Centennial is a 12-episode American television miniseries that aired on NBC from October 1978 to February 1979. The miniseries follows the fictional history of Centennial, Colorado, from 1795 to the 1970s. It was based on the 1974 novel of the same name by James A. Michener, was produced by John Wilder.

It was one of the longest and most ambitious television projects ever attempted at the time (c. 21 hours or 26 hours with commercials). It had a budget of US$25 million, employed four directors and five cinematographers, and featured over 100 speaking parts. Centennial was released on DVD on July 29, 2008.

Episodes

Plot
The series begins with a short introduction, narrated in the present from the viewpoint of Paul Garrett, and a brief montage covering the natural history described in the first chapters of the book. It also includes comments by the author, James Michener, about the background and context to the drama.

Only the Rocks Live Forever
The first episode begins in 1756, showing the developing arms race between tribes over horses and rifles while introducing a nine-year old Arapaho boy named Lame Beaver. By 1795, he is a leading warrior and encounters Pasquinel, a voyageur or coureur des bois. Having counted coup, he is allowed to trade beaver pelts for imported trinkets. Other tribes, such as the Cheyenne, assist him though some, such as the Pawnee and other traders, are less trustworthy. In 1796, Pasquinel, wounded and robbed of two years worth of pelts, returns to St. Louis. Here he is introduced by a surgeon to Herman Bockweiss, a Bavarian silversmith, and they discuss financing. Pasquinel again heads west and frees Alexander McKeag, a Scottish trapper, from the Pawnee and gives the chief gifts to guarantee safe travel through his land. Their travels lead to encounters with river pirates, Ute braves, and back to the Arapaho, where McKeag meets Lame Beaver's daughter, Clay Basket. By 1800, back in St. Louis, Pasquinel marries Lise Bockweiss. Meanwhile, after flashbacks about his exploits, Lame Beaver discovers a gold nugget and makes it into bullets for his rifle. Later, he leads a raid against the Pawnee, killing their chief before he is slain, leading to the ransacking of his teepee and the death of his wife. Now orphaned, Clay Basket tells Pasquinel that she is meant to marry him, which he accepts despite McKeag's reservations.

The Yellow Apron
The story resumes in 1816 after Pasquinel has fathered two sons by Clay Basket (Jacques in 1809 and Marcel in 1811) and a daughter, Lisette, by Lise. Pasquinel continues his search for Lame Beaver's gold while McKeag disapproves of his bigamy. Despite McKeag's concerns, Pasquinel decides to take his Indian family to a fort near St. Louis, where Jacques is wounded in a scuffle with drunken soldiers. Pasquinel returns to Lise and decides to remain as a trader in the city. Meanwhile, McKeag, Clay Basket, and the boys continue trapping, but not without incident as Kiowas, searching for guns, attack their camp. Pasquinel eventually returns to his Indian family, as tensions rise and McKeag leaves. In 1825, McKeag departs St. Louis and begins to live as a hermit while Pasquinel continues to search for Lame Beaver's gold, and finds out his wife is pregnant. Two years later, passing trappers invite McKeag to a rendezvous near Bear Lake. Here he is given the "Yellow Apron," and performs a Scottish jig. He then reunites and dances with Pasquinel, who collapses and asks McKeag to cut the arrow from his back. Pasquinel, with his sons now riding with the Sioux, then asks McKeag to rejoin him, but he refuses. In 1830 in St. Louis, McKeag runs into Lise. She knows that McKeag aches for his friend and encourages the Scotsman to "go to him". McKeag agrees and arrives just as Pasquinel finally finds Lame Beaver's gold but is killed by Pawnee warriors. McKeag then vows to care for Clay Basket and her daughter as his own.

The Wagon and the Elephant
Levi Zendt is from a Mennonite family living in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In 1845, however, Zendt is falsely accused of attempted rape and is shunned. He decides to leave for Oregon Country and purchases an old covered wagon. Before leaving, he goes to the local orphanage and picks up Elly Zahm, another social outcast who is shunned for being a bastard. Zahm then begins narrating their adventure via letters as the pair head west and marry. After sailing down the Ohio River, they go to St. Louis by steamboat. Here they meet an English writer and explorer, Oliver Seccombe, as well as Captain Maxwell Mercy, who is married to Lisette Pasquinel. The group join a wagon train heading along the Oregon Trail piloted by Sam Purchas, a hardened mountain man who forces Zendt to sell his beloved horses. On the Great Plains, Zendt hears about "the elephant" and the party encounter the Pasquinel brothers. After stopping at Fort John and meeting the McKeag family, who run the general store, the Zendts continue toward the Rocky Mountains. After meeting some "turnarounds", the Zendts return to the fort after Purchas tries to rape Elly. McKeag offers to partner with them in building a trading post near where Pasquinel first met Lame Beaver. Zendt agrees; however, en route Elly Zendt is killed by a rattlesnake. Devastated, Zendt heads into the mountains to live alone in the hut once occupied by McKeag.

For as Long as the Waters Flow
The narrator explains how, despite the number of settlers increasing, nearly all actually traverse Indian lands peacefully and safely. In 1851, at Fort John (now known as Laramie), Mercy hears word of a proposed treaty among the Plains tribes. Mercy invites their chiefs to a peace conference which guarantees safe passage to settlers on the Oregon Trail, "for as long as the waters flow", in exchange for legal recognition of tribal land claims. Over the next decade, the treaty is undermined, however, due to prejudice, political bureaucracy, and the demands of settlers. Eventually, a new general is sent to enact a revised and weakened version of the treaty which the tribes refuse to accept. Meanwhile, Lucinda McKeag visits Zendt at the hut and begins a romantic relationship. At McKeag's trading post, Zendt proposes marriage, but only if his future wife learns to read so that she can understand the Bible. Lucinda and her mother go to live with Lise in St. Louis in order to attend school, and despite a romantic fling, she returns to the West. The couple marry, but McKeag dies while dancing with Jacques at their wedding. In 1860, Hans Brumbaugh, a Wolgadeutsche immigrant seeking his fortune, passes through the now thriving Zendt trading post, representing the gold seekers who are also drawn to the area.

The Massacre
By 1861, the Civil War has broken out and the Union sends most of its troops back to fight in the war. While panning in a stream near Zendt's, Brumbaugh discovers gold but is attacked by a crazed fellow prospector and slays the man in self-defence. Discouraged, he then purchases farm land from Zendt. Meanwhile, an embittered zealot called Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn, is tasked to deal with the Indians who he believes are a cursed lost Israeli tribe. After arresting Mercy and the Zendts, Clay Basket dies when she distracts the Skimmerhorn militia so Mercy can warn her sons. Skimmerhorn then leads a preemptive attack on a band of unarmed Arapaho. A captain under Skimmerhorn's command refuses to join in the massacre and is court martialed along with Mercy. At the trial, testimony of the massacre turns the court against Skimmerhorn. However, by manipulating events, he regains his command and kills the Pasquinel brothers. In 1865, with the wars over Skimmerhorn is exiled from Colorado. In 1868, Zendt, with his old trading post ruined by the militia, erects a store in the new township just as Seccombe, now an agent of Earl Venneford of Wye, returns to the area with a plan to monopolize farmland under the Homestead Act.

The Longhorns
A new scramble for watered lands in the region begins, and sharpens as night riders terrorize or kill farmers for their valuable properties. Seccombe hires John Skimmerhorn, son of the disgraced colonel, to acquire longhorn cattle in Texas and to hire a team to drive them back to Colorado. For the cattle drive, the young Skimmerhorn hires a Mexican cook, who then recommends an experienced trail boss, R.J. Poteet, a no-nonsense ex-army captain. Poteet then buys 2,800 cattle, orders a cook's wagon, and recruits a mixed crew of cowboys to brand and then lead them north. Feeling obliged to help the widow of an old friend, Poteet buys 150 head of cattle from her and hires her oldest son, Jim Lloyd, as an additional hand. After paying a "crossing fee" at the ford of 5c per head, the epic cattle drive across the barren Llano Estacado begins. Apart from the lack of water, they encounter run ins with local Apache bands, and in July 1868, they are ambushed near the Arkansas River by ex-Confederate soldiers. However, the 4-month crossing is successful and the cattle populate a new ranch, named Venneford, overseen by Seccombe but managed by Skimmerhorn.

The Shepherds
In 1876, Colorado becomes the 38th state and the growing community around Zendt's Farm, now with a railway station, is renamed "Centennial". By the summer of 1881, with the Indians gone, the range war between the cattle ranchers led by Seccombe and farmers led by Brumbaugh boils over. A number of cowboys from the Skimmerhorn drive now live in town, including Jim Lloyd, who is in love with Zendt's daughter. Looking for extra work, some help Messmore Garrett with his newly arrived flock of sheep. Seccombe, angered by the farmers and shepherds, engages the services of a gang of outlaws, the Pettis brothers. Lloyd and Skimmerhorn, however, initially refuse to believe that Seccombe is behind the subsequent killings. Also in town are the Bucklands on a mission to check their investment at Venneford, which now covers some 6 million acres. Charlotte Buckland falls in love with Seccombe and the two marry. Eventually the outlaws are eliminated by Brumbaugh, Skimmerhorn and Lloyd. Sheriff Axel Dumire is unable to prove their guilt without witnesses and peace is restored to the area. The episode ends when Zendt, whose nephew is visiting, decides to return to Lancaster to see his family again.

The Storm
An uneasy peace between the warring factions settles in, watched over by Dumire, as the circus arrives in town, reuniting more members of Skimmerhorn's cattle drive. Seccombe becomes restless as the finances of the ranch are eventually called into question by Venneford's Bristol investors. They dispatch Finlay Perkin, a dour Scottish accountant, to perform the first ever audit of Venneford's books. Noticing irregularities, Perkin requests an actual head count of all the cattle, and soon realizes that Seccombe is selling cattle and demands his resignation. However, Seccombe's crimes are obscured when a blizzard hits the region, killing many of the ranch's remaining cattle, leading to a switch to hardier Hereford stock. Meanwhile, Zendt, after returning from Lancaster, dies in a train accident trying to stop his troubled daughter from fleeing town. The Wendell family, ostensibly itinerant actors but in reality con-artists working their way along the new railroad system, also arrive in town. Knowing their past, they are shadowed by Dumire, but helped by Reverend Holly (who they soon realize they can embezzle).

The Crime
The Wendells' favorite con is called the "badger game", which they use on the naive Holly to secure the title to his second house and to blackmail cash. Meanwhile, Seccombe finally accepts defeat and turns over ranch operations to Skimmerhorn who then deputizes Lloyd. Given the prospect of losing all he has worked for, he commits suicide instead. Charlotte Seccombe, now widowed, travels to London briefly but returns to Venneford after inheriting a majority interest in the ranch from her uncle, Lord Venneford, and begins a romance with Lloyd. In the meantime, Dumire grows increasingly suspicious of the Wendells, while their son, Philip, enjoys hanging around the jailhouse. The Wendells try the ruse again on a world wise businessman, Soren Sorenson. He recognizes their trick, and threatens to expose them, but is killed by Maude Wendell. Philip then hides the body in a cave along the riverbank near their house. While looking through his belongings, they find $5,500 that Sorenson was going to use to finance a land purchase, and realize that they cannot spend it immediately as it will expose their guilt.

