Nabha Dass was a saint, theologian and author of the Bhaktamal. In this sacred scripture, Nabha Das wrote the life history of almost every saint ranging from the Satya Yuga to the Kali Yuga age. Nabha Dass wrote 'Bhagatmal' in 1585. Nabha Dass, a saint belonging to the tradition of Ramananda. On his birthday 8 April, millions of followers remember him and his resolve to work for humanity.

Punjab declares 8 April as gazetted holiday on Nabha Dass's birth anniversary

His connection with Punjab, Jammu and Himachal:

 Guru Nabha Dass used to visit the temple of Thakurdwara Bhagwan Narainji in the village Pandori in Gurdaspur district where people of Doom community live. In his celebrated Vaishnav text: Bhaktamal, Goswami Nabha Dass ji wrote about Ramanandi saints Bhagwanji and Narainji of Pandori Dham.
 Neighbouring Himachal Pradesh and Jammu&Kashmir states also have a sizeable presence of the community.
 Kullu Dussehra is celebrated for a week on the directions of Guru Nabha Dass.
 There are around 3 million people of the Mahasha community who live in Punjab, including around one lakh in Pathankot itself.

Early life
 He was born on 8 April 1537 at village Bhadrachalam on the bank of the Godavari River in Khammam district in the Indian state of Telangana.
 His mother was Smt. Janaki Devi ji and his father was Shri Ramdass ji, now known as Ramdassu.
 Guru Nabha Dass belonged to Mahasha or Doom or Dumna community now known as Nabhadassia.
 People from this community are also known as Nabhadassias. Their professional work was to make baskets and grain storage containers with bamboo. People from this community are also good musicians because they were involved in Satsang's playing different kinds of instruments. They were strong devotees of Lord Rama, because Rama's temple was situated at Bhadrachalam, now known as Rambhadrachalam.
 His parents initially had no children, leading the villagers to taunt them. They prayed for Lord Rama to bless them with a son, who would be learned, intellectual and a theologian. Then a son was born to them. He was first called Narayan Dass and was a devotee of Lord Rama. His parents died when he was five years old. He lived alone in the village and worshiped in the temple. He played on the bank of the river with his friends and also exchanged sand ladoo into the sweet ladoo with blessing from God.

Spiritual journey

 Saint Shri Agar Dass ji and Keel Dass were passing through near Ram Bhadrachalam hills and forests. They saw Narayan Dass under a tree.
 They asked him, "Who are you? Why are you sitting here?
 " Narayan told them, "I am made of five elements blessed from God".
 They were surprised to hear his spiritual reply. They asked him if he wanted to go to their temple. Keeldass scattered water on his eyes, then he opened his eyes and got a blessing.
 They brought him into the temple at Ghalta Dham at Jaipur.
 Guru Agar Dass ji offered a duty to him: to serve the pilgrims who come to hear Satsang and operate hand fan when I am preaching and teaching into the Satsang hall for devotees.
 One day, Guru Agardas was not concentrated to the Satsung because his one disciple (Hari Dass) who was a business person through the ship into sea way. His ship was sinking beneath a cyclone. He prayed before Guru Agardas to save his ship. Narayanadass was looking at his guru who he was not concentrating into the Satsung. He rapidly flapped the fan to save the ship.
 Narayanadass said to his Guru, "your focus on the Satsung freed the ship from cyclone".
 Guru opened his eyes and told him, "How did you understand my internal feeling, you are a great holy saint; now your name will be Nabha dass, now you will not operate fan. You will write life history of holy saints who come on the earth from Satya Yuga to Kali Yuga".
 Then he wrote the life history of many saints with a boon from his Guru. Guru Agardass told his elder holy saint Shri Keeldass, who had written life history of many saints by Nabha Dass. He was happy and told him, "you are great holy writer, and also deserve to get a degree of doctorate of Literature. We should arrange a religious function here and invite all holy saints to give blessing to your religious achievements".
 He said to him, "you should go to Varanasi for holy dip into Ganga". He invited all holy saints. When he was going to Varanasi he passed through Ayodhya where the Lord Rama temple was situated. He stayed there for a few days. He went to the temple where a religious programme was underway. The saints were singing hymns. When the temple clergy told Nabha Dass to preach a hymn. Other sage persons objected that he did not belong to the sage community and asked how can you allow him. The priest told them that anyone can sing a hymn.
 Before starting Nabha Dass said, "jaat na puchhie saadh ki, poochh leejie gyan, mol karo kirpan ka, pari rahne do mian" ("do not ask caste, religion from holy saints, ask about enlightenment of the God"). (Bhagat Bhagti Bhagwan Guru Chatur Naam Baap Ek Inke Pad Bandan Kiye Nasin Vigan Anek).
 He sung devotee, devotion, Guru, God. They are the same and are respectable Idols. The sages were surprised to hear his preaching. They called to him with respect. The Priest asked him, "Where are you going?"
 He said, "I am going to Varanasi for holy dip into the Ganga. I invited all sage and holy saints to come at Ghalta Dham where to held religious ceremony for releasing the sacred scripture written by me with blessing from the Guru & God." All saints accepted his message and celebrated him for his religious work.
 He went to the Ganga to bathe. He went to Mathura, Vrindavan to worship at the Lord Krishna temple and also met sage Shri Tulsidass, who had written the Ramayana. He was surprised to learn about Nabha Dass and asked how Nabh Dass could write sacred scripture, because he did not belong to sage community nor was he a Learned Theologian. Nabha Dass came back to Ghalta Dham. Tulsidass and other holy saints were thinking about Nabha Dass' works.
 The sages were unhappy about his prominence and hatched a conspiracy against Nabha Dass. They stated that they would come there if your food is cooked with sandalwood. They knew that Nabha Dass had no sandalwood because these sandalwoods were in a forest with snakes in the trees will bite him and would kill him if he approached. He accepted their challenge and went into the forest with a bullock cart
 Nabh Ddass prayed before the snakes that were there. Nabha Dass and his disciples cut sandalwood. A lion come and killed the bullock. Nabha Dass saw this happen and put the cart before the Lion and brought the wood to Ghalta Dham. The saints came to Ghalta Dham and greeted him with a garland of flowers.
 Tulsidass came there and sat in the last queue. When Nabha Dass saw him, he rushed to him and welcomed him saying,"I want a holy saint to make like the Sameroo". You will have like a sameroo in the Sacred scripture written by me with blessing from all saints here, the God. Then all holy saints with his Guru Shri Agardass, shri Keeldass released sacred scripture and called its name Bhaktamal in 1585,at Ghalta Dham Jaipur and also to give doctorate of literature Degree to Nabha Dass.
 They renamed him Goswami Shri Nabha Dass Maharaj. They had written sacred scripture to bring us nearer to God. The life history of many holy saints come to Kali Yuga in Satya Yuga age.
 At the end of this ceremony, Nabha Dass left for a religious journey throughout India.
 He went first to Rambhadrachalam to take the blessing from his parents' temple and the temple of Lord Rama. He returned to Dhianpurdham, Pandoridham, Damtaldham.
 Then he went to Kulu Manali where his grand Guru Shri Krishna Pyahari Dass had a lodge. The lodge was situated in deep forest.
 King Shri Jagat Singh and his wife were there. She was suffering from skin disease. She had no relief from doctors. The queen believed in the saints, but the king did not. Grand guru Shri Krishana heard their problem. His guru told Nabha Dass to take her near the sacred spring and take three dips in the sacred spring. After this, her skin disease was cured. Both king and queen were happy and fell on the feet of the saints. They said to them, "you are great holy saints, we want to present a gift". Krishana Pyahari Dass said to them "You may have to celebrate ten days festival to the remark of the Lord Rama on Dusehra at Kulu".  From that day Kulu Dushera began to venerate both saints
 Nabha Dass came to Punjab through Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Jammu where his community lives.
 One day They received a message to come to my lodge to take blessing of my Guru, but they ignored him. No person came to listen to his hymns. He felt upset and returned to Ghalta Dham to serve in the Galtadham.
 After reaching Ghalta Dham to serve in the Galtadham, his guru Agardass take him to Revasha forest and they stayed there.
 One day King Raja Maan Singh went to the forest to hunt with 10,000 of his sainiks. They were exhausted. They saw a saint lodge and marched there. The King went in to take a blessing from the saints.
 Agardas told Nabha Dass to give him some parsad of banana. When Nabha Dass give him a banana,
 Raja Maan Singh said, "first parsad should be given to my sainiks and then after to me."
 Nabha Dass called the sainiks and gave them all bananas.
 The king was surprised that he was able to give ten-ten bananas to the soldiers, while only 10 bananas were in the basket.
 The King was again surprised to see this miracle.
 He fell down on their feet for seeking a blessing.
 He gave 1600 acres of land in donation for Dham and made a gate named Agardass, Nabha Dass. The gate is still situated at Revasha Dham.

Last Days

 Nabha Dass died in 1643. He is venerated because his sacrifice was for the whole people.
 He lived for almost 106 years and devoted his whole life in writing.

Works

 Guru Nabha Dass wrote 'Bhagatmal' in 1585, is a poem in the Braj language that gives short biographies of more than 200 bhaktas.
 His other notable works are
 Ramashtayam,
 Astayam and
 Ramcharitar ke paad in Braja.

References

1537 births
Indian Hindu saints
1643 deaths
16th-century Hindu religious leaders
17th-century Hindu religious leaders
Medieval Hindu religious leaders
Indian Hindu spiritual teachers
Indian Vaishnavites
Vaishnava saints

Nabha Dass


George Fitzmaurice (28 January 1877 – 12 May 1963) was an Irish dramatist and short story writer, some of whose plays were broadcast on Radio Éireann.

