title: Bombardment of Ellwood

text: The Japanese government, concerned about President Roosevelt's radio speech scheduled for February 23, 1942, ordered a Japanese submarine to shell the California coast on that day. A popular story about the attack is that Nishino had been a naval reserve officer before the war and had commanded a pre-war merchant ship that sailed through the Santa Barbara Channel and had once stopped at the Ellwood Oil Field to take on a cargo of oil. However, after graduating from the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1920, Nishino spent his entire career as a submarine crew member and officer and did not command a merchant ship, so the story of his prewar relationship to Santa Barbara is unlikely.


title: Bombardment of Ellwood

text: At around 7:00 pm on February 23, 1942, the "I-17" came to a stop opposite the Ellwood field on the Gaviota Coast. Nishino ordered the deck gun readied for action. Its crew took aim at a Richfield aviation fuel tank just beyond the beach and opened fire about 15 minutes later with the first rounds landing near a storage facility. The oil field's workmen had mostly left for the day, but a skeleton crew on duty heard the rounds hit. They took it to be an internal explosion until one man spotted the "I-17" off the coast. An oiler named G. Brown later told reporters that the enemy submarine looked so big to him he thought it must be a cruiser or a destroyer until he realized that only one gun was firing.


title: Bombardment of Ellwood

text: Nishino soon ordered his men to aim at the second storage tank. Brown and the others called the police, as the Japanese shells continued to fall around them.


title: Bombardment of Ellwood

text: Firing in the dark from a submarine buffeted by waves, it was inevitable that rounds would miss their target. One round passed over Wheeler's Inn, whose owner Laurence Wheeler promptly called the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office. A deputy sheriff assured him that warplanes were already on their way, but none arrived. The Japanese shells destroyed a derrick and a pump house, while the Ellwood Pier and a catwalk suffered minor damage. After 20 minutes, the gunners ceased fire and the submarine sailed away. Estimates of the number of explosive shells fired ranged from 12 to 25. Although he caused only light damage, Nishino had achieved his purpose, which was to spread fear along the American west coast. A day later, reports of enemy aircraft led to the so-called “Battle of Los Angeles,” in which American artillery was discharged over Los Angeles for several hours due to the mistaken belief that the Japanese were invading.


title: Bombardment of Ellwood

text: Reverend Arthur Basham of Montecito called the police to claim he had seen the enemy submarine from his home. He said the "I-17" turned south towards Los Angeles, apparently flashing signal lights to someone onshore. In reality, the "I-17" had sailed west, safely returning to Japan.


title: Bombardment of Ellwood

text: The attack was the first naval bombardment of the United States by a foreign power since the War of 1812 (Battle of Baltimore of 1814 by British Royal Navy), excluding the incidental shelling of coastland Orleans, Massachusetts in 1918. Additionally, at about 5,100 miles east of Japan, the bombardment of Ellwood was the furthest direct attack on a land target that the Japanese Empire made during World War Two, several hundred miles further than the attacks on Sydney Harbor, Australia and Fort Stevens, Oregon in June 1942.


title: Bombardment of Ellwood

text: The reports of Nishino's attack caused hundreds to flee inland; many feared that the event was a prelude to a full-scale attack on the West Coast of the United States. Since several people in Santa Barbara claimed to have seen "signal lights", a blackout was ordered for the rest of the night. The claims of signals were used to justify Franklin D. Roosevelt's internment of Japanese Americans, which began just one week later.


title: Bombardment of Ellwood

text: One night after the Elwood attack, the Battle of Los Angeles took place. In response to claimed sightings of "enemy aircraft", anti-aircraft batteries opened fire all across the city, causing panic among its residents.


title: Bombardment of Ellwood

text: Japanese submarines continued to conduct occasional attacks against allied shipping off the U.S. coast during the rest of the war. Sent to American waters in hopes of targeting warships, the submarines managed to sink only a handful of merchant ships, besides conducting a few minor attacks on shore targets. These consisted of a bombardment of Fort Stevens on the Columbia River, an attack on a Canadian lighthouse on Vancouver Island, and two air raids launched from a submarine in an attempt to start forest fires in southwest Oregon.


title: Vincent Auriol

text: Vincent Jules Auriol (; 27 August 1884 – 1 January 1966) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1947 to 1954.


title: Vincent Auriol

text: Auriol was born in Revel, Haute-Garonne, as the only child of Jacques Antoine Auriol (1855–1933), a baker nicknamed Paul, and Angélique Virginie Durand (1862–1945). His great-grandmother, Anne Auriol, was a first cousin of English engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He earned a law degree at the Collège de Revel in 1904 and began his career as a lawyer in Toulouse. A committed socialist, Auriol co-founded the newspaper "Le Midi Socialiste" in 1908; he was head of the Association of Journalists in Toulouse at this time.


title: Vincent Auriol

text: In 1914, Auriol entered the Chamber of Deputies as a Socialist Deputy for Muret, a position he retained until 1942. He also served as Mayor of Muret from 3 May 1925 to 17 January 1947, and as a member of the Conseil Général of Haute-Garonne from 1928 to 17 January 1947. In December 1920, after the breakup of the SFIO, Auriol refused to join the newly created SFIC and became one of the leaders of the new SFIO (the remaining socialist minority), along with Léon Blum.


title: Vincent Auriol

text: Auriol became the party's leading spokesman on financial issues. He chaired the Finance Committee in the Chamber of Deputies from 1924 to 1926. His first cabinet post was as Minister of Finance under Léon Blum, in which Auriol controversially devalued the French franc 30% against the United States dollar, leading to capital flight and greater economic unease. This and Blum's proposals for greater regulatory restrictions on industry led to Blum's resignation as Premier; in the next government, led by Camille Chautemps, Auriol was made Minister of Justice, then Minister of Coordination of Services of the Presidency of the Council in Blum's short-lived government in 1938. Édouard Daladier's conservative–Radical government formed on 10 April 1938 returned Auriol to the Chamber of Deputies.


title: Vincent Auriol

text: Auriol was one of the 80 deputies who voted against the extraordinary powers given to Prime Minister Philippe Pétain on 10 July 1940 that brought about the Nazi-backed Vichy government. As a result, he was placed under house arrest until he escaped to the French Resistance in October 1942, and fought with the resistance for a year. Auriol fled to London in October 1943. He represented the Socialists at the Free French Consultative Assembly (organized by Charles de Gaulle in Algiers later that year). In July 1944, he represented France at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference at Bretton Woods, United States.


title: Vincent Auriol

text: After World War II, Auriol served as Minister of State in de Gaulle's provisional government. He was a member of the Constituent Assemblies which drafted the constitution of the short-lived French Fourth Republic, and was President of the Assemblies. He lobbied for a ""third force"" as an alternative to both Communism and Gaullism. Auriol led the French delegation to the United Nations and was France's first representative on the United Nations Security Council in 1946. He served as a Deputy for Haute-Garonne in the National Assembly from 1946 until 31 December 1947. Meanwhile, the National Assembly elected him on 16 January 1947 as the first President of the Fourth Republic by a wide margin, receiving 452 votes (51.19%) against the 242 (27.41%) for the People's Republican Movement (MRP) candidate, Auguste Champetier de Ribes.


title: Vincent Auriol

text: As president, Auriol pursued a relatively weak presidency like the office under the Third Republic. He attempted to reconcile political factions within France and warm relations between France and its allies. He was criticized for France's ailing economy and political turmoil in the postwar period, and the war in Indochina. A series of debilitating strikes were waged across France in 1947, initiated by the Confédération Générale du Travail. The strikes escalated into violence in November of that year, leading, on 28 November, to the government deploying 80,000 French Army reservists to face the ""insurrection"". The Communist Party, who often supported the strikes, were expelled from the legislature in early December. The strikes ended on 10 December, but more would come in 1948, and again in 1953 in response to the Joseph Laniel government's austerity program.


title: Vincent Auriol

text: Apart from the inconclusive war in Indochina, France's colonial empire decayed under Auriol's presidency. Clashes in Morocco, Madagascar, Algeria, and Tunisia became more frequent; an Algerian independence movement, the Front de Libération Nationale, was founded in 1951, and in 1953 the French overthrew Mohammed V, the Sultan of Morocco, after he demanded greater autonomy. France waged a brutal war of repression in Madagascar, and imprisoned Tunisian independence leader Habib Bourguiba in 1952.


title: Vincent Auriol

text: When Auriol's term as president expired, he did not run for re-election, and was succeeded by René Coty as President of France on 16 January 1954. Auriol commented on leaving office: "The work was killing me; they called me out of bed at all hours of the night to receive resignations of prime ministers" (there were eighteen different governments during his seven years as president.)


title: Vincent Auriol

text: After his presidency, Auriol assumed the role of elder statesman, and wrote articles on political topics. Auriol became a member of the Constitutional Council of France in 1958 at the establishment of the French Fifth Republic; he resigned from the SFIO in the same year. He unsuccessfully lobbied against the constitution in the 1958 national referendum, and resigned from his position on the Constitutional Council in 1960 to protest the growing power of Charles de Gaulle's presidency. In 1965, he endorsed François Mitterrand for the presidency.


title: Vincent Auriol

text: On 1 January 1966, Vincent Auriol died in hospital in the 7th arrondissement of Paris and was buried at Muret, Haute-Garonne.


title: Vincent Auriol

text: On 1 June 1912, Auriol married Michelle Aucoutuier (5 March 1896 – 21 January 1979). Six years later the couple had a son, Paul (1918–1992). The aviatrix Jacqueline Auriol was his daughter-in-law.


title: Out of Touch

text: "Out of Touch" is a song by American duo Hall & Oates from their twelfth studio album "Big Bam Boom" (1984). The song was released as the lead single from "Big Bam Boom" on Thursday, October 4, 1984, by RCA Records. This song was their last "Billboard" Hot 100 number-one single, topping the chart for two weeks in December 1984. It also became the duo's fourteenth consecutive top 40 hit since 1980.


title: Out of Touch

text: The song often segued from "Dance on Your Knees", which is the opening song of the "Big Bam Boom" album. The accompanying music video for "Out of Touch", featuring a gigantic drum kit, also contains the "Dance on Your Knees" intro, which segues into an edit of the 12-inch remix version.


