title: Tata Starbucks

text: Starbucks expanded its presence to Delhi on 24 January 2013 by opening 2 outlets at Terminal III of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, and later one in Connaught Place. Tata Global Beverages announced in 2013 that they would have 50 locations by the end of the year, with an investment of . However, the company would open its 50th store in India only on 8 July 2014 in chennai.


title: Tata Starbucks

text: The third city of India to get a Starbucks outlet was Pune, where the company opened an outlet at Koregaon Park, on 8 September 2013. Starbucks opened a 3,000-square-foot flagship store at Koramangala, Bangalore on 22 November 2013, making it the fourth city to have an outlet.


title: Tata Starbucks

text: Starbucks opened the largest coffee-forward store in the country at Vittal Mallya Road, Bangalore on 18 March 2019. The store measures 3,000 sq ft, and is Starbucks' 140th outlet in India. Tata Starbucks opened 25 stores in 2017–18 and 30 in the 2018–19 fiscal year. On 21 February 2019, CEO Navin Gurnaney announced that Tata Starbucks would transition to using only compostable and recyclable packaging materials across all its stores from June 2020.


title: Tata Starbucks

text: Starbucks announced its entry into the Gujarat market on 7 August 2019. The company simultaneously opened five stores in Surat and Ahmedabad the next day. Starbucks' flagship store in the state is located at Prahlad Nagar, Ahmedabad and offers more vegetarian options than other Indian outlets. CEO Navin Gurnaney stated that the company would open more than 30 stores in the 2019–20 fiscal year, of which 11 had already opened. The company opened its 170th outlet and the first in Vadodara in December 2019. The first drive-through Starbucks outlet in India was opened at Zirakpur, Punjab on 13 July 2020. The company opened its 200th store at Amritsar, Punjab on 22 October 2020. Starbucks entered into Madhya Pradesh in February 2021 by opening 3 stores in Indore and Bhopal with further expansion plans in Indore. Starbucks entered Rajasthan by opening 2 stores in Jaipur in August 2021.


title: Tata Starbucks

text: On 10 February 2021, the company announced that Navin Gurnaney was stepping down as CEO. Sushant Dash, who is currently President, Packaged beverages at Tata Consumer Products, replaced him as CEO effective 1 May 2021. Tata Starbucks opened 40 new stores in 2020–21, including expanding to 7 new cities, and the company opened 50 new stores in 2021–22, including expanding to 8 new cities.


title: Tata Starbucks

text: Apart from the usual products offered internationally, Starbucks in India has some Indian-style product offerings such as Tandoori Paneer Roll, Chocolate Rossomalai Mousse, Malai Chom Chom Tiramisu, Elaichi Mewa Croissant, Chicken Kathi Roll and Murg Tikka Panini to suit Indian customers. All espressos sold in Indian outlets are made from Indian roasted coffee beans supplied by Tata Coffee. Starbucks also sells Himalayan bottled mineral water. Free Wi-Fi is available at all Starbucks stores.


title: Tata Starbucks

text: In January 2017, Tata Starbucks introduced Starbucks' tea brand Teavana offering 18 different varieties of tea across its outlets in India. One of the varieties, called the India Spice Majesty Blend, was specifically developed for the Indian market and is only available in India. India Spice Majesty Blend is a blend of full leaf Assam black tea infused with whole cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, pepper, star anise and ginger.


title: Tata Starbucks

text: On 15 June 2015, Tata Starbucks announced that it was suspending the use of ingredients that had not been approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The company did not specify what the ingredients were or which products they were used. The company also stated that it was in the process of applying for FSSAI approval for these ingredients.


title: Tata Starbucks

text: Tata Starbucks launched the Starbucks Delivers program in early 2019. The service offers home delivery from Starbucks outlets through a partnership with Swiggy. The service was first launched in Mumbai, with plans to roll it out to other cities.


title: Tata Starbucks

text: The US-based Starbucks Corporation filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court in July 2018 against Delhi-based coffee chain SardarBuksh for allegedly copying their name and logo. The owner of SardarBuksh agreed to change its name on 28 September 2018. Sanmeet Singh Kalra, co-founder of SardarBuksh, said, "Our name rhymed with Starbucks which is why the court has ruled in their favour." Kalra also stated that his company would not change its logo. Its logo features a circle of green and black with a figure at the centre, similar to the Starbucks logo, except with a man in a turban instead of a mermaid.


title: Tata Starbucks

text: In March 2019, an investigation by the Directorate General of Anti Profiteering (DGAP) found Tata Starbucks guilty of profiteering by not reducing the goods and services tax (GST) charged on coffee. The GST Council had reduced the tax rate on restaurants from 18% to 5% from 17 November 2017. However, the DGAP found that Tata Starbucks had raised the base price of one coffee variant such that its retail price remained the same even after the tax rate was reduced. The case was pending before the National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA), which will issue the final verdict. In November 2020, the NAA upheld the findings of the DGAP's investigation, fined Tata Starbucks an amount of plus 18% interest, and ordered the company to "reduce the prices of products so that the benefits of tax reduction is passed on to the recipients".


title: Tata Starbucks

text: The Tata Group and Starbucks Corporation also collaborate on some ventures outside India. Starbucks Reserve Tata Nullore Estates, the first-ever Starbucks Reserve coffee sourced exclusively from India, became the first Indian coffee to be roasted and sold at Starbucks home city of Seattle in 2016. The coffee was later rolled out across Starbucks outlets in the United States. In the same year, Starbucks began selling Himalayan bottled mineral water at its outlets in Singapore and also began retailing its products on board all flights of Vistara, a joint venture between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines.


title: Jay Mehta

text: Jay Mehta (born 18 January 1961) is an Indian businessman and entrepreneur. He is the son of Mahendra Mehta and Sunayana Mehta and grandson of Nanji Kalidas Mehta, who own the Mehta Group which is spread over Africa, India, Canada and United States. He is the cousin of late Kenyan race car driver, Shekhar Mehta. He is married to actress Juhi Chawala.


title: Jay Mehta

text: He received his BS from Columbia University and MBA from the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.


title: Jay Mehta

text: Along with actor Shahrukh Khan, he is a co-owner of the Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders.


title: Jay Mehta

text: Jay Mehta is the husband of former "Miss India" and Bollywood actress Juhi Chawla. He was earlier married to Sujata Birla, sister of Yash Birla who died in the Flight 605 plane crash in 1990. Mehta has two children with wife Juhi Chawla, a daughter, Jahnavi Mehta (born 2001) and a son, Arjun Mehta (born 2003).


title: Raghava Lawrence

text: Lawrence Raghavendra is an Indian dance choreographer, actor, director, composer, dancer and playback singer. After making his debut as a dance choreographer in 1993, he began looking for acting opportunities. He began his career as an actor in 1998, in a Telugu film. He adopted the name "Raghava" in 2001, and worked for many prominent actors and directors in Tamil cinema throughout his career. He got his breakthrough with Telugu film "Style" and then "Muni". Lawrence is also known for his intricate hip-hop and westernised dance moves and has won four Filmfare Awards and three Nandi Awards for best choreography. In 2015, after the death of former Indian president A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Lawrence set up a charity trust in his name and donated .


title: Raghava Lawrence

text: Lawrence had a brain tumor when he was a child. He attributes the curing of his tumor to the deity, Raghavendra Swamy, and in an act of devotion, he took the name Raghava. He built the Raghavendra Swamy Brindavanam Temple at Thirumullaivayal on the Avadi-Ambattur route, which opened on 1 January 2010.


title: Raghava Lawrence

text: He was working as a car cleaner for fight master Super Subbarayan. Rajinikanth saw him dancing and helped him to join the Dancers Union.


title: Raghava Lawrence

text: Lawrence first appeared in a song in "Samsara Sangeetham" a Tamil film in 1989 directed by T. Rajendran. Then he appeared in "Donga Police" in 1991, also doing some dances with Prabhu Deva. He was a background dancer in the song Chikku Bukku Chikku Bukku Railey in "Gentleman" (1993). He also appeared in dance sequences in "Muta Mesthri" (1993), "Rakshana" (1993) and "Allari Priyudu" (1993). Chiranjeevi offered him the job of choreographing the dances for "Hitler" (1997). Pleased with Lawrence's work, Chiranjeevi asked him to choreograph dances for "Master" (1997), his next film too. Producer T V D Prasad offered him the role of a hero in his venture "Speed Dancer" (1999). That film was a flop. After that he acted small roles in Tamil like Ajith Kumar's "Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven" (2000) and Prashanth's "Parthen Rasithen" (2000). Director K. Balachander invited him to act in his 100th film "Parthale Paravasam" (2001).


title: Raghava Lawrence

text: He acted as a first lead role in the Tamil movie "Arpudham" (2002). As described by review "sify ", the latest in the line is Lawrence, who like his predecessor Prabhu Deva, is determined to be a hero. "Arputham" has a decent screenplay and Lawrence is tolerable. Thereafter, "Style" (2002). He also made a guest appearance with Vijay in the Tamil movie "Thirumalai" (2003). After a guest appearance in the film "Thendral" (2004), he directed his first film in Telugu, "Mass" (2004) starring Nagarjuna and Jyothika. The movie was a commercial success.


title: Raghava Lawrence

text: He got his breakthrough with the "Muni" (2007), a horror thriller film. Thereafter, he directed another film, "Don" (2007). The film starring Nagarjuna and Anushka Shetty. Raghava acted in second roles and made the film depending only on style and technical aspects. The movie had an average response.


title: Raghava Lawrence

text: Raghava continues to play in different categories films such as "Pandi" (2008), "Rajadhi Raja" (2009) and "Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam" (2010). "Pandi" was a moderate success, while "Rajadhi Raja"


title: Raghava Lawrence

text: He takes the series "Muni" in "" (2011). Sarath Kumar play in the main role. The movie was commercially successful. In 2012, he directed Telugu movie "Rebel" starring Prabhas and Tamannaah. He acted in "Kanchana 2" (2015). In 2017, he starred in an action Masala film, "Motta Shiva Ketta Shiva". "Sify" described the film as, "Crass, loud and brainless." Then another of genre horror "Shivalinga", remake a Kannada language with the same name directed by P. Vasu. Shakthi Vasudevan, son of director, also starred in the important role for two versions. The story is a cop investigating the suspicious death of a Muslim finds out that his own wife has become possessed by the young man's ghost. Raghava Lawrence is back with the fourth movie in the series – "Muni 4: Kanchana 3: Kaali" (2019), with the new change being three heroines. The film has received a good collections at the box office. In 2020, he made his directorial debut in Bollywood with film, "Laxmii," a remake of "Muni 2: Kanchana".


