title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: Back in Athkatla, the party raises the money necessary and receives assistance from whichever organization it has decided to work with, and gains passage to the island on a ship sailed by the dubious and treacherous Saemon Havarian. The heroes then manage to get inside Spellhold, but they are captured by Irenicus, who has taken control of the prison and had planned all along to bring the protagonist there. Irenicus then subjects the protagonist to a ritual, taking the latter's soul. Imoen, who turns out to be a Child of Bhaal as well, had earlier undergone Irenicus's ritual, and her soul has gone to Bodhi, Irenicus's sister. Bodhi then abandons the party to the maze beneath Spellhold, so that she can hunt them after a span of time, saying also, as bait, that Irenicus may yet be foiled. When they face her, the now soulless protagonist loses control and transforms into a creature called the Slayer, one of the avatar forms of Bhaal. Bodhi, quite taken aback, retreats to tell Irenicus of it. The player character returns to their normal self after a short while. Soon, with the aid of Spellhold's inmates, the party battles Irenicus, forcing him to retreat. The party follows, and reaches the surface via the Underdark.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: Upon reaching the surface, the party encounters the army of the elven city of Suldanessellar. The elves cannot return to the city, for Irenicus has magically hidden it. To gain access to it, the party secures the Rhynn Lanthorn from Bodhi, who has stolen the artifact; upon Bodhi's death, Imoen's soul is restored. The Rhynn Lanthorn lights the way to Suldanessellar, which has been invaded by Irenicus and his minions. The party proceeds through the city and, at the Tree of Life, learns that Irenicus is draining the power of the Tree, which will doom Suldanessellar. The heroes defeat him, but because Irenicus still has the protagonist's soul, the protagonist is dragged with the wizard into Hell, and the rest of the party are dragged along also. When they defeat Irenicus, they return to life and are honored by the elves of Suldanessellar.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: "Baldur's Gate II" was developed by BioWare and published by Black Isle Studios, a division of Interplay Entertainment. The game uses the same Infinity Engine as "Baldur's Gate" (1998), but with many improvements. Other games that used this engine were Black Isle Studios' "" (1999) and "Icewind Dale" (2000). BioWare dedicated "Baldur's Gate II" to Daniel Walker, who died in 1999 and was the company's second employee.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: Though a success, both commercially and critically, "Baldur's Gate" was the first role-playing game designed by BioWare, and they applied what they learned in the process to "Baldur's Gate II". They also felt they did not have enough time to reach their design goals with the first game, due to developing both the content of the game and the Infinity Engine at the same time. In "Baldur's Gate II", it was determined that the designers should be allowed "adequate time" so that the game might "reach its full potential". Throughout its development, BioWare focused "on ensuring that "Baldur's Gate II" is significantly better than "Baldur's Gate" in every way possible, and to make it appeal not only to fans of the original game but also to make it accessible to new fans who never played the original game".


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: Development of "Baldur's Gate II" began in January 1999. From the suggestions of fans on message boards and newsgroups, reviews of "Baldur's Gate", and internal suggestions, a list of constructive criticism was compiled; from this list, a slightly shorter one of features to be added to the game was made. Some of the items on this list were: support for higher resolutions, such as 800 by 600 pixels and above; 3D support; non-pausing dialogue in multiplayer; drop off panels in the interface; character kits; dual-wielding of weapons; a streamlined journal and annotable map; deathmatch; and inclusion of famous "AD&D" monsters such as the dragon. Not many features had to be cut, and they kept as many as they could. Because of the engine's mature state of development, most features were fairly easy to add. Co-Lead Designer James Ohlen wrote that having a completed engine meant they could direct their efforts towards producing content, instead of focusing on "basic functionality". Producer Ben Smedstad said that "the engine was up and running since day one, which is a huge morale booster. When a monster is complete, we put it into the 'override' directory and it appears in the game! This is a huge change from working on the original". Late in the project, deathmatch was removed, while non-pausing dialogue, which proved "the most problematic feature", was removed early on before being reintroduced in early 2000.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: "Baldur's Gate II" reused the Infinity Engine, which had powered "Baldur's Gate", but the engine was improved in many ways since development on "Baldur's Gate II" began: optional 800 x 600 resolution as well as the old 640 x 480 resolution. Drop-away side panels were implemented; and for spells and special effects, 3D support was added. Pathfinding had been improved in "" (the "Baldur's Gate" expansion), and was improved further in "Shadows of Amn" through a feature called "bumping", which allowed a character to move another one out of the way if the path was blocked. Also, to aid pathfinding even more, paths in dungeons were widened, so that characters would get stuck less often. The interface was also refined a bit.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: To avoid some of the design mistakes made in "Baldur's Gate", guidelines were drawn up for each department; the level designers had the longest set of guidelines. These lists continually changed and evolved as the development progressed. The main design guidelines for the entire project were that the players should feel like their actions have an effect on the game world, and good versus evil options should be available depending on which path the player takes. Guidelines for the story were to keep the focus on the player's character, keep the player updated on the activities of the game's villain, add a significant plot twist, and make the ending of the game open enough so that there would be room for more sequels. Environment guidelines were to break the game into chapters, make some locations key to the central plot, keep areas interesting and easy to quickly navigate, and showcase areas before they were available to explore to capture player interest. For the game systems, guidelines focused on character customization and a well-crafted reward system. The writing guidelines were concerned mainly with dialogue: limiting the number of sentences NPCs spoke at a time, keeping the number of player response choices at three as often as possible, avoiding profanity and accents, and having a small set of random dialogue for unimportant NPCs. Many early design decisions did not follow the guidelines, and programming constraints were not always followed by other departments, such as design and art, leading to slowdowns in some parts of the game that were difficult or impossible to fix.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: The process for creating levels was long and complicated. It began with the creation of a general layout of the area to be built by designers. They would pass this concept map to the artists, who added models to it, beginning with the largest objects and ending with small items such as individual pieces of furniture. After everything was put in place by the art team, designers took over again, inserting graphical enhancements, effects, and collision detection code. With a functional level, creatures, items, traps, and triggers were added last, then scripts were written for everything to control behavior. The team found it quite difficult to keep track of changes made to levels, and there were sometimes communication problems between different parts of the team, such as the artists and designers, resulting in inconsistencies between their work. Co-executive producer Ray Muzyka wrote, that "they learned to make sure all elements of the team are talking to each other and working as a group, rather than as a bunch of individuals!" They did feel they had done a good job automating the level creation process, as levels were rapidly designed. Muzyka also said that "a designer, might submit a level description and receive it, art complete, a month later ready for scripting, but missing some key features (almost always a door). We would then have to determine whether the omission was important enough to have the art piece redone, or whether we could simply tweak the design of the level to fit the finished art". Areas were made more compact than before, the amount of "dead space" being curtailed, facilitating faster travel between key areas because less distance has to be traveled.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: Marcia Tofer, Art Director for "Shadows of Amn", worked with a team of 8 to 12 people to create the game's artwork, such as the backgrounds, monsters, etc. Tofer observed that the city of Baldur's Gate had been their first attempt at city building and what they learned there served to make Athkatla "far more diverse and interesting". City renders took from 18 to 24 hours, though they used hardware that was powerful for those days: multiple Dual Pentium IIIs at 500 MHz, coupled with 512 MB of memory.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: In traditional mediums like text or film and television, what is read or seen is effectively controlled by the creators. Games are a visual medium, wrote Luke Kristjanson, one of the writers and designers on "Shadows of Amn", but they are unlike the traditional ones of film and television. For "Baldur's Gate", the developers knew what would be seen on the critical path, but not "when" players would see it, or whether the right amount of significance would be placed upon it. Kristjanson noted that the character of Imoen was unexpectedly popular with players of the first game, in spite of the fact that she was a late addition during development and was undeveloped as a character. Kristjanson remarked that her lack of interactions with other characters in the first game projected an impression of closeness to the player character, although this was not intended by the developers; this led to her being revealed as the player character's half-sister in its sequel and an integral character to its plot.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: In "Shadows of Amn", several tools were used to remedy these shortcomings. One of these were in-game cutscenes, which were like small plays, "adding suspense and depth to the world and overall story". Cutscenes had been used in "Baldur's Gate", but were employed "more effectively" in "Shadows of Amn". Another technique was to increase, to a greater degree than "Baldur's Gate", the interactivity of the characters that travel with the player. While the characters in "Baldur's Gate" possessed "banter", there was a very great increase of this in "Shadows of Amn". However, it was not merely an increase in the amount of dialogue and text. NPCs interject, reinforcing "the importance of events [and] contributing their own motivations". They recognize critical junctures in the game, since those are of significance to them as well. They even make comments to each other, as Kristjanson put it: "If Imoen thinks that Jaheira is being too strict she'll say so, and if Jaheira thinks Imoen is being immature she'll counter, and if Minsc thinks the both of them would benefit from getting hamsters of their own [...] he won't hesitate to offer that little nugget of wisdom".


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: Producer Ben Smedstad, speaking of "crunch time" during the latter stages of a game's development, noted that it was important to begin it at the right time, not too early, nor too late. By July 2000, "Shadows of Amn" had entered its second phase of crunch, where the hours ran from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. Their first crunch phase had been a normal working week, but hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. "As long as it takes" would be the philosophy of the last phase, encompassing the last week of development. Smedstad said that the second phase, which they were working under in July 2000, is where the stress really begins, and that the third phase is actually not as bad as one might think, because by then people are used to the lengthy hours.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: During the game's development, a quality assurance department was added to BioWare, and the game's publishers lent their assistance in testing. Muzyka wrote that "because of its immense size, "Baldur's Gate II" was a tester's nightmare - this was compounded by the fact that we didn't do enough testing as areas were being developed". The game contained about 290 quests, each of which had to be tested in both single- and multi-player modes. BioWare used a method, introduced to them by Feargus Urquhart, Douglas Avery, and Chris Parker of Black Isle Studios, in which the game's quests were listed on whiteboards, with a cross placed beside each quest. Pairs consisting of a designer and tester worked their way through the quests, each pair covering about 6 quests per day. When a quest was verified, its cross was removed.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: In the final days of working on "BG2" there was a strangely serene feeling in the office. We didn't experience the headlong panic that is sometimes prevalent while finishing a game, but we certainly did experience considerable stress as we built 21 final candidates in 3 days. After a few long nights with the whole team playing the game over and over again, we reached a point where we built a good final candidate. Then it was sent to the duplicators!


