2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup , the world championship for men 's national association football teams . It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010 . The bidding process for hosting the tournament finals was open only to African nations ; in 2004 , the international football federation , FIFA , selected South Africa over Egypt and Morocco to become the first African nation to host the finals .   The matches were played in 10 stadiums in nine host cities around the country , with the final played at the Soccer City stadium in South Africa 's largest city , Johannesburg . Thirty-two teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in August 2007 . In the first round of the tournament finals , the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points , with the top two teams in each group proceeding . These 16 teams advanced to the knockout stage , where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final .   In the final , Spain , the European champions , defeated the Netherlands ( third-time losing finalists ) 1 -- 0 after extra time , with Andrés Iniesta 's goal in the 116th minute giving Spain their first world title . Spain became the eighth nation to win the tournament and the first European nation to win a World Cup hosted outside its home continent : all previous World Cups held outside Europe had been won by South American nations . As a result of their win , Spain represented the World in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup . Host nation South Africa , 2006 champions Italy and 2006 runners-up France were all eliminated in the first round of the tournament . It was the first time that the hosts had been eliminated in the first round . New Zealand , with their three draws , were the only undefeated team in the tournament , but they were also eliminated in the first round .


Direct free kick A direct free kick is a method of restarting of association football following a foul . A goal may be scored directly against the opposing side without the ball having first touched another player . This is opposed to an indirect free kick where the ball must be passed before an attempt on goal .   According to The Laws of the Game , if the ball goes out of play , a player may not play the ball again until it has been touched by another player or has gone out of play . A player who infringes concedes an indirect free kick to the opposing side .   A direct free kick is awarded when a player commits a foul outside of their own penalty area ( for offsides , etc. , an indirect free kick is awarded ) . However , if the offence was committed by the defending team within their own penalty area , the kick becomes a penalty kick .


2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup finals were held in Qatar on 7 -- 29 January 2011 . It was the fifteenth time the tournament has been held , and the second time it has been hosted by Qatar , the other being the 1988 AFC Asian Cup . Japan won the cup after a 1 -- 0 win against Australia , and earned the right to compete in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil as the representative from AFC .   A television viewing audience of 484 million in 80 countries across the Asia-Pacific region , Europe , North America and North Africa witnessed Japan defeat Australia 1 -- 0 in the final .


Midfielder A midfielder is an association football position . Midfielders are generally positioned on the field between their team 's defenders and forwards . Some midfielders play a disciplined defensive role , breaking up attacks , and are otherwise known as defensive midfielders . Others blur the boundaries , being more mobile and efficient in passing : they are commonly referred to as deep-lying midfielders , play-makers , box-to-box , or holding midfielders . The number of midfielders on a team and their assigned roles depends on the team 's formation ; the collective group of these players on the field is sometimes referred to as the midfield .   Most managers assign at least one midfielder to disrupt the opposing team 's attacks , while others may be tasked with creating goals , or have equal responsibilities between attack and defence . Midfielders are the players who typically travel the greatest distance during a match . Because midfielders arguably have the most possession during a game they are among the fittest players on the pitch .


Forward (association football) Forwards are the players on an association football team who play nearest to the opposing team 's goal , and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals .   Their advanced position and limited defensive responsibilities mean forwards normally score more goals on behalf of their team than other players .   Modern team formations generally include one to three forwards ; for example , the common 4 -- 2 -- 3 -- 1 formation includes one forward . Unconventional formations may include more than three forwards , or none .


Curl (football) Curl or bend in association football is spin on the ball which will make it change direction , called a ` screw shot ' in the 19th century . When kicking the ball , the inside of the foot is often used to curl the ball , but this can also be done by using the outside of the foot . Similar to curl , the ball can also swerve in the air , without the spin on the ball which makes the ball curl .   Curling or bending the ball is especially evident from free kicks , shots from outside the penalty area and crosses . Differences between balls can also affect the amount of swerve and curl : traditional leather footballs were too heavy to curl without great effort , whereas the lighter modern footballs curl with a lower effort threshold . As a general rule , the lighter and smoother the ball the more deviation there is .


2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup , the quadrennial world championship for men 's national football teams organized by FIFA . It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014 , after the country was awarded the hosting rights in 2007 . It was the second time that Brazil staged the competition ( the first was in 1950 ) , and the fifth time that it was held in South America .   Thirty-one national teams advanced through qualification competitions to join the host nation in the final tournament . A total of 64 matches were played in 12 venues located in as many host cities across Brazil . For the first time at a World Cup finals , match officials used goal-line technology , as well as vanishing foam for free kicks . FIFA Fan Fests in each host city gathered a total of 5 million people , and the country received 1 million visitors from 202 countries .   Every World Cup-winning team since the first edition in 1930 -- Argentina , Brazil , England , France , Germany , Italy , Spain and Uruguay -- qualified for this tournament . Spain , the title holders , were eliminated at the group stage , along with England and Italy . Uruguay were eliminated in the round of 16 , and France exited in the quarter-finals . Host nation Brazil , who had won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup , lost to Germany 7 -- 1 in the semi-finals and eventually finished in fourth place . In the final , Germany defeated Argentina 1 -- 0 to win the tournament and secure the country 's fourth world title , the first after the German reunification in 1990 , when as West Germany they also beat Argentina in the World Cup final .  Germany became the first European team to win a World Cup staged in the Americas , and this result marked the first time that sides from the same continent had won three consecutive tournaments ( following Italy in 2006 and Spain in 2010 ) .   As the winners , Germany qualified for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia .


George Orwell is in favor of states that regulate all aspects of public and private life.

Totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a political system in which the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible . A distinctive feature of totalitarian governments is an `` elaborate ideology , a set of ideas that gives meaning and direction to the whole society '' .   The concept was first developed in the 1920s by the Weimar German jurist , and later Nazi academic , Carl Schmitt , and Italian fascists . Schmitt used the term , Totalstaat , in his influential work on the legal basis of an all-powerful state , The Concept of the Political ( 1927 ) . The concept became prominent in Western political discourse as a concept that highlights similarities between Fascist states and the Soviet Union .


George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair ( 25 June 1903 -- 21 January 1950 ) , better known by his pen name George Orwell , was an English novelist , essayist , journalist , and critic . His work is marked by lucid prose , awareness of social injustice , opposition to totalitarianism , and outspoken support of democratic socialism .   Orwell wrote literary criticism , poetry , fiction , and polemical journalism . He is best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm ( 1945 ) and the dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four ( 1949 ) . His non-fiction works , including The Road to Wigan Pier ( 1937 ) , documenting his experience of working class life in the north of England , and Homage to Catalonia ( 1938 ) , an account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War , are widely acclaimed , as are his essays on politics , literature , language , and culture . In 2008 , The Times ranked him second on a list of `` The 50 greatest British writers since 1945 '' .   Orwell 's work continues to influence popular and political culture , and the term Orwellian -- descriptive of totalitarian or authoritarian social practices -- has entered the language together with many of his neologisms , including cold war , Big Brother , Thought Police , Room 101 , memory hole , newspeak , doublethink , and thoughtcrime .


Fairy Tail's main character is Edward Elric.

Fairy Tail is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima . It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine since August 2 , 2006 , with the individual chapters collected and published into 61 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha as of May 17 , 2017 . The story follows the adventures of Natsu Dragneel , a teenage who is a member of the popular wizards ' guild Fairy Tail , as he searches for the dragon Igneel .   The manga has been adapted into an anime series produced by A-1 Pictures , Dentsu Inc. , and Satelight , which began broadcasting in Japan on October 12 , 2009 . Additionally , A-1 Pictures has developed seven original video animations and two animated feature films . The series ended its initial run on March 30 , 2013 . A second series premiered on TV Tokyo on April 5 , 2014 , and ended on March 26 , 2016 .   Fairy Tail was originally licensed for an English language release in North America by Del Rey Manga , which began releasing the individual volumes on March 25 , 2008 and ended its licensing with the 12th volume release in September 2010 . In December 2010 , Kodansha Comics USA took over North American release of the series . The Southeast Asian network Animax Asia aired an English-language version of the anime for seven seasons from 2010 to 2015 . The anime has been licensed by Funimation for an English-language release in North America . As of February 2017 , Fairy Tail had 60 million copies in print .


Central Valley (California) The Central Valley is a large , flat valley that dominates the geographical center of the U.S. state of California . It is 40 to wide and stretches approximately 450 mi from north-northwest to south-southeast , inland from and parallel to the Pacific Ocean coast . It covers approximately 18000 mi2 , about 11 % of California 's total land area ( or about the size of Denmark ) . Bounded by the Sierra Nevada to the east and the Coast Ranges to the west , it is California 's single most productive agricultural region and one of the most productive in the world , providing more than half of the fruits , vegetables and nuts grown in the United States . More than 7 million acres ( 28,000 km2 ) of the valley are irrigated via an extensive system of reservoirs and canals . The valley also has many major cities , including the state capital Sacramento ; as well as Redding , Stockton , Modesto , Fresno and Bakersfield .   The Central Valley watershed comprises 60000 mi2 , or over a third of California . Its three main drainage systems are the Sacramento Valley in the north , which receives well over 20 in of rain annually ; the drier San Joaquin Valley in the south , and the Tulare Basin and its semi-arid desert climate at the southernmost end . The Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems drain their respective valleys and meet to form the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta , a large expanse of interconnected canals , stream beds , sloughs , marshes and peat islands . The delta empties into the San Francisco Bay , and then ultimately flows into the Pacific . The waters of the Tulare Basin essentially never flow to the ocean ( with the exception of Kings River waters diverted northward for irrigation ) , though they are connected by man-made canals to the San Joaquin and could drain there again naturally if they were ever to rise high enough .   The valley encompasses all or parts of 18 Northern California counties : Butte , Colusa , Glenn , El Dorado , Fresno , Kings , Madera , Merced , Placer , San Joaquin , Sacramento , Shasta , Stanislaus , Sutter , Tehama , Tulare , Yuba , Yolo , and the Southern California county of Kern .


