title: Caseless ammunition

text: Older caseless ammunition typically uses a configuration where the primer and propellant get integrated into the bottom of the projectile, much like a rocket. When fired, the propellant gas is vented out the back of the projectile to accelerate it to speed. Unlike rocket projectiles, which have similar configurations, the propellant of "internal propellant caseless ammunition" has an instant burn time like a traditional cartridge (under 0.2 seconds), meaning the propellant burns up before the projectile leaves the barrel. Rocket projectiles, in comparison, have propellant burn times of over 0.2 seconds, usually several seconds, meaning rocket propellant traditionally propels the rocket for a certain distance from the launcher.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: Another difference is means of fire and stabilization. As a cartridge, internal propellant caseless ammunition is only fired from gun barrels, either closed or recoilless, and achieves ballistic stabilization through longitudinal spinning (conservation of angular momentum), either by the use of driving bands and rifling or oblique nozzles for the propellant gas. Rockets, in contrast, can be fired from more platforms than gun barrels, for example, rails, and traditionally use fins for stabilization, either fixed or foldable.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: An early type of internal propellant caseless ammunition was Walter Hunt's Rocket Ball cartridge. It was developed in the 1850s and the guns using it were sold primarily by Volcanic Repeating Arms. Hunt's Rocket Ball cartridges were severely under-powered and never saw wide acceptance for self-protection, hunting, or military use.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: During World War II, Germany began an intensive program to research and develop a practical internal propellant caseless ammunition cartridge for military use, which was driven by the rising scarcity of metals, especially copper used to make cartridge cases. The Germans had some success, but not sufficient to produce a caseless cartridge system during the war. One quasi-example which almost entered production was the 55 mm Maschinenkanone MK 155. It used partially combustable cartridges similar to the ones used in the popular Rheinmetall Rh-120 tank gun today. Japan, however, successfully developed an aircraft mounted autocannon using internal propellant caseless ammunition during the war. Named Ho-301, it was a 40 mm autocannon and saw limited action in the defense of the Japanese home islands during the waning months of the war.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: After WWII the use of internal propellant caseless ammunition largely disappeared from mainstream weapons development, however the type saw a small resurgence when the Soviet Union introduced their GP-25 40 mm internal propellant caseless under-barrel grenade launcher in 1978. This was followed by the Russian-developed AGS‑40 Balkan 40 mm internal propellant caseless automatic grenade launcher in 2017.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: Since propellant is blasted out the back of the projectile during fire, a lot of historical guns using internal propellant caseless ammunition have had problems with residue buildup from the propellant, leading to malfunctions. To decrease residue buildup, historical systems have often been forced to use lower amounts of propellant in the ammunition or adopting a recoilless solution for the gun where some of the burning propellant is vented out the back of the gun when firing. This, however, causes problems on its own as less propellant is being used to propel the ammunition, leading to less potent muzzle velocities, often under the speed of sound (~). This is equal to the muzzle-velocities of many mortar-weapons which are meant to be fired at high angles of elevation with heavy projectile arcs. Caseless ammunition weapons are often meant for horizontal fire, meaning that highly sub-sonic ammunition leads to very limited range and poor accuracy due to the rapid loss of projectile velocity.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: Modern caseless ammunition typically uses a configuration in which the primer and projectile gets integrated into a solid mass of external propellant (originally nitrocellulose), cast to form the body of the cartridge. Cavities exist in the body to accept the bullet and a primer (both of which are glued into place). The completed cartridge might also contain a booster charge of powdered propellant to help ignite the body and provide initial thrust to the bullet. Many of these external propellant caseless cartridges are also telescoped, with the bulk of the bullet held within the body of the cartridge, to cut down on cartridge length. A shorter cartridge cuts down on the distance the firearm's action must reciprocate to load a new round, which allows for higher cyclic rates and greater probability of multiple hits on a target at long range. Lack of a case also reduces the weight of the cartridge substantially, especially in small bore rifles. For example, the external propellant caseless ammunition designed by Austrian inventor Hubert Usel (1926–2010) for the Voere VEC-91 weighs about one third as much as regular ammunition for the same caliber.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: While it seems a simple operation to replace the case with a piece of solid propellant, the cartridge case provides more than just a way to keep the cartridge components together, and these other functions must be replaced if the case is to be replaced. External propellant caseless ammunition is not without its drawbacks, and it is these drawbacks that have kept modern external propellant caseless ammunition from achieving wider success.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: The first major problem, of special concern in military applications, which often involve sustained firing, is the heat sensitivity of the ammunition. Nitrocellulose, the primary component of modern gunpowder, ignites at a relatively low temperature of around 170 °C (338 °F). One of the functions of the metallic cartridge case is as a heat sink; when extracted after firing, every metallic case carries away a significant amount of the heat from the combustion of the propellant, slowing the rate at which heat builds up in the chamber. The thermal insulation provided by the case also works the other way around, shielding the propellant from built-up heat in the chamber walls.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: Without a case to provide these functions, external propellant caseless rounds using nitrocellulose will begin to cook off, firing from the residual chamber heat, much sooner than cased cartridges do. Cooking off can be avoided by designing the weapon to fire from an open bolt, but this introduces other problems, and thus is only suitable for smaller calibre machine guns and submachine guns.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: The normal solution to the problem of heat is to increase the heat resistance by switching to a propellant with a higher ignition temperature, typically a non-crystalline explosive carefully formulated to provide an appropriate rate of combustion. Heckler & Koch, in concert with Dynamit Nobel, managed such a task by producing relatively heat-resistant external propellant caseless ammunition.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: Another important function provided by the cartridge is to seal the rear of the chamber. During firing of a cased cartridge, the pressure in the chamber expands the metallic case which obturates to the chamber. This prevents gas exiting from the rear of the chamber, and it has also been experimentally shown to provide a significant amount of support to the bolt. Without the case to provide this seal, the firearm design must account for this and provide a means of sealing the rear of the chamber. This problem was also encountered with the Dreyse needle gun; the French Chassepot solved the leaking-breech problem with the addition of a rubber seal to the bolt.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: Telescoped external propellant caseless rounds must also deal with the issue of blocking the bore, as the bullet is surrounded by propellant. The booster charge is used to address this issue, providing an initial burst of pressure to force the bullet out of the cartridge body and into the barrel before the body combusts.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: External propellant caseless rounds are limited by the fact that the cartridge body is primarily a propellant, and structural properties are secondary to the combustion properties. The primary issue is one of extraction. While caseless ammunition eliminates the need to extract a fired case, unfired caseless rounds must be extractable to unload the firearm or to clear a misfire. With metallic cases, this ability is provided by a rim or extractor groove machined into the rear of the case. Even in completely plastic bodied cartridges, such as the Activ brand shotgun shells, a thin metal ring is molded into the rim to provide support for the extractor. A secondary issue is that ammunition in use can be exposed to air, water, lubricants, and solvents. Primer and propellant in external propellant caseless rounds is unprotected, while cartridge cases provide a high degree of protection.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: One of the first caseless firearm and ammunition systems produced was made by Daisy, the airgun maker, in 1968. The Daisy V/L rifle uses a .22 caliber (5.5 mm) low-powered external propellant caseless round with no primer. The rifle was basically a spring-piston air rifle, but when used with the V/L ammunition the energy from the compression of the piston heated the air behind the caseless cartridge enough to ignite the propellant, and this generated the bulk of the energy of firing. The Daisy V/L rifle system was discontinued in 1969 after the ATF ruled that it was not an airgun, but a firearm, which Daisy was not licensed to produce.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: Some assault rifles have used external propellant caseless ammunition. One of the better-known weapons of this type is the G11 made by Heckler & Koch as a potential replacement for the G3 battle rifle. Although the G11 never entered full production, it went through a number of prototype stages as well as field testing, including testing as part of the American Advanced Combat Rifle program. While it was scheduled to be adopted by the West German military with a plan set out to procure 300,000 G11K2 rifles over a period from 1990 to 2002, the expenses created by the reunification of Germany and the impossibility of modifying the G11 to use NATO-standard ammunition led to the cancellation of the G11 project and the adoption of a cheaper, more conventional NATO-standardised assault rifle, the 5.56mm G36. The G11's caseless ammunition was later used as the basis for the caseless round development in the US Lightweight Small Arms Technologies program.


title: Caseless ammunition

text: The first commercial external propellant caseless rifle featuring electronic firing was the Voere VEC-91.


title: Lída Baarová

text: Lída Baarová (born Ludmila Babková; 7 September 1914 – 27 October 2000) was a Czech actress who for two years was the mistress of the Nazi propaganda minister of Germany, Joseph Goebbels.


title: Lída Baarová

text: Born in Prague, Baarová studied acting at the city's Conservatory and received her first film role in the Czechoslovak film "Pavel Čamrda's Career" ("Kariéra Pavla Čamrdy") at the age of 17. Her mother sang in a choir and appeared in several theatre plays; her younger sister, Zorka Janů (1921–1946), also became a film actress. In 1934, Baarová left Prague for Berlin after winning a contest at the UFA film studios for a role in the film "Barcarole". She met Adolf Hitler that year and he told her, "You look like someone who played a major role in my life, a very significant role". Hitler was referring to his niece, Geli Raubal.


title: Lída Baarová

text: In Berlin, she made a successful appearance in the film "Barcarole" (1935), along with the German actor Gustav Fröhlich (1902–1987). She and Fröhlich, meanwhile divorced from the Hungarian opera singer Gitta Alpár, became lovers and starred together in several films. Baarová also performed on stage at the Deutsches Theater and the Volksbühne. She received several job offers from Hollywood studios. She turned them down under pressure from the Nazi authorities, but later regretted it and claimed to her biographer, Josef Škvorecký: "I could have been as famous as Marlene Dietrich."


title: Lída Baarová

text: After her engagement to Fröhlich, the couple moved to Schwanenwerder island on the outskirts of Berlin, where their house was close to the residence of Joseph Goebbels, a leading member in the Nazi government of Hitler with a decisive voice in German film production and Nazi cinema. Baarová, still working for the UFA studios, met him when Goebbels visited Fröhlich's home in 1936. Gradually, they became closer and, under the urging of Goebbels, started a relationship that lasted over two years. Their love affair caused serious complications between Goebbels and his wife Magda. When the minister began to show up in public with his mistress, Magda Goebbels in turn began an affair with Goebbels' state secretary Karl Hanke and eventually asked Hitler for permission to divorce her husband. According to Baarová's own statements, she herself, fearing Goebbels' wounded pride, approached the dictator for help.


