title: Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt

text: At the 1908 Republican convention, many chanted for "four years more" of a Roosevelt presidency, but Taft won the nomination after Roosevelt's close friend, Henry Cabot Lodge, made it clear that Roosevelt was not interested in a third term. In a speech accepting the Republican nomination, Taft promised to continue the policies of Roosevelt, but as the campaign progressed he minimized his reliance on Roosevelt, and did not ask the president to publicly campaign for him. The Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan, who had been the party's presidential candidate in 1896 and 1900. Bryan, a populist Democrat widely regarded as a strong speaker, thought that Taft was a weak candidate and hoped that the public would tire of the Republican leadership the country had experienced since the [[1896 United States presidential election|1896 election]]. The platforms of the two parties differed little: both called for antitrust actions, railroad and labor regulations, and a revision of the tariff. As election day approached, it became clear that Taft would retain the loyalty of Republican voters and win a wide victory over Bryan, who had failed to find a winning issue on which to campaign. Taft won 321 of the 483 electoral votes and 51.6% of the popular vote. Republicans also retained control of both houses of Congress. Roosevelt regarded the victory of his chosen successor as a vindication of his policies and presidency. As he left office, Roosevelt was widely regarded as the most powerful and influential president since [[Abraham Lincoln]]. Taft's decision to retain few members of Roosevelt's Cabinet alienated Roosevelt, although Roosevelt continued to support his successor throughout the transition period.


title: Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt

text: Roosevelt's rhetoric was characterized by an intense moralism of personal righteousness. The tone was typified by his denunciation of "predatory wealth" in a message he sent Congress in January 1908 calling for passage of new labor laws: Predatory wealth--of the wealth accumulated on a giant scale by all forms of iniquity, ranging from the oppression of wageworkers to unfair and unwholesome methods of crushing out competition, and to defrauding the public by stock jobbing and the manipulation of securities. Certain wealthy men of this stamp, whose conduct should be abhorrent to every man of ordinarily decent conscience, and who commit the hideous wrong of teaching our young men that phenomenal business success must ordinarily be based on dishonesty, have during the last few months made it apparent that they have banded together to work for a reaction. Their endeavor is to overthrow and discredit all who honestly administer the law, to prevent any additional legislation which would check and restrain them, and to secure if possible a freedom from all restraint which will permit every unscrupulous wrongdoer to do what he wishes unchecked provided he has enough money...The methods by which the Standard Oil people and those engaged in the other combinations of which I have spoken above have achieved great fortunes can only be justified by the advocacy of a system of morality which would also justify every form of criminality on the part of a labor union, and every form of violence, corruption, and fraud, from murder to bribery and ballot box stuffing in politics.


title: Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt

text: Roosevelt was popular as he left office, and he remained a major world figure until his death in 1919. His own contemporaries viewed his presidency as influential; former Senator [[William E. Chandler]] wrote in January 1909 that Roosevelt "changed the course of American politics. We can never go back to where we were under [[Mark Hanna|Hanna]]." After his death, Roosevelt was overshadowed by other figures, but the interest of historians and the American public in Roosevelt was reinvigorated after World War II. Historian [[John Morton Blum]] advanced the thesis that Roosevelt had been the first truly modern president, and many historians have argued that Roosevelt's presidency served as a model to his successors.


title: Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt

text: Historian Lewis L. Gould summarizes the consensus view of historians, stating that Roosevelt was "a strong, effective executive whose policies foreshadowed the [[welfare state]]." Gould also writes, "if Roosevelt fell short of the first rank of president, he qualified for that ambivalent rating of 'near great,' conferred upon him in the [[Historical rankings of presidents of the United States|polls that historians take with each other]]. A 2018 poll of the [[American Political Science Association]] ranked Roosevelt as the fourth greatest president in history, after [[George Washington]], [[Abraham Lincoln]], and [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]].


title: Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt

text: Roosevelt is a hero to [[Modern American liberalism|modern liberals]] for his proposals in 1907–12 that presaged the modern welfare state of the New Deal Era, and put the environment on the national agenda. Conservatives admire his "big stick" diplomacy and commitment to military values. Dalton says, "Today he is heralded as the architect of the modern presidency, as a world leader who boldly reshaped the office to meet the needs of the new century and redefined America's place in the world." However, the New Left has criticized him for his interventionist and imperialist approach to nations he considered "uncivilized". Conservatives reject his vision of the welfare state and emphasis on the superiority of government over private action.


title: Panini Group

text: Panini is an Italian company that produces books, comics, magazines, stickers, trading cards and other items through its collectibles and publishing subsidiaries. It is headquartered in Modena, Italy, and named after the Panini brothers who founded it in 1961. Panini distributes its own products, and products of third party providers. Panini maintains a Licensing Division to buy and resell licences and provide agency for individuals and newspapers seeking to purchase rights and comic licences. Through Panini Digital the company uses voice-activated software to capture football statistics, which is then sold to agents, teams, media outlets and video game manufactures.


title: Panini Group

text: New Media operates Panini's on-line applications, and generates income through content and data sales. Forming a partnership with FIFA in 1970, Panini published its first FIFA World Cup sticker album for the 1970 World Cup. Since then, collecting and trading stickers and cards has become part of the World Cup experience, especially for the younger generation. In 2017, a 1970 World Cup Panini sticker album signed by Pelé sold for a record £10,450.


title: Panini Group

text: Up until 2015, Panini produced stickers and trading cards for the UEFA Champions League. As of 2019, Panini had licence rights of football international competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Nations League and Copa América, as well as domestic leagues including the Premier League (from the 2019–20 season), Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, and Argentine Primera División among others.


title: Panini Group

text: Benito and Giuseppe Panini were operating a newspaper distribution office in Modena, Italy in 1960, when they found a collection of figurines (stickers attached with glue) that a Milan company was unable to sell. The brothers bought the collection, and sold them in packets of two for ten lire each. They sold three million packets. Having had success with the figurines Giuseppe founded Panini in 1961 to manufacture and sell his own figurines. Benito joined Panini the same year. Panini sold 15 million packets of figurines in 1961. 29 million units were sold the following year, and brothers Franco and Umberto Panini joined the company in 1963. Umberto Panini died on 29 November 2013 at the age of 83.


title: Panini Group

text: The company became well known in the 1960s for its football collections, which soon became popular with children. Rare stickers ("figurine") can reach very high prices on the collectors' market. Some popular games were invented which used stickers as playing cards.


title: Panini Group

text: In 1970 Panini began publishing "L'Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio Italiano" (The Illustrated Guide to Italian Football), after purchasing the rights from publishing house Carcano. Panini also published its first FIFA World Cup trading cards and sticker album for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, in addition to using multilingual captions and selling stickers outside of Italy for the first time. Initiating a craze for collecting and trading stickers, Panini's stickers were an instant hit, with "The Guardian" stating in the UK “the tradition of swapping duplicate [World Cup] stickers was a playground fixture during the 1970s and 1980s.” Another first for Panini, in the early 1970s, was introducing self-adhesive stickers as opposed to using glue.


title: Panini Group

text: In 1986 Panini created a museum of figurines which they donated to the city of Modena in 1992. Panini begins assembling each World Cup squad for their sticker album a few months before they are officially announced by each nation, which means surprise call ups often do not feature in their album. A notable example of this was 17-year-old Brazilian striker Ronaldo who was called up for the Brazil squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.


title: Panini Group

text: In May 2006, Panini partnered with The Coca-Cola Company and Tokenzone to produce the first virtual sticker album for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The album was viewable in at least 10 different languages, such as Portuguese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish. For the 2014 World Cup, three million FIFA.com users took part in the Panini Digital Sticker Album contest. Panini developed an app for the 2018 World Cup where fans could collect and swap virtual stickers. Five million people gathered digital stickers for the 2018 World Cup.


title: Panini Group

text: The classic football stickers today are complemented by the collectible card game Adrenalyn XL, introduced in 2009. In 2010 Panini released a UEFA Champions League edition of Adrenalyn XL, containing 350 cards from 22 of the competing clubs, including defending champions FC Barcelona. Beginning in 2015, Topps signed a deal to produce stickers, trading cards and digital collections for the competition. The fourth edition of Panini FIFA 365 Adrenalyn XL was released for 2019, featuring top clubs, teams and players.


title: Panini Group

text: In January 2009, Panini acquired an exclusive licence to produce NBA trading cards and stickers effective with the 2009-10 NBA season. On 13 March 2009, Panini acquired the US trading card manufacturer Donruss Playoff LP. With it, Panini inherited Donruss' NFL and NFLPA licences.


title: Panini Group

text: In March 2010, Panini acquired a licence from the NHL and NHLPA. The 2010-11 ice hockey season was the first in five years that more than one company, with Upper Deck producing their own NHL cards. In July 2010, Panini acquired a licence to create an official sticker collection for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London 2012.


title: Panini Group

text: In 2014, Panini made cards for that year's FIFA World Cup, and did the same for the 2018 edition, albeit with price hikes for packets across the world. Dubbed the “Panini Cheapskates”, in 2018 a UK couple won fans all over the world by filling in their 2018 World Cup sticker album by drawing in each player. Panini (along with Bandai) were distributors of the 2012 English dub of the 2011 Spanish television series Jelly Jamm.


title: Panini Group

text: During the 2018 World Cup, Panini produced an average of 8-10 million card packages per day. In 2018, Panini signed a deal with the English Premier League to produce cards under licence from the 2019–20 season.


title: Panini Group

text: Some of Panini's releases in 2019 included collections of movies "" and "Toy Story 4," and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.


title: Panini Group

text: In January 2009, the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced Panini would become the exclusive trading card partner of the league beginning with the 2009–10 season. In March of the same year, The Panini Group purchased assets of the industry's second-oldest trading-card company, Donruss, and formed the new subsidiary, "Panini America". The company continued to operate out of Irving, Texas, with much of the existing upper management.


title: Panini Group

text: Panini signed an exclusive agreement with five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers as its official company spokesman and global trading card ambassador in 2009. Bryant's special affiliation to Panini goes back to his time growing up in Italy where he collected Italian football stickers. In March 2010, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) and National Hockey League (NHL) granted the Panini Group a multi-year trading card licence, marking the third major sports licence that The Panini Group had secured since establishing a presence in the U.S. in 2009.