Early life
George Fitzmaurice was born at Bedford House, Listowel, County Kerry on 28 January 1877.  He attended Duagh National School and later St. Michael's College, Listowel. He was brought up in the Protestant faith as his father was a Protestant clergyman and was the vicar of St. John's Church, Listowel. Fitzmaurice's father died when he was fourteen years old and the family fortune declined. Fitzmaurice took a job in Dublin as a clerk in The Congested Districts Board. In 1916 he enlisted in the British Army and returned to Dublin after the war and was diagnosed with neurasthenia, rendering him fearful of crowds. On his return to Dublin after the war, he took up a position working for the Land Commission.

Family life
Fitzmaurice and his eleven siblings were the children of a mixed marriage. He and his brothers were brought up as Protestants and his sisters were brought up as Roman Catholics. His family home at Bedford, together with its extensive lands had to be given up as collateral in respect of a £60 debt owed to the local butcher. Neither Fitzmaurice nor any of his eleven siblings were to marry or have any offspring. He was the last Fitzmaurice of Duagh. There are no photographs of Fitzmaurice other than a sketch of him in later life.

Career

Fitzmaurice's first success was in 1907, with an Abbey Theatre production of his comedy The Country Dressmaker which featured one of Fitzmaurice's most famous characters, Luke Quilter, "The man from the mountain". This character's appearance in the play proved to be a favourite with his audience, to the surprise of W.B. Yeats. The play's commercial success brought necessary income to the Abbey Theatre in 1907.

Fitzmaurice's second play was a dramatic fantasy called The Pie Dish. It was heavily rejected and slated by critics and considered blasphemous. This led to the rejection of another of his plays called The Dandy Dolls which is now understood as another of his best plays. It was produced in the Abbey Theatre in 1969, six years after Fitzmaurice died.

The Country Dressmaker was broadcast on Radio Éireann Players, during his lifetime, some of his dramatic works were produced by poet Austin Clarke in Lyric Theatre, Dublin. In 1923 his play Twixt by Giltinans and the Carmodys was also performed in the Abbey and eight more of his plays were printed in the literary journey The Dublin Magazine from 1924 to 1925.

Later life and death

The effects of having fought in World War I led to him becoming "increasingly became reclusive as time passed". With a fear of travelling and people or crowds, he spent his later years following "monotonous routines in Dublin". In 1963, Fitzmaurice died in poverty at his home at 3 Harcourt Street, and was buried in Mount Jerome cemetery.

In 1965, RTÉ reported that "the works of George Fitzmaurice are now undergoing something of a revival." A fellow Kerry playwright, John B Keane stated at the time that Fitzmaurice was increasingly being recognised as the great dramatist he truly was. He also describes his work as having "practical clarity of speech coupled with a great conciseness, and a tightness in his writing and in his construction". Michael Connor, the man who owned the Fitzmaurice property in Duagh recounted that he often saw Fitzmaurice in the town after his retirement from the civil service but by that time the dramatist had completely lost interest in seeing his own plays on the stage.

Slaughter recalls that "In Fitzmaurice's room were no pictures of himself, few personal mementos, but he did have a copy of almost every play he had published, as well as the few in draft forms no one knew of. Besides his personal clothing, there was little else." Fitzmaurice died without leaving a will. In his native Daugh, The George Fitzmaurice Library was founded, and on 14 October 1995 a headstone that was sculpted by a local and commissioned by the Duagh Historical Society, was placed over Fitzmaurice's grave.

Selected works

Plays
Similar to the plays of Synge, Fitzmaurice's plays are characterised by strong if not bitter realism mixed with outlandish modes of speech typical of the Irish people of that time.

 The Pie-Dish, 1908
 The Moonlighter, 1912
 The Dandy Dolls (written 1911, published 1914, first staged in 1945)
 The Country Dressmaker, 1914
 'Twixt the Giltinans and the Carmodys, 1923.

Fiction

 The Magic Glasses (1913)

References

1877 births
1963 deaths
Abbey Theatre
Burials at Mount Jerome Cemetery and Crematorium
Irish male dramatists and playwrights
People from Listowel, County Kerry
20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights
20th-century male writers
Writers from County Kerry

George Fitzmaurice (writer)


Angel is a 1937 American romantic comedy drama film produced and directed by Ernst Lubitsch and starring Marlene Dietrich, Herbert Marshall and Melvyn Douglas with Edward Everett Horton, Laura Hope Crews and Herbert Mundin. The screenplay by Samson Raphaelson and an uncredited Frederick Lonsdale was based on an adaptation by Guy Bolton and Russell Medcraft from the play Angyal by Melchior Lengyel. The music score was by Frederick Hollander with additional music by Gioacchino Rossini from The Barber of Seville. The cinematography was by Charles Lang and the costume design by Travis Banton. The film was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Plot
The story describes a love triangle initiated by Maria, Lady Barker (Dietrich), the wealthy but neglected wife of Sir Frederich Barker (Marshall), a top-level British diplomat.

Although her life is luxurious and Frederick loves her, he has been neglecting her in favor of pursuing his busy diplomatic career.  One day, when he is in Geneva on important business, she secretly flies to Paris to ask advice from her old friend, the Russian Grand Duchess Anna Dmitrievna, who operates a high-class escort business.  By chance, Maria meets Anthony Halton (Douglas), a charming man who has lived in India for several years. The salon was recommended to him by a friend. Although Maria insists that their liaison remain anonymous, they are attracted to each other, and they have a brief tryst, during which he calls her "Angel".  Intending to have only a simple fling, she tries to end the relationship by leaving him without saying good-bye.  However, he has fallen in love with her, and he begins searching for her.

At the races at Ascot, Maria spots Halton through her binoculars and goes home, pretending to have a headache. At a luncheon the following Saturday, Halton goes up to Frederick and reminds him that they are old "friends" from the Great War, who spent their Paris leaves with a girl named Paulette. Halton confides in Frederick, sharing all the details of his encounter with "Angel" and his obsession with her. The two of them make plans for Halton to have lunch with Frederick's wife, whose identity is heretofore unknown to Halton.

Maria is forewarned when Frederick tells her the story, thinking it will amuse her. Unable to avoid Halton any longer, Maria pretends not to recognize him when she meets him in her home. Halton has had a moment's warning: He sees Maria's photograph just before she comes downstairs. In a moment when Maria and Halton are alone together, she makes it clear to him that she has no interest in continuing their relationship and that she considers his presence a threat to her marriage and her reputation.  Still in love with her, he offers to meet her in Paris the following week, but she refuses.

Meanwhile, tickets have arrived for the vacation to Vienna that Frederick promised Maria earlier. Frederick has forgotten all about it, and decides to go to Geneva himself, although a capable man was  assigned to the mission. Even when he is reminded about the Vienna trip, he chooses to go to Geneva. Maria is crushed.

Frederick needs a private plane to ensure a long layover in Paris, and is shocked to learn that Lady Barker took a private plane there the week before. Maria asks Frederick to drop her off in Paris on his way to Geneva so she can go shopping. He asks no questions and conceals his suspicions from her, but goes to the Grand Duchess' salon to investigate. Maria appears. She is impressed by his jealousy—he wonders if she has been leading a double life—and the fact that he has missed the conference to find Angel.  She claims that Angel is another woman who is in an adjoining room, and asks him to believe her without looking. Why should she be Angel? What reason could she have?

Frederick enters the other room, which is empty. While he is there, Halton asks Maria to come with him. Frederick joins them. He says he has met Angel. He says he has thought more about their married life together in the last few minutes than in all the years before. He humbly tells her that the train for Vienna leaves at 10. He has said goodbye to Angel, and so must Maria. The camera follows him as he takes his hat from a side table. Then she steps into frame and he takes her arm. They walk out together without looking back.

Cast
 Marlene Dietrich as Maria, Lady Barker, aka Mrs. Brown, aka "Angel"
 Herbert Marshall as Sir Frederick Barker
 Melvyn Douglas as Anthony 'Tony' Halton
 Edward Everett Horton as Graham, Sir Frederick's valet
 Ernest Cossart as Christopher 'Chris' Wilton, the Barkers' butler
 Laura Hope Crews as the Grand Duchess Anna Dmitrievna
 Herbert Mundin as Mr. Greenwood
 Dennie Moore as Emma MacGillicuddy Wilton
 Lionel Pape as 	Lord Davington
 Michael Visaroff as Gregori, the Grand Duchess' Butler
 James Finlayson as	Barker's Second Butler
 Gerald Hamer as Barker's Footman
 Gino Corrado as 	Assistant Hotel Manager
 Olaf Hytten as 	Consolidated Press Photographer
 Suzanne Kaaren as Gambling woman

References

Bibliography
 Halliwell, Leslie. Mountain of Dreams: The Golden Years of Paramount Pictures. Stonehill Publishing Company, 1976.
 McBride, Joseph. How Did Lubitsch Do It?. Columbia University Press, 2018.

External links

1937 films
1937 comedy-drama films
American comedy-drama films
Paramount Pictures films
Films directed by Ernst Lubitsch
American black-and-white films
American films based on plays
Films scored by Friedrich Hollaender
1930s English-language films
1930s American films
Films set in London
Films set in Paris

Angel (1937 film)


The 2009 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the 21st Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations.  It was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, between 27 and 29 November 2009, and was hosted by that country's Prime Minister, Patrick Manning.

The host country of the 2011 meeting was also discussed.  It had been slated to be hosted in Colombo, Sri Lanka, but the renewal of the Sri Lankan civil war, and related allegations of human rights abuses, caused some governments, including those of United Kingdom and Canada, to call for a reassessment.  This led to the CHOGM being given to Perth, Australia, instead.  Sri Lanka was reassigned the CHOGM for CHOGM 2013, and Mauritius was pencilled in as the host of the 2015 CHOGM.

