title: Character encoding

text: As a result of having many character encoding methods in use (and the need for backward compatibility with archived data), many computer programs have been developed to translate data between encoding schemes as a form of data transcoding. Some of these are cited below.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: Harold Watson "Trey" Gowdy III (born August 22, 1964) is an American television news personality, former politician, and former federal prosecutor who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2019. His district included much of the Upstate region of South Carolina, including Greenville and Spartanburg.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: Before his congressional career, Gowdy served as a federal prosecutor in the District of South Carolina from 1994 to 2000 and then as the solicitor (district attorney) for South Carolina's Seventh Judicial Circuit, comprising Spartanburg and Cherokee counties from 2000 to 2010. From 2014 to 2016, Gowdy chaired the United States House Select Committee on Benghazi which was partly responsible for discovering the existence of Hillary Clinton's private email server. His investigative committee spent over two and a half years and $7.8 million investigating the events surrounding the 2012 Benghazi attack, ultimately not finding evidence of specific wrong-doing by then-Secretary of State Clinton. Gowdy pressed for the prosecution of Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign. Beginning in June 2017 he chaired the House Oversight Committee.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: On January 31, 2018, Gowdy announced that he would not seek re-election in 2018 and that he intended to pursue a legal career instead of politics. He has since joined the law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, and also joined Fox News as a contributor. He was promoted in 2021 to host "Fox News Primetime" and then "Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy."


title: Trey Gowdy

text: Gowdy was born on August 22, 1964, in Greenville, South Carolina. He is the son of Novalene (Evans) and Harold Watson "Hal" Gowdy Jr., MD. He grew up in Spartanburg, where as a young man he delivered newspapers for the local daily and worked at the community market. Gowdy graduated from Spartanburg High School in 1982 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Baylor University in 1986. While at Baylor he was a member of Kappa Omega Tau. He graduated Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1989.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: Gowdy worked as judicial law clerk for John P. Gardner on the South Carolina Court of Appeals as well as for federal judge G. Ross Anderson of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina. He then went into private practice at Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough in Greenville, South Carolina before being appointed as an assistant United States Attorney in April 1994. Gowdy received the Postal Inspector's Award for the successful prosecution of J. Mark Allen, one of "America's Most Wanted" suspects.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: In February 2000, he left the United States Attorney's Office to run for 7th Circuit Solicitor. He defeated Solicitor Holman Gossett who was an incumbent, in the Republican primary and he ran unopposed in the general election. Gowdy was re-elected in 2004 and 2008, both times unopposed. During his tenure he appeared in four episodes of the television program "Forensic Files", as well as "Dateline NBC" and SCETV. He prosecuted the set of criminal cases and seven of them were death penalty cases.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: In the summer of 2009, Gowdy announced that he would challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Congressman Bob Inglis in the Republican primary for .


title: Trey Gowdy

text: Despite getting a 93% lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union, Inglis had angered the conservative wing of the Republican Party by taking stances that were perceived to be more moderate than those he had taken when he first represented the district from 1993 to 1999; besides opposing elements in his own party on issues including climate change, he attracted attention as a member of the Judiciary Committee for providing the deciding vote that prevented a measure designed to protect the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance from coming to the House floor. Gowdy was one of several candidates in the 2010 primary who ran well to Inglis' right. Inglis had drawn five Republican challengers, including Gowdy. In the June 2010 primary, Gowdy ranked first with 39% of the vote, short of the 50% majority threshold to win outright and avoid a run-off. Inglis received 27% of the vote. Jim Lee got 14%, State Senator David L. Thomas got 13%, and former Historian of the United States House of Representatives Christina Jeffrey was last with 7% of the vote.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: In the run-off election, Gowdy defeated Inglis 70–30%. The 4th district was considered so heavily Republican that it was widely presumed Gowdy had clinched a seat in Congress with his primary victory. Gowdy defeated Democratic nominee Paul Corden 63–29%.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: Gowdy ran for re-election to a second term against Democrat Deb Morrow. During redistricting following the 2010 census, one proposed map saw large portions of Gowdy's home county of Spartanburg County cut out of the district, while leaving all of Greenville County within the district. Gowdy was initially quoted as being "disappointed" with the version, even though the redrawn 4th would have been as solidly Republican as its predecessor. The final map moved a portion of Greenville County to the 3rd district while leaving almost all of Spartanburg County in the 4th district (except for a sliver that was moved to the 5th district). Gowdy was quoted as being "pleased" with this version, since Greenville and Spartanburg counties remained linked. "Roll Call" rated his district as "Safe Republican" in 2012. Gowdy easily secured a second term, defeating Morrow 65–34%.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: Gowdy ran for re-election again in 2014. His only opponent was Libertarian Curtis E. McLaughlin. He was reelected with 85% of the popular vote.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: In the November 2016 election, Gowdy faced Democrat Chris Fedalei, a 26-year-old attorney. He defeated Fedalei with 67% of the vote to retain his seat.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: According to "Politico" during his tenure in Congress, Gowdy was "considered one of the GOP's most versatile and skilled legal experts, owing to his background as a federal prosecutor." While chairing the House Oversight Committee Gowdy tackled high-profile investigations. Democrats criticized Gowdy for conducting his investigations in a partisan fashion. After Trump became president, Gowdy defended the FBI and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election to the dismay of Trump supporters. However, in a June 2018 hearing, Gowdy urged Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to wrap up the special counsel investigation. Rosenstein rejected the suggestion, saying the special counsel investigation should finish "appropriately". Democrats criticized Gowdy for not fully pursuing investigations into potential conflicts of interest in the Trump White House or investigating the White House security clearance process.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: In August 2011, during the 2011 United States debt ceiling crisis, Gowdy opposed Speaker John Boehner's debt limit bill, and he voted against the final debt ceiling agreement. He also opposed the 2011 defense authorization bill, citing concerns about the prospect of Americans being detained without trial on national security grounds. In December 2010, he told Congressional Quarterly that he would support a measure only if its sponsor could demonstrate that the Constitution gave the government the power to act in a particular realm.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: Gowdy worked on the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and the Committee on Education and the Workforce. Gowdy frequently spoke on the floor of the House on issues ranging from Operation Fast and Furious to his support for reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: In 2012, he received the "Defender of Economic Freedom" award from the fiscally conservative 501(c)4 organization Club for Growth. The award is given to members of Congress who have the year's highest ranking, according to the Club for Growth's metrics. Gowdy scored 97 out of 100, and was one of 34 congressmen given the award.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: An ardent social conservative, Gowdy considers himself "pro-life plus." He not only believes "in the sanctity of life," but argues that "the strategy should be broader than waiting for the Supreme Court to revisit "Roe v. Wade"."


title: Trey Gowdy

text: Gowdy signed the Contract from America, which aims to defund, repeal, and replace the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, limit United States Environmental Protection Agency regulations, enact a reform of the federal tax code, pass a balanced budget amendment, and end earmarks.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: In May 2018, Gowdy challenged President Trump's accusation saying that the FBI had spied on his 2016 presidential campaign. As a result Gowdy was attacked by various Trump allies; "Politico" reported that Gowdy was "virtually alone, getting little support from his House colleagues." In June 2018, Speaker Paul Ryan came out in support of Gowdy, saying that Gowdy's assessment was "accurate".


title: Trey Gowdy

text: At a July 2018 congressional hearing, Gowdy suggested there was impropriety on behalf of FBI agent Peter Strzok and said that Strzok had shown bias in favor of Hillary Clinton and against Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election. He said that this had shaped Strzok's work for the FBI. During the hearing Gowdy repeatedly pressed Strzok about a text message saying Strzok said "we'll stop Trump". Strzok said that a "We'll stop Trump" text message was written late at night and off-the-cuff shortly after controversial remarks were made by Trump towards the family of an American war veteran, and that the message reflected Strzok's belief that Americans would not vote for a candidate who engaged in such "horrible, disgusting behavior". Strzok said the message "was in no way—unequivocally—any suggestion that me, the FBI, would take any action whatsoever to improperly impact the electoral process for any candidate." He added that he knew of information during the 2016 presidential campaign that could have damaged Trump but that he never contemplated leaking it. Strzok said that the investigation into him and the Republicans' related rhetoric was misguided and played into "our enemies' campaign to tear America apart."


title: Trey Gowdy

text: On March 4, 2014, Gowdy introduced the ENFORCE the Law Act of 2014 into the House. The bill would give the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate the ability to sue the President of the United States in a federal district court to clarify a federal law (that is, seek a declaratory judgment) in the event that the executive branch is not enforcing the law. House Republicans argued that the bill was necessary because the Obama Administration refused to enforce the laws. H.R. 4138 passed the House but failed to become law.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: In July 2015, Republican nominee Donald Trump named Gowdy as a possible nominee for United States Attorney General in a Trump cabinet. In late December 2015, Gowdy endorsed Senator Marco Rubio for president, praising him as a rarity among elected officials for having kept his campaign promises. Gowdy's endorsement strained his relations with Donald Trump's campaign; Trump said that Gowdy had "failed miserably on Benghazi". Rubio withdrew from the race in March 2016, after losing his home state of Florida to Trump. Two months later on May 20, Gowdy endorsed Trump for president, admitting that while he was a "Rubio guy" he would support the presumptive Republican nominee.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: After the May 2017 dismissal of FBI Director Comey, Gowdy was being considered for his replacement. However the veteran representative told Attorney General Sessions that he wanted to remain in his congressional seat.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: On December 1, 2017, the Congressional Office of Compliance said that while Gowdy was acting as chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, a former congressional aide of his reached a settlement with Congress and the House Employment Counsel. The aide had alleged he was fired in part because he was not willing to focus his investigative work on Hillary Clinton (a charge which was later dropped) and because he was absent from the position while fulfilling an Air Force Reserve assignment. His attorney stated "I can confirm that my client is one person who brought a veterans status discrimination and retaliation suit against Congress and that the case settled on terms that were satisfactory to my client.” The Washington Post reported that Gowdy was responsible for use of taxpayer funds to pay the claim against the government.


