title: Square Enix

text: Luminous Engine was originally intended for eighth-generation consoles and unveiled at E3 2012 through a tech demo titled "Agni's Philosophy". The first major console title to be developed with Luminous Engine was "Final Fantasy XV"; the engine's development was done in tandem with the game, and the game's development helped the programming team optimize the engine.


title: Square Enix

text: In addition to Luminous Engine and custom engines made for individual games and platforms before and since Square Enix often uses other companies' engines and programming languages for their video game properties. Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 was used for games such as "The Last Remnant", and more recently, Unreal Engine 4 has been used for projects including "Dragon Quest XI", "Kingdom Hearts III" and the most recent "Final Fantasy VII Remake". Unity has also been used internally for titles including "I Am Setsuna", "Lost Sphear" and "". The Squirrel language had also been used for the WiiWare title "".


title: Square Enix

text: Before the merger, Enix published its first online game "Cross Gate" in Japan, mainland China, and Taiwan in 2001, and Square released "Final Fantasy XI" in Japan in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 and later the personal computer. With the huge success of "Final Fantasy XI", the game was ported to the Xbox 360 two years later and was the first MMORPG on the console. All versions of the game used PlayOnline, a cross-platform internet gaming platform and internet service developed by Square Enix. The platform was used as the online service for many games Square Enix developed and published throughout the decade. Due to the success of their MMORPG, Square Enix began a new project called "". GamePot, a Japanese game portal, received the license to publish "Fantasy Earth" in Japan, and it was released in Japan as "Fantasy Earth ZERO." In 2006, however, Square Enix dropped the "Fantasy Earth Zero" project and sold it to GamePot. Square Enix released "Concerto Gate", the sequel to "Cross Gate", in 2007.


title: Square Enix

text: A next-gen MMORPG code named "Rapture" was developed by the "Final Fantasy XI" team using the company's Crystal Tools engine. It was unveiled at E3 2009 as "Final Fantasy XIV" for PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows and would be released on September 30, 2010. "" was announced in September 2011 as an MMORPG being developed for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U consoles, which released on August 2, 2012, and March 30, 2013, respectively. Like "XIV", it used Crystal Tools.


title: Square Enix

text: Square Enix also made browser games and Facebook games, like "Legend World", "Chocobo's Crystal Tower" and "Knights of the Crystals", and online games for Yahoo! Japan, such as "Monster x Dragon", "Sengoku Ixa", "Bravely Default: Praying Brage", "Star Galaxy", and "Crystal Conquest".


title: Square Enix

text: In 2013, Dragon Quest X was brought to iOS and Android in Japan using NTT DoCoMo as the release platform and Ubitus for the streaming technology. In 2014, it was also brought to 3DS in Japan using Ubitus.


title: Square Enix

text: On May 8, 2012, Square Enix announced a collaboration with Bigpoint Games to create a free-to-play Cloud gaming platform that "throws players into 'limitless game worlds' directly through their web browser". The service was launched under the name "CoreOnline" in August 2012. Stating "limited commercial take-up", the service was cancelled on November 29, 2013.


title: Square Enix

text: In September 2014, a cloud gaming company called Shinra Technologies (previously Project Flare) was created; however, it was closed in January 2016. On October 9, 2014, Square Enix launched another online game service in Japan called "Dive In", which allowed players to stream console games to their iOS or Android devices. The service was monetized by the amount of time the players spent playing, with each game offered for free for thirty minutes. The service was cancelled on September 13, 2015. Some Square Enix games are available in Japan on the G-cluster streaming service.


title: Square Enix

text: With the merger of Taito businesses into Square Enix, the company gained possession of Taito's arcade infrastructure and facilities and entered the arcade market in 2005. In 2010 Taito revealed NESiCAxLive, a cloud-based system of storing games and changing them through the internet instead of acquiring physical copies. This system was added to its many arcade gaming locations. The company continues to cater to the arcade audience in Japan with arcade-only titles, with game producers in 2015 stating that Square Enix has a loyal fan base that values the arcade gaming experience. In November 2019, Square Enix announced a "Ninja Tower Tokyo" theme park by its newly established "Live Interactive Works" division.


title: Square Enix

text: The company has made three forays into the film industry. The first, "" (2001), was produced by Square subsidiary Square Pictures before the Enix merger; Square Pictures is now a consolidated subsidiary of Square Enix. Its box-office failure caused Enix to delay the merger, which was already under consideration before the creation of the film until Square became profitable once again. In 2005, Square Enix released "Final Fantasy VII Advent Children", a CGI-animation film based on the PlayStation game "Final Fantasy VII", set two years after the events of the game. A "Deus Ex" film was in pre-production in 2012 and, as of 2014, was undergoing rewrites. In 2016 Square Enix revealed a film called "" based in the world of "Final Fantasy XV" and a new web series released on YouTube and Crunchyroll entitled "".


title: Square Enix

text: The company has a manga publishing division in Japan (originally from Enix) called Gangan Comics, which publishes content for the Japanese market only. In 2010, however, Square Enix launched a digital manga store for North American audiences via its Members services, which contains several notable series published in Gangan anthologies. Titles published by Gangan Comics include "Fullmetal Alchemist", "Soul Eater", and many others. Other titles include manga adaptations of various Square Enix games, like "Dragon Quest", "Kingdom Hearts" and "Star Ocean". Some of these titles have also been adapted into anime series. "Fullmetal Alchemist" is the most successful title of Square Enix's manga branch, with more than 64 million volumes sold worldwide. It is licensed in North America by Viz Media, while its two anime adaptations were licensed by Funimation (now known as Crunchyroll) in North America. Starting in Q4 2019, Square Enix began publishing some of its manga series in English.


title: Square Enix

text: Square Enix has created merchandise for virtually all of their video game franchises, many items are available only in Japan. Starting in 2000, Square Enix's former online gaming portal PlayOnline sold merchandise from game franchises including "Parasite Eve", "Vagrant Story", "Chocobo Racing", "Front Mission", "Chrono Cross", and "Final Fantasy". Mascots from game franchises are a popular focus for merchandise, such as the Chocobo from "Final Fantasy", which has been seen as a rubber duck, a plush baby Chocobo, and on coffee mugs. Square Enix also designed a Chocobo character costume for the release of "". The Slime character from "Dragon Quest" has also been frequently used in Square Enix merchandise, especially in Japan. On the Japanese Square Enix shopping website, there is also a Slime-focused section called "Smile Slime". Slime merchandise includes plush toys, pencil cases, keychains, game controllers, a stylus, and several board games, including one titled "Dragon Quest Slime Racing". In Japan, pork-filled steam buns shaped like slimes have been sold in 2010. For "Dragon Quest's" 25th anniversary, special items were sold, including business cards, tote bags, and crystal figurines. Rabites from the "Mana" series have appeared in several pieces of Square Enix merchandise, including plush dolls, cushions, lighters, mousepads, straps, telephone cards, and T-shirts. Square Enix has also made merchandise for third party series, including figures "Mass Effect" and "Halo" in 2012. Beginning in 2012, it has shops called "Square Enix Cafe" in Tokyo, Osaka and Shanghai, which display and sell merchandise, as well as serve café food.


title: Alexis Arquette

text: Arquette was born in Los Angeles, the fourth of five children of Lewis Arquette, an actor and director, and Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Nowak), a Jewish actress, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher, and therapist. Lewis's family's surname was originally "Arcouet"; Lewis's father was comedian Cliff Arquette, who went by the stage name of Charley Weaver. Arquette was distantly related to American explorer Meriwether Lewis. Actors Rosanna, Richmond, Patricia, and David Arquette are her siblings.


title: Alexis Arquette

text: In 1982, at the age of 12, Arquette's first acting gig was as "this little kid who's on a ride with all these women and whatnot" in the music video "She's a Beauty" by The Tubes. In 1986, Arquette made her big screen debut in an uncredited role as Alexis, the androgynous friend and bandmate of sexually ambivalent teenager Max Whiteman (Evan Richards) in "Down and Out in Beverly Hills".


title: Alexis Arquette

text: Arquette, in the earlier years of her career, primarily performed as a female impersonator, frequently under the name "Eva Destruction". Later in her career, Arquette made public that she had begun the process leading to sex reassignment surgery. To this end, Arquette had publicly declared that she considered her gender to be female.


title: Alexis Arquette

text: At 19, Arquette played trans sex worker Georgette in the screen adaptation of "Last Exit to Brooklyn". The majority of Arquette's film work was in low-budget or independent films. In total, Arquette starred in more than 40 movies, including "I Think I Do," "", and "Sometimes They Come Back... Again". Arquette also starred as a crack addict opposite Tim Roth in "Jumpin' at the Boneyard", as a teenage boy seeking revenge for a horrible childhood in the New Zealand-shot horror fantasy "Jack Be Nimble", and as a murderous drag queen in the low budget comedy "Killer Drag Queens on Dope".


title: Alexis Arquette

text: Arquette also had supporting roles in "Pulp Fiction", "Threesome" and "Bride of Chucky," and she played a Boy George fanatic, George Stitzer, in the Adam Sandler–Drew Barrymore film "The Wedding Singer", singing "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" over and over. Her role as Georgina, a Boy George impersonator, in another Sandler–Barrymore film, "Blended", was a reference to that role. In 2001, Arquette returned to New Zealand to play Roman emperor Caligula in two episodes of "". That same year, Arquette guest starred in the "Friends" episode "The One with Chandler's Dad", in which she directly interacted with her sister-in-law, Courteney Cox. Also in the same year, she cameoed in "Son of the Beach".


title: Alexis Arquette

text: In September 2005, VH1 announced Arquette as one of the celebrity house-guests on the 6th season of "The Surreal Life". On January 31, 2007, Arquette was a featured celebrity client and guest judge on the première episode of Bravo's reality show "Top Design". Arquette also made a cameo appearance in the music video for Robbie Williams' song "She's Madonna".


