title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: The Center for Research toward Advancing Financial Technologies (CRAFT), co-led by Stevens and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is the first NSF-backed industry-university cooperative research center devoted specifically to financial technology and science. CRAFT is designed to create a community for industry to engage with university researchers to advance fintech innovation.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Other research centers at Stevens are the Center for Complex Systems and Enterprises (CCSE), Center for Decision Technologies, Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, Center for Environmental Systems, MicroDevice Lab, Center for Healthcare Innovation, Center for Neuromechanics, Hanlon Financial Systems Center, Maritime Security Center, NJ Center for Microchemical Systems, STAR Center, Stevens Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and Systems Engineering Research Center.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: The U.S. Department of Energy invited Stevens to compete in the 2015 Solar Decathlon held at Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California, among 19 other universities. Stevens’ entry, SURE HOUSE, was inspired by Hurricane Sandy. A net-zero home resilient enough to withstand Hurricane-force winds and flooding, the entry won the competition. SURE HOUSE achieved a total score of 950.685, ranking first in architecture, market appeal, communications, appliances, engineering, commuting and home life. It also received second place in the comfort zone contest.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Stevens also competed as one of 20 teams in the 2013 Solar Decathlon, the first time the competition was held outside of Washington, D.C. Stevens' independent entry, "Ecohabit," placed fourth overall and second among United States entries.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Through a partnership with Parsons The New School for Design and Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy, Stevens designed an affordable green home as part of the 2011 Solar Decathlon. The entry, "Empowerhouse," won first place in affordability during the 2011 competition. The team partnered with Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C., to provide the home to a low-income family in the Deanwood section of Washington at the conclusion of the competition.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Stevens embraces a culture of entrepreneurship instilled in the institute from its founding family, who transformed their inventions into a number of successful enterprises like the first steam-driven locomotive. More recently, there have been significant sales of Stevens intellectual property, including PlasmaSol and Hydroglobe. The university's Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship was established in 2008 to enhance scientific discoveries by facilitating technology transfer.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: ISTEM@Stevens is a four-year entrepreneurship coaching program for incoming first-year students. The program focuses not only on technology and innovation, but also the process required to transform the idea into a fully developed company or nonprofit. The curriculum includes both classes and independent studies.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Launchpad@Stevens is a one-year program that gives undergraduate students the chance to learn about entrepreneurship and innovation alongside professionals who are building technology-based businesses. Participants learn how to identify ideas with potential commercial viability and work in teams to build those ideas into viable businesses.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Stevens' Innovation Expo, also referred to as "Senior Design Day" or simply "D-Day" by students, is an annual event at the end of the spring semester to feature capstone projects from undergraduate seniors of all schools and majors. Capstone projects take place over two semesters. The day of activities is also marked by the Project Plan Pitch and Elevator Pitch Competition in which students are judged on presentation of their idea and feasibility; many competitors spin-out companies and business ventures from their projects. The panel of judges typically consists of entrepreneurs, CEOs and venture capitalists.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Additionally, the institute hosts the "Thomas H. Scholl Lecture by Visiting Entrepreneurs." Guest lecturers include Dr. Paul R. Sanberg, Jeong H. Kim, Dr. Winslow Sargeant, and Ann Fandozzi. The campus is also home to monthly summits of "NJ Tech Meetup," branded as "NJ's largest technology and entrepreneurial community." It is composed of over 150 entrepreneurs and innovators.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: The Stevens Ducks are composed of 25 NCAA Division III teams representing Stevens Institute of Technology in intercollegiate competition. The Ducks are members of the Middle Atlantic Conferences (MAC) and the MAC Freedom Conference for all sports except fencing. Men's fencing competes in the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Fencing Association (MACFA) and women's fencing competes in both the Eastern Women's Fencing Conference (EWFC) and the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association (NIWFA).


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Stevens rejoined the MAC in July 2019 after an absence of over 40 years, having most recently been in the Empire 8 conference. The Ducks spent 12 seasons as full members of the Empire 8 after a tenure in the Skyline Conference. Stevens competed as an associate member of the Empire 8 in field hockey during the 2006 season. The Ducks won a total of 62 team championships and 367 individual championships (429 total) during their time in the Empire 8.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: The move to the MAC and the MAC Freedom brought 23 of the department's 25 teams under a single conference umbrella; wrestling had been competing in the Centennial Conference since 2004 and men's volleyball was a founding member of the United Volleyball Conference. Stevens has found success in the MAC, winning 23 team and 105 individual conference championships (128 total) through the Spring 2021 semester.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: With an athletics lineage that dates back to 1872, Stevens was one of five schools (along with Rutgers, Princeton, Columbia and Yale) invited to establish the original set of collegiate football rules in 1873. Stevens dropped football after the 1924 season.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Stevens offers 14 club sports including ice hockey, which plays at the Barnabas Health Hockey House in Newark, New Jersey—the practice facility of the New Jersey Devils and home of the Metropolitan Riveters.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Baseball at Stevens dates back to 1873, although the first recognized season was in 1906. Stevens has had two players drafted in Major League Baseball's First Year Player Draft. David Garcia was selected by the Minnesota Twins in 1973, and Charlie Ruegger was selected by the New York Yankees in 2018.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Softball is Stevens' newest varsity sport. The team was established during the 2009-10 academic year.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Stevens men's basketball has won two NCAA Division III statistical championships, leading the country in field-goal percentage defense during the 2007-2008 season. Spencer Cook led the country in three-point field goal percentage in 2020.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Doctoral student Gina Dello Russo won the NCAA Division III title in the 400-meter dash at the 2021 Outdoor Track & Field National Championships in Greensboro, N.C. Dello Russo, a 2020 NCAA Woman of the Year Top 30 selection, was the first Stevens track & field champion since Amy Regan in 2017. Between cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field, Regan won six national championships for Stevens. She was the first cross-country runner in any NCAA division from New Jersey to win a national championship and later participated in the 2020 U.S. Olympic marathon team trials. Regan was also an NCAA Today Top 10 Award recipient.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Alina Duran competed at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials in the hammer throw, reaching he final and finishing 12th in the country.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Stevens has also won national championships in the high jump, with Gladys Njoku securing consecutive titles in 2015 and 2016.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Women's fencing was the first female varsity sport at Stevens, and its coach, Linda Vollkommer-Lynch, was the first tenured female faculty member and first female coach at the university. In 2018, Stevens' women's fencing team did not lose to a Division III opponent all season and finished with a 32-3 overall record. That year, they established a new school record for winning percentage at .914, the first team to achieve a percentage over .900.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: In 2009-10, the men's fencing team was led by head coach Stephen Kovacs who, after being accused of two sexual assaults, died in prison in 2022. The team is currently led by former Olympian Jim Carpenter.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Stevens holds the distinction of having the oldest, continuously running lacrosse program in the United States. The program won a recognized national championship four times: 1892 and 1894 in the Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, and in 1917 and 1918 in the United States Inter-Collegiate Lacrosse League. It has also won championships in the Skyline Conference, Empire 8 and MAC Freedom.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Players to come through the program have achieved All-America and Academic All-American Conference awards and North-South All-Star Game Invitations. Some of them include:


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: The 2008 men's soccer team reached the Division III NCAA championship game, losing to Messiah College (now University) on penalty kicks. They were the first Stevens team to compete in an NCAA national championship contest.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Soccer goalkeeper Zach Carr received All-American and Academic All-American honors in 2010. Carr led the nation in 2010 with a .927 save percentage and maintained a 3.92 grade-point average. One of the best goalkeepers in NCAA history, he set the Division III record and tied for the most shutouts in NCAA history (55), played the third-most minutes in Division III history and posted the sixth-lowest goals-against average. Carr was also a recipient of an NCAA Top VIII Award.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: The women's team hosts an annual Engineering Cup and has one of the longest active consecutive postseason appearance streaks in Division III. The program was also the first in department history to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and post an NCAA victory with a 1-0 win over Johns Hopkins on November 13, 2002.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: In 2011, Laura Barito, a two-time All-American in swimming and track and a two-time, two-sport NCAA national champion (in 50-yard freestyle swimming and the 400-meter hurdles), was awarded the NCAA Woman of the Year. Barito, who was also named by CoSIDA/Capital One to the Academic All-America First Team, was only the second Division III athlete to win the NCAA Woman of the Year Award in its 21-year history.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: In 2012, Stevens swimmer Brittany Geyer won the national women's 200-yard breaststroke title. Geyer came back in 2015 to win the national 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke titles, making her a three-time NCAA champion.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Stevens men's swimming has won 10 straight conference championships. Simas Jarasunas won the 100-yard backstroke in 2013 for the first national championship in program history.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Men's tennis is recognized as one of the top teams in the region. The Ducks have won 12 straight conference championships.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Both the varsity men's and women's volleyball programs were started by legendary head coach Patrick Dorywalski. Dorywalski coached 37 years at Stevens, including 31 with the men's volleyball program. His 635 victories are the most by any varsity coach at Stevens and were the fourth-most by any men's volleyball coach in NCAA at the time of his retirement in 2020.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: On April 26, 2015, Stevens won the NCAA Division III men's championship on its home court of Canavan Arena, the first NCAA team championship in Stevens' history.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Women's team alumna Eva Kwan is tied for the most digs (62) in any single match in Division III history and the second-most in NCAA history.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Brett Kaliner posted a 29-0 season and became the first national champion in program history in 2022, winning the title at 149 pounds.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Stevens was one of the first five college football teams. In 1873, representatives of Princeton, Yale, Columbia, and Rutgers met in New York City to establish the first American intercollegiate rules for football on the model of the London Football Association. As the game developed in the United States, it became progressively more violent. The alumni magazine commented that the style of the game became too difficult and required an enormous amount of time and training, which could be afforded by larger colleges but would add too much work to the already difficult academic coursework at Stevens. Stevens holds a disputed victory over the University of Michigan.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Kerri Rettig won an IHSA National Championship in Intermediate Flat in 2005. Stevens ceased fielding an equestrian team as of July 1, 2019.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Stevens was named ECAC Institution of the Year in 2008 and again in 2013, an honor that measures a combination of athletics success and classroom academic performance at more than 300 Division I, II and III colleges and universities. Stevens is one of only three institutions to win the award multiple times.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: The athletic department's highest finish in the annual Division III Director's Cup is 13th, recorded in 2011 and 2016. The department has received an NADIIIAA Community Service Award eight times, most recently in 2022. Stevens has also won seven College Athletic Administrators of New Jersey (CAANJ) Cups as the Top Division III institution in New Jersey.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Varsity teams compete in one of three facilities, two of which are on campus. The Schaefer Athletics and Recreation Center houses Canavan Arena, Walker Gymnasium, the DeBaun Aquatic Center, the Athletic Training Center, and the Wrestling Complex. The Schaefer Center construction was part of a $23 million investment in new facilities that also included renovations to Walker Gym and installation of a new turf field.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Field sports (soccer, field hockey, baseball, lacrosse) compete at DeBaun Athletic Complex. Softball competes at Waterfront Park in Weehawken, N.J.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Stevens Institute of Technology hosts chapters of 15 social and academic fraternities and sororities, many of which were founded on campus over a century ago. These groups, through their social, academic, leadership and alumni networking programs, are aimed at building lifelong connections among participants and to the institute. Indeed, they are successful at this aim, as evidenced by the fact that across the nation, "most of the donations made to [an] alma mater are given by members of Greek organizations." Popular hubs of social activity, in 2013, 25% of Stevens students were members of these organizations.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Members self-select prospective members, and chapters cooperate on a wide variety of inter-Greek programming to support campus life. Once a student becomes a member of one of the traditional social and academic societies they may not join another from that conference due to "anti-poaching" rules. However, members of the traditional social and academic fraternities, sororities and societies are often elected as members of "professional, honor and/or service" societies as they are chosen or earn the honor by grade, class rank or achievement. All but one of Stevens' Greek organizations are chapters of national fraternities or sororities, which in turn participate in several cooperative national associations, designated by one or more conference allegiances: the NIC (most social fraternities), the NPC (most social sororities), the NPHC (culturally African American), the NAPA (culturally Asian & Pacific Islander), the 'NALFO (culturally Latino/Latina), the NMGC (multicultural), the ACHS (most Honor Societies), or the PFA (Professional) associations.


