title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Argos remained neutral or the ineffective ally of Athens during the Archidamian War between Sparta and Athens. Argos' neutrality resulted in a rise of its prestige among other Greek cities, and Argos used this political capital to organize and lead an alliance against Sparta and Athens in 421 BC. This alliance included Mantinea, Corinth, Elis, Thebes, Argos, and eventually Athens. This alliance fell apart, however, after the allied loss at the Battle of Mantinea in 418 BC. This defeat, combined with the raiding of the Argolid by the Epidaurians, resulted in political instability and an eventual oligarchic coup in 417 BC. Although democracy was restored within a year, Argos was left permanently weakened by this coup. This weakening led to a loss of power, which in turn led to the shift of commercial focus from the Ancient Agora to the eastern side of the city, delimited by Danaou and Agiou Konstadinou streets.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Argos played a minor role in the Corinthian Wars against Sparta, and for a short period of time considered uniting with Corinth to form an expanded Argolid state. For a brief period of time, the two poleis combined, but Corinth quickly rebelled against Argive domination, and Argos returned to its traditional boundaries. After this, Argos continued to remain a minor power in Greek affairs.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Argos escaped occupation by Macedon during the reigns of Philip II and Alexander the Great and remained unscathed during the Wars of the Diadochi, however in 272 it was attacked by Pyrrhus of Epirus at the Battle of Argos, in which Pyrrhus was killed.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Argos was a democracy for most of the classical period, with only a brief hiatus between 418 and 416. Democracy was first established after a disastrous defeat by the Spartans at the Battle of Sepeia in 494. So many Argives were killed in the battle that a revolution ensued, in which previously disenfranchised outsiders were included in the state for the first time.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Argive democracy included an Assembly (called the "aliaia"), a Council (the "bola"), and another body called 'The Eighty,' whose precise responsibilities are obscure. Magistrates served six-month terms of office, with few exceptions, and were audited at the end of their terms. There is some evidence that ostracism was practiced.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Under Roman rule, Argos was part of the province of Achaea. While prosperous during the early principate, Argos along with much of Greece and the Balkans experienced disasters during the Crisis of the 3rd Century when external threats and internal revolts left the Empire in turmoil. During Gallienus' reign, marauding bands of Goths and Heruli sailed down from the Black Sea in 267 A.D. and devastated the Greek coastline and interior. Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes and Argos were all sacked. Gallienus finally cut off their retreat north and destroyed them with great slaughter at Naissus in Moesia.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: With the death of the last emperor over a unified Empire, Theodosius I, the Visigoths under their leader Alaric I descended into Greece in 396-397 A.D., sacking and pillaging as they went. Neither the eastern or western Roman warlords, Rufinus (consul) or Stilicho, made an effective stand against them due to the political situation between them. Athens and Corinth were both sacked. While the exact level of destruction for Argos is disputed due to the conflicting nature of the ancient sources, the level of damage to the city and people was considerable. Stilicho finally landed in western Greece and forced the Visigoths north of Epirus. Sites said to have been destroyed in Argos include the Hypostyle hall, parts of the agora, the odeion, and the Aphrodision.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: In the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, the Crusaders captured the castle built on Larisa Hill, the site of the ancient acropolis, and the area became part of the lordship of Argos and Nauplia. In 1388 it was sold to the Republic of Venice, but was taken by the Despot of the Morea Theodore I Palaiologos before the Venetians could take control of the city; he sold it anyway to them in 1394. The Crusaders established a Latin bishopric. Venetian rule lasted until 1463, when the Ottomans captured the city.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: In 1397, the Ottomans plundered Argos, carrying off much of the population, to sell as slaves. The Venetians repopulated the town and region with Albanian settlers, granting them long-term agrarian tax exemptions. Together with the Greeks of Argos, they supplied stratioti troops to the armies of Venice. Some historians consider the French military term "argoulet" to derive from the Greek "argetes", or inhabitant of Argos, as a large number of French stratioti came from the plain of Argos.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: During Ottoman rule, Argos was divided in four mahalas, or quarters; the Greek (Rûm) mahala, Liepur mahala, Bekir Efenti mahala and Karamoutza or Besikler mahala, respectively corresponding to what is now the northeastern, the northwestern, the southwestern and southeastern parts of the city. The Greek mahala was also called the "quarter of the unfaithful of Archos town" in Turkish documents, whereas Liepur mahala (the quarter of the rabbits) was composed mostly of Albanian emigrants and well-reputed families. Karamoutza mahala was home to the most prominent Turks and boasted a mosque (modern-day church of Agios Konstadinos), a Turkish cemetery, Ali Nakin Bei's serail, Turkish baths and a Turkish school. It is also at this period when the open market of the city is first organised on the site north to Kapodistrias' barracks, at the same spot where it is held in modern times. A mosque would have existed there, too, according to the city planning most Ottoman cities followed.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Argos grew exponentially during this time, with its sprawl being unregulated and without planning. As French explorer Pouqueville noted, "its houses are not aligned, without order, scattered all over the place, divided by home gardens and uncultivated areas". Liepur mahala appears to have been the most organised, having the best layout, while Bekir mahala and Karamoutza mahala were the most labyrinthine. However, all quarters shared the same type of streets; firstly, they all had main streets which were wide, busy and public roads meant to allow for communication between neighbourhoods (typical examples are, to a great extent, modern-day Korinthou, Nafpliou and Tripoleos streets). Secondary streets were also common in all four quarters since they lead to the interior of each mahala, having a semi-public character, whereas the third type of streets referred to dead-end private alleys used specifically by families to access their homes. Remnants of this city layout can be witnessed even today, as Argos still preserves several elements of this Ottoman type style, particularly with its long and complicated streets, its narrow alleys and its densely constructed houses.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: With the exception of a period of Venetian domination in 1687–1715, Argos remained in Ottoman hands until the beginning of the Greek War of Independence in 1821, when wealthy Ottoman families moved to nearby Nafplio due to its stronger walling.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: At that time, as part of the general uprising, many local governing bodies were formed in different parts of the country, and the "Consulate of Argos" was proclaimed on 28 March 1821, under the Peloponnesian Senate. It had a single head of state, Stamatellos Antonopoulos, styled "Consul", between 28 March and 26 May 1821.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Later, Argos accepted the authority of the unified Provisional Government of the First National Assembly at Epidaurus, and eventually became part of the Kingdom of Greece. With the coming of governor Ioannis Kapodistrias, the city underwent efforts of modernisation. Being an agricultural village, the need for urban planning was vital. For this reason, in 1828, Kapodistrias himself appointed mechanic Stamatis Voulgaris as the creator of a city plan which would offer Argos big streets, squares and public spaces. However, both Voulgaris and, later, French architect de Borroczun's plans were not well received by the locals, with the result that the former had to be revised by Zavos. Ultimately, none of the plans were fully implemented. Still, the structural characteristics of de Borroczun's plan can be found in the city today, despite obvious proof of pre-revolutionary layout, such as the unorganised urban sprawl testified in the area from Inachou street to the point where the railway tracks can be found today.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: After talks concerning the intentions of the Greek government to move the Greek capital from Nafplio to Athens, discussions regarding the possibility of Argos also being a candidate as the potential new capital became more frequent, with supporters of the idea claiming that, unlike Athens, Argos was naturally protected by its position and benefited from a nearby port (Nafplio). Moreover, it was maintained that construction of public buildings would be difficult in Athens, given that most of the land was owned by the Greek church, meaning that a great deal of expropriation would have to take place. On the contrary, Argos did not face a similar problem, having large available areas for this purpose. In the end, the proposition of the Greek capital being moved to Argos was rejected by the father of king Otto, Ludwig, who insisted in making Athens the capital, something which eventually happened in 1834.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: During the German occupation, Argos airport was frequently attacked by Allied forces. One of the raids was so large that it resulted in the bombing of the city on October 14, 1943, with the casualties of about 100 dead Argives and several casualties, and 75 of the Germans. The bombing started from the airport heading southeast, hitting the monastery of Katakrykmeni and several areas of the city, up to the railway station.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: The mythological kings of Argos are (in order): Inachus, Phoroneus, Apis, Argus, Criasus, (Phorbas, Triopas is sometimes between Criasus and Iasus in some sources), Iasus, Agenor,( Crotopus and Sthenelus was between Agenor and Gelanor in some sources), Gelanor AKA Pelasgus, Danaus, Lynceus, Abas, Proetus, Acrisius, Perseus, Megapenthes, (Argeus and Anaxagoras comes after in some sources).