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: The game's music was composed by Michael Hoenig, a German composer who played with Tangerine Dream. He also composed the music for the first "Baldur's Gate".


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: "Baldur's Gate II" was announced in November 1999. The game went gold on September 14, 2000, and shipped on September 21. Also released was a Collector's Edition, which included the game, a cloth map, eight character-trading cards, a Black Isle Studios writing tablet, and an additional CD containing unique armor and weapons as well as music from the soundtrack. A Macintosh version was ported by MumboJumbo and released in September 2001.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: "Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal", an expansion pack for "Shadows of Amn", was developed by BioWare and published by Black Isle Studios, and released in June 2001. "Throne of Bhaal" takes the protagonist's history further, and, being the final chapter, concludes the "Baldur's Gate" saga. It also added a variety of features to the base game: a new dungeon called Watcher's Keep, which can be accessed from both "Shadows of Amn" and "Throne of Bhaal;" new features and enhancements, such as high-level class abilities, a higher experience point cap, and the Wild Mage character class; and new items and spells. "Throne of Bhaal" was well received: it holds a Metacritic score of 88 and a GameRankings score of 88.73, and won the "PC Role-Playing" award at the 2002 Interactive Achievement Awards. Reviewers generally praised "Throne of Bhaal" and thought it a spectacular conclusion to the "Baldur's Gate" saga.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: "Shadows of Amn" was re-released, along with its expansion, "Throne of Bhaal", as "Baldur's Gate II: The Collection" in 2003. In 2004, they were bundled with the original "Baldur's Gate" and "Icewind Dale" as "Black Isle Compilation Part Two". In 2006, they were re-released with "Baldur's Gate" and "Tales of the Sword Coast" as "Baldur's Gate: 4 in 1 Boxset". They were also included in "The Forgotten Realms Deluxe Edition", "Ultimate Dungeons & Dragons", and "Dungeons & Dragons Anthology: The Master Collection". In 2010, "Baldur's Gate II Complete" was released in digital format on GOG.com. This version includes both "Shadows of Amn" and "Throne of Bhaal". Bundled with it are the game manuals in PDF format, high-definition wallpapers, artwork, avatars, and the "Shadows of Amn" and "Throne of Bhaal" soundtracks.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: "Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition" was released on November 15, 2013. Developed by Overhaul Games, it is an enhanced version of "Baldur's Gate II" and uses an updated version of the Infinity Engine. The PC version holds a Metacritic score of 78 and a GameRankings score of 77.26; and the iOS version a Metacritic score of 70 and a GameRankings score of 71.25.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: In the United States, "Baldur's Gate II" entered PC Data's computer game sales charts at #5 during the September 17–23 period. It rose to second place the following week, behind "", while its Collector's Edition captured the seventh position. In its first 14 days, "Baldur's Gate II" drew in revenues of $4 million across all SKUs in North America, a sales record for an Interplay computer title. The game and its Collector's Edition were ranked 11th and 19th, respectively, on PC Data's monthly chart for September. Entering its third week, the game fell to fifth place on the weekly chart. However, it remained in the top 10 throughout the October 5–28 period, and finished seventh for the month. Afterwards, it was absent from PC Data's weekly top 10 and monthly top 20. PC Data reported "Baldur's Gate II"s sales at 199,914 copies and its revenues at $9.2 million in the United States by the end of 2000. The game's success in the country continued during 2001, when it finished 15th for January and sold another 103,144 units between February and the first week of November alone. It tallied 225,763 domestic sales for the full year, which drew $9.63 million in revenue.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: On Media Control's computer game sales rankings for the German market, "Baldur's Gate II" debuted at #3 in October 2000. It climbed to second place the following month, before dropping to 12th in December. The Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) presented it with a "Gold" award by the end of 2000, indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Media Control proceeded to rank the game 10th, 17th and 23rd during the first three months of 2001, respectively. In the United Kingdom, "Baldur's Gate II" claimed #2 for its release month of November 2000, according to Chart-Track. It fell to tenth place in December, and exited the top 10 in January 2001.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: The combined global sales of "Baldur's Gate", "", and "Baldur's Gate II" surpassed 3.5 million copies by March 2001. "Baldur's Gate II" alone reached almost 1.5 million sales by December 2002, and more than 2 million by November 2005. According to the NPD Group, the game totaled 480,000 sales ($19.6 million) in the United States by August 2006. At that time, "Edge" declared it the country's 31st-best-selling computer game released since January 2000.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: "Baldur's Gate II" received critical acclaim upon its release, and is listed as the seventh highest-scoring PC game on the review aggregator Metacritic (). GameSpot's reviewer stated that, while it is a very long game, its fine points are what make it so great, and that it was in a class by itself. IGN concluded with a similar sentiment, saying that the game was incomparable and without peers. Though extolling the game immensely and finding only small issues, "Computer Gaming World"s reviewer noted that he would not trap himself with the "best RPG ever" phrase, but conceded that it "certainly ranks up there with greats like "Fallout", "Planescape: Torment", and "Betrayal at Krondor"". Eurogamer lavished much praise upon "Baldur's Gate II", and noted that "the story and quests are captivating, the gameplay tried and tested, and the overall feel is professional and entertaining".


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: GameSpot and IGN felt the game was superior to its predecessor, "Baldur's Gate". "Computer Games Magazine" and Gameplanet noted that it improved upon "Baldur's Gate" in almost every way. "Polish" or "polished" was a description applied to the game by some reviewers. RPGamer, somewhat more critical of the game than others, concluded: "Maybe it's a bit thin in some areas, but it's still an exemplary game that is well worth the time invested".


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: "Baldur's Gate II"s gameplay was called "addicting" by "GamePro". RPGamer said that while the game was generally the same as the original "Baldur's Gate", the combat was much improved, with less frustration and more strategic options. "Computer Gaming World" agreed, saying players would put more consideration into designing and implementing combat plans. Eurogamer noted that the interface was "incredibly easy to use". IGN's reviewer observed that many a time the game posed tough decisions that made him think, and also praised the clarity of the quests and ease of moving from one goal to the next. Some reviewers, however, felt the non-player characters in the game were not as powerful as player-made characters. GameSpy said the game is much more difficult than "Baldur's Gate" and requires more strategy and planning than the original does. GameSpot felt the opening level of the game fell flat, but that it got much better once the player reached Athkatla. IGN noted that the introductory section of the game, while good, was nowhere near as fun as the adventures in Athkatla.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: The game's plot was met positively by most reviewers, GameSpy calling it "epic" and GameSpot a "great story". Eurogamer felt the story quite outdid the original. "Computer Gaming World", too, observed that it was much improved, adding that the plot style was reminiscent of "The Lord of the Rings". He felt the story was somewhere between "Planescape: Torment" and "Icewind Dale" in terms of depth. RPGamer's reviewer, on the other hand, felt that the plot was lackluster, but approved of the side quests, which, he said, could turn into "minor epics" of their own.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: The game's graphics were well received. "GamePro" praised them, saying, "the backdrops are stunning and the spell effects are impressive". IGN echoed this statement, calling the difference between "Baldur's Gate" and "Shadows of Amn" "like looking at a still oil painting, and then turning to see the scene in living motion on a big screen TV". Eurogamer, too, commended the artwork. GameSpot thought both the pre-rendered backgrounds and the animations for characters and monsters were well done. FiringSquad said the game's artwork surpassed that of "Planescape: Torment", and called the background artwork "fantastic". The voice acting of "Baldur's Gate II" was also praised by FiringSquad, who said that "characters sound alive and vivacious (or depressed, crazy—whatever suits them)" and that the quality of the voices drew the player more deeply into the game. IGN called the voice acting "outstanding" and said the variety of personalities would cause players to become "attached" to the characters, only noting with disapproval the dearth of new voices for the player's protagonist. Reviewers generally found the game's music to be well-done; though RPGamer felt it was "inoffensive but unimpressive".


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: Gameplanet criticized the game's poor support for online multiplayer, saying it was "unstable and quite frustrating". FiringSquad felt that the lack of communication between players in combat during online games was problematic, but that local area network play would be more satisfying. "PC Zone" said that multiplayer was as unimpressive as it had been in the first game of the series and that the game needed multiplayer maps. IGN, however, felt that multiplayer play was solidly implemented and fun. Pathfinding was sometimes criticized. Criticism was also directed at bugs in the game, such as frequent crashes when trying to access certain locations. According to GameSpy, "Baldur's Gate II" is "not 100% stable". GameSpot noted that the game's loading times were somewhat long and that the game crashed on occasion, but said that these problems are not significant. IGN, though noting that the game slowed down during combat when a lot of animations were happening simultaneously because of spells or "dazzling backgrounds", said that there were almost no other technical problems. GameSpot also felt that the small number of character portraits to choose from was a disappointment and was displeased that the game reused special effects, audio, and graphics from the first game.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: David Simkins reviewed the PC version of the game for "Next Generation", rating it five stars out of five, and stated that "make no mistake – "Baldur's Gate II" raises the bar for PC RPGs, elevating the genre to a new level".


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: GameSpot later called "Baldur's Gate II" "a towering achievement in the history of role-playing games". In a 2007 Gamasutra article on the "Platinum and Modern Ages" of computer role-playing games (CRPGs), Matt Barton noted contemporary reviewers' universal praise for the game, and said: "I consider it the finest CRPG ever designed". According to GameSpy, "this is easily one of the finest CRPGs ever made and an experience that no RPG fan should miss".


