title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: Military airlifts were conducted for a number of purposes in subsequent decades, such as the peacekeeping operations in East Timor from 1999. Australia's combat aircraft were not used again in combat until the Iraq War in 2003, when 14 F/A-18s from No. 75 Squadron RAAF operated in the escort and ground attack roles, flying a total of 350 sorties and dropping 122 laser-guided bombs. A detachment of AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft were deployed in the Middle East between 2003 and 2012. These aircraft conducted maritime surveillance patrols over the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea in support of Coalition warships and boarding parties, as well as conducting extensive overland flights of Iraq and Afghanistan on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, and supporting counter-piracy operations in Somalia.


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: From 2007 to 2009, a detachment of No. 114 Mobile Control and Reporting Unit RAAF was on active service at Kandahar Airfield in southern Afghanistan.


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: Approximately 75 personnel deployed with the AN/TPS-77 radar assigned the responsibility to co-ordinate coalition air operations. A detachment of IAI Heron unmanned aerial vehicles has been deployed in Afghanistan since January 2010.


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: In late September 2014, an Air Task Group consisting of up to eight F/A-18F Super Hornets, a KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport, an E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control aircraft and 400 personnel was deployed to Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates as part of the coalition to combat Islamic State forces in Iraq. Operations began on 1 October. A number of C-17 and C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft based in the Middle East have also been used to conduct airdrops of humanitarian aid and to airlift arms and munitions since August.


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: In June 2017, two RAAF AP-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft were deployed to the southern Philippines in response to the Marawi crisis.


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: In 2021, the Royal Australian Air Force commemorated its 100th anniversary. Later that year, on 29 November, the Hornet was officially retired from RAAF service, with a ceremony to mark the occasion taking place that day at RAAF Base Williamtown.


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: In January 2022, two RAAF P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and one C-130J Hercules departed RAAF Amberley and Richmond to conduct aerial reconnaissance of Tonga in the wake of the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha'apai eruption and tsunami. According to Australian Defence News, the flights were to “help determine the extent of the damage [to Tongan infrastructure]… and inform future disaster support requests.”


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: As of June 2018, the RAAF had 14,313 permanent full-time personnel and 5,499 part-time active reserve personnel.


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: The RAAF established the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) in March 1941, which then became the Women's Royal Australian Air Force (WRAAF) in 1951. The service merged with the RAAF in 1977; however, all women in the Australian military were barred from combat-related roles until 1990. Women have been eligible for flying roles in the RAAF since 1987, with the RAAF's first women pilots awarded their "wings" in 1988. In 2016, the remaining restrictions on women in frontline combat roles were removed, and the first two female RAAF fast jet fighter pilots graduated in December 2017. Air Force has implemented several programs to assist women who choose a pilot career. Entry to the Graduate Pilot Scheme is open to women who are currently undertaking a Bachelor of Aviation (BAv). Once qualified, women pilots are able to access the Flying Females Mentoring Network. Men and women are required to undergo the same basic fitness tests to become a pilot; however the standards are lower for females. For some roles, the requirement cannot be adjusted for safety reasons.


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: The rank structure of the nascent RAAF was established to ensure that the service remained separate from the Army and Navy. The service's predecessors, the AFC and the AAC, had used the Army's rank structure. In November 1920 it was decided by the Air Board that the RAAF would adopt the structure adopted by the RAF the previous year. As a result, the RAAF's rank structure came to be: Aircraftman, Leading Aircraftman, Corporal, Sergeant, Flight Sergeant, Warrant Officer, Officer Cadet, Pilot Officer, Flying Officer, Flight Lieutenant, Squadron Leader, Wing Commander, Group Captain, Air Commodore, Air Vice-Marshal, Air Marshal, Air Chief Marshal, Marshal of the RAAF.


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: In 1922, the colour of the RAAF winter uniform was determined by Air Marshal Sir Richard Williams on a visit to the Geelong Wool Mill. He asked for one dye dip fewer than the RAN blue (three indigo dips rather than four). There was a change to a lighter blue when an all-seasons uniform was introduced in the 1970s. The original colour and style were re-adopted around 2005. Slip-on rank epaulettes, known as "Soft Rank Insignia" (SRI), displaying the word are worn on the shoulders of the service dress uniform. When not in the service dress or "ceremonial" uniform, RAAF personnel wear the General Purpose Uniform (GPU) as a working dress, which is a blue version of the Australian Multicam Pattern.


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: Originally, the air force used the red, white and blue roundel of the RAF. However, during the Second World War the inner red circle, which was visually similar to the Japanese "hinomaru", was removed after a No. 11 Squadron Catalina was mistaken for a Japanese aircraft and attacked by a Grumman Wildcat of VMF-212 of the United States Marine Corps on 27 June 1942. After the war, a range of options for the RAAF roundel was proposed, including the Southern Cross, a boomerang, a sprig of wattle, and a red kangaroo. On 2 July 1956, the current version of the roundel was formally adopted. This consists of a white inner circle with a red kangaroo surrounded by a royal blue circle. The kangaroo faces left, except when used on aircraft or vehicles, when the kangaroo should always face forward. Low visibility versions of the roundel exist, with the white omitted and the red and blue replaced with light or dark grey.


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: The RAAF badge was accepted by the Chester Herald in 1939. The badge is composed of the St Edward's Crown mounted on a circle featuring the words Royal Australian Air Force, beneath which scroll work displays the Latin motto "Per Ardua Ad Astra", which it shares with the Royal Air Force. Surmounting the badge is a wedge-tailed eagle. "Per Ardua Ad Astra" is attributed with the meaning "Through Adversity to the Stars" and is from Sir Henry Rider Haggard's novel "The People of the Mist".


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: The "Eagles of Australia" is the official march of the RAAF and is played as a quick march when the RAAF bands perform public duties in the capital. Composed by the RAAF's Director of Music, Squadron Leader Ron Mitchell (who was also director of the Air Force Band), it was officially adopted as the RAAF's new march music on 23 March 1983, replacing the Royal Air Force March Past, which had long been the RAAF's march as well as the marchpast of other Commonwealth air forces. Subsequently, journalist Frank Cranston wrote lyrics to the march and a musical score was produced by September of the following year.


title: Royal Australian Air Force

text: The Roulettes are the RAAF's formation aerobatic display team. They perform around Australia and South-east Asia, and are part of the RAAF Central Flying School (CFS) at RAAF Base East Sale, Victoria. The Roulettes use the Pilatus PC-21 and formations for shows are done in a group of six aircraft. The pilots learn many formations including loops, rolls, corkscrews, and ripple roles. Most of the performances are done at the low altitude of 500 feet (150 metres).


title: Salim Khan

text: Salim Abdul Rashid Khan (born 24 November 1935) is an Indian actor, film producer and screenwriter. As a screenwriter, he wrote the screenplays, stories and scripts for numerous Bollywood films. Khan is one half of the prolific screenwriting duo of Salim–Javed, along with Javed Akhtar. The duo were the first Indian screenwriters to achieve star status in Hindi cinema, and became the most successful Indian screenwriters of all time. While working together, Salim Khan was largely responsible for developing the stories and characters, while Javed Akhtar was largely responsible for developing the dialogues.


title: Salim Khan

text: Salim-Javed revolutionised Indian cinema in the 1970s, transforming and reinventing the Bollywood formula, pioneering the Bollywood blockbuster format, and pioneering genres such as the masala film and the Dacoit Western. Salim Khan was also responsible for creating the "angry young man" character archetype of Amitabh Bachchan. Their films are among the highest-grossing Indian films of all time, including "Sholay" (1975), the highest-grossing Indian film ever at the time, as well as films such as "Seeta Aur Geeta" (1972), "Zanjeer" (1973), "Deewaar" (1975), "Kranti" (1981), and the "Don" franchise. "Sholay" is also considered to be one of the greatest Indian films of all time.


title: Salim Khan

text: Khan is also known as the founder of the Salim Khan family, as the father of three Bollywood actors, Salman Khan (one of the big three Khans of Bollywood), Sohail Khan, and Arbaaz Khan, and film producer Alvira Khan Agnihotri. He is married to Sushila Charak (a.k.a. Salma Khan) and to actress Helen Richardson Khan. Salim Khan won six Filmfare Awards as part of Salim-Javed, and he was later awarded the Padma Shri in 2014.


title: Salim Khan

text: Salim Khan was born in the city of Balaghat in Indore State a princely state in British India (modern day Madhya Pradesh, India) into an affluent family. Khan's grandfather, Anwar Khan, was an Yusufzai Pashtun who migrated from Afghanistan to India in the mid-1800s and served in the cavalry of the British Indian Army.. Khan's family tended to look for employment in government service, and eventually settled in Indore.


title: Salim Khan

text: Salim Khan was the youngest child of his parents, both of whom died by the time he was 14 years old. His father, Abdul Rashid Khan, had joined the Indian Imperial Police and had risen to the rank of DIG-Indore, which was the highest police rank open to an Indian in British India. Salim's mother died when he was only nine years old. She had suffered from tuberculosis for four years before her death, and therefore it was forbidden for the younger children come close to her or hug her; Salim therefore had little contact with his mother even before her early death. His father also died in January 1950, when he was only fourteen years old. Two months later, in March 1950, Salim (who attended St. Raphaels' School in Indore) appeared for his matriculation examination. He did moderately well, and enrolled in Holkar College, Indore, and completed his BA. His elder brothers supported him with funds drawn from the family's substantial wealth, to the extent that he was given a car of his own while he was a college student. He excelled in sports, especially cricket, and it was for being a star cricketer that he was allowed by the college to enroll for a master's degree at the end of his bachelors. He was also a trained pilot. During these years, he also became enamored of films, and received encouragement from classmates, who told him that with his exceptional good looks, he should try to become a film star.


title: Salim Khan

text: Here, he was spotted by film director K. Amarnath, who was impressed by his good looks and offered him a supporting role in his forthcoming film "Baraat". He would be paid Rs.1000/- as a signing amount and a monthly salary of Rs.400/- for the period of shooting. Salim accepted and moved to Mumbai, living in a small rented apartment in Mahim. While "Baraat" was duly made and released in 1960, it did not do too well, and in any case, his role was a minor one.


