title: Battle of Peleliu

text: Major General William Rupertus, the commander of the 1st Marine Division, predicted that the island would be secured within four days. However, after repeated Imperial Japanese Army defeats in previous island campaigns, Japan had developed new island-defense tactics and well-crafted fortifications, which allowed stiff resistance and extended the battle to more than two months. The heavily-outnumbered Japanese defenders put up such stiff resistance, often by fighting to the death in the Japanese Emperor's name, that the island became known in Japanese as the "Emperor's Island."


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: In the US, it was a controversial battle because of the island's negligible strategic value and the high casualty rate, which exceeded that of all other amphibious operations during the Pacific War. The National Museum of the Marine Corps called it "the bitterest battle of the war for the Marines".


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: By 1944, American victories in the Southwest and Central Pacific had brought the war closer to Japan, with American bombers able to strike at the Japanese main islands from air bases secured during the Mariana Islands campaign (June–August 1944). There was disagreement among the U.S. Joint Chiefs over two proposed strategies to defeat the Japanese Empire. The strategy proposed by General Douglas MacArthur called for the recapture of the Philippines, followed by the capture of Okinawa, then an attack on the Japanese home islands. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz favored a more direct strategy of bypassing the Philippines, but seizing Okinawa and Taiwan as staging areas to an attack on the Japanese mainland, followed by the future invasion of Japan's southernmost islands. Both strategies included the invasion of Peleliu, but for different reasons.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The 1st Marine Division had already been chosen to make the assault. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt traveled to Pearl Harbor to personally meet both commanders and hear their arguments. MacArthur's strategy was chosen. However, before MacArthur could retake the Philippines, the Palau Islands, specifically Peleliu and Angaur, were to be neutralized and an airfield built to protect MacArthur's left flank.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: By 1944, Peleliu Island was occupied by about 11,000 Japanese of the 14th Infantry Division with Korean and Okinawan labourers. Colonel Kunio Nakagawa, commander of the division's 2nd Regiment, led the preparations for the island's defense.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: After their losses in the Solomons, Gilberts, Marshalls, and Marianas, the Imperial Army assembled a research team to develop new island-defense tactics. They chose to abandon the old strategy of trying to stop the enemy on the beaches, where they would be exposed to naval gunfire. The new tactics would only disrupt the landings at the water's edge and depend on an in-depth defense further inland. Colonel Nakagawa used the rough terrain to his advantage, by constructing a system of heavily fortified bunkers, caves, and underground positions, all interlocked in a "honeycomb" system. The traditional "banzai charge" attack was also discontinued as being both wasteful of men and ineffective. These changes would force the Americans into a war of attrition, requiring more resources.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: Nakagawa's defenses were centered on Peleliu's highest point, Umurbrogol Mountain, a collection of hills and steep ridges located at the center of Peleliu overlooking a large portion of the island, including the crucial airfield. The Umurbrogol contained some 500 limestone caves, connected by tunnels. Many of these were former mine shafts that were turned into defensive positions. Engineers added sliding armored steel doors with multiple openings to serve both artillery and machine guns. Cave entrances were opened or altered to be slanted as a defense against grenade and flamethrower attacks. The caves and bunkers were connected to a vast tunnel and trench system throughout central Peleliu, which allowed the Japanese to evacuate or reoccupy positions as needed, and to take advantage of shrinking interior lines.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The Japanese were well armed with and mortars and anti-aircraft cannons, backed by a light tank unit and an anti-aircraft detachment.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The Japanese also used the beach terrain to their advantage. The northern end of the landing beaches faced a coral promontory that overlooked the beaches from a small peninsula, a spot later known to the Marines who assaulted it simply as "The Point". Holes were blasted into the ridge to accommodate a gun, and six 20 mm cannons. The positions were then sealed shut, leaving just a small slit to fire on the beaches. Similar positions were crafted along the stretch of landing beaches.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The beaches were also filled with thousands of obstacles for the landing craft, principally mines and a large number of heavy artillery shells buried with the fuses exposed to explode when they were run over. A battalion was placed along the beach to defend against the landing, but they were meant to merely delay the inevitable American advance inland.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: Unlike the Japanese, who drastically altered their tactics for the upcoming battle, the American invasion plan was unchanged from that of previous amphibious landings, even after suffering 3,000 casualties and enduring two months of delaying tactics against the entrenched Japanese defenders at the Battle of Biak. On Peleliu, American planners chose to land on the southwest beaches because of their proximity to the airfield on south Peleliu. The 1st Marine Regiment, commanded by Colonel Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, was to land on the northern end of the beaches. The 5th Marine Regiment, under Colonel Harold Harris, would land in the center, and the 7th Marine Regiment, under Colonel Herman Hanneken, would land at the southern end.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The division's artillery regiment, the 11th Marines under Colonel William Harrison, would land after the infantry regiments. The plan was for the 1st and 7th Marines to push inland, guarding the 5th Marines' flanks, and allowing them to capture the airfield located directly to the center of the landing beaches. The 5th Marines were to push to the eastern shore, cutting the island in half. The 1st Marines would push north into the Umurbrogol, while the 7th Marines would clear the southern end of the island. Only one battalion was left behind in reserve, with the U.S. Army's 81st Infantry Division available for support from Angaur, just south of Peleliu.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: On September 4, the Marines shipped off from their station on Pavuvu, just north of Guadalcanal, a trip across the Pacific to Peleliu. A Navy Underwater Demolition Team went in first to clear the beaches of obstacles, while warships began their pre-invasion bombardment of Peleliu on September 12.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The battleships , , , and , heavy cruisers , , and , and light cruisers , and , led by the command ship , subjected the tiny island, only in size, to a massive three-day bombardment, pausing only to permit air strikes from the three aircraft carriers, five light aircraft carriers, and eleven escort carriers with the attack force. A total of 519 rounds of shells, 1,845 rounds of shells and 1,793 bombs pounded the islands during this period.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The Americans believed the bombardment to be successful, as Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf claimed that the Navy had run out of targets. In reality, the majority of Japanese positions were completely unharmed. Even the battalion left to defend the beaches was virtually unscathed. During the assault, the island's defenders exercised unusual firing discipline to avoid giving away their positions. The bombardment managed only to destroy Japan's aircraft on the island, as well as the buildings surrounding the airfield. The Japanese remained in their fortified positions, ready to attack the American landing troops.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: U.S. Marines landed on Peleliu at 08:32, on September 15, the 1st Marines to the north on White Beach 1 and 2 and the 5th and 7th Marines to the center and south on Orange Beach 1, 2, and 3. As the other landing craft approached the beaches, the Marines were caught in a crossfire when the Japanese opened the steel doors guarding their positions and fired artillery. The positions on the coral promontories guarding each flank fired on the Marines with 47 mm guns and 20 mm cannons. By 09:30, the Japanese had destroyed 60 LVTs and DUKWs.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The 1st Marines were quickly bogged down by heavy fire from the extreme left flank and a high coral ridge, "The Point". Puller's LVT was hit by a dud high velocity artillery round, and his communications section was destroyed on its way to the beach by a hit from a 47 mm round. The 7th Marines faced a cluttered Orange Beach 3, with natural and man-made obstacles, forcing the LVTs to approach in column.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The 5th Marines made the most progress on the first day, aided by cover provided by coconut groves. They pushed toward the airfield, but were met with Nakagawa's first counterattack. His armored tank company raced across the airfield to push the Marines back, but was soon engaged by tanks, howitzers, naval guns, and dive bombers. Nakagawa's tanks and escorting infantrymen were quickly destroyed.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: At the end of the first day, the Americans held their stretch of landing beaches, but little else. Their biggest push in the south moved inland, but the 1st Marines to the north made very little progress because of the extremely thick resistance. The Marines had suffered 200 dead and 900 wounded. Rupertus, still unaware of his enemy's change of tactics, believed the Japanese would quickly crumble since their perimeter had been broken.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: On the second day, the 5th Marines moved to capture the airfield and push toward the eastern shore. They ran across the airfield, enduring heavy artillery fire from the highlands to the north, suffering heavy casualties in the process. After capturing the airfield, they rapidly advanced to the eastern end of Peleliu, leaving the island's southern defenders to be destroyed by the 7th Marines.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: This area was hotly contested by the Japanese, who still occupied numerous pillboxes. Heat indices were around , and the Marines soon suffered high casualties from heat exhaustion. Further complicating the situation, the Marines' water was distributed in empty oil drums, contaminating the water with the oil residue. Still, by the eighth day the 5th and 7th Marines had accomplished their objectives, holding the airfield and the southern portion of the island, although the airfield remained under threat of sustained Japanese fire from the heights of Umurbrogol Mountain until the end of the battle.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: American forces began using the airfield on the third day of the campaign. L-2 Grasshoppers from VMO-3 began aerial spotting missions for Marine artillery and naval gunfire support. On September 26 (D+11), Marine F4U Corsairs from VMF-114 landed on the airstrip. The Corsairs began dive-bombing missions across Peleliu, firing rockets into open cave entrances for the infantrymen, and dropping napalm; it was only the second time the latter weapon had been used in the Pacific. Napalm proved effective, burning away the vegetation hiding spider holes and usually killing their occupants.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The time from takeoff to the target area for the Corsairs operating from Peleliu Airfield was very short, sometimes only 10 to 15 seconds. Most pilots did not bother to raise the aircraft's landing gear, leaving them down during the air strike. After the strike was completed, the Corsair simply turned back into the landing pattern again.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: "The Point" at the end of the southern landing beaches continued to cause heavy Marine casualties due to enfilading fire from Japanese heavy machine guns and anti-tank artillery across the landing beaches. Puller ordered Captain George P. Hunt, commander of K Company, 3rd Battalion 1st Marines, to capture the position. Hunt's company approached "The Point" short on supplies, having lost most of its machine guns while approaching the beaches. Hunt's second platoon was pinned down for nearly a day in an anti-tank trench between fortifications. The rest of his company was endangered when the Japanese cut a hole in their line, surrounding his company and leaving his right flank cut off.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: However, a rifle platoon began knocking out the Japanese gun positions one by one. Using smoke grenades for concealment, the platoon swept through each hole, destroying the positions with rifle grenades and close-quarters combat. After knocking out the six machine gun positions, the Marines faced the 47 mm gun cave. A lieutenant blinded the 47 mm gunner's visibility with a smoke grenade, allowing Corporal Henry W. Hahn to launch a grenade through the cave's aperture. The grenade detonated the 47 mm's shells, forcing the cave's occupants out with their bodies alight and their ammunition belts exploding around their waists. A Marine fire team was positioned on the flank of the cave where the emerging occupants were shot down.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: K Company had captured "The Point", but Nakagawa counterattacked. The next 30 hours saw four major counterattacks against a sole company, critically low on supplies, out of water and surrounded. The Marines soon had to resort to hand-to-hand combat to fend off the Japanese attackers. By the time reinforcements arrived, the company had successfully repulsed all of the Japanese attacks, but had been reduced to 18 men, suffering 157 casualties during the battle for The Point. Hunt and Hahn were both awarded the Navy Cross for their actions.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The 5th Marines—after having secured the airfield—were sent to capture Ngesebus Island, just north of Peleliu. Ngesebus was occupied by many Japanese artillery positions and was the site of an airfield still under construction. The tiny island was connected to Peleliu by a small causeway, but 5th Marines commander Harris opted instead to make a shore-to-shore amphibious landing, predicting the causeway to be an obvious target for the island's defenders.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: Harris coordinated a pre-landing bombardment of the island on September 28, carried out by Army guns, naval guns, howitzers from the 11th Marines, strafing runs from VMF-114's Corsairs and fire from the approaching LVTs. Unlike the Navy's bombardment of Peleliu, Harris' assault on Ngesebus successfully killed most of the Japanese defenders. The Marines still faced opposition in the ridges and caves, but the island fell quickly, with relatively light casualties for the 5th Marines. They had suffered 15 killed and 33 wounded and inflicted 470 casualties on the Japanese.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: After capturing "The Point", the 1st Marines moved north into the Umurbrogol pocket, named "Bloody Nose Ridge" by the Marines. Puller led his men in numerous assaults, but each resulted in severe casualties from Japanese fire. The 1st Marines were trapped in the narrow paths between the ridges, with each ridge fortification supporting the other with deadly crossfire.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The Marines took increasingly high casualties as they slowly advanced through the ridges. The Japanese again showed unusual fire discipline, striking only when they could inflict maximum casualties. As casualties mounted, Japanese snipers began to take aim at stretcher bearers, knowing that if stretcher bearers were injured or killed, more would have to return to replace them and the snipers could steadily pick off more and more Marines. The Japanese also infiltrated the American lines at night to attack the Marines in their fighting holes. The Marines built two-man fighting holes, so one Marine could sleep while the other kept watch for infiltrators.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: One particularly bloody battle on Bloody Nose came when the 1st Battalion, 1st Marines—under the command of Major Raymond Davis—attacked Hill 100. Over six days of fighting, the battalion suffered 71% casualties. Captain Everett P. Pope and his company penetrated deep into the ridges, leading his remaining 90 men to seize what he thought was Hill 100. It took a day's fighting to reach what he thought was the crest of the hill, which was in fact another ridge occupied by more Japanese defenders.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: Trapped at the base of the ridge, Pope set up a small defensive perimeter, which was attacked relentlessly by the Japanese throughout the night. The Marines soon ran out of ammunition and had to fight the attackers with knives and fists, even resorting to throwing coral rock and empty ammunition boxes at the Japanese. Pope and his men managed to hold out until dawn came, which brought on more deadly fire. When they evacuated the position, only nine men remained. Pope later received the Medal of Honor for the action. (Picture of the Peleliu Memorial dedicated on the 50th anniversary of the landing on Peleliu with Captain Pope's name)


