorkhyani" with massacre. Despite the efforts of the Garhwalis the Gorkhas managed to capture till Langoorgarh but had to retreat due to an attack by the Chinese army.  In 1803 the Gorkha Kingdom invaded Kumaon and Garhwal yet again and drove the Garhwal chief away. For the next 12 years the Gorkhas ruled over Garhwal. In 1814 they got into a war with the British for encroaching on their territory. Garhwal and Kumaon then became a British district. Garhwal had an area of 5629 sq. mil and was under the Kumaon division. After independence garhwal, Almora and Nainital were administered by the commissioner of Kumaon division. In 1960 Chamoli was removed out of the Garhwal region. In 1969 Garhwal division was established and Pauri was made its headquarters.

People
The people of Garhwal are known as Garhwalis. Very often they are called Pahari, meaning People from the mountains. Almost 99% of the Garhwalis are Hindus. Today they have migrated from the mountains to all over the world. People of almost all ethnicities can be found in the Garhwal region.  Following are some of them:

Rajputs:: The Rajputs has been derived from the Sanskrit tatpurusha " Rajaputra" meaning "son of the King". They belong to the Indian Subcontinent and are also found in the northern region of Garhwal. They are believed to be of Aryan origin. The Rajputs came from the Hindu Kush through Kashmir and settled in parts of Himachal Pradesh and some areas of the South. They later migrated from there to Garhwal. Later they fled from the plains to the mountains when the Mughals invaded Rajasthan. They settled in the mountains and brought new skills and techniques along with them and practiced agriculture for a lot of time. Later they started joining other professions also. The Rajputs have also been a part of the Garhwal army. Today Garhwali Rajputs can be found all over the world.
Brahmins: The Brahmins settled in the Garhwal region are considered to be the descendants of the priests who migrated from the plains and settled in Garhwal. The Garhwali Brahmins are also believed to have fled from various regions to flee from the Mughal invasion. They penetrated through valleys into Garhwal and found many areas named similarly to those from where they had migrated.
Tribals: The Tribals of Garhwal are of Mongoloid origin and have settled in the upper tracts of Garhwal. They lead a nomadic or semi nomadic way of life and are involved in occupations like animal husbandry, trade etc. Following are some of the tribes of Garhwal: A. Jaunsaris of Jaunsar-Bawar

References

Districts of British India
Historical Indian regions
History of Uttarakhand
Pauri Garhwal district
Tehri Garhwal district

Garhwal District


Sir Victor Martin Reeves Goodman KCB OBE MC (14 February 1899 – 29 September 1967) was a British public servant and Clerk of the Parliaments from 1959 to 1963.

He was educated at Eton College. He served in the First World War with the Coldstream Guards, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1919.

In 1920 he became a Clerk in the House of Lords. He became Judicial Taxing Officer in 1934, Principal Clerk of the Judicial Office in 1946, Reading Clerk in 1949, and Clerk Assistant in 1953. He was appointed Clerk of the Parliaments in 1959 and retired in 1963.

From 1941 to 1945 he was Chief ARP and Security Officer of the Palace of Westminster.

From 1949 to 1963 he was a trustee of the British Museum. From 1963 until his death he was a trustee of the Natural History Museum.

He was appointed OBE in 1946, CB in 1951, and KCB in 1959.

Personal life

In 1928 he married Julian Morrell, daughter of Lady Ottoline Morrell; they had two sons and a daughter. The marriage was dissolved in 1946, and in 1948 he married Anstice Crawley. She died in 2001.

Notes and references

External links
Parliamentary Archives, Papers of Sir Victor Martin Reeves Goodman

1899 births
1967 deaths
People educated at Eton College
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Recipients of the Military Cross
Clerks of the Parliaments

Victor Goodman


Harpactea sadistica is a species of dysderine spider, found only in Israel. It was first described in 2008.

Description
Both sexes have the same body characteristics. The length of the pale yellow-brown, smooth carapace ranges from 1.1 to 1.7 mm. The legs are pale yellow, with the first two pairs darker than the other two. The cylindrical, whitish opisthosoma is 2.3 mm long in the holotype specimen. The tip of the embolus of the male resembles the tip of a hypodermic needle, and the vulva of the female is atrophied.

Ecology
Harpactea sadistica probably exhibits an annual lifecycle. Eggs are laid from March to April. The species is found in woodlands dominated by Quercus calliprinos and pine plantations, and in steppe habitats where Asphodelus is predominant.

Traumatic insemination
Harpactea sadistica is the first spider species – and the first member of the entire subphylum Chelicerata – found to use traumatic insemination. The males have specialized genital structures at the pedipalps that are adapted to grip the female and inject the sperm, using a structure resembling a hypodermic needle. After positioning himself, the male pierces the female on both sides and injects the sperm directly into the ovaries, resulting in about eight holes in two rows. Consistent with the modified mating behavior, the spermathecae of the female, which normally store received sperm, are weakly developed in this species.

Whereas in other spiders the eggs are fertilized only when laid, in this special case fertilization takes place at the moment of insemination, and develop as embryos before being laid.

This behavior seems to have evolved in order to ensure that the mating male is also the one providing the sperm for the progeny. Spermathecae fertilize the eggs with the sperm of the last mating male. With the adaption of traumatic insemination, the male ensures that his sperm will be used, circumventing this mechanism.

Like many other spider species, H. sadistica has elaborated mating rituals preceding the insemination, involving tapping the female, subduing her and wrapping himself around her in order to position himself prior to insemination.

Name
The species name refers to the seemingly sadistic habit of stabbing the body cavity of the female.

Notes

References
  (2008) Description of Harpactea sadistica n. sp. (Araneae: Dysderidae) — a haplogyne spider with reduced female genitalia. Zootaxa 1698: 65-68. Abstract
  (2009): The spider Harpactea sadistica: co-evolution of traumatic insemination and complex female genital morphology in spiders. Proc Biol Sci. —
  (2009): The world spider catalog, version 9.5. American Museum of Natural History.
 BBC News (April 30, 2009): Spider sex violent but effective

Dysderidae
Endemic fauna of Israel
Spiders of Asia
Spiders described in 2008

Harpactea sadistica


William Murray (died 1998) was a drummer and photographer from Glasgow, Scotland.

Career

As a drummer in the early 1970s Murray played with acts including Richard and Linda Thompson's 'Sour Grapes' band and Irish progressive folk band Mellow Candle.  In the 1970s Murray acted as drummer on Kevin Ayers's album Whatevershebringswesing and he later worked with Paul Kossoff.

As a musician Murray also worked with the British multi-instrumentalist, Mike Oldfield, who bought Murray a camera.  Murray worked with Oldfield on albums such as Ommadawn, writing the lyrics for "On Horseback".  Murray became a fashion photographer and moved to Dallas, Texas, United States.  In America Murray also formed a band called The Same with Clodagh Simonds, Carter Burwell, Stephen Bray and Chip Johanessen.

Murray took the photograph of Mike Oldfield that appears on the cover of his 1990 album, Amarok and wrote a short story for the booklet.

Murray died in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland.

References

Year of birth missing
1998 deaths
Scottish drummers
British male drummers
Scottish photographers
Mellow Candle members

William Murray (musician)


The Enriched Xenon Observatory (EXO) is a particle physics experiment searching for neutrinoless double beta decay of xenon-136 at WIPP near Carlsbad, New Mexico, U.S.

Neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) detection would prove the Majorana nature of neutrinos and impact the neutrino mass values and ordering.  These are important open topics in particle physics.

EXO currently has a 200-kilogram xenon liquid time projection chamber (EXO-200) with R&D efforts on a ton-scale experiment (nEXO).  Xenon double beta decay was detected and limits have been set for 0νββ.

Overview
EXO measures the rate of neutrinoless decay events above the expected background of similar signals, to find or limit the double beta decay half-life, which relates to the effective neutrino mass using nuclear matrix elements. A limit on effective neutrino mass below 0.01 eV would determine the neutrino mass order.  The effective neutrino mass is dependent on the lightest neutrino mass in such a way that that bound indicates the normal mass hierarchy.

The expected rate of 0νββ events is very low, so background radiation is a significant problem.  WIPP has  of rock overburden—equivalent to  of water—to screen incoming cosmic rays.  Lead shielding and a cryostat also protect the setup.  The neutrinoless decays would appear as narrow spike in the energy spectrum around the xenon Q-value (Qββ = 2457.8 keV), which is fairly high and above most gamma decays.

