title: Ahnenerbe

text: Reinhard Heydrich, then head of RSHA, sent Paulsen back to Kraków in order to seize additional museum collections, but Göring had already sent a team of his own men, commanded by SS-"Sturmbannführer" Kajetan Mühlmann under the supervision of Dagobert Frey, to loot the museums. Mühlmann agreed to let Paulsen take items of scholarly interest back to the Ahnenerbe, while keeping artworks for Göring. During the looting, Hans Frank, the head of the German General Government in occupied Poland, issued an order dated November 22, 1939 prohibiting the “unapproved export” of Polish items. Paulsen obeyed the order, but his colleague Hans Schleif arranged for five freightcars of loot from the Warsaw Archaeological Museum to be shipped to Poznań, which was outside Frank's control. In return, Schleif was appointed as a trustee for Wartheland. Paulsen later tried to take credit for the freightcars' contents in his report to RuSHA, but was reassigned.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Eduard Paul Tratz of the Ahnenerbe also removed some exhibits from the State Zoological Museum in Warsaw to the Haus der Natur, the museum in Salzburg of which he was founder and director.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: After the German Army conquered the Crimea in early July 1942, Himmler sent Herbert Jankuhn, as well as and Baron Wolf von Seefeld, to the region in search of artifacts to follow up the recent display of the Kerch “Gothic crown of the Crimea” in Berlin.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Jankuhn met with senior officers of "Einsatzkommando" 11, part of "Einsatzgruppe D", while waiting at the field headquarters of the 5th SS Panzer Division. Commander Otto Ohlendorf gave Jankuhn information about the Crimean museums. Traveling with the 5th SS Panzer, Jankuhn's team eventually reached Maykop, where they received a message from Sievers that Himmler wanted an investigation of Mangup Kale, an ancient mountain fortress. Jankuhn sent Kersten to follow up on Mangup Kale, while the rest of the team continued trying to secure artifacts that had not already been taken by the Red Army. "Einsatzkommando" 11b's commander Werner Braune aided the team.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Jankuhn was ultimately unable to find Gothic artifacts denoting a German ancestry, even after intelligence about a shipment of 72 crates of artifacts shipped to a medical warehouse. The area had been ravaged by the time the team arrived and only 20 crates remained, but they contained Greek and stone-age artifacts, rather than Gothic.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: In June 1943, 27-year-old SS-"Untersturmführer" Heinz Brücher, who held a PhD from Tübingen in botany, was tasked with an expedition to Ukraine and Crimea. SS-"Hauptsturmführer" Konrad von Rauch and an interpreter identified as Steinbrecher were also involved in the expedition.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: In February 1945, Brücher was ordered to destroy the Ahnenerbe's 18 active research facilities to avoid their capture by advancing Soviet forces. He refused, and after the war continued his work as a botanist in Argentina and Trinidad.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: After winning in a writing contest, Edmund Kiss traveled to Bolivia in 1928 to study the ruins of temples in the Andes. He claimed that their apparent similarity to ancient European structures indicated that they had been designed by Nordic migrants millions of years earlier. He also claimed that his findings supported the World Ice Theory, which held that the universe originated from a cataclysmic clash between gigantic balls of ice and glowing mass. Arthur Posnansky had been studying a local site called Tiwanaku, which he also believed supported the theory.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: After contacting Posnansky, Kiss approached Wüst for help planning an expedition to excavate Tiwanaku and a nearby site, Siminake. The team would consist of 20 scientists, who would excavate for a year and also explore Lake Titicaca, and take aerial photographs of ancient Incan roads they believed had Nordic roots. By late August 1939, the expedition was nearly set to embark, but the invasion of Poland caused the expedition to be postponed indefinitely.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: In 1938, the Ahnenerbe's president, Walther Wüst, proposed a trip to Iran to study the Behistun Inscription, which had been created by order of the Achaemenid Shah Darius I, who had declared himself to have been of Aryan origin in his inscriptions. The inscriptions were recorded atop steep cliffs using scaffolding that was removed after the inscriptions were made. Unable to afford the cost of erecting new scaffolds, Wüst proposed that he, his wife, an amanuensis, an Iranian student, a photographer and an experienced mountaineer be sent with a balloon-mounted camera. The onset of the war, however, saw the trip postponed indefinitely.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Early travelers to the Canary Islands had described the Guanche natives as having golden-blond hair and white skin, and mummies had been found with blond tresses—facts which Wirth believed indicated that the islands had once been inhabited by Nordics. His colleague Otto Huth proposed an autumn of 1939 expedition to study the ancient islanders’ racial origins, artifacts and religious rites. At the time, the Canary Islands were part of Francisco Franco’s fascist Spanish State ("Estado Español"). Because Franco refused to side with the Axis when the war started, however, the trip was cancelled.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Bruno Schweizer had already traveled to Iceland three times in 1938 when he proposed an Ahnenerbe expedition with seven others to the country in order to learn about their ancient farming practices and architecture, record folksongs and dances, and also collect soil samples for pollen analysis.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: The first setback for the expedition was the ridicule of the Scandinavian press, publishing stories in February 1939 claiming the expedition was based on false ideas about Icelandic heritage and sought old church records that did not even exist. An enraged Himmler publicly shut down the trip, but after calming down he allowed the planning of the trip to be secretly continued. The final setback occurred when Himmler's personal staff was unable to get enough Icelandic crowns—Iceland's currency. Not being able to quickly solve this problem, the trip was rescheduled for the summer of 1940. In May 1940, the British invaded neutral Iceland, but when the war had started the expedition had already been shelved.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: In 1940, following the British occupation of Iceland, the Ahnenerbe-funded Bruno Kress, a German researcher who was in the country at the time, was rounded up along with other German nationals present on the island. Kress was interned in Ramsey on the Isle of Man, but was allowed to correspond with Sievers through letters. Kress's "Grammar of Icelandic" was eventually published in East Germany in 1955. Kress later worked for the East German "Staatssicherheit" (Stasi).


title: Ahnenerbe

text: After being appointed Commissioner for the Strengthening of the German Race, Himmler set to work with Konrad Meyer on developing a plan for three large German colonies in the eastern occupied territories. Leningrad, northern Poland and the Crimea would be the focal points of these colonies intended to spread the Aryan race. The Crimean colony was called Gotengau, or “Goth district”, in honor of the Crimean Goths who had settled there and were believed to be Aryan ancestors of the Germans.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Himmler estimated that Aryanization of the region would take twenty years, first expelling all the undesirable populations, then re-distributing the territory to appropriate Aryan populations. In addition to changing the demographics of the region, Himmler also intended to plant oak and beech trees to replicate traditional German forests, as well as plant new crops brought back from Tibet. To achieve the latter end, Himmler ordered a new institution set up by the Ahnenerbe and headed by Schäfer. A station was then set up near the Austrian town of Graz where Schäfer set to work with seven other scientists to develop new crops for the Reich.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: The final piece of the puzzle fell into place after Hitler read a work by Alfred Frauenfeld which suggested resettling inhabitants of South Tyrol, believed by some to be descendants of the Goths, to Crimea. In 1939 the South Tyroleans were ordered by Hitler and Benito Mussolini to vote on whether they wanted to remain in Italy and accept assimilation or emigrate to Germany. Over 80% chose the latter (for details see South Tyrol Option Agreement). Himmler presented Master Plan East ("Generalplan Ost") to Hitler and received approval in July 1942.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Full implementation of the plan was not feasible because of the war, but a small colony was founded around Himmler's field headquarters at Hegewald, near Kiev. Starting on October 10, 1942, Himmler's troops deported 10,623 Ukrainians from the area in cattle cars before bringing in trains of ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) from northern Ukraine. The SS authorities gave families supplies as well as land, but also informed them of quotas of food they would be required to produce for the SS.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: The Ahnenerbe had tried to gain possession of the Codex Aesinas, a famous medieval copy of Tacitus' "Germania". Although Mussolini had originally promised it as a gift in 1936, it remained in the possession of the Count Aurelio Baldeschi Guglielmi Balleani outside Ancona, from where the Ahnenerbe tried to obtain it after Mussolini was deposed.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: On July 29, 1943, the Royal Air Force's firebombing of Hamburg led Himmler to order the immediate evacuation of the main Ahnenerbe headquarters in Berlin. The extensive library was moved to Schloss Oberkirchberg near Ulm while the staff was moved to the tiny village of Waischenfeld near Bayreuth, Bavaria. The building selected was the 17th century "Steinhaus". While much of the staff was not ecstatic about the primitive conditions, Sievers seemed to have embraced the isolation.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Financially, the Ahnenerbe was separate from the Nazi Party treasury and had to find funding from other sources including membership dues and donations. After 1938, it received funds from the "Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft". In addition, a foundation ("Ahnenerbe-Stifterverband") was established, set up with funds from business leaders. One of the largest donations, approximately , came from Deutsche Bank boardmember Emil Georg von Stauß associates, including BMW and Daimler-Benz. The foundation also received royalties from patents partially held by the SS (see below). During the war, Ahnenerbe also received money from other SS departments and profited from the "Arisierung" of Jewish property—its headquarters in Dahlem had been purchased at half its market value. In 1940, another estate in Munich was added.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: In 1936, the SS formed a joint company with Anton Loibl, a machinist and driving instructor. The SS had heard about reflector pedals for bicycles, that Loibl and others had been developing. Assuring that Loibl got the patent himself, Himmler then used his political weight to ensure the passing of a 1939 law requiring the use of the new reflective pedals—of which the Ahnenerbe received a share of the profits, in 1938.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: The "Institut für Wehrwissenschaftliche Zweckforschung" ("Institute for Military Scientific Research"), which conducted extensive medical experiments using human subjects, became attached to the Ahnenerbe during World War II. It was managed by Wolfram Sievers. Sievers had founded the organization on the orders of Himmler, who appointed him director with two divisions headed by Sigmund Rascher and August Hirt, and funded by the Waffen-SS.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Sigmund Rascher was tasked with helping the Luftwaffe determine what was safe for their pilots—because aircraft were being built to fly higher than ever before. He applied for and received permission from Himmler to requisition camp prisoners to place in vacuum chambers to simulate the high altitude conditions that pilots might face.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Rascher was also tasked with discovering how long German airmen would be able to survive if shot down above freezing water. His victims were forced to remain out of doors naked in freezing weather for up to 14 hours, or kept in a tank of icewater for 3 hours, their pulse and internal temperature measured through a series of electrodes. Warming of the victim was then attempted by different methods, most usually and successfully by immersion in very hot water, and also less conventional methods such as placing the subject in bed with women who would try to sexually stimulate him, a method suggested by Himmler.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Rascher experimented with the effects of Polygal, a substance made from beets and apple pectin, on coagulating blood flow to help with gunshot wounds. Subjects were given a Polygal tablet, and shot through the neck or chest, or their limbs amputated without anaesthesia. Rascher published an article on his experience of using Polygal, without detailing the nature of the human trials, and also set up a company to manufacture the substance, staffed by prisoners.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Similar experiments were conducted from July to September 1944, as the Ahnenerbe provided space and materials to doctors at Dachau concentration camp to undertake “seawater experiments”, chiefly through Sievers. Sievers is known to have visited Dachau on July 20, to speak with Ploetner and the non-Ahnenerbe Wilhelm Beiglboeck, who ultimately carried out the experiments.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: rose to leadership of the Ahnenerbe's "Applied Nature Studies" division in January 1939, and began taking detailed measurements of 2,000 Jews at the Vienna emigration office—but scientists were unable to use the data. On December 10, 1941, Beger met with Sievers and convinced him of the need for 120 Jewish skulls. During the later Nuremberg Trials, Friedrich Hielscher testified that Sievers had initially been repulsed at the idea of expanding the Ahnenerbe to human experimentation, and that he had “no desire whatsoever to participate in these.”