Sons of Anarchy Sons of Anarchy is an American crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter , which aired from 2008 to 2014 . It follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in Charming , a fictional town in California 's Central Valley . The show stars Charlie Hunnam as Jackson `` Jax '' Teller , initially the vice president , who begins questioning the club and himself . Brotherhood , loyalty and redemption are constant themes .   Sons of Anarchy premiered on September 3 , 2008 , on cable network FX . The series 's third season attracted an average of 4.9 million weekly viewers , making it FX 's highest rated series and surpassing its other hits The Shield , Nip/Tuck and Rescue Me . The season four and five premieres were the two highest-rated telecasts in FX 's history .   The sixth season aired from September 10 , 2013 , through December 10 , 2013 . The seventh and final season of the series premiered on September 9 , 2014 . The series finale premiered on December 9 , 2014 .   The series explores vigilantism , government corruption and racism , and depicts an outlaw motorcycle club as an analogy for human transformation . Real life Oakland Hell 's Angel David Labrava served as a technical adviser , and also played one of the main characters , Happy Lowman , the club 's assassin .   In November 2013 , Sutter indicated he was in talks with FX to make a Sons of Anarchy prequel set in the 1960s . In February 2015 , he said he would not work on the prequel , likely to be titled `` The First 9 '' , before 2017 . In November 2016 FX announced the development of a spin off series Mayans MC , centered around Latino culture , which will likely include past SOA characters in cameo roles .


C. S. Forester was the writer of tales of naval warfare.

C. S. Forester Cecil Louis Troughton Smith ( 27 August 1899 -- 2 April 1966 ) , known by his pen name Cecil Scott `` C. S. '' Forester , was an English novelist known for writing tales of naval warfare such as the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series , depicting a Royal Navy officer during the Napoleonic wars . Two of the Hornblower books , A Ship of the Line and Flying Colours , were jointly awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction in 1938 . His other works include The African Queen ( 1935 ; filmed in 1951 by John Huston ) .


Havoc (2005 film) Havoc is a 2005 crime drama film starring Anne Hathaway and Bijou Phillips , with Shiri Appleby , Freddy Rodriguez , Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Michael Biehn , and Laura San Giacomo appearing in supporting roles . The film is about the lives of wealthy Los Angeles , California teenagers whose exposure to hip hop culture inspires them to imitate the gangster lifestyle . They run into trouble when they encounter a gang of drug dealers , discovering they are not as street-wise as they had thought .   Written by Jessica Kaplan and Stephen Gaghan and directed by Barbara Kopple , the film was shown at several film festivals and then went directly to DVD on November 29 , 2005 .


One of the American musical television series is Glee.

Fox Broadcasting Company The Fox Broadcasting Company ( often shortened to Fox and stylized as FOX ) is an American English language commercial broadcast television network that is owned by the Fox Entertainment Group subsidiary of 21st Century Fox . The network is headquartered at the 20th Century Fox studio lot on Pico Boulevard in the Century City section of Los Angeles , with additional major offices and production facilities at the Fox Television Center in nearby West Los Angeles and the Fox Broadcasting Center in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan , New York City . It is the third largest major television network in the world based on total revenues , assets , and international coverage .   Launched on October 9 , 1986 as a competitor to the Big Three television networks ( ABC , NBC and CBS ) , Fox went on to become the most successful attempt at a fourth television network . It was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18 -- 49 demographic from 2004 to 2012 , and earned the position as the most-watched American television network in total viewership during the 2007 -- 08 season .   Fox and its affiliated companies operate many entertainment channels in international markets , although these do not necessarily air the same programming as the U.S. network . Most viewers in Canada have access to at least one U.S.-based Fox affiliate , either over-the-air or through a pay television provider , although Fox 's National Football League telecasts and most of its prime time programming are subject to simultaneous substitution regulations for cable and satellite providers imposed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ( CRTC ) to protect rights held by domestically based networks .   The network is named after sister company 20th Century Fox , and indirectly for producer William Fox , who founded one of the movie studio 's predecessors , Fox Film . Fox is a member of the North American Broadcasters Association and the National Association of Broadcasters .


Glee (season 6) The sixth and final season of the Fox musical comedy-drama television series Glee was commissioned on April 19 , 2013 , along with the fifth season , as part of a two-season renewal deal for the show on the Fox network . The final season , consisting of 13 episodes , premiered on Friday , January 9 , 2015 , with the first two episodes , and the last two episodes ( functioning as a single series finale ) aired on March 20 , 2015 .   The series features the New Directions glee club at the fictional William McKinley High School ( WMHS ) in the town of Lima , Ohio , and some of the graduates of McKinley . The season focuses on the former glee club member , Rachel Berry , who returns to McKinley after her TV Pilot bombs to rebuild the disbanded glee club . The central characters are the former glee club director Will Schuester ( Matthew Morrison ) , school principal Sue Sylvester ( Jane Lynch ) , and Glee club graduates Rachel Berry ( Lea Michele ) , Kurt Hummel ( Chris Colfer ) , Blaine Anderson ( Darren Criss ) , Artie Abrams ( Kevin McHale ) , and Sam Evans ( Chord Overstreet ) . Amber Riley returns to the main cast as Mercedes Jones and Dot-Marie Jones , who portrays Shannon Beiste , the school 's football coach , was promoted to the main cast after four years as a recurring character . Jenna Ushkowitz , Naya Rivera , Becca Tobin , Jacob Artist , Melissa Benoist , Blake Jenner , and Alex Newell who have portrayed Tina Cohen-Chang , Santana Lopez , Kitty Wilde , Jake Puckerman , Marley Rose , Ryder Lynn , and Wade `` Unique '' Adams , were demoted from the main cast this season with Ushkowitz , Rivera , Tobin , and Newell recurring during the season , while Artist and Jenner returned briefly in the series finale . Benoist , however , does not appear at all in this season .   The season was nominated for one Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics .


Romelu Lukaku moved to Anderlecht in 2001.

Romelu Lukaku Romelu Menama Lukaku ( born 13 May 1993 ) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Everton and the Belgium national team . He is one of only five players to score 50 Premier League goals before his 23rd birthday , and the first foreign player to score 80 before his 24th birthday .   Lukaku started his career with local side Rupel Boom , before joining Lierse , where he earned a move to Anderlecht of the Belgian Pro League in 2006 . Lukaku made his professional debut while still at school at the age of 16 , and became the 2009 -- 10 top scorer in Belgium as Anderlecht won the Belgian championship . He also won the Belgian Ebony Shoe in 2011 . In the 2011 summer transfer window , Lukaku joined Premier League club Chelsea . He did not appear regularly in his first season there , and spent the following two seasons on loan at West Bromwich Albion and Everton respectively , signing permanently for the latter for a club record # 28 million in 2014 .   Lukaku made his senior international debut for Belgium in 2010 , and has since earned over 50 caps . He has also represented the country at the 2014 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016 .


Extreme environments can be caused by carbon monoxide.

Extreme environment An extreme environment contains conditions that are hard to survive for most known life forms . These conditions may be extremely high or low temperature or pressure ; high or low content of oxygen or carbon dioxide in the atmosphere ; high levels of radiation , acidity , or alkalinity ; absence of water ; water containing a high concentration of salt or sugar ; presence of sulphur , petroleum , and other toxic substances .   Examples of extreme environments include the geographical poles , very dry deserts , volcanoes , deep ocean trenches , upper atmosphere , Mt Everest , outer space , and the environments of every planet in the Solar System except the Earth . Any organisms living in these conditions are often very well adapted to their living circumstances , which is usually a result of long-term evolution . Physiologists have long known that organisms living in extreme environments are especially likely to exhibit clear examples of evolutionary adaptation because of the presumably intense past natural selection they have experienced .


Clark Gable William Clark Gable ( February 1 , 1901 -- November 16 , 1960 ) was an American film actor , often referred to as `` The King of Hollywood '' or just simply as `` The King '' . Gable began his career as a stage actor and appeared as an extra in silent films between 1924 and 1926 , and progressed to supporting roles with a few films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1931 . The next year , he landed his first leading Hollywood role and over the next three decades he became a leading man in more than 60 motion pictures .   Gable won an Academy Award for Best Actor for It Happened One Night ( 1934 ) , and was nominated for leading roles in Mutiny on the Bounty ( 1935 ) and for his arguably best-known role as Rhett Butler in the epic Civil War drama Gone with the Wind ( 1939 ) .   Gable also found success commercially and critically with films such as Red Dust ( 1932 ) , Manhattan Melodrama ( 1934 ) , San Francisco ( 1936 ) , Saratoga ( 1937 ) Boom Town ( 1940 ) , The Hucksters ( 1947 ) , Homecoming ( 1948 ) , and The Misfits ( 1961 ) , which was his final screen appearance .   Gable appeared opposite some of the most popular actresses of the time . Joan Crawford was his favorite actress to work with , and she was partnered with Gable in eight films . Myrna Loy worked with him seven times , and he was paired with Jean Harlow in six productions . He also starred with Lana Turner in four features , and with Norma Shearer and Ava Gardner in three each . Gable 's final film , The Misfits ( 1961 ) , united him with Marilyn Monroe ( also in her last screen appearance ) . Gable is considered one of the most consistent box-office performers in history , appearing on Quigley Publishing 's annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll 16 times . He was named the seventh-greatest male star of classic American cinema by the American Film Institute .


Kajal Aggarwal played the lead role in Thuppakki.