title: Trey Gowdy

text: Gowdy is married to Terri (born Terri Dillard) Gowdy, a former Miss Spartanburg and 2nd runner up for Miss South Carolina. The couple have two children, Watson and Abigail. As of January 2019, Terri Dillard Gowdy was a first-grade teacher in the Spartanburg School District.


title: Stone Gossard

text: Stone Carpenter Gossard (born July 20, 1966) is an American musician who serves as a guitarist and songwriter for the rock band Pearl Jam. Along with Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, he is one of the founding members of the band.


title: Stone Gossard

text: Gossard is also known for his work prior to Pearl Jam with the Seattle-based grunge bands Green River and Mother Love Bone. Gossard was also a member of the bands Temple of the Dog and Brad. In addition to his performing career, he has been active in the music industry as a producer and the owner of a record label and recording studio. He released his first solo album "Bayleaf" in 2001; his second, "Moonlander", followed in 2013.


title: Stone Gossard

text: Gossard was born in Seattle to David W. Gossard Jr. and Mary Carolyn Carpenter. His father was a lawyer and his mother worked in the Seattle city government. He has two sisters, Star Leslie Dirette and Shelly Joan Gossard. Gossard attended the Northwest Boarding School in Seattle. The first band Gossard joined was March of Crimes, a band of which future Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd was a member, as was novelist Jonathan Evison. Although Gossard's time with the band was brief, it introduced him to the emerging music scene in Seattle. Gossard formed a close friendship with fellow guitarist (and future Mudhoney member) Steve Turner, who also had attended the Northwest School, and joined Turner in his band The Ducky Boys. Turner's interest in punk rock had a significant influence on Gossard, and in turn on the ethos of the band.


title: Stone Gossard

text: Turner went on to form Green River with vocalist/guitarist Mark Arm, drummer Alex Vincent and bassist Jeff Ament. Gossard was asked to join Green River in order to allow Arm to concentrate exclusively on singing. By the time the band finished the recording of its debut EP, "Come on Down", Turner decided to leave the group, citing his distaste with Ament and Gossard's heavy metal leanings. He was replaced by Ament's former Deranged Diction bandmate, Bruce Fairweather.


title: Stone Gossard

text: The band released the EP "Come on Down" in 1985 and followed it up with "Dry As a Bone" in 1987, the first non-compilation release from Sub Pop records. The band's only full-length studio album, "Rehab Doll", was released in 1988. In-fighting within the band led to the group's break-up during the recording of "Rehab Doll". A stylistic division had developed between Ament and Gossard on one side, and Arm on the other. Ament and Gossard wanted to pursue a major-label deal, while Arm wanted to remain independent, viewing the duo as being too careerist. The band achieved a considerable local reputation in Seattle and had a significant influence on the genre later known as grunge, with Green River being described as "arguably the first grunge band."


title: Stone Gossard

text: Following Green River's dissolution, Gossard established Mother Love Bone in 1988 along with former Green River members Ament and Fairweather, former Malfunkshun frontman Andrew Wood, and former Ten Minute Warning and Skin Yard drummer Greg Gilmore. The band quickly worked on recording and performing locally and by late 1988 had become one of Seattle's more promising bands. In early 1989 the band signed to PolyGram subsidiary Mercury Records. In March of that year the group issued its debut EP, "Shine".


title: Stone Gossard

text: In late 1989 the group returned to the studio to record its debut studio album, "Apple". It was planned for a March 1990 release. Only days before the release of "Apple", however, frontman Wood, who had a long history with drug problems, overdosed on heroin. After spending a few days in the hospital in a coma, Wood died, effectively bringing Mother Love Bone to an end. "Apple" would see release later that year.


title: Stone Gossard

text: Gossard reacquainted himself with childhood friend Mike McCready after watching McCready jam with a local band called Love Chile and being impressed with his work. Gossard had known McCready from before high school when the two would trade rock band pictures with each other. After the demise of Mother Love Bone, he asked McCready if he wanted to play music with him. After a few months of practicing together, McCready in turn encouraged Gossard to reconnect with Ament. The trio were attempting to form their own band when they were invited to be part of the Temple of the Dog project founded by Soundgarden's Chris Cornell as a musical tribute to Wood. Cornell had been Wood's roommate. The band's line-up was completed by the addition of Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron.


title: Stone Gossard

text: The band started rehearsing songs that Cornell had written on tour prior to Wood's death, as well as reworking some existing material from demos written by Gossard and Ament. Gossard described the recording process as a "non-pressure filled" situation, as there were no expectations or pressure coming from the record company. This project eventually featured vocalist Eddie Vedder, who had arrived in Seattle to audition to be the singer for Ament and Gossard's next band, which later became Pearl Jam, after being sent a tape of Gossard's demos, recording his own lyrics and vocals over the top. Vedder sang a duet with Cornell on the song "Hunger Strike" and provided background vocals on several other songs. The band decided that it had enough material for an entire


title: Stone Gossard

text: album and, in April 1991, "Temple of the Dog" was released through A&M Records. Three of the songs on the final album were musically credited to Gossard, including the single "Pushin Forward Back". Gossard asserted that he thought Wood would be "blown away by the whole thing."


title: Stone Gossard

text: Pearl Jam was formed in 1990 by Ament, Gossard, and McCready, who then recruited Vedder and drummer Dave Krusen. The band originally took the name Mookie Blaylock, but was forced to change it when the band signed to Epic Records in 1991. After the recording sessions for "Ten" were completed, Krusen left Pearl Jam in May 1991. Krusen was replaced by Matt Chamberlain, who had previously played with Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. After playing only a handful of shows, one of which was filmed for the "Alive" video, Chamberlain left to join the "Saturday Night Live" band. As his replacement, Chamberlain suggested Dave Abbruzzese, who joined the group and played the rest of Pearl Jam's live shows supporting "Ten".


title: Stone Gossard

text: "Ten" broke the band into the mainstream, and became one of the best selling alternative albums of the 1990s. The band found itself amidst the sudden popularity and attention given to the Seattle music scene and the genre known as grunge. The single "Jeremy" received Grammy Award nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Hard Rock Performance in 1993. Pearl Jam received four awards at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards for its music video for "Jeremy", including Video of the Year and Best Group Video. "Ten" was ranked number 207 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and "Jeremy" was ranked number 11 on VH1's list of the 100 greatest songs of the '90s.


title: Stone Gossard

text: Following an intense touring schedule, the band went into the studio to record what would become its second studio album, "Vs.", released in 1993. Upon its release, "Vs." set at the time the record for most copies of an album sold in a week, and spent five weeks at number one on the "Billboard" 200. "Vs." was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in 1995. From "Vs.", the song "Daughter" received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and the song "Go" received a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance.


title: Stone Gossard

text: Feeling the pressures of success, the band decided to decrease the level of promotion for its albums, including refusing to release music videos. In 1994, the band began a much-publicized boycott of Ticketmaster, which lasted for three years and limited the band's ability to tour in the United States. Gossard took an active role during Pearl Jam's dispute with Ticketmaster in 1994 over prices and surcharges. Along with Ament, Gossard testified before a congressional subcommittee, arguing that Ticketmaster's practices were anti-competitive.


title: Stone Gossard

text: Later that same year the band released its third studio album, "Vitalogy", which became the band's third straight album to reach multi-platinum status. The album received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year and Best Rock Album in 1996. "Vitalogy" was ranked number 492 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The lead single "Spin the Black Circle" won a Grammy Award in 1996 for Best Hard Rock Performance. Although Abbruzzese performed on the album "Vitalogy", he was fired in August 1994, four months before the album was released. The band cited political differences between Abbruzzese and the other members; for example, he disagreed with the Ticketmaster boycott. He was replaced by Jack Irons, a close friend of Vedder and the original drummer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.


title: Stone Gossard

text: The band subsequently released "No Code" in 1996 and "Yield" in 1998. In 1998, prior to Pearl Jam's U.S. Yield Tour, Irons left the band due to dissatisfaction with touring. Pearl Jam enlisted former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron as Irons' replacement on an initially temporary basis, but he soon became a permanent replacement for Irons. "Do the Evolution" (from "Yield") received a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance. In 1998, Pearl Jam recorded "Last Kiss", a cover of a 1960s ballad made famous by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. It was released on the band's 1998 fan club Christmas single; however, by popular demand, the cover was released to the public as a single in 1999. "Last Kiss" peaked at number two on the "Billboard" charts and became the band's highest-charting single


title: Stone Gossard

text: In 2000, the band released its sixth studio album, "Binaural", and initiated a successful and ongoing series of official bootlegs. The band released seventy-two such live albums in 2000 and 2001, and set a record for most albums to debut in the "Billboard" 200 at the same time. "Grievance" (from "Binaural") received a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance. The band released its seventh studio album, "Riot Act", in 2002. Pearl Jam's contribution to the 2003 film, "Big Fish", "Man of the Hour", was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 2004. The band's eighth studio album, the eponymous "Pearl Jam", was released in 2006. The band released its ninth studio album, "Backspacer", in 2009 and its tenth studio album, "Lightning Bolt", in 2013. Their latest album "Gigaton", was released in 2020.


title: Stone Gossard

text: In 1992, Gossard joined with members of the fellow Seattle band Satchel to form Brad. Brad released its debut album, "Shame", in 1993, and have since released "Interiors" (1997), "Welcome to Discovery Park" (2002) and the compilation album, "Brad vs Satchel" (2005). The band's fourth studio album, titled "Best Friends?", was released in August 2010 The fifth album, "United We Stand", was released on April 24, 2012.