title: Panini Group

text: According to the Panini Group, the 2010 FIFA World Cup sticker album sold 10 million packs in the U.S. alone. In 2016, Panini America paid Cristiano Ronaldo $170,000 for signing 1,000 Panini stickers, while Neymar received $50,000 for signing 600.


title: Panini Group

text: This subsidiary holds official licences for NBA, NFL, WWE, FIFA, The Collegiate Licensing Company, Disney, DreamWorks and Warner Bros. Panini also has exclusive partnerships with Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and Pro Football Hall of Fame.


title: Panini Group

text: In January 2021, Panini America signed an exclusive multi-year trading card deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Later in August 2021, Panini America also partnered with the UFC to release NFTs, commemorating big fights, milestones and moments.


title: Panini Group

text: Giuseppe Panini, the eldest brother and the founder of this business, and a collector himself, financed the creation of the "Raccolte Fotografiche Modenesi" (Modena's photographic collections), an archive of more than 300,000 photographs and a similar number of postcards, describing the life of the city and the evolution of photographic art.


title: David Wallace (The Office)

text: David Wallace is a fictional character in the American comedy series "The Office", portrayed by Andy Buckley. Wallace is introduced in the second season as the new chief financial officer of Dunder Mifflin. Wallace is named after David Foster Wallace, a favorite author of John Krasinski and executive producer Michael Schur. The other characters almost exclusively refer to him by the full name "David Wallace", rather than by, for example, simply his first name. His character is established as a wealthy executive at the corporate headquarters in New York with an opulent suburban home, wife, Rachel, and two kids – one son and one daughter. Despite his differing lifestyle from the members of the Scranton branch, David tolerates and understands the eccentricities and flaws of Regional Manager Michael Scott, and appreciates employees Jim Halpert and Toby Flenderson. He is let go in the sixth season following the absorption of Dunder Mifflin by Sabre. He later sells his patent for a toy vacuum, called "Suck It," to the U.S. military for $20 million and subsequently acquires Dunder Mifflin for an undisclosed sum of money, becoming CEO in the eighth-season finale, "Free Family Portrait Studio".


title: David Wallace (The Office)

text: David is introduced in "Valentine's Day" during a meeting to discuss the financial standings of the branches as the new CFO—the previous one having resigned due to allegations of sexual harassment from his secretary (as outlined in the episode "Sexual Harassment"). Craig, Regional Manager at the Albany branch, blurts out that Michael and their supervisor Jan Levinson, Vice President of Sales, slept together after Jan criticizes Craig's performance. This prompts Michael to formally apologize and say he was only joking, and compliments Jan on her professionalism, which Wallace accepts.


title: David Wallace (The Office)

text: In the third-season episode "Cocktails", Wallace hosts a cocktail party at his home that Jan, Michael, Jim Halpert and Dwight Schrute attend, which David later leaves to play basketball outside with Jim. He invites Michael to interview for a corporate position in the same-season episode, "Beach Games". However, it is revealed in "The Job" that the interview is for Jan's position. Jan discovers they are planning to fire her and angrily confronts Wallace. Security escorts Jan out of the building, interrupting Karen's interview. In a somewhat awkward exchange, Michael reveals to Wallace that he will be rescinding his vie for the position out of respect for Jan, with whom he is romantically involved (though Wallace already told Michael he would not be getting the job). Wallace instead appoints Ryan Howard, who has an MBA from the University of Scranton, to the position.


title: David Wallace (The Office)

text: In the fourth-season episode "The Deposition", a deposition is held when Jan sues Dunder Mifflin for firing her under wrongful termination. Wallace's testimony reveals that Michael is appreciated but was not a serious contender for Jan's replacement. This hurts but mollifies Michael, and prompts him to side with Dunder Mifflin in the lawsuit. Wallace sincerely apologizes to Michael following the end of the deposition.


title: David Wallace (The Office)

text: In the fifth-season episode "Crime Aid", Wallace uncovers the relationship between Michael and Scranton's new HR representative Holly Flax (Amy Ryan) and transfers her back to New Hampshire. To appease Michael following his loss, he sends Michael on a business trip to Winnipeg, Manitoba, but just as the trip ends Michael scolds Wallace for sending her away anyway. He later meets Michael to evaluate the success of the Scranton branch and how it can be applied to the rest of Dunder Mifflin during the financial crisis of 2007–2008, only for Michael's personality to render him unable to provide anything of use. However, he enlists Michael in scouting out a Dunder Mifflin competitor called Prince Family Paper, to which Michael and Dwight discreetly carry out, acquiring information on their clients, finances, and more. In "Golden Ticket", Michael uses the golden ticket concept from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" to discount random clients 10% on their paper, only for all of them to end up with Blue Cross, the Scranton office's largest client. This discount creates a major financial hit for the branch, angering Wallace, who comes down to the branch. However, Wallace is informed that Blue Cross was so delighted by the discount that they are going exclusively with the company for all their office supplies, and praises Dwight, whom Michael has begged to take the fall for the idea.


title: David Wallace (The Office)

text: After Ryan's dismissal in the fourth-season finale, Wallace hired Charles Miner to replace him in "New Boss". However, Charles has a stricter management style that angers Michael into calling Wallace. Ultimately, Michael travels to New York to confront Wallace, as he feels his years of service and loyalty to the company should give him greater freedom than Charles is allowing. Wallace's appeasements to Michael do not satisfy him and he resigns. Michael then founds the Michael Scott Paper Company, and begins to take clients from Dunder Mifflin, which drives Wallace and Miner to try to buy out the company. Wallace initially offers $12,000, then $60,000, before he concedes to Michael, who changes his mind and wants Dunder Mifflin to rehire him, Pam and Ryan instead. Wallace and Charles are later seen at a company picnic, Wallace expressing anger when Michael accidentally discloses the closing of the Buffalo branch as part of their sketch comedy show.


title: David Wallace (The Office)

text: In the sixth season episode "The Meeting", Wallace meets with Jim, who is interested in advancing in position at the company. Michael's over-protectiveness of the status quo in Scranton leads Wallace to not consider Jim to take over the branch, but instead share the managerial position with Michael. Michael handles "big-picture" decisions, while Jim focuses on "day-to-day" tasks—a split that comes to a head when the two clash about how raises will be dispersed among the employees in "The Promotion".


title: David Wallace (The Office)

text: Wallace later informs the company that bankruptcy rumors highlighted in "The Wall Street Journal" are "conjecture", but privately informs Jim of the impending insolvency of the company in "Murder." In the episode "Scott's Tots," Wallace addresses an issue with a new Employee of the Month program that Dwight helped Jim create. After Dwight sabotages the program, Wallace calls Jim seemingly enraged, but later confesses he is merely venting because of the company's precarious situation. The financial situation of Dunder Mifflin is resolved in "Secret Santa" when Wallace calls Michael and announces that the company has a potential buyer, even though he himself would be let go. This buyer is revealed in the episode "Sabre", the titular episode of the company who has acquired Dunder Mifflin. Wallace is shown to be an unfocused reduction of his formerly employed self when Michael meets him to discuss Michael's displeasure of Sabre's policies. Instead of searching for work, Wallace labors on a toy vacuum called "Suck It" that picks up children's clutter. Michael is clearly disturbed by Wallace's new lifestyle and leaves.


title: David Wallace (The Office)

text: In "Whistleblower", Wallace, one of the five whistleblowers in the story, reveals to the documentary crew that he helped spread the story of the Sabre printer fires after several old clients complained to him. He is shown wearing a "Suck It" hooded sweatshirt; when he tries to do his spiel for Suck It, the documentary crew abruptly cuts him off mid-sentence. In the seventh season, Michael leaves Dunder Mifflin and, in a deleted scene, engages in a webcam conversation with Wallace to say goodbye. When Michael informs him he is leaving for Colorado to be with Holly, Wallace initially assumes Michael was fired, as Wallace had been, and that Michael was simply making a face-saving statement. When Michael insists this is the truth, Wallace expresses shock that Michael would willingly leave a job in the current economic climate. Wallace's remarks make Michael uncomfortable, and he cuts off the conversation. In the eighth season, Andy Bernard becomes Scranton's new regional manager and later that season is fired from Dunder Mifflin. Wallace tells Andy that he sold his invention "Suck it" for $20 million to the US Military, and Andy convinces him to buy out Dunder Mifflin. Wallace becomes the chief executive officer of Dunder Mifflin and reinstates Andy as Scranton's regional manager.


title: David Wallace (The Office)

text: Wallace appears in the show's series finale. He returns to Scranton to appear on the panel held for the office, where he openly expresses his dislike for the documentary, comparing it to a documentary on how food is made, saying "It's kinda disgusting. You learn a lot, but I didn't wanna know any of it." Wallace later meets with Oscar Martinez, where he offers to contribute to Oscar's campaign for Pennsylvania State Senate.


title: David Wallace (The Office)

text: Upon his return in season eight, many reviews were extremely positive. A review from TV Equals noted that "I'm not totally convinced that David Wallace's story is as simple as the one he tells, but maybe that's just because I'd love any excuse for him to work his way back into the story lines for "The Office"." Michael Tedder from "Vulture" called Wallace "always-welcome".


title: Belgian Blue

text: The Belgian Blue (, , both literally meaning "Belgian White-Blue") is a breed of beef cattle from Belgium. It may also be known as the , or (literally "fat buttocks" in Dutch). Alternative names for this breed include Belgian Blue-White; Belgian White and Blue Pied; Belgian White Blue; Blue; and Blue Belgian. The Belgian Blue's extremely lean, hyper-sculpted, ultra-muscular physique is termed "double-muscling". The double-muscling phenotype is a heritable condition resulting in an increased number of muscle fibres (hyperplasia), instead of the (normal) enlargement of "individual" muscle fibres (hypertrophy).


title: Belgian Blue

text: This particular trait is shared with another breed of cattle known as Piedmontese. Both of these breeds have an increased ability to convert feed into lean muscle, which causes these particular breeds' meat to have a reduced fat content and reduced tenderness. The Belgian Blue is named after its typically blue-grey mottled hair colour; however, its actual colour can vary from white to black.