title: Out of Touch

text: According to John Oates, he came up with the chorus while randomly playing around with a synthesizer that he did not know how to use. He thought it could be a song for the Stylistics, having a Philly sound. But in the studio the next day a co-producer told him it should be a hit for Hall & Oates themselves. Oates and Hall then co-wrote the verse.


title: Out of Touch

text: English dance music act Uniting Nations covered "Out of Touch" and released it as their debut single on November 15, 2004. This version peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart in January 2005 and remained in the top 75 for 21 weeks. Elsewhere, the cover reached number one in Romania—where it was the highest-selling single of 2005—and became a top-ten hit in Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Norway. The vocals on the recording were done by vocalist and session artist Jinian Wilde.


title: Out of Touch

text: The music video for the song features actors Paul Spicer, Charleene Rena, Hayley-Marie Coppin, Sophie Lovell Anderson, Daniela Martins, a participant of French Big Brother "Secret Story", and one unidentified woman playing strip poker.


title: Ell

text: An ell (from Proto-Germanic *"alinō", cognate with Latin "ulna") is a northwestern European unit of measurement, originally understood as a cubit (the combined length of the forearm and extended hand). The word literally means "arm", and survives in the form of the modern English word "elbow" (arm-bend). Later usage through the 19th century refers to several longer units, some of which are thought to derive from a "double ell".


title: Ell

text: An ell-wand or ellwand was a rod of length one ell used for official measurement. Edward I of England required that every town have one. In Scotland, the Belt of Orion was called "the King's Ellwand". An iron ellwand is preserved in the entrance to Stånga Church on the Swedish island of Gotland, indicating the role that rural churches had in disseminating uniform measures.


title: Ell

text: Several national forms existed, with different lengths, including the Scottish ell , the Flemish ell [el] , the French ell [aune] , the Polish ell , the Danish alen , the Swedish aln and the German ell [] of different lengths in Frankfurt (54.7 cm), Cologne, Leipzig (Saxony) or Hamburg.


title: Ell

text: Select customs were observed by English importers of Dutch textiles; although all cloths were bought by the Flemish ell, linen was sold by the English ell, but tapestry was sold by the Flemish ell.


title: Ell

text: The Viking ell was the measure from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, about . The Viking or primitive ell was used in Iceland up to the 13th century. By the 13th century, a law set the "stika" as equal to 2 ells which was the English ell of the time.


title: Ell

text: In England, the ell was usually exactly , or a yard and a quarter. It was mainly used in the tailoring business but is now obsolete. Although the exact length was never defined in English law, standards were kept; the brass ell examined at the Exchequer by Graham in the 1740s had been in use "since the time of Queen Elizabeth".


title: Ell

text: The Scottish ell () is approximately . The Scottish ell was standardised in 1661, with the exemplar to be kept in the custody of Edinburgh. It comes from Middle English .


title: Ell

text: It was used in the popular expression "Gie 'im an inch, an he'll tak an ell" (equivalent to "Give him an inch and he'll take a mile" or "... he'll take a yard", and closely similar to the English proverb "Give him an inch and he'll take an ell", first published as "For when I gave you an inch, you tooke an ell" by John Heywood in 1546.


title: Ell

text: The Ell Shop (1757) in Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross (National Trust for Scotland), is so called from the 18th-century iron ell-stick attached to one corner, once used to measure cloth and other commodities in the adjacent market-place. The shaft of the 17th-century Kincardine mercat cross stands in the square of Fettercairn, and is notched to show the measurements of an ell.


title: Ell

text: Scottish measures were made obsolete, and English measurements made standard in Scotland, by an Act of Parliament, the Weights and Measures Act 1824.


title: Ell

text: In the epic poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", the Green Knight's axe-head was an ell (45 inches) wide.


title: Ell

text: Ells were also used in the medieval French play "The Farce of Master Pathelin" to measure the size of the clothing Pierre Pathelin bought.


title: Ell

text: Halldór Laxness described Örvar-Oddr as twelve Danish ells tall in Independent People, Part II, "Of the World".


title: South Asian Football Federation

text: South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), founded in 1997, is an association of the football playing nations in South Asia and is part of the larger Asian Football Confederation. The members of the association are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.


title: South Asian Football Federation

text: The SAFF was founded in 1997, with Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. In 2000, they expanded to 7 members, adding Bhutan. In 2005, Afghanistan joined too, but later, left in 2015, to join then newly formed Central Asian Football Association.


title: South Asian Football Federation

text: The South Asian Football Federation announced in April 2011 that they had decided to start a new tournament for association football club sides, the SAFF Club Championship, with the inaugural edition to be held in Bangladesh from 1–15 September of the same year. However the competition was postponed and desires to revive the competition were again announced in July 2013 but the competition has still not started with accusations that India, the prime nation in the competition, are not altogether interested in participating.


title: South Asian Football Federation

text: A new possible start was set for December 2016 but later announced that 2017 would see the first edition. This again was changed and announced that 2018 would be the start of the tournament. But the Club Championship was never a reality and only remained as a plan on paper.


title: South Asian Football Federation

text: For each tournament, the flag of the host country and the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.


title: Anas ibn Malik

text: Anas ibn Mālik ibn Naḍr al-Khazrajī al-Anṣārī ( (c.612 – c.712) was a well-known "sahabi" (companion) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.


title: Anas ibn Malik

text: Anas ibn Malik, a member of the Najjar clan of the Khazraj tribe of Yathrib, was born ten years before the Muhammad's Hijrah. After his father, Malik ibn Nadr, died a non-Muslim, his mother, Umm Sulaim, remarried to a new convert, Abu Talha ibn Thabit. Anas's half-brother from this marriage was Abdullah ibn Abi Talha.


title: Anas ibn Malik

text: After Muhammad's death in 632, Anas participated in the wars of conquest. He was the last of the prominent Companions of the Prophet to die, having outlived Muhammad by 80 years. Anas died in 93 AH (712 CE) in Basra at the age of 103 (lunar) years.


title: Anas ibn Malik

text: The shrine of Anas Ibn Malik is located in Basra, Iraq. The grave of Anas Ibn Malik is a simple cenotaph. However, the shrine was destroyed with explosive devices. Despite the fact that the mosque and shrine is heavily damaged and walls stained with vandalism, the complex is still a popular place of visit by Muslims.


title: Michael Praed

text: Michael Praed ( ; born 1 April 1960), birth name Michael David Prince, is a British actor and narrator, probably best remembered for his role as Robin of Loxley in the British television series "Robin of Sherwood", which attained cult status worldwide in the 1980s.


title: Michael Praed

text: Praed was born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, and educated at Eastbourne College, after which he became an actor.


title: Michael Praed

text: He discovered that the British actors' union Equity already had a "Michael Prince" among its members, so he chose a surname out of a telephone book to use as a stage name. The name Praed is a Cornish word meaning "meadow".


title: Michael Praed

text: Praed is remembered for his roles as Prince Michael of Moldavia on the American primetime soap "Dynasty" and as Phileas Fogg in "The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne" (2000). He is also known in the British Isles for his stage work in musicals and drama and lately for his narrations. He has been the regular narrator for BBC TV's history programme "Timewatch" since 2003. In July 2009, he starred as Captain von Trapp in a national tour of a revival of "The Sound of Music".


title: Michael Praed

text: In 2016, Praed began to appear in the ITV soap opera "Emmerdale", as Frank Clayton, the father of the characters Vanessa Woodfield and Tracy Metcalfe. His character was killed off following an explosion in the sweet factory. His last appearance aired on ITV on 1 August 2019.


title: Michael Praed

text: Praed was previously married to Karen Landau (1994-2009), with whom he has two children. He is now married to Josefina Gabrielle, a British stage and television actress and former ballet dancer, who has three times been nominated for an Olivier Award, and is best known for her performances in West End musicals.


title: Coleco

text: Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game consoles, the Coleco Telstar dedicated consoles and ColecoVision. While the company ceased operations in 1988 as a result of bankruptcy, the Coleco brand was revived in 2005, and remains active to this day.


title: Coleco

text: Coleco Industries, Inc. began in 1932 as The Connecticut Leather Company. The business supplied leather and "shoe findings" (the supplies and paraphernalia of a shoe repair shop) to shoe repairers. In 1938, the company began selling rubber footwear. During World War II demand for the company's supplies increased and by the end of the war, the company was larger and had expanded into new and used shoe machinery, hat cleaning equipment and marble shoeshine stands.


title: Coleco

text: By the early 1950s, and thanks to Maurice Greenberg's son, Leonard Greenberg, the company had diversified further and was making leather lacing and leathercraft kits. In 1954, at the New York Toy Fair, their leather moccasin kit was selected as a Child Guidance Prestige Toy, and Connecticut Leather Company decided to commit to the toy business. In 1956, Leonard read about the emerging technology of vacuum formed plastic; the company adopted this and it became increasingly successful, producing a wide variety of plastic toys and wading pools.


title: Coleco

text: In 1961, the leather and shoe findings portion of the business was sold, and Connecticut Leather Company became Coleco Industries, Inc. On January 9, 1962, Coleco went public, offering 120,000 shares of stock at $5.00 a share.


title: Coleco

text: In 1963, the company acquired the Kestral Corporation of Springfield, Massachusetts, a manufacturer of inflatable vinyl pools and toys. This led to Coleco becoming the largest manufacturer of above-ground swimming pools in the world.


title: Coleco

text: In 1966, Leonard persuaded his brother Arnold Greenberg to join the company. Further acquisitions included Playtime Products (1966) and Eagle Toys of Canada (1968). By the end of the 1960s, Coleco operated ten manufacturing facilities and occupied a new corporate headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut.


title: Coleco

text: Coleco experienced financial difficulty during the 1970s, even though sales had grown to $48.6 million in 1971. In 1972 Coleco entered the snowmobile market through acquisition. Lower than expected snowfall that year and market conditions led to very reduced sales and poor profits.


title: Coleco

text: Dozens of companies rushed to introduce game systems in 1976 year after the release of Atari's successful "Pong" console and the company entered the video game console business with the Telstar. Nearly all of the new game systems were based on General Instrument's ""Pong"-on-a-chip". General Instrument had underestimated demand, resulting in severe shortages. However, Coleco was one of the first to place an order and therefore one of the few companies to receive the full order. Though dedicated game consoles did not last long on the market, their early order enabled Coleco to break even.