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The Japanese eventually inflicted 70% casualties on Puller's 1st Marines, or 1,749 men. After six days of fighting in the ridges of Umurbrogol, Geiger sent elements of the U.S. Army's 81st Infantry Division to Peleliu to relieve the regiment. The 321st Regiment Combat Team landed on the western beaches of Peleliu—at the northern end of Umurbrogol mountain—on September 23. The 321st and the 7th Marines encircled "The Pocket" by September 24, D+9.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: By October 15, the 7th Marines had suffered 46% casualties and Geiger relieved them with the 5th Marines. Col. Harris adopted siege tactics, using bulldozers and flame-thrower tanks, pushing from the north. On October 30, the 81st Infantry Division took over command of Peleliu, taking another six weeks, with the same tactics, to reduce "The Pocket".


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: On November 24, Nakagawa proclaimed "Our sword is broken and we have run out of spears". He then burnt his regimental colors and performed ritual suicide. He was posthumously promoted to lieutenant general for his valor displayed on Peleliu. On November 27, the island was declared secure, ending the 73-day-long battle.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: A Japanese lieutenant with twenty-six 2nd Infantry soldiers and eight 45th Guard Force sailors held out in the caves in Peleliu until April 22, 1947, and surrendered after a Japanese admiral convinced them the war was over.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The reduction of the Japanese pocket around Umurbrogol mountain has been called the most difficult fight that the U.S. military encountered in the entire war. The 1st Marine Division was mauled and remained out of action until the invasion of Okinawa began on April 1, 1945. In total, the 1st Marine Division suffered over 6,500 casualties during its month on Peleliu, over one third of the entire division. The 81st Infantry Division also suffered heavy losses with 3,300 casualties during its tenure on the island.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: Postwar statisticians calculated that it took U.S. forces over 1500 rounds of ammunition to kill each Japanese defender and that, during the course of the battle, the Americans expended 13.32 million rounds of .30-calibre, 1.52 million rounds of .45-calibre, 693,657 rounds of .50-calibre bullets, 118,262 hand grenades, and approximately 150,000 mortar rounds.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The battle was controversial in the United States due to the island's lack of strategic value and the high casualty rate. The defenders lacked the means to interfere with potential US operations in the Philippines and the airfield captured on Peleliu did not play a key role in subsequent operations. Instead, the Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands was used as a staging base for the invasion of Okinawa. The high casualty rate exceeded all other amphibious operations during the Pacific War.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: In addition, few news reports were published about the battle because Rupertus' prediction of a "three days" victory motivated only six reporters to report from shore. The battle was also overshadowed by MacArthur's return to the Philippines and the Allies' push towards Germany in Europe.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The battles for Angaur and Peleliu showed Americans the pattern of future Japanese island defense but they made few adjustments for the battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Naval bombardment prior to amphibious assault at Iwo Jima was only slightly more effective than at Peleliu, but at Okinawa the preliminary shelling was much improved. Frogmen performing underwater demolition at Iwo Jima confused the enemy by sweeping both coasts, but later alerted Japanese defenders to the exact assault beaches at Okinawa. American ground forces at Peleliu gained experience in assaulting heavily fortified positions such as they would find again at Okinawa.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: On the recommendation of Admiral William F. Halsey Jr., the planned occupation of Yap Island in the Caroline Islands was canceled. Halsey actually recommended that the landings on Peleliu and Angaur be canceled, too, and their Marines and soldiers be thrown into Leyte Island instead, but was overruled by Nimitz.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: In the March of Time's 1951 documentary TV series, Crusade in the Pacific, Episode 17 is "The Fight for Bloody Nose Ridge."


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: In NBC-TV's 1952–53 documentary TV series Victory at Sea, Episode 18, "Two if by Sea" covers the assaults at Peleliu and Angaur.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: In 2015, the Japanese magazine "Young Animal" commenced the serialization of "" by Masao Hiratsuka and the artist Kazuyoshi Takeda. It tells the story of the battle in manga form.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: One of the final scenes in "Parer's War", a 2014 Australian television film, shows the Battle of Peleliu recorded by Damien Parer with his camera at the time of his death.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The Peleliu Campaign features as one of the campaigns in the 2019 solitaire tactical wargame “Fields of Fire” Volume 2, designed by Ben Hull, published by GMT Games LLC.


