title: ESL (company)

text: ESL created the ESL Wire Anti Cheat software to combat online cheating in the increasingly competitive field. In 2015, ESL enhanced its tournament software by integrating Wargaming's "Battle API" into its tournaments. The API makes player and game data available through the API application. That same year, ESL released ESL Matchmaking which uses ESL's API to match competitors based on skill. Microsoft worked with ESL to create an Xbox app to use the ESL tournament system through Xbox Live on Xbox One in 2016.


title: ESL (company)

text: AnyKey is a diversity initiative created by ESL and Intel to include underrepresented members of the gaming community in competitions including women, LGBT people and people of color. AnyKey is made up of two teams for research and implementation. AnyKey has researched and implemented a code of conduct, which aims to address an inclusion policy for esports events and online broadcasts and the harassment issues underrepresented populations face. It has also created and hosted women's tournaments. The two teams continue to research and implement inclusion in the gaming community.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. is an American diversified company. Headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin, it was established in 2005 as the successor company to Rayovac Corporation. It is one of the Fortune 500 companies, and among the largest of its kind on the list.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: The company manufactures and markets home appliances under the Remington, Black & Decker, George Foreman, and Russell Hobbs brand names, lawn and garden care products under the Spectracide and Garden Safe brand names, and insect repellents under the Cutter and Repel brand names. Spectrum owns several pet care companies, both in the aquarium supply and companion animal trades. In the aquarium business, Spectrum owns Tetra, Whisper, Marineland, Perfecto, Jungle, Instant Ocean, Visi-Therm, and other product lines. Companion animal lines consist of Dingo, Nature's Miracle, Lazy Pet, Wonderbox, Furminator, IAMS, Eukanuba and others. Both aquarium lines and companion lines are concentrated into Spectrum's United Pet Group based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Spectrum's Hardware & Home Improvement division includes brands such as Kwikset, Baldwin, National Hardware, Pfister, and more.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: On February 26, 2018, the company announced it was merging with controlling shareholder HRG Group. As of 2018, Spectrum Brands is ranked #422 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: Spectrum manufactured and sold batteries under the Rayovac and Varta brand names, until it sold its battery division to long-time Rayovac competitor Energizer in January 2018. In November 2018, the company sold their global auto care division (brands which included Armor All, STP, and A/C Pro), to Energizer as well.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: In 1906, the French Battery Company was founded in Chicago by James Bowen Ramsay (1869–1952). Its first president was German-born chemist, Alfred Landau. He had been making batteries in Europe. The Ramsay collective invested in Landau's functioning low profile Columbia Dry Battery Company which had been halted by copyright issues regarding the adopted name "Columbia". The re-started and re-named assembly plant soon relocated to Wisconsin where Landau's efforts to advance the French company too quickly, combined with a bad run of batteries, led to virtual bankruptcy and he was sacked. He moved on to Toronto, and set up a factory making X-Cell brand batteries for Canada.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: Neither Ramsay nor the other shareholders knew how to make batteries, but Ramsay's leadership kept the enterprise alive, by having assembly line staff make the "Fleur de lis" branded batteries to a lower standard. Ramsay's fiery self-belief in the industry led him to contract a university chemist C.F. Burgess to concoct a battery to rival those made in America and Europe. Burgess actually succeeded, to his own financial cost, and the company survived, with him becoming a shareholder; but after a fire destroyed the plant in 1915, he left to found his own successful battery company. French battery production accelerated through World War I, and by 1920, the French Battery Company had US$2.74 million in sales and 600 employees, and 1000 employees in 1931.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: In 1930, the company name was changed to Ray-O-Vac, an allusion to the then-new technology of vacuum tubes and electron rays. In 1933, the company patented the first wearable vacuum tube hearing aid. During World War II, Rayovac supplied the United States military with nearly 500 million batteries. As a result of this, they were awarded eight Army-Navy "E" awards for major contributions to victory.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: In 2003, Rayovac decided to diversify, and acquired non-battery related businesses including Remington Products and United Pet Group. In 2004, Rayovac successfully underbid Energizer (Eveready) as RadioShack's battery supplier and produced the "Enercell" brand of battery sold exclusively at RadioShack. In January 2005, Rayovac purchased United Industries Corporation for about $476 million in cash and stock. Brands included in United Industries were Vigoro, Spectracide and Sta-Green lawn products, Cutter, Hot Shot and Repel insect control products and pet supply products with the Marineland, Perfecto, and Eight in One brands. In 2005, Tetra, a major provider of pet-fish products, was acquired. This diversification prompted the name change from Rayovac to Spectrum Brands.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: Rayovac also bought other battery companies including VARTA, Ningbo Baowang and Microlite S.A. The Microlite acquisition included the rights to the Rayovac name in Brazil, giving the company worldwide rights to the Rayovac name. With this acquisition, Rayovac consolidated its presence in the majority of countries in Latin America. Rayovac is a well recognized brand in this region.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: On February 3, 2009, Spectrum filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company later emerged from bankruptcy on August 28, 2009. Since emerging from Chapter 11, Spectrum has announced year-over-year increases in sales and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization for the second quarter of their fiscal 2010.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: Rayovac, as a division of Spectrum Brands, remained headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, along with Remington, even while the parent company, Spectrum Brands, was headquartered in Georgia. On April 15, 2010, Spectrum Brands announced that it would be moving its corporate headquarters back to Madison. Spectrum Brands moved its headquarters to Middleton, Wisconsin, a suburb of Madison, in October 2013.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: Spectrum Brands finalized a merger with Russell Hobbs, Inc., formerly known as Salton, Inc., on June 16, 2010, to form a new $3 billion consumer products company. Russell Hobbs' brands include George Foreman Grill, Toastmaster, Black & Decker Home appliances, and Russell Hobbs.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: On April 28, 2015, Spectrum Brands entered the automotive supply business by acquiring Armored Auto group.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: On January 16, 2018, the Rayovac division was bought by Energizer for $2 billion. On February 26, 2018, Spectrum Brands announced it was merging with controlling shareholder HRG Group, Inc. The move would not affect the pending sale of its battery division to Energizer. Spectrum management was expected to run the merged entity. The combined company is to be named Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. and trade under the ticker symbol SPB. The company will remain in Middleton.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: In September 2021, Spectrum sold its Hardware and Home Improvement ("HHI") division to Assa Abloy for $4.3 billion. HHI has a varied portfolio of products, including patented SmartKey technology and electronic, smart and biometric locks. Key brands include Kwikset, Baldwin, Weiser, Pfister and National Hardware. HHI is headquartered in Lake Forest, California with some 7,500 employees worldwide and has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Mexico, Taiwan, China, and the Philippines.


title: Spectrum Brands

text: Rayovac formerly manufactured alkaline batteries ranging in size from AAA to 9V, rechargeable nickel–metal hydride batteries, hearing aid batteries, lithium photo batteries, specialty batteries and portable power chargers. In addition, a variety of portable LED flashlights and lanterns are produced under the Rayovac brand, prior to its sale to Energizer Holdings.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: Howard County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2010 census, the population was 287,085. As of the 2020 census its population rose to 328,200. Its county seat is Ellicott City. Howard County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also part of the larger Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: Recent south county development has led to some realignment towards the Washington, D.C. media and employment markets. The county is home to Columbia, a major planned community of approximately 100,000 founded in 1967.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: Howard County is frequently cited for its affluence, quality of life, and excellent schools. Its estimated 2016 median household income of $120,194 raised it to the second-highest median household income of any U.S. county. Many of the most affluent communities in the area, such as Clarksville, Dayton, Glenelg, Glenwood, and West Friendship, are located along the Route 32 corridor in Howard County. The main population center of Columbia/Ellicott City was named second among "Money" magazine's 2010 survey of "America's Best Places to Live."