title: Ahnenerbe

text: During the 20th century, little scholarly research into the Ahnenerbe took place. Many scholars had likely been dissuaded from exploring the subject because ex-Ahnenerbe members held prominent academic positions in West Germany and did not want younger historians or archaeologists investigating their links with the SS. The main scholar to explore the subject in this period was a Canadian historian, Michael Kater, who conducted his research while in Germany. As the University of Heidelberg sought to publish Kater's thesis on the subject in 1966, Walther Wüst unsuccessfully tried to legally prevent it from doing so. Kater's research was then published in 1974 as "Das "Ahnenerbe" der SS 1935–1945".


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Following German unification in 1990, Achim Leube began an examination of the surviving historical evidence on the Ahnenerbe, much of which had been based in West Germany. In November 1998, Leube oversaw an international academic conference in Berlin on the Nazis' relationship with prehistory.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Many of the ideas inherited or developed by the Ahnenerbe remain influential. Canadian author Heather Pringle has particularly drawn attention to the influence of Edmund Kiss' various "crackpot theories" concerning such matters as the World Ice Theory and the origins of Tiwanaku upon subsequent writers such as H.S. Bellamy, Denis Saurat and, later, Graham Hancock.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: Much misinformation about the Ahnenerbe has circulated, due in part to adaptations of the group in fiction, and historically dubious conspiracy theories that sometimes confuse the Ahnenerbe with the roughly contemporaneous Thule Society, or the historically unverified Vril society.


title: Ahnenerbe

text: The Ahnenerbe formed the basis for the depiction in the "Indiana Jones" franchise of Nazis searching for religious artifacts.


title: Levan Saginashvili

text: Levan Saginashvili (born September 15, 1988), nicknamed Georgian Hulk, is a Georgian professional arm-wrestler. He is considered to be the strongest arm wrestler of the modern era and likely of all time. Levan has won the World Arm-wrestling Championship (WAF) seven times, the European arm-wrestling championship six times, and won the Top 8 in 2019, and the World Cup in 2017.


title: Levan Saginashvili

text: After winning the World Police and Fire Games Gold medal in arm-wrestling in 2013 Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK, he was awarded the merit of first degree by The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, 2013.


title: Levan Saginashvili

text: 2018 was a very successful year for the arm wrestler, in which he won 3 major tournaments including EuroArm, the World Arm-wrestling Championship and Vendetta All Stars #50, in Rumia, Poland.


title: Levan Saginashvili

text: After winning the six-round super-match against Devon Larratt at King of the Table 4 on June 25th 2022, he was presented with the right hand legacy hammer by Devon Larratt and was universally recognized as the world #1 (right arm) arm-wrestler by the community. Levan has stated previously that he intends to win every round of every match of his professional supermatch career, and has done so since his first supermatch in 2017. Levan's continuous dominance has led many athletes, experts, and fans alike to believe that there is no one in the current world of armwrestling who stands a chance at defeating him. There are, however, a small number of athletes who are regarded as having the potential to challenge Levan in the future, and it remains to be seen whether or not any of them will succeed in taking the spot of world #1 for themselves.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: Godfrey of Bouillon (, , , ; 18 September 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a French nobleman and pre-eminent leader of the First Crusade. First ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100, he avoided the title of king, preferring that of prince ("princeps") and "Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri", or Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre. Second son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, Godfrey became Lord of Bouillon in 1076 and in 1087 Emperor Henry IV confirmed him as Duke of Lower Lorraine, a reward for his support during the Great Saxon Revolt.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: Along with his brothers Eustace III and Baldwin of Boulogne, Godfrey joined the First Crusade in 1096. He took part in actions at Nicaea, Dorylaeum and Antioch, before playing a key role during the capture of Jerusalem in 1099. When Raymond IV of Toulouse declined the offer to become ruler of the new kingdom, Godfrey accepted the role and secured his kingdom by defeating the Fatimids at Ascalon a month later, bringing the First Crusade to an end. He died in July 1100 and was succeeded by his brother Baldwin as king of Jerusalem.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: Godfrey of Bouillon was born around 1060, second son of Eustace II, Count of Boulogne, and Ida, daughter of the Lotharingian duke Godfrey the Bearded and his first wife, Doda. He was probably born in Boulogne-sur-Mer, although one 13th-century chronicler cites Baisy, a town in what is now Walloon Brabant, Belgium. As second son, he had fewer opportunities than his older brother. However his maternal uncle, Godfrey the Hunchback, died childless and named his nephew, Godfrey of Bouillon, as his heir and next in line to his Duchy of Lower Lorraine. This duchy was an important one at the time, serving as a buffer between the kingdom of France and the German lands.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: In fact, Lower Lorraine was so important to the Holy Roman Empire that in 1076 Henry IV, then King of the Romans and future emperor (reigned 1084–1105), decided to place it in the hands of his own son and give Godfrey only Bouillon and the Margraviate of Antwerp, allegedly as a test of his loyalty. Godfrey supported Henry even during his struggle with Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Controversy. Godfrey fought alongside Henry and his forces against Rudolf of Swabia and in Italy when Henry captured Rome itself away from the Pope.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: A major test of Godfrey's leadership skills was shown in his battles to defend his inheritance against a significant array of enemies. In 1076 he had succeeded as designated heir to the Lotharingian lands of his uncle, Godfrey the Hunchback, and Godfrey was struggling to maintain control over the lands that Henry IV had not taken away from him. Claims were raised by his aunt Margravine Matilda of Tuscany, cousin Count Albert III of Namur, and Count Theoderic of Veluwe. This coalition was joined by Bishop Theoderic of Verdun, and two minor counts attempting to share in the spoils, Waleran I of Limburg and Arnold I of Chiny.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: As these enemies tried to take away portions of his land, Godfrey's brothers, Eustace and Baldwin, both came to his aid. Following these long struggles and proving that he was a loyal subject to Henry IV, Godfrey finally won back his duchy of Lower Lorraine in 1087. Still, Godfrey's influence in the German kingdom would have been minimal if it had not been for his major role in the First Crusade.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: In 1095 Pope Urban II called for military action in order to liberate Jerusalem and aid the Byzantine Empire, which in the years since 1071 had lost large swathes of territory to the Seljuk Empire. Godfrey either sold or mortgaged most of his estates to the bishops of Liège and Verdun and used the money to recruit an army of Crusaders. He was joined by his older brother, Eustace, and his younger brother, Baldwin, who had no lands in Europe and was seeking them in the Holy Land. Others did the same, the largest being that raised by Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, who at 55 was the oldest and most experienced of the Crusader nobles. As a result, he expected to lead the expedition, a claim boosted by the presence of Adhemar of Le Puy, the papal legate who travelled with him. Significant forces also accompanied Bohemond of Taranto, a Norman knight from southern Italy, and Robert II, Count of Flanders.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: Following advice provided by Pope Urban, most of these armies set out in mid-summer and headed for Constantinople where they could expect assistance from Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. Each travelled separately, since it was impossible for one region to feed and supply such large numbers on their own; the first to leave in spring 1096 was what became known as the People's Crusade, an army of 20,000 low ranking knights and peasants which journeyed through the Rhineland, then headed for Hungary. Most of those from southern and northern France sailed from Brindisi across the Adriatic Sea, while Godfrey and his two brothers, leading an army from Lorraine reportedly 40,000 strong, set out in August 1096 following the route taken by the People's Crusade.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: Pope Urban II's call for the crusade spurred a wave of antisemitism across Europe, beginning with Rouen in December 1095. In the spring and early summer of 1096, members of the People's Crusade plundered and massacred Jewish communities during the Rhineland massacres. In reference to Godfrey, a Hebrew text known as the Solomon bar Simson Chronicle, apparently written 50 years later, claims "Duke Godfrey, may his bones be ground to dust, ...vowed...to avenge the blood of the crucified one by shedding Jewish blood and completely eradicating any trace of those bearing the name 'Jew'". After being notified of this threat by the Jewish leader in Mainz, Emperor Henry prohibited Godfrey from carrying it out. Simson records that after the Jewish communities in Mainz and Cologne each paid him 500 marks, Godfrey "assured them of his support and promised them peace".