title: Coleco

text: Coleco continued to perform well in electronics. The company transitioned into handheld electronic games, a market popularized by Mattel. An early success was "Electronic Quarterback". Coleco produced two popular lines of games, the "head to head" series of two player sports games ("Football", "Baseball", "Basketball", "Soccer", "Hockey") and the Mini-Arcade series of licensed video arcade titles such as "Donkey Kong" and "Ms. Pac-Man". A third line of educational handhelds was also produced and included the Electronic Learning Machine, "Lil Genius", "Digits", and a trivia game called "Quiz Wiz". Launched in 1982, their first four tabletop Mini-Arcades, for "Pac-Man", "Galaxian", "Donkey Kong", and "Frogger", sold approximately three million units within a year. Among these, 1.5 million units were sold for "Pac-Man" alone. In 1983, it released three more Mini-Arcades: for "Ms. Pac-Man", "Donkey Kong Junior", and "Zaxxon".


title: Coleco

text: Coleco returned to the video game console market in 1982 with the launch of the ColecoVision. The system was quite popular, and came bundled with a copy of "Donkey Kong". The console sold 560,000 units in 1982. Coleco also hedged its bet on video games by introducing a line of ROM cartridges for the Atari 2600 and Intellivision, selling six million cartridges for both systems, along with two million sold for the ColecoVision for a total of eight million cartridges sold in 1982. It also introduced the Coleco Gemini, a clone of the popular Atari 2600, which came bundled with a copy of "Donkey Kong".


title: Coleco

text: When the video game business began to implode in 1983, it seemed clear that video game consoles were being supplanted by home computers. Bob Greenberg, son of Leonard Greenberg and nephew of Arnold Greenberg, left Microsoft where he had been working as a program developer at the time to assist in Coleco's entry into this market. Coleco's strategy was to introduce the Coleco Adam home computer, both as a stand-alone system and as an expansion module to the ColecoVision. The effort failed, in part because Adams were often unreliable due to being released with fatal bugs, and in part because the computer's release coincided with the home computer industry crashing. Coleco withdrew from electronics early in 1985.


title: Coleco

text: In 1983, Coleco released the Cabbage Patch Kids series of dolls which were wildly successful. In the same year, Dr. Seuss signed a deal with Coleco to design a line of toys, including home video games based on his characters. Flush with success, Coleco purchased Leisure Dynamics (manufacturer of the board games "Aggravation" and "Perfection") and beleaguered Selchow and Righter, manufacturers of "Scrabble", "Parcheesi", and "Trivial Pursuit", in 1986. Sales of Selchow & Righter games had plummeted, leaving them with warehouses full of unsold games. The purchase price for Selchow & Righter was $75 million. That same year, Coleco introduced an ALF plush, based on the furry alien character who had his own television series at the time, as well as a talking version and a cassette-playing "Storytelling ALF" doll. The combination of the purchase of Selchow & Righter, the disastrous Adam computer, and the public's waning infatuation with Cabbage Patch Dolls all contributed to Coleco's financial decline. In 1988, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.


title: Coleco

text: The reorganized Coleco sold off all of its North American assets and outsourced thousands of jobs to foreign countries, closing plants in Amsterdam, New York and other cities. In 1988, Canada based SLM Action Sports Inc. purchased Coleco's swimming pool and snow goods divisions. In 1989, Hasbro purchased most of Coleco's remaining product lines.


title: Coleco

text: Coleco as a brand name has been owned by several entities since it was created in 1961 by Coleco Industries, Inc.


title: Coleco

text: In 2005, River West Brands, now Dormitus Brands, a Chicago-based brand revitalization company, re-introduced the Coleco brand to the marketplace. In late 2006, the company introduced the Coleco Sonic, a handheld system containing twenty Sega Master System and Sega Game Gear games, including two from the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series. In 2014, River West Brands established the subsidiary Coleco Holdings for their Coleco-branded projects.


title: Coleco

text: In December 2015, Coleco Holdings announced the development of the Coleco Chameleon, a new cartridge-based video game system; in actuality, a re-branding of the controversial Retro VGS console, whose Indiegogo campaign failed to secure funding when it ended in early November 2015, with only $63,546 raised of its $1.95 million goal. In the press release, it was established that the system would be able to play new and classic games in the 8, 16, and 32-bit styles. The release for the system was announced to be sometime in early 2016, with a demonstration at Toy Fair New York in February. However, some critics suggested that the prototype fell short of its developmental goals and was nothing more than the motherboard of a Super NES model SNS-101 inside an Atari Jaguar case. Later mock images of a prototype posted by AtariAge showed the device utilizing a CCTV capture card in place of a motherboard. After Retro VGS failed to produce a fully working prototype, Coleco Holdings pulled out of involvement with Retro VGS, terminating the project.


title: F-Zero GX

text: F-Zero GX is a 2003 racing video game developed by Amusement Vision and published by Nintendo for the GameCube console. It runs on an enhanced version of the engine used in "Super Monkey Ball". F-Zero AX, the arcade counterpart of "GX", uses the Triforce arcade system board conceived from a business alliance between Nintendo, Namco and Sega. Published by Sega, it was released alongside "GX" in 2003.


title: F-Zero GX

text: "F-Zero GX" is the successor to "F-Zero X" and continues the series' difficult, high-speed racing style, retaining the basic gameplay and control system from the Nintendo 64 game. A heavy emphasis is placed on track memorization and reflexes. "GX" introduces a "story mode" element, where the player assumes the role of "F-Zero" pilot Captain Falcon through nine chapters while completing various missions.


title: F-Zero GX

text: The "GX" and "AX" project was the first significant video game collaboration between Nintendo and Sega. GX was well received by critics for its visuals, intense action, high sense of speed, and track design while its high difficulty has been criticized. In the years since its release it has been considered one of the GameCube's best titles, as well as one of the greatest video games ever made.


title: F-Zero GX

text: "F-Zero GX" is a futuristic racing game where up to thirty competitors race on massive circuits inside plasma-powered machines in an intergalactic . It is the successor to "F-Zero X" and continues the series' difficult, high-speed racing style, retaining the basic gameplay and control system from the Nintendo 64 game. Tracks include enclosed tubes, cylinders, tricky jumps, and rollercoaster-esque paths. Some courses are littered with innate obstacles like dirt patches and mines. A heavy emphasis is placed on track memorization and reflexes, which aids in completing the game. Each machine handles differently, has its own performance abilities affected by its weight, and a grip, boost, and durability trait graded on an A to E (best to worst) scale. Before a race, the player is able to adjust a vehicle's balance between maximum acceleration and maximum top speed. Every machine has an energy meter, which serves two purposes. First, it is a measurement of the machine's health and is decreased from accidents or attacks from opposing racers. Second, the player is usually given the ability to boost after the first lap, but must sacrifice energy to do so. Pit areas and dash plates are located at various points around the track for vehicles to drive over. The former replenishes energy, while the latter gives a speed boost without using up any energy. The less time spent in the pit area, the less energy will regenerate. Courses may also have jump plates, which launch vehicles into the air enabling them to cut corners.


title: F-Zero GX

text: Each racing craft contains air brakes for navigating tight corners by using an analog stick and shoulder buttons. Afterwards, the game's physics modeling give vehicles setup with high acceleration a boost of acceleration. Players can easily exploit this on a wide straight stretch of a circuit to generate serpentinous movements. This technique called "snaking" delivers a massive increase in speed, but it is best used on the easier tracks, when racing alone in Time Trial, and with heavy vehicles with a high grip rating and given high acceleration. According to Nintendo, the snaking technique was an intentional addition to "F-Zero GX"s gameplay.


title: F-Zero GX

text: "F-Zero GX" features numerous gameplay modes and options. In the Grand Prix mode, the player races against twenty-nine opponents through three laps of each track in a cup. There are four cups available (Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and Diamond) with five tracks in each. Unlocking the AX cup gives the player all six tracks from the arcade game, "F-Zero AX". Each cup has four selectable difficulty levels: Novice, Standard, Expert, and Master. Players get a certain number of points for finishing a track depending on where they placed, and the winner of the circuit is the character who receives the most total points. If the player has a "spare machine"—the equivalent of an extra life—then the race can be restarted even if the player's vehicle is destroyed from losing all energy or falling off the track. A predetermined number of spare machines based on the difficulty level chosen are given to players before starting a cup. Players get an additional spare machine for every five contenders he or she destroys through vehicular combat, with each destroyed and eliminated opponent also granting extra energy.


title: F-Zero GX

text: The Vs. Battle is the multiplayer mode where two to four players can compete simultaneously. Time Attack lets the player choose any track and complete it in the shortest time possible. An Internet ranking system was established where players enter a password on the official F-Zero website and get ranked based on their position in the database. Players receive a password after completing a Time Attack race, which records their time and machine used. Ghost data, transparent re-enactments of the player's Time Attack performances, can be saved on memory cards to later race against. Up to five ghosts can be raced against simultaneously. The Replay mode allows saved Grand Prix and Time Attack gameplay to be replayed with different camera angles and in-game music. The Pilot Profile mode has each character's biography, theme music, information on their machine, and a short full motion video sequence.


title: F-Zero GX

text: Customize mode is divided between the F-Zero Shop, Garage, and Emblem Editor. The shop is where opponent machines, custom parts for vehicle creation, and miscellaneous items such as story mode chapters and staff ghost data can be purchased with tickets. Tickets are acquired as the player progresses through the Grand Prix, Time Attack, and Story mode. In the Garage section, players can create a machine with three custom parts or print emblems on any vehicle. The parts are divided into body, cockpit, and booster categories, and affect the vehicle's overall durability, maximum speed, cornering, and acceleration. The Emblem Editor lets players create decals.


title: F-Zero GX

text: "F-Zero GX" is the first "F-Zero" game to feature a story mode. Its story has the player assume the role of "F-Zero" pilot Captain Falcon in nine chapters of various racing scenarios; such as Falcon's training regiment, a race against a rival through a canyon with falling boulders, attack and eliminate a rival's gang, and escape from a collapsing building through closing blast doors. Each chapter can be completed on a normal, hard, and very hard difficulty setting. Toshihiro Nagoshi, one of the game's co-producers, stated that this mode was included because the development team felt that the "F-Zero" universe was unique and they wanted to explain some of the characters' motivations and flesh out the game world.


