title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: David Brown Ltd. is in Lockwood in Huddersfield; this company owned Aston Martin from 1947 to 1972 and the company is now part of Textron. In Huddersfield are Cummins Turbo Technologies (former Holset) who make turbochargers, VTL Group make automotive components, Fired Up Group who own Armco Security and Corby of Windsor (trouser press), Brook Crompton (electric motors) and Graham Group (plumbing retail). To the east of Fired Up is Britannia Rescue (owned by LV) at the A616/B6432 junction. Broadbent, make industrial centrifuges in central Huddersfield. Many fabric companies are in Huddersfield and the surrounding areas; Taylor & Lodge, owned by Bulmer & Lumb of Bradford, wove cloth for the 2011 Royal Wedding; Dugdale Bros & Co are in the centre. Novaglaze produced the glass for the London Eye. Trojan Plastics is the UK's largest bath manufacturer in Milnsbridge in west Huddersfield next to the River Colne. Thornton & Ross healthcare is on the A62 next to the River Colne in Linthwaite. Dathan Tool & Gauge (cutting tools) are in Meltham. John Cotton at the A62/A644 junction in Mirfield are Europe's largest producer of duvets. Camira Fabrics (fabrics for public transport) is based at Hopton Mills, south of Mirfield, with a manufacturing site off the B6108 in the east of Meltham, and makes the upholstery for London buses; further north next to River Calder is a site of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories in the south of Mirfield. Overlooked by the Emley Moor tower at the "Grange Moor Roundabout" off the A637 and A642 (towards Wakefield) at Grange Moor in Kirkburton is Bonmarché, previously owned by Peacocks until 2012.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Hickson & Welch (owned by Arch Chemicals) were in Castleford and closed in 2005. Netto UK (previously owned by Asda) was in South Elmsall until 2011. Nestle made Toffee Crisp and After Eight in Castleford until 2012 then made in Halifax, and Haribo makes liquorice and Pontefract cakes in Pontefract. Burberry had a main clothing factory in Castleford until the end of 2015, which is planned to move to Leeds. Cott Beverages are between the A645 and the railway in the east of Pontefract (former Benjamin Shaw & Sons before 2006); Tangerine Confectionery (former Cadbury-owned Monkhill Confectionery) make Butterkist (the UK's best-selling) popcorn north of Cott Beverages, near Pontefract Monkhill railway station, on the site which claims to be the birthplace of liquorice. Ardagh Glass UK is in the south of Knottingley, with sites at Monk Bretton and Wheatley (Doncaster). Stölzle Flaconnage (former Bagley's before 1994) makes glass containers, between the A645 and the Aire and Calder Navigation, and further along the A645, Tradebe recycle solvents. Total Lubricants UK is in Knottingley (Ferrybridge Hill) on the B6136. Plasmor (concrete) is in the south-east of Knottingley, with a large site at Great Heck next to a former airfield where H+H (Danish) make aircrete; both sites imported pulverised fuel ash (PFA) from the former Eggborough power station; in east Knottingley, off the A645, Croda Hydrocarbons (bitumen) closed in 2008.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Teva Pharmaceutical Industries UK is next to the M62 at Castleford, near Glasshoughton railway station. LPA Group off the A655 in Hopetown, Normanton makes LED lighting for trains; Poundworld was founded on a Wakefield market in 1974, and the family-owned company has 240 shops. To the west, Napier Brown (part of Real Good Food) makes Whitworths' sugar in Hopetown. On the other side of the M62 (junction 31) in Whitwood, Pioneer Technology UK closed their large plasma TV factory in March 2009. Coca-Cola UK claim to have the largest soft drinks factory in the world at its 41-acre site, with 71,000 sq metres of buildings, at Outwood, which was built in 1989, and produces 6,000 cans (over 100 cans a second, on three canning lines) and 3,300 bottles a minute (seven PET bottling lines, the fastest 2 litre bottling plant in the world), producing 100 million cases of soft drinks a year; the bottle caps are made out of HDPE. To keep up with supply, Rexam have a can factory next door. Nearby is the headquarters of Card Factory, with over 800 shops is Britain's biggest card shop chain and started in 1997; opposite is the Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation, which buys stock for most of the region's metropolitan boroughs and North Yorkshire, on south-west side of Wakefield 41. On the other side of the roundabout is Mitre Sports International. Morrisons have their Rathbones Bakeries on Wakefield 41.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Group Rhodes off the A638 in east Wakefield, make machine cells. On the Flanshaw Ind Est in west Wakefield is Technal (aluminium facades) and Wicona, part of Norsk Hydro. Bombardier built trains at Horbury until 2006 where they made CrossCountry's Class 221 "Super Voyager" and Class 220 "Voyager" (and were also assembled at the BN plant in Bruges, Belgium and Crespin in France, the former ANF Industrie). Northern Foods are now based at Trinity Business Park off the A636 south of Wakefield town centre. Wakefield Shirt Group is next to the River Calder. Double TWO shirts are based off the A638 in central Wakefield. Nooter/Eriksen UK is off the A636 next to Denby Dale railway station, and produce heat recovery steam generator (HRSGs)


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Sheffield is known for its steel industry, which has declined in recent years. Outokumpu (former British Steel plc Stainless) near the Tinsley Viaduct make stainless steel, just north of the former airport, with access via the A631. Polestar is on the A631 in former Brinsworth, now in Sheffield (Tinsley).On the opposite side of the A631 is Betafence UK, part of the world's main fencing manufacturer, and its second biggest plant; near the start of the A631 is Tuffnells Parcel Express (owned by Connect Group since 2014). Nearby, Nederman UK make fume extraction equipment. Durham Duplex and High Speed and Carbide make razor blades and industrial knives on the B6082 in Wood Hill. Nearby Davy Markham (owned by IVRCL) on the A6102 at Darnall, fabricate steel and it has one of largest engineering workshops in western Europe. In the same area is William Cook Cast Products.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Egginton make cutlery in Netherthorpe, in the St Vincent's Quarter east of the Shalesmoor A61 roundabout, which owns Ibberson, George Wostenholm, William Rodgers (who make the Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife), and Joseph Rodgers, the world's oldest brand of cutlery known for their pen-knives and military knives. Magtec, on the B6083 in Brightside next to the River Don, makes diesel-electric hybrid drive systems that can be retro-fitted to vehicles. Technicut is the UK's market leader in rotary cutting tools on the A6178 in Brightside. Arconic Forgings is at Carbrook off the A6102. Gripple make connectors for wire fences. British Silverware is off the A6109, in the industrial area. SCX Group in Wincobank built the retractable roof for the No. 1 Court (Wimbledon). Polestar, at Tinsley off the A631 next to the M1, claim to have the most advanced gravure printing plant in Europe. Tinsley Bridge off the A631 makes suspension springs and torsion bars. SIG plc (Europe's largest insulation distributor) and Stanley Tools UK are at the former city airport, with a manufacturing plant off the A631 on the Hellaby Ind Estate next to the M18, and had a former site on the B6075 in Sheffield. Siemens VAI UK is on Sheffield Business Park near the former airport, with EVO Group, who own the Banner stationery company, and Ansys (Fluent and CFX computational fluid dynamics software) has one of two main offices. Go Outdoors, owned by JD Sports since 2016, are in the south of Sheffield, near Bramall Lane off the A61; Hi Gear Products, their brand is on the Boston Street Ind Est.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Cadbury UK (formerly Bassett's) make liquorice allsorts in the north of Sheffield on the A61 next-door to Owlerton Stadium; it is Cadbury's Gum & Liquorice division, and also makes Belvita and Oreo for UK market. Swann Morton is a world-leading manufacturer of scalpel blades and medical equipment at Owlerton opposite Bassetts on the A61. Plusnet (owned by BT), learndirect (owned by Ufi Ltd), Online Centres Network, and Jobcentre Plus are in the city centre. Virgin Media have a main contact centre (former Telewest) directly south of Don Valley Stadium, and next to the tram line. Spear & Jackson, the garden tool company, are in the north of Sheffield. B. Braun Medical is at High Green, next to the A616 roundabout in Chapeltown, and Ronseal (owned by Sherwin-Williams) is nearby further south on northern edge of Chapeltown. MachineWorks in Sheffield is the leading developer of CNC simulation on the B6069 near Sheffield Botanical Gardens.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Rosebys were in Rotherham, before 2008, and KP make their nuts in Eastwood, to the north of the town. MTL Group, a steel fabrication company, is based off the A631 in Brinsworth who claim to have the largest press brake in the world (made by Ursviken). Swinden House is home of Liberty Speciality Steels's main Swinden Technology Centre, its main R&D centre in the UK, opposite Rotherham General Hospital on the A618. Brinsworth Strip Mills, run by Liberty Speciality Steels (former Corus Steel Narrow Strip), is opposite the Magna museum, south of the A6178, and makes narrow strip steel. The Primary Mill makes steel billets and blooms – continuous casting with an electric arc furnace with a melting shop, and is also known as Aldwarke Works. Thrybergh Mill is east of the river off the A630, making steel bar, in a rolling mill. The Brightbar Mill is off the A6123, on the west side of the railway next to Rawmarsh, making coiled bar, in a rolling mill. These three sites around are known as Rotherham Works. Beatson Clark (owned by Newship Group) makes glass containers off the A6123 north of Rotherham Central railway station.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Dormer Tools UK (owned by Sandvik) is on Waverley Business Park (Advanced Manufacturing Park) in Catcliffe, off the B6066 next to Morrisons. LuK UK (owned by the Schaeffler Group) make clutches at Wales, south of Aston near the M1 junction 31 with the A57. Jeld-Wen UK (former Boulton & Paul) make doors on Swallownest Ind Est on the B6200 in Aston cum Aughton. Laycast were nearby until November 2006, based off the B6200 at Aston cum Aughton, at which steel flywheels, vibration dampers and compacted graphite iron clutch plates were cast at its foundry. Kiveton Park Steel is on the B6059 next to Kiveton Park railway station, mostly in North and South Anston (east of Wales).