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: After the People's Crusade entered Hungary in June, a series of incidents had culminated in a full-scale battle with their hosts and the deaths of over 10,000 Crusaders; as a result, when Godfrey and his troops approached the border in September, it took several days of negotiations before they were allowed in. He finally reached Constantinople in November, shortly after those led by Hugh of Vermandois while others arrived over the next few months. Unlike the limited numbers he had anticipated, by May 1097 Alexios found himself with over 4,000 to 8,000 mounted knights and 25,000 to 55,000 infantry camped on his doorstep. This mattered because the two sides had different goals; Alexius simply wanted help in retaking Byzantine lands lost to the Seljuk Turks, while the Crusaders sought to "liberate" the Holy Land from "infidels" and establish themselves as rulers. When Alexios demanded an oath of loyalty, Godfrey and most of the Crusaders agreed a modified version in which they promised to restore some lands to the Emperor, Raymond of Toulouse being a notable exception.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: In February 1097, Godfrey and his army crossed the Bosporus Straits, where he was joined by Bohemund, Robert of Flanders and Hugh of Vermandois. Accompanied by Byzantine soldiers, in early May the Crusaders invested Nicaea, a city close to Constantinople captured by the Turks in 1085. Godfrey and his troops played a minor role, with Bohemond successfully commanding much of the action but as the Crusaders were about to storm the city, they noticed the Byzantine flag flying from the top of the walls. Wanting to minimise damage to what was an important Byzantine city and suspecting the Crusaders would demand a heavy ransom for handing it over, Alexios had made a separate peace with the Turkish garrison. Although the majority of the Crusader leaders accepted Alexios' right to do so, it was an illustration of the level of mutual suspicion between the two sides.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: Godfrey continued to play a minor, but important, role in the battles against the Seljuks until the Crusaders finally reached Jerusalem in 1099. At Dorylaeum in July 1097, he helped relieve the vanguard at Dorylaeum which had been pinned down by a Turkish force under Kilij Arslan I, then sacked their camp. After this battle and during the trek through Asia Minor, some sources suggest that Godfrey was attacked by a bear and received a serious wound which incapacitated him for a time.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: Godfrey also took part in the Siege of Antioch, which began in October 1097 and did not surrender until June 1098 after long and bitter fighting. During the winter, the crusading army came close to starvation and many returned to Europe, while Alexios assumed all was lost at Antioch and failed to provide them with supplies as promised. When the city finally fell, Bohemond claimed it for himself and refused to hand it over to the Emperor citing the Emperors failure to help the crusaders at Antioch as breaking the oath; after repulsing a Muslim force from Mosul led by Kerbogha, Antioch was secured.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: After this victory, the Crusaders were divided over their next course of action. The bishop of Le Puy had died at Antioch. Bohemond decided to remain behind in order to secure his new principality; and Godfrey's younger brother, Baldwin, also decided to stay in the north in the Crusader state he had established at Edessa. Most of the foot soldiers wanted to continue south to Jerusalem, but Raymond IV of Toulouse, by this time the most powerful of the princes, having taken others into his employ, such as Tancred, hesitated to continue the march. After months of waiting, the common people on the crusade forced Raymond to march on to Jerusalem, and Godfrey quickly joined him. As they travelled south into Palestine, the Crusaders faced a new enemy. No longer were the Seljuk Turks the rulers of these lands. Now the Christian army had to deal with armies of North African Muslims called Fatimids, who had adopted the name of the ruling family in Cairo, Egypt. The Fatimids had taken Jerusalem in August 1098. The Crusaders would be battling them for the final prize of the First Crusade in the siege of Jerusalem.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: It was in Jerusalem that the legend of Godfrey of Bouillon was born. The army reached the city in June 1099 and built a wooden siege tower (from lumber provided by some Italian sailors who intentionally scrapped their ships) to get over the walls. The major attack took place on July 14 and 15, 1099. Godfrey and some of his knights were the first to take the walls and enter the city. It was an end to three years of fighting by the Crusaders, but they had finally achieved what they had set out to do in 1096—to recapture the Holy Land and, in particular, the city of Jerusalem and its holy sites, such as the Holy Sepulchre, the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. Godfrey endowed the hospital in the Muristan after the First Crusade.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: Once the city was returned to Christian rule, some form of government had to be set up. On 22 July 1099, a council was held in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and after Raymond of Toulouse had refused the crown, Godfrey agreed to become ruler. However, he preferred Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre to that of king, allegedly refusing to "wear a crown of gold where his Saviour had worn a crown of thorns. Both the meaning and usage of his title is disputed. Some of the original chroniclers used the more ambiguous term "princeps", or his previous rank of duke. Later chroniclers who did not participate in the First Crusade suggest he took the title of "rex", or king".


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: During his short reign, Godfrey had to defend the new kingdom against the Fatimids of Egypt, who were defeated at the Battle of Ascalon in August. He also faced opposition from Dagobert of Pisa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who was allied with Tancred. Although the Latins came close to capturing Ascalon, Godfrey's attempts to prevent Raymond of St. Gilles from securing the city for himself meant that the town remained in Muslim hands, destined to be a thorn in the new kingdom's side for years to come.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: In 1100, Godfrey was unable to directly expand his new territories through conquest. However, his impressive victory in 1099 and his subsequent campaigning in 1100 meant that he was able to force Acre, Ascalon, Arsuf, Jaffa, and Caesarea to become tributaries. Meanwhile, the struggle with Dagobert continued, although the terms of the conflict are difficult to trace. Dagobert may well have envisaged turning Jerusalem into a fiefdom of the pope, but his full intentions are not clear. Much of the evidence for this comes from William of Tyre, whose account of these events is troublesome; it is only William who tells us that Dagobert forced Godfrey to concede Jerusalem and Jaffa, while other writers such as Albert of Aachen and Ralph of Caen suggest that both Dagobert and his ally Tancred had sworn an oath to Godfrey to accept only one of his brothers or blood relations as his successor. Whatever Dagobert's schemes, they were destined to come to naught. Being at Haifa at the time of Godfrey's death, he could do nothing to stop Godfrey's supporters, led by Warner of Grez, from seizing Jerusalem and demanding that Godfrey's brother Baldwin should succeed to the rule. Dagobert was subsequently forced to crown Baldwin as the first Latin king of Jerusalem on 25 December 1100.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: The Arab chronicler Ibn al-Qalanisi reported that "In this year [1099], Godfrey, lord of Jerusalem, appeared before the fortified port of 'Akkā [Acre] and made an assault upon it, but was struck by an arrow, which killed him". While this claim is repeated in other Muslim sources, it does not appear in Christian chronicles; Albert of Aix and Ekkehard of Aura suggest Godfrey fell ill while visiting Caesarea in June 1100 and died in Jerusalem on 18 July.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: Suggestions he was poisoned are unlikely and it is more probable he died from a disease similar to typhoid. Godfrey never married.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: According to William of Tyre, the later 12th-century chronicler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Godfrey was "tall of stature, not extremely so, but still taller than the average man. He was strong beyond compare, with solidly-built limbs and a stalwart chest. His features were pleasing, his beard and hair of medium blond."


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: As the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and one of those who had taken part in its capture, Godfrey was idealized in later accounts. He was depicted as the military leader of the crusade, a legislator who established the assizes of Jerusalem, and in the early 14th century was selected as one of the Nine Worthies, a pantheon of famous warriors thought to epitomise chivalric ideals. In reality, Godfrey was only one of several leaders of the crusade, which also included Raymond IV of Toulouse, Bohemond of Taranto, Robert of Flanders, Stephen of Blois and Baldwin of Boulogne to name a few, along with papal legate Adhemar of Montiel, Bishop of Le Puy. Baldwin I of Jerusalem, Godfrey's younger brother, became the first titled king when he succeeded Godfrey in 1100. The assizes were the result of a gradual development.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: Godfrey's role in the crusade was described by various authors, including Raymond of Aguilers and Albert of Aix, anonymous author of the "Gesta Francorum". In fiction, he was the hero of the "Crusade cycle", a collection of French "chansons de geste" dealing with the First Crusade, which connected him to the legend of the Knight of the Swan, most famous today as the storyline of Wagner's opera "Lohengrin".


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: By William of Tyre's time later in the 12th century, Godfrey was already a legend among the descendants of the original crusaders. Godfrey was believed to have possessed immense physical strength; it was said that in Cilicia he wrestled a bear and won, and that he once beheaded a camel with one blow of his sword.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: Since the mid-19th century, an equestrian statue of Godfrey of Bouillon has stood in the centre of the Place Royale/Koningsplein in Brussels, Belgium. It was made by Eugène Simonis, and inaugurated on 24 August 1848.


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: Godfrey is a key figure in the pseudohistorical theories put forth in the books "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" and "The Da Vinci Code".


title: Godfrey of Bouillon

text: In 2005 Godfrey came in 17th place in the French language "Le plus grand Belge", a public vote of national heroes in Belgium. He did not make the 100 greatest Belgians, as voted by the Dutch speakers in "De Grootste Belg" (the Greatest Belgian).