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: The name of the county honors Colonel John Eager Howard, an officer in the "Maryland Line" of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War, commander notably at the Battle of Cowpens in South Carolina in 1781, among others. He was the fifth governor of Maryland, serving from 1788 to 1791.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: The lands of prehistoric Howard County were populated by Native Americans. The Maryland Historical Trust has documented sites along the Patapsco, Patuxent, Middle and Little Patuxent River valleys. In 1652, the Susquehannock tribes signed a peace treaty with Maryland, giving up their provenance over the territory that is now Howard County. In 1800, the mean center of U.S. population as calculated by the US Census Bureau was found in what is now Howard County.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: In 1838, Dr. William Watkins of Richland Manor proposed the "Howard District" of Anne Arundel County. After several adjournments, the area of western Anne Arundel County was designated the Howard District in 1839. The district had the same status as a county except that it was not separately represented in the Maryland General Assembly. In 1841, the county built its first courthouse in Ellicott City. At the January 1851 constitutional convention, Thomas Beale Dorsey submitted a petition led by James Sykes. A committee was formed with Dorsey, Bowie, Smith, Harbine and Ricaud. After several postponements, the district was erected officially as Howard County on March 7, 1851.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: The plantations of modern Howard County used slave labor as early as 1690. At the time of the Underground Railroad, some Howard County residents assisted slaves who were escaping to freedom. This was particularly risky, as many prominent plantation families were Confederate sympathizers during the Civil War, contributing militiamen to the South to protect local interests. Maryland was exempt from the Emancipation Proclamation, later abolishing slavery in the update of the Maryland Constitution in November 1864.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: By 1899, Howard County contained of dirt and of stone roads, including three paid turnpikes maintained by 118 men. Most traffic consisted of loads delivered to rail crossings. In 1909, County Commissioners Hess, Werner and O'Neil were charged with malfeasance regarding contract bids.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: In 1918, a deadly flu pandemic swept the county starting with an early outbreak in Camp Meade in adjacent Anne Arundel County. The 1930s saw a shift from one-room schoolhouses to centralized schools with bus service. By 1939 wheat harvesting fell to just . In 1940, local newspaper owner Paul Griffith Stromberg led a five-county commission to study a superhighway between Baltimore and Washington through Howard County. The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 eventually led to the construction of Interstate 70 across northern Howard County and Interstate 95 across the eastern part of the county. The sparsely populated county hosted population centers in Ellicott City, Elkridge, Savage, North Laurel and Lisbon with W.R. Grace and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab as the largest new employers. Residents elected officials that campaigned to keep the county rural while planners prepared public works to support a quarter million residents by the year 2000. Race relations and desegregation became major issues of the time.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: From 1963 to 1966 the Rouse Company bought of land and rezoned it for the Columbia Development. In 1972, the Marriott company proposed to build a regional theme park on Rouse-owned land but was denied zoning.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.0%) is water. It is the second-smallest county in Maryland by land area and smallest by total area.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: Howard County is located in the Piedmont Plateau region of Maryland, with rolling hills making up most of the landscape. It is bounded on the north and northeast by the Patapsco River, on the southwest by the Patuxent River, and on the southeast by a land border with Anne Arundel County. Both the Patapsco and Patuxent run largely through publicly accessible parkland along the county borders. The Patuxent border includes the Triadelphia and Rocky Gorge reservoirs.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: Howard County lies in the humid subtropical climate zone. As one travels west in the county away from the Baltimore area, the winter temperatures get lower and winter snow is more common. Annual rainfall is about throughout the county. Over a 60-year period from 1950 to 2010, there were 394 National Climatic Data Center reportable events causing 617 injuries, and 99 fatalities. There were 9 reported tornadoes, reaching a maximum of F2, with no recorded fatalities.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: For much of the 1800s and 1900s, Howard County was a predominantly white and mainly rural county with a small population and little ethnic, racial, or religious diversity. Howard County's legacy of racism includes slavery, lynchings, and segregation. In 1950, the population was only 23,000. Since the 1950s, the county's population has increased tenfold and has diversified into a majority minority county. Almost half of Howard County's population identified as non-Hispanic and/or non-white by 2017. Much of the racial diversification of Howard County came after 1967, when The Rouse Company designed Columbia to be a planned community that included people from diverse socioeconomic and racial backgrounds. African-Americans have lived in Howard County for centuries, with the African-American population increasing greatly after the 1960s. Immigration from Asia, particularly Korea, India, and China, as well as Latin America, has also contributed to Howard County's diversity. While historically primarily Christian, Howard County now has sizable Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu populations.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: "Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race."


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 328,200 people by June 1, 2020 The population density was


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: As of the 2010 United States census, there were 287,085 people, 104,749 households, and 76,333 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 109,282 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 62.2% white, 17.5% Black or African American, 14.4% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 2.0% from other races, and 3.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 5.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 17.7% were German, 13.9% were Irish, 10.6% were English, 7.0% were Italian, and 4.6% were American.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: Of the 104,749 households, 39.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.9% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 27.1% were non-families, and 21.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.72, and the average family size was 3.20. The median age was 38.4 years.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: The median income for a household in the county was $103,273, and the median income for a family was $119,810. Males had a median income of $82,307 versus $59,128 for females. The per capita income for the county was $45,294. About 2.8% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: As of the census of 2000, there were 247,842 people, 90,043 households, and 65,821 families residing in the county. The population density was 983 people per square mile (380/km). There were 92,818 housing units at an average density of 368 per square mile (142/km). The racial makeup of the county was 74.33% White, 14.42% Black, 0.24% Native American, 7.68% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 1.11% from other races, and 2.19% from two or more races. 3.02% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 15.1% were of German, 11.0% Irish, 9.3% English, 6.6% Italian and 5.7% American ancestry.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: There were 90,043 households, out of which 40.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.50% were married couples living together, 9.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.90% were non-families. 20.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71, and the average family size was 3.18.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.10% under the age of 18, 6.30% from 18 to 24, 34.40% from 25 to 44, 23.80% from 45 to 64, and 7.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.90 males.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: The median income for a household in the county was $101,003, and the median income for a family was $117,186 in 2009. The per capita income was $44,120. About 2.70% of families and 4.00% of the population were below the poverty line.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: The Howard County Public School System, the school district for the entire county, manages 71 schools and serves approximately 49,000 students. The graduation rate from this school district was 90.4% in 2009, and the county's schools are ranked among the best in the state. Student test scores consistently top the list for all Maryland school districts. Howard High School is currently the largest school in the county with over 1,700 students.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: In 2013 Howard County Library System was selected as the Library of the Year by "Library Journal" and cited by editor-at-large, John N. Berry, as "a 21st-century library model, with a position, doctrine, purpose, and curriculum worthy of study and consideration by every library in America, if not the world." In 2015 the Howard County Library System was designated the top Star Library in its class.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: Under the library's sponsorship, a campaign called "Choose Civility" started in Howard County in 2006. According to its website, "Choose Civility is an ongoing community-wide initiative, led by Howard County Library, to position Howard County as a model of civility. The project intends to enhance respect, empathy, consideration and tolerance in Howard County." The campaign's distinctive green bumper stickers are often seen in Howard County and neighboring areas.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: Howard County has voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election from 1992 on, and has become increasingly Democratic in subsequent presidential elections. In the 2020 presidential election, Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden received the highest percentage of Howard County's votes of any presidential candidate in the history of the county. The less-populated western and northern parts of Howard County lean Republican. The more heavily populated southern and eastern parts are heavily Democratic.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: Although the county votes more Democratic in federal elections, it has a record of acting as a bellwether in state-wide elections since the late 20th century: Since at least the 1950s, Howard County has voted for the successful senatorial candidate in both Maryland’s Class I and Class III seats, and since 1998 the county has voted for the successful gubernatorial candidate, flipping Republican for Bob Ehrlich in the 2002 gubernatorial election over Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, and voting Larry Hogan over Democrats Anthony Brown and Ben Jealous in the 2014 and 2018 elections respectively.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: At the state level of government, Howard County is represented by seven Democrats and two Republicans in the Maryland House of Delegates. It is represented by three Democrats in the Maryland Senate. One Democratic state senator from the county represents a district that spills into heavily Republican Carroll County to the north, as do the two Republican state delegates.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: From 1914 to 1968, Howard County was governed by a system of three elected commissioners with four-year terms. Prior to 1962, the only polling location in the county was located in Ellicott City. In May 1962, voters were offered a second location to vote, also in Ellicott City at the National Armory on Montgomery Road. Senator James Clark Jr. proposed a five-person County Council and a County Executive in 1965. In 1968, the county implemented a charter form of government. In 1984 a councilmanic referendum was approved, switching council from at-large representation to district representation. The County Council serves as the county's legislative branch; members also provide constituent service and sit as members of the Zoning Board and Liquor Board. The current Howard County Executive is Democrat Calvin Ball III, who was elected in November 2018 and took office on December 3, 2018. Most of the county is in Maryland's 7th congressional district, which was represented by Democrat Elijah Cummings until his 2019 death. The district is now represented by Kweisi Mfume. A small portion is in Maryland's 3rd congressional district, represented by Democrat John Sarbanes.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: The County Council adopts ordinances and resolutions, and has all of the County's legislative powers. There are five council districts throughout the county. The current County Council as of December 2022 includes 4 Democrats and 1 Republican.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: Statistics for July 2014 indicate that Howard County's unemployment rate is at 5.2 percent (7,527 persons).


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: Howard County Public School System employs 8,136 of which 4,670 are teachers. The County Government employs 3,323 outside of the school system with 672 police, 482 public works, and 472 fire and rescue employees. The top ten private sector employers in Howard County are as follows:


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: Howard County does not have any public or commercial airport facilities. A 1967 Airport Study Commission recommended a facility for 150–250 aircraft to provide economic development, but was not initiated. With the closure of Haysfield Airport, there is one privately owned airstrip, Glenair Airport in Glenelg. Commercial air service is provided by Baltimore–Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and Washington Dulles International Airport.


title: Howard County, Maryland

text: Bus routes that operate in Howard County are managed by the Regional Transportation Agency of Central Maryland and the Maryland Transit Administration.


title: Hamelin

text: Hamelin ( ; ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.


title: Hamelin

text: Hamelin started with a monastery, which was founded as early as 851 AD. A village grew in the neighbourhood and had become a town by the 12th century. The incident with the "Pied Piper" (see below) is said to have happened in 1284 and may be based on a true event, although somewhat different from the tale. In the 15th and 16th centuries Hamelin was a minor member of the Hanseatic League.


title: Hamelin

text: In June 1634, during the Thirty Years' War, Lothar Dietrich, Freiherr of Bönninghausen, a General with the Imperial Army, lost the Battle of Oldendorf to the Swedish General Kniphausen, after Hamelin had been besieged by the Swedish army.


title: Hamelin

text: The era of the town's greatest prosperity began in 1664, when Hamelin became a fortified border town of the Principality of Calenberg. In 1705, it became part of the newly created Electorate of Hanover when George Louis, Prince of Calenberg, later King George I of Great Britain, inherited the Principality of Lüneburg.


title: Hamelin

text: Hamelin was surrounded by four fortresses, which gave it the nickname "Gibraltar of the North". It was the most heavily fortified town in the Electorate of Hanover. The first fort (Fort George) was built between 1760 and 1763, the second (Fort Wilhelm) in 1774, a third in 1784, and the last (called Fort Luise) was built in 1806.


title: Hamelin

text: In 1806, Hamelin surrendered without fighting to the French forces, after Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. Napoleon's forces subsequently pulled down the town's historic walls, guard towers and the three fortresses at the other side of the river Weser. In 1843, the people of Hamelin built a sightseeing tower on the Klüt Hill, out of the ruins of Fort George. This tower is called the "Klütturm" and is a popular sight for tourists.


title: Hamelin

text: In 1867 Hamelin became part of the Kingdom of Prussia, which annexed Hanover in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866.


title: Hamelin

text: Between 1933 and 1937, the Nazi regime held the Reich Harvest Thanksgiving Festival at the nearby Bückeberg hill, to celebrate the achievements of Germany's farmers.