EXO-200

History
EXO-200 was designed with a goal of less than 40 events per year within two standard deviations of expected decay energy. This background was achieved by selecting and screening all materials for radiopurity.  Originally the vessel was to be made of Teflon, but the final design of the vessel uses thin, ultra-pure copper.  EXO-200 was relocated from Stanford to WIPP in the summer of 2007.  Assembly and commissioning continued until the end of 2009 with data taking beginning in May 2011. Calibration was done using 228Th, 137Cs, and 60Co gamma sources.

Design
The prototype EXO-200 uses a copper cylindrical time projection chamber filled with  of pure liquid xenon.  Xenon is a scintillator, so decay particles produce prompt light which is detected by avalanche photodiodes, providing the event time.  A large electric field drives ionization electrons to wires for collection. The time between the light and first collection determines the z coordinate of the event, while a grid of wires determines the radial and angular coordinates.

Results
The background from earth radioactivity(Th/U) and 137Xe contamination led to ≈2×10−3 counts/(keV·kg·yr) in the detector.  Energy resolution near Qββ of 1.53% was achieved.

In August 2011, EXO-200 was the first experiment to observe double beta decay of 136Xe, with a half life of 2.11×1021 years. This is the slowest directly observed process. An improved half life of 2.165 ±0.016(stat) ±0.059(sys) × 1021 years was published in 2014.  EXO set a limit on neutrinoless beta decay of 1.6×1025 years in 2012.  A revised analysis of run 2 data with 100 kg·yr exposure, reported in the June issue of Nature reduced the limits on half-life to 1.1×1025 yr, and mass to 450 meV.  This was used to confirm the power of the design and validate the proposed expansion.

Additional running for two years was taken.

EXO-200 has performed two scientific operations, Phase I (2011-2014) and after upgrades, Phase II (2016 - 2018) for a total exposure of 234.1 kg·yr. No evidence of neutrinoless double beta decay has been found in the combined Phase I and II data, giving the lower bound of  years for the half-life and upper mass of 239 meV. Phase II was the final operation of EXO-200.

nEXO

A ton-scale experiment, nEXO ("next EXO"), must overcome many backgrounds.  The EXO collaboration is exploring many possibilities to do so, including barium tagging in liquid xenon.  Any double beta decay event will leave behind a daughter barium ion, while backgrounds, such as radioactive impurities or neutrons, will not.  Requiring a barium ion at the location of an event eliminates all backgrounds.  Tagging of a single ion of barium has been demonstrated and progress has been made on a method for extracting ions out of the liquid xenon.  A freezing probe method has been demonstrated, and gaseous tagging is also being developed.

The 2014 EXO-200 paper indicated a 5000 kg TPC can improve the background by xenon self-shielding and better electronics. Diameter would be increased to 130 cm and a water tank would be added as shielding and muon veto.  This is much larger than the attenuation length for gamma rays. Radiopure copper for nEXO has been completed. It is planned for installation in the SNOLAB "Cryopit".

An Oct. 2017 paper details the experiment and discusses the sensitivity and the discovery potential of nEXO for neutrinoless double beta decay.
Details on the ionization readout of the TPC have also been published.

The pre-Conceptual Design Report (pCDR) for nEXO was published in 2018. The planned location is SNOLAB, Canada.

References

External links
EXO web site
nEXO web site
EXO experiment record on INSPIRE-HEP

Particle experiments
Neutrino experiments

Enriched Xenon Observatory


Cujas Library (), named after the French jurist and scholar Jacques Cujas (1520–1590), is an academic research library, and the largest law library in Europe. It is located in the Latin Quarter, next to the Panthéon and Sainte-Geneviève Library, in the 5th arrondissement of Paris.

History

Cujas Library was originally the library of the Law School of the University of Paris (which dates back to 1215). The collections of the library were dispersed during the French Revolution . Consequently the current collections have been built since 1829 only.

From 1876 to 1914, Paul Viollet, head librarian, dedicated much effort to developing the library's collections. At that time, the library was located in the main building of the Law School of Paris, on the Place du Panthéon. In 1958, a new building was opened to house the Library.

In 1970, the University of Paris was split into several universities. The former Law School library became an inter-university library. In 1978, the library took the name of Cujas Library. Since 1979, Cujas Library has been operating under the supervision of Panthéon-Assas University and Pantheon-Sorbonne University.

Privileges

Access to the library is mainly for scholars, Panthéon-Assas University and Panthéon-Sorbonne University 3rd-year undergraduates and postgraduates, and other universities' students (LLM and PhD students), and people with special interests in law, economics, and political sciences.

Collections

The library is specialized in law, since it has been and still is a major reference and research library in legal studies. But Economics and Political Sciences are also targeted for acquisitions.

The library holds 750,000 items, including all Panthéon-Sorbonne University and Panthéon-Assas University legal dissertations and some doctoral dissertations from other universities. It is also a European Documentation Centre and has official documents by the United Nations and its committees from 1948 to 2010. Documents from the League of Nations, from the International Labour Organization and from the International Labour Office (journals) are also present.

There is a significant rare book collection and reading room () whose items have been acquired over the years. Cujas Library has a partnership with the French National Library (), as far as projects in the field of Law are concerned, especially in preservation and digitization.

References

External links
Official website

Law libraries
Libraries in Paris
University of Paris
Buildings of the University of Paris
Buildings and structures in the 5th arrondissement of Paris
Academic libraries in France
Libraries established in 1829

Cujas Library


A Day of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing up in Warsaw is an autobiographical account of a childhood in Warsaw, Poland, written by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Published in 1969, it is a series of 19 short stories written by Singer depicting his childhood growing up in the Jewish area of Warsaw. In each chapter, a different story is detailed, with a focus on specific people Singer encountered in his neighborhood during this period. The stories detail the conditions and emotions associated with daily life in the city, such as poverty, confusion and even excitement during the pre-war era in the 1900s.

Acclaim and awards
 "This is a collection of 19 episodes from Singer's boyhood life on Krochmalna Street in Warsaw. "Singer has written an extraordinary book that will give many days of pleasure to adults as well as children. These are sensitive, youthful and observant portraits of what Jewish life was like in Poland." - Publishers Weekly
 "Singer's memories of his youth in Poland make a powerful, brilliant children's book. The author lays out a panorama of Jewish life in the city-- the rabbis in black velvet and gabardine, the shopkeepers, the street urchins and schoolboys, the poverty, the confusion, the excitement of the prewar time. But even more, the author reveals himself; and the torments and mysteries that plagued him as a child will make his stories fascinating to other children....Reflecting a bygone world, the photographs add a further note of realism and power." - The Horn Book
 Received the 1970 National Book Award for Children's Literature.
 Judges from the National Book Award for Children's Literature: "At a time when in children's literature the power of the imagination is frequently lost sight of or diluted, it is fortunate that we can honor a great storyteller. Mr. Singer has created out of remembered fragments of his own childhood a place instantly familiar where life is not neat and orderly, where the adventures of a boy throw into sharp and recognizable focus those resistant elements of the ever-troubled human condition."
 It is an ALA Notable Book.

References

External links
A Day of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing up in Warsaw: Macmillan Publishers
A Day of Pleasure... : goodreads.com
A Day of Pleasure... : amazon.com

Autobiographies
Books by Isaac Bashevis Singer
1969 non-fiction books
1969 children's books
Children's books set in Poland
Children's books set in the 1900s
Children's books set in the 1910s

A Day of Pleasure


Sir Edward James Reed, KCB, FRS (20 September 1830 – 30 November 1906) was a British naval architect, author, politician, and railroad magnate. He was the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1863 until 1870. He was a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1874 to 1906.

Early life
Edward Reed was born in Sheerness, Kent and was the son of John and Elizabeth Reed. He was a naval apprentice at Sheerness and subsequently entered the School of Mathematics and Naval Construction at Portsmouth. In 1851 he married Rosetta, the sister of Nathaniel Barnaby. Barnaby was at that time a fellow student; he would subsequently succeed Reed as Chief Constructor. In 1852 he entered employment at Sheerness Dockyard, but resigned after a disagreement with the management. He then worked in journalism, including editing the Mechanics' Magazine. In 1860, Reed was appointed secretary of the newly formed Institute of Naval Architects.

Naval architect
In 1863, at the early age of 33, succeeded Isaac Watts as Chief Constructor. His term of office saw the final transition from wooden to ironclad warships. Notable warships constructed under his direction included:
HMS Bellerophon using an innovative "bracket frame" system of construction in 1865.
The ocean-going turret-ship HMS Monarch in 1868.
The mastless turret ship HMS Devastation in 1871.