title: Alexis Arquette

text: In 2004, Arquette expressed an interest in undergoing gender-transitioning medical treatment. She decided against undergoing hormone therapy, and kept her choice of whether she underwent gender-affirming surgery private from the media by the time she completed her transition in 2006. Her experience was documented in the film "Alexis Arquette: She's My Brother", which debuted at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Arquette was a vocal supporter of other transgender people, including Chaz Bono, who transitioned shortly after Arquette.


title: Alexis Arquette

text: Arquette contracted HIV in 1987. In later life, Arquette suffered from ill health as a result of being HIV-positive. Amid these increasing complications, Alexis began presenting again as a man in 2013. Brother David Arquette said that Alexis was "gender suspicious", and alternately felt like a man or a woman at different times.


title: Alexis Arquette

text: Arquette was placed in a medically induced coma and died on September 11, 2016, surrounded by close family, at the age of 47. Arquette was serenaded with David Bowie's "Starman". The official cause of death was cardiac arrest caused by myocarditis stemming from HIV.


title: Sobhita Dhulipala

text: Sobhita Dhulipala (born 31 May 1992) is an Indian actress and model who works primarily in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam films. She won the Femina Miss India Earth 2013 title at Femina Miss India 2013 pageant and represented India at Miss Earth 2013. Dhulipala made her acting debut in Anurag Kashyap's thriller film "Raman Raghav 2.0" (2016) and she went on to star in the Telugu films "Goodachari" (2018) and "Major" (2022), and the Malayalam film "Kurup" (2021). She has also starred in the Amazon Prime Video drama series "Made in Heaven" (2019).


title: Sobhita Dhulipala

text: Sobhitha Dhulipala was born on 31 May 1992, in Tenali, Andhra Pradesh, India into a Telugu speaking family to Merchant Navy engineer Venugopal Rao and primary school teacher Santha Kamakshi. She grew up in Visakhapatnam as a studious child who only cared for “being well-read, good in studies, school captain”. Desiring broader horizons beyond her home city, she moved to Mumbai alone at the age of sixteen and later attended H.R. College of Commerce and Economics in University of Mumbai. She is also a trained classical dancer in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. Dhulipala participated in the Navy Queen Ball pageant in 2010.


title: Sobhita Dhulipala

text: A college friend of Dhulipala's was interning at the Miss Office and suggested she audition for the upcoming pageant. Describing herself as an “uncool geek” and stating she wished for validation, Dhulipala entered with the intentions of only clearing the first round to prove to her friends she could. Upon passing the auditions, she decided to continue with the rounds. After winning Femina Miss India South 2013 title, a zonal pageant of Femina Miss India, Dhulipala attained an auto-entry into the top 23 of the 50th year of Femina Miss India and became the first runner-up. She was also awarded Miss Stylish Hair, Miss Adventurous and Miss Fashion Icon, Miss Talent, Miss digital Diva. Subsequently, she represented India in Miss Earth 2013 in the Philippines, but could not finish in the top 20, instead landing sub-titles of Miss Photogenic, Miss Beauty for a cause, Miss Talent and Miss Beautiful face. She also featured in Kingfisher Calendar 2014.


title: Sobhita Dhulipala

text: Dhulipala made her film debut with Anurag Kashyap's "Raman Raghav 2.0" in 2016. and also signed a three-film deal with Kashyap's production company Phantom Films in July 2016. The film premiered at the Director's Fortnight at Cannes Film festival 2016, where she was nominated by critics for best supporting performance. In early August 2016, she signed two films, "Kaalakaandi" directed by Akshat Verma and "Chef" directed by Raja Menon, both starring opposite Saif Ali Khan.


title: Sobhita Dhulipala

text: In 2018, Dhulipala appeared in her first Telugu film "Goodachari" starring Adivi Sesh. She also starred as one of the leads in the Amazon Prime original series Made In Heaven. In 2019, she appeared in a pivotal role in "Bard of Blood", an Indian fictional spy thriller Netflix web television series based on the 2015 espionage novel of the same name as an intelligence agency operative. Dhulipala made her debut in Malayalam cinema with the 2019 Geetu Mohandas directorial-feature "Moothon" alongside Nivin Pauly. She featured in the Dulquer Salmaan starrer "Kurup". Dhulipala also began shooting for "" in December 2019 with the director Mani Ratnam which was scheduled to be released worldwide on 30 September 2022.


title: Sobhita Dhulipala

text: In January 2021, Dhulipala began filming for the Sashi Kiran Tikka directed Hindi-Telugu biographical "Major", starring Adivi Sesh in the titular role.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football. Jackson's elite achievements in multiple sports have given him the reputation as one of the greatest athletes of all time.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson played college football as a running back for the Auburn Tigers, and won the Heisman Trophy in 1985. He played in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Raiders and in Major League Baseball for the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and California Angels. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996.


title: Bo Jackson

text: In 1989 and 1990, Jackson's name became known beyond just sports through the "Bo Knows" advertising campaign, a series of advertisements by Nike, starring Jackson alongside musician Bo Diddley, promoting a cross-training athletic shoe named for Jackson.


title: Bo Jackson

text: A 1991 hip injury on the field ended his football career, and his baseball career ended in 1994. Jackson expanded into other pursuits, including the completion of his Bachelor of Science degree in Family and Child Development at Auburn. Jackson still holds the record for most runs for 90+ yards from scrimmage with two. In addition, Jackson appeared in small roles as an actor in television shows such as "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Married... with Children", as well as films such as "The Chamber".


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson, the eighth of ten children, was born on November 30, 1962, and raised in Bessemer, Alabama. He was named after Vince Edwards, his mother's favorite actor. His family described him as a "wild boar hog," as he would constantly get into trouble.


title: Bo Jackson

text: He attended school in McCalla, where he rushed for 1,175 yards as a running back as a high school senior. Jackson hit 20 home runs in 25 games for McCalla's baseball team during his senior season. He was a two-time state champion in the decathlon. Both times that he was the decathlon state champion, he built up such a commanding points lead before the 1500 meters that he never competed in that event. "Distance is the only thing I hate about track," he said. In 1982, Jackson set state school records for indoor high jump () and triple jump ().


title: Bo Jackson

text: In June 1982, Jackson was selected by the New York Yankees in the second round of the 1982 Major League Baseball draft, but he instead chose to attend Auburn University on a football scholarship because he promised his mother he would be the first in the family to go to a major college. He was recruited by head coach Pat Dye and then Auburn assistant coach Bobby Wallace alongside defensive head coach Dominic Sauer. At Auburn, he proved to be a tremendous athlete in both baseball and football. He shared the backfield with quarterback Randy Campbell, Lionel "Little Train" James and Tommie Agee.


title: Bo Jackson

text: During his time playing for the Auburn Tigers football team, he ran for 4,303 career yards, which was the fourth best performance in Southeastern Conference (SEC) history. Jackson finished his career with an average of 6.6 yards per carry, which set the SEC record (minimum 400 rushes).


title: Bo Jackson

text: In 1982, Jackson's freshman year, Auburn played Boston College in the Tangerine Bowl, where Jackson made a one-handed grab on an option pitch. Auburn went on to win the game 33–26 as Jackson rushed 14 times for 64 yards and 2 touchdowns.


title: Bo Jackson

text: In 1983, as a sophomore, Jackson rushed for 1,213 yards on 158 carries, for an average of 7.7 yards per carry, which was the second-best single-season average in SEC history (minimum 100 rushes). In the 1983 Auburn-Alabama game, Jackson rushed for 256 yards on 20 rushes (12.8 yards per carry), which at the time was the sixth-most rushing yards gained in a game in SEC history and the 2nd best yard-per-rush average in a game (minimum 20 attempts) in SEC history. Auburn finished the season by winning the Sugar Bowl against Michigan, where Jackson was named Most Valuable Player. In 1984, Jackson's junior year (most of which Jackson missed due to injury), he earned Most Valuable Player honors at the Liberty Bowl after defeating Arkansas.


title: Bo Jackson

text: In 1985, Jackson rushed for 1,786 yards which was the second-best single-season performance in SEC history. For his performance in 1985, Jackson was awarded the Heisman Trophy in what was considered the closest margin of victory ever in the history of the award, winning over University of Iowa quarterback Chuck Long. In 1986, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson finished his career at Auburn with 4,575 all-purpose yards and 45 total touchdowns, 43 rushing and 2 receiving, with a 6.6 yards per carry average. Jackson's football number 34 was officially retired at Auburn in a halftime ceremony on October 31, 1992. His is one of only three numbers retired at Auburn. The others are 1971 Heisman Trophy winner Pat Sullivan's number 7, and the number 88 of Sullivan's teammate and favorite receiver, Terry Beasley. In 2007, Jackson was ranked #8 on ESPN's Top 25 Players In College Football History list.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson missed much of his senior season after being ruled ineligible by the NCAA following a visit with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who he believes tried to sabotage his baseball career.


title: Bo Jackson

text: In an April 1985 report, a major league scout stated that Jackson's only weakness was a lack of baseball experience. The scout said that he could be one of the all-time greats barring any injuries. He had a minor shoulder injury in the beginning of his collegiate football career, which didn't cause him issues in the long term. The scout also noted that this was his first year playing baseball and he seemed to be a "do it all type of player" and also stated he was "the best pure athlete in America today". At the time, Jackson was 22 years old, and trying to make an even bigger name for himself than he already had in his football career. In this scouting report, Jackson's worth to an MLB team was listed at only $200,000, much less than what he would end up taking home later on in his short-lived careers.


title: Bo Jackson

text: On November 27, 1982, Jackson and the Auburn Tigers found themselves embattled with their heated in-state rival, Alabama (7–3), in the Iron Bowl in Birmingham, Alabama. Auburn held a 14–13 halftime lead when Alabama running back Paul Ott Carruth scored on an eight-yard touchdown run—and then the Crimson Tide added a field goal to make it a 22–14 Alabama lead going into the 4th quarter. Auburn responded as Al Del Greco made a 23-yard field goal to make it a 22–17 score in the 4th quarter. From Auburn's own 34-yard line, Bo Jackson and company began a long drive as he converted on a 4th-and-1 at the Alabama 42. Jackson, who ran 17 times for 114 yards during this Iron Bowl, continued marching his team downfield as he caught an 8-yard pass from quarterback Randy Campbell down to the Alabama 1-yard line. During the huddle, Bo convinced Coach Dye to let him go over the top of offensive and defensive lines because he was a seven-foot high jumper in high school and the other team wouldn't be expecting it. On fourth down with 2:26 left in the game, Jackson completed the drive by going over the top for a one-yard touchdown run as Auburn (finished 9–3 in 1982) pulled off a 23–22 victory over Alabama and coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.