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: "Baldur's Gate II" has been honored many times. GameSpot, GameSpy, and IGN awarded it their "Role-Playing Game of the Year" awards in 2000, and it won GameSpot's Readers' Choice Game of the Year award for that year. It received three "Gaming Globe" awards from Eurogamer in 2001: Best Game, Best Art Direction, and Best Male Supporting Character (for Minsc). The game won the "Character or Story Development" award at the 2001 Interactive Achievement Awards, and was also nominated for "Game of the Year", "Game Play Engineering", "PC Game of the Year", and "PC Role-Playing". IGN placed it at No. 25 on their 2005 "Top 100 Games of All Time" list. In 2006, though not ranking in the top five games, it earned an "honorable mention" in Gamasutra's Quantum Leap Awards. "Baldur's Gate II" was inducted into GameSpot's "Greatest Games of All Time" list. In 2009, "Game Informer" placed "Baldur's Gate II" at No. 88 on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time", calling it "the best Dungeons & Dragons game ever made". This is up one place from their top 100 list in 2001. "Empire" ranked it No. 19 on their list of the 100 Greatest Games. At the end of 2009, "Baldur's Gate II", though not quite making the Top 12 list, received an honorable mention in Gamasutra's Game of the Decade, where readers voted for their best game of the 2000s.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: In 2010, on IGN's Top 25 Modern PC Games, "Baldur's Gate II" clocked in at No. 2. In 2013, it was placed at No. 46 on GamingBolt's "Top 100 greatest video games ever made". IGN ranked "Baldur's Gate II" No. 1 on their list of "The Top 11 Dungeons & Dragons Games of All Time" in 2014. Ian Williams of "Paste" rated the game No. 2 on his list of "The 10 Greatest Dungeons and Dragons Videogames" in 2015. IGN ranked "Baldur's Gate II" No. 3 on their "Top 100 RPGs of All Time" list. In 2016, "PC Gamer" noted the game on their "best RPGs of all time". It was placed at No. 9 on "Game Informer"'s "Top 100 RPGs Of All Time" list, and was included among PCGamesN's "best RPGs on PC" as well.


title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

text: There is a novelization of the game by Philip Athans. Published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast, it focuses solely on Abdel, the last of the Bhaalspawn. The novel is the second in the series; the first, also by Athans, is a novelization of "Baldur's Gate", and the third, by Drew Karpyshyn, of the "Throne of Bhaal" expansion.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: The "Pohang"-class PCC (Patrol Combat Corvette) (Korean: 포항급 초계함, Hanja: 浦項級哨戒艦) is the low-end complement of the high-low mix domestic naval construction plan of the Republic of Korea Navy under the 1st Yulgok Project (1974-1986) for the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. It was originally planned as a Batch II production of "Donghae"-class corvette, but many changes on overall design, notably applying the hull design of "Ulsan"-class frigate, reclassified the ship to its own class. The ship is designed for patrolling maritime border, including the Northern Limit Line, protecting the littoral zone, and combating the North Korean vessels.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: Since 1984, a total of 24 "Pohang"-class corvettes commissioned in the Republic of Korea Navy. The decommission of the class started in 2009, and is being replaced with series of FFX program. As of 2022, 7 remain in service in the ROKN, and 7 were transferred to other navies.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: The "Pohang"-class corvette was originally intended to be a Batch II version of the "Donghae"-class corvette.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: During the design phase of the "Donghae"-class corvette, there was some debate between the designers regarding the shape of the hull. Captain Eom Do-jae, who was also supervising the construction of the "Ulsan"-class frigate at the time, believed that a new corvette should have a narrow V-shaped hull, similar to the "Ulsan"-class frigate design. However, according to other designers, based on experiences from the ships operated by the ROKN, the "Noryang"-class PCEC (Patrol Craft Escort & Combatant) (ex-"PCE-842"-class) had the best size for the mission, and the "Sinseong"-class PCE (Patrol Craft Escort) (ex-"Auk"-class MSF), which had a U-shape hull, showed great ship stability at patrol speeds (5-8 knots). A further consideration was that a V-shape hull would require fin stabilizers, which were not favored by the ROKN due to difficulties with fin stabilizers of the "Baekgu"-class PGM (Patrol Gunboat Motor) (modified "Asheville"-class). As a result, the ROKN proceeded with implementing a U-shape design to achieve stability without the use of fin stabilizers for the "Donghae"-class.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: Captain Eom subsequently persuaded ROKN naval command to change the hull design for the construction of the second batch of the "Donghae"-class corvette. The hull became a shape similar to that of "Ulsan"-class, and many of the internal and external structures were redesigned. Ultimately this Batch II version was sufficiently different from the original "Donghae" class that it was reclassified into the "Pohang" class. The decision to install fin stabilizers on the "Pohang"-class corvette was decided by the ROKN only a month prior to the launch of the ROKS "Pohang" due to feedback from the ROKS "Ulsan" (which was constructed without fin stabilizers). To meet the new fin stabilizer requirement, internal parts were relocated under a tight schedule.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: The "Pohang"-class is about 10 m longer, 100 t heavier, and 1 knot faster (with a maximum speed of 32 knots) than the "Donghae"-class thanks to a better speed-length ratio. During sea trials, the ROKS "Pohang" achieved speed of 35 knots. Successful testing of fin stabilizers prompted their subsequent installation on all "Pohang" and "Ulsan"-class.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: The "Pohang"-class is powered by one General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engine and two MTU Friedrichshafen 12V 956 TB82 diesel engines for combined diesel or gas (CODOG) propulsion system, which allows full displacement of 1,220 t ship to move at 32 kn maximum and 15 kn cruising speed. The main armament is focused on surface combat to counter numerous and small North Korean ships, which is controlled by Signaal SEWACO ZK fire control system combined with Raytheon AN/SPS-64 surface-search radar, Signaal WM28 fire-control radar, and Signaal LIOD optronic director. For anti-submarine mission, the ship has installed EDO 786 sonar and armed with 2 x triple Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes firing Mark 46 torpedo.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: However, the ship lacks air-search radar along with anti-air weapon, which was the biggest topic among the militaries of the world as a result of the Falklands War, due to low on budget. The ship has limited defense capability against air and missile attack, only assisted by GoldStar ULQ-12K ESM (electronic support measures) and Mk 36 SRBOC (Super Rapid Bloom Offboard Countermeasures).


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: The "Pohang"-class received multiple changes and upgrades during the construction, and in service with the Republic of Korea Navy. The ESM and other sensitive systems, depending on the recipient, are dismounted from the ship, while some are installed when transferred to other nations.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: 4 ships built. The Batch II removed twin Bofors 40mm/60 cannon, and mounted two Aérospatiale MM38 Exocet surface-to-surface missile launchers.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: 4 ships built. The Batch III heavily enhanced its gun system by installing additional OTO Melara 76 mm/62 cannon, and replacing 2 x Emerson EMERLEC 30 twin Oerlikon 30 mm/75 KCB cannon with 2 x Breda DARDO CIWS twin Bofors 40 mm/70 cannon, which is capable of engaging aircraft and cruise missile. The sonar was upgraded to Raytheon AN/SQS-58 to increase anti-submarine warfare capability while MM38 Exocet was removed from the ship.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: 10 ships built. The Batch IV was the most critical upgrade and change of the "Pohang"-class. The ship changed the combat system to WSA-423 (Weapon Ship Automation-423) in collaboration of Samsung Aerospace Industries (later Hanwha Systems) and the British Ferranti, which became the backbone of the Republic of Korea Navy's current combat system dubbed as Naval Shield. Installation of this unproven system caused delays in delivering the ship. Additional system changes include Marconi ST1802 fire control radar and Radamec 2400 optronic director, both localized by Samsung.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: 6 ships built. The Batch V/VI has a structure difference from previous Batch. Fire control radar was changed to Samsung/Marconi ST1802.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: In 1986, ROKS "Pohang" sunk an armed North Korean vessel as it ignored warnings after crossing the NLL of the Sea of Japan.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: In 1991, ROKS "Gimcheon" detected a submerged Soviet Union submarine at east of Pohang during patrol; the ship monitored and pursued the submarine.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: On 11:50 AM of 20 April 1996, two of the seven North Korean patrol crafts crossed the NLL during training exercise. The corvettes were sent to intercept, and confronted until North Korean vessels retreated back to the NLL on 1:20 PM.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: On 1:30 AM of 18 September 1996, a local taxi driver found a grounded North Korean "Sang-O"-class submarine on the coast of Gangneung. ROKS "Gyeongju" along with other vessels were sent to block runways via sea by North Korean spy agents, and surveil enemy vessels in the area.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: On 2:05 PM of 29 May 1997, a North Korean patrol craft crossed the NLL. The corvette was sent with three patrol craft to intercept. North Korean vessel returned back to the NLL on 3:00 PM.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: On 4:33 PM of 22 June 1998, a South Korean fishing boat reported a North Korean "Yugo"-class submarine was tangled by fishing net at 20.7 km east of Sokcho. The ROKN dispatched ships including ROKS "Gunsan" and ROKS "Mokpo" and aircraft to secure the scene. On 7:25 PM, ROKS "Gunsan" started towing the submarine to nearby naval base. All North Korean operators were found dead inside the submarine—committing group suicide before being captured.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: On 11:15 PM of 17 December 1988, an army private found a North Korean semi-submarine near Yeosu using TOD. ROKS "Namwon" and ROKS "Gwangmyeong" were sent to search and catch the semi-submarine. The submarine opened machinegun fire at chasing ships, then was sunk by ROKS "Gwangmyeong".


