text: On 11 March 1918, Uritsky sent Michael and Johnson to Perm, a thousand miles to the east, on the order of the Council of the People's Commissars, which included both Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin. The journey, by freight train in a coach without windows or heat, took eight days at an average speed of 5 miles per hour. At first, Michael was billeted in a hotel but two days after his arrival he was jailed by the local Soviet. Natalia lobbied the Commissars in Petrograd for his release and, on 9 April 1918, he was set at liberty within Perm. He moved into the best room in the best hotel in Perm, along with Johnson and two manservants, valet Vasily Chelyshev and former chauffeur Borunov. Natalia feared for George's safety, and in March 1918, she arranged for him to be smuggled out of Russia by his governess, Margaret Neame, with the help of Danish diplomats and the Putyatins.


title: Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia

text: In May, Natalia was granted a travel permit to join Michael. Accompanied by family friends Prince Putyatin and Margaret Abakanovich, she arrived at Perm before the Orthodox Easter and they spent about a week together. Meanwhile, as part of the truce between the Bolsheviks and the Central Powers, prisoners-of-war from Austria-Hungary were being shipped out of Russia. Czech troops were strung out along the Trans-Siberian Railway on their way to Vladivostok, where they were due to take ship. The Czechs, though, were not going home to fight for the Austrian empire but to fight for a separate homeland independent of Austria. The Germans demanded that the Bolsheviks disarm the Czechs, who fought back, seized the railway, joined forces with Russians fighting against the Bolsheviks and advanced westwards toward Perm. With the approach of the Czechs, Michael and Natalia feared that she would become trapped there, possibly in a dangerous situation and so, on 18 May, she left unhappily. By early June, Michael was again ill with stomach trouble.


text: On 12 June 1918, the leader of the local secret police, Gavril Myasnikov, with the connivance of other local Bolsheviks, hatched a plan to murder Michael. Myasnikov assembled a team of four men who, like him, were all former prisoners of the Tsarist regime: Vasily Ivanchenko, Ivan Kolpashchikov, Andrei Markov and Nikolai Zhuzhgov. Using a forged order, the four men gained entry to Michael's hotel at 11.45 p.m. At first, Michael refused to accompany the men until he spoke with the local chairman of the secret police, Pavel Malkov, and then because he was ill. His protestations were futile and he got dressed. Johnson insisted on accompanying him and the four men plus their two prisoners climbed into two horse-drawn three-seater traps.


text: They drove out of the town into the forest near Motovilikha. When Michael queried their destination, he was told they were going to a remote railway crossing to catch a train. By now it was the early hours of 13 June. They all alighted from the carriages in the middle of the wood, and both Michael and Johnson were fired upon, once each, but as the assassins were using home-made bullets, their guns jammed. Michael, who may or may not have been injured, moved towards the wounded Johnson with arms outstretched, when he was shot at point-blank range in the head. Both Zhuzhgov and Markov claimed to have fired the fatal shot. Johnson was shot dead by Ivanchenko.


text: The bodies were stripped and buried. Anything of value was stolen and the clothes were taken back to Perm. After they were shown to Myasnikov as proof of the murders, the clothes were burned. The Ural Regional Soviet, headed by Alexander Beloborodov, approved the killing, either retrospectively or beforehand, as did Lenin. Michael was the first of the Romanovs to be killed by the Bolsheviks, but he was not the last. Neither Michael's nor Johnson's remains have been found.


text: The Perm authorities distributed a concocted cover story that Michael was abducted by unidentified men and had disappeared. Chelyshev and Borunov were arrested. Shortly before his own arrest, Colonel Peter Znamerovsky, a former Imperial army officer also exiled to Perm, managed to send Natalia a brief telegram saying that Michael had disappeared. Znamerovsky, Chelyshev and Borunov were all killed by the Perm Bolsheviks. Soviet disinformation about Michael's disappearance led to unfounded rumours that he had escaped and was leading a successful counter-revolution. In the ultimately forlorn hope that Michael would ally with Germany, the Germans arranged for Natalia and her daughter to escape to Kiev in German-controlled Ukraine. On the collapse of the Germans in November 1918, Natalia fled to the coast, and she and her daughter were evacuated by the British Royal Navy.


text: On 8 June 2009, four days short of the 91st anniversary of their deaths, both Michael and Johnson were officially rehabilitated. Russian State Prosecutors stated, "The analysis of the archive material shows that these individuals were subject to repression through arrest, exile and scrutiny ... without being charged of committing concrete class and social-related crimes."


text: Michael's son George, Count Brasov, died in a car crash shortly before his 21st birthday in 1931. Natalia died penniless in a Parisian charity hospital in 1952. His stepdaughter Natalia Mamontova married three times and wrote a book about her life entitled "Step-Daughter of Imperial Russia", published in 1940.


text: Michael and Johnson were canonized as new martyrs by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia on 1 November 1981 in New York City. This canonization has not been recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate).


text: "The question of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich came up, who, according to information from that time, 'berated his murderers and fought them.' Archbishop Pavel (Pavlov) saw in this no obstacle for canonization, for many martyrs denounced their executioners, and Archbishop Anthony (Sinkevich) compared the murder of the Grand Duke with the massacre of the Infants of Bethlehem, since Mikhail Alexandrovich was designated for extermination so that the faithful would have no hope for the restoration of the Orthodox Monarchy. As a result, the Grand Duke remained on the list of the glorified, and the icon-painter was instructed to add a halo to his depiction in the icon".


title: City Slickers

text: City Slickers is a 1991 American comedy film, directed by Ron Underwood and starring Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern, Bruno Kirby, and Jack Palance, with supporting roles by Patricia Wettig, Helen Slater, and Noble Willingham with Jake Gyllenhaal in his debut. For his performance, Jack Palance won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.


title: City Slickers

text: The film's screenplay was written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, and it was shot in New York City; New Mexico; Durango, Colorado; and Spain. A sequel "" was released in 1994, with the same cast, with the exception of Kirby, who was replaced by Jon Lovitz.


title: City Slickers

text: In Pamplona, Spain, middle-aged friends Mitch Robbins, Ed Furrilo, and Phil Berquist, participate in the running of the bulls. Back home in New York City, Mitch realizes he and his friends use adventure trips as escapism from their mundane lives.


title: City Slickers

text: Mitch hates his radio advertising sales job. Phil is trapped in a loveless marriage to his wife Arlene while managing his father-in-law's supermarket (who also bullies Phil). Ed is a successful sporting goods salesman who recently married a much younger woman but is unwilling to fully settle down.


title: City Slickers

text: At Mitch's 39th birthday party, Phil and Ed give Mitch a trip for all three to go on a two-week cattle drive from New Mexico to Colorado. Phil's 20-year-old employee unexpectedly arrives at the party and announces she is pregnant with his baby, causing Arlene to walk out. Mitch's wife, Barbara, insists he go on the cattle drive to soul search for a new purpose in his life.


title: City Slickers

text: In New Mexico, the trio meet ranch owner, Clay Stone, and their fellow cattle drivers: entrepreneurial brothers Barry and Ira Shalowitz, young and attractive Bonnie, and father-son dentists, Ben and Steve Jessup. Mitch confronts ranch hands, Jeff and T.R., when they begin sexually harassing Bonnie. Trail boss Curly intervenes, though he inadvertently humiliates Mitch.


title: City Slickers

text: During the drive, Mitch accidentally causes a stampede which destroys the camp. While searching for stray cows, Mitch discovers Curly has a kind nature beneath his gruff exterior. Curly encourages Mitch to discover the "one thing" in his life that is most important to him. Along the way, Mitch helps deliver a calf from a dying cow. Mitch names the calf Norman.


title: City Slickers

text: Shortly after, Curly suffers a fatal heart attack, leaving the drive under Jeff and T.R.'s control. The camp cook, Cookie, gets drunk and inadvertently destroys the food supply, breaking his leg in the process.


title: City Slickers

text: After the Jessups leave to take Cookie to a nearby town, Jeff and T.R. become intoxicated. A fight ensues when they threaten to kill Norman and assault Mitch. Phil and Ed intervene, and Phil holds Jeff at gunpoint, which unleashes his pent-up emotions. Soon after, Jeff and T.R. abandon the group. Bonnie and the Shalowitzes continue on to the Colorado ranch, while Ed and Phil remain behind to finish the drive. Mitch also leaves but soon returns to rejoin his friends.


title: City Slickers

text: After braving a heavy storm, they drive the herd to Colorado. When Norman nearly drowns as the herd crosses a river, Mitch acts to save him. Both are swept down current, but Phil and Ed rescue them. They safely reach the Colorado ranch. When Stone offers to reimburse everyone's fee, the Jessups prefer going on a future cattle drive. However, Clay reveals he is selling the herd to a meat packing company. Mitch, Phil, and Ed initially believe they saved the cattle for nothing, but decide to use their experience to help re-evaluate their lives.


title: City Slickers

text: The men return to New York City. Mitch, a happier man, reunites with Barbara and their two children; he has also brought Norman home as a pet. Phil learns his employee was never pregnant, and he begins a relationship with Bonnie. Ed intends to start a family with his wife. Mitch is ready to restart his life with a new vision.


title: City Slickers

text: The film's plot, which consists of inexperienced cowboys battling villains as they press on with their cattle drive after the death of their leader, was conceived to be similar to John Wayne's "The Cowboys", although that was a Western drama as opposed to a comedy.


title: City Slickers

text: In his 2013 memoir, "Still Foolin' Em", Billy Crystal writes of how the casting of the film came about. "Palance," he says, "was the first choice from the beginning, but had a commitment to make another film." He wrote that he contacted Charles Bronson about the part, only to be rudely rebuffed because the character dies. Palance got out of his other obligation to join the cast. Rick Moranis, originally cast as Phil, had to leave the production due to his wife's illness. Daniel Stern was a late replacement in the role. The film was also the debut of actor Jake Gyllenhaal.


title: City Slickers

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, "City Slickers" received a "Certified Fresh" 91% rating based on 43 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "With a supremely talented cast and just enough midlife drama to add weight to its wildly silly overtones, "City Slickers" uses universal themes to earn big laughs." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on reviews from 25 critics. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on a scale of A+ to F.


