title: World Health Organization

text: World Health Organization Prizes and Awards are given to recognise major achievements in public health. The candidates are nominated and recommended by each prize and award selection panel. The WHO Executive Board selects the winners, which are presented during the World Health Assembly.


title: World Health Organization

text: The seat of the organization is in Geneva, Switzerland. It was designed by Swiss architect Jean Tschumi and inaugurated in 1966. In 2017, the organization launched an international competition to redesign and extend its headquarters.


title: ASMR

text: Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a tingling sensation that usually begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine. A pleasant form of paresthesia, it has been compared with auditory-tactile synesthesia and may overlap with frisson.


title: ASMR

text: ASMR signifies the subjective experience of "low-grade euphoria" characterized by "a combination of positive feelings and a distinct static-like tingling sensation on the skin." It is most commonly triggered by specific auditory or visual stimuli, and less commonly by intentional attention control. A genre of videos intended to induce ASMR has emerged, approximately 25 million of which had been published on YouTube by 2022 and a dedicated category of live ASMR streams on Twitch.


title: ASMR

text: Although many colloquial and formal terms used and proposed between 2007 and 2010 included reference to orgasm, a significant majority objected to its use among those active in online discussions. Many differentiate between the euphoric, relaxing nature of ASMR and sexual arousal. However, the argument for sexual arousal persists, and some proponents have published videos categorized as ASMRotica (ASMR erotica), which are deliberately designed to be sexually stimulating.


title: ASMR

text: Early proponents of ASMR concluded that the phenomenon was generally unrelated to sexual arousal. In 2010, Jennifer Allen, a participant in an online forum, proposed that the phenomenon be named "autonomous sensory meridian response". Allen chose the words intending or assuming them to have the following specific meanings:


title: ASMR

text: Allen verified in a 2016 interview that she purposely selected these terms because they were more objective, comfortable, and clinical than alternative terms for the sensation. In that interview, Allen explained she selected the word meridian to replace the word orgasm and said she had found a dictionary that defined meridian as "a point or period of highest development, greatest prosperity, or the like".


title: ASMR

text: The subjective experience, sensation, and perceptual phenomenon of ASMR is described by some of those susceptible to it as "akin to a mild electrical current...or the carbonated bubbles in a glass of champagne". The tingling sensation on the skin in general, called paresthesia, is referred to by ASMR enthusiasts as "tingles" when experienced along the scalp, neck, and back. It has been described as "a static tingling sensation originating from the back of the head, then propagating to the neck, shoulder, arm, spine, and legs, which makes people feel relaxed and alert".


title: ASMR

text: Though little scientific research has been conducted into potential neurobiological correlates to the perceptual phenomenon, with a consequent dearth of data with which to explain its physical nature, personal commentary from forums, blogs, and video comments have been analyzed to describe the phenomenon. Analysis of this anecdotal evidence has supported the original consensus that ASMR is euphoric but non-sexual, and has divided those who experience ASMR into two broad categories of subjects. One category depends upon external triggers to experience the localized sensation and its associated feelings, which typically originates in the head, often reaching down the neck and sometimes the upper back. The other category can intentionally augment the sensation and feelings through attentional control, without dependence upon external stimuli, or 'triggers', in a manner compared by some subjects to their experience of meditation.


title: ASMR

text: ASMR is usually precipitated by stimuli referred to as 'triggers'. ASMR triggers, which are most commonly auditory and visual, may be encountered through the interpersonal interactions of daily life. Additionally, ASMR is often triggered by exposure to specific audio and video. Such media may be specially made with the specific purpose of triggering ASMR or created for other purposes and later discovered to be effective as a trigger of the experience.


title: ASMR

text: A 2017 study of 130 survey respondents found that lower-pitched, complex sounds, and slow-paced, detail-focused videos are especially effective triggers.


title: ASMR

text: Many of those who experience ASMR report that non-vocal ambient noises performed through human activities are also effective triggers of ASMR. Examples of such noises include fingers scratching or tapping a surface, brushing hair, hands rubbing together or manipulating fabric, the crushing of eggshells, the crinkling and crumpling of a flexible material such as paper, or writing. Many YouTube videos that are intended to trigger ASMR responses feature a single person performing these actions and the sounds that result.


title: ASMR

text: In addition to the effectiveness of specific auditory stimuli, many subjects report that ASMR is triggered by the receipt of tender personal attention, often comprising combined physical touch and vocal expression, such as when having their hair cut, nails painted, ears cleaned, or back massaged, while the service provider speaks quietly to the recipient.


title: ASMR

text: Furthermore, many of those who have experienced ASMR during these and other comparable encounters with a service provider report that watching an "ASMRtist" simulate the provision of such personal attention, acting directly to the camera as if the viewer were the recipient of a simulated service, is sufficient to trigger it.


title: ASMR

text: Among the category of intentional ASMR videos that simulate the provision of personal attention is a subcategory wherein the "ASMRtist" is specifically depicted providing clinical or medical services, including routine general medical examinations. The creators of these videos make no claims to the reality of what is depicted, and the viewer is intended to be aware that they are watching and listening to a simulation, performed by an artist. Nonetheless, many viewers attribute therapeutic outcomes to these and other categories of intentional ASMR videos, and there are voluminous anecdotal reports of their effectiveness in inducing sleep for those susceptible to insomnia, and assuaging a range of symptoms, including those associated with depression, anxiety and panic attacks.


title: ASMR

text: In addition to audio and visual stimuli, ASMR may be caused by light touches and brushing against the skin such as effleurage.


title: ASMR

text: The contemporary history of ASMR began on 19 October 2007 on a discussion forum for health-related subjects at a website called "Steady Health". A 21-year-old registered user with the handle "okaywhatever" submitted a post describing having experienced a specific sensation since childhood, comparable to that stimulated by tracing fingers along the skin, yet often triggered by seemingly random and unrelated non-haptic events, such as "watching a puppet show" or "being read a story".


title: ASMR

text: Replies to this post indicated that a significant number of other people had experienced the sensation which "okaywhatever" described – also in response to witnessing mundane events. The interchanges precipitated the formation of a number of web-based locations intended to facilitate further discussion and analysis of the phenomenon for which there were plentiful anecdotal accounts, yet no consensus-agreed name nor any scientific data or explanation.


title: ASMR

text: Austrian writer Clemens J. Setz suggests that a passage from the novel "Mrs Dalloway" authored by Virginia Woolf and published in 1925, describes something distinctly comparable. In the passage from "Mrs Dalloway" cited by Setz, a nursemaid speaks to the man who is her patient "deeply, softly, like a mellow organ, but with a roughness in her voice like a grasshopper's, which rasped his spine deliciously and sent running up into his brain waves of sound".


title: ASMR

text: According to Setz, this citation generally alludes to the effectiveness of the human voice and soft or whispered vocal sounds specifically as a trigger of ASMR for many of those who experience it, as demonstrated by the responsive comments posted to YouTube videos that depict someone speaking softly or whispering, typically directly to the camera.


title: ASMR

text: There are no known sources for any evolutionary origins for ASMR since it has yet to be identified as having biological correlations. Even so, a significant majority of descriptions of ASMR by those who experience it compare the sensation to that precipitated by receipt of tender physical touch, providing examples such as having their hair cut or combed. This has led to the conjecture that ASMR might be related to the act of grooming.


title: ASMR

text: Imaging subjects' brains with fMRI as they reported experiencing ASMR tingles suggests support for this hypothesis, because brain areas such as the medial prefrontal cortex (associated with social behaviors including grooming), and the secondary somatosensory cortex (associated with the sensation of touch) were activated more strongly during tingle periods than control periods.


title: ASMR

text: The most popular source of stimuli reported by subjects to be effective in triggering ASMR is video. Videos reported being effective in triggering ASMR generally fall into two categories: "Intentional"' and "Unintentional". Intentional media is created by those known as "ASMRtists" to trigger ASMR in viewers and listeners. Unintentional media is that made for other reasons, often before attention was drawn to the phenomenon in 2007, but which some subjects discover to be effective in triggering ASMR. Examples of unintentional media include British author John Butler and American painter Bob Ross. In Ross's episodes of his television series "The Joy of Painting" both broadcast and on YouTube, his soft, gentle speaking mannerisms and the sound of his painting and his tools trigger the effect in some viewers. The work of stop-motion filmmaker PES is also often noted.


title: ASMR

text: Some ASMR video creators use binaural recording techniques to simulate the acoustics of a three-dimensional environment, reported to elicit in viewers and listeners the experience of being in proximity to actor and vocalist. Binaural recordings are usually made using two microphones, just like stereo recordings. However, in binaural recordings, the two microphones tend to be more specially designed to mimic ears on humans. In many cases, microphones are separated the same distance as ears are on humans, and microphones are surrounded by ear-shaped cups to get similar reverb as human ears.


title: ASMR

text: Viewing and hearing such ASMR videos that comprise ambient sound captured through binaural recording has been compared to the reported effect of listening to binaural beats, which are also alleged to precipitate pleasurable sensations and the subjective experience of calm and equanimity.


title: ASMR

text: Binaural recordings are made specifically to be heard through headphones rather than loudspeakers. When listening to sound through loudspeakers, the left and right ear can both hear the sound coming from both speakers. In contrast, when listening to sound through headphones, the sound from the left earpiece is audible only to the left ear, and the sound from the right earpiece is audible only to the right ear. In producing binaural media, the sound source is recorded by two separate microphones, placed at a distance comparable to that between two ears, and they are not mixed, but remain separate on the final medium, whether video or audio.


title: ASMR

text: Listening to a binaural recording through headphones simulates the binaural hearing by which people listen to live sounds. For the listener, this experience is characterized by two perceptions. Firstly, the listener perceives themself as being near the performers and location of the sound source. Secondly, the listener perceives what is often reported as a three-dimensional sound. This means the listener can perceive both the position and distance of the source of sound relative to them.


