title: Gaza City

text: Palestine Stadium, the Palestinian national stadium, is located in Gaza and has a capacity for 10,000 people. Gaza has several local football teams that participate in the Gaza Strip League. They include Khidmat al-Shatia (al-Shati Camp), Ittihad al-Shuja'iyya (Shuja'iyya neighborhood), Gaza Sports Club, and al-Zeitoun (Zeitoun neighborhood).


title: Gaza City

text: Today, Gaza serves as the administrative capital of the Gaza Governorate. It contains the Palestinian Legislative Council building.


title: Gaza City

text: The first municipal council of Gaza was formed in 1893 under the chairmanship of Ali Khalil Shawa. Modern mayorship, however, began in 1906 with his son Said al-Shawa, who was appointed mayor by the Ottoman authorities. Al-Shawa oversaw the construction of Gaza's first hospital, several new mosques and schools, the restoration of the Great Mosque, and the introduction of the modern plow to the city. In 1922, British colonial secretary Winston Churchill requested that Gaza develop its own constitution under Mandatory Palestine. However, it was rejected by the Palestinians.


title: Gaza City

text: On July 24, 1994, the PNA proclaimed Gaza the first city council in the Palestinian territories. The 2005 Palestinian municipal elections were not held in Gaza, nor in Khan Yunis or Rafah. Instead, Fatah party officials selected the smaller cities, towns, and villages to hold elections, assuming they would fare better in less urban areas. The rival Hamas party, however, won the majority of seats in seven of the ten municipalities selected for the first round with voter turnout being around 80%. 2007 saw violent clashes between the two parties that left over 100 dead, ultimately resulting in Hamas taking over the city.


title: Gaza City

text: Normally, Palestinian municipalities with populations over 20,000 and that serve as administrative centers have municipal councils consisting of fifteen members, including the mayor. The current municipal council of Gaza, however, consists of fourteen members, including the mayor, Nizar Hijazi.


title: Gaza City

text: According to the PCBS, in 1997, approximately over 90% of Gaza's population over the age of 10 was literate. Of the city's population, 140,848 were enrolled in schools (39.8% in elementary school, 33.8% in secondary school, and 26.4% in high school). About 11,134 people received bachelor diplomas or higher diplomas.


title: Gaza City

text: In 2006, there were 210 schools in Gaza; 151 were run by the Education Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority, 46 were run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, and 13 were private schools. A total of 154,251 students were enrolled and 5,877 teachers were employed. The currently downtrodden economy has affected education in the Gaza Strip severely. In September 2007, a UNRWA survey in the Gaza Strip revealed that there was a nearly 80% failure rate in schools grades four to nine, with up to 90% failure rates in mathematics. In January 2008, the United Nations Children's Fund reported that schools in Gaza had been canceling classes that were high on energy consumption, such as information technology, science labs and extra curricular activities.


title: Gaza City

text: Gaza has many universities. The four main universities in the city are al-Azhar University – Gaza, al-Quds Open University, al-Aqsa University and the Islamic University of Gaza. The Islamic University, consisting of ten facilities, was founded by a group of businessmen in 1978, making it the first University in Gaza. It had an enrollment of 20,639 students. Al-Azhar is generally secular and was founded in 1992. Al-Aqsa University was established in 1991. Al-Quds Open University established its Gaza Educational Region campus in 1992 in a rented building in the center of the city originally with 730 students. Because of the rapid increase of the number of students, it constructed the first university owned building in the Nasser District. In 2006–07, it had an enrollment of 3,778 students.


title: Gaza City

text: The Public Library of Gaza is located off Wehda Street and has a collection of nearly 10,000 books in Arabic, English and French. A total area of about , the building consists of two floors and a basement. The library was opened in 1999 after cooperation dating from 1996 by Gaza under mayor Aoun Shawa, the municipality of Dunkerque, and the World Bank. The library's primary objectives are to provide sources of information that meets the needs of beneficiaries, provide necessary facilities for access to available information sources, and organizing various cultural programs such as, cultural events, seminars, lectures, film presentations, videos, art and book exhibitions.


title: Gaza City

text: Landmarks in Gaza include the Great Mosque in the Old City. Originally a pagan temple, it was consecrated a Greek Orthodox church by the Byzantines, then a mosque in the 8th century by the Arabs. The Crusaders transformed it into a church, but it was reestablished as a mosque soon after Gaza's reconquest by the Muslims. It is the oldest and largest in the Gaza Strip.


title: Gaza City

text: Other mosques in the Old City include the Mamluk-era Sayed Hashem Mosque that believed to house the tomb of Hashem ibn Abd al-Manaf in its dome. There is also the nearby Kateb al-Welaya Mosque that dates back to 1334. In Shuja'iyya is the Ibn Uthman Mosque, which was built by Nablus native Ahmad ibn Uthman in 1402, and the Mahkamah Mosque built by Mamluk majordomo Birdibak al-Ashrafi in 1455. In Tuffah is the Ibn Marwan Mosque, which was built in 1324 and houses the tomb of Ali ibn Marwan, a holy man.


title: Gaza City

text: The Unknown Soldier's Square, located in Rimal, is a monument dedicated to an unknown Palestinian fighter who died in the 1948 War. In 1967, the monument was torn down by Israeli forces and remained a patch of sand, until a public garden was built there with funding from Norway. Qasr al-Basha, originally a Mamluk-era villa that was used by Napoleon during his brief sojourn in Gaza, is located in the Old City and is today a girls' school. The Commonwealth Gaza War Cemetery, often referred to as the British War Cemetery, contains the graves of fallen Allied soldiers in World War I; it sits northeast of the city center, in the Tuffah district, near Salah al-Din Road.


title: Gaza City

text: According to the 1997 census by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 98.1% of Gaza's residents were connected to the public water supply while the remainder used a private system. About 87.6% were connected to a public sewage system and 11.8% used a cesspit. The blockade on Gaza severely restricted the city's water supply. The six main wells for drinking water did not function, and roughly 50% of the population had no water on a regular basis. The municipality claimed it was forced to pump water through "salty wells" because of the unavailability of electricity. About 20 million liters of raw sewage and 40 million liters of partially treated water per day flowed into the Mediterranean Sea, and untreated sewage bred insects and mice.


title: Gaza City

text: As a "water-poor" country, Gaza is highly dependent on water from Wadi Ghazza. The Gaza Aquifer is used as Gaza's main resource for obtaining quality water. However, the majority of water from Wadi Ghazza is transported to Jerusalem.


title: Gaza City

text: In 2002 Gaza began operating its own power plant which was built by Enron. However, the power plant was bombed and destroyed by the Israeli Defense Forces in 2006. Prior to the power plant's destruction Israel provided additional electricity to Gaza through the Israel Electric Corporation. The plant was partially rebuilt by December 2007, and Israeli electricity continues to be sold to Gaza.


title: Gaza City

text: Solid waste management is one of key compelling issues facing Gazans today. These challenges are attributed to several factors; the lack of investment in environmental systems, less attention was given to environmental projects, and the absence of law enforcement and the tendency towards crisis management. One of the main aspects of this problem is the huge quantities of rubble and debris generated as a result of Israeli bombardments.


title: Gaza City

text: For instance, The scale of damage resulting from the Operation Protective Edge is unprecedented. All governorates in the Gaza Strip witnessed extensive aerial bombardment, naval shelling and artillery fire, resulting in a considerable amount of rubble. According to recent statistics, more than 2 million tonnes of debris was generated. Approximately 10,000 houses were leveled to the ground including two 13-story residential buildings. A tremendous amount of debris remains scattered in Gaza. Serious efforts and a high budget are required to handle this challenge. More importantly, and based on a UNEP study after the 2008 war, the debris is highly likely to be contaminated with PAHs and probably with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins, and furan compounds.


title: Gaza City

text: Al-Shifa Hospital ("the Cure") was founded in the Rimal District by the British Mandate government in the 1940s. Housed in an army barracks, it originally provided quarantine and treatment for febrile diseases. When Egypt administered Gaza, this original department was relocated and al-Shifa became the city's central hospital. When Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip after occupying it in the 1956 Suez Crisis, Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser had al-Shifa hospital expanded and improved. He also ordered the establishment of a second hospital in the Nasser District with the same name. In 1957, the quarantine and febrile disease hospital was rebuilt and named Nasser Hospital. Today, al-Shifa remains Gaza's largest medical complex.


title: Gaza City

text: Throughout the late 1950s, a new health administration, Bandar Gaza ("Gaza Region"), was established and headed by Haidar Abdel-Shafi. Bandar Gaza rented several rooms throughout the city to set up government clinics that provided essential curative care.


title: Gaza City

text: The Ahli Arab Hospital, founded in 1907 by the Church Missionary Society (CMS), was destroyed in World War I. It was rebuilt after the war by the CMS, and in 1955 became the Southern Baptist Hospital. In 1982, the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem took leadership and the original name was restored. Al-Quds Hospital, located in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood and managed by the Palestine Red Crescent Society, is the second largest hospital in Gaza.


title: Gaza City

text: In 2007, hospitals experienced power cuts lasting for 8–12 hours daily and diesel required for power generators was in short supply. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the proportion of patients given permits to exit Gaza for medical care decreased from 89.3% in January 2007 to 64.3% in December 2007.


title: Gaza City

text: In 2010, a team of doctors from Al-Durrah Hospital in Gaza spent a year of training at the cystic fibrosis clinic at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. Upon their return to Gaza, a cystic fibrosis center was established at Al-Durrah, although the most serious cases are referred to Hadassah.


title: Gaza City

text: The Rasheed Coastal Road runs along Gaza's coastline and connects it with the rest of Gaza Strip's coastline north and south. The main highway of the Gaza Strip, Salah al-Din Road (the modern Via Maris) runs through the middle of Gaza City, connecting it with Deir al-Balah, Khan Yunis, and Rafah in the south and Jabalia and Beit Hanoun in the north. The northern crossing of Salah ad-Din Street into Israel is the Erez Crossing and the crossing into Egypt is the Rafah Crossing.


title: Gaza City

text: Omar Mukhtar Street is the main road in the city of Gaza running north–south, branching off Salah ad-Din Street, stretching from the Rimal coastline and the Old City where it ends at the Gold Market. Prior to the Blockade of the Gaza Strip, there existed regular lines of collective taxis to Ramallah and Hebron in the West Bank. Except for private cars, Gaza City is served by taxis and buses.


title: Gaza City

text: The Yasser Arafat International Airport near Rafah opened in 1998 south of Gaza. Its runways and facilities were damaged by the Israeli Defense Forces in 2001 and 2002, rendering the airport unusable. In August 2010, the tarmac ramp was destroyed by Palestinians seeking stones and recycled building materials. The Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel is located roughly northeast of the city.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: Taskmaster (Anthony "Tony" Masters) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer David Michelinie and artist George Pérez, the character made his debut in "The Avengers" #195 (May 1980). Possessing photographic reflexes that allow him to mimic any fighting style at the cost of his long and short-term memory, he has served as an adversary of superheroes such as Captain America, Ant-Man and Spider-Man among others in the Marvel Universe. He is usually depicted as a mercenary hired by numerous criminal organizations to act as a training instructor, and is the biological father of Finesse.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: The character has been adapted from the comics into various forms of media, including several animated television series and video games. A female version of Taskmaster named Antonia Dreykov appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film "Black Widow" (2021), portrayed by Olga Kurylenko. Kurylenko will reprise the role in the upcoming film "" (2024).