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Macalloy in Dinnington is a world-leader in threaded tension bar. Fresh-Pak Chilled Foods, off the A633 at Waterside Park, Wombwell, make most of the egg mayonnaise (250 tonnes a week) found in British sandwiches and for sandwich fillers. Morphy Richards and Roberts Radio are based between Swinton and Mexborough. Maplin Electronics is based on the former site of Manvers Main Colliery in Wath-upon-Dearne, off the A6023, with the call centre of EE (former Orange) broadband next door. The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (Sector Skills Councils) is nearby, next to Dearne Valley College, which also looks after Investors in People. Stelrad in Swinton Bridge is the UK's largest producer of domestic radiators, producing 2.5 million a year, and Europe's leading radiator company, based off the A6022. MGB Plastics, on the A6123 in north Rotherham on Barbot Hall Ind Estate, are the UK's largest manufacturer of wheelie bins, making around 1 million per year.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: North-east of Barnsley is Ardagh Glass at Monk Bretton. Slightly further north is Mr Kipling at Carlton; the site was Lyons Cakes (making their Battenberg cakes, Viennese Whirls and Swiss rolls) before April 1995, then RHM's Manor Bakeries until 2007, and makes their "exceedingly good" fruit pies; one million chocolate yule logs are made there and it is the largest mince pie factory in the world. Jack Fulton (Frozen Value Ltd) is next to the railway, off the A637 at Darton. Wharncliffe Publishing are in Barnsley, and to the east on the A628 in Oakwell, Potters Europe (former Ballotini) make glass microspheres for road reflectors. Galpharm International (bought by Perrigo in January 2008) and Koyo Bearings are at Dodworth near Barnsley. BRC on the Claycliffe Ind Estate, off the A637 in the north of Barnsley, makes rebar (steel reinforcement). Naylor Industries, off the B6096 between Wombwell and Darfield make earthenware pipes for drainage. Kostal UK make steering column switches and electrical connectors off the A635 at Highgate in Goldthorpe. On the A6195 Grimethorpe Bypass at Little Houghton is the NDC of ASOS.com, in the Dearne Valley, near the former site of Houghton Main Colliery. Lotus Professional (owned since 2012 by SCA) is off the A6102 north of Oughtibridge, north-west of Sheffield, in Wortley.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: DFS is at Adwick le Street near the A1/A638 junction. Crompton Lighting have their main factory in Wheatley Park on the A630 in north-east Doncaster. Unipart have a headquarters next to Wabtec, who make railway air brakes, off the A6182 near Potteric Carr at the J3 Business Park, near VolkerRail; nearby are two Amazon fulfilment centres, with another at the Doncaster iPort in Rossington. Relate (former Marriage Guidance Council) is based off the A6182 – and on same site VolkerRail Doncaster is next to DB Cargo UK (former EWS), Schenck Process UK, and Thales have a data centre next door. Webasto have their UK headquarters next to Lakeside Village, Doncaster on the A6182, and make sunroofs and air-conditioning systems. McCormick Tractors had a tractor plant in Doncaster until 2007. Bridon International, a world-leading manufacturer of wire ropes (part of Melrose Industries), are based at Balby Carr, off St Catherines Interchange junction 3 of the M18, and Montracon (vehicle trailers) are headquartered there, with a manufacturing site at Market Weighton; nearby are Darfen Durafencing have been trading for over 100 years, and are the market leader in permanent fencing. Pegler Yorkshire (owned by Aalberts) are near the A630 in Balby Carr, further along from Bridon, with MSI-Quality Forgings opposite with Global-MSI who manufacture petrol station forecourts. Polypipe (uPVC pipes) is in Edlington. CME Sanitary Systems in Warmsworth (a former division of Polypipe, now owned by Wirquin of France) makes the UK's best selling plastic toilet seats off the Warmsworth Interchange of the A1(M). Fellowes UK (stationery) is based on West Moor Park, off West Moor Interchange junction 4 of the M18 (A630) in Armthorpe. Wirquin UK (plumbing) is off the B6376 in Warmsworth.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: There are 15 local education authorities in the Yorkshire and Humber region. The schools in each authority are listed in the following –


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Schools are mostly comprehensive, with some grammar schools in North Yorkshire, Calderdale and Kirklees.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: There are around 235,000 at the region's secondary schools, the 4th lowest for English regions. The region has the highest overall truancy rate in England for both urban and rural areas. Inside the region for districts, Leeds has the highest rate with 6.9% persistent truants at secondary school, then Hull is second with 6.3%. Calderdale has the lowest truancy rate for unitary authorities, almost half that of Leeds, followed by North Lincolnshire. For districts Craven has the lowest rate.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: The schools in Hull have often performed among the worst (on average) in England at GCSE after Knowsley in Merseyside. To Hull's credit, three schools in its LEA get above-average GCSE results whereas Knowsley usually has none (it managed two in 2010). Also at GCSE, schools in Barnsley and Bradford have low-achieving results with Barnsley the worst of these, and the lowest in the region in 2010. All three of these areas coincidentally have an above-average teenage pregnancy problem. In past years, Doncaster would be included in this group, but has managed to perform much better. For the metropolitan areas, Calderdale and Wakefield consistently perform the best, with both above the England average. Rotherham usually has the best results in South Yorkshire, but in 2010 it was Doncaster. York and North Yorkshire consistently perform the best at GCSE in the region, and with the East Riding of Yorkshire have results above the UK average.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Schoolchildren in Kingston upon Hull are most likely not to pass any GCSEs – over 6% with Bradford having a similar proportion, closely followed by Sheffield and North East Lincolnshire. The East Riding of Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire have the fewest not passing any GCSEs, followed by York.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: For OFSTED inspections across England, the region has the highest proportion of schools (2.7%) with bad behaviour and the lowest proportion (16.3%) of schools with good behaviour. South West England has the best behaving schoolchildren. Inside the region, Hull has the highest proportion (16.7%) of schools with bad behaviour – the worst in England (Wandsworth and Bristol come joint second) – and York schools have the highest proportion (30%) of schools with outstanding behaviour.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: At A-level North Lincolnshire, Kirklees, Hull, York and North Yorkshire perform quite well with Kirklees consistently being the best by a large margin and one of the highest in England, all having results above the England average. Wakefield and Calderdale were also close to the England average. The excellent Kirklees result is due to Greenhead College in Huddersfield, and North Lincolnshire's results are due to the John Leggott College, also a sixth form college. The districts of South Yorkshire perform the least in the area at A-level with Rotherham having the best results in this area, slightly below-average, and the other three districts achieve similar results, much lower than those in the former districts of Humberside. Leeds and Bradford now get the lowest results in West Yorkshire.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: For both A-level and GCSE, Barnsley and Bradford are very low performing, with Barnsley usually getting the lowest A-level results in the region, but in 2010 North East Lincolnshire came bottom with unusually low results. Hull and northern Lincolnshire have a wide socio-economic diversity – many under-achieving pupils at 16 but with high performers at A-level. Hull, although much worse at GCSE, outperforms the East Riding of Yorkshire at A-level.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: School children in North Yorkshire (with York and Kirklees) are the most likely to go to university – they also get the best A level results, and those in the East Riding of Yorkshire are likely to go to university, but get lower overall A level results.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: There are twenty seven FE colleges. The main four colleges are Bradford College, East Riding College, Doncaster College, Grimsby Institute, and Hull College.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: There are ten universities and three higher education colleges in Yorkshire and the Humber, along with (in 2007) 27 Further Education colleges teaching some Higher Education courses.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: The Krebs Cycle was discovered at the University of Sheffield in 1937. Liquid crystal displays were developed by the University of Hull in 1972, in conjunction with the Royal Radar Establishment in Worcestershire. Low fat spreads were developed at the University of Leeds (in conjunction with Unilever) in the 1980s, and in the 1930s William Astbury's x-ray diffraction experiments at the university started the road to the discovery of the double helix structure.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Sheffield Hallam University is the largest in the region with 37,000 students, but does not have the most funding. The University of Leeds is not too far behind. The University of York, a large campus similar to a collegiate university, gets much less funding than Leeds and Sheffield, but has quite a high research grant for its size, about half that of Leeds or Sheffield. The other universities do not have large research grants. Leeds and Sheffield have around twice as much total income than any other university. York and Bradford are the two smallest universities.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Local BBC Television comes from "BBC Look North" in Leeds, "BBC Look North" in Hull, "BBC Look North" in Newcastle and BBC North West Tonight in Salford. ITV Yorkshire is on "Kirkstall Road" to the west of Leeds city centre, which broadcasts "Calendar" and some national programming. ITV Granada and ITV Tyne Tees also cover parts of the region. Digital switchover took place in August 2011 for most of the region, with Emley Moor (the main TV transmitter for West, South and North Yorkshire) converting to digital in mid-September. Emley Moor is the tallest free-standing structure in the UK, and the 25th tallest in the world, and was designed by Ove Arup. The original tower famously collapsed in March 1969.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: High Hunsley transmitter covers most of the region and overlap into other regions. Local commercial stations include Pulse 1 (Bradford), Greatest Hits Radio Yorkshire, Hallam FM (Sheffield), Heart Yorkshire (Tingley), Capital Yorkshire and 107.8 Beverley FM.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: National radio is broadcast from Belmont in the south-east, Bilsdale for North Yorkshire, and Holme Moss for South and West Yorkshire. Moorside Edge east of Scammonden Water near the M62 is a main 5 Live transmitter on 909MW.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Polestar Petty in central Leeds, with web offset, for many years printed "TVTimes", "Radio Times", and many colour supplements, including the "Daily Mail" weekend magazine, but closed in December 2014.


