title: June Jones

text: While at SMU he was publicly questioned about the number of non-native Texas players on the team along with the lack of recruiting that was happening.


title: June Jones

text: After interviewing for the vacant coaching job at Hawaii, Jones was hired as the offensive coordinator at Kapolei High School in January 2016. In December 2016, Jones was named director of athletics at Saint Louis School and the door was left open for him to step into the football coach's job, if it opened.


title: June Jones

text: On August 2, 2017, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats hired Jones as an assistant coach. His hiring came after the team lost their first five regular season games of the season (the last of which was a 60–1 blowout). On August 24, 2017, the Ti-Cats named June the new head coach, after Kent Austin stepped down to focus on his duties as vice-president of Football Operations. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats were 0–8 at the time Jones was appointed to head coach.


title: June Jones

text: Jones quickly became embroiled in controversy when he attempted to hire his longtime friend and former Baylor University coach Art Briles as an assistant. Briles had been fired from Baylor for his actions in connection with a major sexual assault scandal at the school. Following a media firestorm, the team reversed the decision to hire Briles.


title: June Jones

text: After taking over, Jones led the Ti-Cats to a respectable 6–4 record for the remainder of the 2017 season. Because of this, the Tiger-Cats removed the interim tag and retained Jones as their Head Coach for the next three seasons.


title: June Jones

text: After an 8–10 season in 2018 (which included a playoff berth), Jones agreed to step aside for the highly sought after Orlando Steinauer to take over as head coach moving forward. Jones initially intended to stay on in 2019 as associate head coach and offensive coordinator but departed May 13, 2019. His record as a CFL head coach is 14–14.


title: June Jones

text: On May 20, 2019, the XFL confirmed it had hired Jones to serve as its Houston franchise's head coach.


title: June Jones

text: For the 2023 XFL season, Jones signed on as the offensive coordinator for Jim Haslett's coaching staff, with Jones stating that he and Haslett would be coaching the Seattle Sea Dragons.


title: June Jones

text: As an American collegiate coach, Jones's offenses rarely run the ball, favoring a wide-open, pass-heavy offense, the run and shoot approach; however, in 2010 sophomore tailback Zach Line rushed for over 1,450 yards in 14 games, making him the 11th best rusher in the FBS. Jones is also notable for never holding full-contact practices.


title: Toxicodendron vernix

text: Toxicodendron vernix, commonly known as poison sumac, or swamp-sumach, is a woody shrub or small tree growing to 9 metres (30 feet) tall. It was previously known as Rhus vernix. This plant is also known as thunderwood, particularly where it occurs in the southern United States. All parts of the plant contain a resin called urushiol that causes skin and mucous membrane irritation to humans. When the plant is burned, inhalation of the smoke may cause the rash to appear on the lining of the lungs, causing extreme pain and possibly fatal respiratory difficulty.


title: Toxicodendron vernix

text: Poison sumac is a shrub or small tree, growing up to nearly in height. Each pinnate leaf has 7–13 leaflets, each of which is long. These are oval-to-oblong; acuminate (tapering to a sharp point); cuneate (wedge-shaped) at the base; undulate (wavy-edged); with an underside that is glabrous (hairless) or slightly pubescent (down-like hair) beneath. The stems along the leaflets are red and the leaves can have a reddish tint to them, particularly at the top of the plant. New bark for a poison sumac tree is lightish gray, and as the bark ages, it becomes darker.


title: Toxicodendron vernix

text: Its flowers are greenish, growing in loose axillary panicles (clusters) long. The fruits are subglobose (not quite spherical), whitish-gray, flattened, and about across; these are eaten by birds.


title: Toxicodendron vernix

text: Poison sumac grows exclusively in wet and clay soils, usually in swamps and peat bogs, in the eastern United States and extreme southeast Canada.


title: Toxicodendron vernix

text: The fruit and leaves of the poison sumac plant contain urushiol, an oil that causes an allergic rash upon contact with skin. They are, however, not toxic to birds or other animals, and eaten by them when other food is scarce, especially in winter.


title: Toxicodendron vernix

text: In terms of its potential to cause urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, poison sumac is more toxic than its relatives poison ivy and poison oak.


title: Toxicodendron vernix

text: The differences in toxicity in poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac are due to differences in the side chains of the chemicals in these plants. In general, poison ivy has a C side chain, poison oak has a C side chain and poison sumac has a C side chain.


title: Toxicodendron vernix

text: The dermatitis shows itself in painful and long continued swellings and eruptions. In the worst case, smoke inhaled by burning poison sumac leads to life-threatening pulmonary edema whereby fluid enters the alveoli.


title: Kim Eun-hee

text: Kim Eun-hee (; born January 7, 1972) is a South Korean playwright and screenwriter. She has been working on the Netflix series "Kingdom" since 2011.


title: Kim Eun-hee

text: On March 5, 2017, Kim was announced as the creator and screenwriter for the Netflix political period horror thriller series "Kingdom". The series debuted on January 25, 2019 to critical acclaim. The series was renewed for a second season which was released on March 13, 2020. A special feature-length episode of the series, titled "Kingdom: Ashin of the North" was announced in November 2020. It was released on July 23, 2021 and focused on the supporting character Ashin played by Jun Ji-hyun.


title: Kim Eun-hee

text: On March 4, 2022, Kim donated 30 million won to the Children's Fund in Ukraine, along with her husband, Jang Hang-jun, to help Ukrainian victims in Russian invasion.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: The Saab 9-7X is a mid-size luxury SUV that was built by General Motors for the American market and sold under the Saab marque. The 9-7X was first revealed at the 2004 New York International Auto Show, and was available starting in the model year of 2005, as a replacement for the Oldsmobile Bravada.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: The Saab 9-7X was introduced in 2004 for the model year of 2005, and was made by General Motors, and the 9-7X was also built on the GMT360 platform, which is the same platform that the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Isuzu Ascender, Oldsmobile Bravada, and Buick Rainier were all built on. The 9-7X was Saab's first ever SUV.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: The Saab 9-7X was originally available in two trim levels for 2005: the Linear and the Arc. The Saab 9-7X was not available with a turbocharged engine, which was quite unusual for a Saab vehicle. All Saab 9-7X vehicles come with all wheel drive (2005 was the first year all wheel drive was offered by Saab), eighteen inch sport wheels, and sport tuned suspension as standard equipment. The 9-7X was built at GM's Moraine, Ohio assembly plant. The Saab 9-7X is classified as a midsize luxury SUV.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: When the 2005 Saab 9-7X had been introduced, it had served as the replacement for the Oldsmobile Bravada (which was discontinued as a direct result of the Oldsmobile brand being discontinued in 2004), along with the Buick Rainier. Most of the exterior styling on the Saab 9-7X and on the Buick Rainier was a direct transfer from the discontinued Bravada, except for a front fascia designed to resemble other Saab vehicles.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: From 2005 to 2009, the Saab 9-7X was the second most expensive luxury SUV made by General Motors, the most expensive being the Cadillac Escalade. GM had marketed the Saab 9-7X as a direct competitor to more upmarket luxury SUVs, like the Volvo XC90 and the Volkswagen Touareg.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: All Saab 9-7X models came standard with side curtain airbags, leather interior, heated front seats, automatic climate control, an AM/FM radio with a CD player and Bose speakers, as well as XM Satellite Radio, and OnStar. HomeLink was standard as well. All Saab 9-7X vehicles came with all-wheel drive as standard equipment. A touchscreen navigation system was available as an optional feature.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: For the model year of 2006, the Linear trim level was renamed as the 4.2i, and the Arc trim level was renamed as the 5.3i. The 4.2i trim level comes with the 4.2L inline six engine, and was rated at and of torque. The 5.3L V8 engine was rated at an estimated and of torque.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: For the model year of 2008, the new Aero trim level was added as a more luxurious version of the Chevrolet Trailblazer SS. Both the Saab 9-7X Aero and the Chevrolet Trailblazer SS came with the 6.0L LS2 V8 engine, which is the same engine that was used in the 2005 to 2007 model of the Chevrolet Corvette. The Saab 9-7X had also came with a 4L60E four speed automatic transmission as standard equipment.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: Also for the model year of 2008, the Saab 9-7X with the 5.3L V8 engine was available with "Displacement on Demand" technology to reduce fuel consumption. Saab had made enhancements to the vehicle's GM made chassis. Saab had also added a lower ride height, firmer springs and shock absorbers, larger brakes with steel front calipers, a strengthened frame, steering revisions and a thicker front stabilizer bar.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: A self leveling rear air suspension was also added. The 9-7X, along with the other GM midsize SUVs built on GM's GMT360 platform were originally scheduled to be redesigned for the model year of 2007, but instead, GM had decided to continue the production the GMT360 SUVs and to only give them minor updates.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: The 9-7X as well as the other GMT360 midsize SUVs made by GM were not scheduled to be redesigned, updated, or to continue production after the 2009 model year, as well a result of GM closing their Moraine, Ohio assembly plant, which was where the GMT360 SUVs were built on December 23, 2008. As a result of this, the Saab 9-7X was discontinued after the 2009 model year.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: Although the Saab 9-7X was developed for the North American market, the model was also sold in other countries, including Chile, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, the Middle East, Sweden and Syria.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: In August 2012, General Motors recalled more than 258,000 SUVs in the United States and Canada to fix short circuits in power window and door lock switches that could cause fires. The recall covered Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, Isuzu Ascender and Saab 9-7X SUVs from the model years of 2006 and 2007. The SUVs were sold or registered in twenty states in the United States, Washington D.C. and in Canada.


title: Saab 9-7X

text: Recalls were made due to fire in vehicles. Moisture entered through the door and caused the issue. In 2008, the electrical system in the doors were covered in plastic to protect them.


title: Mleccha

text: Mleccha (from Vedic Sanskrit "", meaning "non-Vedic", "foreigner" or "barbarian") is a Sanskrit term, initially referring to those of an incomprehensible speech, later foreign or barbarous invaders as contra-distinguished from elite groups.


title: Mleccha

text: The word Mleccha was commonly used for foreign 'barbarians of whatever race or colour'. As a "mlechchha (or mleccha)", any foreigner stood outside the caste system and the ritual ambience. Thus, historically, contact with them was viewed by the Hindu as polluting.