title: Lída Baarová

text: Hitler intervened on 16 August 1938 and rebuked his minister, stating that in view of his "perfect marriage" as well as the coming annexation of the Sudetenland, his affair with a Czech actress was an impossibility. Baarová was told by the Berlin chief of police Wolf-Heinrich von Helldorff that she had to quit her relationship with Goebbels immediately and was prohibited from performing on Hitler's direct order. Her recently completed film "A Prussian Love Story", which depicted the love affair between Wilhelm I and the Polish princess Elisa Radziwill, and was a thinly-veiled reference to Goebbels and Baarová, was banned, and not shown in theatres until 1950 as "Liebeslegende" ("Story of Love"). Paid shills yelled out "Get out, minister's whore" when Baarová's character appeared on the screen at the premiere of "Der Spieler" ("The Gambler"), and did not stop until the showing was halted. The film's run was ended and the actress had a nervous breakdown. She tried to contact friends in Hollywood, with an eye to going there, but Hitler told her that she could not leave the country. Followed by the Gestapo wherever she went, ordered by Helldorf to stop making public appearances, and pressed by her friends, in the winter of 1938–39 Baarová fled back to Prague. There, she was temporarily allowed to perform under German occupation and, in 1942, moved to Italy, where she starred in such films as "Grazia" (1943), "La Fornarina" (1944), "Vivere ancora" (1945) and others.


title: Lída Baarová

text: After Allied troops occupied Italy, she had to return to Prague. In April 1945, however, Lída Baarová left Prague for Germany again. On the way, she was taken into custody by the American military police, imprisoned in Munich, and later extradited to Czechoslovakia.


title: Lída Baarová

text: In Czechoslovakia in 1945, Baarová and her family were taken into custody on suspicion of collaboration with the Germans during the war. Her mother died under interrogation; her sister Zorka committed suicide in 1946. She herself was released after 18 months of custody due to lack of evidence. She had never been convicted or sentenced. While in custody, she was often visited by the puppeteer Jan Kopecký and they eventually married on 27 July 1947. Kopecký was a close relative of Václav Kopecký, a prominent politician in the post-war government of Czechoslovakia. Kopecký's prominent relative did not approve of the marriage and Kopecký lost his job as a result. Kopecký emigrated to Argentina, leaving Lída behind to recuperate in the sanatorium of Dr. Lundwall.


title: Lída Baarová

text: In Austria in 1949, the actress attempted a comeback, but when the Austrian-British actor Anton Walbrook withdrew from a film where he was cast with her, she left for Argentina to escape the resulting negative media. Living in extreme poverty, she decided to return to Italy. Her husband stayed in Argentina and they were divorced in 1956. Back in Italy, she appeared in several films, including Fellini's "I Vitelloni" (1953), where she played the wife of a rich merchant. In 1958, she moved to Salzburg, where she again performed on stage. She married Austrian physician Kurt Lundwall in 1969; he died in 1973 and is buried in Salzburg's Aigner Friedhof.


title: Lída Baarová

text: In the 1990s, Baarová re-appeared on the cultural scene of the Czech Republic. She published her autobiography. A film, "Lída Baarová's Bittersweet Memories", was released in 1995 and won an award at the 1996 Art Film Festival in Trenčianske Teplice, Slovakia.


title: Lída Baarová

text: Baarová suffered from Parkinson's disease and died in 2000 in Salzburg, while living alone on the estate she inherited after the death of her second husband, Dr. Lundwall. Her ashes were interred in Prague's Strašnice Cemetery, where she rests with her parents and her sister Zorka.


title: Lída Baarová

text: In 2016, a dramatization of Baarová's life was set on film in "The Devil's Mistress" ("Lída Baarová") by Filip Renč, with Tatiana Pauhofová starring as Baarová, Karl Marcovics as Goebbels, and David Novotný as UFA's head of production Ernst Hugo Correll.


title: AKG (company)

text: AKG Acoustics (originally Akustische und Kino-Geräte Gesellschaft m.b.H., ) is an acoustics engineering and manufacturing company. It was founded in 1947 by Rudolf Görike and Ernest Plass in Vienna, Austria. It is a part of Harman International Industries, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.


title: AKG (company)

text: The products currently marketed under the AKG brand mostly consist of microphones, headphones, wireless audio systems and related accessories for professional and consumer markets.


title: AKG (company)

text: The company was founded in Vienna, Austria in 1947 by two Viennese: physicist Rudolf Görike and engineer Ernst Pless.


title: AKG (company)

text: Originally, its main business was to provide technical equipment for cinemas: loudspeakers, film projectors and light meters. The business slowly expanded and AKG started selling car horns, door intercoms, carbon microphone capsules for telephones, headsets and cushion speakers.


title: AKG (company)

text: About this time, the company developed its first patents, the moving coil technology and the principle of mass load membranes, allowing its products to have extended frequency ranges.


title: AKG (company)

text: With the creation of the D12 microphone in 1953, AKG achieved international fame, setting the standard for voice transmissions. Being the world's first dynamic cardioid microphone, it possessed excellent sonic qualities for that time, making its way into radio stations and recording studios from across the world. The product was improved through subsequent upgrades, spanning the famous C414 and C12 microphones.


title: AKG (company)

text: By the end of the 1970s and into the 1980s magnetic cartridges were produced, such as the P25 in 1982.


title: AKG (company)

text: In 1984, AKG became a public company, listed on the Vienna stock exchange. As a blue chip company, it was one of the most traded stocks.


title: AKG (company)

text: The company was acquired by the American company Harman International Industries in 1994. By this time, AKG's United States subsidiary had been established (in Los Angeles in 1985). AKG Acoustics USA, still headquartered in the San Fernando Valley, also houses regional offices for Crown Audio, another Harman Industries subsidiary.


title: AKG (company)

text: In 2016 it was announced that the AKG Vienna facilities (headquarters, manufacturing, and engineering) would be shut down in 2017, with a transfer of brand headquarters to California, USA.


title: AKG (company)

text: Among its professional products especially noteworthy is the first C 12 (introduced in 1953) and its successors and alternate versions, which include the Telefunken Ela M 250 and M 251 (1960), the C 24 stereo microphone, the C 412, and over a dozen different models which have carried the designation "C 414" in various forms. Those microphones are equipped with the famous CK12 large diaphragm capsule designed by AKG's engineer Konrad Wolf. The CK12 was a milestone in transducer technology and the first to offer constant frequency response and sensitivity for all polar patterns (omni to figure eight).


title: AKG (company)

text: AKG microphones have been used for shooting Hans Hass's film "Adventures in the Red Sea" and were installed on the MIR space station. They are also mentioned by Dan Brown in his novels "The Da Vinci Code" and "Deception Point".


title: AKG (company)

text: The K1000 was the flagship model, but is no longer being produced. It was a unique fully open headphone.


title: AKG (company)

text: The K702 features a removable cord and is black, the K701 is white. The Q701 also has a detachable cable and comes in three color variants: white, black, and a lime green. All three models are still in production. The K701s have been largely used by professional musicians and technicians in recording studios.


title: AKG (company)

text: Many top recording studios use AKG K240 headphones as a solution for best general use for both monitor and playback. They received particular notoriety from their prominent display in Eddie Murphy's 1985 music video for "Party All the Time" (which features the K240 Monitor).


title: AKG (company)

text: Another notable, yet short-lived, model was the K280 Parabolic, a multi-driver headphone which focused compression waves to a central point in the earcup.


title: AKG (company)

text: As well as studio headphones, AKG also manufactures a range of Hi-Fi headphones and earphones for domestic use. One notable use includes Samsung, their parent company, using AKG to tune their headphones that come equipped with Samsung's most-recent flagship devices, starting with the Galaxy S8 and S8+, the stereo speakers as of the Galaxy S9, S9+, S10E, S10+, Note 9, and the Note 10 (USB Type-C connector).


title: AKG (company)

text: In 2017, the Y50 model was awarded Product of the Year for on-ear headphones by "What Hi-Fi?" magazine.


title: Jarno Opmeer

text: Jarno Opmeer (born 11 April 2000) is a Dutch esports driver and former racing driver and is the 2020 and 2021 Formula One Esports Champion. He also competes in the Series with Mercedes-EQ.


title: Jarno Opmeer

text: Opmeer graduated to single-seaters in 2016, participating in the SMP F4 Championship. He took seven victories and thirteen podiums in his debut year F4 finishing in second place in the championship to his fellow countryman Richard Verschoor.


title: Jarno Opmeer

text: Opmeer also participated in two race meetings of the Spanish F4 with MP Motorsport, taking 5 podiums out of 6 races.


title: Jarno Opmeer

text: In 2017, Opmeer continued his collaboration with MP and joined the Eurocup championship. He had seven point-scoring finishes including the 5th place in the penultimate race of the season at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. While in the standings he ended fifteenth, behind his teammates Richard Verschoor and Neil Verhagen.


title: Jarno Opmeer

text: In February 2017, Opmeer was inducted into the Renault Sport Academy. In the end of 2017 Opmeer confirmed that the contract he had with the Renault Sport Academy hadn't been extended.


title: Jarno Opmeer

text: In April 2019, Opmeer was signed to Renault–Vitality Esports Team as a driver for the third season of the F1 Esports Series. The Dutchman finished his first season in the competition in fourth place and helped secure his team 4th place in the teams' championship.


title: Jarno Opmeer

text: For the 2020 Formula One Esports Series he moved to the Alfa Romeo Orlen Esports Team. He was the class of the field in 2020 taking 4 wins and the drivers championship with it. He beat Frederik Rasmussen of Red Bull Racing Esports to the drivers' crown by 22 points and also helped his team secure 2nd in teams' championship.


title: Jarno Opmeer

text: On 26 January 2021, Opmeer announced that he has signed with the Mercedes Formula One Esports team. On 16 December 2021, Opmeer won the 2021 Formula One Esports Series.


