title: Hazelnut

text: The harvester is a slow-moving machine pushed by a tractor, which lifts the material off the ground and separates the nuts from the leaves, empty husks, and twigs. As the harvester drives over the rows, a rotating cylinder with hundreds of tines rakes the material onto a belt. The belt takes the material over a blower and under a powerful vacuum that sucks any lightweight soil, leaves from the nuts, and discharges them into the orchard. The remaining nuts are conveyed into a cart pulled behind the harvester. Once a tote is filled with nuts, the forklift hauls away the full totes and brings empty ones back to the harvester to maximize the harvester's time.


title: Hazelnut

text: Two different timing strategies are used for collecting the fallen nuts. The first is to harvest early when about half of the nuts have fallen. With less material on the ground, the harvester can work faster with less chance of a breakdown. The second option is to wait for all the nuts to fall before harvesting. Although the first option is considered the better of the two, two or three passes do take more time to complete than one.


title: Hazelnut

text: In 2020, world production of hazelnuts (in shells) was 1.1 million tonnes. The hazelnut production in Turkey accounts for 62% of the world total, followed by Italy, the United States, Azerbaijan, Chile, and Georgia.


title: Hazelnut

text: In 2020, the United States hazelnut crop was valued at $132 million, purchased mainly by the snack food industry.


title: Hazelnut

text: Ferrero SpA, the maker of Nutella and Ferrero Rocher, uses 25% of the global supply of hazelnuts. This commercial product, Nutella, came under pressure after a 2019 BBC investigation found that migrant child labor is used on many hazelnut orchards in Turkey.


title: Hazelnut

text: Hazelnuts are used in confections to make pralines, chocolate truffles, and hazelnut paste products. In Austria, hazelnut paste is an ingredient for making tortes, such as Viennese hazelnut torte. In Kyiv cake, hazelnut flour is used to flavor its meringue body, and crushed hazelnuts are sprinkled over its sides. "Dacquoise", a French dessert cake, often contains a layer of hazelnut meringue. Hazelnuts are used in Turkish cuisine and Georgian cuisine; the snack "churchkhela" and sauce "satsivi" are used, often with walnuts. Hazelnuts are also a common constituent of muesli. The nuts may be eaten fresh or dried, having different flavors.


title: Hazelnut

text: In a reference amount, raw hazelnuts supply of food energy and are a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of numerous essential nutrients (see table).


title: Hazelnut

text: Hazelnuts contain particularly high amounts of protein, dietary fiber, vitamin E, iron, thiamin, phosphorus, manganese, and magnesium, all exceeding 30% DV (table). Several B vitamins have appreciable content. In lesser but still significant amounts (moderate content, 10-19% DV) are vitamin K, calcium, zinc, and potassium (table).


title: Hazelnut

text: Hazelnuts are a rich source of dietary fat, accounting for 93% DV in a 100-gram amount. The fat components are monounsaturated fat as oleic acid (75% of total), polyunsaturated fat mainly as linoleic acid (13% of total), and saturated fat, mainly as palmitic acid and stearic acid (together, 7% of total).


title: Atmosphere

text: An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere is the outer region of a star, which includes the layers above the opaque photosphere; stars of low temperature might have outer atmospheres containing compound molecules.


title: Atmosphere

text: The atmosphere of Earth is composed of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), argon (0.9%), carbon dioxide (0.04%) and trace gases. Most organisms use oxygen for respiration; lightning and bacteria perform nitrogen fixation to produce ammonia that is used to make nucleotides and amino acids; plants, algae, and cyanobacteria use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. The layered composition of the atmosphere minimises the harmful effects of sunlight, ultraviolet radiation, the solar wind, and cosmic rays to protect organisms from genetic damage. The current composition of the atmosphere of the Earth is the product of billions of years of biochemical modification of the paleoatmosphere by living organisms.


title: Atmosphere

text: The initial gaseous composition of an atmosphere is determined by the chemistry and temperature of the local solar nebula from which a planet is formed, and the subsequent escape of some gases from the interior of the atmosphere proper. The original atmosphere of the planets originated from a rotating disc of gases, which collapsed onto itself and then divided into a series of spaced rings of gas and matter that, which later condensed to form the planets of the Solar system. The atmospheres of the planets Venus and Mars are principally composed of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, argon and oxygen.


title: Atmosphere

text: The composition of Earth's atmosphere is determined by the by-products of the life that it sustains. Dry air (mixture of gases) from Earth's atmosphere contains 78.08% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide, and traces of hydrogen, helium, and other "noble" gases (by volume), but generally a variable amount of water vapor is also present, on average about 1% at sea level.


title: Atmosphere

text: The low temperatures and higher gravity of the Solar System's giant planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune—allow them more readily to retain gases with low molecular masses. These planets have hydrogen–helium atmospheres, with trace amounts of more complex compounds.


title: Atmosphere

text: Two satellites of the outer planets possess significant atmospheres. Titan, a moon of Saturn, and Triton, a moon of Neptune, have atmospheres mainly of nitrogen. When in the part of its orbit closest to the Sun, Pluto has an atmosphere of nitrogen and methane similar to Triton's, but these gases are frozen when it is farther from the Sun.


title: Atmosphere

text: Other bodies within the Solar System have extremely thin atmospheres not in equilibrium. These include the Moon (sodium gas), Mercury (sodium gas), Europa (oxygen), Io (sulfur), and Enceladus (water vapor).


title: Atmosphere

text: The first exoplanet whose atmospheric composition was determined is HD 209458b, a gas giant with a close orbit around a star in the constellation Pegasus. Its atmosphere is heated to temperatures over 1,000 K, and is steadily escaping into space. Hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and sulfur have been detected in the planet's inflated atmosphere.


title: Atmosphere

text: The atmosphere of Earth is composed of layers with different properties, such as specific gaseous composition, temperature, and pressure.


title: Atmosphere

text: The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere. This extends from the planetary surface to the bottom of the stratosphere. The troposphere contains 75-80 per cent of the mass of the atmosphere, and is the atmospheric layer wherein the weather occurs; the height of the troposphere varies between 17km at the equator and 7.0km at the poles.


title: Atmosphere

text: The stratosphere extends from the top of the troposphere to the bottom of the mesosphere, and contains the ozone layer, at an altitude between 15km and 35km. It is the atmospheric layer that absorbs most of the ultraviolet radiation that Earth receives from the Sun.


title: Atmosphere

text: The mesosphere ranges from 50km to 85km, and is the layer wherein most meteors are incinerated before reaching the surface.


title: Atmosphere

text: The thermosphere extends from an altitude of 85km to the base of the exosphere at 690km and contains the ionosphere, where solar radiation ionizes the atmosphere. The density of the ionosphere is greater at short distances from the planetary surface in the daytime and decreases as the ionosphere rises at night-time, thereby allowing a greater range of radio frequencies to travel greater distances. Moreover, located in the thermosphere is the Kármán line at 100km, which is the boundary between outer space and Earth's atmosphere.


title: Atmosphere

text: The exosphere begins at 690 to 1,000km from the surface, and extends to roughly 10,000km, where it interacts with the magnetosphere of Earth.


title: Atmosphere

text: Atmospheric pressure is the force (per unit-area) perpendicular to a unit-area of planetary surface, as determined by the weight of the vertical column of atmospheric gases. In said atmospheric model, the atmospheric pressure, the weight of the mass of the gas, decreases at high altitude because of the diminishing mass of the gas above the point of barometric measurement. The units of air pressure are based upon the standard atmosphere (atm), which is 101.325kPa (760Torr, or 14.696pounds per square inch (psi). The height at which the atmospheric pressure declines by a factor of "e" (an irrational number equal to 2.71828) is called the scale height ("H"). For an atmosphere of uniform temperature, the scale height is proportional to the atmospheric temperature, and is inversely proportional to the product of the mean molecular mass of dry air, and the local acceleration of gravity at the point of barometric measurement.


title: Atmosphere

text: Surface gravity differs significantly among the planets. For example, the large gravitational force of the giant planet Jupiter retains light gases such as hydrogen and helium that escape from objects with lower gravity. Secondly, the distance from the Sun determines the energy available to heat atmospheric gas to the point where some fraction of its molecules' thermal motion exceed the planet's escape velocity, allowing those to escape a planet's gravitational grasp. Thus, distant and cold Titan, Triton, and Pluto are able to retain their atmospheres despite their relatively low gravities.


title: Atmosphere

text: Since a collection of gas molecules may be moving at a wide range of velocities, there will always be some fast enough to produce a slow leakage of gas into space. Lighter molecules move faster than heavier ones with the same thermal kinetic energy, and so gases of low molecular weight are lost more rapidly than those of high molecular weight. It is thought that Venus and Mars may have lost much of their water when, after being photodissociated into hydrogen and oxygen by solar ultraviolet radiation, the hydrogen escaped. Earth's magnetic field helps to prevent this, as, normally, the solar wind would greatly enhance the escape of hydrogen. However, over the past 3 billion years Earth may have lost gases through the magnetic polar regions due to auroral activity, including a net 2% of its atmospheric oxygen. The net effect, taking the most important escape processes into account, is that an intrinsic magnetic field does not protect a planet from atmospheric escape and that for some magnetizations the presence of a magnetic field works to increase the escape rate.


title: Atmosphere

text: Other mechanisms that can cause atmosphere depletion are solar wind-induced sputtering, impact erosion, weathering, and sequestration—sometimes referred to as "freezing out"—into the regolith and polar caps.


title: Atmosphere

text: Atmospheres have dramatic effects on the surfaces of rocky bodies. Objects that have no atmosphere, or that have only an exosphere, have terrain that is covered in craters. Without an atmosphere, the planet has no protection from meteoroids, and all of them collide with the surface as meteorites and create craters.


title: Atmosphere

text: Most meteoroids burn up as meteors before hitting a planet's surface. When meteoroids do impact, the effects are often erased by the action of wind.


title: Atmosphere

text: Wind erosion is a significant factor in shaping the terrain of rocky planets with atmospheres, and over time can erase the effects of both craters and volcanoes. In addition, since liquids can not exist without pressure, an atmosphere allows liquid to be present at the surface, resulting in lakes, rivers and oceans. Earth and Titan are known to have liquids at their surface and terrain on the planet suggests that Mars had liquid on its surface in the past.