title: Mleccha

text: Among the tribes termed Mleccha were Sakas, Hunas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Pahlavas, Bahlikas and Rishikas. The Amarakosha described the Kiratas, Khasas and Pulindas as the Mleccha "Jātis". Indo-Greeks, Scythians, Kushanas and Arabs were also mlecchas.


title: Mleccha

text: The Sanskrit word "mleccha" does not have a standard Indo-European etymology and has no counterpart in Iranian languages. However, it has cognates in Middle Indo-Aryan languages: Pali "milakkha", and Prakrit "mliccha", from the latter of which originate Sindhi "milis", Punjabi "milech", Kashmiri "brichun" (weep or lament), Western Pahari "melech" (dirty). The Sanskrit word occurs as a verb "mlecchati" for the first time in the latic Vedic text "Śathapatha‐Brāhmana" dated to around 700 BCE. It is taken to mean "to speak indistinctly or barbarously". Brahmins are prohibited from speaking in this fashion.


title: Mleccha

text: As "mleccha" does not have an Indo-European etymology, scholars infer that it must have been a self-designation of a non-Aryan people within India. Based on the geographic references to the "Mleccha deśa" (Mleccha country) to the west, the term is identified with the Indus people, whose land is known from the Sumerian texts as Meluḫḫa. Asko Parpola has proposed a Dravidian derivation for "Meluḫḫa", as "mel-akam" ("high country", a possible reference to the Balochistan high lands). Franklin Southworth suggests that mleccha comes from "mizi" meaning 'speak', or 'one's speech' derived from Proto-Dravidian for language.


title: Mleccha

text: Pali, the older Prakrit used by Theravada Buddhism, uses the term "milakkha". It also employs "milakkhu", a borrowing from a Dramatic Prakrit.


title: Mleccha

text: Some explanations of the name "mleccha" suggest that the word was derived from the Indo-Aryan perception of the speech of the indigenous peoples. Namely, "mlech" was a word that meant "to speak indistinctly." As such, some suggest that the Indo-Aryans used an onomatopoeic sound to imitate the harshness of alien tongue and to indicate incomprehension, thus coming up with "mleccha".


title: Mleccha

text: Early Indo-Aryans spoke Sanskrit, which evolved into the various local modern Sanskrit-derived languages. Sanskrit was believed to include all the sounds necessary for communication. Early Indo-Aryans would therefore dismiss other languages as foreign tongue, "mleccha bhasha". As the Sanskrit word itself suggests, "mlecchas" were those whose speech was alien. "Correct speech" was a crucial component of being able to take part in the appropriate "yajna"s (religious rituals and sacrifices). Thus, without correct speech, one could not hope to practice correct religion, either.


title: Mleccha

text: The notion of being Arya suggested a knowledge of Sanskrit in order to effectively perform ritual hymns; thus suggesting the importance of language. Parasher discusses the importance of knowing the "correct speech" in order to perform sacrifice and ritual in the religion of the "brahmanas". Parasher continued that: "The best experts of the sacrificial art were undoubtedly the various families of the Brahmins who, placed in a hierarchy within the Indo-Aryan social system, became the upholders of pure and best speech".


title: Mleccha

text: Historians note that early Indo-Aryans believed Sanskrit to be the superior language over all other forms of speech. As such, mleccha or barbarian speech was said to have meant any of the following: "1) a language which was not necessarily alien, but the speech of the person or persons was improper because it was either hostile or vulgar; 2) a language, and here most probably Sanskrit, that was mispronounced and, thereby, incomprehensible: 3) finally, any foreign tongue which was naturally incomprehensible because it was unintelligible to those who did not understand a particular language".


title: Mleccha

text: Historians have stated that the notion of foreigners in ancient India – those living outside of the Indian subcontinent – was often accompanied by the idea that one was a barbarian. Still, it seemed that groups who did not come from outside of these areas, as well as foreigners, were designated by the term "mleccha", which carried with it a barbarian connotation.


title: Mleccha

text: Thus another distinction that was made between the mlecchas and non-mlecchas was area of habitation. Though they were considered a marginal group, the area characterize as the mleccha-desa (the natural border that separated their lands from that of the Aryans) was never permanent. Instead, it was defined by the changing ideas about the Āryāvarta. Parasher noted that "the only consistent areas dubbed as "mleccha desa" were those regions inhabited by 'primitive tribes' who for long periods of time did not come under the sway of the Brahmanical, Buddhist or Jaina influence".


title: Mleccha

text: Though the area of the Aryas expanded with time, the notion that was held over all of the land was that of "purity." As Vedic literature refers only to the places and territories that were familiar to the Indo-Aryans, these lands eventually became part of the Āryāvarta. Parasher thus indicates that the Āryāvarta was designated as "[t]he region where the river Sarasvati disappears is the Patiala district in Punjab. The Pariyatra mountains belong to the Vindhya range, probably the hills of Malwa. The Kalakavana is identified with a tract somewhere near Prayaga." Still, other interpretations of the Āryāvarta refer to those areas where the black antelope roams, for these areas are fit for the performance of sacrifice. Early Vedic literature focused on defining the area of habitation of the aryas for this land was considered pure; yet there is no actual reference to the mleccha country or behavior. Wherever the territory, though, the implications of naming such lands as the Aryavarta is that any lands excluded from that area were considered impure.


title: Mleccha

text: Further, there is evidence that Indians of the Vedic period actually had contact with people outside of the subcontinent, namely the Persians. The Persians, who ruled over the Indus river valley during this time (522–486 BC) were not designated as mleccha, perhaps because they did not interfere with the brahminical way of life.


title: Mleccha

text: Later Vedic literature speaks of the western Anava tribes as mlecchas and occupying northern Punjab, Sindh and eastern Rajasthan. The tribes of the north were mlecchas either because they were located on the frontiers such as Gandhara, Kashmira and Kambojas and therefore both their speech and culture had become contaminated and differed from that of Āryāvarta, or else, as in the case of southern India, they were once Aryas but having forsaken the Vedic rituals were regarded to mleccha status.


title: Mleccha

text: The word "mleccha" emerged as a way for the ancient Hindus to classify those who did not subscribe to the "traditional value system," though the characteristics of the so-called system were ambiguous. In sum, though, the idea was that the mlecchas were peoples who did not conform to what was culturally acceptable.


title: Mleccha

text: Early writings refer to these foreign peoples as "half-civilized, unconverted people who rise or eat at improper times." They stated that monks and nuns should avoid certain areas of habitation because they were unsafe. Namely, that "the ignorant populace might beat, harass, rob them under the impression that they were spies from hostile villages." Further, while some of these non-mlecchas, such as those of the Jaina faith, had established contact with people of the forest tribes, they were automatically designated as mlecchas. This was the typical attitude of people from the plains who took pride in their norms of settled agricultural and urban lifestyles.


title: Mleccha

text: Historians note that there were also systems in place to determine the validity – or "purity" – of certain customs, which would ultimately be judged by the Priest. As such there were intricate rules in place to define purity from impurity, laws of behavior, as well as rituals and customs, in an effort to educate the members of the Brahmanical system. Namely, these advisors took great pains to ensure that peoples of the Brahmanical system did not subscribe to any mleccha customs or rituals.


title: Mleccha

text: The Sanskrit-ization of names was a common feature among both indigenous and foreign mlecchas who slowly tried to move away from their status of mleccha. Very often, in the case of ruling families, it took one to two generations to make a transition. One of the most direct forms of the expression of the Brahmanical ritual purity was the form and type of food which a Brahmin could eat. He was forbidden to accept cooked food from any unclean person. Thus when the Punjab region became a mleccha area conquered by Muslims, the staple food was given a lower place in the food-ranking. By the twelfth century AD, wheat was described in one lexicon as 'food of the mlecchas', and rice became the 'pure' cereal. Onions and garlic was also regarded as the food of the mlecchas and therefore prohibited to the priestly intellectual class of Brahmins. Mlecchas drank alcohol, ate cow flesh, which was strictly forbidden to a follower of Hindu orthopraxy, and believed in false gods.


title: Mleccha

text: "And the whole world will be filled with "mleccha" behavior and notions and ceremonies, and sacrifices will cease and joy will be nowhere and general rejoicing will disappear.[...] And, O Yudhishthira, the whole world will be "mlecchified". And men will cease to gratify the gods by offerings of Sraddhas. And no one will listen to the words of others and no one will be regarded as a preceptor by another. And, O ruler of men, intellectual darkness will envelop the whole earth."


title: Mleccha

text: In the "Mahabharata", some Mleccha warriors are described as having "heads completely shaved or half-shaved or covered with matted locks, [as being] impure in habits, and of crooked faces and noses They are "dwellers of hills" and "denizens of mountain-caves. Mlecchas were born of the cow (belonging to Vasishtha), of fierce eyes, accomplished in smiting looking like messengers of Death, and all conversant with the deceptive powers of the Asuras".


title: Mleccha

text: Swami Parmeshwaranand states the mleccha tribe was born from the tail of the celestial cow Nandini, kept by Vashishta for sacrificial purposes when there was a fight between Vishvamitra and Vasistha. The "Mahabharata" gives the following information regarding them:


title: Mleccha

text: The term is not attested in the Vedas, but occurs for the first time in the late Vedic text the "Shatapatha Brahmana". The Baudhayana sutras define a mleccha as someone "who eats beef or indulges in self-contradictory statements or is devoid of righteousness and purity of conduct".


title: Mleccha

text: Medieval Hindu literature, such as that of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, also uses the term to refer to those of larger groups of other religions, especially Muslims. In medieval India, a foreign visitor al-Biruni (died 1048) noted that foreigners were regarded as 'unclean' or 'Mleccha' and Hindus were forbidden any social or matrimonial contact with them.


title: Mleccha

text: According to the Gwalior inscription of his descendant Mihira Bhoja, the Gurjara-Pratihara dynasty ruler Nagabhata I repulsed a mleccha invasion. These mlechchhas are identified with the Arab Muslim invaders.