title: Belgian Blue

text: The breed originated in central and upper Belgium in the 19th century, from crossing local breeds with a Shorthorn breed of cattle from the United Kingdom. Charolais cattle possibly were cross-bred, as well. Belgian Blue cattle were first used as a dairy and beef breed. The modern beef breed was developed in the 1950s by Professor Hanset, working at an artificial insemination centre in Liège Province. The breed's characteristic gene mutation was maintained through linebreeding to the point where the condition was a fixed property in the Belgian Blue breed. In 1978, Belgian Blue cattle were introduced to the United States by Nick Tutt, a farmer from central Canada who immigrated to West Texas and showed the cattle to universities in the region.


title: Belgian Blue

text: The Belgian Blue has been exported to many parts of the world; it is reported to DAD-IS by twenty-four countries, in Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania. Of these, ten report population data; in 2022 the worldwide population was estimated to be .


title: Belgian Blue

text: The Belgian Blue has a natural mutation in the myostatin gene which codes for the protein, myostatin ("myo" meaning muscle and "statin" meaning stop). Myostatin is a protein that inhibits muscle development. This mutation also interferes with fat deposition, resulting in very lean meat. The truncated myostatin gene is unable to function in its normal capacity, resulting in accelerated lean muscle growth. Muscle growth is due primarily to physiological changes in the animal's muscle cells (fibres) from hypertrophy to a hyperplasia mode of growth. This particular type of growth is seen early in the fetus of a pregnant dam, which results in a calf that is born with two times the number of muscle fibres at birth than a calf with no myostatin gene mutation. In addition, a newborn double-muscled calf's birth weight is significantly greater than that of a normal calf.


title: Belgian Blue

text: Belgian Blue cattle have improved feed conversion ratio (FCR) due to lower feed intake compared to weight gain due to an altered composition of body weight gain which includes increased protein and decreased fat deposition. The Belgian Blue's bone structure is the same as normal cattle, albeit holding a greater amount of muscle, which causes them to have a greater meat to bone ratio. These cattle have a muscle yield around 20% more on average than cattle without the genetic myostatin mutation. Because of this breed's increased muscle yield, a diet containing higher protein is required to compensate for the altered mode of weight gain. During finishing, this breed requires high-energy (concentrated) feeds, and will not yield the same results if put on a high-fibre diet.


title: Belgian Blue

text: The value of the double-muscling breed is due to their superior carcass characteristics. However, with decreased fat content is decreased marbling of meat, which means the meat tenderness is reduced. Conversely, the Belgian Blue's meat tenderness has been argued to be just as tender because a large number of smaller muscle fibres are present.


title: Belgian Blue

text: Double-muscled cows routinely experience dystocia – difficulty in parturition – even when bred to normal beef bulls or dairy bulls, because of a narrower birth canal; the birth weight and width of the calf also may be higher than in animals without the double-muscling gene. Calves are commonly born by Caesarean section; cows may be able to survive five or six deliveries of this type.


title: Belgian Blue

text: In bulls, testicular weight and semen quantity and quality are lower than in other cattle, perhaps because of the greater amount of connective tissue in the testicles. however this is less of an issue when compared to the dam's difficulties in calving.


title: Belgian Blue

text: The economics of breeding and raising Belgian Blue cattle are inconclusive because of complications experienced during parturition and metabolic demand for more concentrated feeds. The breed's increased need to have Caesarean sections when calving means increased cost and added work, and can become a welfare issue. However, the carcass value of double-muscled animals may be enhanced due to increased dressing yield, lean carcass content, and upgrading of some cuts leading to a higher proportion of higher valued cuts. The slower rate of fat deposition causes slaughtering to be delayed in most cases, which means an increase in maintenance costs in those animals. Belgian Blue cattle require more skilled management and do not thrive in harsh environments. For these reasons and others, the breed's overall production efficiency in an economic sense is still unclear.


title: Christine Ko

text: Christine Ko (born August 3, 1988) is a Taiwanese-American actress, known for her roles as Emma on the CBS sitcom "The Great Indoors", Mandy on "Upload" and Emma on "Dave". Before her success in America, she had a brief career in Taiwan in the early 2010s.


title: Christine Ko

text: Ko was born in Chicago and grew up in both Taiwan and Atlanta. She is the daughter of legendary Taiwanese entertainer Frankie Kao. Ko has discussed the issue of limited roles for Asian actors in the United States. Her role on "The Great Indoors" was originally written for a blond woman, but Ko's agent was able to get her an audition. After her audition, the producers changed their original idea of Emma's appearance. Ko said, "I think that's true diversity. You're just like everybody else. You just look Asian... It's the norm and how we all live. We just haven't seen it in Hollywood yet."


title: Christine Ko

text: Ko joined the cast of the television series "Hawaii Five-0" part way into its eighth season. She also guest-starred in the HBO comedy series "Ballers". She stars on the FXX series "Dave" alongside Dave Burd.


title: Christine Ko

text: In 2021, she starred alongside Canadian singer Justin Bieber in the music video of his song "Hold On".


title: Konstanz

text: Konstanz (, , ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was the residence of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Konstanz for more than 1,200 years.


title: Konstanz

text: The city is located in the state of Baden-Württemberg and situated at the banks of Lake Constance ("Bodensee" in German). The river Rhine, which starts in the Swiss Alps, passes through Lake Constance and leaves it, considerably larger, by flowing under a bridge connecting the two parts of the city. North of the river lies the larger part of the city with residential areas, industrial estates, and the University of Konstanz; while south of the river is the old town, which houses the administrative centre and shopping facilities in addition to the "Hochschule" or the "University of Applied Sciences". Car ferries provide access across Lake Constance to Meersburg, and the "Katamaran" provides a shuttle service for pedestrians to Friedrichshafen. The Germany–Switzerland border runs along the southwestern and southern edge of the city, demarcating it from the Swiss town of Kreuzlingen.


title: Konstanz

text: Konstanz is subdivided into 15 wards or districts ("Stadtteile"). The island of Mainau belonged to the ward of Litzelstetten, a separate municipality, until its incorporation into Konstanz on 1 December 1971.


title: Konstanz

text: During the reign of Augustus, the Celts living south of the Danube were conquered by the Romans. Around 40 AD, the first Romans settled on the site. This small town on the left bank of the Rhine was probably first called "Drusomagus" and belonged to the Roman province of "Raetia". Its later name, originally "Constantia", comes either from the Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus, who fought the Alemanni in the region and built a strong fortress around 300 AD, or from his grandson Constantius II, who visited the region in 354. The remains of the late Roman fortress "Constantia" were discovered in 2003.


title: Konstanz

text: Around 585 the first bishop took up residence in Konstanz and this marked the beginning of the city's importance as a spiritual center. By the late Middle Ages, about one quarter of Konstanz's 6,000 inhabitants were exempt from taxation on account of clerical rights.


title: Konstanz

text: Trade thrived during the Middle Ages. Konstanz owned the only bridge in the region, which crossed the Rhine, making it a strategic location in the Duchy of Swabia. Its linen production had made an international name for the city and it was prosperous. In 1192, Konstanz gained the status of Imperial City so it was henceforth subject only to the Holy Roman Emperor.


title: Konstanz

text: In 1414 to 1418, the Council of Constance took place, during which, on 6 July 1415, John Hus (Czech religious thinker, philosopher and reformer), who was seen as a threat to Christianity by the Roman Catholic Church, was burned at the stake. It was here that the Papal Schism was ended and Pope Martin V was elected during the only conclave ever held north of the Alps. Ulrich von Richental's illustrated chronicle of the Council of Constance testifies to all the major happenings during the Council as well as showing the everyday life of medieval Konstanz. The "Konzilgebäude" where the conclave was held can still be seen standing by the harbour. Close by stands the "Imperia", a statue that was erected in 1993 to satirically commemorate the Council.


title: Konstanz

text: In 1460, the Swiss Confederacy conquered Thurgau, Konstanz's natural hinterland. Konstanz then made an attempt to get admitted to the Swiss Confederacy, but the forest cantons voted against its entry, fearing over-bearing city states; Konstanz then joined the Swabian League instead. In the Swabian War of 1499, Konstanz lost its last privileges over Thurgau to the Confederation.


title: Konstanz

text: The Protestant Reformation took hold in Konstanz in the 1520s, headed by Ambrosius Blarer. Soon the city declared itself officially Protestant, pictures were removed from the churches, and the bishop temporarily moved to Meersburg, a small town across the lake. The city first followed the Tetrapolitan Confession, and then the Augsburg Confession. However, in 1548 Emperor Charles V imposed the Imperial Ban on Konstanz and it had to surrender to Habsburg Austria which had suddenly attacked. Thus Konstanz lost its status as an imperial city.


title: Konstanz

text: The new Habsburg rulers were eager to re-Catholicise the town and in 1604 a Jesuit College was opened. Its accompanying theatre, built in 1610, is the oldest theatre in Germany still performing regularly.


title: Konstanz

text: The city became part of the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1806. In 1821, the Bishopric of Constance was dissolved and became part of the Archdiocese of Freiburg. Konstanz became part of the German Empire in 1871 during the unification of Germany. After World War I it was included within the Republic of Baden.


title: Konstanz

text: On 22 October 1940, 110 of the last Jewish residents were deported to Gurs internment camp in France. Most of those who were still alive in August 1942 were murdered in either Sobibór or Auschwitz.


title: Konstanz

text: Because it almost lies within Switzerland, directly adjacent to the Swiss border, Konstanz was not bombed by the Allied Forces during World War II. The city left all its lights on at night, and thus fooled the bombers into thinking it was actually part of Switzerland. After the war, Konstanz was included first in South Baden and then in the new state of Baden-Württemberg.


title: Konstanz

text: The "Altstadt" (Old Town), which is large considering the small size of modern Konstanz, has many old buildings and twisting alleys. The city skyline is dominated by Konstanz Cathedral, several other churches and three towers left over from the city wall, one of which marks the place of the former medieval bridge over the Rhine.