title: City Slickers

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film 3 1/2 stars out of 4 and wrote: ""City Slickers" comes packaged as one kind of movie – a slapstick comedy about white-collar guys on a dude ranch – and it delivers on that level while surprising me by being much more ambitious, and successful, than I expected. This is the proverbial comedy with the heart of truth, the tear in the eye along with the belly laugh. It's funny, and it adds up to something."


title: City Slickers

text: Jack Palance, for his role as Curly, won the 1992 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, which was the only Oscar nomination the film received. His acceptance speech for the award is best remembered for his demonstration of one-armed push-ups, which he claimed convinced studio insurance agents that he was healthy enough to work on the film.


title: City Slickers

text: Billy Crystal was the Academy Awards host, and used the humorous incident for several jokes throughout the evening. Later that night, Palance placed the Oscar on Crystal's shoulder and said, "Billy Crystal ... who thought it would be you?" Crystal added in his book, "We had a glass of champagne together, and I could only imagine what Charles Bronson was thinking as he went to sleep that night." The next year's Oscars opened with Palance appearing to drag in a giant Academy Award, with Crystal (again the host) riding on the opposite end.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Freeze drying, also known as lyophilization or cryodesiccation, is a low temperature dehydration process that involves freezing the product and lowering pressure, removing the ice by sublimation. This is in contrast to dehydration by most conventional methods that evaporate water using heat.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Because of the low temperature used in processing, the rehydrated product retains much of its original qualities. When solid objects like strawberries are freeze dried the original shape of the product is maintained. If the product to be dried is a liquid, as often seen in pharmaceutical applications, the properties of the final product are optimized by the combination of excipients (i.e., inactive ingredients). Primary applications of freeze drying include biological (e.g., bacteria and yeasts), biomedical (e.g., surgical transplants), food processing (e.g., coffee) and preservation.


title: Freeze-drying

text: The Inca were freeze drying potatoes into chuño from the 13th century. The process involved multiple cycles of exposing potatoes to below freezing temperatures on mountain peaks in the Andes during the evening, and squeezing water out and drying them in the sunlight during the day.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Modern freeze drying began as early as 1890 by Richard Altmann who devised a method to freeze dry tissues (either plant or animal), but went virtually unnoticed until the 1930s. In 1909, L. F. Shackell independently created the vacuum chamber by using an electrical pump. No further freeze drying information was documented until Tival in 1927 and Elser in 1934 had patented freeze drying systems with improvements to freezing and condenser steps.


title: Freeze-drying

text: A significant turning point for freeze drying occurred during World War II when blood plasma and penicillin were needed to treat the wounded in the field. Because of the lack of refrigerated transport, many serum supplies spoiled before reaching their recipients. The freeze-drying process was developed as a commercial technique that enabled blood plasma and penicillin to be rendered chemically stable and viable without refrigeration. In the 1950s–1960s, freeze drying began to be viewed as a multi-purpose tool for both pharmaceuticals and food processing.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Freeze-dried foods became a major component of astronaut and military rations. What began for astronaut crews as tubed meals and freeze-dried snacks that were difficult to rehydrate, were transformed into hot meals in space by improving the process of rehydrating freeze-dried meals with water. As technology and food processing improved, NASA looked for ways to provide a complete nutrient profile while reducing crumbs, disease-producing bacteria, and toxins. The complete nutrient profile was improved with the addition of an algae-based vegetable-like oil to add polyunsaturated fatty acids. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are beneficial in mental and vision development and, as they remain stable during space travel, can provide astronauts with added benefits. The crumb problem was solved with the addition of a gelatin coating on the foods to lock in and prevent crumbs. Disease-producing bacteria and toxins were reduced by quality control and the development of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan, which is widely used today to evaluate food material before, during and after processing. With the combination of these three innovations, NASA could provide safe and wholesome foods to their crews from freeze-dried meals.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Military rations have also come a long way, from being served cured pork and corn meal to beefsteaks with mushroom gravy. How rations are chosen and developed are based on acceptance, nutrition, wholesomeness, producibility, cost, and sanitation. Additional requirements for rations include a minimum shelf life of three years, be deliverable by air, consumable in worldwide environments, and provide a complete nutritional profile. The new tray rations (T Rations) which has been improved upon by increasing acceptable items and provide high quality meals while in the field. Freeze-dried coffee was also incorporated by replacing spray-dried coffee in the meal, ready-to-eat category.


title: Freeze-drying

text: There are four stages in the complete freeze drying process: pretreatment, freezing, primary drying, and secondary drying.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Pretreatment includes any method of treating the product prior to freezing. This may include concentrating the product, formulation revision (i.e., addition of components to increase stability, preserve appearance, and/or improve processing), decreasing a high-vapor-pressure solvent, or increasing the surface area. Food pieces are often IQF treated to make them free flowing prior to freeze drying. Freeze dried pharmaceutical products are in most cases parenterals administered after reconstitution by injection which need to be sterile as well as free of impurity particles. Pre- treatment in these cases consists of solution preparation followed by a multi-step filtration. Afterwards the liquid is filled under sterile conditions into the final containers which in production scale freeze dryers are loaded automatically to the shelves.


title: Freeze-drying

text: In many instances the decision to pretreat a product is based on theoretical knowledge of freeze-drying and its requirements, or is demanded by cycle time or product quality considerations.


title: Freeze-drying

text: During the freezing stage, the material is cooled below its triple point, the temperature at which the solid, liquid, and gas phases of the material can coexist. This ensures that sublimation rather than melting will occur in the following steps. To facilitate faster and more efficient freeze drying, larger ice crystals are preferable. The large ice crystals form a network within the product which promotes faster removal of water vapor during sublimation. To produce larger crystals, the product should be frozen slowly or can be cycled up and down in temperature in a process called annealing. The freezing phase is the most critical in the whole freeze-drying process, as the freezing method can impact the speed of reconstitution, duration of freeze-drying cycle, product stability, and appropriate crystallization.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Amorphous materials do not have a eutectic point, but they do have a critical point, below which the product must be maintained to prevent melt-back or collapse during primary and secondary drying.


title: Freeze-drying

text: In the case of goods where preservation of structure is required, like food or objects with formerly-living cells, large ice crystals will break the cell walls which can result in increasingly poor texture and loss of nutritive content. In this case, the freezing is done rapidly, in order to lower the material to below its eutectic point quickly, thus avoiding the formation of large ice crystals. Usually, the freezing temperatures are between and .


title: Freeze-drying

text: During the primary drying phase, the pressure is lowered (to the range of a few millibars), and enough heat is supplied to the material for the ice to sublimate. The amount of heat necessary can be calculated using the sublimating molecules' latent heat of sublimation. In this initial drying phase, about 95% of the water in the material is sublimated. This phase may be slow (can be several days in the industry), because, if too much heat is added, the material's structure could be altered.


title: Freeze-drying

text: In this phase, pressure is controlled through the application of partial vacuum. The vacuum speeds up the sublimation, making it useful as a deliberate drying process. Furthermore, a cold condenser chamber and/or condenser plates provide a surface(s) for the water vapour to re-liquify and solidify on.


title: Freeze-drying

text: It is important to note that, in this range of pressure, the heat is brought mainly by conduction or radiation; the convection effect is negligible, due to the low air density.


title: Freeze-drying

text: The secondary drying phase aims to remove unfrozen water molecules, since the ice was removed in the primary drying phase. This part of the freeze-drying process is governed by the material's adsorption isotherms. In this phase, the temperature is raised higher than in the primary drying phase, and can even be above , to break any physico-chemical interactions that have formed between the water molecules and the frozen material. Usually the pressure is also lowered in this stage to encourage desorption (typically in the range of microbars, or fractions of a pascal). However, there are products that benefit from increased pressure as well.


title: Freeze-drying

text: After the freeze-drying process is complete, the vacuum is usually broken with an inert gas, such as nitrogen, before the material is sealed.


title: Freeze-drying

text: At the end of the operation, the final residual water content in the product is extremely low, around 1% to 4%.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Freeze-drying causes less damage to the substance than other dehydration methods using higher temperatures. Nutrient factors that are sensitive to heat are lost less in the process as compared to the processes incorporating heat treatment for drying purposes. Freeze-drying does not usually cause shrinkage or toughening of the material being dried. In addition, flavours, smells, and nutritional content generally remain unchanged, making the process popular for preserving food. However, water is not the only chemical capable of sublimation, and the loss of other volatile compounds such as acetic acid (vinegar) and alcohols can yield undesirable results.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Freeze-dried products can be rehydrated (reconstituted) much more quickly and easily because the process leaves microscopic pores. The pores are created by the ice crystals that sublimate, leaving gaps or pores in their place. This is especially important when it comes to pharmaceutical uses. Freeze-drying can also be used to increase the shelf life of some pharmaceuticals for many years.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Pharmaceutical companies often use freeze-drying to increase the shelf life of the products, such as live virus vaccines, biologics and other injectables. By removing the water from the material and sealing the material in a glass vial, the material can be easily stored, shipped, and later reconstituted to its original form for injection. Another example from the pharmaceutical industry is the use of freeze drying to produce tablets or wafers, the advantage of which is less excipient as well as a rapidly absorbed and easily administered dosage form.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Freeze-dried pharmaceutical products are produced as lyophilized powders for reconstitution in vials and more recently in prefilled syringes for self-administration by a patient.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Examples of lyophilized biological products include many vaccines such as live measles virus vaccine, typhoid vaccine, and meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine groups A and C combined. Other freeze-dried biological products include antihemophilic factor VIII, interferon alfa, anti-blood clot medicine streptokinase, and wasp venom allergenic extract.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Many bio-pharmaceutical products based on therapeutic proteins such as monoclonal antibodies require lyophilization for stability. Examples of lyophilized biopharmaceuticals include blockbuster drugs such as etanercept (Enbrel by Amgen), infliximab (Remicade by Janssen Biotech), rituximab, and trastuzumab (Herceptin by Genentech).