Kajal Aggarwal Kajal Aggarwal ( born 19 June 1985 ) is an Indian film actress and model . One of the most popular Indian celebrities , she has established a career in the Telugu and Tamil film industries and has been nominated for four Filmfare Awards South . In addition to acting , Kajal participates in stage shows and is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products .   Aggarwal made her acting debut with the 2004 Bollywood film Kyun ! Ho Gaya Na ... and had her first Telugu film release in 2007 Lakshmi Kalyanam . In the same year , she starred in the box office hit Chandamama , which earned her recognition . The 2009 historical fiction Telugu film Magadheera marked a turning point in her career , earning her critical acclaim . It ranks among the highest-grossing Telugu films of all time and fetched her Best Actress nominations at several award ceremonies including Filmfare .   She subsequently rose to prominence by starring in several critical and commercially successful Telugu films like Darling ( 2010 ) , Brindavanam ( 2010 ) , Mr. Perfect ( 2011 ) , Businessman ( 2012 ) , Naayak ( 2013 ) , Baadshah ( 2013 ) , Govindudu Andarivadele ( 2014 ) , Temper ( 2015 ) , Khaidi No. 150 ( 2017 ) and established herself as one of the leading and highest-paid actresses in Tollywood . Kajal gained further recognition by featuring as the female lead in the high-profile Tamil projects Naan Mahaan Alla ( 2010 ) , Maattrraan ( 2012 ) , Thuppakki ( 2012 ) , Jilla ( 2014 ) , and emerged as a leading actress in Tamil cinema as well . She made a comeback to Bollywood with Singham ( 2011 ) which was a blockbuster , while another film Special 26 '' ( 2013 ) was also declared a box-office success .


Thuppakki Thuppakki ( The Gun ) is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by AR Murugadoss . It features Vijay and Kajal Aggarwal in the lead roles , Vidyut Jammwal as the antagonist , as well as Jayaram and Sathyan in supporting roles . The film , produced by S. Thanu , features background score and soundtrack composed by Harris Jayaraj with cinematography handled by Santhosh Sivan , who with Thuppakki , introduced the Arri Alexa camera to Indian cinema . The story revolves around an Indian army intelligence officer from a Mumbai-based Tamil family on a mission to track down and destroy a terrorist group and deactivate the sleeper cells under its command .   The film , which commenced production in December 2011 in Mumbai , was released on 13 November 2012 , coinciding with the festival of Diwali . Upon release , the film became the highest grossing Tamil film of 2012 . The film was also released in Telugu under the same title in Andhra Pradesh , where it was also very well received . Thuppakki went on to win six Vijay Awards from sixteen nominations , and was nominated for seven South Filmfare Awards , including Best Film ( Tamil ) , Best Director ( Tamil ) and Best Actor ( Tamil ) . Murugadoss remade the film in Hindi as Holiday : A Soldier Is Never Off Duty in 2014 , while Baba Yadav remade it in Bengali as Game in the same year .


Avengers: Age of Ultron premiered in California in April of 2015.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Avengers : Age of Ultron is a 2015 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers , produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures . It is the sequel to 2012 's The Avengers and the eleventh film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ( MCU ) . The film was written and directed by Joss Whedon and features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr. , Chris Hemsworth , Mark Ruffalo , Chris Evans , Scarlett Johansson , Jeremy Renner , Don Cheadle , Aaron Taylor-Johnson , Elizabeth Olsen , Paul Bettany , Cobie Smulders , Anthony Mackie , Hayley Atwell , Idris Elba , Stellan Skarsgård , James Spader , and Samuel L. Jackson . In Avengers : Age of Ultron , the Avengers fight Ultron , an artificial intelligence obsessed with causing human extinction .   The sequel was announced in May 2012 , after the successful release of The Avengers . Whedon , the director of the first film , was brought back on board in August and a release date was set . By April 2013 , Whedon had completed a draft of the script , and casting began in June with the re-signing of Downey . Second unit filming began in February 2014 in South Africa with principal photography taking place between March and August 2014 . The film was primarily shot at Shepperton Studios in Surrey , England , with additional footage filmed in Italy , South Korea , Bangladesh , New York City , and various locations around England . While in post production , the film was converted to 3D and over 3,000 visual effects shots were added .   Avengers : Age of Ultron premiered in Los Angeles on April 13 , 2015 , and was released on May 1 , 2015 , in North America , in 3D and IMAX 3D . The film received positive reviews from critics and grossed over $ 1.4 billion worldwide , making it the seventh-highest-grossing film in history and the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2015 . A sequel , Avengers : Infinity War , is scheduled to be released on May 4 , 2018 , and another untitled sequel is scheduled for May 3 , 2019 .


Los Angeles Los Angeles ( -LSB- lɒs_ˈændʒəlᵻs -RSB- , Spanish for `` The Angels '' ; -LSB- los ˈaŋxeles -RSB- ) , officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A. , is the cultural , financial , and commercial center of Southern California . With a census-estimated 2017 population of 4,042,000 , it is the second-most populous city in the United States ( after New York City ) and the most populous city in the state of California . Located in a large coastal basin surrounded on three sides by mountains reaching up to and over 10000 ft , Los Angeles covers an area of about 469 sqmi . The city is also the seat of Los Angeles County , the most populated county in the country . Los Angeles is the center of the Los Angeles metropolitan area , and is part of the larger designated Los Angeles-Long Beach combined statistical area ( CSA ) , the second most populous in the nation with a 2015 estimated population of 18.7 million .   Historically home to the Chumash and Tongva , Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California . The city was officially founded on September 4 , 1781 , by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve . It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence . In 1848 , at the end of the Mexican -- American War , Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , thereby becoming part of the United States . Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4 , 1850 , five months before California achieved statehood . The discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city . The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913 , delivering water from Eastern California , later assured the city 's continued rapid growth .   Nicknamed the `` City of Angels '' , Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate , ethnic diversity , and sprawling metropolis . The city is also one of the most substantial economic engines within the nation , with a diverse economy in a broad range of professional and cultural fields . Los Angeles is also famous as the home of Hollywood , a major center of the world entertainment industry . A global city , it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index and 9th in the Global Economic Power Index . The Los Angeles combined statistical area ( CSA ) also has a gross metropolitan product ( GMP ) of $ 831 billion , making it the third-largest in the world , after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas .


Dolly Parton starred in the comedy Rhinestone.

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean ( born January 19 , 1946 ) , professionally known as Dolly Parton , is an American singer , songwriter , multi-instrumentalist , record producer , actress , author , businesswoman , and philanthropist , known primarily for her work in country music . After achieving success as a songwriter for others , Dolly Parton made her album debut in 1967 , with her album Hello , I 'm Dolly . With steady success during the remainder of the 1960s ( both as a solo artist and with a series of duet albums with Porter Wagoner ) , her sales and chart peak came during the 1970s and continuing into the 1980s ; Parton 's subsequent albums in the later part of the 1990s were lower in sales . However , in the new millennium , Parton achieved commercial success again and has released albums on independent labels since 2000 , including albums on her own label , Dolly Records .   Parton is the most honored female country performer of all time . Achieving 25 Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ) certified Gold , Platinum , and Multi-Platinum awards , she has had 25 songs reach No. 1 on the Billboard country music charts , a record for a female artist ( tied with Reba McEntire ) . She has 41 career top 10 country albums , a record for any artist , and she has 110 career charted singles over the past 40 years . All-inclusive sales of singles , albums , hits collections , and digital downloads during her career have topped 100 million worldwide . She has garnered nine Grammy Awards , two Academy Award nominations , ten Country Music Association Awards , seven Academy of Country Music Awards , three American Music Awards , and is one of only seven female artists to win the Country Music Association 's Entertainer of the Year Award . Parton has received 47 Grammy nominations .   In 1999 , Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame . She has composed over 3,000 songs , notably `` I Will Always Love You '' ( a two-time U.S. country chart-topper for Parton , as well as an international pop hit for Whitney Houston ) , `` Jolene '' , `` Coat of Many Colors '' , and `` 9 to 5 '' . She is also one of the few to have received at least one nomination from the Academy Awards , Grammy Awards , Tony Awards , and Emmy Awards . As an actress , she starred in films such as 9 to 5 , The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas , Rhinestone , and Steel Magnolias .


Rhinestone (film) Rhinestone is a 1984 American musical comedy film directed by Bob Clark from a screenplay by Sylvester Stallone and Phil Alden Robinson and starring Stallone and Dolly Parton .


Reddit had 82.54 billion criticisms in 2015.

Reddit Reddit ( stylized as reddit , -LSB- ˈrɛdɪt -RSB- ) is an American social news aggregation , web content rating , and discussion website . Reddit 's registered community members can submit content such as text posts or direct links . Registered users can then vote submissions up or down that determines their position on the page . Submissions with the most up-votes appear on the front page or the top of a category . Content entries are organized by areas of interest called `` subreddits '' . Subreddit topics include news , science , gaming , movies , music , books , fitness , food , image-sharing , and many others . The site prohibits harassment , and moderation requires substantial resources .   As of 2017 , Reddit had 542 million monthly visitors ( 234 million unique users ) , ranking # 4 most visited web-site in US and # 9 in the world . Across 2015 , Reddit saw 82.54 billion pageviews , 73.15 million submissions , 725.85 million comments , and 6.89 billion upvotes from its users .   Reddit was founded by University of Virginia roommates Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian in 2005 . Condé Nast Publications acquired the site in October 2006 . Reddit became a direct subsidiary of Condé Nast 's parent company , Advance Publications , in September 2011 . As of August 2012 , Reddit operates as an independent entity , although Advance is still its largest shareholder . Reddit is based in San Francisco , California . In October 2014 , Reddit raised $ 50 million in a funding round led by Sam Altman and including investors Marc Andreessen , Peter Thiel , Ron Conway , Snoop Dogg , and Jared Leto . Their investment saw the company valued at $ 500 million .


Drama school A drama school , stage school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university ; or a free-standing institution ( such as the Drama section at the Juilliard School ) ; which specializes in the pre-professional training in drama and theatre arts , such as acting , design and technical theatre , arts administration , and related subjects . If the drama school is part of a degree-granting institution , undergraduates typically take a Bachelor of Arts , Bachelor of Fine Arts , or , occasionally , Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Design . Graduate students may take a Master of Arts , Master of Science , Master of Fine Arts , Doctor of Arts , Doctor of Fine Arts , or Doctor of Philosophy degree .