His tenure was marred by intense controversy with the naval officer, MP and inventor Captain Cowper Phipps Coles. This culminated in the funding by Parliament of a new battleship, HMS Captain, to be built to Coles' requirement without reference to Reed's department and contrary to his advice. Embittered, Reed resigned in July 1870. "His departure was described as a national disaster by the Controller, Vice-Admiral Robert Spencer Robinson." The following September, the Captain foundered in a gale with the loss of nearly 500 lives, including Captain Coles.

He was a trenchant, though ultimately reactionary, critic of the policy of his successors as Chief Constructor. After leaving the Admiralty, he continued to design warships for the navies of other nations. These included Brazil, Germany, Chile and Japan. A number of these vessels were subsequently purchased by the Royal Navy.

Reed was appointed Companion of the Bath (CB) in 1868, during his term as Chief Constructor, and subsequently Knight Commander of the Bath (KCB) in 1880. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1876. He was also a Knight Commander of the Imperial Russian Order of St Stanislus, a Knight of the Austrian Order of Franz Joseph, and of the Turkish Order of the Medjidie.

At Reed's suggestion, the Channel Tubular Railway Preliminary Company was founded in London in 1892, a company with a capital of £40,000, whose capital was to be raised through the issue of 250,000 Parts de Fondateurs. The company, led by Reed, planned the construction of a railway tunnel through the English Channel, which would allow travelers to reach their destination faster than would be possible with a boat crossing. The project failed due to political considerations.

Parliamentary career
At the 1874 general election Reed was elected as Liberal member of parliament for Pembroke.

Reed visited Japan in 1879 at the invitation of the Imperial Government. Ostensibly Reed was there to oversee the delivery of three new British built iron-clad warships, Fusō, Kongō, and Hiei for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Given the ostentatious entertainment provided by his Japanese hosts over a period of three months, there were also inevitable political considerations; Japan was actively seeking revision of unequal trade agreements and was eager to develop influence with prominent Liberal members of the House of Commons. On his return to London, Reed wrote a sympathetic history of the country published to some success the following year.

At the next General Election in 1880 he was elected as member for Cardiff. In 1886, he was appointed Lord of the Treasury in Gladstone's third ministry.

Reed lost his parliamentary seat in 1895, but regained it in 1900. In 1905 he indicated that he would retire from parliament at the next election that occurred in 1906.

Florida railroad magnate
In 1881, Reed and several English and Dutch investors purchased the Atlantic, Gulf, and West India Transit Company, the 1872 reorganization of the Florida Railroad, which ran cross-state in Florida from Fernandina southwest to Cedar Key, and which operated two subsidiaries: the Peninsular Railroad, running to Ocala and Silver Springs from a junction with the Florida Railroad at Waldo; and the Tropical Florida Railroad, which ran from Ocala to Wildwood. Reed reorganized the three railroads as the Florida Transit Company, which he reorganized again as the Florida Transit and Peninsular Railroad in 1883.

In 1882, Reed acquired the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad (JP&M), which ran from Quincy east through Tallahassee to Lake City, and its subsidiary, the Florida Central Railroad, which ran east from Lake City to Jacksonville. Reed reorganized both the JP&M and the Florida Central as the Florida Central and Western Railroad.

In 1884, Reed merged the Florida Central and Western with the Florida Transit and Peninsular and, in 1885, after signing lease agreements with two smaller Florida lines, brought all of these entities under the umbrella of one large firm, the Florida Railway and Navigation Company. Reed subsequently withdrew from active control and, in 1886, after a brief receivership, the corporation was reorganized as the Florida Central and Peninsular Railroad (FC&P). In 1900, a year after purchasing the majority of FC&P stock, the newly organized Seaboard Air Line Railway (now CSX Transportation) leased the FC&P and, in 1903, acquired it outright.

Death
Reed died from heart failure at his home in The Strand, London in November 1906. He was buried in Putney Vale Cemetery on 4 December. His son Edward Tennyson Reed became the political caricaturist of Punch magazine.

Works
Notable works include
Shipbuilding in Iron and Steel (1868)
Our Ironclad Ships, their Qualities, Performance and Cost (1869)
Japan: its History, Traditions, and Religions, with the Narrative of a Visit in 1879 Two volumes. London, J. Murray (1880)
Treatise on the stability of ships (1884)

References

Further reading
 Brown, DK (2003). Warrior to Dreadnought: Warship Development 1860–1905. Caxton Editions. .
 Archibald, EHH (1984). The Fighting Ship in the Royal Navy 1897–1984. Blandford. .
 Sandler, Stanley,  "The Emergence of the Modern Capital Ship".  Newark, DE:  University of Delaware Press/Associated University Presses.  1979.
 Turner, Gregg M. (2008) A Journey into Florida Railroad History. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. .

External links

 Royal Society of London on-line biography
Reed Obituary
A Treatise on the Stability of Ships written by Edward Reed in 1885

1830 births
1906 deaths
Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery
English engineers
People from Sheerness
Royal Navy
British naval architects
Fellows of the Royal Society
Liberal Party (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cardiff constituencies
Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath
UK MPs 1874–1880
UK MPs 1880–1885
UK MPs 1885–1886
UK MPs 1886–1892
UK MPs 1892–1895
UK MPs 1900–1906
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Pembrokeshire constituencies
19th-century British businesspeople

Edward Reed (naval architect)


San Pietro a Patierno is an area located in the southern part of Naples, Italy. It is known primarily for its international airport, Naples International Airport, which is also referred to as Capodichino Airport. The airport serves as the main transportation hub for Naples and the surrounding region, handling both domestic and international flights. In addition to the airport, Capodichino is also home to various military bases and facilities. The area has a mix of residential, commercial, and industrial areas, with several hotels and restaurants catering to visitors arriving or departing from the airport.

Naples

San Pietro a Patierno


Naraiv, also Narayiv, Narajiv (; ; ; ) is a selo in Ternopil Raion of Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Naraiv rural hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine.

Naraiv is within Eastern Galicia, former Austrian empire (until 1918).  In the past it was a town. The first historical mention dates to 1445. Naraiv is situated along the small river of Naraivka, a tributary of Zolota Lypa in a picturesque natural surrounding of vast beech and hornbeam forests and fertile rolling hills (western part of Podolian Upland, ethno-geographic area of Galician Opillya).

Until 18 July 2020, Naraiv belonged to Berezhany Raion. The raion was abolished in July 2020 as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Ternopil Oblast to three. The area of Berezhany Raion was merged into Ternopil Raion. Naraiv was the largest rural locality (of 1,799 people) in the raion.

Naraiv lies on the road between Berezhany and Peremyshlyany, right in the middle between the two cities, and consists of 2 parts - Naraiv Misto (Naraiv the town) and Naraiv Selo (Naraiv the village).

Population

Currently Naraiv has 1.799 inhabitants, mostly Galician Ukrainians.

In the year 1900, "Naraiv Town" had 2851 inhabitants. Among those were: 1451 Ukrainians/Ruthenians (Greek Catholics), 458 Poles (Roman Catholic faith), 928 Jews and 14 others. In 1939, "Naraiv Town´s" population numbered already 3910 inhabitants. Among them 1980 Ukrainians (Greek-Catholics), 520 Poles (Roman Catholic faith), 330 Roman Catholics (Ukrainians/Poles), 30 Polish colonizers newcomers and 780 Jews.

In 1900 "Naraiv Selo" had 1139 inhabitants. Among them: 856 Ukrainians, 205 Poles and 78 Jews and some decades later in 1939 it grew to 1740 inhabitants. Among them: 1160 Ukrainians, 25 Poles, 330 Roman Catholics (Ukrainians/Poles), 200 Polish colonizers newcomers and 25 Jews.

Jewish and Polish communities

Prior to the war there was a Jewish community in Naraiv of 805 Jews (in 1939), the most of whom were annihilated during the Holocaust. Some survivors immigrated in Israel. Around 1945, most of the local Poles (775) had been deported to western Poland.

The First Narayever Congregation, a Jewish synagogue in downtown Toronto, was founded in 1914 by Jewish immigrants from Naraiv in the early 20th century.

Holocaust in Naraiv

In the autumn of 1942, the day after Yom Kippur holiday, the brutal German soldiers arrived from Berezhany gathering all the Naraiv Jews who were not able to find a hideout and took them by trucks to Berezhany. From there to the Belzec Death Camp in Belzec, Poland. After about a month and a half, the Naraiv was declared "Judenfrei".

