title: Ankara

text: As with all other cities of Turkey, football is the most popular sport in Ankara. The city has two football clubs competing in the Turkish Süper Lig: Ankaragücü, founded in 1910, is the oldest club in Ankara and is associated with Ankara's military arsenal manufacturing company MKE. They were the Turkish Cup winners in 1972 and 1981. Gençlerbirliği, founded in 1923, are known as the "Ankara Gale" or the "Poppies" because of their colors: red and black. They were the Turkish Cup winners in 1987 and 2001. Gençlerbirliği's B team, Hacettepe S.K. (formerly known as Gençlerbirliği OFTAŞ) played in the Süper Lig but currently plays in the TFF Second League. A fourth team, Büyükşehir Belediye Ankaraspor, played in the Süper Lig until 2010, when they were expelled. The club was reconstituted in 2014 as Osmanlıspor but have since returned to their old identity as Ankaraspor. Ankaraspor currently play in the TFF First League at the Osmanlı Stadium in the Sincan district of Yenikent, outside the city center. Keçiörengücü also currently play in the TFF First League.


title: Ankara

text: Ankara has a large number of minor teams, playing at regional levels. In the TFF Second League: Mamak FK in Mamak, Ankara Demirspor in Çankaya, Etimesgut Belediyespor in Etimesgut; in the TFF Third League: Çankaya FK in Keçiören; Altındağspor in Altındağ; in the Amateur League: Turanspor in Etimesgut, Türk Telekomspor owned by the phone company in Yenimahalle, Çubukspor in Çubuk, and Bağlumspor in Keçiören.


title: Ankara

text: In the Turkish Basketball League, Ankara is represented by Türk Telekom, whose home is the Ankara Arena, and CASA TED Kolejliler, whose home is the TOBB Sports Hall.


title: Ankara

text: Halkbank Ankara is the leading domestic powerhouse in men's volleyball, having won many championships and cups in the Turkish Men's Volleyball League and even the CEV Cup in 2013.


title: Ankara

text: Ankara Buz Pateni Sarayı is where the ice skating and ice hockey competitions take place in the city.


title: Ankara

text: There are many popular spots for skateboarding which is active in the city since the 1980s. Skaters in Ankara usually meet in the park near the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.


title: Ankara

text: The 2012-built THF Sport Hall hosts the Handball Super League and Women's Handball Super League matches scheduled in Ankara.


title: Ankara

text: Ankara has many parks and open spaces mainly established in the early years of the Republic and well maintained and expanded thereafter. The most important of these parks are: Gençlik Parkı (houses an amusement park with a large pond for rowing), the Botanical garden, Seğmenler Park, Anayasa Park, Kuğulu Park (famous for the swans received as a gift from the Chinese government), Abdi İpekçi Park, Esertepe Parkı, Güven Park (see above for the monument), Kurtuluş Park (has an ice-skating rink), Altınpark (also a prominent exposition/fair area), Harikalar Diyarı (claimed to be Biggest Park of Europe inside city borders) and Göksu Park. Dikmen Vadisi (Dikmen Valley) is a park and recreation area situated in Çankaya district.


title: Ankara

text: Atatürk Forest Farm and Zoo ("Atatürk Orman Çiftliği") is an expansive recreational farming area which houses a zoo, several small agricultural farms, greenhouses, restaurants, a dairy farm and a brewery. It is a pleasant place to spend a day with family, be it for having picnics, hiking, biking or simply enjoying good food and nature. There is also an exact replica of the house where Atatürk was born in 1881, in Thessaloniki, Greece. Visitors to the "Çiftlik" (farm) as it is affectionately called by Ankarans, can sample such famous products of the farm such as old-fashioned beer and ice cream, fresh dairy products and meat rolls/kebabs made on charcoal, at a traditional restaurant ("Merkez Lokantası", Central Restaurant), cafés and other establishments scattered around the farm.


title: Ankara

text: Ankara is noted, within Turkey, for the multitude of universities it is home to. These include the following, several of them being among the most reputable in the country:


title: Ankara

text: Ankara is home to a world-famous domestic cat breed – the Turkish Angora, called "Ankara kedisi" (Ankara cat) in Turkish. Turkish Angoras are one of the ancient, naturally occurring cat breeds, having originated in Ankara and its surrounding region in central Anatolia.


title: Ankara

text: They mostly have a white, silky, medium to long length coat, no undercoat and a fine bone structure. There seems to be a connection between the Angora Cats and Persians, and the Turkish Angora is also a distant cousin of the Turkish Van. Although they are known for their shimmery white coat, there are more than twenty varieties including black, blue and reddish fur. They come in tabby and tabby-white, along with smoke varieties, and are in every color other than pointed, lavender, and cinnamon (all of which would indicate breeding to an outcross.)


title: Ankara

text: Eyes may be blue, green, or amber, or even one blue and one amber or green. The W gene which is responsible for the white coat and blue eye is closely related to the hearing ability, and the presence of a blue eye can indicate that the cat is deaf to the side the blue eye is located. However, a great many blue and odd-eyed white cats have normal hearing, and even deaf cats lead a very normal life if kept indoors.


title: Ankara

text: Ears are pointed and large, eyes are almond shaped and the head is massive with a two plane profile. Another characteristic is the tail, which is often kept parallel to the back.


title: Ankara

text: The Angora goat () is a breed of domestic goat that originated in Ankara and its surrounding region in central Anatolia.


title: Ankara

text: This breed was first mentioned in the time of Moses, roughly in 1500 BC. The first Angora goats were brought to Europe by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, about 1554, but, like later imports, were not very successful. Angora goats were first introduced in the United States in 1849 by Dr. James P. Davis. Seven adult goats were a gift from Sultan Abdülmecid I in appreciation for his services and advice on the raising of cotton.


title: Ankara

text: The fleece taken from an Angora goat is called mohair. A single goat produces between of hair per year. Angoras are shorn twice a year, unlike sheep, which are shorn only once. Angoras have high nutritional requirements due to their rapid hair growth. A poor quality diet will curtail mohair development. The United States, Turkey, and South Africa are the top producers of mohair.


title: Ankara

text: For a long period of time, Angora goats were bred for their white coat. In 1998, the Colored Angora Goat Breeders Association was set up to promote breeding of colored Angoras. Today, Angora goats produce white, black (deep black to greys and silver), red (the color fades significantly as the goat gets older), and brownish fiber.


title: Ankara

text: The Angora rabbit () is a variety of domestic rabbit bred for its long, soft hair. The Angora is one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit, originating in Ankara and its surrounding region in central Anatolia, along with the Angora cat and Angora goat. The rabbits were popular pets with French royalty in the mid-18th century, and spread to other parts of Europe by the end of the century. They first appeared in the United States in the early 20th century. They are bred largely for their long Angora wool, which may be removed by shearing, combing, or plucking (gently pulling loose wool.)


title: Ankara

text: Angoras are bred mainly for their wool because it is silky and soft. They have a humorous appearance, as they oddly resemble a fur ball. Most are calm and docile but should be handled carefully. Grooming is necessary to prevent the fiber from matting and felting on the rabbit. A condition called "wool block" is common in Angora rabbits and should be treated quickly. Sometimes they are shorn in the summer as the long fur can cause the rabbits to overheat.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31pm. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, on a scheduled international passenger flight to Rome, with a stopover in Paris. All 230 people on board died in the crash; it is the third-deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history. Accident investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) traveled to the scene, arriving the following morning amid speculation that a terrorist attack was the cause of the crash. Consequently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and New York Police Department Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) initiated a parallel criminal investigation. Sixteen months later, the JTTF announced that no evidence of a criminal act had been found and closed its active investigation.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The four-year NTSB investigation concluded with the approval of the Aircraft Accident Report on August 23, 2000, ending the most extensive, complex and costly air disaster investigation in U.S. history at that time. The report's conclusion was that the probable cause of the accident was explosion of flammable fuel vapors in the center fuel tank. Although it could not be determined with certainty, the likely ignition source was a short circuit. Problems with the aircraft's wiring were found, including evidence of arcing in the fuel quantity indication system (FQIS) wiring that enters the tank. The FQIS on Flight 800 is known to have been malfunctioning; the captain remarked on "crazy" readings from the system about 2 minutes and 30 seconds before the aircraft exploded. As a result of the investigation, new requirements were developed for aircraft to prevent future fuel tank explosions.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The accident airplane, registration N93119 (a Boeing 747-131), was manufactured by Boeing in July 1971; it had been ordered by Eastern Air Lines, but after Eastern cancelled its 747 orders, the plane was purchased new by Trans World Airlines.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The aircraft had completed 16,869 flights with 93,303 hours of operation and was powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7AH turbofan engines. On the day of the accident, the airplane departed from Ellinikon International Airport in Athens, Greece, as TWA Flight 881 and arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) about 4:38 pm. The aircraft was refueled, and a crew change was made; the new flight crew consisted of 58-year-old Captain Ralph G. Kevorkian (who had flown for TWA for 31 years and the U.S. Air Force for 9 years), 57-year-old Captain/Check Airman Steven E. Snyder (who had flown for TWA for 32 years), and 63-year-old Flight Engineer/Check Airman Richard G. Campbell Jr. (who had flown for TWA for 30 years and the U.S. Air Force for 12 years), as well as 25-year-old flight engineer trainee Oliver Krick (who previously served as a business pilot for 4 years), who had flown for TWA for 26 days and was starting the sixth leg of his initial operating experience training.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The ground-maintenance crew locked out the thrust reverser for engine #3 (treated as a minimum equipment list item) because of technical problems with the thrust reverser sensors during the landing of TWA 881 at JFK, prior to Flight 800's departure. Additionally, severed cables for the engine #3 thrust reverser were replaced. During refueling of the aircraft, the volumetric shutoff (VSO) control was believed to have been triggered before the tanks were full. To continue the pressure fueling, a TWA mechanic overrode the automatic VSO by pulling the volumetric fuse and an overflow circuit breaker. Maintenance records indicate that the aircraft had numerous VSO-related maintenance writeups in the weeks before the accident.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: TWA 800 was scheduled to depart JFK for Charles de Gaulle Airport around 7:00 pm, but the flight was delayed until 8:02 pm by a disabled piece of ground equipment and a passenger/baggage mismatch. After the owner of the baggage in question was confirmed to be on board, the flight crew prepared for departure, and the aircraft pushed back from Gate 27 at the TWA Flight Center. The flight crew started the engines at 8:04 pm. However, because of the previous maintenance undertaken on engine #3, the flight crew only started engines #1, #2, and #4. Engine #3 was started 10 minutes later at 8:14 pm. Taxi and takeoff proceeded uneventfully.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Thirty-eight seconds later, the captain of an Eastwind Airlines Boeing 737 reported to Boston ARTCC that he "just saw an explosion out here", adding, "we just saw an explosion up ahead of us here ... about or something like that, it just went down into the water." Subsequently, many air traffic control facilities in the New York/Long Island area received reports of an explosion from other pilots operating in the area. Many witnesses in the vicinity of the crash stated that they saw or heard explosions, accompanied by a large fireball or fireballs over the ocean, and observed debris, some of which was burning while falling into the water.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Various civilian, military, and police vessels reached the crash site and searched for survivors within minutes of the initial water impact, but found none, making TWA 800 the second-deadliest aircraft accident in United States history at that time.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: On board TWA 800 were 230 people, including 18 crew and 20 off-duty employees, most of whom were crew meant to cover the Paris-Rome leg of the flight. Seventeen of the 18 crew members and 152 of the passengers were Americans; the remaining crew member was Italian, while the remaining passengers were of various other nationalities. Notable passengers included:


title: TWA Flight 800

text: In addition, 16 students and five adult chaperones from the French Club of the Montoursville Area High School in Pennsylvania were on board.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The NTSB was notified about 8:50 pm the day of the accident; a full "go team" was assembled in Washington, DC, and arrived on scene early the next morning. Meanwhile, initial witness descriptions led many to believe the cause of the crash was a bomb or surface-to-air missile attack. Since the NTSB does not investigate criminal activity, the United States Attorney General is empowered to declare an investigation to be linked to a criminal act, and require the NTSB to relinquish control of the investigation to the FBI. In the case of TWA 800, the FBI initiated a parallel criminal investigation alongside the NTSB's accident investigation.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Search and recovery operations were conducted by federal, state, and local agencies, as well as government contractors. An HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter of the New York Air National Guard saw the explosion from about 8 miles away; it arrived at the scene of the explosion while debris was still in the process of falling into the water, forcing the crew to pull away. They reported their sighting to the tower at Suffolk County Airport. Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), side-scan sonar, and laser line-scanning equipment were used to search for and investigate underwater debris fields. Victims and wreckage were recovered by scuba divers and ROVs; later scallop trawlers were used to recover wreckage embedded in the sea floor. In one of the largest diver-assisted salvage operations ever conducted, often working in very difficult and dangerous conditions, over 95% of the airplane wreckage was eventually recovered. The search and recovery effort identified three main areas of wreckage underwater; the yellow zone, red zone, and green zone contained wreckage from front, center, and rear sections of the airplane, respectively. The green zone with the aft portion of the aircraft was located the furthest along the flight path.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Pieces of wreckage were transported by boat to shore and then by truck to leased hangar space at the former Grumman Aircraft facility in Calverton, New York, for storage, examination, and reconstruction. This facility became the command center and headquarters for the investigation. NTSB and FBI personnel were present to observe all transfers to preserve the evidentiary value of the wreckage. The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were recovered by U.S. Navy divers one week after the accident; they were immediately shipped to the NTSB laboratory in Washington, DC, for readout. The victims' remains were transported to the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office in Hauppauge, New York.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Relatives of TWA 800 passengers and crew, as well as the media, gathered at the Ramada Plaza JFK Hotel. Many waited until the remains of their family members had been recovered, identified, and released. This hotel became known as the "Heartbreak Hotel" for its role in handling families of victims of several airliner crashes.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Grief turned to anger at TWA's delay in confirming the passenger list, conflicting information from agencies and officials, and mistrust of the recovery operation's priorities. Although NTSB Vice Chairman Robert Francis stated that all bodies were being retrieved as soon as they were spotted, and that wreckage was being recovered only if divers believed that victims were hidden underneath, many families were suspicious that investigators were not being truthful, or withholding information.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Much anger and political pressure was also directed at Suffolk County Medical Examiner Dr. Charles V. Wetli, as recovered bodies backlogged at the morgue. Under constant and considerable pressure to identify victims with minimal delay, pathologists worked nonstop. While some victims' bodies were mostly intact, most were either burned, fragmented, skeletonized, or decaying, so they had to be identified by DNA testing and dental records. Since the primary objective was to identify all remains rather than performing a detailed forensic autopsy, the thoroughness of the examinations was highly variable. Ultimately, remains of all 230 victims were recovered and identified, the last over 10 months after the crash.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: With lines of authority unclear, differences in agendas and culture between the FBI and NTSB resulted in discord. The FBI, from the start assuming that a criminal act had occurred, saw the NTSB as indecisive. Expressing frustration at the NTSB's unwillingness to speculate on a cause, one FBI agent described the NTSB as "No opinions. No nothing." Meanwhile, the NTSB was required to refute or play down speculation about conclusions and evidence, frequently supplied to reporters by law enforcement officials and politicians. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, an invited party to the NTSB investigation, criticized the undocumented removal by FBI agents of wreckage from the hangar where it was stored.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Although considerable discrepancies existed between different accounts, most witnesses to the accident had seen a "streak of light" that was described by 38 of 258 witnesses as ascending, moving to a point where a large fireball appeared, with several witnesses reporting that the fireball split in two as it descended toward the water. Intense public interest arose in these witness reports, as did much speculation that the reported streak of light was a missile that had struck TWA 800, causing the airplane to explode. These witness accounts were a major reason for the initiation and duration of the FBI's criminal investigation.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Around 80 FBI agents conducted interviews with potential witnesses daily. No verbatim records of the witness interviews were produced; instead, the agents who conducted the interviews wrote summaries that they then submitted. Witnesses were not asked to review or correct the summaries. Included in some of the witness summaries were drawings or diagrams of what the witness observed.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Within days of the crash, the NTSB announced its intent to form its own witness group and to interview witnesses to the crash. After the FBI raised concerns about nongovernmental parties in the NTSB's investigation having access to this information and possible prosecutorial difficulties resulting from multiple interviews of the same witness, the NTSB deferred and did not interview witnesses to the crash. A safety board investigator later reviewed FBI interview notes and briefed other board investigators on their contents. In November 1996, the FBI agreed to allow the NTSB access to summaries of witness accounts in which personally identifying information had been redacted and to conduct a limited number of witness interviews. In April 1998, the FBI provided the NTSB with the identities of the witnesses, but due to the time elapsed, a decision was made to rely on the original FBI documents rather than reinterview witnesses.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Examination of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder data showed a normal takeoff and climb, with the aircraft in normal flight before both abruptly stopped at 8:31:12 pm. At 8:29:15 pm, Captain Kevorkian was heard to say, "Look at that crazy fuel flow indicator there on number four... see that?" A loud noise recorded on the last few tenths of a second of the CVR was similar to the last noises recorded from other airplanes that had experienced in-flight breakups. This, together with the distribution of wreckage and witness reports, all indicated a sudden catastrophic in-flight breakup of TWA 800.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Investigators considered several possible causes for the structural breakup - structural failure and decompression, detonation of a high-energy explosive device, such as a missile warhead exploding either upon impact with the airplane, or just before impact, a bomb exploding inside the airplane, or a fuel-air explosion in the center wing fuel tank.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Close examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of structural faults such as fatigue, corrosion, or mechanical damage that could have caused the in-flight breakup. The breakup also could have been initiated by an in-flight separation of the forward cargo door like the disasters on board Turkish Airlines Flight 981 or United Airlines Flight 811, but all evidence indicated that the door was closed and locked at impact. The NTSB concluded that "the in-flight breakup of TWA flight 800 was not initiated by a pre-existing condition resulting in a structural failure and decompression."