title: Battle of Peleliu

text: The Battle of Peleliu is featured in many video games with a World War II theme, including "". The player takes the role of a US Marine tasked with taking Peleliu Airfield, repelling counter-attacks, destroying machine-gun and mortar positions, and eventually securing Japanese artillery emplacements at the point. In flight-simulation game "War Thunder", two teams of players clash to hold the southern and northern airfields. In multi-player shooter "Red Orchestra 2: Rising Storm", a team of American troops attack the defensive Japanese team's control points.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Mario Mandžukić (; born 21 May 1986) is a Croatian football coach and a former player who is an assistant coach of the Croatia national team. As a player, he played as a forward and became known for his aggressiveness, defensive contribution, and aerial prowess. He is considered as one of the best Croatian players of all time.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Starting his career in 2004 at hometown club Marsonia, Mandžukić then moved to two Zagreb-based clubs: NK Zagreb in 2005 and Dinamo Zagreb in 2007. He was Croatian First League top goalscorer in the 2008–09 season. After joining VfL Wolfsburg in 2010, Mandžukić moved to fellow-Bundesliga side Bayern Munich in 2012. He helped Bayern win their first continental treble (Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Champions League) in his first season, and became the first Croatian to score in a Champions League final. After winning a domestic double the following season, he left Bayern for La Liga club Atlético Madrid in 2014, and a season later was signed by Juventus in the Serie A. Mandžukić won four league titles and three Coppa Italia titles with Juventus, and reached the 2017 Champions League Final. He left Juventus in December 2019 for Qatari side Al-Duhail and returned Italy in January 2021, signing with AC Milan. He retired in September of the same year.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: At the international level, Mandžukić debuted for Croatia in November 2007 under manager Slaven Bilić. He participated in four major tournaments with his national side, Euro 2012, the 2014 World Cup, Euro 2016, and the 2018 World Cup, reaching the final of the latter tournament, after which he retired from international football. In total, he made 89 international appearances and, with 33 goals, he is the Croatia national team's second-most prolific scorer of all time. He was named Croatian Footballer of the Year in 2012 and 2013.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Mandžukić started playing football in Germany, where he and his parents relocated to due to the Croatian War of Independence. In 1992, he joined German club TSF Ditzingen, near Stuttgart. Upon returning to his home country, the newly independent Croatia, he spent the period between 1996 and 2003 at NK Marsonia before spending a season at the city minnows NK Željezničar. The next season, he returned to Marsonia and in the summer of 2005 he made a move to NK Zagreb.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: In the summer of 2007, Mandžukić was bought by the Croatian powerhouse Dinamo Zagreb for €1.3 million as a replacement for their Arsenal-bound star striker Eduardo da Silva. Upon his arrival, he managed to secure his spot in starting eleven, playing mostly in the position of second striker. On 4 October 2007, he put on an impressive performance against AFC Ajax in Amsterdam when he scored two goals in extra-time to secure Dinamo's 2–3 away win, as Dinamo qualified for the group stage of 2007–08 UEFA Cup. He finished his first season at Dinamo with 12 goals and 11 assists throughout 29 matches, but also had a poor discipline record, collecting eight yellow cards.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: He started the 2008–09 season with two goals against Linfield in a qualifier for the UEFA Cup. In the 2008–09 Prva HNL, Mandžukić was the league's top goalscorer, bagging 16 goals in 28 appearances. He also scored three goals in the season's UEFA Cup. This was the season of his rise in the Croatian national team as well, as he collected eight caps in 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. After the 2008–09 season had finished, he was linked with German side Werder Bremen, but the €12 million offer was rejected by the Dinamo board, who were of opinion that Mandžukić's worth was at least €15 million. He started the 2009–10 season by scoring a goal in a Champions League play-off match against Red Bull Salzburg. Mandžukić received red card in the last minutes of the game. After he told the referee that he got hit by the bottle that somebody threw from the stands, he gave him his second yellow card and ruled him out of the game. On 17 September 2009, after Dinamo lost 2–0 at home to Anderlecht in Europa League, Mandžukić was controversially fined €100,000 after being accused of poor effort. It was the first time in the history of the club that a player was financially fined. On 20 September, Mandžukić captained Dinamo to a 6–0 victory against HNK Rijeka in Prva HNL. In a post–match interview, Mandžukić rejected any speculation about him leaving the club after the fine, stating that it was his childhood dream to captain the Dinamo side and that he gives his best in any match he plays for the club. During that season, he appeared in 24 league matches, scoring 14 goals. He appeared in five Europa League matches as well.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 14 July 2010, Mandžukić signed for VfL Wolfsburg for a fee believed to be around €7 million. Upon his arrival, in the first half of the 2010–11 season, he played regularly but mostly coming on as a substitute. At the time, he was mostly used as left winger under coach Steve McClaren, who played with only one striker, Edin Džeko. Things changed for Mandžukić, however, after the departure of Džeko to Manchester City in January 2011. Mandžukić scored his first Bundesliga goal for Wolfsburg on Matchday 26 against 1. FC Nürnberg under interim manager Pierre Littbarski. Upon the arrival of manager Felix Magath, Mandžukić was played in his natural position as striker. In the last seven matches of the domestic season, he scored eight goals, two of which came in the last match against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, and were crucial for the club as they avoided relegation. In his second season in Wolfsburg, he became a regular starter in the Bundesliga and was the club's top goalscorer with 12 goals. In his two years at Wolfsburg, he scored 20 times in 56 appearances, establishing himself as one of Wolfsburg's best players during his stay and quickly becoming a fan favourite due to his goalscoring ability and attitude.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 26 June, Mandžukić signed a contract with Bundesliga club Bayern Munich for a transfer fee of €13 million, pending a medical test, subsequent to his strong performance at UEFA Euro 2012 in Ukraine and Poland, and because of his terrific form for Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. On 27 June, the transfer was officially announced by Bayern Munich.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 24 July 2012, Mandžukić made his debut for Bayern in a 6–0 win against Chinese Super League side Beijing Guoan, scoring the fifth goal in the friendly match in the 79th minute. On 12 August, he scored his first goal in an official game against reigning Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund in the sixth minute, helping his team win the German DFL Supercup. He scored his first league goal for Bayern against Greuther Fürth on matchday one and added another one the next matchday in a 6–1 win against VfB Stuttgart. He went on to score twice against his former club Wolfsburg.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Mandžukić then added four more goals in five more Bundesliga matches, taking his tally to nine goals in 11 matches in the German top tier. After the Bundesliga winter break, Mandžukić continued with his goal scoring activity, netting three more goals in first two games, against Greuther Fürth and Stuttgart. He scored another brace against 1. FSV Mainz 05. He finished his first Bundesliga season with Bayern as the club's top goalscorer, netting a total of 15 goals in 24 matches and having a major impact in winning the Bundesliga title. He scored his first Champions League goal of the season in the Round of 16 match against Arsenal. He netted another one in the quarter-final match against Juventus in Turin, giving Bayern the 0–1 away lead. On 25 May, Bayern faced Borussia Dortmund in the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final and Mandžukić scored the first goal of the match, giving Bayern a 1–0 lead in 60th minute. Bayern went on to win the match 2–1 after a late goal from Arjen Robben. With this goal, Mandžukić became the first Croat to score in a Champions League final game and it capped a highly successful first season for him in Munich, as the club completed a treble-winning season, claiming the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal, as well as the German Supercup at the start of the campaign.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Mandžukić first began the season slowly, having small issues adjusting to new Bayern coach Pep Guardiola's system. Guardiola changed Bayern's formation from the 4–2–3–1 they had used previously under Jupp Heynckes to a new 4–1–4–1 style. While it took a bit of time to adjust, Mandžukić regained his form nonetheless in time for league play. He opened the new season in the Bundesliga by scoring two goals in two league appearances. Mandžukić scored his first Champions League goal of the season when Bayern Munich began the defence of their Champions League title against CSKA Moscow with a 3–0 victory at the Allianz Arena. He headed the only goal as Bayern defeated a valiant FC Viktoria Plzeň in November to move into the knockout stages with a record-equalling ninth successive UEFA Champions League win. Mandžukić scored his tenth goal of the new Bundesliga season in a December match against Hamburger SV.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: In the first semi-final of 2013 FIFA Club World Cup, Mandžukić dove low to head Thiago Alcantara's cross into goal for 2–0 against Guangzhou Evergrande. He eventually won the competition with Bayern after the final with Raja Casablanca, ended with a 2–0 victory. Upon the Bundesliga winter break, Mandžukić was left out of the Bayern Munich 18-man roster in their match against Borussia Mönchengladbach, with Guardiola reportedly unimpressed with his performances in training. He returned to the squad for the next match against VfB Stuttgart. A week later, against Eintracht Frankfurt, Mandžukić delivered a response with a commanding performance in Bayern's 5–0 win, scoring the last goal of the match and delivering a pinpoint pass to Mario Götze who opened the scoring. On 12 February, Mandžukić scored his first hat-trick of the season, as Bayern Munich eased their way into the DFB-Pokal semi-final with a 5–0 rout of Hamburger SV. In the match against Hannover 96, Mandžukić celebrated his 100th Bundesliga appearance by meeting Rafinha's cross to complete the goal. Despite being the club's top scorer with 26 goals, Mandžukić was dropped from the team by Guardiola ahead of the 2014 DFB-Pokal Final. Mandžukić stated that he wanted to leave Bayern because "the playing style of coach Pep Guardiola simply does not fit" him.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 10 July 2014, Mandžukić signed a four-year deal with the Spanish club Atlético Madrid for an undisclosed fee. On 24 July, Mandžukić was presented to Atlético Madrid fans at Vicente Calderón, wearing the number 9 shirt. He made his competitive debut in the first leg of the 2014 Supercopa de España on 19 August, a 1–1 draw away to Real Madrid, in which he played 78 minutes before being replaced by fellow debutant Raúl Jiménez. In the second leg at Vicente Calderón, Mandžukić scored his first competitive goal for the club, netting the winner after just two minutes. It was the quickest goal in the competition.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Mandžukić scored his first league goal against SD Eibar, on 30 August, as Atlético recorded their first win of the new Primera División season. In the opening match of the new Champions League campaign, against Olympiacos, Mandžukić collected Cristian Ansaldi's cross and sent home a close-range header into the bottom corner to make it 1–2, in eventual 2–3 loss. Mandžukić helped Atlético move within two points of joint-league leaders Barcelona and Sevilla on 26 October when he tapped in Arda Turan's cross to score the solitary goal in a win over Getafe.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: After returning to action sporting a facemask, he went from strength to strength, bagging 14 goals in all competitions before the winter break – including a sensational hat trick against Olympiacos in the return group stage game at the Calderon on 26 November, which ensured a place in the Champions League knockout stage. Mandžukić scored his 11th La Liga goal of the season in his 19th appearance, in Los Colchoneros emphatic 4–0 victory over local rivals Real Madrid in the second league derby of the season, when sport analysts noted that Mandžukić put in one of the great centre-forward displays seen in La Liga in recent years, contributing to everything that was good about his side before putting the icing on the cake with a well-taken fourth. In total, Mandžukić bagged 20 goals in 43 appearances in his only season in Madrid, living up to his image of hard-working and proven goal scorer.