title: Big Miracle

text: Big Miracle is a 2012 drama film directed by Ken Kwapis, and stars Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski. The film is based on Tom Rose's 1989 book "Freeing the Whales", which covers Operation Breakthrough, the 1988 international effort to rescue gray whales trapped in ice near Point Barrow, Alaska.


title: Big Miracle

text: In small town Alaska, Adam Carlson, a news reporter, recruits his ex-girlfriend Rachel – a Greenpeace volunteer – on a campaign to save a family of gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle. Adam names the adult whales Fred and Wilma, and the infant Bamm-Bamm.


title: Big Miracle

text: Drawn into the collaborative rescue work are several normally hostile factions: Inupiat whale hunters, a Greenpeace environmental activist, an oil executive, ambitious news reporters, the National Guard, the American president and politicians on the state, national and international levels. Also joining in the effort are two entrepreneurs from Minnesota, who provide de-icing machines to help keep the hole open.


title: Big Miracle

text: Finally an enormous Soviet ice-breaker ship arrives to remove the last barrier before the whales die. The ship's first attempt leaves only a dent. The ice is finally broken and the adult whales escape the ice. The infant whale dies from injuries.


title: Big Miracle

text: The epilogue, narrated by Nathan, reveals that McGraw used his new reputation to uphold a contract to clean up the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Karl and Dean's de-icers made them local celebrities, Scott and Kelly were married, Jill worked her way up to a national news network, Greenpeace membership became more prominent, Adam confesses his love for Rachel and she returns his affections and they share a kiss, Adam got to stay being a news anchor, and both Nathan and Malik became closer to one another, and Nathan recalls about the hole in which the whales were first found and quotes, "It kept getting bigger and bigger, until it let the whole world in."


title: Big Miracle

text: Warner Bros. bought the screenplay by Jack Amiel and Michael Begler in April 2009, and in the following June, Kwapis was attached to direct. In September 2010, with Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski cast in the starring roles, filming began in Seward. It had a production budget of $30 or 40 million. The crew constructed sets in Anchorage to resemble places in Utqiagvik during the whale rescue. Filming lasted for . The film's working title was "Everybody Loves Whales", which is a line still heard in the film. Visual effects on "Big Miracle" were created by Rhythm and Hues Studios and Modus FX. Burger King promoted the movie with toys. The MPAA has rated this film PG for language.


title: Big Miracle

text: The red-and-black Soviet icebreaker in the movie is modeled after real world "Arktika"-class nuclear-powered icebreaker which is considerably larger than the diesel-electric icebreaker used in the actual rescue effort, the 1975-built "Admiral Makarov". In shots which include live footage of the 2007-built "50 Let Pobedy", the blue-and-white polar bear logo of the former operator of the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet, Murmansk Shipping Company, is clearly visible but the atom symbol on the hull as well as the name of the vessel has been airbrushed out.


title: Big Miracle

text: On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a "Certified Fresh" rating of 75% based on reviews from 104 critics. The site's consensus was: ""Big Miracle" uses real-life events as the basis for a surprisingly satisfying family drama." On Metacritic the film holds a score of 61 out of 100 based on 28 reviews.


title: Big Miracle

text: The film grossed $2,267,385 on its opening day, ranking at No. 4 behind "Chronicle", "The Woman in Black", and "The Grey" at the box office. The film grossed $7,760,205 on its opening weekend and remained at the same spot. On its second weekend the film dropped to #8, with $3,946,050. The film closed its run on April 5, 2012, with $24,719,215 worldwide.


title: Chief Minister of Punjab (Pakistan)

text: The Chief Minister of Punjab () is the head of government of the Pakistani province of Punjab. The chief minister leads the legislative branch of the provincial government, and is elected by the Provincial Assembly. Given that he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits. Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is the current chief minister of Punjab.


title: Chief Minister of Punjab (Pakistan)

text:
Muslim League Pakistan Peoples Party Pakistan Muslim League (N)/Islami Jamhoori Ittehad Pakistan Muslim League (J) Pakistan Muslim League (Q) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
(C) – Caretaker
(T) – Trustee


The Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (PMSSR), also commonly known as Soviet Transnistria or simply known as Transnistria, was created on the eastern periphery of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic (MSSR) in 1990 by pro-Soviet separatists who hoped to remain within the Soviet Union when it became clear that the MSSR would achieve independence from the USSR and possibly unite with Romania. The PMSSR was never recognised as a Soviet republic by the authorities in either Moscow or Chișinău. In 1991, the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic succeeded the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic.


title: Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic

text: The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic from which the PMSSR seceded was created in 1940 following the Soviet annexation of territory belonging to the Kingdom of Romania. When Bessarabia was ceded to the Soviet Union as a result of an ultimatum, it was combined with a strip of land on the left bank of the Dniester which had formed the nucleus of a Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (MASSR), an autonomous republic of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic with Tiraspol as its executive capital, throughout the interwar period.


text: The newly fused territory became the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic and was quickly sovietized. In this process of collectivization and "dekulakization", the left bank of the Dniester had a clear advantage: the territory had been collectivized during the First Five-Year Plan (FFYP) during the 1930s, it had enjoyed a reasonable amount of industrialisation, and boasted relatively experienced, trustworthy cadres.


text: The MASSR had been formed on the basis of what Terry Martin has termed the Soviet "Piedmont Principle": by creating a "homeland" for Moldovans across the Romanian border, the Soviet leadership hoped to advance their claims on Romanian territory. While the role of the MASSR in the Soviet Union's eventual incorporation of this land was negligible—the Soviet ultimatum to Romania did not mention the Moldovan nation, let alone use its right to national self-determination as justification for the invasion—the former autonomous republic did provide a Soviet elite ready to assume leadership in the new union republic.


text: In the second half of the 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev set the political context for the war in Moldova and redefined the political process in the union republics with a series of reforms that comprised his program for perestroika. While intended to reinvigorate the Soviet system, perestroika also undermined the strength of key institutions which provided for central control of the Soviet Union. Inadvertently undermining the power of the communist party, Gorbachev set the stage for a devolution of power into a federated state structure which essentially resulted in the devolution of power to the governments of the fifteen Soviet republics. This devolution of centralized power to republican legislatures ("soviets" in the terminology of the Soviet Union) was matched by a simultaneous explosion of mass participation in the now open debate about the Soviet future.


text: In the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, as elsewhere in the Soviet Union, political activity was expressed in various ways, including by organizing groups and clubs independent of the government that had long withheld the right of association to any sort of civil organization. Two sets of concerns were particularly prominent in the debates that accompanied the opening of political dialogue in the late 1980s. The first was concern for the ecologic devastation that was so characteristic of Soviet industrial society. The second, and increasingly ascendant concern revolved around the Moldovan language and whether it was distinct from the Romanian language or not, and national heritage, which many felt had been trammeled by Soviet and Russian domination.


text: These concerns found expressing in the activism of the Moldovan Movement in Support of Restructuring—a movement of the intelligentsia oriented mostly towards generalized economic and political liberalization—and the Alexei Mateevici Literary-Musical Club, which pulled together prominent cultural and political figures, activists and citizens to celebrate and discuss the language, literature and history of the Moldovans. Cultural revival was just one of the issues championed by such informals in early 1988. However, during the course of that year events around the Soviet Union, and particularly the bloody clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh and the pogrom against Armenians in Sumgait, brought issues of ethnicity increasingly to the fore in the union press. In Moldova, social movements increasingly began to focus on three issues involving language: the identity of the Moldovan language and whether it was separate from the Romanian language or not, the artificiality of the use of the Cyrillic alphabet for this supposed Moldovan language, and need for Moldovan to be given the status of official language of the republic. By June 1988, the Moldovan republican government began taking its cue from social movement leaders and discussing these issues, touching off the events that culminated in the creation of the Transnistrian state.


text: Social mobilization came late to the eastern cities that became the centers of pro-Pridnestrovian activity (mid-1989) and it followed a different model than in did in western (Bessarabian) Moldova. Social mobilization in Tiraspol and Tighina (Bender) was mostly achieved through workplace networks called Work Collective Councils Work Collective Soviets ("sovety trudovykh kollektivov", STKs). The mobilization in Transnistria was a reaction to the national revivalist mobilization in Bessarabian Moldova. Russian-speaking workers in the eastern factories and Moldovans with a strong identification with the Soviet state used work collective councils to organize opposition to national revivalists in the Moldovan capital. The councils were created throughout the Soviet Union in 1987 with the "Law on State Enterprises" as part of the perestroika reforms. They were intended to foster democratization and increase efficiency in Soviet industry. However, they were also ready-made forums for debate and provided a structure which activists used to take control of Moldovan industry in late 1989. The national revivalist movements were created essentially from scratch and led by cultural figures. The "internationalist" (pro-Soviet) movement in Transnistria took advantage of workplace institutions to build a countermovement and looked to engineers and factory managers for leadership.


text: Newly empowered by the weakened CPSU, and increasingly pressured by the ascendant movement for national reawakening, the Moldavian Supreme Soviet (which became the Moldovan legislature in June 1990) announced the creation of a body—the Interdepartmental Commission for the Study of the History and Problems of the Development of Moldovan—to research the language question and make recommendations. Staffed as it was with Moldova's Romanianized cultural elite, the commission recommended the republican government accept all three points of the national revivalists' demands. (That is (1) the identity of the Moldovan and Romanian language, (2) the artificiality of the use of the Cyrillic alphabet for the Moldovan language, and (3) need for Moldovan to be given the status of official language of the republic. See above.) Armed with these recommendations, the Supreme Soviet asked for the draft legislation to be presented in March for "public discussion" of the proposals "before the next session of the Supreme Soviet" in August. This move did nothing to diffuse the inevitable tension involved with the very project. Proponents mobilized to expand the legally protected role of the state language and push the Supreme Soviet to recognize the identity of Moldovan and Romanian while opponents mobilized to protect the legal status quo. A further draft leaked in August further escalated tensions because its opponents believed that it was even more pro-nationalist and radical than the first draft.