title: TWA Flight 800

text: A review of recorded data from long-range and airport surveillance radars revealed multiple contacts of airplanes or objects in TWA 800's vicinity at the time of the accident. None of these contacts intersected TWA 800's position at any time. Attention was drawn to data from the Islip, New York, ARTCC facility that showed three tracks in the vicinity of TWA 800 that did not appear in any of the other radar data. None of these sequences intersected TWA 800's position at any time, either. All the reviewed radar data showed no radar returns consistent with a missile or other projectile traveling toward TWA 800.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The NTSB addressed allegations that the Islip radar data showed groups of military surface targets converging in a suspicious manner in an area around the accident, and that a 30-knot radar track, never identified and from the crash site, was involved in foul play, as evidenced by its failure to divert from its course and assist with the search and rescue operations. Military records examined by the NTSB showed no military surface vessels within of TWA 800 at the time of the accident. In addition, the records indicated that the closest area scheduled for military use, warning area W-387A/B, was south.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The NTSB reviewed the 30-knot target track to try to determine why it did not divert from its course and proceed to the area where the TWA 800 wreckage had fallen. TWA 800 was behind the target, and with the likely forward-looking perspective of the target's occupant(s), the occupants would not have been in a position to observe the aircraft's breakup or subsequent explosions or fireball(s). Additionally, the occupants of the target track were unlikely to have been able to hear the explosions over the sound of its engines and the noise of the hull traveling through water, even more so if the occupants were in an enclosed bridge or cabin. Further, review of the Islip radar data for other similar summer days and nights in 1999 indicated that the 30-knot track was consistent with normal commercial fishing, recreational, and cargo vessel traffic.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Trace amounts of explosive residue were detected on three samples of material from three separate locations of the recovered airplane wreckage (described by the FBI as a piece of canvas-like material and two pieces of a floor panel). These samples were submitted to the FBI's laboratory in Washington, DC, which determined that one sample contained traces of cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX), another nitroglycerin, and the third a combination of RDX and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN); these findings received much media attention at the time. In addition, the backs of several damaged passenger seats were observed to have an unknown red/brown-shaded substance on them. According to the seat manufacturer, the locations and appearance of this substance were consistent with adhesive used in the construction of the seats, and additional laboratory testing by NASA identified the substance as being consistent with adhesives.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Further examination of the airplane structure, seats, and other interior components found no damage typically associated with a high-energy explosion of a bomb or missile warhead ("severe pitting, cratering, petalling, or hot-gas washing"). This included the pieces on which trace amounts of explosives were found. Of the 5% of the fuselage that was not recovered, none of the missing areas was large enough to have covered all the damage that would have been caused by the detonation of a bomb or missile. None of the victims' remains showed any evidence of injuries that could have been caused by high-energy explosives.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The NTSB considered the possibility that the explosive residue was due to contamination from the aircraft's use in 1991 transporting troops during the Gulf War or its use in a dog-training explosive detection exercise about one month before the accident. Testing conducted by the FAA's Technical Center indicated that residues of the type of explosives found on the wreckage would dissipate completely after two days of immersion in sea water (almost all recovered wreckage was immersed longer than two days). The NTSB concluded that it was "quite possible" that the explosive residue detected was transferred from military ships or ground vehicles, or the clothing and boots of military personnel, onto the wreckage during or after the recovery operation and was not present when the aircraft crashed into the water.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Although it was unable to determine the exact source of the trace amounts of explosive residue found on the wreckage, the lack of any other corroborating evidence associated with a high-energy explosion led the NTSB to conclude, "the in-flight breakup of TWA flight 800 was not initiated by a bomb or missile strike."


title: TWA Flight 800

text: To evaluate the sequence of structural breakup of the airplane, the NTSB formed the Sequencing Group, which examined individual pieces of the recovered structure, two-dimensional reconstructions or layouts of sections of the airplane, and various-sized three-dimensional reconstructions of portions of the airplane. In addition, the locations of pieces of wreckage at the time of recovery and differences in fire effects on pieces that are normally adjacent to each other were evaluated. The Sequencing Group concluded that the first event in the breakup sequence was a fracture in the wing center section of the aircraft, caused by an "overpressure event" in the center wing fuel tank (CWT). An overpressure event was defined as a rapid increase in pressure resulting in failure of the structure of the CWT.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Because no evidence was found that an explosive device detonated in this (or any other) area of the airplane, this overpressure event could only have been caused by a fuel-air explosion in the CWT. There were of fuel in the CWT of TWA 800; tests recreating the conditions of the flight showed the combination of liquid fuel and fuel-air vapor to be flammable. A major reason for the flammability of the fuel-air vapor in the CWT of the 747 was the large amount of heat generated and transferred to the CWT by air conditioning packs located directly below the tank; with the CWT temperature raised to a sufficient level, a single ignition source could cause an explosion.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Computer modeling and scale-model testing were used to predict and demonstrate how an explosion would progress in a 747 CWT. During this time, quenching was identified as an issue, where the explosion would extinguish itself as it passed through the complex structure of the CWT. Because the research data regarding quenching were limited, a complete understanding of quenching behavior was not possible, and the issue of quenching remained unresolved.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: To better determine whether a fuel-air vapor explosion in the CWT would generate sufficient pressure to break apart the fuel tank and lead to the destruction of the airplane, tests were conducted in July and August 1997, using a retired Air France 747 at Bruntingthorpe Airfield, England. These tests simulated a fuel-air explosion in the CWT by igniting a propane-air mixture; this resulted in the failure of the tank structure due to overpressure. While the NTSB acknowledged that the test conditions at Bruntingthorpe were not fully comparable to the conditions that existed on TWA 800 at the time of the accident, previous fuel explosions in the CWTs of commercial airliners such as Avianca Flight 203 and Philippine Airlines Flight 143 confirmed that a CWT explosion could break apart the fuel tank and lead to the destruction of an airplane.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Ultimately, based on "the accident airplane's breakup sequence; wreckage damage characteristics; scientific tests and research on fuels, fuel tank explosions, and the conditions in the CWT at the time of the accident; and analysis of witness information," the NTSB concluded that "the TWA flight 800 in-flight breakup was initiated by a fuel/air explosion in the CWT."


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Recovery locations of the wreckage from the ocean (the red, yellow, and green zones) clearly indicated: (1) the red area pieces (from the forward portion of the wing center section and a ring of fuselage directly in front) were the earliest pieces to separate from the airplane; (2) the forward fuselage section departed simultaneously with or shortly after the red area pieces, landing relatively intact in the yellow zone; (3) the green area pieces (wings and the aft portion of the fuselage) remained intact for a period after the separation of the forward fuselage, and impacted the water in the green zone.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Fire damage and soot deposits on the recovered wreckage indicated that some areas of fire existed on the airplane as it continued in crippled flight after the loss of the forward fuselage. After about 34 seconds (based on information from witness documents), the outer portions of both the right and left wings failed. Shortly after, the left wing separated from what remained of the main fuselage, which resulted in further development of the fuel-fed fireballs as the pieces of wreckage fell to the ocean.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Only the FAA radar facility in North Truro, Massachusetts, using specialized processing software from the United States Air Force 84th Radar Evaluation Squadron, was capable of estimating the altitude of TWA 800 after it lost power due to the CWT explosion. Because of accuracy limitations, these radar data could not be used to determine whether the aircraft climbed after the nose separated. Instead, the NTSB conducted a series of computer simulations to examine the flightpath of the main portion of the fuselage. Hundreds of simulations were run using various combinations of possible times the nose of TWA 800 separated (the exact time was unknown), different models of the behavior of the crippled aircraft (the aerodynamic properties of the aircraft without its nose could only be estimated), and longitudinal radar data (the recorded radar tracks of the east/west position of TWA 800 from various sites differed). These simulations indicated that after the loss of the forward fuselage the remainder of the aircraft continued in crippled flight, then pitched up while rolling to the left (north), climbing to a maximum altitude between from its last recorded altitude, .


title: TWA Flight 800

text: At the start of FBI's investigation, because of the possibility that international terrorists might have been involved, assistance was requested from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). CIA analysts, relying on sound-propagation analysis, concluded that the witnesses could not be describing a missile approaching an intact aircraft, but were seeing a trail of burning fuel coming from the aircraft after the initial explosion. This conclusion was reached after calculating how long the sound of the initial explosion took to reach the witnesses, and using that to correlate the witness observations with the accident sequence. In all cases, the witnesses could not be describing a missile approaching an intact aircraft, as the plane had already exploded before their observations began.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: As the investigation progressed, the NTSB decided to form a witness group to more fully address the accounts of witnesses. From November 1996 through April 1997, this group reviewed summaries of witness accounts on loan from the FBI (with personal information redacted), and conducted interviews with crewmembers from a New York Air National Guard HH-60 helicopter and C-130 airplane, as well as a U.S. Navy P-3 airplane that was flying in the vicinity of TWA 800 at the time of the accident.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: In February 1998, the FBI, having closed its active investigation, agreed to fully release the witness summaries to the NTSB. With access to these documents no longer controlled by the FBI, the NTSB formed a second witness group to review the documents. Because of time that had elapsed (about 21 months) before the NTSB received information about the identity of the witnesses, the witness group chose not to reinterview the witnesses, but instead to rely on the original summaries of witness statements written by FBI agents as the best available evidence of the observations initially reported by the witnesses. Despite the two and a half years that had elapsed since the accident, the witness group did interview the captain of Eastwind Airlines Flight 507, who was the first to report the explosion of TWA 800, because of his vantage point and experience as an airline pilot.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The NTSB's review of the released witness documents determined that they contained 736 witness accounts, of which 258 were characterized as "streak of light" witnesses ("an object moving in the sky... variously described [as] a point of light, fireworks, a flare, a shooting star, or something similar.") The NTSB witness group concluded that the streak of light reported by witnesses might have been the actual airplane during some stage of its flight before the fireball developed, noting that most of the 258 streak-of-light accounts were generally consistent with the calculated flightpath of the accident airplane after the CWT explosion.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Thirty-eight witnesses described a streak of light that ascended vertically, or nearly so, and these accounts "seem[ed] to be inconsistent with the accident airplane's flightpath." In addition, 18 witnesses reported seeing a streak of light that originated at the surface, or the horizon, which did not "appear to be consistent with the airplane's calculated flightpath and other known aspects of the accident sequence." Regarding these differing accounts, the NTSB noted that based on their experience in previous investigations "witness reports are often inconsistent with the known facts or with other witnesses' reports of the same events." The interviews conducted by the FBI focused on the possibility of a missile attack; suggested interview questions given to FBI agents such as "Where was the sun in relation to the aircraft and the missile launch point?" and "How long did the missile fly?" could have biased interviewees' responses in some cases. The NTSB concluded that given the large number of witnesses in this case, they "did not expect all of the documented witness observations to be consistent with one another" and "did not view these apparently anomalous witness reports as persuasive evidence that some witnesses might have observed a missile."


title: TWA Flight 800

text: After missile visibility tests were conducted in April 2000, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, the NTSB determined that if witnesses had observed a missile attack, they would have seen:


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Because of their unique vantage points or the level of precision and detail provided in their accounts, five witness accounts generated special interest: the pilot of Eastwind Airlines Flight 507, the crew members in the HH-60 helicopter, a streak-of-light witness aboard US Airways Flight 217, a land witness on the Beach Lane Bridge in Westhampton Beach, New York, and a witness on a boat near Great Gun Beach. Advocates of a missile-attack scenario asserted that some of these witnesses observed a missile; analysis demonstrated that the observations were not consistent with a missile attack on TWA 800, but instead were consistent with these witnesses having observed part of the in-flight fire and breakup sequence after the CWT explosion.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The NTSB concluded, "the witness observations of a streak of light were not related to a missile and that the streak of light reported by most of these witnesses was burning fuel from the accident airplane in crippled flight during some portion of the postexplosion, preimpact breakup sequence". The NTSB further concluded, "the witnesses' observations of one or more fireballs were of the airplane's burning wreckage falling toward the ocean".


title: TWA Flight 800

text: To determine what ignited the flammable fuel-air vapor in the CWT and caused the explosion, the NTSB evaluated numerous potential ignition sources. All but one were considered very unlikely to have been the source of ignition.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Although the NTSB had already reached the conclusion that a missile strike did not cause the structural failure of the airplane, the possibility that a missile could have exploded close enough to TWA 800 for a missile fragment to have entered the CWT and ignited the fuel/air vapor, yet far enough away not to have left any damage characteristic of a missile strike, was considered. Computer simulations using missile performance data simulated a missile detonating in a location such that a fragment from the warhead could penetrate the CWT. Based on these simulations, the NTSB concluded that it was "very unlikely" that a warhead could have detonated in such a location where a fragment could penetrate the CWT without other missile fragments impacting the surrounding airplane structure, leaving distinctive impact marks.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Similarly, the investigation considered the possibility that a small explosive charge placed on the CWT could have been the ignition source. Testing by the NTSB and the British Defence Evaluation and Research Agency demonstrated that when metal of the same type and thickness of the CWT was penetrated by a small charge, petalling of the surface occurred where the charge was placed, with pitting on the adjacent surfaces, and visible hot-gas washing damage in the surrounding area. Since none of the recovered CWT wreckage exhibited these damage characteristics, and none of the areas of missing wreckage was large enough to encompass all the expected damage, the investigation concluded that this scenario was "very unlikely".


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The NTSB also investigated whether the fuel-air mixture in the CWT could have been ignited by lightning strike, meteor strike, auto ignition or hot surface ignition, a fire migrating to the CWT from another fuel tank via the vent system, an uncontained engine failure, a turbine burst in the air conditioning packs beneath the CWT, a malfunctioning CWT jettison/override pump, a malfunctioning CWT scavenger pump, or static electricity. After analysis, the investigation determined that these potential sources were "very unlikely" to have been the source of ignition.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Because a combustible fuel-air mixture will always exist in fuel tanks, Boeing designers had attempted to eliminate all possible sources of ignition in the 747's tanks. To do so, all devices are protected from vapor intrusion, and voltages and currents used by the fuel quantity indication system (FQIS) are kept very low. In the case of the 747-100 series, the only wiring located inside the CWT is that associated with the FQIS.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: For the FQIS to have been Flight 800's ignition source, a transfer of higher-than-normal voltage to the FQIS would have needed to occur, as well as some mechanism whereby the excess energy was released by the FQIS wiring into the CWT. The NTSB concluded, "the ignition energy for the CWT explosion most likely entered the CWT through the FQIS wiring."


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Though the FQIS itself was designed to prevent danger by minimizing voltages and currents, the innermost tube of Flight 800's FQIS compensator showed damage similar to that of the compensator tube identified as the ignition source for the surge tank fire that destroyed a 747 near Madrid in 1976. This was not considered proof of a source of ignition. Evidence of arcing was found in a wire bundle that included FQIS wiring connecting to the center wing tank. Arcing signs were also seen on two wires sharing a cable raceway with FQIS wiring at station 955.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The captain's CVR channel showed two "dropouts" of background power harmonics in the second before the recording ended (with the separation of the nose). This might well be the signature of an arc on cockpit wiring adjacent to the FQIS wiring. The captain commented on the "crazy" readings of the number 4 engine fuel flow gauge about 2 1/2 minutes before the CVR recording ended. Finally, the CWT fuel quantity gauge was recovered and indicated 640 pounds instead of the 300 pounds that had been loaded into that tank. Experiments showed that applying power to a wire leading to the fuel quantity gauge can cause the digital display to change by several hundred pounds before the circuit breaker trips. Thus, the gauge anomaly could have been caused by a short to the FQIS wiring. The NTSB concluded that the most likely source of sufficient voltage to cause ignition was a short from damaged wiring, or within electrical components of the FQIS. As not all components and wiring were recovered, pinpointing the source of the necessary voltage was not possible.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The NTSB investigation ended with the adoption of the board's final report on August 23, 2000. The board determined that the probable cause of the TWA 800 accident was:


title: TWA Flight 800

text: In addition to the probable cause, the NTSB found the following contributing factors to the accident:


title: TWA Flight 800

text: During the course of its investigation, and in its final report, the NTSB issued 15 safety recommendations, mostly covering fuel tank and wiring-related issues. Among the recommendations was that significant consideration should be given to the development of modifications such as nitrogen-inerting systems for new airplane designs, and where feasible, for existing airplanes.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The NTSB's conclusions about the cause of the TWA 800 disaster took four years and one month to be published. The FBI's earliest investigations and interviews, later used by the NTSB, were performed under the assumption of a missile attack, a fact noted in the NTSB's final report. Six months into the investigation, the NTSB's chairman, Jim Hall, was quoted as saying, "All three theories—a bomb, a missile, or mechanical failure—remain." Speculation was fueled in part by early descriptions, visuals, and eyewitness accounts of the disaster that indicated a sudden explosion and trails of fire moving in an upward direction.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: On June 19, 2013, the NTSB acknowledged in a press release that they received a petition for reconsideration of its investigation into the July 17, 1996, crash of TWA Flight 800. In 2014, the NTSB declined the petition to reopen the investigation. In a press release, the NTSB stated: "After a thorough review of all the information provided by the petitioners, the NTSB denied the petition in its entirety because the evidence and analysis presented did not show the original findings were incorrect."


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Many internet users responded to the incident; the resulting web traffic set records for internet activity at the time. CNN's traffic quadrupled to 3.9 million views per day. The website of "The New York Times" had its traffic increase to 1.5 million views per day, 50% higher than its previous rate. In 1996, few U.S. government websites were updated daily, but the United States Navy's crash website was constantly updated and had detailed information about the salvage of the crash site.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The wreckage was moved to an NTSB facility in Ashburn, Virginia, that was custom-built for the purpose. The reconstructed aircraft was used to train accident investigators until it was decommissioned in 2021.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: On July 18, 2008, the U.S secretary of transportation visited the facility and announced a final rule designed to prevent accidents caused by fuel-tank explosions. The rule required airlines to pump inert gas into the tanks. The rule covered the CWT on all new passenger and cargo airliners, and passenger planes built in most of the 1990s, but not old cargo planes. The NTSB had first recommended such a rule just five months after the incident and 33 years after a similar recommendation issued by the Civil Aeronautics Board Bureau of Safety on December 17, 1963, nine days after the crash of Pan Am Flight 214.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The crash of TWA Flight 800, and that of ValuJet Flight 592 earlier in 1996, prompted Congress to pass the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996 as part of the federal aviation appropriations bill. Among other things, the act gives NTSB, instead of the particular airline involved, responsibility for coordinating services to the families of victims of fatal aircraft accidents in the United States. In addition, it restricts lawyers and other parties from contacting family members within 30 days of the accident.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: During the investigation, the NTSB and the FBI clashed with each other. The agencies lacked a detailed protocol describing which agency should take the lead when whether an event was an accident or a criminal act was initially unclear. At the time of the crash, 49 CFR 831.5 specified that the NTSB's aviation accident investigations have priority over all other federal investigations. After the TWA flight 800 investigation, the NTSB recognized the need for better clarity. to clarify the issue in 49 USC 1131(a)(2)(B), which was amended in 2000 to read:


title: TWA Flight 800

text: In 2005, the NTSB and the FBI entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that states that, "[i]n the immediate aftermath of a transportation accident, the NTSB is the presumptive lead investigative agency and will assume control of the accident scene." The FBI may still conduct a criminal investigation, but the NTSB investigation has priority. When investigative priority remains with the NTSB, the FBI must coordinate its investigative activities with the NTSB investigator-in-charge. This authority includes interviewing witnesses. The MOU states that: “[t]his procedure is intended…to ensure that neither NTSB nor FBI investigative activity unnecessarily complicates or compromises the other agency’s investigation. The new statutory language and the MOU have improved coordination between the NTSB and FBI since the TWA flight 800 accident. , NTSB and FBI personnel conduct joint exercises. Each agency can call upon the other's laboratories and other assets. The NTSB and the FBI have designated liaisons to ensure that information flows between agencies, and to coordinate on-scene operations.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: Heidi Snow, the fiancée of Flight 800 victim Michel Breistroff, established the AirCraft Casualty Emotional Support Services nonprofit group together with families of victims of Pan Am Flight 103.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: The TWA Flight 800 International Memorial was dedicated in a parcel immediately adjoining the main pavilion at Smith Point County Park in Shirley, New York, on July 14, 2004. Funds for the memorial were raised by the Families of TWA Flight 800 Association. The memorial includes landscaped grounds, flags from the 13 countries of the victims, and a curved Cambrian Black granite memorial with the names engraved on one side and an illustration on the other of a wave releasing 230 seagulls. In July 2006, an abstract black granite statue of a lighthouse was added above a tomb holding many of the victims' personal belongings. The lighthouse statue was designed by Harry Edward Seaman, whose cousin died in the crash, and dedicated by George Pataki.