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: The Taskmaster first appeared briefly in "The Avengers" #195 (May 1980), created by writer David Michelinie and artist George Pérez. making his full debut in "Avengers" #196 (June 1980).


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: The Taskmaster appeared in his own limited series "Taskmaster" #1–4 (2002), which was followed by a supporting role in "Agent X" #1–15 (2002–2003). The character went on to feature prominently in "" as a supporting character in #8–19 (2008–2009) and "Avengers: The Initiative" Annual #1 (2008) then later as a central character in #20–35 (2009–2010) during the Dark Reign and Siege storylines. "Age of Heroes" #3 (2010) provided the prologue for the Taskmaster's second limited series "Taskmaster" vol. 2 #1–4 (2010–2011). In 2011 Taskmaster got his first solo graphic novel collecting a four-issue story—"Taskmaster: Unthinkable".


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: As part of Marvel's 2012–2015 rebranding, Marvel NOW!, Taskmaster joined a new team of Secret Avengers.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: Taskmaster is a mysterious figure believed to have been born in Bronx, New York City. He is able to mimic the physical movements of anyone he witnesses; writers differ on whether this counts as a "super power". He claims to have had this ability since childhood. He is a combat instructor and part-time mercenary. Initially portrayed as a villain, he has also trained U.S. Agent and other neophyte superheroes at the behest of the US government. As a mercenary, he has no ideology except that of his employer. Due to his ability to imitate the techniques and armory of other heroes and villains, Taskmaster has occasionally been used to impersonate other characters.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: Tony Masters first demonstrated unusual abilities during childhood. After watching a cowboy show on television, he found himself able to duplicate the sophisticated rope tricks he had just watched the cowboy perform. Psychiatrists explained Tony's abilities to be a form of photographic memory which they called "photographic reflexes". He employed his power several times during his youth for personal gain, most notably when he became a star quarterback of his high school football team after watching one pro football game. Upon graduation, he briefly considered a career as a crime fighter, but opted instead to be a professional criminal, which he perceived to be far more lucrative.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: He then began a program of observing the fighting techniques of numerous costumed heroes and villains (using archival television news broadcasts). He initially used his fighting skills to execute several successful grand larcenies, but he had not properly anticipated the dangers involved. He decided to use his stolen capital to establish a center for training aspiring criminals to turn into polished professionals. His goal was to become a supplier for criminal organizations around the world.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: Designing a costume with a white cowl and skull mask, he took the name "Taskmaster" and began to train many thugs at criminal academies he had located around the United States. However, his existence was eventually revealed when Pernell Solomon of the Solomon Institute for the Criminally Insane (a front for one of these academies) used the school's resources to create a clone of himself when the administrator required an organ donation due to possessing an extremely rare blood type; the clone (learning of this fate) managed to contact the Avengers. Taskmaster captured Yellowjacket, the Wasp, and Ant-Man when the Avengers invaded the premises; but the Avengers followed, exposing his front operation. Taskmaster held his own against Captain America and Iron Man, but was subsequently forced to flee after a confrontation with Jocasta since his lack of experience with Jocasta's abilities made it impossible to predict the robot's next move. Taskmaster later established a new training academy in Manhattan, where he battled Spider-Man and Ant-Man, and then escaped. He later used a traveling carnival as a mobile base, where he battled Hawkeye and Ant-Man, and then escaped again. He next trained henchmen for the Black Abbott. Alongside Black Abbott, he battled Spider-Man and Nomad, and escaped yet again.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: Deciding to further explore the use of a circus as a front for his academy, Taskmaster took over yet another small outfit, and used it for many months to great success. However, while it was playing a small town in Ohio, the Thing and Vance Astrovik (who would later take the name Justice) assisted a government agent in foiling Taskmaster's activities. While escaping, Taskmaster was captured by a group of U.S. Secret Service agents and taken into custody. There is reason to believe that the Red Skull was behind the Taskmaster's capture, since a group of normal men were able to capture him. Through Douglas Rockwell (the head of the President's Commission on Superhuman Activities), Mr. Smith arranged for Taskmaster to train John Walker in order to make him appear to be the real Captain America. In order to conceal the Red Skull's involvement, Rockwell had the Commission work out a deal to have years taken off Taskmaster's sentence in return for training Walker. After Taskmaster successfully trained Walker, the Red Skull arranged for him to escape from the Commission's detention center so he could continue training lackeys and Red Skull himself.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: Taskmaster's more skilled, successful, and notable students include such characters as Crossbones and Cutthroat (both the Red Skull's henchmen), U.S. Agent, Hauptmann Deutschland, Diamondback (Steve Rogers's one-time girlfriend), Spymaster, Spider-Woman, and Agent X. On the other hand, Taskmaster also trains many of his students to serve as low-rent henchmen and cannon fodder. In his early appearances, Taskmaster mentions putting intellect-reducing drugs in the diet of his students. He also routinely sent groups of his more disappointing students to serve as "sparring partners" for the Red Skull, routinely engaging several of them at a time and killing them all (Hauptmann Deutschland infiltrated the academy and used one such session as an opportunity to kidnap Red Skull). He has also employed other supervillains, such as when he hired Anaconda as his academy's calisthenics instructor.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: On another occasion, Taskmaster was hired by the Triune Understanding—a religious group secretly masterminding a smear campaign to paint the Avengers as being religiously and racially intolerant—to stage an attack on a Triune facility. Posing as Captain America, he contacted Warbird, Ant-Man, Silverclaw and Captain Marvel, claiming that he needed their help to destroy a Triune building containing a mind-control machine. Although they saw through his deception and subsequently defeated him—thanks to Captain Marvel transforming into Rick Jones mere milliseconds away from Taskmaster, thus causing a complete change of attack before Taskmaster could react—the building was destroyed in the ensuing battle and Taskmaster escaped, leaving the heroes lacking any evidence of their story.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: Taskmaster continued to train numerous villains and thugs until the Avengers began to search out and shut down some of his academies across the United States. Taskmaster began to spend more time working as a mercenary in order to make up for the loss of profit. This led him to join Agency X at the behest of his love interest Sandi Brandenberg, in missions from time to time, while continuing to teach at his academies around the world. More recently, Taskmaster is once again seen as a hired mercenary, contracted by the Committee to kill Moon Knight (Marc Spector). Taskmaster was misled with information that Moon Knight was broken, friendless and desiring death. During the conflict these factors all proved to be false as Marc's ex-girlfriend and butler came to Spector's defense and found the will to fight back. Despite his superior fighting abilities, Taskmaster was defeated. Moon Knight then carved off part of Taskmaster's facemask, though left him alive.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: Taskmaster also worked at training henchmen to copy fighting styles of specific heroes. Taskmaster unleashed Deathshield (trained to fight like Captain America), Jagged Bow (trained to fight like Hawkeye), and Blood Spider (trained to fight like Spider-Man) to face off against Spider-Man and Solo. The three were defeated, while Taskmaster escaped yet again.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: When the "Civil War" broke out, Taskmaster was hired by the government and enrolled into a team of Thunderbolts and given temporary amnesty to take down the Secret Avengers. He later battles the Secret Avengers in New York. He attempts to kill Susan "Sue" Storm, only for Reed Richards to take the bullet. Enraged, Sue crushes him with an invisible telekinetic field, rendering him unconscious. He was sent to the Negative Zone Prison with the other "Major-League" members of the Thunderbolts army such as Lady Deathstrike, but was apparently freed by Deadpool. In order to regain his own reputation as a mercenary, Deadpool frees Taskmaster from his imprisonment to have a showdown with him while potential merc contractors watched from their captive position in a nearby prison. Taskmaster is again referred to as Tasky by Deadpool, and a fight ensues between him and the manacled merc. He mentions his professional ethics, but this simply comes down to deciding to simply maim his opponent rather than kill him. In the end, he is defeated by Deadpool who, in spite of the victory, fails to impress his captive audience. After being thanked for letting him win, Taskmaster tells Deadpool that he had not let him win, "The truth is... You're that good. You've always been that good. Which won't get you a cup of coffee until you figure out how to be a professional..." Taskmaster was given a full presidential pardon for his efforts in testing the security of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, in which he was able to break in and place Deputy Director Maria Hill in his sights. Though he was allowed to leave, a threatening message left in Hill's private bathroom revealed that if he ever desired, infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. would be no difficult feat.