title: Japheth

text: Japheth (in Hebrew, Yafet or Yefet) may be a transliteration of the Greek Iapetos, the ancestor of the Hellenic peoples. His sons and grandsons associate him with the geographic area of the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor — Ionia/Javan, Rhodes/Rodanim, Cyprus/Kittim, and other points in the region of Greece and Asia Minor. The point of the "blessing of Japheth" seems to be that Japheth (a Greek-descended people) and Shem (the Israelites) would rule jointly over Canaan (Palestine). From the 19th century until the late 20th century it was usual to see Japheth as a reference to the Philistines, who shared dominion over Canaan during the pre-monarchic and early monarchic period of Israel's history. This view accorded with the understanding of the origin of the Book of Genesis, which was seen as having been composed in stages beginning with the time of King Solomon, when the Philistines still existed (they vanished from history after the Assyrian conquest of Canaan). However, Genesis 10:14 identifies their ancestor as Ham rather than Japheth.


title: Japheth

text: In the Bible, Japheth is ascribed seven sons: Gomer, Magog, Tiras, Javan, Meshech, Tubal, and Madai. According to Josephus ("Antiquities of the Jews" I.6):


title: Japheth

text: Josephus subsequently detailed the nations supposed to have descended from the seven sons of Japheth.


title: Japheth

text: The "Book of Jasher", published by Talmudic rabbis in the 17th century, provides some new names for Japheth's grandchildren not found in the Bible, and provided a much more detailed genealogy (see Japhetic).


title: Japheth

text: In the seventh century, archbishop Isidore of Seville wrote his noted encyclopedic-historical work, in which he traces the origins of most of the nations of Europe back to Japheth. Scholars in almost every European nation continued to repeat and develop Isidore of Seville's assertion of descent from Noah through Japheth into the nineteenth century.


title: Japheth

text: William Shakespeare's play "Henry IV, Part II" contains a wry comment about people who claim to be related to royal families. Prince Hal notes of such people,


title: Japheth

text: The Georgian historian and linguist Ivane Javakhishvili associated Japheth's sons with certain ancient tribes, called Tubals (Tabals, Greek: "Tibarenoi") and Meshechs (Meshekhs/Mosokhs, Greek: "Moschoi"), who they claim represent non-Indo-European and non-Semitic, possibly "Proto-Iberian" tribes of Asia Minor of the 3rd-1st millennia BC.


title: Japheth

text: In the Polish tradition of Sarmatism, the Sarmatians, an Iranic people, were said to be descended from Japheth, son of Noah, enabling the Polish nobility to imagine that their ancestry could be traced directly to Noah.


title: Japheth

text: In Scotland, histories tracing the Scottish people to Japheth were published as late as George Chalmers' well-received "Caledonia", published in 3 volumes from 1807 to 1824.


title: Japheth

text: Japheth is not mentioned by name in the Quran but is referred to indirectly in the narrative of Noah (, , , , ). Muslim exegesis of the Quran, however, names all of Noah's sons, and these include Japheth. In identifying Japheth's descendants, Muslim exegesis mostly agrees with the Biblical tradition. In Islamic tradition, he is usually regarded as the ancestor of the Gog and Magog tribes. Islamic tradition also tends to identify the descendants of Japheth as including the Turks, Khazars, Chinese, Mongols, and Slavs. According to Abū’l-Ghāzī who wrote the 17th century text, "Shajara-i Tarākima" (Genealogy of the Turkmen), the descendants of Ham went to Africa, Sam to Iran, and Yafes (Japheth) went to the banks of the Itil and Yaik rivers and had eight sons named Turk, Khazar, Saqlab, Rus, Ming, Chin, Kemeri, and Tarikh. As Japheth was dying he established Turk, his firstborn son, as his successor. According to Hui Muslim writer, Liu Chih, after Noah's flood, Japheth inherited China as the eastern part of the Earth, while Shem inherited Arabia as the middle part, and Ham inherited Europe as the western part of the world.


title: Japheth

text: Japheth is a major character in the second act of Stephen Schwartz's musical, "Children of Eden". In this rendition, Japheth has fallen in love with the family servant, Yonah (created entirely for the show). He wants to bring her onto the ark to allow her to survive the flood, but Noah forbids this as Father (God) is trying to wipe the world free of those descended from Cain. Yonah is descended from Cain, despite her good heart and love from the family. Japheth secretly brings her aboard, and she is eventually discovered by Ham and Shem. Japheth defends her from Noah and is about to kill Shem in his rage. Yonah stops and calms him, and Noah decides to let her stay. The flood passes and the brothers all depart for different regions to populate the world, but Japheth and Yonah decide they want to search for Eden. Noah blesses their journey by passing the staff of Adam to Japheth. Smaller casts of the show usually have the actor who portrays Cain to also portray Japheth.


title: Spanish Army

text: The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies — dating back to the late 15th century.


title: Spanish Army

text: The Spanish Army has existed continuously since the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (late 15th century). The oldest and largest of the three services, its mission was the defense of Peninsular Spain, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Melilla, Ceuta and the Spanish islands and rocks off the northern coast of Africa.


title: Spanish Army

text: During the 16th century, Habsburg Spain saw steady growth in its military power. The Italian Wars (1494–1559) resulted in an ultimate Spanish victory and hegemony in northern Italy by expelling the French. During the war, the Spanish Army transformed its organization and tactics, evolving from a primarily pike and halberd wielding force into the first pike and shot formation of arquebusiers and pikemen. During the 16th century, this formation evolved into the tercio infantry formation.


title: Spanish Army

text: Backed by the financial resources drawn from the Americas, Spain fought wars against its enemies, such as the long-running Dutch Revolt (1568–1609), defending Christian Europe from Ottoman raids and invasions, supporting the Catholic cause in the French civil wars and fighting England during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604). The Spanish Army grew in size from around 20,000 troops in the 1470s to around 300,000 troops by the 1630s during the Thirty Years' War that tore Europe apart, requiring the recruitment of soldiers from across Europe. With such numbers involved, Spain had trouble funding the war effort on so many fronts. The non-payment of troops led to many mutinies and events such as the Sack of Antwerp (1576), in which 17,000 people died.


title: Spanish Army

text: The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) drew in Spain alongside most other European states. Spain entered the conflict with a strong position, but the ongoing fighting gradually eroded her advantages; first Dutch, then Swedish innovations had made the tercio more vulnerable, having less flexibility and firepower than its more modern equivalents. Nevertheless, Spanish armies continued to win major battles and sieges throughout this period across large swathes of Europe. French entry into the war in 1635 put additional pressure on Spain, with the French victory at the Battle of Rocroi in 1643 being a major boost for the French. By the signing of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, Spain was forced to accept the independence of the Dutch Republic.


title: Spanish Army

text: Spain remained an important naval and military power, depending on critical sea lanes stretching from Spain through the Caribbean and South America, and westwards towards Manila and the Far East.


title: Spanish Army

text: The Army was reorganized on the French model and in 1704 the old Tercios were transformed into Regiments. The first modern military school (the Artillery School) was created in Segovia in 1764. Finally, in 1768 King Charles III sanctioned the "Royal Ordinances for the Regime, Discipline, Subordination, and Service in His Armies", which were in force until 1978.


title: Spanish Army

text: In the late 18th century, Bourbon-ruled Spain had an alliance with Bourbon-ruled France and therefore did not have to fear a land war. Its only serious enemy was Britain, which had a powerful Royal Navy; Spain, therefore, concentrated its resources on its Navy. When the French Revolution overthrew the Bourbons, a land war with France became a danger which the king tried to avoid.


title: Spanish Army

text: In Spanish Army the officer corps was selected primarily on the basis of royal patronage, rather than merit. About a third of the junior officers had been promoted from the ranks, and they did have talent, but they had few opportunities for promotion or leadership. The rank-and-file were poorly trained peasants. Elite units included foreign regiments of Irishmen, Italians, Swiss, and Walloons, in addition to elite artillery and engineering units. In combat, small units fought well, but their old-fashioned tactics were hard to use against the French , despite repeated desperate efforts at last-minute reform.


title: Spanish Army

text: In 1808, Napoleon tried to depose Carlos IV of Spain and install his brother Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne, sparking the Peninsular War. Initially, there was little resistance and Spain was occupied. Soon, however, Spanish units began to reorganize and set up guerrilla warfare, culminating in a Spanish victory at the Battle of Bailén within the first two months of the war. The defeated French evacuated the peninsula all the way to the Ebro valley near the Pyrenees, suffering many humiliating defeats against the regular Spanish Army. They were among the first sound defeats of the hitherto seemingly unbeatable Imperial French Army, forcing Napoleon to intervene personally with massive forces, but also sparked the War of the Fifth Coalition, as other European powers, led by Austria, were encouraged to declare war on France. The situation steadily worsened for the French although Napoleon brought more effective troops into the peninsula, as the guerrilla insurgents increasingly took control of Spain's battle against Napoleon and created a more or less unified underground national resistance, for which traditional armies of the time were not organized or prepared for yet. By 1812, however, the army controlled only scattered enclaves, and could only harass the French with occasional raids. Fortunately for the Spanish, the disastrous French invasion of Russia severely weakened the French Army and forced Napoleon to cut troop concentrations in Spain, ultimately allowing the Army, militia and their British allies to drive the French out of Spain by 1814.


title: Spanish Army

text: The Spanish Army emerged from the Napoleonic Wars devastated as a result of years of destructive conflict during the Peninsular War. A series of conflicts in Spain's American colonies with the aim of political independence from the Spanish Empire, which had broken out in 1808, led to the loss of a majority of these colonial possessions by 1833. During these conflicts, numerous armies from Spain were dispatched to Spanish America in order to defeat the Latin American revolutionaries; these efforts proved mostly unsuccessful. Combined with disturbances in Spain against the Spanish government, Spain's military strength suffered further during the post-Napoleonic era of the early 19th century. Recognizing the need to reform the Spanish Army, reforms were passed by the government of Spain during this period to reform and modernize the armed forces into a professional standing army; as part of these reforms, conscription was adopted by the Spanish Army.