The Winds of Fortune
The new century arrives and Brumbaugh owns a sugar beet processing factory with the byproduct being sold as cattle feed. Dumire remains suspicious of the Wendells and their unexplained finances. Philip, now a telegram delivery boy, admires the diligent and frank sheriff but their relationship is strained over his lack of honesty. One day, the sheriff is fatally wounded by remnants of the Pettis gang from the range war, and Philip begins to tell the truth just as Dumire dies. With the sheriff out of the picture, the Wendells are now free from legal investigation. Mervin Wendell meets a Union Pacific land agent and decides to set up a real estate office. Meanwhile, troubles in the mines in Santa Ynez, Chihuahua, lead to the death of Nacho Gomez, the Mexican cook, and the arrival of Tranquilino Marquez to work for Brumbaugh. Lloyd's engagement falls apart when Clemma Zendt, now divorced, finally returns and begins reciprocating his affections. Seccombe resolves to fight for her fiance and blackmails Zendt into leaving town again. Lloyd and Seccombe then reconcile and wed and Skimmerhorn leaves to work on a ranch with Poteet.

The Winds of Death
By 1911, Mervin Wendell has grown rich selling marginal land to naive settlers for dryland farming, lending on the land at extortion rates then foreclosing and reselling the land at a profit. Among those are young Iowans Earl and Alice Grebe. Despite warnings at the station from Brumbaugh and Lloyd, the Grebes and others settle on the drylands and take out a mortgage with Wendell. The gamble eventually sours as unsuitable farming practices, a drop in wheat prices after World War I, and the Dust Bowl years of the 1920s and 1930s set in. In 1933, the Grebes fall behind in their taxes and mortgage and Philip Wendell threatens foreclosure. Incessant winds and dust storms kill the Grebe's son while also causing Alice Grebe to slowly go insane, leading to the death of her family. Throughout this time, Charlotte Lloyd uses her wealth and influence to support the community, including protecting Hispanic workers and their families from discrimination. Beeley Garrett, who had married the Lloyd's daughter some time earlier, takes over full management of the ranch when Jim Lloyd dies.

The Scream of Eagles
The final episode, a summary of the series mainly in flashback, moves the story to the present. In 1978, Professor Lewis Vernor arrives in town to do research on the history of Centennial and is met by writer Sidney Enderman. By then, the two leading citizens in town are Morgan Wendell and Paul Garrett (the narrator and a direct descendant of many of the characters in the series). Both men are in their 50s: Garrett, the current owner of Venneford, is interested in preserving the natural beauty of Colorado; Wendell, the heir to the family real estate business, however, has a propensity for self-interest. While exploring the town, Vernor meets Wendell at an excavation for a new bridge. Wendell, recognizing the scene from his father's tales, then removes skeletal evidence of the Sorensen murder, witnessed by Vernor from afar. After Wendell leaves, Vernor returns to the excavation site and drops down into the now exposed cave. After a brief search, Vernor discovers a single bone, which Sidney takes to have analyzed. Wendell is also a candidate for the new statewide office of Commissioner of Resources, which he plans to use to greatly expand industry in the state regardless of environmental impact. While reciting the history of Centennial to Vernor, Garrett feels persuaded to run against Wendell. After a trial over illegal eagle, bear, and turkey hunting, Wendell encourages Garrett's reputation to be smeared by people opposed to his conservationist views and relationships with Hispanics, specifically his romance with the sister of the local cantina owner. Garrett and Vernor then discuss the various historical and contemporary issues surrounding the people in and around Centennial, including "this nation's unique moral headache" - contemporary Indian social issues. In a TV debate, the candidates square off, and argue the merits of development and conservation and of balancing resources. Analysis of the bone that Vernor found confirms it as human, forcing Vernor and Sidney to realize that the rumors of how the Wendells gained their family fortune as true. The series ends with the election results showing a return swing in Garrett's favor, before fading to a montage of the people and places of the series.

Cast

Principal cast

 Michael Ansara – Lame Beaver
 William Atherton – Jim Lloyd
 Raymond Burr – Herman Bockweiss
 Barbara Carrera – Clay Basket
 Richard Chamberlain – Alexander McKeag
 Robert Conrad – Pasquinel
 Richard Crenna – Col. Frank Skimmerhorn
 Timothy Dalton – Oliver Seccombe
 Cliff De Young – John Skimmerhorn
 Chad Everett – Major Maxwell Mercy
 Sharon Gless – Sidney Endermann
 Andy Griffith – Prof. Lewis Vernor
 Merle Haggard – Cisco Calendar
 Mark Harmon – Captain John McIntosh
 Gregory Harrison – Levi Zendt
 David Janssen – Paul Garrett (Narrator)
 Alex Karras – Hans Brumbaugh
 Brian Keith – Sheriff Axel Dumire
 Sally Kellerman – Lise Bockweiss Pasquinel
 A Martinez – Tranquilino Marquez
 Stephen McHattie – Jacques Pasquinel (adult)
 Lois Nettleton – Maude Wendell
 Donald Pleasence – Sam Purchas
 Cristina Raines – Lucinda McKeag Zendt
 Lynn Redgrave – Charlotte Buckland Seccombe Lloyd
 Clive Revill – Finlay Perkin
 Kario Salem – Marcel Pasquinel (adult)
 Clint Walker – Joe Bean
 Dennis Weaver – R. J. Poteet
 Robert Vaughn – Morgan Wendell
 Anthony Zerbe – Mervin Wendell
 Stephanie Zimbalist – Elly Zahm Zendt

Other cast

 Maria Yolanda Aguayo – Blue Leaf (child)
 Stephan Andrade – 1st Arapaho
 Phyllis Applegate – Clerk
 Royce D. Applegate – Mr. Holmes
 Ed Bakey – Floyd Calendar
 James Best – Hank Garvey
 Scott Birney – Zendt Farm Child
 William Bogert – William Bellamy
 Lynn Borden – Vesta Volkema
 Siegfried H. Brauer III – Extra
 Marta Brennan – Mary Sibley
 Reb Brown – Jim Bridger
 Bo Brundin – Magnes Volkema
 Steve Burns – Pvt. James Clark
 Barry Cahill – Maj. O'Neil
 Alan Caillou – Booth-Clibborn
 Rafael Campos – Nacho Gomez
 Joan Carey – Miss Kruger
 Dave Cass – Frank Pettis
 Karen Carlson – Lisette Mercy
 Annette Charles – Senora Alvarez
 Alex Colon – Father Vigil
 Henry Darrow– Alvarez
 Ralph Davies Lewis – Tom Ragland
 Bob Davis – Bank Manager
 Joella Deffenbaugh – Fat Laura
 Dennis Dimster – Timmy Grebe
 Robert DoQui – Nate Person III
 Burt Douglas – Capt. William Ketchum
 Damon Douglas – William Savage
 Robert Douglas – Claude Richards
 Robert Easton – Maj. George Sibley
 Dana Elcar – Judge Hart
 René Enríquez – Manolo Marquez
 H.P. Evetts – Orvid Pettis
 Darrell Fetty – Burns
 Dennis Fimple – Buck
 Carl Franklin – Jim Beckworth
 Lou Frizzell – Mr. Norriss
 Chief Dan George – Old Sioux
 Byron Gilbert – Truinfador Marquez
 Silvana Gallardo – Serafina Marquez
 Michael Goodrow – Ethan Grebe
 Lani Grant – Mrs. Takemoto
 Jacques Hampton – Doctor
 James Hampton – Defense Atty. Prescott
 Alex Henteloff – Bradley Finch
 Allan Hunt – Stanford
 Gordon Hurst – Clay
 Scott Hylands – Laseter
 Richard Jaeckel – Sgt. Lykes
 Claude Jarman, Jr. – Earl Grebe
 Claude Earl Jones – Matt
 Morris Jones – 1st Reporter
 John Kings – Englishman
 James Kisicki – Rev. Fenstermacher
 Eric Lalich – Jake Calendar
 David and Daniel Lange – Ben Dawson (age 9)
 Les Lannom – Buford Coker
 William Lanteau – Flagg
 Adrienne La Russa – Clemma Zendt
 Tony LaTorre – Marcel (age 7)
 Michael Le Clair – Jim Lloyd (young)
 Geoffrey Lewis – Sheriff Bogardus
 Duane Loken – 1st Cheyenne
 Christopher Lowell – Keefe
 Jaimie MacDonald – Jacques (ages 6–9)
 Jay W. MacIntosh – Emma Lloyd
 Joaquín Martínez – Col. Salcedo
 Barney McFadden – Abel Tanner
 Doug McKeon – Philip Wendell (as a boy)
 Gloria McMillan – Clara Brumbaugh
 Jim McMullan – Prosecutor
 Sandy McPeak – Soren Sorenson
 Mari Michener – Janice Welch
 Julio Medina – Father Gravez
 Art Metrano – Maurice Cartwright
 Greg Mullavey – Mule Canby
 Karmin Murcelo – Flor Marquez
 Alan Napier – Lord Venneford
 Ivan Naranjo – Gray Wolf
 Mark Neely – Martin Zendt
 Richard O'Brien – Judge
 Rachel Orr – Victoria Grebe
 Michael K. Osborn – Mr. Kellen
 Gene Otis – Stringer
 Morgan Paull – Philip Wendell (adult)
 John Bennett Perry – Maylon Zendt
 Robert Phalen – Rev. Holly
 Terry Phillips – Newscaster
 Maria Potts – Blue Leaf
 Monika Ramirez – Blue Leaf (age 14)
 Nick Ramus – Lost Eagle
 Steven Rapp – Kurt Brumbaugh
 Debi Richter – Rebecca Stoltzfus
 Clint Ritchie – Messmore Garrett
 Jorge Rivero – Broken Thumb
 Pernell Roberts – Gen. Asher
 Vincent Roberts – Jacques Pasquinel (teenager)
 Frank S. Salsedo – Sam Lopez
 Steve Sandor – Charley Kin
 Eric Server – Pierce
 Steve Shaw – Paul Garrett (as a boy)
 Steve Shemayne – Pawnee Chief
 Stuart Silbar – Col. Hanley
 James J. Sloyan – Spade Larkin
 Robert Somers – Sergeant
 Julie Sommars – Alice Grebe
 Gale Sondergaard – Aunt Augusta
 Gordon Steel – Donald McPherson
 Sterling Swanson – Hunter
 Takashi – Mr. Takemoto
 Irene Tedrow – Mother Zendt
 Robert Tessier – Rude Water
 Marshall Thompson – Dennis
 Tiger Thompson – Young Beeley Garrett
 Bill Thurman – Uncle Dick
 Ray Tracey – Lame Beaver (young)
 Deborah Trissell – Miss Keller (credited in Episode No. 9, in which she can't be seen)
 Glynn Turman – Nate Person
 Mina Vasquez – Soledad Marquez
 Alan Vint – Beeley Garrett (adult)
 Jesse Vint – Amos Calendar
 Robert Walden – Dr. Richard Butler
 Robby Weaver – Gompert
 Van Williams – George
 Leslie Winston – Laura Lou Booker
 Morgan Woodward – Gen. Wade
 David Yanez – Lame Beaver (age 9)
 Ken Yellow Moon – 2nd Arapaho