title: Raghava Lawrence

text: He did many social service activities in which he has aided many heart surgeries for small children. He was one of the supporters of the bull-riding sport jallikattu after its ban in 2017. During a protest in Tamil Nadu in January 2017, he provided food, medicine and basic needs to the protesters and promised to support them until the protests were over. He asked for an appointment with Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to donate 1 crore as relief fund for the Kerala flood victims.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid-teens. The original lineup of the Teenagers, an integrated group, included three African-American members, Frankie Lymon, Jimmy Merchant, and Sherman Garnes; and two Puerto Rican members, Joe Negroni and Herman Santiago. The Teenagers' first single, 1956's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", was also their biggest hit. After Lymon went solo in mid-1957, both his career and that of the Teenagers fell into decline. He was found dead at the age of 25 on the floor of his grandmother's bathroom from a heroin overdose. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of the Teenagers. His life was dramatized in the 1998 film "Why Do Fools Fall in Love".


title: Frankie Lymon

text: Lymon was born in Harlem, New York on September 30, 1942, to Jeanette and Howard Lymon. Howard was a truck driver and Jeanette was a maid. Both also sang in the gospel group The Harlemaires; Frankie and his brothers Lewis and Howie sang with the Harlemaire Juniors (a fourth brother, Timmy, was a singer, though not with the Harlemaire Juniors). The Lymons struggled to make ends meet, so Lymon began working as a grocery boy at age 10. At 12 in 1954, Lymon heard a local doo-wop group known as the Coupe De Villes at a school talent show. He became friends with the lead singer, Herman Santiago, and he eventually became a member of the group, now calling itself both The Ermines and The Premiers. Dennis Jackson of Columbus, Georgia, was one of the main influences in Lymon's life. His personal donation of $500 helped start Lymon's career.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: One day in 1955, a neighbor gave The Premiers several love letters that had been written to him by his girlfriend, hoping to give the boys inspiration to write their own songs. Merchant and Santiago adapted one of the letters into a song called "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". The Premiers, now calling themselves The Teenagers, got their first shot at fame after impressing Richard Barrett, a singer with The Valentines. Barrett, in turn, got the group an audition with record producer George Goldner. On the day of the group's audition, original lead singer Santiago was late. Lymon stepped up and told Goldner that he knew the part because he helped write the song. The disc jockeys always called them "Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers".


title: Frankie Lymon

text: Goldner signed the group to Gee Records, and "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" became its first single in January 1956. The single peaked at No. 6 on the "Billboard" pop singles chart, and topped the "Billboard" R&B singles chart for five weeks. Four other top 10 R&B singles followed over the next year or so: "I Want You to Be My Girl", "I Promise to Remember", "Who Can Explain?" (the B side of "I Promise to Remember" but which charted on its own), "The ABC's of Love", and "I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent". "I Want You To Be My Girl" gave the band its second pop hit, reaching No. 13 on the national Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Goody Goody" (written by Matty Malneck and Johnny Mercer and originally performed by Benny Goodman) was a No. 20 pop hit but did not appear on the R&B chart. The Teenagers placed two other singles in the lower half of the pop chart. With the release of "I Want You To Be My Girl", the group's second single, The Teenagers became Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. However, the album that mostly compiled the singles released in 1956 came out under the older name: "The Teenagers Featuring Frankie Lymon".


title: Frankie Lymon

text: In early 1957, Lymon and the Teenagers broke up while on a tour in Europe. During an engagement at the London Palladium, Goldner began pushing Lymon as a solo act, giving him solo spots in the show. Lymon began performing with backing from pre-recorded tapes. The group's last single, "Goody Goody" backed with "Creation of Love," initially retained the "Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers" credit, but they were actually solo recordings (with backing by session singers). Lymon had officially departed from the group by September 1957; an in-progress studio album called "Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers at the London Palladium" was instead issued as a Lymon solo release.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: As a solo artist, Lymon was not nearly as successful as he had been with the Teenagers. Beginning with his second solo release, "My Girl", Lymon had moved to Roulette Records. On a July 19, 1957 episode of Alan Freed's live ABC TV show "The Big Beat", Lymon began dancing with a white teenage girl while he was performing. His actions caused a scandal, particularly among Southern TV station owners, and "The Big Beat" was subsequently canceled.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: Lymon's slowly declining sales fell sharply in the early 1960s. His highest-charting solo hit was a cover of Bobby Day's "Little Bitty Pretty One", which peaked at No. 58 on the Hot 100 pop chart in 1960 and which had been recorded in 1957. Addicted to heroin since the age of 15, Lymon fell further into his habit, and his performing career went into decline. According to Lymon in an interview with "Ebony" magazine in 1967, he was first introduced to heroin when he was 15 by a woman twice his age. In 1961, Roulette, now run by Morris Levy, ended their contract with Lymon and he entered a drug rehabilitation program. After losing Lymon, the Teenagers went through a string of replacement singers, the first of whom was Billy Lobrano. In 1960, Howard Kenny Bobo sang lead on "Tonight's the Night" with the Teenagers; later that year, Johnny Houston sang lead on two songs. The Teenagers, who had been moved by Morris Levy to End Records, were released from their contract in 1961. The Teenagers briefly reunited with Lymon in 1965, without success.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: Over the next four years, Lymon struggled through short-lived deals with 20th Century Fox Records and Columbia Records. He began a relationship with Elizabeth Mickey Waters, who became his first wife in January 1964 and gave birth to his only child, Francine, who died two days after birth at Lenox Hill Hospital.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: Lymon's marriage to Waters was not legal because she was still married to her first husband at the time. After the marriage failed, he moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, where he began a romantic relationship with Zola Taylor, a member of the Platters. Taylor claimed to have married Lymon in Mexico in 1965 although their relationship ended several months later, purportedly because of Lymon's drug habits. Lymon, however, had been known to say that their marriage was a publicity stunt, and Taylor could produce no legal documentation of their marriage. In Major Robinson's gossip column of June 6, 1966, Zola said the whole thing was a joke that she went along with at the time (October 1965).


title: Frankie Lymon

text: He appeared at the Apollo as part of a revue, adding an extended tap dance number. Lymon recorded several live performances (such as "Melinda" in 1959), but none rose on the charts. His final television performance was on "Hollywood a Go-Go" in 1965, where the then-22-or-23-year-old singer lip-synched to the recording of his 13-year-old self singing "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". On June 21, 1966, he was arrested on a heroin charge and was drafted into the United States Army in lieu of a jail sentence. He reported to Fort Gordon, Georgia, near Augusta, Georgia, for training. While in the Augusta area, Lymon met and fell in love with Emira Eagle, a schoolteacher at Hornsby Elementary in Augusta. The two were wed in June 1967, and Lymon repeatedly went AWOL to secure gigs at small Southern clubs. Dishonorably discharged from the Army, Lymon moved into his wife's home and continued to perform sporadically. Traveling to New York in 1968, Lymon was signed by manager Sam Bray to his Big Apple label, and the singer returned to recording. Roulette Records expressed interest in releasing Lymon's records in conjunction with Big Apple and scheduled a recording session for February 28. A major promotion had been arranged with CHO Associates, owned by radio personalities Frankie Crocker, Herb Hamlett, and Eddie O'Jay. Lymon, staying at his grandmother's house in Harlem where he had grown up, celebrated his good fortune by taking heroin; he had remained clean ever since entering the Army two years earlier.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: On February 27, 1968, Lymon was found dead of a heroin overdose at the age of 25 on the floor of his grandmother's bathroom with a syringe by his side. Lymon was buried at Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Throggs Neck section of The Bronx, New York City, New York. "I'm Sorry" and "Seabreeze", the two songs Lymon had recorded for Big Apple before his death, were released later in 1969.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: Lymon's troubles extended to others after his death. After Diana Ross returned "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" to the Top Ten in 1981, a major controversy concerning Lymon's estate ensued. Zola Taylor, Elizabeth Waters, and Emira Eagle each approached Morris Levy, the music impresario who retained possession of Lymon's copyrights and his royalties, claiming to be Lymon's rightful widow; Lymon had neglected to divorce any of them. The complex issue resulted in lawsuits and counter-lawsuits, and in 1986 the first of several court cases concerning the ownership of Lymon's estate began.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: Trying to determine who was indeed the lawful Mrs. Frankie Lymon was complicated by more issues. Waters was already married when she married Lymon; she had separated from her first husband, but their divorce was finalized in 1965, after she had married Lymon. Taylor claimed to have married Lymon in Mexico in 1965, but could produce no acceptable evidence of their union. Lymon's marriage to Eagle, on the other hand, was properly documented as having taken place at Beulah Grove Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia, in 1967; however, the singer was still apparently twice-married and never divorced when he married Eagle. The first decision was made in Waters' favor; Eagle appealed, and in 1989, the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court reversed the original decision and awarded Lymon's estate to Eagle.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: However, the details of the case brought about another issue: whether mobster Morris Levy was deserving of the songwriting co-credit on "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". Although early single releases of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" credit Frankie Lymon, Herman Santiago, and Jimmy Merchant as co-writers, later releases and cover versions were attributed to Lymon and George Goldner. When Goldner sold his music companies to Morris Levy in 1959, Levy's name began appearing as co-writer of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" in place of Goldner's. Lymon was never paid his songwriting royalties during his lifetime; one result of Emira Eagle's legal victory was that Lymon's estate would finally begin receiving monetary compensation from his hit song's success. In 1987, Herman Santiago and Jimmy Merchant, both by then poor, sued Morris Levy for their songwriting credits. In December 1992, the United States federal courts ruled that Santiago and Merchant were co-authors of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". However, in 1996 the ruling was reversed by the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit on the basis of the statute of limitations: copyright cases must be brought before a court within three years of the alleged civil violation, and Merchant and Santiago's lawsuit was not filed until 30 years later. Authorship of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" currently remains in the names of Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: Although their period of success was brief, Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers' string of hits were highly influential on the rock and R&B performers who followed them. Lymon's high-voiced sound is said to be a direct predecessor of the girl group sound, and the list of performers who name him as an influence include Michael Jackson, Ronnie Spector, Diana Ross, The Chantels, The Temptations, George Clinton, Smokey Robinson, Len Barry, The Beach Boys and Billy Joel, among others. The performers most inspired by and derivative of Lymon and the Teenagers' style are The Jackson 5 and their lead singer and future superstar Michael Jackson. Motown founder Berry Gordy based much of the Jackson 5's sound on Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers' recordings, and the Teenagers are believed to be the original model for many of the other Motown groups he cultivated.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: In 1973, Lymon became known to a slightly younger generation than before with the release of "American Graffiti", which included "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" on its soundtrack. In September 1979 at the Santa Barbara Bowl, Joni Mitchell performed a version of "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" which subsequently appeared on the release of her album of the concert entitled "Shadows and Light" the following September. During the opening mix of the album, Mitchell also spliced sections of "I'm Not A Juvenile Delinquent" into the title track refrains. The Fall referenced Lymon in "No X-mas for John Quays" on their March 1979 album "Live at the Witch Trials". The English band Everything but the Girl on their 1991 album "Worldwide" include the song "Boxing and Pop Music" which references Lymon throughout the song. Lymon was mentioned in the 1992 Stephen King short story "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band". Lymon is named as the one who cut off the waitress Sissy's finger for trying to help the protagonists, Mary and Clark Willingham, escape from the town of Rock & Roll Heaven, Oregon, which is inhabited by Janis Joplin, Otis Redding, Roy Orbison, and other musicians who died young.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: In 1993, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2000.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: Lymon's music and story were eventually re-introduced to modern audiences with "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", a 1998 biographical film directed by Gregory Nava, also the director of the "Selena" biopic. "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" tells a comedic, fictionalized version of Lymon's story from the points of view of his three wives as they battle in court for the rights to his estate. The film stars Larenz Tate as Frankie Lymon, Halle Berry as Zola Taylor, Vivica A. Fox as Elizabeth Waters and Lela Rochon as Emira Eagle. "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" was not a commercial success and met with mixed reviews; the film grossed a total of $12,461,773 during its original theatrical run.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: The song "Harlem Roulette" by The Mountain Goats, off its 2012 album "Transcendental Youth", contains reference to Frankie Lymon, the song "Seabreeze" and Roulette Records. Frontman John Darnielle has stated that the song is about the last night of Lymon's life.