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: Local newspapers are the "Bradford Telegraph and Argus", "Evening Courier", "Grimsby Telegraph", "Huddersfield Examiner", "Hull Daily Mail", "The Scarborough News", "Scunthorpe Telegraph", "Sheffield Star", "The Press (York)", "Wakefield Express", "Yorkshire Evening Post" and "Yorkshire Post".


title: Yorkshire and the Humber

text: RR Donnelley UK Directory of Flaxby Moor, printed the "Yellow Pages", until the site closed at the end of 2015. Polestar Chantry, off the A650 on the Wakefield 41 estate, prints "Marie Claire", "Good Housekeeping", "Woman's Weekly", "Real Life", "BBC Good Food", "BBC Gardeners' World", "Prima", "Woman & Home", "Red", and "Country Life". Polestar Sheffield prints the "Telegraph" magazine, and "Hello!".


title: Bob Gibson

text: Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" (after actor Hoot Gibson), Gibson tallied 251 wins, 3,117 strikeouts, and a 2.91 earned run average (ERA) during his career. A nine-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion, he won two Cy Young Awards and the 1968 National League (NL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. Known for a fiercely competitive nature and for intimidating opposing batters, he was elected in 1981 to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. The Cardinals retired his uniform number 45 in September 1975 and inducted him into the team Hall of Fame in 2014.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Gibson overcame childhood illness to excel in youth sports, particularly basketball and baseball. After briefly playing under contract to both the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team and the St. Louis Cardinals organization, Gibson decided to continue playing only baseball professionally. He became a full-time starting pitcher in July 1961 and earned his first All-Star appearance in 1962. Gibson won 2 of 3 games he pitched in the 1964 World Series, then won 20 games in a season for the first time in 1965. Gibson also pitched three complete game victories in the 1967 World Series.


title: Bob Gibson

text: The pinnacle of Gibson's career was 1968, when he posted a 1.12 ERA for the season and then recorded 17 strikeouts in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series. Gibson threw a no-hitter in 1971 but began experiencing swelling in his knee in subsequent seasons. At the time of his retirement in 1975, Gibson ranked second only to Walter Johnson among major-league pitchers in career strikeouts.


title: Bob Gibson

text: After retiring as a player in 1975, Gibson later served as pitching coach for his former teammate Joe Torre. At one time a special instructor coach for the St. Louis Cardinals, Gibson was later selected for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. Gibson was the author of the memoir "Pitch by Pitch", with Lonnie Wheeler. Gibson died of pancreatic cancer on October 2, 2020, exactly 52 years after his memorable 1968 World Series Game 1 performance in which he struck out 17 Detroit Tigers.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson was born in Omaha, the last of Pack and Victoria Gibson's seven children (five boys and two girls). Gibson's father died of tuberculosis three months prior to Gibson's birth, and Gibson was named Pack Robert Gibson in his father's honor. While he revered his father's legacy, Gibson disliked the name Pack, and later changed his first name to Robert. Despite a childhood that included health problems like rickets, and a serious case of either asthma or pneumonia when he was three, Gibson was active in sports in both informal and organized settings, particularly baseball and basketball. Gibson's brother Josh (no relation to the Negro leagues star player), who was 15 years his senior, had a profound effect on his early life, serving as a mentor to him. Gibson played on a number of youth basketball and baseball teams his brother coached, many of which were organized through the local YMCA.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson attended Omaha Technical High School, where he participated on the track, basketball, and baseball teams. Health issues resurfaced for Gibson, though, and he needed a doctor's permission to compete in high school sports because of a heart murmur that occurred in tandem with a rapid growth spurt. Gibson was named to the All-State basketball team during his senior year of high school by a newspaper in Lincoln, Nebraska, and soon after won a full athletic scholarship for basketball from Creighton University. Indiana University had rejected him after stating their Negro athlete quota had already been filled.


title: Bob Gibson

text: While at Creighton, Gibson majored in sociology, and continued to experience success playing basketball. At the end of Gibson's junior basketball season, he averaged 22 points per game, and made third team Jesuit All-American. As his graduation from Creighton approached, the spring of 1957 proved to be a busy time for Gibson. Aside from getting married, Gibson had garnered the interest of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team and the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. In 1957, Gibson received a $3,000


title: Bob Gibson

text: bonus (a notable sum at that time) to sign with the Cardinals. He delayed his start with the organization for a year, playing basketball with the Globetrotters. However, he gave up as a travelling member due to long travels and many double-headers.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson was assigned to the Cardinals' big league roster for the start of the 1959 season, recording his Major League debut on April 15 as a relief pitcher. Reassigned to the Cardinals minor league affiliate the Omaha Cardinals soon after, Gibson returned to the Major Leagues on July 30 as a starting pitcher, earning his first Major League win that day. Gibson's experience in 1960 was similar, pitching nine innings for the Cardinals before shuffling between the Cardinals and their Rochester affiliate until mid-June. After posting a 3–6 record with a 5.61 ERA, Gibson traveled to Venezuela to participate in winter baseball at the conclusion of the 1960 season. Cardinals manager Solly Hemus shuffled Gibson between the bullpen and the starting pitching rotation for the first half of the 1961 season. In a 2011 documentary, Gibson indicated that Hemus's racial prejudice played a major role in his misuse of Gibson, as well as of teammate Curt Flood, both of whom were told by Hemus that they would not make it as major leaguers and should try something else. Hemus was replaced as Cardinals manager in July 1961 by Johnny Keane, who had been Gibson's manager on the Omaha minor league affiliate several years prior. Keane and Gibson shared a positive professional relationship, and Keane immediately moved Gibson into the starting pitching rotation full-time. Gibson proceeded to compile an 11–6 record the remainder of the year, and posted a 3.24 ERA for the full season. Off the field, Bill White, Curt Flood, and Gibson started a civil rights movement to make all players live in the same clubhouse and hotel rooms, and led the St. Louis Cardinals to become the first sports team to end segregation, three years before President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the "Great Society" legislation in 1964.


title: Bob Gibson

text: In late May of the 1962 season Gibson pitched consecutive scoreless innings on his way to being named to his first National League All-Star team. Because of an additional All-Star Game played each season from 1959 to 1962, Gibson was named to the second 1962 N.L. All-Star game as well, where he pitched two innings. After suffering a fractured ankle late in the season, Gibson, sometimes referred to by the nickname "Hoot" (a reference to western film star Hoot Gibson), still finished 1962 with his first 200 plus strikeout season. The rehabilitation of Gibson's ankle was a slow process, and by May 19 of the 1963 season he had recorded only one win. Gibson then turned to rely on his slider and two different fastball pitches to reel off six straight wins prior to late July. Gibson and all other National League pitchers benefited from a rule change that expanded the strike zone above the belt buckle. Adding to his pitching performances was Gibson's offensive production, with his 20 RBIs outmatching the combined RBI output of entire pitching staffs on other National League teams. Even with Gibson's 18 wins and the extra motivation of teammate Stan Musial's impending retirement, the Cardinals finished six games out of first place.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Building on their late-season pennant run in 1963, the 1964 Cardinals developed a strong camaraderie that was noted for being free of the racial tension that predominated in the United States at that time. Part of this atmosphere stemmed from the integration of the team's spring training hotel in 1960, and Gibson and teammate Bill White worked to confront and stop use of racial slurs within the team. On August 23, the Cardinals were 11 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies and remained six-and-a-half games behind on September 21. The combination of a nine-game Cardinals winning streak and a ten-game Phillies losing streak then brought the season down to the final game. The Cardinals faced the New York Mets, and Gibson entered the game as a relief pitcher in the fifth inning. Aware that the Phillies were ahead of the Cincinnati Reds 4–0 at the time he entered the game, Gibson proceeded to pitch four innings of two-hit relief, while his teammates scored 11 runs of support to earn the victory.


title: Bob Gibson

text: They next faced the New York Yankees in the 1964 World Series. Gibson was matched against Yankees starting pitcher Mel Stottlemyre for three of the Series' seven games, with Gibson losing Game 2, then winning Game 5. In Game 7, Gibson, who only had 2 days rest, pitched into the ninth inning, where he allowed home runs to Phil Linz and Clete Boyer, making the score 7–5 Cardinals. With Ray Sadecki and Barney Schultz warming up in the Cardinal bullpen, Gibson retired Bobby Richardson for the final out, giving the Cardinals their first World Championship since 1946. Along with his two victories, Gibson set a new World Series record by striking out 31 batters.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson made the All-Star team again in the 1965 season, and when the Cardinals were well out of the pennant race by August, attention turned on Gibson to see if he could win 20 games for the first time. Gibson was still looking for win number 20 on the last day of the season, a game where new Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst rested many of the regular players. Gibson still prevailed against the Houston Astros by a score of 5–2. The 1966 season marked the opening of Busch Memorial Stadium for the Cardinals, and Gibson was selected to play in the All-Star Game in front of the hometown crowd that year as well.


title: Bob Gibson

text: The Cardinals built a -game lead prior to the 1967 season All-Star break, and Gibson pitched the seventh and eighth innings of the 1967 All-Star game. Gibson then faced the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 15, when Roberto Clemente hit a line drive off Gibson's right leg. Unaware his leg had been fractured, Gibson faced three more batters before his right fibula bone snapped above the ankle. After Gibson returned on September 7, the Cardinals secured the National League pennant on September 18, games ahead of the San Francisco Giants.


title: Bob Gibson

text: In the 1967 World Series against the Boston Red Sox, Gibson allowed only three earned runs and 14 hits over three complete-game victories in Games 1, 4 (five-hit shutout), and 7, the latter two marks tying Christy Mathewson's 1905 World Series record. Just as he had in 1964, Gibson pitched a complete-game victory in Game 7, against Cy Young winner Jim Lonborg, who pitched a 1-hitter in Game 2. Gibson also contributed offensively in Game 7 by hitting a home run that made the game 3–0. Gibson became the only pitcher to be on the mound for the final out of Game 7 of a World Series multiple times. Unlike his last win as World Series MVP, he finally got the men's suit endorsement that eluded him in 1964. He also gained endorsement and sponsorship for his asthma medication, namely Primateme mist inhaler and tablets.


title: Bob Gibson

text: The 1968 season became known as "The Year of the Pitcher", and Gibson was at the forefront of pitching dominance. His earned run average was 1.12, a live-ball era record, as well as the major league record in 300 or more innings pitched. It was the lowest major league ERA since Dutch Leonard's 0.96 mark 54 years earlier. Gibson threw 13 shutouts, three fewer than fellow Nebraskan Grover Alexander's 1916 major league record of 16. He won all 12 starts in June and July, pitching a complete game every time, (eight of which were shutouts), and allowed only six earned runs in 108 innings pitched (a 0.50 ERA). Gibson pitched 47 consecutive scoreless innings during this stretch, at the time the third-longest scoreless streak in major league history. He also struck out 91 batters, and he won two-consecutive NL Player of the Month awards. Gibson finished the season with 28 complete games out of 34 games started. Of the games he didn't complete, he was pinch-hit for, meaning Gibson was not removed from the mound for another pitcher for the entire season. He also only conceded a total of 38 earned runs.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson won the National League MVP Award. Not until Clayton Kershaw in 2014 would another National League pitcher do so. With Denny McLain winning the American League's Most Valuable Player award, 1968 remains, to date, the only year both MVP Awards went to pitchers with McLain compiling a 31–6 record for the Detroit Tigers. For the 1968 season, opposing batters only had a batting average of .184, an on-base percentage of .233, and a slugging percentage of .236. Gibson lost nine games against 22 wins, despite his record-setting low 1.12 ERA as the anemic batting throughout baseball included his own Cardinal team. The 1968 Cardinals had one .300 hitter, while the team-leading home run and RBI totals were just 16 and 79, respectively. Gibson lost two 1–0 games, one of which against San Francisco Giants pitcher Gaylord Perry's no-hitter on September 17. The Giants' run in that game came on a first-inning home run by light-hitting Ron Hunt—the second of two he would hit the entire season and one of only 11 that Gibson allowed in innings. The year also was notable for Don Drysdale pitching a record six consecutive shutouts and consecutive scoreless innings.


title: Bob Gibson

text: In Game 1 of the 1968 World Series, Gibson struck out 17 Detroit Tigers to set a World Series record for strikeouts in one game, which still stands today (breaking Sandy Koufax's record of 15 in Game 1 of the 1963 World Series). He also joined Ed Walsh as the only pitchers to strike out at least one batter in each inning of a World Series game, Walsh having done so in Game Three of the 1906 World Series. After allowing a leadoff single to Mickey Stanley in the ninth inning, Gibson finished the game by striking out Tiger sluggers Al Kaline, Norm Cash, and Willie Horton in succession. Recalling the performance, Tigers outfielder Jim Northrup remarked: "We were fastball hitters, but he blew the ball right by us. And he had a nasty slider that was jumping all over the place."