Communications

There are daily bus connections between Naraiv and Berezhany, as well as between Naraiv and Lviv. Direct daily buses for Naraiv leave from the secondary bus terminal at the end of Lychakivska Street in Lviv or the daily bus route (twice a day) for Berezhany (which stops at Naraiv) from the main city terminal in Lviv.

Postal code for Naraiv is 47513.

The closest international airports to Naraiv, in the order of proximity, are:

 Lviv International Airport, in Lviv (LWO), 65,8 km away
 Ivano-Frankivsk International Airport, in Ivano-Frankivsk (IFO), 72,4 km away
 Chernivtsi International Airport, in Chernivtsi (CWC), 161,4 km away
 Rzeszów International Airport, in Rzeszow (RZE), Poland, 207,2 km. away

Nearby locations

The direct line distances between Naraiv and nearby locations. Road distances might be slightly longer.

 Rohachyn - 7,8 km.
 Kuriany - 11,3 km.
 Urman - 13,7 km.
 Berezhany - 15 km., district center
 Pomoriany - 16 km.
 Rohatyn - 17 km.
 Peremyshliany - 21,5 km.
 Svirzh - 27 km.
 Kozova - 29 km.
 Zolochiv - 31 km.
 Ternopil - 59 km., regional center
 Lviv - 63 km., the biggest city in the entire region
 Ivano-Frankivsk - 68 km., second biggest city in the region

Places of interest in the area

 Univ Lavra (24 km) - the major Ukrainian Greek-Catholic monastery (of Studite brethren) in the area in the village of Univ near Peremyshlyany.
 Berezhany Castle (15 km) -  built between the 1530s and 1540s by Mikołaj Sieniawski as the main residence of the Sieniawski magnate family.
 Svirzh Castle (27 km)  - a fortified aristocratic residence in Svirzh, surrounded on all sides by moats, lakes, and marshes.

People
 Levko Riznyk, Ukrainian writer,
 Moyshe Nadir, Jewish Yiddish language writer
 Jackie Kahane, Canadian-American comedian

References

External links
 Informational website about Narayiv
 Official data about the village
 Narayev, Ukraine
 Narayiv entry in the Geographical Dictionary of the Polish Kingdom
 Weather in Narayiv
 Narayiv synagogue "The First Narayever Congregation" in Toronto, founded by Narayiv Jews
 History of the Jewish community in Narayiv

Naraiv rural hromada
Villages in Ternopil Raion
Historic Jewish communities in Ukraine
Former cities in Ukraine
Holocaust locations in Ukraine

Naraiv


The Local Group is the group of galaxies that includes our galaxy, the Milky Way.

The group has more than 50 galaxies (including dwarf galaxies).  Its center of mass is somewhere between the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy.  The galaxies of the Local Group cover a 10 million light-year diameter and have a binary (dumbbell) shape. The group has a total mass of about (1.29 ± 0.14)Ms.
The group itself is part of the Virgo Supercluster (also called the Local Supercluster).

History
The term "Local Group" was introduced by Edwin Hubble in 1936. He describes it as "a typical small group of nebulae which is isolated in the general field". He listed the galaxies, by decreasing luminosity, as the Andromeda galaxy, the Milky Way, Triangulum galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Small Magellanic Cloud and half-a-dozen others.

By 2003, the number of known Local Group members has increased from his initial twelve to thirty-six, because of the discovery of almost two dozen low-luminosity galaxies.

Movement of the Local Group

The Milky Way, Andromeda, and the whole Local Group are being pulled by the gravitational attraction of the most massive structure in the observable universe. They are being pulled by the Shapley attractor, which is a dense supercluster of galaxies some 750 million light years from the Milky Way.

At the same time, the Local Group is being pushed by an almost empty region of space called the "dipole repeller".

Map

Related pages
Galaxy
List of galaxies
Most distant things
Sag DEG

References

Galaxy clusters

Local Group


Doctor X is a 1932 American pre-Code  mystery horror film produced jointly by First National and Warner Bros. Based on the 1931 play originally titled The Terror by Howard W. Comstock and Allen C. Miller, it was directed by Michael Curtiz and stars Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray and Lee Tracy.

Doctor X was produced before the Motion Picture Production Code was enforced. Themes such as murder, rape, cannibalism and prostitution are interwoven into the story. The film was one of the last produced, along with Warner Bros.' subsequent Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), in the early two-color Technicolor process. Separate black-and-white prints were shipped to small towns and foreign markets, while color prints were reserved for major cities.

Plot
Daily World newshawk Lee Taylor is investigating a series of pathological murders that have taken place over a series of months in New York City. The murders always take place at night, under the glow of a full moon, and each body has been cannibalized after the murder. Witnesses describe a horribly disfigured "monster" as the killer.

Doctor Xavier is called in for his medical opinion, but the police have an ulterior motive. They want to investigate Xavier's medical academy, as the scalpel used to cannibalize the bodies of the victims is exclusive to that institution. Aside from Xavier, the other suspects are: Wells, an amputee who has made a study of cannibalism; Haines, who displays a sexual perversion with voyeurism; Duke, a grouchy paralytic; and Rowitz, who is conducting studies of the psychological effects of the moon.

The police give Xavier 48 hours to apprehend the killer in his own way. During this time, reporter Taylor investigates the doctor's intentions and in the process, meets Joanne Xavier, the doctor's daughter. Joanne is exceedingly cold to Taylor, particularly after finding out that it was his story that pointed a finger at her father and ruined his first attempt at locating the killer. Taylor takes a romantic interest in Joanne, despite her hostility.

At Dr. Xavier's beach-side estate, all of the suspects gather for an unorthodox experiment. Each member is being investigated except Wells, because the killer has two hands and Wells has but one. Each man is connected to an electrical system that records his heart rate. When a re-enactment of the murder of the cleaning woman appears before them, the detector will expose the guilty man. Dr. Xavier's butler and maid, Otto and Mamie, carry out the reenactment.

During the experiment, a blackout occurs. When power is regained, it is discovered that Rowitz, whose monitor supposedly revealed him as the guilty party just before the blackout, has been murdered by use of a scalpel to the brain. Later that night, it is discovered that Rowitz's body has been cannibalized.

The following evening, Xavier asks Otto and Mamie to re-enact another of the murders. Mamie is too frightened to play her part, so Joanne takes her place. All of the men, save for Wells, are this time handcuffed to their seats, and the doors locked to keep Wells at the recording cabinet.

During the experiment, Wells sneaks into a secret laboratory where he transforms himself with "synthetic flesh" into the monstrous Moon Killer. After strangling Otto, Wells reveals to his horrified colleagues that he has been committing the murders to collect living samples of human flesh for his experiments. He declares his intention to collect Joanne as his victim.

As Wells is about to strangle Joanne, Taylor – concealed among a series of wax figures representing the killer's victims – jumps Wells. After an extended fight, Taylor hurls a kerosene lamp at Wells, setting him on fire. Wells crashes through a window and falls down a cliff in flames to the ocean shore below. Reporting his story into the paper, Taylor tells his editor to make space in the marriage section for Joanne and himself.

Cast

Production

The film was the second Warner Bros. feature to be filmed in the improved Technicolor process, which removed grain and improved both the color and clarity of a reel's images. This improved process had initially been used on The Runaround (1931) and resulted in an attempt at a color revival by the studios late in 1931. However, facing public apathy, the studios quickly retreated from their ambitious plans for color films late in 1932.

During production, an alternative black-and-white version was shot and still exists, although side-by-side comparison shows that most takes between the two are the same. Differences in takes are minor, such as Tracy's ad-lib with a skeleton in the closet, and Mae Busch's dialogue as a madam at a brothel. The black-and-white version was offered to exhibitors (much to Technicolor's dismay) as an alternative upon the initial release of the film.

The film was produced in the pre-Code era of Hollywood and contains adult themes throughout, such as those of murder, cannibalism, prostitution, and rape.

Following the success of Doctor X at the box office, Warner Bros. followed up with Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), which also starred Fay Wray and Lionel Atwill and was directed by Curtiz. Mystery of the Wax Museum was again shot in Technicolor to fulfill Warner Bros.' contract with Technicolor Inc., which ensured that no black-and-white cameras were present on the set. The film became the last two-color Technicolor feature released by a major studio.

Anton Grot designed the sets for both Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum had their sets. The makeup was designed by Max Factor, who at that point had been associated with beauty makeup. Mystery of the Wax Museum also shared Factor's horror makeup design.