Plutonium Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with symbol Pu and atomic number 94 . It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air , and forms a dull coating when oxidized . The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation states . It reacts with carbon , halogens , nitrogen , silicon and hydrogen . When exposed to moist air , it forms oxides and hydrides that can expand the sample up to 70 % in volume , which in turn flake off as a powder that is pyrophoric . It is radioactive and can accumulate in bones , which makes the handling of plutonium dangerous .   Plutonium was first produced and isolated on December 14 , 1940 by Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg , Joseph W. Kennedy , Edwin M. McMillan , and Arthur C. Wahl by deuteron bombardment of uranium-238 in the 60-inch cyclotron at the University of California , Berkeley . They first synthesized neptunium-238 ( half-life 2.1 days ) which subsequently beta-decayed to form a new element with atomic number 94 and atomic weight 238 ( half-life 87.7 years ) . Uranium had been named after the planet Uranus and neptunium after the planet Neptune , and so element 94 was named after Pluto , which at the time was considered to be a planet as well . Wartime secrecy prevented them from announcing the discovery until 1948 . Plutonium is the element with the highest atomic number to occur in nature , as trace quantities similarly arise from natural uranium-238 capturing neutrons . Plutonium is much more common on Earth since 1945 as a product of neutron capture and beta decay , where some of the neutrons released by the fission process convert uranium-238 nuclei into plutonium-239 .   Both plutonium-239 and plutonium-241 are fissile , meaning that they can sustain a nuclear chain reaction , leading to applications in nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors . Plutonium-240 exhibits a high rate of spontaneous fission , raising the neutron flux of any sample containing it . The presence of plutonium-240 limits a plutonium sample 's usability for weapons or its quality as reactor fuel , and the percentage of plutonium-240 determines its grade ( weapons-grade , fuel-grade , or reactor-grade ) . Plutonium-238 has a half-life of 88 years and emits alpha particles . It is a heat source in radioisotope thermoelectric generators , which are used to power some spacecraft . Plutonium isotopes are expensive and inconvenient to separate , so particular isotopes are usually manufactured in specialized reactors .   Producing plutonium in useful quantities for the first time was a major part of the Manhattan Project during World War II that developed the first atomic bombs . The Fat Man bombs used in the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945 , and in the bombing of Nagasaki in August 1945 , had plutonium cores . Human radiation experiments studying plutonium were conducted without informed consent , and several criticality accidents , some lethal , occurred after the war . Disposal of plutonium waste from nuclear power plants and dismantled nuclear weapons built during the Cold War is a nuclear-proliferation and environmental concern . Other sources of plutonium in the environment are fallout from numerous above-ground nuclear tests , now banned .


Mao Zedong Mao Zedong or Mao Tse-tung ( -LSB- ˈmaʊ_dzəˈdʊŋ , _ zə - , _ - dɒŋ -RSB- December 26 , 1893September 9 , 1976 ) , also known as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese communist revolutionary and founding father of the People 's Republic of China , which he governed as the Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949 , until his death in 1976 . His Marxist -- Leninist theories , military strategies , and political policies are collectively known as Maoism or Marxism-Leninism-Maoism .   Born the son of a wealthy farmer in Shaoshan , Hunan , Mao adopted a Chinese nationalist and anti-imperialist outlook in early life , particularly influenced by the events of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and May Fourth Movement of 1919 . Mao adopted Marxism -- Leninism while working at Peking University and became a founding member of the Communist Party of China ( CPC ) , leading the Autumn Harvest Uprising in 1927 . During the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang ( KMT ) and the CPC , Mao helped to found the Chinese Workers ' and Peasants ' Red Army , led the Jiangxi Soviet 's radical land policies and ultimately became head of the CPC during the Long March . Although the CPC temporarily allied with the KMT under the United Front during the Second Sino-Japanese War ( 1937 -- 45 ) , after Japan 's defeat China 's civil war resumed and in 1949 Mao 's forces defeated the Nationalists who withdrew to Taiwan .   On 1 October 1949 , Mao proclaimed the foundation of the People 's Republic of China ( PRC ) , a one-party state controlled by the CPC . In the following years Mao solidified his control through a campaign of classicide against landlords , and a mass purge of perceived enemies of the state he termed as `` counter-revolutionaries '' alleged to have caused between 2,000,000 to 6,000,000 deaths . ( Mao himself admitting 800,000 deaths in the classicide and 712,000 in the suppression of Counterrevolutionaries ) In 1957 , he launched the Great Leap Forward campaign that aimed to rapidly transform China 's economy from an agrarian economy to an industrial one . The campaign contributed to a widespread famine , whose death toll is estimated at between 15,000,000 and 55,000,000 . In 1966 , he initiated the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution , a program to remove `` counter-revolutionary '' elements of Chinese society that lasted 10 years and which was marked by violent class struggle that killed 400,000 to 10,000,000 people , widespread destruction of cultural artifacts and unprecedented elevation of Mao 's personality cult . In 1972 , Mao welcomed American President Richard Nixon in Beijing , signalling a policy of opening China , which was furthered under the rule of Deng Xiaoping ( 1978 -- 1992 ) . Mao suffered a series of heart attacks in 1976 , and died in September , aged 82 . He was succeeded as Paramount leader by Hua Guofeng ( 1976 -- 1978 ) , who was quickly sidelined and replaced by Deng .   A controversial figure , Mao is regarded as one of the most important individuals in modern world history , and is also known as a theorist , military strategist , poet and visionary . Supporters credit him with driving imperialism out of China , modernising China and building it into a world power , promoting the status of women , improving education and health care , and increasing life expectancy as China 's population grew from around 550 million to over 900 million under his leadership . In contrast , critics consider him a dictator comparable to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin who damaged traditional Chinese culture , as well as considering him a perpetrator of human rights abuses , and they estimate that Mao was responsible for 40 to 70 million deaths through starvation , prison labour and executions , which would rank his tenure as the top incidence of excess mortality in human history .


David Schwimmer was unable to graduate from college.

David Schwimmer David Lawrence Schwimmer ( born November 2 , 1966 ) is an American actor , director , and producer . He was born in Flushing , Queens , New York , and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was 2 . He began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School . In 1988 , he graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts in theater and speech . After graduation , Schwimmer co-founded the Lookingglass Theatre Company . For much of the late 1980s , he lived in Los Angeles as a struggling , unemployed actor .   He starred in the television movie A Deadly Silence in 1989 and appeared in a number of television roles , including on L.A. Law , The Wonder Years , NYPD Blue , and Monty , in the early 1990s . Schwimmer later gained worldwide recognition for playing Ross Geller in the sitcom Friends , for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1995 . His first leading film role was in The Pallbearer ( 1996 ) , followed by roles in Kissing a Fool ( 1998 ) , Six Days , Seven Nights ( 1998 ) , Apt Pupil , and Picking Up the Pieces ( 2000 ) . He was then cast in the miniseries Band of Brothers ( 2001 ) as Herbert Sobel .   After the series finale of Friends in 2004 , Schwimmer was cast as the title character in the 2005 drama Duane Hopwood . Other film roles include the voice of Melman the Giraffe in the computer-animated Madagascar film franchise , the dark comedy Big Nothing ( 2006 ) , and the thriller Nothing But the Truth ( 2008 ) . Schwimmer made his West End stage debut in the leading role in Some Girl ( s ) in 2005 . In 2006 , he made his Broadway debut in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial . Schwimmer made his feature film directorial debut with the 2007 comedy Run Fatboy Run . The following year he made his Off-Broadway directorial debut in the 2008 production , Fault Lines .   In 2016 , he starred as lawyer Robert Kardashian in American Crime Story , for which he received his second Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie .


Muhammad was persecuted by some Meccan tribes.

Persecution of Muslims by Meccans In the early days of Islam at Mecca , the new Muslims were often subjected to abuse and persecution .


Muhammad Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd AllāhFull name : Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim ( ابو القاسم محمد ابن عبد الله ابن عبد المطلب ابن هاشم , lit : Father of Qasim Muhammad son of Abd Allah son of Abdul-Muttalib son of Hashim ) ( محمد -LSB- muħammad -RSB- ; Classical Arabic pronunciation c. 570 CE -- 8 June 632 CE ) is the prophet of Islam and widely identified as its founder by non-Muslims . According to Islamic doctrine , he was God 's Messenger ( rasūl Allāh ) sent to confirm the essential teachings of monotheism preached previously by Adam , Abraham , Moses , Jesus , and other prophets . He is viewed as the final prophet of God in primary branches of Islam , though some modern denominations diverge from this belief.The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community considers Muhammad to be the `` Seal of the Prophets '' ( Khātam an-Nabiyyīn ) and the last law-bearing Prophet but not the last Prophet . See :   There are also smaller sects which believe Muhammad to be not the last Prophet :  The Nation of Islam considers Elijah Muhammad to be a prophet ( source : African American Religious Leaders -- p. 76 , Jim Haskins , Kathleen Benson -- 2008 ) .  United Submitters International consider Rashad Khalifa to be a prophet . ( Source : Daniel Pipes , Miniatures : Views of Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics , p. 98 ( 2004 ) ) Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity and ensured that his teachings , practices , and the Quran , formed the basis of Islamic religious belief .   Born approximately 570CE ( Year of the Elephant ) in the Arabian city of Mecca , Muhammad was orphaned at an early age ; he was raised under the care of his paternal uncle Abu Talib . Periodically , he would seclude himself in a mountain cave named Hira for several nights of prayer ; later , at age 40 , he reported being visited by Gabriel in the cave , where he stated he received his first revelation from God . Three years later , in 610 , Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly , proclaiming that `` God is One '' , that complete `` surrender '' ( lit . islām ) to him is the right course of action ( dīn ) , and that he was a prophet and messenger of God , similar to the other prophets in Islam .   Muhammad gained few early followers , and met hostility from some Meccan tribes . To escape persecution , Muhammad sent some followers to Abyssinia before he and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina ( then known as Yathrib ) in the year 622 . This event , the Hijra , marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar , also known as the Hijri Calendar . In Medina , Muhammad united the tribes under the Constitution of Medina . In December 629 , after eight years of intermittent conflict with Meccan tribes , Muhammad gathered an army of 10,000 Muslim converts and marched on the city of Mecca . The attack went largely uncontested and Muhammad seized the city with little bloodshed . In 632 , a few months after returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage , he fell ill and died . Before his death , most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam .   The revelations ( each known as Ayah , lit . `` Sign -LSB- of God -RSB- '' ) , which Muhammad reported receiving until his death , form the verses of the Quran , regarded by Muslims as the `` Word of God '' and around which the religion is based . Besides the Quran , Muhammad 's teachings and practices ( sunnah ) , found in the Hadith and sira literature , are also upheld by Muslims and used as sources of Islamic law ( see Sharia ) .


