title: Shah Alam II

text: The Battle of Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764 between the combined armies of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal; Shuja-ud-Daula the Nawab of Awadh; the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II and the forces under the command of the East India Company led by Hector Munro. The battle fought at Buxar, a town located on the bank of the Ganges river then within the territory of Bengal, was a decisive victory for the East India Company.


title: Shah Alam II

text: Soon after the Battle of Buxar, Shah Alam II, a sovereign who had just been defeated by the British, sought their protection by signing the Treaty of Allahabad in the year 1765. Shah Alam II was forced to grant the "Diwani" (right to collect revenue) of Bengal (which included Bihar and Odisha) to the East India Company in return for an annual tribute of 2.6 million rupees to be paid by the company from the collected revenue. Tax exempt status was also restored to the company. The company further secured for the districts of Kora and Allahabad which allowed the East India Company to collect tax from more than 20 million people. East India Company thus became the Imperial tax collector in the former Mughal province of Bengal (which included Bihar and Northern Odisha). East India Company appointed a deputy Nawab Muhammad Reza Khan to collect revenue on behalf of the company.


title: Shah Alam II

text: Shah Alam II's absence from Delhi was due to the terms of the treaty he had signed with the British. But his son and heir apparent Prince Mirza Jawan Bakht and Najib-ul-Daula, represented the emperor for the next 12 years in Delhi.


title: Shah Alam II

text: The Bengal Famine in 1770 was a massive catastrophe that signalled the end of the Mughal Empire and disorder in the Indian Subcontinent.


title: Shah Alam II

text: By the time the famine occurred it became very clear that the Mughal Empire was no longer a major political power, not only in the general world but also within South Asia.


title: Shah Alam II

text: Shah Alam II resided in the fort of Allahabad for six years. Warren Hastings, the head of East India Company got appointed as the first Governor of Bengal in 1774. This was the period of "Dual rule" where East India Company enacted laws to maximise collection of revenue and the Mughal Emperor appointed Nawab looked after other affairs of the province. East India Company later discontinued the tribute of 2.6 million Rupees and later also handed over the districts of Allahabad and Kora to the Nawab of Awadh. These measures amounted to a repudiation of the company's vassalage to the emperor as Diwan (tax collector). In 1793 East India Company was strong enough and abolished Nizamat (local rule) completely and annexed Bengal. Weakened Shah Alam II agreed to the consultation of the East India Company, who advised him never to trust the Marathas.


title: Shah Alam II

text: In the year 1771 the Marathas under Mahadaji Shinde returned to northern India and even captured Delhi. Shah Alam II, was escorted by Mahadaji Shinde and left Allahabad in May 1771 and in January 1772 reached Delhi. Along with the Marathas they undertook to win the crown lands of Rohilkhand and defeated Zabita Khan, capturing the fort of Pathargarh with its treasure.


title: Shah Alam II

text: The emperor returned to the throne in Delhi in 1772, under the protection of the Maratha general Mahadaji Shinde. The emperor became a client of the Maratha whose Peshwa demanded tribute, which the Moguls are known to have paid so as to avoid any further conflict with the Confederacy.


title: Shah Alam II

text: In the year 1787, an embassy of Vijay Singh from Jodhpur presented itself to the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II, bringing homage and the golden key of the Fortress of Ajmer.


title: Shah Alam II

text: After killing Ghulam Qadir and restoring Shah Alam II to the throne, a Maratha garrison permanently occupied Delhi in 1788 and ruled on north India for next two decades until they were usurped by the East India Company in the Second Anglo-Maratha War.


title: Shah Alam II

text: One of his first acts was to strengthen and raise a new Mughal Army, under the command of Mirza Najaf Khan. This new army consisted of infantrymen who successfully utilised both Flintlocks and Talwars in combat formations, they used elephants for transportation and were less dependent on artillery and cavalry. Mirza Najaf Khan is also known to have introduced the more-effective Firelock muskets through his collaboration with Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal.


title: Shah Alam II

text: Shah Alam II, was well supported by Jean Law de Lauriston and 200 Frenchmen during his campaign to regain the Eastern Subahs (during the Seven Years' War). The brainchild of the campaign was Ghulam Husain Tabatabai, who had gained much administrative and military experience from both the French and the Dutch.


title: Shah Alam II

text: After Shah Alam II's defeat in the Battle of Buxar, the French once again reached out to emperor under Pierre André de Suffren in the year 1781, who initiated a plan to capture Bombay and Surat from the Maratha Confederacy and the British, with the co-operation of Mirza Najaf Khan, this action would eventually lead to Asaf Jah II to join Shah Alam II and the French and assist Hyder Ali to capture Madras from the East India Company. The internal conflicts within the Mughal imperial court would not allow the emperor to make such a bold move against the British.


title: Shah Alam II

text: Jats rose in retaliation of religious intolerance pursued by Aurangzeb. The Jat kingdom of Bharatpur waged many wars against the Mughal Delhi and in the 17th and 18th century carried out numerous campaigns in Mughal territories including Agra. Mughals were defeated by Marathas in 1757; and Mughal possessions and territories were under the annexation of the Jats led by Suraj Mal.


title: Shah Alam II

text: During one massive assault, Jats sieged Agra in 1761, after 20 days on 12 June 1761 the Mughal forces at Agra surrendered to Jats. Jats plundered the city and carried the bounty, including the two great silver doors to the entrance of the famous Taj Mahal. which were carried off and melted down by Suraj Mal in 1764.


title: Shah Alam II

text: Suraj Mal's son Jawahar Singh, further extended the Jat power in Northern India and captured the territory in Doab, Ballabgarh and Agra. Jats kept Agra fort and other territories closer to Delhi under their control from 1761 till 1774 CE.


title: Shah Alam II

text: Sikhs had been in perpetual war against Mughal intolerance specially after beheading of the Sikh Guru - Guru Teg Bahadur by the Mughals. Simmering Sikhs rose once again in the year 1764 and overran the Mughal Faujdar of Sirhind, Zain Khan Sirhindi, who fell in battle and ever since the Sikhs perpetually raided and took the bounties from the lands as far as Delhi practically every year.


title: Shah Alam II

text: The Marathas took Delhi in 1771 before Shah Alam II arrived. Mirza Najaf Khan had restored a sense of order to the Mughal finances and administration and particularly reformed the Mughal Army. In 1777 Mirza Najaf Khan decisively defeated Zabita Khan's forces and repelled the Sikhs after halting their raids.


title: Shah Alam II

text: In 1778, after a Sikh incursion into Delhi, Shah Alam ordered their defeat by appointing, the Mughal Grand Vizier, Majad-ud-Daula marched with 20,000 Mughal troops against the Sikh army into hostile territories, this action led to the defeat of the Mughal Army at Muzzaffargarh and later at Ghanaur, due to the mounted casualties Shah Alam II reappointed Mirza Najaf Khan, who soon died of natural circumstances leaving the Mughal Empire weaker than ever.


title: Shah Alam II

text: In the year 1779, Mirza Najaf Khan carefully advanced his forces who successfully routed the treasonous Zabita Khan and his Sikh allies who lost more than 5,000 men in a single battle and never returned to threaten the Mughal Empire during the commander Mirza Najaf Khan's lifetime. Najaf Khan as prime minister, granted sovereign rights to the Sikhs as agreement.


title: Shah Alam II

text: In the year 1783, Farzana Zeb un-Nissa had saved Delhi from a possible invasion by a force of 30,000 Sikh troops, under Baghel Singh, Jassa Singh Ramgarhia and Jassa Singh Ahluwalia.


title: Shah Alam II

text: Mughal empire disintegrated to such an extent that Shah Alam II was only left with Delhi city to rule. In 1783, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and Baghel Singh laid siege to the city. After entering Red fort, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia sat on the Mughal throne on behest of Baghel Singh and a title of Badshah Singh was given to him. Begum Samru requested Baghel Singh to show mercy on Shah Alam II. Baghel Singh accepted and stated his demands such as 30,000 of his troops to stay in Delhi and the Mughal Empire would pay for their maintenance. Other demands were the construction of at least 5 Gurdwaras and annual tax payment of 13.5%. The demands were agreed upon by Shah Alam II with a written agreement. Since Sikhs refused to accept authority of the Mughal court due to politics, Mahadji Shinde was given the regency with an agreement that Sikhs will not plunder the crown lands and they will be paid 1/3 of the Delhi revenue annually instead.


title: Shah Alam II

text: After the defeats at Muzaffargarh and later at Ghanaur, Majad-ud-Daula was arrested by the orders of Shah Alam II, who then recalled Mirza Najaf Khan. This led to the former Grand Vizier's arrest for causing miscalculations and collaborating with the enemies of the emperor. The traitor was imprisoned and a sum of two million "dam" in stolen revenue recovered from him. It was Shah Alam II's poor judgement and vacillation that led to his own downfall. Mirza Najaf Khan had given the Mughal Empire breathing space by having a powerful, well managed army in its own right. In 1779 the newly reformed Mughal Army decisively defeated Zabita Khan, the rebels lost 5,000 men including their leader and therefore did not return during the lifetime of Mirza Najaf Khan . Unfortunately upon the general's death, Shah Alam's bad judgement prevailed. The dead man's nephew, Mirza Shafi whose valour had been proven during various occasions, was not appointed commander in chief. Shah Alam II instead appointed worthless individuals whose loyalty and record were questionable at best . They were soon quarrelling over petty matters. Even the corrupt and treasonous former Grand Vizier, Majad-ud-Daula was restored to his former office, he later colluded with the Sikhs and reduced the size of the Mughal Army from over 20,000 to only 5,000 thus bringing the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II at the mercy of his enemies.