title: ASMR

text: On 12 March 2012, Steven Novella, Director of General Neurology at the Yale School of Medicine, published a post about ASMR on his blog "Neurologica". Regarding the question of whether ASMR is a real phenomenon, Novella said "In this case, I don't think there is a definitive answer, but I am inclined to believe that it is. Several people seem to have independently experienced and described" it with "fairly specific details. In this way it's similar to migraine headaches – we know they exist as a syndrome primarily because many different people report the same constellation of symptoms and natural history". Novella tentatively posited the possibilities that ASMR might be either a type of pleasurable seizure or another way to activate the "pleasure response". However, Novella drew attention to the lack of scientific investigation into ASMR, suggesting that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation technologies should be used to study the brains of people who experience ASMR in comparison to people who do not, as a way of beginning to seek scientific understanding and explanation of the phenomenon.


title: ASMR

text: Four months after Novella's blog post, Tom Stafford, a lecturer in psychology and cognitive sciences at the University of Sheffield, was reported to have said that ASMR "might well be a real thing, but it's inherently difficult to research... something like this that you can't see or feel" and "doesn't happen for everyone". Stafford compared the current status of ASMR with the development of attitudes toward synesthesia, which he said "for years... was a myth, then in the 1990s people came up with a reliable way of measuring it".


title: ASMR

text: Integral to the subjective experience of ASMR is a localized tingling sensation that many describe as similar to being gently touched, but which is stimulated by watching and listening to video media in the absence of any physical contact with another person.


title: ASMR

text: These reports have precipitated comparison between ASMR and synesthesia – a condition characterized by the excitation of one sensory modality by stimuli that normally exclusively stimulates another, as when the hearing of a specific sound induces the visualization of a distinct color, shape, or object, a type of synesthesia called chromesthesia. Thereby, people with other types of synesthesia report, for example, "seeing sounds" in the case of auditory-visual synesthesia, or "tasting words" in the case of lexical-gustatory synesthesia.


title: ASMR

text: In the case of ASMR, many report the perception of "being touched" by the sights and sounds presented on a video recording, comparable to visual-tactile and auditory-tactile synesthesia.


title: ASMR

text: Some people have sought to relate ASMR to misophonia, which means the 'hatred of sound', but manifests typically as "automatic negative emotional reactions to particular sounds – the opposite of what can be observed in reactions to specific audio stimuli in ASMR".


title: ASMR

text: For example, those who have misophonia often report that specific human sounds, including those made by eating, breathing, whispering, or repetitive tapping noises, can precipitate feelings of anger and disgust, in the absence of any previously learned associations that might otherwise explain those reactions.


title: ASMR

text: There are plentiful anecdotal reports by those who claim to have both misophonia and ASMR at multiple web-based user-interaction and discussion locations. Common to these reports is the experience of ASMR to some sounds, and misophonia in response to others.


title: ASMR

text: The French word "frisson" signifies a brief sensation usually reported as pleasurable and often expressed as an overwhelming emotional response to stimuli, such as a piece of music. Frisson often occurs simultaneously with piloerection, colloquially known as "goosebumps", by which tiny muscles called arrector pili contract, causing body hair, particularly that on the limbs and back of the neck, to erect or "stand on end".


title: ASMR

text: Although ASMR and frisson are "interrelated in that they appear to arise through similar physiological mechanisms", individuals who have experienced both describe them as qualitatively different, with different kinds of triggers. A 2018 fMRI study showed that the major brain regions already known to be activated in frisson are also activated in ASMR, and suggests that "the similar pattern of activation of both ASMR and frisson could explain their subjective similarities, such as their short duration and tingling sensation".


title: ASMR

text: People who experience ASMR report feeling relaxed and sleepy after watching and listening to ASMR content. While some journalists and commentators have portrayed ASMR as intimate, they go on to say there is no evidence of any connection between ASMR and sexual arousal. Nevertheless, performance studies scholar Emma Leigh Waldron has noted that the links between ASMR and sexual arousal are perhaps due to the way that ASMR can engage viewers/listeners in ambiguous relations to what she calls "mediated intimacy". Waldron says that while sex itself is very narrowly defined to specific actions and bodies, that the moral panic emerging from these videos is demonstrative of their inherent queerness, ultimately calling into question the meaning of simulated intimacy and categorically non-sexual pleasure for diverse consumers of ASMR content.


title: ASMR

text: Berlin-based artist Claire Tolan is a contemporary artist working with ASMR, having produced works for the CTM Festival, collaborated with noted composer Holly Herndon, and exhibited widely in North America and Europe. She has been working consistently in this genre since 2013.


title: ASMR

text: British artist Lucy Clout's single channel video 'Shrugging Offing', made for exhibition in March 2013, uses the model of online ASMR broadcasts as the basis for a work exploring the female body.


title: ASMR

text: The first digital arts installation specifically inspired by ASMR was by the American artist Julie Weitz and called "Touch Museum", which opened at the Young Projects Gallery on 13 February 2015 and comprised video screenings distributed throughout seven rooms.


title: ASMR

text: The music for Julie Weitz' "Touch Museums" digital art installation was composed by Benjamin Wynn under his pseudonym 'Deru' and was the first musical composition specifically created for live ASMR arts event.


title: ASMR

text: Subsequently, artists Sophie Mallett and Marie Toseland created 'a live binaural sound work' composed of ASMR triggers, broadcast by Resonance FM, the listings for which advised the audience to "listen with headphones for the full sensory effect".


title: ASMR

text: On 18 May 2015, contemporary composer Holly Herndon released an album called "Platform" which included a collaboration with artist Claire Tolan named "Lonely At The Top", intended to trigger ASMR.


title: ASMR

text: The track "Brush" from Holly Pester's 2016 album and poetry collection "Common Rest" featured artist Claire Tolan, exploring ASMR and its relation to lullaby.


title: ASMR

text: The hair-cutting scene of the film "Battle of the Sexes" deliberately included several ASMR triggers. Director Jonathan Dayton stated "People work to make videos that elicit this response ... and we were wondering, 'Could we get that response in a theater full of people?'"


title: ASMR

text: There have been three successfully crowdfunded projects, each based on proposals to make a film about ASMR: two documentaries and one fictional piece. None of these films have been completed. A short documentary about ASMR, "Tertiary Sound", was selected to be screened at BFI London Film Festival in 2019. A scene featuring an ASMR content creator, Slight Sounds, was featured in the coming of age horror movie "We're All Going to the World's Fair".


title: ASMR

text: The first feature film drama that focuses on ASMR is the New Zealand psychological drama, "Shut Eye,"which looks at the relationship between an insomniac and a popular ASMR creator. The film premiered at the 2022 New Zealand International Film Festival.


title: ASMR

text: On 31 July 2015, the BBC panel show "Would I Lie To You?" featured an ASMR content maker as a guest as part of the "This is my" round, which resulted in the reveal of the person connected to comedian Joe Lycett.


title: ASMR

text: In 2018, ASMR, along with a number of its adherents, was featured on Netflix's show "Follow This" for an episode titled "The Internet Whisperers".


title: ASMR

text: During Super Bowl LIII in 2019, Anheuser-Busch broadcast an ASMR-themed commercial for its Michelob Ultra Pure Gold beer, where Zoë Kravitz uses ASMR techniques including whispering and tapping on a Pure Gold bottle into two microphones. "Rolling Stone" described the commercial as an example of ASMR " mainstream".


title: ASMR

text: On 3 May 2019 episode of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher", the host Bill Maher and the musician Moby discussed and demonstrated their use of ASMR as a coping mechanism.


title: ASMR

text: On 16 May 2019 episode of the CBS All Access series "The Good Fight", titled "The One About the End of the World", a law firm uses ASMR-style presentations to try to get through to a judge when they discover he is an avid follower of the phenomenon.


title: ASMR

text: In an episode of "Criminal Minds" (season 14 episode 12 entitled "Hamelin"), the BAU team hunts for an unknown suspect who uses ASMR to (almost) hypnotize children to leave their homes in the middle of the night to come to meet up and voluntarily get into his van. Dr. Spencer Reid is sent a video from the unknown suspect of him making the auditory recording that he then plays from his van outside each child's house to lure them out.


title: ASMR

text: In season 7, episode 8 ("The Takeback") of the sitcom "Brooklyn Nine-Nine", Jake Peralta pretends to be an excessively soft-spoken and famous ASMRtist, helping pull off a reverse heist to put back stolen gems.


title: ASMR

text: In March 2013, the American weekly hour-long radio program "This American Life", broadcast the first short story on the subject of ASMR, called "A Tribe Called Rest", authored and read by American novelist and screenwriter Andrea Seigel.


title: ASMR

text: In 2001, in her novel "A Brief Stay with the Living", Marie Darrieussecq describes the sensation in several pages; see for example pp. 21–22, describing a visit to an ophthalmologist:


title: ASMR

text: The "Idiot's Guide" series has one book on ASMR written by Julie Young and Ilse Blansert (aka ASMRtist TheWaterwhispers), published in 2015.


title: ASMR

text: In 2020, the first major exhibition on ASMR – "Weird Sensation Feels Good" – took place at ArkDes, Sweden's national museum for architecture and design. In 2022, an expanded iteration of the exhibition opened at the Design Museum in London.


title: EFL Cup

text: The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout football competition and major trophy in men's domestic English football. Organised by the English Football League (EFL), it is open to any club within the top four levels of the English football league system – 92 clubs in total – comprising the top level Premier League, and the three divisions of the English Football League's own league competition (Championship, League One and League Two).


title: EFL Cup

text: First held in 1960–61 as the Football League Cup, it is one of the three top-tier domestic football competitions in England, alongside the Premier League and FA Cup. It concludes in February, long before the other two, which end in May. It was introduced by the league as a response to the increasing popularity of European football, and to also exert power over the FA. It also took advantage of the roll-out of floodlights, allowing the fixtures to be played as midweek evening games. With the renaming of the Football League as the English Football League in 2016, the tournament was rebranded as the EFL Cup from the 2016–17 season onwards.