title: Konstanz

text: The University of Konstanz was established close to the town in 1966. It houses an excellent library with approximately two million books, all freely accessible 24 hours a day, as well as a botanical garden (the Botanischer Garten der Universität Konstanz). Especially since 2007, the university, being one of the nine German universities most successful in the German Universities Excellence Initiative, has gained considerable reputation as a so-called "elite university".


title: Konstanz

text: Konstanz was the birthplace of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, constructor of the famous Zeppelin airships.


title: Konstanz

text: In the late 2010s, Konstanz has become a popular destination for "Einkaufstourismus", or cross-border shopping by Swiss due to lower prices on basic items in Germany, a favorable exchange rate between the Swiss franc and the euro, and a generous German VAT refund for non-European Union residents. Retail chains such as H&M and dm have built large new stores near the town's central square to cater to this trade, and some Konstanz residents feel the city is losing its historic character in the process; many of them avoid the area on Saturdays. This has led to friction with officials from Kreuzlingen as their city has seen no economic benefit from this trade, and they have been requesting that their national government bring up the issue of the VAT refund with Germany. Subsequently Germany has introduced a minimum spend amount of €50,01 per receipt for the German VAT to be refunded. Customs clearance centres are conveniently located near shopping centres.


title: Konstanz

text: Its location in south-west Germany gives Konstanz a degraded oceanic climate (Köppen: "Cfb") with warm and humid summers (moderated by the lake) as well as cold and snowy winters.


title: Konstanz

text: Konstanz station is served by the High Rhine Railway running west to Singen with connections to all parts of Germany, and the Etzwilen–Konstanz line running south into Switzerland, connecting to major routes at Weinfelden. Services are provided by the Deutsche Bahn AG and also the Swiss Thurbo company and its German subsidiary. The nearest airport is at Friedrichshafen, which can be reached by a fast ferry service on the lake, which also connects Konstanz to other lakeside towns. The airport mainly hosts domestic flights, but flights to Austria and Turkey are available. The nearest international airports are in Stuttgart, in Basel, and Zurich, which has a direct train from Konstanz. Bus services within the city are provided by Stadtwerke Konstanz GmbH.


title: Konstanz

text: Additionally Konstanz and Friedrichshafen have been connected by the two (since 2008, three) catamarans "Constance" and "Fridolin" since 2005.


title: Konstanz

text: It is home to one or more prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps UNESCO World Heritage Site.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel Anne Summers (also known as Rachel Grey) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-plotter John Byrne.


title: Rachel Summers

text: In her first appearance, the character's surname was not revealed; in later appearances, she was established as the daughter of the alternate future counterparts to Cyclops and Jean Grey-Summers from the dystopian Days of Future Past timeline, making her the sister of Nate Grey and half sister of Cable as well as the niece of Havok and Vulcan. Although she is considered a unique multiversal anomoly with no alternate-universe counterparts, this has been contradicted by references to her stated relationships to certain characters in other dimensions.


title: Rachel Summers

text: The character is a mutant with similar abilities to her mother, including telepathy, telekinesis, and a connection to the Phoenix, the latter of which was represented in her adoption of the Phoenix title after her mother's apparent death. Throughout her publication history, she has also been referred to by the monikers Marvel Girl, Prestige, and Mother Askani, most recently taking on the codename Askani.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel first appeared in "The Uncanny X-Men" #141 (Jan. 1981) and has since been affiliated with several comic book superhero teams including the X-Men and Excalibur.


title: Rachel Summers

text: In 2022, she joined the Knights of X team as part of the Destiny of X era under the leadership of Captain Britain, who takes a group of mutants under her wing leading them into the Otherworld. The title was the follow-up to the 2019's Excalibur relaunch and was written by Tini Howard. In its fourth issue, Rachel Summers and her long-time friend Betsy Braddock confessed their romantic feelings for each other and their kiss was shown in a splash page.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel Anne Summers comes from an alternate future Earth known as Earth-811, as seen in the "Days of Future Past" storyline from "The Uncanny X-Men" #141–142. In this reality, the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly provoked the ratification of the Mutant Registration Act, leading to a dystopian future where the mutant-hunting Sentinel robots rule North America. Rachel was abducted by operatives working for Ahab, who used drugs and hypnotherapy to turn Rachel into a "Hound", a mutant who tracks down other mutants. She fulfilled her duties, but her psychic powers linked her to her victims; fueling her grief and despair until she attacked Ahab and scarred him. In return, he sent her to the mutant concentration camps. There, she befriended the surviving mutant rebels, including Wolverine, Magneto, Colossus, Storm, Kate Pryde, and her lover, the adult Franklin Richards.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel managed to send Kate's consciousness into the past to her younger self to prevent the assassination, but it did not change their time. Rachel sent her astral form into the past to find out why and discovered she had sent Kate into an alternate past. On the way back, she encountered the disembodied Phoenix Force and it followed her to her present. Rachel passed out from the strain of astral projection and the Phoenix Force revealed itself to Kate, who asked it to give Rachel a fresh start.


title: Rachel Summers

text: When Rachel and Kate broke into "Project: Nimrod" on a suicide mission to destroy a new model of Sentinel, they became trapped. When Kate spoke the words "Dark Phoenix," the Phoenix Force ripped Rachel from her timeline and sent her body back to the alternate past to which she had sent Kate's consciousness. This was a past where she learned Jean Grey was dead and that her father was married to someone else. Rachel experienced additional heartache and displacement trauma when she discovered that her father's new wife, Madelyne Pryor, was pregnant with a son (Nathan Summers), because in her timeline she was the first-born child of Scott Summers.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel had a brief membership in the X-Men before finding a Shi'ar holoempathic crystal at her grandparents' home. The crystal was imprinted with a portion of Rachel's mother's essence inside it as a tribute to the family shortly after Jean Grey's death. After Rachel took a vow to remember her mother with the uniform and name of Phoenix, the Phoenix Force fully bonded with her. She was granted access to its power on a cosmic magnitude, albeit in a much more limited fashion than the Dark Phoenix. Soon after, the grudge which she had begun with Selene boiled over when Rachel secretly invaded the Hellfire Club. She did this with the intention of taking vengeance on Selene for the murders she had committed, particularly that of nightclub owner Nicholas Damiano, who had previously taken Rachel into his home after Selene had attacked her. Selene proved to be no match for Rachel's newly increased powers, but just as she was about to finish Selene, Wolverine arrived and was forced to stab Rachel in the chest. Critically injured, Rachel was lured into Spiral's "Body Shoppe."


title: Rachel Summers

text: Months later, while recuperating from injuries on Muir Island, Shadowcat and Nightcrawler both had the same dream, where they were actors on a weird set and helped Rachel, who was trapped there, escape. Shortly thereafter, Rachel escaped from the alternate reality of Mojoworld. Rachel has once been cited having a flashback to her time there where she is held in chains and tortured. The three former X-Men were joined by Captain Britain and Meggan and founded the British superhero team Excalibur. While part of the team, she discovered that this universe's version of her mother, Jean Grey, was alive. She attempted to bond with Jean, but Jean, upon discovering Rachel was the present host for the Phoenix, rejected any contact with her. Jean still resented the Phoenix Force for stealing a portion of her life. She also rejected Rachel because she felt that Rachel's existence was a constant reminder of the dystopian future she feared could still come to pass. Eventually, however, Jean moved past those feelings and formally welcomed Rachel into her life.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel remained with Excalibur until an incident caused Captain Britain to be lost in the timestream. She exchanged places with the time-lost Captain Britain and emerged two thousand years in the future, in a world conquered by Apocalypse and crushed under his iron fist. She gathered together a group of rebels and founded the Askani. She trained one of her followers to travel back in time and bring her "brother" Nathan forward in time when he was infected with a techno-organic virus. The Askani cloned Nathan in case he was not able to survive the virus. Apocalypse's followers attacked the Askani and took the clone (who would later become the supervillain Stryfe), leaving Rachel critically injured. Hooked up to life support, she drew the minds of Scott and Jean into the future, as "Slym" and "Redd", to raise Nathan and tutor him in the use of his powers. Rachel finally died ten years later and sent Scott and Jean back to their original bodies seconds after they had left.


title: Rachel Summers

text: After Nathan, now known as Cable, had finally defeated Apocalypse, he went into the timeline to retrieve Rachel. There, he discovered a Rachel "sans" Phoenix Force. With the premature death of Apocalypse, the Askani timeline had been diverged from the mainstream Marvel Universe, Earth-616. As a result, she had been flung into the far future, yet subjectively a short time after she had been lost in the timestream, as the slave of a creature called "Gaunt", who had used her to lead Cable there for a "battle of the ages". Cable defeated Gaunt in the battle and Rachel, now free, was able to use her residual Phoenix Force to return them both to the present. She then decided to take a break from superheroics and enrolled in college after she made Cable promise he would not tell anyone she was back. Despite her efforts to live a normal life, however, she was kidnapped by the telepath Elias Bogan and subsequently rescued by the X-Men.


title: Rachel Summers

text: She decided to rejoin the X-Men, taking the name "Marvel Girl" to honor her mother (who had recently died yet again) and wearing a costume her mother had designed but never worn: a variation on Jean's first green costume. She also changed her last name to "Grey", possibly to express disapproval at her father's betrayal of Jean, as well as his continuing relationship with Emma Frost; though she and Emma made a truce of sorts during one of the team's missions in Hong Kong. Rachel and Nightcrawler began to have an attraction towards each other, kissing at one point, but nothing came of it as Nightcrawler also had an attraction to Storm at the time, who was in somewhat of a romantic "friendship" with Wolverine. Her stint with this team also included a visit to the Savage Land. In the storyline "World's End", which was heavily criticized by readers, Rachel was subjected to the mind-control of a tribe of advanced dinosaur people, the Hauk'ka, causing her to believe she belonged to their species. Afterward, she subconsciously used her telekinesis to change her own genome in their image. This was eventually reverted. After "House of M" and "Decimation", where most of the world's mutants lost their powers, the government had Sentinels instituted at the X-Mansion to protect the mutants in case any enemies used this low point to attack. Though their intentions were good this time, it reminded Rachel too much of the previous timeline when Sentinels herded mutants into concentration camps.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel had a short stint with newly re-formed Excalibur, reminiscent of the former team, shortly after the "House of M" events. She assisted the team in battling Shadow-X and the Shadow King (in the guise of Professor X).