title: Shah Alam II

text: Nawab Majad-ud-Daula was followed by a known enemy of the Mughals, the grandson of Najib Khan, Ghulam Qadir, with his Sikh allies forced Shah Alam II to appoint him as the Grand Vizier of the Mughal Empire. Ghulam Qadir ravaged the palaces in search of the Mughal treasure believed to be worth Rs. 250 million. Unable to locate such a sum and angered by the Mughal Emperor's attempts to eliminate him and his Sikh allies, Ghulam Qadir himself blinded Shah Alam II with an Afghani knife on 10 August 1788. Ghulam Qadir behaved with brutality to the emperor and his family. Three servants and two water-carriers who tried to help the bleeding emperor were beheaded and according to one account, Ghulam Qadir would pull the beard of the elderly Mughal Emperor. After ten weeks, during which Ghulam Qadir stripped the princesses of the royal family naked and forced them to dance naked before him (after which they jumped into Yamuna river to drown) and the honour of the royal family and prestige of the Mughal Empire reached its lowest ebb, Mahadaji Shinde intervened and killed Ghulam Qadir, taking possession of Delhi on 2 October 1788. He restored Shah Alam II to the throne and acted as his protector. Mahadaji Shinde sent the ears and eyes of Ghulam Qadir to Shah Alam.


title: Shah Alam II

text: Thankful for his intervention, he honoured Mahadji Shinde with the titles of "Vakil-ul-Mutlaq" (Regent of the Empire) and "Amir-ul-Amara" (Head of the Amirs). He made a deal with the Peshwa granting tribute to Pune in return for the protection provided Mahadji Shinde of the Maratha Confederacy.


title: Shah Alam II

text: After killing Ghulam Qadir and restoring Shah Alam II to the throne, a Maratha garrison permanently occupied Delhi in 1788 and ruled on north India for next two decades until they were usurped by the East India Company following the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1803.


title: Shah Alam II

text: The French threat in Europe and its possible repercussions in India caused the British to strive to regain the custody of Shah Alam II. The British feared that the French military officers might overthrow Maratha power and use the authority of the Mughal emperor to further French ambition in India.


title: Shah Alam II

text: Shah Alam II also corresponded with Hyder Ali and later with his son Tipu Sultan during their conflicts with the East India Company during the Anglo-Mysore Wars and was very well informed about the expansionist agenda of the British.


title: Shah Alam II

text: After the Battle of Delhi (1803), during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, on 14 September 1803 British troops entered Delhi ending the Maratha rule on the Mughals, bringing Shah Alam, then a blind old man, seated under a tattered canopy, under British protection. The Mughal Emperor no longer had the military power to enforce his will, but he commanded respect as a dignified member of the House of Timur in the length and breadth of the country. The Nawabs and Subedars still sought formal sanction of the Mughal Emperor on their accession and valued the titles he bestowed upon them. They struck coins and read the "khutba" (Friday sermons) in his name. The Marathas in 1804 under Yashwantrao Holkar tried to snatch Delhi from the British in Siege of Delhi (1804), but failed.


title: Shah Alam II

text: His grave lies in a marble enclosure adjoined to the Moti Masjid, next to the dargah of the 13th century Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, in Mehrauli, Delhi. Also in the enclosure are the tombs of Bahadur Shah I (also known as Shah Alam I), and Akbar Shah II.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: Nikolai Sergeyevich Valuev (, ; born 21 August 1973) is a Russian politician and former professional boxer. He competed in boxing from 1993 to 2009, and held the WBA heavyweight title twice between 2005 and 2009. Standing at a height of and a peak weight of , Valuev is best known for being the tallest and heaviest world champion in boxing history.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: Valuev was born on 21 August 1973, in Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia). He is of ethnic Russian descent, but he also had a Tatar grandfather. Although his own parents are short—both tall—his Tatar great-grandfather has been described as "of mountainous proportions" and "a warrior giant of Russian folklore." His own size and appearance are due to gigantism complicated by acromegaly.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: Valuev has written a book in Russian called "My 12 Rounds", with the help of Russian sports journalist Konstantin Osipov. The book discusses his life in general and his boxing career in particular. For that book, Valuev received an award from the government of Saint Petersburg.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: In January 2006, Valuev was accused of assaulting a security guard at the Spartak Ice Palace in Saint Petersburg. No criminal investigation was launched by local police.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: In 2005, Valuev squared off with WBA heavyweight champion John Ruiz, and won a twelve-round majority-decision, becoming both the tallest (2.13 m or 7 ft) and heaviest (323 lbs) champion in boxing history.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: The title defense was held on 14 April 2007. Chagaev defeated Valuev by a majority decision (117–111, 115–113 and 114–114).


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: Valuev changed trainers, from Manuel Gabrielian to Alexander Zimin, who coached the old Soviet Union amateur boxing team. On 29 September 2007, Valuev won against Jean-Francois Bergeron in Oldenburg, Germany, by a 12-round unanimous decision (118–111 on all three cards).


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: On 16 February 2008, in a title eliminator, Valuev defeated former titleholder Siarhei Liakhovich, winning every round at the Nuremberg Arena in Germany. The victory earned Valuev the right to face Chagaev for the WBA title again, the only man who had defeated him in his boxing career. He was scheduled to face Chagaev for his WBA title on 5 July 2008, but Chagaev pulled out with an injury. Valuev instead fought John Ruiz for the vacant title on 30 August 2008 and the WBA decided to make Chagaev "Champion In Recess". Valuev defeated Ruiz by unanimous decision to regain the WBA heavyweight championship, with Valuev and Chagaev set to fight no later than 26 June 2009 to determine whom the WBA regarded as their champion.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: Valuev's first title defense of his second reign as WBA Champion was against the 46-year-old, four-time heavyweight champion of the world, Evander Holyfield, on 20 December 2008. Before the match, Valuev weighed 310.8 pounds (141 kg), nearly 100 pounds heavier than Holyfield at 214.3 pounds (97 kg). After a rather uneventful match with no knockdowns and few punches thrown by either fighter, Valuev won a widely disputed majority decision. In response to the controversial result the WBA announced plans to investigate the decision.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: In his second defense on 7 November 2009, billed as "'David vs. Goliath"', Valuev faced off against former unified and lineal cruiserweight champion David Haye (22-1, 21 KOs) at the Arena Nürnberger Versicherung in Nuremberg. Valuev lost by a majority decision (114–114, 116–112, 116–112).


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: Valuev announced his retirement from boxing in a Russian newspaper three days after the loss to Haye on 10 November 2009.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: In 2010, Valuev's doctor went on record saying that he is treating Valuev for "serious bone and joint problems". Valuev underwent two operations that required at least six months on the sidelines.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: Valuev confirmed in 2013 that medical advice was one of the reasons he is not planning to make a comeback in boxing.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: Valuev's first role in a film was a cameo appearance in the German film "7 Zwerge – Der Wald ist nicht genug" in 2006. In 2008, Valuev played the main role in the film "Stonehead" by Philip Yankovskiy, playing an ex-boxer who lost his memory. The film took the main prize at the film festival "Window to Europe". After the success of "Stonehead", it was announced Valuev was being filmed in two new films at the same time.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: In August 2016, Valuev became a presenter in “Good Night, Little Ones!”, Russia’s long-running TV program for small children. He replaced Dmitry Malikov as the host.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: In December 2011 Russian parliamentary election, Valuev became a member of the State Duma through the United Russia Party. On 17 December 2012, Valuev supported the law in the Russian Parliament banning adoption of Russian orphans by citizens of the US.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: Following the IOC's decision to suspend Russia from participating in the Olympics under its flag due to the Russian state-sponsored doping scandal, Valuev said that Russia should go to the Olympics and "tear everyone apart to spite these bastards who want to kill our sport."


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: In 2011, Valuev became the general manager of the Russia national bandy team, and is tasked with developing the sport in the country. He is also the Vice-President of the Russian Bandy Federation. Bandy is considered a national sport in Russia.


title: Nikolai Valuev

text: In 2009, Valuev, together with a group of coaches, created the Nikolay Valuev Boxing School, with offices in Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast. The school is divided into three types of age groups: pupils (school terms 3-5), students (terms 6-8), and adults. School pupils participate and compete in various boxing matches, including the "Valuev Cup" youth boxing tournament, which became a regular competition in Saint Petersburg.


title: Pentose phosphate pathway

text: The pentose phosphate pathway (also called the phosphogluconate pathway and the hexose monophosphate shunt and the HMP Shunt) is a metabolic pathway parallel to glycolysis. It generates NADPH and pentoses (5-carbon sugars) as well as ribose 5-phosphate, a precursor for the synthesis of nucleotides. While the pentose phosphate pathway does involve oxidation of glucose, its primary role is anabolic rather than catabolic. The pathway is especially important in red blood cells (erythrocytes).


title: Pentose phosphate pathway

text: There are two distinct phases in the pathway. The first is the oxidative phase, in which NADPH is generated, and the second is the non-oxidative synthesis of 5-carbon sugars. For most organisms, the pentose phosphate pathway takes place in the cytosol; in plants, most steps take place in plastids.


title: Pentose phosphate pathway

text: Like glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway appears to have a very ancient evolutionary origin. The reactions of this pathway are mostly enzyme-catalyzed in modern cells, however, they also occur non-enzymatically under conditions that replicate those of the Archean ocean, and are catalyzed by metal ions, particularly ferrous ions (Fe(II)). This suggests that the origins of the pathway could date back to the prebiotic world.


title: Pentose phosphate pathway

text: Aromatic amino acids, in turn, are precursors for many biosynthetic pathways, including the lignin in wood.


title: Pentose phosphate pathway

text: Dietary pentose sugars derived from the digestion of nucleic acids may be metabolized through the pentose phosphate pathway, and the carbon skeletons of dietary carbohydrates may be converted into glycolytic/gluconeogenic intermediates.


title: Pentose phosphate pathway

text: In mammals, the PPP occurs exclusively in the cytoplasm. In humans, it is found to be most active in the liver, mammary glands, and adrenal cortex. The PPP is one of the three main ways the body creates molecules with reducing power, accounting for approximately 60% of NADPH production in humans.


title: Pentose phosphate pathway

text: One of the uses of NADPH in the cell is to prevent oxidative stress. It reduces glutathione via glutathione reductase, which converts reactive HO into HO by glutathione peroxidase. If absent, the HO would be converted to hydroxyl free radicals by Fenton chemistry, which can attack the cell. Erythrocytes, for example, generate a large amount of NADPH through the pentose phosphate pathway to use in the reduction of glutathione.


title: Pentose phosphate pathway

text: Hydrogen peroxide is also generated for phagocytes in a process often referred to as a respiratory burst.