title: Jarno Opmeer

text: † – As Opmeer had not competed in the required number of rounds, he was ineligible for a championship position.


title: Luka Kovač

text: Luka Kovač is a fictional character from the NBC television series ER. The role was portrayed by Goran Višnjić from the sixth to seventh episode, "Leave It to Weaver", which aired on September 30, 1999 until the thirteenth season episode, "The Honeymoon Is Over", which aired on May 17, 2007.


title: Luka Kovač

text: During the fourteenth season, Višnjić made guest appearances in seven episodes, beginning with "Under the Influence", aired on October 25, 2007 and ending with "The Chicago Way", aired on May 15, 2008. During the series fifteenth and final season, Višnjić would make another guest appearance in the episode "The Book of Abby", aired on October 16, 2008.


title: Luka Kovač

text: Luka Kovač is an emergency room attending physician from Croatia. He speaks of having a joyful, though financially modest, childhood, with at least one brother, and he keeps in contact with his father, who is an amateur painter and engineer working in Croatian Railways in Zagreb. Luka served in the Yugoslav army (at the time of Luka's potential conscription, no Croatian army existed), and saw combat. He was a family man, with a wife (Danijela), son (Marko), and daughter (Jasna). Jasna was his older child, and from a birthday photo we know she was at least four.


title: Luka Kovač

text: When the Croatian War of Independence (1991–1995) broke out, Luka was living in Vukovar, and was at first hesitant to move away, as he wanted to finish his internship. He ended up waiting too long, and it became unsafe to leave. While he was out one morning, a bombardment occurred, and his apartment building was hit by a mortar shell. His son died instantly. His wife and daughter died a few hours later. He carries guilt from the incident because he could have carried his wife to a hospital and saved her, but instead he chose to stay and perform CPR on his daughter (which failed), while his wife bled to death.


title: Luka Kovač

text: He moved to the United States of America some time after that for a fresh start, but evidence he suffered from both survivor's guilt and PTSD soon emerged, largely in terms of his personal relationships. Although initially reluctant to settle in one place, preferring to travel between Chicago and an unnamed southern city in his boat, a job offer from Kerry Weaver led him to take a permanent position at County General. This would be the first of several significant decisions Luka would make that were in part influenced by the relationships in his life.


title: Luka Kovač

text: Kovac, though mild-mannered and congenial by nature, is uncompromising in the moral demands he makes on himself and others (except where his relationships are concerned).


title: Luka Kovač

text: Luka has been in three serious relationships since he settled in Chicago. Soon after arriving at County General he became interested in the then-pregnant Head Nurse Carol Hathaway, although their relationship was largely as friends. For Luka, Carol was a tentative first attempt at romance, albeit with a woman much like his own wife, and for Carol, it was a step toward the next phase of her life. After her twins were born, a kiss between Luka and Carol served as an epiphany for Carol and she left Chicago for Seattle to be with her true love, and the father of her children, Dr. Doug Ross. While involved with Carol, Luka met and began teaching medical student Nurse Abby Lockhart, who would eventually become the longest and most important relationship in his new life. Luka recognized the potential to be a good doctor in her, and began to mentor and encourage her when her personal life led to her withdrawal from medical school.


title: Luka Kovač

text: It was this support along with the loss of Carol that sparked Luka's next relationship. Early into Season 7, Luka became involved with Abby, now an ER nurse, after a spontaneous kiss lead him to reconsider his relationship with her. It was a relationship marked by trouble from their very first date, when they were mugged and Luka unintentionally killed their assailant in self-defense. They drifted into a sexual connection after the mugging, and initially, neither was able to define or commit to their relationship, although for a time they were happy. An encounter with a dying bishop provided Luka with a measure of absolution for the death of his wife, and for a time, he seemed ready to move forward. However, the repeated appearances of Abby's troubled mother, along with the continuous interference by Dr. John Carter, who Abby turned to as an enabler, was too much for the fragile relationship and resulted in a break-up.


title: Luka Kovač

text: Although the breakup was acrimonious, Luka remained quite protective of her (especially after she was attacked by her neighbor). Over the next few years, he and Abby slowly forged a close friendship. The break-up affected Luka deeply, however, and he then went through a long period where he was unable to form a satisfactory relationship. He has many demons and tends to be emotionally reclusive and, for a short time, used sex to drown his problems. He had a series of brief flings, before developing an unorthodox relationship with a prostitute who seemed to serve more as a psychotherapist. An affair between Luka and nurse Chuny Marquez ended badly in Season 9 and resulted in Luka being briefly suspended for unprofessional conduct. He rebuffed a series of advances by medical student Erin Harkins (Leslie Bibb) before making a drunken pass after a painful encounter with Abby. Harkins was seriously injured in a car accident the next day, when he drove exhausted and angry in his Dodge Viper. As a result of this, Luka's PTSD and depression led him to ask for a short leave from the hospital. When Kerry brusquely refused, he went AWOL from County and returned just before Kerry was going to officially fire him. Despite his depression, he was able to save a boy's life using an unorthodox method, and was allowed to stay on condition he undergo counseling, with which he was minimally cooperative. The combination of guilt over his mistakes at the hospital, survivor's guilt and PTSD eventually led him to take a high-risk assignment in Africa with the organization Alliance Medicines.


title: Luka Kovač

text: When Carter returned to the United States, Luka stayed behind working at a rural clinic in the Congo until he contracted malaria. Despite the symptoms, he helped evacuate patients during a rebel attack. However, he was captured by the rebels two days later, along with his surviving patients and co-workers. As the prisoners were dragged one by one to their execution, Luka knelt and began praying (in Croatian) for the first time in years. Though the rebels at first objected and pointed their guns at him, their leader noticed a small cross hanging around Luka's neck, given to him by the mother of a young patient. Thinking Luka was a priest, the rebels knelt around him and joined him in prayer, releasing him the next day along with three of his surviving patients. Carter, having returned to Africa because County had been told Luka was killed (his I.D. had been found in the burned-down clinic), found Luka half-dead from the malaria in a refugee camp. Opting to stay in the Congo for a while, Carter sent Luka back to County on his return flight.


title: Luka Kovač

text: On his return from Africa, Luka began a relationship with Nurse Samantha Taggart, and for about a year and a half all seemed fairly well until he expressed his desire to have more children. Sam already had a son, Alex, whom she clearly loved very much, but declared, with absolute conviction, that she was completely done with having children. Sam and Luka eventually became frustrated over their inability to communicate with each other (Luka with Sam keeping things from him, and Sam with Luka's unwillingness to discuss his past or acknowledge their relationship had problems) which resulted in Sam and Alex moving out. Their break-up, though somewhat rough, ultimately resolved amicably. One consequence, though, is that Luka's involvement with Alex was very limited. However, as with most people he meets who have suffered great hardships, Luka continued to act protective around Sam and Alex.


title: Luka Kovač

text: Luka then began seeing Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney) again after an argument that turned into a kiss, and an overnight affair. Abby became pregnant by Luka from this encounter and debated whether to have the baby because of her family's history of bipolar disorder. Luka left the decision to her, but a few days later she told him she wanted to keep it. Although they still kept both their apartments and did not become engaged (Abby being leery of marriage since her first was a disaster), they began living together and seemed happy.


title: Luka Kovač

text: Luka was a committed physician, and considered one of the more approachable attendings. He also was a supporter of world health, and more than once donated his services to the Doctors Without Borders program, coming close to death on one occasion. Though once a man of faith, Luka has struggled with his religious beliefs. Such doubts arose after the death of his family. While treating Bishop Lionel Stewart (portrayed by James Cromwell), he seemed to come to terms with his bitterness, although he still wrestles with what God is and isn't responsible for. As an Attending, he is generally a patient teacher to residents and medical students, though his commitment to teaching sometimes frustrates nurses who are needed to dash from patient to patient.


title: Luka Kovač

text: He and Dr. John Carter once had a strong rivalry arising from their feelings of attraction to Abby - to the point that a fencing match in "Secrets and Lies" resulted in both of them drawing blood - but their shared experiences in the Congo, as well as the death of Carter's unborn son, made them understand each other better, and they became true friends. It is said in Season 12 that they kept in contact with each other while Carter was still in Africa. It is likely that they stayed in touch up to Season 15, as Carter was aware that Abby and Luka moved to Boston.


title: Luka Kovač

text: Following the departure of Dr Susan Lewis, Luka was made Chief of Emergency Medicine in Season 12, by an initially reluctant Kerry Weaver. His competition was the new Attending, a brilliant but unstable doctor named Victor Clemente. Luka and Clemente had locked horns even before they were competing for the job. The two of them remained hostile for a while, but gradually mended fences. Nonetheless, Clemente's personal issues (including being suspected of shooting his girlfriend, and insomnia developed from being stalked by her ex-husband) forced Luka to admit him for PTSD near the end of Season 12 and fire him. Kerry Weaver initially blamed Luka for the havoc Clemente caused on his watch. However, when she realized the board wanted to fire Luka at the start of Season 13, she admitted she had kept him on staff against Luka's wishes for months, saving his career and getting herself demoted to an Attending. Luka was later forced to consider firing her (which raised protest from many of the staff, including Abby) but he found a way to keep her on staff. Ultimately, Kerry resigned anyway about halfway through the season and sought a new career in Florida, parting on good terms with Luka.


title: Luka Kovač

text: In "Twenty-One Guns", the season 12 finale, Kovač is injected with a paralytic medication during an escape attempt by Sam's jailed ex-husband. Because he was unable to breathe independently for some time and could have died, Sam forced her captors to let her intubate him before they took her from the hospital. Luka awoke an hour later with the tube still in his throat, strapped to the gurney. In the following shootout, he watches helplessly from another room as the heavily pregnant Abby falls to the ground from internal injuries she sustained.