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel spent some time with her grandparents, bonding with her grandfather. At a family reunion with all her relatives, a commando unit under the order of the Shi'ar attacked the party, killing everyone in an effort to wipe out the Grey genome. The commando unit was unable to kill Rachel; instead, one member was able to graft a "deathmark" on her back that would allow them to find her wherever she went. It is assumed that the only remaining member of the Grey family now left on Earth besides Rachel is Cable. Afterward, at the graves of the Grey family, Rachel vowed a terrible vengeance on the Shi'ar and was quoted as saying, "I'm not my mom. I'm not the Phoenix. I'm my own woman. And by the time I'm done... they'll wish I "was" the Phoenix."


title: Rachel Summers

text: The Death Commandos later tracked Rachel to the psychiatry office of Dr. Maureen Lyszinski. Rachel, with the help of Psylocke, Nightcrawler, Bishop, and Cannonball, saved the doctor and took down the Death Commandos. She decided to imprison them, instead of killing them, by telling them, "I mean to find destiny in a way that brings us both [Jean Grey] honor." She is also sometimes referenced as "Starchilde" in this series.


title: Rachel Summers

text: After Rachel was kidnapped, along with Cyclops, by her paternal uncle Vulcan, he freed Darwin from inside him. Later, Professor X recruited Rachel, along with Havok, Nightcrawler, Warpath, Darwin, and Polaris, for a space mission to stop Vulcan from laying waste to the Shi'ar empire. Xavier, who recently was stripped of his powers, recruited Rachel to serve as his telepathic "eyes and ears" during their mission. Aware of Rachel's vendetta against the Shi'ar, Xavier agreed to use their trip into space to find out who in the Shi'ar Empire gave the order to wipe out all members of the Grey family, and he warned Rachel that they will deal with the people responsible for her recent losses Xavier's way.


title: Rachel Summers

text: While in space, the team was attacked by Korvus, a Shi'ar warrior sent to kill Rachel. Korvus' ancestor, Rook'shir, was a previous host of the Phoenix Force, and a small portion of the Phoenix's power was left behind in his sword, the Blade of the Phoenix. With this power, Korvus made short work of the other X-Men, but when Rachel blocked the sword, their minds were involuntarily linked. Through this link, Rachel learned that Korvus' family was also murdered by the Shi'ar government because of their connection to the Phoenix. The remaining echo of the Phoenix power from the sword was then transferred to Rachel. Rachel claimed that rather than having taken the power, the power chose to go to her, saying, "The Phoenix knows me, remember? It likes me." When this happened, Rachel's normally gold energy aura turned blue, the same color as the Blade of the Phoenix. She then telekinetically disabled an explosive implant that the Shi'ar chancellor was using to force Korvus' obedience.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Due to Rachel's connection to Korvus through the sword, she discovers the Phoenix Force formerly in the blade is just an echo, a "blue shadow", of the Force. The shadow of the Phoenix begins influencing Rachel's behavior, causing her to design a new darker uniform and begin a romance with Korvus. She soon breaks off the relationship after she realizes their bond is only because of the residual Phoenix Force.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Leading up to the fight with Vulcan, Rachel is shown using her powers to kill the guards who stand in her way. Havok warns her not to, but Rachel tells him that they deserve to die after what they did to her family. When it comes to the big fight, Rachel shows just how powerful she is by protecting Korvus from one of Vulcan's blasts. Rachel is one of the X-Men stranded in Shi'ar space when their ship is sent back to Earth.


title: Rachel Summers

text: After the death of her other grandfather, Corsair, at the hands of Vulcan, she, along with Havok, Polaris, Korvus, Ch'od, and Raza, become the new Starjammers. They elect to remain in Shi'ar space and restore Lilandra to the throne or die trying. As her uncle states, "If they fail, he has no doubt that Vulcan will head for Earth."


title: Rachel Summers

text: During the conflict, the Starjammers find another threat in the form of the Scy'ar Tal (translates as "Death to the Shi'ar"). Rachel makes contact with the eldest Scy'ar Tal and discovers their true origin. The Scy'ar Tal were originally called the M'Kraan. Early in their history, the Shi`ar attacked them, killing a great number of their people and making the rest flee for their lives. Eventually, the Shi'ar settled on their planet, took the M'Kraan Crystal as their own, and passed down the legend of the M'Kraan Crystal as a sacred gift from their deities, Sharra and K'ythri. The M'Kraan then changed their name to Scy'ar Tal and devoted their culture and society to the destruction of the Shi`ar Empire. With their first attack, they destroyed Feather's Edge by transporting a star to obliterate it. After which, Vulcan made contact with the Starjammers to call a temporary ceasefire.


title: Rachel Summers

text: During the ceasefire, Rachel comes into contact with the Death Commandos again and attempts to kill them to avenge the deaths of her relatives; however, she is deterred by Polaris. In the end, all the Starjammers are captured by the Shi'ar except Rachel, Korvus, and Lilandra.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel and the Starjammers play a large role in the sequel to the "Emperor Vulcan" miniseries called "X-Men: Kingbreaker". She is also seen prominently in the "War of Kings" storyline, which features Vulcan, the Inhumans, Nova, and the Guardians of the Galaxy.


title: Rachel Summers

text: While with the Starjammers, in battle with Vulcan's new guard, the fragment of the "blue" Phoenix within her and Korvus' blade mysteriously leaves them. After the Phoenix echo leaves Rachel, she says "please... not now... Mom." From this frame onward, the "hound" markings reappear on Rachel's face.


title: Rachel Summers

text: In agreement with the Inhumans, the Starjammers and the Guardians of the Galaxy assault a Shi'ar vessel in order to free Lilandra, hoping to end the conflict while restoring her to the throne. Even without her Phoenix powers, Rachel is powerful enough to entrap Gladiator in an illusion in order to keep him distracted from battle. Their gambit pays off and the group is able to free Lilandra.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel is next seen as Lilandra's bodyguard along with the rest of the Starjammers. On the home planet of the Shi'ar, Lilandra assumes her throne, but while making a ceremonial gesture is killed by the murderer known as Razor, who possesses the Darkhawk armor. The only person who perceives this is Rachel, since Razor is shielded from the perceptions of others.


title: Rachel Summers

text: After Lilandra is assassinated, Rachel fights alongside the Starjammers against the Shi'ar Guard and Araki, who has summoned the same Shi'ar commandos that killed Rachel's family and branded her with the Shi'ar death mark. Rachel uses her powers to implode Black Cloak's head, saying, "He was the one... He killed my family," though killing him does not make her feel happier. Gladiator finishes the job by killing Araki himself. Rachel, along with the rest of the Starjammers, regroup later on and mourn the Shi'ar, as they doubt that they will recover from this war.


title: Rachel Summers

text: It is known through Ch'od, and apparently due to the incident where she and Korvus both lost the connection to the Phoenix Force, that Rachel and Korvus, along with Havok and Polaris, have departed for Earth.


title: Rachel Summers

text: While on the way back to Earth, Rachel attempted to contact Professor Xavier or Emma Frost with a message. However at that moment, Moira (a powerful alternate personality of the mutant Legion) warped reality taking Rachel's mind with it creating the amnesic Revenant. Once reality was restored, Rachel's mind is separated from her body which according to her is "half a universe away". Because of Moira's actions, Rachel no longer remembers the message and her mind retains the form of her Age of X counterpart. Scott promised her that they would return her home.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel reappears in "". She asks Rogue to connect with her to see what will happen. When the two of them touch, Rogue sees a vision of where Rachel, Havok and Polaris are as Rachel then returns to her body. When she awakens she is met by an unseen villain holding a gun and telling her he has killed her friends.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Borrowing one of Legion's manifold powers, Rogue teleports alongside Gambit, Magneto and Frenzy to rescue their teammates on the other side of the galaxy. Once there, Rachel is retrieved from a band of pirates as Rogue becomes their new leader. The remaining X-Men discover they've arrived at a space station called Gul Damar which is in a state of upheaval due to the rebellion of insectoid creatures called Grad Nan Holt against their Shi'ar enslavers. They are also being pulled into an exploding sun and the entire civil war is revealed to be orchestrated by a powerful Grad Nan Holt telepath known as "Friendless." A number of battles with the creature proves unsuccessful for Rachel, but with the combined efforts of Rogue and the X-Men they are able to defeat him and return home via the wormhole that was created from the collapsing star.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel as part of a team of Wolverine's X-Men attempted to psychically battle Exodus in an attempt to prevent the assassination of Cyclops. The team is eventually beaten and the X-Men are saved by Generation Hope.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel is then invited to hold a position as senior staff member of the "Jean Grey School for Higher Learning," which was rebuilt from the Xavier Institute and has Wolverine as acting Headmaster and Kitty Pryde as Headmistress.


title: Rachel Summers

text: During the events of "AVX", when the X-Men on Utopia escape from the invading Avengers, Rachel contacts Cyclops to provide Hope's location. Afterwards, Rachel states that she knows the Phoenix Force better than anyone else on Earth and that she is living proof that it can be controlled. She also says that if the Phoenix has chosen her and that is the destiny that Hope wants, she will do everything in her power to help her. She and Iceman tell Wolverine at the school that they are going to help Cyclops in the battle. However, when Cyclops and Emma Frost begin to be corrupted by the Phoenix's power, she, like the other X-Men, decide to oppose their rule. Rachel then battled against Cyclops and helped both the Avengers and X-Men in the final battle.


title: Rachel Summers

text: In 2013, Marvel revealed an all new all female series simply named "X-Men". Written by Brian Wood with art by Olivier Coipel, "X-Men" will feature an all female cast including Storm, Jubilee, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Rachel Grey and Psylocke.


title: Rachel Summers

text: The X-Men are in pursuit of Arkea who has attempted to revive the X-Men's long lost enemies. The X-Men are attacked by the newly formed Sisterhood and Rachel is telepathically locked down by Madelyne Pryor. Storm strikes a deal for Rachels freedom allowing Madelyne and Selene to walk free.


