Anthony Cerami (born October 3, 1940) is an American entrepreneur and medical research scientist.

Biography
Anthony Cerami received his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and received a Ph.D. in 1967 from Rockefeller University, New York, completed postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard Medical School and at the Jackson Laboratory and served for 20 years as Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Medical Biochemistry, and Dean of Graduate and Postgraduate Studies at Rockefeller.

In late 1986 Cerami was a founder of Alteon, Inc. which licensed patents filed by Rockefeller on work Cerami had done there; Cerami took a seat on the board of the company, was on the scientific advisory board, and received research funding from Alteon first at Rockefeller and then at Picower, and later through his consulting company and the "Kenneth S. Warren Laboratories, Inc."  In the spring of 1999 Alteon and Cerami terminated the consulting agreement and research agreement with Warren Labs, and Cerami resigned from the board.

Cerami was one of 15 Rockefeller faculty who vocally opposed the appointment of David Baltimore as president of Rockefeller in 1989.  Due in part to that disagreement, in 1991 Cerami left Rockefeller to found (with Jeffry Picower) the Picower Institute for Medical Research on the grounds of North Shore University Hospital.  As of March 1998, Cerami was President of Cerami Consulting and was president and Trustee of the "Kenneth S. Warren
Laboratories, Inc. The Picower Institute was closed down by Picower in 2001, and early the next year it was acquired by The Institute for Medical Research at North Shore-LIJ.

As of 2001, Cerami was the director and lead researcher of the Kenneth S. Warren Institute,  and in 2001, Warren Pharmaceuticals was formed to commercialize inventions made at the institute; Cerami was chairman of the board.

Research
Cerami has led research programs into genetic, metabolic and infectious diseases, with the goal of translating scientific discovery into drugs and diagnostic tests.  He received funding from the Rockefeller Foundation to study neglected tropical diseases and traveled to Africa, where he became interested in the wasting, one of the symptoms of African sleeping sickness.

He developed and validated a measurement of glycated hemoglobin to monitor control of blood sugar in people with diabetes, and a paper he published in 1985 using polyclonal antibodies against tumour necrosis factor-alpha was important in the field of immunology for demonstrating that TNF-alpha causes disease and blocking it could be a treatment.

Work that he did while he was at Rockefeller on advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) and protein cross-linking and their roles in metabolic diseases and aging was patented by Rockfeller and licensed to Alteon Inc. in 1987 and in 1992 the company licensed further work that Cerami did on the use of pimagedine to reduce AGEs.

At the Warren institutes, he led work on  erythropoietin derivatives that were called "tissue protective cytokines"; this work was licensed to Warren Pharmaceuticals and through them to Lundbeck in 2001; the development program was terminated in 2007.

He is the recipient of the Luft Award in Diabetes and the Frederick Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement, awarded by the American Diabetes Association in recognition of his lifelong work on diabetes.

References

External links

Living people
Rockefeller University alumni
Harvard Medical School people
1940 births
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Members of the National Academy of Medicine
Rutgers University alumni
Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology

Anthony Cerami


The World Bodybuilding Federation (WBF) was a bodybuilding organization founded in 1991 by Vince McMahon. It operated as a subsidiary of his company Titan Sports, the owners of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Tom Platz announced the WBF during the closing ceremonies of the International Federation of BodyBuilding (IFBB) Mr. Olympia competition in September 1990, which he and McMahon had attended as representatives of an accompanying magazine.

The WBF aimed to bring bigger prize money and more "dramatic" events to the sport of bodybuilding; its events would incorporate presentation elements inspired by professional wrestling, such as competitors being given ring names and kayfabe personas that were showcased in entertainment-based segments and rounds. WWF television programming featured cross-promotion for the WBF, while the organization would later launch its own weekly television program, WBF BodyStars. The organization signed long-term contracts with a number of IFBB regulars to join its roster, with annual salaries as high as $400,000.

The WBF held its inaugural championship on June 15, 1991, as a pay-per-view (PPV) event in Atlantic City, receiving mixed reviews for its attempts to mix bodybuilding with WWF-style sports entertainment gimmicks. The second WBF championship was held in Long Beach on June 13, 1992. Amid a steroid scandal impacting the WWF, the WBF introduced drug testing in March 1992—which resulted in many of the competitors being relatively out-of-shape during the ensuing competition. Attempts to have bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno (who left the organization shortly after the drug testing policy was implemented) and former WCW wrestler Lex Luger (who was injured in a motorcycling accident) participate in the event also did not come to fruition.

The 1992 WBF Championship PPV was a commercial failure, with only around 3,000 buys. A month later on July 15, 1992, McMahon personally phoned Ben and Joe Weider—the co-founders of the IFBB—to inform them that the WBF would be dissolved. The IFBB—which had prohibited those who joined the WBF from participating in its events—agreed to allow WBF members to rejoin the organization after paying a fine.

South African bodybuilder Gary Strydom would be the first and only WBF champion, winning the 1991 event and successfully defending his title in 1992.

History

Creation

In 1990, as part of an effort to diversify beyond his flagship professional wrestling business, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Vince McMahon's Titan Sports began to make investments in the sport of bodybuilding. Titan hired bodybuilder Tom Platz to oversee a new magazine known as Bodybuilding Lifestyles, and McMahon invested in a new line of bodybuilding supplements known as ICOPRO (Integrated Conditioning Program). While rumors emerged that McMahon was also planning to establish a competitor to the long-established International Federation of BodyBuilding (IFBB), the WWF initially denied the reports. Several WWF performers of the era, including Jimmy Snuka and The Ultimate Warrior, had a background in bodybuilding.

Bodybuilding Lifestyles purchased a booth at the IFBB's Mr. Olympia competition on September 15, 1990, in Chicago, where Platz and McMahon made appearances and signed autographs. During the closing ceremonies, Platz took to the stage to represent the magazine as one of the event's sponsors. Unbeknownst to those in attendance, Platz used that platform to announce that Titan Sports would be forming the World Bodybuilding Federation as a direct competitor to the IFBB, and proclaimed that they planned to "kick the IFBB's ass". A group of models with Bodybuilding Lifestyles sashes entered the auditorium to distribute a WBF pamphlet to the stunned audience, while contract offers were slipped under the doors of the competitors' hotel rooms.

A press release issued by the WBF stated that it would "revamp professional bodybuilding with dramatic new events and the richest prize money in the history of the sport." It also announced that Tom Platz would be Director of Talent Development for the organization. In a press conference the next day, McMahon explained that the WBF planned to feature "bodybuilding the way it was meant to be". The comment was interpreted by some as a thinly-veiled reference to a lack of testing for anabolic steroids; the 1990 Mr. Olympia competition was the first to employ drug testing of participants, but poor reception to the resulting quality of the competition by attendees led the IFBB to reverse course the following year.

In the wake of the announcement, IFBB co-founder Ben Weider commented that Platz and McMahon's ambush marketing "wasn't a sophisticated or very honorable thing to do", but that he wasn't angry, and that "if we'd wanted to, we could have turned off Platz's microphone or stopped his people from distributing their literature. But what the heck, we let them have their fun." The IFBB warned that it would blacklist bodybuilders who joined the WBF, and ban them from their competitions.

The WBF offered multi-year contracts of at least $100,000 per year, in addition to the prize money that would be offered at its events. During a press event on January 30, 1991, at New York City's Plaza Hotel, McMahon announced the WBF's inaugural roster of 13 bodybuilders, and that the organization's inaugural championship would be held June 15, 1991, in Atlantic City on pay-per-view (PPV). The roster included a number of IBFF regulars, including Danny Padilla and Tony Pearson, while Flex reported that the WBF's three-year contract with South African bodybuilder Gary Strydom was valued at $400,000 per year.

In an effort to compete with the WBF, the IFBB increased the top prize of Mr. Olympia 1991 to $100,000. Its 1991 Night of Champions event featured an opening skit mocking the WBF, with its competitors destroying tombstones engraved with the names of the WBF's roster.

1991 championship

Despite assurances by Platz that the WBF would not attempt to mix traditional bodybuilding competitions with professional wrestling,  the WBF would ultimately feature sports entertainment elements. Members of its roster were promoted as "WBF BodyStars" (in a similar fashion to the WWF marketing its performers as "Superstars"), given ring names such as Tony "The Jet Man" Pearson, and had entrance videos during competitions which showcased their kayfabe persona.

WWF television programming was used to cross-promote the inaugural WBF Championship, with segments that featured the WBF roster and wrestlers such as "Macho Man" Randy Savage cutting promos for the event. In turn, both the WBF and WWF would be used as a marketing platform for the ICOPRO supplement system.

The 1991 WBF Championship would be held at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. It was co-hosted by Regis Philbin and WWF manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, with guest appearances by Miss Elizabeth and Randy Savage. The competition would consist of two mandatory pose rounds, followed by an "entertainment" round, which consisted of pre-recorded skits in kayfabe that concluded live on-stage. Gary Strydom would win the competition, receiving the WBF Championship title and a prize of $275,000.