title: Spanish Army

text: Spain faced a series of internal dynastic conflicts, collectively known as the Carlist Wars (1833–1876), during the 19th century; these conflicts led the Spanish state to undergo a series of reforms directed at its military, administrative, and social structures. As consequence of the Carlist Wars, and the weakness of the central structures of government under the Spanish monarchy, many generals with political ambitions staged "coup d'états", known as "pronunciamientos", which continued to occur until Bourbon Restoration in Spain under King Alfonso XII. These military interventions against the civil government eventually shaped a permissive cultural and political mentality, with a tacit expectation in Spain of "special emergency interventions" from the military that would pervade well into the first third of the 20th century. In 1920, the Spanish Army was composed of roughly 500,000 men, many of whom would participate in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939).


title: Spanish Army

text: During the Second Spanish Republic, the Spanish government enlisted over ten million men to the army.


title: Spanish Army

text: Some US citizens came to Spain to fight in their civil war for two main reasons. The first being to promote their ideals and the other being to escape the trials of living in America during the great depression.


title: Spanish Army

text: At the end of the Civil War, the Spanish (Francoist) Army counted with 1,020,500 men, in 60 Divisions. During the first year of peace, Franco dramatically reduced the size of the Spanish Army to 250,000 in early 1940, with most soldiers two-year conscripts.


title: Spanish Army

text: A few weeks after the end of the war, the eight traditional Military Regions (Madrid, Sevilla, Valencia, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Burgos, Valladolid, and the VIII Military Region at La Coruña) were reestablished. In 1944 the IX Military Region, with its headquarters in Granada, was created. The Air Force became an independent service, under its own Ministry of the Air Force.


title: Spanish Army

text: Concerns about the international situation, Spain's possible entry into the Second World War, and threats of invasion led Franco to undo some of these reductions. In November 1942, with the Allied landings in North Africa and the German occupation of Vichy France bringing hostilities closer than ever to Spain's border, Franco ordered a partial mobilization, bringing the army to over 750,000 men. The Air Force and Navy also grew in numbers and in budgets, to 35,000 airmen and 25,000 sailors by 1945, although for fiscal reasons Franco had to restrain attempts by both services to undertake dramatic expansions.


title: Spanish Army

text: During the Second World War, the Army in metropolitan Spain had eight Army Corps, with two or three Infantry Divisions each. Additionally, the Army of Africa had two Army Corps in Northern Africa, and there were the Canary Islands General Command and the Balearic Islands General Command, one Cavalry Division, plus the Artillery's General Reserve. In 1940 a Reserve Group, with three Divisions, was created.


title: Spanish Army

text: Although Spanish caudillo Francisco Franco was neutral and did not bring Spain into World War II on the side of Nazi Germany, he permitted volunteers to join the German Army (Wehrmacht) on the condition they would only fight against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, and not against the Western Allies or any Western European occupied populations. In this manner, he could keep Spain at peace with the Western Allies, while repaying German support during the Spanish Civil War and providing an outlet for the strong anti-Communist sentiments of many Spanish nationalists. Officially designated as ' by the Spanish Army and as ' in the German Army, the Blue Division was the only component of the German Army to be awarded a medal of their own, commissioned by Hitler in January 1944 after the Division had demonstrated its effectiveness in impeding the advance of the Red Army, on the Volkhov front (October 1941 – August 1942) and in the siege of Leningrad (August 1942 – October 1943), mainly at the battle of Krasny Bor.


title: Spanish Army

text: At the end of the Second World War, the Spanish Army counted 22,000 officers, 3,000 NCO and almost 300,000 soldiers. The equipment dated from the Civil War, with some systems produced in Germany during the World War. Their doctrines and training were obsolete, as they had not incorporated the teachings of the Second World War; Scianna elaborates on the weaknesses of equipment, political role, and worldview. This situation lasted until the agreements with the United States in September 1953.


title: Spanish Army

text: After the signing of the military agreement with the United States in 1953, the assistance received from Washington allowed Spain to procure more modern equipment and to improve the country's defence capabilities. More than 200 Spanish officers and NCOs received specialised training in the United States each year. With the Barroso Reform (1957), the Spanish Army abandoned the organisation inherited from the Civil War to adopt the United States' pentomic structure.


title: Spanish Army

text: General Instruction 158/107 of 1958 led to the raising of three experimental infantry divisions (DIE 11, 21, 31 at Madrid, Algeciras, and Valencia respectively). Instruction 160/115 of January 15, 1960 extended these changes to another five transformation divisions (DIT, at Gerona, Málaga, Oviedo, Vigo, Vitoria, respectively) and the four mountain divisions (divisións de infantería de montaña, DIM). Most of the heavy divisions had five manoeuvre based on two to three regiments and support formations, while the Mountain Divisions "Urgel" 42, 51, 52, and "Navarra" 62 had six anchored on two to three regiments, an independent company, and what appears to be a battalion of motorised infantry.


title: Spanish Army

text: All in all, after the Barroso Reform, the Spanish Army had eight Pentomic infantry divisions, four mountain divisions, the 'Brunete' Armoured Division, the "Jarama" Cavalry Division, organized into a division HQ and four armoured groups ("agrupaciones blindadas"), three independent Armoured Brigades at rather a reduced strength and three Field Artillery Brigades ("Brigada de artillería de campaña") with assigned artillery groups.


title: Spanish Army

text: The 1965 Reforms were inspired by then-contemporary French organisation and doctrine. The Menéndez Tolosa reforms from 1965 divided the Army into two categories: the Immediate Intervention Forces (FII, Field Army) and the Defensa Operativa del Territorio (DOT, Operational Territorial Defense (Territorial Army)) territorial forces.


title: Spanish Army

text: The FII had the mission of defending the Pyrenean and the Gibraltar frontiers and of fulfilling Spain's security commitments abroad. It was to be "an army corps equipped and trained for conventional and limited nuclear warfare, ready to be deployed within or outside national borders." It was made up of:


title: Spanish Army

text: The DOT was to maintain security in the regional commands and of reinforce the Civil Guard and the police against subversion and terrorism. It comprised nine independent Infantry Brigades (one in every one of the Military Regions of Spain), organized with a brigade HQ and two infantry battalions each; the Mountain Infantry Division No. 4 "Urgell" and Mountain Infantry Division No. 6 "Navarra"; the Mountain Reserve of the Army High Command; the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla commands, with their respective DOT units including the Regulares (six groups later reduced to four) and the Spanish Legion (4 Tercios); and the Army General Reserve Command, composed of DOT units working as the reserve force of the Army, the equivalent to the United States Army Reserve.


title: Spanish Army

text: During the last years of the Francoist regime, contemporary weapons and vehicles were ordered for the Army. In 1973, the military education system was reformed in depth, in order to make its structure and objectives similar to those existing in the civilian universities. It was during this time that the Spanish Army fought in the campaigns in what is now Western Sahara against Arab forces in the area who agitated for the end of Spanish colonial rule.


title: Spanish Army

text: Three main events characterise this period: creation of a single Ministry of Defence (1977) to replace the three existing military ministries (Army, Navy and Air Ministries), the failed coup d'état in February 1981 and the accession to NATO in 1982.


title: Spanish Army

text: The (META) plan was carried out from 1982 to 1988 so that Spain could achieve full compliance with NATO standards. Military regions in mainland Spain were reduced from nine to six; the Intervention Force (FII) and the Territorial Defence (DOT) were merged; the number of brigades was reduced from 24 to 15; and personnel numbers cut from 279,000 to 230,000.


title: Spanish Army

text: The end of the Cold War came with the reduction of the term of military service for conscripts until its complete abolition in 2001 and the increasing participation of Spanish forces in multinational peacekeeping operations abroad are the main drivers for changes in the Spanish Army after 1989.


title: Spanish Army

text: Three reorganisation plans have been implemented since. First the RETO plan (1990), then the Norte plan (1994), under which the now "Manoeuvre Force," located in the old Captaincy of Valencia, was reduced to an army corps equivalent of a complete heavy division and the equivalent of a light division with reduced support; and the Instruction for Organisation and Operation of the Army (IOFET) 2005.


title: Spanish Army

text: In 2001, when compulsory military service was still in effect, the army was about 135,000 troops (50,000 officers and 86,000 soldiers). Following the suspension of conscription the Spanish Army became a fully professionalised volunteer force and by 2008 had a personnel strength of 75,000. In case of a war or national emergency, an additional force of 80,000 Civil Guards comes under the Ministry of Defence command.


title: The Executioner and Her Way of Life

text: Long ago, wanderers called "Lost Ones" came from an alternate world known as "Japan", and each were given power beyond imagination titled "Pure Concepts". In this new world they created an advanced civilisation with heavy Japanese influences and for a time, this world prospered. However, it was discovered that with prolonged usage, the Lost Ones would lose control of their Pure Concepts, bringing disaster and calamity to the world. Even today, there exists four legendary disasters, dubbed "Human Errors", which effects continuously rage on: the Sword of Salt, which turned the whole Western continent into salt that is gradually melting into the sea; the Pandæmonium, a fog-like dead zone in the Southern archipelago from which monsters regularly emerge; the Mechanical Society, which controls the wild frontier in the East; and the Starhusk, which carved out the centre of the Northern continent and set it afloat. To prevent such calamities again, the summoning of Lost Ones has become strictly forbidden and heavily managed by the Faust, a class of Church members in society. Among the Faust are Executioners, members that wield magic – etheric powers – and set out to secretly assassinate any Lost Ones that may still appear.