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) was reconstituted and strengthened.  The Heads of Government agreed to expand the offences that it would be able to investigate to all breaches of the Harare Declaration, rather than just the overthrow of democratic governments.

Global warming
The summit was dominated by the issue of global warming, as it was held just before the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.  The countries agreed a £6bn-a-year climate change fund to promote low-carbon emission development and adaptation in developing countries, to be funded by developed Commonwealth members and France.

The 2009 summit was attended by the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, who was attempting to rally support in the build-up to the Copenhagen summit.  It was seen as an indication of reconciliation between France and the Commonwealth, particularly over the issue of Rwanda's prospective membership of the Commonwealth.  The meeting was also attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

Rwanda
The 2009 CHOGM was the first opportunity for countries to accede to the Commonwealth after the 2007 CHOGM accepted the report by the Committee on Commonwealth Membership, which established the current membership criteria.  After the 2007 CHOGM, the Commonwealth sent a team to Rwanda to examine its eligibility, and recommended it be discussed at the 2009 meeting.

Rwanda was admitted despite the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) finding that "the state of governance and human rights in Rwanda does not satisfy Commonwealth standards", and that it "does not therefore qualify for admission". CHRI also commented that: "It does not make sense to admit a state that already does not satisfy Commonwealth standards. This would tarnish the reputation of the Commonwealth and confirm the opinion of many people and civic organisations that the leaders of its governments do not really care for democracy and human rights, and that its periodic, solemn declarations are merely hot air."

In Port of Spain, the Heads of Government agreed to accept Rwanda as a member, making it the 54th member, and the second without a direct constitutional tie to an existing member. Several other countries were expected to submit official applications to join, including Algeria, Madagascar, Sudan, and Yemen, but they were not considered.

CHRI, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House have all found that the protection of democracy and human rights in Rwanda have declined since the country joined the Commonwealth.

Footnotes

External links

 CHOGM 2009 official website

2009
Diplomatic conferences in Trinidad and Tobago
21st-century diplomatic conferences (Commonwealth)
2009 in international relations
2009 in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago and the Commonwealth of Nations
21st century in Port of Spain
November 2009 events in North America


Oran Tafaraoui Airport is a joint civil/military airport in Oran Province, Algeria .

History

During World War II, it was a primary mission objective of the United States Army 34th Infantry Division during the Allied Operation Torch landings on 8 November 1942, and became a major Twelfth Air Force base of operations during the North African Campaign against the German Afrika Korps.

Tafaraoui became a staging and transit point for many units:

 11–20 November 1942 - 1st Fighter Group HQ and the 27th, 71st and 94th Fighter Squadrons, flying P-38 Lightnings, arrived then departed Tafaraoui.
 14 November 1942 - HQ 14th Fighter Group, HQ 62d Troop Carrier Group, and the 4th and 7th Troop Carrier Squadrons arrive at Tafaraoui with C-47 Skytrains
 16 November 1942 - 8th Troop Carrier Squadron, 62d Troop Carrier Group, arrive at Tafaraoui from the UK with C-47s; the 111th and 154th Observation Squadrons, 68th Observation Group, moves from St Leu to Tafaraoui with A-20s
 17 November 1942 - 437th and 438th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium), 319th Bombardment Group (Medium), move from Saint-Leu to Tafaraoui with B-26s.
 November 42 - HQ 319th Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 439th, and 440th Bombardment Squadrons (Medium) move from St Leu to Tafaraoui with B-26 Marauders; "A" flight of the air echelon of the 15th Photographic Mapping Squadron, 3d Photographic Group, arrives at Tafaraoui with B-17 Flying Fortresses and F-4s (P-38 photo reconnaissance aircraft).

The new desert Spitfires of the 31st Fighter Group were also assigned to Tafaraoui. Other aircraft at the field included P-38s of the 14th, B-26s, B-25 Mitchells, A-20 Havocs, Gen. Doolittle's B-17-G, some French Amiot bombers around, and some old wrecks fixed up as dummies.

Current use
In 1966 the airport was established as an airbase and training ground for the Algerian Air Force.

References

 Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. .

External links

Airports in Algeria
Military of Algeria
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Algeria
World War II airfields in Algeria
Buildings and structures in Oran Province

Oran Tafraoui Airport


Giorgi-Malakia Abashidze (, died October 15, 1722) was a Georgian nobleman and King of Imereti as George VI (or George V) from 1702 to 1707. He was a member of the prominent Abashidze family.

The youngest son of Prince Paata Abashidze, he served as a priest until about 1684 when he entered politics after the death of his elder brother Paata Abashidze and began aggressively expanding his patrimonial fiefdom. He dispossessed the Chkheidze family of Shorapani, and the Agiashvili of Tsutskhvati, and took control of the royal domain in Upper Imereti. His daughter, Tamar, was married to the two successive kings of Imereti, Alexander IV and George V. During the reign of the latter monarch, Abashidze effectively ran the government and acted as an all-powerful kingmaker. In 1699, he gave his daughter Anika in marriage to King Simon of Imereti, but they divorced in 1700. In 1701, Abashidze compelled King Mamia of Imereti to abdicate and seized the throne for himself. He managed to establish a degree of stability in Imereti and ceased to pay tribute to the Ottoman Empire, triggering a military response in 1703. He also patronized culture and learning. Deposed after a revolt by the nobles, in favour of the rightful Bagrationi king George VII, Abashidze took refuge at the court of Vakhtang VI of Kartli in Tbilisi. He died there in 1722, and was buried in the Katskhi monastery in Imereti.

References
 Вахушти Багратиони (Vakhushti Bagrationi) (1745). История Царства Грузинского: Жизнь Имерети.
David Marshall Lang, The Last Years of the Georgian Monarchy, 1658-1832. New York: Columbia University Press, 1957.

17th-century births
17th-century people from Georgia (country)
18th-century people from Georgia (country)
1722 deaths
Nobility of Georgia (country)
Kings of Imereti
Eastern Orthodox monarchs

George VI of Imereti


In software development, functional testing is a quality assurance (QA) process and a type of black-box testing that bases its test cases on the specifications of the software component under test. Functions are tested by feeding them input and examining the output, and internal program structure is rarely considered (unlike white-box testing). Functional software testing is conducted to evaluate the compliance of a system or component with specified functional requirements. Functional testing usually describes what the system does.

Since functional testing is a type of black-box testing, the software's functionality can be tested without knowing the internal workings of the software. This means that testers do not need to know programming languages or how the software has been implemented. This, in turn, could lead to reduced developer bias (or confirmation bias) in testing since the tester has not been involved in the software's development.

Functional testing does not imply that you are testing a function (method) of your module or class. Functional testing tests a slice of functionality of the whole system.

Functional testing differs from system testing in that functional testing "verifies a program by checking it against ... design document(s) or specification(s)", while system testing "validate[s] a program by checking it against the published user or system requirements." The concept of incorporating testing earlier in the delivery cycle is not restricted to functional testing.

Types
Functional testing has many types:
 Sanity testing, often referred to as smoke testing and various other terms in software testing
 Regression testing
 Usability testing

Six steps
Functional testing typically involves six steps

 The identification of functions that the software is expected to perform
 The creation of input data based on the function's specifications
 The determination of output based on the function's specifications
 The execution of the test case
 The comparison of actual and expected outputs
 To check whether the application works as per the customer need

See also

References

Software testing

Functional testing


Fred J. Pralle (April 10, 1916 – November 6, 1998) was an American college basketball standout at the University of Kansas from 1935–36 to 1937–38. In his three varsity seasons, Kansas won all three Big Six Conference regular season championships. Pralle led the Jayhawks in scoring in each of his last two seasons, and as a senior he also led the conference in scoring with a 10.7 points per game average. He was twice named an NCAA All-American (1937, 1938), and in 1938 he became Kansas' first ever play to be honored as a consensus All-American.

After his collegiate career, Pralle played in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) with the national AAU power Phillips 66ers. During his seven-year career with the team, the 66ers won three national championships (1940, 1943–44) and were runners-up in two others (1939, 1942). Pralle sustained a knee injury just before the 1945 AAU Tournament derailed his basketball career. He eventually played baseball in the Kansas–Oklahoma–Missouri League with the Bartlesville Oilers before quitting professional sports.

Pralle died on November 6, 1998.

References

1916 births
1998 deaths
All-American college men's basketball players
American men's basketball players
Basketball players from St. Louis
Guards (basketball)
Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players
Phillips 66ers players

Fred Pralle


AOC can mean:

 AOC International
Age of consent for sexual relationships
 Air Operations Center - United States Air Force command and control (C2) system
 Albanian Orthodox Church
 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born 1989), American politician
 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (born 1993), English footballer
 Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, a certification for French agricultural products
 Army Ordnance Corps, the predecessor of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) of the British Army
 Articles of Confederation

AOC


International Armoring Corporation (IAC) is a designer and manufacturer of armoured cars using light weight synthetic fiber armor laminates. Established in Ogden, Utah, United States on May 6, 1993
International Armoring Corporation uses light weight synthetic armor laminates called Armormax (a material designed and developed by IAC). IAC designs and molds the armor to fit the vehicle rather than modifying the vehicle to fit the armor. IAC has sold 4,000 and 5,000 vehicles annually.

All design and material preparation is done in the company's headquarters in Ogden, Utah and then shipped to its foreign facilities for installation.

The Mexican Drug War has increased demand for armored vehicles. Corporate executives and political leaders, have ordered armored cars for protection.

The company IAC has been named one of the winners in 2003 - 2013 (19 awards. In 2009 IAC was honored with the best of state statue "BOSS" trophy for their contributions in community development. It also received an award in the FY 2006 Small Business Subcontractor Awards Program of UT-Battelle, LLC, operator of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

IAC won "Manufacturer of the Year" in 2012 and "Automotive / Transportation Company of the Year" in 2013 International Stevie Award for "The best Multinational Company in North America" in the 2008 and "The Best International Satellite Facility" in 2007. International Business Awards.