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: Dae Jang Geum (; literally "The Great Jang-geum"), also known as Jewel in the Palace, is a 2003 South Korean historical drama television series directed by Lee Byung-hoon. It first aired on MBC from September 15, 2003 to March 23, 2004, where it was the top program with an average viewership rating of 45.8% and a peak of 57.1% (making it the 10th highest rated Korean drama of all time). Produced for , it was later exported to 91 countries and has earned worldwide, being known as one of the primary proponents of the Korean Wave by heightening the spread of Korean culture abroad.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: Starring Lee Young-ae in the title role, it tells the tale of an orphaned kitchen cook who went on to become the King's first female physician. In a time when women held little influence in society, young apprentice cook Jang-geum strives to learn the secrets of Korean cooking and medicine to cure the King of his various ailments. It is based on the true story of Jang-geum, the first female royal physician of the Joseon Dynasty. The main themes are her perseverance and the portrayal of traditional Korean culture, including Korean royal court cuisine and traditional medicine.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: The story is set in Korea during the reigns of King Seongjong (1457–1494), King Yeonsan (1494–1506) and King Jungjong (1506–1544). The epilogue also spans through the reigns of King Injong (1544-1545) and King Myeongjong (1545-1567), with the last scene from March, 1550.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: At the outset, King Seongjong has ordered the execution by poisoning of his wife, the Deposed Queen Yun, mother of the crown prince (future Yeonsan-gun). After carrying out the execution, one of the royal guards, Seo Cheon-soo, is haunted by it. On his way home, he suffers an accident and is rescued by a mysterious hermit with a cryptic message – that his life will revolve around three women: the first he has already met, but he killed her; another he will save, but will die because of him; and the third will kill him, but will go on to save many lives. It doesn't become clear until later in the story that the three women are the poisoned deposed queen, Park Myeong-yi (Seo's eventual wife) and Jang-geum (Seo's daughter). Haunted by the curse of the executed deposed queen and his prophesied fate at the hands of the third woman, he abandons his post and also becomes a hermit, refusing to take a wife. After many years, the former king dies and the Crown Prince ascends the throne. Park Myeong-yi is a palace girl and apprentice cook of the royal kitchen. She witnesses a fellow apprentice, a girl from the powerful Choi clan named Choi Seong-geum, slip poison into the Grand Royal Queen Dowager's food. Unaware that the senior kitchen officers are part of a conspiracy against the said Queen, Myeong-yi informs them. The officers, fearful that Myeong-yi might reveal their conspiracy, attempt to murder her by framing her committing adultery with a royal guard, then executing her with poison. Myeong-yi's best friend, Han Baek-young, manages to save her by secretly diluting the poison with an antidote and leaves the unconscious Myeong-yi a letter explaining what had happened. As Seo Cheon-soo wanders through the forest, he stumbles upon the half-conscious Myeong-yi, rescues her, and the two fall in love and marry. They end up living peacefully in a remote village as lower caste commoners and raise a clever daughter named Seo Jang-geum.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: When Jang-geum is eight years old, King Yeongsan learns about the murder of his mother and vows revenge, seeking and killing people who were previously involved. Among them is Jang-geum's father, who so far managed to hide his identity. However, following an incident, Jang-geum accidentally causes him to be arrested. Her mother, rushing on the way to Hanyang to visit her husband, is spotted by the Choi family and eventually killed by an arrow. Jang-geum, now an orphan, is adopted by Kang Duk-gu and Na Ju-daek, a family making a living through selling wine. Two years later, Jang-geum enters the palace after King Jungjong ascends to the throne. She is committed to enter the middle kitchen (where her mother used to cook) to uncover a letter written by her mother. During this time, she meets Lady Han and they form a mother-daughter bond. The Right State Councillor Oh Gyeom-ho (the Choi clan's ally within the Royal Cabinet) frames Lady Han and Jang-geum as traitors in league with Jo Gwang-jo, the famous Joseon reformer. In an effort to save Jang-geum, Lady Han declares that she alone is guilty of treason. Nonetheless, both are judged guilty and sent to Jeju Island to work as government slaves. On the way to Jeju, Lady Han dies from her injuries. Lady Choi replaces her as head of the royal kitchen, while Jang-geum vows revenge. Official Min Jeong-ho, who's in love with Jang-geum, follows her to Jeju Island and offers to help her escape, but she refuses since doing so would mean never being able to return to the palace to not only clear Lady Han's name, but obtain justice for her mother's death. Min Jeong-ho declares he will wait for her and help her out throughout her stay in Jeju.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: There, Jang-geum meets a woman named Jang-deok, a famous female doctor. Jang-deok's blunt and forthright manner at first offend her, but as time goes by, she begins to see that the female doctor is dedicated and caring. As the days go by, Jang-geum realizes that her only way back to the palace is to become a female physician, and begs Jang-deok to teach her medicine. Jang-geum's friend, Jeong Woon-baek, an eccentric royal physician, disapproves of her decision to pursue medicine in order to take revenge, but, in spite of this, she perseveres and earns herself a post as a female doctor-in-training at the palace. Here she encounters her former friend Choi Geum-young, who has been promoted to head lady of the kitchen, while the ruthlessly ambitious Lady Choi is now in charge of all the women working in the palace. Jang-geum's childhood best friend, Lee Yeun-seng, has caught the king's eye, and is now his concubine. Jang-geum endures many trials at the palace, but manages to accomplish great feats.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: With Jang-geum's status rising, several events ensue that lead to an investigation of the Choi clan, resulting in the prosecution of Lady Choi, her elder brother and several high-ranking officials, including the Chief State Councillor. Everyone tries to escape, but only Lady Choi manages to evade the guards. Jang-geum finds her and asks if she is willing to sacrifice her niece, Geum-young, to the authorities while she herself escapes. Having abandoned her ethics and conscience for the sake of the Choi clan a long time ago, Lady Choi is unable to respond. Torn between self-preservation and guilt, she wanders the countryside hallucinating, ends up falling off a cliff on Dongin Mountain and dies. Choi Geum-young loses her position and is exiled along with the other officials.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: Through her dedication, perseverance and medical skills, Jang-geum saves the royal family from re-occurring ill fortune. After giving birth to a stillborn child, Queen Munjeong remains ill. Jang-geum correctly identifies a second stillborn fetus in her womb and saves her life. She convinces the Dowager Queen to undergo medical treatment at the risk of being beheaded, and she also cures Grand Prince Gyeongwon of smallpox, which earns her the permanent gratitude of the Queen.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: For her achievements King Jungjong makes Jang-geum a 6th rank official and appoints her to be his personal physician, the first woman to hold such a position. The court is in uproar and the state councillors unanimously oppose the appointment on the grounds that it violates the country's constitution. When the Dowager Queen humiliates herself to express her disapproval, the King revokes his decision. She urges the King to take Jang-geum as one of his concubines. Although he is in love with Jang-geum, he refrains from making her one of his concubines against her will. Jang-geum contains a small pox epidemic, and the King finally decrees her his personal physician. She is granted the honorific "Dae" (meaning "The Great"), as well as the position of a third rank official. The ministers and scholars of the court bitterly accept the decree, but demand the punishment of Min Jeong-ho for supporting Jang-geum's appointment. Seeing an opportunity to separate the lovers, the King agrees and Jeong-ho is sentenced to exile.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: Eventually, the King's previous medical condition re-emerges. Jang-geum attempts to heal him using all the medical equipment and knowledge available at the time. The other doctors offer advice but nothing works. The king is dying. Jang-geum resorts to her last option—an experimental technique using newly "discovered" anesthesia and surgery. However, the King's body is considered sacred and the court unanimously opposes this new procedure, and the King decides not to allow the operation. Knowing Jang-geum's life will be in danger after his death, he grants her escape to be with Min Jeong-ho. The two of them live as fugitives and have a daughter, So-hoon.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: Eight years later, King Jungjong is dead and Grand Prince Gyeongwon has been enthroned, while his mother Queen Munjeong is now both the Royal Queen Dowager and the Regent, wielding enormous power. When she learns that Jang-geum is still in the country, she invites her and Jeong-ho to return to the palace and be reinstated to their previous positions. Jang-geum and Jeong-ho joyfully return, but decide to live outside the palace for the sake of their family. Jang-geum leaves the palace not before seeing her friends from afar. As they return to their previous routine, Jang-geum comes across a pregnant woman, and successfully uses her surgical skills to deliver the woman's baby via Caesarean section. While she celebrates her success, Jeong-ho laments the repressive social climate of Korea, and its inability to accommodate a woman with ambitions.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: An intelligent, beautiful, and extroverted woman whose outgoing nature and enthusiasm allow her to stand out from the crowd. Ever since her parents died during a political massacre, she has suffered many hardships and obstacles, especially in the palace, but she overcomes them with strong determination and perseverance.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: An educated, very intelligent and good-looking man, he is an outstanding scholar who combines both learning and the martial arts. Jeong-ho is a judge of the "Hang Sung Boo", the ministry governing the affairs of the capital Hansung. Unaware of who he is, Jang-geum saves him upon being shot at. They then meet again when she approaches him to borrow books. They become romantically involved as he moves to "Nae Geum Wee" (the Royal Military Guard) as "Jong Sa Gwan", a senior officer.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: Ambitious and arrogant, Choi Geum-young starts her life in the palace as the niece of the influential Lady Choi, a former friend that becomes Jang-geum's lifelong rival. Although she is part of the Choi clan, she yearns to find her own way - never really accepting the Chois' way of doing things but unable to find her own independent identity. Her intelligence and talent often put her head-to-head with Jang-geum. Eventually Lady Choi's influence and her unreciprocated attraction to Min Jeong-ho prompt her to keep mostly to the Choi clan's ways.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: As one of the sanggungs working in the royal kitchen ("soorakgan"), she possesses a talent in culinary art and is able to identify the source of the ingredients in a dish. Best friend to Jang-geum's mother, she often misses and regrets not being able to save her friend. She is a rigorous, steadfast person who is not to be swayed from her purpose. Although obdurate in nature, she is actually very kind-hearted. Jang-geum's presence allows her to open up and she treats her as both a strict teacher and a kind mother figure.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: Choi Pan-sul's younger sister and Geum-young's aunt. With her family hierarchy and bloodline, she is expected to be the successor of the "soorakgan"'s highest sanggung rank. She learned and was being taught about the delicacy of food from a young age. Arrogant and too proud, she has a fierce need to get what she wants and will stop at nothing until she gets what she wants. Sharp-minded and quick to act, she is always a step ahead of plotting against Jang-geum and Lady Han. She hasn't been nice to Jang-geum, Jang-geum's mother and Lady Han.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: The envious and bossy kitchen lady. She believes that since she is the oldest, everyone should follow and fear her. She envies Geum-Young because she always won the competition when they were younger. When they are adults, she envies Geum-Young (again) and Jang-Geum when they were chosen as apprentices of Lady Choi and Lady Han for the competition instead of her.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: The theme song, Onara () is in Old Korean. This produced arguments about the lyrics and how they should be interpreted. As a result, different interpretations surfaced. Eventually the songwriter, Im Se-hyeon, revealed the lyrics.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: The song is in the pansori style, a particular type of Korean music that emerged during the Joseon Dynasty and was very popular in the 19th century. It utilizes the vocals of one singer, a "sorikkun", and one drummer, a "gosu", to tell a themed story. The refrain ("He-iya di-iya he-iya naranino") is called "chu-imsae" and, in traditional pansori, it is supplied by the drummer to give rhythm to the song in addition to the beat. "Chuimsae" consists of meaningless vowel sounds or short words of encouragement. "Chuimsae" is analogous to scat singing in jazz nonsense syllables such as "La, la, la," or "Shoop, shoop ba doop" in English-language popular songs.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: The end of each episode of "Dae Jang Geum" features "Onara" sung by three Korean children, Kim Ji-hyeon (), Baek Bo-hyeon (), Kim Seul-gi (), who were elementary students learning Korean classic music at the time. The "Dae Jang Geum" soundtrack album also features a slower version of the song sung by E Ahn (; his real name is Lee Dong-hee ()), a Korean traditional music singer who graduated from the Korean classical music department at Seoul National University.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: "Onara" has several other versions that were used with "Dae Jang Geum"'s release outside of Korea. "Hope" (希望 "Hèimohng") was the version sung by Kelly Chen in Cantonese for the Hong Kong release. "Baby" (娃娃 "Wáwá") was sung by Angela Chang in Mandarin Chinese for the Taiwan release. "Calling" (呼唤 "Hūhuàn") sung by Tang Can, and "Hope" (希望 "Xīwàng") sung by five winners of the Super Girl singing contest were among those used for the China release.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: For the Philippine release, Faith Cuneta sang an entirely different song (in contrast with her earlier work for the Philippine broadcast of "Winter Sonata"), titled "Pangarap na Bituin" (a remake of the original sung by the singer's 2nd-degree aunt Sharon Cuneta as the theme song for her 1984 film "Bukas Luluhod Ang Mga Tala"). The Shamrock song "Alipin" is also used and Regine Velasquez also sings a version of this during the first re-run.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: In Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese version was sung by Angeline Gunathilake and written by Athula Ransirilal; it was titled "Gaha kola mal gal gesee bala sitinawa" (The trees and flowers are looking at her). A Tamil version was also released with the title "Maramilay pukkal urindu parkinrana." Local musical instruments such as the raban were used in the recording, and both songs were very popular among children.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: As part of the Korean Wave of South Korean culture in East Asia, "Dae Jang Geum"'s immense popularity has had significant cultural impact.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: The Korea Tourism Organization promotes "Dae Jang Geum"-oriented tourism in East Asia and the United States and the main outdoor sets built by MBC for the shooting of the drama were purchased by the South Korean government. The Daejanggeum Theme Park was opened in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province in December 2004 at the site of these sets where much of the filming occurred.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: In an episode of "King of the Hill", Kahn and Minh were watching "Dae Jang Geum" (which is dubbed in Laotian).