title: Rachel Summers

text: In the "AXIS" story arc, Storm sends the entire student body against the Red Onslaught in an attempt to save Earth. Rachel is shown to be reverted to her hound form by Dr. Doom and Wanda Maximoffs spell.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel is part of Storm's team of Amazing X-Men who attempts to stop the Living Monolith from becoming the new Juggernaut.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel Grey is distrusting of Spider-Man's newly appointed position as Jean Grey School guidance counsellor. Using her telepathy she seeks to expose his secret identity only to lose that memory by being mind-wiped by Martha Johansson.


title: Rachel Summers

text: When Kitty Pryde returns from space to lead the X-Men, Rachel joins her team in "X-Men Gold" and adopts the unique, new code name Prestige.


title: Rachel Summers

text: In the new status quo for mutants post "House of X and Powers of X", Professor X and Magneto invite all mutants to live on Krakoa and welcome even former enemies into their fold. Rachel spends some time with her family on the Summer House, the new residence of the Summers Family, located on the Moon. Soon after X (Xavier) is killed by bioengineered human terrorists, Cyclops gathers Rachel and Kid Cable for a mission on the Atlantic Ocean regarding a piece of their new homeland of Krakoa.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Later, she joins Polaris, Daken, Northstar and former X-students Eye-Boy and Prodigy in a new initiative in Krakoa: they are to investigate any mutant death and prepare a report for The Five as part of the Resurrection Protocols of Krakoa. Their first case involves the supposed death of Northstar's twin sister, Aurora.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel possesses various psionic abilities, generally exhibited through telepathy, psychometry, telekinesis, and limited time manipulation.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel's "virtually unlimited" telepathy allows her to receive, broadcast, and manipulate cognitive processes (such as thoughts) in an intricate manner. Examples of Rachel's aptitudes for this include creating durable mind-links across distances, projecting blasts of psionic energy that disrupt aspects of brain functioning, shielding her mind from other telepaths, creating illusions, and rendering someone imperceptible to the five senses. In addition, Rachel has demonstrated the ability to telepathically suppress superpowers; control, repair, and exchange minds; as well as safely editing memories. Rachel has also harnessed her telepathy to sense, locate, and track other sentient beings based on their thought patterns, but has a moral apprehension about using this skill due to her experiences as a Hound.


title: Rachel Summers

text: It has been suggested that Rachel's telepathy, although immeasurable in raw power, is mitigated by her limited training and finesse. Emma Frost was able to outflank an incredulous Rachel in a contest on the astral plane. In the same issue, Emma offered her educative services; and later still, Rachel received training from Professor Charles Xavier (while he was depowered), giving her access to his vast knowledge and expertise in telepathy.


title: Rachel Summers

text: By using telekinesis, Marvel Girl can remotely manipulate matter even on a sub-atomic level. She can channel this ability to create protective force fields and blasts of concussive force. By using her telekinesis to levitate herself, Marvel Girl can fly at incredible speeds. Rachel has been able to create a micro black hole, levitate an entire city for a time, sustain shields that withstood Jovian atmospheric pressures, and direct blows from Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. Moreover, Rachel's telekinetic fine-motor control has allowed her to alter molecular valences, mentally alter clothing with ease, create a telekinetic/psionic sword (much like Psylocke's telekinetic katana), a telekinetic hammer powerful enough to knock Thor off his feet, and even rewrite human genomes.


title: Rachel Summers

text: While all depictions portray Rachel as an extremely powerful telekinetic, the limitations of her hard-psi capabilities have been somewhat inconsistent. Some instances have depicted Rachel's telekinetic potential to be nigh-unlimited, whereas others have shown her struggling against, and even outmatched by, lesser developed telekinetics such as Psylocke.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Marvel Girl utilizes her psionic talents in conjunction with her ability to manipulate time in a variety of ways. "Chronoskimming" describes her ability to temporarily transplant a person's mind and send it through time into a younger/older version, a close ancestor/descendant, or as a disembodied astral form.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel unconsciously emanates a fourth dimensional pulse, effectively creating a chrono-shield that protects her from changes in the timeline. She can also sense and manipulate residual psychic energy in the form of psychometry.


title: Rachel Summers

text: When Rachel was bonded to the cosmic entity known as the Phoenix Force, she demonstrated heightened psi-powers, the ability to manipulate energy and life-forces, and limited cosmic awareness. Rachel's connection to the Phoenix power was lost in the distant future and did not return with her when she traveled back to the early 21st century (present) of Earth-616 (Marvel's mainstream universe).


title: Rachel Summers

text: Most recently, Marvel Girl absorbed a residual echo of the Phoenix Force left in the sword of a previous host, a Shi'ar named Rook'shir. It was revealed that this energy source was a less powerful (but easier to wield) form of the Phoenix Force. The echo was powerful enough to allow Rachel to survive in and fly through the vacuum of space without the need for additional protection, as well as being able to hold her own in combat against the tremendous physical power of Gladiator. These demonstrations were short lived, however, due to its disappearance, which Rachel attributes to Jean Grey. She now exhibits her standard power levels.


title: Rachel Summers

text: As a host for the Phoenix Force, Rachel manifested the cosmic firebird in displays of great power. During her 2000s "Uncanny X-Men" appearances, Marvel Girl also exhibited a Phoenix emblem over her left eye whenever she demonstrated psionic feats. It was at first accompanied by a "shadow form" (similar to the one Jean Grey manifested when she absorbed the telepathic powers of Psylocke). However, the illustration of this shadow form ceased without explanation. After regaining a small portion of the Phoenix Force (echo), the emblem over her eye changed from a gold Phoenix shape to a static version made of electric blue flame. Her display of power was once more altered in "X-Men: Emperor Vulcan" #3, where she produced the familiar fiery raptor with which the Phoenix Force is commonly associated (see profile image).


title: Rachel Summers

text: At times, Rachel has been shown to learn new skills extremely quickly. For example, she mastered a set of "demon ninja" sword skills simply by watching her teammate Shadowcat perform them. Along with sword fighting, Rachel has experience in lock-picking, vehicular repair (such as engines), and use of advanced technology and weaponry. However, these abilities have not been evident in her more recent appearances.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Rachel's power level and scope of abilities have been inconsistently described by writers over the years. However, she is usually depicted with "virtually unlimited" potential in her dual psionic talents. In most cases, she displayed greater feats as the Phoenix and even matched Gladiator's strength with the aid of a "Phoenix echo". Rachel is considered by many to be an Omega-level mutant (like her mother), but the only literary reference to this attribute is when the future Sentinel, Nimrod, classified Rachel as an "Omega class subject" several years before the term was established in Marvel canon.


title: Rachel Summers

text: Even with the omnipotent strength of the Phoenix, magic and magical objects are able to resist Rachel's powers. When the Soulsword appeared near the Excalibur lighthouse headquarters seeking Kitty Pryde to become its new wielder, Rachel attempted to remove it from bedrock to alleviate her friend's apprehension. Despite using the full extent of power permitted by the Phoenix Force, Rachel was unable to remove the sword, surmising that only Kitty could remove it.


title: Rachel Summers

text: In the very first issue of the "Uncanny X-Men" story arc "Season of the Witch", Rachel and Psylocke were transported to the White Hot Room as an indirect result of the reality-shift performed by a mentally unstable Scarlet Witch. While there, it was established that the Rachel appearing in Earth-616 (originally from Earth-811) has no true alternate counterparts within the Marvel multiverse. Rather, all other incarnations of "Rachel Summers" that exist in parallel timelines (see below) are linked only by having the same name, or attributes.


title: Rachel Summers

text: The "House of M" reality had Rachel and Psylocke return to their dimension and thus be engrossed in the Scarlet Witch's reconstruction of the world. In this reality, Rachel was the bodyguard and traveling companion to Psylocke, who was crowned British royalty after her brother, Brian, became ruler of all England. Rachel then became involved with Captain Britain's mission to seal the breach in reality (rift) that was created by the Scarlet Witch's manipulations.


title: Rachel Summers

text: In at least three alternate future timelines derived from "Days of Future Past", a Rachel Summers married Franklin Richards and procreated mutant children. One such child was the time-traveling supervillain Hyperstorm (Jonathan Richards). Hyperstorm was responsible for causing the Fantastic Four to think that Mister Fantastic (Jonathan's grandfather) and Doctor Doom were dead; he was only defeated when he was trapped in another dimension by Galactus. The second child was Dream Summers, who possessed empathic superpowers. She was a superhero who appeared in the "Spider-Man/X-Men: Time's Arrow" trilogy of novels (although Marvel Comics novels tend to be considered non-canon). In a third reality, they produced a child named David Richards, who was rescued from a concentration camp by the interdimensional traveling Exiles and raised by the "Age of Apocalypse" version of Sabretooth. David's traumatic experiences at the camp motivated him to become a fanatical murderer.


title: Rachel Summers

text: In another variation of the "Days of Future Past", shown in "Weapon X: Days of Future Now", a Rachel Summers was captured by Weapon X and detained in the "Neverland" concentration camp.


title: Rachel Summers

text: In the so-called "Legacy Earth" reality of "Exiles", in which the Legacy Virus mutated into a techno-organic plague, a Rachel Summers was a member of the Avengers, the last superhero group. At Morph's behest, she contacted Thor and the Asgardians to help them against the Vi-Locks, a race of beings infected with the techno-organic virus.