title: Stevens Institute of Technology

text: Among fraternities and sororities, inter-chapter cooperation is managed by two governing councils: the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and the Stevens Panhellenic Association (NPC groups). Professional and honor societies are faculty sponsored.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Bradley Howard Friedel (born May 18, 1971) is an American professional soccer coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel played 84 games for the United States national team between 1992 and 2005, and represented his country at three FIFA World Cup tournaments. He is the current holder of the Premier League record for most consecutive appearances with 310, a feat he achieved during spells at Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur. Until he was left out of the Tottenham team on October 7, 2012, the last Premier League games Friedel missed were Blackburn's final two fixtures of the 2003–04 season against Tottenham and Birmingham City, on May 10 and 15, 2004, respectively.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel is also officially Aston Villa's oldest-ever player, a record he set on February 1, 2011, by playing in the club's Premier League fixture away at Manchester United. Friedel's age of 39 years and 259 days surpassed the previous record held by Ernie Callaghan, who last played for Villa against Grimsby Town in April 1947, aged 39 years and 257 days. Friedel's last appearance for Villa was on May 22, 2011, in a 1–0 home win against Liverpool, aged 40 years and four days.


title: Brad Friedel

text: On May 6, 2012, Friedel also became the oldest player to appear in a competitive match for Tottenham when he played in the club's Premier League fixture at Aston Villa, beating Jimmy Cantrell's near-80-year-old record. He ended his Premier League career after a total of 450 appearances, which remains a record for any North or South American player.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Born in Lakewood, Ohio, Friedel grew up in Bay Village, where he attended Westerly Elementary School, Bay Middle School and Bay High School. Growing up, Friedel played several sports, including soccer, basketball and tennis, and excelled at all three. He earned Bay High's Outstanding Athlete of the Year award in 1989. As an All-State basketball player in Ohio, he was invited to try out as a walk-on for UCLA's basketball team in 1990. He began as a forward on his youth soccer team before moving into goalkeeping. Friedel graduated from Bay High in 1989. In 2007, he was inducted into the Bay High Hall of Fame.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel played college soccer at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In 1990, he kept goal for the Bruins to the NCAA championship. He was selected as the first team All-American goalkeeper in 1991 and 1992, and won the Hermann Trophy in 1993 as the top collegiate soccer player. He played 66 games for the UCLA, all of which he started. "Soccer America" magazine named Friedel to its College Team of the Century.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel left UCLA early to pursue a professional career. He began by attempting to sign with Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough, but was denied a work permit, the first in several such failed attempts to move to England. Following a brief trial in Scotland with Celtic,


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel was signed by manager Kevin Keegan of Newcastle United, but again was denied a work permit. While awaiting approval from the British authorities, he practiced with Newcastle as an on-loan player from the USSF.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel joined Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF in the spring of 1995. He stayed with that club for several months in 1995, as back-up to Mogens Krogh. Friedel remained with Brøndby until he returned to the U.S. to rejoin the national team, then preparing for the 1995 U.S. Cup and Copa America.


title: Brad Friedel

text: After the two tournaments, Friedel attempted a third time to join an English club, this time Sunderland. While awaiting a decision regarding his latest application for a work permit, Friedel spent time training with League of Ireland side St. Patrick's Athletic, who were managed at the time by Brian Kerr, a friend of Sunderland manager Peter Reid's. When Friedel again failed to receive a British work permit, his agent negotiated a $1.1 million transfer from the USSF to leading Turkish team Galatasaray in 1995. Galatasaray were managed by Friedel's future Blackburn Rovers manager Graeme Souness. In July 1996, following the end of the Turkish season, Friedel moved to the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer (MLS). In February 1997, he signed a three-year contract with the Crew as he was named the team's starter. That season, he was selected to the MLS Best XI and named the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel completed a transfer to Liverpool, worth £1.7 million, in 1997. On December 23, 1997, Liverpool gained a work permit for Friedel on appeal after the first request was denied. He made his debut against Aston Villa on February 28, 1998. While Friedel had some initial success with the Reds, he soon had a difficult time, managing just over 30 games in almost three years, including two appearances in the UEFA Cup, as he sat behind first David James and later Sander Westerveld.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel was signed to Blackburn Rovers by Graeme Souness on a free transfer in November 2000 after a work permit was secured. Joining during Rovers' promotion-winning 2000–01 season, Friedel's consistently-assured performances helped ensure Blackburn's return to the Premiership and then consolidate their top division status in the following seasons.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel's memorable performances for Blackburn include playing against Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup Final in early 2002, when he was named Man of the Match. In a 2–1 win over Arsenal at Highbury, Friedel made several immense saves and was only beaten by a deflected free kick. A stunning performance away at Southampton prompted Gordon Strachan to liken him to Superman: "Friedel must have got changed in a telephone box. I wouldn't be surprised if when he takes his shirt off there's a blue jersey with an 'S' on underneath it."


title: Brad Friedel

text: At the end of the 2002–03 season, Friedel's 15 clean sheets earned him Blackburn's Player of the Year award, as well as selection to the Premiership Starting XI. On February 21, 2004, in an away game against Charlton Athletic, Friedel scored a goal from open play in the 90th minute, from a corner kick. Friedel's goal equalized the game at 2–2, but seconds later Charlton scored again through Claus Jensen, and went on to win the match 3–2. He became just the second goalkeeper in Premier League history (excluding own goals) to score, after Peter Schmeichel for Aston Villa in 2001.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel extended his contract with Blackburn Rovers on April 14, 2006, stating his love for the club as a reason. Two years later, on February 5, 2008, he again signed an extension to his Rovers contract, stating that, "I am delighted to have extended the agreement. It was not a difficult decision to make. Blackburn Rovers is home to me. This is my club and I have a special affinity with it." He would, however, leave the club at the end of that season to join Aston Villa, just two league appearances short of Terry Gennoe's club record of 289 for a goalkeeper.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel had asked Blackburn for permission to let him speak with Aston Villa if an offer was accepted, with Manchester City reportedly interested in signing the American. The club accepted a transfer bid for Friedel, thought to be in the region of £2.5 million, subject to Blackburn themselves having a bid accepted for a replacement goalkeeper. Villa held talks with Friedel on July 25, and he signed a three-year contract with Villa the day after. He was unveiled at half-time during Villa's Intertoto Cup match against Odense, and made his debut against Reading on August 2 at the Madejski Stadium; just ten minutes in, the hosts were awarded a penalty, which Friedel then saved. His competitive debut came in the UEFA Cup second qualifying round, first leg, against Hafnarfjorður away from home. Villa won the match 4–1. Friedel played his first league match for Villa on August 17, 2008, the first match for Villa in the 2008–09 season, in which Villa beat Manchester City 4–2 at home.


title: Brad Friedel

text: He broke the record for continuous games played in the Premier League on November 30, 2008, after his 167th finished in a 0–0 draw with Fulham. He was sent off against former club Liverpool at Anfield by referee Martin Atkinson. Liverpool were awarded a penalty that Steven Gerrard converted against Villa's second-choice goalkeeper, Brad Guzan. Friedel's red card, which he received on the Sunday beforehand, was overturned by the FA on March 24, meaning that he was able to continue his streak of consecutive Premiership appearances. On January 16, 2011, he reached the landmark of 250 consecutive league games. Friedel became the oldest player ever to play for Villa following their 3–1 loss to Manchester United on February 1.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel's contract with Aston Villa expired after the 2010–11 season. On June 3, 2011, Tottenham Hotspur announced that they had signed Friedel on a two-year deal. On August 22, 2011, Friedel started in goal for Tottenham at Old Trafford against Manchester United, after Tottenham's first home fixture of the season against Everton the previous week was rescheduled due to rioting in North London. This meant that Friedel further extended his run of consecutive games in the Premier League after his transfer from Aston Villa. During the 2011–12 campaign, Friedel also became the oldest player to make an appearance in the Premier League.


