title: Hampden Park

text: After Celtic won the 1967 European Cup Final, the home leg of their Intercontinental Cup tie against Racing Club was held at Hampden. Celtic won 1–0 at Hampden, but lost the tie after a play-off in Montevideo. In 1970, Celtic played in the semi-finals of the European Cup against English league champions, Leeds United. Celtic chose to move their home leg of the tie from their Celtic Park home to Hampden, which had a far greater capacity. A crowd of 136,505, a record for any match in UEFA competition, saw Celtic win 2–1 (3–1 on aggregate) to advance to the 1970 European Cup Final. Celtic also played European Cup ties against Ajax and Rosenborg at Hampden during the 1970s.


title: Hampden Park

text: A fire was deliberately started in the south stand in October 1968, destroying offices, 1,400 seats and one of the team dressing rooms. The fire caused the 1968–69 Scottish League Cup Final to be postponed until April. By 1970 Hampden was starting to age as a stadium. Wembley had been revamped for the 1966 World Cup, while other major stadia were being constructed for tournaments. Public safety was emphasized after the Ibrox disaster of January 1971, when 66 spectators were crushed to death. A benefit match was played at Hampden, while the Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975 compelled stadium authorities to obtain licences from local officials, impose crowd segregation and restrict attendances. Pittodrie and Ibrox were converted into all-seater stadiums, while Hampden's capacity was reduced to 81,000.


title: Hampden Park

text: Scotland secured qualification for the 1974 FIFA World Cup at Hampden, with a 2–1 victory over Czechoslovakia. Kenny Dalglish scored the winning goal against England in 1976 by nutmegging Ray Clemence. In 1977, Scotland again won against Czechoslovakia to move towards qualification for the 1978 FIFA World Cup. Scotland played a friendly match against world champions Argentina in 1979; the talented, 18-year-old Diego Maradona scored a goal in a 3–1 win for the visitors.


title: Hampden Park

text: During the late 1970s, it became apparent that the facilities at Hampden were in need of renewal. As an amateur club, Queen's Park could not possibly fund the works, while Glasgow District Council withdrew funding and the UK Government decided not to fund it either. Queen's Park considered selling Hampden, but a public appeal and minor repair work kept the stadium open during the 1980s. The riot after the 1980 Scottish Cup Final prompted reforms, as alcohol was banned from football stadia in Scotland.


title: Hampden Park

text: The first phase of the redevelopment involved the demolition of the North Stand, the concreting of all terraces and the building of a block of turnstiles around the upper section of the East Terrace. This work, begun in October 1981 and completed in 1986, reduced the capacity to 74,370 and cost £3 million. A second phase had been planned to begin in 1988, but the release of the Taylor Report caused the plans to be redrawn and the proposed costs escalated to £25 million. Scotland hosted the 1989 FIFA Under-16 World Cup, with the Scots contesting the final against Saudi Arabia at Hampden. In 1987, the square goalposts that had been used since the stadium opened were banned by FIFA.


title: Hampden Park

text: After the cancellation of the annual Scotland v England fixture in 1989, questions were raised as to whether Scottish football required a separate national stadium. Rangers proposed Ibrox as an alternative venue, while Murrayfield was about to be redeveloped without public funding. None of these arguments impressed the National Stadium committee, which consisted of the SFA, Scottish Football League and Queen's Park. The West Terrace was converted to seating in 1991 for only £700,000, but this left two terraces and therefore disqualified Hampden from hosting FIFA World Cup qualification matches.


title: Hampden Park

text: The UK Government eventually provided a grant of £3.5 million in 1992, which allowed work to begin on a £12 million project to convert Hampden into an all-seater stadium. The last match played in front of the sloping terraces was the 1992 Scottish League Cup Final. Within a year, the east and north parts of the ground had been converted from terracing to seats, and the partially rebuilt Hampden was re-opened for a friendly match between Scotland and Netherlands on 23 March 1994. It was then also used for the later stages of the 1993–94 Scottish Cup competition. As the capacity of the old South Stand had been limited to 4,500, the total capacity of Hampden had been reduced to approximately 37,000. With Celtic Park also undergoing extensive redevelopment to become all-seater, Celtic spent the 1994–95 season groundsharing at Hampden, at a cost of £500,000 rent.


title: Hampden Park

text: The final stage of the renovation began in November 1997, with its £59 million cost funded by the National Lottery. There was a cost overrun and a fraud squad investigated alleged financial irregularities. The South Stand was replaced and the stadium was re-opened for the 1999 Scottish Cup Final. The ground now has a capacity of . Queen's Park retained ownership of the ground, with the SFA holding a lease that ran until 2020.


title: Hampden Park

text: Real Madrid were again victorious when Hampden Park hosted the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final, defeating Bayer Leverkusen, with Zinedine Zidane scoring the winning goal with a left-foot volley. Hampden has since hosted the 2007 UEFA Cup Final and was one of the venues for football at the 2012 Summer Olympics, hosting three matches in the men's tournament and five in the women's tournament. One of the matches was delayed after the North Korean team protested against the flag of South Korea being used mistakenly to represent their players. Later in 2012, a Scotland women's national football team game was played at Hampden for the first time, when it hosted the first leg of a European Championship qualifying playoff against Spain.


title: Hampden Park

text: Hampden was temporarily converted into an athletics stadium for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. It hosted its last international game before the conversion work on 15 November 2013 and Queen's Park temporarily played their home games at the Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie. Due to the works being carried out at the Olympic Stadium, the 2014 London Grand Prix was renamed the Glasgow Grand Prix and hosted by Hampden. The conversion works involved the removal of eight rows of seating, which reduced the capacity to 44,000. Hampden was converted back into a football stadium after the Commonwealth Games.


title: Hampden Park

text: With their lease on Hampden due to expire in 2020, the SFA canvassed opinion from its member clubs about where Scotland games should be played. In September 2018, the SFA announced an agreement to purchase the ground from Queen's Park in 2020. As part of the deal, Lesser Hampden is to be redeveloped and become the home stadium for Queen's Park. As of August 2020, the SFA had taken ownership of Hampden and a new facility was under construction at Lesser Hampden. Queen's Park played their last match at Hampden on 20 March 2021, as their lease expired at the end of that month.


title: Hampden Park

text: In September 2014, Hampden was one of 13 venues chosen to host matches in the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. It held three group games and one round of sixteen match, with attendances restricted to 25% of its capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Hampden Park

text: The football match crowd at Hampden were renowned for creating the "Hampden Roar" and trying to terrify opposing teams. The stadium's capacity exceeded 100,000 from the early 1900s until the 1980s and the Roar could be heard whenever Scotland scored an important goal. After the renovation of the stadium and the reduced capacities, the roar has become more muted.


title: Hampden Park

text: The Hampden Roar was first noticed in a game against England in 1929. Scotland, who had played the second half with ten players due to an injury to Alex Jackson, equalised in the final minute with a goal from Alec Cheyne direct from a corner kick. The roar that followed the goal was so loud that Jackson, who was a mile away in the Glasgow Victoria Infirmary, could tell that Scotland had scored.


title: Hampden Park

text: The phrase Hampden Roar is also used as rhyming slang. People from Glasgow may ask, "What's the Hampden?", by which they mean "What is the score?" or "How are you?".


title: Hampden Park

text: In April 2018, the stadium operating company commissioned a study into the noise levels produced at Hampden during an Old Firm match. This found a peak noise level of 115 decibels, after goals were scored, and 109 decibels when the teams first came onto the field. These findings were much higher than those recorded in a 2014 study of Premier League grounds (maximum of 84 decibels), but well short of the world record set by a National Football League match at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City (142 decibels).


title: Hampden Park

text: Hampden is an all-seated bowl stadium, although the ground is split into four geographic sections, officially known as the North, East, South and West Stands. Due to the dominance of the Old Firm within Scottish football and their regular qualification for cup matches played at Hampden, the East and West stands are commonly known as the Celtic and Rangers ends. The East Stand has 12,800 seats on a single tier of 53 rows. The two end stands are up to 140 metres away from the pitch, due to Hampden retaining its bowl shape after it was redeveloped. This distance is almost as great as if Hampden included an athletics track, although the distance between the pitch and the two side stands is more comparable to a normal football stadium.


title: Hampden Park

text: The South Stand is the main stand of the stadium, as it holds the technical areas, dressing rooms, indoor warm-up area, executive boxes, lounges and media facilities. It has been sponsored by BT Scotland since 1998. The South Stand is also the only part of the stadium split into two tiers, although there is also a small gallery above the North Stand that has 290 seats and access to lounges. The North Stand accommodates 9,100 spectators in 46 rows. The total capacity of the stadium is . The capacity was temporarily reduced to 44,000 for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, as the running track raised the field level by 1.9 metres.


title: Hampden Park

text: The redeveloped Hampden has held the top status with the various UEFA stadium categories, holding category four status. The Scottish Football Museum, which opened in 2001, is located within Hampden. Part of the museum is the Scottish Football Hall of Fame. A distinctive feature of the old Hampden, the press box which sat on the roof of the old South Stand, is also exhibited at the museum. The offices of the Scottish Football Association, Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League are all located within Hampden.


title: Hampden Park

text: Lesser Hampden is a football stadium located immediately beside the western end of Hampden Park. The ground was constructed in the early 1920s after additional ground was purchased to expand the main stadium. Queen's Park proposed in 1990 to sell off Lesser Hampden to fund redevelopment works on the main stadium, but this was rejected by planners. It is used by Queen's Park for training, reserve team matches and youth football. Lesser Hampden was refurbished for use as a warm-up area during the 2014 Commonwealth Games.


title: Hampden Park

text: Hampden Park has held four full rugby union international matches. The first was in 1906, when the Scottish Rugby Union chose to play their match against the touring South Africans at Hampden because no rugby ground could satisfy the demand to see the visitors. A crowd of over 30,000 saw Scotland win 6–0. The redeveloped Hampden served as one of the 1999 Rugby World Cup venues, over 90 years later. Scotland played Romania in a friendly match before the tournament and South Africa played Uruguay in a tournament pool match. The only rugby union international played at Hampden since then was in November 2004, between Scotland and Australia.


title: Hampden Park

text: Hampden hosted the Scottish Amateur Athletics Association championships during the 1920s and 1930s, with the original Meadowbank Stadium used as an alternative venue. Eric Liddell won the 110, 220 and 440 yard dashes in the 1924 championship. His last competition in Britain was the 1925 championship, when he won the 220 yards race for a record fifth time. Hampden was temporarily converted to stage the athletics events for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. It was also used for the closing ceremony.