title: Rachel Summers

text: The miniseries "" (written by Chris Claremont) details the last adventures of the X-Men in a possible future. In this reality, Rachel played a central role, and was the political campaign manager of Kitty Pryde (Chicago mayoral candidate). However, she abandoned this position after Cassandra Nova led a series of attacks on the X-Men and their allies. She traveled alongside Cable into Shi'ar space. After a Professor X was taken hostage by Nova, and she entered his psyche in order to free him. However, Nova traps her and Lilandra within. She seemingly kills them both, but Rachel used the power of the Phoenix to save herself and incapacitates Nova. They leave Xavier's mind and continue the battle in Rachel's mind, where Rachel is overpowered. Cassandra, using Rachel's body, kills Jean Grey and Cyclops, leaving Rachel forced to watch the ordeal. Nova then leaves Rachel's body, stealing the Phoenix force. The Phoenix being the only thing keeping her alive after her Cassandra destroyed her mental form, she simply died.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Grand Duke Alexei Petrovich of Russia (28 February 1690 – 26 June 1718) was a Russian Tsarevich. He was born in Moscow, the son of Tsar Peter I and his first wife, Eudoxia Lopukhina. Alexei despised his father and repeatedly thwarted Peter's plans to raise him as successor to the throne. His brief defection to Austria scandalized the Russian government, leading to harsh repressions against Alexei and his associates. Alexei died after interrogation under torture, and his younger half brother Peter Petrovich became the new heir apparent.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: The young Alexei was brought up by his mother, who fostered an atmosphere of disdain towards his father, the Tsar. Alexei's relations with his father suffered from the hatred between his father and his mother, as it was very difficult for him to feel affection for his mother's worst persecutor. From the ages of 6 to 9, Alexei was educated by his tutor Vyazemsky, but after the removal of his mother by Peter the Great to the Suzdal Intercession Convent, Alexei was confined to the care of educated foreigners, who taught him history, geography, mathematics and French.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: In 1703, Alexei was ordered to follow the army to the field as a private in an artillery regiment. In 1704, he was present at the capture of Narva. At this period, the preceptors of the Tsarevich had the highest opinion of his ability. Alexei had strong leanings towards archaeology and ecclesiology. However, Peter had wished his son and heir to dedicate himself to the service of new Russia, and demanded from him unceasing labour in order to maintain Russia's new wealth and power. Painful relations between father and son, quite apart from the prior personal antipathies, were therefore inevitable. It was an additional misfortune for Alexei that his father should have been too busy to attend to him just as he was growing up from boyhood to manhood. He was left in the hands of reactionary boyars and priests, who encouraged him to hate his father and wish for the death of the Tsar.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: In 1708, Peter sent Alexei to Smolensk to collect supplies and recruits, and after that to Moscow to fortify it against Charles XII of Sweden. At the end of 1709, Alexei went to Dresden for one year. There, he finished lessons in French, German, mathematics and fortification. After his education, Alexei married Princess Charlotte of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, whose family was connected by marriage to many of the great families of Europe (for example, Charlotte's sister Elizabeth was married to Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, ruler of the Habsburg monarchy). He met with Princess Charlotte, both were pleased with each other and the marriage went forward. In theory, Alexei could have refused the marriage, and he had been encouraged by his father to at least meet his intended. "Why haven't you written to tell me what you thought about her?" wrote Peter in a letter dated 13 August 1710.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: The marriage contract was signed in September. The wedding was celebrated at Torgau, Germany, on 14 October 1711 (O.S.). One of the terms of the marriage contract agreed to by Alexei was that while any forthcoming children were to be raised in the Orthodox faith, Charlotte herself was allowed to retain her Protestant faith, an agreement opposed by Alexei's followers.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: As for the marriage itself, the first 6 months went well but quickly became a failure within the next 6 months. Alexei was drunk constantly and Alexei pronounced his bride "pock-marked" and "too thin". He insisted on separate apartments and ignored her in public.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Three weeks later, the bridegroom was hurried away by his father to Toruń to superintend the provisioning of the Russian troops in Poland. For the next twelve months Alexei was kept constantly on the move. His wife joined him at Toruń in December, but in April 1712 a peremptory ukase ordered him off to the army in Pomerania, and in the autumn of the same year he was forced to accompany his father on a tour of inspection through Finland.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Peter Alexeyevich would succeed as the Emperor Peter II in 1727. With his death in 1730, the direct male-line of the House of Romanov became extinct.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: After the birth of Natalia in 1714, Alexei brought his long-time Finnish serf mistress Afrosinia to live in the palace. Some historians speculate that it was his conservative powerbase's disapproval of his foreign, non-Orthodox bride, more so than her appearance, that caused Alexei to spurn Charlotte. Another influence was Alexander Kikin, a high-placed official who had fallen out with the Tsar and had been deprived of his estates.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Immediately on his return from Finland, Alexei was dispatched by his father to Staraya Russa and Lake Ladoga to see to the building of new ships. This was the last commission entrusted to him, since Peter had not been satisfied with his son's performance and his lack of enthusiasm. When Peter asked Alexei to show his progress in mechanics and mathematics, the son responded by shooting himself in the right hand, and Peter took no more interest in him. Nevertheless, Peter made one last effort to "reclaim" his son. On 22 October 1715 (O.S.), Charlotte died, after giving birth to a son, the grand-duke Peter, the future Emperor Peter II. On the day of the funeral, Peter sent Alexei a stern letter, urging him to take interest in the affairs of the state. Peter threatened to cut him off if he did not acquiesce in his father's plans. Alexei wrote a pitiful reply to his father, offering to renounce the succession in favour of his infant son Peter. Peter would agree but on the condition that Alexei remove himself as a dynastic threat and become a monk.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: While Alexei was pondering his options, on 26 August 1716 Peter wrote to Alexei from abroad, urging him, if he desired to remain tsarevich, to join him and the army without delay. Rather than face this ordeal, Alexei fled to Vienna and placed himself under the protection of his brother-in-law, the emperor Charles VI, who sent him for safety first to the Tirolean fortress of Ehrenberg (near Reutte), and finally to the castle of Sant'Elmo at Naples. He was accompanied throughout his journey by Afrosinia. That the emperor sincerely sympathized with Alexei, and suspected Peter of harbouring murderous designs against his son, is plain from his confidential letter to George I of Great Britain, whom he consulted on this delicate affair. Peter felt insulted: the flight of the tsarevich to a foreign potentate was a reproach and a scandal, and he had to be recovered and brought back to Russia at all costs. This difficult task was accomplished by Count Peter Tolstoi, the most subtle and unscrupulous of Peter's servants.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei would only consent to return on his father solemnly swearing, that if he came back he should not be punished in the least, but cherished as a son and allowed to live quietly on his estates and marry Afrosinia.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: On 31 January 1718, the tsarevich reached Moscow. Peter had already determined to institute a searching inquisition in order to get at the bottom of the mystery of the flight. On 18 February a "confession" was extorted from Alexei which implicated most of his friends, and he then publicly renounced the succession to the throne in favour of the baby grand-duke Peter Alexeyevich.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: A brutal reign of terror ensued, in the course of which the ex-tsaritsa Eudoxia was dragged from her monastery and publicly tried for alleged adultery, while all who had in any way befriended Alexei were impaled or broken on the wheel while having their flesh torn with red-hot pincers on their bare backs or bare feet slowly roasted over burning coals, and were otherwise lingeringly done to death. Alexei's servants were beheaded or had their tongues cut out. All this was done to terrorize the reactionaries and isolate the tsarevich.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: In April 1718 fresh confessions were extorted from, and in regard to, Alexei. This included the words of Afrosinia, who had turned state's evidence. "I shall bring back the old people..." Alexei is reported to have told her,


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: when I become sovereign I shall live in Moscow and leave Saint Petersburg simply as any other town; I won't launch any ships; I shall maintain troops only for defense, and won't make war on anyone; I shall be content with the old domains. In winter I shall live in Moscow, and in summer in Iaroslavl."


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Despite this and other hearsay evidence, there were no facts to go upon. The worst that could be brought against him was that he had wished his father's death. In the eyes of Peter, his son was now a self-convicted and most dangerous traitor, whose life was forfeit. But there was no getting over the fact that his father had sworn to pardon him and let him live in peace if he returned to Russia. The whole matter was solemnly submitted to a grand council of prelates, senators, ministers and other dignitaries on 13 June 1718 (O.S.). The clergy, for their part, declared the Tsarevich Alexei,


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: "...had placed his Confidence in those who loved the ancient Customs, and that he had become acquainted with them by the Discourses they held, wherein they had constantly praised the ancient Manners, and spoke with Distaste of the Novelties his Father had introduced."


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Declaring this to be a civil rather than an ecclesiastical matter, the clergy left the matter to the tsar's own decision.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: At noon on 24 June (O.S.), the temporal dignitaries—the 126 members of both the Senate and magistrates that comprised the court—declared Alexei guilty and sentenced him to death. But the examination by torture continued, so desperate was Peter to uncover any possible collusion.


title: Alexei Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: On 19 June (O.S.), the weak and ailing tsarevich received twenty-five strokes with the knout, and then, on 24 June (O.S.), he was subject to fifteen more. On 26 June (O.S.), Alexei died in the Peter and Paul fortress in Saint Petersburg, two days after the senate had condemned him to death for conspiring rebellion against his father, and for hoping for the cooperation of the common people and the armed intervention of his brother-in-law, Emperor Charles VI.


title: Soldier's Medal

text: The Soldier's Medal is an individual decoration of the United States Army. It was introduced as Section 11 of the Air Corps Act, passed by the Congress of the United States on July 2, 1926. The Army' Soldier's Medal is equivalent to the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the Air Force and Space Force's Airman's Medal, and the Coast Guard Medal. Prior to the creation of the Airman's Medal in 1960, airmen were awarded the Soldier's Medal.


title: Soldier's Medal

text: The criteria for the medal are: "The Soldier's Medal is awarded to any person of the Armed Forces of the United States or of a friendly foreign nation who, while serving in any capacity with the Army of the United States, including Reserve Component soldiers not serving in a duty status at the time of the heroic act, distinguished himself or herself by heroism not involving conflict with an enemy."


title: Soldier's Medal

text: A need to recognize acts of heroism in 1922 resulted in the War Department's issuing orders for acts of bravery during peacetime. This led to an Act of Congress (Public Law 446-69th Congress, July 2, 1926 (44 Stat. 780)) which established the Soldier's Medal for acts of heroism not involving actual conflict with an enemy. The Secretary of War directed that the Quartermaster General prepare and submit appropriate designs of the Soldier's Medal per letter signed by the Adjutant General dated 11 August 1926. The medal was designed by sculptor Gaetano Cecere.