title: Stone Gossard

text: Gossard performed with other members of Pearl Jam on Neil Young's 1995 album, "Mirror Ball", and subsequently took part in an eleven-date tour in Europe as part of Young's backing band. This tour proved very successful with Young's manager Elliot Roberts calling it "One of the greatest tours we ever had in our whole lives."


title: Stone Gossard

text: On September 11, 2001, Gossard became the first member of Pearl Jam to go solo, releasing his first solo album, "Bayleaf", through


title: Stone Gossard

text: Sony Music Entertainment. The album features ten songs written over a span of four to five years. On "Bayleaf", Gossard showed himself as being a talented multi-instrumentalist, contributing drums and piano work, as well as vocals, guitar and bass. The album's songs feature a mellow sound influenced by Frank Black, Rufus Wainwright, and The Rolling Stones. Greg Prato of Allmusic said, "While not as strong as his output with Brad, "Bayleaf" still has its moments."


title: Stone Gossard

text: Gossard released a follow-up to "Bayleaf" entitled "Moonlander". Several songs have been made available as digital downloads via Pearl Jam's official website in the weeks since September 17, 2008, each for US$0.99. The songs feature a sound influenced by folk music and country music, particularly from singer-songwriter Hank Williams. The tracks "Both Live", "Your Flames", and "Beyond


title: Stone Gossard

text: Unable to tour with Pearl Jam because of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Gossard set to work on finishing the debut album of Painted Shield, his side project with singer-songwriter Mason Jennings which they have been working on since 2014. The album also features Josh Freese and Matt Chamberlain on drums, Brittany Davis on keyboard, and additional guitar contributions by Mike McCready. The album's release was originally scheduled for November 27, 2020 but pandemic-related production delays pushed the release to March 19, 2021.


title: Stone Gossard

text: Gossard formed the record label Loosegroove Records with fellow Brad member Regan Hagar as a subsidiary of Sony in 1994, becoming independent


title: Stone Gossard

text: in 1996. Loosegroove signed many up and coming artists from various musical genres, especially rock and hip hop. Significantly, Gossard signed Queens of the Stone Age to Loosegroove, releasing the band's debut album, "Queens of the Stone Age", in 1998. Loosegroove Records closed in 2000. In 2020, Gossard and Hagar resurrected Loosegroove and released an album by Gossard's side project Painted Shield, as well as the album "1982" by Duff McKagen and Greg Gilmore's teenage punk band The Living.


title: Stone Gossard

text: As a producer, Gossard has worked with a variety of artists including many on his own record label. His most notable production roles have been for Satchel, Green Apple Quick Step, Weapon of Choice and Critters Buggin. During his time as


title: Stone Gossard

text: owner of Loosegroove Records, Gossard opened his own recording studio, Studio Litho, in Seattle. Most of Gossard's production work was based in this studio, which still operates today, with Gossard as the owner. Many high-profile artists have recorded in Studio Litho, including Soundgarden, Screaming Trees, Dave Matthews Band, and Deftones, as well as both Brad and Pearl Jam.


title: Stone Gossard

text: Gossard had a brief acting cameo in the 1992 movie, "Singles", along with Jeff Ament and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. He appeared as


title: Stone Gossard

text: Gossard has been active in environmental pursuits, and has been an advocate of Pearl Jam's carbon neutral policy, offsetting the band's environmental impact. He has also extended his conservationist ideals and serves as a member of the board of directors at the Wild Salmon


title: Stone Gossard

text: As an artist and painter, Gossard's work can be found on many Pearl Jam releases, especially material distributed through Pearl Jam's fan club.


title: Stone Gossard

text: Gossard is known for his hard rhythm style of playing, and his sense of beat and groove. Gossard has cited Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin as a major influence on his style and rhythmic approach on guitar. Gossard's main instrument is a Gibson Les Paul equipped with a Bigsby vibrato system. He once said of himself: "I like rhythmic things that butt up against each other in a cool kind of way." Vedder has been quoted as saying that it is extremely difficult to collaborate with Gossard, as he outright refuses to work on anything remotely like anything he's done before. When the band started, Gossard and McCready were clearly designated as rhythm and lead guitarists, respectively. The dynamic began to change when Vedder started to play more rhythm guitar during the "Vitalogy" era. McCready said in 2006, "Even though there are three guitars, I think there's maybe more room now. Stone will pull back and play a two-note line and Ed will do a power chord thing, and I fit into all that."


title: Stone Gossard

text: As a songwriter, the formation of Pearl Jam led to Gossard's music becoming the basis for many of the band's early songs. Eight of the eleven tracks on Pearl Jam's debut album, "Ten", were musically written or co-written by Gossard, including hits "Alive", "Even Flow", and "Black". He has since made less of a solo contribution to the band's work, instead becoming part of the collaborative efforts; however, he was credited as being behind the relatively more recent hits "Do the Evolution" and "Life Wasted" (from "Pearl Jam"). His songwriting contributions to Pearl Jam have not been limited to music with Gossard writing lyrics on the "Yield" song "All Those Yesterdays"; "Strangest Tribe" (from the 1999 fan club Christmas single); the "Binaural" songs "Thin Air", "Of the Girl", and "Rival"; and the "Lost Dogs" songs "Don't Gimme No Lip" and "Fatal". As well as guitar contributions, Gossard has also played mellotron, bass guitar and resonator guitar as well as often providing backing vocals. He was even given lead vocal duties for two of the Pearl Jam songs he had written both musically and lyrically: "Mankind" and "Don't Gimme No Lip".


title: Stone Gossard

text: In a review of Pearl Jam's 2006 self-titled album, "Rolling Stone" editor David Fricke mentioned that both Gossard and Pearl Jam lead guitarist Mike McCready were erroneously excluded from the publication's 2003 feature "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". In February 2007, Gossard and McCready were included together by "Rolling Stone" in its list of "The Top 20 New Guitar Gods" under the title of "four-armed monster."


title: Steven Hill

text: Steven Hill (born Solomon Krakovsky; ; February 24, 1922 – August 23, 2016) was an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as district attorney Adam Schiff on the NBC television drama series "Law & Order" (1990–2000) and Dan Briggs on the CBS action television series "" (1966–1967). For the former, he received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.


title: Steven Hill

text: His film roles include "The Goddess" (1958), "A Child Is Waiting" (1963), "The Slender Thread" (1965), "Yentl" (1983), "Raw Deal" (1986), "Running on Empty" (1988), "Billy Bathgate" (1991), and "The Firm" (1993).


title: Steven Hill

text: Hill was born Solomon Krakovsky in Seattle, Washington, to Russian Jewish immigrants. His father owned a furniture store. He decided to become an actor at age six when he played the lead in "The Pied Piper of Hamelin".


title: Steven Hill

text: After graduating from Garfield High School in 1939, Hill (known at the time as Sol Krakovsky) attended the University of Washington and served four years in the United States Navy during World War II. He graduated from the University of Washington and moved first to Chicago and then to New York City to pursue an acting career.


title: Steven Hill

text: Hill made his first Broadway stage appearance in Ben Hecht's "A Flag Is Born" in 1946, which also featured a young Marlon Brando. Hill said that his big break came when he landed a small part in the hit Broadway show "Mister Roberts". "The director, Joshua Logan, thought I had some ability, and he let me create one of the scenes," said Hill. "So, I improvised dialog and it went in the show. That was my first endorsement. It gave me tremendous encouragement to stay in the business." Hill said this was a thrilling time in his life when, fresh out of the Navy, he played the hapless sailor Stefanowski. "You could almost smell it from the very first reading that took place; this is going to be an overwhelming hit," said Hill. "We all felt it and experienced it and were convinced of it, and we were riding the crest of a wave from the very first day of rehearsals."


title: Steven Hill

text: In 1947, Hill joined Brando, Montgomery Clift, and Julie Harris, among others, as one of the 50 applicants (out of about 700 interviewed) to be accepted by the newly created Actors Studio.


title: Steven Hill

text: Hill made his film debut in 1950 in "A Lady Without Passport". He then re-enlisted in the Navy in 1952 for two years and, when he completed his service, resumed his acting in earnest. Strasberg later said, "Steven Hill is considered one of the finest actors America has ever produced." When he was starting out as an actor, Hill sought out roles that had a social purpose. "Later, I learned that show business is about entertaining," he said. "So, I've had to reconcile my idealistic feelings with reality."


title: Steven Hill

text: Hill was particularly busy in the so-called "Golden Age" of live TV drama, appearing in such offerings as "The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti" in 1960, where he portrayed Bartolomeo Vanzetti. "When I first became an actor, there were two young actors in New York: Marlon Brando and Steven Hill," said Martin Landau, who later became Hill's castmate in the first season of "Mission: Impossible". Landau went on to admit, "A lot of people said that Steven would have been the one, not Marlon. He was legendary — nuts, volatile, mad — and his work was exciting."


title: Steven Hill

text: In 1961, Hill had an unusual experience when he was cast as Sigmund Freud on Broadway in Henry Denker's "A Far Country", portraying Freud at the age of 35. For on April 12, 1961, the night of a sold-out performance for the Masters Children's Center of Dobbs Ferry, Hill was stricken with a virus which incapacitated him so severely that as a direct result, just as the curtain was about to rise, the producers decided to cancel the performance. Among the notables in the audience were Joseph P. Kennedy, Jack Benny, and Richard Rodgers. The audience was invited to exchange their ticket stubs for other performances. The understudy was not ready to replace Hill, so Alfred Ryder, the play's director, stepped into the role of Freud for one performance.


title: Steven Hill

text: In 1961, he was cast as B.E. Langard in the episode "Act of Piracy" of the ABC series, "Adventures in Paradise", which starred Gardner McKay. He appeared in the original Robert Stack ABC/Desilu crime drama, "The Untouchables" episode "Jack 'Legs' Diamond," giving a compelling, cold, evil performance as the eponymous character, and a similar sinister role as a bedridden (following an accident), ruthlessly manipulative millionaire in "The White Knight," a 1966 black-and-white, third-season episode of "The Fugitive", which starred David Janssen.