title: TWA Flight 800

text: For almost 25 years, the wreckage of Flight 800 was kept by the NTSB and used as an accident-investigation teaching aid. By 2021, the methods taught using the wreckage were determined to no longer be relevant to modern accident investigation, which by then relied heavily on new technology, including three-dimensional laser-scanning techniques. The NTSB did not wish to renew the lease on the hangar it was using to store the reassembled accident debris, and decided it should be disposed of. Accordingly, the NTSB decommissioned the wreckage in July 2021. As the NTSB had agreements with the victims' families that the wreckage cannot be used in any kind of public memorial or be scuttled in the ocean, it plans to scan each piece of debris with a three-dimensional laser scanner, with the data being permanently archived, after which the wreckage will be destroyed and the metal recycled. Any parts of the plane that cannot be recycled will be disposed of in landfills. Destruction of the wreckage was scheduled for completion before the end of 2021.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Donald Cerrone (born March 29, 1983), known professionally by his nickname "Cowboy", is an American retired mixed martial artist, actor, and former professional kickboxer. He competed in the Lightweight and Welterweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was born in Denver, Colorado and is of Irish and Italian descent. At a young age, Cerrone was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder but never received treatment for it. Growing up he was considered a troubled child. He would eventually start Street fighting and would often end up in jail overnight. When Cerrone was about 16 his parents were fed up with his behavior and sent him off to go live with his paternal grandmother Jerry Cerrone. Donald claimed that Jerry took him in with open arms. She would sometimes bail Donald and his friends out of jail after they got into another fight and according to Cerrone himself that the next morning she would never bring up exactly what happened the night before, she would just repeat the phrase "you know what you did" and leave it at that.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone attended Air Academy High School, where he began professional bull riding. At the age of 20, Cerrone began training in kickboxing and then later Muay Thai. After winning a few kickboxing competitions, Cerrone pursued a career in mixed martial arts (MMA).


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone began his career in Commerce City, Colorado at a gym called Freedom Fighters. In 2006, Cerrone began training with Jon Jones, Rashad Evans, Nathan Marquardt, Keith Jardine, Georges St-Pierre, Leonard Garcia, Tom Watson and other skilled MMA fighters at Greg Jackson's Submission Fighting Gaidojutsu school in Albuquerque, New Mexico.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was signed to fight in the WEC. His first fight in the promotion was against Kenneth Alexander. Originally a win via submission in 56 seconds of the first round, the decision was changed to a no-contest when Cerrone tested positive hydrochlorothiazide, a banned diuretic.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was scheduled to face Rich Crunkilton at WEC 34, but Crunkilton was forced off the card with an injury and replaced by Danny Castillo. Cerrone won the bout via armbar in the first round.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: On January 25, 2009, at WEC 38 he fought WEC Lightweight Champion, Jamie Varner, losing via technical split decision. The fight was highly competitive and won the "Fight of the Night" award. However, the fight was stopped prematurely in the fifth round when Cerrone hit Varner's temple with an illegal knee while Varner was still on the ground. Varner was given time to recover, but he was unable to continue, noting that he had double vision and had sustained a broken hand.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was again scheduled to face Rich Crunkilton on June 7, 2009, at WEC 41, but Crunkilton was forced off the card with an injury and replaced by James Krause. Cerrone defeated Krause via first round submission.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone and Varner had agreed to a rematch, tentatively at WEC 43, but Varner was unable to receive medical clearance as a result from his hand injury. Cerrone fought Benson Henderson for the WEC Interim Lightweight Championship on October 10, 2009, at WEC 43 in San Antonio, Texas, losing by unanimous decision. The fight was awarded Fight of the Year honors by Sherdog for 2009. Cerrone credited Henderson for being "a hell of a fighter" and conceded that he was slow to start the action, which may have cost him the match.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Ed Ratcliff on December 19, 2009, in the event headliner at WEC 45. Cerrone defeated Ratcliff via third round submission. The bout also earned Cerrone "Fight of the Night" honors.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone fought Benson Henderson in a rematch of their "2009 Fight of the Year", this time for the WEC Lightweight Championship on April 24, 2010, at WEC 48. Cerrone lost via first-round guillotine choke submission.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced rival Jamie Varner in their highly anticipated rematch on September 30, 2010, at WEC 51. He won the fight via unanimous decision, winning all three rounds. In between rounds, there were often many shoves and obscenities exchanged by both fighters, including a shove at the very end of the match. In the post-fight interview, Cerrone declared he'd be willing to do a rematch in Arizona, Varner's home state, to settle their score once and for all. The bout won "Fight of the Night" honors.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone instead faced Chris Horodecki on December 16, 2010, at WEC 53. He won via submission in the second round with a triangle choke.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: In October 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Paul Kelly on February 5, 2011, at UFC 126, replacing an injured Sam Stout. Cerrone defeated Kelly via tapout due to a rear naked choke. For their performance, both fighters earned "Fight of the Night" honors.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was expected to face Mac Danzig on June 11, 2011, at UFC 131. However, Danzig was forced out of the bout with a chest injury and replaced by promotional newcomer Vagner Rocha. Cerrone won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was expected to face Paul Taylor on August 14, 2011, at UFC on Versus 5, replacing an injured John Makdessi. However, Taylor was forced out of the bout with a foot injury and replaced by Charles Oliveira. Cerrone won the fight via TKO three minutes into the opening round, earning "Knockout of Night" honors for the performance.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Dennis Siver on October 29, 2011, at UFC 137, replacing Sam Stout. Cerrone defeated Siver via first round submission, earning "Submission of the Night" honors.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone next faced Nate Diaz at UFC 141 on December 30, 2011. He lost the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision, in a performance that earned both participants "Fight of the Night" honors. Despite knocking Diaz off of his feet multiple times with leg kicks, Cerrone could not offset the volume punches from Diaz, as Diaz landed 82% of the strikes he threw en route to his victory over Cerrone. On his loss to Diaz Cerrone stated, "You know instinct, I think that's the thing a lot of people aren't doing. That's where I made the mistake in my last fight, is, you need to learn to turn your brain off and just go by reactions. Don't go in there and try and think and do things and fight with your brain, because that's the thing, I got angry and tried to kill him, and when you try to go [too] hard you just can't do it."


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was expected to face Yves Edwards on May 15, 2012, at . However, Edwards was forced from the bout with an injury and replaced by Jeremy Stephens. Cerrone defeated Stephens by unanimous decision.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone fought Melvin Guillard on August 11, 2012, at UFC 150. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. The performance earned Cerrone "Knockout of the Night" and "Fight of the Night" honors.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Anthony Pettis on January 26, 2013, at UFC on Fox 6. Pettis won the fight by TKO in the first round, finishing Cerrone with a kick to the body. This marked the first time in his career that Cerrone lost via strikes.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone next faced Strikeforce veteran K. J. Noons on May 25, 2013, at UFC 160. He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Rafael dos Anjos on August 28, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 27. Cerrone lost the fight by unanimous decision.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Evan Dunham on November 16, 2013, at UFC 167. Cerrone won the fight via triangle choke in the second round. The win also earned him his second "Submission of the Night" bonus award.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Adriano Martins on January 25, 2014, at UFC on Fox 10. He won the fight by knockout due to a headkick in the first round. The win also earned Cerrone his third "Knockout of the Night" bonus award.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Edson Barboza on April 19, 2014, at UFC on Fox 11. Cerrone dropped his opponent with a strong jab in the first and quickly secured the rear-naked choke submission for the win. The win also earned Cerrone his first "Performance of the Night" bonus award.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Jim Miller on July 16, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 45. Cerrone defeated Miller via knockout in the second round due to a head kick and punches, becoming the first man to give Miller a professional knockout loss. The win also earned Cerrone his second "Performance of the Night" bonus award.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was briefly linked to a bout with Khabib Nurmagomedov on September 27, 2014, at UFC 178. However, the pairing was quickly scrapped after it was revealed that Nurmagomedov had suffered a knee injury that would sideline him indefinitely. Subsequently, Cerrone was matched with Bobby Green at the event. In turn, Cerrone eventually faced former Bellator Lightweight Champion and UFC newcomer Eddie Alvarez in the co-main event of the card. Cerrone won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Myles Jury on January 3, 2015, at UFC 182. Cerrone commented on his desire to fight him was due to his disdain over Jury's arrogant response after defeating Cerrone's former training partner, Diego Sanchez, in UFC 171. He won the fight by unanimous decision.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: In an unprecedented move, Cerrone requested to face friend and WEC rival Benson Henderson just 15 days later at UFC Fight Night 59, replacing an injured Eddie Alvarez. Cerrone won the fight via a unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the fight 29–28. 12 of 14 media outlets scored the bout in favor of Henderson.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was expected to face Khabib Nurmagomedov on May 23, 2015, at UFC 187. However, Nurmagomedov pulled out of the bout on April 30 due to a knee injury. He was replaced by John Makdessi. Cerrone won the fight via TKO in the second round.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: After winning eight fights in a row in under two years, Cerrone earned his first UFC lightweight title shot. He faced Rafael dos Anjos in the main event at UFC on Fox 17 on December 19, 2015. Cerrone lost the fight via TKO just 66 seconds into the first round.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was expected to face Tim Means in a welterweight bout on February 21, 2016, at . However, Means was removed from the bout on February 3 and was replaced by Alex Oliveira. Cerrone won the fight via submission in the first round. He was also awarded a "Performance of the Night" bonus.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone next faced Patrick Côté on June 18, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 89. He won the fight via TKO in the third round and earned himself another "Performance of the Night" bonus.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone next faced Rick Story on August 20, 2016, at UFC 202. Cerrone won the fight via TKO in the second round and was awarded a "Performance of the Night" bonus.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was briefly linked to a bout with Robbie Lawler on November 12, 2016, at UFC 205. However, Lawler turned down the fight and Cerrone was then scheduled to face Kelvin Gastelum on the card. However, on the day of the weigh-ins, Gastelum did not make an attempt to formally weigh in as he was well over the 171 lbs limit for the fight and the bout was scrapped. Consequently, Cerrone was quickly rescheduled and faced Matt Brown the following month at UFC 206. Cerrone won the fight via knockout in the third round.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Jorge Masvidal on January 28, 2017, in the co-main event at UFC on Fox 23. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was expected to face Robbie Lawler on July 8, 2017, at UFC 213. On June 28, reports began to circulate that Cerrone had sustained a minor injury which would force the fight to be postponed to UFC 214 taking place three weeks later. UFC President Dana White confirmed later the same day that Cerrone in fact had a staph infection and a pulled groin, and the plan is to reschedule the pairing to after UFC 214. However, the bout eventually took place at UFC 214. Cerrone lost the back-and-forth fight by a very close unanimous decision that many feel that Cerrone should have indeed won.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Darren Till on October 21, 2017, in the main event at . He lost the fight via TKO in the first round.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Yancy Medeiros on February 18, 2018, at . He won the fight via technical knockout out in round one. With this win, Cerrone tied the UFC records for most finishes in the promotion with fourteen and most wins in the promotion with twenty.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: On June 23, 2018, Cerrone faced Leon Edwards at UFC Fight Night 132. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: In the beginning of August 2018, it was revealed that he had parted ways with his long-time striking coach Brandon Gibson after the loss against Edwards. Appearing on Joe Rogan Experience on August 29, 2018, Cerrone launched on a tirade against his training camp Jackson-Wink and announced that he had parted ways with the team altogether.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Mike Perry on November 10, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 139. He won the fight by submission due to an armbar in the first round, becoming the first fighter to finish Perry in MMA. His fight earned him the Performance of the Night award. With this win, Cerrone set the UFC records for most finishes in the promotion with fifteen and most wins in the promotion with twenty one (21).