title: F-Zero GX

text: "F-Zero AX" is a futuristic racing arcade game developed by Amusement Vision and published by Sega for the Triforce arcade system board. It is the second game by Sega to use Triforce, which was conceived from a business alliance between them, Nintendo and Namco. This hardware allows for connectivity between the GameCube and arcade games. "F-Zero AX"s arcade cabinet is available for purchase in standard and deluxe versions. The standard version is a regular sit-down model, while the deluxe version is shaped like Captain Falcon's vehicle and has a tilting seat simulating the craft's cockpit. IGN demoed the Cycraft version dubbed "F-Zero Monster Ride" at the 2003 JAMMA arcade show. The Cycraft machine, co-developed between Sega and Simuline, is a cabin suspended in midair controlled by three servomotors for an in-depth motion-based simulation.


title: F-Zero GX

text: The game introduces ten playable vehicles with their pilots, and brings back four from "F-Zero GX". It includes six new selectable courses and two game modes. Each track must be completed before time runs out. Time extensions are awarded for reaching multiple checkpoints on a course, however the player will receive time penalties for falling off-course or depleting their energy meter. Race mode allows the player to select a track and race against twenty-nine opponents. Connecting multiple cabinets opens up "Versus Play" in the race mode, thus enabling the player and up to three other people to compete simultaneously. In Time Attack, the player chooses any track and complete it in the shortest time possible.


title: F-Zero GX

text: "F-Zero AX" cabinets can dispense magnetic stripe cards called an "F-Zero license card" to keep track of custom machine data, pilot points, and race data. A card was bundled with the Japanese release of "F-Zero GX". The card expires after fifty uses, but its data can be transferred to a new card. Once inserted, the game builds a machine with three custom parts which can be upgraded by earning pilot points. Pilot points are acquired as the player progresses through the Race and Time Attack modes. Players can increase point earnings by improving finish place, eliminating opponents, and finishing races with a large amount of energy reserved. A magnetic stripe card is needed to enter the "F-Zero AX" Internet Ranking system. Similarly to "GX", players receive a password after completing a Time Attack race to enter on the official "F-Zero" website's ranking system.


title: F-Zero GX

text: Nintendo GameCube memory cards, on which saved games are kept, can be inserted into these arcade units. A memory card is required for players a chance to win the "AX"-exclusive pilots, their vehicles, and tracks for use in "GX". Players can store up to four machines from "GX" on a memory card, then play them in "AX". If a memory card is used with a magnetic stripe card, players have additional options; they can enter stored "GX" machines into the "F-Zero AX" Internet ranking system, and transfer custom "AX" machine parts to "GX". "F-Zero AX" content is also unlockable by progressing through "GX"s tougher challenges and more so is available by the use of a cheat cartridge.


title: F-Zero GX

text: After Sega transited from first to third-party development in 2001, they and Nintendo developed a close relationship. Toshihiro Nagoshi, president of Sega subsidiary Amusement Vision, developed "Super Monkey Ball" for the GameCube, which opened up the opportunity for a collaboration between the two companies. Nintendo announced on February 18, 2002, that an arcade system board under the name of "Triforce" was being developed in conjunction between Nintendo, Namco, and Sega. The idea for the arcade board originated after discussions between Sega and Namco about the capabilities and cost effectiveness of the GameCube architecture to make arcade games. Sega, having helped to develop Nintendo's Triforce arcade system, wanted to support it with software that would "stand out and draw attention to Nintendo's platform." Nagoshi was suggested to develop a driving game and agreed under the stipulation he could come up with something unique—which was working on the next installment in Nintendo's "F-Zero" series. Nagoshi contemplated declining the project due to the combined pressure of making a great impression on Nintendo and creating the next installment of an esteemed franchise, but his curiosity about what he and his team could create overcame his hesitation.


title: F-Zero GX

text: In March 2002, an announcement from Sega and Nintendo revealed that Amusement Vision and Nintendo would collaborate to release "F-Zero" video game titles for the Triforce arcade board and the GameCube. "F-Zero GX" and "AX" was the first significant software collaboration between Nintendo and Sega, and the announcement that Nintendo had handled development of one of its franchises to former competitor Sega came as a surprise to some critics. Nagoshi claimed that 1991's "F-Zero" "actually taught me what a game should be" and that it served as an influence for him to create "Daytona USA" and other racing games. "F-Zero" producer Shigeru Miyamoto stated that Nintendo "gained a lot of fans among current game developers, including famous producers like Mr. Nagoshi who grew up playing Nintendo games and are big fans of some of our titles." and thought the collaboration resulted in a "true evolution of the "F-Zero" series", enhancing the simulation of racing at high speeds and expanding the "F-Zero world on a grand scale."


title: F-Zero GX

text: While Amusement Vision was responsible for most of the game's development, Miyamoto and Takaya Imamura of Nintendo EAD took on the role of producer and supervisor, respectively. Sega handled planning and execution and Nintendo was responsible for supervision of their product. Nagoshi was initially concerned about differences in opinion between the two companies, and mentioned "If Nintendo planned to hold our hands through development, I would have suggested they develop the game themselves. That way we could focus on a project which would reflect our studio's abilities. I figured that would cause a war, but I was told most of the responsibility would be left to us." "F-Zero GX" runs on an enhanced version of the engine used in "Super Monkey Ball". During the game's development, Nagoshi focused on what he called its self-explanatory "interface" and "rhythm" to give the way the tracks are laid out a rhythmic feel. The game's soundtrack features an array of songs from rock and techno musical styles originally composed by the game music staff's Hidenori Shoji and Daiki Kasho. Shojii is known for his musical scores in "Daytona USA 2" and "Fighting Vipers 2", while Kasho worked on the "Gran Turismo" series. Kasho composed the character themes and their lyrics were by Alan Brey. Both Shoji and Kasho supervised the soundtrack's audio mastering.


title: F-Zero GX

text: Nintendo revealed the first footage of "F-Zero GX" at the Pre-Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) press conference on May 21, 2002. While the game was known to exist several months prior, it had remained behind closed doors until that conference. In early March 2003, according to the official Nintendo website, "F-Zero" was delayed by two months. Via a live video conference call from Japan on July 7, Miyamoto, Nagoshi, and Imamura answered questions about the two "F-Zero" games. There, Miyamoto announced the Japanese version of the game was finished and would soon be available to the public. Nagoshi mentioned that back at E3 2003, he was hoping that they would have that time to include a local area network (LAN) multiplayer mode, however they chose not to support this mode. The development team focused more on the game's single-player aspects, and a LAN multiplayer mode would distract greatly from it. Imamura commented that even though he worked directly on "F-Zero" throughout its different incarnations, this time he took a "step back and was involved at kind of a producer level at looking over the game." Imamura added "hav[ing] worked on the "F-Zero" series, and seeing the results of the collaboration with Sega, I found myself at something of a loss as to how we can take the franchise further past "F-Zero GX" and "AX"."


title: F-Zero GX

text: Published by Nintendo, "F-Zero GX" was released in Japan on July 25, 2003, in North America on August 25, and in Europe on October 31. The Arcade version was released in 2003 alongside its Gamecube counterpart. "F-Zero GX/AX Original Soundtracks", a two-CD set composed of BGM soundtracks to the video games "GX" and its arcade counterpart, was released in Japan under the Scitron Digital Content record label on July 22, 2004. The first disc consists of forty-one tracks and the second has forty with an additional track rearranged by Supersweep's AYA (Ayako Sasō) of "Big Blue".


title: F-Zero GX

text: When "F-Zero GX" was released, the game was well-received overall by reviewers; the title holds an average of 89/100 on the aggregate website Metacritic. Some video game journalists consider it as one of the best racers of its time and the greatest racer on the GameCube platform. It was listed "Best GameCube Racing Game" in the E3 2003 IGN Awards and "Best Racing Game of 2003" by IGN. "F-Zero GX" was named the best GameCube game of August 2003 and "Best GameCube Driving Game" of 2003 overall by GameSpot, and was nominated for "Console Racing Game of the Year" in the 7th Annual Interactive Achievements Awards held by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. "Official Nintendo Magazine" ranked it the 92nd best game available on Nintendo platforms. The staff felt it was best for hardcore fans. Edge magazine ranked the game 66th on their 100 Best Video Games in 2007.


title: F-Zero GX

text: The game has been credited for its visuals, arcade/home connectivity, longevity, sharp controls, tough challenge, and fleshed-out single-player modes. The game's most common criticism is its difficulty, specifically in the game's story mode. It earned fourth place in IGN's and GameTrailers' toughest games to beat. GameTrailers mentioned "F-Zero GX" demanded players to master the "rollercoaster-style tracks [which] required hairline precision" to avoid falling off-course. "Electronic Gaming Monthly" criticized "GX"s sharp increase in difficulty and GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann agreed stating it "will surely turn some people away before they've seen the 20 tracks and unlocked all the story mode chapters". Bryn Williams of GameSpy mentioned that "purists may find it too similar to N64 version" and criticized the lack of LAN play.


title: F-Zero GX

text: 1UP.com stated that the "F-Zero" series is "finally running on hardware that can do it proper justice". Eurogamer's Kristan Reed pointed out that, graphically, "it's hard to imagine how Amusement Vision could have done a better job". Matt Casamassina of IGN praised the developers' work commenting they have "done a fine job of taking Nintendo's dated franchise and updating it for the new generation" and summed up the general opinion by stating that "For some, GX will be the ultimate racer. For others, it will be flat out too difficult." In Japan, "F-Zero GX" sold 100,981 units and became qualified for the Player's Choice line in both Europe and North America by selling at least 250,000 copies. Nagoshi said in a 2018 "Edge" interview that "F-Zero GX" sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide.


title: David Leisure

text: David Russell Leisure (born November 16, 1950) is an American actor. He played Charley Dietz in the sitcom "Empty Nest" from 1988 to 1995 and fictional automotive "pitch man" Joe Isuzu in a series of North American television commercials for Isuzu from 1986 to 1990, and again from 1999 to 2001.