title: Salim Khan

text: Working under the name Prince Salim, he got into the usual 'struggle' situation of wannabe actors, working in minor roles, being typecast as a good-looking supporting actor, and gradually descending into B-grade films. Over the next decade, he acted in what he calls “indifferent roles," playing minor characters in about two dozen films, but so minor were his appearances that his name does not appear on the credits of several of these films; his credits amount to a total of 14 films until 1970, and one final appearance in 1977. These included "Teesri Manzil" (1966), "Sarhaadi Lootera" (1966) and "Diwaana" (1967). His most substantial role, for which he did receive some notice, was in "Teesri Manzil", where his role as the hero's friend was a meaty one, and his entry scene got a very good build-up.


title: Salim Khan

text: After working in 25 films, he eventually understood that he "was not cut out to be an actor because I lacked the art of projection. But by then it was too late — how could I have gone back to Indore?" In the late 1960s, Salim Khan, who was struggling financially, decided to start shifting his focus away from acting and towards writing scripts, and continued to use the name Prince Salim. One of his more notable film scripts was "Do Bhai" (1969). He also began working with Abrar Alvi as a writing assistant.


title: Salim Khan

text: Salim met Javed Akhthar for first time during the making of the film "Sarhadi Lootera," which was to be Salim's last acting appearance. Javed, who served as a clapper boy when shooting began, was later made the dialogue writer for the film by director S.M. Sagar. Their friendship began while both were working in this film, and developed further because their bosses were neighbours to each other. Salim Khan got a job assisting writer/director Abrar Alvi in finalising screenplays and dialogues, while Javed Akhtar began assisting Kaifi Azmi in a similar capacity, with focus on honing poetry. Abrar Alvi and Kaifi Azmi were neighbours, and therefore Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar used to see a lot of each other. The duo hit it off well and formed a script-writing team that came to be known as Salim–Javed. Salim used to form stories and plots, whereas Javed used to develop the dialogues and occasionally the song-lyrics for those films. They used to brainstorm and come to conclusions regarding the final draft of the film.


title: Salim Khan

text: Rajesh Khanna is credited with giving them their first break as script writers. Javed Akhtar accepted in an interview that "One day, he (Rajesh Khanna) went to Salimsaab and said that Mr. Devar had given him a huge signing amount with which he could complete the payment for his bungalow Aashirwad. But the film was a remake [of "Deiva Cheyal"] and the script of the original was far from being satisfactory. He told us that if we could set right the script, he would make sure we got both money and credit." This was their first break as script-writers, and the film, "Haathi Mere Saathi," went on to become a big hit.


title: Salim Khan

text: The Salim–Javed duo were hired by G. P. Sippy to work for Sippy Films as resident screenwriters. They produced the screenplays for several successful films like Andaz, Seeta Aur Geeta, Sholay and Don. Their first big success was the script for "Andaz", followed by Adhikar (1971), "Haathi Mere Saathi" and "Seeta Aur Geeta" (1972). They also had hits in "Yaadon Ki Baaraat" (1973), "Zanjeer" (1973), Haath Ki Safai (1974), "Deewaar" (1975), "Sholay" (1975), Chacha Bhatija (1977), Don (1978), "Trishul" (1978), Dostana (1980), "Kranti" (1981), "Zamana" (1985) and "Mr. India" (1987). They have worked together in 24 films including two Kannada films – Premada Kanike and Raja Nanna Raja. Of the 24 films they wrote 20 were hits. The scripts they wrote but which were not successful at box office include Aakhri Dao (1975), Immaan Dharam (1977), Kaala Patthar (1979) and Shaan (1980). Though they split in 1982, due to ego issues, some of the scripts they wrote were made into films later like "Zamana" and "Mr. India" which became successful. Salim-Javed, many a time described as "the most successful scriptwriters of all-time", are also noted to be the first scriptwriters in Indian cinema to achieve star status.


title: Salim Khan

text: The Salim-Javed duo were also notable for causing several changes to be made in the way scriptwriters were perceived and treated within the Hindi film industry. Until the 1970s, there was no concept of having the same people write screenplay, story and dialogue. Nor were writers usually named in the credits of the film; junior, struggling writers in particular were simply paid and sent away. Salim-Javed changed this situation. Since their scripts were so successful, they had the power to make demands on film-makers. They not only insisted on being paid much more than what had been the norm until then, but also ensured that their name was on the film credits, and also that they were involved at many stages of the process, including screenplay and dialogues.


title: Salim Khan

text: While credited under the name "Salim-Javed", the screenplay of "Zanjeer" was almost entirely written by Salim Khan alone, before bringing Javed Akhtar on board and crediting it under the name "Salim-Javed". Salim Khan was also instrumental in launching the career of Amitabh Bachchan, who was a struggling actor before being discovered by Salim-Javed, who were impressed by his acting abilities and insisted on casting him in the lead roles for their films. Salim Khan was also personally responsible for introducing Bachchan to directors such as Prakash Mehra and Manmohan Desai.


title: Salim Khan

text: Salim Khan, after splitting, from Javed wrote script and dialogues for successful movies like "Angaaray" (1986), "Naam" (1986), "Kabzaa" (1988) and "Jurm" (1990). For "Angaaray", Rajesh Khanna asked director Rajesh Sethi to go to Salim Khan and rework on the script he had.


title: Salim Khan

text: Salim was not very active in films from 1996 as the fold he wrote like Akayla, Toofan and others between 1988 and 1996 flopped. He wrote scripts for thirteen films from 1983 to 1996, after his split with Javed Akhthar. These included "Majdhaar" and the hit film "Patthar Ke Phool" which starred his son Salman Khan. Other notable hits were the scripts for "Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya" and "Auzaar," both of which were produced by his youngest son Sohail Khan and starred Salman.


title: Salim Khan

text: His last unofficial partnership with Javed Akhtar was for the film "Baghban" (2003). Amitabh Bachchan requested to Javed Akhtar to write his final speech. Salman Khan, for his speech prior to that, requested to his father Salim Khan to write his speech. However, neither Salim Khan nor Javed Akhtar were credited.


title: Salim Khan

text: Khan is married to two women. His first marriage was to Salma Khan (born Sushila Charak), a Hindu, on 18 November 1964. Charak's father, Baldev Singh Charak, was a Hindu from Jammu, while her mother was Maharashtrian. Khan and Salma have four children together; three sons, Salman, Arbaaz and Sohail, and one daughter, Alvira. In 1981, Khan married actress Helen Richardson, a Christian whose father was Anglo-Indian and mother was Burmese. Some years later, they adopted a girl named Arpita, daughter of a homeless woman who died on a Mumbai footpath.


title: Salim Khan

text: Khan's eldest son, Salman, is one of the most commercially successful actors of Indian cinema. His other two sons, Arbaaz and Sohail, are also actors and film producers. His elder daughter Alvira is married to former actor and film-maker Atul Agnihotri, while his younger daughter Arpita is married to Aayush Sharma, grandson of Sukh Ram, a former Minister of Himachal Pradesh and long-time member of the Congress party. The couple had their first child, a boy, on 30 March 2016. His son, Salman Khan, describes him as a big fan of Kazi Nazrul Islam and is said to have read most of his poems.


title: Salim Khan

text: "Sholay" (1975) was ranked first in the British Film Institute's 2002 poll of "Top 10 Indian Films" of all time.


title: GZA

text: Gary Eldridge Grice (born August 22, 1966), better known by his stage names GZA ( ) and The Genius, is an American rapper and songwriter. A founding member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is the group's "spiritual head", being both the first member in the group to receive a record deal and being the oldest member. He has appeared on his fellow Wu-Tang members' solo projects, and has maintained a successful solo career starting with "Liquid Swords" (1995).


title: GZA

text: His lyrical style often dismisses typical rap story lines in favor of science and wide-ranging philosophies and has been characterized as "armed with sharp metaphors and a smooth flow". An analysis of GZA's lyrics found that he has the second largest vocabulary in popular hip hop music. He teamed up with an education group to promote science education in New York City through hip hop.


title: GZA

text: After he was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on August 22, 1966, Gary Grice developed an interest in hip-hop by attending block parties as a child in the early 1970s. He was involved in breakdance, graffiti, and DJing. Early on he developed an interest in writing, studying Mother Goose and nursery rhyme. In 1974–1976, before moving from Staten Island to Brooklyn, he listened to The Last Poets; however, he was attracted by profanity rather than content, and didn't understand the underlying messages until many years later. The Last Poets, as well as songs by The Isley Brothers, the Commodores, and the O'Jays had a big part in his early life, especially regarding the tone and cadence of speech. Later on, he began to listen to hip hop and R&B, for example by Secret Weapon and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. In 1982, Grice dropped out of high school in the tenth grade.


title: GZA

text: He formed a three-man group with his cousins, Robert Diggs and Russell Jones, who would later be known as RZA and Ol' Dirty Bastard. At the time he didn't like the sound of his voice. The group, FOI: Force of the Imperial Master, and later All in Together, saw the three rapping and DJing, switching names and performing local shows; since they lived in different boroughs, GZA and Ol' Dirty would travel from Brooklyn out to Staten Island to meet up with their cousin RZA, after which the three would travel across New York City and challenge other MCs to battles. He left school in the 10th grade, but nurtured his affection for science as he developed his skills as a lyricist.


title: GZA

text: After some years of this, GZA was signed to Cold Chillin' Records as a solo artist under the name The Genius. He released his debut album, "Words from the Genius" (1991), produced mostly by Easy Mo Bee, but after it failed to sell, as the label didn't promote it, and his rocky experience on tour, Grice became fed up and asked to be released from the label. The album's beat selection is similar to the classic boom-bap sound of the early 1990s, while the lyricism subject is the everyday situations of an individual living in the parts of New York. At the time he worked as a bicycle messenger.


title: GZA

text: In 1992, GZA joined the Wu-Tang Clan, a group of nine, formed by his cousin RZA. GZA had some high-profile appearances on the group's debut album, "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)" (1993), including a solo track, "Clan in da Front". This, combined with appearances on other Clan members' albums such as "" (1995) and "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..." (1995) brought him much recognition. According to Method Man, "we form like Voltron and GZA happens to be the head".