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: An alternative version supplied by Tatian of the original 17 consecutive kings of Argos includes Apis, Argios, Kriasos and Phorbas between Argus and Triopas, explaining the apparent unrelation of Triopas to Argus.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: The city of Argos was believed to be the birthplace of the mythological character Perseus, the son of the god Zeus and Danaë, who was the daughter of the king of Argos, Acrisius.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: After the original 17 kings of Argos, there were three kings ruling Argos at the same time (see Anaxagoras), one descended from Bias, one from Melampus, and one from Anaxagoras. Melampus was succeeded by his son Mantius, then Oicles, and Amphiaraus, and his house of Melampus lasted down to the brothers Alcmaeon and Amphilochus.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Anaxagoras was succeeded by his son Alector, and then Iphis. Iphis left his kingdom to his nephew Sthenelus, the son of his brother Capaneus.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Bias was succeeded by his son Talaus, and then by his son Adrastus who, with Amphiaraus, commanded the disastrous war of the Seven against Thebes. Adrastus bequeathed the kingdom to his son, Aegialeus, who was subsequently killed in the war of the Epigoni. Diomedes, grandson of Adrastus through his son-in-law Tydeus and daughter Deipyle, replaced Aegialeus and was King of Argos during the Trojan war. This house lasted longer than those of Anaxagoras and Melampus, and eventually the kingdom was reunited under its last member, Cyanippus, son of Aegialeus, soon after the exile of Diomedes.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: After Christianity became established in Argos, the first bishop documented in extant written records is Genethlius, who in 448 AD took part in the synod called by Archbishop Flavian of Constantinople that deposed Eutyches from his priestly office and excommunicated him. The next bishop of Argos, Onesimus, was at the 451 Council of Chalcedon. His successor, Thales, was a signatory of the letter that the bishops of the Roman province of Hellas sent in 458 to Byzantine Emperor Leo I the Thracian to protest the killing of Proterius of Alexandria. Bishop Ioannes was at the Third Council of Constantinople in 680, and Theotimus at the Photian Council of Constantinople (879). The local see is today the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Argolis.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Under 'Frankish' Crusader rule, Argos became a Latin Church bishopric in 1212, which lasted as a residential see until Argos was taken by the Ottoman Empire in 1463 but would be revived under the second Venetian rule in 1686. Today the diocese is a Catholic titular see.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: The city of Argos is delimited to the north by dry river Xerias, to the east by Inachos river and Panitsa stream (which emanates from the latter), to the west by the Larissa hill (site of homonymous castle and of a monastery called Panagia Katakekrymeni-Portokalousa) and the Aspida Hill (unofficially Prophetes Elias hill), and to the south by the Notios Periferiakos road.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: The Agios Petros (Saint Peter) square, along with the eponymous cathedral (dedicated to saint Peter the Wonderworker), make up the town centre, whereas some other characteristic town squares are the Laiki Agora (Open Market) square, officially Dimokratias (Republic) square, where, as implied by its name, an open market takes place twice a week, Staragora (Wheat Market), officially Dervenakia square, and Dikastirion (Court) square. Bonis Park is an essential green space of the city.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Currently, the most commercially active streets of the city are those surrounding the Agios Petros square (Kapodistriou, Danaou, Vassileos Konstantinou streets) as well as Korinthou street. The Pezodromi (Pedestrian Streets), i.e. the paved Michael Stamou, Tsaldari and Venizelou streets, are the most popular meeting point, encompassing a wide variety of shops and cafeterias. The neighborhood of Gouva, which extends around the intersection of Vassileos Konstantinou and Tsokri streets, is also considered a commercial point.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: In 700 BC there were at least 5,000 people living in the city. In the fourth century BC, the city was home to as many as 30,000 people.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Today, according to the 2011 Greek census, the city has a population of 22,085. It is the largest city in Argolis, larger than the capital Nafplio.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: The primary economic activity in the area is agriculture. Citrus fruits are the predominant crop, followed by olives and apricots. The area is also famous for its local melon variety, Argos melons (or Argitiko). There is also important local production of dairy products, factories for fruits processing.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Most of Argos' historical and archaeological monuments are currently unused, abandoned, or only partially renovated:


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: A great number of archaeological findings, dating from the prehistoric ages, can be found at the Argos museum, housed at the old building of Dimitrios Kallergis at Saint Peter's square. The Argos airport, located in an homonymous area (Aerodromio) in the outskirts of the city is also worth mentioning. The area it covers was created in 1916-1917 and was greatly used during the Greco-Italian War and for the training of new Kaberos school aviators for the Hellenic Air Force Academy. It also constituted an important benchmark in the organization of the Greek air forces in southern Greece. Furthermore, the airport was used by the Germans for the release of their aerial troops during the Battle of Crete. It was last used as a landing/take off point for spray planes (for agricultural purposes in the olive tree cultivations) up until 1985.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Argos is connected via regular bus services with neighbouring areas as well as Athens. In addition, taxi stands can be found at the Agios Petros as well as the Laiki Agora square.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: The city also has a railway station which, at the moment, remains closed due to an indefinite halt to all railway services in the Peloponnese area by the Hellenic Railways Organisation. However, in late 2014, it was announced that the station would open up again, as part of an expansion of the Athens suburban railway in Argos, Nafplio and Korinthos. Finally in mid 2020 it was announced by the administration of Peloponnese Region their cooperation with the Hellenic Railways Organisation for the metric line and stations maintenance for the purpose of the line's reoperation in the middle of 2021. Unfortunately, as of November 2022, no steps have yet been taken to even prepare for an upcoming reopening of the railway lines, to the dismay of the local populus.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Argos has a wide range of educational institutes that also serve neighbouring sparsely populated areas and villages. In particular, the city has seven dimotika (primary schools), four gymnasia (junior high), three lyceums (senior high), one vocational school, one music school as well as a Touristical Business and Cooking department and a post-graduate ASPETE department. The city also has two public libraries.


title: Argos, Peloponnese

text: Argos hosts two major sport clubs with presence in higher national divisions and several achievements, Panargiakos F.C. football club, founded in 1926 and AC Diomidis Argous handball club founded in 1976. Other sport clubs that are based in Argos: A.E.K. Argous, Apollon Argous, Aristeas Argous, Olympiakos Argous, Danaoi and Panionios Dalamanaras.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me with Science" (1982) and "Hyperactive!" (1984). He has also worked as a producer and as a session musician.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: In the 1990s, Dolby founded Beatnik, a Silicon Valley software company whose technology was used to play internet audio and later ringtones, most notably on Nokia phones. He was also the music director for the TED Conference. On the faculty at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University since 2014, Dolby leads Peabody's Music for New Media program, which enrolled its first students in the fall of 2018.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Dolby was born Thomas Morgan Robertson in London, England, to (Theodosia) Cecil, "née" Spring Rice (1921–1984) and Martin Robertson (1911–2004), an internationally distinguished professor of classical Greek art and archaeology at the University of London, Oxford University, and Trinity College, Cambridge. In at least one interview in the 1980s, Dolby claimed, "I was born in Cairo, because my father is an archaeologist" — many subsequent articles have republished or reprinted this spurious claim.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Dolby attended Abingdon School in Oxfordshire, England, from 1975 to 1976, where he completed his A Levels. One of his first jobs was a part-time position at a fruit and vegetable shop. In his youth, Dolby lived or worked in France, Italy, and Greece.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: The stage name Thomas Dolby originated from a nickname "Dolby" that he picked up in the early 1970s, when he was "always messing around with keyboards and tapes". The name derives from the name of the audio noise-reduction process of Dolby Laboratories used for audio recording and playback. He adopted the stage name "Thomas Dolby" to avoid confusion with British singer Tom Robinson, who was popular when he began his career. Early publicity implied that "Dolby" was a middle name, and that Dolby's full name was Thomas Morgan Dolby Robertson; this is legally incorrect, but he does sometimes informally go by the initials TMDR.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: After Dolby released "She Blinded Me with Science" in 1982, Dolby Laboratories expressed concern regarding the stage name. Dolby's record label refused to make him change his name, and Dolby Labs did not raise the issue again until later. After a lengthy legal battle, the court decided that Dolby Labs had no right to restrict the musician from using the name. It was agreed that he would not release any electronic equipment using the name. Thomas Dolby, the son of the Dolby Laboratories founder Ray Dolby, is a novelist and filmmaker.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Dolby is associated with the new wave movement of the early 1980s, a form of pop music incorporating electronic instruments, but Dolby's work covers a wide range of musical styles and moods distinct from the high-energy pop sound of his few, better-known commercial successes.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Originally released in the UK and US including the songs "Europa and the Pirate Twins," "Airwaves," and "Radio Silence," the first releases of Dolby's first solo album, "The Golden Age of Wireless" (Harvest, 1982) did not include the signature hit, "She Blinded Me with Science." After the five-song EP "Blinded by Science" introduced the catchy single, "The Golden Age of Wireless" was re-released with the single that, combined with its accompanying video, became Dolby's most commercially successful single, reaching No. 5 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The album was released a total of five times, each with changes in song order and included songs, or even including a different version of "Radio Silence" or extended remix of "She Blinded Me with Science."


title: Thomas Dolby

text: "The Golden Age of Wireless" reached No. 13 on the "Billboard" album chart. It juxtaposed themes of radio technology, aircraft, and naval submarines with those of relationships and nostalgia. While much of the album's instrumentation is synthesisers and samplers, the album credits a long list of guest musicians as well, with instruments ranging from harmonica and violin to guitar and percussion.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Beginning in 1983, Dolby collaborated with a number of artists in an occasional studio-bound project called Dolby's Cube. The project had no set line-up, and was essentially a forum for Dolby to release material that was more dance-oriented. Dolby's Cube released a single in 1983 ("Get Out of My Mix"), another in 1985 ("May the Cube Be with You"), and performed soundtrack work for the film "Howard the Duck" in 1986. Collaborators in Dolby's Cube at various junctures included Lene Lovich, George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic, Francois Kevorkian, and Lea Thompson.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: In 1984, Dolby released his second LP, "The Flat Earth" (Capitol), which peaked at No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart and at No. 35 on the "Billboard" album chart in the US. Using a wide range of influences ranging from nostalgic jazz, funk-tinged Motown R&B, and world music along with a strong electronic element and featuring a slew of guest musicians, including longtime Dolby collaborator Matthew Seligman on bass, Kevin Armstrong on guitar, and Clif Brigden on percussion, and guest vocals from Robyn Hitchcock, Bruce Woolley and others, "The Flat Earth" further established Dolby's wide range of talents as musician, songwriter, and producer. The album included a cover of the Dan Hicks song "I Scare Myself."