In 2006, Mark F. Burton, Founder and CEO of IAC, was recognized by Ernst & Young as "Entrepreneur of the Year."

IAC were selected as the 2006 recipients of the "Contractor Small Business of the Year". This award recognizes businesses that excel in contract performance that service and supply the U.S. Government.

Other awards for IAC include Entrepreneur magazine's "100 Hottest Companies in America" and Inc. magazine's "Inc. 500 - #6."

In May 2021 an cash-in-transit vehicle, armored by ArmorMax, was subject to an attempted heist in South Africa. The resulting video went viral.

See also
Vehicle armour

References

Companies established in 1993
Privately held companies based in Utah
Manufacturing companies based in Utah
1993 establishments in Utah
Companies based in Ogden, Utah

International Armoring Corporation


Appalachie is a region i the eastren Unitit States. As a geographic region, Appalachie gangs aw the wye fae Quebec i Canadae doun tae Georgie i Americae, bit as a cultural region, Appalachie is main thocht ae as bein i eastren Kentucky, eastren Tennessee, suth-wastren Virginie, wastren North Carolina, an the hale steet ae Wast Virginie. Surroondin airts, sich as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvanie, an suth-eastren Ohio, is alsae consithert by monny tae be a pairt of Appalachie. The Appalachien Regional Commission consithers Appalachie fir tae be a area fae suthren New York doun tae northren Mississippi. Accordin til the ARC's definition, thay is 423 coonties i Appalachie.

Appalachie is weel-kent as a region afflicted wi povert, especial the airts whaur the local economies haes deipendit oan the coal minin industrie. The ARC haes a economic-rankin system, fae "distressed" (the warst) til attainment (the best.) Accordin til the ARC, 82 coonties is "distressed," 109 is "at-risk," 218 is "transitional," 10 is "competitive," an anely 4 is at "attainment."

Appalachie wis settlet i the 1700s an 1800s by monny fowk aff Northumbrie, Northren Airlann, an the Scots Lawlands. Thir settlers brocht wi thaim their auld-warld culturs an traditions, whit survive i modren Appalachien cultur the day.

Appalachie


"One of the Missing" is a short story by American Civil War soldier, wit, and writer Ambrose Bierce. It was first published in The San Francisco Examiner on March 11, 1888 and was reprinted in Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1891).

Summary
The story is set in the American Civil War. Jerome Searing is an orderly for the Union Army.  His general sends him on a mission to scout ahead and make sure that there are no surprises waiting for them.  This is a typical mission for Jerome and he takes delight and care in scouting ahead.

Jerome comes upon a plantation and can see the Confederate Army in retreat.  He takes aim to shoot one of them ("it is the business of a soldier to kill") but at the same time, a captain far off shoots a cannon at the structure that Jerome is hiding in.  When Jerome comes to, he is partially buried in the debris and finds himself incapable of moving his body because of the way the debris covers him.

As he examines his surroundings and options, Jerome realizes that his rifle is pointed right at him.  He anticipates it going off at any minute since it was primed to fire before the explosion.  He tries to distract himself from the metal ring facing him with other thoughts and even by closing his eyes but every time he closes his eyes, he feels the bullet burying into him.

Eventually, Jerome finds a loose board that he tries to use to block the gun but when that is ineffective and he has lost all hope, he uses the board to help pull the trigger.  The gun doesn't go off; it was fired when the building collapsed.  His death could be from a range of different causes depending on speculation.

After hearing the explosion, his brother Adrian is ordered to move forward and explore the area that Jerome has scouted.  As his party passes the destroyed building, they see a body in the wreckage but the debris has tinted his Federal coat gray and the state of death hints that the body had been dead so long that none of them realize who they are looking at.

Analysis
The last section of the story, dealing with the protagonist's brother, was originally split into two parts, with the first part inserted in the middle of the narrative. The story was rewritten by Bierce for his Collected Works in order to highlight the subjective perception of time: what had seemed to the protagonist like hours of torture was actually a mere twenty-two minutes. This notion is also dramatised in Bierce's most successful story, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge".

"One of the Missing" shows influence of Maupassant's war story "Two Friends". Jerome finds himself in the position of a Confederate soldier that he thought to kill seconds before the explosion, just like the two fishers in Maupassant's story suddenly find themselves as helpless and doomed as the fish they caught: "seized by chance and subject to the bidding of a more powerful entity". Both stories spotlight the capriciousness and absurdity of war.

See also
 One of the Missing, a 1968 film adaptation
 Four Days, a similar short story by Vsevolod Garshin written in 1877 and quickly translated into major languages, including English
 The Chamber Wind Music of Jack Cooper, contains music inspired by Bierce's story

References

External links
 Text of the story
 Photographs of actual locations described in "One of the Missing"

1888 short stories
Short stories set in the American Civil War
Short stories by Ambrose Bierce
Works originally published in the San Francisco Examiner

One of the Missing


Atalaya Castle,  often known simply as Atalaya, was the winter home of industrialist and philanthropist Archer M. Huntington and his wife, the sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington, located in Huntington Beach State Park near the Atlantic coast in Murrells Inlet, Georgetown County, South Carolina.

Archer Huntington was a noted scholar of Spanish culture and art, and designed the residence in the Moorish Revival and Mediterranean Revival architecture styles from Spanish Andalusian coast models.

Residence
Atalaya was built near the Atlantic Ocean in northeastern South Carolina, within present day Huntington Beach State Park.  The location was chosen as a milder winter retreat for the health of Anna Huntington, who suffered from tuberculosis from the mid-twenties to the mid-thirties.

The 200 by 200 foot (60 by 60 m) masonry structure was built from 1931 to 1933 apparently without drawn plans, Archer Huntington had already designed the residence for them with his detailed imagination 'in his head.' Local labor was used at Archer  Huntington's insistence to provide work for a community hard hit by the Great Depression.

Description
Atalaya (ah-tuh-LIE-yuh) means "watchtower" in Spanish, as in the real Atalaya Castle in Spain. The house is dominated by a square tower, which housed a 3,000 gallon water tank. Rising nearly 40 feet (12 m) from a covered walkway, it bisects Atalaya's inner court.  The inner walls of the main courtyard were covered with creeping fig vines, Sabal palmettos, the South Carolina state tree, and other palms.

The living quarters consist of 30 rooms around three sides of the perimeter, while the studio, with its 25-foot (8 m) skylight, opens onto a small, enclosed courtyard where Anna Hyatt Huntington worked on her sculptures.  Pens for animal models, including horses, dogs and bears, are situated adjacent to the open studio. The building also features hand-wrought iron grills designed by Mrs. Huntington, which cover the exteriors of windows.  These and shutters  were installed for protection against hurricane winds.

Transition
During World War II the Huntingtons vacated Atalaya and provided it to the Army Air Corps for use from 1942 to 1946.

The Huntingtons last used Atalaya as their winter home in 1947.  Most of the furnishings were sent to New York City after Mr. Huntington's death in 1955. The studio equipment was moved to a new studio at Brookgreen Gardens just across U.S. Route 17, which cut through the Huntingtons' former contiguous property.

Public era
The 2,500-acre (10 km2) tract was leased to the state in 1960 for use as a state park. Mrs. Huntington died in 1973.

Atalaya Castle was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, and was included in the designation of Atalaya and Brookgreen Gardens (along with the sculpture garden at Brookgreen Gardens) as a National Historic Landmark District in 1992.

The Friends of Huntington Beach State Park offer guided tours of Atalaya and operate the Atalaya Visitor Center with exhibits about the house and the Huntingtons.

The annual Atalaya Arts and Crafts Festival is held each year in late September.

Photos

References

 Brochure on Huntington Beach State Park by the SC Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism (4/06)

Footnotes

External links
Friends of Huntington Beach State Park - tour information
Friends of Atalaya Castle - tourism & fan website

Historic house museums in South Carolina
Museums in Georgetown County, South Carolina
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina
Houses completed in 1933
Moorish Revival architecture in South Carolina
Mediterranean Revival architecture in the United States
National Register of Historic Places in Georgetown County, South Carolina
Houses in Georgetown County, South Carolina
Historic district contributing properties in South Carolina
Huntington family

Atalaya Castle (US)


(fl. early 14th c.) was a gokenin and simultaneously a retainer of the Hōjō clan of the Kamakura shogunate in Japan.

Background
The Chikama clan originated from Chikama, Owari Province (modern-day Minami-ku, Nagoya) and remained the ruler of Chikama as a gokenin, or vassal family of the shogunate. At some time in history, the Chikama clan became a private retainer of the Hōjō Tokusō family, which was the de facto ruler of the shogunate.   The Chikama clan moved to Kawanabe District of Satsuma Province, a property of the Tokusō family, to serve as a deputy jitō and the ruler of the district.

Domain and significance
Chikama Tokiie is known for a set of documents he created in 1306. In these documents he listed properties to be inherited by his family members, namely his three sons, two daughters and two wives. These properties were distributed among the following:
 Chikama, Owari Province,
 Kawanabe District, Satsuma Province,
 Asabata, Suruga Province, and
 Wakamori, Hitachi Province.
Kawanabe District and Wakamori were properties of the Tokusō family, and the Chikama clan served it as a deputy ruler. It is significant that the villages enumerated in the Kawanabe District were located in the Manose River valley because the Mottaimatsu Site, which is considered to have served as a major trading center, was downstream of the Manose River. Apart from the Manose River, he also owned Bōnotsu, a trading port that was connected to Hakata Bay, China and the Ryukyu Islands.