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: On 9:10 AM of 7 June 1999, a North Korean patrol boat crossed the NLL in an excuse for protecting fishing boat. Since then, multiple North Korean fishing boats and patrol boats crossed the line back and forth. Two navies fought by ramming each other, which caused heavy damage on two of the North Korean ships, for days. On 15 June, a North Korean torpedo boat opened fire at "Chamsuri"-class with grenades, rifles, and 25 mm cannons. The battle lasted for 14 minutes with South Korean victory; North Korea lost a torpedo boat and received 1 heavy damage, 2 moderate damage, and 2 minor damage on patrol boats among 10 ships. South Korea received minor damage on 4 "Chamsuri"-class and ROKS "Cheonan". ROKS "Jinhae", ROKS "Cheonan", and ROKS "Yeongju" were involved in the incident. ROKS "Yeongju" scored critical hit and sunk the torpedo boat with OTO Melara 76 mm/62 cannon.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: In 1999, the Batch IV began to equip RGM-84C Harpoon surface-to-surface missile. The system was taken out from decommissioning "Chungbuk"-class destroyers (ex-"Gearing"-class"), and installed on the corvettes.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: On 29 June 2002, "Chamsuri"-class PKM-357 received surprise attack from North Korean patrol boat. ROKS "Jinhae" and ROKS "Jecheon" were dispatched to the scene to assist; the ships were under threat by Styx and Silkworm missile radars during the operation, and Mk 36 SRBOCs were used as the defensive measurement.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: At the RIMPAC 2002, ROKS "Wonju" became the first "Pohang"-class to fire RGM-84C Harpoon. The missile hit the target successfully.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: In 2006, K745 Blue Shark lightweight anti-submarine torpedo achieved full operating capability. The new torpedo will be added to arsenal of the corvettes.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: On 29 September 2006, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) approved the batch 2 production of SSM-700K C-Star surface-to-surface missile for the year 2007 to 2010. The part of the production will be applied for the corvettes.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: On 10 November 2009, ROKS "Suncheon" participated in the Battle of Daecheong to provide support to the "Chamsuri"-class patrol boats.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: At 21:21:57 (12:21:57 UTC) of 26 March 2010, an explosion (or two explosions) occurred for 1~2 seconds at the stern of , causing a power stoppage and inflow of oil and seawater, and the ship heeled 90 degrees to starboard very quickly. When the crew went out to the deck, they found the stern already submerged. At 22:40, the Navy and the Coast Guard rescued 58 sailors, including the captain, from the crew of 104; 46 were killed. The ship sank around 01:00 on 27 March 2010. The bow floated to the southeast from the explosion site, then submerged completely at 22:30 on 27 March 2010.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: On 20 May 2010, a South Korean-led investigation group announced that all evidence pointed to a North Korean torpedo being responsible for the sinking of ROKS "Cheonan".


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: As a response to the North Korean submarine attack, "Pohang"-class upgraded its anti-submarine warfare capability by installing SLQ-261K TACM (Torpedo Acoustic Counter Measure) and changing older rescue boat to RIB (Rigid-hulled Inflatable Boat) on Batch IV and later variants as early as 2012.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: On 23 March 2014, the development of STX Engine SPS-300K surface search radar, which can detect small objects such as submarine periscope, was announced after being tested on ROKS "Iksan". Additional 15 corvettes (Batch IV - VI) will receive the new radar by 2015.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: In June 2019, ROKS "Andong" completed the test of SLQ-201K ESM (electronic support measures). The ESM detects electromagnetic waves emitted from the hostile missile and radar, allowing to track, analyze, identify, then warn the main system to automatically activate defensive measures such as Mk 36 SRBOC. All operating corvettes will receive the upgrade by 2020.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: On 17 February 2020, BRP "Conrado Yap" encountered the People's Liberation Army Navy Type 056A corvette "Liupanshui" on its patrol mission. Crews of the "Conrado Yap" visually observed "Liupanshui"'s gun control director pointing at them.


title: Pohang-class corvette

text: On 17 July 2022, fire erupted in the engine room of BAP "Guise" and injured 2 Peruvian sailors during RIMPAC 2022. With help from the French Navy and the U.S. Navy, the wounded sailors quickly received treatment and were hospitalized in Honolulu in stable condition. The fire was extinguished after 5 hours and 40 minutes. The reason for the fire is currently unknown. The ship received significant maintenance programs including disassembly and regeneration of diesel and gas turbine engines before the transfer to the Peruvian Navy.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: Peter George Peterson (June 5, 1926 – March 20, 2018) was an American investment banker who served as United States Secretary of Commerce from February 29, 1972, to February 1, 1973, under the Richard Nixon administration. Before serving as Secretary of Commerce, Peterson was also chairman and CEO of Bell & Howell from 1963 to 1971. From 1973 to 1984 he was chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers. Later in 1985, he co-founded the private equity firm The Blackstone Group, and served as chairman. In the same year, Peterson became chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, a position he held until his retirement in 2007 after which he was named chairman emeritus. In 2008, Peterson was ranked 149th on the "Forbes 400 Richest Americans" with a net worth of $2.8 billion. He was also known as founder and principal funder of The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting fiscal austerity.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: Peterson was born in Kearney, Nebraska, as the eldest of three children to Venetia "Venet" Paul (Pavlou- Παύλου) and George Peterson (Petropoulos- Πετρόπουλος), both were immigrants from southern Greece. He had one younger sister, Elaine, who died of croup when she was one year old and a brother, John, who was the youngest. His father arrived in the United States at the age of 17 and worked as a dishwasher for Union Pacific Railroad and roomed on a caboose. In 1923, George opened and then ran a Greek diner named Central Café in Kearney after changing his name from Georgios Petropoulos. Peter began working at the cash register at age 8. Transferring out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in his freshman year, Peterson later received an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and The Kellogg School, graduating in 1947 with highest academic honors, "summa cum laude". After college, Peterson was first married from 1948 to 1950 to Kris Krengel, a journalism student at Northwestern University. He joined Market Facts upon graduation, a Chicago-based market research firm, in 1948. In 1951, he received an M.B.A. degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, before returning to Market Facts as an executive vice president.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: Peterson joined advertising agency McCann Erickson in 1953, again in Chicago, where he served as a director. He joined movie-equipment maker Bell and Howell Corporation in 1958 as executive vice president. He later succeeded Charles H. Percy as chairman and CEO, positions he held from 1963 to 1971.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: In 1969, he was invited by philanthropist John D. Rockefeller III, CFR Chairman John J. McCloy, and former Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillon to chair a Commission on Foundations and Private Philanthropy, which became known as the Peterson Commission. Among its recommendations adopted by the government were that foundations be required annually to disburse a minimum proportion of their funds.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: In 1971, he was named assistant to the president for international economic affairs by U.S. President Richard Nixon. In April 1971, Peterson produced a secret report for Nixon on the volatile world economy and which argued the case that the United States was in economic decline under the existing world order of trade, which the U.S. had helped build immediately after World War II. To stem that decline, according to Peterson, the United States would have to challenge competing nations in the trading sphere by adopting industrial policy. The report impressed Nixon and the idea of American competitive decline soon became "an article of popular belief." The report established some of the intellectual foundations of Nixon's stunning decision in August 1971 to upend the Bretton Woods agreement. Professional economists derided the thesis as a form of mercantilism that betrayed "economic illiteracy."


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: In 1972, he became the Secretary of Commerce, a position he held for one year. At that time he also assumed the chairmanship of President Nixon's National Commission on Productivity and was appointed U.S. Chairman of the U.S.–Soviet Commercial Commission. During his tenure, Peterson was a strong critic of the rising financial debt of the United States.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: Peterson was chairman and CEO of Lehman Brothers (1973–1977) and Lehman Brothers, Kuhn, Loeb Inc. (1977–1984).


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: In 1985, he co-founded with Stephen A. Schwarzman the prominent private equity and investment management firm, the Blackstone Group, and was for many years its chairman. At Blackstone, he made a fortune including the $1.9 billion he received when it went public in 2007, that funded many of his charitable and political causes.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: In 1992, he was one of the co-founders of the Concord Coalition, a bipartisan citizens' organization that advocates reduction of the federal budget deficit. Following record deficits under President George W. Bush, Peterson commented in 2004, "I remain a Republican, but the Republicans have become a far more theological, faith-directed party, not troubling with evidence."


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: In February 1994, President Bill Clinton named Peterson as a member of the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform co-chaired by Senators Bob Kerrey and John Danforth. He also served as co-chair of the Conference Board Commission on Public Trust and Private Enterprises (Co-Chaired by John Snow).


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: Peterson succeeded David Rockefeller as chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations in 1985 and served until his retirement from that position in 2007. He served as trustee of the Rockefeller family's Japan Society and of the Museum of Modern Art, and was previously on the board of Rockefeller Center Properties, Inc.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: He was the founding chairman of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (formerly the "Institute for International Economics", renamed in his honor in 2006), and a trustee of the Committee for Economic Development. He was also chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York between 2000 and 2004.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: In 2008, he founded the Peter G. Peterson Foundation (PGPF), an organization devoted to spreading public awareness on fiscal sustainability issues related to the national debt, federal deficits, Social Security policy, and tax policies. PGPF distributed the 2008 documentary film I.O.U.S.A., and did outreach to the 2008 presidential candidates.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: Peterson funded "The Fiscal Times", a news website that reports on current economic issues, including the federal budget, the deficit, entitlements, health care, personal savings, taxation, and the global economy. "Fiscal Times" contributors and editors include several veteran economics reporters for "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post".


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: On August 4, 2010, it was announced that he had signed "The Giving Pledge." He was one of 40 billionaires, led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, who agreed to give at least half their wealth to charity. Most of his giving was to his own foundation, The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which focuses on raising public awareness about long-term fiscal sustainability issues.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: From 2007 through 2011, Peterson was reported to have contributed $458 million to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, to promote the cause of fiscal responsibility.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: Peterson opposed the Republican 2017 tax reforms, because they would cut corporate and other taxes by raising the debt. "Mortgaging our fiscal future for trillions in temporary tax cuts will hurt our economy over time, and every C.E.O. should know that," he said. "True business patriots need to advocate for their country as well as their company."


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: He was married three times and divorced twice. In 1953, he married former Brown University psychology professor Sally Hornbogen Peterson, a trustee of the Dalton School and a graduate of Northwestern University, with whom he had four sons: John Scott Peterson, James Jim Peterson, David Peterson and Michael Alexander Peterson; and one daughter, the writer Holly Peterson. They divorced in 1979. The following year, Peterson married Joan Ganz Cooney, the co-creator of the popular American educational children's television series "Sesame Street".