title: Atmosphere

text: The circulation of the atmosphere occurs due to thermal differences when convection becomes a more efficient transporter of heat than thermal radiation. On planets where the primary heat source is solar radiation, excess heat in the tropics is transported to higher latitudes. When a planet generates a significant amount of heat internally, such as is the case for Jupiter, convection in the atmosphere can transport thermal energy from the higher temperature interior up to the surface.


title: Atmosphere

text: From the perspective of a planetary geologist, the atmosphere acts to shape a planetary surface. Wind picks up dust and other particles which, when they collide with the terrain, erode the relief and leave deposits (eolian processes). Frost and precipitations, which depend on the atmospheric composition, also influence the relief. Climate changes can influence a planet's geological history. Conversely, studying the surface of the Earth leads to an understanding of the atmosphere and climate of other planets.


title: Atmosphere

text: For a meteorologist, the composition of the Earth's atmosphere is a factor affecting the climate and its variations.


title: Atmosphere

text: For a biologist or paleontologist, the Earth's atmospheric composition is closely dependent on the appearance of the life and its evolution.


title: Asclepius

text: Asclepius (; "Asklēpiós" ; ) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represents the healing aspect of the medical arts; his daughters, the "Asclepiades", are: Hygieia ("Health, Healthiness"), Iaso (from ἴασις "healing, recovering, recuperation", the goddess of recuperation from illness), Aceso (from ἄκεσις "healing", the goddess of the healing process), Aegle (the goddess of good health) and Panacea (the goddess of universal remedy). He has several sons as well. He was associated with the Roman/Etruscan god Vediovis and the Egyptian Imhotep. He shared with Apollo the epithet "Paean" ("the Healer"). The rod of Asclepius, a snake-entwined staff, (similar to the caduceus) remains a symbol of medicine today. Those physicians and attendants who served this god were known as the Therapeutae of Asclepius.


title: Asclepius

text: The etymology of the name is unknown. In his revised version of Frisk's "Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch" ("Greek Etymological Dictionary"), R.S.P. Beekes gives this summary of the different attempts:


title: Asclepius

text: Asclepius was the son of Apollo and, according to the earliest accounts, a mortal woman named Coronis. When she displayed infidelity by sleeping with a mortal named Ischys, Apollo realised this with his prophetic powers and killed Ischys. Coronis was killed by Artemis for being unfaithful to Apollo and was laid out on a funeral pyre to be consumed, but Apollo rescued the child by cutting him from Coronis' womb.


title: Asclepius

text: According to Delphian tradition, Asclepius was born in the temple of Apollo, with Lachesis acting as a midwife and Apollo relieving the pains of Coronis. Apollo named the child after Coronis' nickname, Aegle.


title: Asclepius

text: According to the Roman version, Apollo, having learned about Coronis' betrayal with the mortal Ischys through his raven, killed her with his arrows. Before breathing her last, she revealed to Apollo that she was pregnant with his child. He repented his actions and unsuccessfully tried to save her. At last, he removed their son safely from her belly before she was consumed by the fire.


title: Asclepius

text: In yet another version, Coronis who was already pregnant with Apollo's child, had to accompany her father to Peloponnesos. She had kept her pregnancy hidden from her father. In Epidaurus, she bore a son and exposed him on a mountain called "Tittheion" (from τίτθη "wet nurse", τιτθεύω "to suckle, breastfeed"). The child was given milk by one of the goats that pastured about the mountain, and was guarded by the watch-dog of the herd. Aresthanas, the owner of goats and the guard dogs found the child. As he came near, he saw lightning that flashed from the child, and thinking of it to be a sign of divine, he left the child alone. Asclepius was later taken by Apollo.


title: Asclepius

text: Apollo named the rescued baby "Asclepius" and reared him for a while and taught him many things about medicine. However, like his half-brother, Aristaeus, Asclepius had his formal education under the centaur Chiron who instructed him in the art of medicine.


title: Asclepius

text: It is said that in return for some kindness rendered by Asclepius, a snake licked Asclepius's ears clean and taught him secret knowledge (to the Greeks snakes were sacred beings of wisdom, healing, and resurrection). Asclepius bore a rod wreathed with a snake, which became associated with healing. Another version states that when Asclepius (or in another myth Polyidus) was commanded to restore the life of Glaucus, he was confined in a secret prison. While pondering on what he should do, a snake crept near his staff. Lost in his thoughts, Asclepius unknowingly killed it by hitting it again and again with his staff. Later, another snake came there with a herb in its mouth, and placed it on the head of dead snake, which soon came back to life. Seeing this, Asclepius used the same herb, which brought Glaucus back. A species of non-venomous pan-Mediterranean serpent, the Aesculapian snake ("Zamenis longissimus") is named for the god.


title: Asclepius

text: He was originally called Hepius but received his popular name of Asclepius after he cured Ascles, ruler of Epidaurus who suffered an incurable ailment in his eyes. Asclepius became so proficient as a healer that he surpassed both Chiron and his father, Apollo. Asclepius was therefore able to evade death and to bring others back to life from the brink of death and beyond. This caused an excessive abundance of human beings, and Zeus resorted to killing him to maintain balance in the numbers of the human population.


title: Asclepius

text: Asclepius was married to Epione, with whom he had five daughters: Hygieia, Panacea, Aceso, Iaso, and Aegle, and three sons: Machaon, Podaleirios and Telesphoros. He also sired a son, Aratus, with Aristodama.


title: Asclepius

text: Asclepius once started bringing back to life the dead people like Tyndareus, Capaneus, Glaucus, Hymenaeus, Lycurgus and others. Others say he brought Hippolytus back from the dead on Artemis' request, and accepted gold for it. It is the only mention of Asclepius resurrecting the dead. In all other accounts he is said to use his skills simply as a physician.


title: Asclepius

text: However, Hades accused Asclepius for stealing his subjects and complained to his brother Zeus about it. According to others, Zeus was afraid that Asclepius would teach the art of resurrection to other humans as well. So he killed Asclepius with his thunderbolt. This angered Apollo who in turn killed the Cyclopes who made the thunderbolts for Zeus. For this act, Zeus banished Apollo from Olympus and commanded him to serve Admetus, King of Thessaly, for a year. After Asclepius's death, Zeus placed his body among the stars as the constellation Ophiuchus ("the Serpent Holder").


title: Asclepius

text: Later, however, upon Apollo's request, Zeus resurrected Asclepius as a god and gave him a place on Olympus.


title: Asclepius

text: The most ancient and the most prominent asclepeion (or healing temple) according to the geographer of the 1st century BC, Strabo, was situated in Trikala. The 1st century AD Pool of Bethesda, described in the Gospel of John, chapter 5, was found by archaeologists in 1964 to be part of an asclepeion. One of the most famous temples of Asclepius was at Epidaurus in north-eastern Peloponnese, dated to the fourth century BC. Another famous asclepeion was built approximately a century later on the island of Kos, where Hippocrates, the legendary "father of medicine", may have begun his career. Other asclepieia were situated in Gortys (in Arcadia), and Pergamum in Asia.


title: Asclepius

text: From the fifth century BC onwards, the cult of Asclepius grew very popular and pilgrims flocked to his healing temples (Asclepieia) to be cured of their ills. Ritual purification would be followed by offerings or sacrifices to the god (according to means), and the supplicant would then spend the night in the holiest part of the sanctuary– the abaton (or adyton). Any dreams or visions would be reported to a priest who would prescribe the appropriate therapy by a process of interpretation. Some healing temples also used sacred dogs to lick the wounds of sick petitioners. In honor of Asclepius, a particular type of non-venomous snake was often used in healing rituals, and these snakes— the Aesculapian Snakes— slithered around freely on the floor in dormitories where the sick and injured slept. These snakes were introduced at the founding of each new temple of Asclepius throughout the classical world.


title: Asclepius

text: The original Hippocratic Oath began with the invocation "I swear by Apollo the Physician and by Asclepius and by Hygieia and Panacea and by all the gods ...".


title: Asclepius

text: Some later religious movements claimed links to Asclepius. In the 2nd century AD the controversial miracle-worker Alexander claimed that his god Glycon, a snake with a "head of linen" was an incarnation of Asclepius. The Greek language rhetorician and satirist Lucian produced the work Alexander the False Prophet to denounce the swindler for future generations. He described Alexander as having a character "made up of lying, trickery, perjury, and malice; [it was] facile, audacious, venturesome, diligent in the execution of its schemes, plausible, convincing, masking as good, and wearing an appearance absolutely opposite to its purpose." In Rome, the College of Aesculapius and Hygia was an association "(collegium)" that served as a burial society and dining club that also participated in the Imperial cult.


title: Asclepius

text: The botanical genus "Asclepias" (commonly known as milkweed) is named after him and includes the medicinal plant "A. tuberosa" or "Pleurisy root".


title: Asclepius

text: At the city of Miletus, archaeologists discovered a cave under the city's theatre which was associated with Asclepius cult.


title: Joshua

text: Joshua () or Yehoshua ( "Yəhōšuaʿ", Tiberian: "Yŏhōšuaʿ," lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Exodus and Numbers, and later succeeded Moses as leader of the Israelite tribes in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua. His name was Hoshea ( "Hōšēaʿ", lit. 'Save') the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, but Moses called him "Yehoshua" (translated as "Joshua" in English), the name by which he is commonly known in English. According to the Bible, he was born in Egypt prior to the Exodus.


title: Joshua

text: The Hebrew Bible identifies Joshua as one of the twelve spies of Israel sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan. In Numbers 13:1, and after the death of Moses, he led the Israelite tribes in the conquest of Canaan, and allocated lands to the tribes. According to biblical chronology, Joshua lived some time in the Bronze Age. According to Joshua 24:29, Joshua died at the age of 110.


title: Joshua

text: Joshua holds a position of respect among Muslims. Muslims also see Joshua as the leader of the faithful following the death of Moses. In Islam, it is also believed that Yusha bin Nun (Joshua) was the "attendant" of Moses mentioned in the Quran before Moses meets Khidr. Joshua plays a role in Islamic literature, with significant narration in the hadith.