title: Brad Friedel

text: The arrival of the French national team's goalkeeper and captain, Hugo Lloris, to the end of the 2012 summer transfer window cast some doubt on Friedel's status as Tottenham's first-choice goalkeeper for the 2012–13 season. However, following an impressive display by Friedel against Norwich on September 1, 2012, manager André Villas-Boas said that Friedel would remain number one. Friedel's run of 310 consecutive Premier League games was ended on October 7, 2012, when he was named on the bench behind Lloris against Aston Villa. Friedel, however, returned in goal for the next match on October 20, 2012, against Chelsea.


title: Brad Friedel

text: On December 26, 2012, it was announced that Friedel had signed a new contract with Spurs, keeping him at the club until 2014.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Following Lloris' failure to fully recover from a head injury, Friedel returned to the starting lineup in a league match on November 10, 2013, but was unable to prevent Tottenham from losing 1–0 to Newcastle United, with the winning goal being scored by Loïc Rémy.


title: Brad Friedel

text: On June 9, 2014, Friedel signed a one-year contract extension with Tottenham, which would keep him at the club until 2015. In addition, Friedel also became a club ambassador, focusing on Tottenham's presence in the United States, a role he continues to serve as. On May 14, 2015, Friedel announced that he would be retiring at the end of the 2014–15 season.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel is the fourth-most capped goalkeeper in U.S. national team history, and gained his first international cap against Canada in 1992, a game in which he managed to keep a clean sheet. He was the first-choice goalkeeper for the U.S 1992 Olympic team; however, he was unable to beat out Tony Meola as first-choice keeper for the U.S. team at the 1994 World Cup. His chance came, and Friedel made his World Cup debut, in the 1998 World Cup, where he conceded one goal as the U.S. lost to Yugoslavia. He lived up to his growing reputation in the 2002 World Cup as the U.S. went on a surprising run to the quarter-finals, which included a 3–2 victory over Portugal in group play, and a 2–0 second-round win over arch-rival Mexico before a loss to Germany (the eventual runner-up). He also became the second keeper (after Jan Tomaszewski) to save two penalty kicks during regular play (as opposed to penalty shootouts) in a World Cup finals tournament. He was dubbed "The Human Wall" by fans during the spectacular 2002 World Cup run.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Brad Friedel was a studio pundit for BBC's 2014 World Cup coverage in Brazil on both television and BBC Radio Five Live, later appearing on RTÉ's coverage in Ireland after returning home. For the 2014–15 season, he appeared on BBC's "Match of the Day" and "Setanta Sports".


title: Brad Friedel

text: On January 5, 2016, Friedel was named the United States under 19s head coach. He won the 2017 CONCACAF U-20 Championship as assistant coach of the U.S. team with Tab Ramos and Omid Namazi.


title: Brad Friedel

text: On November 9, 2017, Friedel was named head coach of the New England Revolution, replacing Jay Heaps who was fired by the club in September 2017.


title: Brad Friedel

text: On May 9, 2019, Friedel was fired by the Revolution after a 12-21-13 career record and a 2-8-2 record to open the 2019 season.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Though raised in the midwestern state of Ohio, Friedel developed a slight English accent after having lived in the north of that country for more than a decade. "The English don't think I have an accent at all. They think I sound American. And Americans think I sound English. I think I'm caught in the middle."


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel is a fan of the NFL's Cleveland Browns, which former Aston Villa Chairman Randy Lerner owned until August 2012.


title: Brad Friedel

text: Friedel also names former American international goalkeeper Tim Harris as his all-time soccer hero. Friedel credits Harris as "the person who started my journey."


title: Brad Friedel

text: In 2007, Friedel launched a non-profit soccer academy in Lorain, Ohio, at a cost of approximately $10 million, providing coaching on a full-tuition scholarship basis to youths aged 12 and older. Premier Soccer Academy had difficulty retaining and obtaining corporate sponsorship after the 2008 financial crisis, however, and closed in 2011. In January of that year, Friedel filed for bankruptcy protection in the United Kingdom as a result of debts arising from the academy.


title: Marsha Warfield

text: Marsha Francine Warfield (born March 5, 1954) is an American actress and comedian. She grew up on Chicago's South Side, graduating from Calumet High School. She is best known for her 1986–92 role of Roz Russell on the Top 10 rated NBC sitcom "Night Court". Roz was the tough, no-nonsense bailiff in Judge Stone's court. Warfield also starred in the sitcom "Empty Nest" as Dr. Maxine Douglas (1993–95). Before "Night Court", she was a writer and performer on the short-lived "Richard Pryor Show".


title: Marsha Warfield

text: Warfield appeared in feature films such as "D.C. Cab" (1983) and "Mask" (1985), hosted "The Marsha Warfield Show" for ten months (March 1990–January 1991) and has made guest appearances on many television shows, including "Riptide", "Family Ties", "Clueless", "Cheers", "Living Single", "In Living Color", "Moesha" and "Touched by an Angel". She has also done stand-up comedy including appearances on the "Norm Crosby" hosted "The Comedy Shop" television series. She won the San Francisco International Comedy Competition in 1979, over such competition as Dana Carvey and A. Whitney Brown.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 first flew in 1946. Although it entered service in 1947, the Thunderjet was plagued by so many structural and engine problems that a 1948 U.S. Air Force review declared it unable to execute any aspect of its intended mission and considered canceling the program. The aircraft was not considered fully operational until the 1949 F-84D model and the design matured only with the definitive F-84G introduced in 1951. In 1954, the straight-wing Thunderjet was joined by the swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreak fighter and RF-84F Thunderflash photo reconnaissance aircraft.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: The Thunderjet became the USAF's primary strike aircraft during the Korean War, flying 86,408 sorties and destroying 60% of all ground targets in the war as well as eight Soviet-built MiG fighters. Over half of the 7,524 F-84s produced served with NATO nations, and it was the first aircraft to fly with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team. The USAF Strategic Air Command had F-84 Thunderjets in service from 1948 through 1957.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: The F-84 was the first production fighter aircraft to utilize inflight refueling and the first fighter capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, the Mark 7 nuclear bomb. Modified F-84s were used in several unusual projects, including the FICON and Tom-Tom dockings to the B-29 Superfortress and B-36 bomber motherships, and the experimental XF-84H Thunderscreech turboprop.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: The F-84 nomenclature can be somewhat confusing. The straight-wing F-84A to F-84E and F-84G models were called the Thunderjet. The F-84F Thunderstreak and RF-84F Thunderflash were different airplanes with swept wings. The XF-84H Thunderscreech (not its official name) was an experimental turboprop version of the F-84F. The F-84F swept wing version was intended to be a small variation of the normal Thunderjet with only a few different parts, so it kept the basic F-84 number. Production delays on the F-84F resulted in another order of the straight-wing version; this was the F-84G.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: In 1944, Republic Aviation's chief designer, Alexander Kartveli, began working on a turbojet-powered replacement for the P-47 Thunderbolt piston-engined fighter aircraft. The initial attempts to redesign the P-47 to accommodate a jet engine proved futile due to the large cross-section of the Thunderbolt's fuselage. Instead, Kartveli and his team designed a new aircraft with a much-slimmer fuselage housing an axial compressor turbojet engine in the rear fuselage, and an air intake in the nose of the fuselage, with air ducts running from the nose to the engine and taking up much of the fuselage volume. Fuel was mainly stored in tanks in the thick, but laminar flow airfoil, unswept wings.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: On 11 September 1944, the USAAF released General Operational Requirements for a day fighter with a top speed of , a combat radius of , and armament of either eight or six machine guns. In addition, the new aircraft had to use the General Electric TG-180 axial turbojet which entered production as the Allison J35. These specifications proved to be too ambitious, however, and the radius requirement was reduced to and the armament suite was reduced to six .50-caliber or four .60-caliber machine guns in order to reduce weight.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: On 11 November 1944, Republic received an order for three prototypes of the new XP-84 — known to Republic as the Model AP-23. Since the design promised superior performance to the Lockheed-built P-80 Shooting Star and Republic had extensive experience in building single-seat fighters, no competition was held for the contract. The name "Thunderjet" was chosen to continue the Republic Aviation tradition started with the P-47 Thunderbolt, while emphasizing the new method of propulsion. On 4 January 1945, even before the aircraft took to the air, the USAAF placed an additional order for 25 service test YP-84As and 75 production P-84Bs (later modified to 15 YP-84A and 85 P-84B).