title: Luka Kovač

text: In the season 13 premiere, "Bloodline", Kovač was rescued by Weaver, only to learn that Abby sustained possibly serious injuries as a result of the shootout. Luka accompanies Abby as she is taken up to OB where it is discovered that she will need to have a caesarean section, complications during which led to Abby also having a hysterectomy. The baby (whom Abby and Luka decide to name Josip, after Luka's father, but call "Joe", because Abby's father was a fan of boxer Joe Frazier) was born prematurely; consequently, he had underdeveloped lungs and several other serious problems. After several tense weeks and emergency surgery, a healthy Joe was released from the hospital, and Luka and Abby settled into parenthood. Soon after returning to work, Luka had to defend himself in a malpractice suit brought by Curtis Ames (played by Forest Whitaker), a carpenter who suffered a debilitating stroke while under Kovač's care for pneumonia. Luka won the case, but he and Abby were stalked for months by a vengeful Ames. The situation came to a climax when Ames took Luka hostage, subjected him to a night of mental and physical torture (by crushing Kovač's hand in a vise), and shot himself to death, on a rooftop, in front of the horrified doctor, as police surrounded them. Later, Abby asks him to propose to her, and he does. Luka suggests they keep their engagement a secret, to which Abby agrees, but the staff soon finds out.


title: Luka Kovač

text: Once their secret is out, Abby's slowness planning their wedding begins to frustrate Luka, so he takes action. In the episode "I Don't," Luka prepares a surprise wedding for Abby, and then convinces her to marry him then and there. The night before they are due to depart for their honeymoon, however, he receives a call from Croatia informing him that his father is ill, so the honeymoon is postponed, while Luka makes an urgent trip to his native country. He is gone much longer than expected (six months), and Abby struggles to keep their lives in Chicago together while Luka is away. When Kovač returns home he is happy to see Joe and Abby. News soon arrived that his father died in Croatia. While preparing to return to Croatia, Abby tells him that she has relapsed but does not tell him that she slept with another doctor while she was drunk and blacked out. While Abby seeks help for her alcoholism, Luka and Joe return to Croatia for his father's funeral. While Abby is in rehab, Luka briefly returns to Chicago to visit her, at which time he quit his job at County. Upon her release from rehab, Abby joins him, and tells him about her alcohol induced infidelity. They return to the US soon after, and Luka struggles with forgiving Abby’s mistakes. He tries to decide what to do about his marriage, ignoring Abby's remorse and attempts to work on their problems in a completely uncharacteristic way. Luka moves out of their home, though he does not seek legal separation or consider divorce. He takes a position as a doctor in a small hospice voicing a desire to do some good. There he meets an elderly man who teaches (or maybe reminds him of) some lessons about life and forgiveness, and in the Season 14 finale, Luka forgives Abby after first confronting Kevin Moretti. Luka tells Abby that he finally realized that marriage isn’t something static and concrete, it’s something you fight for and work on. As long as they love each other (using a metaphor about rowing a boat), they’ll be okay. He suggests to Abby that they leave Chicago, and they decide to go.


title: Luka Kovač

text: During the 15th and final season of "ER", at the end of the episode "The Book of Abby," long-serving nurse Haleh Adams shows the departing Abby Lockhart a closet wall where all the past doctors and employees have put their locker name tags. Abby then adds both her and Luka's locker name tags to the wall. Kovač's final appearance in the series came late in the episode, when he comes to pick up Abby before they leave for Boston. They embraced each other with a kiss and gave a final goodbye to their friends at County, a scene echoing the Season 6 episode where Carol leaves him to join Doug in a kiss after telling Luka he would find the right woman some day. Luka is not seen again in the series, but Abby indicates in a phone call to Neela that the three of them are settling in well in Boston.


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: Flight of the Phoenix is a 2004 American survival drama film directed by John Moore and written by Scott Frank and Edward Burns. The film is a remake of the 1965 film of the same name, both based on the 1964 novel "The Flight of the Phoenix", by Elleston Trevor, about a group of people who survive an aircraft crash in the Gobi Desert and must build a new aircraft out of the old one to escape. It stars Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi, Tyrese Gibson, Miranda Otto and Hugh Laurie.


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: "Flight of the Phoenix" was filmed on location in the Namib Desert, and was released in the United States on December 17, 2004, by 20th Century Fox. The film was a box office failure, and received generally mixed reviews; criticism was geared toward its similarity to the 1965 film, while praise related to the acting, direction and visuals.


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: When an Amacore oil rig in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia proves unproductive, Captain Frank Towns and co-pilot A.J. are sent to shut down the operation and transport the crew (Amacore executive Ian, rig supervisor Kelly, Rodney, Davis, Liddle, Jeremy, Sammi, Rady, Kyle, Newman, and Dr. Gerber) out of the desert. However, en route to Beijing, a major dust storm disables one engine, forcing them to crash land their C-119 Flying Boxcar in an uncharted area of the Gobi Desert. Kyle falls to his death and the crash kills Dr. Gerber and Newman. Their cargo consists of used parts and tools from the rig, the rig's crew, and Elliot, a hitchhiker. When the dust storm ends, it becomes apparent that they are off course with only a month's supply of water. Jeremy thinks about walking to get help, but Rady explains that July is the hottest month in the Gobi, and that he won't make it.


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: In the middle of the night, Davis goes out to urinate without informing anybody, trips, gets lost in a sandstorm, and dies. The group panics after a failed search for him, and Kelly argues with Frank, who says that walking out of the desert would fail and that their only option is to await rescue. The group initially agrees but reconsiders after Elliot, claiming to be an aeronautical engineer, pitches a radical idea: rebuild the wreckage of their C-119 into a functional aircraft. Frank initially refuses, which causes Liddle to wander off on his own in protest. Frank attempts to find him. He comes across a valley littered with debris, cargo from the aircraft, which dropped out when the tail was torn open. Among the debris he discovers the bullet-ridden and stripped body of Kyle. Liddle says he will only go back with him if they build the plane, and Frank agrees.


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: They struggle for several weeks building the new aircraft, through dust storms, lack of water, and fighting amongst the group. Rady christens it "Phoenix" after the legendary bird. A problem evolves when a group of smugglers camp nearby; when Ian, A.J., and Rodney attempt to communicate, the bandits kill Rodney and try to kill the group to prevent them from exposing their smuggling operations, but they are killed in a short, fierce skirmish when ambushed by Frank. Later, it is revealed that Elliot's aircraft design experience has been restricted to the design of model aircraft, much to the anger of everyone, especially Ian, who threatens to shoot Elliot. However, they eventually are able to construct the new aircraft and take off, barely in time to escape a larger group of bandits seeking revenge for the murdered smugglers.


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: Through a series of photos, we see what became of the survivors when they made it back to civilization. All have been revitalized by the experience and have happy lives: Frank and A.J. start their own airline (appropriately named Phoenix Aviation), Sammi and his wife start their own restaurant (Jeremy and Rady are there to celebrate), Liddle is reunited with his wife and kids, Ian becomes a professional golfer, Kelly is boss on an ocean oil rig, and Elliot is wearing a flight suit on a "Flight International" magazine cover with the headline: "NASA's New Hope?"


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: Co-writer Edward Burns was personally asked by Tom Rothman, who at the time was the president of Fox and had discovered Burns when he bought "The Brothers McMullen" as Fox Searchlight's first acquisition, to rewrite the film's dialogue. Burns said, "I probably did three drafts of it, and that was it. I never met Scott (Scott Frank, the other credited co-writer)." This is the only film Burns has writing credit on that he did not also direct.


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: Director John Moore scouted locations in Morocco and Australia before looking at, and quickly choosing, Namibia as the crash site. "Where most of the film takes place, was only a 20 minute-drive from the coastal town of Swakopmund." The Namib Desert location caused problems: cameras and other equipment had to be constantly cleaned of sand, and a "couple of hundred people were employed as 'dune groomers'" so that visual continuity could be maintained.


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: For the latter, in October 2009 a Los Angeles jury awarded Barry $3.95 million in damages for broken legs and neurological damage he received during the accident; $1.3 million of the amount was awarded for lost future income.


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: A behind-the-scenes documentary, "The Phoenix Diaries", was included on the DVD. In it, director John Moore can be seen screaming at the crew. Fox executives are also not shown in a flattering light. The documentary was not included in the 2006 Blu-ray release.


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: A "Phoenix" that could be taxied but not flown was built for closeups. The "Phoenix" in flying scenes were done using a radio-controlled model and computer graphics.


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: The film grossed $21,009,180 at the box office in the United States and another $14,012,317 outside the US, which brings the worldwide total of $35,021,497. The film’s failure was partly due to its competition with "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" and "Meet the Fockers".


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: "Flight of the Phoenix" has received generally mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a "rotten" score of 30%, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's consensus states: "What this update lacks in tension, it makes up for with generic action." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 47 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: The main criticism for the film was its similarity to the original. John Anderson from "Newsday" said, "if you've seen the original, there's absolutely no difference in what happens. And very little reason to check it out." Aerofiles, a non-commercial website focusing on North American aviation history, called the film "perhaps the worst remake ever of a classic film." Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" said the film is a "rickety update of the far superior 1965 movie" that "throws in every cheap trick in the manual to pump up your heartbeat [and] is so manipulative that the involuntary jolts of adrenaline it produces make you feel like a fool." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film two out of four stars, writing "I'm not recommending it for those who know the original, but it might work nicely enough for those who have not."


title: Flight of the Phoenix (2004 film)

text: The film did receive some praise. Scott Brown from "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a B grade, saying "refreshingly, it's actually about action, albeit arbitrary action, and how it defines us and keeps us alive." Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" gave the film four stars out of five, calling it "a worthy remake."


title: Proto-language

text: In the tree model of historical linguistics, a proto-language is a postulated ancestral language from which a number of attested languages are believed to have descended by evolution, forming a language family. Proto-languages are usually unattested, or partially attested at best. They are reconstructed by way of the comparative method.


title: Proto-language

text: In the family tree metaphor, a proto-language can be called a mother language. Occasionally, the German term "Ursprache" (from "Ur-" "primordial, original", and "Sprache" "language", ) is used instead. It is also sometimes called the "common" or "primitive" form of a language (e.g. Common Germanic, Primitive Norse).


title: Proto-language

text: In the strict sense, a proto-language is the most recent common ancestor of a language family, immediately before the family started to diverge into the attested "daughter languages". It is therefore equivalent with the "ancestral language" or "parental language" of a language family.


title: Proto-language

text: Moreover, a group of languages (such as a dialect cluster) which are not considered separate languages (for whichever reasons) may also be described as descending from a unitary proto-language.