title: Pentose phosphate pathway

text: In this phase, two molecules of NADP are reduced to NADPH, utilizing the energy from the conversion of glucose-6-phosphate into ribulose 5-phosphate.


title: Pentose phosphate pathway

text: 3 ribulose-5-phosphate → 1 ribose-5-phosphate + 2 xylulose-5-phosphate → 2 fructose-6-phosphate + glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate


title: Pentose phosphate pathway

text: Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase is the rate-controlling enzyme of this pathway. It is allosterically stimulated by NADP and strongly inhibited by NADPH. The ratio of NADPH:NADP is the primary mode of regulation for the enzyme and is normally about 100:1 in liver cytosol. This makes the cytosol a highly-reducing environment. An NADPH-utilizing pathway forms NADP, which stimulates Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase to produce more NADPH. This step is also inhibited by acetyl CoA.


title: Pentose phosphate pathway

text: G6PD activity is also post-translationally regulated by cytoplasmic deacetylase SIRT2. SIRT2-mediated deacetylation and activation of G6PD stimulates oxidative branch of PPP to supply cytosolic NADPH to counteract oxidative damage or support "de novo" lipogenesis.


title: Pentose phosphate pathway

text: Several deficiencies in the level of activity (not function) of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase have been observed to be associated with resistance to the malarial parasite "Plasmodium falciparum" among individuals of Mediterranean and African descent. The basis for this resistance may be a weakening of the red cell membrane (the erythrocyte is the host cell for the parasite) such that it cannot sustain the parasitic life cycle long enough for productive growth.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: I Am... Sasha Fierce is the third studio album by American singer Beyoncé. It was released on November 12, 2008, by Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment. In its original release, the album was formatted as a double album, intending to market Beyoncé's dichotomous artistic persona. The first disc "I Am..." contains slow and midtempo pop and R&B ballads, while the second, "Sasha Fierce" (named after Beyoncé's on-stage alter ego), focuses on more uptempo beats that blend electropop and Europop elements. In composing the songs' lyrics, Beyoncé worked with writers, with each session accompanied by live orchestration.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: Beyoncé credited both her husband—rapper Jay-Z—and jazz singer Etta James for inspiring her to push the limits of her songwriting and artistry. Musically, "I Am..." drew inspiration from folk and alternative rock, while blending acoustic guitar elements into contemporary ballads, and its tracks were written and produced by Beyoncé, during collaborative efforts with Babyface, Tricky Stewart, The-Dream and Ryan Tedder. "Sasha Fierce" boasted production from Darkchild and Sean Garrett.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: "I Am... Sasha Fierce" received mixed to positive reviews from music critics and was a massive commercial success, debuting at number one on the US "Billboard" 200 chart with first-week sales of 482,000 units and earning Beyoncé her third consecutive US number-one solo album. The album has earned one diamond and over thirty platinum certifications in separate worldwide markets, being certified six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), shipping over six million units in the United States. "I Am... Sasha Fierce" has sold 10 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century. The album garnered seven Grammy Award nominations at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony (2010), including a nomination for Album of the Year, winning six—the most awards won in one night by a female artist.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: The album was marketed with the release of several singles, including "If I Were a Boy" and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", both of which charted highly internationally. The former topped the charts in over ten countries and reached number three on the "Billboard" Hot 100, with the latter becoming her fifth number-one single on the Hot 100 chart. "Diva" and "Ego" were released exclusively in the United States, while "Halo" and "Sweet Dreams" were promoted internationally as the third and fourth singles, respectively. "Broken-Hearted Girl" was released internationally as the fifth single, while "Video Phone" was released in September 2009 as the overall eighth, and "Why Don't You Love Me" was released in July 2010 as the ninth and final single. To further promote the album, Beyoncé made several award show and televised appearances across Europe and America, and embarking on the worldwide I Am... World Tour (2009–10).


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: The recording of the album took place over an eight-month period. Beyoncé recorded the album in sessions at Bangladesh Studios, PatchWerk Recording Studios, Silent Sound Studios and Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta, Georgia; Chung King Studios, Electric Lady Studios, Roc the Mic Studios and Strawberrybee Productions in New York City, New York; GAD Studios in Ibiza, Spain; Mansfield Studios and The Campground in Los Angeles, California; South Beat Studios in Miami Beach, Florida; and The Boom Boom Room in Burbank, California. Beyoncé either co-wrote or co-produced all material on "I Am... Sasha Fierce". She collaborated with several record producers and songwriters, including Babyface, Stargate (production duo composed of Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen), Tricky Stewart, The-Dream, Darkchild, Sean Garrett, Solange Knowles, Jim Jonsin, Rico Love, Ryan Tedder, Bangladesh, Ian Dench, Dave McCracken, Wayne Wilkins and Blac Elvis. Beyoncé also collaborated with some musicians she had never worked with in the past, such as Toby Gad and BC Jean on "If I Were a Boy"; she also worked again with Amanda Ghost on "Disappear".


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: For the "I Am..." disc, Beyoncé was influenced by folk and alternative rock genres, while incorporating other instruments she had not normally used previously, such as the acoustic guitar. Tedder specifically assisted Beyoncé with crafting the album's balladry. The ballads were crafted in a way to combine "the best elements" of pop and soul music, while simultaneously "expanding the possibilities of both genres". Beyoncé attempted something different as people had strong expectations from her; she experimented with stronger lyrics. Beyoncé worked with Ghost to re-write Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria" after having co-written "Disappear" in London, England. Ghost told "The Daily Telegraph" that they were both inspired by their then-recent marriages and had walked down the aisle to "Ave Maria". The song "Smash Into You", featured on the deluxe edition of the album, was originally slated to appear on Jon McLaughlin's sophomore album OK Now under the name "Smack Into You", but was cut from the finalized tracklist after it was leaked online and was subsequently given to Knowles.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: During the nine-month period between November 2007 and August 2008, Beyoncé recorded over seventy songs and decided during the editing process that she did not want to reconcile the two approaches into one disc. If a song was meaningless to her, she would cut it off during the process of elimination for the final track listing. After a process of elimination, twelve tracks were selected to be placed on the standard edition of the album, while five additional tracks were chosen to make the final cut for the deluxe edition of the album. Beyoncé later revealed that songs from established producers like The Neptunes and Danja were not able to make the final cut.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: In an interview for "Billboard" magazine, Beyoncé described "I Am... Sasha Fierce" as a double album. She said, "One side has songs that are more mainstream and another has my more traditional R&B songs for my fans who've been there the whole time. Some of it sounds like Barbra Streisand, Karen Carpenter and The Beatles around the 1970s." Music writer Andy Kellman of AllMusic viewed its first disc as "essentially a small set of adult contemporary ballads. Acoustic guitars, pianos, strings, contemplative soul searching, and grand sweeping gestures fill it out, with more roots in '[19]70s soft rock than soul." The second disc, "Sasha Fierce", contains consistent electronic influences, which are displayed in songs like "Radio" and "Sweet Dreams". Kellman said in his review that "Diva" resembles "B'Day"'s "Freakum Dress" or "Ring the Alarm" in terms of audacity. Despite being on the "Sasha Fierce" disc, "Ego", "Why Don't You Love Me" and "Scared of Lonely" were noted to be a meeting ground between the album's halves. According to Jennifer Vineyard of MTV News, they resemble "Sasha Fierce" musically, but thematically and lyrically, they are vulnerable like Beyoncé on the "I Am..." disc. The album formally introduces Beyoncé's alter ego Sasha Fierce. She revealed that Sasha was born during the making of her hit single "Crazy in Love" (2003). In an interview with Emmet Sullivan of "People" magazine, Beyoncé affirmed that her alter ego is strictly for the stage, with the editor describing Sasha Fierce as the singer's sensual, aggressive alter ego.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: "If I Were a Boy", the first single of "I Am...", stands as the only song on either disc that Beyoncé did not co-write. BC Jean, who wrote most of the song's lyrics, took inspiration from a poor relationship. Beyoncé explained in "Essence" that "If I Were a Boy" is different from her previous songs in the sense that it is not a traditional R&B song. Music critics remarked that the song seemed to be a mixture of her hit single "Irreplaceable" (2006), Fergie's single "Big Girls Don't Cry" (2007), and Ciara's single "Like a Boy" (2007). Ann Powers of the "Los Angeles Times" saw the song's theme of female empowerment as an expansion on that of "Irreplaceable". Musically, "Single Ladies" is an upbeat-dance-pop and R&B song, and features dancehall and bounce influences. According to Jonah Weiner of "Blender", the song makes a clear reference to marriage while Greg Kot of the "Chicago Tribune" felt that the lyrics had a connection with "post-breakup". "Halo", composed by Ryan Tedder and Evan Bogart, was initially intended for Beyoncé but was almost recorded by Leona Lewis due to Beyoncé's schedule. According to Christian Williams of "Billboard", "Halo" has a mainstream pop sound, with subtle R&B undertones. "Ave Maria" samples Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria". Critics noted "Diva" as a variation on Lil Wayne's "A Milli" and coined it as its female counterpart. "Diva" carries a stuttering beat.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: "Sweet Dreams" was critically acclaimed for its use of electronic bassline, which some critics compared to Michael Jackson's "Beat It" because of its electropop sound. "Sweet Dreams" is derived from contemporary R&B and incorporates influences from the classic 1980s funk. "Broken-Hearted Girl" is a midtempo piano ballad. Its production and melody is backed by strings and a drum machine beat. According to Spence D. of IGN Music, "Hello" comes off like another ballad that "populate[s] the first part of the album." It contains the "Jerry Maguire" line – "You had me at hello" – as part of its chorus. It essentially consists of "sweet guitar-picking and delicate harmonies." According to critics, "Video Phone" contains lyrics that are in reference to "a celebration of Skype sex and putting on a solo show, on camera, for a guy you just met at the club". The remixed version featured both Beyoncé and Lady Gaga trading verses with one another. Musically the song consists of simple lyrics, with hidden innuendos, and is backed by thin-spread beats; Beyoncé and Gaga uttering gasps and groans while singing the song. "Disappear" consists of "sweet guitar-picking and delicate harmonies". "That's Why You're Beautiful" is a slow-tempo soft rock and rock power ballad, which consists of a "grungy" guitar riff and stuterring drums. Critics compared the song with the materials by Alice in Chains and Jill Scott. The platinum edition of the album also included a cover version of Billy Joel's song "Honesty" (1979).