title: Hampden Park

text: Suzanne Lenglen, the French professional tennis player, played an exhibition match against Vivian Dewhurst at Hampden in 1927. A crowd of 10,000 saw that match and another between male players Howard Kinsey and Karel Koželuh.


title: Hampden Park

text: During the Second World War, American armed forces based in Scotland played games of softball, baseball and American football at Hampden. American football returned to Hampden in 1998, when the NFL Europe team Scottish Claymores shared home games between Hampden and Murrayfield. World Bowl XI was held at Hampden in 2003, but after the 2004 season the Claymores folded and were replaced by the Hamburg Sea Devils.


title: Hampden Park

text: Hampden was the home of the Glasgow Tigers speedway team from 1969 until 1972. Poor crowds, escalating costs and the refusal of the city council to allow music to be played at events contributed to the team moving to Cliftonhill, in Coatbridge.


title: Hampden Park

text: The redeveloped Hampden was the venue for a boxing card headlined by former world champion Mike Tyson in June 2000. Tyson knocked down Lou Savarese after just 12 seconds of the fight, which the referee stopped after 38 seconds. The fight ended in farce as the referee, who had been attempting to separate the two fighters, was also knocked down by Tyson. The disappointed crowd booed Tyson out of the ring, while former fighters Jim Watt and Barry McGuigan criticised his actions. After the fight, Tyson claimed that he wanted to eat the children of world champion Lennox Lewis, which also drew criticism.


title: Hampden Park

text: The 50th anniversary Conventicle of the Boys' Brigade, which had been founded in Glasgow by William Alexander Smith, was staged at Hampden in 1933. 130,000 people were inside the ground, while another 100,000 stood outside singing Psalms. American evangelical Christian missionary Billy Graham had an "All Scotland Crusade" during the spring of 1955. The major outdoor event of the tour was at Hampden, where a crowd of 100,000 heard him speak.


title: Hampden Park

text: Genesis and Paul Young performed in the first concert at Hampden, in 1987. The Rolling Stones played there in 1990, during their Urban Jungle Tour. Since the redevelopment of Hampden was completed in 1999, many acts have performed there, including The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Rod Stewart, Bon Jovi, Eagles, U2, Oasis, George Michael, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Diamond, Take That, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay, Pink, Paul McCartney, Rihanna, The Stone Roses, and Beyoncé. The damage caused to the Hampden pitch by a U2 concert in August 2009 forced a Queen's Park league match to be postponed.


title: Hampden Park

text: The highest attendance recorded at Hampden for a football match was 149,415, for a 1937 British Home Championship tie between Scotland and England. This is still a European record for an international match. The 1937 Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Aberdeen drew an official crowd of 147,365, a world record for a club match, with 20,000 more people locked outside. Hampden set world attendance records that year which have only been surpassed by the Maracanã, and it still holds all the major European records. The European Cup match between Celtic and Leeds United in 1970 was attended by 136,505, which is a UEFA competition record.


title: Hampden Park

text: Since the redevelopment of Hampden was completed in 1999, the capacity for sporting events is now limited to . Post-redevelopment, Hampden has hosted six Scotland matches with attendances over 51,000 spectators.


title: Hampden Park

text: Attendances for concerts can be higher than this as people are allowed onto the pitch area. In 2009, more people attended concerts at Hampden than football matches. While Queen's Park played at the ground, Hampden regularly had crowds of below 1,000 for their matches in the lower divisions of the Scottish football league system.


title: Hampden Park

text: The nearest railway stations are Mount Florida and King's Park. Both stations are served by trains from Glasgow Central on the Cathcart Circle Lines. First Glasgow operate several bus routes in the area surrounding Hampden. There is a stadium car park immediately behind the south stand, but for major events this is only available to permit holders.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Sword of Destiny () is the second published short story collection in Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski's "The Witcher" series. Although published in 1992, it is officially considered the second entry in the series, behind "The Last Wish", which was published the following year. "Sword of Destiny" was first published in English in the UK by Gollancz in 2015.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: The anthology consists of six stories, loosely linked in chronology. They introduce characters that become major players in the later novels, which began with 1994's "Blood of Elves" and are known as "The Witcher Saga". The titular story, "The Sword of Destiny", introduces the character of Ciri. The following story, "Something More", is a direct prequel to the novels.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Geralt of Rivia meets the traveling knight Borch "Three Jackdaws" and his Zerrikanian bodyguards Tea and Vea, who seek a green dragon. Although Geralt is a Witcher, a professional monster slayer, he explains that he does not kill dragons, because they do not prey on humans. They join a larger party hunting the dragon, including Geralt's friend Dandelion; a group of dwarves led by Yarpen Zigrin; a mercenary group known as the Crinfrid Reavers, and another led by Boholt; chivalry-obsessed paladin Eyck of Denesle; a company of men-at-arms led by the underaged King Niedamir; and the sorcerers Dorregaray and Geralt's ex-lover Yennefer.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: The party eventually encounters a golden dragon, Villentretenmerth, who offers a fair battle to anyone who wishes to challenge him. Eyck of Denesle accepts and is defeated, which weakens the party's resolve and causes King Niedamir's cadre to leave.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Boholt, the dwarves, and the Reavers elect to attack the dragon together and split the treasure. Geralt, Dorregaray, and Dandelion disagree, for which they are paralyzed by Yennefer and tied to a cart. Yennefer attempts to disable the dwarves and Reavers so she can kill the dragon herself, as its viscera will supposedly cure her infertility, but is disabled instead. Villentretenmerth, bored of waiting, enters the struggle and dispatches the Reavers and dwarves. He leaves a fledgling green dragon with the remaining party members and attacks an oncoming militia from a nearby village. Tea and Vea appear and assist the golden dragon, revealing that Borch was actually Villentretenmerth in human form.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Reassuming his human form, Villentretenmerth explains that the green dragon, Myrgtabrakke, called him for assistance and left him her "treasure" (her hatchling) as payment. Geralt asks Villentretenmerth why he chooses a human disguise. Villentretenmerth admits that, unlike the rest of dragonkind, he likes humans. He says that Yennefer's infertility is irreversible, but she refuses to give up on finding a cure. Villentretenmerth returns to his dragon form and flies away.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Geralt hunts and kills a zeugl living in a garbage heap outside of Aedd Gynvael. He returns to Yennefer at their inn and complains that the town's atmosphere is making him confused and short-tempered. Yennefer insists that they stay because she likes the town and its history, and because she is visiting her sorcerer friend Istredd. The two make love.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: The next morning, Geralt meets the pompous warrior Ivo Mirce (a.k.a. "Cicada") who works for the alderman Herbolth, who pays Geralt his fee for killing the zeugl but subtracts a small tax. Herbolth also mentions that Yennefer has been in Aedd Gynvael many times before to visit Istredd. As Geralt leaves, Cicada harasses him.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Geralt meets with Istredd, who confides that he loves Yennefer and proposed marriage to her, but she asked for time to think about it. Istredd believes that Geralt's presence makes her decision difficult, and wishes for Geralt to leave and never see her again. Istredd insists that he's a better mate for her than Geralt, as witchers do not actually feel emotions. Geralt insists that Yennefer loves him, as she slept with him the night before. Istredd smugly replies that she slept with him that morning.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Yennefer returns home that night, and she and Geralt discuss their natures. Yennefer creates a black kestrel with her magic and asks it what the truth is, and it replies that "the truth is a shard of ice." The next day, Geralt and Istredd agree to duel for Yennefer's hand. Herbolth intervenes and says the town needs Istredd's services, and Geralt is not allowed to kill him. Tired and affected by the recent events, Geralt walks into a dark alley without his weapons and is attacked by two thieves, who leave him after realizing he is a witcher. One thief tells him to not involve others if he wishes to commit suicide. That evening, he receives a message from Yennefer.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: The next morning, Geralt beats Cicada and his men before meeting Istredd, who has received a note from Yennefer, wishing him farewell. Istredd does not accept this and still wishes to fight Geralt. Geralt repeats the thieves' words to him and leaves.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Geralt meets Dandelion in the capital metropolis of Novigrad after the latter is kicked out by his enraged lover Vespula. The pair head to a nearby inn where Dandelion asks his friend, the halfling merchant Dainty Biberveldt, to pay his outstanding tab and buy them dinner. Dainty is afraid of Geralt and the trio makes small talk before they are interrupted by another beaten Dainty. The Dainty whom Geralt and Dandelion were talking to is a mimic—also known as a vexling, or a doppler—a creature that can transform into and mimic others.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: The doppler introduces himself as Tellico Lunngrevink Letorte, nicknamed "Dudu". Dudu attacked Dainty outside of Novigrad, stole his horses and caravan, and sold them to buy seemingly worthless goods in Dainty's name, leaving Dainty destitute and sullying his reputation. Geralt refuses to kill Dudu because he is an intelligent being. Dudu escapes and Dainty is ordered by Schwann, a city official, to pay a tax on Dudu's profits, which Dainty cannot afford.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: The trio are accosted by Chappelle, royal minister of security affairs and head of the city's secret police. Chappelle tells them that stories of a doppler in the city must stop spreading, as the city is protected by the Eternal Fire, which promises protection from monsters and similar threats. Muskrat, the merchant guild's treasurer, arrives and tells Dainty that the 'useless' goods bought by Dudu have sold for massive profits, due to recent political events.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Vimme Vivaldi, a banker friend of Dainty's, has made Dudu's transactions thus far. He explains that Dudu's worthless purchases were a cover for legitimate ones, that have resold for exorbitant prices. Due to Dudu's successes, Dainty has recovered his fortune and reputation, with the taxes paid in full. However, Dudu is still at large, making "random" purchases and sales with Dainty's face.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Geralt, Dandelion, and Dainty find Dudu and give chase. Dudu transforms into Geralt to fight him, but is too good-natured and loses. Dudu explains that he merely wishes to assimilate and survive in the city. He transforms into Dandelion and heads into the market, where he is beaten by a still-angry Vespula. Geralt captures Dudu, but is stopped by Chappelle, who reveals that he is also a doppler, taking a recently deceased Chappelle's form. Dainty, Dudu, and Chappelle agree that Dudu can live in the city under the alias of Dainty's cousin, Dudu Biberveldt, and work as his proxy in Novigrad. Dudu reveals that his "random" purchases will be used for more Eternal Fire altars, making another fortune.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Geralt acts as translator to help Duke Agloval propose to his lover, the mermaid Sh'eenaz. The proposal is unsuccessful because neither party agrees to transform themselves to live with the other, and Agloval refuses to pay Geralt. He meets up with Dandelion and his close friend Essi Daven, a female minstrel known as "Little Eye". Agloval arrives with a job for Geralt. A pearl-diving boat was found floating alone in the ocean, with the crew vanished and blood splatters on the deck, presumably the work of a sea monster. After accepting the job, Geralt and Essi share a kiss, which neither can explain.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: The next day, Geralt begins his hunt, and Essi joins him. Geralt fails to find anyone willing to take him to the fishing boat's location. Sh'eenaz warns Geralt away from the site. Essi's nautical knowledge, however, allows Geralt to reach the site, which he does with Dandelion. The two find stairs leading into the water, which Dandelion theorizes leads to the sunken city of Ys. The pair are attacked by undersea creatures. Geralt is dragged underwater as he and Dandelion escape, but is saved by Sh'eenaz, who again warns him away. While dressing his wounds, Essi admits her love for Geralt. However, Geralt feels nothing for her, due to his love for Yennefer. He allows Essi to spend the evening with him, and gives her a pearl found on the stairs to Ys, which Essi swears to keep.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Geralt tells Agloval of the undersea race, but refuses to kill them, as they are intelligent. Agloval decides to go to war with the creatures, despite Geralt and Essi's pleas against it. However, Sh'eenaz arrives, having become human, so that she may marry Agloval and live with him. Geralt, Dandelion, and Essi leave and travel together, with Geralt and Essi eventually ending their affair. Dandelion composes a ballad the night before they part ways, about a witcher and a bard falling in love, but never performs it. Geralt and Essi never see each other again, and Essi dies in a smallpox epidemic a few years later, with Dandelion burying her with her lute and the pearl Geralt gave her.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Geralt heads to Brokilon, the Last Forest, to deliver a message to the queen of the dryads, Eithne, from King Venzlav. He finds bodies left by the dryads, along with one survivor, his friend Freixenet, alive but wounded. Dryads accost Geralt and the dryad Braenn agrees to take him to Eithne. Geralt and Braenn encounter and kill a giant centipede threatening a girl named Ciri, who joins them. Ciri likes Geralt, and explains that she is a princess and was going to be married off to Prince Kistrin, son of King Ervyll, but ran away.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Braenn, Geralt, and Ciri arrive in Duen Canell, the heart of Brokilon. Freixenet's wounds have been treated, as the dryads intend for him to impregnate some of them. Ciri realizes that the dryads plan to keep her—the dryads bolster their numbers by taking and brainwashing young girls into their culture, as they had done to Braenn. Geralt meets Eithne and the two discuss destiny, which Eithne believes is a "doubled-edged sword".