title: GZA

text: These guest appearances were followed up in 1995 with GZA's second studio album, "Liquid Swords", produced and recorded entirely in the basement studio by RZA, with the participation of all original Clan members. It was released on November 7 by Geffen Records. The album's complex composition included dialogue sampled from the film "Shogun Assassin". The album was met with positive reviews and sold well. It is considered to be one of the best albums from the Wu-Tang camp. It peaked at the #9 spot on the Billboard 200 chart and #2 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart. On October 8, 2015, the Recording Industry Association of America announced that the album had earned a Platinum certification for having sold more than 1 million copies. It became the first Wu-Tang-related album to get certified since 2004, when Method Man and Ghostface Killah both earned plaques. In addition, he directed music videos for four album singles.


title: GZA

text: After appearing on the Wu-Tang Clan's second album, "Wu-Tang Forever" (1997), his third studio album "Beneath the Surface" was released by MCA Records in 1999. The album and its singles "Crash Your Crew" and "Breaker, Breaker" met with critical acclaim. The album earned a Gold certification by RIAA, peaked at #9 on the Billboard 200 chart, and topped the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.


title: GZA

text: In 2000 the single Ich lebe für Hip Hop was released with DJ Tomekk and placed 11th in the German charts.


title: GZA

text: In 2002, a sequel to his second solo album was released, "Legend of the Liquid Sword". It was well-received by critics, yet did not sell well and failed to go Gold. GZA spent 2004 touring, both solo and with the Clan, and made an appearance with RZA in Jim Jarmusch's film "Coffee and Cigarettes", opposite Bill Murray. The two also appeared on the Chappelle Show's skits "Wu Tang Financial" and "Racial Draft".


title: GZA

text: In 2005, GZA and DJ Muggs (the producer for hip-hop group Cypress Hill) released collaboration album "Grandmasters". Muggs provided all the production for the album, which saw GZA using chess as a metaphor for the rap game, with most of the songs having a chess-themed title.


title: GZA

text: In the summer of 2008, his fifth solo studio album "Pro Tools" was released by Babygrande Records. It featured production from Black Milk and Jay "Waxxx" Garfield, RZA, Mathematics and True Master. A very controversial song on the album was entitled "Paper Plates", a smooth flowing response aimed at rival rapper 50 Cent. After the release, GZA toured various parts of Europe on a "Liquid Swords Tour", where he performed songs from "Liquid Swords" as well as "Pro Tools". He later toured parts of the US.


title: GZA

text: In 2010, he spoke at Harvard University, and since then has visited, among others, MIT, Oxford, USC, NYU, Cornell, where he met with scientists such as David Kaiser and Sallie W. Chisholm to seek inspiration. In 2012, he talked "hip-hop and science" with Neil deGrasse Tyson.


title: GZA

text: To improve science education in New York City and beyond in late 2012, with the assistance of Columbia University's professor Christopher Emdin and website Rap Genius, he began work on a pilot program called Science Genius B.A.T.T.L.E.S. (Bringing Attention to Transforming, Teaching and Learning Science). This initiative motivates young high school students, especially African-American and Latino students, who together make up 70 percent of New York City's student body, to learn science through hip hop, creating scientific raps and engaging in a rap competition.


title: GZA

text: In the meantime, he continued to work on a related, new studio album called "Dark Matter", which is based on a journey through spacetime, universe and physics. In late 2015, GZA canceled European tour dates to focus on working on the album with composer Vangelis. It is planned to be one in a series of albums related to Earth, with the following conceived around oceans. GZA hinted that the albums will be without parental advisory, profanity and nudity.


title: GZA

text: In February 2015, GZA released a single "The Mexican" (a cover of Babe Ruth's song), featuring guitarist Tom Morello and singer Kara Lane. They performed the song live along with The Roots on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon". On June 30, 2016, he released a new space-themed track, "The Spark", produced by Paul Ryder, for NASA's project "Destination: Jupiter", in celebration of the agency's ongoing "Juno Mission".


title: GZA

text: In 2020, GZA provided a voice role in Netflix's "Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts" as Bad Billions, and contributed a song to the series.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: John Randall Hennigan (born October 3, 1979) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name John Morrison. He is best known for his time in WWE, Impact Wrestling and Lucha Underground. Hennigan currently makes appearances for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide as Johnny Caballero, as well as the independent circuit under various ring names.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: After winning "Tough Enough III" (a WWE reality TV competition show that awarded winners a wrestling contract with the company), Hennigan was assigned to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling. WWE promoted Hennigan to its SmackDown! roster in April 2005 under the ring name Johnny Nitro; winning the WWE Tag Team Championship with Joey Mercury in his first match on the show. Hennigan has also held main event roles in several promotions outside of WWE, including "lucha libre" promotions Lucha Underground and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide as Johnny Mundo, and in Impact Wrestling as Johnny Impact.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Hennigan has won the ECW World Championship, AAA Mega Championship, Impact World Championship, and Lucha Underground Championship once each. In WWE, he also held the Intercontinental Championship three times, and was a six-time tag team champion. In "lucha libre", Hennigan was a central fixture in all four seasons of Lucha Underground, and was AAA's first-ever triple champion, holding the AAA Mega Championship, AAA Latin American Championship, and AAA World Cruiserweight Championship simultaneously. He has headlined multiple major events for WWE and Impact, including the latter company's flagship event, Bound for Glory, in 2017 and 2018.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Outside of wrestling, Hennigan has also worked in the film and television industry. In film, he has mainly worked as an actor, producer and stuntman. He also competed as a contestant on the of the competitive reality show "Survivor".