title: Thomas Dolby

text: "Hyperactive!" was the first and most successful single from the album, peaking at No. 17 on the UK Singles Chart, making it Dolby's highest-charting single in his home country.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: In contrast to the overall introverted nature of "The Flat Earth", Dolby described his next release, "Aliens Ate My Buick" (1988):


title: Thomas Dolby

text: "Aliens Ate My Buick" was strongly funk and dance influenced. The first single was "Airhead", a satirical song about a stereotypical young-and-rich Californian woman, which peaked at No. 53. The second single, "Hot Sauce", a cover version of a George Clinton song, peaked at No. 80. Another single, "My Brain Is Like A Sieve," peaked at No. 89 on the UK Singles Chart. The album was co-produced by Bill Bottrell, and featured Terry Jackson on bass guitar.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: For "Astronauts & Heretics" (Virgin UK), Dolby expanded even further stylistically, starting the songwriting process at the piano, then again collaborating with a variety of guest musicians. Both Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia played guitar on "The Beauty of a Dream". Eddie Van Halen plays on "Eastern Bloc" and "Close but No Cigar." Other collaborators included Jimmy Z on sax, Budgie on drums and Leland Sklar on bass guitar. Terry Jackson also contributed bass guitar on four songs before his 1991 death in a plane accident with seven other members of Reba McEntire's support band for her "For My Broken Heart" tour.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: The highest-charting song off this album was "Close but No Cigar," which reached No. 22 on the UK charts. Two other songs on the album, "I Love You Goodbye," and "Silk Pyjamas" employed Zydeco influences, courtesy of Crowley, Louisiana and guest musicians Michael Doucet of BeauSoleil on violin, Wayne Toups on accordion, and Al Tharp on banjo. Even though some recording for the album was done in remote locations, the bulk of "Astronauts & Heretics" was recorded at NRG Recording Studios with input from trusted Dolby co-producer Bill Bottrell, and mixed down at Smoke Tree Studios in Chatsworth, California.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Following his involvement in Beatnik, Dolby returned to his musical career in 2006. He performed his first solo public show in 15 years at the Red Devil Lounge in San Francisco, California, on 21 January 2006, surprising the crowd who were there to see local band Notorious. He then launched an American tour, the Sole Inhabitant Tour, on 12 April, comprising a string of small dates in California, a science education benefit in Boulder, Colorado, and gigs across America before receptive crowds.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: The United States leg of the "Sole Inhabitant Tour 2006" was captured on a "live" CD and DVD. The CD represents a recording of two gigs played by Dolby at Martyrs in Chicago, while the DVD was filmed at the Berklee Performance Center at Berklee College of Music. The DVD also includes a 30-minute interview and a lecture by Dolby at the college. Both the CD and DVD were released in November 2006. Dolby autographed and numbered the first 1,000 copies of the CD and DVD.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: A show at the 800 capacity Scala club in London was booked for 3 July 2006 as a warm-up for Dolby's Hyde Park set opening for Depeche Mode. The show sold out in a matter of days and prompted Dolby to reprioritise the UK, resulting in him moving with his family from California back to England, and a nine-date Sole Inhabitant tour of the UK in October 2007, coinciding with the release of a lavish box set of the Sole Inhabitant CD and DVD by UK independent label Invisible Hands Music.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Thomas toured throughout the months of November and December 2006 with electronic musician BT. This tour included a version of "Airwaves" that BT added his own technique to, which was the opening song on the UK leg of the Sole Inhabitant tour ("sans" BT).


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Thomas Dolby's performance of 15 March 2007 at the SxSW festival was released as the live EP "Thomas Dolby & The Jazz Mafia Horns, Live at SxSW" (with musicians from San Francisco's Jazz Mafia collective).


title: Thomas Dolby

text: The 2007 UK Sole Inhabitant tour included three new songs previously played on the US tour, one called "Your Karma Hit My Dogma" another called "Jealous Thing" and a cover version of the Special AKA's "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend." "Your Karma Hit My Dogma" was inspired by Kevin Federline's unauthorised use of a sample from Mobb Deep's "Got It Twisted," which in turn had used an authorised sample of "She Blinded Me with Science." The tag line from that story became the title of the song. The wording was lifted by Thomas from a bumper sticker on a car that he saw whilst living in the San Francisco Bay area. In a move close to performance art, Dolby tried to post a 'cease and desist' legal letter on Kevin Federline's MySpace page when other attempts to contact him proved fruitless. The song is on the "Live at SxSW" EP.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: The second new song, "Jealous Thing" was performed at least at The Graduate in Cambridge and London's Islington Academy on the UK tour in Summer 2007 and features a Bossa-Nova type rhythm.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: A CD + DVD set entitled "The Singular Thomas Dolby" was released by EMI on 18 May 2009. As the name suggests it is a digitally remastered compilation of previously released singles. The DVD contains all the video singles which were available on the original VHS/BETA/LASERDISC release of "The Golden Age of Video", as well as the videos for the songs "Silk Pyjamas", "I Love You Goodbye", and "Close but No Cigar". These three missing videos are for the singles taken from the 1992 album "Astronauts & Heretics", which received critical acclaim but garnered unimpressive sales.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: "The Golden Age of Wireless" and "The Flat Earth" were reissued and remastered later that year with numerous previously unreleased bonus tracks. The former was a two disc set including a DVD of the complete "Live Wireless" video.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: In 2010 Dolby began work on a new studio album entitled "A Map of the Floating City". The album is divided into three parts, with the first two parts initially made available to members of The Flat Earth Community Forum, Dolby's online community. Each of the three digital EPs takes its name from one of the three sections of the full-length album that later followed. The first EP, "Amerikana", was released digitally on 16 June 2010. The second EP is entitled "Oceanea", and was released on 29 November 2010. Due to favourable reviews and radio airplay, "Oceanea" was released commercially on 28 March 2011. The third section of the album, entitled "Urbanoia", was not released as a download or physical CD, but the songs were premiered online as part of the Floating City game (see below).


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Contributors to the album include Kevin Armstrong, Matthew Seligman (both had played together with him on "The Flat Earth" and as part of David Bowie's Live Aid appearance), Bruce Woolley, drummer Liam Genockey, guitarist Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, Regina Spektor, Natalie MacMaster, Eddi Reader and Imogen Heap.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: "A Map of the Floating City" was recorded in the "Nutmeg of Consolation", Dolby's recording studio built within a 1930s lifeboat and powered entirely by renewable energy, which is located in the garden of Dolby's beach house on England's North Sea coast.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: In June 2011 Dolby announced the "Map of the Floating City" game, a multiplayer online game that shares a title with the full-length album release planned to follow after the game's conclusion. In Dolby's own words, "The Floating City is set against a dystopian vision of the 1940s that might have existed had WWII turned out a lot differently." Survivors explore a fictional Google map, forming tribes and trading relics amidst a bizarre sea-going barter society. As they struggle to unravel the enigma that is The Floating City, players can haggle over merchandise and music downloads, including brand new songs from "A Map of the Floating City", Dolby's first album in 20 years, scheduled to be released following the climax of the game. The game was played from June through August 2011, and included elements of trading, mystery, competition, and co-operation. Players earned free song downloads, and the winning team or "tribe" was awarded a private performance from Dolby.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Early in his career, Dolby played keyboards with Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club and is credited on their debut album. The instrumental track "WW9" in the album "English Garden" is the first recorded example of Thomas' writing. He also wrote Lene Lovich's hit single "New Toy" and played keyboard as part of the backing band for her tour. Dolby played some synthesizer parts on the Thompson Twins album "Set" and co-wrote "Magic's Wand" with Whodini, and played keyboards on one track ("Love") on Robyn Hitchcock's first solo album, 1981's "Black Snake Diamond Role". Dolby played synthesizer on two tracks on the album "Pleasure" by the band Girls at Our Best! Around this time, he also formed a short-lived band called the Fallout Club.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: By far the most significant session relationship for Thomas in the early days was when he contributed the signature synthesizer sound on the track "Urgent" on Foreigner's 1981 album "4". On the same album he played the atmospheric synthesizer intro to the mega-hit "Waiting for a Girl Like You." The fees from this work, including tour dates, bankrolled the studio time for the recording of the 1980s benchmark album "The Golden Age of Wireless" from which his solo career began.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: In October 1981 Dolby made an appearance in the video for the Dave Stewart and Barbara Gaskin British number one cover of "It's My Party," playing the part of Johnny in the "Judy and Johnny just walked through the door" section of the song. The video made its first Top of the Pops appearance on 29 October 1981.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Dolby also worked as session keyboard player on Def Leppard's 1983 "Pyromania" album. Dolby appeared on "Pyromania" using the alias Booker T. Boffin, as his affiliation with another record label restricted the use of his real name.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Dolby also produced two albums for the English sophisti-pop band Prefab Sprout: 1985's "Steve McQueen" and 1988's "From Langley Park to Memphis", including the latter's hit single "The King of Rock 'n' Roll".


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Dolby has composed for a handful of films and video games. He also played the role of Stanley in the 1990 film "Rockula".