title: Hamelin

text: During the Second World War, was used for the detention of Social Democrats, Communists, and other political prisoners. Around 200 died here; more died in April 1945, when the Nazis sent the prisoners on long marches, fearing the Allied advance. Just after the war, Hamelin prison was used by British Occupation Forces for the detention of Germans accused of war crimes. Following conviction, around 200 of them were hanged there, including Irma Grese, Josef Kramer, and over a dozen of the perpetrators of the Stalag Luft III murders. The prison has since been turned into a hotel. Executed war criminals were interred in the prison yard until it became full; further burials took place at the Am Wehl Cemetery in Hameln. In March 1954, the German authorities began exhuming the 91 bodies from the prison yard; they were reburied in individual graves in consecrated ground in Am Wehl Cemetery.


title: Hamelin

text: The coat of arms (German: "Wappen") of Hamelin depicts the St. Boniface Minster, the oldest church in the city.


title: Hamelin

text: The town is famous for the folk tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin (), a medieval story that tells of a tragedy that befell the town in the 13th century. The version written by the Brothers Grimm made it popular throughout the world; it is also the subject of well-known poems by Johann von Goethe and Robert Browning. In the summer every Sunday, the tale is performed by actors in the town centre.


title: Hamelin

text: Hamelin was home to several Royal Engineer units, including 35 Engineer Regiment and 28 Amphibious Engineer Regiment until summer 2014, with many of the British families housed at Hastenbeck (Schlehenbusch) and Afferde. It was also home to the Royal Corps of Transport unit of 26 Bridging Regiment RCT, comprising 35 Sqn RCT and 40 Sqn RCT, until 1971.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: Celtis occidentalis, commonly known as the common hackberry, is a large deciduous tree native to North America. It is also known as the nettletree, sugarberry, beaverwood, northern hackberry, and American hackberry. It is a moderately long-lived hardwood with a light-colored wood, yellowish gray to light brown with yellow streaks.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: The common hackberry is easily distinguished from elms and "some" other hackberries by its cork-like bark with wart-like protuberances. The leaves are distinctly asymmetrical and coarse-textured. It produces small fruits that turn orange-red to dark purple in the autumn, often staying on the trees for several months. The common hackberry is easily confused with the sugarberry ("Celtis laevigata") and is most easily distinguished by range and habitat. The common hackberry also has wider leaves that are coarser above than the sugarberry.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: The common hackberry is a medium-sized tree, in height, with a slender trunk. In the best conditions in the southern Mississippi Valley area, it can grow to . It has a handsome round-topped head and pendulous branches. It prefers rich moist soil, but will grow on gravelly or rocky hillsides. The roots are fibrous and it grows rapidly. In the western part of its range, trees may still grow up to . The maximum age attained by hackberry is probably between 150 and 200 years in ideal conditions.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: The bark is light brown or silvery gray, broken on the surface into thick appressed scales and sometimes roughened with excrescences; the pattern is very distinctive. The remarkable bark pattern is even more pronounced in younger trees, with the irregularly-spaced ridges resembling long geologic palisades of sedimentary [layered] rock formations when viewed edge-wise [cross-section]. Coins as large as USA quarters can easily be laid flat against the valleys, which may be as deep as an adult human finger.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: The branchlets are slender, and their color transitions from light green to red brown and finally to dark red-brown. The winter buds are axillary, ovate, acute, somewhat flattened, one-fourth of an inch long, light brown. The bud scales enlarge with the growing shoot, and the innermost become stipules. No terminal bud is formed.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: The leaves are alternately arranged on the branchlets, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, often slightly falcate, long by , very oblique at the base, with a pointed tip. The margin is serrate (toothed), except at the base which is mostly entire (smooth). The leaf has three nerves, the midrib and primary veins prominent. The leaves come out of the bud conduplicate with slightly involute margins, pale yellow green, downy; when full grown are thin, bright green, rough above, paler green beneath. In autumn they turn to a light yellow. Petioles slender, slightly grooved, hairy. Stipules varying in form, caducous.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: The flowers are greenish and appear in May, soon after the leaves. They are polygamo-monœcious, meaning that there are three kinds: staminate (male), pistillate (female), perfect (both female and male). They are born on slender drooping pedicels.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: The calyx is light yellow green, five-lobed, divided nearly to the base; lobes linear, acute, more or less cut at the apex, often tipped with hairs, imbricate in bud. There is no corolla.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: There are five stamens, which are hypogynous; the filaments are white, smooth, slightly flattened and gradually narrowed from base to apex; in the bud incurved, bringing the anthers face to face, as flower opens they abruptly straighten; anthers extrorse, oblong, two-celled; cells opening longitudinally.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: The fruit is a fleshy, oblong drupe, long, tipped with the remnants of style, dark purple when ripe. It is borne on a slender stem and ripens in September and October. It remains on the branches during winter. The endocarp contains significant amounts of biogenic carbonate that is nearly pure aragonite.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: The common hackberry is native to North America from southern Ontario and Quebec, through parts of New England, south to North Carolina-(Appalachia), west to northern Oklahoma, and north to South Dakota. Hackberry's range overlaps with the sugarberry ("Celtis laevigata"), making it difficult to establish the exact range of either species in the South. Although there is little actual overlap, in the western part of its range the common hackberry is sometimes confused with the smaller netleaf hackberry ("Celtis reticulata"), which has a similar bark. Hackberry grows in many different habitats, although it prefers bottomlands and soils high in limestone. Its shade tolerance is greatly dependent on conditions. In favorable conditions its seedlings will persist under a closed canopy, but in less favorable conditions it can be considered shade intolerant.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: The leaves are eaten by four gall-producing insects of the genus "Pachypsylla", which do not cause serious damage to the tree. A number of insects and fungi cause rapid decay of dead branches or roots of the tree.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: The small berries, hackberries, are eaten by a number of birds, including robins and cedar waxwings, and mammals. Most seeds are dispersed by animals, but some seeds are also dispersed by water.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: Hackberry's wood is light yellow; heavy, soft, coarse-grained, not strong. It rots easily, making the wood undesirable commercially, although it is occasionally used for fencing and cheap furniture.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: Hackberry is only occasionally used as a street or landscape tree, although its tolerance for urban conditions makes it well suited to this role. Sombor in Serbia and Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, are known for the extensive use of hackberry (in the latter case along with closely related but Eurasian "Celtis australis") as a street tree.


title: Celtis occidentalis

text: The tree's pea-sized berries are edible, ripening in early September. Unlike most fruits, the berries are remarkably high in calories from fat, carbohydrate, and protein, and these calories are easily digestible without cooking or preparation. Omaha Native Americans ate the berries casually, while the Dakota used them as a flavor for meat, pounding them fine, seeds and all. The Pawnee also pounded the berries fine, added a little fat, and mixed them with parched corn.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The Apicomplexa (also called Apicomplexia) are a large phylum of parasitic alveolates. Most of them possess a unique form of organelle that comprises a type of non-photosynthetic plastid called an apicoplast, and an apical complex structure. The organelle is an adaptation that the apicomplexan applies in penetration of a host cell.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The Apicomplexa are unicellular and spore-forming. All species are obligate endoparasites of animals, except "Nephromyces", a symbiont in marine animals, originally classified as a chytrid fungus. Motile structures such as flagella or pseudopods are present only in certain gamete stages.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The Apicomplexa are a diverse group that includes organisms such as the coccidia, gregarines, piroplasms, haemogregarines, and plasmodia.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The name of the taxon Apicomplexa derives from two Latin words—"apex" (top) and "complexus" (infolds)—and refers to a set of organelles in the sporozoite. The Apicomplexa comprise the bulk of what used to be called the Sporozoa, a group of parasitic protozoans, in general without flagella, cilia, or pseudopods. Most of the Apicomplexa are motile, however, by use of a gliding mechanism


title: Apicomplexa

text: that uses adhesions and small static myosin motors. The other main lines were the Ascetosporea (now in Rhizaria), the Myxozoa (now known to be highly derived cnidarian animals), and the Microsporidia (now known to be derived from fungi). Sometimes, the name Sporozoa is taken as a synonym for the Apicomplexa, or occasionally as a subset.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The phylum Apicomplexa contains all eukaryotes with a group of structures and organelles collectively termed the apical complex. This complex consists of structural components and secretory organelles that are required for invasion of host cells during the parasitic stages of the Apicomplexan life cycle. Apicomplexa have complex life cycles, involving several stages and typically undergoing both asexual and sexual replication. All Apicomplexa are obligate parasites for some portion of their life cycle, with some parasitizing two separate hosts for their asexual and sexual stages.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Besides the conserved apical complex, Apicomplexa are morphologically diverse. Different organisms within Apicomplexa, as well as different life stages for a given apicomplexan, can vary substantially in size, shape, and subcellular structure. Like other eukaryotes, Apicomplexa have a nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi complex. Apicomplexa generally have a single mitochondrion, as well as another endosymbiont-derived organelle called the apicoplast which maintains a separate 35 kilobase circular genome (with the exception of "Cryptosporidium" species and "Gregarina niphandrodes" which lack an apicoplast).


title: Apicomplexa

text: All members of this phylum have an infectious stage—the sporozoite—which possesses three distinct structures in an apical complex. The apical complex consists of a set of spirally arranged microtubules (the conoid), a secretory body (the rhoptry) and one or more polar rings. Additional slender electron-dense secretory bodies (micronemes) surrounded by one or two polar rings may also be present. This structure gives the phylum its name. A further group of spherical organelles is distributed throughout the cell rather than being localized at the apical complex and are known as the dense granules. These typically have a mean diameter around 0.7 μm. Secretion of the dense-granule content takes place after parasite invasion and localization within the parasitophorous vacuole and persists for several minutes.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Apicomplexans have a unique gliding capability which enables them to cross through tissues and enter and leave their host cells. This gliding ability is made possible by the use of adhesions and small static myosin motors.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Other features common to this phylum are a lack of cilia, sexual reproduction, use of micropores for feeding, and the production of oocysts containing sporozoites as the infective form.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Transposons appear to be rare in this phylum, but have been identified in the genera "Ascogregarina" and "Eimeria".