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Eithne allows Ciri to choose whether she wants to stay in the forest or leave with Geralt. She makes Ciri drink the water of Brokilon, which removes memories of a former life, but it doesn't affect Ciri. At the same time, drinking the water causes Geralt to realize that Ciri is "Cirilla, daughter of Pavetta and granddaughter to Queen Calanthe of Cintra, and Geralt's promised 'Child of Destiny' as per the Law of Surprise (which he enacted in "A Question of Price").


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Ciri and Geralt awaken at the edge of Brokilon, released by Eithne. The two move towards Brugge to tell King Venzlav that Eithne refuses to concede land to him. They encounter Verdan mercenaries, sent by King Ervyll, who have murdered a group of merchants and plan to use the incident to provoke war with the dryads. Geralt fights them while Ciri hides, and is helped by dryads and the druid Mousesack, who has been sent to bring Ciri to Cintra. As they journey to Cintra, Mousesack confides that Calanthe has canceled Ciri's arranged marriage to Kistrin, and Ervyll's dishonorable actions will reinforce her decision. Ciri and Mousesack urge Geralt to take Ciri with him, as expected under the Law of Surprise, but Geralt declines, and attempts to leave while Ciri is sleeping. Ciri wakes up and calls to Geralt, insisting that she is his destiny, but he walks away.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Geralt saves the merchant Yurga from monsters that had toppled Yurga's cart, after exacting the Law of Surprise from him. Geralt defeats the monsters but is severely wounded. Yurga puts him in his cart and gives Geralt one of his healing potions, which knocks Geralt unconscious and causes him to dream of memories.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: In the first, Geralt spends Beltane with Yennefer, who says that they can't stay together, which he accepts. In the next, Geralt visits Cintra six years after his visit in 'A Question of Price'. He notices children playing in the moat of the castle. Calanthe allows him to guess which child is Pavetta's, who died with Duny in a shipwreck, and take it, but will not tell him if he is correct. She has learned of the witcher's training and is afraid of what will happen to her grandchild if taken. Geralt however had no intentions to call in his promise, wanting to look into the face of destiny and understand. Geralt explains that he was abandoned by his sorceress mother, not claimed by the witcher's Law of Surprise, and still doesn't believe in destiny. Believing Pavetta had a son, he claims the son isn't playing in the moat and leaves.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Geralt awakes and finds his mother Visenna healing him. Geralt wishes to look at her and know if destiny has led them back to each other, but Visenna refuses, saying that it won't change anything. The next day, Yurga tells Geralt about the battle of Sodden that drove back the Nilfgaardian forces, but killed fourteen sorcerers who fought there. There is a monument listing the dead sorcerers' names. Geralt goes there and remembers encounters with the sorcerers listed, before meeting Death in the form of a young woman. She reads him the last name on the monument, Yennefer of Vengerberg. Heartbroken, Geralt asks Death to take him but she refuses. Yurga later tells Geralt that he knows the names, and the last is not Yennefer. Geralt rescinds his Law of Surprise after Yurga offers one of his sons for witcher training.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Geralt recalls meeting Dandelion soon after Nilfgaard began marching across the continent. Geralt saves Dandelion and promises to help him cross the river after he goes to Cintra. Dandelion tells him that Cintra has fallen, with Calanthe throwing herself from the castle walls and all of the nobility committing suicide. Ciri is missing and assumed dead. Despondent, Geralt asks Dandelion if he believes in destiny, and claims that even if two people are destined to be together, there must be "something more" for that destiny to mean anything.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: Finally, Geralt and Yurga arrive at the latter's house. Yurga's wife has a surprise: she has taken in a young girl orphaned in the attacks. The child is revealed to be Ciri, who escaped Cintra. Ciri and Geralt embrace and Ciri asks if she is his destiny, to which Geralt responds that she is "something more".


title: Sword of Destiny

text: The first collection of Andrzej Sapkowski's short stories was simply titled "The Witcher" and published by Reporter in 1990. SuperNowa acquired the publishing rights to the series that same year and published "Sword of Destiny" in 1992 as their first entry. In 1993, they published "The Last Wish" to replace Reporter's collection as the first book in their official order. Chronologically speaking, the stories in "The Last Wish" take place before those in "Sword of Destiny".


title: Sword of Destiny

text: "Sword of Destiny" was translated into English translation by David French and published in the United Kingdom by Gollancz on May 21, 2015.


title: Sword of Destiny

text: In 2011, after the success of the audio play based on Sapkowski's "Narrenturm", Fonopolis and audioteka.pl released the audio plays based on "The Last Wish" and "Sword of Destiny". "Sword of Destiny", lasting about 15 hours, was voiced by 49 actors, including as Geralt, Anna Dereszowska as Yennefer, as Dandelion, as Ciri, and as narrator.


title: Rudy Gay

text: Rudy Carlton Gay Jr. (born August 17, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6'8" forward played college basketball for the University of Connecticut before being drafted eighth overall in the 2006 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets; he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies days later.


title: Rudy Gay

text: Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Rae Gay and Rudy Gay Sr., former lead singer of the R&B group Ace Spectrum and band director for The Stylistics, Gay began playing competitive recreational basketball at the age of 12 in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. At the age of 14, Gay began playing for the nationally known Cecil-Kirk AAU program under coach Anthony Lewis.


title: Rudy Gay

text: Gay played his first two years of high school basketball at Baltimore County's Eastern Technical High School, a magnet school in Essex. He played varsity basketball both years. In his sophomore season at Eastern Tech, the Mavericks earned their first and only trip to College Park for the state semi-finals. Although Eastern Tech was a Blue Ribbon academic institution, Gay's parents were concerned about his college preparation. He began his junior year with Eastern Tech, but in September 2002, he transferred to Archbishop Spalding in Severn. This prompted the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association to review its transfer rules. He began playing basketball for Spalding as a junior in 2002–03, earning first-team All-Baltimore Catholic League honors as a junior and senior, and was also honored as the Baltimore Sun's co-player of the year as a senior. He was the Washington Post All-Met Basketball Player of the Year, a McDonald's All-American, and a "Parade" first-team All-American in his senior year after averaging 21.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.7 blocks per game. Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Gay was listed as the No. 2 small forward and the No. 5 player in the nation in 2004.


title: Rudy Gay

text: Gay's college recruitment and decision to attend the University of Connecticut over the University of Maryland were controversial. Gay had expressed a desire to attend Maryland and said that he grew up rooting for the team, but he ultimately chose UConn. Because of the heavy involvement of an AAU coach and a high school coach, there was the appearance of impropriety, although no NCAA recruiting violations were discovered. The NCAA adopted a new scheduling rule after UConn paid $25,000 to schedule a game against the Beltway Ballers, an ad hoc AAU team that consisted of Gay's former teammates. Although it violated no standing rule at the time, media observers and Connecticut staff considered it directly connected to the recruitment. According to individuals close to Maryland head coach Gary Williams, the recruitment demonstrated that rule-bending is often necessary to secure highly touted players, which Williams said he was unwilling to do, even at the expense of recruiting.


title: Rudy Gay

text: As a freshman at Connecticut in 2004–05, Gay was a co-winner (with Jeff Green of Georgetown) of the Big East Conference Rookie of the Year award after averaging 11.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists on .462 shooting in 28.8 minutes in 31 games. He was a unanimous Big East All-Rookie Team selection, was named National Freshman of the Year by "The Sporting News", and earned Big East Rookie of the Week honors five times.


title: Rudy Gay

text: In the summer of 2005, Gay played for United States' Men's Under-21 World Championship Team. He averaged 10.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game over the tournament.


title: Rudy Gay

text: Before his sophomore season began, Gay was nominated as Big East Preseason Player of the Year, along with Syracuse guard Gerry McNamara. After the season concluded, Gay was one of four division one college players nominated for the Naismith College Player of the Year Award (along with JJ Redick, Adam Morrison and Allan Ray). Also, he was a unanimous selection to the First-team All-Big East. He led the Huskies in scoring (15.2 points) while averaging 6.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 30.8 minutes in 33 games as a sophomore. He was named first-team All-America by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and was named to the 2006 Washington, D.C. Regional All-Tournament Team. He scored a career-high 28 points on November 21, 2005, against Arkansas. Gay led the Huskies to a 30–3 record and finished his college career with 20 points and six rebounds in a career-high 42 minutes in an NCAA Elite Eight loss to George Mason on March 26.