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: In his autobiography he recalled his business and private life in which he blamed himself for the failure of two of his three marriages but expressed pride for having grown close to his children.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: Peterson died on March 20, 2018, of natural causes at his Manhattan apartment home at the age of 91. He is survived by his children, his wife Joan, and nine grandchildren.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: In recognition of his support, the influential Peterson Institute for International Economics was named in his honor in 2006.


title: Peter G. Peterson

text: In 2006, Peterson was honored with the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution. The same year he was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.


title: Betsey Johnson

text: Betsey Johnson (born 1942) is an American fashion designer best known for her feminine and whimsical designs. Many of her designs are considered "over the top" and embellished. She also is known for doing a cartwheel ending in a split at the end of her fashion shows.


title: Betsey Johnson

text: Johnson was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, the second of three children born to Lena and John Johnson. She has an elder sister, Sally, and a younger brother, Robert. Johnson grew up in Terryville, Connecticut, and took many dance classes, which inspired her love of costumes.


title: Betsey Johnson

text: Following her graduation from high school, Johnson studied at the Pratt Institute and then later graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Syracuse University, where she was a member of the Alpha Xi Delta women's sorority. After graduation, she spent a summer as an intern at "Mademoiselle" magazine, where she was mentored by Edie Locke.


title: Betsey Johnson

text: Johnson's fashion career started after she entered and won the "Mademoiselle" Guest Editor Contest. Within a year, she was the in-house designer for Manhattan boutique Paraphernalia. Johnson became part of both the youthquake fashion movement and Andy Warhol's underground scene, along with The Velvet Underground, Edie Sedgwick, Nico, and Lou Reed. In 1969, she opened a boutique called Betsey Bunky Nini on New York City's Upper East Side. Edie Sedgwick was her house model and Johnson designed the clothing Sedgwick wore on her last film, "Ciao! Manhattan".


title: Betsey Johnson

text: In the 1970s, Johnson took control of the fashion label "Alley Cat" which was popular with the rock 'n roll musicians of the day. In her first year, her debut collection for Alley Cat reportedly sold $5 million in volume. In September 1971 she received the Coty Fashion Critics' Award (a 'Winnie').


title: Betsey Johnson

text: In 1978, Johnson started her own fashion line. Her second collection did not sell well, leaving her with 3,000 pieces of spring clothing and insufficient funds to stage a 1981 fashion show to sell them and Johnson opened a retail store in the SoHo area of New York City. She designed the dress that Lisa Loeb wore in the music video for her 1994 hit "Stay (I Missed You)".


title: Betsey Johnson

text: In 2002, Johnson was inducted into the Fashion Walk of Fame. Her bronze plaque held one of her original sketches. In 2003, she expanded her line for 2004 to include handbags, accessories, hats, and scarves.


title: Betsey Johnson

text: The National Arts Club awarded Johnson the 2009 Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement in Fashion. She once described her style as a formula: "Take a leotard and add a skirt." As of 2011, she has more than 65 stores worldwide.


title: Betsey Johnson

text: In September 2010, her Spring/Summer 2011 Ready-to-Wear fashion show generated a lot of buzz before it started because models were rumored to come down the runway riding bicycles. However, the original concept proved too dangerous during the rehearsals, so Betsey asked model Kim Matulova to ride a skateboard while wearing open-toed platform heels instead. She ended up falling to the ground and losing one of her shoes, and she had to get off and shoulder her skateboard all the way back up the catwalk.


title: Betsey Johnson

text: On September 12, 2012, she celebrated 40 years of her brand with a retrospective fashion show with Cyndi Lauper performing.


title: Betsey Johnson

text: As of May 2013, Johnson and her daughter Lulu Johnson have a reality TV show that airs on the Style Network.


title: Betsey Johnson

text: On September 4, 2014, it was announced that Johnson would be one of the celebrities competing on the 19th season of "Dancing with the Stars". The couple was eliminated in week 4, finishing in tenth place.


title: Betsey Johnson

text: In 2022, Johnson appeared on RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars as a guest judge (Episode: "Legendary Legend Looks").


title: KOD (album)

text: KOD (an initialism for Kids on Drugs, King Overdosed and Kill Our Demons) is the fifth studio album by American rapper J. Cole. It was released on April 20, 2018 through Dreamville Records, Roc Nation and Interscope Records.


title: KOD (album)

text: The majority of the album's production was handled by Cole himself, along with others such as T-Minus, Mark Pelli, BLVK and Ron Gilmore. The album incorporates elements of jazz rap and trap. Cole has stated that the production and rhyme schemes used throughout the album were inspired by SoundCloud rap. The album explores a variety of topics including drug abuse, addiction, depression, greed, African-American culture, and taxation in the United States.


title: KOD (album)

text: The album was supported by two singles: "KOD" and "ATM", both of which debuted in the top 10 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. In August 2018, Cole embarked on the KOD Tour to promote the album.


title: KOD (album)

text: "KOD" received positive reviews from critics and debuted atop the US "Billboard" 200, selling 397,000 album-equivalent units in its first week (174,000 coming from pure sales), earning Cole his fifth consecutive number-one album in the country. It also broke several streaming records. The album has since been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album also debuted at number one in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. "KOD" appeared on several music publications' mid-year and year-end lists. "HipHopDX", "HotNewHipHop" and Uproxx named it the best hip hop album of 2018.


title: KOD (album)

text: In an interview with "Vulture", Cole said that the seed for "KOD" was planted at rapper Kendrick Lamar's concert in Detroit for his Damn Tour in 2017. He said watching Lamar's performance reminded him of "2014 Forest Hills Drive". Cole further explained saying: "Kendrick's show gave me chills because I got to see what it was like to have a hit album performed, and it set off a desire, it was a recognition — like, "oh, I’ll take that again". Like looking at a menu, "I’ll have that again"." The majority of the album was initially recorded over a span of two weeks while Cole was on the 4 Your Eyez Only Tour and while on vacation in Italy and Tanzania, Cole recorded three songs while on tour, and another six while on vacation. According to Cole, he went back to the drawing board to perfect the final three songs. The final version of the album took an additional 6 months. Before recording "KOD", Cole was working on an album titled "The Fall Off", which he plans to release in the future. He released "The Off-Season" in 2021, and plans to release "The Fall Off" later on.


title: KOD (album)

text: Cole revealed the album's cover art on April 18, 2018. The cover art was done by Detroit artist Kamau Haroon, known artistically as Sixmau. Cole discovered Sixmau through singer and producer Childish Major, for whom he was doing art. Sixmau told "Vibe" magazine: "I can't talk much about his vision. You're going to have to listen to the album. It all ties in together. It was definitely a collaboration. It was a marriage of art and music. He told me what direction he was going in and then he gave me freedom to portray it how I wanted."


title: KOD (album)

text: The album's title carries three different meanings: "Kids on Drugs", "King Overdosed", and "Kill Our Demons". On April 19, 2018, Cole released the album's trailer. In the trailer, Cole broke down the meaning of the album title, he explained:


title: KOD (album)

text: "KOD" has been characterized as conscious hip hop with elements of jazz rap and trap. Cole has stated that the production and rhyme schemes used throughout the album was inspired by SoundCloud rappers. He said: "If you listen to the flows and the patterns and the production, it's like... these dudes inspired that form, that's the form I took to get this message off on this album."


title: KOD (album)

text: On April 16, 2018, Cole sparked speculation of a new album after he cleared his Instagram account and changed his social media profile pictures to a plain purple background. Later that day, Cole took to Twitter to announce a surprise event for fans at the Gramercy Theatre in New York City. The event was free of charge, on a first-come, first-served basis. The event turned out to be a surprise listening session for the album. Later that night, he took to Twitter again to announce the album. Cole held a second listening session in London the next day. On April 18, 2018, Cole revealed the track listing for "KOD".


title: KOD (album)

text: In order to promote the album, Cole announced the KOD Tour on May 8, 2018. The tour included 34 North American dates, starting in Miami on August 9 and concluded in Boston on October 10, 2018. Young Thug, Jaden Smith, EarthGang and Cole's alter ego kiLL edward served as supporting acts on the tour.


title: KOD (album)

text: On May 16, 2018, Cole released a 94-minute interview with radio personality Angie Martinez. During the interview, Cole discussed a variety of topics including the album. The interview was conducted in Miami at producer Salaam Remi's house before Cole headlined the 2018 Rolling Loud Festival. The interview was Cole's first on camera interview since 2015. On May 25, 2018, Cole released another hour long interview with rapper Lil Pump where they asked each other questions. It was recorded at Cole's recording studio, the Sheltuh, in North Carolina. The song "1985" was allegedly aimed at Lil Pump.


title: KOD (album)

text: Cole performed "Intro" and "Friends" at the 2018 BET Awards on June 24, 2018. Singer Daniel Caesar performed part of "Intro" and the chorus to "Friends". Rapper Wale was also part of the set. Writing for "Billboard", Nerisha Penrose declared it the best performance of the night, writing: "Instead of opting for the bouncy standout cuts like “Motiv8” or “ATM” from his newest album "KOD", Cole reached for the heartfelt song “Friends” for his captivating performance." The performance was Cole's first at the award show since 2013.


title: KOD (album)

text: "KOD" was serviced to American mainstream urban radio as the album's first single on May 8, 2018. The song broke Spotify opening day record. It was streamed 4.2 million times, a record Taylor Swift previously held for "Look What You Made Me Do" (2017). The song debuted at number 10 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. "ATM" impacted US rhythmic contemporary radio on July 31, 2018, as the album's second single. The music video was released on April 20, 2018, upon release of the album. "ATM" debuted at number six on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. With the release of "ATM", Cole became the first musician to simultaneously debut three new songs inside the top 10 of the US "Billboard" Hot 100, with "ATM" (at 6), "Kevin's Heart" (8), and "KOD" (10). Cole managed pass the record high of nine simultaneous Top 40 hit songs in North America held by Cardi B, Drake and Kendrick Lamar. He ties with The Beatles for having six positions in the top 20 on the Hot 100 chart, a record that the rock band had previously held for fifty-four years.


title: KOD (album)

text: The music video for the song, "Kevin's Heart", was released on April 24, 2018. The video features actor and comedian Kevin Hart. The song debuted at number eight on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. Producer DJ Premier released a remix of "1985", titled "DJ Premier 1966 Remix" on May 29, 2018.