title: Bo Jackson

text: While at McAdory High School, Jackson competed as a sprinter, hurdler, jumper, thrower and decathlete. His best 100-meter time in high school was 10.44 seconds, but he would later run a 10.39 at Auburn. He also ran the 100-yard dash in 9.54 seconds. As a hurdler, he recorded times of 7.29 seconds in the 55m hurdles and 13.81 seconds in the 110m hurdles. In decathlon, he reached 8340 points. In the jumping events, he had personal-best jumps of in the high jump, in the long jump and in the triple jump. As a thrower, he got top-throws of in the shot put and in the discus throw.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson qualified for the NCAA nationals in the 100-meter dash in his freshman and sophomore years. He considered a career in track and field, but sprinting would not gain him the financial security of MLB or the NFL, nor would he have sufficient time to train, given his other commitments. When asked if he ran a 4.12 40-yard dash at the 1986 NFL Scouting Combine, the fastest time ever recorded in NFL Combine history and a time that has been rumored from several sources, Jackson claimed some of the coaches hand-timed him at 3.9 and 4.0, but that he actually ran a 4.13 electronic-timed 40-yard dash at a pro day at Auburn University. He also stated he did not attend the 1986 Scouting Combine: "I did not go because I was already picked to be the first person to go in the draft," Jackson said. "If you're going to be the first person to go in the draft, why should you go to a combine and do all of that?"


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson was selected with the first overall pick of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he refused to play for them because a visit to team facilities the Buccaneers said was NCAA-approved was actually not, causing him to miss the remainder of his final college baseball season. Jackson believes that the failure to obtain NCAA approval was deliberate and was intended by the Buccaneers to get him to play football instead of baseball. He vowed not to sign with Tampa Bay should they draft him, but they proceeded anyway. He kept his vow and opted to play baseball for the Kansas City Royals, the defending World Series champions, who had drafted him in the fourth round, 105th overall, in the 1986 amateur draft. Shortly after the draft, Jackson signed a 3-year contract with the Kansas City Royals worth just over $1 million. He spent 53 games with the Memphis Chicks, the Royals' Class AA minor league affiliate, and was called up to the majors in September 1986. He made the Royals' roster in 1987 and hit 22 home runs, with 53 RBIs and 10 stolen bases as a left fielder.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson began to show his true potential in 1989, when he was voted to start for the American League All-Star team, and was named the game's MVP for his play on both offense and defense. In the top of the first inning, he caught Pedro Guerrero's two-out line drive to left-center field to save two runs. Then he led off the bottom of the first—his first All-Star plate appearance—with a monstrous home run against Rick Reuschel of the San Francisco Giants. NBC-TV announcer Vin Scully exclaimed, "Look at that one! Bo Jackson says hello!" Wade Boggs followed with his own home run, making them the first pair in All-Star history to lead off the first inning with back-to-back home runs. In the second inning, he beat the throw on a potential double play to drive in the eventual winning run. He then stole second base, making him the second player in All-Star Game history to hit a home run and steal a base in the same game (the first was Willie Mays). Jackson finished the game with two hits in four at-bats, one run scored, and two RBI.


title: Bo Jackson

text: On July 29, 1988, against the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson, batting against Jeff Ballard, attempted to call time out as Ballard was delivering the ball. The time-out wasn't granted, but Jackson recovered to swing and hit the pitch over the left-field wall for a home run despite taking one hand off the bat at the beginning of the at bat.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson's 171 strikeouts in 1989 tied him for 10th most strikeouts in a season for a right-handed batter since 1893. On July 11, 1990, against the Orioles, Jackson performed his famous "wall run", when he caught a ball six strides away from the wall. As he caught the ball at full tilt, Jackson looked up and ran three steps along the wall, to avoid impact and the risk of injury from the fence.


title: Bo Jackson

text: During the 1990 season, Jackson hit HRs in four consecutive at-bats tying a Major League record (held by several). His fourth came off of Randy Johnson after hitting his first three before a stint on the disabled list. Unwilling to pay his $2.375 million salary in 1991 to rehabilitate his football injury, the Royals released Jackson on March 18, 1991.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Only 16 days after Jackson was released by the Royals, the Chicago White Sox offered him a three-year deal, guaranteeing $700,000 per season with a performance-based upside of $8.15 million over the term. White Sox co-owner Jerry Reinsdorf stated they did not anticipate him to play all seasons while he addressed his hip issues and avascular necrosis. Jackson played two seasons appearing in 23 games in 1991 and 85 games in 1993. He appeared on White Sox' disabled roster during the 1992 season due to completing hip replacement surgery earlier that year. It was with the White Sox that he made his only post-season appearance, in the 1993 American League Championship Series, which Chicago lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games.


title: Bo Jackson

text: While with the White Sox, Jackson promised his mother that once he returned from his hip replacement surgery in 1993, he would hit a home run for her. Before he could return, his mother died. In his first at-bat after surgery, he hit a home run to right field. Jackson recovered the ball by trading an autographed bat for it, and stated he planned to have it bronzed and placed on her dresser.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson finished his career in 1994 with the California Angels. That season was cut short by the 1994–95 baseball strike, and Jackson decided to retire at age 32. "I got to know my family," he said, "That looks better to me than any $10 million contract."


title: Bo Jackson

text: In his eight baseball seasons, Jackson had a career batting average of .250, hit 141 home runs and had 415 RBIs, with a slugging average of .474. His best year was 1989, with his effort earning him All-Star status. In 1989, Jackson ranked fourth in the American League in both home runs, with 32, and RBI, with 105.


title: Bo Jackson

text: During his junior and senior years at Auburn, Jackson had apparently transitioned his focus to baseball and became increasingly vocal about his unwillingness to play in the NFL.


title: Bo Jackson

text: A month before the 1986 NFL Draft, Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Hugh Culverhouse took him on a private jet to visit with the team and get a physical during his senior baseball season. Jackson was told by the Buccaneers that the trip had been cleared by the NCAA and SEC. In truth, it had not, and since the SEC barred athletes from being professional in one sport and amateur in another, he was declared ineligible near the tail end of his senior baseball season. Years later, Jackson told ESPN that he has long believed the Buccaneers sabotaged his collegiate baseball career "because of the season I was having." He was so angry at the Buccaneers' actions that he vowed never to play a down for them, going as far as to tell Culverhouse, "You draft me if you want. You're going to waste a draft pick. I can promise you that."


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson's collegiate baseball coach, Hal Baird, told the "Tampa Bay Times" that no one from either camp ever mentioned the trip to him, and feared the worst when Jackson told him that the trip had been paid for. Baird maintained that had he known about the trip, he would have told Jackson about the SEC rule that barred him from playing professional football while being an amateur in baseball. Along similar lines, Dye told the "Times" that once Jackson concluded that the Tampa Bay trip was "a tactical move," it ended any chance of him ever playing for the Buccaneers.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Despite this, the Buccaneers selected Jackson with the first overall pick in the 1986 draft. Jackson turned down the Buccaneers' $7.6 million, five-year contract in favor of a $1.07 million, three-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, and the Buccaneers forfeited his rights before the 1987 draft. Choosing to sleep in rather than attend the 1987 NFL Draft, Jackson found out that he was selected in the seventh round of the draft with the 183rd pick by the Los Angeles Raiders. Initially, Jackson stated he would continue to focus on baseball and would not sign, but his interest was piqued when he learned Raiders owner Al Davis was a fan of Jackson and was receptive to the idea of Jackson playing both baseball and football. A five-year $7.4 million contract was negotiated where Jackson would be permitted to play the entire baseball season with the Royals and would report to the Raiders once the MLB season was finished even if it meant missing NFL games. In addition to this, Davis gave Jackson the highest salary of any non-quarterback player in NFL history, and Jackson would be receiving a reported $500,000 signing bonus plus another $500,000 if he returned the following year in 1988.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson joined the Raiders in time for their Week 8 matchup against the New England Patriots, where he rushed for a total of 37 yards on eight carries. Jackson shared the backfield with Marcus Allen, himself an All-Pro and former Heisman Trophy winner, but eventually supplanted him as the featured running back despite being listed as the team's fullback. Perhaps his most notable performance in his rookie season came on "Monday Night Football" against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 12. Prior to the game Seahawks linebacker Brian Bosworth insulted Jackson and promised in a media event before the game to contain Jackson. Jackson responded by running over Bosworth on his way to a touchdown near the goal line. He also made a 91-yard run in the 2nd quarter, to the outside, untouched down the sideline. Jackson rushed for 221 yards that night and two touchdowns. He added a third with a reception. The 221 yards was a single-game record for the Raiders at the time.


title: Bo Jackson

text: In his rookie season, Jackson rushed for a total of 554 yards on only 81 carries for a 6.8 yards per carry average. He played in seven games, starting five, and scored a total of six touchdowns (four rushing, two receiving). The next year, Jackson played in ten of the Raiders' sixteen games with nine starts, recording a total of 580 yards and three touchdowns.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson's 1989 season was his best in the league. In eleven games, with nine starts, Jackson rushed for a total of 950 yards with a 5.5 yards per carry average and four touchdowns. In his abbreviated 1990 campaign, Jackson rushed for 698 yards and was selected to the only Pro Bowl of his career.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson sustained an NFL career-ending hip injury from a seemingly routine tackle at the end of a 34-yard run in a playoff game on January 13, 1991, against the Bengals.