title: EFL Cup

text: The tournament is played over seven rounds, with single-leg ties throughout, except for the semi-finals. The final is held at Wembley Stadium, which is the only tie in the competition played at a neutral venue and on a weekend (Sunday). The first two rounds are split into North and South sections, and a system of byes based on league level ensures higher ranked teams enter in later rounds, and to defer the entry of teams still involved in Europe. Winners receive the EFL Cup, of which there have been three designs, the current one also being the original. Winners also qualify for European football; up to the 2019–20 season, the winners received a place in the UEFA Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup, while from 1966–67 until 1971–72 the winners gained a place in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup), while starting in 2020–21, the winners get a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Should the winner also qualify for Europe through other means at the end of the season, this place is transferred to the highest-placed Premier League team not already qualified for European competition. The current holders are Liverpool, who beat Chelsea on penalties in the 2022 final to win their ninth League Cup, the most of any club.


title: EFL Cup

text: Although the League Cup is one of the four domestic trophies attainable by English league teams, it is of far lower prestige than the league championship or the FA Cup. League Cup winners receive £100,000 prize money (awarded by the Football League) with the runners-up receiving £50,000, considered relatively insignificant to top-flight teams, compared to the £2 million prize money of the FA Cup, which is in turn eclipsed by the Premier League's television money (awarded on final league position) and consequent participation in the Champions League.


title: EFL Cup

text: Some clubs have repeatedly fielded a weaker side in the competition, making the opportunity for giant-killing of the larger clubs more likely. Many teams in the Premier League, Arsenal and Manchester United in particular, have used the competition to give young players valuable big-game experience. Consequently, it began to be described sarcastically as the Mickey Mouse cup in some quarters.


title: EFL Cup

text: However, in 2010, in response to Arsène Wenger's claim that a League Cup win would not end his trophy drought, Alex Ferguson described the trophy as "a pot worth winning". After a period of decline when the competition's future was regularly questioned, recent years have seen a revival in respect for the trophy, as the larger Premier League clubs have come to dominate the competition again, and the development nature of the competition has begun to be viewed as a positive for the clubs involved. Premier League giants Manchester City (6), Manchester United (4), Liverpool (4) and Chelsea (3) between them won 17 editions of the competition between 2000 and 2022.


title: EFL Cup

text: The original idea for a League Cup came from Stanley Rous who saw the competition as a consolation for clubs who had already been knocked out of the FA Cup. However, it was not Rous who came to implement it, but Football League Secretary Alan Hardaker. Hardaker initially proposed the competition as a way for the clubs to make up on lost revenue, due to a reduction in matches played, for when the league was to be re-organised. The re-organisation of the league was not immediately forthcoming; however, the cup competition was introduced regardless.


title: EFL Cup

text: The trophy was paid for personally by Football League President Joe Richards, who was proud of the competition and he had his own name engraved on it. Richards described the competition's formation as an "interim step" on the way to the league's re-organisation. Richards' priority was the re-organisation of the leagues, "perhaps by cutting down the number of clubs in each division, as has already been suggested, and even given more consideration to the system of four up and four down".


title: EFL Cup

text: Hardaker felt that the Football League needed to adapt to the times, as the English game was losing prestige. He felt that the Football League should take the lead in revitalising football in the nation: "It must be obvious to all of you that the time has come to do something, and it is up to the Football League to give the lead. I hope the Press will not immediately assume that the League is going to fall out with the F.A. or anybody else... the time has come for our voice to be heard in every problem which affects the professional game."


title: EFL Cup

text: The League Cup competition was established at a time when match day attendances were dwindling. The league had lost a million spectators compared to the previous season. It was established at a time when tensions between the Football League and the Football Association were high. The biggest disagreement was about how revenue was shared between the clubs.


title: EFL Cup

text: During the late 1950s, the majority of senior English clubs equipped their grounds with floodlights. This opened up the opportunity to exploit weekday evenings throughout the winter. The League Cup was introduced in the 1960–61 season specifically as a mid-week floodlit tournament, to replace the Southern Professional Floodlit Cup.


title: EFL Cup

text: The League Cup was criticised by the better-endowed clubs. "The Times" correspondent at the time felt that the League Cup was a step in the wrong direction; the European Cup had been formed five years prior to the League Cup and the correspondent felt the League Cup's introduction was adding to existing problems. "The Times" published on 30 May 1960: "Where a drastic reduction is required in an attempt to raise quality, no doubt quantity and a further spread of mediocrity will be the dose. Where men like Count Bernabeu with his wider horizons, think in terms of a European League for the future in which a lead could surely now be given jointly by our leaders, the Football League propose next season to implement their useless Football League Cup to be played in midweek. It gets the players, the clubs and the public nowhere."


title: EFL Cup

text: Aston Villa were the inaugural winners in 1960–61, defeating Rotherham United 3–2 in the final over two legs. Football in England was considered to be of a low quality, compared to what was being played on the continent, as relatively unfashionable clubs Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers were England's representatives in Europe that year, having lifted the major honours ahead of much bigger clubs like Arsenal and Manchester United. Richards referred to the appetite for European football as 'continental fever'. He was keen for the league to re-establish itself: 'We must be prepared to put the interests of the League and the game before individual clubs.' Sixteen clubs opposed the competition's creation, thirty-one approved it. The average attendance across the League Cup was 10,556, just higher than the average gate in the Third Division. The total attendance of the Football League competition had fallen by 4 million from the previous season. Richards is reputed to have told Hardaker that he foresaw 'the League Cup final being held at Wembley, but that it wouldn't be during his lifetime'. The first League Cup final to be held at Wembley was Third Division Queens Park Rangers's win over First Division West Bromwich Albion on 4 March 1967. Richards died in 1968.


title: EFL Cup

text: The first League Cup was won in 1960–61 by Aston Villa who, at the time, held the overall record for major trophies won in England. The next three finals, however, saw the trophy won by clubs who had never won a major trophy before. One of them, Norwich City, had yet to even play in the First Division, while their opponents Rochdale had played no higher than the Third Division.


title: EFL Cup

text: The introduction of the League Cup gave the Football League more negotiating power with the FA and UEFA. Hardaker threatened UEFA with a boycott of the UEFA Cup, unless UEFA gave the League Cup winner European qualification. As a result of the negotiating tactics, UEFA provided the League Cup winner with a place in the European competitions, providing the team was in the first division. Tottenham Hotspur were the first team to qualify for Europe by virtue of winning the competition. Although Leeds United had won the competition before Tottenham, Leeds qualified for Europe based on league position. The winners of the 1966–67 and 1968–69 editions, Queen's Park Rangers and Swindon Town did not participate in Europe, as they were not in the First Division.


title: EFL Cup

text: Prior to the agreement with UEFA, the competition was not considered worthy of the larger clubs' attention. However, once a position in Europe was on offer, as was a final at Wembley Stadium, the competition's standing was improved and in the 1968–69 season only Manchester United declined to participate. Everton chose not to compete in 1970–71 so that they could concentrate their efforts on the European Cup. Entry was made compulsory for all Football League teams the following year.


title: EFL Cup

text: Liverpool have won the cup on the most occasions with nine victories, and both they and Manchester City have won four League Cups in successive years. Liverpool completed two trebles of trophy wins, in 1983–84 and 2000–01, winning the League Cup in both of these years.


title: EFL Cup

text: English clubs lost their place in European competitions for an indefinite period in 1985 as a result of the Heysel disaster, where Liverpool fans had taken part in a riot at the European Cup final, resulting in the death of 39 spectators. That year's winners of the League Cup were Norwich City, who would otherwise have played in a European competition for the first time in the 1985–86 season. Oxford United, Arsenal, Luton Town and Nottingham Forest also missed out on the chance to compete in the UEFA Cup as League Cup holders over the next four years. Even when the ban was lifted in 1990, League Cup winners did not participate in European competitions for two more years, when Manchester United won the trophy and qualified for the UEFA Cup anyway, as they had finished second in the league. In the previous two seasons, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday had both been prevented from competing in the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners, due to the gradual reintegration of English clubs in European competitions.


title: EFL Cup

text: In 2016–17, the competition was renamed the EFL Cup as part of the Football League's rebranding to become the English Football League.


title: EFL Cup

text: In the early 21st century, following restructuring of European football, particularly of its international club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, there were considerations of removing the prize of European qualification from the League Cup's winners. It has retained its Europa League berth, however, leaving England and France the only UEFA members to offer a European berth to the winners of their second cup competitions until 2020, when Coupe de la Ligue was suspended indefinitely. This has allowed the League Cup to retain popularity, especially with fans of clubs for whom success in cup competitions offers their only realistic chance of qualifying for Europe.


title: EFL Cup

text: Giant killings are less well remembered in the League Cup than the FA Cup due to the absence of non-league sides and the fact that many big clubs have fielded very under-strength sides when knocked out. However, there have been some notable upsets, such as Fourth Division side Chester beating defending league champions Leeds United 3–0 on their surprise run to the semi-finals in 1974–75. In 1995–96, Manchester United were beaten 3–0 at home by York City in the second round, first leg; United could only win 3–1 in the second leg and went out 4–3 on aggregate (York went on to repeat the achievement against Everton the following year). United went on to win the FA Premier League and FA Cup double and did not lose another home game that season, while York narrowly avoided relegation to Division Three (fourth tier).


title: EFL Cup

text: Also, the final of 1966–67 saw Division Three side Queens Park Rangers come from 2–0 down at half time to win 3–2 against top-flight West Bromwich Albion in the first League Cup Final to be hosted at Wembley Stadium. Two years later in 1968–69, Third Division side Swindon Town beat Arsenal 3–1 after extra time in the final to win the trophy.