title: Apicomplexa

text: Most members have a complex lifecycle, involving both asexual and sexual reproduction. Typically, a host is infected via an active invasion by the parasites (similar to entosis), which divide to produce sporozoites that enter its cells. Eventually, the cells burst, releasing merozoites, which infect new cells. This may occur several times, until gamonts are produced, forming gametes that fuse to create new cysts. Many variations occur on this basic pattern, however, and many Apicomplexa have more than one host.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The apical complex includes vesicles called rhoptries and micronemes, which open at the anterior of the cell. These secrete enzymes that allow the parasite to enter other cells. The tip is surrounded by a band of microtubules, called the polar ring, and among the Conoidasida is also a funnel of tubulin proteins called the conoid. Over the rest of the cell, except for a diminished mouth called the micropore, the membrane is supported by vesicles called alveoli, forming a semirigid pellicle.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The presence of alveoli and other traits place the Apicomplexa among a group called the alveolates. Several related flagellates, such as "Perkinsus" and "Colpodella", have structures similar to the polar ring and were formerly included here, but most appear to be closer relatives of the dinoflagellates. They are probably similar to the common ancestor of the two groups.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Another similarity is that many apicomplexan cells contain a single plastid, called the apicoplast, surrounded by either three or four membranes. Its functions are thought to include tasks such as lipid and heme biosynthesis, and it appears to be necessary for survival. In general, plastids are considered to have a common origin with the chloroplasts of dinoflagellates, and evidence points to an origin from red algae rather than green.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Within this phylum are four groups — coccidians, gregarines, haemosporidians (or haematozoans, including in addition piroplasms), and marosporidians. The coccidians and haematozoans appear to be relatively closely related.


title: Apicomplexa

text: "Perkinsus ", while once considered a member of the Apicomplexa, has been moved to a new phylum — Perkinsozoa.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The gregarines are generally parasites of annelids, arthropods, and mollusks. They are often found in the guts of their hosts, but may invade the other tissues. In the typical gregarine lifecycle, a trophozoite develops within a host cell into a schizont. This then divides into a number of merozoites by schizogony. The merozoites are released by lysing the host cell, which in turn invade other cells. At some point in the apicomplexan lifecycle, gametocytes are formed. These are released by lysis of the host cells, which group together. Each gametocyte forms multiple gametes. The gametes fuse with another to form oocysts. The oocysts leave the host to be taken up by a new host.


title: Apicomplexa

text: In general, coccidians are parasites of vertebrates. Like gregarines, they are commonly parasites of the epithelial cells of the gut, but may infect other tissues.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The coccidian lifecycle involves merogony, gametogony, and sporogony. While similar to that of the gregarines it differs in zygote formation. Some trophozoites enlarge and become macrogamete, whereas others divide repeatedly to form microgametes (anisogamy). The microgametes are motile and must reach the macrogamete to fertilize it. The fertilized macrogamete forms a zygote that in its turn forms an oocyst that is normally released from the body. Syzygy, when it occurs, involves markedly anisogamous gametes. The lifecycle is typically haploid, with the only diploid stage occurring in the zygote, which is normally short-lived.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The main difference between the coccidians and the gregarines is in the gamonts. In the coccidia, these are small, intracellular, and without epimerites or mucrons. In the gregarines, these are large, extracellular, and possess epimerites or mucrons. A second difference between the coccidia and the gregarines also lies in the gamonts. In the coccidians, a single gamont becomes a macrogametocyte, whereas in the gregarines, the gamonts give rise to multiple gametocytes.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The Haemosporidia have more complex lifecycles that alternate between an arthropod and a vertebrate host. The trophozoite parasitises erythrocytes or other tissues in the vertebrate host. Microgametes and macrogametes are always found in the blood. The gametes are taken up by the insect vector during a blood meal. The microgametes migrate within the gut of the insect vector and fuse with the macrogametes. The fertilized macrogamete now becomes an ookinete, which penetrates the body of the vector. The ookinete then transforms into an oocyst and divides initially by meiosis and then by mitosis (haplontic lifecycle) to give rise to the sporozoites. The sporozoites escape from the oocyst and migrate within the body of the vector to the salivary glands where they are injected into the new vertebrate host when the insect vector feeds again.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The class Marosporida is a newly recognized lineage of apicomplexans that is sister to the Coccidia and Hematozoa. It is defined as a phylogenetic clade containing "Aggregata octopiana" , "Merocystis kathae" (both Aggregatidae, originally coccidians), "Rhytidocystis" sp. 1 and "Rhytidocystis" sp. 2 (Rhytidocystidae , originally coccidians, Agamococcidiorida), and "Margolisiella islandica" (closely related to Rhytidocystidae). Marosporida infect marine invertebrates. Members of this clade retain plastid genomes and the canonical apicomplexan plastid metabolism. However, marosporidians have the most reduced apicoplast genomes sequenced to date, lack canonical plastidial RNA polymerase and so provide new insights into reductive organelle evolution.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Many of the apicomplexan parasites are important pathogens of human and domestic animals. In contrast to bacterial pathogens, these apicomplexan parasites are eukaryotic and share many metabolic pathways with their animal hosts. This makes therapeutic target development extremely difficult – a drug that harms an apicomplexan parasite is also likely to harm its human host. At present, no effective vaccines are available for most diseases caused by these parasites. Biomedical research on these parasites is challenging because it is often difficult, if not impossible, to maintain live parasite cultures in the laboratory and to genetically manipulate these organisms. In recent years, several of the apicomplexan species have been selected for genome sequencing. The availability of genome sequences provides a new opportunity for scientists to learn more about the evolution and biochemical capacity of these parasites. The predominant source of this genomic information is the EuPathDB family of websites, which currently provides specialised services for "Plasmodium" species (PlasmoDB), coccidians (ToxoDB), piroplasms (PiroplasmaDB), and "Cryptosporidium" species (CryptoDB). One possible target for drugs is the plastid, and in fact existing drugs such as tetracyclines, which are effective against apicomplexans, seem to operate against the plastid.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Many Coccidiomorpha have an intermediate host, as well as a primary host, and the evolution of hosts proceeded in different ways and at different times in these groups. For some coccidiomorphs, the original host has become the intermediate host, whereas in others it has become the definitive host. In the genera "Aggregata", "Atoxoplasma", "Cystoisospora", "Schellackia", and "Toxoplasma", the original is now definitive, whereas in "Akiba", "Babesiosoma", "Babesia", "Haemogregarina", "Haemoproteus", "Hepatozoon", "Karyolysus", "Leucocytozoon", "Plasmodium", "Sarcocystis", and "Theileria", the original hosts are now intermediate.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Similar strategies to increase the likelihood of transmission have evolved in multiple genera. Polyenergid oocysts and tissue cysts are found in representatives of the orders Protococcidiorida and Eimeriida. Hypnozoites are found in "Karyolysus lacerate" and most species of "Plasmodium"; transovarial transmission of parasites occurs in lifecycles of "Karyolysus" and "Babesia".


title: Apicomplexa

text: Horizontal gene transfer appears to have occurred early on in this phylum's evolution with the transfer of a histone H4 lysine 20 (H4K20) modifier, KMT5A (Set8), from an animal host to the ancestor of apicomplexans. A second gene—H3K36 methyltransferase (Ashr3 in plants)—may have also be horizontally transferred.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Within the Adelorina are species that infect invertebrates and others that infect vertebrates. The Eimeriorina—the largest suborder in this phylum—the lifecycle involves both sexual and asexual stages. The asexual stages reproduce by schizogony. The male gametocyte produces a large number of gametes and the zygote gives rise to an oocyst, which is the infective stage. The majority are monoxenous (infect one host only), but a few are heteroxenous (lifecycle involves two or more hosts).


title: Apicomplexa

text: The number of families in this later suborder is debated, with the number of families being between one and 20 depending on the authority and the number of genera being between 19 and 25.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The first Apicomplexa protozoan was seen by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who in 1674 saw probably oocysts of "Eimeria stiedae" in the gall bladder of a rabbit. The first species of the phylum to be described, "Gregarina ovata" in earwigs intestines, was named by Dufour in 1828. He thought that they were a peculiar group related to the trematodes, at that time included in Vermes. Since then, many more have been identified and named. During 1826–1850, 41 species and six genera of Apicomplexa were named. In 1951–1975, 1873 new species and 83 new genera were added.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The older taxon Sporozoa, included in Protozoa, was created by Leuckart in 1879 and adopted by Bütschli in 1880. Through history, it grouped with the current Apicomplexa many unrelated groups. For example, Kudo (1954) included in the Sporozoa species of the Ascetosporea (Rhizaria), Microsporidia (Fungi), Myxozoa (Animalia), and "Helicosporidium" (Chlorophyta), while Zierdt (1978) included the genus "Blastocystis" (Stramenopiles). "Dermocystidium" was also thought to be sporozoan. Not all of these groups had spores, but all were parasitic. However, other parasitic or symbiotic unicellular organisms were included too in protozoan groups outside Sporozoa (Flagellata, Ciliophora and Sarcodina), if they had flagella (e.g., many Kinetoplastida, Retortamonadida, Diplomonadida, Trichomonadida, Hypermastigida), cilia (e.g., "Balantidium") or pseudopods (e.g., "Entamoeba, Acanthamoeba, Naegleria"). If they had cell walls, they also could be included in plant kingdom between bacteria or yeasts.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Sporozoa is no longer regarded as biologically valid and its use is discouraged, although some authors still use it as a synonym for the Apicomplexa. More recently, other groups were excluded from Apicomplexa, e.g., "Perkinsus" and "Colpodella" (now in Protalveolata).