title: David Leisure

text: Leisure moved to Los Angeles after graduating. His first acting job was a minor role in "Airplane!" (1980) as a Hare Krishna. He had been roommates with the star, Robert Hays, in college but attributed his casting to his willingness to shave his head. After a period of hardship, in which he lived in his car, he found work as a commercial pitchman, including a series of commercials for Bell Atlantic. Della Femina Travisano & Partners cast him as Joe Isuzu because they believe he could "lie like a pro". The character made over-the-top claims and obvious lies about Isuzu cars in a series of commercials throughout the 1980s. The character's popularity led to a costarring role as Charley Dietz on the television series "Empty Nest". His Joe Isuzu character was brought back in 1999 and continued through 2001. Other roles include Roger Wilkes on the CBS daytime drama "The Young and the Restless" and, as of July 2010, a recurring role as Salem District Attorney Charles Woods on "Days of Our Lives".


title: David Leisure

text: Additional credits include "Sabrina the Teenage Witch", "One on One", "V.I.P.", "", "The Parent 'Hood", "", "For Your Love", "Caroline in the City", "The Wayans Bros.", "Touched by an Angel", "", "Renegade", "The Golden Girls", "Married... with Children", "ALF", "227", "T. J. Hooker", "The Equalizer", "Falcon Crest", "Sledge Hammer!", "Nurses", "The Brady Bunch Movie", and "Power Rangers Wild Force.


title: Joseph Bell

text: Joseph Bell FRCSE (2 December 1837 – 4 October 1911) was a Scottish surgeon and lecturer at the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in the 19th century. He is best known as an inspiration for the literary character Sherlock Holmes.


title: Joseph Bell

text: Bell was the son of Cecilia Barbara Craigie (1813–1882) and Benjamin Bell (1810–1883), and a great-grandson of Benjamin Bell, considered to be the first Scottish scientific surgeon. Bell studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School and received an MD in 1859 presenting the thesis ""Epithelial cancer: its pathology and treatment"". During his time as a student, he was a member of the Royal Medical Society and delivered a dissertation which is still in possession of the society today.


title: Joseph Bell

text: In his instruction, Joseph Bell emphasized the importance of close observation in making a diagnosis. To illustrate this, he would often pick a stranger, and by observing him, deduce his occupation and recent activities. These skills caused him to be considered a pioneer in forensic science, (forensic pathology in particular) at a time when science was not yet widely used in criminal investigation.


title: Joseph Bell

text: He served as personal surgeon to Queen Victoria whenever she visited Scotland. He also published several medical textbooks. Bell was a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RSCEd), a justice of the peace, and a deputy lieutenant. He was elected president of the RSCEd in 1887.


title: Joseph Bell

text: In 1883, Bell bought 2 Melville Crescent, a large townhouse, previously the home of the engineer John Miller of Leithen.


title: Joseph Bell

text: Joseph Bell died on 4 October 1911. He was buried at the Dean Cemetery in Edinburgh alongside his wife Edith Katherine Erskine Murray (1840–1874) and their son Benjamin, and next to his parents' and brother's plots. The grave is mid-way along the north wall of the northern section to the original cemetery.


title: Joseph Bell

text: Arthur Conan Doyle met Bell in 1877, and served as his clerk at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Doyle later went on to write a series of popular stories featuring the fictional character Sherlock Holmes, who Doyle stated was loosely based on Bell and his observant ways. Bell was aware of this inspiration. According to Irving Wallace (in an essay originally in his book "The Fabulous Originals" but later republished and updated in his collection "The Sunday Gentleman"), Bell was involved in several police investigations, mostly in Scotland, such as the Ardlamont mystery of 1893, usually with forensic expert Professor Henry Littlejohn. Bell also gave his analysis of the Ripper murders to Scotland Yard.


title: Joseph Bell

text: The BBC television series "" was a fictionalized account of Doyle's time as Bell's clerk. The series may have exaggerated Bell's criminal investigations as well as the degree to which Holmes was based on Bell (played by Ian Richardson), and it positioned Doyle in the role of a Dr. Watson to Bell's Holmes. The original one-off production, which led to the later series, was released on DVD and VHS in the US in 2003, titled "Dr. Bell and Mr. Doyle – The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes".


title: Joseph Bell

text: In 2006, Stone Publishing House published a book, written by historian Dr. Robert Hume, aimed at schoolchildren titled "Dr. Joseph Bell – the Original Sherlock Holmes".


title: Joseph Bell

text: In the "Doctor Who" episode "Tooth and Claw" in 2006, the time travelling adventurer known as the Doctor identifies himself as an ex-student of Bell to Queen Victoria.


title: Joseph Bell

text: The comic book "Les dossiers du Professeur Bell" by Joann Sfar is about the (fictional) supernatural adventures of Dr. Bell.


title: Joseph Bell

text: In episode 11, Season 5, of the Fox TV show "House M.D.", Wilson presents House with Joseph Bell's "Manual Of the Operations of Surgery" as a Christmas gift. The character of House is based on Holmes, who, as noted, was based in turn on Bell. When House's staff begin to wonder what dark meaning to put to House throwing away the expensive Christmas gift of the book, an amused Wilson begins making up a story about House having a closeted infatuation with a patient named Irene Adler whom he will always consider to be "the one who got away".


title: Joseph Bell

text: The novel "Mr. Doyle & Dr. Bell" (1997) by Howard Engel is a fictionalized account of Joseph Bell and his influence on Conan Doyle.


title: Joseph Bell

text: A bronze plaque memorial was erected to Joseph Bell at 2 Melville Crescent in Edinburgh, his home for his final decades, on 8 October 2011, the centenary of his death. The plaque explains Bell's connection to Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, and was organized and funded by the Japan Sherlock Holmes Club. The building is now the Japanese Consulate in Edinburgh.


title: Joseph Bell

text: The unveiling ceremony was attended by the several people involved in the erection of the plaque (principally Takeshi Shimizu) and representatives of various Sherlock Holmes clubs and societies. All present gave a short speech on their connections to either Holmes or the project, and a speech from Professor Owen Dudley Edwards. The plaque was created and cast by Powderhall Bronze of Edinburgh.


title: Bertha Mason

text: Bertha Antoinetta Rochester (née Mason) is a character in Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel "Jane Eyre". She is described as the violently insane first wife of Edward Rochester, who moved her to Thornfield Hall and locked her in a room on the third floor.


title: Bertha Mason

text: Bertha Mason is the only daughter of a very wealthy family living in Spanish Town, Jamaica. The reader learns of her past not from her perspective but only through the description of her unhappy husband, Edward Rochester. She is described as being of Creole heritage. According to Rochester, Bertha was famous for her beauty: she was the pride of the town and sought after by many suitors. Upon leaving college, Rochester was persuaded by his father to visit the Mason family and court Bertha. As he tells it, he first meets her at a ball she attended with her father and brother Richard, where he was entranced by her loveliness. Despite never being alone with her, and supposedly having had scarcely any interaction or conversation with her, he married her for her wealth and beauty, and with fierce encouragement from his own father and the Mason family. Rochester and Bertha began their lives as husband and wife in Jamaica. In recounting the history of their relationship, Rochester claims,


title: Bertha Mason

text: Rochester explains that he was not warned that violent insanity and intellectual disability ran in the Mason family and that the past three generations succumbed to it. He assumed Bertha's mother to be dead and was never told otherwise, but she was locked away in an asylum. Bertha also had an intellectually disabled younger brother. Rochester's father knew of this but did not bother to tell his son, caring only about the vast fortune the marriage would bring him, and the Mason family clearly wanted Bertha off their hands as quickly as possible. Rochester asserts that Bertha's mental health deteriorated quickly, though it is unclear which form of mental illness she has. Her insane, violent behaviour becomes frightening to behold. Her laughter is described as "demonic", she crawls on all fours, snarling, and behaving in a bestial manner.


title: Bertha Mason

text: Rochester returns with her to England and has her imprisoned in a third-floor room off the gallery of his house for ten years with Grace Poole, a hired nurse who keeps her under control. Rochester travels abroad to forget his horrible marriage. However, Grace drinks sometimes, and Bertha manages to escape, causing havoc in the house: starting a fire in Mr Rochester's bed and biting and stabbing her visiting brother.


title: Bertha Mason

text: Rochester's marriage to Bertha eventually stands in the way of his marrying Jane Eyre, who is unaware of Bertha's existence and whom he truly loves. (He later admits to Jane that he once thought he loved Bertha). As Bertha is insane he cannot divorce her, due to her actions being uncontrollable and thus not legitimate grounds for divorce. Years of violence, insanity, and confinement in an attic destroy Bertha's looks: when she sees Bertha in the middle of the night, Jane describes Bertha as looking "savage", even going so far as to compare her with a "German vampire". Bertha destroys Jane's wedding veil (an action that hints that Bertha is at least sane enough to be aware that her husband is planning to enter a bigamous marriage). Despite not loving her, Rochester attempts to save Bertha from a fire she starts in the house when she again escapes. Bertha dies after throwing herself off the roof, leaving her husband free to marry Jane.


title: Bertha Mason

text: Though her race is never mentioned, it is sometimes conjectured that she was of mixed race. Rochester suggests that Bertha's parents wanted her to marry him, because he was of "good race", implying that she was not pure white, while he was. There are also references to her "dark" hair, and "discoloured" and "black" face. A number of Victorian writers at the time suggested that madness could result from a racially "impure" lineage, compounded by growing up in a tropical West Indian climate.


title: Bertha Mason

text: The 1966 parallel novel "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys serves as a prequel to Brontë's novel. It is the story of Mason (there called Antoinette Cosway) from the time of her youth in the Caribbean to her unhappy marriage and relocation to England. Rhys's novel re-imagines Brontë's devilish madwoman in the attic. Bertha serves as Jane's "double", juxtaposing the feminist character to a character constrained by domesticity.


title: Bertha Mason

text: In "Wide Sargasso Sea", "Bertha Mason" is portrayed as being a false name for Antoinette Cosway. The book purports to tell Antoinette's side of the story, as well as Rochester's, and to account for how she ended up alone and raving in the attic of Thornfield Hall. According to the book, Antoinette's insanity and drunkenness are the result of Rochester's misguided belief that madness is in her blood and that she was part of the scheme to have him married blindly.