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: Taskmaster replaces Gauntlet as Camp Hammond's drill instructor and is tasked with training registered superheroes for the . Taskmaster would also be involved in MVP's cloning process inputting (via technology) the original's move set for the Scarlet Spiders as well as the move set of Spider-Man.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: Taskmaster is hired by Deadpool to help his old enemy and occasional friend defeat the Thunderbolts. Being disguised as Deadpool, he gets captured and is about to be beheaded when the real Deadpool saves him. Deadpool finally pays him, but he expresses annoyance at being paid from an ATM due to his major villain status.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: During the "Dark Reign" storyline, Taskmaster is chosen to lead the Shadow Initiative after the Skrull invasion, with their first mission to take down Hardball's HYDRA cell in Madripoor. Along with Constrictor, Bengal, Typhoid Mary and Komodo, Taskmaster stealthily leads the group into the country, but they are soon discovered by HYDRA. Norman Osborn appoints Taskmaster to train criminals for the new Initiative, to behave like heroes. His first task is to retrain Penance. Also, when Blastaar takes control of the Negative Zone prison 42, Taskmaster is ordered to lead a squad to take the prison back. Later, he gives Night Thrasher a severe bullet wound to the head, allowing Osborn to take Night Thrasher prisoner. When Emma Frost and Namor resign from the Cabal, Taskmaster is offered membership. Taskmaster was present at a meeting when Osborn discusses about Asgard. He is severely wounded at the meeting as a result of an attack by Doctor Doom. While recovering in a hospital, Taskmaster declined to join the Cabal. Osborn cut the oxygen tank next to Taskmaster's bed, reminding him that it was Osborn who plucked him from obscurity. Taskmaster then agrees to join in the siege of Asgard. During the battle, he fights with both Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes as Captain America. As Asgard falls, Taskmaster finds Constrictor and the two beat a hasty retreat, but not before Taskmaster taunts Osborn about how Taskmaster helped Deadpool. After Osborn's ultimate defeat, Taskmaster and Constrictor went back to mercenary work.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: A false rumor is spread that Taskmaster is leaking information about the criminal underworld to Rogers's new 'heroic' regime. A bounty of $1,000,000,000 is placed on the Taskmaster's head by the mysterious Org. The hordes of AIM, HYDRA, the Secret Empire, ULTIMATUM, the Cyber Ninjas, the Black Choppers, the Trenchcoat Mafia, the Legions of the Living Lightning, the Militiamen, the Sons of the Serpent, and the Inquisition take up the chase to claim the money. Taskmaster, ambushed in a small diner, manages to best his opponents. But the diner's waitress, Mercedes Merced, gets entangled in the saga and is included in the bounty. Taskmaster reveals to Mercedes that his powers cause him to lose his explicit memory, meaning that he cannot remember anything about his personal life, and the only way for the whole ordeal to be over is to re-discover Taskmaster's origins. Taskmaster and Mercedes' quest takes them to Mexico to battle the Don of the Dead, and then to Bolivia to the village where everyone is Hitler. Inside an exact replica of Himmler's Wewelsburg Castle, Taskmaster regains his memories. He remembers being S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Tony Masters that had been sent to Bolivia to terminate Horst Gorscht, the Nazi scientist responsible for a corrupted version of the super-soldier serum. Gorscht had developed a new serum that could unlock the mind's potential to absorb knowledge instantaneously. With Gorscht's serum and test notes destroyed, Masters injected the last of the serum into himself. Having regained these memories, Taskmaster recognizes Mercedes' voice as being the same as 'The Hub', a mysterious voice who works for the Org. Taskmaster shoots Mercedes in the shoulder and threatens to kill her if she doesn't start talking. Mercedes reveals that the Org is a S.H.I.E.L.D. front, and that she is not only an agent, but also Taskmaster's wife. Miles above the Wewelsburg castle in an airship, the Minions' International Liberation Front (a secret group composed of henchmen from all of the major terrorist organizations), led by Redshirt the Uber-Henchman, reveal their deception and plot to rule the criminal underground by using Taskmaster to lead them straight to the Org. Redshirt leads the Minions' International Liberation Front (or the acronym MILF for short) into battle against the Taskmaster and Mercedes. Mercedes convinces the Taskmaster to trust her and work together to fend off the forces of MILF. During the battle, Taskmaster regains his memories of Mercedes and how he fell in love with her. Before they can reconcile, Taskmaster is attacked from behind by Redshirt who has genetically altered his body and mastered superior fighting skills to those of Taskmaster. Redshirt gains the upper hand as the pair push each other to the limits. Mercedes tries to intervene to protect her husband, but is quickly and effortlessly cast to one side. Enraged, Taskmaster attacks Redshirt and delivers a killing blow using Redshirt's own fighting style (which causes Taskmaster to lose his memories once more). Taskmaster, not recognizing Mercedes or his reasons for being there, flees and leaves Mercedes alone once more.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: Avengers Academy student Finesse later seeks out Taskmaster, thinking that he may be her long-lost father. When she finds Taskmaster, Finesse ends up sparring with him. After much sparring, Taskmaster finally relents to tell Finesse that he very well might be and most likely is her father, but that the powers to learn so much about others’ movements and techniques have caused him to forget important things in life. Knowing he likely will not remember the conversation in a couple days, Taskmaster tells Finesse that he wanted to fight her so he might remember her.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: During the 2011 "Fear Itself" storyline, Taskmaster comes to the aid of Alpha Flight when it comes to forming a resistance against the Unity Party that was formed by Master of the World.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: In order for the Masters of Evil to obtain the Crown of Wolves for the Shadow Council, Max Fury hired Taskmaster to retrieve it only for Taskmaster to demand more money for the job and he hid in the Hole. The Secret Avengers went to the Hole in order to get the Crown of Wolves before Fury got his hands on it. This led to a fight between Taskmaster and Agent Venom. However, Taskmaster escaped and returned the crown to Fury, only for Max to apparently kill Taskmaster when he asks for payment. When the crown's effects don't function for Max, Taskmaster takes the crown for himself, which saves his life by making him the Avatar for the Abyss. As the Abyss spreads, the Secret Avengers members Venom and Ant-Man are able to remove the crown and stop the spread, while Taskmaster and the Masters of Evil are left behind when the Avengers leave with Max in their custody.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: The criminals of Bagalia imprison Taskmaster and are preparing to offer him up to the highest bidder. S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Secret Avengers come to rescue him and offer him a position. As their inside man, Taskmaster is part of the new High Council of A.I.M. as the Minister of Defense. Mockingbird later goes to A.I.M. Island to assist Taskmaster in helping make contact between the Iron Patriot A.I. drones and James Rhodes. After the mission goes south and Mockingbird is left stranded on AIM Island, Taskmaster works undercover to free her. But when he gets the chance to get her off the island, she doesn't respond to anything he says until both are captured. While being interrogated, Taskmaster is shot and seemingly killed by Mockingbird apparently under the control of Scientist Supreme (Andrew Forson). However, Mentallo discovered that Mockingbird purposely missed any vitals and Taskmaster survived.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: At the time when Captain America was brainwashed into being a Hydra sleeper agent by Red Skull's clone using the powers of Kobik, Taskmaster later relocated to Bagalia where he became its sheriff.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: When Taskmaster and Black Ant (Eric O'Grady's Life Model Decoy counterpart) found out what was done to Captain America to be made into a Hydra sleeper agent, they planned to have a parley with Maria Hill to discuss this with only for the new Madame Hydra (Elisa Sinclair) to get to them first. Impressed with the fighting skills of the two of them, Madame Hydra made them bodyguards.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: During the "Secret Empire" storyline, Taskmaster appears as a member of Hydra's Avengers. During the battle in Washington DC, Taskmaster and Black Ant witness their teammate Odinson having enough of working for Hydra and striking them down. The two of them defect from Hydra and free the captive Champions. When Taskmaster and Black Ant asks for them to put in a good word for them, Spider-Man webs them up anyway.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: Taskmaster and Black Ant later attack Empire State University where Dr. Curt Connors was teaching a class. As the inhibitor chip prevents Connors into turning into Lizard, Peter Parker sneaks off to become Spider-Man. During his fight with Black Ant and Taskmaster, Spider-Man is exposed to the Isotope Genome Accelerator that splits him from his Peter Parker side.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: In a prelude to "Hunted", Taskmaster and Black Ant work with Kraven the Hunter and Arcade in capturing some animal-themed characters for his upcoming hunt. Black Ant and Taskmaster are talking about the Hunt. Taskmaster betrays Black Ant saying that Black Ant is an animal-themed villain and tasers Black Ant to get more money. Lizard finds Taskmaster at the Pop-Up with No Name. Lizard proceeds to poisons him by slipping a poison into her beer. Lizard offers Taskmaster the antidote if he can take Lizard to Central Park. While traveling there, Lizard and Taskmaster defeat Vermin, freeing innocent bystanders. Taskmaster helps put a taser chip in Lizard's body, and takes him to Arcade. Taskmaster frees Lizard from his binds and Lizard tells Taskmaster that the poison will wear off in 24 hours. Taskmaster makes off with Black Ant before Yellowjacket, Human Fly, Razorback, Toad, and White Rabbit can take revenge on him. As they leave, Taskmaster states that Black Ant would've done the same for him. When Black Ant asks "Do you mean the betrayal part or the rescue part?" All Taskmaster can say is "yeah!"