title: Apicomplexa

text: The field of classifying Apicomplexa is in flux and classification has changed throughout the years since it was formally named in 1970.


title: Apicomplexa

text: By 1987, a comprehensive survey of the phylum was completed: in all, 4516 species and 339 genera had been named. They consisted of:


title: Apicomplexa

text: Although considerable revision of this phylum has been done (the order Haemosporidia now has 17 genera rather than 9), these numbers are probably still approximately correct.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Jacques Euzéby in 1988 created a new class Haemosporidiasina by merging subclass Piroplasmasina and suborder Haemospororina.


title: Apicomplexa

text: The division into Achromatorida and Chromatorida, although proposed on morphological grounds, may have a biological basis, as the ability to store haemozoin appears to have evolved only once.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Roberts and Janovy in 1996 divided the phylum into the following subclasses and suborders (omitting classes and orders):


title: Apicomplexa

text: This scheme is taken from Perkins et al. It is outdated as the Perkinsidae have since been recognised as a sister group to the dinoflagellates rather that the Apicomplexia. The remainder of the scheme appears to be valid:


title: Apicomplexa

text: The name Protospiromonadida has been proposed for the common ancestor of the Gregarinomorpha and Coccidiomorpha.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Another group of organisms that belong in this taxon are the corallicolids. These are found in coral reef gastric cavities. Their relationship to the others in this phylum has yet to be established.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Another genus has been identified - "Nephromyces" - which appears to be a sister taxon to the Heamatozoa. This genus is found in the renal sac of molgulid ascidian tunicates.


title: Apicomplexa

text: All members of this phylum are parasitic and evolved from a free-living ancestor. This lifestyle is presumed to have evolved at the time of the divergence of dinoflagellates and apicomplexans. Further evolution of this phylum has been estimated to have occurred about . The oldest extant clade is thought to be the archigregarines.


title: Apicomplexa

text: These phylogenetic relations have rarely been studied at the subclass level. The Haemosporidia are related to the gregarines, and the piroplasms and coccidians are sister groups. The Haemosporidia and the Piroplasma appear to be sister clades, and are more closely related to the coccidians than to the gregarines. Marosporida is a sister group to Coccidiomorphea.


title: Apicomplexa

text: Janouškovec et al 2015 presents a somewhat different phylogeny, supporting the work of others showing multiple events of plastids losing photosynthesis. More importantly this work provides the first phylogenetic evidence that there have also been multiple events of plastids becoming genome-free.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: James Lee Hagedorn ( ; August 4, 1962 – February 17, 2022) was an American politician from Minnesota. A Republican, he was the U.S. Representative for from 2019 until his death. The district stretches across southern Minnesota along the border with Iowa and includes Rochester, Austin, and Mankato.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: Hagedorn was born in Blue Earth, Minnesota, in 1962, the son of former U.S. Representative Tom Hagedorn and Kathleen Hagedorn (née Mittlestadt). He was raised on his family's farm near Truman, Minnesota, and in McLean, Virginia, near Washington, D.C., while his father served in Congress from 1975 to 1983. Hagedorn graduated from Langley High School.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: He graduated from George Mason University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in government and political science in 1993.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: Hagedorn served as a legislative aide to U.S. Representative Arlan Stangeland from 1984 to 1991. He then worked in the United States Department of the Treasury as director for legislative and public affairs for the Financial Management Service from 1991 to 1998 and as congressional affairs officer for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing until 2009.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: From 2002 to 2008, Hagedorn authored a now-deleted blog, "Mr. Conservative". According to "Mother Jones", the blog made Native Americans a "favorite punching bag" and commented on female Supreme Court justices and Barack Obama's ancestry "in ways many voters won't appreciate". Hagedorn said the blog was intended to be humorous and satirical.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: Hagedorn's blogging history led the conservative newspaper the "Washington Examiner" to run an editorial calling him "the worst midterm candidate in America" in 2018.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: Hagedorn lost the Republican nomination for Minnesota's 1st congressional district in the 2010 election.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: Returning to Minnesota in 2013, he won the Republican nomination, but lost to Democratic incumbent Tim Walz.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: Hagedorn received the Republican nomination, despite the National Rifle Association endorsing another candidate, state Senator Carla Nelson, who also received funds from Representatives Elise Stefanik, Richard Uihlein and Paul Singer. Hagedorn described himself as the most conservative candidate, who was loyal to Donald Trump.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: After Hagedorn won the primary, then-head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Representative Steve Stivers, said of the viewpoints expressed on Hagedorn's blog, "that is news to me". The NRCC spokeswoman said the posts were inappropriate and not condoned by the group.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: In the general election, with Walz giving up the seat to run for governor of Minnesota, Hagedorn defeated Democratic nominee Daniel Feehan, a former Department of Defense official, in a very close race.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: According to the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, Hagedorn held a Bipartisan Index Score of -0.0 in the 116th United States Congress for 2019, placing him 190th out of 435 members. Based on FiveThirtyEight's congressional vote tracker at ABC News, Hagedorn voted with Donald Trump's stated public policy positions 94.4% of the time, making him average in the 116th United States Congress according to predictive scoring (district partisanship and voting record).


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: In 2020, in response to activist Shaun King saying that depictions of Jesus as white should be destroyed, Hagedorn wrote that the Democratic Party and Black Lives Matter movement "are at war with our country, our beliefs and western culture." In response to critiques that the term "Western culture" has been used to promote white nationalism, Hagedorn said, "The notion that statues and images of Jesus Christ somehow represent white supremacy and should be destroyed is ludicrous and represent a growing intolerant movement on the left to silence any voices that do not align with their radical secular views." His comments led several corporate donors, including Intel and UnitedHealth Group, to ask him to return their donations.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: In 2020, LegiStorm released an analysis of Hagedorn's office spending, finding that the office had spent more than one fifth of its $1.4 million annual office budget on publicly funded constituent mail. Around 40% of his office's annual budget was spent in the first quarter of 2020, surpassing any other member of Congress during the same time period. Some expenses for Hagedorn's mailings went to a firm partially owned by a part-time Hagedorn staffer. Hagedorn initiated an internal review of his office's spending and reported the findings to the House Ethics Committee, which declined to pursue the matter. As a result of the internal review, Hagedorn dismissed his chief of staff and said, "I acknowledge responsibility for the oversight of my office and will continue to make any necessary management improvements."


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: In October 2020, "Politico" alleged that Hagedorn "appears to have enjoyed rent-free use of a campaign office supplied by a political donor." Hagedorn denied the report, saying his campaign had leased a post office box and not office space in the building in question.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: In December 2020, Hagedorn was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of "Texas v. Pennsylvania", a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: On January 7, 2021, Hagedorn objected to the certification of the 2020 presidential election results in Congress based on false claims of voter fraud.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: Hagedorn was married to Jennifer Carnahan, the former chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota. They lived in Blue Earth, Minnesota.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: Hagedorn was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer in 2019 and subsequently received immunotherapy. In December 2020, he underwent surgery to remove the diseased kidney. In July 2021, Hagedorn announced that his cancer had returned.


title: Jim Hagedorn

text: In January 2022, Hagedorn was admitted to the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, after testing positive for COVID-19; he had previously been vaccinated against the disease. Hagedorn died on February 17, 2022, at the age of 59. He was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Blue Earth.


title: Support the Girls

text: Support the Girls is a 2018 American comedy film written and directed by Andrew Bujalski. It stars Regina Hall, Haley Lu Richardson, James LeGros, Shayna McHayle, Dylan Gelula, AJ Michalka, Brooklyn Decker, Jana Kramer, John Elvis, Lea DeLaria, and Victor Isaac Perez.


title: Support the Girls

text: The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 9, 2018, and was theatrically released on August 24, 2018, by Magnolia Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics, with Hall's performance earning particular praise. Hall earned nominations at the Independent Spirit Awards and Gotham Independent Film Awards and won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, the first African-American to win the award.


title: Support the Girls

text: Lisa is the general manager of the sports bar and breastaurant Double Whammies. She takes her job seriously, protecting her employees from inappropriate or rude interactions with customers. Despite her commitment to the restaurant, her incompetent boss, Ben Cubby, has repeatedly threatened to fire her. His ire is provoked when Lisa has her employees host an off-the-books car wash to raise money for an employee, Shaina, who has hit her abusive boyfriend with her car and is staying at Lisa's house.


title: Support the Girls

text: Despite Lisa's optimism, the day proves challenging: she has potential new employees to try out; an attempted robbery results in a man becoming stuck in a ventilation duct; one of her most trusted employees, Maci, turns out to be secretly dating a much older patron; another, Danyelle, is a single mother struggling with child care for her son; another gets a large tattoo of Steph Curry on her midsection despite tattoos being forbidden on employees; the bar is trying to get its cable fixed in time for a big fight that night; business is threatened by ManCave, another breastaurant developing in the area; and Lisa is separating from her depressed husband, Cameron. After Cubby scares Lisa during an episode of road rage, she calls Cameron for a ride.


title: Support the Girls

text: Cubby fires Lisa and she forces herself to leave. When she returns home she learns from Shaina that Cameron has moved out. Shaina reveals that she is back together with her boyfriend and will use the fundraising money to pay his hospital bills. Furious, Lisa forces her to return the money. That night during the big fight, Maci and Danyelle, frustrated by the loss of Lisa, sabotage the cable in protest, leading to an awkward and tense scene with the customers and an off duty police officer. Danyelle and Maci are fired soon after.


title: Support the Girls

text: The next day, Lisa, Maci, and Danyelle interview with ManCave. The interviewer tells Lisa that ManCave waitresses are unintelligent and easily replaced. Lisa, Maci and Danyelle sit on the rooftop drinking liquor stolen from Double Whammies and contemplate their future employment before letting out cathartic screams.