title: Bo Jackson

text: In his four seasons in the NFL, Jackson rushed for 2,782 yards and 16 touchdowns with an average yards per carry of 5.4. He also caught 40 passes for 352 yards and two touchdowns. Jackson's 221 yards on November 30, 1987, just 29 days after his first NFL carry, is still a "Monday Night Football" record.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson's athletic career was affected by an injury to his left hip. In his last football game, the playoff victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in January 1991, Jackson suffered a dislocated hip following a tackle. In the film "You Don't Know Bo", Jackson claimed that when he realized his injury on the field, he popped his hip back into the socket, which damaged the blood vessels supplying blood to the hip. While doctors did not find proof that Jackson reset his hip, they did discover that there was a fracture of one of Jackson's hip bones, as well as traumatic chondrolysis (loss of the thin layer of cartilage that lines the ball-and-socket hip joint) and avascular necrosis (death of bone tissue) of the femoral head. He would be forced to retire from football, and was then cut by the Royals in spring training. Jackson would return to competition with the White Sox toward the end of the 1991 baseball season but did not play the 1992 season while having his hip replaced.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson became a popular figure for his athleticism in multiple sports through the late 1980s and early 1990s. He endorsed Nike and was involved in a popular ad campaign called "Bo Knows" which envisioned Jackson attempting to take up a litany of other sports, including tennis, golf, luge, auto racing, ice hockey, and playing blues music with Bo Diddley, who scolded Jackson by telling him, "You don't know Diddley!" This "Bo Knows" marketing campaign was for the release of the Nike Air Trainer I, a cross-training shoe, the first of its kind.


title: Bo Jackson

text: The CHIKARA professional wrestling tag team the Throwbacks (baseball player Dasher Hatfield and football player Mark "Mr. Touchdown" Angelosetti) had a finishing move called "Bo Jackson".


title: Bo Jackson

text: In 1992, the American hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest referenced Jackson in their song "Scenario."


title: Bo Jackson

text: Radio personality James Golden adopted the stage name "Bo Snerdley" in homage to Jackson. ("Snerdley" was a last name that Golden's employer, Rush Limbaugh, frequently used as a placeholder name.)


title: Bo Jackson

text: Called "the greatest athlete in video game history", Jackson's digital counterpart was nicknamed by fans "Tecmo Bo" since being featured in the 1991 video game "Tecmo Super Bowl" for the Nintendo Entertainment System, where he is all but untacklable. Players would make the popular move of running Bo all the way back to his own 1 yard line, then run 99 yards for a touchdown with defenders literally bouncing off him. Referencing his video game character, Jackson was featured in a 2016 advertisement for the Kia Sorento, with Jackson driving the car into a virtual stadium (a second ad features Brian Bosworth with Jackson referencing the infamous "Monday Night Football" touchdown run).


title: Bo Jackson

text: He has his own video game for the original Game Boy portable gaming system, "Bo Jackson's Hit and Run". The game featured both baseball and football. Released around the same time was "Bo Jackson Baseball" for the NES system and IBM-compatible computers. Jackson can be unlocked as a player in "ESPN NFL Football". Jackson made an appearance in the 2004 video game "NFL Street 2". Jackson also made his first appearance in the modern Madden series, "Madden 15" and "Madden 16". He later returned in Madden NFL 20 as part of the Madden Ultimate Team 10th Anniversary promo, before getting a community-made Golden Ticket card.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson was a character in "ProStars", an NBC Saturday morning cartoon show which also featured Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan fighting crime and helping children, although neither he, nor Gretzky, nor Jordan voiced their respective characters. He did however play the character of Calvin Farquhar, a sports radio jockey, on the TV show "Married...with Children".


title: Bo Jackson

text: He also appeared in an episode of the TV series "" in which he plays a basketball game with Clark Kent/Superman. He was also in the episode 'Naked Babies' (1995) on "Diagnosis Murder", playing a nanny to four babies who had just had their mother kidnapped.


title: Bo Jackson

text: In 1995, Jackson completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Family and Child Development at Auburn to fulfill the promise he made to his mother.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Through the 1990s, Jackson dabbled in acting, having made several television guest appearances first on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" in 1990 as well as "", "Moesha", and "Married... with Children". He later appeared in small roles in the films "The Chamber", "The Pandora Project" and "Fakin' Da Funk".


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson served as the President of the HealthSouth Sports Medicine Council, part of Birmingham, Alabama-based HealthSouth Corporation.


title: Bo Jackson

text: In 2007, Nike released a set of Nike Dunk shoes honoring Bo Jackson. The set featured three colorways based on previously released Nike shoes: the "Bo Knows" Trainer I, Trainer 91 and Medicine Ball Trainer III.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Working with his brand Promise Nutraceuticals, Jackson announced a line of CBD products called Hero Brand CBD in November 2021.


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson is married to Linda, a rehabilitation counselor, and has three children – sons Garrett and Nicholas, and a daughter, Morgan. Jackson and his family live in Burr Ridge, Illinois. In 2009, he joined the board of Burr Ridge Bank and Trust. In 2013, the bank was acquired by First Community Financial Bank, who retained Jackson as a board member. In 2017, First Community was acquired by Busey Bank, and Jackson left the board.


title: Bo Jackson

text: The Chicago White Sox chose Jackson to throw the ceremonial first pitch before Game Two of the 2005 World Series. The White Sox went on to win that game on a 9th-inning walk-off home run, then swept the Houston Astros for their first championship in 88 years.


title: Bo Jackson

text: In 2007, Jackson came together with John Cangelosi to form the Bo Jackson Elite Sports Complex, an multi-sport dome facility in Lockport, Illinois. He is part-owner and CEO of the facility. He has been successful with other investments, including a food company, N'Genuity. He often says that while he may have been great for sports, sports were no doubt greater for him considering the post-career opportunities that have been afforded him.


title: Bo Jackson

text: On May 9, 2009, Jackson delivered the commencement speech at Auburn University's graduation ceremony. His speech was centered on the benefits of stepping out of one's comfort zone.


title: Bo Jackson

text: On July 12, 2010, Jackson threw the ceremonial first pitch before the 2010 Home Run Derby at Angel Stadium and participated in the celebrity softball game.


title: Bo Jackson

text: In December 2010, he was named a 2011 winner of the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award, given annually to six former NCAA student-athletes for distinguished career accomplishment on the 25th anniversary of their college graduation.


title: Bo Jackson

text: In April 2012, Jackson participated in Bo Bikes Bama, a five-day, 300-mile gran fondo in support of victims of the tornado outbreak in Alabama. The five-day gran fondo was a one-time event and has become an annual maximum single-day gran fondo lasting approximately 62 miles.


title: Bo Jackson

text: On January 22, 2014, Jackson rejoined the Chicago White Sox as an ambassador for the team – joining the ranks of Frank Thomas, Minnie Miñoso, Carlton Fisk, Ron Kittle, Carlos May, and Bill Melton.


title: Bo Jackson

text: In a 2017 interview with "USA Today", Jackson said he never would have played football if he had known the health risks associated with it. "I wish I had known about all of those head injuries, but no one knew that. And the people that did know that, they wouldn't tell anybody," he said. "The game has gotten so violent, so rough. We're so much more educated on this CTE stuff (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), there's no way I would ever allow my kids to play football today."


title: Bo Jackson

text: Jackson is known to frequently refer to himself in the third person, a habit he has had since his childhood due to his severe stutter which made it difficult for him to say "I".


title: Bo Jackson

text: In an effort to help his native state of Alabama, Jackson began a fundraiser known as "Bo Bikes Bama". The event began after a series of tornadoes devastated Alabama on April 27, 2011. The tornadoes claimed hundreds of lives and left many Alabama residents without power. The bike tour lasted five days where Jackson visited towns that had been demolished by the series of tornadoes. Bo was accompanied on this tour by celebrities such as Scottie Pippen, Ken Griffey Jr., Lance Armstrong, and Brett Favre. Today, the "Bo Bikes Bama" campaign has raised over $1.1 million for the Alabama Governor's Emergency Relief Fund.


title: Bo Jackson

text: In 2022, he donated $170,000 to pay for the funeral expenses for the victims' families following the massacre of 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas.


title: West Africa

text: West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, as well as Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom Overseas Territory). The population of West Africa is estimated at about /1e6 round 0 million people as of , and at 381,981,000 as of 2017, of which 189,672,000 are female and 192,309,000 male. The region is demographically and economically one of the fastest growing on the African continent.


title: West Africa

text: Early history in West Africa included a number of prominent regional powers that dominated different parts of both the coastal and internal trade networks, such as the Mali and Gao Empires. West Africa sat at the intersection of trade routes between Arab-dominated North Africa and specialized goods from further south on the continent, including gold, advanced iron-working, and ivory. After European exploration encountered rich local economies and kingdoms, the European slave trade exploited already existing slave systems to provide labor for colonies in the Americas. After the end of the slave trade in the early 19th century, European nations, especially France and Britain, continued to exploit the region through colonial relationships. For example, they continued exporting a number of extractive goods, including labor-intensive agricultural crops like cocoa and coffee, forestry products like tropical timber, and mineral resources like gold. Since independence, many West African countries, like Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal, have played important roles in the regional and global economies.


title: West Africa

text: West Africa has a rich ecology, with strong biodiversity and several distinct regions. The area's climate and ecology are heavily influenced by the dry Sahara to the North and East, which provides dry winds during the Harmattan, as well as the Atlantic Ocean to the South and West, which provides seasonal monsoons. This mixture of climates gives West Africa a rich array of biomes, from biodiversity-rich tropical forests to drylands supporting rare and endangered fauna such as pangolins, rhinoceros, and elephants. Because of the pressure for economic development, many of these ecologies are threatened by processes like deforestation, biodiversity loss, overfishing, pollution from mining, plastics and other industries, and extreme changes resulting from climate change in West Africa.


title: West Africa

text: West Africa went from roughly 5% of gross domestic product in 2016 to over 10% of gross domestic product in 2019.


title: West Africa

text: The history of West Africa can be divided into five major periods: first, its prehistory, in which the first human settlers arrived, developed agriculture, and made contact with peoples to the north; the second, the Iron Age empires that consolidated both intra-Africa, and extra-Africa trade, and developed centralized states; third, major polities flourished, which would undergo an extensive history of contact with non-Africans; fourth, the colonial period, in which Great Britain and France controlled nearly the entire region; and fifth, the post-independence era, in which the current nations were formed.