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: Meanwhile, wind tunnel testing by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics revealed longitudinal instability and stabilizer skin buckling at high speeds. The weight of the aircraft, a great concern given the low thrust of early turbojets, was growing so quickly that the USAAF had to set a gross weight limit of . The results of this preliminary testing were incorporated into the third prototype, designated "XP-84A", which was also fitted with a more powerful J35-GE-15 engine with of thrust.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: The first prototype XP-84 was rolled out in December 1945, but availability of suitable engines delayed flight testing. The first prototype was transferred to Muroc Army Air Field (present-day Edwards Air Force Base) where it flew for the first time on 28 February 1946 with Major Wallace A. "Wally" Lien at the controls. It was joined by the second prototype in August, both aircraft flying with J35-GE-7 engines producing . On 8 September 1946, the second XP-84 set a US national airspeed record of , but failed to match the world speed record of set the day before by a British Gloster Meteor. The effort to break the speed record delayed the test program with the second prototype. The 15 YP-84As, which were delivered to Patterson Field (present-day Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) for service tests from January 1947, differed from XP-84s by having an upgraded J35-A-15 engine, carrying six 0.50 in M2 Browning machine guns (four in the nose and one in each wing root), and having the provision for wingtip fuel tanks holding each.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: Due to delays with delivery of jet engines and production of the XP-84A, the Thunderjet had undergone only limited flight testing by the time production P-84Bs began to roll out of the factory in 1947. In particular, the impact of wingtip tanks on the aircraft's structure was not thoroughly studied. This proved problematic later. After the creation of the United States Air Force by the National Security Act of 1947, the "Pursuit" designation was replaced with "Fighter", and the P-84 became the F-84.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: The F-84B, which differed from the YP-84A only in having faster-firing M3 machine guns (later F-84s also had provision to carry eight High Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVAR) underwing), became operational with 14th Fighter Group at Dow Field, Bangor, Maine, in December 1947. Flight restrictions followed immediately, limiting maximum speed to Mach 0.8 due to control reversal, and limiting maximum acceleration to 5.5 g-force (54 m/s) due to wrinkling of the fuselage skin. To compound the problem, parts shortages and maintenance difficulties earned the aircraft the nickname, "Mechanic's Nightmare". On 24 May 1948, the entire F-84B fleet was grounded due to structural failures in the aircraft's wings. The F-84C featured a somewhat more reliable J35-A-13C engine of the same power as the A-15-C used by the F-84B, and modified fuel and electrical systems. Beyond these modifications, the F-84C was virtually identical to the F-84B, and suffered from the same defects.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: A 1948 review of the F-84 program discovered that none of the F-84B or F-84C aircraft could be considered operational or capable of executing any aspect of their intended mission. The program was saved from cancellation because the F-84D, whose production was well underway, had satisfactorily addressed the major faults. A fly-off against the F-80 revealed that while the Shooting Star had a shorter takeoff roll, better low altitude climb rate and superior maneuverability, the F-84 could carry a greater bomb load, was faster, had better high altitude performance and greater range. As a compromise, the USAF in 1949 committed US$8 million to implement over 100 upgrades to all F-84Bs and F-84Cs, most notably reinforcing the wings to a similar standard to the F-84D. Despite the resultant improvements, both the F-84B and F-84C were withdrawn from service during 1952.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: The structural improvements were factory-implemented in the F-84D, which entered service in 1949. Wings were covered with thicker aluminum skin, the fuel system was winterized and capable of using JP-4 fuel, and a more powerful J35-A-17D engine with was fitted. It had been discovered that the untested wingtip fuel tanks contributed to wing structural failures by inducing excessive twisting during high-g maneuvers. To correct this, small triangular fins were added to the outside of the tanks. The F-84D was phased out of USAF service in 1952 and left Air National Guard (ANG) service in 1957.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: The first effective and fully capable Thunderjet was the F-84E model which entered service in 1950. The aircraft featured the J35-A-17 engine, further wing reinforcement, a fuselage extension in front of the wings and extension aft of the wings to enlarge the cockpit and the avionics bay, an A-1B gunsight with AN/APG-30 range-finding radar, and provision for an additional pair of fuel tanks to be carried on underwing pylons. The latter increased the combat radius from to over .


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: One improvement to the original F-84 design was rocket racks that folded flush with the wing after the 5-inch HVAR rockets were fired, which reduced drag over the older fixed mounting racks. This innovation was adopted by other US jet fighter-bombers.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: Despite the improvements, the in-service rates for the F-84E remained poor with only half of the aircraft operational in April 1950. This was primarily due to a severe shortage of spares for the Allison engines. The expectation was that F-84Es would fly 25 hours per month, accumulating 100 hours between engine overhauls. The actual flight hours for Korean War and NATO deployments rapidly outpaced the supply and Allison's ability to manufacture new engines. The F-84E was withdrawn from USAF service in 1956, serving with the Air Force Reserve until 1957 and lingering with ANG units until 1959.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: The final straight-wing F-84 was the F-84G, intended as a stop-gap until the swept wing F-84F entered service, but ordered in large numbers to build-up NATO air forces. It introduced a refueling boom receptacle in the left wing, autopilot, Instrument Landing System, J35-A-29 engine with of thrust, a distinctive framed canopy (also retrofitted to earlier types), and the ability to carry a single Mark 7 nuclear bomb. The F-84G entered service in 1951, although deliveries were slowed by shortages of engines. Production continued until July 1953 with 3,025 F-84Gs delivered, with 789 going to the USAF and 2,236 to US allies as part of US military aid. The F-84G was retired from the USAF in mid-1960.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: Typical of most early jets, the Thunderjet's takeoff performance left much to be desired. In hot Korean summers with a full combat load, the aircraft routinely required of runway for takeoff even with the help of RATO bottles (two or four of these were carried, each producing 1,000 lbf (4.4 kN) of thrust for 14 seconds). All but the lead aircraft had their visibility obscured by the thick smoke from the rockets. F-84s had to be pulled off the ground at 160 mph (140 kn, 260 km/h) with the control stick held all the way back. Landings were made at a similar speed. For comparison, the North American P-51 Mustang landed at approximately 120 mph (100 kn, 190 km/h). Despite the "hot" landing speeds, the Thunderjet was easy to fly on instruments and crosswinds did not present much of a problem.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: Thanks to the thick straight wing the Thunderjet rapidly reached its Mach 0.82 limitation at full throttle and low altitude. The aircraft had sufficient power to fly faster, but exceeding the Mach limit at low altitudes resulted in a violent pitch-up and structural failure causing the wings to break off. Above , the F-84 could be flown faster but at the expense of severe buffeting. However, the airspeed was sufficiently easy to control to make safe dive bombing from 10,000 ft possible. The top speed limitation proved troublesome against Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s in Korea. Slower than the MiG, the F-84 was also unable to turn tightly with a maximum instantaneous-turn load of only 3 gs followed by rapid loss of airspeed. One F-84E pilot credited with two MiG kills achieved his second victory by intentionally flying his aircraft into pitch-up. The MiGs chasing him were unable to follow the violent maneuver and one crashed into the ground. Luckily for the F-84E pilot, the aircraft did not disintegrate but the airframe did suffer heavy warping. The F-84 was a stable gun platform and the computing gunsight aided in accurate gunnery and bombing. Pilots praised the aircraft for Republic's legendary ruggedness.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: Pilots nicknamed the Thunderjet "The Lead Sled". It was also called "The Iron Crowbar", "a hole sucking air", "The Hog" ("The Groundhog"), and "The World's Fastest Tricycle", "Ground Loving Whore" as a testament to its long takeoff rolls. F-84 lore stated that all aircraft were equipped with a "sniffer" device that, upon passing takeoff safety speed, would look for the dirt at the end of the runway. As soon as the device could smell the dirt, the controls would turn on and let the pilot fly off the ground. In the same vein, it was suggested a bag of dirt should be carried in the front landing gear well. Upon reaching takeoff safety speed, the pilot would dump the dirt under the wheels, fooling the sniffer device.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: The Thunderjet had a distinguished record during the Korean War. After the entry of the People's Republic of China into the war in October 1950, the US Fifth Air Force requested that a wing of F-84s be sent to Korea. While the F-84B and F-84C could not be deployed overseas because their J35 engines had a service life of only 40 hours, the F-84D and F-84E were more suitable, and so the F-84E-equipped 27th Fighter Escort Group was sent to the Far East aboard the aircraft carrier , which arrived in Japan on 30 November 1950. After maintenance, the F-84s moved to Taegu airfield (known as K-2), flying its first operational missions on 7 December 1950. The aircraft were initially tasked with escorting the B-29 Superfortress bombers. The first Thunderjet air-to-air victory was scored on 21 January 1951 at the cost of two F-84s. The F-84 was outmatched by the swept-wing Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15, which was both faster and more manoeuvrable, and the MiG counter-air mission was soon given to the F-86 Sabre. The F-84 switched to the ground attack role at which it excelled.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: The number of units operating the F-84 over Korea gradually increased, both by bringing over Air National Guard Groups from the US, and converting F-80 squadrons already in theater. The F-84 flew a total of 86,408 missions, dropping 55,586 tons (50,427 metric tons) of bombs and 6,129 tons (5,560 metric tons) of napalm, and firing 22,154 rockets. The USAF claimed F-84s were responsible for 60% of all ground targets destroyed in the war. Notable F-84 operations included the 1952 attack on the Sui-ho Dam. During the war, the F-84 became the first USAF fighter to utilize aerial refueling. In aerial combat, F-84 pilots were credited with eight MiG-15 kills against a Soviet-claimed loss of 64 aircraft. The total losses were 335 F-84D, E and G models. According to the USAF FY1953 statistical digest, during the Korean war, 305 F-84s were lost, including 249 in combat missions and 56 non-combat losses.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: A notable incident occurred on 10 March 1953, when two F-84Es strayed from German to Czechoslovakian airspace. Two Czech MiG 15 fighters intercepted the US Air Force jets and shot one down. It crashed on the German side of the border and the pilot successfully ejected.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: Portugal received its first F-84s in January 1953, with 25 new build F-84Gs later supplemented by USAFE stocks and from other European operators, with deliveries eventually reaching 125 F-84Gs. They were the "Força Aérea Portuguesa"'s first operational jet fighters. Two squadrons were formed in Portugal, operating the F-84 in both air-defense and ground attack roles, with the Thunderjet also equipping an aerobatic display team, the "Dragões". In 1960, the two operational F-84 squadrons were disbanded and the remaining F-84s transferred to training units. In 1961, however, an uprising against Portuguese rule began in Angola, and as a result, 25 F-84Gs were refurbished by OGMA and sent to Angola, with the first aircraft arriving at Luanda in August that year. There, they formed the "Esquadra 91" (91st Squadron), carrying out bomb, rocket and gun attacks against separatist forces. In 1966, after Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, and the imposition of the Beira Patrol by the British Royal Navy to attempt to stop the flow of fuel to Rhodesia via the port of Beira, Mozambique, a detachment of eight F-84s was sent from Luanda to Mozambique to guard against potential clashes with British forces, with the aircraft returning to Angola when the threat of military action receded. Attrition of the F-84s was heavy, and by 1973, only five F-84s remained operational, with the last examples withdrawn from use that year, although the F-84G nominally remained in Portuguese service until October 1975.