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: In episode 1 of "Princess Hours", Chae-gyeong's family is watching episode 30 of "Dae Jang Geum" (Yeon-saeng being scolded for playing with the King's puppy).


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: In episode 32 of "Love Truly", Yeo Bong-soon's mother (played by Geum Bo-ra) is watching "Dae Jang Geum." Geum Bo-ra played Jang-geum's adoptive mother Na Joo-daek in "Dae Jang-geum".


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: In episode 2 of "Silence", a Taiwanese drama starring Park Eun-hye, "Dae Jang Geum" is mentioned as a famous Korean drama.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: In episode 8 of "Playful Kiss", "Dae Jang Geum" is mentioned despite the bad cooking skills of the main character.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: In the final episode of the 2007 series, "Yi San", a character played by Lee Ip-sae and her colleague have a moment of deja vu in the royal kitchen and come to believe that they worked there in their previous life. The same series takes place two centuries later in the Joseon Dynasty after "Dae Jang Geum". Lee Ip-sae also starred in "Dae Jang Geum" and the other series is also produced by the same company and director.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: In Season 2, Episode 9 of Learn Way, Im Ho reprised his role as King Jungjong to teach Mijoo about acting in historical dramas.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: In 2007, "Dae Jang Geum" was made into a stage musical titled "The Great Janggeum," staged at the Seoul Arts Center from May 26 to June 16. Following the same storyline, it condensed 54 episodes of the original TV drama into a two-and-a-half-hour-long musical which combined Western orchestral music with traditional Korean group dances. An eye-catching 400 different traditional Korean costumes enhanced the beauty and scale of the stage, coupled with beautifully detailed stage settings. Producer Han Jin-sup said the musical used music to substitute for visual effects, "rhythm and melodies that replace the enjoyment of watching beautiful sets of Korean food and also have lots of Korean colors and styles to amaze audiences". For example, when girls in the royal kitchen made dumplings to win the cooking competition, "plate dances" expressed the enthusiasm of the girls and the variety of dumplings. A total of 40 songs for the musical were arranged and written by Cho Sung-woo, a famous film composer. This was the first time that Cho had written vocal and background music for a musical, saying, "This is a great opportunity and an honor for musicians like me to have a chance to write songs for musical productions. I tried to make songs that have both the Korean and Western melodies." Asked about how to deliver a storyline that requires some knowledge of Korean history to foreign audiences, co-chairman of PMC Production Song Seung-hwan cited the familiarity of most Asian viewers with the drama's plot and said the musical will highlight "love," as a universal theme in the musical.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: The musical was again staged at Sungjeon Hall in Gyeonghui Palace on September 5–30, 2008. Hosted by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture and the Seoul City government, it was the foundation's idea to put the ancient palaces to added use beyond mere preservation and protection for viewing. Gyeonghui Palace was one of the "Five Grand Palaces" built in the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897); about ten kings of the era stayed at the palace from King Injo to King Cheoljong. In the latter Joseon period, the palace served as a secondary palace ― a place where the king moves in times of emergency, as it was situated on the west side of Seoul. The palace was built incorporating the slanted geography of the surrounding mountain and boasts traditional beauty along with architecture rich with historical significance. The upgraded version of the musical highlighted the musical elements to better portray each character based on the more historical facts, reinterpreting the work through a new theme rather than the episodes. Keeping the colors, patterns, touches of the structures intact, the production used the natural backgrounds, traditional atmosphere and the outdoor characteristics. Audiences were surprised by the unconventional modern setting. While the story revolved around an historic palace from the Joseon Dynasty, the musical incorporated hip hop, fast tempos and a dynamic staging. The actors even broke into rap, creating an imaginative, gutsy and intense show.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: The animated rendition of "Dae Jang Geum", called "Jang Geum's Dream" is much the same story but focuses on Jang-geum in her younger years.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: In September 2012, MBC announced its plans to produce a sequel, "Dae Jang Geum 2". In his opening speech at a cultural contents forum in Seoul in October 2013, MBC president Kim Jong-guk reaffirmed the project, saying, "We'll push for the production in the first half of 2015 after a year of pre-production."


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: In March 2014, writer Kim Young-hyun confirmed that the series would be aired in October 2014, and that lead actress Lee Young-ae who had previously turned down offers of a sequel since her semi-retirement from acting in 2006, is "positively considering" reprising her role. In Kim's synopsis, Jang-geum will reportedly lose her husband and her daughter will be kidnapped and taken to China, leaving Jang-geum to try to find her. The first half of the series will be about her journey to China, where the original series has a big following, and filming will take place there. But Jang-geum will return home without success, and resume her life by looking for a young successor to take under her tutelage. Jang-geum will choose to train the daughter of Geum-young, Jang-geum's rival from the first series.


title: Dae Jang Geum

text: In Sri Lanka, the drama aired in Rupavahini dubbed in Sinhala from 6 November 2012 to 11 February 2013 at 6:30pm to 7:00pm. Under the title, සුජාතා දියණි - "Sujatha Diyani" meaning Brave Daughter. It was the first Korean drama to air in the country and sparked a massive popularity among the youth and children. Thus, following the success of the drama, other MBC Historical dramas began to air as well. Also it was dubbed in Tamil on the Channel, Nethra TV, under the title, சுஜாதா தியானி - "Cujātā tiyāṉi"


title: Suicide Silence

text: Suicide Silence is an American deathcore band from Riverside, California. The band was established in 2002, and has released six studio albums, three EPs, and nineteen music videos. They were awarded the "Revolver" Golden God award for "Best New Talent" in 2009. The group currently consists of guitarists Chris Garza and Mark Heylmun, bassist Dan Kenny, vocalist Hernan "Eddie" Hermida and drummer Ernie Iniguez.


title: Suicide Silence

text: Suicide Silence was founded in 2002 in Riverside, California. At the time, it was a side project made up of musicians from other bands. The band's first release was in 2003: the "Death Awaits" demo. After "Death Awaits" was completed, the band began recording a second demo, which was released in 2004 and saw a fair change in the group's lineup; Josh Goddard replaced Justin Tufano on drums and Mike Olheiser replaced Chris Grucelski on bass. It also saw the firing of vocalist Tanner Womack after the band's first performance in April 2003, which left all vocal duties solely to Mitch Lucker. It was by this time that the band members began committing more time to Suicide Silence. The following year the band began work on their first release backed by a small independent label; a self-titled EP which was released at the end of September of that year. It was initially released by Third Degree Records, and later re-released in the UK through In at the Deep End Records – the group booked all their own tours around the USA soon after its release. The EP featured new guitarist Rick Ash who replaced Josh Tufano. Ash would not stick around for too long however, and was replaced by Mark Heylum who remains as lead guitarist to this day. 2006 marked the departure of drummer Josh Goddard, who was replaced by Alex Lopez (ex-guitarist for Blacheart Eulogy and The Funeral Pyre).


title: Suicide Silence

text: With a new solidified and dedicated lineup, Suicide Silence recorded six pre-production songs while in the process of signing with Century Media Records in 2006, it led to their then upcoming full-length album debut: "The Cleansing". The album was written, recorded, and completed in 2007 and was recorded in Los Angeles with engineer John Travis and was produced and mixed by Tue Madsen. The album also features artwork by Dave McKean. "The Cleansing" saw its release on September 18, 2007 and debuted at number 94 on the "Billboard" 200, selling 7,250 copies in its first week of release. The sales of that week ending combined with its later sales made "The Cleansing" one of the best-selling debut albums in Century Media history. With the success of their debut album, Suicide Silence were included to take part in Mayhem Festival that took place during the summer of 2008. Afterward, they toured Europe with Parkway Drive and Bury Your Dead, following a successful US tour with the same bands. Suicide Silence then followed along with a tour in Australia with Parkway Drive, A Day to Remember and The Acacia Strain in mid-2008 during the time when they were included to perform at Sweat Fest. At this point, Suicide Silence was beginning to gain a wide range of fans throughout the world. While returning home from the continuous tours, the band covered the song "Engine No. 9" by Deftones, and released the cover on their limited edition "Green Monster single" as well as the iTunes Store all during the same year.


title: Suicide Silence

text: Shortly before embarking on Mayhem Festival in mid-2008, Suicide Silence's MySpace profile title read "Suicide Silence (Is writing a new album)", which was the first indication of ensuring the upcoming of their second album. On June 26, 2008, Mitch Lucker appeared on the "Headbangers Ball" blog podcast. In the interview, Lucker stated that the album would be recorded through tracks as opposed of being recorded live, such as "The Cleansing". He also said the new album would "blow "The Cleansing" away." Machine was chosen by the band to be the producer of the album. The title for it was revealed as being "No Time to Bleed".