title: Freeze-drying

text: Cell extracts that support cell-free biotechnology applications such as point-of-care diagnostics and biomanufacturing are also freeze-dried to improve stability under room temperature storage.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Dry powders of probiotics are often produced by bulk freeze-drying of live microorganisms such as lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria.


title: Freeze-drying

text: The primary purpose of freeze drying within the food industry is to extend the shelf-life of the food while maintaining the quality. Freeze-drying is known to result in the highest quality of foods amongst all drying techniques because structural integrity is maintained along with preservation of flavors. Because freeze drying is expensive, it is used mainly with high-value products. Examples of high-value freeze-dried products are seasonal fruits and vegetables because of their limited availability, coffee; and foods used for military rations, astronauts/cosmonauts, and/or hikers.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Because of its light weight per volume of reconstituted food, freeze-dried products are popular and convenient for hikers, as military rations, or astronaut meals. A greater amount of dried food can be carried compared to the same weight of wet food. In replacement of wet food, freeze dried food can easily be rehydrated with water if desired and shelf-life of the dried product is longer than fresh/wet product making it ideal for long trips taken by hikers, military personnel, or astronauts. The development of freeze drying increased meal and snack variety to include items like shrimp cocktail, chicken and vegetables, butterscotch pudding, and apple sauce.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Coffee contains flavor and aroma qualities that are created due to the Maillard reaction during roasting and can be preserved with freeze-drying. Compared to other drying methods like room temperature drying, hot-air drying, and solar drying, Robusta coffee beans that were freeze-dried contained higher amounts of essential amino acids like leucine, lysine, and phenylalanine. Also, few non-essential amino acids that significantly contributed to taste were preserved.


title: Freeze-drying

text: With conventional dehydration, berries can degrade in quality as their structure is very delicate and contains high levels of moisture. Strawberries were found to have the highest quality when freeze dried; retaining color, flavour, and ability to be re-hydrated.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Freeze-drying is used extensively to preserve insects for the purposes of consumption. Whole freeze-dried insects are sold as exotic pet food, bird feed, fish bait, and increasingly for human consumption. Powdered freeze-dried insects are used as a protein base in animal feeds, and in some markets, as a nutritional supplement for human use. Farmed insects are generally used for all of the aforementioned purposes versus harvesting wild insects, except in the case of grasshoppers which are often harvested out of field crops.


title: Freeze-drying

text: In chemical synthesis, products are often freeze-dried to make them more stable, or easier to dissolve in water for subsequent use.


title: Freeze-drying

text: In bioseparations, freeze-drying can be used also as a late-stage purification procedure, because it can effectively remove solvents. Furthermore, it is capable of concentrating substances with low molecular weights that are too small to be removed by a filtration membrane. Freeze-drying is a relatively expensive process. The equipment is about three times as expensive as the equipment used for other separation processes, and the high energy demands lead to high energy costs. Furthermore, freeze-drying also has a long process time, because the addition of too much heat to the material can cause melting or structural deformations. Therefore, freeze-drying is often reserved for materials that are heat-sensitive, such as proteins, enzymes, microorganisms, and blood plasma. The low operating temperature of the process leads to minimal damage of these heat-sensitive products.


title: Freeze-drying

text: In nanotechnology, freeze-drying is used for nanotube purification to avoid aggregation due to capillary forces during regular thermal vaporization drying.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Freeze-drying is among the methods used to preserve animals in the field of taxidermy. When animals are preserved in this manner they are called "freeze-dried taxidermy" or "freeze-dried mounts". Freeze-drying is commonly used to preserve crustaceans, fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and smaller mammals. Freeze-drying is also used as a means to memorialize pets after death. Rather than opting for a traditional skin mount when choosing to preserve their pet via taxidermy, many owners opt for freeze-drying because it is less invasive upon the pet's body.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Organizations such as the Document Conservation Laboratory at the United States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) have done studies on freeze-drying as a recovery method of water-damaged books and documents. While recovery is possible, restoration quality depends on the material of the documents. If a document is made of a variety of materials, which have different absorption properties, expansion will occur at a non-uniform rate, which could lead to deformations. Water can also cause mold to grow or make inks bleed. In these cases, freeze-drying may not be an effective restoration method.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Advanced ceramics processes sometimes use freeze-drying to create a formable powder from a sprayed slurry mist. Freeze-drying creates softer particles with a more homogeneous chemical composition than traditional hot spray drying, but it is also more expensive.


title: Freeze-drying

text: A new form of burial which previously freeze-dries the body with liquid nitrogen has been developed by the Swedish company Promessa Organic AB, which puts it forward as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional casket and cremation burials.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Freeze-drying is viewed as the optimal method of choice for dehydration of food because of the preservation of quality, meaning characteristics of the food product such as aroma, rehydration, and bioactivity, are noticeably higher compared to foods dried using other techniques.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Shelf-life extension results from low processing temperatures in conjunction with rapid transition of water through sublimation. With these processing conditions, deterioration reactions, including nonenzymic browning, enzymatic browning, and protein denaturation, are minimized. When the product is successfully dried, packaged properly, and placed in ideal storage conditions the foods have a shelf life of greater than 12 months.


title: Freeze-drying

text: If a dried product cannot be easily or fully re-hydrated, it is considered to be of lower quality. Because the final freeze dried product is porous, complete re-hydration can occur in the food. This signifies greater quality of the product and makes it ideal for ready-to-eat instant meals.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Due to the low processing temperatures and the minimization of deterioration reactions, nutrients are retained and color is maintained. Freeze-dried fruit maintains its original shape and has a characteristic soft crispy texture.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Since the main method of microbial decontamination for freeze drying is the low temperature dehydration process, spoilage organisms and pathogens resistant to these conditions can remain in the product. Although microbial growth is inhibited by the low moisture conditions, it can still survive in the food product. An example of this is a viral hepatitis A outbreak that occurred in the United States in 2016, associated with frozen strawberries. If the product is not properly packaged and/or stored, the product can absorb moisture, allowing the once inhibited pathogens to begin reproducing as well.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Freeze-drying costs about five times as much as conventional drying, so it is most suitable for products which increase in value with processing. Costs are also variable depending on the product, the packaging material, processing capacity, etc. The most energy-intensive step is sublimation.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Silicone oil is the common fluid that is used to heat or cool shelves in the freeze-dryer. The continuous heat/cool cycle can lead to a leakage of silicone oil at weak areas that connect the shelf and hose. This can contaminate the product leading to major losses of pharmaceuticals and food products. Hence, to avoid this issue, mass spectrometers are used to identify vapors released by silicone oil to immediately take corrective action and prevent contamination of the product.


title: Freeze-drying

text: There are many types of freeze-dryers available, however, they usually contain a few essential components. These are a vacuum chamber, shelves, process condenser, shelf-fluid system, refrigeration system, vacuum system, and control system.


title: Freeze-drying

text: The chamber is highly polished and contains insulation, internally. It is manufactured with stainless steel and contains multiple shelves for holding the product. A hydraulic or electric motor is in place to ensure the door is vacuum-tight when closed.


title: Freeze-drying

text: The process condenser consists of refrigerated coils or plates that can be external or internal to the chamber. During the drying process, the condenser traps water. For increased efficiency, the condenser temperature should be 20 °C (36°F) less than the product during primary drying and have a defrosting mechanism to ensure that the maximum amount of water vapor in the air is condensed.


title: Freeze-drying

text: The amount of heat energy needed at times of the primary and secondary drying phase is regulated by an external heat exchanger. Usually, silicone oil is circulated around the system with a pump.


title: Freeze-drying

text: This system works to cool shelves and the process condenser by using compressors or liquid nitrogen, which will supply energy necessary for the product to freeze.


title: Freeze-drying

text: During the drying process, a vacuum of 50-100 microbar is applied, by the vacuum system, to remove the solvent. A two-stage rotary vacuum pump is used, however, if the chamber is large then multiple pumps are needed. This system compresses non-condensable gases through the condenser.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Finally, the control system sets up controlled values for shelf temperature, pressure and time that are dependent on the product and/or the process. The freeze-dryer can run for a few hours or days depending on the product.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Contact freeze dryers use contact (conduction) of the food with the heating element to supply the sublimation energy. This type of freeze dryer is a basic model that is simple to set up for sample analysis. One of the major ways contact freeze dryers heat is with shelf-like platforms contacting the samples. The shelves play a major role as they behave like heat exchangers at different times of the freeze-drying process. They are connected to a silicone oil system that will remove heat energy during freezing and provide energy during drying times.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Additionally, the shelf-fluid system works to provide specific temperatures to the shelves during drying by pumping a fluid (usually silicone oil) at low pressure. The downside to this type of freeze dryer is that the heat is only transferred from the heating element to the side of the sample immediately touching the heater. This problem can be minimized by maximizing the surface area of the sample touching the heating element by using a ribbed tray, slightly compressing the sample between two solid heated plates above and below, or compressing with a heated mesh from above and below.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Radiant freeze dryers use infrared radiation to heat the sample in the tray. This type of heating allows for simple flat trays to be used as an infrared source can be located above the flat trays to radiate downwards onto the product. Infrared radiation heating allows for a very uniform heating of the surface of the product, but has very little capacity for penetration so it is used mostly with very shallow trays and homogeneous sample matrices.


title: Freeze-drying

text: Microwave-assisted freeze dryers utilize microwaves to allow for deeper penetration into the sample to expedite the sublimation and heating processes in freeze-drying. This method can be very complicated to set up and run as the microwaves can create an electrical field capable of causing gases in the sample chamber to become plasma. This plasma could potentially burn the sample, so maintaining a microwave strength appropriate for the vacuum levels is imperative. The rate of sublimation in a product can affect the microwave impedance, in which power of the microwave must be changed accordingly.


title: Blue zone

text: Blue zones are regions in the world where people are speculated to live longer than average, identified by Gianni Pes, Michel Poulain and Dan Buettner. Five "blue zones" have been posited: Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Icaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California, United States.


title: Blue zone

text: The concept of blue zones grew out of demographic work done by Gianni Pes and Michel Poulain, published in 2004 by the journal "Experimental Gerontology", who identified Sardinia's Nuoro province as the region with the highest concentration of male centenarians. As the two men zeroed in on the cluster of villages with the highest longevity, they began referring to the area as the "blue zone". Building on this demographic work, Dan Buettner pinpointed four additional locations: Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Icaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California, United States.