title: Joshua

text: The English name "Joshua" is a rendering of the Hebrew "Yehoshua", and is mostly interpreted as "Yahweh is salvation"; although others have also alternatively interpreted it as "Yahweh is lordly". The theophoric name appears to be constructed from a combination of the Tetragrammaton with the Hebrew noun יְשׁוּעָה (Modern: "yəšūʿa", Tiberian: "yăšūʿā"), meaning "salvation"; derived from the Hebrew root ישׁע ("y-š-ʿ"), meaning "to save/help/deliver". Other theophoric names sharing a similar meaning can also be found throughout the Hebrew Bible, such as that of the son of David אֱלִישׁוּעַ ("ʾĔlīšūaʿ"), whose name means "My El (God) is salvation".


title: Joshua

text: "Jesus" is the English derivative of the Greek transliteration of "Yehoshua" via Latin. In the Septuagint, all instances of the word "Yehoshua" are rendered as "" (Iēsoūs), the closest Greek pronunciation of the . Thus, in modern Greek, Joshua is called "Jesus son of Naue" (, "toũ Nauḗ") to differentiate him from Jesus. This is also true in some Slavic languages following the Eastern Orthodox tradition (e.g. "", "Iisús Navín", in Bulgarian, Serbian and Russian, but not Czech).


title: Joshua

text: Joshua was a major figure in the events of the Exodus. He was charged by Moses with selecting and commanding a militia group for their first battle after exiting Egypt, against the Amalekites in Rephidim, in which they were victorious.


title: Joshua

text: He later accompanied Moses when he ascended biblical Mount Sinai to commune with God, visualize God's plan for the Israelite tabernacle and receive the Ten Commandments. Joshua was with Moses when he descended from the mountain, heard the Israelites' celebrations around the Golden Calf, and broke the tablets bearing the words of the commandments. Similarly, in the narrative which refers to Moses being able to speak with God in his tent of meeting outside the camp, Joshua is seen as custodian of the tent ('tabernacle of meeting') when Moses returned to the Israelite encampment. However, when Moses returned to the mountain to re-create the tablets recording the Ten Commandments, Joshua was not present, as the biblical text states "no man shall come up with you".


title: Joshua

text: Later, Joshua was identified as one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore and report on the land of Canaan, and only he and Caleb gave an encouraging report, a reward for which would be that only these two of their entire generation would enter the promised land.


title: Joshua

text: According to Joshua 1:1, God appointed Joshua to succeed Moses as leader of the Israelites along with giving him a blessing of invincibility during his lifetime. The first part of the book of Joshua covers the period when he led the conquest of Canaan.


title: Joshua

text: At the Jordan River, the waters parted, as they had for Moses at the Red Sea. The first battle after the crossing of the Jordan was the Battle of Jericho. Joshua led the destruction of Jericho, then moved on to Ai, a small neighboring city to the west. However, they were defeated with thirty-six Israelite deaths. The defeat was attributed to Achan taking an "accursed thing" from Jericho; and was followed by Achan and his family and animals being stoned to death to restore God's favor. Joshua then went to defeat Ai.


title: Joshua

text: The Israelites faced an alliance of five Amorite kings from Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon. At Gibeon, Joshua asked the to cause the sun and moon to stand still, so that he could finish the battle in daylight. According to the text, the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. This event is most notable because "There has been no day like it before or since, when the heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel." The also fought for the Israelites in this battle, for he hurled huge hailstones from the sky which killed more Canaanites than those which the Israelites slaughtered. From there on, Joshua was able to lead the Israelites to several victories, securing much of the land of Canaan. He presided over the Israelite gatherings at Gilgal and Shiloh which allocated land to the tribes of Israel (Joshua 14:1–5 and 18:1–10), and the Israelites rewarded him with the Ephraimite city of Timnath-heres or Timnath-serah, where he settled (Joshua 19:50).


title: Joshua

text: When he was "old and well advanced in years", Joshua convened the elders and chiefs of the Israelites and exhorted them to have no fellowship with the native population, because it could lead them to be unfaithful to God. At a general assembly of the clans at Shechem, he took leave of the people, admonishing them to be loyal to their God, who had been so mightily manifested in the midst of them. As a witness of their promise to serve God, Joshua set up a great stone under an oak by the sanctuary of God. Soon afterward he died, at the age of 110, and was buried at Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.


title: Joshua

text: The prevailing scholarly view is that Joshua is not a factual account of historical events. The apparent setting of Joshua is the 13th century BCE which was a time of widespread city-destruction, but with a few exceptions (Hazor, Lachish) the destroyed cities are not the ones the Bible associates with Joshua, and the ones it does associate with him show little or no sign of even being occupied at the time. Given its lack of historicity, Carolyn Pressler in her commentary for the "Westminster Bible Companion" series suggests that readers of Joshua should give priority to its theological message ("what passages teach about God") and be aware of what these would have meant to audiences in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. Richard Nelson explained that the needs of the centralised monarchy favoured a single story of origins, combining old traditions of an exodus from Egypt, belief in a national god as "divine warrior," and explanations for ruined cities, social stratification and ethnic groups, and contemporary tribes.


title: Joshua

text: In the 1930s Martin Noth made a sweeping criticism of the usefulness of the Book of Joshua for history. Noth was a student of Albrecht Alt, who emphasized form criticism and the importance of etiology. Alt and Noth posited a peaceful movement of the Israelites into various areas of Canaan, "contra" the Biblical account.


title: Joshua

text: William Foxwell Albright questioned the "tenacity" of etiologies, which were key to Noth's analysis of the campaigns in Joshua. Archaeological evidence in the 1930s showed that the city of Ai, an early target for conquest in the putative Joshua account, had existed and been destroyed, but in the 22nd century BCE. Some alternate sites for Ai have been proposed which would partially resolve the discrepancy in dates, but these sites have not been widely accepted. In 1951 Kathleen Kenyon showed that Jericho was from the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2100–1550 BCE), not the Late Bronze Age (c. 1550–1200 BCE). Kenyon argued that the early Israelite campaign could not be historically corroborated, but rather explained as an etiology of the location and a representation of the Israelite settlement.


title: Joshua

text: In 1955, G. Ernest Wright discussed the correlation of archaeological data to the early Israelite campaigns, which he divided into three phases per the Book of Joshua. He pointed to two sets of archaeological findings that "seem to suggest that the biblical account is in general correct regarding the nature of the late thirteenth and twelfth-eleventh centuries in the country" (i.e., "a period of tremendous violence"). He gives particular weight to what were then recent digs at Hazor by Yigael Yadin.


title: Joshua

text: The Book of Joshua holds little historical value. The archaeological evidence shows that Jericho and Ai were not occupied in the Near Eastern Late Bronze Age. The story of the conquest perhaps represents the nationalist propaganda of the 8th century BCE kings of Judah and their claims to the territory of the Kingdom of Israel, incorporated into an early form of Joshua written late in the reign of king Josiah (reigned 640–609 BCE). The book was probably revised and completed after the fall of Jerusalem to the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE, and possibly after the return from the Babylonian exile in 538 BCE.


title: Joshua

text: In rabbinic literature Joshua is regarded as a faithful, humble, deserving, wise man. Biblical verses illustrative of these qualities and of their reward are applied to him. "He that waits on his master shall be honored" is construed as a reference to Joshua, as is also the first part of the same verse, "Whoso keeps the fig-tree shall eat the fruit thereof". That "honor shall uphold the humble in spirit" is proved by Joshua's victory over Amalek. Not the sons of Moses—as Moses himself had expected—but Joshua was appointed as Moses' successor. Moses was shown how Joshua reproved that Othniel.


title: Joshua

text: "God would speak to Moses face to face, like someone would speak to his friend. Then he would return to the camp. But his attendant, Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not leave the tent. Joshua never moved from the tent". Didn't Joshua leave the tent to eat, sleep or attend to his needs? This praise shows that Joshua had complete faith in Moses, the Tzaddik. One who has this faith is cognizant of the tzaddik in everything he does; he remains steadfastly with the tzaddik whatever he does.


title: Joshua

text: According to rabbinic tradition, Joshua, when dividing the Land of Canaan among the twelve tribes of Israel, planted sea squill () to mark off the butts and bounds of tribal properties.


title: Joshua

text: Moreover, Joshua, on dividing the land of Canaan amongst the tribes of Israel, made the tribes agree to ten conditions, the most important of which being the common use of the forests as pasture for cattle, and the common right of fishing in the Sea of Tiberias. Natural springs were to be used for drinking and laundry by all tribes, although the tribe to which the water course fell had the first rights. Prickly burnet ("Sarcopoterium spinosum") and the camelthorn ("Alhagi maurorum") could be freely collected as firewood by any member of any tribe, in any tribal territory.


title: Joshua

text: According to Jewish religious tradition, upon making Aliyah by crossing the Jordan River to enter the Land of Israel, Joshua composed the Aleinu prayer thanking God. This idea was first cited in the Kol Bo of the late 14th Century. Several medieval commentators noticed that Joshua's shorter birth name, Hosea, appears in the first few verses of Aleinu in reverse acrostic: ע – עלינו, ש – שלא שם, ו – ואנחנו כורעים, ה – הוא אלוקינו. The Teshuvot HaGeonim, a Geonic responsum, discussed that Joshua composed the Aleinu because although the Israelites had made Aliyah to the Promised Land, they were surrounded by other peoples, and he wanted the Jews to draw a clear distinction between themselves, who knew and accepted the sovereignty of God, and those nations of the world which did not. In the modern era, religious Jews still pray the Aliyah inspired Aleinu three times daily, including on the High Holidays. The Aleinu prayer begins:


title: Joshua

text: According to , the tomb of Joshua is in Timnath-heres, and Jewish tradition also places the tombs of Caleb and Nun at that site, which is identified by Orthodox Jews with Kifl Haris. Thousands make the pilgrimage to the tombs on the annual commemoration of Joshua's death, 26th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar.


title: Joshua

text: Most modern Bibles translate to identify Jesus as a better Joshua, as Joshua led Israel into the rest of Canaan, but Jesus leads the people of God into "God's rest". Among the early Church Fathers, Joshua is considered a type of Jesus Christ.