title: Support the Girls

text: In May 2017, it was announced Haley Lu Richardson, James LeGros, Regina Hall, AJ Michalka, Dylan Gelula, Junglepussy, Lea DeLaria, Jana Kramer, and Brooklyn Decker had joined the cast of the film, with Andrew Bujalski directing from a screenplay he wrote. Sam Slater and Houston King served as producers on the film, under their Burn Later Productions and Houston King Productions banners, respectively.


title: Support the Girls

text: The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest on March 9, 2018. Shortly after, Magnolia Pictures acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. The film was theatrically released on August 24, 2018.


title: Support the Girls

text: On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, ""Support the Girls" handles serious themes—and a talented ensemble cast—with wit and humor, all while proving Regina Hall's talents have been woefully underutilized." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Support the Girls

text: David Fear wrote in "Rolling Stone", "You could not ask for a better image of our country right now. You could not ask for a better American film to showcase it." Former President Barack Obama named the film one of his favorites of 2018.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Guillermina Jiménez Chabolla (16 August 1930 – 25 November 2020), known professionally as Flor Silvestre, was a Mexican singer and actress. She was one of the most prominent and successful performers of Mexican and Latin American music, and was a star of classic Mexican films during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Her more than 70-year career included stage productions, radio programs, records, films, television programs, comics, and rodeo shows.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Famed for her melodious voice and unique singing style, hence the nicknames ""La Sentimental"" ("The Sentimental One") and ""La Voz Que Acaricia"" ("The Voice That Caresses"), Flor Silvestre was a notable interpreter of the ranchera, bolero, bolero ranchero, and huapango genres. She recorded more than 300 songs for three labels: Columbia, RCA Víctor, and Musart. In 1945, she was announced as the ""Alma de la Canción Ranchera"" ("Soul of Ranchera Song"), and in 1950, the year in which she emerged as a radio star, she was proclaimed the ""Reina de la Canción Mexicana"" ("Queen of Mexican Song"). In 1950, she signed a contract with Columbia Records and recorded her first hits, which include "Imposible olvidarte", "Que Dios te perdone", "Pobre corazón", "Viejo nopal", "Guadalajara", and "Adoro a mi tierra". In 1957, she began recording for Musart Records and became one of the label's exclusive artists with numerous best-selling singles, such as "Cielo rojo", "Renunciación", "Gracias", "Cariño santo", "Mi destino fue quererte", "Mi casita de paja", "Toda una vida", "Amar y vivir", "Gaviota traidora", "El mar y la esperanza", "Celosa", "Vámonos", "Cachito de mi vida", "Miel amarga", "Perdámonos", "Tres días", "No vuelvo a amar", "Las noches las hago días", "Estrellita marinera", and "La basurita", among others. Many of her hits charted on "Cashbox" Mexico's Best Sellers and "Record World" Latin American Single Hit Parade. She also participated in her husband Antonio Aguilar's musical rodeo shows.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Flor Silvestre appeared in more than seventy films between 1950 and 1990. Beautiful and statuesque, she became one of the leading stars of the "golden age" of the Mexican film industry. She made her acting debut in the film "Primero soy mexicano" (1950), directed by and co-starring Joaquín Pardavé. She played opposite famous comedians, such as Cantinflas in "El bolero de Raquel" (1957). Director Ismael Rodríguez gave her important roles in "La cucaracha" (1959), and "Ánimas Trujano" (1962), which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. She was also the star of the comic book "La Llanera Vengadora". In 2013, the Association of Mexican Cinema Journalists honored her with the Special Silver Goddess Award.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Flor Silvestre was born Guillermina Jiménez Chabolla on 16 August 1930 in Salamanca, Guanajuato, Mexico. She was the third child and second daughter of Jesús Jiménez Cervantes, a butcher, and María de Jesús Chabolla Peña (1906 – 5 September 1993). Her father owned and ran a meat shop in Salamanca. Her older siblings are Francisco "Pancho" and Raquel, and her younger siblings are Enriqueta "La Prieta Linda", José Luis, María de la Luz "Mary", and Arturo. Enriqueta and María de la Luz also became singers. Her maternal grandparents were Felipe Chabolla and Inés Peña.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Guillermina was raised in Salamanca and began singing at an early age. Her parents, who were also fond of singing, encouraged her to sing. She loved the mariachi music of famous Mexican singers Jorge Negrete and Lucha Reyes, and also sang songs that belonged to the pasodoble, tango, and bolero genres, which were popular in Mexico in the late 1930s. Her interest in singing and acting led her to participate in Christmas pageants, school plays, and local festivals.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Her mother, who wanted to live in Mexico City, urged her father to sell all their property in Salmanca and relocate the family to the Mexican capital. María de Jesús took her three youngest children with her to Mexico City, leaving the oldest four (including Guillermina) in Salamanca in the care of her sisters, who were nuns. Guillermina completed primary school in Salamanca before reuniting with her family in Mexico City. In Mexico City, her parents enrolled her in the Escuela Bancaria Comercial Milton on Madero Avenue, where she took secretarial classes.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Guillermina Jiménez (Flor Silvestre) began her singing career in 1943, when she was 13 years old. She and her father attended a performance of the famous Mariachi Pulido at the Teatro del Pueblo, a theater located in the Abelardo L. Rodríguez Market in central Mexico City. After the performance was over, she got up on stage and told the stage director that she wanted to sing. The Mariachi Pulido's director refused to accompany her, stating that they did not collaborate with amateurs, but the stage director, Carlos López Santillán, told her that he would let her sing the following week and promised to hire a mariachi from the Tenampa bar to perform with her. On the day of her debut, wearing a traditional Mexican blouse and skirt her mother had made for her, she sang three popular songs, "La canción mexicana", "Yo también soy mexicana", and "El herradero". Her performance was a great success and she received an ovation from the audience.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Her next performance at the Teatro del Pueblo was in the play "La soldadera", directed by López Santillán, in which she played a girl who comes out of a railway wagon and sings "La soldadera", a song written for her by José de Jesús Morales. The play was also broadcast by Mexico's national radio station, XEFO, and "La soldadera" became the first song she performed on radio. The title of the song, which is Spanish for "the female soldier", also became her first stage name until it was claimed by another singer. Arturo Blancas, an "Excélsior" journalist and XEFO announcer, thought she looked more "like a flower" than a soldier and suggested she change her stage name to La Amapola, which means "the poppy". However, this stage name was also claimed by another woman, the sister of singer La Panchita. Blancas then chose the title of Dolores del Río's 1943 drama film as the young singer's new stage name, and Guillermina Jiménez became Flor Silvestre, which means "wild flower".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Under her new stage name, Flor Silvestre won first place in an amateur contest sponsored by Mexico's most popular radio station, XEW, known as "the voice of Latin America from Mexico". Her participation in the contest earned her a contract to sing in revues at the Teatro Colonial, located on San Juan de Letrán Avenue (now Eje Central). The Teatro Colonial was "Mexico's most popular [theater]" in the 1940s, and Flor Silvestre's performances there were noticed by a showman who hired her as part of his touring company. The showman and his company toured Torreón, in northern Mexico, where Flor Silvestre was the opening act of the touring company's headliner, the famous Argentine tango singer Hugo del Carril. Flor Silvestre's family was experiencing financial problems at the time, and she sang at banquets and other places in order to win more money and help her parents.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In December 1945, Flor Silvestre performed at Guadalajara's Coliseo Olímpico and was announced as "Flor Silvestre, the Soul of Ranchera Song". In November 1946, she was invited to perform at the inauguration of Guadalajara's Juárez movie theater. The Guadalajara newspaper "El Informador" described her as "Flor Silvestre, young XEW singer, who represents the feeling of our land within the ranchera song". Between 1947 and 1949, Flor Silvestre and the showman's company toured Central and South America, performing at the best nightclubs along the way. Hugo del Carril presented Flor Silvestre to audiences when the company toured Argentina. The company eventually made its way to Peru, where they performed for the Mexican Air Force, before returning to Mexico.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: When Flor Silvestre returned to Mexico from her South American tour in 1950, her manager got her a contract to perform at Mexico City's most popular nightclub, El Patio. She later said: "Emilio Azcárraga and Gregorio Walerstein went there every day, and everyone saw me there, and they all hired me without me asking for anything, and everyone called me and called me, and that's how I started [singing] on the XEW [station]". Azcárraga, the owner of XEW, Mexico's top station, gave her her first radio program, "Increíble pero cierto", which she also hosted. Walerstein, a leading film producer known as "the Tsar of Mexican films", signed her to a five-film contract.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: With the success of her radio program, her singing career began to ascend. Journalist Mónica Fio wrote in her column "Micrófono":


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Flor Silvestre made her first records in 1950 for Columbia Records' Mexican branch. She recorded at least twelve songs for the label, one on each side of six 78 rpm singles. These songs also became her first hits. "Imposible olvidarte", "Que Dios te perdone", "Pobre corazón", "Viejo nopal", "Guadalajara", and "Mi amigo el viento" were recorded with Gilberto Parra's mariachi. "Siempre el amor", "Con un polvo y otro polvo", "Adoro a mi tierra", "La presentida", "Llorar amargo", and "Oye, morena" were recorded with Rubén Fuentes' mariachi. After recording her first singles, Flor Silvestre formed a duet named Las Flores with her then-unknown sister La Prieta Linda; they recorded two songs—"Los desvelados" and "Lo traigo en la sangre" (with Rubén Fuentes' mariachi)—for Columbia.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In February 1950, she was a part of the "numerous, hybrid, but useful cast" of "¡A los toros!", a revue about bullfighting staged at the Teatro Tívoli. It was written and presented by announcer Paco Malgesto, who would become her second husband. In the revue, she sang Mexican musical numbers associated with bullfights.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Although Flor Silvestre had made her film debut in 1949 singing in "Te besaré en la boca" (released in 1950), she was given her first leading role in the Walerstein production "Primero soy mexicano" (1950), co-starring Joaquín Pardavé (who also wrote and directed the film) and Luis Aguilar and featuring Francisco "Charro" Avitia.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: She was reunited with her "Primero soy mexicano" co-stars Luis Aguilar and Francisco Avitia in the film "El tigre enmascarado", which premiered in 1951. She then appeared as the leading lady of actor Dagoberto Rodríguez in a film trilogy, "El lobo solitario", "La justicia del lobo", and "Vuelve el lobo" (all released in 1952).