title: Blue zone

text: In 1998, a study was carried out by the Swiss research group Bluezones in collaboration with System-Biologie AG on the eating habits of the population of Yuzurihara, Japan, where the inhabitants grew very old with the best quality of life. This was part of a worldwide research to find plant species with cell rejuvenation properties. Another research group at the University of California, in collaboration with the University of Rome La Sapienza, is investigating temporal blue zones in Italy outside of Sardinia.


title: Blue zone

text: A study of claimed longevity in Okinawa was unable to verify whether or not residents were as old as they claimed because many records did not survive World War II. More recent data has shown that life expectancy in Okinawa is no longer exceptional when compared to the rest of Japan: "male longevity is now ranked 26th among the 47 prefectures of Japan."


title: Blue zone

text: Harriet Hall, writing for "Science-Based Medicine", has written that controlled studies into the blue zones are lacking and the blue zones diet is based on speculation, not solid science.


title: Alex Høgh Andersen

text: Alex Høgh Andersen (born May 20, 1994) is a Danish actor, model and photographer. He is mostly known for the role of Ivar the Boneless in the historical drama television series "Vikings" (2016–2020).


title: Alex Høgh Andersen

text: Andersen was born on 20 May 1994 in Denmark to parents Thomas Andersen (father), and Charlotte Høgh (mother).


title: Alex Høgh Andersen

text: Alex was born and raised in the small town of Skælskør in the western part of Sjælland in Denmark, Andersen discovered his love of acting while studying drama at school. He participated in many musical oriented plays and was fortunate to gain a lot of experience with many big roles. Like his peers, he began auditioning for film roles.


title: Alex Høgh Andersen

text: At age 17, Andersen realised the difference between live performances and acting in front of a camera. This encouraged him to pursue Film and Media Studies at the University of Copenhagen. He started university in 2014, but dropped out in 2015 for the filming of "Vikings" on location in Ireland.


title: Alex Høgh Andersen

text: When he is not acting, Andersen enjoys spending much of his time focusing on photography. Considering himself a visually-minded person, he continues to learn more and more about cameras due to his experience shooting and directing short films. In addition, he learned dancing, singing, sports, fencing and stunts.


title: Zamioculcas

text: Zamioculcas is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, containing the single species Zamioculcas zamiifolia. It is a tropical perennial plant, native to eastern Africa, from southern Kenya to northeastern South Africa. Common names include Zanzibar gem, ZZ plant, Zuzu plant, aroid palm, eternity plant and emerald palm. It is grown as an ornamental plant, mainly for its attractive glossy foliage and easy care.


title: Zamioculcas

text: Dutch nurseries started wide-scale, commercial propagation of the plant around 1996. It was first described as "Caladium zamiifolium" by Loddiges in 1829, but moved to his new genus "Zamioculcas" by Heinrich Wilhelm Schott and given its established name, "Zamioculcas zamiifolia", by Adolf Engler.


title: Zamioculcas

text: The roots of the plants are rhizomatous and have the ability to store moisture, thus aiding the plants in their drought resistance. For this reason, the plant should be watered only when it is dry, to avoid overwatering. A commonly-held notion among gardeners is “If you water the ZZ plant more than you pay your rent, it’s too much” (I.e.; once a month, possibly twice, watering is more than sufficient). They also require superior drainage, with lots of chunky, rocky and inert materials mixed into their soil. They’re known to survive in relatively dark, indoor areas of homes and buildings, and can live in full shade to indirect sunlight. However, lower light is not optimal in most cases; insufficient amounts of sunlight can result in leaves lengthening and/or falling off, yellowing (chlorosis), and generally uneven or disproportionate growth (as the plant stretches towards a light source).


title: Zamioculcas

text: The botanical name "Zamioculcas" derives from, on the one hand, the superficial similarity of its foliage to that of the cycad genus "Zamia"; on the other hand, its kinship to the fellow "Araceae" genus "Colocasia", whose name comes from the word “” or “” (in an ancient Middle Eastern dialect), and which is named "qolqas" (, ) in Arabic. Botanical synonyms include "Caladium zamiaefolium, Zamioculcas loddigesii" and "Z. lanceolata".


title: Zamioculcas

text: It is a herbaceous perennial growing to tall, from a stout underground, succulent rhizome. It is normally evergreen, but becomes deciduous during drought, surviving drought due to the large potato-like rhizome that stores water until rainfall resumes. The leaves are pinnate, long, with 6–8 pairs of leaflets long; they are smooth, shiny, and dark green. The stems of these pinnate leaves are thickened at the bottom.


title: Zamioculcas

text: The flowers are produced in a small bright yellow to brown or bronze spadix long, partly hidden among the leaf bases; flowering is from mid summer to early autumn.


title: Zamioculcas

text: "Zamioculcas zamiifolia" contains an unusually high water contents of leaves (91%) and petioles (95%) and has an individual leaf longevity of at least six months, which may be the reason it can survive extremely well under interior low light levels for four months without water.


title: Zamioculcas

text: It may survive outdoors as long as the temperature does not fall below around ; though best growth is between , while high temperatures give an increase in leaf production. In temperate regions, it is grown as a houseplant. Overwatering may destroy this plant through tuber rot. Bright, indirect light is best: some sun will be tolerated.


title: Zamioculcas

text: "Zamioculcas zamiifolia" may be propagated by leaf cuttings: typically, the lower ends of detached leaves are inserted into a moist gritty compost and the pot enclosed in a polythene bag. Though the leaves may well decay, succulent bulb-like structures should form in the compost and these may be potted up to produce new plants. The process may take upwards of one year. The plant can also be propagated by division. The plant impresses especially by the thick, dark green, shiny leaves. Due to its strong green leaves, it is especially suitable for open, bright rooms.


title: Zamioculcas

text: Though little information is available, "Z. zamiifolia" is apparently used medicinally in the Mulanje District of Malawi and in the East Usambara mountains of Tanzania where juice from the leaves is used to treat earache.


title: Zamioculcas

text: In Tanzania a poultice of bruised plant material from "Z. zamiifolia" is used as a treatment of the inflammatory condition known as "mshipa".


title: Zamioculcas

text: Roots from "Z. zamiifolia" are used as a local application to treat ulceration by the Sukuma people in north-western Tanzania.


title: Zamioculcas

text: "Zamioculcas zamiifolia" contains acylated C-glycosylflavone apigenin 6-C-(6″-O-(3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaroyl)- β-glucopyranoside)


title: Zamioculcas

text: A 2014 study from the Department of Plant and Environmental Science at the University of Copenhagen shows that, in a laboratory setting, the plant is able to remove volatile organic compounds in this order of effectiveness: benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene at a molar flux of around 0.01 mol/(m day). The same study stated that any effectiveness on indoor environments is inconclusive.


title: Zamioculcas

text: "Zamioculcas zamiifolia" is part of the family "Araceae", which includes many poisonous genera, such as "Philodendron", "Monstera", "Anthurium", "Dieffenbachia", "Aglaonema" and "Spathiphyllum", all of which contain insoluble calcium oxalate.


title: Zamioculcas

text: An initial toxicological experiment, conducted by the University of Bergen in 2015, on extracts from "Z. zamiifolia" (using brine shrimp as a lethality assay) did not indicate lethality to the shrimp, even at concentrations of extracts up to 1 mg/mL. The scientists conducting the experiment observed that, "…On the contrary, it could appear as though the extract contributed to improvements in the vitality of the larvae".


title: Paris Berelc

text: Paris Berelc (born December 29, 1998) is an American actress and model. She is known for her roles as Skylar Storm in the Disney XD series "Mighty Med" and "", and Alexa Mendoza in the Netflix sitcom "Alexa & Katie."


title: Paris Berelc

text: Berelc was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is of half Filipino descent. She was discovered by Ford Models at the age of nine, and was featured in ads from Kohl's, Boston Store, Sears, and K-mart. She appeared on the cover of American Girl magazine for their November/December Issue in 2009. In 2010, at the age of 12, Berelc took her first acting classes at the Acting Studio Chicago. Two years after, Berelc's parents decided to take her to Los Angeles to try acting professionally. She began her professional acting career in 2013, at the age of 14.


title: Paris Berelc

text: Beginning in 2013, Berelc starred as Skylar Storm on the Disney XD action sitcom "Mighty Med". In 2015, Berelc portrayed Molly in the Disney Channel Original Movie, "Invisible Sister", which premiered in October. The same year, "Mighty Med" ended its run, but Berelc continued to play Skylar Storm on its spinoff series "", which premiered on March 2, 2016.


title: Paris Berelc

text: In April 2017, Berelc was cast in the co-lead role of Alexa in "Alexa & Katie", a multi-camera Netflix sitcom, which premiered March 23, 2018. In 2019, she starred in the Netflix original film "Tall Girl" as Liz. In 2020, she appeared as Megan in the Netflix original film "Hubie Halloween".


title: Bolt action

text: Bolt-action is a type of manual firearm action that is operated by "directly" manipulating the bolt via a bolt handle, which is most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the weapon (as most users are right-handed).


title: Bolt action

text: Most bolt-action firearms use a rotating bolt design, where the handle must first be rotated upward to unlock the bolt from the receiver, then pulled back to open the breech and allowing any spent cartridge case to be extracted and ejected. This also cocks the striker within the bolt (either on opening or closing of the bolt depending on the gun design) and engages it against the sear. When the bolt is returned to the forward position, a new cartridge (if available) is pushed out of the magazine and into the barrel chamber, and finally the breech is closed tight by rotating the handle down so the bolt head relocks on the receiver.


title: Bolt action

text: Bolt-action firearms are generally repeating firearms, but some single-shot breechloaders also use bolt-action design as a breechblock mechanism. The majority of these firearms are rifles, but there are some bolt-action variants of shotguns and handguns as well. Examples of these date as far back as the early 19th century, notably in the Dreyse needle gun. From the late 19th century all the way through both World Wars, bolt-action rifles were the standard infantry service weapons for most of the world's military forces. In modern military and law enforcement, bolt-action firearms have been mostly replaced by semi-automatic and selective-fire firearms, and have remained prevalent only as sniper rifles due to the design's inherent potential for superior accuracy and precision, as well as ruggedness and reliability compared to autoloading designs.