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson next pitched in Game 4 of the 1968 World Series, defeating the Tigers' ace pitcher Denny McLain 10–1. The teams continued to battle each other, setting the stage for another winner-take-all Game 7 in St. Louis on October 10, 1968. In this game Gibson was matched against Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich and the two proceeded to hold their opponents scoreless for the first six innings. In the top of the seventh, Gibson retired the first two batters before allowing two consecutive singles. Detroit batter Jim Northrup then hit a two-run triple over the head of center fielder Curt Flood, leading to Detroit's Series win.


title: Bob Gibson

text: The overall pitching statistics in MLB's 1968 season, led by Gibson and McLain's record-setting performances, are often cited as one of the reasons for Major League Baseball's decision to alter pitching-related rules. Sometimes known as the "Gibson rules", MLB lowered the pitcher's mound in 1969 from to and reduced the height of the strike zone from the batter's armpits to the jersey letters.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Aside from the rule changes set to take effect in 1969, cultural and monetary influences increasingly began impacting baseball, as evidenced by nine players from the Cardinals' 1968 roster who had not reported by the first week of spring training due to the status of their contracts. On February 4, 1969, Gibson appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", and said the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) had suggested players consider striking before the upcoming season began. However, Gibson himself had no immediate contract worries, as the $125,000 salary Gibson requested for 1969 was agreed to by team owner Gussie Busch and the Cardinals, setting a new franchise record for the highest single-season salary.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Despite the significant rule changes, Gibson's status as one of the league's best pitchers was not immediately affected. In 1969 he went 20–13 with a 2.18 ERA, 4 shutouts, and 28 complete games. On May 12, 1969, Gibson struck out three batters on nine pitches in the seventh inning of a 6–2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Gibson became the ninth National League pitcher and the 15th pitcher in Major League history to throw an "immaculate inning". After pitching into the tenth inning of the July 4 game against the Cubs, Gibson was removed from a game without finishing an inning for the first time in more than 60 consecutive starts, a streak spanning two years. After participating in the 1969 All-Star Game (his seventh selection), Gibson set another mark on August 16 when he became the third pitcher in Major League history to reach the 200-strikeout plateau in seven different seasons.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson experienced an up-and-down 1970 season, marked at the low point by a July slump where he resorted to experimenting with a knuckleball for the first time in his career. Just as quickly, Gibson returned to form, starting a streak of seven wins on July 28, and pitching all 14 innings of a 5–4 win against the San Diego Padres on August 12. He would go on to win his fourth and final NL Player of the Month award for August (6–0, 2.31 ERA, 55 SO). Gibson won 23 games in 1970, and was once again named the NL Cy Young Award winner.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson was sometimes used by the Cardinals as a pinch-hitter, and in 1970 he hit .303 for the season in 109 at-bats, which was over 100 points higher than teammate Dal Maxvill. For his career, he batted .206 (274 for 1,328) with 44 doubles, 5 triples, 24 home runs (plus two more in the World Series), and 144 RBIs, stealing 13 bases and walking 63 times.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson achieved two highlights in August 1971. On the 4th, he defeated the Giants 7–2 at Busch Memorial Stadium for his 200th career victory. Ten days later, he no-hit the eventual World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates 11–0 at Three Rivers Stadium. Three of his 10 strikeouts in the game were to Willie Stargell, including the game's final out. The no-hitter was the first in Pittsburgh since Nick Maddox at Exposition Park in 1907; none had been pitched in the 62-year (mid-1909-to-mid-1970) history of Three Rivers Stadium's predecessor, Forbes Field. He was the second pitcher in Major League Baseball history, after Walter Johnson, to strike out more than 3,000 batters and the first to do so in the National League. He accomplished this at home at Busch Stadium on July 17, 1974; the victim was César Gerónimo of the Cincinnati Reds. Gibson began the 1972 season by going 0–5 but broke Jesse Haines's club record for victories on June 21 and finished the year with 19 wins.


title: Bob Gibson

text: During the summer of 1974, Gibson felt hopeful he could put together a winning streak, but he continually encountered swelling in his knee. In January 1975, Gibson announced he would retire at the end of the 1975 season, admittedly using baseball to help cope with his recent divorce from his former wife, Charline. During the 1975 season, he went 3–10 with a 5.04 ERA.


title: Bob Gibson

text: In the eight seasons from 1963 to 1970, Gibson posted a win–loss record of 156–81, for a .658 winning percentage. He won nine Gold Glove Awards, was awarded the World Series MVP Award in 1964 and 1967, and won Cy Young Awards in 1968 and 1970.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson was a fierce competitor who rarely smiled and was known to throw brushback pitches to establish dominance over the strike-zone and intimidate the batter, similar to his contemporary and fellow Hall of Famer Don Drysdale. Even so, Gibson had good control and hit only 102 batters in his career (fewer than Drysdale's 154).


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson was surly and brusque even with his teammates. When his catcher Tim McCarver went to the mound for a conference, Gibson brushed him off, saying "The only thing you know about pitching is that it's hard to hit."


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson casually disregarded his reputation for intimidation, though, saying that he made no concerted effort to seem intimidating. However, there is an interview in which he admits that if a batter homered off one of his best pitches, he would hit that batter in his next at bat. He joked in an interview with a St. Louis public radio station that the only reason he made faces while pitching was because he needed glasses and could not see the catcher's signals.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Before Gibson returned to his home in Omaha at the end of the 1975 season, Cardinals general manager Bing Devine offered him an undefined job that was contingent on approval from higher-ranking club officials. Unsure of his future career path, Gibson declined and used the motor home the Cardinals had given him as a retirement gift to travel across the western United States during the 1975 offseason. Returning to Omaha, Gibson continued to serve on the board of a local bank, was at one point the principal investor in radio station KOWH, and started "Gibson's Spirits and Sustenance" restaurant, sometimes working twelve-hour days as owner/operator.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson returned to baseball in 1981 after accepting a coaching job with Joe Torre, who was then manager of the New York Mets. Torre termed Gibson's position "attitude coach", the first such title in Major League history. After Torre and his coaching staff were let go at the end of the 1981 season, Torre moved on to manage the Atlanta Braves in 1982, hiring Gibson as a pitching coach. The Braves proceeded to challenge for the National League pennant for the first time since 1969, ultimately losing to the Cardinals in the 1982 National League Championship Series. Gibson remained with Torre on the Braves' coaching staff until the end of the 1984 season. Gibson then took to hosting a pre- and postgame show for Cardinals baseball games on radio station KMOX from 1985 until 1989. Gibson also served as color commentator for baseball games on ESPN in 1990 but declined an option to continue the position over concerns he would have to spend too much time away from his family. In 1995, Gibson again served as pitching coach on a Torre-led staff, this time returning to the Cardinals.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson was a father to three children: two with his first wife, Charline, and one with his second wife, Wendy.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson's interests included playing guitar. In 1968 he performed on "The Ed Sullivan Show" along with his 1968 World Series opponent Denny McLain, an accomplished organist.


title: Bob Gibson

text: In July 2019, Gibson's longtime agent Dick Zitzmann announced that Gibson had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer several weeks earlier and was due to begin chemotherapy. Gibson died on October 2, 2020, at age 84, under hospice care after fighting pancreatic cancer for more than a year.


title: Bob Gibson

text: Gibson's jersey number 45 was retired by the St. Louis Cardinals on September 1, 1975. In 1981 he was inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame. In 1999 he ranked Number 31 on "The Sporting News"' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was elected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.


title: Bob Gibson

text: He has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. A bronze statue of Gibson by Harry Weber is located in front of Busch Stadium, commemorating Gibson along with other St. Louis Cardinals greats. Another statue of Gibson was unveiled outside of Werner Park in Gibson's home city, Omaha, Nebraska, in 2013. The street on the north side of Rosenblatt Stadium, former home of the College World Series in his hometown of Omaha, is named Bob Gibson Boulevard. In January 2014, the Cardinals announced Gibson among 22 former players and personnel to be inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum for the inaugural class of 2014. At the time of his death, Gibson still led the Cardinals franchise's pitching records in wins (251), games started (482), complete games (255), shutouts (56), innings pitched (3,884.1) and strikeouts (3,117) along with a 2.91 ERA.


title: Humphrey Ker

text: David Humphrey Rivers Ker (; born 11 October 1982) is a British actor, writer and comedian, and member of the sketch comedy troupe The Penny Dreadfuls.


title: Humphrey Ker

text: Ker was born to David Peter James Ker, a fine art dealer, and Alexandra Mary, daughter of Vice-Admiral Sir Dymock Watson. He is also a descendant on his father's side of the politician Henry Howard, 18th Earl of Suffolk.


title: Humphrey Ker

text: Ker is 6'7" (2.01 m) tall. He was educated at Eton College, and read history at the University of Edinburgh. During his time at the University of Edinburgh, Ker performed in Edinburgh University Theatre Company pantomime productions. Ker performed with fellow students David Reed and Thom Tuck as a member of this comedy troupe.