title: Thomas Dolby

text: In 2012, Dolby learned of the decommissioning of the Orfordness Lighthouse near his Suffolk home, and proceeded to film a documentary, "The Invisible Lighthouse", to chronicle the shutdown of the lighthouse as well as his childhood growing up in the area. Dolby took this film on the road through the US and UK in the Autumn of 2013, accompanying the film with live music, narration, and sound effects by Blake Leyh. The film won the DIY Film Festival award for Best Picture.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: In 1993, Dolby established the Headspace company. This was intended to provide tools for interactive audio, as at the time Dolby was frustrated about the lack of interactive audio tools. During this period, Dolby worked on a number of video game soundtracks through his company. The company was later approached to create MIDI-based music for WebTV, leading to Dolby composing several key music tracks that were bundled with the devices.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Following the acquisition of the company Igor's Software Laboratories in 1996, which was also involved with creating audio for WebTV, Headspace developed a new downloadable file format designed specifically for Internet usage called Rich Music Format with the RMF file extension. It had the advantage of small file size like MIDI but allowed recorded sampled sounds to be included at a higher bitrate for better overall reproduction. RMF music files could be played in a browser using the free Beatnik Player plug-in, and were also encrypted to prevent unauthorised duplication, while info such as the composer and copyright information could also be embedded within the files. In 1999, Headspace, Inc. was renamed Beatnik, Inc., and later shifted its focus towards software synthesizers for mobile phones, which it licensed to mobile phone manufacturers including Nokia. As truetone ringtones eventually overtook polyphonic ringtones in popularity, Beatnik went defunct in 2011.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Dolby stepped down from his position as CEO in 2002, feeling that the business was no longer interesting to him, although he remained on the board. This subsequently led to him founding Retro Ringtones LLC, which produced the RetroFolio ringtone asset management software suite for companies involved in the mobile phone ringtone business, as well as offering ringtones that could be purchased by businesses. These ringtones largely consisted of sound clips such as animal sounds, celebrity quotes and sci-fi sound effects, as well as polyphonic covers of popular theme songs. At the second annual Mobile Music Awards, Miami, Florida, in 2004 RetroFolio won "Best of Show" and "Best New Technology" awards. The company ended business in 2005 and has since been suspended by Secretary of State of California.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Dolby created hundreds of digital polyphonic ringtones on mobile phones, both at Beatnik and Retro Ringtones. He was often a speaker at technology conferences such as Comdex, Websphere, and Nokia.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: In 1985, Dolby appeared at the Grammy Awards, which were televised, along with Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, and Howard Jones. All four musicians were successful in the mid-1980s music scene, and they were also all keyboard and synthesizer experts. That same year, Dolby performed at the Live Aid concert in London as part of David Bowie's band.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Dolby's first experiment with virtual reality took place in the fall of 1992, when he was invited by the Guggenheim Museum, New York to design and install a sonic VR experience. This led to The Virtual String Quartet programmed by Eric Gullichsen, and sponsored by Intel Corp. The experience ran on an IBM 386 processor with a Convolvatron 4-channel audio card. Users wore a head-mounted display and found themselves in the midst of a computer-generated string quartet playing Mozart. The sound was fully spatialized as the user moved around the physical space. Tickling a player with the joystick resulted in that musician switching to improvisation in a 'hot jazz' or Appalachian bluegrass style.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: In the Fall of 2018, Dolby created a New Media workshop at The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University with VR equipment donated by HTC Vive. Students in his course are learning to compose music for VR and AR.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: On 4 October 2018 Dolby performed a live score for the High Fidelity VR event 'Escape from Zombie Island.' He appeared 'in-world' as his own avatar, where he triggered and played real-time horror film music. He also performed his first ever full VR concert at the Futvrelands Festival on 17 November 2018, in front of over 250 other avatars.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: From 2001 to 2012, Dolby was musical director of the TED Conference, an annual event held, first, in Monterey, California, and subsequently in Long Beach, California. He provided live musical introductions to sessions, sometimes with a TED house band, and helped secure guest musicians and entertainers. Onstage, he played with singers and performers such as Eddi Reader, Natalie MacMaster, Rachelle Garniez and David Byrne, and premiered his own song "Love Is a Loaded Pistol" onstage at TEDGlobal 2010. He stood down from the position in September 2012 to pursue music.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: In March 2012, Dolby spoke at the DESIGN West conference in San Jose, California at the McEnery Convention Center, produced by UBM Electronics.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: In March 2014, Dolby was named Homewood Professor of the Arts at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University. In March 2017, the Peabody Institute announced that Dolby would lead a new four-year undergraduate degree program, "Music for New Media", and the first cohort would commence in the fall of 2018.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Dolby said he became interested in electronic music because "I'm not a very proficient keyboard player, so the computer became my musical instrument ... None of the equipment is essential, though. In a way, I was happier when I just had one monophonic synthesizer and a two-track tape deck". His first instrument, found in EMS's garbage dumpster at 277 Putney Bridge Road, was the Powertran Transcendent 2000 synthesiser


title: Thomas Dolby

text: The following is a list of notable instruments and the electronic equipment that Dolby has used on his recordings:


title: Thomas Dolby

text: Dolby married actress Kathleen Beller in 1988; they have three children. His brother is information retrieval researcher Stephen Robertson.


title: Thomas Dolby

text: In July 1998, Dolby received a "Lifetime Achievement in Internet Music" award from "Yahoo! Internet Life". In 2012 he performed at Moogfest and was the recipient of The Moog Innovation Award, which celebrates "pioneering artists whose genre-defying work exemplifies the bold, innovative spirit of Bob Moog". In February 2018, Dolby was awarded the Roland Lifetime Achievement Award. Dolby has received four Grammy nominations, two each in 1984 and 1988.


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: Isaiah Amir Mustafa (born February 11, 1974) is an American actor and former American football wide receiver. Mustafa is widely known as the main character in a series of Old Spice television commercials, "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like". He is also known for portraying Luke Garroway on Freeform's fantasy series "Shadowhunters" and adult Mike Hanlon in "It Chapter Two".


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: Mustafa was born in Portland, Oregon to Shahidah Mustafa-Davis and John Wali Mustafa, the youngest of seven children in a Muslim family. When Mustafa was 5 years old, the family relocated from Portland to Mission Viejo, California, and his father opened a limousine service in Laguna Hills. Several years after the family relocated to California, Mustafa's father was killed in a car accident.


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: He was educated at Santa Clara High School, and later attended Santa Monica College, before transferring to Moorpark College. Mustafa then studied history at Arizona State University, from which he graduated in 1995.


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: Mustafa played basketball and ran track at Santa Clara High School in Oxnard, California. He did not play high school football, but he tried out for Moorpark College's football team hoping for an athletic scholarship; he became a free safety, and later became a wide receiver.


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: After transferring to Arizona State University in 1995, Mustafa was a starting wide receiver for the Arizona State Sun Devils but had an unspecified "confrontation" with a coach and was benched his senior year. He played during the 1997 Rose Bowl between the then-undefeated Sun Devils (led by Mustafa's friend Jake Plummer) and the Ohio State Buckeyes.


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: Although Mustafa expected to become a high school teacher after graduation, a sports agent suggested that he try out for NFL teams. The Tennessee Oilers signed him to the practice squad, then sent him to NFL Europe's Barcelona Dragons in 1998. After a season on the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns' practice squads in 1999, Mustafa attended the Seattle Seahawks' training camp in 2000.


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: After the Seahawks, Mustafa pursued an acting career, playing small roles on various television series, including "Ugly Betty" and "Days of Our Lives".


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: In 2010, he signed a talent deal with NBC and appeared as a supporting role in the comedy film "Horrible Bosses". Mustafa hosted the TBS special "Funniest Commercials of the Year" in both 2010 and 2011. In 2011, Mustafa guest-starred in two episodes of ABC's action drama series "Charlie's Angels", portraying Detective Ray Goodson, an ex-boyfriend of one of the Angels. The following year, he guest-starred in two episodes of The CW's spy drama series "Nikita", playing the role of Cyrus, a former agent for Division and a member of the "Dirty Thirty".


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: In April 2013, Mustafa appeared in a commercial for the Israeli beer Maccabee. The following year, he starred in the pilot episode of the USA Network comedy series "Sirens" as a police officer named Danny. In May 2015, it was announced that Mustafa would portray the werewolf Luke Garroway on the Freeform fantasy series "Shadowhunters", based on "The Mortal Instruments" series of novels by Cassandra Clare.


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: In 2019, Mustafa played the adult Mike Hanlon (Chosen Jacobs in his younger version) in "It Chapter Two", the sequel to the 2017 horror film "It".


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: In February 2010, he gained sudden fame for his main role in the popular "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" advertising campaign for Old Spice, which featured his monologues. Mustafa's first commercial in the series was directed by Tom Kuntz. Subsequently, a three-day session created a series of humorous, personalized YouTube videos, with Mustafa reprising the character from the original Old Spice commercial. These were directed at members of the public and celebrities who had asked him questions on websites such as reddit, Facebook and Twitter.


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: On July 26, 2011, Old Spice launched a new campaign on YouTube featuring a challenge between Mustafa and Fabio entitled "Mano a Mano in el Baño". Mustafa said he wasn't worried, even though Fabio has been "the epitome of the sex symbol as a pitchman". Mustafa ultimately emerged as the winner. He resumed his work for Old Spice with a series of advertisements released in January 2014. The campaign featured several webpages selling false products directed at men, which were interrupted with Mustafa suggesting that men buy Old Spice instead. In August 2015, Mustafa once again appeared in Old Spice commercials, this time alongside Terry Crews.


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: Mustafa has one daughter, Haley Mustafa, with his former wife. He previously dated professional wrestler and actress Catherine Joy Perry, better known by her ring name Lana. He married his girlfriend of two years, Lisa Mitchell, on May 26, 2018.


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: He owned a restaurant, Jo Jo's Barbecue, on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles in 2000, but it has since closed.


title: Isaiah Mustafa

text: Mustafa is a comic book fan; his knowledge of Doctor Doom's first name helped him win $47,000 on "The Weakest Link", for a question on the first name of Doctor Frankenstein. The money helped him pursue his post-restaurateur goal of becoming an actor. Mustafa had expressed interest in playing comic book superhero Luke Cage, and appeared as Cage in a Marvel Comics web short, styled after his Old Spice commercials.


title: T1 (esports)

text: T1 (previously known as SK Telecom T1 or SKT T1) is a South Korean esports organization operated by the T1 Entertainment & Sports, a joint venture between SK Telecom and Comcast Spectacor. At the end of 2003, SK Telecom took the StarCraft Team Orion (formerly 4U) by Lim Yo-hwan under contract and set up the team under the conglomerate's banner. Lim Yo-hwan took the role of team captain. T1's "League of Legends" team has won the 2013, 2015, and 2016 editions of the "League of Legends World Championship".


title: Devin Hester

text: Devin Devorris Hester Sr. (born November 4, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). He is widely regarded as the greatest return specialist in NFL history, and was the first and only player to return the opening kick of the Super Bowl back for a touchdown. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at Miami, where he was the first player in the university's recent history to play in all three phases of American football: offense, defense and special teams. In addition to Chicago, Hester also played for the Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens and Seattle Seahawks over his 11-season NFL career.


title: Devin Hester

text: Originally drafted as a cornerback, Hester quickly made an impact as a kick returner, and later became a wide receiver. He holds the NFL record for most all-time return touchdowns (punt and kickoff combined) and most all-time punt return touchdowns.


title: Devin Hester

text: Devin Hester was born to Juanita Brown and Lenorris Hester Sr. in Riviera Beach, Florida. His parents separated when he was a toddler. Before he became a teenager, his mother was severely injured in a car accident, while his father died of cancer two years later. His step-father, Derrick Brown, and brother, Lenorris Jr., helped Hester escape his depression and rebuild his life by introducing him to football. He soon returned to his normal life and began to excel in sports and academics.