title: Steven Hill

text: Hill was the original leader of the Impossible Missions Force, , in the series "" beginning in 1966. The phrase "Good morning, Mr. Briggs..." was a fixture early in each episode, where a sound or film recording he retrieved detailed the task he must accomplish. However, he was replaced in the show in 1967 after the end of the first season. As one of the few Orthodox Jewish actors working in Hollywood, he made it clear in advance of production that he was not able to work on the Sabbath (i.e., sundown Friday to dusk Saturday), and that he would leave the set every Friday before sundown. However, despite Hill's advance warnings, the show's producers were unprepared for his rigid adherence to the Sabbath, and on at least one occasion, Hill left the set while an episode was still in the midst of filming. The producers used a number of ways of reducing the role of Hill's character, Dan Briggs, whereby he would only obtain and hand out the mission details at the start of certain episodes, being unable to take further part in the mission as he was known to people they would encounter (used at least three times), or Briggs would need to don a disguise and another actor would then play his role "incognito" until the conclusion of the mission (and episode) when Briggs would peel off a face mask. On other occasions, Briggs was waiting to pick up the team at the end. Usually, Martin Landau's character (Rollin Hand) took over as the team leader for missions in Briggs' absence, Landau being initially a "special guest star" for the first season, not even included in the show's original opening credits.


title: Steven Hill

text: According to Desilu executive Herb Solow, William Shatner once burst into his office, claiming "Steve asked me how many Jews worked on "Star Trek". He was recruiting a minyon, a prayer group of 10 men, to worship together on top of the studio's highest building and only had six Jews so far from "Mission". He asked if I would come and bring Nimoy and Justman and you."


title: Steven Hill

text: Hill was briefly suspended from the show near the end of the season, during the production of episode 23, titled "Action!" In it, for the only time, Barbara Bain's character Cinnamon Carter obtained the mission details through the taped instructions, even though Landau's character, Rollin Hand, then actually "led" the team. The suspension was imposed after he refused to climb the rafters via a soundstage staircase as was called for in the script. This incident was ostensibly unrelated to any religious observances of Hill's. Consequently, Hill was written out of that episode and when he returned to "Mission: Impossible" for the five remaining episodes of the season, his role was severely reduced. Hill was not asked to return for season two, and was replaced as the show's star by Peter Graves.


title: Steven Hill

text: After appearing in "Mission: Impossible", Hill did no acting work for the following 10 years. Hill had what he calls "tremendous periods of unemployment" in his career. "What we have here is a story of profound instability and impermanence," he said of his own career. "This is what you learn at the beginning in show business; then it gets planted in you forever." Hill left acting in 1967 and moved to a Jewish community in Rockland County, New York, where he worked in writing and real estate. Patrick J. White, in "The Complete "Mission: Impossible" Dossier", quoted Hill as having said later, "I don't think an actor should act every single day. I don't think it's good for the so-called creative process. You must have periods when you leave the land fallow, let it revitalize itself."


title: Steven Hill

text: Hill returned to work in the 1980s and 1990s, playing parental and authority-figure roles in such films as "Yentl" (1983), "Garbo Talks" (1984), Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs", "Heartburn" (1986), "Running on Empty" (1988), "The Boost" (1988), "Billy Bathgate" (1991), and "The Firm" (1993). Hill also appeared as a mob kingpin in "Raw Deal" (1986), an action vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hill played New York District Attorney Bower in the 1986 comedy-drama "Legal Eagles", foreshadowing his appearance as Adam Schiff in "Law & Order".


title: Steven Hill

text: Hill became best known, and to an even greater degree than from his role in "Mission: Impossible", as Adam Schiff in the NBC TV drama series "Law & Order", a part that he played for 10 seasons, from 1990 to 2000. Hill's character was loosely modeled on the real former district attorney of New York City, Robert Morgenthau, and Morgenthau reportedly was a fan of the character. Hill admitted that he found the character of Adam Schiff his most difficult role because of all the legal jargon he had to learn. "It's like acting in a second language," said Hill. Hill added that he agreed with the show's philosophy, saying that "there's a certain positive statement in this show. So much is negative today. The positive must be stated to rescue us from pandemonium. To me it lies in that principle: law and order." Hill earned an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Series in 1999 for his work on "Law & Order".


title: Steven Hill

text: Hill and his first wife, Selma Stern, were married in 1951 and had four children before divorcing in 1964. Hill married his second wife, Rachel Schenker, in 1967 and they had five children. He resided in Monsey, New York for many years. One of Hill's sons, Yehoshua Hill, is a rabbi, and known as "Rebbee Hill".


title: Steven Hill

text: In a 1969 interview with "The Jewish Press", Hill said: "I used to ask myself, 'Was I born just to memorize lines?' I knew there had to be more to life than that. I was searching—trying to find the answers—to find myself—and I did." Hill said that he went home to Seattle ten years earlier and was "feeling depressed because I seemed to be leading an aimless existence. Oh sure, I was a star with all the glamour and everything. But something was missing. My life seemed empty—meaningless."


title: Steven Hill

text: Appearing as Sigmund Freud in the play "A Far Country" in 1961 had a profound effect on Hill. In one scene, a patient screams at Freud, "You are a Jew!" This caused Hill to think about his religion. "In the pause that followed I would think, 'What about this?' I slowly became aware that there was something more profound going on in the world than just plays and movies and TV shows. I was provoked to explore my religion."


title: Steven Hill

text: Hill began to study Torah with Rabbi Yakov Yosef Twersky (1899–1968), the late Skverrer Rebbe, and started adhering to Orthodox Judaism. He observed a kosher diet, prayed three times a day, wore a tallit katan (four-cornered fringed garment) beneath his clothes, and strictly observed Shabbat. Hill's Shabbat observance made him unavailable for Friday night or Saturday matinee performances, effectively ending his stage career; it also made many film roles—most notably a role in "The Sand Pebbles"—impractical for him.


title: Steven Hill

text: Letters from Hill sent in 1965 to an Orthodox Jewish friend, describing this challenging period in his life were recently found.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The Republic of North Ossetia–Alania is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. Its population according to the 2010 Census was 712,980. The republic's capital city is the city of Vladikavkaz, located on the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: Forming 65.1% of the republic's population as of 2010, the Ossetians are an Iranian ethnic group native to the republic and neighboring South Ossetia. Ossetian is an east Iranian language descended from medieval Alanic and ancient Sarmatian. Unlike many groups in the North Caucasus, Ossetians are predominantly Christians. However, almost 30% of the population adheres to Ossetian ethnic religion, generally called Uatsdin (Уацдин, "True Faith"), and a sizable Muslim minority exists. Ethnic Russians and Ingush, who form a majority in neighboring Ingushetia, form substantial minorities in the republic.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The Ossetia region traces its history back to the ancient Alans, who founded the Kingdom of Alania in the 8th century and adopted Christianity in the 9th century. The kingdom would fall to the Mongols in the 13th century, and by the 17th century would be under the nominal rule of Safavid Iran. From 1774 to 1806, Ossetia was slowly incorporated into the Russian Empire, which would split the region into a northern part included in the Terek Oblast, and a southern one included in the Tiflis and Kutaisi governorates. This partition would persist in the Soviet period, where North Ossetia was made into the Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Russian SFSR, while South Ossetia became an autonomous oblast within the Georgian SSR.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the republic experienced internal conflict like in much of the North Caucasus. In 1992, a brief ethnic war between Ossetians and the predominantly Muslim Ingush population in the Prigorodny District took place. The republic has experienced spillover from the Chechen conflict, most notably in the form of the 2004 Beslan school siege. Proposals for Russia to annex South Ossetia in order to incorporate the two as one entity exist to this day.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: Ossetian cuisine is distinguished as an integral aspect of Ossetian culture. Ossetian-style pies such as "Fydzhin" (a meat pie) are a quintessential component of Ossetian cuisine. The "three pies" concept holds special symbolic significance, and representing the Sun, Earth, and water.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: In the last years of the Soviet Union, as nationalist movements swept throughout the Caucasus, many intellectuals in the North Ossetian ASSR called for the revival of the name of Alania, a medieval kingdom of the Alans.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The term "Alania" quickly became popular in Ossetian daily life through the names of various enterprises, a TV channel, political and civic organizations, publishing house, football team, etc. In November 1994, the name "Alania" was officially added to the republic's title (Republic of North Ossetia–Alania).


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The republic is located in the North Caucasus. The northern part of the republic is situated in the Stavropol Plain. 22% of the republic's territory is covered by forests.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: All of the mountains located on the territory of the republic are a part of the Caucasus. Mount Kazbek is the highest point (5,033 m), with Mount Dzhimara being the second-highest (4,780 m).