title: Bolt action

text: The first bolt-action rifle was produced in 1824 by Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse, following work on breechloading rifles that dated to the 18th century. Von Dreyse would perfect his "Nadelgewehr" (Needle Rifle) by 1836, and it was adopted by the Prussian Army in 1841. While it saw limited service in the German Revolutions of 1848, it was not fielded widely until the 1864 victory over Denmark. In 1850 a metallic centerfire bolt-action breechloader was patented by Béatus Beringer. In 1852 another metallic centerfire bolt-action breechloader was patented by Joseph Needham and improved upon in 1862 with another patent. Two different systems for primers –the mechanism to ignite a metallic cartridge's powder charge – were invented in the 1860s as well, the Berdan and the Boxer systems.


title: Bolt action

text: The United States purchased 900 Greene rifles (an under hammer, percussion capped, single-shot bolt-action that used paper cartridges and an ogival bore rifling system) in 1857, which saw service at the Battle of Antietam in 1862, during the American Civil War; however, this weapon was ultimately considered too complicated for issue to soldiers and was supplanted by the Springfield Model 1861, a conventional muzzle loading rifle. During the American Civil War, the bolt-action Palmer carbine was patented in 1863, and by 1865, 1000 were purchased for use as cavalry weapons. The French Army adopted its first bolt-action rifle, the Chassepot rifle, in 1866 and followed with the metallic cartridge bolt-action Gras rifle in 1874.


title: Bolt action

text: European armies continued to develop bolt-action rifles through the latter half of the 19th century, first adopting tubular magazines as on the Kropatschek rifle and the Lebel rifle. The first bolt-action repeating rifle was patented in Britain in 1855 by an unidentified inventor through the patent agent Auguste Edouard Loradoux Bellford using a gravity-operated tubular magazine in the stock. Another more well-known bolt-action repeating rifle was the Vetterli rifle of 1867 and the first bolt-action repeating rifle to use centerfire cartridges was the weapon designed by the Viennese gunsmith Ferdinand Fruwirth in 1871. Ultimately, the military turned to bolt-action rifles using a box magazine; the first of its kind was the M1885 Remington–Lee, but the first to be generally adopted was the British 1888 Lee–Metford. World War I marked the height of the bolt-action rifle's use, with all of the nations in that war fielding troops armed with various bolt-action designs.


title: Bolt action

text: During the buildup prior to World War II, the military bolt-action rifle began to be superseded by semi-automatic rifles and later fully automatic rifles, though bolt-action rifles remained the primary weapon of most of the combatants for the duration of the war; and many American units, especially the USMC, used bolt-action M1903 Springfields until sufficient numbers of M1 Garands were made available. The bolt-action is still common today among sniper rifles, as the design has the potential for superior accuracy, reliability, lesser weight, and the ability to control loading over the faster rate of fire that alternatives allow. There are, however, many semi-automatic sniper rifle designs, especially in the designated marksman role.


title: Bolt action

text: Today, bolt-action rifles are chiefly used as hunting rifles. These rifles can be used to hunt anything from vermin to deer and to large game, especially big game caught on a safari, as they are adequate to deliver a single lethal shot from a safe distance.


title: Bolt action

text: Bolt-action shotguns are considered a rarity among modern firearms but were formerly a commonly used action for .410 entry-level shotguns, as well as for low-cost 12-gauge shotguns. The M26 Modular Accessory Shotgun System (MASS) is the most advanced and recent example of a bolt-action shotgun, albeit one designed to be attached to an M16 rifle or M4 carbine using an underbarrel mount (although with the standalone kit, the MASS can become a standalone weapon). Mossberg 12-gauge bolt-action shotguns were briefly popular in Australia after the 1997 changes to firearms laws, but the shotguns themselves were awkward to operate and had only a three-round magazine, thus offering no practical and real advantages over a conventional double-barrel shotgun.


title: Bolt action

text: Some pistols use a bolt-action, although this is uncommon, and such examples are typically specialized target handguns.


title: Bolt action

text: Most of the bolt-action designs use a rotating bolt (or "turn pull") design, which involves the shooter doing an upward "rotating" movement of the handle to unlock the bolt from the breech and cock the firing pin, followed by a rearward "pull" to open the breech, extract the spent cartridge case, then reverse the whole process to chamber the next cartridge and relock the breech. There are four major turn bolt-action designs: the Remington M-700, possibly the single most numerous produced rifle in history which is now also used as basis for most custom competition rifle actions, along with the Mauser system, the Lee–Enfield system, and the Mosin–Nagant system. All four differ in the way the bolt fits into the receiver, how the bolt rotates as it is being operated, the number of locking lugs holding the bolt in place as the gun is fired, and whether the action is cocked on the opening of the bolt (as in both the Mauser system and the Mosin Nagant system) or the closing of the bolt (as in the Lee–Enfield system). The vast majority of modern bolt-action rifles were made for the commercial market post-war, numbering in the tens of millions by Remington in the unique, and most accurate Model 700, two of the others use the Mauser system, with other designs such as the Lee–Enfield system and the Mosin Nagant system, of only limited usage.


title: Bolt action

text: The Mauser bolt-action system is based on 19th-century Mauser bolt-action rifle designs and was finalized in the Gewehr 98 designed by Paul Mauser. It is the most common bolt-action system in the world, being in use in nearly all modern hunting rifles and the majority of military bolt-action rifles until the middle of the 20th century. The Mauser system is stronger than that of the Lee–Enfield due to two locking lugs just behind the bolt head, which make it better able to handle higher-pressure cartridges (i.e. magnum cartridges). The 9.3×64mm Brenneke and 8×68mm S magnum rifle cartridge "families" were designed for the Mauser M 98 bolt-action. A novel safety feature was the introduction of a third locking lug present at the rear of the bolt that normally did not lock the bolt, since it would introduce asymmetrical locking forces. The Mauser system features "cock on opening", meaning the upward rotation of the bolt when the rifle is opened cocks the action. A drawback of the Mauser M 98 system is that it cannot be cheaply mass-produced very easily. Many Mauser M 98-inspired derivatives feature technical alterations, such as omitting the third safety locking lug, to simplify production.


title: Bolt action

text: The controlled-feed Mauser M 98 bolt-action system's simple, strong, safe, and well-thought-out design inspired other military and hunting/sporting rifle designs that became available during the 20th century, including the:


title: Bolt action

text: Versions of the Mauser action designed prior to the Gewehr 98's introduction, such as that of the Swedish Mauser rifles and carbines, lack the third locking lug and feature a "cock on closing" operation.


title: Bolt action

text: The Lee–Enfield bolt-action system was introduced in 1889 with the Lee–Metford and later Lee–Enfield rifles (the bolt system is named after the designer James Paris Lee and the barrel rifling after the Royal Small Arms Factory at the London Borough of Enfield), and is a "cock on closing" action in which the forward thrust of the bolt cocks the action. This enables a shooter to keep eyes on sights and targets uninterrupted by cycling the bolt. The ability of the bolt between lugs and chamber to flex also keeps the shooter safer in case of catastrophic chamber overpressure. The disadvantage of the rearward-located bolt lugs is that a larger part of the receiver, between chamber and lugs, must be made stronger and heavier to resist stretching forces. Also, the bolt ahead of the lugs may flex on firing which, although a safety advantage, may eventually lead to increased head space. Repeated firing over time can lead to receiver "stretch" and excessive headspace, which if perceived as a problem can be remedied by changing the removable bolt head to a larger sized one (the Lee–Enfield bolt manufacture involved a mass production method where at final assembly the bolt body was fitted with one of three standard size bolt heads for correct headspace). In the years leading up to WWII, the Lee–Enfield bolt system was used in numerous commercial sporting and hunting rifles manufactured by such firms in the UK as BSA, LSA, and Parker–Hale, as well as by SAF Lithgow in Australia. Vast numbers of ex-military SMLE Mk III rifles were sporterised post WWII to create cheap, effective hunting rifles, and the Lee–Enfield bolt system is used in the M10 and No 4 Mk IV rifles manufactured by Australian International Arms. Rifle Factory Ishapore of India manufactures a hunting and sporting rifle chambered in .315 which also employs the Lee Enfield action.


title: Bolt action

text: The Mosin–Nagant action, created in 1891 and named after the designers Sergei Mosin and Léon Nagant, differs significantly from the Mauser and Lee–Enfield bolt-action designs. The Mosin–Nagant design has a separate bolthead that rotates with the bolt and the bearing lugs, in contrast to the Mauser system where the bolthead is a non-removable part of the bolt. The Mosin–Nagant is also unlike the Lee–Enfield system where the bolthead remains stationary and the bolt body itself rotates. The Mosin–Nagant bolt is a somewhat complicated affair, but is extremely rugged and durable; like the Mauser, it uses a "cock on open" system. Although this bolt system has been rarely used in commercial sporting rifles (the Vostok brand target rifles being the most recognized) and never outside of Russia, large numbers of military surplus Mosin–Nagant rifles have been sporterized for use as hunting rifles in the years since WWII.


title: Bolt action

text: Both the U.S. Army's M24 Sniper Weapon System and U.S. Marine Corps' M40 sniper rifles are built from the Remington Model 700 rifle, in different degrees of modification, the main difference being the custom fitted heavy contour barrel and action length. The M24 utilizes the Long action and the M40 employs the short action bolt-face. The reason for this is that the M24 was originally intended to chamber the longer .300 Winchester Magnum round. The M40, however, was not intended to be chambered in the more powerful .300 Winchester Magnum round, yet the Marine Corps' intention was to migrate to the .300 Winchester Magnum cartridge. The Marine Corps' delay has led to a change in migratory direction, the current goal is for the M40 to become a rifle chambered in .338 Lapua Magnum.