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: The album was titled "I Am... Sasha Fierce" to showcase the difference between Beyoncé and her alter ego Sasha Fierce; the first disc is titled "I Am..." while the second is titled "Sasha Fierce".


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: Making comparisons to a magazine, Beyoncé elaborated that the record was a double album and that it had two covers. The cover artworks for the standard, deluxe and platinum editions of "I Am... Sasha Fierce" were all shot by German photographer Peter Lindbergh.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: In a 2021 interview for "Harper's Bazaar", Beyoncé revealed that she based the entire project on black and white photography after being told in a meeting discussing analytics that a research discovered that her fans did not like when her photography was black and white. She stated that "it pissed her off that an agency could dictate what her fans wanted based on a survey", pointing out that she was "so exhausted and annoyed with these formulaic corporate companies" and highlighting the album's subsequent great commercial success.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: Beyoncé promoted "I Am... Sasha Fierce" through various televised appearances and awards ceremonies by performing songs featured on the album from late 2008 until early 2010. Beyoncé's father and then-manager Mathew Knowles held a listening party for the album in New York City on October 22, 2008. Beyoncé first promoted "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" in a concert organized by the Power 105.1 radio station on October 29. Beyoncé first performed "If I Were a Boy" on October 31, on the Japanese music television program "Music Station". She later performed “If I Were a Boy” on November 6, at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards. Soon after, she sang "If I Were a Boy" and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" on November 9, at the 2008 World Music Awards in Monaco. She then took to the stage of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to perform "If I Were a Boy" on November 13. She appeared on "Saturday Night Live" on November 15, where she sang "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". On November 16, Beyoncé sang a medley of "If I Were a Boy", "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", and "Crazy in Love" during the final episode of "Total Request Live". "I Am... Sasha Fierce" was released in the United States on November 18, 2008, and previously in Japan on November 12, in Australia and Germany on November 14, and in France and the United Kingdom on November 17; deluxe edition of the album was released simultaneously with the standard edition. Beyoncé performed "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" on BET's "106 & Park" on November 18, at the 2008 American Music Awards on November 23, on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on November 25, on "Today" the following day, and on "The Tyra Banks Show" with two male dancers, on January 9, 2009. Beyoncé's first live performance of "Halo" was at the 40th NAACP Image Awards on February 12, 2009. She later performed the song on the "Late Show with David Letterman" after an interview on April 22, 2009.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: On June 16, 2009, "" was released, composed of a CD of dance remixes to the singles from the album, including the remix of "Ego" with rapper Kanye West, and a DVD featuring music videos previously released for those singles, as well as behind-the-scenes footage. Beyoncé was due to perform "Sweet Dreams" at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards on September 13; however, she only performed the bridge from the song at the beginning of her performance, before switching to "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)". The platinum edition of "I Am... Sasha Fierce" was released in Australia on Beyoncé's twenty-eighth birthday on September 4, 2009, and in the United States on October 20, 2009; it included a cover version of Billy Joel's song "Honesty" (1979). Beyoncé performed "Sweet Dreams" at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards on November 5. The deluxe edition of "I Am... Sasha Fierce" was reissued in the United States on November 23, 2009, including all of the previously released songs in addition to the new songs "Poison" and the remix of "Video Phone" with Lady Gaga. An extended play (EP) titled "I Am... Sasha Fierce – The Bonus Tracks" was released the same day for digital download in the United States, featuring the latter songs, along with Why Don't You Love Me. Beyoncé performed "If I Were a Boy" on January 31, 2010, at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, along with a cover of Alanis Morissette's song "You Oughta Know" (1995). In February 2010, the bonus track "Why Don't You Love Me" from the album's multiple reissues, climbed up the US Dance Club Songs, eventually taking the top spot and becoming Beyoncé's thirteenth number-one hit on the chart. On May 4, 2010, a full-length music video appeared online after its release as a promotional single.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: To further promote the album, Beyoncé embarked on the I Am... World Tour, which started in Edmonton, Canada on March 26, 2009. The European leg of the tour started on April 26 in Zagreb, Croatia, and ended on June 9 in London, England. On June 21, she began the third leg of the tour in the United States and finished in August with the "I Am... Yours" four-day revue at Encore Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. Starting on September 15, 2009, the fourth leg began in Melbourne, Australia and finished on September 24 in Perth, Australia. Beyoncé then went on to perform in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and the United Kingdom, before finishing the 2009 portion of the tour on November 24 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The tour had its final leg in February 2010, visiting Latin America. Starting on February 4 in Florianópolis, Brazil, she visited five other places before ending in Trinidad on February 18. According to Pollstar, the 2010 shows earned $17.2 million, which added to the total of $86 million for the first 86 concerts in 2009, bringing the tour total to $103.2 million for 97 shows. The "I Am... Yours" residency at the Encore Theater in Las Vegas was recorded on August 2, 2009, and later released as a DVD, audio CD and television special in late November 2009 titled "". Various performances on the tour were filmed worldwide for a live DVD, "I Am... World Tour", which was released on November 30, 2010.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: On October 8, 2008, Beyoncé premiered two lead singles from the album. "If I Were a Boy" peaked at number three on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, topped eight charts worldwide and reached the top ten on many other charts. "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" was the second lead single and peaked at number one on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming Beyoncé's fifth number-one single, and was also successful in other international markets, peaking within the top ten around the world. The singles were certified double platinum and quadruple platinum, respectively, by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). "Diva" was released exclusively in the United States and peaked at number nineteen on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming Beyoncé's twelfth top-twenty single, and at number three on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. It was certified gold by the RIAA. The next single, "Halo", was released internationally and peaked at number five on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, proving to be commercially successful and reaching top ten around the world. It was certified double platinum by the RIAA on January 5, 2010.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: Following announcements of the I Am... World Tour two more singles were initially lined up, namely "Broken-Hearted Girl" and "Sweet Dreams"—though they switched order to become the sixth and seventh singles, respectively. "Sweet Dreams" reached the top ten in most countries, including the United States, managing to top the New Zealand Singles Chart, and was certified platinum by the RIAA on January 5, 2010. "Broken-Hearted Girl", the seventh single, reached the top forty on charts around the world, despite never being certified nor released in the United States. "Video Phone" was released as the eighth single from "I Am... Sasha Fierce" on September 22, 2009, with an accompanying music video and digital download release, taking form as an extended remix featuring American recording artist Lady Gaga. Like its predecessor, it reached the top-forty on charts around the world, peaking at number sixty-five on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. It also became Beyoncé's fourteenth number-one on the US Hot Dance Club Songs. "Why Don't You Love Me" was released as the ninth and final single on July 2, 2010, and peaked atop the US Hot Dance Club Songs, before its official single release. As of July 2010, the digital tracks from the album had sold a combined total of 12.3 million units in the United States; and according to Columbia Records the album has sold fifteen million digital singles worldwide.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: "I Am... Sasha Fierce" received mixed to positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 62 (indicating "generally favorable reviews"), based on 24 reviews. "Slant Magazine"s Sal Cinquemani wrote that the album's "strength" is "its individual songs ... a testament to Beyoncé as one of today's most reliable singles artists", but felt that "the real disparity is her inability to reconcile the adult-contemporary schmaltz of "I Am" with the more modern, edgy sounds of "Sasha Fierce"." Adam Mattera of "The Observer" felt that both discs lack depth, observing that the first is "too busy chasing radio formats to expose any genuine soul", and criticizing the second disc's "succession of independent woman anthems such as 'Single Ladies' and 'Diva', which will no doubt inspire drag queens the world over but leave most others bemused." AllMusic's Andy Kellman called its double-disc "gimmick" "flimsy" and favored its second disc's "decent, if easily forgettable, upbeat pop." He expressed that on the "I Am..." disc, "Beyoncé "feels" each line to the fullest extent, which almost rescues the set's staidness." In his consumer guide for "MSN Music", Robert Christgau named it the "dud of the month", indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought". He found its "split-personality bit" to be "deeply vapid", only observing "three good songs on this 11-track artifact".


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: Jonah Weiner of "Blender" commented that "Beyoncé is still a beauty-shop feminist, quick with the smack-downs, and she still describes the rattling rush of love with preternatural poise". Stacey Anderson of "Spin" commented that its first disc "meanders over [...] down-tempo cuts" and called "... Sasha" "an intriguing but diluted direction". "The Village Voice"s Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond felt that the "I Am..." disc lacks cohesion, but complimented ""Sasha Fierce" as "brassy, big-headed, confrontational, and witty," and stated, "each incendiary track challenges you to leave your inhibitions at coat-check." Christian Hoard of "Rolling Stone" noted that its slow songs are "full of bland self-affirmation and saggy lines", but wrote that "the "Sasha" disc boasts Beyoncé's most adventurous music yet". Colin McGuire of PopMatters called the album "a little rough around the edges at times" and viewed its "Sasha Fierce" disc as "a far more compelling trip down dance-lane". Leah Greenblatt of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote that the album offers "two compelling sides" of Beyoncé and stated: "The collection might have been better served had she edited it down to one disc, rather than belabor what ultimately seems like a marketing gimmick. And while fans will surely speculate, there's little in the lyrics that feels more revealing than previous emotional fire-starters." Sasha Frere-Jones from "The New Yorker" found the album to be "something of a mess", mostly because the alter ego "trips on the idea of redefinition".


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: Leah Greenblatt of "Entertainment Weekly" ranked "I Am… Sasha Fierce" at number two on her list "10 Best CDs of 2008", stating that "'If I Were a Boy' and 'Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)' are undoubtedly album highlights; still, the surprise here is how consistently satisfying the rest of it is – even the less showy tracks blossom on repeated listening." Mark Edward Nero of About.com ranked it at the ninth place on his list of the Best R&B Albums of 2008. Christian Gerard of NBC Washington placed "I Am... Sasha Fierce" on his list of "Honorable Mentions" while writing the list "Best Albums of 2008". Agence France-Presse, as reported by ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs, recognized "I Am... Sasha Fierce" as the twelfth best-selling album of 2008. On "The Village Voice"s Pazz & Jop year-end lists, "I Am... Sasha Fierce" was ranked at numbers three-hundred-and-thirty-three and five-hundred-and-eighty in 2008 and 2009, respectively. The album was ranked at number twelve on the list of the best albums of the 2000s decade in "Rolling Stone"s Reader's Poll. The writers of "Entertainment Weekly" ranked "I Am... Sasha Fierce" at number eight on their list "10 Best Albums of the Decade".