The PPV was met with mixed reviews: some critics praised its high production values and emphasis on the competitors' personalities, but felt that its use of sports entertainment gimmicks drew too many comparisons to wrestling.

Introduction of a drug testing policy, 1992 championship

In June 1991, shortly after the WBF Championship, former WWF ringside doctor George Zahorian was convicted of illegally supplying anabolic steroids to multiple WWF wrestlers. The WWF would introduce a drug testing policy shortly afterward.

In a bid to boost mainstream interest in its competitions, the WBF announced in August 1991 that it would sign bodybuilder and The Incredible Hulk star Lou Ferrigno. The contract was reported to be valued at $900,000 per-year. In an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Ferrigno stated that he was attracted to the WBF for his return to competitive bodybuilding because it had the "strictest drug testing in all of professional sports." Despite claiming prior to its 1991 championship that steroid testing would be used, the WBF did not actually perform any tests during the competition.

Wrestler Lex Luger departed the WWF's main rival, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), to co-host WBF BodyStars—a weekly WBF television series that aired on USA Network. Luger was interviewed during WrestleMania VIII to promote the WBF, and was scheduled to make a guest appearance posing at the 1992 WBF Championship on June 13 in Long Beach. Promotional material for the event initially billed Ferrigno as a top contender for Strydom's WBF Championship title.

In March 1992, McMahon announced that the WBF would begin conducting drug testing; Titan Sports hired Mauro Di Pasquale to oversee the drug testing programs for both the WWF and WBF. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter wrote that in a company meeting discussing the changes, "most of the guys freaked out about being told to give up all their drugs just three months before a contest, despite many willingly spouting the drug-free company line." Ferrigno quit the WBF shortly afterward, without ever competing in its events; although he legitimately cited an upcoming carpal tunnel surgery as reasoning, it was observed that "the idea of competing without drugs, as he was so proudly talking of on Carson months earlier, apparently wasn't even considered as an option". Ferrigno would later compete at Mr. Olympia 1992.

Promotion of the 1992 WBF Championship on WBF BodyStars subsequently and repeatedly emphasized the "drug-free" nature of the event. This was despite the fact that many of the participants would fail drug tests in the weeks leading up to the event, resulting in fines and six-week suspensions that reduced morale. In their book Sex, Lies, and Headlocks, Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham wrote that in between BodyStars monthly tapings, the competitors "stayed home, taking copious amounts of drugs to stay in shape while Vince was running around telling America his company was drug-free." Some of the competitors relied on Di Pasquale's ketogenic "Anabolic Diet" as an alternative to steroids.

The 1992 WBF Championship was co-hosted by Platz, McMahon, and Heenan, with WWF ring announcer "Mean" Gene Okerlund joining them as the emcee. Luger was injured in a motorcycle accident prior to the event, resulting in him being interviewed from a hospital bed during the PPV rather than making an on-stage appearance. The event would see Gary Strydom win his second consecutive WBF Championship. Most of the competitors were relatively out-of-shape due to their drug-free regimens, a fact which was frequently acknowledged by McMahon in his commentary; the Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that "while the idea of promoting a show where the majority of participants had recently failed a steroid test as drug-free on the surface was both ludicrous and fraudulent, the funny thing is, when show time came, it appeared that in the preparatory period for the show among the crew, there was less steroid use than at any contest of that level in recent years."

Demise
The 1992 WBF Championship received only around 3,000 pay-per-view buys. Just over a month later on July 15, 1992, McMahon phoned the IFBB's co-founders Ben and Joe Weider to tell them that the WBF would be disbanded, and asked them to allow the WBF members to rejoin the IFBB. The IFBB would allow WBF members to re-join after paying a $25,000 fine; at its 1993 Night of Champions event, an opening skit referencing the 1991 event featured Dorian Yates "resurrecting" the WBF bodybuilders, who emerged from coffins and destroyed their own tombstones.

After the dissolution of the WBF, Lex Luger made his first official WWF appearance at Royal Rumble in 1993. The same year, McMahon would also be indicted by the FBI for his role in the WWF steroid scandal. In 2018, Strydom commented that despite the dissolution of the WBF, McMahon still paid him in full for the last year of his contract.

Legacy
In an induction of the 1992 WBF Championship, WrestleCrap commented that the show was "two of the silliest hours in the history of live sports", and that "watching a WBF event was like watching a WWF event, if a WWF event consisted only of the wrestlers' entrances and the participants got paid substantially more per year."

In 2019, Bruce Prichard remarked that ICOPRO's strong association with the WBF, and the complexity of the system, were likely factors in its market failure. He explained that "the ICOPRO system was where people would often times get confused, as it wasn't just like a protein powder, it was a system. It was you take that supplement here, you take that supplement here, you take that supplement while you're working out at peak time, put this horrible tasting shit under your tongue. It was complicated." However, he did admit that the protein bars were "excellent".

For a period after the WBF's dissolution, WWF programming continued to regularly feature advertising for the ICOPRO system. This included segments sponsored by the brand, ICOPRO banners displayed in venues, wrestlers being seen wearing ICOPRO shirts, and commercials featuring WWF performers such as Bret Hart, Razor Ramon, and The Steiner Brothers. WWE has occasionally referenced ICOPRO during events paying homage to the 1990s, such as the ICOPRO banner being displayed inside Manhattan Center during the Raw 25th anniversary special in 2018, Adam Cole starring in an ICOPRO parody commercial during NXT TakeOver: In Your House in 2020, and an ICOPRO sponsorship bumper airing during a "throwback" SmackDown in May 2021.

See also
 XFL (2001), a similarly short-lived effort by McMahon to establish an American football league with sports entertainment features.

References

External links
 The Pro Wrestling Chronicle's Definitive History of the WBF

Bodybuilding organizations
History of WWE
Sports organizations disestablished in 1992
Sports organizations established in 1990
Television series by WWE

World Bodybuilding Federation


The Waiting Place is a comic book series created by Sean Kelley McKeever in 1997.  Recommended by the author for young adults aged 14+, the series is a teen drama which centres on the lives of a group of teenagers (and one twenty-something) living in the remote American town of Northern Plains. The theme of the series is that characters who live in such towns exist in a 'holding pattern', spending their time waiting for something to happen. McKeever has described the themes of some of his comics, including The Waiting Place, as being "Alienation; coming of age; a burning desire to get on with life." The Waiting Place established McKeever as a writer of high-school stories, and paved the way for his later work for Marvel Comics on titles like Sentinel and Mary Jane.

Northern Plains, where The Waiting Place is set, is based on Eagle River, Wisconsin, where Sean attended High School.

Publication history

The Waiting Place started life as a self-published comic. McKeever realised that his best chance of breaking into the comics industry was to have a complete comic to show publishers, rather than his writing on its own. He found Brendon and Brian Fraim, and together they produced three issues of The Waiting Place.  At a convention they submitted a copy of the self-published comic to Slave Labor Graphics, who liked it and took it on, republishing those early issues themselves too.

Marvel editor, Tom Brevoort, was a fan of The Waiting Place and gave McKeever his first Marvel assignments on the strength of it.

In 2005, Venture Management optioned The Waiting Place, believing it to have the potential to become a TV series.

Characters

Jeffry Dietz - the main character, who moves with his parents from the suburbs, leaving behind his girlfriend Michelle.
Lora Halstead - a brunette senior, she believes in free love and heavy drinking.
Jill Patterson - a blonde, beautiful freshman, who feels the need to dress in a sexy, feminine style in order to belong.
Kyle Donovan - a long-haired juvenile delinquent who uses drugs.
Scott Forbes - a 24-year-old who works in his father's video store and still carries a torch for his high school girlfriend, Ami.
Ami Briggs - Scott's ex-girlfriend, who has since married a policeman and had a child.
Cullen Cole - the son of the town's only black family, he faces a lot of hostility.
Matt "the Anarchist" - an orphan, he is physically imposing, but uses the Internet and other surveillance methods to control others and make money.
Steven Randall - class president, very popular; secretly gay.

Collected editions
The series has been collected into a number of trade paperbacks:

References

External links
 The official website for The Waiting Place

1997 comics debuts

The Waiting Place


Luigi Piazza (1884 – 22 March 1967), was an Italian operatic baritone, particularly associated with the Italian repertory, especially the role of Rigoletto.

Piazza was born in Bologna, where he studied at the Bologna Conservatory with Alberoni.  He made his stage debut there in 1908, as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor.

His main career spanned from 1910 until 1930, during which time he sang at most of the major opera houses in Italy, with the "Teatro Communale" in Bologna remaining his anchor. Outside Italy, he appeared in France and Spain, and in 1916 at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. In 1924, he went on a guest-tour of Australia. Although he was invited twice to sing at the Metropolitan Opera, he never appeared there. He retired from the stage in 1935, and died in his native city of Bologna over thirty years later.