Crew

Directors
 Harry Falk
 Paul Krasny
 Bernard McEveety
 Virgil W. Vogel

Producers
 Alex Beaton
 George E. Crosby
 Howard Alston
 Malcolm R. Harding
 Richard Caffey

Other Crew
 Charles Larson – Screenwriter
 Jerry Ziegman – Screenwriter
 John Wilder – Screenwriter & Executive Producer
 John Addison – Composer (Music Score)
 Charles W. Short – Cinematographer
 Duke Callaghan – Cinematographer
 Jacques Marquette – Cinematographer
 Ronald W. Browne – Cinematographer
 John P. Bruce – Art Director
 John W. Corso – Art Director
 Lloyd S. Papez – Art Director
 Louis Montejano – Art Director
 Mark Mansbridge – Art Director
 Seymour Klate – Art Director
 Sherman Loudermilk – Art Director
 James Michener – Author
 Helen Colvig – Costume Designer
 Bill Parker – Editor
 Howard S. Deane – Editor
 John Elias – Editor
 Ralph Schoenfeld – Editor
 Robert F. Shugrue – Editor
 Robert Watts – Editor
 Jack Senter – Production Designer

Production

Principal filming occurred in 1978. There were numerous filming locations in several parts of the United States. Colorado filming locations included Greeley, the Pawnee National Grasslands, Denver, Central City, Orchard, Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site and the Rocky Mountain National Park. Several of the mountain men era scenes were filmed in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The scenes representing St. Louis in the late 18th and early 19th century were filmed in Augusta, Kentucky. The White Hall State Historic Site in Richmond, Kentucky served as the Bockweiss mansion. Scenes representing the Zendt farm and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, were filmed in and around Coshocton, Ohio.

The ranch house and surrounding buildings used for the Venneford Ranch house was the Highlands Ranch Mansion in Highlands Ranch, which is located near the real town of Centennial, Colorado. Years later the surrounding property was developed for housing; one of the streets in the development was named Venneford Ranch Road (by the Mission Viejo Company).

On 27 November 1978, the actor Richard Kelton died of accidental carbon monoxide asphyxiation due to a faulty heater in his trailer while filming the miniseries, in which he was to have co-starred. Universal Studios, which produced Centennial, was fined $720 for the failure to provide a proper ventilation system for the trailer to which Kelton had retreated to rehearse his lines.

Differences between the book and miniseries
Although Michener began his novel in prehistory, the series itself begins with elements from Chapter 4 of his book, "The Many Coups of Lame Beaver." The Wendells use the badger game to blackmail the town pastor out of his house in the miniseries, but in the book they get the house from a local businessman. The novel devotes an entire section to Kurt Brumbaugh's development of Central Beet company; the miniseries, however, makes only passing reference to it.

In the miniseries, Morgan Wendell tries to cover up his family's shady history, but in the book he speaks openly about the murder and his father's admiration of the sheriff to the author–who in turn agrees to publish the facts of the killing after the election. Paul Garrett is in his 50s and is Lloyd's grandson in the miniseries, but he is in his early 40s in the novel and is their great-grandson. The miniseries skips a generation for the sake of simplicity. This skipped generation would have revealed that Garrett is also a descendant of Maxwell and Lisette Mercy, Levi and Lucinda Zendt, and John Skimmerhorn.

There is no election pitting Garrett against Wendell in the novel. Wendell is elected Commissioner of Resources, and Garrett reluctantly accepts his offer to be his principal deputy. The novel also portrays Wendell as a more reasonable and balanced man than what is depicted in the miniseries. It is he, not Garrett, who makes the reference to Warren G. Harding as the anti-standard by which all politicians should be judged.

Historical basis
The Pasquinel character bears similarities to Jacques La Ramee, a French-Canadian, coureur de bois, fur trapper who explored the region, of the North Platte River, in southern Wyoming, in the early 19th century. The "Pasquinel brothers", the sons of Pasquinel and Clay Basket, are loosely-based on the four half-breed sons of trader William Bent, of Old Bent's Fort, near present-day La Junta, Colorado. During "The Yellow Apron", Pasquinel tells his son Jake that he was named after his good friend and early trapping partner, "Jacques La Ramee".

The character of Indian hater and religious fanatic Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn appears to be loosely based on John Chivington, a disgraced ex-Methodist minister who led the infamous Sand Creek massacre in Kiowa County, Colorado in 1864. The miniseries however seems to imply that the Skimmerhorn character is a Mormon since he refers to the Arapaho as "Lamanites", a term found in Mormon theology to refer to Indians, but not in Protestant or Roman Catholic doctrine. Captain John McIntosh's (Major Mercy in the novel) role in the incident and subsequent trial appears to be loosely based on Silas Soule.

The range war depicted in the series is similar in many respects to the 1892 Johnson County War in Wyoming. The scene where Nate Person, Bufe Coker, and Fat Laura are murdered by hired killers, the Pettis brothers, bears similarity to the lynching of Ellen "Cattle Kate" Watson with the Oliver Seccombe character taking a role similar to that of Albert John Bothwell. The character of Hans "Potato" Brumbaugh appears to be loosely based on the Colorado historical figure Rufus "Potato" Clark, a failed gold prospector who turned to agriculture and became a pioneer in irrigation. Like the character in Centennial, Clark grew wealthy by growing potatoes near Littleton, eventually switching to sugar beets and controlling more than .

Despite the name and location, the city of Centennial, Colorado was founded in 2001 and is not based on the novel, but rather was independently inspired by Colorado's 1876 statehood.

Critical reception
Nominated for several awards, including a Best Actor Golden Globe for Chamberlain and Best Television Series Golden Globe Drama in 1979.

Awards and nominations

Footnotes

References
 Clive James, The Observer, March 1, 1981

External links

1970s American television miniseries
Television shows based on American novels
NBC original programming
1978 American television series debuts
1979 American television series endings
Television series by Universal Television
1970s Western (genre) television series
Television series about the history of the United States
Television shows set in Colorado
Adaptations of works by James A. Michener

Centennial (miniseries)


openSUSE () යනු සාමාන්‍ය කටයුතු සදහා යොදාගන්නා ලිනක්ස් මත පදනම් වූ මෙහෙයුම් පද්ධති, මෙය ප්‍රජාව විසින් සහාය දක්වන openSUSE ව්‍යාපෘතිය මගින් සංවර්ධනය කරනු ලබන අතර 2004 ජනවාරියේ SUSE ලිනක්ස් ලබාගත් පසු Novell සමාගම මගින් මේ සදහා අනුග්‍රහය ලබා දේ.  Novell සමාගම SUSE Linux වෘතීය නිෂ්පාදන Professional product as a 100% open source project, involving the community in the development process. ප්‍රථම ස්ථායී නිකුතුව වන්නේ SUSE Linux 10.0 හි බීටා නිකුතුවයි. 2010 නොවැම්බර් වන විට ස්ථායී නිකුතුව වන්නේ SUSE Linux 11.3 යි.,

Overview
openSUSE is driven by the openSUSE Project community and sponsored by Novell, to develop and maintain SUSE Linux distributions components. It is the equivalent of the historic "SuSE Linux Professional". After their acquisition of SUSE Linux, Novell has decided to make the community an important part of their development process.

Beyond the distribution, the openSUSE Project provides a web portal for community involvement. The community assists in developing openSUSE collaboratively with representatives from Novell by contributing code through the openSUSE Build Service, writing documentation, designing artwork, fostering discussion on open mailing lists and in Internet Relay Chat channels, and improving the openSUSE site through its wiki interface. Novell markets openSUSE as the best, easiest distribution for all users.

Like most Linux distributions, openSUSE includes both a default graphical user interface (GUI) and a command line interface option. During installation, the user may choose among KDE SC, GNOME, LXDE and Xfce GUIs. openSUSE supports thousands of software packages across the full range of Free software / open source development.

ඉතිහාසය

ආයතනයෙහි ඉතිහාසය

නිෂ්පාදන ඉතිහාසය
In the past, the SUSE Linux company had focused on releasing the SuSE Linux Personal and SuSE Linux Professional box sets which included extensive printed documentation that was available for sale in retail stores. The company's ability to sell an open source product was largely due to the closed-source development process used. Although SUSE Linux had always been open product licensed with the GPL, it was only freely possible to retrieve the source code of the next release 2 months after it was ready for purchase. SUSE Linux strategy was to create a technically superior Linux distribution with the large number of employed engineers, that would make users willing to pay for their distribution in retail stores.

Since the acquisition by Novell in 2003 and with the advent of openSUSE this has been reversed: starting with version 9.2, an unsupported 1 DVD ISO image of SUSE Professional was made available for download as well as a bootable Live DVD evaluation. The FTP server continues to operate and has the advantage of "streamlined" installs: Only downloading packages the user feels they need. The ISO has the advantages of an easy install package, the ability to operate even if the user's network card does not work "out of the box", and less experience needed (i.e., an inexperienced Linux user may not know whether or not to install a certain package, and the ISO offers several preselected sets of packages).

The initial stable release from the openSUSE Project, SUSE Linux 10.0, was available for download just before the retail release of SUSE Linux 10.0. In addition, Novell discontinued the Personal version, renaming the Professional version to simply "SUSE Linux", and repricing "SUSE Linux" to about the same as the old Personal version. As of version 10.2, the SUSE Linux distribution was officially renamed to openSUSE.

Over the years, SuSE Linux has gone from a status of a distribution which includes proprietary software, with restrictive, delayed publications (2 months of waiting for those who had not bought the box, without ISOs available, but installation available via FTP) and a closed development model to a free distribution model with immediate and freely availability for all and transparent and open development. Its popularity continues to grow: as of May 2010, for example, patch download statistics show more than two million unique installations of openSUSE 11.1 and 11.2 alone, with the largest numbers located in Germany (28%) and the United States (14%).

බෙදාහැරීම්
openSUSE නොමිලයේ භාගත කල හැකි අතර වෙලදපලෙහි විකිනීමටද ඇත. නමුත් openSUSE බෙදාහැරීම ඇත්තේ එකක් පමණි. එය යම් යම් සංස්කරණ x86 and x86-64 architectures (as for version 11.3) ලෙස පැමිනේ:
 openSUSE Download Edition: This is the freely downloadable ISO version, available from the openSUSE downloads page. It is available as a Live-CD version (KDE4 or GNOME) which can be installed on the hard disk, or as a more complete single layer DVD-5. A CD containing additional proprietary software and an additional CD containing files for internationalization (less common languages) are also available. This version does not include any technical assistance, nor printed manuals.
 openSUSE Retail Edition: Users are able to purchase openSUSE box from Novell. It contains a DVD-9 (dual-layer) comprising the 32-bit and 64, together with a CD including the non open source software, printed documentation and 90 days limited user support. Media of the retail version is a little bit different from the downloaded ISO, but all software in the box which are not on the downloadable ISOs are available on the FTP servers and freely accessible. It is equivalent to the download edition with the only differences being limited product support and a printed user manual.
 openSUSE FTP: There is also a small ISO to install openSUSE directly from FTP (network install). There are mirrors on the two different FTP trees: one for open-source packages (OSS), a second for non-open-source packages or whose license is restrictive (non-oss). The FTP can be used to complement the Download and Retail editions.
 openSUSE Factory: This is the continuous ongoing development version, from which the development team take out regular snapshots (Milestones and RC) to get the stable openSUSE.