title: Humphrey Ker

text: In 2006, Ker, together with Reed and Tuck, formed The Penny Dreadfuls, who have performed their Victorian sketch shows across Britain, including at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe with "Aeneas Faversham" in 2006 and "Aeneas Faversham Returns" in 2007. Since then, he has appeared in "Comedy Shuffle" for BBC Three and the short film "I am Bob," starring Bob Geldof. Ker was also co-anchor on the short-lived internet-based satirical news programme "Log.tv". with Rufus Hound.


title: Humphrey Ker

text: The Penny Dreadfuls radio series "The Brothers Faversham" was first broadcast on BBC 7 in early January 2008. The second series, "More Brothers Faversham", was aired in October 2008 and later repeated on Radio 4. The trio also wrote and starred in a 2010 comedy drama for BBC Radio 4 about Guy Fawkes. More recently, Ker has been working increasingly as a solo artist. He was a regular in the improvisational comedy show "Fast and Loose", hosted by Hugh Dennis in early 2011. Later that year, he appeared as part of the "24 Hour Panel People" charity show hosted by David Walliams for Red Nose Day 2011, in the "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" section. He has also appeared on "8 Out of 10 Cats", and in August 2013, on the show's crossover with "Countdown". He is set to appear as a regular in BBC3 show "Live at The Electric".


title: Humphrey Ker

text: In August 2011 Ker presented a feature-length debut solo show at Edinburgh Fringe Festival entitled "Humphrey Ker is...Dymock Watson: Nazi Smasher!", for which he won the Edinburgh Comedy Award (formerly Perrier Award) for "Best Newcomer". The show was loosely based on the real-life story of his grandfather, Dymock Watson, who was a Special Operations Executive agent in WWII. Ker has performed "Dymock Watson: Nazi Smasher!" at London's Soho Theatre, the West End's Fortune Theatre and in Los Angeles at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.


title: Humphrey Ker

text: Ker has appeared as a guest on various BBC Radio 4 shows, including "It's Your Round" with Angus Deayton, Sandi Toksvig and Milton Jones and "Dilemma" with Sue Perkins, Phill Jupitus and Susan Calman. He is the host of the upcoming BBC Radio 4 sketch show "Sketcherama". In April 2012 Ker appeared as a panelist on BBC's "Have I Got News for You", in May 2013, on the BBC Radio 4 show "The News Quiz", and in August 2013 on "8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown". Ker also guest-starred on the NBC comedy "Sean Saves the World" in January 2014.


title: Humphrey Ker

text: In 2013, Ker was the Curator in series 6 of the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game "The Museum of Curiosity".


title: Humphrey Ker

text: In 2018, Ker was cast in the reboot of "Greatest American Hero" for ABC, and appeared in an episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia".


title: Humphrey Ker

text: In February 2021, Ker was announced as Executive Director at Welsh football club Wrexham AFC following the takeover by Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds.


title: Humphrey Ker

text: Ker appears in the Apple TV+ original show "Mythic Quest", which was co-created by his wife, Megan Ganz.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: The Romanian Air Force (RoAF) () is the air force branch of the Romanian Armed Forces. It has an air force headquarters, an operational command, five airbases and an air defense brigade. Reserve forces include one air base and three airfields.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: The Romanian Air Force modernized 110 MiG-21 LanceRs, in cooperation with Israel between 1993 and 2002. Today, 23-28 of these MiG 21 LanceRs are operational. The Romanian Air Force also operates C-130 Hercules, C-27J Spartan and An-26 transport airplanes and IAR-330 Puma helicopters. IAR-330 PUMA SOCAT helicopters have been modernized by the Romanian Aviation Industry in cooperation with Elbit Systems (Israel) for attack missions. The Romanian Air Force also includes locally built IAR-99 Șoim jet planes, in general only used for training of the young pilots.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: Due to the old age of the MiGs, the Romanian Air Force is in the process of procurement of new fighters or possibly used fighters from partner states. Romania has signed a contract in 2013 with Portugal for 12 F-16 A/B Block 15 MLU fighters. The first six fighters have entered service with the Romanian Air Force in September 2016, another three have been delivered in November and the last three have entered service in 2017. Romania signed a contract in 2019 with Portugal for another 5 F-16 A/B Block 15 MLU fighters, which were delivered until March 2021.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: It was announced in December 2021 that a deal for 32 F-16 A/B Block 20 fighters from Norway was being finalized. The contract, amounting to €388 million, was officially signed on 4 November 2022. The first delivery of Norwegian F-16s is set for 2023, while a second delivery is set for 2024. Under the contract, the F-16s will undergo the modification to the M6.5.2 Romanian configuration with US support before delivery. Kongsberg Aviation Maintenance Services will provide support, maintenance and training of Romanian technical personnel.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: On 2 February 2022, the President of Romania stated intent to purchase the fifth-generation F-35 joint strike fighter as part of its Air Force modernization, which plans to spend a total of 9.8 billion euro until 2026 to boost its defense capabilities. According to the Minister of Defence, Romania plans to start the F-35 acquisition procedure in 2032.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: On 23 May, the MiG-21 LanceRs resumed flights after being suspended on 15 April 2022. The LanceR will continue to fly for a period of one year, until 13 May 2023 after which they will be replaced by the F-16s purchased from Norway.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: The current chief of the Romanian Air Force Staff, succeeding Major General Laurian Anastasof on 11 October 2017, is Lieutenant General Viorel Pană.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: In 1818, during the reign of John Caradja, the prince of Wallachia, an unmanned hot air balloon was flown off Dealul Spirii in Bucharest. On , Marius Willemot, the owner of the hydrogen balloon named "Mihai Bravul" flew together with Majors Iacob Lahovary, Constantin Poenaru and Dumitrescu over Bucharest. The last flight took place on , Willemot flying together with Colonel Nicolae Haralambie, Ion Ghica and a third person. The balloon had made its first flight at Paris on 27 March of the same year.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: On 20 November 1909 the Chitila Piloting School was formed as a joint venture by Mihail Cerchez. The school, conducted by French flight instructors, had five hangars, bleachers for spectators and workshops where the Farman airplanes were built under license. The school opened on 9 July 1910, when the chief flight instructor and director of the school René Guillemin crashed a Farman III biplane from a height of during a demonstration flight and broke his leg.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: Guillemin was succeeded by Michel-Paul Molla who made the first flight across Bucharest on 7 September 1910. Molla was succeeded by two others before the school closed in late 1912 due to financial difficulties, having trained six officers, but only licensed two.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: In November 1909, the Romanian Minister of War commissioned Aurel Vlaicu to build the "A. Vlaicu I" airplane at the Bucharest Army Arsenal which first flew on 17 June 1910. On 28 September during the Fall military exercise, Vlaicu flew his airplane from Slatina to Piatra Olt carrying a message, Romania thus becoming one of the first countries to use airplanes for military purposes. Along with other Romanian pilots, Vlaicu flew reconnaissance missions during the Second Balkan War. Vlaicu III, the first metal aircraft in the world, was completed after his death, in May 1914.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: On the eve of Romania's entrance in the war in August 1916, only 24 out of the 44 aircraft that had been imported and assembled at RGA were available. Another 20 aircraft were provided by the flight schools. The total of 44 aircraft included: 10 Bristol T.B.8, 7 Bristol Coanda Monoplanes, 5 Blériot XI, 4 Farman HF.20, 8 Farman MF.7 and MF.11, 4 Voisin III, 4 Morane-Saulnier monoplanes, 1 Caudron G.3 and 1 Aviatik C.I. Added to these were two native-made monoplanes designed by Aurel Vlaicu. One of the Vlaicu monoplanes, A Vlaicu II, crashed in 1913, while the A Vlaicu I was retired in 1914, leaving A Vlaicu III as the sole Romanian-made aircraft in the Romanian Air Corps.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: During World War I, Romania acquired 322 aircraft from France and ex-RNAS aircraft from Great Britain including Nieuport 11 and 17 single seat fighters and Morane-Saulnier LA and Nieuport 12 two seat fighters, Caudron G.3, Henry Farman HF.20, Farman MF.11, and Farman F.40 & 46 artillery observation and reconnaissance aircraft, Caudron G.4, Breguet-Michelin BLM and Voisin LA bombers. On 16 September 1916, a Romanian Farman F.40 downed an Imperial German Air Service aircraft near Slobozia; this was the first Romanian aerial victory. By the end of World War I, Romanian pilots had flown about 11,000 hours and 750 missions; however, it was unable to prevent the December 1916 Romanian offensive at the Battle of the Argeș from being defeated, which resulted in the occupation of southern Romania, and the armistice on 6 December 1917 following the Russian revolution.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: When Romania, allied with Nazi Germany, went to war against the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, the Romanian Air Force had 621 airplanes, including its locally made fighter IAR 80/81. The air force accomplished hundreds of missions, contributing to Romania's recapture of Northern Bucovina and Bessarabia, which had been occupied by the Soviet Union a year earlier. By the end of the Siege of Odessa, the Romanian military fighters claimed about 600 air victories. Romanian Military Aviation fought on the Eastern Front until 22 August 1944, bringing an important contribution to the great battles at Stalingrad, in Crimea, and the Ukrainian fronts. Between 1941 and 1944, Romanian aircraft won 2,000 air victories. The most famous flying aces were Captain Prince Constantin Cantacuzino, who gained 69 certified victories, Captain Alexandru Șerbănescu, who shot down 60 enemy airplanes, and Captain Horia Agarici.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: In the aftermath of King Michael's Coup of 23 August 1944, Romania turned against Germany and joined the Allies.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: Starting with 1948, Romania tailored its military to Soviet concepts and doctrine. On 15 February 1949, the Aviation Command was established based on the Soviet model (regiments instead of flotillas). In the following years, new Soviet aircraft, such as Yakovlev Yak-18, Polikarpov Po-2, Lavochkin La-9, Tupolev Tu-2, and Ilyushin Il-10 entered service. In 1951, 9 Yakovlev Yak-17s and Yak-23s entered the air force, and in 1952, other 88 aircraft: MiG-15 and MiG-17. In 1958, the first supersonic fighter MiG-19 entered the inventory. Three years later, in February 1962, a new fighter was added to the inventory, MiG-21, which represented one of the most effective fighters of that time.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: Starting with 1974, Romanian-made aircraft supplemented the already existing jets. The Romanian IAR-93 attack aircraft flew its first flight on 31 October 1974. It represented a great step forward taking into account that it was the only jet fighter not made by the Soviets, the only one ever manufactured and operated by a Warsaw Pact country.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: In 1962, the first helicopter subunits were established and followed later on, in 1965, by the first Soviet Mi-2 and Mi-4 helicopters. From 1968, Mi-8 helicopters will also enter service. Renewing the aircraft fleet process went on with the first 2 MiG-23s arriving on 23 January 1979.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: On 14 May 1981, at 20:16, Soviet spaceship Soyuz-40 was launched from Baikonur to perform a common Romanian-Soviet flight, with Lieutenant Dumitru Prunariu and Colonel Leonid Popov as commander on board. During the early 1980s, 67th Fighter-Bomber Regiment and 49th Fighter-Bomber Regiment from Craiova and Ianca were equipped with new IAR-93s, which replaced old MiG-15s and MiG-17s. In December 1989, just a few days before the Romanian revolution against communism began, MiG-29 aircraft entered the Air Force inventory. Initially 45 MiG-29s were ordered but only 21 were delivered, with the rest of the order being cancelled. The MiG-29s were assigned to the 2nd and 3rd Squadrons of the 57th Fighter Regiment located at the Mihail Kogălniceanu Airport.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: In 1990, the last MiG-15 fighters were retired from the 49th Aviation Regiment, located at Ianca. In 1992, production of the IAR-93 was stopped following the start of the Yugoslav Civil Wars. The last IAR-93s were retired in 1998. By 1 June 1995 the Air Force dropped the communist era regimental system in favor of a system consisting of Air Bases, Groups and Squadrons.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: Due to financial constraints, being unable to purchase new fighers, the Romanian Air Force decided to invest in the upgrade of the MiG-21 fighters. Following a competition between several companies, the Israeli company Elbit was chosen, and the MiG-21M and MF/MF-75 versions were selected. The program was originally called the "DD program" as a tribute to the fighter pilot and writer Doru Davidovici, who died in a MiG-21 crash in 1989. The upgrade program was later renamed to "Lancer", designated as "LanceR" with capital "R" in Romania. The first flight of an upgraded MiG, a LanceR 'A' ground attack variant, took place on 22 August 1995.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: The Romanian MiG-29 fleet was also intended to undergo modernization under a project named "Sniper" done by DASA, Aerostar and Elbit. The first flight took place on 5 May 2000 and the prototype was presented at ILA 2000. However, the modernization project was canceled due to various reasons and the MiG-29s were retired.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: Following its entry into the Partnership for Peace program in 1994, Romania started cooperating with other countries with the goal of eventually joining NATO. For this, Romanian Air Force aircraft participated in many local or abroad exercises and airshows. Before joining NATO, the 86th Group at Borcea started to convert into a NATO compatible unit by making improvements to the base's infrastructure, allowing its pilots to fly a fair amount of training hours and work according to NATO procedures.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: During the period of reorganization, starting from the year 2000, other aircraft models such as the MiG-23 fighters, the Harbin H-5 bombers and the IAR-823 and L-39 Albatros trainers were retired, the latter of which was retired in 2007. Along with the retiring of airplanes, several bases were disbanded as well, including the Alexeni Airfield, the 49th Air Base from Ianca and the 91st Air Base from Deveselu. The 93rd Air Base from Timișoara was also disbanded and currently serves as an annex to the 71st Air Base.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: In the spring of 2009, the Romanian government decided to purchase VSHORAD/SHORAD systems from France. The deal included Mistral MANPADS and MICA VL surface-to-air missiles. However, after preliminary talks with MBDA in August, the deal was put on hold and canceled afterwards because of the defense cuts.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: In February 2010, the Supreme Council of National Defense signed an agreement with the United States for missile defence under whose terms land-based SM-3 systems would be installed in Romania. On 3 May 2011, the president of Romania Traian Băsescu announced the location for the SM-3 systems: former Air Force base Deveselu in Olt County. The system includes 3 batteries with 24 SM-3 Block I rockets, manned by approximately 200 US soldiers (with a maximum of 500) under Romanian Air Force overall command. The Deveselu Aegis Ashore site has been declared operational on 13 May 2016.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: Four MiG-21 LanceR Cs were deployed from August–November 2007 at Šiauliai, in Lithuania for Baltic Air Policing. The Romanian detachment succeeded the French Air Force Mirage 2000Cs of "Escadron de Chasse 01.012" from Cambrai, which fulfilled the Baltic Air Policing since May 2007. Once the RoAF finished its three-month stint, a Portuguese Air Force detachment took over the mission.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: The four aircraft and most of the staff came from the 71st Air Base. A total of 67 personnel, among them nine pilots, were part of the detachment: 63 served at Šiauliai, while other four served at the air traffic control centre in Kaunas, to ensure smooth cooperation with local authorities. The Romanian detachment attracted attention from the local media, not least from the fact that it was only the second time a fighter from the Soviet era deployed to Šiauliai – Polish Air Force MiG-29s had also been deployed there in 2006.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: On the starting day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, two F-16s from the 53rd Fighter Squadron were sent to intercept a Sukhoi Su-27 of the Ukrainian Air Force that was approaching Romanian airspace. The Su-27 was escorted to the 95th Air Base where the pilot was taken by Romanian authorities. The Ukrainian Minister of Defence, Oleksiy Reznikov, quickly apologized for this event and requested the return of the airplane and its pilot. After a maintenance team from Ukraine fixed the technical issues of the fighter, the aircraft was returned without its weapons on 1 March, being escorted by two MiG-21 LanceRs to the border where other Ukrainian airplanes took over.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: On 2 March 2022, a MiG-21 LanceR was lost while on an air patrol inside Romanian airspace near Cogealac, 60 miles from the Ukrainian border. This "occurred amid increased air police missions in Romania after the Russian invasion of Ukraine." An IAR 330 on a search and rescue mission for the missing MiG-21 crashed with seven fatalities. The eight servicemen who died in the two accidents were posthumously promoted and decorated by the president of Romania. Shortly after, fake news claiming that the Romanian MiG was shot down by Ukrainian S-300 missile systems appeared. These claims were officially refuted. The preliminary analysis published on 23 March showed that the crashes occurred due to human and environmental factors.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: The Romanian Air Force General Staff represents the military concept-developing, command and executive structure providing Air Forces peacetime, crisis and wartime leadership in order to reach, maintain and increase, as required, the operational level of the military subordinated structures so that to be able to operate under authorized commands responsible for military operations planning and conduct.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: Generate, mobilize, structure, equip, operationalize and regenerate the required forces, provide the logistic support necessary to conduct military operations and based on higher orders, take over both the Joint Operation Air Component and independent air operations command and control, through the Main Air Operational Center. Starting with 1 July 2010, the Romanian Air Force bases were renamed to Air Flotillas. The names were kept until 1 December 2013, when they were changed back to Air Bases.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: The "Capu Midia" Surface-to-air Training and Air-to-Surface Shooting Range provides firing training, execution and evaluation facilities. It is located in Constanța County, north of the city of, Constanța.