title: Suicide Silence

text: Suicide Silence began recording "No Time to Bleed" in February with production by acclaimed producer Machine and engineering by Will Putney. During Music as a Weapon as well as the band's Cleansing the Nation tour, they began to perform the songs "No Time to Bleed", "Your Creations", "Lifted" and "Wake Up" months before the release of the album. In April they received the "Revolver" Golden God award for "Most Innovative Band" and performed at the awards show. Suicide Silence were included on 2009's Pedal to the Metal tour, along with the bands Mudvayne, Static-X, Bury Your Dead, Dope and Black Label Society. During the same year, the group was awarded the Golden God award for "Best New Talent".


title: Suicide Silence

text: Suicide Silence released "No Time to Bleed" on June 30, 2009 through Century Media. The album peaked at No. 32 on the "Billboard" 200, selling 14,000 copies in the first week in the United States alone. The opening track from the album, "Wake Up" was released as a digital download-only EP, which includes the original song, a live performance of it, and a remix handled by Shawn Crahan of Slipknot. A music video was produced for the song as well and made its debut premiere on Fearnet. "Genocide" was released as the album's second single. Its music video was created in collaboration with Bloody Disgusting and a remix for the song was featured in the "Saw VI" soundtrack. Suicide Silence announced production for a music video for the song, "Disengage", of which was released as a single on April 20, 2010. The video for it was released during June 2010. The band played throughout the entire Warped Tour 2010 on the Altec Lansing Stage. In October, the group began their first headlining tour in two years with support from MyChildren MyBride, Molotov Solution, The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza and Conducting from the Grave.


title: Suicide Silence

text: By 2011, Suicide Silence began preparing their third full-length album in Big Bear, California, with Steve Evetts as the selected producer. During March, the group performed at California's Metalfest, and a week later, Nevada's Extreme Thing festivals, at both of these performances, the band confirmed that the new album would be titled "The Black Crown". Working titles for the album were "Cancerous Skies", "Human Violence" and "Fuck Everything". When asked by "Kerrang!", Lucker revealed that the album's lyrical themes would feature more of the personal topics that "No Time to Bleed" had in-concept rather than the anti-religious theme that "The Cleansing" held. Lucker explained "I still have the same beliefs and same views, but I'm more open to everything. At this point in my life, I don't see the good in making people hate you for something you say. This record ["The Black Crown"] is for everybody." The song "Human Violence" premiered on radio station Liquid Metal on May 13, 2011. "The Black Crown" was released on July 12, 2011 and sold over 14,400 copies in the United States alone during its first week of release, which had it debuting at position number 28 on the "Billboard" 200 chart.


title: Suicide Silence

text: The group was included on the line-up for the fourth annual Mayhem Festival, again playing on the Extreme Stage with other metal acts including Machine Head, Trivium and All Shall Perish during July and August 2011.


title: Suicide Silence

text: Founding member and vocalist Mitch Lucker died on November 1, 2012 at precisely 6:17 am. It was announced by Orange County Coroners Office that he had suffered severe injuries incurred from a motorcycle accident. One report stated that Lucker crashed his motorcycle shortly after 21:00 on October 31.


title: Suicide Silence

text: On December 21, 2012, a memorial show to benefit Kenadee Lucker's future education costs was held at the Fox Theater in Pomona, California. The show was titled "Ending Is the Beginning: Mitch Lucker Memorial Show" as a reference to both an early song from the band (see "Suicide Silence") as well as acknowledging the transitional period for the band following Lucker's death. The show itself featured the members of Suicide Silence performing songs from each of the band's releases with a different guest vocalist performing with the band for each song. In addition to the memorial show, the band started the Kenadee Lucker Education Fund and continues to promote donations towards Mitch's daughter.


title: Suicide Silence

text: After nearly a year of inactivity, it was confirmed on October 2, 2013, that Suicide Silence would hire a new vocalist, Hernan "Eddie" Hermida of All Shall Perish. The band released a clip of their song "You Only Live Once" with Hermida on vocals.


title: Suicide Silence

text: On October 23, 2013, the band announced on Facebook that they were writing new material via a picture captioned, "Feels good to be working on new music. More updates coming soon." Subsequently, on October 30, the band announced they would start recording their next album the following week. On November 5, they announced the new album would be released early Summer 2014.


title: Suicide Silence

text: On December 16, 2013, the band released a trailer for "", which was released on CD/DVD/Blu-ray on February 18, 2014. In an interview with Soundwave TV on February 22, 2014, vocalist Eddie Hermida stated that one of the songs on the new album would contain some of Mitch Lucker's final lyrics.


title: Suicide Silence

text: On April 23, 2014, the band announced the title of their upcoming fourth album to be "You Can't Stop Me", which was taken from the title of a song that Mitch Lucker had written before his death. The album was released on July 14 in the United Kingdom and July 15 in the United States. On May 2, Suicide Silence announced that a song off their new album, "You Can't Stop Me", "Cease to Exist" would be released as the first single off the album. The song was released on May 6, 2014, and performed live for the first time at Rock am Ring 2014 on June 6, 2014.


title: Suicide Silence

text: On October 6, 2015, Suicide Silence announced via their Facebook page they were going to be releasing a new EP on October 23, 2015 titled "Sacred Words", featuring the eponymous track from "You Can't Stop Me". It featured "Sacred Words" as well as various unreleased tracks, including 3 live tracks taken from a live performance at the Hungarian festival RockPart 2015. The band also stated that they began working on a new album in 2016.


title: Suicide Silence

text: On December 27, 2016, The band announced that their self-titled album, "Suicide Silence", was released on February 24, 2017 via Nuclear Blast. The first single "Doris", which had been performed live at Knotfest in 2016, was released on January 6, 2017, to scathing criticism from fans due to the perceived drastic stylistic shift. The album became a notable departure from their established deathcore sound, instead pursuing a sound resembling nu metal, heavily influenced by 1990s acts such as Korn and Deftones. The album received mixed reviews from critics. About 4,650 copies were sold in its first week of sales, which was 69% less than the 15,000 first week sales of their previous album "You Can't Stop Me".


title: Suicide Silence

text: On October 21, 2019, the band announced their sixth studio album will be called "Become the Hunter" with a release date expected in early 2020. The album artwork and track listing was released through their label Nuclear Blast, and on November 11, the band released the opening, instrumental track "Meltdown" from the record. In all, the album spawned three other singles: "Love Me To Death", "Feel Alive" and "Two Steps".


title: Suicide Silence

text: In early 2022, the band announced their return to Century Media, where they released their first three albums. On April 29, drummer Alex Lopez had departed the band. Ernie Iniguez, who had recorded drums on the band's most recent album, "Become the Hunter", was announced as his live replacement for any upcoming tours. In June 2022, the band announced the title of their seventh studio album, "Remember... You Must Die", along with a short audio clip. The album is set for release in early 2023. On December 10, the band released a new single titled "Alter of Self" and revealed the new album would be released on March 10, 2023.


title: Suicide Silence

text: Suicide Silence performs deathcore, which is a fusion between death metal and metalcore. They are influenced by black metal, grindcore, mathcore and groove metal. The mathcore elements can be seen in the varied speed changes and complex time signatures in the band's music. The vocals fluctuate between death growls used in death metal and high-pitched screamed vocals used in black metal. The drumming is very fast-paced, grindcore-influenced, and employs a liberal use of double bass drumming and blast beats. On Suicide Silence's third album "The Black Crown", the group began to experiment with some slight nu metal styles. This influence was fully pursued on their self-titled album, which is credited as a pure nu metal record. In spite of this, the band reverted to their deathcore style on their sixth record "Become the Hunter" (2020).


title: Suicide Silence

text: The band members themselves have stated that they are influenced from groups such as Meshuggah, Sepultura, Disgorge, Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, Morbid Angel, Necrophagist, Napalm Death, Nile, Slipknot, Darkest Hour, Deftones, Korn, Death, and Possessed.


title: Suicide Silence

text: During an interview, lead guitarist Mark Heylmun stated that his biggest influences are Dimebag Darrell and George Lynch. Rhythm guitarist and founding member Garza has stated that his biggest inspirations are Wormed, Eternal Suffering and Skinless's early material. For his part, Eddie Hermida called Mr. Bungle singer Mike Patton his biggest inspiration.


title: We Got Married

text: We Got Married () was a South Korean reality variety show that aired on MBC from 2008 to 2017. The show paired up celebrities who pretended to be married couples and completed various challenges together. The show ran for four seasons and inspired several spin-offs, including a "global edition" of the show that featured non-Korean celebrities.


title: We Got Married

text: The show's pilot episode was aired on 6 February 2008 as a Korean New Year special. On the episode, four arranged celebrity couples had to prepare dinner with a fixed amount of money.


title: We Got Married

text: With a new format and slightly different couples, newlyweds are given a mission to complete each week. As during the special pilot episode, interviewed participants provide a unique perspective on the ongoing relationship conflicts and developments. All of the recorded material is then played in front of the participants, MCs, and audience who add commentary or clarification.


title: We Got Married

text: Beginning with a Lunar New Year's Special in 2009 with three new couples, a new format is introduced into the show, first forecasted through the addition of Kangin and Lee Yoon-ji. Each couple is given a concept to portray; in Kangin and Lee Yoon-ji's case, a college couple living with a limited income.


title: We Got Married

text: As of May 2009, the producers announced another change in the format with all four couples departing, cutting down to just one couple and shortening the show to just 60 minutes. The show will now portray a more realistic side to what a marriage is, instead of ""the painted image of marriage based on romance"". For the first time, a real couple is cast in the show. Guest celebrities are invited to be show's commentators for each episode so that they can share their opinions on marriage on behalf of their age group. SG Wannabe's Kim Yong-jun and Hwang Jung-eum also do the interview room together dressed in wedding attire.


title: We Got Married

text: However, due to low ratings, the show returned to its old format with the addition of a make-believe couple actor Park Jae-jung and After School member Uee on 2 August 2009. For the Chuseok special, Brown Eyed Girls' Gain & 2AM's Jo Kwon and SG Wannabe's Lee Seok-hun & host Kim Na-young appeared as two new couples. The episode achieved Season 2's highest rating, and Gain and Jo Kwon were announced to be a permanent couple.


title: We Got Married

text: Season three officially begins on 9 April, with two additional couples upon the departure of Yonghwa & Seohyun, as well as a new format. Park Hwi-sun and K.Will are added for Season 3 to the cast as MCs.