Features

YaST පාලක පැනලය

SUSE includes an installation and administration program called YaST2 which handles hard disk partitioning, system setup, RPM package management, online updates, network and firewall configuration, user administration and more in an integrated interface. YaST also integrates with SaX2 to help users handle their graphics card and monitor, touch displays, and even additional monitors with Xinerama. In more recent times, many more YaST modules have been added including Bluetooth support.

AutoYaST

AutoYaST  යනු YaST2 හි කොටසක් වන අතර ස්වයංක්‍රීය ස්ථාපන සදහා භාවිතා වේ. සැකැස්ම XML ගොනුවක රදවා තබා ගන්නා අතර පරිශීලකයාගේ මැදිහත් වීමක් නොමැතිව කාර්යය සිදුවේ.

ZYpp පැකේජ් කලමනණාකරනය

ZYpp (or libzypp) යනු ලිනක්ස් ම්රුදුකාංග කලමණාකරන යාන්ත්‍රණයක් වන එහි බැදීම විසදා පහසුවෙන් පැකේජ් කලමනණාකරනයට අවශයය මෘදුකාංග ක්‍රමලේඛන අතුරුමුහුනතක්අඩංගුය.

Build Service

The openSUSE Build Service provides software developers with a tool to compile, release and publish their software for many distributions, including Mandriva, Ubuntu, Fedora and Debian. It typically simplifies the packaging process, so developers can more easily package a single program for many distributions, and many openSUSE releases, making more packages available to users regardless of what distribution version they use. It is published under the GPL.

Desktop innovation

Xgl and Compiz
On January 2, 2006, SUSE developer David Reveman announced Xgl, an X server architecture designed to take advantage of modern graphics cards via their OpenGL drivers, layered on top of OpenGL via glitz. Compiz, one of the first compositing window managers for the X Window System that is able to take advantage of this OpenGL-acceleration, was also released.

KDE Desktop innovations
SUSE has been a leading contributor to the KDE project for many years, and now SUSE sponsors more developers to work directly within KDE than any other distribution. Hence, SUSE's contributions in this area have been very wide-ranging, and affecting many parts of KDE such as kdelibs and KDEBase, Kontact, and kdenetwork. Other notable projects include:
 KNetworkManager  – a front-end to NetworkManager.
 Kickoff – a new K menu for KDE Plasma Desktop.

GNOME innovations
The Ximian group became part of Novell, and in turn made and continued several contributions to GNOME with applications such as F-Spot, Novell Evolution and Banshee.
The GNOME desktop now uses the slab instead of the classic double-panelled GNOME menu bars.

නිකුතුවන්

10.x කාණ්ඩය
The initial stable release from the openSUSE Project was SUSE Linux 10.0, released on October 6, 2005. This was released as a freely downloadable ISO image and as a boxed retail package, with certain bundled software only included in the retail package.

On May 11, 2006, the openSUSE Project released SUSE Linux 10.1, with the mailing list announcement identifying Xgl, NetworkManager, AppArmor and Xen as prominent features.

For their third release, the openSUSE Project renamed their distribution, releasing openSUSE 10.2 on December 7, 2006. Several areas that developers focused their efforts on were reworking the menus used to launch programs in KDE and GNOME, moving to ext3 as the default file system, providing support for internal readers of Secure Digital cards commonly used in digital cameras, improving power management framework (more computers can enter suspended states instead of shutting down and starting up) and the package management system. This release also featured version 2.0 of Mozilla Firefox.

The fourth release, openSUSE 10.3, was made available as a stable version on October 4, 2007. An overhaul of the software package management system (including support for 1-Click-Install), legal MP3 support from Fluendo and improved boot-time are some of the areas focused on for this release.

11.x Series
openSUSE 11.0 was released on June 19, 2008. It includes the latest version of GNOME and two versions of KDE (the older, stable 3.5.9 and the newer 4.0.4). It comes in three freely downloadable versions: a complete installation DVD (including GNOME, KDE3, and KDE4), and two Live CDs (GNOME, and KDE4 respectively). A KDE3 Live CD was not produced, however, due to limited resources. Package management and installation were made significantly faster with ZYpp.

openSUSE 11.1 was released on December 18, 2008. Updated software includes GNOME 2.24.1, KDE 4.1.3 + KDE 3.5.10, OpenOffice.org 3.0, VirtualBox 2.0.6, Compiz 0.7.8, Zypper 1.0.1, continued improvement in the software update stack, X.Org 7.4, Xserver 1.5.2 and Linux kernel 184.108.40.206.

openSUSE 11.2 was released on November 12, 2009. It includes KDE 4.3, GNOME 2.28, Mozilla Firefox 3.5, OpenOffice.org 3.1, improved social network support, updated filesystems such as Ext4 as the new default and support for Btrfs, installer support for whole-disk encryption, significant improvements to YaST and zypper, and all ISO images are hybrid and now support both USB and CD-ROM boot.

openSUSE 11.3 was released on July 15, 2010. It includes KDE 4.4.4, GNOME 2.30.1, Mozilla Firefox 3.6.6, OpenOffice.org 3.2.1, support for the Btrfs filesytem. It also updates the Linux kernel to version 2.6.34.

අනුවාද ඉතිහාසය
The openSUSE project aims to release a new version every eight months. It supports each release with critical updates for two years from the release date. Starting with version 11.2, critical updates will be provided for two releases plus two months, which at the current release cycle of 8 months would result in a support lifetime of 18 months.

System requirements
openSUSE 11.1 has full support for 32 bit i586 and 64 bit x86-64 PC hardware, as well as PowerPC (PPC) processors. The basic requirements for non-PPC hardware is as follows:
 CPU: Intel Pentium 1-4 or Xeon; AMD Duron, Athlon, Athlon XP, Athlon MP, Athlon 64, Sempron or Opteron
 RAM: 256 MB minimum, 512 MB recommended
 Hard drive: 500 MB for minimal system; 3 GB recommended for standard system

The actually achievable minimum specs differ. Older processors that still belong to the i586 family are usable, for example the AMD K6/2. When excess language/translation files and documentation are removed and X is not needed, decent console-based router systems can be made using 300 MB disk space. Most console workloads also cope with 128 MB RAM at the cost of increased swap activity in tight situations.

Gallery

See also

 openSUSE Project
 SUSE Linux distributions
 YaST
 ZYpp
 openSUSE Build Service

References

External links
 openSUSE Project official website

KDE
Novell
SUSE Linux
RPM-based Linux distributions
X86-64 Linux distributions

OpenSUSE


Tupoumālohi (born sometime in the 18th century, died 1812) was the 16th Tui Kanokupolu of Tonga from the death of his uncle Maafuolimuloa, the 15th Tui Kanokupolu on 22 April 1799, until his own death in 1812.

According to:
His installation took place on May 29, 1799 at the Pangai Green in Kolovai in Hihifo (Tongatapu). He established his capital at Nukualofa, the current Tongan capital. He died on Haapai in 1812.

According to more established scholars:
Exact date of installation unknown, probably somewhere around 1808 in Mua. Left office within the year.
Defended without success a great fort in Nukualofa against Fīnau Ulukālala II in 1807. (Nukualofa in that time was a small settlement, it would not be made capital of Tonga until 1851 by Tāufaāhau, but it was already the residence of the Tui Kanokupolu chiefs since Mumui around 1795).

References and notes

 I.C. Campbell; Classical Tongan kingship; 1989
 E. Bott; Tonga society at the time of Captain Cook's visit; 1982
 S. Lātūkefu; Church and State in Tonga; 1974

18th-century births
1812 deaths
Monarchs of Tonga
People from Tongatapu

Tupoumālohi


Hadseløya or Hadseløy is an island in Hadsel Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the Vesterålen region on the north side of the Hadselfjorden.  The town of Stokmarknes is situated on the northern shore of the island and the village of Melbu is on the southern coast.

The island has an area of .  The  tall mountain Lamlitind is the highest point on the island.  Hadseløya is connected to the neighboring islands of Langøya and Børøya by the Hadsel Bridge.  There is also a ferry connection from the village of Melbu to the village of Fiskebøl on Austvågøya island to the south.

See also
List of islands of Norway

References

External links
Satellite image of island at Satellite View

Hadsel
Islands of Nordland
Vesterålen

Hadseløya


Hussainpur is a census town in Jalandhar district in the Indian state of Punjab. It is situated in Jalandhar II Tehsil. The village code is 030405.

Demographics
According to Census 2011 information the location code or village code of Hussainpur village is 030406. Hussainpur village is located in Jalandhar Ii Tehsil of Jalandhar district in Punjab, India. It is situated 15km away from sub-district headquarter Jalandhar - Ii and 15km away from district headquarter Jalandhar. As per 2009 stats, Hussainpur village is also a gram panchayat.

The total geographical area of village is 119 hectares. Hussainpur has a total population of 1,291 peoples. There are about 283 houses in Hussainpur village. Jalandhar is nearest town to Hussainpur.

See also
Lehmber Hussainpuri

References

Cities and towns in Jalandhar district

Hussainpur


Temperance (XIV) is one of the 22 Major Arcana cards in Tarot decks. It is usually numbered 14. It depicts a figure which represents the virtue Temperance. Along with Justice and Strength, it is one of three Virtues which are given their own cards in traditional tarot. It is used in both game playing and in divination.

Identity of the Figure
Temperance almost invariably depicts a figure with pouring liquid from one cup to another. This figure is usually referred to as the virtue Temperance or as an angel, though several other interpretations also exist. In particular, Paul Huson suggests that the figure once represented Ganymede, who served as cup bearer to Zeus. Though it is possible that the figure could also be the goddess Iris or the archangel Michael. The former of these interpretations is supported by the rainbow which is often added above her head and the fact that the flowers pictured in the Rider–Waite Tarot version of the card are Irises.

Description
Temperance () appears in the oldest Italian decks where it is numbered VI or VII.  In the Tarot de Marseille and in most contemporary decks the card is numbered XIV. In the Thoth Tarot and decks influenced by it, this card is called Art rather than Temperance.

Temperance is almost invariably depicted as a person pouring liquid from one receptacle into another. Historically, this was a standard symbol of the virtue temperance, one of the cardinal virtues, representing the dilution of wine with water. In many decks, the person is a winged angel, usually female or androgynous, and stands with one foot on water and one foot on land.

At the end of the path in the lower left part of the card, there is a crown to show the attainment of a goal, or mastery thereof.