Doctor X was the first of three Curtiz films with Lionel Atwill, along with Mystery of the Wax Museum and the 1935 Errol Flynn adventure film Captain Blood. Doctor X was also the first of three films that costarred Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray. They would later star together in The Mystery of the Wax Museum and The Vampire Bat.

Reception
Time magazine's reviewer wrote: "Doctor X is a routine nightmare ... and is intended for avid patrons of synthetic horror rather than for normal cinemaddicts." However, Doctor X was well-received by many critics and proved to be a success at the box office. Because of the popularity of the film, Warner Bros. followed it with Mystery of the Wax Museum. Despite the title, The Return of Doctor X (1939) is not considered a sequel. However, the 1942 Universal horror movie Night Monster, which also co-stars Atwill as a doctor, has a similar plot and virtually the same denouement.

Box office
According to Warner Bros., the film earned $405,000 domestically and $189,000 foreign.

Preservation
By the late 1950s, when the black-and-white version of the film was included in a package of older films syndicated to television, the Technicolor version was thought to be lost. No print could be found, and Technicolor had discarded most of its two-color negatives on December 28, 1948.

After the death of Jack L. Warner on September 9, 1978, a print was discovered in his personal collection. It was copied to safety film for preservation, distribution to revival theaters and transfer to video. The original nitrate film print was donated to the UCLA Film & Television Archive, which on very rare occasions has allowed it to be screened publicly at properly equipped and licensed facilities. A far superior digital restoration was conducted by the archive in 2020 and debuted on Blu-ray disc in April 2021.

In popular culture
In the stage musical The Rocky Horror Show and its film adaptation, the opening song, "Science Fiction/Double Feature", references many classic sci-fi/horror films. Among these references is the line "Doctor X will build a creature", despite the fact that Doctor X does not build a creature in the original film.

In homage to the film, the progressive metal band Queensrÿche featured a character named Doctor X (known as Dr. X in the lyrics) as the main antagonist of the band's 1988 concept album Operation: Mindcrime.

A line of dialogue early in the film was sampled on the album Dr. Octagonecologyst by the rapper Kool Keith.

Sequel
 The Return of Doctor X

See also
 List of early color feature films
 The Silence of the Lambs

References

External links

Stills at pre-code.com

1932 films
1930s color films
1932 horror films
American science fiction horror films
1930s English-language films
Films directed by Michael Curtiz
Films about journalists
Films set in New York City
First National Pictures films
Films about cannibalism
Films produced by Darryl F. Zanuck
Films produced by Hal B. Wallis
Warner Bros. films
Early color films
Mad scientist films
American serial killer films
American comedy horror films
1930s American films

Doctor X (film)


Raluca Nicoleta Strămăturaru (born 22 November 1985 in Sinaia) is a Romanian luger who has competed since 1996. Her younger sister Violeta Strămăturaru is also a luger.

Strămăturaru's best Luge World Cup season finish was 23rd in women's singles in 2007–08. Her best finish at the FIL World Luge Championships was 22nd in women's singles at Oberhof in 2008. Her best finish at the FIL European Luge Championships was 17th in women's singles at Cesana Pariol in 2008.

Strămăturaru qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics where she finished 21st.

At her 3rd successive appearance at the Olympics, she ended up with her best career result and the best result for Romania in Winter Olympics in the last 24 years: 7th place at 2018 Winter Olympics and also 10th place(3rd in run1 for her) with the team relay. This performance was a strong one for her country, considering the circumstances there.
In the same world cup season, Raluca Strămăturaru finished 6th at Lillehammer2018, which represents her best result in the world cup contest. She also took 10th place at Altenberg2017 and 7th place in the sprint event from Winterberg2017. All those results, in the 2017-2018 season, made her end up 1st in the Nations Cup (the 2nd competition after the World Cup), where she gained the overall title.

References
FIL-Luge profile

External links

1985 births
Living people
Lugers at the 2010 Winter Olympics
Lugers at the 2014 Winter Olympics
Lugers at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Lugers at the 2022 Winter Olympics
Olympic lugers for Romania
Romanian female lugers
People from Sinaia
Sportspeople from Prahova County

Raluca Strămăturaru


Strontium titanate is an oxide of strontium and titanium with the chemical formula SrTiO3. At room temperature, it is a centrosymmetric paraelectric material with a perovskite structure. At low temperatures it approaches a ferroelectric phase transition with a very large dielectric constant ~104 but remains paraelectric down to the lowest temperatures measured as a result of quantum fluctuations, making it a quantum paraelectric. It was long thought to be a wholly artificial material, until 1982 when its natural counterpart—discovered in Siberia and named tausonite—was recognised by the IMA. Tausonite remains an extremely rare mineral in nature, occurring as very tiny crystals. Its most important application has been in its synthesized form wherein it is occasionally encountered as a diamond simulant, in precision optics, in varistors, and in advanced ceramics.

The name tausonite was given in honour of Lev Vladimirovich Tauson (1917–1989), a Russian geochemist. Disused trade names for the synthetic product include strontium mesotitanate, Diagem, and Marvelite. This product is currently being marketed for its use in jewelry under the name Fabulite.  Other than its type locality of the Murun Massif in the Sakha Republic, natural tausonite is also found in Cerro Sarambi, Concepción department, Paraguay; and along the Kotaki River of Honshū, Japan.

Properties

SrTiO3 has an indirect band gap of 3.25 eV and a direct gap of 3.75 eV  in the typical range of semiconductors.
Synthetic strontium titanate has a very large dielectric constant (300) at room temperature and low electric field. It has a specific resistivity of over 109 Ω-cm for very pure crystals. It is also used in high-voltage capacitors.
Introducing mobile charge carriers by doping leads to Fermi-liquid metallic behavior already at very low charge carrier densities.
At high electron densities strontium titanate becomes superconducting below 0.35 K and was the first insulator and oxide discovered to be superconductive.

Strontium titanate is both much denser (specific gravity 4.88 for natural, 5.13 for synthetic) and much softer (Mohs hardness 5.5 for synthetic, 6–6.5 for natural) than diamond. Its crystal system is cubic and its refractive index (2.410—as measured by sodium light, 589.3 nm) is nearly identical to that of diamond (at 2.417), but the dispersion (the optical property responsible for the "fire" of the cut gemstones) of strontium titanate is 4.3x that of diamond, at 0.190 (B–G interval). This results in a shocking display of fire compared to diamond and diamond simulants such as YAG, GAG, GGG, Cubic Zirconia, and Moissanite.

Synthetics are usually transparent and colourless, but can be doped with certain rare earth or transition metals to give reds, yellows, browns, and blues. Natural tausonite is usually translucent to opaque, in shades of reddish brown, dark red, or grey. Both have an adamantine (diamond-like) lustre. Strontium titanate is considered extremely brittle with a conchoidal fracture; natural material is cubic or octahedral in habit and streaks brown. Through a hand-held (direct vision) spectroscope, doped synthetics will exhibit a rich absorption spectrum typical of doped stones. Synthetic material has a melting point of ca. 2080 °C (3776 °F) and is readily attacked by hydrofluoric acid. Under extremely low oxygen partial pressure, strontium titanate decomposes via incongruent sublimation of strontium well below the melting temperature.

At temperatures lower than 105 K, its cubic structure transforms to tetragonal.  Its monocrystals can be used as optical windows and high-quality sputter deposition targets.

SrTiO3 is an excellent substrate for epitaxial growth of high-temperature superconductors and many oxide-based thin films. It is particularly well known as the substrate for the growth of the lanthanum aluminate-strontium titanate interface. Doping strontium titanate with niobium makes it electrically conductive, being one of the only conductive commercially available single crystal substrates for the growth of perovskite oxides. Its bulk lattice parameter of 3.905Å makes it suitable as the substrate for the growth of many other oxides, including the rare-earth manganites, titanates, lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO3), strontium ruthenate (SrRuO3) and many others. Oxygen vacancies are fairly common in SrTiO3 crystals and thin films. Oxygen vacancies induce free electrons in the conduction band of the material, making it more conductive and opaque. These vacancies can be caused by exposure to reducing conditions, such as high vacuum at elevated temperatures.

High-quality, epitaxial SrTiO3 layers can also be grown on silicon without forming silicon dioxide, thereby making SrTiO3 an alternative gate dielectric material. This also enables the integration of other thin film perovskite oxides onto silicon.

SrTiO3 has been shown to possess persistent photoconductivity where exposing the crystal to light will increase its electrical conductivity by over 2 orders of magnitude. After the light is turned off, the enhanced conductivity persists for several days, with negligible decay.

Due to the significant ionic and electronic conduction of SrTiO3, it is potent to be used as the mixed conductor.