title: EFL Cup

text: Manchester United have also been knocked out by Southend United and Coventry City in 2006–07 and 2007–08 respectively: in the match against Southend they fielded a strong side with 10 internationals, bucking a trend they had themselves started during the 1990s. In the 2014–15 season, Manchester United fielded five international players but lost 4–0 in the second round (in which they entered the tournament) against third-tier side MK Dons.


title: EFL Cup

text: In 2001–02, holders Liverpool were defeated 2–1 at home by struggling Division One side Grimsby Town, then humbled again by Northampton Town, one of the lowest placed teams in League Two, in September 2010. Grimsby recorded another giant killing four years later by knocking out Tottenham Hotspur, by which time the club had dropped into the fourth tier. In the 2012–13 competition, League Two (fourth tier) side Bradford City eliminated three Premier League sides from the competition, becoming the lowest-ranked team to do so since Rochdale in 1961–62. However, their luck finally ran out in the final, where they were beaten by Swansea City. In their centenary year, Swansea became the first team from outside England to win the League Cup on 24 February 2013, when they beat Bradford City 5–0 to win their first major English trophy.


title: EFL Cup

text: Former League club and now defunct Scarborough defeated Chelsea 4–3 on aggregate in October 1989, while a Fourth Division club. In 1992–93, Scarborough then defeated Coventry City (then a top-tier side) 3–2 on aggregate, before ultimately going out of the competition, narrowly, 1–0, against Arsenal.


title: EFL Cup

text: In the 2022–23 competition, Gillingham F.C. (then ranked 22nd in League Two) eliminated Brentford (then ranked 11th in the Premier League) in the third round on penalties; the teams were 79 places apart in the English football league system.


title: EFL Cup

text: The League Cup is open to all 92 members of the Premier League and English Football League and is divided into seven rounds, organised so that 32 teams remain by the third round (with the exception of the 1961–62 competition). Since 1996–97, teams involved in European competition during the season have received a bye to the third round; the remaining Premier League teams enter at the second round, and the remaining Football League teams enter at the first round. If the number of byes causes an odd number of teams to enter a round, another team may be given a bye (usually the highest-placed team of those relegated from the Premier League the previous season) or a preliminary round may be played between the two teams promoted from the Football Conference the previous season (or, if only one team is promoted, that team would play against the lowest-placed team not to be relegated from the Football League the previous season); preliminary rounds have only been necessary in the 2002–03 and 2011–12 competitions. Up to 1995–96, all teams were involved by the second round, although some received byes to that stage.


title: EFL Cup

text: Matches in all rounds are single-legged, except for the semi-finals, which have been two-legged since the competition began. The final was two-legged from 1961 to 1966, but has been single-legged ever since. The first round was two-legged from 1975–76 to 2000–01, and the second round was two-legged from 1979–80 to 2000–01. Single-legged matches would be replayed as necessary until 1993–94, when penalties were introduced to settle the first replay; the last single-legged tie to require a replay was played in 1996–97.


title: EFL Cup

text: Until 1974–75, two-legged ties that remained level after extra time in the second leg would be replayed; in that time, three ties reached a third replay. Between 1975–76 and 1979–80, ties would still be replayed, but a penalty shoot-out would be used to settle ties that could not be decided after a replay; replays of two-legged matches were finally abolished for 1980–81, with the away goals rule and penalties being adopted instead. The semi-finals were the exception to this, with level ties being replayed until 1986–87, after which the away goals rule and penalties were introduced. The semi-finals, when played over two legs, would apply the away goals rule only after extra time. From 2018–19, extra time was scrapped for all rounds except the final, and the away goal rule was scrapped for the semi-final, with level ties going straight to a penalty shoot-out.


title: EFL Cup

text: For the first six seasons of the Football League Cup, the final was played over two legs, with each leg being played at the home ground of each finalist. Since 1967, the final has been played as a single match at Wembley Stadium, although the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was used between 2001 and 2007, following the demolition of the old Wembley. Between 1967 and 1997, finals that finished level after extra time were replayed at an alternative venue until a winner was decided. The only final to require two replays was the 1977 final between Aston Villa and Everton. The venues that hosted replays were Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, Old Trafford and Maine Road in Manchester and Villa Park in Birmingham.


title: EFL Cup

text: Since 1998, finals that have finished level after extra time have been decided by penalty shoot-out. Until 1999–2000, the final was played in late March or early April. Thereafter it has been played in late February or early March.


title: EFL Cup

text: Since 1989–90, the best player in the League Cup Final has been presented with the Alan Hardaker Trophy, named after Alan Hardaker, the former secretary of the Football League who devised the Football League Cup. John Terry, Ben Foster and Vincent Kompany are the only players to win the award more than once.


title: EFL Cup

text: From 1981 to the present (except in 2016–17), the League Cup has attracted title sponsorship, which meant, unlike its older sibling the FA Cup, the League Cup was named after its sponsor, giving it the following names:


title: EFL Cup

text: The winners receive the EFL Cup, of which there have been three designs – the current one also being the original, a three-handled Georgian-style urn with a separate plinth (added later). Designed and manufactured by Mappin & Webb, it weighs 2.976 kg and measures 27 cm by 20.5 cm. It is worth around £20,000. It was used until the 1980–81 competition, before coming back into use ever since the 1990–91 competition. The reason for the break in usage was the introduction of the first competition sponsor – the Milk Marketing Board, who chose to award their own trophy from 1981–82 to 1985–86. The next sponsor, Littlewoods, also chose to award their own trophy, from 1986–87 until 1989–90. Later sponsors have used the original.


title: EFL Cup

text: In the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, 15 matches will be broadcast live by Sky Sports through 2024 with highlights from the several matches on Quest through 2022. This competition is included in the EFL broadcast package.


title: L

text: L, or l, is the twelfth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is "el" (pronounced ), plural "els".


title: L

text: Lamedh may have come from a pictogram of an ox goad or cattle prod. Some have suggested a shepherd's staff.


title: L

text: In phonetic and phonemic transcription, the International Phonetic Alphabet uses to represent the lateral alveolar approximant.


title: L

text: In English orthography, usually represents the phoneme , which can have several sound values, depending on the speaker's accent, and whether it occurs before or after a vowel. The alveolar lateral approximant (the sound represented in IPA by lowercase ) occurs before a vowel, as in "lip" or "blend", while the velarized alveolar lateral approximant (IPA ) occurs in "bell" and "milk". This velarization does not occur in many European languages that use ; it is also a factor making the pronunciation of difficult for users of languages that lack or have different values for it, such as Japanese or some southern dialects of Chinese. A medical condition or speech impediment restricting the pronunciation of is known as lambdacism.


title: L

text: In English orthography, is often silent in such words as "walk" or "could" (though its presence can modify the preceding vowel letter's value), and it is usually silent in such words as "palm" and "psalm"; however, there is some regional variation.


title: L

text: Common digraphs include , which has a value identical to in English, but has the separate value voiceless alveolar lateral fricative (IPA ) in Welsh, where it can appear in an initial position. In Spanish, represents [ʎ], [j], [ʝ], [ɟʝ], or [ʃ], depending on dialect.


title: L

text: A palatal lateral approximant or palatal (IPA ) occurs in many languages, and is represented by in Italian, in Spanish and Catalan, in Portuguese, and in Latvian.


title: L

text: In Washo, lower-case represents a typical [l] sound, while upper-case represents a voiceless [l̥] sound, a bit like double in Welsh.


title: L

text: The capital letter L is used as the currency sign for the Albanian lek and the Honduran lempira. It was often used, especially in handwriting, as the currency sign for the Italian lira. It is also infrequently used as a substitute for the pound sign (£), which is based on it.


title: L

text: In recent years, the letters "L" and "W" have become an internet meme, respectively standing for "loss" and "win". "L", in particular, is commonly used in popular culture, often referring to the slang definition of ownership. "Take the L", respectively, means to accept this particular defeat.


title: L

text: In some sans-serif fonts (i.e., typefaces), the lowercase letter "ell" may be difficult to distinguish from the uppercase letter "eye" or the digit "one" . To avoid such confusion, some newer fonts have a finial, a curve to the right at the bottom of the lowercase letter "ell".


title: L

text: Another means of reducing such confusion, increasingly common on European road signs and in advertisements, uses a cursive, handwriting-style lowercase letter "ell" . A special letter-like symbol is sometimes used for this purpose in mathematics and elsewhere. In Unicode, this symbol is with HTML numeric character reference codice_1. In Japan, for example, this is the symbol for the liter. However, the International System of Units recommends using Unicode symbols or for the liter.


title: L

text: Another solution, sometimes seen in Web typography, uses a serif font for the lowercase letter "ell", such as , in otherwise sans-serif text.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Anderson da Silva (; born 14 April 1975) is a Brazilian-American mixed martial artist and boxer. He is a former UFC Middleweight Champion and holds the record for the longest title reign in UFC history at 2,457 days. This started in 2006 and ended in 2013 and included a UFC record 16 consecutive victories in that span. UFC president Dana White, UFC commentator Joe Rogan and numerous mixed martial arts (MMA) pundits have named Silva as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. Silva left the UFC in November 2020 and returned to boxing.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva was born on 14 April 1975, in São Paulo, Brazil. The son of a poverty-stricken family, he spent the majority of his childhood in Curitiba with his aunt and uncle, who was an officer with the Curitiba police force. Silva's first foray in martial arts began as a child training jiu-jitsu with neighborhood kids. As a teen, Silva began training in taekwondo, capoeira and muay thai.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva initially fought in Brazil in the welterweight category. Silva made his professional debut in 1997 with a pair of wins. Silva recorded his first loss in 2000 to Luiz Azeredo by decision. After that fight, he went on a nine-fight winning streak, winning six of those fights by either submission or TKO. After winning his first match in Japan, he was put up against Shooto champion Hayato Sakurai on 26 August 2001. Silva beat Sakurai by unanimous decision after three rounds and became the new Shooto Middleweight Champion (at 167 lb) and the first man to defeat Sakurai, who was undefeated in his first 20 fights.