title: Rudy Gay

text: Gay was selected with the eighth overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets, who then traded him and Stromile Swift to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Shane Battier on July 12. Gay immediately signed his rookie scale contract with the Grizzlies upon being acquired by the team. Gay averaged 10.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 27.0 minutes in 78 games (43 starts) as a rookie. He earned NBA Rookie of the Month honors for November 2006, and went on to be selected to the 2006–07 All-Rookie First Team after placing fourth among first-year players in scoring, sixth in rebounding, fifth in steals (0.91), third in blocks (0.95), and fourth in minutes. He also finished third in the balloting for the 2006–07 Rookie of the Year Award behind winner Brandon Roy and runner-up Andrea Bargnani.


title: Rudy Gay

text: In 2007–08, Gay's second season, he set a Grizzlies' franchise record for points in a single season (1,632) and established a career-high for scoring average (20.1 points), becoming just the third player in franchise history to average 20 points per game (behind only Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Pau Gasol). He participated in the 2008 Rising Stars Slam Dunk Contest, and finished runner-up to Hedo Türkoğlu for the 2007–08 NBA Most Improved Player Award. After his invitation to the 2008 Slam Dunk Contest, Gay and YouTube teamed up for the Rudy Gay Slam Dunk Contest promotion, in which he asked fans to upload footage of their best dunks for him to attempt during the contest. During the contest, he performed a one-handed reverse clutch dunk in the first round, and during the second round, teammate Kyle Lowry alley-ooped the ball off the bar and from behind the backboard; Gay regathered and pulled off a windmill dunk. He ended with a score of 85 but did not advance to the second round.


title: Rudy Gay

text: In 2008–09, Gay recorded 18.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.24 steals and 37.3 minutes in 79 games (78 starts). He made a baseline jumper as time expired in Memphis' home opener on October 31 against the Orlando Magic, giving the organization its first home-opening win since the 2000–01 season.


title: Rudy Gay

text: On December 13, 2009, Gay scored a career-high 41 points against the Miami Heat, tying Mike Miller's franchise record for points in a win. In 2009–10, he ranked second on the team in scoring (19.6 points) in 39.7 minutes in 80 games (all starts). He finished the season tied for 18th in the NBA in scoring, 17th in steals and third in minutes.


title: Rudy Gay

text: On July 8, 2010, Gay re-signed with the Memphis Grizzlies to a five-year, $82 million contract. He emerged as one of the league's premier small forwards in 2010–11, posting career highs in seven major statistical categories before missing the final 23 regular-season games and all of the 2011 Playoffs due to a left shoulder subluxation sustained on February 15 against the Philadelphia 76ers. He recorded career highs for assists (2.8), steals (1.69), blocks (1.07), field goal percentage (.471), three-point field goal percentage (.396), free throw percentage (.805) and minutes (39.9). He also ranked second on the team in scoring (19.8 points) in 54 games (all starts). Gay watched from the sidelines as the Grizzlies defeated the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs in a first round upset before falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games in the Western Conference semi-finals.


title: Rudy Gay

text: Gay passed Shane Battier (523) as the Grizzlies' all-time leader in steals on February 2, 2012, against the Atlanta Hawks. In 2011–12, Gay led the Grizzlies in scoring (19.0 points) and minutes (37.3), and averaged a career-high in rebounding (6.4). He posted 2.3 assists and .455 shooting in 65 games (all starts) and ranked 17th in the NBA in scoring, 16th in steals (1.46), sixth in minutes, and seventh in dunks (110). He made his first postseason appearance in 2011–12, averaged a team-high 19.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists on .421 shooting in 39.9 minutes in seven games against the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2012 Western Conference Playoffs.


title: Rudy Gay

text: On January 30, 2013, the Grizzlies traded Gay to the Toronto Raptors in a three-team deal that also included the Detroit Pistons. Gay set a franchise record by scoring 74 points in his first three games with the Raptors. The Raptors finished the 2012–13 season with a 34–48 win–loss record and missed the playoffs. He became the first player to lead two teams in scoring in the same season since Stephon Marbury in 2003–04. He averaged 19.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.73 steals and 34.7 minutes in 33 games (32 starts) with Toronto.


title: Rudy Gay

text: On December 9, 2013, the Raptors traded Gay, along with Quincy Acy and Aaron Gray, to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Greivis Vásquez, John Salmons, Chuck Hayes and Patrick Patterson. On January 22, 2014, he tied his career high of 41 points in the Kings' 114–97 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.


title: Rudy Gay

text: On June 22, 2014, Gay exercised his $19.3 million contract option with the Kings for the 2014–15 season. On October 31, 2014, Gay scored 40 points in a 103–94 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. On November 19, 2014, he signed a three-year, $40 million contract extension with the Kings. Gay appeared in just one of the Kings' final nine games of the 2014–15 season after experiencing headaches due to a concussion he received when he had a collision with his ex-teammate, Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies, on March 30. Gay had one of his best seasons in the NBA, averaging 21.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 68 games.


title: Rudy Gay

text: On November 25, 2015, Gay scored a season-high 36 points in a 129–118 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. On December 15, 2015, he recorded 17 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block, and a career-high 6 steals in a 107–97 win over the Houston Rockets.


title: Rudy Gay

text: On January 18, 2017, Gay sustained a full rupture of his left Achilles tendon in the Kings' 106–100 loss to the Indiana Pacers and subsequently missed the remainder of the season.


title: Rudy Gay

text: On July 6, 2017, Gay signed with the San Antonio Spurs. On December 28, 2017, Gay suffered a right heel injury and was subsequently ruled out for at least two weeks.


title: Rudy Gay

text: In 2010, Gay helped the United States win its first FIBA World Championship gold medal since 1994, averaging 7.0 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 13.4 minutes in nine games for the undefeated Americans. He was also a member of the national team in 2014 that collected the gold medal at the FIBA Basketball World Cup after another undefeated campaign.


title: Rudy Gay

text: In 2010, Gay was named an ambassador for the "Hoops for St. Jude" fundraising program for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis and donated $20,000 to the program, which allowed donors to pledge a set amount of dollars for each point scored by Gay and other participating NBA players.


title: Rudy Gay

text: In April 2010, Gay was awarded the NBA Cares Community Assist Award for March in recognition of his service to the Memphis community, particularly his ongoing support of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. As a result, a $5,000 donation was given by the NBA on behalf of Gay to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Gay, who wore number 22 with Memphis, personally donated $22,222 to the hospital.


title: Lyra

text: Lyra (; Latin for lyre, from Greek "λύρα") is a small constellation. It is one of the 48 listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and is one of the modern 88 constellations recognized by the International Astronomical Union. Lyra was often represented on star maps as a vulture or an eagle carrying a lyre, and hence is sometimes referred to as Vultur Cadens or Aquila Cadens ("Falling Vulture" or "Falling Eagle"), respectively. Beginning at the north, Lyra is bordered by Draco, Hercules, Vulpecula, and Cygnus. Lyra is nearly overhead in temperate northern latitudes shortly after midnight at the start of summer. From the equator to about the 40th parallel south it is visible low in the northern sky during the same (thus winter) months.


title: Lyra

text: Vega, Lyra's brightest star, is one of the brightest stars in the night sky, and forms a corner of the famed Summer Triangle asterism. Beta Lyrae is the prototype of a class of binary stars known as Beta Lyrae variables. These binary stars are so close to each other that they become egg-shaped and material flows from one to the other. Epsilon Lyrae, known informally as the Double Double, is a complex multiple star system. Lyra also hosts the Ring Nebula, the second-discovered and best-known planetary nebula.


title: Lyra

text: In Greek mythology, Lyra represents the lyre of Orpheus. Made by Hermes from a tortoise shell, given to Apollo as a bargain, it was said to be the first lyre ever produced. Orpheus's music was said to be so great that even inanimate objects such as rocks could be charmed. Joining Jason and the Argonauts, his music was able to quell the voices of the dangerous Sirens, who sang tempting songs to the Argonauts.


title: Lyra

text: At one point, Orpheus married Eurydice, a nymph. While fleeing from an attack by Aristaeus, she stepped on a snake that bit her, killing her. To reclaim her, Orpheus entered the Underworld, where the music from his lyre charmed Hades. Hades relented and let Orpheus bring Eurydice back, on the condition that he never once look back until outside. Unfortunately, near the very end, Orpheus faltered and looked back, causing Eurydice to be left in the Underworld forever. Orpheus spent the rest of his life strumming his lyre while wandering aimlessly through the land, rejecting all marriage offers from women.


title: Lyra

text: There are two competing myths relating to the death of Orpheus. According to Eratosthenes, Orpheus failed to make a necessary sacrifice to Dionysus due to his regard for Apollo as the supreme deity instead. Dionysus then sent his followers to rip Orpheus apart. Ovid tells a rather different story, saying that women, in retribution for Orpheus's rejection of marriage offers, ganged up and threw stones and spears. At first, his music charmed them as well, but eventually their numbers and clamor overwhelmed his music and he was hit by the spears. Both myths then state that his lyre was placed in the sky by Zeus and Orpheus's bones were buried by the muses.


title: Lyra

text: Vega and its surrounding stars are also treated as a constellation in other cultures. The area corresponding to Lyra was seen by the Arabs as a vulture or an eagle diving with folded wings. In Wales, Lyra is known as King Arthur's Harp ("Talyn Arthur"), and King David's harp. The Persian Hafiz called it the Lyre of Zurah.


title: Lyra

text: It has been called the Manger of the Infant Saviour, Praesepe Salvatoris. In Australian Aboriginal astronomy, Lyra is known by the Boorong people in Victoria as the Malleefowl constellation. Lyra was known as Urcuchillay by the Incas and was worshipped as an animal deity.


title: Lyra

text: Lyra is bordered by Vulpecula to the south, Hercules to the west, Draco to the north, and Cygnus to the east. Covering 286.5 square degrees, it ranks 52nd of the 88 modern constellations in size. It appears prominently in the northern sky during the Northern Hemisphere's summer, and the whole constellation is visible for at least part of the year to observers north of latitude 42°S. Its main asterism consists of six stars, and 73 stars in total are brighter than magnitude 6.5. The constellation's boundaries, as set by Belgian astronomer Eugène Delporte in 1930, are defined by a 17-sided polygon. In the equatorial coordinate system, the right ascension coordinates of these borders lie between and , while the declination coordinates are between and . The International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted the three-letter abbreviation "Lyr" for the constellation in 1922.