title: Bolt action

text: The United States Army's Joint Munitions and Lethality Contracting Center has awarded Remington a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Indefinite Delivery/ Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract (W15QKN-10-R-0403) for the upgrade of up to 3,600 M24 Sniper Weapon Systems (SWS) currently fielded to the Army pending type classification as the “M24E1”. The major configuration change for this system is the caliber conversion from 7.62mm NATO (.308 Winchester) to .300 Winchester Magnum to provide soldiers with additional precision engagement capability and range. The contract is for a five-year period and has a guaranteed minimum value of $192K with a potential value of up to $28.2 million. This award follows a full and open competitive evaluation lasting nine months, which began with the release of the Army's Request for Proposal (RFP) on January 13, 2010. The program will be executed under the authority of Project Manager Soldier Weapons, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, and managed by its subordinate unit, Product Manager Individual Weapons. In 2009 the U.S. Army has changed the weapon name from M24E1 to the XM2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle.


title: Bolt action

text: The Vetterli rifle was the first bolt-action repeating rifle introduced by an army. It was used by the Swiss army from 1869 to circa 1890. Modified Vetterlis were also used by the Italian Army. Another notable design is the Norwegian Krag–Jørgensen, which was used by Norway, Denmark, and briefly the United States. It is unusual among bolt-action rifles in that is loaded through a gate on the right side of the receiver, and thus can be reloaded without opening the bolt. The Norwegian and Danish versions of the Krag have two locking lugs, while the American version has only one. In all versions, the bolt handle itself serves as an emergency locking lug. The Krag's major disadvantage compared to other bolt-action designs is that it is usually loaded by hand, one round at a time, although a box-like device was made that could drop five rounds into the magazine, all at once via a stripper or en bloc clip. This made it slower to reload than other designs which used stripper or en bloc clips. Another historically important bolt-action system was the Gras system, used on the French Mle 1874 Gras rifle, Mle 1886 Lebel rifle (which was the first to introduce ammunition loaded with nitrocellulose-based smokeless powder), and the Berthier series of rifles.


title: Bolt action

text: Straight-pull bolt-actions differ from conventional turn-pull bolt-action mechanisms in that the bolt can be cycled back and forward without rotating the handle and thus only a linear motion is required, as opposed to a traditional bolt-action, where the user has to axially rotate the bolt in addition to the linear motions to perform chambering and primary extraction. The bolt locking of a straight pull action is achieved differently without needing manual inputs, therefore the entire operating cycle needs the shooter to perform only two movements (pull back and push forward) instead of four (rotate up, pull back, push forward, and rotate down), greatly increasing the gun's rate of fire.


title: Bolt action

text: In 1993 the German Blaser company introduced the Blaser R93, a new straight pull action where locking is achieved by a series of concentric "claws" that protrude/retract from the bolthead, a design that is referred to as "Radialbundverschluss" ("radial connection"). As of 2017 the Rifle Shooter magazine listed its successor Blaser R8 as one of the three most popular straight pull rifles together with Merkel Helix and Browning Maral. Some other notable modern straight pull rifles are made by Beretta, C.G. Haenel, Chapuis, Heym, Lynx, Rößler, Savage Arms, Strasser, and Steel Action.


title: Bolt action

text: Most straight bolt rifles have a firing mechanism without a hammer, but there are some hammer-fired models, such as the Merkel Helix. Firearms using a hammer usually have a comparably longer lock time than hammerless mechanisms.


title: Bolt action

text: In the sport of biathlon, because shooting speed is an important performance factor and semi-automatic guns are illegal for race use, straight pull actions are quite common and are used almost exclusively in the Biathlon World Cup. The first company to make the straight pull action for .22 caliber was J. G. Anschütz; the action is specifically the straight pull ball bearing lock action, which features spring-loaded ball bearings on the side of the bolt which lock into a groove inside the bolt's housing. With the new design came a new dry fire method; instead of the bolt being turned up slightly, the action is locked back to catch the firing pin.


title: Bolt action

text: Typically, the bolt consists of a tube of metal inside of which the firing mechanism is housed, and which has at the front or rear of the tube several metal knobs, or "lugs", which serve to lock the bolt in place. The operation can be done via a rotating bolt, a lever, cam action, a locking piece, or a number of systems. Straight pull designs have seen a great deal of use, though manual turn bolt designs are what is most commonly thought of in reference to a bolt-action design due to the type ubiquity. As a result, the bolt-action term is often reserved for more modern types of rotating bolt designs when talking about a specific weapon's type of action. However, both straight pull and rotating bolt rifles are types of bolt-action rifles. Lever-action and pump-action weapons must still operate the bolt, but they are usually grouped separately from bolt-actions that are operated by a handle directly attached to a rotating bolt. Early bolt-action designs, such as the Dreyse needle gun and the Mauser Model 1871, locked by dropping the bolt handle or bolt guide rib into a notch in the receiver, this method is still used in .22 rimfire rifles. The most common locking method is a rotating bolt with two lugs on the bolt head, which was used by the Lebel Model 1886 rifle, Model 1888 Commission Rifle, Mauser M 98, Mosin–Nagant and most bolt-action rifles. The Lee–Enfield has a lug and guide rib, which lock on the rear end of the bolt into the receiver.


title: Bolt action

text: The bolt knob is the part of the bolt handle that the user grips when loading and reloading the firearm and thereby acts as a cocking handle. On many older firearms, the bolt knob is welded to the bolt handle, and as such becoming an integral part of the bolt handle itself. On many newer firearms, the bolt knob is instead threaded onto the handle, allowing the user to change the original bolt knob for an aftermarket one, either for aesthetical reasons, achieving better grip or similar. The type of threads used vary between firearms. European firearms often use either M6 1 or M8 1.25 threads, for example M6 is used on the SIG Sauer 200 STR, Blaser R93, Blaser R8, CZ 457 and Bergara rifles, while M8 is used on the Sako TRG and SIG Sauer 404. Many American firearms instead use 1/4" 28 TPI (6.35 0.907 mm) or 5/16" 24 TPI (7.9375 1.058 mm) threads. Some other thread types are also used, for example, No. 10 32 TPI (4.826 0.794 mm) as used by Mausingfield. There also exists aftermarket slip-on bolt handle covers which are mounted without having to remove the existing bolt handle. These are often made of either rubber or plastic.


title: Bolt action

text: Most bolt-action firearms are fed by an internal magazine loaded by hand, by en bloc, or stripper clips, though a number of designs have had a detachable magazine or independent magazine, or even no magazine at all, thus requiring that each round be independently loaded. Generally, the magazine capacity is limited to between two and ten rounds, as it can permit the magazine to be flush with the bottom of the rifle, reduce the weight, or prevent mud and dirt from entering. A number of bolt-actions have a tube magazine, such as along the length of the barrel. In weapons other than large rifles, such as pistols and cannons, there were some manually operated breech-loading weapons. However, the Dreyse Needle fire rifle was the first breech loader to use a rotating bolt design. Johann Nicholas von Dreyse's rifle of 1838 was accepted into service by Prussia in 1841, which was in turn developed into the Prussian Model in 1849. The design was a single shot breech-loader and had the now familiar arm sticking out from the side of the bolt, to turn and open the chamber. The entire reloading sequence was a more complex procedure than later designs, however, as the firing pin had to be independently primed and activated, and the lever was used only to move the bolt.


title: Red Skull

text: The Red Skull is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and its predecessor Timely Comics. The first version, George Maxon, appeared in "Captain America Comics" #1 and #4. The main incarnation of the character, Johann Shmidt, was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in "Captain America Comics" #7 in October 1941. Originally portrayed as a Nazi agent and protégé of Adolf Hitler during World War II, the Red Skull has endured as the archenemy of the superhero Captain America. Initially wearing a fearsome blood-red death skull mask that symbolizes carnage and chaos to intimidate, decades after the war he suffers a horrific disfigurement that matches his persona.


title: Red Skull

text: The character has been adapted to a variety of other media platforms, including animated television series, video games and live-action feature films.


title: Red Skull

text: He was portrayed by actor Scott Paulin in the 1990 direct-to-video film "Captain America". In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hugo Weaving portrayed the character in "" (2011), and was then replaced by Ross Marquand in "" (2018) and "" (2019), who also voiced an alternate version of the character in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?" (2021).


title: Red Skull

text: The original Red Skull was introduced in Timely Comics' "Captain America Comics" #1 (cover-dated March 1941) which was written and drawn by the team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. On separate occasions, both Kirby and Simon claimed to have had the original idea for the character, and at the 1970 San Diego Comic Con, Kirby said the Red Skull was created by France Herron. Simon later credited both Kirby and Herron with having a role in creating Red Skull.


title: Red Skull

text: The Skull was to appear again in issue #3 of "Captain America Comics". As in issue #1, the Red Skull's secret identity is George Maxon, the owner of the Maxon Aircraft Company that makes airplanes for the US Army. Maxon wears a mask to create the look of the Red Skull and his face is often exposed. As the Red Skull, Maxon commandeers bank robberies in an effort to raise money to overthrow the US government, declaring, "Of course you realize the main item in overthrowing the government is money!"


title: Red Skull

text: Stories published decades later established that the Red Skull appearing in "Captain America" #7 (October 1941) was the Nazi Johann Shmidt, and that the Red Skull appearing before that point was his pawn George Maxon. The Red Skull also appeared in "Young Allies" #1 and #4. He appeared maskless in both issues, including when getting up from bed in issue #1 and while in a fighter jet with one other ally in #4.


title: Red Skull

text: After an absence from comics for many years, both Captain America and the Red Skull were brought back in 1954 in "Young Men Comics" #24, in a story entitled "Back From The Dead". Here the Red Skull, thinking Captain America was dead, has left politics and started a big criminal enterprise in the United States. In his next appearance, in issue #27, the Red Skull is once again left for dead.


title: Red Skull

text: The character returned in new stories starting with "Tales of Suspense" #65 (May 1965) in a Captain America World War II-period story run. Red Skull was established as a contemporary villain in issue #79 (July 1966), with the explanation that he had been in suspended animation since World War II.


title: Red Skull

text: For decades, the character's true face was hidden, but in "Captain America" #297 (September 1984) the Red Skull unmasks in front of Captain America and his face, albeit extremely aged, is fully revealed. In the next issue, the Red Skull retells his story with his face fully visible in his various ages. When the character is revealed to be alive in issue #350 (February 1989), in a story called "Resurrection", by Mark Gruenwald, the face of Johann Shmidt's original body is hidden again, but the Red Skull's face is fully visible, albeit in his cloned copy of Captain America's body.