text: The law was passed in a stormy Supreme Soviet session on 31 August 1989. It declared that "The state language of Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic is Moldovan. The state language is used in political, economic, social and cultural life and functions on the basis of the Latin alphabet." However, it went on to promise protection of Russian and other languages of Moldova's minority populations. The passage of the language laws was accompanied by massive rallies outside the legislature building in Chișinău with upwards of 500,000 people gathered in a "Grand National Assembly" in Chișinău's Victory Square outside of the Supreme Soviet building to show their support. Elsewhere in Chișinău and other cities, smaller rallies voiced opposition. The most effective opposition came in the form of a massive strike movement that originated in the Transnistrian city of Tiraspol.


text: While the group "Intermovement"-""Unitate-Edinstvo"" ("Unity") was the first to organize significant opposition to the language legislation, more effective activity began in the workplace. STKs became the focus around which opposition activity turned in the early part of the conflict. In Transnistria, close-knit work collectives were ready-made institutional alternatives to the Communist Party cells—also omnipresent at the Soviet workplace. From 1989 to 1991, many Transnistrian party members handed in their party cards or simply stopped paying their dues. By the end of August 1989, STKs had "de facto" control over their factories throughout much of Transnistria. Often they worked with or were dominated by, factory management. Occasionally, they effectively ousted unsympathetic directors or staff.


text: Many that were to become active in the strike campaign had been suspicious of the language legislation from the beginning—they suspected this to be the first step towards "nationalization" of the republic at the expense of "their country," the Soviet Union. However, on 10 August 1989 I. M. Zaslavskii, a deputy to the Moldavian Supreme Soviet and resident of the Transnistrian city of Tiraspol, leaked a new draft of the law to the factory newspaper of the "Tochlitmash" Tiraspol Machine-Building Factory im. Kirova. Seeing that the new version would establish Moldovan as the only official language of the MSSR, activists from a number of Tiraspol factories came together to create the United Work Collective Council ("Ob"edinnennyi Sovet trudovykh kollektivov", OSTK) and called an immediate strike that eventually led to the shutdown of most major industrial activity (concentrated in the Transnistrian region) throughout the SSR. The OSTK began using the STKs in the same way the party had used its cells.


text: The peak of the strike movement came in September 1989 in the immediate aftermath of the MSSR Supreme Soviet's passage of the language legislation. Vladimir Socor, analyst for the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, places the total number of strikers in the MSSR at close to 200,000, writing, "By August 29, when the session of the Moldavian Supreme Soviet convened, more than 100,000 workers and employees at over 100 enterprises were on strike in the republic; their numbers almost doubled within four days." This level of mobilization was not long sustained. In part convinced that the language legislation would not be repealed, and in part reassured by the sympathetic conclusions of a commission sent by the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, the OSTK (temporarily embodied in the United Republican Strike Committee) decided to end the strike on 15 September 1989.


text: The strike failed in its immediate goal—to prevent the passage of the language legislation—but it did provide a watershed in Transnistrian history; after the strike, the left bank of the Dniester, and in particular the city of Tiraspol, were essentially controlled by a group of engineers and factory managers hostile to the government in Chișinău, a group that controls Transnistria to this day. In the days immediately before the language legislation was considered by the Moldovan Supreme Soviet the OSTK began issuing a series of very credible threats to the local and republican leadership. At the same time as it was organizing industrial strikes the central committee of the OSTK began sending resolutions to the local government of Tiraspol demanding that the city leadership recognize and support OSTK control over factories and eventually flatly informed the city government that the OSTK had decided to "take the responsibility on itself for the support of social order and discipline in production, and for the provision of normal life for the population of the city in the period of the deteriorating situation." In effect, the OSTK held the factories and their neighborhoods hostage to prod local government acting on their behalf in Chișinău and to warn the Supreme Soviet away from its intended course.


text: The OSTK did receive some support from local politicians in the larger eastern cities (Tiraspol, Tighina, and Rîbnița). The city governments of all three cities appealed to the Moldovan Supreme Soviet to postpone making a decision on the language question. The leaders of the communist organization in these cities, however, claimed that they did this just to defuse the explosive situation. For example, Evgenii Berdnikov of Rȋbniţa said "We could not stop this process," at a meeting with Moldovan First Secretary, Semion Grossu. "We were only trying to direct it out of the hands of incompetent people that play on people's emotions." The concession made, he explained, could be quietly dropped at a later time.


text: While the strikes were extremely effective in paralyzing Moldovan industry, there were many instances were individuals and groups happy with the language legislation managed to win the day and keep their factories open. Moreover, some workers organized anti-strike committees to fight against the activities of the OSTK. Supreme Soviet Deputy from Tiraspol and firm supporter of the language laws, Leonida Dicusar, talked in September about the extreme pressure experienced by those brave few who worked to keep the factories open in the face of overwhelming odds. "I had a meeting with representatives of the anti-strike committee of one enterprise," she told fellow central committee members. "They told me about how they heroically withstood pressure, blackmail, belittling, and insults during the strike from the Russophone population." Elsewhere, the OSTK even had to give in to resistance. On 26 August the director of a textiles factory in Rȋbniţa told the city strike committee that the factory committee was not in control of the situation. "Between the workers there had been fights and scandals. A part of the weavers, about 1000 people, want to return to work and the rest were against them." In light of the potentially explosive situation, the factory director asked the factory and city strike committees to consider reopening. In this case, the city strike committee conceded. Far more common, however, national revivalist individuals were isolated and vulnerable. Ilie Ilaşcu, famous for having a Transnistrian court sentence him to death in 1992 for terrorism on behalf of the Moldovan state, is one such example. As head economist of one Tiraspol factory, he was derided as "head extremist" by coworkers before he was fired. His employer reinstated Ilaşcu after he protested with the city prosecutor, but he continued to clash with coworkers and local authorities as the city's branch chairman of the Popular Front of Moldova.


text: In both Transnistria and western Moldova, the winter of 1989–1990 was strained. In Chișinău, a popular movement for national revival and national sovereignty was in full force. Activists defied the communist party openly and consistently and in some cases, communist officials and symbols were publicly attacked. In Transnistria, activists for the opposing social movement were less of a presence on the streets, but the communist party attempted to reassert its power in the area after being marginalized by the OSTK in the summer and fall. In both cases it was a tense winter as the communist party attempted to regain control of the republic in the face of revolts from two directions: one the national revivalists and the other to pro-Soviets.


text: In October the communist party began attempting to reassert its power in the eastern cities. During the strike, the city committees and city soviets of the eastern cities had allowed the OSTK to deeply insinuate itself into city government structures; after the strike, city communist leaders tried to take the initiative back into their own hands. For example, cooperation with the OSTK in the city soviets led deputies in Tiraspol, Tighina, and Rîbnița to suspend the introduction of the language laws and deputies in Tiraspol and Rȋbniţa to agree to a referendum on the creation of a Transnistrian autonomous republic. Once the strike was over, however, communist leaders attempted rollback these concessions. The republican communist party leaders in Chișinău were especially keen to see this happen and put pressure on local communists to repeal "illegal" decisions taken during the strike. In a meeting in October, Associate Chair of the Presidium of the Moldovan Supreme Soviet, Victor Pușcaș, in the presence of Communist Party First Secretary, Semion Grossu, berated local communists for losing control of the situation in Transnistria. It would look better for the city soviets to repeal all illegal decisions by themselves, he concluded. "However," he warned, "if you cannot get them to repeal these resolutions, we will do it for them." Back home, the first secretaries of the eastern cities convened plenums of the city committees and sessions of the city soviets. Some OSTK members were allowed to attend and participate, but Semion Grossu attended in order to keep an eye on the proceedings and make sure the sessions went as planned. The local communist party meetings called on the city soviets to bring local law into accordance with republican law and decisions adopted by the local soviets supported acceptance of the language laws in Transnistria. Communist-run state media also criticized the OSTK and local communists attempted to shut down OSTK newspapers, a measure that prevented the organization from putting out its publication for much of late 1989.


text: The situation was even more tense in Chișinău in late 1989. Festivals on 7 November commemorating the Russian Revolution and 10 November celebrating the Soviet police force offered excellent opportunities for oppositionists to challenge authorities in highly visible settings and disrupt events of premiere importance to the Soviet regime. Popular Front activists, often going beyond the official sanction of the movement leadership, organized actions that embarrassed the republican leadership, ultimately resulted in riots in Central Chișinău. This unrest sealed the fate of the increasingly weak Moldovan First Secretary. At the end of a year that had seen Semion Grossu and his organization pummeled from both the national revivalist right and the "ultrarevolutionary" internationalist left, Moscow replaced the First Secretary in a snap Central Committee plenum in mid-November.


text: The February 1990 elections proved to be a turning point in the conflict between Moldova and Transnistria. In these elections, Moldovian national revivalists won a large number of seats in the Republican Supreme Soviet (republican legislature) as well as the Chișinău city soviet while OSTK supporters won an overwhelming victory in the city soviets of the big cities in Transnistria. With the communist party severely weakened, the OSTK, in essence, took control of local government in Transnistria.


text: The elections themselves were to unfold with an unprecedented level of freedom. Throughout the Soviet Union elections in 1990 brought a rush of new blood into Soviet government and Moldova was no exception. The registration of candidates was done in a new and more open manner and candidates had an unprecedented freedom to campaign and distinguish themselves from competitors. All in all one specialist has judged the 1990 elections in Moldova to be relatively "quite open."


text: When the votes were counted after February 25, republic wide, the big winner was the Popular Front of Moldova and their allies in the reformist wing of the Communist Party of Moldova. Of the 380 seats in the Supreme Soviet of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, the Popular Front would control 101, or about 27 percent. The internationalists had a strong showing as well, capturing almost 80 seats—21 percent. However, while both sides claimed the support of those not formally tied to their organizations, the Popular Front had considerably more allies. The Communist Party had a more disappointing if not insignificant showing, with 53 of the parliamentary seats going to members of the party apparatus and with its members comprising 83 percent of those elected. However, what is of interest to this chapter is that in 1990 as the republic polarized to the point of schism in September, those apparatus workers that were elected quickly aligned themselves with either the Popular Front and the parliamentary leadership, or with the OSTK-led opposition. There was no significant correlation between apparatus work and either movement.