title: KOD (album)

text: "KOD" received positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 73, based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: KOD (album)

text: Alexis Petridis of "The Guardian" praised the album, calling Cole "the conscience of mainstream hip hop". He continued saying: "The goofy, self-deprecating humour of his 2014 single "Wet Dreamz" and the warm contentment of "Foldin Clothes" are both conspicuous by their absence. Instead, we find Cole repeatedly raising a concerned eyebrow at drug use in the world of Xanax-fuelled rap and probing hip-hop's obsession with money. It's the kind of thing that could come off a little preachy but it doesn't here, largely because Cole is always quick to implicate himself." Writing for The Ringer, Justin Charity called the album "a rebuke to the druggy concerns of a younger generation of rappers." He commented further saying, ""KOD" is a curious treatise on how hip-hop might revise its principles in light of the genre's growing discomfort with the personal darkness that some very recent rap stars, proud addicts and abusers, have wrought." Trent Clark of "HipHopDX" praised the album, calling it "one of the most important rap albums ever". He wrote: "J. Cole has a gift in turning tears into teaching tools and "KOD" is a concise, leather-bound audiobook of invaluable life direction goals."


title: KOD (album)

text: In a positive review, Lawrence Burney of "Vice" deemed the album Cole's "best effort yet", saying "yes, there are times when he seems a bit out of touch on "KOD", but what translates most successfully here is compassion and concern, not contempt." Briana Younger, writing for "Spin" stated: ""KOD" is a stark reminder that some of life's most destructive elements don't always come with a warning label." Sam Moore of "NME" called the album "powerful". He said: "Cole has emerged this decade as one of the US' finest rappers. He's a confident lyricist with an ear for a hip-pop hook, a willingness to address difficult subjects and an ability to weave compelling stories through his music." Scott Glaysher of "Now" said "Cole doesn't sacrifice any inch of rhythm or melody while detailing his cautionary tales. It's clear he's mastered the art of hiding medicine in candy." Mitch Findlay of "HotNewHipHop" gave the album a 90% rating saying, ""KOD" is a trip worth taking". The album got an 85% audience rating based on over 400 user votes. In a mixed review, Jon Caramanica of "The New York Times" said the album "has the feel of a casual placeholder between bigger ideas--it has neither the grim purpose or intense emotional acuity of his 2016 LP "4 Your Eyez Only", nor the cohesion of the prior one, "2014 Forest Hills Drive" [...] Mr. Cole is an empathetic rapper, but he can be a mean moralist, too." Former "HipHopDX" writer Justin Hunte called "KOD" 2018's most important album. He deemed it "a time-piece album for the year" saying, ""KOD" is my album of the year because it targets a generational crisis, and it's not afraid to take an audience to therapy precisely when it needs it most. Is there anyone else in hip-hop willing to sacrifice their cool points to play therapist? If not J. Cole, then who?"


title: KOD (album)

text: The music video for "ATM" received nominations in two categories at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best Hip Hop Video and Best Art Direction. "KOD" was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards. The album was nominated for Favorite Album at the 44th People's Choice Awards.


title: KOD (album)

text: In the United States, on the day of its release, "KOD" broke streaming records on both Spotify and Apple Music. The album achieved a total of 64.5 million streams on Apple Music, breaking the previous record for "Views" by Drake in 2016. The album achieved 36.7 million streams on Spotify. Following the release, the album was promoted on social media by numerous other artists including Snoop Dogg, Fabolous, Nas, The Game, and Diddy.


title: KOD (album)

text: "KOD" subsequently debuted at number one on the US "Billboard" 200, earning 397,000 album-equivalent units, including 174,000 in pure sales, making it Cole's fifth number one album. At the time of its release, the album achieved the largest streaming week of 2018 (and third-largest ever), accumulating over 322.7 million streams, only behind Kendrick Lamar's "Damn" (340.6 million) and Drake's "More Life" (384.8 million). It registered the biggest week in 2018 for an album, surpassing Justin Timberlake's "Man of the Woods" (293,000 units), and the second largest sales week, behind Timberlake's. Cole also became the first musician to simultaneously debut three new songs inside the top 10 of the US "Billboard" Hot 100, with "ATM" (at 6), "Kevin's Heart" (8), and "KOD" (10). As a result of sales and streaming figures, he was the first artist to have a trio of tracks open inside the uppermost tier at the same time. The remainder of the album also debuted in the Hot 100. Cole managed to tie with the Beatles for having six positions in the top 20 on the Hot 100 chart, a record that the rock band had previously held for fifty-four years.


title: KOD (album)

text: In its second week, the album fell to number three on the US "Billboard" 200, moving 105,000 album-equivalent units. In its third week, the album climbed to number two, moving 68,000 album-equivalent units. On May 14, 2018, "KOD" was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 album-equivalent units in the US. On December 5, 2018, "KOD" was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) with one million album-equivalent units in the United States.


title: KOD (album)

text: "KOD" was a commercial success internationally as well, debuting at number one in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand. It peaked within the top ten on charts in Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.


title: KOD (album)

text: As of December 2018, "KOD" has sold over 273,000 recognized copies and over 1,131,000 album-equivalent units in the United States. "KOD" was ranked as the 14th most popular album of 2018 on the "Billboard" 200.


title: KOD (album)

text: Songs from the album were featured in the official 2018 NBA Playoffs and the NBA Finals promotion for ESPN. "ATM" appeared on the soundtrack to 2018 video game "NBA Live 19".


title: Lane Johnson

text: David Lane Johnson (born May 8, 1990) is an American football offensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Eagles fourth overall in the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Oklahoma.


title: Lane Johnson

text: Johnson was born in Groveton, Texas, and attended Groveton High School, where he played football and competed in track. In football, he was an honorable mention All-state selection as a quarterback, and was named All-district.


title: Lane Johnson

text: In track & field, Johnson competed in the throwing events. He earned a fourth-place finish in the shot put event at the 2008 UIL 1A State Championships, with a top-throw of 15.21 meters (49 ft 7 in).


title: Lane Johnson

text: Johnson attended Kilgore College, a junior college in east Texas, and played quarterback and tight end for the Kilgore Rangers football team for the 2008 season. In his sole year at Kilgore, Johnson amassed 584 passing yards for 7 touchdowns and 3 interceptions with a 52.4% completion rate while at quarterback.


title: Lane Johnson

text: After his freshman year, he transferred to the University of Oklahoma, where he played for the Oklahoma Sooners football team from 2009 to 2012. Originally serving as a practice squad quarterback during his redshirt season, Lane Johnson transitioned to tight end in the fall of 2010 and switched again to defensive end for the spring of 2011. After two starting linemen went down with injuries at the beginning of the 2010 fall season, offensive line coach Bruce Kittle asked multiple players, including Lane Johnson, to try out as back-up linemen to fill in the missing roster depth. Kittle was amazed by Johnson's footwork and natural passing abilities and immediately switched Johnson to offensive tackle. Two games later, Johnson would be named the Sooner's starting right tackle, and he would start the remaining 12 games of the season. As a senior in 2012, he switched to left tackle and started 11 of 13 games and was named a third-team All-American by CBSSports.com.


title: Lane Johnson

text: On December 21, 2012, it was announced that Johnson and teammate Landry Jones had accepted their invitations to the 2013 Senior Bowl. Throughout Senior Bowl practices, Johnson demonstrated impressive footwork, body control, and balance while diagnosing pass rushes and disrupting them. He was named a top standout during practice by NFL analyst Bucky Brooks and immensely helped his draft stock to put himself in the first round discussion. On January 26, 2013, he played offensive tackle in the Reese's Senior Bowl and was part of Detroit Lions' head coach Jim Schwartz's South team that defeated the North 21-16. Johnson was one of 57 collegiate offensive linemen that attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. He completed all of the combine drills and finished first in the vertical jump and second amongst all offensive linemen in the 40-yard dash and broad jump. On March 13, 2013, Johnson attended Oklahoma's pro day, along with Landry Jones, Tony Jefferson, Demontre Hurst, Kenny Stills, Stacy McGee, and 19 other prospects. During the draft process, Johnson attended multiple private workouts and visits, including the Carolina Panthers, New York Jets, and Philadelphia Eagles. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Johnson was projected to be a guaranteed first round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts and was projected be a top ten selection. He was ranked the third best offensive tackle prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com, NFL analyst Mike Mayock, and NFL analyst Josh Norris.


title: Lane Johnson

text: The Philadelphia Eagles selected Johnson in the first round (fourth overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft. He was the third offensive tackle selected in 2013, behind Central Michigan's Eric Fisher and Texas A&M's Luke Joeckel. On July 20, 2013, the Eagles signed Johnson to a four-year, $19.85 million contract with a signing bonus of $12.81 million.


title: Lane Johnson

text: He entered training camp behind veteran Dennis Kelly on the Eagles depth chart. He competed against Kelly for the starting right tackle role throughout training camp. He became the apparent starting right tackle during training camp when it was reported that Kelly would miss the majority of the season after undergoing back surgery.


title: Lane Johnson

text: He made his first career start and professional regular season debut in the Philadelphia Eagles' season-opening 33-27 victory at the Washington Redskins. He started all 16 regular season games as a rookie and helped the Philadelphia Eagles finish first in the NFC East with a 10-6 record. On January 4, 2014, Johnson started his first career playoff game as the Philadelphia Eagles lost to the New Orleans Saints 26-24 in the NFC Wildcard game. He was ranked as the 26th best right tackle by Pro Football Focus in 2013.


title: Lane Johnson

text: On June 30, 2014, it was reported that Johnson had tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and would be suspended for the first four games of the 2014 season. Although Johnson missed the first four games of the season, he allowed only one sack in the remainder of the year and started 14 consecutive games while being graded as the second best right tackle and was ranked the 13th overall offensive linemen by Pro Football Focus. Pro Football Focus named Johnson to the 2014 PFF All-Pro Team. The Philadelphia Eagles finished second in the NFC East with a 10-6 record and did not qualify for the playoffs.


title: Lane Johnson

text: Johnson played through numerous injuries, but started all 16 games, including two games at left tackle after Jason Peters was inactive after suffering a back injury. Pro Football Focus ranked Johnson tenth best right tackle in 2015 with an overall grade of +14.5. Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur was named interim head coach for Week 17 after head coach Chip Kelly was fired after Week 16 with the Eagles finishing 7-9.


title: Lane Johnson

text: On January 29, 2016, Johnson signed a six-year, $63 million extension with $35.5 million guaranteed. This contract made Johnson the highest paid right tackle in the NFL. Johnson entered training camp slated as the Eagles' starting right tackle, opposite Jason Peters.