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 22 June 2015, Serie A champions Juventus announced that Mandžukić joined the club from Atlético Madrid on a four-year contract for a fee of €19 million payable in three installments, including a possible extra €2 million in performance-related add-ons.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 8 August he scored the opening goal in the 69th minute for Juventus with a header against Lazio in the 2015 Supercoppa Italiana, a 2–0 win in Shanghai. On 23 August 2015, he made an official league debut for Juventus, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 loss to Udinese, in the first league game of the 2015–16 Serie A season.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 21 September 2015, it was confirmed that Mandžukić would be out for three weeks following a thigh related injury the day before in a 2–0 win over Genoa. However, he returned early, scoring Juventus's first goal, and temporary equaliser, as the team came from behind to win 2–1 away against Manchester City, during their opening match of the Champions League group stage, on 15 September 2015. On 25 October 2015, Mandžukić scored the final goal in Juventus's 2–0 home win over Atalanta in the 49th minute; this was his first Serie A goal in his 6th league appearance with the club. He scored again two games later, helping Juventus to defeat Empoli 3–1. On 25 November 2015, Mandžukić scored the winning goal in a 1–0 home win over Manchester City in the second leg of the Champions League group stage, to secure the club a spot in the round of 16.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Due to these significant goals, as well as another one in a 3–0 away win against Palermo on 29 November, he was voted Juventus player of the month for November 2015. On 27 January 2016, Mandžukić sustained a muscle injury during the first semi-final leg of the Coppa Italia against Inter Milan, putting him on the sidelines for four weeks. It was initially feared that he would miss the first round of 16 leg of the Champions League against his former club, Bayern Munich. However, he returned to action earlier than expected, starting in the match against Bayern on 23 February, and setting up Paulo Dybala's goal in a 2–2 home draw.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Mandžukić's second season with Juventus was particularly notable, as he was often played out of position by the club's manager Massimiliano Allegri; throughout the 2016–17 season, he primarily served as a left winger, rather than as an out and out striker, a position which he normally occupied in the past. Although his goalscoring rate decreased, he drew praise in the media for his work-rate, versatility, consistency, and for the overall high quality of his performances in this new role. On 25 May 2017, Mandžukić signed a contract extension that would keep him at the club until 2020. On 3 June, Mandžukić started in the Champions League Final. He scored the equalising goal in the 27th minute, just seven minutes after Cristiano Ronaldo's goal gave Real Madrid the lead. Mandžukić chested down a ball from Gonzalo Higuaín and hooked the ball over his shoulder from , which arced over Keylor Navas in net. The goal was heralded as one of the best goals ever scored in a Champions League final, and was compared to Zinedine Zidane's goal in the 2002 final for Real Madrid; but Juventus were ultimately defeated 4–1. Mandžukić's bicycle kick goal against Real Madrid went on to win the 2016–17 UEFA Goal of the Season award.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 31 October 2017, Mandžukić made his 100th appearance for Juventus in a 1–1 away draw against Sporting in the UEFA Champions League. On 11 April 2018, he scored two goals in 3–1 away win against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of Champions League. The first goal scored after 76 seconds became the fastest goal Real Madrid conceded in Champions League home game and was the first opposition player to score a first-half double in a Champions League match at the Bernabeu.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 25 August 2018, Mandžukić scored his first goal of the 2018–19 season in a 2–0 home win over Lazio. On 6 October, he made his 100th appearance in Serie A with the club in a 2–0 away win over Udinese, setting up the second goal of the match scored by Cristiano Ronaldo. On 24 November, Mandžukić captained the first team in a 2–0 home win over SPAL, scoring his sixth goal of the season. Three days later, on 27 November, he scored his first goal of the Champions League season in a 1–0 home win against Valencia, assisted by Cristiano Ronaldo. Italian newspapers "La Gazzetta dello Sport" and "La Stampa" noted the emerging symbiosis between Mandžukić and Ronaldo, described as an unexpected tandem of power and skill. On 4 April 2019, Mandžukić extended his contract with Juventus until 2021.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: With the arrival of new Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri in the summer of 2019, Mandžukić was sidelined after being excluded from the manager's plans. As a result, he was also omitted from Juventus's Champions League squad, alongside teammate Emre Can. After failing to make a single appearance for the club during the 2019–20 season, he agreed to join Qatari side Al-Duhail on 24 December. On 29 December, the transfer was made official.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: He made his league debut on 4 January 2020 in a goalless draw with Qatar SC. He scored his first goal for the club on 10 January in a 2–0 win over Al-Sailiya in Qatar Cup. On 11 February 2020, he made his debut and scored his debut goal in the AFC Champions League, scoring the opener in a group stage 2–0 home victory over Persepolis. On 5 July 2020, after ten appearances and two goals overall, Mandžukić terminated his contract with the Qatari side by mutual consent.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Following the contract termination, several clubs showed interest for signing Mandžukić, including Fenerbahçe, Beşiktaş, Lokomotiv Moscow, AC Milan, Benevento, Hellas Verona, Fiorentina, Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Marseille, Wolfsburg, Hertha Berlin and Schalke 04.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 19 January 2021, Mandžukić joined Serie A club Milan on a contract until the end of the season, with the option of a further year. He made his league debut on 23 January in a 3–0 defeat to Atalanta. Due to recurring injuries that impaired his physical conditions and a poor form, Mandžukić made just 11 appearances for Milan, mostly as a substitute, with no goals scored. On 24 May 2021, Mandžukić announced his departure from Milan as the club management had not extended his contract.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: After putting together a string of solid performances in the 2007–08 Prva HNL, as well as in Dinamo's UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup matches, Mandžukić earned a call–up to the Croatian national team, for which he debuted in a game against Macedonia on 17 November 2007. On 10 September 2008, he scored his first ever goal for Croatia in a 4–1 home loss against England in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Mandžukić's influence in the national team increased during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying. His first goal of the campaign came in June 2011, when he scored an equalizer against Georgia at the Stadion Poljud. He added another header against Latvia in the last match of the qualifiers. With Croatia finishing second in their group, they had to face Turkey in the Euro 2012 play-offs. In the first match played in Istanbul, Croatia stunned the home fans by winning 0–3, with Mandžukić scoring the second goal from a header in the 32nd minute of the match.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Mandžukić was one of two of manager Slaven Bilić's first choice strikers for Croatia at UEFA Euro 2012, being paired with the Everton striker Nikica Jelavić. He scored twice in Croatia's opening 3–1 win against the Republic of Ireland, and also scored in a 1–1 draw against Italy the following match. Despite Croatia's group-stage exit, he was the joint-top scorer of the tournament with three goals alongside Mario Balotelli, Fernando Torres, Cristiano Ronaldo, Alan Dzagoev, and future Bayern teammate Mario Gómez.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: He opened the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification by providing two assists in the first two matches, against Macedonia in Zagreb and against Belgium in Brussels. He scored his first goal of the campaign against Wales in Osijek. Mandžukić added another goal to his tally in qualification match against Serbia, giving Croatia a 1–0 lead, in Zagreb. He also scored in the second match between the two sides in Belgrade. In the second leg of Croatia's play-off match against Iceland in Zagreb, Mandžukić gave Croatia the lead in an eventual 2–0 win. However, he later received a red card after a reckless high tackle on Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson connected with the Icelandic midfielder's left knee.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Mandžukić was named in Croatia's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, but was suspended for the team's first match against the host nation in São Paulo on 12 June 2014. He returned to the team for their second match against Cameroon on 18 June, and marked his debut at the World Cup scoring twice in a 4–0 win, being awarded the "Man of the Match" award.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Mandžukić scored once in Croatia's successful UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, opening a 1–1 home draw with Italy in Split on 12 June 2015. The following 4 June, both he and Nikola Kalinić scored hat-tricks in a 10–0 warm-up win against San Marino in Rijeka ahead of the tournament; the result was a record victory for Croatia.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 6 October 2016, Mandžukić scored a hat-trick in a 6–0 win over Kosovo in Shkodër for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, the opponents' first competitive game as the home team.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 4 June 2018, Mandžukić was named to Croatia's final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In the opening game against Nigeria, he caused Oghenekaro Etebo's own goal and won a penalty, that was successfully converted by Luka Modrić, as the game ended as a 2–0 win for Croatia. During the side's round-of-16 match against Denmark on 1 July, he scored the equalising goal in the 4th minute of play; following a 1–1 draw after extra-time, Croatia prevailed 3–2 in the resulting penalty shoot-out. In the quarter-finals against hosts Russia on 7 July, Mandžukić provided an assist in the first half of regulation time for Andrej Kramarić's equaliser. A 1–1 draw after 90 minutes saw the match go into extra-time, and following a 2–2 draw after 120 minutes of play, Croatia once again progressed to the next round in the ensuing shoot-out, winning 4–3 on penalties.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: During Croatia's semi-final match against England on 11 July, with the score tied at 1–1 after regulation time, Mandžukić scored the match-winning goal in 109th minute to give Croatia a 2–1 victory, sending the team to the World Cup final for the first time in their history. In the final against France on 15 July, he became the first player ever to score an own goal in a World Cup final, when he headed Antoine Griezmann's free-kick into his own net to give France a 1–0 lead; he later scored Croatia's second goal by chasing down and capitalizing on an error from French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, as the match eventually ended in a 4–2 defeat. With that goal, Mario Mandžukić became the second player in World Cup history to score for both teams in a single match (the first being Ernie Brandts of the Netherlands in a 1978 World Cup match against Italy) and the first to do so in a final.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 14 August 2018, Mandžukić announced his retirement from international football. At the time of his retirement, he was the second highest goalscorer in the history of the Croatia national team with 33 goals.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: In addition to his goalscoring, pundits noted Mandžukić for his physical strength, versatility, mobility and fitness, as well as his ability in the air. He was even given the nickname "Đilkoš" by Miroslav Blažević, which means brash and unsophisticated, referring to the striker's physical strengths, powerful physique and seemingly endless stamina, rather than his technical ability; his other nicknames included "Mandžo" and "Super Mario". Known for his high work-rate and defensive contribution, Mandžukić's former manager at Wolfsburg, Felix Magath, noted his endurance, stating that the striker was "so fit that I think he could play two back-to-back games without stopping even for a minute."