title: The Executioner and Her Way of Life

text: Top-class Executioner Menou has been tasked with eliminating Akari Tokitō, a Lost One who has been summoned by King Grisarika of the Noblesse, the noble class. However, she fails and soon discovers that Akari possesses the Pure Concept of Time, making her capable of reversing her death even after she has been killed. Shocked and fearful, Menou sets out on a journey with Akari by her side, in hopes of finding a way of killing her.


title: The Executioner and Her Way of Life

text: "The Executioner and Her Way of Life" is written by Mato Sato and illustrated by Nilitsu. SB Creative have released seven volumes since July 2019 under their GA Bunko imprint. Yen Press licensed the series for English publication.


title: The Executioner and Her Way of Life

text: A manga adaptation with art by Ryo Mitsuya began serialization in Square Enix's "Young Gangan" magazine on June 5, 2020. The manga is also licensed in North America by Yen Press.


title: The Executioner and Her Way of Life

text: At the "GA Fes 2021" event livestream, it was announced that the series would be receiving an anime television series adaptation. The series is animated by J.C.Staff and directed by Yoshiki Kawasaki, with Shōgo Yasukawa supervising scripts, Keiko Tamaki designing characters, and Michiru composing the series' music. Egg Firm and SB Creative produced the series. It aired from April 2 to June 18, 2022, on Tokyo MX, BS11, and AT-X. The opening theme song is "Paper Bouquet" by Mili, while the ending theme song is "Tomoshibi Serenade" (Serenade by Lamplight) by ChouCho. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series outside of Asia, and is streaming it on HIDIVE. Medialink licensed the series in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Oceania minus Australia and New Zealand.


title: The Executioner and Her Way of Life

text: On May 11, 2022, HIDIVE announced that the series will receive an English dub, which premiered on May 20.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: Žydrūnas Savickas (; born July 15, 1975) is a Lithuanian powerlifter and professional strongman. Due to his prolific 84 international wins in all major international strongman competitions, as well as his longevity in the sport, he is widely considered by many to be the greatest strength athlete of all time.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: Žydrūnas Savickas first became interested in strength sports after watching a Lithuanian strongman contest on TV in 1989. Three years later, he took part in that same strongman contest, and defeated a number of older and more experienced competitors. At age 17, Savickas began to train in powerlifting. In his second powerlifting contest, he broke all the Lithuanian records.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: In 1998, Žydrūnas Savickas won his first Lithuania's Strongest Man contest. He would later go on to win this contest a total of 16 times. Savickas then competed in the 1998 and 2000 World's Strongest Man contests, but failed to qualify for the finals both times. He won the silver medal in the World powerlifting championship in Japan with a total of , just behind Brad Gillingham.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: In 2001, a contest in the Faroe Islands dealt Savickas a major setback, as he tore both patellar tendons during the Conan's Wheel event. Many believed that the extent of the injury meant that his career was over. However, nine months later, Savickas won the Lithuanian powerlifting championships and a short time later, he also won the 2002 Lithuania's Strongest Man contest. Savickas would go on to finish in 2nd place at the 2002 World's Strongest Man in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He would finish in 2nd place five more times in 2003, 2004, 2011, 2013 and 2015 and 1st place at the 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014 World's Strongest Man contests.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: Savickas won the Arnold Strongman Classic six consecutive times from 2003 to 2008. Savickas won the IFSA European Championships in 2005 which qualified him for the IFSA World Championships. In September 2005, he broke three world records and won the IFSA Strongman World Championships in Quebec, Canada. In December 2005, Savickas won the IFSA World Team Championships with Team Europe and won the IFSA World Championships for the 2nd time in 2006 in Reykjavík, Iceland.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: On October 24, 2005, Savickas represented Lithuania in a team competition with Vidas Blekaitis, Saulius Brusokas, and Vilius Petrauskas. Team Lithuania placed 5th overall at the IFSA World's Strongest Nation contest in Ukraine.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: In September 2007, Savickas finished in 3rd place at the last ever IFSA World Championships behind runner-up Mikhail Koklyaev and champion Vasyl Virastyuk in Geumsan, South Korea.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: Savickas won 5 out of the 7 total contests during the inaugural 2008 Strongman Champions League season and won the 2008 overall title 58 points ahead of second-place finisher Ervin Katona.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: In June 2009, Savickas won Fortissimus after finishing runner-up in 2008 behind Derek Poundstone. On October 3, 2009, Savickas won the 2009 World's Strongest Man competition ahead of defending champion Mariusz Pudzianowski.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: On the set of Lo Show dei Record in Rome, Italy on April 1, 2010, Savickas set a record of 70 metres (229 ft 7 in) for the longest distance carrying a 300 kg yoke. The record was part of the Italian TV series "Lo Show dei Record." In June 2010, Savickas won the Europe's Strongest Man competition.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: In September 2010, Savickas and Brian Shaw tied for points at the 2010 World's Strongest Man competition, but Savickas won on countback. He also set a new world record for the Giant Wooden Log Lift by lifting .


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: Savickas is the 3-time reigning World Log Lift Championships winner in 2008, 2009 and 2011 (no contest was held in 2010).


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: In April 2011, Savickas set a new Guinness World Record performing a 20-meter Farmer's Walk in 7.55 seconds with implements in each hand. The event was broadcast on the Guinness TV show in Europe.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: Savickas won five Strongman Champions League events during the 2011/2012 season, in Finland in March 2011, Germany on April 16, 2011, the SCL Semi-finals in Canada in October 2011, Latvia in November 2011 and the SCL Finals in Sarajevo, Bosnia on February 7, 2012. Ervin Katona won the overall championships, with Savickas as the runner-up. During the SCL Finals in Sarajevo, Savickas set a new world record in the Log Lift with . This was his 7th consecutive world record in the Log Lift, not including his world record in the Giant Wooden Log Lift set at the 2010 World's Strongest Man contest.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: In September 2011, Savickas lost his WSM crown to Brian Shaw at the 2011 World's Strongest Man contest at Wingate University, North Carolina coming in second place for the fourth time.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: Savickas won the 2012 Europe's Strongest Man contest on June 23, 2012, his second ESM title after winning in 2010. Savickas also set a new world record in the Log Lift with a lift of . This was his 8th consecutive Log Lift world record.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: Savickas won 11 of the 14 Strongman Champions League contests in the 2012 season and won the overall championships title. During the SCL Holland event, Savickas set another world record in the Log Lift with a lift of . This was Savickas' third Log Lift world record in 2012 and 9th consecutive Log Lift world record.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: On October 1, 2012, Savickas regained the WSM crown by winning the 2012 World's Strongest Man contest in Los Angeles, California. This was Savickas' third WSM title and he is the fifth competitor in WSM history to win three or more WSM titles. Savickas also set a new Log Lift world record in the finals with a lift of .


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: On October 7, 2012, Savickas won the 2012 World Log Lift Championships which was held at the same venue as the SCL Savickas Classic event. This was his fourth consecutive World Log Lift Championships title.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: Savickas won his inaugural 2013 contest, the Strongman Champions League Holland event held in Kalkar, Germany on June 22, 2013. Savickas also attempted a new Log Lift world record of , but failed to lockout the weight overhead. Savickas won seven SCL contests in the 2013 season and came second in the overall championships behind Krzysztof Radzikowski.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: On June 29, 2013, Savickas won his third Europe's Strongest Man title. He also set a new Log Lift world record with a lift of .


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: In August 2013, Savickas finished second in the 2013 World's Strongest Man contest behind Brian Shaw.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: In the 2014 World's Strongest Man, he managed to win his fourth title with just half a point difference over the second placed Hafthór Júlíus Björnsson. Zydrunas set a new world record in the giant barbell squat event by squatting for 15 repetitions.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: In his career which spanned 25 years facing 3 generations of strongmen, Žydrūnas has competed in more competitions than anyone else (153) and has won more international competitions than anyone else (84) as well. His winning percentage of 55% is seconded only to Mariusz Pudzianowski. However, the winning streak and number of victories of Žydrūnas Savickas, as evidenced by nearly 250 trophies and 200 medals, may never be matched. During an interview with strongman analyst Laurence Shahlaei in 2020, Žydrūnas said that Mariusz Pudzianowski, Svend Karlsen, Derek Poundstone, Brian Shaw and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson are the 5 greatest strongmen he has competed against.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: International & National Competitive Record – [1st (130),2nd (32),3rd (22) – Out of Total(218)]International wins: 84 from 153 competitions, National wins: 46 from 65 competitions


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: At the end of September 2010, a biography entitled "Žydrūnas Savickas – žmogus iš geležies" (Žydrūnas Savickas – A Man Of Iron) was published in Lithuania.


title: Žydrūnas Savickas

text: Zydrunas Savickas has a YouTube channel where he talks on strongman related topics such as recovery, diet, and training habits. In June 2021, Žydrūnas and his wife Jurgita got divorced.


title: Sinus rhythm

text: A sinus rhythm is any cardiac rhythm in which depolarisation of the cardiac muscle begins at the sinus node. It is characterised by the presence of correctly oriented P waves on the electrocardiogram (ECG). Sinus rhythm is necessary, but not sufficient, for normal electrical activity within the heart.


title: Sinus rhythm

text: The term normal sinus rhythm (NSR) is sometimes used to denote a specific type of sinus rhythm where all other measurements on the ECG also fall within designated normal limits, giving rise to the characteristic appearance of the ECG when the electrical conduction system of the heart is functioning normally; however, other sinus rhythms can be entirely normal in particular patient groups and clinical contexts, so the term is sometimes considered a misnomer and its use is sometimes discouraged.


title: Sinus rhythm

text: Other types of sinus rhythm that can be normal include sinus tachycardia, sinus bradycardia, and sinus arrhythmia. Sinus rhythms may be present together with various other cardiac arrhythmias on the same ECG.


title: Sinus rhythm

text: For an ECG to be described as showing a sinus rhythm, the shape of the P wave in each of the 12 standard ECG leads should be consistent with a "typical P vector" of +50° to +80°. This means that the P wave should be:


title: Sinus rhythm

text: If the P waves do not meet these criteria, they must be originating from an abnormal site elsewhere in the atria and not from the sinus node; the ECG cannot, therefore, be classed as showing a sinus rhythm.