These documents include various southern islands, including some of the Ōsumi Islands, the Tokara Islands (the Seven), as well as Kikai Island, Amami Ōshima and Tokunoshima, and probably Okinoerabu of the Amami Islands. Although the Amami Islands were traditionally not considered to be part of Japan, they were treated as the territories of a Japanese lord. Another source probably making reference to this is a map of Japan stored at the Kanazawa Bunko, a library of the Hōjō clan. It depicts a land mass outside the boundary of Japan where the caption reads "龍及國宇嶋身人頭鳥雨見嶋私領郡" (*U-shima, State/Province of Ryūkyū [where people have] a human body but a bird head; Amami Island(s), a privately owned district). The latter half suggests that (the Hōjō clan considered that) the Amami Islands were not part of Japan but anyway owned by Japanese.

Footnotes

People of Kamakura-period Japan
Samurai

Chikama Tokiie


Giussago is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 20 km south of Milan and about 11 km north of Pavia. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 4,053 and an area of 24.8 km².

Giussago borders the following municipalities: Borgarello, Bornasco, Casarile, Certosa di Pavia, Lacchiarella, Rognano, San Genesio ed Uniti, Vellezzo Bellini, Zeccone.

Giussago, known in the 15th century as 'Iussagum' was formed by aggregating the many small municipalities of the area. This union took place between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. Even today in the town of Giussago there are less than one third of the total population of the municipality.

The 13 parishes (frazione) of Giussago are:
 Baselica Bologna
 Carpignago
 Cascina Maggiore
 Casatico
 Guinzano
 Molino dei Protti
 Moriago
 Nivolto
 Novedo
 Scaccabarozzi
 Stazione Certosa
 Turago Bordone
 Villanova

Demographic evolution

References

External links
 www.comune.giussago.pv.it

Cities and towns in Lombardy

Giussago


The Musso War (or War of Musso) was an armed conflict between the federation of the Three Leagues (), which functioned as an associate state of the Old Swiss Confederacy, and the Duchy of Milan early in the 16th century. The conflict took place in two phases, the First Musso War (1524–26) and the Second Musso War (1531–32).

The Milanese reeve of Como, Gian Giacomo Medici, who resided in castle of Musso, had been raiding the valley of Chiavenna since 1521. In 1524, in alliance with the Prince-Bishopric of Chur, he attempted to conquer the Three Leagues. In 1525 his forces were defeated at the Battle of Morbegno but he remained in control of Chiavenna. Following the battle, the Three Leagues sent a delegation headed by Gian Travers to negotiate a peace treaty with the city of Milan. However, while en route they were captured and imprisoned by Medici in September 1525. Due to religious conflicts following the Reformation, neither the Swiss Confederation nor the Three Leagues were able to move quickly to free the prisoners. In the spring of 1526 a Three Leagues delegation, with the support of France and Venice, were finally able to secure the release of the prisoners, but only after paying a ransom and giving the Tre Pievi or three communes at the north end of Lake Como to Medici.

Due to the weak 1526 treaty, in 1531 Milan attacked again, capturing Morbegno and defeating the League forces in the area. The Three Leagues called the Old Swiss Confederacy for help, calling in duties of a defence alliance concluded earlier. Due to the religious conflicts in the Confederation only the Protestant cantons supported the Three Leagues, while the Catholic cantons insisted that any help was dependent on the Leagues converting back to the old faith. The Protestant and League forces were able to drive the Milanese out of the Valtellina. In a peace treaty concluded the next year, Chiavenna and the Valtellina were granted to the Three Leagues; only the tre pievi came under the supervision of Milan.

The refusal of the Catholic cantons to support the Three Leagues in these skirmishes was taken by the Swiss canton of Zürich as the reason to start the second war of Kappel. The Catholic cantons would emerge victorious from that war and even gain the majority in the confederacy's federal assembly, the Tagsatzung, with far-reaching consequences for the confederacy.

In 1527, Gian Travers wrote an epic account of the war in Romansh verse, Chanzun da la guerra dalg Chiastè d'Müs ("Song of the War of the Castle of Musso").

See also
History of the Grisons
Reformation in Switzerland
Wars of Kappel

References

Military history of Switzerland
Grisons
1520s conflicts
1530s conflicts
Wars involving the Duchy of Milan
16th century in the Old Swiss Confederacy
1520s in the Holy Roman Empire
1530s in the Holy Roman Empire

Musso War


Uicheon (28 September 1055 – 5 October 1101) was a Korean Royal Prince and influential Korean Buddhist scholar-monk during the Goryeo period (918–1392). He was the fourth son of King Munjong (1046–1083) and Queen Inye from the Incheon Yi clan and the younger brother of Sunjong, Seonjong, and Sukjong.

Overview
At age 11, Uicheon volunteered to become a Buddhist monk. In 1065, he studied at the Yeongtong Temple (영통사, 靈通寺) under Buddhist monk Nanwon (난원, 爛圓) who was his maternal relative and studied the Buddhist and Confucian canons. Uicheon displayed exceptional talents from a young age, and he dedicated himself to the extensive study of the Chinese Buddhist canon, the works of the various East Asian Buddhist schools, along with the Chinese classics.

Uicheon lived at Ryongtongsa in Kaesong for much of his life and was buried there, where his tomb can be found. He was a prolific author, scholar and Buddhist teacher who specialized in Huayan studies and the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, having studied in China with Huayan masters. He is also known for introducing the works of the Cheontae school to Korean Buddhism. He was also known by the title Daegak Guksa (大覺國師, "National Teacher Great Awakening ").

Uicheon's reputation eventually reached China, and he eventually was patronized by Chinese Emperor Zhezong. Uicheon and his party eventually visited the Song Dynasty capital and met with Emperor Zhezong. Subsequently, they visited several prominent monasteries such as Jingyuan Monastery (淨源寺) and Yanglian Monastery (懹璉寺), where they engaged in discussions with over 50 eminent monks. Uicheon made many connections with Chinese masters during this time, particularly with scholars of Huayan sect such as Jinshui Jingyuan (靜源, 1011-1088) with whom he continued to exchange letters after returning to Korea. Jingyuan also sent Uicheon Huayan texts.

Uicheon also visited the Liao dynasty, visiting various key sites and meeting with Liao monks. He even became a priest for Emperor Daozong of Liao before returning to Korea.

Back in Korea, Uicheon's reputation had continued to grow and he was warmly welcomed. King Seonjong recognized the importance of reviving Buddhism and invited Uicheon to assume the position of head monk at Heungwang Temple. He established a repository for the scriptures at Heungwang Temple and also collected scriptures from China and Japan. He published the "Collection of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra" (화엄소초), which consisted of more than 4,740 volumes.

From 1073 to 1090, Uicheon collected numerous Buddhist commentaries from Korea, China, the Khitan Empire and Japan, which were published as the "Goryeo Catalog of Sutras" (or "Goryeo Supplement to the Canon").

In his later life, Uicheon continued his long distance engagement with Song Dynasty scholars while also teaching Korean disciples. His legacy includes compilations such as "New Compilation of the Teachings of the Seon Sect" (신편제종교장총록), and "Songs and Trees of the Stone Garden" (석원사림), among others.

Works
Sinpyeonjejonggyojangchongnok vol. 3 (신편제종교장총록 3권)
Sinjipwonjongmullyu vol. 22 (신집원종문류, 新集圓宗文類 22권)
Seokwonsarim vol. 250 (석원사림, 釋苑詞林 250권)
Daegakguksamunjib vol. 23 of deeds and poems (대각국사문집, 大覺國師文集 23권 행적과 시 문집)
Daegakguksawoejip vol. 13 (대각국사외집, 大覺國師外集 13권)
Ganjeongseongyusiknondangwa vol. 3 (간정성유식론단과, 刊定成唯識論單科 3권)
Cheontaesagyouiju vol. 3 (천태사교의주, 天台四敎儀註 3권)

See also
 Tiantai Buddhism
 Korean Buddhism
 Cheontae
 Jinul
 Ryongtongsa

References

External links

 Encyclopædia Britannica

Korean scholars of Buddhism
Goryeo Buddhist monks
1055 births
1101 deaths
11th-century Korean philosophers
11th-century Buddhist monks
Cheontae
People from Kaesong

Uicheon


Victor John Angelo Raschi (March 28, 1919 – October 14, 1988) was a Major League Baseball pitcher.  Nicknamed "The Springfield Rifle," he was one of the top pitchers for the New York Yankees in the late 1940s and early 1950s, forming (with Allie Reynolds and Eddie Lopat) the "Big Three" of the Yankees' pitching staff. He also pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Athletics.

From 1946 to 1953, Raschi won 120 games for the Yankees while losing 50, a .706 winning percentage. He pitched in three straight All-Star Games from 1948 to 1950, and a fourth in 1952. Raschi led the American League (AL) in won/lost percentage in 1950 (.724) and in strikeouts in 1951 (164). From 1949 through 1951, he won exactly 21 games a year, ranking second in the AL in wins in 1950 and 1951. After pitching in relief for the Yankees in the 1947 World Series, Raschi won five World Series in a row with the ballclub from 1949 to 1953, pitching a shutout in Game 1 of the 1950 World Series. Later in his career, as a pitcher with the Cardinals, he was responsible for allowing Hank Aaron's first MLB career hit as well as his first MLB career home run. In the remaining two years of his career, with the Cardinals and Athletics, Raschi won only 12 games while losing 16.

Early life
Born March 28, 1919, in West Springfield, Massachusetts, Victor John Angelo Raschi was one of four children of Massimino and Eugizia Raschi. Massimino worked for a local railroad as a carpenter, and the family moved to Springfield itself when Raschi was just an infant. At Springfield Tech High School, Raschi excelled in baseball, football, and basketball. Gene McCann, a scout for the New York Yankees became interested in him as a high school freshman, but Raschi wished to attend college upon graduating. The Yankees decided to pay for him to go to college in return for the first chance to sign him. In 1938, he started attending the College of William and Mary. Before he graduated, the Yankees had him begin pitching minor league baseball for them in 1941, though Raschi would continue to take classes at William and Mary during his offseasons.