title: Lane Johnson

text: On August 9, 2016, it was reported that Johnson would face a ten-game suspension due to PED violations. Johnson stated that he was unaware the substance he failed for was banned and that the NFLPA's player app didn't have the banned substance listed. On October 11, 2016, his ten-game suspension was upheld. The suspension voided the last year of his contract and also voided all remaining base salary guarantees that totaled $7.74 million. Allen Barbre replaced Johnson during his absence.


title: Lane Johnson

text: Johnson returned to the team for their Week 16 game against the New York Giants on December 22, 2016. Johnson has an ongoing lawsuit against the NFL and the NFL Players Association stemming from his 10-game suspension for his second failed drug test.


title: Lane Johnson

text: The Philadelphia Eagles' offensive line was ranked eighth in the league by Pro Football Focus. They also gave Johnson a run blocking grade of 86.7 and he was ranked sixth among all right tackles. Due to the suspension, Johnson only started six games in 2016 (Week 1-5, 16-17). The Philadelphia Eagles finished fourth in the NFC East with a 7-9 record in their first season under head coach Doug Pederson.


title: Lane Johnson

text: Johnson remained the Eagles' starting right tackle in 2017. He suffered a concussion during a Week 5 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. Johnson remained in the concussion protocol and missed the Eagles' next game that took place five days later on "Thursday Night Football". He started 15 games to help the Eagles achieve a 13-3 record and go from worst to first, finishing atop the NFC East division after finishing last in 2016.


title: Lane Johnson

text: On December 19, 2017, Johnson was named to his first Pro Bowl along with right guard Brandon Brooks. Near the end of the season, Johnson received an overall grade of 85.2 and ranked fifth amongst all offensive tackles by Pro Football Focus. He was ranked the top right tackle and received a $250,000 bonus for making the Pro Bowl. Johnson did not attend the Pro Bowl as the Eagles would play in Super Bowl LII. He was ranked 95th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.


title: Lane Johnson

text: Johnson and Chris Long wore rubber masks of a German Shepherd (symbolic of the team's underdog status) after the 2017 Divisional playoff game versus the Atlanta Falcons, as the Falcons were considered favorites to win. Following the game, Philadelphia Eagles fans bought so many dog masks from Amazon that they were sold out. In Super Bowl LII, the Eagles defeated the New England Patriots 41-33 to give Johnson his first Super Bowl ring.


title: Lane Johnson

text: On November 29, 2019, Johnson signed a four-year, $72 million contract extension with the Eagles with $54.595 million guaranteed, making him the highest-paid offensive lineman in the NFL.


title: Lane Johnson

text: Johnson was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the Eagles on July 29, 2020. He was activated on August 11, 2020. He was placed on injured reserve on December 2, 2020.


title: Lane Johnson

text: In the December 26th division match vs the New York Giants, Johnson was declared an eligible receiver for a play and caught a pass from Jalen Hurts for a 5 yard touchdown, his first ever touchdown catch.


title: Lane Johnson

text: Johnson married his wife Chelsea Goodman in January 2013 and they have three children together. She attended the NFL Draft with him and they met at Oklahoma where Chelsea was a high jumper. His father-in-law is John Goodman, who played defensive end for the Pittsburgh Steelers from -.


title: Lane Johnson

text: On May 22, 2019, Johnson donated $500,000 to Kilgore College for the development of "The Lane" Athletic Performance Center, a 3,800 square-foot training facility that opened March 3, 2021 on the Kilgore College campus. Johnson was on campus that day for a grand opening of the facility.


title: Lane Johnson

text: Johnson along with fellow Eagles offensive lineman, Jason Kelce and Jordan Mailata released the Christmas album, "A Philly Special Christmas" in 2022.


title: Marjorie Main

text: Mary Tomlinson (February 24, 1890 – April 10, 1975), professionally known as Marjorie Main, was an American character actress and singer of the Classical Hollywood period, best known as a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s and 1950s, and for her role as Ma Kettle in 10 Ma and Pa Kettle movies. Main started her career in vaudeville and theatre, and appeared in film classics, such as "Dead End" (1937), "The Women" (1939), "Dark Command" (1940), "The Shepherd of the Hills" (1941), "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944), and "Friendly Persuasion" (1956).


title: Marjorie Main

text: Mary Tomlinson was born on February 24, 1890, near Acton, in rural Marion County, Indiana. She was the second daughter of Reverend Samuel J. Tomlinson, a Disciples of Christ minister, and Jennie L. (McGaughey) Tomlinson. Mary's maternal grandfather, Doctor Samuel McGaughey, was the Acton physician who delivered her.


title: Marjorie Main

text: At the age of three, Tomlinson moved with her family to Indianapolis, Indiana, where her father was pastor of Hillside Christian Church. Four years later, they moved to Goshen and then Elkhart, Indiana. In the early 1900s, the Tomlinson family settled on a farm near Fairland, Indiana.


title: Marjorie Main

text: After attending public schools in Fairland and Shelbyville, Tomlinson spent a year (1905–06) at Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana, where she was a charter member of what became the present-day Delta Delta Delta sorority, before transferring to the Hamilton School of Dramatic Expression in Lexington, Kentucky. She completed a three-year course of study in 1909 at the age of 19. After graduation, Tomlinson took a job as a dramatics instructor at Bourbon College in Paris, Kentucky, but stayed only a year. Tomlinson later claimed that she was fired from the position after asking for a salary increase.


title: Marjorie Main

text: After Tomlinson left Kentucky, she spent the next several years studying dramatic arts in Chicago and New York City, despite her father's disapproval of her career choice. Tomlinson adopted the stage name of Marjorie Main during her early acting career to avoid embarrassing her family.


title: Marjorie Main

text: Main married widower Stanley LeFevre Krebs, a psychologist and lecturer, on November 2, 1921. They met while she was performing on the Chautauqua circuit. Main accompanied Krebs on the lecture circuit, handling the details of their life on the road. They had no children together, and made their home in New York City. Main performed with touring companies and in New York theaters on a part-time basis throughout her marriage. She also began her Hollywood film career in 1931. Main considered this period "the happiest years of her life." She returned to a full-time acting career after Krebs died of cancer on September 26, 1935.


title: Marjorie Main

text: The Krebs' marriage was a nontraditional one. By her accounts, the marriage was happy, but not particularly close. Main claimed to be "brokenhearted" following her husband's death, but also explained that his death was "like losing a good friend. Like part of the family." Main's biographer, Michelle Vogel, quotes a later interview in which the actress related: "Dr. Krebs wasn't a very practical man. I didn't figure on having to run the show, I kinda tired of it after a few years. We pretty much went our own ways, but we was [sic] still in the eyes of the law, man and wife."


title: Marjorie Main

text: Main began her professional career as a performer touring in Chautauqua presentations with a Shakespearean repertory company. After performing for five months in a stock company in Fargo, North Dakota, she began working in vaudeville.


title: Marjorie Main

text: In the mid 1910s, Main appeared in several plays, which included touring in "Cheating Cheaters " with John Barrymore in 1916. She also debuted in the Broadway theatre in "Yes or No" in 1918. In addition, Main returned to vaudeville to perform at the Palace Theater in a skit called "The Family Ford" with comedian W. C. Fields. Not all of the early plays in which she appeared were a success. "A House Divided" closed in 1923 after just one performance, but Main continued to find work on the Broadway stage. In 1927, she played Mae West's mother in "The Wicked Age", and in 1928, played opposite Barbara Stanwyck in the long-running stage hit "Burlesque". Main also appeared in several other Broadway productions: "Salvation" in 1928, "Scarlet Sister Mary" in 1930, "Ebb Tide" in 1931, "Music in the Air" in 1932, and "Jackson White".


title: Marjorie Main

text: One of Main's highest-profile stage performances was in 1935's "Dead End" as Mrs. Martin, the mother of gangster Baby Face Martin. She played the role in 460 performances before leaving the show in 1936 to play Lucy, a hotel-keeper/dude-ranch operator, in "The Women". Main recreated these two roles in film versions of the plays in 1937 and 1939, respectively.


title: Marjorie Main

text: One of Main's first feature-film appearances was as an extra in "A House Divided" (1931). She also appeared in "Take A Chance" (1933) and "Crime Without Passion" (1934), and recreated her stage role as a servant in the film version of "Music in the Air" (also 1934), but most of her performance was cut from the film. Main also made a few more films in Hollywood in the 1930s before returning to the stage in New York City.


title: Marjorie Main

text: Samuel Goldwyn signed Main to reprise her stage role as the mother of a gangster for the film version of "Dead End" (1937). Humphrey Bogart was cast as her son. She transferred another strong stage performance to film as the dude-ranch operator in "The Women" (1939).


title: Marjorie Main

text: Main portrayed a diverse set of characters in subsequent films for different studios. These included roles where she was cast as a mother, prison matron, a landlady, aunt, secretary, and a rental agent, among others.


title: Marjorie Main

text: Main was signed to a seven-year Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) contract in 1940, after starring with Wallace Beery in "Wyoming" (1940). She also co-starred in "Dark Command" (1940) with Walter Pidgeon, and appeared in six major films in 1941.


title: Marjorie Main

text: During World War II, Main used her stage and film notoriety to help promote the sale of war bonds for the U.S. War Department. In December 1942, she returned for a visit to central Indiana, where she helped in the sale of more than $500,000 in war bonds.


title: Marjorie Main

text: In the mid-1940s, in an attempt to repeat the great success Wallace Beery had in teaming with Marie Dressler in the early 1930s, MGM cast Main opposite Beery in six more films, including "Barnacle Bill" (1941), "Jackass Mail" (1942), and "Bad Bascomb" (1946). She also played Sonora Cassidy, the chief cook, in "The Harvey Girls" (1946).


title: Marjorie Main

text: Main's best-known role was Ma Kettle in the Ma and Pa Kettle film series. She had renewed her contract with MGM for another seven years, which continued until the mid-1950s, when the studio lent her to Universal Pictures to play Ma Kettle for the first time in "The Egg and I" (1947), starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray. Main played opposite Percy Kilbride as Pa Kettle and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in the film.