title: Sinus rhythm

text: In general, each P wave in a sinus rhythm is followed by a QRS complex, and the sinus rhythm therefore gives rise to the whole heart's depolarization. Exceptions to this include complete heart block and certain ventricular artificial pacemaker rhythms, where the P waves may be completely normal in shape, but ventricular depolarization bears no relation to them; in these cases, the speed of the "sinus rhythm of the atria" and the speed of the ventricular rhythm must be calculated separately.


title: Sinus rhythm

text: By convention, the term "normal sinus rhythm" is taken to imply that not only are the P waves (reflecting activity of the sinus node itself) normal in morphology but that all other ECG measurements are also normal. Criteria therefore include:


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: The Queen's Gambit is a 1983 American novel by Walter Tevis, exploring the life of fictional female chess prodigy Beth Harmon. A bildungsroman, or coming-of-age story, it covers themes of adoption, feminism, chess, drug addiction and alcoholism. The book was adapted for the 2020 Netflix miniseries of the same name.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: The novel's epigraph is "The Long-Legged Fly" by W. B. Yeats. This poem highlights one of the novel's main concerns: the inner workings of genius in a woman. Tevis discussed this concern in a 1983 interview, the year before his death.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: In a "New York Times" interview published at the time of his book's release in 1983, Tevis stated the story is "a tribute to brainy women."


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: There has been speculation as to the inspiration for the Beth Harmon character, but Tevis emphatically denied that she was based on anyone in the chess community, male or female.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: In 2007, actor Heath Ledger was working on what would have been his feature directing debut, an adaptation of the Walter Tevis novel "The Queen's Gambit," with British writer/producer Allan Scott.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: The leading role of a young female chess prodigy had been offered to Oscar nominee Elliot Page. Ledger, himself a highly rated chess player, was due to play a supporting role as well, until his untimely death.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: Bruce Pandolfini, a US chess master, consulted on the chess positions prior to the book's publication, and was the one who suggested the book's final title after the chess opening called "Queen's Gambit". Thirty-eight years later, he also returned to consult on the 2020 Netflix adaptation.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: At the age of 8, Beth Harmon is orphaned when her mother dies in a car accident. She is sent to Methuen, an orphanage where the children are fed tranquilizers to keep them compliant.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: While there Beth observes the janitor, Mr. Shaibel, playing chess by himself. While he is initially reluctant to teach a girl, Beth eventually persuades him to play with her. Within a few months Mr. Shaibel confesses he has taught her all he knows and introduces her to a local high school teacher who runs the chess club.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: Shortly after Beth beats a group of high school students at chess, she learns that the state is banning the use of tranquilizers on children. During an attempt to hoard the remaining tranquilizers for herself she accidentally overdoses. As part of her punishment for being caught she is forbidden from playing chess and interacting with Mr. Shaibel. She is befriended by Jolene, an athletic 13 year old black girl, who awkwardly attempts to initiate a sexual relationship.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: 5 years later at the age of 13, Beth is adopted by the Wheatleys. Mr. Wheatley abandons his wife shortly after Beth is adopted. Beth immediately tries to play chess again. After stealing a chess magazine she learns that a local high school is holding a chess tournament and secretly writes to Mr. Shaibel asking him to lend her the funds to enter the tournament. Despite being an unranked player and not having had access to a chess set in five years, Beth not only wins the tournament but defeats the Kentucky state champion Harry Beltik. Unable to cash her winnings herself she reveals that she has won to Mrs. Wheatley. In desperate financial straits Mrs. Wheatley begins arranging for Beth to play more tournaments focusing on the ones with the highest prizes and collecting a 10% agent's fee.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: Beth attracts attention as a prodigy but meets the U.S. champion, Benny Watts, a former prodigy himself, and is beaten by him resulting in her being crowned U.S. co-champion. For several years she feels that despite her talent she is floundering as she is aging. She also continues to use both drugs and alcohol recreationally, stealing tranquilizers from Mrs. Wheatley and discovering that bingeing alcohol relaxes her anxiety. At the age of 18 she attends a competition in Mexico where she meets and is defeated by the Russian Vasily Borgov. Returning to her hotel room she discovers that Mrs. Wheatley has died, leaving her orphaned once again.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: Back in the U.S., Beth reunites with Harry Beltik who, while he admires her for being an intuitive player, insists she study chess more seriously. They begin both a professional and personal relationship but after he teaches her all he knows he abruptly leaves to focus on his studies.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: Beth attends the U.S. championships and manages to defeat Benny Watts. Finally the solo U.S. champion, she now gets invitations to compete internationally. Benny offers to coach her, so she moves to New York to study under him, and they also start a sexual relationship. Beth quickly outstrips Benny and goes to Paris confident she is capable of beating Borgov. But although she plays her best and makes no obvious errors, Borgov defeats her. Beth returns to Kentucky where she begins binge drinking.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: After attending a tournament to defend her Kentucky state champion title and losing badly in the first game, Beth realizes she is an alcoholic. She reaches out to her old friend from Methuen, Jolene, now a phys ed teacher who is getting a master's in political science. Jolene helps Beth get clean, and Beth triumphs at her next tournament.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: Beth prepares to go to the Moscow international tournament, desperate for revenge against Borgov. Benny offers to go as her second, i.e. as a player who will strategize with Beth and help her prepare. While there is not much money available through the U.S. Chess Federation, a Christian organization offers to pay for everything as long as Beth is prepared to promote anti-communist propaganda. Declining, Beth ends up returning their money and is left without Benny. She continues to Moscow alone.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: In Moscow, Beth successfully defeats her opponents though she fears her final game against Borgov. She also comes to realize the Soviets help each other strategize for games while she is mostly alone. Her final game with Borgov is . That evening, she finds it difficult to analyze the game but is saved by Benny, who calls her from New York and offers her his analysis. Once the game resumes, Borgov offers Beth a draw. She declines, going on to win the game. Beth makes plans to beat Borgov in the next two years to become world champion. At the embassy party celebrating her win, she feels uncomfortable and leaves early, going to play chess in the park against a group of local men who play for love of the game.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: Tevis based the chess scenes on his own experience as a "class C" player and on his long study of the game. He elaborates on this in the Author's Note for the novel:


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: Prior to the 2020 Netflix miniseries, there were several unsuccessful attempts to adapt the book. In 1983, "The New York Times" journalist Jesse Kornbluth acquired the screenplay rights but the project was called off when Tevis died in 1984. In 1992, Scottish screenwriter Allan Scott purchased the rights from Tevis' widow, and wrote a script for an art house film. At different points directors Michael Apted and Bernardo Bertolucci were attached, but financing fell through. In 2007, Scott was working with Heath Ledger on what would have been Ledger's directorial debut, where Ledger wanted actor Elliot Page to star as Beth Harmon. Ledger died in January 2008. Scott co-created and co-executive produced the 2020 Netflix series.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: In March 2019, Netflix ordered a limited seven-episode series based on the novel, also titled "The Queen's Gambit". Anya Taylor-Joy plays the lead role of the series, while Scott Frank serves as writer, director, and executive producer. It was released on October 23, 2020, to widespread attention and critical acclaim.


title: The Queen's Gambit (novel)

text: On March 8, 2021, it was announced that the stage rights to the novel had been acquired by the entertainment company Level Forward.


title: 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election

text: Legislative Assembly elections were held in Delhi on 8 February 2020 to elect 70 members of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Voters turnout was recorded at 62.82%, a decline of 4.65% from the previous assembly election in Delhi but 2.2% more than the 2019 Indian general election in Delhi. The term of the assembly elected in 2015 expired on 22 February 2020. The Aam Aadmi Party, led by Arvind Kejriwal won 62 seats to claim an absolute majority in the elections.


text: The previous Assembly elections were held in February 2015. After the election, the Aam Aadmi Party formed the state government, with Arvind Kejriwal becoming Chief Minister.


text: The election schedule was announced by the Election Commission of India on 6 January 2020 at 3:35 PM IST.


text: The exit polls were announced by agencies after the poll ends on 8 February 2020. The exit polls were conducted on all 70 seats of Delhi Legislative Assembly and data was collected up to 4:00 PM. The voting ended at 6:00 PM officially.


text: Third Kejriwal ministry of the Delhi government was formed on 16 February 2020, led by Kejriwal as Delhi's chief minister for a third time at Ramlila Maidan.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Russian is the most common first language in the Donbas and Crimea regions of Ukraine and the city of Kharkiv, and the predominant language in large cities in the eastern and southern portions of the country. The usage and status of the language is the subject of political disputes. Ukrainian is the country's only state language since the adoption of the 1996 Constitution, which prohibits an official bilingual system at state level but also guarantees the free development, use and protection of Russian and other languages of national minorities. In 2017 a new "Law on Education" was passed which restricted the use of Russian as a language of instruction. Nevertheless, Russian remains a widely used language in Ukraine in pop culture and in informal and business communication.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: The East Slavic languages originated in the language spoken in Rus in the medieval period. Significant differences in spoken language in different regions began after the division of the Rus lands between the Golden Horde (from about 1240) and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Lithuanian state eventually allied with the Kingdom of Poland in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth of 1569–1795. Muscovites under the Golden Horde developed what became the modern Russian language; people in the northern Lithuanian sector developed Belorussian, and in the southern (Polish) sector Ukrainian.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: The ethnonym "Ukrainian" for the south-eastern Slavic people did not become well-established until the 19th century, although English-speakers (for example) called those peoples' land "Ukraine" in English from before the 18th century (the Oxford English Dictionary traces the word "Ukrainian" in English back as far as 1804, and records its application to the Ukrainian language from 1886). The western part of the country, historically corresponding to former Austrian Galicia, Bukovina and Hungarian Transcarpathia, was generally known in German, French and English as "Ruthenia", and the people as "Ruthenians." The Russian imperial centre, however, preferred the names "Little" and "White" Russias for the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands respectively, as distinct from Great Russia.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: No definitive geographical border separated people speaking Russian and those speaking Ukrainian – rather gradual shifts in vocabulary and pronunciation marked the areas between the historical cores of the languages. Since the 20th century, however, people have started to identify themselves with their spoken vernacular and to conform to the literary norms set by academics.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Although the ancestors of a small ethnic group of Russians – Goriuns resided in the Putyvl region (in present-day northern Ukraine)