title: Romanian Air Force

text: Note: Three C-17 Globemaster III's and five RQ-4D's are available through the Heavy Airlift Wing, and Alliance Ground Surveillance programs


title: Romanian Air Force

text: The Romanian roundel uses the colours of the Romanian flag. It is used on Romanian Armed Forces vehicles and Romanian Air Force aircraft.


title: Double penetration

text: Double penetration (sometimes called DP for short) is a sexual practice that consists of a person being simultaneously penetrated either in multiple orifices or in a single orifice by multiple body parts or other objects. Most commonly, it refers to two penises penetrating a woman both vaginally and anally at the same time.


title: Double penetration

text: The act usually involves the insertion and thrusting of two erect penises into a woman's vagina and anus simultaneously. It is a common practice in pornography. The term can also describe the insertion and thrusting of two erect penises into either the single orifice of a woman (either the vagina or anus) or the anus of a man.


title: Double penetration

text: Penetration can be carried out not only with a penis, but also with different parts of the body (hands, fingers) or with specific sex toys. The simultaneous penetration of a vagina by two penises is known as double vaginal penetration (DVP). Simultaneous penetration of the anus is known as double anal penetration (DAP).


title: Double penetration

text: The sexual act may be pleasurable for the woman due to the simultaneous stimulation of the G-spot and the anterior fornix. The men may derive pleasure from the tightness of the vagina and/or anus, as well as from their penises rubbing together either in the same orifice or through the lining of the rectovaginal fascia.


title: Double penetration

text: Representations of double penetration have been depicted in many Roman erotic objects, as well as in the Kama Sutra. The first filmed double penetration in history appeared in 1970, in the movie "Delphia the Greek", by director Lasse Braun.


title: Double penetration

text: The feminist Bernadette Barton has argued that double penetration, because it usually involves two men's penises close together or directly touching, is an "unusually homoerotic" act in an otherwise homophobic culture. Barton also thinks double penetration is "bizarre" and "body punishing" because it can stretch a woman's orifices to their physical limit. Gail Dines believes double penetration is an extreme act that was "almost non-existent" before the 2010s, but that has now become one of the most popular types of pornography, a shift she attributes to misogyny.


title: Double penetration

text: The pornographic actor James Deen denies that double penetration is inherently "homosexual activity", even if two penises are in the same orifice, believing that the motivation of the male performer determines whether the act is homosexual or not.