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In early 1955, Flor Silvestre sang on the XEW radio program "Su programa Calmex", sponsored by Calmex Sardines. Other entertainers on the program included Miguel Aceves Mejía, the Trío Tariácuri, and the Hermanitas de Alba.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1955, she also appeared in her first color film, "La doncella de piedra", one of the first Mexican CinemaScope productions. An adaptation of Rómulo Gallegos' novel "Sobre la misma tierra", the film features Flor Silvestre in the role of Cantaralia Barroso, the mother of the novel's protagonist, Remota Montiel (played by Elsa Aguirre).


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Flor Silvestre had one of the starring roles in the stage play "La hacienda de Carrillo", a revue which opened on 1 July 1955 at the new Teatro Ideal. Written by Carlos M. Ortega and Pablo Prida, the play was about "a hacienda in the interior [of the country], whose owner leaves his land to embrace politics, become a deputy, and come to the metropolis in the company of his daughters". Theater critic Armando de María y Campos wrote that the cast included "the radio singer Guillermina Jiménez de Rubiales, better known as Flor Silvestre, very beautiful and young too, and also very tender as a vedette". That same month, Flor Silvestre, Agustín Lara, Pedro Vargas, Rosa de Castilla, and others provided musical performances for the film "La virtud desnuda" (released in 1957), a Calderón Films production starring Columba Domínguez.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Her first film co-starring Antonio Aguilar, her future husband, was "La huella del chacal". That same year she played a swarthy maid named Liliana in "Rapto al sol", a color film shot in Nicaragua.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1957, RCA Victor released her first recording of "Cielo rojo", which would become one of her signature songs. The single, which included "¡Qué padre es la vida!" on side B, became a hit. On Mother's Day 1957, she made her television debut with a successful performance in the television play "Secreto de familia", with Sara García and Miguel Arenas. One of her famous roles was as Leonor, the mother of Cantinflas' godson, in the popular Eastmancolor comedy "El bolero de Raquel" (1957).


title: Flor Silvestre

text: She received top billing for the first time in "Pueblo en armas" (1959) and its sequel "¡Viva la soldadera!" (1960), both directed by Miguel Contreras Torres.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: She had a supporting role opposite María Félix in Ismael Rodríguez's Mexican Revolution epic "La cucaracha" (1959). She also recorded "Te he de querer", "La chancla", and "La Valentina" for the film's soundtrack album, "La cucaracha: Música de la película", released by Musart Records.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: "Flor Silvestre", her first Musart album, was released around 1958. It includes her early Musart hits, such as "El ramalazo", "¡Qué bonito amor!", "La flor de la canela", "Échame a mí la culpa", "Ay el amor", "Lágrimas del alma", and "Amémonos".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1961, she rerecorded "Cielo rojo" for Musart, accompanied by Pepe Villa's Mariachi México. This second version also became a success and is the first track of her second Musart album, "Flor Silvestre con el Mariachi México". The album also includes her early 1960s hits, "Pa' todo el año", "Renunciación", "Desolación", "El peor de los caminos", "Aquel inmenso amor", and "Para morir iguales".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: One of her major roles was as Catalina, the beautiful, sensuous flirt, in the Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe-winning drama film "Ánimas Trujano" (1962), co-starring Toshiro Mifune and Columba Domínguez. This was her second collaboration with film director Ismael Rodríguez after her supporting role in "La cucaracha".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In early 1964, she released her third Musart album, "Flor Silvestre con el Mariachi México, vol. 2", which includes her hits "Gracias", "Perdí la partida", "Bendición de Dios", "Árboles viejos", "Te digo adiós", "Un jarrito", "Quédate esta vez", and "Plegaria". Her fourth Musart album, "La sentimental" (1964), includes both ranchera and bolero songs. It is her first album without mariachi arrangements; Benjamín "Chamín" Correa is credited as the album's guitarist. "La sentimental" peaked at number 9 on "Record World" Latin American LP Hit Parade. "Mi destino fue quererte" peaked at number 4 on "Record World" Latin American Single Hit Parade and became one of Flor Silvestre's signature songs. In December 1964, "Cashbox" ranked her among the top ten Mexican folk singers of the year.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Her fifth Musart album, "La acariciante voz de Flor Silvestre", was released in 1965. One of the album's singles, "Una limosna", topped the "Record World" Latin American Single Hit Parade chart. The album also includes her hits "Gaviota traidora", "El mar y la esperanza", "Amor se escribe con llanto", and "Espumas".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: "Celosa con Flor Silvestre y otros éxitos" (1966), her sixth studio album for Musart Records, peaked at number 11 on "Record World" Latin American LP Hit Parade. The album's lead single, "Celosa", peaked at number 9 on "Cashbox" Mexico's Best Sellers and number 4 on "Record World" Latin American Single Hit Parade. "¿Por qué, Dios mío?", another single included in "Celosa", also charted well on "Record World" Latin American Single Hit Parade.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1967, she released two albums, "Boleros rancheros con la acariciante voz de Flor Silvestre" and "Flor Silvestre, vol. 6", and made her last film of the decade, "El as de oros".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1968, she released two albums, "Flor Silvestre, vol. 7" and "Flor Silvestre, vol. 8". "Flor Silvestre, vol. 7" includes "Reconciliación", one of her major hits from the late 1960s, as well as several other hits, including "Cenizas de amor", "Cariño malo", "Triunfamos", and "Tres días". "Flor Silvestre, vol. 8" features arrangements by famous guitarist Antonio Bribiesca and composer Gustavo A. Santiago and includes the hits "No vuelvo a amar" and "Tú, sólo tú".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1970, she released her album "Amor, siempre amor", accompanied by the Mariachi Guadalajara. The album features innovative mariachi, piano, harmonica, and steel (Hawaiian) guitar arrangements in its songs. Its first track, "La cruz de lo imposible", is songwriter Lupita Ramos' first work. This was Flor Silvestre and Ramos' first collaboration; Ramos went on to author several other songs for Flor Silvestre. Another notable track is "La mitad de mi orgullo", by José Alfredo Jiménez.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In the early 1970s, she recorded her first bolero album, "Y las canciones de sus tríos favoritos". The album features cover versions of popular boleros from the 1950s, including "Un siglo de ausencia", "Condición", "El reloj", and "La barca". "Cashbox" included the album in its Latin Picks section and described it as "a masterpiece for lovers of Latin boleros". It was later rereleased as "Sus canciones favoritas con... Flor Silvestre" (LP reissue) and "Mis boleros favoritos" (CD reissue).


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1972, she released three albums: "Una gran intérprete y dos grandes compositores", a tribute to songwriters Cornelio Reyna and Ferrusquilla; "La voz que acaricia", which includes her hits "Solo con las estrellas" and "Hastío"; and "Canciones con alma", her second album of bolero songs. She sang two tracks from "Una gran intérprete y dos grandes compositores" in the two films she made that year; she sang "Tema eterno" in "La yegua colorada" and "No me lo tomes a mal" in "Valente Quintero". "Billboard" included "Canciones con alma" in its Top Album Picks section and wrote, "A good solid LP overall of love ballads. Best cuts: 'Vuelve', 'Tormento', 'Quisiera'".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1973, she played one of Pancho Villa's lovers in "La muerte de Pancho Villa" and released her first norteño album, "La onda norteña de Flor Silvestre". The album's cover is a photograph of her as the character in the film. She also played Felipe Carrillo Puerto's wife, Isabel Palma, in the film "Peregrina" (released in 1974), in which she sang the Guty Cárdenas bolero "Quisiera".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1974, she released her album "Con todo mi amor a mi lindo Puerto Rico", which is a tribute to two famous Puerto Rican songwriters, Rafael Hernández and Pedro Flores. For this album she recorded four Hernández songs, "Campanitas de cristal", "Inconsolable", "No me quieras tanto", and "Silencio", and three Flores songs, "Obsesión", "Amor", and "Esperanza inútil". The album also includes "Cruz de olvido", one of her hits, and "Vuelve pronto", a Spanish-language version of "Paper Roses". The album's release coincided with her appearance in the film "Mi aventura en Puerto Rico", in which she sang "Desvelo de amor" and "Obsesión". This same year she appeared on the film "Peregrina".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: She sang "La palma" in "Simón Blanco" (1975) and played the female leads in "Don Herculano enamorado" (1975), "El moro de cumpas" (1977), and "Mi caballo el cantador" (1979).


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1978, she released her album "Ahora sí va en serio", which includes several songs written by Joan Sebastian. The title track was included in the "Cashbox" Latin Singles to Watch list. Other Sebastian songs included in the album are "Levantado en armas", "Te regalo mi pena", and "Trono caído".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1979, "Cashbox" included her single "Morir al lado de mi amor" in its Latin Singles to Watch list.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1989, she recorded banda music for the first time. She told the press, "I was very afraid to record with a tambora; I thought it was too much sound, a lot of equipment, but when I recorded I loved it, I felt happy, and more because it was the band of Don Ramón López Alvarado. We recorded 'Los mirasoles', 'La rama', and 'Quiero que sepas'".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: She made her final film, "Triste recuerdo", in 1990. In 1991, she recorded her first banda album, "Flor Silvestre con tambora", which includes a banda version of one of her bolero hits, "Caricia y herida".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1994, she released her album "Me regalo contigo", which includes a song dedicated to her marriage with Aguilar, "Para siempre juntos", and a vallenato song, "Sólo para ti".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 2001, she released her second banda album, "Flor Silvestre con tambora", which includes new versions of her 1960s hits "Cariño santo", "Celosa", "Desolación", "Mi destino fue quererte", and "El mar y la esperanza".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: On 21 December 2010, she released her most recent album, "Soledad: canto a mi amado y a su recuerdo", which she dedicated to her late husband. The album features interesting songs she had never recorded before, such as "Soledad", "Y llegaste tú", "El andariego", "Luz de luna", "Amanecí en tus brazos", "Las ciudades", "Los ejes de mi carreta", and "Sombras".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: On 9 March 2015, her documentary "Flor Silvestre: su destino fue querer" premiered at Zapopan's Plaza de las Américas as part of the Guadalajara International Film Festival. The 24-minute documentary features interviews with Flor Silvestre, who recounts her life and career; her five children, Dalia, Francisco, Marcela, Antonio, and Pepe; and singers Angélica María and Guadalupe Pineda.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 2016, she was featured on "Para morir iguales", a track of her son Antonio's most recent album, "Caballo viejo".