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: in the times of Grand Duchy of Lithuania or perhaps even earlier, the Russian language in Ukraine has primarily come to exist in that country through two channels: through the migration of ethnic Russians into Ukraine and through the adoption of the Russian language by Ukrainians.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: The first new waves of Russian settlers onto what is now Ukrainian territory came in the late-16th century to the empty lands of Slobozhanshchyna (in the region of Kharkiv) that Russia had gained from the Tatars, or from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - although Ukrainian peasants from the Polish-Lithuanian west escaping harsh exploitative conditions outnumbered them.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: More Russian speakers appeared in the northern, central and eastern territories of modern Ukraine during the late-17th century, following the Cossack Rebellion (1648–1657) which Bohdan Khmelnytsky led against Poland. The Khmelnytsky Uprising led to a massive movement of Ukrainian settlers to the Slobozhanshchyna region, which converted it from a sparsely inhabited frontier area to one of the major populated regions of the Tsardom of Russia. Following the Pereyaslav Rada of 1654 the northern and eastern parts of present-day Ukraine came under the hegemony of the Russian Tsardom. This brought the first significant, but still small, wave of Russian settlers into central Ukraine (primarily several thousand soldiers stationed in garrisons, out of a population of approximately 1.2 million non-Russians). Although the number of Russian settlers in Ukraine prior to the 18th century remained small, the local upper-classes within the part of Ukraine acquired by Russia came to use the Russian language widely.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Beginning in the late 18th century, large numbers of Russians (as well as of Armenians, Bulgarians, Greeks and of other christians and Jews, who fled the Ottoman Emprire) settled in newly acquired lands in what is now southern Ukraine, a region then known as Novorossiya ("New Russia"). These lands – previously known as the Wild Fields – had been sparsely populated prior to the 18th century due to the threat of Crimean-Tatar raids, but once Saint Petersburg had eliminated the Tatar state as a threat, Russian nobles were granted large tracts of fertile land for working by newly arrived peasants, most of them ethnic Ukrainians but many of them Russians.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: The 19th century saw a dramatic increase in the urban Russian population in present-day Ukraine, as ethnic Russian settlers moved into and populated the newly industrialised and growing towns. At the beginning of the 20th century the Russians formed the largest ethnic group in almost all large cities within Ukraine's modern borders, including Kyiv (54.2%), Kharkiv (63.1%), Odessa (49.09%), Mykolaiv (66.33%), Mariupol (63.22%), Luhansk, (68.16%), Kherson (47.21%), Melitopol (42.8%), Ekaterinoslav, (41.78%), Kropyvnytskyi (34.64%), Simferopol (45.64%), Yalta (66.17%), Kerch (57.8%), Sevastopol (63.46%). The Ukrainian migrants who settled in these cities entered a Russian-speaking milieu (particularly with Russian-speaking administration) and needed to adopt the Russian language.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: The Russian Empire promoted the spread of the Russian language among the native Ukrainian population, actively refusing to acknowledge the existence of a Ukrainian language.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Alarmed by the threat of Ukrainian separatism (in its turn influenced by the 1863 demands of Polish nationalists), the Russian Minister of Internal Affairs Pyotr Valuev in 1863 issued a secret decree that banned the publication of religious texts and educational texts written in the Ukrainian language as non-grammatical, but allowed all other texts, including fiction. The Emperor Alexander II in 1876 expanded this ban by issuing the Ems Ukaz (which lapsed in 1905). The Ukaz banned all Ukrainian-language books and song-lyrics, as well as the importation of such works. Furthermore, Ukrainian-language public performances, plays, and lectures were forbidden. In 1881 the decree was amended to allow the publishing of lyrics and dictionaries, and the performances of some plays in the Ukrainian language with local officials' approval. Ukrainian-only troupes were, however, forbidden. Approximately 9% of the population spoke Russian at the time of the Russian Empire Census of 1897. as opposed to 44.31% of the total population of the Empire.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: In 1918 the Soviet Council of People's Commissars decreed that nationalities under their control had the right to education in their own language.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Thus Ukrainians in the Soviet era were entitled to study and learn in the Ukrainian language. During the Soviet times, the attitude to Ukrainian language and culture went through periods of promotion (policy of "korenization", to ), suppression (during the subsequent period of Stalinism), and renewed Ukrainization (notably in the epoch of Khrushchev, to 1964). Ukrainian cultural organizations, such as theatres or the Writers' Union, were funded by the central administration. While officially there was no state language in the Soviet Union until 1990, Russian in practice had an implicitly privileged position as the only language widely spoken across the country. In 1990 Russian became legally the official all-Union language of the Soviet Union, with constituent republics having rights to declare their own official languages. The Ukrainian language, despite official encouragement and government funding, like other regional languages, was often frowned upon or quietly discouraged, which led to a gradual decline in its usage.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Since the Euromaidan of 2013–2014, the Ukrainian government has issued several laws aimed at encouraging Ukrainization in the media, in education and in other spheres.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: In February 2017, the Ukrainian government banned the commercial importation of books from Russia, which had accounted for up to 60% of all titles sold in Ukraine.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: On May 23, 2017, the Ukrainian parliament approved the law that most broadcast content should be in Ukrainian (75% of national carriers and 50% of local carriers).


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: The 2017 law on education provides that Ukrainian language is the language of education at all levels except for one or more subjects that are allowed to be taught in two or more languages, namely English or one of the other official languages of the European Union (i.e. excluding Russian). The law does state that persons belonging to the indigenous peoples of Ukraine are guaranteed the right to study at public pre-school institutes and primary schools in "the language of instruction of the respective indigenous people, along with the state language of instruction" in separate classes or groups. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has expressed concern with this measure and with the lack of "real consultation" with the representatives of national minorities. In July 2018, The Mykolaiv Okrug Administrative Court liquidated the status of Russian as a regional language, on the suit (bringing to the norms of the national legislation due to the recognition of the law "On the principles of the state language policy" by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine as unconstitutional) of the First Deputy Prosecutor of the Mykolaiv Oblast. In October and December 2018, parliaments of the city of Kherson and of Kharkiv Oblast also abolished the status of the Russian language as a regional one.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: In January 2022, a law requiring all print media to be published in Ukrainian came into force. It did not ban publication in Russian, however it stipulated that a Ukrainian version of equivalent circulation and scope must be published – which is not a profitable option for publishers. Critics argue that the law could disenfranchise the country's Russian-speakers.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: There is a large difference between the numbers of people whose native language is Russian and people who adopted Russian as their everyday communication language. Another thing to keep in mind is that the percentage of Russian-speaking citizens is significantly higher in cities than in rural areas across the whole country.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: According to official data from the 2001 Ukrainian census, the Russian language is native for 29.6% of Ukraine's population (about 14.3 million people). Ethnic Russians form 56% of the total Russian-native-language population, while the remainder are people of other ethnic background: 5,545,000 Ukrainians, 172,000 Belarusians, 86,000 Jews, 81,000 Greeks, 62,000 Bulgarians, 46,000 Moldovans, 43,000 Tatars, 43,000 Armenians, 22,000 Poles, 21,000 Germans, 15,000 Crimean Tatars.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Therefore, the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine forms the largest linguistic group in modern Europe with its language being non-official in the state. The Russian-speaking population of Ukraine constitutes the largest Russophone community outside the Russian Federation.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: According to July 2012 polling by RATING, 50% of the surveyed adult residents over 18 years of age considered their native language to be Ukrainian, 29% said Russian, 20% identified both Russian and Ukrainian as their native language, 1% gave another language. 5% could not decide which language is their native one. Almost 80% of respondents stated they did not have any problems using their native language in 2011. 8% stated they had experienced difficulty in the execution (understanding) of official documents; mostly middle-aged and elderly people in South Ukraine and the Donbass.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: According to a 2004 public opinion poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, the number of people using Russian language in their homes considerably exceeds the number of those who declared Russian as their native language in the census. According to the survey, Russian is used at home by 43–46% of the population of the country (in other words a similar proportion to Ukrainian) and Russophones make a majority of the population in Eastern and Southern regions of Ukraine:


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Russian language dominates in informal communication in the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv. It is also used by a sizeable linguistic minority (4-5% of the total population) in Central and Western Ukraine. 83% of Ukrainians responding to a 2008 Gallup poll preferred to use Russian instead of Ukrainian to take the survey.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: According to data obtained by the "Public opinion" foundation (2002), the population of the oblast centres prefers to use Russian (75%). Continuous Russian linguistic areas occupy certain regions of Crimea, Donbas, Slobozhanshchyna, southern parts of Odessa and Zaporizhia oblasts, while Russian linguistic enclaves exist in central and northern Ukraine.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: The Russian language in Ukraine is recognized (along with all other languages) as the "language of a national minority". Ukrainian is the only state language; every other language is declared to be the "language of a national minority" in the Constitution of Ukraine adopted by the parliament in 1996, but only Russian is explicitly named. Article 10 of the Constitution reads: ""In Ukraine, the free development, use and protection of Russian, and other languages of national minorities of Ukraine, is guaranteed"". The Constitution declares Ukrainian language as the state language of the country, while other languages spoken in Ukraine are guaranteed constitutional protection, but are not in practice protected from book bans. The Ukrainian language was adopted as the state language by the Law on Languages adopted in Ukrainian SSR in 1989; Russian was specified as the language of communication with the other republics of Soviet Union. Ukraine signed the European Charter on Regional or Minority Languages in 1996, but it was only partially ratified, and only in 2002 by the Parliament