title: Red Skull

text: The character's origin was more fully illustrated in the miniseries "Red Skull: Incarnate", with Shmidt's face fully visible again.


title: Red Skull

text: Johann Shmidt was a Nazi general officer and confidant of Adolf Hitler. He has been closely affiliated with HYDRA and is an enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, and the interests of the United States and the free world in general. He was physically augmented by having his mind placed into the body of a clone of Captain America, the pinnacle of human perfection. He has been seemingly killed in the past, only to return time and time again to plague the world with schemes of world domination and genocide.


title: Red Skull

text: Johann Shmidt was born in a village in Germany to Hermann Shmidt and Martha Shmidt. His mother died in childbirth, and his father blamed Johann for her death. Johann's father tried to drown the baby, only to be stopped by the attending doctor; he later committed suicide, leaving Johann an orphan. The doctor took Johann to an orphanage, where the child led a lonely existence. Johann ran away from the orphanage when he was 7 years old and lived on the streets as a beggar and thief. As he grew older, he worked at various menial jobs but spent most of his time in prison for crimes ranging from vagrancy to theft. The Skull's real name of Johann Shmidt was not revealed in his Golden Age and Silver Age appearances.


title: Red Skull

text: As a young man, Shmidt was from time to time employed by a Jewish shopkeeper, whose daughter Esther was the only person who had treated Shmidt kindly up to that point. Seized with passion for Esther, Schmidt tried to force himself upon her, only for her to reject him. In unthinking fury, Schmidt murdered her. Shmidt fled the scene in terror but also felt ecstatic joy in committing his first murder. In killing Esther, he had given vent to the rage at the world that had been building up in him throughout his young life.


title: Red Skull

text: According to the official version of the story told by the Red Skull and the Nazis, Shmidt met Hitler while working as a bellhop in a hotel. This occurred during his late teens, around the same time that the Nazi Party gained power in Germany. Shmidt wound up serving Hitler's rooms at the hotel. By chance, Shmidt was present by bringing refreshments when the Führer was furiously scolding an officer for letting a spy escape, during which Hitler declared that he could create a better National Socialist out of the bellhop. Looking closely at the youth and sensing his dark inner nature, Hitler decided to act on his words and recruited Shmidt. In the miniseries "Red Skull: Incarnate", it has been revealed that Shmidt actually engineered his meeting with the Führer with himself disguised as a bellhop, tricking his fellow orphan Dieter into trying to kill Hitler and then taking this opportunity to save Hitler's life.


title: Red Skull

text: Dissatisfied with the standard drill instruction his subordinates used to train Shmidt, Hitler took over personally, training Shmidt as his right-hand man after Heinrich Himmler. Upon completion, Hitler gave Shmidt a unique uniform with a grotesque red skull mask, and he emerged as the Red Skull (in literal German: "Roter Totenkopf" or "Roter (Toten-)Schädel") for the first time. His role was the embodiment of Nazi intimidation, while Hitler could remain the popular leader of Germany. To that end, the Red Skull was appointed head of Nazi terrorist activities with an additional large role in external espionage and sabotage. He succeeded, wreaking havoc throughout Europe in the early stages of World War II. The propaganda effect was so great that the United States government decided to counter it by creating their own equivalent using the one recipient of the lost Project Rebirth: Steve Rogers, as the superhero/counterintelligence agent, Captain America.


title: Red Skull

text: In Europe during the war, the Red Skull took personal command of many military actions and personally supervised the takeovers and lootings of many cities and towns. The Red Skull also organized a Wolf Pack of U-Boats which preyed upon shipping across the world, often under the Red Skull's personal command. At first, Hitler took great pride in his protégé's successes and let the Red Skull have anything he wanted. Hitler thus financed the construction of secret bases for the Red Skull in various locations throughout the world, many of which were equipped with highly advanced experimental weapons and devices developed by Nazi scientists. The Red Skull was particularly interested in procuring technological weapons that could be used for the purposes of subversion and warfare. During the war he stole plans for the nullatron, a device that could control human minds, adapted a space-warping device developed by the cyborg scientist code-named Brain Drain, and commissioned Nazi scientists to develop a projector which could encircle and suspend sections of cities within spheres of energy.


title: Red Skull

text: But while the Red Skull always admired Hitler for his ideological vision, he was never fully content with being Hitler's subordinate. The Red Skull kidnapped and killed many of Hitler's closest advisers and eventually rose to become the second-most-powerful man in Nazi Germany. Now Hitler could no longer effectively control the Red Skull and came to fear him, especially since the Red Skull had made no secret of his ambition to supplant Hitler someday.


title: Red Skull

text: Captain America, often with teenage partner Bucky Barnes, fought and thwarted the Red Skull many times during the war. The heroes also fought the Red Skull when they were members of the Invaders. On one occasion the Red Skull captured, drugged, and brainwashed Captain America. He sent the hero to kill a high-ranking officer, but with Bucky's help Captain America broke free. The Red Skull later temporarily brainwashed three of the Invaders into serving him. The Red Skull and Captain America continued to engage in a series of skirmishes throughout the war.


title: Red Skull

text: After the renowned military officer Baron Wolfgang von Strucker had a falling-out with Hitler, the Red Skull sent Strucker to Japan to found an organization that would prepare the way for takeovers in the Far East under the Red Skull's leadership. In the Far East, Strucker joined a subversive organization that came to be known as HYDRA, severed his ties with the Red Skull, became head of HYDRA and made it into a major threat to world peace.


title: Red Skull

text: As World War II raged on, Hitler vowed that if he could not conquer the world, he would destroy it. To achieve this end, the Red Skull proposed the construction of five gigantic war machines, to be called the Sleepers, which would be hidden in various locations while they generated and stored the power they would need, and then be released at a future date, "Der Tag" ("The Day" in German), to destroy the Earth if the Allies won the war. Hitler enthusiastically instructed the Red Skull to construct the Sleepers, unaware that the Red Skull intended to use them to conquer the world himself if Nazi Germany fell. In the closing days of the war in Europe, Allied intelligence received reports of a Nazi doomsday plan, code-named "Der Tag", to be implemented after Hitler's defeat. However, the Allies had no idea what the plan entailed.


title: Red Skull

text: The Red Skull sent a number of his subordinates who became known as the Exiles, and a large contingent of loyal German soldiers and their wives to a secret island base ("Exile Island"), where they would organize an army for use in the future.


title: Red Skull

text: Now that the German defeat was becoming a reality, the Red Skull was more determined than ever to obtain vengeance for his numerous personal defeats by Captain America and Bucky. The Red Skull assigned Baron Heinrich Zemo to go to England, and, under the cover of stealing an experimental Allied drone plane, to capture or kill Captain America and Bucky. However, the Red Skull was unaware that the Allies had just secretly parachuted Captain America into beleaguered Berlin to investigate "Der Tag".


title: Red Skull

text: Finally, Captain America tracked the Red Skull down to his hidden bunker. The Red Skull was about to hurl an armed hand grenade at his nemesis when Captain America threw his shield at him. The grenade exploded, but the Red Skull was not killed, due to his body armor. He was, however, seriously hurt and partially buried in debris. Thinking he was dying, the Red Skull defiantly told Captain America that the Sleepers would avenge the Nazis' defeat. Then, suddenly, an Allied attack on Berlin began. An Allied plane dropped a huge blockbuster bomb on the bunker, causing a cave-in that Captain America barely escaped. Captain America was picked up by the Allies and returned to England only to fall into Zemo's trap, which led to Bucky's supposed death and Captain America's falling into suspended animation for decades. Support pillars that crisscrossed over the Red Skull when the bunker caved in saved him from being struck by tons of rubble when the bomb hit. The cave-in also released an experimental gas from canisters in the bunker which put the Red Skull into suspended animation, during which time his wounds slowly healed.


title: Red Skull

text: Johann Shmidt's legacy continued to cause trouble by way of the Sleepers which are activated by his agents as scheduled. Captain America neutralizes all the machines in turn.


title: Red Skull

text: Johann Shmidt is eventually rescued and revived from suspended animation in modern times by the terrorist organization A.I.M. The Red Skull quickly subverts a cell to his own ambitions of world conquest and the death of Captain America. He steals the Cosmic Cube after taking control of its Keeper's mind with a device he planted while shaking hands, and reveals that he gave Baron Zemo the order to steal the bomb plane that led to Bucky Barnes's death. He had a rivalry with Zemo, and hoped to set his two foes against each other. Captain America learns, from the dying pilot of a plane that had been following the Keeper's plane, that the Cosmic Cube had been used to destroy the plane. Shmidt tells another A.I.M. member of his plans after getting a mind control device on him, then causes him to shoot himself. He fights Captain America again for the first time in years after getting the Cosmic Cube on an island. He begins sending Captain America to another dimension when Captain America offers to become his servant. The Red Skull encases himself in a golden suit of armor, and talks of creating a new order of knights. Captain America gets close to him while the Red Skull prepares to knight him. Captain America tries to get the Cosmic Cube, and in the fight the island splits apart from the Cosmic Cube's power, and the Red Skull falls off a cliff while trying to get the Cosmic Cube. When Johann reappears, he and Albert Malik start to antagonize each other while both claiming the Red Skull identity. Finally Malik is the victim of an assassination organized by the Red Skull, through a rogue agent of the Scourges of the Underworld.


title: Red Skull

text: The Red Skull captures part of Manhattan Island, unleashes the fourth Sleeper, and captures Captain America on Exile Island. The Red Skull then regains the Cosmic Cube and temporarily switches bodies with Captain America. He also uses the Cube to alter the personality of Sam "Snap" Wilson. Some time later in his first appearance outside of a title featuring Captain America, he fights Doctor Doom. The Red Skull then foments racial hatred in New York, and is revealed as the true power behind a Las Vegas-based HYDRA fragment, and clashes with Kingpin.