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: John Randall Hennigan was born on October 3, 1979, in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Palos Verdes Peninsula, where he attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. He graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2002, where he studied film and geology.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: After graduating college with a degree in film and geology and deciding that he did not want to pursue either path, Hennigan began his professional wrestling career training at the Supreme Pro Wrestling school in Sacramento, California. After failing his audition for "Tough Enough 2", a competition in which the winner earned a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) contract, he was accepted as a cast member for "Tough Enough III" in 2002, eventually becoming the co-winner with Matt Cappotelli. For winning, Hennigan was awarded a developmental contract and assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), to continue his training. Hennigan competed in Acolytes Protection Agency's invitational Bar Room Brawl match on July 27, 2003, at Vengeance. Hennigan and Cappotelli made an appearance on an episode of "Heat" in January 2004, losing to Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak. In March 2004, Hennigan, going by the ring name "Johnny Superstar", turned on Cappotelli, establishing himself as a heel.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On the March 1, 2004 episode of "Raw", Hennigan debuted on the main roster as a heel under the ring name "Johnny Blaze". His gimmick was that he was the apprentice and assistant of the Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff. The next week his name was changed to "Johnny Spade", and three weeks after that it was changed to "Johnny Nitro". The Nitro name, which finally stuck, was a reference to "WCW Monday Nitro", the flagship show of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) for which Bischoff had previously worked, using the "Nitro" theme as his ring entrance music. Nitro acted as Bischoff's apprentice and assistant until June, when he was sent back to OVW. To explain his departure, Nitro lost a match on the June 7 episode of "Raw" against Eugene, which carried the stipulation that upon his loss, he also lost his job, but was actually returned to OVW.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Upon his return to OVW, Nitro was put into a feud with Matt Cappotelli. During the course of the feud, Melina was brought into the company as Nitro's ex-girlfriend and an ally of Cappotelli, only to turn on him and side with Nitro. Not long after, Nitro and Melina were joined by Joey Mercury, forming the stable MNM. MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, holding the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship once, before losing the titles to Cappotelli and Johnny Jeter in January 2005. They were soon called up to the main SmackDown! brand in April that same year.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: In their debut match on the main roster, MNM won the WWE Tag Team Championship from Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio on the April 21 episode of "SmackDown!". MNM held the titles for three months, having successful defenses against the teams of Guerrero and Mysterio, and Charlie Haas and Hardcore Holly on May 22 at Judgment Day, before dropping them to the Legion of Doom on July 24 at The Great American Bash. They won the titles again on the October 28 episode of "SmackDown!" in a four-way match defeating Legion of Doom, The Mexicools, and William Regal and Paul Burchill, but lost them to Rey Mysterio and Batista on the December 16 episode of "SmackDown!" two days before Armageddon. Due to help from Mark Henry, MNM defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on the December 30 episode of "SmackDown!" to win the championship for the third time. They began a rivalry with the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick that lasted over three months, until they dropped the championship to London and Kendrick at Judgment Day on May 21, 2006, with the storyline leading to Nitro and Melina suddenly turning on Mercury after the match, breaking up the group. Melina and Nitro left the SmackDown! brand by losing their jobs in kayfabe.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: The next week, Nitro, along with Melina, debuted on the Raw brand in a loss to WWE Champion John Cena. Nitro was immediately placed in the Intercontinental Championship picture, and at Vengeance on June 25, he defeated champion Shelton Benjamin in a triple threat match also involving Carlito to win the title. Nitro held the championship for four months, retaining against Jeff Hardy on September 17 at Unforgiven, before losing the title back to Hardy on the October 2 episode of "Raw". Nitro recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Hardy on the November 6 episode of "Raw", but lost it back to Hardy on the following week's "Raw". Also around this time, Nitro entered into a partnership with rapper Kevin Federline, with the duo antagonizing and beginning a rivalry with WWE Champion John Cena. Federline was then, in storyline, trained by Nitro for a match with Cena, which he won after interference from Umaga.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: MNM reunited on the November 27 episode of "Raw" to accept an open challenge from The Hardys (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy) at December to Dismember on December 3, a match that they lost. MNM and The Hardys feuded across the brands throughout the month, with the two teams competing in a four-way ladder match for the WWE Tag Team Championship at Armageddon on December 17 also involving Brian Kendrick and Paul London and Dave Taylor and William Regal, which MNM failed to win. Nitro challenged Jeff Hardy for the Intercontinental Championship in a steel cage match at New Year's Revolution on January 7, 2007, but lost. MNM lost to The Hardys at the Royal Rumble on January 28, and again at No Way Out on February 18, which ended the feud. MNM disbanded as a team when Mercury was released from WWE in March 2007.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: After Mercury's departure, Nitro also ended his association with Melina. Nitro was placed in a tag team with Kenny Dykstra, until the 2007 WWE draft, during which Nitro was drafted to the ECW brand. Nitro made his debut for the brand on the June 19 episode of "ECW", with a win over Nunzio, and few days later, on June 24, at , he won the vacant ECW World Championship by defeating CM Punk, replacing the absent Chris Benoit due to his double-murder suicide. A few weeks after winning the title, Nitro was repackaged as John Morrison, a reference to musician Jim Morrison, to whom Hennigan bears a strong physical resemblance. Morrison retained the title against Punk at The Great American Bash on July 22, and on August 26 at SummerSlam. Punk would again challenge for the championship on the September 4 episode of "ECW", in which Morrison lost the championship to Punk, ending his reign at 69 days. Morrison was then suspended for thirty days for violating WWE's Wellness Program, renewing his feud with Punk upon his return, as well as competing against The Miz for the number one contendership to the title.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Though rivals, Morrison and The Miz faced the dysfunctional tag team of Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter on the November 16 episode of "SmackDown!" for the WWE Tag Team Championship in a winning effort, marking Morrison's fourth WWE Tag Team Championship reign. At Survivor Series two days later, Morrison and The Miz were both defeated by CM Punk in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship. After the defeat, the rivalry aspect of Morrison and Miz's relationship faded, as they were now portrayed as trusting friends. Morrison competed in the 2008 Royal Rumble match on January 27, but failed to win after being eliminated by Kane. In February 2008, Morrison and Miz were given a streaming segment on WWE.com named "The Dirt Sheet" in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture. Morrison and Miz co-wrote each episode of "The Dirt Sheet" each week, and Morrison credits his time in college studying film with contributing to the success of the show. On March 30 at WrestleMania XXIV, Morrison competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by CM Punk. Despite being unsuccessful, Morrison had a standout performance in the match, in which he performed a moonsault from the top rope to the outside of the ring while holding onto a ladder.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Morrison and Miz retained the titles against Kane and CM Punk at Judgment Day on May 18 and Finlay and Hornswoggle at Night of Champions on June 29, before dropping the titles to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder on July 20 at The Great American Bash in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus. Neither Morrison nor Miz were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles. Afterwards, they started a feud with Cryme Tyme (JTG and Shad) through each team's Internet show, which then transitioned to matches on "Raw" and on October 26 at Cyber Sunday. After winning the Slammy Award for Best WWE.com exclusive earlier in the day, Morrison and Miz won the "Tag Team of the Year" Slammy Award on December 8, 2008 episode of "Raw". On December 13, Morrison and Miz won the World Tag Team Championship from CM Punk and Kofi Kingston at a live event.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Morrison and Miz engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo), who were the reigning WWE Tag Team Champions, which resulted in both teams defending their respective championships successfully in separate matches. Their feud culminated in a tag team lumberjack match where both titles were on the line at the WrestleMania 25, but it was The Colóns who would unify the championships with a win. On April 13, as part of the 2009 WWE draft, The Miz was drafted to the Raw brand to split up the team, and as a result, Miz attacked Morrison.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On April 15, Morrison was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. On the April 17 episode of "SmackDown", he defeated R-Truth. On the May 1 episode of "SmackDown", Morrison engaged in a backstage fight with Chris Jericho after Jericho slapped him, turning face in the process for the first time in his career. Later that same night, Morrison defeated Shelton Benjamin, beginning a feud between the two. On the May 7 episode of "Superstars", Morrison lost a match to Jericho after a distraction by Benjamin. Morrison continued to score victories over Benjamin in singles and tag team matches before defeating him on May 17 at Judgment Day. During this time, Morrison would soon become wildly popular with fans. On the June 19 episode of "SmackDown", Morrison lost a critically acclaimed match against Edge, in which the commentators described it as a "third main event". On the July 31 episode of "SmackDown", Morrison had his first World Heavyweight Championship match against Jeff Hardy, but failed to win the title.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On the September 4 episode of "SmackDown", Morrison defeated Rey Mysterio to win his third Intercontinental Championship. Morrison then began a feud with Dolph Ziggler, retaining the title against Ziggler on October 4 at Hell in a Cell, and again on the following episode of "SmackDown". The feud between Morrison and Ziggler continued throughout the next month, with the two wrestling to a double countout for the Intercontinental Championship on the November 13 episode of "SmackDown" and Morrison retaining the championship in a two-out-of-three falls match the following week to end the feud. At Bragging Rights on October 25, Morrison lost to his former tag team partner then-United States Champion The Miz in an interbrand Champion vs. Champion match. Their rivalry continued after both were announced as opposing team captains for Survivor Series on November 22, where Miz's team defeated Morrison's team. Morrison then went on to feud with newcomer Drew McIntyre, who defeated Morrison in a non-title match on the December 4 episode of "SmackDown", thus earning a championship opportunity against Morrison. At on December 13, Morrison lost the Intercontinental Championship to McIntyre, ending his reign at 103 days. Morrison later won an Elimination Chamber qualifying match and participated in the Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship on February 21, 2010, but was eliminated by The Undertaker. On the March 5 episode of "SmackDown", Morrison teamed with R-Truth to defeat Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty to earn a Unified WWE Tag Team Championship match against ShoMiz (Big Show and The Miz). At WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, they failed to win the championship.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On April 26, Morrison was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2010 WWE draft, and lost his first match back for the brand later that night to Jack Swagger. In his final match on "SmackDown", he lost to Cody Rhodes. On June 1, Morrison announced that he would be mentoring Eli Cottonwood in the second season of "NXT". Cottonwood, however, was the second person eliminated from the competition, and was eliminated on the July 27 episode of "NXT". Morrison then went on to participate in the main event of SummerSlam on August 15, in which he and six teammates (John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, R-Truth, and Daniel Bryan) were victorious in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus. In October, Morrison began a feud with Sheamus after he helped Santino Marella earn an upset win during a one-sided match against Sheamus. Within the following weeks, Morrison continued to save Marella from attacks by Sheamus. At Survivor Series on November 21, Morrison defeated Sheamus. Morrison entered the 2010 edition of the King of the Ring tournament, defeating Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio but lost to Sheamus in the final round. He continued to feud with Sheamus and defeated him in a WWE Championship number one contender's ladder match at on December 19. Morrison received his WWE Championship match on the January 3, 2011 episode of "Raw", but lost to reigning champion The Miz in a falls count anywhere match. Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match at Royal Rumble on January 30, 2011 and despite not winning, he had a stand-out moment which was praised by critics as "arguably the spot of the decade" when Morrison was knocked off of the ring apron and performed a cat leap onto the barricade to avoid having his feet touch the floor and then went on to precision jump onto the ring steps and re-enter the ring. On February 20, Morrison participated in the Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber, but was eliminated by CM Punk. During the match, Morrison climbed to the top of the cage while inside the cage before dropping to deliver a crossbody on and eliminate Sheamus. At WrestleMania XXVII on April 3, Morrison, Trish Stratus and "Jersey Shore" guest star Snooki defeated Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool) in a mixed tag team match.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On the April 11 episode of "Raw", Morrison participated in a five-man gauntlet match for the #1 contender's spot for the WWE Championship, but was eliminated by R-Truth. The next week on "Raw", Morrison challenged R-Truth to a match with the stipulation that if Morrison won, he would take Truth's place in the steel cage match at Extreme Rules. Truth accepted and lost the match, making Morrison the new #1 contender. After the match, Truth viciously attacked Morrison. At Extreme Rules on May 1, R-Truth interfered in the WWE Championship steel cage match, attacking Morrison to prevent him from winning the match. The next night on "Raw", Morrison was attacked by Truth again, prior to a scheduled match between the two which did not happen as a result. Morrison then underwent surgery to correct a legitimately pinched nerve in his neck. Morrison initially returned on the June 13 episode of "Raw", but Truth attacked him again prior to their scheduled match, re-injuring him. Morrison returned again on the July 25 episode of "Raw", attacking R-Truth. At SummerSlam on August 14, Morrison, Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio defeated R-Truth, Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. The following night on "Raw", Morrison defeated R-Truth in a falls count anywhere match to end their feud. At Night of Champions on September 18, Morrison competed in a fatal four-way match for the United States Championship, also involving Alex Riley, Dolph Ziggler, and Jack Swagger, with Ziggler retaining his title. Morrison then challenged Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship at Hell in a Cell on October 2, but failed to win the title. Following this, Morrison went on a losing streak, lasting a number of weeks. On the November 7 episode of "Raw", Morrison picked up his first victory in three months, defeating United States Champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. Morrison challenged Ziggler for the championship at Survivor Series on November 20 but lost.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: In his last advertised WWE appearance on the November 28 episode of "Raw", Morrison faced The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match; Miz won the match by delivering the Skull-Crushing Finale on the steel entrance stage, giving Morrison a kayfabe injury. This was used to write Morrison off television, even being stretchered out of the arena after the match. On November 29, WWE acknowledged the end of Morrison's contract, and moved his profile to the alumni section of its website. In a video published on December 9, 2011, via Hennigan's personal YouTube channel, Hennigan claimed that he was taking time off to heal and retrain for a possible return to wrestling in the future. In 2015, Hennigan revealed on Stone Cold Steve Austin's podcast that WWE wanted him to sign another multi-year contract, but due to a neck injury, residual pain, and creative frustrations, he decided to not renew his contract, wanting "more control over [his] time".