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: Natural resources include minerals (copper, silver, zinc), timber, mineral waters, hydroelectric power, and untapped reserves of oil and gas.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The territory of North Ossetia was first inhabited by Caucasian tribes. Some Nomadic Alans settled in the region in the 7th century, forming the Kingdom of Alania. It was eventually converted to Christianity by missionaries from Byzantium.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: Alania greatly profited from the Silk Road which passed through its territory. At the time of the Mongol invasions of nearby Durdzuketia (modern Chechnya and Ingushetia), the Kingdom of Alania was multiethnic and included Dzurdzuks in its population.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: After the Middle Ages, the Mongols' and Tartars' repeated invasions decimated the population, now known as the Ossetians. Islam was introduced to the region in the 17th century by Kabardians.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: Conflicts between the Khanate of Crimea and the Ottoman Empire eventually pushed Ossetia into an alliance with Imperial Russia in the 18th century. Soon, Russia established a military base in the capital, Vladikavkaz, making it the first Russian-controlled area in the northern Caucasus. By 1806, Ossetia was under complete Russian control.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The Russians' rule led to rapid development of industry and railways which overcame its isolation. The first books from the area came during the late 18th century, and became part of the Terskaya Region of Russia in the mid-19th century.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The Russian Revolution of 1917 resulted in North Ossetia being merged into the Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1921. It then became the North Ossetian Autonomous Oblast on 7 July 1924, then merged into the North Ossetian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 5 December 1936. In World War II, it was subject to a number of attacks by Nazi German invaders unsuccessfully trying to seize Vladikavkaz in 1942.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The North Ossetian ASSR declared itself the autonomous republic of the Soviet Union on 20 June 1990. Its name was changed to the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania in 1994.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The dissolution of the Soviet Union posed particular problems for the Ossetian people, who were divided between North Ossetia, which was part of the Russian SFSR, and South Ossetia, part of the Georgian SSR. In December 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR abolished the autonomous Ossetian enclave amid the rising ethnic tensions in the region, which was further fanned by Moscow; a lot of the conflict zone population, faced with the ethnic cleansing, was forced to flee across the border to either North Ossetia or Georgia proper.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: As a result, some 70,000 South Ossetian refugees were resettled in North Ossetia. Additionally, North Ossetia provoked the predominantly Ingush population in the Prigorodny District, which sparked the Ossetian–Ingush conflict. The results of the conflict were that 7,000 Ossetians and 64,000 Ingush refugees had to flee their homes. On 23 March 1995, North Ossetia–Alania signed a power-sharing agreement with the federal government, granting it autonomy. However, this agreement was abolished on 2 September 2002.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: Following the "de facto" independence of South Ossetia, there have been proposals in this state of joining Russia and uniting with North Ossetia. As well as dealing with the effects of the conflict in South Ossetia, North Ossetia has had to deal with refugees and the occasional spillover of fighting from the wars around them. This notably manifested in the form of the 2004 Beslan school siege by Chechen terrorists.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: In recent years, North Ossetia–Alania's economic development has been successful; the indicators of the republic's social and economic development between 2005 and 2007 revealed a stable growth of all sectors of the economy and major social parameters. The nature and climatic conditions of the republic contribute to the successful development of various economic sectors, which is compounded by the abundance of natural resources. Gross regional product pro capita of the region in 2006 was 61,000 rubles ($2,596) and increased 30% in the 2005–2007 time period. GRP pro capita in 2007 was 76,455 rubles. From 2005 to 2007, the average monthly wage in North Ossetia–Alania doubled, with the actual cash earnings increased by 42.5 percent. In terms of the average monthly wage growth, the Republic ranks first in the North Caucasus.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The regional government's economic priorities include industrial growth, development of small enterprise, spas, and resorts, and strengthening the budgetary and tax discipline.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The largest companies in the region include Elektrozinc, Sevkavkazenergo, Pobedit (tungsten and molybdenum producer).


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The most widespread resources are zinc- and lead-containing complex ores. There are deposits of limestone, dolomites, marble, and touchstone. There is also a large availability of construction materials, such as clay, sand, and gravel. The local oil deposit reserves are estimated at 10 million metric tons.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The agricultural sector is varied and specializes in the cultivation of wheat, corn, and sunflowers; horticulture; viticulture; and cattle and sheep breeding.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: North Ossetia's industry is mainly concentrated in Vladikavkaz. Major companies located here include Elektrotsink, Gazoapparat, an instrument-making plant, Elektrokontraktor, a factory producing automotive electrical equipment, a large-panel construction complex, and companies in the food industry. The Sadonsky industrial center has grown around the mining and forest industries.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: Despite the proximity to Chechnya, North Ossetia is making efforts to develop its tourist industry. Projects under a program for spa, resort, and tourism development have been successfully implemented in the mountainous part of the republic, according to the head of the regional government. There are nearly 3,000 historical monuments in the Republic and more than half of its area is occupied by Alania National Park, the North Ossetia National Preserve, and game preserves.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: There are more than 250 therapeutic, mineral, and freshwater springs in the republic with estimated daily reserves of 15,000 cubic meters. Besides providing the basis for health spas, these mineral waters also have the potential to be bottled and sold. North Ossetian mineral waters are known for their unique qualities, as well as special mineral composition.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: In terms of its infrastructure, North Ossetia–Alania ranks second in the Southern Federal District and 10th in the nation. The republic has some of the most extensive telecommunication networks in the North Caucasus region and in Russia. It ranks first in terms of its telecom network installations in the Southern Federal District.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The republic ranks fourth in Russia in terms of its paved roads, and its expanding transport and logistics complex provides communication networks between Russia and the South Caucasus, as well as Central Asia. The complex includes two federal highways (Georgian Military Road connects Vladikavkaz with Transcaucasia) running across the Greater Caucasus Range, two customs checkpoints for cars, a developed railway network, Vladikavkaz international airport, and well-equipped transport terminals.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The majority of the population of North Ossetia are Christians who belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, although there is also a Muslim minority who are of Ossetian-speaking origin.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: According to the 2010 Census, Ossetians make up 65.1% of the republic's population. Other groups include Russians (20.8%), Ingush (4.0%), Armenians (2.3%), Kumyks (2.3%), Georgians (1.3%), Ukrainians (0.4%), Chechens (0.3%), and Caucasus Greeks (0.2%).


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: There are two official languages in North Ossetia: Russian, which is official in all Russian territory, and Ossetian. Ossetian is an Indo-European language, belonging to the East Iranian group. Ossetian is one of the few Iranic languages spoken natively in Europe. Russian, acting as a lingua franca in the region, is an East Slavic language and as such also belongs to the Indo-European family, which means the two languages are related, albeit distantly.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: According to a 2012 survey which interviewed 56,900 people, 49% of the population of North Ossetia–Alania adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church, 10% declare to be unaffiliated Christian believers, 2% are either Orthodox Christian believers who do not belong to churches or members of non-Russian Orthodox bodies. The second-largest religion is Ossetian ethnic religion, generally called Uatsdin (Уацдин, "True Faith"), a Scythian religion organized into movements such as the "Atsætæ" Church, comprising 29% of the population. Muslims constitute 15% of the population, and Protestants the 1%. In addition, 1% of the population declares to be "spiritual but not religious" and 3% to be atheist.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The most important facilities of higher education include North Caucasus State Technological University, North Ossetian State University, North Ossetian State Medical Academy, and Mountain State Agrarian University – all in Vladikavkaz.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: During the Soviet period, the high authority in the republic was shared between three people; the first secretary of the North Ossetia Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) Committee (who in reality had the biggest authority), the chairman of the oblast Soviet (legislative power), and the Chairman of the Republic Executive Committee (executive power). Since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, and the head of the Republic administration, and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The Charter of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania is the fundamental law of the region. The Parliament of North Ossetia–Alania is the republic's regional standing legislative (representative) body. The Legislative Assembly exercises its authority by passing laws, resolutions, and other legal acts and by supervising the implementation and observance of the laws and other legal acts passed by it. The highest executive body is the Republic's Government, which includes territorial executive bodies such as district administrations, committees, and commissions that facilitate development and run the day to day matters of the province. The Oblast administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the highest official and acts as guarantor of the observance of the krai Charter in accordance with the Constitution of Russia.


title: North Ossetia–Alania

text: The head of government in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania is the Head of the Republic. The current head of the republic is Sergey Menyaylo. Taymuraz Mamsurov succeeded Alexander Dzasokhov as head on 31 May 2005 following the Beslan school siege.


title: Gazelle

text: A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus Gazella . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, "Eudorcas" and "Nanger", which were formerly considered subgenera of "Gazella". A third former subgenus, "Procapra", includes three living species of Asian gazelles.


title: Gazelle

text: Gazelles are known as swift animals. Some are able to run at bursts as high as or run at a sustained speed of . Gazelles are found mostly in the deserts, grasslands, and savannas of Africa; but they are also found in southwest and central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. They tend to live in herds, and eat fine, easily digestible plants and leaves.


title: Gazelle

text: Gazelles are relatively small antelopes, most standing high at the shoulder, and are generally fawn-colored.


title: Gazelle

text: The gazelle genera are "Gazella", "Eudorcas", and "Nanger". The taxonomy of these genera is confused, and the classification of species and subspecies has been an unsettled issue. Currently, the genus "Gazella" is widely considered to contain about 10 species. One subspecies is extinct: the Queen of Sheba's gazelle. Most surviving gazelle species are considered threatened to varying degrees. Closely related to the true gazelles are the Tibetan goa and Mongolian gazelles (species of the genus "Procapra"), the blackbuck of Asia, and the African springbok.


title: Gazelle

text: One widely familiar gazelle is the African species Thomson's gazelle ("Eudorcas thomsonii"), which is around in height at the shoulder and is coloured brown and white with a distinguishing black stripe. The males have long, often curved, horns. Like many other prey species, Tommies exhibit a distinctive behaviour of stotting (running and jumping high before fleeing) when they are threatened by predators, such as cheetahs, lions, African wild dogs, crocodiles, hyenas, and leopards.


title: Gazelle

text: "Gazelle" is derived from ', Maghrebi pronunciation '. To Europe it first came to Old Spanish and Old French, and then around 1600 the word entered the English language. The Arab people traditionally hunted the gazelle. Appreciated for its grace, it is a symbol most commonly associated in Arabic literature with female beauty. In many countries in Northwestern Sub-Saharan Africa, the gazelle is commonly referred to as "dangelo", meaning "swift deer".


title: Gazelle

text: The gazelle, like the antelope to which it is a family of, is the totem of many African families such as the Joof family of the Senegambia region, the Bagananoa of Botswana in Southern Africa - said to be descended of the BaHurutshe, and the Eraraka (or Erarak) clan of Uganda. As common in many African societies, it is forbidden for the Joof or Eraraka to kill or touch the family totem.