In the Rider–Waite image by Pamela Coleman-Smith (shown on this page) the Hebrew Tetragrammaton is on the angel's chest above the square and triangle. In the derivative Tarot decks this is usually not included.

According to A.E. Waite's 1910 book The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, the Temperance card is associated with:
14.TEMPERANCE.--Economy, moderation, frugality, management, accommodation. Reversed: Things connected with churches, religions, sects, the priesthood, sometimes even the priest who will marry Querent; also disunion, unfortunate combinations, competing interests.In Astrology, the Temperance card is associated with the masculine, mutable-fire sign of Sagittarius and its ruling planet, Jupiter.

In Media
In the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders, characters' powers (also known as 'Stands') are named after tarot cards. The Temperance 'stand' belongs to Rubber Soul, a minor antagonist.

In The House of the Dead, each of its bosses in the mainline series are named after the Major Arcana Tarot Cards (excluding The Devil.) The fourth boss of its fourth installment (Type 0483) is named after the Temperance card.

References

 A. E. Waite's 1910 Pictorial Key to the Tarot
 Hajo Banzhaf, Tarot and the Journey of the Hero (2000)
 Most works by Joseph Campbell
 G. Ronald Murphy, S.J., The Owl, The Raven, and The Dove: Religious Meaning of the Grimm's Magic Fairy Tales (2000)
Juliette Wood, Folklore 109 (1998):15-24, "The Celtic Tarot and the Secret Tradition: A Study in Modern Legend Making" (1998)

External links

Major Arcana

Temperance (tarot card)


Theodore A. "Teddy" Atlas Jr. (born July 29, 1956) is an American boxing trainer and fight commentator.

Early life
The son of a doctor, Atlas grew up in a wealthy area of Staten Island, New York City, New York. His mother, Mary Riley Atlas, was a former contestant in the Miss America pageant system, as well as a model. His father was of Hungarian Jewish ancestry and his mother of Irish descent. Atlas was raised in his mother's Catholic faith and spent summers in Spring Lake, New Jersey, with his family's friends.

By his own admission, Atlas had a somewhat troubled, rebellious youth. He dropped out of school and was arrested several times. He participated in an armed robbery and served time on Rikers Island. Atlas was involved in a street fight in Stapleton, Staten Island, in which his face was severely slashed with a "007" flick knife. The wound took 400 stitches in total to close, with 200 on the outside of his face and 200 on the inside. The attack left him with a distinctive scar.

Career

Boxing trainer
Atlas trained as an amateur boxer with Hall of Fame trainer Cus D'Amato. He had some amateur fights and won a 135-pound Golden Gloves title but had to turn to work as a trainer due to a back injury. Atlas was an assistant to D'Amato, although his role in the Catskill Boxing Club was short-lived. In 1980 he trained Sweden Olympic Boxing Team for 1980 Summer Olympics. His duties included assisting in the training of D'Amato's teenage protégé Mike Tyson. However, Atlas left the camp in 1982 following an altercation with the 15-year-old Tyson after Tyson had been sexually inappropriate with an 11-year-old female relative of Atlas' (Tyson said he had grabbed the girl's buttocks). Atlas put a .38 caliber handgun to Tyson's ear and told him to never touch his family again, or he would kill him if he did. This altercation between Atlas and a young Mike Tyson led to Atlas' dismissal from the Catskill Boxing Club, and he was told he was no longer welcome in D'Amato's home or around any of his adopted children (his fighters whom he had legally adopted, Tyson included).

Atlas enjoyed his biggest success as head trainer to Michael Moorer, whom he guided to the world heavyweight title in 1994. He drew criticism for what some considered to be overly dramatic speeches in the ring corner, particularly during Moorer's heavyweight title fight with Evander Holyfield, and some felt he did this to draw attention to himself rather than help his fighter. During one such speech, Atlas blocked Moorer from sitting on his stool and asked, "Do you want me to take over?" Atlas has denied this, stating that he did what he believed the fighter needed based on his understanding of the fighter. Moorer went on to defeat Holyfield by a majority decision, with Moorer's manager John Davimos crediting Atlas' motivation, stating "I don't know if Michael could have done this without Teddy Atlas."

Atlas also worked the corners of featherweight world champion Barry McGuigan in one fight and light heavyweight Donny Lalonde. Lalonde was a top-ranked boxer and went 8–0 with Atlas as his trainer, but they clashed in temperament and style. "He ran things like an army camp," Lalonde said, "I'm more of a free spirit." Lalonde also said it was a waste of time in his career. He and Atlas parted ways, and Lalonde hired Tommy Gallagher as his new trainer. In his autobiography, Atlas claimed he was so angry at having been fired by Lalonde that he went to Lalonde's house with a gun intending to kill him. However, Lalonde refuted Atlas' story, claiming he did not even live at the apartment Atlas described at the time. Lalonde also called Atlas "the least significant of all my trainers throughout my career."

In 2009, Atlas began training Russian heavyweight Alexander Povetkin as Povetkin prepared for an eventual title match against Wladimir Klitschko. Povetkin was a former world amateur champ and was the number one contender. Atlas said that Povetkin "wasn't ready" for Klitschko

In 2015, Atlas returned to training to prepare Timothy Bradley for his welterweight title defense against Brandon Rios. With Atlas in his corner, Bradley knocked out Rios in the ninth round of their fight, which took place on November 7, 2015, in Las Vegas.

In September 2018 Atlas agreed to train Oleksandr Gvozdyk for upcoming fight with Adonis Stevenson on December 1, 2018 in Montreal for WBC and lineal light heavyweight titles.

In 2019, when asked who, in his opinion, was the best overall of the boxers he had trained, he said Wilfred Benítez.

Sportscasting

Atlas served as a commentator for ESPN, formerly for ESPN2's Friday Night Fights and Wednesday Night Fights and later for ESPN's Premier Boxing Champions fights. On January 25, 2008, Atlas was suspended by ESPN twice, once for threatening a crew member and once (for one week) after confronting the network's boxing program director, Doug Loughrey. Atlas accused Loughrey of showing favoritism to certain promoters and matchmakers, who were abusing their ESPN connections by taking fighters from other promoters with promises of potential ESPN dates. In December 2017, Atlas was removed from ESPN's live fight coverage after 21 years of ringside commentating following his criticism of the judging in the Manny Pacquiao–Jeff Horn fight. He is in contract until 2020, and continues to provide boxing analysis for ESPN.

In 2001, Atlas won the Sam Taub Award for excellence in boxing broadcasting journalism. Atlas worked as a boxing commentator for NBC's coverage of the Olympic Games in Sydney (2000), Athens (2004), Beijing (2008), London (2012) and Rio de Janeiro (2016).

Atlas was a contributor on fight doctor Ferdie Pacheco's The 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing DVD. In it, he stated that in the first Ali-Liston fight, during the famous "blind round" in which Ali could not see after being hit by Liston's gloves which had been smeared in a substance that temporarily blinded Ali, he would have refused to have cut Ali's gloves off and would have simply sent him out with the advice to just "run".

Atlas is also featured as a member of the in-game commentary team on Fight Night Round 4 and Fight Night Champion, alongside Joe Tessitore.

Other
In 1989 he was part of the cast and the crew in the film Triumph of the Spirit which portrays the story of Salamo Arouch, a Jewish Greek boxer who survived the Holocaust by boxing (over 200 bouts) for the entertainment of German Nazi officers in Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Atlas played the role of Klaus Silber, main antagonist in the movie. He was also a boxing consultant for Willem Dafoe.

Personal life

Atlas is  married to Elaine, with whom he has two children: Teddy III and Nicole. Teddy III is a scout for the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.

In 1997, he founded the Dr. Theodore Atlas Foundation to honor the memory of his father. The foundation awards scholarships and grants to individuals and organizations. Atlas published his autobiography, Atlas: From the Streets to the Ring: A Son's Struggle to Become a Man, in 2006. The book covers many different periods of Atlas's life and compares his position as trainer to a role as a father.

Honors
Atlas has been inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.

Trained boxers
 Chris Reid (IBF super middleweight contender)
 Jimmy McMahon
 Timothy Bradley
 Felix Santiago
 Donny Lalonde 1985–1986, 8 fights
 Michael Moorer 1993–1997, 7 fights
 Barry McGuigan
 Michael Grant 2001–2003, 9 fights
 Alexander Povetkin 2009–2011, 6 fights
 Oleksandr Gvozdyk 2018 – present, 3 fights

See also

References

External links
Biography at ESPN MediaZone
Dr. Theodore Atlas Foundation
Bio file interview profile with Teddy Atlas at BoxingInsider.com
New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame profile

1956 births
Living people
Jewish American sportspeople
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
American people of Irish descent
Boxers from New York City
Sportspeople from Staten Island
Boxing commentators
American boxing trainers
American male boxers
21st-century American Jews

Teddy Atlas


Michel de Salaberry (July 4, 1704 – November 27, 1768) enrolled in the French Merchant Navy at a very young age. He was a  naval officer and a shipowner from the d' Irumberry de Salaberry family in the Basque area of France. His arrival in Quebec according to the family historical account, was in 1735 he was living there and by the next year he owned his own ship and was soon a force in commercial shipping. He married in Quebec, to Marie de Villeray and she had 2 daughters with him. He found living on shore too boring so returned to his ship. Michel returned to France, and by 1745 had made La Rochelle his home port. He offered his services to the King, and was entrusted with a perilous mission - to deliver orders to the Marquis of Beauharnais, at that time the Governor of Nouvelle France. During this journey, his ship was struck by a terrible storm, and were forced to change course, arriving on Martinique, where they stayed for several weeks to repair the ship. On April 20, 1745, they again headed out to sea, and arrived in Quebec on the 6th of June.
Following his delivery to Quebec, de Salaberry was asked to find an observation post where he could watch for British ships in the St. Lawrence River, which might threaten the colony.  After 2 months of surveillance, he spotted the British and quickly sailed to Quebec to provide the information to the Governor. Because of the success of his mission, the Governor recommended him to the French Minister, underlining the service rendered. The King rewarded de Salaberry with a naval office.
In 1750, Michel married for the second time, to Madelaine Loiuse, daughter of Ignace Juchereau Duchesnay, who was the Seigneur de Beauport.
In 1752 de Salaberry was given command of the vessel Le Chariot Royale, and was responsible to deliver messages between Ile Royale and the King.
In 1758, de Salaberry was in command of the naval frigate La Fidèle, and sailed to Louisbourg, which was surrounded by many British ships.  He was ordered to sink his ship at the mouth of the harbour, to block the entrance from the British ships.  As he ordered the scuttles to be pulled, he stood on the deck and shouted to the British captains nearby, "Je commande La Fidèle, et fidèle je reste!" (Which means, "I command The Faithful, and I stay faithful.")

He was captured by the English, and taken to prison in England.

He retired after the war and in 1760, returned to France. His son, Ignace-Michel-Louis-Antoine stayed in Canada and became the head of the Canadian branch of the family of Irumberry de Salaberry.