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: After leaving WWE, Hennigan began wrestling on the independent circuit under his real name, as well as his previous ring name John Morrison. On his first post-WWE wrestling appearance, Hennigan rekindled an old feud, facing off against Shelton Benjamin in the main event of the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012. Hennigan won the match to become the inaugural WWFX Heavyweight Champion. On August 12, 2012, Hennigan appeared at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's Bloodymania 6 event, defeating Matt Hardy and Breyer Wellington in a three-way match. On January 25, 2013, Morrison appeared at Dragon Gate USA's Open the Golden Gate, defeating Akira Tozawa in the main event of the show. Hennigan took part in the WrestleMania weekend, wrestling for the Pro Wrestling Syndicate. On April 4, Hennigan defeated Elijah Burke and on April 5, Morrison defeated Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger in an "International Dream Match" at a Pro Wrestling Syndicate (PWS) event.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On June 21, 2013, Hennigan defeated Carlito Caribbean Cool in FWE Welcome to the Rumble II, winning the FWE Heavyweight Championship. The next day, Hennigan defended the title against Too Cold Scorpio at House of Hardcore 2. On October 12, 2013, at FWE Grand Prix, Hennigan defeated Matt Morgan, retaining the FWE Heavyweight Championship. On March 11, 2015, Hennigan lost the FWE Heavyweight Championship to A.J. Styles.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On June 28, 2016, it was announced that Hennigan would make his debut for Pro Wrestling Guerilla in the company's annual Battle of Los Angeles tournament. He won his match against Matt Sydal in the first round, but was eliminated by Ricochet in the quarter-finals.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On January 28, 2017, Morrison won a tournament at a 5 Star Wrestling event for the 5 Star Wrestling Championship, defeating Moose, Drew Galloway, and Rey Mysterio to win the title. On February 8, 2018, he lost the title against Jake Hager after over a year as champion.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On September 22, Morrison reunited with former MNM tag team partner Joey Mercury after ten years, defeating Reno Scum.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: In September 2014, it was reported that Hennigan had signed with the El Rey network's new television series, "Lucha Underground", where he wrestled under the ring name Johnny Mundo. Mundo wrestled in the main event of the debut episode of "Lucha Underground" on October 29, 2014, defeating Prince Puma and winning one hundred thousand dollars, which was then taken away from him by promoter Dario Cueto, setting up several feuds. He then teamed with Prince Puma during the November 5, 2014 episode, defeating Cortez Castro and Mr. Cisco. On the November 19 episode, Mundo defeated Big Ryck by disqualification after interference by Castro and Cisco. Mundo then defeated Prince Puma and Big Ryck in the main event of the December 10, 2014 episode, which was a three-way ladder match, to finally win the hundred thousand dollars he was denied in the "Lucha Underground" debut.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On January 7, 2015, Mundo participated in a 20-man "Aztec Warfare" battle royal for the Lucha Underground Championship. He was the second "luchador" to enter the ring, but was the last man eliminated by Prince Puma who won the Championship. King Cuerno attacked Mundo on the February 4 episode, beginning a feud between them; the second installment took place on the episode which aired March 11, where Mundo and Cuerno wrestled in a Steel Cage match, which was won by Mundo. On May 13, Mundo turned into a villain when he attacked Alberto El Patrón in his match against Hernandez, throwing him through the window of Dario Cueto's office. Mundo subsequently tossed El Patrón back into the ring, giving Hernandez the win. On the June 17, episode of "Lucha Underground", Johnny Mundo unsuccessfully challenged Prince Puma for the Lucha Underground Championship in an Iron Man match. On August 5, 2015, at "Ultima Lucha", Mundo defeated Alberto El Patrón after an interference by his girlfriend Melina Perez.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On the February 3, 2016 episode of "Lucha Underground", Mundo faced Killshot in a winning effort. After the match, Mundo taunted Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes, only to be confronted by Cage. Mundo defeated Cage on February 24, after interference from the debuting Taya, subsequently becoming Mundo's valet. On the May 25 episode of "Lucha Underground", Taya revealed to P. J. Black and Jack Evans that their partner Fénix was injured by Mundo. As Mundo revealed himself as Fénix's replacement for their match, Black and Evans allied with the two. Later that night in the main event, Mundo, Black and Evans defeated Rey Mysterio Jr., Prince Puma and Dragon Azteca Jr. to win the Lucha Underground Trios Championship, the first championship for each in "Lucha Underground". The week after, Mundo, Black and Evans, now collectively billed as Worldwide Underground, retained their championships in a rematch via disqualification. Worldwide Underground lost their titles to Aero Star, Drago and Fénix at the third and final part Ultima Lucha Dos, which aired on July 20.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On the October 26 episode of "Lucha Underground", Mundo defeated Sexy Star to win the Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship after he knocked out Sexy Star with brass knuckles while the referee was unaware. On the November 23 episode of "Lucha Underground", he cashed in his Gift of the Gods Championship on Sexy Star before defeating her to win the Lucha Underground Championship, becoming the second Triple Crown Champion in Lucha Underground history. On the December 21 episode of "Lucha Underground", Mundo successfully defended his championship in a rematch against Sexy Star inside a steel cage. He lost the title to Prince Puma at "Ultima Lucha Tres".


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Mundo made his return on the fourth season's premiere, competing in Aztec Warfare entering at number 11. Mundo eliminated Ricky Mundo and Daga before getting eliminated by Marty Martinez and being attacked by the Reptile Tribe. On November 17, 2018, Mundo wrestled on the final episode of Lucha Underground, "Ultima Lucha Cuatro", defeating Matanza Cueto in a Sacrifice to the Gods match.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On May 24, 2015, Mundo made his debut for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA) at the Lucha Libre World Cup event representing Lucha Underground as a member of "Team TNA/Lucha Underground" alongside TNA wrestlers Matt Hardy and Mr. Anderson. They finished in second place, losing in the finals to the "Dream Team" (El Patrón Alberto, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio Jr.).