While active, such was the great depth of baritone talent, he was appreciated as a fine "provincial" baritone; but he nonetheless achieved a degree of international fame through his only recording, a complete Rigoletto from 1927, opposite Lina Pagliughi, Tino Folgar and Salvatore Baccaloni, which reveals a voice of considerable beauty and power, backed by a strong theatrical sense.

Sources
Operissimo.com, "Piazza, Luigi"

1884 births
1967 deaths
Musicians from Bologna
Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini alumni
Italian operatic baritones
20th-century Italian male opera singers

Luigi Piazza


Péter Fülöp Kocsis (born 13 January 1963 in Szeged, Hungary) is the metropolitan archbishop of the Archeparchy of Hajdúdorog and the head of the Hungarian Greek Catholic Church.

Biography
Metropolitan Fülöp studied philosophy and theology at the Saint Athanasius Greek Catholic Theological Institute in Nyíregyháza, Hungary and pedagogy and psychology at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome, Italy. He was ordained priest in 1989. He served as cathecist at a Greek Catholic primary school in Nyíregyháza, than became parish pastor in Tornabarakony. Between 1995 and 1999 he received monastic formation as novice at the bi-ritual Benedictine monastery of Chevetogne. He was tonsured a monk in 1998 in 6 November 1998 by Bishop Szilárd Keresztes of Hajdúdorog receiving his monastic name, Fülöp (Philip). After the retirement of Bishop Szilárd Keresztes, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him to be Bishop of Hajdúdorog and apostolic administrator of the Apostolic Exarchate of Miskolc in 2008. He was consecrated bishop on 30 June 2008 at the Cathedral of Hajdúdorog. The principal consecrator was Bishop Emeritus Szilárd Keresztes, principal co-consecrators were Metropolitan Archbishop Ján Babjak SJ of Presov and Bishop Milan Šašik CM of Munkachevo.

In March 2015 Pope Francis elevated the Eparchy of Hajdúdorog to the rank of metropolitan archeparchy, with Fülöp Kocsis as its archbishop and head of the Hungarian Greek Catholic Church.

References

External links

 Péter Fülöp Kocsis at Catholic Hierarchy

Hungarian bishops
Hungarian Eastern Catholics
1963 births
Living people
People from Szeged
Salesian Pontifical University alumni
21st-century Eastern Catholic bishops
Archbishops of the Hungarian Greek Catholic Church

Péter Fülöp Kocsis


Thomasine is a name given to a Syrian Christian group that originated in the first or the second century, who especially revered the apostle Thomas and some scholars speculate to have written the gospel of Thomas. The group was said to have held esoteric, mystical, and ascetic ideas. Some have associated them with the proto-Gnostics. However modern critics have disputed their affiliation with Gnosticism, especially because they lack many uniquely Gnostic beliefs.

History
According to one view the Thomasines were an early group that questioned the authority of the Jerusalem church and the apostle James, with the Thomasine church beginning around the middle of the first century in Syria.

Elaine Pagels dates the Thomasine community to around the time of the Gospel of John's compilation (AD 70–110), as the Gospel of John appears to contain "anti-Thomasine" elements and the Johannine community may have splintered off from the same group as the Thomasine. Though minority views support the Thomasines being a second century Proto-Gnostic sect.

Community
The Thomasine communities had leaders who through social rules, attempted to manage the process by which new proselytes could come in. They minimized the importance of money and were not expected to have any extra income from what they did not give away. The community had a social attitude of "diligence", where the leader of the community demonstrates a consistent structure for community activities, including labor.

Beliefs

Soteriology
For the Thomasines Jesus is the Light, who has gone to the place of light and his followers have to try to come to the light by the means of a mystical ascent. The Thomasines saw themselves as children of the light, but the ones who were not part of the elect community were sons of darkness. The Thomasines thus had a belief in a type of election or predestination, they saw themselves as elect because they were born from the light.

The Gospel of Thomas says to keep the sabbath to be saved, however it is likely a metaphor for inner rest.

The Thomasines were also said to have had semi-ascetic ideas.

Eschatology
In Thomasine theology the one who seeks the light will have a journey that ultimately ends in "rest". The decision to follow Jesus is critical because the judgement is already being done in the world and the universe could end at any time.

Christology
The Gospel of Thomas refers to Jesus as the "son of man" and affirms his Lordship. For the Thomasines, Jesus was too complex to be categorized or given a description. However some passages in the gospel of Thomas possibly indicate Jesus having some divinity.

Gnosticism
In the past the Gnosticism of the gospel of Thomas was the common view among scholars, however modern research has questioned the affinity between Gnosticism and the gospel of Thomas. Many scholars believe that the gospel of Thomas has a Gnostic worldview, but on the other hand many also reject the Gnostic affiliations because they do not seem to have the same Gnostic mythology as Irenaeus describes and the form of mysticism in the Gospel of Thomas lacks many Gnostic elements. The Gospel of Thomas also appears to support the sanctity of the incarnate life which seems to contradict Gnostic teaching which was used by Paterson Brown to argue that the gospel is demonstrably non-Gnostic. According to David W. Kim the association of the Thomasines and Gnosticism are too anachronistic and the Thomasine sect seems to predate the Gnostic movements.

According to Andrew Phillip the Thomasines did not adhere to a form of Gnosticism, but they still held to strongly esoteric views with apparent Platonic influence.

Other
The Thomasines likely had a form of baptism.

References

Christian mysticism

Thomasines


Reverend Joseph Hopkins Twichell (November 30, 1838 – December 20, 1918) was a writer and Congregational minister from Hartford, Connecticut.  He was a close friend of writer Mark Twain for over forty years and is believed to be the model for the character "Harris" in A Tramp Abroad.

Twain and Twichell met at a church social after the Civil War when Twichell was pastor of Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford, where he served for almost 50 years.  Reverend Twichell performed Twain's wedding and christened his children. He counseled the author on literary as well as personal matters for the rest of his life. A scholar and devout Christian, Twichell was described as "a man with an exuberant sense of humor, and a profound understanding of the frailties of mankind."

Early life and education
Twichell was born in Southington, Connecticut, to Edward Twichell and Selina Delight Carter.  He attended the Lewis Academy in Southington and studied at Yale from 1855 to 1859.  He rowed on the Yale crew the first time that Yale defeated Harvard.

From 1859 to 1861, Twichell attended Union Theological Seminary, New York City but left to join the Union Army when the Civil War began.

Civil War
In 1861 when the American Civil War broke out, Twichell was still attending Union Theological Seminary, and was not yet ordained. Strongly pro-abolition, he enlisted in the Union Army a few weeks after the Confederacy fired upon Fort Sumter in April.

Twichell became chaplain of the 71st New York State Volunteers, one of five regiments of the Excelsior Brigade commanded by General Daniel E. Sickles.  The regiment was largely made up of working-class Irish Catholics from lower Manhattan, and many of them were immigrants.  In a letter to his father, he remarked:
"If you ask why I fixed upon this regiment, composed as it is of rough, wicked men, I answer, that was the very reason.  I should not expect a revival, but I should expect to make some good impressions by treating with kindness a class of men who are little used to it."

He accompanied the regiment through three years of battle including the Peninsula Campaign, the Second Bull Run Campaign, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania and the Wilderness.

In July 1861, after the battle of Bull Run, the Excelsior Brigade was ordered to Washington, D.C. That fall, the brigade marched east through Maryland, with Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's division of the army's Third Corps, to help defend the mouth of the Potomac River from Confederate harassment.

During the war, he became a protege of Reverend Horace Bushnell, a leading theologian and civic reformer.

Career
After the Civil War, he completed seminary studies and graduated in 1865 from the Andover Seminary in Andover, Massachusetts.  He became pastor at the Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford, Connecticut at the recommendation of Horace Bushnell.  Twichell met author Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, in October 1868 and they formed a deep friendship.   In 1870, Twitchell, along with Rev. Thomas K. Beecher, married Clemens to Olivia Langdon at the Langdon home in Elmira, NY.

In 1871, Twichell became a supporter of the Chinese Educational Mission which was supervised by Yung Wing.  In 1874, Twichell accompanied Yung Wing to Peru to investigate the living conditions of Chinese citizens working there.

Twichell encouraged Clemens to write about his piloting career on the Mississippi River, as he had told the minister many stories from that time.  Clemens and Twichell undertook a walking trip of over 100 miles to Boston in 1874.  It was aborted on the second day when they decided to take the train.

They followed the news reports of the adultery scandal involving Henry Ward Beecher, who was a  brother of their mutual friend, Rev. Thomas K. Beecher, and their sister, author Harriet Beecher Stowe, who had written Uncle Tom's Cabin. Of the scandal, Clemens wrote Twichell, "Mr. Tilton never has been entitled to any sympathy since the day he heard the news & did not go straight & kill Beecher & then humbly seek forgiveness for displaying so much vivacity."(p. 202) He and Twichell attended the trial of Henry Ward Beecher together.