title: Joshua

text: The story of Joshua and the Canaanite kings is also alluded to in the 2 Meqabyan, a book considered canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.


title: Joshua

text: Joshua (, "Yūšaʿ ibn Nūn", ) is not mentioned by name in the Quran, but his name appears in other Islamic literature. In the Quranic account of the conquest of Canaan, Joshua and Caleb are referenced, but not named, as two "Allah-fearing men", on whom Allah "had bestowed His grace".


title: Joshua

text: Joshua was regarded by some classical scholars as the prophetic successor to Moses (). Al-Tabari relates in his "History of the Prophets and Kings" that Joshua was one of the twelve spies and Muslim scholars believe that the two believing spies referred to in the Quran are Joshua and Caleb. Joshua was exceptional among the Israelites for being one of the few faithful followers of Allah.


title: Joshua

text: Significant events from Joshua's Muslim narratives include the crossing of the Jordan river and the conquest of "Bait al-Maqdis".


title: Joshua

text: The traditional Muslim commentary "al-Jalalayn" says, "Ahmad [b. Hanbal] reported in his Musnad, the [following] hadīth, 'The sun was never detained for any human, except for Joshua during those days in which he marched towards the Holy House [of Jerusalem]'."


title: Joshua

text: Muslim literature includes traditions of Joshua not found in the Hebrew Bible. Joshua is credited with being present at Moses's death and literature records that Moses's garments were with Joshua at the time of his departure. In Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, Joshua is mentioned as Yusha' bin Nun and is the attendant to Moses during his meeting with Khidr.


title: Joshua

text: Joshua is believed by some Muslims to be buried on Joshua's Hill in the Beykoz district of Istanbul. Alternative traditional sites for his tomb are situated in Israel (the Shia shrine at Al-Nabi Yusha'), Jordan (An-Nabi Yusha' bin Noon, a Sunni shrine near the city of Al-Salt), Iran (Historical cemetery of Takht e Foolad in Esfahan) and Iraq (the Nabi Yusha' shrine of Baghdad). A local tradition combining three versions of three different Yushas, including biblical Joshua, places the tomb inside a cave in the Tripoli Mountains, overlooking the coastal town of el-Minyieh near Tripoli, Lebanon.


title: Joshua

text: In the literary tradition of medieval Europe, Joshua is known as one of the Nine Worthies. In "The Divine Comedy" Joshua's spirit appears to Dante in the Heaven of Mars, where he is grouped with the other "warriors of the faith."


title: Joshua

text: Baroque composer Georg Frideric Handel composed the oratorio "Joshua" in 1747. Composer Franz Waxman composed an oratorio "Joshua" in 1959. Marc-Antoine Charpentier composed "Josue" (H.404 and H.404 a), an oratorio for soloists, double chorus, double orchestra and continuo, in 1680.


title: Joshua

text: Legend has it that Mormon pioneers in the United States first referred to the "yucca brevifolia" agave plant as the Joshua tree because its branches reminded them of Joshua stretching his arms upward in supplication, guiding the travelers westward.


title: Joshua

text: Joshua is commemorated in the scientific name of a species of snake, Joshua's blind snake ("Trilepida joshuai"), the holotype of which was collected at Jericó, Antioquia, Colombia.


title: Joshua

text: The annual commemoration of Joshua's yahrtzeit (the anniversary of his death) is marked on the 26th of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. Thousands make the pilgrimage to the Tomb of Joshua at Kifl Haris near Nablus, West Bank, on the preceding night.


title: Joshua

text: Yom HaAliyah (Aliyah Day; ) is an Israeli national holiday celebrated annually on the tenth of the Hebrew month of Nisan, as per the opening clause of the Yom HaAliyah Law, as a Zionist celebration of "Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel as the basis for the existence of the State of Israel", and secondarily "to mark the date of entry into the Land of Israel", i.e. to commemorate Joshua having led the Israelites across the Jordan River into the Land of Israel while carrying the Ark of the Covenant.


title: Joe Lycett

text: Joe Harry Lycett, also known by the self-given moniker Mummy, is an English comedian, painter and television presenter. Known for his sardonically camp style, whimsical public stunts and elaborate set designs, Lycett has been described as one of Britain's most popular comedians.


title: Joe Lycett

text: Born in Hall Green, Birmingham and raised in Solihull, Lycett began performing stand-up in 2009 and won the Chortle Student Comedian of the Year the same year. He has appeared on TV shows including "Live at the Apollo", "Taskmaster", "Never Mind the Buzzcocks", "8 Out of 10 Cats", "QI", as the announcer on Saturday BBC One show "Epic Win", the narrator for "Ibiza Weekender" and as the presenter on BBC Two's "The Great British Sewing Bee" and Channel 4's consumer rights show, "Joe Lycett's Got Your Back". In February 2020, Lycett briefly changed his name by deed poll to Hugo Boss as part of a protest against the fashion brand of the same name. He is also recognised as one of Britain's most high-profile queer or pansexual men, and has partaken in advocacy for the LGBT community on many occasions.


title: Joe Lycett

text: In his early career as a 22-year-old comedian, Lycett appeared on stage alongside Jim Davidson. Davidson is known for his offensive jokes, which have been described as both racist and homophobic, and Lycett complained about Davidson's use of the racial slur 'chink' in one of his jokes (which Davidson later removed). The two became friends while touring together (with Davidson's only complaint to Lycett being that he swore too much). "[Jim Davidson's] views on race are incredibly misguided but he is very educated about it. He has read the Quran, and at one point told me in detail about the origins of Rastafarianism", Lycett told the "Birmingham Mail" in 2011.


title: Joe Lycett

text: Lycett has appeared on television on "Live At The Apollo", "8 Out of 10 Cats", "8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown", "Celebrity Juice", "Never Mind the Buzzcocks", "Spicks and Specks", "Would I Lie to You?", "Insert Name Here" "Virtually Famous", and "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps", and was a regular panelist on the "E4" show "Dirty Digest". He has co-written narration on ITV2 shows "The Magaluf Weekender" and "Ibiza Weekender". Lycett featured on "" Christmas Special with Jason Manford, Rev Richard Coles, and Jo Joyner. Lycett starred as one of the contestants in the fourth series of "Taskmaster", and has made several guest appearances on "Sunday Brunch" in the absence of one of the regular hosts.


title: Joe Lycett

text: On the radio he has been a guest on Scott Mills, Greg James and Nick Grimshaw's programmes on BBC Radio 1 and on Richard Bacon's programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. In August 2011, he wrote and performed the short story "Spooky and the Van" which was broadcast in the Afternoon Reading slot on BBC Radio 4. In August 2013, he made his debut on "Just a Minute" on BBC Radio 4. In September 2016, he took over from Miles Jupp as the host of "It's Not What You Know", also on BBC Radio 4. Lycett was known as "the resident news hound" on Josh Widdicombe's XFM radio show, which was broadcast on Saturday (and later Sunday) mornings.


title: Joe Lycett

text: In addition to his appearances on various radio stations, Lycett has featured as a guest on numerous podcasts, including "My Dad Wrote a Porno", "SoundCheck Podcast," "The Comedian's Comedian with Stuart Goldsmith", and the Richard Herring Leicester Square Theatre Podcast.


title: Joe Lycett

text: Lycett is also a self-trained painter and has had exhibitions of his work. In 2018, a sculpture of his, "CHRIS", was accepted by Royal Academy and listed for sale as being worth £12,500,000. "CHRIS" is still for sale on Lycett's website for the same amount.


title: Joe Lycett

text: On 12 February 2019, Joe Lycett took over as the new presenter on the fifth series of BBC Two's "The Great British Sewing Bee".


title: Joe Lycett

text: Lycett started presenting his consumer show "Joe Lycett's Got Your Back", which was branded a "sexy Watchdog" in 2019 with help from various guests and Mark Silcox. The show takes on big corporations, such as airlines and banks, to provide justice for consumers, with a comedic spin. The series was renewed for a second series. Lycett describes the show as "a cross between "Rogue Traders" and "RuPaul's Drag Race"".


title: Joe Lycett

text: On 17 August 2019 and 26 October 2019, Lycett stood in for Rylan Clark-Neal on "Rylan on Saturday" on BBC Radio 2. In December 2019 he returned to Radio 2 covering Sara Cox's drive-time show during the Christmas and New Year period.


title: Joe Lycett

text: In February 2020, in response to a legal dispute between fashion company Hugo Boss and the Swansea-based Boss Brewing, Lycett changed his name by deed poll from Joe Lycett to Hugo Boss. He said that he was drawing attention to the company's use of legal action and cease and desist letters relating to alleged copyright violations against numerous small businesses, including Boss Brewing, for use of the word 'Boss'. In the second series of "Joe Lycett's Got Your Back", the comedian launched a fake fashion show celebrating the release of a wrist brace under the name 'Hugo Boss' outside the flagship store of the fashion company with the same name in Regent Street, London. Lycett claims that Hugo Boss, the company, called the police following this incident. In April 2020, he changed his name back to Joe Lycett.


title: Joe Lycett

text: In June 2022, a member of the audience at a Belfast show called the Police Service of Northern Ireland to complain about a joke that referenced a donkey. Lycett bemoaned being investigated by the police over a joke, but was happy to recount his enjoyment from repeating the joke, which he regarded as one of his best, in his messages to the police. The investigation was promptly closed.


title: Joe Lycett

text: On 4 September 2022, Lycett appeared as a panellist on the debut issue of "Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg". The show featured an interview with Liz Truss, who at the time was considered highly likely to win, and eventually did win, the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election and therefore become Prime Minister. The cost-of-living crisis, caused in part by high energy bills, was a current significant issue. Truss had given few interviews since the start of the election selecting the leader of the Conservative party. On the show, Truss gave assurances. When asked for comment by Kuenssberg, Lycett said with deadpan delivery that he was "very right-wing" and that he loved the clarity, and was reassured by Truss's statements about the proposed measures to address the crisis. He used apophasis and suggested that he would not say that from dregs, Truss was the "backwash of available MPs". This was met with incredulity from Kuenssberg and titters from other guests. In a similar vein, Lycett went on to state Truss was right to ignore economists' stark predictions. Several days later, MP Steve Brine asked BBC Director-General Tim Davie about "the Joe Lycett debacle" when Davie appeared before the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.