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On June 4, 2015 in the main event of Verano de Escándalo, Mundo established himself as a "rudo" (or villain) and teamed with El Mesias and Pentagón Jr. losing to Myzteziz, La Parka and Rey Mysterio Jr. On September 27, Konnan announced Mundo as an official member of the "rudo" stable, "La Sociedad", while he subsequently stepped down as the leader of the group. On October 4, at Héroes Inmortales IX, Mundo unsuccessfully challenged El Patrón Alberto for the AAA Mega Championship, when he was defeated by disqualification. After Alberto left AAA, Mundo was scheduled to face Rey Mysterio Jr. for the vacant AAA Mega Championship at "Guerra de Titanes", but after the matches of the event were officially announced, neither Mundo nor Mysterio were featured for the event. Mundo participated in the 2016 Lucha Libre World Cup as a member of "Team Lucha Underground" alongside Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Brian Cage, defeating "Team Mexico Leyendas" (Blue Demon Jr., Canek, and La Parka) in the quarter-finals, and "Team Mexico International" (Rey Mysterio Jr., Dr. Wagner Jr., and Dragon Azteca Jr.) in the semi-finals. Mundo's team won the tournament defeating "Team AAA" (Pentagón Jr., El Texano Jr. and Psycho Clown) in the finals.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: After adopting an "anti-Mexico" attitude and teaming with El Mesías and Hernandez to defeat El Texano Jr., El Hijo del Fantasma and Pentagón Jr., Mundo challenged the latter to a match at Triplemanía XXIV for the AAA Latin American Championship, to which Pentagón accepted. At the event, on August 28, Mundo defeated Pentagón to win the Latin American Championship, marking his first championship in AAA and becoming the first non-Mexican to hold the title. On October 2 in the main event of "Héroes Inmortales X", Mundo successfully defended his title against Garza Jr. On March 19, 2017, at "Rey de Reyes", Mundo defeated El Texano Jr. and El Hijo del Fantasma in a three-way match to not only retain the Latin American Championship, but to also win Texano's AAA Mega Championship and Fantasma's AAA World Cruiserweight Championship. In his first AAA Mega Championship defense, on June 30, Mundo successfully retained his title against Texano.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: In July 2017, Mundo and his fiancée Kira Forster, known as Taya, were involved in controversy with AAA and its Director of Talent Vampiro, which led to Taya's departure from the company. According to "Wrestling Observer", AAA asked Mundo to turn in Taya's Reina de Reinas Championship for a photo shoot the day prior to an event on July 1. A few weeks later, Vampiro addressed to the live crowd that Forster was stripped of the title due to not appearing to defend her title, despite not being scheduled to appear.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On August 26, at Triplemanía XXV, Mundo successfully defended his three championships against Fantasma and Texano in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. On October 1 at "Héroes Inmortales" XI, Mundo wrestled in three matches, retaining the Mega Championship against Rey Wagner, but losing the Latin American Championship to Fantasma in the annual Copa Antonio Peña battle royal, and the World Cruiserweight Championship to Lanzelot in a ten-way match, ending his triple championship reign at 196 days.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On January 26, 2018 at Guerra de Titanes, Mundo lost the AAA Mega Championship to Rey Wagner, ending his reign at 314 days.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: In August 2017, despite not being signed to the promotion at the time, Hennigan appeared for Impact Wrestling at some live events. On August 17, a video package was shown at Destination X revealing his ring name as Johnny Impact. His first feud in the promotion was with Eli Drake, when Impact made his televised in-ring debut on the August 24 episode of "Impact!", participating in a Gauntlet for the Gold match for the vacant Global Championship, but was eliminated by eventual winner Eli Drake. Impact would face Drake for the title at Victory Road on September 28 and Bound for Glory on November 5, where he failed to win the title. Since the Bound for Glory match ended after Alberto El Patrón made an interference, Impact, Alberto and Drake had a three-way Last Chance Six Sides of Steel match on the January 25, 2018 episode of "Impact!", where Drake retained the title.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: After Drake lost the renamed Impact World Championship to Austin Aries, Impact began pursuit of Aries's championship, facing him at Crossroads special on March 8, where he lost again. On the April 19 episode of "Impact!", Johnny Impact was attacked and injured by Kongo Kong, which was performed to write him off television in order to film for reality television show "Survivor". Impact returned at Slammiversary XVI on July 22, when he won a four-way match against Fenix, Taiji Ishimori, and Petey Williams.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Impact began a feud with the Impact World Champion Austin Aries, which led to a match at Bound for Glory. As the PPV moved closer, the feud started to blur the lines between a work (something scripted) and shoot (something real), beginning with the two wrestlers trading insults on Twitter that they appeared to take personal, with Aries later deleting many of his tweets. Specifically, Impact mocked Aries' short stature and the champion responded by making fun of his wife's weight. Aries and Impact both alleged in the media that they authentically took issue with comments. TMZ Live also pushed the angle "like [it] was a shoot". The two wrestlers got in a brawl the night before Bound for Glory during Abyss's Impact Hall of Fame induction. At the event on October 14, Impact defeated Aries to win the Impact World Championship. Throughout the following weeks, Impact successfully defended his title against Fénix, Killer Kross, and Matt Sydal. At Homecoming on January 6, 2019, Impact defeated Brian Cage to retain his championship.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: During the February tapings for Impact Wrestling, Impact defended his title in a four-way contest involving Killer Kross, Moose and Brian Cage. Impact hit his finisher on Moose, barely seconds prior to Cage hitting his "Drill Claw" finisher on Killer Kross. As Impact was able to cover his opponent first the referee was able to provide the count and therefore Impact won the match as Brian Cage went to cover his opponent. On the March 15 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Impact's wife Taya Valkyrie would low blow Cage, which allowed Impact to attack Cage, turning into a villain. At United We Stand on April 4, Impact won a five-way Ultimate X match to become the number one contender for the Impact X Division Championship. Throughout April, Impact successfully defended his title from Cage, often with interferences from Valkyrie and former referee John E Bravo. At Rebellion on April 28, Impact, accompanied by Valkyrie and Bravo, lost the title to Cage in a match where Lance Storm was special guest referee; this left Impact's reign to end at 196 days, leaving it the longest reign since Bobby Roode's 2011–2012 reign, and therefore the longest reign in seven years, as well as the third-longest reign in history.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On the May 31 episode of "Impact Wrestling", Impact challenged X Division Champion Rich Swann to a title match at Slammiversary XVII. Later that night, he teamed with Michael Elgin to face Swann and Willie Mack in a tag team match, in which Swann pinned Impact. At Slammiversary XVII on July 7, Impact lost to Swann. On July 8, Pro Wrestling Insider reported that Hennigan's contract with Impact Wrestling had expired several weeks prior to the event, and the two sides agreed to have Hennigan work until Slammiversary.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On September 26, 2019, it was reported by Mike Johnson of "Pro Wrestling Insider" that Hennigan had re-signed with WWE, which was officially confirmed by the company on December 3 during "WWE Backstage". He made his return on January 3, 2020 episode of "SmackDown" under his John Morrison ring name and resumed his partnership with The Miz, thus re-establishing him as a heel for the first time in WWE in 10 years. They would feud with the SmackDown Tag Team Champions, The New Day, with Morrison winning singles matches against Big E and Kofi Kingston. At Royal Rumble on January 26, 2020, Morrison participated in the Royal Rumble match as the fifth entrant, but he was eliminated by Brock Lesnar. At Super ShowDown on February 27, Miz and Morrison won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The New Day.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On March 8, Morrison and Miz had their first title defense in a tag team Elimination Chamber match at Elimination Chamber, successfully defending their titles against The New Day, The Usos, Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado), and Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. On the first night of WrestleMania 36 on April 4, after the Miz's absence due to illness, Morrison defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships by himself in a ladder match against Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso, in which he was successful. On the April 17 episode of "SmackDown", the duo lost the titles back to The New Day after Miz unsuccessfully defended the titles by himself in a triple threat match against Big E and Jey Uso ending their reign at 50 days. At Money in the Bank on May 10, Morrison and Miz unsuccessfully attempted to regain the championship in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake). Morrison and Miz then started a rivalry with Universal Champion Braun Strowman. At Backlash on June 14, the duo competed for Strowman's title in a two-on-one handicap match, but lost. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, both Morrison and Miz were drafted to the Raw brand. Prior to the draft, Morrison and Miz entered a feud with Otis for his Money in the Bank contract. At Hell in a Cell on October 25, Morrison accompanied Miz in his match against Otis for the contract, which Miz won.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On the December 7 episode of "Raw", Morrison ended a nearly seven-month losing streak after defeating Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a 3-on-2 handicap match alongside The Miz and AJ Styles. Morrison entered the 2021 Royal Rumble match on January 31, lasting over eight minutes before being eliminated by Damian Priest. At Elimination Chamber event on February 21, 2021, Morrison defeated Ricochet, Elias, and Mustafa Ali in a fatal four-way match for an opportunity at the United States Championship. Later that night, he failed to win the title in a triple threat match against Riddle and reigning champion Bobby Lashley, as Riddle won the match. After this, Morrison and Miz feuded with rapper Bad Bunny and Damian Priest. At WrestleMania 37 on April 10, Morrison and Miz lost to Bad Bunny and Priest.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: After Miz suffered an injury at WrestleMania Backlash on May 16, Morrison would embark on a singles run, starting by defeating Jeff Hardy on the June 14 episode of "Raw". The following week, Morrison defeated Randy Orton to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay-per-view event on July 18, which was won by Big E. On the August 23 episode of "Raw", Miz turned on Morrison by attacking him, thus turning Morrison face and setting up a feud between the pair. However, the feud abruptly ended after the Miz took a hiatus to compete on "Dancing with the Stars". On November 18, as part of an eighth round of layoffs due to budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Morrison was released from his WWE contract.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On February 19, 2022, Hennigan, as "Johnny Superstar" (his former ring name in Ohio Valley Wrestling), unsuccessfully challenged El Hijo del Vikingo at "Rey de Reyes" for the AAA Mega Championship. At , Hennigan, now under the name "Johnny Caballero", teamed with Taurus in a three-way tag team match to defeat Dragon Lee and Dralístico, and Laredo Kid and Jack Cartwheel. In the main event of , Caballero was revealed as Matt Hardy's mystery tag team partner (due to his original partner Jeff Hardy's arrest five days prior). Caballero, who went under the name "Johnny Hardy", and Matt Hardy lost their match against Dragon Lee and Dralístico. At on October 15, Caballero teamed with Brian Cage and Sam Adonis in a three-way "trios" match for the AAA World Trios Championship against Psycho Clown, Laredo Kid, and Bandido and champions "Nueva Generación Dinamita" (El Cuatrero, Sansón, and Forastero). Caballero pinned Laredo Kid to win the match for his team, but did not win the World Trios Championship due to the match stipulation in which the champions must be pinned to win the titles.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On March 31, 2022, Hennigan debuted for Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) at Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8, defeating Simon Gotch. The following day, Hennigan, as "Johnny Caballero", wrestled at GCW's Wrld on Lucha event, defeating Jack Cartwheel. On May 28, Hennigan appeared at GCW's Downward Spiral event under the name "Johnny Game Changer", defeating Joey Janela. On June 3, Hennigan debuted for Progress Wrestling for the Super Strong Style 16 tournament under the name "Johnny Progress". He defeated Jack Evans in the first round and Aramis in the quarterfinals, before losing to Warren Banks in the semifinals.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On the May 18, 2022 episode of "Dynamite", under the name Johnny Elite, Hennigan debuted for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as the surprise "Joker" entrant in the Owen Hart Cup Memorial Tournament's quarterfinals, being defeated by Samoa Joe. After the match, it was reported that Hennigan had not signed a contract with AEW, but that "the door is open" for him to return. On the May 27 episode of "AEW Dark", Elite scored his first victory by defeating Marq Quen. On the June 1 episode of "Dynamite", he issued an "open contract" challenge which was answered by a returning Miro, who defeated Elite.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Hennigan was described by WWE as having "lightning-fast offense", "high-risk aerial expertise", and "incredible agility". He is known to utilize a split-legged corkscrew moonsault, dubbed "Starship Pain", as a finishing maneuver. During his singles run as Johnny Nitro, he used a standing shooting star press as his finisher. After transitioning to his John Morrison character, Hennigan began using a corkscrew neckbreaker dubbed "Moonlight Drive", in reference to the song of the same name written by Jim Morrison. He also prominently used a superkick as a finisher in 2008 during a feud with D-Generation X, as a way to mock Shawn Michaels's "Sweet Chin Music" maneuver. Hennigan is a practitioner of parkour and often incorporates it into his wrestling style, giving him the nickname "The Prince of Parkour". He also has a background in amateur wrestling, breakdancing, gymnastics, and martial arts. Regarding his unique wrestling style, Hennigan stated in a 2021 interview with "Sports Illustrated":


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Alongside his team MNM, Hennigan debuted on WWE television as Johnny Nitro, presenting himself as an arrogant wrestler with "elite Hollywood status". After winning the ECW World Championship in 2007, he changed his ring name to John Morrison and his gimmick was tweaked to be even more conceited and self-aggrandizing — in addition to being modeled after Jim Morrison, the legendary frontman of the 1960s rock band The Doors, to whom he bears a strong physical resemblance. Following his return to WWE and reunion with his tag team partner the Miz in 2020, Hennigan added a comedic aspect to his villainous character, with WWE describing him as using "quirkiness and quick wit to shine every time he is on screen". He also began to refer to himself as "Johnny Drip Drip", a reference to the song "Drip" by rapper Cardi B.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Outside of WWE, Hennigan began referring to himself as the "Mayor of Slamtown", a fictional town he first coined in Lucha Underground in 2015. Hennigan filed to trademark the term "Slamtown" in November 2020.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: In 2009, Hennigan and Maryse Ouellet were interviewed on Eurosport. In 2009, Hennigan appeared on two episodes of "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?", which were both aired on September 29. Hennigan is the subject of a WWE DVD, called "John Morrison – Rock Star", which was released on February 16, 2010. The DVD covers his career from his name change to John Morrison up until his Intercontinental Championship win in September 2009. He appeared on an episode of "Destroy Build Destroy" on March 3, 2010. Hennigan was on the cover of "Muscle & Fitness" in June 2010, with the issue also featuring an interview and photo shoot. In 2016, Hennigan, Rey Mysterio, and King Cuerno appeared on ESPN to promote the second season of "Lucha Underground".