title: We Got Married

text: In late March 2010, MBC stopped broadcast of new episodes due to labour strikes, with repeats airing instead. This event, compounded with the ROKS Cheonan sinking incident, which caused cancellation of most variety shows at the time, resulted in a backlog of footage for the couples Jo Kwon & Gain and Yonghwa & Seohyun. This resulted in the contents of their latest episodes being of footage recorded some months previously, rather than the normal 1–2 weeks of the original.


title: We Got Married

text: During Lee Joon & Oh Yeon-seo's season 4 tenure (broadcasting from September 2012 through February 2013), Oh Yeon-seo was observed meeting in public with Lee Jang-woo, her male co-star from the drama series, "Here Comes Mr. Oh". When pictures and videos were released in January 2013, media and WGM fans surmised Oh Yeon-seo and Lee Jang-woo, formerly of WGM (Season 3), were in a romantic relationship. Because Oh Yeon-seo and Lee Joon were in the midst of filming WGM at the time this news was released, the integrity of their virtual marriage was questioned by fans. The negative reaction was further exacerbated by Oh Yeon-seo's multiple declarations of romantic interest in Lee Joon (e.g. as her "ideal type" and wanting to meet with him outside of filming). This backlash and perceived broken trust resulted in fans voicing their desire for Oh Yeon-Seo to exit WGM. Shortly after the rumors of Oh Yeon-seo and Lee Jang-woo's relationship surfaced, Lee Joon publicly expressed his frustration about not having his voice heard, with online fans suggesting it was due to his overbearing workload and/or Oh Yeon-seo's alleged relationship with Lee Jang-woo. A few weeks later, Lee Joon and Oh Yeon-seo ended their tenure on WGM.


title: We Got Married

text: MBC aired a new show based on "We Got Married". The emphasis of the show was described as a shift from married life to the dating period. The head producer of "Pit-a-Pat Shake" was the original producer of "We Got Married", when couples such as Seo In-young and Crown J as well as Shin Ae and Alex aired. The success of the earliest and most memorable couples gave people high hopes for the pilot. A Lunar Year Special was filmed and aired as the pilot episode.


title: We Got Married

text: The female idols in the spin-off "Pit-a-Pat Shake" were KARA's Seungyeon, After School's Lizzy, SISTAR's Hyorin, and SECRET's Sunhwa. Super Junior's Sungmin was partnered with Hyorin. MBLAQ's Lee Joon was paired with Lizzy, actor Lee Tae-sung with Seungyeon and comedian Park Heeson with Sunhwa.


title: We Got Married

text: The Chinese version of "We Got Married" paired Korean and Chinese celebrities. Two out of three pairings were international: T-ara's Hyomin and Super Junior's Kyuhyun. It was produced by MBC to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of South Korea's diplomatic ties with China. It aired as a Valentine's Day special in China on an entertainment channel of Shanghai Media Group and on MBC on 25 February but with only the Korean segments.


title: We Got Married

text: A global edition spinoff of the widely popular "We Got Married", get to see how the on-screen virtual marriage between idol celebrities from different countries work out through weekly missions and candid interviews. Couples are paired from Korea, Japan and Taiwan.


title: We Got Married

text: The licensed remake of popular South Korean Variety Show We Got Married, titled “We Are In Love” was broadcast starting on 19 April 2015. It has the same basic format except that the couples are not 'married' but 'dating'. This change was made in order to present a more realistic story in which couples first must be in love to form the basis of marriage and then get married.


title: Bernhard Caesar Einstein

text: Bernhard Caesar Einstein (10 July 1930 – 30 September 2008) was a Swiss-American engineer, the son of Hans Albert Einstein. Of the three known biological grandchildren of Albert Einstein, all sons of Hans, he was the only one to survive childhood.


title: Bernhard Caesar Einstein

text: After attending UC Berkeley and ETH Zurich, Bernard worked as an engineer at several companies and organizations, including Texas Instruments and Litton Industries, receiving numerous patents in electronics.


title: Bernhard Caesar Einstein

text: Bernard Einstein was the son of Hans Albert Einstein and Frieda Einstein (née Knecht), who had married in 1927 in Switzerland. He was born on 10 July 1930 in Dortmund, Germany, where Hans Albert was involved in a bridge building project. Hans Albert was the only one of Albert Einstein's three children to marry and have children.


title: Bernhard Caesar Einstein

text: Bernard spent his early years in Switzerland until the age of eight, when his family moved to South Carolina. Albert Einstein was very worried about the rise of Nazi Germany and encouraged his son Hans Albert to emigrate to the United States as he himself had done in 1933. Hans Albert heeded this advice, and moved his family to Greenville, South Carolina, where he was a civil engineer working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Bernhard spent his teenage years in Pasadena, where his father was a professor at the California Institute of Technology, and in Berkeley.


title: Bernhard Caesar Einstein

text: Bernard first met his grandfather Albert when he was two years old. As a boy he travelled alone to spend time with Albert in New Jersey, and at Saranac Lake in upstate New York. Albert Einstein died in April 1955. Having shared his love of music with his grandson, he bestowed upon Bernard his violin in addition to a modest sum of money.


title: Bernhard Caesar Einstein

text: Einstein excelled only in German at the University of California at Berkeley. He enlisted in the US Army in 1954, and finished basic training at Fort Ord, near Monterey, California. He was stationed in southern Germany where he met his first wife, Doris Aude Ascher, whom he married in 1954. After discharge he applied and was admitted to Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, Switzerland. He followed in his grandfather's and father's footsteps to study physics at the ETH.


title: Bernhard Caesar Einstein

text: When he obtained his diploma at ETH, Einstein returned to the United States and worked as an engineer for Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas.


title: Bernhard Caesar Einstein

text: Einstein then moved to California and worked at Litton Industries in the San Francisco Bay Area. His area of expertise was electron tube technology, and specifically light amplification devices for night vision. He filed and obtained four U.S. patents related to light amplification technology while he worked for Litton Industries. In 1974 Bernard moved back to Switzerland and worked in laser technology at the Swiss Army Research Lab in Thun, obtaining a further US patent.


title: Afro Samurai

text: The "Afro Samurai" "dōjinshi" was adapted into an anime miniseries by Gonzo in 2007, along with the television film sequel "" in 2009, both of which starred Samuel L. Jackson as the title character. The anime gained two Emmy nominations, for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation, which it won an Outstanding Animated Program. After the release of the anime series, Okazaki remade the original "Afro Samurai" "dōjinshi" into a two-volume manga. To be only released in North America, Tor Books and Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the title and published it under their new "Tor/Seven Seas" imprint. In addition to the miniseries, "Afro Samurai" has been adapted into a video game and an upcoming live action film. For the television series and film, two soundtracks by the RZA of Wu-Tang Clan were released and a profile book in Japan.


title: Afro Samurai

text: In a feudal yet futuristic Japan, it is said that the one wearing the Number 1 headband is the greatest warrior in the world and shall possess god-like powers. Some believe it grants immortality, while others believe they received headbands from the gods themselves. The only way to obtain the Number 1 headband is to challenge and defeat the current wearer in combat. However, only the wearer of the Number 2 headband can challenge the Number 1 whereas anyone can challenge the Number 2. Thus, the Number 2 can survive. The Number 2 headband's current owner, the outlaw Justice, fights and kills Rokutaro, Afro's father and owner of the Number 1 headband. A young Afro witnesses the fight and vows revenge against Justice, who tells him to seek him out when he is "ready to duel a god."


title: Afro Samurai

text: Years later, Afro wears the Number 2 headband. He kills a group of assassins, criminals and mercenaries, sent by the Empty Seven Clan, for whom they seek the headband. Recalling his tragic past, Afro goes to Mount Shumi to face Jinno, his childhood friend and fellow samurai, who blames him for killing their master (who had the Number 2 headband). He defeats Jinno and tracks down Justice, who explains that there are other headbands in existence, ranging to an unspecified higher number. Claiming that he intends to use his power as the Number 1 to bring peace to all mankind, Justice reveals that he killed all headband bearers and decorated his safe house with corpses. Afro kills Justice and takes the Number 1 headband. Afro settles in as the new Number 1 while Jinno, now claiming all headbands from Justice, returns to take revenge.


title: Afro Samurai

text: In "", Jinno and his sister Sio, steal Rokutaro's body and the Number 1 headband. After killing Shichigoro and taking the Number 2 headband, Afro confronts the resurrected Rokutaro, who kills the siblings. Afro defeats Rokutaro, gives the Number 2 headband to Shichigoro's son Kotaro, and peacefully continues wearing the Number 1. Elsewhere, a unknown man meets the revived Justice.


title: Afro Samurai

text: Okazaki started drawing African-American characters on items like Kleenex boxes when he was a teenager, inspired by his fondness for hip hop and soul music. He also drew ideas from American media and their depiction of Japanese culture. Takashi started combining elements of samurai into his work, eventually developing the design for Afro, which was also based in the legendary black samurai Yasuke who existed during the Sengoku period of Japan. Okazaki began writing the original "dōjinshi", then called "Afro Samurai!", when he and his friends started independently publishing the art magazine "Nou Nou Hau". The preparatory "issue 0" of "Nou Nou Hau" was released in November 1998 with "Afro Samurai" artwork featured on the cover. Takashi Okazaki wrote the entire manga in the English direction, with elements from English and Japanese comics. He also used Afro Samurai for a cat food advertisement in the last pages of his manga book. In addition to the anime production, Okazaki re-made the "dōjinshi", with an increased display of artistic skill. At the Japan Society from March 13 to June 14, 2009, original "Afro Samurai" "dōjinshi" artwork (as used on issue 0 of "Nou Nou Hau") was showcased at the "KRAZY!: The Delirious World of Anime + Manga + Video Games" exhibition.


title: Afro Samurai

text: The series was originally published in the self-funded "Nou Nou Hau" "dōjinshi" magazine. First appearing in issue 0, the "dōjinshi" version was first published from September 1999 to October 2000. After the release of the anime version, Okazaki recreated the original "dōjinshi". Although the recreation of the original manga was created in Japan, it was first published in the United States by Seven Seas Entertainment and Tor Books in two "tankōbon" volumes. As a special supplement, thumb-nail sized clips of the original "dōjinshi" were shown at the end of the first volume. The English release of the manga was Tor Books and Seven Seas' first joint publication under the newly formed "Tor/Seven Seas" imprint. The manga was also released in Italy through Panini Comics' manga publishing division Planet Manga, starting on April 9, 2009. The manga was released in one volume in Japan on December 18, 2009. The limited edition came with all the issues of the original dōjinshi included in a separate volume. A "director's cut" of the manga was set to be released on July 26, 2022 with Titan Comics taking over the publishing under their new "Titan Manga" imprint before being delayed to December 13, 2022.