title: Proto-language

text: Typically, the proto-language is not known directly. It is by definition a linguistic reconstruction formulated by applying the comparative method to a group of languages featuring similar characteristics. The tree is a statement of similarity and a hypothesis that the similarity results from descent from a common language.


title: Proto-language

text: The comparative method, a process of deduction, begins from a set of characteristics, or characters, found in the attested languages. If the entire set can be accounted for by descent from the proto-language, which must contain the proto-forms of them all, the tree, or phylogeny, is regarded as a complete explanation and by Occam's razor, is given credibility. More recently, such a tree has been termed "perfect" and the characters labelled "compatible".


title: Proto-language

text: No trees but the smallest branches are ever found to be perfect, in part because languages also evolve through horizontal transfer with their neighbours. Typically, credibility is given to the hypotheses of highest compatibility. The differences in compatibility must be explained by various applications of the wave model. The level of completeness of the reconstruction achieved varies, depending on how complete the evidence is from the descendant languages and on the formulation of the characters by the linguists working on it. Not all characters are suitable for the comparative method. For example, lexical items that are loans from a different language do not reflect the phylogeny to be tested, and, if used, will detract from the compatibility. Getting the right dataset for the comparative method is a major task in historical linguistics.


title: Proto-language

text: Some universally accepted proto-languages are Proto-Afroasiatic, Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Uralic, and Proto-Dravidian.


title: Proto-language

text: In a few fortuitous instances, which have been used to verify the method and the model (and probably ultimately inspired it), a literary history exists from as early as a few millennia ago, allowing the descent to be traced in detail. The early daughter languages, and even the proto-language itself, may be attested in surviving texts. For example, Latin is the proto-language of the Romance language family, which includes such modern languages as French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan and Spanish. Likewise, Proto-Norse, the ancestor of the modern Scandinavian languages, is attested, albeit in fragmentary form, in the Elder Futhark. Although there are no very early Indo-Aryan inscriptions, the Indo-Aryan languages of modern India all go back to Vedic Sanskrit (or dialects very closely related to it), which has been preserved in texts accurately handed down by parallel oral and written traditions for many centuries.


title: Proto-language

text: The first person to offer systematic reconstructions of an unattested proto-language was August Schleicher; he did so for Proto-Indo-European in 1861.


title: Proto-language

text: Normally, the term "Proto-X" refers to the last common ancestor of a group of languages, occasionally attested but most commonly reconstructed through the comparative method, as with Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Germanic. An earlier stage of a single language X, reconstructed through the method of internal reconstruction, is termed "Pre-X", as in Pre–Old Japanese. It is also possible to apply internal reconstruction to a proto-language, obtaining a pre-proto-language, such as Pre-Proto-Indo-European.


title: Proto-language

text: Both prefixes are sometimes used for an unattested stage of a language without reference to comparative or internal reconstruction. "Pre-X" is sometimes also used for a postulated substratum, as in the Pre-Indo-European languages believed to have been spoken in Europe and South Asia before the arrival there of Indo-European languages.


title: Proto-language

text: When multiple historical stages of a single language exist, the oldest attested stage is normally termed "Old X" (e.g. Old English and Old Japanese). In other cases, such as Old Irish and Old Norse, the term refers to the language of the oldest known significant texts. Each of these languages has an older stage (Primitive Irish and Proto-Norse respectively) that is attested only fragmentarily.


title: Proto-language

text: There are no objective criteria for the evaluation of different reconstruction systems yielding different proto-languages. Many researchers concerned with linguistic reconstruction agree that the traditional comparative method is an "intuitive undertaking."


title: Proto-language

text: The bias of the researchers regarding the accumulated implicit knowledge can also lead to erroneous assumptions and excessive generalization. offers several examples in where such general assumptions concerning "the nature of language" hindered research in historical linguistics. Linguists make personal judgements on how they consider "natural" for a language to change, and "[as] a result, our reconstructions tend to have a strong bias toward the average language type known to the investigator."


title: Proto-language

text: The advent of the wave model raised new issues in the domain of linguistic reconstruction, causing the reevaluation of old reconstruction systems and depriving the proto-language of its "uniform character." This is evident in Karl Brugmann's skepticism that the reconstruction systems could ever reflect a linguistic reality. Ferdinand de Saussure would even express a more certain opinion, completely rejecting a positive specification of the sound values of reconstruction systems.


title: Proto-language

text: In general, the issue of the nature of proto-language remains unresolved, with linguists generally taking either the "realist" or the "abstractionist" position. Even the widely-studied proto-languages, such as Proto-Indo-European, have drawn criticism for being outliers typologically with respect to the reconstructed phonemic inventory. The alternatives such as glottalic theory, despite representing a typologically less rare system, have not gained wider acceptance, and some researchers even suggest the use of indexes to represent the disputed series of plosives. On the other end of the spectrum, suggests that Proto-Indo-European reconstructions are just "a set of reconstructed formulae" and "not representative of any reality". In the same vein, Julius Pokorny in his study on Indo-European, claims that the linguistic term "IE parent language" is merely an abstraction, which does not exist in reality and should be understood as consisting of dialects possibly dating back to the paleolithic era in which those dialects formed the linguistic structure of the IE language group. In his view, Indo-European is solely a system of isoglosses which bound together dialects which were operationalized by various tribes, from which the historically attested Indo-European languages emerged.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Lawrence Whistler (born December 5, 1951), better known by the ring name Larry Zbyszko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, Bruno Sammartino, during the early 1980s as well as his work as a wrestler and color commentator for World Championship Wrestling. Among other accolades, he is a two-time world champion having twice held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. Zbyszko was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 28, 2015 by Sammartino.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Whistler trained under Bruno Sammartino after cutting his collegiate wrestling career at Penn State University short. He debuted in 1973 as the babyface "Larry Zbyszko", with his name a tribute to 1920s Polish American wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko. He initially wrestled in the Pittsburgh area in 1972, appearing on the local wrestling program "Studio Wrestling", before receiving bookings in Vancouver in 1973. He spent three years in the World Wide Wrestling Federation before traveling to California in 1975.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko was one of the attractions in the 1976 Latin America Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight championship, held in Guatemala City, under José Azzari promotions. Three days after the end of the tournament (Mil Máscaras won the title, defeating José Azzari in the final), an earthquake destroyed much of that Central American nation.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko returned to the WWWF in 1976 and formed a tag team with Tony Garea, with whom he won the WWWF World Tag Team Championships on November 21, 1978 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Their reign lasted until March 6, 1979, when they were defeated by the Valiant brothers in Allentown.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko feuded with Bugsy McGraw, Abdullah the Butcher and Superstar Billy Graham in addition to wrestling Killer Kowalski and Baron Mikel Scicluna. In 1978 he summarized his mat-based ringwork with the statement, "I just believe in science over brawn."


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: At the end of the decade, Zbyszko became frustrated with his inability to shed his label as Bruno Sammartino's protégé. He challenged Sammartino to an exhibition match, claiming this was the only way he could step out of Sammartino's shadow. Sammartino eventually agreed to the match after Zbyszko threatened to retire if he was not granted the match. The trainer and pupil faced one another in Allentown on January 22, 1980, with Sammartino dominating the early stages of the match. After Sammartino threw him out of the ring, an irate Zbyszko seized a wooden chair and struck Sammartino, leaving him in a pool of blood in the middle of the ring and instantly turning Zbyszko into a reviled heel.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko was struck with an iron pole following a match with Ivan Putski, and was stabbed in the buttock following a match with Pedro Morales in the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany, New York. After turning against Sammartino, Zbyszko was approached by the WWWF's "Unholy Trio" of managers (Fred Blassie, The Grand Wizard, and "Captain" Lou Albano), but he decided to continue wrestling without a manager. Sammartino and Zbyszko fought one another repeatedly in a lengthy feud that stretched throughout 1980. In the course of the feud, Zbyszko began referring to himself as "The New Living Legend" (a reference to Sammartino, who was often addressed as "The Living Legend"). The feud culminated in a steel cage match at Showdown at Shea at Shea Stadium in Flushing, New York on August 9, 1980 that saw Sammartino defeat Zbyszko in front of an audience of 36,295.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In early to mid-1982, Zbyszko appeared with the International Wrestling Federation, where he faced Bruno Sammartino Jr. in a series of matches. In October 1982, he made another tour of Japan with All Japan Pro Wrestling.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In March 1983, Zbyszko joined the Georgia Championship Wrestling territory of the National Wrestling Alliance, where he began claiming to have retired Bruno Sammartino (Sammartino had retired from full-time competition in 1981). Zbyszko initially feuded with Tim Woods and Paul Orndorff, whom he was unable to defeat for the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. After Killer Tim Brooks defeated Orndorff for the title on March 20, 1983, Zybszko immediately offered him US$25,000 for the title, which Brooks accepted. His reign lasted until April 30 of that year, when NWA President Bob Geigel stripped Zbyszko of the title due to the manner in which he had acquired it. A tournament was held for the vacant title, which Zbyszko entered. He defeated Mr. Wrestling II in the tournament final on May 6, 1983 in Atlanta, Georgia to regain the title. His second reign lasted until September 25, 1983, when he lost to Brett Wayne in Atlanta. He continued to wrestle in Georgia until April 1984.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In March 1984, Zbyszko joined the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based American Wrestling Association. He was awarded the newly created AWA America's Championship in January 1985, and engaged in a lengthy feud with Sgt. Slaughter, who defeated him for the title on June 21, 1985 in Chicago, Illinois. Throughout the feud, Zbyszko drew the ire of fans by fleeing the ring and stalling for minutes at a time whenever Slaughter gained an advantage (in an April 2004 interview, Zbyszko claimed that the longest he ever stalled for was sixteen minutes).