title: Anderson Silva

text: In 2002, Silva was scheduled to fight then-current UFC Welterweight Champion, and future UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes at UFC 36. However, Silva instead signed a contract and began fighting for PRIDE Fighting Championships. In his first fight with the promotion, he stopped Alex Stiebling with a cut resulting from a high kick. In his next match, he won via decision against the "Diet Butcher" Alexander Otsuka. At "Pride 25", Silva faced former UFC welterweight champion Carlos Newton. Newton tried to shoot in on Silva, but was hit with a flying knee. Newton collapsed and Silva finished the fight with strikes, winning by technical knockout.


title: Anderson Silva

text: At "Pride 26", Silva faced Daiju Takase. Takase, with a record of four wins and seven losses, was the underdog. However Silva was dominated on the ground for almost the entire fight before being submitted by Takase when caught in a triangle choke late in the first round. After his loss to Takase, Silva became demotivated and thought about quitting MMA, but was convinced to keep on fighting by Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Silva then left Chute Boxe, joined Nogueira in Brazilian Top Team and started to fight in other promotions around the world. On 27 June 2004, Silva fought Jeremy Horn and earned a decision victory.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Three months later, Silva made his debut in the Cage Rage promotion in England. At "Cage Rage 8" Silva fought and defeated noted striker Lee Murray by decision. That year, Silva returned to Pride FC on 31 December to face Ryo Chonan. Silva was in control with a take down and body triangle in the first round. Chonan was able to counter Silva's knees from the clinch, with knees, and takedowns. Chonan was perceived by some to be winning up until the finish. During the third round, Bas Rutten, commentating alongside Mauro Ranallo, stated that he believed Anderson must obtain a knockout or strong finish or he would lose the fight. Despite being the underdog, Chonan ended the fight in the third round with a rare flying scissor heel hook, forcing Silva to submit. After the loss to Chonan he was cut by Pride, Silva continued fighting in the Cage Rage promotion, as well as other promotions around the world. Silva defended his Cage Rage title against Curtis Stout.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Although he was slated to fight Matt Lindland at "Cage Rage 16", Lindland's decision to fight Mike Van Arsdale at "Raze Fight Night" put an end to the highly anticipated match up. Instead, Silva defended his championship against Tony Fryklund, winning the fight with a reverse elbow, knocking out Fryklund early in the first round.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva competed in Hawaii's Rumble on the Rock promotion, where he fought Yushin Okami in the first round of the 175 lb tournament. Though labeled as a favorite to win the tournament, Silva was eliminated from the tournament when he kicked Okami in the face from the guard position. Okami's knees were on the ground at the time, making the attack an illegal strike to the head of a downed opponent. Silva later said that the rule had not been properly explained to him before the bout. "When I fought Okami the rules really weren't explained to me properly in the event I was fighting in," said Silva. "You could kick a downed opponent to the groin or to the head when your back's on the ground. So the rules weren't explained to me properly." While Okami was given the opportunity to recover and continue fighting, Okami opted for the disqualification win. Silva responded by saying he "felt it was a cheap, cowardly way of winning," and that "people that were there saw that he was in the condition to come back and keep fighting, and he didn't."


title: Anderson Silva

text: Although speculation ran rampant about where Silva would sign next, the UFC announced in late April 2006 that they had signed him to a multi-fight contract. It was not long before the UFC started promoting Silva, releasing an interview segment almost immediately after announcing his arrival.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva made his debut at "Ultimate Fight Night 5" on 28 June 2006. His opponent was "The Ultimate Fighter 1" contestant Chris Leben who had gone undefeated in the UFC with five consecutive victories. Leben, confident of victory, had predicted he would KO Silva in a pre-fight interview. A relatively unknown fighter in the United States, Silva made an emphatic debut when he knocked out Leben with a flurry of pinpoint strikes, followed by a final knee strike at 49 seconds into the first round. Silva's striking accuracy was 85%.


title: Anderson Silva

text: In response to the victory, the UFC tallied a poll on their main page, asking viewers to select Silva's next opponent. The majority of voters selected the UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin. Silva fought Franklin at "UFC 64" on 14 October 2006, and defeated him by TKO (strikes) at 2:59 in the first round. Silva hit Franklin with knees to the body from the Muay Thai-clinch, then badly broke Franklin's nose with a knee to the face. Unable to strike back, Franklin dodged the last of Silva's strikes before falling to the ground, where referee "Big" John McCarthy ended the fight. Silva was crowned the new UFC Middleweight Champion, becoming the second man to defeat Franklin, after Black House-teammate Lyoto Machida.


title: Anderson Silva

text: On 3 February 2007, at "UFC 67", Silva was scheduled to fight "The Ultimate Fighter 4" winner Travis Lutter in what would be his first title defense since defeating Rich Franklin in October 2006. However, Lutter failed to make the weight limit and the match was changed to a non-title bout. Many felt that Lutter's best chance to win was to take the fight to the ground, with Lutter being an accomplished jiu-jitsu blackbelt. Silva won via submission with a combination of a triangle choke and elbow strikes in the second round.


title: Anderson Silva

text: In his next fight at "UFC 73" on 7 July 2007, Silva successfully defended his title against Nate Marquardt, winning by TKO at 4:50 in the first round. Three months later, on 20 October 2007, at "UFC 77", Silva fought a title defense rematch against Rich Franklin, in Franklin's hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, at the U.S. Bank Arena. Silva defended his belt by defeating Franklin via TKO in the 2nd round. On 1 March 2008, at "UFC 82" Silva fought Pride Middleweight champion Dan Henderson, in a title unification bout (UFC and Pride titles on the line). Henderson was believed to have the edge on the ground, having competed in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling. Silva defended his title by defeating Henderson via rear naked choke in the 2nd round. At "" on 19 July 2008, Silva made his debut at Light Heavyweight () in a bout against James Irvin. Silva won via KO due to strikes in 1:01 of the first round after catching Irvin's attempted leg kick with his left arm and delivering a straight right that dropped Irvin to the mat, Silva then finished a prone Irvin with a blitz of punches to the head. Irvin later tested positive for methadone and oxymorphone.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva's next fight was on 25 October 2008, at "UFC 90" in Rosemont, Illinois, Silva defended his Middleweight title against Patrick Côté. In the third round, Côté landed awkwardly on his right leg while throwing a kick and fell to the mat grasping his right knee in pain. Referee Herb Dean declared the fight over when Côté could not continue, ruling the bout a TKO victory for Silva. Côté, however, became the first of Silva's UFC opponents to make it past the 2nd round. After his fight with Côté, Silva was criticized for seemingly avoiding contact during the bout. Dana White criticized Silva, saying: "I didn't understand Silva's tactics... It wasn't the Anderson Silva I've been watching the last two years." Silva said in the post-fight news conference:


title: Anderson Silva

text: "There are many people saying I was disrespecting Côté, but this is absolutely not true. My game plan since the beginning was fight five rounds, inducing him to commit mistakes and capitalize on that during the first three rounds and look for the knockout during the fourth and fifth rounds. It was working, and the biggest proof of that is that I almost didn't waste any blows. I connected with a couple of good punches and knees, but unfortunately he got hurt and the fight was over. This is not my fault."


title: Anderson Silva

text: On 18 April 2009, at "UFC 97" in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Silva defeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt Thales Leites by unanimous decision, and recorded his UFC record 9th consecutive win in the octagon. Leites is credited with being the first man in UFC history to take Silva through 5 rounds to a judges' decision. The crowd repeatedly booed his lackluster performance, bored expression, and frustrated attempts to goad his opponent into fighting, and in the 4th and 5th rounds took to dancing, lowering his guard and slapping his opponent without retaliation. Following the fight, Dana White has stated that he was "embarrassed" by Silva's performance, but still said that he believes him to be "the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world".


title: Anderson Silva

text: At "UFC 101" which took place on 8 August 2009, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Silva again fought at 205 pounds against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. Griffin was knocked down three times in the first round. The bout earned Silva Beatdown of the Year honors from Sherdog. The bout shared those honors with the second bout between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir. Both fighters were awarded $60,000 as Fight of the Night bonuses and Silva received $60,000 in bonus money for Knockout of the Night.


title: Anderson Silva

text: After defeating Griffin, a Yahoo! Sports reporter allegedly claimed that Silva's manager, Ed Soares, had confirmed that Silva would abandon his Middleweight belt to fight at Light Heavyweight. However, Soares and a UFC spokesperson confirmed that a conversation agreeing Silva would permanently move up to Light Heavyweight never took place. Silva did not relinquish his title to fight exclusively at Light Heavyweight. Soares stated his attorney plans to speak to Yahoo! Sports about the matter.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva was expected to defend the UFC Middleweight Championship against Vitor Belfort on 2 January 2010, at UFC 108. However, Ed Soares announced that the bout would not take place as Silva would not be fully recovered from surgery. Silva was then set to face Belfort on 6 February 2010, at UFC 109. The fight, however, was dependent on Silva's healing, which he described as "not going as planned." The fight was canceled because of Silva's slow recovery. Silva was once again scheduled to face Belfort on 10 April 2010, at UFC 112. The fight was later canceled again due to an injury to Belfort. Demian Maia was selected to fill the spot and take on Silva for the belt.


title: Anderson Silva

text: In the first two rounds fighting Maia, Silva appeared to mock his opponent while employing quick, precise striking. In the third round, however, Silva's tempo seemed to change. He looked to Maia to be the aggressor while he largely circled and taunted his opponent. In the fifth round, Silva's lack of action prompted referee Dan Miragliotta to warn Silva for his conduct. The crowd began to side with Maia, who was the only fighter attempting to engage. After 5 rounds, Silva was declared the winner via unanimous decision.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva was widely criticized for his performance. Dana White said it was the most embarrassed he had ever been since becoming UFC president. Midway through the fourth round, White walked away from the fight and gave the championship belt to Silva's manager, Ed Soares. White was so annoyed that he declined to personally place the belt around Silva's waist, claiming it was the first time he had done so after a title match. It was also claimed that Silva verbally taunted Maia, saying, "Come on, hit me in the face, playboy." In the immediate post-fight interview, Silva apologized and said that he wasn't himself and that he would need to go back and reevaluate the humility that got him to where he is. In the post-fight interview, Silva made multiple references about how Demian insulted him before the bout. However, the pre-fight banter was seen by many as not out of the ordinary.