title: Double penetration

text: The spit-roast sexual act is a variation of double penetration whereby a person is penetrated in the rear by one penis (either in the vagina or anus) and performs oral sex on another penis. This sexual act combines both the doggy style position with a fellatio; the "spit-roast" is frequently depicted within pornography.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: The Battle of Hostomel was a battle fought for control over the town of Hostomel between the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. As part of the Kyiv offensive, the Russian forces sought control over Hostomel, Bucha and Irpin in order to encircle and besiege the Ukrainian capital city Kyiv from the west. Due to the intensity of the Kyiv offensive, the Kyiv Oblast State Administration named Hostomel, along with Irpin, Bucha, Highway M06, and Vyshhorod as the most dangerous places in the Kyiv Oblast.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: On 24 February 2022, Russian airborne forces arrived via helicopters and battled Ukrainian forces for control of the Hostomel Airport. Ukrainian forces initially evicted the Russian airborne troops from the airport, but were soon engaged by Russian reinforcements. On 25 February 2022, the Russian forces re-captured the Hostomel Airport from the Ukrainians. As a result, the battle shifted from the airport to the nearby town as the Russian forces began to establish a foothold in Hostomel and press their advance.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: Following the battle of the airport, Ukrainian and Russian forces began to engage each other in and around Hostomel. Videos posted on social media showed a Russian tank column burning in the outskirts of the town and Ukrainian Mi-24s firing rockets at Russian positions over a residential area. Kadyrovites were reported to have moved into the outskirts of the town or into the airport in preparations to assassinate the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Security Service of Ukraine reported that the Kadyrovites convoy consisted of over 250 pieces of equipment and more than 1,500 of the "best fighters of the Chechen Republic". Ukrainian intelligence stated they received these reports from elements of the FSB who oppose the invasion.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: On 26 February 2022, acting on the earlier intelligence report, Ukrainian forces intercepted and destroyed a Chechen strike group tasked with assassinating President Zelenskyy. Elsewhere, Ukrainian UAVs spotted two locations near Hostomel where the Chechen fighters were assembling. The Ukrainian National Guard and Alpha Group later attacked those locations, destroying a column of Russian armored vehicles in the process. According to Ukrainian officials, Magomed Tushayev, a Chechen General and head of the 141st Motorized Regiment of the National Guard of Russia, was killed during the attack. Ukrainian forces reported that the Kadyrovites sustained heavy casualties as a result of these attacks.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: Residents of Hostomel reported constant shelling and airstrikes by Russian forces have deprived them of water, food, electricity, and medicine. The constant bombardment have also prevented the residents from receiving humanitarian aid, evacuate from the town, or even remove corpses from the street. Kadyrovites were reported operating closer to the Hostomel Airport and were robbing residents, while Russian soldiers were pressing their advance into Hostomel. Eyewitnesses reported Russian soldiers firing on an ambulance.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: On 3 March 2022, Ukrainian forces engaged Russian forces in urban combat inside Hostomel. The Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine (GUR MO) reported that special forces under their command and local resistance have destroyed 20 Russian BMDs (likely BMD-2 and/or BMD-4) in Hostomel. Ten of the BMDs were destroyed at 18:30 (6:30 p.m.) near the town's glass factory. The Russian forces were ultimately repelled from the town. A video published on social medias depicting the aftermath of the urban battle showed destroyed and abandoned Russian vehicles and dead Russian soldiers sprawled across the streets. A Ukrainian sniper killed Major general Andrei Sukhovetsky either in Hostomel or at the Hostomel Airport. He was the deputy commander of the 41st Combined Arms Army.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: On 4 March 2022, Ukrainian forces engaged Russian forces in the streets a second time, reportedly destroying a BMD and bombarding Russian forces with BM-21 Grad rockets. Elsewhere in Hostomel, Ukrainian soldiers defeated a unit of Kadyrovites, seizing their weapons, equipment, and armored vehicle. Ukrainian forces later reported to have regained control of Hostomel from the Russian forces. Ukrainian intelligence reported that the Russian 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade suffered at least 50 dead from the battles in Hostomel. Special forces under the GUR MO, the 3rd Special Purpose Regiment, and local resistance fighters were reported to have taken part in the battle. Russian weapons, equipment, and staff and personal documents were seized by the Ukrainian military, with any usable weapons being redistributed to the local resistance. The GUR MO reported that the deceased Russian soldiers did not possess any identification documents; only vaccination certifications and blank medical books. On the same day however, Ukrainian forces reported that Major Valeriy Chybineyev was killed near the Hostomel Airport. Russian forces, reportedly the 31st Guards Air Assault Brigade, later returned into Hostomel and occupied a residential complex, taking 40 or more residents hostage.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: One journalist named Ruslan Vinichenko detailed his six-day captivity by the Russian forces inside the apartment building's basement. According to him the Russian soldiers gathered 60 people (including himself) into the basement and were doing similar actions with 90 people in a neighboring apartment complex, confiscated and destroyed their phones, looted their apartments, and spread false information about state of the war, such as Russian forces capturing Kyiv and Odessa. The only time residents were allowed to leave the basement was to either smoke or collect water. On March 10, the day of his escape, Vinichenko stated that Russian soldiers announced they were gathering the residents to move to Belarus. He tried to convince the rest of the residents to escape with him, but they were too distraught to move out. Vinichenko grabbed his girlfriend and escaped the town after a passing motorist picked them up. Three Russian soldiers saw what they were doing but did not bother to stop them.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: On 7 March 2022, the mayor of Hostomel, Yuri Prylypko, along with several other volunteers, were killed by Russian troops while distributing food and medicine to residents. His body was reportedly booby trapped by Russian forces. When the local priest came to pick up his body, a sympathetic Russian soldier stopped the priest from getting close, disarmed the trap, and helped load the mayor's body onto a wheelbarrow to be transported away. Yuri was buried near the local church with honors. At some point, Ukrainian forces recaptured some parts of Hostomel. Russian forces responded by deploying two Battalion tactical groups to Hostomel in preparations for an offensive.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: On 8 March 2022, Ukrainian forces repelled a Russian night offensive in Hostomel. It was announced that Ukrainian forces were preparing a large-scale evacuation and humanitarian aid delivery for the residents of Hostomel. The next day, Ukrainian forces conducted a large-scale evacuation across Kyiv Oblast, including in Hostomel. Up to 20,000 civilians were evacuated in the Kyiv Oblast. The evacuation continued into the next day.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: On 11 March 2022, residents reported that Russian forces controlled most of Hostomel, making it extremely difficult for civilians to evacuate from the town or receive humanitarian aid. Russian military equipment were moved to the town center and residential areas, while Russian supplies were being delivered via helicopters. Eyewitnesses also reported Kadyrovites roaming around Hostomel and executing civilians for trivial reasons. Still, buses were able to successfully evacuate from the town on 12 March 2022.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: On 13 March 2022, Ukrainian forces attacked Russian forces attempting to cross a river outside Hostomel using a pontoon bridge. The bridge and several Russian vehicles were destroyed.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: On 14 March 2022, Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic, claimed to have entered Hostomel. The claim could not be verified at the time of announcement but was met with doubt due to his announcement being broadcast by Russian state medias. Presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych also doubted Kadyrov's claim due to information of Kadyrov being seen in Grozny the day before his announcement. During the day, two civilian evacuations were carried in Hostomel. The first column of 10 buses successfully evacuated mothers, children, the elderly, and the disabled out of Hostomel. The second column of four buses were shelled by Russian mortars. One woman was killed and two men were injured from the attack.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: On 16 March 2022, Ukrainian forces launched a series of counter offensive against Russian forces around Kyiv, including some villages near Hostomel. According to Andriy Nebitov, the head of the Kyiv region police, Ukrainian forces were able to break through Russian positions after conducting artillery strikes. He further claimed the counterattack disrupted the Russian forces' plan to attack Kyiv directly.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: On 1 April 2022, Oleksandr Pavlyuk, the head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, claimed that Russian forces had left Hostomel. On 2 April 2022, the whole of Kyiv Oblast, where Hostomel is located in, was declared free of Russian Military by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense after Russian troops had left the area.


title: Battle of Hostomel

text: On 28 September 2022, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and National Police of Ukraine published CCTV footage showing OMON and Rosgvardiya soldiers shooting at civilians in Hostomel during the battle.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: In Aztec mythology, Huitzilopochtli (, ) is the deity of war, sun, human sacrifice, and the patron of the city of Tenochtitlan. He was also the tribal god of the Mexicas, also known as the Aztecs, of Tenochtitlan. Many in the pantheon of deities of the Aztecs were inclined to have a fondness for a particular aspect of warfare. However, Huitzilopochtli was known as the primary god of war in ancient Mexico. Since he was the patron god of the Mexica, he was credited with both the victories and defeats that the Mexica people had on the battlefield. The people had to make sacrifices to him to protect the Aztec from infinite night. He wielded Xiuhcoatl, the fire serpent, as a weapon, thus also associating Huitzilopochtli with fire.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: As noted by the Spaniards during their discovery and conquest of the Aztec Empire (wherein they recorded the deity's name as "Huichilobos"), human sacrifice was common in worship ceremonies, which took place frequently and in numerous temples throughout the region, and when performed they typically sacrificed multiple victims per day at a given temple.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: There continues to be disagreement about the full significance of Huītzilōpōchtli's name. Generally it is agreed that there are two elements, "hummingbird" and "left hand side." The name is often translated as "Left-Handed Hummingbird" or "Hummingbird of the South" on the basis that Aztec cosmology associated the south with the left hand side of the body.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: However, Frances Karttunen points out that in Classical Nahuatl compounds are usually head final, implying that a more accurate translation may be "the left (or south) side of the hummingbird".


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: The hummingbird was spiritually important in Aztec culture. Diego Durán describes what appears to be the hummingbird hibernating in a tree, somewhat like the common poorwill does. He writes, "It appears to be dead, but at the advent of spring, ... the little bird is reborn."