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: The issue of Russian receiving the status of second official language has been the subject of extended controversial discussion ever since Ukraine became independent in 1991. In every Ukrainian election, many politicians, such as former president Leonid Kuchma, were elected by Ukrainians after making Russian language rights a key part of their platform. The recent President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych continued this practice when he was opposition leader. In an interview with Kommersant, during the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election-campaign, he stated that the status of Russian in Ukraine "is too politicized" and said that if elected president in 2010, he would "have a real opportunity to adopt a law on languages, which implements the requirements of the European Charter of regional languages". He implied this law would need 226 votes in the Ukrainian parliament (50% of the votes instead of the 75% of the votes needed to change the constitution of Ukraine). After his early 2010 election as president, Yanukovych stated (on March 9, 2010) "Ukraine will continue to promote the Ukrainian language as its only state language". At the same time, he stressed that it also necessary to develop other regional languages.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: In 1994, a referendum took place in the Donetsk Oblast and the Luhansk Oblast, with around 90% supporting the Russian language gaining status of an official language alongside Ukrainian, and for the Russian language to be an official language on a regional level, but it was ignored by Parliament.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Former president Viktor Yushchenko, during his 2004 Presidential campaign, also claimed a willingness to introduce more equality for Russian speakers. His clipping service spread an announcement of his promise to make Russian language proficiency obligatory for officials who interact with Russian-speaking citizens. In 2005 Yushchenko stated that he had never signed this decree project. The controversy was seen by some as a deliberate policy of Ukrainization.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: In 2006, the Kharkiv City Rada was the first to declare Russian to be a regional language. Following that, almost all southern and eastern oblasts (Luhansk, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts), and many major southern and eastern cities (Sevastopol, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Yalta, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kryvyi Rih, Odessa) followed suit. Several courts overturned the decision to change the status of the Russian language in the cities of Kryvyi Rih, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Mykolaiv while in Donetsk, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv oblasts it was retained.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: In August 2012, a law on regional languages entitled any local language spoken by at least a 10% minority to be declared official within that area. Russian was within weeks declared as a regional language in several southern and eastern oblasts and cities. On 23 February 2014, a bill repealing the law was approved by 232 deputies out of 450 but not signed into law by acting-president Oleksandr Turchynov. On 28 February 2018, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine ruled on the matter.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: In December 2016, the importation of "anti-Ukrainian" books from Russia was restricted. In February 2017 the Ukrainian government completely banned the commercial importation of books from Russia, which had accounted for up to 60% of all titles sold.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: According to a survey by the Research and Branding Group (June 2006), the majority of respondents supported the decisions of local authorities: 52% largely supported (including 69% of population of eastern oblasts and 56% of southern regions), 34% largely did not support the decisions, 9% – answered "partially support and partially not", 5% had no opinion. According to an all-Ukrainian poll carried out in February 2008 by "Ukrainian Democratic Circle" 15% of those polled said that the language issue should be immediately solved, in November 2009 this was 14.7%; in the November 2009 poll 35.8% wanted both the Russian and Ukrainian language to be state languages.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: According to polling by RATING, the level of support for granting Russian the status of a state language decreased (from 54% to 46%) and the number of opponents increased (from 40% to 45%) between 2009 and May 2012; in July 2012 41% of respondents supported granting Russian the status of a state language and 51% opposed it. (In July 2012) among the biggest supporters of bilingualism were residents of the Donets Basin (85%), South Ukraine (72%) and East Ukraine (50%). A further poll conducted by RATING in September–October 2012 found 51% opposed granting official status to the Russian language, whereas 41% supported it. The largest regions of support were Donbas (75%), southern (72%) and eastern (53%), whereas nearly 70% of northern and central Ukraine, and 90% of western Ukraine were in opposition. A survey conducted in February 2015 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that support for Russian as a state language had dropped to 19% (37% in the south, 31% in Donbas and other eastern oblasts). 52% (West: 44%, Central: 57%; South: 43%; East: 61%) said that Russian should be official only in regions where the majority wanted it and 21% said it should be removed from official use.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: The Russo-Ukrainian director of the Kyiv branch of the , , presented the results of a poll carried out by the Research & Branding Group in late 2006. As reported by the Russian-language REGNUM News Agency, it found that "68% of Ukrainians are fluent in Russian and 57% are fluent in Ukrainian."


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Although a census conducted in Ukrainian showed that Russian speakers comprise about 30% (2001 census), 39% of Ukrainians interviewed in a 2006 survey believed that the rights of Russophones were violated because the Russian language is not official in the country, whereas 38% had the opposite position.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: According to a poll carried out by the Social Research Center at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in late 2009 ideological issues were ranked third (15%) as reasons to organize mass protest actions (in particular, the issues of joining NATO, the status of the Russian language, the activities of left- and right-wing political groups, etc.); behind economic issues (25%) and problems of ownership (17%). According to a March 2010 survey, forced Ukrainization and Russian language suppression are of concern to 4.8% of the population.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: According to 2016-2017 polls by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, Rating, and GfK Ukraine, about 1% of respondents across the country, and fewer than 3% of respondents in eastern parts of Ukraine, found the status of the Russian language to be an important political issue. The same 2017 polls indicated 64% support for state policies favoring the usage of the Ukrainian language.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Historically, many famous writers of Russian literature were born and lived in Ukraine. Nikolai Gogol is probably the most famous example of shared Russo-Ukrainian heritage: Ukrainian by descent, he wrote in Russian, and significantly contributed to culture of both nations. Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov was born in Kyiv, as well as poet Ilya Erenburg. A number of notable Russian writers and poets hailed from Odessa, including Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, Anna Akhmatova, Isaak Babel. Russian child poet Nika Turbina was born in Yalta, Crimea.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: A significant number of contemporary authors from Ukraine write in Russian. This is especially notable within science fiction and fantasy genres. Kharkiv is considered the "capital city" of Ukrainian sci-fi and fantasy, it is home to several popular Russophone Ukrainian writers, such as H. L. Oldie (pen name for Oleg Ladyzhensky and Dmitry Gromov), Alexander Zorich, Andrei Valentinov, and Yuri Nikitin. Science fiction convention "Zvezdny Most" (Rus. for "Star Bridge") is held in Kharkiv annually. Russophone Ukrainian writers also hail from Kyiv, those include Marina and Sergey Dyachenko and Vladimir Arenev. Max Frei hails from Odessa, and Vera Kamsha was born in Lviv. Other Russophone Ukrainian writers of sci-fi and fantasy include Vladimir Vasilyev, Vladislav Rusanov, Alexander Mazin and Fyodor Berezin. "RBG-Azimuth", Ukraine's largest sci-fi and fantasy magazine, is published in Russian, as well as now defunct "Realnost Fantastiki".


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Outside science fiction and fantasy, there is also a number of Russophone realist writers and poets. Ukrainian literary magazine "Sho" listed Alexander Kabanov, Boris Khersonsky, Andrey Polyakov, Andrey Kurkov and Vladimir Rafeyenko as best Russophone Ukrainian writers of 2013.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: According to H. L. Oldie, writing in Russian is an easier way for Ukrainian authors to be published and reach a broader audience. The authors say that it is because of Ukraine's ineffective book publishing policy: while Russian publishers are interested in popular literature, Ukrainian publishers rely mostly on grant givers. Many Ukrainian publishers agree and complain about low demand and low profitability for books in Ukrainian, compared to books in Russian.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Russian-language programming is sometimes subtitled in Ukrainian, and commercials during Russian-language programs are in Ukrainian on Ukraine-based media.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: On March 11, 2014, amidst pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine, the Ukrainian National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting shut down the broadcast of Russian television channels Rossiya 24, Channel One Russia, RTR Planeta, and NTV Mir in Ukraine. Since 19 August 2014 Ukraine has blocked 14 Russian television channels "to protect its media space from aggression from Russia, which has been deliberately inciting hatred and discord among Ukrainian citizens".


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: In early June 2015, 162 Russian movies and TV series were banned in Ukraine because they were seen to contain popularization, agitation and/or propaganda for the 2014–15 Russian military intervention in Ukraine (this military intervention is denied by Russia). All movies that feature "unwanted" Russian or Russia-supporting actors were also banned.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Russian is by far the preferred language on websites in Ukraine (80.1%), followed by English (10.1%), then Ukrainian (9.5%). The Russian language version of Wikipedia is five times more popular within Ukraine than the Ukrainian one, with these numbers matching those for the 2008 Gallup poll cited above (in which 83% of Ukrainians preferred to take the survey in Russian and 17% in Ukrainian.)