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Following his move to Atlético Madrid, Sky Sports analyst Adam Bate wrote that he was the perfect fit for manager Diego Simeone's style as Mandžukić was "often the instigator of the press with his energetic running, Mandzukic battles defences, driving them back to create space for teammates as well as preventing opponents building patiently without pressure on the ball." Bate further added that the Croatian was "...both a physical and mobile striker who does much of his best work without the ball, seemingly doing the work of two players and thus allowing an extra man in midfield." ESPN FC contributor Michael Cox also praised Mandžukić for his excellent team-work, highlighting that while he pressed his opponents energetically when they attempted to play the ball out from the back, he was also extremely diligent and disciplined in the manner in which he dropped back into his own half to defend behind the ball if his opponents managed to bypass his team's pressing. In 2014, Aleksandar Holiga commented on Mandžukić's playing, stating that "[h]e stretches the defences with constant movement and seemingly endless stamina, opening space for others to come from behind or cut inside from the wing; his pressing on the ball has proven decisive on a number of previous occasions and he is, of course, one of the best strikers in the world when it comes to aerial power. So even if he does not score himself, his presence could be key for the team's chances."


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: While he primarily served as a striker or as target-man in the penalty area, courtesy of his height, aerial prowess, and physical strength, Mandžukić's work-rate, generosity, tactical intelligence, and versatility were demonstrated by his willingness to play in many different positions across or behind the front line; throughout his career, he was also deployed as a winger, as a second striker, as an attacking midfielder, or even as a wing-back, positions which allowed him the freedom to attack from deeper or wider areas with his runs, support and link-up with his more offensive teammates, draw opponents out of position with his movement, and cover defensively for full-backs making overlapping attacking runs. Indeed, in particular during his time at Juventus under manager Massimiliano Allegri, competition from other forwards often saw Mandžukić being used in these deeper or wider, more creative roles, in particular on the left flank, in which he excelled, drawing praise from the media for his consistently high-quality performances, because of his ability to hold up the ball with his back to goal and play off of his teammates, or drop into midfield to help win back the ball when his team were not in possession. He was also required to function as a "wide target man" on the left side of the pitch occasion, due to his movement and work-rate, as well as his ability to utilise his height to win aerial challenges, or use his strength and solid technique to hold up the ball for teammates and create space or chances for them; in this position, he essentially played a hybrid of the roles of a target man, left winger, and left-back. In addition to his ability as a footballer, Mandžukić was also known for his determination, leadership, and mental strength, and had been described as a "big-game player" in the media, due to his tendency to score decisive goals in important matches for both club and country. As such, during his time in Italy, he earned the nickname "guerriero" ("warrior," in Italian) from the Juventus fans. His playing style has been compared to that of compatriot Alen Bokšić, who also played as a forward for Juventus.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: Mandžukić was born in Slavonski Brod, present-day Croatia, on 21 May 1986. His father Mato is a Bosnian Croat from Prud near Bosanski Samac. Mato was also a football player, who moved to Slavonski Brod upon transferring from Kozara Bosanska Gradiška to BSK.


title: Mario Mandžukić

text: On 16 April 2021, AC Milan club Chairman Paolo Scaroni announced that Mandžukić donated his March salary to AC Milan's club charity, Fondazione Milan, as he was injured the entire month. Fondazione Milan is a charity set up by the club in order to develop facilities and help younger players with difficulty getting the chance to play football. Mandžukić later donated his April and May wages as a result of a long injury.


title: Sukhoi Su-47

text: The Sukhoi Su-47 "Berkut" () (NATO reporting name Firkin), also designated S-32 and S-37 (not to be confused with the twin-engined delta canard design offered by Sukhoi in the early 1990s under the designation Su-37) during initial development, was an experimental supersonic jet fighter developed by the JSC Sukhoi Company. A distinguishing feature of the aircraft was its forward-swept wing that gave the aircraft excellent agility and maneuverability. While serial production of the type never materialized and the configuration was not further pursued, the sole aircraft produced served as a technology demonstrator prototype for a number of advanced technologies later used in the 4.5 generation fighter Su-35 and current fifth-generation jet fighter Su-57.


title: Sukhoi Su-47

text: Originally known as the S-37, Sukhoi redesignated its advanced test aircraft as the Su-47 in 2002. Officially nicknamed Berkut () (the Russian word for the golden eagle), the Su-47 was originally built as Russia's principal testbed for composite materials and sophisticated fly-by-wire control systems, as well as new airframe technologies.


title: Sukhoi Su-47

text: TsAGI has long been aware of the advantages of forward-swept wings, with research including the development of the Tsibin LL and study of the captured Junkers Ju 287 in the 1940s. At high angles of attack, the wing tips remain retracted allowing the aircraft to retain aileron control. Conversely to more conventional rear-swept wings, forward sweep geometrically creates increased angle of incidence of the outer wing sections when the wing bends under load. The wings experience higher bending moments, leading to a tendency for the wings to fail structurally at lower speeds than for a straight or aft-swept wing.


title: Sukhoi Su-47

text: The project was launched in 1983 on order from the Soviet Air Force. But when the USSR dissolved, funding was frozen and development continued only through funding by Sukhoi. Like its US counterpart, the Grumman X-29, the Su-47 was primarily a technology demonstrator for future Russian fighters such as the Sukhoi Su-57. The forward-swept wing configuration was ultimately not pursued because it was mainly advantageous at transonic speeds while an aft-swept wing was superior at supersonic speeds.


title: Sukhoi Su-47

text: The Su-47 is of similar dimensions to previous large Sukhoi fighters, such as the Su-35. To reduce development costs, the Su-47 borrowed the forward fuselage, vertical tails, and landing gear of the Su-27 family. Nonetheless, the aircraft includes an internal weapons bay, and space set aside for an advanced radar.


title: Sukhoi Su-47

text: Like its immediate predecessor, the Su-37, the Su-47 is of tandem-triple layout, with canards ahead of wings and tailplanes. The Su-47 has two tailbooms of unequal length outboard of the exhaust nozzles. The shorter boom, on the left-hand side, houses ECM system, while the longer boom houses a rear-facing radar.


title: Sukhoi Su-47

text: The Su-47 has extremely high agility at subsonic speeds, enabling the aircraft to alter its angle of attack and its flight path very quickly while retaining maneuverability in supersonic flight. The Su-47 has a maximum speed of Mach 1.6 at high altitudes and a 9g capability.


title: Sukhoi Su-47

text: The swept-forward wing, compared to a swept-back wing of the same area, provides a number of advantages:


title: Sukhoi Su-47

text: The forward-swept midwing gives the Su-47 its unconventional appearance. A substantial part of the lift generated by the forward-swept wing occurs at the inner portion of the wingspan. This inboard lift is not restricted by wingtip stall and the lift-induced wingtip vortex generation is thus reduced. The ailerons—the wing's control surfaces—remain effective at the highest angles of attack, and controllability of the aircraft is retained even in the event of airflow separating from the remainder of the wings' surface.


title: Sukhoi Su-47

text: A downside of such a forward-swept wing design is that it geometrically produces wing twisting as it bends under load, resulting in greater stress on the wing than for a similar straight or aft-swept wing. This requires the wing be designed to twist as it bends—opposite to the geometric twisting. This is done by the use of composites wing skins laid-up to twist. The plane was initially limited to Mach 1.6. Because the forward sweep was primarily beneficial at transonic speed while losing out to aft-swept wing at supersonic speed, it was not further pursued.


title: Sukhoi Su-47

text: The thrust vectoring (with PFU engine modification) of ±20° at 30°/second in pitch and yaw will greatly support the agility gained by other aspects of the design.


title: The Tashkent Files

text: The Tashkent Files – Who Killed Shastri? is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language thriller film about the death of former Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri. Written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri, it stars Shweta Basu Prasad, Naseeruddin Shah and Mithun Chakraborty. The film released on 12 April 2019 to overwhelmingly negative reviews but went on to become a box-office sleeper hit and received two National Awards.


title: The Tashkent Files

text: A young journalist, Raagini Phule, whose career is threatened and looking for a scoop receives help from an anonymous informer which leads into the formation of a panel of experts by the government, which also includes Raagini, to investigate the truth about the death of India's former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. The information collected are scrutinised and debated over by the panel in an attempt to unravel the truth.


title: The Tashkent Files

text: The film was announced in January 2018 as India's first "crowd-sourced" thriller. Principal photography began in January 2018. In February 2018 he invited from the public any information, book, link or memory related to Lal Bahadur Shastri’s mysterious death in Tashkent to help him solve the 'decades old enigma' surrounding the death of former Prime Minister of India. Books referenced for and referred in the film include "Political Mysteries" by K. R. Malkani, "Conversations with the Crow" by Gregory Douglas, and Mitrokhin Archive by Vasili Mitrokhin.


title: The Tashkent Files

text: First poster was released on 19 March 2019, and on the same occasion, the release date was announced as 12 April 2019. The film was also simultaneously released on Video on demand service ZEE5. Agnihotri touted the film to be the first instalment of his trilogy of "untold stories of independent India", which is followed by "The Kashmir Files" (2022) and an upcoming film "The Delhi Files".


title: The Tashkent Files

text: "The Tashkent Files" received overwhelmingly negative reviews. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 0% approval rating based on 8 reviews.


title: The Tashkent Files

text: Devesh Sharma of "Filmfare" gave two and half stars out of five; it was a 'melodramatic' episode with loud and over the top acting coupled with bombastic dialogues. Sharma found the film to be biased against a certain political party and wondered about its release during the national elections, which were running concurrently.


title: The Tashkent Files

text: Writing for Scroll.in, Nandini Ramnath found it to be a politically motivated work that did not have any rigor and failed to be an effective conspiracy thriller. Saibal Chatterjee, writing for "NDTV" rated the film with half star out of five — the research that went into the production was equivalent of a Google search film-making and overall, it was "junk." Jyoti Sharma Bawa, reviewing for the "Hindustan Times" rated it one out of five stars and reiterated Chatterjee. "Mid-Day" gave one and a half stars out of five — all the research that went into the work was derived from internet, esp. social media.


title: The Tashkent Files

text: A review over "India Today" rated it one out of five stars and noted it to be a politically motivated film that did not have any logic and might be easily dispensed with. A review over "The Hindu" noted it to be an ideological slideshow that exploited Shastri's death to attack left, secular and socialist ideologies and institutions and though based on an engaging topic, was a 'hotch-potch of hearsay, juvenile arguments' that ultimately lend to utter confusion rather than any conviction. Another review over "News18 India" rated it one out of five stars and noted it to be a politically motivated film with unconvincing arguments, that made for a dull watch.