title: Anderson Silva

text: On 7 August 2010 Silva faced Chael Sonnen for the UFC Middleweight title at UFC 117. In the first round, Sonnen stunned Silva with a punch before taking him down and dominating from the top position, landing multiple blows. The following three rounds played out in a similar fashion, going to the ground early with Sonnen dominating from inside Silva's guard. In the fifth round, Silva slipped after being tagged by Sonnen's left hook and the challenger took advantage by once again establishing a top position and delivering strikes to Silva. With about two minutes left in the round, Silva was able to lock up a triangle armbar on Sonnen, forcing Sonnen to submit at 3:10 of Round 5.


title: Anderson Silva

text: In the fight, Sonnen had struck Silva more times than Silva had been hit thus far in his entire UFC career. According to CompuStrike, in his first 11 UFC fights, Silva had been hit 208 times. On 7 August Sonnen had landed a total of 289 strikes. After the bout it was revealed that Sonnen would have won a judges' decision. All three judges had Sonnen marked as the winner of all four rounds, judges Nelson Hamilton and Dan Stell had Sonnen taking Round 1 10–8, as well as Hamilton awarding the challenger another 10–8 total in Round 3. Silva later claimed to have gone into the fight with a cracked rib and that a doctor advised him not to fight. Dana White announced that Sonnen would get a rematch upon Silva's return.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Following the fight the California State Athletic Commission confirmed that Chael Sonnen tested positive for synthetic testosterone, with his test having revealed a high testosterone to epitestosterone ratio, indicative of testosterone replacement therapy. The promised rematch was revoked after the issue with his testosterone ratio came to light, however, after Sonnen came back and won two straight fights, Dana White scheduled the rematch.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva faced Vitor Belfort on 5 February 2011, at UFC 126. Belfort was expected to face Yushin Okami on 13 November 2010, at UFC 122, but was replaced by Nate Marquardt. After a "feeling out" period of about two and a half minutes in the first round, Silva and Belfort started to trade strikes. Silva landed a front kick to Belfort's jaw and followed up with punches to the grounded challenger. Referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the fight at 3:25 into the first round. With the win Silva handed Belfort his first KO loss in 28 career fights and extended his record streak of title defenses to eight. Silva then faced Yushin Okami on 27 August 2011, at UFC 134. He defeated the Japanese middleweight by TKO at 2:04 of round 2, displaying skilled head movement and accurate striking. His record then went to 31–4, avenging his DQ loss to Okami back in 2006.


title: Anderson Silva

text: A rematch with Chael Sonnen was to take place on 23 June 2012, at UFC 147, but the bout was moved back to 7 July 2012, at UFC 148, while the expected co-feature of the Brazilian event, a rematch between Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva would headline the event. The change was due to a scheduling conflict with the UN Conference Rio+20, which occurred during the same time frame as UFC 147. At UFC 148, after again being dominated throughout the first round, Silva stopped Sonnen in the second with a TKO.


title: Anderson Silva

text: He became the first to stop Stephan Bonnar via strikes in the 1st round of a light heavyweight bout on 13 October 2012, at UFC 153.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Despite having decided to retire after the Bonnar fight, Silva faced Chris Weidman on 6 July 2013, at UFC 162. Although he was the heavy favorite, he lost by KO in the second round after show boating, ending his streak of the longest title reign in UFC history.


title: Anderson Silva

text: A rematch was held at UFC 168 on 28 December. Weidman dominated the first round; it was reported that Silva may have also cracked his shin bone against Weidman during the first leg check. In the second round Weidman checked one of Silva's leg kicks again, breaking Silva's left fibula and tibia and ending the fight via TKO. Immediately after the fight, Silva had orthopedic surgery to stabilize his tibia with an intramedullary rod; his fibula was reset and was not expected to require further surgery. A UFC statement called the surgery "successful" and said those with similar injuries generally take three to six months to recover.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Despite calls for Silva to retire from MMA, it was confirmed on 29 July 2014, that Silva would return to the organization. Before UFC 179, Silva and the UFC agreed on a new, 15-fight contract that replaced their previous deal which had eight fights remaining.


title: Anderson Silva

text: On 29 October 2014, it was announced that Silva would coach opposite Maurício Rua for "", which began filming in early 2015. Despite being coaches on the show, the two fighters will not face each other at the end of the season. Silva's continued participation was briefly in doubt during the filming after the announcement of his failed drug test. Initially, Dana White announced that Silva would remain on the show as a coach. Subsequently, Silva was pulled as one of the coaches and was replaced by Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.


title: Anderson Silva

text: In his first fight post-injury, Silva faced Nick Diaz in the main event of UFC 183 on 31 January 2015. He won the fight via unanimous decision. In the days after the fight, it was revealed that Silva tested positive for Drostanolone and Androstane, two anabolic steroids, in pre-fight drug screening on 9 January 2015. Nevada State Athletic Commission chairman Francisco Aguilar confirmed that the fight has not yet been overturned and can't be until a motion is passed by a majority of the commission. Any penalties, suspensions or changes to the outcome of the fight have to be presented as a motion and then voted on by the commission to enact the order. On 11 February 2015, it was reported that Silva tested positive for an additional unknown illegal substance in a separate test that was related to UFC 183. On 17 February 2015, NSAC executive director Bob Bennett confirmed to ESPN.com that Silva failed his postfight urine test and that Silva had tested positive for the steroid Drostanolone—the same banned substance he tested positive for during an out-of-competition test taken on 9 January 2015. Silva also tested positive for the anti-anxiety medication Oxazepam and Temazepam, which is used to treat sleep deprivation.


title: Anderson Silva

text: On 13 August, after several reschedules, the disciplinary hearing was held to decide on the subject. Silva's defense argued that a tainted sexual enhancement drug that a friend had given to Silva after a trip to Thailand was the root of the two failed tests for drostanolone and also appealed to mistakes in the NSAC testing procedures, pointing to a pair of drug tests, one on 19 January and one after the fight, which Silva passed. He admitted to using both benzodiazepines the night prior to the fight as therapy to control stress and help him sleep. Silva's team was unable to explain the presence of androsterone in 9 January test. The commission rejected the defense and suspended him for one year retroactive to the date of the fight, as the current guidelines were not in effect at the time of the failed tests. He was also fined his full win bonus, as well as 30% of his show money, totaling $380,000. His victory was overturned to a no contest.


title: Anderson Silva

text: In his first fight after his PED suspension was lifted, Silva faced Michael Bisping on 27 February 2016, at UFC Fight Night 84. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. However, the fight was not without controversy as at the end of round three Silva dropped Bisping with a flying knee while Bisping was signaling to referee Herb Dean that he lost his mouthpiece. Silva believed he had won the bout and continued to celebrate as referee Herb Dean said the fight was not over, and it continued for another two rounds to the decision. Both participants were awarded "Fight of the Night" honours.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva was expected to face Uriah Hall on 14 May 2016, at UFC 198. However, Silva pulled out of the bout on 10 May after requiring a surgery to remove his gallbladder. As a result, Hall did not compete at the event.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva was a short notice replacement to face current UFC Light Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier in a non-title bout on 9 July 2016, at UFC 200. Silva lost the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva faced Derek Brunson on 11 February 2017, at UFC 208. He was awarded a unanimous decision victory. 19 of 23 media outlets scored the bout in favor of Brunson.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva was expected to face Kelvin Gastelum on 3 June 2017, at UFC 212. However, Gastelum was pulled from the match-up after testing positive for marijuana. In turn, despite having two months to secure an opponent, Silva and promotion officials confirmed on 11 May that he would not compete at that event.


title: Anderson Silva

text: The bout with Gastelum was rescheduled and was expected to take place on 25 November 2017, at UFC Fight Night 122. However it was announced on 10 November 2017 that Silva would be pulled from the bout due to failing USADA drug test on 26 October. In July 2018, USADA announced that Silva had been exonerated from the failed test after finding contaminated supplements and received a one-year suspension from USADA dating back to November 2017 and would be free to resume fighting in November 2018.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva returned and faced Israel Adesanya on 10 February 2019, at UFC 234. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. This fight earned him the "Fight of the Night" award.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva faced Jared Cannonier on 11 May 2019 at UFC 237. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round after a kick from Cannonier to Silva's right leg injured him and rendered him unable to continue.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva faced Uriah Hall on 31 October 2020 at . He lost the fight via technical knockout in round four. In an Instagram post made after the fight, Silva hinted that his career in MMA was finished, though he did not officially announce retirement from the sport.


title: Anderson Silva

text: On 19 November 2020, the UFC announced that they had released Silva from his UFC contract, which would allow him to negotiate with other promotions.


title: Anderson Silva

text: In March 2021, it was announced that Anderson Silva would fight Julio César Chávez Jr. in a boxing match on 19 June 2021. Silva won the fight by split decision. Silva threw more punches throughout the fight throwing a total of 392 punches while Chávez Jr only threw 153.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva faced former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz in a pro boxing bout on September 11, 2021. He won the fight via knockout in round one.


title: Anderson Silva

text: On September 6, 2022, it was announced that Silva would be facing YouTuber and professional boxer Jake Paul on October 29 in Phoenix, Arizona.


title: Anderson Silva

text: On the night of the fight, Silva lost to Paul by unanimous decision with the scores of 78–73 (twice) and 77–74, all in Paul's favor.