title: Frankie Lymon

text: Much of his kinescoped footage from classic shows such as "The Ed Sullivan Show", "American Bandstand", "Saturday Night Beechnut Show" and the "Mike Douglas Show" remains unavailable due to copyright claims.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: Aloha is a 2015 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Cameron Crowe. It stars Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Bill Murray, John Krasinski, Danny McBride and Alec Baldwin. Its story follows former US Air Force officer Brian Gilcrest who returns to Hawaii when he is rehired by a former boss to oversee the launch of a privatized weapons satellite in the skies over Hawaii.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: The film was produced by Columbia Pictures and was released on May 29, 2015. The film was a box office bomb, grossing $26.2 million worldwide against a budget of $37 million. It also received negative reviews from film critics, whose criticism was aimed at its screenplay, and accused the film of whitewashing.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: Military contractor Brian Gilcrest returns to Hawaii on behalf of billionaire Carson Welch, who intends to develop local land into a space center. Following a celebrated military career that ended in shadowy deals in Afghanistan, the now disillusioned Gilcrest has to negotiate a deal with the Native Hawaiians and support Carson's launch of a privately funded satellite. His mission is complicated by his former girlfriend Tracy, now married with two children, and his idealistic Air Force liaison, Captain Allison Ng, whose wide-eyed fascination with space reminds him of his own childhood sense of wonder.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: Gilcrest and Ng meet King Kanahele at his isolated community to negotiate a deal. They require his participation in a blessing ceremony that will allow Welch to build his center. Ng tries to engage Gilcrest in conversation about his life and work but is unable to break through. Meeting the king, Ng, who is one quarter Hawaiian, bonds with him and his companions, sharing their spiritual view of the land and sky. After prolonged negotiations, Gilcrest brokers a deal with the king in exchange for control over the territory of two whole mountains and free cell phone service for the area. The next night, Gilcrest and Ng have dinner at Tracy's, where they meet her husband Woody and their two children, Grace and Mitchell. At one point, Gilcrest and Tracy are alone in the kitchen, and she admits she loved him and had plans to make a life with him before he abandoned her thirteen years ago.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: The next evening, they attend Carson's Christmas party, where the commander of Pacific Air Forces General Dixon tells Gilcrest not to screw up their deal with the Hawaiians. One of the general's men hands Gilcrest a thumb drive containing top secret information for the upcoming satellite launch. During the party, Gilcrest becomes attracted to Ng, who is having fun dancing with Carson. Afterwards, Ng joins Gilcrest in his room while he recounts his experiences in Kabul, where he almost died. He tells her that this was the first night he was truly happy to be living, and the two have sex. The next day, Ng discovers that Carson's satellite will actually carry a nuclear payload. When she tries to resign, her colonel tells her it is a private operation run by Carson and that Gilcrest is aware of the details. Later she confronts Gilcrest in tears for lying to her and the Hawaiians.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: Meanwhile, Woody and Tracy confront each other about recent tensions in their marriage, which he believes were caused by Gilcrest's arrival. They agree to separate. The next morning, Tracy shows up at Gilcrest's hotel and reveals that Grace is his daughter. Later that day, after the successful blessing of the new pedestrian gate, Gilcrest learns that the Chinese are attempting to hack the satellite's code to prevent the impending launch. He rushes to the command center and undermines the hackers' efforts. As he watches the satellite enter geosynchronous orbit, he realizes what he's done and its impact on Ng, whom he has come to love. Quickly, he orders a massive sonic upload to be sent to space, and he and Ng hold hands as they watch the satellite explode. Believing Ng's continued association with him will ruin her promising career, he tells her they should not see each other again.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: Carson, displeased with the destruction of his satellite, confronts Gilcrest, who tells him he cannot "buy the sky". General Dixon is also incensed by Gilcrest's actions, threatening to prosecute him.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: Gilcrest returns to Tracy's, where she reads him a moving love letter from Woody. He tells her she belongs with her husband, and she encourages him to go after Ng. Woody comes home and sees Gilcrest in his house. Woody tells him he knows he is Grace's father. He asks Gilcrest if he slept with Tracy while he was gone. Gilcrest tells Woody he slept with Ng and not with Tracy. Woody goes into the living room where Tracy is cleaning up. She sees Woody and they run into each other's arms, then are joined by Grace and Mitchell. Gilcrest leaves while the happy family reunion continues.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: General Dixon soon learns Gilcrest was telling the truth about the nuclear weapons payload, praising him for what he's done, revealing that authorities will soon be taking Carson into custody. Outside the hotel, Gilcrest finds Ng, who is preparing to leave. He tells her he loves her, is staying in Hawaii and will be waiting for her to return. Later that night, Gilcrest stands outside Grace's hula class and watches her dance. She notices him, he nods at her, and she suddenly realizes he is her father. With tears of joy in her eyes, she runs outside and embraces him then returns to her hula class.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: On July 31, 2013, Alec Baldwin joined the cast of the film. There was a casting call for extras on August 29 on Oahu. Cooper went to Hawaii on September 14, twelve days before filming began.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: On October 7, it was announced that principal photography was still underway in Hawaii. Stone received ground training on how to fly the Piper PA44-180 Seminole airplane from Rob Moore, Chief Instructor Pilot of Galvin Flight Services Hawaii, who later flew the airplane near Ka'a'awa Valley for the inflight shots. Moore acted as the aviation technical advisor. Cooper was filming in downtown Honolulu on December 18 and 19. On February 2, 2015, Sony Pictures stated that the film's final title would be "Aloha"; the previous working titles were "Deep Tiki" and "Volcano Romance".


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: The musical score for "Aloha" was composed by Jónsi & Alex, following Jónsi's collaboration with Crowe on "We Bought a Zoo" (2011). Originally, Mark Mothersbaugh said in May 2014 that he was going to score the film. A soundtrack album was released on May 26, 2015 by Madison Gate Records and Sony Legacy, which included tracks by Vancouver Sleep Clinic, Fleetwood Mac, David Crosby, Jonsi & Alex, Beck and Josh Ritter.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: On February 14, 2014, it was announced that the film was scheduled for release on December 25, 2014. On July 21, the release date was changed to May 29, 2015.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: "Aloha" grossed $21.1 million in North America and $5.2 million in other territories for a total gross of $26.3 million, against a $37 million budget.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: In North America, "Aloha" opened simultaneously with the disaster film "San Andreas". It made $500,000 from Thursday night showings at 2,275 theaters and an estimated $3.5 million on its opening day from 2,815 theaters. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $9.7 million, finishing 6th at the box office. The film earned $1.65 million in its opening weekend overseas from 7 countries. Australia and New Zealand had an opening weekend combined of $1.5 million and Brazil opened with $240,000. The film went directly to video on demand in the UK and France.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: Pamela McClintock at "The Hollywood Reporter" estimated that the financial losses by the film finished to around $65 million by the time the film ended its global theatrical run, based on a budget of "$37 million-plus".


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 20% based on reviews from 166 critics, with an average rating of 4.30/10. The critics' consensus reads: "Meandering and insubstantial, "Aloha" finds writer-director Cameron Crowe at his most sentimental and least compelling." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 40 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend, surveyed audiences gave "Aloha" an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" wrote: "It gives me no pleasure to report that Aloha is still a mess, a handful of stories struggling for a unifying tone." Andrew Barker of Variety called it Crowe's worst film, saying it was "unbalanced, unwieldy, and at times nearly unintelligible".