Synthesis

Synthetic strontium titanate was one of several titanates patented during the late 1940s and early 1950s; other titanates included barium titanate and calcium titanate. Research was conducted primarily at the National Lead Company (later renamed NL Industries) in the United States, by Leon Merker and Langtry E. Lynd. Merker and Lynd first patented the growth process on February 10, 1953; a number of refinements were subsequently patented over the next four years, such as modifications to the feed powder and additions of colouring dopants.

A modification to the basic Verneuil process (also known as flame-fusion) is the favoured method of growth. An inverted oxy-hydrogen blowpipe is used, with feed powder mixed with oxygen carefully fed through the blowpipe in the typical fashion, but with the addition of a third pipe to deliver oxygen—creating a tricone burner. The extra oxygen is required for successful formation of strontium titanate, which would otherwise fail to oxidize completely due to the titanium component. The ratio is ca. 1.5 volumes of hydrogen for each volume of oxygen. The highly purified feed powder is derived by first producing titanyl double oxalate salt (SrTiO(C2O4)2) by reacting strontium chloride (SrCl2) and oxalic acid ((COOH)2) with titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4). The salt is washed to completely eliminate chloride, heated to 1000 °C in order to produce a free-flowing granular
powder of the required composition, and is then ground and sieved to ensure all particles are between 0.2–0.5 micrometres in size.

The feed powder falls through the oxyhydrogen flame, melts, and lands on a rotating and slowly descending pedestal below. The height of the pedestal is constantly adjusted to keep its top at the optimal position below the flame, and over a number of hours the molten powder cools and crystallises to form a single pedunculated pear or boule crystal. This boule is usually no larger than 2.5 centimetres in diameter and 10 centimetres long; it is an opaque black to begin with, requiring further annealing in an oxidizing atmosphere in order to make the crystal colourless and to relieve strain. This is done at over 1000 °C for 12 hours.

Thin films of SrTiO3 can be grown epitaxially by various methods, including pulsed laser deposition, molecular beam epitaxy, RF sputtering and atomic layer deposition. As in most thin films, different growth methods can result in significantly different defect and impurity densities and crystalline quality, resulting in a large variation of the electronic and optical properties.

Use as a diamond simulant
Its cubic structure and high dispersion once made synthetic strontium titanate a prime candidate for simulating diamond. Beginning , large quantities of strontium titanate were manufactured for this sole purpose. Strontium titanate was in competition with synthetic rutile ("titania") at the time, and had the advantage of lacking the unfortunate yellow tinge and strong birefringence inherent to the latter material. While it was softer, it was significantly closer to diamond in likeness. Eventually, however, both would fall into disuse, being eclipsed by the creation of "better" simulants: first by yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) and followed shortly after by gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG); and finally by the (to date) ultimate simulant in terms of diamond-likeness and cost-effectiveness, cubic zirconia.

Despite being outmoded, strontium titanate is still manufactured and periodically encountered in jewellery. It is one of the most costly of diamond simulants, and due to its rarity collectors may pay a premium for large i.e. >2 carat (400 mg) specimens. As a diamond simulant, strontium titanate is most deceptive when mingled with melée i.e. <0.20 carat (40 mg) stones and when it is used as the base material for a composite or doublet stone (with, e.g., synthetic corundum as the crown or top of the stone). Under the microscope, gemmologists distinguish strontium titanate from diamond by the former's softness—manifested by surface abrasions—and excess dispersion (to the trained eye), and occasional gas bubbles which are remnants of synthesis. Doublets can be detected by a join line at the girdle ("waist" of the stone) and flattened air bubbles or glue visible within the stone at the point of bonding.

Use in radioisotope thermoelectric generators
Due to its high melting point and insolubility in water, strontium titanate has been used as a strontium-90-containing material in radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), such as the US Sentinel and Soviet Beta-M series. As strontium-90 has a high fission product yield and is easily extracted from spent nuclear fuel, Sr-90 based RTGs can in principle be produced cheaper than those based on plutonium-238 or other radionuclides which have to be produced in dedicated facilities. However, due to the lower power density (~0.45W thermal per gram of Strontium-90-Titanate) and half life, space based applications, which put a particular premium on low weight, high reliability and longevity prefer Plutonium-238. Terrestrial off-grid applications of RTGs meanwhile have been largely phased out due to concern over orphan sources and the decreasing price and increasing availability of solar panels, small wind turbines, chemical battery storage and other off-grid power solutions.

Use in solid oxide fuel cells
Strontium titanate's mixed conductivity has attracted attention for use in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). It demonstrates both electronic and ionic conductivity which is useful for SOFC electrodes because there is an exchange of gas and oxygen ions in the material and electrons on both sides of the cell.

  H2 + O^2- -> H2O + 2e-     (anode)
  1/2O2 + 2e- -> O^2-     (cathode)

Strontium titanate is doped with different materials for use on different sides of a fuel cell. On the fuel side (anode), where the first reaction occurs, it is often doped with lanthanum to form lanthanum-doped strontium titanate (LST). In this case, the A-site, or position in the unit cell where strontium usually sits, is sometimes filled by lanthanum instead, this causes the material to exhibit n-type semiconductor properties, including electronic conductivity. It also shows oxygen ion conduction due to the perovskite structure tolerance for oxygen vacancies. This material has a thermal coefficient of expansion similar to that of the common electrolyte yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), chemical stability during the reactions which occur at fuel cell electrodes, and electronic conductivity of up to 360 S/cm under SOFC operating conditions. Another key advantage of these LST is that it shows a resistance to sulfur poisoning, which is an issue with the currently used nickel - ceramic (cermet) anodes.

Another related compound is strontium titanium ferrite (STF) which is used a cathode (oxygen-side) material in SOFCs. This material also shows mixed ionic and electronic conductivity which is important as it means the reduction reaction which happens at the cathode can occur over a wider area. Building on this material by adding cobalt on the B-site (replacing titanium) as well as iron, we have the material STFC, or cobalt-substituted STF, which shows remarkable stability as a cathode material as well as lower polarization resistance than other common cathode materials such as lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite. These cathodes also have the advantage of not containing rare earth metals which make them cheaper than many of the alternatives.

See also
 Calcium copper titanate

References

External links
An electron micrograph of strontium titanate, as artwork entitled "Strontium" at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco

Titanates
Strontium compounds
Gemstones
Ceramic materials
Transition metal oxides
Diamond simulants
Perovskites

Strontium titanate


International Downtown Association (IDA) is an international organization dedicated to Downtowns and city centers around the world. The organization is located in Washington D.C., United States and was established in 2011. IDA is a world leader and champion for vital and livable urban centers. Through its network of diverse practitioners, its rich body of knowledge, and its unique capacity to nurture community-building partnerships, IDA provides tools, intelligence and strategies for creating healthy and dynamic centers that anchor the well-being of towns, cities and regions of the world.

Other websites
  International Downtown Association

Urban planning organizations
1954 establishments in the United States
International organizations
Organizations in Washington, D.C.

International Downtown Association


Hans Beck (6 May 1929, Greiz – 30 January 2009, Markdorf) was the German inventor of Playmobil toys. He is often described as "The Father of Playmobil". He began to make toys at an early age and trained as a cabinet maker, before being recruited by toy company Geobra Brandstätter in 1958. Beck is responsible for developing the Playmobil figure, which, in 1971, was distinctive from existing toy figures by its movable parts. The Playmobil toy line was launched in 1974 and in 1975 became a global success.

Early years
Born in Greiz, Thuringia, Beck grew up in the small town of Zirndorf, which had a history of toy manufacture. While he was still at an early age, his parents got divorced and remarried. As a result, Beck and his sister had eight half-brothers and half-sisters. He recalled, "When I was about 10, I started making toys for them", including, "little cars and trucks, little figures, dolls, some furniture for the dolls", but he didn't imagine becoming a toy designer. At the end of World War II, when he was a teenager, he trained as a cabinet maker and also began to make model airplanes. In 1958, he presented his model airplanes to Horst Brandstätter, owner of local toy company Geobra Brandstätter. He was selected from 20 candidates and recruited as a product designer.

As a hobby Beck built ultra-lightweight model aircraft for flying indoors. He competed in the FAI World Championships in Debrecen, Hungary in 1966 and won the individual title in the F1D class.

Invention of Playmobil
In 1971, Brandstätter asked Beck to develop toy figures for children. Beck spent three years developing the figures  that would eventually be known as Playmobil. He said, "I looked around to see what was on the market" but found only tin soldiers that had been produced since the 1800s, which were unable to bend or move. He developed a new figure that measured just under three inches and could move its head, arms and legs. He noted, "My figures were quite simple, but they allowed children room for their imagination".