title: Anderson Silva

text: On May 21, 2022, Silva fought an eight round exhibition bout with fellow Brazilian MMA veteran Bruno Machado at a boxing event in Abu Dhabi. Despite a knockdown for Silva in the fifth, the fight would go the full distance, and no winner was declared.


title: Anderson Silva

text: An expert in Muay Thai, boxing and taekwondo, Silva is primarily a stand-up fighter. Owner of numerous UFC offensive striking records, Silva is widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the history of MMA and many consider him the best of all time. During his time in the UFC, he had a striking accuracy of 60%, attempting 1300 strikes and landing 779.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva's striking accuracy, knockout power, technically vicious Muay Thai and ability to counterstrike makes him a danger to his opponents. Silva's striking uses three major strengths: technical precision, the jab, and transitions and movement. Silva switches from southpaw to orthodox with little drop-off in effectiveness. Although it has been claimed that his ground game is not as good as his stand-up, Silva has submitted notable grapplers, including Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt Travis Lutter and Olympic alternate Chael Sonnen.


title: Anderson Silva

text: A friend of Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldo, in 2011 Silva became the first client to be marketed by 9INE, a sports marketing company co-owned by Ronaldo. Since August 2011, Anderson has been sponsored by Corinthians, his favorite football club. He is also sponsored by fast food chain Burger King. Previously he had also sponsorship deal with sportswear and equipment supplier Nike, which ended in late 2014 due to Nike's self removal from the UFC.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Before he began his career as a professional fighter, Silva worked at McDonald's, and also as a file clerk. He considers Spider-Man, Bruce Lee, Muhammad Ali and his mother as biggest of his personal heroes, and has a stated love of comic books and comic book heroes.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva has said on numerous occasions that he believes long-time friend and former UFC Lightweight Champion and UFC Welterweight Champion B.J. Penn to be the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the history of the sport.


title: Anderson Silva

text: Silva expressed interest in competing in the sport of taekwondo and boxing. He floated around the idea of competing at the Olympics in taekwondo and fighting Roy Jones Jr. in a boxing match.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( , ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German-American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, as well as the leading figure in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany and later a pioneer of rocket and space technology in the United States.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: As a young man, von Braun worked in Nazi Germany's rocket development program. He helped design and co-developed the V-2 rocket at Peenemünde during World War II. Following the war, he was secretly moved to the United States, along with about 1,600 other German scientists, engineers, and technicians, as part of Operation Paperclip. He worked for the United States Army on an intermediate-range ballistic missile program, and he developed the rockets that launched the United States' first space satellite Explorer 1 in 1958. He worked with Walt Disney on a series of films, which popularized the idea of human space travel in the US and beyond between 1955 and 1957.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: In 1960, his group was assimilated into NASA, where he served as director of the newly formed Marshall Space Flight Center and as the chief architect of the Saturn V super heavy-lift launch vehicle that propelled the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. In 1967, von Braun was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering, and in 1975, he received the National Medal of Science.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Von Braun is widely seen as the "father of space travel", the "father of rocket science" or the "father of the American lunar program". He advocated a human mission to Mars.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Wernher von Braun was born on 23 March 1912, in the small town of Wirsitz in the Province of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia, then German Empire and now Poland.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: His father, Magnus Freiherr von Braun (1878–1972), was a civil servant and conservative politician; he served as Minister of Agriculture in the federal government during the Weimar Republic. His mother, Emmy von Quistorp (1886–1959), traced her ancestry through both parents to medieval European royalty and was a descendant of Philip III of France, Valdemar I of Denmark, Robert III of Scotland, and Edward III of England. Wernher had an older brother, the West German diplomat Sigismund von Braun, who served as Secretary of State in the Foreign Office in the 1970s, and a younger brother, Magnus von Braun, who was a rocket scientist and later a senior executive with Chrysler.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: The family moved to Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1915, where his father worked at the Ministry of the Interior. After Wernher's Confirmation, his mother gave him a telescope, and he developed a passion for astronomy. Von Braun learned to play both the cello and the piano at an early age and at one time wanted to become a composer. He took lessons from the composer Paul Hindemith. The few pieces of Wernher's youthful compositions that exist are reminiscent of Hindemith's style. He could play piano pieces of Beethoven and Bach from memory. Beginning in 1925, Wernher attended a boarding school at Ettersburg Castle near Weimar, Free State of Thuringia, where he did not do well in physics and mathematics. There he acquired a copy of "Die Rakete zu den Planetenräumen" (1923, "By Rocket into Planetary Space") by rocket pioneer Hermann Oberth. In 1928, his parents moved him to the Hermann-Lietz-Internat (also a residential school) on the East Frisian North Sea island of Spiekeroog. Space travel had always fascinated Wernher, and from then on he applied himself to physics and mathematics to pursue his interest in rocket engineering.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: The world's first large-scale experimental rocket program was Opel RAK under the leadership of Fritz von Opel and Max Valier during the late 1920s leading to the first manned rocket cars and rocket planes, which paved the way for the Nazi era V2 program and US and Soviet activities from 1950 onwards.The Opel RAK program and the spectacular public demonstrations of ground and air vehicles drew large crowds, as well as caused global public excitement as so-called "Rocket Rumble" and had a large long-lasting impact on later spaceflight pioneers, in particular on Wernher von Braun. Sixteen year old Wernher was so enthusiastic about the public Opel RAK demonstrations, that he constructed his own homemade rocket car, nearly killing himself in the process. and causing a major disruption in a crowded street by detonating the toy wagon to which he had attached fireworks. He was taken into custody by the local police until his father came to get him. The Great Depression put an end to the Opel RAK program and Fritz von Opel left Germany in 1930, emigrating first to the US, later to France and Switzerland. After the break-up of Opel-RAK program, Valier eventually was killed while experimenting with liquid-fueled rockets as means of propulsion in mid-1930, and is considered the first fatality of the dawning space age.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: In 1930, von Braun attended the Technische Hochschule Berlin, where he joined the "Spaceflight Society" ("Verein für Raumschiffahrt" or "VfR"), co-founded by Valier, and worked with Willy Ley in his liquid-fueled rocket motor tests in conjunction with others such as Rolf Engel, Rudolf Nebel, Hermann Oberth or Paul Ehmayr. In spring 1932, he graduated with a diploma in mechanical engineering. His early exposure to rocketry convinced him that the exploration of space would require far more than applications of the current engineering technology. Wanting to learn more about physics, chemistry, and astronomy, von Braun entered the Friedrich-Wilhelm University of Berlin for doctoral studies and graduated with a doctorate in physics in 1934. He also studied at ETH Zürich for a term from June to October 1931.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: In 1930, von Braun attended a presentation given by Auguste Piccard. After the talk, the young student approached the famous pioneer of high-altitude balloon flight, and stated to him: "You know, I plan on traveling to the Moon at some time." Piccard is said to have responded with encouraging words.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: According to historian Norman Davies, von Braun was able to pursue a career as a rocket scientist in Germany due to a "curious oversight" in the Treaty of Versailles which did not include rocketry in its list of weapons forbidden to Germany.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Von Braun had an ambivalent and complex relationship with Nazi Germany. He applied for membership of the Nazi Party on 12 November 1937, and was issued membership number 5,738,692.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Michael J. Neufeld, an author of aerospace history and chief of the Space History Division at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, wrote that ten years after von Braun obtained his Nazi Party membership, he signed an affidavit for the U.S. Army, though he stated the incorrect year:


title: Wernher von Braun

text: In 1939, I was officially demanded to join the National Socialist Party. At this time I was already Technical Director at the Army Rocket Center at Peenemünde (Baltic Sea). The technical work carried out there had, in the meantime, attracted more and more attention in higher levels. Thus, my refusal to join the party would have meant that I would have to abandon the work of my life. Therefore, I decided to join. My membership in the party did not involve any political activity.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: It has not been ascertained whether von Braun's error with regard to the year was deliberate or a simple mistake. Neufeld further wrote:


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Von Braun, like other Peenemünders, was assigned to the local group in Karlshagen; there is no evidence that he did more than send in his monthly dues. But he is seen in some photographs with the party's swastika pin in his lapel – it was politically useful to demonstrate his membership.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Von Braun's later attitude toward the National Socialist regime of the late 1930s and early 1940s was complex. He said that he had been so influenced by the early Nazi promise of release from the post–World War I economic effects, that his patriotic feelings had increased. In a 1952 memoir article he admitted that, at that time, he "fared relatively rather well under totalitarianism". Yet, he also wrote that "to us, Hitler was still only a pompous fool with a Charlie Chaplin moustache" and that he perceived him as "another Napoleon" who was "wholly without scruples, a godless man who thought himself the only god".