title: Devin Hester

text: During his youth, Hester enjoyed following the Dallas Cowboys. He especially idolized Deion Sanders, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin. He was also a fan of the Chicago Bulls during the Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson era. Fred Taylor of the University of Florida was Hester's favorite athlete. In addition to football, he also enjoyed playing soccer and following baseball.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester attended first Palm Beach Gardens High, then on to Suncoast High School, where he played football as a cornerback, wide receiver, return specialist, and running back. He earned recognition from SuperPrep.com as the top high school prospect in Florida and "Parade", who named Hester onto their All-American team. Hester also participated in the 2002 CaliFlorida Bowl, where he returned a kick for an 80-yard touchdown. His success prompted his teammates to nickname him "Sugar Foot".


title: Devin Hester

text: Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Hester was listed as the second best cornerback in the nation in 2002.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester was also a standout track athlete. While at Suncoast, he received All-America accolades, and he ranked second nationally in the long jump as a junior. He also captured the 2004 Big EAST Indoor long jump title as a member of the University of Miami track and field team, with a leap of 7.37 meters. He also competed in the 60 meters and 100 meters, posting personal bests of 6.77 seconds and 10.62, 10.42W seconds, respectively.


title: Devin Hester

text: After completing high school, Hester enrolled at the University of Miami, where he played for the Miami Hurricanes football team from 2003–2005. As a sophomore in 2004, he earned national recognition as a kick returner after being named a first-team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation and "The Sporting News". His ability to thrust laterally and break away from pursuers made him one of the nation's most dangerous return specialists. During his freshman year, Hester returned an opening kick for a 98-yard touchdown against the Florida Gators. In a game against Duke in 2005, Hester broke six tackles while returning an 81-yard punt. Ultimately, Hester completed his college career with a total of six touchdowns from kick returns, including one blocked field goal return. He also scored one rushing and receiving touchdown and recorded five interceptions as a defensive back.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester became the first football player in the Miami Hurricanes' recent history to play as member of the special, offensive, and defensive teams. He was known as "Hurricane Hester" by his fans and teammates. In his junior season, Hester returned 19 punts for 326 yards and three touchdowns, along with 15 kickoffs for 389 yards and a score, while also intercepting four passes. During his productive tenure at the University of Miami, Hester befriended Deion Sanders through Ed Reed, an alumnus of the University of Miami, and friend of Sanders. Sanders counseled, advised, and encouraged Hester. Hester was also known as "Anytime" in college, which is a tribute to Sanders' nickname, "Prime Time". He also adopted Sanders' signature touchdown dance, and showboating maneuvers, which he carried to his future NFL career.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester finished his three seasons with 41 punt returns for 638 yards, 40 kick returns for 1,019 yards, 24 carries for 160 yards, 10 receptions for 196 yards, 11 tackles, 1 sack, and five interceptions for 57 return yards.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester began his professional career in the National Football League with the Chicago Bears, who selected him in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft with the 57th overall pick. The team originally drafted Hester as a cornerback, but they intended to play him as a return specialist, following the retirement of Jerry Azumah and departure of Bobby Wade. The team's decision to draft Hester was initially criticized by fans and sports analysts, who believed the Bears should have spent their early picks on offensive prospects.


title: Devin Hester

text: In his first 13 weeks as a professional football player, Hester recorded six return touchdowns, including a punt return in his NFL debut, and a then-record tying 108-yard touchdown from a missed field goal against the New York Giants. He also returned a punt for a clutch 83-yard game-winning touchdown against the Arizona Cardinals to give the Bears the lead in a comeback win, and two kickoff returns in one game against the St. Louis Rams. Following his record-breaking game during Week 14, opposing teams exercised additional caution when allowing Hester to return kicks. During the postseason, Hester ran back a punt at a critical moment against the Seattle Seahawks, but it was called back on a blocking penalty. Regardless, the Bears won both NFC playoffs rounds, and advanced to Super Bowl XLI to play the Indianapolis Colts. He started the game on a high note for the Bears by returning the game's opening kick for a touchdown. The feat was the first touchdown return of an opening kickoff in Super Bowl history. It also marked the quickest touchdown scored in Super Bowl history as well as the quickest lead ever taken by any team, though the latter record has since been surpassed by the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII. Following the kick, the Colts did not kick the ball directly to Hester, significantly limiting the Bears’ return efforts.


title: Devin Hester

text: and a trip to the 2007 Pro Bowl. After the 2006 season ended, he was named the NFC Player of the Month for December and was a finalist for 2006 Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year. He was also voted onto the Associated Press’s 2006 All-Pro team with 48 and a half votes, finishing fourth behind LaDainian Tomlinson, Champ Bailey, and Jason Taylor who all received 50 votes. He finished the 2006 season by accumulating three touchdowns for 600 yards on 47 punt returns, and two touchdowns for 528 yards on 20 kick returns, thus making him one of the league’s most productive kick and punt returners. Even without taking an offensive snap prior to Week 14, Hester was the Bears' second leading scorer, behind kicker Robbie Gould. On a negative note, Hester struggled to control the football at times, having games with multiple fumbles on at least two separate occasions.


title: Devin Hester

text: Many fans speculated that Hester's speed and prior experience as a wide receiver would earn him a spot on the Bears' offense, similar to teammate Rashied Davis. While Lovie Smith dismissed the speculation, he played Hester as a wide receiver for one play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 17, 2006; he ran a curl route and was targeted by quarterback Rex Grossman, but the pass was too low and fell incomplete. Hester attributes his talent to his mentor, Deion Sanders, who Hester claims helped him perfect his return game. Sanders, a former cornerback and kick returner, compliments Hester after every productive performance. However, Sanders also berated Hester for taunting another player en route to his second touchdown return against the St. Louis Rams. His teammates and coaches have also praised Hester. After the 2006 season, he was voted to receive the team's Brian Piccolo Award, which is given to a player who possesses a good character and work ethic. Bears fans and the local media nicknamed Hester the "Windy City Flyer" during his first year in Chicago.


title: Devin Hester

text: Shortly after losing Super Bowl XLI, Hester and special teams coach Dave Toub spent a significant amount of time working on new return strategies and formations. Ultimately, Lovie Smith converted Hester into a wide receiver in order to increase the number of opportunities he would receive during a game. Hester, who originally played as a wide receiver at the University of Miami, was initially hesitant about making the switch to offense, as he wished to follow in the footsteps of Deion Sanders. However, the Bears’ coaching staff eventually persuaded Hester to make the transition over the summer. During the 2007 off-season, Hester won the Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY Award.


title: Devin Hester

text: Although NFL rules generally required wide receivers to wear jersey numbers in the 10–19 and 80–89 range, players who later change positions are allowed to keep their previous number, as long as it is not within the 50–79 range for eligible receiver purposes prior to the 2021 NFL season. Hester was allowed to keep number 23, a number normally used for cornerbacks, since it sits outside the 50–79 range. Along with former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Dwight Stone, who wore number 20 during his eight-year stint in Pittsburgh, and Oakland Raiders wide receiver Cliff Branch, Hester was one of three wide receivers to wear a 20s jersey number since the NFL adopted the current uniform numbering system in 1973.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester returned his first touchdown of the season, a 73-yard punt return, against the Kansas City Chiefs during Week 2. He nearly recorded a second touchdown return, but the play was negated by a holding penalty. Hester established himself as a threat on offense, when he caught an 81-yard touchdown pass from Brian Griese against the Minnesota Vikings. He also returned a punt for an 89-yard touchdown, though the Bears lost the game. In the weeks to come, many opposing special teams began to kick the ball away from Hester, contributing to, according to Mike Pereira, a 132% increase in kickoffs that went out-of-bounds. Rod Marinelli, the head coach of the Detroit Lions, placed a strong emphasis on kicking the ball away from Hester, saying, "kick the ball into Lake Michigan and make sure it (sinks) to the bottom."


title: Devin Hester

text: Before the Bears' Week 12 matchup against the Denver Broncos, Todd Sauerbrun infamously stated that he would kick the ball to Hester. Hester, who had not returned a kick for a touchdown in almost a month, responded by returning a punt and kickoff for touchdowns. Keith Olbermann, a commentator for "NBC Sunday Night Football", awarded Sauerbrun with the dubious "Worst Person in the NFL Award" for kicking the ball to Hester and failing to tackle him. The two touchdowns gave Hester the most kick returns for touchdowns in the Bears' franchise history. Hester concluded the season with a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown and a 55-yard touchdown reception against the New Orleans Saints. He was even given the opportunity to throw a pass on a variation of a wide receiver reverse, but he was sacked while motioning to Bernard Berrian.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester finished the season with six kicks returned for touchdowns, which set a league record. He finished the season ranking fourth on the League's all-time combined kick return list, behind Brian Mitchell (13), Eric Metcalf (12), and Dante Hall (12). Additionally, he amassed 299 yards on 20 receptions as a receiver, though he was often used as a decoy. His play on offense received mixed commentary. While the Bears’ coaching staff believed Hester showed enough progress to become one of the team's top receivers in 2008, Hester was prone to making small errors, including running routes incorrectly or dropping catches. He drew a 15-yard facemask penalty while attempting to fend off a would-be tackler in a game against the Saints, and received a $5,000 fine. Nevertheless, Hester concluded the season with four Player of the Week Awards, giving him a franchise-high total of seven in his career, and an invitation to the 2008 Pro Bowl.


title: Devin Hester

text: Prior to the beginning of the 2008 season, Hester stated that he would not attend the Bears' summer camp unless the team offered him a new contract. He further voiced his displeasure with his current contract in a phone interview with the "Chicago Tribune", commenting, "I can’t go out and play this year making $445,000. Come on, man." Adam Schefter believed that the Bears were puzzled over how Hester should be classified (as a wide receiver or a return specialist of such a star caliber), and be offered a contract accordingly. After receiving a $30,000 fine for not attending two days of training, Hester returned to the team's camp. The team later offered him a new four-year contract extension, worth over $40 million.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester missed the third game of the season after tearing cartilage in his ribs during the previous week. He returned to the field in the team's Week 4 contest against the Philadelphia Eagles, where he caught his first touchdown of the season. Lovie Smith gave Hester his first starting job as a wide receiver the next week, in place of the injured Brandon Lloyd. Hester went on to catch five passes for 66 yards and one touchdown. In the following week, Hester totaled 87 yards on six receptions.