title: Joe Lycett

text: On 13 November 2022, Lycett released a video criticizing David Beckham for his multimillion pound sponsorship deal promoting the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar due to the country's stance on LGBT rights. In the video, he said he would give £10,000 to charities that support queer people in football if Beckham pulled out of the deal. If Beckham did not pull out of the deal, he promised to shred the money during a livestream on 20 November, just before the World Cup opening ceremony. On 20 November, Beckham had not pulled out of the deal, so Lycett livestreamed himself appearing to shred the money on the website benderslikebeckham.com. The next day, he revealed that he had faked the shredding and had already donated £10,000 to LGBTQ+ charities.


title: Joe Lycett

text: In 2009, Lycett was awarded that year's Chortle Student Comedian of the Year award and was also the winner of Bath New Act competition. He was runner-up in the 2009 Laughing Horse New Act of the Year, and a finalist in the 2011 BBC New Comedy Awards. In 2012, his debut stand-up show "Some Lycett Hot" was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards.


title: Joe Lycett

text: Lycett grew up in Solihull; his parents live in his birthplace of Hall Green. He attended King Edward VI Five Ways grammar school, studied Drama and English at the University of Manchester.


title: Joe Lycett

text: Lycett frequently refers to his bisexuality and pansexuality as part of his stand-up routines. In 2021, Lycett was described by "Unicorn magazine" as "probably the most high-profile pansexual man in Britain today". In a 2015 interview with "Attitude" magazine, he described how being bisexual "presents its own challenges," when people have "no box to put you in", adding "It just means you fancy people of all genders."


title: Joe Lycett

text: In 2015, while performing in York, Lycett was given a parking ticket for parking illegally in a taxi rank. The ensuing trail of correspondence, between him and City of York Council, was recounted as an anecdote on "8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown" and then became the basis for one of his stand-up routines.


title: Joe Lycett

text: In May 2019, Lycett arranged for the Birmingham Lord Mayor Yvonne Mosquito to officially open his kitchen extension. At first, Mosquito declined, as it was not a public event, but after Lycett raffled four tickets to the event to the public she agreed.


title: AT4

text: The AT4 is a Swedish unguided, man-portable, disposable, shoulder-fired recoilless anti-tank weapon built by Saab Bofors Dynamics (previously Bofors Anti-Armour Systems and before that FFV Ordance). The AT4 is not considered a rocket launcher as the explosive warhead is not propelled by a rocket motor; similarly, it is not exactly a recoilless rifle, but rather a recoilless gun, as the launcher is smoothbore and not rifled. Saab has had considerable sales success with the AT4, making it one of the most common light anti-tank weapons in the world. The M136 AT4 is a variant used by the United States Army.


title: AT4

text: The name AT4 is a word play on the 84 mm caliber of the weapon, (84) 'eighty four' being a homophone of 'A-T-4'. The name also doubles as an alpha-phonetic word play on the weapon's role due to "AT" being a common military abbreviation for "Anti-Tank". The name was created for export purposes as the nickname "eighty-four" already was a common English nickname for the Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifle after its caliber.


title: AT4

text: The AT4 is intended to give infantry units a means to destroy or disable armoured vehicles and fortifications, although it is generally ineffective against current modern main battle tanks (MBTs), especially those with reactive armour, unless weaker sections of the tank's armour are exploited. The launcher and projectile are manufactured prepacked and issued as a single unit of ammunition, with the launcher discarded after a single use.


title: AT4

text: The AT4 is a development of the 74-mm "Pansarskott m/68" (Miniman), adopted by the Swedish Army in the late 1960s. Like the m/68, the AT4 was designed by Förenade Fabriksverken (FFV) and manufactured at their facility at Zakrisdal, Karlstad, Sweden. FFV began research in a replacement for the m/68 in 1976, deliberately designing an individual anti-armour weapon that would not be able to defeat the heavy armour protection of MBTs (main battle tanks) in frontal engagements, believing that to be counterproductive. The AT4 was designed as a weapon to engage medium to light armoured vehicles from any direction, MBTs from the sides or rear, and as an assault weapon against buildings and fortifications. FFV also had the design goal of a weapon that was simple to use, rugged, and far more accurate than previous individual antiarmour weapons against moving targets. Another key requirement was that the AT4 not only be able to penetrate armour, but also have a devastating beyond-armour effect after penetration. FFV and the Swedish Army began the first evaluation firings of the prototype AT4s in the spring of 1981 with 100 tested by early 1982.


title: AT4

text: Even before the AT4 had been adopted by Sweden, it was entered into a US Army competition for a new anti-tank weapon mandated by Congress in 1982 when the FGR-17 Viper failed as a replacement for the M72 LAW. Six weapons were tested in 1983 by the US Army: the British LAW 80, the German Armbrust, the French APILAS, the Norwegian M72E4 (an upgraded M72 LAW), the US Viper (for baseline comparison purposes) and the Swedish AT4. The US Army reported to Congress in November 1983 that the FFV AT4 came the closest to meeting all the major requirements established to replace the M72 LAW, with the Armbrust coming in second.


title: AT4

text: Though very impressed with the simplicity and durability of the tested version of the AT4, the US Army saw some room for improvement, specifically the addition of rear and front bumpers on the launch tube and changes to the sights and slings. After these changes, the AT4 was adopted by the US Army as the "Lightweight Multipurpose Weapon" M136. The Swedish Army also recognized these improvements and subsequently adopted the Americanized version of the AT4 as the "Pansarskott m/86" ("Pskott m/86"), with the addition of a forward folding hand grip to help steady the AT4 when being aimed and fired. The forward folding grip is the only difference between the AT4 adopted by Sweden and the US Army version.


title: AT4

text: Due to the urban combat conditions that US military forces faced regularly during the Iraq War, the US Army Close Combat Systems manager in charge of purchases of the AT4 suspended orders for the standard version of the AT4 and US military forces are now only ordering the AT4 CS (Confined Space) version.


title: AT4

text: The AT4 may be considered a disposable, low-cost alternative to a Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifle. The AT4 took many of its design features from the Carl Gustaf, which operates on the principle of a recoilless weapon, where the forward inertia of the projectile is balanced by the inertia of propellant gases ejecting from the rear of the barrel. But unlike the Carl Gustaf, which uses a heavier and more expensive steel tube with rifling, the disposable AT4 design greatly reduces manufacturing costs by using a reinforced smoothbore fiberglass outer tube. Being a disposable gun also allows for lighter and cheaper construction. In a single-use disposable gun, the barrel only needs to be able to contain a single pressure spike when firing, when it can be disposed of, even if it is ruined, burnt-out and strained, unlike traditional guns which are required to survive many pressure spikes without failure and thus need to be strongly overbuilt and made of heat-proof materials. Pressures are also kept quite low compared to many traditional guns. This lightweight and thin barrel and low pressure, combined with the almost complete lack of recoil, means that relatively large projectiles (comparable to those found in mortars and artillery systems) can be utilised, which would otherwise be impossible in a man-portable weapon.


title: AT4

text: In the system originally developed by FFV for the Carl Gustaf, a plastic blowout plug is placed at the centre rear of the shell casing containing the projectile and propellant, which itself is enclosed in the AT4 outer tube. When the gases build up to the correct pressure level, the blowout plug disintegrates, allowing the proper amount of gases to be vented to the rear, balancing the propellant gases pushing the projectile forward.


title: AT4

text: The AT4 uses a unique method developed earlier by FFV and adopted for the AT4: the spring-loaded firing rod is located down the side of the outer tube, with the firing pin at the rear of the tube. When released, the firing pin strikes a primer located in the side of the casing's rim.


title: AT4

text: The disadvantage of the recoilless design is that it creates a large back blast area behind the weapon, which can cause severe burns and overpressure injuries to friendly personnel in the vicinity of the user and sometimes even to the users themselves, especially in confined spaces. The back blast may also reveal the user's position to the enemy. The problem of back blast was solved with the AT4-CS (Confined Space) version, specially designed for urban warfare. This version uses a saltwater countermass in the rear of the launcher to absorb the back blast; the resulting spray captures and dramatically slows down the pressure wave, allowing troops to fire from enclosed areas. The AT4-CS version also reduced its muzzle velocity from the original 290 m/s to 220 m/s as part of its effort to be user-safe in a confined space, making the AT4-CS version more difficult to use as the drop is more pronounced. The effectiveness of the HEAT warhead is not dependent on speed.


title: AT4

text: To fire, the gunner first removes the safety pin located at the rear of the tube, which unblocks the firing rod. He then takes a firing position ensuring that no one is present in the back blast area. If firing from the prone position, he must also place his legs well to the side to avoid burning himself. Then the gunner moves back the front and rear sight covers, allowing the sights to pop up into their firing positions. The AT4 has iron sights that were originally developed for the cancelled Viper, and are similar in concept and use to those on assault rifles. He then removes the first of two safeties by moving the firing rod cocking lever (located on the left side) forward and then over the top to the right side. The gunner takes aim, while at the same time holding down the red safety lever located in front of the cocking lever, and then fires by pressing forward the red firing button with his right thumb. Both the red safety lever and the firing button must be pressed down at the same time to fire the AT4. The red firing button has a similar resistance to the trigger pull of a rifle, so the gunner does not have to jab at the firing button, which could throw his aim off.


title: AT4

text: After firing, the AT4 is discarded. Unlike the heavier Carl Gustaf, the AT4 outer tube is built to take the stress of just one firing; it is not reusable and cannot be reloaded.


title: AT4

text: The AT4 can mount an optical night sight on a removable fixture. In US military use, the launcher can be fitted with the AN/PAQ-4C, AN/PEQ-2, or the AN/PAS-13 night sights.


title: AT4

text: The AT4 requires little training and is quite simple to use, making it suitable for general issue. However, as the cost of each launcher makes regular live-fire training very expensive, practice versions exist that are identical in operation but fire reloadable 9×19mm or 20mm tracer ammunition. Both practice cartridges are unique to their respective weapons, with their trajectory matched to that of the live round. The 20mm version also has a recoilless weapon effect with the same high noise and back blast as the AT4 firing and is favoured by the Swedish army because of the added realism of the back blast as compared to the "plonk" sound of the 9mm round (similar to the sound of a finger tapping on an empty can).