text: In Transnistria, the OSTK was extremely successful, particularly in Tiraspol. Looking at the electoral ads run in the Tiraspol Dnestrovskaia Pravda reveals that of the 40 people who ran ads in that newspaper between January and March 1990, 22 (55 percent) mentioned membership of the OSTK, 21 (95 percent) of which won their seats. Of the 18 that did not mention the OSTK in their ads, only 3 (16 percent) won their seats. Moreover, in this election Igor Smirnov, (later to become in December 1991 the first president of the Pridnestrovian Moldovan Republic), first successfully ran for public office. To illustrate the point that the election signalled the change in city leadership from that of the Communist Party to that of the OSTK, it is important to note that Smirnov ran for the position of chairman of the city Soviet (head of local government) against the secretary of the city Communist Party committee; in the March 23rd session that decided the issue Smirnov took the chairmanship with 86 of the 134 votes, defeating Leonid Turcan with 64% of the vote. Events in Tighina and Rîbnița were similar, with OSTK leaders taking control of local government. The OSTK had only a tenuous hold, however, on the city government of Dubasari and was a minority in some of the more rural districts.


text: Throughout 1990, OSTK-controlled soviets in Transnistria battled with republican authorities in Chișinău, many of the latter also elected in 1990 and that on a platform of Moldovian national awakening. On 27 April 1990, the Supreme Soviet of Moldova took the symbolic step of adopting a new republican flag based on the yellow, red and blue Romanian flag. This highly visible sign of defiance against the Soviet government served as the pretext for the first big showdown between the republican government in Chișinău and the OSTK-controlled soviets in Transnistria. Within three days, the Tiraspol city soviet announced that it did not accept the new flag. In the territory under its jurisdiction, the flag of the Soviet Union was to be used until that time when the city soviet deputies could decide on permanent symbols. Although the Moldovan Supreme Soviet annulled this decision on May 4, the city soviets of Tighina and Rîbnița soon followed suit on the 5th and 8th respectively. The continued defiance prompted the Moldovan government to pass a law on May 10 making the acceptance of the new flag legally binding. However, although the police and the court system were largely still loyal to the government in Chișinău, Supreme Soviet deputies were not willing to provoke the sort of outcry that would certainly have arisen if Moldovan officials had gone as far as arresting leading Transnistrian politicians. In the event, the Supreme Soviet continued to fume as events continued to progress in Transnistria. However, it was at a loss as to how to stop them. In mid-May, the Tighina city soviet declared its intention to hold a referendum on the creation of the Dniester Republic. The Supreme Soviet again annulled this decision and forbade the holding of such a referendum. The republican government was, however, increasingly seeing the limits of its power to control lawmakers in Transnistria. Over the objections of the authorities in Chișinău, the Tighina city soviet held the election in July and then used the results as a further justification for separatist action. This pattern continued throughout the year.


text: Quickly moving down the unprecedented path of secession from a union republic, left-bank city and raion soviets needed a popular mandate to justify their extreme actions. They laid claim to this mandate through a referendum campaign that swept through the Dniester area in 1990. In this campaign, citizens were asked to vote on a variety of issues—whether or not to create a Transnistrian state; which alphabet to use for the Moldovan language, which was to be defended; whether or not to accept the new Moldovan flag and others. Indeed, referendums constituted an act of defiance in and of themselves as the Moldovan government routinely declared the organization of such referendums illegal and routinely nullified the results.


text: On September 2, 1990, in the face of the Moldovan declaration of sovereignty from the Soviet Union and with a growing mandate from the referendum campaign sweeping the Dniester region, delegates to the Second Congress of Transnistrian Deputies announced the creation of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic.


text: With the declaration of the PMSSR, city and raion soviets throughout Transnistria convened plenums and discussed the possibility of integrating themselves into the new republic. While many of the soviet deputies were those same delegates that participated in the Second Congress, these votes were not always uncontested affairs; in the case of the Dubossary "raion", the soviet refused to place itself under the jurisdiction of the Dniester state. In the Dubossary city soviet, an organ with OSTK preponderance but not dominance, the majority prevailed with the support of only 49 of the 86 deputies (57%). While results were more one sided elsewhere, everywhere confusion abounded. Many governmental institutions—the police, public prosecutors, judges—remained loyal to the government in Chișinău; some enterprises or villages defected from one local soviet to another to end up on the right side; paramilitary men competed with police to provide law and order, and during 1991 began attempting to evict them from their former stations. Even in Tiraspol, consolidation was to take upwards of a year.


text: While the PMSSR was popular in Transnistria's cities, there was considerable opposition in rural communities. While OSTK supporters took control of city soviets in 1990, this was not the case in most of the raion soviets with their agricultural constituencies. The new leadership of the Grigoriopol raion "soviet" did not support the separatist movement and the new Dubossary and Slobozia "raion" soviets actively supported the government in Chișinău.


text: Occasionally rural loyalists expressed their opposition with appeals and rallies. This was the case on 16 September 1990 when a meeting against the PMSSR was held in the village Lunga, near Dubăsari, with participants from all over Transnistria.


text: The loyalist raion soviets expressed their opposition by flying the Moldovan flag, and refusing to accept the jurisdiction of Tiraspol. On 17 September the Moldovan government held a working session in Dubăsari in the building of the raion soviet which was loyal to the central authorities in Chișinău.


text: Moreover, many Transnistrian civil servants, including the police, employees of the public prosecutor's, and employees of the court system remained loyal to the government in Chișinău. These were often the targets of violence and intimidation as Transnistrian authorities attempted to take control of loyalist governmental institutions. Seizing these state institutions took more than a year, and it was finished only after the War of Transnistria.


text: The key participants in the creation of the PMSSR were almost entirely from the ranks of Soviet industrial workers and factory administration.


text: Once the PMSSR had been created, the incipient government in Tiraspol fought an increasingly violent struggle for sovereignty with the Moldovan government in Chișinău. In August 1991, many of Gorbachev's advisors participated in a coup d'état attempt to prevent him from signing the New Union Treaty in which Soviet Republics such as Moldova would gain more autonomy under the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics. The PMSSR supported the failed coup attempt, which Moldova opposed. Throughout late 1991 and into early 1992, workers' battalions, increasingly the beneficiaries of weaponry from sympathetic Red Army officers and defections from among the local military personnel, grew better prepared than the loyalist Moldovan police in Transnistria. Police stations were captured, policemen were evicted, and in extreme cases workers' battalions and police traded fire. Skirmishes in November 1990, and September and December 1991 witnessed continued Moldovan inability to reassert sovereignty in the region. Throughout the first half of 1992 the violence continued to escalate and culminated in a short, but bloody, war in late June 1992. The war left the separatists in Tiraspol with "de facto" control over most of Transnistria and the west-bank city of Tighina (from now on known as Bender or Bendery).


text: However, even as the Dniester Republic grew more established as a state, the end of 1991 brought with it the collapse of the state within which the OSTK activists had originally been striving to remain: the Soviet Union.


title: Karaj

text: Karaj (, ) is the capital of Alborz Province, Iran, and effectively a satellite city of Tehran. Although the county hosts a population around 1.97 million, as recorded in the 2016 census, most of the county is rugged mountain. The urban area is the fourth-largest in Iran, after Tehran, Mashhad, and Isfahan. Eshtehard County and Fardis County were split off from Karaj County since the previous census.


title: Karaj

text: The earliest records of Karaj date back to the 30th century BC. The city was developed under the rule of the Safavid and Qajar dynasties and is home to historical buildings and memorials from those eras. This city has a unique climate due to access to natural resources such as many trees, rivers, and green plains. After Tehran, Karaj is the largest immigrant-friendly city in Iran, so it has been nicknamed "Little Iran."


title: Karaj

text: The area around Karaj has been inhabited for thousands of years, such as at the Bronze Age site of Tepe Khurvin and the Iron Age site of Kalak. However, the present-day city of Karaj is mostly the result of modern industrial development in the 20th century.


title: Karaj

text: Historically, Karaj was mostly significant as a stage on the road between Tehran and Qazvin. In Safavid times, a stone bridge was built that served as the main crossing into the town. The large Shah-Abbasi Caravansary, located at the southeast of Towhid Square, was built in the same era, under the rule of Šāh Esmāil.


title: Karaj

text: In 1810, the Qajar prince Soleyman Mirza built the Soleymaniyeh Palace at Kajar to serve as a summer resort. The palace had four towers and was surrounded by gardens, and its reception room featured a pair of paintings by Abdallah Khan Naqqashbandi. By 1860, however, the palace was described as abandoned and only used as a shelter for travelers. Naser al-Din Shah Qajar later renovated the palace. In 1917, a School of Farming was established on the site, replacing the earlier Mozaffari Agricultural School in Tehran. Later, Reza Shah Pahlavi granted it to the University of Tehran's new Faculty of Agriculture.


title: Karaj

text: In the 1930s, plans were drawn up for a large industrial complex covering 216 hectares on the south side of the village. This "Industrial Model Town of Karaj" was intended to be the site of the country's first steel mills, capitalizing on easy access to water and coal from the Alborz. However, the construction equipment imported from Germany was seized by the British at the Suez Canal, and the planned complex was never built.


title: Karaj

text: A major industrial complex, the first privately-owned one in Karaj, was built in the 1960s by Mohammad-Sadeq Fateh. This complex, called Shahrak-e Jahanshahr, included oil, tea, and textile factories as well as housing for the workers.


title: Karaj

text: The Morvārid Palace was constructed in nearby Mehršahr district, during the Pahlavi era. It was designed by the "Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation" (Taliesin Associated Architects) on instructions from Shams Pahlavi, elder sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In this period it was a transit and industrial town.


title: Karaj

text: Majority of the structure is now controlled by the Basij Organization, and some sections of it are open to public under the operation of Cultural Heritage Organization of Iran.


title: Karaj

text: Other historical sites of the city include the Mausoleum of Šāhzāde Soleymān, Emāmzāde Rahmān, Emāmzāde Zeyd, and Palang Ābād e Eštehārd.


title: Karaj

text: The downtown of Karaj is usually referred to Karaj Square, located hundred of meters to the west of Karaj River and the old Karaj Bridge. The villages Hesārak, Gowhar Dašt, and Šahrak e Azimie are located in the northern Greater Karaj.