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Alexander Hernandez in a lightweight bout on January 19, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 143. He was successful in his return to Lightweight, winning the fight via TKO in the second round, after outstriking and outwrestling Hernandez throughout the fight. With this win, Cerrone extended his UFC records for most finishes with sixteen (and most wins with twenty-two). He also added another record to his legacy, becoming the fighter with the most fight bonuses at sixteen.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Al Iaquinta on May 4, 2019, at . He won the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the "Fight of the Night" bonus award.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: In a quick turnaround, Cerrone returned to the Octagon just 32 days after his last win and faced Tony Ferguson on June 8, 2019, at UFC 238. Cerrone lost the fight via technical knockout in between the second and third rounds after Cerrone blew his nose, causing his eye to swell shut and rendering him unable to continue. This fight earned him the Fight of the Night award.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Justin Gaethje on September 14, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 158. He lost the fight via knockout out in round one.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: As the first fight of his new six-fight contract, Cerrone headlined UFC 246 when he faced Conor McGregor on January 18, 2020, in a welterweight bout. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Anthony Pettis in a rematch on May 9, 2020, at UFC 249. He lost the fight via a controversial unanimous decision.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone faced Niko Price on September 19, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 178. Price was docked a point in round one for repeated eye pokes, and the fight would be declared a majority draw. However, it was later overturned to a no contest (NC) after Price tested positive for marijuana.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was scheduled to face Diego Sanchez on May 8, 2021, at UFC on ESPN 24. However, Sanchez was removed from the fight on April 28 for undisclosed reasons and he was replaced by Alex Morono. He lost the fight via technical knockout in round one.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was scheduled to face Joe Lauzon in a lightweight bout on April 30, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 208. The bout was moved to May 7, 2022, at UFC 274 for undisclosed reasons. Despite both competitors weighing in, the bout was canceled the day of the event due to Cerrone falling ill. The pair was rescheduled to meet at UFC on ESPN 37 on June 18, 2022. The bout was yet again scrapped the day of this event due to Lauzon suffering from leg cramping.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone, as a replacement for Bobby Green, faced Jim Miller on July 2, 2022, at UFC 276. He lost the fight via guillotine choke submission in the second round and subsequently announced his retirement during the post-fight interview.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone has had small roles in film and television since 2017, including appearing in the 2020 Netflix film "Spenser Confidential".


title: Donald Cerrone

text: He is stated to have a starring role, opposite Gina Carano, in the upcoming 2022 Daily Wire film "Terror on the Prairie".


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone and his wife Lindsay have two children, both sons: Dacson Danger Cerrone, born June 29, 2018, and Riot River Cerrone, born September 11, 2020.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone is good friends with "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" creator Rob McElhenney, who has trained at BMF Ranch, and Cerrone made an appearance alongside Paul Felder and Dana White in the season 12 episode "Wolf Cola: A Public Relations Nightmare."


title: Donald Cerrone

text: On December 19, 2021, Cerrone competed in his first professional grappling match against Craig Jones under the Combat Jiu-Jitsu ruleset at the Featherweight edition of the CJJ World Championships. He tapped out after being put in a rear-naked choke by Jones a little over halfway into the regulation period.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: In 2014, Cerrone established an MMA gym at his property in Edgewood, New Mexico to lower his training camp costs by hosting his training partners at the estate. Coaches like Brandon Gibson, Jafari Vanier, and Jonavin Webb are usually situated at the ranch with fighters like Lando Vannata, John Dodson and Leonard Garcia.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: In 2014, the UFC lightweight fighter Bobby Green accused Cerrone of making racist comments towards him and about black people, in a since deleted interview with journalist Ariel Helwani. Cerrone dismissed his claims, maintaining that if he were racist, he wouldn't "have three black guys living with [him]".


title: Donald Cerrone

text: The UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has come forward with similar allegations in 2016, detailing an altercation between him and Cerrone during UFC International Fight Week. According to Sterling, after Cerrone made a comment about his gold chain that made him feel "uncomfortable", he then used an "inappropriate word" in front of Sterling. While Sterling never specified what the word was, he strongly implied it had racial overtones. When he asked for an explanation, Cerrone allegedly started to threaten him, telling him that he'd "beat the fuck out of him" and "do what Caraway did to him", referring to Sterling's UFC bout earlier that year in which he suffered his first professional loss to Bryan Caraway.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone has been criticized for his casual online usage of the racial slur "nigga", including in a 2016 exchange on Instagram with his sparring partner Said Nurmagomedov, in which each one referred to the other as "my nigga".


title: Donald Cerrone

text: In an interview with Ariel Helwani, the UFC fighter Bobby Green accused Cerrone of sexually harassing his female fans at UFC Fan Expo signing in 2014 . According to Green, he groped and behaved inappropriately towards the women that came to take a photo with him.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: In an interview with Sherdog, Cerrone denied these accusations. "That was two years ago, ya' know? Why didn't any of this come out? Why didn't a fan file a lawsuit or say, 'Yo, Cowboy is groping my wife,' c'mon." he said of the alleged incidents.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: As part of his trash talk to describe Jamie Varner in a build up of their second fight at WEC 51 in 2010, Cerrone commented that Varner is "a fag" and that he hoped to kill him in the ring. After WEC officials publicly condemned his remarks, he apologized for the death threats on Twitter, but did not mention the slur usage in his apology.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Cerrone was widely criticized for his use of a homophobic slur to describe Daniel Cormier's performance against Anderson Silva at UFC 200 during a Q&A at UFC Fan Expo, where he was taking part in a panel covering the event along with CM Punk and Joe Gooden. When talking with CM Punk about the worst performances of that night, he criticized Cormier's wrestling-heavy game plan asking "How you going to give up weight and fight like a fag, man?".


title: Donald Cerrone

text: After an immediate backlash, a UFC senior official told the MMA Junkie portal that the organization was "incredibly disappointed by Cerrone's comments" and will be meeting with him to discuss the severity of the situation. Cerrone reacted to the criticism with a since-deleted Instagram post, which showed a photo of him wearing a then-recently released UFC rainbow T-shirt in support of the LGBTQ community and in which he apologized for his choice of words.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: While Jason Ellis was interviewing Cerrone on his radio show, he mentioned that he is bisexual and has had sexual relationships with men, which appeared to make Cerrone uncomfortable. During his appearance on an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast some weeks later, Cerrone called Ellis "a faggot", adding that he had not wanted to say it to Ellis directly. Ellis voiced his disappointment with Cerrone's statements in an interview with outsports.com.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: When discussing U.S. president Donald Trump's attempts to ban transgender people from serving in the US armed forces on an episode of "The Fighter and the Kid" podcast, Cerrone objected to the host, Brendan Schaub, using female pronouns to describe a trans woman, and stated: "I'm just saying, if you got a dick, you're a dude."


title: Donald Cerrone

text: Until 2009, Cerrone was one of a number of MMA fighters sponsored by Hoelzer Reich, a t-shirt company that includes symbols such as the Iron Cross on its t-shirts, which detractors have stated is Nazi imagery. The brand was banned by the UFC in 2009.


title: Donald Cerrone

text: During the post-fight press conference, Cerrone was asked by a journalist on his views on the COVID-19 lockdown and safety measures. He revealed that he refused orders to wear a mask on national television because he "doesn't stand for that shit" and that he is a "true-gritted hard core American Republican".


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Heather Renée Sweet (born September 28, 1972), known professionally as Dita Von Teese, is an American vedette, burlesque dancer, model, and businesswoman. She is credited with re-popularizing burlesque performance, earning the moniker "Queen of Burlesque".