title: West Africa

text: Acheulean tool-using archaic humans may have dwelled throughout West Africa since at least between 780,000 BP and 126,000 BP (Middle Pleistocene). During the Pleistocene, Middle Stone Age peoples (e.g., Iwo Eleru people, possibly Aterians), who dwelled throughout West Africa between MIS 4 and MIS 2, were gradually replaced by incoming Late Stone Age peoples, who migrated into West Africa as an increase in humid conditions resulted in the subsequent expansion of the West African forest. West African hunter-gatherers occupied western Central Africa (e.g., Shum Laka) earlier than 32,000 BP, dwelled throughout coastal West Africa by 12,000 BP, and migrated northward between 12,000 BP and 8000 BP as far as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Mauritania.


title: West Africa

text: During the Holocene, Niger-Congo speakers independently created pottery in Ounjougou, Mali – the earliest pottery in Africa – by at least 9400 BCE, and along with their pottery, as well as wielding bows and arrows, migrated into the Central Sahara, which became their primary region of residence by 10,000 BP. The emergence and expansion of ceramics in the Sahara may be linked with the origin of Round Head and Kel Essuf rock art, which occupy rockshelters in the same regions (e.g., Djado, Acacus, Tadrart). Hunters in the Central Sahara farmed, stored, and cooked untamed central Saharan flora as well as tamed and shepherded Barbary sheep. After the Kel Essuf Period and Round Head Period of the Central Sahara, the Pastoral Period followed. Some of the hunter-gatherers who created the Round Head rock art may have adopted pastoral culture, and others may have not. As a result of increasing aridification of the Green Sahara, Central Saharan hunter-gatherers and cattle herders may have used seasonal waterways as the migratory route taken to the Niger River and Chad Basin of West Africa. Migration of Saharan peoples south of the Sahelian region resulted in seasonal interaction with and gradual absorption of West African hunter-gatherers, who primarily dwelt in the savannas and forests of West Africa. After having persisted as late as 1000 BP, or some period of time after 1500 CE, remaining West African hunter-gatherers, many of whom dwelt in the forest-savanna region, were ultimately acculturated and admixed into the larger groups of West African agriculturalists, akin to the migratory Bantu agriculturalists and their encounters with Central African hunter-gatherers.


title: West Africa

text: The development of the region's economy allowed more centralized states and civilizations to form, beginning with Dhar Tichitt that began in 1600 B.C. followed by Djenné-Djenno beginning in 300 B.C. This was then succeeded by the Ghana Empire that first flourished between the 9th and 12th centuries, which later gave way to the Mali Empire. In current-day Mauritania, there exist archaeological sites in the towns of Tichit and Oualata that were initially constructed around 2000 B.C., and were found to have originated from the Soninke branch of the Mandé peoples. Also, based on the archaeology of the city of Kumbi Saleh in modern-day Mauritania, the Mali empire came to dominate much of the region until its defeat by Almoravid invaders in 1052.


title: West Africa

text: Three great kingdoms were identified in "Bilad al-Sudan" by the ninth century. They included Ghana, Gao and Kanem.


title: West Africa

text: The Sosso Empire sought to fill the void but was defeated (c. 1240) by the Mandinka forces of Sundiata Keita, founder of the new Mali Empire. The Mali Empire continued to flourish for several centuries, most particularly under Sundiata's grandnephew Musa I, before a succession of weak rulers led to its collapse under Mossi, Tuareg and Songhai invaders. In the 15th century, the Songhai would form a new dominant state based on Gao, in the Songhai Empire, under the leadership of Sonni Ali and Askia Mohammed.


title: West Africa

text: Meanwhile, south of the Sudan, strong city-states arose in Igboland, such as the 10th-century Kingdom of Nri, which helped birth the arts and customs of the Igbo people, Bono State in the 11th century, which gave birth to the numerous Akan States, while Ife rose to prominence around the 12th century. Further east, Oyo arose as the dominant Yoruba state and the Aro Confederacy as a dominant Igbo state in modern-day Nigeria.


title: West Africa

text: The Kingdom of Nri was a West African medieval state in present-day southeastern Nigeria and a subgroup of the Igbo people. The Kingdom of Nri was unusual in the history of world government in that its leader exercised no military power over his subjects. The kingdom existed as a sphere of religious and political influence over a third of Igboland and was administered by a priest-king called as an Eze Nri. The Eze Nri managed trade and diplomacy on behalf of the Nri people and possessed divine authority in religious matters.


title: West Africa

text: The Oyo Empire was a Yoruba empire of what is today Western,North central Nigeria and southern Republic of Benin. Established in the 14th century, the Oyo Empire grew to become one of the largest West African states. It rose through the outstanding organizational skills of the Yoruba, wealth gained from trade and its powerful cavalry. The Oyo Empire was the most politically important state in the region from the mid-17th to the late 18th century, holding sway not only over most of the other kingdoms in Yorubaland, but also over nearby African states, notably the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey in the modern Republic of Benin to the west.


title: West Africa

text: The Benin Empire was a post-classical empire located in what is now southern Nigeria. Its capital was Edo, now known as Benin City, Edo. It should not be confused with the modern-day country called Benin, formerly called Dahomey. The Benin Empire was "one of the oldest and most highly developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa, dating perhaps to the eleventh century CE". The Benin Empire was governed by a sovereign Emperor with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and a powerful council rich in resources, wealth, ancient science and technology with cities described as beautiful and large as Haarlem. "Olfert Dapper, a Dutch writer, describing Benin in his book "Description of Africa" (1668) ". Its craft was the most adored and treasured bronze casting in the history of Africa. It was annexed by the British Empire in 1897 during the invasion and scramble of Africa.


title: West Africa

text: Portuguese traders began establishing settlements along the coast in 1445, followed by the French, English, Spanish, Danish and Dutch; the African slave trade began not long after, which over the following centuries would debilitate the region's economy and population. The slave trade also encouraged the formation of states such as the Bono State, Bambara Empire and Dahomey, whose economic activities include but not limited to exchanging slaves for European firearms.


title: West Africa

text: In the early 19th century, a series of Fulani reformist jihads swept across Western Africa. The most notable include Usman dan Fodio's Fulani Empire, which replaced the Hausa city-states, Seku Amadu's Massina Empire, which defeated the Bambara, and El Hadj Umar Tall's Toucouleur Empire, which briefly conquered much of modern-day Mali.


title: West Africa

text: However, the French and British continued to advance in the Scramble for Africa, subjugating kingdom after kingdom. With the fall of Samory Ture's new-founded Wassoulou Empire in 1898 and the Ashanti queen Yaa Asantewaa in 1902, most West African military resistance to colonial rule resulted in failure.


title: West Africa

text: Part of the West-African regions underwent an increase in the numeracy level throughout the 19th century. The reason for such a growth was predetermined by a number of factors. Namely, the peanut production and trade, which was boosted by the demand of the colonial states. Importantly, the rise of the numeracy was higher in the regions which were less hierarchical and had less dependent from the slavery trade (e.g. Sine and Salum). Whereas areas with the opposite trends illustrated opposite tendencies (e.g. central and northern Senegal). Those patterns were further even more stimulated with the French colonial campaign.


title: West Africa

text: Britain controlled the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, and Nigeria throughout the colonial era, while France unified Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast, and Niger into French West Africa. Portugal founded the colony of Guinea-Bissau, while Germany claimed Togoland, but was forced to divide it between France and Britain following First World War due to the Treaty of Versailles. Only Liberia retained its independence, at the price of major territorial concessions.


title: West Africa

text: Following World War II, nationalist movements arose across West Africa. In 1957, Ghana, under Kwame Nkrumah, became the first West African colony to achieve its independence, followed the next year by France's colonies (Guinea in 1958 under the leadership of President Ahmed Sekou Touré); by 1974, West Africa's nations were entirely autonomous.


title: West Africa

text: Since independence, many West African nations have been submerged under political instability, with notable civil wars in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ivory Coast, and a succession of military coups in Ghana and Burkina Faso.


title: West Africa

text: The Economic Community of West African States, established in May 1975, has defined the region of West Africa since 1999 as including the following 15 states:


title: West Africa

text: Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of subregion Western Africa includes the preceding states with the addition of Mauritania (which withdrew from ECOWAS in 1999), comprising an area of approximately 6.1 million square km. The UN region also includes the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha in the south Atlantic Ocean.


title: West Africa

text: In the United Nations scheme of African regions, the region of Western Africa includes 16 states and the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha: Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal and the Niger are mostly in the Sahel, a transition zone between the Sahara desert and the Sudanian Savanna; Benin, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo and Nigeria compose most of Guinea, the traditional name for the area near the Gulf of Guinea; Mauritania lies in the Maghreb, the northwestern region of Africa that has historically been inhabited by West African groups such as the Fulani, Soninke, Wolof, Serer and Toucouleur people, along with Arab-Berber Maghrebi people such as the Tuareg; Cape Verde is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean; and Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha consists of eight main islands located in four different parts of the Atlantic. Due to Mauritania's increasingly close ties to the Arab World and its 1999 withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), in modern times it is often considered, especially in Africa, as now part of western North Africa.


title: West Africa

text: Before European colonisation, West African countries such as those from the Senegambia region (Senegal and the Gambia) used to have a diverse wildlife including lions, hippopotamus, elephants, antelopes, leopards etc. However, during colonization, the European colonizers such as the French and British killed most of the wildlife particularly the lions, using their body parts as trophies. By the turn of the 20th century, the Senegambia region had lost most of its lion population and other exotic animals due to poaching. By the 1930s, the Gambian elephant population became extinct. That phenomenon was not only limited to the Senegambia region but affected much of West African as the region lost much of its "natural resources once tied so closely to its cultural identity. Poaching has stolen most of its wildlife." The British issued poaching licenses, and although they would later try to reverse the damage that had been done by attempting to preserve what was left of the local wildlife, but by that time, it was too late. During the 1930s, the elephant population in the Gold Coast was about 300, and Sierra Leona between 500 and 600. Although a small number of elephants survived in Nigeria, hunting, agricultural expansion and clearing of forest in that country drastically affected its wildlife population, particularly elephants.