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" recommended the film despite its flaws, "There ARE times when Aloha doesn’t work — and yet I’m recommending it for its sometimes loony sense of wonder, its trippy spirituality, its brilliant cast and because I seem to be a sap for even the Cameron Crowe movies almost nobody else likes."


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: Emma Stone for Choice Movie Actress: Comedy; and the film itself in the category of Choice Movie: Comedy.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: The Media Action Network for Asian Americans accused the director and studio of whitewashing the cast, and Crowe apologized about Emma Stone being cast as a character who is stated to be of one quarter Chinese and one quarter Hawaiian descent.


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: In June 2015, Crowe responded to the backlash: "I have heard your words and your disappointment, and I offer you a heart-felt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice. As far back as 2007, Captain Allison Ng was written to be a super-proud one quarter Hawaiian who was frustrated that, by all outward appearances, she looked nothing like one. A half-Chinese father was meant to show the surprising mix of cultures often prevalent in Hawaii. Extremely proud of her unlikely heritage, she feels personally compelled to over-explain every chance she gets. The character was based on a real-life, red-headed local who did just that."


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: Sony Pictures defended the film's portrayal of Hawaiian culture stating, "While some have been quick to judge a movie they haven't seen and a script they haven't read, the film ""Aloha"" respectfully showcases the spirit and culture of the Hawaiian people."


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: Stone later said she regretted letting herself be inaccurately ethnically cast, and acknowledged whitewashing as a widespread problem in Hollywood. Nevertheless, she echoed Crowe's defense of her casting: "The character was not supposed to look like her background which was a quarter Hawaiian and a quarter Chinese."


title: Aloha (2015 film)

text: During the opening monologue for the 2019 Golden Globe Awards, co-host Sandra Oh alluded to the issue of whitewashing in Hollywood by joking that "Crazy Rich Asians" (2018) was "the first studio film with an Asian-American lead since "Ghost in the Shell" and "Aloha"." This prompted Stone, who was in attendance, to shout "I'm sorry!" in reaction.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Konstantin Konstantinovich (Xaverevich) Rokossovsky (Russian: Константин Константинович Рокоссовский; ; 21 December 1896 – 3 August 1968) was a Soviet and Polish officer who became a Marshal of the Soviet Union, a Marshal of Poland, and served as Poland's Defence Minister from 1949 until his removal in 1956 during the Polish October. He became one of the most prominent Red Army commanders of World War II.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Born in Warsaw (in present-day Poland; then part of the Russian Empire), Rokossovsky served in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I. In 1917 he joined the Red Guards and in 1918 the newly-formed Red Army; he fought with great distinction during the Russian Civil War of 1917–1922. Rokossovsky held senior commands until 1937 when he fell victim to Joseph Stalin's Great Purge, during which he was branded a traitor, imprisoned and probably tortured.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: After Soviet failures in the Winter War of 1939–1940, Rokossovsky was reinstated due to an urgent need for experienced officers. Following Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Rokossovsky played key roles in the defense of Moscow (1941–1942) and the counter-offensives at Stalingrad (1942–1943) and Kursk (1943). He was instrumental in planning and executing part of Operation Bagration (1944)—one of the most decisive Red Army successes of the war—for which he was made a Marshal of the Soviet Union.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: After the war, Rokossovsky became Defence Minister and deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers in the newly-established Polish People's Republic. Forced out of office in Poland in 1956 after Władysław Gomułka became the leader of Poland, Rokossovsky then returned to the Soviet Union, where he lived out the rest of his life until his death in 1968.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Rokossovsky was born in Warsaw, then part of Congress Poland under Russian rule. His family had moved to Warsaw following the appointment of his father as the inspector of the Warsaw Railways. The Rokossovsky family were members of the Polish nobility (of the Oksza coat of arms), and over generations had produced many cavalry officers. However, Konstantin's father, Ksawery Wojciech Rokossowski, was a railway official in the Russian Empire and his Russian mother Antonina Ovsyannikova was a teacher. Orphaned at 14, Rokossovsky earned a living by working in a stocking factory.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: In 1911, he became an apprentice stonemason. Much later in his life, the government of People's Republic of Poland used this fact for propaganda, claiming that Rokossovsky had helped to build Warsaw's Poniatowski Bridge. Rokossovsky's patronymic "Ksaverovich" was Russified on his enlistment into the Russian Army at the start of the First World War to " Konstantinovich", which would be easier to pronounce in the 5th Kargopol Dragoon Regiment where he volunteered to serve.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: On joining the Kargopolsky 5th Dragoon Regiment, Rokossovsky soon showed himself a talented soldier and leader; he ended the war with the rank of a junior non-commissioned officer, serving in the cavalry throughout the war. He was wounded twice during the war and awarded the Cross of St George. In 1917, he joined the Bolshevik Party and soon thereafter, entered the ranks of the Red Army.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: During the Russian Civil War he commanded a cavalry squadron of the Kargopolsky Red Guards Cavalry Detachment in the campaigns against the White Guard armies of Aleksandr Kolchak in the Urals where, in November 1919, he was wounded in the shoulder by an opposing officer whom he later killed when his cavalry overran an enemy headquarters. Rokossovsky received Soviet Russia's highest military decoration at the time, the Order of the Red Banner.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: In 1921, he commanded the 35th Independent Cavalry Regiment stationed in Irkutsk and played an important role in bringing Damdin Sükhbaatar, the founder of the Mongolian People's Republic, to power. Famed "White Russian" general, adventurer and mystic Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, who allegedly believed he was the reincarnation of Genghis Khan, had driven the Chinese occupying forces out of Mongolia in 1920 and set himself up as dictator in Outer Mongolia. The next summer, when Ungern-Sternberg moved to capture the border town of Troitskosavsk, threatening to move north and cut off the Soviet far east from the rest of the Soviet Union, Rokossovsky quickly moved south from Irkutsk and met with the Sükhbaatar Mongol forces, defeating Urgern-Sternberg's army, which retreated in disarray after a two-day engagement. Rokossovsky was again wounded, this time in the leg. The combined Mongol and Soviet forces soon thereafter captured Ulaanbaatar.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: It was in Mongolia that he met his wife Julia Barminan, a high school teacher who was fluent in four languages and who had studied Greek mythology, whom he married in 1923. Their daughter Ariadna was born in 1925. In 1924 and 1925 he attended the Leningrad Higher Cavalry School, where he first met Georgy Zhukov. He returned to Mongolia, where he was a trainer for the Mongolian People's Army. Soon after, while serving in the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army under Vasily Blyukher, he took part in the Russo-Chinese Eastern Railroad War of 1929–1930 when the Soviet Union intervened to return the Chinese Eastern Railway to joint Chinese and Soviet administration, after Chinese warlord Zhang Xueliang of the Republic of China attempted to seize complete control of the railway.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: It was in the early 1930s that Rokossovsky's military career first became closely intertwined with Semyon Timoshenko and Georgy Zhukov, when Rokossovsky was the commander of the 7th Samara Cavalry Division, Zhukov as a brigade commander under him and Timoshenko his superior Corps commander. Both became principal actors in his life during World War II, where he served directly under both at different times. A sense of the nature of the beginning of Rokossovsky's famous World War II rivalry with Zhukov can be gathered from reading Rokossovsky's comments in an official report on Zhukov's character:


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Has a strong will. Decisive and firm. Often demonstrates initiative and skillfully applies it. Disciplined. Demanding and persistent in his demands. A somewhat ungracious and not sufficiently sympathetic person. Rather stubborn. Painfully proud. In professional terms well trained. Broadly experienced as a military leader... Absolutely cannot be used in staff or teaching jobs because constitutionally he hates them.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Rokossovsky was among the first to realize the potential of armoured assault. He was an early supporter of the creation of a strong armoured corps for the Red Army, as championed by Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky in his theory of "deep operations".


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Rokossovsky held senior commands until August 1937 when he became caught up in Joseph Stalin's Great Purge and was accused of being a spy. His association with the cutting edge methods of Marshal Tukhachevsky may have been the cause of his conflict with more traditional officers such as Semyon Budenny, who still favoured cavalry tactics over Tukhachevsky's mass armour theories, but few historians believe that the purge of the Red Army was solely a dispute over policy, and most attribute the purges to political and military rivalries as well.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Some officers were merely swept up on suspicion due to past associations; in Rokossovky's case his association with the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army and the intrigues surrounding Marshal Vasily Blyukher, who was arrested shortly after Rokossovsky and who died in prison without confessing, may have been enough to trigger his arrest. Rokossovsky, however, survived.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: He was variously accused of having links to Polish and Japanese intelligence and acts of sabotage under Article 58, section 14; "conscious non-execution or deliberately careless execution of defined duties", a section added to the penal code in June 1937.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: The charges against Rokossovsky stemmed from the case of the "Anti-Soviet Trotskyist Military Organization of the 11th Mechanized Corps" where Rokossovsky was implicated after the arrest of Corps Commander Kasyan Chaykovsky who, like Rokossovsky, served in the far east in the early 1930s. The Intelligence Chief of the Transbaikal Military District accused Rokossovsky of meeting with Colonel Komatsubara, the head of the Japanese military mission in Harbin in 1932, when he was commander of the 15th Cavalry Division in Trans-Baikal; a fact that Rokossovsky did not dispute but justified as a meeting to resolve issues regarding Chinese prisoners. This accusation was supported with material charges, which included various acts of negligence of command that were interpreted as deliberate acts of sabotage (known as wrecking), such as allowing the quarters of his division to become slovenly, failing to conduct training, and leading his division out into bad weather causing losses of horses and encouraging sickness among his troops.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Upon his arrest by the NKVD, his wife and daughter were sent into internal exile, where his wife Julia was forced to support their daughter by finding odd jobs, which she would lose when it was discovered that her husband had been arrested as a "traitor".