title: Lyra

text: German cartographer Johann Bayer used the Greek letters alpha through nu to label the most prominent stars in the constellation. English astronomer John Flamsteed observed and labelled two stars each as delta, epsilon, zeta and nu. He added pi and rho, not using xi and omicron as Bayer used these letters to denote Cygnus and Hercules on his map.


title: Lyra

text: The brightest star in the constellation is Vega (Alpha Lyrae), a main-sequence star of spectral type A0Va. Only 7.7 parsecs distant, Vega is a Delta Scuti variable, varying between magnitudes −0.02 and 0.07 over 0.2 days. On average, it is the second-brightest star of the northern hemisphere (after Arcturus) and the fifth-brightest star in all, surpassed only by Arcturus, Alpha Centauri, Canopus, and Sirius. Vega was the pole star in the year 12,000 BCE, and will again become the pole star around 14,000 CE.


title: Lyra

text: Vega is one of the most magnificent of all stars, and has been called "arguably the next most important star in the sky after the Sun". Vega was the first star other than the Sun to be photographed, as well as the first to have a clear spectrum recorded, showing absorption lines for the first time. The star was the first single main-sequence star other than the Sun to be known to emit X-rays, and is surrounded by a circumstellar debris disk, similar to the Kuiper Belt. Vega forms one corner of the famous Summer Triangle asterism; along with Altair and Deneb, these three stars form a prominent triangle during the northern hemisphere summer.


title: Lyra

text: Vega also forms one vertex of a much smaller triangle, along with Epsilon and Zeta Lyrae. Zeta forms a wide binary star visible in binoculars, consisting of an Am star and an F-type subgiant. The Am star has an additional close companion, bringing the total number of stars in the system to three. Epsilon is a more famous wide binary that can even be separated by the naked eye under excellent conditions. Both components are themselves close binaries which can be seen with telescopes to consist of A- and F-type stars, and a faint star was recently found to orbit component C as well, for a total of five stars.


title: Lyra

text: In contrast to Zeta and Epsilon Lyrae, Delta Lyrae is an optical double, with the two stars simply lying along the same line of sight east of Zeta. The brighter and closer of the two, Delta Lyrae, is a 4th-magnitude red bright giant that varies semiregularly by around 0.2 magnitudes with a dominant period of 79 days, while the fainter Delta Lyrae is a spectroscopic binary consisting of a B-type primary and an unknown secondary. Both systems, however, have very similar radial velocities, and are the two brightest members of a sparse open cluster known as the Delta Lyrae cluster. South of Delta is Gamma Lyrae, a blue giant and the second-brightest star in the constellation. Around 190 parsecs distant, it has been referred to as a "superficially normal" star.


title: Lyra

text: The final star forming the lyre's figure is Beta Lyrae, also a binary composed of a blue bright giant and an early B-type star. In this case, the stars are so close together that the larger giant is overflowing its Roche lobe and transferring material to the secondary, forming a semidetached system. The secondary, originally the less massive of the two, has accreted so much mass that it is now substantially more massive, albeit smaller, than the primary, and is surrounded by a thick accretion disk. The plane of the orbit is aligned with Earth and the system thus shows eclipses, dropping nearly a full magnitude from its 3rd-magnitude baseline every 13 days, although its period is increasing by around 19 seconds per year. It is the prototype of the Beta Lyrae variables, eclipsing semidetached binaries of early spectral types in which there are no exact onsets of eclipses, but rather continuous changes in brightness.


title: Lyra

text: Another easy-to-spot variable is the bright R Lyrae, north of the main asterism. Also known as 13 Lyrae, it is a 4th-magnitude red giant semiregular variable that varies by several tenths of a magnitude. Its periodicity is complex, with several different periods of varying lengths, most notably one of 46 days and one of 64 days. Even further north is FL Lyrae, a much fainter 9th-magnitude Algol variable that drops by half a magnitude every 2.18 days during the primary eclipse. Both components are main-sequence stars, the primary being late F-type and the secondary late G-type. The system was one of the first main-sequence eclipsing binaries containing G-type star to have its properties known as well as the better-studied early-type eclipsing binaries.


title: Lyra

text: At the very northernmost edge of the constellation is the even fainter V361 Lyrae, an eclipsing binary that does not easily fall into one of the traditional classes, with features of Beta Lyrae, W Ursae Majoris, and cataclysmic variables. It may be a representative of a very brief phase in which the system is transitioning into a contact binary. It can be found less than a degree away from the naked-eye star 16 Lyrae, a 5th-magnitude A-type subgiant located around 37 parsecs distant.


title: Lyra

text: The brightest star not included in the asterism and the westernmost cataloged by Bayer or Flamsteed is Kappa Lyrae, a typical red giant around 73 parsecs distant. Similar bright orange or red giants include the 4th-magnitude Theta Lyrae, Lambda Lyrae, and HD 173780. Lambda is located just south of Gamma, Theta is positioned in the east, and HD 173780, the brightest star in the constellation with no Bayer or Flamsteed designation, is more southernly. Just north of Theta and of almost exactly the same magnitude is Eta Lyrae, a blue subgiant with a near-solar metal abundance. Also nearby is the faint HP Lyrae, a post-asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star that shows variability. The reason for its variability is still a mystery: first cataloged as an eclipsing binary, it was theorized to be an RV Tauri variable in 2002, but if so, it would be by far the hottest such variable discovered.


title: Lyra

text: In the extreme east is RR Lyrae, the prototype of the large class of variables known as RR Lyrae variables, which are pulsating variables similar to Cepheids, but are evolved population II stars of spectral types A and F. Such stars are usually not found in a galaxy's thin disk, but rather in the galactic halo. Such stars serve as standard candles, and thus are a reliable way to calculate distances to the globular clusters in which they reside. RR Lyrae itself varies between magnitudes 7 and 8 while exhibiting the Blazhko effect. The easternmost star designated by Flamsteed, 19 Lyrae, is also a small-amplitude variable, an Alpha Canum Venaticorum variable with a period of just over one day.


title: Lyra

text: Another evolved star is the naked-eye variable XY Lyrae, a red bright giant just north of Vega that varies between 6th and 7th magnitudes over a period of 120 days. Also just visible to the naked eye is the peculiar classical Cepheid V473 Lyrae. It is unique in that it is the only known Cepheid in the Milky Way to undergo periodic phase and amplitude changes, analogous to the Blazhko effect in RR Lyrae stars. At 1.5 days, its period was the shortest known for a classical Cepheid at the time of its discovery. W and S Lyrae are two of the many Mira variables in Lyra. W varies between 7th and 12th magnitudes over approximately 200 days, while S, slightly fainter, is a silicate carbon star, likely of the . Another evolved star is EP Lyrae, a faint RV Tauri variable and an "extreme example" of a post-AGB star. It and a likely companion are surrounded by a circumstellar disk of material.


title: Lyra

text: Rather close to Earth at a distance of only is Gliese 758. The sunlike primary star has a brown dwarf companion, the coldest to have been imaged around a sunlike star in thermal light when it was discovered in 2009. Only slightly farther away is V478 Lyrae, an eclipsing RS Canum Venaticorum variable whose primary star shows active starspot activity.


title: Lyra

text: One of the most peculiar systems in Lyra is MV Lyrae, a nova-like star consisting of a red dwarf and a white dwarf. Originally classified as a VY Sculptoris star due to spending most time at maximum brightness, since around 1979 the system has been dominantly at minimum brightness, with periodic outbursts. Its nature is still not fully understood. Another outbursting star is AY Lyrae, an SU Ursae Majoris-type dwarf nova that has undergone several superoutbursts. Of the same type is V344 Lyrae, notable for an extremely short period between superoutbursts coupled with one of the highest amplitudes for such a period. The true nova HR Lyrae flared in 1919 to a maximum magnitude of 6.5, over 9.5 magnitudes higher than in quiescence. Some of its characteristics are similar to those of recurring novae.


title: Lyra

text: M57, also known as the "Ring Nebula" and NGC 6720, at a distance of 2,000 light-years from Earth is one of the best known planetary nebulae and the second to be discovered; its integrated magnitude is 8.8. It was discovered in 1779 by Antoine Darquier, 15 years after Charles Messier discovered the Dumbbell Nebula. Astronomers have determined that it is between 6,000 and 8,000 years old; it is approximately one light-year in diameter. The outer part of the nebula appears red in photographs because of emission from ionized hydrogen. The middle region is colored green; doubly ionized oxygen emits greenish-blue light. The hottest region, closest to the central star, appears blue because of emission from helium. The central star itself is a white dwarf with a temperature of 120,000 kelvins. In telescopes, the nebula appears as a visible ring with a green tinge; it is slightly elliptical because its three-dimensional shape is a torus or cylinder seen from a slight angle. It can be found halfway between Gamma Lyrae and Beta Lyrae.


title: Lyra

text: Another planetary nebula in Lyra is Abell 46. The central star, V477 Lyrae, is an eclipsing post-common-envelope binary, consisting of a white dwarf primary and an oversized secondary component due to recent accretion. The nebula itself is of relatively low surface brightness compared to the central star, and is undersized for the primary's mass for reasons not yet fully understood.


title: Lyra

text: NGC 6791 is a cluster of stars in Lyra. It contains three age groups of stars: 4 billion year-old white dwarfs, 6 billion year-old white dwarfs and 8 billion year-old normal stars.


title: Lyra

text: NGC 6745 is an irregular spiral galaxy in Lyra that is at a distance of 208 million light-years. Several million years ago, it collided with a smaller galaxy, which created a region filled with young, hot, blue stars. Astronomers do not know if the collision was simply a glancing blow or a prelude to a full-on merger, which would end with the two galaxies incorporated into one larger, probably elliptical galaxy.


title: Lyra

text: A remarkable long-duration gamma-ray burst was GRB 050525A, which flared in 2005. The afterglow re-brightened at 33 minutes after the original burst, only the third found to exhibit such an effect in the timeframe, and unable to be completely explained by known phenomena. The light curve observed over the next 100 days was consistent with that of a supernova or even a hypernova, dubbed SN 2005nc. The host galaxy proved elusive to find at first, although it was subsequently identified.