title: Afro Samurai

text: One of Okazaki's friends decided to make action figures based on characters, which were released in small amounts. After they were created, a producer from the anime studio, Gonzo, happened to find them and thought about the animated miniseries based on the manga. It took three years to develop, and that the studio created a trailer, which happened to fall for Samuel L. Jackson. It was announced that the series would be a five-episode "creative collaboration", between Jackson, Okazaki and Gonzo, and Wu-Tang Clan member RZA served as a music composer.


title: Afro Samurai

text: In 2006, it was announced that Funimation acquired the rights to the anime series which would premiere on Spike, now known as the Paramount Network, later that year, and that Jackson would voice Afro. "Afro Samurai" debuted on January 4, 2007. The series premiered worldwide on Spike's website, where they streamed the first episode online. On May 3, 2007, the series premiered on Japanese television, in English with Japanese subtitles, and for the first time completely uncut.


title: Afro Samurai

text: On May 11, 2007, Funimation released the first "Afro Samurai" DVDs at Anime Central, at their own booth, the regular "Afro Samurai: TV Version" and the uncut "Afro Samurai: Director's Cut". Both DVDs were released to the public on May 22, 2007. On September 4, 2007, all five episodes of "Afro Samurai" were released on iTunes. To promote this, Funimation released eight custom designed iPods by Takashi Okazaki. In 2008, Funimation released the "Afro Samurai" anime series onto Xbox Live in high definition format and also debuted on Blu-ray Disc in that year. The series was shown at the German Film Festival in Germany.


title: Afro Samurai

text: In an "Associated Press" interview in 2007, Okazaki confirmed there would be a sequel to the anime series, and that it would air on Paramount Network. In 2008, the sequel was announced to be a television film, "", with Lucy Liu and Mark Hamill joining the cast. Hip hop artist The RZA also came back to provide the soundtrack for the movie. "Afro Samurai: Resurrection" debuted on Spike on the night of January 25, 2009. On July 16, 2009, "Afro Samurai: Resurrection" was nominated for an Emmy in the "Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or more)" category in the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards and the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. At the Emmy awards, "Afro Samurai: Resurrection" lost to "Destination Imagination", a TV movie based on "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends". The art director of "Afro Samurai: Resurrection", Shigemi Ikeda, won an Emmy for his work on "Resurrection", which is the first ever awarded for work on a Japanese-animated production. "Afro Samurai: Resurrection" was the first Japanese anime to be nominated for and win an Emmy. Late 2009 also saw the release of "Afro Samurai": Complete Murder Sessions on Blu-ray and DVD. A 4-disc collection of both Afro Samurai Director's Cut and Afro Samurai: Resurrection, together in one complete boxset.


title: Afro Samurai

text: Announced at the 2006 San Diego Comic-Con International, a live action version of the series is said to be in the making. On July 21, 2011, Gonzo K.K. announced that Indomina Group had obtained the rights to produce the film, with Samuel L. Jackson, Jasbinder Singh Mann (Indomina Group Vice Chairman and CEO), Shin Ishikawa (Gonzo Studios) as producers; Eli Selden of Anonymous Content as executive producer. Production, however, stalled when Indomina Group suspended North American operations and shut its US office.


title: Afro Samurai

text: In 2005, Gonzo had awarded Namco Bandai Games exclusive rights to publish two "Afro Samurai" video games, as announced that year. The debut trailer of the first game was released at the company's Editor's Day presentation. "Afro Samurai" was released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on January 27, 2009. A sequel, titled "" was released for the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows on September 22, 2015. The game was developed by Redacted Studios and published by Versus Evil. An Xbox One version was planned to be released on October 9, 2015, but after the negative reception of the game, it was never released. The game was eventually delisted in November 2015, due to the negative reception.


title: Afro Samurai

text: Wu-Tang Clan member RZA produced the soundtrack for both the "Afro Samurai" TV series and the TV movie sequel "Afro Samurai: Resurrection". The first soundtrack for the anime series, "" was released on January 30, 2007, by Koch Records (now known as E1 Music). The second soundtrack for the TV movie, "" was also released by Koch Records on January 27, 2009.


title: Afro Samurai

text: The manga series has received generally positive reviews from critics. Scott Green, writer of the "Anime AICN" segment of Ain't It Cool News said that the manga "is a work of design" and that it "utilizes the medium to which it is applied as a platform rather than as an ends unto itself." Scott notes that Okazaki does not have a "head for manga as a storytelling form" and that the "manga labors to show off Okazaki's design." Anime News Network reviewer, Carlo Santos stated about the anime that "like most typical action-adventures, the story starts out slow and only picks up toward the middle and end when the blades really start flying" and that ""Afro Samurai" is hardly a complex story" and that it only has "a handful of characters and a straightforward beat-the-next-guy plotline". Carlo Santos also noted that "the original Afro Samurai manga is pretty lousy" and that Takashi Okazaki often gets lost in "incomprehensible scribbles" and "style over substance." Volume 2 of "Afro Samurai" also charted 147 on ComiPress' "Top 250 Manga Volumes" of February 2009. The Blu-ray of the anime series charted #16 on VideoScan's Blu-ray charts. In January 2009, "IGN" ranked the series 90th on a list of the top 100 animated series, saying that the over-the-top violence and quirky story and characters made the show enjoyable.


title: Afro Samurai

text: On June 12, 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Culture listed "Afro Samurai" among 38 anime and manga titles banned in China.


title: So (album)

text: So is the fifth studio album by English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, released on 19 May 1986 by Charisma Records. After working on the soundtrack to the film "Birdy" (1984), producer Daniel Lanois was invited to remain at Gabriel's Somerset home during 1985 to work on his next solo project. Initial sessions for "So" consisted of Gabriel, Lanois and guitarist David Rhodes, although these grew to include a number of percussionists.


title: So (album)

text: Although Gabriel continued to use the pioneering Fairlight CMI digital sampling synthesizer, songs from these sessions were less experimental than his previous material. Nevertheless, Gabriel drew on various musical influences, fusing pop, soul, and art rock with elements of traditional world music, particularly African and Brazilian styles. It is Gabriel's first non-eponymous album, "So" representing an "anti-title" that resulted from label pressure to "properly" market his music. Gabriel toured "So" on the This Way Up tour (1986–1987), with some songs performed at human rights and charity concerts during this period.


title: So (album)

text: Often considered his best and most accessible album, "So" was an immediate commercial success and transformed Gabriel from a cult artist into a mainstream star, becoming his best-selling solo release. It has been certified fivefold platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry. The album's lead single, "Sledgehammer", was promoted with an innovative animated music video and achieved particular success, reaching number one on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and subsequently winning a record of nine MTV Video Music Awards. It was followed by four further singles, "Don't Give Up" (a duet with Kate Bush), "Big Time", "In Your Eyes", and "Red Rain".


title: So (album)

text: The album received positive reviews from most critics, who praised its songwriting, melodies and fusion of genres, although some retrospective reviews have criticised its overt commercialism and 1980s production sounds. "So" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1987 but lost to Paul Simon's "Graceland". It has appeared in lists of the best albums of the 1980s, and "Rolling Stone" included the album in their 2003 and 2020 editions of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2000 it was voted number 82 in Colin Larkin's "All Time Top 1000 Albums". "So" was remastered in 2002, partially re-recorded for Gabriel's 2011 orchestral project "New Blood" and issued as a box set in 2012.


title: So (album)

text: Since 1978, Gabriel had composed his music at Ashcombe House, including his album "Security" (1982) and the "Birdy" soundtrack (1984). He had an inexpensive studio in the adjacent barn consisting of two rooms, one where Gabriel would produce his vocals and work on lyrics, and another where the music would be assembled. Preparing for "So", Gabriel considered Bill Laswell and Chic's Nile Rodgers as potential producers. He eventually asked his "Birdy" collaborator Daniel Lanois to stay at Ashcombe and work with him further.


title: So (album)

text: Rehearsals began in May 1985 and consisted of Gabriel, Lanois and guitarist David Rhodes. Gabriel had begun work on some songs and provided Lanois and Rhodes with chord structures, around which they improvised compositions. Lanois recalled they had "a nice starting point [as] in that kind of scenario, it's not a good idea to have a lot of people around because you get nervous that you're wasting other people's time". Consequently, there was a relaxed atmosphere surrounding these sessions and the trio would jokingly refer to themselves as the "Three Stooges". This also involved the wearing of construction site hard hats as they had a "turning up for work humour". As sessions grew, engineer/mixer Kevin Killen, bassist Tony Levin, and drummer Jerry Marotta became significant contributors, and were aided by percussionists Manu Katché and Stewart Copeland and violinist L. Shankar.


title: So (album)

text: The studio's basic equipment consisted of "two analog 24-track machines, a Studer A80, and a Studer A80 shell that had been modified by a local electronics wizard, with its own audio cards and transport controls". To record vocals a Neumann U47 tube microphone and a Decca compressor were used without equalization. All of "So"s songs were made in a similar format. Gabriel would record demo parts on a modified "B machine" - using mainly a Yamaha piano and Prophet-5 over a Linn 9000 drum beat - and play this to the band. During rehearsals, the band would listen to the B machine through headphones and record their output onto the "A machine"; parts of Gabriel's demo would also be transferred to the A machine at this stage. Subsequent takes of the song were then put onto the B machine in order for the band to hear what they had played with the demo, as well as the song's new and old takes.


title: So (album)

text: Other equipment included the "groundbreaking" Fairlight CMI synthesizer, which Gabriel said in an interview for "Billboard" meant "more human imagination is involved". He added, "the creative decision-making process has become more important than technique. You have a wider range of tools, a wider range of decisions". Although remaining continually inspired to produce new music, he often struggled to write lyrics and would procrastinate. His proclivity to being dissatisfied with them required Killen to isolate certain vocal performances as the master track, in order to keep other tracks available so new lyrics could be edited in. Lanois took adverse measures to encourage his writing, such as destroying his much-used telephone in the nearby woods and, on one occasion, nailed the studio door shut to lock him inside.