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Hennigan is also a frequent collaborator with comic book-based film producers Bat in the Sun Productions, appearing in two episodes of their well-known "Super Power Beat Down" series; playing as Casey Jones against Kick-Ass in episode 13, and as Winter Soldier against Nightwing in episode 19. Hennigan portrayed Eternal Warrior in the web series "Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe", produced by Valiant Entertainment and directed by Bat in the Sun.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Hennigan is a playable character in "WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2007" and "WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2008" as "Johnny Nitro", "WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2009", "WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2010", "WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2011", "WWE '12" and "WWE 2K22" as "John Morrison", and "RetroMania Wrestling" under the name "Johnny Retro".


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: After leaving WWE in 2011, Hennigan pursued a career in the film industry as an actor and filmmaker. In 2013, he appeared in "" with Danny Trejo, as well as served as co-producer of the film. In 2017, Hennigan released his first feature film titled "Boone: The Bounty Hunter", which he starred in, co-wrote, and served as executive producer of. Hennigan sold his house in order to finance the film.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: On October 31, 2022, Hennigan announced the release of his directorial debut, a comedy horror short film titled "The Iron Sheik Massacre" which he also produced and co-wrote with his wife Kira Forster. The film stars Hennigan and Forster alongside fellow wrestlers Karrion Kross, PJ Black, Holly Meowy, Super Panda, and the voice of The Iron Sheik, and will have its first screening on November 5, 2022 at the Los Angeles International Film Festival.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Hennigan was a contestant on the 37th season of "Survivor", "" where he was originally part of the Goliath tribe and later the Tiva tribe before making it to the merged tribe Kalokalo. He finished 12th out of 20 contestants and became the second member of the jury after the former members of the Goliath tribe were blindsided at tribal council; two contestants used hidden immunity idols, causing Hennigan to be eliminated despite only having three elimination votes, as Christian Hubicki, who received seven, was immune.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Hennigan's performance as a contestant and the episode of his elimination received critical acclaim. Chris Chase of "USA Today" praised Hennigan for being "true to everything we’ve seen from him this season, [and] a class act after his shock defeat". Writing for "People", former "Survivor" contestant Stephen Fishbach highlighted that "in a tribal council that was meant to take out the Davidest David [Christian Hubicki], it was really the Goliath of the Goliaths [Hennigan] who fell. How perfectly Biblical." The show’s executive producer and host Jeff Probst was "so impressed" with Hennigan, describing him as "the guy who catches the winning touchdown pass in the final moments of the Super Bowl, and then, instead of some crazy celebration, he casually tosses the ball to the ref, kisses his wife and hugs his kids", alongside stating that he would "absolutely" have Hennigan back on the show.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Hennigan is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Matt Cardona, Jeff Hardy, and Randy Orton. He was also good friends with Shad Gaspard, and still is with JTG, of Cryme Tyme, and was a part of the search team after Gaspard's disappearance and death.


title: John Morrison (wrestler)

text: Hennigan was involved in an on-off relationship with former WWE Diva and on-screen manager Melina Perez from 2003 to 2015. The pair met during the auditions for "Tough Enough III", in which Perez was cut and Hennigan eventually won. Since 2016, Hennigan has been in a relationship with Kira Forster, better known as Taya Valkyrie. The pair met through the affiliation between AAA and Lucha Underground, with Forster becoming Hennigan's on-screen partner in the latter promotion prior to their real-life relationship. They became engaged on June 14, 2017, and were married on June 1, 2018.


title: Halloumi

text: Halloumi or haloumi (, ; ) is a traditional Cypriot cheese made from a mixture of goat's and sheep's milk, and sometimes also cow's milk. Its texture is described as squeaky. It has a high melting point and so can easily be fried or grilled, a property that makes it a popular meat substitute. Rennet (mostly vegetarian or microbial) is used to curdle the milk in halloumi production, although no acid-producing bacteria are used in its preparation.


title: Halloumi

text: Halloumi is often associated with the island of Cyprus, where it has been produced by a multi-ethnic population for many centuries. It is also popular throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. It became widely available in Turkey after 2000. By 2013, demand in the United Kingdom had surpassed that in every other European country except Cyprus.


title: Halloumi

text: In the United States, "Halloumi" is a registered trademark owned by the government of Cyprus, while in the UK it is owned by the Foundation for the Protection of the Traditional Cheese of Cyprus named Halloumi. It is also protected as a geographical indication in the EU, as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), which means within the EU only products made in certain parts of Cyprus can be called "halloumi". PDO protection for Halloumi was delayed largely by disagreements among farmers of cattle, sheep, and goats regarding the inclusion of cows' milk, and (if cows' milk were included) the proportion of it.


title: Halloumi

text: The English name "halloumi" is derived from Modern , "khalloúmi", from Cypriot Maronite Arabic "xallúm", ultimately from Egyptian .


title: Halloumi

text: The Egyptian Arabic word is itself a loanword from Coptic (Sahidic) and (Bohairic), and was used for cheese eaten in medieval Egypt. The name of the cheese likely goes back to the Demotic word "ḥlm" "cheese" attested in manuscripts and ostraca from 2nd-century Roman Egypt.


title: Halloumi

text: The Cypriot Turkish name derives from this source, as does the name of the different modern Egyptian cheese .


title: Halloumi

text: The methods of making halloumi likely originated sometime in the Medieval Byzantine period (AD 3951191). A recipe for enhancing "ḥalūm" ('cheese') by brining is found in the 14th-century Egyptian cookbook


title: Halloumi

text: The earliest known surviving descriptions of Cypriot halloumi were recorded in the mid-16th century by Italian visitors to Cyprus, where it is often said to have originated. However, the question of whether the recipe for the quintessential halloumi was born in Cyprus and then travelled to Lebanon and the rest of the Levant, or whether the basic techniques of making cheese that resists melting evolved over time in various parts of the eastern Mediterranean—or both—does not have a definitive answer.


title: Halloumi

text: Traditionally, halloumi was made from sheep and goat milk, since there were few cows on the island until they were brought over by the British in the 20th century. But as demand grew, industrial cheese-makers began using more of the cheaper and more plentiful cow's milk.


title: Halloumi

text: Halloumi is often used in cooking, and can be fried until brown without melting due to its higher-than-typical melting point. This makes it an excellent cheese for frying or grilling (as in saganaki) or fried and served with vegetables, or as an ingredient in salads. There are many recipes that use halloumi beyond simple grilling.


title: Halloumi

text: Traditional halloumi is a semicircular shape, weighing . The fat content is approximately 25% wet weight, 47% dry weight with about 17% protein. Its firm texture when cooked causes it to squeak on the teeth when being chewed.


title: Halloumi

text: Traditional halloumi is made from unpasteurised sheep and goat milk. Aged halloumi is also popular. Kept in its brine, it is much drier, much stronger and much saltier.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: The Roman Kingdom (also referred to as the Roman monarchy, or the regal period of ancient Rome) was the earliest period of Roman history when the city and its territory were ruled by kings. According to oral accounts, the Roman Kingdom began with the city's founding 753 BC, with settlements around the Palatine Hill along the river Tiber in central Italy, and ended with the overthrow of the kings and the establishment of the Republic 509 BC.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Little is certain about the kingdom's history as no records and few inscriptions from the time of the kings survive. The accounts of this period written during the Republic and the Empire are thought largely to be based on oral tradition.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: The site of the founding of the Roman Kingdom (and eventual Republic and Empire) had a ford where one could cross the river Tiber in central Italy. The Palatine Hill and hills surrounding it provided easily defensible positions in the wide fertile plain surrounding them. Each of these features contributed to the success of the city.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: The traditional version of Roman history, which has come down to us principally through Livy (64 or 59 BC – AD 12 or 17), Plutarch (46–120), and Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( 60 BC – after 7 BC), recounts that a series of seven kings ruled the settlement in Rome's first centuries. The traditional chronology, as codified by Varro (116 BC – 27 BC) and Fabius Pictor ( 270 – 200 BC), allows 243 years for their combined reigns, an average of almost 35 years. Since the work of Barthold Georg Niebuhr, modern scholarship has generally discounted this schema. The Gauls destroyed many of Rome's historical records when they sacked the city after the Battle of the Allia in 390 BC (according to Varro; according to Polybius, the battle occurred in 387/6), and what remained eventually fell prey to time or to theft. With no contemporary records of the kingdom surviving, all accounts of the Roman kings must be carefully questioned.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: The kings (excluding Romulus, who, according to legend, held office by virtue of being the city's founder), were all elected by the people of Rome to serve for life, with none of the kings relying on military force to gain or keep the throne.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: The insignia of the kings of Rome were twelve lictors (attendants or servants) wielding the symbolic fasces bearing axes, the right to sit upon a curule seat, the purple "toga picta", red shoes, and a white diadem around the head. Of all these insignia, the most important was the purple "toga picta".