title: Gazelle

text: One of the traditional themes of Arabic love poetry involves comparing the gazelle with the beloved, and linguists theorize "ghazal", the word for love poetry in Arabic, is related to the word for gazelle. It is related that the Caliph Abd al-Malik (646–705) freed a gazelle that he had captured because of her resemblance to his beloved:


title: Gazelle

text: Fossils of genus "Gazella" are found in Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits of Eurasia and Africa. The tiny "Gazella borbonica" is one of the earliest European gazelles, characterized by its small size and short legs. Gazelles disappeared from Europe at the start of the Ice Age, but they survived in Africa and Middle East.


title: Ken Block

text: Kenneth Paul Block (born November 21, 1967) is a professional rally driver with the Hoonigan Racing Division, formerly known as the Monster World Rally Team. Block is also one of the co-founders of DC Shoes. Over the years, he has also competed in many action sports events, including skateboarding, snowboarding, and motocross. Since selling his ownership of DC Shoes, Block has shifted his business focus to Hoonigan Industries, an apparel brand for auto enthusiasts. He is currently the co-owner and "Head Hoonigan In Charge" (HHIC) at the company.


title: Ken Block

text: In January 2021, Hoonigan Racing Division and Ford Performance announced that they were parting ways after 11 years. In April, Block announced that he would be going back to Subaru. In September, Block announced that he would be on a new partnership with Audi for "joint projects in the field of electric mobility".


title: Ken Block

text: In 2005, Block began his National rallying career with the Vermont SportsCar team. Vermont SportsCar prepared a 2005 Subaru WRX STi for Block to compete. His first event of the rallying season was Sno*Drift, where he ended up finishing seventh overall and fifth in the Group N class. During the 2005 season, Block had five top five finishes and placed third overall in the Group A class and fourth overall in the Rally America National Championship. At the end of his first rallying year, Ken Block had won the Rally America Rookie of the Year award.


title: Ken Block

text: In 2006, Block, along with his DC rally teammate Travis Pastrana, signed a new sponsorship deal with Subaru. Through this deal with Subaru, the teammates became known as "Subaru Rally Team USA." With the new rally season, Block also got a brand-new Vermont SportsCar prepped 2006 Subaru WRX STi. He competed in the first-ever X Games rally event at X Games XII. In the competition, Block ended up finishing third to take the bronze. He went on to compete in the 2006 Rally America National Championship, where he finished second overall.


title: Ken Block

text: In 2007, Block competed in the X Games XIII rally event, where he placed second overall and won a silver medal. In the 2007 Rally America National Championship, Block finished third overall. During this season, Block also entered in a few rounds of the World Rally Championship; Rally Mexico and Rally New Zealand. In Rally New Zealand, Block recorded two top-five stage times in the Group N class. At the end of 2007, Block had achieved 19 podiums and 8 overall victories in rally events.


title: Ken Block

text: In 2008, Block was provided with a brand-new rally-prepped 2008 Subaru WRX STi to compete. Block decided to compete in the Rallye Baie-des Chaleurs of the Canadian Rally Championship to gain some experience with his new 2008 rally car and prepare for the World Rally Championships later in the year. Block gained his first Canadian rally win at the event. This was only the second event for the new car. Block and his co-driver were unable to get any championship points at the event due to not having a Canadian competition license.


title: Ken Block

text: In the X Games XIV rally competition, Block finished tied for third place with Dave Mirra. This occurrence was due to both competitors having issues with their car. Block, who made it to the semi-finals of the event, had a radiator problem after landing the car awkwardly on a jump. With both bronze place competitors in damaged cars unable to compete, the medals were awarded to both of them.


title: Ken Block

text: Block competed in the 2008 Rally America National championship, which concluded on October 17, 2008. In the event, he finished second overall with a strong victory in the last event. In the Lake Superior Performance Rally (LSPR) stage, Block finished over one minute ahead of his next closest competitor and secured the second overall position. Next up for Block this rally season is three World Rally Championship events.


title: Ken Block

text: Block filmed the hit YouTube video "Gymkhana 2", making the most viral video of 2009, as well as selling more DC shoes with this "informercial" .


title: Ken Block

text: For 2010, Block ended his partnership with Subaru, and joined Ford to compete part-time at the World Rally Championship for Monster World Rally Team, where he drove a Ford Focus RS WRC 08 together with long time co-driver Alex Gelsomino. Block therefore became the first ever American driver to campaign for the World Rally Championship. He scored two points after finishing 9th at the Spain. Also, he ran his sixth season of the Rally America Championship in an open class Ford Fiesta, as well as his fifth X Games. On February 27, Block won the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood (Rally America) for the 5th consecutive time. This broke the record held by John Buffum.


title: Ken Block

text: On March 23, Block and his co-driver Alex Gelsomino were taken to hospital, having rolled their Ford Fiesta RS WRC during the shakedown stage of the 2011 Rally de Portugal in Faro, Portugal. A representative of the Monster World Rally team later stated that both men were fine. He finished 8th at the France and 9th at Wales, scoring 6 points.


title: Ken Block

text: On his first race of 2013 season, Block scored well, entering top-ten in the Mexican rally, thus receiving his first six points for the championship and score a best-ever 7th overall finish.


title: Ken Block

text: Castrol returned as Block's sponsor. He participated in the WRC located in Catalunya, Spain. He was in 10th place until the last stage where he suffered a tire puncture and lost a significant amount of time. He finished in 12th, which was his last season at the WRC.


title: Ken Block

text: Block competed at the Global RallyCross Championship from 2011 to 2015, always with a Ford Fiesta. He finished runner-up in 2014 and third in 2013 and fifth in 2012, collecting six wins and 15 podiums.


title: Ken Block

text: He returned full-time for the 2018 Americas Rallycross Championship, where he claimed two podiums and ranked fourth in points.


title: Ken Block

text: In 2014, Block was third in the Norway round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship and won the Norway round of the European Rallycross Championship.


title: Ken Block

text: At Hockenheimring, Germany, Block finished third in the Supercar Final and achieved his second podium in the series.


title: Ken Block

text: In 2009, for the BBC show "Top Gear", Block took James May out for Gymkhana-style driving at Block's stunt course at Inyokern Airport, an operational California airport, also starring Ricky Carmichael. In 2010 Block took the feature car from the previous episode (a Reliant Robin) for a lap of the Top Gear test track. He rolled the car and was unable to complete a lap but was unhurt.


title: Ken Block

text: On August 24, 2010, Block released the first of a three part Gymkhana 3 video release featuring his new Ford Fiesta.


title: Ken Block

text: On September 14, 2010, Block's third Gymkhana video, featuring a Ford Fiesta, was released on YouTube. The video got more than seven million views in its first week.


title: Ken Block

text: On August 16, 2011, the fourth Gymkhana video, "The Hollywood Megamercial" was released on YouTube, featuring Block driving around the Universal Studios backlot.


title: Ken Block

text: On July 9, 2012, Block released his fifth Gymkhana video on YouTube, featuring Block driving his Ford Fiesta in San Francisco and Travis Pastrana on a dirtbike. After 24 hours, the video was viewed 5.1 million times, making it the top-viewed video of the previous week.


title: Ken Block

text: In 2005, Block, along with his DC Shoes associates, participated in the Gumball 3000 Rally. For the event, they sent out three modified 2004 Subaru WRX STis sponsored by DC Shoes.


title: Ken Block

text: In 2006, Block competed in the One Lap of America competition along with Brian Scotto. They were teamed up in a 2006 Subaru WRX STi and finished forty-fifth overall.


title: Ken Block

text: In 2006, for the Discovery Channel show "Stunt Junkies", Block jumped his Subaru WRX STi rally car and a max height of . The whole episode was dedicated to Block attempting this stunt.


title: Ken Block

text: In 2007, Block joined the DC Shoes Snowboarding team at New Zealand's Snow Park. Block did massive jumps and assisted in snowboarding tricks while driving his rally car on the mountain alongside the snowboarders. A crash after landing a large jump cracked one of the vertebrae in his spine, he was flown to the hospital. The session made the cover of the December 2007 issue of "Snowboarder Magazine" and closed out the "MTN.LAB 1.5" DVD.


title: Ken Block

text: In 2010, Block co-founded Gymkhana Grid, a gymkhana race held annually around the world. He won all-wheel-drive event in 2014, beating Jake Archer in the final duel.


title: Ken Block

text: Block also holds the world record for the world's fastest snowcat, a modified Ford Raptor called the RaptorTrax.


title: Ken Block

text: Block appeared in three installments of Codemasters' "Dirt" racing video games. Block is featured as a driver in 2009's "", along with his Subaru Rally Team USA Impreza. In 2011's "Dirt 3" he is seen as a driver and gymkhana teacher, his Monster World Rally Team vehicles are available in the game, including the Ford Fiesta GYM 3, and the Ken Block Ford Focus WRC. His Hoonigan/Monster Ford Fiesta appear extensively in 2012's "", and his trademark gymkhana style of driving is featured at the "Head-to-Head" and "Trick Rush" race modes as well as the "Freestyle" section.