title: Bertha Mason

text: The characters of Jane Eyre and Antoinette are portrayed as being very similar; independent, vivacious, imaginative young women with troubled childhoods, educated in religious establishments and looked down on by the upper classes—and, of course, they both marry Mr Rochester. However, Antoinette is more rebellious than Jane and less mentally stable. She displays a deep vein of morbidity verging on a death-wish and, in contrast with Jane's overt Christianity, holds a cynical viewpoint of both God and religion in general.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: In 2021, Istat estimated that 5,171,894 foreign citizens lived in Italy, representing about 8.7% of the total population. These figures do not include naturalized foreign-born residents (about 1,620,000 foreigners acquired Italian citizenship from 1999 to 2020, of whom 130,000 did so in 2020) as well as illegal immigrants, the so-called "clandestini", whose numbers, difficult to determine, are thought to be at least 670,000.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: In 2021, around 6,260,000 people residing in Italy have an immigration background (around the 10.6% of the total Italian population).


title: Immigration to Italy

text: Starting from the early 1980s, until then a linguistically and culturally homogeneous society, Italy begun to attract substantial flows of foreign immigrants. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and, more recently, the 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the European Union, large waves of migration originated from the former socialist countries of Eastern Europe (especially Romania, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova and Poland). Another source of immigration is neighbouring North Africa (in particular, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia), with soaring arrivals as a consequence of the Arab Spring. Furthermore, in recent years, growing migration fluxes from Asia-Pacific (notably China and the Philippines) and Latin America have been recorded.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: Since the expansion of the European Union, the most recent wave of migration has been from surrounding European states, particularly Eastern Europe, and increasingly Asia, replacing North Africa as the major immigration area.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: Romanians made up the largest foreign community in the country (1,077,876; around 10% of them being ethnic Romani people) followed by Albanians (433,130) and Moroccans (428,940). The fourth largest, but the fastest growing, community of foreign residents in Italy was represented by the Chinese; as of 2021 there were 330,495 foreigners holding Chinese citizenship. The majority of Chinese living in Italy are from the city of Wenzhou in the province of Zhejiang. As of 2021, foreign citizens' origins were subdivided as follows: Europe (47,6%), Africa (22.25%), Asia (22.64%), The Americas (7.49%), and Oceania (0.04%).


title: Immigration to Italy

text: The distribution of foreigners is largely uneven in Italy: in 2020, 61.2% of foreign citizens lived in Northern Italy (in particular 36.1% in the Northwest Italy and 25.1% in the Northeast Italy), 24.2% in the Central Italy, 10.8% in the South Italy and 3.9% in the Insular Italy.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: The children born in Italy to foreign mothers were 102,000 in 2012, 99,000 in 2013 and 97,000 in 2014.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: On foreigners only, for more information dealing with foreigners who have subsequently acquired Italian citizenship refer to Eurostat site.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: According to the Ministry of Justice, the Italian prison population in 2019 counted 60,769 and of those 32.7% were foreigners. The largest groups came from Morocco (3,651), Albania (2,402), Romania (2,386), Tunisia (2,020), Nigeria (1,665).


title: Immigration to Italy

text: Amongst national origins counting more than 5,000 individuals at national level, Algeria, followed by Gambia and Tunisia, had the biggest proportion of detainees (with, respectively, 25.8, 23.7 and 20.7 inmates per 1,000 residents). On the other hand, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines had the lowest proportion of inmates per 1,000 residents (respectively, 0.13, and 0.50 for both Thailand and the Philippines).


title: Immigration to Italy

text: In 2018, a poll by Pew Research found that a majority (71%) wanted fewer immigrants to be allowed into the country, 18% wanted to keep the current level and 5% wanted to increase immigration.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: A 2019 poll by Yougov showed that 53% thought authorities should not accept more refugees from conflict areas, 25% were in favour of more refugees and 19% were undecided.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: According to poll published by "Corriere della Sera" in 2019, one of two respondents (51%) approved closing Italy's ports to further boat migrants arriving via the Mediterranean, while 19% welcomed further boat migrants.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: In 2021, 77% of Italians thought the current immigrant influx was too high, as underlined by a poll published by La Repubblica and carried out by YouGov.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: Due to the peninsula geographical position and close proximity to the North Africa coast, the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea has historically been the most used route for undocumented migrants. This route has become gradually more prominent, as flow through other routes to the EU gradually faded and political turmoil in Libya caused a general weakening of borders and coastal control, opening opportunities to people smuggling organisations.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: The principal destination for sea crossings boats and rafts are the southernmost Italian territories, the Pelagie Islands. These islands are 113 km from Tunisia, 167 from Libya and 207 from Sicily.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: The close distance between these islands and the African mainland has caused people smuggling organisations to employ boats and rafts otherwise hardly seaworthy, generally vastly filled above their capacity. Official reports list boats filled up to 2 or 3 times nominal capacity, including the use of rubber dinghies. This has led to several accidents at sea, as in 2007, the 2009, the 2011, the 2013, 2015. These accidents have become harder to document between 2014 and 2017, as people smuggling organisations changed their tactics: instead of aiming for a full crossing of the sea towards Lampedusa, their boats aimed just to exit Libyan territorial waters and then trigger rescue operation from passing mercantile vessels, seek and rescue organisations, Italian and Maltese coastguards and militaries. As per the United Nations Convention of the Sea, of which Italy is a subscriber, people rescued at sea have to be transported to the closest safe harbor: as Libya continues to be in political turmoil this means they are transported to Italy.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: Once in Italy, the EU Dublin Regulation requires migrants to apply for legal residence, protection or asylum permits in the first EU country they cross into, effectively barring them from legally crossing internal EU borders until their case has been processed and positively concluded. As the vast majority of migrant people landing in Italy targets destinations in Central and Northern European States, there is a tendency to avoid filing permits applications in Italy and rather try a northwards land journey.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: As a reaction to the gradual increase in migration flows through the Mediterranean Sea, Italian governments stepped up cooperation with Tunisian and Libyan authorities to halt activities of people smuggling organisation on land, as well as to allow boats rescued from the Italian Military in international waters to be towed back to the port where they left from. This policy, enacted in 2004 and 2005, sparked controversies related in particular to the compatibility with Italian and EU laws, as numerous reports documented acts of violence from Libyan authorities on migrant people. The policy was openly criticised by the EU Parliament.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: In 2008, Berlusconi’s government in Italy and Gaddafi’s government in Libya signed a treaty including cooperation between the two countries in stopping unlawful migration from Libya to Italy; this led to a policy of forcibly returning to Libya boat migrants intercepted by the Italian coast guard at sea. The cooperation collapsed following the outbreak of the Libyan civil war in 2011. In 2012 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Italy had violated the European Convention on Human Rights by returning migrants to Libya, as it exposed the migrants to the risk of being subjected to ill-treatment in Libya and violated the prohibition of collective expulsions., thus effectively ending the policy.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: In 2009, as the flow of migrants picked up again, the overcrowded conditions at the Pelagie Islands' temporary immigrant reception centre came under criticism by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The unit, which was originally built for a maximum capacity of 850 people, was reported to be housing nearly 2,000 boat people. A significant number of people were sleeping outdoors under plastic sheeting. A fire started as an inmate riot destroyed a large portion of the holding facility on 19 February 2009.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: In 2011, as Arab Spring rebellions in Tunisia and Libya disrupted government control over borders and coasts, by May 2011, more than 35,000 immigrants had arrived on the island of Lampedusa from Tunisia and Libya. By the end of August, 48,000 had arrived.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: As migration and asylum policies are exclusive responsibilities of each member State, the increased migration pressure at the EU Southern border sparked tensions between EU States on how to differentiate between people migrating due to economic reasons, which in principle are regarded as unlawful immigrants and thus are forced to leave or deported, and people fleeing violence or persecution for religious, sexual orientation, political reasons, who can be granted asylum rights. As the Libyan authoritarian governments struggled to keep control of the country, it allowed an increase in northbound migrant flows as a tactic to pressure Italy and the EU not to militarily intervene in the country, as Gaddafi feared his regime would be overthrown.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: Some Italian towns and cities disobeyed instructions from the national government to house migrants. The Mafia Capitale investigation revealed that the Italian Mafia profited from the migrant crisis and exploited refugees. The murder of Ashley Ann Olsen in her Italian apartment by an illegal immigrant from Senegal rapidly acquired political significance in the context of the European migrant crisis. The police chief of Florence addressed safety concerns and "assur[ed] the public that Florence remained safe" in the wake of the Olsen murder.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: Since 2014, thousands of migrants have tried every month to cross the Central Mediterranean to Italy, risking their lives on unsafe boats including fishing trawlers. Many of them were fleeing poverty-stricken homelands or war-torn countries and sought economic opportunity within the EU. Italy, and, in particular, its southern island of Lampedusa, received enormous numbers of Africans and Middle-Easterners transported by smugglers and NGOs operating along the ungoverned coast of the failed state of Libya.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: There were 153,842 Mediterranean sea arrivals to Italy in 2015, 9 percent less than the previous year; most of the refugees and migrants came from Eritrea, Nigeria, and Somalia, whereas the number of Syrian refugees sharply decreased, as most of them took the Eastern Mediterranean route from Turkey to Greece.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: The first three months of 2016 saw an increase in the number of migrants rescued at sea being brought to southern Italian ports. In April 2016, nearly 6,000 mostly sub-Saharan African migrants landed in Italy in four days. In June 2016, over 10,000 migrants were rescued in four days. In 2016, 181,100 migrants arrived in Italy by sea.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: In April 2017, more than 8,000 migrants were rescued near Libya and brought to Italy in three days. From January to November 2017, approximately 114,600 migrants arrived in Italy by sea. Approximately 5,000 African migrants were rescued in waters off the coast of Libya between 18–20 May 2017.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: After 2015, as an increased use of unseaworthy vessels by people smuggling organisations caused a marked increase in accidents at sea involving loss of lives, several European NGOs have started seek and rescue operations in close coordination with Italian Navy and coast guard units. These operations often happen close to Libyan territorial waters at the same time in order not to unlawfully enter Libyan jurisdictions and yet ensure migrants' safety. As per UNCLOS, rescued people are brought to the closer safe harbor, which is in most cases on Italian shore. This effectively means NGOs vessels are covering most of the distance between Libyan and Italian coast.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: Right-wing Italian newspapers and activists picked on that to make various claims, among which that NGOs active in migrants' assistance and rescue at sea would reap financial profits from their collaboration with the Italian authorities, or that some NGOs are part of unlawful people smuggling operations in coordination with operatives on Libyan coast, and funded by international criminal groups and financial institutions interested in developing political turmoil in Italy.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: The Italian Parliament investigated these claims and has found them to be unsubstantiated, with no further actions. Regardless of this, right-wing newspapers have continued campaigning against Italian and foreign NGOs.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: In August 2017 the ship "Iuventa" operated by the German NGO "Jugend Rettet" (youth to the rescue) was impounded on the island of Lampedusa on the order of an Italian prosecutor on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration. Jugend Rettet is one of the six out of nine NGOs which refused to sign a new code of conduct by the Italian government covering migrant rescues in the Mediterranean. The prosecutor alleged that there were "contacts, meetings and understandings" between the boat's crew and the smugglers. No crew members from the "Iuventa" had been charged and the prosecutor admitted that their motive was likely humanitarian. (Five out of eight refused to sign the new code of conduct, according to a Guardian article, the others refusing to sign being MSF, the Germany groups Sea-Watch, Sea-Eye and Jugend Rettet, and France's SOS Mediterranée '[all of whom] abstained'. 'MSF, SOS Mediterranée and Jugend Rettet... called for clarification of the rules' while MOAS and Spanish group Proactiva Open Arms agreed to the conditions, and Save the Children 'backed the measures'.)