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: V. V. Rachesky, a cell mate of Rokossovsky, wrote in his memoirs that Rokossovsky blamed the persecution of innocent people on the NKVD and was "naive", refusing to acknowledge Stalin's role in creating the treacherous environment. He described Rokossovsky's refusal to sign a false confession:


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Those who refused to sign a false statement were beaten up, as long as the false statement was not signed. There were steadfast people who stubbornly did not sign. But there were relatively few. K. K. Rokossovsky, as he sat with me in the same cell, did not sign a false statement. But he was a brave and strong man, tall and broad-shouldered. He too was beaten.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: His grandson, Colonel Konstantin Rokossovsky Vilevich, says that his grandfather escaped the fate of so many other officers because he refused to sign a false statement and by proving to the court that the officer who his NKVD accusers claimed had denounced him had been killed in 1920 during the civil war:


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: The evidence was based on the testimony of Adolph Yushkevich, a colleague of my grandfather in the Civil War. But my grandfather knew very well that Yushkevich died in Perekop. He said that he would sign [a confession] if Adolph was brought for a confrontation. They looked for Yushkevich and found that he had died long before.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Alexander Solzhenitsyn reports that Rokossovsky endured two mock shooting ceremonies where he was taken out at night by a firing squad, but then returned to prison. Living relatives say that Svetlana Pavlovna, wife of Marshal Kazakov, confirmed that he sustained injuries including broken and denailed fingers and cracked ribs on top of enduring mock shooting ceremonies. Rokossovsky never discussed his trial and imprisonment with his family, only telling his daughter Ariadne that he always kept a gun because he would not surrender alive if they came to arrest him again.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: In his famous "secret speech" of 1956, Nikita Khrushchev, when speaking on the subject of the purges, was probably referring implicitly to Rokossovsky when he stated, "suffice to say that those of them who managed to survive, despite severe tortures to which they were subjected in the prisons, have from the first war days shown themselves real patriots and heroically fought for the glory of the Fatherland".


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: After his trial Rokossovsky was sent to the Kresty Prison in Leningrad, where he remained until he was released without explanation on 22 March 1940. His release coincided with a relaxation of the Great Purge ushered in by the execution of NKVD chief Nikolay Yezhov on 4 February 1940, who was replaced by Lavrentiy Beria.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Semyon Timoshenko, who had been named People's Commissar for Defence of the Soviet Union after the debacle of the Winter War and was in urgent need of experienced officers to fill command posts for the rapidly expanding Soviet army, returned Rokossovsky to the command of the 5th Cavalry Corps at the rank of colonel. Subsequently, the 5th Cavalry Corps participated in the occupation of Bessarabia and he was soon promoted to the rank of a major general and given the command of the 9th Mechanized Corps, as part of M.I. Potapov's 5th Army under Mikhail Kirponos, commander of the Kiev Military District, which would later be renamed the Southwestern Front at the outbreak of hostilities with Germany.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: When Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941 Rokossovsky was serving as the commander of the 9th Mechanized Corps with the 35th and 20th Tank Divisions, and the 131st Motorized Division under his command.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: He was immediately engaged in the early tank battles that raged around the Lutsk–Dubno–Brody triangle, also known as the Battle of Brody — an early Soviet counter-attack that was the most significant Soviet tank operation of the early stages of Operation Barbarossa.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: The battle involved a large scale attack involving five mechanized corps aimed at penetrating the German line in the direction of Lublin based on a plan developed before hostilities commenced. Orders for the attack from Zhukov were met with little enthusiasm from the Southwestern Front staff that wanted to maintain a defensive posture. Nonetheless, the attack proceeded. The operation met with numerous difficulties in mobilization, coordination, communication, transportation and execution but scored some initial successes, which were parried by the quick action of Von Rundstedt's Army Group South in the Ukraine and ended in the destruction of most of the participating Soviet forces.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Upon receiving his orders Rokossovsky, whose divisions were stationed far to the rear of the frontier, had to commandeer trucks from the local reserve to carry munitions, and mount some of his infantry on tanks while the rest were forced to walk, splitting his forces. As a consequence, his forces were behind schedule and only an advanced guard were able to meet the 26 June "jump off", and entered the fray piecemeal. His orders were to move forward and take up positions around Lutsk north of the town of Dubno in co-ordination with the 19th Mechanized Corps under N. V. Feklenko, and attack south-west, while the Mechanized Corps of the 6th Army attacked northward from Brody to meet them, with the intent of cutting off the advance of the 11th Panzer Division east.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: On 25 June, Rokossosky's 131st Motorized were quickly driven out of their position at Lutsk by the 14th Panzer Division, but the 35th and 20th Tank divisions were able to cobble together advance forces to cut the Lutsk–Dubno road, even though their full force had not yet arrived on the battlefield. On the same day elements of the 19th Mechanized Corps, operating to his east out of Rovno, had succeeded in temporarily driving the rearguard of the 11th Panzer Division from Dubno, cutting off its advance units. In response the 13th Panzer Division attacked south from Lutsk the next day clearing Rokossovsky's forces from the road and allowing German infantry to recapture Dubno, while it drove off the 19th Mechanized and captured Rovno in Rokossovsky's rear.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: As German resistance stiffened, Mikhail Kirponos, the commander of the Southwestern Front, issued instructions to cease offensive operations that were immediately countermanded by his superior, Chief of General Staff G.K. Zhukov, who was visiting the headquarters. Zhukov insisted that the counter-attack continue against any counterarguments. As a result, Rokossovsky's command was bombarded with conflicting orders. According to Lieutenant-General Dmitry Ryabyshev, Rokossovsky "expressed no ambivalence about the proposed counteroffensive" and refused a direct order, effectively ending the dispute between Zhukov and Kirponos:


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Because of this, Ryabyshev's 8th Mechanized, which had also scored some early successes operating out of Brody, was in effect continuing to attack from the south with the expectation of support from Rokossovsky, who had stood down his forces, and did not arrive from the north. Neither were aware of this fact, because there was no available direct communication between the individual corps, an example of how the endemic communication problems helped foil the Soviet efforts.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Throughout the next days, Rokossovsky's forces put considerable pressure on the Germans at Lutsk and tried to recapture Rovno in their rear, while stopping the advance of the 14th Panzer by ambushing them with 85mm anti-tank guns at close range and with good effect. He observed in his memoirs that "the terrain off-road was wooded and swampy, keeping the German advance to the road. The artillery Regiment of the 20th Tank division deployed its newly issued 85mm guns to cover the road and with direct fire repulsed the advancing Panzers.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: The battles around Lutsk, Dubno and Brody fought by the 8th, 9th and 19th Mechanized Corps were most notable among Soviet operations in the early days of Barbarossa because the Southwestern Front was able to organize active operations, unlike most sectors of the front where the German assault was met with operational paralysis, and bought time to reorganize defense along the line of the old Polish border.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Sporadic attempts were made to close the widening gap between the Soviet 5th and 6th Armies, as the Germans advanced on Kiev, but the Soviet tank forces were but a fraction of their former strength. By 7 July, Rokossovsky's 9th Mechanized Corps had been reduced to 64 tanks, out of its original complement of 316.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: While Rokossovsky and his fellow Mechanized Corps commanders of the 5th and 6th Army had been interdicting Army Group South's advance in Ukraine, complete disorder and panic gripped the Soviet forces in Byelorussia, where the disabling impact of poor organization, logistics and communications were exponentially greater. The Red Army collapsed under the well coordinated attack of Field Marshal von Bock's Army Group Center. Within seventeen days, during the Battle of Białystok–Minsk three quarters of D.G. Pavlov's Western Front was put out of action; dispersed, captured or killed. Of its initial complement of 625,000 soldiers, 290,000 were taken prisoner and 1,500 guns and 2,500 tanks were captured or destroyed. By 30 June the Germans had reached the approaches of the Dnepr river bend where the river departs from its east–west flow, and heads south. The way was open to the strategically important city of Smolensk, where Marshal Simon Timoshenko was reassembling the shattered Western Front on a new defense line.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: The Battle of Smolensk commenced on 10 July when Army Group Center began advancing on a broad front to the north and south banks of the Dnepr river, just beyond the bend where it begins its southward flow.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: The 9th Army attacked north-east toward Veliki Luki. The 3rd Panzer Group under General Hermann Hoth struck east at Vitebsk and then attacked along the land bridge that separates the West Dvina and Dnepr rivers with the aim of enveloping Smolensk from the north. Heinz Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group pushed toward Smolensk directly through Orsha and bypassed Mogilev with the ultimate objective of making a deep penetration far to the rear of the Soviet front line beyond Yelnya and toward Moscow.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Despite his insubordination during the Battle of Dubno, Rokossovsky was ordered to Moscow on 13 July to take command of the remnants of the 4th Army where he was to serve under Marshal Timoshenko who had replaced the disgraced Pavlov as the Western Front commander on 2 July, shortly after he and the majority of his staff had been tried and shot in the wake of the disaster at the frontier.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: On 15 July, the same day that Rokossovsky was restored to the rank of lieutenant general, the rank he had held previous to his arrest, Major General Funck's 7th Panzer Division from the 3rd Panzer Group arrived at Yartsevo behind Smolensk. The next day motorized infantry from the 2nd Panzer Group forced most of the Soviet defenders from Smolensk, reducing the gap between 2nd and 3rd Panzer Groups to less than 20 kilometers. The 16th, 19th and 20th Soviet armies were threatened with impending encirclement and now strung out along the north bank of the river contained in a triangle between Vitebsk to the north-west, Yartsevo to the north-east, and Smolensk to the South.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: With his front rapidly deteriorating Timoshenko released Rokossovsky from 4th Army (a command he had assumed in name only) and gave him the task of assembling a stopgap formation to be called "Group Yartsevo" that would deal with the emergency presented by the sudden appearance of the 7th Panzer at Yartsevo. This ad hoc operational group was to defend the bridgeheads of the Vop river, a tributary of the Dnepr, and prevent the southern and northern wings of the Panzer envelopment from converging at the Dnepr.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Collapse seemed imminent. Stalin, unmoved, reiterated his demand to Timoshenko that Smolensk should not be surrendered and called the "evacuation attitude" of the front-line commanders of the besieged armies criminally "treasonous". Rather than retreat, Timoshenko's armies would stand their ground and attempt to recapture Smolensk.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: "Group Yartsevo" was in theory a large army-sized formation, but when Rokossovsky arrived at Timoshenko's headquarters on the evening of the 17th, he was in fact in charge of his own small staff, two quad anti-aircraft machine guns mounted on trucks and a radio van. At first, Rokossovsky had to resort to pulling together a fighting group from reserve units and retreating stragglers, but over the coming days it became a more substantial force. Retreating regiments and divisions from the 44th Rifle Corps filtered out of the Smolensk pocket and were transferred to his command and fresh forces arrived from the reserve—the 107th Tank Division (formerly the 69th Motorized Division from the Trans-Baikal Military District) and the 101st Tank Division equipped with 220 outdated but functional tanks.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: What commenced was a confusing seesaw battle for control of Smolensk that saw portions of the city change hands several times over the next week, while Rokossovsky's group held the back door open and harassed the advanced German panzer formations.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Day by day, Rokossovsky's forces became stronger. As the Smolensk pocket deflated under German pressure Rokossovsky was able to press into service retreating soldiers and formations that slipped out of the pocket and employed them reinforcing the perimeter of the Yartsevo corridor. Eventually, the 38th Rifle Division was handed over to Rokossovsky when Timoshenko rationalized the command of the shrinking formations in the Smolensk pocket by disbanding Ivan Konev's 19th Army.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: The Germans were faced with the dilemma of both containing the encircled armies, and dealing with Rokossovsky's burgeoning forces to their east. The 7th Panzer was soon joined by the 12th Panzer at Yartsevo, while the 20th held down their northern flank. With so many Panzer divisions tied down in defensive position containing Soviet activity both inside and outside of the pocket, much of the offensive punch of the Panzer Groups was blunted.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Even though "Group Yartsevo" had managed to halt the advance of Hoth's 3rd Panzer Group at Yartsevo, Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group continued to advance south of the Dnepr on Rokossovsky's left flank, becoming a more tangible threat with each passing day. On 18 July, Guderian's 10th Panzer Division entered the town of Yelnya 70 km south of Yartsevo and captured it on the 20th.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: But on 19 July, German operational objectives for Smolensk changed when Hitler issued Führer Directive 33, ordering the Wehrmacht to temporarily cease its drive on Moscow, so that it could wheel south and finish off the Soviet defenders holding onto Kiev in Ukraine. As a result, Guderian's intended deep penetration was operationally obsolete, and Field Marshal von Bock became intent on mopping up the Soviet defenders at Smolensk so that the Panzer Groups could be released to Army Group South. Impatient with Guderian's slow going, Von Bock urged Guderian to drive north and close the Yartsevo corridor. In anticipation of this development, Rokossovsky had deployed the 107th Tank division to hold the area immediately south of Dnepr, and when the 10th Panzer undertook an unsupported attack northward toward Dorogobuzh from Yelnya, it was repulsed after three days of heavy fighting. The situation temporarily stabilized.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: On 20 July, Zhukov ordered a general counterattack with the aim of relieving the encircled armies, and beginning on 21 July attacks began along the entire front, and continued for a number of days in an uncoordinated fashion. Meanwhile, the defenders in the pocket increased their efforts to recapture Smolensk. Attacks were made from the south against the flank of Guderian's advanced forces at Yelnya and Roslavl, and north of Yartsevo against Hoth's 2nd Panzer Group. Deep cavalry penetrations were made behind the German front behind Mogilev, disrupting logistics. Uncoordinated as the attacks were they had the effect of distracting the German advance for several days as intense battles took place increasing casualties on both sides. On the 24th Rokossovky's temporarily drove Funk's 7th Panzer from Yartsevo.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Unsupported by infantry the Wehrmacht advanced Panzer formations were taking inordinate casualties. To make further headway, both Hoth and Guderian needed to bring infantry forward to disentangle their mobile forces from their containment operations, and free them for attack, slowing the pace of advance.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: By 25 July, Guderian had been able to free his considerable tank forces from defensive duties, and mobilized the 17th Panzer Division for a concerted effort to advance north and clear Rokossovsky from his tenuous position, but the 17th Panzer was still unable to reach the Dnepr and finally close the pocket. Nonetheless, under attack from north and south Rokossovsky was unable to prevent Hoth's 20th Motorized Infantry from capturing bridgeheads over the Dnepr on the 27th, sealing the pocket. The encircled armies fought intense breakout battles, and on the 28th Timoshenko ordered Rokossovsky to reopen the corridor by recapturing the bridgeheads. While he was unable to regain control of the river crossings, the 101st Tank Division recaptured Yartsevo on the 29th and held it for a few critical days.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Despite strenuous efforts over the next week, Rokossovsky was not able to secure a link to the armies in the pocket, but the intense Soviet activity kept the Germans from consolidating their front, allowing elements of the encircled 16th army to effect a breakout. By 4 August the front had stabilized and the defending armies within the pocket ceased resistance or had ceased to exist.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Rokossovsky is credited with slowing the German attack, and holding the Yartsevo corridor open for long enough to prevent the capture and destruction of a considerable numbers of Soviet troops. The broader consequences of Soviet resistance at Smolensk are evident in Führer Directive No. 34, issued on 30 July 1941:


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: In September 1941 Stalin personally appointed Rokossovsky to the command of 16th Army. He was ordered to defend the approaches to Moscow, and was now under the direct command of General Georgy Zhukov, his former subordinate. The 16th Army (later renamed the 11th Guards Army) played a key role in the Battle of Moscow when it was deployed along the main axis of the German advance along the Volokolamsk Highway that was a central junction of the bitter fighting during the German winter offensive of 1941 (Operation Typhoon), as well as the subsequent Soviet counter-attack of 1941–42.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: On 18 November, during the last-ditch efforts of the Wehrmacht to encircle Moscow in 1941, General Rokossovsky, his soldiers under heavy pressure from Hoepner's 4th Panzer Group, asked his immediate superior, Zhukov, if he could withdraw the 16th Army to more advantageous positions. Zhukov categorically refused. Rokossovsky went over Zhukov's head, and spoke directly to Marshal Boris Shaposhnikov, now Chief of the General Staff in Zhukov's place; reviewing the situation Shaposhnikov immediately ordered a withdrawal. Zhukov reacted at once. He revoked the order of the superior officer, and ordered Rokossovsky to hold the position. In the immediate aftermath, Rokossovsky's army was pushed aside and the 3rd and 4th Panzer Groups were able to gain strategically important positions north of Moscow, but this marked the high point of the German advance upon Moscow. Throughout Operation Typhoon, Rokossovsky's 16th army had taken the brunt of the German effort to capture Moscow.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: In March 1942 Rokossovsky was badly injured by a piece of shrapnel. It was widely rumored that Valentina Serova was a mistress of Rokossovsky during this time. While it is true that Serova, working as a hospital volunteer, met Rokossovsky several times while he was recovering from his wound, it is not acknowledged they were lovers. Evidence for their close relationship was found in the accounts of frontline soldiers.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Rokossovsky also had another mistress at this time, Dr. Lt. Galina Talanova, with whom he had a daughter in 1945. After two months in a Moscow hospital Rokossovsky was reunited briefly with the 16th Army.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: During 1942 the Wehrmacht commenced "Operation Fall Blau" and switched the axis of their offensive from Moscow and attacked southward into the eastern Ukraine towards the Don–Volga river line, Rostov, Voronezh, Stalingrad and the Caucasus beyond. There the Germans hoped to secure fresh supplies of oil to fuel their armies. Unlike the early days of 1941 the stiffening Soviet army maintained relatively good order in retreat, backing up along a defensive line along the Don river.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: On 13 July 1942 Rokossovsky was given his first operational level command, a sign of his growing stature. The battles of Smolensk and Moscow had by no measure resulted in Red Army victory, but the front-line formations under his command were central to frustrating the Wehrmacht efforts to achieve the same and this was most likely reflected in Stalin's decision to make him commander of the Bryansk Front, where Stavka expected the main line of German attack to be renewed against Moscow in 1942—Rokossovsky was a trusted officer who could be counted on in a tight squeeze.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: As the German offensive turned south, and toward Voronezh, the Bryansk sector turned out to be so quiet that Stavka shuffled the 38th Army to General Vatutin's Voronezh Front, during the heated Battle of Voronezh, where the Germans attempted to ford the Don River, and compromise the entire Soviet Don River defense. Rokossovsky recounts in his memoirs that during that summer Stalin phoned him personally to ask "whether I did not find the situation too dull for my liking" and was then recalled to Moscow to undertake command of a new operation:


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: The plan was to concentrate a strong force (no less than three combined armies and several armoured corps) on the flank of the enemy occupying the country between the Don and the Volga with the purpose of counter-attacking south and south-east from the vicinity of Serafimovich.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Subsequent events delayed the attack and it was shelved, only later to be resurrected as "Operation Uranus" with Vatutin playing the lead role, however Walsh asserts that Rokossovsky being originally selected to lead the attack "was symptomatic of his standing and the importance of his location as an indicator of significant, impending Soviet operations."