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Later examination of Von Braun’s background, conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, suggests that his background check file contained no derogatory information pertaining to his involvement in the party, but it was found that he had numerous letters of commendation for outstanding performance of duties during his time working under the Nazi party. Overall FBI conclusions point to Von Braun’s involvement in the Nazi Party to be purely for the furthering of his academic career, or out of fear of imprisonment or execution.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Von Braun joined the SS horseback riding school on 1 November 1933 as an "SS-Anwärter". He left the following year. In 1940, von Braun joined the SS and was given the rank of Untersturmführer in the Allgemeine-SS and issued membership number 185,068. In 1947, he gave the U.S. War Department this explanation:


title: Wernher von Braun

text: When shown a picture of himself standing behind Himmler, von Braun claimed to have worn the SS uniform only that one time, but in 2002 a former SS officer at Peenemünde told the BBC that von Braun had regularly worn the SS uniform to official meetings. He began as an Untersturmführer (Second lieutenant) and was promoted three times by Himmler, the last time in June 1943 to SS-Sturmbannführer (Major). Von Braun later claimed that these were simply technical promotions received each year regularly by mail.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: In 1933, von Braun was working on his creative doctorate when the Nazi Party came to power in a coalition government in Germany; rocketry was almost immediately moved onto the national agenda. An artillery captain, Walter Dornberger, arranged an Ordnance Department research grant for von Braun, who then worked next to Dornberger's existing solid-fuel rocket test site at Kummersdorf.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: In 1932, Von Braun received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Institute of Technology in Berlin, Germany. During a period in 1931, Von Braun attended the Technical Institute in Switzerland. During this time in Switzerland, Von Braun assisted Professor Hermann Oberth in writing a book concerning the possibilities of creating and manufacturing liquid-propellant rockets. Shortly after this, Von Braun founded his own private rocket development business in Berlin, through which made the first rocket fired by gasoline and liquid oxygen.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: In 1932, having caught wind of Von Braun’s rocket business, the German Army connected with Von Braun to pursue basic missile research and weather data experimentation. Von Braun said that the Germany Government financed the development of test stands and facilities for experimentation in Darmstadt, Germany. In 1939, Von Braun was appointed a technical advisor at Peenemunde Proving Ground on the Baltic Sea.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Von Braun was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy in physics (aerospace engineering) on 27 July 1934, from the University of Berlin for a thesis entitled ""About Combustion Tests""; his doctoral supervisor was Erich Schumann. However, this thesis was only the public part of von Braun's work. His actual full thesis, "Construction, Theoretical, and Experimental Solution to the Problem of the Liquid Propellant Rocket" (dated 16 April 1934) was kept classified by the German army, and was not published until 1960. By the end of 1934, his group had successfully launched two liquid fuel rockets that rose to heights of 2.2 and .


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Von Braun continued his guided missile work throughout World War Two, and met with Adolf Hitler on several occasions, being formally decorated by Hitler twice, including being awarded the Iron Cross.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: At the time, Germany was highly interested in American physicist Robert H. Goddard's research. Before 1939, German scientists occasionally contacted Goddard directly with technical questions. Von Braun used Goddard's plans from various journals and incorporated them into the building of the "Aggregat" (A) series of rockets. The first successful launch of an A-4 took place on 3 October 1942. The A-4 rocket would become well known as the V-2. In 1963, von Braun reflected on the history of rocketry, and said of Goddard's work: "His rockets ... may have been rather crude by present-day standards, but they blazed the trail and incorporated many features used in our most modern rockets and space vehicles."


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Goddard confirmed his work was used by von Braun in 1944, shortly before the Nazis began firing V-2s at England. A V-2 crashed in Sweden and some parts were sent to an Annapolis lab where Goddard was doing research for the Navy. If this was the so-called Bäckebo Bomb, it had been procured by the British in exchange for Spitfires; Annapolis would have received some parts from them. Goddard is reported to have recognized components he had invented, and inferred that his brainchild had been turned into a weapon. Later, von Braun would comment: "I have very deep and sincere regret for the victims of the V-2 rockets, but there were victims on both sides ... A war is a war, and when my country is at war, my duty is to help win that war."


title: Wernher von Braun

text: In response to Goddard's claims, von Braun said "at no time in Germany did I or any of my associates ever see a Goddard patent". This was independently confirmed. He wrote that claims about his lifting Goddard's work were the furthest from the truth, noting that Goddard's paper "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes", which was studied by von Braun and Oberth, lacked the specificity of liquid-fuel experimentation with rockets. It was also confirmed that he was responsible for an estimated 20 patentable innovations related to rocketry, as well as receiving U.S. patents after the war concerning the advancement of rocketry. Documented accounts also stated he provided solutions to a host of aerospace engineering problems in the 1950s and 1960s.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: On 22 December 1942, Adolf Hitler ordered the production of the A-4 as a "vengeance weapon", and the Peenemünde group developed it to target London. Following von Braun's 7 July 1943 presentation of a color movie showing an A-4 taking off, Hitler was so enthusiastic that he personally made von Braun a professor shortly thereafter.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: By that time, the British and Soviet intelligence agencies were aware of the rocket program and von Braun's team at Peenemünde, based on the intelligence provided by the Polish underground Home Army. Over the nights of 17–18 August 1943, RAF Bomber Command's Operation Hydra dispatched raids on the Peenemünde camp consisting of 596 aircraft, and dropped 1,800 tons of explosives. The facility was salvaged and most of the engineering team remained unharmed; however, the raids killed von Braun's engine designer Walter Thiel and Chief Engineer Walther, and the rocket program was delayed.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: The first combat A-4, renamed the V-2 ("Vergeltungswaffe 2" "Retaliation/Vengeance Weapon 2") for propaganda purposes, was launched toward England on 7 September 1944, only 21 months after the project had been officially commissioned.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: During 1936, von Braun's rocketry team working at Kummersdorf investigated installing liquid-fuelled rockets in aircraft. Ernst Heinkel enthusiastically supported their efforts, supplying a He-72 and later two He-112s for the experiments. Later in 1936, Erich Warsitz was seconded by the RLM to von Braun and Heinkel, because he had been recognized as one of the most experienced test pilots of the time, and because he also had an extraordinary fund of technical knowledge. After he familiarized Warsitz with a test-stand run, showing him the corresponding apparatus in the aircraft, he asked: "Are you with us and will you test the rocket in the air? Then, Warsitz, you will be a famous man. And later we will fly to the Moon – with you at the helm!"


title: Wernher von Braun

text: In June 1937, at Neuhardenberg (a large field about east of Berlin, listed as a reserve airfield in the event of war), one of these latter aircraft was flown with its piston engine shut down during flight by Warsitz, at which time it was propelled by von Braun's rocket power alone. Despite a wheels-up landing and the fuselage having been on fire, it proved to official circles that an aircraft could be flown satisfactorily with a back-thrust system through the rear.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: At the same time, Hellmuth Walter's experiments into hydrogen peroxide based rockets were leading towards light and simple rockets that appeared well-suited for aircraft installation. Also the firm of Hellmuth Walter at Kiel had been commissioned by the RLM to build a rocket engine for the He-112, so there were two different new rocket motor designs at Neuhardenberg: whereas von Braun's engines were powered by alcohol and liquid oxygen, Walter engines had hydrogen peroxide and calcium permanganate as a catalyst. Von Braun's engines used direct combustion and created fire, the Walter devices used hot vapors from a chemical reaction, but both created thrust and provided high speed. The subsequent flights with the He-112 used the Walter-rocket instead of von Braun's; it was more reliable, simpler to operate, and safer for the test pilot, Warsitz.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: SS General Hans Kammler, who as an engineer had constructed several concentration camps, including Auschwitz, had a reputation for brutality and had originated the idea of using concentration camp prisoners as slave laborers in the rocket program. Arthur Rudolph, chief engineer of the V-2 rocket factory at Peenemünde, endorsed this idea in April 1943 when a labor shortage developed. More people died building the V-2 rockets than were killed by it as a weapon. Von Braun admitted visiting the plant at Mittelwerk on many occasions, and called conditions at the plant "repulsive", but claimed never to have personally witnessed any deaths or beatings, although it had become clear to him by 1944 that deaths had occurred. He denied ever having visited the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp itself, where 20,000 died from illness, beatings, hangings, and intolerable working conditions.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Some prisoners claim von Braun engaged in brutal treatment or approved of it. Guy Morand, a French resistance fighter who was a prisoner in Dora, testified in 1995 that, after an apparent sabotage attempt, von Braun ordered a prisoner to be flogged, while Robert Cazabonne, another French prisoner, claimed von Braun stood by as prisoners were hanged by chains suspended by cranes. However, these accounts may have been a case of mistaken identity. Former Buchenwald inmate Adam Cabala claims that von Braun went to the concentration camp to pick slave laborers:


title: Wernher von Braun

text: ... also the German scientists led by Prof. Wernher von Braun were aware of everything daily. As they went along the corridors, they saw the exhaustion of the inmates, their arduous work and their pain. Not one single time did Prof. Wernher von Braun protest against this cruelty during his frequent stays at Dora. Even the aspect of corpses did not touch him: On a small area near the ambulance shed, inmates tortured to death by slave labor and the terror of the overseers were piling up daily. But, Prof. Wernher von Braun passed them so close that he was almost touching the corpses.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Von Braun later claimed that he was aware of the treatment of prisoners, but felt helpless to change the situation.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: According to André Sellier, a French historian and survivor of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp, Heinrich Himmler had von Braun come to his Feldkommandostelle Hochwald HQ in East Prussia in February 1944. To increase his power-base within the Nazi regime, Himmler was conspiring to use Kammler to gain control of all German armament programs, including the V-2 program at Peenemünde. He therefore recommended that von Braun work more closely with Kammler to solve the problems of the V-2. Von Braun claimed to have replied that the problems were merely technical and he was confident that they would be solved with Dornberger's assistance.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Von Braun had been under SD surveillance since October 1943. A secret report stated that he and his colleagues Klaus Riedel and Helmut Gröttrup were said to have expressed regret at an engineer's house one evening in early March 1944 that they were not working on a spaceship and that they felt the war was not going well; this was considered a "defeatist" attitude. A young female dentist who was an SS spy reported their comments. Combined with Himmler's false charges that von Braun and his colleagues were communist sympathizers and had attempted to sabotage the V-2 program, and considering that von Braun regularly piloted his government-provided airplane that might allow him to escape to Britain, this led to their arrest by the Gestapo.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: The unsuspecting von Braun was detained on 14 March (or 15 March), 1944, and was taken to a Gestapo cell in Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland). where he was held for two weeks without knowing the charges against him.


title: Wernher von Braun

text: Through Major Hans Georg Klamroth, in charge of the Abwehr for Peenemünde, Dornberger obtained von Braun's conditional release and Albert Speer, Reichsminister for Munitions and War Production, persuaded Hitler to reinstate von Braun so that the V-2 program could continue or turn into a "V-4 program" (the Rheinbote as a short range ballistic rocket) which in their view would be impossible without von Braun's leadership. In his memoirs, Speer states Hitler had finally conceded that von Braun was to be "protected from all prosecution as long as he is indispensable, difficult though the general consequences arising from the situation."