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Flor Silvestre married her first husband, Andrés Nieto, in the 1940s. She gave birth to her first child, singer and dancer Dalia Inés Nieto, when she was 16 years old.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Around 1953, Flor Silvestre married radio announcer and bullfighting chronicler Francisco Rubiales Calvo "Paco Malgesto" (1914–1978), who would later become a famous presenter and pioneer of Mexican television. They had two children, translator Francisco Rubiales and singer and actress Marcela Rubiales. They lived in a house in Mexico City's Lindavista neighborhood. The couple separated and began divorce proceedings in 1958.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Flor Silvestre's third and last husband was singer and actor Antonio Aguilar, who died in 2007. He was the love of her life. They first met in 1950 when he was invited to sing on her program "Increíble pero cierto" at the Verde y Oro studio of radio station XEW in Mexico City. In 1955, they made their first film together, "La huella del chacal", but their relationship began when they made the film "El rayo de Sinaloa" in 1957. They married in 1959 (or 1960, according to some sources) and had two sons who also became singers and actors, Antonio "Toño" Aguilar and José "Pepe" Aguilar. Aguilar built her a spacious home and ranch, El Soyate, northeast of Tayahua, Zacatecas.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: On 28 February 2012, Flor Silvestre underwent surgery to extirpate the cancer-stricken half of her right lung. She responded well to the surgery.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Flor Silvestre died on 25 November 2020, on her estate in "El Soyate" Villanueva, Zacatecas, Mexico. She died of natural causes.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Flor Silvestre received many awards and honors throughout her career. She has her handprints in the Plaza de las Estrellas (the Mexican equivalent of the Hollywood Walk of Fame).


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Flor Silvestre made her first recordings in 1950 for the Mexican Columbia label (Discos Columbia de México). In these recording sessions, she was backed up by the mariachis of Gilberto Parra and Rubén Fuentes. Ten of these recordings, which were originally released on 78 rpm singles, were included in the greatest hits album "Flor Silvestre canta sus éxitos", released in 1964 by Columbia's subsidiary label Okeh. This compilation album was later remastered and reissued in digital format by Sony Music Entertainment México in 2016.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Flor Silvestre also recorded some songs for the RCA Víctor label in 1957. For this label, she recorded a single containing her first version of "Cielo rojo" on side A and "Qué padre es la vida" on side B.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: In 1957, Flor Silvestre signed a contract with the Musart label. Among her first recordings for Musart are the songs "Nuestro gran amor" and "Pajarillo de la sierra", included in the soundtrack album of the "Heraclio Bernal" films, and "Te he de querer", "La chancla", and "La Valentina", included in the soundtrack album for the film "La cucaracha". In 1958, she released her first studio album for Musart, "Flor Silvestre". Musart has more than 300 of Flor Silvestre's recordings, many of them available in digital format since 2008.


title: Flor Silvestre

text: Flor Silvestre appeared in more than seventy films, almost always as the star and sometimes as a supporting actress or musical guest. Her film career spanned several genres, including "ranchera" comedy, rural drama, Mexican western, horror film, urban comedy, and Mexican Revolution drama. She starred in the following Mexican classics:


title: La Mancha

text: La Mancha () is a natural and historical region located in the Spanish provinces of Albacete, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, and Toledo. La Mancha is an arid but fertile plateau (610 m or 2000 ft) that stretches from the mountains of Toledo to the western spurs of the hills of Cuenca, and bordered to the south by the Sierra Morena and to the north by the Alcarria region. La Mancha historical comarca constitutes the southern portion of Castilla-La Mancha autonomous community and makes up most of the present-day administrative region.


title: La Mancha

text: The name "La Mancha" is probably derived from the Arabic word المنشأ "al-mansha", meaning "birthplace" or "fountainhead". The name of the city of Almansa in Albacete shares that origin. The word "mancha" in Spanish literally means "spot", "stain", or "patch", but no apparent link exists between this word and the name of the region.


title: La Mancha

text: The largest plain in Spain, La Mancha is made up of a plateau averaging 500 to 600 metres in altitude (although it reaches 900 metres in Campo de Montiel and other parts), centering on the province of Ciudad Real. The region is watered by the Guadiana, Jabalón, Záncara, Cigüela, and Júcar rivers.


title: La Mancha

text: The climate is cold semi-arid (Köppen "BSk"), with strong fluctuations. Farming (wheat, barley, oats, sugar beets, wine grapes, olives) and cattle raising are the primary economic activities, but they are severely restricted by the harsh environmental conditions.


title: La Mancha

text: Culturally, La Mancha includes the Sierra de Alcaraz, northern Sierra Morena, Montes de Toledo and Serranía de Cuenca, parts of Tajo river valley, and it is administratively divided among the comarcas of Campo de Montiel and Campo de ras de Ocaña y Manchuela to the north.


title: La Mancha

text: La Mancha has always been an important agricultural zone. Viticulture is important in Tomelloso, Alcázar de San Juan, Socuéllamos, Valdepeñas, La Solana and Manzanares, in Ciudad Real and Villarrobledo in Albacete. Other crops include cereals (hence the famous windmills) and saffron. Sheep are raised and bred, providing the famous Manchego cheese, as are goats, including the La Mancha goat, one of the assumed progenitors of the American La Mancha goat.


title: La Mancha

text: La Mancha includes two National Parks, Las Tablas de Daimiel and Cabañeros, and one Natural Park, Las Lagunas de Ruidera.


title: La Mancha

text: Famous Spaniards like the cinema directors Pedro Almodóvar and José Luis Cuerda, painters Antonio López and his uncle Antonio López Torres, footballer Andrés Iniesta, music band Angelus Apatrida and actress Sara Montiel were born in La Mancha.


title: La Mancha

text: Miguel de Cervantes described La Mancha and its windmills in his two-part 1605/1615 novel "Don Quixote de La Mancha". Cervantes was making fun of the region, using a pun; a "mancha" was also a stain, as on one's honor, and thus an inappropriately named homeland for a dignified knight-errant. Translator John Ormsby believed that Cervantes chose it because it was the most ordinary, prosaic, anti-romantic, and therefore unlikely place from which a chivalrous, romantic hero could originate, making Quixote seem even more absurd. However, ironically, due to the fame of Cervantes' character, the name of La Mancha came to be associated worldwide with romantic chivalry.


title: La Mancha

text: Several film versions of "Don Quixote" have been filmed largely in La Mancha. However, some, including the 1957 Russian film version, and the screen version of "Man of La Mancha", were not. The 1957 film was shot in Crimea, while "Man of La Mancha" was filmed in Italy. G. W. Pabst's 1933 version of Cervantes's novel was shot in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The 2000 made-for-TV "Don Quixote", starring John Lithgow as Don Quixote and Bob Hoskins as Sancho Panza, was shot on several locations in Spain, but not in La Mancha.


title: Exploration

text: Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.


title: Exploration

text: Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most of "Homo sapiens" history, saw humans moving out of Africa, settling in new lands, and developing distinct cultures in relative isolation. Early explorers settled in Europe and Asia; 14,000 years ago, some crossed the Ice Age land bridge from Siberia to Alaska, and moved southbound to settle in the Americas. For the most part, these cultures were ignorant of each other's existence. The second period of exploration, occurring over the last 10,000 years, saw increased cross-cultural exchange through trade and exploration, and marked a new era of cultural intermingling, and more recently, convergence.


title: Exploration

text: Early writings about exploration date back to the 4th millennium B.C. in ancient Egypt. One of the earliest and most impactful thinkers of exploration was Ptolemy in 2nd century AD, Between the 5th century and 15th century AD, most exploration was done by Chinese and Arab explorers. This was followed by the European Age of Discovery after European scholars rediscovered the works of early Latin and Greek geographers. While the Age of Discovery was partly driven by European land routes becoming unsafe, and a desire for conquest, the 17th century saw exploration driven by nobler motives, including scientific discovery and the expansion of knowledge about the world. This broader knowledge of the world's geography meant that people were able to make world maps, depicting all land known. The first modern atlas was the "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum", published by Abraham Ortelius, which included a world map that depicted all of Earth's continents.


title: Exploration

text: The Phoenicians (1550 BCE–300 BCE) traded throughout the Mediterranean Sea and Asia Minor though many of their routes are still unknown today. The presence of tin in some Phoenician artifacts suggests that they may have traveled to Britain. According to Virgil's Aeneid and other ancient sources, the legendary Queen Dido was a Phoenician from Tyre who sailed to North Africa and founded the city of Carthage.


title: Exploration

text: All these expeditions were supported by legionaries and had mainly a commercial purpose. Only the one done by emperor Nero seemed to be a preparative for the conquest of Ethiopia or Nubia: in 62 AD two legionaries explored the sources of the Nile.


title: Exploration

text: The explorations near the African western and eastern coasts were supported by Roman ships and deeply related to the naval commerce (mainly toward the Indian Ocean).


title: Exploration

text: The Romans also organized several explorations into Northern Europe, and explored as far as China in Asia.