title: Immigration to Italy

text: The Conte I Cabinet, influenced by hard-line Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, refused to let migrant ships dock in its waters. On 10 June 2018, Salvini announced the closure of Italian ports, stating that "Everyone in Europe is doing their own business, now Italy is also raising its head. Let's stop the business of illegal immigration." The vessel "Aquarius", which is operated jointly by "Médecins Sans Frontières" and "SOS Méditerranée" and carried more than 600 migrants, was refused a port of disembarkation by the Italian authorities despite having been told to rescue the migrants by the same co-ordination centre. The Italian authority told the vessel to ask Malta to provide a disembarkation port, but Malta has also refused. On the following day, the new Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez accepted the disputed migrant ship. On 12 June 2019, the "Sea Watch 3" ship picked up 53 migrants in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast. "Sea Watch 3" rejected an offer to dock at Tripoli, which is considered unsafe by humanitarian organizations, and headed toward Lampedusa. According to a report by the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" and NGOs this was the nearest safe harbor per maritime law. On 14 June, Italy closed its ports to migrant rescue ships. Salvini refused to allow the ship to dock until other European nations had agreed to take the migrants. Ten of the migrants, including children, pregnant women, and those who were ill, were allowed to disembark. On 29 June, without authorization, ship's captain Carola Rackete decided to dock. The motivation for this was that according to her the passengers were exhausted. Rackete was arrested by the Italian authorities after docking. Matteo Salvini accused Rackete of trying to sink an Italian patrol boat that was attempting to intercept her, calling the incident an act of war and demanding the Netherlands government intervention. However, on 2 July, Rackete was released from house arrest after a court ruling that she had broken no laws and acted to protect passengers' safety.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: In August 2019, Salvini announced a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Conte, after growing tensions within the majority. Salvini's alleged gambit failed, as Conte successfully negotiated the formation of a new cabinet with centre-left Democratic Party, which completely changed the immigration policy of the previous government, returning to receive NGO ships in Italian ports.


title: Immigration to Italy

text: On 2 August 2017 Italy's parliament authorized a limited naval mission to Libyan waters aimed at supporting the country's coastguard in the fight against illegal migration. Italy sent two patrol boats at the request of the UN-backed government in Tripoli and insisted it had no intention of violating Libyan sovereignty. However, General Khalifa Haftar, who controls most of eastern Libya, threatened to use his own forces to repel the Italians.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: The Glienicke Bridge (, ) is a bridge across the Havel River in Germany, connecting the Wannsee district of Berlin with the Brandenburg capital Potsdam. It is named after nearby Glienicke Palace. The current bridge, the fourth on the site, was completed in 1907, although major reconstruction was necessary after it was damaged during World War II.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: During the Cold War, as this portion of the Havel River formed the border between West Berlin and East Germany, the bridge was used several times for the exchange of captured spies and thus became known as the "Bridge of Spies".


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: The bridge spans the Havel narrows between the Jungfernsee (lake) to the north and the Glienicker Lake to the south. It carries the Bundesstraße 1 highway. The Glienicke Palace and Jagdschloss Glienicke are situated (across the highway from each other) near the east (Berlin) end of the bridge. Potsdam tram route 93 from Potsdam main station and Berlin bus route 316 from Wannsee station terminate and interconnect at a tram stop on the Potsdam end of the bridge. The respective Potsdam and Wannsee stations are served by the Berlin S-Bahn and by longer distance trains.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: A first wooden bridge across the Havel River at this location was built about 1660, in order to reach the hunting grounds around Stolpe. By the early 1800s, a new, non-wooden bridge was needed to accommodate the massive increase in traffic on the chaussee between the Prussian capital Berlin and the Hohenzollern residence in Potsdam. The architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel designed a brick and wood bascule bridge, which was finished in 1834. By the early 20th century, Schinkel's bridge was no longer able to handle the increased volume in traffic, and operating the moveable sections of the bridge caused delays in steamer traffic on the Havel River.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: In 1904, the Prussian government held a design competition to replace Schinkel's bridge with a modern, iron bridge. The Johann Caspar Harkort Company of Duisburg submitted the winning design, and the present-day bridge was inaugurated on 16 November 1907.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: The German film studio UFA shot the film "Unter den Brücken" (Under the Bridges) at the Glienicke Bridge in 1944 and 1945. At the end of April 1945, an unexploded shell severely damaged the bridge. The reconstruction of the steel bridge was not completed until 1949, after the establishment of West Germany and East Germany. The East German government named it the “Bridge of Unity" as the border between East Germany and Western Allied-occupied West Berlin ran across the middle of the bridge.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: During the early years of the Cold War, the bridge was mainly used by the Allies as a link between their Berlin sections and the military liaison missions in Potsdam. German residents of the two cities more frequently used the S-Bahn suburban rail to travel between Berlin and Potsdam. On 27 May 1952, East German authorities closed the bridge to citizens of West Berlin and West Germany. The bridge was closed to East German citizens after the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961. Only Allied military personnel and foreign diplomats were allowed to access the bridge at any time.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: Of all the checkpoints between West Berlin and East Berlin, as well as those between West Berlin and East Germany, the Glienicke Bridge had the uniqueness of being the only such checkpoint of not only having a Soviet presence, but also of being under full Soviet control; all other checkpoints were under East German control, and had no Soviet presence.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: By the 1970s, the bridge had outlived its projected lifespan and needed significant repairs. The cost of these repairs became a focus of a dispute between the government of West Berlin and the government of East Germany. In 1980 the West Berlin government repaired its half of the bridge, and in 1985 the West Berlin government paid for repairs to the East German half of the bridge in exchange for formally renaming the bridge "Glienicke Bridge" from "Bridge of Unity."


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: On the evening of 10 November 1989, one day after the opening of the Berlin Wall, the Glienicke Bridge was reopened for pedestrians. Border fortifications and barricades were dismantled as a part of German reunification in 1990.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: Because the Glienicke Bridge was a restricted border crossing between the Eastern Bloc (namely Potsdam in East Germany) and territory affiliated with the Western powers (namely the American sector of West Berlin), the Americans and Soviets used it for the exchange of captured spies during the Cold War. Reporters began calling it the "Bridge of Spies." When this name was later used as the title for various works, it was often taken to be a pun on "bridge of sighs" a name applied first to the bridge in Venice and then to others.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: The first prisoner exchange took place on 10 February 1962. The Americans released Rudolf Abel, convicted for spying for the Soviet Union in 1957, in exchange for Gary Powers, the pilot of a U-2 spy plane shot down in 1960.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: When US military attache Arthur D. Nicholson was shot by a Soviet sentry in March 1985, his body was returned to the US Army at the Glienicke Bridge.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: On 12 June 1985, there was a swap of 23 American agents held in Eastern Europe for Polish agent Marian Zacharski and another three Soviet agents arrested in the West. The exchange was the result of three years of negotiation.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: The final exchange was also the most public. On 11 February 1986 the human rights campaigner ("refusenik") and political prisoner Anatoly Shcharansky (now known as Natan Sharansky) and three Western agents were exchanged for Karl Koecher and four other Eastern agents.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: The Glienicke Bridge as a venue for prisoner exchange has appeared frequently in fiction, for example in the 1966 Harry Palmer film, "Funeral in Berlin", based on the novel of the same name by Len Deighton.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: The popular nickname "Bridge of Spies" was used by the British band T'Pau as the name of the title track on their first album. The usage is metaphorical, referring to a "walk to freedom" but in the context of a long-dreamt-of relationship.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: The bridge is referenced in the children's TV series "", specifically when a bridge in a local mall is used to exchange a spy from the KND in return for a spy from the Teenagers, a parody of real-life prisoner exchanges.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: There is a brief reference to the bridge in the sixth episode of the first season of "Archer", when Mallory Archer and her long-time lover (and head of the KGB) Major Nikolai Jakov mention meeting there "one moonlit night" when they both worked on covert operations in Berlin, presumably during the Cold War.


title: Glienicke Bridge

text: The 2015 film "Bridge of Spies", directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks, features the Powers–Abel prisoner exchange on the bridge as a major plot element.


title: Vaginal flatulence

text: Vaginal flatulence is an emission or expulsion of air from the vagina. It may occur during or after sexual intercourse or during other sexual acts, stretching or exercise. The sound is often comparable to flatulence from the anus, but does not involve waste gases, and thus often does not have a specific odor associated. Slang terms for vaginal flatulence include queef, vart, and fanny fart (mostly British).