title: Karaj

text: Open space recreational areas of Karaj include Irānzamin Park, Pārk e Xānvāde, Tennis Park, Pārk e Mādar, Tāleqān Gardens, Kordān Gardens, Jahānšahr Gardens, Pardis e Golhā, and the Tulip Garden of Gačsār.


title: Karaj

text: The climate of Karaj is a bit cooler than Tehran's, and it receives 250 mm of rain annually (and like Tehran, the precipitation pattern is similar to those of Mediterranean climates). The Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies the city's climate as cold semi-arid (BSk).


title: Karaj

text: Amir Kabir Dam and some other small lakes are based in Karaj. The city is a starting point for a drive along road forced north through the Alborz mountain to the Caspian Sea.


title: Karaj

text: The majority of the residents of Karaj are Persians, with Azerbaijanis making up the second major ethno-linguistic group of the city. Kurds, Gilak, Tabari and Lurs include the other ethnicities among the population of Karaj.


title: Karaj

text: Karaj is connected by railway and highways to Tehran 40 km east and Qazvin 100 km northwest, and by commuter rail to the subway system of Tehran.


title: Karaj

text: The city is served by an urban railway organization established on 21 December 2001. It is also served by the Karaj Metro Station which was established on 7 March 1999, and is located in the south-eastern Karaj, near Tehran–Qazvin Freeway.


title: Karaj

text: The highway system of Karaj includes Tehran–Karaj Highway, Karaj Special Road, and the old road of Karaj (Fath Highway). Bākeri Expressway is one of the main north-to-south routes in west Tehran, which is connected to the Tehran–Karaj Highway. Tehran–Karaj Highway is one of the busiest sections in Iran with AADT of 217084. Karaj–Qazvin has an AADT of 79606.


title: Karaj

text: The aerial transport of Karaj is served by the Payam International Airport, which was established in 1990, and was officially opened in 1997.


title: Karaj

text: Currently, the total number of buses in Karaj and the suburbs are 1,600 units. More than 80 lines serve citizens.


title: Karaj

text: Karaj Metro is an efficient way to travel inside the city. One line connects west and east of the city (from Karaj Station to Golshahr Station). It continues eastward until Tehran. On its way to Tehran, it stops at Chitgar park and Azadi stadium. The second line of Karaj metro (north to south) is under construction.


title: Karaj

text: Payam International Airport, is an international airport located in Karaj, 40 kilometers (25  mi) from Tehran, in the Alborz Province of Iran. The airport was established in 1990, but was not opened officially until 1997. Payam Aviation Services Co. operates the airport as part of Payam Special Economic Zone. Payam Air previously operated an airmail hub at the airport.


title: Karaj

text: Currently, this airport and its special area are used for purposes such as cargo transit, commercial transportation, and goods mail in the development of the country's communication and information technology industries.


title: Karaj

text: The economic base of Karaj is its proximity to Tehran. It is due to the transportation of products between Tehran and the Caspian Sea. Chemicals, fertilizers and processed agricultural goods are also produced in the city.


title: Karaj

text: Zowb Āhan, the avenue leading to an industrial plant, is located at the south of Ostandar Square. "Zowb e Āhan" or "Zowb Āhan", literally "steel mill", was a contract between the Pahlavi government and a consortium from Nazi Germany. The establishment of the factory "Zowb Āhan e Karaj" was halted by the beginning of the Second World War, and it was never launched.


title: Karaj

text: Šahrak-e Jahānšahr was the first modern private industrial and housing complex of Karaj, built in the 1960s. The factories "Jahān Čit" (textile factory), "Rowqan Nabāti e Jahān" (oil factory), and "Čāy e Jahān" (tea factory), were established at the complex. It is one of the largest industrial zones of the nation, with a 20% share of the national GDP.


title: Karaj

text: The special economic zone of Payam, with an area about within the territory of Payam International Airport, was established in Karaj for development of air cargo and postal transportation, cold store, and packing services, as well as perishable and time sensitive exports. It is the only SEZ in the region with the privilege of its own airline.


title: Karaj

text: Karaj was formerly home of the Persian Gulf Pro League club, Saipa, for several years and this club won its first league championship in this city, however in 2014 the team relocated to Tehran. Currently the only professional football team in city is Oxin Alborz that play in the Azadegan League. The Home stadium of Oxin Alborz F.C. is Enghelab Stadium that located in Karaj Enghelab sport complex and has a capacity of 15,000 people. The stadium held a match between Iran and Indonesia in June 2009. The stadium also held an international match, on May 1, 2012, where Iran's National Football team played Mozambique.


title: Karaj

text: Saipa volleyball team lost to Kalleh in this stadium in 2011–12 and became the runner-up in the final match of the country's volleyball premier league. Saipa has won the runner-up title of Iran Super League seven times.


title: Karaj

text: One of the international ski resorts of Iran The, Dizin ski resort, is located a few kilometers north-east of the city, in the Alborz. In Dizin, along with skiing facilities, there are tennis courtyards, a slope for skiing on turf, some altitudes for mountain climbing and walking as well as riding and some routes for cycling.


title: Karaj

text: Karaj also has an international tennis complex which is used to training and tournaments. Jahanshahr International Tennis Complex is located in Bagh Fateh. This park has eight practice courts and one competition court with a capacity of 1,200 people. It is the only tennis complex in Iran that has covered courts.


title: Joe Sample

text: Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, the band which shortened its name to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained a part of the group until its final album in 1991 (not including the 2003 reunion album "Rural Renewal").


title: Joe Sample

text: Beginning in the late 1960s, he enjoyed a successful solo career and guested on many recordings by other performers and groups, including Miles Davis, George Benson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Michael Franks, B. B. King, Eric Clapton, Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Anita Baker, and the Supremes. Sample incorporated gospel, blues, jazz, latin, and classical forms into his music.


title: Joe Sample

text: Sample was born in Houston, Texas, the youngest son of Alexander Sample, a mail-carrier, and Agatha (née Osborne) Sample, a seamstress. Sample began to play the piano at the age of five. He was a student of the organist and pianist (Theodore or T.) Curtis Mayo.


title: Joe Sample

text: In high school in the 1950s, Sample teamed up with friends saxophonist Wilton Felder and drummer "Stix" Hooper to form a group called the Swingsters. While studying piano at Texas Southern University, Sample met and added trombonist Wayne Henderson and several other players to the Swingsters, which became the Modern Jazz Sextet and then the Jazz Crusaders, in emulation of one of the leading progressive jazz bands of the day, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Sample never took a degree from the university; instead, in 1960, he and the Jazz Crusaders made the move from Houston to Los Angeles. He was a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.


title: Joe Sample

text: The group quickly found opportunities on the West Coast, making its first recording, "Freedom Sound", in 1961 and releasing up to four albums a year over much of the 1960s. The Jazz Crusaders played at first in the dominant hard bop style of the day, standing out by virtue of their unusual front-line combination of saxophone (played by Wilton Felder) and Henderson's trombone. Another distinctive quality was the funky, rhythmically appealing acoustic piano playing of Sample, who helped steer the group's sound into a fusion between jazz and soul in the late 1960s. The Jazz Crusaders became a strong concert draw during those years.


title: Joe Sample

text: While Sample and his bandmates continued to work together, he and the other band members pursued individual work as well. In 1969, Sample made his first recording under his own name; "Fancy Dance" featured the pianist as part of a jazz trio. In the 1970s, as the Jazz Crusaders became simply the Crusaders and branched out into popular sounds, Sample became known as a Los Angeles studio musician, appearing on recordings by Joni Mitchell, Marvin Gaye, Tina Turner, B. B. King, Joe Cocker, Minnie Riperton, Anita Baker and The Supremes. Sample was a founding member of the L.A. Express, which was started as the backing band for Tom Scott; however, both Sample and fellow Crusader Larry Carlton left after that group's first album. In 1975, Sample went into the studios with jazz musicians Ray Brown, on bass, and drummer Shelly Manne to produce a then state-of-the-art recording direct to disc entitled "The Three". About this time Blue Note Records reissued some of the early work by the Jazz Crusaders as "The Young Rabbits". This was a compilation of their recordings produced between 1962 and 1968.


title: Joe Sample

text: The electric keyboard was fairly new in the 1960s, and Sample became one of the instrument's pioneers. He began to use the electric piano while the group retained their original name, and the group hit a commercial high-water mark with the hit single "Street Life" and the album of the same name in 1979. In 1978, he recorded "Swing Street Café" with guitarist David T. Walker.


title: Joe Sample

text: The Crusaders, after losing several key members, broke up after recording "Life in the Modern World" for the GRP label in 1987. Despite the disbanding of the Crusaders, the members would join each other to record periodically over the years, releasing "Healing the Wounds" in the early 1990s. Felder, Hooper, and Sample recorded their first album, called "Rural Renewal", as the reunited Crusaders group in 2003 and played a concert in Japan in 2004.


title: Joe Sample

text: After Sample's "Fancy Dance" (1969), he recorded several solo albums, including "Sample This", produced by George Duke.


title: Joe Sample

text: GRP also released "Joe Sample Collection", and a three-disc "Crusaders Collection", as testament to Sample's enduring legacy. Some of the pianist's recent recordings are "The Song Lives On" (1999), featuring duets with singer Lalah Hathaway, and "The Pecan Tree" (2002), a tribute to his hometown of Houston, where he relocated in 1994. His 2004 album on Verve, "Soul Shadows", paid tribute to Duke Ellington and Jelly Roll Morton, and pre-jazz bandleader James Reese Europe. In 2007, he recorded "Feeling Good" with vocalist Randy Crawford. In the mid-1970s, the Crusaders added guitarist Larry Carlton.


title: Joe Sample

text: Sample appeared on stage at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 28 May 2000, playing keyboard solo on George Benson's "Deeper Than You Think". This concert was recorded and a DVD entitled "George Benson: Absolutely Live" was subsequently released. A studio version of "Deeper Than You Think" was recorded featuring Joe Sample in New York in May 1999 during sessions for a Benson collection that took the title "Absolute Benson".