With the new figures, he conducted research with children. "I would put the little figures in their hands without saying anything about what they were," Beck remarked. "They accepted them right away... They invented little scenarios for them. They never grew tired of playing with them." Brandstätter was not initially convinced by Beck's idea, but allowed the inventor to continue developing the product.

The 1973 oil crisis greatly increased the price of plastics derived from oil. This prompted Geobra Brandstätter to consider products that generated more revenue for less plastic raw material than the hula-hoops and other large toys they had been producing. Beck's figurines offered a possible solution. The company commissioned Beck to develop a series of figures with interchangeable parts and develop a, "system of play which can be expanded and which through relatively small parts made out of the expensive synthetic material offers a high value product".

"Playmobil is a toy that doesn't impose specific play patterns on children," Beck has remarked, "but rather stimulates their imagination."

Launch
In 1974, the company launched Playmobil at the Nuremberg Toy Fair. Some toy wholesalers initially did not like the new toy line. Beck commented, "People didn't realize how much you could do with them". However, a Dutch firm subsequently agreed to buy a whole year's production. Playmobil began to be sold worldwide in 1975.

The first Playmobil sets were of Native Americans, construction workers and knights. Since then, the range has expanded to include fairies, firefighters, prisoners and airport security staff, amongst others. When developing the product line, Beck always maintained the motto of, "No horror, no superficial violence, no short-lived trends". He once stated that a jumbo jet, alien figures, and dinosaurs should never be introduced as Playmobil sets, but all three have since been released as Playmobil products.

Retirement and death
Beck spent 40 years working for Brandstätter before retiring in 1998. He had been the head of research and development at the company for 24 years. He died in Markdorf am Bodensee at the age of 79 on 30 January 2009 after a serious illness. Geobra Brandstaetter GmbH & Co. released a statement upon his death, stating, "(Beck) rendered outstanding services to the company in a special way," and noted that he worked, "with enormous craftsmanship talent and great qualification. Hans Beck and Playmobil wrote an important chapter in toy history and made millions of children happy."

References

External links
 The Fathers of Playmobil at Playmobil official website

1929 births
2009 deaths
People from Greiz
Playmobil
German toy industry businesspeople
20th-century German inventors
Toy inventors

Hans Beck


William Adolph Soderman (March 20, 1912 – October 20, 1980) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II.

Biography
Soderman joined the Army from his birth city of West Haven, Connecticut in August 1943, and by December 17, 1944, was serving as a private first class in Company K, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On that day, near Rocherath, Belgium, Soderman used his bazooka to single-handedly disable three German tanks and attack an infantry platoon. Although seriously wounded, he survived the battle and was awarded the Medal of Honor eleven months later, on November 1, 1945.

Soderman left the Army while still a private first class. He married the late Virginia Rae Leake and had two children, the late Peter William Soderman, and the late Susan Louise Soderman.  He was proud of a long career working at the VA hospital in West Haven.  He died at age 68 and was buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in his hometown of West Haven, Connecticut.

Medal of Honor citation

Private First Class Soderman's official Medal of Honor citation reads:
Armed with a bazooka, he defended a key road junction near Rocherath, Belgium, on 17 December 1944, during the German Ardennes counteroffensive. After a heavy artillery barrage had wounded and forced the withdrawal of his assistant, he heard enemy tanks approaching the position where he calmly waited in the gathering darkness of early evening until the 5 Mark V tanks which made up the hostile force were within pointblank range. He then stood up, completely disregarding the firepower that could be brought to bear upon him, and launched a rocket into the lead tank, setting it afire and forcing its crew to abandon it as the other tanks pressed on before Pfc. Soderman could reload. The daring bazookaman remained at his post all night under severe artillery, mortar, and machinegun fire, awaiting the next onslaught, which was made shortly after dawn by 5 more tanks. Running along a ditch to meet them, he reached an advantageous point and there leaped to the road in full view of the tank gunners, deliberately aimed his weapon and disabled the lead tank. The other vehicles, thwarted by a deep ditch in their attempt to go around the crippled machine, withdrew. While returning to his post Pfc. Soderman, braving heavy fire to attack an enemy infantry platoon from close range, killed at least 3 Germans and wounded several others with a round from his bazooka. By this time, enemy pressure had made Company K's position untenable. Orders were issued for withdrawal to an assembly area, where Pfc. Soderman was located when he once more heard enemy tanks approaching. Knowing that elements of the company had not completed their disengaging maneuver and were consequently extremely vulnerable to an armored attack, he hurried from his comparatively safe position to meet the tanks. Once more he disabled the lead tank with a single rocket, his last; but before he could reach cover, machinegun bullets from the tank ripped into his right shoulder. Unarmed and seriously wounded he dragged himself along a ditch to the American lines and was evacuated. Through his unfaltering courage against overwhelming odds, Pfc. Soderman contributed in great measure to the defense of Rocherath, exhibiting to a superlative degree the intrepidity and heroism with which American soldiers met and smashed the savage power of the last great German offensive.

See also

List of Medal of Honor recipients

References

Account of the Battle at Lausdell crossroad where Sonderman fought. (Reference only MIA Recoveries website)

1912 births
1980 deaths
People from West Haven, Connecticut
United States Army personnel of World War II
United States Army Medal of Honor recipients
United States Army soldiers
World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor

William A. Soderman


Americans for Technology Leadership is a coalition of technology professionals, companies and organizations that advocates limited government regulation of technology. It has been described as a Microsoft front organization and has been cited as an example of astroturfing.

In 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that hundreds of similar letters were sent to newspapers voicing disagreement with the United States Department of Justice and its antitrust suit against Microsoft. The letters, prepared by Americans for Technology Leadership and Citizens Against Government Waste, had in some cases been mailed from deceased citizens or nonexistent addresses.

The founding members of the coalition are:
 Association for Competitive Technology
 Citizens Against Government Waste
 Cityscape Filmworks
 Clarity Consulting
 CompTIA
 CompUSA
 Microsoft Corporation
 60Plus Association
 Small Business Survival Committee
 Staples, Inc.

References

External links
 official website

Political advocacy groups in the United States

Americans for Technology Leadership


Haakon Maurice Chevalier (September 10, 1901 – July 4, 1985) was an American writer, translator, and professor of French literature at the University of California, Berkeley best known for his friendship with physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, whom he met at Berkeley, California in 1937.

Oppenheimer's relationship with Chevalier, and Chevalier's relationship with a possible recruiter for Soviet intelligence, figured prominently in a 1954 hearing of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission on Oppenheimer's security clearance. At that hearing, Oppenheimer's security clearance was revoked.

Early life
Chevalier was born September 10, 1901, in Lakewood Township, New Jersey to Therese Chevalier (née Roggen) and Emile, respectively of Norwegian and French descent.

When he was in his twenties Chevalier felt attracted by the romantic aspects of seafaring. He embarked as a deckhand on one of the last commercial sailing ships, the four-masted US schooner Rosamond, for a voyage to the southern ocean and Cape Town. Chevalier wrote a vivid and nostalgic testimony of this very end of the age of sail in his book The Last Voyage of the Schooner Rosamond.

Work
In 1945, Chevalier served as a translator for the Nuremberg Trials. He translated many works by Salvador Dalí, André Malraux, Vladimir Pozner, Louis Aragon, Frantz Fanon and Victor Vasarely into English.

Relationship with Oppenheimer
Chevalier met Oppenheimer in 1937 at Berkeley while he was an associate professor of Romance languages. Together, Chevalier and Oppenheimer would found the Berkeley branch of a teachers' union, which sponsored benefits for leftist causes.

Chevalier informed Oppenheimer in 1942 of a discussion he had with George C. Eltenton which disturbed him considerably and thought Oppenheimer ought to know about. It was regarding Soviet attempts through Eltenton to penetrate the Manhattan Project. That short conversation, Oppenheimer's belated reporting of it, and attempts to obscure the identity of Chevalier, would later become one of the key issues in Oppenheimer's 1954 security hearing in front of the Atomic Energy Commission, which resulted in the revocation of his security clearance.

Chevalier was interviewed in The Day After Trinity (1981), an Oscar-nominated documentary about Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb. He was played by Jefferson Hall in Christopher Nolan's 2023 film Oppenheimer.