Available evidence suggests that building nests is something all dinosaurs do.

Dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria that first appeared during the Triassic period . Although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is the subject of active research , the current scientific consensus places their origin between 231 and 243 million years ago . They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic -- Jurassic extinction event 201 million years ago . Their dominance continued through the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and ended when the Cretaceous -- Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of most dinosaur groups 66 million years ago .   Until the late 20th century , all groups of dinosaurs were believed to be extinct . The fossil record , however , indicates that birds , which are now termed `` avian dinosaurs , '' are the modern descendants of feathered dinosaurs , having evolved from theropod ancestors during the Jurassic Period . As such , birds were the only dinosaur lineage to survive the mass extinction event . Throughout the remainder of this article , the term `` dinosaur '' is sometimes used generically to refer to the combined group of avian dinosaurs ( birds ) and non-avian dinosaurs ; at other times it is used to refer to the non-avian dinosaurs specifically , while the avian dinosaurs are sometimes simply referred to as `` birds '' . This article deals primarily with non-avian dinosaurs .   Dinosaurs are a varied group of animals from taxonomic , morphological and ecological standpoints . Birds , at over 10,000 living species , are the most diverse group of vertebrates besides perciform fish . Using fossil evidence , paleontologists have identified over 500 distinct genera and more than 1,000 different species of non-avian dinosaurs . Dinosaurs are represented on every continent by both extant species ( birds ) and fossil remains . Through the first half of the 20th century , before birds were recognized to be dinosaurs , most of the scientific community believed dinosaurs to have been sluggish and cold-blooded . Most research conducted since the 1970s , however , has indicated that all dinosaurs were active animals with elevated metabolisms and numerous adaptations for social interaction . Some are herbivorous , others carnivorous . Evidence suggests that egg laying and nest building are additional traits shared by all dinosaurs .   While dinosaurs were ancestrally bipedal , many extinct groups included quadrupedal species , and some were able to shift between these stances . Elaborate display structures such as horns or crests are common to all dinosaur groups , and some extinct groups developed skeletal modifications such as bony armor and spines . While the dinosaurs ' modern-day surviving avian lineage ( birds ) are generally small due to the constraints of flight , many prehistoric dinosaurs ( non-avian and avian ) were large-bodied -- the largest sauropod dinosaurs are estimated to have reached lengths of 39.7 m and heights of 18 m and were the largest land animals of all time . Still , the idea that non-avian dinosaurs were uniformly gigantic is a misconception based in part on preservation bias , as large , sturdy bones are more likely to last until they are fossilized . Many dinosaurs were quite small : Xixianykus , for example , was only about 50 cm long .   Since the first dinosaur fossils were recognized in the early 19th century , mounted fossil dinosaur skeletons have been major attractions at museums around the world , and dinosaurs have become an enduring part of world culture . The large sizes of some dinosaur groups , as well as their seemingly monstrous and fantastic nature , have ensured dinosaurs ' regular appearance in best-selling books and films , such as Jurassic Park . Persistent public enthusiasm for the animals has resulted in significant funding for dinosaur science , and new discoveries are regularly covered by the media .


David Schwimmer has worked with other actors.

Kissing a Fool Kissing A Fool is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Doug Ellin . It primarily stars David Schwimmer , Jason Lee , Mili Avital , Kari Wührer and Vanessa Angel . Its plot is inspired by the short story `` El curioso impertinente '' that appears in Don Quixote .


Monty (TV series) Monty is an American sitcom that aired on Fox from January 11 to February 15 , 1994 . The series starred Henry Winkler as Monty Richardson , a loud , obnoxious conservative TV commentator . Richardson had also written a best-selling book titled I 'm Right . I 'm Right . I 'm Right . Shut Up . The series also starred Tom McGowan as his executive producer and David Schwimmer as his left-leaning son . Monty hoped to capitalize on the same family dynamic that made the television show All in the Family a success in the 1970s . However , the show was canceled after six episodes .


Big Nothing Big Nothing is a 2006 British-American-French black comedy crime film directed by Jean-Baptiste Andrea starring David Schwimmer and Simon Pegg . It was released in December 2006 , and had its premiere at Cardiff Film Festival in November 2006 .   Big Nothing was filmed on the Isle of Man and in Wales at Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan and at Caerwent and other areas of Monmouthshire . Other scenes were at Squamish , British Columbia , Canada .


Friends Friends ( stylized as F • R • I • E • N • D • S ) is an American television sitcom , created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman , which aired on NBC from September 22 , 1994 , to May 6 , 2004 , lasting ten seasons . With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston , Courteney Cox , Lisa Kudrow , Matt LeBlanc , Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer , the show revolves around six 20-30 something friends living in Manhattan . The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions , in association with Warner Bros. . Television . The original executive producers were Kevin S. Bright , Marta Kauffman , and David Crane .   Kauffman and Crane began developing Friends under the title Insomnia Cafe between November and December 1993 . They presented the idea to Bright , and together they pitched a seven-page treatment of the show to NBC . After several script rewrites and changes , including a title change to Six of One and Friends Like Us , the series was finally named Friends .   Filming took place at Warner Bros. . Studios in Burbank , California . All ten seasons of Friends ranked within the top ten of the final television season ratings ; ultimately reaching the No. 1 spot with its eighth season . The series finale on May 6 , 2004 , was watched by around 52.5 million American viewers , making it the fifth most watched series finale in television history , and the most watched television episode of the 2000s decade .   Friends received acclaim throughout its run , becoming one of the most popular television shows of all time . The series was nominated for 62 Primetime Emmy Awards , winning the Outstanding Comedy Series award in 2002 for its eighth season . The show ranked no. 21 on -LSB- -LSB- TV Guide 's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time | TV Guide '' 's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time -RSB- -RSB- and no. 7 on Empire magazine 's The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time . In 1997 , the episode `` The One with the Prom Video '' was ranked no. 100 on TV Guide 's 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time . In 2013 , Friends '' ranked no. 24 on the Writers Guild of America 's 101 Best Written TV Series of All Time and no. 28 on TV Guide 's 60 Best TV Series of All Time .


Run Fatboy Run Run Fatboy Run is a 2007 British-American comedy film directed by David Schwimmer , written by Michael Ian Black and Simon Pegg , and starring Pegg , Dylan Moran , Thandie Newton , Harish Patel , India de Beaufort , and Hank Azaria . It was released in the United Kingdom on 7 September 2007 , in Canada on 10 September 2007 , and in the United States on 28 March 2008 .


The Pallbearer The Pallbearer is a 1996 American romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Matt Reeves and starring David Schwimmer , Gwyneth Paltrow , Toni Collette , Michael Vartan , Michael Rapaport , and Barbara Hershey . It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival .


L.A. Law L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC , from September 15 , 1986 , to May 19 , 1994 .   Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher , it contained many of Bochco 's trademark features including an ensemble cast , large number of parallel storylines , social drama , and off-the-wall humor . It reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s , and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-topic issues such as capital punishment , abortion , racism , gay rights , homophobia , sexual harassment , AIDS , and domestic violence . The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff .   In addition to its main cast , L.A. Law was also well known for featuring then relatively unknown actors and actresses in guest starring roles , who later went on to greater success in film and television including : Don Cheadle , Jeffrey Tambor , Kathy Bates , David Schwimmer , Jay O. Sanders , James Avery , Gates McFadden , Bryan Cranston , C.C.H. Pounder , Kevin Spacey , Richard Schiff , Carrie-Anne Moss , William H. Macy , Stephen Root , Christian Slater , and Lucy Liu . Several episodes of the show also included celebrities such as Vanna White , Buddy Hackett and Mamie Van Doren appearing as themselves in cameo roles .   The show was popular with audiences and critics , and won 15 Emmy Awards throughout its run , four of which were for Outstanding Drama Series .


Duane Hopwood Duane Hopwood is a 2005 film featured in the Sundance Film Festival starring David Schwimmer and Janeane Garofalo , with a supporting cast featuring Judah Friedlander , Dick Cavett , Susan Lynch , John Krasinski , Rachel Covey , and Mia Dillon . The movie was written and directed by Matt Mulhern and released by IFC Films in November 2005 .   The film 's plot centers on the title character ( Schwimmer ) , an alcoholic whose life is spiraling downward rapidly after his divorce from Linda ( Garofalo ) .   The movie , writer/director Matt Mulhern 's second film , was well received by critics , named by Roger Ebert as `` one of the best movies of 2005 . '' He also said that David Schwimmer gave a `` career-transforming performance . '' IFC did not release the film in New York City or Los Angeles , focusing instead on Philadelphia , Tucson and Kansas City . HBO released the DVD in April 2006 and Showtime and The Movie Channel began the cable run in December 2006 .


Picking Up the Pieces (film) Picking Up the Pieces is a 2000 black comedy film directed by Alfonso Arau and starring Woody Allen , David Schwimmer , Maria Grazia Cucinotta , Kiefer Sutherland , Cheech Marin , and Sharon Stone .


Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas ( born June 23 , 1948 ) is an American judge , lawyer , and government official who currently serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States . Thomas succeeded Thurgood Marshall and is the second African American to serve on the court .   Thomas grew up in Savannah , Georgia , and was educated at the College of the Holy Cross and at Yale Law School . In 1974 , he was appointed an Assistant Attorney General in Missouri and subsequently practiced law there in the private sector . In 1979 , he became a legislative assistant to Senator John Danforth ( R-MO ) and in 1981 was appointed Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education . In 1982 , President Ronald Reagan appointed Thomas Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ( EEOC ) .   In 1990 , President George H. W. Bush nominated Thomas for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit . He served in that role for 16 months and on July 1 , 1991 , was nominated by Bush to fill Marshall 's seat on the United States Supreme Court . Thomas 's confirmation hearings were bitter and intensely fought , centering on an accusation that he had sexually harassed attorney Anita Hill , a subordinate at the Department of Education and subsequently at the EEOC . The U.S. Senate ultimately confirmed Thomas by a vote of 52 -- 48 .   Since joining the court , Thomas has taken a textualist approach , seeking to uphold the original meaning of the United States Constitution and statutes . He is generally viewed as the most conservative member of the court . Thomas is also known for his practice of rarely speaking during oral arguments .


Elephant cognition Most contemporary ethologists view the elephant as one of the world 's most intelligent animals . With a mass of just over 5 kg ( 11 lb ) , an elephant 's brain has more mass than that of any other land animal , and although the largest whales have body masses twenty times those of a typical elephant , a whale 's brain is barely twice the mass of an elephant 's brain . In addition , elephants have a total of 300 billion neurons . Elephant brains are similar to humans ' in terms of general connectivity and areas . The elephant cortex has as many neurons as a human brain , suggesting convergent evolution .   Elephants manifest a wide variety of behaviors , including those associated with grief , learning , mimicry , play , altruism , use of tools , compassion , cooperation , self-awareness , memory , and communication . Further , evidence suggests elephants may understand pointing : the ability to nonverbally communicate an object by extending a finger , or equivalent . Such behaviors suggest that elephants are highly intelligent ; it is thought they are equal with cetaceans and primates in this regard . Due to such claims of high intelligence and due to strong family ties of elephants , some researchers argue it is morally wrong for humans to cull them . The Ancient Greek philosopher , Aristotle , once said that the elephant was `` the animal which surpasses all others in wit and mind . ''   However , a few elephant researchers , and some ethologists , point to experimental and anecdotal evidence which appear to contradict the view that elephants are self-aware , can think , and possess a theory of mind .


Elephant Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea . Three species are recognised , the African bush elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) , the African forest elephant ( L. cyclotis ) , and the Asian elephant ( Elephas maximus ) . Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa , South Asia , and Southeast Asia . Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea ; other , now extinct , members of the order include deinotheres , gomphotheres , mammoths , and mastodons . Male African elephants are the largest extant terrestrial animals and can reach a height of 4 m and weigh 7000 kg . All elephants have several distinctive features , the most notable of which is a long trunk or proboscis , used for many purposes , particularly breathing , lifting water , and grasping objects . Their incisors grow into tusks , which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging . Elephants ' large ear flaps help to control their body temperature . Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight . African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs .   Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs , forests , deserts , and marshes . They prefer to stay near water . They are considered to be keystone species due to their impact on their environments . Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators , such as lions , tigers , hyenas , and any wild dogs , usually target only young elephants ( or `` calves '' ) . Females ( `` cows '' ) tend to live in family groups , which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring . The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch , often the oldest cow . Elephants have a fission -- fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise . Males ( `` bulls '' ) leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males . Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth , which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success . Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years . Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild . They communicate by touch , sight , smell , and sound ; elephants use infrasound , and seismic communication over long distances . Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans . They appear to have self-awareness and show empathy for dying or dead individuals of their kind .   African elephants are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN ) while the Asian elephant is classed as endangered . One of the biggest threats to elephant populations is the ivory trade , as the animals are poached for their ivory tusks . Other threats to wild elephants include habitat destruction and conflicts with local people . Elephants are used as working animals in Asia . In the past , they were used in war ; today , they are often controversially put on display in zoos , or exploited for entertainment in circuses . Elephants are highly recognisable and have been featured in art , folklore , religion , literature , and popular culture .


Breaking Away Breaking Away is a 1979 American coming of age comedy-drama film produced and directed by Peter Yates and written by Steve Tesich . It follows a group of four male teenagers in Bloomington , Indiana , who have recently graduated from high school . The film stars Dennis Christopher , Dennis Quaid , Daniel Stern , Jackie Earle Haley , Barbara Barrie , Paul Dooley , and Robyn Douglass .   Breaking Away won the 1979 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Tesich , and received nominations in four other categories , including Best Picture . It also won the 1979 Golden Globe Award for Best Film ( Comedy or Musical ) , and received nominations in three other Golden Globe categories .   As the film 's young lead , Christopher won the 1979 BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer and the 1979 Young Artist Award for Best Juvenile Actor , as well as getting a Golden Globe nomination as New Star of the Year .   The film is ranked eighth on the List of America 's 100 Most Inspiring Movies compiled by the American Film Institute ( AFI ) in 2006 . In June 2008 , AFI announced its `` Ten top Ten '' -- the best ten films in ten classic American film genres -- after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community . Breaking Away ranked as the eighth best film in the sports genre .   Tesich was an alumnus of Indiana University Bloomington . The film was shot in and around Bloomington and on the university 's campus .


Far from Heaven Far from Heaven is a 2002 American drama film written and directed by Todd Haynes , and starring Julianne Moore , Dennis Quaid , Dennis Haysbert and Patricia Clarkson . It premiered at the Venice Film Festival , where Moore won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress and cinematographer Edward Lachman won a prize for Outstanding Individual Contribution .   The film tells the story of Cathy Whitaker , a 1950s housewife , living in wealthy suburban Connecticut as she sees her seemingly perfect life begin to fall apart . Haynes pays homage to the films of Douglas Sirk ( especially 1955 's All That Heaven Allows and 1959 's Imitation of Life ) and explores race , gender roles , sexual orientation and class in the context of 1950s America .


Dennis Quaid Dennis William Quaid ( born April 9 , 1954 ) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles . First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s , his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder . Some of his notable credits include Breaking Away , The Right Stuff , Wyatt Earp , The Rookie , The Day After Tomorrow , Traffic , Vantage Point , Footloose , Frequency , The Parent Trap , Yours , Mine & Ours and Soul Surfer . For his role in Far from Heaven ( 2002 ) he won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor and several other accolades .


Bangladesh is on the Indian subcontinent.

Bengal Bengal ( -LSB- bɛŋˈɡɔːl -RSB- বাংলা / বঙ্গ ) is a geopolitical , cultural and historical region in Asia , which is located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal . Geographically , it is made up by the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta system , the largest such formation in the world ; along with mountains in its north ( bordering the Himalayan states ) and east ( bordering Northeast India and Burma ) .   Politically , Bengal is divided between the sovereign republic of Bangladesh , which covers two-thirds of the region , and West Bengal , which is a part of the Republic of India , in the western part of the region . In 2011 , the population of Bengal was estimated to be 250 million , making it one of the most densely populated regions in the world . An estimated 160 million people live in Bangladesh , while 91.3 million people live in West Bengal . The predominant ethno-linguistic group are the Bengali people , who speak the Indo-Aryan Bengali language . Bengali Muslims are the majority in Bangladesh . Bengali Hindus are the majority in West Bengal . Outside Bengal proper , the Indian territories of Tripura , Assam and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands , as well as Myanmar 's Rakhine State , are also home to significant communities with Bengali heritage .   Dense woodlands , including hilly rainforests , cover Bengal 's northern and eastern areas ; while an elevated forested plateau covers its central area . In the littoral southwest are the Sunderbans , the world 's largest mangrove forest and home of the Bengal tiger . In the coastal southeast lies Cox 's Bazaar , the longest beach in the world at . The region has a monsoon climate , which the Bengali calendar divides into six seasons .   Bengal has played a major role in the history of Asia . In antiquity , its kingdoms were known as seafaring nations . At times an independent regional empire , the historical region was a leading power of the Indian subcontinent and the Islamic East . It had extensive trade networks . Bengali culture has been particularly influential in the fields of literature , music , art , architecture , sports , currency , commerce , politics and cuisine .


Bangladesh Bangladesh ( -LSB- bæŋɡləˈdɛʃ -RSB- -LSB- ˌbɑːŋɡləˈdɛʃ -RSB- -LSB- : bn : বাংলাদেশ , বাংলাদেশ -RSB- , -LSB- ˈbaŋlad̪eʃ -RSB- , lit . `` The country of Bengal '' ) , officially the People 's Republic of Bangladesh , is a country in South Asia . It shares land borders with India and Myanmar ( Burma ) . Nepal , Bhutan and China are located near Bangladesh but do not share a border with it . The country 's maritime territory in the Bay of Bengal is roughly equal to the size of its land area . Bangladesh is the world 's eighth most populous country . Dhaka is its capital and largest city , followed by Chittagong , which has the country 's largest port .   Bangladesh forms the largest and eastern part of the Bengal region . Bangladeshis include people of different ethnic groups and religions . Bengalis , who speak the official Bengali language , make up 98 % of the population . The politically dominant Bengali Muslims make the nation the world 's third largest Muslim-majority country . Most of Bangladesh is covered by the Bengal delta , the largest delta on Earth . The country has 700 rivers and 8,046 km ( 5,000 miles ) of inland waterways . Highlands with evergreen forests are found in the northeastern and southeastern regions of the country . Bangladesh has many islands and a coral reef . It is home to the Sundarbans , the largest mangrove forest in the world . The country 's biodiversity includes a vast array of plant and wildlife , including critically endangered Bengal tigers , the national animal .   The Greeks and Romans identified the region as Gangaridai , a powerful kingdom of the historical subcontinent , in the 3rd century BCE . Archaeological research has unearthed several ancient cities in Bangladesh , which had international trade links for millennia . The Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Bengal transformed the region into a cosmopolitan Islamic imperial power between the 14th and 18th centuries . The region was home to many principalities that had inland naval prowess . It was also a notable center of the worldwide muslin and silk trade . As part of British India , the region was influenced by the Bengali renaissance and played an important role in anti-colonial movements . The Partition of British India made East Bengal a part of the Dominion of Pakistan ; and was renamed as East Pakistan . The region witnessed the Bengali Language Movement in 1952 and the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 . After independence , a parliamentary republic was established . A presidential government was in place between 1975 and 1990 , followed by a return to parliamentary democracy . The country has also been affected by poverty , natural disasters , hunger , dominant party systems and military coups .   Bangladesh is a middle power and a major developing nation . Within South Asia , the country ranks first in gender equality , second in foreign exchange earnings and third in life expectancy and peacefulness . Listed as one of the Next Eleven , its economy ranks 46th in terms of nominal gross domestic product ( GDP ) and 29th in terms of purchasing power parity ( PPP ) . It is one of the largest textile exporters in the world . Its major trading partners are the European Union , the United States , China , India , Japan , Malaysia and Singapore . With its strategically vital location between Southern , Eastern and Southeast Asia , Bangladesh is an important promoter of regional connectivity and cooperation . It is a founding member of SAARC , BIMSTEC , the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Forum for Regional Cooperation and the Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Initiative . It is also a member of the Commonwealth of Nations , the Developing 8 Countries , the OIC , the Non Aligned Movement , the Group of 77 and the World Trade Organization . Bangladesh is one of the largest contributors to United Nations peacekeeping forces .