title: Joe Sample

text: Some of Sample's works were featured on The Weather Channel's "Local on the 8s" segments and his song "Rainbow Seeker" is included in their 2008 compilation release, "". Nicole Kidman sang his song "One Day I'll Fly Away" in the Baz Luhrmann film "Moulin Rouge!" (2001). The popular "In All My Wildest Dreams", also from the 1978 album "Rainbow Seeker", was sampled on Tupac's "Dear Mama", De La Soul's "WRMS's Dedication to the Bitty", Toni Braxton's "What's Good" and Arrested Development's "Africa's Inside Me".


title: Joe Sample

text: Sample died of mesothelioma in Houston, Texas, at the age of 75. At the time of his death, Sample had been working on a project, "Quadroon," with singer-songwriter Jonatha Brooke.


title: Joe Sample

text: His survivors included his son, bassist Nicklas Sample (with ex-wife Marianne), who is a member of the Coryell Auger Sample Trio featuring Julian Coryell and Karma Auger. He also left a wife, Yolanda, and three stepsons: Justin, Jamerson III and Jordan Berry.


title: Fourteener

text: In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least . The 96 fourteeners in the United States are all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado has the most (53) of any single state; Alaska is second with 29. Many peak baggers try to climb all fourteeners in the contiguous United States, one particular state, or another region.


title: Fourteener

text: Not all summits over 14,000 feet qualify as fourteeners. Summits that qualify are those considered by mountaineers to be independent. Objective standards for independence include topographic prominence and isolation (distance from a higher summit), or a combination of the two. However, fourteener lists do not always use such objective rules consistently.


title: Fourteener

text: A rule commonly used by mountaineers in the contiguous United States is that a peak must have at least of prominence to qualify. By this rule, Colorado has 53 fourteeners, California has 12, and Washington has two.


title: Fourteener

text: According to the Mountaineering Club of Alaska, the standard in Alaska uses a prominence rule rather than a rule. By this rule, Alaska has at least 21 peaks over and its 12 highest peaks exceed .


title: Fourteener

text: The following table lists the 96 mountain peaks of the United States with at least of topographic elevation and at least of topographic prominence]. Of these, 53 rise in Colorado, 29 in Alaska, 12 in California, and one in Washington (Liberty Cap is part of the crater atop Mt Rainier). The 22 highest fourteeners all rise in Alaska.


title: Fourteener

text: The table above uses a minimum topographic prominence criterion of and includes 96 peaks. The number of peaks included depends upon the minimum topographic prominence criterion. A criterion of includes 90 peaks, includes 77 peaks, includes 63 peaks, and includes 46 peaks.


title: Fourteener

text: The following U.S. summits have 14,000 ft of elevation, but have less than 300 ft of topographic prominence:


title: Rydberg formula

text: In atomic physics, the Rydberg formula calculates the wavelengths of a spectral line in many chemical elements. The formula was primarily presented as a generalization of the Balmer series for all atomic electron transitions of hydrogen. It was first empirically stated in 1888 by the Swedish physicist Johannes Rydberg, then theoretically by Niels Bohr in 1913, who used a primitive form of quantum mechanics. The formula directly generalizes the equations used to calculate the wavelengths of the hydrogen spectral series.


title: Rydberg formula

text: In 1880, Rydberg worked on a formula describing the relation between the wavelengths in spectral lines of alkali metals. He noticed that lines came in series and he found that he could simplify his calculations using the wavenumber (the number of waves occupying the unit length, equal to 1/"λ", the inverse of the wavelength) as his unit of measurement. He plotted the wavenumbers ("n") of successive lines in each series against consecutive integers which represented the order of the lines in that particular series. Finding that the resulting curves were similarly shaped, he sought a single function which could generate all of them, when appropriate constants were inserted.


title: Rydberg formula

text: First he tried the formula: formula_1, where "n" is the line's wavenumber, "n" is the series limit, "m" is the line's ordinal number in the series, "m"' is a constant different for different series and "C" is a universal constant. This did not work very well.


title: Rydberg formula

text: Rydberg was trying: formula_2 when he became aware of Balmer's formula for the hydrogen spectrum formula_3 In this equation, "m" is an integer and "h" is a constant (not to be confused with the later Planck constant).


title: Rydberg formula

text: This suggested that the Balmer formula for hydrogen might be a special case with formula_5 and formula_6, where formula_7, the reciprocal of Balmer's constant (this constant h is written B in the Balmer equation article, again to avoid confusion with Planck's constant).


title: Rydberg formula

text: The term formula_8 was found to be a universal constant common to all elements, equal to 4/"h". This constant is now known as the Rydberg constant, and "m"′ is known as the quantum defect.


title: Rydberg formula

text: As stressed by Niels Bohr, expressing results in terms of wavenumber, not wavelength, was the key to Rydberg's discovery. The fundamental role of wavenumbers was also emphasized by the Rydberg-Ritz combination principle of 1908. The fundamental reason for this lies in quantum mechanics. Light's wavenumber is proportional to frequency formula_9, and therefore also proportional to light's quantum energy "E". Thus, formula_10 (in this formula the "h" represents Planck's constant). Modern understanding is that Rydberg's findings were a reflection of the underlying simplicity of the behavior of spectral lines, in terms of fixed (quantized) "energy difference" between electron orbitals in atoms. Rydberg's 1888 classical expression for the form of the spectral series was not accompanied by a physical explanation. Walther Ritz's "pre-quantum" 1908 explanation for the "mechanism" underlying the spectral series was that atomic electrons behaved like magnets and that the magnets could vibrate with respect to the atomic nucleus (at least temporarily) to produce electromagnetic radiation, but this theory was superseded in 1913 by Niels Bohr's model of the atom.


title: Rydberg formula

text: In Bohr's conception of the atom, the integer Rydberg (and Balmer) "n" numbers represent electron orbitals at different integral distances from the atom. A frequency (or spectral energy) emitted in a transition from "n" to "n" therefore represents the photon energy emitted or absorbed when an electron makes a jump from orbital 1 to orbital 2.


title: Rydberg formula

text: Later models found that the values for "n" and "n" corresponded to the principal quantum numbers of the two orbitals.


title: Rydberg formula

text: By setting formula_14 to 1 and letting formula_15 run from 2 to infinity, the spectral lines known as the Lyman series converging to 91 nm are obtained, in the same manner:


title: Rydberg formula

text: This formula can be directly applied only to hydrogen-like, also called "hydrogenic" atoms of chemical elements, i.e. atoms with only one electron being affected by an effective nuclear charge (which is easily estimated). Examples would include He, Li, Be etc., where no other electrons exist in the atom.


title: Rydberg formula

text: But the Rydberg formula also provides correct wavelengths for distant electrons, where the effective nuclear charge can be estimated as the same as that for hydrogen, since all but one of the nuclear charges have been screened by other electrons, and the core of the atom has an effective positive charge of +1.


title: Rydberg formula

text: Finally, with certain modifications (replacement of "Z" by "Z" − 1, and use of the integers 1 and 2 for the "n"s to give a numerical value of for the difference of their inverse squares), the Rydberg formula provides correct values in the special case of K-alpha lines, since the transition in question is the K-alpha transition of the electron from the 1s orbital to the 2p orbital. This is analogous to the Lyman-alpha line transition for hydrogen, and has the same frequency factor. Because the 2p electron is not screened by any other electrons in the atom from the nucleus, the nuclear charge is diminished only by the single remaining 1s electron, causing the system to be effectively a hydrogenic atom, but with a diminished nuclear charge "Z" − 1. Its frequency is thus the Lyman-alpha hydrogen frequency, increased by a factor of ("Z" − 1). This formula of "f" = "c"/"λ" = (Lyman-alpha frequency)⋅("Z" − 1) is historically known as Moseley's law (having added a factor "c" to convert wavelength to frequency), and can be used to predict wavelengths of the K (K-alpha) X-ray spectral emission lines of chemical elements from aluminum to gold. See the biography of Henry Moseley for the historical importance of this law, which was derived empirically at about the same time it was explained by the Bohr model of the atom.