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko feuded with Nick Bockwinkel throughout 1986, losing to him in a Texas death match at "Rage in a Cage" on April 28, 1986. In the course of the feud, he also vied with Bockwinkel's ally Ray Stevens and boxer Scott LeDoux. Zybszko lost to LeDoux in a boxing match at WrestleRock '86 on April 20, 1986 and fought him to a double count out at "Battle by the Bay" on June 28, 1986.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: On May 2, 1987, Zbyszko helped Curt Hennig defeat Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship by handing him a roll of dimes to knock Bockwinkel out with. He was suspended "for life" by the AWA as a result of an assault on Bockwinkel during Bockwinkel's rematch with Hennig in July 1987. As Bockwinkel retired shortly after the incident, Zbyszko began claiming to have retired both Bockwinkel and Bruno Sammartino.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In November 1987, Zbyszko joined Jim Crockett Promotions, where he was managed by Baby Doll. He began feuding with Barry Windham, and on January 24, 1988 in Uniondale, New York he defeated Windham for the NWA Western States Heritage Championship. After Baby Doll left Zbyszko he gained a new manager in Gary Hart, who placed him in a tag team with Al Perez. Perez and Zbyszko feuded with Kendall Windham and Dustin Rhodes.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: It was also during this time that Hart was asking for NWA World Title shots for both Zbyszko and Perez. It was claimed by Hart and even announcer Jim Ross that Zbyszko and Perez both had the ability to beat Flair for the title, but neither received title shots and the NWA quickly dropped the overtures. Crockett Promotions was under new ownership and both Zbyszko and Perez were essentially left without an angle. Zbyszko signed with the AWA in January 1989 and the NWA Western States Heritage Championship, which Zbyszko still held at that point, was subsequently retired.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko took part in an eighteen-man battle royal in Saint Paul, Minnesota on February 7, 1989 to fill the vacant AWA World Heavyweight Championship. By stalling and avoiding confrontations with other wrestlers, Zbyszko was able to remain in the match until only two men remained: himself and Tom Zenk. The two men fought for several minutes. When Zenk went for a pin, referee Gary DeRusha inexplicably entered the ring to make the count. Zbyszko kicked out and the two continued in what now appeared to be a conventional wrestling match. DeRusha ended up taking a bump and was unable to make the three count when Zenk covered Zbyszko for the pin. As DeRusha slowly recovered, Zenk continued to dominate the match. As he attempted a flying body press, however, Zbyszko managed to catch him in mid-air and deliver a fallaway slam, throwing him over the top rope and to the ground below. Zbyszko was thus the new AWA World Heavyweight Champion.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Early in his title reign, Zbyszko would feud with Wahoo McDaniel and Sgt. Slaughter. He would face Greg Gagne on June 23, 1989 at War in the Windy City, and David Sammartino, who he defeated at the "Tri-State Winter Challenge" on January 27, 1990. He then began feuding with Mr. Saito, who defeated him for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship on February 10, 1990 at Super Fight In Tokyo Dome during a tour of Japan. Zbyszko regained the title at SuperClash 4 on April 8, 1990, in Saint Paul and successfully defended it against The Trooper, Brad Rheingans, and Nikita Koloff (who he defeated on May 5, 1990 at Twin Wars '90) toward the end of his reign. He was stripped of the title after leaving the AWA for World Championship Wrestling on December 12, 1990, and the AWA declared bankruptcy in 1991, making Zbyszko the last man to reign as AWA World Heavyweight Champion.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In December 1990, Zbyszko returned to the NWA. Zbyszko initially teamed with Terrence Taylor, a member of The York Foundation, but was not recruited to the stable. Zbyszko was paired with Arn Anderson as the Enforcers in the late summer of 1991. After Scott Steiner, one-half of the World Tag Team Champions, was injured, the titles were vacated on July 18, 1991, and placed on the line in an eight-man tag team tournament. The tournament finals were held on September 5, 1991 at "" and pitted the Enforcers against Rick Steiner and Bill Kazmeier. At the outset of the event, the Enforcers struck Kazmeier with a weight during a weightlifting demonstration, injuring his ribs. This enabled them to defeat Steiner and Kazmeier for the titles in the main event.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: At Halloween Havoc, The Enforcers began feuding with Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes, and broke Windham's hand by slamming the door of his car on his hand. Following this act, Zbyszko gave himself the sobriquet the "Cruncher". Windham was replaced by Ricky Steamboat, and at "Clash of the Champions XVII" on November 19, 1991 in Savannah, Georgia, the Enforcers lost the titles to Steamboat and Rhodes.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In December 1991, the Enforcers joined Paul E. Dangerously's Dangerous Alliance, which also included Rick Rude, "Stunning" Steve Austin, Bobby Eaton and Madusa. They feuded with Ricky Steamboat, Dustin Rhodes, Barry Windham, Nikita Koloff, Sting and the WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ron Simmons. On May 17, 1992 at "WrestleWar 1992: WarGames", the Dangerous Alliance lost a WarGames match to their rivals after Zbyszko accidentally hit Eaton in the arm with the turnbuckle that he had dismantled, forcing Eaton to submit as a result of the pain. As a result of his blunder, Zbyszko was fired from the stable by Dangerously, turning him into a face for the first time since 1980. He briefly feuded with Austin and Eaton before retiring from full-time competition to become a color commentator. One of his first appearances as a commentator occurred at Starrcade alongside of Missy Hyatt. As a commentator, Zbyszko began referring to himself simply as "The Living Legend", as many WCW fans were unfamiliar with his feud with Bruno Sammartino. He also hosted an interview segment, "Larry Z's Legends" on WCW television which only lasted a few weeks.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In March 1994, Zbyszko began hosting "WCW Pro", alongside Dusty Rhodes and Gordon Solie. Shortly thereafter, Lord Steven Regal began harassing Zbyszko, prompting him to return to the ring. On May 2, 1994 in Atlanta, Zbyszko defeated Regal for the WCW World Television Championship. He held the title until June 23, 1994 when Regal regained the belt in Charleston, South Carolina.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In 1996, Zbyszko was promoted to the "WCW Monday Nitro" broadcast team, where he announced during the first hour with Tony Schiavone. In 1997, he was antagonized by New World Order (nWo) member Scott Hall, but Hall opted not to face Zbyszko. Zbyszko remained in the broadcast booth for most of 1997, occasionally refereeing matches involving Hall and the nWo. On October 13, 1997, Zbyszko got involved in a WCW Tag Team Championship match between the Steiner Brothers and Scott Hall and Syxx (subbing for an injured Kevin Nash) and counted the ensuing fall for the Steiner Brothers who became the champions. This reign was official despite Zbyszko not being an official referee, a role he previously played in Scott Hall's match against Lex Luger at Halloween Havoc (1997). On December 28, 1997 at "StarrCade 1997", Zbyszko returned to the ring for a match against Bischoff for control of "WCW Monday Nitro" with Bret Hart acting as special referee. Hart ensured that the nWo did not interfere, and Zbyszko won the match, regaining control of "Nitro" for WCW. He continued to feud with Hall and his lackey, Louie Spicolli, culminating in a match between Zbyszko and Hall at "Souled Out 1998" on January 24, 1998. Zbyszko won the match by disqualification after Dusty Rhodes betrayed him, joining the nWo.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko went back to commentating, becoming part of the main "Thunder" announce team in April along with Mike Tenay, leaving "Nitro". On December 6, 1999, when he faced Curt Hennig in a retirement match on "Nitro" and lost by disqualification. He returned in January 2000 as a member of the Old Age Outlaws with Terry Funk, Arn Anderson and Paul Orndorff to feud with the revived nWo, then returned to commentary in February until he was released from his WCW contract in late 2000 just before WCW was bought by the WWF.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: After being released from World Championship Wrestling Zbyszko was rumored to be the replacement for Jerry Lawler as the commentator for "Monday Night Raw" in early 2001 after Lawler quit the company. Zbyszko did an interview with Live Audio Wrestling saying he wanted the job. These rumors never materialized as Paul Heyman would go on to become the color commentator for "Monday Night Raw" until Jerry Lawler returned to the company later that year.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In 2001 Zbyszko wrestled several matches for Dusty Rhodes's Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling promotion.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In late 2001, Zbyszko requested that World Wrestling Entertainment cease referring to Chris Jericho as "The Living Legend", claiming that this infringed upon his common law trademark. After WWF refused to comply, with chairman Vince McMahon personally addressing Jericho as "The Living Legend" during a televised broadcast, Zbyszko launched a lawsuit against WWF. In addition, he challenged McMahon to a shoot fight during a 2002 World Wrestling All-Stars pay-per-view which never happened.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In 2002, Zbyszko had a short feud with Chris Harris in the Nashville, Tennessee-based USA Championship Wrestling promotion. On March 2, 2002, Zbyszko defeated Harris for the USA North American Heavyweight Championship. He held the title until March 30, 2002 when Harris regained the belt at the "Tojo Yamamoto Memorial Show". On August 27, 2005 at WrestleReunion in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Zbyszko faced Diamond Dallas Page, with the provision that he would receive five minutes alone in the ring with the sixty-nine-year-old Bruno Sammartino if he won. Page knocked Zbyszko out with his signature Diamond Cutter, however, then pulled Zbyszko on top of him, thus giving him the win by pinfall. Sammartino then entered the ring and began throttling the still-prone Zbyszko until he was dragged away.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on January 15, 2003 and delivered a speech in which he exhorted the roster to respect tradition. This sparked a feud with A.J. Styles, who was not receptive to Zbyszko's requests. On January 29, 2003 Zbyszko faced Styles in a ten-minute-long match with the stipulation that, should Styles be unable to pin him twice in that time, he would become Styles's manager. Styles was only able to pin Zbyszko once, and Zbyszko managed him for a short time before booker Vince Russo cancelled the angle and Zbyszko left the promotion. He returned for one night on August 6, 2003, losing to Kid Kash following interference from Abyss.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko made a full-time return to TNA on June 23, 2004, assisting Ron Killings in his feud with Jeff Jarrett. On July 14, 2004, Killings, Zbyszko, Dusty Rhodes, Konnan and B.G. James defeated Jarrett, Ken Shamrock and "The Elite Guard" (Shawn Hernandez, Chad Collyer and Onyx) in a "ten-man guitar on a pole match".