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: During the "King in Black" storyline, Taskmaster is among the villains recruited by Mayor Wilson Fisk to be part of his Thunderbolts at the time of Knull's invasion. While having argued with Mister Fear over who was the first villain to wear a skull mask, Taskmaster becomes the de facto field leader of the group. Following the deaths of Ampere and Snakehead, Taskmaster couldn't stop Rhino from walking off and tells the remaining members not to help the Manhattan Defenders. He and the Thunderbolts arrive at Ravencroft to meet with Norman Osborn who Mayor Fisk claims can help them defeat Knull.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: At the conclusion of "The Chameleon Conspiracy" arc, Foreigner hired Taskmaster and Black Ant to help get revenge on Spider-Man.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: During the "Sinister War" storyline, Taskmaster was with Foreigner, Black Ant, Chance, Jack O'Lantern, and Slyde when they are sent by Kindred to attack Spider-Man after Kindred had disrupted their armored car robbery.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: During the "Devil's Reign" storyline, Taskmaster appears as a member of Mayor Wilson Fisk's latest incarnation of the Thunderbolts at the time when Mayor Fisk passed a law that forbids superhero activity. He and Whiplash hold the staff of the Daily Bugle hostage to draw out Spider-Man. Taskmaster states that the person who hired him has an incomplete file on Spider-Man as Taskmaster fights Spider-Man up to the point where Whiplash is goaded into attacking him. Despite being weakened by Whiplash, Spider-Man tries to ask Taskmaster if they can take it outside as Taskmaster places an power dampener collar on him and throws him out the window. Spider-Man uses his webbing to slow his descent to the ground as the NYPD operatives move in on him.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: Taskmaster injected himself with SS-Hauptsturmführer Horst Gorscht's primer, an elaborate modification of the adrenal steroid cortisol designed to unlock the mind's procedural memory potential. This enhanced Taskmaster's natural ability to absorb knowledge instantaneously. This ability is linked to his muscle memory, allowing Taskmaster to instantly replicate the physical movement of peak-level humans. Taskmaster is not capable of duplicating a physical feat if the effort to do so requires superhuman effort; for instance, while he could view an opponent lifting a car, he could not do so because his body cannot duplicate the superhuman strength. Using these "photographic reflexes", Taskmaster is highly skilled in various forms of combat, as an exceptional martial artist (mimicking Elektra, Iron Fist, Shang-Chi), a skilled swordsman (Black Knight, Silver Samurai, Swordsman), a deadly accurate marksman (Captain America with a shield, Hawkeye with a bow and arrow, the Punisher with firearms, and Bullseye with various projectiles) as well as displaying a strenuously honed athletic ability (Black Panther, Daredevil, Spider-Man). Taskmaster has also demonstrated the ability to use every fighting style he has watched at the same time. Once the Taskmaster has mastered an opponent's physical movements, he can then predict his opponent's next attack. However, one of the few people shown capable of negating Taskmaster's abilities are Deadpool, whose manic personality makes him nearly impossible to predict,; Mister X, who uses his psychic abilities to get the better of Taskmaster in a fight and Slapstick, due to his very flexible cartoony body cause Taskmaster to break his own spine upon copying the hero's ability.; A side effect of the primer is severe declarative memory loss. The more implicit memories (i.e. knowledge and abilities) he learns, the more explicit memories (i.e. personal experience) he loses. Because of his explicit memory loss, the Org (Mercedes Merced) has acted as Taskmaster's surrogate memory, his banker, and his handler for his entire criminal career.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: By viewing a video in fast-forward, Taskmaster can learn to replicate human movement at near-superhuman speed. However, this puts his body under intense strain and can only be used for short periods of time. He also has the ability to manipulate his vocal cords to mimic the voices of others. The Taskmaster is also skilled in meditation techniques that allow him to slow his breathing and heart rate and survive for extended periods of time without air, this also means that to the untrained eye he will appear to be dead. He also claims to have learned forensic methods from CIA Agents and Mossad Operatives. Taskmaster is also capable of utilizing chi, but under exceptional circumstances. Taskmaster was once shown to have aquaphobia (the fear of water), but later overcame his fears.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: As he is able to replicate numerous fighting techniques, Taskmaster carries an extensive arsenal of weapons on his person, most commonly using a sword and a replica of Captain America's shield. He also carries a bow and a quiver of arrows, a billy club, a lasso, nunchaku, throwing darts, and various firearms. Taskmaster once used a stolen S.H.I.E.L.D. device that was able to create various forms of weaponry (such as arrows and shields) using solid energy.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: In a What If? storyline "What if... Steve Rogers had refused to give up being Captain America?" (vol. 2) #3 (1989), the Taskmaster trained the Super-Patriot and the Buckies to replace Captain America.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: An alternate version of the Taskmaster appears in "" #1 (2000) where the Marvel Universe is re-imagined in a fantasy setting. In this reality, the Taskmaster is an assassin known as the Deathmaster.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: In the "Marvel Universe Millennial Visions 2001" (2002) storyline "Thunderbolts: Give a Guy a Break", Hawkeye takes it upon himself to force supervillains to seek redemption. The Taskmaster is among the supervillains hypnotized by the Ringmaster and forced to become a member of the Thunderbolts.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: In "JLA/Avengers" #4 (2004), part of the Marvel/DC co-published crossover series, the Taskmaster is among the supervillains to confront Batman, Black Panther, Black Widow and Huntress in the final battle with Krona.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: A primate version of the Taskmaster appears in the "Marvel Apes" titles "Marvel Apes: Evolution Starts Here" #1 (2009), "Marvel: Apes: Speedball Special" #1 (2009) and "Marvel Apes: Grunt Line Special" #1 (2009).


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: In "Marvel Universe vs. the Punisher" #4 (September 2010), where the Marvel Universe is infected by a cannibal plague, the Taskmaster is killed when the Red Hulk tears his head off.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: A female version of Taskmaster appeared in the "Marvel Max" series "Deadpool Max". This version became a mother figure to a young version of Deadpool when she kidnapped his Muskrat troop. She was later revealed to be an operative for United States interest, a potential cult leader and child molester.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: In the "House of M" reality, the Taskmaster appeared as a member of the strike force known as the Brotherhood. Although not a mutant, he used his abilities to pass as one, since humans (even super-powered humans) were treated as second-class citizens. However, after he was beaten by Luke Cage for the murder of Tigra, he was found to be a human masquerading as a mutant.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: The Taskmaster appears in "Marvel Vs. Capcom: Fate of Two Worlds" #1 (2011) based on his appearance in the "" video game. He briefly appears in Latveria, having been hired by Dr. Doom to aid in the invasion of the second Earth and grows increasingly impatient due to Albert Wesker's inability to fully link the two worlds.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: The Taskmaster appears in the Malibu Comics (also known as the "Ultraverse") series "Siren" (1995), "Siren" #1–3 (1995) and "Siren Special" #1 (1996) as a supporting character.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: In the "Age of Ultron" story, the Taskmaster is depicted as working with the Black Panther and the Red Hulk in Chicago attempting to capture Ultron Sentinel technology. Successful in doing so, Red Hulk holds off the Ultron minions to allow Taskmaster and Black Panther to escape. When Taskmaster tries to run away with one of the Ultron Sentinels, Red Hulk tells him he doesn't trust him, and then kills him.


title: Taskmaster (character)

text: The Ultimate Marvel version of Taskmaster appears in ""; this iteration is an African-American mercenary. Hired by Phillip Roxxon, he confronts Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Cloak & Dagger and Bombshell, and displays the ability to absorb and re-channel energy-based superpowers. Taskmaster is eventually defeated by the young amateur superheroes.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Adam Paul Laxalt (; born August 31, 1978) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 33rd Nevada Attorney General from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Nevada in 2018 and for the U.S. Senate in 2022.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Laxalt is the son of former U.S. Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico and grandson of former Nevada governor and U.S. senator Paul Laxalt. He graduated from Georgetown University and its law school before working as an aide to then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs John R. Bolton and Virginia U.S. Senator John Warner. He worked as a lawyer in private practice and was a member of the Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps from 2005 to 2010.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Elected in 2014, Laxalt served one term as the attorney general of Nevada from 2015 to 2019. In that role, he filed legal briefs in support of laws restricting abortion, challenged federal environmental protection regulations, opposed some gun regulations, and opposed a multi-state investigation into ExxonMobil's role in climate change.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: He unsuccessfully ran for governor of Nevada in 2018, losing to Democrat Steve Sisolak. Laxalt co-chaired Donald Trump's 2020 unsuccessful reelection campaign in Nevada. After Trump lost the 2020 election and refused to concede, Trump and Laxalt made false claims of large-scale fraud in Nevada's election and sought to overturn the election results.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Laxalt was born in Reno, Nevada, the son of Pete Domenici, a Republican U.S. Senator from New Mexico, and Michelle Laxalt. He is the grandson of former Republican Nevada Governor and U.S. Senator Paul Laxalt. Laxalt's mother raised him as a single parent. Laxalt's parents did not publicly acknowledge his paternity until 2013. At that time, Domenici acknowledged that Laxalt was his son and was born as a result of an extramarital affair.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: After graduating from St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School, a college preparatory school in Alexandria, Virginia, Laxalt enrolled at Tulane University. After attending Tulane for two years, he transferred to Georgetown University, where he graduated "magna cum laude" in 2001 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and government. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center with a Juris Doctor degree in 2005.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Laxalt first worked for then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs John R. Bolton, before joining the office of Virginia U.S. Senator John Warner. After leaving Washington, Laxalt worked for the law firm Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie at its Reno office until 2014, when he left the firm to concentrate on his bid for attorney general.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Laxalt spent five years in the United States Navy's Judge Advocate General's Corps. He had postings at Naval Air Station Sigonella in Italy and in Iraq, and a stint at the U.S. Naval Academy as an assistant law professor.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: After practicing with Lewis Roca Rothgerber, Laxalt considered a campaign for Nevada Attorney General. In January 2014, he announced his candidacy. Laxalt was the Republican nominee in the general election. After a bitter and costly general election campaign, Laxalt defeated Democratic nominee Ross Miller. During the campaign, Laxalt said that he opposed same-sex marriage; in 2010, he said that he opposed LGBT individuals openly serving in the military.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Laxalt was sworn in as attorney general of Nevada on January 5, 2015. As AG, he created the "Federalism Unit" within the AG's office and challenged federal environmental protection regulations, including the Environmental Protection Agency's Waters of the United States Rule and the Bureau of Land Management's Sage Grouse Plan. Laxalt also joined lawsuits against the Obama administration over a U.S. Department of Labor regulation to protect certain employees' right to overtime pay, and over Obama's executive action creating the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) programs.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: In a 2017 speech at a National Rifle Association (NRA) event in Atlanta, Georgia, Laxalt criticized a red flag bill that the Nevada Senate had passed. In 2018, months after the NRA called for greater adoption of these laws, he recommended that the legislature consider such a law.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: As attorney general, Laxalt signed Nevada onto at least four known lawsuits supporting abortion restrictions in other states. He signed onto two lawsuits supporting bans on the most commonly used second-trimester abortion procedure. Pro-choice Republican Governor Brian Sandoval's office said it was not consulted before Laxalt signed Nevada onto the Texas abortion ban brief. In the Supreme Court case "Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt", Laxalt signed an "amicus" brief in support of Texas's TRAP (Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers) law.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Laxalt signed onto a California lawsuit to support keeping secret the identities of political donors, including one of his biggest political donors, the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, backed by Charles and David Koch. He opposed a multi-state investigation into ExxonMobil's alleged role in downplaying climate change, condemning it as an attempt to stifle an "ongoing public policy debate" over human-caused global warming. Laxalt took legal action to keep fraud investigators from scrutinizing groups connected to the Koch network, which went on to spend $2.5 million to support Laxalt's gubernatorial campaign.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Laxalt created the Office of Military Legal Assistance, which provided free legal services to veterans.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Laxalt was the Republican nominee for governor of Nevada in the 2018 election, defeating four other candidates to win the nomination. He lost to the Democratic nominee, Clark County Commission chair Steve Sisolak, in the general election; Sisolak become the first Democrat to win the governorship in 20 years. Sisolak received 49.39% of the vote to Laxalt's 45.31%.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Asked whether he would propose a referendum to put Nevada's abortion law up for a vote, Laxalt said, "We are going to look into it."


title: Adam Laxalt

text: During his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, Laxalt released a health care plan that "reiterated Laxalt's long standing opposition to Obamacare, but pledged not to roll back Medicaid coverage the law helped extend to more than 200,000 of Nevada's poorest residents."