title: Marjorie Main

text: The two Kettle characters proved to be so popular among film audiences that Universal decided to do a series. Main portrayed the Ma Kettle character in nine Ma and Pa Kettle films between 1949 and 1957. Kilbride was her co-star in most of the films, but left after "Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki" (1955), the seventh in the series. Main filmed "The Kettles in the Ozarks" (1956) without Kilbride. Parker Fennelly played the Pa Kettle role opposite Main in the final film of the series, "The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm" (1957) Each film grossed Universal about $3 million, which helped save the studio from a financial collapse. In addition to acting in the films, Main wrote some of the dialogue for her character and created her costumes and make-up.


title: Marjorie Main

text: During this time, Main shuttled back and forth between Universal Studios and MGM. She appeared in several MGM musicals during the 1940s and early 1950s, including, "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944) and "The Belle of New York" (1952). She played Mrs. Wrenley in the studio's all-star film "It's a Big Country" (1951). Main played her last roles for MGM as Mrs. Hittaway in "The Long, Long Trailer" (1954) and as Jane Dunstock in "Rose Marie" (1954). Main portrayed the widow Hudspeth in the hit film "Friendly Persuasion" (1956). Main's final film appearance was in her best-known role as Ma Kettle in "The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm" (1957)


title: Marjorie Main

text: On December 15, 1941, she was part of the cast of Norman Corwin's radio program "We Hold These Truths". She also performed in "The Goldbergs".


title: Marjorie Main

text: In 1958, Main appeared as a rugged frontierswoman Cassie Tanner in the episodes "The Cassie Tanner Story" and "The Sacramento Story" of the television series "Wagon Train".


title: Marjorie Main

text: After her retirement from acting, Main lived a quiet, secluded life in Los Angeles. She became interested in spiritualism and the Moral Re-Armament movement.


title: Marjorie Main

text: Main died of lung cancer on April 10, 1975, at the age of 85 at St. Vincent's Hospital in Los Angeles, where she had been admitted on April 3. Main is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, California, beside her husband, Doctor Stanley Krebs.


title: Marjorie Main

text: Main, who is best known for playing "raucous, rough, and cantankerous women" on-screen, was characterized as "soft-spoken, shy," and "dignified" when she was off-screen. Main became a popular character actress of the 1940s and 1950s. She appeared in diverse roles on the stage and in more than 80 films, including some that became classics, such as "Dead End" (1937), "Dark Command" (1940), "The Shepherd of the Hills" (1941), "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944), and "Friendly Persuasion" (1956), but is best known for her Ma Kettle role in the Ma and Pa Kettle film series. The "cornball humor" of the Kettle films endured in television shows, such as "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Green Acres", of the 1960s.


title: Mangonel

text: The mangonel, also called the traction trebuchet, was a type of trebuchet used in Ancient China starting from the Warring States period, and later across Eurasia by the 6th century AD. Unlike the later counterweight trebuchet, the mangonel operated on manpower pulling cords attached to a lever and sling to launch projectiles.


title: Mangonel

text: Although the mangonel required more men to function, it was also less complex and faster to reload than the torsion-powered onager which it replaced in early Medieval Europe. It was replaced as the primary siege weapon in the 12th and 13th centuries by the counterweight trebuchet. A common misconception about the mangonel is that it was a torsion siege engine.


title: Mangonel

text: "Mangonel" is probably derived from the Greek "mangana", "a generic term for construction machinery." It could also be derived from "mangon", a French hard stone found in the south of France. In Latin it is called a "manganum", in French a "manganeau", and in English a "mangonel". Mangonel was a general term for medieval stone-throwing artillery and used more specifically to refer to manually (traction-) powered weapons. It is sometimes wrongly used to refer to the onager. Modern military historians came up with the term "traction trebuchet" to distinguish it from previous torsion machines such as the onager.


title: Mangonel

text: The mangonel was called "al-manjanīq", "arrada", "shaytani", or "sultani" in Arabic. In China the mangonel was called the "pào" (砲).


title: Mangonel

text: The mangonel is thought to have originated in ancient China. Torsion-based siege weapons such as the ballista and onager are not known to have been used in China.


title: Mangonel

text: The first recorded use of mangonels was in ancient China. They were probably used by the Mohists as early as 4th century BC, descriptions of which can be found in the "Mojing" (compiled in the 4th century BC). According to the "Mojing", the mangonel was high with four feet buried below ground, the fulcrum attached was constructed from the wheels of a cart, the throwing arm was long with three quarters above the pivot and a quarter below to which the ropes are attached, and the sling long. The range given for projectiles are . They were used as defensive weapons stationed on walls and sometimes hurled hollowed out logs filled with burning charcoal to destroy enemy siege works. By the 1st century AD, commentators were interpreting other passages in texts such as the "Zuo zhuan" and "Classic of Poetry" as references to the mangonel: "the guai is 'a great arm of wood on which a stone is laid, and this by means of a device [ji] is shot off and so strikes down the enemy.'" The "Records of the Grand Historian" say that "The flying stones weigh 12 catties and by devices [ji] are shot off 300 paces." Mangonels went into decline during the Han dynasty due to long periods of peace but became a common siege weapon again during the Three Kingdoms period. They were commonly called stone-throwing machines, thunder carriages, and stone carriages in the following centuries. They were used as ship mounted weapons by 573 for attacking enemy fortifications. It seems that during the early 7th century, improvements were made on mangonels, although it is not explicitly stated what. According to a stele in Barkul celebrating Tang Taizong's conquest of what is now Ejin Banner, the engineer Jiang Xingben made great advancements on mangonels that were unknown in ancient times. Jiang Xingben participated in the construction of siege engines for Taizong's campaigns against the Western Regions.


title: Mangonel

text: In 617 Li Mi (Sui dynasty) constructed 300 mangonels for his assault on Luoyang, in 621 Li Shimin did the same at Luoyang, and onward into the Song dynasty when in 1161, mangonels operated by Song dynasty soldiers fired bombs of lime and sulphur against the ships of the Jin dynasty navy during the Battle of Caishi. During the Jingde period (1004-1007), many young men rose in office due to their military accomplishments, and one such man, Zhang Cun, was said to have possessed no knowledge except how to operate a Whirlwind mangonel. When the Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234) laid siege to Kaifeng in 1126, they attacked with 5,000 mangonels.


title: Mangonel

text: The mangonel was carried westward by the Avars and appeared next in the eastern Mediterranean by the late 6th century AD, where it replaced torsion powered siege engines such as the ballista and onager. The rapid displacement of torsion siege engines was probably due to a combination of reasons. The mangonel is simpler in design, has a faster rate of fire, increased accuracy, and comparable range and power. It was probably also safer than the twisted cords of torsion weapons, "whose bundles of taut sinews stored up huge amounts of energy even in resting state and were prone to catastrophic failure when in use." At the same time, the late Roman Empire seems to have fielded "considerably less artillery than its forebears, organised now in separate units, so the weaponry that came into the hands of successor states might have been limited in quantity." Evidence from Gaul and Germania suggests there was substantial loss of skills and techniques in artillery further west.


title: Mangonel

text: According to the "Miracles of Saint Demetrius", probably written around 620 by John, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, the Avaro-Slavs attacked Thessaloniki in 586 with mangonel. The bombardment lasted for hours, but the operators were inaccurate and most of the shots missed their target. When one stone did reach their target, it "demolished the top of the rampart down to the walkway." The Byzantines adopted the mangonel possibly as early as 587, the Persians in the early 7th century, and the Arabs in the second half of the 7th century. Like the Chinese, by 653, the Arabs also had ship mounted mangonel. The Franks and Saxons adopted the weapon in the 8th century. The "Life of Louis the Pious" contains the earliest western European reference to mangonels in its account of the siege of Tortosa (808–809). In the 890s, Abbo Cernuus described "mango" or "manganaa" used at the Siege of Paris (885–886) which had high posts, presumably meaning they used trebuchet-type throwing arms. In 1173, the Republic of Pisa tried to capture an island castle with mangonels on galleys. Mangonels were also used in India.


title: Mangonel

text: According to Leife Inge Ree Peterson, a mangonel could have been used at Theodosiopolis in 421 but was "likely an onager". He also claims that mangonels were independently invented or at least known in the Eastern Mediterranean by 500 AD based on records of different and better artillery weapons, however there is no explicit description of a mangonel. Furthermore mangonels were used in Spain and Italy by the mid 6th century and in Africa by the 7th century. The Franks adopted the weapon in the 8th century. Another theory points to the independent invention of the mangonel through an evolution of the Byzantine staff-sling, although this has received little support.


title: Mangonel

text: The mangonel was most efficient as an anti-personnel weapon, used in a supportive position alongside archers and slingers. Most accounts of mangonels describe them as light artillery weapons while actual penetration of defenses was the result of mining or siege towers. At the Siege of Kamacha in 766, Byzantine defenders used wooden cover to protect themselves from the enemy artillery while inflicting casualties with their own stone throwers. Michael the Syrian noted that at the siege of Balis in 823 it was the defenders that suffered from bombardment rather than the fortifications. At the siege of Kaysum, Abdallah ibn Tahir al-Khurasani used artillery to damage houses in the town. The Sack of Amorium in 838 saw the use of mangonels to drive away defenders and destroy wooden defenses. At the siege of Marand in 848, mangonels were used, "reportedly killing 100 and wounding 400 on each side during the eight-month siege." During the siege of Baghdad in 865, defensive artillery were responsible for repelling an attack on the city gate while mangonels on boats claimed a hundred of the defenders' lives.


title: Mangonel

text: Some exceptionally large and powerful mangonels have been described during the 11th century or later. At the Siege of Manzikert (1054), the Seljuks' initial siege artillery was countered by the defenders' own, which shot stones at the besieging machine. In response, the Seljuks constructed another one requiring 400 men to pull and threw stones weighing 20 kg. A breach was created on the first shot but the machine was burnt down by the defenders. According to Matthew of Edessa, this machine weighed 3,400 kg and caused a number of casualties to the city's defenders. Ibn al-Adim describes a mangonel capable of throwing a man in 1089. At the siege of Haizhou in 1161, a mangonel was reported to have had a range of 200 paces (over 400 meters).