Personal life
Chevalier had four children from three marriages. From 1922 to 1931 he was married to Ruth Bosley, then to Barbara Lansburgh from 1931 to 1950, and finally to Carol Lansburgh in 1952.

Later life and death
After the House Subcommittee on Un-American Activities hearing, Chevalier lost his job at Berkeley in 1950. Unable to find another professorship in the United States, he moved to France, where he continued to work as a translator.

Chevalier returned to the United States briefly in July 1965, to attend his daughter's wedding in San Francisco.

Chevalier died in 1985 in Paris at the age of 83. The cause of death was not reported.

Bibliography
1932. The ironic temper: Anatole France and his time. Oxford University Press. ASIN B00085MTLU
1934. André Malraux and "Man's fate": An essay. H. Smith and R. Haas. ASIN B00089VCSC
1949. For Us The Living. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
1959. The Man Who Would Be God. Putnam; [1st American ed.]. ASIN B0006AW3DG
1965. Oppenheimer: The Story of a Friendship. New York: George Braziller, Inc. ASIN B0006BN686
1970. The Last Voyage of the Schooner Rosamond. Deutsch.

Translations
 Vladimir Pozner. 1942. The Edge of the Sword (Deuil en 24 heures). Modern Age Books.
 Vladimir Pozner. 1943. First Harvest (Les Gens du pays).
 Kessel, Joseph. 1944. Army of Shadows (L'Armée des ombres). Alfred A. Knopf
Malraux, André. 1961. Man's Fate. Random House Modern Library. ASIN B000BI694M
Aragon, Louis. 1961. Holy Week. G. P. Putnam's Sons. ASIN B000EWMJ3A
Dalí, Salvador. 1986. The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí. Dasa Edicions, S.A.
André Maurois, 1962. Seven faces of love. Doubleday. ASIN B0007H6IX4
Michaux, Henri. 1963. Light Through Darkness. Orion Press. ASIN B0007E4GJ0
Vasarely, Victor. 1965. Plastic Arts of the Twentieth Century, Volume 1. Editions du Griffon. ASIN B000FH4NZG
Fanon, Frantz, A Dying Colonialism 1965

See also
J. Robert Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer security hearing

References
Broad, William J. September 8, 2002. Father of A-bomb was Communist, book claims. New York Times. A7.
Gray, Gordon. 1954. In the matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer: transcript of hearing before Personnel Security Board. U.S. Govt. Print. Off. p. 4-6.
Herken, Gregg. 2002. Brotherhood of the Bomb: The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
New York Times. July 11, 1985. Haakon Chevalier, 83, Author and Translator. Section B; Page 6, Column 4; National Desk.
Washington Post. July 11, 1985. 'Metro; Deaths Elsewhere. C7.

Notes

External links
1982 Audio Interview with Haakon Chevalier by Martin Sherwin Voices of the Manhattan Project
Primary sources used by Herken in Brotherhood of the Bomb
Annotated bibliography for Haakon Chevalier from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
Vladimir Pozner se souvient

1901 births
1985 deaths
People from Lakewood Township, New Jersey
American people of French descent
American people of Norwegian descent
Members of the Communist Party USA
American translators
Translators from French
Translators to English
University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty
J. Robert Oppenheimer
20th-century translators
American expatriates in France
Academics from New Jersey

Haakon Chevalier


Art Landy (born Arthur Charles Landmesser, May 18, 1904 – May 21, 1977) was an American animator who specialized in animation set decoration, working on over 150 animated features. After beginning his career in Disney Studio in the second half of the 1940s, he joined the Walter Lantz Studio in 1953 and worked there until the end of 1966. At Disney, he mostly worked on the series of Pluto films, and on the 1953 animated feature film Peter Pan. At Lantz, he worked on numerous Woody Woodpecker shorts.

Landy was born in Newark, New Jersey, and died in Van Nuys, California.

References

External links

1904 births
1977 deaths
Animators from New Jersey
People from Newark, New Jersey
20th-century American artists
Walt Disney Animation Studios people
Walter Lantz Productions people

Art Landy


Francisco Luis Bernárdez (5 October 1900 – 24 October 1978) was an Argentine poet, born in Buenos Aires.

He lived in Spain from 1920 until 1924, where he read the modernist poets that influenced in his first books, and he also worked as a journalist in Vigo.

When he came back from Spain he joined the Martín Fierro group, which  played an important part in the literary and aesthetical renovation of Argentine literature.

Later he worked in La Nación newspaper, and joined Criterio magazine. In 1937 he was named Public Library Secretary, and in 1944, General Director of Intellectual Culture of the Justice and Public Proceedings Ministry. Four years later, he entered the Academia Argentina de Letras. Finally, he was incorporated to the foreign service of Argentina, as a council of the Argentine embassy in Madrid, until 1960.

His first works, Orto (Dawn, 1922) and Bazar (Bazaar, 1922), written following the principles of ultraism, along with Alcándara (Perch, 1935), connected him to the postmodernist era, but since the publication of El buque (The Ship, 1935), he dealt with religious subjects with the classic style of Paul Claudel and Charles Péguy. This new phase is represented by works like Cielo de tierra (Earth Sky, 1937), La ciudad sin Laura (The Laura-less City, 1938), Poemas elementales (Elementary Poems, 1942), Poemas de carne y hueso (Flesh and Blood Poems, 1943), El ruiseñor (The Nightingale, 1945), Las estrellas (The Stars, 1947), El ángel de la guarda (The Guardian Angel, 1949), Poemas nacionales (National Poems, 1950), La flor (The Flower, 1951), Tres poemas católicos (Three Catholic Poems, 1959), Poemas de cada día (Everyday Poems, 1963) and La copa de agua (The Cup of Water, 1963).

External links
Poemas representativos del Poeta Francisico Luis Bernanrdez, parte de su Obra.

1900 births
1978 deaths
Argentine male poets
Postmodern writers
Writers from Buenos Aires
20th-century Argentine poets
20th-century Argentine male writers

Francisco Luis Bernárdez


Kevin John Conway (May 29, 1942 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and film director.

Early life
Conway was born in New York City, to Helen Margaret (née Sanders), a sales representative, and James John Conway, a mechanic. Conway completed his acting training at HB Studio in New York City.

Career

Theatre
Conway's off-Broadway credits include One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, One for the Road, The Elephant Man, Other People's Money, and When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?, for which he received the 1974 Drama Desk Award.

On Broadway, Conway appeared in Indians, Moonchildren, and in revivals of The Plough and the Stars, Of Mice and Men (as George Milton, opposite James Earl Jones as Lennie Small), and Dinner at Eight. In 1980, he was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play (Mecca).

Film
In his first major screen role, Conway portrayed Roland Weary in the 1972 film Slaughterhouse-Five, based on the Kurt Vonnegut novel.

Among other film roles, Conway played multiple characters in the 1981 horror film The Funhouse; Crum Petree, the irascible mailman in the 1988 film Funny Farm, Frank Papale in the fact-based 2006 Disney football drama Invincible and General Curtis LeMay in the 2000 historical drama  Thirteen Days. He played the fictional Buster Kilrain in Ron Maxwell's Civil War Duology: Gods and Generals and Gettysburg.

In 1987, Conway directed the independent film The Sun and the Moon.

Television
From 1995 to 2002, Conway was the Control Voice for the revived series of The Outer Limits. He made a guest appearance on Star Trek: The Next Generation as the clone of the legendary Klingon figure Kahless. He guest starred on The Good Wife episodes "Threesome", "Boom",  and "Wrongful Termination" as Jonas Stern, a founding partner of the titular character's law firm. He portrayed Seamus O'Reily, the abusive father of Ryan and Cyril O'Reily in the HBO prison drama Oz. He made an appearance as the father of titular brothers Michael and Tommy Caffee as Neal Caffee on the Showtime drama, "Brotherhood."

Conway was a guest star on JAG in the episode "King of Fleas" portraying Roscoe Martin, a paraplegic Vietnam vet who confessed to a murder. In "The Martin Baker fan club" he returns as Roscoe Martin, now a mental patient, and faces a charge of second-degree murder.  He has also guest starred on three Law & Order series, the original series, two guest appearances on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and one on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He also guest starred in the second season of In the Heat of the Night.  He also played the father of Jenny (played by Olivia Wilde) in NBC's The Black Donnellys in 2007.

Death
Conway died in Manhattan on February 5, 2020, of a heart attack.

Filmography

Film

Television

Notes

References

External links

1942 births
2020 deaths
Place of death missing
Male actors from New York City
American male film actors
American film directors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people of Irish descent
English-language film directors
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors

Kevin Conway (actor)