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Laxalt was endorsed by President Donald Trump. Incumbent Republican Governor Brian Sandoval did not endorse a candidate in the election to succeed him, saying he would not "support a candidate that is going to undo anything that I put forward." During Sandoval's tenure as governor, he and Laxalt had a frequently tense relationship, with disagreements over tax policy, environmental regulations and gambling regulations.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Laxalt was endorsed by Storey County Sheriff Gerald Antinoro in November 2017. Laxalt faced scrutiny for initially declining to disavow Antinoro's campaign support. A 2016 investigation found that Antinoro had sexually harassed his top deputy. Storey County Administrator Austin Osborne said in a deposition that numerous complaints including sexual harassment allegations were filed against Antinoro. In July 2018, Laxalt released an investigative report into Antinoro and announced that he would not pursue criminal charges. After the investigation concluded, Laxalt announced he would no longer campaign with Antinoro or use his endorsement.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Laxalt co-chaired Donald Trump's 2020 reelection campaign in Nevada. Before Election Day, he unsuccessfully sought to stop Nevada from counting early-voting ballots from Clark County (the state's most populous, Democratic-leaning county, containing Las Vegas).


title: Adam Laxalt

text: After Trump lost Nevada to Joe Biden, Laxalt claimed without evidence that large-scale voter fraud had occurred in Nevada and sought to overturn the election results. He and other Trump campaign officials provided no information supporting their claim of fraud. Laxalt presented a list of 3,062 voters he said were non-residents who voted absentee in Clark County. Nevada residents such as military personnel, students, and congressional staffers do not have to live in Nevada to be eligible voters in the state. At least 146 of the names on Laxalt's list, which the Trump campaign claimed was evidence of "criminal voter fraud", were linked to military base addresses or diplomatic postal addresses.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: Laxalt also claimed that 200,000 mail-in ballot votes were verified by machine only and that these machines were unable to match signatures on ballots to those on file; in fact, ballots that could not be assessed by machines were verified by people.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: In August 2021, Laxalt announced his candidacy for the 2022 United States Senate election in Nevada, challenging the incumbent, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto. He announced his candidacy with a video in which he said that "the radical left, rich elites, woke corporations, academia and the media" were "taking over America". The campaign was anticipated to be among the most competitive Senate races in 2022.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: On November 12, 2022, major media outlets projected that Cortez Masto had been reelected, guaranteeing the Democrats 50 Senate seats and control of the chamber in the 118th Congress.


title: Adam Laxalt

text: In 1997, Laxalt was arrested for driving under the influence. He has acknowledged having a drinking problem in his teens. He received treatment at the Hazelden Foundation and says he has been sober since the age of 19.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Elaine Jill Paige (née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professional appearance on stage in 1964, at the age of 16. Her appearance in the 1968 production of "Hair" marked her West End debut.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Following a number of roles over the next decade, Paige was selected to play Eva Perón in the first production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Evita" in 1978, which brought her to the attention of the broader public. For this role, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Performance of the Year in a musical. She originated the role of Grizabella in "Cats" and had a Top 10 hit with "Memory", a song from the show.


title: Elaine Paige

text: In 1985, Paige released "I Know Him So Well" with Barbara Dickson from the musical "Chess", which remains the biggest-selling record by a female duo. She then appeared in the original stage production of "Chess", followed by a starring role in "Anything Goes" which she also co-produced. Paige made her Broadway debut in "Sunset Boulevard" in 1996, playing the lead role of Norma Desmond, to critical acclaim. She appeared in "The King and I" from 2000 to 2001, and six years later she returned to the West End stage in "The Drowsy Chaperone". She has also worked sporadically in television. She is known for having a strange laugh.


title: Elaine Paige

text: In addition to being nominated for five Laurence Olivier Awards, Paige has won many other awards for her theatre roles and has been called the First Lady of British Musical Theatre due to her skill and longevity. She has released 22 solo albums, of which eight were consecutively certified gold and another four multi-platinum. Paige is also featured on seven cast albums and has sung in concerts across the world. Since 2004 she has hosted her own show on BBC Radio 2 called "Elaine Paige on Sunday".


title: Elaine Paige

text: In 2014, Paige celebrated her 50 years in show business. Paige announced on her official website a "Farewell" concert tour and a new career-spanning album "" to mark this milestone in her career. Outside of her work in musical theatre, Paige is a Vice-President of The Children's Trust, a UK charity for children with brain injury.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Elaine Jill Bickerstaff was born and raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, where her father Eric worked as an estate agent and her mother Irene was a milliner. Her mother had been a singer in her youth, and her father was an amateur drummer. Paige stands at just under 5 feet (1.5 m) tall, which she says has caused her to lose out on leading roles. Her original ambition was to become a professional tennis player, at which point her headmistress pointed out to her "they'd never see you over the net", but Paige continued to play tennis and has referred to the sport as one of her passions.


title: Elaine Paige

text: At 14, Paige listened to the film soundtrack of "West Side Story", which evoked the desire for a career in musical theatre. Paige's musical ability was encouraged by her school music teacher, Ann Hill, who was also the head of the music department. Paige was a member of Hill's choir, and her first role on stage was playing Susanna in a school production of Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro", which was followed by parts in "The Boy Mozart" and solos in Handel's "Messiah" – "a difficult work for little children".


title: Elaine Paige

text: She attended Southaw Girls' School – a secondary modern in Oakleigh Park in Hertfordshire where she received two CSE qualifications.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Her father suggested that she should go to drama school, so she attended the Aida Foster Theatre School. Lacking confidence, she initially disliked stage school; her father encouraged her to persevere and she grew to enjoy her time there.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Paige's first professional appearance happened when she was 16 years old, fresh from drama school. She was rejected in her first audition, singing "I Cain't Say No". Her drama school teacher encouraged her to change her name and audition again under the new name. Browsing through a phone book for inspiration, she became aware of the "page" she was observing and decided upon that name with the addition of an "i", becoming Elaine Paige. She was successful in the second audition as Elaine Paige, appearing on stage during the UK tour of the Anthony Newley/Leslie Bricusse musical "The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd" in 1964, playing the role of a Chinese urchin.


title: Elaine Paige

text: In 1968 she appeared on record as a member of the vocal group Colors of Love, who released three Albert Hammond & Mike Hazlewood-penned singles, most notably "I'm a Train", on Larry Page's Page One label under the supervision of Alan Moorhouse. She was also part of the band Sparrow with fellow West End singer Diane Langton, releasing the album Hatching Out in 1972.


title: Elaine Paige

text: At the age of 20, she made her West End debut in "Hair" on 27 September 1968, remaining in the cast until March 1970. While also being an understudy for the character of Sheila, she played a member of the tribe in the chorus, for which role she was required to be naked on stage in one scene. In 1971, she appeared in the ill-fated musical about premature ejaculation, "Maybe That's Your Problem". She also appeared as an urchin in the film "Oliver!"


title: Elaine Paige

text: Over the next decade, she played roles in various musicals, including "Jesus Christ Superstar"; "Nuts;" "Grease", in which she played the lead role of Sandy from 1973 to 1974; "Billy", from 1974 to 1975 playing Rita; and "The Boyfriend", as Maisie (1975–1976). She had a minor role as a barmaid in the 1978 sex comedy film "Adventures of a Plumber's Mate".


title: Elaine Paige

text: After months of acting and singing auditions, Hal Prince offered the still relatively unknown Paige the title role of Eva Perón in the first stage production of the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, "Evita". Her performance won her critical acclaim and brought her into public prominence at the age of 30. Julie Covington, who played the role on the original concept album, had turned down the opportunity of playing the role on stage leading to a long search for a new star. Paige eventually competed against Bonnie Schoen, an American initially favoured by Prince for the role. She later said, "Bonnie was already a big name on Broadway. In a way, she didn't have anything to prove. She was smoothly, silkily professional. But I saw this as my big chance and, like Eva when she clapped eyes on Peron, I grabbed with both hands. I wanted the role more than anything else in the whole world." For her performance in "Evita", she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Musical, which at that time was called the Society of West End Theatre Award. She also won the Variety Club Award for Showbusiness Personality of the Year. She played the role for 20 months in total, from 1978 to 1980. She also released her first studio album in 1978, titled "Sitting Pretty".


title: Elaine Paige

text: Just prior to her success in "Evita", Paige had strongly considered becoming a nursery nurse, but after she sang for Dustin Hoffman, he made her promise that she would continue in theatre work. She admitted that she was "fed up with the whole thing" and that she could not even afford new clothing or to eat out; "Evita saved me" she stated. In the 1980 ITV drama series "Lady Killers", Paige played convicted murderer Kate Webster.