Twichell and Twain traveled together to Bermuda in 1877 and to Germany and Switzerland in 1878.  The six week trip through the Black Forest and Swiss Alps in Europe became the basis for Twain's book, A Tramp Abroad.

Writings
John Winthrop (1891)
Some Old Puritan Love Letters (1893)

Personal life
Twichell married Julia Harmony Cushman in November 1865 and together they had nine children.  Their son Burton Parker Twichell married Katherine Eugenia Pratt, daughter of Charles Millard Pratt.

Their daughter Harmony Twichell (1876–1969) married the composer Charles Ives in 1908.

Twichell died on December 20, 1918, and was interred at Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Notes

References

 Mark Twain and Rev. Joseph Twichell at Asylum Hill Congregational Church website
 A brief biography

External links

A short biography of Twichell on josephhopkinstwichell.com
Joseph Hopkins Twichell Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

1838 births
1918 deaths
American biographers
American male non-fiction writers
American religious writers
Andover Theological Seminary alumni
Burials at Cedar Hill Cemetery (Hartford, Connecticut)
Excelsior Brigade
People from Southington, Connecticut
People of Connecticut in the American Civil War
Union Army chaplains
Writers from Hartford, Connecticut
Yale University alumni
19th-century American clergy

Joseph Twichell


The Ketchikan Ranger House at 309 Gorge Street in Ketchikan, Alaska was built in 1916 in the residential Captain's Hill district of Ketchikan. Designed by USDA Forest Service in "Vernacular Victorian" style, it housed the U.S. Forest Service's district rangers until 1978. The -story frame house has remained essentially unaltered from its original construction. It was built for $650 to serve the first forest ranger for the state of Alaska.

The house was originally built on a post-and-piling foundation, with a partial concrete foundation added at a later date when a basement was excavated. The gable roof runs from the front to the back, with two hipped dormers on the east side and one shed dormer on the west side. The front door is on the uphill side, offset to one side on a partly enclosed porch. Most of the house's original woodwork, finishes and hardware have survived.

The Ketchikan Ranger House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

See also
National Register of Historic Places listings in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska

References

1916 establishments in Alaska
Park buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska
Houses in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska
Ketchikan, Alaska
Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska
Houses completed in 1916
United States Forest Service architecture
Tongass National Forest

Ketchikan Ranger House


A matchbook is a small cardboard container that holds a quantity of matches inside and has a coarse striking surface on the exterior.

A flap on the front is lifted to access the matches, which are attached to the interior base in a comb-like pattern and must be torn away before use. (In the matchbox, by contrast, the matches are arranged loosely in the interior tray.)

Matchbooks are often covered with advertising logos or various artistic decorations, and they have served as collector's items and free souvenirs.

Tools

Matchbook


Joseph-Guillaume Barthe (March 16, 1816 – August 4, 1893) was a lawyer, journalist and political figure in Canada East. He also  wrote for the Montreal newspaper Le Populaire under the pseudonym Marie-Louise.

Life
Barthe was born March 16, 1816, in Carleton, Lower Canada. He attended Séminaire de Nicolet for seven years between 1827 and 1834. Although finishing first year Philosophy at Nicolet, when he returned for the second year he could not successfully complete the philosophy program. Shifting his interests to medicine, he studied under Dr. René-Joseph Kimber. After unsuccessfully studying medicine, Barthe would later study law with Edward Barnard.

In 1838, he wrote a poem ; as a result, he was put in jail at Trois-Rivières for three months.

Completing his legal education, he was called to the bar on March 17, 1840. In the same year, he became editor of the Montreal newspaper L'Aurore des Canadas.

1841, Barthe was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Yamaska.  He was defeated in the next general election in 1844. He married Louise-Adélaïde Pacaud, the daughter of Joseph Pacaud and sister of Édouard-Louis Pacaud in 1844. In 1846, he was appointed clerk in the Court of Appeals.

His daughter Émilie Barthe was born on March 26, 1849. She would eventually become the center of a political scandal.

Joseph-Guillaume moved to France and lived there from 1853 to 1855. During his time there, he attempted to encourage stronger ties between France and French Canadians, publishing a book Le Canada reconquis par la France. He returned to Trois-Rivières, serving as editor for newspapers there. Barthe then moved to Quebec City, where he was co-editor of Le Canadien for a time. He later moved to Montreal, where he died in 1893.

His brother Georges-Isidore also became a lawyer and journalist and served in the Canadian House of Commons.

References

External links

1818 births
1893 deaths
Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East
People from Carleton-sur-Mer
French Quebecers

Joseph-Guillaume Barthe


The Face Between is a 1922 American silent melodrama film. Directed by Bayard Veiller, the film stars Bert Lytell, Andrée Tourneur, and Sylvia Breamer. It was released on April 17, 1922.

Plot
Tom Carteret Jr. bears a striking resemblance to his father, Tom Sr.  So much so that when his father is caught having an affair he decides to take the blame on himself, to spare his father.  This despite the fact that just the night prior he had become engaged to his sweetheart, Sybil Eliot.  Hartwell, the aggrieved husband, demands that Tom leave and go leave in a remote mountain cabin, staying there until Hartwell dies.  Tom agrees, to save his family's honor.  His fiancé is filled with horror at this turn of events and will not speak to him.

Once in the cabin, he meets Marianna Canfield, the daughter of the woman who does his laundry.  Joe Borral is a local who is interested in Marianna.  All the locals resent Tom's presence, and make life difficult for him.  When Joe decides to physically attack Tom to convince him to leave, Marianna learns of the plan and rushes to the cabin to warn Tom.  However, when she is discovered with Tom in his cabin, the local men are ready to tar and feather Tom.  To save his life, she tells her father that she and Tom were going to elope.  Just as they are about to leave for the minister, a telegram arrives, in which Tom learns that Hartwell has died, and that his family's name has been cleared.  He also learns that Sybil has forgiven him.

But to save Marianna, he leaves with her to the minister's house.  On the way there they are intercepted by Joe, who shoots them both.  Before he slips into unconsciousness, Marianna, who has received a fatal wound, says that she will never leave him.  He is discovered in a state of delirium several days later, and his taken back to his home, where he is nursed by Sybil.  But every time he awakes, he sees the specter of Marianna superimposed over Sybil's visage.  One night he sees Marianna's specter and attempts to follow her, but falls over a balcony to the floor a story below.  When he wakes up, he learns that the visions and his fall were all part of the delirium, and that this is the first time he has awoken.  He and Sybil are reconciled.

Cast
 Bert Lytell as Tommy Carteret, Sr./Tommy Carteret, Jr.
 Andrée Tourneur as Sybil Eliot
 Sylvia Breamer as Marianna Canfield
 Hardee Kirkland as Mr. Hartwell
 Gerard Alexander as Mrs. Eliot
 Frank Brownlee as Joe Borral
 Burwell Hamrick as Jared
 Joel Day as Mr. Canfield
 De Witt Jennings as The doctor

Reception
The Stockton Daily Evening Record gave the film a good review, "...it can be said that this unusual and highly exciting story provides all the ingredients of a perfect picture."  They commended the performance of Lytell, and said his supporting cast was of "unusual excellence".  The Arizona Republican also gave the movie a good review, calling it "an unusual story in dramatic value, and offers Lytell a role which, while taxing his skill to the utmost, proves he is the most versatile and accomplished of the male stars of the screen." The Bisbee Daily Review gave the film a very positive review stating it "is a picture which wins the support of those who believe in the movies as an institution with limitless possibilities for intelligent entertainment.  In this picture, in which Bert Lytell, the Metro star, heads the unusually good cast, there is unfolded a story which has all the elements of universal popularity and which grows in interest and suspense with a logical development."  On the other hand, the Los Angeles Times gave the film a poor review, "The only comment to make on such a thing is to express wonder that Bert Lytell should have starred in it, or that Metro should have produced it.  'The Face Between' cannot help the reputation of either very much."  The Exhibitor's Herald was ambivalent about the movie.  On the one hand they said that "Lytell has had far more interesting vehicles than this...", but on the other hand they opined, "It is an entirely different story from what we are accustomed to seeing Lytell in and for those who like 'domestic tangles' it is one of the best."  They gave particular applause to Martinelli's cinematography.

References

External links

American silent feature films
American black-and-white films
1922 drama films
1922 films
Silent American drama films
Melodrama films
Metro Pictures films
1920s English-language films
1920s American films

The Face Between


The Anglo-Zanzibar War was fought between the Sultanate of Zanzibar, a state in and capital of the country of Zanzibar, and the United Kingdom on 27 August 1896.