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: "I Am... Sasha Fierce" won a Soul Train Music Award for Best Album of the Year at the 2009 Soul Train Music Awards. Beyoncé won the American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist at the American Music Awards of 2009, while "I Am... Sasha Fierce" garnered a nomination for Favorite Soul/R&B Album. Beyoncé also won a BET Award for Best R&B Artist at the BET Awards 2009. However, she lost the same award to Alicia Keys at the following ceremony. Similarly, Beyoncé was nominated for Brit Award for International Female Solo Artist at the 2009 Brit Awards, for a Meteor Music Award for Best International Female at the 2009 Meteor Awards, and for International Dance Music Awards for Best Artist (Solo) and Best R&B/Urban Dance Track for "Sweet Dreams" at the 25th Annual International Dance Music Awards (2010). At the MOBO Awards 2009, Beyoncé won the MOBO Award for Best International Act and "I Am... Sasha Fierce" was nominated for Best Album. Beyoncé won an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Female, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" won Best Video and "Halo" won Best Song at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: "I Am... Sasha Fierce" was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album at the 40th NAACP Image Awards (2009), and for an NRJ Music Award for International Album of the Year at the NRJ Music Awards 2010. Beyoncé was also nominated for a People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Artist and Favorite R&B Artist at the 36th People's Choice Awards (2010), as well as winning a Teen Choice Award for Choice Music: R&B Artist at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, and being nominated for World's Best R&B Artist at the 2010 World Music Awards. "I Am... Sasha Fierce" and its singles earned Beyoncé seven Grammy Award nominations at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards (2010), including Album of the Year. She won a record-setting six Grammy Awards out of seven, and an award for her rendition of the classic Etta James' song "At Last", from the "Cadillac Records" .


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: "I Am... Sasha Fierce" debuted at number one on the US "Billboard" 200, selling 482,000 copies in its first week and giving Beyoncé her third consecutive number-one album in the United States. With this, Beyoncé became the third female artist of the 2000s to have her first three albums debut atop the US "Billboard" 200. Having sold 1,459,000 copies in six weeks of release by the end of 2008, "I Am... Sasha Fierce" emerged as the tenth best-selling album of the year according to "Billboard". With this achievement, Beyoncé eventually equaled Garth Brooks, Mariah Carey, and Shania Twain for placing an album in Nielsen SoundScan's year-end top ten for the fifth time. The album later emerged as the second best-selling album of 2009 in the United States itself. It has been certified six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). As of July 2022, "I Am... Sasha Fierce" has sold 8.12 million album-equivalent units in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number ten on November 29, 2008, becoming Beyoncé's lowest-debuting album despite having higher first-week sales than her previous album, "B'Day" (2006). Following her performance at "The X Factor" fifth season finale with winner Alexandra Burke, the album moved up to number nine on December 27, 2008. Due to the success of its singles in the United Kingdom, particularly "Sweet Dreams", "I Am... Sasha Fierce" rose from number five to its highest peak of number two in its thirty-ninth week on the chart, which was the week of August 16, 2009. It is her best-selling album in the United Kingdom, having sold over 1.5 million copies. It was certified six times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.


title: I Am... Sasha Fierce

text: In Australia, "I Am... Sasha Fierce" debuted at number nine on November 24, 2008 and peaked at number eight on January 5, 2009. Following the success of singles "Sweet Dreams" and "Broken-Hearted Girl", the album rebounded to a new peak of number three on two separate occasions in October 2009. It was later certified quadruple platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). In New Zealand, the album debuted at number sixteen on November 24, 2008 and initially peaked at number six on March 2, 2009. After growing popularity of its singles, especially "Sweet Dreams", the album upped to a new peak of number three on September 21, 2009. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) on April 26, 2009 (after twenty-three weeks on the chart), shipping over 15,000 copies to retailers and was later certified double platinum. In Spain, the album debuted and peaked at number seven on November 26, 2008, and was certified platinum by the Productores de Música de España (PROMUSICAE) for shipments of over 60,000 copies on October 26, 2009. The album was also the best-selling international album of 2009 in Turkey. The album experienced massive success in Brazil, topping the country's year-end chart and being certified double diamond for sales in excess of 500,000 copies by Pro-Música Brasil. The album has sold over ten million copies worldwide. As of February 2017, the album has generated over 1 billion streams.


title: Challenge coin

text: A challenge coin is a small coin or medallion, bearing an organization's insignia or emblem and carried by the organization's members. Traditionally, they might be given to prove membership when asked and to enhance morale. They are also collected by service members and law enforcement personnel. Historically, challenge coins were presented by unit commanders in recognition of special achievement by a member of the unit. They could also be exchanged in recognition of visits to an organization.


title: Challenge coin

text: Modern day challenge coins may feature popular culture attributes or organizational values. Modern challenge coins are made in a variety of sizes and are often made using popular culture references, including superheroes and other well known characters in a way that creates a parody.


title: Challenge coin

text: There are several stories detailing the origins of the challenge coin. Many originate in popular culture based on current events.


title: Challenge coin

text: The Roman Empire rewarded soldiers by presenting them with coins to recognize their achievements. In Rome, if soldiers excelled in battle one day, they would receive their typical day's wages along with a separate bonus coin each. According to some accounts, these bonus coins were specially minted, featuring the marks of the legions from which they came. As a result, some soldiers apparently kept their coins as mementos, instead of spending them.


title: Challenge coin

text: Challenge coins were also known as "Portrait Medals" during the Renaissance, and were often used to commemorate specific events involving royalty, nobility, or other types of well-to-do individuals. The medals would be given as gifts or awards, and people also exchanged them with friends and associates. The most common format was for one side to depict the patron while the other showed something that represented that individual's family, house, lineage, and/or seal.


title: Challenge coin

text: The first instance of using a coin as a response to an actual challenge may come from the 17th century religious wars in France. Following King Louis XIV's 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes, French Protestants began to suffer persecution by the state for their illegal religion. Many Protestants fled France to find religious freedom elsewhere. Among those who chose to remain in France were some from a Protestant group known as Huguenots who were forced to conduct their religious services in secret. In order to avoid infiltration by state spies the Huguenots began to carry their méreau communion coin. When challenged while trying to gain entry to Protestant church services the Huguenot would produce his méreau coin as a token to show allegiance with the Protestant Church and be admitted entry.


title: Challenge coin

text: According to one story, challenge coins originated during World War I. Before the entry of the United States into the war in 1917 American volunteers from all parts of the country filled the newly formed flying squadrons of the Army and Naval Air Service. Some were wealthy scions attending colleges such as Yale and Harvard who quit in mid-term to join the war.


title: Challenge coin

text: In one squadron, a wealthy lieutenant ordered medallions struck in solid bronze and presented them to his unit. One young pilot placed the medallion in a small leather pouch that he wore about his neck. Shortly after acquiring the medallion, the pilot's aircraft was severely damaged by ground fire. He was forced to land behind enemy lines and was immediately captured by a German patrol. In order to discourage his escape, the Germans took all of his personal identification except for the small leather pouch around his neck. In the meantime, he was taken to a small French town near the front. Taking advantage of a bombardment that night, he escaped. However, he was without personal identification. He succeeded in avoiding German patrols by donning civilian attire and reached the front lines. With great difficulty, he crossed no-man's land. Eventually, he stumbled onto a French outpost. Saboteurs had plagued the French in the sector. They sometimes masqueraded as civilians and wore civilian clothes. Not recognizing the young pilot's American accent, the French thought him to be a saboteur and made ready to execute him. He had no identification to prove his allegiance, but he did have his leather pouch containing the medallion. He showed the medallion to his would-be executioners and one of his French captors recognized the squadron insignia on the medallion. They delayed his execution long enough for him to confirm his identity. Instead of shooting him they gave him a bottle of wine.


title: Challenge coin

text: Back at his squadron, it became tradition to ensure that all members carried their medallion or coin at all times. This was accomplished through challenge in the following manner: a challenger would ask to see the medallion, if the challenged could not produce a medallion, they were required to buy a drink of choice for the member who challenged them. If the challenged member produced a medallion, then the challenging member was required to pay for the drink. This tradition continued throughout the war and for many years after the war while surviving members of the squadron were still alive.


title: Challenge coin

text: According to another story, challenge coins date back to World War II and were first used by Office of Strategic Service personnel who were deployed in Nazi held France. Similarly, Jim Harrington proposed a Jolly sixpence club amongst the junior officers of the 107th Infantry. The coins were simply a local coin used as a "bona fides" during a personal meeting to help verify a person's identity. There would be specific aspects such as type of coin, date of the coin, etc. that were examined by each party. This helped prevent infiltration into the meeting by a spy who would have to have advance knowledge of the meeting time and place as well as what coin was to be presented, amongst other signals, as bona fides.


title: Challenge coin

text: Others argue the tradition started in Vietnam, when an Army infantry-run bar tried to keep non-infantrymen away by forcing “outsiders” to buy drinks for the whole bar if they couldn't prove they had been in combat. The “proof” started with enemy bullets, then got a little out of control with grenades, rockets and unexploded ordnance. So a coin-sized item emblazoned with the unit's insignia became the accepted form of proof. This tradition, now known as a coin check, continues today, hence it being called a “challenge” coin.


title: Challenge coin

text: While a number of legends place the advent of challenge coins in the post-Korean Conflict era (some as late as the Vietnam War), or even later, Colonel William "Buffalo Bill" Quinn had coins made for those who served in his 17th Infantry Regiment during 1950 to 1958. The 17th Infantry Regiment "Buffalo" coin is the oldest challenge coin known in existence. On one side of the coin is a picture of a buffalo with the date 1812, which signified the year the unit was formed. On the other side was the 17th Infantry patch with the dates 1950 – 1958 and the word Korea to signify the tour. The cross and fort icon represent the units heritage which started in Cuba during the civil war. This coin is recognized as one of the oldest and most valuable challenge coins in circulation. Very few remain available and most are thought to be in private collections.