title: Devin Hester

text: After a Week 8 bye, Hester caught four passes for 42 yards and had an 11-yard run against the Detroit Lions. He eventually lost his kick return duties to Danieal Manning, but began receiving more playing time as a wide receiver. Between Week 12 and 15, Hester caught 17 passes for 250 yards and one touchdown. David Haugh of the "Chicago Tribune" regarded Hester as the team's "biggest threat in the passing game". He concluded the season by catching 51 passes for a team high 665 yards. Unlike his previous two seasons in the NFL, Hester did not record a single touchdown return and only averaged 6.2 yards per punt return. Lovie Smith commented on Hester at the end of the season by saying, "I know his returns dropped off a little bit this year, but his plate was full there for a while. We think we have a happy medium now for him as a punt returner and continuing to develop as a receiver." Hester was also selected to play in the 2009 Pro Bowl as a third alternate.


title: Devin Hester

text: After the acquisition of Jay Cutler, Hester took on the role as the de facto number-one wide receiver. In the first game of the season, Hester caught seven passes from Cutler for 90 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown reception. In the following weeks Hester began to develop a rapport with Cutler and amassed 634 receiving yards and three touchdowns through the first ten weeks of the season. He played the best game of the season on October 25, 2009 against the Cincinnati Bengals, catching eight passes for 101 yards and a touchdown. In a game against the St. Louis Rams during the thirteenth week of the season, Hester injured his calf and missed three starts. Hester returned to play in the Bears season finale against the Detroit Lions, catching three passes for 75 yards. Despite missing the three starts, Hester led the team with 757 receiving yards, and finished behind Greg Olsen in receptions. Hester built his reputation around his kick returning abilities, but his kickoff-returning duties decreased significantly following the 2007 season finale. He told the "Chicago Tribune" that he plans on spending the offseason honing his receiving and returning skills by strengthening in his legs, especially to fully recover from the calf injury he sustained earlier.


title: Devin Hester

text: During the off-season, Hester worked on his speed and conditioning by prioritizing running over weight training. Bears offensive coordinator, Mike Martz, gave Hester the opportunity to work with Isaac Bruce, who was part of Martz's "Greatest Show on Turf". Bruce advised Hester on route-running and basic wide receiver fundamentals. Hester appeared in three preseason games, where he recorded five receptions for 64 yards.


title: Devin Hester

text: On September 19, the regular season, Hester caught four passes for 77 yards and a one-handed catch for a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys. The following week, Hester returned a punt for a 62-yard touchdown in a close game against the Green Bay Packers. This was his first touchdown return since the final week of the 2007 season against the New Orleans Saints. On October 17, Hester returned two punts for 93 yards and an 89-yard touchdown, in a 23–20 loss against the Seattle Seahawks. The touchdown tied the record for most combined kick and punt return touchdowns in a career with Brian Mitchell (13). In week 10 of the regular season, Hester caught four passes for 38 yards and a 19-yard touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings. Hester was given back his kick return duties, and returned two kicks for 100 yards including a run back of 68 yards. Hester also ran back two punts for 47 yards including a return of 42 yards. Two weeks later, Hester caught three balls for 86 yards from Jay Cutler, and returned a kick 46 yards in a 31–26 win against the Philadelphia Eagles. On December 20 in a game against the Minnesota Vikings, Hester scored on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Jay Cutler. Later, Hester returned a Chris Kluwe punt 64 yards for a touchdown, which set the all-time NFL record for combined kickoff and punt returns for touchdown with 14, passing Brian Mitchell. It was the tenth punt return for touchdown of his career, tying Eric Metcalf's record for the most punt return touchdowns in a career.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester finished the season with 40 receptions for 475 yards and four touchdowns. As a return specialist, he amassed 564 yards on punt returns, while averaging 17.1 yards per return and scored three touchdowns. Hester was the third leading scorer, behind running back Matt Forte and kicker Robbie Gould. His accomplishments in the 2010 season earned him 2 NFC Special Teams Player of The Week Awards, a trip to the 2011 Pro Bowl, and a selection to the All-Pro Team. Hester was ranked 32nd best player in the League in a poll where active NFL players ranked their top 100 peers.


title: Devin Hester

text: Prior to the 2011 season, the NFL passed a new rule that moved kickoffs to the 35-yard line from the 30-yard line. The change was a result of a player safety initiative to reduce injuries during kick-offs. The rule change directly resulted in a higher number of touchbacks and fewer returns. Hester commented on the situation stating, “They got a couple touchbacks but you’ve still got guys bringing it out and at the end of the day that rule is pointless.”


title: Devin Hester

text: On October 2, 2011, Hester became the NFL's all-time leader in punt return touchdowns with 11 when he returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown against the Carolina Panthers surpassing Eric Metcalf's record. On October 16, Hester returned a kickoff for a 98-yard touchdown against the Minnesota Vikings. On November 13, Hester returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown against the Detroit Lions.


title: Devin Hester

text: On April 30, 2012, Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice and general manager Phil Emery announced that Hester's role would be reduced down to at least 4th-string, and Tice mentioned that the Bears would utilize Hester in a series of plays called the "Hester Package", instead of an every-down receiver. In the season, Hester caught 23 passes, a career low, while only catching one touchdown, which occurred in Week 4 against the Dallas Cowboys. He also failed to return a kick/punt for a touchdown, and ranked 22nd in punt return average during 2012. After Lovie Smith's firing on December 31, Hester stated that he considered retirement, though he tweeted that his consideration was not related to Smith.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester exclusively saw playing time as a return specialist when Marc Trestman became the Bears’ head coach. In week two against the Minnesota Vikings, Hester broke the team record for most kickoff return yards in a game with 249. Four weeks later against the New York Giants, Hester passed Glyn Milburn for the most all-time kickoff return yards in franchise history with 4,643 yards. Against the Washington Redskins, Hester returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown for his 19th career return touchdown, tying Deion Sanders' record. In addition to Hester's NFL records, he is also the leader in career punt returns (264) and punt return yards (3,241) among active players. Hester ended the 2013 season having averaged 27.7 kickoff return yards and 14.2 punt return yards, while also leading the league in kickoff return yards with 1,442.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester became a free agent on March 11, 2014. He released a statement on March 5, 2014 that the Bears did not intend to re-sign him. Hester thanked the Bears organization and fan base for their support throughout his time in Chicago. Phil Emery, the Bears' general manager, commented on Hester's legacy, stating, "While Devin has redefined the pinnacle standard of the return position in the NFL, the memories and contributions he has given us cannot be measured by stats or numbers."


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester signed a three-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons on March 20, 2014. In his debut game with the Falcons, Hester caught five passes for 99 yards, helping lead the Falcons to a 37-34 Week 1 overtime victory over the New Orleans Saints. During Week 3, Hester brought back a 62-yard punt for his 20th career touchdown return, breaking the record for career non-offensive touchdowns he previously shared with Deion Sanders. Also in the same game, Hester recorded a rushing touchdown, forced fumble and fumble recovery. Hester was named the NFC's Special Teams Player of the Week for his accomplishments. Hester concluded the season with 504 receiving yards from 38 receptions and led the NFL with 1,128 kick-off return yards. He was also selected to play in the 2015 Pro Bowl.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester missed a majority of the 2015 NFL season due to a turf toe injury. The Falcons activated him from the injury reserve for the final five games of the season, but only used Hester on special teams. He tallied 235 yards kick return yards and 34 punt return yards, but failed to record a touchdown. Hester underwent foot surgery in January 2016 to repair the toe injury he sustained earlier in the season.


title: Devin Hester

text: On July 26, Hester was released by the Falcons. Hester attributed his dismissal to the lingering toe-injury he sustained in the previous season. He voiced interest in continuing his career in the NFL for the 2016 season once he has fully recovered.


title: Devin Hester

text: On September 4, 2016, Hester agreed to a one-year deal with the Baltimore Ravens. Hester appeared in 12 games for the Ravens, where he was used exclusively as a return specialist. He recorded 180 punt return yards and 466 kick return yards but failed to return a touchdown during the 2016 season. The Ravens released Hester on December 13.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester signed with the Seattle Seahawks on January 3, 2017. He debuted for the Seahawks in the first round of the 2016–17 playoffs against the Detroit Lions. Hester returned one kickoff for 20 yards and one punt for five yards against the Detroit Lions. During the Divisional Round, he returned five kickoffs for 194 yards, including 78- and 50-yard run backs against the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons defeated the Seahawks, 36–20. Hester announced his intentions to retire from professional football after the game.


title: Devin Hester

text: On December 12, 2017, Hester officially announced his retirement from the NFL. The Chicago Bears honored both Hester and former teammate Matt Forte on April 23, 2018, during a press conference at Halas Hall. The two players signed ceremonial one-day contracts to retire as members of the Bears. On September 22, 2021, Hester was nominated in his first year of eligibility to be inducted into the 2022 NFL Hall of Fame class.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester also returned a missed field goal 108 yards for a touchdown in a 2006 game against the New York Giants, and thus has 6 total TD for that season.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester was in a relationship with Tamara James, a women's basketball player he met at the University of Miami. James played professionally for the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. Their engagement was later called off. Later, Hester married Zingha Walcott, an elementary school teacher, in 2010. They have three sons and live in Windermere, Florida. Hester's family lives in Florida and was struck by Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Hester has assisted his family financially in helping them rebuild their home. His brother Lenorris Jr., lived with Hester during his tenure with the Bears. Raised in a Christian household, Hester brought a Bible to every game he played. Hester is also cousins with Aaron Hester who played for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League.


title: Devin Hester

text: Hester's successful rookie year drew him much publicity and popularity. Ever since his record-breaking performance against the Rams, Hester has been offered marketing opportunities from Nike, soft drink, and cell phone companies.