The current Sultan (the person who rules the Sultanate of Zanzibar), Sultan Hamad bin Thwaini, who was pro-British, died. While he was alive, because he was English Council approved, he and the Sultanate of Zanzibar were on good terms with England, but when he died, a new Sultan was needed. Sultan Khalid bin Barghash, his 29-year-old nephew eventually became his successor, but Khalid was no-longer approved by England, now making him and his state enemies with the English Army. England told him to come out of hiding, but the new Sultan's response was to barricade himself in his palace even more. As expected, the Sultanate of Zanzibar was absolutely destroyed by the English Army, which led to what we know today as the Anglo-Zanzibar war, the shortest recorded war in history that lasted between 38 to 45 minutes.

Casualties & Losses
There were varying casualties on both sides. For England, only a single sailor was wounded, but for the Sultanate of Zanzibar five hundred were killed or injured (including civilians), 4 artillery pieces were destroyed, a shore battery was destroyed, two other boats were sunk, and the HHS Glasgow (the Sultan's personal royal ship) was sunk. The Sultan's palace was also burned down to the ground.

Aftermath
Khalid was captured by English forces in 1916, and a new Sultan, Sultan Hamoud, became his successor. This new leader was extraordinarily loyal to England and their council, which definitely helped Zanzibar recover from this attack, as England decided not to impose new harsh rules on their relationship with the sultanate.

References

Wars involving the United Kingdom
1896
Zanzibar

Anglo-Zanzibar War


Lucette Descaves (1 April 1906 – 15 April 1993) was a French pianist and teacher, whose pupils included Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Geneviève Joy, Brigitte Engerer, Pascal Rogé, and Katia and Marielle Labèque.

Biography
Born in Paris, daughter of the police commissioner Eugène Descaves (brother of the writer Lucien Descaves) and goddaughter of Camille Saint-Saëns, Lucette Descaves studied piano, encouraged by her mother. She entered the Paris Conservatoire while Gabriel Fauré was the director, in the class of Marguerite Long. Having won first prize for piano in 1923, she was herself put in charge of Long's preparatory class (during the Second World War, she taught the young student Michel Legrand, who in 1988 asked her to appear in his autobiographical film Cinq Jours en Juin). Subsequently, she became Yves Nat's teaching assistant. Lucette Descaves was regarded by Marguerite Long as her spiritual heir. In 1941, Descaves was made a piano professor at the Conservatoire.

As a pianist, she has premiered works by Jolivet (ritual dances, 1942 Concerto for piano, 1951) and Rivier (Concerto for Piano, 1954).

Until her retirement from the Conservatoire in 1976, she taught several outstanding pianists, including Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Geneviève Joy, Brigitte Engerer, Pascal Rogé, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Géry Moutier and Georges Pludermacher. Upon retirement of the Conservatory, she continued her teaching at the Rueil-Malmaison conservatory, directed by one of her former students, Jacques Taddei.

She also had a career as a concert soloist, performing under conductors such as Philippe Gaubert, Charles Münch and Andre Cluytens. She performed and premiered much contemporary music, most notably works by André Jolivet (Cinq danses rituelles, the Piano Concerto) and Jean Rivier. She also performed works by Gabriel Pierné and Bohuslav Martinů, and performed Sergei Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto before the composer on 25 October 1931 at the Concerts Poulet.

She studied the complete piano works of Albert Roussel and Arthur Honegger with the composers before recording them on LP.

She was first married to the conductor and pianist Georges Truc (died 1941), artistic director of Pathé-Marconi France; she then married the conductor Louis Fourestier. She died aged 87 in Boulogne-Billancourt.

References

1906 births
1993 deaths
20th-century French women classical pianists
French music educators
Piano pedagogues
Musicians from Paris
French women music educators
French pianists
French women pianists

Lucette Descaves


Jack Ma Yun (; born 10 September 1964) is a Chinese business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is the co-founder of Alibaba Group, a multinational technology conglomerate. In addition, Ma is also the co-founder of Yunfeng Capital, a Chinese private equity firm. , with a net worth of $34.5 billion, Ma is the fourth-wealthiest person in China (after Zhong Shanshan, Zhang Yiming and Ma Huateng), as well as the 39th wealthiest person in the world, ranked by Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Ma earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English upon graduating from Hangzhou Normal University in 1988. He became an English lecturer and international trade lecturer at Hangzhou Dianzi University following graduation. Later taking an interest in the emergence of the internet business, he established his first business in 1994, only to end up forming a second company after learning more about the internet and the commercial business possibilities that could be potentially exploited from its emerging growth. From 1998 to 1999,  resigned from China Telecommunications Corporation, later start the Alibaba Group with his colleagues in 1999. The company was initially founded as B2B e-commerce marketplace website, yet the company later expanded into a wide range of industry domains across the Chinese economy, including e-commerce, high-technology, and online payment solutions.

In 2017, Ma was ranked second in the annual "World's 50 Greatest Leaders" list by Fortune. He has widely been considered as an informal global ambassador in Chinese business circles, and has continued to remain an influential figure in the Chinese business community and scene of startup companies. In September 2018, he announced that he would retire from Alibaba and pursue educational work, philanthropy, and environmental causes; the following year, Daniel Zhang succeeded him as executive chairman. In 2020, the Chinese government stopped plans for an IPO called for the digital payment solutions company Ant Group, a company that he founded after he delivered a speech that criticized Chinese financial regulators for putting too much priority in minimizing risk.

In 2019, Forbes Magazine named Ma in its list of "Asia's 2019 Heroes of Philanthropy" for his humanitarian and philanthropic work supporting underprivileged communities in China, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East. In April 2021, Jack Ma ranked 26th in the "2021 Forbes Global Rich List" with a fortune of $48.4 billion USD. In July 2021, Jack Ma led Alibaba Group to top the 2021 China Charity List with a total cash donation of 3.22 billion yuan.

Early life and education
Ma was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang on 10 September 1964 as Ma Yun. He became interested in English as a young boy and began practicing with English speakers in the Hangzhou International Hotel. Ma's grandfather served as a security guard during the Second Sino-Japanese War. At the age of 12, Ma bought a pocket radio and began listening to English radio stations frequently. For nine years, Ma rode  on his bicycle every day to work as a tour guide of Hangzhou for foreigners in order to practice his English. He became pen pals with one of those foreigners, who nicknamed him "Jack" because he found it hard to pronounce his Chinese name. When Ma was 13 years old, he was forced to transfer to Hangzhou No. 8 Middle School as he kept getting in fights. In his primary school days, Ma struggled scholastically, and it took two years for him to gain acceptance at an ordinary Chinese high school, as he only got 31 points in mathematics on the Chinese high school entrance exam.

In 1980, while he was riding his bike to practice English with tourists, he met Ken Morley, who was travelling with his family with the Australia-China Friendship Society. Ken's son, David became pen pals and kept in touch after the family left China. Years later, the Morley's hosted Ma in Australia as they changed his life completely. In early 2023, Ma travelled to Melbourne to visit the Morley's and bequeathed $26 million to the University of Newcastle as a philanthropic gesture, which is located in the Morley family's hometown. Regarding his 2023 visit, Ma said: "Those 29 days in Newcastle were crucial in my life. Without those 29 days, I would never have been able to think the way I do today."

In 1982, at the age of 18, Ma failed the nation-wide Chinese college entrance exam on his initial attempt, obtaining only 1 point in mathematics. Afterwards, he and his cousin applied to be waiters at a nearby hotel. His cousin was hired, but Ma was rejected on the grounds that he was "too skinny, too short, and in general, protruded a bad physical appearance that may have potentially ended up hurting the restaurant's image and possibly tarnishing its reputation in the process."

In 1983, Ma failed his college entrance exam again for the second time. However, his mathematics score improved on his second try, with Ma managing to secure 19 points. In 1984, despite strong opposition from his family to persuade him to give up on pursuing higher education and choose an alternative career path, Ma remained steadfastly determined as he decided to attempt to take the college entrance examination for the third time. On his third attempt, he scored 89 points in the mathematics section. Nonetheless, the minimum benchmark entrance requirement would have rendered Ma ineligible to be accepted into university, since his score was five points below the standardized minimum threshold for him to qualify. However, Ma's academic fortunes would change since the enrollment target for prospective majors in Hangzhou Normal University's Department of English was not met, as some prospective students had the opportunity to be accepted and promoted into it, with Ma himself having ended up being promoted to the department's foreign language major. After matriculating at Hangzhou Normal University, Ma's academic performance began to improve substantially as he steadily achieved scholarly excellence. In recognition of his burgeoning academic achievements, Ma distinguished himself scholastically by consistently being ranked as among the top five students in Hangzhou Normal University's foreign language department due to the extensive English-language skills that he honed. He was also elected as the chairman of the student union and later became the chairman of the Hangzhou Federation of Students, with Ma having served in that capacity for two terms.

In 1988, Ma graduated from Hangzhou Normal University with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English. After graduation, he became a lecturer in English and international trade at Hangzhou Dianzi University. Ma also claims to have applied to Harvard Business School ten times, but was rejected every time.