title: Roman Kingdom

text: The king was invested with supreme military, executive, and judicial authority through the use of imperium, formally granted to the king by the Curiate Assembly with the passing of the "Lex curiata de imperio" at the beginning of each king's reign. The imperium of the king was held for life and protected him from ever being brought to trial for his actions. As the king was the sole owner of imperium in Rome at the time, he possessed ultimate executive power and unchecked military authority as the commander-in-chief of all of the Roman legions. Also, the laws that kept citizens safe from magistrates' misuse of imperium did not exist during the monarchical period.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Another power of the king was the power to either appoint or nominate all officials to offices. The king would appoint a "tribunus celerum" to serve as both the tribune of the Ramnes tribe in Rome and as the commander of the king's personal bodyguard, the "celeres". The king was required to appoint the tribune upon entering office and the tribune left office upon the king's death. The tribune was second in rank to the king and also possessed the power to convene the Curiate Assembly and lay legislation before it.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Another officer appointed by the king was the "praefectus urbi", who acted as the warden of the city. When the king was absent from the city, the prefect held all of the king's powers and abilities, even to the point of being bestowed with imperium while inside the city.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: What is known for certain is that the king alone possessed the right to the augury on behalf of Rome as its chief augur, and no public business could be performed without the will of the gods made known through auspices. The people knew the king as a mediator between them and the gods (cf. Latin "pontifex", "bridge-builder", in this sense, between men and the gods) and thus viewed the king with religious awe. This made the king the head of the national religion and its chief executive. Having the power to control the Roman calendar, he conducted all religious ceremonies and appointed lower religious offices and officers. It is said that Romulus himself instituted the augurs and was believed to have been the best augur of all. Likewise, King Numa Pompilius instituted the pontiffs and through them developed the foundations of the religious dogma of Rome.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Under the kings, the Senate and Curiate Assembly had very little power and authority. They were not independent since they lacked the right to meet together and discuss questions of state at their own will. They could be called together only by the king and could discuss only the matters that the king laid before them.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: While the Curiate Assembly had the power to pass laws that had been submitted by the king, the Senate was effectively an honorary council. It could advise the king on his action but by no means could prevent him from acting. The only thing that the king could not do without the approval of the Senate and the Curiate Assembly was to declare war against a foreign nation.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: The king's imperium both granted him military powers and qualified him to pronounce legal judgment in all cases as the chief justice of Rome. Though he could assign pontiffs to act as minor judges in some cases, he had supreme authority in all cases brought before him, both civil and criminal. This made the king supreme in times of both war and peace. While some writers believed there was no appeal from the king's decisions, others believed that a proposal for appeal could be brought before the king by any patrician during a meeting of the Curiate Assembly.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: To assist the king, a council advised him during all trials, but this council had no power to control his decisions. Also, two criminal detectives (Quaestores Parricidi) were appointed by him as well as a two-man criminal court ("Duumviri Perduellionis"), which oversaw cases of treason. According to Livy, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and final king of Rome, judged capital criminal cases without the advice of counsellors, thereby creating fear amongst those who might think to oppose him.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Whenever a king died, Rome entered a period of "interregnum". Supreme power of the state would devolve to the Senate, which was responsible for finding a new king. The Senate would assemble and appoint one of its own members—the interrex—to serve for a period of five days with the sole purpose of nominating the next king of Rome. If no king were nominated at the end of five days, with the Senate's consent the interrex would appoint another Senator to succeed him for another five-day term. This process would continue until a new king was elected. Once the interrex found a suitable nominee to the kingship, he would bring the nominee before the Senate and the Senate would review him. If the Senate passed the nominee, the interrex would convene the Curiate Assembly and preside over it during the election of the King.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Once the nominee was proposed to the Curiate Assembly, the people of Rome could either accept or reject him. If accepted, the king-elect did not immediately enter office. Two other acts still had to take place before he was invested with the full regal authority and power.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: First, it was necessary to obtain the divine will of the gods respecting his appointment by means of the auspices, since the king would serve as high priest of Rome. This ceremony was performed by an augur, who conducted the king-elect to the citadel, where he was placed on a stone seat as the people waited below. If found worthy of the kingship, the augur announced that the gods had given favourable tokens, thus confirming the king's priestly character.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: The second act which had to be performed was the conferral of the imperium upon the king. The Curiate Assembly's previous vote only determined who was to be king, and had not by that act bestowed the necessary power of the king upon him. Accordingly, the king himself proposed to the Curiate Assembly a law granting him imperium, and the Curiate Assembly by voting in favor of the law would grant it.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: In theory, the people of Rome elected their leader, but the Senate had most of the control over the process.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: According to legend, Romulus established the Senate after he founded Rome by personally selecting the most noble men (wealthy men with legitimate wives and children) to serve as a council for the city. As such, the Senate was the King's advisory council as the Council of State. The Senate was composed of 300 Senators, with 100 Senators representing each of the three ancient tribes of Rome: the Ramnes (Latins), Tities (Sabines), and Luceres (Etruscans). Within each tribe, a Senator was selected from each of the tribe's ten curiae. The king had the sole authority to appoint the Senators, but this selection was done in accordance with ancient custom.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Under the monarchy, the Senate possessed very little power and authority as the king held most of the political power of the state and could exercise those powers without the Senate's consent. The chief function of the Senate was to serve as the king's council and be his legislative coordinator. Once legislation proposed by the king passed the Curiate Assembly, the Senate could either veto it or accept it as law. The king was, by custom, to seek the advice of the Senate on major issues. However, it was left to him to decide what issues, if any, were brought before them and he was free to accept or reject their advice as he saw fit. Only the king possessed the power to convene the Senate, except during the interregnum, during which the Senate possessed the authority to convene itself.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Son of the Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia, ostensibly by the god Mars, the legendary Romulus was Rome's founder and first king. After he and his twin brother Remus had deposed King Amulius of Alba and reinstated the king's brother and their grandfather Numitor to the throne, they decided to build a city in the area where they had been abandoned as infants. After killing Remus in a dispute, Romulus began building the city on the Palatine Hill. His work began with fortifications. He permitted men of all classes to come to Rome as citizens, including slaves and freemen without distinction. He is credited with establishing the city's religious, legal and political institutions. The kingdom was established by unanimous acclaim with him at the helm when Romulus called the citizenry to a council for the purposes of determining their government.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Romulus established the senate as an advisory council with the appointment of 100 of the most noble men in the community. These men he called "patres" (from "pater", father, head), and their descendants became the patricians. To project command, he surrounded himself with attendants, in particular the twelve lictors. He created three divisions of horsemen ("equites"), called "centuries": "Ramnes" (Romans), "Tities" (after the Sabine king) and "Luceres" (Etruscans). He also divided the populace into 30 "curiae", named after 30 of the Sabine women who had intervened to end the war between Romulus and Tatius. The "curiae" formed the voting units in the popular assemblies ("Comitia Curiata").


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Romulus was behind one of the most notorious acts in Roman history, the incident commonly known as the rape of the Sabine women. To provide his citizens with wives, Romulus invited the neighbouring tribes to a festival in Rome where the Romans committed a mass abduction of young women from among the attendees. The account vary from 30 to 683 women taken, a significant number for a population of 3,000 Latins (and presumably for the Sabines as well). War broke out when Romulus refused to return the captives. After the Sabines made three unsuccessful attempts to invade the hill settlements of Rome, the women themselves intervened during the Battle of the Lacus Curtius to end the war. The two peoples were united in a joint kingdom, with Romulus and the Sabine king Titus Tatius sharing the throne. In addition to the war with the Sabines, Romulus waged war with the Fidenates and Veientes and others.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: He reigned for thirty-seven years. According to the legend, Romulus vanished at age fifty-four while reviewing his troops on the Campus Martius. He was reported to have been taken up to Mt. Olympus in a whirlwind and made a god. After initial acceptance by the public, rumours and suspicions of foul play by the patricians began to grow. In particular, some thought that members of the nobility had murdered him, dismembered his body, and buried the pieces on their land. These were set aside after an esteemed nobleman testified that Romulus had come to him in a vision and told him that he was the god Quirinus. He became, not only one of the three major gods of Rome, but the very likeness of the city itself.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: After Romulus died, there was an interregnum for one year, during which ten men chosen from the senate governed Rome as successive "interreges". Under popular pressure, the Senate finally chose the Sabine Numa Pompilius to succeed Romulus, on account of his reputation for justice and piety. The choice was accepted by the Curiate Assembly.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Numa's reign was marked by peace and religious reform. He constructed a new temple to Janus and, after establishing peace with Rome's neighbours, closed the doors of the temple to indicate a state of peace. They remained closed for the rest of his reign. He established the Vestal Virgins at Rome, as well as the Salii, and the flamines for Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus. He also established the office and duties of Pontifex Maximus. Numa reigned for 43 years. He reformed the Roman calendar by adjusting it for the solar and lunar year, as well as by adding the months of January and February to bring the total number of months to twelve.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Tullus Hostilius was as warlike as Romulus had been, completely unlike Numa as he lacked any respect for the gods. Tullus waged war against Alba Longa, Fidenae and Veii and the Sabines. During Tullus's reign, the city of Alba Longa was completely destroyed and Tullus integrated its population into Rome. Tullus is attributed with constructing a new home for the Senate, the Curia Hostilia, which survived for 562 years after his death.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: According to Livy, Tullus neglected the worship of the gods until, towards the end of his reign, he fell ill and became superstitious. However, when Tullus called upon Jupiter and begged assistance, Jupiter responded with a bolt of lightning that burned the king and his house to ashes. His reign lasted for 32 years.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Following the mysterious death of Tullus, the Romans elected a peaceful and religious king in his place, Numa's grandson, Ancus Marcius. Much like his grandfather, Ancus did little to expand the borders of Rome and only fought wars to defend the territory. He also built Rome's first prison on the Capitoline Hill.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Ancus further fortified the Janiculum Hill on the western bank, and built the first bridge across the Tiber River. He also founded the port of Ostia on the Tyrrhenian Sea and established Rome's first salt works, as well as the city's first aqueduct. Rome grew, as Ancus used diplomacy to peacefully unite smaller surrounding cities into alliance with Rome. Thus, he completed the conquest of the Latins and relocated them to the Aventine Hill, thus forming the plebeian class of Romans.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: He died a natural death, like his grandfather, after 25 years as king, marking the end of Rome's Latin-Sabine kings.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Lucius Tarquinius Priscus was the fifth king of Rome and the first of Etruscan birth. After immigrating to Rome, he gained favor with Ancus, who later adopted him as son. Upon ascending the throne, he waged wars against the Sabines and Etruscans, doubling the size of Rome and bringing great treasures to the city. To accommodate the influx of population, the Aventine and Caelian hills were populated.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: One of his first reforms was to add 100 new members to the Senate from the conquered Etruscan tribes, bringing the total number of senators to 200. He used the treasures Rome had acquired from the conquests to build great monuments for Rome. Among these were Rome's great sewer systems, the Cloaca Maxima, which he used to drain the swamp-like area between the Seven Hills of Rome. In its place, he began construction on the Roman Forum. He also founded the Roman games.


title: Roman Kingdom

text: Priscus initiated great building projects, including the city's first bridge, the Pons Sublicius. The most famous is the Circus Maximus, a giant stadium for chariot races. After that, he started the building of the temple-fortress to the god Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill. However, before it was completed, he was killed by a son of Ancus Marcius, after 38 years as king. His reign is best remembered for introducing the Roman symbols of military and civil offices, and the Roman triumph, being the first Roman to celebrate one.