title: Challenge coin

text: Colonel Verne Green, commander of the 10th Special Forces Group-A, embraced the idea. He had a special coin struck with the unit's badge and motto in 1969. Until the 1980s, his unit was the only unit with an active challenge coin tradition.


title: Challenge coin

text: There is another story about an American soldier scheduled to rendezvous with Philippine guerrillas during WWII. As the story goes, he carried a Philippine solid silver coin that was stamped on one side with the unit insignia. The coin was used to verify, to the guerrillas, that the soldier was their valid contact for the mission against the Japanese.


title: Challenge coin

text: The challenge coin tradition has spread to other military units, in all branches of service, and even to non-military organizations as well as the United States Congress, which produces challenge coins for members of Congress to give to constituents. Today, challenge coins are given to members upon joining an organization, as an award to improve morale, and sold to commemorate special occasions or as fundraisers. In the Air Force, military training instructors award an airman's coin to new enlisted personnel upon completion of their United States Air Force Basic Military Training and to new officers upon completion of the Air Force Officer Training School.


title: Challenge coin

text: Challenge coins issued by presidents date back to the late 1990s. Separately, the White House Communication Agency (WHCA) has issued challenge coins for foreign heads and military during Presidential visits. In May 2018, controversy arose when WHCA released a coin featuring President Donald Trump and North Korean head Kim Jong-un ahead of peace talks scheduled for June 2018 in Singapore.


title: Challenge coin

text: President Bill Clinton displayed several racks of challenge coins, which had been given to him by U.S. service members, on the credenza behind his Oval Office desks. These coins are currently on display at the Clinton Library. The challenge coins appear in the background of his official portrait, now hanging in the White House.


title: Challenge coin

text: President George W. Bush received a challenge coin from a Marine combat patrol unit during his short but unexpected visit to Al Asad Airbase in Anbar province, Iraq, 3 September 2007.


title: Challenge coin

text: President Barack Obama, in addition to handing challenge coins to U.S. service members, would leave coins on the memorial graves of dead soldiers.


title: Challenge coin

text: President Donald Trump's coin broke with tradition, omitting the presidential seal, the motto "E pluribus unum" and the thirteen arrows representing the thirteen original states. His campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" appears on both sides. It features a banner at the bottom, which also serves as a base allowing the coin to stand upright.


title: Challenge coin

text: President Joe Biden's coin depicts his home state of Delaware and "261st" for the 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade of the Delaware Army National Guard, his late son Beau Biden's unit.


title: Challenge coin

text: The tradition of a challenge is the most common way to ensure that members are carrying their unit's coin. The rules of a challenge are not always formalized for a unit, and may vary between organizations. The challenge only applies to those members that have been given a coin formally by their unit. This may lead to some controversy when challenges are initiated between members of different organizations and is not recommended. The tradition of the coin challenge is meant to be a source of morale in a unit, and forcing the challenge can cause a reverse effect. The act of challenging is called a "coin check" and is usually loudly announced.


title: Challenge coin

text: The challenge, which can be made at any time, begins with the challenger drawing his/her coin, and slapping or placing the coin on the table or bar. In noisy environments, continuously rapping the challenge coin on a surface may initiate the challenge. (Accidentally dropping a challenge coin is considered to be a deliberate challenge to all present.) Everyone being challenged must immediately produce the coin for their organization and anyone failing to do so must buy a round of drinks for the challenger and everyone else who has their challenge coin. However, should everyone challenged be able to produce their coin, the challenger must buy a round of drinks for the group.


title: Challenge coin

text: While most holders of challenge coins usually carry them in their pockets or in some other readily accessible place on their persons, most versions of the rules permit a challenged person "a step and a reach" or if an individual has an extra coin to pass it off to the person closest to them. Coins on belt buckles or key chains are not acceptable for meeting a challenge. However, a coin worn around the neck is acceptable for meeting a coin challenge.


title: Challenge coin

text: Variants of the rules include, but are not limited to, the following: If someone is able to steal a challenge coin, everyone in the group must buy a drink for that person. During a challenge, everyone in the group must buy a drink for the holder of the highest-ranking coin.


title: Challenge coin

text: A coin's rank is determined by the rank of the giver of the challenge coin. For example, a coin presented by an Admiral would outrank a coin presented by a Vice Admiral, while both would outrank a coin presented by a Captain. Traditionally, the presentation of a coin is passed during a handshake. Some units provide strict time limits to respond to a challenge. Also coins are ranked in level of difficulty in attaining them. An Infantryman coin would outrank a logistical coin. A Ranger coin would outrank an Infantryman coin.


title: Challenge coin

text: Traditionally, rules of a challenge include a prohibition against defacing the coin, especially if it makes it easier to carry at all times. If the challenge coin is attached to a belt buckle or key ring, or has had a hole drilled in it to attach to a lanyard, it no longer qualifies as a challenge coin.


title: Challenge coin

text: There are many finishes available—from a simple pewter to 24K gold. While there are only a few base metals, the patina (finish) can range from gold, silver, or nickel to brass, copper, or bronze—plus the antiqued variations. Soft or hard enamel or a printed inset with an epoxy coating may add color (the epoxies are often more resilient and scratch resistant than the metal surfaces).


title: Challenge coin

text: Challenge coins are moderately inexpensive to design and produce. There are two basic processes by which to manufacture: zinc-alloy castings or die struck bronze.


title: Challenge coin

text: Zinc alloy castings offer the advantage of low cost. Zinc casting also allows more flexibility in design like cutouts found on spinner coins or bottle opener coins. While a die struck bronze or brass coin is more expensive, the result renders a far superior product (numismatic quality).


title: Challenge coin

text: , coins manufactured in China and South Korea typically cost between US$2.50 to US$7.00 per coin, depending on production process and complexity of design, laser engraving, enamels, voids, etc. The dies must be sculpted by an artist and can range in cost from US$50 to US$300, depending on complexity. The cost of domestic manufacture can be many times this amount.


title: Challenge coin

text: In order to be competitive, most North American companies offering challenge coins rely on having the product manufactured offshore. Many challenge coins are fabricated in South Korea, as the connection to the US military bases there is strong, and costs are cheaper than those made in the US.


title: Challenge coin

text: Besides using coins for challenging, they are also used as rewards or awards for outstanding service or performance of duty. As such, they are used as a tool to build morale. Military officials occasionally give them to non-military personnel for outstanding service or rewards, like the case of student athletes at Northeastern University.


title: Challenge coin

text: In the context as they are used by the modern U.S. military, the tradition probably began among special forces units during the Vietnam War. The tradition spread through the Airborne community, and by the early 1980s also into the 75th Ranger Regiment. As officers were reassigned as their careers progressed, they carried with them the tradition of awarding a unit coin for acts that were worthy of recognition but yet lacked enough merit to submit the soldiers act for an official medal.


title: Challenge coin

text: One widely known challenge coin in the United States Air Force was the "Bull Dog" challenge coin that was exclusive to B-52 enlisted tail gunners. Since the B-52 gunner position was phased out in 1991, this famous challenge coin has become rarer.


title: Challenge coin

text: This coin was presented to gunners upon graduation from their Air Force technical training and their entry into the "Gunners Association". In the earlier days of bombers, a bean or a nugget was used. The coin represents the attributes of strength and courage as reflected in the Bulldog, the gunner's official mascot. The coin was also given to certain "honorary gunners", usually commanders and leaders who portrayed the spirit of the bulldog.


title: Challenge coin

text: Coins given as awards for accomplishments are normally given to the recipient during a handshake, passing from the right hand of the giver to the right hand of the awardee. It is also normal for the giver to offer a brief explanation of the reason for awarding the coin.


title: Challenge coin

text: Challenge coins are also exchanged outside the military. NASCAR, the NFL, cadets of the Civil Air Patrol, Eagle Scouts, Canine Companions, and World Series of Poker all have their own challenge coins. They are also becoming popular with police departments, fire departments and fraternal organizations. In 2007, the Utah Symphony and Opera gave challenge coins to all of its staff and musicians, making it the first symphony organization in America to do so. Franklin Public School in Ontario has a coin that is given to graduates, featuring its mascot 'Frankie'. Many non-profits, especially those with connections to the military, give challenge coins to donors to acknowledge their support of the organization.


title: Challenge coin

text: The FBI's Crisis Response unit was the first unit in the FBI to issue coins to unit members in late 1980s. Memorial coins can be used to commemorate fallen officers.


title: Challenge coin

text: Louis "Uncle Louie" Gregory has created coins that are officially licensed by Topps Trading Cards, Ghostbusters, and Cobra Kai.


title: Challenge coin

text: Coins have been created by the Police Benevolent Association for NYPD precincts. One of these coins was used as a fundraiser dedicated to an officer in the 67 Pct. who was injured in the line of duty, has been criticised for containing racist imagery despite the officer being of Afro American West Indian descent.


title: Challenge coin

text: Another organization in which challenge coins have gained popularity is the "National Association of Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers Motorcycle Club" (NABSTMC), which has over 85 chapters totaling over 2,000 members. The coin must be earned by the members for a noteworthy accomplishment.


title: Challenge coin

text: In 2009, the Harley Owners Group (HOG) created and made available its own challenge coin to Harley-Davidson motorcycle owners.


title: Challenge coin

text: In the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM), participants that won the 'Grand Prize' are given a challenge coin from 2016 on.


title: Challenge coin

text: Varian Medical Systems, a medical device manufacturer, awards challenge coins for notable accomplishments by its service personnel. A significant number of Varian's employees have military backgrounds, where many of them learn the electronics and mechanical skills needed to support Varian equipment.


title: Challenge coin

text: In 2020, a challenge coin went viral when America's largest challenge coin retailer released a coin about an incident that occurred in Connecticut with Trooper Spina.


title: Challenge coin

text: In 2020, the Secretary of the State of Virginia sent a cease and desist to Louis "Uncle Louie" Gregory regarding a challenge coin he created.