title: Vaginal flatulence

text: Vaginal gas with a strong odor of fecal matter may be a result of colovaginal fistula, a serious condition involving a tear between the vagina and colon, which can result from surgery, child birth, diseases (such as Crohn's disease), or other causes. This condition can lead to urinary tract infection and other complications. Vaginal gas can also be a symptom of an internal female genital prolapse, a condition most often caused by childbirth.


title: Vaginal flatulence

text: Puffs or small amounts of air passed into the vaginal cavity during cunnilingus are not known to cause any issues. However, "forcing" or purposely blowing air at force into the vaginal cavity can cause an air embolism, which in very rare cases can be dangerous for the woman, and if pregnant, for the fetus.


title: Satellite Awards

text: The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place each year at the InterContinental Hotel in Century City, Los Angeles.


title: Satellite Awards

text: In 2011, the IPA combined the Drama and Comedy/Musical film awards into one category, affecting Best Film, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress awards.


title: Aqua vitae

text: Aqua vitae (Latin for "water of life") or aqua vita is an archaic name for a concentrated aqueous solution of ethanol. These terms could also be applied to weak ethanol without rectification. Usage was widespread during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, although its origin is likely much earlier. This Latin term appears in a wide array of dialectical forms throughout all lands and people conquered by ancient Rome. The term is a generic name for all types of distillates, and eventually came to refer specifically to distillates of alcoholic beverages (liquors).


title: Aqua vitae

text: "Aqua vitae" was typically prepared by distilling wine and in English texts was also called ardent spirits, spirit of wine, or spirits of wine, a name that could be applied to brandy that had been repeatedly distilled.


title: Aqua vitae

text: The term was used by the 14th-century alchemist John of Rupescissa, who believed the then newly discovered substance of ethanol to be an imperishable and life-giving "fifth essence" or "quintessence", and who extensively studied its medical properties.


title: Aqua vitae

text: "Aqua vitae" was often an etymological source of terms applied to important locally produced distilled spirits. Examples include whisky (from the Gaelic "uisce beatha"), "eau de vie" in France, "acquavite" in Italy, and "akvavit" in Scandinavia, "okowita" in Poland, оковита ("okovyta") in Ukraine, акавіта ("akavita") in Belarus, and яковита ("yakovita") in southern Russian dialects.


title: Vytautas

text: Vytautas (c. 135027 October 1430), also known as Vytautas the Great (Lithuanian: "", , "Vitaŭt", , "Witold Aleksander" or "Witold Wielki" Ruthenian: "Vitovt", Latin: "Alexander Vitoldus", Old German: "Wythaws or Wythawt") from the late 14th century onwards, was a ruler of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also the Prince of Grodno (1370–1382), Prince of Lutsk (1387–1389), and the postulated king of the Hussites.


title: Vytautas

text: In modern Lithuania, Vytautas is revered as a national hero and was an important figure in the national rebirth in the 19th century. "Vytautas" is a popular male given name in Lithuania. In commemoration of the 500-year anniversary of his death, Vytautas Magnus University was named after him. Monuments in his honour were built in many towns in the independent Lithuania during the interwar period from 1918 to 1939. It is known that Vytautas himself knew and spoke in the Lithuanian language with Jogaila.


title: Vytautas

text: Vytautas' uncle Algirdas had been Grand Duke of Lithuania until his death in 1377. Algirdas and Vytautas' father Kęstutis had ruled jointly in the form of diarchy, with Algirdas governing the east and Kęstutis the west, primarily responsible for defense against the Teutonic Order. Algirdas was succeeded by his son Jogaila, and a struggle for power ensued. In 1380, Jogaila signed the secret Treaty of Dovydiškės with the Teutonic Order against Kęstutis. When Kęstutis discovered this in 1381, he seized Vilnius, imprisoned Jogaila, and made himself Grand Duke. However, Jogaila escaped and raised an army against Kęstutis. The two sides confronted each other but never engaged in battle. Kęstutis was ready to negotiate, but he and Vytautas were arrested and transported to Kreva Castle. One week later, Kęstutis was found dead. Whether he died of natural causes or was murdered is still a matter of debate.


title: Vytautas

text: In 1382, Vytautas escaped from Kreva and he sought help from the Teutonic Order, who were negotiating with Jogaila at the time. Jogaila and the Order agreed to the Treaty of Dubysa, by which Jogaila promised to accept Christianity, become an ally of the Order, and give the Order part of Samogitia up to the Dubysa River. However, the treaty was never ratified and in summer 1383, the war between Jogaila and the Order resumed. Vytautas was baptised as a Catholic, receiving the name of Wigand (Lithuanian: "Vygandas"). Vytautas participated in several raids against Jogaila. In January 1384, Vytautas promised to cede part of Samogitia to the Teutonic Order, up to the Nevėžis River in return for recognition as Grand Duke of Lithuania. However, in July of the same year, Vytautas broke with the Order and reconciled with Jogaila. He then burned three important Teutonic castles, and regained all Kęstutis' lands, except for Trakai.


title: Vytautas

text: In 1385, Jogaila concluded the Union of Krewo with Poland, under which he married Jadwiga of Poland and became King of Poland as Władysław II Jagiełło.


title: Vytautas

text: Vytautas participated in the Union and in 1386 was re-baptised as a Catholic, receiving the name Alexander. In 1386 Vytautas paid homage to Jagiello, after his coronation to the king of Poland.


title: Vytautas

text: Jogaila left his brother Skirgaila as regent in Lithuania. However, Skirgaila was unpopular with the people and Vytautas saw an opportunity to become Grand Duke. In 1389, he attacked Vilnius but failed. In early 1390, Vytautas again allied with the Teutonic Order through the Treaty of Königsberg (1390). Vytautas had to confirm his agreement of 1384, and cede Samogitia to the Order. His army now invaded Lithuania. Also, to gain more influence, Vytautas married his only daughter Sophia to Vasili I of Russia in 1391.


title: Vytautas

text: The Polish nobles were unhappy that their new king spent too much time on Lithuanian affairs. It was clear that the war could continue for years and would not bring any benefit to Poland. In 1392, Jogaila sent Henry of Masovia with an offer to make Vytautas regent instead of Skirgaila. Vytautas accepted and again broke with the Order. He burned three Teutonic castles and returned to Vilnius. Jogaila and Vytautas signed the Astrava Treaty in which Vytautas recovered all Kęstutis' lands, including Trakai, and was given more. Vytautas would rule Lithuania in the name of Jogaila. After Vytautas' death, all his lands and powers would revert to Jogaila.


title: Vytautas

text: Vytautas continued Algirdas' vision to control as many Ruthenian lands as possible. Much of the territory was already under the Grand Duke's rule, but the rest was controlled by the Mongols. Tokhtamysh, Khan of the Golden Horde, sought help from Vytautas when he was removed from the throne in 1395 after his defeat by Timur. An agreement was reached that Vytautas would help Tokhtamysh to regain power, and the Horde would cede more lands to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in return. In 1398, Vytautas' army attacked a part of the Crimea and built a castle there. Now Lithuania spanned from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. A number of Tatar captives were brought to ethnic Lithuania.


title: Vytautas

text: Continuing attempts on the part of Poland to subordinate Lithuania drove Vytautas for the third time into the arms of the Order, and by the Treaty of Salynas in October 1398, Vytautas, who now styled himself , ceded his ancestral province of Samogitia to the knights, formed an alliance with them for the conquest and partition of Pskov and Novgorod the Great.


title: Vytautas

text: Inspired by his successful campaign against Timur, Vytautas and Jogaila won support from Pope Boniface IX for organising a crusade against the Mongols. This political move also demonstrated that Lithuania had fully accepted Christianity and was defending the faith on its own, and that the Teutonic Knights had no further basis for attacks against Lithuania. The campaign resulted in a crushing defeat at the Battle of the Vorskla River in 1399. Over twenty princes, including two brothers of Jogaila, were killed, and Vytautas himself barely escaped alive. This came as a shock to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland. A number of territories revolted against Vytautas, and Smolensk was retaken by its hereditary ruler, George of Smolensk, and not re-conquered by Lithuanians until 1404. Vytautas waged a war in 1406–1408 against his son-in-law Vasili I of Moscow and Švitrigaila, a brother of Jogaila who with the support of the Teutonic Order had declared himself grand prince. A major stand-off between the two armies ended without a battle in the Treaty of Ugra, by which Velikiy Novgorod was granted to Jogaila's brother Lengvenis, and the important city of Pskov to Jogaila's envoy Jerzy Nos, the latter settlement a clear violation of the treaty of Raciąż. The war with Muscovy ended in December 1408, on terms that made further conflict with the Teutonic Order inevitable, despite Hermann II of Celje's attempt to negotiate a solution.


title: Vytautas

text: In the Treaty of Salynas Vytautas had transferred Samogitia to the Teutonic Knights. Samogitia was especially important for the Order because it separated the Teutonic Knights, based in Prussia, from the Livonian Order, based in Latvia. The two orders desired to unite and form a mighty force. However, the knights ruled Samogitia for only three years, because on 13 March 1401, the Samogitians, supported by Vytautas, rebelled and burned two castles. The knights received support from Švitrigaila, brother of Jogaila, who desired to take Vytautas' title. In 1404 Peace of Raciąż was signed, which in essence repeated the Treaty of Salynas: Samogitia was transferred to the Teutonic Knights. Poland promised not to support Lithuania in case of another war. The knights promised to support Vytautas in the east and not to support any Gediminid who could have claims to the title of Grand Duke of Lithuania. However, the treaty did not solve the problems, and all the parties prepared for war.


title: Vytautas

text: In 1408, Vytautas reached peace in the east and returned to Samogitian matters. In 1409 the second Samogitian uprising against the Teutonic Knights began, as the rebels burned Skirsnemunė castle. Both Poland and Lithuania supported the rebels. Vytautas gathered a large army from 18 lands under his control. The army joined Polish forces and advanced towards the Teutonic headquarters at the castle of Marienburg (present-day Malbork). In 1410, Vytautas himself commanded the forces of the Grand Duchy in the Battle of Grunwald. The battle ended in a decisive Polish-Lithuanian victory. Even though the siege of Marienburg was unsuccessful, the Teutonic Knights never regained their strength and from then on posed a reduced threat to Poland-Lithuania. From now on, Poland-Lithuania began to be regarded in the west as a great power, and Vytautas stood in high favour with the Roman curia.