title: Republic F-84 Thunderjet

text: The Republic of China Air Force received surplus F-84Gs from the USAF from 1953, and during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958, its F-84s engaging in air-to-air combat against People's Liberation Army Air Force MiG-15s and MiG-17 fighters, with losses on both sides. The Republic of China replaced its Thunderjets with F-100s from later that year.


title: UL (safety organization)

text: The UL enterprise is a global safety science company headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, composed of three organizations, UL Research Institutes, UL Standards & Engagement and UL Solutions.


title: UL (safety organization)

text: Established in 1894, the UL enterprise was founded as the Underwriters' Electrical Bureau (a bureau of the National Board of Fire Underwriters), and was known throughout the 20th century as Underwriters Laboratories. On January 1, 2012, Underwriters Laboratories became the parent company of a for-profit company in the U.S named UL LLC, a limited liability corporation, which took over the product testing and certification business. On June 26, 2022, the companies rebranded into three distinct organizations that make up the UL enterprise.


title: UL (safety organization)

text: UL Solutions partners with customers and stakeholders in more than 100 countries to help solve safety, security and sustainability challenges and is also responsible for managing and issuing the highly respected portfolio of UL Marks. The company is one of several companies approved to perform safety testing by the U.S. federal agency Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA maintains a list of approved testing laboratories, which are known as Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories. According to Lifehacker, UL Solutions is the best known product safety and certification organization globally.


title: UL (safety organization)

text: Underwriters Laboratories Inc. was founded in 1894 by William Henry Merrill Jr. After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a degree in electrical engineering in 1889, Merrill went to work as an electrical inspector for the Boston Board of Fire Underwriters. At the turn of the twentieth century, fire loss was on the rise in the United States, and the increasing use of electricity in homes and businesses posed a serious threat to property and human life.


title: UL (safety organization)

text: In order to determine and mitigate risk, Merrill proposed to open a laboratory where he would use scientific principles to test products for fire and electrical safety. The Boston Board of Fire Underwriters turned this idea down, however, perhaps due to Merrill's youth and relative inexperience at the time.


title: UL (safety organization)

text: In May 1893, Merrill moved to Chicago to work for the Chicago Fire Underwriters' Association. His task was to inspect the city's fire alarm systems. He was also sent to the 1893 World's Fair to inspect the Fair's electrical installations and the Palace of Electricity. In order to determine and mitigate risk in his role as an electrical inspector, Merrill found it necessary to conduct tests on building materials and electrical components. Upon seeing a growing potential in this field, Merrill stayed in Chicago to found Underwriters Laboratories. He received initial funding from the Chicago Fire Underwriters' Association and the Western Union, a local insurance organization. With $350 of equipment, he opened a small laboratory on the third floor of a local fire insurance patrol station, signing UL's first test report on March 24, 1894.


title: UL (safety organization)

text: Merrill soon went to work on developing safety standards, conducting tests, and uncovering hazards. In the early years, UL tested three main types of products: devices meant to stop fire (such as fire extinguishers), devices meant to resist fire (such as fire doors), and devices that frequently caused fire (like wires used for electrical installations). This work soon expanded, and throughout the twentieth century, UL certified many pivotal consumer technologies, such as vacuum cleaners, televisions, microwaves, personal computers, and more.


title: UL (safety organization)

text: UL published its first standard, "Tin Clad Fire Doors", in 1903. In 1906, UL established a Label Service for certain product categories that require more frequent inspections. Products that passed UL's testing and regular inspections were given a UL label, which eventually evolved into the UL Mark. From 1905 to 1979, UL Headquarters was located at 207-231 East Ohio Street in Chicago. In 1979, the organization moved its headquarters to a 153-acre campus in Northbrook, Illinois, 25 miles north of its former downtown Chicago location.


title: UL (safety organization)

text: UL Solutions has evolved from its roots in electrical and fire safety to address broader safety issues, such as hazardous substances, water quality, food safety, performance testing, safety and compliance education, and environmental sustainability.


title: UL (safety organization)

text: On January 1, 2012, Underwriters Laboratories became the parent company of a for-profit company in the U.S named UL LLC, a limited liability corporation. The for-profit company took over the product testing and certification business.


title: UL (safety organization)

text: In 2022, the company revised their go-to-market strategy to include three separate organizations - UL Solutions, UL Standards & Engagement, and UL Research Institutes.


title: UL (safety organization)

text: The Recognized Component Mark is a type of safety certification mark issued by UL Solutions. It is placed on components which are intended to be part of a UL certified end product, but which cannot bear the full UL Mark themselves. The general public does not ordinarily come across it, as it is borne on components which make up finished products.


title: Verdun

text: Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 "Verdun-sur-Meuse") is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.


title: Verdun

text: Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is Bar-le-Duc, which is slightly smaller than Verdun. It is well known for giving its name to a major battle of the First World War.


title: Verdun

text: Verdun is situated on both banks of the river Meuse, in the northern part of the Meuse department. It is connected by rail to Jarny. The A4 autoroute Paris–Metz–Strasbourg passes south of the town.


title: Verdun

text: Verdun ("Verodunum", a latinisation of a place name meaning "strong fort" in Gaulish) was founded by the Gauls. It has been the seat of the bishop of Verdun since the 4th century, with interruptions. In 486, following the decisive Frankish victory at the Battle of Soissons, the city (amongst several other nearby cities) refused to yield to the Franks and was thus besieged by King Clovis I. The 843 Treaty of Verdun divided Charlemagne's empire between his three surviving sons.


title: Verdun

text: Around this time, a city called Verdun was the centre of the thriving European trade in young boys who were sold to the Islamic emirates of Iberia, where they were enslaved as eunuchs. The Italian ambassador Liutprand of Cremona, as one example in the 10th century, presented a gift of four eunuchs to Emperor Constantine VII. The identity of the "Verdun" mentioned in sources is disputed, because there are many cities called Verdun in Europe (such as Verdun-sur-Garonne in Occitania, and Verdun-sur-le-Doubs). While many still identify it as Verdun on the Meuse, some argue that Verdun-sur-le-Doubs is a more feasible identification. It is also possible that Liutprand was referring to Verona.


title: Verdun

text: From 1200 onward, Verdun has been famous for its Dragées or sugared almonds; they were distributed at the baptism of French princes.


title: Verdun

text: Verdun was part of the middle kingdom of Lotharingia, and in 1374 it became a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. The Bishopric of Verdun formed together with Tull (Toul) and Metz the Three Bishoprics, which were annexed by France in 1552 (recognized in 1648 by the Peace of Westphalia).


title: Verdun

text: From 1624 to 1636, a large bastioned citadel was constructed on the site of the Abbey of Saint Vanne. In 1670, Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban visited Verdun and drew up an ambitious scheme to fortify the whole city. Although much of his plan was built in the following decades, some of the elements were not completed until after the Napoleonic Wars. During the Napoleonic War, the citadel was used to hold British prisoners of war.


title: Verdun

text: In the Franco-Prussian War, Verdun was the last French fortress to surrender in 1870. Shortly afterwards, a new system of fortification was begun. This consisted of a mutually supporting ring of 22 polygonal forts up to from the city, and an inner ring of 6 forts.


title: Verdun

text: Despite the extensive fortifications, in the Battle of Verdun in 1792 the fortress was captured by the Prussians during the War of the First Coalition. The Battle was fought on August 20, 1792, between French Revolutionary forces and a Prussian army. The Prussian victory opened the path to Paris for the invading armies. However, the Prussians were unable to press their success and abandoned Verdun following the Battle of Valmy.


title: Verdun

text: Verdun was the site of a major battle, the longest-lasting of the First World War. One of the costliest battles in military history, Verdun exemplified the policy of a "war of attrition" pursued by both sides, which led to an enormous loss of life and very large casualty lists.


title: Verdun

text: Following the failure of the Schlieffen Plan in 1914 and the solidifying of the Western Front, Germany remained on the strategic defensive in the west throughout most of 1915. In the winter of 1915–16, German General Erich von Falkenhayn, the chief of the German General Staff (1914–1916) made plans for a large offensive on the Western Front that ultimately aimed to break the French Army through the application of firepower at a point that the French had to hold for reasons of national prestige. As Falkenhayn recalled it, his so-called "Christmas memorandum" to Kaiser Willhelm II envisioned a massive but limited attack on a French position 'for the retention of which the French Command would be compelled to throw in every man they have'. Once the French army had bled to death, Britain could be brought down by Germany's submarine blockade and superior military strength. The logic of initiating a battle not to gain territory or a strategic position but simply to create a self-sustaining killing ground—to bleed the French army to death—pointed to the grimness of military vision in 1916.


title: Verdun

text: Recent scholarship by Holger Afflerbach and others, however, has questioned the veracity of the Christmas memo. No copy has ever surfaced and the only account of it appeared in Falkenhayn's post-war memoir. His army commanders at Verdun, including the German Crown Prince, denied any knowledge of an attrition strategy. It is possible that Falkenhayn did not specifically design the battle to bleed the French army but used this supposed motive after the fact in an attempt to justify the Verdun offensive, despite its failure.