Business career

Early career
According to Ma's autobiographical speech, after graduating from Hangzhou Normal University in 1988, Ma applied for 31 different odd entry-level jobs and was rejected for every single one. "I went for a job with the KFC; they said, 'you're no good, Ma told interviewer Charlie Rose. "I even went to KFC when it came to my city. Twenty-four people went for the job. Twenty-three were accepted. I was the only guy [rejected]...". During this period, China was nearing the end of its first decade following Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms.

In 1994, Ma heard about the Internet and also started his first company, Hangzhou Haibo Translation Agency (, ), an online Chinese translation agency. In early 1995, he travelled abroad to the United States on behalf of the Hangzhou municipal government with fellow colleagues who had helped introduce him to the Internet. Although he found information related to beer from many countries, he was surprised to find none from China. He also tried to search for general information about China and again was surprised to find none. So he and his friend created an "ugly" website pertaining to information regarding Chinese beer. He launched the website at 9:40 AM, and by 12:30 PM he had received emails from prospective Chinese investors wishing to know more about him and his website. This was when Ma realized that the Internet had something great to offer. In April 1995, Ma and his business partner He Yibing (a computer instructor), opened the first office for China Pages, and Ma started their second company. On May 10, 1995, the pair registered the domain chinapages.com in the United States. Within a span of three years, China Pages cleared approximately 5,000,000 RMB in profit which at the time was equivalent to USD$642,998 (approximately $1.18 million today).

Ma began building websites for Chinese companies with the help of friends in the United States. He said that "The day we got connected to the Web, I invited friends and TV people over to my house", and on a very slow dial-up connection, "we waited three and a half hours and got half a page", he recalled. "We drank, watched TV and played cards, waiting. But I was so proud. I proved the Internet existed". Despite achieving massive entrepreneurial and investment success in the Chinese high-technology industry, Ma was never a technical expert on computer technology nor did he possess the extensive breadth and depth of technical know-how that would have nonetheless otherwise qualified him to run a technology company or operate independently as a technology entrepreneur on his own. Even though Ma's formal educational background and extensive training was in English rather than in a technical subject did not hinder him from being able to distinguish himself from his entrepreneurial peers in the Chinese high-technology industry as well as from the quintessential Chinese technology mogul, many of whom typically had computer engineering and computer science backgrounds. Instead, Ma parlayed his educational background to use in an entrepreneurial context by fashioning himself as a promoter, businessman, manager, administrator, and organizer who possessed the soft skills, emotional capacity, and personality with a knack for leading and employing specialists of expert ability from every conceivable technical domain. At a press conference in 2010, Ma made clear with regards to the lack of his technical expertise by revealing to the public that he had never written a line of computer code, nor had ever made one sale to a customer, and that he only acquired a personal computer to do business with for the first time at the age of 33.

From 1998 to 1999, Ma headed an information technology company established by the China International Electronic Commerce Center, a department of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. In 1999, he quit and returned to Hangzhou with his team to establish Alibaba, a Hangzhou-based business-to-business marketplace site in his apartment with a group of 18 friends. He started a new round of venture development with 500,000 yuan.

In October 1999 and January 2000, Alibaba won a total of a $25 million foreign venture seed capital from the American investment bank, Goldman Sachs and the Japanese investment management conglomerate SoftBank. The program was expected to improve the domestic Chinese e-commerce market and perfect an e-commerce platform for online Chinese enterprises to establish a presence for themselves to compete, especially fostering the growth of Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as addressing challenges surrounding China's entrance into the World Trade Organization in 2001. Eventually, Alibaba began to show signs of profitability three years later as Ma wanted to improve the global e-commerce system. From 2003 onwards, Ma established Taobao Marketplace, Alipay, Ali Mama and Lynx. After the rapid rise of Taobao, American e-commerce giant eBay offered to purchase the company. However, Ma rejected their offer, instead garnering support from Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang  who offered a $1 billion investment in upfront capital for the potential purpose of expanding Alibaba's corporate operations.

Chairman of Alibaba Group

Since 1999, Ma served as the executive chairman of Alibaba Group, which has remained one of China's most prominent high-technology holding companies in the two decades since it inception presiding over nine major subsidiaries: Alibaba.com, Taobao Marketplace, Tmall, eTao, Alibaba Cloud Computing, Juhuasuan, 1688.com, AliExpress.com, and Alipay. At the annual general meeting of shareholders for Alibaba.com in May 2010, Ma announced Alibaba Group would begin in 2010 to earmark 0.3% of annual revenue to environmental protection, particularly on water- and air-quality improvement projects. Of the future of Alibaba, he has said, "our challenge is to help more people to make healthy money, 'sustainable money', money that is not only good for themselves but also good for the society. That's the transformation we are aiming to make."

In 2011, it was announced that one of his companies had gained control of Alipay, formerly a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, so as to "comply with Chinese law governing payment companies in order to secure a license to continue operating Alipay. Numerous analysts reported that Ma sold Alipay to himself below market value without notifying the board of Alibaba Group or the other major owners Yahoo and Softbank, while Ma stated that Alibaba Group's board of directors were aware of the transaction. The ownership dispute was resolved by Alibaba Group, Yahoo! and Softbank in July 2011.
In November 2012, Alibaba's online transaction volume exceeded one trillion yuan. Ma stepped down as the chief executive officer of Alibaba on May 10, 2013 but remained as the executive chairman of the corporation. In September 2014, it was reported that Alibaba was raising over $25 billion in an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange. , Ma is the owner of Château de Sours in Bordeaux, Chateau Guerry in Côtes de Bourg and Château Perenne in Blaye, Côtes de Bordeaux.

On January 9, 2017, Ma met with United States President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower, to discuss the potential of 1 million job openings in the following five years through the expansion of the presence of Alibaba's business interests in the United States. On September 8, 2017, to celebrate Alibaba's 18th year of its establishment, Ma appeared on stage and gave a Michael Jackson-inspired performance. He also performed a partial rendition of Elton John's 1994 hit single Can You Feel The Love Tonight while being dressed up as a lead heavy metal singer at a 2009 Alibaba birthday event. In the same month, Ma also partnered with Hong Kong business tycoon, Sir Li Ka-shing in a joint venture to offer a digital wallet service in Hong Kong.

Ma announced on September 10, 2018 that he would step down as executive chairman of Alibaba Group Holding in the coming year. Ma denied reports that he was forced to step aside by the Chinese government and stated that he wants to focus on philanthropy through his foundation. Daniel Zhang would then lead Alibaba as the current executive chairman. Ma stepped down from the board of Alibaba on 1 October 2020.

Disappearance from the public eye
News outlets noted a lack of public appearances from Ma between October 2020 and January 2021, coinciding with a regulatory crackdown on his businesses. The Financial Times reported that the disappearance may have been connected to a speech given at the annual People's Bank of China financial markets forum, in which Ma criticized China's regulators and banks. In November 2020, the Financial Times reported the abrupt cancellation of the Ant Group's anticipated initial public offering (IPO) after an intervention by financial regulators. According to Chinese bankers and officials, financial stability was the objective behind the intervention. Some commentators speculated that Ma may have been a victim of forced disappearance, while others speculated that he could be voluntarily lying low.

Ma made a public appearance again on 20 January 2021, speaking via video link to a group of rural teachers at a charitable event, the annual Rural Teacher Initiative.

In February 2021, Bloomberg reported that he was seen golfing at the Sun Valley Golf Resort in the Chinese island of Hainan.

In March 2021, Ma and Alibaba were ordered by Chinese regulators to sell off certain media companies, including Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, as part of a Chinese campaign to curb the influence wielded by giant digital conglomerates.

In October 2021, Reuters reported Ma was on the Spanish island of Mallorca shopping at a local store. His superyacht was anchored in the Port of Andratx.

In November 2022, Ma was reportedly living a low profile life in Tokyo, Japan, for nearly six months, and occasionally traveling abroad.

In March 2023, Ma was spotted for the first time at the Yungu school in Hangzhou, China. Photos and videos of Ma touring the school appeared on social media confirming the appearance of the billionaire for the first time in several months. The school is funded by his company and is located near the company's headquarters. He was reportedly persuaded to return by premier Li Qiang. In the same month, Alibaba Group would turn into a holding company and its subsidiaries would separate into six independent firms; The Wall Street Journal reported on 30 March that Ma engineered this in talks with company CEO Daniel Zhang while he was overseas.

Teaching
In May 2023, Tokyo College, a research institute at the University of Tokyo, announced that Ma had been appointed a Visiting Professor and would work at the institute until at least October 2023. His research focus would include sustainable agriculture, food production, and lectures on entrepreneurship. The  Financial Times described the announcement as "a rare public statement of the billionaire's commitments outside China."

Entertainment career
In 2017, Ma made his acting debut with his first kung fu short film Gong Shou Dao. It was filmed in collaboration with the Double 11 Shopping Carnival Singles' Day. In the same year, he also participated in a singing festival and performed dances during Alibaba's 18th-anniversary party.