title: Elaine Paige

text: In 1981, in the "Tales of the Unexpected" episode "The Way to Do it", Paige plays Susie, a girl working in a small casino trying to keep guests happy and finally eloping with the main character.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Paige went on to portray some of Lloyd Webber's most notable female characters, creating the role of Grizabella in the original production of "Cats" from 11 May 1981 to 13 February 1982. She took on the role late in the rehearsal process when the actress Judi Dench had to withdraw due to a torn Achilles tendon. Paige's performance of the song "Memory" from "Cats", with which she had a Top 10 hit, is her signature piece. The single reached number 6 in the UK charts and has since been recorded by a further 160 artists. She reprised the role of Grizabella for the video release of "Cats" in 1998, one of only two performers in the film from the original London cast; the other was Susan Jane Tanner as Jellylorum. Paige's website claims that the video soon became the bestselling music video in the UK and America.


title: Elaine Paige

text: The 1983 production of "Abbacadabra", written by former ABBA members, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, saw Paige star in the role of Carabosse. She then originated the role of Florence for the 1984 concept album of "Chess", with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Ulvaeus and Andersson. Her albums, "Stages" (1983), and "Cinema" (1984), rejoined the cast recording of "Chess" in the UK top 40 chart, giving her three consecutive successful albums. In 1985, Paige released "I Know Him So Well", a duet from "Chess", singing with Barbara Dickson. The single held the number 1 position in the British singles charts for four weeks, and still remains the biggest-selling record by a female duo, according to the "Guinness Book of Records". From 1986 to 1987, Paige appeared as Florence in the stage production of "Chess", a role that earned her a second Olivier Award nomination, this time in the category, Best Actress in a Musical. She next sang at the White House in 1988.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Paige then took on the part of Reno Sweeney in the musical production of "Anything Goes", which she co-produced and starred in from 1989 to 1990. Patti LuPone was appearing in "Anything Goes" on Broadway around that time, so Paige sought to become the co-producer of the West End production as a way to secure the role there before LuPone could take it. Playing Reno Sweeney was Paige's first experience using an American accent on stage, and the role earned her a third Olivier Award nomination. Beyond her theatre roles, she appeared in the television programme "Unexplained Laughter" in 1989 alongside Diana Rigg.


title: Elaine Paige

text: In 1993, Paige signed up for a year as French chanteuse Édith Piaf in Pam Gems' musical play, "Piaf", to critical acclaim. "The Guardian" wrote that Paige was "a magnificent, perfect Piaf". The demanding production required her to sing 15 songs, some in French, and to be on stage for 2 hours 40 minutes in total, and forced her to leave early due to exhaustion. Her portrayal of Piaf earned her an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical, her fourth nomination. She subsequently released an album, titled "Piaf", containing Édith Piaf songs.


title: Elaine Paige

text: In 1995, Paige was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to musical theatre.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Paige stepped briefly into the role of Norma Desmond in Lloyd Webber's West End production of "Sunset Boulevard" in 1994, when Betty Buckley was taken ill and had to undergo an emergency appendectomy. The nature of the situation meant that Paige only had two-and-a-half weeks in the rehearsal process before her first performance. She admitted feeling daunted by the prospect, having seen Glenn Close in the role on Broadway just prior to entering rehearsals. London critics were largely won over by Paige in a performance that "not only wrings out every ounce of dramatic action but delivers some unexpected humour as well" and she took over the part full-time the following year. She then won the Variety Club Award for Best Actress of the Year, and received her fifth Olivier Award nomination in 1996.


title: Elaine Paige

text: During the run of "Sunset Boulevard" at the West End's Adelphi Theatre in 1995, Paige discovered a lump in her breast, prompting her to consult her doctor, who at first reassured her there was nothing to be concerned about. She returned twice, and her doctor subsequently sent her for tests that confirmed the lump was cancerous, nine months after she discovered it. Continuing her role in the production Paige did not miss a show. Paige went in for day surgery on a Sunday due to her theatre commitments, had five years of medical treatment and completed a radiation programme. She has since described the period as "the most awful thing that's happened to me in my life".


title: Elaine Paige

text: Paige transferred to the New York production of "Sunset Boulevard" to make her Broadway debut at the Minskoff Theatre on 12 September 1996, staying with the show until it closed on 22 March 1997. On the "Sunset Boulevard" set in Broadway, the staircase steps had to be raised six inches (15 cm) in order to accommodate Paige's short stature, or it would have been hard to see her behind the banister. Paige was welcomed to the Broadway stage with a long standing ovation from the audience, and received largely positive reviews for her New York performance as Norma Desmond: "The lush sound and the sheer power of her voice are, to put it simply, incredible", wrote one critic, whilst another said "Her voice has great range, remarkable clarity and emotional force". Paige was the first Norma Desmond in "Sunset Boulevard" to sing one of the show's key songs, "With One Look", which she did first at Lloyd Webber's wedding to Madeleine Gurdon, although at the time the song was called "Just One Glance". Lloyd Webber noted, regarding Paige's performance of one of the show's other prominent songs, "As If We Never Said Goodbye", that it was "as good, if not the best, of anything I've ever heard of mine". Regarding the key lyric in the song, "This world's waited long enough. I've come home at last", Paige had sought to change the way the melody was sung, despite being fully aware of Lloyd-Webber's fastidious tendencies. To her, the moment was not exploited to its fullest potential, so she approached the show's musical director, David Caddick, and expressed her wish to hold the word "home", to which he agreed. Although she had been disappointed when she hoped to perform on Broadway in "Evita", "Cats" and "Chess", Paige stated of her debut there, "It was just the most perfect time to go with that particular show". After "Sunset Boulevard" finished, she suffered from depression, commenting that the show's closing "was the most terrible feeling. ... I'd felt I'd lost something so very important to me. I thought it had died and gone away."


title: Elaine Paige

text: Arts commentator Melvyn Bragg hosted a special edition of "The South Bank Show" about Paige's career in 1996, titled "The Faces of Elaine Paige". The episode saw her visiting parts of the world where plays she had starred in had been set: the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, Argentina where Eva Perón had given speeches; the Parisian haunts of Edith Piaf including a meeting with her collaborator Charles Aznavour; and Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles.


title: Elaine Paige

text: In 1997, Paige made her United States concert debut when she opened the Boston Pops season, which was aired on WGBH in America. The following year, she made a guest appearance at Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th birthday celebration at the Royal Albert Hall, performing "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "Memory" She then played Célimène in the non-musical play "The Misanthrope" in 1998, but she admitted that she missed the musical element and that the silence was slightly unsettling to her. A Lifetime Achievement Award from The National Operatic and Dramatic Association soon followed. She later performed alongside Bette Midler in a 1999 New York concert to raise money for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.


title: Elaine Paige

text: From 2000 to 2001, she starred as Anna Leonowens in a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The King and I" at the London Palladium. Paige had turned down an offer for the role the first time she was approached, but later accepted, admitting that she had "forgotten what a fantastic score it was", although she did question her own suitability for the role. Before the opening, the box office had already taken in excess of £7 million in ticket sales. The critic for "The Independent" commented, "It may well be impossible to be a success as Evita and a success as Anna" complaining that Paige was not refined enough for the role, whereas "The Spectator" asserted that the role further strengthened her title as the "First Lady of British Musical Theatre". During her time in "The King and I", her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Despite Paige wanting to pull out of the show, her mother insisted that she should continue until her contract had finished, and Paige's sister, Marion Billings, admitted, "That was very hard for Elaine, having to go on stage night after night knowing she wanted to be with Mum".


title: Elaine Paige

text: Paige sang at the opening of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and then made her Los Angeles concert debut at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. In 2003, she played Angèle in "Where There's a Will", directed by Peter Hall. She next sang the role of Mrs Lovett in the New York City Opera production of Stephen Sondheim's "Sweeney Todd" in March 2004, earning positive reviews from critics, and a nomination for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical. Paige then embarked upon a UK tour which was titled "No Strings Attached".


title: Elaine Paige

text: In September 2004, Paige began a weekly Sunday afternoon radio show, "Elaine Paige on Sunday", between 1 and 3 PM on BBC Radio 2, featuring music from musical theatre and film. The 400th edition was broadcast on Sunday 29 July 2012. In an unfavourable review, the show was described by Elisabeth Mahoney of "The Guardian" as "a chilly, alienating listening experience" and a "rare wrong move" on the part of Radio 2. Lisa Martland of "The Stage" agreed that "it is by far the music that brings me back to the programme ... and not her lightweight presenting style". However, the show regularly attracts 3 million listeners, and interviews are also featured each week. Paige also focused on television appearances, playing Dora Bunner in the 2005 ITV adaptation of Agatha Christie's "A Murder Is Announced" in the "Marple" series, before performing a guest role as a post mistress in "Where the Heart Is". The episode of "Marple" was watched by 7.78 million viewers.


title: Elaine Paige

text: The release of Paige's first full studio album of new recordings in 12 years was marked in 2006, titled "Essential Musicals". The album included popular songs from musicals identified by a poll on her radio show, in which 400,000 listeners voted. At this point, Paige had recorded 20 solo albums in total, of which eight were consecutively certified gold and another four multi-platinum, and she had been featured on seven cast albums. Paige also appeared in concert in Scandinavia, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore. On 20 and 21 December 2006, she performed in concert in Shanghai, extending her concert tour to two dates to satisfy demand. With a noticeable absence from musical theatre, having not taken a role for many years, she explained in 2006 that "there's been nothing that I've wanted to do, and if you're going to commit to a year at the theatre, six days a week, and have no life, then it's got to be something that you want to do with all your heart". She also affirmed that she believes for older actors it becomes harder to obtain theatre roles.


title: Elaine Paige

text: In 2007, Paige made a return to the West End stage for the first time in six years, as the Chaperone/Beatrice Stockwell in "The Drowsy Chaperone" at the Novello Theatre. The production ran for a disappointing 96 performances, although it had opened to a standing ovation from the audience and a generally optimistic reaction from critics. "The Daily Telegraph" wrote, "Elaine Paige is a good sport ... enduring jokes about her reputation for being 'difficult' with a grin that doesn't seem all that forced. ... Only the self-importantly serious and the chronically depressed will fail to enjoy this preposterously entertaining evening". Paul Taylor from "The Independent" was less impressed and wrote "a miscast Elaine Paige manages to be unfunny to an almost ingenious degree as the heroine's bibulous minder". For her performance, Paige was nominated for a What's On Stage Award in the category of Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. She next collaborated with the duo Secret Garden in recording the song "The Things You Are to Me" for their 2007 album, "Inside I'm Singing".