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: By the fall of 1942 the German army had pulled up along the new Soviet defense at the Don and Volga rivers, centered at Stalingrad, and had broken through south of Rostov toward the strategic oil centers of Tbilisi and Baku. Stalin was determined that Stalingrad should not fall, and the Red Army was given strict orders to hold the city at any cost. The Battle of Stalingrad became a struggle for control of the city that drew in combatants from both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: On 28 September 1942, at Zhukov's urging, Rokossovsky was given overall command of the 65th Army (4th Tank Army), 24th Army and 66th Army, that were brought together as the Don Front as part of Stalin's much criticized reorganization of the Southern Front in preparation for the planned Soviet counterattack at Stalingrad: "Operation Uranus". This put Rokossovky's armies directly opposite the XI, VIII and XIV Corps of the 6th Army, including the 16th Panzer and 14th Panzer divisions, all of which were destroyed in the ensuing battle.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: With German forces heavily engaged at Stalingrad and spread thinly due to their deep penetrations into the Caucasus, the Wehrmacht was increasingly reliant on their Romanian and Italian allies to cover the flanks of their extended line, on the north along the Don, and to the south along the Volga. "Operation Uranus" kicked off on 17 November with the intention of making a double envelopment of Paulus's men at Stalingrad by breaking through the flanks. The Southwestern Front commanded by General Vatutin quickly overwhelmed the 3rd Romanian Army just to the north of Rokossovsky's Don Front, while Yeryomenko's Stalingrad Front began their own attack just south of Stalingrad. Rokossovsky's Don Front played a largely subordinate role in the main attack, but the 65th Army supported Vatutin's attack from the north by outflanking the left extreme of the German line where it met the Romanian 3rd Army, while the 24th and 66th squeezed the German defenders—pinning them in place as the pincers of the main attacks rapidly enveloped them.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: In less than a week, in the face of deteriorating weather and blizzard conditions, the Soviet forces had sealed the gap behind Stalingrad, and had begun to reinforce their investment around the city in order to prevent an attempted escape. No organized effort was made by the 6th Army to break out, and "Operation Winter Storm", a mid December German effort to relieve the encircled army, failed to break the Soviet defenses. Soon after, the Soviets launched "Operation Little Saturn" and completely consolidated their position.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: On 28 December Stalin gave Rokossovsky the task of mopping up the Stalingrad pocket. He had at his disposal roughly 212,000 men, 6,500 guns, 2,500 tanks, and 300 aircraft, to be used against an assortment of 200,000 defenders short on food, fuel, and ammunition, including Soviet "Hiwis", Romanians and Germans; in one example, nearly half the 6th Army's 297th Infantry Division fighting force were Soviets, however its artillery detachment was rationed to one and a half shells a day. On 8 January 1943, Rokossovsky ordered a cease-fire and sent a delegation to offer terms of surrender but Paulus did not respond, and resistance continued for the better part of the month.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: On 10 January, the Don Front launched "Operation Ring" to reduce the Stalingrad pocket beginning with a 55-minute barrage from 7000 rocket launchers, artillery and mortars. The defenders fought tenaciously, even as their lines slowly collapsed, causing the Don Front 26,000 casualties, and destroying half its tanks in the first three days of the operation.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: On 16 January the main airfield used to supply the beleaguered 6th Army fell, and then after a pause of a few days, the offensive was renewed capturing the last operational airfield and finally driving the German back into the city proper on 22 January.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: On that same day General Paulus asked Hitler for permission to surrender but was refused. On 26 January the Soviets had broken the surrounded Germans into two pockets, and on 31 January, the southern pocket collapsed and Paulus surrendered. Within four days the last significant group of defenders surrendered to Rokossovky's command, finally ending the battle that marked the high-water mark of the German advance during the Soviet–German war.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: After the victory at Stalingrad the Russian forces advanced to a position that created a bulge 150 km deep and 250 km wide into the German line, around the city of Kursk. This subsequently became known as the Kursk Salient. Rokossovsky's command was moved to the north of the salient and was re-designated as a new front, which was twinned with the Voronezh Front, holding the south approaches.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: In February 1943 Rokossovsky wrote in his diary: "I'm appointed commander of the Central Front. It means that Stalin has entrusted me to play the key part in the summer Kursk campaign."


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Both the Red Army and the Wehrmacht prepared to make a decisive offensive in the summer of 1943 at Kursk. The Germans planned to drive two thrusts, one through each flank of the salient, and unite them at Kursk in order to cut off substantial Soviet forces, recover from the strategic loss at Stalingrad, and curtail further Russian advance. The Russians, alert to the coming attack, put their offensive plans aside and prepared for defense in depth with mass antitank units in prepared positions.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: In late June one German bomb load in a night raid hit Rokossovsky's HQ, and he escaped only because on a whim he had decided to set up his signals group in the officers' mess. After that, Central Front HQ went underground in a bunker in the garden of a former monastery.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: The German offensive, code named "Operation Citadel", was originally scheduled to begin in May but the attack was delayed several times in order to bring up fresh Panzer formations equipped with Tiger I's and Panther tanks and their latest assault guns. These delays allowed for even greater Soviet preparation. It was not until early July that the Wehrmacht operations in the Kursk salient got underway.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: The resulting battle was one of the largest tank battles in World War II, with massive losses of men and equipment on both sides. As the commander of the Central Front, Rokossovsky's force was faced with a determined attack by the Army Group Center's 9th Army under Walter Model, including several tank formations augmented with the newest Tiger I tanks in battalion strength. Rokossovsky for his part had organized his defenses into three defensive belts. After the initial German assault, Rokossovsky ordered counter-attacks but the Soviet armor suffered badly in the face of the new German heavy Tiger tanks, and he went back on the defensive. Despite this, the Germans were soon bogged down in the heavily mined terrain and antitank defenses, and Rokossovsky was able to reinforce.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: The Central Front was then renamed 1st Belorussian Front, which Rokossovsky commanded during the Soviet advance through Byelorussia (Belarus) and into Poland.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: During the planning of the major Soviet offensive, Operation Bagration, in 1944, a famous incident occurred that various sources consistently report in slightly different versions. Rokossovsky disagreed with Stalin, who demanded in accordance with Soviet war practice a single break-through of the German frontline. Rokossovsky held firm in his argument for two points of break-through. Stalin ordered Rokossovsky to "go and think it over" three times, but every time he returned and gave the same answer "two break-throughs, comrade Stalin, two break-throughs". After the third time Stalin remained silent, but walked over to Rokossovsky and put a hand on his shoulder. A tense moment followed as the whole room waited for Stalin to rip the epaulette from Rokossovsky's shoulder; instead, Stalin said "Your confidence speaks for your sound judgement", and ordered the attack to go forward according to Rokossovsky's plan.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: The battle was successful and Rokossovsky's reputation was assured. After crushing German Army Group Centre in Belarus, Rokossovsky's armies reached the east bank of the Vistula opposite Warsaw by mid-1944. For these victories he was advanced to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. Stalin once said: "I have no Suvorov, but Rokossovsky is my Bagration".


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: As Rokossovsky's approached the Vistula, the Warsaw Uprising (August–October 1944) broke out in the city, led by the Polish Home Army (AK) on the orders of the Polish government in exile in London. Rokossovsky did not order reinforcement to the insurgents. There has been much speculation about Rokossovsky's personal views on this decision. He would always maintain that, with his communications badly stretched and enemy pressure against his northern flank mounting, committing forces to Warsaw would have been disastrous.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: In November 1944, Rokossovsky was transferred to the 2nd Belorussian Front, which advanced into East Prussia and then across northern Poland to the mouth of the Oder at Stettin (now Szczecin). On 3 May 1945 he linked up with British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's 2nd Army in Wismar, Germany while the forces of Zhukov and Ivan Konev captured Berlin, ending the war.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: In July 1945, he, Zhukov and several other Soviet officers were awarded the Order of the Bath in a ceremony at the Brandenburg Gate, in Berlin.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: As one of the most prominent Soviet military commanders of the Second World War, Rokossovsky was present at the Victory Parade in Red Square in Moscow in 1945 as a Commanding Officer of the Parade, riding a seal brown stallion named Pole next to Marshal Georgy Zhukov, Inspector of the Parade, on his famous Idol.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: After the end of the war Rokossovsky remained in command of Soviet forces in Poland (Northern Group of Forces). Fully four years later, in October 1949 with the establishment of the government under Bolesław Bierut in Poland, Rokossovsky, on Stalin's orders, became the Polish Minister of National Defense, with the additional title of Marshal of Poland. Rokossovsky is one of two foreign Marshals to receive the rank of Marshal of Poland, with other being Marshal of France Ferdinand Foch. Together with Rokossovsky, several thousand Soviet officers were placed in charge of almost all Polish military units, either as commanding officers or as advisors.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: In 1952 he became deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Poland. Although Rokossovsky was a Pole, he had not lived in Poland for 35 years and most Poles regarded him as a Russian and Soviet emissary in the country. As Rokossovsky himself bitterly put it: "In Russia, they say I'm a Pole, in Poland they call me Russian".


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Rokossovsky played a key role in the regime's suppression of an independent Poland through Stalinization and Sovietization in general, and in the Polish Army in particular. As the "de facto" supreme commander of the Polish Army, he introduced various methods for the suppression of anti-Soviet activity, real or imagined. Among the most notorious were the "labour battalions" of the army, to which all able-bodied men found "socially or politically insecure" or guilty of having their families abroad were drafted. It is estimated that roughly 200,000 men were forced to work in these labour camps in hazardous conditions, often in quarries, coal mines, and uranium mines, and 1,000 died in their first days of "labour", while tens of thousands became crippled. Other groups targeted by these repressive measures were former soldiers of the pre-war Polish Army as well as the wartime underground Home Army.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: In the June 1956 Poznań protests against local working conditions and living standards, as well as the Soviet influence over Poland, Rokossovsky approved an order to send in military units. As a result of this over 10,000 soldiers and 360 tanks crushed the protesters, and at least 74 civilians were killed.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: In the wake of the Poznan riots and the "rehabilitation" of the formerly imprisoned communist reformer Władysław Gomułka in 1956, Rokossovsky went to Moscow in a failed attempt to persuade Nikita Khrushchev to use force against the Polish state. However, Gomułka managed to negotiate with the Soviets, and on the new Polish First Secretary's insistence Rokossovsky was forced to leave Poland. He returned to the Soviet Union, which restored his Soviet ranks and honours; and in July 1957, following the removal from office of Defence Minister Zhukov, Nikita Khrushchev appointed him Deputy Minister of Defence and commander of the Transcaucasian Military District. In 1958 he became chief inspector of the Ministry of Defence, a post he held until his retirement in April 1962.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Throughout his life, he was fond of hunting – he had a double-barreled IZh-49 12 gauge shotgun and a 20 gauge double-barreled TOZ shotgun made in 1905.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Rokossovsky died on August 3, 1968 of prostate cancer in Moscow, aged 71. His ashes were buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis on Red Square.