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Along with Harley Race and Terry Funk, Zbyszko was appointed to a body known as the Championship Committee. The Committee would watch matches on "TNA Impact!", most of which had a ten-minute time limit, and determine a winner in the eventuality of a draw. As on practise few professional wrestling matches end in a draw, the Committee was gradually phased out.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In February 2005, Zbyszko joined Planet Jarrett, Jarrett's dominant heel stable. He disappeared several weeks later.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: On June 19, 2005, at Slammiversary, the returning Zbyszko was named Director of Authority, replacing Dusty Rhodes. His first act as DOA was to give Jeff Jarrett's place in the King of the Mountain match later that night to Raven. At Sacrifice on August 14, Zbyszko responded to Jarrett's request for a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship by informing him that he would receive a title shot if he won his tag team match that night, but would be banned from receiving a title shot for a year if he lost the match. As Jarrett's partner, Rhino, won the match, neither stipulation was applicable.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko remained neutral for several months, but in October 2005 he became exasperated with Raven, who continually accused him of robbing the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and refusing to grant him a rematch. At Genesis on November 13, Zbyszko told Raven to resign from TNA or have his life "made hell". After Raven refused to resign, Zbyszko forced him to wrestle P.J. Polaco. Much to Zbysko's chagrin, Raven defeated Polaco. Nevertheless, Zbyszko continued his personal crusade against Raven, and to that end booked him into a Raven's House of Fun Match, again with an unknown opponent, for the December 3 episode of "Impact!". The opponent turned out to be the entire Diamonds in the rough stable (Simon Diamond, Elix Skipper, and David Young). Despite interference from Cassidy Riley on Raven's behalf, he was pinned and lost the match.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Raven went on to defeat his former tag team partner Chris K. at Turning Point. At Final Resolution on January 15, 2006, Raven was scheduled to face a mystery opponent, with the stipulation that he would receive a shot at the NWA World Heavyweight Championship if he was victorious, but would be fired if he was defeated. Raven lost to the returning Sean Waltman after Zbyszko, who refereed the match after the original referee was knocked unconscious, distracted Raven so that Waltman could deliver an X Factor and then counted to three despite Raven placing his foot on a ring rope. Following the match, Zbyszko ordered the TNA security to escort Raven from "my arena", then mocked Raven until he was confronted by Jackie Gayda about an undisclosed issue.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: At Lockdown on April 23, 2006, the debuting Christy Hemme handed commentator Mike Tenay an envelope containing a message from "TNA management" stating that Zbyszko had been placed on probation due to his conduct, while Raven had been reinstated. Raven then entered the arena and approached the ring, causing Zbyszko to evade him until he was removed by security guards. At Victory Road on July 16, 2006, Zbyszko lost to Raven in a hair versus hair match. On the October 5 edition of iMPACT he booked a match where the man who was pinned would be fired. He interfered in the match after he hit Eric Young with a golf club. Jim Cornette booked a match at Bound for Glory between him and Young where the loser would be fired. He would then go on to lose the match to Eric Young at Bound for Glory, and he was fired a week later.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko returned to the independent circuit and claimed the AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship in AWA Superstars of Wrestling. Zbyszko started rallying for what he claimed was rightfully his since mid-2007. The situation heated up immediately after the then AWA Superstars of Wrestling board of directors stripped Masato Tanaka of the World's title. Zbyszko, through his newly named "representative" Mister Saint Laurent and legal representation, started filing documentation, to the new AWA Superstars of Wrestling Management Team, proving he had never lost the title in 1991 when Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association entered into bankruptcy. After considerable deliberation and review of the bankruptcy file from the early 1990s, the AWA agreed with Zbyszko that he did indeed never actually lose the title. Accordingly, Zbyszko was once again the recognized AWA Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title to Brian Logan. Logan defeated Larry Zbyszko and Ricky Landell in a three-way match on April 18, 2008 at a Mountaineer Wrestling Association event in Fayetteville, West Virginia.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: On March 22, 2008, Larry was inducted into the XWF Hall of Fame by its creator Jack Blaze at their "XWF March Madness 2008" event. XWF was later renamed LPW (Legends Pro Wrestling) where Larry is still honored in their Hall of Fame- Class 2008.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Four Territories of the AWA Superstars of Wrestling have broken away from AWA Superstars of Wrestling, however, and joined with Championship Wrestling of Tennessee to create the American Wrestling Affiliates. Brian Logan took his championship reign and belt with him and Zbyszko is once again recognized as the AWA Superstars World Heavyweight Champion as AWA Superstars of Wrestling retroactively refused to recognize the title change. He dropped the title to Ricky Landell on October 11.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko competed at the ROH show on January 29 as a part of Wrestle Reunion 4 where he defeated Scotty 2 Hotty.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In March 2010 Zbyszko started appearing at live events for the WFX in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Shortly after his debut, he was named the interim commissioner of the promotion, and makes regular appearances. He competed in one match for the promotion thus far, teaming with Jessie Godderz, to compete against Bushwacker Luke and Eugene Dinsmore.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko defeated Palmer Canon for the All Out Mayhem Heavyweight Championship on November 20, 2010, in South Portland, Maine.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: In late March 2011, it was noted that Chris Jericho was very critical of Zbyszko and his announcing capabilities during his tenure in WCW in his latest book. When this was brought to his attention, Larry proceeded to challenge Jericho to say it to his face, and questioned his manhood in a popular internet video. Zbyszko stated in another video that the reason for Jericho's disrespect was because he could not use the phrase "The Living Legend" in the WWE because it has been used and trademarked by Zbyszko. On March 17, 2012, In Caribou, Maine Zbyszko defeated Ryan Michaels in a lumberjack match to retain the All Out Mayhem Heavyweight Championship. He would lose the title a month later to Gino Martino in Gray, Maine.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: His last match was on April 25, 2015 teaming with CPA which they lost to Beefcake Charlie and Damian Gibbs and at Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Rahway, New Jersey.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: He married Kathleen Gagne (Daughter of AWA co-founder Verne Gagne and sister of wrestler Greg Gagne) in 1988, and has a son who is also a professional wrestler: Tim Zbyszko. He has three other sons; Michael, John and Robert.


title: Larry Zbyszko

text: Zbyszko has appeared in "WWE 2K16" (as DLC) and "WWE 2K17" as a member of The Enforcers with Arn Anderson, and in "WWE 2K18" without Anderson.


title: Riyaz Khan

text: Riyaz Khan is an Indian actor and bodybuilder. He predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films and television series, besides acting in a few Telugu and Kannada films, as well as two Hindi films. Riyaz debuted in Malayalam through the 1994 film "Sukham Sukhakaram", directed by Balachandra Menon. Later, he went on to act in Tamil and Telugu films. After many years, he came back to the Malayalam film industry through the 2003 Mohanlal starrer "Balettan".


title: Riyaz Khan

text: Khan was born to Rasheed, a Malayalam film producer and Rasheeda Baanu at Fort Kochi, Kerala. He has a sister, Roshini who is married. Since his father was a movie producer and all the South Indian movies were then shot in Madras, now known Chennai, his family migrated there. He had his primary education from Chennai and pursued his bachelor's degree from United States. He married actress Uma Riyaz, who is the daughter of Tamil music director Kamesh and actress Kamala Kamesh. The couple has two sons, Shariq Hassan and Samarth Hassan.


title: Riyaz Khan

text: His notable films include "Badri" (2001), "Baba" (2002)," Ramana" (2002), "Balettan" (2003), "Winner" (2003), "Runway" (2004), "Vesham" (2004) "Power of Womeni" (2005) "Ghajini" (2005), "Thirupathi" (2006), "Stalin" (2006) and "Pokkiri Raja" (2010).


title: Harold Sakata

text: , better known as Harold Sakata, was an American Olympic weightlifter, professional wrestler, and film actor of Japanese descent. He won a silver medal for the United States at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London in weightlifting, and later became a popular professional wrestler under the ring name Tosh Togo, wrestling primarily for various National Wrestling Alliance territories as a tag team with Great Togo. He also wrestled extensively in Japan for All Japan Pro Wrestling, and was a one-time All Asia Tag Team Championship with Rikidōzan. On the basis of his wrestling work, he was cast in the James Bond film "Goldfinger" (1964) as the villain Oddjob, a role he would be closely associated with for the rest of his life.


title: Harold Sakata

text: Toshiyuki Sakata was born on July 1, 1920, in Holualoa, Hawaii, to Japanese-American parents who worked at a Kona coffee farm. His father Risaburo was "issei" (first-generation), and his mother Matsue was "nisei". He had ten siblings, six brothers and four sisters. He adopted the more Western name "Harold" as a teenager.


title: Harold Sakata

text: In 1936, Sakata dropped out of school to help work the family's coffee farm. The following year, he started paid employment at a sugar plantation located about 75 miles away from his home, after which he went to the island of Lanai to work on a pineapple plantation. He then moved to Maui to do more agricultural work, and in 1938 he ended up in Honolulu, where he would live for much of his adult life.


title: Harold Sakata

text: During World War II, he served in the US Army with the 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion, and was briefly deployed to Hawaii.


title: Harold Sakata

text: At the age of eighteen, Sakata weighed only 113 lb (8 st 1 lb) (51 kg) at a height of 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m). Wishing to "look as good as the other guys", he started lifting weights. Because all YMCA facilities were racially segregated at the time, he trained primarily at the all-Asian Nu'uanu YMCA. Among his lifting partners was future Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) champion Emerick Ishikawa.


title: Harold Sakata

text: After about a year of serious training Sakata had gained about twenty pounds. Inspired by this success he started entering local lifting contests and in 1941 he won the Territorial light-heavyweight championship. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor stopped travel to the mainland but over the next two years Sakata won several more Oahu championships; in June 1943, at 165 pounds, he was pressing 250, snatching 240, and clean and jerking 310, for a total of 800 pounds.


title: Harold Sakata

text: Following his military discharge, Sakata remained in Honolulu, and became "de facto" leader of a group of local lifters including Richard Tomita.


title: Harold Sakata

text: During a tournament held at the Nuuanu YMCA on in November 1946, Sakata set a Hawaiian record in both the snatch and the clean-and-jerk, plus an unofficial world record in the press. The same year he also won the Mr. Hawaii physique title. Henry Koizumi, athletic director of the tournament, suggested that Sakata and his partner Richard Tom organize a weightlifting team. The goal was to place well in the USA Weightlifting National Championships, which were held in Dallas, Texas, on in June 1947. Sakata placed first in the 181-pound class with a total lift of 800 pounds. Tom meanwhile placed first in the 123-pound division with a total lift of 610 pounds.