title: The Tashkent Files

text: A review in "The First Post" asserted it to be a politically motivated film and rated it two out of five stars. Noting Agnihotri to neither have the finesse nor the potency to sketch a conspiracy thriller, the reviewer deemed it to be a cheap trick, that was high on hysteria but lacked logic amidst a focus-less frenzied storytelling that did not venture beyond the realms of Google. A review in "The Indian Express" deemed it to be the ideal politically-motivated fiction for the 'post-truth, fake news era' — a series of eye-roll moments with unintentionally hilarious dialogues. "ThePrint" found it to be a shoddy jab at film-making that harnessed a mish-mash of unformed characters and incomplete plots devoid of logic. "Bollywood Hungama" gave one and a half stars out of five.


title: The Tashkent Files

text: Anusha Iyengar, reviewing for "Times Now", gave two out of five stars, praising the story but taking issues with over-the-top dramatization that reeked of amateurish storytelling. Manavi Kapur, reviewing the film at "Business Standard", found it unworthy for even a daytime opera slot. Shilajit Mitra, reviewing for "The New Indian Express" remarked it to be an exhausting head-spin of a political propaganda, that became weirder with time. Stutee Ghosh of "The Quint" found it to be a prejudiced, amateurish and cringe-worthy film with an uninspiring storytelling that banked on crowd-sourced research; she rated one star out of five.


title: The Tashkent Files

text: The music of the film is composed by Rohit Sharma while the lyrics are penned by Aazad, Rohit Sharma and Vivek Agnihotri.


title: The Tashkent Files

text: "Who Killed Shastri?: The Tashkent Files" is a non-fiction book by director Vivek Agnihotri about his research for the film and outlines various theories about the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri. It was released in August 2020 by Bloomsbury India.


title: Gayle King

text: Gayle King (born December 28, 1954) is an American television personality, author and broadcast journalist for CBS News, co-hosting its flagship morning program, "CBS Mornings", and before that its predecessor "CBS This Morning". She is also an editor-at-large for "O, The Oprah Magazine".


title: Gayle King

text: Gayle King's parents are Peggy and Scott King. King was born in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and from age six to eleven she lived in Ankara, Turkey, where her father was deployed. Eventually returning with her family to the United States in 1966, where her father worked as an electrical engineer. She graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a degree in psychology.


title: Gayle King

text: King's career began as a production assistant at WJZ-TV in Baltimore, where she met Oprah Winfrey, an anchor for the station at the time. King later trained as a reporter at WUSA-TV in Washington, D.C. After working at WJZ, she moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where she was a weekend anchor and general-assignment reporter at WDAF-TV. In 1981, she was hired as a news anchor for WFSB in Hartford, Connecticut, where she worked for 18 years. Part of that time, she lived in Glastonbury, Connecticut.


title: Gayle King

text: King worked as a special correspondent for "The Oprah Winfrey Show". In 1991, King briefly co-hosted an NBC daytime talk show with Robin Wagner called "Cover to Cover", which was canceled after 13 weeks. In 1997, she was offered her own syndicated talk show, "The Gayle King Show", which was canceled after one season due to low ratings. In September 2006, King began to host "The Gayle King Show" on XM Satellite Radio.


title: Gayle King

text: On January 3, 2011, King began hosting a new show, also called "The Gayle King Show", on OWN. "The Gayle King Show" ended on November 17, 2011, as a result of King going to CBS to co-anchor "CBS This Morning" alongside Charlie Rose and a series of third co-anchors including for a time Norah O'Donnell. The show succeeded in the ratings. King and Rose were noted as having good on-air chemistry. The two became friends as well, and remained friends even after Rose exited from CBS due to the sexual misconduct allegations against him.


title: Gayle King

text: Before joining CBS News, King worked as a special correspondent for "Good Morning America". On November 10, 2011, King secured a deal with CBS to co-anchor "CBS This Morning", beginning on January 9, 2012. She publicly called for CBS to have full transparency when it was learned CBS planned on keeping the findings of sexual abuse and harassment at the network private. She received recognition for remaining stoic during an interview with R. Kelly, who rose from his chair and began to scream and beat his chest in an interview discussing the sexual abuse allegations made against him.


title: Gayle King

text: In 2018, King was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame. She was also chosen as one of "Time" magazine's 100 most influential people of 2019.


title: Gayle King

text: In 2020, shortly after the death of Kobe Bryant, King received social media criticism for a "CBS This Morning" interview with former WNBA player Lisa Leslie, in which King brought up Bryant's sexual assault allegations from 2003. Rapper Snoop Dogg was among those who criticized King, though he later apologized. She received support, particularly from long-time friend Oprah Winfrey. King said CBS had used an out-of-context excerpt from the interview. The network said in a statement that the excerpt was not reflective of the "thoughtful, wide-ranging interview" King had conducted with Leslie.


title: Gayle King

text: In January 2022, King had extended her contract with CBS News to keep as co-anchor of "CBS Mornings".


title: Gayle King

text: King has been a close friend of Oprah Winfrey since 1976. In a 2010 interview with Barbara Walters, Winfrey said of King, "She is the mother I never had, she is the sister everybody would want, she is the friend everybody deserves, I don't know a better person".


title: Gayle King

text: From 1982 to 1993, King was married to Bill Bumpus, an attorney and an assistant attorney general in Connecticut. They share a daughter, Kirby, and a son, William Bumpus Jr.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: Star Trek: Nemesis is a 2002 American science fiction film directed by Stuart Baird. It is the tenth film in the "Star Trek" franchise, as well as the fourth and final film to star the cast of "". It was written by John Logan from a story developed by Logan, Brent Spiner, and producer Rick Berman. In the film, which is set in the 24th century, the crew of the USS "Enterprise"-E are forced to deal with a threat to the United Federation of Planets from a clone of Captain Picard named Shinzon, who has taken control of the Romulan Star Empire in a coup d'état.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: Principal photography for the film took place from November 2001 to March 2002. "Nemesis" held its world premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on December 9, 2002. The film was released in North America on December 13, 2002 by Paramount Pictures, and received generally mixed reviews, with publications criticizing it for being the least successful in the franchise. The film was a box office failure, earning $67 million worldwide against a $60 million budget. Plans for a final film featuring "The Next Generation" cast were scrapped, and the film series was rebooted instead with "Star Trek" in 2009, which was a box office success. The television series "", a continuation of "The Next Generation" and "Nemesis" set two decades after the latter at the end of the 24th century, premiered in 2020.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: On Romulus, members of the Romulan Senate debate terms of peace and alliance from the Reman rebel leader Shinzon. The Remans are a slave race of the Romulan Empire from the neighboring planet Remus, used as miners and cannon fodder. While a faction of the military supports Shinzon, the Praetor and Senate are opposed to an alliance. After rejecting the motion, the Praetor and senators are disintegrated by a device left in the room.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: Meanwhile, the crew of the Starship "Enterprise" prepare to bid farewell to newly-married officers William Riker and Deanna Troi. The android officer Data serenades the couple with a rendition of "Blue Skies" at a reception. En route to the ceremony, they discover an energy reading on the planet Kolarus III near the Romulan Neutral Zone. Captain Jean-Luc Picard, security officer Worf, and Data land on the planet and discover the remnants of an android resembling Data, named B-4. The trio are attacked by the native population, and leave the planet with B-4, which they deduce to be an earlier Soong type Android.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: "Enterprise" is ordered on a diplomatic mission to Romulus, where Shinzon has taken over the Empire and professes a desire for peace with the Federation. On arrival, they learn Shinzon is a clone of Picard, secretly created by the Romulans to plant a high-ranking spy into the Federation. The project was abandoned when Shinzon was still a child, and he was left on Remus to die as a slave. After many years, Shinzon became a leader of the Remans, and constructed a heavily armed flagship, "Scimitar". The "Enterprise" crew discover that "Scimitar" is producing low levels of deadly thalaron radiation, the same radiation used to wipe out the Romulan Senate. There are also unexpected attempts to communicate with the "Enterprise" computers, and Shinzon invades Troi's mind through the telepathy of his Reman viceroy.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: Medical officer Doctor Beverly Crusher discovers that Shinzon is dying rapidly because of the process used to clone him, and the only possible treatment is a transfusion of Picard's blood. Shinzon kidnaps Picard and B-4, having planted the android on Kolarus as a lure. Data reveals he swapped places with B-4, and rescues Picard. They determine Shinzon plans to use "Scimitar" to invade the Federation, using its thalaron radiation generator to eradicate all life on Earth.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: "Enterprise" races back to Federation space, but is ambushed by "Scimitar" in the Bassen Rift, a region which prevents subspace communication. Despite the aid of two Romulan Warbirds, "Enterprise" is heavily damaged. Picard rams his ship into "Scimitar", crippling both vessels. Shinzon activates the thalaron weapon in an act of mutually assured destruction. Picard boards "Scimitar" alone to face Shinzon, and kills him by impaling him on a metal strut. With "Enterprise"s transporters down, Data leaps the distance between the two ships equipped with an emergency transporter, beaming Picard off the ship, and sacrifices himself to destroy the thalaron generator and "Scimitar" with it. The crew mourn Data, and the surviving Romulan commander, Donatra, offers them her gratitude for saving the Empire.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: Back at Earth, Picard bids farewell to Riker, who is leaving with Troi to command the USS "Titan". Picard meets with B-4, and discovers that, before he boarded the "Scimitar", Data downloaded his memories into B-4, allowing him to live on. As B-4 starts singing "Blue Skies", Picard leaves B-4's quarters and smiles.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: Baird and Berman had been searching for someone who resembled Patrick Stewart but looked about 25 years younger; at one point they considered Jude Law. Baird specifically wanted an unknown actor, and Hardy auditioned by tape after Stewart asked Hardy's agent if he thought any of his clients were suitable for the role. Hardy was filming "Simon: An English Legionnaire" in Morocco at the time, and decided against using the requested text for the audition. Instead, he got possession of a full script for "Nemesis", used a different part of the script, and filmed it partly nude. He was flown to Los Angeles to do a screen test with Stewart; Hardy later described his performance there as "appalling". However, he had recorded himself performing the same piece in a hotel room the night before, and gave that tape to Baird, resulting in his being cast as Shinzon a few days later.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: Sirtis was "ecstatic" about the role Troi plays in the movie. She was pleased with the wedding scene, saying that the dress she wore for "Nemesis" was nicer than the one she wore at her actual wedding. She was happy to work once again with Wil Wheaton and Whoopi Goldberg, but felt that the film would be the last one with the entire cast of "The Next Generation". She remained certain that it would not be the last "Star Trek" film to be made, as she thought that Paramount would want to make a film involving a variety of characters from the different "Star Trek" series.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: Perlman and Hardy became friends on the set. Perlman said in an interview eight years after the release of the film, "I loved him when I first met him. I loved working with him. I found him to be really smart, really a great kid."