title: Soldier's Medal

text: The first Soldier's Medals were awarded on October 17, 1927, to John F. Burns and James P. Martin for their heroism during a fire and to James K. Wilson and Cleophas C. Burnett for saving people from drowning.


title: Soldier's Medal

text: The period of time when the most Soldier's Medals were awarded was World War II (at least hundreds were awarded).


title: Soldier's Medal

text: Prior to the establishment of the Airman's Medal, which was authorized on 10 August 1956 and created in 1960, the Soldier's Medal awarded to U.S. Air Force personnel by the Army since 26 September 1947.


title: Soldier's Medal

text: The distinguishing criterion for awarding the Soldier's Medal, per Army Regulation 600-8-22, para 3-14, is "The performance must have involved personal hazard or danger and the voluntary risk of life under conditions not involving conflict with an armed enemy. Awards will not be made solely on the basis of having saved a life." It is the highest honor a soldier can receive for an act of valor in a non-combat situation, held to be equal to or greater than the level which would have justified an award of the Distinguished Flying Cross had the act occurred in combat. Any enlisted American servicemember who is eligible for retirement pay will receive an increase of 10 percent in retirement pay if the level of valor was equal to that which would earn the Distinguished Service Cross. Additional awards of the medal are denoted by oak leaf clusters worn on the suspension and service ribbon of the medal.


title: Soldier's Medal

text: The bronze medal is issued as a 1 3/8 inch wide Bronze octagon with an eagle displayed, standing on a fasces, between two groups of stars of six and seven, above the group of six a spray of leaves. On the reverse is a shield paly of 13 pieces, on the chief the letters "US," supported by sprays of laurel and oak, around the upper edge the inscription "SOLDIER'S MEDAL" and across the face the words "FOR VALOR." In the base is a panel for the name of the recipient to be engraved. The medal is suspended from the ribbon by a rectangular-shaped metal loop with corners rounded.


title: Soldier's Medal

text: The ribbon is 1 3/8 inches wide and consists of the following stripes: 3/8 inch Ultramarine Blue 67118 on each side and the center containing 13 White and Red stripes of equal width (7 White 67101 and 6 Old Glory Red 67156).


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: The Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60 (often referred to simply as the "Bofors 40 mm gun", the "Bofors gun" and the like, see name) is an anti-aircraft autocannon, designed in the 1930s by the Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors. The gun was designed as an intermediate anti-aircraft gun, filling the gap between fast firing close-range small calibre anti-aircraft guns and slower firing long-range high calibre anti-aircraft guns, a role which previously was filled by older outdated guns. The Bofors 40 mm L/60 was for its time perfectly suited for this role and outperformed competing designs in the years leading up to World War II in both effectiveness and reliability.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: It entered the export market around 1932 and was in service with 18 countries by 1939. Throughout World War II it became one of the most popular and widespread medium-weight anti-aircraft guns. It was used by the majority of the western Allies and some Axis powers such as Nazi Germany and Hungary.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: In the post-war era, the Bofors 40 mm L/60 design was not suitable for action against jet-powered aircraft, so Bofors developed a new 40 mm replacement design with significantly more power — the Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/70, also known under the generic name 'Bofors 40 mm gun' — which was adopted by many nations during the Cold War and was selected as NATO-standard in November 1953. The Bofors 40 mm L/60 would however continue to see service long after becoming obsolete as an anti-aircraft weapon due to the massive number of surplus guns from WWII, and a small number of Bofors 40 mm L/60 guns remain in service today. Some weapons saw action as late as the Gulf War and Yugoslav Wars.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: The Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60 is known under a variety of names around the world. In common historical nomenclatures it is commonly known under the names "Bofors 40 mm gun", "40 mm Bofors gun" and "Bofors gun". This mostly stems from Western Allied usage of the gun during World War II, who commonly used the nickname 'Bofors gun' and the like. For example, British anti-air batteries armed with the gun during the war received the nickname "The Bofors Boys". There were other guns by Bofors which also had these nicknames, the most common being the Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/70, leading some to think they are the same gun.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: The naming problem originates at Bofors themselves, as they never marketed the gun and its variants with a clear standardized name or abbreviation, a rule of thumb going for all of their products. In the vast majority of 1930s marketing material the gun is sold under a variety of descriptive names depending on the configuration, such as: "40 mm Automatic Field Gun L/60" to "40 mm Automatic A.A. Gun L/60 in Field Carriage" or "40 mm Automatic Naval Gun L/60" to "40 mm Automatic A.A. Gun L/60 in Naval Mounting". This theme transfers over to other languages as well: , , .<ref name="Bofors 57/60 es"></ref> Only the caliber of 40 mm and caliber length of L/60 are somewhat universal in branding.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: Due to this the gun is often specified by the calibre length "L/60". Enthusiasts and experts usually call the gun "Bofors 40 mm L/60" or simply "Bofors 40/60" and the like.<ref name="t persson 40/60"></ref> In some Bofors material the gun is standardized under the English name "Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60".


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: Contrary to the name, the Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60 has an actual barrel length of 56.25 calibres – . Due to this the gun can at times be found under the designation "L/56".<ref name="navweaps 40/60"></ref> The L/60 calibre length – – refers to the length of the barrel and breech mounted as a unit. Historically, L/62 has also occurred as a calibre length for the gun on occasion. This refers to the length of the barrel – 2,250 mm – when equipped with the conical flash hider – ; amounting to a length of , or 62.5 calibres.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: Similarly the Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/43 also has several calibre lengths. The L/43 calibre length – – refers to the length of the barrel and breech mounted as a unit. The actual barrel length is – 39.25 calibres. With a flash hider or muzzle brake mounted the barrel length becomes or .


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: In 1922, the Swedish Navy purchased a number of 40 mm 2-pounder "pom-poms" from Vickers as anti-aircraft guns. The navy approached Bofors about the development of a more capable replacement, and Bofors signed a contract in late 1928. The company produced a gun that was a smaller version of a 57 mm (6-pounder) semi-automatic gun, developed as an anti-torpedo boat weapon in the late 19th century by Finspång. Bofors' first test gun was a re-barrelled Nordenfelt version of the Finspång gun, to which was added a semi-automatic loading mechanism.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: Testing of the gun in 1929 showed that a problem existed with feeding the weapon to maintain a reasonable rate of fire. A mechanism that was strong enough to handle the stresses of moving the large round was too heavy to operate quickly enough to fire rapidly. One attempt to solve the problem used zinc shell cases that burned up when fired. However, that left heavy zinc deposits in the barrel and had to be abandoned. In the summer of 1930, experiments were conducted with a new test gun that did away with controlled feed and instead flicked the spent casing out the rear, after which a second mechanism reloaded the gun by "throwing" a fresh round into the open breech from the magazine. That improved firing rates to an acceptable level, so work on a prototype commenced soon after.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: During that period, Krupp purchased a one-third share of Bofors. Krupp engineers began the process of updating the Bofors factories with modern equipment and metallurgy, but the 40 mm project was kept secret.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: The prototype was completed and fired in November 1931 and, by the middle of the month, it was firing strings of two and three rounds. Changes to the feed mechanism were all that remained and, by the end of the year, the gun was operating at 130 rounds per minute. The development needed to turn it into a weapon suitable for production was completed in October 1933. Because acceptance trials had been passed the year before, it became known as the "40 mm akan M/32". Most forces referred to it as the "Bofors 40 mm L/60", although the barrel was actually 56.25 calibres in length, not the 60 calibres that the name implied.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: The gun fired a high explosive shell at from a 40 × 311 rimmed cartridge. The rate of fire was normally about 120 rounds per minute (2 rounds per second), which increased slightly when the barrels were closer to the horizon, because gravity assisted the feeding from the top-mounted magazine. Practical firing rates were closer to 80–100 rpm, because the rounds were fed into the breech from four round clips which had to be replaced by hand. The maximum attainable ceiling was , but the practical maximum was about .


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: The gun was provided with an advanced sighting system. The trainer and layer were both provided with reflector sights for aiming, while a third crew-member, standing behind them, "adjusted" for lead using a simple mechanical computer. Power for the sights was supplied from a 6V battery.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: In spite of the successful development, the Swedish Navy changed its mind and decided it needed a smaller hand-traversed weapon of 13 mm-25 mm size, and tested various designs from foreign suppliers. With the development of the 40 mm well advanced, Bofors offered a 25 mm version in 1932, which was eventually selected as the Bofors 25 mm M/32.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: The first version of the 40 mm the Swedish Navy ordered was intended for use on submarines, because the larger calibre allowed the gun to be used both as an anti-aircraft gun, and against smaller ships. The barrel was shorter, at 43 calibres, which reduced the muzzle velocity to about . When not in use, the gun was pointed directly up and retracted into a watertight cylinder. The only known submarines that used that arrangement were the "Sjölejonet"-class boats. The guns were later removed when the submarines were modified with streamlined conning towers.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: The first order for the "real" L/60 was made by the Dutch Navy, which ordered five twin-gun mounts for the cruiser in August 1934. Those guns were stabilized using the "Hazemeyer mount", in which one set of layers aimed the gun, while a second manually stabilized the platform the gun sat on. All five mounts were operated by one fire-control system.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: Bofors also developed a towable carriage, which was displayed at a show in Belgium in April 1935. That mount allowed the gun to be fired from the carriage with no set-up required, although it had limited accuracy. If time was available for set-up, the gunners used the tow-bar and muzzle lock as levers, raising the wheels off the ground and so lowering the gun onto supporting pads. Two additional legs folded out to the sides, and the platform was then levelled with hand cranks. The entire set-up process could be completed in under a minute.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: Orders for the land-based versions were immediate, starting with one for eight weapons from Belgium in August 1935, followed by a flood of orders from other forces including Poland, Norway, and Finland. It was accepted into the Swedish Army the next year, and known as the "40 mm lvakan m/36", the lower-case "m" indicating an army model as opposed to the capital "M" for the navy.


title: Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun

text: The Swedish navy adopted the weapon as the m/36 in two versions: hand-worked single air-cooled, and power-operated twin water-cooled. A twin air-cooled mounting, probably hand-worked, was also used by the navies of Sweden and Argentina, and a twin air-cooled wet mounting was developed for Polish submarines.