title: Rydberg formula

text: For other spectral transitions in multi-electron atoms, the Rydberg formula generally provides "incorrect" results, since the magnitude of the screening of inner electrons for outer-electron transitions is variable and not possible to compensate for in the simple manner above. The correction to the Rydberg formula for these atoms is known as the quantum defect.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: Princess Friederike Amalia Wilhelmine Viktoria of Prussia (12 April 1866 – 13 November 1929) was the second daughter of Frederick III, German Emperor and his wife Victoria, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria. Born a member of the Prussian royal house of Hohenzollern, she became Princess Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe following her first marriage in 1890.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: Raised by her mother in a close, liberal, and anglophile environment, Viktoria fell in love with Alexander of Battenberg, the Prince of Bulgaria, but there was great opposition to the match and the couple never married. Following the end of her courtship with Alexander, Viktoria suffered from disordered eating and was unlucky in her search for a suitable husband. She eventually married Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe. Adolf died during the First World War, two years before the German Empire came to an end. In 1927, she caused a royal scandal by marrying a university student 35 years her junior. She died at the age of 63 in Bonn.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: Viktoria was born on 12 April 1866 in the New Palace in Potsdam, to Crown Prince Frederick William and Crown Princess Victoria of Prussia. Her father was the only son of King Wilhelm I of Prussia and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar; her mother, Victoria ("Vicky"), was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her consort, Prince Albert. Viktoria was baptised in the New Palace as "Friederike Amalia Wilhelmine Viktoria" on 24 May 1866, the birthday of her grandmother Queen Victoria, who was also one of her godparents. Other sponsors included her grandfather the King of Prussia and Princess Marie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: Viktoria was her parents' fifth child and second daughter. Two months after her birth, on 18 June 1866, Viktoria's nearly two-year-old brother, Sigismund, died of meningitis. Following this event, Viktoria's mother chose to raise her younger children herself, as opposed to leaving them in the care of tutors and governesses as she had with her older children, Wilhelm, Charlotte, and Henry. For this reason, Viktoria and her three younger siblings, Waldemar, Sophie, and Margaret, were far closer to their parents. Eleven-year-old Waldemar died of diphtheria in 1879, and the tragic event brought the three sisters even closer.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: Viktoria and her siblings lived at two main residences, the New Palace in Potsdam and the Kronprinzenpalais in Berlin. In 1871, Viktoria's grandfather Wilhelm I became German Emperor, and her parents became Crown Prince and Princess of a unified German Empire. Still, the Crown Princely couple raised their children away from the Berlin court, which disliked Frederick William and Victoria and their liberal beliefs. The couple hoped to instill these beliefs in their children through an education system similar to the one created by Vicky's father, Prince Albert. Much of Viktoria's childhood care and education was based on that of Vicky's British upbringing, and Viktoria and her younger siblings had British nannies and went on many trips to visit their family in Britain. Raised in a close environment, less strict than that of her elder siblings' childhood, Viktoria was an active and enthusiastic child. She attended weekly dance lessons and enjoyed riding her Shetland pony, a gift from Queen Victoria. She also liked to garden and to cook, and at her mother's suggestion went to the palace kitchens for lessons, though her privileged upbringing meant she knew very little about kitchen work.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: In 1881, Alexander, Prince of Bulgaria, born Prince Alexander of Battenberg, who had been the sovereign of the Principality of Bulgaria since 1879, visited the Prussian court at the behest of Viktoria's mother. As her mother and Queen Victoria recommended Alexander as a possible match, 16-year-old Viktoria quickly caught their enthusiasm and by the time of Sandro's next visit the following spring, she had fallen in love with the attractive prince.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: Though her parents wanted the couple to marry, much of Viktoria's Prussian family was opposed. Her elder siblings, paternal grandparents Emperor Wilhelm I and Empress Augusta, and German chancellor Otto von Bismarck were opposed to the match. Alexander of Battenberg's actions in Bulgaria irritated the Russian tsar, and it was feared that if Viktoria married Alexander, Tsar Alexander III would be offended, even though Alexander of Battenberg and Tsar Alexander III were first cousins. Furthermore, Alexander was born of a morganatic marriage, and his position as Prince of Bulgaria was unstable; he had more to gain than Viktoria through marriage to a daughter of the future German emperor. By 1888, pushback from Wilhelm I and Bismarck all but forced Viktoria and her parents to give up on the marriage.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: As Viktoria was losing hope of marrying Sandro, her grandfather Emperor Wilhelm I and her father Crown Prince Frederick William were both ailing, and her sister Sophie was preparing to move to Athens in order to marry the Crown Prince of Greece. The Emperor died on 9 March 1888, and Frederick William and Victoria became the new emperor and empress. Frederick, however, was dying of throat cancer, and reigned for only 99 days before succumbing to his illness on 15 June. Viktoria's eldest brother, now Emperor Wilhelm II, despised his parents and, though Frederick had requested in his will that Wilhelm allow Viktoria to marry Sandro, the new emperor instead wrote to Sandro to definitively end the couple's courtship. Sandro returned to Viktoria all the letters and gifts she had sent to him, and wrote her a farewell note. Viktoria, now 22, worried she might end up a spinster. Not considered an attractive girl – especially by herself – Viktoria tried to improve her appearance by dieting "maniacally" to the point of starving herself. Wrote her mother to Queen Victoria in 1889: "Her one craze is to be thin. She starves completely [...]. She will ruin her health." Viktoria likely had some form of disordered eating. Subtly pushed out of the Berlin social sphere by Wilhelm, she lived with her mother and younger sister Margaret at Schloss Friedrichshof in Hesse. Vicky sent the depressed Viktoria to Britain, to recover and spend time with her British relatives.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: Following the collapse of Viktoria's plans to marry Sandro, her mother (now known as "Empress Frederick") and grandmother, Queen Victoria, continued to look for possible suitors, and enlisted the help of the Duchess of Edinburgh and Princess of Leiningen. Though she was not thought of as exceedingly attractive, Viktoria was described as having "immense charm". Prince Carl of Sweden, Duke of Västergötland, "refused to consider marrying her"; this news worsened Viktoria's disordered eating. In 1889, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia was proposed, but ultimately turned down the offer; his cousin Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich was also considered. Another suitor was Ernest, the future Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg; he later married Viktoria's first cousin Alexandra of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Crown Prince Carlos of Portugal was proposed by Otto von Bismarck, but Viktoria refused to convert to Catholicism. Even commoners were suggested: the British Captain the Hon. Maurice Bourke, a younger son of Richard Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, was proposed by Queen Victoria; he was seriously considered. As her elder sister, Charlotte, began gossiping about her love life at court, Viktoria became convinced she would never marry, and told her grandmother she was no longer interested in marriage


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: In June 1890, Viktoria, with her mother and sister Margaret, visited their cousin Marie of Nassau, the widowed Princess of Wied. Among the other guests was Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe, a younger son of Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. Adolf and Viktoria spent time together and, during the same visit, Adolf proposed on 11 June. Viktoria's mother had previously considered Adolf as a marriage candidate, but had considered him unworthy of her daughter; she wept at the news of the couple's engagement. Although Viktoria said in her memoirs that she had loved Adolf at first sight, she wrote to her mother that she had only married him out of "desperation from fear at withering on the vine." When Queen Victoria inspected Adolf, she approved of him, but did not believe that Viktoria was entirely happy, nor did Vicky. Furthermore, Adolf held only the style of Serene Highness, while Viktoria was a Royal Highness and the daughter of an Emperor. The widowed Empress continued to suggest other suitors, but was thwarted, especially by Wilhelm II, who was highly in favour of the match. In the months leading up to the wedding, Viktoria remained depressed.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: The wedding festivities began two days before the ceremony. The wedding party and the couple's families attended the opera, and the next day Viktoria's mother held a banquet for the guests. Viktoria and Adolf married on 19 November 1890 in a Lutheran ceremony, in the chapel of Berlin's Alte Schloss. Much of Viktoria's extended family made up the nearly sixty royal guests, as well as the large wedding party. Viktoria's brother Wilhelm gave the toast. Viktoria wore a wedding gown of "cream satin, brocaded and trimmed with wild roses and silver," and a veil "of tulle interwoven with silver and surmounted with a wreath of orange blossoms and myrtles." Much of the ceremony was curtailed; there was no Fackeltanz, or torchlight dance.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: Viktoria and Adolf had a long honeymoon, during which they travelled throughout Europe and the Mediterranean, stopping in Greece to visit Viktoria's sister Sophie. They were forced to cut this final visit short in order to return to Germany for medical care, as Viktoria had suffered an early miscarriage. The couple did not conceive again and the marriage remained childless. Viktoria and Adolf had a peaceful marriage, and mutually respected one another. However, Viktoria did not love her husband, and in the later years of her marriage considered divorcing Adolf to marry one of his nephews. Adolf died in 1916.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: Adolf purchased from a cloth manufacturer a neoclassical palace that would become the Palais Schaumburg, in Bonn. Viktoria was often alone there, as Adolf was busy with his military duties. Viktoria lived a quiet life in Bonn, and continued to frequently visit members of her large family. Often lonely due to Adolf's frequent absences, she enjoyed decorating and other hobbies. Adolf installed tennis courts at their home upon Viktoria's request, and encouraged her love of gardening. Soon, however, Viktoria admitted she was bored and unhappy. She seems to have fallen into another bout of depression, and resumed her drastic dieting. Her disordered eating became so severe members of her family again became worried for her. In 1893, she was treated for anemia in Hesse.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: From 1895 to 1897, Adolf was regent of the Principality of Lippe during the first two years of the reign of Alexander, Prince of Lippe, who was mentally handicapped. Viktoria and Adolf entered Lippe's capital, Detmold, on 4 May 1895 and remained there until Adolf's term as regent ended. During this time, Viktoria enjoyed her new public responsibilities as wife of the principality's regent, and her mental health improved. Queen Victoria was upset when, in September 1895, Adolf requested that Viktoria end her visit to her widowed and lonely mother. Adolf was later passed over as regent and prince despite being told by Alexander's predecessor that he was next in line.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: In 1898, Viktoria's mother Vicky was diagnosed with breast cancer, which spread to her spine and weakened her. Viktoria was thrown from her carriage in 1901 while out driving in Bonn, but she was not seriously injured. That year, between the deaths of Queen Victoria and Vicky, she celebrated her 35th birthday with family at Friedrichshof. Vicky died on 5 August 1901, and was buried next to her husband.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: In 1914, Germany entered the First World War. For Viktoria, who adored her mother's British homeland, the war was doubly stressful. Despite being the sister of the Kaiser of Germany, Viktoria was very sympathetic to the British cause. In 1915, the 49 - year -old " but very wealthy and young looking" — Viktoria left Berlin and moved into a "luxuriously furnished" castle in Bonn. The war years threw Viktoria's life into chaos: Adolf died in July 1916, after nearly thirty years of marriage; in 1917, Viktoria's brother-in-law the King of the Hellenes who married her sister Queen Sophia of Greece in 1890 was deposed; and in 1918, her brother Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate and the German nobles and royals legally lost their titles under the new Weimar Republic. After the war, she met her first cousin once removed, the future King George VI of the United Kingdom, and expressed the wish that they "would all be friends again soon". George told her he did not think this would be possible for a great many years.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: After Adolf's death, Viktoria asked her brother for permission to marry one of Adolf's nephews; Wilhelm refused. Following the war, though she did not lose her home, Viktoria's finances began to dwindle. In the mid-1920s, she was offered the paid opportunity to write a memoir of her life. Her memoirs, which were published in 1929, moderately distorted some facts, probably to generate greater profit.


title: Princess Viktoria of Prussia

text: In 1927, Viktoria held a party for university students at her castle in Bonn. One of the students in attendance was Alexander Anatolievitch Zoubkoff (Russian: "Aleksander Anatolyevich Zoubkov"), a Russian immigrant who was studying law at the University of Bonn. Zoubkoff told Viktoria that he had fled the Russian revolution and that he had been a baron. Infatuated with Zoubkoff, Viktoria provided the young student – 35 years her junior – with lavish gifts; he, in turn, proposed marriage. Without asking permission from the former Emperor Wilhelm, Viktoria renounced her titles and married Zoubkoff first at the town hall in Bonn, then in a Greek Orthodox ceremony at which none of her family was in attendance. The couple were married on 19 November 1927, which would have been Viktoria and Adolf's 37th wedding anniversary. She wore the lace bridal veil worn by her mother in 1858. Viktoria was 61, while Alexander was only 27. The two had known one another for only two months, and their wedding was a royal and society scandal.