title: Lyra

text: In orbit around the orange subgiant star HD 177830 is one of the earliest exoplanets to be detected. A jovian-mass planet, it orbits in an eccentric orbit with a period of 390 days. A second planet closer to the star was discovered in 2011. Visible to the naked eye are HD 173416, a yellow giant hosting a planet over twice the mass of Jupiter discovered in 2009; and HD 176051, a low-mass binary star containing another high-mass planet. Just short of naked-eye visibility is HD 178911, a triple system consisting of a close binary and a visually separable sunlike star. The sunlike star has a planet with over 6 Jupiter masses discovered in 2001, the second found in a triple system after that of 16 Cygni.


title: Lyra

text: One of the most-studied exoplanets in the night sky is TrES-1b, in orbit around the star GSC 02652-01324. Detected from a transit of its parent star, the planet has around 3/4 the mass of Jupiter, yet orbits its parent star in only three days. The transits have been reported to have anomalies multiple times. Originally thought to be possibly due to the presence of an Earth-like planet, it is now accepted that the irregularities are due to a large starspot. Also discovered by the transit method is WASP-3b, with 1.75 times the mass of Jupiter. At the time of its discovery, it was one of the hottest known exoplanets, in orbit around the F-type main-sequence star WASP-3. Similar to TrES-1b, irregularities in the transits had left open the possibility of a second planet, although this now appears unlikely as well.


title: Lyra

text: Lyra is one of three constellations (along with neighboring Cygnus and Draco) to be in the Kepler Mission's field of view, and as such it contains many more known exoplanets than most constellations. One of the first discovered by the mission is Kepler-7b, an extremely low-density exoplanet with less than half the mass of Jupiter, yet nearly 1.5 times the radius. Almost as sparse is Kepler-8b, only slightly more massive and of a similar radius. The Kepler-20 system contains five known planets; three of them are only slightly smaller than Neptune, while the other two are some of the first Earth-sized exoplanets to be discovered. Kepler-37 is another star with an exoplanet discovered by Kepler; the planet is the smallest known extrasolar planet known as of February 2013.


title: Lyra

text: In April 2013, it was announced that of the five planets orbiting Kepler-62, at least two—Kepler-62e and Kepler-62f—are within the boundaries of the habitable zone of that star, where scientists think liquid water could exist, and are both candidates for being a solid, rocky, earth-like planet. The exoplanets are 1.6 and 1.4 times the diameter of Earth respectively, with their star Kepler-62 at a distance of 1,200 light-years.


title: Chris McNally (actor)

text: Chris McNally (born November 8, 1988), also known as Christopher McNally, is a Canadian-born actor most noted for his role as Lucas Bouchard in the Hallmark Channel series "When Calls the Heart" (2019–present).


title: Chris McNally (actor)

text: McNally was born in Scarborough, Ontario. His family moved to North Vancouver when he was about 1 (according to Chris in an interview with Paul Greene in June 2021.) He grew up and attended Argyle Secondary School in North Vancouver, where he trained at Railtown Actors Studio following high school graduation. McNally is not married, but claims he is "...quite at home wherever [my] dogs are..." He now splits his time between Los Angeles and Vancouver as necessary.


title: Chris McNally (actor)

text: On June 5, 2022, it was announced via Julie Gonzalo’s Instagram that she and Chris welcomed their first child.


title: Chris McNally (actor)

text: McNally's film career began with his award-winning portrayal of John Jardine in 2013's "John Apple Jack". In 2017 he appeared in "Freefall".


title: Chris McNally (actor)

text: Episodic television work includes appearances in The CW's "Supernatural" and TNT's original series "Falling Skies". He appeared in several episodes of the NetFlix original series "Altered Carbon" (2018). He became a TV series regular with his portrayal of character Lucas Bouchard starting in early 2019 in the Hallmark Channel's popular series "When Calls the Heart".


title: Chris McNally (actor)

text: In mid-2019, McNally portrayed Cal Dennison in the Lifetime Network TV movie adaptation of VC Andrews' novel, "Heaven".


title: Chris McNally (actor)

text: McNally is an actor and writer. He is a member of the Hallmark stable of wholesome talent, with appearances in several holiday productions distributed by Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, such as "Hearts of Christmas" (2016); "Rocky Mountain Christmas" (2017); "The Sweetest Heart" (2018); and "A Winter Princess" (2019).


title: Chris McNally (actor)

text: McNally received the 2014 award for "Best Actor in a Feature Film" at "FilmOut San Diego" for "John Apple Jack".


title: Iveco LMV

text: Iveco LMV (Light Multirole Vehicle) is a 4WD tactical vehicle developed by Iveco, and in service with several countries. After its adoption by the Italian Army as the Veicolo-Tattico-Leggero-Multiruolo (VTLM) Lince ("Light tactical multirole vehicle Lynx"), it won the Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV) competition of the British Army as the Panther, but the fleet was put up for sale in 2018.


title: Iveco LMV

text: It has been adopted by the armies of Albania, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Norway, Russia and Spain. The Italian Army took vehicles to both Afghanistan and Lebanon. In Afghanistan, Lince vehicles have saved passengers' lives in several attacks with IEDs.


title: Iveco LMV

text: The LMV uses modular armour packs to adjust its level of protection to its mission requirements. In regards to mine protection, the vehicle's ground clearance has been increased to 493 mm without increasing the overall height (less than 2 meters); it also uses suspended seats of aeronautical derivation, v-hull under body, and a collapsible sandwich structure in the floor to deflect and absorb mine blasts. Its exhaust is piped through its C-pillars, and its turbocharger is located underneath the engine to reduce its thermal signature. Mobility is helped by a run-flat system, allowing the vehicle to move even with completely deflated tires. It is related to the Fiat Oltre concept car unveiled in 2005.


title: Iveco LMV

text: The LMV was designed in the 1990s and the first LMVs were produced in 2001 while the UK's Panthers were produced between 2006 and 2009.


title: Iveco LMV

text: The Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle or Panther CLV was the British Army variant of the Iveco LMV. The Panther CLV came from the "Future Command and Liaison Vehicle" (FCLV) project. Design modifications were made by BAE Systems to allow assembly at BAE Systems Land Systems' factory in Newcastle upon Tyne. Over 300 Panthers were assembled at BAE Systems factory in Newcastle upon Tyne under a £160 million contract. It was intended that the Panther would replace vehicles including Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (tracked) (CVRT) family, FV 432, Saxon and Land Rover Truck Utility Medium (TUM).


title: Iveco LMV

text: The Panther seated four people they were equipped with Enforcer RCWS weapons stations which were developed by SELEX Galileo. This weapons station can be armed with a 7.62mm general purpose machine gun or 12.7mm heavy machine gun or a 40mm automatic grenade launcher.


title: Iveco LMV

text: The first Panthers were delivered to the 1st Mechanised Brigade and a small number underwent hot weather trials in Afghanistan. At end of April 2018, the UK Defence Equipment Sales Authority put the entire Panther 4x4 fleet up for sale with 395 vehicles available. The Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (tracked) (CVRT) family, FV 432, and Land Rover Truck Utility Medium (TUM) remain in service.


title: Iveco LMV

text: Since 2015, LMV production has featured a host of improvements: these include a more powerful diesel engine coupled to a new eight-speed automatic transmission, an upgraded drive line for higher performance and a new air filtration system. The payload of the LMV has been increased by some 40 per cent and it is now fitted with new specially designed suspension units and recently developed all-terrain tyres for a higher level of cross-country mobility. A key feature of the latest LMV batch of improvements is that they can be backfitted to the entire legacy LMV fleet to enhance their capabilities. The internal layout of the LMV has also been redesigned for greater crew comfort, with new seats, a next-generation dashboard and an upgraded hardtop. The internal cab height has been increased by 100mm to create more internal volume and an electronic architecture has been fitted for easier upgrading in the future.


title: Iveco LMV

text: The Russian LMV is named Rys' (Lince Lynx) by MVPS, an Iveco Russia and Oboronservis LLC joint venture company, and launched complete knockdown assembly of Ryses on the premises of the 127th Wheeled Vehicle Repair Plant in Voronezh, Rys' supply chain by different plants firms provided around Russia.


title: Iveco LMV

text: Iveco LMV was authorized by the Italian government to sell to Ukraine for 41 million Euros on 14 September 2014, but never confirmed delivery.


title: Ahasuerus

text: Ahasuerus ( ; , "Achashverosh"; , in the Septuagint; in the Vulgate) is a name applied in the Hebrew Bible to three rulers and to a Babylonian official (or Median king) in the "Book of Tobit".


title: Ahasuerus

text: The Hebrew form is believed to have derived from the Old Persian name of Xerxes I, "Xšayāršā" (< "xšaya" 'king' + "aršan" 'male' > 'king of all male; Hero among Kings'). That became Babylonian "Aḥšiyaršu" (, "aḫ-ši-ia-ar-šu") and then "Akšiwaršu" (, "ak-ši-i-wa-ar-šu") and was borrowed into Hebrew as "Ăḥašwêrôš" and thence into Latin as "Ahasuerus", the form traditionally used in English Bibles.


title: Ahasuerus

text: The Persian name was independently rendered in Ancient Greek as "Xérxēs". Many newer English translations and paraphrases of the Bible have used the name Xerxes.


title: Ahasuerus

text: "Ahasuerus" is given as the name of a king, the husband of Esther, in the "Book of Esther". He is said to have ruled "from India even unto Nubia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces" – that is, over the Achaemenid Empire. There is no reference to known historical events in the story; some consider the narrative of "Esther" was to provide an aetiology for Purim, and the name Ahasuerus is usually understood to refer to a fictionalized Xerxes I, who ruled the Achaemenid Empire between 486 and 465 BCE. Persian kings did not marry outside a restricted number of Persian noble families and it is unlikely that there was a Jewish queen Esther; in any case the historical Xerxes's queen was Amestris. In the Septuagint, the "Book of Esther" refers to the king as 'Artaxerxes,' who was the younger son of Xerxes ().


title: Ahasuerus

text: Numerous scholars have proposed theories as to who Ahasuerus represents. Most scholars generally identify him with Xerxes I, as did 19th-century Bible commentaries. Three factors, among others, contribute to this identification:


title: Ahasuerus

text: The Septuagint, the Vulgate, the Midrash of "Esther Rabbah, I, 3" and the Josippon identify the king as Artaxerxes I, and the historian Josephus relates that this was the name by which he was known to the Greeks. The Ethiopic text calls him "Arťeksis", usually the Ethiopic equivalent of "Artaxerxes".


title: Ahasuerus

text: Ahasuerus is also given as the name of a King of Persia in the "Book of Ezra". Modern commentators associate him with Xerxes I who reigned from 486 BCE until 465 BCE. Other identifications have been made for Cambyses II or with Bardiya (Greek "Smerdis") who reigned (perhaps as an imposter) for seven months between Cambyses II and Darius I.