title: West Africa

text: Despite the historical damage that has been done to the region's wildlife populations, there are still some protected nature reserves within the region. Some of these include:


title: West Africa

text: West Africa is also home to several baobab trees and other plant life. Some baobab trees are several centuries old and form part of the local folklore, for example, a mythical baobab tree named "Ngoye njuli" in Senegal which is regarded as a sacred site by the Serer. The tree itself is rather majestic and looks like a huge phallus and a deformed animal or thing is protruding from it. It is said to be the dwelling place of a pangool. Ngoye njuli is protected by the Senegalese authorities and attracts visitors. In West Africa, as in other parts of Africa where the baobab tree is found, the leaves are mixed with couscous and eaten, the bark of the tree is used to make ropes, and the fruit and seeds used for drinks and oils.


title: West Africa

text: West Africa is greatly affected by deforestation and has one of worst deforestation rate. Even "the beloved baobab tree" which is viewed as sacred by some West African cultures are under threat due to climate change, urbanization and population growth. "Huge swaths of forest are being razed to clear space for palm oil and cocoa plantations. Mangroves are being killed off by pollution. Even wispy acacias are hacked away for use in cooking fires to feed growing families." Nigeria, Liberia, Guinea, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, have lost large areas of their rainforest. In 2005, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations ranked Nigeria as the state with the worst deforestation rate in the entire world. Causes include logging, subsistence agriculture, and the collection of fuelwoods.


title: West Africa

text: According to a ThoughtCo publication authored Steve Nix (2018), almost 90 percent of West Africa's original rainforest has been destroyed, and the rest "heavily fragmented and in a degraded state, being poorly used."


title: West Africa

text: Overfishing is a major issue in West Africa. Besides reducing fish stocks in the region, it also threatens food security and the livelihoods of many coastal communities who largely depend on artisanal fishing. The overfishing generally comes from foreign trawlers operating in the region.


title: West Africa

text: To combat the overfishing, Greenpeace has recommended countries reduce the number of registered trawlers operating in African waters, increase the monitoring and control and set up regional fisheries organizations. Some steps have already been taken in the form of WARFP (the World Bank's West Africa Regional Fisheries Program which empowers west-African countries (i.e. Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, and Senegal) with information, training and monitoring systems. Furthermore, Liberia enacted a fisheries regulations Act in 2010 and installed a satellite-based monitoring system and Senegal enacted a fisheries code in 2015. In Cape Verde, the fishermen communities of Palmiera and Santa Maria have organized themselves to protect fishing zones. Mozambique finally created a conservation area, including a coastline.


title: West Africa

text: West Africa, broadly defined to include the western portion of the Maghreb (Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia), occupies an area in excess of 6,140,000 km, or approximately one-fifth of Africa. The vast majority of this land is plains lying less than 300 meters above sea level, though isolated high points exist in numerous states along the southern shore of West Africa.


title: West Africa

text: The northern section of West Africa (narrowly defined to exclude the western Maghreb) is composed of semi-arid terrain known as Sahel, a transitional zone between the Sahara and the West Sudanian savanna. Forests form a belt between the savannas and the southern coast, ranging from 160 km to 240 km in width.


title: West Africa

text: The northwest African region of Mauritania periodically suffers country-wide plagues of locusts which consume water, salt and crops on which the human population relies.


title: West Africa

text: West Africa is west of an imagined north–south axis lying close to 10° east longitude. The Atlantic Ocean forms the western as well as the southern borders of the West African region. The northern border is the Sahara Desert, with the Ranishanu Bend generally considered the northernmost part of the region. The eastern border is less precise, with some placing it at the Benue Trough, and others on a line running from Mount Cameroon to Lake Chad.


title: West Africa

text: Colonial boundaries are reflected in the modern boundaries between contemporary West African states, cutting across ethnic and cultural lines, often dividing single ethnic groups between two or more states.


title: West Africa

text: In contrast to most of Central, Southern, and Southeast Africa, West Africa is not populated by Bantu-speaking peoples.


title: West Africa

text: A Trans-ECOWAS project, established in 2007, plans to upgrade railways in this zone. One of the goals of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is the development of an integrated railroad network. Aims include the extension of railways in member countries, the interconnection of previously isolated railways and the standardization of gauge, brakes, couplings, and other parameters. The first line would connect the cities and ports of Lagos, Cotonou, Lomé and Accra and would allow the largest container ships to focus on a smaller number of large ports, while efficiently serving a larger hinterland. This line connects gauge and systems, which would require four rail dual gauge, which can also provide standard gauge.


title: West Africa

text: The "Trans–West African Coastal Highway" is a transnational highway project to link 12 West African coastal states, from Mauritania in the north-west of the region to Nigeria in the east, with feeder roads already existing to two landlocked countries, Mali and Burkina Faso.


title: West Africa

text: The eastern end of the highway terminates at Lagos, Nigeria. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) consider its western end to be Nouakchott, Mauritania, or to be Dakar, Senegal, giving rise to these alternative names for the road:


title: West Africa

text: Of the sixteen, the most important hub and entry point to West Africa are Kotoka International Airport, and Murtala Muhammed International Airport, offering many international connections.


title: West Africa

text: West Africa has made considerably improvement in the health outcomes of its populations, in spite of the challenges posed by pervasive poverty, epidemic diseases, and food insecurity. The traditional communicable diseases of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis are still the major reasons of mortality. Primary health care is the best answer to curing diseases, as it provides the basic preventive strategies as it reduce the rate of child and maternal morbidity and mortality—two of the most preventable outcomes that can prolong life expectancy at birth. Recently, mental health problems are on the rise in West Africa, as they are in many other world regions. However, the subject is largely a taboo, and professional treatment is still rare.


title: West Africa

text: Despite the wide variety of cultures in West Africa, from Nigeria through to Senegal, there are general similarities in dress, cuisine, music and culture that are not shared extensively with groups outside the geographic region. This long history of cultural exchange predates the colonization era of the region and can be approximately placed at the time of the Ghana Empire (proper: Wagadou Empire), Mali Empire or perhaps before these empires.


title: West Africa

text: The main traditional styles of building (in conjunction with modern styles) are the distinct Sudano-Sahelian style in inland areas, and the coastal forest styles more reminiscent of other sub-Saharan areas. They differ greatly in construction due to the demands made by the variety of climates in the area, from tropical humid forests to arid grasslands and deserts. Despite the architectural differences, buildings perform similar functions, including the compound structure central to West African family life or strict distinction between the private and public worlds needed to maintain taboos or social etiquette.


title: West Africa

text: In contrast to other parts of the continent south of the Sahara Desert, the concepts of hemming and embroidering clothing have been traditionally common to West Africa for centuries, demonstrated by the production of various breeches, shirts, tunics and jackets. As a result, the peoples of the region's diverse nations wear a wide variety of clothing with underlying similarities. Typical pieces of west African formal attire include the knee-to-ankle-length, flowing Boubou robe, Dashiki, and Senegalese Kaftan (also known as "Agbada" and "Babariga"), which has its origins in the clothing of nobility of various West African empires in the 12th century. Traditional half-sleeved, hip-long, woven smocks or tunics (known as "fugu" in Gurunsi, "riga" in Hausa) – worn over a pair of baggy trousers—is another popular garment. In the coastal regions stretching from southern Ivory Coast to Benin, a huge rectangular cloth is wrapped under one arm, draped over a shoulder, and held in one of the wearer's hands—coincidentally, reminiscent of Romans' togas. The best-known of these toga-like garments is the Kente (made by the Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast), who wear them as a gesture of national pride.


title: West Africa

text: Scores of foreign visitors to West African nations (e.g., traders, historians, emigrants, colonists, missionaries) have benefited from its citizens' generosity, and even left with a piece of its cultural heritage, via its foods. West African cuisines have had a significant influence on those of Western civilization for centuries; several dishes of West African origin are currently enjoyed in the Caribbean (e.g., the West Indies and Haiti); Australia; the USA (particularly Louisiana, Virginia, North and South Carolina); Italy; and other countries. Although some of these recipes have been altered to suit the sensibilities of their adopters, they retain a distinct West African essence.


title: West Africa

text: West Africans cuisines include fish (especially among the coastal areas), meat, vegetables, and fruits—most of which are grown by the nations' local farmers. In spite of the obvious differences among the various local cuisines in this multinational region, the foods display more similarities than differences. The small difference may be in the ingredients used. Most foods are cooked via boiling or frying. Commonly featured, starchy vegetables include yams, plantains, cassava, and sweet potatoes. Rice is also a staple food, as is the Serer people's sorghum couscous (called "Chereh" in Serer) particularly in Senegal and the Gambia. Jollof rice—originally from the Kingdom of Jolof (now part of modern-day Senegal) but has spread to the Wolofs of Gambia—is also enjoyed in many Western nations, as well; Mafé (proper: "Tigh-dege-na" or "Domodah") from Mali (via the Bambara and Mandinka)—a peanut-butter stew served with rice; Akara (fried bean balls seasoned with spices served with sauce and bread) from Nigeria is a favorite breakfast for Gambians and Senegalese, as well as a favorite side snack or side dish in Brazil and the Caribbean just as it is in West Africa. It is said that its exact origin may be from Yorubaland in Nigeria. Fufu (from the Twi language, a dough served with a spicy stew or sauce for example okra stew etc.) from Ghana is enjoyed throughout the region and beyond even in Central Africa with their own versions of it. Dishes such as taguella, eghajira, etc. are popular among the Tuareg people.


title: West Africa

text: The board game oware is quite popular in many parts of Southern Africa. The word ""Oware"" originates from the Akan people of Ghana. However, virtually all African peoples have a version of this board game. The major multi-sport event of West Africa is the ECOWAS Games which commenced at the 2012 ECOWAS Games.