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: While government organizations are required to have their websites in Ukrainian, Ukrainian usage of the Internet is mostly in the Russian language. According to DomainTyper, the top ranking .ua domains are google.com.ua, yandex.ua, ex.ua and i.ua, all of which use the Russian language as default. According to 2013 UIA research, four of the five most popular websites (aside from Google) in Ukraine were Russian or Russophone: those are Vkontakte, Mail.ru, Yandex, and Odnoklassniki. The top Ukrainian language website in this rank is Ukr.net, which was only the 8th most popular, and even Ukr.net uses both languages interchangeably.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: On May 15, 2017, Ukrainian president Poroshenko issued a decree that demanded all Ukrainian internet providers to block access to all most popular Russian social media and websites, including VK, Odnoklassniki, Mail.ru, Yandex citing matters of national security in the context of the war in Donbas and explaining it as a response to "massive Russian cyberattacks across the world". On the following day the demand for applications that allowed to access blocked websites skyrocketed in Ukrainian segments of App Store and Google Play. The ban was condemned by Human Rights Watch that called it "a cynical, politically expedient attack on the right to information affecting millions of Ukrainians, and their personal and professional lives", while head of Council of Europe expressed a "strong concern" about the ban.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Among private secondary schools, each individual institution decides whether to study Russian or not.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: The number of Russian-teaching schools has reduced since Ukrainian independence in 1991 and in 2021 it is much lower than the proportion of Russophones, but still higher than the proportion of ethnic Russians.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: The "Law on Education" formerly granted Ukrainian families (parents and their children) a right to choose their native language for schools and studies. This was changed by a new law in 2017 that only allows the use of Ukrainian in secondary schools and higher.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: According to parliamentarians of the Supreme Council of Crimea, in 2010 90% students of Crimea were studying in Russian language schools. At the same time, only 7% of students in Crimea were studying in Ukrainian language schools. In 2012, the only Ukrainian boarding school (50 pupils) in Sevastopol was closed, and children who would not study in Russian language were to be transferred to a boarding school for children with intellectual disabilities.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: Since 1 January 2010, court proceedings have been allowed to take place in Russian on mutual consent of parties. Citizens who are unable to speak Ukrainian or Russian are allowed to use their native language or the services of an interpreter.


title: Russian language in Ukraine

text: , business affairs in Ukraine were mainly dealt with in Russian. Advanced technical and engineering courses at the university level in Ukraine were taught in Russian, which was changed according to the 2017 law "On Education".


title: Rhea (bird)

text: The rheas ( ), also known as ñandus ( ) or South American ostriches, are large ratites (flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bone) in the order Rheiformes, native to South America, distantly related to the ostrich and emu. Most taxonomic authorities recognize two extant species: the greater or American rhea ("Rhea americana"), and the lesser or Darwin's rhea ("Rhea pennata"). The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the puna rhea as another species instead of a subspecies of the lesser rhea. The IUCN currently rates the greater and puna rheas as near-threatened in their native ranges, while Darwin's rhea is of least concern. In addition, a feral population of the greater rhea in Germany appears to be growing, though control efforts are underway, and seem to be succeeding in controlling the birds' population growth.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: The name "rhea" was used in 1752 by Paul Möhring and adopted as the English common name. Möhring named the rhea after the Greek Titan Rhea, whose Ancient Greek name () is thought to come from "ground". This was fitting with the rhea being a flightless ground bird. Depending on the South American region, the rhea is known locally as (Guaraní, meaning big spider, most probably in relation to their habit of opening and lowering alternate wings when they run), (Portuguese), (Aymara and Quechua), or (Mapudungun). is the common name in many European languages and may sometimes also be heard in English.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: The genus "Rhea" was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the greater rhea ("Rhea americana") as the type species.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: "Rhea pennata" was not always in the genus "Rhea". In 2008, the SACC, the last holdout, approved the merging of the genera, "Rhea" and "Pterocnemia" on August 7, 2008. This merging of genera leaves only the genus "Rhea". A former fourth species of rhea, "Rhea nana", was described by Lydekker in 1894 based on a single egg found in Patagonia, but today no major authorities consider it valid.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: Rheas are large, flightless birds with grey-brown plumage, long legs and long necks, similar to an ostrich. Large males of "R. americana" can reach tall at the head, at the back and can weigh up to . The lesser rhea is smaller, with a height of . Their wings are large for a flightless bird () and are spread while running, to act like sails. Unlike most birds, rheas have only three toes. Their tarsus has 18 to 22 horizontal plates on the front of it. They also store urine separately in an expansion of the cloaca.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: Rheas are from South America only and are limited within the continent to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. They are grassland birds and both species prefer open land. The greater rheas live in open grasslands, pampas, and chaco woodlands. They prefer to breed near water and prefer lowlands, seldom going above . On the other hand, the lesser rhea will inhabit most shrubland, grassland, even desert salt puna up to .


title: Rhea (bird)

text: A small population of rheas has emerged in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, northeastern Germany, after several couples escaped from an exotic meat farm near Lübeck in the late 1990s. Contrary to expectations, the large birds adapted well to conditions in the German countryside. A monitoring system has been in place since 2008. By 2014, there was already a population of well over 100 birds in an area of between the river Wakenitz and the A20 motorway, slowly expanding eastward.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: The population grew steadily for several years. By autumn 2018 their numbers had greatly increased to about 600. As such, local farmers claim increasing damage to their fields, and some biologists say the rheas pose a growing risk to local wildlife. Still protected by German natural conservation law, a local discussion has begun regarding how to handle the situation. Eventually, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's government allowed limited hunting of the birds, explicitly to just reduce the population's growth and not to wipe them out. At this point, it was generally agreed that the rheas should be allowed to stay in the region. By spring 2021, just 247 rheas were counted; this development was attributed to both the hunting as well as the increased caution of the animals. Several had begun to avoid humans more than previously, and retreated into the woods. Some members of this rhea population have also expanded into other areas; at least twice individual rheas who probably originated in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were sighted in Brandenburg's High Fläming Nature Park, over from their usual range.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: There also appears to be a small population of wild rheas in the United Kingdom. In March 2021, a group of about 20 rheas were reported be running free on a residential estate in Hertfordshire. Local police were unable to identify any owner, so the assumption was that they were wild birds. Once caught, authorities intend to place them in a suitable nature reserve to allow them to develop as a colony.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: Rheas tend to be silent birds, with the exception being when they are chicks or when the male is seeking a mate. During breeding season, the male will attempt to attract females by calling. This call is a loud booming noise. While calling like this, they will lift the front of their body, ruffle their plumage, all while keeping their neck stiff. They will then extend and raise their wings, and run short distances, alternating with their wings. He may then single out a female and walk alongside or in front of her with a lowered head and spread wings. If the female notices him, then he will wave his neck back and forth in a figure-eight. Finally, a female may offer herself and copulation will commence.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: During the non-breeding season they may form flocks of between 20 and 25 birds, although the lesser rhea forms smaller flocks than this. When in danger they flee in a zig-zag course, using first one wing then the other, similar to a rudder. During breeding season the flocks break up.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: For the most part, rheas are herbivorous and prefer broad-leafed plants but they also eat fruits, seeds and roots, as well as insects such as grasshoppers and small reptiles and rodents. Young rheas generally eat only insects for the first few days. Outside of the breeding season they gather in flocks and feed with deer and cattle.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: Rheas are polygamous, with males courting between two and twelve females. After mating, the male builds a nest, in which each female lays her eggs in turn. The nest consists of a simple scrape in the ground, lined with grass and leaves. The male incubates from ten to sixty eggs. The male will use a decoy system and place some eggs outside the nest and sacrifice these to predators, so that they do not attempt to get inside the nest. The male may use another subordinate male to incubate his eggs, while he finds another harem to start a second nest. The chicks hatch within 36 hours of each other. Right before hatching, the chicks begin to whistle. The females, meanwhile, may move on and mate with other males. While caring for the young, the males will charge at any perceived threat that approach the chicks including female rheas and humans. The young reach full adult size in about six months but do not breed until they reach two years of age.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: The numbers of both the greater and puna rhea are decreasing as their habitats are shrinking. Both are considered near threatened by the IUCN. The IUCN also states that they are both approaching vulnerable status. The lesser rhea is classified as least concern.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: Rheas have many uses in South America. Feathers are used for feather dusters, skins are used for cloaks or leather, and their meat is a staple to many people.


title: Rhea (bird)

text: Gauchos traditionally hunt rheas on horseback, throwing "bolas" or "boleadoras"—a throwing device consisting of three balls joined by rope—at their legs, which immobilises the bird. The rhea is pictured on Argentina's 1 Centavo coin minted in 1987, and on the Uruguayan 5 peso coin.


title: Sam Hunt

text: Sam Lowry Hunt (born December 8, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt played football in his high school and college years and once attempted to pursue a professional sports career before signing with MCA Nashville in 2014.


title: Sam Hunt

text: Prior to his successful solo career, Hunt was credited for writing singles for Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban, Billy Currington, and Reba McEntire. His debut studio album, "Montevallo", broke several chart records with five singles spawned from the record, including three consecutive Hot Country Songs chart and four Country Airplay chart number ones. The lead single from the album, "Leave the Night On", peaked concurrently on the Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, making Hunt the first country artist in 22 years, since Billy Ray Cyrus, to reach the top of three country charts simultaneously in the Nielsen SoundScan-era. He is also the first country artist since Clint Black to occupy both year-end number one album and single with "Montevallo" and "Take Your Time". The fifth single "Make You Miss Me" from the album "Montevallo", hit number one on the Country Airplay chart, thus making Hunt the first solo male artist to land four number ones on the Country Airplay chart from a debut studio album.


title: Sam Hunt

text: Since the launch of his career, Hunt has quickly received recognition from both inside and outside the country music community for his blending of genres, incorporating use of R&B and pop into the production and songwriting of his songs. He has been honored with numerous awards, including one American Music Award, and one CMT Music Award, as well as nominations for "Billboard" Music Awards and Grammy Awards.


title: Sam Hunt

text: Hunt was born on December 8, 1984, in Cedartown, Georgia, the eldest of three children of Allen and Joan Hunt, an insurance agent and a teacher respectively. He studied at Cedartown High School where he played football. He was named 2002 Co-Offensive Player of the Year, was selected for the Georgia Sportswriters Association All-State Class AAA first-team as an all-purpose player, and was a Wendy's High School Heisman nominee.


title: Sam Hunt

text: He was a quarterback at Middle Tennessee State University from 2003 to 2004. He dressed for every game in 2003 but did not play in any of them. He had limited action in six games in 2004, attempting one pass and rushing once for one yard. Hunt transferred to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2005 and redshirted his first season there. He played in only seven games during the 2006 season due to injuries, completing 48 of 82 passes for 655 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions. He also rushed 69 times for 159 yards and one touchdown. Hunt completed 155 of 331 passes for 1,905 yards, 10 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 2007. He also rushed 68 times for 287 yards and two touchdowns. At UAB, he majored in philosophy before graduating with a business degree in economics. After practice every day, he would teach himself how to play acoustic guitar. With respect to the root of his interest in music, Hunt recalled between stops in tour, "I never saw myself as a musician or having any musical talent... I was just killing time that summer, and a buddy had recently bought a guitar. I picked it up one day and on a whim thought, 'You know, I think I want to buy a guitar.'" Hunt's college roommates, having listened to a few songs he wrote, encouraged him to book shows at bars, marking the start of his pursuit of a career in music.