Michel's importance to history, and Canadian history in particular, is the forging of ties between France and New France. Through participation in important events in Canada and his marriage into a prominent family, he set in motion a New World lineage that had a significant impact on Canada.

References

1704 births
1768 deaths
People from Labourd
People of New France
French-Basque people
French military personnel of the Seven Years' War
French Navy officers

Michel de Sallaberry


The dholak is a two-headed hand drum, a folk percussion instrument. The dholak is most commonly recognised in countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, but can also be found amongst the Indo-Diaspora in countries such as Guyana, Suriname, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa and Mauritius. The dholak can be anywhere about 16" to 24" in length. It is widely used in qawwali, kirtan, bhajan, bhangra, chutney, baithak gana, Bollywood film songs, lokgeet and various classical styles such as Hindustani, Carnatic and Trinidadian local classical / Guyanese taan. The drum has two different sized drumheads. There is a smaller drumhead that can be from 5.5 to 8 inches in diametre and is made for sharp notes while the bigger drumhead, which can be from 7.5 to 10 inches in diametre, is made for low pitch. The two drumheads allow a combination of bass and treble with rhythmic high and low pitches. The body or shell of the Dholak can made of sheesham or mango wood. The larger drum head has a compound of tar, clay and sand, called "masala" which is applied to lower the pitch and produce the sound.  The smaller drumhead is played with the person's dominant hand, while the larger is played by the person's weaker hand. A dholak can either be fitted with a nuts and bolts or a rope and steel rings for tuning. Commonly in the Indian subcontinent, there are only one set of rings for tuning the treble side of the dholak, while in the Caribbean (Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname), hook screws are placed into the sides of the dholak to allow tuning of both the treble and the bass. Dholak can be played in three ways — on the player's lap, while standing, or pressed down with one knee while sitting on the floor.

Construction
The smaller surface of the dholak is made of goat skin for sharp notes and the bigger surface is made of buffalo skin for low pitches, which allows a combination of bass and treble with rhythmic high and low pitches.

The shell is sometimes made from sheesham wood (dalbergia sissoo) but cheaper dholaks may be made from any wood, such as mango. In Sri Lanka, the Dholak has been borrowed from India and has only seen some popularity there in recent times .

Usage
It is widely used in qawwali, kirtan, lavani and bhangra. It was formerly used in classical dance. Indian children sing and dance to it during pre-wedding festivities. It is often used in Filmi Sangeet (Indian film music), in chutney music, chutney-soca, baitak gana, taan singing, bhajans, and the local Indian folk music of Jamaica, Suriname, Guyana, Caribbean, South Africa, Mauritius, and Trinidad and Tobago, where it was brought by indentured immigrants. In the Fiji Islands the dholak is widely used for Indian folk music, bhajan and kirtan.

The dholak's higher-pitched head is a simple membrane while the bass head, played usually with the left hand, has a compound syahi to lower the pitch and enable the typical Dholak sliding sound ("giss" or "gissa"), often the caked residue of mustard oil pressing, to which some sand and oil or tar may be added.

Playing style

The drum is either played on the player's lap or, while standing, slung from the shoulder or waist or pressed down with one knee while sitting on the floor.

In some styles of playing (such as Punjab) an iron thumb ring is used to produce a distinctive "chak" rim sound. In other styles (such as Rajasthani), all fingers are generally used.

Dholak masters are often adept at singing or chanting and may provide primary entertainment or lead drumming for a dance troupe. Perhaps the most characteristic rhythm played on the dhol is a quick double-dotted figure that may be counted in rhythmic solfege as "ONE -tah and -tah TWO -tah and -tah THREE-E -TAH, FOUR AND" (rest on "and") or simply a long string of double-dotted notes, over which the bass side is used for improvisation.

On large dholaks, known as dhols, the high-pitched head may be played using a thin (1/4" / 6 mm or less) long (over 14" / 30 cm) stick of rattan or bamboo (rattan is preferred for its flexibility) and the low-pitched drum head using a somewhat thicker, angled stick.

Variants
The dholki (Hindi/Urdu: pipe or tube) is often a bit narrower in diameter and uses tabla-style syahi masala on its treble skin. This instrument is also known as the naal. Its treble skin is stitched onto an iron ring, similar to East Asian Janggu or Shime-daiko drums, which tenses the head before it is fitted. The bass skin often has the same structure as in ordinary dholak, being fitted on to a bamboo ring, but sometimes they have a kinar and pleated Gajra, as seen in tabla, to withstand the extra tension.

Similar drums with similar names are found elsewhere in Western Asia.

See also
Madal
Drums
Tabla
Mridangam

References

Hand drums
Islamic music
Bangladeshi musical instruments
Indian musical instruments
Pakistani musical instruments
Afghan musical instruments
Pitched percussion instruments
Asian percussion instruments
Language:Nepali

Dholak


The Free Reformed Churches in South Africa (also known as the Vrye Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid Afrika) is a federation of Protestant Christian churches. It follows Reformed Calvinist theology and has adopted the Dutch "three forms of unity" as its doctrinal standards: Canons of Dordt, Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism and subscribes to the three Ecumenical Creeds: The Apostles' Creed, The Nicene Creed and The Athanasian Creed.

The first church was established in Pretoria on 8 October 1950. Eventually other churches were established; they are, in order of institution:

 FRC Pretoria, 1950
 FRC Cape Town, 1952
 FRC Johannesburg, 1957
 FRC Bethal, 1995
 FRC Pretoria-Maranata, 1997
 FRC Mamelodi, 2002
 FRC Soshanguve North, 2003

The FRC's Church Order is based on that which was written at the Synod of Dort 1618/19.

The Churches have sister-church relationships with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Liberated), the Canadian and American Reformed Churches, the Presbyterian Church in Korea and the Free Reformed Churches of Australia.

In addition to these contacts the FRC is also a member of the International Conference of Reformed Churches (ICRC)

External links
Official web site for the Free Reformed Churches of South Africa

Protestantism in South Africa
Reformed denominations in Africa
1950 establishments in South Africa

Free Reformed Churches of South Africa


Tan Chung (born 18 April 1929, in Matubahar, Johor) is an authority on Chinese history, Sino-Indian relations and cultural exchange. He has been a doyen of Chinese cultural studies in India for nearly half a century.

Early life
After initial education in China came to Santiniketan in 1955. On completing his Ph D from Visva Bharati University, taught in NDA, Khadakvasla, then joined Delhi University as professor of Chinese and became  head of the department of Chinese and Japanese studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. His wife, Huang I-Shu, taught Chinese at Delhi University.

Career
Tan Chung taught at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the University of Delhi for many years. His father, Tan Yun-Shan (1898-1983), was the founder of Cheena Bhavana at Santiniketan and a key figure driving Nationalist China's interactions with the Indian freedom movement during the 1930s and 1940s.  After Tan Chung's retirement from JNU in 1994, he worked as a Research Professor at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi and currently lives in Chicago, United States. He has been Honorary Director of the ICS/Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi.

A conference in his honor, at the occasion of his 80th birthday, was held in New Delhi in December 2008.

Awards
In 2010, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour by the Govt. of India and the China-India Friendship Award by the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in the same year.

In June 2013, Yunnan Academy of Social Science conferred upon him the honorary Fellowship of the Academy.

In December 2013, Visva-Bharati University conferred Deshikhottama (D. Litt and the highest honor of the University) upon Professor Tan Chung.

In August 2018, Sage Published his book on understanding China, China: A 5,000-year Odyssey and has received excellent reviews from leading scholars in the world.

References

Indian sinologists
Academic staff of Delhi University
1929 births
Living people
People associated with Santiniketan
Academic staff of Jawaharlal Nehru University
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education

Tan Chung


Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain is a third-person shooter video game developed by Bend Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It is the fourth installment in the Syphon Filter franchise and a sequel to 2001's Syphon Filter 3.

Gameplay
The gameplay is a departure from the previous games. Rather than playing as Gabe Logan, the player is given the role of a new recruit working for Gabe's secret anti-terrorist organization, the IPCA Players are able to create an original agent using a character customization system. Each mission allows players to select weapons from an overwhelming abundance, including assault rifles, carbines, machine guns, knives, grenades and more.

Four bonus missions can be unlocked, with each allowing players to take on a certain character. Players cannot choose specific weapons in each bonus mission, and must complete every mission using a fixed weapon set that the game designates. As per the convention of previous games, failing an objective or dying in any bonus mission will cause it to restart.

The game is nonlinear, where players are given choices to take on certain tasks, or avoid them altogether. Role-playing elements are added so that players can create characters, level up their ranks, and unlock new weapons. Enemies spawn on a seemingly indefinite basis so that players can never clear an area.

Plot
Following the destruction of the original Syphon Filter virus, Gabriel Logan repurposes the agency as the International Presidential Consulting Agency, serving as a counter-terrorism unit. As Commander-in-Chief, Logan has Lian Xing, Teresa Lipan, Lawrence Mujari, and Dr. Elsa Weissenger serve as his officers.

An Agency team headed by Imani Gray is deployed to a besieged city in Michigan in order to rescue Mujari, who disappeared while investigating Dr. Richard Broussard's ties with the Anarchiste Liberation Army. Imani and her team successfully rescue Mujari, and assassinate the ALA leadership then prepare for their next assignment.

Meanwhile, IPCA commander Gary Stoneman assassinates Italian mafia leader Dimitri Alexopoulous to prevent his acquisition of the Omega Strain in Italy. The team follows Stone to Belarus and tracks a shipment of infected cattle to Ivankov's residence. They discover that his courier Yuschenko is selling the Omega Strain, and Agency pilot Alima Haddad is captured by the Chechens during the operation, leading Stone to assume she is dead.

During the Belarus operation, Lian is deployed to Kyrgyzstan in order to eliminate an arms deal involving a local warlord and the North Koreans.

Gabe reluctantly enlists help from Mossad agent Ehud Ben Zohar upon determining Yuschenko's plans to sell the virus to Fatha Al-Hassan, a Yemeni leader. Zohar only cares about stopping Al-Hassan's network, so he steals the viral canister after the Agency retrieves it from Yuschenko. Zohar and the team enter Al-Hassan's palace disguised as the dead Chechens in order to assassinate him.  In the aftermath, they exchange the contracts for the virus.

The team later investigates a lead recovered from the Belarus operation that shows Dr. Nikolai Jandran is conducting virus tests at a local university. Maggie Powers assists in recovering evidence before the university's destruction.

Shortly after recovering, Mujari conducts his own investigation into the Chechens and photographs  Russian forces committing war atrocities for future blackmail. Afterwards, Mujari takes control of the Agency team as they check the wreckage of the S.S. Lorelei. The university turned up salvaged boxes, indicating an undersea operation.  The team evacuates the salvage rig before destroying the viral containers for good. However, Jandran dies from a serum before he can be brought back for questioning.

While Gabe faces pressure from the U.S. President and Alex Birchim of the White House Internal Affairs, he sends Lian and the team to track North Korean agent Yong-jun Kim, a man connected to the Yakuza's Murakawa Industries in Japan. The investigation reveals that Murakawa was helping develop the Omega Strain. Aramov arrived before Lian and forced Murakawa to commit suicide for trusting Kim. Kim posed as an employee working with Murakawa, so he could get the virus.