title: Verdun

text: Verdun was the strongest point in pre-war France, ringed by a string of powerful forts, including Douaumont and Fort Vaux. By 1916, the salient at Verdun jutted into the German lines and lay vulnerable to attack from three sides. The historic city of Verdun had been an "oppidum" of the Gauls before Roman times and later a key asset in wars against Prussia, and Falkenhayn suspected that the French would throw as many men as necessary into its defence. Ironically, France had substantially weakened Verdun's defences after the outbreak of the war, an oversight that would contribute to the removal of Joseph Joffre from supreme command at the end of 1916. The attack was slated to begin on 12 February, then 16 February, but the snow forced repeated postponements.


title: Verdun

text: Falkenhayn massed over 1000 artillery pieces to the north and east of Verdun to precede the infantry advance with intensive artillery bombardment. His attack would hit the French positions on the right bank of the Meuse. Although French intelligence had warned of his plans, these warnings were ignored by the French Command and troop levels in the area remained low. Consequently, Verdun was utterly unprepared for the initial bombardment on the morning of 21 February 1916. German infantry attacks followed that afternoon and met tenacious but ultimately inadequate resistance for the first four days.


title: Verdun

text: On 25 February, the Germans occupied Douaumont. French reinforcements—now under the leadership of General Philippe Pétain—began to arrive and were instantly thrown into "the furnace" (as the battle was called) to slow the German advance, no matter what the cost. Over the next several days, the stubborn defense managed to slow the German advance with a series of bloody counter-attacks. In March, Falkenhayn decided to target the French positions on the left bank of the Meuse as well, broadening the offensive front twofold. Throughout March and April, Cumières-le-Mort-Homme and Hill 304 were under continuous heavy bombardment and relentless infantry attacks. Meanwhile, Pétain organised repeated, small-scale counter-attacks to slow the German advance. He also ensured that the sole supply road from Bar-le-Duc into Verdun remained open. It became known as the Voie Sacrée "Sacred Way" because it continued to carry vital supplies and reinforcements into the Verdun front despite constant artillery fire.


title: Verdun

text: German gains continued in June, but slowly and only after increasingly heavy losses on their side. On 7 June, following almost a week of bitter resistance, Fort Vaux fell to the Germans after a murderous hand-to-hand fight inside the fort itself. On 23 June, the Germans reached what would become the furthest point of their advance. The line was just in front of Fort Souville, the last stronghold before Verdun itself. Pétain was making plans to evacuate the right bank of the Meuse when the combined Anglo-French offensive on the Somme River was launched on 1 July, partly to relieve pressure on the French, although the first day was the bloodiest in the British Army's history. The Germans could no longer afford to continue their offensive at Verdun when they were needed so desperately on the Somme. At a cost of some 400,000 German casualties and a similar number of French, the attack was finally called off. The estimated death toll on both sides were 143,000 dead Germans and 162,440 French soldiers. Germany's intention to bleed France to death had failed.


title: Verdun

text: The battle continued, however, from October to the end of the year. French offensives, employing new tactics devised by General Robert Nivelle, regained the forts and territory they had lost earlier. This was the only gleam of hope in an otherwise abysmal landscape.


title: Verdun

text: Overall, the battle lasted 11 months. Falkenhayn was replaced by Paul von Hindenburg as Chief of General Staff. General Nivelle was promoted over the head of General Pétain to replace Generalissimo Joseph Joffre as French supreme commander, although he was to hold the post for less than six months.


title: Verdun

text: There are many French and German cemeteries throughout the battlefield. The largest is the French National Cemetery and Douaumont Ossuary near Fort Douaumont. Thirteen thousand crosses adorn the field in front of the ossuary, which holds roughly 130,000 unidentified remains brought in from the battlefield. Every year yields more remains, which are often placed inside the ossuary's vaults.


title: Verdun

text: Among many revered memorials on the battlefield is the "Bayonet Trench", which marks the location where some dozen bayonets lined up in a row were discovered projecting out of the ground after the war; below each rifle was the body of a French soldier. It has been assumed that these belonged to a group of soldiers who had rested their rifles against the parapet of the trench they were occupying when they were killed during a bombardment, and the men were buried where they lay in the trench and the rifles left untouched. However, this is probably not historically accurate: experts agree that the bayonets were probably affixed to the rifles after the attack and installed by survivors to memorialize the spot.


title: Verdun

text: Nearby, the World War I Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial is located at Romagne-sous-Montfaucon to the northwest of Verdun. It is the final resting place for 14,246 American military dead, most of whom died in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The chapel contains a memorial to the 954 American missing whose remains were never recovered or identified.


title: Verdun

text: On 12 September 1916 King George V awarded the Military Cross to the City of Verdun, one of only two awards of this British decoration to a municipality during World War I, the other being Ypres. On 5 October 1917, Bernardino Machado, President of the Portuguese Republic, awarded the City of Verdun the Order of the Tower and Sword, 1st Class (Grand Cross) for its "tenacious resistance, steadfastness in battle, and heroism of its garrison, having filled a brilliant position in the present war and gloriously proving the worth of a nation's valour and patriotism"; the investiture ceremony took place on 10 October 1917, during President Machado's visit to the Western Front.


title: Evil Empire (album)

text: Evil Empire is the second studio album by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, released by Epic Records on April 16, 1996. It debuted at number 1 on the US "Billboard" 200 chart with sales of 249,000 copies, and the song "Tire Me" won a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance; "Bulls on Parade" and "People of the Sun" were nominated for Grammys for Best Hard Rock Performance. On May 24, 2000, the album was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.


title: Evil Empire (album)

text: The album's title is a reference to a term used in the early 1980s by President Ronald Reagan and many American conservatives to describe the Soviet Union.


title: Evil Empire (album)

text: According to MTV News, "The title 'Evil Empire' is taken from what Rage Against The Machine see as Ronald Reagan's slander of the Soviet Union in the eighties, which the band feels could just as easily apply to the United States."


title: Evil Empire (album)

text: Before the May 27, 1996, performance of "Without a Face" that is featured on the band's 1998 "Live & Rare" album, Zack de la Rocha said: "It seems as if soon as the... the wall in Germany fell, that the US government was busy building another one on the border between the US and Mexico. Since 1986, as a result of a lot of the hate talk and hysteria that the government of the United States has been speaking, 1,500 bodies have been found on the border. We wrote this song in response to it."


title: Evil Empire (album)

text: "Year of tha Boomerang" had previously been included in the film "Higher Learning", though its title was written as "Year of the Boomerang" on the packaging of the film's soundtrack, as well as that of the song's promotional single.


title: Evil Empire (album)

text: The cover of the album features an altered version of a painting of the 1940s–1950s comic book hero Crimebuster done by Mel Ramos, with the emblem on the boy's costume changed from a "c" to a lowercase "e", the caption "Crime Buster" changed to the album's title, and the color of the star in the background changed. Additional artwork for the album was created by Barbara Kruger, some of which appears in the video for "Bulls on Parade".


title: Evil Empire (album)

text: The album's CD booklet includes a picture of a pile of various political and philosophical books, which include:


title: Evil Empire (album)

text: In 1995, the band sent a free 7″ record to everyone who signed up for the fan club promoted in the liner notes of their debut. Doubling as an apology to those who had received nothing and a promotion for the upcoming album, it came in a plain cardboard-colored fold-out with a black-and-white American flag on the cover alongside the band's name and "Evil Empire" in capital letters. On the back cover was a UPC with marker scribble on the barcode. The A-side was a reissue of the "Evening Session"-version of "Bombtrack" first broadcast on June 7, 1993 (listed as "Bombtrack (Live on the BBC)"), and the B-side was a then-unreleased cover of N.W.A's "Fuck tha Police" that was recorded live on August 13, 1995, at a benefit concert for Mumia Abu-Jamal at the Capitol Ballroom in Washington, D.C. As with the band's debut, five singles were released in total.


title: Evil Empire (album)

text: "Rolling Stone" said that "This music isn't supposed to be fun," and continued: "Rage Against the Machine have jacked up the sociopolitical siege mentality in their metallic hip-hop to such a dogmatic degree – and honed their sound to such maniacally shrill perfection – that the band and the roaring joys of its harangue 'n' roll seem virtually sexless."


title: Human settlement

text: In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community in which people live. The complexity of a settlement can range from a minuscule number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with surrounding urbanized areas. Settlements may include hamlets, villages, towns and cities. A settlement may have known historical properties such as the date or era in which it was first settled, or first settled by particular people.


title: Human settlement

text: In the field of geospatial predictive modeling, settlements are "a city, town, village or other agglomeration of buildings where people live and work".


title: Human settlement

text: A settlement conventionally includes its constructed facilities such as roads, enclosures, field systems, boundary banks and ditches, ponds, parks and woods, wind and water mills, manor houses, moats and churches.


title: Human settlement

text: The earliest geographical evidence of a human settlement was Jebel Irhoud, where early modern human remains of eight individuals date back to the Middle Paleolithic around 300,000 years ago.


title: Human settlement

text: The oldest remains that have been found of constructed dwellings are remains of huts that were made of mud and branches around 17,000 BC at the Ohalo site (now underwater) near the edge of the Sea of Galilee. The Natufians built houses, also in the Levant, around 10,000 BC. Remains of settlements such as villages become much more common after the invention of agriculture.


title: Human settlement

text: Landscape history studies the form (morphology) of settlements – for example whether they are dispersed or nucleated. Urban morphology can thus be considered a special type of cultural-historical landscape studies. Settlements can be ordered by size, centrality or other factors to define a settlement hierarchy. A settlement hierarchy can be used for classifying settlement all over the world, although a settlement called a 'town' in one country might be a 'village' in other countries; or a 'large town' in some countries might be a 'city' in others.


title: Human settlement

text: Geoscience Australia defines a populated place as "a named settlement with a population of 200 or more persons".