title: Challenge coin

text: In his audio commentary for the DVD release of "Iron Man 2", film director Jon Favreau notes that he had "Iron Man 2" challenge coins made to distribute to United States Air Force personnel as a gesture of thanks for their cooperation while the production (and its predecessor, "Iron Man") filmed on location at Edwards Air Force Base.


title: Challenge coin

text: Bill Prady, executive producer of "The Big Bang Theory", gave the "Big Bang Theory" "executive producer's challenge coin" to the crew of the last space shuttle.


title: Challenge coin

text: On the "Rockets" episode of "Lock N' Load with R. Lee Ermey", R. Lee (Gunny) Ermey presents a challenge coin to Second Lieutenant Carr as a reward for being the "top gun" in his class with the Javelin Portable Rocket Launching System.


title: Challenge coin

text: Members of the American Radio Relay League who are volunteer examiners may carry the VEC (volunteer examiner coordinator) challenge coin. These members are responsible for administering Federal Communications Commission sanctioned examinations that allow successful applicants to qualify as amateur radio operators in the three different license categories of: technician, general, and amateur extra.


title: Challenge coin

text: The crew of "Breaking Bad" were given challenge coins designed by show creator Vince Gilligan for each new season. Another challenge coin was also included in the Blu-ray set of the entire series of the show.


title: Challenge coin

text: Video game companies like Treyarch gave these coins with certain packages for the release of "Black Ops 2".


title: Challenge coin

text: The crowdfunded movie "Lazer Team" gave challenge coins to its backers as an optional perk of funding the movie.


title: Challenge coin

text: A challenge coin is presented in a handshake to Gerard Butler's character in the 2018 film Hunter Killer.


title: Challenge coin

text: Mystery Science Theater 3000 had challenge coins available for purchase commemorating their 30th anniversary on their 2018 30th anniversary "Watch Out For Snakes" Live Tour.


title: Challenge coin

text: Meanwhile, examples can also be found in the realms of business and education. Many businesses are using corporate coins to recognize staff achievements, improve employee morale and reduce turnover,


title: Challenge coin

text: For example, the Builders Association of the Twin Cities (BATC) issued a challenge coin highlighting their core values: "recruit, retain, grow."


title: Challenge coin

text: One of the first appearance of a challenge coin within the Canadian Forces (CF) was that of the Canadian Airborne Regiment. Although conceptualized in the early 1970s, it was not officially adopted until the regiment returned from Cyprus in 1974.


title: Challenge coin

text: Recognized as an "Americanism", the widespread use of challenge coins is new to the Canadian Forces and was introduced by General Rick Hillier as the Canadian Army began to work more closely with the US military. While many regiments and military establishments purchase them as 'challenge coins', most branches and schools within the CF use them for presentation purposes.


title: Challenge coin

text: The first RCAF coin belonged to 427 Squadron. Back in the Second World War, 427 and the film studios Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) shared the lion as their respective symbol. During a ceremony held on 27 May 1943, a bronze statuette of a lion was presented to the squadron as were MGM's coins for the squadron members. These coins granted free access to the MGM's theaters in Britain and were popular with aircrew and ground crew alike. In 1982, the custom was reintroduced by Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Cunnigham, then the squadron commanding officer; it has since expanded widely within the RCAF tactical aviation community.


title: Challenge coin

text: Every new officer cadet at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, is issued a challenge coin upon completion of First-Year Orientation Period. The coin is engraved with the name of the college in French and English surrounding the college's coat of arms on the obverse. The cadet's college number and the Memorial Arch is on the reverse surrounded by the motto in both languages.


title: Challenge coin

text: Members of the Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RCEME) Fund are issued challenge coins with the current RCEME badge and the member's branch fund membership number on the obverse side, and the original pre-unification RCEME badge and branch motto on the reverse side. Usually, these are issued to craftsmen at the Canadian Forces School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, in Borden, Ontario, where branch fund membership is first offered.


title: Challenge coin

text: The coin from Commander Canadian Special Operations Forces Command is a dull colour, but distinct by its pierced sections.


title: Challenge coin

text: Many of the CF training centres and staff colleges have a distinct coin—some available for the students to purchase, others available only by presentation by the establishment or the commandant for exemplary achievement while attending the facility. General (retired) Walter Natynczyk, when he was Chief of the Defence Staff, and the Canadian Forces Chief Warrant Officer often presented their personalized coins to deserving soldiers.


title: Challenge coin

text: Police, corrections, security and fire departments have embraced the concept, and have found coins to be an excellent means of team building and creating a sense of brotherhood or belonging. Many feature a patron saint, badge or representative equipment.


title: Challenge coin

text: The challenge coin tradition was introduced into the Swiss Armed Forces by American officers on training missions and other assignments for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, of which Switzerland is a member. Coins are not issued, but rather ordered and paid for by Swiss officers of various branches within the Army.


title: Challenge coin

text: Coins have come into use by various Australian and New Zealand political leaders, senior officers and NCOs, under the influence of presentations from American personnel. Several hundred types of New Zealand challenge coins have been produced in recent decades.


title: Challenge coin

text: Exchange officers and British military visitors to US units and formations in recent decades have often been presented with challenge coins. The British Army has had challenge coins for recruiting purposes since the mid-2000s - for example the Special Air Service and Royal Engineer units have such challenge coins. British military medical units also discovered the tradition while working with American units in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Department of Military Anesthesia and Critical Care has been issuing a coin since 2006.


title: Challenge coin

text: Tradition dictates that challenge coins are shown within social environments (see above) with the loser of the “coin check” purchasing drinks for those others involved. Following a turbulent period of change within the British Military, commanders have tightened restrictions on the consumption of alcohol and any activity that encourages drinking, leaving the traditional challenge coin as a collection item, like the mid-1990s POG.


title: Slippery When Wet

text: Slippery When Wet is the third studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was released on August 18, 1986, by Mercury Records in North America and Vertigo Records internationally. It was produced by Bruce Fairbairn, with recording sessions between January and July 1986 at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver. The album features many of Bon Jovi's best-known songs, including "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Livin' on a Prayer", and "Wanted Dead or Alive".


title: Slippery When Wet

text: The album has been called the album that "[turned] heavy metal into a radio-friendly pop format", and is also commonly seen as "a breakthrough for hair metal".


title: Slippery When Wet

text: "Slippery When Wet" was an instant commercial success, spending eight weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 chart and was named by "Billboard" as the top-selling album of 1987. "Slippery When Wet" is Bon Jovi's best-selling album to date, with an RIAA certification of 12× Platinum, making it one of the top 100 best-selling albums in the United States.


title: Slippery When Wet

text: Upon its 1985 release, "7800° Fahrenheit" achieved moderate success, but Bon Jovi had not yet become superstars. The band changed its approach for the next album, with a more mainstream sound than the heavier first two albums. Hiring Desmond Child as a collaborator, the band wrote 30 songs and auditioned them for local New Jersey (including recording artist and Phantom's Opera vocalist Colie Brice) and New York teenagers, basing the album's running order on their opinions. Bruce Fairbairn was chosen as the producer for the album, with Bob Rock as the mixer. The 1985 album "Without Love" which Fairbairn produced for the heavy metal band Black 'n Blue, attracted Jon Bon Jovi with its sound quality, and he immediately sought out the producer.


title: Slippery When Wet

text: Much of the album was written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, whereas "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Livin' on a Prayer", "Without Love", and "I'd Die For You" were co-written with Desmond Child, and "Wild in the Streets" was by Bon Jovi alone. This was the first time Child worked with Jon and Richie. He came to New Jersey, where they worked on the four songs in Sambora's mother's basement.


title: Slippery When Wet

text: Jon Bon Jovi explained, "I liked what Bryan Adams had done with Tina Turner so I suggested we do something similar: I write a song for someone like her, and then we do the song together. But that got changed, and our A&R guy came up with Desmond's name ... He hasn't tried to change what we are, but to refine it slightly; to suggest extra ways that we could wring a bit more out of what we had."


title: Slippery When Wet

text: Bon Jovi was initially reluctant to include "Livin' on a Prayer", believing it was not good enough. Sambora convinced him it was a hit in the making, and so the band rerecorded it, releasing the second version on the album. It is Bon Jovi's signature song.


title: Slippery When Wet

text: One of the songs written during the making of the album, "Edge of a Broken Heart", is not on the final release. Bon Jovi has since said it should have been included: "It was absolutely appropriate for the "Slippery" record—coulda, shoulda, woulda been on "Slippery" had cooler minds prevailed. Here's my formal apology." Featured on the soundtrack to the 1987 movie "Disorderlies", it has since been released on the 2-CD edition of "Cross Road", the box set "100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong" and the B-side for the "Livin' on a Prayer" single album. The song has never been performed live by the band, though a fan favorite.


title: Slippery When Wet

text: In 1986, Bon Jovi said "There's a song called 'Love Is A Social Disease' that Aerosmith were keen to get hold of. It would be ideal for them, but they're not having it, because it's even better for us."


title: Slippery When Wet

text: The album's name was changed during its inception, including "Wanted Dead or Alive". A proposed cover with the band dressed as cowboys was later used for the single release of the track of the same name.


title: Slippery When Wet

text: According to Bon Jovi, the band named the album "Slippery When Wet" after visiting The No.5 Orange strip club in Vancouver, British Columbia. According to Sambora, "This woman descended from the ceiling on a pole and proceeded to take all her clothes off. When she got in a shower and soaped herself up, we just about lost our tongues. We just sat there and said, 'We will be here every day.' That energized us through the whole project. Our testosterone was at a very high level back then."


title: Slippery When Wet

text: The cover consists of a wet black garbage bag with the words "Slippery When Wet" traced in the water. "So simple, and not very impressive", said Sambora. The album originally was to feature a busty woman in a wet yellow T-shirt with the album name on the front of the shirt. This was swapped for the plastic bag cover just prior to release. The reasons given for the switch were record executives' fears that dominant record store chains at the time would have refused to carry the album with a sexist cover, and Jon Bon Jovi's dislike of the bright pink border around the photograph the band submitted. Sambora said, "Our label freaked out a bit when they saw what we'd done. They thought it would be banned by American stores, so we had to come up with something else – fast."