title: Ahasuerus

text: Ahasuerus is given as the name of the father of Darius the Mede in the "Book of Daniel". Josephus names Astyages as the father of Darius the Mede, and the description of the latter as uncle and father-in-law of Cyrus by mediaeval Jewish commentators matches that of Cyaxares II, who is said to be the son of Astyages by Xenophon. Thus this Ahasuerus is commonly identified with Astyages. He is alternatively identified, together with the Ahasuerus of the Book of Tobit, as Cyaxares I, said to be the father of Astyages. Views differ on how to reconcile the sources in this case. One view is that the description of Ahasuerus as the "father" of Darius the Mede should be understood in the broader sense of "forebear" or "ancestor." Another view notes that on the Behistun Inscription, "Cyaxares" is a family name, and thus considers the description as literal, viewing Astyages as an intermediate ruler wrongly placed in the family line in the Greek sources.


title: Ahasuerus

text: Most scholars view Darius the Mede as a literary fiction, or possibly a conflation of Darius the Great with prophecies about the Medes.


title: Ahasuerus

text: In some versions of the deuterocanonical "Book of Tobit", Ahasuerus is given as the name of an associate of Nebuchadnezzar, who together with [him, destroyed Nineveh just before Tobit's death. A traditional Catholic view is that he is identical to the Ahasuerus of Daniel 9:1 In the Codex Sinaiticus Greek (LXX) edition, the two names in this verse appear instead as one name, Ahikar (also the name of another character in the story of Tobit). Other Septuagint texts have the name "Achiachar". Western scholars have proposed that "Achiachar" is a variant form of the name "Cyaxares I of Media", who historically did destroy Nineveh, in 612 BCE.


title: Ahasuerus

text: In some versions of the legend of the Wandering Jew, his true name is held to be Ahasuerus – even though the Biblical King is not described as a Jew and nothing in the Biblical account of him is similar to that myth. This is the name by which Immanuel Kant refers to the Wandering Jew in "The Only Possible Argument in Support of a Demonstration of the Existence of God".


title: Maverick Carter

text: Maverick Carter was born on October 10, 1980 Carter spent most of his youth in Akron, Ohio and Atlanta, Georgia. Carter grew up the son of Katherine Powers, a social worker, and Otis Carter. He is a longtime friend of LeBron James; both played basketball and football at St. Vincent–St. Mary High School (SVSM) in Akron. After graduating from SVSM, Carter played college basketball for one season at Western Michigan before transferring to the University of Akron and focusing on other endeavors.


title: Maverick Carter

text: Carter interned with Nike, withdrawing from college to become a Nike field representative. He has served as James' business manager since 2006. Carter, along with James, Rich Paul, and Randy Mims, is one of the founders and principals of agent and sports-marketing company LRMR. Carter was responsible for engineering "The Decision", a television special.


title: Maverick Carter

text: Carter arranged a deal between LRMR and Fenway Sports Group that secured James a partial stake in Liverpool F.C. and bolstered his overseas profile. He also developed "The LeBrons" series of commercials featuring caricatures of James. He and James also founded SpringHill Entertainment, a collaborator of Warner Bros. whose projects include the Disney XD series "Becoming", the Starz series "Survivor's Remorse", the NBC game show "The Wall", the Bleacher Report spinoff "Uninterrupted", and "". In 2021, Carter parlayed a deal whereby he and James each gained part ownership stakes of the Boston Red Sox.


title: Maverick Carter

text: He was an executive producer, alongside James and Drake, of Hubert Davis's 2022 documentary film "Black Ice".


title: Juan Luna

text: Juan Luna de San Pedro y Novicio Ancheta (, ; October 23, 1857 – December 7, 1899) was a Filipino painter, sculptor and a political activist of the Philippine Revolution during the late 19th century. He became one of the first recognized Philippine artists.


title: Juan Luna

text: His winning the gold medal in the 1884 Madrid Exposition of Fine Arts, along with the silver win of fellow Filipino painter Félix Resurrección Hidalgo, prompted a celebration which was a major highlight in the memoirs of members of the Propaganda Movement, with the fellow "Ilustrados" toasting to the two painters' good health and to the brotherhood between Spain and the Philippines.


title: Juan Luna

text: Regarded for work done in the manner of European academies of his time, Luna painted literary and historical scenes, some with an underscore of political commentary. His allegorical works were inspired with classical balance, and often showed figures in theatrical poses.


title: Juan Luna

text: Born in the town of Badoc, Ilocos Norte in the northern Philippines, Luna was the third among the seven children of Joaquín Luna de San Pedro y Posadas and Laureana Novicio y Ancheta. In 1861, the Luna family moved to Manila and he went to Ateneo Municipal de Manila where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree. He excelled in painting and drawing, and was influenced by his brother, Manuel N. Luna, who, according to Filipino patriot José Rizal, was a better painter than Juan himself.


title: Juan Luna

text: Luna enrolled at Escuela Nautica de Manila (now Philippine Merchant Marine Academy) and became a sailor. He took drawing lessons under the illustrious painting teacher Lorenzo Guerrero of Ermita, Manila. He also enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts (Academia de Dibujo y Pintura) in Manila where he was influenced and taught how to draw by the Spanish artist Agustin Saez. However, Luna's vigorous brush strokes displeased his teacher and Luna was discharged from the academy. However, Guerrero was impressed by his skill and urged Luna to travel to Madrid to further pursue his work.


title: Juan Luna

text: In 1875 Manuel and Juan Luna traveled to Europe, where Manuel studied music and Juan painting. Juan entered the Escuela de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, where he befriended the painter Don Alejo Vera. Luna was discontented with the style of teaching in school and decided that it would be much better to work with Vera.


title: Juan Luna

text: Vera brought him to Rome for some of his commissions, and Luna was exposed to the art of the Renaissance painters. It was in 1878 when his artistic talents was established with the opening of the first art exposition in Madrid which was called the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Demonstration of Fine Arts). From then on, Luna became engrossed in painting and produced a collection of paintings that he exhibited in the 1881 Exposition.


title: Juan Luna

text: In 1881, his "La Muerte de Cleopatra" ("The Death of Cleopatra") won him a silver medal and came in second place. Luna's growing reputation as an artist led to a "pensionado" (pension) scholarship at 600 pesos annually through the Ayuntamiento of Manila. The condition was that he was obliged to develop a painting which captured the essence of Philippine history which would then become the Ayuntamiento's property.


title: Juan Luna

text: In 1883 Luna started the painting demanded of him by the Ayuntamiento. In May 1884, he shipped the large canvas of the Spoliarium to Madrid for the year's Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes. He was the first recipient of the three gold medals awarded in the exhibition and Luna gained recognition among the connoisseurs and art critics present. On June 25, 1884, Filipino and Spanish nobles organized an event celebrating Luna's win in the exhibition. That evening, Rizal prepared a speech for his friend, addressing the two significant things of his art work, which included the glorification of genius and the grandeur of his artistic skills.


title: Juan Luna

text: Luna developed a friendly relationship with King Alfonso XII and was later commissioned by the Spanish Senate to paint a large canvas which was called the "La Batalla de Lepanto (The Battle of Lepanto)". He moved to Paris in 1885 where he opened his own studio and befriended Hidalgo. A year after, he finished the piece "El pacto de sangre (The Blood Compact)" in accordance with the agreement he had with the Manila City Council. Depicted in this piece was the blood compact ceremony between the Datu Sikatuna, one of the lords in Bohol island, and the Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi. It is now displayed in the Malacañan Palace. He also sent two other paintings in addition to the one required; the second canvas sent to Manila was a portrait of López de Legazpi reconstructed by Luna from his recollection of a similar portrait he saw in the hall of the Cabildo, and the third was of Governor-general Ramón Blanco y Erenas.


title: Juan Luna

text: In 1887, Luna traveled back to Spain to enter in that year's Exposition two of his pieces, the "La Batalla de Lepanto and Rendición de Granada (Surrender of Granada)", which both won in the exhibition. He celebrated his triumph with his friends in Madrid with Graciano López-Jaena delivering the congratulatory speech. Luna's paintings are generally described as being vigorous and dramatic. With its elements of Romanticism, his style shows the influence of Delacroix, Rembrandt, and Daumier.


title: Juan Luna

text: On December 4, 1886, Luna married María de la Paz Pardo de Tavera, a sister of his friends Félix and Trinidad Pardo de Tavera. The couple traveled to Venice and Rome and settled in Paris. They had one son, whom they named Andrés, and a daughter, María de la Paz, nicknamed Bibi, who died when she was three years old. Luna was fond of his wife. However, the jealous Luna frequently accused Paz of having an affair with a certain Monsieur Dussaq. Finally in a fit of jealousy, he shot the door wherein his wife was behind, killing his wife and mother-in-law and wounding his brother-in-law Félix in the process, on September 22, 1892. He was arrested and murder charges were filed against him.


title: Juan Luna

text: Luna was acquitted of charges on February 8, 1893, on the grounds of a crime of passion. Temporary insanity; the "unwritten law" at the time forgave men for killing unfaithful wives. He was ordered to pay the Pardo de Taveras a sum of 1,651 francs and eighty three cents, and an additional 25 francs for postage, in addition to the one franc of claims for damages ("dommages-intérêts"). Five days later, Luna went to Madrid with his brother, Antonio Luna, and his son, Andrés.


title: Juan Luna

text: A few years later, in October 1889, the artist travelled to southeast Spain, Murcia, as contained in the news release at the time, was provisionally installed in Moratalla where he made a portrait of the daughter of Juan Tamayo, an eminent man in this town. Passing through Murcia gave two portraits of the Queen Regent had made to the Provincial and City Council, respectively, and one of these was acquired by the provincial body for five hundred seventy-five pesetas installed on top of the Hall of Sessions of the Provincial Palace and then going to the presidential office in April 1932, one year after the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic, enters as a deposit Museum of Murcia along with several official portraits of royal iconography, being included in the different inventories and catalogs without sufficient data or references, just a terse "DJ.LUNA" as artistic attribution.


title: Juan Luna

text: In 1894 Luna moved back to the Philippines and traveled to Japan in 1896, returning during the Philippine Revolution of the Cry of Balintawak. On September 16, 1896, he and his brother Antonio Luna were arrested by Spanish authorities for being involved with the Katipunan rebel army. Despite his imprisonment, Luna was still able to produce a work of art which he gave to a visiting priest. He was pardoned by the Spanish courts on May 27, 1897, and was released from prison and he traveled back to Spain in July. He returned to Manila in November 1898. In 1898, he was appointed by the executive board of the Philippine revolutionary government as a member of the Paris delegation which was working for the diplomatic recognition of the "República Filipina (Philippine Republic)". In 1899, upon the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1898), Luna was named a member of the delegation to Washington, D.C. to press for the recognition of the Philippine government.