Shortly after destroying the Japanese labs, the team is re-deployed to recover Imani in Myanmar. The plane carrying Imani and Kim had been shot down.  Guilt-ridden, Lian takes the team to recover her body and the viral sample Kim was carrying. Despite claims that inclement weather brought down the jet, they find evidence indicating that Aramov had bribed the Myanmar Army to shoot down the plane.

Gabe becomes frustrated with his investigation into the secret corporation Meta Global Funds, which he believes controls the Syphon Filter conspiracy. The purchase of Murakawa Industries by Meta Global was possible through Niculescu Funds, headed by international banker Mihai Niculescu. He deduces that Niculescu as the mastermind behind the conspiracy. Against Birchim's commands, Gabe brings the Agency team to the headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. They find evidence linking Birchim to bribes, but nothing implicating Niculescu, and upload a virus to destroy all the computer records while sending them to Agency files.

Gabe conducts a solo investigation into Niculescu's Montenegro estate in a final effort to expose him. Although he did not find physical evidence, he learns of Aramov's ties to Niculescu and learns that Ivankov plans to nuke Russia.

Having learned of Ivankov's location from Mara, the Agency mobilizes to his base and prevents the missile's launch. Stone recovers an injured Alima. Ivankov is eventually killed by Gabe while attempting to escape.

Thanks to tissue and virus samples recovered by the IPCA, a vaccine for the Omega Strain virus is successfully synthesized, ending the threat with the aid of the World Health Organization. The President congratulates the IPCA and has Birchim arrested. Niculescu is killed by two anonymous gunmen as a result of his bank's sabotage. Dr. Weissenger gives a written admission that she had the recruit kill Dr. Jandran, as well as signs of mental instability before disappearing from the Agency. Lastly, Stone aims his rifle at Aramov to assassinate her on Logan's order.

Development
In a June 2007 interview with GameSpy, franchise veteran John Garvin maintained his attachment to the game, and explained that it was originally not intended to feature a single player mode. Garvin implied that the ability to play through the campaign alone had been tacked on at the demand of parent company Sony Computer Entertainment, late into the development process, in order to broaden the game's appeal.

Canadian controversy
The first three levels of the game's campaign mode were to originally be set in Toronto, Canada, but were changed a few months before the game's release due to feedback from some Canadians who disapproved of the levels' premise, which depicted Quebecois nationalists perpetrating a terrorist attack against the Toronto subway. References to the city's name were removed, with it being renamed to the fictional U.S. city of Carthage, Michigan. Overlooked vestiges of the level as originally envisaged by the developers can still be seen in the finished game, notably pictures of the Toronto skyline, as well as a few remaining references to Canada and Toronto that were overlooked.

Reception

Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.

References

External links

2004 video games
Multiplayer and single-player video games
PlayStation 2 games
PlayStation 2-only games
Syphon Filter
Third-person shooters
Video games developed in the United States
Video games with gender-selectable protagonists
Video games set in Belarus
Video games set in Italy
Video games set in Michigan
Video games set in Montenegro
Video games set in Myanmar
Video games set in Kyrgyzstan
Video games set in Russia
Video games set in Yemen
Video games set in Tokyo
Video games set in Switzerland
Video games set in Ukraine
Video game controversies
Video games set in Toronto
Video games about terrorism

Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain


Hard left or hard-left is a term that is used particularly in Australian and British English to describe the most radical members of a left-wing political party or political group. The term is also a noun and modifier taken to mean the far-left and the left-wing political movements and ideas outside the mainstream centre-left. The term has been used to describe wings and factions of several political parties across the world, such as the left-wing of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom and left-wing factions of the Australian Labor Party.

Australia
As with the Labor Right faction, the Labor Left faction of the Australian Labor Party is split between multiple competing sub-factions, called "fractions". These vary between state branches and in union support and affiliation.
In New South Wales, the left is split mainly between the so-called "hard" left and "soft" left. The hard left was historically focused on the trade union movement and international issues, and organised around figures like Frank Walker, Arthur Gietzelt, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The soft left presented a "more pragmatic" vision of the left and used rank-and-file members to gain power through branch stacking, and organised around politicians Peter Baldwin and Jack Ferguson.
In Victoria, the term "hard left" historically referred to the far-left "Tomato Left" faction, which included Bill Hartley, George Crawford, and Joan Coxsedge.

Britain
The term was first used in the context of debates within both the Labour Party and the broader left in the 1980s to describe Trotskyist groups such as the Militant tendency, Socialist Organiser and Socialist Action. Within the party, the Labour left or "hard left", represented by the Campaign Group, subscribed to more strongly socialist views while the "soft left", associated for example with the Tribune Group, embraced more moderate social democratic ideas.

Politicians commonly described as being on the hard left of the Labour Party at the time included Tony Benn, Derek Hatton, Ken Livingstone, Dennis Skinner, and Eric Heffer.

The term has since then often been used pejoratively by Labour's political opponents, for example, during the Conservative Party's election campaigns of the early 1990s, and by the media. It has continued to be used pejoratively for the left-wing of the Labour Party.

See also
 Far-right
 Loony left
 Soft left
 Centre-left politics

References

Further reading
 Charlie Kimber. Waiting for Lefty. Socialist Review. 1997.

Left-wing politics
Australian Labor Party factions
Political terminology in Australia
Labour Party (UK) factions
Left-wing politics in the United Kingdom
Politics of the United Kingdom

Hard left


A Writer's Nightmare is a collection of essays by R. K. Narayan published in 1988 by Penguin Books. The essays included in the book are about topics as diverse as the caste system, love, Nobel Prize winners and monkeys; the book provides readers a unique view of Indian life. The essays were written at various points between 1958 and 1988; the book includes a significant essay, Misguided Guide, expressing Narayan's displeasure with the film Guide, based on his book The Guide.

References

Books by R. K. Narayan
1988 books
Penguin Books books

A Writer's Nightmare


Glapthorn is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 264 people, increasing to 271 at the 2011 Census.

The villages name origin is uncertain. 'Glappa's thorn-tree' or 'glaep-thorn' an otherwise obscure plant name.

Glapthorn is approximately  miles NNW of Oundle, the closest town. North of the village is a small wood, Short Wood, with a Saxon earthwork. After suffering problems from widespread "Dutch Elm Disease" tree infection in the 1970s, the woodland is recovering its attraction and is particularly known for its May-time display of bluebell-carpeted open coppice. There are many other species in the woodland, resulting in it being classified as a SSSI. It is publicly accessible as a nature reserve.

Glapthorn's church of St Leonard's mostly dates back to the 13th century with the porch and south doorway added in the 14th century. The altar rail and panels in the pulpit were installed during the reign of James I. Other noteworthy items are a Victorian bier, an original pew located at the back of the church, three bells (one of which dates to the 14th century by John Sleyt), and an organ.  The church retains traces of medieval paintings of what is believed to be St. Christopher.

Notable people
Iain Henderson (born 1967), cricketer

References

Villages in Northamptonshire
North Northamptonshire
Civil parishes in Northamptonshire

Glapthorn


Njananikshepam (Malayalam:ജ്ഞാനനിക്ഷേപം) is the first printed magazine in the Malayalam language. The magazine is now published by the Madhya Kerala Diocese of Church of South India.

History
Njananikshepam is one among the early print media published in Kerala state. The magazine started publishing from 1848. Initially the magazine has eight-pages and was printed at the C.M.S. Press, Kottayam. Arch Deacon Koshy and the Reverend George Mathen were behind the publication.

Content

The magazine publishes various articles related to Christian theology, History of Church of South India and news about Madhya Kerala Diocese. Every edition of magazine consists of a letter from the current bishop of Madhya Kerala Diocese which describes the various activities about the diocese. News articles from church organizations i.e., Women's Fellowship, Lay Fellowship, Youth Movement, Bethel Ashram, Choristers Association, Educational Board, are published in the magazine every month. A news column named "Loka Jalakam" which details about the major news events happened across the world is also published every month.

References

See also
Media in Kerala

Monthly magazines published in India
Magazines established in 1848
Malayalam-language magazines
Religious magazines
Mass media in Kerala

Njananikshepam


Jean Balukas (born June 28, 1959) is an American pool player from Brooklyn, New York. During the 1970s and 1980s, many people thought Balukas was the greatest female player ever. Some people described her as a leader and "a child prodigy, a loner who rebelled against dress codes for women—the pool equivalent of Billie Jean King". Balukas was named Billiard Congress of America (BCA) Player of the Year five times. She was the youngest person given an entry in the BCA Hall of Fame. She is only the second woman given that honor. In 1999, Balukas was ranked fifteenth on Billiard Digest's Fifty Greatest Players of the 20th Century.

Balukas was thought of as a rare young talent. She first earned some fame when she was six years old by appearing in a pool playing event held at New York City's Grand Central Station. She later appeared many times on television, such as on CBS's popular evening television show, I've Got a Secret. She was nine years old when she placed 5th in the 1969 U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship. She placed 4th and 3rd in the next two U.S. Opens. From that early start, Balukas dominated women's professional pool during the 1970s and 1980s.

Balukas won the U.S. Open seven years in a row, from 1972 through 1978. She won six world championship titles. She had over 100 professional competition first-place finishes; 38 of those wins were in major events. She had a streak of 16 first-place finishes in women's professional tournaments. Balukas was also the only woman to compete equally with men in professional play in her era. She quit the sport in 1988 because of a dispute that happened in a match at the World Open Nine-ball Championship that year.

Young fame
Jean Balukas's father, Albert Balukas, and his business partner, Frank McGown, owned a forty-eight-table pool hall, named the Ovington Lounge, in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, New York. Balukas began playing pool when she four years old. She did not play at her father's pool room. Her first play was on a 4½ by 9 foot pool table in the basement of her childhood home. Her parents bought the table to keep her four brothers out of local pool rooms.

Balukas played with a cue stick that had ivory details. It was made just for her in 1965 by a cue stick maker, George Balabushka. When she was five and six years old she would practice a game called straight pool to 50 points after family dinners. Her father supported her play.

In 1966, McGown held a public billiards exhibition at New York City's Grand Central Terminal. With her parents' permission, he brought along the six-year-old Balukas. Balukas participated in the exhibition. This gained Balukas media attention. Later in 1966, Balukas appeared on a television show called Wonderama. Balukas and her younger sister Laura also appeared on CBS's television show I've Got a Secret later that year.

In 1967, Balukas was in an exhibition match at a pool hall called the Carom Club, located Manhattan. In advertisements for the match, Balukas was described as "the Little Princess of Pocket Billiards". A reporter described her at the match as "a little girl with honey-blond hair...wearing a short yellow dress and green leotards...who resembles a young Shirley Temple". She beat her adult opponent, Roland DeMarco, with a final score of 50 to 42.