title: Red Skull

text: Some time later, the Red Skull kills Roscoe (another wearer of the Captain America mantle). He also revives the use of his "dust of death". The Red Skull later fights Doctor Doom on the moon, but is defeated. With Arnim Zola, the Red Skull seeks to transplant Hitler's brain into Captain America's body. He transforms a number of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into his red skull-faced slaves. The Red Skull teams with the Hate-Monger (a clone of Hitler) and traps him in a flawed Cosmic Cube. The Red Skull leads the Nihilist Order for a brief time. Establishing a Nazi colony on a deserted island, the Red Skull fathers a daughter: Synthia Schmidt.


title: Red Skull

text: The gas that placed the Red Skull in suspended animation wears off and his body rapidly ages to his actual years. Now physically weak and feeble in his mid-80s, the Red Skull plans a final showdown with his archrival. Kidnapping Captain America's closest allies, he forces Captain America to surrender himself to a medical treatment that ages his body to its rightful age. The two men, their bodies now ancient, fight a battle to the death. When Captain America refuses to kill him, the Red Skull dies in Captain America's arms, cursing his enemy as his elderly body shuts down.


title: Red Skull

text: Nazi geneticist Arnim Zola had obtained DNA samples of Captain America years earlier and arranged for the Red Skull's mind to be transplanted into a cloned body of Captain America at the moment of his death. Assuming the identity of "John Smith" (the English equivalent of his natural German name), the Red Skull decides to reinvent himself and his quest for absolute power as a means to celebrate his cheating death. The Red Skull abandons his longstanding beliefs in National Socialism and Hitler, on the belief that the Nazi philosophy made him look like a relic of the past, and turns towards American ideology. The Red Skull sees much potential in the American dream of capitalism and self-determination and sets about establishing his own foothold inside Washington, D.C., culminating in him gaining control over the Commission on Superhuman Activities, a government body in Washington that monitors and regulates superhero activities.


title: Red Skull

text: The Red Skull also changes his mode of operations: rather than "living from one grand scheme to the next", he begins financing a score of evil organizations that report directly to him, such as the militia group the Watchdogs. He also employs one of the Scourges of the Underworld, an organization dedicated to killing supervillains.


title: Red Skull

text: The Red Skull has the Commission remove Steve Rogers from the position of Captain America and replace him with jingoist John Walker. Although Walker attempts to live up to his predecessor's ideals, the Red Skull arranges for the murders of Walker's parents, driving him insane and into a downward spiral of murder as part of his plan to blacken the name of Captain America.


title: Red Skull

text: The Red Skull kills his chief pawn in the Commission right in front of Captain America. About to be exposed, the Red Skull tries to manipulate Walker into killing Rogers. When Rogers defeats Walker, the Red Skull appears to gloat at what he had done to Rogers, Walker, and the reputation of Captain America. However, Rogers remains openly dubious of his claims to be his dead archenemy. The Red Skull tries to kill Rogers with a cigarette holding a lethal dose of the dust of death (the Red Skull's favorite poison), but Walker hits him from behind with his shield. The Red Skull inhales the dust of death and his face takes on the appearance of a living red skull; his head loses its hair and its skin shrivels, clinging tightly to his skull, and taking on a red discoloration. The Red Skull survives the exposure due to the effects of the Super-Soldier Formula.


title: Red Skull

text: After this, the Red Skull masterminds a conflict between the United States and Symkaria. He joins the "Acts of Vengeance" conspiracy, but is attacked by the mutant terrorist Magneto, a Holocaust survivor who wants to punish him for his involvement in Hitler's regime. Magneto buries him alive with enough water to last a few months. The Red Skull remains imprisoned, close to death and beginning to see the error of his ways, until he is rescued by his henchman Crossbones. Feeling ready to die in peace, the Red Skull requests to be taken to his private estate's bed, and for Captain America to come see him. Upon seeing his archenemy's face, the Red Skull is surprised to feel a sudden burst of hatred that reignites his will to live.


title: Red Skull

text: The Red Skull proposes an alliance with the Kingpin to bring a new designer drug to New York, but the Kingpin refuses to ally with the Nazi and the two engage in a drug war. He then defeats the Red Skull in hand-to-hand combat, sparing his life on the condition that he never come near the Kingpin's territory again. After the Red Skull's agents allow fellow Nazi Baron Wolfgang von Strucker to be reborn, the grateful Strucker allows the Red Skull the use of HYDRA resources.


title: Red Skull

text: The Red Skull's tenure in Washington comes to an end when he is captured by Hauptmann Deutschland, and taken to Germany to stand trial for crimes against humanity, stemming from his days as a Nazi agent. The Red Skull narrowly escapes and is rescued by Arnim Zola, and forced to fake his death and go into hiding in a Rocky Mountain compound. He recruits the Viper, a move that alienates his minions and is further rocked when his chief henchman Crossbones kidnaps Captain America's girlfriend Diamondback, resulting in Captain America finding the Red Skull's new lair. The Red Skull fires Crossbones and goes into hiding while the Viper, using funds she plied from the Red Skull as part of a scheme to use televisions across America to blind TV viewers, is defeated by Captain America.


title: Red Skull

text: The Red Skull discovers that he is facing the same permanent paralysis that Captain America was facing due to their exposure to the Super-Soldier Formula. When the evil scientist Superia offers Captain America a cure, Captain America refuses it because Superia said that Captain America would owe her. The Red Skull takes the cure and apparently kills Superia, then arranges for Captain America to be kidnapped by his remaining forces (including Sharon Carter, whom he found still alive and recruits), and given a blood transfusion that cures him.


title: Red Skull

text: Captain America's recovery segues into a reluctant team-up with the Red Skull; a Nazi cult that worshiped Hitler as a god had discovered a Cosmic Cube that contained Hitler's soul, put there by the Red Skull himself. The two try to stop the cult from fully powering the Hitler Cosmic Cube, but the Red Skull opts instead to send Captain America (against his will) into the cube to kill Hitler, imprisoning Captain America in the cube while he uses its power to conquer humanity. Captain America escapes and uses his shield to sever one of the Red Skull's arms, causing him to drop the Cube. The Cube becomes unstable, destroying the Red Skull.


title: Red Skull

text: Trapped in a hellish nightmare dimension and forced to serve as a bellhop to a world of non-European immigrants, the Red Skull's will ultimately is so great that he is able to escape his prison. As a result, the Red Skull now possesses limited reality-warping powers that make him a cosmic threat. He is further aided by Korvac, posing as Kang the Conqueror. He is sent to Galactus's ship to steal more power (particularly the power of omniscience), which would remove all limits to the Red Skull's reality-warping powers. The Red Skull is ambushed by Korvac, who steals his cosmic powers and banishes him back to Earth.


title: Red Skull

text: The Red Skull later manipulates his way into the position in the form of US Secretary of Defense Dell Rusk (an anagram of "Red Skull") to develop a biological weapon he tested at Mount Rushmore. He is exposed and defeated by the Avengers. The Black Panther beats him so badly that he breaks the Red Skull's jaw in half.


title: Red Skull

text: The Red Skull was assassinated by the mysterious Winter Soldier, under orders from the renegade former Soviet general Aleksander Lukin wanting to possess the new Cosmic Cube the Red Skull had manufactured. When the Red Skull was shot, he attempted to use the Cosmic Cube to switch bodies with Lukin to survive, but as the Cosmic Cube was still weak he only managed to transfer his mind into Lukin's body, so that the two enemies are trapped together, waging a constant war for dominance which the Red Skull seems to be progressively winning. During a plot to lure out Captain America, the Red Skull/Lukin recruited several German skinheads and made them the successors to Master Man. He then had these soldiers, dubbed the "Master Race", launch an attack on London, which was thwarted by Captain America, Spitfire and Union Jack. Then, the Red Skull/Lukin activated a Sleeper, a robot programmed for mass destruction that was presumably created by Doctor Doom. The robot damaged a significant portion of the new London Kronas H.Q., and was ultimately destroyed by Captain America and Bucky. In the aftermath, the Red Skull sent a videotape, announcing to the world his return, followed by Lukin holding a press conference condemning the actions of both the Red Skull and Captain America, and supporting the Superhero Registration Act. Then, in his office, the Red Skull introduced Lukin to his old/new associates Crossbones and Sin.


title: Red Skull

text: With America's superheroes divided over the act, the Red Skull manipulates events to his own ends, with the aid of Doctor Faustus, Doctor Doom and Arnim Zola. His plans involved the reunion of Captain America and his former lover Sharon Carter being manipulated by Faustus.


title: Red Skull

text: In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, the Red Skull puts his plans into action, arranging for Crossbones to shoot Captain America as he enters a courthouse in New York City; in the ensuing chaos, Carter, acting under Faustus's mental directive, assassinates Captain America. This is only the first phase of the Red Skull's plan. Upon the discovery of his identity as Lukin, the Red Skull fakes his death, and initiates the second phase of his plan: using the Kronas Corporation's vast holdings to economically cripple the United States, before having S.H.I.E.L.D. agents brainwashed by Doctor Faustus open fire on crowds of protesters in front of the White House. The Red Skull continues his assault by engineering a riot by placing Kronas security troops and drugged water in a protest on the Lincoln Monument.


title: Red Skull

text: All of this has apparently been to elevate his puppet politician, Gordon Wright, elevated in the public's eye with being credited as "resolving" the situations, as well as surviving a (staged) attack by the Serpent Squad. Once elected, Wright will lead the country directly into a police state secretly controlled by the Red Skull. The Red Skull also plans to transfer his consciousness into Sharon's unborn child, apparently sired by Steve Rogers himself and potentially having inherited his Project: Rebirth enhancements.


title: Red Skull

text: Both schemes fail because of the impatience and incompetence of the Red Skull's daughter—her near-fatal attack on Sharon causes her to lose the baby, and she intentionally botches her pseudo-assassination of Wright by attempting to kill him for real. As Faustus has surreptitiously tampered with Sharon's programming, she is able to rebel, and before escaping shoots Lukin to death. This is not the end of the Red Skull, since Zola had seconds earlier transferred his mind to one of the spare robotic bodies, but after having his current form damaged by the impostor Captain America, he is unable to return to the Red Skull, essentially trapping him in his current robotic form for the time being.