title: Elaine Paige

text: To raise money for Sport Relief Paige danced the tango on "Sport Relief does Strictly Come Dancing" with Matt Dawson in March 2008, where they were voted second overall. In 2008, she opened the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod and performed concerts in China, America and Australia featuring songs from her 40-year career. To further celebrate 40 years since her first performance on a West End Stage, in October 2008 Paige released a picture-based autobiography titled "Memories". The book took around eight months to compile; "Since "Evita" I suppose, I had kept a yearbook. My parents always kept cuttings and things like that for me. I did have quite a lot of reference material to work out," Paige commented.


title: Elaine Paige

text: An album titled "Elaine Paige and Friends" was produced by Phil Ramone in 2010. The album features duets with Paige and artists such as Johnny Mathis, Barry Manilow and Olivia Newton-John as well as a duet with Sinéad O'Connor of a new song "It's Only Life" penned by Tim Rice and Gary Barlow. Having entered the top 20 of UK Album Charts, it went on to achieve gold status.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Paige played the role of Carlotta Campion in the Kennedy Center production of "Follies" in May and June 2011 at the Eisenhower Theatre in Washington, DC, receiving favourable reviews for her performance of the showstopper, "I'm Still Here." The principal cast also comprised Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, Ron Raines and Danny Burstein. She reprised this role in the Broadway transfer of the musical at the Marquis Theatre from August 2011 until the following January, before performing at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, California in May and June 2012.


title: Elaine Paige

text: At the end of 2013 Paige announced a concert tour, "Page by Page by Paige," which focused on her 50th anniversary in show business and was advertised as a farewell tour. The 40th anniversary tour in 2008 marked 40 years since her debut on the West End stage, and the 50th anniversary tour in 2014 marked 50 years since her first stage performance. The tour featured Gardar Thor Cortes performing a number of songs, both solo and duets with Paige, and was sold out at all venues. The tour ran from 9 to 20 October 2014, concluding at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Other stops included Cardiff, Bristol, Manchester, Newcastle (Gateshead), Glasgow, Birmingham and Bournemouth. Due to a throat infection, one concert in Brighton had to be cancelled. Dates in Ireland were postponed before being rescheduled, with Paige giving four sold-out concerts in Dublin (two evenings), Limerick and Cork between 10 and 16 February 2015.


title: Elaine Paige

text: In 2014, Paige presented and performed in a six episode television show for Sky Arts television called "The Elaine Paige Show." The show featured songs performed by Paige, masterclasses with drama college students and interviews and performances by West End and Broadway performers and writers. The show was recorded in March and April at Riverside Studios, London. She released a new career-spanning album "" in May 2014. In June, Paige made her debut at G-A-Y's Heaven nightclub in London and in November, she joined the inaugural Australian cruise of the performing arts on the .


title: Elaine Paige

text: In May 2015 Paige was part of , a special concert which took place at the Horse Guards Parade, and was broadcast live on BBC1 and BBC Radio 2. Later in 2015 she performed in concert at Scarborough Open Air Theatre, supported by Collabro and Rhydian, and then headlined the Glamis Prom 2015 at Glamis Castle, Scotland, with Susan Boyle as her guest. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra accompanied at both concerts.


title: Elaine Paige

text: In April 2016, it was announced that Paige would perform a number of concerts – on successive weekends rather than intensive schedule of a regular tour – entitled "Stripped Back". The tour initially ran from October until December 2016 and featured music by Harry Nilsson, Randy Newman, Jimmy Webb, Burt Bacharach, Leonard Cohen, Sting, Elton John and Lennon-McCartney.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Paige appeared in a new BBC adaptation of William Shakepeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" adapted by Russell T Davies as part of the Shakespeare 400 celebrations in 2016.


title: Elaine Paige

text: In 2017, she appeared in pantomime at the London Palladium as Queen Rat in "Dick Whittington" alongside Julian Clary, Nigel Havers, Paul Zerdin, Gary Wilmot, Charlie Stemp, Emma Williams, Ashley Banjo and Diversity. She returned for "Pantoland at The Palladium" in 2020, along with most of the 2017 cast as well as Beverley Knight.


title: Elaine Paige

text: In 2018, Paige played the part of Mercy Hackett in the BBC TV comedy "Home from Home". In 2020, she appeared in the BBC drama series "Life" with Alison Steadman and Peter Davison.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Having had so many starring roles in famous musicals, many to critical acclaim, Paige is often referred to as the First Lady of British Musical Theatre. In 2008, she celebrated the 40th anniversary of her professional debut on the West End stage. Paige has never married nor had children, although she had an 11-year affair with the lyricist Tim Rice throughout the 1980s. She has said that she wanted to have children, but "it's a wonderful life I have, so I'm very fulfilled in other ways".


title: Elaine Paige

text: Paige's singing abilities have won her worldwide praise, as have her acting skills, with Andrew Gans of "Playbill" magazine writing that "Paige's gift is to dissect a role and determine what phrasing, gesture or emotion can bring a scene to its fullest dramatic potential". Mark Shenton also highlighted her voice in 2008 as "one of the most distinctive and impressive voices in the business". Lloyd-Webber insists that her rendition of "As If We Never Said Goodbye" is one of the best interpretations of a song by him.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Paige has gained herself a reputation as someone who can be "difficult". "The Times"' Brian Logan wrote, "Paige is not exactly known for her humility. In newspaper profiles, that dread word 'difficult' is often applied". On one occasion, she told a male interviewer that she was going to stop giving interviews to female reporters because, in her own words, "I don't trust other women in these situations. They establish a sisterhood with you and then betray it every time". What has been seen as a cold side to her personality was also noted by Logan, but Paige has said that a common misconception of her is that she is confident and very serious. Another editor found her "refreshingly down-to-earth" and "very friendly".


title: Elaine Paige

text: Though Paige has enjoyed a long career in musical theatre, she rarely goes to watch musicals, much preferring to watch films or plays. She considers herself primarily an actress, rather than a singer, stating, "I really prefer to be in character". Comparing the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein to that of Lloyd Webber, Paige has said that she finds Rodgers and Hammerstein songs more difficult to sing, and described them as challenging. She concluded, "it's a quieter kind of singing, more controlled, not belting it out".


title: Elaine Paige

text: In the light of the physical demands of performing in theatre Paige has said "Musical theatre is the hardest thing any actor will ever do. You become obsessive about sleeping, eating the right food, not speaking and giving yourself vocal rest and keeping exercised". Regarding the pressure of having to be in a fit condition to perform in theatre each night, she remarked "you wouldn't want to read the letters people write when you're off and they're disappointed – it's so awful, the guilt one feels for not being there". As part of a rigorous routine before musical roles to look after her voice, Paige stops eating dairy products and drinking alcohol and works hard on her fitness. After about three months into the production when her voice is tiring from performing, she withdraws from her normal social life, sometimes only communicating by notepad and fax. She never reads her reviews, finding that it is not helpful to hear too many opinions of her work.


title: Elaine Paige

text: In 2007, Paige named reality television series such as "Any Dream Will Do", which aim to find an unknown actor to play the lead role in a musical, as the greatest threat to theatre today, believing that "actors already striving in the theatre wouldn't dream of putting themselves on these shows". In a later interview, she questioned the seriousness of the actors auditioning for this type of show: "you wouldn't put yourself up for one of those shows in case you got bumped off the first week and all your colleagues saw it". She has also expressed a wish for more new musicals to be put into production, instead of frequent revivals.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Paige has been an Ambassador of The Children's Trust, the UK's leading charity for children with brain injury and neurodisabiity, for over 35 years, since the charity was created, when she first presented the charity with a minibus. She has hosted and performed at fundraising events for the charity including hosting 5 bi-annual Elaine Paige Clay Pigeon Shoots.


title: Elaine Paige

text: Tying in with her weekly radio show, Paige has been involved in the compilation of two albums featuring selected tracks from musical theatre.


title: Centrifuge

text: A centrifuge is a device that uses centrifugal force to separate various components of a fluid. This is achieved by spinning the fluid at high speed within a container, thereby separating fluids of different densities (e.g. cream from milk) or liquids from solids. It works by causing denser substances and particles to move outward in the radial direction. At the same time, objects that are less dense are displaced and moved to the centre. In a laboratory centrifuge that uses sample tubes, the radial acceleration causes denser particles to settle to the bottom of the tube, while low-density substances rise to the top. A centrifuge can be a very effective filter that separates contaminants from the main body of fluid.


title: Centrifuge

text: Industrial scale centrifuges are commonly used in manufacturing and waste processing to sediment suspended solids, or to separate immiscible liquids. An example is the cream separator found in dairies. Very high speed centrifuges and ultracentrifuges able to provide very high accelerations can separate fine particles down to the nano-scale, and molecules of different masses. Large centrifuges are used to simulate high gravity or acceleration environments (for example, high-G training for test pilots). Medium-sized centrifuges are used in washing machines and at some swimming pools to draw water out of fabrics. Gas centrifuges are used for isotope separation, such as to enrich nuclear fuel for fissile isotopes.


title: Centrifuge

text: English military engineer Benjamin Robins (1707–1751) invented a whirling arm apparatus to determine drag. In 1864, Antonin Prandtl proposed the idea of a dairy centrifuge to separate cream from milk. The idea was subsequently put into practice by his brother, Alexander Prandtl, who made improvements to his brother's design, and exhibited a working butterfat extraction machine in 1875.


title: Centrifuge

text: A centrifuge machine can be described as a machine with a rapidly rotating container that applies centrifugal force to its contents. There are multiple types of centrifuge, which can be classified by intended use or by rotor design:


title: Centrifuge

text: Industrial centrifuges may otherwise be classified according to the type of separation of the high density fraction from the low density one.