Minor league career and military service
Raschi started his professional career with the Amsterdam Rugmakers of the Class C Canadian–American League in 1941. Making 17 appearances for them, he posted a 10–6 record in 142 innings pitched. His 3.68 earned run average (ERA) ranked fourth in the league among pitchers who worked at least 140 innings. He also appeared in 17 games in 1942 for the Class B Norfolk Tars of the Piedmont League, working 113 innings. Though he posted a 4–10 record, his ERA was 2.71, which Lawrence Baldassaro of the Society for American Baseball Research called "impressive." However, Raschi's career was placed on hold with the onset of World War II.

For the next three years, Raschi served in the United States Army Air Corps as a physical education instructor. The war also forced him to postpone his college studies. He returned to baseball in 1946 with the Binghamton Triplets of the Class A Eastern League. He had a 10–10 record for them, posting a 3.16 ERA and finishing second in the league with 160 strikeouts (behind Bob Kuzava's 207). Later in the year, he appeared in five games for the Newark Bears of the Class AAA International League, posting a 1–2 record. In September, he was promoted to the Yankees for the first time.

New York Yankees (1946–53)

1946
Raschi's debut for New York came on September 23, 1946. Facing the Philadelphia Athletics, he struck out eight and allowed six runs, but the Yankees scored nine, giving him the win. He made one other start six days later, also a complete game against the Athletics, in which he allowed one run in a two-run triumph in Game 2 of a doubleheader.

1947
Hoping to remain with the Yankees for 1947, Raschi was very disappointed when he was sent to the Class AAA Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League to start the season. He initially refused to report, but when he finally did join the team, manager Jim Turner helped him become a better pitcher. With Portland, Raschi posted an 8–2 record and a 2.75 ERA in 85 innings pitched.

In July, an injury to Spud Chandler and the trade of Mel Queen left the Yankees in need of a pitcher for a July 13 doubleheader. Yankee manager Bucky Harris phoned Turner on the 10th, and after Raschi made a start in San Diego that evening, Turner asked him if he could be ready to pitch again three days later. Raschi agreed, then found out his next start would be for the Yankees. Pitching the second game of the doubleheader, he gave up three runs in  innings as the Yankees defeated the Chicago White Sox by a score of 6–4. On July 18, he allowed six hits in a complete game, 7–2 victory over the Cleveland Indians, the last of a 19-game winning streak for New York. Facing the Indians again in the second game of an August 7 doubleheader, he threw a three-hit shutout. He won his first six decisions of 1947 before suffering his first loss in a game that biographer Lawrence Baldassaro called "one of his best outings of the year." For 10 innings, he held the Boston Red Sox (the previous year's American League (AL) pennant winners) scoreless, but the Yankees also failed to score, and Raschi took the loss when he allowed three runs in the 11th. On September 14, he defeated the St. Louis Browns; the win meant the Yankees would at least tie for the AL pennant. In 15 games (14 starts), he had a 7–2 record, a 3.87 ERA, 51 strikeouts, 38 walks, and 89 hits allowed in  innings for the pennant-winning Yankees. He pitched twice in relief in the 1947 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, allowing two hits and a run in  of an inning in Game 3 and throwing a scoreless inning in Game 6. Both were losses, but the Yankees defeated Brooklyn in seven games, making Raschi a World Series champion for the first time.

1948
Raschi started the 1948 season with the Yankees; after losing his first start, he won nine decisions in a row. He shut out Philadelphia on May 14, allowing just three hits. On June 2, he threw a shutout against the Detroit Tigers, singling against Art Houtteman and scoring the only run of the game when Johnny Lindell drove him in with a double. He threw a second consecutive shutout in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Browns on June 6, holding St. Louis to three hits. Selected to his first All-Star Game in 1948, Raschi earned the win after pitching three scoreless innings and driving in the winning run with a two-RBI single against Johnny Schmitz. Facing the Indians on August 7, he threw a four-hit shutout in front of 66,693 fans at Cleveland Stadium in a game that drew the Yankees within half a game of the AL lead. He was 17–5 with a 3.31 ERA after holding the Athletics to four hits in a shutout on August 22, but he posted an ERA of 6.00 in his final 11 games as the Yankees finished in third place. Raschi had a 19–8 record and a 3.84 ERA, ranking among the AL leaders in wins (tied with Bob Feller for fourth), winning percentage (.704, third, behind Jack Kramer's .783 and Gene Bearden's .741), strikeouts (124, fifth), and shutouts (six, tied for second with Bearden behind Feller's 10). He finished 11th in AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting.

1949

Facing the Washington Senators in his first start of 1949 on April 20, Raschi held them to three hits in a 3–0 victory. On May 18, Raschi allowed just two hits in a shutout of the defending champion Indians. Against the White Sox on June 1, he limited Chicago to three hits in a 3–0 shutout victory. At midseason, he was selected to the All-Star Game, throwing three scoreless innings in the AL's 11–7 win. He was 15–3 with a 2.55 ERA through July 21, but he went 2–6 over his next 10 games, posting a 5.58 ERA from that date through the end of August. On August 4, he pitched 11 innings against the Tigers, allowing three runs in 3–2 loss. He had a 3.30 ERA in September, though, losing once in five decisions. In 1949, the pennant race between the Yankees and the Red Sox came down to the final day of the season, October 2 at Yankee Stadium. Pitching for New York, Raschi held the Red Sox scoreless for eight innings, clinging to a one-run lead until the Yankees scored four runs in the eighth. He gave up three runs in the ninth but persevered, retiring Birdie Tebbetts on a pop fly to end the game as the Yankees prevailed by a score of 5–3. Thirty-nine years later, this game was considered by pitching coach Turner to be his favorite of Raschi's performances. Raschi went 21–10 in 1949, finishing among the AL leaders in wins (fourth, behind Mel Parnell's 25, Ellis Kinder's 23, and Bob Lemon's 22), winning percentage (.677, eighth), ERA (3.34, eighth), and strikeouts (124, sixth). He led the AL with 37 starts. For the second year in a row, he finished 11th in AL MVP voting.

Against the Dodgers in the 1949 World Series, Raschi made two starts. He threw a complete Game 2, with an RBI single by Gil Hodges accounting for the only run. However, the Yankees lost 1–0. Manager Casey Stengel said afterwards, "Raschi pitched a good game; good enough to win if we got some runs." Raschi allowed six runs over  innings in Game 5 but earned the win, clinching the series victory for the Yankees. "It would have been nice to be around at the finish," Raschi said, "but I have no complaints as long as we won. That's the important thing."

1950
An arm injury suffered on May 13, 1950, caused Raschi to miss a few days, but he returned on May 22 to pitch a complete game five-hitter against the Indians as the Yankees won 5–2, continuing a seven-game winning streak. In the first game of a June 11 doubleheader, he held the Browns to three hits in a 1–0 victory. He started the All-Star Game for the first time in 1950, allowing two runs in three innings, though he got a no decision in the AL's 4–3 loss. Facing Feller on August 4, he pitched a three-hit shutout in a 1–0 victory over the Indians, as 66,743 fans turned out to see the night game at Cleveland Stadium. Five days later, he had a perfect game going against the Red Sox until Billy Goodman got a single with two outs in the seventh; Raschi held Boston to three hits and one run in a 2–1 victory. After losing on August 13, Raschi never lost a game again during the regular season, winning each of his next six starts and eight of 10 games overall. On August 29, he hit his first career home run (a three-run shot against Early Wynn), then pitched all 10 innings of a 6–5 victory over the Indians. In one of the August games against Cleveland, he collided with Indians catcher Jim Hegan at home plate, tearing cartilage in his right knee. The Yankees kept the injury a secret, as the injury limited Raschi's range; after the 1951 season, he would have surgery to remove the cartilage. He finished 1950 with a 21–8 record and a 4.00 ERA, leading the AL in winning percentage (.724), ranking second in wins (21, two behind Lemon for the lead), and ranking third in strikeouts (155, behind Lemon's 170 and teammate Allie Reynolds's 160). In MVP voting, he finished seventh.

With the Yankees AL champions again, Stengel picked Raschi to start Game 1 of the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. During the first inning, he injured his knee while fielding a bunt off the bat of Richie Ashburn and almost had to leave the game, but the knee stopped hurting, allowing him to finish. He did not allow a hit until the fifth inning and allowed just two in a 1–0 shutout of the Phillies. "I mixed [my pitches] up pretty good," Raschi described his performance. "Feeling the way I did, I went along using sliders and fast balls, but it was my fast ball that won for me." It was his only start of the series, which New York won four games to none.

1951

In 1951, Raschi made the first of three straight Opening Day starts for the Yankees. "The excitement before an opening game is as great, I think, as the World Series," he later recalled, emphasizing the importance of getting the season started well. He started the season with a six-hit shutout of the Red Sox. In May, he won six straight starts. Included in the streak were a 10-strikeout performance against the Indians (May 16) and a five-hit shutout of the Browns (May 21). On June 8, Raschi held the Chicago White Sox to seven hits in a 4–2 victory, ending their six-game win streak in a game that set a Comiskey Park attendance record at the time with 53,490 spectators. Exactly a week later, he held the Tigers to three hits in a 2–0 shutout. He limited the Red Sox to three hits on June 29 in a 2–1 triumph. Despite a 12–6 record at the All-Star break, Raschi was not selected to the All-Star Game, partly because the AL owners decreed that only one pitcher could be selected from each team. In the first game of a doubleheader on July 29, he struck out 12 White Sox and pitched into the ninth inning, earning the win in an 8–3 victory. Facing the Senators in the second game of a September 9 doubleheader, he pitched a one-hit shutout, though the game lasted only six innings. Raschi finished the year with a 21–10 record. He led the AL in strikeouts (164), finishing second in wins (tied with teammate Eddie Lopat behind Feller's 22), fourth in winning percentage (.677, behind Feller's .733, Lopat's .700, and Reynolds's .680), second in shutouts (four, tied with Feller and Lopat behind Reynolds's seven), and eighth in ERA (3.27). The Yankees again won the AL pennant, and Raschi finished eighth in AL MVP voting.