title: Human settlement

text: The Committee for Geographical Names in Australasia used the term localities for rural areas, while the Australian Bureau of Statistics uses the term "urban centres/localities" for urban areas.


title: Human settlement

text: The Agency for Statistics in Bosnia and Herzegovina uses the term "populated place""settled place" for rural (or urban as an administrative center of some Municipality/City), and "Municipality" and "City" for urban areas.


title: Human settlement

text: The Canadian government uses the term "populated place" in the "Atlas of Canada", but does not define it.


title: Human settlement

text: The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics records population in units of settlements called Tehsil – an administrative unit derived from the Mughal era.


title: Human settlement

text: Statistics Sweden uses the term localities ("tätort") for various densely populated places. The common English-language translation is "urban areas".


title: Human settlement

text: The UK Department for Communities and Local Government uses the term "urban settlement" to denote an urban area when analysing census information. The Registrar General for Scotland defines settlements as groups of one or more contiguous localities, which are determined according to population density and postcode areas. The Scottish settlements are used as one of several factors defining urban areas.


title: Human settlement

text: The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has a Geographic Names Information System that defines three classes of human settlement:


title: Human settlement

text: Populated places may be specifically defined in the context of censuses and be different from general-purpose administrative entities, such as "place" as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau or census-designated places.


title: Human settlement

text: In the field of geospatial predictive modeling, settlements are "a city, town, village, or other agglomeration of buildings where people live and work".


title: Human settlement

text: The Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) framework produces global spatial information about the human presence on the planet over time. This in the form of built up maps, population density maps and settlement maps. This information is generated with evidence-based analytics and knowledge using new spatial data mining technologies. The framework uses heterogeneous data including global archives of fine-scale satellite imagery, census data, and volunteered geographic information. The data is processed fully automatically and generates analytics and knowledge reporting objectively and systematically about the presence of population and built-up infrastructures. The GHSL operates in an open and free data and methods access policy (open input, open method, open output).


title: Human settlement

text: The term "Abandoned populated places" is a "Feature Designation Name" in databases sourced by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and GeoNames.


title: Human settlement

text: Sometimes the structures are still easily accessible, such as in a ghost town, and these may become tourist attractions. Some places that have the appearance of a ghost town, however, may still be defined as populated places by government entities.


title: Human settlement

text: A town may become a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, because of a government action, such as the building of a dam that floods the town, or because of natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, uncontrolled lawlessness, or war. The term is sometimes used to refer to cities, towns, and neighborhoods that are still populated, but significantly less so than in years past.


title: Digital transformation

text: Digital transformation (DX) is the adoption of digital technology by an organization to digitize non-digital products, services or operations. The goal for its implementation is to increase value through innovation, invention, customer experience or efficiency.


title: Digital transformation

text: Digitization is the process of converting analog information into digital form using an analog-to-digital converter, such as in an image scanner or for digital audio recordings. As usage of the internet has increased since the 1990s, the usage of digitization has also increased. Digital transformation, however, is broader than just the digitization of existing processes. Digital transformation entails considering how products, processes and organizations can be changed through the use of new, digital technologies. A 2019 review proposes a definition of digital transformation as "a process that aims to improve an entity by triggering significant changes to its properties through combinations of information, computing, communication, and connectivity technologies." Digital transformation can be seen as a socio-technical programme.


title: Digital transformation

text: Adopting digital technology can bring benefits to a business, however, some company cultures can struggle with the changes required by digital transformation.


title: Digital transformation

text: A 2015 report stated that maturing digital companies were using cloud hosting, social media, mobile devices and data analytics, while other companies were using individual technologies for specific problems. By 2017, one study found that less than 40% of industries had become digitized (although usage was high in the media, retail and technology industries).


title: Digital transformation

text: As of 2020, 37% of European companies and 27% of American companies had not embraced digital technology. Over the period of 2017-2020, 70% of European municipalities have increased their spending on digital technologies.


title: Digital transformation

text: In a 2021 survey, 55% of European companies stated the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for digitalization, and 46% of companies reported that they have grown more digital. Half of these companies anticipate an increase in the usage of digital technologies in the future, with a greater proportion being companies that have previously used digital technology. A lack of digital infrastructure was viewed as a key barrier to investment by 16% of EU businesses, compared to 5% in the US. In a survey conducted in 2021, 89% of African banks polled claimed that the COVID-19 pandemic has hastened the digital transformation of their internal operations. Digital transformation gives enterprises new vitality. Now, economic consequences are a major concern for digital transformation.


title: Digital transformation

text: In 2022, 53% of businesses in EU reported taking action or making investments in becoming more digital. 71% of companies in the US reported using at least one advanced digital technology, similar to the average usage of 69% across EU organizations.


title: Digital transformation

text: However, since there are no comprehensive data sets on the digital transformation at the macro level, the overall effect of digital transformation is still too early to comment.


title: Goomba

text: Goombas , known in Japan as , are a fictional mushroom-like species from Nintendo's "Mario" franchise. They first appeared in the NES video game "Super Mario Bros." as the first enemy players encounter. They have appeared outside video games, including in film, television, and other media. They are usually brown and are most commonly seen walking around aimlessly, often as an obstacle, in video games. They were included late in the development of "Super Mario Bros." as a simple, easy-to-defeat enemy.


title: Goomba

text: The species is considered one of the most iconic elements of the "Super Mario" series, appearing in nearly every game in the series, and is often ranked amongst the most famous enemies in video games. In 2009, Crave Online described it as the series' "everyman". The video game incarnation has been made into several plush toys.


title: Goomba

text: Goombas were introduced in the video game "Super Mario Bros.", and were the last enemy added to the game after play testers stated that the Koopa Troopa was too tricky as an enemy. As a result, the designers decided to introduce the Goomba as a basic enemy. However, they had very little space left in the game. They used a single image twice to convey the notion that the Goombas are walking, flipping it back and forth, causing it to look lopsided as it walks, and giving the appearance of a trot. The Goomba's resemblance to the Super Mushroom forced designers to change the mechanics and appearance of the Super Mushroom. They used the Goomba's ability to be jumped on and defeated to teach players how to deal with enemies and to not fear the Super Mushroom.


title: Goomba

text: Goombas resemble shiitake, with bushy eyebrows and a pair of fangs sprouting from their lower jaw. They also appear to have shoe-like feet coming from their stalks.


title: Goomba

text: Early concept art for the "Super Mario Bros." film showed that the design of the Goombas were originally intended to be for Koopa Troopas, another kind of "Mario" enemy. A separate company from the primary makeup departments designed the Goombas in the film.


title: Goomba

text: The name Goomba is derived from "Goombah" (from Sicilian "cumpà" which translates to "mate" or "fellow") which refers to an Italian American man. Also, in Hungarian "gomba" means "mushroom". In Japan, Goombas are called "Kuribō", which loosely translates as "chestnut person".


title: Goomba

text: Goombas debuted in "Super Mario Bros.", described in the manual as Little Goomba, and have reappeared in nearly all later games in the series. In the 2D games, they walk aimlessly in a straight line, turning only at walls. They can be defeated by jumping on them, which flattens them. In "Super Mario 64", and all their 3D Mario appearances, they will pursue Mario when he is near (instead of just walking aimlessly). In "Super Mario Sunshine", Goombas are not present, but an enemy called the is described in "The Perfect Guide of Super Mario Sunshine" as the "Isle Delfino versions of Goombas".


title: Goomba

text: Several variations of the Goomba have appeared. There are larger versions called , (also called Giant Goombas, or Mega Goombas), and smaller versions called (or ). In one level of "Super Mario Bros. 3", Goombas can be seen wearing a shoe called "Goomba's Shoe". "Super Mario World" replaces the normal Goomba with a more round variation, later named . "Super Mario Land" features a type of Goomba called the Goombo (also called ), and has an undead variation known as , as well as a variation wearing a diving helmet known as . Other variations include (first seen in "Super Mario Galaxy"), (first seen in "New Super Mario Bros. 2"), (first seen in "Super Mario 3D Land"), (first seen in "New Super Mario Bros. U"), (first seen in "Super Mario 3D World"), and (first seen in "Super Mario Maker 2"). Some games also feature stacks of Goombas called . A giant goomba called Mega Goomba appears as a boss in "New Super Mario Bros.". In "Super Mario Odyssey", Goombas wear hats that depend on what kingdom they are in. They can be captured, which allows them to form Goomba Towers.


title: Goomba

text: Goombas appear in each of the "Mario" role-playing games. "Super Mario RPG" introduces the first non-hostile Goombas, while the follow-up game "Paper Mario" introduces a Goomba village, and a playable character called Goombario. The series has also seen its fair share of Goomba variations, such as , , and . A second playable Paper Goomba is introduced in "" called Goombella. Goombas also appear in the six "Mario & Luigi" titles: "", , "", and "". The Goombas meet their paper counterparts, Paper Goombas, in a "Paper Mario" and "Mario & Luigi" crossover game, "". "Bowser's Inside Story" features Goomba-form cells who think Mario and company are viruses, and outside Bowser's body, they are used in one of Bowser's special attacks. In "", a Goomba takes the role of a captain to lead his troops and battle to save Bowser from Fawful. Goombas have appeared in several other spin-off titles in and out of the "Mario" series, including the second, third, fourth, and fifth titles of the "Super Smash Bros." series, "Super Smash Bros. Melee", "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U" and "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate". They have a playable appearance in "Mario" baseball video games such as "Mario Superstar Baseball" and "Mario Super Sluggers", as well as in the recent games in the "Mario Party" series, "Super Mario Party and Mario Party Superstars". Goombas are also obstacles in various "Mario Kart" courses.