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese has been seen in "", "RuPaul's Drag Race," "The Masked Dancer", "The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell", among other television productions. She is also known for her short marriage to singer Marilyn Manson as well as performing in his music videos. Von Teese has released two books on burlesque history, fetishism and beauty. She has also recorded songs with French musician Sébastien Tellier. She has toured the world with her burlesque shows in cities like London, Berlin, New York and Paris. Among her special guests on the tours are Dirty Martini, Perle Noire, Ginger Valentine, Jett Adore and Playboy model Gia Genevieve. Von Teese has been a special guest at the Parisian venue Crazy Horse several times. Her 2016 show resulted in a DVD release. From 2006 to 2008, Von Teese was a Viva Glam spokesperson for MAC Cosmetics to raise money for HIV/AIDS research. From 2007 to 2013, she was a global ambassador of Cointreau and in 2010–2011 she was the face of Perrier. She has also created four perfumes under the brand Dita Von Teese Perfumes. She also has her own brand of lingerie, as well as stockings under the name Secrets in Lace and luxurious cardigans for Australian online store Wheels & Dollbaby.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese was born in West Branch, Michigan, the second of three daughters. When describing her hometown, she says, "It's a universe away from the colored Klieg lights of Hollywood and Paris. But on weekend afternoons, my mom and I had a front seat on a rocket ship to those faraway worlds by way of the old movies starring the most glamorous creatures – Betty Grable, Mae West, Carmen Miranda, Marlene Dietrich... They were our muses." Her father was a machinist and her mother a manicurist. She is of English, Scottish, Armenian, and German heritage. Von Teese has stated that one of her grandmothers was half-Armenian and adopted into an Anglo-Saxon American family. Von Teese is known for her fascination with 1940s cinema and classic vintage style. This began at a young age and was fostered by her mother, who would buy clothes for her daughter to dress up. Her mother was a fan of old, Golden Age-era Hollywood films, and from her, Von Teese developed a fascination with the actresses of that day, especially Betty Grable.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: She was classically trained as a ballet dancer from an early age, and danced solo at age 13 for a local ballet company. Though she originally wanted to be a ballerina, Von Teese states that "by 15, I was as good as I'd ever be." She was later to incorporate this element into her burlesque shows, where she frequently goes "en pointe". The family relocated from Michigan to Orange County, California, when her father's job moved. Von Teese attended University High School in Irvine, California.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: When Von Teese was a teenager, her mother took her to buy her first bra, made from plain white cotton, and gave her a plastic egg containing a pair of wrinkly, flesh-colored pantyhose. Von Teese says she was disappointed, as she had been hoping to receive beautiful lacy garments and stockings, of the type she had glimpsed in her father's "Playboy" magazines. This fueled her passion for lingerie. She worked in a lingerie store as a salesgirl when she was 15, eventually as a buyer. Von Teese has been fond of wearing elaborate lingerie such as corsets and basques with fully fashioned stockings ever since. In college, Von Teese studied historic costuming and aspired to work as a stylist for films. She is a trained costume designer, often designing (and copyrighting) her photo shoots herself.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: At 18, Von Teese had her famous beauty mark tattooed on her left cheek. In her first book, she states that she visited a strip club for the first time at age 19 and was soon hired alongside her job at a beauty counter. She was stunned by the other strippers' lack of originality and wanted to incorporate vintage and fetish style to her performance.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese chose her stage name by adopting the name Dita as a tribute to silent film actress Dita Parlo. For her breakthrough December 2002 "Playboy" cover, she was required to have a surname, so she chose "Von Treese" from the phonebook. "Playboy" misspelled it "Von Teese", a name which she then kept. Von Teese is known for her signature painted eyes, heavily penciled brows, swipe of crimson lipstick, and blue-black locks. She says, "I have my signature look and I'm sticking to it, because it's the look that is one hundred percent me, and one hundred percent created by me. I might be a one-trick for it. But it's a pretty good trick!"


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese achieved some level of recognition in the fetish world as a tightlacer. Through the wearing of a corset for many years, she had reduced her waistline to , and can be laced down as far as .


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese appeared on numerous fetish magazine covers, including "Bizarre" and "Marquis". It was around this time when she appeared on the cover of Midori's book, "The Seductive Art of Japanese Bondage". Von Teese was featured in "Playboy" in 1999, 2001, and 2002, with a cover-featured pictorial in 2002. German metal band Atrocity chose her as the cover model for their 2008 album, "Werk 80 II".


title: Dita Von Teese

text: She has stated in print, "I love fetish for its powers of transformation and also for its beauty." Among her heroes of vintage fetish history are John Willie, Bettie Page, and Irving Klaw.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese is best known for her burlesque routines and is frequently dubbed the "Queen of Burlesque" in the press. Von Teese began performing burlesque in 1992, and, as a proponent of Neo-Burlesque, has helped to popularize its revival. In her own words, she "puts the tease back into striptease" with long, elaborate dance shows with props and characters, often inspired by 1930s and 1940s musicals and films. Some of her more famous dances have involved a carousel horse, a giant powder compact, a filigree heart and a clawfoot bathtub with a working shower head. Her feather fan dance, inspired by burlesque dancer Sally Rand, featured the world's largest feather fans, now on display in Hollywood's Museum of Sex.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Her burlesque career has included some memorable performances. She once appeared at a benefit for the New York Academy of Art wearing nothing but $5 million worth of diamonds. Additionally, Von Teese became the first guest star at the Crazy Horse cabaret club in Paris with her appearance in October 2006. In 2006, Von Teese appeared on an episode of "America's Next Top Model" (cycle 7) doing a workshop to teach the contestants about sensuality by means of burlesque dancing and posing. In 2007, Von Teese performed at the adult entertainment event Erotica 07 in London alongside Italian rock band Belladonna.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese's first book (in collaboration with Bronwyn Garrity), which consisted of her opinions on the history of burlesque and fetish, "Burlesque and the Art of the Teese / Fetish and the Art of the Teese", was published in 2006 by HarperCollins (and in New York by Regan Books). "Vanity Fair" called her a "Burlesque Superheroine".


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 in Moscow, Russia, as part of the stage performance for the German entry "Miss Kiss Kiss Bang". The act placed 20th out of 25 participants in the final round of the contest. Later, she said her cleavage was censored during the show because it was too voluptuous.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese has toured the world with four full-length revues: "Strip, Strip Hooray", "The Art of the Teese", "Dita Von Teese and the Copper Coupe" and the 2019 "Glamonatrix" tour (postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic), which will continue in Europe and the UK in 2022.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese has performed in adult and mainstream films. In her early years, she appeared in fetish-related, softcore pornographic movies, such as "Romancing Sara", "Matter of Trust" (in which she is billed under her real name of Heather Sweet), and also in two Andrew Blake hard-core fetish films, "Pin Ups 2" and "Decadence."


title: Dita Von Teese

text: She has appeared in more mainstream features such as the 2005 short film, "The Death of Salvador Dali", written by Delaney Bishop, which won best screenplay and best cinematography at SXSW, Raindance Film Festival, and Mill Valley Film Festival, and won Best Actress at Beverly Hills Film Festival. She starred in the feature film "Saint Francis" in 2007.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: In addition, she has appeared in a number of music videos, including the video for the Green Day song "Redundant," the video for "Zip Gun Bop" by swing band Royal Crown Revue, Agent Provocateur's video for their cover of Joy Division's "She's Lost Control", and (performing her martini-glass burlesque routine) the video for "Mobscene" by Marilyn Manson. She was featured in a striptease/burlesque act in George Michael's live tour 2008, for the song "Feelin' Good". In addition to this, she appeared at the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2009 as the central feature of Germany's entry, Miss Kiss Kiss Bang by Alex Swings, Oscar Sings. She also appeared in the music video "Up in the Air" by Thirty Seconds to Mars in 2013.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: She stated in 2007, "I don't understand why women feel the need to go into acting as soon as they become famous ... But I suppose if the part were aesthetically correct, then maybe I could consider it."


title: Dita Von Teese

text: In January 2011, Von Teese guest starred in the CBS police procedural drama series "", in which her friend Eric Szmanda starred, in the episode "A Kiss Before Frying". She played Rita von Squeeze, a femme fatale version of herself, who seduces Szmanda's character, Greg Sanders, in a plot inspired by film noir.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: In 2021, Von Teese appeared on the British version of the Fox TV series "The Masked Dancer", masked as Beetroot. She was the third celebrity to be unmasked, on May 31. In September, Von Teese was a contestant in the eleventh season of "Danse avec les stars", the French version of "Dancing with the Stars".


title: Dita Von Teese

text: In 2022, Von Teese appeared in the music video for Taylor Swift's "Bejeweled" from her tenth studio album "Midnights" (2022).


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese has appeared on a number of best-dressed lists and frequents the front row of fashion shows, particularly Christian Dior, Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Marc Jacobs, labels she is often seen wearing. Speaking of her love of Gaultier, Von Teese has said, "Jean Paul Gaultier, John Galliano, and Vivienne Westwood were the first designers that really made an impact on me. Jean Paul has a lot of the same obsessions that I do, like corsetry, ballet-peach satin and silks, black silk velvet, bullet bras and girdles. When I was a teenager, I would look for 1930s peach satin lingerie pieces to try to get his look for less, because there was no way I could afford his things back then. It was a dream come true to meet him and become friends with him. I met him the first time when I was doing my first fashion pictorial, which was for Flaunt magazine, and it was a huge story of me wearing the most important pieces from his haute couture archives, and that was a dream!"