Facing the New York Giants in Game 3 of the World Series, Raschi lasted just  innings, taking the loss in a 6–2 defeat. He allowed all six Giant runs, but only one was earned because of two fifth inning errors: shortstop Phil Rizzuto had a ball kicked out of his hand by Eddie Stanky, and catcher Yogi Berra dropped a ball thrown to him. Another error (a passed ball allowed by Berra) led to all the scoring against Raschi in Game 6 as the Giants only picked up one run against him in six innings. Johnny Sain and Kuzava finished the game for the Yankees, and Raschi earned the win in the 4–3 triumph that clinched the series for the Yankees. Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, who played for the Giants, thought that Raschi was one of the best pitchers he had ever seen.

1952
Raschi's received a $40,000 contract for the 1952 season, making him at the time the highest-paid pitcher in Yankee history. On April 16, 1952, Raschi allowed just two hits in an 8–1 victory over the Athletics, though he was removed from the game in the ninth inning after walking three batters. He pitched back-to-back shutouts against the Browns and the Indians on June 8 (doubleheader, second game) and June 14, striking out 13 against the Browns. The starter in that year's All-Star Game, he allowed one run in two innings, taking a no decision in the AL's 3–2 loss. Against the Tigers in the first game of a July 13 doubleheader, Raschi was four outs away from throwing a no hitter when Joe Ginsberg hit a home run off him. Ginsberg's blast was the only hit for the Tigers as the Yankees won 11–1. In an important July 17 doubleheader against the Indians, who were fighting the Yankees for the pennant in 1952, Raschi pitched a complete Game 2, allowing four runs in a 5–4 victory. On August 4, he allowed just six hits and struck out eight in a 1–0 shutout victory over the Senators. He threw a six-hit shutout in a 1–0 victory over the Indians on August 23 in front of the largest crowd at Yankee Stadium up to that point in the season, a total of 53,747 fans. In 31 starts, Raschi had a 16–6 record. He ranked among the AL's leaders in wins (sixth), winning percentage (.727, second to Bobby Shantz's .774), ERA (2.78, eighth), strikeouts (127, ninth), and shutouts (four, tied with Early Wynn and Billy Pierce for fifth). Of AL MVP candidates, he ranked 17th in the voting.

As the Yankees had won the AL pennant again, Raschi played in the World Series against the Dodgers, where he made two starts and a relief appearance. He was a little wild in Game 2, walking five batters, but he only allowed three hits and one earned run as the Yankees defeated the Dodgers by a score of 7–1. He hit an RBI single off of Billy Loes' leg in Game 6 and held the Dodgers to two runs before getting removed as he tired with two outs in the eighth inning, but Reynolds finished off the 3–2 victory. In Game 7, he entered in the seventh inning with the Yankees clinging to a 4–2 lead, but still tired, he retired only one hitter while allowing the Dodgers to load the bases. Bob Kuzava bailed him out, however, and the Yankees won their fourth straight World Series.

1953
Despite a 3–3 record in his first 10 games of 1953, Raschi posted a 5.05 ERA; some of his early starts were "not too impressive," according to sportswriter John Drebinger. In front of 74,708 fans in Cleveland on June 14 in the second game of a doubleheader, he allowed just three hits in a shutout of the Indians. Raschi had what sportswriter Louis Effrat called a "magnificent pitching performance" on July 2, allowing three runs while pitching all 10 innings of a 5–3 victory over the Red Sox, a win that snapped a nine-game losing streak for the Yankees. He pitched a two-hit shutout in Chicago against the White Sox on July 19, in the second game of a doubleheader that broke the Comiskey Park attendance record, as 54,215 fans bought tickets. On August 4, Raschi recorded seven RBI against the Tigers with a two-RBI single in the second inning, a three-RBI double in the third, and a two-RBI single in the fourth in a 15–0 victory. The seven RBI set what remains an AL record for a pitcher in a game, and they were a major league record for pitchers until Tony Cloninger drove in nine runs on July 3, 1966. After the game, the Yankees stuffed Raschi's locker with bats as a tribute. He threw back-to-back shutouts on August 16 (doubleheader, first game) and 23, both against the Athletics. From June 14 through the rest of the season, he had a 2.54 ERA. In 28 games (26 starts), he had a 13–6 record and 76 strikeouts. He ranked among the AL leaders in winning percentage (.684, fifth) and ERA (3.33, ninth).

For the fourth time in his career, Raschi and the Yankees faced the Dodgers in the World Series. In Game 3, he and opposing pitcher Preacher Roe allowed their opponents just two runs until the eighth inning, when Raschi gave up a solo home run to Roy Campanella that made the difference in a 3–2 score. "It wasn't quite a strike, but I just didn't get it quite high enough, and Campy belted it," he said of the home run pitch. Raschi made no further appearances in the series but became a World Series champion for the sixth time and fifth year in a row as the Yankees defeated the Dodgers in six games.

In 1954, the Yankees tried to cut Raschi's salary by 25%. The pitcher held out in spring training, seeking more money, but so did 11 other Yankees. Wanting the holdouts to accept his offers, general manager George Weiss decided that one needed to go. He also was trying to develop a younger ballclub and planned to trade either Raschi or Reynolds. On February 24, 1954, Raschi was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for $85,000. He found out about the trade from a photographer, and the only notification he had from the Yankees was a telegram. "It's baseball, I guess," he told reporters about the trade. "What hurts me most is leaving the team-mates I've grown so fond of." From 1946 to , he had won 120 games while losing 50, a .706 winning percentage.

St. Louis Cardinals (1954–55) and Kansas City Athletics (1955)

With the Cardinals, Raschi got off to a 5–0 start, not losing until June. In a game against the Milwaukee Braves on April 15, he allowed Hank Aaron's first hit, a double. Eight days later, he gave up the first home run to Aaron, who would go on to set an MLB record with 755 career home runs. On May 19, he pitched a five-hit shutout in a 3–0 victory over the Giants. After that game, however, he won just once in 12 games (11 starts) through July 18. He threw another shutout against the Giants on July 29, allowing just three hits this time. The victory moved his record to 8–5, but Raschi lost his four remaining decisions. In 30 games (29 starts), he had an 8–9 record, a 4.73 ERA, and 73 strikeouts in 179 innings pitched.

Back trouble afflicted Raschi in 1955; Red Smith wrote in April, "Raschi's back feels like a hollow tooth." He was unable to pitch for much of the spring, drawing reports that he might be released, until he finally solidified his spot on the roster with a five-inning performance at the end of spring training. After he failed to get through the second inning in his first start of the regular season, on April 18, the Cardinals released him on April 19.

On April 26, Raschi signed with the Athletics, who had moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City after the previous season. He posted a 7.33 ERA in his first six games with them, failing to pitch more than six innings. On June 11, he pitched a complete game, striking out six and allowing one run in a 2–1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. In his first game against the Yankees since his departure, on July 22, Raschi held the Yankees to one run over eight innings, earning the win in a 3–1 victory that temporarily knocked them out of first place in the AL. He held the Yankees to two runs over seven innings in his next start but took a no decision in a 3–2 loss. After defeating the Red Sox on August 5, he had a 4–4 record with a 4.59 ERA. However, Raschi failed to complete five innings in any of his remaining starts, losing three times and posting an ERA of 11.34. In 20 games (18 starts) for Kansas City, he had a 4–6 record, a 5.42 ERA, and 38 strikeouts in  innings pitched. The Athletics released him after the season.

Career statistics and uniform numbers
In 269 games (255 starts), Raschi had a 132–66 record, a 3.72 ERA, 944 strikeouts, and 26 shutouts in 1,819 innings. He recorded a .977 fielding percentage, committing only 8 errors in 351 total chances. Offensively, he had a .184 career batting average and 50 RBI. He had 11 RBI apiece in 1948 and 1953.

Raschi wore uniform number 12 in his first two games for the Yankees. The next year, he wore three different numbers (17, 19, and 43), settling with number 17 in succeeding seasons. He kept his uniform number 17 on the Cardinals, but on the Athletics, he wore number 16.

Pitching style
Raschi's best pitch was his speedy fastball. He was nicknamed "The Springfield Rifle," a reference both to the pitch and to the Springfield Armory located near his boyhood home. Turner recalled, "He had good control for a power pitcher." In addition to the fastball, Raschi threw a changeup and a slider, which The New York Times called "effective." Under his dark eyebrows, his eyes would stare intently at opponents before he threw pitches. "I figured if I could break their concentration when they came up to the plate I had them beat, or at least gained an advantage. Once you made them turn their eyes away you had a slight psychological edge." "He'd keep his eyes on their eyes, like a boxer before a fight," Berra described the stare.

Legacy
Raschi appeared on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot nine times, though he received more than 1.8 percent of the vote only twice: 1964 (four percent) and 1975 (10.2 percent, his last year on the ballot). "He was our bread-and-butter guy," said teammate Jerry Coleman. "Allie Reynolds had a better arm, but Raschi was a great competitor. Off the field he was shy and unassuming, nothing like he was on the mound. There he was a beast. Casey considered him our best starter." "I thought Raschi was the best pitcher I had on the team for nine innings. . . . Boy, he was the best on the club in the eighth and ninth inning," Stengel assessed his ability. "If there was only one game I had to win, the man I'd want out there on the mound for me would be Vic Raschi," explained teammate Tommy Henrich. With Reynolds and Lopat, Raschi "was the keystone of one of the most acclaimed pitching staffs in the history of major league baseball," according to reporter Robert Thomas, Jr. The "Big Three" won 53 games in 1949, 55 in 1950, and 59 in 1951.