title: AT4

text: There are several different projectiles for the AT4. Note that because the AT4 is a one-shot weapon, projectiles are preloaded into the launcher tubes.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei Nikolaevich () (12 August [O.S. 30 July] 1904 – 17 July 1918) was the last Tsesarevich (heir apparent to the throne of the Russian Empire). He was the youngest child and only son of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. He was born with haemophilia, which his parents tried treating with the methods of a peasant faith healer named Grigori Rasputin.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: After the February Revolution of 1917, the Romanovs were sent into internal exile in Tobolsk, Siberia. After the October Revolution, the family was initially to be tried in a court of law, before the intensification of the Russian Civil War made execution increasingly favorable in the eyes of the Soviet government. With White Army soldiers rapidly approaching, the Ural Regional Soviet ordered the murder of Alexei, the rest of his family, and four remaining retainers on 17 July 1918. Rumors persisted for decades that Alexei had escaped his execution, with multiple impostors claiming his identity. Alexei's remains, along with those of his sister Maria (or Anastasia), were ultimately discovered in a secondary grave near the rest of the Romanov family in 2007. On 17 July 1998, the 80th anniversary of their execution, Alexei's parents, three of his sisters, and the four retainers, were formally interred in the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, while Alexei's and Maria's (or Anastasia's) bones remain in Russian state archives. The Romanov family was canonized as passion bearers by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2000.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei is sometimes known to Russian legitimists as Alexei II, as they do not recognize the abdication of his father in favor of his uncle Grand Duke Michael as lawful.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei was a handsome boy, and he bore a striking resemblance to his mother. His tutor Pierre Gilliard described the 18-month-old Alexei as "one of the handsomest babies one could imagine, with his lovely fair curls and his great blue-grey eyes under their fringe of long curling lashes". A few years later, Gilliard described Alexei as tall for his age, with "a long, finely chiseled face, delicate features, auburn hair with a coppery glint, and large grey-blue eyes like his mother". Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden, his mother's lady-in-waiting, reflected that "he was a pretty child, tall for his age, with regular features, splendid dark blue eyes with a spark of mischief in them, brown hair, and an upright figure".


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei was proud of and enjoyed his position as tsarevich. Buxhoeveden reflected that "he knew and felt that he was the Tsarevich, and from babyhood mechanically took his place in front of his elder sisters". He liked being kissed on the hand by the officers and "didn't miss his chance to boast about it and give himself airs in front of his sisters". He enjoyed jumping in front of the guards at the front of the Alexander Palace, who would immediately salute him as he walked past. Nicholas forbade the guards to salute Alexei unless another member of the family accompanied him. Alexei was embarrassed "when the salute failed him", which "marked his first taste of discipline". On one occasion, he ordered all of the Finnish officers on various ships to stand before him on the deck of the Standart. He began commanding them, but the Finnish officers did not understand Russian and stood in confusion until an aide informed them that Alexei wanted to hear them say, "We wish you health, your Imperial Highness." When he was told that a group of officers had arrived to call on him, the 6-year-old Alexei told his sisters, "Now girls, run away. I am busy. Someone has just called to see me on business." Also at 6, he walked into his father's study and saw the Foreign Minister Alexander Izvolsky waiting to see Nicholas. Izvolsky remained sitting, and Alexei screamed, "When the heir to the Russian Throne enters a room, people must get up!"


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei's parents indulged his tantrums and mischievous behavior, and they rarely punished him. In 1906, Alexei and his family went on a cruise to Finland. In the middle of the night, the 2-year-old Alexei commanded the ship's band to wake up and play for him. Instead of punishing Alexei, Nicholas joked "that's the way to bring up an autocrat!" Nicholas called Alexei "Alexei the Terrible."


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei loved to attend army inspections with his father. When he was 3, he wore a miniature army uniform and played with a toy wooden rifle. From birth, he had the title of "Hetman of all the Cossacks." He wore a miniature uniform of a sailor of the Russian navy, and he had his own Cossack uniform with a fur cap, boots, and dagger. He ended his daily prayers with "Hurrah!" instead of "amen". When asked why, he replied that the soldiers on parade always said "Hurrah!" when his father finished speaking, so he should greet his Heavenly Father in the same way. Before he understood the nature of his disease, he said that he wanted to be a warrior-tsar and lead armies as his ancestors had.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei resented that he was forbidden from doing what other boys could do because of his hemophilia. When his mother forbade him to ride a bike and play tennis, he asked angrily, "Why can other boys have everything and I nothing?" All four of his sisters were accomplished horsewomen, but he was forbidden from horseriding.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei had few friends his age and was often lonely. Alexandra did not allow Alexei to play with his Romanov cousins because she was worried that they would knock him down when playing and he might bleed. Alexei's companions were his sailor-nanny Derevenko's two young sons. Derevenko watched them as they played, and he chastised his children if they played too roughly with Alexei.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei was close with his sisters. Gilliard wrote that they "brought into his life an element of youthful merriment that otherwise would have been sorely missed".


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Despite the hemophilia, Alexei was adventurous and restless. Doctor Eugene Botkin's children noticed Alexei's inability to "stay in any place or at any game for any length of time". When he was 7, he stole a bicycle and rode it around the palace. Shocked, Nicholas ordered every guard to pursue and capture Alexei. At a children's party, Alexei began jumping from table to table. When Derevenko tried to stop him, Alexei shouted, "All grown-ups have to go!" Recognizing Alexei's energetic nature, Nicholas ordered that Alexei be allowed "to do everything that other children of his age were wont to do, and not to restrain him unless it was absolutely necessary".


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei was disobedient and difficult to control. Olga could not manage Alexei's "peevish temper". The only person he obeyed was his father. Sydney Gibbes noted that "one word [from Nicholas] was always enough to exact implicit obedience from [Alexei]". Buxhoeveden remembered that Alexei had once thrown her parasol in the river, and Nicholas had chastised Alexei: " That is not the way for a gentleman to behave to a lady. I am ashamed of you, Alexei." After his father scolded him, Alexei was "scarlet in the face" and apologized to Sophie.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: As a small child, Alexei occasionally played pranks on guests. At a formal dinner party, Alexei removed the shoe of a female guest from under the table, and showed it to his father. Nicholas sternly told the boy to return the "trophy", which Alexei did after placing a large ripe strawberry into the toe of the shoe.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: As he grew up, Alexei became more thoughtful and considerate. When he was 9, he sent a collection of his favorite jingles to Gleb Botkin, Eugene Botkin's son. He asked Gleb, who was talented at drawing, to illustrate the jingles. He attached a note: "To illustrate and write the jingles under the drawings. Alexei." Before handing the note to Eugene Botkin, he crossed out his signature and explained, "If I send that paper to Gleb with my signature on it, then it would be an order which Gleb would have to obey. But I mean it only as a request and he doesn't have to do it if he doesn't want to."


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei's favorite pet was a spaniel named Joy. Nicholas gave Alexei an old performing donkey named Vanka. Alexei gave sugar cubes to Vanka, and Vanka pulled Alexei around the park in a sled during the winter.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: According to Gilliard, Alexei was a simple, affectionate child, but the court spoiled him by the "servile flattery" of the servants and "silly adulations" of the people around him. Once, a deputation of peasants came to bring presents to Alexei. Derevenko required that they kneel before Alexei. Gilliard remarked that the Tsarevich was "embarrassed and blushed violently", and when asked if he liked seeing people on their knees before him, he said, "Oh no, but Derevenko says it must be so!". When Gilliard encouraged Alexei to "stop Derevenko insisting on it", he said that he "dare not". When Gilliard took the matter up with Derevenko, he said that Alexei was "delighted to be freed from this irksome formality".


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: "Alexei was the center of this united family, the focus of all its hopes and affections", wrote Gilliard. "His sisters worshipped him. He was his parents' pride and joy. When he was well, the palace was transformed. Everyone and everything in it seemed bathed in sunshine."


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Gilliard eventually convinced Alexei's parents that granting the boy greater autonomy would help him develop better self-control. Alexei took advantage of his unaccustomed freedom, and began to outgrow some of his earlier foibles. Courtiers reported that his illness made him sensitive to the hurts of others.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Due to his disease, Alexei understood that he might not live to adulthood. When he was ten, his older sister Olga found him lying on his back looking at the clouds and asked him what he was doing. "I like to think and wonder", Alexei replied. Olga asked him what he liked to think about. "Oh, so many things", the boy responded. "I enjoy the sun and the beauty of summer as long as I can. Who knows whether one of these days I shall not be prevented from doing it?"


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei was born on in Peterhof Palace, St. Petersburg Governorate, Russian Empire. He was the youngest of five children of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. His father was the eldest son of Emperor Alexander III and Princess Dagmar of Denmark, and his mother was the sixth child of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom. His paternal great-grandparents were Alexander II of Russia, Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and Louise of Hesse-Kassel, while his maternal great-grandparents were Queen Victoria and her husband Albert, Prince Consort. His older sisters were the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei's birth was greeted with widespread joy, because he was the first son Nicholas had had after four daughters. When she woke up from the chloroform, Alexandra saw the happy faces around her and exclaimed, "Oh, it cannot be true. It cannot be true. Is it really a boy?" Nicholas wrote in his diary that today was "a great and "unforgettable day for us . . . there are no words to thank God enough for sending us this comfort in a time of sore trials." According to Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia, Nicholas' younger brother Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich "was radiant with happiness at no longer being heir." Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden remembered that "we were nearly deafened by the church bells ringing all day". St. Petersburg "was ablaze with flags" and "the people gave themselves over to public rejoicing." Nicholas granted political amnesty to prisoners and set up a fund for military and naval scholarships.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Nicholas named Alexei after Alexis of Russia, his favorite emperor. His doting family called him "Baby." He was later also affectionately referred to as Alyosha (Алёша).


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: As soon as he was born, Alexei was granted the title of tsarevich and heir apparent to the Imperial Throne of Russia. An official announcement read, "From now on, in accordance with the Fundamental Laws of the Empire, the Imperial title of Heir Tsarevich, and all the rights pertaining to it, belong to Our Son Alexei.".