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: In promotional interviews for the film, Patrick Stewart stated that room for a sequel was intentionally left.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: Stuart Baird was brought in to direct "Nemesis" by executive producer Rick Berman. It was Baird's third film following "US Marshals" and "Executive Decision", although he had directed a variety of second units previously. Baird did not have a background in "Star Trek"; he was aware of the films and television series but did not consider himself an expert on the subject. Berman explained that Baird would bring "fresh blood" to the film and that Berman had enjoyed "the sense of fun and action that existed in "Executive Decision"." Baird said in a promotional interview that this resulted in a non-typical Baird film, saying that it was "perhaps a little different from the dynamics of the previous films." He wanted to add energy to the action scenes and added some set pieces, such as the car chase. He called that scene a "signature piece" for the film, which turns dark after the crew is put in danger by the inhabitants of the planet. He also found that the cast would discuss any issues they had with the direction he gave to their characters. Despite Frakes' being in the cast and having directed the previous two "Star Trek" films, Baird decided not to seek his opinion on the direction of the film. He said that there was no resentment on set, noting that Frakes was completing work on directing "Clockstoppers" at the time and so likely could not have taken on directing "Nemesis" even if Baird had not been given the job. Baird had hoped that "Nemesis" would be enough of a success that he could consider whether to take the lead on a future, eleventh "Star Trek" film.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: The make-up team sought to make Hardy look more similar to Stewart by creating latex prosthetics from moulds of the latter's face. These included numerous versions of noses and chins, and in order to reduce the visible size of Hardy's lips a fake scar was added.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: Special effects were done by Digital Domain. Although the majority of the exterior shots of ships were computer generated, a practical 17-foot Enterprise saucer was built and collided into a model of the Scimitar for the film's climax.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: The music to "Star Trek: Nemesis" was composed and conducted by Jerry Goldsmith, who composed previous entries in the franchise, such as the Academy Award-nominated score for "", "", "", and "", as well as the themes to the television series "" (arranged by Dennis McCarthy) and "". One of the final works written before his death in 2004, Goldsmith had also previously collaborated with Baird on "Executive Decision" and "U.S. Marshals".


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: The score opens with airy synthesizers under a trumpet performing an augmented triad before preceding into Alexander Courage's "" fanfare. The score then quickly transitions into a much darker theme to accompany the conflict between the Reman and Romulan empires. Goldsmith also composed a new 5-note theme to accompany the character Shinzon and the "Scimitar", which is manipulated throughout the score to reflect the multiple dimensions of the character. The score is book-ended with Goldsmith's theme from "", following a brief excerpt from the song "Blue Skies" by Irving Berlin and the original "Star Trek" fanfare.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: "Nemesis" had comparatively little marketing, despite releasing so long after the previous film. Merchandise included a line of action figures, a trading card set, soundtrack, novelization, and tie-in official magazines. Regional food promotions with Safeway Grocery Stores and Del Taco occurred in Southern California.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: The premiere of "Star Trek: Nemesis" took place at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on December 9, 2002. It was attended by the cast and crew, with the exception of Jonathan Frakes who was away directing the film "Thunderbirds". The after party was held in the Kodak Theatre complex. "Nemesis" was released on December 13, 2002, in direct competition with "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (released November 15, 2002), the 20th James Bond film "Die Another Day" (released November 22, 2002), and "" (released December 18, 2002). Producer Rick Berman has suggested that "Nemesis"s performance may have been negatively affected by "the competition of other films". This poor performance was predicted by reviewers, due to the short period in the film's release before "The Two Towers" was released. The film's gross domestic income was the lowest of the franchise at $43,254,409 as of September 2008. It opened at #2 in the US box office ($200,000 behind "Maid in Manhattan") and was the first "Trek" film not to debut as the highest-grossing film of the week. It earned a total of $67,312,826 worldwide, against a production budget of $60 million.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: On May 20, 2003, "Nemesis" was released on DVD in both anamorphic widescreen and full screen editions in Region 1, and was also released on VHS. The initial DVD release contained an audio commentary by director Stuart Baird, four featurettes on the film's production, seven deleted scenes, a photo gallery, and a preview for "" on DVD at Amazon.com. Also on October 4, 2005, "Star Trek: Nemesis" was released on UMD in widescreen for Region 1 only; it is the only Star Trek ever released on UMD. The initial release was followed up with a "Special Collector's Edition" in Region 1 on October 4, 2005. Although this two-disc set contained several additional features, it also duplicated some of the features found in the initial release. The film was released on Blu-ray on September 22, 2009 as part of the "Star Trek: The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection" in the United States. It was subsequently released individually in Japan and the United Kingdom. The Blu-ray edition contains high definition bonus features not seen on previous DVD releases.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: Nemesis received generally negative reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a critic rating of 38%, based on 170 reviews. This was the second-lowest rating, behind "." On Metacritic it has a score of 51% based on reviews from 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" had mixed feelings about the film, stating, "I'm smiling like a good sport and trying to get with the dialogue ... and gradually it occurs to me that 'Star Trek' is over for me. I've been looking at these stories for half a lifetime, and, let's face it, they're out of gas." Ebert gave the film two out of four stars.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" said that the film is a "rather harebrained story that's relieved to a degree only by some striking visual effects and by Patrick Stewart's outstanding presence as Picard". LaSalle complained that Stewart gave "integrity and wry stoicism to "Nemesis", but the movie [was] unworthy of him". Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a positive review, commenting that the crew "indulge[s] the force of humanity over hardware in a way that George Lucas had forgotten." Gleiberman gave the film a "B−". Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" said that the film is a "klutzy affair whose warm, fuzzy heart emits intermittent bleats from the sleeve of its gleaming spacesuit". Holden praised the scenes where the "Enterprise" and the "Scimitar" ram into each other during the final battle.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: The film was nominated for the Saturn Awards for Best Science Fiction Film and Best Costume but lost to both "Minority Report" and "", respectively. while Hardy was nominated for Best Supporting Actor but lost out to Andy Serkis for his role in "".


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: The movie was not well-loved among the cast, with LeVar Burton and Marina Sirtis speaking unflatteringly of Baird. Frakes said that if he himself had directed "Nemesis", he would have made the film less villain-centric and given more screen time to the regular "Next Generation" cast.


title: Star Trek: Nemesis

text: During production of "Nemesis", John Logan and Brent Spiner developed a script for a fifth and final film featuring "The Next Generation" cast that would have wrapped up the adventures of the "Enterprise"-E crew. The poor performance of "Nemesis" at the box office convinced Paramount that "Star Trek" was suffering from "franchise fatigue", and the script was abandoned. Some of the events of the film would later be followed up on in the 2020 television series "," set twenty years after the events of "Nemesis".


title: Gary Rossington

text: Gary Robert Rossington (born December 4, 1951) is an American guitarist. He is the only remaining original member of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, in which he plays lead and rhythm guitar.


title: Gary Rossington

text: In 2009, he became the last original member to remain in the band, and became the last surviving original member in 2019.


title: Gary Rossington

text: Rossington was also a founding member of the Rossington Collins Band, along with former bandmate Allen Collins.


title: Gary Rossington

text: Rossington's mother recalled that he had a strong childhood interest in baseball and aspired as a child to one day play for the New York Yankees. Rossington recalled that he was a "good ball player" but upon hearing the Rolling Stones in his early teens he became interested in music and ultimately gave up on his baseball aspirations.


title: Gary Rossington

text: It was Rossington's love of baseball that indirectly led to the formation of Lynyrd Skynyrd in the summer of 1964. He, Ronnie Van Zant, and Bob Burns became acquainted while playing on rival Jacksonville baseball teams and the trio decided to jam together one afternoon after Burns was injured by a ball hit by Van Zant. They set up their equipment in the carport of Burns' parents' house and played The Rolling Stones' then-current hit "Time Is on My Side". Liking what they heard, they immediately decided to form a band. Naming themselves The Noble Five (with the additions of guitarist Allen Collins and bassist Larry Junstrom) they later changed the name of the band to The One Percent before eventually settling on the name Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1969.


title: Gary Rossington

text: Rossington grew up in a single parent household and says that early in their relationship, Van Zant became somewhat of a father figure to him. He credits Van Zant, who was three years his senior, with teaching him and his bandmates how to drive a car, as well as introducing them to "all that stuff you learn when you're 14, 15, 16".


title: Gary Rossington

text: According to a "New York Times" article, Lacy Van Zant, patriarch of the Van Zant family, once went to West Jacksonville's Robert E. Lee High School to plead Rossington's case to school administrators after the fatherless Rossington was suspended for having long hair. Lacy Van Zant explained to the assistant principal that Rossington's father, who died shortly after Rossington was born, had died in the Army and that Rossington's mother needed the money Rossington made playing in his band. Lacy Van Zant further explained that, like his own sons, they were working men and long hair was part of the job. It's not known if the elder Van Zant's efforts were successful, but Rossington later dropped out of high school to focus on Lynyrd Skynyrd full-time.


title: Gary Rossington

text: Rossington's instrument of choice was a 1959 Gibson Les Paul which he had purchased from a woman whose boyfriend had left her and left behind his guitar. He named it "Berniece" in honor of his mother (whom he was extremely close to after the death of his father). Rossington played lead guitar on "Tuesday's Gone" and the slide guitar for "Free Bird". Along with Collins, Rossington also provided the guitar work for "Simple Man."


title: Gary Rossington

text: Besides the Les Paul, he used various other Gibson Guitars including Gibson SGs. Gibson released a Gary Rossington SG/Les Paul in their Custom Shop a few years ago. For most of his career, he has been playing through Marshall and Peavey Amplifiers.