In November 2020, in the finale of Africa's Business Heroes, Ma was replaced as a judge in the television show, with Alibaba executive Peng Lei taking his place, reportedly "Due to a schedule conflict".

Awards and honors
 In 2004, Ma was honored as one of the "Top 10 Economic Personalities of the Year" by China Central Television (CCTV).
 In September 2005, the World Economic Forum selected Ma as a "Young Global Leader".
 Fortune also selected him as one of the "25 Most Powerful Businesspeople in Asia" in 2005.
 Businessweek also selected him as a "Businessperson of the Year" in 2007.
 In 2008, Barron's featured him as one of the 30 "World's Best CEOs"
 In May 2009, Time magazine listed Ma as one of the world's 100 most powerful people. In reporting Ma's accomplishments, Adi Ignatius, former Time senior editor and editor-in-chief of the Harvard Business Review, noted that "the Chinese Internet entrepreneur is soft-spoken and elf-like—and he speaks really good English" and remarked that "Taobao.com, Mr. Ma's consumer-auction website, conquered eBay in China." He was also included in this list in 2014.
 BusinessWeek chose him as one of China's Most Powerful People.
 Forbes China also selected him as one of the Top 10 Most Respected Entrepreneurs in China by in 2009. Ma received the 2009 CCTV Economic Person of the Year: Business Leaders of the Decade Award.
 In 2010, Ma was selected by Forbes Asia as one of Asia's Heroes of Philanthropy for his contribution to disaster relief and poverty.
 Ma was awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in November 2013.
 Ma was a board member of Japan's SoftBank (2007–2020) and China's Huayi Brothers Media Corporation. He became a trustee of The Nature Conservancy's China program in 2009 and joined its global board of directors in April 2010.
 In 2013, he became chairman of the board for The Nature Conservancy's China Program; this was one day after he stepped down from Alibaba as company CEO.
 In 2014, he was ranked as the 30th-most-powerful person in the world in an annual ranking published by Forbes.
 In 2015, Asian Award honoured him with the Entrepreneur of the Year award.
 In 2016, he was awarded the Chevalier of the French Legion of Honour by French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development Laurent Fabius.
 In 2017, Fortune ranked Ma second on its World's 50 Greatest Leaders list.
 In 2017, a KPMG survey ranked Ma third in global tech innovation visionary survey.
 In October 2017, Ma was given an honorary degree of Doctor of Science in Technopreneurship from De La Salle University Manila, Philippines.
 In May 2018, Ma was given an honorary degree of Doctor of Social Sciences by the University of Hong Kong in recognition of his contributions to technology, society and the world.
 In May 2018, Ma received an honorary doctorate from professors Yaakov Frenkel and Yaron Oz at the Tel Aviv University.
In May 2019, Ma and other 16 influential global figures were appointed by Secretary-General of the United Nations as the new advocates for sustainable development goals.
 In July 2020, Ma received from King Abdullah II a first class medal for his contribution in fighting back against the COVID-19 pandemic.
 In August 2020, Ma was to receive from the President of Pakistan a Hilal e Quaid e Azam medal for his contribution in fighting back against the COVID-19 pandemic.
 At the 2023 World Chinese Culture Festival (Tokyo), Kong Jian, Chairman of the World Confucius Association, Guo Shaocheng, Chairman of the World Chinese Alliance, and Mr. Fanghe Yuanjian, Chairman of the World Confucius Foundation, jointly announced that Jack Ma won the [2023 Confucius Education Award] and congratulated the University of Tokyo on hiring Jack Ma.

Views
Ma is an adherent of both Buddhism and Taoism.

On 24 September 2014, in an interview with Taobao, Ma attributed the strength of American society to the country being rooted in its Judeo-Christian heritage and expressed his belief in the importance for China to implement a positive value system in order to overcome the aftermath and legacy of the bygone Cultural Revolution.

In November 2018, the People's Daily identified Ma as a member of the Chinese Communist Party, something which surprised observers.

Ma received international criticism after he publicly endorsed the Chinese work practice known as the 996 working hour system. When asked in 2019 to give his views on the future, Ma again stated that 996 was currently a "huge blessing" necessary to achieve success, but went on to state that artificial intelligence technology might lead to a better life of leisure in the future, where people would only have to work four-hour work days, three days a week. At the same time, Ma expressed skepticism that AI could ever completely replace people, referencing to his theory that success requires a "love quotient" and stating that machines can never match this success. Ma also predicted that population collapse would become a big problem in the future.

Philanthropy

Jack Ma is the founder of the Jack Ma Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused on improving education, the environment and public health.

In 2008, Alibaba donated $808,000 to victims of the Sichuan earthquake. In 2009 Jack Ma became a trustee of The Nature Conservancy's China program, and in 2010 he joined the global Board of Directors of the organization.

In 2015, Alibaba launched a nonprofit organization, Alibaba Hong Kong Young Entrepreneurs Foundation, which supports Hong Kong entrepreneurs to help them grow their businesses. In the same year, the company funded the rebuilding of 1,000 houses damaged by the earthquake-hit in Nepal, and raised money for another 9,000.
In 2015 he also founded the Hupan School, a business school.

In September 2018 Ma started the Jack Ma Foundation and announced that he would retire from Alibaba to pursue educational work, philanthropy, and environmental causes.

In 2019, Forbes named Ma in its list of "Asia's 2019 Heroes of Philanthropy" and awarded him the Malcolm S. Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award for his work supporting underprivileged communities in China, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East.

In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alibaba Foundation and Jack Ma Foundation launched various initiatives, some of which involved donating medical supplies to the United States as well as various countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Notes

References

External links

Leadership biographies at Alibaba Group

Biography at The Nature Conservancy (Board of Directors)

1964 births
Living people
20th-century Chinese businesspeople
20th-century Chinese educators
21st-century Chinese businesspeople
21st-century Chinese educators
Academic staff of the University of Tokyo
Alibaba Group people
Asia Game Changer Award winners
Billionaires from Zhejiang
Businesspeople from Hangzhou
Businesspeople in information technology
Businesspeople in online retailing
Chinese Buddhists
Chinese computer businesspeople
Chinese expatriates in Japan
Chinese financiers
Chinese football chairmen and investors
Chinese investors
Chinese online retailer founders
Chinese schoolteachers
Chinese Taoists
Chinese technology chief executives
Chinese technology company founders
Educators from Hangzhou
Hangzhou Normal University alumni
Knights of the Legion of Honour
Private equity and venture capital investors
World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders

Jack Ma


Maurizio Acerbo (born 4 December 1965 in Pescara), is an Italian politician and the current Secretary of the Communist Refoundation Party.

In 1984 he was elected provincial secretary of FGCI (Youth Communist Italian Federation) in Pescara. He was elected for the first time in 1985 as a counselor in the Zanni district of Pescara and later a city councilor in the same city in 1990.

In 1996 he was the founder and radio director of Radio Città Pescara - Popolare Network. He was also regional secretary of the Communist Refoundation of Abruzzo until 2006. In the 2006 Italian general election he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, while in the 2008 Italian general election he was nominated for the Senate with The Left – The Rainbow, but the list did not exceed the threshold and he wasn't elected.

In the 2008 regional election in Abruzzo he was elected in the Regional Council, while in the 2009 local election he stood for Mayor of Pescara and gaining 2,096 preferences and the 3% of the votes, being elected in the municipal council.

In the regional election in Abruzzo of 2014 he was candidate for President of the region, but he gained only the 3% of the votes and he wasn't re-elected in the Regional Council.

On 2 April 2017, he has been appointed as new Secretary of the Communist Refoundation Party.

References

1965 births
Living people
20th-century Italian politicians
21st-century Italian politicians
Communist Refoundation Party politicians

Maurizio Acerbo


Laurentino Gomes (born 1956 in Maringá, Paraná) is a Brazilian journalist and writer. He is best known as the author of the trilogy of books that cover the history of Brazil and Portugal during the 19th century. He has already released two of the three books: 1808, about the transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil; and 1822, about the Independence of Brazil. He is about to release the third and final book of the series, 1889, about the Proclamation of the Republic.

In 2008, the first book, 1808, was awarded as the best essay book by Academia Brasileira de Letras. It was also awarded twice a Prêmio Jabuti, at the categories "best reportage-book" and "non-fiction book of the year". In 2011, the second book, 1822, earned Gomes his third and fourth Jabuti prizes, again in the categories "best reportage-book" and "non-fiction book of the year".

Laurentino graduated in Journalism at the Federal University of Paraná, and then post-graduated in Management at the University of São Paulo. He also coursed at the University of Cambridge and Vanderbilt University. He worked as a reporter and editor for O Estado de S. Paulo and Veja magazine.Author biography  at his official website. Accessed on 22 September 2012.

In the end of March 2012, it was announced that Globo Livros would be editing his third book, 1889, which is due to be released in the second half of 2013 Regarding the work, Gomes says: "Now, in the third and last book of the series, I'll explain why the country kept as the only monarchy of the Americas, for more than 67 years, and I'll show how the Proclamation of the Republic was, in 1889."