title: Ken Block

text: His Hoonigan-branded cars have also featured in Microsoft's "Forza" racing video game series. Their first appearance was in expansion packs for "Forza Horizon 3" and "Forza Motorsport 7" in 2017. Later they were offered as launch cars for 2018's Forza Horizon 4 and 2021's Forza Horizon 5.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: The Family (released as Malavita and Cosa Nostra in some countries) is a 2013 American black comedy crime film co-written and directed by Luc Besson, starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tommy Lee Jones, Dianna Agron, and John D'Leo. It follows a Mafia family in the witness protection program who want to change their lives. It is based on the French novel "Malavita" ("Badfellas" in the 2010 English translation) by Tonino Benacquista.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: Mafia boss Giovanni Manzoni, who offended Don Lucchese, a rival mafia boss, survives an attempted hit on him and his family at a barbecue. He snitches on Lucchese, which sends him to prison. Manzoni and his immediate family enter an FBI witness protection program under the supervision of Agent Robert Stansfield, and have been relocated various times, the latest being a small town in Normandy.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: In adjusting to life in the village, each family member runs into trouble. They are being watched by two FBI agents to ensure their safety. Giovanni claims to be an author writing a historical novel on the Normandy landings, which is problematic as many citizens in the area are much more familiar with the event than he is. He finds ways to slip away to discover why the water in his house is brown. He beats a plumber who tries to unnecessarily change all the pipes in his house, and a local fertilizer factory owner who is responsible for the tainted water.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: Daughter Belle falls in love with Henri, a college student working as a substitute math teacher. She asks for private math lessons so she can spend time alone with him and seduce him. Giovanni's wife, Maggie, blows up a small grocery store when its owner spews anti-American comments in French to the other customers and often visits the undercover FBI agents. She spends a lot of time at the church, where she and the local priest have an amicable relationship. However, their friendship ends when she confesses their crimes and he tells her never to come back.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: On the first day of class at the local school, son Warren, is beaten up by a small group, but he creates a mini-mafia within the school. This allows him to beat up the original small group that first bullied him. He inadvertently alerts Don Luchese to their location when he quotes one of the kingpin's sayings in the school paper, which makes its way to Luchese by chance.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: Giovanni is asked to attend an American film event due to his supposed historical expertise and he brings Agent Stansfield along, claiming to want to bond with him. It it is in fact an alibi for a timed explosive rigged to destroy the fertilizer causing his brown water. The film screening takes an unexpected turn when instead of "Some Came Running", the scheduled film, they instead watch "Goodfellas". Throughout the film, Giovanni expresses a desire to talk about his life as a mobster. The debate after the film prompts him to tell his story to the audience. Feeling the cover has been compromised, Agent Stansfield gives the order to relocate the family again.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: Meanwhile, the school detects Warren's activities so he decides to leave town with a fake passport to establish his own mafia family in Paris, afraid that the FBI will drop the family's protection. At the train station, he sees seven hitmen arrive and head for town. He returns home to warn the family. Henri breaks up with Belle, which causes her to contemplate suicide, but she stops when she sees the hitmen enter the police station and kill several officers. Maggie returns home and finds her children gone, so she goes to ask the FBI surveillance team for help. Giovanni returns home and Maggie goes to speak with him, but sees the hitmen. She returns to the FBI safe house across the street.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: The hitmen blow up the family's house and kill neighbors who leave their homes to investigate. Soon an intense gunfight ensues which involves all family members. Giovanni and Maggie strangle and stab a hitman after he raids the safe house and tries to sexually assault Maggie. Belle kills a hitman who went to look for weapons in his car's trunk. Using weapons she found in the trunk, she shoots one of the five hitmen near the burning house. Warren also gets guns from the car and shoots two of the hitmen while being given cover fire by Belle. One hitman is killed by the family dog. While chasing Belle, the lead hitman is killed by Stansfield's car.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: The family relocates again. Despite numerous innocent townspeople having been slaughtered, Giovanni expresses his happiness at having had the chance to tell his story, saying that it brought the family closer.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: EuropaCorp and Relativity Media signed during March 2012 to develop two films, including their distribution. "The Family" would become the first one, and the second one would be "Three Days to Kill" (2014).


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: The script, written by Luc Besson and Michael Caleo, is based on the novel "Malavita" by Tonino Benacquista, published in 2004. The author did not want to be very involved in the development of the film, he said: "I knew that EuropaCorp would be capable of producing a film that could be distributed, both in the United States and France, and it was a very tempting topic". The producer of the film, Virginie Besson-Silla, said that the film's storyline is nearly the same as the novel's.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: Originally, Besson would be only the producer. But after finding out that he was going to work with Robert De Niro and not finding a proper director, he decided to direct the film as well: "I thought that it was out of the question to entrust this project to any other person! I know the American and French cultures, so I decided to make me the director." De Niro asked Besson why he was not the director, and Besson told him: "Okay, you won."


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: The book's author wanted the cast to be "American actors that have their own legend, and when appearing on the big screen, they don't have to convince." When Besson asked him who he wanted to be the lead role, he proposed Robert De Niro. They sent him a letter, and later De Niro agreed to participate in the project.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: In June 2012, it was confirmed that Michelle Pfeiffer would join the cast of "The Family", as she was interested in working with De Niro. They had starred together in different films but never were able to film scenes with each other. Author Tonino Benacquista was very [pleased with the casting of De Niro and Pfeiffer; Besson later said, "Tonino said it would be so perfect if Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer played the roles. It was like a dream." Besson always thought of Dianna Agron while writing the character Belle Blake. Despite this, Agron had to attend multiple auditions. Agron later won the part. The entire "Glee" cast and crew supported Agron's departure from the show to be part of the film. A dog named Emeron was chosen to be Malavita, the family's pet dog. Emeron was trained by a specialist, and De Niro was the only person, beside the dog trainer, to spend time with him during the workout. Besson auditioned more than 500 actors for the character of Warren Blake, before casting D'Leo. "The Family" was De Niro's 96th feature film.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: Filming took place in the locations of both Gacé and Le Sap in Normandy, and in New York City. Some of the filming also took place L'Aigle and at Cité du Cinéma in Saint-Denis for 1 month.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: In May 2013, it was revealed that the film, originally titled "Malavita", would be re-titled "The Family" in the United States and some English-speaking countries. In some countries, including France, the "Malavita" title was retained.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: "The Family (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" was released on 13 September 2013, the same day of the film's premiere. It includes original compositions by Evgueni and Sacha Galperine.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: "Clint Eastwood" and "To Binge" by Gorillaz are used in the film but does not appear on the soundtrack album.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: Another song that does not appear on the soundtrack, but appears in the film nonetheless, is "Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club. The song plays in the background during the barbeque scene.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: The first trailer of "The Family" was released on 4 June 2013. For France, the first trailer for "Malavita" was released in mid-July 2013. In August, some TV spots were released to promote the film. The film was initially set to be released, by Relativity Media, on 18 October 2013, then changed to 20 September 2013. The film was eventually pushed up to 13 September 2013.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: Rotten Tomatoes shows that 29% of 127 reviews rated it positively; the average rating is 4.6/10. The site's consensus is: "Luc Besson's "The Family" suffers from an overly familiar setup and a number of jarring tonal shifts." Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 42 based on 32 reviews.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: Ignatiy Vishnevetsky from "The A.V. Club" gave the film a B−, and said: "Besson creates the impression that "The Family" is set in a world drawn from gangster movies and comic strips—an idea that culminates in De Niro participating, as the town’s token American, in a film club discussion of a certain Martin Scorsese movie." Stephanie Merry of "The Washington Post" gave the film one out of four stars, stating: "There’s little to laugh about in dark comedy 'The Family'." Nick Schager of "Time Out" gave the film one out of five stars, saying that Besson "treats his protagonists as likable cartoons yet never provides a single reason to view them as anything less than remorseless, repugnant psychos." MSN Entertainment gave the film three out of five stars, saying: "Sharper, smarter and slicker than it looks, there's a lot to like about "The Family."


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: Linda Barnard from "The Toronto Star" gave the film two out of four stars, saying: "While Besson knows his way around an action film, he’s not as adept at comedy. The result is an often-violent, occasionally amusing fish-out-of-eau tale that plunks a family of wise guys in the French countryside with predictable results." Mack Rawden of "CinemaBlend" gave the film three out of five stars, saying: "It uses irregular De Niro voiceovers on occasion. It reads segments of a book on occasion. It even uses bad dreams and flashbacks, all of which, when used together, make the film seem disorganized and poorly put together. All of that, coupled with more than a few jokes that fall flat and a plot that’s windy and strangely paced keep "The Family" from being anything more than a likeable enough way to spend an hour and forty-five minutes." Stephen Holden of "The New York Times" summed up the mixed reaction to the film: "The movie has holes galore. It has abrupt tonal shifts, an incoherent back story and abandoned subplots... But buoyed by hot performances, it sustains a zapping electrical energy."


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: Although the film did not generate many positive reviews, the cast was praised by critics. "THV11" said: "The core actors of "The Family" were really solid and the whole film comes together to make a solid movie." "The Huffington Post" said that: "De Niro, Pfeiffer and Jones all brought 100% to their roles. "Glee" actress Dianna Agron was the stand-out here, shining as the daughter who was falling in love for the first time, while defending her family from total annihilation by the mafia." The film was nominated for one award: the Women Film Critics Circle Awards Best Young Actress for Agron.