title: Goomba

text: In the 1989 television cartoon "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!", Goombas are loyal soldiers in King Koopa's army. The general appearance of the Goomba resembles the ones found in the Mario video games. In several of the episodes, the Goombas appear as zombies, pirates, or other themed variations in accordance with the plot. When the show spun off into "The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3", they continued their job as soldiers in the Koopa army in some episodes. However, the "Super Mario World" cartoon only featured them twice. Goombas were included in an Ice Capades show featuring characters from the "Mario" series.


title: Goomba

text: In the "Super Mario Bros." live-action film, Goombas were originally inhabitants of Dinohattan who opposed the tyrannical President Koopa's rule, and were devolved as punishment for this disloyalty. In the film, upon being de-evolved, these people became Goombas, who were large, reptilian monsters (as opposed to the usual mushroom appearance seen in the games) with hulking bodies and disproportionately small, circular heads, who wore trenchcoats.


title: Goomba

text: Goombas appear as enemies in "" and in the underground side-scrolling passages throughout the game, and also in the seventh dungeon, Eagle's Tower. They can be defeated either by striking them with a sword or by jumping on top of them with Roc's Feather.


title: Goomba

text: Multiple variations appear in all the games of the "Super Smash Bros." series, appearing either as background elements or regular enemies.


title: Goomba

text: The Goomba has become an icon of the "Mario" series, both in its appearance and the concept of "stomping on them", often referenced as one of the key elements of the original "Super Mario Bros." The Goomba has appeared in multiple pieces of merchandise, including a Happy Meal toy as part of a "Super Mario Bros. 3" promotion by Nintendo and McDonald's. A plush Goomba that plays the Goomba "defeat" noise as well as the Game Over tune at certain points was also released. IGN editor Craig Harris described the Goomba as a "household name" along with Koopa Paratroopas and King Koopa. Video game musician and reviewer Tommy Tallarico commented that many new converts to gaming have "never even made Super Mario smoosh a Goomba". In a criticism of video game storytelling, Gamasutra editor Daniel Cook referenced Goombas being mushrooms, but also that it was a less important fact than them being squat, to-scale with the world, and able to be squashed. In an article discussing happiness in video games, Gamasutra editor Lorenzo Wang listed the sound the Goomba makes when it's squished as one of his pleasures. IGN editor Mark Birnhaum praised the sound effects of "Super Mario Bros.", giving similar praise to the sound of the Goomba being stomped on. It was compared to the Met enemy from the "Mega Man" series, calling them the "Goomba of the Mega Man series". In 2009, Crave Online editor Joey Davidson described the Goomba as the series' "everyman", describing it as both defenseless and of little threat, listing such exceptions as the giant Goomba seen in "Super Mario Galaxy". A common enemy in "Braid" has been compared to the Goomba, Gaming Age editor Dustin Chadwell calling it a "slightly skewed version of the Goomba". GameDaily listed Goomba as the fourth best "Mario" enemy, stating that every gamer has run into one as Mario before. Destructoid listed the deaths of Goombas as one of the six sinister things about Super Mario; saying that "whether or not the Goombas are actually working for Bowser, they certainly don't seem like killers, or even soldiers. They walk around aimlessly, and if you touch them, you get hurt. Is that worth killing over?" Nintendo Power listed them as one of their favorite punching bags, stating that while it's hard not to feel bad for them, it is still satisfying.


title: Goomba

text: The live-action "Super Mario Bros." film version of the Goomba has received negative reception. IGN editor Jesse Schedeen called Bowser and his Goombas the most screwed up part of the film, commenting that it would be difficult to create a live action version of the Goomba that deviates from the original version more than this. An "Entertainment Weekly" article called the design creepy, stating that its "foam-latex skin had to be baked for five hours at 200 degrees to achieve that lovely reptilian effect". The facial design of the character Venom in "Spider-Man 3" was compared to the film versions of the Goomba by Crave Online, describing Venom's face as stupid, short, and rounded. Hal Hinson of "The Washington Post" called the Goombas "big dumb goons with shrunken little dino heads", yet also calling them the "best movie heavies since the flying monkeys in 'The Wizard of Oz.


title: Soviet aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk

text: Ulyanovsk (), Soviet designation Project 1143.7, was a fixed-wing aircraft carrier laid down on 25 November 1988 as the first of a class of Soviet nuclear-powered supercarriers. It was intended for the first time to offer true blue water naval aviation capability for the Soviet Navy. The ship would have been equipped with steam catapults that could launch fully loaded aircraft, representing a major advance over the , which could only launch less-loaded aircraft from their ski-jumps. However, construction of "Ulyanovsk" was stopped at about 40% after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.


title: Soviet aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk

text: The Soviet Union's Nevsky Engineering Design Bureau developed the third-generation heavy aircraft cruiser Kuznetsov with Su-33 in the 1980s (plan 1143.5/order 105) and the Varyag aircraft carrier (plan 1143.6/order 106) ), at the same time, in December 1984, the construction of the fourth-generation large-scale nuclear-powered heavy aircraft cruiser began to be constructed. The plan number was "Plan 1143.7", and the preliminary design was completed in 1986. On November 25, 1988, the "Order 107" named "Ulyanovsk" was moved to the shipyard, which was in charge of construction at the Black Sea Shipyard.


title: Soviet aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk

text: To this end, the Soviet government allocated funds to carry out the second large-scale technical transformation of the Black Sea Shipyard, including the construction of an assembly and welding workshop, allowing the hull to be increased in sections to 200 tons; A 350-ton self-propelled flatbed truck was built, and a transport lane from the new workshop to the slipway was built; the length of No. 0 slipway was lengthened by 30 meters; a horizontal slipway-side platform with a total weight of 1,700 tons was built. The slipway and slipway-side platform were installed. Two gantry cranes each with a lifting capacity of 900 tons, and other new cranes were installed, so that the number of cranes used on the entire slipway reached 10; A Liman River channel was completed to ensure that the Ulyanovsk would be able to go to sea in the future.


title: Soviet aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk

text: Due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine's funding was insufficient, and the aircraft carrier construction plan was suspended. Until November 1991, Ulyanovsk was only 40% complete.


title: Soviet aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk

text: "Ulyanovsk" was based upon the 1975 Project 1153 Orel, which did not get beyond blueprints. The initial commissioned name was to be "Kremlin", but was later given the name "Ulyanovsk" after the Soviet town of Ulyanovsk, which was originally named Simbirsk but later renamed after Vladimir Lenin's original name because he was born there.


title: Soviet aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk

text: It would have been 85,000 tonnes in displacement (larger than the older carriers but smaller than contemporary of the U.S. Navy). "Ulyanovsk" would have been able to launch the full range of fixed-wing carrier aircraft, as it was equipped with two catapults as well as a ski jump. The configuration would have been very similar to U.S. Navy carriers though with the typical Soviet practice of adding anti-ship missile (ASM) and surface-to-air missile (SAM) launchers. Its hull was laid down in 1988, but construction was cancelled at 40% complete in January 1991 and a planned second unit was never laid down.


title: Soviet aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk

text: In accordance with Decree No. 69-R of February 4, 1992, signed by the First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Kostyantyn Masyk, on February 5, 1992, scrapping of the ship's hull structures began. By October 29, 1992, the slipway was free, and the ship (order 107) had ceased to exist.


title: Soviet aircraft carrier Ulyanovsk

text: The ship was equipped with two "Mayak" steam catapults made by the Proletarian factory, a ski-jump, and 4 arresting gear. For storing aircraft, it had a 175×32×7.9-m hangar deck with aircraft elevated to the flight deck by 3 elevators with carrying capacities of 50 tons (two on the starboard side and one on the port). The stern housed the "Luna" optical landing guidance system.


title: Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS

text: Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS is a 1975 Canadian exploitation film about Ilsa, a sadistic and sexually voracious Nazi prison camp commandant. The film is directed by American filmmaker Don Edmonds and produced by David F. Friedman for Cinépix Film Properties in Montreal. The film stars Dyanne Thorne in the titular role, who is loosely based on Ilse Koch, the a convicted war criminal and overseer at the Buchenwald concentration camp.


title: Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS

text: Upon its release in early 1975, the film was immediately met with widespread controversy and critical derision, with Gene Siskel calling it "the most degenerate picture I have seen to play downtown". Particular criticism was directed at the film's graphic violence; which includes depictions of castration, flogging, human experimentation, and many other forms of torture. Word of mouth quickly spread, and the film was a considerable financial success, becoming a staple of grindhouse and drive-in theatres.


title: Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS

text: The popularity of the film led to the creation of three sequels, each of which saw Thorne reprise her role. The film's infamy eventually evolved into a considerable cult following, with the character of Ilsa becoming a pop cultural icon ubiquitous with "strong, aggressive" female authority. The film is considered one of the prominent entries of the Nazisploitation sub-genre, and to a lesser degree the sexploitation sub-genre.


title: Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS

text: In 1945, Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne) is Kommandant of a Nazi prison camp. She conducts sadistic scientific experiments designed to demonstrate that women are more capable of enduring pain than men are and should therefore be allowed to fight in the German armed forces. A sadistic authoritarian, Ilsa has a voracious sexual appetite for men, choosing a new male prisoner each night to copulate with. However, owing to her hypersexuality, she is disappointed when her victims inevitably ejaculate and promptly has them castrated and put to death.


title: Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS

text: After dispatching her latest conquest, Ilsa oversees the arrival of a new batch of male and female prisoners. Though dismissive and dehumanizing of the majority of her wards, she becomes enamoured by the presence of Wolfe (Gregory Knoph), a blond-haired and blue-eyed prisoner who, unlike his compatriots, resembles the Nazi Aryan ideal. Wolfe, a German-American student who had been studying in Berlin before the war broke out, tells his cellmate Mario (Tony Mumolo), one of Ilsa's former victims, that he has the ability to ejaculate at will, allowing him to have sex with incredible endurance and skill. Wolfe demonstrates this when, called to Ilsa's bedroom at night, he manages to bring her to orgasm, becoming her first repeat partner whom she willingly spares.