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: There are a handful of origin mythologies describing the deity's beginnings. One story tells of the cosmic creation and Huitzilopochtli's role in it. According to this legend, he was the smallest son of four — his parents being the creator couple of the Ōmeteōtl (Tōnacātēcuhtli and Tōnacācihuātl) while his brothers were Quetzalcōātl ("Precious Serpent" or "Quetzal-Feathered Serpent"), Xīpe Tōtec ("Our Lord Flayed"), and Tezcatlipōca ("Smoking Mirror"). His mother and father instructed him and Quetzalcoatl to bring order to the world. Together, Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl created fire, the first male and female humans, the Earth, and the Sun.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: Another origin story tells of a fierce goddess, Coatlicue, being impregnated as she was sweeping by a ball of feathers on Mount Coatepec ("Serpent Hill"; near Tula, Hidalgo). Her other children, who were already fully grown, were the four hundred male Centzonuitznaua and the female deity Coyolxauhqui. These children, angered by the manner by which their mother became impregnated, conspired to kill her. Huitzilopochtli burst forth from his mother's womb in full armor and fully grown, or in other versions of the story, burst forth from the womb and immediately put on his gear. He attacked his older brothers and sister, defending his mother by beheading his sister and casting her body from the mountain top. He also chased after his brothers, who fled from him and became scattered all over the sky.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: Huitzilopochtli is seen as the sun in mythology, while his many male siblings are perceived as the stars and his sister as the moon. In the Aztec worldview, this is the reason why the Sun is constantly chasing the Moon and stars. It is also why it was so important to provide tribute for Huitzilopochtli as sustenance for the Sun. If Huitzilopochtli did not have enough strength to battle his siblings, they would destroy their mother and thus the world.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: Huitzilopochtli was the patron god of the Mexica tribe. Originally he was of little importance to the Nahuas, but after the rise of the Aztecs, Tlacaelel reformed their religion and put Huitzilopochtli at the same level as Quetzalcoatl, Tlaloc, and Tezcatlipoca, making him a solar god. Through this, Huitzilopochtli replaced Nanahuatzin, the solar god from the Nahua legend. Huitzilopochtli was said to be in a constant struggle with the darkness and required nourishment in the form of sacrifices to ensure the sun would survive the cycle of 52 years, which was the basis of many Mesoamerican myths.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: There were 18 especially holy festive days, and only one of them was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. This celebration day, known as Toxcatl, falls within the fifteenth month of the Mexican calendar. During the festival, captives and slaves were brought forth and slain ceremoniously.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: Every 52 years, the Nahuas feared the world would end as the other four creations of their legends had. Under Tlacaelel, Aztecs believed that they could give strength to Huitzilopochtli with human blood and thereby postpone the end of the world, at least for another 52 years.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: Ritual Sacrifice and self bloodletting was a key offering to Huitzilopochtli, who demanded blood in order to be appeased. So individual bloodletting became a daily ritual for the Aztecs regardless of your age, gender or social status of the victim. Animals were also regularly sacrificed in both private and public. Though the most important was public human sacrifice. They would sacrifice normally prisoners of war with great pageantry and ritual by the high priest. Aztec warriors in battle would often wound an opponent rather then kill them, in order to capture them and bring them back for sacrifice. They would normally kill these victims by the use of a sacred sacrificial dagger. A common thread throughout these sacrifices was that the heart of the victim would be cut out, and the still pulsating organ would be held up high for all to see. War was an important source of both human and material tribute. Human tribute was used for sacrificial purposes because human blood was believed to be extremely important, and thus powerful. According to Aztec mythology, Huitzilopochtli needed blood as sustenance in order to continue to keep his sister and many brothers at bay as he chased them through the sky.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: In the book "El Calendario Mexica y la Cronografia" by Rafael Tena and published by the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico, the author gives the last day of the Nahuatl month Panquetzaliztli as the date of the celebration of the rebirth of the Lord Huitzilopochtli on top of Coatepec (Snake Hill); December 9 in the Julian calendar or December 19 in the Gregorian calendar with the variant of December 18 in leap years.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: The most important and powerful structure in Tenochtitlan is the Templo Mayor. Its importance as the sacred center is reflected in the fact that it was enlarged frontally eleven times during the two hundred years of its existence. The Great Temple of Tenochtitlan was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, the rain god. 16th century Dominican Friar Diego Durán wrote, "These two gods were always meant to be together, since they were considered companions of equal power." The Templo Mayor actually consisted of a pyramidal platform, on top of which were twin temples. The South one was Huitzilopochtli's, and the North one was Tlaloc's. That these two deities were on opposite sides of the Great Temple is very representative of the Aztec dichotomy that the deities represent. Tlaloc, as the rain god, represented fertility and growth, while Huitzilopochtli, as the sun god, represented war and sacrifice. The Templo Mayor is made up of two shrines side by side; one painted with blue stripes and the other painted red. The blue shrine was to Tlaloc and represented the rainy season and the summer solstice. The red shrine was to Huitzilopochtli, painted to symbolize blood and war. Although the shrines were next to each other, Huitzilopochtli's was toward the south side.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: The Coyolxauhqui stone was found directly at the base of the stairway leading up to Huitzilopochtli's temple. On both sides of the stairway's base were two large grinning serpent heads. The image is clear. The Templo Mayor is the image of Coatepec or Serpent Mountain where the divine battle took place. Just as Huitzilopochtli triumphed at the top of the mountain, while his sister was dismembered and fell to pieces below, so Huitzilopochtli's temple and icon sat triumphantly at the top of the Templo Mayor while the carving of the dismembered goddess lay far below. This drama of sacrificial dismemberment was vividly repeated in some of the offerings found around the Coyolxauhqui stone in which the decapitated skulls of young women were placed. This suggestion is that there was a ritual reenactment of the myth at the dedication of the stone sometime in the latter part of the fifteenth century.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: According to Miguel León-Portilla, in this new vision from Tlacaelel, the warriors that died in battle and women who died in childbirth would go to serve Huitzilopochtli in his palace (in the south, or left). From a description in the "Florentine Codex", Huitzilopochtli was so bright that the warrior souls had to use their shields to protect their eyes. They could only see the god through the arrow holes in their shields, so it was the bravest warrior who could see him best. Warriors and women who died during childbirth were transformed into hummingbirds upon death and went to join Huitzilopochtli.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: As the precise studies of Johanna Broda have shown, the creation myth consisted of “several layers of symbolism, ranging from a purely historical explanation to one in terms of cosmovision and possible astronomical content.” At one level, Huitzilopochtli's birth and victorious battle against the four hundred children represent the character of the solar region of the Aztecs in that the daily sunrise was viewed as a celestial battle against the moon (Coyolxauhqui) and the stars (Centzon Huitznahua). Another version of the myth, found in the historical chronicles of Diego Duran and Alvarado Tezozomoc, tells the story with strong historical allusion and portrays two Aztec factions in ferocious battle. The leader of one group, Huitzilopochtli, defeats the warriors of a woman leader, Coyolxauh, and tears open their breasts and eats their hearts. Both versions tell of the origin of human sacrifice at the sacred place, Coatepec, during the rise of the Aztec nation and at the foundation of Tenochtitlan.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: There are several legends and myths of Huitzilopochtli. According to the "Aubin Codex", the Aztecs originally came from a place called Aztlán. They lived under the ruling of a powerful elite called the "Azteca Chicomoztoca". Huitzilopochtli ordered them to abandon Aztlán and find a new home. He also ordered them never to call themselves Aztec; instead they should be called "Mexica." Huitzilopochtli guided them through the journey. For a time, Huitzilopochtli left them in the charge of his sister, Malinalxochitl, who, according to legend, founded Malinalco, but the Aztecs resented her ruling and called back Huitzilopochtli. He put his sister to sleep and ordered the Aztecs to leave the place. When she woke up and realized she was alone, she became angry and desired revenge. She gave birth to a son called Copil. When he grew up, he confronted Huitzilopochtli, who had to kill him. Huitzilopochtli then took his heart out and threw it in the middle of Lake Texcoco. Many years later, Huitzilopochtli ordered the Aztecs to search for Copil's heart and build their city over it. The sign would be an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a precious serpent, and the place would become their permanent home. After much traveling, they arrived at the area which would eventually be Tenochtitlan on an island in the Lago Texcoco of the Valley of Mexico.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: In art and iconography, Huitzilopochtli could be represented either as a hummingbird or as an anthropomorphic figure with just the feathers of such on his head and left leg, a black face, and holding a scepter shaped like a snake and a mirror. According to the Florentine Codex, Huitzilopochtli's body was painted blue. In the great temple his statue was decorated with cloth, feathers, gold, and jewels, and was hidden behind a curtain to give it more reverence and veneration. Another variation lists him having a face that was marked with yellow and blue stripes and he carries around the fire serpent Xiuhcoatl with him. According to legend, the statue was supposed to be destroyed by the soldier Gil González de Benavides, but it was rescued by a man called Tlatolatl. The statue appeared some years later during an investigation by Bishop Zummáraga in the 1530s, only to be lost again. There is speculation that the statue still exists in a cave somewhere in the Anahuac Valley.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: He always had a blue-green hummingbird helmet in any of the depictions found. In fact, his hummingbird helmet was the one item that consistently defined him as Huitzilopochtli, the sun god, in artistic renderings. He is usually depicted as holding a shield adorned with balls of eagle feathers, an homage to his mother and the story of his birth. He also holds the blue snake, Xiuhcoatl, in his hand in the form of an atlatl, or spear thrower.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: Diego Durán described the festivities for Huitzilopochtli. Panquetzaliztli (November 9 to November 28) was the Aztec month dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. People decorated their homes and trees with paper flags; there were ritual races, processions, dances, songs, prayers, and finally human sacrifices. This was one of the more important Aztec festivals, and the people prepared for the whole month. They fasted or ate very little; a statue of the god was made with amaranth "(huautli)" seeds and honey, and at the end of the month, it was cut into small pieces so everybody could eat a little piece of the god. After the Spanish conquest, cultivation of amaranth was outlawed, while some of the festivities were subsumed into the Christmas celebration.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: According to the "Ramírez Codex", in Tenochtitlan approximately sixty prisoners were sacrificed at the festivities. Sacrifices were reported to be made in other Aztec cities, including Tlatelolco, Xochimilco, and Texcoco, but the number is unknown, and no currently available archeological findings confirm this.


title: Huītzilōpōchtli

text: For the reconsecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, dedicated to Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed about 20,400 prisoners over the course of four days. While accepted by some scholars, this claim also has been considered Aztec propaganda. There were 19 altars in the city of Tenochtitlan.


title: Special-purpose acquisition company

text: A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC; ), also known as a "blank check company", is a shell corporation listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring a private company, thus making it public without going through the traditional initial public offering process and the associated regulations thereof. According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), SPACs are created specifically to pool funds to finance a future merger or acquisition opportunity within a set timeframe; these opportunities usually have yet to be identified while raising funds.


title: Special-purpose acquisition company

text: In the United States, SPACs are registered with the SEC and considered publicly-traded companies; the general public may buy their shares on stock exchanges before any merger or acquisition takes place. For this reason they have at times been referred to as the "poor man's private equity funds". The majority of companies pursuing SPACs do so on the Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchange in the United States, although other exchanges, such as the Euronext Amsterdam, Singapore Exchange, and Hong Kong Stock Exchange, have also overseen a small volume of SPAC deals.


title: Special-purpose acquisition company

text: Despite the popularity and growth in the number of SPACs, academic analysis shows investor returns on SPAC companies post-merger are almost uniformly negative, although investors in SPACs and merged companies with may earn excess returns immediately after the merger. Proliferation of SPACs usually accelerates around periods of economic bubbles, such as the "everything bubble" between 2020 and 2021.