title: Devin Hester

text: There has also been a surge in the demand for Hester's jerseys within the Chicago area sporting stores. Also, Hester was invited to throw the ceremonial opening pitch and sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at the Chicago Cubs' 2007 home opener. Along with teammates Rex Grossman and Tommie Harris, Hester appeared on the February 2007 issue of "Sports Illustrated for Kids". His reputation has also been bolstered by EA Sports' "Madden NFL 08", where Hester's perfect 100 speed rating made him the fastest player in the game's history. Hester also appeared in a promotional video for the game. He appeared in commercials for Under Armour in 2008 and 2009. In 2013, Hester outran a cheetah in a race sponsored by National Geographic at Busch Gardens Tampa. The competition consisted of Hester running back and forth on a straight track to simulate laps, while the cheetah ran in a similar but separate track.


title: Devin Hester

text: In 2013, Hester founded the Anytime 23 Empowerment Center Inc., a non-profit organization that serves as a positive, nurturing and safe environment for kids ages 6–18. The organization was later renamed to "Devin Hester Foundation".


title: Song Yadong

text: Song Yadong (; born December 2, 1997) is a Chinese mixed martial artist who competes in the Bantamweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). As of December 6, 2022, he is #8 in the UFC bantamweight rankings.


title: Song Yadong

text: Raised by a single mother, Song was sent to a Sanda martial arts school at the age of nine. Song eventually begun training mixed martial arts at the age of 13, making his professional debut before his sixteenth birthday.


title: Song Yadong

text: In November 2017, it was announced that Song Yadong would step in on short notice, to fight the first ever Indian-born fighter in the UFC and fellow debutante, Baharat Kandare at in Shanghai, China. Song's UFC debut took place on the 25th November, 2017. Song landed fast counter punches, combinations and some heavy leg kicks, but at the end of the fourth minute, Song landed a right hand that knocked Khandare down, causing Khandare to reach for Song's legs to try and get a takedown; however, it was not a good attempt and Song was easily able to secure a front choke, giving Song his first UFC win and his third win by submission.


title: Song Yadong

text: In Song's second UFC fight, he faced Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and Muay Thai fighter, Felipe Arantes on June 23, 2018 at in Singapore. After a strong first round, with Song landing quick counter punches and securing top control after catching an Arantes' kick, the second round saw much of the same, except Arantes shot for a double-leg which ultimately resulted in Song easily shucking it off with Arantes, again, landing on his back with Song attempting an arm-triangle choke. However, with exactly a minute left in the second round, Arantes was able to force a stand up and returned to his feet. With 10 seconds remaining in the round, Arantes was being pushed against the fence and what was looking like another round being won by Song; Song landed a hard elbow, which forced Arantes to crumple onto his knees that forced the referee to jump in and end the fight, declaring Song the victor by way of technical knockout at 4:59 of the second round. With this win, Song received the Performance of the Night bonus which earned him an extra $50,000


title: Song Yadong

text: Song was expected to face Frankie Saenz on 24 November 2018 at UFC Fight Night 141. However, it was reported on November 7, 2018 that he pulled out of the event due to injury and he was replaced by newcomer Vince Morales. He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Song Yadong

text: Song was scheduled to face Alejandro Pérez on March 2, 2019 at UFC 235. However, it was reported on January 11, 2019 that he pulled out due to an undisclosed reason. He was replaced by Cody Stamann. The bout with Pérez was rescheduled and eventually took place on July 6, 2019 at UFC 239. Song won the fight via knockout in the first round. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.


title: Song Yadong

text: Song faced Cody Stamann on December 7, 2019 at UFC on ESPN 7. After three round fight, the fight ended with a majority draw.


title: Song Yadong

text: Song faced Marlon Vera in a featherweight bout on May 16, 2020 at . He won the fight via unanimous decision. Both participants earned the "Fight of the Night "award.


title: Song Yadong

text: Song faced Julio Arce on November 13, 2021 at UFC Fight Night 197. He won the fight via technical knockout in round two.


title: Song Yadong

text: Song faced Marlon Moraes on March 12, 2022 at UFC Fight Night 203. He won the fight via knockout in round one. This win earned him the "Performance of the Night" award.


title: Song Yadong

text: Song faced Cory Sandhagen on September 17, 2022 at UFC Fight Night 210. He lost the fight via technical knockout after doctor stopped the fight.


title: Blanka Lipińska

text: Blanka Lipińska (born 22 July 1985) is a Polish author best known for her erotic trilogy beginning with "365 Dni" ("365 Days"). The first and second novels were adapted into the 2020 and for which she co-wrote the screenplay and in which she has a cameo.


title: Blanka Lipińska

text: She was born in Puławy, southeastern Poland, to Małgorzata and Grzegorz Lipiński. After graduating from high school, she has finished cosmetology post-secondary school.


title: Blanka Lipińska

text: Prior to becoming an author, Lipińska worked as a therapist-hypnotist. She enjoys sports and fitness as well as sailing.


title: Blanka Lipińska

text: Lipińska's three books are part of a trilogy. They were first published in Polish. An English translation of the first book was released in January 2021, with the second, "That Day", due in 2022. The events in all three books occur within a few months of each other. Lipińska said that the inspiration for her erotic trilogy was "Fifty Shades of Grey" and a personal holiday trip to Sicily. She has described the works as semi-autobiographical.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: The Hasmonean dynasty (; "Ḥašmōnaʾīm") was a ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity, from BCE to 37 BCE. Between and BCE the dynasty ruled Judea semi-autonomously in the Seleucid Empire, and from roughly 110 BCE, with the empire disintegrating, Judea gained further autonomy and expanded into the neighboring regions of Perea, Samaria, Idumea, Galilee, and Iturea. Some modern scholars regard the Hasmonean realm as an independent Israel.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: The Hasmonean rulers took the Greek title "basileus" ("king" or "emperor"). Forces of the Roman Republic conquered the Hasmonean kingdom in 63 BCE and made it into a client state; Herod the Great displaced the last reigning Hasmonean client-ruler in 37 BCE.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: Simon Thassi established the dynasty in 141 BCE, two decades after his brother Judas Maccabeus ( "Yehudah HaMakabi") had defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt of 167 to 141 BCE. According to 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, and the first book of "The Jewish War" by historian Flavius Josephus (37 CE–), the Seleucid Emperor Antiochus IV () moved to assert strict control over the Seleucid satrapy of Coele Syria and Phoenicia after his successful invasion of Ptolemaic Egypt (170–168 BCE) was turned back by the intervention of the Roman Republic. He sacked Jerusalem and its Temple, suppressing Jewish and Samaritan religious and cultural observances,


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: and imposed Hellenistic practices ( 168–167 BCE). The steady collapse of the Seleucid Empire under attacks from the rising powers of the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire allowed Judea to regain some autonomy; however, in 63 BCE, the kingdom was invaded by the Roman Republic, broken up and set up as a Roman client state.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, Simon's great-grandsons, became pawns in a proxy war between Julius Caesar and Pompey. The deaths of Pompey (48 BCE) and Caesar (44 BCE), and the related Roman civil wars, temporarily relaxed Rome's grip on the Hasmonean kingdom, allowing a brief reassertion of autonomy backed by the Parthian Empire, rapidly crushed by the Romans under Mark Antony and Augustus.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: The Hasmonean dynasty had survived for 103 years before yielding to the Herodian dynasty in 37 BCE. The installation of Herod the Great (an Idumean) as king in 37 BCE made Judea a Roman client state and marked the end of the Hasmonean dynasty. Even then, Herod tried to bolster the legitimacy of his reign by marrying a Hasmonean princess, Mariamne, and planning to drown the last male Hasmonean heir at his Jericho palace. In 6 CE, Rome joined Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea into the Roman province of Judaea. In 44 CE, Rome installed the rule of a procurator side by side with the rule of the Herodian kings (specifically Agrippa I 41–44 and Agrippa II 50–100).


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: The family name of the Hasmonean dynasty originates with the ancestor of the house, whom Josephus Flavius called by the Hellenised form Asmoneus or Asamoneus (), said to have been the great-grandfather of Mattathias, but about whom nothing more is known. The name appears to come from the Hebrew name "Hashmonay" (חַשְׁמוֹנַאי "Ḥašmōnaʾy"). An alternative view posits that the Hebrew name "Hashmona'i" is linked with the village of Heshmon, mentioned in . Gott and Licht attribute the name to "Ha Simeon," a veiled reference to the Simeonite Tribe.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: The lands of the former Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah (–586 BCE), had been occupied in turn by Assyria, Babylonia, the Achaemenid Empire, and Alexander the Great's Hellenic Macedonian empire ( BCE), although Jewish religious practice and culture had persisted and even flourished during certain periods. The entire region was heavily contested between the successor states of Alexander's empire, the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt, during the six Syrian Wars of the 3rd–1st centuries BCE: "After two centuries of peace under the Persians, the Hebrew state found itself once more caught in the middle of power struggles between two great empires: the Seleucid state with its capital in Syria to the north and the Ptolemaic state, with its capital in Egypt to the south...Between 319 and 302 BC, Jerusalem changed hands seven times."


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: Under Antiochus III, the Seleucids wrested control of Judea from the Ptolemies for the final time, defeating Ptolemy V Epiphanes at the Battle of Panium in 200 BCE. Seleucid rule over the Jewish parts of the region then resulted in the rise of Hellenistic cultural and religious practices: "In addition to the turmoil of war, there arose in the Jewish nation pro-Seleucid and pro-Ptolemaic parties; and the schism exercised great influence upon the Judaism of the time. It was in Antioch that the Jews first made the acquaintance of Hellenism and of the more corrupt sides of Greek culture; and it was from Antioch that Judea henceforth was ruled."