title: West Africa

text: Football is also a pastime enjoyed by many, either spectating or playing. The major national teams of West Africa, the Ghana national football team, the Ivory Coast national football team, and the Nigeria national football team regularly win the Africa Cup of Nations. Major football teams of West Africa are Asante Kotoko SC and Accra Hearts of Oak SC of the Ghana Premier League, Enyimba International of the Nigerian Premier League and ASEC Mimosas of the Ligue 1 (Ivory Coast). The football governing body of West Africa is the West African Football Union (WAFU) and the major tournament is the West African Club Championship and WAFU Nations Cup, along with the annual individual award of West African Footballer of the Year.


title: West Africa

text: Mbalax, Highlife, Fuji, Afrobeat, and Afrobeats are modern musical genres of West Africa and its diaspora.


title: West Africa

text: Traditional folk music is also well-preserved. Some types of folk music are religious in nature such as the "Tassou" tradition used in Serer religion.


title: West Africa

text: Griot artists and praise-singing is an important musical tradition related to the oral history of West African culture. Traditionally, musical and oral history as conveyed over generations by griots are typical of West African culture in Mande, Wolof, Songhay, Serer and, to some extent, Fula areas in the far west. A hereditary caste occupying the fringes of society, the griots were charged with memorizing the histories of local rulers and personages and the caste was further broken down into music-playing griots (similar to bards) and non-music-playing griots. Like Praise-singers, the griot's main profession was musical acquisition and prowess, and patrons were the sole means of financial support. Modern griots enjoy higher status in the patronage of rich individuals in places such as Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea, and to some extent make up the vast majority of musicians in these countries. Examples of modern popular griot artists include Youssou N'Dour, Mamadou Diabate, Sona Jobareteh, and Toumani Diabate.


title: West Africa

text: In other areas of West Africa, primarily among the Hausa, Mossi, Dagomba and Yoruba in the area encompassing Burkina Faso, northern Ghana, Nigeria and Niger, the traditional profession of non-hereditary praise-singers, minstrels, bards and poets play a vital role in extending the public show of power, lineage and prestige of traditional rulers through their exclusive patronage. Like the griot tradition, praise singers are charged with knowing the details of specific historical events and royal lineages, but more importantly need to be capable of poetic improvisation and creativity, with knowledge of traditional songs directed towards showing a patron's financial and political or religious power. Competition between Praise-singing ensembles and artistes are high, and artists responsible for any extraordinarily skilled prose, musical compositions, and panegyric songs are lavishly rewarded with money, clothing, provisions and other luxuries by patrons who are usually politicians, rulers, Islamic clerics and merchants; these successful praise-singers rise to national stardom. Examples include Mamman Shata, Souley Konko, Fati Niger, Saadou Bori and Dan Maraya. In the case of Niger, numerous praise songs are composed and shown on television in praise of local rulers, Islamic clerics, and politicians.


title: West Africa

text: Nollywood of Nigeria, is the main film industry of West Africa. The Nigerian cinema industry is the second largest film industry in terms of number of annual film productions, ahead of the American film industry in Hollywood. Senegal and Ghana also have long traditions of producing films. The late Ousmane Sembène, the Senegalese film director, producer and writer is from the region, as is the Ghanaian Shirley Frimpong-Manso.


title: West Africa

text: Islam is the predominant religion of the West African interior and the far west coast of the continent (60% of West Africans); and was introduced to the region by traders in the 9th century. Islam is the religion of the region's biggest ethnic groups by population. Islamic rules on livelihood, values, dress and practices had a profound effect on the populations and cultures in their predominant areas, so much so that the concept of tribalism is less observed by Islamized groups like the Mande, Wolof, Hausa, Fula, Songhai, Zarma or Soninke, than they are by non-Islamized groups. Ethnic intermarriage and shared cultural icons are established through a superseded commonality of belief or community, known as ummah. Traditional Muslim areas include Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, Niger; the upper coast and inland two-thirds of Sierra Leone and inland Liberia; the western, northern and far-eastern regions of Burkina Faso; and the northern halves of the coastal nations of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast.


title: West Africa

text: Traditional African religions (noting the many different belief systems) are the oldest belief systems among the populations of this region, and include Akan religion, Yoruba religion, Odinani-Igbo, and Serer religion. They are spiritual but also linked to the historical and cultural heritage of the people. Although traditional beliefs vary from one place to the next, there are more similarities than differences.


title: West Africa

text: In 2010 around 36.5% of Western Africans identified as Christians. Christianity was largely introduced from the late 19th century onward, when missionaries from European countries brought the religion to the region. West African Christians are predominantly Roman Catholic or Anglican; some Evangelical churches have also been established. Christianity has become the predominant religion in the central and southern part of Nigeria, southern Ivory Coast, and the coastal regions stretching from southern Ghana to coastal parts of Sierra Leone. Like Islam, elements of traditional African religion are mixed with Christianity.


title: West Africa

text: West Africans primarily speak Niger–Congo languages, belonging mostly, though not exclusively, to its non-Bantu branches, though some Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic speaking groups are also found in West Africa. The Niger–Congo-speaking Yoruba, Igbo, Fulani, Akan and Wolof ethnic groups are the largest and most influential. The Tiv people found in Nigeria and partly in Cameroon are also among the largest. In the central Sahara, Mandinka or Mande groups are most significant. Chadic-speaking groups, including the Hausa, are found in more northerly parts of the region nearest to the Sahara, and Nilo-Saharan communities, such as the Songhai, Kanuri and Zarma, are found in the eastern parts of West Africa bordering Central Africa. The population of West Africa is estimated at /1e6 round 0 million people as of . In Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, the nomadic Tuareg speak the Tuareg language, a Berber language.


title: West Africa

text: Colonial languages also play a pivotal cultural and political role, being adopted as the official languages of most countries in the region, as well as "linguae franca" in communication between the region's various ethnic groups. For historical reasons, Western European languages such as French, English and Portuguese predominate in Southern and Coastal subregions, whilst Arabic (in its Maghrebi varieties) spreads inland northwards.


title: West Africa

text: The West African Monetary Union (or UEMOA from its name in French, "Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine") is limited to the eight, mostly Francophone countries that employ the CFA franc as their common currency. The Liptako-Gourma Authority of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso seeks to jointly develop the contiguous areas of the three countries.


title: West Africa

text: Since the adoption of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in 2000, women have been engaged in rebuilding war-torn Africa. Starting with the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace and Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET), the peace movement has grown to include women across West Africa.


title: West Africa

text: Established on May 8, 2006, Women Peace and Security Network – Africa (WIPSEN-Africa), is a women-focused, women-led Pan-African non-governmental organization based in Ghana. The organization focuses on empowering women to have a role in political and peace governance in Africa. It has a presence in Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Regional leaders of nonviolent resistance include Leymah Gbowee, Comfort Freeman, and Aya Virginie Toure.