title: Dita Von Teese

text: She has also done catwalk work. During Los Angeles Fashion Week for spring 2004, she modeled for former club kid Richie Rich's fashion label, Heatherette. In 2005, she appeared in the Autumn/Winter Ready-to-Wear show for Giambattista Valli, a former designer for Ungaro, in Paris. In the 2006 Milan Fashion Week, Von Teese was on the runway, opening for the Moschino diffusion label, Moschino Cheap & Chic, autumn/winter 2006/7 show. In 2007, she appeared twice in the Jean Paul Gaultier haute couture show during the Paris Fashion Week, and again in 2014. She has starred in several ad campaigns. She appeared in Vivienne Westwood's spring/summer 2005 collection adverts and became the face of Australian clothing range "Wheels and Dollbaby" for their 2006/7 Spring/Summer advertising campaign. She was an ambassador/spokesmodel for HIV/AIDS awareness when she was selected (along with Eve, Debbie Harry, and Lisa Marie Presley) for MAC Cosmetics' Viva Glam VI campaign (a collection of lipsticks and lipgloss where 100% of the proceeds are for worldwide AIDS charities and to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS). Von Teese has appeared in "Vanity Fair", "Vogue", "Elle", and international issues of nearly every fashion magazine.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese states that she never uses a stylist. "The one time I hired a stylist, they picked up a pair of my 1940s shoes and said, 'These would look really cute with jeans.' I immediately said, 'You're out of here.'" She does her own make-up, and dyes her naturally blonde hair black at home. Von Teese's unique style is "inspired by eccentric women like Luisa Casati, Anna Piaggi, and Isabella Blow." She also says, "Doing it myself is a matter of integrity and pride. I look forward to stepping out of the world and honestly stating "Yes, I did this." I love the confidence it gives me. I would feel a fraud otherwise. Truth is, it takes less time [than a stylist] for me to do it myself. It is also so much more fun! Why would I deny myself such pure pleasure?"


title: Dita Von Teese

text: One of Von Teese's trademark items is the garter belt with six garters instead of the usual four, with two each at the front, side seams and back. In May 2012, Von Teese launched her makeup collection "Classics" in partnership with the German cosmetic brand Art Deco. Compact powder, blushers, eye styler, eye shadows, mascara and lipstick were produced to recreate the burlesque performer's retro look.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: In 2012, Von Teese launched her own clothing line and underwear line called Von Follies. In 2013, she was both model and muse for the 'Dita' 3D printed gown designed by Michael Schmidt and Francis Bitonti and 3D printed by Shapeways exactly to fit her body. Constructed of over 3,000 interlocked 3D printed components and over 12,000 Swarovski crystals it is one of the first fully articulated 3D printed garments to take the technology from haute couture to a sensual fabric-like form.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese has also worked creating her own fragrances. Her first was named "Dita Von Teese" (released Fall 2011) and is described by her as 'mood setting for glamour'. Her second was named "Rouge" (released November 2012) and is described as 'mood setting for seduction'. The third "FleurTeese" (released Spring 2013) is for romance and "Erotique" (released Fall 2013) is mood setting to be erotic. She says, "I lusted after something that would appeal to those of us not reluctant to proclaim we are women. Too many best-selling scents are so fruity and vanilla with a sweetly cloying air that a mere spritz gives me a toothache. Or they smell like cake. I do not want to smell like cake!"


title: Dita Von Teese

text: In 2014, Von Teese began working with Myer, an Australian department store, on a lingerie line fronted by Australian model Stefania Ferrario.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Von Teese practices Pilates and dressage. Her home is a Tudor revival residence in the Hollywood Hills, dedicated to early 20th-century décor, including antique taxidermy, a pub house and a glass box with Bettie Page's vintage fetish shoes. Her home has no white walls, something Von Teese claims she is afraid of. She also has a room dedicated to shoes.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: She is a collector of vintage china, particularly egg cups and tea sets, and drives vintage cars. Among other vintage cars, she owned a 1939 Chrysler New Yorker from 1997 to 2010. She says, "I live to surround myself with everyday things that are beautiful. I serve my home-baked petit fours on porcelain pedestals and sip tea from flowery tea cups, charming gems from my flea market treasure hunts. I keep cosmetic brushes in vintage vase cast like the heads of ladies, complete with glamour dos and makeup. I always carry a pretty compact, maybe one scored for next to nothing on eBay."


title: Dita Von Teese

text: After her marriage to Marilyn Manson ended in 2007, Von Teese began dating French Count Louis-Marie de Castelbajac from 2009 to 2012. In 2012, she had a brief relationship with singer Theo Hutchcraft.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Among Von Teese's famous best friends are shoe designer Christian Louboutin, who designs shoes for her shows, burlesque performer and seamstress Catherine D'lish and writer Liz Goldwyn.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Marilyn Manson had been a longtime fan of hers and was a member of her website. They first met when he asked her to dance in one of his music videos, and though she was unable to, the two remained in contact. On Manson's 32nd birthday, in 2001, she arrived with a bottle of absinthe and they became a couple. Manson proposed on March 22, 2004, and gave her a 1930s, , European round-cut diamond engagement ring. On November 28, 2005, they were married in a private, non-denominational ceremony at home. A larger ceremony was held on December 3 at Castle Gurteen de la Poer in Kilsheelan (County Tipperary), Ireland, the home of their friend, Gottfried Helnwein. The wedding was officiated by surrealist film director and comic book writer Alejandro Jodorowsky. The event was featured in "Vogue". Dita wore a royal purple silk taffeta gown, made by Vivienne Westwood and a tri-cornered hat designed by Stephen Jones and matching Mr. Pearl corset. Christian Louboutin designed her shoes.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: On December 29, 2006, Von Teese filed for divorce from Manson citing "irreconcilable differences". Von Teese left their house empty-handed on Christmas Eve, and was not able to get in touch with Manson to inform him of her intention to divorce him. In an interview with "The Daily Telegraph", Von Teese stated, "I wasn't supportive of his partying or his relationship with another girl. As much as I loved him, I wasn't going to be part of that." Von Teese also stated that she gave Manson an ultimatum, and said that "it didn't work. Instead, it made me the enemy." Von Teese did not seek spousal support and expressed no interest in his assets. The news broke for the public and for Manson on his birthday on January 5, 2007, when he was served the divorce papers.


title: Dita Von Teese

text: In an interview in 2016, Von Teese said "I was with him for seven years, we were married for only a year and I feel like getting married was sort of like the 'kiss of death' for us because it was sort of like the nail in the coffin. I felt kind of obliged to go through with the ceremony in a way because there was so much riding on it. "Vogue" was photographing it and it was in this castle and it was like this theater...I'm not going to beat myself up for being in different relationships and not finding a person I'm with until the end of my days."


title: Dita Von Teese

text: Microgaming joined forces with Eurostar Studios to release the "Burlesque by Dita" video slot in which Heather Renée Sweet makes various cameos (as paytable symbols) throughout the game. Launched in July 2021, the game has reached multiple iGaming markets worldwide, accounting for hundreds of online casinos where the game is playable in demo or real money mode.


title: José Aldo

text: José Aldo da Silva Oliveira Júnior (, born 9 September 1986), commonly anglicized as Jose Aldo, is a retired Brazilian professional mixed martial artist. He last competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the Bantamweight division after previously competing at Featherweight, and was the fourth and final WEC Featherweight Champion. He became the first UFC Featherweight Champion following the UFC/WEC merger. Aldo is widely considered as one of the best mixed martial artists of all-time, and as the greatest featherweight ever after defending his UFC title seven times and his WEC title twice.


title: José Aldo

text: After his first MMA defeat in November 2005, Aldo remained undefeated for over a decade, winning 18 straight fights until UFC 194 in December 2015, when he lost to Conor Mcgregor. He was named Sherdog's 2009 Fighter of the Year. In Sherdog's April 2017 pound-for-pound ranking, Aldo was called "the greatest featherweight in mixed martial arts history."


title: José Aldo

text: José Aldo was born on 9 September 1986, in Manaus, Brazil. As an infant, Aldo was dropped onto a barbecue, leaving a permanent scar on the left side of his face. Throughout his teen years, he was keen on football and wanted to become a professional. His aspirations were supported by his father. But Aldo grew tired of getting beaten up in fights on the street, thus starting to train capoeira to learn ways to defend himself better in brawls. Aldo used to train capoeira on the streets after the classes, once gaining attention of a Brazilian jiu-jitsu trainer. He invited Aldo to try one session of jiu-jitsu and after the session, Aldo decided to leave capoeira to start training jiu-jitsu. At the age of 17, Aldo moved from Manaus to Rio de Janeiro having only his clothes with him and determination to train mixed martial arts there until he achieved something in the sport. He is a teammate and training partner of former UFC Bantamweight champion Renan Barão at Nova União.


title: José Aldo

text: Known by the nickname "Junior", José Aldo da Silva Oliveira Júnior fought his first professional MMA fight at the age of 17 at EcoFight 1 on 10 August 2004. He fought fellow countryman and newcomer Mário Bigola, whom he defeated by knockout in just 16 seconds into the first round. It would be Bigola's first and only professional fight.


title: José Aldo

text: Aldo fought fellow Brazilian Hudson Rocha, in his second fight for Shooto Brazil. The fight was ended by a doctor stoppage at the end of the first round due to a cut over Rocha's left eye, which was caused by a flying knee thrown by Aldo followed by a barrage of punches. Rocha was able to get back to his feet only to be met with more strikes and a knee before Aldo kicked his legs out from under him.


title: José Aldo

text: Five months later he fought MMA newcomer Luiz de Paula at Shooto – Brazil 7. Aldo took de Paula down in the clinch early on in the fight. He quickly gained mount, where he rained down punches before transitioning to an arm-triangle choke, forcing de Paula to tap at 1:54 of the first round.


title: José Aldo

text: Aldo spent the next several years jumping from organization to organization. He next fought Vale Tudo and Shooto veteran Aritano Silva Barbosa, who had lost four of his last five fights, at Rio MMA Challenge 1 on 12 May 2005. Aldo landed two knees to the chin of Barbosa in the opening seconds of the fight, sending him to the canvas where Aldo swarmed with punches. Barbosa attempted a single-leg takedown, but Aldo pulled away and threw two soccer kicks to the prone Barbosa before the referee stopped the fight at twenty seconds of the first round, awarding Aldo the victory via knockout. Less than two months later Aldo fought newcomer Anderson Silvério at Meca World Vale Tudo 12. He also defeated Silvério with soccer kicks, 8:33 into the first round.


title: José Aldo

text: Aldo then traveled to England, where he fought Micky Young at FX3- Battle of Britain on 15 October 2005. He defeated Young just 1:05 into the first round by TKO (punches).