Personal life, post-retirement
Raschi met his future wife, Sally Glen, while both were students at William and Mary. They were married in 1949 and had three children: Victoria, William, and Mitje. Sally earned her degree from William and Mary in 1944. Vic, after returning from the war, took classes from October to February, finally graduating himself in 1949. While Vic played for the Yankees, he and Sally lived in Hillsdale, New Jersey. Following his retirement, they moved to Geneseo, New York. Vic ran the Valley Liquor Store in Geneseo and served as a baseball and basketball coach at Geneseo State Teachers College (now the State University of New York at Geneseo). In 1975, the college dedicated the Victor J. Raschi Baseball Field, which is now used as a softball field. Raschi also taught at a local elementary school starting in 1969. He died on October 14, 1988, in Groveland, New York, of a heart attack.

See also
  List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders

References

Gittleman, Sol. Reynolds, Raschi and Lopat: New York's Big Three and Great Yankee Dynasty of 1949–1953. McFarland, 2007. . Accessed February 5, 2011.

External links

Baseball Almanac

1919 births
1988 deaths
American League All-Stars
American League strikeout champions
American people of Italian descent
Amsterdam Rugmakers players
Baseball players from Massachusetts
Binghamton Triplets players
Kansas City Athletics players
Major League Baseball pitchers
New York Yankees players
Newark Bears (International League) players
Norfolk Tars players
People from Hillsdale, New Jersey
People from West Springfield, Massachusetts
Portland Beavers players
St. Louis Cardinals players
William & Mary Tribe baseball players
United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II

Vic Raschi


In Greek mythology, Hecaterus or Hekateros (Ancient Greek: Ἑκάτερος) was a minor god and the father of five daughters (the Hecaterides) by the daughter of Phoroneus, and through them grandfather of the Oreads, Satyrs, and Curetes.

His name has been interpreted as referring to the hekateris (a rustic dance which involves quickly moving hands), and himself as a patron or personification of this dance. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the name "Hekateros" (which stands in the genitive case Ἑκατέρου in the original Greek text) could result from corruption of the purported ἑκ Δώρου "of Dorus".

Notes

References

 Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes:  (Vol. 1),  (Vol. 2).
 Strabo, The Geography of Strabo. Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Strabo, Geographica edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

Greek gods

Hecaterus


An effigy mound is a raised pile of earth built in the shape of a stylized animal, symbol, religious figure, human, or other figure. The Effigy Moundbuilder culture is primarily associated with the years 550–1200 CE during the Late Woodland Period, although radiocarbon dating has placed the origin of certain mounds as far back as 320 BCE.

Effigy mounds were constructed in many Native American cultures. Scholars believe they were primarily for religious purposes, although some also fulfilled a burial mound function. The builders of the effigy mounds are usually referred to as the Mound Builders. Over 3200 animal-shaped effigy mounds have been identified by the Wisconsin Historical Society in the upper midwest.

Native North American effigy mounds have been compared to the large-scale geoglyphs such as the Nazca Lines of Peru.

History

Early European observations
Effigy mounds are limited to the Northern and Eastern United States, and most likely the French were the first Europeans to see them in their expeditions southward from Canada after 1673.

Early surveyors and settlers noticed and mapped many effigy mounds, but farming and other development erased numerous sites despite efforts to preserve them.

Mythology
After the "discovery" of effigy mounds, and other mounds all over the country, wild theories began to be developed as to how and by whom they were built. The first theories were the most accurate; people in the late 17th century assumed that the mounds had been built by the Native American people who still lived in the vicinity. These logical assumptions lost popularity as more fantastic theories were developed. The most popular of these theories in the 19th century was that an extinct race of Mound Builder people had built the mounds and then vanished. These theories were generally made to support nationalist sentiment and a romantic European connection to the New World. This theory was laid to rest by archaeologists at the Smithsonian Institution in the 1880s.

Origin theories

The Ho-Chunk suggest that effigy mounds were used as places of refuge as well as burial. Some archaeologists today believe that the mounds were built by particular clans or groups to honor their representative animal. Some believe that the animal shape is the clan or extended family of the person or person's buried in the mound. Others believe that the mounds were burial sites for everyday people, while still others believe that the depicted animal might be somehow responsible for transitioning the deceased into the next world. The mounds may also indicate hunting and gathering territories of different groups. Other evidence suggests that effigy mounds were used for all manner of rites and ceremonies, from birth ceremonies to funeral rites.

Appearance

Common shapes

Common shapes for effigy mounds include birds, bear, deer, bison, lynx, panther, turtles, and water spirits. These are somewhat arbitrary names given to the mound shapes by archaeologists who were simply looking for words that would help them classify the mounds. These shapes were most likely chosen for their particular religious or spiritual significance. The earliest mounds are 'conical'; they are essentially bumps of earth - the simplest and arguably the most intuitive kind of burial. Successive conicals likely evolved into linear mounds. Bird mounds likely came next as modifying a linear mound to make a bird mound required only the addition of a head and a tail. From there many different animal forms emerged. These often expressed a kind of abstract elongation.

Aesthetics
In addition to the obvious elongation of tails and the abstracted nature of many of the shapes, colored silts and sand were often used to decorate the mounds. The land was often scraped or raked to move earth from surface soils towards a new mound and in doing so, artful colored sand and silt patterning was sometimes employed as adornment. In terms of positioning, some mounds may have had celestial alignments although with certainty bird mounds were placed in such a way as to suggest that they were flying up or down a hillside, and animal mounds were often placed so as to suggest animals walking along natural landform as well such as a ridge or hillside. It is possible that predominant wind patterns may have been taken into consideration when choosing locations and orientations for bird mounds. In addition bird mounds sometimes appear in different conformations where the wings of the bird may be folded or unfolded to different degrees, suggesting various postures in flying. There are some instances where these different poses may suggest a freeze frame view of a bird flying - wings outstretched, wings partially folded, and wings outstretched again.

Hochunk ancestors naturally buried their dead next to lakes and rivers, and on hillsides. These locations would later become valued as some of the best places to live by settlers. This is one factor that contributed to high rates of mound destruction. Many mounds were destroyed by people grading earth surrounding their houses or what would become the foundations of houses. In some cases linear mounds were used as foundational fill for new house construction. Looting of mounds by settlers was common and this also contributed to the destruction and defacement of many.

Locations
According to the National Park Service, the area in which effigy mounds are found "extends from Dubuque, Iowa, north into southeast Minnesota, across southern Wisconsin from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan, and along the Wisconsin–Illinois boundary." The mounds of the Mississippi river regions in Wisconsin and Iowa most commonly feature imagery of the bear and the bird, while the mounds of the Lake Michigan and Winnebago areas most commonly feature water spirits, such as turtle and panther mounds.

Contents
The Effigy Mound Builders buried one, two, or three people in a single mound. These burials were most often done singly one atop the other in successive years. The effigy mound builders did not include with their dead the wealth of material the Ohio Hopewellians did. This almost complete lack of artifacts accompanying the dead clearly indicates a culture distinct from the Hopewellian, even though mounds with Hopewell-type grave goods have been excavated in the same area, and apparently were constructed at roughly the same time as the effigy mounds. Some have speculated that due to the lack of burial goods, that the effigy mound builders were egalitarian peoples.

Current condition

Preservation
Hundreds of effigy mounds have been lost due to plowing, farming, and other development.  Many of the remaining effigy mound sites are parts of national, state, county, or municipal parks. After many archeological excavations in the 1950s and 1960s, archeologists began discussing the wisdom and the ethics behind such excavations. The U.S. National Park Service explains, "when a mound is excavated, its value as a scientific object of study is greatly reduced or destroyed." All effigy mounds are currently protected under state laws that prohibit disturbance to burial sites or, if on federal or tribal land, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act, the Antiquities Act, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

See also
Adena culture
Effigy Mounds National Monument
Hopewell culture
Indian Mounds Park (disambiguation) (15 sites)
Lizard Mound County Park
Rock Eagle Effigy Mound
Rock Hawk Effigy Mound
Serpent Mound

References

Sources
Birmingham, Robert. Spirits of Earth: The Effigy Mound Landscape of Madison and the Four Lakes. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2010.
Birmingham, Robert, and Leslie Eisenberg. Indian Mounds of Wisconsin. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2000.
Brown, Charles E. "Undescribed Groups of Lake Mendota Mounds." The Wisconsin Archaeologist 11.1 (1912-1913), 7-33.
Highsmith, Hugh. The Mounds of Koshkonong and Rock River: A History of Ancient Indian Earthworks in Wisconsin. Fort Atkinson, WI: Fort Atkinson Historical Society and Highsmith Press, 1997.
Kavasch, E. Barrie. The Mound Builders of Ancient North America. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2004.
McKern, W.C. "Regarding the Origin of Wisconsin Effigy Mounds." American Anthropologist 31.3 (1929), 562-564.
Peet, Stephen Denison. '"Emblematic Mounds and Animal Effigies." Prehistoric America, Vol. II. Antiquarian Library, American Antiquarian Office, Chicago, Ill., 1890.
Silverberg, Robert. The Mound Builders of Ancient America. Greenwich, CT: New York Graphic Society, 1968. 1986 abridged edition

External links

Effigy Mounds Culture Wisconsin Historical Society
Effigy Moundbuilders Effigy Mounds National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)

Archaeological features
Geoglyphs
Hopewellian peoples
Religious places of the indigenous peoples of North America

Effigy mound