Precious metal A precious metal is a rare , naturally occurring metallic chemical element of high economic value .  Chemically , the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements ( see noble metal ) . They are usually ductile and have a high lustre . Historically , precious metals were important as currency but are now regarded mainly as investment and industrial commodities . Gold , silver , platinum , and palladium each have an ISO 4217 currency code .   The best known precious metals are the coinage metals , gold and silver . Although both have industrial uses , they are better known for their uses in art , jewelry , fine jewelry and coinage . Other precious metals include the platinum group metals : ruthenium , rhodium , palladium , osmium , iridium , and platinum , of which platinum is the most widely traded .  The demand for precious metals is driven not only by their practical use but also by their role as investments and a store of value . Historically , precious metals have commanded much higher prices than common industrial metals .


Gold Gold is a chemical element with symbol Au ( from aurum ) and atomic number 79 . In its purest form , it is a bright , slightly reddish yellow , dense , soft , malleable , and ductile metal . Chemically , gold is a transition metal and a group 11 element . It is one of the least reactive chemical elements and is solid under standard conditions . Gold often occurs in free elemental ( native ) form , as nuggets or grains , in rocks , in veins , and in alluvial deposits . It occurs in a solid solution series with the native element silver ( as electrum ) and also naturally alloyed with copper and palladium . Less commonly , it occurs in minerals as gold compounds , often with tellurium ( gold tellurides ) .   Gold 's atomic number of 79 makes it one of the higher numbered , naturally occurring elements . It is thought to have been produced in supernova nucleosynthesis , from the collision of neutron stars , and to have been present in the dust from which the Solar System formed . Because the Earth was molten when it was formed , almost all of the gold present in the early Earth probably sank into the planetary core . Therefore , most of the gold that is present today in the Earth 's crust and mantle is thought to have been delivered to Earth later , by asteroid impacts during the Late Heavy Bombardment , about 4 billion years ago .   Gold is resistant to most acids , though it does dissolve in aqua regia , a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid , which forms a soluble tetrachloroaurate anion . Gold is insoluble in nitric acid , which dissolves silver and base metals , a property that has long been used to refine gold and to confirm the presence of gold in metallic objects , giving rise to the term acid test . Gold also dissolves in alkaline solutions of cyanide , which are used in mining and electroplating . Gold dissolves in mercury , forming amalgam alloys , but this is not a chemical reaction .   Historically , the value of gold was rooted in its relative rarity , easy handling and minting , easy smelting and fabrication , resistance to corrosion and other chemical reactions ( nobility ) and its distinctive color . As a precious metal , gold has been used for coinage , jewelry , and other arts throughout recorded history . In the past , a gold standard was often implemented as a monetary policy , but gold coins ceased to be minted as a circulating currency in the 1930s , and the world gold standard was abandoned for a fiat currency system after 1976 .   A total of 186,700 tonnes of gold is in existence above ground , as of 2015 . The world consumption of new gold produced is about 50 % in jewelry , 40 % in investments , and 10 % in industry . Gold 's high malleability , ductility , resistance to corrosion and most other chemical reactions , and conductivity of electricity have led to its continued use in corrosion resistant electrical connectors in all types of computerized devices ( its chief industrial use ) . Gold is also used in infrared shielding , colored-glass production , gold leafing , and tooth restoration . Certain gold salts are still used as anti-inflammatories in medicine . As of 2014 , the world 's largest gold producer by far was China with 450 tonnes .


Toy Story 3 received a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Toy Story 3 Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-drama film , the third installment in the Toy Story series , and the sequel to Toy Story 2 ( 1999 ) . It was produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures . It was directed by Lee Unkrich , the editor of the first two films and co-director of Toy Story 2 , written by Michael Arndt , while Unkrich wrote the story along with John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton , respectively director and co-writer of the first two films . The film was released in theaters June 18 , 2010 , and played worldwide from June through October in the Disney Digital 3-D , RealD , and IMAX 3D formats . Toy Story 3 was the first film to be released theatrically with Dolby Surround 7.1 sound .   The plot focuses on the toys Woody , Buzz Lightyear , and their friends dealing with an uncertain future as their owner , Andy , prepares to leave for college . The film features an ensemble voice cast with Tom Hanks , Tim Allen , Joan Cusack , Don Rickles , Wallace Shawn , John Ratzenberger , Estelle Harris , Jodi Benson , and John Morris reprising their roles from the previous films , along with Blake Clark as the voice of Slinky Dog ( because Jim Varney died ten years before the release of the film ) and Ned Beatty , Michael Keaton , Whoopi Goldberg , Timothy Dalton , Kristen Schaal , Bonnie Hunt , and Jeff Garlin voicing the new characters introduced in this film .   Like its predecessors , Toy Story 3 received critical acclaim upon release . It became the second Pixar film ( after Up ) and third animated film overall ( after Beauty and the Beast and Up ) to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture . The film received four more Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay , Best Sound Editing , Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song , winning the latter two . Toy Story 3 grossed over $ 1 billion worldwide , becoming the highest-grossing film of 2010 -- both in North America and worldwide -- and the fourth highest-grossing film at the time of its release , as well as the third highest-grossing animated film of all time and the first animated film to generate $ 1 billion in ticket sales . A sequel , Toy Story 4 , directed by Lasseter , is scheduled to be released on June 21 , 2019 .


Diana Ross had only one hit in the charts.

Diana Ross Diane Ernestine Earle Ross ( born March 26 , 1944 ) is an American singer , songwriter , actress , and record producer . Born and raised in Detroit , Michigan , Ross rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group The Supremes , which , during the 1960s , became Motown 's most successful act , and is to this day the United States ' most successful vocal group , as well as one of the world 's best-selling girl groups of all time . Ross ' success as lead singer of The Supremes made it possible for future African-American R&B and soul acts to find mainstream success . The group released a record-setting twelve number-one hit singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 , including `` Where Did Our Love Go '' , `` Baby Love '' , `` Come See About Me '' , `` Stop ! In the Name of Love '' , `` You Ca n't Hurry Love '' , `` You Keep Me Hangin ' On '' , `` Love Child '' , and `` Someday We 'll Be Together '' .   Following her departure from The Supremes in 1970 , Ross released her eponymous debut solo album that same year , which contained the Top 20 Pop hit `` Reach Out and Touch ( Somebody 's Hand ) '' and the number-one Pop hit `` Ai n't No Mountain High Enough '' . She later released the album Touch Me in the Morning in 1973 ; its title track reached number 1 , as her second solo hit . That same year , her album `` Lady Sings The Blues '' , which was the original soundtrack of her film based on the life of jazz singer Billie Holiday , went to no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 Albums Chart , selling more than 300,000 copies within its first 8 days of release . By 1975 , the Mahogany soundtrack included her third number-one hit , `` Theme from Mahogany ( Do You Know Where You 're Going To ) '' . Her eponymous 1976 album included her fourth number-one hit , `` Love Hangover '' . In 1979 , Ross released the album The Boss . Her 1980 semi-eponymous album Diana reached number 2 on the US Billboard albums chart , and spawned the number-one hit `` Upside Down '' , and the international hit `` I 'm Coming Out '' . After leaving Motown , Ross achieved her sixth and final US number-one Pop hit , with the duet `` Endless Love '' , composed for the Brooke Shields film of the same name , by and performed with former Commodores front man , Lionel Richie . Ross and Richie performed the song on the telecast for the 54th Academy Awards , where the song was nominated in the category of `` Best Song '' .   Ross has also ventured into acting , with a Golden Globe Award and Academy Award-nominated performance for her performance in the film Lady Sings the Blues ( 1972 ) . She also starred in two other films , Mahogany ( 1975 ) and The Wiz ( 1978 ) , later acting in the television films Out of Darkness ( 1994 ) , for which she also was nominated for a Golden Globe Award , and Double Platinum ( 1999 ) . Ross was named the `` Female Entertainer of the Century '' by Billboard magazine . In 1993 , the Guinness Book of World Records declared Ross the most successful female music artist in history , due to her success in the United States and United Kingdom for having more hits than any female artist in the charts , with a career total of 70 hit singles with her work with the Supremes and as a solo artist . Ross has sold more than 100 million records worldwide , when her releases with the Supremes and as a solo artist are tallied . In 1988 , Ross was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as member of the Supremes , alongside Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard . She was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2007 , and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 . She is a 12-time Grammy nominee , never earning a competitive honor , but later became the recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 . In December 2016 , Billboard magazine named her the 50th most successful dance artist of all time .


Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles ranks at number 6 on the American Film Institute's list.

Blazing Saddles Blazing Saddles is a 1974 American satirical Western comedy film directed by Mel Brooks . Starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder , the film was written by Brooks , Andrew Bergman , Richard Pryor , Norman Steinberg , and Al Uger , and was based on Bergman 's story and draft . The film received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences , was nominated for three Academy Awards , and is ranked No. 6 on the American Film Institute 's 100 Years ... 100 Laughs list .   Brooks appears in two supporting roles , Governor William J. Le Petomane and a Yiddish-speaking Indian chief ; he also dubs lines for one of Lili von Shtupp 's backing troupe . The supporting cast includes Slim Pickens , Alex Karras , and David Huddleston , as well as Brooks regulars Dom DeLuise , Madeline Kahn , and Harvey Korman . Bandleader Count Basie has a cameo as himself .   The film satirizes the racism obscured by myth-making Hollywood accounts of the American West , with the hero being a black sheriff in an all-white town . The film is full of deliberate anachronisms , from the Count Basie Orchestra playing `` April in Paris '' in the Wild West , to Slim Pickens referring to the Wide World of Sports , to the German army of World War II .


Mel Brooks Melvin Brooks ( né Kaminsky , born June 28 , 1926 ) is an American filmmaker , comedian , actor and composer . He is known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies . Brooks began his career as a comic and a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows . He became well known as part of the comedy duo with Carl Reiner in the comedy skit The 2000 Year Old Man . He also created , with Buck Henry , the hit television comedy series Get Smart , which ran from 1965 to 1970 .   In middle age , Brooks became one of the most successful film directors of the 1970s , with many of his films being among the top 10 moneymakers of the year they were released . His best-known films include The Producers , The Twelve Chairs , Blazing Saddles , Young Frankenstein , Silent Movie , High Anxiety , History of the World , Part I , Spaceballs and Robin Hood : Men in Tights . A musical adaptation of his first film , The Producers , ran on Broadway from 2001 to 2007 .   In 2001 , having previously won an Emmy , a Grammy and an Oscar , he joined a small list of EGOT winners with his Tony award for The Producers . He received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2009 , the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010 , the 41st AFI Life Achievement Award in June 2013 , a British Film Institute Fellowship in March 2015 , a National Medal of Arts in September 2016 , and a BAFTA Fellowship in February 2017 . Three of his films ranked in the American Film Institute 's list of the top 100 comedy films of the past 100 years ( 1900 -- 2000 ) , all of which ranked in the top 15 of the list : Blazing Saddles at number 6 , The Producers at number 11 , and Young Frankenstein at number 13 .   Brooks was married to Oscar-winning actress Anne Bancroft from 1964 until her death in 2005 .


Paul Feig is involved with zero television shows.

Paul Feig Paul Samuel Feig ( -LSB- ˈfiːɡ -RSB- born September 17 , 1962 ) is an American actor , film director , producer , and screenwriter . He is best known for directing the 2011 film Bridesmaids , featuring Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy and the 2016 film Ghostbusters also starring Wiig and McCarthy . Feig also directed the comedy films The Heat ( 2013 ) starring McCarthy and Sandra Bullock , and Spy ( 2015 ) which stars McCarthy , Jason Statham , and Jude Law .   On television he created the critically acclaimed show Freaks and Geeks and directed several episodes of The Office and Arrested Development , plus episodes of 30 Rock , Parks and Recreation , Mad Men , Other Space and other television series . Feig has been nominated for two Emmy Awards for writing on Freaks and Geeks and three for directing on The Office . As an actor , he is also known for playing Mr. Eugene Pool , Sabrina 's science teacher , on the first season of Sabrina , the Teenage Witch , as well as Tim , a camp counselor , in the film Heavyweights .


Freaks and Geeks Freaks and Geeks is an American teen comedy-drama television series , created by Paul Feig , with Judd Apatow as executive producer , that aired on NBC during the 1999 -- 2000 television season . Eighteen episodes were completed , but the series was canceled after only 12 had aired .   A fan-led campaign persuaded NBC to broadcast three more episodes in July 2000 ; the three remaining unaired episodes , for a total of 18 , aired that September on the cable network Fox Family Channel .   The series appeared on Time magazine 's 2007 `` 100 Greatest Shows of All Time '' list , and placed third on the magazine 's list of greatest television shows of the 2000s ( decade ) . In 2007 , Freaks and Geeks ranked # 21 on TV Guides Top Cult Shows Ever . In 2008 , Entertainment Weekly ranked it the 13th-best series of the past 25 years . The same year , AOL TV named it the Best School Show of All Time . In 2013 TV Guide included it in its list of The 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time , and ranked it # 1 on their list of 60 shows that were `` Cancelled Too Soon '' . It launched several of its young actors into successful television and film careers .


The Office (U.S. TV series) The Office is an American television comedy series that aired on NBC from March 24 , 2005 to May 16 , 2013 . It is an adaptation of the BBC series of the same name . The Office was adapted for American audiences by Greg Daniels , a veteran writer for Saturday Night Live , King of the Hill , and The Simpsons . It is co-produced by Daniels ' Deedle-Dee Productions , and Reveille Productions ( later Shine America ) , in association with Universal Television . The original executive producers were Greg Daniels , Howard Klein , Ben Silverman , Ricky Gervais , and Stephen Merchant , with numerous others being promoted in later seasons .   The series depicts the everyday lives of office employees in the Scranton , Pennsylvania , branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company . To simulate the look of an actual documentary , it is filmed in a single-camera setup , without a studio audience or a laugh track . The show debuted on NBC as a mid-season replacement and ran for nine seasons and 201 episodes . The Office initially featured Steve Carell , Rainn Wilson , John Krasinski , Jenna Fischer and B. J. Novak as the main cast ; the show experienced numerous changes to its ensemble cast during its run .   The first season of The Office was met with mixed reviews , but the following four seasons received widespread acclaim from television critics . These seasons were included on several critics ' year-end top TV series lists , winning several awards including four Primetime Emmy Awards , including Outstanding Comedy Series in 2006 . While later seasons were criticized for a decline in quality , earlier writers oversaw the final season and ended the show 's run with a positive reception .


Louis C.K. took a hiatus from comedy drama series Louie in 2016.

Louis C.K. Louis Székely ( born September 12 , 1967 ) , known professionally as Louis C.K. ( -LSB- ˈluːi_siːˈkeɪ -RSB- ) , is an American comedian , actor , writer , producer , director , and editor . He began his career writing for several comedy shows in the 1990s and early 2000s for comedians including David Letterman , Conan O'Brien , Dana Carvey and Chris Rock . Also in this period , he was directing surreal short films and went on to direct two features -- Tomorrow Night ( 1998 ) and Pootie Tang ( 2001 ) -- before he starred in the short-lived HBO television sitcom Lucky Louie in 2006 .   Louie , an acclaimed semi-autobiographical comedy-drama series that C.K. created , stars in , writes , directs , executive produces , and is the primary editor of , began airing in 2010 on FX . He had supporting acting roles in the films The Invention of Lying ( 2009 ) , American Hustle , Blue Jasmine ( both 2013 ) , and Trumbo ( 2015 ) . During an extended Louie hiatus , C.K. created and starred in his web series Horace and Pete in 2016 , and voiced the lead role in the animated film The Secret Life of Pets the same year .   He released his debut comedy album , Live in Houston , in 2001 directly through his website and became among the first performers to offer direct-to-fan sales of tickets to his stand-up shows , as well as DRM-free video concert downloads , via his website . C.K. has released nine comedy albums in his career , often directing and editing his specials as well . He is known for his use of observational , self-deprecating , dark and vulgar humor .   C.K. won a 2012 Peabody Award , and has received six Emmy awards , as well as numerous awards for The Chris Rock Show , Louie , and his stand-up specials Live at the Beacon Theater ( 2011 ) and Oh My God ( 2013 ) . He has won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album twice . Rolling Stone ranked C.K. 's stand-up special Shameless number three on their `` Divine Comedy : 25 Best Stand-Up Specials and Movies of All Time '' list and , in 2017 , ranked him fourth on its list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time .


Alan Ladd Alan Walbridge Ladd ( September 3 , 1913 -- January 29 , 1964 ) was an American actor and film and television producer . Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s , particularly in Westerns such as Shane ( 1953 ) and films noir in which he was often paired with Veronica Lake , such as This Gun for Hire ( 1942 ) , The Glass Key ( 1942 ) and The Blue Dahlia ( 1946 ) . Other notable credits include Two Years Before the Mast ( 1946 ) , Whispering Smith ( 1949 ) and The Great Gatsby ( 1949 ) . His popularity diminished in the late 1950s , though he continued to appear in popular films until his accidental death due to a lethal combination of alcohol , a barbiturate , and two tranquilizers .


The Woman in Red is an award-winning 1984 film.

The Woman in Red (1984 film) The Woman in Red is a 1984 American romantic comedy film directed by and starring Gene Wilder . Wilder also wrote the script , adapting it from the Yves Robert film Pardon Mon Affaire . It co-stars Charles Grodin , Gilda Radner , Joseph Bologna , Judith Ivey and Kelly Le Brock . The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for `` I Just Called to Say I Love You '' , performed by Stevie Wonder .


Dan Martin is an Irish professional road cyclist.

Dan Martin (cyclist) Daniel `` Dan '' Martin ( born 20 August 1986 ) is an Irish professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam . Born and raised in England , Martin has competed for Ireland since 2006 .   Martin 's accomplishments since turning professional in 2008 include winning a stage at the 2011 Vuelta a España , winning a stage at the 2013 Tour de France , and winning the overall classification at the 2010 Tour de Pologne and the 2013 Volta a Catalunya . In one-day races , he won the 2010 Japan Cup , the 2010 Tre Valli Varesine , the 2011 Giro di Toscana , the 2013 Liège -- Bastogne -- Liège , and the 2014 Giro di Lombardia .