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Rokossovsky and his wife Julia had a daughter named Ariadna (1925-1978). During World War II, he met military doctor Galina Talanova, with whom he had an illegitimate daughter named Nadezhda (born 1945).


title: Konstantin Rokossovsky

text: Rokossovsky's great-granddaughter (born 1980) works as a journalist for the Russian newspaper "Rossiyskaya Gazeta".


title: Best in Show (film)

text: Best in Show is a 2000 American mockumentary comedy film co-written by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy and directed by Guest. The film follows five entrants in a prestigious dog show as they travel to the show and compete once there. Much of the dialogue was improvised. Many of the comic actors were also involved in Guest's other films, including "Waiting for Guffman", "A Mighty Wind", "For Your Consideration", and "Mascots". The film's score was composed by C. J. Vanston.


title: Best in Show (film)

text: Five dogs and their owners, trainers and handlers travel to Philadelphia to compete in the Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show.


title: Best in Show (film)

text: Gerry and Cookie Fleck are a middle-class couple from Florida who arrive at the Taft Hotel with their Norwich Terrier Winky. After having forgotten to pay their credit card bill and short of cash, they are forced to sleep in the hotel's storage room. While traveling to the show, they encounter several of Cookie’s former lovers who kiss her passionately and try to seduce her, making Gerry jealous. To Gerry's chagrin, they continue to cross paths with Cookie's paramours after the show ends.


title: Best in Show (film)

text: Meg and Hamilton Swan, a stereotypical yuppie couple from a Chicago suburb, arrive with their Weimaraner Beatrice. Their constant doting and neurotic behavior toward Beatrice—for example, taking their dog to a psychotherapist after she sees them having sex in a position they learned from the "Kama Sutra"—confuses and upsets Beatrice. The Swans lose Beatrice's favorite toy and frantically search for a replacement before the show starts, but are unable to find one. When Beatrice performs poorly and is removed by a judge for unruly behavior, they blame it on the lost toy.


title: Best in Show (film)

text: Harlan Pepper, the Southern owner of a fishing goods store and an aspiring ventriloquist, arrives with his Bloodhound Hubert. Harlan is an affable, good-natured man who prides himself on being able to name every type of nut. The Pepper family has raised a variety of hounds for generations; Harlan continues the tradition by raising Bloodhounds.


title: Best in Show (film)

text: Sherri Ann Cabot is the buxom, overly-made-up trophy wife of the elderly Leslie Ward Cabot, her sugar daddy. A former two-time winner of the show, Sherri Ann receives help with her Standard Poodle Rhapsody in White, also known as Butch, from her taskmaster trainer Christy Cummings. Christy is an extremely competitive handler who makes sure the dog is prepared for the show. A no-nonsense, short-haired lesbian, she resists Sherri Ann's attempts at giving her a beauty makeover. Leslie is oblivious to Christy and Sherri Ann's romantic involvement — as well as everything else happening around him.


title: Best in Show (film)

text: Scott Donlan and Stefan Vanderhoof are a campy gay couple who take great pride in their Shih Tzu Miss Agnes. They are confident that she will win the competition. They share a love of old movies and enjoy making fun of Christy Cummings, but are friendly to the other competitors, especially the Flecks.


title: Best in Show (film)

text: The dog show is hosted by dog expert Trevor Beckwith and oblivious "color" commentator Buck Laughlin, whose inane banter annoys Beckwith. During the first round, Beatrice is disqualified when she becomes aggressive and Hamilton cannot control her. The other four dogs advance to the final round. Just before the finals, Cookie dislocates her knee and insists that Gerry take over for her despite his two left feet (the result of a birth defect). Though Gerry is nervous, Winky ultimately takes Best in Show.


title: Best in Show (film)

text: After the competition, Gerry and Cookie return home to Florida and enjoy brief fame there. While in a studio recording novelty songs about terriers, they discover that the recording engineer is yet another of Cookie's ex-lovers, to Gerry's unending frustration. Christy and Sherri Ann, now openly in a relationship (Leslie's fate is unclear), publish "American Bitch", a magazine for lesbian owners of purebred dogs. After spending weeks on a kibbutz, Harlan fulfills his dream of being a ventriloquist, entertaining sparse crowds with a honky tonk song-and-dance number. Stefan and Scott design a calendar featuring Shih Tzu dogs in costume appearing in scenes from classic films such as "Casablanca" and "Gone with the Wind". Meg and Hamilton Swan are visibly happier together after replacing Beatrice with a pug named Kipper, which they claim enjoys watching them make love.


title: Best in Show (film)

text: The starring dogs listed are denoted by their registered names. All have earned the title "Ch.", indicating they have qualified for a championship at conformation shows, with most qualifying for the Canadian Kennel Club Championship—hence the prefix "Can". The "kennel prefix" of one or more breeders precedes each dog's registered name; e. g. in "Arokat Echobar Take Me Dancing", the first breeder is "Arokat" and the second is "Echobar" while the name is "Take Me Dancing". The registered name differs from the dog's "call name", which is used to talk to the animal. For example, Arokat Echobar Take Me Dancing's call name is "Peach".


title: Best in Show (film)

text: Filming took place in Vancouver and Los Angeles. In a 2000 interview, Christopher Guest reflected, "Originally, we thought it would be easier to go to an actual dog show and film there, but nobody would let us do that." Eugene Levy adds that, "We actually had to stage our own dog show. And that's where the nightmare started. We literally had to put everything together from scratch, get somebody to organize the whole show, get the dogs in, find trainers and so forth."


title: Best in Show (film)

text: The greater part of the film was improvised by the actors, with little to no planning. 60 hours of footage were filmed, as was the case with Guest's previous mockumentary "Waiting for Guffman". Levy said that, "There is a much wider appeal for this movie than for "Waiting for Guffman", which was a funny movie and a funny premise but not as accessible as this film, which is more mainstream. People just love dogs."


title: Best in Show (film)

text: "Best in Show" received critical acclaim. The film has a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 115 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A fine example of writer/director/star Christopher Guest's gift for improv comedy, "Best in Show" boasts an appealingly quirky premise and a brilliantly talented cast." The film also has a score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." It won American, British, and Canadian Comedy Awards. The film is number 38 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies." A 2022 review of the best comedy films of the 21st century [sic] ranked this as first.


title: Best in Show (film)

text: The film opened to a weekend gross of $413,436 to 13 theatres with an average of $31,802 per theater. After opening to a total of 497 theaters, the film ended its run with a domestic total of $18,715,392. The foreign gross of $2,074,164 brought its total gross revenue to $20,789,556.


title: Best in Show (film)

text: "Best in Show" was the inspiration for the broadcast of the National Dog Show, which has aired each Thanksgiving on NBC since 2002.


title: Best in Show (film)

text: To celebrate Halloween 2022, former "Victorious" cast mates Ariana Grande and Elizabeth Gillies paid homage to "Best in Show" by recreating several scenes from the movie in which they each dressed up as multiple characters. After shooting in May, the results were then posted to Instagram on October 28 and drew praise from Jennifer Coolidge herself.


title: Air China

text: Air China Limited () is the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China and one of the "Big Three" mainland Chinese airlines (alongside China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines). Air China's headquarters are in Shunyi District, Beijing. Air China's flight operations are based primarily at Beijing Capital International Airport. In 2017, the airline carried 102 million domestic and international passengers with an average load factor of 81%. The airline joined Star Alliance in 2007.


title: Air China

text: Air China was established and commenced operations on 1 July 1988 as a result of the Chinese government's decision in late 1987 to split the operating divisions of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC Airlines) into six separate airlines: Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, China Northern, China Southwest, and China Northwest. Air China was given chief responsibility for intercontinental flights and took over the CAAC's long haul aircraft (Boeing 747s, 767s, and 707s) and routes.


title: Air China

text: In January 2001, the former CAAC's ten airlines agreed on a merger plan, according to which Air China was to acquire China Southwest Airlines. Before this acquisition, Air China was the country's fourth largest domestic airline. The merger created a group with assets of 56 billion Yuan (US$8.63 billion), and a fleet of 118 aircraft. In October 2002, Air China consolidated with the China National Aviation Holding and China Southwest Airlines.


title: Air China

text: In 2006, Air China signed an agreement to join the Star Alliance. It became a member of the alliance on 12 December 2007 alongside Shanghai Airlines.


title: Air China

text: In July 2009, Air China acquired $19.3 million of shares from its troubled subsidiary Air Macau, lifting its stake in the carrier from 51% to 80.9%. One month later, Air China spent HK$6.3 billion (US$813 million) to raise its stake in Cathay Pacific from 17.5% to 30%, expanding its presence in Hong Kong.


title: Air China

text: In April 2010, Air China completed the increase of shareholdings in Shenzhen Airlines and became the controlling shareholder of Shenzhen Airlines, allowing Air China to further enhance its position in Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai as well as achieve a more balanced domestic network.


title: Air China

text: On 2 December 2010, Air China received Spain's highest tourism industry award, the "Plaque for Tourist Merit." Air China was the first foreign airline to receive the award, which is given to organisations and individuals contributing to the Spanish tourism industry.


title: Air China

text: On 23 December 2010, Air China became the first Chinese airline to offer combined tickets that include domestic flights and shuttle bus services to nearby cities. The first combined flight-shuttle bus ticket connected Tianjin via shuttle bus with domestic flights passing through Beijing.


title: Air China

text: Air China began offering free Wi-Fi internet service on board its aircraft on 15 November 2011, making it the first Chinese carrier to offer this service. However the service is not allowed on smartphones, only tablets and laptops.


title: Air China

text: In 2012, after pressure from PETA, Air China stated that it would no longer transport monkeys to laboratories. PETA welcomed the airline's announcement.


title: Air China

text: On July 3, 2013, in time for the company's 25th anniversary, Air China successfully tested Wireless LAN in flight. It was the first global satellite Internet flight in Mainland China.


title: Air China

text: In early 2015 it was announced that the airline had selected the Boeing 737 Next Generation and 737 MAX for its fleet renewal programme of 60 aircraft. The deal, with a value of over $6 billion at current list prices, has yet to be finalised.