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei was christened on 3 September 1904 in the chapel in Peterhof Palace. His principal godparents were his paternal grandmother and his great-uncle, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich. His other godparents included his oldest sister, Olga; his great-grandfather King Christian IX of Denmark; King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, the Prince of Wales and Wilhelm II, German Emperor. As Russia was at war with Japan, all active soldiers and officers of the Russian Army and Navy were named honorary godfathers.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: The christening marked the first time that some of the younger members of the Imperial Family, including some of the younger sons of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich; the Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana; and their cousin Princess Irina Alexandrovna, attended an official ceremony. For the occasion, the boys wore miniature military uniforms, and the girls wore smaller versions of the court dress and little kokoshniks. The sermon was delivered by John of Kronstadt. The baby was carried to the font by the elderly Princess Maria Mikhailovna Galitzine, Mistress of the Robes. As a precaution, she had rubber soles put on her shoes to prevent her slipping and dropping him.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei inherited hemophilia from his mother Alexandra, an X chromosome hereditary condition that typically affects males, which she had acquired through the line of her maternal grandmother Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. It was known as the "Royal Disease" because so many descendants of the intermarried European royal families had it (or carried it, in the case of females.) In 2009, genetic analysis determined that Alexei had hemophilia B.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: At first, Alexei seemed like a healthy, ordinary baby. He weighed 11 pounds at birth. His paternal aunt Xenia wrote that "he's an amazingly hefty baby with a chest like a barrel and generally has the air of a warrior knight." After his umbilical cord was cut, his navel continued to bleed for hours and his blood did not clot. Nicholas wrote that Alexei lost "1/8 to 1/9 of the total quantity" of his blood in 48 hours. Nicholas reflected in his diary that "Alix and I were very alarmed by the bleeding of young Alexei that came at intervals from his umbilical cord until evening. How painful it is to experience such anxieties!"


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Nicholas and Alexandra decided not to reveal what Alexei's disease was to the Russian public or even to family members. After Alexei's first bleeding attack, Alexandra wrote, "Oh, what anguish it was... not to let others see the knife digging in one." According to his French tutor, Pierre Gilliard, the nature of his illness was kept a state secret.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: There were rumors about what Alexei's disease was, because of the secrecy around it. Guesses ranged from a "certain form of infantile tuberculosis which gives rise to acute alarm" to "one of the layers of his skin was missing." An American magazine ascribed Alexei's "ill health" to "the misfortune that so many residences of the Tzars leave much to be desired from the point of view of sanitary science." After Alexei's life-threatening hemorrhage at Spala, the American press speculated that Alexei had been stabbed "during an unguarded moment" by a "nihilist." The Times observed that the "incomprehensible silence of the Court bulletins" gave "free scope to the sensation-mongers."


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: When he was 5, Alexei was assigned two navy sailors who monitored him at all times to ensure that he wouldn't injure himself. His parents appointed two sailors from the Imperial Navy: Petty Officer Andrei Derevenko and his assistant Seaman Klementy Nagorny. Anna Vyrubova, Alexandra's friend, remembered that "Derevenko was so patient and resourceful, that he often did wonders in alleviating the pain. I can still hear the plaintive voice of Alexis begging the big sailor, 'Lift my arm,' 'Put up my leg,' 'Warm my hands,' and I can see the patient, calm-eyed man working for hours to give comfort to the little pain-wracked limbs."


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: His hemophilia was so severe that trivial injuries such as a bruise, a nosebleed or a cut were potentially life-threatening. His parents constantly worried about him. In addition, the recurring episodes of illness and long recoveries interfered greatly with Alexei's childhood and education.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Nicholas and Alexandra believed that Grigori Rasputin, a peasant monk, had the power to heal Alexei. Due to the secrecy around Alexei's ideas, there are few records about Alexei's attacks and how often Rasputin treated him.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: In the autumn of 1907, Alexei fell and hurt his leg when he was playing in the Alexander Park. The fall triggered an internal hemorrhage. His paternal aunt Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia reflected that "the poor child lay in such pain, dark patches under his eyes and his little body all distorted, and the leg terribly swollen." The doctors could do nothing. Alexandra telegraphed Princess Anastasia of Montenegro and asked her to find Rasputin. Rasputin prayed over Alexei and told Alexei "Your pain is going away. You will soon be well. You must thank God for healing you. And now, go to sleep." Soon after Rasputin left, the swelling in Alexei's leg went down. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia was amazed by Alexei's swift recovery, and she wrote that the next morning Alexei "was not just alive – but well. He was sitting up in bed, the fever gone, the eyes clear and bright, not a sign of any swelling on his leg."


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: In September 1912, Alexei and his family visited their hunting retreat in the Białowieża Forest. On 5 September Alexei jumped into a rowboat and hit his groin on the oarlocks. A large bruise appeared within minutes but in a week reduced in size. In mid-September, the family moved to Spała (then in Russian Poland). On 2 October, Alexei accompanied his mother on a drive in the woods. The "juddering of the carriage had caused still healing hematoma in his upper thigh to rupture and start bleeding again." He had to be carried out of the carriage in an almost unconscious state. His temperature rose, his heartbeat dropped, and he hemorrhaged in his upper thigh and abdomen. For 11 days, he screamed "O Lord have mercy on me!" and begged Alexandra, "Mama, help me!" He asked Alexandra to "build me a little monument of stones in the woods" and asked "When I'm dead, it won't hurt any more, will it?" Alexandra never left his bedside, and she refused to rest or eat. Nicholas "took turns with Alix to sit with Alexei," but he "rushed weeping bitterly to his study" when he saw Alexei scream. On 6 October, Alexei's fever rose to 39 degrees and he hemorrhaged into his stomach. On 8 October, Alexei received the last sacrament. Alexei's tutor, Pierre Gilliard, wrote to his children, "Pray, my children, pray daily and fervently for our precious heir." On 10 October, a medical bulletin announcing Alexei's impending death was published in the newspapers.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: On 9 October, Alexandra asked her lady-in-waiting and best friend, Anna Vyrubova, to secure the help of Rasputin. According to his daughter, Rasputin received the telegram on 12 October On 9 October, Alexandra received a short telegram from Rasputin: "The little one will not die. Do not allow the doctors [c.q. Eugene Botkin and Vladimir Derevenko] to bother him too much." Alexei's temperature dropped, and he began to improve. According to General Mosolov, the doctors "seemed in utter consternation" at Alexei's sudden recovery. On 10 October, Doctor Eugene Botkin wrote to his children that "our priceless patient" was "undoubtedly significantly better." The positive trend continued throughout the next day. On 19 October Alexei's condition was much better and the hematoma disappeared. The boy had to undergo orthopedic therapy to straighten his left leg. Feodorov confirmed that Alexei's recovery was "wholly inexplicable, from a medical point of view."


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Observers and scholars have offered suggestions for Rasputin's apparent positive effect on Alexei: he used hypnotism, administered herbs to the boy, or his advice to prevent too much action by the doctors aided the boy's healing. Others speculated that, with the information he got from his confidante at the court, lady-in-waiting Anna Vyrubova, Rasputin timed his "interventions" for times when Alexei was already recovering, and claimed all the credit. Court physician Botkin believed that Rasputin was a charlatan and that his apparent healing powers were based on the use of hypnosis but Rasputin did not become interested in this practice before 1913 and his teacher Gerasim Papandato was expelled from St. Petersburg. Felix Yusupov, one of Rasputin's enemies, suggested that he secretly gave Alexei Tibetan herbs which he got from quack doctor Peter Badmayev, but these drugs were rejected by the court. Maria Rasputin believed her father exercised magnetism.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Writers from the 1920s had a variety of explanations for the apparent effects of Rasputin. Greg King thinks such explanations fail to take into account those times when Rasputin apparently healed the boy, despite being 2600 km (1650 miles) away. For historian Fuhrmann, these ideas on hypnosis and drugs flourished because the Imperial Family lived in such isolation from the wider world. ("They lived almost as much apart from Russian society as if they were settlers in Canada.") Moynahan says, "There is no evidence that Rasputin ever summoned up spirits, or felt the need to; he won his admirers through force of personality, not by tricks." Shelley said that the secret of Rasputin's power lay in the sense of calm, gentle strength, and shining warmth of conviction. Radzinsky wrote in 2000 that Rasputin believed he truly possessed a supernatural healing ability or that his prayers to God saved the boy.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Gilliard, the French historian Hélène Carrère d'Encausse and Diarmuid Jeffreys, a journalist, speculated that Rasputin may have halted the administration of aspirin. This pain-relieving analgesic had been available since 1899 but would have worsened Alexei's condition. Because aspirin is an antiaggregant and has blood-thinning properties; it prevents clotting, and promotes bleeding which could have caused the hemarthrosis. The "anti-inflammatory drug" would have worsened Alexei's joints' swelling and pain. According to historian M. Nelipa, Robert K. Massie was correct to suggest that psychological factors play a part in the course of the disease.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: During World War I, he lived with his father at army headquarters in Mogilev for long stretches of time and observed military life. Alexei became one of the first Boy Scouts in Russia.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: In December 1916, Major-General Sir John Hanbury-Williams, head of the British military at Stavka, received word of the death of his son in action with the British Expeditionary Force in France. Tsar Nicholas sent twelve-year-old Alexei to sit with the grieving father. "Papa told me to come sit with you as he thought you might feel lonely tonight," Alexei told the general. Alexei, like all the Romanov men, grew up wearing sailor uniforms and playing at war from the time he was a toddler. His father began to prepare him for his future role as Tsar by inviting Alexei to sit in on long meetings with government ministers.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: During World War I, Alexei joined his father at Stavka, when his father became the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army in 1915. Alexei seemed to like military life very much and became very playful and energetic. In one of his father's notes to his mother, he said "[I] have come in from the garden with wet sleeves and boots as Alexei sprayed us at the fountain. It is his favorite game […] peals of laughter ring out. I keep an eye, in order to see that things do not go too far." Alexei even ate the soldiers' black bread, and refused when he was offered a meal that he would eat in his palace, saying "It's not what soldiers eat". In December 1915, Rasputin was invited to see Alexei when the 11-year-old boy was accidentally thrown against the window of a train and his nose began to bleed.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: In 1916, he was given the title of Lance Corporal, of which he was very proud. Alexei's favorites were the foreigners of Belgium, Britain, France, Japan, Italy, and Serbia, and in favor, adopted him as their mascot. Hanbury-Williams, whom Alexei liked, wrote: "As time went on and his shyness wore off he treated us like old friends and […] had always some bit fun with us. With me it was to make sure that each button on my coat was properly fastened, a habit which naturally made me take great care to have one or two unbuttoned, in which case he used to at once to stop and tell me that I was 'untidy again,' give a sigh at my lack of attention to these details and stop and carefully button me up again."