title: Harold Sakata

text: Sakata subsequently qualified for United States' 1948 London Summer Olympic team, lifting a total of 380 kg in the light-heavyweight division and winning a silver medal behind Stanley Stanczyk, whom he later competed against in the US Senior National Championships.


title: Harold Sakata

text: In 1949, Sakata retired from weightlifting and began training in professional wrestling. His instructors were Tetsuro Higami and Ben Sherman. He initially wrestled as "the Human Tank, Mr. Sakata", drawing on his World War II service and Olympic accolades to play a face, though he later adopted his more well-known heel gimmick of Tosh Togo.


title: Harold Sakata

text: Under the Togo gimmick, Sakata wrestled across Hawaii and later toured mainland America and Canada, mostly on the West Coast and in the Pacific Northwest, which had a large Japanese immigrant population he proved popular with. He briefly formed a tag-team with Frank Stojack during a tour of Washington state, and also tagged with Tor Yamato during a Midwestern tour.


title: Harold Sakata

text: In July 1951, NWA Hawaii promoter Al Karasick invited Sakata to join a special overseas tour to Japan, sponsored by a Tokyo Shriners chapter as a charity venture for a children's hospital. Sakata and several other wrestlers flew to Tokyo, where they held a series of shows at the Metropolitan Memorial Hall and Ryōgoku Kokugikan. One such show was historically significant for being the professional wrestling debut of Rikidōzan, a Korean-born sumotori who would become one of the most popular and influential figures in Japanese professional wrestling history, nicknamed "the Father of Puroresu".


title: Harold Sakata

text: According to the official website of the city of Minato, Rikidōzan was introduced to professional wrestling while visiting a gym in Shiba where Sakata and his colleague Bobby Bruns were training for an upcoming match. Bruns would become Rikidōzan's first ever opponent. He joined Sakata and Bruns in their tour of Japan, wrestling a series of matches across the country in which Rikidōzan soundly beat his foreign opponents, among them retired heavyweight boxer Joe Louis, helping to establish his popular reputation.


title: Harold Sakata

text: The tour lasted until January 1952, at which point most of the wrestlers returned to America. Sakata remained for another few months, during which time he met and married his wife. He would be granted permanent residency in Japan and live there with his family for some time, but eventually moved back to America due to the constant back-and-forth travel.


title: Harold Sakata

text: Sakata returned to America in 1952, and had his first televised match on May 26 on a card that included former judoka Masahiko Kimura and Kinji Shibuya. It was during this period that Sakata adopted the ring name Tosh Togo - Tosh was a shortened form of his given name "Toshiyuki" and Togo was derived from early 20th-century Japanese admiral Tōgō Heihachirō.


title: Harold Sakata

text: Sakata was billed as the kayfabe brother of Great Togo, as well as Masutatsu Oyama as "Mas Togo" and judoka Kokichi Endo as "Ko Togo". As a tag team, Sakata and Great Togo held the NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship. Sakata also tagged at various times with Rikidōzan (with whom he won the All Asia Tag Team Championship) and King Curtis Iaukea (with whom he won the NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship). He was also at various times the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship, the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship, and the NWA World Tag Team Championship (with Red Berry).


title: Harold Sakata

text: Bond producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli took notice of Sakata because of his heavy build—he stood 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) and weighed 284 lb (129 kg)—which, when coupled with his intimidating gaze, made him the perfect choice for the part of Oddjob. Another story, told by director Guy Hamilton, stated that he'd first seen Sakata wrestling in Australia.


title: Harold Sakata

text: Sakata had never acted before, besides pro wrestling, but the film character was to be mute (other than a few uttered grunts) and would require little theatrical skill. Before Sakata had secured the role of Oddjob, another former wrestler, British actor Milton Reid, had auditioned for the role. Reid allegedly challenged Sakata to a shoot wrestling contest and suggested that the winner ought to get the role. However, given that Reid had been in "Dr. No" (playing one of the titular villain's guards) and that his character had been killed off, the producers decided to go with Sakata and the wrestling match did not take place.


title: Harold Sakata

text: As Oddjob, he was a bodyguard to Bond villain Auric Goldfinger, and his sharpened, steel-brimmed bowler hat became a famous and much-parodied trademark of the Bond series. While filming Oddjob's death scene, in which the character is electrocuted, Sakata's hand was badly burnt by the effect, but he held on until he heard director Guy Hamilton call "Cut".


title: Harold Sakata

text: Sakata appeared in several other movies in similar roles and took on "Oddjob" as an informal middle name (in the films "" (1976) and "The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington" (1977) he was credited as Harold "Oddjob" Sakata).


title: Harold Sakata

text: With time, Sakata's acting skills developed. He co-starred opposite William Shatner in the movie "Impulse" (1974), in which he played the character Karate Pete. He also guest starred on a "Gilligan's Island" episode as Rory Calhoun's henchman, and an episode of "The Rockford Files". In 1971, Sakata was a regular on the short-lived TV series, "Sarge", starring George Kennedy, and "Highcliffe Manor" in 1979.


title: Harold Sakata

text: He appeared as Oddjob in a series of TV commercials for Vicks Formula 44 cough syrup in the 1970s. The advertisement commonly showed Oddjob with a nasty cough, which results in him demolishing everything around him as his spasms make him inadvertently lash out, frightening his wife as his condition deteriorates. She grabs a bottle of Vicks Formula 44 and gives Oddjob a spoonful of the cough syrup, which cures his cough; the two bow to each other, and then the wife looks past Oddjob to take in the destruction he has caused. This was occasionally followed by an add-on for a cough drop version of the syrup, which Oddjob ingests before he is claimed by a coughing fit in an extremely crowded space. At least one domestic and one outdoor version of this commercial are known. Sakata made an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" on which he parodied the commercial by destroying Carson's set.


title: Harold Sakata

text: Sakata had two children, born in 1954 and 1957. He only married once, and divorced his wife due to the strain placed on their relationship by his constant travel.


title: Harold Sakata

text: Sakata died of liver cancer four weeks after his 62nd birthday, on July 29, 1982, in St Francis Hospital, Honolulu, Hawaii. Five months prior, Sakata made one final public appearance at the 54th Academy Awards. Sakata briefly appeared on stage in his Oddjob attire during Sheena Easton's musical performance of "For Your Eyes Only".


title: Orangery

text: An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very large form of greenhouse or conservatory.


title: Orangery

text: The orangery provided a luxurious extension of the normal range and season of woody plants, extending the protection which had long been afforded by the warmth offered from a masonry fruit wall. During the 17th century, fruits like orange, pomegranate, and bananas arrived in huge quantities to European ports. Since these plants were not adapted to the harsh European winters, orangeries were invented to protect and sustain them. The high cost of glass made orangeries a status symbol showing wealth and luxury. Gradually, due to technological advancements, orangeries became more of a classic architectural structure that enhanced the beauty of an estate garden, rather than a room used for wintering plants.


title: Orangery

text: The orangery originated from the Renaissance gardens of Italy, when glass-making technology enabled sufficient expanses of clear glass to be produced. In the north, the Dutch led the way in developing expanses of window glass in orangeries, although the engravings illustrating Dutch manuals showed solid roofs, whether beamed or vaulted, and in providing stove heat rather than open fires. This soon created a situation where orangeries became symbols of status among the wealthy. The glazed roof, which afforded sunlight to plants that were not dormant, was a development of the early 19th century. The orangery at Dyrham Park, Gloucestershire, which had been provided with a slate roof as originally built about 1702, was given a glazed one about a hundred years later, after Humphrey Repton remarked that it was dark; although it was built to shelter oranges, it has always simply been called the "greenhouse" in modern times.


title: Orangery

text: The 1617 "Orangerie" (now Musée de l'Orangerie) at the Palace of the Louvre inspired imitations that culminated in Europe's largest orangery, the Versailles Orangerie. Designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart for Louis XIV's 3,000 orange trees at Versailles, its dimensions of were not eclipsed until the development of the modern greenhouse in the 1840s, and were quickly overshadowed by the glass architecture of Joseph Paxton, the designer of the 1851 Crystal Palace. His "great conservatory" at Chatsworth House was an orangery and glass house of monumental proportions.


title: Orangery

text: The orangery, however, was not just a greenhouse but a symbol of prestige and wealth and a garden feature, in the same way as a summerhouse, folly, or "Grecian temple". Owners would conduct their guests there on tours of the garden to admire not only the fruits within but also the architecture outside. Often the orangery would contain fountains, grottos, and an area in which to entertain in inclement weather.


title: Orangery

text: As early as 1545, an orangery was built in Padua, Italy. The first orangeries were practical and not as ornamental as they later became. Most had no heating other than open fires.


title: Orangery

text: In England, John Parkinson introduced the orangery to the readers of his "Paradisus in Sole" (1628), under the heading "Oranges". The trees might be planted against a brick wall and enclosed in winter with a plank shed covered with "cerecloth", a waxed precursor of tarpaulin, which must have been thought handsomer than the alternative: For that purpose, some keepe them in great square boxes, and lift them to and fro by iron hooks on the sides, or cause them to be rowled by trundels, or small wheeles under them, to place them in a house or close gallery.


title: Orangery

text: The building of orangeries became most widely fashionable after the end of the Eighty Years' War in 1648. The countries that started this trend were France, Germany, and the Netherlands, these countries being the ones that saw merchants begin importing large numbers of orange trees, banana plants, and pomegranates to cultivate for their beauty and scent.


title: Orangery

text: Orangeries were generally built facing south to take advantage of the maximum possible light, and were constructed using brick or stone bases, brick or stone pillars, and a corbel gutter. They also featured large, tall windows to maximise available sunlight in the afternoons, with the north facing walls built without windows in a very heavy solid brick, or occasionally with much smaller windows to be able to keep the rooms warm. Insulation at these times was one of the biggest concerns for the building of these orangeries, straw became the main material used, and many had wooden shutters fitted to keep in the warmth. An early example of the type of construction can be seen at Kensington Palace, which also featured underfloor heating.