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: The major source of information about the origin of the Hasmonean dynasty is the books 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees, held as canonical scripture by the Catholic, Orthodox, and most Oriental Orthodox churches and as apocryphal by Protestant denominations, although they do not comprise the canonical books of the Hebrew Bible.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: The books cover the period from 175 BCE to 134 BCE during which time the Hasmonean dynasty became semi-independent from the Seleucid empire but had not yet expanded far outside of Judea. They are written from the point of view that the salvation of the Jewish people in a crisis came from God through the family of Mattathias, particularly his sons Judas Maccabeus, Jonathan Apphus, and Simon Thassi, and his grandson John Hyrcanus. The books include historical and religious material from the Septuagint that was codified by Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: The other primary source for the Hasmonean dynasty is the first book of "The Wars of the Jews" and a more detailed history in "Antiquities of the Jews" by the Jewish historian Josephus, (37– 100 CE). Josephus' account is the only primary source covering the history of the Hasmonean dynasty during the period of its expansion and independence between 110 to 63 BCE. Notably, Josephus, a Roman citizen and former general in the Galilee, who survived the Jewish–Roman wars of the 1st century, was a Jew who was captured by and cooperated with the Romans, and wrote his books under Roman patronage.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: The continuing Hellenization of Judea pitted traditional Jews against those who eagerly Hellenized. The latter felt that the former's orthodoxy held them back. Jews were divided both between those favoring Hellenization and those opposing it and over allegiance to the Ptolemies or Seleucids.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: In 175 BCE, conflict broke out between High Priest Onias III (who opposed Hellenisation and favoured the Ptolemies) and his son Jason (who favoured Hellenisation and the Seleucids). A period of political intrigue followed, with both Jason and Menelaus bribing the king to win the High Priesthood, and accusations of murder of competing contenders for the title. The result was a brief civil war. The Tobiads, a philo-Hellenistic party, succeeded in placing Jason into the powerful position of High Priest. He established an arena for public games close by the Temple. Author Lee I. Levine notes, "The 'piece de resistance' of Judaean Hellenisation, and the most dramatic of all these developments, occurred in 175 BCE, when the high priest Jason converted Jerusalem into a Greek polis replete with gymnasium and ephebeion (2 Maccabees 4). Whether this step represents the culmination of a 150-year process of Hellenisation within Jerusalem in general, or whether it was only the initiative of a small coterie of Jerusalem priests with no wider ramifications, has been debated for decades." Hellenised Jews are known to have engaged in non-surgical foreskin restoration (epispasm) in order to join the dominant Hellenistic cultural practice of socialising naked in the gymnasium, where their circumcision would have carried a social stigma; Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman culture found circumcision to be a cruel, barbaric and repulsive custom.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: In spring 168 BCE, after successfully invading the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt, Antiochus IV was humiliatingly pressured by the Romans to withdraw. According to the Roman historian Livy, the Roman senate dispatched the diplomat Gaius Popilius to Egypt who demanded Antiochus to withdraw. When Antiochus requested time to discuss the matter Popilius "drew a circle round the king with the stick he was carrying and said, 'Before you step out of that circle give me a reply to lay before the senate.'"


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: While Antiochus was campaigning in Egypt, a rumor spread in Judah that he had been killed. The deposed high priest Jason took advantage of the situation, attacked Jerusalem, and drove away Menelaus and his followers. Menelaus took refuge in Akra, the Seleucids fortress in Jerusalem. When Antiochus heard of this, he sent an army to Jerusalem to sort things out. Jerusalem was taken, Jason and his followers were driven out, and Menelaus reinstated as high priest.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: He then imposed a tax and established a fortress in Jerusalem. Antiochus tried to suppress public observance of Jewish laws, apparently in an attempt to secure control over the Jews. His government set up an idol of Zeus on the Temple Mount, which Jews considered to be desecration of the Mount; it also forbade both circumcision and possession of Jewish scriptures, on pain of death. According to Josephus,"Now Antiochus was not satisfied either with his unexpected taking the city, or with its pillage, or with the great slaughter he had made there; but being overcome with his violent passions, and remembering what he had suffered during the siege, he compelled the Jews to dissolve the laws of their country, and to keep their infants uncircumcised, and to sacrifice swine's flesh upon the altar."


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: He also outlawed observance of the Sabbath and the offering of sacrifices at the Jerusalem Temple and required Jewish leaders to sacrifice to idols; punitive executions were also instituted. Possession of Jewish scriptures was made a capital offence. The motives of Antiochus are unclear. He may have been incensed at the overthrow of his appointee, Menelaus, he may have been responding to a Jewish revolt that had drawn on the Temple and the Torah for its strength, or he may have been encouraged by a group of radical Hellenisers among the Jews.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: The author of the First Book of Maccabees regarded the Maccabean revolt as a rising of pious Jews against the Seleucid king who had tried to eradicate their religion and against the Jews who supported him. The author of the Second Book of Maccabees presented the conflict as a struggle between "Judaism" and "Hellenism", words that he was the first to use. Modern scholarship tends to the second view.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: Most modern scholars argue that the king was intervening in a civil war between traditionalist Jews in the countryside and Hellenised Jews in Jerusalem. According to Joseph P. Schultz, modern scholarship, "considers the Maccabean revolt less as an uprising against foreign oppression than as a civil war between the orthodox and reformist parties in the Jewish camp." In the conflict over the office of High Priest, traditionalists with Hebrew/Aramaic names like Onias contested against Hellenisers with Greek names like Jason or Menelaus. Other authors point to social and economic factors in the conflict. What began as a civil war took on the character of an invasion when the Hellenistic kingdom of Syria sided with the Hellenising Jews against the traditionalists. As the conflict escalated, Antiochus prohibited the practices of the traditionalists, thereby, in a departure from usual Seleucid practice, banning the religion of an entire people. Other scholars argue that while the rising began as a religious rebellion, it was gradually transformed into a war of national liberation.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: The two greatest twentieth-century scholars of the Maccabean revolt, Elias Bickermann and Victor Tcherikover, each placed the blame on the policies of the Jewish leaders and not on the Seleucid ruler, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, but for different reasons.<br>Bickermann saw the origin of the problem in the attempt of "Hellenised" Jews to reform the "antiquated" and "outdated" religion practised in Jerusalem, and to rid it of superstitious elements. They were the ones who egged on Antiochus IV and instituted the religious reform in Jerusalem. One suspects that [Bickermann] may have been influenced in his view by an antipathy to Reform Judaism in 19th- and 20th-century Germany. Tcherikover, perhaps influenced by socialist concerns, saw the uprising as one of the rural peasants against the rich elite.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: According to I and II Maccabees, the priestly family of Mattathias (Mattitiyahu in Hebrew), which came to be known as the "Maccabees", called the people forth to holy war against the Seleucids. Mattathias' sons Judas (Yehuda), Jonathan (Yonoson/Yonatan), and Simon (Shimon) began a military campaign, initially with disastrous results: one thousand Jewish men, women, and children were killed by Seleucid troops because they refused to fight, even in self-defence, on the Sabbath. Other Jews then reasoned that they must fight when attacked, even on the Sabbath. The institution of guerrilla warfare practices by Judah over several years led to victory against the Seleucids:


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: It was now, in the fall of 165, that Judah's successes began to disturb the central government. He appears to have controlled the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and thus to have cut off the royal party in Acra from direct communication with the sea and thus with the government. It is significant that this time the Syrian troops, under the leadership of the governor-general Lysias, took the southerly route, by way of Idumea.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: Towards the end of 164, Judah felt strong enough to enter Jerusalem and the formal religious worship of Yahweh was re-established. The feast of Hanukkah was instituted to commemorate the recovery of the temple. Antiochus, who was away on a campaign against the Parthians, died at about the same time in Persis. Antiochus was succeeded by Demetrius I Soter, the nephew whose throne he had usurped. Demetrius sent the general Bacchides to Israel with a large army, in order to install Alcimus with the office of high priest. Bacchides subdued Jerusalem and returned to his King.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: After five years of war and raids, Judah sought an alliance with the Roman Republic to remove the Greeks: "In the year 161 BCE he sent Eupolemus the son of Johanan and Jason the son of Eleazar, 'to make a league of amity and confederacy with the Romans.'"


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: A Seleucid army under General Nicanor was defeated by Judah (ib. 7:26–50) at the Battle of Adasa, with Nicanor himself killed in action. Next, Bacchides was sent with Alcimus and an army of twenty thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry, and met Judah at the Battle of Elasa (Laisa), where this time it was the Hasmonean commander who was killed. (161/160 BCE). Bacchides now established the Hellenes as rulers in Israel; and upon Judah's death, the persecuted patriots, under Jonathan, brother of Judah, fled beyond the Jordan River. (ib. 9:25–27) They set camp near a morass by the name of Asphar, and remained, after several engagements with the Seleucids, in the swamp in the country east of the Jordan.


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: Following the death of his puppet governor Alcimus, High Priest of Jerusalem, Bacchides felt secure enough to leave the country, but two years after the departure of Bacchides from Israel, the City of Acre felt sufficiently threatened by Maccabee incursions to contact Demetrius and request the return of Bacchides to their territory. Jonathan and Simeon, now more experienced in guerrilla warfare, thought it well to retreat farther, and accordingly fortified in the desert a place called Beth-hogla; there they were besieged several days by Bacchides. Jonathan offered the rival general a peace treaty and exchange of prisoners of war. Bacchides readily consented and even took an oath of nevermore making war upon Jonathan. He and his forces then vacated Israel. The victorious Jonathan now took up his residence in the old city of Michmash. From there he endeavoured to clear the land of "the godless and the apostate". The chief source, 1 Maccabees, says that with this "the sword ceased in Israel", and in fact nothing is reported for the five following years (158–153 BCE).


title: Hasmonean dynasty

text: An important external event brought the design of the Maccabeans to fruition. Demetrius I Soter's relations with Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamon (reigned 159–138 BCE), Ptolemy VI of Egypt (reigned 163–145 BCE), and Ptolemy's co-ruler Cleopatra II of Egypt were deteriorating, and they supported a rival claimant to the Seleucid throne: Alexander Balas, who purported to be the son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes and a first cousin of Demetrius. Demetrius was forced to recall the garrisons of Judea, except those in the City of Acre and at Beth-zur, to bolster his strength. Furthermore, he made a bid for the loyalty of Jonathan, permitting him to recruit an army and to reclaim the hostages kept in the City of Acre. Jonathan gladly accepted these terms, took up residence at Jerusalem in 153 BCE, and began fortifying the city.