title: Juan Luna

text: He traveled back to the Philippines in December 1899 upon hearing of the murder of his brother Antonio by the Kawit Battalion in Cabanatuan.


title: Juan Luna

text: He traveled to Hong Kong and died there on December 7, 1899, from cardiac arrest. His remains were buried in Hong Kong and in 1920 were exhumed and kept in Andrés Luna's house, to be later transferred to a niche at the Crypt of San Agustin Church in the Philippines. Five years later, Juan would be reinstated as a world-renowned artist and "Peuple et Rois", his last major work, was acclaimed as the best entry to the Saint Louis World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. Some of his paintings were destroyed by fire in World War II.


title: AFC Championship Game

text: The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. The game is played on the last Sunday in January by the two remaining playoff teams, following the AFC postseason's first two rounds. The AFC champion then advances to face the winner of the NFC Championship Game in the Super Bowl.


title: AFC Championship Game

text: The game was established as part of the 1970 merger between the NFL and the American Football League (AFL), with the merged league realigning into two conferences. Since 1984, each winner of the AFC Championship Game has also received the Lamar Hunt Trophy, named after the founder of both the AFL and the Kansas City Chiefs, Lamar Hunt.


title: AFC Championship Game

text: The first AFC Championship Game was played following the 1970 regular season after the merger between the NFL and the American Football League. The game is considered the successor to the former AFL Championship, and its game results are listed with that of its predecessor in the annual "NFL Record and Fact Book". Since the pre-merger NFL consisted of six more teams than the AFL (16 teams for the NFL and 10 for the AFL), a realignment was required as part of the merger to create two conferences with an equal number of teams: The NFL's Baltimore Colts, the Cleveland Browns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers joined the ten former AFL teams to form the AFC; while the remaining 13 pre-merger NFL clubs formed the NFC.


title: AFC Championship Game

text: Every current AFC team except the Houston Texans has played in an AFC Championship Game at least once. The Seattle Seahawks, who have been members in both the AFC and the NFC, hold the distinction of appearing in both conference title games, a loss in the AFC conference title game to the Los Angeles Raiders for Super Bowl XVIII and, in their first appearance in a NFC conference title game, a win over the Carolina Panthers for Super Bowl XL. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most appearances in the AFC Championship Game at 16, with 11 of those games being in Pittsburgh, the most for either conference. The New England Patriots have won the most AFC Championships at 11, and have played in a record eight straight AFC title games (2011–2018). At least one of Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger played in every championship game between the 2003 and the 2018 seasons, except for the 2009 season.


title: AFC Championship Game

text: The Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers are the only two AFC teams to appear in at least one AFC Championship game in every decade since 1970.


title: AFC Championship Game

text: The structure of the NFL playoffs has changed several times since 1970. At the end of each regular season, the top teams in the AFC qualify for the postseason, including all division champions (three division winners from the 1970–71 to 2001–02 seasons; four since the 2002–03 season) and a set number of "wild card" teams that possess the two best win–loss records after the regular season yet fail to win their division (one wild card team from the 1970–71 to 1977–78 seasons; two wild cards from 1978–79 to 1989–90, and from 2002–03 to 2019–20; three from 1990–91 to 2001–02, and since 2020–21). The two teams remaining following the Wild Card round (first round) and the divisional round (second round) play in the AFC Championship Game, with the winner advancing to the Super Bowl.


title: AFC Championship Game

text: Initially, the site of the AFC Championship Game was determined on a rotating basis. Since the 1975–76 season, the site of the game has been based on playoff seeding based on the regular season won-loss record, with the highest surviving seed hosting the game. A wild card team can only host the game if both participants are wild cards; such an instance has yet to occur in the NFL.


title: AFC Championship Game

text: Beginning with the 1984–85 NFL playoffs, the winner of the AFC Championship Game has received the Lamar Hunt Trophy, named after the founder of the AFL. The original trophy consisted of a wooden base with a sculpted AFC logo in the front and a sculpture of various football players in the back.


title: AFC Championship Game

text: For the 2010–11 NFL playoffs, the Lamar Hunt Trophy and the George Halas Trophy, which is awarded to the NFC Champion, were redesigned by Tiffany & Co. at the request of the NFL, in an attempt to make both awards more significant. The trophies are now a new, silver design with the outline of a hollow football positioned on a small base to more closely resemble the Vince Lombardi Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of the Super Bowl.


title: AFC Championship Game

text: In recent years Conference championship rings are also awarded to members of the team who wins the AFC or NFC championship since they are the winners of the conference, even though they may not necessarily follow it up with a win in the Super Bowl.


title: AFC Championship Game

text: In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of appearances, then by number of wins, and finally by year of first appearance. In the "Season(s)" column, bold years indicate winning Conference Championship appearances.


title: Jerky

text: Jerky is lean trimmed meat cut into strips and dried (dehydrated) to prevent spoilage. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt to prevent bacteria growth before the meat has finished the dehydrating process. The word "jerky" derives from the Quechua word "ch'arki" which means "dried, salted meat". All that is needed to produce basic "jerky" is a low-temperature drying method, and salt to inhibit bacterial growth.


title: Jerky

text: Modern manufactured jerky is often marinated, prepared with a seasoned spice rub or liquid, or smoked with low heat (usually under 70 °C/160 °F). Store-bought jerky commonly includes sweeteners such as brown sugar.


title: Jerky

text: Jerky is ready-to-eat, needs no additional preparation and can be stored for months without refrigeration. To ensure maximum shelf-life, a proper protein-to-moisture content is required in the final cured product.


title: Jerky

text: Many products which are sold as jerky consist of highly processed, chopped and formed meat rather than traditional sliced whole-muscle meat. These products may contain more fat, but moisture content, as in the whole-muscle product, must meet a 0.75 to 1 moisture-to protein ratio in the US.


title: Jerky

text: Chemical preservatives can prevent oxidative spoilage, but the moisture-to-protein ratio prevents microbial spoilage by low water activity. Some jerky products are very high in sugar and therefore taste very sweet – unlike biltong, which rarely contains added sugars.


title: Jerky

text: Jerky is made from domesticated animals as well as game animals. Jerky from domesticated animals includes beef, pork, goat and mutton or lamb and game animals such as deer, kudu, springbok, kangaroo, and bison are also used. Recently, other animals such as turkey, salmon, and earthworm have entered the market.


title: Jerky

text: Most fat must be trimmed from the meat prior to drying, as fat increases the chances of spoilage (modern vacuum packing and chemical preservatives have served to help prevent these risks). The meat must be dried quickly to limit bacterial growth during the critical period where the meat is not yet dry. To accomplish drying quickly without the use of high temperature, which would cook the meat, the meat must be sliced or pressed thin.


title: Jerky

text: In industrial settings, large low-temperature drying ovens with many heater elements and fans make use of exhaust ports to remove the moisture-laden air. The combination of fast-moving air and low heat dries the meat to the desired moisture content within a few hours. The raw, marinated jerky strips are placed on racks of nylon-coated metal screens which have been sprayed with a light vegetable oil to allow the meat to be removed easily. The screen trays are placed closely in layers on rolling carts which are then put in the drying oven.


title: Jerky

text: Chemical preservatives, such as sodium nitrite, are often used in conjunction with the historical salted drying procedure to prepare jerky. Smoking is the most traditional method, as it preserves, flavors, and dries the meat simultaneously. Salting is the most common method used today, as it both provides seasoning to improve the flavor as well as preserve the meat. While some methods involve applying the seasonings with a marinade, this can increase the drying time by adding moisture to the meat.


title: Jerky

text: After the jerky is dried to the proper moisture content to prevent spoilage, it is cooled, then packaged in (often resealable) plastic bags, either nitrogen gas flushed or vacuumed packed. To prevent the oxidation of the fat, the sealed packages often contain small pouches of oxygen absorber. These small packets are filled with iron particles which react with oxygen, removing the oxygen from the sealed jerky package, and from an opened and resealed unfinished packet.


title: Jerky

text: Because of the necessary low fat and moisture content, jerky is high in protein. A 30 g (about 1 oz) portion of lean meat, for example, contains about 7 g of protein. By removing 15 g of water from the meat, the protein ratio is doubled to nearly 15 g of protein per 30 g portion. In some low moisture varieties, a 30 g serving will contain 21 g of protein, and only one g of fat. The price per unit weight of this type of jerky is higher than less-dried forms, as it takes 90 g of 99% lean meat to generate 30 g of jerky.


title: Jerky

text: Unpackaged fresh jerky made from sliced, whole muscle meat has been available in specialty stores in Hong Kong at least since the 1970s. The products are purchased by kilograms, and customers choose from 10 to 20 types of meat used to make the product. Some are sold in strands instead of slices. Macau has opened numerous specialty shops also, many of which are franchise extensions of stores from Hong Kong. Compared to the sealed packaged versions, unpackaged jerky has a relatively short shelf life.


title: Jerky

text: This type of jerky has also become very popular in convenience stores in the USA under the name "slab" jerky; it is usually sold in plexiglass containers.


title: Jerky

text: Most nations have regulations pertaining to the production of dried meat products. There are strict requirements to ensure safe and wholesome production of jerky products. Factories are required to have inspectors and sanitation plans. In the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is responsible for that oversight. To comply with USDA regulations, poultry jerky must be heated to an internal temperature of 160 °F (71 °C) for uncured poultry or 155 °F (68 °C) for cured poultry to be considered safe Many European Union countries presently prohibit the importation of meat products, including jerky, without additional and extensive customs documentation, and further inspections.


title: Jerky

text: Traditional jerky, made from sliced, whole muscle meat, is readily available in the United States, Mexico and Canada in varying meats, brands and qualities, both as packaged and unpackaged. These products are available in nearly every convenience store, gas station, supermarket, and variety shop in those countries, where there is a long history of jerky as a food of the pioneers. A similar, less expensive product is made with finely ground meat, mixed with flavors, then the mush is processed into thin dried strips. The finished item may be labeled as jerky, but with the qualifier "ground and formed". This product is widely available in general interest stores, such as supermarkets and convenience stores.


title: Jerky

text: Also popular is shredded dry jerky (meat floss) sold in containers resembling snuff or dip. Jerky made in the traditional style is also a ubiquitous staple of farmers' markets in rural areas all over North America.