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: The imperial family was arrested following the February Revolution of 1917, which resulted in the abdication of Nicholas II. When he was in captivity at Tobolsk, Alexei complained in his diary that he was "bored" and begged God to have "mercy" on him. He was permitted to play occasionally with Kolya, the son of one of his doctors, and with a kitchen boy named Leonid Sednev. As he became older, Alexei seemed to tempt fate and injure himself on purpose. While in Siberia, he rode a sled down the stairs of the prison house and injured himself in the groin. The hemorrhage was very bad, and he was so ill that he could not be moved immediately when the Bolsheviks relocated his parents and older sister Maria to Yekaterinburg in April 1918. However, neither Nicholas II nor Empress Alexandra mention anything about a sledding accident in their diaries, and in fact primary resources such as letters of Empress Alexandra and the diaries of both Nicholas II and Alexandra state that the haemorrhage was caused by a coughing fit. On 30 March (12 April) 1918, Empress Alexandra recorded in her diary: 'Baby stays in bed as fr[om] coughing so hard has a slight haemorrhage in the abdom[en]. Every day from then onwards until her removal to Yekaterinburg, Alexandra recorded Alexei's condition in her diary. Alexei and his four other sisters joined the rest of the family weeks later. He was reliant on a wheelchair for the remaining weeks of his life.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: The Tsesarevich was murdered on 17 July 1918 aged 13 in the cellar room of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. The killings were carried out by forces of the Bolshevik secret police under Yakov Yurovsky. According to one account of the execution, the family was told to get up and get dressed in the middle of the night because they were going to be moved. Nicholas II carried Alexei to the cellar room. His mother asked for chairs to be brought so that she and Alexei could sit down. When the family and their servants were settled, Yurovsky announced that they were to be executed. The firing squad first killed Nicholas, the Tsarina, and the two male servants. Alexei remained sitting in the chair, "terrified," before the assassins turned on him and shot at him repeatedly. The boy remained alive and the killers tried to stab him multiple times with bayonets. "Nothing seemed to work," wrote Yurovsky later. "Though injured, he continued to live." Unbeknownst to the killing squad, the Tsarevich's torso was protected by a shirt wrapped in precious gems that he wore beneath his tunic. Finally Yurovsky fired two shots into the boy's head, and he fell silent.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: For decades (until all the bodies were found and identified, see below) conspiracy theorists suggested that one or more of the family somehow survived the slaughter. Several people claimed to be surviving members of the Romanov family following the assassinations. People who have pretended to be the Tsarevich include: Alexei Poutziato, Joseph Veres, Heino Tammet, Michael Goleniewski and Vassili Filatov. However, scientists considered it extremely unlikely that he escaped death, due to his lifelong hemophilia.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: On 23 August 2007, a Russian archaeologist announced the discovery of two burned, partial skeletons at a bonfire site near Yekaterinburg that appeared to match the site described in Yurovsky's memoirs. The archaeologists said the bones are from a boy who was roughly between the ages of twelve and fifteen years at the time of his death and of a young woman who was roughly between the ages of fifteen and nineteen years old.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Anastasia was seventeen years, one month old at the time of the assassination, while Maria was nineteen years, one month old. Alexei was two weeks shy of his fourteenth birthday. Alexei's elder sisters, Olga and Tatiana, were twenty-two and twenty-one years old, respectively, at the time of the assassination. Along with the remains of the two bodies, archaeologists found "shards of a container of sulfuric acid, nails, metal strips from a wooden box, and bullets of various caliber." The bones were found using metal detectors and metal rods as probes. Also, striped material was found that appeared to have been from a blue-and-white striped cloth; Alexei commonly wore a blue-and-white striped undershirt.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: On 30 April 2008, Russian forensic scientists announced that DNA testing had proven that the remains belong to the Tsarevich Alexei and the Grand Duchess Maria. DNA information, made public in July 2008, that was obtained from the Yekaterinburg site and repeated independent testing by laboratories such as the University of Massachusetts Medical School revealed that the final two missing Romanov remains were indeed authentic and that the entire Romanov family lived in the Ipatiev House. In March 2009, results of the DNA testing were published, confirming that the two bodies discovered in 2007 were those of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: The Romanov family had been canonized as holy martyrs in 1981 by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, which had developed among emigres after the Russian Revolution and the World Wars. After the decline of the Soviet Union, the government of Russia agreed with the Russian Orthodox Church to have the bodies of Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, and three of their daughters (which were found at the execution site) interred at St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg on 17 July 1998, eighty years after they were executed. In 2000, Alexei and his family were canonized as passion bearers by the Russian Orthodox Church.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: As noted, the remains of Alexei and Maria's (or Anastasia’s) bodies were found in 2008. As of 2015, Alexei's remains had not yet been interred with the rest of his family, as the Russian Orthodox Church has requested more DNA testing to ensure that his identity was confirmed.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei was the heir apparent to the Romanov Throne. Paul I had passed laws forbidding women to succeed to the throne (unless there were no legitimate male dynasts left, in which case, the throne would pass to the closest female relative of the last Tsar). He had established this rule in revenge for what he perceived to have been the illegal behavior of his mother, Catherine II ("the Great"), in deposing his father Peter III.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Nicholas II was forced to abdicate on . He did this in favour of his twelve-year-old son Alexei, who ascended the throne under a regency. Nicholas later decided to alter his original abdication. Whether that act had any legal validity is open to speculation. Nicholas consulted with doctors and others and realised that he would have to be separated from Alexei if he abdicated in favour of his son. Not wanting Alexei to be parted from the family in this crisis, Nicholas altered the abdication document in favour of his younger brother Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia. After receiving advice about whether his personal security could be guaranteed, Michael declined to accept the throne without the people's approval through an election held by the proposed Constituent Assembly. No such referendum was ever held.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Grigori Rasputin rose in political power because the Tsarina believed that he could heal Alexei's hemophilia, or his attacks. Rasputin advised the Tsar that the Great War would be won once he (Tsar Nicholas II) took command of the Russian Army. Following this advice was a serious mistake, as the Tsar had no military experience. The Tsarina, Empress Alexandra, a deeply religious woman, came to rely upon Rasputin and believe in his ability to help Alexei where conventional doctors had failed. Historian Robert K. Massie explored this theme in his book, "Nicholas and Alexandra".


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Massie contends that caring for Alexei seriously diverted the attention of his father, Nicholas II, and the rest of the Romanovs from the business of war and government.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Tsarevich Alexei Island (), later renamed Maly Taymyr, was named in honour of Alexei by the 1913 Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition led by Boris Vilkitsky on behalf of the Russian Hydrographic Service.


title: Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia

text: Alexei's diary, which was presumably kept by his tutors and relates his daily activities for January and February 1917, is written both in French and English and is preserved in the "Grand Duchess Kseniia Aleksandrovna Papers" collection in the Hoover Institution Archives (Stanford, California, USA).


title: Tokyo subway sarin attack

text: The was an act of domestic terrorism perpetrated on 20 March 1995, in Tokyo, Japan, by members of the cult movement Aum Shinrikyo. In five coordinated attacks, the perpetrators released sarin on three lines of the Tokyo Metro (then "Teito Rapid Transit Authority") during rush hour, killing 13 people, severely injuring 50 (some of whom later died), and causing temporary vision problems for nearly 1,000 others. The attack was directed against trains passing through Kasumigaseki and Nagatachō, where the Diet (Japanese parliament) is headquartered in Tokyo.


title: Tokyo subway sarin attack

text: The group, led by Shoko Asahara, had already carried out several assassinations and terrorist attacks using sarin, including the Matsumoto sarin attack nine months earlier. They had also produced several other nerve agents, including VX, and attempted to produce botulinum toxin and had perpetrated several failed acts of bioterrorism. Asahara had been made aware of a police raid scheduled for March 22 and had planned the Tokyo subway attack in order to hinder police investigations into the cult and perhaps spark the apocalypse they believed in. The leader also wanted to start a Third World War.


title: Tokyo subway sarin attack

text: In the raid following the attack, police arrested many senior members of the cult. Police activity continued throughout the summer, and over 200 members were arrested, including Asahara. Thirteen of the senior Aum management, including Asahara himself, were sentenced to death and later executed; many others were given prison sentences up to life. The attack remains the deadliest terrorist incident in Japan as defined by modern standards.


title: Tokyo subway sarin attack

text: Aum Shinrikyo was founded in 1984 as a yoga and meditation class, initially known as , by pharmacist Chizuo Matsumoto. The group believed in a doctrine revolving around a syncretic mixture of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, as well as Christian and Hindu beliefs, especially relating to the Hindu god Shiva. They believed Armageddon to be inevitable in the form of a global war involving the United States and Japan; that non-members were doomed to eternal hell, but could be saved if killed by cult members; and that only members of the cult would survive the apocalypse, and would afterwards build the Kingdom of Shambhala. In 1987, the group rebranded and established a New York branch; the following year, it opened a headquarters in Fujinomiya. Around this time, the mental health of Matsumoto (now going by the name Shoko Asahara) deteriorated – he developed a health anxiety and expressed suicidal views.


title: Tokyo subway sarin attack

text: In August 1989, the group was granted official religious corporation status by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, giving it privileges such as tax breaks and freedom from governmental oversight. This recognition caused dramatic growth, including an increase in net worth from less than 430 million yen to over 100 billion yen (approximately $5.6m to $1.1b in 2017 dollars) over the next six years, as well as an increase in membership from around 20 members to around 20,000 by 1992.