title: The Family (2013 film)

text: "The Family" debuted at number two in its first weekend, with $14 million, coming in behind "", which made $40.3 million in its opening weekend.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 after Wimbledon in 2018. Stephens was the 2017 US Open champion, and has won seven WTA Tour singles titles in total.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Born to athletic parents with backgrounds in collegiate swimming and professional American football, Stephens was introduced to tennis at the club across the street from her house in Fresno, California. Her stepfather was a competitive recreational tennis player and was her primary inspiration for beginning to play the sport. Stephens moved to Florida to train at a tennis academy, ultimately working with Nick Saviano. She became a promising junior player, reaching an ITF junior ranking of world No. 5 and winning three out of four major girls' doubles titles in 2010 with her partner Tímea Babos.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: While 19 years old, Stephens rose to prominence at the 2013 Australian Open with a semifinal run beating world No. 3, Serena Williams. The latter started hating Stephens after that. Although she reached No. 11 towards the end of 2013, she regressed and stayed outside the top 25 to the end of 2015. She switched to a new coach, Kamau Murray, under whom she returned to elite level and won three WTA titles in the first half of 2016. Her successful year was cut short by a foot injury that kept her out for months.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: She returned from injury in the middle of 2017 and won the US Open singles title in her fifth tournament back. She was also awarded WTA Comeback Player of the Year for her successful season. In 2018, she continued her success by winning her first Premier Mandatory title at the Miami Open, reaching a second Grand Slam singles final at the French Open, entering the top 10 for the first time, and finishing runner-up at the WTA Finals.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens was born on March 20, 1993 in Plantation, Florida to Sybil Smith and John Stephens, both of whom were accomplished athletes. Her mother was the first African-American woman to be named a first-team All-American swimmer in Division I history. She is enshrined in the Boston University Athletic Hall of Fame and recognized as the greatest swimmer in the history of the university. Stephens's father was a Pro Bowl running back for the New England Patriots in the National Football League. Pro Football Hall of Famer Raymond Berry regarded him as the best athlete he had ever seen.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Smith left Stephens's father after his multiple arrests in 1994. Stephens was raised by her mother and her stepfather, Sheldon Farrell, who married Smith in 1997 and worked as a business consultant. She has a younger half-brother, Shawn Farrell, who played baseball and football at Notre Dame High School outside of Los Angeles. Stephens did not talk with her biological father until she was 13 years old, when he expressed interest in getting to know her after being diagnosed with degenerative bone disease. Even though they only met a few times in person, the two of them developed a close relationship remotely. Stephens's stepfather died from cancer in 2007, while her biological father died in a car crash in 2009.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens moved to her mother's hometown of Fresno in California at the age of two. She started playing tennis at the age of nine at the Sierra Sport and Racquet Club, a tennis facility located across the street from her house where her stepfather regularly played and her mother was taking lessons. Former top 100 player Francisco González, the head of tennis at the club, recognized Stephens had impressive ability given her limited experience and recommended her to pursue more rigorous training opportunities. Two years after she started playing tennis, Stephens relocated to Boca Raton in Florida. She began training at the Evert Tennis Academy founded by John Evert and also run by his sister, International Tennis Hall of Famer Chris Evert. The following year at age 12, Stephens switched to the Nick Saviano High Performance Tennis Academy, and also began online homeschooling.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: After her stepfather's death, Stephens and her family moved back to their hometown of Fresno where her grandparents and other members of her mother's family still lived. From then on, she split time living in both California and Florida.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens began competing in low-level events on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2006 at the age of 13. Her first breakthrough result came at the US Open in 2008, where she reached her first doubles final at a Grand Slam with Mallory Burdette. She then finished the year with a semifinal appearance at the high-level Orange Bowl tournament, a Grade A event.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens began 2009 by winning her first two tournaments of the year, the Grade 1 USTA International Spring Championships and the Grade A Italian Open. Following these big titles, she only played in the remaining junior Grand Slam events in 2009 and 2010, while also skipping the Australian Open.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: At the French Open, Stephens extended her main-draw win streak to 16 matches in a row to start the season, despite needing to qualify for the main draw, before losing to French junior Kristina Mladenovic in the semifinals. Mladenovic ended up winning the tournament, and would also defeat Stephens in their next encounter at the Wimbledon quarterfinals. These results brought her to a career-high junior ranking of No. 5 in the world. During the US Open, she left New York after her first match to attend her biological father's funeral in Louisiana. She returned to play and win her next match, but ultimately lost in the third round.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: In 2010, Stephens partnered with Tímea Babos to win the doubles title at all three majors in which they participated. They became just the second pair of girls to win three Grand Slam tournament doubles titles in one season after Corina Morariu and Ludmila Varmužová in 1995. Stephens also reached at least the quarterfinals in each of the singles events. Her best singles result that year was a Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open, where she lost to Daria Gavrilova in a third set tiebreak.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens played her first professional events on the ITF Women's Circuit in late 2007. In the spring of 2008, she received a qualifying wildcard into her first WTA Tour event, the Miami Open, where she lost her opening round match. She would lose in qualifying the next two years as well. Stephens also received wildcards into the US Open qualifying rounds for three consecutive years. In her first appearance in 2008, she defeated world No. 109, Melinda Czink, while still only 15 years old, but was unable to advance to the main draw in any of these appearances. During the summer of 2008, Stephens won her first professional title in doubles at a low-level $10K event in Wichita alongside partner Christina McHale.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: In the middle of 2009, Stephens participated in World TeamTennis as a member of the New York Buzz. Although she seldom played on the pro tour that year, Stephens decided to turn pro in October following a strong junior season. In March 2010, Stephens qualified for the Indian Wells Open to make her WTA debut a week before turning 17. She defeated Lucie Hradecká in her first career main-draw match before losing to the defending champion, 12th-seeded Vera Zvonareva. Her only other WTA Tour win that year came at the Swedish Open in July. After starting the year ranked No. 802, she finished the 2010 season just inside the top 200 at No. 198.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens continued to climb the WTA rankings during the 2011 clay-court season. She won her first professional singles title at the Camparini Gioielli Cup, a $50K event in Italy. She then made it through qualifying at the French Open to make her Grand Slam main-draw debut in singles. Although she lost to Elena Baltacha, she rose to a career best No. 128 in the world. In August, Stephens entered the Southern California Open as a wildcard and defeated No. 20, Julia Görges, en route to her first WTA quarterfinal. Later that month, she was awarded a wildcard into her first US Open main draw. In the opening round, she defeated Réka Luca Jani for her first Grand Slam tournament match win. She then backed up that win by beating 23rd seed Shahar Pe'er. With this third-round appearance, Stephens made her debut in the top 100 of the WTA rankings and also became the youngest player in the top 100 at 18 years old.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: With an improved ranking, Stephens was able to play WTA Tour-level events the entire season. Early in the year, she played in her first Australian Open main draw and made it to the second round. Stephens then closed out the winter hardcourt season by qualifying for the Miami Open. Having played there every year since 2008, she picked up her first two main draw wins at the tournament, including the second one over No. 30 Sara Errani. In late April, Stephens made her Fed Cup debut in an away playoff tie against Ukraine. She won her only match, a doubles dead rubber with partner Liezel Huber, as the United States won the tie 5–0 to return to the top-level World Group in 2013.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: After early losses at her first few clay-court events of the year, Stephens finished this part of the season with three impressive results. First, she qualified for the Premier-5 Italian Open and advanced to the second round. She then reached her first WTA semifinal at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. Finally, she produced her best result at a Grand Slam tournament to date by reaching the fourth round at the French Open. Stephens built on this momentum with a third-round appearance in her Wimbledon main-draw debut, which was highlighted by an upset of 23rd seed Petra Cetkovská. This string of performances brought her into the top 50 of the WTA rankings for the first time.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Back in the United States, Stephens played at the Citi Open in late July and made it to her second career WTA semifinal. She also reached the third round at the Premier 5 Cincinnati Open, where she lost a tight match to world No. 3, Agnieszka Radwańska. Her final tournament of the year was the US Open. She lost in the third round to No. 13 Ana Ivanovic after struggling with a torn abdominal muscle, which was initially injured during her fourth-round loss at the French Open a few months earlier. Stephens later stated, "I kept playing when I shouldn't have," as part of an effort to try to qualify for the Olympics. She ended up taking the rest of the year off to recover. Nonetheless, she finished the year as the youngest player in the top 50 at No. 38.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Stephens was ready to return for the Australian hardcourt season. In her first tournament back, she made it to the quarterfinals at the Brisbane International to set up an encounter with world No. 3, Serena Williams. Although Williams won the match in straight sets, she praised Stephens, saying she could be "the best in the world one day." Stephens improved on that result the following week with a semifinal at the Hobart International. She entered the Australian Open seeded 29th, her first Grand Slam tournament as a seeded player. She defeated four unseeded players to make her first Grand Slam tournament quarterfinal and set up her second clash with Williams that month. Williams entered the semifinal on a 20 match win streak, while multiple betting websites listed the 19-year-old Stephens as at least an 11-to-1 underdog. Stephens was down a set and a break early in the second set, but came from behind to pull off a huge upset. This was the first top-ten victory of Stephens's career and made her much more prominent. Although Stephens would lose her next match to world No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, she rose to a career-high ranking of No. 17 after the tournament.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: Following the Australian Open, Stephens was forced to miss the United States' quarterfinal Fed Cup tie after aggravating her abdominal injury during her deep run at the tournament. When she returned to the court, this injury continued to hinder her performance as she did not defeat another top 50 opponent until after the clay-court season. She played in the Fed Cup playoff tie in April and lost her only match against Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson. Nonetheless, the United States won the tie 3–2 to secure a place in the 2014 World Group. Despite these struggles, Stephens produced another good Grand Slam tournament result at the French Open, where she defeated three unseeded opponents – none ranked higher than No. 92 – to reach the fourth round. She then lost to world No. 2, Maria Sharapova. Stephens continued her Grand Slam tournament success at Wimbledon by making it to the quarterfinals, again without defeating a seeded opponent. She lost to the eventual champion Marion Bartoli. Her best win at these two majors came in the first round of Wimbledon against world No. 25, Jamie Hampton.


title: Sloane Stephens

text: At the Cincinnati Open in August, Stephens scored her second big upset of the year when she knocked out Sharapova, the No. 3 player in the world, in the second round. She lost in the next round to No. 15, Jelena Jankovic. Two weeks later, Stephens entered the US Open as the 15th seed, where she faced Williams again in the fourth round. This time, Williams avenged her Australian Open loss in straight sets and went on to win the tournament. Although Stephens continued to struggle outside of the majors after the US Open, she was named the second alternate for the WTA Tour Championships. She finished the year at world No. 12 and was one of only three players to make it to the second week of all four Grand Slam tournaments in 2013, along with Williams and Agnieszka Radwańska. Stephens also reached a career-high ranking of No. 11 in October and became the second-highest ranked American.