title: Gary Rossington

text: On Labor Day weekend in 1976, Rossington and fellow Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins were both involved in separate car accidents in their hometown of Jacksonville. Rossington had just bought a new Ford Torino and hit an oak tree while under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. The band was forced to postpone a tour scheduled to begin a few days later, and Rossington was fined US$5,000 for the delay his actions caused to the band's schedule. The song "That Smell", written by Van Zant and Collins, was based on the wreck and Rossington's state of influence from drugs and alcohol that caused it.


title: Gary Rossington

text: Rossington was one of 20 passengers who survived the October 20, 1977 plane crash near McComb, Mississippi, that claimed the lives of Lynyrd Skynyrd members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and three others. As the passengers braced for impact, Rossington recalls hearing what sounded like hundreds of baseball bats hitting the plane's fuselage as it began striking trees. The sound got louder and louder until Rossington was knocked unconscious; he awoke some time later on the ground with the plane's door on top of him. Days later, Rossington was informed in the hospital by his mother that Van Zant and the others had been killed. Despite breaking both arms, legs, wrists, and ankles, as well as his pelvis, Rossington recovered from his injuries and played on stage again (with steel rods in his right arm and right leg).


title: Gary Rossington

text: Though in time Rossington fully recovered from the severe injuries sustained in the crash, he battled serious drug addiction throughout the next several years, largely the result of his heavy dependence on pain medication taken during his recovery from the plane crash.


title: Gary Rossington

text: Rossington co-founded the Rossington Collins Band with Collins in 1980. The band released two albums, but disbanded in 1982 after the death of Collins' wife, Kathy.


title: Gary Rossington

text: Along with his wife, Dale Krantz-Rossington, he then formed The Rossington Band, which released two albums in 1986 and 1988, respectively.


title: Gary Rossington

text: To date, Rossington still plays in Lynyrd Skynyrd. With the deaths of keyboardist Billy Powell (2009) and Larry Junstrom (2019), he is the last surviving original member of the band.


title: Gary Rossington

text: Rossington suffered a heart attack on October 8, 2015, after which two Lynyrd Skynyrd concerts had to be canceled. In July 2021, he underwent emergency heart surgery.


title: Donovan McNabb

text: Donovan Jamal McNabb (born November 25, 1976) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for thirteen seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. Before his NFL career, he played football and basketball at Syracuse University. The Eagles selected him as the second overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, and McNabb played eleven seasons with the team, followed by a year each with the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings.


title: Donovan McNabb

text: McNabb was the Eagles' starting quarterback from 1999 to 2009. During his tenure with the Eagles, he led the team to eight playoff appearances (2000–2004, 2006, 2008, and 2009), five NFC East division championships (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006). In weeks 6 and 7 of the 2003 season, McNabb became the first and only eagles quarterback to win NFC player of the week in back to back weeks. He played in five NFC Championship games (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2008), and Super Bowl XXXIX, which the Eagles lost to the New England Patriots, 24–21. He also became the Eagles' all-time leader in pass attempts, pass completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns.


title: Donovan McNabb

text: McNabb is the fourth quarterback in NFL history to amass more than 30,000 passing yards, 200 touchdown passes, 3,000 rushing yards, and twenty rushing touchdowns in his career; the first three quarterbacks to accomplish this feat were Fran Tarkenton, John Elway, and Steve Young. His 3,459 career yards rushing ranks eighth all-time for NFL quarterbacks.


title: Donovan McNabb

text: McNabb was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Mount Carmel High School, where as a sophomore, he was a teammate of future NFL players Simeon Rice and Matt Cushing. Together, they helped Mount Carmel win the 1991 State Championship over Wheaton Central High School. As a senior, he led the team to a Chicago Prep Bowl championship. He also excelled in track and field during his high-school years, and played basketball with Antoine Walker.


title: Donovan McNabb

text: Though McNabb was approached by recruiters from numerous colleges, only two schools, Syracuse University and the University of Nebraska, offered him scholarships to play college football as a quarterback. He initially leaned toward attending Nebraska, as he relished the idea of being coached by Tom Osborne. Eventually, however, he decided to attend Syracuse and play for the Syracuse Orange football team, principally because he wanted to prove he was a competent "pocket passer", but also for their broadcasting journalism program.


title: Donovan McNabb

text: After redshirting in 1994, his first year at Syracuse, McNabb went on to start every game during his college career, compiling a 35–14 record. As a freshman, he completed the longest touchdown pass in Syracuse's history—a 96-yard throw against West Virginia University—in a game where he accounted for 354 total yards of offense; he was named the Big East Conference's rookie of the year at the end of the season. McNabb amassed 2,892 yards of total offense in his junior season to set a school record. As a senior, he led Syracuse to a berth in the Orange Bowl against Florida, as he completed 157 of 251 passes (62.5%) for 2,134 yards; he also pushed the eventual champions, the Tennessee Volunteers, to the limit in a very close game. His 22 touchdown passes tied the school's single-season record, set by former Eagle Don McPherson in 1987. McNabb also rushed 135 times for 438 yards and eight touchdowns. He ranked sixth in the nation with a 158.9 passing efficiency rating and 22nd in total offense, with 233.8 yards per game. He tied a school record with four touchdown passes against Cincinnati, and scored five touchdowns against Miami (three rushing and two passing). McNabb was also teammates with future NFL star Marvin Harrison for one season at Syracuse.


title: Donovan McNabb

text: McNabb was named the Big East's offensive player of the decade for the 1990s, and Big East Offensive Player of the Year three times from 1996 to 1998, as well as the first-team all-conference vote earner in each of his four seasons. He was a finalist for the 1998 Heisman Trophy. Later, he was named to the Syracuse All-Century football team.


title: Donovan McNabb

text: McNabb was also a walk-on for two seasons for the Syracuse basketball team under head coach Jim Boeheim. He spent two years as a reserve on the school's nationally ranked basketball team, including the 1996 squad that lost to Kentucky (a team led by his former high-school teammate Antoine Walker) in the National Championship game.


title: Donovan McNabb

text: McNabb was drafted in the first round as the second overall pick by the Eagles, behind first pick Tim Couch, in the 1999 NFL Draft. McNabb was the second of five quarterbacks selected in the first 12 picks of a quarterback-rich class that was at that point considered the best quarterback draft since the famous class of 1983. However, only McNabb and Daunte Culpepper went on to have successful careers in the NFL; Tim Couch struggled with the Cleveland Browns and officially retired in 2007 after being cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars in a failed comeback bid, while Akili Smith and Cade McNown were out of the NFL by 2002. By 2006, only McNabb was still with the team that originally drafted him.


title: Donovan McNabb

text: McNabb saw his first NFL regular-season action in the second half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 19–5 home loss on September 19. He made his first career start at home against Washington on November 14, completing eight of 21 passes for 60 yards in a 35–28 win. He also had nine carries for 49 rushing yards and led the team to a pair of successful two-point conversions (one rush and one pass). He was the first Eagles rookie to start at quarterback since Brad Goebel, and the first Eagles rookie draft pick to start since John Reaves in 1972. With the win, McNabb became the first Eagles rookie quarterback to win his first NFL start since Mike Boryla (December 1, 1974, against Green Bay) and the first Eagle quarterback to win his first start since Ty Detmer (October 13, 1996, against the New York Giants).


title: Donovan McNabb

text: McNabb threw the first touchdown pass of his career (six yards to tight end Chad Lewis) against the Indianapolis Colts in a 44–17 home loss on November 21, 1999. McNabb went on to start six of the Eagles' final seven contests (missing the December 19 home game against the New England Patriots, a 24–9 victory, due to injury).


title: Donovan McNabb

text: In his first full season as an NFL starter in 2000, McNabb finished second in the Associated Press MVP voting (24-11) to St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk, who set the NFL record for most touchdowns scored in a season. McNabb made his primetime debut on ESPN against the Atlanta Falcons at home on October 1, with his first 300-yard passing game in a 38–10 victory and the Eagles' first 300-yard passer since Bobby Hoying against the Cincinnati Bengals at home on November 30, 1997. McNabb's 55 pass attempts at Pittsburgh in a come-from-behind 26–23 overtime victory on November 12 were then a career high and tied for the fourth-highest total in team history. He was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week after accounting for 90.7% of the offense in a 23–20 victory at Washington on November 26. His 125 rushing yards were the most by an NFL quarterback since the Chicago Bears' Bobby Douglass rushed for 127 on December 17, 1972, and was the eighth-best rushing effort by a quarterback since 1940 when the T formation was introduced. He threw a career-high 390 passing yards and four touchdowns in a 35–24 victory at the Cleveland Browns on December 10 en route to his second NFC Offensive Player of the Week award. McNabb led the Eagles to their first playoff appearance since 1996, where they defeated the favored Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21–3 before losing to the New York Giants 20–10.


title: Donovan McNabb

text: McNabb was selected as a first alternate to the NFC Pro Bowl squad in 2000 (behind Daunte Culpepper, Jeff Garcia, and Kurt Warner). When Warner was unable to participate due to injury, McNabb took his spot and led the NFC on a touchdown-scoring drive in his first series. He accounted for 74.6% of the team's total net yards in 2000, third highest in the NFL. Only Carolina's Steve Beuerlein (75.3%) and San Francisco's Garcia (75.1%) had a higher percentage. His 629 rushing yards in 2000 led the Eagles, made McNabb only the third quarterback since 1970 to lead his team in rushing, and at the time was the fourth-highest season rushing total by a quarterback (968 by Bobby Douglass in 1972, 942 by Randall Cunningham in 1990, and 674 by Steve McNair in 1997). His six rushing touchdowns in 2000 were the most by an Eagles quarterback since Randall Cunningham, who also had six in 1988. McNabb broke the club's single-season record for most attempts (569) and completions (330) in 2000, marks previously set by Cunningham (560 and 301, respectively) in 1988. He was named 2000 NFL Player of the Year by CBS Radio and the Terry (Bradshaw) Awards on Fox Sports and was named to the All-Madden team.