title: West Africa

text: "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" is a documentary film about the origin of this peace movement. The film has been used as an advocacy tool in post-conflict zones like Sudan and Zimbabwe, mobilizing African women to petition for peace and security.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and play their home games at the Spectrum Center in Uptown Charlotte. The Charlotte Hornets are mainly owned by Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, who acquired a controlling interest in the team in 2010.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The Charlotte Hornets franchise was established in 1988 as an expansion team owned by George Shinn. In 2002, Shinn moved the Hornets to New Orleans. They continued to play as the Hornets until 2013, when they changed their name to the New Orleans Pelicans. As part of an agreement with the NBA, Charlotte was granted a new franchise for the 2004–05 NBA season, the Charlotte Bobcats.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: In 2013, the Bobcats announced that they would change their name to the Charlotte Hornets once again for the 2014–15 season. On the day the Bobcats changed their name to the Hornets, they reclaimed the history and records of the 1988–2002 Hornets. As a result, the Hornets were retconned as having suspended operations from 2002 to 2014.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: In 1985, the NBA was planning to expand by three teams by the 1988–89 season, later modified to include a total of four expansion teams. George Shinn, an entrepreneur from Kannapolis, wanted to bring an NBA team to the Charlotte area, and he assembled a group of prominent local businessmen to head the prospective franchise. The Charlotte area had long been a hotbed for college basketball. Charlotte was also one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, and was previously one of the three in-state regional homes to the American Basketball Association's (ABA) Carolina Cougars from 1969 to 1974.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: Despite doubt from critics, Shinn's ace in the hole was the Charlotte Coliseum, a state-of-the-art arena that would seat almost 24,000 spectators, the largest basketball-specific arena ever to serve as a full-time home for an NBA team. On April 5, 1987, then-NBA Commissioner David Stern called Shinn to tell him his group had been awarded the 24th NBA franchise, to begin play in 1988. Franchises were also granted to Miami, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, and Orlando.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: Originally, the new team was going to be called the "Charlotte Spirit", but a name-the-team contest yielded "Hornets" as the winning choice. The name originates from British General Cornwallis, who allegedly described the city as "a hornet's nest of rebellion" following the Battle of Charlotte in 1780, though it was first attested in 1819. The team received further attention when it chose teal as its primary color, setting off a sports fashion craze in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The team's uniforms, designed by international designer and North Carolina native Alexander Julian, featured a first for NBA uniforms—pin stripes. Similar designs by other teams followed, as they became a hit.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: Shinn hired Carl Scheer as the team's first President and General Manager. Scheer preferred a roster of veteran players, hoping to put together a competitive team as soon as possible. Former college coach and veteran NBA assistant Dick Harter was hired as the team's first head coach. In 1988, the Hornets and the Miami Heat were part of the 1988 NBA Expansion Draft. Unlike many expansion franchises that invest in the future with a team composed entirely of young players, Charlotte stocked its inaugural roster with several veterans in hopes of putting a competitive lineup on the court right away. The team also had three draft picks at the 1988 NBA draft.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The Hornets' first NBA game took place on November 4, 1988, at the Charlotte Coliseum, losing 133–93 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Four days later, the team notched its first-ever victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, 117–105. On December 23, 1988, the Hornets' beat Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls 103–101 in Jordan's first return to North Carolina as a professional. The Hornets finished their inaugural season with a record of 20–62. Scheer left prior to the 1989–90 season.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: Despite initial concerns that the Coliseum was too big, the Hornets were a runaway hit, leading the NBA in attendance, a feat they would achieve seven more times in Charlotte. Eventually, the Hornets would sell out 364 consecutive games.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The Hornets' second season was a struggle from start to finish. Members of the team rebelled against Dick Harter's defense-oriented style, and he was replaced mid-season by assistant Gene Littles following an 8–32 start. Despite the change, the team continued to struggle, finishing the season with a disappointing 19–63 record.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The team showed improvement during the following season. They won eight of their first fifteen games, including a 120–105 victory over the Washington Bullets. However, the team went cold, losing their next eleven games. The Hornets, who hosted the 1991 NBA All-Star Game, finished with a record. Despite the team's seven-game improvement over the previous season, Gene Littles was fired at the end of the season and replaced by general manager Allan Bristow.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: With the first pick in the 1991 NBA draft, the Hornets drafted power forward Larry Johnson from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Johnson had an impact season, finishing among the league leaders in points and rebounds, and winning the 1992 NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Additionally, Guard Kendall Gill led the club in scoring, averaging over 20 points per game. The team stayed in contention for a playoff spot until March, but finished the year with a 31–51 record.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The Hornets were in the lottery again in 1992 and won the second overall pick in the draft, using it to select Georgetown center Alonzo Mourning. Charlotte now had two 20–10 threats in Johnson and Mourning, who with Kendall Gill, formed perhaps the league's top young trio. The team finished their fifth season at , their first-ever winning record and good enough for the first playoff berth in franchise history. Finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference, the Hornets upset the Boston Celtics in the first round, with Mourning winning the series with a 20-footer in game four. However, the Hornets lacked the experience and depth to defeat the New York Knicks, falling in five games in the second round.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The Hornets finished the 1993–94 season with a record, narrowly missing the playoffs. Despite injuries to both Johnson and Mourning, the two led the team in points-per-game.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: In the 1994–95 season, the Hornets finished with a record, returning to the playoffs. Johnson and Mourning again led the team in points-per-game, while also leading the club in rebounding. However, Charlotte was bounced from the playoffs in the first round, falling to the Chicago Bulls in four games. Following the season, the Hornets traded Mourning to the Miami Heat for forward Glen Rice, center Matt Geiger, and guard Khalid Reeves.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: Glen Rice would make an immediate impact after joining the Hornets, leading the team in scoring and points-per-game during the 1995–96 season. While Rice and Johnson provided high-powered scoring, Geiger tied with Johnson for the team lead in rebounds, and All-Star guard Kenny Anderson ran the point for the injured Muggsy Bogues. The Hornets were competitive but failed to qualify for the playoffs, again finishing with a 41–41 record. Allan Bristow resigned at the end of the season, and was replaced by Dave Cowens.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The 1996 off-season was again marked by vast changes: Anderson declined to re-sign, Johnson was shipped to the Knicks for power forward Anthony Mason, and the team made a trade on draft day 1996, acquiring center Vlade Divac from the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for the rights to rookie and future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, whom the Hornets picked 13th overall. The new-look Hornets were successful, with Divac and Geiger providing the center combination, Mason averaging a double-double, Bogues back at the point, and Rice having the finest season of his career. The team achieved the best season in its history at the time, finishing 54–28, and making it back to the playoffs. Despite the success during the regular season, the Hornets went down rather meekly to the Knicks in three games.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The 1997–98 season was also successful. Muggsy Bogues was traded two games into the season, and the team picked up point guard David Wesley and shooting guard Bobby Phills. With Wesley, Phills, Rice, Mason, and Divac, the Hornets romped through the regular season, finishing with a 51–31 record. The Hornets made it to back-to-back playoffs for the first time in franchise history, advancing to the second round, only to be stopped by the Bulls.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The 1998–99 season was shortened. The season did not start until February, as the lockout shortened the regular season to only 50 games. Additionally, Glen Rice was traded to the Lakers for Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell, and Dave Cowens resigned midway through the season. He was replaced by former Celtics teammate Paul Silas, who became the team's fifth head coach. The team finished with a record, but failed to qualify for the playoffs.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The next three seasons (1999–2000, 2000–01 and 2001–02) saw the Hornets in the playoffs each year, reaching the conference semifinals twice. Before the Hornets were eliminated from the 2002 playoffs, the NBA approved a deal for the team to move to New Orleans following the season and become the New Orleans Hornets. The move came mainly because attendance tailed off dramatically, reportedly due to Shinn's declining popularity in the city.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: Shortly after the relocation of the team to New Orleans, as well as to avoid a Browns-like lawsuit, the NBA opened itself to the possibility of adding a replacement team in Charlotte for the 2004–05 season, provided that an arena deal could be reached. Several ownership groups, including one led by former Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, made bids for the franchise. On December 18, 2002, a group led by BET founder Robert L. Johnson was awarded the franchise, allowing him to become the first majority African American owner in U.S. major professional sports since the Negro leagues. The franchise with Johnson as its owner was approved by the NBA Board of Governors on January 10, 2003. Hip-hop artist Nelly became a notable co-owner. The owners paid a $300 million expansion fee to enter the league.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: In June 2003, the team name was officially announced as the Bobcats. The Charlotte Regional Sports Commission aided the naming process with a "Help Name The Team" effort that drew over 1,250 suggestions, with 'Flight' being the winner. However, it was discarded by Johnson and the team involved in creating the team's identity, being considered abstract and reminiscent of the then-current Iraq War aerial strikes. Given Charlotte was already home to a cat-named team, the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League, designer Chris Weiller made sure to create a logo that would not be similar to the Panthers logo. It has also been speculated that Johnson chose the name "Bobcats" in reference to his own name.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The Bobcats hired Bernie Bickerstaff as the first head coach and general manager in franchise history. A new arena to host the Bobcats in uptown Charlotte began construction in July 2003. The team would play its home games at the Coliseum until the new building was ready.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The Bobcats held their expansion draft on June 22, 2004, picking up youngsters such as Gerald Wallace, Primož Brezec, and Jason Kapono. Shortly after, they traded with the Los Angeles Clippers to acquire the second pick in the 2004 NBA draft, which they used to select center Emeka Okafor from Connecticut. The Bobcats' inaugural game, and the first of their 2004–05 season took place on November 4 at the Charlotte Coliseum, and was a 103–96 loss to the Washington Wizards. Two days later, they won their first game in franchise history over the Orlando Magic, 111–100. On December 14, the Bobcats beat the New Orleans Hornets in overtime in the team's first trip to Charlotte since relocating. The Bobcats finished their inaugural season 18–64. Emeka Okafor, however, won the 2004–05 NBA Rookie of the Year Award.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: In the 2005 NBA draft, the Bobcats drafted Raymond Felton and Sean May from North Carolina. In their second season, the Bobcats opened Charlotte Bobcats Arena with an overtime victory over the Celtics. Despite struggling for most of the year, they managed to close out the season with four straight wins to finish with a record of 26–56, an eight-game improvement from the previous season. After the season, the Bobcats announced that NBA legend and North Carolina native Michael Jordan had bought a minority stake in the team. As part of the deal, he became head of basketball operations, though Bickerstaff remained general manager.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: The Bobcats showed some improvement during the 2006–07 season, posting a playoff-hopeful record of 22–33 late in February 2007. However, the team went through an eight-game losing streak and dropped their record to 22–41 by early March 2007. Following the slump, Jordan announced that Bickerstaff would not return to coach the following season, but would finish coaching the remainder of the 2006–07 season. The Bobcats won 11 of their last 19 games of Bickerstaff's tenure to finish their third season 33–49. On June 3, 2007, Charlotte Coliseum was demolished, marking a bitter end to the original Hornets era as it was the home of Charlotte's original NBA franchise. The arena was only 19 years old, owned by the city of Charlotte, but was already considered outdated because of a lack of luxury boxes and suites. The arena was designed for college basketball as part of Charlotte's push to maintain their presence in the ACC basketball tournament rotation.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: Front office and coaching were key focuses for the Bobcats during the 2007 off-season. Rod Higgins was hired as general manager, and Sam Vincent was hired as the second head coach in franchise history. In the 2007 NBA draft, Brandan Wright was selected by the Bobcats with the eighth pick; he was subsequently traded to Golden State for Jason Richardson. The Bobcats were unable to capitalize on off-season moves, finishing the 2007–08 season with a 32–50 record. The team struggled amid rumors of players clashing with the coach. After a year, during which he struggled with personnel decisions, Sam Vincent was fired in April 2008.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: On April 29, 2008, the Bobcats reached an agreement to hire Basketball Hall of Famer Larry Brown as the third head coach in franchise history. In the 2008 NBA draft, the Bobcats selected D. J. Augustin from Texas ninth overall. On December 10, 2008, a little over a month into the season, the Bobcats obtained Boris Diaw and Raja Bell in a trade with Phoenix. The trade turned out to be successful as the team came close to reaching the franchise's first playoff berth, but finished four games out of eighth place with a record of 35–47. Following the season, majority owner Bob Johnson announced he was putting the team up for sale.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: During the off-season, the team picked Gerald Henderson from Duke 12th overall in the 2009 NBA draft. The Bobcats traded Emeka Okafor for New Orleans Hornets' center Tyson Chandler, and through more trades acquired Stephen Jackson and Acie Law from the Golden State Warriors. On February 27, 2010, it was announced that Johnson had decided to sell the team to Jordan, allowing Jordan to become the first former NBA player to become majority owner of a franchise.


title: Charlotte Hornets

text: On April 9, 2010, the Bobcats clinched their first playoff berth since 2002 with a 104–103 road win over the New Orleans Hornets, finishing the 2009–10 season with an overall record of 44–38, their first-ever winning season. Gerald Wallace was a huge factor in the playoff run as he became the Bobcats' first and only NBA All-Star. However, the Bobcats were swept by the Orlando Magic in four games.