title: Slippery When Wet

text: In 2005, "Slippery When Wet" was re-issued as a DualDisc. The CD side contains a newly remastered version. The DVD side contains the same album in its original stereo mix, a slightly expanded 5.1 surround sound version, and all 5 music videos. The expanded album includes additional elements within many of the songs, in some cases increasing their runtime. The DualDisc was released on September 20, 2005, the same release date as "Have a Nice Day".


title: Slippery When Wet

text: The album was a massive commercial success. Between 1986 and 1987, "Slippery When Wet" produced a string of hit songs, including three Top 10 "Billboard" Hot 100 hits, two of which ("You Give Love a Bad Name" and "Livin' on a Prayer") reached No. 1, making Bon Jovi the first glam metal band to have ever had two consecutive No. 1 "Billboard" Hot 100 chart hits. The third single "Wanted Dead or Alive" peaked at No. 7, making "Slippery When Wet" the first metal album to have had three "Billboard" Hot 100 Top 10 hits.


title: Slippery When Wet

text: The album peaked at No. 1 on the "Billboard" 200, making it Bon Jovi's first number-one album in the United States. The album spent 38 weeks inside the Top 5 of "Billboard" 200, including 8 weeks at No. 1. It is the best-selling album of 1987 in the United States, and eventually reached Diamond certification by the RIAA and current sales stand at 12 million copies, making it the 48th best-selling album in the United States.


title: Slippery When Wet

text: In the UK, "Slippery When Wet" received a 3× Platinum certification by the BPI. The album also achieved Diamond status in Canada, and 6× Platinum status in Australia.


title: Slippery When Wet

text: The album is ranked 44th in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's list of the Definitive 200 albums of all time.


title: Slippery When Wet

text: "Slippery When Wet" was met with mixed reviews. Writing in "The Village Voice" in September 1987, Robert Christgau said, "Sure seven million teenagers can be wrong, but their assent is not without a certain documentary satisfaction. Yes, it proves that youth rebellion is toothless enough to simulate and market. But who the hell thought youth was dangerous in the current vacuum? Would you have preferred the band market patriotism? And are you really immune to 'Livin' on a Prayer'?" In 1990 in "Rolling Stone", Jimmy Guterman thoroughly berated the band and the album. "Jon Bon Jovi and his band serve up condescending sentiment, reducing every emotional statement to a barefaced cliché – either because they think that's all their audience can comprehend or because that's all they can comprehend. On "Slippery When Wet", Bon Jovi sounds like bad fourth-generation metal, a smudgy Xerox of Quiet Riot."


title: Piper Kerman

text: Piper Eressea Kerman (born September 28, 1969) is an American author. She was indicted in 1998 on charges of felonious money-laundering activities, and sentenced to 15 months' detention in a federal correctional facility, of which she eventually served 13 months. Her memoir of her prison experiences, "" (2010), was adapted into the critically-acclaimed Netflix original comedy-drama series "Orange Is the New Black" (2016). Since leaving prison, Kerman has spoken widely about women in prison and problems with the federal prison system. She now works as a communication strategist for non-profit organizations.


title: Piper Kerman

text: Kerman was born in Boston into a family with a number of attorneys, doctors and educators. She graduated from Swampscott High School in Swampscott, Massachusetts, in 1987, and Smith College in 1992. Kerman is a self-described WASP; however, she had a paternal grandfather who was Russian-Jewish.


title: Piper Kerman

text: In 1993, Kerman became romantically involved with Catherine Cleary Wolters (Nora Janson in her memoir: Laura Prepon's character Alex Vause in the series), a heroin dealer working for an alleged Nigerian kingpin. Kerman laundered money for the drug operation.


title: Piper Kerman

text: In 1998, Kerman was indicted for money laundering and drug trafficking and she pled guilty. Starting in 2004, she served 13 months of a 15-month sentence at FCI Danbury, a minimum security prison located in Danbury, Connecticut.


title: Piper Kerman

text: Kerman's best-selling memoir about her experiences in prison, "", was published by Spiegel & Grau on April 6, 2010. A television adaptation of the same name created by Jenji Kohan, the Emmy award-winning creator of "Weeds", premiered on July 11, 2013, on Netflix and aired for seven seasons. Kerman's character in the series ("Piper Chapman") is played by Taylor Schilling.


title: Piper Kerman

text: Kerman serves on the board of the Women's Prison Association and is frequently invited to speak to students of creative writing, criminology, gender and women's studies law, and sociology, and to groups, like the American Correctional Association's Disproportionate Minority Confinement Task Force, federal probation officers, public defenders, justice reform advocates and volunteers, book club and formerly and currently incarcerated people.


title: Piper Kerman

text: On February 10, 2014, Kerman received the 2014 Justice Trailblazer Award from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Center on Media, Crime & Justice.


title: Piper Kerman

text: On February 25, 2014, Kerman testified at a hearing on "Reassessing Solitary Confinement" before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights chaired by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin.


title: Piper Kerman

text: On August 4, 2015, Kerman testified at a hearing on "Oversight of the Bureau of Prisons: First-Hand Accounts of Challenges Facing the Federal Prison System" before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chaired by Senator Ron Johnson.


title: Piper Kerman

text: Since her prison sentence, Kerman has spoken publicly many times on behalf of women in corrections and about her experience.


title: Piper Kerman

text: In 2019, she appeared as a guest in the last episode of "Orange Is the New Black" in the last scene in the Ohio prison, when Piper visited Alex. Kerman sat two seats to the left of Alex as a convict visited by her husband (in real life). She makes a cameo appearance in the show’s opening credits as the convict who blinks.


title: Piper Kerman

text: Kerman has said, "I'm bisexual, so I'm a part of the gay community (LGBT+)". She came out around the age of 18, and identified herself as a lesbian during most of her youth. On May 21, 2006, Kerman married writer Larry Smith. Kerman and Smith live in Columbus, Ohio, and she teaches writing classes at the Marion Correctional Institution and the Ohio Reformatory for Women in nearby Marysville, Ohio.


title: Stew

text: A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. A stew needs to have raw ingredients added to the gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef, pork, lamb, poultry, sausages, and seafood. While water can be used as the stew-cooking liquid, stock is also common. A small amount of red wine is sometimes added for flavour. Seasoning and flavourings may also be added. Stews are typically cooked at a relatively low temperature (simmered, not boiled), allowing flavours to mingle.


title: Stew

text: Stewing is suitable for the least tender cuts of meat that become tender and juicy with the slow moist heat method. This makes it popular in low-cost cooking. Cuts having a certain amount of marbling and gelatinous connective tissue give moist, juicy stews, while lean meat may easily become dry.


title: Stew

text: Stews are thickened by reduction or with flour, either by coating pieces of meat with flour before searing, or by using a roux or "beurre manié", a dough consisting of equal parts of fat and flour. Thickeners like cornstarch, potato starch, or arrowroot may also be used.


title: Stew

text: Stews are similar to soups, and in some cases there may not be a clear distinction between the two. Generally, stews have less liquid than soups, are much thicker and require longer cooking over low heat. While soups are almost always served in a bowl, stews may be thick enough to be served on a plate with the gravy as a sauce over the solid ingredients.


title: Stew

text: Stews have been made since ancient times. The world's oldest known evidence of stew was found in Japan, dating to the Jōmon period. Additionally, Herodotus says that the Scythians (8th to 4th centuries BC) "put the flesh into an animal's paunch, mix water with it, and boil it like that over the bone fire. The bones burn very well, and the paunch easily contains all the meat once it has been stripped off. In this way an ox, or any other sacrificial beast, is ingeniously made to boil itself."


title: Stew

text: Amazonian tribes used the shells of turtles as vessels, boiling the entrails of the turtle and various other ingredients in them. Other cultures used the shells of large mollusks (clams etc.) to boil foods in. There is archaeological evidence of these practices going back 8,000 years or more.


title: Stew

text: There are recipes for lamb stews and fish stews in the Roman cookery book "Apicius", believed to date from the 4th century AD. "Le Viandier", one of the oldest cookbooks in French, written in the early 14th century by the French chef known as Taillevent, has ragouts or stews of various types in it.


title: Stew

text: The first written reference to 'Irish stew' is in Byron's "The Devil's Drive" (1814): "The Devil ... dined on ... a rebel or so in an Irish stew."


title: Stew

text: As part of the "Eintopfsonntag" campaign, from 1933 the Nazi party made a midday Sunday "eintopf" (stew) obligatory on some days: in particular as part of the Winterhilfe,


title: Stew

text: Meat-based white stews also known as "blanquettes" or "fricassées" are made with lamb or veal that is blanched or lightly seared without browning, and cooked in stock. Brown stews are made with pieces of red meat that are first seared or browned, before a browned mirepoix and sometimes browned flour, stock and wine are added.


title: Cliff Williams

text: Clifford Williams (born 14 December 1949) is an English musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. He started his professional music career in 1967 and had previously been in the English groups Home and Bandit. His first studio album with AC/DC was "Powerage" in 1978. Williams was inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of AC/DC in 2003. Williams announced his retirement from AC/DC in 2016, but returned for their 2020 comeback album "Power Up" along with band mates Brian Johnson and Phil Rudd. His side projects include benefit concerts.


title: Cliff Williams

text: Clifford Williams was born on 14 December 1949 in Romford, Essex. In 1961, he moved with his family to Hoylake, Merseyside, where he was influenced by the local Merseybeat movement and decided to become a musician. At the age of 13, he and some friends formed a band. He listed The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, and blues musicians such as Bo Diddley as influences, and mostly learned to play bass by "listening to records and picking out notes", with his formal training limited to some lessons from a professional bassist in nearby Liverpool. He left school when he was 16 years old, working as an engineer by day and musician by night.


title: Cliff Williams

text: In 1966, Williams moved to London, where he worked at a demolition site and in supermarkets while playing in various short-lived bands. He met guitarist Laurie Wisefield (later a member of Wishbone Ash) and the two became members of a band, Sugar, which soon broke up. In 1970, Williams and Wisefield joined with singer Mick Stubbs, keyboardist Clive John, and drummer Mick Cook to form the progressive rock group Home. The band signed a recording deal with Epic Records and issued their debut LP, "Pause for a Hoarse Horse", in 1971. Home was a supporting act for Jeff Beck, Mott the Hoople, The Faces and Led Zeppelin.