title: Centrifuge

text: Generally, there are two types of centrifuges: the filtration and sedimentation centrifuges. For the filtration or the so-called screen centrifuge the drum is perforated and is inserted with a filter, for example a filter cloth, wire mesh or lot screen. The suspension flows through the filter and the drum with the perforated wall from the inside to the outside. In this way the solid material is restrained and can be removed. The kind of removing depends on the type of centrifuge, for example manually or periodically. Common types are:


title: Centrifuge

text: In the centrifuges the drum is a solid wall (not perforated). This type of centrifuge is used for the purification of a suspension. For the acceleration of the natural deposition process of suspension the centrifuges use centrifugal force. With so-called overflow centrifuges the suspension is drained off and the liquid is added constantly. Common types are:


title: Centrifuge

text: Though most modern centrifuges are electrically powered, a hand-powered variant inspired by the whirligig has been developed for medical applications in developing countries.


title: Centrifuge

text: Many designs have been shared for free and open-source centrifuges that can be digitally manufactured. The open-source hardware designs for hand-powered centrifuge for larger volumes of fluids with a radial velocity of over 1750 rpm and over 50 N of relative centrifugal force can be completely 3-D printed for about $25. Other open hardware designs use custom 3-D printed fixtures with inexpensive electric motors to make low-cost centrifuges (e.g. the Dremelfuge that uses a Dremel power tool) or CNC cut out OpenFuge.


title: Centrifuge

text: A wide variety of laboratory-scale centrifuges are used in chemistry, biology, biochemistry and clinical medicine for isolating and separating suspensions and immiscible liquids. They vary widely in speed, capacity, temperature control, and other characteristics. Laboratory centrifuges often can accept a range of different fixed-angle and swinging bucket rotors able to carry different numbers of centrifuge tubes and rated for specific maximum speeds. Controls vary from simple electrical timers to programmable models able to control acceleration and deceleration rates, running speeds, and temperature regimes. Ultracentrifuges spin the rotors under vacuum, eliminating air resistance and enabling exact temperature control. Zonal rotors and continuous flow systems are capable of handing bulk and larger sample volumes, respectively, in a laboratory-scale instrument.


title: Centrifuge

text: Another application in laboratories is blood separation. Blood separates into cells and proteins (RBC, WBC, platelets, etc.) and serum.


title: Centrifuge

text: DNA preparation is another common application for pharmacogenetics and clinical diagnosis. DNA samples are purified and the DNA is prepped for separation by adding buffers and then centrifuging it for a certain amount of time. The blood waste is then removed and another buffer is added and spun inside the centrifuge again. Once the blood waste is removed and another buffer is added the pellet can be suspended and cooled. Proteins can then be removed and the entire thing can be centrifuged again and the DNA can be isolated completely. Specialized cytocentrifuges are used in medical and biological laboratories to concentrate cells for microscopic examination.


title: Centrifuge

text: Other centrifuges, the first being the Zippe-type centrifuge, separate isotopes, and these kinds of centrifuges are in use in nuclear power and nuclear weapon programs.


title: Centrifuge

text: Human centrifuges are exceptionally large centrifuges that test the reactions and tolerance of pilots and astronauts to acceleration above those experienced in the Earth's gravity.


title: Centrifuge

text: The first centrifuges used for human research were used by Erasmus Darwin, the grandfather of Charles Darwin. The first large-scale human centrifuge designed for Aeronautical training was created in Germany in 1933.


title: Centrifuge

text: The US Air Force at Brooks City Base, Texas operates a human centrifuge while awaiting completion of the new human centrifuge in construction at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. The centrifuge at Brooks City Base is operated by the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine for the purpose of training and evaluating prospective fighter pilots for high-"g" flight in Air Force fighter aircraft.


title: Centrifuge

text: The use of large centrifuges to simulate a feeling of gravity has been proposed for future long-duration space missions. Exposure to this simulated gravity would prevent or reduce the bone decalcification and muscle atrophy that affect individuals exposed to long periods of freefall.


title: Centrifuge

text: At the European Space Agency (ESA) technology center ESTEC (in Noordwijk, the Netherlands) an 8-meter diameter centrifuge is used to expose samples in both fields of Life Sciences as well as Physical Sciences. This Large Diameter Centrifuge (LDC) began operation in 2007. Samples can be exposed to a maximum of 20 times Earth's gravity. With its four arms and six freely swinging out gondolas it is possible to expose samples with different g-levels at the same time. Gondolas can be fixed at eight different positions. Depending on their locations one could e.g. run an experiment at 5 and 10g in the same run. Each gondola can hold an experiment of a maximum 80  kg. Experiments performed in this facility ranged from zebra fish, metal alloys, plasma, cells, liquids, Planaria, Drosophila or plants.


title: Centrifuge

text: Industrial centrifugal separator is a coolant filtration system for separating particles from liquid like, grinding machining coolant. It is usually used for non-ferrous particles separation such as, silicon, glass, ceramic, and graphite etc. The filtering process does not require any consumption parts like filter bags, which saves the earth from harm.


title: Centrifuge

text: Geotechnical centrifuge modeling is used for physical testing of models involving soils. Centrifuge acceleration is applied to scale models to scale the gravitational acceleration and enable prototype scale stresses to be obtained in scale models. Problems such as building and bridge foundations, earth dams, tunnels, and slope stability, including effects such as blast loading and earthquake shaking.


title: Centrifuge

text: High gravity conditions generated by centrifuge are applied in the chemical industry, casting, and material synthesis. The convection and mass transfer are greatly affected by the gravitational condition. Researchers reported that the high-gravity level can effectively affect the phase composition and morphology of the products.


title: Centrifuge

text: Protocols for centrifugation typically specify the amount of acceleration to be applied to the sample, rather than specifying a rotational speed such as revolutions per minute. This distinction is important because two rotors with different diameters running at the same rotational speed will subject samples to different accelerations. During circular motion the acceleration is the product of the radius and the square of the angular velocity formula_1, and the acceleration relative to ""g"" is traditionally named "relative centrifugal force" (RCF). The acceleration is measured in multiples of ""g"" (or × ""g""), the standard acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface, a dimensionless quantity given by the expression:


title: Centrifuge

text: To avoid having to perform a mathematical calculation every time, one can find nomograms for converting RCF to rpm for a rotor of a given radius. A ruler or other straight edge lined up with the radius on one scale, and the desired RCF on another scale, will point at the correct rpm on the third scale. Based on automatic rotor recognition, modern centrifuges have a button for automatic conversion from RCF to rpm and vice versa.


title: Craig Charles

text: Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian, television and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom "Red Dwarf" and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera "Coronation Street". He presented the gladiator-style game show "Robot Wars" from 1998 to 2004, and narrated the comedy endurance show "Takeshi's Castle". As a DJ, he appears on BBC Radio 6 Music.


title: Craig Charles

text: Charles first appeared on television as a performance poet, which led to minor presenting roles. After finding fame in "Red Dwarf", he regularly featured on national television with celebrity appearances on many popular shows while he continued to host a wide variety of programmes. From 2017 to 2022, Charles hosted "The Gadget Show" for Channel 5. His acting credits include playing inmate Eugene Buffy in the ITV drama "The Governor", and leading roles in the British films "Fated" and "Clubbing to Death". He has toured the UK extensively as a stand-up comedian.


title: Craig Charles

text: Charles has hosted "The Craig Charles Funk and Soul Show" on BBC radio since 2002, and performs DJ sets at numerous clubs and festivals, nationally and internationally. In September 2015, he left "Coronation Street" after ten years of acting, to film new episodes of "Red Dwarf" and to continue his BBC Radio 6 Music and BBC Radio 2 broadcasting.


title: Craig Charles

text: Craig Joseph Charles was born in Liverpool on 11 July 1964, the son of a Guyanese father and Irish mother. He grew up on the Cantril Farm housing estate with his older brother, Dean (died 2014), and two other brothers, Jimmy and Emile. He attended West Derby Comprehensive School followed by Childwall Hall College of Further Education, studying A-levels in History, Government & Politics, English Literature, and General Studies. He won a national competition run by "The Guardian" newspaper for a poem he wrote when he was 12 years old. Upon leaving school, Charles spent time working in a studio at Central Hall on Renshaw Street in Liverpool.


title: Craig Charles

text: Charles began his career as a contemporary and urban performance poet on the British cabaret circuit. His performances were considered original, with Charles described as having a natural ironic wit which appealed to talent scouts. In 1981, Charles climbed on stage at a Teardrop Explodes concert and recited a humorous, but derogatory, poem about the band's singer, Julian Cope. He was invited to open subsequent gigs for the group and went on to perform as a support act in pubs and clubs for the following three years, and at events such as the "Larks in the Park" music festival at Sefton Park (1982). He performed poetry reading poems by Vladimir Mayakovsky, W. H. Auden, and E. E. Cummings, at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre (1983), with such poets as Roger McGough and Adrian Henri.


title: Craig Charles

text: Charles was involved in the Liverpool music scene, writing and singing lyrics for a number of local rock bands. In 1980, he played keyboards, bass and provided voice in the rock band "Watt 4". He performed his political rap lyrics as a 'Wordsmith'. In 1983, Charles was invited to record a session on the John Peel BBC Radio show, performing his poems backed by a band. This was his first professional engagement. He recorded a further Peel Session in 1984.


title: Craig Charles

text: Charles realised he was using poetry as a vehicle for his sense of humour and progressed into stand-up comedy. He was part of the "Red Wedge" comedy tour in 1986, which aimed to raise awareness of the social problems of the time, in support of the Labour Party. He also performed his first one-man show in 1986, which premiered in Edinburgh, and then toured internationally. Charles was a guest on programmes including Janice Long's Radio 1 show, and he was a regular panellist on Ned Sherrin's chat show "Loose Ends" (1987–88) on BBC Radio 4.


title: Craig Charles

text: Charles first appeared on television as the resident poet on the arts programme "Riverside" on BBC2 and on the day-time BBC1 chat show "Pebble Mill at One". Charles was the resident poet on the Channel 4 programme "Black on Black" (1985) and its entertainment-based successor "Club Mix" (1986), and he appeared, weekly, as a John Cooper Clarke-style 'punk poet' on the BBC2 pop music programme "Oxford Road Show" (ORS). Charles performed his political poems as stand-up comedy on the late-night show "Saturday Live" (1985–87) and on the prime-time BBC1 chat show "Wogan" (1986–87), where he performed a topical poem in a weekly feature. He also appeared as a guest on shows including "Open Air" (1988). Charles included significant acting in his performance style, enabling him to put the emotion across.