title: Sam Hunt

text: After graduating from UAB in 2007, he had a tryout with the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League in 2008. "I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I needed to find out if I could take it all the way," Hunt said. In 2008, two months after the unsuccessful attempt to impress the football team, to the surprise of his family and friends, he left to pursue a music career, and moved to Nashville along with a friend with only "some food and two mattresses and his mom's minivan".


title: Sam Hunt

text: Hunt co-wrote Kenny Chesney's 2012 hit "Come Over", for which he received an ASCAP award. He also co-wrote two singles released in 2014: Keith Urban's "Cop Car", and Billy Currington's "We Are Tonight". Hunt independently released the single "Raised on It" in September 2013 and in October 2013, he released via his website a free 15-song mixtape titled "Between the Pines". Hunt also co-wrote "Love Somebody", the title track from Reba McEntire's 27th studio album "Love Somebody".


title: Sam Hunt

text: In January 2014, it was confirmed that he had signed a recording contract with MCA Nashville. On August 12, 2014, he released "X2C", a four-song EP, intended as a preview of his debut studio album. The EP debuted at number 36 on the US "Billboard" 200 and number five on the "Billboard" Top Country Albums chart, selling 8,000 copies in its first week.


title: Sam Hunt

text: Hunt's first single for MCA Nashville was "Leave the Night On", which went to number one on the Country Airplay chart in October 2014 and has since been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The music video for the song earned Hunt two CMT Music Awards nominations, winning the CMT Breakthrough Video of the Year award, and nominated for the CMT Video of the Year award. His debut studio album "Montevallo", was released on October 27, 2014. On the same day, Sam Hunt released "Between the Pines: Acoustic Mixtape". The album is made up of acoustic versions of his hit songs, including his versions of ones that he wrote for other artists. Universal Music Group Nashville president, Cindy Mabe explained the date of the release: "The idea was to release it on the same date that "Montevallo" was released [in 2014] as a one-year anniversary gift to fans and Sam's way to offer more music and a thanks for the support." On November 5, 2014, "Montevallo" debuted at number one on the Top Country Albums chart and number three on the US "Billboard" 200. It opened with 70,000 units sold. The album included his own version of "Cop Car". The second single from the album "Take Your Time", peaked at number 20 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. The track spent 11 weeks at number one of Hunt's 17 weeks in 2015 on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs chart, making him the 16th artist in the chart's 57-year history – and the fifth in the past 50 years – to rule for 10 weeks or more. With "Montevallo" and "Take Your Time", Hunt became the first country artist since Clint Black to have his debut studio album and single to peak atop the year-end charts in the same year. Five days after the release of "Montevallo", Hunt announced his first tour Lipstick Graffiti. Tickets went on sale on November 14, 2014. Within a short time of going on sale, the tour sold out at 15 of the venues. In 2015, he served as an opening act (alongside Hunter Hayes) for Lady Antebellum's Wheels Up Tour.


title: Sam Hunt

text: Hunt was featured on "Billboard" for the issue of August 29, 2015, where he opened about breaking down country music stereotypes. He served as a background vocalist on Carrie Underwood's song "Heartbeat", which was released in October 2015. To commemorate the one-year anniversary of Hunt's debut studio album "Montevallo", "Between the Pines" was re-released on October 27, 2015, peaking at number 31 on the US "Billboard" 200. Hunt won his first American Music Award for New Artist of the Year on November 22, 2015, in Los Angeles, California.


title: Sam Hunt

text: For the week of September 10, 2016, Hunt's fifth single "Make You Miss Me" from "Montevallo", hit number one on the Country Airplay chart, thus making him the first solo male artist to land four number ones on the Country Airplay chart from a debut studio album.


title: Sam Hunt

text: On February 1, 2017, Hunt released "Body Like a Back Road", which went on to become his biggest hit. In March 2017, while playing a string of live shows with Tucker Beathard, Hunt debuted another song titled "Drinkin' Too Much", a song he wrote and recorded about his on-and-off relationship with his then girlfriend, Hannah Lee Fowler.


title: Sam Hunt

text: In May 2018, Hunt released the single "Downtown's Dead”. He then announced another song titled "Nothing Lasts Forever", that had yet to be released from his second studio album while performing it at several live shows.


title: Sam Hunt

text: Hunt took a prolonged hiatus from social media and releasing music after the end of the What Makes You Country Tour with Luke Bryan. While performing at the Bud Light House Party event in Calgary, Hunt performed "Sinning with You" for the first time which he announced would be on his upcoming album. Hunt also announced that another single from the new album would be out shortly and the entire album would be released in early 2020. In October 2019, Hunt released "Kinfolks", his first radio single in over a year. "Sinning with You" was released in January 2020.


title: Sam Hunt

text: In February 2020, Hunt announced the title of his second album would be "Southside" and that it would be released on April 3, 2020. He accompanied the album announcement with the announcement of his headlining "Southside Summer Tour" with Kip Moore, Travis Denning, and "Ernest" as supporting acts, while releasing his next single "Hard to Forget" the next day. Hunt later cancelled the ""Southside Summer Tour"" amidst the coronavirus pandemic. On April 25, 2020, Hunt was featured on the remix of rapper Breland's single "My Truck".


title: Sam Hunt

text: In October 2020, Hunt released "Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s" as the fifth single to country radio off "Southside". In April 2021, he joined indie pop singer Sasha Sloan on her single "When Was It Over?" which they co-wrote together with several other writers including Shane McAnally. In August 2021, he dueted with Ingrid Andress on "Wishful Drinking", and followed that up with the release of his single "23" in September 2021.


title: Sam Hunt

text: Writing for "Billboard", Elias Leight observed on Hunt's vocal performance, describing his vocal performance in studio sessions as a "rough, heartthrob voice that shines clearly, but noted that his live vocals weren't always easy to hear". Leight further praised Hunt's delivery to be "a mix of speaking and rapid-fire singing that sets him apart from other country singers, but commented its impact was diminished because of his live singing." Finally, Hunt's live performance of "Make You Miss Me" rendered the music writer "the clearest glimpse of his husky mid-range, smooth but rugged voice in a setting where there were no beats crowding him or guitars to compete with."


title: Sam Hunt

text: Hunt's music contains elements of country, R&B and pop. Dwight Yoakam, while speaking to "Entertainment Tonight", commented on Hunt's music, saying "It reminds me a little bit of, with the infusion of soul and southern R&B, with the things that happened surrounding the album that Ray Charles put out – the very historic album The Modern Sounds of Country Music back in the early '60s. It was a reinterpretation that not only intrigued country audiences at the time, but it brought a brand new audience to the country music world." His songwriting was heavily influenced by Brad Paisley, whose early hit "He Didn't Have to Be" had a big impact on him as a kid growing up in Georgia: "I remember being at church on Wednesday night at Wednesday night supper, and getting the keys from my mom well before it was over to just go sit in the car and to turn the radio on and hopefully wait and catch that song." He also cites Billy Currington, Usher, K-Ci & JoJo, R. Kelly, Ginuwine and Alice Cooper as musical influences.


title: Sam Hunt

text: Hunt told "Taste of Country" that he does not write his songs with a specific genre in mind, but rather follows his instinct. "I want to sound different than everybody else," said Hunt talking about his musical style. "To use a football phrase, I try to zig when other people zag." Commenting on his interpretation of country music, he told "Rolling Stone Country", "I think country songs are truthful songs about life written by country people, but the beats and sounds will continue to evolve." Billy Dukes of "Taste of Country", on observing "Break Up in a Small Town", referred the song as "likely the wordiest song of 2015" and Hunt's "most genre-bending release to country radio", adding "Any talk of which genre Hunt belongs in misses the point. His story hits hard. It's deep and emotional and sincere and all the things we expect from a great country song."


title: Sam Hunt

text: In a 2015 interview with "Billboard", Hunt remarked on the position of women in his music, "Respect for women was a very important part of my upbringing," and added, "The women in my life demanded that from me." Hunt even named his album "Montevallo", after the hometown of his wife, Hannah Lee Fowler, and consulted her in the lyrical production: "I spent a lot of time talking to her about the songs and asking, 'What do you think about this?' Her perspective was a powerful part of me being able to connect with a female audience, not just a male audience."


title: Sam Hunt

text: In a June 2018 interview with "Taste of Country", Hunt said that his upcoming second album will be much like "Montevallo", but after the release of the second album he plans to "get back to the foundation of the musical genre that he identifies with". In the same interview, he said "At some point his music will sound more like traditional country musician Tyler Childers."


title: Sam Hunt

text: In January 2017, it was announced that Hunt became engaged to Hannah Lee Fowler. Fowler, whom Hunt had been dating on-and-off since 2008, was the main inspiration behind his album "Montevallo". Her name and their story are also referenced in his song "Drinkin' Too Much". They were married on April 15, 2017, in Hunt's hometown of Cedartown, Georgia. Fowler filed for divorce in February 2022, but later retracted her petition in May of the same year. In June 2022, Hunt announced the birth of their daughter.


title: Sam Hunt

text: On November 21, 2019, Hunt was arrested in Nashville, Tennessee after allegedly driving under the influence. On August 19, 2021, Hunt was found guilty of his DUI charge that occurred nearly two years before. As a result of the conviction, his drivers license was suspended for one year; and he was sentenced to jail for a period of 11 months and 29 days, which was suspended except for 48 hours.