In 1969, at the age of nine, she competed in her first Billiard Congress of America U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship. Balukas placed 5th in the competition. All her opponents were adults. In the next two U.S. Opens, in 1970 and 1971, she placed 4th and 3rd, respectively. By that time, Balukas had appeared on other television programs with a number of billiard stars and other celebrities.

U.S. Open Straight Pool Champion

On August 18, 1972, when she was thirteen years old, Balukas won the women's side of the U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship. For the win she beat five-time champion Dorothy Wise. The prize was $1,500. Balukas was the U.S Open's youngest winner ever and by a large number of years. She also beat in the finals, Madelyn Whitlow of Detroit, Michigan, with a score of 75 to 32 in 44 innings (turns at the table). Reporting on the competition, The New York Times described her as a strong player "throughout the tournament ... as she defeated six opponents with precision shooting and [almost perfect] strategy".

In 1973, at fourteen, Balukas successfully defended her straight pool U.S. Open title. She beat runner-up Donna Ries, a psychologist from Kansas City, Missouri, with a final score of 75 to 72 in 42 innings. In her longest turn, she sank 26 balls in a row and won $2,000 for first place. Earlier in the tournament she beat Mieko Harada, a housewife from Kyoto, Japan. Baluka's score was much higher than Harada's: 75 to 1 in 20 innings and sank 25 balls in a row. In the 1974 U.S. Open held at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago, Balukas defended her title, again beating out Harada, but by a much closer score: 100 to 99. This was Balukas's third U.S. Open title in a row, at the young age of fifteen. The close scores at the end of the match were similar to the results on the men's side, where Joe Balsis defeated Jim Rempe 200 to 199.

In 1975, Balukas beat Ries again in the U.S. Open semi-finals with a score of 75 to 15 in 15 innings. She also beat Gail Breedlove of Ames, Iowa, 75 to 19. She then again played and beat Harada in the finals, winning $3,000 with a score of 100 to 63 in 39 innings. In her longest turn, she sank 23 balls. In 1976, then 17, Balukas took her fifth U.S. Open title in a row, beating Gloria Walker of Cheyney, Pennsylvania 75 to 46 in 39 innings and winning a $1,700 prize. Balukas would win the next two U.S. Open straight pool championships for a total of seven wins in a row. Her streak of wins ended after 1978 because the U.S. Open itself was canceled, not because she was beaten.

Balukas was not only talented at pool but also good at other sports. From age sixteen to eighteen, ABC-TV asked her to be on a show called Superstars. This event happened in Rotonda West, Florida. Top athletes from one sport competed in a different sports that they did not usually compete in. In her first appearance in 1976, while a junior in high school, Balukas placed second with 192 points. She won titles in tennis and bowling. The winner that year was speed skater Anne Henning. Other competitors included: diver Micki King; tennis and golf pro Althea Gibson; skier Kiki Cutter; runner Wyomia Tyus; and tennis champion Martina Navratilova. The second place win was both good and bad for Balukas. She won $13,100 prize money, so she lost amateur standing. Afterwards, she was banned from competing in high school sports. Also, she was not allowed to get a college athletic scholarship.

Balukas has won many other pool titles, including six at the World Open Pocket Billiard Championships. At her first win in that tournament, held at a convention hall in Asbury Park, New Jersey on August 14, 1977, she was described as "the 18-year-old prodigy from Brooklyn". There, she again beat Gloria Walker with a score of 100 to 57, and earned a $1,001 prize. Balukas has won more U.S. Opens than any other player, male or female. The closest male is Steve Mizerak with four wins to Balukas's seven. Her ball average over the seven U.S. Opens was far better than was her opponents'. Balukas averaged 3.44 in 1972 with the next best, Gloria Walker, having an average of 2.37. In 1975 she averaged 4.05, while no other player averaged even 3.

Playing against men
By the late 1960s, Balukas was playing in exhibition matches with top male players. For example, she played with Willie Mosconi and Irving Crane who were together considered between 1941 and 1956 the "best in the world, flat out". In 1975, she again played Willie Mosconi on CBS's Challenge of the Sexes, playing in games of eight-ball and nine-ball. For the exhibition, the rules were changed to allow Balukas to have an advantage (a practice called "handicapping"). Specifically, Balukas always took the first shot. Then, she also took the next shot, even if she did not put a ball in a pocket on the first shot. Balukas beat Mosconi at both games. She would later play "Battle of the Sexes" matches on television with Rudolph Wanderone (also known as Minnesota Fats) in 1977, Ray Martin in 1979, and with Steve Mizerak in 1986.

On August 6, 1978, Balukas became the first women to qualify to play in the men's side of the World Open Pocket Billiards Championship. This meant that Balukas would be competing in both the women's and men's sides of the tournament. The tournament was to be held on August 12 of that year at the Biltmore Hotel in New York City.

Balukas played against men in several other competitions. These included at least one first shown on TV on March 25, 1979, between her and men's champion Ray Martin. The match was described on the television schedule as part of a Challenge of the Sexes. Other male-female matchups in the series were between golfers Nancy Lopez and Andy North and co-ed participants in a skateboarding challenge match. During 1980, Balukas again competed in the men's side of the World Open Pocket Billiards championship. That year it was played at New York City's Roosevelt Hotel. She was beaten in the second round by Steve Mizerak with a score of 150 to 93. Her final rank in the tournament was 22nd. At the end, 42 men were behind her. She also played on the women's side and was the champion. She beat Billie Billings, also from Brooklyn, with a score of 100 to 75.

Balukas was entered in both the men's and women's divisions of the 1987 B.C. Classic, a nine-ball competition. After controversy, she competed only on the men's side. There, she beat Keith McCready 11 to 3. At that time McCready was the 17th-ranked male player by money list. Balukas finished the tournament by tying for 9th place.

Dress code controversy
In August 1987, at the yearly B.C. Classic held at a Holiday Inn in Binghamton, New York, Balukas was scheduled to play in the men's and women's tournaments. After arriving, she found out that for the nighttime matches, she would be required to wear formal clothing. However, she did not have suitable clothing with her. The men's side had no similar dress code. Thus, Balukas did not buy clothes to follow the rule because she thought it was unfair.

The women held a vote on whether Balukas should be allowed to play. The vote resulted in Balukas being banned from the women's tournament. Some people said that the real reason other players voted her out was because they would have a better chance of winning the first place USD $5,000 prize if Balukas did not play. Balukas did not think so. Balukas did compete on the men's side, tying for ninth place.

Soon after the dress code issue was reported on, the president of the Women's Professional Billiard Association (WPBA), Belinda Bearden, sent a letter to The New York Times. Bearden wrote that the facts were different than reported. The WPBA stated the dress code was decided by the women players for themselves. They made the rules to improve the image of women's pool and to attract a larger audience and more press to the sport. They said that Balukas was the only woman at the event who was not willing to follow the rule. They also explained that Balukas first left from the women's division. They said that she came back to play after the list of who would play who was already completed. Another vote on whether she could play went 8–7 in Balukas' favor. However, after they asked a player who was absent from the first vote, Balukas withdrew from the women's division of the competition.

Leaving the sport
In 1988, Balukas was playing another professional player named Robin Bell the Brunswick-sponsored World Open Nine-ball Championship. The tournament was held at Caesars Palace (a casino and hotel) in Las Vegas, Nevada and shown on television. Bell was Balukas's best friend on the women's tour. She had never beaten Balukas before. However, Bell had been playing very strongly in the tournament. The terms of the match were that the winner would be whoever won nine games first. In the game of nine ball, there is a way to win the game very quickly. The game is over and the first player wins if they put the 9 ball in a pocket when they take the first shot. Early in the match the score was 2 games to 3, with Bell winning. Then, Bell sank the 9 ball on the first shot two games in a row, so she won both games. That made the score 5 to 2 very quickly without having to play a complete game. Bell avoided having to match skill with Balukas on each turn.

All television match players wore small microphones so that their words and the sounds of play could be heard by the audience. Balukas quietly said to herself that Bell had gotten lucky. The microphone let others hear what Balukas said. The referee spoke to Balukas and told her not to continue talking about Bell. They continued playing. Balukas won the match with a final score of 9 to 5. According to an interview with Balukas by New York Woman magazine in 1991, Balukas's exact words were "Some world championship... beat me with skill, not luck". Despite Bell and Balukas's friendship, after the match Bell made a formal complaint to the WPBA about the incident. The WPBA's board of directors fined Balukas $200 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Balukas was angry about the fine. She did not pay it. She turned down offers by others to pay the fine for her. Balukas explained that "It wasn't the $200... [Women] pool players, who were ranked three and six and five, were the ones who decided I should be fined. I felt it should have been done by an outside panel, not by my competitors". The sides were deadlocked. Balukas refused to pay and the WPBA refused to cancel the fine. They would not allow Balukas to play again until she paid. "Just because she was our premier player does not mean she was above the rules", said Vicki Paski in 1992, then president of the WPBA. Another professional named Loree Jon Jones was also interviewed. Her feelings were more mixed: "Her not playing is, I guess, sad", but she also said that without Balukas playing, "we've all learned how to win".

Balukas had faced other problems before she stopped competing. When she had tried to compete against men as the only woman she heard insults from some men. For example, one said "I'm gonna put on a dress and go play with the women". Balukas heard many complaints from the men upon her entry to a Chicago tournament in 1988. They said it was not fair that she got to play on both the men's and women's side, when the men could only play on their own side. She agreed not to play. However, after she traveled to the tournament she learned she had been tricked: "I found out that the first- and second-place winners in the women's event were going to be invited to play in the men's event. I was stabbed in the back".

Balukas also admits having been under great pressure, much of it that she placed on herself. After she reached the very top of her profession, "That's when I started getting nervous... that's when I started putting a lot of pressure on myself". "Playing against the men, I learned to lose,... but [losing] hurt with the women because I was expected to win all the time". Balukas later said that leaving the sport was a combination of many things, including: stress, fatigue, frustration, and anger at the professional pool industry. She said, "You know, you're going to fine me? Well, see you later. That was my excuse to finally say I need a break".

After leaving the sport, Balukas returned to Bay Ridge. She took over management of her family's pool hall, Hall of Fame Billiards on Ovington Avenue in Brooklyn. She says "I'm enjoying my life immensely... I have moved on". In summing up these events in a 1992 article, The New York Times stated, "So America's greatest woman pool player competes only for the odd soda. If you're feeling lucky, drop by her poolroom...If you're thirsty...go elsewhere".

Honors
In 1975, when she was fifteen years old, Balukas was already described as the "best female pool player in the world". Announcers had stopped calling Balukas "the Little Princess", but introduced her to audiences as "the Queen". By that time she had won the World Straight Pool Championship women's division eight of the last nine years. During those same years, she also won sixteen women's professional tournaments. She had been named the Billiard Congress of America Player of the Year five times. In 1985, Balukas became the second woman (after Dorothy Wise) to enter the BCA Hall of Fame. She was the youngest person ever to receive the honor, at just under 27 years of age. In 1999, Balukas was ranked number fifteen on Billiard Digest's Fifty Greatest Players of the Century.

References

1959 births
Living people
Sportspeople from New York (state)

Jean Balukas