In May 2015, he announced a new trilogy, this time focused on slavery in Brazil. The first book is due to a 2019 release, with the last one being expected for a 2022 release.

Bibliography
 1808 – Como uma rainha louca, um príncipe medroso e uma corte corrupta enganaram Napoleão e mudaram a História de Portugal e do Brasil (1808 – How a mad queen, a coward prince and a corrupt court fooled Napoleon and changed the History of Portugal and Brazil) — Editora Planeta (2007)
 1822 – Como um homem sábio, uma princesa triste e um escocês louco por dinheiro ajudaram D. Pedro a criar o Brasil, um país que tinha tudo para dar errado (1822 – How a wise man, a sad princess and a money crazy Scotsman helped D. Pedro create Brazil, a country that had everything to go wrong) — Editora Nova Fronteira (2010)
 1889 – Como um imperador cansado, um marechal vaidoso e um professor injustiçado contribuíram para o fim da Monarquia e a Proclamação da República no Brasil'' (1889 – How a tired emperor, a vain marshal and a wronged teacher collaborated for the end of the Monarchy and the Proclamation of the Republic in Brazil) — Globo Livros (2013)

References

1956 births
Living people
Brazilian journalists
People from Maringá
Brazilian non-fiction writers
University of São Paulo alumni
Federal University of Paraná alumni
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Vanderbilt University alumni
20th-century Brazilian people

Laurentino Gomes


Biography
Giovanni Battista Vanni was born in either Pisa or Florence around 1599; he studied successively under Jacopo da Empoli, Aurelio Lomi, and Matteo Rosselli, and then became a disciple of Cristofano Allori. He is better known as an engraver than as a painter. From 1624 to 1632, he lived in Rome, before returning to Florence after visiting Venice.

In 1642, he etched a series of fifteen plates from Correggio's frescoes from the cupola of Parma Cathedral which depict the Assumption of the Virgin (1526–30). He also engraved Paolo Veronese's Marriage at Cana.  His works include  a Triumph of David, now in the palace of the Alberti in Prato,  an Annunciation for the church of San Francesco di Paola in Florence and  a Saint Sebastian Healed at the Feet of the Virgin for the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini in Rome. He frescoed a Meal in the house of the Pharisee for a refectory attached to the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence.

He died at Florence in 1660.

Sources

1590s births
1660 deaths
Italian engravers
17th-century Italian painters
Italian male painters
Painters from Tuscany
Italian Baroque painters

Giovanni Battista Vanni


Akaash Vani is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Luv Ranjan, and produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak under the banner of Wide Frame Pictures. This is the second collaboration between the producer and director who had created the 2011 film Pyaar Ka Punchnama, and stars two of its leads, Kartik Aaryan and Nushrat Bharucha, in the titular roles. The film was released worldwide on 25 January 2013.

Plot
Akaash Kapoor (Kartik Aaryan) is a bold and fun-loving young man, while Vani Mehra is a conservative but friendly girl. They are both accepted in the same college in Delhi, and after a series of adventures, they soon become friends, forming part of a group of four. Akaash and Vani eventually fall in love and embark on a four-year relationship, which is kept secret from Vani's traditional parents.

As their final year ends, Akaash decides to go to the UK for his further studies. Vani returns to her hometown Dehradun to attend her sister's wedding, after which she plans to study for an M.B.A. She tells her sister about her relationship with Akaash, but her sister reacts negatively, saying their parents would disapprove. The next day, amidst the wedding preparation, Vani finds out that her sister has eloped with another man, who she was in love with but was not accepted by her parents. Vani's parents are heartbroken and have to endure the shame of their neighbors and community. In fear of society's response, they decide to marry Vani to a son of an acquaintance. Pressured by her parents and feeling guilt over her sister's actions, Vani reluctantly agrees. She emotionally ends things with Akaash via a phone call and requests him not to try and meet her. Akaash is devastated but slowly becomes bitter and detached with time.

Vani's husband, Ravi Sinha (Sunny Singh), is a charming but controlling man who pressures Vani to have sex, despite her reluctance. Ravi is emotionally abusive and expects Vani to cater to his every need, but pretends to be a perfect husband in front of friends and family. He prevents her from going out, working, or furthering her studies and expects her to be a full-time housewife. After an argument, Vani returns home and reveals her unhappiness to her parents. However, they send her back to Ravi after he charms them and ask him to consider starting a family to occupy Vani's time. Time goes by and Vani slowly begins losing self-confidence and becomes resigned to her fate. One day, Vani's aunt and uncle unexpectedly come to visit her and suggest she go back with them for several days to Delhi to attend her college reunion. Ravi is unhappy but reluctantly agrees since he will also be away on a business trip.

At the college, Vani reunites with her friends, Shekhar and Sumbul, who find her reserved and depressed. She also comes across Akaash, who is still bitter and hurt about their break up. He angrily confronts her and she runs away, deciding to return home that night. Her friends meet her at the train station, and Akaash finally breaks down and cries, something he has not allowed himself to do previously. Vani decides to stay. The group spends the week together, during which time they have fun and re-live their college memories. Vani tells Akaash the truth about her marriage but says she cannot divorce Ravi because her parents won't handle it, especially after her sister eloped. Akaash tells his friend that he hopes to reunite with Vani and plans to fill her days with adventures and happiness. He hopes this will raise her spirits and give her the courage to leave Ravi. The group travel to Chandigarh where Akaash and Vani spend time alone together and rekindle their romance. The trip is cut short by a phone call from Vani's parents, requesting she visits them. Conflicted, Vani chooses to return home and emotionally leaves Shekhar, Sumbul, and Akaash behind.

Akaash decides he can't lose Vani again, and the group follows Vani to her home. They stay happily with Vani's parents until Ravi arrives there, too. Akaash observes how Vani assumes the role of a subservient wife and how her husband ill-treats her. That night, Vani finally realizes that she can no longer live with a man who cannot respect her. Right away, in front of her friends and Ravi, she reveals the truth to her parents about the rape and emotional abuse Ravi has inflicted on her and demands a divorce. They are stunned and try to reason with her, but she stands her ground. An argument breaks out, and she slaps Ravi, after which he moves to hit her, only to be stopped by Akaash. Ravi realizes that the two are in love and insults Vani's parents. Vani's parents are embarrassed, but she defiantly tells them that her happiness is more important than their shame and leaves the house.

Vani returns to Delhi with her friends, where she finally furthers her studies and gets her M.B.A. degree. She happily divorces Ravi and later marries Akaash.

Cast
 Kartik Aaryan as Akaash Kapoor, Vani's love interest
 Nushrat Bharucha as Vani Mehra, Akaash's love interest
 Kiran Kumar as Vani's father
 Sunny Singh as Ravi Sinha, Vani's abusive husband
 Prachi Shah as Sunanda Malhotra, Vani's aunt
 Fatima Sana Shaikh as Sumbul Yakub, Akaash and Vani's friend and classmate
 Gautam Mehra as Shekhar Roy, Akaash and Vani's friend and classmate
 Mahesh Thakur as Vishal Malhotra, Vani's uncle
 Subhangi Latkar as Vani's mother

Critical reception
Akaash Vani received overall positive reviews from critics. IANS of NDTV rated the film 4/5, praising the performances of its lead pair. Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India gave the film three stars, calling it a "strong [...] and moving social drama". Noted critic Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama awarded the film 3.5 stars, and praised the acting and characterisation, adding that "[t]he movie contains just the right blend of sparkle and spice and is definitely worthy of a watch." On the other hand, Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN was more critical of the film, giving it 1.5/5, commenting that the film's script is "inconsistent"

Release
Aakaash Vani DVD was released on 1 March 2013. Aakash Vani's television premiere was on Zee TV.

Distribution rights
All of Aakash Vani's rights were sold to Zee Entertainment Enterprises.

Soundtrack
The music of the film is composed by Hitesh Sonik with lyrics penned by Luv Ranjan. Musicperk.com rated the album 7.5 out of 10, saying, "(This is) a decent album and shows that Hitesh is here to stay for a lengthy stint." The item song "Crazy Lover" became a hit when it was released. Vishal Dadlani and Sunidhi Chauhan sang the song

See also

 List of Bollywood films of 2013

References

External links

2010s Hindi-language films
Films directed by Luv Ranjan
2013 romantic drama films
2013 films
Indian romantic drama films
Hindi-language romance films

Akaash Vani


A tayberry is a cross between a blackberry and a red raspberry. The genetic cross was patented in 1979.

It is a cultivated shrub in the genus Rubus of the family Rosaceae. It was named after the River Tay in Scotland. The fruit is sweeter, much larger, and more aromatic than that of the loganberry. The loganberry is itself a blackberry and red raspberry cross.

The fruit do not pick easily by hand and cannot be machine harvested. They have not become a commercially grown berry crop. This plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

References

Rubus

Tayberry